Category Archives: Debates

Culture, Debates, Law, Sex

Why I Feel For B.P. Singhal

3 Comments

In the aftermath of the Delhi High Court judgement reading down Section 377, the initial euphoria and celebration is now being increasingly met with an equally strong backlash. Some of this has of course come from the religious right of all denominations (Hindu,Muslim, Sikh, Isayi Apas mein sab bhai bhai), the army, politicians, conservative commentators in the press. Underlying much of the oppositions seems to be a sense that somehow the decriminalization of homosexuality is going to turn everyone gay, a sentiment that sounds bizarre to us.

But now that I have been thinking about this I think I am beginning to understand the fear that is articulated in this “homosexuality-as-contagious-virus” position. Because in one sense they are right. In his post Lawrence speaks of the radical politics of impossibility – the change in the law suddenly makes possible a new set of imaginary possibilities that we could not dream of hitherto. And so BP Singhal and Dominic Emmanuel and everyone else who is saying that the presence of the law performs a stellar function against the rise of a virtual army of gay people and must remain on the books, even if, and indeed especially because, it is never used against actual real gay people, have a point. Continue reading Why I Feel For B.P. Singhal →

Bad ideas, Debates, Identities, Politics

Historic Mandate, Historic Turning Point or More of the Same? Gail Omvedt on Elections 2009

4 Comments

Guest post by GAIL OMVEDT

The 2009 Lok Sabha elections in India were projected to be a historical turning point just as the 2008 Presidential elections in the U.S. were a turning point.  But the nature of that expected turning point was very different.

Five years ago, even two years before the elections, no one in the U.S. would have expected that a “Black” man with two Muslim names and one African name could have been elected President of the United States.  Yet it happened, and it happened not simply because Barack Husain Obama ran a brilliant campaign and is proving the most effective president in dealing with the economic and social crises besetting the world today, but also because of the racial transformation the U.S. has undergone in recent decades. Continue reading Historic Mandate, Historic Turning Point or More of the Same? Gail Omvedt on Elections 2009 →

Bad ideas, Debates, Identities, Media politics, Movements, Sex

The Day After the Judgement

24 Comments

So now that we have one group of criminals less to deal with, I have a proposal: Criminalize English TV news channels.

'Debate,' the Times Now way
‘Debate,’ the Times Now way

Watching Times Now yesterday after the Delhi High Court ruling on Section 377, I was overcome by a growing sense of bewilderment. I could hear Dominic Emmanuel (Director of the Delhi Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church) and Kamal Farooqui (Chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission), saying quite cearly and more than once, to my surprise, that they welcome the decriminalization of homosexuality, that homosexuals should not be treated as if they were criminals. Okay, correct that – I could barely hear these statements over the insistent, aggressive and disruptive interruptions  of the anchor Arnab Goswami, who had obviously pre-set this “discussion” rigidly as a face-off between Reactionary Clerics/Minorities and Gay Rights Activists, while he himself was super hero, Anchorman. So each time they said “we welcome” etc.,  Anchorman would swoop in, bellowing, “So are you saying that they dont have rights, Sir, are you saying they should not have rights. Over to Anjali Gopalan (Naz) – Anjali, they say homosexuals should not have rights, what do you say?”

Continue reading The Day After the Judgement →

Bad ideas, Debates, Everyday Life, Genders, Politics, Sex

“The Magic of the Human Spirit and of a Nation’s Passion”: Three Queers for the Delhi High Court!

15 Comments

So – here we are folks, in a historic judgement this morning, Delhi High Court has read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to exclude consensual sex among adults. Congratulations to the group of tireless activists who have helped to bring this about, and congratulations to all of us who count ourselves as part of the queer community. Continue reading “The Magic of the Human Spirit and of a Nation’s Passion”: Three Queers for the Delhi High Court! →

Bad ideas, Debates, Frontiers, Movements, Politics

Iran: Inquilab Zindabad?

