m c kash - that bayonet of a voice

KINDLEINDIA

Critical Re� ective Journalism

www.kindlemag.in

1st

Au

gu

st

2011

`30

When the state grabs one from behind, there are those who dare to administer the righteous bite. This month, Kindle pays tribute to 20 such crusaders.

20ICONSAGAINSTTHE STATE

Editor in Chief: Pritha KejriwalManaging Editor: Maitreyi KandoiSenior Editor: Sayantan NeogiAssistant Editor: Sayan BhattacharyaRoving Editor: Mukherjee P Feature Writers: Paranjoy Guha Th akurta, Novy Kapadia, Raza Ahmad Rumi, Abhishek Chatterjee, Nitasha Kaul, Sumanta Mukherjee, Shubham Nag, Pallabi MunsiColumnists: Teresa Rehman, Abhijit Gupta, Aditya Bidikar, Mainak Bhaumik, Gautam Bhimani, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Akhtar, Vilzaar Kashmiri, Aishwarya Subramanian, Agniva ChowdhuryArt Director: Sagnik GangopadhyayArt Executive: Soumik LahiriMarketing Manager: Priyanka KhandeliaCo-ordinator: Priyanka MullickMarketing Executive: Souvik SenFinance Manager: Binoy Kr. JanaFinance Executives: Dibyendu Chakraborty, Vishal K Th akurHead - Logistics: Arindam SarkarPrinted at: CDC Printers Pvt Ltd, Tangra Industrial Estate - II (Bengal Pottery), 45 Radhanath Chowdhury Road, Kolkata - 700 015.

Distribution:Kolkata: Vishal Book CentreJamshedpur: Prasad Magazine CentrePune, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Chennai, Lucknow, Vadodara, Hyderabad: Outlook Publishing Pvt LtdNorth East: M P Book Stall, Durga News AgencyVol 2 Issue 5 August 2011For subscription queries:SMS kindle (space) sub to 575756 or visit www.kindlemag.in or write to [email protected] advertising, write to us at:[email protected] marketing alliances, write to us at:[email protected]

Owned, printed and published by Pritha Kejriwal on behalf of Ink Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at CDC Printers Pvt Ltd and published from Kolkata. Ink Publications Pvt Ltd is not responsible for the statements and opinions expressed by authors in their articles/writeups published in ‘Kindle’. ‘Kindle’ does not take any responsibility for returning unsolicited publishing material.All pictures, if not mentioned otherwise, are from Reuters.Visit: www.kindlemag.inRNI NO. WBENG/2010/36111

Regd. No. KOL RMS/429/2011-2013

Wh o is the new general of the dwindling army of pens and pencils and paints and brushes?

And who gives them medals aft er their victories now?

And who carries their dead-bodies away fr om battlefi elds?

Which borders do they protect nowadays?

In a recent interview to ‘Th e Scotsman’, Arundhati Roy told the reporter, “I don’t care, write what you like…but say, there’s a war. Th at’s all I want.”

Yes, it’s a raging war out there. As far as the eyes can see, the ears can hear, the nose can smell...one can’t miss the

sight of the dead bodies, the sound of the artillery fi re, and the smell of the gunpowder. It’s another tragedy that some of us (meaning mostly the privileged classes) miss it, and sometimes have to be told, in that many words…

However, coming back to the reality of millions, it’s an intense battle being fought at various fronts and the weapons are as diverse and complex as the warfare. It’s poetry against the MoUs, smses against newspapers, short fi lms and documentaries against television news stories, stones against machine guns, the mountains against the drilling machines, the rivers against the dams, the camera against the bullets, the forests against the jails, the painter’s brush against the handcuff s, bazaars against the big malls, music against rhetoric, pamphlets against tabloids, silence against noise, literature against the constitution… and these battles rage on…every day, in every corner, sometimes in darkness, sometimes in broad daylight, registering victories or losses, sometimes adding up to an ideological chaos… and at times, hope…

And when it comes to that time of the year, when we choose our icons, we can’t possibly look outside of these battlefi elds, and if we did, we would be staring blankly at emptiness, trying hard to skew and upturn our defi nitions of positive iconography. Hence, these new warriors, wielding old and new, obvious and unobvious weapons of combat and resistance are our heroes.

Let us try and tend to them, whenever they are hurt, send them fresh supplies whenever they run out, give them courage and hope in moments of weakness, or join them on the fi elds, because, they are out there, fi ghting our battles. Th eir victories are ours, their losses are our defeat, and the sooner we realize that, the happier we shall be.

Th is month, as we complete three years, we celebrate twenty great warriors and dedicate this issue to countless other brave men and women who are not letting us die – philosophically, morally, metaphorically, physically…

Editor’s Note

KINDLECritical Reflective Journalism

INDIA

Pritha Kejriwal,Editor-in-Chief,

[email protected]

Write to us at: Kindle, Ink Publications Pvt Ltd, DN 37, Sector V, Salt Lake City,Kolkata - 700 091or email your response to us at [email protected], post on our facebook group wall:Kindle Magazine (group)

Dear Editor,

I’d like to start off by saying that this is the fi rst time that I came across the magazine and was thoroughly impressed. I really liked the issue, specially the cover story. Th e designs too were very creative. Th e Arts & Culture section is also quite remarkable. But I have just one complaint. Please try and make it more accessible to readers across the country.

Regards,Kruttika MittalMahim, Mumbai

Dear Editor,

Th anks for the topical cover on Ramdev. But I wish the cover essay was complemented with some interviews with the jokers, that is the politicians and the babas. It would make a more colourful read. I also loved reading the piece on Maqbool Fida Hussain and Ai Weiwei. Th e common thread binding the two mavericks was interestingly portrayed. Th e accompanying illustrations were marvelous. Hope Kindle keeps engaging the readers, this way every month.

Regards,Ankit Desai, Delhi

Dear Kindle,

Th e piece on Mamata Banerjee , that is ‘Footnotes’, was well timed. What with the entire media worshipping her, your piece on Didi was a welcome relief. As a reader, I would request you to keep your focus trained on West Bengal. With our CM promising so much, threatening to London-ise Kolkata, it is only time before the cards come down tumbling.

Regards,Sujato Basak, Kolkata

SEEKING ACTIVISIMAND NOT JUST ACTIVISTSBy Mukherjee.P NNNNNNNNNNNNoooooooooooooootttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss oooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnn wwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiissssssssss llllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssttttttttttt aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnndddddddddddd wwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyy nnnnnnnooooooootttttttt

August 2011kindle india12

(0)

I had no reply to a question which Pritha asked the other day: why can’t the mountains and rivers be given voting rights?

Quite simply. No. Quite simply. Yes. Th ey don’t vote. But yes they are living scars of a developmental disorder. But, is that linear? I would not know Pritha. Except the fact that I wish they did vote.

“Th en he asked my age and I asked his. Th at’s the tradition in China. If we know each other’s ages, we can understand each other’s past. We Chinese have been collective for so long, personal histories are not worth mentioning. Th erefore as soon as Xiaolin and I knew how old the other was, we knew exactly what big shit had happened in our lives. Th e introduction of the One Child Policy shortly before out births, for instance and the fact that, in 1985, two pandas were sent to the USA as a national gift and we had to sing a tearful panda song at school. 1989 was the Tiananmen Square student demonstration. Anyway, Xiaolin was one year younger than me, so I assumed we were from the same generation.” — Xiaolu Guo (Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth)

How do we look at micro-narratives? What are they? What is our maid servant’s take on socialism? Why do literature festivals have dalit panels forgetting that the mainstream panel needs a dalit sniper attack and not framed panels for sub-altern guilt? Th e marketing that took place for Mahatma is over... now the Ambedkar bazaar is in full swing... look at the LGBT movement… who head it? A bunch of extremely privileged shenanigans (who believe that the lust of the gay rickshawallah makes a great seminar paper and not great solidarity…).Who eats our time? Who consumes the clock?

(1)

“Th e last capitalist we hang shall be the

one who sold us the rope.” Karl MarxTh e question now is whether the rope comes from a factory that is a part of a scientifi c oppression set up or does it still come from a capitalist source.Th e season of epic fasts, elections and their associated emotions playing itself out from the distant Peru to nearby Bangkok to even more nearby West Bengal to Tahrir square, Lebanon, Bahrain, Liberia, Tunisia, Libya, Binayak Sen’s bail being granted by the Supreme Court, Ai Weiwei-the Chinese dissident artist being taken to prison and then being released with his lips sewn and shut, Jafar Panahi becoming the conscience of global fi lmmaking inside his Tehran prison cell and the widespread changes in Pakistan including the death of an enigma called Osama Bin Laden(and the decision to play a football series against India in United Kingdom)… all these point to a churning that the world is currently facing and will face… this disjointed jigsaw that calls for stability and change, fermenting and disquiet... repeated acts of washing imaginary blood by Lady Macbeth from her hands...

Who, Why, What and When?

(2)

Who is a changemaker?

In the last Kindle issue about youth icons, I had observed: Th e change-making force has to be defi ned by a newness of thinking, the ability to dare and to look the odds into the eye. A changemaker can be a politcal activist, a theatre director, a peacenik, a labourer, a human rights activist, a sportsman, a painter, a lawyer, a bunch of activists or even a group or collective that gives birth to an idea whose time has come or which is far ahead of times. But the changemaker has to be in active change and not some passive theoretical change that is chained by academics. He/She has to take part… be a fi eld observer. A year later I would like to correct my observation: Yes, the above-mentioned are attributes of an icon. But even these are not enough. Th ese are times when

the shrill nature of defi ned patriotism is at the highest. And it seems that there is a conscious eff ort to make people fall in line. And what happens to those who do not fall in line...that is where the question comes in.What is the threshold of dissent? And what is the threshold of selling out? Th e challenge is not just to be a dissenting voice but to keep alive that dissent against state-sponsored odds. Th e sellout can have a large spectrum from a political post to a Republic Day honour, from kickbacks that are looked the other way to a monetary windfall, the limits to the selling out can indeed be limitless.Un se kehene gaye the Faiz, jaa sadqa kiyeAnkahi hi reh gayi vo baat, sab batoon ke baad(Faiz, one thing which I went there to say with all my heart/Th at very thing was left unsaid, aft er so much had been spoken)

(3)

What is Swaraj?

Let’s take a quote from Gandhi:

“Swaraj is when we learn to rule ourselves. It is therefore, in the palm of our hands. Do not conside this Swaraj to be just a dream. Th ere is no idea of sitting still. Th e Swaraj which I wish to picture is that, aft er we have once realized it, we will endeavour to the end of our life-time to persuade others to act likewise. Th is Swaraj needs to be experienced, by each one, himself. One drowning man will never save another. Slave ourselves; it might be mere pretension to think, of saving others. Now as you have seen it is not necessary for us to have as our goal the expulsion of the English. If the English become Indianized, we can accommodate them.”What Mahatma means is that our world should not be limited to an external political goal-of course that is important but the internal spiritual and socio-economic goal must run concurrently in our minds.But reality, as always, unerringly, is a little more complex than this

August 2011 kindle india 13

complex statement... in the Marxist dilemma of “nation-state-capital” and the Ambedkarite vision of Navyana, the question is how do we tackle the inherent standardisation that comes with globalization? Th e shampoo becomes smaller, the art of ayurverda becomes more spa and less of a lived science... how would the icons wade these waters?

(4)

How can a mind leap?

Let’s smell this quote carefully:

“Rustout is the slow death that follows when we stop making the choices that keep life alive. It’s the feeling of numbness that comes from always taking the sage way, never accepting new challenges, continually surrendering to the day-to-day routine. Rustout means we are no longer growing, but at best, are simply maintaining. It implies that we have traded the sensation of life for the security of a paycheck… Rustout is the opposite of burnout. Burnout is overdoing. Rustout is underbeing.” -Richard Leider and Steve Buchhoz, Th e Rustout Syndrome

Th e crux of the matter is the ability to take risks, connect with people and yet retain a sense of simplicity. Only then we can lift ourselves, strive and improve the world by improving our world.

