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Category Archives: Bad ideas
बवाना – मुसलमान, मुहर्रम और महापंचायत: शाहनवाज़ मलिक
GUEST POST by Shahnawaz Malik
बवाना में महापंचायत क्यों की गई? क्या इसका मकसद सिर्फ मुहर्रम जुलूस को बवाना गांव तक नहीं पहुंचने देना था? क्या यह जुलूस पहली बार निकाला जा रहा था? क्या मुसलमान जुलूस के रास्ते को लेकर किसी जिद या मांग पर अड़े थे? क्या पिछले जुलूसों में मुसलमान हिंसा या सांप्रदायिक तनाव फैलाने की कोशिश कर चुके हैं? पहले सवाल को छोड़कर सभी के जवाब हैं: नहीं! यहां लगातार बढ़ रहे तनाव और नाज़ुक हालात को देखते हुए जेजे कॉलोनी के मुसलमानों ने पुलिस की मौजूदगी में 24 अक्टूबर को एक फैसला किया। तय हुआ कि मुहर्रम का जुलूस जेजे कॉलोनी में ही मनाया जाएगा। इसकी ख़बर सभी को मिली। पुलिस, प्रशासन, स्थानीय नेता और विरोध कर रहे लोगों को इसकी जानकारी मिली। फिर भी महापंचायत की गई। क्यों? Continue reading बवाना – मुसलमान, मुहर्रम और महापंचायत: शाहनवाज़ मलिक
Challenging the Empire of Chicken Littles – Kiss of Love at Kochi
So the Kiss of Love event in Kochi did make waves that will stay in our memories for long. A very small group of young people did manage to publicly express affection and love at Kochi as planned despite all kinds of intimidation in the days leading up to the event. The lead organizers were constantly heckled and harassed; the event was grossly misrepresented; there were attempts to stop it legally; threats galore were openly brandished against anyone who dared to participate; the police and the media, who ought to have been neutral, participated in the general hysteria that painted the event as a law-and-order problem. The core group was arrested and removed before the event to prevent trouble, apparently. Yet they did not back off; this event will indeed be remembered in the history of twenty-first century Kerala.
No one who knows life in Kerala would have expected it to ‘succeed’. The right-wing troll brigade has been celebrating obscenely, but then they clearly can’t see beyond their precious noses, because anyone who knows the strength of the united tightass coalition in Kerala and the depth of their irrational fear of touch (which, no doubt underlies much of the everyday mental and emotional pathologies in Kerala, the subject of much hand-wringing among the tightasses themselves) would know that there is no victory worth the name there. But of course they are also devoid of basic moral sense which would have made it evident that it is no big deal for an idiotic bully of a child, many times the size of a firefly, to kill it in a single swat. Nor can they be expected to have any inkling of the fact that the stupid hulk might crush the firefly with its sheer weight but is incapable of producing that speck of light which the firefly alone can ignite. Continue reading Challenging the Empire of Chicken Littles – Kiss of Love at Kochi
On The Recent Communal Disturbances in Trilokpuri: People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism
Guest Post by People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (P.A.D.S)
NOVEMBER 2, 2014
(Members of P.A.D.S. have been interacting with and visiting residents of Trilokpuri ever since the communal disturbances started on Oct 23. Along with many other citizens we are involved in efforts to re-establish peace and in providing legal aid to those wrongfully arrested. This statement is based on the experiences of P.A.D.S members.)
The inhabitants of Trilokpuri, a densely populated neighbourhood of working people in Delhi, went through a harrowing week after Diwali night on 23 October. A brawl around two places of worship that night proved to be the first event. Although the situation appears to have settled down that night, some motivated planning and mobilisation must have taken place that night itself, because the next day it was a full scale communal clash. Armed mobs from outside the locality are reported to have joined the rioting that involved brick throwing. Firearms were also used and two boys suffered critical bullet injuries. Inhabitants are emphatic that the police fired into the crowd. The police first denied firing at all. Its latest claim is that it fired only in self defense. One apparel show room owned by a Muslim resident was gutted. Police intervened in force only two days after the clashes started. It turned the neighbourhood into an occupied war-zone. More than fifty men and minor boys were arrested randomly, many picked up forcibly from their houses amid verbal abuse and physical violence. Road intersections were barricaded and entry and exit points were closely monitored. Drones were used in surveillance and houses systematically searched. Essential supplies were in short supply. Daily wage earners, contract workers, and self employed who could not go out lost their source of livelihood. Seriously wounded and ill had no access to medical aid. While the entire neighbourhood suffered in one form or another, inhabitants of three blocks in particular, nos 15, 27 and 28, and attached jhuggi clusters, mainly occupied by citizens who are Muslims bore the brunt of police action.