9 Comments

Once upon a time, only a hundred or so years ago, and earlier, Iranians were our neighbours. Many were friends, relatives – uncles, grandparents, ancestors, some were husbands, wives and lovers. And cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Murshidabad and Hyderabad spoke Persian better than they spoke English, or even Hindi. The distance from Tehran and Isfahan to Delhi, Lucknow and Lahore, or across the water from Bandar Abbas to Bombay or Karachi, in miles and in the imagination, seemed less than what we can even begin to understand today.

The Bengal renaissance had one of its points of origin in a Persian broadsheet called Mirat ul Akhbar published by Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta. The first Iranian talking film and the last ‘Irani’ restaurant both have their origins in Bombay. The Sabk-e-Hindi, or the ‘Indian Style’ continued to adorn the more ornate fringes of Persian poetry in Iran. The miniatures painted in the ateliers of Delhi and Agra owed a great deal to the paints, brushes, colours and visions of visiting masters from Tabriz. The sitar and the sarod came from Iran, and stayed on. We shared jokes and stories, poets, prophets and pranksters, wine and spices, surnames (Kirmani, Rizvi, Mashadi, Yazdi) and clan histories, heresies and wisdom and a thousand other things that neighbours, friends, cousins and lovers share.

Continue reading Iran: Inquilab Zindabad? →

Debates, Genders, Sex

On the Eve of Pride. Are We Going the Right Way: Akhil Katyal

7 Comments

This is a guest post by AKHIL KATYAL

Topicality is a homage one pays to the short-term memory that the new media both triggers and complains against in its customers. In the long-term of course, where trend is all important, the topical is only a category of the banal. But it is under the shelter of such a necessary topicality – the topical is always necessary – that I hope to sneak in a scandal.

Everyone is talking about the queer pride marches that are going to happen in four cities in India at the end of this month. Most liberal reportage is obviously supportive, if not triumphant. For these cities themselves, it is seen as a step into a liberal urban culture which tolerates, even enjoys difference. All the talk about the ‘gay community’ or ‘lgbt community’ that the Indian media – and the activists – have been dabbling in for at least a decade now, seems to be reaching its logical climax: the community is expressing itself. Every city seems to have its own pet lgbt community or at least aspires to.

Continue reading On the Eve of Pride. Are We Going the Right Way: Akhil Katyal →

Debates, Genders, Government, Identities, Politics, Theory

Reservations for Women: ‘Am I That Name?’

11 Comments

[I am posting here the chapter from my book – Recovering Subversion. Feminist Politics Beyond the Law – that I referred to in response to demands for references on my previous post on the WRB.  I do apologize to those (including fellow-kafilaites!) who may rightly feel I have said enough on the topic.

The title of this chapter is a tribute to Denise Riley’s question “Am I that name?” referring to the label “Woman.” Am I That Name? Feminism and the Category of ‘Women’ in History Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1988].

When the Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) first appeared as the 81st Amendment Bill in 1996, proposing to reserve 33% of seats in Parliament for women, it burst into public discourse full-blown as a “women’s” (indeed, a feminist) issue, and continues to be debated largely in terms of women’s rights. It is becoming increasingly clear however, that the questions thrown up by the timing of the Bill and the responses to it cannot be understood solely within the framework of women’s rights. This chapter attempts to relocate these questions in a complex matrix of political identities in order to realize their full significance. I also argue that the debates around the Bill reveal a more fundamental set of questions about the issues of citizenship, representation, and the subject of feminist politics.