Kab nazaar mein aayegi bedaagh sabze ki baharKhoon ke dhabbe dhulenge kitni barsaaton ke baad

(And will there be a spring when the green is all unblighted/ And how many rains must fall before the spots are washed clean)

Hence, this list is a watchdog. It would also be a document of how these infl uences will unfold and meet expectations of the marginalised... the fl ow of world-is-a-bazaar mindset

is now at its peak and the concept of fringe has never been felt more specifi cally...

(5)

What is being active?

“Th ose who do not move do not notice their chains.” ~ Rosa Luxemburg

Th e idea of what has been implied is the idea of getting involved. To understand the true idea of being free. If we are stuck in our self created shells, we would never ever look out at the world. And one day when our freedom becomes limited, we would be stuck in the same cocoon that we created for ourselves. So it is always important to push the boundaries of freedom and in the process not trample on other people’s rights.

(6)

Aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke sivaRaahaten aur bhi hain vasl ki rahaat ke siva

(Th ere are other griefs in this world apart from that of love/And other pleasures apart from that of union-Faiz)

Give me an example of a changemaker: Answer- Frontier Gandhi?

Khan Abdul Ghaff ar Khan was born into a wealthy family of Utmanzai, Hasht-nagar, in 1890 and his only tryst with education was one year at Mayo College, Aligarh. From a family steeped in feudal tradition of large land holding, he shocked his family by wanting to become a peace-worker. He was the second and last son of Bahram Khan (the Mashar Khan-great Khan or the Khan of Khans).

It isn’t very oft en that you stop the war to allow mourners to walk from Khyber Pass to Jalalabad to attend a funeral. He was also called Sarhaddi

Gandhi and Fakhr-e-Afghan.In 1987, he became the fi rst non-Indian to be decorated with the Bharat Ratna. He passed away under house arrest in Peshawar the next year, but was buried across the Khyber in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, with warring factions holding fi re to pay their respects to the great leader. President Karzai, incidentally, inaugurated the renovation work on the mausoleum of Badshah Khan in Jalalabad on April 15, 2010.

It also isn’t very oft en that you share reading glasses with Gandhi.It isn’t very oft en that at 6ft 3 inches, you prefer to walk gently yet fi rmly and abhor the word “military-solution.” It isn’t very oft en you realise that passive resistance is a more meaningful form of constructive workshopFor the better part of 1987, Badshah Khan was almost unconscious in bed. He was in India for a period of time and then at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar where he left his body. At the age of 98 on the 20th of January, 1988, Frontier Gandhi died fi ghting his own pitched battle with peace, He was buried in Jalalabad on the 22nd of January. He had spent 30 years of his life in all kinds of prison. It is not very oft en that your Red Shirt has been dyed with a colour from the red bricks.It also isn’t very oft en that the British imperialists jail you, your country jails you, your former undivided country awards you but hardly makes any international clamour for your release and you still remain non-violent. As always.

(7)

Aajiz-e-ahl-e-sitam ki baat karoIshq ki dum-qadam ki baat karo(Speak of the tyrants’ helplessnessSpeak of the power of love)-Faiz

2011 is hundred years of Faiz


Ahmed Faiz. Th ese lines take us back to the indomitable spirit of the times. Th e spirit in which we don’t give up and we don’t stop loving inspite of and despite hardships. Even if we are put in a corner, the idea is to look at the freedom at the end of the oppression and not just the oppressor’s wand. Th at does not mean the death of protest. But manufacturing an idea of protest which cannot kill love. Yet, delicately nudge the protest towards a constructive anarchy. But just short of a total anarchy.

And our journey talks about the people’s power, that inherent spirit of our times. It talks about digging deep into our protest roots/routes. Let me repeat:

You may not change THE world

But you may change YOUR world.

(8)

Th is voyage is an attempt to map the atlas of that changing YOUR world… as opposed to a two-word phrase that should be purged from dictionaries.Status Quo.

Let me end with Faiz again:

Nisar main teri galiyonke ai watan ke jahanChali hai rasm ke koi na sar utha ke chale

(Blessings be upon the soil of my land/where they decreed the custom/Th at men should walk no more with heads held high…)

Or as a footnote to the formal end, let me repeat that Marx statement of “ruthless criticism all that exists” and reiterate that criticism would include

Marx too (and he would have wanted it that way).

Th e list is not a compilation but an implied… implicit… roster of what could be a fi ghtback. And we must understand that all fi ghtbacks are neither revolutionary nor are they signifi cant.But some are.And each time anyone has compiled the list, they expect (whether it is out of utopia or out of dystopia) the ‘some’ to be a sum total. Otherwise between the degree and pedigree, graphic novels and superheroes, we would forget that young nameless child standing in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square.

Th is list is for that child. And of course for you and me.



DIARY FRONT

Illust

ratio

ns b

y S

ag

nik

Gang

op

ad

hyay

That

mom

ent i

n tim

e; th

ose

peop

le; a

nd b

y th

e w

ay u

s

AKHILGOGOIBy Teresa Rehman

TTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt ddddddddddddrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm wwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ccccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooootttttttttttttttt bbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeee ddddddddddeeeeeeeeeettttttttaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeedddddddddd


There was a vacuum in the public space of Assam. And local fi rebrand activist Akhil Gogoi fi lled in that space. Amplifying

the voice of the voiceless and defying the potent establishment, Gogoi emerged as the mascot; the edgy oppressed class of the society had been waiting for.

Dismissed by many as someone who paratroops into situations, hops from one issue to another and accused of being backed by opposition political leaders, Gogoi has nevertheless, managed to unnerve the powerful. He has managed to win the hearts of the working class by even going to jail fi ghting for their cause. For more than a decade, he’s been exposing corruption through the RTI, raising questions about big dams on the Brahmaputra, talking about peasant rights. Th e reality is that his very existence – his persona and his strident crusade- has become a sort of aff ront to a certain strata of people. He has fi lled in the space for constructive opposition, left by defunct

political parties.

In what can be called a moral victory of sorts, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader and RTI activist was granted bail by Gauhati High Court in connection with the case fi led by Assam police, alleging his involvement in the June 22 violence at Guwahati recently. Th e incident took place aft er Gogoi laid siege to the Secretariat with more than 20,000 tribals evicted by the government from the hills surrounding Guwahati. Gogoi demanded the Congress keep its pre-poll promise of returning the land. As the protesters blocked the main road, the police was called in to remove the blockade. What followed was confusion and turmoil — a street fi ght between the protesters and the police in Dispur and Guwahati, in which buses and police vans were burnt, teargas shells were fi red and three died, including a nine-year-old boy.

Gogoi was accused of instigating the violence. However, organizations and individuals backing him like Magsaysay

awardee activist, Sandeep Pandey, and representatives of the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers and the natural resource-based Working People’s Federation, an umbrella organisation of at least 14 NGOs deny that Gogoi had acted in an undemocratic manner. He has been branded a Maoist as well. But all he talks about is equal rights for all.

It has also been alleged that Gogoi has been used by the media, specially the electronic media just to enhance their TRPs. Th ere are others who accuse him of exaggerating and trying to seek media attention. In fact, Gogoi was arrested when he was addressing a press meet at Guwahati Press Club. Even as the debate on whether Gogoi uses the media or the media uses Gogoi rages on, the undeniable fact is, in a country that counts itself as the world’s largest democracy, peaceful dissent is the fundamental right of a citizen. Working for the rights of the poor and the oppressed has never been easy. And will never be.


AGA SHAHID ALIBy Mukherjee.P

TTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaattttttttt mmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddd ttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttt ssssssssssssttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllooooooooooooiiiiiiiittttttttttteeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssss


How do you compress the entire ‘Pather Panchali’ (as in the fi lm by Satyajit Ray) into a terse fi ve line

pen-picture? Sounds impossible but that is exactly the craft of Aga Shahid Ali. Read on...

...Durga dies in the rains, her tongue bitter with stolenfr uit. Beyond the fi eld, trainsescape a boy’s dreams, runinto the air. A necklace chainshim to the water’s bones, turnshis refl ection sour. WhereverApu goes, to the temple or the river, he carries Durga’s smile to the depths of the air.

As Kashmir and this country remembers Aga Shahid Ali (born:February 4, 1949 and passed away: December 8, 2001) on his 10th death anniversary... his shadow looms large. Th e prophetic shadow, that made one of the fi nest Kashmiri-American poets, calls himself a “multiple exile.” Who was he exiled from? Maybe from himself. And each time, one sees Kashmir... talks Kashmir... feels Kashmir... Aga keeps coming back in tremendous ferocity...

In a career that spans some of the most memorable collections of poetry, Aga’s landmark publications include ‘Rooms Are Never Finished’, ‘Th e Country Without a Post Offi ce’ (1997), ‘Th e Beloved Witness: Selected Poems’ (1992), ‘A Nostalgist’s Map of America’ (1991), ‘A Walk Th rough the Yellow Pages’ (1987), ‘Th e Half-Inch Himalayas’ (1987), ‘In Memory of Begum Akhtar and Other Poems’ (1979), and ‘Bone Sculpture’ (1972). He was also the author of ‘T. S. Eliot as Editor’ (1986), transcreator of ‘Th e Rebel’s Silhouette: Selected Poems’ by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1992). In the

year 2000, he edited a groundbreaking work called ‘Ravishing Disunities: Real Ghazals’ in English (2000).

Which Shahid do we remember? Th at brilliant story-teller who tripped on the music of Begum Akhtar and wrote that magical poem called ‘Ghazal’ in his ‘Th e Country Without a Post Offi ce’...

Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonightbefore you agonize him in farewell tonight?

I beg for haven: Prisons let open your gates-A refugee fr om Belief seeks a cell tonight.

Or the man who described the texture of memories in just a few words that resonate and drift along the ghats and ghettos of the world. Sample this from ‘Th e Half-Inch Himalayas’:

STATIONERY

Th e moon did not become the sun.

It just fell on the desert

in great sheets, reams

of silver handmade by you.

Th e night is your cottage industry now;

the day is your brisk emporium.

Th e world is full of paper.

Write to me.

Aga was far ahead of his times. Nuanced. But straight. Full on. Yet a little criss-crossed. In this marketplace of ideas, he was a dreamer who turned the mundane into a magic. But not

some postponed escapist magic but a palpable tense realistic magic. Kashmir has many heroes: from a Lal Ded to a an unknown boatman in Nagin Lake... at times a misplaced stone pelter... at times the bruised pen of Jameel... but Aga remains the enigmatic magical son...the real, here-and-now magic

Hear the sound of keekar... rustle of chinar... and that salt in your kahwa... and if you can hear that... then inside that hearing another voice whispers... gently but fi rmly... don’t switch him off ... don’t turn your Bose noise-cancellation headset on... for he is the livingAga Shahid Ali.


MC KASHBy Nitasha KaulTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttt bbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeettttttttttttt ooooooooooffffffffff aaaaaaaaaa vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvoooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccceeeeeeeee


Music is the beautiful struggle of sound into expression. Because we feel, we sing. When we speak,

when we scream, when we laugh, when we wail, there is a soundtrack to our thoughts that iconic music can render into songs.

Th e summer of 2010 was a contest between bullets and stones in (Indian Controlled) Kashmir; a violent season for the valley in which over a hundred, mostly young, people were killed by the armed forces. Having endured decades of humiliation, repression, restrictions, and injustice at the hands of the military and militants, the people of Kashmir - especially the current generation, of which MC Kash is a part - used everything from stones to words to music, to let the occupying forces know that what they were doing was, plain and simple, wrong.

‘I Protest’ (Remembrance) is one such rap song by the Kashmiri artist Roushan Illahi a.k.a MC Kash. Kashmir and Rap are not easily associated; the traditional music of Kashmir is lilting and melodic, conveying the ancient echoes of mountains, the plashing of water. But harmony befi ts peacetime; in the militarised zones of war,

music too becomes urgent, arousing thoughts, requiring answers, refusing to be complacently contained in barred rhymes. Th e news bulletins of lives lost, the daily stop and search routines, the perpetual uneasiness in the sense of false calm when uprisings are ‘quelled’ - this is part of the political machine, but it is equally part of the ‘sentiment’ on the real street. Young people read it in the bloody scrawls of ‘Go India Go’ on the walls of Srinagar, and hear it in the staccato forceful rhythms of rap, with its hooded face and its insistently repeating refrains.

