Category Archives: Bad ideas

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Frontiers, Government, Identities, Images, Language

Disability, Language, and Empowerment: Dorodi Sharma

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This is a guest post by DORODI SHARMA

In 2009, as a writer for a disability news portal I got a note back with one of my stories from the director of the organisation. “Suffering from disability”, I had written about someone. The note said “I have been a wheelchair user since the age of 15, and trust me I am not suffering.” Over the years, the first document I shared with new employees of the disability rights organisation I worked for in Delhi was a document on ‘disability etiquette’ that outlined not just terminologies but also the acceptable ways of interacting with people with disabilities. Yes, even in the 21st century we need to coach people on ‘interacting’ with a section of humanity. The discourse on importance of language has taken a new meaning when recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi called people with disabilities ‘divyang’ or people with divine abilities. The reaction to this has been outrage, to shaking of heads, to complete indifference. But it is important to talk about language when it comes to disability because it reeks of charity and reflects the patronizing attitude that prevents people with disabilities in India from getting their due.

Let us be very clear, disability is part of human diversity. Disability is as normal or abnormal as being a man, woman, gay, lesbian, person of colour, or any other variation of being human for that matter. Why then do we look at disability as something that needs to be ‘overcome’? With the proliferation of social media, we are now faced with innumerable ‘inspiration porn’ posts. Yes, inspiration porn. As described by Stella Young, Australian journalist, comedian, and activist – inspiration porn is objectifying people with disabilities for the benefit of non-disabled people. Young said the purpose of these images is to inspire people, to motivate them, so that they can look at them and think “Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.” Precisely for that reason, people living with a disability are tired (and angry) of all the euphemistic terminologies used about them. No, they are not specially-abled, or differently abled, or ‘divyang’ for that matter. They are persons with disabilities and disability is a crucial part of their identity, just like one’s gender, race, or nationality.

Continue reading Disability, Language, and Empowerment: Dorodi Sharma →

Bad ideas, Debates, Education, Government

Missing the Forest for Trees – Caste System’s Shadow on Rohith’s Suicide : Sanjay Kumar

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Guest Post by Sanjay Kumar

(Photo Courtesy : Prokerala.com)

Mainstream politics over Rohith Vemula’s suicide is becoming hot and ugly. Although whisper campaigns against Rothith’s dalit identity were on since his suicide, the BJP’s central leadership had been relatively quiet after HRD minister’s rather shrieky ‘appeal’ to not play caste politics over his suicide. However, now it seems daggers are out. The party in power, whose two ministers are accused of creating conditions leading to Rohith’s suicide, has decided that Rohith’s non-dalit status is the dog it is going to beat to counter its anti-dalit image. Rohith’s mother is a Mala, a Scheduled Caste, who lives seperately from his father, a backward caste Vaddera. He got an SC certificate on the basis of showing that he grew up in his mother’s Mala household. BJP’s strategy may look petty, but it is based on the age-old great Hindu tradition which can not contenance any violation of the privileges of the patrilineal system. After all, marital rape does enjoy legal sanction in India to this day. Continue reading Missing the Forest for Trees – Caste System’s Shadow on Rohith’s Suicide : Sanjay Kumar →

Bad ideas, Frontiers, Identities, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Why is the World Ignoring Palestine’s ‘Third Intifada’? Shubhda Chaudhary

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Guest post by SHUBHDA CHAUDHARY

Already ravaged by two political Intifadas in the past, Palestine is now undergoing a third ‘leaderless Intifada’ in West Bank and Gaza. In fact, there is disagreement over whether a leader is even needed. In a striking paradox, several names are being considered for the leadership that does not exist: Jerusalem Intifada, Mass Intifada, Revolutionary Wave and Third Intifada.

Third Palestinian Intifada - On its way or Already Arrived? image courtesy Alwaght
Third Palestinian Intifada – On its way or Already Arrived? image courtesy Alwaght
revolutionary woman intifada streetby Quadraro, image courtesy Deviant Art.
‘revolutionary woman intifada street’ by Quadraro, image courtesy Deviant Art.

