BENGALURU: Noted historian Ramachandra Guha said there is a need to renew and revitalise civil societies in India, and a very active country-wide network of civil societies is needed. He was speaking after the release of the manifesto of Bapu Ke Log (People of Bapu Mahatma Gandhi) here on Sunday. Bapu Ke Log is a national organisation of Gandhians, working for the mitigation of climate crisis.
He said that civil societies will check the misuse of political power by the ‘state’, and on the other hand, check the economic greed of the ‘market’. Along with the need to revitalise civil societies, Guha also batted for emphasis on reorientation of science, transparency and political decentralisation.
Guha went on to say that the land, river and groundwater are polluted, and there is an environmental crisis independent of climate change, and in this context, Bapu Ke Log’s manifesto is important. Commending the organisation, Guha said the manifesto is an important intervention in how we think of India today and tomorrow.
Well-known theatre director Prasanna said the manifesto intends to mitigate the effects of the present climate change crisis. One of the core ideas declared in the manifesto is the implementation of a 70-30 economy -- at least 70 per cent of human labour involved in the production of all goods and services. The manifesto said their programme stipulates that the overall loss of labour suffered because the introduction of automation should not be more than 30 per cent man-days.
“The old gods who represented labour-driven cultures and moral governance are replaced with new gods. Synthetic gods are fed. The notion of Ram Rajya is being upturned and being ensconced in monster temples,” said Prasanna, adding Bapu Ke Log will grow bigger and re-establish faith and true Rama Rajya.