[Reader-list] on sarai postings

[Nazneen Anand Shamsi]

Dear Radhakrishnan,

Thank you for your mail. I take your point about what Shivam has also
pointed a number of times the ad hominem nature of arguments. But I strongly
believe that recent critical writings on the reader-list owe a lot to the
provocations by Aditya Raj Kaul, Pawan Durrani, Radhikarajen and Rahul
Asthana. No one can ignore that. So first I want to reach out to them and
say thank you. Having said that, let me admit that there were times when I
felt very stressed reading some of those mails, for a simple reason, which
was, the manner in which they articulated their argument, often worked as a
red-herring, to what they were trying to articulate. This is not say that,
all other mails ever posted on the reader list, were not stressful or all
the mails written by our agent provocateurs were stress full. No that was
clearly not the case.

I expect writings of a sharp critical nature to emerge from the reader-list,
which, one cannot access otherwise anywhere else. And I hope that members of
this community recognize that the only way we can achieve this is by
exercising restraint, clarifying arguments, getting to an argument itself
and tearing it apart. I would love to read more arguments favoring a strong
State, with a strong police force and a robust system of justice. I would
look forward to read more critical writings on Kashmir and more reasons put
forth that take a Shuddha's argument and breaks it asunder. I want to cheer
for the underdog. I want to be convinced that left is wrong. I want to clear
my head and support our police.

This is to all those who write on the reader-list from someone, who till now
has only been reading. I value and cherish what you think, I am your reader,
please persuade me to believe what you believe in but please, please don't
be disrespectful, please write with a little care and a lot of
consideration. For I sincerely and honsetly want to believe in you!

Best

Nazo

On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:28 AM, Radhakrishnan <krishnanrr at rediffmail.com>wrote:

>
> Dear Tapas and Nazneen,
> I thank both of you for responding to my mail. I just wanted some amount of
> restraint, not necessarily a quintessential intellectual platform, but there
> is a greater need to exercise restraint and adhere to the terms of the
> debate. There have been many instances wherein people have tried to put
> forward their personal prejudices, conveniently targeting individuals,
> groups and institutions. Its not our job to attribute motive to any
> individual's opinion rather one could contest anybody's finding. At the same
> time the attempts to be the judge and the jury …all rolled into one doesn't
> augur well. The recent case is the unwarranted and contemptuous opinion
> about Jamia, an educational institution that is headed by a dynamic
> intellectual Prof Hasan, whose very credentials are questioned and
> castigated.
>
> The recent exchanges on terrorism and communalism hasn't been substantial
> rather were a very generic and conventional exchange from the standpoint of
> 'we' and 'other' with which we have been grappling with since so many
> decades.
>
> Hence there is need to as Nazneen had clearly mentioned about the need to
> "devise a strategy to counter this unwarranted abuse or mass mail. Sarai
> people to put in place a set of directives for formal public engagement."
>
> Sarai team has to clearly introspect about a protocol of engagement on the
> reader-list from, so that there are exchanges, howsoever varied and even
> diametrically opposite views within a prism of civility and minimal norms.
>
> I also have found many postings very illuminating and got to know about the
> varied dimensions involved in those issues, the recent ones were Simran and
> Radhikarajen's views on the terrorism, LTTE. But I have a fear that crisis
> in some places or people who had been affected by a crisis could at times
> display extreme anger and perhaps a bit biased about other developments like
> the recent bomb blasts. Simultaneously many of the postings generate a Delhi
> centric opinion reminiscent of Hindi being India, so what about the
> periphery. Is it that what is good for Delhi should necessarily been viewed
> as solution to the non-Delhi regions?
>
> But the point is that these exchanges certainly gives the impression as
> Tapas has very rightly stated, 'of an urge to establish hegemony over
> opponents - seems to be pushing the real thing to the edges, or at least
> warping the debate far too much'. Thus there have been attempts to generate
> a conformist opinion and portray them as factual information.
>
> I leave to people like you and the sarai management to think of evolving
> some terms for such debates and contestations.
>
> Regards
>
> Radhakrishnan
>
>
>
>
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