Bad ideas

हिंदुओं के खिलाफ क्यों लिखना?

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“आप मुसलमानों के खिलाफ कभी कुछ क्यों नहीं लिखते?,यह सवाल अक्सर इस लेखक की तरह के कुछ लोगों से किया जाता है.इस प्रश्न में छिपा हुआ आरोप है और एक धारणा जिस पर यह पहला प्रश्न टिका हुआ है कि आप हिंदुओं के विरुद्ध लिखते हैं. इसका उत्तर कैसे दिया जाए?यह सच है कि अभी तक के लिखे की जांच करें तो प्रायः भारत में बहुसंख्यकवाद को लेकर ही चिंता या क्षोभ मिलेगा.इसके कारण उन संगठनों या व्यक्तियों की आलोचना भी मिलेगी जो इस बहुसंख्यकवाद के प्रतिनिधि  या प्रवक्ता हैं.क्या यह करना मुझ जैसे व्यक्ति के लिए स्वाभाविक है या होना चाहिए? भारत में बहुसंख्यकवाद हिंदू ही हो सकता है.कई हैं जो उनमें नहीं जो इस बहुसंख्यकवाद पर  बात करते वक्त तराजू के पलड़े बराबर करने के लिए ‘मुस्लिम सम्प्रदायवाद’की भी फौरन निंदा करना ज़रूरी समझें

नाम से मुझे हिंदू ही माना जाएगा, मैं चाहे जितना उसे मानने से इनकार करूँ. मेरी मित्र फराह नकवी ने एकबार मुझसे कहा था कि अगर फिरकावारना फसाद में फँसे तो तुम्हारा नाम तुम्हें हिंदू साबित करने के लिए काफी होगा और तुम्हारा भाग्य इससे तय   होगा कि तुम फँसे किनके बीच हो-हिंदुओं या मुसलमानों के. उस वक्त यह बहस कोई न करेगा कि मैं अभ्यासी हिंदू हूँ या नहीं,नास्तिक हूँ या संदेहवादी हूँ! Continue reading हिंदुओं के खिलाफ क्यों लिखना? →

Bad ideas, Debates, Government, Media politics, Movements

Media figures call for Release of Himal Editor Kanak Mani Dixit

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New Delhi, April 23 — Editors and media figures as well as intellectuals and scholars from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, UK, US, Australia and Sri Lanka have called for the release of Himal editor and prominent Nepali journalist Kanak Mani Dixit who was arrested yesterday in Katmandu by anti-graft officials.

The following is the text of the statement:

It is with deep concern that we have learned of the arrest today of Kanak Mani Dixit, the widely respected founder-editor of Himal Media and a courageous voice for transparency, freedom of expression and democratic rights in Nepal and across South Asia. The charges are related to alleged corruption but Kanak Dixit says it is part of a vendetta pursued against him by people in Government.

We have known Kanak Dixit as a true professional, human rights defender and energetic journalist whose credentials are built on robust research and tremendous courage. Himal Media, a pioneer in South Asia journalism, has published Himal South Asia, Nepali Times and Himal Khabar Patrika (in the Nepali language). He has written extensively for international media including leading newspapers in India and is chairman of Sajha Yatayat, a state run transportation company, which he has been turning around from a loss-making entity. Continue reading Media figures call for Release of Himal Editor Kanak Mani Dixit →

Education, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Statement of solidarity for HCU from students and faculty of University of Texas at Austin

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Countryside, Feminism, Movements, Politics

An Ode To Women’s Struggle In Matoi: Shailza Sharma

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Guest Post by SHAILZA SHARMA

In the remote corners of Sangrur district of Punjab, 20-something year old women got together during a village celebration of Ravidas Jayanti. These girls from Matoi village had one purpose that day, to declare the formation of their Ekta Club, a club formed with the objective of fighting for equal status, equal opportunities and most importantly, claiming a share in the village land by participating in the annual auction of Shamilat land.

Upon making this valiant declaration, they were bombarded with insults and mocked for demanding their rights. “Who are you to claim rights over land, you are just a bunch of Dalit girls! What will you even get out of owning a piece of land?”, people questioned. To this, the women replied, “It is a matter of legal right and our demands are legitimate claims for what belongs to us. In claiming our legal rights, we seek equal status, satisfaction and self respect”.

Out of this group of ten women were two sisters leading the struggle, Gurmeet Kaur and Sandeep Kaur. They had been at the forefront of formation of the Ekta Club and the fight for claiming Shamilat land.

The Punjab Village Common Lands Regulation Act, 1961 (the Punjab Act)

This was the scene in 2014, a day on which a few Dalit families led by this group of young women, stood up against the upper caste families and farmers of Matoi, to claim their share in the Shamilat land.

