Aparna Sen, Citizen Journalist and Violence in Politics

Citizen Journalist concept has its high moments - Aparna Sen as a Citizen Journalist reporting on the Kolkotta bandh!



But, frankly I think the entire intellectual move in Kolkotta to protest against the CPI-M doesnt add up to anything. Buddadeb now says that the Film Festival will not be affected because some people decide to boycott it, that could be G.Bush talking for you. And the intellectuals cannot launch a new party or a movement, it is an evening out or a day out for them (or a CJ for a day) as they get back to their businesses, the cadres get back to theirs.

Nandhigram is not a sign of a weakness in the Communist outlook, it is the growing culture of violence across the Indian political spectrum, be it the right wing or the left. Recently the leader of the Congress party in TN was stabbed with a spear and the police are yet to catch the culprits , there have been reports of violent attacks in even supposedly sane states not to mention the perinneal violent ones. Unless we understand this is a larger issue, we will keep fighting it as an isolated instance and will only indulge in a blame game.

The roots of the increase in violence as a genuine expression of political position lies elsewhere, it is important that this is acknowledged. Violence as an expression of the crowd and the most successful one to get any point across stems from our insensitivity to listen to crowds that are non-violent. Recently there was a large crowd that gathered in Delhi from all over India consisting of Tribals walking non-violently to highlight the issue of land rights. Except forming yet another committee to look into these issues, I don't think anything else has been done so far. When you fail to listen to a non-violent crowd, you contribute towards the creation of the violent crowd. There is no getting away from it. The media wallows in projecting the violent crowd, so much so, that the Tehelka expose has been reduced to a 'media strategy' or 'sting' whose efficacy and timing has been discussed more than its contents and significance. That the expose could not pull down a government and a nation wide protest shows how much of violence has been accepted in this country and people are no longer surprised.

Prakash Karat: My candidate for PM

I have come to like the current CPM Gen. Sec. increasingly. He has the global commie-mindset and has come to realize probably, a la Chevaz is what gets the public going, which means stepping high on the anti-US rhetoric, talking tough, asserting stand...he is still not (thankfully) holding all day television gospels. I think he will make a good PM.

The 'Bush is a Fool' statement is perhaps the most daring statement of the fact (albeit well acknowledged and documented) by a Indian political leader. The last courageous statement I could think of was old man, George Fernandes at the beginning of the Nuclear deal dialogue.

Karat makes me think of possibilities of a commie PM for India. I am no fan of communists and their policies in every area, but, we are caught today with all round weak leadership. On the one side we have the BJP creating new frontiers in senility and on the other side the confused Congress with the young, old, in-between, all in a state of confusion. If the commies are the only strong leaders, maybe it is time they shed their permanent opposition position and took to leading the country. The only person who could have made from their ranks earlier was the immortal Jyothi Basu...he is no longer a candidate and with his strong views, Karat seems to be the next candidate.


Revised Post Gujarat Elections, Dec 2007
With the media repeatedly projecting Modi as the new face of BJP and the central leadership of this party not really in a mood to counter it, I am even more convinced that the coming years will see the emergence of two leaderships in the national mainstream, an increasingly assertive left, no longer know-toying, but, leading the Congress (or dropping it if need be for a Third Front with regional allies) under Karat and the committed right wing BJP, willing to take a different stand from RSS on issues, but, definitely clear in its orientation perhaps with Modi on the lead! I am even more inclined post-Gujarat elections that Karat may be the best bet in the coming years. The Congress loss in the Centre may finally bring to end the Nehru dynasty rule. This can only change if some of the regional players do take some daring steps, Mayawati, Uma Bharathi, Chandrababu Naidu, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lallu may be the men and women to watch out for, but, for them to make a national difference, it would require any two or more of them to work in tendem, that currently looks near impossible. So, coming times will see Karat Vs. Modi. My choice stays as of now.

Soul Searching about Pakistan

Among the crowd of writings that have emerged since the Pakistan emergency, the following one caught my eye. I think we need more sincere analysis of the situation and not be carried away by statements of Ms. Rice and others from the US Government. It has been repeatedly stated in the news reports that the current state of Emergency was declared with the blessings of the US Government and with the co-option of Benazir. I personally suspect that the noises being made about the 'Pak Nuclear Arms falling in wrong hands' is pressure sales man tactics being applied on the Indian Government for the Nuclear Deal. It has already surfaced in the media. Unless the Pakistan State is dis-engaged from the American War On Terrorism, it looks unlikely that the state will remain stable. We have had the world tell us repeatedly that Kashmir is the prime issue for normalizing Indo-Pak relations, I think now we need to state that the delinking of Pakistan state from sustaining the American Supremacist P(r)ogram(me) is essential for Peace in Pakistan and normal relations with any of its neighbours including India.

"It is easy to condemn the imposition of yet another martial law by Musharraf. But I have yet to see one iota of solution coming out from any brilliant, or dumb, analyst on how to deal with the situation that has developed in Pakistan over the last seven years. It is always easy for liberal democrats to abuse the men in uniform. That is easy, and highly popular among the English-speaking middle class in Pakistan. But, the crisis in Pakistan today is a direct result of the US' and NATO's ( the bastions of democratic world) insane policies in Afghanistan. To begin with, bombing of southern, central and eastern Afghan villages killing innocent civilians, who happen to be Pushtuns, has eradicated the distinction between the Taliban and Pushtruns. The so-called Taliban and the other bad guys have long moved over to Pakistan's FATA, Balochistan and northern territories waiting for the "foreign troops" to leave. In Afghanistan, of course, everytime a Pushtun get killed, the individual is labeled as a "Taliban" by the West. That sells well in West, but neither in Afghanistan nor in Pakistan.

