Category Archives: Debates

Debates, Language

City as a Site of Trade-Offs

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To be truly radical, said Raymond Williams, is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing. Today, his words are both a diagnosis of all that ails the contemporary Indian city as well as the clearest articulation of what we must strive to be in the years to come. Amidst the smart, the inclusive, the global, the world-class, and the sustainable: how does one find the radical city?

This is no easy task. By their nature, cities concentrate both opportunity and risk, hope and despair. If growth rises, so does inequality. If diversity rises, then so does segregation. If infrastructure and built form expand, so do ecological risks. Historically, if cities have held innovation, mobility, and democracy, they have been equally adept at violence, poverty, and inequality. This is then where we must start: to acknowledge the city as a site of trade-offs, not the convenient listing of aspirations where the smart, inclusive or sustainable city can be created at no cost, no price, or without crowding out other visions and alternative futures. As India urbanizes, the only certainty we have is that these trade-offs will become more stark, with the stakes becoming higher for more and more people.

Continue reading City as a Site of Trade-Offs →

Capitalism, Debates, Government

Demonetization not a “war on black money” unless finances of political parties made accountable: Nishank Varshney

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Guest Post by NISHANK VARSHNEY

While the common man is being subjected to infinite scrutiny and daily changing rules, the political parties enjoy to have a free-run at not disclosing a large part of their income, running into thousands of Crores. As long as the political parties continue to enjoy this exemption, the menace of black money cannot be said to have been tackled.

In one of the most unprecedented decisions in the Indian history that was taken on 8th November, 2016, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, suddenly announced the cancellation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes with a view of “eliminating black money”. Over the last seven weeks, the PM has regularly reiterated this stand, and called Demonetization a “war on black money” through his speeches at various election rallies, the survey on his mobile app, and most recently in his “Mann ki Baat” program on Sunday. However, Mr. Nasim Zaidi, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, recently expressed that “many political parties are being used as conduits for siphoning off black money”.

As per the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act), political parties are not required to report the names of the individuals or organizations from whom they have received donations of amounts less than Rs. 20,000. A study by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has shown that these ‘unaccounted donations’ form a large part of political parties’ income. In the year 2014-15 alone, BJP declared an income of 505.26 Crore from unknown sources, while Congress received a sum of 445.22 Crore from unknown sources during the same time-period. At present, there are over 1700 registered political parties in India, and many political parties may have been misusing this exemption to convert their black money, as voiced by the Chief Election Commissioner. Continue reading Demonetization not a “war on black money” unless finances of political parties made accountable: Nishank Varshney →

Centre watch, Debates, Education, Government, Law, Politics

The Laziest Blog Post Ever Written – Educational reform and Demonetization

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Remember the FYUP debacle? Remember (as repeatedly written about on Kafila as elsewhere) that it was the latest in a long series of badly-conceived, mindlessly-borrowed and forcibly-implemented ‘educational reforms’ that practically crippled universities around the country? And remember a certain Rev. Valson Thampu, authoritarian, controversy-soaked Principal of St. Stephens College and eager soldier for the reforms? Well Thampu, now-retired, has thrown his weight against demonetisation these days in a set of articles on The Daily O. Now the thing is, almost everything Thampu finds objectionable about monetary reform, can be said about educational reform.

No, literally, every single thing.

So I simply took his post and replaced some key words, to produce a post about education. I know, I know, it’s not nice to do this, especially when you know, he speaketh the truth on demonetisation and all. But it is too wonderful an opportunity to pass up, to not use Thampu’s own eloquent words to say, yet again, what he has steadfastly refused to listen to in the past. Besides, as I say above, this is the laziest blog post I have ever had to write – that’s always an incentive.

His article in the original can be read here.

