Harsh Mander on dissent, the ‘partition of hearts’, and why India is apathetic towards its poor

Source: newslaundry

Published on: July 08, 2020

Bio: He talks to Meghnad S about the importance of dissent, the Indian society’s perception of poverty, growing institutional apathy towards the poor in the country, and how the Narendra Modi regime has used the coronavirus lockdown to strengthen its control over the functioning of the society. Speaking about how the lockdown has affected the expression of public dissent, Mander explains that he has “obsessively” written and spoken about pressing matters throughout the lockdown and reached out to people, but “there is a certain energy and passion in a gathering”. The country has recorded so many injustices during the lockdown but the people haven’t hit the streets, he says. However, he adds, “India has sort of not had its George Floyd kind of response.”

Harsh Mander ने कहा,’हम सभी प्रयास कर रहे हैं लेकिन ये भी काफी नहीं है’

Source: NDTV India

Published on: April 09, 2020

Bio: The havoc of Coronavirus is increasing all over the world. This disease is spreading rapidly in India also. To deal with this global epidemic, NDTV organized a special program, which is named ‘Telethon’. The main goal of this program was to raise funds for the hungry homeless. In this program, Harsh Mander said that we are making all efforts but this too will fall short. The workers are facing a lot of problem.

Modi’s Lockdown a Crime against People; AIIMS Gross Negligence Could’ve Led to My Death—Harsh Mander

Source: The Wire

Published on: Dec 28, 2020

Bio : In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire Harsh Mander also spoke about his personal experience at India’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences. In October, when he got Covid, he got himself admitted into a general ward of this hospital and described the experience “as close to hell as I can imagine”. He called it “an unending nightmare”. He said AIIMS was guilty of “at least gross negligence, which could have led to my death”. The second half of this precis of the interview will have details of how Harsh Mander was treated at AIIMS and how he nearly died.

Not scared, but fully anticipate that police can arrest me any time now: Harsh Mander on Delhi riots

Source: ThePrint

Published on: Sep 17, 2020

Bio: Retired IAS officer and activist Harsh Mander told ThePrint he is “anticipating his arrest to take place very soon.” Mander was one of the first names to be mentioned in the Delhi police riots charge sheets back in June. On late Sunday night, Umar Khalid was arrested by the police, months after being booked under UAPA. Several activists and students have been arrested in connection with the riots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsqFb6F6X2s

The Wire Talks:  Ep. 07: Love Jihad and Anti-Minority Violence feat. Harsh Mander

Source: IVM Podcasts

Published on: Dec 15, 2020 

Bio : This week on The Wire Talks, Sidharth Bhatia is joined by Harsh Mander, author, columnist, teacher and social activist. Harsh is an activist for harmony and love. In 2002, Harsh Mander left his job as an IAS officer after the riots in Gujarat. He has since worked on Right to Information at the policy level, and also worked with victims of marginalized and disadvantaged communities. In 2017, he took a Karwan e Mohabbat, a caravan of love, on a journey of atonement and solidarity, and found minorities everywhere in the country living in fear. On this episode, Sidharth and Harsh talk about Harsh leaving his IAS job, what made him leave the IAS, why he felt that our country was losing everything that was precious to us, why our constitution is in need of protection, why our system seems to always let down victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Delhi anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the Bombay riots of 1992-93, what it was like being a human rights defender for the Gujarat riots victims, the similarities between all these historical unrests and the current scenario, how our leaders and authorities can do right by these victims of mass violence, how things in this regard have gotten even worse today in Delhi, why minorities are living in fear today, communal violence and lynchings, the problem with calling inter-religion unions as ‘love jihad’, and lots lots more. Tune in for an eye opening conversation.

Harsh Mander explains the idea behind ‘Karawan e Mohabbat’

Source: The Wire

Published on: Aug 23, 2017 

Bio: ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’ is a journey of shared suffering, of solidarity, of atonement and of love – activist and author Harsh Mander.

Web Series: Harsh Mander on Communalism, Mob Lynching, & Lockdown Sufferings’| हर्ष मंदर की देशवासियों से शिकायत

Source: Faizan Mustafa’s Legal Awareness Web series: LAW’s

Published on: Jan 22, 2021 

Bio : The views expressed here are personal views of Harsh Mander. Legal Awareness Web series does not subscribe to each and everything he has said.

Harsh Mander: “The most radical idea of our times is of fraternity, solidarity and love”

Source: Indian Cultural Forum

Published on: May 03, 2019 

Bio: Harsh Mander, director of Centre for Equity Studies, speaks to Abhilasha of the Indian Cultural Forum about his recent book Partitions of the Heart: Unmaking the Idea of India.

