20 years of ANHAD and the Struggle to Build a Democratic, Constitutional Resistance

On the occasion of completing its 20 years, ANHAD will be organising a series of conversations on the legacy and lessons of democratic resistance in the most trying times. In its twenty years of rich work across India, ANHAD has worked with marginalised communities especially the young ones in Gujarat, Kashmir, Bihar and Mewat besides many other places.

It led large public campaigns on communal harmony, constitutional values, women’s reservation, gender based violence among other themes. Most importantly, it pioneered and developed a series of innovative strategies to engage with mass action which include public awareness and cadre building on Secularism and Constitutional values, used various forms of cultural expression as tools of democratic struggle and all this through its insistence on working in collaboration with likeminded organisations and individuals.

While ANHAD completed its 20 years on March 6th, it seeks to build on its legacy to extend conversations on some of its critical learnings for these dark, authoritarian times. It hopes to not just share its own experience in the process but also seeks to invite fellow travellers from across India to build on the same. The purpose, therefore, is to create an action oriented solidarity which can also help develop a joint charter of action in the coming days.

It is in this context that a monthly series of conversations is being planned. The first of the series seeks to share the broader experiences of ANHAD around the above mentioned strategies and then have focused conversations around each of these, namely: Cadre Building, Campaigning, Community action, Cultural Resistance and Collaboration.

The format while including presentations on behalf of ANHAD on each of these themes, would invite thinkers, activists, artists, academics and practitioners to come and share their experiences from across India.