Hok Kolorob! A Strange Chatter in the Air – Ranabir Samaddar’s Fictofacts: Anindya Sengupta
This post continues the ongoing debate on Kafila occasioned by the charge made by Prof. Ranabir Samaddar in the DNA Newspaper about what he thinks is the ‘elitist’ character of the students movement that is continuing at Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Guest Post by Anindya Sengupta
Now Ranabir Samaddar has done it. This charge of elitism – as evident in his article’s title ‘Elitist Protest in Jadavpur’ – is not new; it was in the air right from the onset of the movement, evident in numerous threads of comments in social networks. But when such labelling, as is regularly dished out by a Trinamul Congress backed Bengali daily like Khobor 365 Din, finds an echo in left-wing scholars, it hurts. It was almost a relief that Prof. Samaddar didn’t repeat the accusation that these rebelling students are a doped and debauched lot.
Looking up for the word ‘elite’ in the dictionaries yielded this among many: “A group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status”.
Letter to PM about US-India Bilateral Relations on Intellectual Property
Dear Prime Minister Modi ji,
We, the undersigned, wish to share with you some of our concerns on India’s position on intellectual property (IP), particularly in the context of bilateral relations between the United States of America and India. We gather from the US-India Joint Statement dated 30 September 2014 that the Indian Government
(a)greeing on the need to foster innovation in a manner that promotes economic growth and job creation…committed to establish an annual high-level Intellectual Property (IP) Working Group with appropriate decision-making and technical-level meetings as part of the Trade Policy Forum.
The necessity for setting up the joint Indo-US IP Working Group is not entirely clear. As the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)‘s press release of 3 October 2014 mentions, there is already in operation an Indo-US Trade Policy Forum since 2010. Therefore, we request your Government to kindly make the specific purpose of this joint Working Group publicly known. Continue reading Letter to PM about US-India Bilateral Relations on Intellectual Property
त्रिलोकपुरी के कुछ सवाल
त्रिलोकपुरी की हिंसा की व्याख्या तरह-तरह से करने की कोशिश हो रही है. जो बात साफ है, वह यह कि हिंसा रोकी जा सकती थी, अगर प्रशासन ने वक्त पर सख्ती की होती. लेकिन दिल्ली में दीपावली के आस-पास जैसे कोई प्रशासन नहीं था.गनीमत यह थी कि त्रिलोकपुरी में रोड़ेबाजी तक ही हिंसा सीमित रही और दूसरे हथियारों का इस्तेमाल नहीं हुआ. शायद उसका इरादा भी न था. मकसद एक सीमा तक तनाव और तापमान बढ़ा देना था जो उस इलाके के हिन्दुओं और मुसलमानों में शक और नफरत भर दे और दोनों को एक-दूसरे से दूर-दूर कर दे.
तरकीब जानी पहचानी थी. दो लोगों के बीच झगड़े की खबर आगे बढ़ते-बढ़ते तरह-तरह की शक्लें अख्तियार करती है और फिर एक बार हमला होता है.अगर झगड़ा बीस नंबर ब्लॉक का था तो वहाँ से दूर पंद्रह नंबर ब्लॉक या सताईस नंबर ब्लॉक में रोड़ेबाजी क्यों हुई.मोबाईल और व्हाट्स ऐप पर अफवाहें कौन उड़ा रहा था?
