MP: Seminar featuring Digvijaya Singh, Shamsul Islam cancelled citing govt order

Indore: A seminar on the Constitution where writer Shamsul Islam and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh were going to speak could not be held here on Saturday morning as the booking of the auditorium was canceled citing government orders, organizers said.

The Textile Development Trust, in a letter sent to the organizers on Friday, said the booking of its Jall Auditorium for the seminar ‘Voice of Independent India’ had been canceled due to unavoidable reasons as per a government order.

Singh lashed out at the BJP government in the state, saying there was a threat to freedom of speech and expression in the country. The seminar had been organized by Supreme Court lawyer Ehtesham Hashmi and state Congress spokesperson Aminul Khan Suri.

Digvijaya Singh, author and former Delhi University professor Shamsul Islam and historian Ashok Kumar Pandey were among the speakers at the event, the organizers said.

”We were going to discuss how the country’s Constitution can be saved. The state government canceled the seminar because the ruling BJP fears that discussing the Constitution may lead to unrest in society. There is now a complete threat to the freedom of expression in our country,” Singh, who was to be the keynote speaker, told reporters.

Shamsul Islam said he was going to speak about the martyrdom of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev. The memories of these great men were insulted by the cancelation of the event, he said.

Hashmi said he would approach the High Court against the auditorium management, administration, and police over the cancellation.

Top police and government officials could not be contacted for comment despite several attempts. A person at the Textile Development Trust office said its secretary M C Rawat was ”busy in a meeting”.