Love in the time of hate: social activist's call to conscience

One of the defining moments of the recent racial tensions in the US was a march of tens of thousands, denouncing white supremacists, spectacularly swamping a rally featuring far-right speakers in Boston.
Hate crimes in the name of faith and caste have swept several parts of India, too, but there have been few large- scale solidarity moves with targeted communities and against the recent spate of lynchings, barring some such as the 'Not In My Name' marches.
In these circumstances, a cross-country journey of "love, atonement and solidarity" by social activist Harsh Mander may come across as romantic and high on idealism.

Love in the time of hate -- to twist the title of novelist Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez's peerless work -- would perhaps best describe his latest radical initiative.
Mander, who quit the civil services following the 2002 Gujarat riots, finds the silence of the majority disquieting, but also sees potential in that vacuum which he hopes to fill through his upcoming 'karwan-e-mohabbat' (KeM), caravan of love, weaving acts of solidarity and atonement.
"The lynchings represent a new phase in targeted violence because communal violence is still limited by geography and time but lynchings are not. A member of the targeted community is made to feel vulnerable at any place at any time, at workplace or home. And that has created an enormous sense of fear among them," Mander, 62, told PTI.

His 'karwan' will roll out from Assam on September 4, reaching out to families affected by lynchings in the state.

It will travel to states including Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat, where the KeM plans to celebrate those who in 2002 saved lives -- who, Mander believes, outnumber those who killed.
But could the soft-spoken, unassuming author-activist's belief on the good sense of the majority be misplaced?
"We are discovering that there is much more hate in our hearts than we had expected. I believe this battle is now about hearts and minds. The electoral battle is merely the reflection of what is going in inside our hearts and minds," he said.

The prominent civil society activist fears that if India hurtles down the path it is currently on for another few years, it will be a different country.
"My worry is about the Muslim minority going into a sense of submission that they have to live here as second class citizens," he said.
The campaign has been trying to raise funds through crowdsourcing and has gathered around Rs 4.2 lakh so far.
Mander, who will wind up the journey in Porbandar, Gujarat, on October 2, will be accompanied by other activists, all travelling by road, underlining 20th century German playwright Bertolt Brecht's memorable lines.

?In the dark times, will there also be singing," Brecht wrote. "Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.