Category Archives: Identities

Bad ideas, Culture, Education, Genders, Government, Identities, Law, Left watch, Media politics

CPM in Kerala = Caste-Gender Elitism Minus Cow

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This is my Malayalam opinion piece for iemalayalam, on something despite the outcry against the CPM in the mess around Kerala Law Academy.  The public discussion has been, not unexpectedly, on the line of Kerala’s well-entrenched scandal journalism, which has a history of a hundred years, at least. This is a form of journalism that highlights the sexual lives – proper or improper – of powerful male politicians which accompanies the attack on their public failings directly or indirectly- a very highly successful tactic, hitherto, to undermine even the seemingly unassailable. When women began to figure in this kind of journalism as something more than just passive sexual objects, as active agents of corruption and manipulation – most markedly, in the controversy over the businesswoman Sarita Nair – scandal journalism worked by highlighting the huge contrast between their ‘feminine-respectable’ names, sartorial styles, behaviour, and so on, and the despicable manipulations they indulged in. This is the case also with much media discussion of the principal of the Kerala Law Academy, Lekshmi Nair.

However, this tactic is not only misogynist, it also lets the elite-femininity that she represents escape critique. This is a very contemporary form of respectable femininity that presents itself as essentially domestic, but wields delegated masculine power to vicious ends, and it is almost all-pervasive in disciplinary institutions in Kerala now. Not surprisingly perhaps, the CPM’s mishandling of the issue has not just shown how poorly committed the party is to women’s rights, but also how soft it is on this elite-feminine power.

The full essay, in Malayalam:

https://www.iemalayalam.com/opinion/cpm-j-devika-law-academy-lekshmi-nair-gender-caste-women/

 

Bad ideas, Education, Government, Identities, Law, Left watch, Politics, Right watch

Taming the Brat? Thoughts on the Kerala Law Academy Imbroglio

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Reports of exploitation, humiliation, violence, and rampant nepotism are still flowing out of the private-sector law college popularly known as the Law Academy, in Thiruvananthapuram twenty whole days after the commencement of the students’ struggle there. At the centre of the controversy is the principal, Lekshmi Nair, who seems to have ‘inherited’ that position in the institution owned by her family: clearly, the students are determined to teach her a good lesson. Rarely have we seen all student organizations, from the far-right to the far-left, rally against one person with equal determination; but from the complaints of students – subsequently confirmed by the University of Kerala to which this college is affiliated – it appears that there is no reason to be surprised.

But the irony of  utter lawlessness and blatantly feudal despotism perpetuated in an institution devoted to legal education  in a democratic nation itself seems lost, for the authorities’ commonsense about liberal education in Kerala has been that it should be neither liberal nor education nor anything to do even remotely with the practice of democracy. I have been saying this over and over again, and really, feel utterly breathless at this. Continue reading Taming the Brat? Thoughts on the Kerala Law Academy Imbroglio →

Government, Identities, Law, Politics, Right watch

EFLU Defamation Case Against Students – Statement by Concerned Academics and Public Intellectuals

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Statement by Concerned Academics and Public Intellectuals Following the Court Sentence on the EFLU Defamation Case

We the undersigned wish to express our grave concern over the fact that five senior students of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), who were raising the issue of discrimination against SC and ST students in the EFLU’s Department of German, have on 13/12/2016 been charged with defamation of a professor and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.  Their protests concerned Sreeramulu M, a ST student enrolled in the BA programme of EFLU’s German Department. Sreermulu had not been allowed to continue in the programme ostensibly for his failure to maintain grades.  The others who have been sentenced are office bearers of associations representing such marginalized students; they were speaking at a Press Meet held on 24/12/2012 after Sreeramulu, who had been trying for several months to be allowed to continue his course and avail remedial classes, went on fast.  The defamation case was filed in March 2013.  Two SC/ST atrocities complaints filed by Sreeramulu M and again by another student, Ranjan Kumar, in January 2013 are pending with the Police and are yet to be investigated.

