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July20, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Whither Gender Parity? ...Ram Puniyani >> |
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#1 The Telegraph, July 18, 2004. Sunday THE OTHERS IN THE STATE A nation-state must wipe out rival nations within, potential or actual Nivedita Menon Caught in their war : Nation-states have a logic of their own. So insidiously is this logic purveyed through the state's institutions that it becomes common sense, particularly among the educated. Perspectives that differ from this common sense are then easily seen as signs of illiteracy, or more dangerously, treachery. A woman employed for housework by a Pakistani living for a while in Delhi could never quite understand where her employer was from. "Bahar se?" she would ask,"Amreeka se?" No, would come the patient reply: from outside, yes, but not from America, from Pakistan. Where is that? Well, you know that "here" is Bharat? India? Hindustan? And yet again, the bewildered response - "Yahan matlab Dilli?" Here, meaning Delhi? Illiteracy and ignorance, of course. She seemed to have escaped even the common sense that demonizes Pakistan. Had she gone to school, had she been a migrant from another part of the country, she would have had some notion of India-that-is-Bharat. But that is precisely the point: the recognition of the Nation, the feeling of belonging to it, must be learnt. It must, as Benedict Anderson famously put it, be "imagined". Which is not to say that the Nation is imaginary, in the sense of unreal, but rather, that it has to be imagined, conjured up, called into being by a vast political project operating at many levels - the Nation is not simply that land-mass lying in the ocean, an easily recognizable object. This imagining excludes as many groups as it includes, and when they in turn, fail to recognize the nation, it is they who are the traitors. I remember overhearing a snatch of horrified conversation between students of Delhi University - "You know, Naga students say 'India' for 'Delhi' whenever they leave Nagaland." The horror is - we consider Nagaland to be part of India, but they don't consider themselves to be part of us. How generous and inclusive our nationalism, how separatist and exclusionary theirs. Consider the conflation here between Us and India, and the division between the territory and the people. The territory that is Nagaland is an "integral part" of India, but the Naga people can be Indians only under stringent conditions - not on their terms, but on ours. Nagaland is ours, but not the Naga people, not if they insist on being Naga. I learnt recently from a friend working on textbook revision in Leh, that for decades, schoolchildren of Leh have read textbooks using images that make no sense to them - flora and fauna not local to the region, for example. But what I found most striking was that generations of Ladakhis have read the same textbooks used all over the country, that say: "The Himalayas lie to the North of us." Really? Not if you are in Ladakh. Check out a basic tourist guide. How could any Ladakhi have felt part of that "us"? So, should we work towards a more inclusive nationalism? But to whom does that pronoun "we" refer? Can Ladakhis or Nagas ever say, referring to the rest of India, "we" should include "them"? That proud "we" can only be occupied by dominant, mainstream groups within the nation. Hence, We won the test match, We have the bomb. But never We are about to be drowned, any day now, by the Indira Sagar dam on the Narmada. The first "we" is eleven men, the second "we" a tiny state elite, the third "not-we" thousands of inhabitants of twenty-five villages in Harsud. But no, numbers don't count. The point then, is not about inclusion. The point is to question the very legitimacy of the nation-state as the arbiter of inclusion, of identity. To question the barbed-wire borders, the ethnic cleansing, the National Interest, the "illegal" immigrants, why shouldn't people simply move to wherever there is work? After all, there are no barbed wires for capital, not any more. At Wagah, on the border between India and Pakistan, at sundown you can witness the sad spectacle of nation-states producing identity. The "Beating the Retreat" ceremony enacted daily is a dramatized performance of hostility. The drill is a series of choreographed moves of aggression, and this performance is wildly applauded by the audience onboth sides, with shouts of Pakistan murdabad or otherwise, as appropriate. (One evening at Wagah would certainly sort out the domestic worker I referred to earlier. An effective crash course on what yahan means). Once upon a time, when nation-states emerged, in the 19th century in Europe and in the 20th in Asia and Africa, they bore the electric charge of opposition to empires. Once settled in however, each nation proceeded to obliterate rival nations within, both potential and actual. The process of creating the French citizen, the historian Eugen Weber tells us, was no less violent than colonialism. Nation-states can only be authoritarian. These reflections were set off by being in Sri Lanka. The country is experiencing, ironically, a cease-fire between the state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, while a new war has started between the LTTE and the breakaway Karuna faction in the East. Having physically eliminated all internal voices of dissent, the LTTE claims to be the sole representative of the Tamil people, but Karuna speaks for Eastern Tamils. Many in the East support him, since Jaffna Tamils dominate every institution in the east. Of course, the LTTE condemns this as "regionalism" - once the "Tamil Nation" has been formed, other