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What did Colonialism do to India?

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Colonialism

A video of Shashi Tharoor speaking at Oxford on a debate related to the colonial period has been ‘viral’ on the social circuit for a while. In this video Tharoor makes a passionate plea to the British that they make reparations for the losses to Indian economy during the British rule. He puts the blame of India’s economic decline on the British and also recounts Jalianwala Bag, Bengal famine as the major highlight of British rule which reflected the attitude of British towards this colony of theirs’. Tharoor points out that resources from India were used by British to build there economic prosperity and to fund their Industrial revolution.

However, Dr. Manmohan Singh (2005), the previous prime minister, had made a very different kind of argument. In this Dr. Singh as a guest of British Government extols the virtue of British rule and gives them the credit for rule of law, constitutional government, and free press as the contributions which India benefitted from.

So where does the truth lie? Not only the context and tone of the speeches by these two Congressmen is totally different, the content is also totally on different tracks. Dr. Singh as the guest of the British Government is soft and behaving as an ideal guest and points out the contributions of the British rule and there is some truth in that. Tharoor as an Indian citizen with memory of the past; is narrating the plunder which this country suffered due to the British rule. He is also on the dot. These are two aspects of the same canvass. What Tharoor is saying is the primary goal of British and what Dr. Sigh is stating is an incidental offshoot.

British (East India Company) did come here looking for markets for their industrial products, gradually went on defeating one after another king, ruling in different areas and brought the whole subcontinent under a single rule, which became one of the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ for British as the whole wealth, raw material, resources from India were pumped out to Britain. In order to achieve this goal they did go on to introduce railways, communication network-postal, telegraph-telephone and modern administrative system and modern education to create the assistants for their officers ruling here.

The lacuna in our systems were primarily because the primary goal of British was to plunder the country and as an incidental thing; as by product; the new institutions, rule of law and later some reforms against ghastly social practices also began (like abolition of Sati). Perceptions do matter while Singh and Tharoor are talking of the same phenomenon from two different angles. The third angle is the one that was articulated by British themselves. British presented their rule as part of “Civilizing mission of the East”! There is very little truth in this, but it can be said that British also did help in the process of social reforms at times.

The major point which is unseen in these perceptions is one which had dangerous consequence on the social-political scenario and that was- British planted the seeds of divisive politics. As such broadly speaking the colonial-imperialist rule sows the seeds of ‘divide and rule’ and in this subcontinent they did it with gay abandon. In the wake of 1857 revolt, when the British East India Company’s rule was shaken, British identified existence of two major religious communities where the wedge could be driven. This is where they introduced communal historiography as a part of ‘divide and rule’ policy. James Mill with his ‘History of British India’ periodized the history on communal lines (Ancient Hindu Period, medieval Muslim period and modern British period). Supplementing this were Elliot and Dawson with ‘History of India as told by her historians’, which reduced the history to the eulogizing account of the courtiers of the kings. These played a major role in deepening the communal understanding of the past.

At social level we see emergence of modern classes, industrialists-workers and modern educated classes while the old classes of feudal lords and kings survive though with some reduced influence. The modern classes came forward to build up anti colonial movement; this movement led by Gandhi with people from all regions, religions, men and women both is what built modern India on the infrastructure of industrialization-modern education. This movement tied the people together in the bond of ‘Indian-ness’ and had imbibed the values of the central pillars of transformations of caste and gender relations. The latter aspects most highlighted by Jotirao Phule, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Periyar Ramasamy Niacker on one side and introduction of girls education with Savitribai Phule opening the girls school on the other. This group underlined that ‘India is a nation in the making’.

On the other hand the declining sections of landlords-kings, both Hindu and Muslim, threatened by the modern changes and seeing the rise of their vassals who were escaping from their grip, shouted that their religion is in danger. They upheld the communal historiography introduced by British. Muslim elite gradually came to form Muslim League. For them the raison d’être of their coming together was Islam being in danger. They held that here the Muslim Nation had been there since the time Muhammad bin Kasim had won over Sindh from Hindu Daher in eighth century and so they have to work for creation of a Muslim nation. That’s how they remained aloof from the freedom movement, which was aiming at the Secular democratic India.

The Hindu landlords Kings in due course came to form Hindu Mahasabha and then RSS. For them this had been a Hindu nation from times immemorial and Muslims and Christians are the alien invaders. They also remained aloof from freedom movement and harped on building Hindu nation in contrast to the goal set by National movement, that of secular democratic India. They constructed their own history of a glorious past of the Hindu rulers and its corruption by the Muslim invaders. Gradually they came to construct the ideology that all the ills of Hindu society are due to the Muslim invaders.

While the national movement brought together the people of all the regions, religions, castes: women and men both, the communal streams nurtured the seeds of divisiveness sown by British, and this is what led to communal violence and later the tragic partition of the country. Here also what is generally analyzed mostly is the fault of leader A or B for partition while overlooking the fact that partition was the part of continuing British policy, to have their interests preserved in the sub continent and that’s how they played their cards well enough to create a situation where partition became an inevitable calamity.

If one has to point the major problem which the British rule introduced; apart from the impact on the socio economic life of the sub continent; it is undeniably letting the feudal classes-kingdoms to continue in the face of changing scenario of industrialization-modern education. So in the sub continent on one side we see the emergence of the values of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity as an ideology of the emerging classes, while the feudal ideology of ‘caste and gender hierarchy’ persists as the flag-mast of declining sections of society which came to be represented in the communal organizations, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. These declining groups construct the ideology of ‘Religion based Nation state’ which is a unique synthesis of feudal values with the modern concept of nation state, their communal politics is a modern phenomena but derives its identity from as ancient as time as possible. As neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian Kings were ‘religious nationalist’ so to say; as actually they presided over on the empires based on taxation of the toiling peasants in their kingdoms. Their goals of power-wealth were written on their sleeves; sometimes they adorned the masks of Dharmyudh, Jihad or Crusade for their ambitions of expanding power.

