Category Archives: Politics

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Countryside, Government, Images, Movements, Politics

Maternity Entitlements were Legal Rights 3 years ago, not a New Year Gift: Statement of the Right to Food Campaign

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On New Year’s Eve, the Prime Minister in his much-anticipated speech amongst other commitments made a vague announcement of a “nation-wide” scheme for maternity entitlements for pregnant women.

But the PM has not spelled out any specifics – neither the timeframe;budget nor its universal coverage as obligated in the National Food Security Act (NFSA) since2013. Clause 4B of the law already promises all pregnant and lactating women maternity entitlements of atleastRs 6000 for each child. But for three years, the central government didn’t honour this legal obligation. Though better late than never, re-packaging this legal right as the PM’s New Year gift is disingenuous.

Further media reports, from December indicate that the Finance Ministry may hike the budget by a mere 20 percent (instead of the sevenfold increase necessary for universalisation) and that too restrict the benefit to only women Below the Poverty Line (BPL). This would be in complete violation of the NFSA.

But there seems to bearecurring trend to subvert the law. For the last three years, this government continued with the pilot Indira Gandhi MatritvaSahyogYojana (IGMSY) in just 53 districts of the country despite repeated demands by civil society activists and women from across the country. This year, Right to Food Campaign activists from across India even sent postcards to the PM to remind him of the state’s obligation.

In September 2015, even the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre on the non-implementation of maternity entitlements under the NFSA.

While the government did initially enhance the IGMSY allocations from Rs 4000 to Rs. 6000 to be in tune with the NFSA, neither the coverage nor the budget was enhanced which languishes at Rs. 400 crores. Instead to ensure that all eligible women are covered as per the NFSA, Rs 16,000 crores is necessary. A real test of the Prime Minister’s announcement will be in the fine print of the allocations in next month’s budget.

Countryside, Everyday Life, Frontiers, Politics

[Watch] Marching with the Bhim Army!

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This October, a colleague and I tracked a group of young Dalits fighting caste atrocities in Uttar Pradesh. The documentary posted above is one part of an extended multimedia project. See the entire project here: https://www.thequint.com/quintlab/ambedkar-dalit-army-fights-caste-atrocities-in-uttar-pradesh/

Bad ideas, Education, Movements, Politics

Do not let a university turn into a ‘shakha’ of a poisoned tree

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Have the JNU students and faculty seriously considered taking legal action against the current Vice Chancellor? From every report that I have seen, all his actions in the recently concluded farcical Academic Council (AC) meeting seem to me to be instances of prima facie procedural violation. (Or am I incorrect in assuming this?)

From what I have heard, his conduct includes the deliberate misrepresentation of the minutes, pretending to consensual decisions where there were none, and disruptive and arrogant behavior towards Academic Council members. If this is indeed the case, could there not be strong legal grounds to ask for his removal on the grounds of his willful violation of institutional procedures and ethics? What do people with legal experience think of such a possibility? What do students and faculty think?

If recourse to legal action is not feasible or practical, what else can be done to remedy this situation? What kind of campaign can restore a semblance of sanity to JNU (and to universities, generally) that have been serially assaulted by university administrations acting at the behest of right-wing thugs.

It seems to me, that this man, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (the current JNU vice-chancellor) is acting like a criminal, and I think he should be treated as such from now on. Co-operating with his decisions, or even tacit acceptance of his manner of functioning, should now be seen as complicity with an agenda to destroy the university. Let us also not forget that this VC continues to protect those who assaulted Najeeb Ahmed before he disappeared from JNU. In the unfortunate possibility of anything untoward having happened to Najeeb Ahmed, this VC should be seen as being responsible. He creates the conditions of impunity that threaten the safety of each and every student. His decision to punish the students who protested yesterday with arbitrary and unjust suspension orders is exactly analogous to the authoritarian conduct of Podile Appa Rao, VC of HCU, that led to the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula. The manner in which both Jagadesh Kumar and Appa Rao have acted suggests a pattern of the deliberate victimization of students on the basis of their caste identities. This only brings shame and disrepute to the institutions headed by them.

