Category Archives: Debates

Debates, Frontiers, Government, Politics

We are all Kashmiris! Or at least should be!: Dibyesh Anand

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Guest post by DIBYESH ANAND

Dibyesh Anand is Associate Professor at Westminster University and writes on majority-minority relations in China and India

Democracy is as much an idea, as it is a political system. An idea for which millions have given life and even more have been killed. When non-democratic or quasi-democratic states suppress people, it is a shame, but when established democracies kill their own citizens for exercising their legitimate right to protest, it is a bigger tragedy. Bigger because it is not only men and women who die, but also the hope that democracy offers a humane and representative form of government at least for its own people.

This is the hope that is dying in the world’s largest democracy as the security forces continue to kill unarmed protestors every day for the last two months in Indian controlled Kashmi. Till date, more than a hundred, mostly young men and children, have been killed by those who are supposed to be the protectors. Evidence of torture, gratuitous killings, and sheer brutal dehumanisation of ordinary people are in abundance and yet the Indian state responds by threatening action against those who reveal the evidence and against forums (such as facebook, youtube) that allow these to be made public. There is no sense of humility, regret or introspection. No promise of impartial inquiry and strict punishment for the law-enforcers who kill and maim with impunity. Not even A of an apology.

Continue reading We are all Kashmiris! Or at least should be!: Dibyesh Anand →

Culture, Debates, Scams, Sex

Godmen and Conmen

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Why the Criticism of Religion Should Now Come On The Agenda

The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man.

Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But, man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.

– Karl Marx, Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy ofRight

I.

Sheltering fugitives from the law, laundering money, ‘arranging’ for government contracts, solving your financial woes or even bumbing off a pesky blackmailer – tasks which are normally associated with D company or their local level clones are today not their sole preserve. Spiritual gurus of the day who are a dime a dozen in this country have emerged as powerful challengers to their monopoly. And not only the newly emergent Sadhus, who are recent entrants in the sprawling spiritual bazaar, but even the old ones also seem deeply emersed in this morass of crime and corruption.

One can easily notice that hardly had the discussion around Icchadhari baba alias Shivmurat Dwivedi, who ran a prostitution racket which spanned many states, with his clientele reaching powerful bureaucrats and politicians, has died down, a sting operation by a leading channel has brought forth the different skills developed by the leading lights of this profession.

Continue reading Godmen and Conmen →

Bad ideas, Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Government, Identities, Images, Media politics, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Kashmir, September 2010. The Reichstag Fire (dispersed) Redux ?

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(Apologies for cross posting on the Reader List)

As if by magic, those who had hidden themselves for the past few months in Kashmir are leading mobs and setting schools and public buildings on fire. And many more people have died tragic and unnecessary deaths. This time, unlike in the past, the blame must be squarely shared between those who fired the bullets, and some of those who led the incendiary crowds. Perhaps Kashmir has just entered a new and darker phase, brandishing a burning torch. This situation, in order not to be irreversible, needs the urgent and sane attention of Kashmiris themselves, and of all those who wish Kashmir and its people well.

We could do well by way of beginning by turning our attention to a surprising detail hidden within the reports of the recent events of arson. National Conference apparatchiks, who did not even dare appear in public till recently for fear of being attacked for their role in sustaining the occupation of Kashmir by India’s armed might, are now allegedly seen openly goading mobs of zealots to burn down a school in the name of the defence of religion. If this is true, the what we are witnessing is the realization by them of a wonderful opportunity to wear new costumes and speak new lines in the unfolding theatre of the moment.

Continue reading Kashmir, September 2010. The Reichstag Fire (dispersed) Redux ? →

Countryside, Debates, Left watch, Violence/Conflict

The Azad Murder and the CPM: Biswajit Roy

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Guest post by BISWAJIT ROY. Biswajit is a journalist based in Kolkata

The recent controversy over the Maoist top gun Cherukuri Rajkumar aka Azad’s killing by AP police has blurred the usual political division between the apostles of state security and human rights groups. P Chidambaram and AP police chief churned out the usual encounter death theory, but the Maoists and Mamata Banerjee as well as union home minister’s emissary to the rebels, Swami Agniwesh called it a cold-blooded murder and demanded judicial inquiry.