The countrywide discussion raised through the struggles following Rohith Vemula’s death in January 2016 drew public attention to the extent of caste discrimination in our universities.  SC, ST, OBC and minority students figure disproportionately in the statistics for failure, drop out, expulsion, rustication and even suicide. Educational institutions and those who run them (teachers and administrators) have been forced to acknowledge that they are implicated in this terrible attrition of young citizens and know they must initiate reforms. Yet, far too little is being done to discuss this evidence, rethink rules, temper teachers’ attitudes, reform syllabi or challenge ideas of merit that discriminate against the marginalized.  A teacher’s job is to help the actual students in the classroom to learn; not to uphold abstract standards of merit.  From the courts, the underprivileged expect humane recognition of the inequities of their predicament and wise support for their cause. But what they have received is a demoralizing and intimidating signal. Continue reading EFLU Defamation Case Against Students – Statement by Concerned Academics and Public Intellectuals →

Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life, Frontiers, Identities, Images, Language, Law, Media politics, Violence/Conflict

On Barak Valley Bandh on 16th December, 2016 – Some Nascent Observations: Arunima Chakraborty

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This is a Guest Post by ARUNIMA CHAKRABORTY

Let’s begin with the usual: by ruing over Indian mainstream media’s overlooking of what could have been treated as more newsworthy. Today, that is, 16th of December, 2016 witnessed a bandh in southern Assam’s Barak valley protesting against the statement by the union minister of state for railways, Rajen Gohain that ‘Bengali…should be withdrawn from Barak valley as official language’ since ‘there cannot be two official languages’.[1] And a simple, layman-like google-news search reveals that there are just three entries on the issue/event.

This piece is aimed not at joining the state Congress and the local SUCI(Socialist Unity Centre of India) cadres who are decrying comment by Gohain, the union minister and a senior BJP leader in Assam but rather at attempting a delineation of the ominous portents which it seems to have unleashed. And of course, to trace the genealogy of the statement.

First of all, a rather facile fact: Mr. Gohain’s observation that there cannot be two official languages clashes with article 345 of the Indian constitution which allows for the adoption of one or more official languages by any state of the Indian union. Article 347 also allows for respecting the desire of a significant section of a populace of a state for the usage of a language of their choice.[2] A couple of months ago, while visiting Assam, I watched, or rather listened, on an Assamese news channel, a shrill voice issuing a caveat to its viewers, “…barak upatyakat asomiya bhasha nokoya hoiche”. ‘Assamese is no longer spoken in the Barak valley’. Anybody remotely familiar with the history of the region could have retorted back with the question, when was Assamese ever spoken in the region?

Continue reading On Barak Valley Bandh on 16th December, 2016 – Some Nascent Observations: Arunima Chakraborty →

Bad ideas, Culture, Everyday Life, Identities

डिजिटल दुनिया के देशभक्त सैनिक और औसत आदमी : मनीष राज

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Guest post by MANISH RAJ

चारों तरफ देशभक्ति का खुमार चढ़ा देख मैं सोच में पड़ गया. क्या मैं भी देखभक्त कहलाने लायक हूँ? क्या मेरे अन्दर भी देशभक्ति के वे सभी गुण मौजूद हैं जो एक भारतवासी में होने चाहिएं? इस सवाल का जवाब जानने के लिए पहले मुझे देशभक्ति के मायने समझने होंगे. आखिर देशभक्ति किसे कहते हैं?

सबसे पहले मैंने इस शब्द के शाब्दिक अर्थ पर गौर किया. देशभक्ति यानि देश की भक्ति. लेकिन भक्ति तो भगवान् की होती है न जी, जिसका गुणगान करना मोक्ष का मार्ग माना जाता है. या फिर उन बाबाओं की, जिनके एक आशीर्वाद, एक अंगूठी या एक ताबीज़ से आपका धंधा चल निकलता है, आपके बच्चों की शादियाँ हो जाती है और सारी बीमारियाँ ठीक हो जाती है. वैसे आजकल भक्ति शब्द अलग-अलग नामों से बहुत फैशन में है. एक समूह दुसरे समूह को किसी व्यक्ति विशेष का भक्त बता रहा है, तो वहीँ दूसरा समूह पहले समूह को पुरानी धारणाओं से ग्रसित और किसी दूसरे व्यक्ति का चमचा बता रहा है. सूचना के लिए बता दूं कि मैं अपनी गिनती इन दोनों समूहों में नहीं करता. इन दोनों में खचाखच भीड़ है, और भीड़ में मेरा दम घुटने लगता है.