POLITICS HIGHER EDUCATION | 5-minute 7-minute read | 22-12-2016 23-12-2006 VALSON THAMPU SUNALINI KUMAR

Continue reading The Laziest Blog Post Ever Written – Educational reform and Demonetization →

Bad ideas, Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Government, Right watch

Buying into Demonetisation- the Popular Ideological Receptors of Creeping Fascism: Sanjay Kumar

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Guest Post by SANJAY KUMAR

The withdrawal of eighty six percent of currency notes by the Modi government has been an administrative fiasco. It is clear that little economic thought, and only a political urge has gone into the exercise. Informal sector of the economy, which accounts for 80% of the employment and 40% of the national output, has suffered short to medium term damage. All cash dependent transactions, wages, wholesale and retail trade, agricultural purchase and sale, are at a crawl. Workers are not getting wages, factories are closing, mandis are empty. Crores of young and old working people are spending hours in queues at banks and ATMs to withdraw their own money now gone scarce.  Press reports count more than eighty deaths. Parliament of the country is in a limbo, because the prime minister thinks it below his worth to reply to charges by the opposition party MPs. While ordinary people are suffering, the Nero like rulers are trumpeting the arrival of the nirvana of a cash less economy as the answer to India’s economic ills.

Even while Mr Modi’s government is solely responsible for this needless and widespread suffering, it would be naive to expect an automatic popular backlash against it. The politics of the ruling party does not fit into the patronage or identity driven models of its competitors. Its closest template is fascist politics, which  is a very particular kind of authoritarianism. What distinguishes a fascist regime from other modern authoritarian regimes like military dictatorships is the popular support it is able to garner for its policies and depredations. This is achieved by carefully working upon popular anxieties, prejudices, desires and fears, and refashioning them as grounds for aggression against selected minorities, and a belief in an imminent deliverance under the personalised rule of a leader. Continue reading Buying into Demonetisation- the Popular Ideological Receptors of Creeping Fascism: Sanjay Kumar →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Government, Identities, Law, Left watch, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

A Dog Writes to a Minister: Dear A K Balan …

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Dear Mr A K Balan

I am writing to you because I feel that it is my duty to disabuse you of the ideas you seem to harbour of, and in the name of, Indian nationalism (and not just bark at the portentous approach of the peddlers of ‘nationalism’, the Hindutvavaadis). You are a Minister in the CPM-led government of Kerala, which was elected by  Malayali citizens to ward off the monstrous Hindtuva-Nazi-Predatory Capitalist combine that has taken over India nearly, and so my barking should have been enough. But you seem to be totally wrapped up in your ignorance. Continue reading A Dog Writes to a Minister: Dear A K Balan … →

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Government, Identities, Politics, Right watch

Love Can’t Be Forced: Protest Against Sanghi Hubris at IFFK!

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 I am hoping to protest at whichever venue of the International Film Festival of Kerala that I can manage to go to, wearing a printed badge saying ‘DEAR SUPREME COURT, NO LOVE CAN BE FORCED’. Yesterday, six people who did not stand up when the national anthem was played were arrested. Sanghi elements and overenthusiatic people who have picked up Modi’s style of projecting instant nationalism on the debris of Indian democracy have been heckling people who refused to comply with the SC’s order and filing complaints. Indeed, they took photos of people who didn’t stand up during the anthem. How come they have not insulted the national anthem according to their own standards since they too were expected to stand in attention?
 

Continue reading Love Can’t Be Forced: Protest Against Sanghi Hubris at IFFK! →

Capitalism, Debates

Jana Gana Mana and the Danger of Passing Sentiment as Law

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This originally appeared in The Wire

This is clearly the winter of Karan Johar’s discontent. Barely had the controversy over the illegal fine imposed on him by the Mahrashtra Navnirman Sena died down when the ghost of a controversy about his earlier film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (K3G), has resurfaced in the form of the mind-boggling order from the Supreme Court making it mandatory for the national anthem to played in cinema halls before the screening of a film:

All the cinema halls in India shall play the National Anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the National Anthem.

Prior to the National Anthem is played or sung in the cinema hall on the screen, the entry and exit doors shall remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to disrespect to the National Anthem. After the National Anthem is played or sung, the doors can be opened.

When the National Anthem shall be played in the Cinema Halls, it shall be with the National Flag on the screen.

The national anthem is “the symbol of the Constitutional Patriotism and inherent national quality”, the judgment says. “It does not allow any different notion or the perception of individual rights, that have individually thought of have no space. (sic) The idea is constitutionally impermissible.”

