[Reader-list] anti corruption movement in india a different view

[anupam chakravartty]

hello,

there could be other ways to express disgust for propaganda too. having
political affiliations is great. some people are not capable of being
political enough to express their thoughts, while others take refuge of
propaganda. and then there are some who want to read politics beyond
propaganda.

i found the piece to be very interesting. may not be of academic interest,
but close to the title of the post: anti corruption movement with a
different view.

cheers
Anupam

"Collective nouns can be lovely, can be wicked. They can animate, they can
annihilate. They are works of art. ‘A pride of lions’ is perhaps the most
famous of collective nouns. No word other than ‘pride’ can capture the
majesty of that being as it sleeps, wakes, wanders with grand unconcern in
the
sureties of his kingdom. The story is told of when Gautama Buddha once
passed through his home town of Kapilavastu with his disciples. His young
son Rahula watched the ochre-robed band from his palace’s balcony. He asked
his mother Yasodhara: “Which of them is my father?” Yasodhara replied: “He
who walks like a lion.”

My absolute favourite among collective nouns, however, is ‘a murder of
crows’. The sudden descent of boot-polish wings, the angled glancings of
beady eyes, homicidal beaks and thorny toes  on an unsuspecting squirrel or
a nestling cannot be better described than as a ‘a murder of crows’. Writing
of the cheeky and wary Jungle Crows, which  inflict casualties among the
eggs and young of many birds, Salim Ali says: “These crows need to be
closely investigated!”

Some collective nouns have an unbelievable loveliness to them. What can
match for visual allure ‘an autumn of leaves’ or ‘a bend of willows’? Other
collective nouns move from beauty to wit, like ‘a convocation of eagles’, ‘a
shrewdness of apes’, ‘an aurora of polar bears’, ‘a quiver of cobras’.

There is another devastatingly apt collective noun: ‘a barren of mules’. It
reminds me of Krishna Menon speaking to students at St Stephen’s College
gathered for an after-dinner meeting. Typically ‘zeeing’ his ‘esses’, Menon
directed this comment at a leading political idea of his time: “You zee,
thiz idea iz like the proverbial mule, with neither pride of anzeztry, nor
hope of progeny.”

Collective nouns of more recent coinage describe human beings and their
preoccupations as well. As one who has had to attend a tedium of committees,
I find ‘an agenda of tasks’ altogether delightful. And I could give these
(the nouns, needless to say) a hug: ‘a pomposity of professors’, ‘a greed of
lawyers’, ‘a scoop of journalists’.

Other collective nouns, in vogue for some time, could be refreshed. ‘A clan
of hyenas’, is too dull and would have been better off as ‘a drool of
hyenas’. Likewise, ‘a colony of wasps’ is far too prosaic and, in any case,
architecturally dated. Perhaps ‘an atrium of wasps’ would work better. ‘A
flight of butterflies’ is too pat and could be felt on your fingers as ‘a
tremble of butterflies’. Similarly, ‘an intrusion of cockroaches’ is too
academic and could open a drawerful of revulsion as ‘a scurry of
cockroaches’. And ‘a colony of vultures’ is too slummy. Far better, ‘a stoop
of vultures’.

One collective noun which is about no living thing, but a living moment
rings true: ‘a blush of embarrassments’. Another one, again, living,
throbbing, pulsating, though non-living, is ‘a  tick-tock of clocks’.

We can hear a ‘tick-tock’ of time running out.

What are the clocks that are going tick-tock with such ferocious rapidity?
Let me answer that through a set of collective nouns generated by thoughts
drawn from recent days.

Jantar Mantar, April 2011: a cap of patriots, a sword of  bravehearts, a
banner of supporters, a matter of drafts, a fallacy of propositions, a
danger of precedents, a question of principles, a gulp of anxieties, a
gargle of  inanities, a nod of yes-men, a prod of volunteers, a frown of
activists, a furrow of academics, a chatter of reporters, a  flash of
photographers, a gawk of onlookers, a slice of pick-pockets, a slurp of
vendors, a shimmer of sages, a blunder of mediators, a curse of cynics, a
seizure of opportunists, a sigh of well-wishers, a chant of faithfuls, an
obeisance of hopefuls, a stumble of blocks, a clearing of  paths, a hail of
triumphalists.

