SHIPWRECKED The ship-breaking industry of Alang, Gujarat, may be bringing in the moolah, but is endangering workers’ lives and the environment p2 saturday, march 5, 2016
reuters/anindito mukherjee
The campus displacements Institutions of higher learning across the country are witnessing a relay of protests as students assert their voice, express dissent and fight discrimination p6-13
US VERSUS THEM As the primaries gather steam, belligerent viewpoints begin to define US politics p4
WALK ON WATER Chadar, the frozen river in Zanskar Valley, is disappearing due to tourist influx p20
play know
BL BL 222
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Passage to India Horizon Trader, seen here being towed out of Brownsville (Texas), arrived in Alang after sailing unchallenged through the waters of five countries that are party to the Basel Convention basel action network Back and forth Ashish Nehra celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez at the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dhaka afp
A toxic ship comes ashore Horses for courses Alang in Gujarat may be world famous for its ship-breaking prowess, but vessels built with The return material of four veterans to India’sworkers’ T20 squad confirms fear that there isn’t enough hazardous are endangering lives and thethe environment fresh talent for the youngest form of cricket vijay lokapally
O F
ND-X _ A
n January 8, an end-of-life ship or four yearsoff hethe backed beached coasthis of instincts. Alang, in He Bhavnagar played by instinct andGujarat. became MV an district, integral part ofvessel) the Indian attackTrader for a (merchant Horizon before from losingthehis for reached decade Indian waters US,place through non-cricketing reasons. Having emerged the Africa. Like innumerable other ships that have team’s best bowler World Cup semibeen ripped apart at atthe this2011 ship-breaking yard, final against at Mohali, consisHorizon TraderPakistan too is meant to be the quietly distently Ashish Nehrawith wasno shown posedgood of, sold for scrap, tracethe leftdoor save after injury to miss the final, which for some oilforced stainshim on the beach. India won. He was lost to international cricket. Commissioned in 1972 as a cargo container Now is however, back where he deserves topolychlorbe — part ship,he it is, likely to contain of the Indian team for the T20,organic begininated biphenyls (PCBs) — a World persistent ning March 16. accumulates in soil, water and pollutant that Thewebs, otherin comeback has caught atfood additionthat to asbestos andthe other tention of the cricket fraternity is of Parthiv hazardous material. Patel, the wicketkeeper-batsman from GujaInternational Labour Organisation’s (ILO) rat. Heguidelines returns tofor theship-breaking Indian squadoutline 13 yearsthe af2003 ter a Test debut against England at hazards in detail: “Although many of the hazNottingham. He was youngest ever Test ardous materials usedthe to build a ship — asbewicketkeeper then. At 30, he is now a veteran stos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic who compete in the (TBT), shortest ofmetthe paintwill such as tributyltin andform heavy game. Themostly 2016 Asia Cup T20, which ends to-a als — are restricted or banned today, morrow, also marks theago return Yuvraj Singh ship built 20-30 years stillof contains these and Harbhajan Singh. materials. It also carries hazardous and flamFor Nehra (36),used Yuvraj Patel and Harbmable chemicals for(34), painting, repair and hajan (both 35),etc. thisCables is nothing of giving maintenance and short electrical and their cricketing life contain a new hazardous lease on mathe other control systems strength their self-belief.gases In staging a cometerial andofemit hazardous if burned. The back, surpass theair, deeds of the depaint one coathas canto contaminate soil and water but season andorrelive conditions that hazardpropel when torched scraped, and is thus your selection. to and make the team than reous for human“Easy beings the environment.” tain was Sunil Gavaskar’s advice to Soyour why slot,” is a pollutant-laden ship, one that acdebutants. is a universally accepted that tivists haveItbeen tracking on its last fact journey, consistency has no For these four it coming to India to substitute. be broken up? became mantra for journey comeback. “Shipsthe make a long at a huge eco“Never thought of quitting,” told nomic cost. The reason they areNehra willing to us inon daycost he was forthe theoccupational, Asia Cup and curthe this is toselected save on
environment and health costs,” says Krishna Activists worry that countries such as the US World For Patel, was the culmination Gopal,T20. a member ofitToxics Watch Alliance,ofa back injury,with but many Yuvrajships and to Nehra and Japan, scrapcarry and imnot awatchdog good run.that “I just backed tracks wastemyself,” in India.he had re- mense for Harbhajan, only bound responsibility. by Basel, are As establishing a supply marked. was no different Yuvraj and an HorizonIt Trader arrived afterfor a four-month injury R Ashwin would give him a spot in chain for to disposal in third-world shipyards. Harbhajan, both through the grind of the playing eleven. It went in the players’ favoyage, towed all going the way by another ship, the Dumpyards in demand domestic in a throwback their vour SS Gauntlet,cricket and tracked globally by to activists. that Patil and colleagues did not follow younger days. “I knowvessel my cricket andfor my ca- in The decommissioned was sold shipAccording to non-governmental organisation the footsteps of their predecessors who laid pacity theby best,” was Harbhajan’s when breaking US shipping companyreply Matson Inc, emphasis Shipbreaking Platform, Indian shipyards hanon age. asked chances of a comeback. whichabout had, the in turn, bought it from All Star dled of the 1,026 ships are dismantled worldThe327 discerning, however, convinced that It is indeed ironic that in the youngest for- it Metals. Based out of Brownsville, Texas, All Star wide 2014; last this share fell 213 out wasinthe lack ofyear, talent among the to younger mat of the the robust T20where brand,itthe Metals has game, a recycling facility, re- crop of 791. Steel prices tumbled perselectors cent in 2015, that added pressure on40 the and field is the marked playerselectric who have spent moved ship’s by PCB-laden cables and the making it uneconomical to scrap espemanagement to pick horses forships, courses. close to 15 years cricket. Exself-certified thatin theinternational PCB levels were not hazcially thebuy tightly regulated developed “You in can’t experience,” is Harbhajan’s perts want us US to believe that youthProtection is the es- favourite ardous. The Environmental world. Alang andknow. Chittagong in Banline.inHeIndia should Sheer experisence of(EPA) T20 cricket andto coaches Agency chose not chal- around the ence has keptgladesh, alongside shipyards in him in the reckoning in a field world on fresh legs lenge emphasise the self-certification and Pakistan, and comes Turkeyfrom have where theChina challenge for these cleared thefierce exportcontests. to India. Not expanded their unreguAshwin, who is atlargely the peak of his many would bet on Patel and The original memorandum of Although many of the career. lated ship-breaking sectors to Skill is the dominating Nehra finding place in the Asia agreement fora the sale of Horimeet aof Harbhajan’s worldwide style, demand. feature not hazardous materials “You can’t buy Cup theisselectors altered zon but Trader with the Basel the Ac“With no investment, the governto forget the guiles that Nehra used to build a ship experience,” is trend. tion Network (BAN) and it mentto is exhis earning repertoire.foreign Hence the are mostly restricted adds Harbhajan’s “Yuvraj that is special,” National mandates the buyer should change and we are getting steel critics are not willing to accept or favourite banned today, line a Selection Committee responsibly recycle thechairman vessel in out ofselection it,” argues Rane, ofVidyadhar these veterans ship built 20-30 years that Sandeep the US. Patil reminded critics. g general Alang policy Sosiya was drivensecretary, by a refreshing ago still contains NoShips doubtthat about Equally havethat. reached the Ship to pick Recycling performers.and General these materials special is Harbhajan, with 700 end of their life are governed by Workers (the sole Where Association are the performers? plus international wickets. that be the case Even the selectors the Basel Convention, whichIfregtrade are union active aghast at in theAlang). appalling one wonders why they lost their positions in decline in quality ulates the disposal of hazardous Theplayers. falling The steelpaucity price has hit of talthe national team in the first Patel was ent, without debating waste. India is a signatory andplace? it the ship-breaking as a the abilityindustry of the senior pushed back because the selectors hadcounMa- players, cannot trade in hazardous waste with whole, and fewer than 50 yards are active in is glaring. More than anything, it hendra Singh as the choice with(inDi- drives tries that are Dhoni not party to first the convention Alang today, withthere moreisthan 100 in home compared the point that not much nesh Karthik, Robin andHorizon NamanTrader Ojha to cluding the US and Uthappa Japan). The 2014, according the Ship Recycling Industrirave about into terms of flair to excel in the as back-ups. sailed unchallenged through the waters of big es Association (SRIA). “Chinese imleague. ForIndia the likes of Nehra andsteel Yuvraj, What does the return of Trinidad these four forTobathe there five countries — Mauritius, and ports ishave cost usTheir dearly. We have at ships always hope. performance the Asia Cup imply? confirms theare fear thattoIndigo, Namibia andItIndia — that party the World coming toshould Alang, set butthe webenchmark. are unable to get Cup an cricket has not BAN found young Basel Convention. did notifyplayers each ofwith the good prices for the steel we recover,” says Jivalokapally is the Deputyof Editor (Sports), potential. True, Patel remains a standby for vijay countries where the ship docked, but in every rajbhai R Patel, president SRIA. As demand Hindu back home, Chinese steel is floodDhoni incalls casewent the Indian captain aggravates a The case the unheeded. plummets
Q Q R R
3
BL
know
saturday, march 5, 2016
ing world markets. At the ship-breaking units, explosions frequently lead to loss of life or limb, and workers battle a range of illnesses after coming in contact with toxic chemicals. In Alang, accidents during ship-breaking left eight workers dead in 2015, while the death toll was 18 in 2014, according to official figures. “We have been able to get compensation for loss of life, but not for injuries sustained,” says Rane. “For the first time, in 2012, we were able to offer pension to the families of four workers from Piparla village, near Alang, who had died in 2009. For migrant workers, on the other hand, it becomes difficult to trace them once they return home,” he says. A Supreme Court-appointed committee of technical experts found that the ship-breaking industry had a fatal accident rate six times higher than mining, considered to be the most accident-prone industry. The nearest hospital for Alang is at Bhavnagar, more than 50km away. All that this coastal town with a hazardous livelihood has is the Red Cross Hospital, which sees about 100 patients every day and can treat only minor injuries. Past studies have documented the plight of migrant workers in South Asian shipyards who work in rags, with the barest minimum of safety equipment, cutting massive hulks of steel and metal into pieces that can be carted away by hand. “We understand that change cannot come in a day, but there must be the will to change; we are pursuing the matter at every level,” says Rane. A worker’s training centre is under construction to spread awareness on safety and health issues. Gatekeepers to the graveyard In Alang, various government agencies are entrusted with the task of checking the end-oflife ships, and the Ship Breaking Code 2013 is
non-negotiable. “The Gujarat Pollution Con- Dutch Environment Minister wrote to her Introl Board, the Atomic Energy Regulatory dian counterpart, A Raja, asking him to deny Board and the Customs department have in- clearance for dismantling a Dutch fugitive spected Horizon Trader and found no toxic ma- ship, Riky. Raja refused, memorably telling the terial,” says Sudhir Chadha, port officer, Dutch minister that ‘a ship sailing on its own Gujarat Maritime Board. “Alang has changed a power is not waste’. lot and we follow the highest standards of In 2006, the SC-appointed monitoring comsafety here,” he adds. mittee denied entry to the French aircraft car“We inspected the ship and found that it rier Clemenceau, as the seller had failed to contained no loose hazardous waste, so as per remove the huge amounts of asbestos it conthe Ship Breaking Code we allowed the ship to tained. It was eventually scrapped in the UK. The SS Blue Lady in 2006, SS be beached,” says RR Vyas, rePlatinum II in 2010 and the Exgional officer, Gujarat Polluxon Valdez in 2014 were tion Control Board. “Any brought to India and dismanmaterial that forms part of the Studies have tled, going against the moniship’s structure is not normaldocumented the plight toring committee’s strictures. ly considered hazardous,” he of migrant workers in The Blue Lady got permission contends. South Asian shipyards to dock at Alang on humanitarBhavnagar is the site of at who work in rags, with ian grounds, following claims least three landfills that are pilthe barest minimum of that it could not be refloated. ing up with waste from the desafety equipment, veloped world. In a landmark cutting massive hulks of The SC order specifying that ships must be decontaminated, judgement on October 14, steel and metal into 2003, the Supreme Court held pieces that can be carted must present a full inventory away by hand and formally notify the importthat the “right to a healthy ening country prior to arrival was vironment has been defined as not followed. part of the Right to Life under The US-origin Platinum II, flyArticle 21 of the Constitution.” ing the flag of the Republic of The court issued notices to State governments, the Central Pollution Con- Kiribati, arrived in Indian waters in October trol Board and State pollution control boards 2009 with papers showing that it was owned and set up a high-powered committee to ex- by Platinum Investment Services of Monrovia, amine in depth all issues relating to hazard- Liberia. The ship’s registration was confirmed as a forgery by the Kiribati government. In Inous waste and make recommendations. dia, till date, no one has been held accountDubious callers able for allowing entry to this dubious ship. Reputed to be the world’s largest ship-breakReinvention pays ing yard, Alang has been a graveyard for hundreds of ships. In 2009, the world’s largest The Basel convention, in force since 1992, is a ship, the Seawise Giant, was notably scrapped strong framework that can help ensure that here. Over the years, Alang has made its fair India retains its ship-breaking business and, share of negative headlines too. In 2005, the at the same time, safeguards its workers. By ignoring this vital standard, India risks becoming a dumping ground of hazardous waste, seriously endangering the lives of its citizens. Meanwhile, the Central government in 2013 moved ship-breaking from the ambit of the Steel Ministry to that of the Shipping Ministry. It has also proposed changes to the Ship Breaking Code. In Mundhra, Gujarat, the Adani group is building a new ship-breaking/recycling facility adjacent to its port. The plans mention that the facility would use the airbag method, where ships are carried onshore using inflated airbags and then broken down. This method is safer and less damaging to the environment compared to the open beaching practised at Alang. The project site, however, is surrounded by sensitive ecological zones and wildlife sanctuaries. On the very day the Horizon Trader beached at Alang, the National Green Tribunal quashed the environmental clearance for the Adani port at Hazira and imposed a ₹25-crore penalty to restore the damaged environment. The tribunal’s western zone Bench held that the environmental clearance granted to the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2013 was “illegal and must be set aside.” Four shipyards in Alang have taken steps towards safer and greener ship-recycling practices, and they have received approvals from Japan’s classification society ClassNK. This trying time is an opportunity for Alang to reinvent itself as a safe shipyard and claim an edge over competitors. How it handles the twin challenges of falling steel prices and environmental impact will determine whether the Alang-Sosiya shipyard continues to be a world leader or fades away piece by piece like the ships that come to die here.