voices within are, by that logic, traitorous. But the immediate issue for Tamils today is the forcible conscription of children and young adults into the LTTE army, in effect to be used as cannon fodder in the factional war. Desperate parents are preparing to resist, in pockets, in a hopeless act of defiance. Some years ago, several parents committed suicide, helpless in protecting their children. In the disarray caused by Karuna's revolt, parents all over the East went in thousands to the camps to force the release of their children, most of whom have been there for two years or more, both boys and girls. Because of the confusion caused by Karuna's revolt, the camps were opened up, and for days the roads were flooded with children streaming home, carrying little bundles, hopping into buses, hitching rides. However, re-recruitment by the LTTE has begun, resisting parents have been beaten up, people working with them have received death threats. But that is what states do. The next government of the United States of America, whether Democrat or Republican, is expected to bring in a bill for compulsory army service for all adults. During Vietnam, young men had to go to jail or into voluntary exile not to have to learn to kill and be killed. The LTTE is a quasi-state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Fascist? Authoritarian? Anti-people? Hey, it's only doing what states do. Is there no difference then, between fascist states and liberal democratic states? Yes, there is, and personally, I would much rather live in one than the other. I just wonder though, whether the villagers of Harsud, choosing death over being uprooted from their homes in the National Interest, and rehabilitation into urban slums and unemployment, are so much better off than the desperate Tamil parents in Sri Lanka. (The author is Reader in Political Science, Delhi University) ------------------------------------------------------------------ #2 The Rediff Special, July 19, 2004, Monday "Our son was sold to the terrorists" Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad "I would like to meet Bachubhai whose son was killed in Kashmir," I request the elderly lady facing me. I am at the door of a modest two-room dwelling in Damarwali chawl, located in the Shahpur area of Ahmedabad, the old part of the city. She looks me over before letting me in and offering me a chair. "He is not in," she says, "He will come soon. I am his wife. Tell me what do you want?" I tell her I have information from the state home ministry about a Gujarati boy named Ayub Bachubhai who had become a jihadi. I was told he was killed in Jammu and Kashmir and that the Intelligence Bureau had identified his dead body before he was buried somewhere in Jammu and Kashmir along the border. I was also told that Ayub's family has received a letter from the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, informing them about his death. [The letters are in Urdu and one in Gujarati]. The lady is Nyanat, Ayub's mother. A big-built lady with sharp features and a commanding presence, she is a Rajasthani Muslim who has settled down in Ahmedabad. Her husband Bachubhai was born in Ahmedabad. She has eight daughters, including one who was adopted recently, and two sons, of whom the elder was Ayub. Inside the house are her younger son Salim and two adult daughters, sewing school uniforms. They are trained tailors, their mother tells me. The adjoining room has a well-set kitchen. Though living in a chawl, the kitchen appears well stocked with a refrigerator and other kitchen accessories. Before I can ask any question she tells me in Marwari-accented Hindi that her son Ayub is alive. But she adds that the family has no clue about Ayub ever since he left home in August 2002. The sisters tell me they have full faith in Allah that he is fine. Nyanat starts sobbing when I ask her about her son. Over the next three hours, amid much sobbing, she narrates her tale of woe: "MY son is a friendly person. My husband is a retired building contractor who built this chawl with about 80 rooms. My family and my husband's brother have four, five rooms. The rest are rented out at very low rates to Dalits. Except for our four families, all our neighbours are Hindus. In 2002, when riots broke out after Godhra, my husband and I were in our native village in Rajasthan but my children were here. In our chawl, we are respected by our Hindu neighbours and we never had any communal trouble. We are all peace loving. "My son has few Muslim friends. He has mostly Hindus friends from Meghani Nagar where he was working. When riots went on for a long time, our neighbours advised my children to shift to a safer area. My son Ayub rented a room in the municipal quarters at Mahendikua, a Muslim-majority area. The room belong to Yusuf Khan, who has a brother, also named Ayub. "Ayub Khan ran a garage while my son Ayub worked in a lawyer's office. We don't know what happened between them but one day, when my daughters were sewing in the morning and Ayub was getting ready to go to his office, Ayub Khan came looking for my son. It was around 11 am on a weekday in August 2002. Ayub Khan told my son to pack his bags to go to Kashmir. Earlier too, Khan had come twice to our house, inquiring about my son. "At this time, we were still in Rajasthan. My son told his sister Naseem that he was going to Kashmir with Ayub Khan for six to seven weeks on an assignment. He said he would get Rs 5,000. Since the riots had affected our finances severely, he accepted the assignment. "After some time, I came back from Rajasthan. When Ayub didn't return in seven weeks, we started worrying. My younger son kept going to Ayub Khan who kept saying he would return soon. We were petrified of