Under the Punjab Act, Shamilat land has been defined as inter alia the land used or reserved for the benefit of the village and community. Such land may be utilised for various purposes including constructing schools, drinking wells, roads etc. 30% of the Shamilat land is reserved for families from the Scheduled Castes, 10% for families from the Backward Classes and further 10% for dependants of army personnel killed in war after the independence of India (Reserved Land). Continue reading An Ode To Women’s Struggle In Matoi: Shailza Sharma →

Culture, Debates, Everyday Life, Identities, Language, Politics

जी हाँ, हम राजनीति करते हैं : अनन्त प्रकाश नारायण

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Guest Post by Anant Prakash Narayan

जे.एन.यू. में 9 फरवरी को एक घटना घटी. घटना क्या थी अब उसके बारे में बहुत सी चीजे स्पष्ट हो चुकी है. सरकार का दमन चला जिसके परिणामस्वरुप एक आन्दोलन चला. कहा ये जा रहा है कि आन्दोलन के कारण सरकार बैकफुट पर है. ये आन्दोलन अभी भी चल रहा है. जब ये मुद्दा पुरे देश में गरमाया जा रहा था  उस समय बहुत सारी चीजे डिबेट का हिस्सा बनी जैसे राष्ट्रवाद क्या है? अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता (Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression) को कैसे देखा जाये? आज़ादी की सीमा क्या होगी? क्या टैक्स से पढने वाले स्टूडेंट्स को “इतना बोलना” शोभा देता है? क्या जब सीमा पर जवान मर रहे है तो “ये काम” किया जा सकता है? ये सारे मुद्दे बहुत ही जोर–शोर से सरकार के पक्ष से या फिर इसके उलट लोकतंत्र के पक्ष में बात रखने वालों की तरफ से भी की जा रही थी. लेकिन इसी बीच में एक खतरनाक अवधारणा सरकार के तरफ से बात रखने वाले और जाने अनजाने लोकतंत्र की तरफ से भी बात रखने वाले टी.वी. चैनलो, अखबारों, इंटेलेक्चुअल, राजनीतिज्ञों की तरफ से रखी जा रही थी. वो अवधारणा थी कि राजनीति बहुत बुरी चीज है और छात्र राजनीति तो बदतर. यहाँ तक कि हमारी पैरोकारी करने वाला पक्ष भी यह बार-बार साबित करने का प्रयास कर रहा था कि ये सामान्य से पढने लिखने वाले छात्र है इनका राजनीति से कोई मतलब नही है. ये लोग तो बस कभी कभी कुछ यू हीं करते रहते हैं. क्या अगर हमारे बारे में यह टैग लग जाता कि हम राजनीति करने वाले लोग है तो हमारे पक्ष से बात रखना इतना मुश्किल हो जाता. जबकि यह सर्वविदित है कि जिन कुछ छात्रो के नाम राजद्रोह के तहत लिए जा रहे है वे वामपंथ की सक्रिय राजनीति का हिस्सा है. आने वाले समय में हम आन्दोलन को किस हद तक जीतते है और आगे ले जा करके इसको इस फासिस्ट सरकार के लिए कितना खतरनाक बना पाते है ये अभी तय होना बाकी है लेकिन “मुख्याधारा” की राजनीति करने वाली पार्टियाँ, जिसको प्रोग्रेसिव छात्र-आन्दोलन ने हमेशा उनके जन –विरोधी रवैये के कारण चैलेंज दिया है, एक बार इस मौके को राजनीति, खासतौर से अगर छात्र करे तो, बहुत ही गलत चीज है इसको स्थापित करने में लगी हैं. छात्रों का काम काज सिर्फ पढना-लिखना है और इसके इतर वो अगर कोई और काम करते है तो वो अपनी “सीमा” लांघते है. बड़ी-बड़ी मल्टीनेशनल कंपनियों में छोटे-छोटे उम्र के कमाने वाले लोगों के साथ तुलना करके ये समझाने की कोशिश की गई कि आप जितनी कम उम्र में जितना ज्यादा कमा लेते है आप उतने ही सफल स्टूडेंट है. हम अभी लगभग बीस दिन के एक कैंपेन में थे. इस कैंपेन के तहत देश के विभिन्न हिस्सों खास तौर से उत्तर भारत के गाँवो और छोटे-छोटे कस्बो और कुछ शहरो में मेरा जाना हुआ. जिसमे जे. एन. यू. पर बात होती, भगत सिंह और डॉ. अम्बेडकर के विज़न पर बात होती. जब इन विषयों पर बात होती तो नैचुरली मोदी सरकार के ऊपर बात होती. उन कार्यक्रमों में कुछ ऐसे लोग भी मिलते जिनका कहना होता कि आप लोगों के साथ जो हुआ गलत हुआ लेकिन इस मैटर को लेकर अब आप लोग राजनीति कर रहे है. मोदी के खिलाफ आप लोग जो इतना बोल रहे है उससे अब आप लोग एक्सपोज हो गये है कि आप लोग राजनीति कर रहे है. क्या सच में राजनीति इतनी बुरी चीज है कि उससे स्टूडेंट्स को दूर रहना चाहिए? Continue reading जी हाँ, हम राजनीति करते हैं : अनन्त प्रकाश नारायण →

