[Reader-list] Arundhati Roy in Karachi

[Inder Salim]

Dear Rahul
i think the question is already answered by Mr. K K
i only reflected

love
is

On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 4:01 PM, Rahul Asthana <rahul_capri at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Inder Salim,
>
> "The charge against Arundhati Roy is that why she chose not to speak
> the language of US in Pakistan."
>
> Who made this charge?
>
> "The boy ( Taliban boy
>> ) should be
>> killed instantly the moment he said that ‘woman’ and
>> ‘plastic bags’
>> should be banned. That is perhaps, the argument."
>
> Who made this argument?
>
> Thanks
> Rahul
>
>
> --- On Fri, 5/15/09, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy in Karachi
>> To: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Friday, May 15, 2009, 8:59 AM
>> Dear All,
>>
>> "You must be either very dumb or very rich if you fail
>> to notice that development stinks", says Gustavo Esteva, a
>> Mexican
>> activist and development critic. And in a article, couple
>> of years
>> back, Arundhati Roy wrote, “ The world is journeying on a
>> terrible
>> path “.
>>
>> I want to know who disagrees with the above two statements.
>> And those
>> who see the fanatic Muslim terrorist as the most poisonous
>> growth in
>> the happiness producing paddy fields of the world , which
>> we urgently
>> need  weeding,  then I disagree.
>>
>> The charge against Arundhati Roy is that why she chose not
>> to speak
>> the language of US in Pakistan.  The boy ( Taliban boy
>> ) should be
>> killed instantly the moment he said that ‘woman’ and
>> ‘plastic bags’
>> should be banned. That is perhaps, the argument.
>>
>> Now who has put this tag ‘Taliban’ on the forehead of
>> millions of
>> Muslims in the world, who else, but the USA. Are not
>> talking about the
>> masters who play this game? If not why?
>>
>>  Is ISI and the Pakistani Establishment the only masters of
>> this boy?
>> What if USA/West is the hidden master of this game, and if
>> that is a
>> possibility, then how the police, who is thief himself will
>> catches
>> the thief?  Seeing it from a perspective of treatments
>> on canvas, this
>> handling of Af-Pak issue by USA is as unaesthetic as Iraq
>> war was.
>> This is bound to generate ugliness, but unfortunately, they
>> are
>> probably content with their actions, as usual.
>>
>>   Looking seriously at the problem ,  I think
>> 9/11 was a long term
>> investment for USA/West to harvest dividends. The threat,
>> which is
>> more projected than real,  to their securities has
>> already hardened
>> the boarders, and the  excuse to inspect/control the
>> weapons in our
>> backyards has become real. They almost say, that we should
>> know what
>> is  happening in your homes. The trouble is that our
>> knowledge of
>> their homes does not reveal that hidden agenda.
>>
>> Meanwhile, they will make us forget that it was their
>> willingness in
>> the first place to manufacture these weapons of mass
>> destruction, so,
>> we all will believe that ‘they there’ are right
>> and ‘we here’ are
>> wrong. They design the guns and bombs, they finance it,
>> they
>> distribute it, and they decide how to fix the
>> responsibility.
>>
>> We already know that taking a stand against the boy with
>> disdain for ‘
>> they there’ is a demand of times, some sort of
>> pragmatism, so we need
>> to say yes, yes, let us kill the boy and thousand and
>> thousand of
>> other like him. We want development, even if it
>> ‘stinks’.
>>
>> This sound called USA/West has already killed half a
>> million in Iraq
>> and we still believe that the enemy of humanity is this
>> terrorist,
>> this terrorist only.  We must be naïve to give all
>> the benefit of
>> doubts to them. ( here, them and us is not a black and
>> white contrast,
>> but we need to know how much of fiction is weaved in the
>> us-like as
>> them-like, or even, vice versa. )
>>
>> Sad, if we think that to kill this boy is the remedy to our
>> ills, then
>> how to let us go ahead with killing the entire
>> Taliabanized  society
>> in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which runs in millions.
>> Mr. Jamal, a
>> Pakistani Journalist said that there are half a million
>> hard core
>> units ( Jihadis/individuals ) from Madarasas ( schools ) in
>> Pakistan.
>> First, how to mark one by one, and how to change the
>> programmed grey
>> matter inside the head. As Ashish Nandy rightly pointed out
>> that
>> Modern societies have no previous  experience to deal
>> with a person
>> who is willing to die, for a cause, which is not
>> necessarily valid for
>> rest of us.
