money on my mind

This is not a judgmental post. I do not mean to bitch about how small the hearts of our Messrs Moneybags are. I just want to understand this business of money and parting with it and how it can be done happily.

Take a look at this piece. If you believe the statistics here, we really aren't growing more generous although many of us are doing much better financially than we could have hoped to, barely two decades ago. In other words, we aren't exactly anxious for our money to trickle down. Whether this is because we are suspicious of agencies who seek donor funds or of NGOs themselves, I'm not sure.

I have rarely taken decisions motivated solely based on how much money I will make or lose, but I have slid back and forth between need and greed on the lifestyle scale. And I find it hard to understand what makes people hold on tighter to their wealth as they acquire more of it.

When I was younger I believed - I can no longer imagine why - that those who had more than enough money didn't care about it. They just spent and shared and demanded without even thinking about it. I used to think that those who had to scrounge, those who had to hang on to every four-anna bit were forced into pettiness, being fiercely protective of the little they had. This was received wisdom, I suppose, because I had neither much money nor much cause to worry, nor any truly rich or truly poor friends. Or perhaps, it was something absorbed from media. Notions like 'the middle class was 'balanced' in its approach'. There were also a few assumptions about 'class'. About how money allowed people freedom and refinement.

But once I began reporting and was exposed to society's extremities and fringes, all certainties vanished.

I found myself in the homes of millionaires and saw an obsessive approach to money. I also saw simplicity and good breeding. But not always. Often, I found tight fists and snipped corners. But work usually took me to the homes of those who would prefer to be left alone. Even in the midst of a crisis, I found the poor behaving with a measure of civility and consideration.

This had little to do with what I could offer them. Small examples: I once accompanied a police team raiding a brothel, after a tip-off about minors being held there. The frightened and irritable sex workers were unfailingly polite, and slightly apologetic. If they weren't being rounded up and hauled off to the police station, I'm sure they would have offered me some tea. And my presence certainly did not prevent them from being hauled off.

I also remember going to a struggling (but pedigreed) actress' home for an interview. It was a time when she needed to stay visible and could do with all the interviews she could get. But she kept me waiting, didn't bother to apologize, and remembered to ask whether or not I'd like some tea only when I had abandoned all hopes of getting a cup.

Over the years, I found this turning into a pattern. The richer the person, the lesser she/he seemed to care about your needs.

And even today, I find this hard to explain. What is it about money? How does it manage to change human beings in such ways? I would understand if having money lessened your insecurities and made you generous. I don't understand why it draws your empathy out into a single thread that is wrapped tightly around your immediate family and yourself.

And like I said, this is not a judgmental post. It is very likely that if I made a little more money, I would find myself changing in the same way. Perhaps, there is some in-born need to protect what you have and you always need more to protect more. I am just trying to understand why it happens.

I have been getting phone calls quite frequently, especially over the last three months, asking for donations to this or that 'sanstha'. I have always said a firm 'no' - primarily because I don't have any money left to give, but also because I don't like direct solicitations on the phone from strangers. I have not signed up on a list, nor allowed my phone number to be given out to NGOs. In fact, I have repeatedly signed up on a DND (do not disturb) list, which neither Airtel nor Reliance seems to respect. And so, when I take such calls, I am annoyed in much the same way as when I get calls from banks, insurance providers or real estate developers.

But assuming I had more than enough money, and assuming I wanted it to trickle down, would I give it to charitable organisations?

I know a lot of Indians - including many in my family - are content to help lesser privileged people in their immediate sphere of influence. Domestic workers, chauffeurs, neighbourhood sanitation workers, their extended families, and so on. 'Help' often translates into volunteering time to teach the children of such service providers, or helping organise their weddings, giving presents of money and clothes and food.

I suppose it is better than nothing. To want to help others around you is great. But there's no getting away from the fact that there is a selfish motive built into this kind of charity. You give old sarees to the cook to ensure she stays put. You put the gardener's son through school and hope he will tend to your papayas with more enthusiasm. And while there is nothing wrong with wanting your workers to stay on and work well, such 'help' seems more like work incentives, an additional family benefit or bonus.

The only people who receive money from millions of Indians, without really giving anything back but their blessings are beggars. And many of us do give money to beggars quite often, although it is not a good system to give through.

Which brings me back to what I started with. What makes us so reluctant to give to organised charities? As the article says, there is some suspicion of NGOs. I, for one, would like to have actually seen the kind of work an NGO does and if I approved and found myself able to donate something, I would.

So, is 'outreach' the solution? Should charities invite more donors over to look at where the funds are being spent? I know that there are enough NGOs out there that are well-known enough to be trusted. Which doesn't mean they spend our money better. It just means that we have heard of them so often and in such positive contexts that we don't really associate their staff with misappropriation of funds. Yet, India hardly donates.

Or is there something inherently flawed abut the structure of charity and the way it makes appeals to your conscience? And why does it work better in some countries and why not in India?

A 350 ton problem

It isn't over until it really is over.

Like this great article says, the real tragedy of Bhopal is, perhaps, that it is still unfolding. That people still fall sick and need regular treatment and lose jobs because they are sick so often. And yes, there's a hospital, where 'Everything is free. But there is a price on every treatment'.

“Twenty rupees for the bed, 50 rupees for the blood test,” says his daughter. Khan’s lungs have weakened to the point where he cannot work any more. He is entitled to a pension, which was recently increased to about Rs 300 from Rs 150. This is yet another heartbreak. To be eligible for the new pension, he has to fill out a form. And for the last two months, he says, he has been going to the local nagar nigam office only to be told that the forms have not reached.'

Nice, no? A pension of Rs 300. And it was Rs 150 until recently. Makes you proud to be Indian, eh? We give old and sick people a pension! A whole 150 rupees.

The article also goes on to cite studies that show that the land is still 'highly' contaminated with chemical like Carbyl. And "Carbaryl, says the report, damages brain and nervous system, and causes endocrine disruption and abnormal child development."

Plus, there's no money to research the illnesses associated with the tragedy - and some doctors are asking for less than Rs 2 crore to initiate research.

Plus, the houses they built for the widows are such that in the Widhwa Colony, barely two kilometers from the Carbide factory, "It is difficult to say which is the bigger disaster – that so many men died, or, that their widows now lead such a deprived existence. All the houses are shoddily built. In one home, the wall was so poorly connected to the stairway it was meant to support, that the two have pulled away altogether. Other houses had finger-thick holes in the walls, the outcome of residents trying to hammer nails in. There are sanitation issues too — the water pipe has been laid underground a foot away from the sewage pipe."

Sometimes I think Bhopal is a sign-board, a laser beam that points to the fact that we have made a mockery of ourselves, nationhood, democracy. Whatever our 'Indian values' comprise, justice doesn't seem to be on the list.

Betrayals of the faith

The real Islamic crisis, I think, is this.

"At the time I was learning to memorise the Koran from a very kind, mild-mannered teacher.

I asked him what exactly was wrong with the Ahmadis.