Lal Qila, August 15, 2011: a flutter of arrivals, a fort of  conventions, a
shiver of doves, a stripe of children, a  banister of elders,  a gradient of
uniforms,  a ramp of diplomats, a rampart of officials, a smile of
front-rowers, a  sneer of  back-rowers, a clap of dutifuls, a drizzle of
expectations, a hood of ministers, a yawn of spouses, a snooze of
old-timers, a silence of the thoughtful, a prayer of the fearful, a promise
of the hopeful, a lanyard of statesmen, a shower of petals, an anthem of
citizens, a chorus of innocents, a sky of balloons, a cheer of supporters, a
sneer of reporters, a debris of leavings, a picking of beggars.

Ramlila Maidan, August 2011: an ocean of heads, a captain of storms, a ship
of hearts, a deck of guards, a stern of navigators, a flank of barnacles, a
keel of grudges, a mast of hopes, a wave of pledges, a foam of soaps, a ‘hey
you’ of allegations, a ‘you too’ of retaliations, a stream of callers, a
steth of doctors, an ambulance of fears, a solution of lawyers, a conflict
of statements, an area of agreements, a compass of path-finders.

Delhi, August 25, 2011: a finger of admonitions, a fist of retributions, a
bulletin of concerns, a weighing of options, a draft of adoptions, a round
of talks, a dotting of points, a joining of dots, a minute of dissenters, an
hour of assenters, an amendment of MPs, a ground of deflections, a chamber
of reflections, a bend of faces, a dart of distempers, a stumble of blocks,
a sprint of efforts, a glimmer of hopes.

Delhi, August 26, 2011: a swell of hopes, a pool of regrets, a high of lows,
a hum of sighs, a swing of moods, a flight of doves, a dive of hawks, a
suspicion of twists, a twist of suspicions, a coil of doubts, a loss of
gains, a gain of losses.

Delhi, August 27, 2011: we are a collectivity of nouns in ourselves. We
think, speak, behave in ways that reflect all of nature’s beings, not
necessarily at their most elevated. A pride of lions sauntering across India
would marvel at the bio-diversity of our conduct. And sighing, move warily
forward.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a former administrator, diplomat and governor
The views expressed by the author are personal.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/A-fusion-of-emotions/H1-Article1-738246.aspx

On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 7:47 PM, Rajkamal Goswami
<rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com>wrote:

