Category Archives: Politics

Everyday Life, Left watch, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Lakshman Seth and the Sheriff of Nandigram: Raghu Karnad

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NOTES FROM NANDIGRAM

This is a guest post by RAGHU KARNAD

May 17, 2009
Beauty is all about the details, and these beautiful election results keep parading out sweet new details for our appreciation. What I’m currently delighted about is the voters of Tamluk in West Bengal dispatching their Communist MP, Lakshman Seth.

Seth has been in the Lok Sabha since 1998, stashin’ away the crores and adding fortifications to his eerie headquarters in Haldia. People say he did a good job of developing the Haldia port. Sure enough, if the business of America is business, then the industriousness of Lakshman Seth is directed purely towards industrialization. How come? Seth is also Chairman of the Haldia Development Authority. Because he allegedly gets a cut out of every industrial operation on his turf (what we dissertation-writers call ‘rent-seeking’). There’s a theory that this is why Nandigram was chosen as the site for the Salim plant, and why the resistance was so bitterly punished when the siege fell (but this is just very plausible hearsay).

Continue reading Lakshman Seth and the Sheriff of Nandigram: Raghu Karnad →

Countryside, Frontiers, Left watch, Politics

The Collapse of Hegemony: Kumar Rana

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[This is a guest post by KUMAR RANA. Kumar Rana is an activist and works with Pratichi]

At last, after 32 years, history repeated itself in West Bengal. It’s the history of routing of a prolonged political hegemony established by the CPIM led Left Front that replaced in 1977 another prolonged reign of the Congress.  The Left Front is now reduced to 15 seats from its 2004 tally of 35. The Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee, who severed her ties with the NDA to form an alliance with the Congress has swept through the elections to multiply her parties tally by 19 – she was the sole representative of her party in 2004. She made two alliances – one with the Congress that has managed to restore its position by winning six seats, and the other with SUCI, which too has won the seat allotted to it. The BJP has also secured a seat mainly through its bargain with the Gorkha Janmukti Parishad that has been fighting for a separate state of Gorkhaland. In other words, the opposition parties have now secured 27 out of 42 seats – more than two third – in the state.

Not that the change was fully unanticipated. There have been indications in the pre-poll surveys and other discourses that the Left Front was going to loose – but only to some extent (18-19 seats). None, including the opposition parties, did expect such a result. This writer too estimated the opposition seats to be 23-24, and could not imagine that the phrase – era jak (let they be dumped) – could have so routing effect on the ruling front.. Indeed, it’s the people who build up their own phrases, and this time it was “era jak”.
Continue reading The Collapse of Hegemony: Kumar Rana →

Culture, Debates, Everyday Life, Politics

साधारण की उदात्तता यानि जनादेश 2009

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

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

Bad ideas, Debates, Left watch, Politics

वाम के खिलाफ अवाम: ईश्वर दोस्त

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

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

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

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

Making Sense of the Ravi Dasis: Surinder S. Jodhka

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

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

Identities, Politics

CSDS data on caste voting patterns in UP LS ’09 elections

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csdsdataupls09In my post a few days ago I had mentioned a survey who source I could not reveal, except that the BSP is looking at these figures. Truth be told, I don’t know who conducted that survey. But, to back the conclusions, I had a little more than just that survey. Continue reading CSDS data on caste voting patterns in UP LS ’09 elections →

Politics

The Future

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Tarun Tejpal to Sonia Gandhi:

And yes, as I bid you speed and strength, with the extra god by your side, may I make a final plea. You have given us of yourself, and of your son. Now will you kindly also give unto us your luminous daughter.

YOURS EXPECTANTLY,
TARUN

[Link]

Debates, Government, Left watch, Politics

When Buddha Did Not Smile: Monobina Gupta

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This is a guest post by MONOBINA GUPTA

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

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

Is it true that you have offered to resign?

No reply.

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

No reply.

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

No reply.

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

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

Continue reading When Buddha Did Not Smile: Monobina Gupta →

Bad ideas, Identities, Politics

UP’s Dalits Remind Mayawati: Democracy is a Beautiful

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Party Vote-share Seats
BSP 27.42% 20
SP 23.26% 23
Congress 18.25% 21
BJP 17.5%
 10

The higher you fly, the harder you crash. Kumari Mayawati has just learnt this lesson, and is finally giving her ever-expanding fleet of air-crafts some rest. There was clear evidence before the results were out that Dalits were not going to the polling booths to vote; if they did they wouldn’t be able to press any button other than the elephant. Dalit activists in UP had been telling me this for some time now. There were rumours that the UP police has also informed the administration of this trend. Continue reading UP’s Dalits Remind Mayawati: Democracy is a Beautiful →

Frontiers, Politics, Violence/Conflict

‘Either we finish what we started, or get finished’

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The most dangerous and worrying feature in the last two weeks is the resurgence of visceral anti-Maoist politics.