सवाल और भी हैं .इस तनाव में स्थानीय विधायक और सांसद की क्या भूमिका थी? विधायक दृश्य पटल से गायब थे. वे आम आदमी पार्टी के हैं.उनसे बार-बार संपर्क की कोशिशों के बावजूद वे सक्रिय नहीं हुए. सांसद भारतीय जनता पार्टी के हैं.उन्होंने जो बयान दिया, उसमें इशारे से हिंसा के लिए मुसलमानों को दोषी ठहराया गया था. उनके पूर्व विधायक का रोल तो आग लगाने का था.कुल मिला कर,दोनों की दिलचस्पी अमन के लिए हस्तक्षेप में न थी. दीपावाली के अगले दिन, जब रोड़ेबाजी ज़ोरों पर थी और कुछ भी घटने की आशंका थी, लगभग हर राजनीतिक दल से संपर्क की कोशिश हुई. नतीजा प्रायः सिफर था. Continue reading त्रिलोकपुरी के कुछ सवाल
त्रिलोकपुरी में शांति है!
त्रिलोकपुरी में शांति है. त्रिलोकपुरी में तनाव है. त्रिलोकपुरी में स्थिति नियंत्रण में है. नियंत्रित तनाव की शांति भी नियंत्रित ही होती है. बीच-बीच में अफवाहें उड़ती हैं और लोग सावधान हो जाते हैं. पुलिस की गश्त बढ़ जाती है.
दीवाली की रात से सक्रिय हिंसा शुरू हुई. लेकिन यह हिंसा भी नियंत्रित थी. सिर्फ ईंटों के टुकड़े बरसाए जा रहे थे.त्रिलोकपुरी की सड़कें इन टुकड़ों और कांच से आज भी इस कदर पटी पड़ी हैं कि उनसे बचकर आप पैदल भी नहीं चल सकते. प्रशासन एकसाथ शांति कायम रखने और सडकों को साफ कराने का काम नहीं कर सकता, भले ही स्वच्छ भारत अभियान की सफलता के लिए पत्रकार अपनी कलम को झाड़ू बना चुके हों. ताज्जुब सोचकर होता है कि इतनी ईंटें अचानक कहाँ से आ गई होंगी.
शांति है. धारा एक सौ चवालीस लगी है. अपनी दीवाली खराब करके सैकड़ों पुलिसकर्मी गश्त लगा रहे हैं. लेकिन इस पहरे का नतीजा प्रायः रोजाना काम करके पेट पालने वालों को भुगतना पड़ रहा है. यह इत्तफाक की बात ही होगी कि शिकायतें मिल रही हैं कि ज़्यादातर मुसलमानों को दूध, सब्जी, जैसी ज़रूरियात की खरीदारी करने या काम पर जाने के लिए बाहर निकलने में दिक्कत हो रही है. एक का कहना है कि दाढ़ी देखते ही सुरक्षाकर्मी सावधान हो जाते हैं और उनमें तनाव आ जाता है. उनकी लाठी में भी उस वक्त ज़्यादा ज़ोर आ जाता है. क्या यह सिर्फ उसका वहम है? Continue reading त्रिलोकपुरी में शांति है!
Ghulam Azam : Death of a War Criminal
Wily strategists meet their nemesis in unexpected ways.
Ghulam Azam, the once all powerful leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, who died recently, might have brooded over this old dictum, in his last days in detention. It was only last year that he was sentenced to 90 years of imprisonment for his crimes against humanity which he committed when people of the then East Pakistan – todays Bangladesh – had risen up against the occupation army of Pakistan in the year 1971.
It was not surprising that the funeral of this man who evoked intense hatred and loathing from a large cross-section of the population of B’desh for his role during and after the liberation of the country witnessed protest demonstrations all over the country. There were even demands that his body be sent to Pakistan for final rites and should not be buried here.
“The janaza (funeral prayer) of a war criminal can never be held at the national mosque,”
Ziaul Hasan, chairman of Bangladesh Sommilito Islami Jote, an alliance of progressive Islamic parties, said at a human chain near the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque where Azam’s body was taken for funeral prayers. (The Telegraph, 27 th Oct 2014). Continue reading Ghulam Azam : Death of a War Criminal
Ruminations of a Holy Cow: Satya Sagar
Guest Post by SATYA SAGAR
I am a humble cow from India and writing this to clear up some of the bull being propagated about me and members of my family for a long time.