शब्दों में उलझ गया तो फिर सोचा कि व्यस्तता से भरे आधुनिक जीवन में शब्दों की तितलियों के पीछे दौड़ने का क्या लाभ. इसलिए व्यावहारिक होते हुए मैंने देशभक्ति के प्रमाणिक सबूत तलाशना शुरू किया. देशभक्त किन्हें माना जाता है और उनमें क्या गुण होते हैं? Continue reading डिजिटल दुनिया के देशभक्त सैनिक और औसत आदमी : मनीष राज →

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! →

Frontiers, Identities, Images, Language, Law, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

On Indian Exceptionalism and Kashmir: Dia Da Costa

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This is a guest post by Dia Da Costa

‘If Trump is elected, I will move to Canada,’ many Americans noted in passing, in jest, and then in all seriousness once the results were out.

If it has taken this election result to make people recognize the pervasive racism in the US, that is because of the success of US exceptionalism and its ability to deflect attention from its ongoing colonization of indigenous land, relentless imperialism, Islamophobia, and ongoing brutalities against black people in the aftermath of abolition and the civil rights movement. If it has taken this election result to make people really want to move to Canada, that too is because of the success of Canadian multicultural exceptionalism. Apparently, Canadian exceptionalism is still able to pass as not-as-racist by deflecting attention from its ongoing colonization of indigenous land, relentless participation in imperialism cloaked all too often as humanitarian development, growing Islamophobia, and its self-congratulatory representation of itself as having no history of slavery even as its anti-Black violence pervades cities and small towns alike.

For those of us who can recognize these forms of exceptionalism, I want to ask if we acknowledge Indian exceptionalism, and its specific relation to Kashmir? ‘If Trump is elected, I will move back to India’, I saw many Indians say on social media. If it has taken this US election result to make Indians really want to move back to India, that is not just because of the apparent success of US exceptionalism among Indians, who could see racism but could ultimately deal with, and even love life in the US. It is also because of Indian exceptionalism. To be sure, Indian exceptionalism is nurtured by the caste and class privilege that allows some Indians to declare that they will simply up and leave when the going gets tough (whether it is in India or in the US), or joke about the same.

But there is more to it. Indian exceptionalism is a state projected discourse turned commonsense perception of India as a complicated and diverse nation that is ultimately unified against all odds by the absolute commitment of its people to democracy. Whether we believe it at face value or we critique the many excesses of the Indian state, ultimately something draws us to this idea of India as the world’s largest democracy. Continue reading On Indian Exceptionalism and Kashmir: Dia Da Costa →

Bad ideas, Everyday Life, Feminism, Genders, Government, Identities, Images, Sex

Memories of a Machine, or the Machine of Memory?

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Watching the much-debated ten-minute-film ‘Memories of a Machine’, which has been accused of justifying paedophilia, I remembered this woman:

I met her, a young woman professional working at Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram – where else, in these days, but in the queue in front of an ATM . In response to my grumbling, she told me that she had never experienced any kind of power in her whole life.  She had not even been affected by demonetisation much, she insisted. ‘True, I couldn’t pay the dhobi and the ironing-man, but those were minor inconveniences,’ she quipped cheerily, quite convinced, of course, that the predicament of these two people, definitely as much professionals’ as her, was none of her concern. Indeed, her constant effort was to cheer people in the queue with her don’t-worry-be-happy body-language with which she slipped and slid between acting and sounding like a grown woman and chirping and giggling like a teenager or child. She was attracted to the BJP, she said, because she needed some ‘philosophy’ in her life, to balance the heavy workload she carried in her workplace. As far I could see, her life was such that the philosophy-lesson she would find useful could have been obtained from something as commonplace as a treadmill – start slow, peak up, take regular dips, continue for a spell sufficiently long, stretch after the workout. In other words, her life seemed to be just one long workout, with no indication of when it would end or yield result. But just the feeling that she was on her way was enough to make her cheery to the point of being silly. Continue reading Memories of a Machine, or the Machine of Memory? →

Bad ideas, Empire/ Imperialism, Government, Identities, Law, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Neocaligulaism: Thoughts from Kerala

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In these insane times in our country and the world, one searches in the past desperately to make sense of the unfolding madness of the present. No wonder people have recalled Muhammad bin Tughlaq in the face of what has been described (rather misleadingly) by the neutral word ‘demonetisation’ – but as many have already pointed out in considerable detail, what we face is much more than a foolishly, irresponsibly-conceived act of monetary governance gone horribly wrong. Caligula is back, and neocaligulaism is the flavor of the season, across the world, one might say. Continue reading Neocaligulaism: Thoughts from Kerala →

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 →

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

Separatism of Majority against Kashmir : Anil Chamadia

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Guest Post by Anil Chamadia

I am an Indian, but a separatist too. I am hostile against Kashmiri people because I only love my fellow countrymen.

