N Ram, Chairman, THG Publishing Private Ltd, on Tuesday, said that the Hindu Rashtra ideology preached by the powers denied equality, fairness and justice to citizens of the country. “RSS is striking a blow at the secular concept of Indian citizenship and at the Constitution itself,” he said.

Ram was delivering the Narendra Dabholkar Memorial lecture entitled Three challenges facing contemporary India organised by the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) to commemorate the sixth death anniversary of Dabholkar.

Ram said that the challenge to secular, democratic, and pluralist India has come to the fore at a time when the party of the Hindu Right, led by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak-turned-charismatic mass political-leader, has won a renewed and stronger mandate.

He added that the ruling party has flanking support from militant Hindu organisations which were once called ‘fringe’. Ram said that it was ‘fashionable’ today to decry secularism as “a tired, formulaic, hack concept”.

He added that the law of sedition, (124A of the IPC), and illiberal provisions of the IPC like Section 153A, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and other draconian laws, were being invoked in the name of fighting terrorism..

He expressed concern over a threat to the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech and expression.

Commenting on Kashmir issue, he said: “A total information blackout and Internet shutdown was imposed in flagrant violation of Article 19 of the Constitution on the entire population of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir for a prolonged period, without the government even bothering to offer a serious explanation as to why such extreme measures were called for”.

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