Continue reading Jana Gana Mana and the Danger of Passing Sentiment as Law →

Capitalism, Debates, Government, Right watch

बड़े नोटों का रद्दीकरण – छिपकली की पूंछ पकड़ने के लिए विशाल पिंजरा – राजिंदर चौधरी

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Guest post by RAJINDER CHUDHARY

 

1946 और 1978 में भी प्रचलित बड़े नोटों को रद्ध किया गया था। इस लिए 8 नवंबर 2016 को मोदी सरकार द्वारा 500 और 1000 रुपये के प्रचलित नोटों को रद्ध करने का निर्णय आधुनिक काल में तीसरी बार उठाया गया कदम है। तीनों बार मुख्य लक्ष्य कालेधन को खत्म करना रहा है। लेकिन मोदी सरकार ने अपने निर्णय के पीछे एक नया कारण भी जोड़ा हैं। यह है नकली नोटों का बढ़ता चलन और इन के माध्यम से आतंकवाद का फलना-फूलना। रिज़र्व बैंक के नवीनतम आंकड़ों के अनुसार 2015-16 के दौरान 1000 रुपये के नोटों में नकली नोटों का अनुपात 0.002262% था यानी 1000 के एक लाख नोटों में सवा दो नोट नकली पाये गए (इन में पुलिस एवं अन्य द्वारा पकड़े गए नकली नोट शामिल नहीं हैं)। 500 रुपये के नोटों में यह अनुपात 0.00167% था यानी 500 रुपये के 1 लाख नोटों में नकली नोटों की संख्या 2 से कम थी। जाहिर है ये सारे के सारे नकली नोट आंतकवादियों द्वारा जारी नहीं किए गए होंगे। विशुद्ध आर्थिक अपराधियों का भी इस में योगदान होगा। लेकिन अगर यह भी मान लें कि ये सारे के सारे नकली नोट आतंकवादियों द्वारा चलाये गए थे तो भी 2015-16 में रिज़र्व बैंक के आंकड़ों के अनुसार 500 और 1000 के नकली नोटों की कुल कीमत 27.39 करोड़ रुपये बनती है (इन के अलावा 2015 में बीएसएफ़ ने 2.6 करोड़ रुपये के नकली नोट पकड़े थे)। इस से स्पष्ट है कि नकली नोट आतंकवाद की बुनियाद नहीं हो सकते। वैसे भी, इन नकली नोटों पर रोक लगाने के लिए इन नोटों को एकायक रद्ध करना न आवश्यक है और न पर्याप्त। अगर नोटों की छपाई को अधिक सुरक्षित नहीं बनाया गया, तो ‘आतंकवाद के समर्थक’ ताकतों, जो सामान्य अपराधी तो हैं नहीं, द्वारा नए नकली नोट छापना मुश्किल नहीं होगा। इस लिए अधिक सुरक्षित नोट छापना बेहद आवश्यक है।  नए, अधिक सुरक्षित नोट जारी करने के साथ, पुराने ‘असुरक्षित’ नोटों को बदलवाने के लिए एक समय सीमा रखी जा सकती थी। जैसा पहले भी किया गया है। 2005 से पहले के छपे नोटों को, जिन पर छपने का वर्ष अंकित नहीं होता था, उन्हें मई 2013 से पर्याप्त समय दे कर, बैंकों में जमा करा लिया गया है। यही प्रक्रिया दूसरे ‘असुरक्षित’ नोटों के साथ भी दोहराई जा सकती है। इस लिए नकली नोटों पर रोक लगाने के लिए सारे नोटों को रद्ध करना आवश्यक नहीं था। Continue reading बड़े नोटों का रद्दीकरण – छिपकली की पूंछ पकड़ने के लिए विशाल पिंजरा – राजिंदर चौधरी →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Debates, Everyday Life, Government

Welfare Shocks are not “Inconveniences”

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I want to make one thing clear. There is a difference in between “short-term inconvenience” or pain or difficulty, however you want to call it, and a welfare shock.

Take a very simple empiric: 80% of families in India that are above the poverty line in one year but fall below it in another, do so because of one illness, to one family member, in one year. Let that sink in please: one, one, one. That’s it. (see Aniruddh Krishna’s excellent ‘One Illness Away‘ to read more). This is the reality of the vulnerability of what is so dismissively called the “cash economy.” You can replace illness with wedding or funeral and the story still holds. Welfare shocks, as they are called, break cycles of very tenuous security and small economic gains, pushing families back into cycles of debt and depleted savings. They do it because we don’t have enough public welfare protections to guard against small risks and life events – domestic savings are the only floor.