Continue reading Reservations for Women: ‘Am I That Name?’ →

Debates, Politics, Right watch

जे पी आन्दोलन की भूल

2 Comments

नीतीश कुमार आलोचना से परे हैं. इतिहासकार, राजनीतिशास्त्री, समाजवैज्ञानिक या पत्रकार, अभी सब नीतीशजी के गुणगान में व्यस्त हैं. इसलिए आश्चर्य नहीं हुआ जब जे.पी. आन्दोलन से जुड़े लोगों के लिए बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री ने पेंशन की घोषणा की, तो कहीं से आलोचना का कोई स्वर नहीं सुनाई पडा, एक जनसत्ता की सम्पादकीय टिप्पणी को छोड़कर. खबरों में यह बताया गया था कि कांग्रेस विरोधी उस आंदोलन में जो जेल गए या घायल हुए, उन्हें पेंशन दी जाएगी. जनसत्ता ने ठीक ही यह प्रश्न किया कि क्या जयप्रकाश के नेतृत्व वाले उस आन्दोलन को भारत के स्वाधीनता आंदोलन के समतुल्य माना जा सकता है. यह सवाल भी अपनी जगह ठीक था कि अगर बिहार अर्थ-संकट से जूझ रहा है, तो इस बेतुकी योजना के लिए पैसे कहाँ से निकल आए!

जे.पी. आन्दोलनकारियों के लिए पेंशन की इस योजना का लाभ किस एक दल या संगठन के लोगों को सबसे ज़्यादा मिलेगा, अंदाज करना कठिन नहीं है. राष्ट्रीय स्वयं सेवक संघ या तत्कालीन जनसंघ और अब भारतीय जनता पार्टी के सदस्य इस आंदोलन में बड़ी संख्या में थे. बल्कि यह आंदोलन पहला ऐसा बड़ा मौका था, जिसने आर.एस..एस और जनसंघ को राजनीतिक मान्यता दिलाने का काम किया. जयप्रकाश आर.एस.एस. के खतरनाक स्वभाव से परिचित न रहे हों, यह आरोप उनपर नहीं लगाया जा सकता. फिर भी कांग्रेस विरोध की राजनीति के कारण जयप्रकाशजी को आर.एस.एस. के साथ काम करने में हिचक नहीं हुई. १९७४ के पहले १९६७ वह बिंदु है, जिसे आर.एस.एस. को राजनैतिक वैधता दिलाने के सन्दर्भ में याद रखना चाहिए. कांग्रेस विरोध के प्लेटफार्म पर समाजवादियों और वामपंथियों को जनसंघ के साथ आने में कोई परेशानी नहीं हुई थी. तात्कालिक राजनीतिक यथार्थ और बाध्यताओं की दुहाई दी जा सकती है और इस तरह के गठजोड़ के पक्ष में तर्क दिए जा सकते हैं. लेकिन क्या हम यह मान लें कि जनसंघ को राजनीतिक और आर.एस.एस. को सामाजिक वैधता दिलाने का परिणाम भारत को आगे जा कर भुगतना था, इसकी कल्पना करने की क्षमता जयप्रकाशजी में नहीं थी! अभी इस आन्दोलन की सम्यक समीक्षा होना बाकी है, लकिन मैं २००३ के दिसम्बर महीने में एक साथ तीन राज्यों में भारतीय जनता पार्टी की जीत के बाद रांची के अपने मित्र, जे.पी. आन्दोलन के पहले दौर के कार्यकर्ता, पत्रकार फैसल अनुराग की बात भूल नहीं पाता हूँ. उन्होंने बड़ी तकलीफ के साथ कहा कि मैं अब सार्वजनिक रूप से यह कहने को तैयार हूँ की जे.पी. आंदोलन एक बहुत बड़ी भूल का शिकार था.
Continue reading जे पी आन्दोलन की भूल →

Debates, Genders, Government, Identities, Politics

And aren’t OBC women “women”? Loud thinking on the Women’s Reservation Bill

38 Comments

The career of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament since it first appeared in 1996 as the 81st Amendment Bill, has been striking for the high drama and rhetoric of women’s rights that has accompanied it, the passionate opposition to the proposed 33% reservation for women in Parliament, generally being characterised by its supporters as anti-women and patriarchal. However, if we try to organize the welter of arguments that have been flying around for 13  years, we would find that while the proponents of the measure certainly base their claims on the idea of gender justice, the opposition to the Bill does not come from an anti-women position.  Rather, the latter arguments stem from either

1) a generally anti-reservation position (which I am not interested in here) or

2) a claim that reservations for women should take into account other disempowered identities within this group – that is, the “quotas within quotas” position, which says that there should be reservation within the 33% for OBC and Muslim women. (The 22.7% reservation for SC/ST women would come into operation automatically.)

