India's Social Fabric Ripped Apart

Retired diplomat Gautam Mukhopadhyay and retired civil servant Aditi Ghosh Mehta talked about the polarization of the country’s electorate along communal lines and called for a plan of action to oppose the majoritarian juggernaut. They spoke about the need for a collective plan of action. They argued that the issues discussed during the conclave could not be treated in isolation. Rather, the issues of One Nation One Election, federalism, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the women’s reservation legislation, delimitation and the census were all interconnected elements of a larger political project. They said that the underlying objective was to secure electoral advantage through communal polarisation and to reshape India in line with a majoritarian ideological vision. They also placed these domestic developments in a wider political context, referring to India’s international position and to what they described as the consistency of the present government on a limited number of priorities, including targeting minorities and the opposition and favouring certain economic interests. They said that the Union Government had in fact come to power on a mandate that was smaller than it seemed, and urged participants to think seriously about how resistance could be organised. Ghosh Mehta referred to examples such as efforts in Karnataka to address exclusions arising from the SIR, encouraged the creation of a more positive public ecosystem through writing and engagement, and suggested that civil disobedience against the SIR should be considered. Mukhopadhyay spoke on how India’s foreign policy has isolated it from many countries and parts of the world.