Q R
RIP, hulks A 2011 photo of the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard that earns foreign exchange and serves as a source for recycled steel afp/ sam panthaky
saurabh yadav
know takeaway
BL BL 204
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Walking onlurch thin ice Rightward STATES OF MATTER
Chadar, a frozen highway of sorts in Zanskar Valley, is melting under the burden of tourism The polarisation of US politics is becoming increasingly apparent, at a time when income disparities are at its historical worst
N
asir Ahmed and Sonam Wangyal have lived separate lives in Leh and Tungri village in Zanskar Valley, respectively. Their homes nestle in the imposing mountains of the Zanskar range, a natural barrier, which is impenetrable in the winter months. However, for centuries now, the Zanskar river has provided a passage for this duo, as it has for the 15,000odd residents of the Zanskar Valley. The only approach road to Padum — the administrative capital of Zanskar — is via the Pensi La, about 250 km from Kargil. Every winter, this pass gets snowed out around November, isolating Zanskar from the rest of Jammu & Kashmir for the next five months. It’s also the time the Zanskar river freezes, creating a frozen highway of sorts called the Chadar, which leads from the heart of the valley to the confluence with the Indus at Nimoo, 30-odd km from Leh. Since the time of the kings who ruled over Zanskar centuries ago, this route has been the only way in and out for the locals, as well as outsiders who wished to visit the valley. It is a cultural migration of
sorts and is typical to this region. which was necessary to survive the winter There’s a chance then, that Ahmed and Wan- months,” Wangyal says. gyal would have met each other at some point The stunning landscape, combined with — quite by chance — thanks to trade that flour- the experience of walking on a frozen river March 1. sukumar ishes in this testing terrain. Ahmed is a veter- that meanders steepmerit gorge,aswas Simplicity is through Trump’s agreat he muralidharan an of the trekking business in Leh, with over enough for trekkers,victory who made their notches of upa draw one implausible after anthree decades behind him, and way rival, here despite the harsh conother. His closest Texas Senator Ted Cruz, each winter a foray into the Zanditions. lack of is not far behind withThe his vows to trekking unleash aopfuskar valley had an added benefit tionswould in the winter and ry of bombs that make the months Syrian sands that he looked forward to. the relative of the walk an in the dark. But Cruzease is too prone to at comA landslideglow on the “I would carry extra sugar as altitude of around same plicate message with a3,500m, rather pointPhuktal river in thehis core part of the trekking ration, as Leh, made the Chadar Trek a evangelical fervour. Trump’s plan to deal upper partsless of the whenever I visited Zanskar. For must-do travellers. Stateformilitia by going after Valley led with to thethe Islamic just a kilo or two, the locals in the day, there would — Geneva Conventions be formationtheir of a families “Back would give me a goat, which be just a couple of groups that damned — seems viscerally more satisfying to massive lake provided enough food for the venture on this trek. They an electoratewould longing for vengeance against upstream next few days,” he smiles. were mostly foreigners who were unseen and inchoate enemies. Like Ahmed, Wangyal visited out to explore this intent stretch,towhich Again, compared to Trump’s expel Leh every winter, with sacks of was relatively unknown to the 10 million immigrants within days of becomlocal cheese and butter from the outside world,” Wangyal says. ing president, Cruz seems willing to secrete dri — the female yak — which was relished in “It’s inbehind the lasta six or verbal seven years that it suchonly plans thick camouflage. these parts, in addition to animal hide and cu- has picked up among theMarco IndianRubio, trekking A third contender, Senator has rios. “It’s only now that money is involved. community,” he adds. so far been unable to tap into the raw political Back then, it was a simple barter for house- mood While thedrives growing of trekkers authat the number base, despite the blesshold essentials such as food and clothes, gurs well the locals, who make additional ings of thefor establishment. There is a certain political logic in extreme tendencies being spawned by a bitterly polarised moment, when income disparities are historically at their worst and expectations of the future glum. On the Democratic side, Divide and rule? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, seen at a night rally with son Donald Trump there is a sane and rational mirror image of Jr ap/jae chong the unhinged Trump candidacy, in Bernie Sander’s insurgent left-wing campaign, which hilip Roth’s counter-historical novel, host and businessman of many bankruptcies, runs on virtually the single issue of disciplinThe Plot Against America, opens in revived a sordid tale from the US conquest of ing Wall Street. 1940 with aviation hero Charles Lind- the Philippines early last century. It involved Similar potential for polarisation has existbergh fighting on an isolationist plat- an icon of US military history, General JJ Persh- ed in the past, but party establishments have form and defeating incumbent US President ing, regarded as mentor to generations of mil- succeeded in checking the drift to the exFranklin Roosevelt. A peace treaty with Nazi itary commanders. Pershing’s strategy in tremes. Republicans and Democrats have stoGermany follows and Hitler’s race theories are dealing with a recalcitrant Muslim tribe in the len each other’s voters and have competed for made official US doctrine, plunging Jews and Philippines was simply to execute several the middle ground where the politics of opother insufficiently American ethnicities into among their leaders with cartridges dipped in portunity is shaped. a dystopian hell. pig’s blood. To make sure the rebels got it, he That logic seems to be working for the DemThose eager to belong are obsessed with liv- kept alive one among them and assigned him ocrats, with the party establishment suming down stereotypes. Others have their fam- the job of carrying back the message about moning its machinery into action, to ilies broken up and children sent away for the futility of resistance. effectively run the Sanders campaign out of indoctrination in the true American way. PolitGood wars for the imposition of western the arena. But the Republican Party just does ical opponents are assassinated and mass ar- values are normally immune to not seem up to the job, enervated rests made to pre-empt any threat to the historical interrogation. Miliby decades of anti-establishment president’s life. tary atrocities and war crimes in fury, by the unreasoning rage Lindbergh goes missing one day on board the Philippines have been acagainst government that was fosGood wars for the his personal aircraft and his Nazi allies are knowledged in recent historical tered by its late lamented saint, quick to pin the blame on a global Jewish con- scholarship, but the incident imposition of western Ronald Reagan. values are normally spiracy. Riots break out, only subdued by fran- that Trump chose to blazon as Reagan left the party with the immune to historical tic appeals from persons of goodwill. his strategy for dealing with retoxic legacy of the politics of racinterrogation Roosevelt contests an emergency election and gions of unrest, is yet to be credism, with the dog-whistle that is restored to the presidency just ahead of Ja- ited as fact. Even if true, it is a called on the faithful to battle for pan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The US enters the story to be buried in the deepest “states’ rights” and unsubtle caworld war and history is set back on course. recesses of military infamy, not nards against “welfare queens” In the real world, the US then had its mo- aired as potential strategy when riding luxury limousines while ments of prosperity and greatness, culminat- the US is at war across a wide global stretch collecting the cheques that hard working citiing in a phase of undisputed global from Pakistan to Syria. zens paid for. The fissures that were partly hegemony. But the edifice has come to rest on Trump won South Carolina and has since healed with the civil rights legislation of the increasingly infirm foundations, of global proved he is quick to pick up the messages 1960s were brutally reopened during his term, alienation, rampant indebtedness, reckless in- that sell. He dissembled when handed an en- and then briefly papered over in the euphoria vestment policies and rising income dispari- dorsement by the white supremacist Ku Klux of global domination. But that long sleep is ties. And as the edifice crumbles, reality Klan, pretending that he knew nothing about now over and the US is awakening in a mood begins to weave a scenario weirder than any- the organisation or its leadership. This would, of disorientation that spells danger at multithing Roth could create on a fictional canvas. in different times, have been an obvious dis- ple levels. Hours before polling opened in the Repub- qualification for high office, except that withlican primary in South Carolina state, presi- in days, Trump swept to still more dramatic sukumar muralidharan is an independent writer dential aspirant Donald Trump,images a reality show victory in the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries on and researcher based in Gurgaon and Shimla Tread softly After the landslide last year, this season saw around 7,000 trekkers on the Chadar shail desai
Q R
P
Q R
ND-X _ A
BL
talk
saturday, march 5, 2016
dipaknar
5
ARNAB TO OPEN NATIONAL LYNCHING ACADEMY!
T
he room of the PR manager is dominated by a giant oil painting of Arnab. His suit is fabulous and his eyes are popping out of his head. As I enter, the PR manager is lighting an agarbatti in front of it. He offers me one. “You also do,” he suggests. I decline. At The Hindu, we are not allowed to worship media personalities from other companies. “At least accept one of these,” he says, offering a mini flag. In the current environment, it seems foolish to refuse. “What is this I hear about a college he’s starting,” I ask, pinning the flag to my chest. The PR manager assumes an expression that is both mournful and optimistic. “The national situation is rapidly deteriorating. Arnab has correctly identified the
problem, which is too many traitors. He is trying his best. He is scuba diving to improve lung capacity. His glare has been surgically improved. All toilets in our offices now play patriotic music when flushed. But Arnab alone cannot do everything, and the RSS is busy designing new pants. Hence we felt that some kind of educational institute was required. Curriculum design has been done with great care. In order to rectify errors that have crept into the national discourse, our courses will include Advanced Patriotism, Constitutional Misinterpretation, Jumping to Conclusions, Violent Harangues, Irrational Anger,
Ill-Informed Ranting, Blatant Victimisation, Shameless Bullying, Extreme Idiocy, Ruthless Colleague Bashing, Effortless Pomposity, Double-fisted Flag Waving and Uncontrollable Egomania. Sneering at Pakistanis and Studio Lynching will be optional extras. For a modest additional fee, students can take advanced courses, such as How to Ignore Facts, Elementary Illogic, Driving Innocent People to Suicide, Misuse of Military, and Playing the Victim. Only candidates with limited vocabulary and a record of terrorising at least three women on Twitter will be considered. Foreign residency will be an
SHOVON CHOWDHURY is chief Truthdigger and author of Murder with Bengali Characteristics
added benefit. Anti National Porkistani Sluts and those who eat non-veg food items that resemble beef will be rejected. To receive their degrees, graduates must knit a 207-foot flag using cross-stitching techniques, after removing all objectionable elements, such as the colours green and white, and the circular item in the centre. Candidates will be selected on the basis of written tests and viva-voce, along with an essay entitled ‘China or Pakistan? Who should we attack first?’ “We are hoping that the youth of the nation will apply in large numbers. Early bird applicants will receive a free laptop, and a lifetime supply of crocodile tears.”
TAXPAYER DEMANDS JATS TO DESTROY TEACHER’S JOB AT JNU! COLLEGES UNTIL
O
utraged by rising sedition on campus, taxpayers across the nation have been demanding teaching positions at JNU. “I’m not sure what sedition is, but it makes my blood boil,” said Manmohan Tyagi from Badarpur. “I wanted to hire a lawyer to beat up more students, but they are heavily booked for the next few months. Consequently, joining JNU as faculty was the only option. I paid taxes once in 2003, so there is no question of their refusing. These students need to be a taught a lesson. The lesson will consist mainly of tight slaps, along with giving bamboo and providing befitting replies.” Tyagi has a variety of supplementary demands. “I would like Virat Kohli to hit more sixes,” he said, “since it is
my money that is paying for stadiums. I want IIT graduates to repair my electronic items. So many students have graduated from government art colleges, yet not one of them has painted my portrait. This is unacceptable.” Housewives too, are not sitting idle. “Since fertiliser is subsidised using my money, I want farmers to grow more brinjals,” said Shakuntala from Sonepat. “My son loves them.” What about the thousands of crores of taxpayer money being spent on subsidising kerosene which no one receives, paying teachers who never attend school, and building health centres that do not even exist? “These are matters of governance handled by highly qualified IAS officers, in which the public should not interfere,” said Tyagi. “As a taxpayer, I am honoured that they are allowing me to pay their salaries.”
FUTURE IMPROVES! “Better future for our male children is our topmost priority,” says Dhan Veer Hooda, a local Jat leader. He has a minor head injury. “If they need women, there is always the highway, but without proper jobs, they will have no future. We are burning down schools and colleges, as well as the few businesses that provide jobs, so that students and workers will be free to join us, thereby helping us to ensure a better future for them. We have also committed acts of terrorism against the national capital, to show how easy this is. We are sure that, after this, when we look for jobs in Delhi, peo-
The Investigator is a monthly round-up of all things droll and newsy. All views are personal. Really personal t@shovonc
ple will be vey welcoming, because we have helped to improve their security. Meanwhile our agitation will continue. We will not rest until there is nothing left in Haryana except buffaloes and mustard fields. We will then sell off the mustard fields and buy more SUVs. On the land where schools and colleges once stood, we will build luxury condominiums for our buffaloes. Once women stop driving through our localities, the buffaloes may need protection.”
read cover
BL BL 186
shutterstock
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
READER’S DIE JEST
An impossible read Universities on the boil
Same script It is the same bogey of ‘anti-nationalism’ that is being raised in JNU too. Meanwhile, at the campus, students put out notes and cards for their friends arrested for sedition pti
The conversation that (surely) led to the writing of Durjoy Datta’s Our Impossible Love
E U
ditor: Do you think we take rape too you prove to him he had gay sex? who wants to write about all those With the long-excluded marginalised communities entering thebecause domain of knowledge, seriously in our country? Writer: Same way he proved to the girl she struggles? Writer:have Yeah. I mean, all this talk had for consensual Editor: And who wants read about them universities become theof hub newsex. questions and ideas that challenge oldtonotions
aditya nigam
Our Impossible Love Durjoy Datta Penguin India Fiction ₹175
ND-X _ A
capital punishment and castration, man, it’s so <rolls his eyes>. niversities and institutions of highEditor: So, how do we turn the standard narer learning today rative around rape on its head?are in revolt — against attempts to reduce them to Writer: WTF is a narrative? a factory for story. the production of Editor: Story. The usual You know, like mindless date rape. automatons That’s not… — either in the service of Writer: the neo-liberal/corporate machine or of Hey. Date rape is a thing. So are latea mind-numbing, virulent and Hindu periods, homosexuality, thenationalism. untalented If the neo-liberal wantsgenius. universities to churn brother of the start-up out people whoelse? would become cogs in the corEditor: What I need more drama. porate machine, Hindutva forces seek to turn Writer: That’s how we roll in this business. all educational institutions into factories, How about a fistfight, vomiting, video gamemass-producing pre-programmed Hinduyour naplay, breasts, pimples, alcohol, sharing tionalists like whoonly will losers eat, read lovevirginity, only as virginity, loseand their prescribed. right? But there is antoair among Editor: I have gooftodesperation the bathroom. Backthe in powerful, since, for the first time in ahitherto sec. India’s history, universities are throbWriterlong (scrolls through social media timebing with new energies by ex): the lines, likes the every post, sends aproduced selfie to his entry of those Whatever. Take who your have time, long bro. been excluded from the domain of knowledge. Editor: So, how will the story… er… roll? As masses students Dalit and BahuWriter: No,ofwait, I hadfrom a brainwave while jan backgrounds, from poor families you were away. Jailorand bailreally are too easy punienter these heavily-guarded fortressshments forhitherto rapists, right? es,Editor: panic … buttons are pressed in a bid to protect the privileges of the most dominant. Writer: What’s a rapist afraid of? Come their arrival, new questions and new on,With one guess. perspectives challenge these institutions. The Editor: Castration? oldWriter: common till 1now dominatNo!sense That’sthat No.has 2. No. is being coned manygay. of these institutions is thrown into sidered crisis, received notions nation and nationalEditor: And you knowofthis… how? ism are interrogated. Writer: Market research. No. 3 is the fear, Recall thenever withdrawal of gay. recognition to the what if you come. So, Ambedkar-Periyar by IITEditor: I’m afraidStudy to askCircle where(APSC) this is going. Madras in May This institution seen a Writer: See, 2015. evil dude date rapeshas heroine number of right-wing organisations, ranging who’s afraid she’ll never come, after she’s from the RSS shakhas groups like the Vivekasmashed. How to taketorevenge? nanda Study Circle, Editor: Maybe we operating should… without restrictions. However, within a year of its formation, Writer: Simple. Get evil dude smashed and the APSC was faced with a notice of ‘derecognimake him believe he had gay sex. GAY SEX. tion’, following a complaint RSS students to Straight guys will die before by they have gay sex. theEditor: Ministry of Human DevelopI’ll pretend we’reResource playing. How will
Editor: Which is…? either? Writer: Post pictures of them necking on InWriter: (high five with editor) YOLO. ment andobviously. the latter’s suspiciously prompt re- mediate stagram, concern from an identity Editor: What? sponse. ministry’s letter to could the institute Editor:The Obviously. Which jury ignore perspective. IIT-M had been Writer: YouThus onlythe liveAPSC once.inWho has time to raisedevidence? the matter “thebe distribution such Er, of who’ll necking? of con- read organising discussions like all thethose coalabout politics and on theissues poor and troversial posters pamphlets cam- intellectual Writer: I’ll inventand a couple of realin gaythe characbed methane exploration project in the Kaveri things? pus”ok? andSo“creating atmosphere of hatred delta, ters, are we allan set? GM Can’t crops,you labour law changes and and lanEditor: make your lead pair among students Editor: But… by one student group” and al- that guage politics, justabout as thesomething ASA in Hyderabad bad guy worry else too? soWriter: disaffection What?against WHAT?the Prime Minister and Not University been raising the issue of capijust sex,had I mean. ‘the Hindus’. Editor: I thought you too had a love story… talWriter: punishment in the Yakub Memon case,veas Chalo, I’ll make the girl’s mother This is eerily the pattern that is repeated lat- ry Writer: Awkward! well questions theI’ll state of the miill.as Kidneys, you regarding like kidneys? make er Editor: in University of think Hyderabad, thesex at- family You don’t there’s where too much noritiespoor (the screening a film on the Muzafalso. Theyofcan’t afford non-veg. tack, once again prodded the MHRD, is on Only without love in this book ofbyyours? farnagar violence one of the immediate rajma. Rajma,being kidney beans, get it? members of the Students’ Associ- points of conflict Writer: Bro! SexAmbedkar IS love. Wait, with ABVP). Editor: Thethe guy? Can’tIn heother have ation (ASA), leading eventually to the tragic su- words, in all these let me explain. There’s three we see thelife emergence some cases problem in his too? icide of There again, the of a new kind Writer: kinds of Rohith sex. SexVemula. that comes of self-confident Dalitno politics No. Boys have probproactive the MHRD, follow- that is decisively from real intervention love. Sex thatofmakes moving in a leftward direclem in life besides sex. Because Bro! Sex IS love. ing provocation by the suspenyou think you’re in ABVP, love. led Sexto the tion.Wait, It is thisthe thatgirls has caused are verypanic. evolved in my let for me explain sion of andhave his all comrades that’s sex.Vemula My books From this itbooks, should nothave be understood, howthey the same probindulging three kinds.in ‘anti-national’ acever, Don’t that other issues of culture lem. bore me. tivities. Editor: What about love? Any and identity have become any Editor: Achha, where will you What is happening in Jawalove in your book? less the important. A case in point is set book? Any trips to San harlal Nehru University (JNU) Writer: Of course! On page 143 the issue of worship of MahFrancisco or the Tokyo or something It is an index of how now again is not very different insofar and on 197. Not that I remember thea microcosm ishasur a counter-cultural aspirational like that? as Big cars? much of as thenumbers. essentials of the script go. page symbol totoomainstream You’re reading much literaryHinficof India JNUWriter: is It is the same of ‘anti-naEditor: But bogey what happens before all this tion. OK, I’ll tell duism. is anabout indexthis of book. how you aItsecret tionalism’ that is being raised rape and punishment? much of a microcosm of India The girl is a badass. here — and this time it was not that? Writer: You really need to know Editor: ? JNU is, that even such marginal just the MHRD theI…Home Editor: As your but editor, practices a place Writer: Shebeliefs uses a and dildo. I’ll evenfind teach readMinistry well,obviously that intervened order to ers Writer:asWell there’s— aingirl and there. The ofown. age of Dalit politics how to coming buy their What more can also you frameare students for And sedition. The pattern there two guys. obviously the girlitself isn’t ask manifests for, bro?in this significant bid to create a suggests more to JNU meets hot and that the there main isguy isn’t hot than either. It’s counter-cultural canonI don’t… from symbols that Editor: Er. Personally, the eyelosers, — andright? some of this becomes evident in have about beenAnd consigned to oblivion as far as her the Writer: then someone rushes into theEditor: way Of a course, few television of course.channels But what were hap- room mainstream is concerned. It isThat’s this feature of while she’s using it, ok? why we’ll pressed into service for creating an atmo- have pens to them? JNU that opened upsometimes possibilities of thathas linealso on the cover, love sphere of paranoid lestI’m we walks Writer: I’ll makewitch-hunting. it up as I go And along. cultural re-education Left groups in when you leastofexpect it to… as well, forget, twobig of the fiveinsecurity students whom the the po- making thinking time in both all You. aware of the immense diversity Editor:usAre. Serious? lice want to frame are Dalits and some others that characters. is India. Writer: LOL.It is this that Hindutva nationalfrom veryAbout poor backgrounds. Editor: what? ism cannot digest. (This monthly column helps you talk about a It is also worth they’ll noticing thatgood in allinthese Writer: Whether be any bed. book (Views expressed personal). without havingare to read it) cases, else the Dalit students been talking What is there to behave insecure about? not Oh sinhais translates classic, aditya nigam a professor at thecontemporary Centre for the merelythe about issues of caste dis- arunava yeah, boystheir have‘own’ to worry about making and non-fiction Study offiction Developing Societies, into DelhiEnglish; t@arunava crimination butI’m alsogiving issuesthem that are not of im- Bengali money too, but rich parents
