Culture, Debates, Education

Who Feels the Pain of the Injured?

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India’s most prominent sports and entertainment figures have to traverse a long distance to achieve true greatness.

Who feels the Pain of the Injured?

Representational Image. Image Courtesy: Freepik

The racial bias in the American education system came under the scanner recently from an unexpected quarter. The occasion was a series of events to mark the 100th anniversary of an organised massacre of Blacks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921. Mobs of violent white supremacists had destroyed the prosperous black Greenwood neighbourhood in a well-planned and predetermined manner, many aided and abetted by city officials, who provided arsonists with weapons. Actor-filmmaker Tom Hanks, regarded as an American cultural icon, underlined the conspiracy of silence in the school curriculum around this tragic race massacre in which 300 Black people died, and 10,000 became destitute or homeless.

In his essay, “You Should Learn the Truth about Tulsa Race Massacre”, published this month in the New York Times, Hanks unpacks the systematic cover-up of the massacre and other instances of racial bias and discrimination that the school education system papers over. He writes that white teachers and school administrators prioritise white feelings over Black experiences, which helps them omit “volatile” topics and preserve the status quo. Hanks has not limited his focus to the racial bias in the American education system but admits the role of Bollywood in shaping “what is history and what is forgotten”.

Have the icons of entertainment in India ever taken a leaf out of Hank’s book and searched their soul about the exclusions, discriminations and humiliations rampant in Indian society and their “industry”? For example, forty-two people, most of them Dalit women and children, were killed in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in 1969 by local landlords. The Kilvenmani massacre took place more than a half-century ago. On its fiftieth anniversary, a series of remembrance events were held across the country, not unlike the events that marked the Tulsa race violence. The Thanjavur killings are said to be the first massacre of their kind in independent India. No perpetrator of this attack ever got punished. The court held that since the alleged attackers belonged to the upper strata of society, it was difficult to believe that they had walked into the village…(Read the full text here))

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चाहिए मैत्री भाव का पाथेय

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला:7

मुक्तिबोध को जो स्नेह और आदर अपनी 47 साल की मुख़्तसर-सी ज़िंदगी में मिला, उससे किसी भी लेखक को  ईर्ष्या हो सकती है. वार्धक्य, आयु आदि को लेकर मुक्तिबोध के समय की समझ के मुताबिक़ वे बुजुर्ग हो चुके थे. आज 2021 में यह सोचकर आश्चर्य ही हो सकता है कि अपने चौथे दशक में ही उस वक्त के लेखक भी किस तरह खुद को प्रौढ़ मानने लगते थे. लंदन से लौटे नौजवान सज्जाद ज़हीर और मुल्कराज आनंद से प्रेमचंद की बातचीत याद आती है. वे ठहरे नौजवान और प्रेमचंद बूढ़े, उनके साथ दौड़ने पर कहीं उनके घुटने न फूट जाएँ! यह वयस-बोध उस वक्त की खासियत है. “मैं अकेला, देखता हूँ आ रही मेरे दिवस की सांध्य वेला.” निराला की उम्र इस कविता के समय आखिर कितनी थी?

उम्र के इस अहसास को समझना आज ज़रा मुश्किल है क्योंकि युवापन काफी लंबे समय तक हम सब पर हावी रहता है. एक बड़ा तबका खुद को प्रौढ़ मानने से इंकार करता रहता है. यह भी कह सकते हैं पिछली जिसे हो जाना चाहिए, वह पीढ़ी आसानी से जगह छोड़ने को तैयार नहीं होती. लेकिन मुक्तिबोध जल्दी ही आदरणीय के रूप में प्रतिष्ठित हो गए थे. तरुणों में उन्हें लेकर जो आदर था, वह उनके समवयसी लेखकों में भी था.

