[Reader-list] National Security

Mon Sep 3 10:55:15 IST 2007

Dear old boys A.R.K.P. (as you are now fondly referred to),

I must admit that this entertainment is now becoming very boring and
predictable, like Ekta Kapoor's 'K' serials which have no marrative or
story but just keep dragging. So I am sorry to say that I now need to
switch channels. 

In one of my earlier emails, I had expressed my sense of upset with some
parts of Shuddha's response to Pawan because I thought this was becoming an
'us-versus-them' battle, but now I realize that there is no sincere
engagement on your part. All that you can offer is the rhetoric of your
pain and memories without any consistency in argument and logic. This is
inevitably becoming an us-versus-them argument whether Shuddha or I or
anyone else deems it or not. 

As for superiority of the rest of us and inferiority of the four of you, I
am pompous enough to say that yes, some of us are indeed superior in this
thread of conversation because we have been trying to see the logic of your
argument and engage with it rather than retort, retort and more retort.

So here's a big thank you to four of you old boys for giving me the
opportunity to clarify and reason our my logics and concepts and thanks a
ton for all the entertainment that you have been providing on this list all
along. But now it's time to swtich channels. I guess your T.R.P. ratings
will soon see a dive down!

Best,

Zainab

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 10:15:52 +0530, "rashneek kher" <rashneek at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Zainab,
> 
> Sorry to disturb but Kshemendra is only 50.
> Old adage suits all fine
> 
> Look before you leap,and think before you speak(so it would been better
if
> would have known a lil before calling him a boy)
> Since apart  from 4 of us rest all are superior human beings,I bow to
thou
> knowledge.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Rashneek
> 
> 
> On 8/30/07, zainab <zainab at mail.xtdnet.nl> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Pawan, Kshmendra, Aditya and Rashneek,
>>
>> I am a Ph.D. student based in Bangalore. I do not have TV at my home.
> Last
>> few days, I have been reading the reader-list with much more vigor than
> I
>> have done in the last 5 years since I first subscribed to this list.
>>
>> Boys, I want to thank all of you sincerely for adding so much
>> entertainment
>> to my otherwise dull Ph.D., intellectual life. For all those who say
> that
>> you are bores or should be ignored, I feel sorry for them and they need
> to
>> be ignored. I certainly cannot afford to ignore all of you.
>>
>> God bless all of you and keep the good work coming/going!
>>
>> In anticipation,
>>
>> Zainab
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:38:33 -0700 (PDT), Kshmendra Kaul
>> <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> > Dear Sanjay
>> >
>> >   I am sure that your tongue-in-cheek cheek style has given you
>> > satisfaction. Spiced with sarcasm which is a great device to use. (I
>> will
>> > myself be employing it in analysing the Shaina Anand transcript of
> your
>> > conversation)
>> >
>> >   "Jashn-e-Azadi" is not a title SK invented. It might surprise you
> but
>> it
>> > has been used in the past a whole lot of times. Your sarcasm
>> > notwithstanding, you know that. It's been used to celebrate India's
>> > Independence. Not like Sanjay Kak's usage to support those who want to
>> > excise India, carve it up, destroy it. Or so it turned out to be.
>> >
>> >   Am I overdramatising it? Sanjay you need to objectively take stock
> of
>> > the support your film has received. Map out the profiles of those
> people
>> > and evaluate what some of them stand for. SK you have provided them
> with
>> > ammunition, they celebrate your film. You are a honest hero in their
>> eyes.
>> > A supporter for break-up of India.
>> >
>> >   Do you think they care that for you it was a journey of a particular
>> > kind and that you would never claim that your film represents the
>> totality
>> > and all dimensions of the Kashmir issue? They will and have used you
> to
>> > suit their narrow purposes. You Sanjay Kak are "complicit" as you
>> yourself
>> > admitted elsewhere.
>> >
>> >   Those "Azadi" or "Hurriyat" personalities are not the only ones, but
>> > also those who I call the "la la landers", ostensibly loyal Indias but
>> for
>> > whom it is fashionable to attack India or support those who attack
>> India,
>> > whether by word or action or through a Sanjay Kak film.
>> >
>> >   Sanjay, look around, in fact look at the communication in SARAI. For
>> the
>> > moment forget those who have been attacking you, and pay attention to