In my considered view, (and please view this only as a suggestion) the time has come for Faculty and Students of JNU to come together (irrespective of their political positions and postures) to demand the unconditional removal of Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar from the vice-chancellorship of JNU and from the university itself. I think that all limits have now been crossed by his conduct. His declarations about what the AC decided should be treated as null and void (also because they are violative of the principles of social justice and democratic education), and the suspension orders against the students who were targeted must be revoked. I hope that the present JNUSU and JNUTA will not fail in their responsibility to conduct a coherent and militant campaign to reverse this situation. If they vacillate, or, are unable to offer a coherent, well worked out strategy, they too will be seen as responsible for the mess that JNU is in today.

I hope that every student (and here I mean ‘common students’ as well as student activists within and outside organizations) and every teacher at JNU is able to rise above the temptation of negativism and needless point-scoring at this juncture. Just as the JNUSU crucially must not see itself as immune to criticism, or fail to act with militant resolve and clarity, and in resonance with the concerns of students, (including of those outside the union) so too, those outside the union could help matters by not falling to the temptation of adopting ‘holier than thou’ postures that impede practical unity. Let there be solidarity in struggle, and the kind of criticality that aids , rather than impedes, solidarity.

This time, this opportunity, this moment of necessity for thoughtful, militant, intelligent unity of all students, teachers and all friends of the idea or a free and open university is too precious to lose at the altar of either posturing or prevarication.

Restore freedom to freedom square! Do not let a university turn into a ‘shakha’ of a poisoned tree! Eject Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar! Reject Podile Appa Rao! Bring back life to our universities !

Capitalism, Everyday Life, Government, Politics, Right watch

Corrupt Notes – the Black Comedy of Tragic Error: R Srivatsan

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Guest post by R. SRIVATSAN

Reflections on the many paradoxes of the demonetization process: the schizophrenia of the BJP, the desire of the well to do, the baffling sacrifice of the have nots, the faults and fault lines that propagate through our society in crisis.

Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley, in their brilliant strategy to kill black money through the withdrawal of currency, show no basic understanding of what the term ‘black money’ signifies.  Prabhat Patnaik has recently argued there is no such thing as black money – there is only a black economy.  However, one aspect of the black economy is the refusal to pay taxes and instead hoard wealth in the form of currency that is not recorded in bank deposits.  Another is the payment of bribes with untraceable currency to authorities and politicians who use their position of leverage as personal property on which they charge a rent for use. Both these uses of black money as corruption have a common lineage. In both cases, corruption is the failure of categories that were supposed to have been water-tight.  A) “All income is taxable” B) “Public servants are true servants of the people”

But first, here is an attempt to shake our convictions that the refusal to pay taxes is a moral evil.  To do so, let me take the example of a Hollywood film, Stranger than Fiction (2006).  The plot of this film, which has a quite complex fantasy storyline, baits the viewer’s desire through the emerging love interest between an IRS auditor Harold Crick and his investigative target Ana Pascal, who runs a bakery.  Ana is a conscientious objector against taxation. She argues that she openly defies taxation since she doesn’t support the hegemonic objectives of the USA which spends most of its revenue income on weapons of war and destruction.  Ana is thus the beautiful and charming face of morally upright conscientious objection which masks the libertarian hatred for a state that taxes more than minimally.  As Robert Nozick asserted long ago such taxation is seen as thievery, against the sacred right to private property.  Ana’s position thus also masks the refusal to redistribute wealth through welfare. As a viewer, I found it extremely difficult to think of Ana as an evil person.  She was the most charming free-spirit I had encountered on celluloid (well, on a TV screen) for a long time. The objective of this sub-plot of film criticism is to help the reader shed the ready moral judgement that not paying taxes is a universal crime and a sin against society, so that it becomes possible to examine exactly what the complex nature of the act that constitutes tax evasion is. Continue reading Corrupt Notes – the Black Comedy of Tragic Error: R Srivatsan →

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

The Laziest Blog Post Ever Written – Educational reform and Demonetization

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

No, literally, every single thing.

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

His article in the original can be read here.

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

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

Bad ideas, 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! →

Bad ideas, Education, Government, Law, Politics, Religion, Right watch

परवेज हुदभॉय क्यों चिन्तित हैं ?