नरेश मेहता का 1957 का पत्र है. मुक्तिबोध की मृत्यु उनसे 7 वर्ष दूर है. नरेश मेहता नागपुर के उनके साथ गुजारे गए दिन याद करते हैं और उन्हें भी:

“पता नहीं कि आपमें वह कहाँ और कौन-सा आदर्श उत्स है जिसे धार कर आप गजानन नहीं गंगाधर हो जाते हैं और कदाचित् इसीलिए पहाड़ों में हिमालय, देवों में शंकर और समकालीन लेखकों में गजानन के प्रति ही मेरा मस्तक नत हो जाता है…”

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ज्ञान की सरहद को तोड़ना

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला 6

आलोचना आत्मपरकता से मुक्त दीखना चाहती है. भावना मुक्त. पसंद-नापसंद से परे वस्तुनिष्ठता की खोज. है तो लेकिन वह आखिर देखने की एक क्रिया. देखने का यह व्यापार क्या ‘दर्शक कौन है?’ के प्रश्न को परे कर सकता है? क्या यह देखनेवाले के कद पर निर्भर है? उसका फैसला कौन करेगा? क्या जो देखता है क्या खुद को देखते हुए देख सकता है? यानी जब हम दीखनेवाली वस्तु का वर्णन कर रहे हैं तो क्या अपने बारे में भी कुछ बता रहे हैं?  जो देखता है, वह दीखता भी तो है!

मुक्तिबोध की ‘साहित्यिक की डायरी’ को नामवर सिंह ने ठीक ही ‘एकालाप और संलाप’ कहा है. आप मुक्तिबोध को खुद से बात करते हुए देख, सुन सकते हैं. जो निबंध या टिप्पणियाँ ‘साहित्यिक की डायरी’ में संकलित हैं वे मात्र साहित्य के बारे में मुक्तिबोध के कतिपय निष्कर्ष नहीं हैं, वे साहित्य के विषय में सिद्धांत निरूपण भी नहीं. हालाँकि उसके सूत्र इनमें मौजूद हैं. विचार की प्रक्रिया में पाठक को शामिल करने की इच्छा इनके पीछे है. या शायद वह भी नहीं. यह एक तरह की विचार सजगता है. लेखक खुद अपनी विचार प्रक्रिया की ‘एम आर आई’ कर रहा है. आपके सामने फिर जो है वह इसकी तस्वीर है. इसलिए अलग-अलग टिप्पणियों में पूर्णता की तलाश व्यर्थ है. अपूर्णता या तदर्थता इनका स्वभाव है.

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ज्ञान के दाँत और ज़िंदगी की नाशपाती

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला : 5

“मुझे समझ में नहीं आता कि कभी-कभी खयालों को, विचारों को भावनाओं को क्या हो जाता है! वे मेरे आदेश के अनुसार मन में प्रकट और वाणी में मुखर नहीं हो पाते.”

यह क्या सिर्फ मुक्तिबोध का ही संकट है? हम सबके साथ यह होता है कि प्रायः वह जो इतना स्पष्ट लगता है जब तक अव्यक्त है, मौक़ा आते ही सिफ़र में तब्दील हो जाता है. कारण क्या अतिरिक्त आत्म सजगता है? क्या अतिशय आत्म-समीक्षा है? ऐसी लगातार चलनेवाली समीक्षा जो मन में उठनेवाले हर खयाल, हर भावना की चीरफाड़ करती रहती हो और उसे मुखरता के योग्य ही न पाती हो?

मुक्तिबोध इस आरोप को स्वीकार नहीं करते. वे इस असमंजस या अनिर्णय के लिए मन को जिम्मेदार मानते हैं जो अपने भीतर डूबा नहीं रहता, बल्कि एक नेपथ्य-संगीत का आयोजन करता चलता है. मन के नेपथ्य की यह कल्पना बहुत दिलचस्प है. नेपथ्य में चलनेवाला व्यापार मन के मंच पर चल रहे कार्य व्यापार में हस्तक्षेप करता है या उसे पूर्ण करता है? नेपथ्य में एक अलगाव है. वह जो आपसे अलग है लेकिन जुड़ा हुआ भी. इस नेपथ्य के प्रति संवेदनशील रहना आवश्यक है. वरना जो व्यक्त होगा, वह किसी के अभाव में पूर्ण या न्यायसंगत न होगा:

