Remembering December 6, 1992
By People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism
05 December, 2013
Countercurrents.org
December 6, 1992 must count as the darkest day in the history of independent India. While the crowds mobilized by organisations of the RSS destroyed the Babri Mosque in a planned conspiracy, the institutions of the Indian State, elected state and central governments, police and judiciary, stood by as mute spectators. This was the culmination of a prolonged campaign by the RSS and its allies to destabilize constitutional government and seize power via the spread of communal hatred and violence. Thousands of Indian citizens were killed in riots instigated by these forces during the run-up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and after it.
The history of independent India is also a history of communal killings. Riots in Jabalpur (1961), Jamshedpur (1964), Rourkela (1964), Bhiwandi, Ahmedabad (1989), Nellie (1983), Delhi (1984), Malliana-Hashimpur (1987), Bhagalpur (1989), Mumbai (1992-93), Gujarat (2002), Kandhamal (2008) and Muzaffarnagar (2013), are major landmarks in this dark history. Citizens have also suffered violence due to their religious and ethnic identities in Kashmir, during the Khalistani movement in Punjab, and in Assam. None of the organisations and major leaders involved in organising communal violence has been brought to book by the criminal justice system of India. In fact different components of the Indian State have contributed to this violence by their acts of commission and omission.
We believe that all decent-minded Indians must mourn the loss of innocent lives in communal violence. It is a day for us to:
i) Express our solidarity with victims of communal violence who are fighting for justice,
ii) Redouble our efforts to build an India in which no one faces threats due to her/his community, religion, place of origin or ethnicity,
iii) Demand that due punishment be meted out to all organizations and people responsible for communal violence,
iv) Demand accountability of the administration and police officials for failing to take action against communal violence.
We are inspired by the fact that December 6 is also day on which Dr. B.R. Ambedkar died.
Jantar Mantar, Delhi, 6 December 2013, 12 noon
Organisations which have endorsed our stand
Pension Parishad
AIPWA
All India Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (AIMKSS)
All India Secular Forum (AISF)
All India Workers Forum
ANHAD
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan
Bigul Mazdoor Dasta
Black Pepper Publications
Centre for studies in science and societies (CESTUSS)
Centre for Science Policy
Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM)
COVA
Darshan Organisation
Disha Students Organisation
EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)
Indian Community Activists Network (ICAN)
IPSCR
Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum
Khudai Khidmatgar
New Socialist Initiative (NSI)
New Trade Union Initiative NTUI)
New Wave (Bolshevik Leninist)
Nishant Natya Manch, Delhi
Progressive Organization of People (POP)
PUCL Rajastan
Radical Socialist
Rajasthan Mazdoor Kisan Union (RMKU)
Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP)
Revolutionary Youth Association(RYA)
Right to Water Campaign
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Disha Manch
South Asia Citizens Web
Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)
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