The “Stop the Politics of Hate” campaign organised across the country by the Popular Front of India concluded with a National People’s Conference on 3 October 2013 at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. The month long campaign began from Kankyakumari on 1 September with grand public meetings in major cities, street corner meetings, get together programmes, vehicle caravan, poster and pamphlets. The campaign was aimed against the politics of hate spread by the government, all across the country and protect the values of peace and harmony.
The National People’s Conference held on 3 Oct was addressed by M Mohammed Ali Jinnah, General Secretary and KM Shareef, Chairman of PFI, and representatives of various organisation, human rights and women rights activists, judges, political thinkers, including S Raghavan, President, Lok Raj Sangathan; Justice BG Kolse Patil, Former Judge, Mumbai High Court; Ravi Nair, Director, SAHRDC; Anis Ahmad, National Executive Council Member, PFI; Vaman Meshram, BAMSEF; Yasmeen Farooqui, National President, Women’s India Movement; Mani Shankar Iyer, Former Diplomat, MP and Union Minister; Syed Sarwar Chishti, Gaddi Nasheen, Dargah Ajmer Sharif; Kamal Faruqui, Former Chairman, Delhi Minorities Commission, Navaid Hamid, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, and others.
Addressing the huge gathering Raghavan extended full support of LRS to the campaign. Pointing to the conditions prevailing in the country, where warmongering is being promoted, and all those opposed to war are being branded as anti-nationals, he said only the manufacturers and merchants of war machine are going to benefit from the war. They are goading the rulers of both the countries to go for war, which will bring nothing but devastation to the people of both the countries. The very concept of minority and majority community was imposed by the British colonizers on the Indian people as a tool to divide them so that they don’t pose a challenge to their exploitative and oppressive rule. While the constitution claims to guarantee right to religion and right to conscience, these rights are violated every day. People have no mechanism to enforce these rights. We the people of this country who together form the majority must unite and create a new India where rights of all will be guaranteed.
General Secretary of PFI Mohammed Ali Jinnah said that the PFI was formed 20 years back to fight for the interest and rights of all the downtrodden. Chairman of PFI KM Shareef asserted that in past more than six decades the rulers of this country could not ensure welfare of the people and the situation is worsening, hatred is being spread all across the country, rights of people – dalits, muslims, and all the downtrodden are being violated, Constitution is being violated, while the interests of the capitalists are being protected. He said that the rulers of both the countries are trying to hide their failure and imperialists are pushing them towards war. We want peace and harmony and we need to think about our countries future.
The Conference concluded with resolve to fight against politics of hatred and fascism.