Centre watch, Culture, Government, Law, Politics

Folk Singer Kovan Lampoons Jayalalitha’s Promise

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Kovan, the Dalit-activist poet and singer and member of a revolutionary organisation PALA (People’s Arts And Literary Association), from Trichy district in Tamil Nadu, has been in the news lately. One of his anti-Jayalalitha songs earned him the ire of the state government, which slapped a Sedition case against him in December 2015.

In this video sent to us by Vinavu Thalam, Kovan lampoons Jayalalitha’s promise of “step by step prohibition” as “peg by peg de-addiction”!

Seduce the gullible voters with false promise/ File sedition cases against those who fight/ This is her game/ The game of a cheat/

In Chennai slang, “Bongu” means, a Cheat! She is the AMMA of all cheats!

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Education, Feminism, Genders, Government, Identities, Images, Law, Left watch, Media politics, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Responding to the Challenges of Blue and Red – Reminiscences of a JNU-HCU Alumna: Shipra Nigam

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This is a guest post by SHIPRA NIGAM

That the past few months have been cataclysmic is an understatement. Personal tragedies and political catastrophes have exploded within our most cherished spaces, and brought a churning in them.  What was truly transformative was the experience of both the emergence of broad solidarities against right-wing fascism, and of the reminders of multiple registers and contexts within them. These underline the need for multiple conversations to understand both our common struggles, as well as the contradictions within, and to renew a resolve for introspection through them as we move towards real ‘azaadi’.

There is of course an ongoing debate on this, and here I felt that some binaries being invoked in it are not very convincing, while others brought home stark truths that pose challenges to a patriarchal, majoritarian caste hindu ordering of society, within which we are all located at different levels of hierarchy, complicity, and engagement.

I have been part of both public universities under fire right now, and the present brings home the urgency of the dual task of defending the public university as a space for pushing the boundaries of critical thought, and confronting the very hierarchies and complicities with power that shape it. This is necessary even as processes of democratisation and affirmative action take root in public institutions . So these are some reminiscences from an alumna of both these public universities who has been wrestling with articulations and complexities which lie beyond institutional labels or binaries. Continue reading Responding to the Challenges of Blue and Red – Reminiscences of a JNU-HCU Alumna: Shipra Nigam →

Bad ideas, Everyday Life, Genders, Government, Language, Mirror Worlds, Violence/Conflict

Kashmir IG Police Refuses to Speak with Handwara Minor Girl: JKCCS

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Guest Post by Jammu & Kashmir Coalition  of Civil Society

Since last 3 days, JKCCS has been approaching the Inspector General (IG) of JK Police, Javed Geelani for a meeting in connection with the illegal detention of the minor girl and her family. Yesterday evening the Handwara minor girl spoke to JKCCS team on phone. She and her family informed that against their will the police has shifted them to a stranger’s house 15 kms from Handwara town. After detailed discussion JKCCS proposed her to call the IGP Kashmir and Chairperson of the State Commission for Women, Nayeema Mehjoor directly to inform them about her ordeal in the illegal police detention, her demand for free movement and an immediate access to her lawyers. 
The minor girl called the IG several times but only once he picked up the phone. After she identified herself, the IG cancelled the call. JKCCS team called DIG Ghulam Hassan Bhat and requested him to inform the IG that the minor girl wants to talk to him urgently. We were assured that the IG will speak to the girl. 

Immediately after that the police personnel went inside the house where the girl is detained and threatened her to not call the IG Kashmir, Javed Geelani.

The minor girl was able to speak to Nayeema Mehjoor and gave her detailed statement and requested her to facilitate her conversation with IGP Javed Geelani. Ms. Mehjoor promised to help.

The minor girl and her family wanted to communicate to the highest police officials that the police should stop her illegal detention and allow her to meet her lawyers so that she can herself alongwith her family proactively contribute in the legal struggle. 

