[Reader-list] use of "visually impaired" to abuse

Mon Feb 22 16:50:16 IST 2010

Dear Kshmendra,

I can very well cite number of instances when you have responded to my
mails using this analogy of "calling spade, a spade". Since, it is
very typical way of you to eat up your own words and I know I am not
the only victim here on this reader's list of your
self-contradictions, so I would not like to pursue it further. It is
pointless. I am not here doubting or discussing or even learning from
you because of some great personal ego kick.

Second, I think I would not subscribe to your "overpower = subdue =
overwhelm" analogy for the incident that took place in South Kashmir
especially when I am reporting about an incident. I avoid synonyms
because they essentially change meanings even in the subtlest ways.
You have not been able to provide any wider meaning for the words such
as ‘attack’, ‘loot’ or ‘storm’ in context of this very incident
therefore I think the “narrower dictionary” versions still apply here.
You may be right but you are not informed about this particular
incident. That has been proven and it is very much on the record.

My doubts came in form of the questions posed to another reader who
had taken the pains to post this news item. You were not a party to it
but you had to intervene with your ‘thesaurus’. I may have called you
visually impaired but as opposed to what Taraprakash pointed out, it
wasn’t meant to indicate foolishness. I had no intentions of evoking
an erstwhile linguistic debate on African-American racial slur when I
made references to the analogy of “calling spade, a spade”, used more
than once. As a reporter, I took this as an advice from your side that
should ideally reflect on my reports or my writings. I did really
apply it also taking a lot of things with a pinch of salt and learning
also.

I look forward to fruitful interactions with you Kshmendra and that is
all about it.