He explained to me that they didn't believe that the Prophet Muhammad was the last and the final messenger.

I said OK, maybe that makes them kafirs, infidels, but who says that kafirs can't sell cloth?

My teacher's response was a full-handed slap, so sudden, so unexpected that it rang in my ears for days to come.

That same year Pakistan's first elected parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims."

In a must-read piece, Mohammed Hanif tells us about a "former chief minister of Punjab and current federal minister didn't attend his own mother's funeral because there were rumours that she was an Ahmadi."

If ordinary Muslims cannot find the courage to look within, to look at themselves and their own hatreds with clear eyes and not face up to their own endorsements of violence, they lose the moral right to seek protection from violence and discrimination.

And this is not just about Pakistan. This is also about India. Because this is the madness on our side of the border:

"Dr. Naik recommends the death penalty for homosexuals and for apostasy from the faith, which he likens to wartime treason. He calls for India to be ruled by the medieval tenets of Shariah law. He supports a ban on the construction of non-Muslim places of worship in Muslim lands and the Taliban's bombing of the Bamiyan Buddhas. He says revealing clothes make Western women "more susceptible to rape." Not surprisingly, Dr. Naik believes that Jews "control America" and are the "strongest in enmity to Muslims."

"Of course, every faith has its share of cranks; and, arguably, India has more than its share. But it's impossible to relegate Dr. Naik to Indian Islam's fringe. Earlier this year, the Indian Express listed him as the country's 89th most powerful person, ahead of Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen, eminent lawyer and former attorney general Soli Sorabjee, and former Indian Premier League cricket commissioner Lalit Modi. Dr. Naik's satellite TV channel, Peace TV, claims a global viewership of up to 50 million people in 125 countries.

Somebody help! I've heard from a few 'moderate' or 'modern' Muslims that This Dr Naik fellow is worth watching, that they want to learn from him, preach like him, or emulate him. And of course, if you are a fundamentalist in a suit and tie... its kind of convenient, isn't it? Nobody thinks of you as a fundamentalist. And that's half your job done. Because nobody can dismiss you, then, the way you'd dismiss a loony with an AK-47, or a woman in a burqa and elbow-high gloves, who is so clearly far out, so clearly different from your life and your faith that you don't even feel the need to disassociate yourself from him/her.

The article goes on to say that "Senior journalist and presenter Shekhar Gupta breathlessly introduced his guest last year as a "rock star of televangelism" who teaches "modern Islam" and "his own interpretation of all the faiths around the world."

Who makes that happen? Why are there no liberal Muslim intellectuals telling Mr Gupta what he doesn't know, because clearly, he doesn't?

I personally think that these incidents and contexts are the ones that must draw our attention and outrage. If Indian muslims cannot bring themselves to say 'no' to violence against homosexuals or Ahmadis, with what face can they say 'no' to violence against Kashmiri Sunnis, or Shias, or Sufis, or indeed just plain human beings?

The time for liberal muslims to speak up is not just when riots or blasts or crazy shootings happen. Nor just when some teenager gets arrested or shot dead without a fair trial. The time to speak up is primarily - and urgently - when idiots take your faith, twist it out of all recognition and then seek to control you through the voice your democratic state has allowed them. The time to speak up is before they shut you up permanently.

And it is time to say that anyone who preaches hatred does not deserve a public platform. Not Sadhvi Ritambhara. Not Babu Bajrangi. And not Dr Naik.

a really short reading list for the weekend

A short short story:

http://www.raleighreview.org/Annie_Zaidi.html

And a poem too!

http://www.raleighreview.org/Annie_Zaidi__poem_.html

Morning, inbox, twitter feeds. Interesting bits:

What was the use now of the idea of Muslim specialness — the distinctiveness and separateness of Indian Muslims — in an independent, Muslim-majority country?

"Let’s get back to what happened that black Friday. I witnessed the Model Town carnage and can testify that there were three, maybe four, policemen in all who had been stationed there for many months. I saw them in their dhotis and slippers, smoking their hookahs, whenever I went to pray... Most of the security cover on the day of the attacks was comprised of unarmed volunteers from our own community. Friends and relatives who were outside tell me that the police and the Elite Force, on their arrival at the Model Town site, did not even attempt to go inside and showed signs of fear (last time I checked, weren’t all Elite Force jawans wearing shirts inscribed with ‘no fear’?). Seeing this, members of the community who were outside tried to convince them that they had to enter the premises: the clock was ticking and lives were at stake. On the law enforcers’ refusal, some Ahmadis tried to take their weapons so that at least they could go inside themselves and try to deal with the gunmen.

It was only after the worshippers inside had subdued two of the attackers that the law-enforcement personnel found the confidence to go in. The terrorists, by the way, had an easy passage of entry: they came through the cricket ground which is directly in front of what is called Bait-ul-Noor. Five gunmen. Fully armed. Two with suicide jackets." Rest here.

Emergency causing emergency?

Who knows what one swift decision might lead to? I wonder if those who grant licenses to chemical industries can even picture the possibilities contained within those factories where hazardous chemical compounds are being manufactured. I know I couldn't have imagined it - boxes of inanimate matter leading to deaths and birth defects even at a generation's remove... and all it takes is a signature on a piece of paper. A license, a clearing of bureaucratic hurdles, a dismissal of all fears about pollution.

A paper - whether in triplicate or not - got signed. And then thousands and thousands of dead mutilated bodies.

Another signature must have led to the imposition of a national emergency. Which led to an overriding of all objections to every state decision - whether from rival politicians, or bureaucrats or the press or activists. Which led to the granting of a license. Which led to...

What exactly the Emergency had to do with the Bhopal tragedy has not been investigated but according to this press release, "on 1st January 1970, Union Carbide Company had applied for industrial license... The company did not get industrial license for more than 5 years. There must have been sufficient reason to withhold permission for industrial license. After the imposition of Emergency, the company was granted the license on till (sic) 31st October, 1975".

The release is up here . It makes a few other points about state culpability. It quotes Mohan P Tiwari, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal, whose statement says: “(z) It is worthwhile to mention here that the Government of India and the Team of Scientists admittedly was never permitted to visit the Plant at Verginia, (sic) USA. No brochure, or any other documentary evidence demonstrating the similarity between the two plants at Verginia and Bhopal has been produced before the court by the defence."

I personally think the victims of 1984 would be perfectly justified in suing the state of Madhya Pradesh and the Government of India. Dow, Union Carbide, Anderson, and the local managers are all guilty and should be punished. But so is the state - for not inspecting the factory and insisting on better safety measures, for not insisting that their scientists be allowed to visit the American plant if they felt it was necessary before granting a license, and for not investigating this whole business of who cleared the project in 1975 and who renewed that license in 1982.

Nothing and nothing and nothing

I spent some time on the Bhopal website. They have a timeline tool. It shows you a page crowded with information on what happened during the gas tragedy in December 1984. On the right, there is a horizontal bar with forward/backward arrows in neon green. I clicked on the forward arrow.

There was nothing. And nothing. And nothing. And nothing.

