I/III. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/when-dissent-was-seen-as-dirty/
When dissent was seen as dirty Sahitya Akademi has broken its silence. But the rage against the writers’ protest was the most instructive part of this episode What was most instructive about this episode was the lava of rage that the writers’ act of relinquishment inspired. A decision prompted by an individual’s assessment of the realities of the times he or she lives in — his or her constitutional right to freedom of conscience — was immediately deconstructed as a hostile act against the nation. (Source: PTI file photo) The Sahitya Akademi has broken its silence. One year and five months after Kannada litterateur U.R. Ananthamurthy — a Sahitya Akademi fellow and awardee — was given a ticket to go to Pakistan; nine months after Tamil novelist and professor, Perumal Murugan, announced that “Author Perumal Murugan is dead”; two months after its member and awardee, MM Kalburgi, was shot dead point blank; almost six weeks after Hindi litterateur Uday Prakash returned his award, saying that writers are solitary figures in an increasingly intolerant society that has no stomach for dissent, the Sahitya Akademi has found it in itself to condemn Kalburgi’s killing and the rising tide of violence and intolerance in the country. The writers who returned their awards over these last few weeks cut across every linguistic, regional, religious, caste, ideological and writerly divide. But still, they were painted as leftists, Congress stooges, leftovers from the dustbin of history, publicity hounds, seekers of preferment. The labels flew thick and fast in the toxic spaces of debate on television and social media, where trolls spew their venom, secure in anonymity, and where a deeper engagement with ideas is a strict no-no. What was most instructive about this episode was the lava of rage that the writers’ act of relinquishment inspired. A decision prompted by an individual’s assessment of the realities of the times he or she lives in — his or her constitutional right to freedom of conscience — was immediately deconstructed as a hostile act against the nation. As was darkly suggested in the memorandum presented to the Akademi by the previously unheard of Janmat (Joint Action Group of Nationalist Minded Artists and Thinkers), supposedly set up post haste to checkmate the writers’ march that had been organised to the Akademi’s offices in Delhi on Friday: “These writers are engaged in undemocratic actions.” Thus, dissent itself became a dirty, sneaky, suspicious word that can even draw officials from the Union home ministry to one’s door, as the Vadodara-based linguist, Ganesh Devy, found out soon after he had returned his award. The questions flung at him and the others were many: Why now? Why did you then choose to keep quiet when there was an Emergency in the country, when Delhi was burning or when Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother were deliberately stoking communal hatred? Some wagged an accusatory finger and said, ah-ha, this is because these self-styled intellectuals, these pseudo-secularists, cannot stomach the BJP’s decisive victory in the general elections of 2014, and they live in dread of the party’s unassailable popularity and that of Narendra Modi. It is a “manufactured revolt” said one minister, while another taunted the offending writers to stop writing “and then we will see”. Not one person in power made a serious attempt to respond to the observations that were being offered by those returning their honours. Punjabi playwright, Atamjit, to take just one instance, expressed how acutely conscious he was of the irony that the play for which he had received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2009, Tati Tavo Da Sach (The Truth of the Griddle), was actually about tolerance in a multicultural society. Those who returned their awards understood the chilling impact a climate of fear, violence and impunity would have on the words they write today and the books they produce tomorrow. Malayalam poet K. Satchidanandan, who felt compelled to resign from his posts in the Sahitya Akademi, wrote in his poem dedicated to Murugan, “The Earth is a damaged machine./ I am not someone who can repair it./ I am a king without a country,/ A god without a weapon,/ A life without a tongue.” Such words may have been lost on those in the corridors of power but they reflect the enormity of a crisis caused by the fine sowing of dragon teeth over long years of communal, casteist violence that is today yielding a malevolent harvest. A group of eminent Indian sociologists, in its statement supporting the writers, honed in on what precisely was disturbing about the present times: “In a country with some 4,693 communities and over 415 living languages, each community is bound to have its own customs, including dietary choices. Individuals may also follow practices different from the ones followed by the majority of their community. Any attempt to impose a uniform belief or practice, on either individuals or communities, is antithetical to the freedom enshrined in the Constitution. