In the last one year, I have often found myself going back to a conversation I had had with a Maoist ideologue. As it happened, it was he who started interrogating me about my stand on violence. ‘So, you have become a Gandhian?’ he demanded. I must confess I was a bit taken aback, not quite able to figure out the context of this poser. ‘What do you mean by Gandhian’, I kind of mumbled. Pat came his reply: ‘Well you have been making some noises lately about Maoist violence, haven’t you?’ Suddenly it all became clear. Through this ridicule, he was trying to appeal to that part of me that still remained marxist – presumably now buried in some remote past – and to resurrect it against my ostensible ‘non-marxist’, ‘liberal’ present (for which ‘Gandhian’ was some kind of a short hand code). I found myself at a loss of words. Does a criticism of the mindless and nihilistic violence of the Maoists make one a Gandhian? Is there no space left between these two polar positions? The conversation did not go very far that day but has kept coming back to me ever since.
Collateral Damage in our ‘War on Terror’
The Express Story today on the detention and torture of 6 Muslim men/boys in the wake of the Hyderabad blasts makes for chilling, terrifying reading. Amongst over 70 Muslim men who were arrested by the Hyderabad police, they detail custodial abuse and torture which ranges from stripping, to severe beatings on the hands and soles of their feet, to electrical shocks administered to genitalia. With characteristic insouciance and perversity the government has announced a ‘healing touch’ compensation of Rs 30,000 to each victim of the police’s tactile ministrations.
The Millennium that Never Came
One day the story of the decade gone by will be unpacked by others. This was a decade that was bizarre and terrifying – cluttered with event-scenes: massacres, spectacles, war, endless staged media events, and a mysterious violence with shadow perpetrators whose names changed every day in police stories – a million changing acronyms of ‘terror’ groups.
Bihar, Bombay, Boston: Dilip D’Souza
Guest post by DILIP D’SOUZA
What’s the real issue in the whole Raj Thackeray-fueled mess?
Well, according to someone who left a comment on my blog, it is “migration”. With some elaboration, here’s how our back and forth went, after that.
While this person was opposed to the violence, he also thought migration is indeed the issue, and with the agitation, Raj T “has brought out the failure of the UP & Bihar governments to create jobs for the last 50 years.” Continue reading Bihar, Bombay, Boston: Dilip D’Souza
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will be grateful to the Maoists – Monobina Gupta
[Guest post by MONOBINA GUPTA. As things begin to change on the ground in West Bengal, the irresponsible attempts by both the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress, to take over and ‘represent’ the popular discontent, in order to legitimize their own brand/s of politics, can only benefit the CPI-M. The alternative to the CPI-M, it might appear, are the Maoists – a sure put off , even for large sections supporting the Singur and Nandigram struggles. AN]
A deadly ambush executed by Maoists earlier this month has given the badgered West Bengal chief minister a god-sent opportunity to deflect attention from the burgeoning resistance in Nandigram-Singur to the more chilling phenomenon of ‘red terror.’
The story runs somewhat like this …
Continue reading Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will be grateful to the Maoists – Monobina Gupta
The ‘Obama Moment’: Sangay Mishra and Jinee Lokaneeta
The ‘Obama Moment’ and Conversations on Race
Guest post by SANGAY MISHRA and JINEE LOKANEETA
[The ‘Obama moment’ is much more than the man. Elementary, one would have thought. But maybe not. For, it has been intriguing to watch and listen to people – radical and nonradical liberal alike – mock this moment in a cynical, ‘we-know-it-all’ and ‘what-do-you-expect?’ mode. Intriguing, because, somewhere the insinuation is that those who celebrate are just being carried away by an ephemeral event. Maybe. It seems however, and the authors argue below, that this persona we now know as ‘Obama’ was not there even a year or two ago; he emerged in this present form, through a series of ‘encounters’ – with race, with his own history and with ‘blackness’. In his present form, Obama is produced by a certain African American investment in the earlier Obama (of, say, the pre-campaign Obama). – AN]
Much as the Obama victory on the 4th of November was expected and already predicted by a number of polls, the reaction to his victory both inside and outside the United States was breathtaking.