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The Tarun Tejpal Judgement – where do we go from here? Abhinav Sekhri

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Guest post by ABHINAV SEKHRI

In a 2013 opinion piece, Professor Pratiksha Baxi wrote about the injustice that victims of sexual assault have historically suffered at the hands of the criminal process in India, reminding us that even those cases which forced our laws to change were stories of sexual assaults never proven before the eyes of law. That opinion piece was written in the wake of allegations in the case registered as State v. Tarun Tejpal, where on 21.05.2021, the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge at Panaji acquitted the accused on all charges, i.e. for alleged commission of offences under 376(2)(f), 376(2)(k), 354, 354A, 354B, 341, and 342 of the Indian Penal Code 1860.

The judgment has been critiqued on the court’s consideration of the victim’s testimony [see, for instance, here, here and here]. It appears that an appeal has been filed by the state challenging the acquittal, where the High Court has initially directed that sections of the judgment ought to be redacted as they reveal the identity of the victim.

This post does not attempt a microscopic review of the merits of the case, not only because an appeal is pending, but also because the judgment does not give a clear conspectus of the entire evidence on record to allow for such an exercise. Instead, while making some broad observations on the judgment (to the extent possible based on the evidence extracted) it brings up three issues that the judgment throws into sharp relief: (i) appreciating evidence, with a focus on witness credibility and the handling of inadmissible evidence at trial; (ii) consideration of digital evidence from victims in sexual assault cases, and; (iii) consequences of “bad” orders on the system itself.

Continue reading The Tarun Tejpal Judgement – where do we go from here? Abhinav Sekhri →

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कितनी कठिन है न्याय्य मैत्री!  

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला:4

“जगत और जीवन में अंतर इतना! मनुष्य की अपनी आतंरिक मौलिक प्यास क्या यों ही अँधेरे में रह जाए सिसकती सी?”

“मानव जीवन-स्रोत की मनोवैज्ञानिक तह में” नामक निबंध में मुक्तिबोध मनुष्य की ‘अपनी आतंरिक मौलिक प्यास’ के न बुझ पाने का सवाल उठाते हैं. उन्होंने निश्चय ही कार्ल मार्क्स की “1844 की आर्थिक और दार्शनिक पांडुलिपि” नहीं देखी है. लेकिन जगत और जीवन में जो अंतर वे कर रहे हैं, वह वही है जिसे मार्क्स हमारे वक्त की सारी व्याधियों की जड़ मानते हैं. यह अंतर एक अलगाव पैदा करता है. अजनबीयत. यह दुनिया पराई-सी जान पड़ती है और अपनी खुदी भी अलग हो गई मालूम होती है. एक समय के बाद मैं खुद को नहीं पहचान पाता.

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Capitalism, Countryside, Debates, Left watch

CPI (M)’s History of Moving Away from Committed Leftism from its Birth: Sankar Ray

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Guest post by SANKAR RAY

History apparently allows freaks, whims and hypocrisy, but only temporarily. After all, Hegel as very succinctly stated, ‘History is a slaughter house’. It spares none, not excluding India’s once most powerful Leftist party in the parliamentary arena, Communist Party of India (Marxist) that once had 44 MPs in the lower house of Indian parliament, Lok Sabha. It now faces  a crisis of identity and existence. Hypocrisy and falsehood in politics and ideological positions have been two main reasons for the vertical decline of party’s influence and image.
Ten years ago,  Indranil Chakraborty in his Master’s thesis –“The Market Odyssey: Why and How Was ‘The Market’ Discourse Incorporated in the Party Program of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) During the Days of the Communist Party of China’s ‘Market Socialism’?” referred to CPI(M)’s open criticism of ‘the development of the personality cult of Mao( Tse Tung) , and the problem of left adventurism during the Cultural Revolution. He pointed out that the criticism evaded ‘the question of the relationship between socialism and democracy, and the role of the Chinese people in deciding policy matters of the state’.  He quoted Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s article in the party’s theoretical monthly, The Marxist in 1993 commemorating Mao’s birth centenary – ‘We cannot make a subjective analysis of a personality in cases where errors have been committed in the application of the theory to practice.’