Roushan’s music reaches out to the young, the educated in Kashmir. But, it also takes the issue of what’s happening in Kashmir out to the world. His music is anti-Indian for some, his studio has been raided, but his popularity is beyond doubt. Born in 1990, he is an icon whose music has had over 15000 hits on youtube, and there are over 6000 members on his facebook page. Lyrics from his ‘I Protest’ form the title of a recently released collection of writings on Kashmir called ‘Until my Freedom is Come’ (subtitled ‘Th e new Intifada in Kashmir’, edited by Sanjay Kak, Penguin, 2011). He has been interviewed in prominent world media; according to his profi le on BBC (BBC online, 20 December 2010): ‘He

is studying business, and hopes to go on to an MBA abroad; his father is a doctor and his mother is a teacher. He has never left Kashmir, but he speaks excellent English and has taken a strategic decision to rap in English.’

Th e internet, digital media, and social networking sites like facebook and twitter have made it possible, internationally, for creative endeavours of protest to connect up the dots of resentment and raise consciousness within and against the eff orts of the state and conventional media. Functioning in this way, Roushan’s music is meant to make people aware of the tragedy of Kashmir. Other songs by him (for example, Moment of Truth, Feel It, Beneath Th is Sky) appear on the site ReverbNation. As his facebook friend, I can see that his ‘likes’ range from Hamlet to Manchester United, and thanks to a recent status message of his, I went googling for Che Guevara and Rocinante’s ribs!

Perhaps the day will come when MC Kash will no longer need to protest, but rap to celebrate a better Kashmir. Till then, this conscientious and talented rapper reminds us that even when we are beat, we must not lose the beat.


JARNAIL SINGH

Between the two missives to Union Home Minister, the fi rst one is a letter and the second one a shoe.

To,Th e Hon’ble Union Minister,Ministry of Home Aff airs,North Block, Central Secretariat,

New Delhi – 110001.Re: inquiry against me by the Ministry of Home Aff airs through the CBI.Dear Sir,Greetings!With due respect, I would like to bring your attention to a case of inquiry against me, which has been carried out by the Ministry of Home Aff airs

(MHA), New Delhi through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Th e Ministry had done the similar inquiry last year and I had given them all the required information. Despite that, the same inquiry has been repeated to know whether I’m involved in any kind of anti-national activity and my association with anti-national elements.

Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and its people...as an act of bravery, love cannot be sentimental; as an act of fr eedom, it must not serve as a pretext for manipulation. It must generate other acts of fr eedom; otherwise it is not love. -Paulo Freire

GLADSONDUNGDUNGBy Mukherjee.P

TTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaattttttttt nnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnntttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy llllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaapppppppppppppssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee oooooooooooooffffffffffffffff rrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssoooooooooonnnnnnnnn


Th e Ministry of Home Aff airs (MHA) has initiated a second round of inquiry against me. An offi cer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mr. Nirmal Kumar Birua visited my residence in the aft ernoon at 3:15 PM on June 23, 2011 and asked me about the activities I’m involved in, the source of my income, my association with organizations and mass movements, and my work for Human Rights, publications, reports, articles and so on. He also recorded my family background including the background of my parents, brother and sisters, the present status of my family members and about my present residence and present status.He told me that the Jharkhand Unit of the MHA has to send a bulletin every evening and the Delhi offi ce has been consistently asking to submit a report regarding my involvement in anti-National activities and association with anti-National elements. However, when I checked, I was shocked to know that no such unit of the MHA exists in Ranchi but the MHA does all kinds of inquiry in the state either through the Intelligence Bureau (IB) or the CBI. In fact, I have put everything in the public domain and I’m always available in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand and also appear in the media (print and electronic) very oft en. I have been raising the issues of human rights and social justice and the allegations of my involvement in anti-national activities and my association with the anti-national elements are baseless.Th e most surprising thing is, the MHA is not even aware about my association with the Planning Commission of India. Last month, I was nominated as a member of an autonomous body “Assessment and Monitoring Authority” (AMA) under the Planning Commission (Govt. of India).Hence, I feel that the MHA has been taking actions against me with the clear intention to coerce, humiliate

and suppress my voice as I’m one of the outspoken persons from the Adivasi community.Th erefore, I request you; kindly stop all kinds of inquiry against me and also to take action against those offi cers who are trying to defame my credibility. I hope to hear from you soon.Th anking you.Yours Sincerely,Gladson Dungdung,Member,Assessment and Monitoring Authority,Planning Commission (Govt. of India),C/o – Mr. Suleman Oreya,Near Don Bosco, I.T.C. Gate,Lane – 2, Khorha Toli, Kokar, Ranchi-834001

For Gladson Dungdung, it is a rocky story of around, arrested, aimed, ahead and alongside. Parents murdered in 1990,a family displaced by the Kelaghagh dam in Simdega, completing his human rights diploma from Pune, penning an important book ‘Ulgulan Ka Sauda’(Th e bartering of revolution) and becoming one of the important forces behind Navjeevan Foundation and Jharkhand Indigenous People’s Forum. It is not easy to co-opt Dungdung into a passive agreement mode (at least) not so far and that is exactly why he remains an important face of dissent.

I did live/Like fatigue in the sweat of your socks/in mis-spelt words/in stuttering bond of gender with verbs/in your annoyance ...Vyomkesh Shukla

As for the soft -spoken 41-year old Jarnail Singh, April 7, 2009, marked a watershed. A rupture in the memory. Years of promises unfulfi lled. And a damning silence about the fate of actions taken against those who perpetrated the 1984 genocide. His shoe became the missive that shook the so-called corridors of establishment. And of course temporarily halted the

parliamentary election aspirations of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar (Replaced by his brother Ramesh Kumar for the south Delhi seat...as if to placate him).Th is outburst cost him his job at the Dainik Jagaran but Singh bounced back to reckoning by penning a searing memoir called ‘I Accuse’ (in English) and ‘Kab Kategi Chaurasi’ (‘When will 1984 pass’) in Hindi. And all of a sudden “shoeing” became this happening way of protest. And of course there was this famous incident of Muntadhar Al-Zaidi throwing a shoe at George Bush and himself becoming the target in Paris.Th e question around the method/methods rule out the extent of the dissent. Th e nature of the dissent. Th e eff ort made by the State to hustle you into a sense of silence. To coerce the silence. To sponsor the silence. To carve out that silence. To smuggle that silence as a regular feature in our lives. It is in that light and in this light; we have to look at Gladson’s postal and Jarnail’s footwear missive. Th e issue here is again, not just about right and wrong (not that one denies that binary) but also about the texture, nature and futility of that abject silence.A letter and a shoe is an unlikely combination. But they are iconic in terms of a reminder.And democracy without necessary reminders becomes beset with unnecessary and co-opted silence.


ABDUL JABBARBy Pallabi MunsiTTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttt uuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnbbbbbbbbbbbbblllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg eeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeee


He is not just another activist. He just doesn’t want the government to be in trouble. He wants the Government to understand what he and his fellow Bhopal Gas Leak victims have been through. He doesn’t want anyone

go through the same pain again. Doctors have confi rmed that he is going to lose his eyesight within the next ten to twelve years.

Yes, he is a victim himself. And he is angry. But who has ever cared in the last 27 years?

He and his fellow victims want proper compensation, rehabilitation, decontamination of soil and water and criminal action against those responsible for the Gas Leak.

And most importantly:

Justice. Because the annual day of remembrance of the Gas Leak has turned into a ritual; a ritual that causes all Bhopalis claustrophobia.

Is that too much to ask for?

Press coverage does not attract Jabbar or his organization. His organization has very little or rather no web presence. But they are the utterly concerned with the daily struggles of the victims.

Ask him; he will chuckle away and say, “I am a victim myself, I don’t rebel for fashion. I do it, because I mean it.”

He and his fellow ‘Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sansthan’ (BGMPUS) members feel betrayed precisely because little

can be expected from the government. He has held together a loose coalition of victims through BGMPUS. Th e members, mostly women, meet every Saturday at the Yaadgar-e-Shahjahani Park and donate what they can towards the cause. Th e rest of the money comes from the sale of embroidered clothes and stuff ed toys produced by the women working at the workshed Jabbar runs. When a gas victim is either turned away from the hospitals, or overbilled for electricity, they very well know who to turn to. Th ey know that Jabbar will help them out.

Bhopal through his eyes is quite diff erent from the Bhopal we know through documentaries, YouTube, or even online media. He is so particular about being true to his soul that he does not allow American funds to seep in to his organization in any which way.

Over the years, Jabbar’s role is being erased outside Bhopal simply because foreign correspondents, representatives of international NGOs as well as reporters from the English dailies across India reach Bhopal wanting their hands to be held by someone fl uent in English who can mediate between them and the victims.

Jabbar, unfortunately, does not fi t that persona. And he doesn’t care. He doesn’t go out of his way to oblige journalists. He doesn’t give interviews in English.

But if you really want to know what he does and who he is, arm yourself with a little knowledge of Hindi. Talk to him for just a few minutes, and you’ll realize that he has touched your heart already. Who cares for the Web?


GUJARI BAZAARBy Mukherjee.P TTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttt ddddddddddddddéééééééééjjjjjjjjjjjààààààààààààà vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvuuuuuuuuuu ooooooooooooooooffffffffffff sssssssssssqqqqqqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggggggggg


“Th e stone in the water does not know how hot the hill is, parched by the sun” ~ Nigerian proverb

What makes the bazaar so important to be in this list? Before I proceed to the

larger answer, let me simply say: as a metaphor against the mall culture.

I would answer this not only from the prism of livelihood but also from the large socio-politcal perspective of challenging the new buying clichés. A lower middle class or an economically disadvantaged class in a nation of 1.21 billion people (as per 2011 Census of India), with a workforce of 405 million (growing 2.5 per cent annually) of which 90 per cent are in the unorganised sector, strangely fi nd themselves as an island. Either they are theorized in air conditioned spaces by seminar tourists or they are completely ignored in the vocabulary and the syntax of the so-called art practices (it is one thing to promote folk art and completely diff erent to promote the labour idiom in our material exploration) or even journalistic practices in the country (show me a newspaper with a fully functional labour bureau or for that matter a news channel with the same).

Now, how do these people set up a house, buy their knick knacks and even dream to embellish their fragile domestic kholis? Which mall will provide them with a price that is competitive and not

just dole?

Th at this unique Ravivari bazaar (in the jurisdiction of Haveli police station) or the Sunday market (between 6. 15 am to 7.45 pm) goes back to 1414 during Ahmed Shah’s reign, is a well-documented fact. But less known is the fascinating array of details that include the fact that it was a Sukravari bazaar or Friday market till 1954; till November 2009, the monthly fee per stall was Rs 3 and then it was hiked to Rs 5; the older venue of the bazaar was Bhadratar before the current venue near Lal Darwaza and Ellisbridge on the east of Sabarmati.

In these times of media heroes and media trials, we want to raise questions... questions that lie on the frayed edges of globalization, where the so-called neo-liberalisation worshippers have consistently and insistently ignored the issue of the people. In our case the Gujari bazaar...questions that lie in the heart of the unorganised economy (especially the question of displacement-migration-large scale standardisation; as J.C. Kumrappa would call it “the economy of permanence”).

At a time, when we have the surreal Armed Forces Special Power Act, 1958 and the even more surreal Minimum Wages Act, we have the culture of impunity in high places to a largely

ineff ective Contract Labour Regulation and Prohibition Act, 1974... Gujari Bazaar is a testimony to a grit that needs to be recorded and disseminated in more tactical ways than one.

With an association that goes back to 1944, presently it has a strength of 1200 members out of which 400 are women. Apart from Ahmedabad, traders come from Mumbai, Surat and Baroda and set up their stalls near a bridge and literally go below the fl yover into the belly of the river bed and spill over to the main road near the historic Victoria Park which once played host to Gandhiji and Tagore who addressed the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.

Th e year 2011 is an important year for the labour movement. Apart from commemorating the 120th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the 125th year of workers’ uprising in Chicago demanding the introduction of an eight-hour day, the year also happens to be the centenary of Gandhiji’s Tolstoy Farm in South Africa.

Th ese three facets should be recurrent metaphors in this journey of ours... a journey towards understanding people below the fl yover. Or shall we say footpath blues.