In the wake of Chidambaram’s refusal to ask Rosaiah government to go for a judicial probe, the Outlook investigation into Azad’s death and the forensic experts’ opinion on his post-mortem report only reinforced the suspicion about the fake encounter. While it is yet to be clear whether Azad will become Congress’s Sohrabuddin, CPM’s position on the issue is interesting if not unpredictable.

The CPM made a full-throated condemnation of the killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife by the Gujarat-Rajasthan cops and demanded punishment of Narendra Modi’s protégé and former state home minister Amit Shah for masterminding the murder. Also, the party general secretary Prakash Karat condemned the ‘brutal policing’ against the stone-pelting youth in the valley while counting the mounting toll of young lives during his recent visit to Srinagar. He demanded curbing of the ‘draconian’ provisions of Armed Forces Special Power Act which confer licence to kill while asking the Centre to ‘stop repression and start dialogue’.

But when it comes to Maoists, the Marxists heavyweights kept mum over Azad’s mysterious death – in the parliament and outside and virtually accepted the police version about his death. Pressed about the CPM’s stand on Azad death controversy, its leaders spoke with a forked tongue. The party central committee member and Bengal spokesman, Md Selim was evasive.
He said his party always wanted Centre to reveal ‘truth’ about all such deaths. But he stopped short of supporting the police version on Azad’s end arguing that they had ‘no information to counter the police claims’ or buttress the demand for judicial probe.

Continue reading The Azad Murder and the CPM: Biswajit Roy →

Capitalism, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Theory

Socialism of the New Century: Sunil

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Guest post by SUNIL

[Sunil is the national vice-president of Samajwadi Jan Parishad. This  article was written for a special issue of Janata weekly. The essay is an important statement from one of the leading activist-theorists of the socialist movement (i.e. non-Marxist socialism) which does not simply disavow the marxist legacy but engages with that experience as an essential component of socialist practice. AN]

The tussle between capitalism and socialism as alternative visions of human society is not yet over. It is like the old fable of the race between a hare and a tortoise. At times one seems to be the winner. At other times the other seems to be leading. Capitalism is like the hare of the story. It looks fast, impressive and dynamic but after some time it is tired and resting with its own contradictions. In the end, we know it is the tortoise of socialism which will prevail. But that end is yet to be arrived at.

Capitalism looked supreme and unchallengeable in the later decades of the past century. With the disintegration of USSR, reverting of China, Vietnam and many other communist countries to the path of capitalism, and downfall of social democracy in Europe, there was no challenge to capitalism. Thus ‘end of history’ was arrogantly announced. Market fundamentalism of Reagan and Thatcher varieties started ruling over the world. But soon many crises arrived. Ecological crisis with the dangers of climate change and global warming on the one hand, and the global financial crisis with the worst recession since the thirties on the other, shook the faith in the supremacy and immortality of capitalist civilization. Added to these were the growing crises of hunger, malnutrition, homelessness, violence and war. The number of hungry people in the world kept growing and crossed the figure of 100 cores in the first decade of the twenty first century i.e. every sixth person on the earth today remains underfed and starved. This is perhaps the biggest and the most glaring failure of capitalism. Even after more than two centuries of the industrial revolution and miraculous progress of science and technology, it is unable to fulfill even the most basic need of the humankind.

Continue reading Socialism of the New Century: Sunil →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Genders, Identities, Images, Law, Left watch, Media politics, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Have I Joined the Popular Front?

