Dear friends, Chittibabu asks about the relevance of internet activism.Please give your comments in solidarity, Vishwanath
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: CHITTIBABU PADAVALA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Jun 22, 2008 2:10 PM Subject: Re: [humanhorizons] Seeking part time writers to write on Social issues To: ck vishwanath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dear Sachin and friends, Your idea is basically very very interesting and the openness with which you are approach the project is also encouraging. The idea of talking a resourceful organization like Yahoo group helping you in this, if proved successful, would be highly effective. We really need very brief commentaries and right-ups in 100-200 word size. This suits the needs and interests of the online communities very well. It also trains many people otherwise hesitant to write sustained pieces despite having flashes of insights in regularly communicating with larger readership online. By quickly going through scores of 100 word snippets one could get a overview of concerns very easily. Particularly, college students and activists with basic english competence will also be encouraged to read things. This is what we do very often, we we are busy or have less time: we skim through the heddings of various postings to have an idea 'what is happening around' if only to get back to the write-ups for at leisure to find out things in full. Brief articles, notes, commentary are very effective because those recently got conscientized about dalit concerns, less time or those without easy access to internet and its language could also be encouraged look for information on dalit issues. Of course, brief commentaries could serve many purposes but can't substitute the need for indepth or full analysis and reporting that require more space. But this problem could be easily solved by providing links to each brief comment or post. As saint rightly pointed out full details of the project are to be clearly outlined so that the wonderful idea you proposed could get highest attention and help it deserves. It needs readers, contributors, funders and of course, as Sain't post implies, a direction. Generally the standard practice of online groups of this kind is to come up with an open request outlining one's ideas, the quantum of available resources and the limitations and calling for suggestions and help. Such a method makes it a really collaborative project which is a must for any social activity. This is even more important these days because of a curious thing happening these days: I noticed many grassroots and campus activists resent what they call "internet activism". Their complaint is, roughly speaking, that increasingly dalit activism is being colonized, dominated and even replaced by those who do nothing other than just forwarding the posts of others with scant regard for the struggles that happen in the real world and the need for working with and among those majority dalits who don't have any need or access to net. Though I don't agree with an understandable but unacceptable feeling among them that online activism is somehow a non-action or inferior activity or worse, armchair activism, their feeling is based on one very distrubing feature many people noted. This is the problem or the question of a new division - what could clumsily be put as- between those online dalit activists and offline dalit activists. It would not have been difficult to quickly recognize or reorganize this difference as just another instance of compelemnetary work had it not been for the stupid NGO funding principles and practices. This unfortunate situation is based on many misunderstandings, I contend. However, I will focus now mostly on the validity of this suspicion against online activism. Dalit sensibilities are increasingly being listened to NGOs, academicians and even media not only because sensitization is happening and they could no longer be supressed or ignored but also because they could be money and career fetching 'projects', new academci topics or CV enhancing activities. NGOs and Academic institutions tend to fund or favour those with demonstrated activist backgrounds. There is problem with the kind of criteria they stupidly work with. By demonstrated, they mean 'recorded,' while most of the dalit activism does not leave traces on the paper or hypertext but on the hearts and minds of people and the way they live. What is more, most of the time, the best aspects of dalit activism can't be recorded for legal and practical reasons. This is combined with a much less serious problem- but nevertheless a problem- of dalit being becoming an attractive and even a profitable label. In some very rare places like academia and social sector which are relatively not overtly anti-dalit or have a policy of giving some dalits some due, calling oneself is not always dangerous and sometimes even immediately 'beneficial'. Of course, such is our right and we should have more of it. However, this is not that very simple. Dalit activism is increasingly being defined more by one's ability to write and read and not by the patient and dirty work of doing legwork and patient mobilization of people and waging struggles on the ground. Even a a decade ago we could not have imagined a dalit activism being cosy and aloof from the society and without experience of being a victim or at least a fighter against caste oppression. Very frequently dalit activists used to be both. Now, there emerged a new catagory of people: children of those lucky enough to escape the worst of the caste oppression AND have an access to better education and some means of decent living asserting themselves Dalits and even dalit activists. We dalits are lucky enough to have at least some of us escape the worst of caste based oppression and it is a happy news that they see themeselves rightly as dalits and interested in working for their less fortunate or disadvantaged dalit sisters and brothers, to be sure. Yet, it is also true that many people escape the caste oppression not always by assertion, struggle, education and some economic advancement but also by running away from the community, hiding their identity and adopting the oppressor's ways and some such less glorifying ways. There is nothing fundamentally wrong in such survival strategies and it is the system which imposes such not so dignified means on the survivors which is debased. Thus qualified, this section poses a danger to the radicality, humaneness and effectiveness of dalit activism. All survivors could participate in the dalit movements but let us be clear about it we should reserve the leadership only to those fighters against, not just survivors of, injustice! Survivors are not the only problem, there is further sub-catagory among them, beneficiaries: those who realized that being a dalit, if you could rightly and cleverly use it, could be a means of career making. Academia, NGOs and, now, cyber space are some exceptional places where these people could gain modest benefits by invoking their dalithood. The problem lies not in the benefits they get- every one of us deserve them- but in allowing such people to define the dalit agenda and even dominating dalit struggles. Such people can get these benefits only in some select limited places