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हार्दिक अंधकार की आँखें

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला : 3

“न नेमि बाबू, इस प्रकार तो काम नहीं चलने का. आखिर frustration है तो रहे, वह इतनी बुरी चीज़ नहीं जितना उसका gloom. …पर ज़रा सोचिए तो सही. कि ज़िंदा रहने का हक तो हमें है ही.”

मुक्तिबोध नेमिचंद्र जैन को हौसला दिला रहे हैं. उन दोनों के बीच पत्राचार में ऐसे मौके कम दीखते हैं. नेमिजी को वे गुरु मानते हैं. उन्होंने उन्हें मार्क्सवाद में दीक्षित किया है. मुक्तिबोध के पत्रों से नेमिचंद्र जैन की तस्वीर एक गंभीर ज्येष्ठ की उभरती है जो मुक्तिबोध के भीतर के उबलते लावा को पी रहा हो. यहाँ वे उन्हें हिम्मत दिला रहे हैं. इस पत्र का संदर्भ देने की आवश्यकता मुक्तिबोध रचनावली के संपादक नेमिचंद्र जैन ने महसूस नहीं की. क्या यह तार सप्तक के प्रकाशन के बाद उनपर हुए आक्रमण के कारण है? मुक्तिबोध के किसी निकटस्थ ने अपने संस्मरण में, यहाँ तक कि नेमिजी ने भी यह नहीं बताया.

हमारा मकसद इस पत्र के संदर्भ के संधान का नहीं है. अपने ज़िंदा रहने के हक पर जोर देते हुए मुक्तिबोध आगे अपने मित्र को समझाते हुए लिखते हैं,

“…लोग हमारी वैलिडिटी नहीं मानते तो न मानें. अभी हमने किया ही क्या है? हम अभी पुस्तक के भाव हैं — अलिखित पुस्तक हैं. अभी से उसपर आलोचना कैसी?”

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मुक्तिबोध के ‘नौजवान का रास्ता’

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मुक्तिबोध शृंखला:2

“मैं कुछ शिकायत करना चाहता था इस दुनिया के खिलाफ लेकिन मैं रुक गया, सोचते हुए कि आखिर मैं अपने को दुनिया से अलग क्यों मान लूँ. दुनिया का खाकर, दुनिया का पीकर, दुनिया के मनुष्य से प्रेम कर, उससे अलग समझना अपने स्व को ज़रूरत से अधिक ऊँचा रखना है—दुनिया ने हमको बनाया, अब हमीं दुनिया को बनाएँगे.”

‘आधुनिक समाज का धर्म’ नामक टिप्पणी की शुरुआत यों होती है. यह आत्मविश्वास कि हम इस दुनिया को बना सकते हैं इस विनम्रता से संयमित किया जाता है कि उसके साथ ही खुद को बनाने की जिम्मेवारी भी है. उसके साथ पहली शर्त इस ज़िंदगी से मोहब्बत. ‘नौजवान का रास्ता’ के आरम्भिक अंश की पंक्तियाँ हैं,

“ज़िंदगी बड़ी खूबसूरत चीज़ है, वह जीने के लिए है, मरने के लिए नहीं. अच्छे आदमी क्यों दुःख भोगें—इतने नेक और इतने अभागे. दुनिया में बुरे आदमियों की संख्या नगण्य है, अच्छे आदमियों के सबब ज़िंदगी बहुत खूबसूरत चीज़ है, वह जीने के लिए है, मरने के लिए नहीं.”