As West Asia is too gripped in sectarian conflict and the rise of ISIS, this emerging trend is going unnoticed. But the violence is already cementing the layers of distrust that Palestinians harbor against Jews, with calcifying hatred.

After the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and other sacred Islamic sites in various parts of the occupied Palestine by Israelis, Palestinians have been pouring out on the streets. The retaliatory attacks by Palestinians have claimed the lives of seven Israelis while leaving a number of them injured. It should be noted that the average age of demonstrators and people responsible for stabbing and running over people is less than 20 years old. They were born after the Oslo Accord between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993 and 1995. They are just coming of age, and it’s hard for them to see any future but a bleak one. Continue reading Why is the World Ignoring Palestine’s ‘Third Intifada’? Shubhda Chaudhary →

Bad ideas, Culture, Education, Everyday Life, Government

Paranoia and Procedure – Everyday Life within a University Labyrinth, Circa 2016: Prasanta Chakravarty

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This is a guest post by PRASANTA CHAKRAVARTY

“The nature of peoples is first crude, then severe, then benign, then delicate, finally dissolute.”

–Giambattista Vico
The past congeals in savoir faire or habit, conserved as an ethos, in the corridors of the Arts Faculty at Delhi University. We all remember what is happening, while it is happening; watching ourselves as live spectators of our own actions. Wherefore such a sense of centripetal actuality? How this despotic pathology of inevitability in a place which was supposed to be the harbinger of a future? But the future arrives as a gyre, a loop. Continue reading Paranoia and Procedure – Everyday Life within a University Labyrinth, Circa 2016: Prasanta Chakravarty →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Education, Everyday Life, Government, Identities, Metropolis, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Operation Ekalavya : Jhandewala, New Delhi, Rohith Vemula’s Birthday, 30th January 2016

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Dear young friends who went to Jhandewala on Rohith Vemula’s birthday,

a1078-rohit-facebook-and-storysize_647_011816123527

And all those who were there in spirit, in Delhi, Hyderabad and elsewhere. I am writing to you because I think you might have all taken things much further than anyone can quite imagine or understand at present.

I am writing to you, for today and for tomorrow, so that every time in the future that young people gather to celebrate their friend Rohith’s birthday, we might all begin to have a different kind of conversation. So that the boundaries between mourning and celebration, between anger and joy may always remain blurred enough for us to know what to do next, each time.

Since you had a close encounter with the police and their colleagues in the RSS on Rohith’s birthday, I want to spend a little time thinking about them with you. Bear with me. I sincerely hope we will not have to bear with them for much longer.

Continue reading Operation Ekalavya : Jhandewala, New Delhi, Rohith Vemula’s Birthday, 30th January 2016 →

Bad ideas

महात्मा की ह्त्या और हमारे बच्चे:नासिरुदीन हैदर खान

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GUEST POST by Nasiruddin Haider Khan

किसी की हत्या की गई हो तो उसकी वजह भी होगी. महात्मा गांधी की भी हत्या की गई थी. जाहिर है, इसकी भी कोई वजह होगी. वैसे क्‍या वजह है? हम कह सकते हैं, 68 साल बाद क्या यह भी कोई सवाल है? ऐसा सवाल जिसका जवाब तलाशने की जरूरत हो?

पिछले दिनों उत्‍तरी बिहार के एक स्‍कूल में कुछ साथियों के साथ जाना हुआ. हमें नौवीं क्‍लास के छात्रों से रू-ब-रू होना था. यह उस शहर का नामी निजी स्‍कूल है. स्‍टूडेंट भी मेधावी हैं. हम इनसे बातचीत का मौजू तलाश रहे थे. जनवरी का महीना है. हमें सूझा, क्‍यों न महात्मा गांधी की हत्या पर बात की जाए. देखा जाए बच्चे  क्या सोचते या जानते हैं? तो हमने तय किया कि इसी पर बात होगी.

