People's Democracy

THE current presidential election comes at a critical moment in our history when the communalisation of the polity, society, and academic institutions has put a question mark on our very survival as a modern, progressive nation. The war clouds, generated by our conflict with Pakistan, and blackened by the threat of mutual nuclear destruction, still cast their shadows. Our sovereignity is being compromised by political and economic concessions given to US and its allies, in the name of our conflict with Pakistan. It is important at this juncture that India has a president who stands for peace, compassion, secularism and democracy.

The NDA has chosen as its presidential candidate A P J Abdul Kalam whose chief claim to fame rests on his stewardship of India’s missile and nuclear arms programmes. His election at this juncture would give an imprimatur of legitimacy to the jingoistic forces. This indeed is one reason why they have chosen him, besides their hope that their choice of a Muslim would serve to cover up their infamous role in the state-sponsored carnage in Gujarat.

Kalam too has not distanced himself from the positions of the communalists and the bomb lobby. At his press conference after filing his nomination, not only did he have nothing to say on Gujarat, apart from describing as just "painful", but he also talked of "3000 years of invasion of India". Since all pre-colonial "invasions" led to the local settlement and eventual assimilation of the so-called "invaders", giving rise to our composite culture of today, this particular remark of his simply echoes the views of the sangh parivar. He talked also of the nuclear arsenals of India and Pakistan being responsible for preventing a war, a view that not only supports the bomb, but also amounts to saying that a proliferation of nuclear weapons would serve the cause of world peace. The approach he displayed towards burning social issues, leaving everything to "development" is naive and diversionary. On the whole, the hope that Kalam in office can exercise a restraining influence on the communalists who have sponsored his candidature appears ill-founded.

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, the opposing candidate for the presidency, is a legendary heroine of the INA in the struggle for freedom, an indomitable upholder of the rights of workers, peasants and women, a fighter for the protection of the minorities, a critic of the Pokhran tests and war hysteria, and an untiring soldier for socialism (the ideal inscribed in our constitution). Today, the country needs the patriotism and dedication of Dr. Sahgal, not the jingoism and nuclear braggadocio, masquerading as patriotism, that the BJP and its affiliates represent. Widespread support for Dr. Lakshmi Sahgal’s election would signal India’s commitment to peace, national independence, secularism, equity and democracy.

We therefore appeal to all members of parliament and state legislatures to vote for Dr. Lakshmi Sahgal for president.

RS Sharma, Irfan Habib, Ashok Mitra, Prabhat Patnaik, Zoya Hasan, Ram Rahman, Saeed Mirza, Vivan Sundaram, MK Raina, Arpana Caur, KN Panikkar, DN Jha, Javed Alam, Utsa Patnaik, Teesta Setalwad, Javed Anand,  CP Chandrasekhar, Sudhir Chandra, Imrana Qadir, Joyoti Ghosh, Mihir Bhattacharya, Malini Bhattacharya