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In the past few weeks, I have been asked over and over again, not always in jest, if I had joined the Popular Front. I am not surprised. The police investigation around the violence against the college teacher at Muvattupuzha has broken all previous records in not only the violation of human and civil rights, but also in the silence of Kerala’s enlightened intellectuals. If I recall right, only Nandigram evoked such a dense and deliberate silence from them. No wonder, anyone who speaks up against the manner in which the police is being armed and authorized against ‘bad muslims’ is immediately dubbed a supporter of the Popular Front. But I am intrigued by this simple question, by which the entire history of that person’s engagement with discussions around religion and the state is erased. Continue reading Have I Joined the Popular Front? →

Debates, Identities, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

What Went Wrong in Kashmir? Rekha Chowdhary

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Guest post by REKHA CHOWDHARY

This article was also published in Kashmir Times
What went wrong in Kashmir? This is one pertinent question that needs to be addressed seriously before any corrective measures can be applied. Situation would certainly normalise after some time, but apparently ‘normal’ situation in case of Kashmir does not indicate anything. The vibrancy of ordinary life and the day-to-day routine followed for days and even months, takes only moments to break. Underneath the normalcy, the turbulence is ever present and can surface at any point of time. Every turbulent period however provides clues to the real problem, and one should hold on to these clues, if one really wants to do something about it.

So what do we see in the present turbulence? Firstly, though the crisis revolves around the stone-pelting youth, one can clearly say that the real problem is not that of the stone-pelters. Neither the theory of LeT being responsible for it, nor the issue of money being paid to stone pelters, nor the vested interests making the most of the situation explains the crisis.

Continue reading What Went Wrong in Kashmir? Rekha Chowdhary →
Debates, Identities, Law, Left watch, Media politics, Movements, Violence/Conflict

The Great Incendiary Hunt Takes Off in Kerala

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I have been watching the whole drama that has been unfolding after the unspeakable and utterly condemnable act of violence at Muvattupuzha in central Kerala early this month, which has been widely interpreted as the first instance of ‘Talibanist’ violence here, with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. A whole manhunt has followed it and this continues to be front-page news in many Malayalam newspapers, especially the Mathrubhumi. Continue reading The Great Incendiary Hunt Takes Off in Kerala →

Capitalism, Debates, Left watch, Violence/Conflict

Forest Areas, Political Economy and the “Left-Progressive Line” on Operation Green Hunt: Shankar Gopalakrishnan

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Guest post by SHANKAR GOPALAKRISHNAN. This piece also appeared in Radical Notes earlier.
As central India’s forest belts are swept into an ever-intensifying state offensive and resulting civil war, there has been a strong convergence of left, liberal and progressive arguments on Operation Green Hunt. This note argues that this ‘basic line’ is problematic. The line can be summarised as: The conflict is rooted in resource grabbing by corporate capital, in the form of large projects, SEZs, mining, etc. Such resource grabbing leads people to take up arms to defend themselves, resulting in the ongoing conflict. The conflict thus consists of a state drive to grab people’s homes and resources, with people resisting by taking to arms as self-defence.
Supporters of the Maoists’ positions now often conflate these points with the more orthodox positions on the necessity for “protracted people’s war” in a ‘semi-feudal semi-colonial’ state. Liberals in turn tend to deny these orthodox positions and instead advocate the resource grab – displacement – corporate attack issue as the “real” explanation. Both, however, accept this as the predominant dynamic at the heart of the current conflict. But at the heart of this line lies an unstated question: why are forest areas the main battleground in this war? While the conflict is not coterminous with the forests – most of India’s forest areas are not part of this war, and the conflict extends outside the forest areas in some regions – forests are both politically and
geographically at its heart.
Continue reading Forest Areas, Political Economy and the “Left-Progressive Line” on Operation Green Hunt: Shankar Gopalakrishnan →
Debates, Law, Right watch

Courage Craft and Contention: Human Rights and the Judicial Imagination

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On the 12th of June, the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) celebrated its tenth anniversary with a public lecture by Justice A P Shah and Prof. Upendra Baxi on the topic Courage Craft and Contention: Human Rights and the Judicial Imagination.

We are happy to share the transcript of the lectures.

