Mahatma Gandhi’s Martyrdom Day: India Unites Convention on Non Violence and Harmony

On Mahatma Gandhi’s Martyrdom Day, India Unites Convention on Non Violence and Harmony will be held on 30th January from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Speakers are AmolPalekar (actor, director & producer), Antara Dev Sen ( journalist, editor Little Magazine), Justice Chelameswar (retd Supreme Court Judge), Javed Akhtar (poet, lyricist & screenwriter), Kawalpreet Kaur (student leader), Admiral L Ramdas (former Chief of the Naval Staff), Meeran Chadha Borwankar ( former Inspector General (Prisons), Maharashtra), NayantaraSeghal (writer), PradnyaDayaPawar (Marathi poet & fiction writer)

The following person will also perform.

Dolly Thakore (theatre actress), Gauhar Raza (poet & scientist), Imaad Shah (actor & musician), Lynn Ann D’Souza ( singer), Kohli (singer), Nazneen Shaikh (activist, singer) PurvaNaresh (playwright & dancer) and Vasu Primlani(stand-up comedian)

It may be mentioned that it will be organized by byAnhad, CPD (Mumbai), CSSS (Mumbai), India Inclusive , PUCL- Maharashtra, ICWM-Mumbai, SadbhavnaSangh, YWCA of Bombay

Timing: 4pm -10pm

Venue: Sophia Bhabha Auditorium, Sophia College Lane, Breach Candy, Cumballa Hill, Mumbai

This is an open event. No registration fees. Entry on a first come first served basis.

India Unites Convention on Non Violence and Harmony

“The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of nonviolence does not dominate millions of men and women”

“We must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.” Mahatma Gandhi

India Unites for Non – Violence and Harmony is a non-political, citizen led campaign being organized on January 30, 2019 to commemorate the 71st anniversary of Gandhiji’s martyrdom. Various civil society organizations and individuals are coming together on the anniversary of Gandhiji’s martyrdom to appeal to the nation to resist and confront the growing culture of violence facing the country.

Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on January 30, 1948 at 17:17 hours as he headed towards a multi-faith prayer meeting. He was assassinated by fundamentalist forces opposed to his idea of Swaraj promoting nation-building on the principles of equality of all citizens, Hindu -Muslim unity and communal harmony. Gandhi’s Swarajfocussed on the composite nature of Indian nationalism.

Under Gandhi’s leadership, the freedom movement successfully mobilized and drew people into the struggle for independence against colonial rule: men and women, people from all faiths, regions, speaking different languages, having varied castes, traditions, customs, cultures, beliefs and inhabitants of both rural and urban areas. He dreamt of an India where people lived together and respected each other’s differences; where interactions, protest and negotiations would be shaped by the principle of non-violence/ahimsa.

Today, 70 years after independence, we are witnessing a rise in hatred and prejudices based on religion, caste, gender, sexuality, region and class. Society is becoming increasingly intolerant and violent. Communal violence, caste based violence and hate crimes are on the upsurge. As citizens we can no longer be silent spectators to this growing ill will, hatred and violence. We must come together to protect the secular, pluralistic and democratic fibre of the country.

We invite every citizen, who is committed to the cause of non-violence and harmony to join this national campaign, India Unites to Non Violence and Harmony which has three critical components:

1. A call to every citizen in the country to observe a minute’s silence wherever they are putting aside whatever they would be doing at 11.00/ 17:17 hrs on January 30, 2019 and to take a pledge for non-violence and harmony.

2.The organizing of activities/events such as peace rallies, awareness programmes, public meetings, interactions in schools/colleges and communities in the run up to the national campaign on January 30, 2019.

3.As part of the national call a Convention on Non-Violence and Harmony is being organized at Sophia Bhabha Auditorium, Breach Candy, Mumbai on Jan 30, 2019 between 4 -10pm. The programme which is open to the general public will have talks by eminent citizens, public intellectuals, media personalities, legal luminaries, etc. This will be followed by a cultural programme on the theme. The exact programme will be announced in a week’s time.

We appeal to all citizens to come together through this campaign to build resistance against the forces of intolerance and to take the message of nonviolence and harmony to millions of Indians through various networks, organizations, institutions and social media platforms

Say yes to Non Violence, Justice and Harmony!

Jaago, Utho, Chalo Ahimsa kiAur!

