The Hindu : New Delhi News : Reminding people of secularism

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 07, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Reminding people of secularism

Staff Reporter

Exhibition by Anhad highlights India's pluralistic legacy of history and culture

ABSORBING SHOW: Noted writer Javed Akhtar at the inauguration of an exhibition "In Defence of Democracy" in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI: It is a small attempt to move beyond any "colours" of the past. An exhibition here titled "In Defence of Democracy'' -- highlighting India's pluralistic legacy of history and culture -- put together by Anhad (Act Now For Harmony and Democracy) is now trying to remind people of secularism aptly on December 6 which is considered a `black' day in India's contemporary history.

Huge panels telling India's story from the time of the freedom movement to the present day including the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and even the rise of Hindutva, the exhibition hopes to get people to set the record of history straight.

Researched and conceived by Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad, the exhibition brings together facts that secular groups across the country can use to mitigate the hatred spread by communalism and will serve as a resource for anyone who wanted material on democracy and secularism.

While there has been much debate about the communal content of history, the exhibition finally aims to give visitors a chance to look through the clouds of fabricated stories and propaganda spread by communal forces.

With an emphasis on India's composite culture, the huge panels bring alive the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, the revolutionary ideas of Bhagat Singh, the contribution of B.R Ambedkar, women's participation in the movement and the vision of the fighters had for India. It also highlights the porous nature of Indian culture that has absorbed influences from other countries in traditions of even clothing to make it its own.

The exhibition also brings alive the values enshrined in the Constitution, the threat to the secular fabric by communal and fundamentalist forces, the process of communalisation of the Indian society, the myth of minority appeasement and the controversial truth about conversions.

"A small part of the exhibition travelled to Heritage School in Gurgaon last week. The response from the school was very good. They wanted us to put everything on a CD so that they could use this material to teach children,'' said Ms. Hashmi.

The exhibition now on view at the Arpana Gallery in the Siri Fort Institutional Area will travel to different parts of the country in the next six months. It has 20 sets in English and Hindi and would be translated in Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Oriya, Kannada, Punjabi and Bengali.

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