In other words, the sharp opposition to the Bill cannot simply be dismissed as anti-women. Continue reading And aren’t OBC women “women”? Loud thinking on the Women’s Reservation Bill →

Debates, Left watch, Politics, Violence/Conflict

तिअनानमेन चौक, नन्दीग्राम और एक मक़्‍तूल सपना

2 Comments

[NB: To increase text size while reading, please press Ctrl+ or Ctrl++]

कभी फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़ ने ‘सीज़र डेड इज़ मोर पावरफ़ुल दैन सीज़र अलाइव’ की तर्ज़ पर पैट्रीस लुमुम्‍बा के बारे में कहा था कि ‘एक मक़्‍तूल लुमुम्‍बा ज़िंदा लुमुम्‍बा से ज़्‍यादा ताक़तवर होता है’।  और एक मक़्‍तूल सपना? या वह सपना देखने वाली ज़बरन सुला दी गई अनगिनत आँखें? उस ख़्‍वाब के बारे में क्‍या कहिएगा फ़ैज़ साहब, जिसका क़त्‍ल करने के लिए उसे देखने वालों को ही टैंकों तले रौंद दिया गया हो? तिअनानमेन चौक पर आज से बीस बरस पहले जिस ख्‍वाब का क़त्‍ल हुआ था, जिन ख्‍वाबीदा आँखों की रौश्‍नी हमेशा के लिए बुझा दी गई, वह सपना कितना ताक़तवर है यह अभी दुनिया का देखना बाक़ी है। अभी तो दुनिया ने उसकी एक बानगी भर देखी थी: तिअनानमेन का ख़ून अभी सूखा भी न था कि समाजवाद के नाम पर फहरा रहा परचम – क्रॉन्‍श्‍टाड्‍ट के नाविकों से लेकर हंगरी 1956, चेकोस्‍लोवाकिया 1968 और न जाने कितने गुज़िश्‍ता तिअनानमेनों के ख़ून से लथपथ परचम – यकायक नोंच कर नीचे उतार दिया गया। जिनके दिमागों पर ताले लगे हैं वे कितना ही चिल्‍ला चिल्‍ला के कहते रहें, यह किसी साम्रज्‍यावादी की साज़िश का नहीं, ग़ुज़रे दिनों के प्रेतों का कारनामा था जो ख़ुद शासकों के ज़मीर में इस तरह जम कर बैठे थे कि वहाँ भी, अचानक किसी गोर्बाचोव का पैदा होना लाज़मी था जो ऐलानिया तौर पर यह कहने का माद्दा रखता कि बिना जम्हूरियत के समाजवाद हो ही नहीं सकता। और जैसे ही जम्हूरियत की तरफ़ क़दम बढ़ाते हुए उसने ज़रा सा ढक्कन हटाया, वैसा ही ज़माने से धधकता लावा फट कर सामने आ गया। एकबारगी ताश के महल की तरह वह पूरा का पूरा निज़ाम ही ढहा के ले गया। Continue reading तिअनानमेन चौक, नन्दीग्राम और एक मक़्‍तूल सपना →