Signed by:

HarshvardhanHegde, India Inclusive, LeenaDabiru, India Inclusive, Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad and India Inclusive
Brinelle D’Souza, TISS, Mumbai, Irfan Engineer, Centre for Studies in Society and Secularism, Mumbai, JoyciaThorat, ICWM-Mumbai, Lara Jesani, PUCL-Maharashtra, VarshaVidya Vilas, SadbhavanaSangh, Mumbai

Endorsed by:

Abdul Shakeel, activist – New Delhi, AbhaBhaiya, National Coordinator, One Billion RisingAbhimanyuKohar, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Afroze Malik, President, Jai Ho Foundation, Akhilesh Dave, social activist, Ahmedabad, AkshayNaik, activist, Navi Mumbai, Amir Peje , Mumbai, AmitaBuch, Gujarat, AnandPatwardhan, Documentary Filmmaker , AniketNavalkar, Anjali, AISF, Anwar-ul-Haq, activist – New Delhi, ArchanaKaul, Arshad Ajmal, social activist, Patna, Arun Kumar, Malcolm S. Adiseshiah Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences, Aruna Roy, School for Democracy, Augustine Pushpraj SJ, social activist, Karnataka, Aysha, activist – New Delhi, Beena, activist – New Delhi, Bhakti Ghatge, Student, BhartenduKashyap, Mocking Birds Theatre Group, Lucknow, Bhasha Singh, Writer & Journalist, BipinSoni, Concerned Citizen – New Delhi, BrijeshShivhare, Concerned Citizen – New Delhi, Brinelle D’Souza, TISS, BRP Bhaskar, Chennai, Chhotebhai, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Chhote Lal, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, Com. Charul Joshi , IPTA (Mumbai), Com. HannanMollah, General Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, Com. Masood Akhtar, IPTA (Mumbai), Deepak Kabir, Dastak ,Lucknow, Dev Desai, Social Activist, Gujarat, DhananjayShinde, Mumbai, Dharmendra Kumar, activist – New Delhi, Dilip Simeon, Dolphy D’Souza, Convenor-Police Reforms Watch, Dr Anil Pannikker, Consultant Psychologist, Hisar Haryana, DrHarshvardhan Hedge, India Inclusive , Dr. Antima, Nainital, Dr. DenzilFernandes, Executive Director,Indian Social Institute, New Delhi., Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas S.J., Educationist, Mumbai, Dr. Suresh Khairnar, National President, RashtriyaSeva Dal, Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, Public Health Doctor, Bangalore, Dunu Roy, Hazards Centre, New Delhi, Elizabeth Soreng, Jharkhand, Fahad Ahmad, TISS, Fahim, Kabir Festival ,Lucknow, Faisal Khan, KhudaiKhidmatgar, Farah Ajeez, activist – New Delhi, Fr Cedric Prakash, FerozMithiborewala, Bharat BachaoAndolan, Fr. Jude Murzello , Mumbai, Geeta Devi, activist – New Delhi, Godfrey D’souza, Mumbai, Harpal Chaudhary, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Harsh Mander, writer, social activist, Delhi, Indira Unninayar, Advocate, Gurgaon, Indrashish, activist – New Delhi, Irfan Engineer, social activist, Mumbai, Isaac Gomes, Catholic Association of Bengal, Mumbai, Jagjit Singh, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Jatin Desai, journalist, Mumbai, Javed, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, JigneshSengal, independent activist, Gujarat, JK Patel, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Joe Athialy, New Delhi, John Dayal, Journalist, Delhi, Joy Sengupta, actor, teacher, cultural activist, Mumbai, JoyciaThorat, Mumbai, Khairun, Parwaaz, Gujarat, KishorJagtap , Maitra Kul, KM Shrimali, Historian, Delhi, KNPanikkar, Historian, Kerala, KV Biju, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Lara Jesani, Mumbai, LeenaDabiru, India Inclusive, MahadevbhaiVidrohi, National Convenor, SarvaSevaSangh, Mahesh Pandya, ParyavaranMitra, Mala Devi, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, Mamta, activist – New Delhi, Manan Trivedi, independent activist, Gujarat, Manjula Pradeep, WAYVE Foundation, Marcia D’cunha, Mumbai, MayankSaxena, Bollywood writer, Mumbai, MazdoorKisan Shakti Sangathan(MKSS), Mohammad Samad, Concerned Citizen, Uttar Pradesh, N. Raghuram, Professor, New Delhi, Nadeem Ali, activist – New Delhi, Nadia D’souza, Mumbai, Nasim Ansari, TarunChetna Trust, Pratapgarh, UP, Nayan Patel, activist, Gujarat, Nazma, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, Neeta Mahadev, LokSamiti, Gujarat, Neha Shah, Ahmedabad, Nikhil Dey, School for Democracy, NiranjanTakle, Journalist , Maharashtra, Nisha, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, Noel D’souza, Mumbai, Padma Velaskar, Academician, Mumbai, Pamela Fernandes, Commission for Justice and Peace, Mumbai, ParthWagle, Mumbai, Pathik Arora, Legal cou