So during freedom movement we see those working for anti colonial movement are saying, ‘India as a nation in the making’ the concept which runs parallel to modernization in transport, industrialization, education and administration in particular. Muslim League said we have been a Muslim nation from eight century and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS asserting that we are a Hindu nation from times immemorial Muslim league derives identity from the Kings’ rule while Hindu Mahasbha-RSS project the concept of nation to times when people were having pastoral pattern and later made a transition to settled agriculture. For the communalists the major transition of industrialization and modern education is of no consequence.

While the declining classes do eulogize the kings of their religions, it is interesting that none of the kings in the history set out to spread his religion, they set out to expand their empires. To make this rule grounded there of course is an exception, Emperor Ashok who did spread his religion.

Today we cannot say what might have been the course of History had India not been colonized, what patterns of Industrialization-modernization would have taken place, but one thing can be hypothesized that this communal politics, abuse of religions’ identity for political goals might not have been here to torment us, to kill and maim the innocents, may not have been ruling our streets and asserting for authoritarian structures right within the democratic institutions which the country has nourished from last six decades.

So while Tharoor and earlier Manmohan Singh are pointing to two supplementary aspects of British rule, we also need to delve deeper and see the result of their policies which gave rise to communal politics, the politics which is tormenting South Asia as a whole and India is witnessing the worst in the form of Hindu Nationalism, Hindutva which is dominating the political ideology.

Saluting Courage: Memorial for Vasant Rajab

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Vasant Rajab

Gujarat violence (2002) was horrific. In this, after the burning of train in Godhra in which 58 innocents died, the same tragedy was made the pretext to launch the massive violence in which over one thousand people perished. In the aftermath of that I got many occasions to visit different parts of Gujarat and also to come to know about two legendary youth who had laid down their life to protect the people when the communal violence was going on in Ahmadabad in July 1946. These two young men, Vasant Rao Hegishte and Rajab Ali Lakhani, close friends and workers of Congress Seva Dal, came to the streets to stop the killings. Vasant Rao trying to protect Muslims and Rajab Ali stood firm to save the Hindus. Both were done to death by the mobs.

The activists in Gujarat started celebrating 1st July as the day of communal harmony. Recognizing this fact government in Gujarat has raised a memorial in their memory, Bandhutva Smarak (Brotherhood Memorial). In the news of coverage of this program what struck me was that while Vasant Rao’s relatives were present for the program, the relatives of Rajab Ali were not there.

The acts of violence continued in the country after 1946 with increasing intensity. Relatives of Rajab Ali were targeted in the subsequent violence to the extent that first they started concealing their relationship with Rajab Ali, then started assuming Hindu names and finally some of them not only adopted Hindu religion, but also migrated to Canada and US! The person who stood for the amity of religious communities must not have envisaged that while he stood for such noble values, his own kin will be subject of attack by the divisive elements. This also reflects the trajectory of events where in India the Hindu-Muslim violence led to the condition where Muslims started feeling insecure. This in turn led ghettoisation. Today the percentage of religious minorities as the victim of communal violence is number of times more than their percentage in population. The ministry of Home affairs data of 1991, quoted by researches show that while Muslims were 12 odd percent in population then, they formed over 80% as the victims of communal violence.

In the aftermath of Gujarat violence one also saw that while a large number of prominent Hindus and Muslims were part of peace efforts, at the level also activists of both communities came forward for peace efforts. Today with the new Government in power the number of communal incidents has gone up by 25% right in just one year. The overall direction of the intercommunity relations is on trial and the fate of peace maker Rajab Ali’s kin is a sad reminder of the state of affairs.

Communal violence, violence in the name of religion, has been the cancerous phenomenon, which came into being with the colonial policies of British, policy of ‘divide and rule’. They introduced communal historiography where the religion of king became the central marker of his rule and his major policies related to taxation were down played. Kingdoms’ central focus of power and wealth was substituted by ‘religious identity’ and this was picked up by communal organizations. These communal organizations remained aloof from freedom movement and did their best in spreading hate against the ‘other’ religious community. Communal clashes began and there by a ‘social common sense’, which looks down on the other community; became the norm. The prevalence of myths, stereotypes, biases against minorities came in handy for the practitioners of communal politics in instigating the violence. The conclusions of investigation of communal violence and lately Yale University study tells us that, the areas where the violence takes place, the instigating communal organization becomes electorally strong and that’s what we are witnessing in India today. Climbing the ladder of violence the communal organizations come to the seat of power.

With increasing violence many a leaders voiced their concern for peace and amity. Gandhi and his close associates were the main force for promoting amity, Hindu Muslim Unity being the central credo of Gandhi’s politics. Notwithstanding that; violence went on rising in intensity and people like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi went to the extent of laying down their lives to quell the riots, to save the innocents’, that’s what the victims of communal violence are.

Today we are in a phase where the violence has changed its form; from the massive bloody phenomenon to sub-radar actions where the minorities get intimidated on some issue of mosque or a church or eating beef or some other social practice. The major goal of communal forces is to polarize the communities along the religious lines.

What would a Gandhi have done in such a scenario? Many an experiments in peace have been floated, Mohalla Committees (Area level intercommunity committee), Shanti Sena (Peace Army), Awareness programs about need for harmony, interfaith dialogues, intercommunity celebration of religious festivals, promotion of films on harmony, Kabir Festivals have been popular amongst others. Social activists have also focused on getting justice for the victims of violence and promoting people to come together for programs cutting across religious lines. How to undo the ghettoization, how to create an awareness for amity overcoming negative perceptions does remain a challenge today, greater than ever before. The issue needs to be addressed to ensure that the likes of Rajab Ali’s kin do not have to hide or change their identity.

