The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `Peace march after riots not enough'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 05, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Peace march after riots not enough'

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: "Communal riots are not the biggest danger society faces. It is the hijacking of our political system by communal forces," said Swami Agnivesh, founder of Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA), on Sunday at a talk on "Combating new faces of fascism".

Civil society has to play an important role in controlling fascism. "But half-hearted measures where people get together once in two months and speak about combating fascism will not help," he said.

Commitment in terms of money, time and resources on a regular basis is important, he added.

Many organisations fighting communal forces have held peace march after the riots. "This is not enough. These organisations must start preventive measures," he said.

As communal forces misuse religion to ignite riots, religious groups must get together and fight together, he said. "We must learn from political parties who come together despite different ideologies to gain power. Like them, we must evolve a common minimum programme on issues we agree with completely," Swami Agnivesh said.

Swami Agnivesh urged the organisations to bring out a book for schoolchildren so that they can understand what all religions stood for. "Let us help understand the real meaning of those words of the religions," he said.

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