Q R Q R
7
BL
cover
saturday, march 5, 2016
Dissent in Delhi The battle over political ideologies on the sprawling JNU campus has taken what is possibly the ugliest turn ree Hashmi, the force behind Safdar Hashmi’s Jana Natya Manch (Janam). The group, born a little more than a year before the Emergency, has been a regular at the campus since 1978. “Janam has always considered JNU a good place for constructive feedback,” says Hashmi. Performing at different places within the campus — including the open-air auditorium at Parthasarathy Rocks — helped Janam performers bond with the students as well as the spaces they call their own. “We’d perform at different times of the day, sometimes on Sunday afternoons, sometimes after dinner… and students with affiliations to various bodies came in good numbers. The divide I perceive now is an anomaly in a free-thinking universe like the JNU,” she says. Crackdowns by the administration are not new in the history of JNU and, if anything, it helped galvanise various student bodies into a united front against excesses. Looking back at the 21-month-long Emergency, CP Chandrasekhar, dean of the School of Social Sciences, says, “We went by our daily routine with some degree of caution — classes, hostel meetings post dinner, making and distributing pamphlets at night. That was one among the few times the police visited the campus, and one of the student arrests seemed to be a case of mistaken identity. But he was not released immediately and kept in jail for long.” There were also a number of daylong strikes and boycott of classes. While some — both among students and faculty — avoided speaking out against Chain reaction Members of faculty join students in forming a human chain at the JNU campus, days after the the government, many continued to be vocal. arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar shiv kumar pushpakar Like crackdowns, violent confrontations, though few, have been a part of JNU history. very tiny molecule of ash is in plates of litti-chokha and cups of sugary tea, Rohit, a former JNUSU president who now motion with my heat… I am students discuss current affairs and class- teaches economics at his alma mater, recalls such a lunatic that I am free room notes with equal enthusiasm. To an out- an ugly episode from August 2002. A sizeable even in jail…” These lines from sider, this is an image of just another day at number of students gathered to protest VHP Shahid Bhagat Singh’s jail notebook, printed the sprawling campus. According to JNUSU leader Ashok Singhal’s presence at an RSS on A4 sheets, greet the 300-odd protestors vice-president Shehla Rashid, the battle over function in the Administration Block. “Resortgathered on the red sandstone steps of the Ad- ideologies at the campus has taken what is ing to violence over ideological differences ministration Block. An amateurish sketch of possibly the ugliest turn. “When the Universi- was almost unheard of, but on that day the Kanhaiya Kumar, president of Jawaharlal Neh- ty has its internal mechanism to deal with two groups clashed, the police were called in. ru University Students Union (JNUSU) who such matters, what was the need for police in- We formed a human chain to protect the was arrested on charges of sedition and re- tervention? This has shaken our belief in the women, and many of us were kicked and leased on interim bail this week after 20 days, system,” she says, adding that she’d been hav- punched in the process,” he reminisces. “It accompanies the words of the revolutionary, ing sleepless nights ever since Kanhaiya was was several months before we could exchange whose death anniversary is observed across picked up by the police. “In my a simple ‘hello’ with those in the the country by several right-wing student sleep I get visions of the police other camp. The scars from the bodies. Ironically, the young martyr from pre- raiding the hostels and arrestrecent happenings may take Partition Punjab was also accused of sedition. ing my comrades,” she says. much longer to heal,” he adds. In my sleep I get The pamphlets are the handiwork of stuRashid’s laptop, much like its While no one can say how long visions of the police dents aligned with Left politics. Working in sleep-deprived owner, has had the scars will last, Kanhaiya’s raiding the hostels tandem with them are the handfuls that bring few moments of rest since the friends and family are happy that and arresting my music to an ongoing series of open-air lec- sedition row engulfed the camhe is back in JNU ahead of Holi. comrades tures on nationalism, a brainchild of Janaki pus. “My friends are using it 24/7, Addressing a small gathering at Nair, professor at JNU’s Centre for Historical posting updates on social media JNU last Monday, Manikant KuStudies. A harmonium, a dafli or two, and lyr- regarding Kanhaiya’s bail petmar, Kanhaiya’s elder brother, ics scribbled on scraps of paper are all that ition, messages pouring in from had spoken of his sibling’s love these musicians have. While Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s academicians across the world…” her voice for the way JNU celebrates Holi: “Whenever we Hum Dekhenge, an iconic Urdu nazm, is per- trails off as she tears open an envelope con- ask him to come home for the festival, he says formed frequently, revolutionary songs from taining an anonymous letter. Replete with he can’t miss playing with colours on the camBihar and Jharkhand often draw the loudest abuse, the letter targets Rashid’s Kashmiri pus.” While the sedition charges continue to applause from the audience — a healthy mix of Muslim identity for the so-called ‘anti-nation- hang over his head, JNU will find Kanhaiya at former and current students, teachers, and al’ activities. “This, too, should be posted on so- Mamu’s on Holi, tucking into spicy egg curry the press. cial media,” she manages a smile as she folds and rice — the only meal available at the camAbout two minutes from this centre of ac- the paper. pus on this day. tion is the relative calm of Mamu’s Dhaba, an Her concerns over the polarisation on cameatery started by a former JNU student. Over pus find resonance in the voice of Moloyash- aditi sengupta
“E
Q R
read cover
BL BL 16 8
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Leaving the shore Jhumpa Lahiri moved to Rome in 2012, along with her family shutterstock/ andria raffin
swimming along the edge of a lake. “To know a new language, to immerse yourself, you have to leave the shore. Without a life vest.” Lahiri ‘left the shore’ in 2012 and moved to Rome, along with her husband and two young children, to plunge headlong into Italian. “Rome — the first time I was there, in 2003, I felt a sense of rapture, an affinity. I seemed to know it already.” Affinity — I understand that too. In a way, I have always felt this connection with Italy, with Italian. The first time I visited in 2013, everything seemed new, yet familiar. Not because you have already seen countless pictures of the Colosseum in Rome or Brunelleschi’s engineering masterpiece crowning Florence’s cathedral, or Venice’s Grand Canal. No, it was deeper than that. Reading the street signs, shop names and menus in Italian (a language I now understood), or hearing the harried permesso (excuse me) on the metro. Or the perplexing allora — that catch-all word that can mean anything from ‘so’ and ‘well then’ to ‘hey’ or ‘at that time’, a filler that Italians use so often, a word that I took to using during the month I travelled around the country. Just the fact that I knew the language made the country seem like home. In 2014 I went back to Italy for another Turning point Rohith Vemula has become an icon of the struggle for Dalit rights in a way that could redefine student month, politics inthis India.time An artist final touches to asouth alsogives making it further sculpture of Vemula kvs giri to Sicily, into small towns where people hardly speak English. In fact, they speak Sicilian, not Italian. In the tiny, medieval-era town of Piazza Armerina, where my B&B hostess literally spoke one word of English (okay), I got by with my halting Italian. Yet, like Lahiri, I can feel the foreign-ness of the language on my tongue. As she says, “We didn’t grow up with one another. This language is not in my blood, in my bones.” As I read In Other Words, I am struck by how Lahiri’s growing confidence in Italian shows he shopping complex or “shop- man Resource Development. Soon, politicians says V Sunkanna, Vemula and one of up on the pages.a friend In the of beginning, the sencom”, a popular hangout at the Uni- of various hues descended on the campus. the fiveare debarred students. memtences shorter, quicker.InByfact, all ASA accounts, versity of Hyderabad (UoH), looks Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi came bers have travelled to allhas universities TelanGoldstein’s translation remainedinfaithful strikingly different from what it was twice in 10 days. Delhi chief minister Arvind gana and Andhra to mobilise support to Lahiri’s writing,Pradesh so you can quite clearly see a couple of months ago. On a usual day, it is Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram and organised ‘Chalo Delhi’ the protests. has the vocabulary improving, syntax“This getting dotted with students photocopying study ma- Yechury expressed solidarity with the Dalit drawn tremendous response and we will conmore complex, as Lahiri progresses through terial or young couples snatching a few mo- students and slammed the Narendra Modi tinue the agitation,” says. of The agitating stuthe book. There are ahe couple short stories in ments of togetherness. The place gets government. dents are and demanding the are arrest of Union there too, though they written quite deserted at night as Gopal’s shop, more popEven as the university limps back to normal- ministers Smriti andthat Bandaru Dattatreya simply, there’s noIrani doubt there’s a skilledularly known as Gops, near the women’s hos- cy after a shutdown for two weeks, the episode for their allegedthe role in the campus strife. They writer behind prose. tels was always the meeting place of choice has made a lasting impact on the want actionstyle, against for “In Italian also I write without in aRao primilater in the day. campus community’s thinking “driving” Vemula This to very suicide. tive way. I’m always uncertain.” anxResearch scholar Rohith Vemula’s death has on key issues pertaining to the Their agitation now writing shifted iety and basic style renders has Lahiri’s transformed the “shop-com” into a hub of pro- Dalits as well as agitations and tothan Delhi and foundbooks. strength more personal her previous Thein ‘I’ The episode has test. The walls are covered with slogans and politics. Set up in 1974, the UoH the here, ongoing by JNUisstudents. is more obvious thestir struggle more reimpacted the way the graffiti decrying Dalit oppression. A stupa has till date seen nine of its Dalit judicial is al, and for all toMeanwhile, see. It mustahave not probe been an students and erected in memory of Vemula, whose suicide students commit suicide. There to determine the factors who that easy book foron Lahiri to write. For someone university community last month triggered widespread protests have been periodic agitations by led toputting the suicide. Theof past two seems so private, so much herself think about key weekend I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s across thehis country, shelters under a tent. Scat- students know whybelonging I chose to to study the Italian. com- I had learnt on paper must months havean shown thattask. the agihave been arduous I reissues In Other Words, her maiden book in tered groups of students and a handful of munity. French in school, but was hardly fluent. It member standing “But in the 34I years of tatinginstudents havequeue been able to a mile-long on the Italian (originally In Altre watchful cops occupy the complex now.Parole), my might have Ibeen to brush service, havesmarter never seen an up French, lawns of Diggi goPalace beyond and sucat the the campus Jaipur Literature translated into English Ann GoldTwenty-five-year-old Vemula hasbybecome an agitation or learn Spanish German, or even Mandarin Festival in 2014, of thisor scale, in which cessfully position their to problem waiting for a chance get my stein,ofwho also translated icon thehas struggle for Dalit Elena rightsFerrante’s in a way the — languages that have a larger ‘application’ in copy of The as role of the vice-chancellor’s a national issue. a veLowland signed by“There Lahiri.is Even wildly successful Neapolitan Actually, that could redefine student Quartet. politics in India. office the global scheme of things.says M Periasamy, ry good response has been questioned,” students and leadersdisin then,from I could see her obvious ‘read’ is among not correct; ‘devoured hungrily, in one He was the five students belonging to theMy teacher Valentino insisted, current vice-chancellor in-charge. Delhi. We want to find permanent solution comfort atabeing in the spotlight. sitting’ is moreStudents like it. Association (ASA) who from the Ambedkar beginning, that The the Dalitvery vs non-Dalit divide on the campus to end atrocities against Seshu, a After threeDalits,” years insays Rome, LahiIt’s suspended a short book, essays,on tracwere fora collection an allegedofattack N is weaneschew English when remained we old one, but had largely non-inDalitsostudentrileader, who returned is in Delhito to the mobilhas now US For someone ing Lahiri’s fascination with herunit strugSusheel Kumar, president ofItalian, the UoH of vasive speak in class. It was a difficult and issue-based. Not any more. Some putting ise support. with a prestigious tenure at Prinprivate, so gles with learning it, herParishad move to (ABVP), Rome, her Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi the students process; the and are grammar angry that thesentwo-week shutAs on for theceton. politicisation of the stir, with Will she continue writing much of herself writing exclusively in Italian, turn- down BJP-affiliated student body. and The finally suspended tence has formation is quite differ- paper disrupted their academic schedule. manybeen partiesinpulling different directions, Italian?inWill she return to Enmust have ing out this moved memoirto of asorts. youngsters makeshift shelter at “We ent from English. Little by little, of Vemula are upset at the ill-treatment Periasamy agues is not necessarily a bad glishthat forither next book? Only Laan arduous task startedcomplex learningand Italian 20 yearstheir ago, and theLahiri shopping continued shortother sentences becameBut possiASA students. we can’t lose our thing. “Therehiri will knows always be ideolo(orpolitical perhaps she after heragainst first trip touniversity’s Florence. She explains her academic protest the action. Vemuble, yet I’dlife shybeyond away from speaka point. Why bring poli- gies for youngsters too,” he says, before hasdoesn’t). lovesuicide for theon language “WhatcounI feel tics la’s Januaryin17the sentbook; the entire ing into them. myCan’t confidence this As issue? we fight for justice as tening to add As that for the me, politics I’m still should waiting be to is something physical, It stirs an students try into a shock. Hisinexplicable. suicide note cited grew, Valentino I were asks able a postgradu- healthy and not beyondand politics?” driven jump into by theparty lake agendas. without a life indiscreet, absurd An exquisite personal reasons andlonging. did not blame anybody ate to have short bursts of conversations, without vest. student who wishes to remain unnamed. After all, as IVemula had put in his remarkThough admit that the it idea of living in tension.” for his extreme step. myDalit cringing atupmy atrocious students,mentally who make one-fourth of ably suicide note: “politics, a science Italy scholarly for an extended period has crossed my Inexplicable — I understand that. Five years the There were allegations that vice-chancellor pronunciation. 5,500-strong campus, see a long and bitter that the soulonce. In apart from body” was mindtears more than Other the Words has cerwhile a sabbatical, I started studying Pago, Appa Raoonhad acted against the Dalit stu- fight Still, English is my language (as not ahead. “There is dominant a realisation that brahforgiven him. me some food for thought. tainly the language at the Indo-Italian Chamber of minical dents under pressure from the Union Minister Lahiri calls it), the language think in, the and landomination cannot Igo on forever prachi is a Mumbai-based writer naga joshi sridhar Commerce in Mumbai. of Labour asand wellIndustry as the Union MinistryIofdon’t Hu- we guage use as a crutch. Lahiri from likensallthis to g haveI been receiving support over,”
Hyderabad blues
Rohith Vemula’s death has redefined student politics in the University of Hyderabad
T
Found in translation
Q
Jhumpa Lahiri’s memoir about learning to write in Italian is an act of great literary courage
T
In Other Words Jhumpa Lahiri Penguin India Non-fiction ₹399
R Q R
ND-X _ A
9
BL
cover
saturday, march 5, 2016
Kolkata marches on At Jadavpur University, #Hokkolorob, more than just two words of protest clubbed together by a hashtag, has infused new blood into a campus that was always political
Up in arms A 2014 photo shows students of Jadavpur University outside the governor’s residence, demanding action against police excesses on campus pti/swapan mahapatra
I
t is 2.30 pm on a weekday afternoon, and an ominous quietude hangs over Jadavpur University (JU). Pro-JNU posters adorn the walls of the arts department’s union room, while some students, immersed in conversation, huddle near the Worldview bookstore — a meeting point of sorts. The topic of discussion is a pro-azaadi rally by a group that calls itself Radical. This is JU, one of the country’s most politically active campuses and home to the #Hokkolorob (let there be noise) movement that shook the state government, galvanised disparate student groups and convinced thousands to march in the heart of Kolkata demanding justice, in September 2014. “#Hokkolorob was the first time I saw and took part in a student movement. We had street theatre and poster campaigns in my previous college but it was more awareness-oriented. #Hokkolorob was about belonging to a place; the war of Hogwarts, as it were. What it did was create a place for conversation, where one could ask ‘why’ and ‘what was happening politically around the world’,” says Unmesh Dublay, a second-year student of film studies at JU. The likening to Harry Potter’s fictitious alma mater is not without reason. On February 19, when an ABVP rally, goaded by BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha’s cry to “beat up” JU students for indulging in “anti-national” activities in the name of solidarity with JNU, almost reached the gates of JU, its teaching and nonteaching staff formed a human chain around the students to “stop any form of violence”. “This is the kind of atmosphere we have here. Professors encourage us to think and question instead of stamping out any dissent,” says Shoma Roy, a second-year student of the engineer-
ing department. up when a poor taxi driver is harassed by corHowever, a little more than a year ago, the rupt policemen. I know you will say I am being university was literally under siege. It began idealistic, but I feel that these movements give with a peaceful demonstration organised by us a push,” says Roy. students. “The university authorities didn’t reHowever, in Kolkata, politics is as much a spond to a complaint of molestation by a part of life on campus as staying up all night woman student,” says Roy. In the early hours to meet deadlines, raising funds for college of September 17, 2014, Kolkata police trooped festivals or organising late-night parties. But into the campus after protestors gheraoed so far, in celebrated colleges like Presidency vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakraborty and a few and JU it is partly a matter of fostering politiother members of the administration. Stu- cal consciousness; in many others it is a bitterdents were lathicharged, and many women ly partisan, often violent contest for protestors were molested and groped. “That’s supremacy. However, Arpita Mukhopadhyay, a when we got together to take a stand. That’s postgraduate student of Bengali, contends how #Hokkolorob was born,” says Dublay. that campus politics imparts a sense of comMore than a year later, JU finds itmunity. “At the end of the day, no self in the midst of another stumatter which mother party we dent’s movement. Since the are affiliated to, we will always be tragic death of Rohith Vemula in At the end of the day, students of JU first,” she says. January this year, various bodies Madhura Chakraborty, who no matter which in the campus have organised graduated from JU’s English demother party we are more than a dozen events to partment in 2009 and keeps visaffiliated to, we will condemn “systematic persecu- always be students of iting the campus frequently, tion of student voices in the insists that the urgency one sees JU first city”. “This is not just about stuin the students now is also bedents, the attitude the BJP govcause of the way social media has ernment has towards us reflects made knowledge more accessitheir stand on every issue,” says ble. “Today, if a student is beaten Shammo Naam, a student of Bengali. up in University of Hyderabad we know about But was it #Hokkolorob that changed the it instantly. When I was in JU, many of us narrative of the student politics of Jadavpur would go to the farmer uprisings in Singur University? “I became more aware of the and Nandigram, and we continued to engage world around me after the incident, yes. It was with issues in non-partisan ways. But today, a jolt for us, even though Jadavpur has always students have a much more collative underbeen politically conscious,” says Naam. Roy, standing of the world around them and that’s who considered herself “fairly apolitical” till really good,” says Chakraborty. the JNU incident, feels such movements are also about empowerment. “Today, when I walk debapriya nandi is a freelance journalist based the streets of Kolkata, I know I should speak in Kolkata