The role of land, oil and ports in the Yemeni crisis

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Yemeni crisis

by Shoks Mnisi Mzolo, Cii Broadcasting

On the surface, the roots of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to rain bombs on its southern neighbouring are hard to determine. The kingdom, whose military and their personnel are turning Yemen to a wreck, defends its involvement, in the violence and political strife gripping its neighbour, to its determination to stop an illegitimate government from taking over in Sana’a. Many have scoffed at not only the theory but also lamented Riyadh’s brutality that, in the name of pursuing rebels, has claimed thousands of civilian lives and displaced scores more while destroying infrastructure such as water tanks, schools and hospitals.

Without explaining the rationale behind the deaths directed at civilians, with the death toll now approaching 4,000, Riyadh claims its violence is meant to stop Houthi rebels, who staged a coup d’état earlier this year – that brought down then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

Scratching the surface, Prof Najib Ali Abdullah Alsoudi, an academic at the University of Ta’if, insists that it all boils down to money. In an interview with Cii, he dismissed the much-recycled pretext about ethnic or creed chasm or threat to the region’s security. Central to the political turmoil manifesting itself today is the rich kingdom’s thirst to economically subjugate the Middle East’s southern-most part, the professor said, going as far back as the 1960s.

King Faisal, a successor to deposed King Saud, was in charge of the oil-rich monarchy for the greater part of that decade. Imam Yahya, a king of Yemen, was succeeded by Imam Muhammad, also known as Sayf al-Islam al-Badr, in 1962. Their descendants’ struggle for control, by their countrymen or scions, revolved around Yemeni land and resources. Decades later, according to Alsoudi, Saudi Arabia is not keen to let go and is seizing Yemeni lands now.

The problem started when Imam Yahya’s impoverished then-monarch conceded to his neighbours, the professor said. “Imam Yayha was in a bad situation so he agreed to sign agreements, between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, that Najran and Aseer will be under Saudi as rental land for 20 years. When the 20 years finished, Ali Abdullah Saleh (then-president) he also re-signed the agreement between Yemen and Saudi,” Alsoudi added. That term came to an end last year, during Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s presidency. The then-incumbent turned down Saudi Arabia’s request to extend the land rental tenure. In a matter of months he was ousted and Yemen has been in the throes of the regional superpower’s bombs since then.

“After the revolution Yemeni people started talking about our land and the Saudi. So, the Saudi didn’t want the Yemeni people talking about that land. And, they want also, the Yemeni people to make Aden an international port. If Aden [were to become an] international port, that means Dubai and Jeddah will close already because all the ships will be coming to Aden because Aden is in the middle. So, if the ship is going to South Africa, it will stop in Aden,” the professor of in Arabic linguistics and Quranic studies pointed out.

The same goes for Australasia-bound ship and those headed for Asia, as far as Japan, among other destinations, Alsoudi explained. The UAE, which makes a fortune from the Dubai jackpot, would be one of the biggest losers if such a move passed and the kingdom the biggest winner given its landlord position. The two regional players, he added, have been at loggerhead over this with the impoverished Yemen finding itself in the middle.

With all of this in the background, Saleh, the former president, struck a relationship with Houthi. The latter was part of the 2011 revolution, among others. So, because of its role, Houthi is obviously no ally’s of the powerful kingdom. That said, its rise to power, not least after Hadi refused to extend the lease agreement, was bound to be solicit anger from Riyadh. Sadly, the Saudi military has since turned around and targeted civilians.

“[Saudi Arabia] don’t want to bring [our land] back,” as the academic summarised it, looking at some of the factors in the background. “They don’t want Yemeni people to take their oil from their land. We have a lot of oil… Saudi doesn’t want Yemeni people to take their oil and sell it to the world. They want us just to be poor people, a poor country. You know, in this [country] people eat leaves. Saudi has closed all the borders. We cannot receive any food [or aid]. I don’t know what’s wrong with that. I mean, we are Muslims, we are brothers. Why did the Saudi do that?”

#SelfieWithDaughter: Shruti Seth Pens Moving Open Letter to Modi

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Shruti Seth

by Shruti Seth

A little note to India,

I write this to an entire nation because no one individual can be held responsible for bringing about change in the mindset of a billion odd people. Change can only happen if there is awareness at an individual level.

On the morning of June 28, I made the grave mistake of expressing my views on an initiative called #SelfieWithDaughter which had been blessed by our PM. Most people found it to be a sweet gesture and a means to create awareness about female infanticide. I, sadly, didn’t find the idea very palatable. Keep in mind that I have an 11-month daughter of my own. But I expect more from the man who’s supposed to usher in a new era of change, not just tenuous surface-level initiatives.

I then made a graver mistake of posting this opinion on Twitter. So not only did I dare to think, I also dared to place my thoughts in the public domain.

And then, at the risk of sounding overly-Shakespearean, the floodgates of hell opened. I was subjected to a tsunami of hate tweets. 48 hours of non stop trolling. The tweets were targeted at me, my family, my ‘Muslim’ husband, my eleven-month-old daughter and, of course, my non-existent, dwindling, no-good career as an actor.

I had made an unsavoury comment about our Prime Minister by calling him – *gasp* – #SelfieObsessed and asking him to choose reform over gimmickry. Was I wrong? Was I too harsh? Apparently, for those who support him and the ruling government, unquestioningly so. I, as a member of the tax-paying electorate of India, did not have the right to comment on his policy. I had dared to challenge his authority. I had abused the highest office of the country (which is the President, by the way).

And so I deserved to be punished. And punished In a manner commensurate with the vitriol that the anonymity & access of Twitter so easily provide.

Men and women alike said the most vile things about me, stripping me of all my dignity as someone’s daughter, wife and mother and most importantly a woman. Men who were busy hash-tagging their selfies with their daughters one minute called me slanderous names the next. Asked me if I knew who my real father was. Questioned if I had been sexually abused as a child and hence was opposed to the idea of a selfie with my father. And these are the relatively polite ones. Well done, gentlemen. Your daughters must be so proud.