Bad ideas, Government, Identities, Law, Movements, Politics, Right watch

‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan invisibilises the linkage of Caste and Sanitation and glamourises broom among Scavenging Communities’ – Bezwada Wilson

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In Conversation with Bezwada Wilson, National Convener of Safai Karmachari Andolan

The 125 day Bhim Yatra which started from Dibrugarh and traveresed 30 states and 500 districts to reach Delhi is now over.  As everybody knows it culminated in a big rally coupled with people’s hearing where families of those victims who died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks shared their plight at the hands of state as well as civil society. The call of this Bhim Yatra raised by Safai Karmacharis – ‘Stop Killing Us’ – would could keep reverberating for quite some time. (https://kafila.org/2016/04/14/bhim-yatra-so-that-there-are-no-more-killings/)

Here follows an interview with Bezwada Wilson, National Convener of Safai Karmachari Andolan

 How do you see the impact of  ‘Bhim Yatra’ ?

As far as those people who are still condemned to do scavenging is concerned, the 125 day Bhim Yatra has made two significant impacts :

– It has made people aware that a new act (2013 act) has come into existence for elimination of manual scavenging and they should make use of it for their liberation.

– Second significant impact is that people are realising that we should not do this work, we should leave this work altogether. Babasaheb’s teachings that depressed classes should leave all such professions which are stigmatised and which further help stigmatise them has reached broader cross sections of people engaged in cleaning and scavenging. The slogan ‘ Leave the Broom, Take the Pen’ is slowly reverberating across people especially the younger ones. Continue reading ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan invisibilises the linkage of Caste and Sanitation and glamourises broom among Scavenging Communities’ – Bezwada Wilson →

Culture, Debates, Education, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Identities, Images, Language, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

The Difference between What They Tell Us and What We Know: Shehla Rashid

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Guest Post by Shehla Rashid. Based on a Status Update on her Facebook Page.

They tell us that the military is meant for fighting the “terrorists”; But most of the time, it is the civilians who are killed.

They tell us that “special powers” for the army are necessary for national unity; But the army only teaches us how to hate India.

They say the University is anti-national because it wants to break India; But it’s the University that teaches us to love Indians.

Then, who is anti-national? Those who teach us how to hate India, or those who teach us how to love Indians?

Yes, we see the difference between India and Indians; India is at war with Indians throughout India.

I wish the Indian state could also see the difference between Kashmir, which it claims as its own, and Kashmiris who belong to no one; They claim to love Kashmir but hate and kill Kashmiris.

Continue reading The Difference between What They Tell Us and What We Know: Shehla Rashid →

Culture, Right watch

Guggenheim Breaks Off Negotiations with Gulf Labor: Statement from Gulf Labor Coalition

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This is a statement issued by the Gulf Labor Coalition

Guggenheim Breaks Off Negotiations with Gulf Labor

 

On April 13, 2016, Guggenheim Board of Trustees unilaterally severed negotiations with the Gulf Labor Coalition (GLC). In a conference call, the Guggenheim[1] informed GLC that they will no longer meet with us, nor listen to our proposals about the living and working conditions of the workers who are and will be building museums in Abu Dhabi.

On April 17, 2016, Richard Armstrong, Director of the Guggenheim Museum, sent an email to artists, art critics, curators, and museum directors all over the world describing GLC as a group that “continues to shift its demands,” is “continuing to spread mistruths,” and uses “deliberate falsehoods.”[2] He insisted that no work had begun on the Abu Dhabi site, a recurring claim that GLC has already challenged.[3]

Since the announcement of the artist boycott of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2011, GLC has published research reports, analyzed each Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) monitoring report, invited NGOs and labor organizations (e.g., ILO, HRW, ITUC) to join discussions, and initiated multiple meetings with Guggenheim.[4] In response to all this work by GLC, statements made by the museum made it clear that the Guggenheim was never serious about dialogue with artist groups towards fair labor standards Continue reading Guggenheim Breaks Off Negotiations with Gulf Labor: Statement from Gulf Labor Coalition →

Bad ideas

शाकाहार, मांसाहार और बुद्धि का अधिकार

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टाइम्स ऑफ़ इंडिया ने लखनऊ में भीमराव आंबेडकर की जयंती के अवसर पर लखनऊ में हुए एक कार्यक्रम में प्रोफ़ेसर कांचा इलैया के वक्तव्य की रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित की है.रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक़ उन्होंने कहा कि शाकाहार राष्ट्र विरोधी है: “मेरा राष्ट्र गोमांस खाने से शुरू होता है.दुर्भाग्यवश, हमने गोमांस खाना छोड़ दिया और इस कारण हमारे दिमाग अब बढ़ नहीं रहे हैं.” आगे उन्होंने कहा कि शाकाहार राष्ट्र को नष्ट कर देगा. शाकाहारी राष्ट्रवाद  के सहारे  हम चीन, कोरिया,जापान और अमरीका से प्रतियोगिता नहीं कर सकते जो पूरी तरह गोमांसाहारी हैं.