I am not using the term ‘humble’ out of some false sense of modesty but only because this reflects the true status of most cows in this country. Irrespective of the propaganda about our ‘exalted status’ cows in India are an oppressed lot, on par with the ordinary people of India.
In fact cows, have been the template for exploitation around the world, being among the first animals to be ‘domesticated’ by the human species. Once cows, along with dogs and sheep, were enslaved it was only a matter of time before the male of this evil species thought ‘how wonderful it would if I could also domesticate women, children and members of neighbouring tribes?’
The rest is history. Of course, the history of human ‘civilisation’. The four terms ‘captured, tethered, milked, butchered’ – which is what has happened to cows over millennia- can neatly describe the entire march of ‘progress’ of human societies from feudalism to modern day financial capitalism.
I laughed out loud reading Marx the other day ( I found his book while rummaging for food in a garbage bin) where he talks of ending the ‘exploitation of man by man’! Well before all that came the exploitation of cows by man! Continue reading Ruminations of a Holy Cow: Satya Sagar
A Reply to Ranabir Samaddar on Jadavpur: Uditi Sen
Guest Post by UDITI SEN
Prof. Ranabir Samaddar of the Calcutta Research Group has recently published a screed (in the DNA Newspaper) against the #Hokkolorob movement initiated by the students of Jadavpur University which has found resonance with students and young people all over West Bengal and elsewhere in India. Samaddar, who seems to have lost the ability to recognize the many intersections of solidarity between students, young people in metropolitan as well as non-metropolitan contexts, women, young workers, accuses the movement of what he calls ‘elitism’ and a disconnect with realities on the ground.
Uditi Sen responds.
It is settled then. With this latest denunciation (by Ranabir Samaddar, in DNA, see link above) of the student movement at Jadavpur, we finally have a verdict we can trust. Student politics is not what it used to be. The glory days of the 60s are long gone and the protesting young today fail to live up to the authentic radicalism of their elders. Those were the days, indeed. Those were the days when student politics, organised under the banner of the organised left took up real issues, such as those of the peasants and workers and did not distract themselves with inequities closer to home. Such as, why women ‘comrades’ were expected to cook and clean and provide for their men, who led the vanguard. Such as why even the most progressive politics, when speaking of the rights of peasants, meant the rights of male peasants. Those indeed were the days of glory, which we should remember and seek to emulate, when the leaders, usually dadas, had no answers when a peasant woman asked, ‘“Why should my comrade beat me at home?” (See Samita Sen’s Toward a Feminist Politics: The Indian Women’s Movement in Historical Perspective)
Continue reading A Reply to Ranabir Samaddar on Jadavpur: Uditi Sen
Sanskrit and Language Politics Then and Now: Muruganandham
Guest post by MURUGANANDHAM*
When all the arrangements were made by the corporate media and Hinduist forces for ensuring that Modi became the next Prime Minister, the democratic forces and progressive political organizations were still trying hard to make people understand his real agenda of imposing corporate capitalism and Brahminical Hinduism, in a rapidly fascist manner, in the guise of “development”. Middle class voters were lured by the media and believed him to be the harbinger of “development”. After taking over the rule at the center, Modi’s government has taken up the burden of disproving the undue trust placed on it by the unfortunate Indian middle class – through an array of anti-people activities like cutting of the gas subsidy, privatization of the public sector and substantial hike in train-fare, not to mention the red-carpet rolled out to FDI investments in defense and railway sectors. The Modi government has also been quite manipulative, and has tried to distract people’s attention from these vicious schemes, by working out cultural and social programs with attractive sounding slogans. The imposition of Sanskrit week, Hindi usage for official purposes, Guru Utsav and more recently the Svach Bharat Abhiyan are only some of those programs which rely purely upon empty rhetoric, hardly having any logic or working mechanism. Invoking people’s imagination towards the “national” symbols is a constant resort of the rulers for political mobilization. More often than not in the Indian context, Sanskrit has been used for this political end in order to sustain the eternal hegemony of Brahminical forces. The present politics behind imposing Sanskrit as the symbol of national heritage and culture by the BJP government certainly demands a much broader understanding of the historical role played by Sanskrit and other languages in shaping the societal structure and cultures. The language which was once denied to the people is now promoted to be the language of all Indians. Let’s attempt to unearth this irony of imposing Sanskrit as the language of “ALL” so as to reveal the ridiculousness of these announcements and the urgent need to oppose them. Continue reading Sanskrit and Language Politics Then and Now: Muruganandham
“Haider” – Hamlet in Kashmir: Suhas Munshi
This is a guest post by SUHAS MUNSHI
The challenge of telling stories of a conflict is its victims. Each, traumatized in their own way, needs their own story. The narrator is bound to fail not only those he didn’t include but those who didn’t see their stories recreated faithfully. Had Basharat Peer set himself the task of faithfully adapting the violence done to Kashmiris he would have had to script a pornographic narrative for the screen. Some of the bile directed at him from Kashmiris comes from a dissatisfaction of not depicting the true extent of the brutality of the Indian army and rendering its casualties adequately pitiful. An opinion piece written on the movie in ‘The Parallel Post’ titled ‘Setting the wrong precedent’ condemns torture scenes in the movie as having actually undermined the actual extent of army atrocity in Kashmir. The piece goes on to say, ‘army excesses wane out by the time movie reaches its climax.’