By Pallabi Munsi

IIIIIIIInnnnnnnnn tttttttthhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee tttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss ooooooooooooooofffffffffff mmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaa ssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvyyyyyyyyyyy,,,,,,,,,, eeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxppppppppppprrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaacccccccccccttttttttiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiisssssssssssttttttttssssssss,,,,,,, hhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeee qqqqqqquuuuuuuuiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeettttttttttlllllllyyyyyyyyy gggggggggggggoooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssss aaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttttt hhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssss wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkk........ AAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnnnn iiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhh AAAAAAAAAAAbbbbbbbbdddddddddduuuuuuuuuuullllllllll JJJJJJJJJJJJaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr,,,,,,, BBBBBBBBBBBhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooopppppppppppaaaaaaaaalllllllllll GGGGGGGGGGGGGaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssss vvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccccccttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddddddd ccccccccccccooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnoooooooooorrrrrrrrrr,,,,,,,,, BBBBBBBBBBBBBhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooopppppppppppppaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll GGGGGGGGGGGaaaaaaaaaassssssssss PPPPPPPPPPPPeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddddiiiiiiiitttttttthhhhhhhh MMMMMMMMaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiillllllllaaaaaaaaa UUUUUUUUUUUdddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooggggggggggg SSSSSSSSSSSSaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssssttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnn.........

IIIIIIIIIInnnnnnnnnnn ccccccccccooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnn

ABDUL JABBAR


You are a victim of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and have also been part of the Movement for justice. What now?

Th e government is and has never been serious about any of the burning issues which aff ect the Indian masses. Th ey just don’t care. Bhopal is exactly one such issue. Everyone knows that Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) is responsible for the stunted growth, the loss of memory and eyesight among kids, liver and kidney failures of the people of Bhopal but the government is not ready to document it offi cially. A medical report was being prepared but the politicians just didn’t let it happen. Now there are no offi cial documents that prove the ill eff ects of MIC. And doesn’t the world know? All this is because of the liberalization of the economy. Th e government has become almost pro MIC. All we have asked for is adequate compensation, decontamination of soil and water, rehabilitation and criminal action against those responsible for the Gas Leak. We have been protesting from 1984 itself. Has there been any change? Th e movement will continue till there is change. Because we know we are not doing anything wrong. Th e Government has our money. Th ey can’t kill us with our own money.

In this mass network of movements, where do you and your organization stand?

Listen, we are all victims of the gas leak. We have been through all the pain, literally. We have no pretences and we know exactly what the common mass wants out here in Bhopal. Anyone can join us. Also, since we are all victims of the leak, our rebellion is not for fashion, or press coverage. All I am concerned about are the daily needs of the victims. Th e other Bhopal movements, which are happening right now, are just for press coverage. Th ey are like the Anna Hazare movement: Dying for press coverage.

Why is your organisation called the ‘Mahila Udyog Sansthan’?

Most of the members are women. And they meet every Saturday at the Yaadgar-e-Shah-jahani Park and donate whatever they could. Th ey also embroider clothes and sell them to get money. Hence the name.What exactly does your organization want to achieve?

We just don’t want compensation. Our fi ght is with the Government. But it’s not like we will be very happy if the

Government is in trouble. We just want to create an example; an example so that another such tragedy does not happen. So that lives are taken care of. Th e Government has announced Rs.1, 265.56 crore relief and remediation package for 42,208 people out of the total 5, 48,245 gas aff ected victims. I doubt that. Why this discrimination? Just give proper medical support for all!

What explains your apathy for organizations like Greenpeace? Is it just because of the country of their origin?

America is the most powerful country and that is why I don’t trust it. Also, I am in no need of American funding. I have no faith in organizations like Greenpeace.

Your comments on the Nuclear Liability Bill?

What do you expect me to say about such a wrong bill? It is so wrong. A certain amount has been fi xed. So wrong it is. Th e economy today has become Pro-MNC. So-much-so, that the government doesn’t even care about human lives or the environment.

On the recent controversy regarding Jaitapur?

People today know what might happen. Th ey have seen it in Bhopal, in Fukushima. But still the government is hell bent on creating a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur. It’s just another example how the government is not learning from all these mistakes and still trying to make the power plant. Are they just trying take human lives?

On the ground scenario 27 years later: ... failing the Bhopal victims- the politicians, the media or the urban elite… who has failed you the most?

Don’t you think everyone has, in their own way? Okay I’ll leave out the poverty stricken people of India- but what about everyone else? Everyone has failed them. Still kids are being born with mental disabilities, poor memory or no eyesight at all. Everyone knows it is because of the MIC gas. But who cares? All the urban elites care about is the ‘Save Bhopal’ t-shirts which they wear during the court ruling which the media covers!


CHAW EITHEINBy Sayantan NeogiTTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt bbbbbbbbbbbbbboooooooooddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyy uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppp ffffffffffoooooooooooorrrrrrrrrr ssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg


Chaw Ei Th ein lives today in an apartment in Chelsea, New York; distanced but not detached from the streets of Yangon; the streets which still have memories of her childhood, her struggle; the streets which are still awestruck by

her performances. From a decomposing bed of bell peppers to blood smeared graffi ti to shaman-like routines, everything that Chaw has created and stood by, echoes the agony of the Burmese people. Her pieces may at times appear abstruse and plain weird, but it is a simple refl ection of an artist’s mind when that artist has been cornered and gnawed upon by a monstrous junta.

As an artist, her career has expanded outside of Myanmar. However, the exposure she received as a rising artist from Myanmar has made it impossible for her to return to her home country. Th ough not strictly an anti-governmentalist, she shows her sincere critical feelings towards the current Burmese policy through her art. People have also put her pictures on their blogs or websites which can be regarded as ‘against Myanmar policy’. All of these things can be deliberately twisted so that she may be arrested by the

Myanmar government once she goes back to her country.

Sometimes she feels guilty of leaving her country, because many people continue to fi ght for democracy and human rights while still residing in Myanmar. However, her family and many others tell her not to come back fearing death or prison. Her nationality makes it very diffi cult for her to live abroad, but she is strongly determined to hold on to her Burmese nationality because that is what defi nes Chaw Ei.

She says there are times when she feels too distressed, wanting to just give up on everything and go back home to Myanmar. But at the same time, she believes that the struggle will somehow lead her to fi gure out what she wants to be or what she wants to do in life.

“When I feel too depressed, a picture of Aung San Suu Kyi on my living room wall, brings a tear and yet gives me strength,” says Chaw. She tries to cope with the pain, and enjoy them, so that when she expresses something through art, the work is something that only Chaw Ei Th ein can create.


JANGARH SINGH SHYAMBy Mukherjee P.TTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt bbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuussssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh wwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh rrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeefffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuussssssssssseeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss ttttttttttttooooooooooooo bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaa sssssssssttttttttrrrrrrrrrroooooooookkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeee

I don’t know JangarhYet I know him Th at photograph of himWhich somebody gave meChanged

Into sepiaTurned into meTh e me ashamed of me.

Jagdish Swaminathan, the maverick genius, spotted a young Jangarh Singh Shyam at Verrier Elwin’s favourite Patangarh in 1982.

Living in the jungles of Mandla, not far from the present Bargi dam, Jangarh was a part of a unique lineage of the Pradhan Gond tribals, whose legacy

included those magic realist fi gures that dot the rock art motifs of Bhimbetka. Swaminathan brought him to Roopankar Museum, where he worked for 15 years, at the graphics workshop. Th e world of water-colour, paper, canvas, print-making, mixed media, charcoal, litho, clay relief all collided to great eff ects. His brush pounded


the landscape. Literally assaulted constructs.

By 1986 he had already received Shikhar Samman from the Madhya Pradesh Government.In 1990, he painted the main dome of Bharat Bhawan with the Gond deity Bardeo. And of course, the interiors of Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha for which he received seven lakh rupees. It was promptly re-distributed by him amongst the brotherhood of artists at Patangarh. Th e particular Bharat Bhawan mural that fascinates me shows birds of Gond myth mingling with aeroplanes and trees and animals. Th ere is a chilling multi-dimensional detail of a leaping tiger. Th e mutative power of every line in the mural creates a world of the fantastic. In 1998, his painting found place of pride with the likes of Francisco Clemente at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. In 1999, he did a collaborative piece with Bhuribai and two-Australian tribal artistes Kathy and Djambawa Marawii. However, the painting which I think is seminal in Indian art is Nevala Aur Baaz (2000), 56x71cms, acrylic-on-paper which depicts the story of the attacker and the attacked. An animal-like unfi nishedness pervaded the painting almost like the Firkaal dance of the Janumdih block of Singhbhum.

In 2001, Jangarh received a contract to go to an obscure Mithila Museum at Oike, Tokamache village in Niigata Prefecture. Set in a disused school building, about 5-hours ride from Tokyo, this museum had virtually no communication with the village it was located in. Th e museum had an earlier history of mistreatment with Madhubani artists, Ganga Devi, Shanti Devi and a few painters of the Warli tradition. Th e museum was headed by one Tokio Hasegawa. What was supposed to be three-month trip with

a measly payment of Rs. 12,000 per month turned into a nightmare. He was literally chained, his passport and return tickets taken away, visa-extended to July 27, 2001, payment next to minimal, almost locked in a room with dirt-like facilities and was subjected to a fusion of inhuman and sub-human torture.

On July 2, 2001 Jangarh hanged himself to death. His last letter said: “Th ere is something fi shy, I don’t think they’ll let me go. I am very unhappy... please consult my mother or soothsayer when will I be all right. I am surrounded by worries. I don’t know whether I will meet you again or not.”

Th e museum (read Mr. Hasegawa) refused to pay for the transportation of the corpse.

Finally, with a grant of Rs 5.70 lakhs from Shri Digvijay Singh, the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the corpse was brought back to the country. Th e so-called Delhi progressive artistes hardly dropped in to the condolence meeting. Aft er all he was an “other” (now of course fashionable for the so-called curators in the land of sub-alterns, post-modernists and public preachers). Why would they come?

It was the same city where one of the art gallery owners was shocked that Jangarh wore urban clothes. Th ey asked him to strip and stand with a loin cloth so that his works would then sell.

Jangarh was a father. His family still lives. With memories of displacement aft er the Narmada project.With memories of Katni – where India’s fi rst elected eunuch mayor Kamala Jaan was removed. Th e seat was reserved for women and the court ruled that a eunuch cannot be considered as one.

With memories of Gadia.With memories of the ‘other’.

We have to delve into that realm and understand that a tribal in a globalised rut would also imbibe the obvious of consumerism, fi guring out his own montage, creating his own motifs.

“I have read colonial novels. My usual quota of ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Oliver Twist’, Joseph Conrad, Joyce Carey and Graham Greene. But I had to represent the historical background of Europe from the African perspective. While reading ‘Heart of Darkness’, I realise that one of the savages jumping up and down on that beach...once that enlightenment comes to you…you realize someone had to write a diff erent story.” Chinua Achebe

Jangarh was writing his story. And they failed him.

Like Biko, Ken Siro Wiwa, Chuni Kotal. Th ings fall apart. Th ings keep falling apart. Th ings still keep falling apart. Th ings are still falling apart. Th ings heal. Th ings hurt. One thing makes the other thing remember.

Th ings are forgotten. Th e centre really cannot hold.

Every Gond artiste, now practicing their art owes their debt to Jangarh. Be it Subhash, Durga, Bhajju, Ganga... he opened windows.

With his life.


