Vijayawada: Progressives need to protect secular state, says Ramakrishna

Vijayawada : The communal forces are raising their ugly heads in the secular country like India, said former MLA and CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna while addressing a meeting organised in connection with the 121st birth anniversary of the late atheist leader Gora at Atheist Centre here on Wednesday.

He lamented that the government has been indifferent in the protection of secularism. The secularism is important for the country for its bright future, he added.

Deploring the efforts to change the Constitution, Ramakrishna said that the Indian Constitution reflected the secular and socialist ideology. Expressing concern over the growing atrocities against the minorities across the country, he said that there has been discrimination in the administration towards the minorities which is a dangerous trend.

He recalled that Gora strived all through his life for humanity, equality, and social values, individual freedom, and social justice and the generations should remember his valuable message.

Dr G Samaram, who presided over the meeting, said that casteism and communalism would increase due to the caste census to be undertaken by the government. “It is the responsibility of the government to help everyone in the society in the welfare state irrespective of caste, creed and region,” he said.

Dr Samaram said that there was no column in the caste census to enumerate the atheists, rationalists, materialists and communists which means they would be totally neglected. He demanded that the number of persons who have no caste should also be taken into consideration in the caste census. He said that he had already written letters to the President of India, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and all the chief ministers. Motukuri Arun Kumar, Md Azam, Niyanta, Dr Maru and G Rashmi also spoke.