However, the only service that a story teller from Kashmir could do to art and to humanity is to depict the people living there, especially the victims, as humans; as people, just as they are found anywhere else in the world, and not continue to peddle the cliché of the valley being a dehumanized pastoral paradise. Accusations of betrayal, conceit and condescension are being hurled at Basharat Peer, the writer, when he has got, for the first time ever, the words ‘plebiscite’, ‘half-widows’ and the rousing call of ‘Azadi’ in a script, through a movie, on mainstream cinema. Continue reading “Haider” – Hamlet in Kashmir: Suhas Munshi
आज्ञाकारिता की संस्कृति
कुछ वक्त पहले देश के एक बड़े शिक्षा संस्थान की विद्वत् परिषद् ने कोई एक साल पहले पाठ्यक्रम में की गई बड़ी और महत्वाकांक्षी तब्दीली को खारिज करते हुए पुराने पाठ्यक्रम को वापस बहाल करने का फैसला किया. यह वही परिषद् थी जिसने पहले के पाठ्यक्रम की आलोचना को दरकिनार करते हुए पिछला परिवर्तन किया था.उस वक्त इस निर्णय की आलोचना करने वाले अध्यापकों से राजनीतिक और शिक्षा विभाग के अधिकारियों ने प्रश्न किया था: यह निर्णय अत्यंत शिक्षित,अपने ज्ञान-क्षेत्रों में सुपरिचित विद्वानों ने सुचिंतित ढंग से किया क्यों किया जब आप इसे अकादमिक दृष्टि से कमजोर बताते हैं? एक तरह से विश्वविद्यालय के अकादमिक समुदाय ने स्वेच्छा से यह फैसला किया. लेकिन भिन्न परिस्थिति में इसी निर्णय को इसी परिषद् ने फिर उतने ही निर्द्वन्द्व भाव से कैसे रद्द कर दिया?
अभी दो महीने हुए, देश के प्रधानमंत्री ने शिक्षक दिवस के दिन बच्चों से सीधे बात करने का निर्णय किया. केन्द्रीय मानव संसाधन मंत्री ने स्पष्ट किया कि यह कोई सरकारी फरमान नहीं है, स्वैच्छिक है. लेकिन केंद्रीय माध्यमिक शिक्षा समिति, केंद्रीय विद्यालय संगठन,आदि ने इसे लागू करना अनिवार्य कर दिया. अनेकानेक निजी विद्यालयों ने भी, जो अपने काम-काज में सरकार से आज़ाद हैं,इसे अपने बच्चों के लिए निर्विकल्प कर दिया. Continue reading आज्ञाकारिता की संस्कृति
Rip Van Winkle and Raman Singh Government
Can an elected Panchayat deprive a section of its own people belonging to a minority community its constitutionally granted right to practise its religion – e.g. organise prayers or engage in religious propaganda and have sermons?
Or can it ever deprive them of their mandatory quota of grain under PDS (public distribution system) which is focused more on persons living below poverty line?