AMANTEHREEKBy Raza Ahmad RumiTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt ccccccccccccccoooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccccccttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeee oooooooooooffffffffffffff ccccccccccccccllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnncccccccccchhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddd fififififififififififi sssssssssttttttttttsssssssss


The Indian subcontinent’s northwest is the tragic inheritor of a brutal colonial past. Th e province of Khyber-

Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were considered to be the buff er zones between the old Russian Empire and British India. Later these areas became the last frontiers of the “free world” and playgrounds for containment of the Soviet Union. Th e conclusive battle fought through Afghan Mujahideen with supplies from Pakistan’s northwest altered the local society by unleashing the forces of extremism, drug trade and a culture of violence that is now a pervasive reality in Pakistan. Th e last decade has been disastrous for the Pakhtuns on both sides of the Durand Line. On the Pakistani side, the poverty-stricken men of FATA have been recruited as fodder for the jihad industry, as recruits of various Taliban outfi ts, and as foot-soldiers of the global Al-Qaeda menace. Other nationalities and communities within Pakistan have joined the jihadist ranks but the poor Pakhtuns have borne the brunt of the ill-conceived policies of the US and rank opportunism of Pakistan’s national security apparatus. In these turbulent times, an umbrella coalition of activists, academics and

secular opinion makers of KPK and FATA have formed Aman Tehreek (AT) formally launched in 2009 with the support of Aryana Institute of Regional Research and Advocacy. Literally meaning the movement for peace, the AT is a bold endeavour to challenge the narrative of Pakistan’s security apparatus which justifi es jihadism as a reaction to the US occupation of Afghanistan and glorifi es the Islamist politics over the mainstream moderate political cadres of the Awami National Party (a Pakistani avatar of the pre-1947 of Khudai Khidmatgar Movement). In an environment riddled by deep insecurity and Taliban adventurism, it is exceptionally brave of AT to articulate a counter narrative on terrorism and radicalisation of KPK as well as Pakistan. During the 2009 crisis emanating from the Pakistan’s army action against the Taliban, the AT was involved in helping out thousands of internally displaced persons. Th is was a moment when over half a million peaceful Pakhtuns were made to leave their homes while Pakistan army bombed Taliban hideouts. AT continued its engagement with political parties and other powerful actors in the region, thereby avoiding the classic mistakes made by the so-called civil society in South Asia. Its major contribution to date is

getting most stakeholders to agree to a momentous agenda known as the Peshawar Declaration (2010). Th is Declaration is a consensus document that addresses the issue of terrorism in a wider perspective. It identifi es Talibanisation, sectarianism and kidnapping for ransom as three existing forms of terrorism and is clear on the need to counter Al-Qaeda as well as the ‘strategic depth’ policy of Pakistan’s security establishment. “Th e purpose of this [strategic depth] policy is to use Jihadi culture in order to counter India, protect nuclear weapons, subjugate Afghanistan and making it the fi ft h province of Pakistan or give it Azad Kashmir like status...” says the Declaration. Taking a unique stance on drone attacks, the Declaration says: “If the people of the war-aff ected areas are satisfi ed with any counter militancy strategy, it is the drone attacks which they support the most.” Th e Declaration also demystifi ed the myths constructed by Pakistan’s right wing that considers drones to be the major cause of violence in Pakistan. Taking such categorical positions is not an easy task in Pakistan. AT therefore has emerged as an iconic voice challenging the dangerous policy of attaining strategic depth at the cost of destroying the lives of millions living in Pakistan’s northwest.


KALPANACHAKMABy Mukherjee P.

TTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttt eeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnndddddddddddllllllllleeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssss wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttt ttttttttttoooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrdddddddddddddddddssssssssssss nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee


Let’s look at the geography fi rst. Nestled between Tripura on the north and Mizoram on the east, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) occupies

a physical area of 5.093 sq. miles which translates to about 10 per cent of the total land area of Bangladesh and constitutes three key districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari. Inspite and despite the famed peace accord and more than 10 genocides before that, CHT is still simmering. And my feet still gets burnt. So where do I stand here?Tell me....Where do I stand? Stand with Kalpana Chakma or forget about her? Stand on the edge of the narratives that form on the Agartala-Khowai road and remember the Kalpana of Bangladesh.....remember her each time I set foot on that cliff of the Baramura Hill Range or each time I dig into memories of others while probing Kamalnagar and Baralunga massacres… each of the missing Chakmas… the lost conscience of Cholesh Richil (killed in Bangladesh) or all those displaced in Tripura… (If we were to take a family of fi ve as a basic means for calculation, then the fi gure as per December 1, 2005 would read as a sum-total of 1, 24,800 people displaced).Here’s a document:

Kalpana’s letter to Shaikat Dewan 1/4/96Shaikat Da,Greetings. I got your letter yesterday. We are in good health. But I feel unsure. Something terrible might happen any moment. I am very worried.News from here – on 28.2.96 a miscreant called Ishak was taken away. Since then the Bengalis have wanted to attack the Paharis. In this agitated situation, the third annual conference of Pahari Chhatra Parishad’s branch was successfully held on 7.3.96 (according to its earlier schedule). A nineteen-member Th ana Committee has been formed with Purba Ranjan as the President, Dharanimoy, its Secretary, and Prabir, its Organising Secretary. Th e Baghaicchori branch held a cultural programme for the fi rst time, where the

1988 play ‘Norok’ was staged.And [news from] there, Bengali agitation has increased since 11.3.96. Th ey have been holding meetings and processions. Paharis have become fearful, ‘ready to fl ee’ at any moment. But I was not here. I had gone to Barkal on organisational work. I returned on the 13th and heard the details. Bengalis have forbidden Paharis from entering the bajar area or Bengali neighbourhoods; they have even forbidden Paharis to talk to Bengalis. Aft er this, the work of uniting Paharis began. In other words, resisting attacks in the whole Kassalong area. Guarding at night has begun. On the other hand, Lieutenant Ferdous, the army camp commander of our village, has made false promises to village elders, and held meetings with them. Many other incidents, small in nature, have kept occurring. Especially, since the Bengalis have targetted four of our neighbouring villages including Battala.In this situation, on the 19th of March, cries were heard all over Kassalong, and that infamous Lieutenant Ferdous came to our New Lallyaghona village and burnt down 9 homes that belonged to 7 families. Th ey beat up the Pahari nightguards most severely. Aft er this, the DC, SP and Communications Committee ( JSS) Secretary Mathura Lal Chakma held meetings which calmed the situation somewhat. Th ey were told that if Ishak was not released by the 5th [of April], Bengalis were likely to muddy the waters further. Th e DC and SP are unable to bring the situation under control. At present, people are fearful of what might happen aft er the 5th. We are leading uncertain lives.It is Bengalis who are behind this agitation and this time we have been able to teach them a lesson. Usually, Paharis fl ee from their villages but now they go to those very places from where you can hear cries. Bengalis, indisciplined as they are, have been taken aback by this unity and are afraid, along with the others. Th e administration has also witnessed this unity.Th e present situation: Baghaicchori is

isolated from all other parts. Chakma telephone lines have been cut, Paharis are not given access to other lines. We are not allowed to go to the marketplace. Maybe there will be no postal communication until the situation calms down. Maybe there will be no letters even.Th at’s all for now. Lastly, I send you advanced Boishabi greetings.YoursKC

PS: I wrote this letter hurriedly. If my sentences are awkward, please correct them.

(Shaikat Dewan is a member of Pahari Chhatra Parishad. Source: Kalpana Chakmar Diary, Dhaka: Hill Women’s Federation, 2001, pp. 69-70)

Cut to June 12, 1996… at 1:30am...dead in the night Lieutenant Ferdous (who earlier had met Kalpana and had heated exchanges with her) and about 8 others in plainclothes enter Kalpana’s house. Th ey instruct her and her brothers Khudiram and Kalicharan, to accompany them.

Kalpana of course never came back. Her body has not been found. Lists of such disappearances are growing and will always be incomplete. As would be this despatch. Such despatches are an endless loop....what else can it do but to stare at the shards of the memory... the ruptures of the memory and that haunting spectre: would she ever come back? Knowing the obvious. And decided fate.

Th at of being methodically eliminated.

Th at of us waiting for Kalpana to come back. And wait endlessly...


GADDARBy Sumanta MukherjeeTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddd cccccccccccccllllllllllllllooooooooooooooottttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuu ccccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnn’’’’’’tttttttt pppppppppppoooooooooosssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiibbbbbbbbbblllllllllyyyyyyyyyyy ssssssssstttttttaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnn


“Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as Gaddar, (born 1949) is a pseudonym

of a revolutionary Telugu balladeer and vocal Naxalite activist from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.” Th us goes the introduction of the entry under his name in Wikipedia, with the terms “Telugu balladeer” and “Naxalite activist” hyper-linked to two diff erent entries under them. Th is may mislead one to think that there are two facets of his existence. In reality, he is a revolutionary activist, who has politicized the folk form. He sings revolution. Well, he doesn’t just sing. He breathes life into lyrics through Ata (dance), Pata (song) and Mata (speech). So the result is not just performance but an audiovisual communication with the audience, who mainly belong to the oppressed sections of society. Th ey can easily identify with a man, in his sixties, dressed like a goatherd, dancing and singing in the peoples’ language, to peoples’ tune. Such is the magic of

his performance that you oft en see policemen, meant to maintain law and order in presence of this “biggest threat to the nation”, dancing to his tune! Th at truly portrays the spirit of “festival of the oppressed,” as the revolution is described by Trotsky!

Gaddar is a cultural phenomenon, who has seamlessly blended the folk culture of the toiling masses with revolutionary ideals and has created an idiom beyond clichéd political rhetoric. All his songs (over 3000) and more than 35 audio cassettes are packed with tales of oppression of peasants, labourers, women, dalits, and the urge to liberate them. People rush to halls to hear him singing songs in support of the Telengana movement in movies. In fact the language of the marginalized sections of the society fi rst found its place in the mainstream written text because of Gaddar and his organization, Jana Natya Mandali.

As a member of the militia of the erstwhile CPI (M-L) PW, Gaddar

has extensively travelled through our forests. He is intrinsic to the Indian context of Mao’s New Democratic Revolution. He had even acted as a peace emissary on behalf of his party, to Andhra Pradesh Government between 2001-05 but the talks failed. In today’s UAPA-threatened country, he openly admits his political beliefs.

He has trawled though large swathes of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha with his troupe, has felt the pulse of rural India, and has mobilized them like no other. Th e State is well aware of his capabilities, and has tried to gag him several times by putting him into jail and banning him from public activities. Th ere have been assassination attempts as well. With a bullet still lodged in his body, jumping and rolling on stage, presenting his red kerchief sometimes as a rifl e of a guerrilla squad member and sometimes as a sickle of a landless peasant, with occasional growling and humming to create the right ambience, there is no stopping Gaddar!


ASMAJAHANGIRBy Raza Ahmad RumiTTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt ssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee ooooooooooooooffffffffffffff jjjjjjjjjjjjuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeee wwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh nnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddssssssssss ttttttttoooooooooo bbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeee dddddddddooooooooonnnnnnneeeeeeeeee


Frail yet energetic with sparkling eyes, Asma Jahangir appears to be just another urban professional from anywhere in South

Asia. However few men and women match her vigour, commitment and struggle for upholding and defending human rights. A trained lawyer and a compulsive activist, she is recognized as a global icon of resistance against arbitrary state excesses. Her thirty year career in Pakistan has entailed much toil, protracted struggles and her life has been in danger for many years now.For her stellar contributions, Jahangir was appointed the Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission of Human Rights in 1998. Since 2004 she has been the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief and currently she is the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Pakistan.

Under the brutal dictatorship of the Islamofascist Zia-ul-Haq, Asma Jahangir, together with her lawyer-activist sister, Hina Jilani, was instrumental in setting up Women’s Action Forum (WAF). General Zia’s arbitrary and discriminatory legislation against women spurred a unique reaction from urban feminists of Pakistan which later served as a catalyst for anti-dictatorship public movements.

To protect women, children and

minorities from the heavy handedness of a patriarchal state and society, Jahangir and her sister also set up the fi rst legal aid organization of its kind in 1980. Later, this legal aid cell known as AGHS expanded by creating a women’s shelter called ‘Dastak’ (literally a knock on the door). Perhaps the most transformational contribution of Asma Jahangir has been providing leadership and direction to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan set up in 1987, which has now turned into the largest human rights network operating at the grassroots level and a major challenger to the rottenness of Pakistan’s post-colonial state apparatus. As the chairperson and the secretary-general of the HRCP, Asma Jahangir has been critical without fear or favour. She has been critical of the military, the judiciary and the political executive and has managed to stay non-partisan in the factionalised polity of Pakistan.

