[Reader-list] INDIA: Others Among Us

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Kshmendra,

Ahem, actually, there have been postings on this list on the  
situation of minorities in Bangladesh. I would draw your attention to  
Shambu Rahmat's  recent posting on the removal and desecration of  
Buddha images in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, (and attendent abuses)  
and Naeem himself, (actually in response to a post that I wrote on  
Mass Graves in Kashmir) has also posted on gross human rights  
violations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (home to large numbers of  
non-Muslim indigenous peoples) in Bangladesh.

I think you will agree with me that  it is about time we stopped  
making not very well informed judgements about people's biases on the  
basis of our assesments of list members identities as revealed by  
their handles and our speculations about their provenances.

thanks and regards,

Shuddha


On 06-Oct-08, at 4:40 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote:

> Dear Naeem
>
> I can only comment on what you actually post since I am not privy  
> to the background of your choosing an extract. If you had given  
> that background, maybe your extract would not have seemed  
> provocative. Maybe.
>
> You misrepresent my usage of "As an Indian". It was not meant to  
> exclude or silence you. I neither have the desire nor power to do  
> it. This List is open space and at the very least it seeks to be  
> South Asian.
>
> Why would you object to my sadness "as an Indian" when I register  
> (as noteworthy) the desperation and hopelessness of an Indian  
> expressing itself as ""Where will I go? This is the place where I  
> was born. This is the place I will die."?
>
> Was I the one "othering" you? You had already "othered" yourself by  
> choosing as an introduction for your posting the extract   
> """"...even "famous Muslims" find it difficult to find a house."""""".
>
> If I am not mistaken, you are from Bangladesh. It would be good if  
> there are regular postings from you highlighting significant social  
> and political issues of Bangladesh including ones related to the  
> minorities. This list is too India-centric isn't it, as you  
> yourself (I think) have pointed out in the past.
>
> While we are at your "otherness", if you are actually from  
> Bangladesh may I ask you something. It has always intrigued me that  
> if India is such a hellish place for Muslims,  why would Muslims  
> from Bangladesh in fairly large numbers steal in as illegal  
> migrants. What are your thoughts on that?
>
> I ask a similar question from my fellow Indians who talk about  
> India being a "Great Country" and either talk about it already  
> being a Superpower or being on the thresh-hold of becoming a  
> Superpower. I ask them if the truth is anywhere close to their  
> contentions, why would Indians by the thousands leave India and  
> seek employment or education opportunities in other countries.
>
>
> Kshmendra
>
> --- On Sun, 10/5/08, Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>
> From: Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] INDIA: Others Among Us
> To: "Sarai Reader List" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Sunday, October 5, 2008, 7:59 PM
>
> I had just finished editing a friend's proposed abstract for a
> conference in Kolkata. Her research looks at the locality of Rajarhat,
> a formerly fishing/agriculture, now a fast growing IT Hub/new city.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajarhat
>
> The fundamental tension is new IT Park, attracting NRIs and Techno
> professionals, displacing the old working class inhabitants. Etc etc
> old story. At one point in the abstract, she highlights this tension
> by talking about Muslim tenants being refused apartments in this new
> city. The juxtaposition of course was with the old inhabitants, many
> of whom were Muslim, but I actually thought it didn't quite work
> because the displaced population was about 45%-55% Muslim-Hindu. I
> suggested to her that looking at what happens to upper class
> Muslims/NRIs/IT Professionals if they seek an apartment, etc may yield
> examples counter to her hypothesis (since I have a theory that in
> certain situations economic class trumps race or religion).
>
> Having just finished reading/editing that abstract, I found it
> interesting to stumble on "the line" in the article that seemed to
> counter, at least in one locality, my hypothesis.
>
> As for your use of "As an Indian", interesting exercise in othering
> to
> silence/exclude...
>
> On Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 7:47 PM, Kshmendra Kaul  
> <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>> Naeem, it is interesting that what you could find quotable in the  
>> article
> to
>> serve as an introduction to your posting was the line:
>> """""" even "famous Muslims" find
> it difficult to find a house.""""""""
>>
>> Tells me how your mind works and with what intent you posted this.
>
>
>
>> As an Indian what I registered as noteworthy were the words:
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net