[Reader-list] Pratap Pandey's Postings

[Shuddha]

Dear Vinita,

thank you for your posting and for putting Pratap (and anyone else) who shoots off their mouth without bothering to read what they are writing about in their place. 

Your description of the anti protest (many young south asian women on one side and a few old south asian men on the other side) sounds interesting. Perhaps you could tell us more about what happenned.

I have been following for some time hindu right websites and discussion groups onthe web, especially hinduunity.org, and I think that a serious and organized online assault by way of e mails and postings on these sites is in order.

I agree with Neel who says that the criticism of the right needs to be more imaginative, for one, we could start thinking about the many things (like nationalism, and a faith in the state)0 that the right and the so called left in India share.Perhaps we need to think in metaphors and inways which the right (or the existing so called left) cannot anticipate

yours

Shuddha


s


On Sun, May 26, 2002 at 02:07:10PM -0400, VinitaNYC at aol.com wrote:
> Dear PP;
> 

> you are funny.
> you do write well, but
> are you sure your anger is directed at me?
> Do you have any idea who you are talking to?
> Do you have any idea what you are saying?
> I'm not sure where you got your ideas about who I am and what I think:
> By calling people to go to an anti-protest as I did (meaning one that tries to drown out the voices of the Hindu Right in a New York city public space, which happens to be the school I attend), I was engaging in a vision: Dialogue and dispute in public space.
> 
> By all reports the young (mostly women) did drown out the old (mostly men) "members" of the U.S. Hindu Right.
> You make me laugh because did you think I was going to support the protesters or instead
> join the anti-protesters?
> 
> I don't need to defend myself, or tell you that I know exactly everything or the way things should be or that I have a 100% defined progressive south asian politics in america
> (you say I should know).
> (Instead this, of course, changes and is flexible). 
> 
> you make me laugh because:
> maybe you did not think about
> why I was going to an (anti)-protest, in support of someone who is speaking out against the very things you hate.
> 
> you make me laugh because you reacted without finding out what you were reacting to. 
> Aside from the mistake of your assumption:
> Do you know anything about progressive U.S. South Asian politics? Or the complexity of the immigrants that live here -- (instead of assuming all kinds of things like a homogeneous class, race and politics.) 
> Oh, and I don't necessarily need to go to India to do the "good work," as you say. There's enough shit here to tackle. 
> (or haven't you heard?)
> 
> fuck off back. (excuse my language y'all). Just had to push back a little. 
> but listen, hey, one day, if you stop to listen
> we might become friends. (or maybe never at all) 
> 
> not yours at all, 
> Vinita 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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