Women, who are meant to empower each other, asked me if I was a prostitute and if I was planning on doing the same with my daughter. Whether I was trying to gain some fame and resurrect my failed career by using the prime minister’s name. I shudder to think of the deep respect your sons will have for the opposite sex.

So here’s the thing. What is the point of taking selfies with your girls when you’re also responsible for creating the most toxic environment for them to grow up in? How will taking a photograph nullify the misogyny and patriarchy that is so deeply entrenched in our society? Why bother to increase the number of girls being born when you choose to treat them with such indignity and disrespect?

All those who trolled me incessantly for forty eight hours, did you for once stop and think that I, too, am someone’s daughter? Did you ever ask yourselves how you’d feel if it were your daughter at the receiving end of all that hate? I’m guessing the answer is a big, resounding “No”. Because, you know, you were too busy pouting for the camera and getting ‘likes’ and ‘RT’s to your #SelfieWithDaughter. As for our esteemed PM, I have this to say to him:

Dear Sir,

If you truly wish to empower women, I urge you to condemn this kind of hatred being spread in your name.

Regretfully, I deleted my initial tweet because of the backlash. But I stand by what I said and I’ll reiterate it here: “Selfies don’t bring about change, reform does. So please try and be bigger than a photograph. Come on!”

And as for my initial reservation about the initiative being nothing more than eyewash, I am deeply saddened to see that, in the end, I was proved right.

(The article first appeared here.)

Forty years on: The Emergency then, and now

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Emergency

by N Jayaram

Many Indians who are in their mid to late 50s or older would remember Indira Gandhi’s Emergency (25 June 1975 to 23 March 1977). A section of Indians look back to it positively, believing the Mussolinian myth that “the trains ran on time”.[1]

Did the trains really run on time during the Emergency? Censorship was at work. Government officials could obviously not report – perhaps not even record – what really transpired. And does it matter whether a lot of the blessed trains ran on time, if in so many other respects India remained the same, with the added impunity that led to what were euphemistically referred to as “Emergency excesses”.

A short history before coming to the Emergency:  Mrs Gandhi became prime minister after the death of her father Jawaharlal Nehru’s successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri, in 1966. She gradually moved the Congress party towards what were perceived to be left-wing policies such as the nationalisation of major banks – and one or two indeed were, such as the abolition of privy purses for the heads of princely states.[2] Meanwhile, Pakistan split into two – partly with Indian help – earning Mrs Gandhi the “Durga” label from Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and much later of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Indira Gandhi wanted a “committed judiciary” and superseded senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to promote those loyal to her. Corruption raised its ugly head. And in 1974, India tested its first nuclear device. Meanwhile, Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), one of pre- and post-independent India’s most prominent leaders spearheaded an anti-corruption movement that targeted the highest in the land.[3]

On 25th June 1975, the radio delivered the news that Indira Gandhi had declared a state of emergency. A fortnight earlier, Justice J.M.L. Sinha of the Allahabad high court had set aside her election, declaring her guilty of corrupt practices.[4]This had only further fuelled the long festering revolt against her rule. Unable to deal with the opposition, Indira Gandhi promulgated the Emergency, jailed a large number of opposition leaders including JP and imposed press censorship, which initially met with newspapers coming out with blank columns and editorials.

The Emergency became quickly notorious for “excesses” – basically impunity granted to minions of the bureaucracy and to cronies of the prime minister’s son, Sanjay Gandhi. Houses and shops were razed at will in the name of urban development, many people in northern states were subjected to “compulsory family planning” and India stood besmirched in the comity of nations. Ordinances were being passed at will, ignoring the parliament (giving rise to one famous cartoon by Abu Abraham of then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signing an ordinance from his bathtub).

Indira Gandhi lifted the Emergency on 23 March 1977 and called elections which she perhaps believed she would win, but suffered a crushing defeat. Opposition leaders who had developed bonds while in prison banded together to form the Janata Party, which swept to power. They soon fell out and the Congress returned to power just a few years later. The 1980s were to see the Congress pursuing dangerous policies that culminated in the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984, the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards and an anti-Sikh pogrom in retaliation supervised by Congress party leaders who have yet to answer for their crimes.

The impunity enjoyed by the Congress was later to be usurped by the BJP when it carried out the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002. Meanwhile, there was the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu supremacists led by the BJP, with the then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao asleep at the wheel. That event was followed by blood-letting in which thousands of Muslim lives were lost.

Today India has a prime minister who as chief minister of Gujarat, presided over the 2002 pogrom and benefited from it in the elections. He also forged alliances with the country’s biggest moneybags who are being favoured since he took office last year. The regime has not only unveiled a series of antediluvian policies such as with respect to education, but its economic policies have been outright anti-people and pro-business.

Someone who has been a part of the establishment – grandson of M.K. Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari, graduate of St Stephen’s College, IAS officer and India’s ambassador to several countries – Gopalkrishna Gandhi said what needs to be regarding the state of affairs in India now while delivering he PUCL 35th JP Memorial Lecture on 23 March this year (i.e. the anniversary of the lifting of the Emergency):

“There is no emergency in force in India today. There is no promulgation of the emergency either in the states or in part of the states or in the country. Nor do I believe there can be a proclamation of an emergency, thanks to Jayaprakash Narayan. We should also acknowledge the fact that conventional opposition leaders and opposition parties can suddenly discover a dissenter in themselves and become more than conventional opposition. Several so to say conventional oppositional leaders and oppositional activists when they were picked up during the emergency and jailed became dissenters. They became someone bigger than themselves.