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Image result for pervez hoodbhoy quotes

परवेज हुदभॉय (Pervez Hoodbhoy) भारतवासियों के लिए अपरिचित नाम नहीं है!

जानेमाने भौतिकीविद और मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता के अलावा उनकी पहचान एक ऐसे सार्वजनिक बुद्धिजीवी के तौर पर है जिनके अन्दर बुनियादपरस्त ताकतों से लोहा लेने का माददा है। पाकिस्तान में इस्लामीकरण की बढ़ती आंधी में वह ऐसे शख्स के तौर पर नमूदार होते हैं, जो सहिष्णुता, तर्कशीलता, की बात पर जोर देते रहते हैं। नाभिकीय हथियारों से लैस दोनों पड़ोसी मुल्कों में आपस में अमन चैन कायम हो इसके लिए आवाज़ बुलंद करते रहते हैं।

पिछले दिनों ‘डॉन’ अख़बार में लिखे अपने नियमित स्तंभ में उन्होंने पाठयपुस्तकों के माध्यम से प्रचारित किए जा रहे विज्ञान विरोध पर लिखा।( http://www.dawn.com/news/1300118/promoting-anti-science-via-textbooks  ) खैबर पख्तुनख्वा में प्रकाशित जीवविज्ञान की पाठयपुस्तक का जिक्र करते हुए उन्होंने बताया कि किस तरह उसमें चार्ल्स डार्विन के सिद्धांत को सिरेसे खारिज किया गया है। किताब में लिखा गया है कि चार्ल्स डार्विन द्वारा प्रस्तावित इवोल्यूशन अर्थात विकासवाद का सिद्धांत ‘अब तक का सबसे अविश्वसनीय और अतार्किक दावा है।’ किताब इस धारणा को ही खारिज करती है कि संश्लिष्ट जीवन सरल रूपों से निर्मित हुआ। किताब के मुताबिक यह विचार कामनसेन्स/सहजबोध का उल्लंघन करता है और यह उतनाही ‘बकवास’ है जब यह कहा जाता हो कि दो रिक्शा के टकराने से कार विकसित होती है। हुदभॉय के मुताबिक प्रस्तुत किताब अपवाद नहीं है। खैबर पख्तुनवा की एक अन्य किताब बताती है कि ‘‘एक सन्तुलित दिमाग का व्यक्ति पश्चिमी विज्ञान के सिद्धांतों को स्वीकार नहीं कर सकता। /कहने का तात्पर्य सिर्फ पागल लोग स्वीकार सकते हैं ?/ सिंध की भौतिकी की पाठयपुस्तक स्पष्ट लिखती है कि ‘ब्रहमाण्ड तब अचानक अस्तित्व में आया जब एक दैवी आयत/श्लोक का उच्चारण किया गया।’ विज्ञान का यह विरोध निश्चित ही पाठयपुस्तकों तक सीमित नहीं है। वहां विज्ञान और गणित के तमाम अध्यापक अपने पेशे से असहज महसूस करते हैं। Continue reading परवेज हुदभॉय क्यों चिन्तित हैं ? →

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 →

Everyday Life, Politics, Right watch

Inedible India on the NaMo App “Survey” on Demonetization

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The PMO claimed that more than 93 per cent of the five lakh people who participated in a survey on Narendra Modi App have supported demonetization.

The loaded structure of the survey, the questions to which you can only “agree” or “partially agree”, with no option to “disagree”; all of it is typical of this utterly corrupt and dishonest government which holds the people of India in contempt.

The most powerful response to this government is to mock it.

Take this, Namo!

From Inedible India

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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 →

Culture, Education, Government, Politics, Right watch

‘Degrees’ of Democracy – Field Notes from a Central University in Bihar: Debaditya Bhattacharya

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Guest post by DEBADITYA BHATTACHARYA

This piece has long been in the coming. Soon after the summer of student protests in India exposed the terror-apparatuses of the state and unleashed a new vocabulary of progressive political resistance, the students of a certain Central University of South Bihar (in Gaya) went on strike against the university administration in the early days of August. They however were not fighting to protect constitutional rights, because their daily encounters with the university had already come to rest on a structural suspension of many such rights. Like those of speech, of rational thought and scientific inquiry, of gender-equality, and of resisting what Vemula called the event of being reduced to one’s “immediate identity”. These students merely decided to fight for their right to a degree.