Continue reading The ‘Obama Moment’: Sangay Mishra and Jinee Lokaneeta
A Letter from America
I was out all night in Oakland, California, last night. One of the most “dangerous” cities in the country, crime statistics say. Usually, that’s always code for historic black neighborhoods. This one is no different. Close to us are some of the districts and towns worst hit by the foreclosure crisis: one in three homes in parts of California are now owned by banks and not people. A generation of voters in this district remember what it was like not being able to vote because they were black. This is part of the America that has elected Obama. Continue reading A Letter from America
Surfing the Wave: Chrystel beats the bubble
In 2008, Ramu Dhara bought his first house, fathered his first child, and weathered his first financial crisis. While Chrystel Garipuy, his partner, had no role to play in the crisis and an equal role in parenthood; she is, as they both readily confess, wholly responsible for the biggest purchase of their lives: A late nineteenth century brownstone currently valued at approximately $825,000. “I was a committed renter,” explains Ramu, a user-interface design consultant who has rented all over New York City for more than 15 years, “She was the one who convinced me to take the plunge.” Continue reading Surfing the Wave: Chrystel beats the bubble
Muslim Madrasa Modernisation
A rather animated debate is on among different sections of the Muslims as also among the civil and the uncivil society in India about the Madrasa, their importance, the role they play and the need to make them more modern, thereby converting them into institutes that are more relevant to the contemporary requirements of both the Muslims and the market. The former is openly stated while the latter is rarely articulated.
Before proceeding with an exploration of some of these concerns and to try to understand the trigger behind the proselytising zeal to modernise the madrasa, let us understand the institution of the madrasa itself. Continue reading Muslim Madrasa Modernisation
Bhaiyya Troubles in Mumbai
The Juhu Versova beach is divided into two sections, guarded by two stray dogs and the bare dirty arses of bhaiyyas who step off their kholis to shit straight into the sea. The other side of the invisible divide is reserved for the civil society which comes to walk, exercise and meditate in the morning. Including well off bhaiyyas like ourselves.
Returning from the beach when I accosted the panwalla by calling him bhaiyya, three bystanders gave me a sharp look. I figured they were marathi manoos. Leaving the shop I tried to inject some pathos by saying that it has become so dangerous to call anyone bhaiyya these days. They did smile, all of them. But I detected a gleam of satisfaction in their expression.
Human Rights Defenders As Petty Swindlers: It is all Maya
“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That’s our problem.”
– Howard Zinn, Failure to Quit
Three month old Babu who is affectionately called Yuvraj also is not in a position to read the changes in his mother’s face nor can comprehend why everyone in the family has suddenly started looking tense these days. For the kid the world remains the same, but for his family members it has rather changed a lot.