> I think its very relevant because depending on the composition of the
> group members' political affiliation, ideologies and biases, a
> critique's acceptance would be determined. For eg. no matter how
> logical or factual my critique is, it would not be welcomed by the
> members due to an inherent bias since it goes against the core
> ethics/thoughts/ideas of their ideologues .
>
> Rajkamal
>
> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 7:19 PM, Tara Prakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > I think this question is both priceless and worthless. I see no relevance
> > for this question as it adds nothing to the ongoing debate, or lack
> thereof.
> > Now what should be the criteria to know who is left and who is right?
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rajkamal Goswami"
> > <rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com>
> > To: "asit das" <asit1917 at gmail.com>
> > Cc: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 2:56 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] anti corruption movement in india a different
> > view
> >
> >
> >> It is highly disappointing to read this piece of trashy propaganda
> >> literature in Sarai. Before I begin my comprehensive critique of this
> >> propaganda, I just wish to ask the folks who are subscribed to the
> >> list: Is this list dominated by persons holding left-extreme left
> >> ideology?
> >>
> >> regards
> >> Rajkamal
> >>
> >> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 12:16 PM, asit das <asit1917 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Manufacturing Dissent, Making Mahatmas: Manu, Market, Media
> >>> And The Anti-Corruption Sham
> >>>
> >>> *By Democratic Students' Union (DSU) *
> >>>
> >>> *All historical struggles, whether they occur in the political,
> >>> religious,
> >>> philosophical or some other ideological domain, *
> >>> *are in fact only the more or less clear expression of the struggles of
> >>> social classes – Engels *
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> *When two events occur in the same space and time, more often than not,
> >>> there is a correlation between the two. *On the one hand the Indian
> Army,
> >>> paramilitary and police forces — acting so plainly and clearly on
> behalf
> >>> of
> >>> the Indian ruling classes and multinational corporations—which continue
> >>> to
> >>> mount a war on the people of central and eastern India in order to
> >>> facilitate a naked appropriation of the region's resources is given
> >>> marching
> >>> orders to fight the most dispossessed yet resilient masses. Then there
> >>> are
> >>> 80% of the country's population forced to eke out a living on a mere
> >>> Rs.20
> >>> per day and over half of the children suffer from the permanent
> >>> malnourishment because of the genocidal famine conditions their
> families
> >>> have been placed under; land acquisition of a mammoth scale affects
> >>> millions
> >>> of people whose sole means of livelihood is being alienated from them;
> >>> thousands of small peasants are forced to find ‘escape' from an endemic
> >>> agrarian crisis by committing suicide; over 2700 bodies of Kashmiris
> >>> murdered by the Indian army once again reveals a Kashmir under
> occupation
> >>> by
> >>> India and the crushing of its struggle for national liberation—to name
> >>> but a
> >>> few instances revealing the brutal and systemic exploitation,
> oppression
> >>> and
> >>> occupation. And people are waging resilient struggles in many parts of
> >>> the
> >>> country against the ruling classes. On the other hand a base,
> distasteful
> >>> drama is unfolding in front of us—the drama of an ‘anti-corruption
> >>> drive',
> >>> which is supposed to serve India a ‘second independence'. Needless to
> >>> say,
> >>> although this latter ‘struggle' seldom refers to the first set of
> >>> struggles,
> >>> events and phenomena, there is so simple a connection between the two
> >>> that
> >>> the silence over the relation between the two sets is nothing but
> >>> deliberate.
> >>>
> >>> *The ‘Second freedom struggle' is nothing but an attempt of the ruling
> >>> classes to consolidate themselves. *The Indian ruling classes today
> face
> >>> an
> >>> immense crisis, and are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain
> the
> >>> mask of ‘world's largest democracy'. Given the onslaught on the people
> >>> and
> >>> their livelihood—through the acquisition of resources such as land,
> >>> forests
> >>> and other means of livelihood; the steep price rise of basic
> commodities;
> >>> the privatisation of health, transport, water, electricity and
> education
> >>> —
> >>> the state faces the resistance of militant peoples' movements. And
> >>> everywhere, the state is responding to this discontent and resistance
> >>> with
> >>> brute force. In addition to this central crisis, the ruling classes
> were
> >>> reeling under the exposure of a series of scams such as 2G,
> Commonwealth
> >>> Games, Adarsh Housing, etc. involving unimaginable amounts of money. It
> >>> is