…

“Is there a draconian emergency on today? So there is no fear today? There is! But that present level of fear itself is unacceptable. In a country which has been through the fires of Emergency, we do not have a state of emergency today but we have in the air the whiffs of the emergency sentiment, we have strains of the emergency doctrine and palpable pulsations of emergency fear. I believe this is reversible for the reason that JP still means something to the BJP. But even more for the reason that our country is alert and awake in a manner it has not ever been. Let us not dispute or deny or denigrate the fact that this government has got 30-31% of the votes cast. It has got it. Under the first past the post system it is perfectly entitled to being in power but let us not forget that 69-70% of the people have voted differently. They may have not voted the same differently but they have voted differently. Is it strength or a weakness?

…

“… the fear that is prevailing in our country is the starkest and most palpable among the minority communities of India. This level of fear among those communities has precedence only in times of riots that have defaced the history of our country. But in times when there are no riots or riots in real time there has never been a time when fear has been so pronounced in the hearts and minds of the minority communities in India. JP would not have been able to stand or stomach the sight of a cow being slaughtered but he would not have allowed cow slaughter to become a political tool in the hands of a majority party which is using the majority community’s susceptibility, sentiments and heartstrings to needle the minority community, in this case the Muslim community in particular.

…

“What is happening to churches is defined and defended as something unconnected with religion. It didn’t happen in one place; coincidence is a repetition by one, it can happen in two places – coincidence. But 3, 4, 5… so many?! Only about personal and property matters? We are not children.

…

“I shall say the final word now by referring to another unprecedented combination that has occurred. During the emergency, 75-77, there was a kind of an attempt to combine socialist rhetoric with the realpolitik or opportunism. Today there is a great attempt at combining two pulls two compulsions in the public. One is the inborn set of prejudices that all of us have about other communities, polarization by bringing about things like temples, cow slaughter. But the other great pull, the pull for the good life via the world model of globalization the corporate communal binary is like the great combination of two demi-gods wanting to snuff out dissent by a combination of fear and seduction. The latter is even more difficult to resist than the former and the emergency which JP faced, the problem was fear not seduction except when it came to some small loaves and fishes of office. But today it is much more different and that is why it is much more important to resist. In the northern Hindi speaking parts of India, JP was hailed as “Andhere mein ek prakash, Jayaprakash, Jayaprakash”. There is not an andhera yet but there is a kind of twilight that could slip into andhera, but I don’t think the people of India will allow that to happen.”

Amen!

—

The author is a journalist now based in Bangalore after more than 23 years in East Asia (mainly Hong Kong and Beijing) and 11 years in New Delhi. He was with the Press Trust of India news agency for 15 years and Agence France-Presse for 11 years and is currently engaged in editing and translating for NGOs and academic institutions. He writesWalker Jay’s blog.

[1] http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/historicalmyths/a/Did-Mussolini-Get-The-Trains-Running-On-Time.htm

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_Purse_in_India

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayaprakash_Narayan

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagmohanlal_Sinha

Belittling the Vice President of India: Another fascist agenda

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hamid ansari

by Subhash Gatade

Ram Madhav, the first official spokesperson of RSS (later removed or discharged from this role) and these days ‘loaned’ to BJP as a ‘senior leader’ engaged in what an analyst called double delete asana on International Yoga Day. The first of this kind of ‘asana’ – unheard before – was rather necessitated by the impetuosity with which the net savvy leader twitted about ‘absence of Vice President Hamid Ansari’ from the celebrations and the ‘blackout of the programme by Rajya Sabha TV which is chaired by him’ and later twitted ‘an apology about the confusion’ and within no time deleted both the tweets.

By evening it was clear that not only the Rajya Sabha TV had provided a live coverage of the programme but also provided clarifications about honourable Vice President’s absence. It was revealed that he was not invited for the programme by the concerned minister. In fact his office had to issue a press release to the effect because of the insinuations which were being spread targeting him and perhaps also tell the likes of Ram Madhav that there is something called protocol which the Vice President has to follow.

One does not know whether it would be possible for Mr Ram Madhav to comprehend such nuances of democratic procedures because for him such details are of no consequence. In fact if he was really concerned about absence of Vice President of India in the said programme, he could have easily phoned his office and made further enquiries. But as we know he just wanted to underline his absence from such a programme of ‘national glory’ when India was supposedly ‘leading the world’. It was an indirect way to further the illiberal and exclusivist agenda he has been exposed to since younger days.

We know that this is not for the first time that the honourable Vice President has been targeted in such a lowly manner and a campaign of calumny and insinuation has been launched against him. During President Obama’s visit also a similar controversy was raked up by the same elements when national anthem was being played during Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath. A photo of the programme was widely shared on social media wherein the President of India was seen to be saluting the national flag whereas Vice President Hamid Ansari and many other dignitaries were seen merely standing.

“Why didn’t Hamid Ansari salute the national flag?” This question seemed to be top most on the minds of the self-proclaimed defenders of patriotism then. In fact, home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj didn’t salute the flag either, but as expected their patriotism was not questioned. Many hate tweets were hurled at the Vice President then ranging from “Jihadi sympathiser”, “anti-India”, “traitor”, few of them even demanded that he be impeached also.

Looking at the raked up controversy the Vice President’s office had to issue a press release then which underlined what is the protocol in such case. It said that when the national anthem is played, the Principal Dignitary and persons in uniform take the salute. Those in civil dress stand in attention. During the Republic Day Parade, the President of India, as Supreme Commander, takes the salute. As per protocol, the Vice President is required to stand in attention.

Both these cases where a concerted attempt was made to denigrate the office of the Vice President brings into sharp focus the modus operandi of the RSS and its affiliated organisations. They have no qualms in spreading falsehoods, stigmatising communities, breaking procedures, targeting institutions. With each passing day one is witnessing that their voices are becoming shriller and adamant.