Continue reading मुक्तिबोध के ‘नौजवान का रास्ता’ →
Capitalism, Debates, Movements, Politics, Right watch

Six Months of the Farmers’ Struggle – Looking Ahead

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Farmers observe ‘Black Day’ as struggle completes six months on 26 May, image courtesy Economic Times

The farmers’ struggle at the Delhi borders completed six months yesterday, the 26th of May. The day was observed as a Black Day all over the country, at the call of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM).

Braving unprecedented cold, followed by rains and storm, the struggle has now moved into the cruelest part of Delhi’s summer. In the process, it has lost 470 of its people, thanks to the obstinacy of the government. If one dates the beginning of the struggle from June, when it began in Punjab, soon after the farm laws were stealthily, under cover of the pandemic, promulgated as ordinances by the Central government, the struggle has been on for ten months now. In other words, it is incorrect to go on referring to it as a protest – which we routinely do for many lost causes – for it is now a ‘do or die’ struggle. It became so from the time it shifted its venue to lay siege to Delhi.

Periodically, the government, its police and its minions in the media try and zero in on this epic struggle of the farmers for its ignoring, if not violating of Covid19 protocols. All this even as they look the other way while lakhs of people are thrown into the jaws of death, brought about by the mass murderers who have pushed populations in four states into prolonged election campaigns, played cynical games with precious oxygen and vaccine supplies and allowed all kinds of mass religious gatherings of the Hindus to take place in complete disregard of any protocol whatsoever.

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Bad ideas, Government, Politics, Right watch

Legendary freedom fighter HS Doreswamy is no more

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Doreswamy

Legendary freedom fighter and Civil Rights activist Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy popularly known as HS Doreswamy breathed his last yesterday.

The 103 year-old Gandhian, who kept the ‘conscience of Karnataka till his very last breath, and was the tallest public intellectual, who appeased none and spared none‘ would be remembered for his enthusiasm for public causes till he remained alive

Born on 10 April 1918 in Harohalli village in the then princely state of Mysore, he was jailed for the first time during Quit India movement – for his association with a group involved in making bombs and who spent 14 months of his life then – never stopped working for people even after independence.

In 1975, he had even challenged the then prime minister Indira Gandhi when emergency was declared, civil liberties stood suspended and who faced jail under the draconian Defence of India rule.

One of the issues closest to his heart remained getting land rights for the poor and the landless.

Before the first wave of Covid 19 struck he has been a prominent figure at protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and has been openly critical of BJP-led central government’s policies.

He was cremated with state honours but it was clear as mirror that the BJP government in Karnataka always felt uncomfortable with his presence.

A year before last a leading BJP legislator had hurled choicest abuses at this legendary freedom fighter, and when the issue was raised in the Karnataka assembly, forget issuing any unconditional apology for his remarks the legislator not only remained adamant but received support from many of his colleagues.

Bad ideas, Culture, Literature

मुक्तिबोध : हृदय के पंख टूटने पर

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यह मुक्तिबोध की जन्मशती नहीं है. कोई ऐसा अवसर जिसके बहाने कवि या रचनाकार पर वार्ता फिर से शुरू करने का आयोजन किया जाए. एक तरह से यह मुक्तिबोध को असमय, बिना किसी प्रसंग के पढ़ने का निमंत्रण है. हर दूसरे दिन हम मुक्तिबोध के साथ हाजिर होंगे.

मुक्तिबोध शृंखला;1

“प्रिय नेमि बाबू,

आपका पत्र नहीं. समय का भाव नित्य से अधिक ही होगा. पर याद आपकी आती रहती है. आजकल धूप अच्छी खिलती है और मन तैर तैर उठता है, और आपकी याद भी इसी सुनहले रास्ते से उतर आया करती है.”

देखा अक्टूबर का ख़त है. 26 अक्टूबर,1945 का. शारदीया धूप ही रही होगी? सोचता हूँ, मुक्तिबोध को “अँधेरे में” लिखने में अभी वक्त है. कोई 13 साल बाद वे इस कविता को लिखना शुरू करेंगे. और फिर उनकी याद से धीरे-धीरे यह धूप, यह सुनहली धूप पोंछ दी जाएगी. मुक्तिबोध अँधेरे के कवि रह जाएँगे. भीषण, भयंकर के भावों के.

