3 min readShimlaNov 14, 2011 03:28 AM IST
First published on: Nov 14, 2011 at 03:28 AM IST
In what is being seen as the first-ever initiative of its kind in the country,the state High Court Chief Justice Kurian Joseph has roped in more than 1,000 citizens including senior state politicians,student leaders,trade unionists,university teachers and students and has made them sign a pledge stating that they will safeguard public property and abjure from violence of any sort.
Leaders of political parties and students’ leaders,who were invited to a ‘public colloquium’ on citizens’ fundamental duty to protect public property held at Himachal Pradesh university’s auditorium,gave a solemn commitment to oppose violence and expel any member who indulged in vandalism or caused damage to public property. The Chief Justice administered a oath to all those who attended the colloquium. The event saw most leaders endorsing CPM state secretariat member Tikender Singh Panwar view that “ violence can’t help in achieving true goals of a democratic movement,it rather frustrates it”.
At Kurian Joseph’s intervention,three student union leaders Vikram,Sanjeev Walia and Naveen Sharma – belonging to SFI,NSUI and ABVP respectively – agreed to resolve their issues by forming a common coordination committee instead of creating unrest on campus.
State Congress President Kaul Singh Thakur said Himachal Pradesh was an ideal state where people believed in peace and strictly respected the rule of law. “ I will not take a minute to expel any member of the party who indulges in violence and causes damage to the public property. Our party believes in secularism,doesn’t support vandalism and forces of disintegration and communalism,” he added.
In the same spirit,Suresh Bhardwaj,a former BJP state chief and Shimla MLA also expressed an equally firm resolve . “ My party has no place for those who believe in the violence though some people (political) have been frequently changing stance on dealing with Maoists and separatists – who believe in concept that power follows from the barrel of the gun”,he said.
The CPM leader Tikender Panwar said that raising a voice against injustice was a democratic right and it was the state that had to protect democratic rights of citizens and students . “ Violence of any kind whether a state sponsored or by the oppressed sections is bad and my party doesn’t support it”,he said.
Justice R B Mishra Judge of High Court and Executive Chairman of State Legal Authority and Justice V K Sharma,another High Court Judge also spoke.
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