Q R
cover watch
saturday, march 5, 2016
BL
14 10
At the epic’s end Peter Brook’s Battlefield focuses on what happens at the close of the Kurukshetra battle, when the victors come to terms with the annihilation
Pune’s discontent
‘Our stupid idealism’ The students say they were certain from day one that the government wouldn’t reverse its decision mandar tannu
The 139-day strike at the Film and Television Institute of India was the culmination of long-brewing disquiet
O A
Compact edition Peter Brook returns to the Mahabharata to present a distilled, pared-down slice of it caroline moreau
ND-X _ A
n a Saturday afternoon, the Film stark the colour of red and stage Television Institute of earth; India scarce lowa (FTII) props: campusbamboo in Punesticks, looks alike stool, lengths of cloth — shawls in deserted island. It’s hard to relate red, blue andImages yellow of — the in heaps; a to this tranquil scenery. dramatlone musician stage left. Toshi Tsuchitori reic student protests, midnight arrests, and mains on stage throughout, his virtuoso lathi charges that we saw for 139 days last year drumming anin accompaniment the action. are still fresh memory. I learntoquickly that The tofooled the stage, like calm the kurta-pyjaone backdrop mustn’t be by this veneer. If ma theclosely, actors, is black. youof look the scars of the battle begin Dhritarashtra, by Sean to Blind emerge. ‘Ghatak wasplayed here, Go back O’CalChaulaghan (the onlyGopalakrishnan, Caucasian cast member), enhan’ and ‘Adoor Shyam Beneters. It is Kurukshetra in the immediate gal, Girish Karnad... Gajendra Chauhan?’ aftermath of posters the war.hanging Dhritarashtra laments scream a few from the trees. his role. “War,” cries, is all that Duryodhana Though most ofhethe anti-establishment graffiwould andhas hebeen had whitewashed, not stopped these him. ti from have last year Yudhishthira, by Jared enters surreptitiouslyplayed re-emerged on McNeill, the morning of next, equally horrified thechairman, destruction. The January 7 — the day theatnew Gajenbattlefield is strewn corpses, millions dra Chauhan, whose with questionable appointand millions Dogsvisited and carrion pick at ment set off of thethem. protests, the campus. them, women to piece together themasdisI’m later told bytry students that they have membered of their loved without ones. The tered the artparts of putting up posters becorpses areupnot there of cameras course, but we see ing picked by the CCTV — probably them Fortactics Yudhishthira “this vicone ofnonetheless. the survival this ordeal has tory is athem. defeat”; how can he become king? The taught opening of Battlefield, performed theOctober Young After the agitation was called offaton Vic Theatre in London, something 28 last year, the students feels have slipped backlike inthe end of King Lear. to their routine life of classes and film-makThirty British theatre Peing. Andyears yet, ago, something withindirector them has ter Brookirreversibly. staged a legendary nine-hour prochanged Vikas Urs, a prominent duction of strike, the Mahabharata, face of the now knowsfollowed what it isseveral like to years later by a film adaptation, shorter, but have his phones tapped, be followed by govstill approaching hours, with a vasttelevicast. ernment officials,four brave a prime-time Now in his nineties, Brook — in behind partnership sion debate, and spend a night bars with his one long-time (he was of the collaborator five students Marie-Helene who were arEstienne has returned to the epic abut prerested on—August 26). “I discovered lotto about sent a distilled, pared-down slice of it.isAt a myself. I’m a cinematographer, which pricompact 65 minutes andallwith a cast ofstrike only marily a solitary job. But through the four playing the three main characters — I wasactors representing students both to the Yudhishthira, Dhritarashtra and IKunti — media and the government — things had nevalong with a host of other people and to animals, er done before. Everything I said had have a Battlefield focuses Ion what happens at the end certain gravitas. also had to keep stuof the motivated war. It follows the characters as they dents through those months. It come to terms with the says annihilation and was a huge responsibility,” the 31-year-old. dramatises keythat, scenes to the end of Having said thethrough walls of FTII have seen
and heard many cries of protest since its birth covering that Chauhan wasn’t the only surthe epic. The last major stand-off was in 2010 contemporary in 1968. and urgent.” Why has Brook reprise appointment. There were positions of Afterthe the wide-angled the turned when UPA governmentdescriptions had plans toof privato it now? Does Indian epic ‘canpower being handed outthis to others like Anagha battlefield, the play through zooms in. In a moving tise the institution a backdoor ar- vas’ most effectively certain truths Ghaisas and Shailesh describe Gupta — both infamous scene, Kunti,Then played bydemonstrations Carole Karemera, in- that rangement. too, went Brook, now inpropaganda his tenth decade, learnt for their political films.has “What if structs Yudhishthira todidn’t perform oblations for about on for six months, but match the severthe world? tomorrow The futilitysays of war its the government thatbut every Karna. Why? heofasks. In her reda endless ity or precision this one. “Wehands knew the it was perpetuation, difficulty of right batch has to make onethe film that praises the shawl becomes infant Karna put forth in a action, long haul so wethe had to continue strategising of ‘doing good’ (to“Iborrow fromChauGurprime minister?” asks Urs. remember basket on the Ganga.We And as separate Kunti relates and re-strategising. had unitsher to charan Das),asked the moral shades of grey walk han being on one of the TV we debates story wethe witness agonising re- among handle press,Yudhishthira’s the social media, and PR ac— thewould fact that we are somehow alabout what happen toall a student if he alisation that he and were brothers. An- ways tivities. Everyone onKarna the campus was given madeimplicated. a film that was anti-Modi. He just said, ‘I other close-up: Maybe Yudhishthira some responsibility. because wecradles make will Alllook of this comes in Battlefield — and into it at across that time’,” adds Urs, to Duryodhana (played Ery people Nzaramba, who very films, we know how by to get together proveeffectively his point. for a Western audience still switches nimbly from character and divide work well,” says Urs. to character) mostly ignorant of classical culture. These arbitraryIndian decisions notonIn the battlefield as the he dies. “No many respects, FTII is a I’m not Indianthe butFTII I have withstanding, has asome fair good man is entirely good; no unique academic institution. acquaintance with thisloopholes culture, amount of systemic bad man is liberal entirelyspace bad,”where whisIt’s an open, and the aspects of Battlefield irked. that students were already When I googled him, pers Yudhishthira as Duryodhathe students are granted voting While there areFor obvious grappling with. starters,advanevery Does thisvideo Indian epic the first I saw na breathes last. rights in thehis academic council, tages of a small — not least course extends forcast almost two or most effectively was of him dancing Nzaramba becomes which gives them a sayBhishma in imthat years the production andduis three beyond its can official describe certain with Asaram Bapu waiting his death not perportant for matters like —deciding going An to travel — wesyllabus lose characration. unrealistic and truths that Brook, in forated with Its arrows but of seated the syllabus. strength 250 ters ofequipment significance. no dated areThere someare of the his tenth decade, has sage-like, swathed students centre-stage, includes a psychiaPandava brothers Battlefield other problems on in their “huge learnt about the in thefrom yellowthe shawl. trist UK as well as exceptYashasvi Yudhishthira. There is no list”. Mishra, another world? The dharma sermon ofthree the epsomeone who had to sell acres to pay the prominent face Draupadi. Gandhari is recently missing of the strike, and who ic becomes lively year, parables tuition fee. three Also, every an apolitical stu- graduated, remembers from two ofhethe most compelling was enrolled for the in which actors as take the watchdog of 2010 batch scenes dent bodythe is elected theon official in the second half ofeight the but his classes started parts of animals. In function the storylike of a welfare so- months laterproduction the larger body. “We — the departure of because there weren’t enough righteous Shibu, a wide-eyed ciety here.king We fight forKaremera the rightsisof the work- Dhritarashtra Kunti for the forest and rooms in the and hostel to accommodate stupigeon, predatory and their ers here,O’Callaghan for ourselves,a and for the falcon mess,” says walk towards the flames. dents.later “During those months, there was no two bamboo Nachimuthu, sticks become the scales on Harishankar a second-year di- communication More irksome from perhaps is that in the imthem,” he says. Therewhich king weighs hispresident own cut-away rectionthe student and the of theflesh stu- pulse to universalise the storyonly for aadded globalfuel aufore, Chauhan’s appointment against the pigeon. is the worm dent body. That O’Callaghan the government could dience we lose ideas. Dharma, a concept at the to a discontent that was already smouldering. (the red shawl becomes his body) whothem argues appoint a chairman without keeping in heart of the story Indian culture, is in In the end, say and the of students, it all comes for dignity of his worm-life the the know is something that wasbefore never being going the play as itself, sometimes lost down to (sometimes a lack of respect for cinema as a sericrushed a chariot to sit wellbywith them.wheel. All four actors flit in butyou’re no one previously acoustranslation) discipline. “If thenot dean of a medical from role to role in argument over who or quainted “I remember having lunch in the boys’ mess withneed it willcertain come out any the wiserBut as college, you qualifications. what the death child. Was to whencaused someone gave of meGautami’s the news. I didn’t its meaning. quibbles Battlecinema is takenThese too lightly andaside, our underit theany snake Was it Yamahave ideathat whopoisoned Gajendrahim? Chauhan was. I’m field remains a powerful and memorable piece standing is limited to Bollywood,” says NachiDeath? WasNadu it Kala-Time? con- of from Tamil so I’ve not Finally watchedthey Mahabhtheatre. It will that be interesting see howfrom it is muthu, adding they weretocertain clude it was die. says Nachi- received arat. Kill mehisif‘destiny’ that’s atocrime,” in India. day one that the government wouldn’t reverse The directors’ describes thefirst Mahabhamuthu. “When I note googled him, the video I its(Battlefield opens the them NCPA,going Mumbai on decision. So whatatkept for 139 rata as “an immense canvas all as-I March saw was of him dancing withcovering Asaram Bapu. 5). stupid idealism,” they laugh. days? “Our pects of human it we find alland the thought ‘Yeh nahiexistence. ho sakta’.”In The final blow, dugdale is a writer based in London mohini chaudhuri questions of our lives, in ahalt wayclasses, that iswas at once the one that made them dis- charty
Q R R
BL
watch cover
saturday, march 5, 2016
Gypsies of the world The World Sacred Spirit Festival overflowed with great music and some impromptu, alchemic collaborations
Going political Protests, following the ban on APSC, helped bring a degree of political awareness to a campus known for being apolitical kv srinivasan
Madras brew
bay, though some of the programmes were privy to impromptu collaborations between not ticketed. artistes who didn’t always speak each other’s The three days were packed with perform- tongue. Tamango, a tap dancer from Papua ances from seven in the morning to 1am. All New Guinea, called in members of the Jaipur three concert venues were within Mehran- Kathak Kendra and did a jugalbandi of rhythm. garh — the Zenana Deodi with its intricately He is known for incorporating native influencarved walls, the sunny Chokhelao Bagh, and ces and exploring ethnic histories within the the twilightsigned venue,off Jaswant Thada — at a sent Srinivasan his mail withlake a motto: medium of tap dancing. out recently banning political activities distance of a to few hundred metres from the in The “On a mission nurture the students of today crowd was awestruck as 31, heitappeared in the institute. Dated January instructed main fort. leaders of tomorrow”. to be change a yellow robe, black feathery trousers and a first-year students to not indulge in activities Mornings begin on thedormant banks of casthe that “The ban would also exposed the shortwould jacket, tapping carefully through the tarnish the institute’s image. They lake, at of thesays fortPratheesh where a cenotaph teism onthe thefoot campus,” Prakash, were sand,also before building it upfrom to apolitical rapturous asked to stay away achasIIT-M beenalumnus, constructed honour ofsupporter Maharaja tivities an whoinwas a vocal dance. The next saw Andrés on the inside theday campus. Such Marín activities are Jaswant Singh II. of the APSC. Bharathan and his APSC comrades against same stage, his bird-like feet of treading lightly the “apolitical nature the institute”, Late-mornings would find usaat Zenana met with stiff opposition from section ofDeostu- the yet circular surely, asaid. black onlythat adornIn bodysuit the news his reports foldi, the historical quarters He of the palace wom- lowed, dents and academics. even received ment. Marín sang with the Divana the dean Srinivasan denied troupe, issuing and any en; afternoons in the luxurious lawns of such threats. “I got messages saying my family the music both underscored a wondrous orders.ofBhaskar Ramamurthi, the direcChokhelaowill Bagh; and evenings under the tor, members be raped and killed,” he says. similarity origin, pointed outbylater. said itofcould beasa Marín “mistake” made his glowing ramparts of Mehrangarh, “All we did was conduct discussions onfrom the colleagues. He finds common ground in many of The administration didforms not rewhose heights the city Ambedkar, below appears like a spond writings of Babasaheb the archinomadic Armenia to Andalusia to to amusic list offrom queries from BLink. The APSC, constellation stars. tect of India’s of Constitution, which is the back- though, Morocco.considers the new developments a Chokhelao Bagh such saw as afternoon performbone of institutions the IITs.” The issue gagUstad Amjad Ali performing withrule his on freedom of Khan, speech. “It is a vague ancessnowballed under Mughal-style cream soon into a controsonscan Amaan and Ayaan, could that be used against students shamianas, where free illustratversy — online and offline. Social justifiably called one in differentbe contexts,” says of onethe of ed copies of the Quran coulddebe media witnessed intense highlights festival.allege The its leaders. of Thethe students picked And up. the administration bates. maestro detailedishow musiconly was this intolerance directed The best thing that Deveshi Sahgal’s The Langas On andJune Manganiyar had to retract. 8, the inSufi in spirit: every song however at left-wing, Dalit student groups happened was several strong voice carried children unconditionally performed on thereinfirst stitute differentright-leaning from another,ones was comwhereas such students took to across the river, her day of the festival, and the Stestated APSC’s recognition, a posed with seven notes, and if as Vivekananda Study Circle and reading The modulation as supple Vande lios Petrakis from Crete move which quartet was welcomed by this oneness, the beauty of this Mataram enjoy official Annihilation of Caste as the waves of the Islands, Greece, performed on DMK chief Muthuvel KarunanidinnocenceThey could not portray the blessings. openly propagate Jaswant Thada lake theamong following day. hi, others. Sufipolitical messageideology of the sole higher the of the RSS In thebelieve former, Many the the APSC young agitaspirit, what else could? and even invite their leaders to group singers,“Itput tion wasofepochal. wastogether unprecKhan’s theFollowing campus, they add. performby Manganiyar edented in the singer historySikander of IITs, which rarely ance, closing act ofdissent,” the day “We support thethe right to express Khan, sang traditional songssays to a Prakash. The says Dheereshwas witness political protests,” Maati Baani, a young folk fuChandra K, the students’ generdelightedhelped crowd. bring a degree of political al protests sion band. They collaborated withnot folkdisrupt artiste secretary at IIT-M. “But it should As twilight it wasfor time to listen awareness to adescended, campus known being apol- the Mooralala Marwada, a firebrand who roused harmony on campus.” However, Chinta to Deveshi Sahgal thewas moonrise kingdom of Bar, itical. “To be fair, in this an achievement,” everybody’s spirits asstudents’ he plucked on hisconsidfamily an independent forum, Jaswant Thada. Many She sang to the accompanisays Bharathan. students agree that the ers heirloom, a 139-year-old decorated beltthe latest developments on the sitar, campus a mentepisode of the sarod, sitar the sarangi. In move APSC gave the them theand confidence to be ing out and Kutchhi folkand songs. He to Marwari silence dissenting voices corner her flowing white robe, a large stone necklace independent vocal with their dissent. kept the audience his not massive studentengrossed, bodies. It may be a and turquoise earrings adorning her, her coincidence “The best thing that happened wasand several moustache bristling, chic turban shining that this his circular comes soon afhair pulled back, a vision. students took upSahgal copies was of The Annihilation of ter under the lights. student uprisings on campuses across the Herby powerful voicesays carried across the river, country Caste Ambedkar,” Bharathan. On thisfollowing concluding night Vemula’s of the festival, enRohith suicide, her as supple as the of the It modulation also highlighted the need forwaves students in says sconced within from a fortress, coma statement Chintathe Bar.people Students say lake, and one could education not help towondering institutions of higher be politi- they pletely gave themselves over toaremusic and will resist if such orders imposed whether the “That’s birds hovering around lake without cally aware. happening, but the slowly,” dance without a care in world. discussion. Thethe250-hectare IIT-Mawere listening in too. a former student lead- dras agrees Deepak Johnson, (World Sacred Spirit Festival 2016 tooksprawl place for long remained a serene, green sang manyisaan Sufiyana er Sahgal of IIT-M. “There urgentkalam, need pausing for stu- in from The writertransforming attended at themeintheFebruary heart of26-29. a chaotically to explain theIITs origin and significance of each tropolis. dents in the to become more politically vitation ofNow The Mehrangarh Museumat Trust.) change is knocking its doors. of them.he says. aware,” p payel jose majumdar The asramparts of Mehrangarh Fort were But of now, that’s a big ask. A circular was jinoy
Political protests have arrived at the doorstep of the ‘proudly apolitical’ IIT-Madras
O
n February 23, 56 teachers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)Madras wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee about their concern over recent developments in institutions of higher education. “Calling for dismemberment and ruin of our country in the name of dissent is not acceptable,” the anguished academics wrote. The statement was reportedly drafted by Shreepad Karmalkar, who teaches at IIT-M’s department of electrical engineering. Karmalkar later told the media that the statement was prompted by the recent agitations in Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad and even IIT-M. “We support intellectual freedom, and alternative views are a must for Stage by stage (clockwise from top left) Deveshi Sehgal atdemocracy Jaswant Thada; and Manganiyar andLangas creativity. However,children there is a payel majumdar of academic perform at Chokelao Bhagh; Tamango with Kathak dancersdeep from the Jaipur gharana distortion of the meaning freedom,” the statement said. odhpur, the blue is encapsulated beBut not many seemcity, to agree. “This is photheIIT-M old and the new: the old, forbidney,”tween says an faculty member who does of the“These Mehrangarh fort and not ding wantramparts to be named. academics apnewer, modern of the pearthe deeply ignorant aboutaesthetics how the governUmaidhas Bhawan theinnocent current residence ment been palace, treating students of the descendants ofhe Jodhpur’s erstwhile royand teachers in JNU,” says. Instead of standal family. The royalty’s ing with their ilk, theylongstanding are dancing patronto the age of tunes, the arts thequite formunfortuof the State’s he has says.taken “This is Mehrangarh Trust, organisers of nate, and the Museum fact is they don’tthe quite believe in three annual music festivals — The Jodhpur giving room for alternative views.” RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), Agrees Akhil Bharathan, a student of develthe Gypsy and and Flamenco Festival, and the opment studies, a member of AmbedkarWorld Sacred Periyar Study Spirit CircleFestival. (APSC), the group which While ‘sacred might sanctimoIIT-M banned in music’ May last year,have triggering nanious connotations the only thing tionwide protests. “Itfor wassome, a paranoid move by hallowed about this musical says carnival the HRD ministry,” Bharathan aboutheld the from The February 26-29 everyone’s love it. ban. group waswas derecognised afterforthe It wasministry not uncommon strike up a conversaHRD receivedtoan anonymous comtion with a visitor at the festival and discover plaint, which it diligently forwarded to IIT-M. thatletter she/he had that planned their trip The alleged the APSC wasIndia sparking around this event. “hatred” against Prime Minister Narendra Mogenteel crowd was also derecognised turned up in di The and city’s Hindus. The group chiffons and violating sharp Jodhpurs, alighting from for allegedly the institute’s code of vintage cars to student step intobody a courtyard echoing conduct. “Your is derecognised with kalams. The steep price the of by theSufiyana institute,” Sivakumar Srinivasan, ₹8,000 perinformed ticket hadthe kept casual attendees at dean, had students over email.