Debates, Identities, Politics, Right watch

To RSS with Love: The Real Story of 2009 Elections

3 Comments

If news reports are to be believed, the RSS has come out with the most classic analysis of the 2009 election verdict: Advani did not enthuse the Hindus. [Read carefully: He could but he did not. A small boy, kal ka chhokra, Varun Gandhi had to lead the way!] Only a shade better than the West Bengal CPM claiming that they lost because Karat and the central leadership withdrew support to the UPA…as if they themselves – or Nandigram had nothing to do with it! Or the Kerala CPM claiming that it was due to chief minister Achuthanandan that they lost – Achuthanandan the agent of the bourgeoisie who ‘roared with laughter’ when the party was losing the elections! Or Sitaram Yechury claiming that UPA won because they claimed the credit for NREGA and Forest Rights Act which ‘we had forced them to enact’ – but ‘we’ lost! Amazing stuff, these elections and even more amazing, the post-election antics. But today’s topic is not the CPM. For, the real story is the RSS and BJP love story that is once again on the rocks.

RSS spokesperson MG Vaidya was forthright: “The BJP must reflect Hindu nationalism or else it is free to remain as any other party not associated with the Sangh… What’s wrong if people have gathered the impression that the BJP uses the Ram temple issue only for political gains?… The mainstream in this country is Hindu and the RSS is engaged in unifying Hindus. The BJP or any other owing allegiance to the Sangh must reflect this philosophy in its deeds.”

Continue reading To RSS with Love: The Real Story of 2009 Elections →

Culture, Debates, Everyday Life, Politics

साधारण की उदात्तता यानि जनादेश 2009

4 Comments

2009 के लोकसभा चुनाव के नतीजों ने कुछ लोगों को हतप्रभ किया है और अनेक को चमत्कृत. इस जनादेश की व्याख्या इस रूप में की जा रही है कि भारत की जनता ने विकास को तरजीह दी है और इस बडी मंदी के दौर में अपेक्षाकृत सुरक्षित चुनाव किया है. हमारे एक मित्र का कहना है कि इस असुरक्षा के समय में जनता जो हाथ में है , उसे ही संजोए रखना चाहती थी. भारतीय जनता पार्टी और तथाकथित तीसरे मोर्चे के ऊपर कांग्रेस के नेतृत्व वाले गठबंधन को चुनने के पीछे बिजली-पानी –सडक और जान-माल की हिफाजत की रोज़मर्रा की चिंताएं ज़रूर रही होंगी, लेकिन क्या यह इतना ही था? साधारण जनता क्या सिर्फ मामूली सवालों में ही उलझी रहती है और कभी अपने रोज़मर्रेपन से ऊपर नहीं उठती? बार-बार उसे इसी हद में बांधकर देखने की कोशिश की जाती हैहालांकि उसने कई बार यह बतलाया है कि उसके मुद्दे सिर्फ वही नहीं हैं जो व्याख्याकार बताते रहे हैं. साधारण जनता की उदात्तता की आकांक्षा आखिर किस रूप में व्यक्त होती है?

भारत में मोहनदास करमचंद गांधी ने शायद सबसे पहले साधारण के भीतर छिपी इस उदात्तता को ठीक-ठीक पहचाना था और उसका आदर किया था. क्रांतिकारियों या फिर कम्युनिस्ट विचार रखने वालों को साधारणता पर सन्देह ही था.
क्रांतिकारियों ने इसीलिए चुने हुए लोगों के दस्ते बनाए और कम्युनिस्ट खुद को जनता के एक अगुआ दस्ते के रूप में पेश करते रहे. शास्त्रकारों या सिद्धांतकारों को भी साधारणता को समझने में काफी दिक्कत होती रही है. इसलिए उनकी दिलचस्पी उन कोटियों के निर्माण में रहती है जो आसानी से सामूहिक आचरण की व्याख्या करने में सहायक हों. पिछले बीस वर्षों में भारतीय जनता के सारे निर्णयों को पहचान की कोटि के आधार पर समझने की कोशिश की गई है. यहां यह नहीं कहा जा रहा कि यह कोटि या इस तरह की सैद्धांतिक कोटियां बिलकुल अप्रासंगिक हैं, सिर्फ यही कहने की कोशिश की जा रही है कि इस प्रकार की किसी एक कोटि में किसी समूह को शेष कर देने से हम उसके भीतर छिपी सारी सम्भावनाओं को नज़रअंदाज़ देते हैं.
Continue reading साधारण की उदात्तता यानि जनादेश 2009 →

Bad ideas, Debates, Left watch, Politics

वाम के खिलाफ अवाम: ईश्वर दोस्त

26 Comments

This is a guest post by ISHWAR DOST. Ishwar is a Left activist and journalist. He works with Jansatta.