The thing about demonetisation done in this way, where no planning accounts for the “short-term” contraction of the cash economy in a place where 60-80% of workers work informally, half get paid in cash, and one in every five of them work in cash on daily/weekly wages (see RBI, NSS data, or the NCEUS report on the unorganised sector), then you aren’t pushing a “short-term inconvenience,” you risk causing a welfare shock.

Continue reading Welfare Shocks are not “Inconveniences” →

Debates, Education, Excavation, Frontiers, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Appeal to Join “JNU Chalo” on 15 Nov Marking One Month of Najeeb’s Disappearance: JNUSU

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Guest Post by JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union)

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Friends, on 14th October night, Najeeb Ahmed, a student of M.Sc. Biotechnology, JNU was brutally assaulted and violently threatened by a group of ABVP students. From 15th October morning, Najeeb went missing from the campus. The disappearance of a student from a central university in the national capital after assault and intimidation of right wing lumpens is no doubt an ominous reflection of the dark times we are living in. For past four weeks, students, teachers, staff members of JNU, and citizens of Delhi have been coming out on the streets demanding institutional accountability to bring back Najeeb.

Continue reading Appeal to Join “JNU Chalo” on 15 Nov Marking One Month of Najeeb’s Disappearance: JNUSU →

Debates, Education, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Identities, Images, Metropolis, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

The Anatomy of a Disappearance: Shehla Rashid

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Guest Post by Shehla Rashid. Videos by Haider Saif and Samim Asgor Ali

Students Gathering in a Vigil for Najeeb Ahmed at JNU

 

Think of the person closest to you, and the place that they hold in your daily life, the bittersweet memories that they create each day in your life, the daily fights and the moments of affection. At times, you fight and simply want to go away from one another, seeking a temporary calm from each other’s absence. You resolve never to call him/her again, or to speak to her/him anymore. However, by the time dusk falls, you realise the emptiness of your time without them, and you make a phone call, speaking reservedly, trying not to sound desperate or sappy. You tell them that you are coming home, and ask whether you need them to get anything- as if that were the reason for the phone call. This person could be you sister, your partner, or your best friend. Continue reading The Anatomy of a Disappearance: Shehla Rashid →

Capitalism, Debates, Right watch, Scams

Modi’s Demonetization, Black Money and Surveillance: Baidurya Chakrabarti

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Guest post by BAIDURYA CHAKRABARTI

  • The demonetization drive of Modi is neither new in content nor in form. In India, it has been done earlier by Morarji Desai; the initial conversion to Euro in the European Union happened within a month’s span. Currency is routinely taken out of circulation. What is significant about Modi’s demonetization is the amount of sensation he has generated out of an otherwise insignificant move. What is routinely done through phasing out denominations is being done in an extremely abrupt manner. He is dressing up a withdrawal and issuing of currency notes as a revolutionary move, and it is being executed in the manner more suited to currency change. What we need to thus ask ourselves is this: why is a routine monetary policy being enacted in this—which I shall later call ‘terroristic’—manner? Clearly, the answer is not economic; even the government does not pretend it to be a strictly economic issue (when they harp on the ‘terror’ factor).

(But before we move on, an aside. This demonetization exposes how the nostalgia for socialist development has fuelled the rise of Modi. Disenchantment with neoliberalism has produced an obscene amount of nostalgia for the pre-liberalization days among the Indian middle class, especially among the left-leaning ones. However, now that a gesture right out of those hoary days have returned to our world, it turns out to be a nightmare.)

  • Let us state the obvious things first: demonetization will do next to nothing to the so-called ‘black money’, which are routinely converted into fixed assets or foreign currency. This move dis-incentivizes hoarding of cash, but not speculation, all sorts of accounting practices that can produce the so-called ‘black money’ while bypassing the level of cash transaction altogether. Demonetization is simply an old-school, brute-force monetary policy to curb hyperinflation. The Head of European Central Bank in Europe and Larry Summers, US treasury secretary, has proposed demonetization of their high-currency notes this year. But none of them dream of doing it within a notice of 4 hours!