J
Q R R
ND-X _ A
11 15
shoot
saturday, march 5, 2016
BL
12
The noise is the signal A student of Jadavpur University shouts slogans at a rally held in New Delhi to demand action against the alleged molestation her fellow student on campus shanker chakravarty
Liberty bells Students march in Delhi on March 2, protesting the arrest of JNU students ramesh sharma
Down with the stooge Students of Film and Television Institute of India protesting outside the main gate as a governing council meeting progresses with Gajendra Chauhan as chairperson in attendance in January jignesh mistry
Fighting back Snapshots from protests that rocked Indian campuses over the past two years
T
he JNU agitation is making headlines at the moment, but campusdriven protests have been a big part of the political discourse in India for the last couple of years. Following the death of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, students at the University of Hyderabad were furious at the administration (and the Human Resource Development ministry), whose actions, they felt, drove Vemula to suicide. Before this, Jadavpur University spawned the Hokkolorob movement in 2014, where students initially protested the administration’s callous attitude towards a female student’s
molestation complaint. When the administration, in cahoots with an aggressive and unethical police, aided and abetted violent action against its own students, the movement spiralled in scope and intensity. All of these protests were marked by distinguishing features: the rapid build-up of momentum through word of mouth and social media, the attention lavished by print and TV media, and the imaginative art, graffiti and street theatre they inspired. These images are not only about anger and frustration, they are also a testament to the tenacity, creativity and courage under fire showed by these students.
Drona’s malice Students of University of Hyderabad symbolically represent themselves as people whose thumbs were cut off by the teacher kvs giri
BL
shoot
saturday, march 5, 2016
White shirts, black humour Sangwari Theatre Group performs at JNU pti / kamal singh
Gag reel A protest artwork displayed at the FTII campus in Pune paul noronha
True grit The huge turnout of students at a march held in New Delhi on March 2, the day Kanhaiya Kumar was granted interim bail ramesh sharma
ND-X _ A
13
cover watch
saturday, march 5, 2016
BL
14 10
At the epic’s end Peter Brook’s Battlefield focuses on what happens at the close of the Kurukshetra battle, when the victors come to terms with the annihilation
Pune’s discontent
‘Our stupid idealism’ The students say they were certain from day one that the government wouldn’t reverse its decision mandar tannu
The 139-day strike at the Film and Television Institute of India was the culmination of long-brewing disquiet
O A
Compact edition Peter Brook returns to the Mahabharata to present a distilled, pared-down slice of it caroline moreau
ND-X _ A
n a Saturday afternoon, the Film stark the colour of red and stage Television Institute of earth; India scarce lowa (FTII) props: campusbamboo in Punesticks, looks alike stool, lengths of cloth — shawls in deserted island. It’s hard to relate red, blue andImages yellowof — the in heaps; to this tranquil scenery. dramat-a lone musician stage left. Toshi Tsuchitori reic student protests, midnight arrests, and mains on stage throughout, his virtuoso lathi charges that we saw for 139 days last year drumming aninaccompaniment the action. are still fresh memory. I learntoquickly that The tofooled the stage, like calm the kurta-pyjaone backdrop mustn’t be by this veneer. If ma theclosely, actors, is black. youof look the scars of the battle begin Dhritarashtra, by back Sean ChauO’Calto Blind emerge. ‘Ghatak wasplayed here, Go laghan (the onlyGopalakrishnan, Caucasian cast member), enhan’ and ‘Adoor Shyam Beneters. It is Kurukshetra in the immediate gal, Girish Karnad... Gajendra Chauhan?’ aftermath of posters the war.hanging Dhritarashtra laments scream a few from the trees. his role. most “War,”ofhethe cries, is all that Duryodhana Though anti-establishment graffiwould andhas hebeen hadwhitewashed, not stopped these him. ti from have last year Yudhishthira, by Jared McNeill, enters surreptitiouslyplayed re-emerged on the morning of next, equally horrified thechairman, destruction. The January 7 — the day theatnew Gajenbattlefield is strewn corpses, appointmillions dra Chauhan, whose with questionable and millions of them. Dogsvisited and carrion pick at ment set off the protests, the campus. them, women to piece together themasdisI’m later told bytry students that they have membered of their lovedwithout ones. The tered the art parts of putting up posters becorpses areupnot there of cameras course, but we see ing picked by the CCTV — probably them Fortactics Yudhishthira “this has vicone ofnonetheless. the survival this ordeal tory is athem. defeat”; how can he become king? The taught opening of agitation Battlefield,was performed the Young After the called offaton October Vic Theatre in London, something 28 last year, the students feels have slipped backlike inthe end of King Lear. to their routine life of classes and film-makThirty British theatre Peing. Andyears yet, ago, something withindirector them has ter Brookirreversibly. staged a legendary nine-hour prochanged Vikas Urs, a prominent duction of strike, the Mahabharata, face of the now knows followed what it isseveral like to years later by a film adaptation, shorter, but have his phones tapped, be followed by govstill approaching hours, with a vasttelevicast. ernment officials,four brave a prime-time Now in his nineties, Brook — in behind partnership sion debate, and spend a night bars with hisone long-time collaborator (he was of the five students Marie-Helene who were arEstienne has returned to the epic abut prerested on—August 26). “I discovered lotto about sent a distilled, pared-down slice of it.isAt myself. I’m a cinematographer, which pri-a compact 65 minutes andallwith a cast ofstrike only marily a solitary job. But through the four playing the three main characters — I wasactors representing students both to the Yudhishthira, Dhritarashtra and IKunti — media and the government — things had nevalong with a host of other people and to animals, er done before. Everything I said had have a Battlefield focuses Ion what happens the end certain gravitas. also had to keepat the stuof the motivated war. It follows the characters as they dents through those months. It come to terms with thesays annihilation and was a huge responsibility,” the 31-year-old. dramatises keythat, scenes to the end of Having said the through walls of FTII have seen
and heard many cries of protest since its birth covering that Chauhan wasn’t the only surthe epic.The last major stand-off was in 2010 contemporary in 1968. and urgent.” Why has Brook reprise appointment. There were positions of After wide-angled the turned when thethe UPA governmentdescriptions had plans toof privato it now? Does Indian epic ‘canpower being handed outthis to others like Anagha battlefield, the play through zooms in. In a moving tise the institution a backdoor ar- vas’ most effectively describe certain truths Ghaisas and Shailesh Gupta — both infamous scene, Kunti,Then played Carole Karemera, in- that rangement. too,bydemonstrations went Brook, now inpropaganda his tenth decade, learnt for their political films.has “What if structs Yudhishthira perform oblations for about on for six months, buttodidn’t match the severthe world? tomorrow The futilitysays of war its the government thatbut every Karna. Why? heofasks. In her reda endless ity or precision this one. “Wehands knew the it was perpetuation, difficulty of right batch has to make onethe film that praises the shawl becomes infant Karna put forth in a action, long haul so wethe had to continue strategising of ‘doing good’ (to“Iborrow fromChauGurprime minister?” asks Urs. remember basket on the Ganga.We And as separate Kunti relates and re-strategising. had unitsher to charan Das),asked the moral shades of grey walk han being on one of the TV we debates story wethe witness agonising re- among handle press,Yudhishthira’s the social media, and PR ac— thewould fact that we are somehow alabout what happen toall a student if he alisation that he and were brothers. An- ways tivities. Everyone onKarna the campus was given madeimplicated. a film that was anti-Modi. He just said, ‘I other close-up: Maybe Yudhishthira some responsibility. because wecradles make will Alllook of this comes in Battlefield — and into it at across that time’,” adds Urs, to Duryodhana (played Ery people Nzaramba, who very films, we know how by to get together proveeffectively his point. for a Western audience still switches nimbly from character and divide work well,” says Urs. to character) mostly ignorant of classical culture. These arbitrary Indian decisions notonIn the battlefield as the he dies. “No many respects, FTII is a I’m not Indianthe but I have withstanding, FTII has asome fair good man is entirely good; no unique academic institution. acquaintance with thisloopholes culture, amount of systemic bad man is liberal entirelyspace bad,” whisIt’s an open, where and the aspects of Battlefield irked. that students were already When I googled him, pers Yudhishthira as Duryodhathe students are granted voting While there are grappling with. Forobvious starters,advanevery Does this Indian epic the first video I saw na breathes last. council, rights in thehis academic tages of a small — not least course extends forcast almost two or most effectively was of him dancing Nzaramba becomes which gives them a sayBhishma in imthat years the production andduis three beyond its can official describe certain with Asaram Bapu waiting his death not perportant for matters like — deciding going An to travel — wesyllabus lose characration. unrealistic and truths that Brook, in forated with Its arrows but of seated the syllabus. strength 250 ters ofequipment significance. no dated areThere some are of the his tenth decade, has sage-like, swathed students centre-stage, includes a psychiaPandava brothers Battlefield other problems on in their “huge learnt about the in thefrom yellowthe shawl. trist UK as well as except Yudhishthira. There is no list”. Yashasvi Mishra, another world? The dharma sermon ofthree the epsomeone who had to sell acres to pay the prominent face Draupadi. Gandhari is recently missing of the strike, and who ic becomes lively year, parables tuition fee. three Also, every an apolitical stu- graduated, remembers from two of most compelling hethe was enrolled for the in which actors as take the watchdog of 2010 batch scenes dent bodythe is elected theon official in the second half ofeight the but his classes started parts of animals. In function the storylike of a welfare so- months laterproduction the larger body. “We — the departure of because there weren’t enough righteous Shibu, a wide-eyed ciety here.king We fight forKaremera the rightsisof the work- Dhritarashtra Kunti for the forest and rooms in the and hostel to accommodate stupigeon, predatory falcon says and their ers here,O’Callaghan for ourselves,a and for the mess,” walk towards the flames. dents.later “During those months, there was no two bambooNachimuthu, sticks become the scales on Harishankar a second-year di- communication More irksome from perhaps is that in the imthem,” he says. Therewhich king weighs own cut-away rectionthe student and thehis president of theflesh stu- pulse to universalise the storyonly for aadded globalfuel aufore, Chauhan’s appointment against the pigeon. O’Callaghan is the worm dent body. That the government could dience we lose ideas. Dharma, a concept at the to a discontent that was already smouldering. (the red shawl becomes his body) whothem argues appoint a chairman without keeping in heart of the story Indian culture, is in In the end, say and the of students, it all comes for dignity of his worm-life being the the the know is something that wasbefore never going play as itself, sometimes lost down to (sometimes a lack of respect for cinema as a sericrushed a chariot to sit wellbywith them.wheel. All four actors flit in but no one previously acoustranslation) discipline. “If you’re thenot dean of a medical from role to role in argument over who or quainted “I remember having lunch in the boys’ mess withneed it will come out any the wiserBut as college, you certain qualifications. what the death of Gautami’s Was to whencaused someone gave me the news.child. I didn’t its meaning. quibbles Battlecinema is takenThese too lightly andaside, our underit theany snake Was it Yamahave ideathat whopoisoned Gajendrahim? Chauhan was. I’m field remains a powerful and memorable piece standing is limited to Bollywood,” says NachiDeath? WasNadu it Kala-Time? con- of from Tamil so I’ve not Finally watchedthey Mahabhtheatre. It willthat be interesting see howfrom it is muthu, adding they weretocertain clude it was die. says Nachi- received arat. Kill mehisif‘destiny’ that’s atocrime,” in India. day one that the government wouldn’t reverse The directors’ note describes thefirst Mahabhamuthu. “When I googled him, the video I its(Battlefield opens the them NCPA,going Mumbai on decision. So whatatkept for 139 rata as “an immense canvas all as-I March saw was of him dancing with covering Asaram Bapu. 5). stupid idealism,” they laugh. days? “Our pects of human it final we find alland the thought ‘Yeh nahiexistence. ho sakta’.”In The blow, dugdale is a writer based in London mohini chaudhuri questions of made our lives, in halt a wayclasses, that iswas at once the one that them dis- charty
Q R R
BL
watch cover
saturday, march 5, 2016
Gypsies of the world The World Sacred Spirit Festival overflowed with great music and some impromptu, alchemic collaborations
Going political Protests, following the ban on APSC, helped bring a degree of political awareness to a campus known for being apolitical kv srinivasan
Madras brew
bay, though some of the programmes were privy to impromptu collaborations between not ticketed. artistes who didn’t always speak each other’s The three days were packed with perform- tongue. Tamango, a tap dancer from Papua ances from seven in the morning to 1am. All New Guinea, called in members of the Jaipur three concert venues were within Mehran- Kathak Kendra and did a jugalbandi of rhythm. garh — the Zenana Deodi with its intricately He is known for incorporating native influencarved walls, the sunny Chokhelao Bagh, and ces and exploring ethnic histories within the the twilightsigned venue,off Jaswant Thada — at a sent Srinivasan his mail withlake a motto: medium tap dancing. out of recently banning political activities distance of a to few hundred metres from the in The “On a mission nurture the students of today crowd wasDated awestruck as 31, heitappeared in the institute. January instructed main fort. leaders of tomorrow”. to be change a yellow robe, black feathery trousers and a first-year students to not indulge in activities Mornings begin on thedormant banks of casthe that “The ban would also exposed the shortwould jacket, tapping the tarnish the carefully institute’sthrough image. They lake, at of thesays fortPratheesh where a cenotaph teism onthe thefoot campus,” Prakash, were sand,also before building it upfrom to apolitical rapturous asked to stay away achasIIT-M beenalumnus, constructed honour of supporter Maharaja tivities an whoinwas a vocal dance. The next day saw Andrés on the inside the campus. Such Marín activities are Jaswant Singh II. of the APSC. Bharathan and his APSC comrades against same stage, his bird-like feet of treading lightly the “apolitical nature the institute”, Late-mornings would find usaatsection Zenana met with stiff opposition from ofDeostu- the yet circular surely, asaid. black onlythat adornIn bodysuit the news his reports foldi, the historical quarters He of the palace wom- lowed, dents and academics. even received ment. Marín sang with the Divana the dean Srinivasan denied troupe, issuing and any en; afternoons in the luxurious lawns of such threats. “I got messages saying my family the music ofBhaskar both underscored a wondrous orders. Ramamurthi, the direcChokhelaowill Bagh; and evenings under the tor, members be raped and killed,” he says. similarity origin, pointed outby later. said itofcould beasa Marín “mistake” made his glowing ramparts of Mehrangarh, “All we did was conduct discussions onfrom the colleagues. He finds common ground in many of The administration didforms not rewhose heights the city Ambedkar, below appears like a spond writings of Babasaheb the archinomadic Armenia to Andalusia to to amusic list offrom queries from BLink. The APSC, constellation stars. tect of India’s of Constitution, which is the back- though, Morocco.considers the new developments a Chokhelao Bagh such saw as afternoon performbone of institutions the IITs.” The issue gag Ustad Amjad Ali performing withrule his on freedom ofKhan, speech. “It is a vague ancessnowballed under Mughal-style cream soon into a controsonscan Amaan and Ayaan, could that be used against students shamianas, where free illustratversy — online and offline. Social justifiably called one in differentbe contexts,” says of onethe of ed copies of the Quran coulddebe media witnessed intense highlights festival.allege The its leaders. of Thethe students picked And up. the administration bates. maestro detailedishow musiconly was this intolerance directed The best thing that Deveshi Sahgal’s The Langas On andJune Manganiyar had to retract. 8, the inSufi in spirit: every song however at left-wing, Dalit student groups happened was several strong voice carried children unconditionally performed on the reinfirst stitute different right-leaning from another,ones was comwhereas such students took to across the river, her day of the festival, and the Ste-a stated APSC’s recognition, posed with seven notes, and if as Vivekananda Study Circle and reading The as supple Vande lios Petrakis from Crete move which quartet was welcomed by modulation this oneness, the beauty of this Mataram enjoy official Annihilation of Caste as the waves of the Islands, Greece, performed on DMK chief Muthuvel KarunanidinnocenceThey could not portray the blessings. openly propagate Jaswant Thada lake theamong following day. hi, others. Sufi political messageideology of the sole higher the of the RSS In thebelieve former, Many the the APSCyoung agitaspirit, what else could? and even invite their leaders to group ofepochal. singers,“Itput tion was wastogether unprecKhan’s theFollowing campus, they add. performby Manganiyar edented in the singer historySikander of IITs, which rarely ance, closing act ofdissent,” the day “We support thethe right to express Khan, sang traditional songssays to a Prakash. The says Dheeresh witness political protests,” was Maati Baani, a young folk fuChandra K, the students’ generdelightedhelped crowd. bring a degree of political al protests sion band. They collaborated withnot folkdisrupt artiste secretary at IIT-M. “But it should As twilight it wasfor time to listen awareness to adescended, campus known being apol- the Mooralala Marwada, a firebrand who roused harmony on campus.” However, Chinta to Deveshi Sahgal thewas moonrise kingdom of Bar, itical. “To be fair, in this an achievement,” everybody’s spirits asstudents’ he plucked on hisconsidfamily an independent forum, Jaswant Thada. Many She sang to the accompanisays Bharathan. students agree that the ers heirloom, a 139-year-old decorated belt-a the latest developments on the sitar, campus ment episode of the sarod, sitar the sarangi. In move APSC gavethe them theand confidence to be ing out and Kutchhi folkand songs. He to Marwari silence dissenting voices corner her flowing white robe, a large stone necklace independent vocal with their dissent. kept the audience his not massive studentengrossed, bodies. It may be a and turquoise earrings adorning her, her coincidence “The best thing that happened wasand several moustache bristling, chic turban shining that this his circular comes soon afhair pulled back, a vision. students took upSahgal copieswas of The Annihilation of ter under the lights. student uprisings on campuses across the Herby powerful voicesays carried across the river, country Caste Ambedkar,” Bharathan. On thisfollowing concluding night Vemula’s of the festival, enRohith suicide, herIt modulation as supple as the of the also highlighted the need forwaves students in says sconced within from a fortress, coma statement Chintathe Bar.people Students say lake, and one could education not help to wondering institutions of higher be politi- they pletely gave themselves over toare music and will resist if such orders imposed whether the “That’s birds hovering around lake without cally aware. happening, but the slowly,” dance without a care in the250-hectare world. discussion. The IIT-Mawere listening in too. a former student lead- dras agrees Deepak Johnson, (World Sacred Spirit Festival 2016 tooksprawl place for long remained a serene, green sang manyisaan Sufiyana er Sahgal of IIT-M. “There urgentkalam, needpausing for stu- in from The writertransforming attended at themeintheFebruary heart of26-29. a chaotically to explain theIITs origin and significance of each tropolis. dents in the to become more politically vitation ofNow The Mehrangarh Museumat Trust.) change is knocking its doors. of them.he says. aware,” p payel jose majumdar The asramparts of Mehrangarh Fort were But of now, that’s a big ask. A circular was jinoy
Political protests have arrived at the doorstep of the ‘proudly apolitical’ IIT-Madras
O
n February 23, 56 teachers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)Madras wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee about their concern over recent developments in institutions of higher education. “Calling for dismemberment and ruin of our country in the name of dissent is not acceptable,” the anguished academics wrote. The statement was reportedly drafted by Shreepad Karmalkar, who teaches at IIT-M’s department of electrical engineering. Karmalkar later told the media that the statement was prompted by the recent agitations in Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad and even IIT-M. “We support intellectual freedom, and alternative views are a must for Stage by stage (clockwise from top left) Deveshi Sehgal atdemocracy Jaswant Thada; and Manganiyar andLangas creativity. However,children there is a payel majumdar of academic perform at Chokelao Bhagh; Tamango with Kathak dancersdeep from the Jaipur gharana distortion of the meaning freedom,” the statement said. odhpur, the blue is encapsulated beBut not many seemcity, to agree. “This is photheIIT-M old and the new: the old, forbidney,”tween says an faculty member who does of the“These Mehrangarh fort and not ding wantramparts to be named. academics apnewer, modern aesthetics of the pearthe deeply ignorant about how the governUmaidhas Bhawan theinnocent current residence ment beenpalace, treating students of the descendants ofhe Jodhpur’s erstwhile royand teachers in JNU,” says. Instead of standal family. The royalty’s ing with their ilk, theylongstanding are dancing patronto the age of tunes, the arts formunfortuof the State’s he has says.taken “This the is quite Mehrangarh Trust, the organisers of nate, and the Museum fact is they don’t quite believe in three annual music festivals — The Jodhpur giving room for alternative views.” RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), Agrees Akhil Bharathan, a student of develthe Gypsy and and Flamenco Festival, and the opment studies, a member of AmbedkarWorld Sacred Periyar Study Spirit CircleFestival. (APSC), the group which While ‘sacred might sanctimoIIT-M banned in music’ May last year,have triggering nanious connotations the only thing tionwide protests. “Itfor wassome, a paranoid move by hallowed about this musical says carnival the HRD ministry,” Bharathan aboutheld the from The February 26-29 everyone’s love it. ban. group waswas derecognised afterforthe It wasministry not uncommon strike up a conversaHRD receivedtoan anonymous comtion with a visitor at the festival and discover plaint, which it diligently forwarded to IIT-M. thatletter she/he had that planned their trip The alleged the APSC wasIndia sparking around this event. “hatred” against Prime Minister Narendra Mogenteel crowd was also derecognised turned up in di The andcity’s Hindus. The group chiffons and violating sharp Jodhpurs, alighting from for allegedly the institute’s code of vintage cars to step intobody a courtyard echoing conduct. “Your student is derecognised with kalams. The steep price the of by theSufiyana institute,” Sivakumar Srinivasan, ₹8,000had perinformed ticket hadthe kept casual attendees at dean, students over email.
