[Reader-list] on sarai postings

[Pawan Durani]

Dear Nazneen,
Someone posted an article , "traitors without a trial". And it seems that
you are also from the same group who classify people according to your
own preferences.

What may not be provocative to you , may be provocative to me. I have all
the right to defend my thoughts and fight the disinformation [ according to
me ].

The problem is that when we write something you dont like it, and when
someone like Shuddha writes, whose knowledge about Kashmir is as good as
Ricky Pontings knowledge about cooking Sambar- Dosa, you do nothing but
appreciate it.

I appreciate the passion of Shuddha and Shivam, but for them it is beyond
that. It is now lust for them.

God Bless ! [ No puns to the communist friends ]

Pawan



On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 5:58 AM, Nazneen Anand Shamsi <
nazoshmasi at googlemail.com> wrote:

> 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [image: Rediff Shopping]<
> http://adworks.rediff.com/cgi-bin/AdWorks/click.cgi/www.rediff.com/signature-home.htm/1050715198@Middle5/2206641_2199021/2201651/1?PARTNER=3&OAS_QUERY=null
> >
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