>>
>> The trouble begins when for example, a Megaphone Company is
>> delighted
>> to sell its product to thousands of mosques in thousands of
>> villages
>> in the these two countries. They are happy to push the
>> sales, but have
>> the so called peace generating  companies ever
>> campaigned against the
>> sale of their product to these companies. They should have
>> reminded
>> them that the muezzin does not need scientific means to
>> push religion
>> in the minds of people, but goodwill, trust, compassion and
>> simplicity
>> etc. But they do the reverse, they tell them lies, and try
>> all the
>> tricks to sell their product, and so  why it is
>> surprises us if we get
>> a Tabliban from such promotions. This is just a case in the
>> point.
>>
>> The trouble begins here, for example, terrorist uprising in
>> Kashmir
>> created all the violence against the innocent people in the
>> valley.
>> Both Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims suffered terribly, and now,
>> yes, when
>> there is a visible mistrust against them (
>> terrorists) in the valley,
>> and we feel people are returning back to normal life, how
>> are we going
>> to define ‘peace’ and ‘development’ in real sense
>> of the word. What is
>> normal life? And if it means a return to the decadence and
>> a dumb
>> chase of American style of living, at a terrible cost of
>> our
>> environment and cultural moorings, then what should I say.
>>
>> This I am saying, even if people will forget  the core
>> Kashmir issue
>> which is presently unresolved.
>>
>> Just by killing the  remaining 3000 odd terrorist in
>> the valley, I
>> don’t know what we, the so called peace loving people,
>> are going to
>> achieve.
>>
>>  I never said, that the presence of terrorists in the
>> valley is/was a
>> future catalyst to resolve the issues which I have raised,
>> but their
>> absence too wont change the rules of the game which are
>> nothing ,but
>> what Gustavo’s ‘stink’ generating projects talk
>> about.
>>
>> Will  there be a solid peace in the region. I doubt.
>> The propaganda
>> right now is that the  terrorist caused the delay in
>> development.
>> Logically, yes, but what development.
>>
>> May be we need to define this animal called development
>> first before
>> we go to define the terrorist.
>>
>> The trouble begins, here again , as Mr. Jamals interviewer
>> pointed
>> out, that the Terrorist can not lead a normal life even
>> after the
>> issue is resolved. So how to treat the situation?
>>
>> So what is the way out ?
>>
>> Love and regards
>> Inder salim
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 6:07 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Arundhati Roy (AR) is in fashion. Rebel in fashion. A
>> rebel with many causes to whine about with no solutions to
>> offer. Since her grip on realities is uncertain, all
>> that she can indulge in is vague intellectualising. That
>> has always been in demand. Greater the obtuseness, easier
>> it is to be highly thought of by unthinking minds.
>> >
>> > Zubeida Mustafa knowingly or unwittingly brings out
>> the vaguness of AR when she says "Roy’s advice to avoid
>> being ‘with us or against us’ has implications she
>> didn’t elucidate". Zubeida goes on to say "In times when
>> action is needed and a position has to be taken — even if
>> verbally — inaction or neutrality unwittingly props up the
>> status quo."
>> >
>> > How shallow minded AR is, gets highlighted in what
>> are ostensibly quotes from her speech(es) at the WAF meet.
>> >
>> > AR: "In India, there are two kinds of terrorism: one
>> is Islamic terrorism and the other Maoist terrorism. But
>> this term terrorism, we must ask, what do they mean by
>> it. "
>> >
>> > KK: Note the word "they". Who is this "they"? Why did
>> AR fail to mention that there is also public discourse on
>> 'Hindu terrorism' and 'Economic terrorism'.  Even on
>> 'State terrorism' to some degree. What is this "they" she is
>> trying to create? Or, is she trying to say there is no
>> 'terrorism' in India and that it is just a figment of the
>> imagination of the "they"?
>> >
>> > AR: "I’m here to understand what you mean when you
>> say Taliban."
>> >
>> > KK : AR also spoke about a Taliban Boy. How did she
>> know the boy was "Taliban" if she is yet to understand what
>> they mean by "Taliban" in Pakistan? She seems to have her
>> own understanding of that term "Taliban". Why doesnt she
>> tell us what she means by "Taliban"?
>> >
>> > AR (On Taliban): "Do you mean a militant? Do you mean
>> an ideology? Exactly what is it that is being fought? That
>> needs to be clarified.