Continue reading Human Rights Defenders As Petty Swindlers: It is all Maya
Right to the City? Rethinking Urbanization, Urban Restructuring, Change and How the City is Accessed Physically and Symbolically …
David Harvey published his piece Right to the City in the New Left Review Issue of September-October 2008. Briefly, he describes the capitalist process and how the city has been the space for investing surplus capital. Specifically, this is done through the constant construction boom, be it housing or infrastructure creation. Harvey is suggesting that the global crises which has affected cities across the world (also because these cities were deeply implicated in the conditions that produced the crisis) is now offering an opportunity for the marginalized “classes” of the world to come together and take control of the “surpluses” which are generated at the expense of the cities. He proposes that if the marginalized people across the world were to unite, they could probably demand a human right to the city which goes beyond merely accessing individual urban resources. The right to the city involves re-creating ourselves in the process of re-creating our cities, in consonance with the higher values of equality and social justice. Continue reading Right to the City? Rethinking Urbanization, Urban Restructuring, Change and How the City is Accessed Physically and Symbolically …
हिन्दी के वर्जित प्रदेश में…
[यह लेख कुछ अरसा पहले वाक् पत्रिका के लिए लिखा गया था – पुराने दोस्त सुधीश पचौरी के इसरार पर। जब यह लेख लिख रहा था तब से अब तक हालात कुछ बदल चुके हैं। इसे लिखते वक़्त तक भी मुझे यह गुमान था कि शायद एक रोज़ मैं हिन्दी के क़िलानुमा परिसर में घुस पाने क़ामयाब हो पाउंगा। हज़ार पहरों में घिरे इस क़िले में एक रोज़ ज़रूर दाखिल होने का मौक़ा मिलेगा। मगर इधर कुछ समय से ऐसा लगने लगा है कि यह क़त्तई मुमकिन नहीं है। हिन्दी के पहरेदार ऐसा कभी न होने देंगे। लिहाज़ा अब इस क़िले में घुसने की कोशिश छोड़ कर हिन्दुस्तानी के खुले और बे-पहरा मैदान में, खुली हवा में टहलना चाहता हूँ। कह देना चाहता हूँ पहरेदारों से कि मैं आप के मुल्क का बाशिंदा नहीं हूँ। मैं एक लावारिस मगर आज़ाद ज़ुबान में पला बढ़ा और वही मेरी ज़मीन है। अलविदा। – आदित्य निगम]
एक ज़माना हुआ हिन्दी से जूझते हुए। यह दीगर बात है कि हिन्दीवालों को इसकी ख़बर तक नहीं। हो भी क्यों? आप बेचते ही क्या हैं?
Continue reading हिन्दी के वर्जित प्रदेश में…
Kilvenmani, Karamchedu, Chunduru… Orissa, Pratapgarh?
Reviewing Anand Teltumbde’s book Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop, Rajesh Ramachandran concludes:
The book however has a serious ideological flaw. It inadvertently falls into the Brahminical trap of theorising class conflicts in terms of positing Dalits against the new Shudra oppressors. Kilvenmani, Karamchedu, Chunduru and other examples are repeated at least seven times in the text to argue that new oppressors are Shudras. If that be, how does Teltumbde explain desperately poor tribals killing and raping Dalits in Kandhamal? The real oppressor is the caste hegemony perpetuated by the core Sangh Parivar constituency of the Brahmin-Bania-Thakur trinity. Is it any surprise that it was Parivar’s Brahminical commentators who first introduced the Dalit-Shudra contradiction to theorise the “failure” of Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan experiment and the split of the unbeatable BSP-Samajwadi Party alliance in UP. Hope the Dalit ‘holocaste’ series doesn’t serve this Hindutva agenda. [Mail Today, 26 October 2008]
Or, indeed, how does one explain atrocities against Dalits by Brahmins?
Welcome to Kerala’s Haven of Ease and Vice — Chengara
Make no mistake — this is not my assessment. I’ve just borrowed it from our Chief Minister, the redoubtable V.S. Achuthananadan, the foremost of (official) revolutionaries in Kerala, whose memories of struggle stretch back right up to the workers’ uprising of the 1940s in south Kerala, the Punnapra-Vayalar, celebrated in communist myth and legend. In September this year it appeared as if the CPM was ready to negotiate with the protestors, but nothing has really moved. The latter have hung firm in their resolve, it requires a rather strange imagination to read that as evidence for ‘peace and prosperity’ at Chengara. The Congress has now emerged, after much slumber, with support for the struggle, and V.M. Sudheeran, one of the most popular and respected leaders of the Congress, has sharply condemned the CM’s statement (below).
Continue reading Welcome to Kerala’s Haven of Ease and Vice — Chengara
The Happy Consciousness
Watching the world tumble down around us, the holy markets especially, what has amused and angered is the way in which the media refuses to let go of its Sunny Disposition on Life, the Universe and Everything. This would be pathetic if it wasn’t so rampant. The Times of India has plumped up its Delhi Times this weekend to ten pages filled with exhortations to shop and full-page ads on shiny commodities. Its spectacularly vacuous Sunday Times is bursting with stories about celebrities valiantly keeping up the Diwali spirit, and thumbing their noses at the looming depression by buying more Louis Vuitton bags.
