[Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of plain speech ?

Mon Mar 8 15:10:55 IST 2010

Dear all,
who are we decieving with this sort of intellectual repartees.? Arundhathi
Roy, supposed to be "intellectual" with one novel, and a booker reward,
later went in to essays and further proved to society, her mindset, that of
a deviant, who has no qualms about violent means to achive the ends that
some dream of derailing democratic rule of laws, not that the rule of laws
are working without any faults.
No doubt the rule of laws is not perfect, has defects in governance, but to
blame the rule of laws instead of corrections in each of us to follow the
rule of laws, by awareness, importance of rule of laws is the need of the
society. That the this Arundhathi Roy was irritated, uncomfortable when the
media sought answrs for the atrocities by the naxal cadres was obivious if
the viewers had seen the programme, when Roy replied," who are you to
question me, why should I answer you,"  and left the chair from the
conference and press meet.
Worst, none of the panellists had answers in the conference of meet the
press about the violence of naxal cadres, but some sought to deflect with
"state sponsored" terror.
Basic issue is is the law keepers of the state have to use the force to meet
the force or remain "non-vilent" against the looters, extortions and
raposts, if they happen to be naxals.?
Do we have different rules to different citizens who indulge in deviant
behaviour, or is it that sikh riots have a different take, gujarath riots
have a different take and violence of naxals have to be tackled
differently.?

As far as a common citizen, me is concerned, who ever does not follow the
rules of society in the guise of bringing in the the rule
of their leaders, by violent methods, they are not doing favour to society,
they are subverting democratic rights of freedom.
Walking and talking nations who go by labels of being intellectuals have the
credo of being secular, secular for them seems to mean be littling any other
faith than the organised faiths, as these oganised faiths have a day to
pray, then after the prayer can take to violence to "teach" the
"intellectuals" to keep away from their faiths.!