nsel, Mumbai, Peeyush Mishra, Advocate, Lucknow, Pooja Badekar, President, Marathi Bharti , Pooja Uniyayl, activist – New Delhi, Poonam Devi, Concerned Citizen, New Delhi, Prof. Roshan D’Souza, Mumbai, Pushpa Devi, activist – New Delhi, RajeshreeUrf, Documentary Filmmaker , Rajkumar Gupta, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Rajni Dave, Sarvodaya Mandal, Ram Lal, activist – Uttarakhand, Ram Puniyani, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Ram Tarun, Ramnik Mohan, writer, Rohtak, Ranu Jain, academician, Mumbai, Rasal, President, KalyanVikasini , RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Ravi Bhilane, Friends of People, Ravindra Kumar Singh, Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, Nagpur, Rohan D’souza, Student, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, RohiniHensman, Writer and Researcher, Saba Dewan, Filmmaker, Gurgaon, Sabiha Hussain, JamiaMilliaIslamia, SamathaFernandes, Student, St. Xavier’s College, Samita Patel, Majur Mahajan SanghMahila wing, Sandeep Gidde, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Sangita, Kabir Festival ,Lucknow, Sanjay Kumar, AashrayAdhikarAbhiyan., Sannybhai, Lokmanch, Santosh Mudgil, retired principal Rohtak, Santveer Singh, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, SaralJhingran, Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, Delhi, Shanta Kumar , RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, Sheba George, SAHRWARU, Gujarat, Shiv Kumar Kakkaji, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, SimantiniDhuru, Documentary Filmmaker , Smita Pandya, Ahmadabad, SmitaSalunkhe , President Vazir Graduate Forum, Sohail Hashmi, filmmaker, writer, historian, Delhi, Sr. JyothiFernandes, Mysore, SubhashMendhapurkar, SUTRA Jagjit Nagar, Himachal Pradesh, Subhendu Ghosh, Pratidhwani, Delhi., Sunetra Deshpande, Ahmedabad, Swami SachidanandaBharathi, Kochi, TanushreeGangopadhyay , journalist, Gujarat, Uma Chakravarti, Historian, VarshaVidya Vilas, SadbhavnaSangh, Veena Rana, Kabir Festival ,Lucknow, VenitaFernandes, Mumbai, Vijendra Sharma, activist – New Delhi, VijetaBhonkar, President, GandhigiriAbhiyan , Vineet Tiwari, National Secretary, All India Progressive Writers Association, Walter fernandes, North East Social Research Center, Guwahati, YashMarwah, Let Mumbai Breathe, YashodhanParanjpe, YohanTengra

Organisations:

AashrayAdhikarAbhiyan, Act Now for Harmony & Democracy (Anhad), All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), All India Federation of University and College Teacher’s Association (AIFUCTO), All India Kisan Sabha, All India Progressive Writers Association, AmanBiradari, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Friends of People, GandhigiriAbhiyan, Gandhi Peace Foundation , India Inclusive , Indian Christian Women’s Movement (ICWM), Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, KalyanVikasini, KhudaiKhidmatgar, Majur Mahajan SanghMahila wing, MorchePeKavi, Mumbai, MazdoorKisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), NishantNatyaManch, One Billion Rising, ParyavaranMitra, Police Reforms Watch, Pratidhwani, Delhi., PUCL, Maharashtra, RashtriyaKisanMahasangh, RashtriyaSeva Dal, Right to Education, SadbhavnaSangh, SAHRWARU, Gujarat, Sarvodaya Mandal, School for Democracy, SUTRA, Himachal Pradesh, The Banned, Vazir Graduate Forum, WAYVE Foundation.