>> > I think both needs to be fought. But if it’s an
>> ideology it has to be fought differently, while if it’s a
>> person with a gun then it has to be fought differently."
>> >
>> > KK: Is AR such an ignorant idiot that she cannot see
>> that militancy finds it's justifications and reassurances
>> from the ideology? What is shameful about AR is that
>> she uses the term 'militant' for those who have indulged in
>> the most heinous of acts as Taliban and that has gravitated
>> many women in Pakistan (under threat to their lives) to
>> step-out and speak-out against the Taliban.
>> >
>> > AR: "In India, they have been fighting insurgencies
>> military since 1947 and it has become a more dangerous
>> place."
>> >
>> > KK: Note the "they" word again. But, what would AR
>> have India do with those that she herself calls
>> "insurgencies"? AR vagueness without any solutions. And,
>> some doublespeake. In India she often hints at support for
>> separatists. Why does she not espouse for India similar
>> attitudes that she advocates in Pakistan where she proclaims
>> "I think both needs to be fought" (whether militant or
>> ideology)?
>> >
>> > AR (on the 'Taliban Boy'): "He was made in a factory
>> that is producing this kind of mind(set). (The question is)
>> who owns that factory, who funds it? Unless we deal with
>> that factory, dealing with the boy doesn’t help us."
>> >
>> > KK: So what should be done about the 'Taliban
>> Boy' while AR indulges in her vaguness of 'who owns the
>> factory, who funds it?'? AR does not want her "Taliban Boy"
>> dealt with. Should we in the meantime invite her 'Taliban
>> Boy' to kill some more; behead some more; rape some more?
>> >
>> > AR: "The RSS has infiltrated the (Indian) army as much
>> as various kinds of Wahabism or other kinds of religious
>> ideology have infiltrated the ISI or the armed forces in
>> Pakistan."
>> >
>> > KK: Note the words "as much". AR seems to know much
>> more about the Indian Army then the rest of India knows for
>> her to bring about an equivalence in the 'religion
>> infiltration' into the Armed Forces of India and Pakistan.
>> More likely is that she knows very little about the
>> anxieties in Pakistan about the extent to which there is
>> widespread suspicion (in Pakistan and elsewhere) about the
>> continued influence exerted within the ISI and the Armed
>> Forces of Pakistan by hardline religious ideology inspite
>> of major efforts (especially by Musharraf) to unshackle
>> them.
>> >
>> > Kshmendra
>> >
>> > --- On Wed, 5/13/09, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy in Karachi
>> > To: "reader-list at sarai.net
>> list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> > Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 8:07 AM
>> >
>> >
>> > Dear All,
>> >
>> > The Delhi based writer Arundhati Roy has recently been
>> in Karachi,
>> > Pakistan at the invitation of civil society
>> organizations and womens
>> > rights groups. Here are two reports from Dawn, a
>> Karachi based daily,
>> > about meetings she attended (with an organization
>> titled 'Womens
>> > Action Forum') and interactions she had. I hope that
>> they will be of
>> > interest to people on the list.
>> >
>> > regards,
>> >
>> > Shuddha
>> > ------------------------------
>> > 1.
>> >
>> > Arundhati Roy and the WAF
>> > By Zubeida Mustafa
>> > Wednesday, 13 May, 2009
>> > http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/
>> > pakistan/11-arundhati-roy-and-the-waf--02
>> >
>> > ‘WOMEN to reclaim public spaces: a programme of
>> defiance and
>> > resistance.’ That is how the Women’s Action Forum
>> defined the meeting
>> > it held last Friday to mobilise public opinion against
>> extremism.
>> >
>> > Although WAF’s concern to protect the space women
>> have created in the
>> > public mainstream has been on its agenda for some
>> time, this goal has
>> > acquired urgency in the wake of the events in Swat.
>> The Nizam-i-Adl
>> > Regulation in Malakand Division has brought people
>> face to face with
>> > the ugly reality of the Talibanisation phenomenon in
>> the rural
>> > backwaters as well as in modern urban centres.
>> >
>> > The Karachi meeting was well-attended by WAF’s
>> standards. It is not
>> > easy to mobilise women for any cause in this city of
>> multiple
>> > identities. The metropolis has a diversity of
>> populations, cultures,
>> > languages and economic interests posing a challenge to
>> bring women
>> > together on a single platform. Learning from its
>> experience of the
>> > lawyers’ movement that had succeeded in uniting the
>> extreme right and
>> > centrist political parties and the professionals on a
>> single-point
>> > agenda for two years, WAF also decided to make
>> Talibanisation and
>> > women the focal issue.