J
Q R R
ND-X _ A
11 15
read cover
BL BL 168
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Leaving the shore Jhumpa Lahiri moved to Rome in 2012, along with her family shutterstock/ andria raffin
swimming along the edge of a lake. “To know a new language, to immerse yourself, you have to leave the shore. Without a life vest.” Lahiri ‘left the shore’ in 2012 and moved to Rome, along with her husband and two young children, to plunge headlong into Italian. “Rome — the first time I was there, in 2003, I felt a sense of rapture, an affinity. I seemed to know it already.” Affinity — I understand that too. In a way, I have always felt this connection with Italy, with Italian. The first time I visited in 2013, everything seemed new, yet familiar. Not because you have already seen countless pictures of the Colosseum in Rome or Brunelleschi’s engineering masterpiece crowning Florence’s cathedral, or Venice’s Grand Canal. No, it was deeper than that. Reading the street signs, shop names and menus in Italian (a language I now understood), or hearing the harried permesso (excuse me) on the metro. Or the perplexing allora — that catch-all word that can mean anything from ‘so’ and ‘well then’ to ‘hey’ or ‘at that time’, a filler that Italians use so often, a word that I took to using during the month I travelled around the country. Just the fact that I knew the language made the country seem like home. In 2014 I went back to Italy for another Turning point Rohith Vemula has become an icon of the struggle for Dalit rights in a way that could redefine studentmonth, politics inthis India.time An artist final touches to asouth alsogives making it further sculpture of Vemula kvs giri to Sicily, into small towns where people hardly speak English. In fact, they speak Sicilian, not Italian. In the tiny, medieval-era town of Piazza Armerina, where my B&B hostess literally spoke one word of English (okay), I got by with my halting Italian. Yet, like Lahiri, I can feel the foreign-ness of the language on my tongue. As she says, “We didn’t grow up with one another. This language is not in my blood, in my bones.” As I read In Other Words, I am struck by how Lahiri’s growing confidence in Italian shows he shopping complex or “shop- man Resource Development. Soon, politicians up sayson V Sunkanna, friend Vemula and one of the pages.a In the of beginning, the sencom”, a popular hangout at the Uni- of various hues descended on the campus. tences the fiveare debarred students. memshorter, quicker.InByfact, all ASA accounts, versity of Hyderabad (UoH), looks Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi came Goldstein’s bers have travelled to allhas universities Telantranslation remainedin faithful strikingly different from what it was twice in 10 days. Delhi chief minister Arvind to gana and Andhra to mobilise support Lahiri’s writing,Pradesh so you can quite clearly see a couple of months ago. On a usual day, it is Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram the andvocabulary organised ‘Chalo Delhi’the protests. has improving, syntax“This getting dotted with students photocopying study ma- Yechury expressed solidarity with the Dalit more drawncomplex, tremendous response and we will conas Lahiri progresses through terial or young couples snatching a few mo- students and slammed the Narendra Modi the tinue the agitation,” says. of The agitating book. There are ahe couple short storiesstuin ments of togetherness. The place gets government. dents too, are and demanding the are arrest of Union there though they written quite deserted at night as Gopal’s shop, more popEven as the university limps back to normal- simply, ministers Smriti andthat Bandaru there’s noIrani doubt there’sDattatreya a skilledularly known as Gops, near the women’s hos- cy after a shutdown for two weeks, the episode writer behind for their allegedthe role in the campus strife. They prose. tels was always the meeting place of choice has made a lasting impact on the want actionstyle, against for “In Italian also I write without in aRao primilater in the day. campus community’s thinking “driving” Vemula This to very suicide. tive way. I’m always uncertain.” anxResearch scholar Rohith Vemula’s death has on key issues pertaining to the Their now writing shifted iety and basic styleagitation renders has Lahiri’s transformed the “shop-com” into a hub of pro- Dalits as well as agitations and tothan Delhi and foundbooks. strength more personal her previous Thein ‘I’ The episode has test. The walls are covered with slogans and politics. Set up in 1974, the UoH the here, ongoing by JNUisstudents. is more obvious the stir struggle more reimpacted the way the graffiti decrying Dalit oppression. A stupa has till date seen nine of its Dalit judicial is al, and for all toMeanwhile, see. It mustahave not probe been an students and erected in memory of Vemula, whose suicide students commit suicide. There to determine the factors who that easy book foron Lahiri to write. For someone university community last month triggered widespread protests have been periodic agitations by led toputting the suicide. Theof past two seems so private, so much herself think about key weekend I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s across thehis country, shelters under a tent. Scat- know whybelonging I chose to to study students theItalian. com- I had learnt on paper must months havean shown thattask. the Iagihave been arduous reissues In Other Words, her maiden book in tered groups of students and a handful of French school, but was hardly fluent. It member standing munity.in “But in the 34I years of tatinginstudents havequeue been able to a mile-long on the Italian (originally In Altre watchful cops occupy the complex now.Parole), might have Ibeen to brush my service, havesmarter never seen an up French, lawns of Diggi goPalace beyond and sucat the the campus Jaipur Literature translated into English Ann GoldTwenty-five-year-old Vemula hasbybecome an or learn Spanish German, or even Mandarin Festival in 2014, agitation of thisor scale, in which cessfully position their to problem waiting for a chance get my stein, who also translated icon of thehas struggle for Dalit Elena rightsFerrante’s in a way — languages thatvice-chancellor’s have a larger ‘application’ in copy of The as the role of the a national issue. a veLowland signed by“There Lahiri.isEven wildly successful Neapolitan Actually, that could redefine student Quartet. politics in India. the global scheme of things.says M Periasamy, ry good response office has been questioned,” students and leadersdisin then,from I could see her obvious ‘read’ is among not correct; ‘devoured hungrily, in one He was the five students belonging to theMy teacher Valentino insisted, current vice-chancellor in-charge. Delhi. We want to find permanent solution comfort at abeing in the spotlight. sitting’ is moreStudents like it. Association (ASA) who from the Ambedkar beginning, that The the Dalitvery vs non-Dalit divide on the campus to end atrocities against Seshu, After threeDalits,” years insays Rome, Lahi-a It’s asuspended short book,for a collection essays,on tracwere an allegedofattack N we English when remained we is aneschew old one, but had largely non-inDalitsostudentrileader, who returned is in Delhito to the mobilhas now US For someone ing Lahiri’s fascination with herunit strugSusheel Kumar, president ofItalian, the UoH of speak class. It was a difficult vasive in and issue-based. Not any more. Some ise support. with a prestigious tenure at Prinprivate, putting so gles learning it, her Parishad move to (ABVP), Rome, her Akhilwith Bharatiya Vidyarthi the process; and students the are grammar angry that thesentwo-week shutAs on for theceton. politicisation of the stir, with Will she continue writing much of herself writing exclusively in Italian, turn- tence BJP-affiliated student body. and The finally suspended formation is quite differ- paper down has disrupted their academic schedule. many partiesinpulling different directions, Italian?inWill she return to Enmust have been ing out this memoir of asorts. youngsters moved to makeshift shelter at ent English. Little by little, of Vemula “Wefrom are upset at the ill-treatment Periasamy agues is not necessarily a bad glishthat forither next book? Only Laan arduous task startedcomplex learningand Italian 20 yearstheir ago, short theLahiri shopping continued sentences becameBut possiand other ASA students. we can’t lose our thing. “Therehiri will knows always be ideolo(orpolitical perhaps she after heragainst first trip to university’s Florence. Sheaction. explains her ble, protest the Vemuyet I’dlife shybeyond away from speakacademic a point. Why bring poli- gies for youngsters too,” he says, before hasdoesn’t). love for theon language book; “WhatcounI feel ing la’s suicide Januaryin17the sent the entire them. myCan’t confidence tics into this As issue? we fight for justice as tening to add As that for the me, politics I’m still should waiting be to is physical, inexplicable. It stirs an grew, trysomething into a shock. His suicide note cited Valentino I were asks able a postgradu- healthy and not students beyondand politics?” driven jump into by theparty lake agendas. without a life indiscreet, absurd An exquisite personal reasons andlonging. did not blame anybody to short bursts of conversations, without vest. atehave student who wishes to remain unnamed. After all, as IVemula had put it in his remarkThough admit that the idea of living in tension.” for his extreme step. myDalit cringing atupmy atrocious students,mentally who make one-fourth of Italy ably scholarly suicide note: “politics, a science for an extended period has crossed my Inexplicable — I understand that. Five years pronunciation. There were allegations that vice-chancellor the 5,500-strong campus, see a long and bitter mind that tears soul apart from body” was morethe than once. In Other the Words has cerago, while a sabbatical, I started studying P Appa Raoonhad acted against the Dalit stu- fight Still, English is my language (as tainly ahead. “There is dominant a realisation that brahnot forgiven him. me some food for thought. the language at the Indo-Italian Chamber of Lahiri dents under pressure from the Union Minister calls it), the language think in, the and lanminical domination cannot Igo on forever is a Mumbai-based writer g naga joshi sridhar Commerce in Mumbai. of Labour asand wellIndustry as the Union MinistryIofdon’t Hu- guage use asreceiving a crutch. Lahiri from likensallthis to prachi we haveI been support over,”
Hyderabad blues
Rohith Vemula’s death has redefined student politics in the University of Hyderabad
T
Found in translation
Q
Jhumpa Lahiri’s memoir about learning to write in Italian is an act of great literary courage
T In Other Words Jhumpa Lahiri Penguin India Non-fiction ₹399
R Q R
ND-X _ A
read cover
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Kolkata marches on At Jadavpur University, #Hokkolorob, more than just two words of protest clubbed together by a hashtag, has infused new blood into a campus that was always political
Mining for trouble Members of Goa Mining People’s Front staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar in April 2013, urging the central government to restart mining operations in Goa. v sudershan
A Goan kind of greed Hartman De Souza’s book is a harrowing document of greed and crony capitalism
H I
Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa Hartman De Souza Harper Litmus Non-fiction ₹350
ere I am at both an advantage and disadvantage as a reviewer. I know Hartman De Souza. He is a friend. Fortunately, we have also always spoken our minds. A fellow journalist at the time, he introduced me to historical and emotional nua weekday afternoon, ancest is of2.30 Goapm andonGoans in New Delhi in and the an ominous quietude over late 1980s. I finally movedhangs to Goa in Jadav2004, pur University Pro-JNU posters sloughing off a career(JU). in mainstream media adorn the walls of the and arts write department’s to independently research on matunion some students, ters of room, conflictwhile and human rights. immersed in With conversation, huddle has neararrived the Worldview this immersion substanbookstore — a meeting point of been sorts.pillaged, The toptial awareness of how Goa has ic of discussion is ainpro-azaadi rally by a group how grand plans the garb of development that itself Radical. existcalls to continue this pillage and, also, that This is JU,more one aofwilling the country’s most politiGoa is ever concubine, perhaps cally campuses home to the #Hokfatallyactive addicted to the and all-too-easy-money that kolorob there be noise) that mining, (let construction and movement tourism bring. shook government, galvanised disWhile Ithe havestate written of these matters in a book parate student groups thouand several articles, my and workconvinced cannot replace sands to amarch in theand heart that from Goan’s heart soul. of AndKolkata so I indemanding justice, in September “#Hoktroduce De Souza’s book Eat Dust:2014. Mining and kolorob was as theanfirst time I saw took part Greed in Goa emotional andand very personin student against movement. al aoutburst thisWe Goahad of street coin —theatre these and poster campaigns college Goans of coin. Mining in of my ironprevious ore, which has but it was moreto awareness-oriented. brought wealth a few but misery to #Hokkomany, in lorob was about to a place; the war particular, the belonging indigenous communities of Hogwarts, as it village were. What it did was whose lands and commons havecreate been athe place for conversation, whereofone hardest hit, is the bedrock his could reviewask of ‘why’ andin‘what was happening a society churn. Things got so politically bad that, around world’,” Unmesh Dublay, a spurred the by the Justicesays MB Shah Commission’s second-year student of film studies JU.manreport on illegal mining of iron oreat and The likening to Harry Potter’s alganese in Goa and elsewhere thatfictitious was tabled ma mater is notthe without reason. On in Parliament, government of February Goa was 19, when anto ABVP goaded by2012. BJP national compelled banrally, mining in late secretary Rahulfeeling Sinha’siscry “beat up”as JUfact, stuTo De Souza, asto important dents for indulging in “anti-national” activsometimes more so. When streams are choked ities the name of solidarity with JNU, almost within mining detritus, to his overwrought ears reached the gates of JU, its teaching nontheir reduced trickle is like a widow’sand lament. teaching staff human chain arounda This denial of formed water, aalife-force, is as much the students to book “stop as any form of violence”. leitmotif for his a denial to people he “This is the kindthe of Gavde, atmosphere we havehe here. identifies with, a community deProfessors to think and question scribes as encourage wronged us and trapped into the instead of stamping outofany dissent,” says Shodownstream economy mining. This is typima a second-year student of everything the engineercal Roy, of De Souza’s book, where is
Up in arms A 2014 photo shows students of Jadavpur provenance, and her mother Dora’sUniversity courage outside governor’s in standing by her daughter and the standing up residence, demanding to the mining operations ofaction another powerful against police politician, Dinar Tarcar, is excesses today part of Goa’s on campus
worn on the sleeves, quite like the dressage of present-day Goa: one sleeve cuff-linked, the other tattered. The most wrenching chapter, besides being mahapatra the best-written one in the book, is surely ‘Re- activism legend — and partpti/swapan of Eat Dust. So is the membering Paik’s Temple’, a paean to an epo- complicity of mining interests and media, easnymous warrior-deity, a protector of the ily accomplished as the Dempos, Salgaocars ing department. waters. In De Souza’s telling, the villagers of up a poor driver is harassed by corandwhen Timblos owntaxi several major Goan newspaHowever, a little realised more than a year ago, had the rupt Cawrem suddenly what mining policemen. I know you will say I am being pers between them. university wassocially literallydisadvantaged under siege. ItVelip began wrought. The of idealistic, butDeI feel that these movements givea However, Souza’s review is also often with a peaceful demonstration organised by us the village, especially the women, saw their a push,” rant. Theresays is aRoy. shrillness of purpose, and a students. “The authorities re- touch lives, fields anduniversity streams choked with didn’t ore dust, However, in Kolkata, much of paranoia whenpolitics it comesistoasthe creeda spond complaint of molestation by a part even as to theamoney their children earned from of life onmoneymaking campus as staying all night of aggressive that up weaken the woman student,”land saysto Roy. In thewas early hours selling ore-rich miners used to to meet deadlines, raising college otherwise moving —in parts,funds even for mesmerisof September 17,clothing, 2014, Kolkata policeelectrontrooped festivals flash hip urban consumer or organising late-night But ing — narrative of Eat Dust. So theparties. Gavde and into the new campus after Back protestors gheraoed so far, in celebrated ics and vehicles. in colleges in likesocial Presidency their colleagues ostravice-chancellor Abhijit and a few and JU it is partly 2010 the women triedChakraborty to band matter of fostering politicism aare the victims, the upperother members of the administration. Stu- cal consciousness; together in a “back-to-agriculin many others it is aand bittercaste Saraswat Brahmins updents were lathicharged, ture platform”, he writes — and echo-many ly partisan, often converts violent tocontest for Catholicism Towomen De Souza feeling is per-caste protestors molested and groped. “That’s ing also a were not-always practical supremacy. However, Arpita Mukhopadhyay, a the villains of economics. This as important as fact, when wetogot together That’s solution mining thatto hetake offersa stand. postgraduate student of Bengali, contends logic is blindsided by the entirely sometimes more so how was born,” says Dublay. that campus democratic in the#Hokkolorob book. politics imparts a sense of comand cross-denominaMore thanportrayals a year later, of JU finds itBeside village munity. “At thethat endrules of theGoa, day, no tional greed in self in the midst another communities, theoftrue valuestuof matter whichand mother party rulwe which upper lower-caste dent’s movement. Since prothe this book may be De Souza’s are affiliated to, wealike will participaalways be ers and the ruled tragic of Rohith in the clivity death to name names,Vemula in his book of ofte, students of JU says. this fact at first,” handshe serves Atdevils the end theevery day, available January this year, various bodies depredation, those who he marks as no having Madhura Chakraborty, who truth, but it is evidently a narrative-spoiler. matter which in the campus havea life organised wrenched Goa from of rural idyll to a hel-party graduated JU’s English Secular, greedfrom is perhaps unsexy.demother we arepan-social more thanprosperity. a dozen Politicians events to fromaffiliated ter-skelter the first to, we partment in 2009 and keeps visIt also appears there is no school will sometimes condemn “systematic persecu- Bandodkar chief minister of Goa, Dayanand iting the campus frequently, of protest good enough for De Souza except always be students of tion of family student in the themost destrucand his to voices arguably the urgency one sees the De Souzainsists Schoolthat of Protest. He diminishes JU first city”. “Thisthe is not just about tive from perspective of stumining, Prataps- the cumulative in the students now isover also the beeffect of protests dents, the attitude the BJP govingh Rane and a sub-species all by himself, years and trumps causethe of the wayofsocial media efforts others withhas his ernment towards usprominent reflects Digambarhas Kamat, find mention. undeniable activist made knowledge more passion. It is as if accessihe, his their stand on every issue,”families, says The pre-eminent mining “Dempo, family and hisble. “Today, if the a student is beaten acolytes are only ones to not Shammo a student of Bengali. Salgaocar,Naam, Timblo and Chowgule” are part of up University Hyderabad wethe know about sellin out. That is aof conceit, and for good Eat was it #Hokkolorob that whose changed the it theBut rogues’ gallery. The Timblos, depreinstantly. I was in Goa’s JU, many of us Dust may doWhen to spotlight spiralling narrative of the politics ofI Jadavpur dations and glibstudent media handling too have would go to the farmer uprisings (at in Singur greed and evident self-destruction a time University? “I became the and seen firsthand at one ofmore their aware miningofoperNandigram, and we continued to engage when mining operations have partly reworld after incident, yes.farm It was ations around not far me from histhe sister Cheryl’s — with issues non-partisan ways.the Butlikes today, sumed), Goain deserves better from of aindeed, jolt foratus,the even though of Jadavpur always invitation Cheryl has — come in students De Souza.have a much more collative underbeen politically conscious,” says Naam. Roy, standing of the world around them and that’s for special contempt and exposure. Refreshsudeepgood,” chakravarti is the author of several books who herself “fairly apolitical” till really ingly,considered facts unerringly follow feeling. says Chakraborty. theCheryl’s JNU incident, feels such movements al- of narrative non-fiction and fiction, including firm refusal to sell her ore-richare land Clear.Hold.Build: Hard Businessbased and nandi is aLessons freelanceofjournalist so about empowerment. “Today,Goan whenpoliticI walk debapriya to Joaquim Alemao, a powerful Human KolkataRights in India the Kolkata, know I should speak in ian streets from aoffamily of Isupremely aggressive
