All posts by Shivam Vij

Shivam Vij is a writer and journalist based in New Delhi.
Everyday Life, Identities, Law, Movements

Why is it so difficult to free India of manual scavenging?

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Guest post by BEZWADA WILSON

Safai karamcharis from across India declared their liberation at a function in Delhi on 20 December

Over the years, there have been many changes in the Safai Karamchari Andolan movement. The biggest change we have seen has been in the safai karamchari community’s outlook. There was a time when safai karamcharis were ashamed to admit they did manual scavenging. It was not uncommon for even family members to be unaware that someone was involved in the practice of manual scavenging.

Continue reading Why is it so difficult to free India of manual scavenging? →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Law, Violence/Conflict

Look who’s talking (to whom): FBI and Special Cell

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This note comes from Manisha Sethi of the JAMIA TEACHERS’ SOLIDARITY ASSOCIATION

Wikileaks has exposed that there existed secret channels of communication between the US agency FBI and our very own Delhi Police Special Cell. FBI—which has witchhunted American democratic and civil rights organizations and leaders (including Martin Luther King Jr.), raids the homes of anti-war activists, and helps the overthrow of popular governments around the world—and Special Cell whose personnel have been indicted in the past, by none less than the CBI, for manufacturing ‘terrorists’ out of thin air by planting false evidence; an organization often accused by rights activists of killing in cold blood, a.k.a. ‘encounters’, for medals and promotions. What possible information were they sharing in secret? Who to frame and fix next? Or the merits of water-boarding over indigenous torture techniques?  Continue reading Look who’s talking (to whom): FBI and Special Cell →

Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Frontiers, Identities, Violence/Conflict

Noor Sahab in Horror Land: Gowhar Fazili

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Guest post by GOWHAR FAZILI

Some old memories came to mind when Noor Mohammed Bhat, a college lecturer in Kashmir got arrested for asking in an examination, “Are the stone pelters real heroes? Discuss.”

I studied at Burn Hall, a missionary school in Srinagar. In the mid-‘80s, they would make us recite the national anthem in the morning assembly on one of the week days. Interestingly, while the little kids would do as they were told, the ‘big’ ones who had just crossed their sixth grade, would for some strange reason go off tune so that Jana Gana Mana… would start sounding like “Jaaaaaanaooauea maaaoAAAonaa gaooooOOnaannNNaaaA…”, like it were a sound coming out of an audio tape that was stuck or a damaged gramophone record! This bad behaviour invited corporal punishment. Shah Sir and Mohinder Sir (P.T. Masters) used to lurk behind the assembly and surreptitiously appear and whip on our legs at lightning speed. They would lash at the whole queue in a single run and be gone before we knew it. While the tune in the queue that was being freshly hit would get restored, the queues furthest from the P.T. Masters would go really off the tune! They would keep running about madly like this from one end to another but the cycle (orchestra) would continue till the whole song was over. It used be maddening for them. Though they were quite ferocious if one were to encounter them in person, (having been used regularly to instil fear and maintain ‘discipline’) somehow as a collective, we dared them in this manner week after week and year after year. Continue reading Noor Sahab in Horror Land: Gowhar Fazili →

Capitalism, Excavation, Media politics, Scams

800 new Radia tapes!

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It keeps getting better. The promise of more emperors losing their clothing, the promise of more political gossip and media wars and conspiracy theories. More light will be thrown at crony capitalism, sorry I mean economic growth. Outlook is putting out another 800 Radia tapes in the next few hours. There are a total of 5,000 and they’ve already put out 140.

Of those 140, some 36 yet to be transcribed.

Bad ideas, Empire/ Imperialism, Law, Violence/Conflict

“Are the stone pelters real heroes? Discuss.” Hundred marks?

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Noor Mohammed Bhat, a college lecturer in Srinagar, who decided to get creative with the English examination paper. Amongst his essay topics: “Are the stone pelters real heroes? Discuss.”

It also asked students to translate this Urdu-language text into English: “Kashmir is burning once again. The warm blood of youth is being spilled like water. Police and soldiers are beating even small children to death. Bullets are being pumped into the chests of even girls and women. People in villages and towns are crying in pain. Rulers continue to be in a deep slumber. It appears they’ve turned dumb, deaf and blind.” [Associated Press]

Although the AP report linked above says he has been charged with promoting secession, it’s not clear if he’s been charged with sedition. Kashmir Dispatch reports say he’s been charged under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Ironically, the college where Bhat taught (he’s already been sacked) is named after Gandhi. Univesity spaces in Kashmir are heavily controlled to prevent political expression and student unions are banned. So much so that when Kashmiri students see campus politics at the Jawaharlal University in Delhi, they often remark that they are seeing for the first time what freedom looks like!

Meanwhile, Rohini Hensman says Kashmiris should not have azadi until they ask India and Pakistan for azadi in equal measure, or something like that.

