Patna, Sep 22
The government led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is suppressing people's voice, according to a
senior executive of a human rights body.
The vice president of
People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Kavita Srivastava, said the
right to dissent had come under vigorous attack ever since the Modi
government came to power at the Centre.
"The Modi government has
shown a complete lack of humanitarian point of view in their development
model. Interference in the fundamental rights of people has increased.
There is no right to dissent," Kavita told IANS here.
A
majoritarian assault with state consent had also increased against those
who raise questions or oppose them, which was a dangerous trend for a
democratic setup like India, she added.
She said the BJP-led
government feared any kind of questions and challenge to their stand on
various issues. "In fact, democracy is under threat when right to
dissent is under attack," she said.
Kavita was in Patna to
deliver a lecture to mark the birth anniversary of former Jawaharlal
Nehru University Students Union president Chandrasekhar, who was shot
dead in Bihar's Siwan district in 1997.
"It is due to the new
character of the Indian state that corporate raj and Hindutva raj have
gained legitimacy to deal mercilessly with those opposing their
interests," Kavita said.
The PUCL vice president said the
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh's (RSS) role in governance has increased
after Modi became the prime minister. "Modi is the best person to push
forward the Hindutva agenda and the BJP victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls was a defining moment for the RSS," she said.
"The RSS
mindset has been working fast after Modi came to power. The RSS policy
is that if you insist on a different point of view or disagree with the
RSS, they will eliminate you. The legacy of Godse (Nathuram, who shot
dead Mahatma Gandhi) is being resurrected to silence the likes of Govind
Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi," Kavita said.
The PUCL vice president said the government was also trying to look at what we eat or not, though it was a personal choice.
Pushing
vegetarianism in midday meals was a wrong idea and would deprive the
poor children of nutrition, she said and added that meat ban and beef
ban were part of an attack on civil liberties of the people.
Kavita
also said that different tools were being deployed to intimidate
non-governmental organisations, civil societies and trusts like the
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
"Look at the Intelligence
Bureau report, which says PUCL is a threat to the national security. It
questions our right to hold seminars. Why can't we hold seminars?
Democracy exists due to questions," she said.
She said the BJP
government at the Centre had also undermined merit. "The BJP government
has brought in all those with no experience in their respective field to
head different institutions. They are extremely mediocre people. They
want to hijack all national institutions."
"Appointments made in
Film and Television Institute of India, the Censor Board, Indian Council
of Historical Research and Nehru Museum are examples. One thing is
clear that the RSS has played a role in all appointments," Kavita said.
She
said that union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma's statement that former
president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a nationalist despite being a Muslim
pointed to the mindset of the RSS which still looked at Muslims with
suspicion.
"Two corporate-Hinduvta think tanks - India
Foundation and Vivekanand Foundation - have become active like never
before ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre. Every Wednesday,
three union ministers attend their meetings since it is important for
the government," Kavita said.
