A global conference 'India Summit' was organized in Hyderabad, the capital of our country's Telangana state, on 25-26 April by the joint initiative of Samriddhi Bharat Foundation and Telangana Government. In which 400 delegates from about 100 different countries around the world participated. The background of these delegates was from politics, education and social activism. The Chief Minister of the state, Shri Revanth Reddy and his cabinet gave active cooperation for the arrangement and success of the conference. Not only this, but some ministers of the state also participated in the discussions.
Around 70 years ago in 1955, a global conference called 'Bandung Conference' was organized in Delhi, the capital of the country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. After World War II, the problems of the newly independent countries of Asia, Africa and South America and their solutions were discussed in the context of non-alignment and foreign policy. The policy was chosen. The burning question was how the newly independent countries of above three continents chart their own path of self- sustained human growth peacefully without being swayed by either the capitalist bloc of America on one side and the communist bloc of Soviet Russia on the other side. The country's Prime Minister Nehru had a lion's share in creating that ideology known as the ideology of Non-Alignment.
Exactly 70 years later in the year 2025, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition parties in Parliament, 400 representatives from 100 countries attended the Hyderabad Conference. This was the first attempt to bring the factors that were progressing for the development of people in their own countries at the local level in different countries around the world on one platform. The objective of the organizers of the conference as the host was clear. The organizer was not at all interested in increasing the percentage of voters by two to five percent for the elections of their party. But the question was how to create a new global order, freeing ourselves from the clutches of right-wing countries and external forces that have gained power by subverting the representative electoral system and reactionary religious mode of thought that are emerging at the global level, against democracy and human values.
The world has changed a lot in the last seven decades. Global politics has also changed a lot. The authorities supported by these right-wing extremist religious forces have started turning back the hands of the clock of worldly human-centered development in each country. In each country, the death knell of modern institutions and cultures that came into existence with the cooperation of knowledge-science-technology in the past seven decades has started ringing. It has created a serious challenge at the global level for the survival of human civilization in the long run.
After World War II, all countries of the world, no matter how serious the problems within their own countries and with each other, especially neighboring countries, have resolved peacefully through discussion, internal cooperation and faith in the rule of law. To solve the internal problems of the country and international problems between two countries, the fascist dictatorial methods of violence, military clashes and weapons of war were abandoned. In World War II, the Nazi dictator of Germany, Hitler, adopted those vile and inhuman methods to completely exterminate the Jews as a community and Hitler's political opponents throughout Europe. The USA and European countries have established the Holocaust Museum as a study center. So that the future generation of mankind can learn from it and not repeat such mistakes again and again.
The unanimous conclusion of the current Hyderabad Conference was that in the last two decades of the 21st century, especially after 2010, the treatment of all kinds of minorities of those countries, such as religious, ethnic, racial, gender-based, and the immigrants settled in every country, by the majority population has not only gradually become such that it will repeat 'that Hitler's racial holocaust', but has also been increasing. The majority population of that nation has continuously treated all kinds of minorities as if they were a threat to the national interest and security. This majority have become hostile, hateful and violent towards them. In which there is both direct and indirect open and tacit consent of the ruling party. (These minority presence are now being propagated as a serious threat to nation states.) Now this ethnic, casteist and cultural nationalism has assumed an intolerant and violent form in a very short period of time.
The second question, who is dangerous for the nation-state civil society? This was the main discussion in this conference. It was observed in the India Summit that the main threat to the modern nation-state is the dictatorship of the extreme right-wing `majority fanatic-ethnic-ruling party` in that country. Because it is based on the pre-nation state philosophies or pre-modern loyalties that have inspired cultural nationalism. The entire existence and development of the modern nation state is based on the philosophies and values of rationalism, liberalism, secularism and globalization. Cultural nationalism (ultra-nationalism) is completely against these values, because it is based on divisive politics and xenophobia. This cultural nationalism does not believe in modern civic values such as liberty, equality and fraternity, which are democratic values guaranteed by the constitutions of modern nation states. Thus, cultural nationalism (ultra-nationalism) is also fundamentally against constitutionalism which is based on the inalienable human individual rights.