Then there was something, a little something. In 1989. Criminal charges against Carbide. Then a little further on, in 1991, the Supreme Court review of the Carbide settlement. Then, in 1992, the reopening of the criminal liability case. Then in 1993, Union Carbide and Warren Anderson were declared 'absconders' from the law.

And then nothing. And nothing. And nothing. All the way to now, and nothing.

While keeping my finger on the click button of the mouse, arm began to hurt. I was irritated and frustrated at staring at the blank screen. I wanted to speed things up. Move on. Move on to the point where something happened. Why was 1989 taking so long to turn into 1991? Why was 2002 not moving into 2005. Why was 2005 dragging? I found myself just wanted to give up. Shut the window. Look at something else. Plenty of other ways to waste time on the internet.

And then I began to wonder - what is it like for nothing to happen if you are on the timeline?

When 1989 never ended. Where 2005 never quite began. And if it did, it looks no different from 1985, or 2009. What happened to time, if (almost) nothing was all that happened?

What must it be like to sit there and wait for something to happen, and not even be able to click a button. Not be able to shut windows. Not be able to waste time because so much of your time, your life, your patience, your body has already been wasted.

And as for what happened in 1989? This.

"...the Indian Supreme Court unilaterally, without giving the victims a chance to make their case, imposed a settlement to the amount of $470 million, with the government to make up any shortfall. The government had asked for $3 billion from Carbide. Carbide executives vere delighted; they speedily transferred the money to the government. That was in 1989. The first victim did not see the first rupee of Carbide s money until Christmas of 1992, eight years after the night of the gas. A total of 597,000 claims for compensation have been filed. As of May 1996, the government has passed rulings on only about half of them302,422-and awarded compensation for injuries to 288,000 Bhopalis...

Although the government isn’t releasing figures about the average amount of awards, the welfare commissioner’s office told me that the maximum compensation awarded for deaths is 150,000 rupees ($4286), except in a handful of cases. Mohammed Laique, a local lawyer who has been representing claimants from the beginning, gave me the standard rates of compensation. For most deaths, the amount awarded is 100,000 rupees ($2857). For personal injury cases, 90 per cent get 25,000 rupees, or $714 (the award bestowed on most of the survivors I spoke to directly)."

Read the whole piece. It talks not only of the tragedy of poison gas. It talks of the tragedy that us. India. Our courts, our bureaucracy, our people. Us.

Dear Mr Obama

This is my first letter to you. I have to confess, I didn't much care when you won the election. It may have been history in the making but it was American history and I live too far away to care. I didn't wear Obama T-shirts. I didn't read the book. I didn't buy the 'Change'. Call me cynical. Goes with the job description.

But today, I feel compelled to write to you. You're having a problem with oil spills. I don't know how you're going to deal with it but you've been promising compensation and not just 'nickel and dime' stuff. Which is good. By and large, the US seems to take accidents, the disabling of human beings and monetary compensation pretty seriously.

I also read about some plans to compensate veterans, those who worked to test nuclear weapons. It says here that the compensation could be pretty generous.

But your people have always fought for proper compensation and establishment of liability. One of your worst disasters was the Texas City Disaster of 1947, in which 581 people died. I don't need to tell you why etc. But compensation claims were filed against the USA and - I'm wiki-quoting here - "the district court found the United States responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention, and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions and the subsequent carnage. On June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters. The Supreme Court affirmed that decision."

But, "Congress acted to provide some compensation after the courts refused to do so... When the last claim had been processed in 1957, 1,394 awards, totaling nearly $17,000,000, had been made."

Are you counting the zeroes, Mr Obama? That was the year 1957.

Before that, when the South Fork dam burst in 1889, "victims suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempt to recover damages from the dam's owners. Public indignation at that failure prompted a major development in American law—state courts' move from a fault-based regime to strict liability."

More recently, the 2008 Chatsworth train collision caused 25 deaths. Wikipedia tells me "Lawyers quickly began filing claims against Metrolink, and in total, they are expected to exceed a US$200 million liability limit set in 1997... An attorney representing two of the victims agreed, saying payouts could range from $5 million to $10 million per death or serious injury."

You people are talking $5 million per death. And here, in my country, we are talking 55 cents per death.

I recognize that this is a failure of our justice system. Ours, not yours. But I pose to you a moral question. Is it okay to shield a wanted man in a case of this kind? Warren Anderson might be a US citizen. But we're talking over 22,000 lost lives. Enough zeroes, Mr Obama, what do you say?

It's a mess you've inherited, I know. But what would your legal stand be if your daughters, 26 years later, were giving birth to deformed kids, all because Anderson wanted to save a few dollars ($37.68 to be precise, on one critical process)? What would you have done with blinded babies?

Could it be that you are too busy to know that your government has not lifted a finger to extradite a certain Mr Warren Anderson even though there's a new you, heading a government of 'change'.

Take a look at this: "On 20th July official sources from the government of India announced that the May 2003 extradition request had been turned down on “technical grounds”. A month later the State Minister for External Affairs, E. Ahmed, claimed the request had been rejected because it failed to satisfy some clauses of the India-US extradition treaty... Warren bhai, who first ignored an Interpol summons to the Bhopal courts some sixteen years ago is, as ever, as silent as the gas cloud released from the factory that a ‘high standard of evidence’ shows the company he ran was at such pains to control. We examine some of the evidence and speculate on how it can be that the world’s most infamous corporate accused is still getting away with culpable homicide…"

And yes, culpable homicide it is.

"After Ashraf’s death (from a chemical poisoning accident at the factory), Union Carbide management sent a team of US engineers to conduct a ‘business confidential’ safety audit. The May 1982 report identified 61 hazards, 30 of them major and 11 in the dangerous phosgene/MIC unit. Safety measures were improved at Carbide’s MIC plant in West Virginia, but not in Bhopal, where, incredibly, Carbide responded to the death of Ashraf Khan by intensifying its cost-cutting in the most dangerous areas of the plant."

Do I need to spell it out for you, Mr Obama? Just read the bold lettering if you are short on time. US engineers conduct a safety audit. They see a dangerous situation at their chemical factory. They go about making arrangements to cut risks to American lives. They go about increasing the risk to Indian lives.

Should we just spell it out now, Mr Obama. Its called racism. R-A-C-I-S-M.

Your guys - American citizens whom your government is unwilling to arrest and hand over to my country's law system - knew what they were doing. And I want them punished, sir. Ideally, with imprisonment. But most certainly with a big, fat fine. Not nickels and dimes, sir.

Now look at this: "Dow set aside $2.2 billion to meet Carbide asbestos liabililities in the US. However it bluntly refuses to accept Carbide’s liabilities in Bhopal – or even admit that they exist."

You know, there is a famous Hindi film dialogue that I quote often. Roughly translated, it is this question: Is your blood, blood, and our blood water?