क्‍लास में करीब 60 लड़के-लड़कियाँ रही होंगी. सबकी उम्र 15 के आसपास होगी. हमारे सामने सवाल था, कहाँ से और कैसे शुरू किया जाए. हमने बोर्ड पर लिखा ‘30 जनवरी.’ बातचीत शुरू हुई. क्या 30 जनवरी कुछ खास तारीख है? सभी छात्रों से अलग-अलग जवाब मिले- इस दिन गांधी जी की हत्या हुई थी…शहीद दिवस है… गांधी जी राष्ट्रपिता हैं आदि.

हमार अगला सवाल था- अगर हत्या हुई थी तो क्या आप बता सकते हैं, गांधी जी की हत्या किसने की थी? नाथूराम गोडसे- यह जवाब ज़्यादातर बच्चे जानते थे. इसके बाद सवाल किया गया- नाथूराम गोडसे ने गांधी जी को क्यों मारा? इसके जवाब काफी अलग-अलग थे. कुछ व्यक्तिगत जवाब थे तो कुछ सामूहिक. इन जवाबों से यह  झलक भी मिलती है कि गोडसे को बच्चे क्या समझते हैं?

आगे के लिए यह लिंक देखिए:

http://hindi.catchnews.com/india/why-did-nathuram-godse-kileed-mahatma-gandhi-1454050822.html

 

 

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Centre watch, Education, Excavation, Government, Identities, Left watch, Metropolis, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Reclaiming academia: understanding the student movement of our time: Tony Kurian and Suraj Gogoi

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This is a guest post by TONY KURIAN and SURAJ GOGOI

Students from different parts of the country started protesting since a Dalit student from one of the premier universities of the country (University of Hyderabad) committed suicide on account of caste discrimination by the administration. This new wave of protests can be traced back to Occupy UGC which erupted when University Grants Commission (UGC) decided to stop the monthly research stipend known as non-net fellowship of Rs 5000 and 8000 for MPhil and PHD respectively. The ministry concerned has since constituted a panel to review the decision on account of student’s protests. On the other hand, we are seeing India becoming part of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on higher education. These instances should not be regarded as isolated moments but should be viewed as an integral part of a story unfolding. It is in this context that one should locate the student movement of our time. The movement itself is receiving much media attention, and, it was mostly couched as a student’s movement against the government. For sure, the immediate demands of the students is to ensure justice to Rohith Vemula. The present wave of student movement is aimed at reclaiming academia both from an exclusivist culture which permeates much of our academic institutions, and increasing influence of free market logic in our higher education.

 Why are we seeing a new wave of student protests?

To understand why a movement like that we are witnessing now is extremely important for a vibrant and democratic academic space, we should explore some of the unwritten rules of academia itself and our academic institutions. Research is a long-term investment for the person who undertakes it. Every day he or she spends as a full time researcher is a day forgone from the job market. For a research scholar to earn a permanent job, it can take anywhere between five to ten years after the master’s programme.

Continue reading Reclaiming academia: understanding the student movement of our time: Tony Kurian and Suraj Gogoi →

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गांधी एक प्रेत का नाम है…

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mk_gandhi

गांधी से खुद को जोड़ने की कोशिश करने वाले ज़्यादातर लोग राजघाट तो जाते हैं लेकिन बिड़ला भवन नहीं, क्योंकि वहां जाने के मायने हैं उस व्यक्ति की हत्या से रूबरू होना जिसे राष्ट्रपिता कहा जाता है.

या जैसा एक लेखक ने कहा, बिड़ला भवन में एक प्रेत रहता है. हम उसका सामना करने से घबराते हैं. वह किसका प्रेत है?

गांधी की हत्या को उचित मानने वालों की संख्या कम नहीं है और वे सब राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ, हिंदू महासभा या शिव सेना के सदस्य नहीं हैं.

Continue reading गांधी एक प्रेत का नाम है… →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Politics, Right watch

Condemning Caste Discrimination in Higher Education Centres that led to Rohith’s Untimely Death – Students of Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University

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Guest Post by Students of Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University

dschool

( A protest meeting on Rohith Vemula was organised in Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University on 28 th January. Find pasted below a brief report of the meeting followed by the statement which was read and passed in the meeting.)