उस युवा कवि का, लेखक का अपने मित्र को उसका पत्र न मिलने पर दिया गया उलाहना आगे पढ़ता हूँ. धूप ने उसके मन को रंग दिया है.

“गो मैं यह सोचता हूँ कि यह सब गलत है. दिन के बँधे हुए कार्य को अधिक बाँधकर करने के पक्ष में रहते हुए भी कामचोरी से दिली मुहब्बत टूट नहीं पाती. मैं मानता हूँ कि कर्तव्य ही सबकुछ है. … क्या ज़रूरी है कि कर्तव्य किया ही जाय और उस समय आनेवाली आपकी याद को बाहर खड़ा रखकर मन के दरवाज़े को बंद कर दिया जाय.”

यह कर्तव्य है रोज़मर्रा की ज़िंदगी को पटरी से लगाए रखने का कर्तव्य. जो आदमी को धीरे धीरे घिस डालता है और उसे औसतपन की सतह से बाँध देता है. इससे कैसे छुटकारा पाएँ?

Continue reading मुक्तिबोध : हृदय के पंख टूटने पर →
Capitalism, Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Right watch

Missing footsoldiers seek positivity amid raging pandemic

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While Rome never burned, Nero never played the fiddle…

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Pragya Singh Thakur, the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Bhopal, would never have imagined that the leading Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar would mark her return to her constituency after a 70-day gap with a sarcastic article published on its front page. The headline read, “He Digvijayi Sadhvi Pragya! Shukriya, Aap Ko Bhopal ki Yaad to Aayi—O World Conqueror, Many Thanks, You Remembered Bhopal at Last.”

The daily was giving vent to the feelings of the lakhs of citizens of the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Some had even organised a social media campaign revolving around their “missing” MP.

The last time Thakur was in the city was 2 March, to participate in a condolence meeting for a BJP leader. Thereafter, she was away from the city. The intervening period had proved extremely harsh for residents due to the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already claimed hundreds of lives. 

The anger of citizens was palpable. That is why the daily asked her, “When Bhopal was sick and desperate for help, you were not to be seen. When the city needed oxygen and Remdesivir, you were still not here.”

The absence of an elected leader belonging to the ruling dispensation when people need her the most raises a pertinent question. Was this an exception? Forget the fact that the BJP-Sangh Parivar repeatedly claim they are “disciplined soldiers”, a number of those associated with right-wing organisations have gone missing in action. 

( Read the full article here)

Politics, Refugee crisis, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Resist the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians: Radical Socialist

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For more information on continuing Israeli attacks on Palestine, see Electronic Intifada  and What is happening in Sheikh Jarra.

Issued in 1981

Statement by Radical Socialist

Resist the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians! Oppose Zionism in the Streets! Fight for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

Radical Socialist holds that the very existence of Israel is the existence of a colonial-settler state. The centuries of violence on Jews was carried out, not by Arabs, not by Muslims, but first by the Romans, then by Christian Europeans. Within that, the UN in 1948 had given only a small area. Over the decades, a continuously aggressive Israel has expanded, has occupied territories originally identified for Palestinians. The Naqba has been a never ending process of ethnic cleansing. Protected by US imperialism, in the initial phases by the Soviet bureaucracy, and also by the military power it has built up, Israel has waged a permanent war on the Palestinians.

The current conflict must be viewed from that broader perspective. It is not a conflict between two more or less equal sides. It is not a case where Hamas is to be held as responsible, or even almost as responsible, as Israel. It is Israel that is fully responsible for the renewed bid at ethnic cleansing by pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and elsewhere. With an ultra-right figure like Netanyahu, the failure to form a stable government after the last elections was adequate reason to stoke Zionist sentiments further. Continue reading Resist the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians: Radical Socialist →

Capitalism, Government, Movements, Politics, Right watch

Why Federalism Must Become the Fulcrum Of Politics In Coming Days

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MPs demonstrtate in parliament for states' GST dues
MPs demonstrtate in parliament for states’ GST dues, 17 September 2020, Photo: Twitter/@priyankac19, courtesy The Statesman

A shorter version of this article appeared in Bangla earlier in Sahomon.