The line between the liberals and right wing has suddenly blurred and they are united in their hatred of the former rebels. The Kathmandu middle class, a part of which gave the benefit of doubt to the Maoists in the polls, had to cough up concessions under Baburam Bhattarai’s fiscal regime. With the recent video revelations, they have veered away even further. The urban lower middle class suffered during eight months of misgovernance with price rise, and collapse of services and is hoping the next government may provide some relief.

The army establishment has reasserted itself and is actively hatching plans to undermine Maoists. Most of the press, with ownership and editorial staff affiliated to ‘mainstream’ parties’, is toeing the NC-UML line. And erstwhile sympathisers in the Indian establishment are now sick of what they see as Maoist duplicity – the recent rediscovery of the ‘nationalist’ rhetoric has put them off further. Continue reading ‘Either we finish what we started, or get finished’ →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Ecology/Environment, Identities, Left watch, Politics

Vaikom Viswan and Little Bo-Peep

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If I weren’t aware of Kerala’s more vibrant political past,I’d have died laughing this elections. The election campaign in Kerala was impossibly funny. Just to give you an example  — in Thiruvananthapuram, in the middle of the campaign, we were treated to the spectacle of all the three major contenders — of the CPI, the Congress, and BJP — don the costume of the chivalrous knight — indeed, pushing and shoving each other quite unchivalrously– determined to rescue the damsel in distress. However, there was no damsel waiting to be rescued! Continue reading Vaikom Viswan and Little Bo-Peep →

Government, Identities, Politics

People of the Vaish Community Honouring Shri JP Aggarwal…

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"jai prakash aggarwal ko vaish samaj ke logo ne sammanit kiya"
"Jai Prakash Aggarwal ko vaish samaj ke logo ne sammanit kiya."

The photograph above has been sent to me, in my capacity as a journalist, by the PR company hired by Jai Prakash Aggarwal. He was the Congress candidate from the North East Delhi seat, a replacement for Jagdish Tytler. Aggarwal is also the president of the Delhi unit of the Indian National Congress party, that has returned to power with a less encumbering coalition than the one it ran for five years. JP Aggarwal was a reluctant replacement: he was also a Rajya Sabha MP and feared he might lose to the BJP, which would be a great embarrassment for him as the president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. But the Congress insisted they wanted a ‘baniya’ for the seat. Happily for him, he has won, and this press release is about how the Vaish community has honoured him. Continue reading People of the Vaish Community Honouring Shri JP Aggarwal… →

Bad ideas, Left watch, Politics

The Commissar in his Labyrinth

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Prakash Karat, Gen Sec, CPI(M), photo courtesy The Hindu
Prakash Karat, Gen Sec, CPI(M), photo courtesy The Hindu

Look carefully at this grey, arrogant and humourless face: The face of the Commissar, who on 22 July went into Lenin-in-October 1917 mode, predicting an uprising in the country if the Indo-US Nuclear Deal was pushed through. However much one might have sympathized with the man and his party on this issue, there was something strange and inexplicable in the game he started playing at that point. At least publicly, that seemed to have been the beginning. For those who have known him and his ways from closer quarters, know him to be an utterly vindictive man with a blood-curdinlingly cold and calculating mind. Ruthless inside the party, he was now playing out this same game outside. His stance on Somnath Chatterjee (and let there be no mistake, it was entirely his), leading to the latter’s expulsion, was just an instance of his style. This time he made a serious error. Continue reading The Commissar in his Labyrinth →

Government, Media politics, Politics

How to be TV-free on election results day

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Avoid the pundits on the nauseating news channels, keep your peace of mind, cut the noise and save your aspirin bills. Watch the results live tomorrow morning 8 am onwards on http://eciresults.nic.in/


