Communalism is not only anti constitutional but anti human too: Dinesh Amin Mattu
‘Journey for harmony’ program
Mangaluru, Aug.11: Communalism is not only anti constitutional but also anti human and anti development said senior journalist Dinesh Amin Mattu.
He was speaking in a two day debate programme organised by Kosha Odu, Desha Nodu team (Read books, See the country) on Aug 11 and 12 in the city. Mattu participated in the program as a chief guest.
The challenge we are facing is how to oppose communalism without opposing religion. The person who opposes communalism is painted as anti religion. That should not happen. We have to show the society the difference between faces and masks. This is the need of the time, he said.
The lack of strong ideology is the reason communalism has grown dangerously. When communalism and Hindutva gets glorified, political parties turn into soft Hindutva rather than propagating a strong ideology. In this case Karunanidhi had a strong ideological stand, he opined.
We cannot become good persons only by reading books and taking rounds of the country. But people who are interested in music along with literature and culture have less chances of getting contaminated. We do not need revolutionaries or rebels today. We need to create a society with people aware of the truth. Reading literatures gives you an experience of different world. We need to learn some lesson from the past. Hence, we need to read some history. Amin Mattu said.
The knowledge of today's younger generation on history, sociology and literature is only upto SSLC level. After that education is continued only for the sake of luxury life. We could speak to RSS leaders 25 years ago but today we cannot even imagine about it with bhakths. Their knowledge of history is only up to SSLC level and that is very dangerous, Mattu opined.
Filling empty mind with dangerous thoughts is easy. This society needs an cautious mind and not an illusion state. The society that discusses and speaks directly is the need of the time. We should create a society where even after ideological differences we can maintain a healthy relationship. Due to sleeping society communalism has taken the front seat, he said.
Spreading communalism is easy. But to spread secularism one needs to teach the constitution. This is little hard. Fascism is the extended form of communalism and hesitates to face cultural differences. Attack on rationalists, activists and writers is not new. Whenever fascist forces have got upper hands, these kind of attacks have taken place. Their first target is writers, rationalists and activists, Mattu said.
Fix the system that creates controversy
"People say that Dinesh Amin Mattu will come and give some controversial statements. That is why police have been deployed in the spot. If my statements have become food for controversy, one needs to clean that system first”.
Prof. Rahamat Tarikere, Dr. Ramamurthy, Shripada Bhat and Muneer Katipalla were president as chief guests.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