Bad ideas, Debates, Identities

“Caste census will increase incidence of Japanese encephalitis”: Sociologist

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Just four years ago, during “Mandal II”, everyone opposing the extension of OBC reservations to central educational institutions were saying we don’t even know how many OBCs there are. Now, when there is a proposal to count the OBCs, these voices are not to be heard. Just like “Mandal II”, a new term, “caste census” has been invented, as if the census already does not count the Scheduled Castes. The term “caste census” is used repeatedly in a way that suggests that a secular, progressive pro-development exercise is being sullied, polluted, by this monster of caste because of those uncouth cow belt politicians. Chee chee!

Obfuscation and intellectual dishonesty are in order. So, a lot of bullshit is being written about “caste census” to prevent us from knowing just how many of us are OBCs, to prevent the Other Backward Classes from entering the privileged spaces of the upper castes. This one takes the cake: Continue reading “Caste census will increase incidence of Japanese encephalitis”: Sociologist →

Capitalism, Countryside, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Media politics

The Desertification of Punjab and the Liability of Opinion Makers

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In August last year, we had drawn attention to a piece by Indian Express editor Shekhar Gupta on the remarkable edit page piece he had penned on what he claimed was the ‘absence of drought’, in the Green Revolution region and provided his ‘explanation’ of why it had been possible. It had been possible, Gupta had opined, because all the great things had been accomplished in decades when the most retrograde environmental and jholawala movements in the history of mankind had not yet arrived on the scene. And with no evidence whatsoever and with nothing but his blind ideological faith, Gupta had even misled his readers that ‘underground aquifers were being constantly recharged’. This when just a few days ago, NASA satellite pictures had shown the extent of groundwater depletion in this region. Continue reading The Desertification of Punjab and the Liability of Opinion Makers →

Debates, Government, Law, Violence/Conflict

Social Profiling – Indian Style

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“The Muslim is not wanted in the armed forces because he is always suspect – whether we want to admit it or not, most Indians consider Muslims a fifth column for Pakistan” [Vengeance! India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi (New Delhi, Norton, 1985), pp. 1995-96]
-George Fernandes

Amnesty International  defines racial profiling as the targeting of individuals and groups by law enforcement officials, even partially, on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion, except when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and timeframe, that links persons belonging to one of the aforementioned groups to an identified criminal incident or scheme.

I

Is racial/social profiling practised in India? Continue reading Social Profiling – Indian Style →

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

Mohamad Junaid: What Does the Chatham House Poll in Kashmir Tell Us?

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Guest post by MOHAMAD JUNAID

The Chatham House poll conducted in the autumn of 2009 in Jammu, Ladakh, Kashmir and Azad Kashmir has revealed an interesting pattern of opinions held across these regions on issues ranging from the perception of major problems people face to effective solutions to the Kashmir issue and the best means to achieve them. Robert Bradnock, under whose supervision the poll was conducted, however presented the results somewhat shoddily leading to confusion over the real import of the opinion poll. This confusion has prompted media in India and Pakistan to portray the polls selectively or in a self-serving manner, largely reflecting their nationalist stances on the Kashmir question. The poll, in reality, points to some interesting developments in Kashmir and indicates a way toward an eventual, mutually agreeable solution.

Consistent with every other poll on the issue, Chatham House poll has shown again that an overwhelming number of people (74—95 percent) in Kashmir region demand independence. This figure comes as no surprise because the support for independence for Kashmir over accession to Pakistan has been steadily growing over the last 20 years. This feeling is more concretely reflected in the fact that most Kashmiris (more than 90 percent) support withdrawal of Indian troops from Kashmir, while a similar figure (around 80 percent) want Pakistan to withdraw its troops from Azad Kashmir. Along with demilitarization, there is a clear demand for de-weaponization (more than 80 percent) and an end to militant violence (around 90 percent) in the Kashmir region. The Line of Control in its present form is uniformly rejected in both Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. Continue reading Mohamad Junaid: What Does the Chatham House Poll in Kashmir Tell Us? →