Left watch, Politics, Violence/Conflict

जारी है ‘जनपक्षीय हिंसा’ का तान्डव

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खबर मिली है कि छत्तीसगढ़ में माओवादी हमले में ग्यारह से ज़्यादा पुलिस के जवान मारे गए हैं. इस महीने ऐसी हत्याओं की संख्या पचास से अधिक हो गयी है. इसके साथ ही बंगाल के चुनाव में हिंसा के समाचार किसी भी दूसरे राज्य से अधिक मिले हैं. बंगाल की हिंसा में  संसदीय राजनीति में भाग लेने वाले एक मार्क्सवादी दल के सदस्य शामिल हैं.संसदीय राजनीति को  भटकाव बताने वाले और उसे रणनीतिक रूप से इस्तेमाल करने वाले, दोनों तरह के मार्क्सवादी या माओवादी दलों को हिंसा के अपने इस्तेमाल के जायज़ होने में कोई  शक नहीं है.दोहराव का खतरा उठाते हुए नंदीग्राम और सिंगुर में सीपीएम की हिंसा के पक्ष में उसके बुद्धिजीवियों के तर्कों को याद कर लेना  उचित होगा.इन तर्कों में एक तर्क रक्षात्मक हिंसा का था. इस बार चुनाव में अपने पक्ष में न होने के लिए सीपीएम ने नंदीग्राम में हत्याएं कीं और तृणमूल कांग्रेस के कार्यकर्ताओं ने सीपीएम के समर्थकों को  मारा.बंगाल के पिछले एक साल के अखबार को उठा कर देख लें, हिंसा उस समाज के स्वभाव को परिभाषित करती जान पड़ती है.
Continue reading जारी है ‘जनपक्षीय हिंसा’ का तान्डव →

Government, Movements, Politics

Naagbanton, Binayak Sen and Kampala Declaration

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Patrick Barigbalo Naagbanton is a well-known human rights activist. Born in Rivers State, Nigeria, he trained as a journalist before working as a trade unionist at the Port Harcourt factory of the Union Dicon Salt PLC, where he was elected chairman of the workers union, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). He was eventually fired for campaigning for improvement in working conditions. Naagbanton recruited many workers to join human rights/pro-democracy groups like the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Campaign for Democracy (CD), and Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR). Naagbanton served as a board member of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), representing the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He also worked with the Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FOEN), documenting, researching and campaigning against human rights and environmental degradation in Nigeria. In recognition of his role in promoting and defending victims of rights abuse in Nigeria, Naagbanton received the Indianapolis University Human Rights Award in 2001; and in 2002, the Rivers State branch of the CLO conferred on him the Saro-Wiwa Award for human and environmental rights defender.
Continue reading Naagbanton, Binayak Sen and Kampala Declaration →

Politics, Violence/Conflict

‘Our’ Violence Versus ‘Their’ Violence

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The first three phases of the 200 Lok Sabha elections have passed off peacefully. When we say peacefully, we do not take into account the killings of poll officials and police personnel involved in election related work by the Maoists. The Maoists gave a poll boycott call in areas where they thought they are strong but were not heeded by the people. Even many tribals of Lalgadh in Bengal decided to risk their lives to exercise their hard earned right to vote defying the Maoist boycott call. Unable to convince the masses, the Maoists have resorted to the old strategy of ambushing poll parties and burning and demolishing of public properties to register their presence. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Bihar and Bengal have been witness to violence by armed groups of Maoists. Interestingly, we have not seen any statement by them owning up to these acts. Continue reading ‘Our’ Violence Versus ‘Their’ Violence →

Debates, Identities, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Sri Lanka: A Tragedy Foretold – Rohini Hensman

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guest post by ROHINI HENSMAN

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

Capitalism, Culture, Everyday Life, Media politics, Politics

Barter – is that what they’re calling it now?

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It’s a world on the downturn out there.

And new and creative ways of handling the situation emerge. Imagine a journalist accepting some old jeans (in very good condition), some rice, atta and vegetables (and also sugar)  from the newspaper proprietor in exchange for her reporting. Meanwhile, an ad agency employee  opts for day-old newspapers and fruits for every successful slogan he coins.

Impossible?

Continue reading Barter – is that what they’re calling it now? →

Politics

Buffalo Soldier

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“Come in,” says Munisa, “it’s such a large house you’ll be surprised.” The room isn’t big enough for a single person, and Munisa, a widow at 30, shares it with six children and her mother-in-law. She’s trying to turn the courtyard into a room even though she knows the impending monsoons will was away the mud thatch: “At least the summer will pass.” She works as farm labour, earning Rs 35 a day, and can’t make use of NREGA because the chronic pain in her legs won’t let her do hard labour.

Two years ago, an NGO did a survey in the village and found her to be the poorest. They gifted her a cow. “It gave milk because I fed her. And then, six months ago, she died.” But Munisa is not ungrateful: she will still vote for the candidate who runs the NGO that gifted her the cow. So will her neighbours who didn’t get anything: “Here’s someone who has at least proven her concern for the poor,” says one. Read More…

Debates, Movements, Politics

Anatomy of a prejudice

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