[Reader-list] AREQUIM FOR THE NATION IN DARK TIMES: AN APPEAL TO THE LEFT, DEMOCRATIC, STUDENTS, DALIT AND WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS

[Asit Das]

* AREQUIM FOR THE NATION IN DARK TIMES: AN APPEAL TO THE LEFT, DEMOCRATIC,
STUDENTS, DALIT AND WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS*             WILL THERE WILL BE
SINGING IN DARK TIMES             YES, THERE WILL BE SINGING OF DARK
TIMES
BRECHT





Dear Friends and Comrades,

The Fascist Hindutva forces have struck badly at JNU this time after baying
for blood in FTII, Pune; Banning Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle in IIT
Madras; Institutionalising murdering Rohith Vedula in HCU, Hyderabad, in
their forcible saffronisation of Indian higher educational institutions.
For the past few days one is witnessing medieval witch hunt and naked white
terror to advance the Hindu nationalist agenda of fascist Sangh Parivar.
The corporate media has been spewing venom against JNU painting it is as a
den of anti-national activities. In the name of imposing the Hindutva style
of nationalism on JNU, there is a conspiterial witch hunt is going on to
arrest students who belong to different ideological persuasions. It is not
only the students of JNU and University of Hyderabad were protesting
against the hanging of Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon, but a wide range of
left, democratic and civil society groups are campaigning against death
penalty. The students of JNU and Hyderabad were just reflecting this
general democratic demand. The students of JNU have every right to
challenge and interrogate the concept of the Nation. Forcibly imposed by
the Hindu right. The JNUSU president who is in record saying he didn’t
criticise Indian nationalism and upholds the Indian constitution. Even
after this he was arrested and sent to police remand for three days. There
has been raids of male police on girls’ hostel to arrest. It should be
noted that sedition law was enacted by the colonial authorities against the
leaders of anti-colonial struggle leaders. It was used against Bhagat
Singh. The post-colonial Indian ruling classes have ruthlessly used the
same colonial sedition law to clamp down on dissenting views and social
movements who challenged the contemporary capitalistic development
trajectory. The sedition charges against Dr. Binayak Sen, Kudankulam
anti-nuclear plant activists. Any university is a space for free debate and
a healthy debate between the contending ideologies using sedition  to clamp
down dissenting voice in JNU is naked state terror on the students who
refused to endorse the Hindutva brand of Nationalism, the corporate media
who was instrumental in building up a larger than life image of Narendra
Modi in previous Lok Sabha election, now has gone into its most loyal
display of servitude to the Sangh Parivar endorsing very jingoistic brand
of macho-HIndutva nationalism on the student community who have the basic
democratic right  to interrogate the nationalism of ABVP if nation consists
of Adivasis, Dalits, Women, religious minorities the Sangh Parivar has been
in forefront in committing atrocities on these communities so they have a
right to interrogate the Sangh Parivar’s version of Fascist cultural
nationalism where they forcibly dictates who will eat what. The Dadri
lynching has raised the question of intolerance towards the cultural
diversities which showed the tolerance limits of democratic pretensions and
the will of tolerance of the saffron forces. Of course, every civilisation
has certain limit to tolerance. Any civilised democratic society should not
tolerate sexism, racism and casteism. It is here the lumpen brigade of the
fascist Sangh Parivar has crossed the limits of civilised behaviour allowed
by a state which calls itself largest democracy.

In the contending discourses of nationalism one can clearly see a pattern
how the Indian state led by a fascist Hindu party and a PM whose palms are
dripping with the blood of thousands of Muslims murdered in Gujrat. He is
using state power to forcibly impose the Hindutwa version of nationalism
all over India. A C grade  actor, Gajendra Chauhan was imposed on FTII,
Pune students and Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle in IIT Madras. But there is
interesting parallel between what happened in HCU and JNU in branding
people as anti-national. Ambedkar Student Association of HCU was branded
anti-national  for screening Muzzafar Nagar baaki hai and protesting death
penalty given to Yakub Menon. BJP MP from Secunderabad and union minister
Bandaru Dattatreya wrote to MHRD minister Smriti Irani to take action
against ASA students branding them anti-national. A witch hunts of Dalit
student was pursued by HCU under the direction of MHRD, which resulted in
the institutional murder of Dalit student Rohith Vemula. Similar pattern
was adopted by the fascist saffron forces to brand JNU students as
anti-national. Following the controversy of a cultural programme organised
against the death penalty of Afzal Guru. Mahesh Giri, the BJP MP registered
an FIR against JNU students branding them anti-national and demanding
strict action against voices who don’t conform to Hindutva brand of
nationalism. Delhi Police went overboard to appease its political masters
unleashed a rain of terror in JNU campus in the name of a very arbitrary
notion of the one dimensional HIndutva  definition of nation. This
controversy has led to a serious rethink about the very notion of very
nation. Nation is just not a map in the atlas ruled by a political
executive representing the interests of a minority prpertied elite. If the
nation means the majority of subaltern masses which includes workers ,
peasants, women, dalits, adivasis, sexual minorities, religious minorities,
different ethnic and oppressed minorities then this arbitrary homogeneous
notion of Hindu nationalism obliterates the really existing broad masses
who are excluded in BJP’s scheme of nation.