So Mr Promised Change, how much my life is worth? Is it worth as much as an American life? White, brown, black, whatever. You choose. Decide how much criminal culpability can be established, and what you - as the first representative of the the USA to the rest of the world - should do about this mess. Let Anderson negotiate his own way to freedom if he can. Let him decide how much his freedom is worth. Don't let him decide how much poor Indians are worth. Dow has said they would prefer to stand trial in India, after all. Send the officials over. They've a lot to answer for, and whole lot to pay for.

Warm regards

Annie

P.S. Separately, would you consider passing a law that forbids Dow/Union Carbide from leaving the USA? A kind of business internment? In the interest of world peace, security and human rights, it would be helpful if those guys were forbidden from doing business in developing countries. While you're at it, you could intern Monsanto too. We've got enough sh*t to deal with and would appreciate not having to deal with your sh*t. We can't afford it. If you can, you keep it.

Now I'm feeling good

Reviews. Good ones. Well, mostly.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?265680

http://www.livemint.com/2010/06/04221449/Queens-and-robbers.html?h=B

http://www.civilsocietyonline.com/jun10/jun1017.asp

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review_book-review-known-turf-is-a-reporter-s-journey-to-the-heart-of-india_1392402

Scary morning thoughts

The day really begins with opening your inbox. It begins with claims on time and attention. And even if time hangs heavy and even if attention is all one has, even so. It is frightening to think that all your life you might be standing somewhere with a banner screaming necessary outrage. All your life you could be marching and the drums would never fall silent because the battle never did end.

You have attended meetings for solidarity, to brainstorm about how to get one Dr Binayak Sen out of jail. You heaved a sigh of relief when he was released (only on bail). Then you heard about Avinash Kulkarni.

You didn't know Dr Sen. You don't know Avinash. You don't know Kishore either. That's what they call Srinivas Sattayya Kurapati, who migrated to Surat and grew active in the trade union movement. In 2006, he joined Darshan, an NGO in Ahmedabad. He's married a woman called Hansaben. And now he's in jail. So is Hansaben. So is her uncle Ambubhai Vaghela.

If you're on mailing lists of the unnerving sort, you'll find out that Avinash had spent years working in the Dangs, most recently helping tribal communities use the Forest Rights Act to retain some semblance of control over their own lives and resources. You might also find out that Ambubhai is a cultural activist. Had founded the Lok Kala Manch in 1980, produced plays on Dalit issues, women’s issues, communal harmony. Others will tell you that he countered the Modi brigade long before 2002 and more intensely after 2002.

You don't know any of this. This is what you read, and you read different theories about why they were arrested.

Here's one line of thought: "There are reasons to believe that the Naxal label has proved very useful for Gujarat and that the state government is going slow in implementing the FRA. In Dangs, not a single “patta” — legal papers for ownership of cultivation land in the forest area — has been handed over to any tribal claimant so far. “The Gujarat government does not like social justice movements. The arrests are aimed at stopping the legal tribal rights movements,” says Uttam Parmar, a Gandhian tribal rights activist."

And here is what some people are doing in response: "Valjibhai Vaghela, a close associate of Ambubhai, said people in Gomtipur and its neighbourhood had decided to put up boards at all houses “proclaiming themselves as Naxalites and getting ready to be arrested to flood the jails” if this was the way the Gujarat police wanted to stifle the voices of the downtrodden."


You might believe that the political and police leadership in Gujarat is imagining a Maoist presence. Or not. You might be persuaded to pay attention. You might find the energy, the voice, the courage, the time. Or perhaps not.

It took two years of lobbying and pressuring and arguing in court before Dr Sen was grated bail. It took several activists traveling to Chhattisgarh and courting arrest in Raipur. Perhaps, they will have to travel to Ahmedabad now.

For now, Avinash Kulkarni is staying put in prison. Perhaps, he counts the days. Perhaps, he counts on the larger activist and journalist fraternity to help get him out. Perhaps he counts on nothing except that the sun rise and the morning come and the free open their inboxes to plan their day.

UPDATE:

A retired customs' officer has also been arrested in Gujarat. Apparently, he's accused of conducting training sessions for the CPI-ML Janshakti in 2000 in Kerela.

Question is, what kind of training?

Rs 199. Only.

For people in the US and elsewhere who are anxiously waiting to get their hands on my book, please go ahead and do so. The book is available on Amazon. 

Also, here it is available for Rs 200, with a cash on delivery option.

And this is cheaper yet. Rs 199 ONLY! It seems to be pretty good offer, though, with free shipping. 

Poem in Mint: The Children Left a Planet Behind

This poem appeared here recently.


The Children Left A Planet Behind

The family name left behind, nailed
Out on the door, as if
They weren’t going to need it any more.
And a ceiling marked with residual trouble.
Double-sided tape where the stars were wrenched off, but
They left a planet behind:
one saturnine globe in neon,
a threadbare ring, glowing
sharp
at lights-out time.
And the outline of where a stained-glass angel clutched a harp.
A framed friend-photo – sunlight, a swing –
all teeth stood out, bare, and the light came in
filtered lime.
No toy clues; not even a broken wing
Or scruffy paw or chewed up arm. Just one candle
Stub, an inch on the window-sill. And one
Lonely planet.

-*-

(C) Annie Zaidi

Bombay launch details. Come one, come all.

Friday, May 21, 2010.
6:30 pm at Landmark bookstore (Palladium), Phoenix Mills compound, Lower Parel.

What they're saying and how to buy

The first few reviews from non-blog media:

(I think this was the first one online)

And quite an unpleasant one here.

And here are a couple of mentions:

http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=15&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=TCRM&mydateHid=15-05-2010&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main44.asp?filename=hub220510salt_shakers.asp

For those who are interested, here is an account of the Delhi launch.

And if you're looking to buy online at a discount, here are more options:

http://shopping.sify.com/known-turf-annie-zaidi/books/9789380032443.htm

http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/Books/Known-Turf-Annie-Zaidi/9789380032443

http://www.indiaplaza.com/known-turf-annie-zaidi/books/9789380032443.htm

This place seems to be more expensive but they say they deliver internationally.

Update:

Another blogger review here.

And this place is offering a generous discount.
And

Heart garden garden etc

Did this piece a few weeks ago, in an attempt to try and understand what it is about public displays of affection that makes the onlooker so upset. 

Gardens of the heart

When I first moved out of a tiny town where everybody knew everybody and playing a game of chess with a boy was tantamount to ‘having an affair’, I discovered that my spoken English was lacking. College, awards and even poetry hadn’t prepared me for a phraseology that included: ‘Get a room’.

This business of getting a room would come up in clubs, cafes, the seaside – wherever youngsters held each other too close, too long. It would be thrown at their backs – their faces usually being occupied otherwise – like a sort of insult. Poor and middle-class newlyweds with no bedroom to call their own, or youngsters who couldn’t gain sexual independence at home even if they had a room.

Things have changed over the last decade. The explosion of cafes and pubs in urban India ensured that there are more indoor spaces to cuddle in. But these are private-public spaces for upper and middle-middle classes. The rest of our country must save up its loving for parks and promenades. The general principle seems to be – have green space, will canoodle.