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure this freedom.” Writers are part of that ecosystem, they survive on diversity and seek to understand it. The English poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who had described poets as the unacknowledged legislators of the world, wrote: “They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit”. It is this electric capacity that writers have of being able to measure the circumference of human nature that institutions like the Sahitya Akademi need to protect at all times and in all circumstances. The writer [Pamela Philipose] is a senior journalist. II/III. http://scroll.in/article/764749/the-vicious-attacks-on-gulzar-actually-prove-his-point ILLIBERAL INDIA The vicious attacks on Gulzar actually prove his point One of India’s most respected artists, Gulzar faced right-wing ire for speaking up in favour of protesting writers. Shoaib Daniyal · Today · 08:45 am Sampooran Singh Kalra or, to use his far more popular nom de plume, Gulzar, is a colossus on India’s literary scene. Effortlessly straddling the worlds of popular and high art, in his five decades as a filmmaker, lyricist and poet, he has captured the hearts and minds of people across India. Unlike many others, Gulzar has used his art to comment on the issues of the day. When people were crawling during the Emergency, Gulzar’s film Aandhi was banned. That isn't surprising: it was a thinly disguised biopic on Indira Gandhi. In Machis in 1996, he commented on terrorism in Punjab, severely indicting the Congress administration for human rights violations. In 2012, Gulzar was one of the intellectuals who expressed grief and sorrow at the Delhi gangrape. His poetry about the crime was circulated around on television as well as on social media. Tweeters posted his couplet on the incident to express their emotions. Latest statement That was then. On Sunday, Gulzar again slipped into his role as a public intellectual. The veteran poet criticised the growing religious intolerance in India and backed the writers who had returned their government awards in protest. “We have never witnessed this kind of religious intolerance. At least, we were fearless in expressing ourselves," Gulzar said in a television interview. "Never thought that a situation like this would come where a person's religion is asked before his name. It was never like this.” Almost on cue and with a refreshing lack of irony, Twitter users set about proving him right, his stature and popularity rendered immaterial because he had dared to take a political stand. Twitter takes on Gulzar At the mildest end of the scale, Gulzar, it seemed was a now given to hyperbole. This, of course, made him a “third class human being”. Rahul Roushan @rahulroushan Gulzar is a master of similies and metaphors, and now of hyperboles. Bhiya @Munna_Bhaya @rahulroushan He might b a good poet. But whatever I know him, he is a third class human being. 3:04 PM - 24 Oct 2015 2 2 Retweets 1 1 favorite Rupa Subramanya, an active Twitter user, criticised Gulzar for accepting an award from Sonia Gandhi. Ironically, she also mentioned that Gulzar bore the brunt of the Emergency himself since his film was banned. Rupa Subramanya @rupasubramanya Gulzar film based on Indira banned by her.Receiving 2012 IndiraGandhi Natl Integration Award from Sonia.All forgiven pic.twitter.com/cnT1XtAhrQ Rajwade Rajendra @rbr6000 @rupasubramanya : And why gulzar was silent on bolywood outrage on yakub's hanging? 10:24 AM - 25 Oct 2015 Retweets 1 1 favorite Replying to Subramanya, one Rajwade Rajendra displayed some classic whataboutery as he questioned Gulzar about not say anything about Yakub Memon’s hanging. Whataboutery is a popular debate tool on Twitter. Dictionary.com defines it as “the practice of repeatedly blaming the other side and referring to events from the past”. It's a contemporary, more insidious version of “let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. Of course, since it is literally impossible that Gulzar, or anyone else, has commented on the infinite number of issues before this, using whataboutery, one can easily argue that any criticism is moot without having to address the core issue. Things got worse. One gentleman went up and called Gulzar – India’s de facto poet laureate – an “idiot”. India Today ✔ @IndiaToday Never witnessed such intolerance in country, says Gulzar http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/never-witnessed-such-intolerance-in-country-says-gulzar/1/506496.html … pic.twitter.com/h74L5hNdNp Follow Jayram Yerra @jayyerra @IndiaToday sikular idiot And then there were also the insinuations of corruption and an imagined political partisanship. Suresh En @surnell Gulzar (Sampooran Singh Kalra), a Sikh originally, (Sickular now) is probably being arm twisted by Masters as payback for the Award! 8:20 PM - 24 Oct 2015 27 27 Retweets 10 10 favorites Phd in Bakchodi !! @Atheist_Krishna People like Gulzar should say it openly that they HATE MODI rather than spreading paranoia & floating conspiracy theories among the people. 