By Matters India Reporter
Kanpur: Kanpur, the second largest city in Uttar Pradesh state, on February 6 saw people from 11 political parties with varying ideologies coming together to resolve to protect the Indian Constitution and the country’s social fabric.
About 50 political leaders, social activists, and intellectuals met at Mega Hall under the aegis of the Kanpur Sanyukt Morcha (United Front). They wholeheartedly supported four senior the Supreme Court judges who have warned about the decline of democracy in the country.
The judges convened an unprecedented press conference on January 12 to inform citizens that “things are not in order” in “the administration of the Supreme Court.”
The Kanpur citizens said the judges’ so-called revolt was an indication of the rot in the highest echelons of the judiciary and the rending of the country’s social fabric for petty electoral gains. The Kanpur meet asserted that all conscientious citizens have the duty to stem the rot.
The participants also asserted that the time had come to revert to the time tested manual ballot paper system, as the sanctity of the EVMs was under a cloud. The danger of a polling booth being grabbed or a ballot box being snatched could easily be acted upon by the Election Commission. But there was no way of determining or verifying how an electronic system can be hacked, as no machine or system is tamper proof, the meeting said.
The participants also expressed grave concern about the misuse of both the mainline and social media for spewing vitriol on those who do not support the regime.
Chhotebhai, president of Kanpur Catholic Association and convener of Kanpur Nagrik Manch, urged the opposition parties to go beyond just burning effigies or organizing protest matches. “They must address the genuine needs and grievances of the people and espouse their causes,” he added. He also wants political parties to keep their leaders informed about the ground realities and people’s expectations.
The meeting was held at the initiative of Athar Naim of the Congress and Suresh Gupta of the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Noted litterateur Padamshri Dr Giriraj Kishor was the chief guest and R.N. Trivedi, a retired civil service officer, the main speaker. Representatives of the Kanpur Bar Association, Guru Singh Sabha, Mahila Manch and the Kanpur Catholic Association also participated.
All the political parties present resolved to carry this show of unity forward and convert it into a mass movement to protect the constitutional values of secularism and socialism with justice, equality and fraternity.
Uttar Pradesh has witnessed several incidents of sectarian violence in the past few years.