Anyone conversant with rudimentary understanding of law would reply in the negative. It appears that in Chattisgarh they do it differently. In fact, Sirisguda, Kunguda and many other villages in Jagdalpur and adjoining areas in the state are in the news for similar reasons. Continue reading Rip Van Winkle and Raman Singh Government
The old Gods haven’t fled: Sankar Radhakrishnan
Guest Post by SANKAR RADHAKRISHNAN
On a morning not long ago, chaya cup in hand, I was getting my regular Kafila fix, when I paused mid-click. What caught my eye was a headline with ‘Gods, Own and Country’ in it. Now that combination of words could only mean one thing — a piece on Kerala. It helped though that right below the headline was a picture of a Kathakali artist in sthree vesham or female makeup.
So I dived right into the essay on Thiruvananthapuram by Professor Mohan Rao. The first couple of lines had me grinning with delight for he wrote of his “four wonderful days” in the city, one that’s been my home for much of the past three decades.
I was so pleased by this that I skimmed the next few lines. Only to be stopped in my tracks, almost spilling some scalding chaya on myself in the process, by the Professor’s declaration that “… Ganesha is not a deity widely worshipped in Kerala.”
Now I’m no expert in Hinduism, but I do know that my extended, and very Malayali, family used to perform a ‘Ganapathy homam’ on a number of specific occasions; before moving into a new house, for instance. And this has been going on for decades. I also remember that both my grandmothers had an image of Ganapathy in their personal pooja spaces. Just to make sure that I hadn’t got my wires crossed, I checked with a couple of Malayali Hindu friends who confirmed that Ganapathy and Ganapathy homams were an integral part of their families’ religious landscape too. Continue reading The old Gods haven’t fled: Sankar Radhakrishnan
Can Caste Be Swept Away? New Socialist Initiative
Statement by New Socialist Initiative, Delhi State Chapter
It is cleaning season in India. Country’s prime minister has gone to town with a broom. He started the campaign to clean India by sweeping a dalit neighburhood of erstwhile untouchables, seemingly breaking many caste barriers. There are very few public defenders of caste system nowadays. Upper caste men and women, whose ancestors only three generations ago fought tooth and nail to not yield even an inch of their caste privileges, now cry and organise under the slogan of Equality, once affirmative action for lower castes in educational institutions and government jobs has begun to have some traction. Is now not an opportune time to sweep away the garbage of caste into the dustbin of history?
Reality is too complex for this simple hope. If caste appears to be disregarded, or flouted, in some domains, its prejudices and violence are flourishing in others. The day country’s news channels were busy showing the prime minister sweeping a dalit basti in the heart of the capital, a young woman of Madurai in Tamil Nadu was burnt alive by her family for marrying a dalit. She could have been from anywhere in the country, from Haryana in the North to Maharashtra in the West, or Bihar in the East, to have met a similar fate; if not murder, certainly social ostracism. In all villages, where majority of Indians live, habitation areas are divided along caste lines; upper castes occupying the most secure central areas with easiest access to public utilities like road, school, and panchayat ghar; and dalits on the outskirts. In cities too, where caste markers are less visible, caste networks are the most potent resource the poor fall back upon while searching for job and habitation.
Continue reading Can Caste Be Swept Away? New Socialist Initiative
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Too Many Erasures
The Hindu Social Order is based upon a division of labour which reserves for the Hindus clean and respectable jobs and assigns to the untouchables dirty and mean jobs and thereby clothes the Hindus with dignity and heaps ignominy upon the untouchables.
(The Revolt of the Untouchables, Excerpted from Essays on Untouchables and Untouchability : Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol 5 (Mumbai : Govt of Maharashtra, 1989, 256-58)
1.
The inauguration of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, (Clean India Campaign) with much fanfare, with ministers, bureaucrats and others holding Jhadoos evoked an interesting reaction from a ragpicker Sanjay who lives in Mehrauli with his parents. “These are the same people from whose houses we pick up garbage every day. This is part of our life. We don’t really understand why they are making it such a big deal,” Continue reading Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Too Many Erasures
Report on Alleged Plan of Cow Slaughter in JJ Colony Bawana: IFTU,PMS,PDSU
A team comprising of Dr. Mrigank (Delhi Committee, Indian Federation of Trade Unions, IFTU), Poonam Kaushik (Gen. Secy. Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan, PMS), Rajeev (Convener, Progressive Democratic Students’ Union, PDSU) visited JJ Colony Bawana and made investigations into the reports of alleged planned cow slaughter and intimidation of Muslims.