Over the years, I have come to believe that it is a good principle. From the point of view of the environment, for instance. If people can be persuaded to have a good time minus air-conditioning, bonding in the lap of mother nature, what could be better? Why fork over significant sums of money to restaurants, malls and cinemaplexes that offer horrid fare and suck up energy resources like there’s no tomorrow.

Then, there’s mental and social health too. Human beings need human touch and a generation that has been made to feel ashamed of this can only end up hurt, and hurting others. Besides, there’s something to be said for quitting snobbery and becoming equal to other humans in your desire for a quiet nook and a beloved.

But inevitably, there is a price to pay. Youngsters are harassed by the police. Friends of mine were nearly arrested once, although they were engaged to be married and were doing nothing more intimate than having a cup of chai at a dhaba. Another young couple, accused of ‘kissing due to which passersby were feeling bad’ had to argue all the way to court, according to news reports. Apparently, the Delhi High Court did not find them guilty of obscenity because they were married.

Others were not so lucky. There was the headline-hogging Meerut bash-fest, branded ‘Operation Majnu’ where cops assaulted youngsters in a garden. There was also the tragic episode of 2005 in Mumbai, where a young girl was first humiliated for being out with male friends at Marine Drive, then taken to a police chowky and raped by a cop.

Blame it on the vagaries of the Indian Penal Code. Section 294 allows for three months’ imprisonment for 'obscene acts and songs' but fails to properly define 'obscene'. It simply wants to punish ‘Whoever, to the annoyance of others, does any obscene act in any public place’.

Annoyance?! How can you imprison someone for annoying someone else? Society is wildly divergent and it is ridiculous to assume that everyone finds the same things obscene. But I sometimes wonder if there is a base morality, a tacit agreement amongst us about how much intimacy is okay in public. I asked graphic artist Hemant Suthar and he says we need more parks to make room for love, particularly when there’s so much public display of hatred, but there’s a caveat of ‘decency’. “In multiplexes, we see people holding hands, hugging in gardens, cuddling behind bushes. I’ve heard of people making out in buses and cinemas and taxis,” he says, adding, “But I have not seen anything objectionable as yet.”

But then, what’s ‘objectionable’? I ask Navjyoti Jandu, a social development professional and a newlywed, and she admits that she and her husband let themselves go when they are in a romantic mood because “hugging or kissing on the forehead or cheeks is common” but she describes a park visit with her whole family as an embarrassment. “We had gone to the Garden of Five Senses and in every corner we saw couples in different postures. Some,” she puts it delicately, “were deeply involved.”

It reminds me of my first memorable tryst with cuddly couples several years ago. A Delhi park. Summer afternoon. Two girls seeking privacy, to just talk without being overheard by family. The walk turned out to be anything but private. Each scruffy bush, each patch of poky grass was occupied.

Oddly enough, none of the couples were bothered by each other’s presence or scrutiny (and scrutiny, there was. Most couples stole glances across the flowerbeds to look at what else who was doing), but our presence was clearly undesirable. Some youngsters stiffened at the sound of approaching footsteps and as we walked past, they held hands and looked resentful. Others stared at us with open hostility. I burned with an odd sort of reflected humiliation.

Until then, I had not been exposed to such swathes of intimacy. With that much display, it was a veritable museum of affection. While it did feel strange to be looking at the couples, I also clearly remember thinking that I was out of place. That I was the intruder in a space that had been marked out for privacy by those who needed it.

More recently, a young man told me about how much he loves Bandra Bandstand, but he added with a giggle, “I will not go there again, not until I have a girlfriend.”

These days, when I hear of police ‘action’ or politically ambitious locals rounding up lovers in parks or promenades, I remember my old feeling of trespass, the sense that I was unwanted. I remember the boy who needs a girlfriend to properly enjoy Bandstand. Then I wonder about the real reason for public outrage when people make out in public. And I wonder too if that is not the true obscenity of our times – that people cannot love without shame and, perhaps, don’t even know how.

Onwards ho

It's been a very rushed time. Thanks for those who sent congratulations and apologies for not always responding on time or not having the good, long conversations that might have been had at the launch.

Do pick up the book. I will be horribly pleased if you read the book and send in feedback, or tell me just how much you love it.

Known Turf has events coming up in Bhopal and Mumbai this month. Launches have happened in Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow. There is a Facebook group for updates, photos etc, for those who might be interested.

The book is also available on Flipkart. Go ahead. Click.

A little more truth, now we're talking about truth

Dear Editor,
(Countercurrents.org)

I have just had a book out – a collection of essays based on reportage and travel over the last few years. I wrote it in the hope that through these stories of reporting from the field, other people too could share in my understanding of me, my times and my country.

There has been a great outpouring of goodwill and support from family, friends and colleagues. I have been exhausted and happy, particularly when I see that the average person is actually willing to engage with some of the more serious issues I've put in the essays. But today, I am also forced to worry: What would happen if everything I wrote was disbelieved, or challenged by others who didn't want to agree with me? Additionally, what would happen if a group of people who disliked me or my politics was to try to discredit my reportage by issuing public statements about me?

Earlier this week, I was forwarded an email with what appears to be a statement issued by the Jamia Teacher's Solidarity Association (though I cannot find it on their own website, it does appear on Countercurrents, a website that I have a fair amount of respect for. The piece (dated April 25, 2010) accuses journalist Praveen Swami of being a liar. To my knowledge, this is the first time a pressure group has formed that publicly singles out a journalist on a given beat for such strident criticism, and in absolute isolation from his/her organisation and other journalists who cover the same region/beat. I was concerned, partly because it seemed like an attempt at constructing outrage against one individual, isolating him from his field of work and thereby discrediting even the editorial leadership of the newspaper he works for by indirectly insinuating that the editors don't know what they're doing.

Before I go any further, I would like to declare some basic facts. Mr Swami was bureau chief at a time when I was working for Frontline, and I just have a book out in which he features in the acknowledgments. He was a good boss and very un-boss-like in that he treated me as an intellectual equal (unlike certain other older male journalists whom I shall not name here) and was always up for a good debate, always listening with an open mind to what I had to say. He is still a friend.

However, this is not about loyalty or a defense of friendship. This is about journalistic integrity and the rights of reporters to report the truth as far as they can access it. The correct thing to do, if you suspect a journalist is not quite doing his job, is to write to the editor of the paper. The Hindu is one of those rare papers that has a readers' editor. It is surprising that the teachers' association did not send in their note to the editor there. Or that they did not put it up as a press statement on their own website, addressed to the The Hindu editor. It would have given Mr Swami a fair chance to defend himself. It seems wrong to me to accuse someone without giving them a chance to have their say. You, being an editor who stands for truth - even truth that is not immediately apparent and which is often ignored or willfully suppressed - probably understand this sentiment. Though I must also say that if I had been an editor of a website that carried the aforementioned note by the JTSA, I would have expected the allegations to be a little more rigorously researched and properly phrased, or I might have found myself slapped with a libel suit.