> >>> precisely these circumstances that have given rise to an
> ‘anti-corruption
> >>> drive' led by the so-called civil society and made it possible for the
> >>> corporate media to project a reactionary like Anna Hazare as a hero in
> >>> the
> >>> eyes of the urban middle classes. Sweeping under the carpet more urgent
> >>> structural issues affecting the vast majority of people and their very
> >>> survival, ‘Team Anna' has projected corruption as the central issue
> >>> plaguing
> >>> Indian society. The anti-corruption drive and the Jan Lokpal have been
> >>> likewise offered as the solution to all the problems. By seeking a
> >>> solution
> >>> within the existing system and by demanding a more coercive institution
> >>> within it to check ‘corruption', the Anna Hazare-led mobilisation has
> >>> appeared in the political scene as a much-needed respite to the
> >>> crisis-ridden ruling classes. This ‘second freedom struggle' led by
> ‘Team
> >>> Anna' is nothing but the mobilisation of a section of the ruling
> classes
> >>> aiming to rid themselves of the deep contradictions and the crises that
> >>> threaten them to sweep off their feet. Through a draconian bill
> >>> (government's Lokpal bill and the ‘Jan' Lokpal bill are the two sides
> of
> >>> the
> >>> same coin), the ruling classes are aiming for further centralisation of
> >>> authority. No legislation can provide an answer to the deep-seated
> >>> exploitative structures of the society and the social relations which
> are
> >>> the root cause of so-called corruption.
> >>>
> >>> *Corruption: A Mere Symptom of Structural Exploitation and Oppression.
> >>> *Through
> >>> its exclusive focus on corruption, 'Team Anna' in effect blinds us to
> the
> >>> system where wealth created by peasants and workers is appropriated by
> >>> the
> >>> ruling classes. No doubt, a bribe running into crores is mind-boggling.
> >>> Yet,
> >>> we are asked to ignore a simple fact—the amount of wealth appropriated
> by
> >>> the corporations in the first place, which enables them to provide
> bribes
> >>> of
> >>> such an amount. Corruption itself is not a new phenomenon in India; it
> >>> has
> >>> been endemic to the exploitative and oppressive semi-feudal
> semi-colonial
> >>> system which concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few. But
> >>> just
> >>> as imperialist globalization has heightened the exploitation of the
> >>> masses,
> >>> resulted in the intensified feudal appropriation of the rural labouring
> >>> people, massive corporate loot of resources, the selling of the
> country's
> >>> land and other natural resources at ridiculously low prices to
> corporate
> >>> houses already reaping benefits in the form of tax holidays, the scale
> >>> and
> >>> intensity of corruption has also increased in proportion. A disease
> >>> cannot
> >>> be cured by suppressing its symptoms; rather, the symptom subsides only
> >>> when
> >>> the disease is cured. Similarly, corruption will only disappear with
> the
> >>> revolutionary transformation of society.
> >>>
> >>> *A Special Drama, its Sponsorship and Mobilisation: *Corporate Funding
> >>> and
> >>> RSS Backing of the Anti-Corruption Drive. That the anti-corruption
> drive
> >>> is
> >>> a diversionary tactic of the ruling classes is clear not only from its
> >>> programme and its goals, but also from its funding. It was clear from
> its
> >>> very inception that this drama is funded by the corporations and
> business
> >>> houses –Ambanis, Tatas, Jindals to real-estate developers – that are
> >>> involved in the most massive of scams. It is now also public knowledge
> >>> that
> >>> among the list of sponsors funding the key figures of this drama are
> the
> >>> likes of Lehman Brothers and Ford Foundation. Hazare claims to have the
> >>> full
> >>> support of army and the police: the two most corrupt institutions of
> the
> >>> country. Moreover, the chief engineer of this Gandhian and so-called
> >>> non-violent mobilisation is the fascist RSS. The same fascist force
> that
> >>> killed thousands of Muslims in the Gujarat pogrom, massacred Christians
> >>> in
> >>> Kandhamal, and organised the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, Malegoan
> >>> and
> >>> Ajmer Sharif blasts is now mobilising for this ‘peaceful' second
> freedom
> >>> struggle. As usual, the rhetoric of nation and nationalism is deployed
> to
> >>> serve the interests of the ruling classes. The imagery, the slogans,
> the
> >>> objectives of the movement are all brazenly replete with right-wing
> >>> ideology
> >>> which are proudly casteist and communal. The lead actors of this drama
> >>> have
> >>> notorious histories of being anti-reservation and pro-sangh parivar.
> The
> >>> corporate media is therefore comfortable in exalting this movement with
> >>> its
> >>> ceaseless hyperbole. They have projected this movement as
> ‘unprecedented
> >>> mass movement'. Last time it was the anti-reservation reactionary
> >>> movement
> >>> which had caught its attention. When huge masses had hit the streets of
> >>> Kashmir demanding azadi, or in Lalgarh, Odisha, Chhatisgrah against
