400-km Ride for Democracy to conclude in Dharwad on Saturday
Participants of the rally begin their journey this morning on a fervent note
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PUNE: Keep an eye out for the messengers of peace. Some 200 youths set out from the city on their bikes this morning to spread awareness on the need to safeguard democracy and decry fascist, intolerant ideologies.
The youngsters are on an over 400-km-long Lokshahisathi Sangharsh Yatra, under the theme ‘Ride for Democracy’. The rally commenced at Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune city and will conclude on Saturday in Dharwad, Karnataka, the hometown of scholar MM Kalburgi, who was gunned down near his home on August 30 last year. It will make pit stops at the Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge in the city, where anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar, was shot dead during a walk on August 20, 2013, and Kolhapur, where CPI leader Govind Pansare was killed on February 20, 2015.
The rally has been organised by Lokayat, a small cultural forum based in Pune, to counter the pervasive climate of intolerance in the country.
Nikhil Rajankar (25), a techie and resident of Kothrud, Pune, who is taking part in the rally, alleged that right-wing organisations, like Sanatan Sanstha (whose member Virendra Tawde has been arrested for masterminding Dabholkar’s assassination), are trying to stifle voices of reason and dissent. “They are trying to force people to follow a set ideology. We want youngsters to be able to think liberally and freely, and raise their voices against injustice. We want to spread the message of peace and brotherhood.”
Shraddha Rekha Rajendra (23), an engineer from Pune, alleged that the central government has let fascist ideologues have the run of the l and. “The government promised us achhe din, but it is now deciding what we can eat and celebrate. Youths are following their diktats blindly.”
Subhash Ware, managing trustee of SM Joshi Socialist Foundation, which is supporting the rally, said “regressive social agenda” of right-wing organisations is being enforced in the city. “Communal agenda is threatening India’s sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic ideals.”
Neeraj Jain, a member of Lokayat, echoed the sentiment. “Campaigns like ghar wapsi and love jihad have been intensified. “They are brazenly attacking places of worship of religious minorities. Hundreds of incidents of communal violence have been reported. The education system is being saffronised. The heads of important research, educational and cultural institutions and committees are being replaced with people associated with the Hindutva agenda,” he alleged.
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