एक वक़्त था जब नंदीग्राम माकपा के बर्ताव से अचंभे और सदमे में था। आज पूरे बंगाल में बुरी तरह खारिज कर दिए जाने पर माकपा की यही स्थिति है। कभी नंदीग्राम पीड़ित के रूप में उभरा था, आज माकपा और उसके साथ और पीछे खड़ी पार्टियों की पीड़ा समझी जा सकती है। नंदीग्राम और सिंगूर के एक स्थानीय घटना बन कर रह जाने की माकपाई उम्मीद अचानक खत्म हो गई। नतीजे बताते हैं कि नंदीग्राम की पीड़ा के साथ बंगाल के देहात ने ही नहीं, शहर कोलकाता ने भी साझा किया है। किसानों के साथ हुए हिंसक सलूक से कोलकाता के बुद्धिजीवी ही नहीं, आम लोग भी हिल गए थे।

नंदीग्राम अब माकपा की पीड़ा और छटपटाहट को समझ सके, इसमें शायद काफी देर हो गई है। ऐसा कभी हो सके, इसके लिए माकपा और उसके पीछे चलने वाली पार्टियों को सारे अहंकार छोड़ कर एक पुरानी पीढ़ी के किसी कम्युनिस्ट की तरह नंदीग्राम तक सिर झुकाए आना होगा। सत्ता और सफलता का अहंकार पीड़ा को समझने और उससे जुड़ने की क्षमता नष्ट कर देता है। इस अहंकार ने कम्युनिस्टों की एक वक्त की नैतिक, ईमानदार और जज्बाती होने की पहचान को कमजोर कर दिया है। Continue reading वाम के खिलाफ अवाम: ईश्वर दोस्त →

Debates, Everyday Life, Identities, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Making Sense of the Ravi Dasis: Surinder S. Jodhka

10 Comments

The recent attack on the head of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in one of their gurudwaras in Vienna and the ensuing shoot-out between Dalit and non-Dalit Sikhs, spilling over in India into angry street demonstrations in Jalandhar by followers of Dera Sachkhand and other Dalit bodies, forces us to confront the question of caste in contemporary Punjab. We asked SURINDER S. JODHKA, sociologist and Director, Institute of Dalit Studies, who works in this area, to give us a background note.

The Dera Sachkhand Ballan is one of the most important Guru Ravi Das Deras in Punjab today. Ravi Das was a 15th century saint of the Chamar caste whose message is constructed by his contemporary followers in a modern language that foregrounds questions of caste oppression and the  fight against the prevailing structures of authority and the Brahmanical moral order.  In his piece here, Surinder gives us a historical background to the emergence of this movement, and brings us to the point of the 1990s, when the “diasporic energy” of Ravi Dasis who had emigrated to the UK and Europe, gave a boost to the movement both at home as well as in the diaspora, where Ravi Dasis had found things to be no different. In the alien context, with no systemic justification for caste ideology, the Punjabi Dalits did not expect to be reminded of their “low” status in the caste hierarchy, says Surinder, but facing systematic discrimination from wealthy Jat Sikhs, were forced to set up their own autonomous organizations and their own gurudwaras. Continue reading Making Sense of the Ravi Dasis: Surinder S. Jodhka →

Debates, Government, Left watch, Politics

When Buddha Did Not Smile: Monobina Gupta

Leave a comment

This is a guest post by MONOBINA GUPTA

Buddhadeb with Tata building as backdrop, courtesy Calcuttans.com
Buddhadeb with a laterally inverted Tata as backdrop, courtesy Calcuttans.com

As the true magnitude of the West Bengal election results sank in, a sulking Buddhadeb responded, stonewalling the media as if to say that had it not been for them the Party would have romped home victorious! Here is a conversation reported in The Telegraph (May 18,2009). The reporters in Writer’s Building asked the Chief Minister:

Is it true that you have offered to resign?