. This global crisis is not only political, economic or social but also philosophical. We, all progressive global forces, have come together now to create a new world order based on values that have gradually evolved from the struggle to sustain life based on human-centered secular values. Our efforts are to free humanity from all its past bonds and inhibitions. We are inspired to discuss how we want to create a new world order.
The conference had seven panels and a closing session lasting two days. The first panel discussion was on 'Gender Justice and A Feminist Future', which highlighted the challenges faced by women around the world. The focus was on women's empowerment and the panelists discussed how cultural nationalism (ultra-nationalism) is hindering it. There was a proposal for a feminist foreign policy. In the open discussion, the delegates raised a very interesting question on its roots in patriarchy and religious fundamentalism, which has led to the connections between patriarchy and conservatism. On top of that, cultural nationalism (ultra-right) has built up a very tall pyramid.
Panel two was on 'Fact vs Fiction: Countering Disinformation', which started a heated debate on how facts are being fictionalized and how disinformation is being spread by right-wing forces. All the panelists highlighted how right-wing politics is built on propaganda in countries and stressed the importance of stopping such propaganda politics to create progressive politics.
The panel on the topic 'Youth and Tomorrow's Politics' emphasized the participation of youth in politics and said that only youth can change the current world order. Today, all the nations of the world have been reborn on the basis of large-scale citizen migration within the 21st century. There was also a long discussion in the panel on how to shape 'New Multilateralism' migration. The modern world and modern nations were reborn on the basis of the globalization wind that blew after the end of the Second World War, through the Infotech-Revolution. Therefore, the borders of the nation have now become irrelevant. Then, all the right-wing governments based on this cultural nationalism have started taking extreme measures against citizen migration in their countries. They want to hinder the natural transition of people on a large scale. They want to create a stumbling block with their might against the creation of a multi-faceted and multicultural modern society. They are using their political power inhumanly and ruthlessly by giving lollipops to their local people behind the concept of a highly imaginary grand past like 'Vishvaguru'.
The panelists have expressed concern about the weakening of world organizations like the UN in recent times. Withdrawal from multilateral treaties also has a devastating impact on the global climate and environment. The panelists said that the recent withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement has shocked the world. There was a panel on accelerating climate justice at the conference, and all the panelists and delegates expressed disappointment at the changing attitude of developed countries towards climate change. They linked this to the growing far-right politics. They are least concerned for the moral public good of the world. This is despite the fact that developed countries have been responsible for the majority of carbon emissions for the last few decades.
The conference panel on 'Pluralism, Diversity and De-Polarization with Respect and De-Pollution' highlighted the threat posed by the far-right to ethno-nationalism and cultural polarization through a comprehensive discussion on plurality and diversity. The conference also laid emphasis on respecting diverse cultural and religious identities. The panels on 'Economic Justice in Uncertain Times' and 'Peace and Justice in a Multipolar World' deepened the discussion on the challenges posed by the world's diversity and the far-right.
On 26 April, the presence of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi added a special touch to the concluding session. The session highlighted the themes of the conference, where political leaders from the main participating countries spoke on how the rise of far-right movements is leading their countries towards authoritarianism. Rahul Gandhi spoke about how he undertook the Bharat Jodo Yatra to protest against the situation created by the Bharatiya Janata Party rule, which is spreading divisive politics and hatred on Indian soil. He said that he went to the people and told them that his journey was only to open a "SHOP OF LOVE IN THE MARKET OF HATE", and the people of India welcomed him with open arms.
Similarities can be seen in the speeches of all the delegates. All spoke about the threat of far-right elements in their respective countries and how they are creating hatred against other communities. The session emphasized that hatred is only the capital of the far-right worldwide, and it must be confronted.
The conference ended with a declaration called 'Hyderabad Resolution: Delivering Global Justice', which listed 44 points to be achieved. The last point of the declaration said, "Together we will confront injustice, usher in a new era of transformation, build a world that respects the rights and aspirations of working people and ensures the fullness of life for all." In this way, the conference attempted to imagine a new world order on the principles of freedom, equality and fraternity, which is consistent with Nehruvian socialism. Overall, it created hope for a new society by creating a progressive alliance of countries, a society free from hatred.
(Compiled and translated by Bipin Shroff. Atlanta–5–5–25.)
