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[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Monica,

I am writing this with the hope that this sorry chapter about false  
allegations on the list is now lurching towards conclusion. But  
before we achieve the closure we all need, a few clarifications and  
recapitulations are in order, for the sake of the record.

It is my belief that your response as list administrator is a  
philosophical one, and upholds what I think are the best traditions  
of the Reader List of standing for the freedom of speech even of  
those with whom one agrees least of all. I agree to withdraw my  
demand that Aditya Raj Kaul and Pawan Durani be asked to leave the list.

However, the least that Pawan Durani and Aditya Raj Kaul can do, if  
they are to be truly deserving, in my view of  the measured and  
considerate tone of the list administrator's response is to  
reciprocate by -

- Offering an unconditional and unambiguous apology to all list  
members for seeking to mislead list members and making allegations  
without proof about people who write or say things that Kaul and  
Durani are in disagreement with being in the pay of 'terrorists' and  
'foreign powers'.

I think that a variety of different conflicting opinions and points  
of view is healthy. But a welcoming attitude to difference should not  
be taken to mean a licence to harm the reputations and persons of  
others. Most importantly, I believe it means never to say anything  
directly accusing another person of doing something if you do not  
have proof for it.

 From this time onwards, I suggest that we evolve a code of conduct  
that states

1) that no person, whosoever they may be should make any allegations  
on the personal conduct of another list member or any other third  
person, without offering proof for the same. Should this proof be  
found  wanting, they should apologize.

2) that people voluntarily agree to refrain from making sexist and  
homophobic remarks or use racist language of any kind.

Even the most strong arguments can be made without attacking each  
other on the basis of the name that people carry or the bodies they  
have and the desires that they own up to. I do not see this in any  
way as a restriction on anyone's freedom to express their thoughts,  
feelings, desires, interests, ideas or questions. I propose that  
unless a person actively dissents at this stage, we take it that  
these principles are agreeable to all.

regards

Shuddha



On 13-Nov-08, at 1:17 PM, Monica Narula wrote:

> Dear All
>
> I think its rather cute the way dear everyone is asking for an
> intervention from the admin - now increasingly feeling like a class
> monitor!
>
> The coming years are going to be a difficult ones. There is going to
> be a massive drop in employment opportunities, liquidity will fall,
> infrastructure will remain half-built etc. There will also be an
> increasing shrillness of speech. This, I am guessing, will lead to an
> aggressive acceleration in both inclusive and exclusive
> authoritarianism. So the future trajectory of the language game and
> the rhetorical quotient on the reader-list will be something that I
> am a little ambivalent about.
>
> I request list members to be aware that making charges without
> substantial ground is more to do with incitement than to do with
> discussion. It is odd that when the world is trying to come to term
> with global seismic shocks that seem to come at all of us from all
> directions, archaic accusations about the "foreign" seem to find some
> votaries.
>
> Let us think a little harder. The world is not legible. In an
> increasingly blurring reality, understanding the grounds of
> accusations and rhetorical posturing will be necessary. Let us think
> how to deal with language, and what it says, in what can feel like a
> crumbling world, rather than merely becoming the dust that arises
> from this process.
>
> best
> Monica
> List Admin
>
> Monica Narula
> Sarai-CSDS
> 29 Rajpur Road
> Delhi 110 054
> www.sarai.net
>
>
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