They had come together to demand statutory recognition for courses that they were enrolled in since 2013, but most sections of the national media at that time deemed the issue ‘sub-national’ enough to be granted space or audience. Reporters from the local print-media were – in what seems like accepted practice across public institutions in the country – barred entry into the university campus, and hearsay reports constituted the stuff of low-key news-briefs with little context or compassion. Those who attempted to organise public opinion by writing on social and alternative media spaces, were – in a classic division of interests that administrative bureaucracies are deft at provoking – urged by students themselves to withdraw. The reason was simple: each social media post or conversation around the issue was declaredly spied on by the university administration in order to ‘detect’ subterranean alliances and “outside support” (as if it were a terrorist conspiracy!), and students were individually targeted and intimidated for passing on internal ‘secrets’ to ‘outsiders’. I know of specific Facebook posts which had been taken print-outs of and convened surreptitious meetings over, where administrative heads and proctorial board members put their heads together to crush the germ of student dissent and ‘outsider’-mobilizations. The agitated students continued in their own ways, despite open threats of disciplinary action and reminders of exam-time tactics of penalisation. The Vice-Chancellor marched off to Delhi to strike bargains for an interim settlement-package with officials in the ministry, and returned to meet the striking protestors with as much of an assurance as threats of expulsion. Continue reading ‘Degrees’ of Democracy – Field Notes from a Central University in Bihar: Debaditya Bhattacharya →

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, Centre watch, Government, Images, Language, Law, Mirror Worlds, Politics, Right watch, Scams

The Cult of the Angry Pointed Finger, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Father

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The recent order by the I&B Ministery to NDTV India to suspend broadcast for 24 hours drew a range of reactions from outrage to bewilderment. The supporters of the ruling party were of course triumphant – Subhash Chandra of Zoo, er sorry Zee News was so excited he wrote a whole article on this. But even outside the partisan responses, many well-meaning self-declared neutral janta declared that national security is not a matter to be trifled with, and that it was right for the government to admonish NDTV. Wait, ADMONISH?! Never mind that the government’s allegation of NDTV having compromised national security simply doesn’t survive a fact-check. Here is how the largest section of (English-speaking, online) popular opinion sees it.

This token punishment was good and important to show that someone is there who is monitoring the media who always thinks behind the mask of freedom of expression that they can do anything in the world. So it is important that the Government of the Day makes its presence felt otherwise there will more chaos and issues like the UPA government where everyone was going around like headless chicken and no one is bothered or cared if a Govt of Man Mohan Singh existed or NO. Even small timers like the Delhi CM AK and his Guru Anna were threatening and taking morcha in Ram leela Maidan every second day and doing expose every third day putting the Govt. of India on the back foot and in defensive mode running for shelter. Now Arvind Kejriwala and his team is running for shelter as every day a Delhi MLA is shown the door of the JAIL and Anna Hazare has been locked in a shell in his hometown watching the sunrise and the sunset. This means business, It is important that Govt of the India should show it exist otherwise human mentality is that then everyone shows that everyone exist and everyone is the BOSS. Cannot allow to happen like this MESS. PM Modi please keep it up and keep the heat on this reckless media, on AK and his gang, on others who are trying to show unnecessary activism and also the Judiciary, keep all the appointments on hold and let them slog day and night. Show who is the BOSS ! Show who is the BOSS !

Yes, Modi ji, show who is the BOSS!

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Continue reading The Cult of the Angry Pointed Finger, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Father →

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 →

Feminism, Politics, Right watch

Indian Muslim women – Caught between misogynists and hypocrites: Sanober Umar

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Guest Post by SANOBER UMAR

The ugly patriarchal politics of ‘Triple Talaq’ or unilateral ‘instant divorce’ through which Indian Muslim men (specifically Sunnis who follow the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence), can divorce their wives by pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ thrice in a single sentence, has appeared once again in mainstream politics. In this board game played over Muslim women, you have two main players. On the one hand you have the ever-so-vocal and self-proclaimed representatives of Muslims –  The All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) – and on the other hand, you have right-wing public figures of Hindutva, including our very own Prime Minister Mr. Modi, shedding tears of concern for Muslim women’s rights.