No reply.

Will you step down as chief minister owning moral responsibility for the party’s debacle?

No reply.

Why didn’t you go to Delhi to attend the CPM politburo meeting?

No reply.

Silence has rarely been so eloquent in the corridors of Writers’ Buildings as when a grim-faced Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee walked out at 1.30 pm for lunch at home.
Faced with a volley of questions whether he had offered to resign, the Bengal chief minister left without replying. The Telegraph had reported that the chief minister had offered to resign but CPM boss Prakash Karat had been trying to make him change his mind.

This is not the first time Bhattacharjee has faced tricky questions but he usually deflects them by saying “I don’t reply to questions flung at me from the corridors’’.
But this afternoon, he opted for silence.

Continue reading When Buddha Did Not Smile: Monobina Gupta →

Debates, Identities, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Sri Lanka: A Tragedy Foretold – Rohini Hensman

4 Comments

guest post by ROHINI HENSMAN

Once a forest fire is raging, putting it out is difficult, and an enormous amount of destruction is inevitable. The same is true of the war in Sri Lanka. Even over the past fifteen years, there were several chances to prevent this tragedy, but only a tiny minority of those who are now grieving over the dead and injured were arguing then that a failure to take these chances would lead to a bloodbath. Continue reading Sri Lanka: A Tragedy Foretold – Rohini Hensman →

Debates, Movements, Politics

Anatomy of a prejudice

2 Comments

The BSP’s politics may trouble the popular conception of Indianness, among English speaking middle classes, who understand India as one whole, where the ‘Indian’ identity dominates and the rest, which reflect real India (inequality and conflicts) are hushed up. On the other hand, the BSP’s politics reiterates that India is a country of various minorities (castes, religions, regions) who may be victimised by fellow Indians in different contexts. Emphasising the BSP or Mayawati’s Dalitness ignores the complexity of caste society and associated politics. Kanshiram in the past and Mayawati now raise issues of caste not to sustain inequality but to challenge them. What Mayawati and BSP’s growth represents is the deepening of democracy in India. [Suryakant Waghmore]

Bad ideas, Debates, Politics, Violence/Conflict

हिंसा की राजनीति के पैरोकार

8 Comments

२००९ के लोकसभा  चुनाव की अगर इसके पहले दो चरणों के आधार पर कोई खासियत बतानी हो तो कहना पडेगा कि समाज के पारम्परिक शक्ति संतुलन में विचलन के भय से तथाकथित ऊंची जातियों के द्वारा पहले  जो हिंसा होती थी, वह नहीं दिखी. बिहार और अन्य स्थानों पर चुनाव के वक्त बूथ पर होनेवाला खूनखराबा इस बार नहीं हुआ. फिर भी इस बार हत्याएं हुईं. और ये हत्याएं हिंसक वर्ग-युद्ध में विश्वास रखनेवाले माओवादी समूहों ने कीं. बिहार, झारखंड, ओडीसा, छत्तीसगढ और महाराष्ट्र में इन समूहों के द्वारा हत्याएं की गईं, सार्वजनिक स्थलों को जलाया गया और दहशत फैलाई गई. पूरी ट्रेन का अपहरण कर लिया गया और अपना शक्ति प्रदर्शन करके फिर उसे छोड़ दिया गया. इस बीच उसके यात्रियों को जो भयंकर मानसिक यंत्रणा हुई होगी उसके लिए माओवादियों के पास कोई सहानुभूति का शब्द नहीं है. बंगाल में   सी.पी.एम. ने अपने हिंसक अहंकार में सिंगुर और नांदीग्राम और  उनके बाद लालगढ में जो कुछ किया उसने माओवादी समूहों को बंगाल में अपनी पकड मजबूत करने का मौका दिया. अब ये खबरें आम हैं कि बंगाल के गांवों और कस्बों में लोगों को सी.पी.एम. की सदस्यता छोड्ने को मजबूर किया जा रहा है और बात न मानने पर उनकी हत्या तक की जा रही है. ऐसी ही हत्याएं पिछले  साल बिहार  और झारखण्ड में की गयी थी. क्योकि माओवादी मारे गए लोगों  को ‘गलत पार्टियों’ में रहने नहीं देना चाहते थे. बंगाल में सी.पी.एम. की हिंसा का विरोध करनेवालों को शायद सी.पी. एम. के कार्यकर्ताओं की हत्या में  एक प्रकार का प्राकृतिक न्याय होता दीख रहा हो, वरना क्या वजह है कि अब तक इन हत्याओं की और दल छोडने को बाध्य करने की इस तरह की घटनाओं की कहीं से कोई भर्त्सना नहीं सुनाई पडी है !

