Department of philosophy, Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur in collaboration with Department of Philosophy, Panjab University organized a national Seminar on ‘Democracy, Resistance and Globalization’ at Department of philosophy, Panjab University Chandigarh on 9th and 10th Feb, 2011. Dr. Shiwani Sharma of Philosophy department presented the welcome address.
Addressing the participants which included seventy undergraduate students from Dev Samaj College for women, Ferozepur City, Dr. Dharmendra Goel, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Department said, “Resistance is an indispensable part of democracy. Resistance is a dialogue, a fundamental right of expression which sustains the very notion of democracy. It is absolutely necessary to submit resistance if there is any violation on part of any individual or institution against the laws and the essential norms of democracy. Gandhi’s Civil disobedience or Satygraha without violence against the establishment, French resistance against the Nazi in the early fourties of the twentieth century are classic examples of the resistance.”
Professor Shalina Mehta from Anthropology Department, Panjab University, focused on tribal issues and democracy. She said that Indian society is not a homogenous society and the issues of development of the urban and the tribal are different. She said that the issues of tribal do not get proper government attention and the people who work for tribal rights face the highhandedness of the government and its officials on different fronts.
Lallan Singh Baghel of Philosophy Department, Panjab University, philosophically elaborated the notions of resistance and democracy. He said that resistance is a concept which aims at bringing real problems of the society to the attention of the government and demands its immediate solution.
Rajeev Godara from Sampooran Kranti Manch, Haryana, speaking on the Role of resistance in democracy said that Dr. Binayak Sens' arrest is a big jolt to the law and democracy of India He further said that Binayak Sen is a world acclaimed human rights worker who dedicated his entire life to work for the underprivileged in the country and his resistance to the governments' unfair policies for the tribals has cost him life imprisonment. Rajeev emphasized a need to build an atmosphere where the government should be accountable to public views and resistance against its policies, laws and other issues of development.
On the second day of seminar, Dr. Prem Singh from Delhi University talked about the nature of democracy and nature of peoples' movements. He based his lecture on the main theme of decentralization of the government and maintained that all the movements working in favour of democratic ideals have to come together to minimize the loss, the movements are suffering due to the contradictions which favors the oppressive regimes.
All the lectures were followed by serious discussions during which the students raised some intriguing questions with respect to the current nature of Indian state and its democratic profile. The seminar was coordinated by Dr. Ambuj Sharma, Asst. Professor Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur and coordinator of the Critique Ferozepur.