However, I have done your job for you. Like a good journalist, I wrote to Mr Swami asking for a clarification, with specific reference to the examples of the 'lies' the note referenced. He has answered with a point by point rebuttal of the JTSA's allegations (see below). Having read it, it appears that the note you have published betrays a certain terminological inexactitude on the part of the writers, not to mention wide swathes of intellectual laziness (which is strange, considering these are professional intellectuals). But we can always conduct debates with intellectual rigour at another date. For now, I am hoping that you will be fair, and publish Mr Swami’s rebuttal for the sake of editorial integrity.

Regards

Annie Zaidi

April 28, 2010



Dear Annie:

Thank you for your letter. I’m glad that, unlike many people I know, you’ve actually sought my opinion on the allegations that the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association has levelled at me. Some people seem to have been perfectly content to circulate the allegations without any effort at verification. Since the JTSA’s allegations have not been addressed, to the best of my knowledge, to my Editors at The Hindu, I’ve had no opportunity to respond to what I believe are scurrilous allegations. However, I do hope you will not be upset if I take the liberty of circulating my reply to you to a few people who may be interested in what I have to say.

The principal JTSA claim, if my understanding is correct, is that I’ve invented a suspect for the Bangalore and Pune bombings, undermining my own earlier position—as they see it—that Hindutva groups had carried out the attacks.

Separately, the JTSA also makes two, somewhat mutually-contradictory claims: first that I blindly broadcast the views of India’s intelligence services, and secondly, that I make up stories. The first of these two charges is, by its nature, difficult to prove or disprove: after all, if someone has persuaded themselves that I am an agent of India’s intelligence services, my denials are hardly likely to persuade them otherwise.

It seems common-sense to me that the issue is not who I get my information from—which I am professionally bound, as you know, not to disclose—but how accurate that information is. This brings me to the second claim—i.e., that I have invented or misrepresented facts. This allegation is a serious one, but can be tested. Below, I’ve put my responses to their claims in the order in which they appear. Please make up your own mind.


The JTSA claim
My response

While the Pune police commissioned experts to draw sketches of the suspects based on this footage, ATS dismissed this exercise as “anything but useful”, as their source, the CCTV footage, was itself grainy. (Siasat, April 12). Where does Swami stand on this? He wrote in his 19th February piece: “All that investigators have by way of suspects are three men recorded holding brief meetings before the blast by a poor-quality closed-circuit television camera. From the videotape, it is unclear if the men had anything to do with the attack.” Exactly a month later, Swami conveniently develops an amnesia about Abhinav Bharat and even about the poor quality of CCTV footage. What was earlier ‘unclear” and hazy has in one month segued into solid shape: in the form of top Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Mohammad Zarar Siddi Bawa ie., Yasin Bhatkal….

The JTSA is right: I did indeed write about grainy video footage obtained from a camera installed in a hotel opposite the German Bakery (I’ve dealt with the Abhinav Bharat issue they’ve raised below, to avoid confusing issues). What I didn’t know when I wrote the story was of the existence of footage from the second CCTV camera, installed above the cash counter in the German Bakery. Please note, though, that the existence of this footage was known to journalists other than me long before the Maharashtra Police Anti-Terrorism Squad disclosed its existence. Mid-Day, to cite just one of several examples that can easily be unearthed from the internet, had an account of its existence as early as February 17, 2010.[2] The article made clear that the police had instructed witnesses not to talk about the footage: “Pravin Panth, cashier at the bakery, said, ‘I have seen the footage, but I cannot reveal the inputs. I have been advised to refrain from revealing details to the media as this may harm investigations’.” Please also note that Yasin Bhatkal’s possible role in the bombings was dwelt on at this stage of the investigation by other journalists.[3]

Clearly, Swami’s changing perceptions about the CCTV footage is in accord with the shifting attitude of the ATS itself.

I wish my supposedly-formidable contacts in the intelligence services and elsewhere had told me about the cash-counter footage. That they didn’t should lead to some obvious inferences; the implications are too clear to need fleshing out here. As the JTSA points out, the Maharashtra Police Anti-Terrorism Squad did indeed claim that it had identified Yasin Bhatkal, from footage harvested from the cash-counter camera. This was widely reported in early April, before I wrote.[4] I was, I have to say, sceptical—hence, I worked to access the footage, and see for myself if the man in the tape did indeed resemble Yasin Bhatkal. I was reasonably satisfied by what I found. In any case, if investigators changed their views when new evidence came to light, why is that a problem?

Swami’s articles appear magically, faithfully reflecting the Intelligence reports. After the Batla House ‘encounter’, he launched a tirade against all those who were questioning the police account of the shootout labeling them all ‘Alices in wonderland’. He went so far as to identify ‘precisely’ how Inspector Sharma was shot by claiming that “abdomen wound was inflicted with [Atif] Amin's weapon and the shoulder hit, by Mohammad Sajid”…. And no sir, Swami’s conclusion was not based on post mortem reports of the killed, fire arm examination report or ballistic report but on this innocent fact: “the investigators believe that…”

The National Human Rights Commission studied the same evidence I did—and more which was not available when I wrote. It says: “…swabs which were taken from the right hands of Mohd Atif Ameen and Modh Sajid by the doctors at the time of post mortem in AIIMS were sent in sealed bottles to CFSL for dermal nitrate tests in the laboratory. The same were found to contain gun shot residue. This conclusively establishes that Mohd Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid had both used fire arms at the time of incident”.[5] Unless it believes that the NHRC is an intelligence agency, the allegation made by the JTSA is untrue.

Swami however felt no need to pen an article when the postmortem reports of Atif and Sajid revealed that they had been shot from close range and that neither of them sustained gunshot wounds in the frontal region of the body—an impossibility in the case of a genuine encounter.

I didn’t. I still don’t. Having studied the available evidence, the NHRC concluded: “In such circumstances, the action taken by the police party in which Mohd. Atif Ameen and Mohd. Sajid received fatal injuries and died is fully protected by law”.[6] Parenthetically, I note that members of the Facebook group I believe the 2008 Batla House encounter was FAKE insist that “not only the JTSA report, but also NHRC (a statutory body of GOI) says that the encounter is fake”.[7] Either these people have not read the NHRC report—or are lying.


When two crude bombs went off outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of the match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on 17th April, the Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya announced that the state Police were investigating the alleged involvement of the cricket betting lobby. He forcefully denied any link with the earlier blasts in the city in 2008.

But Yasin Bhatkal seems to have preoccupied Swami’s mind on 19th April for he evokes him again in connection with the stadium blasts (“Stadium Blasts herald new IM offensive”). Citing the ever cooperative ‘investigators’, he says that the ‘similarity in design’ and the manner in which some bombs failed to explode are a sure indicator of the IM hand

Leaving aside the minor irony here—the JTSA’s great faith in an embarrassed BJP politician—there are two facts that need to be recorded. In pursuit of the government’s “betting mafia” story, the Karnataka Police arrested five Uttar Pradesh suspects. Those suspects were cleared of any involvement in the attacks by the Uttar Pradesh Police.[8] Second, I clearly identified that suspicions directed at Mohammad Zarar Siddi Bawa, a.k.a. Yasin Bhatkal, were based on what investigators were telling me. Similarity in bomb design is quite evidently reasonable ground for suspicion—though it is not of course proof. Since I have no independent expertise in bomb forensics, the information was clearly attributed to investigators. Its up to readers whether they want to believe them or not.

