Indian police disrupt civil society meeting to discuss G-20 issues
‘We20: Peoples’ Summit on G-20’ strongly condemned the erosion of democratic institutions and spaces
Muslim Network TV News
NEW DELHI, India – Police in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Sunday tried to disrupt a meeting of civil society groups and politicians to discuss global issues ahead of the G-20 summit scheduled for September.
The three-day meeting, “We20: Peoples’ Summit on G-20,” which ended Sunday, strongly condemned the erosion of democratic institutions and spaces.
According to organizers, police locked the main gate early Sunday morning and did not allow participants into the building. Organizers said they were forced to curtail the meeting under duress.
Social activist Medha Patkar wondered why police objected to the People’s Summit ahead of the G-20 summit. She said the meeting was called to formulate the people’s agenda for the G20 summit.
Thomas Franco of the group People First said the Indian Constitution provides for freedom of speech and expression. “No law prevents people from gathering for peaceful discussion. We condemn the BJP government, which is trying to curtail the rights of the people”
The We20 People’s Summit was held against the backdrop of the G-20 Leaders’ Summit, which will be held in Delhi in early September.
Activists said that despite spending millions on publicity, the G-20 summit remains an informal elitist club that holds all discussions behind closed doors and without popular participation.
They said that their summit was aimed to address the real concerns of the people and bring them before the G-20 club.
More than 700 delegates from different parts of the country representing popular movements and trade unions had gathered.
Prominent activists like Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar, Jayati Ghosh, Manoj Jha, Harsh Mander, Arun Kumar, Brinda Karat, Hannan Mollah, Rajeev Gowda and others attended the meeting.
Six workshops were held on topics such as global finance, big banks and their impact on people, right to information, digital data and surveillance, climate change, India and G20.
People’s Summit spokesperson Kavita Kabeer said that by disrupting the meeting with police, the Indian government sent a clear message that it does not want to listen to people’s concerns.
She said the government wants to show the world a clean and bright India by demolishing the shanties of the poor and marginalized and “beautifying” the city. Therefore, it is suppressing any dissent.
She said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims India is the “mother of democracy,” the attempt to disrupt the meeting of civil society groups shows the country is moving closer to a police state.
The summit called for an overhaul of the international financial architecture.
The statement also said that the causes of rising inequality lie in unchecked capitalist expansion supported by compliant nation-states, as well as tax evasion and avoidance by powerful wealthy actors.
It rejected the G-20’s blue economy agenda, which seeks to economically exploit the ocean ecosystem and resources and turn conservation into a profitable enterprise. It expressed deep concern about the weakening of environmental and eco safety measures.
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