[Reader-list] Another cause, not pink but blood red...

[vaid theite]

The points that Pavan and others are making are important and valid and we need to look thoroughly at class structure and its politics in media.

1.	What makes one decide that a “class” supporting to Pink Chaddi is upper and others who are not supporting are upper middle class. 
2.	Is Pavan talking about ‘attitude’ white collar class or affluent class with money power?
3.	I wonder if he has been confusing class with caste. Do you want to say that those who are supporting to anti-oppression protests for lowers lower caste people? 
4.	It really an issue of serious concern that protests don’t happen for Khairlanji. 
Everyone irrespective of class and caste is responsible. But, an issue remains where are those lower class/caste people who are “enlightened” with new era wealth or have reached one step “up” in a ladder by buying houses/flats in posh localities of cities with broadband connections? 
5.	It is true that media are biased. But important is to articulate the way in which they are biased. IF we don’t articulate, we shouldn’t be surprised with Swathi’s observation.
6.	There is the class hierarchy that works. To site an example, in a campaign of “Fearless Karnataka”, initially, their draft of memorandum was an interesting read. It said it was a protest by “tax-payers”- Sir, we are tax payers of Bangalore …so it is a duty of police to give us security….etc…this kind of statement, one can understand was a very much class based….corporate….etc…that suited to IT –pink slip city of Bangalore. Now, thankfully, they have changed it saying that
“It is the core responsibility of the state and city police to ensure that public spaces are kept safe for all. Women across class barriers – from powrakarmikas to garment factory workers to students and young professionals in the corporate sector – have today become vulnerable targets on the streets of Karnataka.” Here also, the protest ‘needs’ to explain their benefactors.


--- On Sat, 3/14/09, swathi shivanand <swathi.shivanand at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: swathi shivanand <swathi.shivanand at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Another cause, not pink but blood red...
> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009, 5:17 AM
> while agreeing with a large number of
> issues raised in the two emails,
> namely that of the class nature of the media, the horrific
> incidents of
> ragging demeaning human dignity, the under-reportage of
> atrocities against
> dalits.....
> 
> but to priviliege one kind of oppression over the other, to
> say that one is
> more important than the other is doing a disservice to
> understanding the
> nature and operation of powerful, oppressive forces. it is
> also to say that
> one's oppression is worse than the other's... and one
> definitely cannot
> hierarchise oppression, can we?
> 
> so while calling for support, perhaps we ask for support
> based on the
> historicity and nature of the incident involved, rather
> than demeaning other
> forms of protest?
> 
> swathi
> 
> On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 12:14 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com>wrote:
> 
> > http://mohan-sinha.blogspot.com/
> >
> > Here are two issues, both equally relevant when it
> comes to our fundamental
> > rights - but see how we perceive them. The first is
> the ‘pink chaddi’
> > campaign against Muthalik and the Ram Sene. The second
> is a campaign to end
> > ragging, by the family of Aman Kachroo, the student
> who was beaten to death
> > by his seniors at a medical school in Himachal
> Pradesh.
> >
> > The ‘Pink Chaddi’ group was started on Facebook
> and had 50,000+ members in
> > less than a week. The second, ‘Justice for Aman
> > Kachroo<
> > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56564914348#/group.php?gid=57342453306
> > >’
> > has just 1607 and quite a few Facebook members,
> including your truly have
> > been asking members to join the campaign but with
> little response. So, why
> > is there empathy for pink chaddi and apathy for Aman
> Kachroo? Was the ‘pink
> > chaddi’ campaign more up-market than the reason for
> which a 19-year-old had
> > to give up his life? Is human life worth so little to
> us.
> >
> > Children don’t deserve such a death – hell, no one
> deserves such a death.
> > But time and again, children die or attempt suicide
> unable to bear the
> > ragging at their institutions, and the authorities
> first attempt a
> > cover-up;
> > then try to taint the victim’s character, and accept
> the crime only when
> > the
> > shit hits the fan.
> >
> > A cousin, who studied at one of the premier technology
> institutes in the
> > country in the 1980s, told me how juniors were put
> through the grind when
> > they joined. When seniors were playing cards in one of
> the rooms, and
> > wanted
> > to smoke, the juniors were ordered to become
> ‘ashtrays’ – they were
> > supposed
> > to sit on their haunches next to the seniors, with
> their MOUTHS OPEN so
> > that
> > ash could be tipped in their mouth. Ouch! To those
> with a morbid sense of
> > fun and fair play, this may be much better than being
> beaten to death, but
> > that’s no consolation.
> >
> > Now of course, premier institutions like the one
> referred to above have
> > clamped down on ragging and students who indulge in it
> are told to drop a
> > year and come back next year to continue the
> curriculum. Freshers are now
> > given right of way and seniors usually keep a safe
> distance from them for
> > fear of being reprimanded. Now it’s the freshers who
> are rude with the
> > seniors! And this was conveyed to me by a student at
> IIT Powai. Sadly, in
> > all this what is lost is the spirit of camaraderie and
> friendship. But I
> > guess, to avoid incidents like the one that happened
> with Aman Kachroo and,
> > just yesterday, with the girl in Andhra Pradesh who
> tried to commit suicide
> > because she couldn’t take the ragging, these steps
> are necessary.
> >
> > So maybe it's time to see beyond pink chaddis and pub
> going loose women,
> > and
> > take up the fight for Aman Kachroo’s family and also
> ensure that no kids,
> > whether yours or mine, lose their lives?
> > _________________________________________
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