which are a very small fraction of the world. But, many of them are confined to this tiny world and no intention to venture into uncomfortable places. Such people are not very difficult to spot in the actual world of dalit activism because it involves a lot of tiresom, thankless and risky, hardwork sometime a threat to life and most of the time a sure damage to personal career and this kind of people quickly disappear or don't know how to persist in the face of dangers. But, they could pass for revolutionaries online. This wonderful medium, online communication, has this particular disadvantage. Then, what is my contention? Am I dividing dalits into authentic and inauthentic dalits? Or, previleging or recognizing only suffering and fighting and denigrating those with less experience in these? Definitely not. If these less unfortunate sisters and brothers of us happen to make use of their relative advantage to gain skills(education, positions, wealth, power, exposure) denied to the rest of us and put them to the service of the enlightenment of the society in general and dalits in particular, they are most welcome. Otherwise, it is necessary to put them in place to save the radical and revolutionary nature of dalit activism. This strategy is particularly important because many not so responsible people among these less unfortunate dalit sections make use of dalit identity as a means to defend their failings which can't be attributed to caste or other oppressions. It is precisely this catagory people who make the very mention of dalithood some sort of begging strategy. Well, this is mostly a caricature and an abstraction. It is necessary for highlighting some important points but the reality is much more messy and complicated. Sachin, I think you need to be careful with those who want to serve themselves more than the cause. Of course, your both posts clearly show that you are a capable and sensitive thinker and definitely do wonders with your excellent project. Credibility comes over a period of time with consistent maintainance of standards in the field of media. And, reach, resources are secondary matters while the credibility is the thing for any medium. For this to achieve, it is important not only to attract good content but even more important is to keep away swindlers. You have already attracted so much attention and inspired expectations( biggies like Saint have already taken interest in your work) from activists. If you prepare a note answering all the clarifications Mr.Saint asked you it would become an annoucement with all necessary details. Please seperate vision and procedure in your annoucement. What ideas you propose is a differnt thing altogether from who are the members of editorial board and how frequently content will be updated, who does the copy-editing and who pays for them and what are the technical guidelines for the contributors, how do you do fact-checking and how much the contributors are paid ( or do you call for unremunerative contributions) and how do you get such huge money and who are the funders ..... Such information is a must for running any credible online journalistc enterpraise. Online dalit journalism is particularly prone to attacks, those otherwise fear our repraisals in the real world could also be emboldened to write things to discredit and malign us because they could afford anonimity or impersonation online . Obsolute transperency is a must for surviving such future dan On 6/21/08, rajesh ingle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: jai bheem do agree with you saint.. bye sun shines against all odds! Rajesh Ingle,Lecturer College of Social Work Mumbai --- On Sat, 21/6/08, Saint <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Saint <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [humanhorizons] Seeking part time writers to write on Social issues To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Saturday, 21 June, 2008, 4:39 AM To Sachin and All, I am still not clear about what this part time writers are for? Ambiguity here?: Where are you going to publish? who is the so called editor or editors? Is this is dalit media, if so, what is the background of this platform? Are you starting something new or is it an existing media? Is this for an online or offline publications? such clarifications might help better understand the objectives of seeking writers. thanks, Saint --- On Thu, 6/19/08, sachin kumar chander <sachin_chander@ yahoo.com> wrote: From: sachin kumar chander <sachin_chander@ yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [humanhorizons] Seeking part time writers to write on Social issues To: humanhorizons@ yahoogroups. co.uk Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 10:14 AM Dear Chittibabu, and respected others, Thank you for the kind words about this project. I would like to remove the confusion that I am asking for any monetary contribution. The request is only in terms of original written articles or events at your local place or country or the world that impact people, mainly of Bahujan Samaj, however its all inclusive. Also, currently its only on regular voluntary basis, but will become a regular source of income going ahead for regular or good contributers. But I know for sure that many people are looking to contribute on a voluntary basis also. We have a voluntary group who are also involved in local charities that I am working with right now in US and this idea came up which got everyone enthusiastic about. It will also encourage people to get their fears and shyness away and work for their basic rights which get denied so often, apart from getting right people to get in touch with them. So, if anyone is interested within or outside this yahoo group, please get back with your contact details or the details of the person you are referring, or send them my details to contact me. I am seeking this yahoo group's help in getting the messaage to anyone who may be willing to contribute by writing just about 100-200 words about what they read daily in their newspapers or see on the streets and news about things impacting them or their community members directly or indirectly. These can also be articles about the histories of their families and other members of the Samaj, jobs, environmental impact, economic impact, networking within the samaj, study, reservations, religion, dislocation, riots, and anything to do with people who cannot get their voices heard a huge majority of whom belong to the bahujan samaj or the tribes (from any religion). I have recieved many emails from interested people and will be in touch in an orderly and manageable fashion so it doesn't wastes anyone's time. Thank all much for their interest, and looking forward to working together for an equitable society. Regards Sachin +1 248 250 4174 (Please contact through email first, if possible) sachin_chander@ yahoo.com --- On Thu, 6/19/08, CHITTIBABU PADAVALA <afchittibabu@ gmail.com> wrote: From: CHITTIBABU PADAVALA <afchittibabu@ gmail.com> Subject: Re: [humanhorizons] Seeking part time writers to write on Social issues To: humanhorizons@ yahoogroups. co.uk Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 3:08 AM Dear Sachin, This is a good idea in fact a very good idea. Please prepare a good announcement that could attract most authors and contributions. Chittibabu