We, the students of Delhi School of Economics organised a protest meeting in solidarity with the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, University of Hyderabad. It was joined in by students from other departments of the university as well.

The discussion revolved around the presence of caste based discrimination within university campuses and the deadly silence on the matter. It was recognised that Rohith’s investment in progressive politics was crucial in him and others in Ambedkar Students Association being victimised. And the present gathering affirmed its investment in that politics and striving for the kind of change Rohith also aspired for. Continue reading Condemning Caste Discrimination in Higher Education Centres that led to Rohith’s Untimely Death – Students of Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University →

Bad ideas, Education, Government, Right watch

Sandeep Pandey threatened by RSS persons on IIT-BHU campus

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Close on the heels of the planned disruption of a speech by Siddharth Varadrajan, noted journalist and ex-editor of ‘The Hindu’ on the Allahabad University campus by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad  (http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/editors-guild-condemns-abvp-threats-to-the-wires-founding-editor-20015/) has come the news that Sandeep Pandey, who has been working as a guest faculty in IIT-BHU for the last two and half years was recently threatened allgegedly by members of the same fraternity on the university campus itself.

It may be added here that Sandeep Pandey’s services were abruptly terminated by the university on the charge of being a naxalite and being involved in ‘anti-national’ activities (http://kafila.org/2016/01/11/letter-against-dismissal-of-prof-sandeep-pandey/). Looking at the aggressive manner in which members of the Hindutva fraternity seem to be moving it is quite possible that their threats will not remain merely at the level of words and one definitely perceives a danger to Sandeep’s well being at their hands. Continue reading Sandeep Pandey threatened by RSS persons on IIT-BHU campus →

Bad ideas

Calculated Tears

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modi lko croppedThe lacrimal glands have been activated once again but even if the tears remained trapped in the eyes of the leader, must they blur our vision?
That a full five days were allowed to elapse since suicide the suicide of a dalit student in Hyderabad before these gland optics tells us that what we saw in Lucknow on Friday was not at all a spontaneous expression of grief. The Telegraph has shown frame by frame the pictures of a smiling, beaming Modi on different joyous occasions – when the mother of Rohith was grieving and the nation was trying to make sense of her loss – to prove that the prime minister’s act is a little too late and unconvincing. Rohith’s father has seen through the bluff and already spoken up about it.

While some were keen to see in those brimming eyes a humane approach, I saw a cynical, strategic mind which kept its emotions in check so as to let it flow on an appropriate occasion, against a suitable backdrop.

Continue reading Calculated Tears →

Bad ideas, Government, Law, Left watch

Before I Speak of the Stars…Ravi Sinha

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Guest Post by Ravi Sinha

Let me speak first of Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula. I never met him. I wish I had, although that would have made me hardly any worthier of speaking about him. Had I met him, I would have come to know that I shared with him a passion for science, nature and stars. I would like to think that he would have found in me, despite my being from another generation, a comrade-in-arms and a fellow campaigner for a better world. Perhaps I would have also recognized a few of the scars left over from a childhood spent in poverty. But, there, the similarities would have ended.

We were born in the same country but at two different locations in the social universe. Distances separating these locations are not traversable – reason enough for this universe to collapse. Instead collapsed this remarkable young man who longed to be “treated as a mind” – “a glorious thing made up of stardust” – and who did not wish to be “reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility…to a vote…to a number…to a thing”. He was crushed under the weight of a millennial civilization. His end was precipitated by the malignant political forces ready to use state power to banish all reason and every shred of freedom from modern institutions and public sphere. He may have chosen the mode and the time of his death but it was an instance of a death foretold. In choosing death he has challenged the powers-that-be in a manner and with a force that no demons of deception, no army of liars and no battery of ministers can defend against. Continue reading Before I Speak of the Stars…Ravi Sinha →

