The wave of protest in India in response to The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) passed on 11th December 2019 is being violently suppressed. Protesters claim the Act fundamentally alters the concept of Indian citizenship and is against the secular and inclusive India Constitution as it introduces discrimination against Muslims and other ethnic minorities. Protests are happening across all the states in the Northeast of India and have spread to the university campuses in the rest of the country. There have been deaths and injuries in the Northeast and the government has imposed an internet blackout effectively cutting them off from the rest of the world. Injuries have also been reported from JamiaMillia and AMU. On the 19th December, students, noted academicians, activists and political leaders have been detained by the police, following peaceful protests. Continue reading Dublin City University Faculty and Students Condemn Repression of Peaceful Protests in India
Category Archives: Government
Statement Against Police Action from Students, Alumni and Faculty of IIM Calcutta
As members of the academic community in India, we the undersigned, stand in solidarity with students across the country protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC). Fundamentally discriminatory and unjust, CAA-NRC contradict the founding principles of the Indian Constitution and undermine international human rights conventions such as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Act institutionalizes discrimination based on religion, besides threatening the interests of indigenous people of the North-Eastern states.
Continue reading Statement Against Police Action from Students, Alumni and Faculty of IIM Calcutta
Do not Forget Allen and Twaha as we fight the U-r-b-a-n N-a-z-i
As we in Kerala gear up for the long struggle that can cease only when the evil of Hindutva is finally uprooted from India and Kerala, and only after the toxins that it has spewed is wiped clean from the hearts and souls of our brethren, my only request is: please do not forget Allen and Twaha. Continue reading Do not Forget Allen and Twaha as we fight the U-r-b-a-n N-a-z-i
The Philadelphia Coalition Against Fascism in India Protest Against CAA and NRC
The Philadelphia Coalition Against Fascism in India held a protest Against CAA and NRC on December 19, 2019.
Students from several colleges in the Philadelphia area and beyond, including UPenn, Drexel, Temple, Villanova, and Rutgers; working professionals, and business graduates gathered in solidarity with student protests in India and against the imposition of the CAA and the NRC.
We read the preamble to the Indian constitution together and also took a pledge vowing to reject the CAA, the NRC, and the project of the RSS and BJP that seeks to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra.
Nearly 150 Philadelphians have signed this petition which affirms that
We will never accept these unconstitutional and unconscionable moves, and today join Indians from all over the country, and from every religion, caste, and region, to stand against any and all assaults on the idea of India as a secular, democratic republic.” It also points out that “there are many of Indian origin and heritage in the U.S. who are both concerned about events in India and condemn them. We have a responsibility to speak up in support of those resisting on the ground. … Those of us who live in Philadelphia, and believe in building a more free and just world, cannot stand by as fascist forces execute their programs of violence and exclusion. We stand proudly with the people of India against these excesses.
Two international statements in solidarity with anti CAA protests in India
- From UMASS and Five Colleges
We, the undersigned members and alumni of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the Five College Area write in solidarity and support of the protests in India and elsewhere against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, and express our complete rejection of this act.
We are deeply concerned about the violence against students in India’s universities, particularly at Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi and at Aligarh Muslim University. The crackdown on universities has produced shocking images of violence, including tear-gassing hostel rooms and libraries, brutal and illegal violence in police detention, communally charged comments against students, and assault on female protestors. We condemn both the illegal crackdown on dissent, and the particularly communal and gendered nature of this crackdown, unequivocally support and admire the protesters who continue to take to the streets.
We are also extremely dismayed by the ongoing repression in the states of North-East India and Kashmir, and call on the Indian state to cease its internet shut-down. While this internet shut down has made communications and precise reports of the situation on the ground difficult, the news that has filtered through, regarding repression of protests in Tripura, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh is extremely troubling. In this light, we also express our serious concern over the recent detainment and torture of Assam activist Akhil Gogoi, a sustained and vocal critic of the Citizenship Amendment Bill/Act, under the UAPA and NIA acts.
2. From students, faculty and alumni of Syracuse University, Hamilton College, Colgate University, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and Ithaca College, and the broader Central New York community.