The feeling of separatism among the people of a bordering state is easily identified. But there are two types of separatism. In a state or region like Kashmir and North – Eastern states, separatism is identified in such a way that there is a group or more than one group of people who want to secede from Indian nation and they carry out “actions” to fulfill this desire. They try to galvanize public support through their “actions” and harm government machinery as well. But have we ever identified the separatism that is professed by the majority section of the society?

I belong to a Hindu family of north India. Right from the beginning, a separatist feeling against Kashmir has been cultivated within me. A survey can be conducted in entire north India to know how a relationship with Kashmir has been nurtured among the people of this region during their childhood. If I ask 100 children, they all know Kashmir only through the materials available in media. I want to repeat the story how I was introduced to Kashmir. I was born in the early years of 1960s.  While going to school or returning back, I was told that Kashmir has a separate flag which is different from Indian tricolour. Like prime minister of India, it also has a prime minister. There is a separate section in Indian Constitution for it and Muslims are in majority there. Since Pakistan follows Islam, therefore loyalty of Kashmir people is also doubtful. Continue reading Separatism of Majority against Kashmir : Anil Chamadia →

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 →

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 →

Bad ideas, Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Government, Identities, Images, Law, Movements, Politics

Ezhuka Tamil – A Conversation about Democracy :Dharsha Jegatheeswaran and Gajen Mahendra

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This is a guest post by DHARSHA JEGATHEESWARAN AND GAJEN MAHENDRA

 

On Saturday September 24, 2016, Ezhuka Tamil, organized by the Tamil People’s Council, became the largest rally to happen since the end of the war in the North-East of Sri Lanka. Over 10,000 people took to the streets to demand an end to ongoing human rights violations, particularly militarization and Sinhala-Buddhisization of the North-East,reiterate their demand for genuine accountability and justice and voice their expectations regarding the ongoing political processes. The political elite in Colombo and their supporters elsewhere have however chosen to read Ezhuka Tamil as an expression of ‘Tamil extremism’. This response requires us to critically interrogate the nature of democratic spaces in post-war Sri Lanka available to the numerically smaller communities and more largely what our understanding of democracy is. This is very necessary if we believe in the need for public participation in the constitutional and transitional justice process currently underway. Continue reading Ezhuka Tamil – A Conversation about Democracy :Dharsha Jegatheeswaran and Gajen Mahendra →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Frontiers, Identities, Language, Violence/Conflict

Ae Shareef Insanon – Sahir Ludhianvi Talks to Those Who Are Still Sane in India and Pakistan

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Ae Shareef Insanon

(Sahir Ludhianvi)

khoon apna ho ya paraya ho,
nasl-e-adam ka khoon hai aakhir;

jang mashriq mein ho ya maghrib mein,
aman-e-alam ka khoon hai aakhir.

jang to khud hi ek maslaa hai,
jang kyaa maslon ka hal degi;

aag aur khoon aaj bakhshegi,
bhookh aur ehtiyaaj kal degi.

bartaree ke saboot ki khatir,
khoon bahana hi kya zaroori hai?

ghar ki tareeqiyan mitane ko,
ghar jalana hi kya zaroori hai?

Bomb gharon par giren ke sarhad par,
Rooh-e-taameer zakhm khati hai;

Khet apne jalein ke auron ke,
Zeest faaqon mein tilmilati hai.

Tank aage badhe ke peeche hate,
Kokh dharti ki baanjh hoti hai;

Fateh ka jashn ho ke haar ka soug,
Zindagi maiyaton pe roti hai.

Isliye ae shareef insanon,
jang taltee rahe to behtar hai;

aap aur ham sabhi ke aangan mein,
shama jalti rahe to behtar hai.