> >>> corporate loot, the media remained silent.
> >>>
> >>> *AISA/CPI(ML) Liberation: The cheerleaders of ‘Team Anna' *. As far as
> >>> AISA-Liberation is concerned, history is repeating itself, but this
> time
> >>> as
> >>> a farce. AISA was formed in the context of the anti-Mandal
> agitation—not
> >>> as
> >>> a progressive force in support of reservations, but using all the
> tricks
> >>> in
> >>> the book to oppose the Mandal recommendations through a sleight of
> hand.
> >>> Liberation's Vinod Mishra, who opened up the portal through which the
> >>> party
> >>> forever exited its role as a communist vanguard, and instead became a
> >>> trickster serving the ruling classes, went to extent of stating at the
> >>> juncture of AISA's unholy birth that ‘just as we do not approve of
> those
> >>> politicians who want to take revenge on the present-day progeny of
> Babar,
> >>> we
> >>> also reject those theoreticians who would punish the present-day
> >>> offsprings
> >>> of Manu for the crimes of their ancestors'. This is evidence not only
> of
> >>> the
> >>> party's characteristic double-speak, but is also blatantly right-wing —
> >>> in
> >>> short, Muslims are being called ‘Babar ke aulad'; reservations are seen
> >>> as
> >>> crimes against ‘upper'-castes; and the caste system itself is projected
> >>> as a
> >>> crime that occurred only in the past. Thus, while AISA in fact rode on
> >>> the
> >>> crest of the anti-Mandal mobilisation to consolidate itself in
> >>> campus-spaces
> >>> in pockets of north India, it is trying desperately to repeat its
> >>> ‘success'
> >>> formula — this time, by wedding itself to this RSS engineered and
> >>> corporate
> >>> funded anti-corruption drive of ‘Team Anna'. Indeed, they cry foul of
> the
> >>> ‘undemocratic' Annas for not allowing them enough space to participate!
> >>> Although in JNU they have maintained a crafty silence on Anna Hazare
> till
> >>> now, the degeneration of AISA became blatant when on 16th August, they
> >>> joined hands with ABVP in Delhi University's north campus in a
> >>> ‘spontaneous
> >>> protest' against Anna Hazare's detention, shouting together ‘patriotic'
> >>> slogans like ‘Vande Mataram' and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai'!. When they
> filled
> >>> the
> >>> walls of DU with anti-corruption slogans, these were all appropriated
> by
> >>> ABVP by a simple brushstroke — in each case, by simply replacing AISA's
> >>> insignia with its own. The justification put forward by Liberation/AISA
> >>> and
> >>> some ‘enlightened' intellectuals for joining the cacophony of ‘I am
> Anna'
> >>> is
> >>> to save it from RSS and to replace ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai' with ‘Inquilab
> >>> Zindabad'! Social-democrats of Germany also gave similar justifications
> >>> for
> >>> allying with the Nazis which ultimately helped the rise of Hitler and
> the
> >>> crushing of the German revolution. The convergence of the
> >>> communal-fascists
> >>> and the ‘Marxist-Leninists'/civil-society/NGOs therefore speak volumes
> >>> not
> >>> only of AISA /Liberation's political bankruptcy, but is also a wake-up
> >>> call
> >>> for the progressive, democratic and revolutionary forces to prepare for
> a
> >>> new phase of battle.
> >>>
> >>> *Hazare is a convenient blindfold for the middle classes. *Many of the
> >>> people who are out on the streets now, genuinely want an end to the
> >>> brazen
> >>> corruption and the scams. But Hazare and his team have been entrusted
> not
> >>> to
> >>> raise the real questions but to shroud the real struggles. The end to
> >>> corruption can only take place when the current economic policies are
> >>> repealed, when the MoUs signed with various corporate giants are
> >>> scrapped.
> >>> And the Indian state, a loyal lapdog of imperialism will never change
> its
> >>> policies on its own. To end corruption, the corrupt system needs to be
> >>> overhauled. And that is what the revolutionary armed movement which is
> >>> spreading like prairie fire across the country is fighting for. It is
> the
> >>> resilient struggle of the revolutionary masses and not the
> >>> corporate-funded,
> >>> RSS-backed and media-hyped theatrics that will resolve the burning
> >>> problems
> >>> afflicting the people of this country.
> >>>
> >>> *Democratic Students' Union* (DSU) is an independent students'
> >>> organisation
> >>> active in JNU and Delhi University in the state of Delhi. It is a
> >>> constituent of the All India Revolutionary Students' Federation
> (AIRSF),
> >>> and
> >>> works towards attaining the ideals of the New Democratic Revolution.
> >>> _________________________________________
> >>> 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/>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Rajkamal
> >> _________________________________________
> >> 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/>
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Rajkamal
> _________________________________________
> 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/>
>