Dilip Simeon's blog

[This appeal was made in 1986 to the India’s National Integration Council by the Movement Against Communalism or Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan. It appeared in print in Mainstream weekly on 26 April 1986. It is uploaded here as part of the SVA archive] "Appeal to the National Integration Council. The country is now facing a moment of truth. The communal situation is so ugly as to demand of all well meaning Indians that they discard all their webs of. self-deception and examine both our past and present condition in a mood of humility and self-criticism. We address this appeal to the NIC in the knowledge that its contents may be unpalatable to some, but in trust that the members of this august body.as patriots, will respect the sincerity of our fellow-Indians who wish to raise voices against this cancer which is destroying our country. Members of the NIC will appreciate that the legitimacy of any government rests upon the faith that common citizens have in its even-handed...

CONSTITUTION OF the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan or Movement Against Communalism (SVA);  Adopted at the Founding Conference, Delhi, January 22-23, 1989,  and amended at the Annual Convention, Delhi, 1990 PDF FILE:  http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/ SVA-Constitution.pdf NB : This document was adopted after lengthy discussion amongst a large number of concerned citizens from all walks of life. The SVA's activities had begun in 1984, with a mass protest demonstration in Delhi on November 24, against the carnage of Sikhs following Indira Gandhi's assassination. (The demonstration was blacked out by the mainstream press). In 1988 its members decided to build a formal organisation in order the better to conduct the public movement against communalism. A meeting was jointly convened under the auspices of the SVA and the People's   Union   for Democratic Rights (PUDR) in November 1988. It was unanimously decided to call an inaugural convention - which took place in the...

Political Resolution of the Annual Convention of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan, (Movement Against Communalism)  Delhi , March 1992 NB - This document is being placed in the public domain as a beginning to an archive. The SVA was an anti-communal civic campaign floated by concerned citizens  in the post '84 period. It carried on a tenuous existence for nearly ten years. It was one of the few secular campaigns which maintained an organisational existence with a written constitution, regular meetings and conventions, and a formal membership. Its history, methods and ideas remain significant today. We (ex-members of SVA) would like to expand this archive and encourage people to use it. The current posting will be amended and extended gradually.  Click here for a brief history:  A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan (SVA ) It was written in 2002, in the aftermath of the Gujarat carnage, for circulation amongst newly formed anti-c...

A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan (1984-1993) NB - This history has been prepared by some activist participants, and may be liable to correction, revision and improvement over time. It is presented here after having been placed on Facebook about a year ago as a Note on my wall - Dilip 1/   The Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan, or Movement Against Communalism, was founded by some of the activists working in the relief camps in Delhi in November 1984. Its original concept was to engage in systematic activity designed to pre-empt communal violence, rather than merely react to its consequences. One of the first acts of the group was to help organise (along with certain political groups and unions outside the established left parties), a protest demonstration on November 24 1984 . Participants still consider this one of the most memorable demonstrations in Delhi in many years, despite the abstention of the national Opposition. Students and professors; butch...