Bad ideas, Government, Right watch

Long Live the Legacy of Comrade Vemula Rohith Chakravarthy : Statement by New Socialist Initiative (NSI)

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Guest Post : Statement by New Socialist Initiative( NSI)
Comrade Rohith, we pay our deepest respects to you. We share your concerns. With you and like you we think that Systemic revolutions and great social transformations should go hand in hand. Rohith we fully agree with you that unless the oppressed are armed with scientific knowledge and rationality, revolution and emancipation remain elusive.
New Socialist Initiative pays its respects to Comrade Rohith Vemula, PhD scholar and student leader of University of Hyderabad. Rohith is not just a name of a scholar today. It has become a battle cry against the saffronisation of Indian education system. Rohith is the name of the relentless struggle against the upper caste domination in the institutions of higher education. Rohith has become a symbol of revolt against the decadence of our civilisation. Yes, Rohith committed suicide, killed himself, but not in desperation, not in fruitless vengeance. As his last words amply show, he seemed to be making a political and philosophical statement on the order of the things in this country, on the despicable manuvadi practices raising their ugly heads in the university campuses, on fascist targeting of Muslim minority community, on the rising intolerance and irrationality in our society.

Continue reading Long Live the Legacy of Comrade Vemula Rohith Chakravarthy : Statement by New Socialist Initiative (NSI) →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Feminism, Genders, Government, Identities

Women in Sabarimala – The Untold Story: Elsa T Oommen

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This is a guest post by ELSA T OOMMEN

‘For the last 20 years woman irrespective of their age were allowed to visit the temple when it opens for monthly poojas. They were not permitted to enter the temple during Mandalam, Makaravilakku and Vishu seasons’
– (S. Mahendran vs The Secretary, Travancore Devaswom Board and Ors. (1991) (8) [AIR 1993 Ker 42])

The Supreme Court of India will soon be hearing the final arguments on the question of the restriction imposed on women in the reproductive age from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The court had earlier questioned the constitutional basis of the restriction at the behest of a the public interest litigation (PIL) placed before the apex court of India by the Indian Young Lawyers Association (IYLA) where it called for allowing women of all ages to be allowed entry to the temple. Continue reading Women in Sabarimala – The Untold Story: Elsa T Oommen →

Bad ideas

रोहित और राष्ट्रवादी धोखाधड़ी

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रोहित वेमुला की खुदकुशी पर बात करने के लिए भावुकतावाद से बाहर निकल आने की जरूरत है. क्योंकि यह खुदकुशी एक क्रूर, ठंडी, असंवेदनशीलता की वजह से ही हुई है जो किसी भी तरह की मानवीय भावुकता को रौंद डालती है.

हम रोहित के अंतिम पत्र की काव्यात्मक भाषा की बात न करें, न यह कहें कि वह अपनी दलित पहचान के दायरे से निकल कर एक कहीं बड़ी पहचान खुद बनाना चाहता था. उस पत्र का विश्लेषण करने की जगह, बेहतर हो कि हम इस खुदकुशी पर शासक वर्ग की प्रतिक्रिया का विश्लेषण करें. यह जानने के लिए कि हमारा सामना किस यथार्थ से है.

विस्तार से पढ़ने के लिए नीचे के  लिंक को देखें http://hindi.catchnews.com/india/we-should-come-out-of-sentimentalism-to-talk-on-rohit-issue-1453295543.html

Bad ideas, Debates, Law, Right watch

मालदा के कालियाचक की हिंसा ,  हिन्‍दू-मुसलमानों के बीच हिंसा नहीं

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कालियाचक के दौरे के बाद जेजेएसएस की टीम की शुरुआती रिपोर्ट

Guest Post by Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan (JJSS)