Interview: In UP, The Police Have Set A New Low: Harsh Mander I The Wire | CAA_NRC_NPR Protests

Source: The Wire

Published on: Jan 02, 2020

Bio: Several Indian states including one of the largest in terms of population – Uttar Pradesh – saw demonstrations and violence during the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) since the law was passed by parliament. Subsequently, instances of police brutality have also been reported from various states. Around 25 people have died in the violence, allegedly unleashed by the police, out of which 20 dead are from Uttar Pradesh. Well-known human rights activist Harsh Mander is leading the public outcry against the police’s brutality on protestors. He visited several areas of Uttar Pradesh and returned with facts from the ground. In this interview, Mander is in conversation with The Wire‘s deputy editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta.

‘Solicitor General Has Been Mischievous, I Stand By Every Word of My Speech’: Harsh Mander

Source: The Wire 

Published on: March 09, 2019

Bio: In a nearly 45-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Harsh Mander pointed out that immediately after he said “the decision can be taken on the streets” he went on to speak at great length about how it had to be taken non-violently and on the basis of love. In his speech he said “we have only one answer to their hatred and that answer is love … most importantly, we have to fight with non-violence. Anyone who incites you to violence and hatred is not a friend of yours.” Harsh Mander also ended the speech with the slogan Samvidhaan Zindabad.

Sustainability Series: Why we need the Karwan e Mohabbat | #Tathya w Harsh Mander, Natasha Badhwar, Navsharan Singh
Source: Karwan e Mohabbat
Published on: May 19, 2019

Bio:“True bravery lies in standing up to violence,” says #HarshMander, “not in being violent towards the weak…The Karwan e Mohabbat will talk, write, make films…so no one can claim later that they did not know how minorities were being marginalised.” “They should not need to say it, yet Muslims feel compelled to reiterate that they have chosen India not by chance but by choice. Why should minorities be forced to prove their nationalism,” asks #NavsharanSingh “It is impossible to forget the faces of elderly parents of lynching victims…as they fight for crumbs of justice,” says #NatashaBadhwar. “It should no longer be possible for us to allow these atrocities.”

Sustainability Series: I Am Miya – Reclaiming Identity through Protest poetry | Karwan e Mohabbat
Source: NewsClickin
Published on: Jun 30, 2019

Bio:‘Miya’ poetry is a reclaiming of one’s Muslim identity by the Bengali-origin Muslims of Assam, protest poetry that rebels against subjugation and oppression. Miya is an Urdu word that means “gentleman”, but it has become a slur in Assam and is used as a word of abuse. Poets and activists from the Bengali Muslim community have found a way to take the derogatory term “Miya” and subvert it. Miya poetry seeks answers to questions of belonging and citizenship. It echoes the fears of a community threatened by exclusion from the NRC – National Register of Citizens.

Where The Streets Have No Name | #HumLogWeThePeople
Source: Karwan e Mohabbat
Published on: Mar 15, 2019

Bio: “The worse I appear, the better it is for me. No one will approach me.” Repeatedly sexually abused as a child, #Kasim grew up, homeless, lonely and HIV positive. Where does the homeless person belong? What does he inherit, what does he leave behind? Mohammad Abdul Kasim Ali Shaikh had come so far away from what was once home that he cannot find his way back anymore. Kasim was repeatedly sexually abused as a child till he found a way to become his own protector. HIV positive and working as a rickshaw puller in old Delhi’s crowded, winding streets, he had known abuse, humiliation and the desperate ignominy of hunger all his life. Today, Kasim is no more. Yet, Kasim lives forever.

Sustainability Series: Shankar Venkateswaran in conversation with Harsh Mander
Source: Tata Group
Published on: 1st July, 2016

Bio:Shankar Venkateswaran, Chief, Tata Sustainability Group, and Harsh Mander, Director – Centre for Equity Studies, discuss sustainable development in a global context. This video is one in a three part sustainability series on diverse stakeholder perspectives, discussed at the Tata Sustainability Month CXOs Symposium.

Harsh Mander tells the ancient Indian fable of “the blind men and the elephant
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Published on: Published on 15th December, 2015

Bio: Interview with Mr Harsh Mander (Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi, India) who use the ancient Indian fable of “the blind men and the elephant” to explain the different approaches to fight hunger and malnutrition.

True Media Needs True Allies | Harsh Mander
Source: The Caravan Magazine
Published on: 25th December, 2018

Detention Camps in Assam are like a concentration camp – Harsh Mander
Source: Chandan Chatterjee
Published on: Published on 6th April, 2019

Bio: Harsh Mander on detention camp of assam expressed his displeasure on the inhuman conditions of the detainee.