As members of the Central New York community concerned about the brutal police violence against students at Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, two public universities with a predominantly Muslim minority student body, we join millions of students in at least 15 cities across India to express our solidarity with students protesting the Bharatiya Janata party’s
anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.
#SOSJamiaAMU and #RejectCAA represent the grassroots student movement protesting the CAA, recently passed by the upper and lower houses of the Indian parliament. The CAA grants
Indian citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted minorities seeking refuge in India from selected neighboring countries. This combined with the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC),
which is aimed at the disenfranchisement and detention of undocumented immigrants, equips the Hindu nationalist government to institutionalize ethnic cleansing of Muslim minorities. This systematic targeted violence is carried alongside increasing instances of lynchings of Muslims and caste-oppressed people. Further, the seemingly spontaneous resistance to the CAA out of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia must be understood with respect to the history of these two universities as post-Partition Muslim-serving institutions.
Law Teachers and Researchers Condemn Police Brutality, CAA and the NRC
Law teachers and researchers from across the world have strongly condemned the recent police brutality against students of different universities struggling the recent changes in Citizenship law. They have also criticized the CAA and the NRC ideas as majoritarian and one that subverts our Consttitutional vision. Their statement:
We, the undersigned teachers and researchers of law, strongly condemn the police brutality on the peaceful protest by the students at Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and other universities.
On 15 December 2019 police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, and assaulted and detained the students. Students were dragged out of campus, and were paraded outside with hands raised. We believe that the action of the police is an attempt to suppress dissent and is an attack on the autonomy of the universities. The police action violates, inter alia, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India and international law instruments to which India is a state party. We emphasize that academic institutions are an arena of discussion, debate and dissent, and the peremptory and ultimate objective of universities is to speak truth to power. By using force against the students, the government has struck at the heart of the culture of protests.
Continue reading Law Teachers and Researchers Condemn Police Brutality, CAA and the NRC
Health Workers, Health Professionals, Women’s Rights Activists Condemn Use of Force by Police against Students of JMI, AMU
Concerned health activists and health professionals and women’s rights activists have issued the following statement against the brutal use of force by the police against students, especially in Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU.
We, the health networks, health activists, health professionals, Women’s Rights Activists and concerned activists strongly condemn this abhorrent act by the police force on the students of Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh on 15th – 16th December 2019.
Following the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), violence was unleashed and Jamia and AMU were particularly targeted. According to the reports from JamiaMiliaIslamia on Sunday, the police force entered the premises, targeted individuals indiscriminately, used tear-gas shells and lathi charge against the students, along with the forceful entry in their university premises. Continue reading Health Workers, Health Professionals, Women’s Rights Activists Condemn Use of Force by Police against Students of JMI, AMU
Support for Anti CAA/NRC Struggle from University of South Florida
Following is a statement by the faculty, researchers and students of the University of Southern Florida, USA, in support of the struggle of students across universities against CAA and NRC.
We, the undersigned, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and alumni of University of South Florida (USF), in strongest possible terms,condemn the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and assault and police crackdown on anti-CAA protests across India. We staged a protest on USF’s Tampa campus on December 19, the day widespread protests were organized across India on this issue. Even though our protest is India-specific, this is about protecting democracy and minority rights.
The Indian government recently passed the CAA, which we believe, allows for the first time in secular India, a citizenship provision based on religion. When combined with National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR), the CAA can strip Indian Muslims of their rights and citizenship.The NRC and NPR also threaten transgender communities, dalits, the homeless, indigenous communities, and others who will not be able to provide necessary documents.We believe that the Indian government’s actions are unconstitutional and fundamentally violate the principles of equality and non-discrimination in a democracy. Continue reading Support for Anti CAA/NRC Struggle from University of South Florida
Support for Struggling Students from University of British Columbia
Statements of support for the students’ struggle against the CAA and NRC continue to pour in. We will try and keep publishing as many as we can. In this post is a statement from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
We, the students, faculty, alumni and scholars of the University of British Columbia, and the South Asian community in Vancouver, strongly condemn the police violence unleashed on students protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens of India, across universities in India. Specifically, we condemn the police brutality on Muslim students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University where the excessive violence of police machinery is reflective of the Islamophobia of the present government. We strongly oppose the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act which inherently discriminates citizenship for Muslims on religious grounds. The Act provides citizenship to six religious minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan while it explicitly leaves out Muslims. Citizenship Amendment Act (passed on December 11, 2019) along with National Register of Citizens of India and National Population Register will bring about systematic displacement and dispossession of two hundred million Muslims in India as their citizenship will be put to test and they can be easily rendered stateless. Continue reading Support for Struggling Students from University of British Columbia
South Asian University Statement in Solidarity with Students and Citizens Protesting CAA and NRC
The following is a statement issued by faculty members of South Asian University on the recent police excesses against peacefully protesting students and other citizens.