The situation in adjoining Pushtun areas in Pakistan is no different. Americans and the Europeans -- the old colonial guys with white skin-- have arrived again to take control of Afghanistan. This time they are waving Bernard Lewis' books to justify their arrival. They are taking care of evil Islam, that is what the invaders say.

The mistake that Islamabad made, and now Benazir and the other liberal democrats have plunged right in, is to agree to the war on terror when it was known in 2001 that in order to succeed in this venture, the Pakistani army will be needed to wage a full-fledged war against its own people. That was a huge mistake, and the Americans, Europeans and all those Pakistanis who hate "bearded lunatics", joined in this false campaign. And, most disgustingly, even today they do not point out that Pakistan west of River Indus may well merge with Afghanistan in its fight against the US, NATO and Islamabad because these Pakistanis have been identified as enemies of Pakistan and the west..

The result is the threat of a breakdown of Pakistan's military-- the only institution that the Pakistanis reach out for when kleptocrats and fundie-appeasers move in and make mess things up royally.

In other words, the crisis that has been created by the United States and NATO, and because of Musharraf's willingness to go along with it, hoping he would be able to outsmart them, is huge. Hugging Benazir Bhutto, or democracy, will not do. It is time the Pakistani literates stop their knee-jerk reactions and address the source of this crisis for a constructive future.. - Ramatanu Maitra in the South Asia Discussion Group

Protesting Dalai Lama - Shame on the Cabinet

The Cabinet Secretary sent a circular to all Cabinet Minister asking them not to attend a programme of the Dalai Lama as part of its new 'look east' policy I suppose.

Sounds stupid.

The Tibetan issue needs to be resolved if India has to build any serious relationship with China. For India, Tibet is not a mere political asylum or stand like some people (Subramaniam Swamy, et al) have tried to point out. I think there is an organic link with India for Tibet and both cannot run away from it.

Today, the largest Tibetan settlement outside of Tibet is in India, we have their biggest leaders and centres of learning, we teach their students, we revere their monks, we build their monastories, we recruit their people in some of the toughest jobs in our army...to reduce Tibet to a mere political issue with China is to have a poor sense of history and geography.

Pakistan Emergency: Desperate attempt to sustain control by a losing General

I had earlier blogged that there is a change in the offing in Pakistan. Since then things have changed rather rapidly. The orchestrated returns of Nawaz and Benazir and its political implications and currently the declaration of emergency is certainly a cause for concern for us in India. That the General after making repeated promises of shedding his uniform after the Presidential elections dons it immediately only indicates his desperation to sustain his position. Indeed there is no further confirmation required on his situation than his statement yesterday to the nation. He is losing and well aware of it and this move is to sustain himself before he takes personal measures to negotiate his safe exile and political measures to ensure his safe exit from the country.

What India needs to worry about is what after Musharaf? Who will come to power? The army has been ruled by the General carefully enough to ensure there are no more of his own likes in their ranks. There are a few old ISI bosses who perhaps may be powerful, but, they may not be good enough to run the government. I suspect that the support of the Chief Justice may not run beyond the cities. The political parties may have some popular support, particularly the PPP if one goes by the crowds that welcomed Benazir home. But, who will become the most important political player after Musharaf in Pakistan?

My gut feel is we are seeing a micro clash of civilizations in Pakistan. The clash will be between the pursuit of American strategic interest by the government of USA (and increasingly maybe China) against the creation (or sustenance) and expansion of the militant Islamic power that the larger global terrorist outfits will like to see. Whomsoever will rule will have to balance both elements as the pressure from both sides may be significant. Perhaps not that insignificant will be to win the mandate from the people in the pursuit of either of the above agenda or for balancing both. Pakistan has been always ruled by strong individual egos or global political power priorities. I see fighting India as an expression of the ego and the supply of weapons to fight India as someone else's global necessity. The wounds of partition need not last beyond a generation and there is no need to carry it for so long.

The worry for India will be if Pakistan powers gets to continue with an appeasement of the militant Islam outfits and / or US interests. With the Nuclear deal bringing a new found thrust into missile development in India, in a matter of years similar privileges will be extended to Pakistan by the government of USA (or by China even earlier) and if there is no leadership that can assert itself as a people representative in Pakistan, then Pakistani people are in for even more tough times. Their acceptance of the situation is reflected in a recent news that caught my eye.

"A poll in August conducted for the Washington-based nonprofit group Terror Free Tomorrow found that 19 percent of Pakistanis held a favorable view of the United States, down from 26 percent the previous year. Osama bin Laden had a far higher approval rating, at 46 percent, than either Musharraf (38 percent) or President Bush (9 percent)."

Our MEA office has been strangely rather guarded in its response to the emergency. I think India should at this point in time look at Pakistan more than ever as a rogue state. While the General is negotiating his way out, India should play an active role in promoting democracy, if need be even appealing the new friends in the USA for democratic process be established there. This is not the time for 'this is their internal issue' kind of statements is my reading.