Capitalism, Countryside, Debates, Movements

Notes on the Jaffna Economy

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One of my friends in a discussion group in Colombo on ‘Democratising State and Society’ put forward the following challenge couple weeks ago.  He said, a year after the end of the war, many of us who had been following the situation of the displaced people in the North, including the lack of freedom of movement and the militarization of the North have done little to engage the oppressive economic conditions of those affected by the war and now being resettled.  That challenge was in the back of my mind as I visited Jaffna for ten days over the last two weeks.  I tried to grasp what one could on a short visit.  The following are very preliminary notes on the Jaffna economy, with a particular emphasis on agriculture and fisheries which ¬- despite technocratic and diasporic dreams of an information economy – continue to determine the economic life of the larger Jaffna population.  These tentative notes I hope will stimulate some interest towards much needed research on the economy of the Jaffna District and the war affected Northern and Eastern Provinces. Continue reading Notes on the Jaffna Economy →

Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Excavation, Identities

Beware Bigotry – Free Speech and the Zapiro Cartoons: Mahmood Mamdani

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Text of talk on receiving an honorary doctorate at the University of Johannesburg, 25 May, 2010

MAHMOOD MAMDANI, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

This text was sent to us by Sujata Patel

It warms my heart to see these flowing gowns. I congratulate you on work accomplished! For over a millennium, these gowns have been a symbol of high learning from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. Should anyone ask you where they came from, tell them that the early universities of Europe – Oxford, Cambridge, le Sorbonne – borrowed them from the Islamic madressa of the Middle East. If they should seem incredulous, tell them that the gown did not come by itself: because medieval European scholars borrowed from the madressa much of the curriculum, from Greek philosophy to Iranian astronomy to Arab medicine and Indian mathematics, they had little difficulty in accepting this flowing gown, modeled after the dress of the desert nomad, as the symbol of high learning. Should they still express surprise, ask them to take a second look at the gowns of the ayatollahs in Iran and Iraq and elsewhere and they will see the resemblance. Education has no boundaries. Neither does it have an end. As the Waswahili in East Africa, which is where I come from, say: elimu haina muisho. Continue reading Beware Bigotry – Free Speech and the Zapiro Cartoons: Mahmood Mamdani →

Debates, Left watch, Mirror Worlds, Politics

The New ‘Bush’ Doctrine: Nirmalangshu Mukherjee

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Guest post by NIRMALANGSHU MUKHERJEE

A well-known left intellectual in Delhi, belonging to one of the naxalite “splinter groups”–the term is Arundhati Roy’s to distinguish the maoists from everyone else in the naxalite movement–recently advised me that, whatever be the objections to the CPI (Maoist), we must side with them in their struggle against the state. The argument obviously is that the historical choice is binary is character: either you are with the state or against it. And the underlying assumption is that those who are against the state are somehow “with” the people. Since the maoists are (apparently) against the state, they must be viewed as “with” the people, warts and all. In not siding with the maoists then, intellectuals like Apoorvanand and others in the Kafila forum are actually siding with the state, according to the doctrine.
Continue reading The New ‘Bush’ Doctrine: Nirmalangshu Mukherjee →

Countryside, Debates, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

युद्ध के रूपक का जाल

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अपने नए बंद के दौरान सी.पी.आई.( माओवादी) ने छत्तीसगढ़ और बंगाल में अर्ध-सैन्य बल के सदस्यों के साथ बस में सफ़र कर रहे साधारण ग्रामीणों की हत्या करने के बाद जो बयान दिया है उससे यह साफ़ है कि अभी शायद इससे भी क्रूरतापूर्ण कार्रवाइयां देखने को मिल सकती हैं. उनके प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि उन्होंने पहले ही छतीसगढ़ के ग्रामीणों को यह बता दिया था कि उन्हें इस युद्ध की विशेष परिस्थिति में क्या करना है और क्या नहीं करना है. मसलन, पुलिस या सैन्य बल के लोगों के साथ किसी भी तरह का कारोबार या सामजिक व्यवहार प्रतिबंधित है, उनके साथ किसी सवारी गाडी में सफ़र नहीं करना है. इसके आगे उनसे यह भी कहा गया है कि उन्हें पुलिस या सैन्य बल की गतिविधियों पर नज़र रखनी है, उनके पास हथियारों का अंदाज़ करना है और इसकी खबर जनता सरकार को देते रहना है. इस दल के प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि साधारण लोगों का मारा जाना अफसोसनाक है लेकिन एक तरह से वे खुद इसके लिए जिम्मेदार थे क्योंकि उन्होंने चेतावनी का उल्लंघन किया था. Continue reading युद्ध के रूपक का जाल →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Countryside, Debates, Movements, Politics