यह वक्तव्य आक्रामक है और उस समय के लिहाज से साहसी कहा जा सकता है जब गोमांस रखने और खाने के नाम पर लोगों को मारा जा रहा हो. अखबार ने बताया कि इस बयान पर काफी तालियाँ मिलीं.रिपोर्ट ने इसके साथ यह बताना ज़रूरी समझा कि  श्रोताओं में अच्छी संख्या दलितों की थी. Continue reading शाकाहार, मांसाहार और बुद्धि का अधिकार →

Culture, Everyday Life, Government, Movements

Suicide of a Worker: Shankar Gopalakrishnan and Trepan Singh Chauhan

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Guest post by SHANKAR GOPALAKRISHNAN and TREPAN SINGH CHAUHAN

On April 11th, a memorial meeting was held at Gandhi Park, Dehradun. You probably haven’t heard of Sadhuram, the person for whom it was held. Thousands of people have indeed heard of him. But it reflects the divided world we live in – the world that Sadhuram fought to change – that it’s very unlikely that you are one of them.

Sadhu Ram
Sadhu Ram

Sadhuram was a Dalit, a mason and a resident of Jakhan, Dehradun. He was also the vice president of the Uttarakhand Nav Nirman Mazdoor Sangh, a union of unorganised sector workers. To the daily wage workers of Jakhan, he was a daily presence at the mazdoor chowk, the place where people stand for work in the morning; some of them affectionately referred to him as “mantri-ji.” Late on the night of March 26th, Sadhuram committed suicide.

Why did he do it? That question has many partial answers. On December 5th, 2014, his wife Geeta Devi died of kidney failure. Geeta was not one to give up easily; her death came after a long battle against a painful disease and the extortions of private doctors. That very night, Sadhuram’s younger son, Ravi, lay down on the tracks outside Dehradun station and committed suicide. Sadhuram was left an angry, saddened man, having lost the two most important people in his life. His remaining son cared little for either the union or Sadhuram. They had frequent fights, and his son often beat him. Nor was that the only atrocity in Sadhuram’s life. After Ravi’s death, he was entitled to Rs. 50,000 in compensation under the Building Workers’ Act; that 50,000 might have meant the difference between continuing abuse and independence. But for an entire year the Labour Department sat on the application, notwithstanding at least twenty meetings and even a personal direction from the CM.

Continue reading Suicide of a Worker: Shankar Gopalakrishnan and Trepan Singh Chauhan →

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Statement of Solidarity with Hyderabad Central University from Columbia University, New York

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This is a statement of March 29, 2016 from students, faculty and affiliates of Columbia University. We publish it below with apologies for the delay.

We, students, faculty and affiliates of Columbia University, strongly condemn the violation and atrocities brought upon the students and faculty of the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) on March 22, 2016. Since Professor Appa Rao Podile was on leave and under investigation for the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula, his return to the campus to resume duties as the Vice Chancellor was unacceptable. The students justifiably organized a peaceful protest in the campus that day. The institutional responses to that, by the University authorities, the Andhra and Telangana police force, Rapid Action Force personnel, the media, and the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on campus, were outrageous, inhuman, and fascist. The University authorities, instructed by Prof Podile, shut down the Internet connection, dining hall and drinking water facilities in retaliation to the peaceful student protest. The Andhra and Telangana police force lathi-charged students and faculty, violently beat up and severely injured them, molested and threatened to rape female students, targeted Muslims and Dalits, abused them verbally, and eventually arrested 24 students and 3 faculty. The ABVP members resorted to violence and aggressive sloganeering from the very beginning of the students’ peaceful protest and also attacked and injured them. The mainstream media has been ignoring these atrocious events at a Central university campus and has decidedly turned away from its responsibility and its accountability to the public. This is ironic, at the very least, when some of the news anchors just last month were so focused on fabricating stories of “terrorist” and “anti-national” activities at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. The media ultimately failed to demonize the students then. Now, yet again, the media is unabashedly siding with the authoritarian regime of corporate and state power; this time by ignoring the brutality of the police and the HCU authorities.

We strongly condemn

–       the fascist abuse of power by the University authorities, who decided to deprive the students of basic facilities as ‘revenge’ for the peaceful demonstration

–      the violence, the targeting and the brutality of the police force

–   the irresponsibility of the media for not reporting this on prime time and for effectively siding with the tyrannical regime in power

–       the atrocities unleashed by the casteist, capitalist, Hindu fundamentalist government and its affiliates, especially ABVP.