However Muslim women should not be deemed as agentless victims in this plot, and many are raising their voice against this practice by asserting their Koranic rights. Nonetheless, it is important to emphasize that while AIMPLB and Hindutva politics may seem to be polar opposites, the two have much more in common when it comes to curbing or denying Muslim women their rights. The male dominated AIMPLB is clearly vested in its project of misogyny even at the cost of denying Muslim women their Islamic right of longer procedures of divorce, that allow time and space for reasonable consideration before annulling a marriage. On the other hand, Hindutva men are no saviours of Muslim women either, as many instances both past and present have shown – including the recent spates of rape and murders (such as the Haryana rapes and murders by Gau Rakshaks and not to forget, the horrifying Muzaffarnagar violence not too long ago).

Continue reading Indian Muslim women – Caught between misogynists and hypocrites: Sanober Umar →

Government, Politics, Violence/Conflict

End repression in Kashmir: A call from civil society

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We, the undersigned, are dismayed over the ongoing crisis in Kashmir. We have watched in horror and shock the repetitive cycle of state aggression leading to violence, deteriorating state of civil liberties, violation of fundamental rights and ever escalating loss of human life and dignity in Kashmir. In the last 115 days, we have lost over 100 lives in Kashmir. More than 15,000 civilians have been injured, out of which 4500 persons have suffered grievous injuries due to pellet-guns, 4664 have been injured by bullets. Over 8000 people have been arrested out of which 434 people have been detained under the Public Safety Act (toll as on October 30, 2016).

The immediate response of the Indian state to the recent uprising in Kashmir was the imposition of curfew, which is continuing till date. A media gag where newspaper offices have been raided, copies confiscated and editors threatened with dire consequences, accompanied it. Journalists reporting the situation have been attacked, intimidated and threatened with violence by those supposedly responsible for protecting them. Most recently the government banned the publication of Kashmir Reader, a daily newspaper published from Srinagar.

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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.

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

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

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Guest Post by Shehla Rashid.

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

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

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

 

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

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Politics, Right watch

The RSS war on thought and ABVP as foot soldiers

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Ever since the present Modi government came to power, there appears to have been a clear set of orders issued from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters to its student organization, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), to go on the rampage in university campuses all over India. From getting specific parts of syllabuses changed under threat of violence, disrupting events by other student organizations on campuses, to forcing university administrations to intervene to curb freedom of expression, to filing police complaints against dissenters, they seem to have been acting according to a well rehearsed script, subverting democratic processes on campuses. After its recent electoral defeats in JNU and Hyderabad Central University (HCU), however, the ABVP’s role seems to have acquired an even more virulent feature. The game plan appears to be to provoke violence wherever possible so that rather than any kind of debate, however contentious, on issues such as nationalism, minority rights and caste injustice, what we are increasingly likely to see are violent standoffs between student groups, which have to be controlled by the police. These are often represented in the media as brawls between students, as if there were no ideology or political content involved, just two groups of students “clashing.” But of course, in each case ABVP is involved, and in some kinds of reporting it can even be made to appear that ABVP was somehow the victim.

This is the moment at which teachers need to finally accept that ABVP is not just another student organization. We have tended to take the position in our universities that we must not condemn or directly address ABVP, since we must not directly involve ourselves in student politics. Teachers must talk to administration, be publicly critical of its lapses, take all measures necessary to display and enact our solidarity with students under attack by this regime. While students take their own decisions on modes of struggle and so on, teachers see our role as supportive but with a critical distance.

However, now we may need to start thinking of ways in which we  recognize the organization of the ABVP as a serious threat to Indian democracy. I don’t mean individual students, who would also be in our class-rooms, and with whom it may still be possible to continue a conversation, and whose examinations we will continue to grade with utmost probity. as we have always done.

But the ABVP as an organization has a specific role to play, as storm-troopers in the project of Hindu nationalism, and we cannot afford any longer not to face up to this fact frontally.

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