>> those
>> > who have spoken in support of you. Evaluate their rationality and
>> arguments
>> > or plain dismissiveness/ridicule of reasoned argument. You will see
> some
>> > worms coming out of the woodwork waving the flag of "Jashn-e-Azadi".
> As
>> an
>> > example look at the recent postings of M Yousuf.
>> >
>> >   SK your "translator" role  is a sadder aspect of you. It brings into
>> > question your personal morality and integrity.
>> >
>> >   You did not go to Kashmir till 2003 and yet maintained enough
>> > proficiency in Kashmiri to act as a "translator" seems a bit
>> incredulous.
>> > If you do not have the language skills in Kashmiri required of a
>> > "translator" (especially for critical testimony in a Legal case) then
>> you
>> > are downright dishonest. It would impinge on credibility of your
>> > character. A few hours of conversation with you in Kashmiri would make
>> it
>> > clear either way.
>> >
>> >   SK, you come out worse if you do have enough competence in Kashmiri
> to
>> > act as a "translator".
>> >
>> >   A translation of "Ye kyah Korvu?" can be only be "What is this you
>> > people have done" or singular in a respectful tone "What is this that
>> you
>> > have done". There is no other translation possible. Need I add more
>> about
>> > how SK reportedly translated it and the possible implications both on
>> the
>> > testimony and SK's honesty and motives?
>> >
>> >   That your "translation" was thrown out is hardly the issue, nor that
>> > Geelani received the "death sentence".
>> >
>> >   Incidentally, I personally am totally and vehemently against the
>> "death
>> > sentence" in it's cold pronouncement or execution by any Institution
> for
>> > whatever reason or crime.
>> >
>> >   Sanjay, here is what I propose if you are interested. Get in touch
>> with
>> > these KPs who have been hounding you. Offer them a screening of your
>> > "Jash-e-Azadi". Offer to discuss your role as a film-maker. Listen to
>> what
>> > they have to say. Listen to their ventings.
>> >
>> >   You might be moved enough to make another film with an alternate
>> > perspective. It might be another journey for you. One where you will
> not
>> > be depending on some people making available "found footage"
>> >
>> >   It requires both moral and artistic courage.
>> >
>> >
>> >   Kshmendra Kaul
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >   >
>> >> Since the Sarai Reader list is fast emerging as the nerve centre for
>> > keeping track of National (and Anti-National) interest, I thought it
> my
>> > duty
>> > to make some humble offerings:
>> >
>> > On August 15, 2007 Indian Independence Day (what some linguistically
>> > misguided souls refer to as *Jashn-e-Azadi) *the Habitat centre in
> Delhi
>> > was
>> > once again the venue of something possibly troubling. A musical
>> programme
>> > called â€" yes, believe it or not â€" *Jashn-e-Azadi* was held
>> > there. While they
>> > said it was just some patriotic songs and ghazals and so on, this
> could
>> be
>> > subterfuge. After all there is a film with a similar title doing the
>> > rounds which may be up to some mischief; and then there is this
>> separatist
>> > leader involved in something called *Safar-e-Azadi.* As a good citizen
>> I'm
>> > just sharing this information which others may want to act upon.
>> >
>> > I was also wondering: could my role in translating the Police phone
> tap
>> on
>> > the Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani in the Parliament Attack
> case
>> > also
>> > be considered by the Sarai list a little differently? Though my
>> > translation
>> > from Kashmiri into English was summarily thrown out by the Trial Court
>> on
>> > the grounds that I was an interested party (as a member of the All
> India
>> > Defence Committee for SAR Geelani), I mean, that court *did* pass a
>> death
>> > sentence on Shree Geelani, did it not? Could my lack of success as a
>> > translator not be seen as a mark of my Patriotism? Just a thought,
>> however
>> > ghoulish...
>> >
>> > With thanks in anticipation
>> >
>> > Sanjay Kak
>> > _________________________________________
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>> >
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>> > Critiques & Collaborations
>> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> > subscribe in the subject header.
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>>
>> _________________________________________
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>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> subscribe in the subject header.
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> 
> 
> 
> 
>