 

اے شريف انسانو !
(ساحر لدھيانوي)

خون اپنا ہو يا پرايا ہو
نسلِ آدم کا خون ہے آخر
جنگ مشرق ميں ہو کہ مغرب ميں
امنِ عالم کا خون ہے آخر
بم گھروں پر گريں کہ سرحد پر
روح تعمير زخم کھاتی ہے
کھيت اپنے جليں کہ اوروں کے
زيست فاقوں سے تلملاتی ہے
ٹينک آگے بڑھيں، کہ پيچھے ہٹيں
کوکھ دھرتی کی بانجھ ہوتی ہے
فتح کا جشن ہو کہ ہار کا سوگ
زندگی ميتوں پر روتی ہے
جنگ تو خود ہی ايک مسئلہ ہے
جنگ کيا مسئلوں کا حل دے گی
آگ اور خون آج بخشے گی
بھوک اور احتياج کل دے گی
اس ليے اے شريف انسانو !
جنگ ٹلتی رہے تو بہتر ہے
آپ اور ہم سبھی کے آنگن ميں
شمع جلتی رہے تو بہتر ہے
برتری کے ثبوت کی خاطر
خوں بہانا ہی کيا ضروری ہے
گھر کی تاريکياں مٹانے کو
گھر جلانا ہی کيا ضروری ہے
جنگ کے اور بھی تو ميدان ہيں
صرف ميدانِ کشت و خوں ہی نہيں
حاصلِ زندگی خِرد بھی ہے
حاصلِ زندگی جنوں ہی نہيں
آؤ اس تيرہ بخت دنيا ميں
فکر کی روشنی کو عام کريں
امن کو جن سے تقويت پہنچے
ايسی جنگوں کا اہتمام کريں
جنگ، وحشت سے، بربريت سے
امن، تہذيب و ارتقاء کے ليے
جنگ، مرگ آفريں سياست سے
امن، انسان کی بقاء کے لیے
جنگ، افلاس اور غلامی سے
امن، بہتر نظام کي خاطر
جنگ بھٹکي ہوئي قيادت سے
امن، بےبس عوام کي خاطر
جنگ، سرمائے کے تسلط سے
امن، جمہور کي خوشي کے ليے
جنگ، جنگوں کے فلسفے کے خلاف
امن، پُرامن زندگي کے ليے‘

 

Debates, Everyday Life, Frontiers, Identities, Language, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

A Fast That Ended in Hunger- Thoughts on Irom Sharmila and Hunger Strikes: Anirban Bhattacharya

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Guest Post by Anirban Bhattacharya

Iram Sharmila Mural at ‘Freedom Square’ JNU. Art by Shijo Suleman and the Fearless Collective. Photograph by Rebecca John. Image, courtesy, ‘The Great Walls of India’ blog on Graffiti and Wall Art

We may have differences in our political approach as to the way and means of the struggle, but what must be stated at the outset is the fact that Irom Sharmila has certainly been an icon of resistance and inspiration in the struggle against AFSPA.

Her 16 year long hunger strike has been a grim reminder of the crimes against the Manipuri people – rape, torture, fake encounters and massacres – committed by the armed forces with impunity under such draconian Acts like AFSPA. But her abrupt decision to end her fast accompanied with her willingness to contest elections in the upcoming assembly elections have met with a mixture of shock, scepticism, disappointment, puzzlement and even anger amongst her people in Manipur and even her close associates. There also seems to be a resentment against her being in a relationship and her plan to marry. Such scrutiny/dragging of her personal life are, however, quite deplorable. But overall, the disappointment with the decision of Irom to quit fasting and contest elections is so strong that, after breaking her fast in the hospital, when she tried to go to a local activist’s shelter, the locals disapproved. She had to seek temporary shelter in an ISKCON temple along with her police guards and then was shifted to a police station and finally she was forced to retreat to the same hospital that housed her for last 16 years. Now, this is telling. But what does it tell? The answer to this question would take us away from criticisms about any particular individual, but to the evaluation of the very method of struggle that she had been a part of, its scope, effectivity and limitations.