The only option before every sane voice in this country at present is to remain constantly vigilant so that their machinations to further their majoritarian agenda receive challenge at every juncture

Perhaps it high time to remember the famous lines of Dr. Rahat Indori (which found mention in an appeal circulated by NRIndians Forum :

Jo aaj saahib-e-masnad hai kal nahi honge
Kiraayedar hain zaati makaan thodi hai
Sabhi ka khoon hai shaamil yahan ki mitti me
Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai

(Those who are holding reins of power today would not be there tomorrow
They are on rent and it is not their own house
Everybody’s blood is immersed in this land
India does not belong to a particular individual)

Subhash Gatade is the author of Pahad Se Uncha Aadmi (2010) Godse’s Children: Hindutva Terror in India,(2011) and The Saffron Condition: The Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neoliberal India(2011). He is also the Convener of New Socialist Initiative (NSI) Email : subhash.gatade@gmail.com

How dare BJP question Hamid Ansari's patriotism again?

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The saffron party’s contempt for India’s largest minority is once again out in the open.

hamid-ansari

by Md Hussain Rahmani, DailyO

First, he is not invited to the event that has gone into the Guinness Book of World Records. Then, his absence is questioned by a very important RSS spokesperson-turned-BJP leader. The episode reflects how the current dispensation thinks of vice-president Hamid Ansari.

Had the BJP general secretary Ram Madhav not tweeted abut the V-P’s “absence” from the Yoga Day celebrations at New Delhi’s Rajpath, it would not have come to light that Ansari was not even invited for the event.

This is, however, not the first time that the high office of the vice-president of India has been questioned over “patriotism”. On the Republic Day celebrations this year, he was declared a “traitor” and lynched on Twitter for not saluting the national flag. However, Ansari was well within the rules and decorum to do so. There were others on the dais who didn’t salute the tricolour, but people went after Ansari calling him a “jihadi”, “anti-India”, and what not.

I was a student at the Aligarh Musilm University when Ansari was the vice-chancellor and had observed him from close quarters. His tenure as the V-C of one of the most watched campuses in India was one of its best time in terms of academics and law and order. He is a man who goes by the book, never beyond it.

Moreover, the left-of-the-centre scholar by no means is an ordinary politician and has risen to the rank of the vice-presidentship riding high on electoral arithmetic. He has been one of India’s top diplomats, who served at the United Nations as permanent representative for six years. You can’t question the patriotism of a man who has dedicated his life to the service of the country and represented it at various international forums. It is naive to think the BJP and its leaders flaunting their patriotism up their sleeves, don’t know about Hamid Ansari and his service record. The obvious question then is: What is the ruling party’s problem with him? Is it that an Indian Muslim, no matter how worthy and qualified, not being respected enough to assume a high constitutional office?

Politically, the BJP may not be comfortable with Ansari. The party had questioned his conduct in the Rajya Sabha for ending its session abruptly during the Lokpal Bill debate in 2011.

But political disagreement is fine in a vibrant democracy. What is strictly not is raising doubts over a Muslim high office holder’s patriotism. It says a lot about the saffron party’s contempt for India’s largest minority.

One year of Modi: Perception Over Reality!

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modi-hate

by George Abraham

One year ago there was a tsunami of promises and dreams by the BJP before the elections. But once the BJP came to power it forgot everything. Since then there has been a complete reversal of the promised policies and programmes,’’said Anand Sharma, former minister and spokesperson for the Congress party.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister claimed that “Modi restored the dignity of the Prime Minister which had disappeared during the previous regime and he has convinced the countryman that authority of the Prime Minister is supreme in every decision-making”.

One year into the NDA rule led by BJP, a non-partisan group also argued that that BJP rule was not a disaster as some had predicted or a resounding success as their party faithful proclaims. The truth may lie somewhere between.

During a recent interview, one of the esteemed anchors of an Indian TV network operating in the U.S. asked me whether I was impressed with the ‘Jan DhanYojana’ program the Prime Minister has initiated, which has already created a whopping14 Crore new accounts. Of course, it is impressive statistics; however, the trouble with that simple assumption is that it is just half of the story. As many as 24 Crore people had already had signed up for the ‘Zero frills bank account’ prior to the present government which renamed the existing program as ‘Jan DhanYojana’.

It is said that imitation is the best form of flattery and for the Congress leaders, it must be redemption time as the Modi Government continues with many of their initiated plans, only under a different banner. Giving a little credit to the UPA would have gone a long way towards creating unity and purpose across the aisle.The larger question one needs to ponder here is whether the whole campaign about “achche din aa gaya” is mere sloganeering or based on facts and figures.

At the outset, the BJP’s charges about Congress obstructing its legislative agenda is laughable, as the BJP has opposed everything from Indo-US Civil Nuclear Treaty to Insurance Bill and FDI in multi-brand retail to name a few..They have so vehemently raised all the roadblocks in their power to derail the previous administration’s efforts. Since they have succeeded now in passing 50 some Bills in its first year, Congress cannot pose as large an obstruction as the BJP touts.

If one examines the economic indicators, Modi’s economy was sluggish to say the least in spite of having the good fortune of low crude oil prices. Growth in 8 core industrial sectors was mere 3.5%, and exports contracted by 11.19% to 23.88 billion compared to 26.89 billion in the same month of 2014. Although Modi promised 10 crore jobs in 5 years, if the April-June job growth of 1.17 lakhs is correct, that dream is quite far-fetched. If the inflation is contained as it is claimed, it is largely due to the decline in oil prices. Yet, food items such as Milk and pulses show a steady increase in prices while no savings from the oil have been passed on to the consumers.

While the economic conditions largely remain intact for ordinary citizens, Modi’s government has slashed social spending by Rs. 1,75,122 crores in one year alone, undermining the very concept of inclusive and equitable development. All sectors including Agriculture, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Panchayat Raj, Women and Child development and Education suffered cuts including UPA’s flagship program for the rural poor called MGNREGA.