If nation means we the people then it means the vast majority of india’s
working people, who are mostly Dalits, OBC’s, Muslims and Woman. The Sangh
parivar makes a mockery of nationalism where it’s version of feminized
nationalism in the image of the exalted Bharat Mata has no place for it’s
own children. The students of JNU have every right to critique this version
of neo-colonial dubious nationalism, where the BJP lead ruling dispension
is selling this country into bits and pieces. The hindutva mascot Narendra
Modi goes around the world inviting imperial capital to come and capture
the natural resources of the country at throw away prices. When the
peasants and adivasis protest against these pro-imperialist policies, the
Indian state comes down heavily on them and unleashes the most brutal kind
of state repression on people who are  struggling to save their land, water
and forest. The JNU students were protesting this kind of spurious
nationalism where the BJP goes all out to sell this country’s livelihood
and natural resources. The Indian state has unleashed a barbaric war of
elimination on adivasis in the name of operatin green hunt because they
were resisting to give away their land for the loot of national and
international big business. Thousands of innocent muslim youth are behind
bars in the name of equally fake war on terror design by the imperialist
forces. The sexual violence against woman and atrocities on dalits are the
order of the day. Jails are packed with political prisoners. This is a
classic case of the nation devouring it’s own children. The students of JNU
were protesting against this type of convoluted nationalism. If one
differentiate between nationalism and patriotism, if being a patriot means
fighting for the true interest of the country, then the students are the
exemplary patriots, who have relentlessly fought against selling away the
country in the name of globalization. If the nation means the people of the
country, then students of JNU have always stead fastly stood for the
interests of workers, peasants, woman, dalits, adivaasis, religious
minorities, oppressed nationalities and sexual minorities, who form the
core of the nation.

The police raids in hostels remind one of the midnight knocks of Nazi era
in Germany. Old JNU students say this is similar to the raids during the
dark days of emergency. The Indian state has imposed an undeclared
emergency in JNU.  Today the white terror in JNU resembles a frightening
Panopticon. What we are witnessing in JNU is not the normal face of a
democratic state, but state of exception. Where the so called democratic
state has declared a war on it’s own people.Fake
encounters,torture,custodial deaths and thousands of Adivasis,muslim youths
and political prisoners are languishing in jail,this is not an exception
but normal state of affairs in the nation,is it not a pointer where the
nation is in an unjust war on its own people?

In their opinion on women the feudal brahmanical patriarchal rank and file
activists of the Hindutva Brigade passed absolutely crosses the limits of
tolerance in any civilised society. Here vociferous demand has to be made
to punish the culprits who passed obscene sexist remarks on women. Jawahar
Yadav, a sexist stormtrooper, who is also the OSD to Haryana CM recently
passed a ugly vulgar remark comparing JNU women students with prostitutes.
Here they have crossed all limits of tolerance. This is absolutely obscene
sexist misogynist and outrageous. Using terms like prostitute degrades the
entire women on the planet anyone who utters these terms should be
punished.  The statement of Jawahar Yadav is an indignified, sexist
attitude on sex-workers who are struggling for dignified life and
decriminalization this statement demeans and degrades their struggle, so it
should be condemned by all democratic forces.

The children of Bharat Mata, who constitute the nation were shocked and
shamed by the hooliganism of the Sanghi goondas dressed as lawyers in the
Patiala house courts on 15th February, Monday, when they ruthlessly
assaulted the students, teachers of JNU, who had gone to meet Kanhaiya
Kumar, the president of JNUSU, who was supposed to be produced on the same
day. The saffron vandals made a mockery of the sanctified Bharat Mata, when
they inappropriately manhandled the woman teachers of JNU. Many woman
journalists were punched and shoved around.

Jawahar Yadav withdraw his remarks after an outpour of rage in the social
media, but this does not absolve him of his crime. Jawahar Yadav’s
statement on woman students of JNU and sex-workers, the inappropriate
manhandling of woman teachers in the Patiala house court is not only
obscene, outrageous and sexist, but absolutely unacceplable in a civilized
democratic society. The left, democratic and woman’s movement should take
cognizance of this unpardonable crime against woman and should demand
stringent punishment of the culprits. Finally, as an ex-student of JNU I am
proud of the students of JNU, who have challenged the hegemonic hindutva
notion of dubious, macho,jingoistic, slapstick nationalism and stood up for
the real constituents of the nation, woman, dalits, religious minorities,
workers and peasants.


-Asit


Ex-student of JNU