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Violence/Conflict

“Trigger Happy”: An HRW Report on the ‘Excessive Use of Force by Indian Troops at the Bangladesh Border’

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH has released an 81-page report that documents the situation on the border region, where both Bangladesh and India have deployed border guards to prevent infiltration, trafficking, and smuggling. They found numerous cases of indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings by the security force, without adequate investigation or punishment. The report is based on over 100 interviews with victims, witnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, and Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles’ (BDR) members. You can read the report here and download it here (.pdf). Given below are the report summary and recommendations.

Continue reading “Trigger Happy”: An HRW Report on the ‘Excessive Use of Force by Indian Troops at the Bangladesh Border’ →

Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Frontiers

Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

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Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.

No, that is not someone’s clever response to the attacks on WikiLeaks. It was written fourteen years ago.

The article by John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation was quoted by Operation Payback which has done some great things recently! And Barlow says, “The first serious infowar is now engaged. The field of battle is WikiLeaks. You are the troops.” The MasterCard story of course runs deeper.

Operation Payback is the brainchild of pro-piracy hacker group 4chan, which incidentally has a Bollywood connection!

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Identities, Violence/Conflict

Sinister designs behind Muharram ban in Kashmir: Zafar Mehdi

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Guest post by ZAFAR MEHDI

Muharram, the month of epic action, has announced its arrival. Black banners symbolizing grief are fluttering around. A pall of gloom has descended. 1500 years later, the lessons of Karbala continue to be the beacon of inspiration for strugglers of truth and righteousness. Muharram, contrary to perception, is not an event, episode or chapter in history. It is a philosophy, a concept, a movement. As centuries roll by, the great uprising of Husain(as), the beloved grandson of Holy Prophet (saww), continues to drive believers to hurl defiance at the forces of evil. The final call Imam gave to humanity still lingers in the minds of millions of Muslims around the world. It teaches that notwithstanding the inadequacy of numbers, if you run down the gauntlet backed by the staunch faith in the Almighty, triumph will be yours.  Continue reading Sinister designs behind Muharram ban in Kashmir: Zafar Mehdi →

Bad ideas, Media politics

Of journalist citizens

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With Kashmiris forcing us to take note of them on Facebook and Twitter, with the internet noise on the Radia tapes making a mockery of the media’s radio silence over them, with WikiLeaks assuring us that we’re well into the age of information anarchy, the old, dogged question rears afresh its banal head: Are citizen journalists, journalists?

I was at a Google conference in Budapest in September, called ‘Internet at Liberty 2010’, which had bloggers, activists and policywallahs from 70 countries. At one of the theme dinners, we were asked how many of us identified ourselves as citizen journalists. No hand went up, even as we were all conscious that any one of us could be the first one to see a plane crashing and be the first to report it on Twitter. Continue reading Of journalist citizens →

Everyday Life, Identities, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

City in Terror: Dilip D’Souza

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Guest post by DILIP D’SOUZA

Starting today eighteen years ago, for much of December and January (and then March 12), Indian killed Indian on the streets of my city. Terror at its most elemental: I felt it then. I saw it then. Others told me about it then.

Some memories of those weeks, in no particular order but they all still make my hair stand on end.

Frontiers, Violence/Conflict

Xonzoi Barbora interviews Kyaw Zwa Moe on the elections in Burma

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Many thanks to XONZOI BARBORA for contributing to Kafila our first podcast. This podcast is an interview of Burmese journalist KYAW ZWA MOE. The interview was originally conducted for Panos Radio South Asia on 6 November 2010. Please allow a moment for the audio player to load on your screen.

Burma’s elections, like its new flag, constitution and capital, is part of an inventory of an elaborate make-over for the military junta that runs the country. This make-over has the tacit support of Burma’s powerful neighbours — China, India and Thailand — who cast covetous eyes on the oil, gas and mineral resources of the country. The elections that took place on November 7, 2010 was one designed to entrench the military in civic life and also provide a reasonable ground for big donor agencies to intervene in administration. Even as the National League for Democracy (NLD) boycotted the elections, other democratic forces were rendered powerless by the junta’s stranglehold over the electoral process. It reserved seats for itself; circumvented the electoral process in places where it thought it would lose and simply made it too expensive for its opponents to contest. Continue reading Xonzoi Barbora interviews Kyaw Zwa Moe on the elections in Burma →

Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Frontiers, Government

Why is WikiLeaks doing what it’s doing?

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The answer may lie in this poster they’ve put out:

 

Julian Assange explains The WikiLeaks Manifesto, and reveals more about WikiLeaks here.

Bad ideas, Identities, Violence/Conflict

Audacity of hypocrisy: Sameer Bhat

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Guest post by SAMEER BHAT, written on 26 November in response to Kashmiri Pandits heckling the Mirwaiz in Chandigarh.