Few activists in Pakistan risk their lives to protect the minorities under the odious blasphemy laws introduced by the colonists; and fewer refuse to leave the country when threatened by all and sundry. Asma Jahangir has remained consistent and unwavering throughout her stellar career. As a young lawyer, she fi led a petition against the martial law of General Yahya Khan and her valiant struggle against General Musharraf has made her the enemy numero uno of the security establishment. Recently

she has set another precedent by taking on the generals on national television and calling them ‘dangerous duff ers’ and promoters of suicide bombers and terrorists. Above all, throughout her struggle in Pakistan, Asma Jahangir has supported Indo-Pak relations and openly criticized the skewed national security doctrines of the state. Asma Jahangir is recipient of several national awards, including Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Distinction) in 1995. In recognition of her services in the fi eld of human rights, she was awarded the American Bar Association International Human Rights Award in 1992 and the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1995. She was also honoured with the Bernard Simons Memorial Award of the International Bar Association in 2000. She has authored two books: ‘Divine Sanction? Th e Hudood Ordinance’ (1988) and ‘Children of a Lesser God: Child Prisoners of Pakistan’ (1992). In 2011, she has also received the highest civilian honour from the present democratic government. She is on record for having rejected off ers to accept offi cial posts such as judge of the Superior Courts and Minister for Law.

Pakistan is lucky to have an Asma Jahangir who represents the national conscience and a vociferous defender of citizen rights and public interest .


VIPLOBPRATIKBy Mukherjee. PTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaatttttttttt dddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddd pppppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn sssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyoooooooooopppppppppiiiiiiiicccccccc tttttttiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss

Between journalism, copy editing, fi lms, lyrics and activism, Viplob Pratik has worn diff erent hats....but poetry is his destination.

His fi nal refuge. And his strength. Many believe that Viplob Pratik is a romantic bard but I disagree with them. Completely.

I think Viplobda’s work has a deep

rooted social realism. He is an astute student of the imaginary class culture by which we have divided South Asia and identities. And that is why, when he writes:

instead of the himalayamake a mountain of corpsesand render it as tall as is possibletransform the colour of the riverand let blood fl ow there

let the fi elds, animals and humans drink fr om that blood-riverto satisfy their thirst.turn the lake into a fi replaceand there burn the desire for peacethen gorge yourself on the barbecue of innocents. mount a stake near the churchadorn a funeral pyre near the templeslit open throats near the monastery


dig a grave near the mosque. take a manand poke him, crush him, disfi gure him, jab his brainsgouge out his eyes, pinch his nostrilssilence his mouth with stone and drive a nail into his earsmake a hole in his chest, mash up his ribs, chop up his livergrate his stomachmake a hole in his chest, pull out his manhoodmake minced meat out of his ankles and feet. but, keep the heart beating, retain his consciousnesssave the very man you have torturedso that man breathing his lastwill signal you with his eyebrowsto fi nish him off and bless youfor taking his life without delay. this is how it should bethis is how you have to make your mountain of corpsesset the blood-river fl owing; bring about the monsoon of tears.this is how you win the war. Th is is how you win the war.

I don’t know what is political if this is not.

On a late evening in a Th amel hotel, I still remember a shared solidarity of images over Kishore Kumar, Talat Mehmood and Viplobda’s favourite single malt. As the evening was melting into the night and as the Th amel crowd became increasingly noisy, I could hear a pencil thin voice reading out:

............me and the ashes of my dreams.waft ing, fl oatingparagliding, doing acrobaticsgoing round and round the city

I suddenly give a start – I have arrived very close to your window.

the storm predictably makes you shut your windowjust like the othersmy good lucka bit of me manages to squeeze inand stick to your hair, lips and bosomthe rest of megets scattered someplace in this cruel city.you are making love again in your warm room...................

Th is is where the defi ning personal moment becomes a mirror. Th is is where when you write about sex... you don’t get into the triteness of the body but the soundscape of the moan... and circles become a square and words become sweat that you wish away but keep coming back.

I think this is where I fi nd Viplobda closest to the Indra Bahadur Rai school of writing. He plays with the mundane and craft s moments where the nothing that happens become the only subject of discussion.

One of the fi nest South Asian poets, Viplob Pratik still kisses the moon, still stands by in a dark night in Basantapur and has his Bhupi Sherchen moment of making the metaphors, his mistress and as he ambles back home in Kathmandu or Texas... he says:

once upon a timethrough a latticed window in jailI used to steal a piece of light fr om the sun.

but today, I am very close to the lightit brushes past me constantly during the course of its walkI get wet to my bones with lightit is only too natural that I fi nd it ticklishsometimes I feel like jumping

sometimes I feel like shouting with joyI realizeand people also say“one shouldn’t become arrogant in pleasureand panic in the face of sorrow”but my compulsion to do so is inherent to the nature of mankind.

if I let the truth be knownwithout swimming in the lake of principlesI am drenched to my bones with light.

I am rather excited today

We are excited too, Viplobda… as we walk on the cobblestoned path of myths, metaphors and imageries. As we await your fi rst novel... body isn’t abouthymen or hyphenperformance or its anxietyolder cliches versus newer cliches

In between that lonely space which we occupy between body politic and bawdy politic, some images are trapped. Viplobda’s poetry is a faithful record of those trapped images.

Meanwhile, it’s raining in Kathmandu and we are all getting drenched... and Viplobda is talking to us about the mundane daily apocalypse which we miss out

… in the end, everyone gets to have a taste of herbut she never gets to have a tasteof the vultures that have had a taste of her....

We know her. And we don’t care. And we don’t care about the fact that we don’t care.


AYESHASIDDIQABy Raza Ahmad RumiTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt iiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmppppppppppppooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeee ooooooooooooooooffffffffffffffff eeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooootttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn oooooooooovvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr eeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooottttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccooooooooonnnnnnnnnssssssss


Pakistan’s scholar-activist Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa has emerged as a major challenger to the Praetorian state. Few Pakistani scholars

have analysed the gradual capture of economy by Pakistan’s powerful military. Her book, ‘Military Inc’, published and launched under Musharraf ’s authoritarian regime unpacks the economic empire that the Pakistan military has created over the decades; thereby becoming a major testament of sorts. Siddiqa’s book and her scholarship, it should be noted, have come at a major cost: her life was threatened and later her anti-jihadi views have made her a target of the Frankenstein[s] nurtured by the state.Despite huge data constraints, Siddiqa concluded that the Pakistan army wanted to keep its fi rm control over the politics of the country as it wants to protect the economic empire built up over the years. ‘Military Inc’ estimates the net worth of the Pakistan military empire or milibus (as she refers to it in her book) at $20.7 billion. Th is is a low fi gure given that access to data on military managed corporations and indirect control of business is diffi cult if not impossible. ‘Military Inc’ created a storm in Pakistan and was banned initially aft er its release in Pakistan.

She believes that the military is also trying to exercise intellectual control

through infl uencing the narrative both on the left and right of the ideological divide.

Dr. Siddiqa was the Pakistan scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars at Washington D.C from 2004 till 2005 and is a Ford Fellow. She completed her PhD in War Studies at Kings College London in 1996. Siddiqa is known as an independent, fearless author, columnist and security analyst in a country where most such analysts are directly or indirectly infl uenced by the national security agencies.

Interestingly, Dr Siddiqa started her career as a civil servant; and was part of the state apparatus for 11 years. During her stint with the Government she also served as the fi rst woman Director of Naval Research Pakistan. During these productive years, she fi gured out who controlled the state and how the resources were generated and allocated in the country. Her resignation and decision to speak the truth was unusual and her foray into academia, journalism and activism has earned her the reputation of being ‘tough’ and ‘uncompromising’. Her other books include ‘Pakistan’s Arms and Military Buildup’, and ‘In Search of Policy’.

Electric and sharp in her wit, Siddiqa is also a sensitive human being. She hails

from Southern Punjab – the land of Sufi s, jogis and a secular culture. In the recent years she has also documented the unfortunate attempts at radicalization in the region. Siddiqa’s 2010 story on the madrassas and what they teach to young minds was a groundbreaking and well-acclaimed report within and outside the country.

A serious scholar and contributor to academic journals such as the Journal for Defence and Peace Economics and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Siddiqa also knows how to laugh, enjoy music, nature and farming. Most TV channels are shy of inviting her for she cannot be infl uenced to spin anything. Similarly, the security establishment sends her regular messages on her ‘one-track’ intellectualism; and ‘wasted’ talents. Of course, if the talents are not in service of power, they are considered wasted in Pakistan.

Siddiqa’s mother was a renowned writer in Urdu language. Her magnum opus ‘Dasht-i-Soos’ narrated the tale of Mansoor Hallaj, the great mystic of XX century who defi ed the formal religious and political establishment; and was executed on uttering Anal Haq (I am the Truth). Given the immortalisation of Hallaj by her mother, Siddiqa lives upto her mother’s ideal – the ever defying seeker of truth.


KOPAKUNJAMBy Sayan BhattacharyaTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt ppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllll sssssssssssspppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddd ooooooooooooooofffffffff oooooooooouuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrsssssssss


It may be a mere coincidence that the date of Kopa Kunjam’s arrest (10th December 2009) coincides with the International Human Rights Day. But when

thousands of farmers commit suicide while diff erent draft s of the Food Security Bill fl oat around the corridors of Delhi, when deformed limbs stare at a beaming Hillary Clinton pushing for a Nuclear Liability Bill, when a lady fasts for more than a decade but still remains unheard, the dichotomy of the Indian ‘democracy’ and human rights is self evident!

One can’t help the sense of déjà vu if bare facts are stated. But even then, some facts are necessary as so little of them come on our telly or newsprint. Kopa is an Adivasi and that too an activist and yes he was associated with Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (the ashram that was demolished because it had committed the cardinal mistake of

denouncing Salwa Judum and was into providing basic health care and education in the remote regions of Bastar) and also exposed State collusion in the Matwada (SPOs killed tribals) and Singaram (more tribals killed by more SPOs) massacre. To add to that Kopa was working to ensure that displaced adivasis received adequate compensation, as stipulated by the Supreme Court, that payments of the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) were disbursed and he also exposed corruption (Hazare’s civil society please take note that this word is not just limited to the urban lexicon) in the implementation of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) and PDS (Public Distribution System which threatens to be taken over by Nilekani’s food stamps)! So isn’t it a given that so many ‘anti-State’ activities mean that you are seditious (yes the word fi nally appears!)? And ‘seditious’ people are not supposed

to roam free unless Supreme Court intervenes (read Binayak Sen)! But then in a democracy, you need ‘evidence’ to incarcerate someone. So here comes the comic interlude- you get arrested for murdering the man you tried to save! So the police arrested him six months aft er the murder of Punem Honga, whereas all he tried was to shield Punem and others from the crossfi re between the State and the Naxalites. Th e rest is a saga of rejected bails and more appeals.

Th is July the Supreme Court has outlawed the Salwa Judum. Th ere is ‘A Free Kopa Kunjam’ group on Facebook and on the day I fi le this piece, 964 people have ‘like’d the page. Th ere is also some reading material on him on the net but by and large, our media has not yet taken up his ‘story’. What would make his case as cool as the ‘Free Binayak Sen’ campaign?


JOSHYJOSEPHBy Mukherjee. PTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt ccccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaa wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhh sssssssssssssstttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyysssssssssssss pppppppppppppppuuuuuuuuuttttttttttt


There are so many things on which I disagree with Joshy Joseph. To start with, about a Bengali theatre actor who had no

clue of performing to camera (hence, he brought in some dripping melodrama) in an otherwise brilliantly directed fi lm called ‘Imaginary Line’.

I also have a strong diff erence of opinion with Joshy about how we look at activism and art and it is precisely that... or shall I say this diff erence of opinion is what attracts me to Joshy’s cinema. Th ere is a democratic sense of pluralism that is a hallmark of his works. For the record, Joshy Joseph has won six national awards. Th ey are for ‘Sarang (Sustainable Agricultural Research and Natural Guidance)- Symphony in Cacophony’(for the Best Motivational/Promotional Film in 1998); for ‘Sentence of Silence’ that won the National Award for the Best Film on Family Welfare in 1999(the fi lm about Indian Catholic Church’s stance on divorce resulted in the enactment of a new statute of the Indian Marriage Act); ‘Bamboo Blooms(on the fl owering of Bamboo in north-east India)’ won the National Award for Best fi lm on Environmental Issues in 2000; ‘Wearing the Face(on the issue of identity using Manipuri rickshaw pullers as a metaphor)’ won the National Award for the Best Investigative Film in 2001; ‘Making the Face’ (on transexual Manipuri make-up artiste Tom Sharma) won the National Award for the Best Film on

Family Welfare in 2009 and jointly the National Award for Film Criticism in the year 2011.