our son becoming a jihadi. He was just not that type. Khan told my other son Salim that Ayub is fine and there is no reason to worry. He was told he has gone to deliver bananas and would come back with truck full of apples. "When we mounted heavy pressure on him, he said Ayub has sent some money and he gave Salim Rs 4,000 and a letter returned by him. "We went to the rented place where Ayub and Yusuf live. Yusuf's wife Sabiya took us to Ayub's father-in-law, Abdul Latif Kashmiri alias Kashmiri Lala, who lives in Vatva [a suburb of Ahmedabad]. I told him to get my son back from Kashmir. "Initially, he said he was unaware of my son's whereabouts but later agreed to bring him back on his next trip to Poonch in Kashmir. Lala is a native of Kashmir. His first wife and family live in Poonch [in Jammu]. He is also married to a lady in Ahmedabad and settled here. "I curse him and his jamai (son-in-law, viz Ayub Khan) every day. They have snatched away my son for money. They have sold him for Rs 1 lakh to the militants," she alleges. "It is a trying time for us. I have eight daughters. My husband is 65 years old. We are not getting suitable boys for my daughters in our community. We never marry our daughters into other Muslim communities. I have no idea what will happen to my family. "SABIYA (Yusuf Khan's wife) told us that her cousin (her maternal uncle's son), Assadullah Kalyani, was also sent to Kashmir by Ayub Khan. At that time, Ayub Khan did not know that Kalyani was Sabiya's cousin. "Kalyani, who lives in the Khanpur locality in Ahmedabad, escaped from the militants and returned home. He was probably trained in the use of arms and was kept with my son Ayub in the Kashmir jungles. But after three months, they were separated. He told us they were always kept on the mountains peaks and were never allowed to come down the hills. "Kalyani told us when my Ayub heard on the radio about the attack on the Akshardham temple (on September 24, 2002) he came down from the hills. He wanted to go home but he was not allowed. Kalyani told us he was worried about his sisters. "It was after Kalyani revealed his story to the Gujarat police that Ayub Khan and Kashmiri Lala were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act. It was only then that we came to know of their plans to lure Muslim boys from Gujarat to Kashmir. "Kalyani told us that five Gujarati Muslim boys accompanied him to Kashmir. They too had been recruited by Ayub Khan and Lala, both of who came to see them off at the railway station. All the boys were told they would be employed in the transport business. "We are not aware about what all happened in Kashmir but we know for sure that Kalyani and Guddo Ansari, who is also from Ahmedabad, went to Kashmir with my son. But they have returned. They were arrested by the police and kept in jail for two or three months. They were treated well. They have told everything to the police and have been released. They are happily settled again, leading a normal life. "Unlike these two Gujaratis, my son could not escape the militants because they claim he was sent to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. I kept visiting Lala. He would only keep saying that after the snow melts, he would get back my son from Kashmir. After Kashmiri Lala's arrest, I kept meeting his wife Shamshad and her daughter Mehjabin. I would cry and plead, 'Mera chokra la kar de' (Bring back my son). "In our community and in my neighbourhood I haven't hid the fact that my son is missing. Our neighbours understand our pain. But don't take my pictures. In the next riots, we may be targeted. Outsiders can identify us and target us because they would say 'Iska chokra Kashmir bhag gaya' (Her son ran away to Kashmir). "Kalyani, who has escaped the militants' clutches, knows everything. At one point, Shamshad promised me she would go to Kashmir and get my son back. She went to Kashmir but returned without my son. They entertained us for some time but three months back she refused to heed my pleas. "A few months ago, I received a mail from Oman. The address was Post Box 1630, Jabro Matrah, Sultanate of Oman. The short mail said, 'Mera beta shahid ho gaya hai' (My son has become a martyr). "We cried and cried, but we don't believe this mail. We called up the police and told them about it. They asked us some questions. "I have visited many astrologers and even religious figures from the Dalit community. All of them have assured me that my son is alive and will come back. He can't become a jihadi. "The Gujarat police only harass jihadis or Muslims who are against our society. They have released Kalyani and Guddo. We are sure that my son will not be harassed if he tells the truth to the police. Many people have insisted I should do fatia (the final rites) of Ayub, but I have said a firm no. Ma ka dil kaheta hai voh jinda hai! (A mother's heart says he is alive!)." LATER, to convince me about Kashmiri Lala's involvement in sending her son to Kashmir, Nyanat takes me to Sabiya's home. Sabiya confirms she had taken Nyanat to Kashmiri Lala. She also confirms that her cousin Kalyani has returned to Gujarat from Kashmir. Kalyani's parents refuse to allow him to talk to me while Guddo Ansari is not available when I visit his home. His family also confirms he has returned from Kashmir. ------------------------------- Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku, Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695 024 (Ph.: 0471-2476262) Web: www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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July20, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Whither Gender Parity? ...Ram Puniyani >> |
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