Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Movement for Peace and Justice held its National Convention on Right to Life with Dignity on Sunday, drawing attention to youth distress, inequality, and weakening constitutional values. The gathering brought together lawyers, activists, journalists, and community leaders from across the country.
Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, delivering the keynote address, said India’s diversity remained its core strength. He warned that rising inequality and joblessness were eroding social cohesion. He spoke of sustained pressure on constitutional institutions and said this trend affected basic rights promised to citizens. Referring to court rulings, Bhushan said Article 21 had grown to include food, clothing, shelter, and basic amenities. Large sections of society still lived without these essentials. He also raised concern over child malnutrition and the gap between legal guarantees and lived reality.
In his presidential address, Syed Sadatullah Husaini, National President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said India’s economic size stood in sharp contrast to the scale of poverty. He said the crisis flowed from flawed public policy and corruption rather than lack of resources. He pointed to low social sector spending when compared with several smaller economies. He said dignity formed the core of the right to life and public policy needed to protect this principle in daily governance.
Youth issues formed a central theme of the convention. Anupam, National President of Yuva Hallabol, said India’s youth population faced growing distress due to unemployment. He said public debate often shifted away from jobs, food security, and education. He also warned about the closure of government schools with little public pushback. He said young people with the ability to drive social change were being diverted toward addiction and hostility shaped by religion, caste, and region.
Healthcare and education also came under scrutiny. Salman Mukarram, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Aurangabad, said rapid privatisation in public hospitals weakened human dignity. He said 68 percent of the budget under a government health scheme had lapsed due to fund shortages. This, he said, created a two-tier system with unequal standards of care.
Social activist Abhay Taksal said dignity remained out of reach when governance moved away from equality. He spoke of farmer distress, youth unemployment, and routine humiliation faced by citizens in government offices. Wasiq Nadeem Khan of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights raised concern over identity-based hate and violence. He said Muslims and Christians faced the brunt of reported hate crimes and alleged failure by protective institutions. He also cited the passage of over 72 laws which, he said, weakened constitutional values.
The convention adopted a unanimous resolution affirming Article 21 as a guarantee of life with dignity. The resolution called for assured access to food, health, and education, universal healthcare, social security for unorganised and gig workers, and livelihood protection for farmers and agricultural labourers. MPJ Maharashtra president Muhammad Siraj welcomed delegates and linked hunger, education, and healthcare directly to the constitutional promise of dignity.