We, the undersigned teachers of the South Asian University, New Delhi are deeply disturbed by the developments at the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University in the last few days.
As it is well documented now through the media reports and eye witness accounts of students, on 15 December 2019 police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University and assaulted and detained the students who were peacefully protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Continue reading South Asian University Statement in Solidarity with Students and Citizens Protesting CAA and NRC
10,000 Academics, Students, Teachers and Civil Society Against Police Brutality at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University
We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest possible terms the police brutality in Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, and the ongoing illegal siege and curfew imposed on Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. On 15th December 2019 Delhi police in riot-gear illegally entered the Jamia Millia campus and attacked students who are peacefully protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Act bars Muslims from India’s neighboring countries from the acquisition of Indian citizenship. It contravenes the right to equality and secular citizenship enshrined in the Indian constitution.
On the 15th at JMIU, police fired tear gas shells, entered hostels and attacked students studying in the library and praying in the mosque. Over 200 students have been severely injured, many who are in critical condition. Because of the blanket curfew and internet blockage imposed at AMU, we fear a similar situation of violence is unfolding, without any recourse to the press or public. The peaceful demonstration and gathering of citizens does not constitute criminal conduct. The police action in the Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU campuses is blatantly illegal under the constitution of India.
We stand in unconditional solidarity with the students, faculty and staff of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, and express our horror at this violent police and state action. With them, we affirm the right of citizens to peaceful protest and the autonomy of the university as a non-militarized space for freedom of thought and expression. The brutalization of students and the attack on universities is against the fundamental norms of a democratic society.
As teachers, students, scholars and members of civil society across the world, we are watching with extreme concern the situation unfolding at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. We refuse to remain silent at the violence unleashed on our colleagues (students, staff, and faculty) peacefully protesting the imposition of a discriminatory and unjust law.
This statement with a full list of signatories is available here: Jamia Millia and AMU solidarity statement.
Goodbye, Tipu Sultan
The Sangh Parivar has supported Tipu when it needed to.
Ghatam Bhindyat, Patam Chhindyat, Kuryat Rasbharohanam
Yenken Prakaren, Prasidho Purusho Bhavet
(Break earthen pots, tear clothes, ride a donkey:
Men try to achieve popularity by any means.)
It was 2006 and DH Shankarmurthy, a nondescript swayamsevak, was handling the higher education ministry in the HD Kumarswamy-led coalition government suddenly hit the national headlines. The trigger was his unusual demand to recast history books in the mould of the Sangh Parivar. Especially his proposal to obliterate the great warrior Tipu Sultan’s name from the annals of Kannada history.
The proposal was based on the completely false pretext that Tipu did not give due importance to the Kannada language and promoted Persian language instead. Never mind that the Mysore state archaeological department holds in its possession more than thirty letters sent from Tipu to the shankaracharya of the Shringeri math, all written in Kannada.
Shankaramurthy wanted Tipu Sultan—who sacrificed his children to end the British rule—obliterated from Karnataka history on the spurious logic that the alleged neglect of Kannada language was reason enough. Even then, the demand had caused a national uproar cutting across party lines. At the time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) were sharing power in the state. As a result, their plans fell flat. Much water has flown down the Kaveri, Godavari and every other Indian river and now a BJP-led government, holding power in the state of Karnataka and the centre has drawn up fresh plans to fulfill a task left unfinished.
( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/goodbye-tipu-sultan)
सावरकर को भारत रत्न देना आज़ादी के नायकों का अपमान है
क्या ऐसा शख़्स, जिसने अंग्रेज़ सरकार के पास माफ़ीनामे भेजे, जिन्ना से पहले धर्म के आधार पर राष्ट्र बांटने की बात कही, भारत छोड़ो आंदोलन के समय ब्रिटिश सेना में हिंदू युवाओं की भर्ती का अभियान चलाया, भारतीयों के दमन में अंग्रेज़ों का साथ दिया और देश की आज़ादी के अगुआ महात्मा गांधी की हत्या की साज़िश का सूत्रसंचालन किया, वह किसी भी मायने में भारत रत्न का हक़दार होना चाहिए?
वक्त की निहाई अक्सर बड़ी बेरहम मालूम पड़ती है. अपने-अपने वक्त के शहंशाह, अपने-अपने जमाने के महान रणबांकुरे या आलिम सभी को आने वालों की सख्त टीका-टिप्पणियों से रूबरू होना पड़ा है.
बड़ी से बड़ी ऐतिहासिक घटनाएं- भले जिन्होंने समूचे समाज की दिशा बदलने में अहम भूमिका अदा की हो- या बड़ी से बड़ी ऐतिहासिक शख्सियतें- जिन्होंने धारा के विरुद्ध खड़ा होने का साहस कर उसे मोड़ दिया हो – कोई भी कितना भी बड़ा हो उसकी निर्मम आलोचना से बच नहीं पाया है.
यह अकारण ही नहीं कहा जाता कि आने वाली पीढ़ियां पुरानी पीढ़ियों के कंधों पर सवार होती हैं. जाहिर है वे ज्यादा दूर देख सकती हैं, पुरानी पीढ़ियों द्वारा संकलित, संशोधित ज्ञान उनकी अपनी धरोहर होता है, जिसे जज्ब कर वे आगे निकल जा सकती हैं.
समाज की विकास यात्रा को वैज्ञानिक ढंग से देखने वाले शख्स के लिए हो सकता है यह बात भले ही सामान्य मालूम पड़े, लेकिन समाज के व्यापक हिस्से में जिस तरह के अवैज्ञानिक, पश्चगामी चिंतन का बोलबाला रहता है, उसमें ऐसी कोई भी बात उसे आसानी से पच नहीं पाती.
घटनाओं और शख्सियतों का आदर्शीकरण करने की, उन्हें अपने दौर और अपने स्थान से काटकर सार्वभौमिक मानने की जो प्रवृत्ति समाज में विद्यमान रहती है, उसके चलते समाज का बड़ा हिस्सा ऐसी आलोचनाओं को बर्दाश्त नहीं कर पाता.
वैसे बात-बात पर आस्था पर हमला होने का बहाना बनाकर सड़कों पर उतरने वाली हुड़दंगी बजरंगी मानसिकता भले ही ऐसी प्रकट समीक्षा को रोकने की कोशिश करे, लेकिन इतिहास इस बात का साक्षी है कि कहीं प्रकट- तो कहीं प्रच्छन्न रूप से यह आलोचना निरंतर चलती ही रहती है और उन्हीं में नये विचारों के वाहक अंकुरित होते रहते हैं, जो फिर समाज को नये पथ पर ले जाते हैं.
फिलवक्त विनायक दामोदर सावरकर- जिन्हें उनके अनुयायी ‘स्वातंत्रयवीर’ नाम से पुकारते हैं, जो युवावस्था में ही ब्रिटिश विरोधी आंदोलन की तरफ आकर्षित हुए थे, जो बाद में कानून की पढ़ाई करने के लिए लंदन चले गए, जहां वह और रैडिकल राजनीतिक गतिविधियों में जुड़ते गए थे- इसी किस्म की पड़ताल के केंद्र में है.
( Read the full article here : http://thewirehindi.com/98705/vd-savarkar-bharat-ratna-indian-freedom-movement/)
History as Storytelling
Home Minister Amit Shah, while inaugurating a two-day seminar at Banaras Hindu University, emphasised that Indian historians should “rewrite history from an Indian perspective”.
There is one thing unique about the present dispensation holding reins of power at the Centre. What one witnesses that the cabinet ministers—who go by the principle of collective responsibility—follow the dictum in letter and spirit. Thus, it is not considered unusual when a minister holding X portfolio shares their opinion about an urgent issue before Y ministry and vice versa. This process has been so normalised that when recently Home Minister Amit Shah, who according to his followers is the new ‘Iron Man’ of India—thanks to the abrogation of Article 370—shared his views on need for ‘rewriting history’, no eyebrows were raised.