Continue reading Modi’s Demonetization, Black Money and Surveillance: Baidurya Chakrabarti →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Government, Identities, Politics, Religion, Right watch

भारत को पाकिस्तान बनने की राह पर धकेल रहे कट्टरपंथी

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अठारह साल की एशम और उसकी बहन ईशा हर महीने दो बार मुल्तान जेल पहुंचती हैं, ताकि अपनी मां से मिल सकें। उनकी मां आसिया बीबी फिलवक्त पाकिस्तान के विवादास्पद ईशनिंदा कानून के तहत सजा-ए-मौत का इंतजार कर रही है। इस मामले में उसकी अंतिम अपील सुप्रीम कोर्ट के सामने है। ननकाना साहिब के लिए मशहूर पाकिस्तान के शेखपुरा जिले के इत्तनवाली गांव की रहने वाली आसिया बीबी (उम्र 50 वर्ष) पर ईशनिंदा के आरोप 2009 में लगे थे। एक खेत में काम करते हुए उसका झगड़ा साथ काम करने वाली मुस्लिम महिला से हो गया। झगड़ा इस बात पर हुआ कि आसिया को पानी लाने को कहा गया, तो मुस्लिम महिला ने आपत्ति जताई कि गैर मुस्लिम का छुआ पानी नहीं पिया जा सकता। झगड़े के बाद मुसलमान औरत स्थानीय मौलवी के पास पहुंची और बताया कि बीबी ने पैगंबर मोहम्मद को गाली दी। इसे ईशनिंदा का अपराध माना गया।

संवेदनशील मामला
पाकिस्तान में ईशनिंदा बहुत ही संवेदनशील मसला है, जिसके लिए मौत की सजा भी हो सकती है। आसिया बीबी को पुलिस ने गिरफ्तार कर लिया और उस पर मुकदमा चला। आसिया ने अदालत में कहा कि आपसी झगड़ा था, ईशनिंदा जैसी कोई बात ही नहीं थी, फिर भी 2010 में उसे मौत की सजा सुना दी गई। उसके समर्थन में बोलने वाले पंजाब प्रांत के तत्कालीन गवर्नर सलमान तासीर को उन्हीं के बॉडीगार्ड ने गोलियों से छलनी कर दिया। इस्लामाबाद में सरेआम गवर्नर की हत्या करने वाले मुमताज कादरी को मौत की सजा सुनाई गई और 2016 में उसकी सजा पर अमल भी हो चुका है। Continue reading भारत को पाकिस्तान बनने की राह पर धकेल रहे कट्टरपंथी →

Bad ideas, Debates, Education, Identities, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Right watch

The Importance of Being Makarand Paranjape: Anirban Bhattacharya

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Guest Post by ANIRBAN BHATTACHARYA

A few days back, drawing from Oscar Wilde’s classic, Makarand Paranjape wrote a piece titled The importance of being Narendra Modi. He urged his readers to ensure a second term for Modi saying “If Narendra Modi gets a second term, he will certainly change India in a lasting and significant way.” That he is going to change India, and is doing so already is not that far from truth, but the question is which way is this change taking us. Given the track record of Modi Ji(o) so far, the change is surely going to be for the worse. But this piece is not on Modi Ji(o). This one is on the Makarand Paranjapes of the world. Yes, they are not one. They are in fact a particular breed not new in history, and they have a particular role. Specifically, we would evaluate this role of theirs in the light of a recent piece of his on the gherao of the JNU VC.

Some would say that the piece was on the issue of Najeeb. But no, it wasn’t. Najeeb, a new student pursuing M.Sc in Bio-Tech living in Mahi-Mandavi hostel was publicly assaulted by identified ABVP goons in front of students as well as wardens on the night of 14th October. He was showered with dire consequences of which too there are multiple witnesses including again the hostel wardens. A vicious communal slur-campaign was set in motion by the sanghis writing “Muslims are terrorists” within the hostel premises. Amidst all of this and in the given context Najeeb “disappeared” on 15th October from his hostel. He had called his mother last, who, as it appears, had reached Anand Vihar and was on her way to meet her son in distress. But, by the time she was here, Najeeb went “missing” mysteriously and is yet to be found. After five days of entreating an unresponsive university administration to be proactive in creating conditions for Najee’s safe return, JNU students undertook an all night vigil on the 19th of October.