Swami here details the biographies of SIMI activists in South India, making the link, ever so cleverly, between SIMI—and yes, IM—and the stadium blasts, without providing any evidence of their actual linkage.

I’m a little uncertain here about precisely what the allegation is here—but think the JTSA has some problem with my suggesting that SIMI and the Indian Mujahideen are linked to terrorism. I’m in good company, I think, in this belief. Javed Anand had a must-read article on the issue some time back.[9] Yoginder Sikand had some good background earlier.[10] If you’re willing to fork out a few bucks for more detail, do read C. Christine Fair on the subject.[11] This is just a tiny part of a mass of literature—not including charge-sheets, trial records and so on—on the subject. You don’t need access to the Intelligence Services to access it—just a few hours in a good library

-

Like so many people driven by blind faith, the JTSA’s members don’t seem willing to be persuaded by fact. Increasingly, the positions of its supporters seem driven by bizarre conspiracy theories. For instance, Omair Anas, one of the leading lights of the “Shut Up Praveen Swami” group[12] (which includes among its members an odd array of Islamists linked to the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing as well as members of that flag-bearer of Delhi’s regrettably unsubstantial radical-chic, Sarai), has this post up on his Facebook wall:

Omair Anas Who carried out 9/11 attack? Israel ! Israel! know how http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/israel-did-911-all-the-proof-in-the-world/

Sun at 23:55 · Share

Israel did 9/11, ALL THE PROOF IN THE WORLD!![13]


I have two points to make in conclusion:

First, a number of Islamist groups, as well as some of Maoist supporters, have been engaging in a wilful misrepresentation of my work—misrepresentation that, your letter leads me to believe, may be succeeding simply because the audiences for this campaign do not seem to take the trouble of reading what I have written. For example, a Google Groups thread claims that I have been advocating targeted killing of “insurgent leaders (and cadres)! Understandably, away from the battlefields. Dragged out of homes or on the city streets? A la Mossad!?”[14] Please see for yourself if I actually said anything of the kind. I did indeed point to a successful campaign targeting “the leadership and cadre of Khalistan terrorists”. I trust no sensible person would have objections to the targeting of these murderous criminals. I concluded that “Learning from its own success stories, India needs to fight insurgencies in smarter, leaner ways. Like Andhra Pradesh, States must invest in training facilities that meet their particular needs; expand intelligence capabilities; and use technology effectively. Instead of focussing on simply expanding the size of Central forces, the Union government must understand the need for them to be properly trained and equipped”. [15]

Second, it seems to me a little sad that my critics have chosen to use personal slurs and innuendo, instead of engaging in a debate on facts—a debate I think is important and healthy. It is all the more dismaying when people you would expect to value civil debate engage in these kinds of tactics. I find these tactics despicable. I’m happy to be challenged on points of fact and interpretation. I believe that informed criticism is good for public debate and good journalism. Sadly, I don’t think the JTSA statement has helped either cause.

Warm regards


Praveen


[1] Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, ‘Praveen Swami’s Not So Fabulous Fables’ (CounterCurrents.org: http://www.countercurrents.org/jtsa250410.htm)
[2] Bipin Kumar Singh and Kaumudi Gujjar, ‘Footage gave important leads: cops’ (MidDay: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/feb/170210-german-bakery-blast-cctv-footage-vital-clues.htm), February17, 2010.
[3] Johnson TA, ‘Yasin Bhatkal is IM bombmaker, now in Karachi: Probe team’ (The Indian Express: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/yasin-bhatkal-is-im-bombmaker-now-in-karachi-probe-team/582699/), February 22, 2010.
[4] ‘IM leader Yasin Bhatkal mastermind of Pune blasts, claims ATS’, (Daily News and Analysis: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_im-leader-yasin-bhatkal-mastermind-of-pune-blasts-claims-ats_1368789), April 8, 2010.
[5] ‘Shri Kamran Siddique Gen.Secretary, Real Cause, New Delhi: 2811/30/8/08-09-FE’ (National Human Rights Commission: New Delhi, July 20, 2009). Online at nhrc.nic.in/Batla.doc. Page 21
[6] Shri Kamran Siddique Gen.Secretary, Real Cause, New Delhi: 2811/30/8/08-09-FE’ (National Human Rights Commission: New Delhi, July 20, 2009). Online at nhrc.nic.in/Batla.doc. Page 25
[7] http://ko-kr.facebook.com/BatlaHouse
[8] Aakash Singh, ‘Suspects arrested for Chinnaswamy blast case are thieves from UP’ (MyNews.in:http://www.mynews.in/News/Suspects_arrested_for_Chinnaswamy_blast_case_are_thieves_from_UP_N49091.html), April 22, 2010
[9] Javed Anand ‘Suspect SIMI? Of course’, (The Indian Express: http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/349496/), August 16, 2008
[10] Yoginder Sikand, ‘The SIMI story’, (Countercurrents.org: http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-sikand150706.htm), July 15, 2006.
[11] C. Christine Fair, ‘Students Islamic Movement of India and the Indian Mujahideen: An Assessment’, Asian Policy Vol 9 (Washington DC: National Bureau of Asian Research), January 2010.
[12]http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115282715164932&ref=search&sid=100000903926148.964712540..1
[13]http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1383468305#!/profile.php?id=1383468305&v=wall
[14]http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth/browse_thread/thread/d9c6220d869a0cc5/f48d96c7a196bad5?lnk=raot&pli=1
[15] Praveen Swami, ‘For a review of counter-insurgency doctrine’, (The Hindu: http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article395529.ece), April 13, 2010.

Not quite the blog

So, this is out next week. Look out for it in bookstores. There will be a few readings, discussions, book events in different cities, starting with Delhi on 23rd of April.

The book is a collection of essays based on the sort of work, processes, mind-churning etc that led to this blog, but it is not simply a print version of old posts. It is a closer, deeper, slower look at my own work, and the sort of things I covered.

Do pass the word around. Do buy the book. Do read it and let me know what you think.

Some questions, some stories

I do not yet want to write about the constitutional validity (and I do think it is questionable), morality, or impact of Greenhunt at the moment. I don't know enough, perhaps, and would like to collect my thoughts. Not all journalists - I take this opportunity to assert - scream on television about 'what the people feel' and who ought to be ashamed of what views without having thought through 'which country' 'what is a country' 'which people' and 'where is shame due'?

But I want to - and want other people to - think and talk about democracy in this country. That's where we must start. Not by spouting distant, outraged opinions but by listening to those who are not so distant, those whose stories I have no great reason to disbelieve, those whose circumstances are as fatal, as frightening as dead bodies in uniform.