>> >
>> > That strategy paid off. Women had already been
>> galvanised by the
>> > video showing the flogging of a teenaged girl in Swat
>> that activist
>> > Samar Minallah courageously brought to the world
>> media’s attention,
>> > invoking in the process the wrath of the Taliban whose
>> fatwa declared
>> > her as wajibul qatl. The oppression of women is an
>> issue that cuts
>> > across classes to touch every female raw nerve.
>> Whether it is the
>> > smartly turned-out high-society woman or the working
>> woman who slaves
>> > all day long to feed an army of children and a
>> drug-addict husband or
>> > even the heavily veiled orthodox woman, each type,
>> with few
>> > exceptions, has expressed her horror at the flogging
>> incident.
>> >
>> > Hence on this occasion WAF managed to bring a diverse
>> crowd together
>> > — the activists reaching out to the grassroots such
>> as Amar Sindhu
>> > from Sindh University Hyderabad, Parveen Rahman from
>> the Orangi Pilot
>> > Project and Sadiqa Salahuddin whose Indus Resource
>> Centre runs
>> > schools in the interior of Sindh, as well as the
>> elites sitting side
>> > by side with the three van-loads of women from Neelum
>> Colony who
>> > clean the homes of the rich and will be starting their
>> adult literacy
>> > classes from next week, courtesy Shabina’s Garage
>> School.
>> >
>> > The variety of speakers focusing on the theme of
>> women’s oppression
>> > by the Taliban found a responsive audience. But the
>> question that
>> > made many ponder was: what next? Can this interest be
>> sustained? If
>> > they had not already started probing for answers, the
>> thought-
>> > provoking speech by Arundhati Roy, the renowned Indian
>> writer and
>> > activist, did the trick. Coming from New Delhi on a
>> solidarity
>> > mission to WAF’s meeting. Roy raised four issues:
>> >
>> > • What do we mean by the Taliban and what gave birth
>> to them?
>> >
>> > • Define your own space and do not surrender it.
>> >
>> > • Don’t allow yourself to be forced into making
>> choices of the ‘with
>> > us or against us’ type.
>> >
>> > • Don’t be selective in your injustices.
>> >
>> > These should provide food for thought for those
>> struggling against
>> > oppression. Without being specific, Roy exhorted her
>> audience to look
>> > into the structures and systems that lead to a
>> situation of such
>> > extreme oppression, some of which is rooted in the
>> class conflict.
>> > She believes one has to take a ‘total view’ of the
>> matter, which she
>> > admitted she had come to Pakistan to understand.
>> >
>> > The fact is that we live in a largely grey area where
>> the lines are
>> > not sharply drawn. There is a lot of overlapping
>> between issues
>> > touching gender, class, ethnicity, culture, political
>> power and
>> > economic gains. It is this reality one has to
>> recognise and see how
>> > the contradictions can be addressed. The demand to
>> take sides
>> > unambiguously, expressed so vividly in the days
>> following 9/11 by
>> > George Bush as ‘You are with us or against us,’
>> can create a dilemma
>> > for people when negotiating these grey areas.
>> >
>> > Roy’s advice to avoid being ‘with us or against
>> us’ has implications
>> > she didn’t elucidate. In times when action is needed
>> and a position
>> > has to be taken — even if verbally — inaction or
>> neutrality
>> > unwittingly props up the status quo. If the status quo
>> has been
>> > created by inimical forces ostensibly now fighting
>> their self-created
>> > Frankenstein, where does one go?
>> >
>> > The practical approach would be to prioritise
>> strategies that can be
>> > adapted to changing circumstances. And what should
>> these be? Here Roy
>> > has a point when she says that one cannot be selective
>> in the
>> > justices one espouses and the injustices one
>> denounces. In this
>> > context Pakistanis find themselves trapped between the
>> devil and the
>> > deep sea. Attempting to rectify a problem here and
>> another there
>> > really doesn’t help because our entire state
>> structure is colonial,
>> > as a booklet titled Making Pakistan a Tenable State
>> points out.
>> >
>> > Produced by 17 intellectuals, with Dr Mubashir Hasan
>> as the driving
>> > force, the book describes the state structure as being
>> ‘based on the
>> > concentration of political and administrative power in
>> the steel
>> > frame of the civil services under the protection of
>> the armed forces.
>> > The structure could be defined as
>> feudal-military-bureaucratic.’