Continue reading The Importance of Being Makarand Paranjape: Anirban Bhattacharya →

Debates, Government, Right watch

Beyond pop nationalism – How neoliberalism affects the jawan: Ujithra Ponniah

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Guest post by UJITHRA PONNIAH

‘7th Pay Commission: Modi government’s Diwali bonanza to armed forces! Indian soldiers to get 10% arrears’, on October 13, 2016 Zee News the current government’s pet broadcaster, tried to quell the rising disquiet within sections of the armed forces with the 7th pay commission recommendations[i]. The recommendations of the 7th pay commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur came into effect from the January 1st, 2016. The three military chiefs in an uncharacteristic move since then have written repeated letters to the government, expressing their rising unhappiness within the ranks only to be swiftly turned down. The last on the matter from the defence minister Manohar Parrikar is a promise of referring the anomalies to a higher panel, a black hole where many concerns in the past have also been lost. Along with the current serving military chiefs, 10 ex-chiefs have also written to the Prime Minister, only to be met with the selective silence that many in the country are well familiar with[ii]. So what are the military’s concerns with the current pay commission?[iii] They can be swiftly summarized around three points though the issues run deeper: an increasing disparity between the military and the civilian central government employees both in terms of pay and hike (for example a hardship allowance for an IAS officer posted in the north east is more than a soldier in Siachen); a downsizing of the disability pension in the military; and the clubbing of the military service pay (MSP) of junior commissioned officers (who rise from within the ranks of the jawans) and the jawans[iv].

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Debates, Education, Everyday Life, Images, Media politics, Metropolis, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

2 Weeks No #JusticeForNajeeb – A Few Thoughts on Yesterday’s March and the Way Forward: Shehla Rashid

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Guest Post by Shehla Rashid.

Video and Photo Inputs from Naushad MK, Samim Asgor Ali and Amit Kumar

[ This post was written shortly after JNU students gathered in front of Vasant Vihar Police Station to articulate their concern and anger at the lax attitude taken so far by the Delhi Police and other concerned authorities in relation to the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed almost two weeks ago. In this text, (originally uploaded as a note on Facebook and then sent to us to be posted at Kafila) Shehla Rashid, thinks aloud about what has happened so far and looks ahead at the possible way forward for the students of JNU and their supporters to focus on making sure that Najeeb Ahmed, wherever he is, returns safe and sound to the JNU campus. We hope that it will be widely read, and discussed to evolve strategies for the evolving future of the campaign to give justice to Najeeb. Kafila]

Shehla Rashid and Others Being Confronted by Delhi Police at the Vasant Vihar Chakka Jam on Oc. 26, 2016

 

First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude to all the students who joined the Chakka Jam at Vasant Vihar police station, where the ACP refused to even accept the paper with our demands and, instead, ordered a lathi-charge on us. Students marched as one and stayed together till the end, despite all differences, for one goal- justice for Najeeb, and his safe return to campus life. I salute this spirit of JNU students. Having said that, I must say that we need to do more. Students need to come out in even greater numbers, as the attack on us is of immense magnitude.

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Culture, Debates, Government, Identities, Images, Left watch, Movements

Requiem for the Undead: On Kerala’s Sixtieth Birthday

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[The title is a tribute to Johnny Miranda’s exquisite Malayalam novel, Requiem for the Living (Jeevichirikkunnavarkku Vendiyulla Opees in Malayalam)

As Kerala’s sixtieth birthday – a year which was inevitably one of celebration for many Malayalis as the culmination of life, until the increasing life expectancy here rendered it redundant – approaches, evaluations on the health and well-being of the region (and not just the people, or individual Malayalis) are being offered. They do not bode well. There is a sense in which we feel that the magic that has somehow protected the region, placed a shining cloak around its shoulders once, has departed. This magic is none other than that which is captured by the term ‘Kerala Model’ – which, in our popular imagination, always exceeded being just social science shorthand for the complex array of historical factors that led to high social indicators in a society characterized by low economic growth once associated with us. The idea of the Kerala Model somehow represented the fairy godmother who had transformed Kerala from being the Cinderella in India, to a shining princess fit to be raised to the heights of the UN’s international development-circles in the 1970s. Continue reading Requiem for the Undead: On Kerala’s Sixtieth Birthday →

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Resist the Draconian and Undemocratic Ban Order on the Kashmir Reader Newspaper: Junaid Nabi Bazaz

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Guest Post by Junaid Nabi Bazaz. Photos by Abid Bhat and from Kashmir Reader Online

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In a move unprecedented in the last three decades in the strife torn Kashmir valley, the Jammu and Kashmir government published an order in early October that stated that Kashmir Reader (KR), a vocal newspaper with circulation of less than10000 copies, contained material and content ‘which tends to incite violence and disturb public peace and tranquility.’ This was then used as a justification for placing a ban on the publication of KR. Today, on the 25th of October, Journalists assembled in Srinagar to protest this arbitrary ban.