-Anupam

On 2/22/10, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Anupam is not being factual when he says I told him "to call a spade, a
> spade".
>
> Its been some years since I last used that phrase when I became aware that
> it suggests a racial slur against African-Americans.
>
> But I am sure that Anupam's use of that phrase was not motivated by the
> sense of it being a slur but he used it in a purely literary fashion.
>
> Similarly I am sure that Anupam's deriding me as being "visually impaired"
> was not meant to suggest that the "visually impaired" are foolish. Again the
> usage was in a purely literary fashion.
>
> What amuses me is that this very same Anupam was looking at the narrowest of
> definitions of words when I pointed out to him that there was no
> contradiction (as suggested by him) in a news report that was being
> discussed and that there was a (literary)  {possibility of the one
> "overpowered", "attacked", "looted", "stormed" need not have been inflicted
> with "physical, moral, or mental" injury}.
>
> Anupam had been kind enough to refer me to a dictionary-weblink and made me
> aware that I would have the added benefit of it giving me the pronunciation.
>
> Kshmendra
>
> PS. There are divided opinions over the history of the phrase "calling a
> spade a spade". There is no disagreement on this that it was used as a
> racial slur against African-Americans. There are opinions that its use as a
> racial slur was predated by the simple thought that a spade should be called
> a spade instead of it being called a shovel, suggesting plainspeake.
>
>
> --- On Thu, 2/18/10, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: use of "visually impaired" to abuse
> To: "Tara Prakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>, "sarai list"
> <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 8:19 PM
>
>
> Dear Taraprakash,
>
> I apologise if I had hurt your sensibilities but It was Kshmendra who
> had in earlier exchange of mails told me to call spade, a spade.
> Therefore, i think the analogy still stands not as an abuse but a way
> of extending help to those who have eyes but still pretend that they
> are visually impaired. While, there could be many who are actually
> visually impaired but know what some words mean.
>
> Regards
> Anupam
>
> On 2/18/10, Tara Prakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think I missed the mail which Kshmendra is responding to. Oh yes, this
>> guys gets filtered out of my inbox.
>> But I would like moderators to be watchful. There are people who are using
>> insensitive abuses towards a specific community. Even though
>> blind/visually
>> impaired do not fall within the dominant structure of backward, in fact
>> disabled people have been kept out of it for political purposes, they have
>> right to remain as sensitive to discrimnatory language as the other other
>> groups discriminated against by the society.
>> Calling someone who ignores or do not understand a mail or some parts of
>> it,
>> "visually impaired" is abusive as it associates blindness with
>> foolishness.
>> My fear is that if people are not stopped from using insensitive language
>> towards a section of the society, that has as much right to command
>> respect
>> as any other group, the future mails on this list may get worse. I don't
>> like people being called blind/visually impaired to abuse as much as I
>> don't
>> like people being called bhangi, chamar, katva, hijra and other
>> insensitive
>> terms which are part of everyday lexicon on the streets in India.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>> To: "anupam chakravartty" <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 5:57 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Terrorists attack police post (Police Picket
>> wasfor protection of minority Kashmiri Pandits)
>>
>>
>>> Dear Anupam
>>>
>>> My apologies for my being visually impaired.
>>>
>>> You found a contradiction between "overpower" and "unharmed". I tried
>>> explaining how it was not unnatural for the two to go together.
>>>
>>> Now you bring in the words "attack", "loot", "stormed".
>>>
>>> For each one of these words also, if you patiently go through the very
>>> links that you yourself have provided you will find alternatives of
>>> meanings which contain the possibility of the one "overpowered",
>>> "attacked", "looted", "stormed" need not have been inflicted with
>>> "physical, moral, or mental" injury.
>>>
>>> Detailing those meanings for you is going to be a waste of time. I say
>>> that on the basis of the arrogant and confrontational tone you have
>>> adopted. The same goes for discussing this any further with you.
>>>
>>> There is a saying in Punjabi?/Hindi? which I am unable to translate but
>>> which you might get explained to you for it aptly describes the state of
>>> your mind. It is:
>>>
>>> " khisiani billi, khambaa nochay"
>>>
>>> Kshmendra
>>>
>>>
>>> --- On Thu, 2/18/10, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Terrorists attack police post (Police Picket
>>> was for protection of minority Kashmiri Pandits)
>>> To: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>>> Cc: "Aditya Raj Kaul" <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>, "sarai list"
>>> <reader-list at sarai.net>
>>> Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 3:51 PM
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Kshmendra,
>>>
>>> I am sorry if you are visually impaired. I did not know this. I wish I
>>> had a software by which I could read out the news report in question.
>>> I understand that overpowered could also mean overwhelmed, which
>>> completely changes the context in which the news report was written.
>>> However, let's see a list of words being used here to indicate use of
>>> force and that too physical:
>>>
>>> The headline: "Militants attack police post in Kashmir, loot weapons."
>>>
>>> at⋅tack: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attack
>>>
>>> Please follow link I have posted, it will not only give you
>>> pronunciation but this word connotes will also be read out to you.
>>> Similarly, you could follow this link:
>>> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loot to find the meaning of