Durga Puja as a Homecoming Metaphor – Prasanta Chakravarty
(This is a guest post. It was also published in Hindustan Times, October 2, 2008)
Tagore’s short tale Kabuliwallah concludes right in the middle of autumn—saratkaal. Mini’s marriage takes place during the puja holidays, and Rahman’s own Parbati awaits her father’s return in her distant mountain home. Even as Mini prepares to initiate her journey to her in-laws, Rahman, having been released from his own figurative abode-of-the-in-laws, the jail, seeks home afresh in his “… mountains, the glens, and the forests of his distant home, with his cottage in its setting, and the free and independent life of far-away wilds.” Uma’s arche story is reinvented by Tagore and a secret bond is established between two fathers. But such weaving of the puranic akhyan as a homecoming narrative is realized, or used to be realized shall we say, at a different order where home is also a matter of participating in a certain generous spirit during the pujas. The essence of Kabuliwallah lies in basking in such an aura of human generosity. So, the fundamental question to me is whether such a spirit can be glimpsed during the pujas even today without being overly sentimental about it.
Continue reading Durga Puja as a Homecoming Metaphor – Prasanta Chakravarty
Whitey On The Moon
guest post by S. ANAND
We Back on the Ground (WeBOG) would like to congratulate the Indian state for sending up a rocket towards the moon. Continue reading Whitey On The Moon
Phool Walon Ki Sair
Akbar Shah Saani (the second) ruled over a rapidly disintegrating empire between 1806 to 1837. It was during his time that the East India Company dispensed with even the fig leaf of ruling in the name of the Mughal Monarch and removed his name from the Persian texts that appeared on the coins struck by the company in the areas under their control.
Bahadur Shah Zafar who succeeded him was not Akbar Shah Saani’s choice as his successor, Akbar Shah was, in fact, under great pressure by one of his queens, Mumtaz Begum to declare her son Mirza Jahangir as the successor. Akbar Shah would have probably accepted this demand but Mirza Jahangir had fallen foul of the British and they will have none of this.
The Phool Walon Ki Sair or Sair-e-gul-Faroshan that is celebrated with much fanfare and official patronage had its beginning in a fracas between Mirza Jahangir and Sir Archibald Seton, the then British resident at Delhi. According to contemporary records of the event, Mirza Jahangir was extremely resentful of the manner in which the British threw their weight around the Red Fort and violated all customs and traditions. He was a strong man, moved around with a band of his followers and kept getting into arguments with the Goras. Continue reading Phool Walon Ki Sair
Buses, Bad Ideas and Bambi
Some say that if you give a man a long enough rope, he will eventually hang himself. Others say that when you’re in a hole; stop digging. Given the stubbornness of our friend from a 2.5 world country, chances are he will be one of the first to hang himself in a hole. A truly horrible image that – but worry not fair readers; he can still be saved yet.
Scrolling through his latest rejoinder appears frighteningly like watching your neighbour’s child – in the other building across the road – assemble a shaky platform of poorly imagined arguments, test the strength of his rope of ignorance, throw it about his neck in an attempt to force his parents to say they are sorry for screaming at him and then, just as he is getting what he wants – HORROR. The platform is shaking, the legs are trembling, the noose is tightening, are his parents even watching? And then suddenly you can almost hear this crack that makes you want to scream STOP!!!
Some images do not disturb
guest post by S. ANAND
There are times when our critical antennae do not perk up. We do not wish to decode certain signs because we are all implicated in them. Following the 14 September blasts in Delhi, suddenly the media found a new value in ragpickers, street vendors, auto drivers and others who live on the fringes of the city and are generally looked down upon by people who inhabit apartments, blogs, cars (and autos, I must add).
Suddenly, by 15 September, ragpicker Krishna was canonized as a ‘hero’ by the media, the police and the state (the Delhi government claims credit for saving some lives with its ‘eyes and ears’ policy). Yet, Times of India prefaced its report about Krishna thus: Continue reading Some images do not disturb
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 