No commentator even asked why the home minister—a graduate in bio-chemistry who has also worked as a stockbroker and in co-operative banks [Sheela Bhatt, “What Amit Shah’s fall really means”, July 28, 2010]—was found the most apt person to inaugurate a two-day seminar on a subject of history at Banaras Hindu University where he shared his pearls of wisdom. His emphasis was that Indian historians should “rewrite history from an Indian perspective”. The focus of the seminar was on Skandagupta Vikramaditya, the fifth-century AD emperor.
(Read the complete article here – https://www.newsclick.in/History-Storytelling)
Savarkar, India’s ’Ratna’ of a Different Kind!
BJP’s poll promise of Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, who inspired a wide spectrum of fanatic individuals and violent organisations, shows the moral vacuousness of the Hindutva project
“The curious fact is that as we move into the 21st century, historians have become central to politics. We historians are the monopoly suppliers of the past. The only way to modify the past that does not sooner or later go through historians is by destroying the past….Mythology is taking over from knowledge”.
It was in the wee hours of dawn of the 21st century that renowned scholar and historian, Eric Hobsbawm, had talked about the process of “destroying the past” to “modify” it or how “mythology is replacing knowledge” in his speech at Columbia University in New York City.
Much water has flown down the Ganges, the Rheins, the Yangtzes of the world and as we stand at the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century, one realises that how this process — both literally and metaphorically — has advanced to different corners of the globe.
With the ascent of Hindutva supremacist forces in polity and society in this part of the world, perhaps this process has reached its extreme, so much so that every other saffronite seems to have gathered enough confidence to claim legitimacy to any weird thing. The news that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its election manifesto (for the Maharashtra Assembly) has promised that it would confer Bharat Ratna, the country’ topmost honour, on VD Savarkar if voted to power, should be seen in this light.
( Read the full text here : https://www.newsclick.in/Savarkar-India-Ratna-of-a-Different-Kind)
New India – New Father of Nation?
Ms. Amruta Fadanavis – wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis – found herself at the centre of controversy two weeks back. Her birthday greetings to PM Modi – whom she wished ‘Father of Our Country @narendramodiji a very Happy Birthday -…’ – on her twitter evoked reaction from twitterati. Her ‘height of ignorance’, was pointed out and her attempt was called ‘sycophancy at its top’ (https://twitter.com/fadnavis_amruta/status/1173877700290678785)
Anyway, as one hoped that this chapter around ‘discovery of a new Father of Nation’ was over and one was attempting to turn a new leaf what one witnessed was rather unusual.
The debate around ‘Father of Nation” came back with a vengeance. Continue reading New India – New Father of Nation?
Women Of The World Stand With Kashmir
Statement issued on 27 September 2019.
NEW DELHI. NEW YORK
On 30 August 2019,the United Nations’ International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Parveena Ahangar, mother of Javaid, a 16 year old who was ‘disappeared’by paramilitary forces in Kashmir in 1990 mourned again.
Kashmir under siege. Kashmir caged. Kashmir imprisoned. Analogies abound for of the Indian Government‘s actions of August 5, 2019 when it unilaterally terminated the semi-autonomous Constitutional status granted to the region as a condition of its accession to India, and bifurcated it into two directly ruled Union Territories. This action was preceded in the previous week by a military blockade, a state of undeclared emergency, and an unprecedented media and communications clampdown. An estimated 4,000 Kashmiris have been arbitrarily detained including politicians, business leaders, lawyers, human rights defenders, chartered accountants, journalists, teachers, and students. Some are being held without charges or trial, under administrative detention laws such as the Public Safety Act, 1978 while the grounds of detention and whereabouts of a large number, including children as young as ten, remain unknown. An unknown number of people have been moved to prisons outside the state of Jammu & Kashmir.The Indian government continues to declare that all is ‘normal’ in the face of credible and mounting evidence of a healthcare and humanitarian crisis, civilian deaths and blindings and other injuries in pellet gun attacks by Indian security forces, torture, molestations, and the severe curtailment of freedom of opinion, expression, and information; assembly and movement; and religious freedoms. Continue reading Women Of The World Stand With Kashmir
Humko Savarkarich Mangta
Jinnah propounded his two-nation theory in 1939—exactly two years after Savarkar presented it.