>>> the word 'loot'.
>>>
>>> Let's come to the lead now: "Militants stormed a police post set up
>>> for protection of a minority community and looted five rifles in
>>> Pulwama district of south Kashmir."
>>>
>>> A word that has been used to describe what you think was an
>>> overwhelming presence is 'stormed'. This link will take you the
>>> meaning of the word 'storm':
>>> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stormed . Again the word 'loot'
>>> was used.
>>>
>>> The report also suggests that these men were heavily armed and managed
>>> to carry three Insas and two SLRs (how many we still do not know which
>>> is understandable as the policemen were shocked. But an incident that
>>> happened for the first time in several years in Kashmir valley, with
>>> two policemen unharmed and they still could not describe the number or
>>> even indicate strength for the gathering is absolutely bogus, when
>>> written in a report). The heavily armed men (looks like they descended
>>> from Mars) took The weight of one Insas rifle is: 4.25 KG (9.4 LB)
>>> empty 4.6 KG (10.1 LB) loaded. The weight of one SLR: 4.0–4.45 kg
>>> (8.8–9.8 lb).
>>>
>>> Also if we again go by this report and your inference from the example
>>> of the two wrestlers, Kshmendra, after the policemen were
>>> "overwhelmed" by the presence of the heavily armed men, the ultras (we
>>> do not what this word means, I have heard these words used
>>> consistently by security establishment which injects the same to the
>>> media. the media reporting insurgency has never ever been able to
>>> really gather what an ultra really means) ran away.
>>>
>>> Let us get to the bottom of this issue instead of assuming that these
>>> terrorists were some really tough guys who made minnows out of this
>>> policemen or they had some charm with them to have hypnotized these
>>> policemen . If the security officials were really overwhelmed by their
>>> presence, then not just a departmental inquiry but a high level
>>> inquiry to find out the links between the militants and policemen
>>> should start in this case.
>>>
>>> I am also grateful to Aditya for posting this news report but at the
>>> same I hope that he uses his own discretion and his experience in
>>> highlighting such issues by thoroughly investigating them.
>>>
>>> -Anupam
>>>
>>> On 2/18/10, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>> Dear Anupam
>>>>
>>>> Where are the 'two different scenarios' being presented? You contradict
>>>> yourself by the very definitions that you yourself have provided.
>>>>
>>>> "Overpower" does not neccessarily mean causing bodily harm or inflicting
>>>> moral or mental injury. The easiest example to give is of two wrestlers
>>>> in
>>>> a ring.
>>>>
>>>> Overpower = subdue = overwhelm = To affect so strongly as to make
>>>> helpless
>>>> or ineffective.
>>>>
>>>> You can be 'overpowered' and be simultaneously 'left unharmed'.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Kshmendra
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --- On Wed, 2/17/10, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Terrorists attack police post (Police Picket
>>>> was
>>>> for protection of minority Kashmiri Pandits)
>>>> To: "Aditya Raj Kaul" <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
>>>> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>>>> Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 4:43 PM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The report in the beginning says:
>>>>
>>>> "A group of heavily armed militants stormed the police post at Midoora
>>>> in Tral belt, 40 km from here, last night and overpowered the
>>>> policemen, official sources said today.
>>>>
>>>> Overpower: o·ver·pow·er (vr-pour)
>>>> tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers
>>>> 1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue.
>>>> 2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm.
>>>> 3. To supply with excessive mechanical power.
>>>>
>>>> And then we have:
>>>>
>>>> "Two policemen present at the time of the attack were left unharmed,
>>>> they said. Three other policemen posted at the picket had reportedly
>>>> gone home unauthorisedly."
>>>>
>>>> unharmed [ʌnˈhɑːmd] adj not having sustained physical, moral, or mental
>>>> injury
>>>>
>>>> It is not my intention to doubt PTI's take. Sometimes stringers not
>>>> well versed with the language makes these mistakes. But here the
>>>> reporter is showing absolutely two different scenarios. Which one to
>>>> believe?
>>>>
>>>> -Thanks
>>>> Anupam
>>>>
>>>> On 2/17/10, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Militants attack police post in Kashmir, loot weapons*PTI
>>>>> Wednesday, February 17, 2010 16:00 IST*
>>>>>
>>>>> *Srinagar: *Militants stormed a police post set up for protection of a
>>>>> minority community and looted five rifles in Pulwama district of south
>>>>> Kashmi
>>>>>
>>>>> A group of heavily armed militants stormed the police post at Midoora
>>>>> in
>>>>> Tral belt, 40 km from here, last night and overpowered the policemen,
>>>>> official sources said today.
>>>>>
>>>>> They said the ultras ran away with five rifles - three Insas and two
>>>>> SLRs
>>>>> --
>>>>> along with some ammunition.
>>>>>
>>>>> Two policemen present at the time of the attack were left unharmed,
>>>>> they
>>>>> said. Three other policemen posted at the picket had reportedly gone
>>>>> home
>>>>> unauthorisedly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Soon after the incident, senior police officers rushed to the scene and
>>>>> a
>>>>> massive hunt was launched to nab the militants and recover the looted
>>>>> weapons, the sources said.
>>>>>
>>>>> "All five policemen have been placed under suspension and a
>>>>> departmental
>>>>> inquiry ordered," the sources said.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is the first such incident in the last several years in the
>>>>> valley.
>>>>>
>>>>> The police picket in Midoora was established over a decade ago for
>>>>> protection of Kashmiri Pandits living in the village, the sources said.
>>>>> _________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>
>
>
>