Q R Q R
ND-X _ A
9 17BL BL
read cover
BL BL 186
shutterstock
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
READER’S DIE JEST
An impossible read Universities on the boil
Same script It is the same bogey of ‘anti-nationalism’ that is being raised in JNU too. Meanwhile, at the campus, students put out notes and cards for their friends arrested for sedition pti
The conversation that (surely) led to the writing of Durjoy Datta’s Our Impossible Love
E U
ditor: Do you think we take rape too you prove to him he had gay sex? who wants to write about all those With the long-excluded marginalised communities entering thebecause domain of knowledge, seriously in our country? Writer: Same way he proved to the girl she struggles? Writer:have Yeah. I mean, all this talk hadfor consensual Editor: And who wants read about them universities become theof hub newsex. questions and ideas that challenge oldtonotions
aditya nigam
Our Impossible Love Durjoy Datta Penguin India Fiction ₹175
ND-X _ A
capital punishment and castration, man, it’s so <rolls his eyes>. niversities and institutions of highEditor: So, how do we turn the standard narer learning today rative around rape on its head?are in revolt — against attempts to reduce them to Writer: WTF is a narrative? a factory for story. the production of Editor: Story. The usual You know, like mindless date rape.automatons That’s not… — either in the service of Writer: the neo-liberal/corporate machine or of Hey. Date rape is a thing. So are latea mind-numbing, virulent and Hindu periods, homosexuality, thenationalism. untalented If the neo-liberal wantsgenius. universities to churn brother of the start-up outEditor: peopleWhat whoelse? would become cogs in the corI need more drama. porate machine, Hindutva forces seek to turn Writer: That’s how we roll in this business. all educational institutions into factories, How about a fistfight, vomiting, video gamemass-producing pre-programmed Hinduyour naplay, breasts, pimples, alcohol, sharing tionalists like whoonly will losers eat, read lovevirginity, only as virginity, loseand their prescribed. right? But there is antoair among Editor: I have gooftodesperation the bathroom. Backthe in powerful, since, for the first time in ahitherto sec. India’s history, universities are throbWriterlong (scrolls through social media timebing with new energies by ex): the lines, likes the every post, sends aproduced selfie to his entry of those Whatever. Take who your have time,long bro. been excluded from the domain knowledge. Editor: So, how of will the story… er… roll? As masses students Dalit and BahuWriter: No,ofwait, I hadfrom a brainwave while jan backgrounds, from really poor families you were away. Jailorand bail are too easy punienter these heavily-guarded fortressshments forhitherto rapists, right? es,Editor: panic buttons are pressed in a bid to pro… tect the privileges the most dominant. Writer: What’s a of rapist afraid of? Come their arrival, new questions and new on,With one guess. perspectives challenge these institutions. The Editor: Castration? oldWriter: common till 1now dominatNo!sense That’sthat No.has 2. No. is being coned manygay. of these institutions is thrown into sidered crisis, received notions nation and nationalEditor: And you knowofthis… how? ism are interrogated. Writer: Market research. No. 3 is the fear, Recall thenever withdrawal of recognition to the what if you come. So, gay. Ambedkar-Periyar by IITEditor: I’m afraidStudy to askCircle where(APSC) this is going. Madras in May This institution seen a Writer: See, 2015. evil dude date rapeshas heroine number of right-wing organisations, ranging who’s afraid she’ll never come, after she’s from the RSS shakhas groups like the Vivekasmashed. How to taketorevenge? nanda Study Circle, Editor: Maybe we operating should… without restrictions. However, within a year of its formation, Writer: Simple. Get evil dude smashed and the APSC was faced with a notice ‘derecognimake him believe he had gay of sex. GAY SEX. tion’, following a complaint RSShave students to Straight guys will die before by they gay sex. theEditor: Ministry of Human DevelopI’ll pretend we’reResource playing. How will
Editor: Which is…? either? Writer: Post pictures of them necking on InWriter: (high five with editor) YOLO. ment andobviously. the latter’s suspiciously prompt re- mediate stagram, concern from an identity Editor: What? sponse. ministry’s letter to could the institute Editor:The Obviously. Which jury ignore perspective. IIT-M had been Writer: YouThus onlythe liveAPSC once.inWho has time to raisedevidence? the matter “thebe distribution such Er, of who’ll necking? of con- read organising discussions like all thethose coalabout politics and on theissues poor and troversial posters pamphlets the cam- intellectual Writer: I’ll inventand a couple of realin gay characbed methane exploration project in the Kaveri things? pus” ok? andSo“creating atmosphere of hatred delta, ters, are we allanset? GM Can’t crops,you labour law changes and and lanEditor: make your lead pair among students Editor: But… by one student group” and al- that guage politics, justabout as thesomething ASA in Hyderabad bad guy worry else too? so Writer: disaffection against What? WHAT?the Prime Minister and Not University been raising the issue of capijust sex,had I mean. ‘the Hindus’. Editor: I thought you too had a love story… talWriter: punishment in the Yakub Memon case,veas Chalo, I’ll make the girl’s mother This is eerily the pattern that is repeated lat- ry Writer: Awkward! well questions the I’ll state of the miill.as Kidneys, youregarding like kidneys? make er Editor: in University of think Hyderabad, the sex at- family You don’t there’swhere too much noritiespoor (the screening a film on the Muzafalso. Theyofcan’t afford non-veg. tack, once again prodded byyours? the MHRD, is on Only without love in this book of farnagar violence one of theget immediate rajma. Rajma,being kidney beans, it? members of the Students’ Associ- points of conflict Writer: Bro! SexAmbedkar IS love. Wait, with ABVP). Editor: Thethe guy? Can’tIn heother have ation (ASA), leadingThere’s eventually to the tragic su- words, in all these let me explain. three we see thelife emergence some cases problem in his too? icide of There again, the of a new kind of kinds of Rohith sex. SexVemula. that comes self-confident Dalitno politics Writer: No. Boys have probproactive the MHRD, follow- that is decisively from real intervention love. Sex thatofmakes moving in a leftward direclem in life besides sex. Because Bro! Sex IS love. ing provocation by the suspenyou think you’re in ABVP, love. led Sexto the tion.Wait, It is thisthe thatgirls has caused are verypanic. evolved in my me explain sion of andhave his all comradeslet for that’s sex.Vemula My books From this itbooks, shouldthey not have be understood, howthe same probindulging three kinds.in ‘anti-national’ acever, Don’t that other issues of culture lem. bore me. tivities. Editor: What about love? Any and identity have become any Editor: Achha, where will you What is happening in Jawalove in your book? less the important. A case in point is set book? Any trips to San harlal Nehru University (JNU) Writer: Of course! On page 143 the issue of worship of MahFrancisco orthe Tokyo or something It is an index of how now again is not very different insofar and on 197. Not that I remember thea microcosm ishasur a counter-cultural aspirational like that? as Big cars? much of as thenumbers. essentials of the script go. page symbol to too mainstream You’re reading much literaryHinficof India JNUWriter: is It is the same of ‘anti-naEditor: But bogey what happens before all this tion. OK, I’ll tell duism. is anabout indexthis of book. how you aItsecret tionalism’ that is being raised rape and punishment? much of a microcosm of India The girl is a badass. here — and this time it was not that? Writer: You really need to know Editor: ? JNU is, that even such marginal just the MHRD theI…Home Editor: As yourbut editor, practices a place Writer: Shebeliefs uses a and dildo. I’ll evenfind teach readMinistry well,obviously that intervened order to ers Writer:asWell there’s— aingirl and there. The ofown. age of Dalitmore politics how to coming buy their What can also you frameare students for And sedition. The pattern there two guys. obviously the girlitself isn’t ask manifests in this significant bid to create a for, bro? suggests more to JNU meets hot and that the there main isguy isn’t hot than either. It’s counter-cultural canonI don’t… from symbols that Editor: Er. Personally, the eyelosers, — andright? some of this becomes evident in have about beenAnd consigned to oblivion as far as her the Writer: then someone rushes into theEditor: way Of a course, few television of course.channels But what were hap- room mainstream is concerned. It isThat’s this feature of while she’s using it, ok? why we’ll pressed into service for creating an atmo- have pens to them? JNU that upsometimes possibilities of thathas linealso on opened the cover, love sphere of paranoid lestI’m we walks Writer: I’ll makewitch-hunting. it up as I go And along. cultural re-education Left groups in when you leastofexpect it to… as well, forget, twobig of the fiveinsecurity students whom the the po- making thinking time in both all You. aware of the immense diversity Editor:usAre. Serious? lice want to frame are Dalits and some others that characters. is India. Writer: LOL.It is this that Hindutva nationalfrom veryAbout poor backgrounds. Editor: what? ism cannot digest. (This monthly column helps you talk about a It is also worth they’ll noticing in allinthese Writer: Whether be that any good bed. book (Views expressed personal). without havingare to read it) cases, the students been talking What elseDalit is there to behave insecure about? not Oh sinhais translates aditya nigam a professorclassic, at thecontemporary Centre for the merelythe about issues of caste dis- arunava yeah, boystheir have‘own’ to worry about making and non-fiction Study offiction Developing Societies, into DelhiEnglish; t@arunava crimination but I’m alsogiving issues them that are not of im- Bengali money too, but rich parents
Q R Q R
cover takeaway
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Dissent in Delhi Eat, love, Kraków
The battle over political ideologies on the sprawling JNU campus has taken what is possibly thefood ugliest turnof this Polish city has come a long way since the dark days of wars The culture
O
ree Hashmi, the force behind Safdar Hashmi’s n exiting the Market Square at KraJana Natyastalls Manch The group, born a with market and(Janam). hole-in-the-wall eaterków, a full-bodied aroma of cinnamore than year before the Emergency, ies,little which retail thealip-smacking zapiekanka mon, a few other spices and coffee has been at the 1978. (toasted opena regular baguettes withcampus cheese,since mushoverwhelms my olfactory organs. “Janam a good rooms, hamhas andalways onions),considered essentiallyJNU a French It seems familiar, yet unidentifiable. The trail place for constructive feedback,” says Hashmi. bread pizza with the toppings of choice. Surleads me to a food truck that proudly advertisPerforming at different places withinstalls, the camrounding the square are some 300-odd es its chief speciality, ‘chimney cake’. The slopuscome — including the day open-air auditorium which to life every at 7am and wind at gan makes a prophetic point: ‘Life is too short Parthasarathy Rocks — helped Janam performup by early afternoon. to eat bad cakes’. I queue up behind a dozen ersAfter bond investing with the students as well as the a disproportionate regulars, braving the intermittent drizzle and spaces they call their “We’dI perform amount in some war own. souvenirs, hop on at icy winds to sample what I hope is full of different day,selling sometimes on Sunto the times nearbyof the stalls garlicky baked goodness. I peep through the glass winday afternoons, sometimes after dinner… borscht (beetroot and onion soup), honey-and dow of the truck to witness the fascinating students with and affiliations to various like bodies roasted lamb other specialities journey of the dough being slapped into a cycameduck in good numbers. Theand divide I perceive stuffed with apple, pork with lindrical form. The expert hands of the baker now is an anomaly in cabbage. a free-thinking pickled I settleuniverse for a then slathers copious amount of butter and like the JNU,” she says. quick snack of smoked sugar on it. Once a golden exterior is achieved, and mushy inside. Crackdowns by the administration kielbasa, the famed are Pol-not it’s time to pull it down, only to slather it with Over the next few new in the historyish of sausage. JNU and,Available if anything, in it a topping (I pick Nutella). The masterpiece is days, I try several varhelped galvanisered various into a and student white bodies versions, then wrapped in paper before it reaches my iants of these puffy united frontthe against Looking back at whiteexcesses. is generally cheaper eager hands. One bite and life is beautiful, the delights with a range of the 21-month-long CP Chandrasekand fattier Emergency, while the red is more world almost perfect. fillings like cottage har, dean of the School of Social Sciences, says, commonly served in restaurants But trdelnik or chimney cake is not native to cheese, onion, mashed pota“We wentacross by our Poland. daily routine with asome As I take ride dePoland and instead has its origins in Romania. toes, and sauerkraut among othgree of caution — classes, hostel meetings back to the market square, I ampost Culturally, Poland has absorbed elements ers. Pierogis are comfort fare dinner, making andtodistributing pamphlets directed a nondescript bar to at Trdelnik or chimney from its neighbours and the strongest influ- available at every street corner, night. That was one the few sample theamong best vodka in times town.the cake is not native to visited ence can be seen in its cuisine. Across centu- where the vendor ladles half-apolice campus, and one of the stuOverthetwo decades, changing Poland; it hasdent its arrests ries, foreign dishes that were brought to dozen dumplings into a paper seemed be a case of mistaken tastes andto preferences have origins in Romania Poland include goulash from Hungary and plate along with sautéed onions identity. But he was not released immediately pushed Polish producers to tone pastry from France among others, and they and sour cream as garnish. and kept down in jail its for‘hard long.”drink’ Thereimage were also by a form an intricate part of Polish cuisine. The best way to sample the number of daylong strikes and boycott introducing flavoured vodkas, of Available in different avatars across Eastern gastronomical delights of Poclasses. While both among whichsome are —equally potent.students My Europe is pierogis. Similar to Chinese dum- land is on foot. I decide to start from the south- firstand faculty — evening avoided isspeaking out against shot for the monte (hazelnut Chain reaction Members of faculty join students a human of chain at the campus, days after the vodka plings, they are available everywhere — fromin forming ern fringes the OldJNU Town, close to the thewith government, many to beand vocal. milk). The Polescontinued prefer it neat shiv kumar pushpakar arresteateries of Kanhaiya modest to Kumar artisanal cafes. These stuff- 11th-century Wawel Castle, where restaurants chilled, Like crackdowns, violent confrontations, with baked potatoes, sour cucumber ed dumplings, which pack in everything from are docked on the banks of the Vistula river. I andthough few, have been a part of JNU history. salty herring as accompaniments. very tiny ash is inhopplates of one litti-chokha of sugary ground meat to potato andmolecule cheese, areofconsidaboard to try a and dish cups that can be besttea, After Rohit, a former president who a few shots ofJNUSU vibovit (plum vodka withnow motion and witharemy heat… I amdescribed students discuss stuffed currentwith affairs and class-orange ered a national delicacy placed high as chicken mozzarella, teaches economics at his(Zubrówka alma mater,with recalls syrup) and farelka such a lunatic that I am afreepotato room notes equal To an out-chocolate on the must-try list of Polish cuisine. Finding fries andwith salad, andenthusiasm. their chief attracan uglysyrup episode August 2002. aA steak sizeable andfrom Tabasco), I order in jail…” These lines fromtion: sider, this istrout. an image of just another day attartare, place to sample even this meaty envelope is easy pan-fried number of students protest a choice I regretgathered after theto first bite. VHP I printed the sprawling According to JNUSU andShahid I comeBhagat across aSingh’s quaint jail cafénotebook, specialising in After spending acampus. few hours at the Castle, I failleader Ashok Singhal’s presence an RSS to appreciate the charms of atfinely on A4pierogi, sheets,located greet the 300-odd protestorswalk vice-president Rashid, the battle all things in one of the by-lanes towards the Shehla old Jewish quarter of Kazi-overchopped function the with Administration Block. “Resortrawinbeef a raw egg on the top. I gatheredcharming on the redmarket sandstone steps of the ideologies the campus hasoftaken what isimmediately of Kraków’s square. Close toAd-mierz. Havingatwitnessed some the worst ing to violence differences grab a over chupaideological chup (lemon vodka ministration Block. An amateurish sketch possibly ugliest turn. the Universi-with lunchtime, the modest outfit is almost full ofatrocities in the World War II and“When left to its devices was almost unheard of, buttooncleanse that day ginger syrup and pepper) mythe Kumar, president of Jawaharlal Neh-during ty has internal mechanism deal withpalate. andKanhaiya the patrons comprise a mix of students, theits Soviet regime, Kazimierztohas now two Igroups clashed, the herrings police were then settle for the andcalled I am in. ru grandmas University and Students Union such matters, what was needafor police in-notWe chatty tourists. Soon,(JNUSU) my namewhoemerged as a district thatthe retains distinct formed a human chain to protect the disappointed. arrested onI am charges of asedition tervention? This has shaken belief in the women, and many of us were kicked and