4:47 PM - 24 Oct 2015 36 36 Retweets 18 18 favorites !! मनोज राणे !! @Marathi_Tweets Great respect for Gulzar's literature contribution but fact remains he had gone to Kashi to campaign against Modi. 11:50 PM - 23 Oct 2015 10 10 Retweets 5 5 favorites SUPARI JOURNALIST @girishs2 The mask of Gulzar is peeling off. He is the kingpin of all Anti Modi Bollywood activities. #VishalBharadwaj #Imitiazali #MaheshBhatt 7:20 PM - 24 Oct 2015 6 6 Retweets favorites Another went on to invent a whatabout, questioning Gulzar’s role in the Emergency, blissfully unaware that he’d had his movie banned. Prit kanungo @KanungoPrit @IndiaToday if i am not mistaken , he didn't not protest against emergency! Ashok @krishashok @KanungoPrit how conveniently you forget that his movie aandhi was actually banned during emergency :) @IndiaToday 12:24 AM - 25 Oct 2015 Retweets 2 2 favorites Another tried for a generic version of “go to Pakistan” – always handy in these situations. Dr. dane @saurabhnpil @IndiaToday @kshatriya8787 he should choose any islamic country in this globe and stay there for a while then he came to know the reality. 9:54 PM - 24 Oct 2015 Retweets favorites Tragi-comically, quite a few people attacked Gulzar for being a Muslim, given that his penname is a Persian-origin word. swati chaturvedi @bainjal Penny drops ignoramus bhakts attacking Gulzar out of bigotry! Think he's a Muslim. His actual name Sampooran Singh! https://twitter.com/magadhsamraat1/status/657885252484923392 … 5:22 PM - 24 Oct 2015 51 51 Retweets 27 27 favorites Gulzar is, of course, from a Sikh family although, given that this was happening at all, again went to fulfill his own prediction that “a person’s religion is asked before his name”. That, of course, didn’t mean that there was no support for Gulzar. Director Anurag Kashyap did stand up for the poet as did a few other liberals. Anurag Kashyap @anuragkashyap72 Gulzar Saab's love for this country, its people and his conscience is far beyond the collective vitriol of the lynch mob that attacks him. 11:05 PM - 24 Oct 2015 1,061 1,061 Retweets 723 723 favorites But they were comprehensively outshouted by those angry with Gulzar for his views. New times, new voices Of course, the damage had already been done. Gulzar has had a long career as a dissenter and public intellectual but, true to his own words, this seems to be a new era when it comes to intolerance. A reaction as vitriolic to this to a stand taken by a person otherwise as respected as Gulzar would have been unthinkable before. Twitter users went in to rebut Gulzar but attacked him so ferociously, they only ended up proving him right. CilemaSnob is now @NotSoSnob People asking where has the atmosphere changed? What intolerance? Slight criticism of govt. by Gulzar saab and look at the reactions. That. 2:32 PM - 24 Oct 2015 35 35 Retweets 7 7 favorites III. http://www.indiatimes.com/wwws/india/kannada-writer-chetana-thirthahalli-threatened-with-rape-acid-attack-after-she-questioned-hindu-rituals-and-beefban-246568.html?utm_source=TopArticle&utm_medium=webFbShare Woman Writer Threatened With Rape, Acid Attack After She Questioned Hindu Rituals And #BeefBan Deepu Madhavan October 24, 2015 The signs are all here and those who are dismissing them are 'few random incidents' are simply failing at their attempts to veil the obvious. Facebook In the latest story emerging from Bengaluru, noted writer, film-maker and script writer Chetana Thirthahalli was threatened with rape, acid attack and other 'dire consequences' on Facebook. This after she wrote articles questioning Hindu customs in various magazines, including Muslim publications. She was also part of a recent rally in Bengaluru which supported beef consumption and saw attendence from numerous litterateurs and feminists. For past few months she received numerous threats from various Facebook accounts which surely disagreed with her views that were expressed by her. Finally on Saturday, She lodged a complaint with Hanumantha Nagar police against operators of two Facebook accounts. In her complaint, the writer said she had been receiving the messages from Jagrutha Bharatha and Madhusudhan Gowda on Facebook for 5-6 months. "Initially, most of the messages were from fake profiles and were reactions to my posts on Facebook. I ignored them. However, of late, Madhusudhan has been messaging me regularly especially after reading about recent protests where I have been and so on. His threats and messages are communal, anti-feminist and often obs cene," she told STOI. "With the killing of writer Kalburgi and little progress in its investigation, I do not feel safe now. I may not be anywhere near Kalburgis' stature, but I am afraid. So, I decided to file a complaint, especially when I realized that these people were following my every move, every post," she added. Police have registered a case under IPC section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). They have also referred the case to the cyber crime cell to trace Madhusudhan. [Video: Chetana Thirthahalli a film-maker from Bengaluru gets rape threat for endorsin...] (With inputs from TNN) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