Continue reading Statement of Solidarity with Hyderabad Central University from Columbia University, New York →

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हम कौन थे,क्या हो गए हैं, और क्या होंगेअभी….

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(यह टिप्पणी पहले कैचन्यूज़ हिन्दी पर इस रूप में प्रकाशित हो चुकी है:http://hindi.catchnews.com/india/dg-vanzara-what-we-were-what-we-are-what-we-ll-become-1460646292.html)

पाकिस्तान का विरोध करते करते-करते हम कब उसकी शक्ल में ढल गए,पता ही नहीं चला.सबसे ताज़ा उदाहरण गुजरात के प्रख्यात पुलिस अधिकारी दह्याजी गोबरजी वनजारा के जमानत मिलने के बाद गुजरात वापसी पर उनके ज़बरदस्त स्वागत और खुद उनके तलवार-नृत्य का है. इस खबर से कुछ लोगों को पाकिस्तान में सलमान तासीर के कातिल मुमताज कादिर की फाँसी के बाद उसके जनाजे पर उमड़ी हजारों की भीड़ याद आ गई.

कादिर ने सलमान तासीर को इसलिए मार डाला था कि उनकी नज़र में तासीर ने इस्लाम और मुहम्मद साहब की शान में गुस्ताखी की थी.तासीर का कसूर यह था उन्होंने पाकिस्तान के ईश-निंदा क़ानून की आलोचना की थी और एक ईसाई औरत आसिया बीबी के पक्ष में बात की थी जिस पर ईश निंदा का आरोप था.इसके बाद कादिर ने तासीर को , जिनका वह अंगरक्षक था, गोलियों से भून डाला.

कादिर गिरफ्तार हुआ, उस पर मुकदमा चला जो खासा डरावना और नाटकीय था.कादिर को फाँसी की सजा सुनाने वाले न्यायाधीश ने फैसला सुनाते ही देश छोड़ दिया.उस अदालत पर पहले हमला भी हुआ.कादिर की एक तरह से पूजा होने लगी और जेल में वह एक धर्मोपदेशक बन गया.

कादिर की इस भयंकर लोकप्रियता के बावजूद पाकिस्तान ने उसे न सिर्फ फांसी की सजा सुनाई बल्कि फांसी दे भी दी. इस सजा का हम सैद्धांतिक आधार पर विरोध कर सकते हैं,लेकिन इससे कम से कम यह जाहिर होता है कि पाकिस्तान अपने क़ानून के पालन को लेकर गंभीर है और अपराध को नतीजे तक पहुंचाता है.इसके पहले भी पाकिस्तान में कादिर की तरह के और लोगों को भी सजा दी गयी है. Continue reading हम कौन थे,क्या हो गए हैं, और क्या होंगेअभी…. →

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Open Letter from SC/ST Faculty Forum of University of Hyderabad to VC Appa Rao About Resignation from Administrative Positions: SC/ST Faculty Forum, UoH

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Guest Post by SC/ST Faculty Forum, University of Hyderabad

[ We have recently received a request from The SC/ST Faculty Forum of the University of Hyderabad to publish a correspondence between them and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, Prof. Podile Appa Rao regarding the collective decision of the SC/ST Faculty Forum members to resign from administrative positions in the university. Accordingly, we are publishing below an open letter from the SC/ST Faculty Forum to the Vice Chancellor which is a response to a letter from the VC to the Convener of the SC/ST Faculty Forum, Dr. Sudhakar Babu. This letter is, in turn, a response to the original communication from the SC/ST Faculty Forum containing the collective decision to resign from administrative posts. These letters are being published in solidarity with the SC/ST Facutly Forum and in furtherance of the spirit of transparency, and public awareness, that they seek to uphold vis-a-vis all communication with the current vice chancellor.- Kafila]

Dear Prof.Appa Rao,

Thank you for your mail. We reiterate our collective decision to resign from administrative positions  for the following reasons:

The Forum represents the collective will of the community. Its decision is not reducible to individual members of the community. By asking the forum members to individually give reasons for their resignations, you are downplaying the community’s experience of continuing caste atrocity on the campus. In fact, this mail of yours may be construed as a threat against  individual members of the community and suggestive of demoralising the SC/ST members in a way that infringes upon and restrains their right to complain against you.

The Forum traces its history as a response to the rustication of ten Dalit students on the campus in 2001. Incidentally, you were one of the main perpetrators of caste atrocities on the students at that time. Today, you are not only responsible for the suicide of Rohit Vemula on January 17th but also the police brutalities and arrest of faculties including a Dalit faculty on trumped up charges following the March 22nd unforgivable and unforgettable event.  An atmosphere of caste violence prevails on the campus —of fear, intimidation, social boycott  and the SC/ST community feels extremely insecure by your presence.