Aesop, the Hellenistic slave, narrated a profound tale in the winter of 6th century BC. The story is simple but the message remains relevant 2700 winters later. A Bee, queen of the hive, buzzed her way to Mt Olympus to present Jupiter some fresh honey. Jupiter, delighted with the offering, promised to give her whatever she wanted in return. The Bee thought for a while and then said, “Please give me a stinger, so that I can hurt whoever might come to take my honey.”  Continue reading Audacity of hypocrisy: Sameer Bhat →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life, Excavation, Scams

Volunteers needed to transcribe all 104 Radia tapes

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See Reading Radia

As you know, Open and Outlook magazines have put out legally taped telephone conversations of several people with lobbyist Niira Radia. Open put out only a few audios, and transcribed them all, where as Outlook put out a somewhat different set. However, Outlook was kind enough to put out all the audios they had on their website. There’s a lot of muck in there, and it’s not just about Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi, it’s not just about the 2G scam. It’s very crucial that we transcribe ALL these tapes so that the words are on Google, se we can access the content of all tapes more easily. The media should have done this by now but the media is silent to save the skin of their own. So we need to become the media, you and I. Just 15 minutes of your time needed. To volunteer, please leave a comment on any post which says a volunteer is required to transcribe this one.

Thanks!

 

Bad ideas, Everyday Life, Excavation, Violence/Conflict

Memories of another time: Dilip D’Souza

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Guest post by DILIP D’SOUZA

The anniversary began, for me, with a phone call. Someone I haven’t heard from in some years, mother of a soldier who died fighting for India in Kashmir. Her voice faltered several times during our conversation, and I could hear her tears. “Look at the tamasha,” she said, “over remembering the people who died on November 26 2008. Yet do we remember my son? Do we remember so many others” — and here she named several soldiers — “who died facing bullets on our border? Really do we remember people who died for no reason?”

“If we have a remembrance for one,” she said, “I want it for all. I want it for everyone who dies like this. Otherwise we wonder, what did our sons die for?” Continue reading Memories of another time: Dilip D’Souza →

Capitalism, Media politics, Scams

The Fuhrer Reacts to the Radia Tapes

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Movements

Bhagwan Das (1927-2010)

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Bhagwan Das (23 April 1927–18 November 2010)  legendary Ambedkarite and historian of the dalit movement passed away on 18 November 2010 at the age of 83. Continue reading Bhagwan Das (1927-2010) →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Everyday Life, Excavation, Government, Media politics, Scams

Hope you’ve listened to all the Radia tapes?

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If you haven’t, you’ve missed out on a lot. These five links lead you to all the phone calls, and you can even download them. This is history. The tapes are revelatory about the corporate media, but more than that, about the corporates. They have come out due to corporate wars. Internecine corporate wars seem to be our only hope for transparency and accountability in this nation. Please listen to every pause in every audio to for a clear insight into what today’s India is. And lament this Manmohan yug, ghor Manmohan yug. Also see Sevanti Ninan’s excellent analysis of the media black-out of the story.

Four transcripts that were submitted to the SC along with a total of eight recordings in May 2009 covering the cabinet formation, DMK politics and who’d get telecom portfolio
The conversations with M.Karunanidhi’s daughter M. Kanimozhi about keeping Dayanidhi Maran out from negotiations with the Congress and to get the telecom portfolio for A. Raja
In these Radia wants Sanghvi to tell the Congress not to negotiate with Dayanidhi Maran. He tells her that while he has been meeting Rahul and can’t “get into Sonia in the short term” he would “try and get through to Ahmed”
Recordings of conversations with the likes of Ratan Tata, Ranjan Bhattacharya, Barkha Dutt, Shankar Aiyar, Sunil Arora etc
The other big ‘national resource’ story involves the virtual who’s who: Ambani V/s Ambani V/s Tata, gas and power sector war involving big name journos, politicians, babus, corporates – this has the largest number of tapes, and perhaps the most important ones.
Bad ideas, Empire/ Imperialism, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Scavengers: Hilal Mir

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Guest post by HILAL MIR

Two monoliths of pro-India politics in Kashmir, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and Dr Farooq Abdullah, are soaring high in the dark autumn skies of the valley like vultures. Below are the 110 bodies of warm-blooded children, boys, men and a lone woman. From these bodies will they and their offspring derive nourishment because serving a nation of 1 billion people is indeed an uphill task.

The way Madhu Kishwar and Prem Shankar Jha are lobbying for Mufti at every seminar in New Delhi demonstrates Mufti’s silence is really studied. What about Abdullah duo. They are neck deep in muck, which reminds one of those famous lines of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Kubrick’s masterpiece Full Metal Jacket—you are the lowest form of life on earth…

Continue reading Scavengers: Hilal Mir →

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Images, Law, Media politics, Violence/Conflict

Report #3: Shooting the Messenger in Kashmir

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This is the third of a series of fact-finding reports on the recent violence in Kashmir. The fact-finding has been conducted independently by a team of BELA BHATIA,VRINDA GROVER, SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN and RAVI HEMADRI. For an introduction to this series, see here.

Daily movements for news gatherers has become an ordeal with few security personnel willing to recognise their legitimate role

Continue reading Report #3: Shooting the Messenger in Kashmir →

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Frontiers, Violence/Conflict

Report #2: Palhallan Under Siege

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This is the second of a series of fact-finding reports on the recent violence in Kashmir. The fact-finding has been conducted independently by a team of BELA BHATIA,VRINDA GROVER, SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN and RAVI HEMADRI. For an introduction to this series, see here, and also see the first report.

Broken windows in Palhallan testify to a widely used strategy of intimidation

Continue reading Report #2: Palhallan Under Siege →