Mr. Harsh Mander : Current Political Climate
Source: Association of Indian Muslims
Published on: Published on 16th February, 2019

Bio: Harsh Mander, social worker and writer, is a member of the National Advisory Council, delivered his views regarding Current political climate.

Battle for the Idea of India | #Tathya with Harsh Mander
Source: Karwan-e-Mohabbat
Published on: 4th March, 2019

Bio: “This is the battle for the idea of India – an India where it does not matter which God you worship, which language you speak… where there is no conditionality to belong and to belong equally.” ~ Harsh Mander in a powerful, evocative new episode of #Tathya In India we are living in troubled times and later generations are going to ask you and as they are going to ask me, “What were you doing at this time?”

#Tathya w Harsh Mander – Rahul Gandhi’s silence on hate politics is unacceptable
Source: Karwan-e-Mohabbat
Published on: 15th December, 2018

Bio: The Congress Party must stand up for minorities, Dalits and those affected by hate crimes. We can believe that they are a viable alternative choice only if they display the courage to speak up in the run-up to the elections in 2019.

The Age of Valorisation of Hate | #Tathya by Harsh Mander
Source: Karwan-e-Mohabbat
Published on: Published on 8th February, 2019

Bio: “What is morally correct is also what is politically most sound,” says Harsh Mander in response to those who try to justify compromise of secular values for the sake of electoral gains. We have to confront the hatred in our own hearts and examine our own complicity in the violence that we witness around us.

Harsh Mander at Manthan (#164) on ‘Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India’.
Source: Manthan India
Published on: Nov 12, 2015

Bio: In the two decades since the early 1990s, when India confirmed its allegiance to the Free Market, more of its citizens have become marginalized than ever before. And, as the economics of inequality has converged with majoritarian politics, Indian society has become more sharply riven than ever. Harsh Mander analyses the many different fault lines which crisscross Indian society today. There is increasing prosperity among the middle classes, but also a corresponding intolerance for the less fortunate. Poverty and homelessness are also on the rise—both in urban and rural settings—but not only has the state abandoned its responsibility to provide for those afflicted, the middle class, too, now avoids even the basic impulses of sharing. Harsh Mander argues that what most stains society today is the erosion in the imperative for sympathy, both at the state and individual levels, a crumbling that is principally at the base of the vast inequities which afflict India. Harsh lays down a sobering checklist of all the things we must collectively get right if India is to be the country that was promised, in equal measure, to all its citizens.

Wide Angle, Episode 27: Ram Guha and Harsh Mander on the Liberal Churn

Source: The Wire, Youtube

Published on: Published on Apr 6, 2018

Bio: The unprecedented rise of majoritarian politics all around the world has led to volatile debates on the way we define nationalism, secularism and liberalism. While one puts identity and nation first, another frees us to pursue faith, the third involves a commitment to protect minorities. But today’s politics and its new vocabulary of hate and persecution are testing these definitions and many who stand by these values. Being open to debate is a hallmark of liberal ideologies and we have seen one unfold on the pages of a leading national newspaper. So today on Wide Angle, the authors of the two original pieces: Both Ram Guha and Harsh Mander have spent a lifetime speaking for the rights of Dalits, minorities and Adivasis – one through academia, and the other through activism.

Discourse – Defending India’s Democracy
Source: Rajya Sabha TV, Youtube
Published on: Feb 12, 2016

Bio: A discourse by Harsh Mander, Special Commissioner, Supreme Court of India & Social Activist on the four pillars of Constitution: Justice, Equality, Liberty & Fraternity.

Why are we blind to poverty? | Harsh Mander | TEDxWalledCity
Source: Ted X Talks, Youtube
Published on: Mar 29, 2016

Bio: It’s impossible to not see it, yet we are blind to it – such is our reaction to other people’s poverty, inequality and pain.

Interview with Harsh Mander about the State’s obligations on the right to adequate food in India
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Youtube
Published on: December 15, 2015

Bio: Interview with Mr Harsh Mander (Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi, India) providing an overview on the main issues debated during the development and passage of the India’s National Food Security Act (2013), focusing on the State’s obligations on the right to adequate food.