We vehemently condemn the expeditious and inappropriate manner in which you have accepted the resignation of the Controller of Examinations and the mischievous way through which you are persuading the other members of the community to hold on to their resignations. This diabolic and unbecoming style of your leadership is at once appalling and extremely damaging to the interests of the SC/ST community on the campus.

Under the circumstances, we demand that you desist from holding individual Dalit faculty responsible for the collective decision of the Forum and thereby attempting to isolate and intimidate them.

Dr.Sudhakar Babu,

Convener, SC/ST Faculty Forum

THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO A LETTER FROM THE VC To Dr. Sudhakar Babu, which is reproduced below.

Dear Dr. Sudhakar Babu,T

he Vice Chancellor office received your email conveying the decision of the SC/ST Teachers Forum that its members are not willing to work in administrative posts in the University.  Since you have conveyed this message on behalf of our colleagues, I would like to request you to convey to all those who have expressed such concern to continue in their respective office.  VC office would like to continue with their services in respective positions.

If any of our faculty colleagues from SC/ST Teachers Forum are unwilling to consider my request for their continuation in administrative office, please advise individual faculty members to tender resignation giving reason(s) which will be considered by the University accordingly.   It may not be appropriate for the administration to act on the request from the convener of a forum about continuation of individual members of the forum in an administrative job.

You may recall that we have all worked together for a long time.  I would like to continue with the same relationship with everybody in the University.

With best wishes,

Prof. Appa Rao Podile FASc, FNASc, FNAAS,

Vice Chancellor

Tata Innovation Fellow (DBT)

University of Hyderabad

Hyderabad – 500 046, Telangana, India

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Law, Movements, Politics

Bhim Yatra .. so that there are no more killings

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Protestors set fire to containers representing septic tanks cleaning which manual scavengers have and continue to lose their lives even today ( Photo Courtesy : http://www.youthkiawaaz.com)

Rarely does Jantar-Mantar, the place in the heart of Delhi, gets ‘enlivened’ with people who share very similar type of tragedy – one should say man made tragedy.The culmination of 125 day Bhim Yatra – led by Safai Karmchari Aandolan – which had started from Dibrugarh in the North East on 10 th December and had traversed around 500 districts and 30 states, proved to be one such occasion. (13 th April 2016)

The big public meeting organised at Jantar Mantar, attended by hundreds of safai karmcharis from different parts of the country and many individuals, activists who are sympathetic to their cause, was just another way to celebrate Dr Ambedkar’s 125 th birth anniversary, a day earlier. Special focus of the Yatra was on deaths in sewers and septic tanks and the key slogan was ‘Stop Killing us in Dry Latrines, Sewers and Septic tanks’. In fact, most of the people who were sitting on the podium belonged to such families only, who had lost their near-dear ones in cleaning sewer or septic tanks. Continue reading Bhim Yatra .. so that there are no more killings →

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How to be free of Caste – Guest Post by Suhas Borker

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Guest Post by Suhas Borker

This year, India has sponsored the observation of the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the United Nations for the first time. The Permanent Mission of India to the UN shall commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon on April 13 at the UN headquarters, a day before his date of birth, with an international seminar on ‘Combating inequalities to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’. A note circulated by the Indian mission says that the “national icon” remains an inspiration for millions of Indians and proponents of equality and social justice across the globe. “Fittingly, although it’s a matter of coincidence, one can see the trace of Babasaheb’s radiant vision in the SDGs adopted by the UN General Assembly to eliminate poverty, hunger and socio-economic inequality by 2030.”

Juxtapose this with a recent report on caste-based discrimination by the United Nations Human Right Council’s Special Rapporteur for minority issues that has stung the Indian government, provoking it to raise questions about the lack of “seriousness of work” in the UN body and the special rapporteur’s mandate. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, would definitely not be pleased. Nor are the Dalit rights activists in India and abroad.

( Read the rest of the piece here : http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-to-be-free-of-caste-in-india/article8467518.ece?homepage=true)

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JKCCS Statement on Extra Judicial Killings by Army (Rashtriya Rifles) and Police in Handwara, Kashmir: Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society

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Guest Post by Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society

On 12 April 2016, armed forces personnel of Indian Army’s 21 RR and Jammu and Kashmir police killed three persons – two young boys and an old woman – in Handwara, Kupwara District, and injured around 24 civilians. Initial reports suggest that the armed forces fired at civilians protesting against sexual violence directed at a minor girl in Handwara town by army personnel.