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The Twitter Gherao of Mamidala90 on the 10th Day of Najeeb Ahmed’s Disappearance from JNU: Shehla Rashid

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Guest Post by Shehla Rashid

[ Between the 9th and 1oth day of the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed from the JNU campus, the JNU Vice Chancellor, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar decided to salvage his reputation on twitter, even as he squandered it on the grounds of the campus of the university he presides over. And so he let forth a volley of tweets, while sitting inside his office and his residence, even as he refused to meet or listen to the JNU students who have grown increasingly concerned and anxious at the university administrations callous laxity about the fate of Najeeb Ahmed, the missing students.

While students marched down the campus, forming a human chain that culminated at the gates of the VC’s residence near the university’s east gate, Mamidala90 (the handle with which the VC distinguishes himself in twitsville) began getting extremely active. While the students were peacefully assembled at the gates of the VC’s residence, very much not in ‘gherao’ or ‘blockade’ mode, Mamidala90 whined about being ‘blockaded’.

A Sample of Mamidala90's tweets while students gathered peacefully outside his residence. Is this what it felt like to hear Nero fiddle while Rome burnt?
A Sample of Mamidala90’s tweets while students gathered peacefully outside his residence. Is this what it felt like to hear Nero fiddle while Rome burnt?

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Bring Back Najeeb Ahmed to JNU: A Call to Resist Terror in Universities

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It is now more than a week since Najeeb Ahmed, an MSc (first year) student of Biotechnology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi has been reported missing, after an altercation with members of the RSS affiliated ABVP student organization, which reportedly left him injured and severely traumatized.

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Culture, Debates, Education, Government

Academics’ Letter to the VC, Central University of Haryana Regarding the ‘Draupadi’ Affair

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Following is the text of a letter to the Vice Chancellor, Central University of Haryana, sent by some academics protesting the attacks on Dr Snehsata Manav and Dr Manoj Kumar regarding the students’ production of the play ‘Draupadi’:
To the Vice Chancellor,
Central University of Haryana
Dear Vice Chancellor:
We write in support of Dr. Snehsata Manav and Dr. Manoj Kumar of the Department of English and Foreign Languages who have recently come under attack for their sponsorship of a student production on your campus of the play “Draupadi” based on a story by Mahasweta Devi who, as you know, is universally recognized as a towering figure in contemporary Indian literature. Her writings, translated into most Indian languages, have highlighted the struggles of oppressed and marginalized women and men. Her story “Draupadi”, whose dramatized version has been highly acclaimed and performed all over India, deals with the sensitive but enormously important question of the ethics of deploying the armed forces in dealing with civil disturbances within the country. This question, along with specific instances of rapes committed by army personnel in different parts of India, continues to be debated in the Indian public media and has engaged the attention of political leaders as well as the courts.
We strongly believe that it is both unjust and unwise to accuse intellectually responsible teachers of hurting the sentiments of some sections of opinion. The recent demise of Mahasweta Devi was a perfect occasion to engage university students in a serious discussion on why some of the greatest writers and artists of India have been concerned about the excesses of state violence carried out at the behest of those in power, no matter what their party or ideology.
We hope you will convey our views to those who have accused Dr. Manav and Dr. Kumar of being hurtful and unpatriotic. The university campus needs to be fostered as a place where difficult questions can be debated in a spirit of intellectual openness and without fear of censure.
Sincerely,
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, New York
Akeel Bilgrami, Stanley Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York
Gauri Viswanathan, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York
Partha Chatterjee, Professor of anthropology, Columbia University, New York
Romila Thapar, Professor Emeritus in History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Ramachandra Guha, author, Bengaluru

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