The Big Picture – Kashmir Conundrum: Development and threat to peace
Source: Rajya Sabha TV, Youtube
Published on: Jun 26, 2013

Bio: Guests: Prof. Radha Kumar (Director, Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution) ; Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Kapil Kak (Defence Analyst) ; Prof. Riyaz Punjabi (Former Vice Chancellor (University of Kashmir) ; Harsh Mander (Social Activist and Former Member, NAC) ; Pushp Saraf (Senior Journalist)

Ishrat Jahan case: Harsh Mander and Siddharth Varadarajan sift fact from fiction
Source: The Wire, Youtube
Published on: Jun 20, 2016
Bio: Unavailable

Secularism and Democracy: Ashish Nandy, Harsh Mander, Neera Chandoke
Source: Idea of India conclave
Published on: July 2, 2015
Bio: Unavailable

Harsh Mander’s challenge to the UN: ‘Put the last person first’ – short version
Source: UNFPA Asia, Youtube
Published on: Jan 28, 2016

Bio: “Putting the last person first”: Harsh Mander, the noted social activist from India, spoke at UNFPA Asia-Pacific’s Regional Planning Meeting in January 2016. Mander offered ideas on how the United Nations family could address often difficult human rights and social empowerment issues, including vis-a-vis governments of member states, underpinned by the principle of putting the “last person first.”

The Multiple Social Imaginaries of Modern Indian secularism – Rajeev Bhargav
Source: McGill Univerity
Published on: September 6th, 2012

Bio: A conference of the Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Philosophie Politique (GRIPP) de Montréal, the Centre de Recherche en Éthique de l’Université de Montréal (CRÉUM) and McGill University’ Research Group on Constitutional Studies (RGCS).

The Big Picture – Housing for all: Viability & Roadblocks
Source: Rajya Sabha TV, Youtube
Published on: Sep 23, 2015

Bio: Guests: Sudhir Krishna (Former Secretary, Urban Development, Govt of India) ; Harsh Mander (Social Activist and Director, Centre for Equity Studies) ; Shubhagato Dasgupta (Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research) ; Srinivas Goli (Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, JNU)

Harsh Mander, Writer & Social Activist
Source: Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest
Published on: Nov 5, 2014

Bio: In conversation with Boom News, associated with PING Network, Harsh Mander, writer and social activist, shares his views on his book “Ash in The Belly: India’s Unfinished Battle Against Hunger”. He elaborates on the indifference about inequality that exists in India. He also talks about driving force behind his writing.

What Happens After a Lynching? Interview with Harsh Mander, John Dayal & Natasha Badhwar
Source: The Quint
Published on: Aug 25, 2018

Bio: ‘When you lose your loved one to hate violence, it has different kind of suffering’, says activist Harsh Mander in an interview with The Quint. Mander met families of victims in eight states as part of the ‘Karwan-e-Mohabbat’ initiative.

Interview with Harsh Mander || Sakshi Special – Watch Exclusive
Source: Sakshi TV
Published on: Feb 5, 2017
Bio: Unavailable

The Long Shadow of Joblessness in the High Noon of Growth
Source: The Wire, Youtube
Published on: Aug 23, 2018

Bio: Jayati Ghosh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Renana Jhabvala & Atul Sood join Harsh Mander in the first Policy & Inclusion Debate on joblessness. The event was held at the India International Centre, Delhi on August 13, 2018.

Lessons and Debates from India’s Recent Elections: Inequality and Indifference in New India
Source: AID JHU
Published on: Nov 17, 2014
Bio: Unavailable

Live with Harsh Mander: What is ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’?
Source: The Wire, Youtube
Published on:  Aug 22, 2017

Bio: ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’ is a journey of shared suffering, of solidarity, of atonement and of love – activist and author Harsh Mander.

Interview with Harsh Mander – International Commission of Jurists – Geneva Forum 2014
Source: True Hereos
Published on: Dec 10, 2014

Bio: The Geneva Forum 2014 on judicial enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights has been made possible with the support of the République et Canton de Genève, the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in Geneva, and the Taipei Bar Association.

Tarkash with Harsh Mander
Source: Rajya Sabha TV
Published on: May 15, 2013
Bio: Unavailable

Urban Futures Defeating Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in a New India
Source: Sumeet Madhukar Moghe
Published on: Oct 25, 2016
Bio: Unavailable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib4csX3WEHw

Khaas Mulaqat: Harsh Mander, Social activist
Source: Munsif TV Live
Published on: Jul 16, 2018
Bio: Unavailable

Bio: Just over two weeks ago, on December 3, inspector Subodh Singh was killed by a mob in UP’s Bulandshar. Some 400 people rampaged through a village after 25 cow carcasses were found in a nearby jungle. Inspector Subodh Singh died of gunshot wounds when he went there to control the violence. The main accused, Yogesh Raj, a local Bajrang Dal leader, is still missing but he has put out videos proclaiming his innocence. The other main accused is Shikhar Agrawal, President of BJP’s Yuva Morcha in Bulandshahr. He’s also made videos, but the police just can’t seem to find them. For the police he priority was clear – from day one they said they needed to catch the cow killers, and they arrested four people. But now they say those four people were innocent and three fresh arrests have been made. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said his government should be praised and he called this a political conspiracy after first calling the incident an accident.