Interestingly, my favourites are none of the above. Th ere are two remarkable short fi lms called ‘Status Quo’ and ‘Mobile’. Th e latter, to me, would be a milestone in the annals of Films Division documentary works (and mind you this list includes Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mani Kaul, M.F. Husain, Aribam Shyam Sharma and Kumar Shahani among others). Two of the most memorable shots in the fi lm being-a young woman with a mobile on a rickshaw as if to confront the two worlds and of course a wonderful dose of humour when a teacher while teaching the word assassination, fi nally reduces the word to ass.

His two fi lms on Mahasweta Devi (‘Journey’ and ‘Close Up’ respectively) are important works that look at the life of the fi rebrand activist, not as a biopic but as an exploration of certain moods. Both the fi lms are studies in contrasts. Journey is very outdoor... a road fi lm, where the camera from the backseat of the car becomes an extended imaginary microphone and ‘Close-Up’ is very interior, where the camera caresses the face, catches the eye within the frame, almost like a home video, yet with a luminous quality of self-introspection.Th e strength of Joshy’s work is the use of silence. Most of his fi lms create a multiple layer of voice, inner voice, vocal voice (sic-so what) and the silent one. So, you keep oscillating between half-said words, micro-moments,

conjectures and then an explosion of reality. Th e hard hitting Joshy of ‘Waking Dead’ (about a number of people in Uttar Pradesh who have been listed as dead and now need to prove that they are alive), the probing Joshy of ‘Making the Face’ and the calm Joshy looking at hangman Nata Mullick’s dilemna metamorphose into an angry Joshy.

Th ere are things that I agree with him. To start with our shared love for Arvindan and John Abraham. Our shared stance against the minority who hijack a case to turn into a sympathy/protest industry (the latest in the line are the Irom Sharmila solidarity groups-not all-but the most prominent two of them) or about how we travel to uncreated ghettos only to be trapped inside a new one.

I could imagine Joshy walking on the footpath towards the legendary Oly pub (I will stick to the famous short form) with a camera in front of him. And then with a short sharp laughter say: is this walk fi ctional or real?

Real. Dear Joshy. Very, very real. Which is why all categories are humbugs. And no we CANNOT re-interpret them... we DISPENSE with them...and that day the fi ction of the documentary and reality of the feature would merge. Even if for a moment.Joshy Joseph is searching for that moment.

So am I.


CGNETSWARABy Sayan BhattacharyaTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt uuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnn ccccccccccccccoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeecccccccccccctttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssiiiiiiiiidddddddddddeeeeeeee ttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeee dddddddddddeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnsssssssssseeeeeeee ffffffffoooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeessssssssssstttttttttt


CWG, 2G, Adarsh, Cash for votes, Pakistan, Ruchika, Lokpal, Dhoni, Baby B… well these news have and defi nitely will

continue to feed the media space or rather our mind space but there are also names crying out from the margins, stories of our vast majority, stories that are so commonplace that ironically, either we choose to ignore them or they just fail to break through the ever expanding barriers be it language, geographical, historical or digital. So when you hear a Bindeshwari Lal Painkra from Kanchnar Adivasi Samiti in Sitapur block of Surguja, Chattisgarh report how nobody in his block has received a single rupee under the National Rural Employment Act even aft er working for the stipulated 100 days or a KM Bhai from Kanpur tell the story of Bhola who attempted suicide out of hunger, you can’t not take note. A single number in Bangalore has come as a harbinger of hope, to be more apt, the voice for the country’s lakhs of disenfranchised adivasis, mostly in Chattisgarh followed by Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and

even parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. So whether it is about the arrest of human rights activists for protesting forceful land acquisition or people dying of snake bite or malaria during the monsoons, a Gondi or anyone can call up this number and report. A group of journalists moderate the calls and then they are up for playback, online (cgnetswara.org) as well as over phone for all to hear, discuss, debate and most importantly to act on. And when you fi nd that one such call led the Chattisgarh government to deliver 12 quintals of rice to the impoverished children of the anganvadi of a displaced village of the Achanakmar Tiger reserve, the fi rst such delivery in 5 months, or when you read Hindu or TOI report how 3 villages in Dantewada were set on fi re (that again aft er they heard the CGNET calls), this March, by armed troopers, anyone can fathom the diff erence between a 36 page eloquent discourse (now a book) on tribal welfare and a grassroots initiative.

As it is most of the media in the central tribal belt are owned by corporates with stakes in mining, steel and power. So

the state of aff airs has to be oxymoronic where proceedings of public hearings on land acquisition are not even faithfully reported in the media. To add to that is the problem of language and geography. With our media, almost conjoined to Delhi (note how for an Anna Hazare to become a ‘Gandhi’, the venue has to be Jantar Mantar), who would hear the Gonds? On the contrary are the Maoists, who produce most of their literature in local languages. It required a Shubhranshu Choudhary to address this vacuum. A former reporter with BBC, he conceived CGNet Swara. With technological knowhow from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he started CGNet in February 2010. We have our tweets, blogs to raise the heat on urban crises but in a country where literacy rates are abysmal- so forget internet penetration-mobile penetration is a boon. And that is what Choudhury has used. Th e least we can do is call (080) 4113 7280 and listen in to the resilient, ignored, brutalized, suppressed and timeless realities and maybe even tweet about them (if not more!).


SHUBHRANSHU CHOUDHARY

By Sayan Bhattacharya

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA fifififififififififififififififi rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttt ooooooooooooooooooooooooffffffffffffff iiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttssssssssssssssssss kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddddddddddddddddddddddd eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxpppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnttttttttttttttttttt iiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn tttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllllllllldddddddddddddddd aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddd aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ssssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssfffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulllllllllllllllllllll oooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttt tttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttt........ MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttt SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubbbbbbbbbbbbbbhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuu CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCChhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudddddddddddddddddddddhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnndddddddddddddddddddd CCCCCCCCCCCCCCGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......

It’s been almost one and a half years since the launch of CGNet Swara, how has the journey been?

It has been very exciting because what we did not understand before-when I say ‘we’ and ‘I’, I mean as a journalist in India or the world- is that majority of the people are oral in nature. Th ey

are more comfortable speaking and listening rather than reading and writing and it is the whole process of democratization of media. So when you make a platform which is based on voice, based on oral traditions, then people are more comfortable in taking part in it. What we have been seeing is vey good participation from

people, even when I say people; they are mostly lesser educated people from remote areas. Th ey are reporting, talking about their lives, the world around them. When I use the word ‘reporting’, it means trained reporting abilities but none of our reporters are trained. So it’s a benchmark. So, people have this weapon, if I can use this word,


IIIIIIIIIIIIInnnnnnnnnnnnnn cccccccccccccoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

of mobile phone and they have things which they want to talk about, now they have this platform where they have been speaking, using this tool in their language and voice. So far, it has been a very enriching experience for all of us.

On paper, the idea looks a little improbable because disenfranchised people calling up a number in Bangalore, with their myriad problems, yet we see so many of their grievances are actually being addressed because of this platform. So, how did you start receiving the attention of the mainstream media?

See, when you say that the number is in Bangalore, the number need not remain there because what we are doing is an experiment and when you fi nd that an experiment is successful and delivering, then you can take that number nearer to people which we hope to do now. We have been experimenting for the last one and a half years and you very rightly said that it is the fi rst experiment of this kind in the world. We are experimenting whether mobile as a tool, voice as a platform work. What is happening in rural India is known to people in rural India but they are handicapped with two things- one is that they do not know the language of the people who can make the change, i.e. Hindi or English, and second is that they also do not know who these people are. And the problem with people like you and me is- the urban activists that is- we live in the cities. Our strength is that we know the right language and the right people but on most occasions we do not know the real situation because we do not travel to rural areas and specifi cally speaking tribal areas, we do not know the language also. As for instance, I do not know many journalists who know Gondi language or any tribal languages. So, what this platform does is simply link that connectivity between rural activism and urban activism. So, a person who lives in a rural area and has a problem, uses the language she knows, records that message in that platform and some moderators translate it into a language which is known to urban activists. Th ey then

take that problem to the right forum, may be to the ministry, to a newspaper or a court or wherever. So, we see some action and that completes this loop. When we at CGNet started looking at it, what we understood is that of course there are Maoists, of course there are Naxals, there are left and right wing extremists in every society but as we say jokingly sat that there are more left -wing extremists in Delhi or in London than in Bastar but it does not become a problem in London because these one or two people do not get joined by 95 people who are not Maoists. When we as journalists, go to a village in Chattisgarh, and because there are no tribal journalists and no journalists who understand the tribal languages, we end up reaching only a tiny minority of tribal upper class. Now an opinion of an upper class tribal may be of the majority as well but what is happening with this huge chunk of lower people or tribal community is that their views are not getting refl ected, their problems are not getting highlighted because of the problem of the language. Let’s say if you were reporting about poverty in Calcutta and you spoke only with the people who spoke English since you know only English and you had no translator, so that would be bad reporting and that’s the kind of reporting that is happening in the tribal areas. So those 95 lower class people continue to remain unhappy. So what happens is that there are these Maoists and these 95 people who are not able to communicate because of these structural problems, are actually joining the Maoists though they are neither Maoists nor do they understand what they are talking about and it becomes India’s biggest internal security threat. So, what we are trying to do here is bridge this gap which exists between the rich and poor, between the tribals and the mainstream and the tool for that is a platform which is based on voice and a tool which is now available to majority of the people, i.e. mobile phone.

You have a Kashmir, you also have a POSCO issue in Odisha, and there are so many stories that are waiting to be told, so, any plans for expansion?

See, what we are doing is an experiment to democratize India and if it turns out to be useful, then people from all over will repeat or duplicate this experiment and that was the whole idea behind this experiment. As you said there are issues in Kashmir or in POSCO, if they want to use the platform we have created, they are welcome to do that. And if they want to create their own platform, our soft ware is available on the website for download, they can start their own channel. We are trying to completely change the media fi eld. If you look at the media, see you and I who are paid by a capital; capital which is concentrated in the cities, which is concentrated with the rich people, they employ people like you and me and we go down to the people to fi nd out about them. It’s a top down approach; media is one of the most undemocratic institutions in today’s world. Before 1947, only two people decided what is good and what is bad but the same thing continues in journalism today. People like you and me, who are very small in number, we decide what is good. We decide that 100,000 people came in the city of Delhi, we put out a picture of a traffi c jam this morning and say 5,000 people demonstrated in Jantar Mantar, that becomes news for 24x7. We decide, not the people. So, what we are trying to do is change this paradigm completely, make it upside down and make it democratic. We have to lower the entry level of journalism to democratize it and for doing so, the tool is voice and mobile phone and these kind of platforms which we are creating. So, let people report about what is happening around them, let hundreds and thousands of voices come to these kinds of platforms and people like us should crosscheck and verify this information which is coming from them. Th e power of deciding what news is and what is not should be shift ed from us to the people

What kind of infrastructural and fi nancial problems do you face and what is your fi nancial backing?

We do not have any fi nancial backing at the moment. Th e soft ware was created


by MIT as a student project. As you very rightly said, our only station is in Bangalore, so a person who stays in Chattisgarh and is a tribal and poor, for them, to call Bangalore it costs them some 5-10 rupees per call, so that may not be big money for us but it is quite a lot for them. So, what we do now is subsidise that call by calling that person when that person leaves a missed call, but that is not our fi nal model. Right now the server is sitting in Bangalore and so the people have to make long distance calls but if we can have servers closer to the people, the calls will become local and costs will be much cheaper. Th en the cost of the project will also be less. We are currently experimenting, buying machines as this is the fi rst such experiment in the world. So the cost is high and it is supported by a fellowship from the International Centre for Journalists.