Bawana JJ Colony is situated opposite CRPF Camp near Bawana City. It has resettled people, displaced from Yamuna Pushta, Saraswati Vihar, Laxmi Nagar etc. its population is about 1.5 lakh and about 70% are Muslims (as we were told). It is under Outer Delhi district of Delhi Police and two Police stations covers the area. Bawana PS covers village and Narela covers JJ Colony. Mr. Udit raj of BJP is MP here, who has not even been seen by the people. We were told by people that CPI (M-L) New Democracy has sent an urgent e-mail to Commissioner of Police, Delhi demanding urgent deployment of forces. Continue reading Report on Alleged Plan of Cow Slaughter in JJ Colony Bawana: IFTU,PMS,PDSU
आगमनी गा न सका!
धूप का कोण बदलने लगा है. और उसमें तीखापन भी बढ़ रहा है. क्वांर जो ठहरा. सूरज को भी अब लौटने की जल्दी रहती है. श्वेत पंखुड़ियों को नारंगी डंठल पर सजाए शिउली की नन्हीं बूंदों से सामने की ज़मीन का टुकड़ा भरने लगा है. हवा में एक रहस्यमय गंध भरने लगी है. जैसे कोई प्रत्याशा तैर रही हो. कवि से शब्द उधार लूँ तो कह सकता हूँ, अनुभव से जानता हूँ कि यह शारदीय गंध है.
बेटी के मायके आने का मौसम. वर्ष भर की प्रतीक्षा के फलीभूत होने का समय. माँ की व्याकुलता के चरम पर पहुँचने का क्षण. बेटी आएगी तो? उमा, गौरा, पार्वती, माँ किन नामों से पुकारती रही होगी? और पिता हिमालय? कौन सा नाम दुलार का रहा होगा, डाक नाम? क्या माँ का अलग होगा और पिता का अलग?
मेना वार्षिक प्रतीक्षा करते हुए गाती है. गाते हुए रोती है और रोते हुए गाती है. बेटी पगली थी जो रीझ गई उस नंगे-बूचे पर. न घर का ठिकाना न खाने का जुगाड़. आते-जाते नज़र पड़ी और हठ पकड़ ली, रहूँगी तो उसी के साथ, नहीं तो यों ही जीवन गुजार दूँगी. खाना-पीना छोड़ दिया. क्या करते? एक ही बेटी ठहरी. ठान लिया सो ठान लिया. पिता को भी दिल कड़ा करके मानना ही पड़ा. दूल्हे के घर-बार, आगे-पीछे का कुछ पता नहीं. क्या करता है, कौन साथी-संघाती हैं! आखिर बेटी है, इतने दुलार से, जतन से पाला पोसा है, किसी भी ऐरे-गैरे के पल्ले ऐसे कैसे बाँध दें! पर नहीं साहब, बेटी ने मजबूर कर दिया. Continue reading आगमनी गा न सका!
Unwrapping the Soldier from the Flag – Kashmir after the Flood: Chirag Thakkar
Guest Post by Chirag Thakkar
Witnessing a culture of wounds trying to put itself together in times of a grave catastrophe is a difficult pursuit. For the archivist of State violence, the horror with which TRP-hungry television studios build a spectacle that is acutely wedded to a deep-rooted, pungent nationalism around catastrophe and relief in Kashmir, is frustrating. The insensitivity with which the Indian media has rubbed salt in the wounds of a people is appalling. One wonders if ours is a culture of calculated amnesia or of sightless apathy.
There is something very unique about the way in which we relate with the pain of the other. What is unique is the precision with which we reproduce perceptions about the masculine, hardened sons of soil – the security forces – and yet, at the same time, remain unmoved in failing to recognise the state of exception Kashmir has been in. What is also unique is how measured and stingy we are with our sympathy. Continue reading Unwrapping the Soldier from the Flag – Kashmir after the Flood: Chirag Thakkar
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 