Regards,
On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 5:11 AM, Rahul Asthana <rahul_capri at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Shuddha,
> The economic contract that you have hypothesized is incorrect.By your logic
> the government is not accountable to anyone who does not pay taxes.
> In fact, the contract is drawn and the power is vested in the government
> with respect to a group of people deciding collectively how they want to
> live in a state of law.The taxes are only a small part of the contract.
> The Maoists are also accountable to that contract, so is the state.
>
> Again, the application of the same money principle with respect to the
> Maoists is incorrect as well. Any movement requires both ideas and
> material.Anyone who provides ideological support to the Maoists is
> responsible for them in the same way as someone who provides material
> support.
> Thanks
> Rahul
> --- On Sat, 3/6/10, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>
> > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
> > Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of
> plain speech ?
> > To: "S. Jabbar" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> > Cc: "reader-list list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010, 12:17 PM
>  > Dear All,
> >
> > Thank you Sonia, for pointing out the obvious facts, which
> > Aditya Raj
> > Kaul seems to have missed out on. Yes, the video on the
> > Times Now
> > website, forwarded by Aditay Raj Kaul in the post titled
> > 'Arundhati
> > Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence!' is totally
> > misleading,
> > partly because, as you pointed out, there was no Arundhati
> > Roy in the
> > video.
> >
> > Morover, neither Sumit Chakravarti, nor Dileep Simeon have
> > ever said
> > that they are sympathisers of the Maoists. In fact each one
> > of them
> > has at some time or the other made statements critical of
> > the
> > Maoists. What they have of course also done is that
> > they have refused to let their criticism of the Maoists get
> > in the
> > way of the fundamental critique they make of the Indian
> > state and its
> > clients in the course of the so called 'Operation Green
> > Hunt'
> >
> > The Indian state is engaged in a deeply violent armed
> > campaign in
> > support of the MOUs delivered to corporate interests in
> > central
> > India. If one the one hand we have Maoists, then, on the
> > other, we
> > have MOUists.
> >
> > The MOUist campaign works through terror and intimidation,
> > and is
> > fuelled by naked greed. In the presence of such brute
> > force, it is
> > not at all unnatural that those who are subject to that
> > force may
> > often find themselves allied with others who are
> > antagonists of that
> > force. This simple fact demonstrates the presence of the
> > Maoists in
> > the so called 'red corridor'. If the state was serious
> > about
> > undercutting the Maoists, all that it would have to do is
> > to stop
> > acting as the protection mafia for mining and corporate
> > interests in
> > Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and the entire region, and
> > the Maoists
> > would be rendered as irrelevant as they were before a crop
> > of MOUs
> > were signed. Instead, they have burnt villages, acted as
> > accessories
> > to disappearance, rape and murder.
> >
> > There is a fundamental distinction that needs to be kept in
> > mind.
> >
> > I pay taxes, many of us pay taxes, which fund the state,
> > which, when
> > it engages in the abuse of human rights and disregards its
> > own laws,
> > is basically abusing my money, your money, to set itself up
> > as a
> > criminal operation. I neither pay the Maoists any taxes,
> > nor endorse
> > or support them. They are not accountable to me, nor am I
> > accountable
> > to them. But the Indian state is accountable to me, and to
> > all of us,
> > because, basically, we pay for it.
> >
> > Similarly, the money we spend on commodities is used to
> > fund the
> > advertising that pays for television channels like Times
> > Now. In that
> > sense, both the state, and the corporate media are
> > accountable to all
> > of us for everything that they do. I do not believe that my
> > tax
> > paying money being used to set up a protection racket and a
> > pr
> > exercise for extractive industries and to eject people from
> > their
> > forests is the right thing, and therefore, I will always be
> > combative
> > when the impunity and irresponsibility of the state and the
> > corporate
> > media is exposed. I have a right to criticise the state,
> > and the
> > media, on this account.
> >
> > The same cannot be said insofar as the criticism of the
> > Maoists is
> > concerned. I am critical of the Maoists and their politics,
> > and their
> > methods, because of my political convictions. And being a
> > critic of
> > the state does not automatically turn one into a
> > 'sympathiser' of the
> > Maoists, as Arnab Goswami would have us believe. We should
> > all refuse
> > to be made subject to such false choices. Arnab,
> > repeatedly, tries to
> > insinuate that some of the intellectuals who have appeared
> > on his
> > programme refuse to let themselves be called 'symapthizers'
> > because
> > they have something to hide. In his book, one is either
> > with the
> > state on Green Hunt, or else, one automatically becomes a
> > 'Maoist
> > Sympathizer'. He either does not have the intelligence to
> > realize
> > that one can be critical, in different ways, to different
> > ends, of
> > the state and the Maoists, and that all resistance to the
> > state is
> > not necessarily coming from the Maoists alone.
> >
> > In fact, twice, I have seen him refer to a 'letter'
> > critical of the
> > Maoists, signed by several intellectuals on the left,
> > without
> > bothering to mention, even though it was pointed out to him
> > on his
> > own programme by Saroj Giri, just the other day, that it
> > was in fact
> > equally critical of the state's actions. Times Now is
> > proving to be
> > so slippory that it should perhaps be called Slimes Now.
> >
> > Nobody who is not a Maoist can be held responsible for what
> > the
> > Maoists do, simply because our resources are not being used
> > by them.
> > However, we are all implicated in the state's abuses,
> > because they
> > are a) done in our name, and b) done with our money.
> >
> > How dare then, Arnab Goswami act as a front man for the
> > mafia (the
> > faction that controls the Indian state) that abuses our
> > trust and our
> > money to wreck havoc in parts of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand,
> > West Bengal,
> > Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar.
> >
> > I think  its time we asked the question as to what
> > makes Arnab
> > Goswami, and others of his ilk, such open MOUists and
> > 'sympathisers
> > of state terror'.
> >
> > Incidentally, the right urls for this travesty of
> > television are -
> >
> > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/
> >
> > videoshow/4339945.cms
> >
> > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-2/
> >
> > videoshow/4339952.cms
> >
> > And no, I did not see Arundhati Roy in this show, nor was
> > she quoted
> > with any precision in terms of what she, or anyone else for
> > that
> > matter is supposed to have said at the Press Conference.
> > Is  Aditya
> > Raj Kaul in need of help, in that he sees Ms. Roy in a
> > television
> > programme, even when she is not in the television
> > programme.
> >
> > And by the way, Arnab Goswami never looks uncomfortable.
> > Maybe
> > because he is way too comfortable for his own good.
> >
> > best
> >
> > Shuddha
> >
> > On 06-Mar-10, at 11:14 AM, S. Jabbar wrote:
> >
> > > I watched the video and it's totally misleading.
> > >
> > > Not one panelist called himself a Maoist sympathizer
> > and Dilip
> > > Simeon even
> > > points out to the misleading headline over all 3
> > panelists-- even
> > > Praveen
> > > Swami of all people!!
> > >
> > > All 3 panelists condemned Maoist violence.  Sumit
> > Chakravarty makes a
> > > distinction between tribals taking up arms and the
> > Maoists, but
> > > even he
> > > unequivocally condemns beheadings and summary
> > executions.
> > >
> > > Arundhati Roy was absent in both videos.  Arnab
> > Goswami makes a
> > > reference to
> > > her discomfort in a press conference which we never
> > see...
> > >
> > > Where was the embarrassment and where were the Maoist
> > sympathizers?
> > > What a total waste of time and so typical of the
> > hysteria that
> > > Times Now
> > > tries to pass off as responsible journalism.
> > >
> > >
> > >> From: "A.K. Malik" <akmalik45 at yahoo.com>
> > >> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST)
> > >> To: Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
> > >> Cc: <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy
> > 'uncomfortable' to
> > >> condemn violence!
> > >>
> > >> Dear Mr Kaul,
> > >
> > In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ
> > >> large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once
> > taken sides,
> > >> they seem to
> > >> be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people
> > need more
> > >> condemnation than
> > >> the ordinary mortals.
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > (A.K.MALIK)
> > >
> > >
> > > --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj
> > >> Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >> From: Aditya Raj Kaul
> > >> <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
> > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy
> > >> 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence!
> > >> To: "sarai list"
> > >> <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > >> Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM
> > >> *Debate:
> > >> Sympathisers looking
> > >> uncomfortable*
> > >>
> > >> *Courtesy: Times Now*
> > >>
> > >> Last
> > >> evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who
> > went
> > >> to lodge a
> > >>
> > >> complaint against them. They even murdered a poor
> > factory
> > >> worker because
> > >> his
> > >> owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists
> > sympathizers
> > >> held a
> > >> press
> > >> conference in New Delhi against the government's
> > 'Operation
> > >>
> > >> Greenhunt', and
> > >> when confronted with direct questions on Maoist
> > terror,
> > >> the
> > >> defence was weak
> > >> to say the least. They give unconvincing replies
> > on
> > >> Maoist
> > >> violence.
> > >>
> > >> TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates
> > the
> > >> issue
> > >> of ideology of the
> > >> Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed
> > >> questions
> > >> with Dilip
> > >> Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen
> > Swami,
> > >>
> > >> Associate Editor, 'The
> > >> Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor,
> > 'Mainstream'.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Link -
> > >>
> > >> http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/
> >
> > >> videoshow/4
> > >> 339945.cms
> > >> _________________________________________
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> > >
> > >
> > >>
> > > _________________________________________
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> >
> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> > The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> > Raqs Media Collective
> > shuddha at sarai.net
> > www.sarai.net
> > www.raqsmediacollective.net
> >
> >
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-- 
Rajen.