The question of federalism and Centre-State relations has been on many people’s minds lately, given that the Centre in the Modi dispensation has been hell bent on usurping the powers of the states while slyly thrusting all responsibility on to their shoulders. As a matter of fact, it was precisely during the outbreak of Covid19, when there should have been maximum cooperation between the Centre and the States, that the strains started showing in a glaring manner. Very early on, it became clear that the Centre was intent upon using the pandemic to usurp more and more powers, while riding roughshod not only on the rights of ordinary citizens but also of the States. In dealing with the pandemic, not only were the mandatory  consultations with the States not held, they were in fact simply handed over decisions. The most dramatic of all these, of course, was the completely bizarre manner in which the Lockdown was declared last year, at just four hours notice. The huge tragedy that followed was totally avoidable had there been prior consultations and had the Prime Minister, just for one moment, behaved like one. As a matter of fact, the record of this government over the past seven years has been pretty consistent in this regard at least. Continue reading Why Federalism Must Become the Fulcrum Of Politics In Coming Days →

Politics, Right watch

Hany Babu needs urgent medical treatment, release him now: CJP’s plea to Maharashtra CM

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To sign this petition, please go to this link.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) is deeply worried about Professor Hany Babu’s health, in wake of news that he is suffering from a serious eye infection that could lead to loss of vision in one eye. According to his family, he has little or no vision in his left eye due to the swelling caused by the infection, which has spread to the cheek, ear and forehead. The family fears the worst if the swelling spreads to his brain. And yet jail authorities have failed to provide him proper medical care.

The 55-year-old professor is an accused in the alleged Elgar Parishad conspiracy behind the Bhima Koregaon violence. He is currently lodged in Taloja Central Prison, Maharashtra and has been complaining of an acute eye infection, pain, and gradual loss of vision since May 3, 2021.

Continue reading Hany Babu needs urgent medical treatment, release him now: CJP’s plea to Maharashtra CM →

Feminism, Government, Images, Left watch

Gouri the Deathless

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My tribute to Kerala’s irreplaceable K R Gouri Amma. The brightest bolt of lightning that illuminated the dark skies of twentieth century Kerala.

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/kr-gouri-amma-death-kerala-politics-communist-party-7311386/

Culture, Feminism, Government, Movements, Politics

पितृसत्तात्मक हिंसा के प्रति शून्य सहिष्णुता की नीति अपना कर अपने संघर्षों को मज़बूत करें! – नारीवादी व महिला संगठनों के बयान

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टिकरी बॉर्डर पर युवा महिला कार्यकर्त्ता के साथ यौन हिंसा और अपहरण पर सार्वजनिक बयान, 9 मई, 2021

बंगाल से आयी असोसियेशन फॉर प्रोटेक्शन ऑफ़ डेमोक्रेटिक राइट्स (एपीडीआर), श्रीरामपुर की 26 वर्षीय कार्यकर्त्ता के 30 अप्रैल 2021 को बहादुरगढ़, हरियाणा में हुए निधन पर हमें गहरा अफ़सोस है। यह युवती किसान आंदोलन से बेहद प्रेरित हुई और 2 से 11 अप्रैल को बंगाल में आन्दोलन का प्रचार कर रहे किसान सोशल आर्मी के साथ टिकरी बॉर्डर पर आंदोलन के प्रति अपना समर्थन दर्ज कराने आयी थी। उसे खोने का शोक मनाते हुए, हम टिकरी बॉर्डर पर उसके द्वारा बिताये चंद दिनों के दौरान उसके साथ हुए घटनाक्रम के बारे में सुन कर भी बेहद चिंतित और परेशान हैं।