मालदा के कालियाचक में 3 जनवरी को हुई हिंसा, साम्‍प्रदायिक हिंसा नहीं दिखती है। इसे मुसलमानों का हिन्‍दुओं पर आक्रमण भी नहीं कहा जा सकता है। यह जुलूस में शामिल होने आए हजारों लोगों में से कुछ सौ अपराधिक प्रवृत्ति के लोगों का पुलिस प्रशासन पर हमला था। इसकी जद में कुछ हिन्‍दुओं के घर और दुकान भी आ गए। गोली लगने से एक युवक जख्‍मी भी हुआ। ये पूरी घटना शर्मनाक और निंदनीय है। ऐसी घटनाओं का फायदा उठाकर दो समुदायों के बीच नफरत और गलतफहमी पैदा की जा सकती है। यह राय मालदा के कालियाचक गई जन जागरण शक्ति संगठन (जेजेएसएस) की पड़ताल टीम की है।

हिन्‍दू महासभा के कथित नेता कमलेश तिवारी के पैगम्‍बर हजरत मोहम्‍मद के बारे में दिए गए विवादास्‍पद बयान का विरोध देश के कई कोने में हो रहा है। इसी सिलसिले में मालदा के कालियाचक में 3 जनवरी को कई इस्‍लामी संगठनों ने मिलकर एक विरोध सभा का आयोजन किया। इसी सभा के दौरान कालियाचक में हिंसा हुई। इस हिंसा को मीडिया खासकर इलेक्‍ट्रॉनिक मीडिया ने जिस रूप में पेश किया,  वह काफी चिंताजनक दिख रहा है। इस पर जिस तरह की बातें हो रही हैं, वह भी काफी चिंताजनक हैं। Continue reading मालदा के कालियाचक की हिंसा ,  हिन्‍दू-मुसलमानों के बीच हिंसा नहीं →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Government, Identities, Movements, Violence/Conflict

“Nobody killed Rohith Vemula”: Kishalaya Mukhopadhyay

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This is a guest post by KISHALAYA MUKHOPADHYAY

“Nobody killed Rohith Vemula”. Perhaps someday there will be a film like this. Perhaps someday people will start talking about the exploitation of dalits, the need for annihilation of caste, the systematic discrimination in all spheres of society including the government, corporate, bureaucratic and educational sectors. Perhaps caste as an analytical category will become as politically charged as gender has become post-Nirbhaya. Today there is a discourse around marital rape, victim blaming, domestic violence and other aspects of patriarchy that has transcended even if slightly only the small coterie of feminist scholars within whom this discourse used to be limited to. Continue reading “Nobody killed Rohith Vemula”: Kishalaya Mukhopadhyay →

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Our cowardice killed Rohith Vemula

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“I forgot to write the formalities. No one is responsible for my this act of killing myself. No one has instigated me, whether by their acts or by their words to this act. This is my decision and I am the only one responsible for this. Do not trouble my friends and enemies on this after I am gone.”

This is the conclusion of the letter that Rohith Vemula composed before ending his life on Sunday. As anyone who has followed the case has now gathered, Vemula was one of five Dalit students suspended by the University of Hyderabad in August after an alleged altercation with a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s student wing, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Matters escalated after the BJP’s Union minister of labour and employment Bandaru Dattatreya Dattatreya reportedly sent a letter to Smriti Irani  indicating his personal interest in the case. The letter was not merely a forwarding note attached to a complaint by the ABVP, as the Minister now claims, as it explicitly expresses concern that the university authorities have remained mute spectators even as  the university in turning into a den of anti national and casteist politics. He requested the Minister to intervene. Continue reading Our cowardice killed Rohith Vemula →