A 24-year old civil rights' activist went to a Jharkhand prison, with permission from the police, to check on human rights inside. The team found itself taken into custody, not even permitted to call a police inspector general.

Now consider that this is a young person from Delhi. He speaks and writes English. He has access to newspapers and magazines and knows how to find spaces in which his voice will be heard, even if the local aminsitration does him an injustice. At the moment of crisis, he had a cell phone. He had the phone number of other, more senior police officials. When he was being taken into custody, he probably knew that what was happening was illegal and if he hadn't been released the same day, somebody from Delhi might come down and ask questions. Words would be exchanged. Somebody would do SOMETHING!

What happens when a young man is none of that?

What happens if he asks a few questions about how democracy works in his village? What if he wants to fight elections? Perhaps, the answer is below:

'I wanted to fight elections and submitted the forms. I used to complain about the death and destruction due to the SPO, District administration. But once when I reached home around 8-9 pm, there was police waiting for me. They told me that my form had been rejected and I can’t file it again, since the date for filing is past.'
Here's another young man, a 23-year old.
'The panchayat elections in our village were announced to be held on the 31st. But there were no polling booths set up on the 31st, so I asked the zonal officer, what happened to the elections? He said that they were going to be held on the 2nd. When I asked him, why the date was changed, he didn’t give me any information. I requested him that I want to talk to the collector but he refused. I visited police camp and questioned the major whether the election will be held in the panchayat, or in the police camp. He told me that they will be organized in panchayat on the 2nd.
On 2nd, there was no booth in the there, so we took 200 people with us and went to the police camp to vote. But there, they announced that we are naxalites and started firing on us. These people are not fighting the real naxalites, but are fighting against the innocent masses.
Why are the naxalites still there today? Mahendra Karma (Congress Party Member-Founder of Salwa Judum) said that SJ (Salwa Judum) would be over in 6 months. But the naxalites are stronger than ever before. Thanks to SJ. SPOs are not made voluntarily. People are forced to join the camps; they are made to do all the dirty work for the police and the forces. Wash their clothes, cook food for them. Paid a paltry sum of 1500 with a life of misery.'

The same young man went on to say:

'In 2005, maybe there were 50% naxalites in my village. Now there are 90% naxalites.In our villages, it is not the naxals who destroy the school buildings, it is the villagers. All school buildings are used for housing CRPF, SPOs etc. The villagers are sick and weary of having these forces in the village and their presence only means regular beatings for the villagers, looting of the village produce etc. That is why they destroy the school building when they get a chance.You might think that I too am a Naxal. But then why would I be in front of you, testifying. I am doing this because I want education in my village. I also want development. But the NMDC in Bailadila is not development. The people who have lost land to Bailadila mines have still not found jobs there.If you want a company, place it where people agree to it. It is possible that a company might also construct a school and a hospital etc. But we don’t want a company on our lands. We want to do our farming.'

The above are testimonies from an Independent People's Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt, which was set up to create a dialogue that includes the people whose lives, lands and resources are at stake.

You might dismiss the tribunal and its organisers. I am acutely conscious of the fact that most people do. So I will not ask you to agree with the findings of the tribunal, or its recommendations. Or at least, not unless you can reach those conclusions yourselves. For now, all I want is to ask a question - if you do not believe the voices above, ask yourself why. Allow yourself to wonder if it could be because you prefer not to, because of who you are, where you live, because you'd rather not have your world ripped apart by violence, or its constant threat. And ask yourself if you don't prefer that such violence be visited upon someone else, who lives somewhere else.

Here's a small extract from some of the testimonies that were put before the tribunal:

'The collector’s office sent out a notice that the leasing of land to Jindal was authorized. However, the collector’s office is not supposed to have that authority.... Sudha read an affidavit of the prospective licenses applied for by MSP. Each item is supposed to be followed to a host of procedures about the details of these licenses. But, on further examination, none of the companies followed any of the post-lease procedures. She read out an actual license application by Jindal Co, which left several necessary sections blank especially sections pertaining to the consent required for the acquisition of the land (from both the occupier and the owner)...She further added Jindal Co. said they would compensate for the land acquisition by paying 10% more than agricultural revenue that would otherwise accrue from the land, as well as the rent. But so far they have not paid anything at all. Former occupants of this land have been taken on as contractual workers by this company. The labor force of this company is policed by the CRPF.'

And if you want to understand some more, listen to Lingam, who does not even care to speak anonymously now.

'My name is Lingaram, from Sameli, Dantewada. I am a driver and my family has a car, in which I can ferry people. We have some land on which we farm. I am not very literate.I was watching TV at home, around September last year. Five motorcycles came, with 10 people, who were holding AK 47s. They took me to Kokunda. They asked me questions such as “where did you get the bike from? How do you go about in style?” My family is fairly comfortably off, but they accused me of being a Naxalite. They tortured me and wanted me to become an Special Police Officer (SPO).... They took me for the court hearing and kept me in a fancy hotel—but before the judge, I said that although I have come here of my own will, I now wish to return to my family and village. So they had to let me go.But on the way back, while I was being accompanied by my family and villagers in cars, the security forces stopped us again, and arrested me again and were trying to force me to go back to the police station. However, I managed to flee, but my brother was taken by them instead. A few days later, they again came for me. And have been threatening my father too.I have been hiding since. The police are still looking for me.... There is news that some mineral has been discovered in the hills close to our village. And I think that is the real reason that the police is there, not because of the Naxals.Question (Jury): Is Gram Panchayat functioning in your village?We have a Gram Panchayat but it has no meaning. It is full of Marwaris and non-tribals. If we write and send them something, they bury it and make sure that it doesn’t reach any of the authorities. We have no education, no health, nothing. Calling us naxals is simply an excuse to terrorize us.We have a village school upto 5th class. The teachers come for only one day in a month, and collect a full month’s pay. We want real education. The only time the politicians come is during the elections. No one comes to our areas except the police force. We complained about the teachers—but to no avail. We are told that till Maoists are there, we can’t get any relief. When we tell the Maoists we want education, they tell us that they aren’t here for us, adivasis, but for class war.Question (Jury): Any development Question (Jury): Any development on National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme? There is no NREGA in our region. We were organized under an organization to collect forest produce, but were told that we are naxals. How is it that the Marwaris can come and steal our forest produce and make high profits, but when we adivasis try to collect it, we are called naxals.Question (Audience): Do you want development in your area?We get enough from our land to feed us. What is development? NMDC has operated in our area for 52 years but only caused destruction. Naxals don’t help us, but they don’t hurt us either. If having a company nearby could give us development, then considering that Bailadila (NMDC mines) is 20 km from us and has been there before the naxals, then we should have had a lot of development. What is the reason that we still have no education and no hospital? Not one hospital in 52 years! When our adivasis go to bailadila for treatment, they humiliate us and don’t admit us to their hospitals.'

You can read the rest here, here and here.

A free speech hub

This place is for journalists, writers, or anyone who believes in saying it like it is. Or like it isn't. In my view, the only speech worth having is free. Your views... you could take them here.