>> >
>> > The problem is systemic. In a state ruled by ‘a
>> government of the
>> > elites, by the elites, for the elites’ it is
>> inevitable that it is
>> > authoritarian and exploitative. Change can come when
>> there is
>> > mobilisation of the people for change. When WAF
>> mobilises women to
>> > fight against injustices it prepares them to also
>> fight for change.
>> > The need is to empower them and instill confidence in
>> them.
>> >
>> > Two women I have written about who are fighting for
>> change come from
>> > the poorest of the poor and theirs is not a feminist
>> agenda. They are
>> > fighting to have a roof above their heads. One is the
>> wife of Walidad
>> > from Muhammad Essa Khaskheli who came all the way to
>> Karachi in the
>> > heat of summer to save her goth from being snapped up
>> by a feudal in
>> > the neighbourhood.
>> >
>> > The other is Parveen whose one-room ‘mansion’ in a
>> katchi abadi of
>> > Clifton is now under threat of demolition. She is
>> resisting the
>> > exploitative system that cannot provide shelter to the
>> poor.
>> > Initially she hesitated — was it ‘proper’ for a
>> woman to protest she
>> > had asked me. When encouraged she decided it was.
>> These are women on
>> > the way to empowerment and that is WAF’s agenda.
>> >
>> >   2.
>> >
>> > ‘I’m here to understand what you mean by
>> Taliban’
>> > by Salman Siddiqui
>> > Friday, 08 May, 2009
>> > http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/
>> > pakistan/arundhati-roy-sal-02
>> >
>> > Is there a threat of Talibanisation engulfing the
>> entire region?
>> >
>> > I think it has already engulfed our region. I think
>> there’s a need
>> > for a very clear thinking (on this issue of
>> Talibanisation). In
>> > India, there are two kinds of terrorism: one is
>> Islamic terrorism and
>> > the other Maoist terrorism. But this term terrorism,
>> we must ask,
>> > what do they mean by it.
>> >
>> > In Pakistan, I’m here to understand what they mean
>> by this term. When
>> > we say we must fight the Taliban or must defeat them,
>> what does it
>> > mean? I’m here to understand what you mean when you
>> say Taliban. Do
>> > you mean a militant? Do you mean an ideology? Exactly
>> what is it that
>> > is being fought? That needs to be clarified.
>> >
>> > I think both needs to be fought. But if it’s an
>> ideology it has to be
>> > fought differently, while if it’s a person with a
>> gun then it has to
>> > be fought differently. We know from the history of the
>> war on terror
>> > that a military strategy is only making matters worse
>> all over the
>> > world. The war on terror has made the world a more
>> dangerous place.
>> > In India, they have been fighting insurgencies
>> military since 1947
>> > and it has become a more dangerous place.
>> >
>> > Swat and the Taliban boy
>> >
>> > It is very important for me to understand what exactly
>> is going in
>> > Swat. How did it start? A Taliban boy asked me why
>> women can’t be
>> > like plastic bags and banned. The point is that the
>> plastic bag was
>> > made in a factory but so was the boy. He was made in a
>> factory that
>> > is producing this kind of mind(set). (The question is)
>> who owns that
>> > factory, who funds it? Unless we deal with that
>> factory, dealing with
>> > the boy doesn’t help us.
>> >
>> > Water is the main issue
>> >
>> > One danger in Pakistan is that we talk about the
>> threat of Taliban so
>> > much that other important issues lose focus. In my
>> view, the problem
>> > of water in the world will become the most important
>> problem.  I
>> > think big dams are economically unviable,
>> environmentally
>> > unsustainable and politically undemocratic. They are a
>> way of taking
>> > away a river from the poor and giving it to the rich.
>> Like in India,
>> > there’s an issue of SEZs (Special Economic Zones),
>> whereby the land
>> > of the people are given to corporations. But the
>> bigger problem is
>> > that there are making dams and giving water to the
>> industries. This
>> > way the people who live in villages by the streams and
>> rivers have no
>> > water for themselves. So building dams is one of the
>> most
>> > ecologically destructive things that you can do.
>> >
>> > Fight over Siachen glacier
>> >
>> > There are thousands of Pakistani and Indian soldiers
>> deployed on the
>> > Siachen glacier. Both of our countries are spending
>> billions of
>> > dollars on high altitude warfare and weapons. The
>> whole of the
>> > Siachen glacier is sort of an icy monument to human
>> folly. Each day
>> > it is being filled with ice axes, old boots, tents and
>> so on.