Bad ideas, Government, Law, Politics, Violence/Conflict

अता मोहम्मद खान के लिए दो मिनट का मौन

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एक ‘कब्र खोदनेवाले’ के जनाज़े में इतने लोग शायद पहले कभी नहीं जुटे हों। अलबत्ता पिछले दिनों जब 75 साल की उम्र में अटटा मोहम्मद खान का इन्तक़ाल हुआ, तब यही नज़ारा दिख रहा था।
उत्तरी कश्मीर के सीमावर्ती शहर उरी के चहाल बिम्बयार गांव के निवासी रहे अटटा मोहम्मद खान ने अपने घर में ही अंतिम सांस ली थी। लम्बे समय से वह अस्थमा से पीड़ित थे। सोचने की बात थी कि ऐसे शख्स के लिए इतने सारे लोग क्यों मातम में थे ?
असल बात यह है कि वह कोई मामूली ‘कब्र खोदनेवाले’ नहीं थे। वह कश्मीर के रक्तरंजित इतिहास के एक ऐसे साक्षी थे, जिन्होंने अपनी रेगिस्तानी आंखों में बहुत कुछ समेट कर रखा था। वह कश्मीर की सिविल सोसायटी में चर्चित चेहरा थे, जबसे उन्होंने सूबे में फैली अचिन्हित कब्रों (unmarked graves) को ढंूढने में इन संस्थाओं की सहायता की थी। और जब हुक्मरानों की तरफ से बुलावा आया तो किसी से बिना डरे खुल कर वह सबकुछ बयां किया था। कुछ साल पहले राजधानी से निकलने वाले एक अंग्रेजी अख़बार /’Tragedies buried in Kashmir’  , मेल टुडे ने 28 मार्च, 2008/ ने जब कश्मीर में दफनायी गयी इन तमाम त्रासदियांे को उकेरना चाहा, तो अनाम, अचिन्हित कब्रों की अपनी रिपोर्ट में अट्टा मोहम्मद खान से भी की गुफतगू शामिल थी। वर्ष 2013 में उन्होंने अपना बयान निबंधों की एक किताब में दर्ज किया था, जिसका संकलन स्थानीय पत्रकार फहद शाह ने किया था।

Continue reading अता मोहम्मद खान के लिए दो मिनट का मौन →

Bad ideas

उदारता की ईमानदारी:प्रसंग गुलाम अली का

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कोलकाता में खचाखच भरे स्टेडियम ने गुलाम अली को गाते सुना. वे वहाँ पश्चिम बंगाल की मुख्यमंत्री ममता बनर्जी के न्योते पर गए थे.यह इसलिए महत्त्वपूर्ण है कि यह कार्यक्रम पठानकोट काण्ड के फौरन बाद हुआ और राष्ट्रवादी क्षोभ के कारण रोका नहीं गया.गुलाम अली ने कहा कि कुछ वक्त पहले अपने समानधर्मा जगजीत सिंह की याद में मुंबई में उनके गायन के कार्यक्रम के न होने की तकलीफ इससे कुछ कम हो गई है.

केरल में भी गुलाम अली का सरकार ने स्वागत किया. उनका गायन भी हुआ. कार्यक्रम स्थल के बाहर गुलाम अली के खिलाफ विरोध प्रदर्शन हुआ लेकिन इस वजह से उसे स्थगित नहीं किया गया.

हम जानते हैं कि बिहार में भी गुलाम अली गा पाएँगे और शायद उत्तर प्रदेश में भी. इससे एक राहत यह मिलती है कि भारत में अभी भी इंसानियत के लिए गुंजाइश बची है जो उदारता के बिना संभव नहीं. Continue reading उदारता की ईमानदारी:प्रसंग गुलाम अली का →

Bad ideas, Government, Law, Right watch

Letter against Dismissal of Prof Sandeep Pandey

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sandeeppandeyGuest Post : Letter from Ex-Students of Banaras Hindu University against the dismissal of Prof Sandeep Pandey from IIT-BHU for wider endorsement

To

Prof. Girish Chandra Tripathi

Vice Chancellor

Banaras Hindu University

Varanasi – 221005, U.P.

Dear Sir,

We, the ex-students of Banaras Hindu University, and other concerned citizens, are writing to you to express our deep worry about removal of visiting professor Sandeep Pandey allegedly for his “anti-national activities”. He had been teaching a few branches of chemical engineering and a development studies course at the Indian Institute of Technology-BHU for two-and-a half years. Prof. Pandey is also a renowned social activist and a Magsaysay award winner. Continue reading Letter against Dismissal of Prof Sandeep Pandey →