By Matters India Reporter
Salvador: Marielle Franco, 38, a black Human Rights Activist, from the world’s largest Favelas (slum) in Rio de Janeiro was apparently assassinated on March 14.
Marielle was a groundbreaking politician who had become a voice for disadvantaged people in the Favelas.
The human rights activists who gathered from different parts of the world for the World Social Forum in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where shocked with this sad news and instantly joined in a protest rally to condemn every attempt to eliminate the rights activists in Brazil and the world over.
Various activities by different groups at the venue of the forum expressed shock and resolved to fight against these inhuman brutal acts of the powerful in any part of the world by continuing the work for social justice, empowerment of the poor and peace!
In Rio de Janeiro, police brutality and shootouts with drug gangs are routine, where the youth fear to come out of the shanties fearing a hit by the stray bullets.
The youth under the umbrella of Magis Brazil, a Jesuit initiative around the world for the youth, expressed anguish and pain in the assassination of Marielle but asserted that the need of the hour is to ‘Educate and Empower.’
Larossa, a young women Magis Brazil leader, expressed her pain with a poem and dedicated to the slain Marielle.
“The Youth, I found them, very engaging in the discussion on the human rights violation on the rights activists and very especially on the youth,” Larossa told MattersIndia.
Ms. Vanessa Correia, the Magis Brazil Programmer from Sau Paulo, who is the coordinator of the meet at the Forum, reiterated their stand that youth are the future of the country and that youth now need to educate and organize.
Joao Elto De Jesus, a Jesuit and North Brazil Coordinator of Magis, spoke on the violence in Brazil on the LGBT community. Joao has a PhD on the subject of LGBT was eloquent on the law of Brazil that alienate the LGBT community. He said there is 70 such clauses which need amendments.
Joao was appealing to the society and the Church to face the issue of LGBT, understand them and embrace them, there is no point in denial anymore.
India stands 100th position out of 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index in the year 2017, said Irudhaya Jothi, the Right to Food activist from India.
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is Washington Based International Food Policy Research Institute.
Though India shines as the sixth powerful economy in the world, he said, who owns the resources and wealth.
The much-hyped development slogans all aimed at amazing the wealth of a few business houses while the majority of the poor in the rural and urban India go to bed hungry. He made a comparison to the Favelas of Brazil with slums of India and the rural poverty. He also made a mention of Marielle Franco with those of rationalists like Gauri Lonkesh, have been assassinated in India for their stand against the system.
The Jesuits in West Bengal with Udayani, the social wing, has been working for the Right To Food of the most disadvantaged in the society, especially the Dalit and Indigenous people with the Network members in Bengal and India.
He presented to the participants the DVD made by Udayani on National Food Security Act, which the result of consistent, systematic is lobbying and advocacy work of Individuals and civil society members.
The Forum has organized under very difficult circumstances, not just the financial constraints but also the authorities, the local government and city mayor are not supportive of the Forum.
It is not just the civil administration that is against the Forum, it is learned unofficially that the Local church, the Archdiocese of Salvador has not approved the participation of the Diocesan Civil society organizations apparently with the pressure from the ‘Opus dei’ groups!
But the theme ‘To resist is to create, to resist is to transform’ is visible even in the participation of the many priests and religious of the Catholic Church.