{"id":324418,"date":"2020-07-05T20:21:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T20:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=324418"},"modified":"2020-07-05T20:21:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T20:21:06","slug":"playing-communal-card-to-wreck-unity-of-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/playing-communal-card-to-wreck-unity-of-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing communal card to wreck unity of people"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Instead of focusing on the horrifying tragic incident of the brutal killing of the elephant in Kerala, and seeing to it that the guilty are given the strictest punishment, several Right-Wing politicians are playing up the communal card.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Three years back, in the spring of 2017, I\u2019d last visited Kerala\u2019s Malappuram region situated in North Kerala. And as we drove from Calicut towards Tirur, where I was to attend a literary festival, what stood out were refreshing sights to say the least. To put it in a nutshell, it is obvious that the different communities were living on a par. In fact, \u00a0when I saw young boys walking along the road in that carefree way with white skull caps on, and then another group of the young walking in the traditional headgear and wear, together with tilaks on their foreheads, \u00a0I \u00a0asked the cab driver of the ground realities and he smiled and said that in Kerala all communities live on par and that there were no communal elements. But then he\u2019d hastened to add, \u201cNorth Kerala is all very safe \u2026for everyone.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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And later during my interactions with the different communities living in North Kerala, several prominent citizens told me, \u00a0\u201cAll of us, \u00a0Hindus and \u00a0Muslims and Christians \u00a0citizens \u00a0together \u00a0with \u00a0our community leaders are taking precautions so that the Right- Wing communal outfits do not wreck our togetherness \u2026\u201d As they\u2019d detailed, \u00a0\u201ctill now North Kerala is free from Right-Wing intrusions, but South Kerala has been hit by the communal poisonous venom\u2026We citizens are aware of \u00a0the danger, \u00a0as \u00a0the RSS cadres \u00a0have \u00a0made considerable intrusions \u00a0in South Kerala !\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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And as I spoke to several others it got obvious that there were no tensions or divides along the communal lines in the Northern districts of the State. But they\u2019d also stressed that community leaders were extremely vigilant and taking all possible precautions \u2026 In fact, at that meet, I met several who\u2019s who of the State and though they were from different faiths but looked and sounded one!\u00a0 They spoke the same language and dressed the same way \u2026ate the same cuisine. More importantly, was their concern to keep the togetherness intact. They were more than aware of the fascist forces making intrusions and the dangers lurking around. But writ large was their determination to keep the fascists and fascism at bay.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I had met prominent writers who were doing their utmost to reach out in every possible way. In fact, one of the writers I\u2019d met there at that festival was the well -known Malayalam writer KP Ramanunni, who later, \u00a0in 2018 dedicated the entire prize amount he received from the Sahitya Akademi Award to Saira Banu, mother of Mohammad Junaid \u2014 the 16-year-old, murdered by Hindutva goons inside a train compartment of the train taking him and his siblings towards Haryana\u2019s. Ballabhgarh, a day before the family was all set to celebrate Eid.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Touching and sensitive that Kerala\u2019s famous writer \u00a0KP Ramanunni reached out to this Haryana based family of Mohammad Junaid\u2026This itself speaks volumes of the efforts on, to bridge divides and reach out in every possible way.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Nostalgia tightens its hold. Whilst keying in, I\u2019m also reminded of my travels in \u00a0Kerala\u2019s Malappuram region in the early \u00a090s, when \u00a0I was covering the hundred percent literacy feat of Kerala. \u2026Way back in \u00a01991, when \u00a0I traveled to Kerala to cover the literacy movement, \u00a0the district medical officer of \u00a0Malappuram, Dr. A. Mohammad, had told me that the local volunteers of the State together with the community leaders had brought about a \u00a0huge change on the literacy front, \u201cFour earlier attempts to bring literacy amongst the \u00a0Muslims failed. Then the Muslim League and the Imams of the masjids cooperated, and so a large number of illiterates came to the sessions. In Islam a lot of importance is given to education yet politicians played havoc and education amongst the \u00a0Muslims received low priority. \u2026Now the local volunteers have brought about a big change. Already we can see a big improvement. Today there is a decrease in infant mortality and an increased awareness about \u00a0 family planning.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Space constraints come in way of my detailing what blissful images I\u2019d witnessed in 1991;\u00a0 of the Hindu, Christian and Muslim volunteers reaching out to the disadvantaged, to all those lagging behind on the educational front \u2026in fact, I had focused on this aspect for the features \u00a0 I\u2019d then written for the \u00a0Illustrated Weekly of India.<\/span><\/div>\n
