[Reader-list] Lists and assaults... How about a comic book?

[gowhar fazli]

I am one more usually silent reader list. And this
time I have a serious suggestion on the debate over
Kashmir, Nationalism and Sanjay Kak that occupied
prime space on this list over the last few weeks...

Can we produce a comic book out of the assaults and
the responses?  This could be in print as well as a
soft copy...  I suggests it could be called an 'Idiots
Guide to Fascism'  or alternately 'How to End Debates
Manual' depending on which use you want to put it to.

I don't think that this debate is useless or has
side-tracked important survival (hunger, poverty etc)
issues and should thus be abandoned.  These questions
are in fact at the heart of our impotency in
addressing the problems of survival.  

Besides the entertainment value, I think the debate
has brought in some disarming public confessions of
hate and produced some of the most brilliant responses
on fundamental questions of identity. 

--- Jeebesh Bagchi <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:

> Thanks Rana for beginning a reflective thread.
> 
> This is probably a rare instance in the list, when a
> big "event" is  
> not the center of discussion. List usually does well
> with "big  
> events", as it ensures, that many drop in a few
> lines about what they  
> feel, or what they oppose or what can be done etc. A
> kind of public  
> positioning. (Beslan was an exception)
> 
> But in this instance it was about our ordinary ideas
> of how we think  
> our belonging, our social practices and ways of
> being with others.  
> Unfortunately it became too narrowly 'indo-centric"
> and thinking  
> about suffering became rhetorical. If this list can
> produce some  
> serious thought on "suffering" and "being with
> others' - and how we  
> deal with it in our ordinary life, it may contribute
> to our  
> intellectual life in a substantial way.
> 
> For me, the last few weeks have made me wonder, as
> to how far a  
> thought can travel if it gets tied to polemics and
> self-righteous  
> indignation. The loads of personal and historical
> material that has  
> come to this list in this weeks is amazing, and i
> hope that those  
> survive and does not get buried in the after taste
> of polemics and  
> condemnation.
> 
> Will think about your point on disgust.
> 
> warmly
> jeebesh
> 
> On 08-Sep-07, at 4:30 PM, Rana Dasgupta wrote:
> 
> > It's been an interesting few weeks on this list. 
> Some might say  
> > "We've
> > never had it so good" - since there have been far
> more posts, with far
> > more responses, than usual.
> >
> > Others might feel that this has been the
> Reader-list's lowest ever  
> > point
> > - its usual solemn tone and good opinions giving
> way to a running
> > sit-com of ad feminam assaults.
> >
> > Given the seriousness of some of the issues at
> stake, and the enormous
> > gulfs of understanding between some of the
> contributors, I have to say
> > I've admired the restraint of many of the writers
> on the list.  People
> > have held themselves back from expressing outright
> disgust, or from
> > violent attacks.
> >
> > It seems that there's a sense that one can't say
> just anything.  Or if
> > one did, it would erode the fabric of the list. 
> People have to  
> > balance
> > their own irritation or repugnance with a desire
> to uphold the
> > hospitality and vitality of the list.
> >
> > I think this says something very positive about
> the culture of a list.
> >
> >
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Unfortunately, the balance of nature decrees that a super-abundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares.   
      
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. 

Peter Ustinov


       
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