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 Striving for Secular Democracy: new book on resources against communalism in India
The Milli Gazette
Contemporary world has been plagued by the rise of communal politics for the last two decades or so. This projection of political interests in the garb of religion has posed serious problems to the social and political activists and has also put a brake on the process of social transformation of caste and gender, adversely affecting the rights of weaker sections of society. The democratization process has also been seriously jeopardized by this phenomenon of religion based politics.
This book edited by Ram Puniyani, aims to apprise the social activist, concerned individuals and scholars working in the arena of these themes about the vast range of material available. While most of the details are given some minor entries may be missing as the data has been compiled from various sources. While first nine chapters deal with the books in details, some important books and articles have just been listed. It does not reflect on the quality of those contributions, only we wanted to restrict the number of books to a manageable volume and also that for some of these details were not available. Hope this work will be of use to the sections of society striving to uphold democratic and secular values.
This literature is both written and visual. In the fight against communalism they serve as a very valuable source. Without them possibly the vicious propaganda communal forces had unleashed could not have been met.
This publication is not intended as an addition to the pile of materials on communal politics. Instead it brings together a catalogue of published books and audio visual materials against communalism in India. It's a practical guide for secular activists to enrich their work with a better theoretical and conceptual grasp. It also provides a vital source of information and illumination to scholars and activists engaged in anti-communal campaign and advocacy on minority rights. The Catalogue covers a wide range of published works, documentary films, cassettes and posters dealing with different facets of communal problems from a historical to the present scenario as it have developed during last few decades. It also covers a wide range of topics and issues from communalism to communal violence, abuse of history in the consolidation of communalism, the genesis and development of communal politics, the concept of secularism, communalism and fundamentalism, saffronisation of education, analysis of Muslim political thought and the status and problems of Muslim women; the Dalit question and social justice in the light of the Hindutva onslaught; 'faith as science'; the question of culture and cultural interventions in the face of present offensive of the Hindu Right and also other related issues and concerns on communalism
Ram Puniyani who has been at the forefront of the struggle to counter the communal canard has done commendable service to the secular cause by preparing a descriptive catalogue of this resource material. This catalogue would be extremely useful to social activists who are engaged in the fight against communalism, which despite being deprived of political power in the last elections, continues to be ideologically quite influential in society.
Price: Rs. 100/- (Including Postage) to Indian Addresses only
Please send M.O. or D.D. in favour of Vikas Adhyayan Kendra
Available at:
Vikas Adhyayan Kendra
D-1 Shivdham, 62 Link Road
Malad West, Mumbai 400 064
Ph: 2882 28 50 / 2889 86 62
Fax: 022 – 2889 89 41
Email: vak@bom3.vsnl.net.in
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