Plural Sources of Kashmiri Myths

“Freedom Must be an Ideal with a Social Content”

  From The Sunday Observer of October 22, 1944

The following message was sent by Mr. M.N. Roy to the Bengal Provincial Conference of the Radical Democratic Party held on October 14/15, 1944 at Jaynagar under the presidentship of A.N. Chattopadyay M.L.A. (Central)

Dear Comrades,

39_GopalMore than half a century has passed since the place of the movement for freedom of India began. Bengal was the birth place of the movement. During this period, the world has undergone many changes … the latest of them being the global war, which is now bearing its end. The conclusion of the mighty clash of arms however will bring the more fundamental issues underlying the gigantic conflict to the forefront. The war will still have to be waged on the political and social fronts, which cut across national frontiers.

The final stages of India’s struggle for freedom will be fought in that context of a transnational period in the history of the world. In that period, old ideas and ideals will no longer hold good. They are already in the melting pot. Should India even then cling to antiquated ideas and cherish discredited ideals, she might still languish in the stagnant backwaters of history, when the more fortunate and enterprising peoples have turned their back on the past to bury its dead to march towards a future of real freedom.

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Reconsidering the Shia as the ‘Other’ in Pakistan

protesthazara3January 10th, 2013 marked one of the worst episode of Shia genocide in Pakistan when two bomb blasts targeting the Hazara Shia community, killed almost 200 people in a busy marketplace in Quetta. The Hazara Shias, who have been systematically and ruthlessly killed for almost a decade, refused to bury their dead and sat alongside with their bodies on the streets for three days and nights, through torrential rain and cold weather. This was a heart-wrenching protest, which drew an overwhelming nationwide response of sympathy from not just from Shia communities, but from Pakistanis of all religious affiliations. Protestors sought to highlight the injustices faced by the Shia community and the lack of state response, which can be judged from the fact that none of the perpetrators have ever been arrested or prosecuted in the last decade. One reason for the apparent inaction against the Sunni extremists seems to be a general confusion and a lack of consensus among the mainstream Sunnis themselves, regarding ways in which to respond to such incendiary vitriol spewed by such militant groups.

In the light of the imploding violence against the Shias and the atrocities taking place in the name of religion, it seems worthwhile to delve deeper into history to analyze the dynamics of Sunni militancy. Prevalent analysis on Pakistan continues to insist that the hatred Sunni militant groups bear towards Shia Muslims is fundamentally theological. In reality it has little to do with theology and everything to do with the politics of the times. Much is consequently being said about the need to accept and overcome religious ‘differences’ among both sects in Pakistan presently, but the exact nature or scale of these differences is hardly ever a point of reference in any meaningful discussion. In this sense, the very premise of such arguments seems intrinsically flawed, as it portrays the Shia as the ‘other’ with many commentators inadvertently aggregating them with non-Muslims as a ‘minority.’

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Five Questions with Dr. Khaled Fahmy

Five Questions with Dr. Khaled Fahmy-Question 1 from Baraza Video on Vimeo.

2011 has marked a new model of revolution that stem from practical realities and shun standardized theory. What do you think the prospects are for such demands for change that function in the absence of macro-social frameworks and ideologies? What ideas or discourses are likely to rise to the fore in the future? Does the nation state have a future as the main unit of political organization? If not, how will people and societies be organized?

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Five Questions with V.S. Achuthanandan with an Introduction by Prof. Prabhat Patnaik

V.S.ACHUTHANANDAN by Prof. Prabhat Patnaik

(scroll down for the video)

UnknownIt is difficult these days, after the end of the classical period of Communism, to find a Communist leader who enjoys such mass popularity as V.S.Achuthanandan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He may not be well-known outside his state, Kerala, but within the state, which has a population of over 33 million, he is by far the most popular political leader. In fact it is difficult to think of any living Communist leader, other than Fidel Castro of course, who enjoys such massive popularity, cutting across party lines.

Born into an Ezhava family  in the Alapuzha district of Kerala in 1923, Achuthanandan, who lost his mother at the age of four and his father at the age of eleven, had to give up his studies and work as a tailor’s apprentice. Later he joined a coir factory as a worker and participated in trade union activities, through which he came to Communism and became a member of the Party in 1940, shortly after its formation in Kerala in 1939. When the undivided Communist Party split in 1964, Achuthanandan who had spent almost a decade of his life in jail or underground, became one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He spent twelve years as the Secretary of the Kerala State CPI(M) and almost a decade as the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala State Legislative Assembly, before leading the Left Democratic Front, of which the CPI(M) was the principal constituent, to a massive victory in the 2006 elections, to become the Chief Minister of the state for the next five years. The LDF narrowly lost the 2011 elections, which was itself a creditable feat in view of Kerala’s history of always rejecting incumbent governments, and Achuthanadan became once more the Leader of the Opposition, a post he holds to date.

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Images from the Present and a Letter from the Past

DAMS3These pictures were taken at the Dalit Adivasi Mahasamelanam, in November 2012, where tens of thousands of Dalits and Adivasis, including families of men, women, children, the elderly and in some cases, entire village communities, gathered together at the famous Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi in a campaign to end caste, caste discrimination, and caste atrocities.  A letter reprinted below,  written by Mr. G.M. Thaware, Secretary, All-India Depressed Classes Association to Mr. M.K. Gandhi regarding the condition of the ‘Depressed Classes,’ written in 1941, is telling. This letter is sourced from the National Archives of India‘s public records–Thaware forwarded a copy to the British Indian Administration for their records.

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Decolonizing the Digital

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On February 28th and March 1st 2013, the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University will be hosting its annual graduate conference. Titled “Paradigmatic Conflict and Crisis,” the conference seeks to showcase the work of emerging scholars whose research is concerned with the spaces between conflicting, emerging, and established paradigms, and with new possibilities for our understanding of paradigm as both a discursive formation and a set of practices.

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Five Questions with Prof. Ashis Nandy

Prof. Ashis Nandy: Question 1 from Baraza Video on Vimeo.

Five Questions with Professor Ashis Nandy

Question 1:

2011 has marked a new model of revolution that stem from practical realities and shun standardized theory. What do you think the prospects are for such demands for change that function in the absence of macro-social frameworks and ideologies? What ideas or discourses are likely to rise to the fore in the future? Does the nation state have a future as the main unit of political organization? If not, how will people and societies be organized?

Continue reading Five Questions with Prof. Ashis Nandy