China, UAPA, Opposition… This is what was discussed when West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee came to Mumbai.
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00:00Munawar Paruki is here.
00:02Saurik is also victimized.
00:11You have shown us that no one is invincible,
00:15how many ever inches their chest may be
00:17and how much ever muscle power and body power they have.
00:21I completely agree with you that
00:23the resistance to authority and fascism
00:26or whatever you want to call it, is all our burden.
00:29And I assure you, ma'am, that everyone in this room is doing their bit.
00:33There are many older, illustrious people who have spent their lives on this.
00:36But allow me to take a minute to introduce you to some of the younger people
00:39who have risked their careers and their employment and very livelihood
00:44to keep resistance, in their own small way, alive.
00:48Munawar Paruki is here.
00:50He has spent one month in jail.
00:52He spent a month in jail.
00:56Raj is here.
00:58He runs a performance space that has been vandalized continuously
01:01for hosting people like Aditi Mittal, Agrama Joshua, who was attacked.
01:06Richa Chadda is here.
01:08Kukra Singh is here.
01:09Arpita, Ashwini sir, Avinash ji.
01:11All of these people are working in the film industry,
01:14facing a lot of resistance to tell stories
01:17where what is happening in India will find a place.
01:20Fahad is an activist who has multiple FIRs on him.
01:24We are in a situation today, and I'm sorry I'm repeating what we all know,
01:27but it's a lived experience.
01:28We are in a situation today where for a common citizen like me,
01:31we either, on one side, what are our options?
01:34What are we experiencing?
01:35On one side, there is the mob, completely unaccountable
01:38because the ruling dispensation has found a way to use the mob to its liking
01:42and the police and the state seem to be completely okay with allowing that.
01:46On the other side, you have a state that uses arbitrary power
01:50and is distributing UAPA and sedition charges
01:53like this prasad over God we don't want to pray to
01:56but are forced to bow down to.
01:57This is our reality.
01:58I'm sorry I'm a little emotional.
02:00People ask why there is no Meryl Streep in India.
02:03There is no Meryl Streep in India
02:05because Meryl Streep could stand in front of the President-elect of her country
02:09and critique him in the harshest way and not a hair on her head was harmed.
02:13We are all unemployable today.
02:15All of us going to jail is a reality.
02:19My father served in the Navy.
02:20He retired from the Navy.
02:21My mother is a professor.
02:22If I visit the heart of the jail, it will seem like a family reunion.
02:27My friends are there.
02:28My teachers are there.
02:29People we've studied are there.
02:31This is a crazy situation for a free democratic country.
02:34I hope that you will, in the process of your growth to national influence,
02:41I hope you will also be a voice for those people,
02:44the people who don't have the power, who are vulnerable but are still resisting.
02:48That is our hope from you, ma'am.
02:50That you and people like you, who are part of the opposition,
02:55when you all come to power,
02:57you all will make sure that the rule of law and the Constitution are in place
03:01even if it is to your detriment.
03:03Because, as somebody said here, there is nothing greater than the nation.
03:06And in this context, I have a small question, ma'am,
03:08because Sudha Bharadwaj ji has got bail today, but eight others haven't.
03:11What is your take on the UAPA?
03:18And if you were to come to power at the national level,
03:20what would you do with draconian laws like the UAPA specifically?
03:24I think UAPA is not for civic society or the political or the common people.
03:32There are some laws in our country,
03:36it is because of the internal security and the security purpose.
03:40And how to protect the country from the external threats.
03:47But now it is misusing.
03:49It is misusing like anything.
03:53Even there are so many agencies, though I don't have any personal grasp,
03:59but if anything anybody raises,
04:02certainly there will be income tax rate or CBI or ED.
04:09Or UAPA or so many things.
04:12I don't agree with them.
04:15So, I can assure you that if BJP go out and we have any opportunity,
04:21I can tell you there will be no drastic law which can be used against Dr. Chaudhary.
04:28Only human free movement.
04:32Then you can criticize me like anything.
04:35I will be very happy to do it.
04:37Sometimes the criticism gives us the light.
04:41The constructive criticism, it gives us, it shows us the way.
04:47But the game is over, the game will be played again.
04:51The game will be played.
04:53And 24, it is a year marking for the game to be played.
04:58What it is, there should not be any double standard games or double standard politics.
05:03We must follow a uniform policy.
05:05Thank you so much.
05:07Why don't you join politics?
05:15Jab humko laga ke milko nandheera na humko kher liya hai and there is no hope.
05:19You ignited hope in the darkness.
05:21So, you are the face of hope for us.
05:24Gupta ji, bahut important baat yeh hai, yeh samajhna ke,
05:27at times political party thinks that they are the story.
05:31The nation is the story.
05:34No political party is bigger than the nation.
05:37How are you, who I see as the face of hope,
05:41going to protect the liberal stream from the goons of the right wing,
05:46who have imposed on us the politics of silence,
05:50who have terrorized us and intimidated us.
05:53We have lost the moral muscle, the country has lost the moral muscle.
05:59I think it's time to reinvest in that.
06:02And how are you going to put all the liberal forces together
06:08to take the might of the right wing on?
06:11Because they seem at the moment, even with your resounding victory,
06:15almost insurmountable.
06:18Yeh aap kaise karengi?
06:21Can we not all pool our resources and sing the song of India as we were born to?
06:29Unfortunately, we are facing the cruel attitude,
06:36an undemocratic attitude, unethical.
06:42And I don't know how we have been tortured by,
06:47in the name of right wing, one political party, BJP.
06:52I am sorry to mention the name.
06:56But if we are together, I am always very confident.
07:02If you are bold, I know why you have been victimized also.
07:08Sourik is also victimized.
07:10There are so many.
07:11Somebody can open their face, somebody cannot open their face.
07:16But let us not divide the society, not divide the country.
07:21We are all one.
07:25If we want to really fight with them, let us be united.
07:31Wherever you are, speak out.
07:35Bold out there.
07:39You can bold out.
07:42We can fight it out.
07:44You advise us.
07:45You people guide us.
07:47You give us the suggestion so that you control the political parties
07:52that you have to do like this and you have to save the country.
07:56If you want to save the democracy, then we have to work together.
08:05I think we are ready for a female Prime Minister, ma'am.
08:08Why?
08:10There are so many women Prime Ministers like Indira Gandhi,
08:14Bangladesh Ashraf, so there are so many.
08:16No, the time is right, I think, for some goddess energy.
08:20My compliments to you for that.
08:22As a person, I feel very unfortunate that I am young and living through this time
08:28where I feel like half of my life has been lived under a regime
08:33that directly draws inspiration from the Nazi party.
08:37I want to say that I have a few concerns about the way...
08:44Right now, whatever we discussed was internal to the country.
08:49We must not forget we have a very aggressive neighbor.
08:52In the past two years, China has moved from Bhutan to Nepal to Ladakh to everywhere.
08:59I just hope that we understand the position in which we stand today as a country.
09:05If we lose our democracy, we will become another vassal state of this very aggressive neighbor.
09:11And I hope that in the near future, whenever the time is right,
09:15we can put all differences aside and make a BJP-mukta Bharat
09:21so that we can have a strong government and we can tackle all these issues.
09:26That's all I have to say.
09:27It's a fact, I agree with you, but only for external affairs minister, for the sake of country.
09:33I am not going to say anything, but BJP-mukta Bharat honaise sab ho jayega.
09:45For live UN video visit www.un.org