Nandita Das supports People’s Manifesto campaign

By Abhishek Behl



“Such initiatives are important because even the smallest action goes a long way in contributing to the change that we want to see in society,” said Nandita Das in support of the All India Peoples Manifesto campaign.

Nandita Das, A noted actor who is also making her directorial debut with the film Firaaq this week, extended her support to the All India Peoples Manifesto campaign, which is bringing together local groups across 365+ parliamentary constituencies of India to identify their priorities for the national elections.

This effort, which is possibly the most extensive pre-election campaign organised by civil society in recent times, is being co-ordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, a national network for governance accountability.

“Such initiatives are important because even the smallest action goes a long way in contributing to the change that we want to see in society,” said Das. "The first step for the youth to take is to start voting. People, irrespective of their background and places need to start talking about issues and working towards thechange they want to see. Otherwise one will just miss that opportunity.”

"I want the government to uphold the pluralist secular democracy that we are and to ensure that there is no discrimination and no human rights violations,” she said, outlining the agenda that she wants the next government to uphold.

Making the linkages with her new film Firaaq, she said, "The film is a response about everything happening around us; the discrimination, the human rights violations, divisions, the prejudice, the growing fear and anger. I hope the film will start a dialogue and that all of us are able to engage in it."

“Nandita’s statement in support of this campaign is important as she represents a strong commitment to social issues. With her upcoming film ‘Firaaq’ she has taken the initiative to make a bold statement of what she stands for and this is key message of the All India People’s Manifesto effort,” said Suman Dasgupta from Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.

The online version of the All India People’s Manifesto aims at mobilising young people to add their voice to the ground level process, which has already been completed across 150 parliamentary constituencies.

The video campaign, which can be viewed on youtube.com/wadanatodo has already recorded over 50,000 views and is currently rated as the 19th Most Watched Video across You Tube.