Continue reading A Fast That Ended in Hunger- Thoughts on Irom Sharmila and Hunger Strikes: Anirban Bhattacharya →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Culture, Debates, Education, Feminism, Genders, Government, Identities, Law, Media politics, Politics

The Orphaning of ‘Women’s Collective Interests’ in Kerala

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There is considerable outrage in Kerala about how the accused in the murder of the young woman worker Soumya in 2011 has slipped the noose at the Supreme Court. There is considerable doubt remaining on how the murder of the young dalit woman student Jisha was handled by the present government. In both cases, the accused are not men who would earn the sympathy of the Malayali middle-class – in one case, a tamil homeless man, and in the other, a Muslim migrant worker. Not surprisingly, the cry for their blood has been particularly shrill. Outrage at the Supreme Court’s refusal to endorse the lower court’s judgment in the first case is particularly striking – not only because of its loudness, but also because one is unable to forget the Suryanelli case. The difference between the present cases and the Suryanelli case is that in the latter, the victim has been condemned to living death, though she has persistently fought to be heard as a survivor of the most horrific violence. Yet her pleas that the powerful Malayali politician P J Kurien be also tried never roused the kind of outrage was have heard recently. It appears that the Malayali public is kinder to dead violated women than women who survive violation; it also seems harsher towards abjected males than to .powerful males who occupy the pedestal of elite masculinity. Continue reading The Orphaning of ‘Women’s Collective Interests’ in Kerala →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Education, Government, Identities, Law, Politics

Self and Other : Indus Chadha

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This is a guest post by INDUS CHADHA

The summer that I was 5-years-old, I took my first flight alone because I wanted to spend my holidays with my grandparents. My parents prepared me well—they even read aloud and recorded my favourite stories on an audio cassette which we put into our Walkman for my long solo journey. But there was one question they neglected to answer. “What should I do if the flight crashes?” I had asked. “It won’t…” they had brushed my question away. So when the flight attendant came out into the aisle and announced that one of our engines had failed and we would have to turn back to our point of origin to make an emergency landing—I wondered what I should do.

A man a few rows ahead of me got up from his seat and started shouting at the flight attendant. He was obviously afraid and seemed to hope oddly that he could frighten some comfort out of her. I remember him saying over and over again that he had a young child with him on the flight and that made me conscious of both the gravity of the situation and the fact that I was so young and all alone. I felt tears start to well up in my throat and took small sips of my orange juice to wash down the urge to cry. And then, out of the blue, the young man sitting beside me started talking to me. He asked me what I was studying at school and when I told him our theme for the last term had been pirates he exclaimed that he was a ‘shippie’ and knew all about them.

Continue reading Self and Other : Indus Chadha →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Frontiers, Government, Identities, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Kashmir Scholars Action Group Letter to the UN High Commission for Human Rights on the Situation in Jammu&Kashmir: KSAG

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Guest Post by Kashmir Scholars Action Group

To Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Re: Urgent action needed to end state violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir

We are writing to you to express our concern about the situation in Indian-controlled Kashmir where the already subjected population is currently living in a state of siege due to the massive violence unleashed by the Indian forces. We appreciate your decision to create a fact-finding mission and deplore the refusal of the Indian government to allow access to UN human rights monitors (1). In the absence of such a mission, we feel it incumbent upon civil society groups to provide regular updates on the situation.

We, the Kashmir Scholars Action Group, are an interdisciplinary group of scholars of various nationalities engaged in research on the region of Kashmir. Our research on Kashmir, its history, its consequences for the region and beyond, and its possible resolution, delves into the implications for an internationally mediated political solution, and is of relevance to policy makers. Based on our long and active engagement with civil society groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir, we have undertaken to document and communicate the situation on ground since the Indian state’s violence against civilians has continued to mount from July 7th, 2016 onwards. Each of us has written about Kashmiri history, society and politics; and we are particularly concerned about the present conditions of violence. We write to you now as part of our urgent efforts to check the brutality of the state’s response to Kashmiris, scores of whom have mobilized in support of their demand for azadi (freedom). Even as we will go on to list some of the details of the humanitarian crisis, we wish to make clear that we are calling not only for the resumption of basic civil services, the rule of law, and the restoration of human rights in Kashmir, but, most importantly, for an internationally mediated political solution for this ongoing crisis. Continue reading Kashmir Scholars Action Group Letter to the UN High Commission for Human Rights on the Situation in Jammu&Kashmir: KSAG →