Considering the number of calls you receive, there has to be a screening process. What is your editorial policy on that?

Editorial policy is that we are just a platform. We do not decide anything, people send us what they think is important to them. We do our normal journalistic checks that the call should be factual. It should not be an insinuation; the language should not be abusive. It’s normal journalistic practice, we do not choose the subject, we do not tell anyone what to report, we do not choose anything as good or bad.

Sometimes it has happened that when we have not been able to cross-check upto our satisfaction, then we have sat on stories, put out disclaimers. For example, 300 houses were burnt in Chattisgarh in the month of March. For 3 days these houses were burnt; on 11th, 14th and 16th, we received calls on all 3 days. But the problem was that none of the calls came from eye witnesses, so we could not cross-check and verify. We did not put out the story even though it was an important story. So we went to the Chief Minister. But

not only did they do nothing about it, they spread negative stories about us in the newspapers, discredited this news. On 18th, we put out the story with a disclaimer that we had not reached any eye-witness, but since the story was so important, therefore, we were putting it out. Th e fi rst story on the incident, in mainstream media, came out on 23rd March.

Now, with the kind of attention that CGNet is receiving, what kind of obstacles do you face?

Th ere are sections of the society who love us because it is a very powerful tool to reach people and fi nd out about their problems, but in this process, some vested interests get

aff ected and those have been causing problems to us. Some of our citizen journalists have been threatened, our server has been put down 3 times in the last 6 months because we are the fi rst mobile phone community radio in the world. But we are not doing anything illegal anyway. So, nobody can stop us by challenging our information fl ow legally.


So, they need to act from behind the scenes. When we talk about our server, it is a part of that answer also when you ask about why we have our centre only in Bangalore. When we tried to put something in other cities, the server

people were called by police and they did not allow us. Now I

cannot bring this up because the people were not on the

record and I do not have any proof. So, this

has happened 3 times,

i t ’s

like not giving me a rented accommodation. What happened with Wikileaks was that when they were down, they couldcome back again in a few days but their address remained the same because it is wikileaks.org. But the problem with us is since we are linked to a phone number, it is like physically changing your house. So, when we change, our number also changes and it is like starting again from zero.

Th en people exposing corruption in NREGA were harassed, then also one lady citizen journalist was forced to leave her house because the police had

threatened the landlord, then one citizen journalist’s

house was searched by police. But so many

offi cers are using this platform f a n t a s t i c a l l y.It happened this year with

m a l a r i a . Earlier the government claimed that there were

no cases of m a l a r i a but this

year, because p e o p l e

s t a r t e d calling

u p ,

the number has gone up to 47, not that the deaths have gone up but the reporting was not happening before and when government started a programme of giving chloroquin, people called saying chloroquin does not work because the mosquitoes have developed a resistance to it. Th e government was forced to change their medicine, so, these kind of usages are also happening in various fi elds; in health, in NREGA, in ICDS…

Th ere are three versions of the Land Acquisition Bill; one is the government’s 70:30 acquisition formula, then the National Advisory Council that advocates 100% acquisition by the government, and our Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, is suggesting that the government should not play any role in land acquisition. So, what’s your take on the land acquisition bill?

I am not an expert on land acquisition, as a journalist, I can have an opinion but it will not be a very informed opinion. Of course, land acquisition bill is one of the most important subjects discussed in CGNet Swara. As I said, our role is limited to creating a platform where people can report. So, unfortunately, I do not have an opinion on this subject.

So even as an urban activist, you have no opinion on our government’s almost neoliberal policies?

I would like to keep this interview about what we are doing, I am not an informed person… We have created a platform that is neither pro-this, nor pro-that. Th e only policy we have is that there is nothing as such called ‘untouchables’. In my personal life, I have many opinions on many things but when we are talking about this experiment, I do not have any opinion. We are a neutral platform… For example there are people who are pro-Salwa Judum and also people who are anti-Salwa Judum, but both the sections are a part of this platform.


SHISHIRBHATTACHARJEEBy Sayantan NeogiTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaattttttttttt sssssssssssssttttttttttrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttcccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddd vvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooolllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddd cccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvaaaaaaaaaaassssssss


Would one include Shishir B hatta c ha r j e e ’s name in this list because he’s

a successful member of a minority community? A Hindu east Pakistani? A Bangladeshi Left ist? Or, does he tick all the checkboxes to fi t into Kindle’s neighbourhood project? Th e true South Asian educated in Gujarat, practising radical art in Bangladesh.

“My frustration comes out on my canvas”, he says – frustration from the atrocities and the stifl ing reality around us; his driving force. A social critic, and undoubtedly, one of the best painters and cartoonists of these times, Bhattacharjee delineates the true picture of Bangladesh, at its best and also at its worst. Th e German Dadaist Movement has been his inspiration, and he has always directed his struggles towards making point blank political statements through his caricatures. His cartoons, that are regularly published in local dailies, are like satirical poems.

Th ey shock, they agonize, they amaze, they mock. His colours shout, and his lines have no regard for politeness.

Th e grimacing deformed fi gures we see on his canvas are who we really have turned into; and it takes the fi ne wit and cruelty of an artist like Shishir Bhattacharjee who acts as a mirror to give us this realization and this awareness.

If Shishir just remained to be a good landscape or portrait painter, the art of Bangladesh and the region would still be longing. However, it was in this Bangladesh that he found the seeds of rebellion and deconfi nement. One oft en hears it being said that, “If you cannot break out of standard form and style, you can never be a modern painter.”

It is through this defi ance of the ‘British Victorian’ type of syllabus and the ‘Bengal School’ of art that a Jainul could rise to be a genius or a Kamrul could make his outstanding contributions.

Standing in their shadows, Shishir searched to fi nd himself. With his pride of skill in copying European styles, a faith in left ist political ideology, Shishir- carrying the name and disadvantage of a member of a minority community- went on searching himself.

A train of reality images - an unending struggle for survival. A desire to escape from the dark concepts and roots of Pakistan - the dream of a ‘free Bangladesh’ in the minds of a few left ist intellectuals. Yet everywhere the presence of an overwhelming obstacle of communalism. Th at is how history is written in the world. Th at is why in a country which is legally and literally free, a Martin Luther King has to be born to fi ght for freedom, and a Black person still fi nds it diffi cult to be nominated for Presidential elections (notwithstanding Obama). An artist is born only through witnessing and critical observation of such histories. Bhattacharjee is one such artist.


SUDHIRDHAWALEBy Maitreyi KandoiTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrdddddddddddddd aaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddd ooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooorrrrrrrrrrdddddddddd


The idea was to talk about her husband. But Sudhir Dhawale- the person, in course of our conversation took a

backseat, and became a metaphor for so many other defects in our system.

Sudhir’s story is now not an unheard one. Follow the plot.

A Dalit boy from a modest background takes active interest in student politics, believes in a democracy - writes, speaks freely, edits a bi-monthly Marathi magazine called Vidrohi which deals with Dalit causes, people trust him, his community – they trust him, they revere him. He brings to the forefront many injustices, perpetrators are convicted.

Sudhir gets a strong mass following, State gets worried.

On the grounds of being involved with Naxalite activities, they arrest Sudhir on his way back from Wardha to Mumbai.

Th e next day they raid his house. Wife is out; she is a nurse at a Mumbai hospital. Son calls her home in panic. She comes home, is grilled for 9 hours, and is forced to sign a Panchnaama which says she opened the door and co-operated in the search. Hospital records would show her to be at the hospital at that claimed time.

Meanwhile, Sudhir is in jail since January, his bail has been rejected 3 times .Th ere is a case against him of sedition, of aiding terrorists , of being a member of a terrorist organization and of raising funds for them. Th ere is no proof yet on any of these grounds.

Th e pattern or circumstances following Sudhir’s arrest can be compared to that of Dr Binayak Sen . Journalist Hem Chandra Pandey didn’t have the fortune to be arrested, he was taken out as collateral damage in an ‘encounter’ between police and Maoist leader Azad. Th is reporting might be highly simplifi ed for the sake of fi tting it in 500 words.

Th e underlying idea is slightly more complicated.

I recently read a magazine article which said, ‘You’re out, only because no one wants you in. It’s that easy to be in prison in our country.’

On the positive side , with the arrests of Dr Binayak Sen , Sudhir Dhawale , Kopa Kunjam and many others who are or have been in prison , due to the incidence of media reporting and human right activists rallying for their causes , a resurgent voice calls out in their solidarity when they read about the fl imsy grounds of their arrests . Th is is the voice of the people against the voice of the state.

When I asked Sudhir’s wife Darshana to give me her e-mail address , she apologized by saying that the police had not yet returned her CPU that they had taken during the raid , thus she had no access to a computer . So much for terrorist connections!


SHAHIDULALAMBy Mukherjee. PTTTTTTTTTThhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnfffffffffffoooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssss iiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnn ttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeessssssssss ooooooooooffffffff ffffffffffffoooooooorrrrrrrrgggggggggggiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnneeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss


There’s much more to Shahidul Alam than being a photographer. And that is precisely why he is an iconic photo-activist in

South Asia. Th ere is a very thin line that divides organisational structure, lived activism, anti-establishment stance, running a global event and exploring one’s artistic sensibilities.

In his about to to be released book, ‘My Journey As a Witness’, there’s an interesting forward by Sebastião Salgado that says: “Shahidul has managed to create a community, giving it a fr amework and creating links, as he has already done in Bangladesh. Th is is not merely another virtual community, like so many others, which have undoubtedly demonstrated their utility, but a truly concrete ensemble, which is a composite of all generations attached to their native soil, who share a much vaster territory than that of any one country. Th e territory I speak of is, of course, the photographic world of Shahidul Alam, which is also mine, as well as each and every one of ours. A world where we can daily sense our conscience and our faith in our planet.”

Born in 1955, Shahidul Alam comes from an academic background of teaching chemistry before photography happened to him. Th is was 1980. In less than a decade, he started Drik picture library and Pathshala: South Asian Institute of Photography. Later he founded the South Asian Media Academy and Majority World. In between and aft er that numerous awards followed, including the rare honour of being in the jury of World Press Photos four times. However, I would like to believe that none of these constitute real achievements, as much as it is creating a sense of profession-passion bridge with the art of photography in

an increasingly shrinking democratic space in South Asia.

Photography is not about taking pictures. Nor is it building archives. Nor is it having an art gallery dedicated to photos. Nor is it only about organising a photography festival (Shahidulbhai heads Chhobi Mela-which is a pioneering festival on photography). But making the country believe that lens is a weapon to document the aspirations and the dejection of the oppressed. Th erein lies the challenge. Th e challenge is to remain commercial without selling out.

Which is why it is so urgent to talk about Irom Sharmila in India... to talk about Cholesh Richil in Bangladesh and a clause by clause backtracking from the principles of the Chittagong accord… to talk about how the journalists have been coerced into a government sponsored silence in Sri Lanka. It is here, where I fi nd the signifi cance of Shahidul Alam’s work.

Th e frames are neither a record of opulence, poverty nor NGO-type I-did-this-project eulogy but an involved distant record of the events around us. A typical Shahidul Alam political frame juxtaposes the hint of a crowd with a zoom of a principle face. Th ere is an active participant in a passive frame making a semi-complete image(which is what Jorge Villacorte missed in his curatorial attempt with Alam’s brilliant set of political photos in Crossfi re). Th is involved distance and a little blankness in a crowded frame is what distinguishes Alam’s work from that of his contemporaries.

Alam’s contribution is far reaching. Much ahead of times. And even though he has spawned a number of copies (mostly weak in their outlook), one has

to admit he has brought about stylistic changes that are sweeping Bangladesh photography (much more than what Raghu Rai or a Dayanita Singh is to Indian photographers... of course Sunil Jana is an exception). Much that he would disagree with me; he has infl uenced a style and not defi ned a way of framing.

Looking into the crystal ball....as we map South Asian photogaphy and global trends in activist photography, Shahidul Alam remains an important intervention. Camera is a peaceful but an important machine gun and not just a CS4 or a photoshop reality. Take a bow Shahidulbhai !


RNI NO. WBENG/2010/36111Regd. No. KOL RMS/429/2011-2013

Documents

m c kash - that bayonet of a voice