Who could have been the best prime minister of independent India?
Nehru or (Vallabhbhai) Patel?
For more than last five years, we have been a witness to this manufactured debate—courtesy Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has tried all the tricks in its kitty to create a false binary between these leading stalwarts of independence movement, who called themselves ‘Gandhi’s sipahis’.
Anyway, thanks to the differences of perception within the saffron fraternity, a new competitor to Sardar Patel seems to have emerged from within the Hindutva Brigade who is being projected as someone who would have been a “better PM”.
Uddhav Thackreay, chief of Shiv Sena and at present, a junior ally of the BJP in Maharashtra, recently made his choice clear by stating that if Veer Savarkar would have become the prime minister, “Pakistan would not have come into existence”. At a book release event, he even refused to call Nehru a Veer (courageous), making a rather provocative statement: ‘I would have called Nehru brave if he would have survived jail for 14 minutes against Savarkar who stayed in the prison for 14 long years.’
Definitely, the fact that Nehru spent more than nine years in different jails of the colonialists without ever compromising his basic principles—whereas, the 14 years spent by Savarkar were interspersed with mercy petitions sent by him to the British, wherein he had even expressed his readiness to ‘serve the government in any capacity they like’—did not bother him at all.
( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/humko-savarkarich-mangta
Statement by Teachers and Academics in Support of Dr. Hany Babu
The following is a statement issues by teachers and academics in support of Dr Hany Babu, whose residence was raided early morning non 10 September by Pune Police
We, teachers and members of the academic community from across universities, are shocked to know of the illegal raid at the residence of Dr. Hany Babu, Associate Professor in the Department of English, University of Delhi on the morning of 10 September 2019. While the horrifying overreach of a search conducted without a warrant has become routine harassment for dissenting citizens, the attempt made by the Pune Police to forcefully detain Babu’s family for six hours and deprive them of any communication with lawyers or friends amounts to extreme duress. Finally, forcing Babu to change passwords and forfeit access to his email account and other personal online media clearly makes way for a possible planting of evidence, to concoct a case against an assumed ‘suspect’.
Continue reading Statement by Teachers and Academics in Support of Dr. Hany Babu
Lynchistan
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
The word lynching conjures up images of a dark period in the history of the United States of America. Between 1877 and 1950, white supremacist gangs murdered 4,000 African Americans, while the government and the police looked the other way. James Baldwin, whose essays Dark Days captures the unfolding violence, wrote, ‘A mob is not autonomous. It executes the real will of the people who rule the State’. In 1888, white supremacists lynched seven African American men for drinking from a well – which they had said was for ‘white’s only’. Baldwin recounts that story and writes, ‘The blood is on the hands of the state of Alabama which sent those mobs into the street to execute the will of the State’.
The lyrics quoted above are from the iconic song – Strange Fruit – written by the communist artist Abel Meeropol and sung by Billie Holiday. Continue reading Lynchistan
A War For Scientists to Join
Scientists have barely offered resistance to pseudoscience. This must change—IIT students show how.
Surely India’s scientific community must be waking up to the realisation that their silence is detrimental to scientific development and allows many varieties of mischief to breed. In a rare show of gumption, students of the elite engineering institute, IIT Bombay, have slammed the recent decision to invite the Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to chair their graduation ceremony.
For too long India’s scientists have remained silent—even the credulous claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech at the Ambani hospital in November 2014 was not challenged by them for a long time. A key role has to be played by the scientific community in the ongoing battle of ideas. Perhaps students of IIT Bombay show the way.
They have said in their in-house publication, Insight IIT Bombay, that a guest who “recognised, embodied and endorsed the scientific and moral values” of their institute should have been invited instead of the minister. Their problem is with Pokhriyal’s speech, pervaded by unscientific claims and “twisted facts”. They are under no illusion the speech tried to stoke “patriotic feelings”. To the IIT students, the speech was a “mild form of scientific blasphemy”.
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