Summary:
Kesavan reminded the audience about the Nellie massacre in central Assam on February 18, 1983, in which more than 10,000 people were killed.Kesavan expressed hope that India, which has become a mature democracy, will survive the threats of majoritarianism. The Bill which was introduced to give citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to religious groups including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan , Bangladesh and Pakistan ignored Shias and Ahmadiyyas, who were persecuted by majority Muslims in Pakistan.Though the seeds of this were sown during partition years, by late 70s, violence based on majoritarianism became mob justice. KOCHI: Majoritarianism is not a challenge faced by India alone and has gained momentum in countries like Sri Lanka , Bangladesh and Myanmar, said historian and writer Mukul Kesavan.Delivering the T K Ramachandran memorial lecture on his 10th death anniversary at KMA hall in Kochi on Saturday, Kesavan said Bangladesh, which was constituted in the early 70s as a secular republic dropped the word 'secularism' from its constitution by mid-70s.The Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist organization Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and the 969-nationalist movement in Myanmar even signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) like corporate companies, he said.Recently, The Citizenship (amendment) Bill, 2016, created a flutter in India..