“हिंसा को किसी भी तरह जायज नहीं ठहराया जा सकता ,चाहे  उसका औचित्य कुछ भी क्यों न दिया जाए.” पिछ्ले दो साल से माओवादियों को मदद पहुंचाने के आरोप में जेल में बंद बिनायक सेन ने हाल में एक पत्रकार को यह कहा जब उसने माओवादी हिंसा के बारे में उनसे सवाल किया. बिनायक जब यह बातचीत कर रहे थे, उनके चेहरे पर वह दाढी नहीं थी  जिसने उन्हें एक रूमानी शक्ल दे रखी थी. दाढीविहीन  होकर भी बिनायक उतने ही आकर्षक लग रहे  थे, हालांकि उसके होने से जो एक रहस्य की आभा उनके इर्द-गिर्द थी, वह नहीं रह गयी थी.
Continue reading हिंसा की राजनीति के पैरोकार →

Debates, Everyday Life, Genders, Sex, Violence/Conflict

Afghan Women Protest New Law on Home Life

Leave a comment

About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times that number, walked the streets of Kabul on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.

Afghan women demonstrate against new law, courtesy NYT
Afghan women demonstrate against new law, courtesy NYT

‘The young women stepped off the bus and moved toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of the street when they were spotted by a mob of men.’

‘”Get out of here, you whores!” the men shouted. “Get out!”….It was an extraordinary scene. Women are mostly illiterate in this impoverished country, and they do not, generally speaking, enjoy anything near the freedom accorded to men. But there they were, most of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling out slogans heavy with meaning.’ Read the full story by Dexter Filkins here.

[Courtesy: SACW]

Debates, Frontiers, Government

Obama and the End of Other Dreams?

3 Comments

poar01_obama0803

This guest post comes to us from NISSIM MANNATHUKKAREN

And I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Continue reading Obama and the End of Other Dreams? →

Debates, Identities, Left watch, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

The Tragedy of Politics in Sri Lanka

9 Comments

I am posting below an article that I wrote with Cenan Pirani.  The shorter version of this article is in Combat Law. The longer version below delves into the history of left politics in Sri Lanka and attempts at a political solution.  Another article by me reflecting some of these concerns and raising questions of solidarity titled ‘The Challenges of Solidarity’ was published in Red Pepper.

The Tragedy of Politics in Sri Lanka

By AHILAN KADIRGAMAR and CENAN PIRANI

In the last few months, the Sri Lankan security forces have managed to ruthlessly push the LTTE into a 40 square km strip of land in the North of the island, and along with the LTTE leadership and its cadres, a sizable civilian population, anywhere from seventy thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand, have also been cordoned off in this area.  As the security forces continue their offensives purporting to rid Sri Lanka of the LTTE, they also claim the lives of these civilians daily. Continue reading The Tragedy of Politics in Sri Lanka →