24 hours after these killings the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, and army spokesperson have only made statements that do not address the steps that must be immediately taken. The army spokesperson while regretting the killing has assured action and stated that it would need to be ascertained if the “standard operating procedures” have been followed. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has sought assurance from the Indian Defence Minister that action would be taken in this case. Meanwhile, it appears that the Jammu and Kashmir Police have recorded and uploaded a video of the victim of sexual violence exonerating the army and both the police and army have circulated this video widely, including to news channels.

First, the army personnel of 21 RR involved in the killings, including those present on the scene of crime and in command of 21 RR, and involved police personnel, must be immediately arrested for purposes of investigations. Arms, ammunition and any other physical evidence connected to the killings must be immediately seized. Arrest of armed forces personnel in Jammu and Kashmir is not barred by any law. No “standard operating procedures” need to be consulted, particularly as it appears from RTI information sought that no such SOP’s even exist for situations such as the instant one of protests. Further, this preliminary step in investigation does not require the intervention of the army, Defence Minister or any other authority. But, the move by the Chief Minister to approach the Indian Defence Minister does explain where political power vis-à-vis even law and order in Kashmir lies. Thus far, media reports suggest that ASI Mohammad Rafiq has been suspended. His suspension is not enough as the amount of violence witnessed by people yesterday is not possible to have been carried out by one police official. Therefore, other officials responsible from army and police should be arrested immediately.

Second, the Jammu and Kashmir Police must immediately suspend the Superintendent of Police, Handwara, Ghulam Jeelani Wani, subject to investigations in this case as his role in the killings would need to be ascertained. Further, it appears that the video of the victim of sexual violence, a minor, has been circulated to distract from the investigation of 21 RR personnel responsible for the killings. Further, the actual circulation of the video, and disclosure of the identity of the victim, would invite prosecution under criminal law and/or other disciplinary action for the Superintendent of Police and other police officials involved. The army circulation of the video must also be examined as on one hand they have regretted the killings but at the same time are deeply invested in prejudicing investigations against their personnel. The circulation of this video has serious ramifications for the security of the victim.

Lastly, but most importantly, due to the role of the police, particularly the Handwara police, over the last 24 hours, the investigation of this case must be immediately, at the very least, handed over to a senior police officer of another district, with no criminal allegations against him.

Past crimes committed by the armed forces have been buried in a manner similar to what we witness today in the case of the Handwara killings. Following initial statements by the army and the State, no action is taken. The army claims to carry out an enquiry which is invariably not made public and is an essentially an attempt to take the case out of the public domain and protect the accused army personnel. It is pertinent to recall that in 2004 in Badra Payeen village, Handwara, when an army office was accused of rape of a mother and daughter, Mehbooba Mufti and then Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed assured that the guilty officer would be punished. Mehbooba Mufti may have forgotten this case but people of Kashmir remember the case and also know that the accused officer was not tried by the civilian court but by army court-martial that did not convict him for rape and he was subsequently re-instated to the army. It appears the assurances by Mehbooba Mufti and the Indian Defence Minister in Handwara killings are no different from the standard role of the State in numerous cases, including the Badra Payeen case.

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Fifty Shades of Grey – Without the Thrills

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[This is a response to Shourajenda Nath Mukherjee’s open letter on Kafila by Prof Makarand Paranjape]

Mr. Shourjendra Nath Mukherjee’s “Open Letter” of April 5, 2016 makes only one substantive point, concerning the agency of students, which needs attention. The rest of it, as the Dormouse said to Alice, is “much of a muchness” – confusion, rigmarole, and thumb-twiddling over precious little, which scarcely need be dignified by serious confutation. Continue reading Fifty Shades of Grey – Without the Thrills →

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Shoot to Kill: Standard Operating Procedure in Kashmir

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Nothing unusual has happened in Handwara. The Indian state has once again proved to be a killer  in Kashmir. Three people have lost their lives because the Indian armed forces and the J&K Police decided to defend themselves against people protesting against what they perceived to be a soldier’s harassment and molestation a Kashmiri woman.

Blood on the streets of Handwara
Blood on the streets of Handwara, Kashmir

The troops that defend India’s honour, unity and integrity and other such stuff have been trained to shoot to kill rather than answer a town’s questions about the sense of impunity that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the entire apparatus of a de-facto military occupation gives to Indian soldiers in the Kashmir valley. Lets stop pretending this is an exceptional situation, an excess, an anomaly, or even an instance of troopers going rogue. Whatever be the facts of the case, if the name the village of Kunan Poshpora, or of two women called Nilofar and Asiya mean anything to you, you will know that a predatory sexual profile is part of the operational signature of the Indian armed forces and local police in Kashmir.

Continue reading Shoot to Kill: Standard Operating Procedure in Kashmir →

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