After soaring through the political landscape by accusing the Congress of corruption at high places, BJP has done very little to allay the concerns of the ordinary citizens on this count. 30 per cent of the Council of Ministers have criminal charges pending against them. These include attempted murder, accusations of rape, inciting communal disharmony and electoral violations.

What happened to the promise of transparency and clean governance? “Whenever the PM sees an institution that is constitutional, that people have faith in, he wants to end it as he wants all power with himself and corporates” said Mrs. Gandhi, President of Congress party in a rare intervention in a parliament session. She was indeed referring to the power grab by the PMO and alleged undermining of popular institution such as RTI (Right to Information Act)’ by keeping the leading position (CIC) vacant.

Former Defence Minister A. K. Antony, who is known for his integrity, has accused the NDA government of “neglecting national security, ignoring security lapses and ultimately compromised national security”. He questioned the wisdom of surrendering Rs. 29000 crores from the current budget cycle while slashing the manpower by half of the “Mountain Strike Corps” which was created to face increased Chinese buildup. He also faulted the Modi government of dragging its feet on the One-Rank – One pension scheme that should have been effective from April 2014.

Prime Minister Modi has been widely acclaimed for his successful foreign travels. Previous Prime Ministers have done the same without this much pomp and ceremony. At the end of the day, one would have to ask ‘where is the beef’? The purchase of Rafael jets from France is surrounded by hypocrisy and double talk! The ‘Make in India’ slogan was given away to make in France, eliminating the public sector HAL probably for the sake of a future tie-up with preferred corporations!

On his visit to Korea, the Prime Minister declared that Indians were ashamed of their nationality until he became prime minister! I do not know about you; as for me, I was always proud of my motherland yet willing to see its problems and shortcomings from a resolution perspective. The efforts of Non-Resident Indians over last three decades have contributed so much to the transformation of the world in the field of Technology, Science and Medicine, earning the respect for mother India, particularly from the people from the west. It is sad to see any politician taking away the fruits of their hard labor!

Finally, is what we see with this government is perception or reality? About five years ago, the campaign of the ‘Gujarat Model’ has surfaced building up the image of Modi who is said to have transformed Gujarat into a modern miracle. Today, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) report, which was published recently, tore apart the tall claims of the state government led by former the Chief Minister Narendra Modi, particularly in terms of agricultural growth, social indicators, as well as public spending on social infrastructure, fiscal discipline, right to education, and law and order. Gujarat is ranked 12 among states for its Human Development Index, and has a permanent underclass mainly consisting of minorities. Unless the citizen on the street is vigilant, he may be once again swallowed up by the ongoing hoopla of an imaginary world! When it comes to ‘achche din’ let reality be real!

George Abraham is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations and Chairman of the Indian National Overseas Congress, USA.

The lesser known story of India’s role in Ethiopian land deals

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India has become the biggest land investor in Ethiopia. There are concerns at the behaviour of Indian firms in the Gambela ecological hotspot. Shutterstock

India has become the biggest land investor in Ethiopia. There are concerns at the behaviour of Indian firms in the Gambela ecological hotspot. Shutterstock

by Mohammad Amir Anwar, The Conversation

The global food price crises between 2008 and 2009 led countries that bore the brunt of the catastrophe to look elsewhere for agricultural land to mitigate the effects.

In 2008 prices of some foods, including wheat, soared by 130% in a single year and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s food price index shot up 40%.

The result was a frenzied scramble that saw countries acquire an estimated 40 million hectares of land in foreign countries, most of it in Africa.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the role of the US, the largest investor in land in the world, China and Middle Eastern countries. Much less attention has been given to the role of India. A global land monitoring initiative, Land Matrix, ranks India as one of the top 10 investors in land abroad. It is the biggest investor in land in Ethiopia, with Indian companiesaccounting for almost 70% the land acquired by foreigners after 2008.

Indian land deals in Ethiopia are the result of the strong convergence in the two countries’ domestic political-economic policies. Both advocate the privatisation of public assets and increasing reliance on free trade and open markets.

India’s investment in land has been driven by the need to obviate the effects of spiralling food prices by outsourcing food supply. Ethiopia’s decisions are driven by its development policy based on commercialisation of agriculture and reliance on foreign investments.

Rough estimates suggest Indian firms have acquired roughly 600 000 hectares of land in Ethiopia. This is more than ten times the size of land acquired by firms in India under the country’s special economic zones policy. India is followed closely by Saudi Arabian firms, with 500 000 hectares of land, in Ethiopia.

What drives Indian firms to Ethiopia

India’s ability to feed its 1.22 billion people is under increasing strain. This is due to a rapidly growing population, low agricultural productivity, reductions in farm sizes, declining water tables, increasing control of the seed sector by multi-nationals and a gradual withdrawal since the 1990s of the farm support system.

India introduced special economic zones in 2005 hoping it would lead to agricultural development through the consolidation of land holdings. The intention was that this would lead to industrialisation.

But the policy exposed the oldest contradiction of capitalism – primitive accumulation which includes privatisation of land, the forced expulsion of peasant populations and the conversion of common, collective and state property rights to exclusive property rights.

Widespread resistance movements began in many states, stalling some of the biggest zones, most notably in Nandigram. The protests led to the fall of the Left Front state government of West Bengal in 2011 after 34 years in power.

To meet consumption needs the Indian government started encouraging firms to seek land abroad for growing crops. This was driven by two factors: it was struggling to make more land available for investors and the spike in global food price crisis in 2008.

The lure of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian agricultural sector lies at the heart of the government’s development strategy. It has set out to attract more foreign investment in large-scale commercial agriculture as outlined in its 1993 policy which was later reformulated in 2005.

The policy marked a move towards a more trade-orientated approach, and a desire to attract foreign investors. Over 3.5 million hectares of land has been earmarked for investment by foreign firms.

