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Hyderabad: Attempt to stop talk on ‘fascism’ foiled

It started with a tweet allegedly sent by a BJP leader to the local police which claimed it was an ‘anti-Hindu programme’.

Hyderabad: The organisers of ‘Fascism is still Resistible’ a closed-group discussion held at Lamakaan on Thursday, encountered a strange situation when Banjara Hills police turned up at the venue asking them to stop the discussion, citing the familiar ‘law and order’ problem.

It started with a tweet allegedly sent by a BJP leader to the local police which claimed it was an ‘anti-Hindu programme’. The police fell in line and turned up at the venue, but backed off when the organisers asked for a written statement for cancellation.

The event went on peacefully. The Lamakaan on Thursday held two events.

One was Sadhana interfaith at 6.00 pm, addressed by Giri Iyengar on Coalition of Progressive Hindus to mobilise Hindu Americans to connect their faith to social justice values. This was followed by ‘Fascism is still Resistible’.

Going by the description of the event posted on the Lamakaan website, the closed-group talk was about issues such as the alleged EVM scam, and the sense of hopelessness and dismay in Left and progressive circles at the ascendance of the present government.

The group discussion was on important issues such as the factors responsible for the rise of fascism in any society.

Trustees worried over Friday’s talk at Lamakaan
The organisers of ‘Fascism is still Resistible’ a closed-group discussion held at Lamakaan on Thursday, encountered a strange situation when Banjara Hills police turned up at the venue asking them to stop the discussion, citing the familiar ‘law and order’ problem.

The group discussion was on important issues such as the factors responsible for the rise of fascism in any society, and the similarities and dissimilarities between the rise of fascism in the 1930s and the current scenario. Farhan, one of the trustees of Lamakaan, said, “The sub inspector turned up asking the organisers to cancel the event. He showed us the tweet (complaint). It was from a BJP leader who tagged BJP Goshamahal MLA Raja Singh and cited the talk to be against Hindus. When we asked him to give his order to cancel in writing, the officer backed off. The organisers took the help of friends in the media to connect with the inspector. We explained that it was to do with fascism and not religion. Lamakaan has stood for liberal politics.”

He said that he is worried about Friday's talk by Professor Rampunyani on ‘Preserving Democracy in Contemporary India.’

“Prof Punyani will take us through the journey of Independent India and how its founding fathers dreamt about a truly secular, socialist and republic India. He will also highlight the major challenges to Indian democracy in contemporary times,” Mr Farhan said.

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