Joint resolution of 26 Opposition parties strongly pitches for conducting caste census
The joint resolution of 26 Opposition parties released on Tuesday (July 18) after the Bengaluru meet, makes a strong pitch for the implementation of the caste census even as the parties resolved to safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution.
The Opposition parties said that they have joined hands to defeat the “hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities” as well as fight against the “rising crimes against women, Dalits, tribals and Kashmiri Pandits”.
In their Samuhik Sankalp (joint resolution) released after the Opposition parties meeting, the parties expressed their steadfast resolve to safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution.
“The character of our republic is being severely assaulted in a systematic manner by the BJP. We are at a most crucial juncture in our nation’s history. The foundational pillars of the Indian Constitution – secular democracy, economic sovereignty, social justice and federalism are being methodically and menacingly undermined,” they alleged.
“We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the Caste Census,” the parties said in their resolution passed “in one voice” at the meeting.
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Fight against persecution and suppression
The Opposition parties resolved to fight what they claimed was the systemic conspiracy by the BJP to “target, persecute and suppress our fellow Indians”.
“Their poisonous campaign of hate has led to vicious violence against all those opposed to the ruling party and its divisive ideology. These attacks are not only violating constitutional rights and freedoms but also eroding the basic values upon which the Republic of India is founded – Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and Justice Political, Economic and Social,” the resolution said.
“We pledge to present to the nation an alternative political, social and economic agenda. We promise to transform both the substance and style of governance that will be more consultative, democratic and participative,” it said.
Top Opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra along with presidents and leaders of several parties attended the meeting.
(With agency inputs)