To P Chidambaram: Response from a member of civil society, by AK Agrawal

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By ARUN K AGRAWAL

Dear Shri Chidambaram,

This is in response to your repeated taunts on NDTV that the civil society must respond to the wanton killing by the Naxals. It appears that the interview was tailor made for getting the consent of the Cabinet for more firepower and airpower to combat the Maoist. The diabolic support of Arun Jaitly, be it by describing you an injured martyr, was designed to achieve his ambition through the support of the mining barons of the BJP ruled states.

As a member of society I hope I am being civil in disagreeing with you on your hard line approach against the innocent tribal. I also hope you will not find it too shocking for being accused of being largely responsible for the rise and growth of Naxalism, as the following happened on your watch as Finance minister.

Continue reading To P Chidambaram: Response from a member of civil society, by AK Agrawal →

Debates, Left watch, Movements, Violence/Conflict

The Maoist Killings Once Again

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The news of  killing of more than 40 people travelling in a bus  blown by a blast in Dantewada is only a new chapter in the  book of brutalities that is  being scripted in Chhatisgarh and other parts of India in the name of ‘the People’. Six people were found slain in Rajnandgaon just a day before this blast. A day before that four villagers were killed in Bengal  because they were thought be close to the CPM and were labeled as informers. Two days before these killings in Bengal, two villagers who were Gram Rakhis were killed in Orissa. This list does not include the death of 6 Para Military persons in Chhatisgarh who were killed a land mine detonated by the Maoists in Chhatisgarh.

Are these operations  a response to the Operation Green hunt launched by the government? Or are they part of the Protracted  People’s War that is being carried out by the purest revolutionaries of our earth who do not waver and shiver at the sight of blood? Or, as some friends caution us  from rushing to any conclusion, as Shuddhabrata Sengupta has done, are they “ ‘ false flag operations’ conducted by some rogue elements of the state machinery” or directly endorsed by the state ? How are we to know who is the perpetrator of these crimes? Do we wait for a statement from the Maoists and if they deny their involvement, launch an investigation to find out the real culprit? It took nearly a month for the Maoists to officially own the attack which extinguished the lives of 76  CRPF men. The Maoist leadership congratulated the bravery of its combatants who had achieved the feat of eliminating a whole company of Indian para military force.
Continue reading The Maoist Killings Once Again →

Countryside, Debates, Government, Scams

Ethical violations of HPV vaccination trials in India: SAMA

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This guest post has been sent by the SAMA team

On July 9, 2009, the Andhra Pradesh Minister for Health and Family Welfare in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and PATH (Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health) International a non-profit organization based in USA launched what it described as a ‘demonstration project’ for vaccination against cervical cancer. The vaccine, against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is one of the most common families of viruses and the source of a common sexually transmitted infection, was administered to 14,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 in three mandals – Bhadrachalam, Kothagudem and Thirumalayapalem – of Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, the vaccine used was Gardasil, manufactured by Merck Sharpe and Dohme, the Indian subsidiary of Merck and Co. Inc., a US-based pharmaceutical company.

In a similar project, on August 13, 2009, the Gujarat government launched a two-year ‘Demonstration Project for Cancer of the Cervix Vaccine’ in three blocks of Vadodara District – Dabhoi, Kawant and Shinor – to administer three doses of the HPV vaccine to 16,000 girls between 10 and 14 years. There were reports of deaths of four girls from Andhra Pradesh and two girls from Gujarat following the administration of the vaccine.
Continue reading Ethical violations of HPV vaccination trials in India: SAMA →