Need for caution

Foreign investors need to tread carefully when acquiring land in Africa. This is best illustrated in the Gambela region of Ethiopia which I visited earlier this year. The area has been the centre of large-scale land acquisitions by Indian as well as other foreign investors.

According to the Ethiopian constitution, land is administered by the regional government. However, the federal government’s move to govern land investments through a centralised agency called the Agricultural Investment Land Administration Agency has led to discontent among Gambela regional government officials.

The concern is that the behaviour of foreign companies is not being managed adequately. There is a strong sense that land deals in Ethiopia have benefited both the foreign investors and domestic private capitalists with close ties to the ruling party.

A recent study found that foreign investors are farming less than 8% of the land they have acquired. During my visit I learnt that Karuturi Global Ltd, an Indian firm which has 100 000 hectares of land in Gambela, had only 1 000 hectares under production.

A lack of consultation with people living in the area is also a problem. Gambela is an ecological hotspot with Gambela National Park at its centre. It is home to Nuer and Anuak people whose livelihoods are threatened by investors illegally clearing trees in the park. These clearances happen mostly without consultation. This has led to conflict in the region.

Given the political nature of international land deals and the role states play in shaping policy and practice, there must be scrutiny on the role governments play in such deals because of their close alliance with private capital.

This is especially so for India. It can ill-afford to be tainted by accusations of complicity in land deals that disadvantage the people of Africa given the role it sees for itself in promoting co-operation among countries in the south to mitigate the effects of skewed power relations with the north.

Mohammad Amir Anwar is a Post-doctoral fellow at University of Johannesburg.

The Conversation

The Rohingya – Adrift on a Sea of Sorrows

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Rohingya

by Eric Margolis

When is genocide not really genocide? When the victims are small, impoverished brown people no wants or cares about – Burma’s Rohingya.

Their plight has finally commanded some media attention because of the suffering of Rohingya boat people, 7,000 of whom continue to drift in the waters of the Andaman Sea without food, water or shelter from the intense sun. At least 2,500 lucky refugees are in camps in Indonesia.

Mass graves of Rohingya are being discovered in Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). Large numbers of Rohingya are fleeing for their lives from their homeland, Burma, while the world does nothing. Burma is believed to have some 800,000 Rohingya citizens.

This week, the Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace Prize winners call on Burma and its much ballyhooed ‘democratic leader,’ Aung San Suu Kyi, to halt persecution of the Rohingya. They did nothing.

The Rohyinga’s persecution has been going on for over half a century, totally unobserved by the rest of the world. Burma’s government claims they are descendants of economic immigrants from neighboring Bengal who came as indentured laborers to the British colony of Burma in early the 19th century.

Interestingly, the British Empire created a similar ethnic problem by bringing large numbers of Tamils from southern India to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to work the British tea plantations.

But Bengalis have been on Burma’s Arakan Coast for centuries. What sets Rohyingas apart is their dark skin and Islamic faith. Burma seems determined to expel its Muslims for good, treating them like human garbage. It’s the kind of brutal ethnic cleansing, racism and genocide that we recently saw unleashed against Albanian and Bosnian Muslims and Catholics in Bosnia and Kosovo.

I’ve been watched the steady rise of a weird form of Asian racism among some militant Buddhists in Burma and Sri Lanka. The first sign was anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka a decade ago led by fiery Buddhist monks.

But wait a minute. I have always been very attracted to Buddhism as a gentle, sensible, human faith. My first book, “War at the Top of the World,” was inspired by my conversations with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. I like to meditate in Buddhist temples whenever I’m in Asia.

So from where did all those screaming, hate-promoting Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka and Burma come from? Clearly, from deep smoldering fires that we knew nothing about. The bloody Sri Lankan civil war between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils was largely initiated by militant monks. One also remembers Vietnam’s self-immolating monks.

The same phenomena erupted in Burma, a nation rent by violent regional and ethnic tensions that have raged since 1945. But who initiated a campaign of hate and pogroms against the Arakan Muslims who were quietly, minding their own business and eking out a living? As soon as Burma’s military stepped back from total rule, the anti-Muslim violence went critical.

The triple-sainted (at least in the Western media) Aung San Suu Kyi refuses to hear foreign pleas that she do something. Burma will hold elections in November and she wants to avoid antagonizing Buddhist voters – even when her nation in practicing genocide.

I stood in front of her in Rangoon years ago when she was still a prisoner of the military junta, listening to her platitudes about human rights and democracy. I thought then and now that like all politicians, her words were not to be given too much credit. Maybe those fools on the Nobel Peace Prize committee could revoke her Peace Prize and, while they’re at it, Obama’s.

Thailand wants no Rohyingas; Indonesia says only a few thousand on a temporary basis. Australia, which is not overly fond of non-whites, say no. Bangladesh can’t even feed its own wretched people. So the poor Rohyingas are a persecuted people without a country, adrift on a sea of sorrows.

What of the Muslim world? What of that self-proclaimed “Defender of the Faith. Saudi Arabia?” The Saudis are just buying $109 billion worth of US arms which they can’t use, but they don’t have even a few pennies for their desperate co-religionists in the Andaman Sea. The Holy Koran enjoins Muslims to aid their brethren wherever they are persecuted – this is the true essence of jihadism.

But the Saudis are too busy plotting against Iran, bombing Yemen, and supporting rebels in Iraq and Syria, or getting ready for their summer vacations in Spain and France, to think about fellow Muslims dying of thirst. Pakistan, which could help, has not, other than offering moral support. Neither has India, one of the world’s leading Muslim nations.

In the end, it may be up to the United States to rescue the Rohyinga, just as it rescued Bosnia and Kosovo. That’s fine with me. I don’t want the US to be the world’s policeman; I want it to be the world’s rescuer, its SOS force, its liberator.

We should tell Burma to halt its genocide today, or face isolation and sanctions from the outside world.

Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times, Nation – Pakistan, Hurriyet, – Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in Asia.

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