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It’s significant to point out that in Kerala this togetherness of the people from different faiths is one of the ongoing aspects to this State and its people. Whilst on this, \u00a0in 2005 \u00a0I came across this news report in the (Hindustan \u00a0Times— October \u00a013, \u00a02005,) \u00a0of a \u00a0Hindu ritual performed by an \u00a0Imam: Churches and mosques in Kerala are vying with each other to perform a \u00a0Hindu ritual – \u00a0\u201cVidyarambham \u2018, to initiate children into the world of letters on Vijaya Dasami day. A Hindu custom in the past, it’s picked up by others\u2026In Cheraman \u00a0Juma Masjid on \u00a0Kodungalur, claimed to be the first mosque in the country, 12 \u00a0children including \u00a04 \u00a0girls, uttered the first letter of their life sitting in the lap of the Imam of the mosque. All the children were Hindus \u2026\u2019 its \u00a0 part \u00a0of \u00a0our great culture, we \u00a0are \u00a0only fulfilling \u00a0our duties.\u2019 mosque \u00a0president \u00a0VA \u00a0Ibrahim said.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Today, instead of focusing on the horrifying tragic incident of the brutal killing of the elephant in Kerala, and seeing to it that the guilty are given the strictest punishment, several Right- Wing politicians are playing up the communal card. Why?\u00a0 Why wreck the togetherness of the people of the State!<\/span><\/div>\n
\n***<\/span><\/div>\n
\nI\u2019VE \u00a0BEEN THINKING OF SITAR MAESTRO – PANDIT RAVI SHANKAR\u2026 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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I do realize that this year \u2013 2020 – is sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar\u2019s birth centenary year.\u00a0 He was born a hundred years back – on April 7, 1920, in Varanasi\/ Benaras, Uttar Pradesh.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But do you know why I have been thinking of Pandit Ravi Shankar in these recent months? Seeing the absolutely deteriorating conditions prevailing around, I\u2019m reminded of what all he\u2019d said \u2026his stark comments.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I had met and interviewed Pandit Ravi Shankar twice. The first time was around the time of his 70th birthday, and as I sat sipping my tea at his Lodhi Estate home, I got so terribly nervous that the entire cup crashed to the carpet of his living room. With that disaster, my nervousness peaked to such an extent that I could barely ask more than the basic, customary questions.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But Panditji had simply smiled and tried his best to make me feel at ease\u2026And\u00a0<\/span>it was only after a gap that I\u2019d mustered enough confidence to try and meet him again. This was around early 1993. He\u2019d looked frailer and sad. He\u2019d told me that he\u2019d been left totally devastated by the recent death of his only son Shubo. That was the time he and his second wife Sukanya were planning to shift base from New Delhi to San Diego, California.<\/span><\/div>\n
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He\u2019d detailed, \u201cThe mess in the country is painful for me. Even a place like Delhi is becoming unfit for living. With everything else, the pollution here is killing,\u201d he said. His wife Sukanya who\u2019d stood close by had added, \u201cThe politicians and pollution have finished the city. We have already bought a Spanish villa in California and now I\u2019m doing it up my way.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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To that he\u2019d added, \u201cFor me, the house is a very important place. Since I was 10, I have been traveling, living in hostels, so I value my home. That feeling of warmth, coupled with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Nothing gaudy or vulgar. Somehow, I totally dislike the Delhi concept of showing off. A dignified, balanced, and comfortable way of life is what I like.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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He went on to tell me details of the very first house he had built for himself in Benaras. \u201cI don\u2019t know why I decided to build that house in Benaras. Probably because I was born and brought up in that city\u2026and though I\u2019d built it in the early \u201870s, within years I decided to abandon it. All sorts of crude elements had sprung up around me, those decaying values stifled me, so I decided to shift out of Benaras. I\u2019m not a fighter. I\u2019m a musician and I can\u2019t stand vulgar people, besure log.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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In fact, as the couple took me around their Lodhi Estate home what struck all too immediately was the simplicity all around. There wasn\u2019t a trace of any ornate furniture, no porcelain ware, no elaborate bedroom bandobast. In fact, the only room which looked well done up was the music room; with sitars, sur-bahaars, tanpuras neatly placed in stands and the walls of this particular room adorned with prized photographs capturing Panditji with John Lennon, Uday Shankar, Baba Allauddin, Pablo Casals, Mariam Anderson, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The maestro\u2019s bedroom had only a double bed and a fax machine in it! As we neared the puja room, he told me, \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a puja room but my private corner. This is where I meditate, do riyaz, pray. For me, religion is a very personal thing. I am certainly not ritualistic. In fact, like me, most musicians are broad-minded\u2026When I was 18, I went to live with my ustad, Baba Allauddin, and though he was a devout Muslim, his home in Madhya Pradesh\u2019s Maiher was full of photographs of Kali, Krishna, Christ, Mary\u2026music makes you more tolerant. \u2026I only wish our present-day politicians were more musically-inclined; then there\u2019d be more harmony and not the present-day cacophony!\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\n***<\/span><\/div>\n