Continue reading पितृसत्तात्मक हिंसा के प्रति शून्य सहिष्णुता की नीति अपना कर अपने संघर्षों को मज़बूत करें! – नारीवादी व महिला संगठनों के बयान →

Culture, Feminism, Movements, Politics

Strengthening our Struggles through Zero Tolerance to Patriarchal Violence: Statement by Women’s organizations

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Public Statement on the Sexual Assault and Abduction of a Young Woman Activist at Tikri Border issued on 9 May 2021

We deeply mourn the death of a 26-year old activist from APDR (Sreerampur) in West Bengal, who passed away on 30th April, 2021 at Bahadurgarh in Haryana. She was deeply inspired by the farmers’ movement and had gone to express her solidarity at the Tikri border with the Kisan Social Army who had been campaigning around Bengal from 2nd April to 11th April, 2021. As we mourn her loss, we are also deeply troubled and concerned on hearing the events that had unfolded during her short stay at the Tikri border.

Continue reading Strengthening our Struggles through Zero Tolerance to Patriarchal Violence: Statement by Women’s organizations →

Government, Politics, Right watch, Scams

Yogi Model of Fighting COVID Second Wave – Attacking People Rather Than Virus: Himanshu Shukla

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Guest post by HIMANSHU SHUKLA

As India updated its COVID cases on April 30th, it became the first country to register over 4 lakh infection in a single day. This record breaking second-wave spike in the country opened the Pandora’s Box of the Modi-led central government’s claim of defeating the pandemic. The government patted itself for successfully defeating the virus and bringing normalcy in the country, without getting hit very hard like many other countries. The second wave of virus has showed up the naked picture of the hollow claims that the government made about their preparedness to tackle COVID.

India is now the epicentre of infection, accounting for 46% of world’s total cases and quarter of deaths. The ravaging crisis brought about cries for oxygen countrywide. Mass deaths due to unavailability of medical care is the new picture that India portrays of its incompetence in dealing with the second wave. The recent editorial of Lancet slammed Modi government, mentioning that the second wave is a ‘self inflicted national catastrophe’.

Continue reading Yogi Model of Fighting COVID Second Wave – Attacking People Rather Than Virus: Himanshu Shukla →

Feminism, Politics, Right watch

That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib: Swarajbir

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Posted below is the English translation of a Punjabi poem by SWARAJBIR, Editor of Punjabi Tribune, on the culpability of the state. The poem in the original Punjabi is at the end.

Mahavir Narwal breathed his last yesterday, of Covid. He was an active member of the CPI(M) and the father of Natasha Narwal, activist of Pinjra Tod, a feminist collective, who has been in jail for a year along with Debangana Kalita, another Pinjra Tod activist. Along with many others, Natasha was accused on the basis of no evidence, of having caused the violence in Delhi in January-February  2020, the violence that was in fact carefully planned and orchestrated by the forces that run this regime.

What all the activists jailed for the 2020 Delhi violence are guilty of, is the firm commitment to equal rights to citizenship in India, and unrelenting opposition to the regime’s continuing attempt to establish Hindu Rashtra, a project rejected by the vast masses of this country, and which we will resist and defeat through militant non-violent means.

When accounts are drawn up of this criminal regime, we will remember the disrespect to the Constitution repeatedly shown by different arms of the judiciary.  Natasha was refused bail on earlier occasions, and her latest plea for bail to meet her Covid-stricken father one last time, was scheduled to be heard today, Monday the 10th of May, the morning after Mahavir Narwal’s death.

Dear Kind Judge Sahib

Swarajbir

Kind Judge Sahib,
Mahavir Narwal is dead.
Yes Judge Sahib,
Natasha’s father
is no more in this world.

Kind Judge Sahib,
A day ago, this daughter
had come to your Court.
She had not said
“Don’t prosecute me”
She had not said
“Declare me innocent” Continue reading That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib: Swarajbir →

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