>> > Meanwhile, that battlefield is melting. Siachen
>> glacier is about half
>> > its size now. It’s not melting because the Indian
>> and Pakistani
>> > soldiers are on it. But it’s because people
>> somewhere on the other
>> > side of the world are leading a good life….in
>> countries that call
>> > themselves democracies that believe in human rights
>> and free speech.
>> > Their economies depend on selling weapons to both of
>> us. Now, when
>> > that glacier melts, there will be floods first, then
>> there will be a
>> > drought and then we’ll have even more reasons to
>> fight. We’ll buy
>> > more weapons from those democracies and in this way
>> human beings will
>> > prove themselves to be the stupidest animals on
>> earth.
>> >
>> > Money and the Indian elections
>> >
>> > Whatever system of government you have, whether it is
>> a military
>> > dictatorship or a democracy, and you have that for a
>> long time,
>> > eventually big money manages to subvert it. That has
>> begun to happen
>> > even in a democracy (like India). For example,
>> political parties need
>> > a lot of publicity, but the media is also run by
>> corporate money. If
>> > you look at the big political parties like the
>> Congress and the BJP,
>> > you see how much money is being put out just in their
>> advertising
>> > budgets. Now where does all that come from?
>> >
>> > RSS and the Indian establishment
>> >
>> > The RSS has infiltrated everything to a great extent.
>> In India, we
>> > have 120-150 million Muslims and it’s considered a
>> minority…It’s
>> > impossible to not belong to a minority of some sort in
>> India. Caste
>> > or ethnicity or religion or whatever, in some way
>> everyone belongs to
>> > a minority. The fights that many of us are waging
>> against the RSS and
>> > against the BJP are to say that we live in a society
>> which
>> > accommodates everybody. Everybody doesn’t have to
>> love everybody, but
>> > everybody has to be accommodated.  The RSS has
>> infiltrated the
>> > (Indian) army as much as various kinds of Wahabism or
>> other kinds of
>> > religious ideology have infiltrated the ISI or the
>> armed forces in
>> > Pakistan. They are human beings like everyone else and
>> they too get
>> > influenced.
>> >
>> > Indian media and sensationalizing of news coming out
>> from Pakistan
>> >
>> > I think the media in both countries play this game.
>> Whenever
>> > something happens here, they hype it up there, while
>> when something
>> > happens there, they hype the news here. We say that we
>> live in times
>> > of an information revolution and free press, but even
>> then nobody
>> > gets to know the complete picture…
>> >
>> > The Pakistani media is a little different from the
>> Indian media. They
>> > stand on a slightly different foundation. But both
>> share the problem
>> > of a lack of accountability…The trouble in India is
>> that 90 per cent
>> > of their revenue comes from the corporate
>> sector…there’s increasing
>> > privatization and corporatization of governance,
>> education, health,
>> > infrastructure and water management. So in India you
>> see an open
>> > criticism of governance, but very rarely criticism of
>> corporations.
>> > It’s a structural problem. It’s not about good
>> people or bad people.
>> > It’s just that you can’t expect a company to work
>> against itself.
>> > This is a very serious issue which needs to be sorted
>> out.
>> >
>> > Is the Indian army a sacred cow?
>> >
>> > The Indian army is quite a sacred cow especially on TV
>> and Bollywood.
>> > But at the same time if you talk to the people in the
>> Indian army,
>> > they say that they feel that the media is very
>> critical of them. I
>> > don’t share that view. I think it is a sacred cow.
>> People are willing
>> > to give them a lot of leeway.
>> >
>> > Women and their fight for justice
>> >
>> > When women fight for justice, we must fight for every
>> kind of justice…
>> > We must fight for justice for men and justice for
>> children. Because
>> > if you fight for one kind of justice and you tolerate
>> another, then
>> > it’s a pretty hollow fight. You may not be able to
>> fight every
>> > battle, but you should be able to put yourself on the
>> line and say I
>> > believe this.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>> > The Sarai Programme at CSDS
>> > Raqs Media Collective
>> > shuddha at sarai.net
>> > www.sarai.net
>> > www.raqsmediacollective.net
>> >
>> >
>> > _________________________________________
>> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
>> city.
>> > Critiques & Collaborations
>> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
>> with subscribe in the subject header.
>> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _________________________________________
>> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
>> city.
>> > Critiques & Collaborations
>> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
>> with subscribe in the subject header.
>> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
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>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
>> city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
>> with subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
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