Aligarh: Renowned activist Teesta Setalvad on Friday expressed concern over rising communalism and intolerance in India and said the country is witnessing riots with regular intervals since partition, but it is shocking that majority of people remained mute spectators.
“I witnessed riots in Gujarat, my elders have witnessed partition and the young generation has gone through the Muzaffarnagar riots”, said Setalvad while delivering a lecture at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
"There is a rise in communalism and minorities are insecure. In this very hard time, a big portion of Indian population has decided to remain silent”, Setalvad, who is fighting the legal battle for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots, added..
"This strange silence of people living in Indian metropolitans, small cities and villages during difficult periods when there is communal conflagration is very disturbing", she said.
Stating that the Indian constitution clearly guarantees freedom to different religions, cultures and ethnicities among other freedoms, Setalvad said, "It is time to introspect and see if people are really allowed these freedoms."
She asserted that in today’s India, it is a challenge to bring in a government, which can work on the principles of Indian Constitution.
"It is high time principles of constitution are implemented while we elect governments, and politicians alleged of hate speeches and communalism are not elected as law makers", she said.
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