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WHY \u00a0HARSH \u00a0MANDER\u2019S \u00a0NAME \u00a0GETTING \u00a0DRAGGED \u00a0IN THE \u00a0DELHI \u00a0RIOTS?<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\nI am saddened and shocked to see the systematic way in which civil servant turned activist, Harsh Mander\u2019s name is getting dragged in the Delhi riots\/pogrom of 2020. Needless to go into those backgrounders, to the obvious \u2018whys\u2019 to the harassment he is facing\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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In fact, each time Mander\u2019s books were launched I made it a point to read them and also to interview him because they were \/are laced with the ground realities which most of us sit un-aware of because we don\u2019t take the trouble traveling to the conflict and violence-hit zones. But Harsh Mander makes it a point to reach out, to all the victims surviving in the most tragic and painful circumstances \u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Mander needn\u2019t have quit the Indian Administrative Service\/ IAS, which he did soon after the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 to become a full -time activist. And thereafter, he took to reach out to the pogrom survivors with relief work\u2026in that dedicated and consistent and earnest way. In fact, a number of his book are based on the Gujarat situation. Several others focus on hunger, deprivations, and the gaps and disparities, staring at us \u2026yet we are not reacting to those dark realities of the day! \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He details each one of these realities in a calm, composed, and compassionate way; yet not missing out a single hard-hitting fact. In fact, each time I had interviewed him two factors had always stood out in that ongoing way \u00a0\u2013 Mander\u2019s compassion and his ability to reach out to the poorest and the most disadvantaged. Also, his fearlessness; that ability to speak out the truth at any cost!<\/span><\/div>\n
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I recall asking him, during the course of an interview, soon after the Gujarat pogrom, 2002 was officially over, whether peace was actually returning to the violence-hit locales and this is what Mander had to say \u2013 \u00a0\u201cI would describe the situation in Gujarat today to be one of unquiet, counterfeit peace. Authentic peace is founded on justice, security, trust. But there is another kind of peace that one can witness in Gujarat today. This is peace based on extreme fear, resignation, compromise\u2026 The minorities are confronted on the one hand with a state that is openly hostile and malevolent to them and is actively subverting the justice systems. On the other, they are dealing with unprecedented social divide and a social and economic boycott in the village after town. \u2026\u201d He had also spoken in an emotional way of the painful realities that the Gujarat pogrom survivors faced \u2013 \u201cThey are desperately trying to rebuild their lives. Many of them lost their employment, or have been evicted from their lands and homes, because of the economic boycott. This extends even to the shops or small eating establishments or even rickshaws run by minorities. Of the 240 cases of POTA registered by the state, 239 are against Muslims. Nearly half the cases registered after the carnage have already been closed, by an active subversion of FIRs, investigation, and trial. None of the guilty have been brought to book. There is therefore an enormous sense of despair\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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And before each interview ended, Mander would emphasize on the faith\/trust he has in the masses of our country. He\u2019d told me that during his travels he\u2019d realized this \u00a0\u201c \u00a0I witness an upsurge of revulsion against the brutality of Gujarat everywhere I travel. I believe people will reject the dangerous politics of hatred.\u201d And he\u2019d also hit out at the nexus on, between the political and the religious segments. \u201cI do not describe communal leaders, whether Hindu or Muslim, as \u2018religious\u2019. In fact, they are pseudo-religious, because no religion preaches hatred and killings. I see political parties, particularly of the right, in close cohorts with pseudo-religious leaders to retain power.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\n***<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
FAIZ AHMED FAIZ\u2019s \u00a0\u2018 HEART \u00a0ATTACK\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And this morning as \u00a0I went through an earlier published volume on \u00a0Faiz \u00a0Ahmed \u00a0Faiz\u2019s poetry, \u2018 The \u00a0Best of \u00a0Faiz\u2019, translated by \u00a0Shiv \u00a0K \u00a0Kumar and published by \u00a0UBSPD, the page that opened all too suddenly, was the one carrying these lines from his verse \u00a0– Titled \u00a0– \u00a0Heart \u00a0Attack –<\/span>
\n\u2018Pain so intense that night, my savage \u00a0heart \u00a0\/<\/span>
\nwanted to \u00a0 grapple \u00a0with \u00a0every \u00a0artery \/<\/span>
\nand drip from every \u00a0pore \/<\/span>
\nand out there, as though in your \u00a0courtyard \/<\/span>
\neach leaf, bathed \u00a0in \u00a0my \u00a0despondent \u00a0blood \/<\/span>
\nbegan to \u00a0look \u00a0pale \u00a0in the \u00a0moonlight \/<\/span>
\nIn my body\u2019s desert \u00a0places, it seemed \/<\/span>
\nAs if, all the fibers of \u00a0my \u00a0wincing \u00a0veins, undone \/<\/span>
\nBegan shooting out signals, ceaselessly \/<\/span>
\npreparations for the departure \u00a0of \u00a0love\u2019s \u00a0caravan\/<\/span>
\nAnd when in memory\u2019s fading light \/<\/span>
\nThere emerged somewhere before the eye \/<\/span>
\none last \u00a0moment \u00a0of \u00a0your \u00a0love\u2019s \u00a0kindness \/<\/span>
\nthe pain was so lacerating \u00a0that \u00a0\/<\/span>
\nit ventured to \u00a0overstep the \u00a0moment\/<\/span>
\nI too willed to hold on to it<\/span>
\nBut the \u00a0 heart would not agree\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instead of focusing on the horrifying tragic incident of the brutal killing of the elephant in Kerala, and seeing to it that the guilty are given the strictest punishment, several Right-Wing politicians are playing up the communal card. Three years back, in the spring of 2017, I\u2019d last visited Kerala\u2019s Malappuram region situated in North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324425,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324418\/revisions\/324425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/324424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}