waswas called out and handed plate of and but- re-cultural flair. The cobbled alleysour lead to synsinha is writer on interim this week after 20 days,agogues, system,” sheand says, adding that she’d been teryleased goodness — soft, bail yet firm on the outside cafés to Plac Nowy, a square linedhav-sayoni punched ina Mumbai-based the process,” he reminisces. “It accompanies the words of the revolutionary, ing sleepless nights ever since Kanhaiya was was several months before we could exchange whose death anniversary is observed across picked up by the police. “In my a simple ‘hello’ with those in the the country by several right-wing student sleep I get visions of the police other camp. The scars from the bodies. Ironically, the young martyr from pre- raiding the hostels and arrestrecent happenings may take Partition Punjab was also accused of sedition. ing my comrades,” she says. much longer to heal,” he adds. In my sleep I get The pamphlets are the handiwork of stuRashid’s laptop, much like its While no one can say how long visions of the police dents aligned with Left politics. Working in sleep-deprived owner, has had the scars will last, Kanhaiya’s raiding the hostels tandem with them are the handfuls that bring few moments of rest since the friends and family are happy that and arresting my music to an ongoing series of open-air lec- sedition row engulfed the camhe is back in JNU ahead of Holi. comrades tures on nationalism, a brainchild of Janaki pus. “My friends are using it 24/7, Addressing a small gathering at Nair, professor at JNU’s Centre for Historical posting updates on social media JNU last Monday, Manikant KuStudies. A harmonium, a dafli or two, and lyr- regarding Kanhaiya’s bail petmar, Kanhaiya’s elder brother, ics scribbled on scraps of paper are all that ition, messages pouring in from had spoken of his sibling’s love these musicians have. While Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s academicians across the world…” her voice for the way JNU celebrates Holi: “Whenever we Hum Dekhenge, an iconic Urdu nazm, is per- trails off as she tears open an envelope con- ask him to come home for the festival, he says formed frequently, revolutionary songs from taining an anonymous letter. Replete with he can’t miss playing with colours on the camBihar and Jharkhand often draw the loudest abuse, the letter targets Rashid’s Kashmiri pus.” While the sedition charges continue to applause from the audience — a healthy mix of Muslim identity for the so-called ‘anti-nation- hang over his head, JNU will find Kanhaiya at former and current students, teachers, and al’ activities. “This, too, should be posted on so- Mamu’s on Holi, tucking into spicy egg curry the press. cial media,” she manages a smile as she folds and rice — the only meal available at the camAbout two minutes from this centre of ac- the paper. pus on this day. tion is the relative calm of Mamu’s Dhaba, an Her concerns over the polarisation on cameatery started by a former JNU student. Over pus find resonance in the voice of Moloyash- aditi sengupta
Q R
“E
Happy hours (Clockwise from top) Chicken stuffed with mozzarella at a riverfront restaurant; the feted chimney cake; the 11thcentury Wawel Castle overlooks the Vistula river images sayoni sinha
Q R
ND-X _ A
7 19BL BL
know takeaway
BL BL 20 4
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Walking onlurch thin ice Rightward STATES OF MATTER
Chadar, a frozen highway of sorts in Zanskar Valley, is melting under the burden of tourism The polarisation of US politics is becoming increasingly apparent, at a time when income disparities are at its historical worst
N
asir Ahmed and Sonam Wangyal have lived separate lives in Leh and Tungri village in Zanskar Valley, respectively. Their homes nestle in the imposing mountains of the Zanskar range, a natural barrier, which is impenetrable in the winter months. However, for centuries now, the Zanskar river has provided a passage for this duo, as it has for the 15,000odd residents of the Zanskar Valley. The only approach road to Padum — the administrative capital of Zanskar — is via the Pensi La, about 250 km from Kargil. Every winter, this pass gets snowed out around November, isolating Zanskar from the rest of Jammu & Kashmir for the next five months. It’s also the time the Zanskar river freezes, creating a frozen highway of sorts called the Chadar, which leads from the heart of the valley to the confluence with the Indus at Nimoo, 30-odd km from Leh. Since the time of the kings who ruled over Zanskar centuries ago, this route has been the only way in and out for the locals, as well as outsiders who wished to visit the valley. It is a cultural migration of
sorts and is typical to this region. which was necessary to survive the winter There’s a chance then, that Ahmed and Wan- months,” Wangyal says. gyal would have met each other at some point The stunning landscape, combined with — quite by chance — thanks to trade that flour- March the experience of walking on a frozen river 1. sukumar ishes in this testing terrain. Ahmed is a veter- that meanders steepmerit gorge,aswas Simplicity is through Trump’s agreat he muralidharan an of the trekking business in Leh, with over notches enough of for trekkers,victory who made upa draw one implausible aftertheir anthree decades behind him, and way rival, here Texas despite the harsh conother. His closest Senator Ted Cruz, each winter a foray into the Zanditions. lack of trekkingaopis not far behind withThe his vows to unleash fuskar valley had an added benefit tions in the winter and ry of bombs that would make the months Syrian sands that he looked forward to. the relative of prone the walk at an in the dark. But Cruzease is too to comA landslideglow on the “I would carry extra sugar as altitude of around same plicate message with a3,500m, rather pointPhuktal river in thehis core part of the trekking ration, as Leh, made the Chadar Trek evangelical fervour. Trump’s plan to deala upper partsless of the whenever I visited Zanskar. For must-do travellers. Statefor militia by going after Valley led with to thethe Islamic just a kilo or two, the locals in the day, there would their — Geneva Conventions be formation of a families “Back would give me a goat, which be just a couple of groups that damned — seems viscerally more satisfying to massive lake provided enough food for the venture on this trek. They an electoratewould longing for vengeance against upstream next few days,” he smiles. were mostly foreigners who were unseen and inchoate enemies. Like Ahmed, Wangyal visited out to explore thisintent stretch, Again, compared to Trump’s towhich expel Leh every winter, with sacks of was relatively unknown to the 10 million immigrants within days of becomlocal cheese and butter from the outside world,” Wangyal says. ing president, Cruz seems willing to secrete dri — the female yak — which was relished in such “It’s only the lasta six or verbal seven camouflage. years that it plansinbehind thick these parts, in addition to animal hide and cu- A has picked up among theMarco IndianRubio, trekking third contender, Senator has rios. “It’s only now that money is involved. so community,” he adds. far been unable to tap into the raw political Back then, it was a simple barter for house- mood While thedrives growing of trekkers authat the number base, despite the blesshold essentials such as food and clothes, ings gurs of well the locals, who make additional thefor establishment. There is a certain political logic in extreme tendencies being spawned by a bitterly polarised moment, when income disparities are historically at their worst and expectations of the future glum. On the Democratic side, Divide and rule? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, seen at a night rally with son Donald Trump there is a sane and rational mirror image of Jr ap/jae chong the unhinged Trump candidacy, in Bernie Sander’s insurgent left-wing campaign, which hilip Roth’s counter-historical novel, host and businessman of many bankruptcies, runs on virtually the single issue of disciplinThe Plot Against America, opens in revived a sordid tale from the US conquest of ing Wall Street. 1940 with aviation hero Charles Lind- the Philippines early last century. It involved Similar potential for polarisation has existbergh fighting on an isolationist plat- an icon of US military history, General JJ Persh- ed in the past, but party establishments have form and defeating incumbent US President ing, regarded as mentor to generations of mil- succeeded in checking the drift to the exFranklin Roosevelt. A peace treaty with Nazi itary commanders. Pershing’s strategy in tremes. Republicans and Democrats have stoGermany follows and Hitler’s race theories are dealing with a recalcitrant Muslim tribe in the len each other’s voters and have competed for made official US doctrine, plunging Jews and Philippines was simply to execute several the middle ground where the politics of opother insufficiently American ethnicities into among their leaders with cartridges dipped in portunity is shaped. a dystopian hell. pig’s blood. To make sure the rebels got it, he That logic seems to be working for the DemThose eager to belong are obsessed with liv- kept alive one among them and assigned him ocrats, with the party establishment suming down stereotypes. Others have their fam- the job of carrying back the message about moning its machinery into action, to ilies broken up and children sent away for the futility of resistance. effectively run the Sanders campaign out of indoctrination in the true American way. PolitGood wars for the imposition of western the arena. But the Republican Party just does ical opponents are assassinated and mass ar- values are normally immune to not seem up to the job, enervated rests made to pre-empt any threat to the historical interrogation. Miliby decades of anti-establishment president’s life. tary atrocities and war crimes in fury, by the unreasoning rage Lindbergh goes missing one day on board the Philippines have been acagainst government that was fosGood wars for the his personal aircraft and his Nazi allies are knowledged in recent historical tered by its late lamented saint, quick to pin the blame on a global Jewish con- scholarship, but the incident imposition of western Ronald Reagan. values are normally spiracy. Riots break out, only subdued by fran- that Trump chose to blazon as Reagan left the party with the immune to historical tic appeals from persons of goodwill. his strategy for dealing with retoxic legacy of the politics of racinterrogation Roosevelt contests an emergency election and gions of unrest, is yet to be credism, with the dog-whistle that is restored to the presidency just ahead of Ja- ited as fact. Even if true, it is a called on the faithful to battle for pan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The US enters the story to be buried in the deepest “states’ rights” and unsubtle caworld war and history is set back on course. recesses of military infamy, not nards against “welfare queens” In the real world, the US then had its mo- aired as potential strategy when riding luxury limousines while ments of prosperity and greatness, culminat- the US is at war across a wide global stretch collecting the cheques that hard working citiing in a phase of undisputed global from Pakistan to Syria. zens paid for. The fissures that were partly hegemony. But the edifice has come to rest on Trump won South Carolina and has since healed with the civil rights legislation of the increasingly infirm foundations, of global proved he is quick to pick up the messages 1960s were brutally reopened during his term, alienation, rampant indebtedness, reckless in- that sell. He dissembled when handed an en- and then briefly papered over in the euphoria vestment policies and rising income dispari- dorsement by the white supremacist Ku Klux of global domination. But that long sleep is ties. And as the edifice crumbles, reality Klan, pretending that he knew nothing about now over and the US is awakening in a mood begins to weave a scenario weirder than any- the organisation or its leadership. This would, of disorientation that spells danger at multithing Roth could create on a fictional canvas. in different times, have been an obvious dis- ple levels. Hours before polling opened in the Repub- qualification for high office, except that withlican primary in South Carolina state, presi- in days, Trump swept to still more dramatic sukumar muralidharan is an independent writer dential aspirant Donald Trump,images a reality show victory in the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries on and researcher based in Gurgaon and Shimla Tread softly After the landslide last year, this season saw around 7,000 trekkers on the Chadar shail desai
Q R
P
Q R
ND-X _ A
ARNAB TO OPEN NATIONAL LYNCHING ACADEMY! income as guides, cooks and porters, it is also endangering the very survival of this culture. In January last year, a landslide on the Phuktal river in the upper parts of the valley led to the formation of a massive lake upstream. All treks in the region were subsequently cancelled. Consequently, the number of trekkers he room of the PR manager is increased problem, too early January this which year, andisbetween dominated by a giant oil paint- and many traitors. He is Chadar trying bore the brunt mid-February, the ing of Arnab. His suit is fabulous of his best. Herepresentatives is scuba diving of various agen7,000-odd and his eyes are popping out of cies towalking improve it. lung capacity. his head. As I enter, the PR manager is light- While His glare been surgicalthehas thickness of the ice is comproing an agarbatti in front of it. He offers me mised ly improved. All weather toilets in by changing patterns, the unone. “You also do,” he suggests. I decline. At regulated our offices now playthings patriotic load made worse, and there The Hindu, we are not allowed to worship were music when flushed. Butthe Arnab many patches where river hadn’t fromedia personalities from other companies. zen, alone cannot do everything, and a tricky forcing walkers to negotiate “At least accept one of these,” he says, offer- mountain the RSSpath. is busy designing new pants. fashion aur Zanskar ke Chadar ing a mini flag. In the current environment, “Bombay Hence weke felt that some kind of educationkoiinstitute bharosa nahin hain,” laughs Nima, from it seems foolish to refuse. “What is this I ka al was required. Curriculum devillage, whodone takeswith up portage in winter. hear about a college he’s starting,” I ask, Phey sign has been great care. In order from Jalandhar, Satbirinto Singh pinning the flag to my chest. The PR manag- Atotrekker rectify errors that have crept thewas nawho bore bruntwill of this overer assumes an expression that is both among tionalthose discourse, ourthe courses include load. He broke a leg after the ice gave way in mournful and optimistic. Advanced Patriotism, Constitutional Misinsection. “The national situation is rapidly deterio- one terpretation, Jumping to Conclusions, Vioto be a capIrrational on the number of rating. Arnab has correctly identified the “There lent has Harangues, Anger, trekkers coming here each year. They also need to set up medical facilities in case of emergencies. I could manage only because I have some experience in mountaineering, but it’s something that the authorities must look into,” Singh says. To regulate the flow, the local authorities
T
SHOVON CHOWDHURY is chief Truthdigger and author of Murder with Bengali Characteristics
Ill-Informed Ranting, Blatant Victimisation, Shameless Bullying, Ex- added benefit. Anti National Porkistani treme Idiocy, Ruthless Sluts and those who eat non-veg food items Colleague Bashing, Effort- that resemble beef will be rejected. To reless Pomposity, Double-fist- ceive their degrees, graduates must knit a ed Flag Waving and 207-foot flag using cross-stitching techUncontrollable Egomania. niques, after removing all objectionable Sneering at Pakistanis and Studio elements, such as the colours green and Lynching will be optional extras. For a white, and the circular item in the centre. modest additional fee, students can take Candidates will be selected on the basis of advanced courses, such as How to Ignore written tests and viva-voce, along with an Facts, Elementary Illogic, Driving Innocent essay entitled ‘China or Pakistan? Who People to Suicide, Misuse of Military, and should we attack first?’ Melting point (top left)Only Peoplecandidates jams are frequent (above) on theof frozen Playing the Victim. withon the mountainside; “We are hoping thatwalking the youth the banks na- of the Zanskar limited vocabulary and a record of terroris- tion will apply in large numbers. Early bird ing at least three women on Twitter will be applicants will receive a free laptop, and a had restricted the number of trekkers each lifetime considered. Foreign residency will beinan years supply to come. functional road will undoubtofAcrocodile tears.” group to 10. But the rules were bent and more edly be a boon to the 82-odd villages of Zangroups were added at the last minute. In fact skar, but the pollution generated will prove crampons used by many trekkers worsened more detrimental to the formation of the Chathe condition of the ice, until a ban was imple- dar, as also to the wildlife. mented midway through the season. “The road construction has already driven The lack of sanitation facilities at the camp- the local wildlife away. This was prime snow ing sites makes things worse, and it’s gradual- leopard territory at one point, but today, ly transforming one of the most pristine they’ve gone higher up into the mountains,” utraged by rising sedition on my money that is paying for stadiums. I landscapes into an eyesore. says Jigmet Dadul, who works with the Snow campus, taxpayers across the want IIT graduates to repair my electronic The overcrowding and litLeopard Conservancy, India nation have been demanding items. So many students have graduated tered camps may, however, be Trust, and has tracked the elu“Better future for our male teaching positions at JNU. “I’m from government art colleges, yet not one ple will be vey the least of the threats to this sive cat over the last 18 years. children is our topmost not sure what sedition is, but it makes my of them has painted my portrait. This is unwelcoming, benatural wonder. A road is curIn his growing-up years, WanThis was prime priority,” says Dhan Veer blood boil,” said Manmohan Tyagi from Ba- acceptable.” Housewives too, are not sitcause we have rently being built to provide gyal was coached in lifesaving snow leopard Hooda, a local Jat leader. darpur. “I wanted to hire a lawyer to beat ting idle. “Since fertiliser is subsidised helped to imround-the-year connectivity to skills by his father — how to territory at one point, He has a minor head inup more students, but they are heavily prove their seusing my money, I want farmers to grow the Zanskar valley, effectively gauge the weather by looking at but today, they’ve jury. “If they need wombooked for the next few months. curity. more brinjals,” said Shakuntala from Sobringing an end to this seasonthe sky, how to determine the gone higher up into en, there is always the Consequently, joining JNU as faculMeanwhile our agnepat. “My son loves them.” al migration. thickness of the ice based on colthe mountains highway, but without ty was the only option. I paid taxitation will continWhat about the thousands of crores of “The locals have demanded our, and how to track wildlife proper jobs, they will es once in 2003, so there is no ue. We will not rest taxpayer money being spent on subsithis road for a while now and and coexist with it. have no future. We are burnquestion of their refusing. until there is nothdising kerosene which no one reeven carried out protests in the Wangyal is unsure if the coming down schools and collegThese students need to be a ing left in Haryana ceives, paying teachers who never past. In times of emergency, we ing generations will have any es, as well as the few taught a lesson. The lesson except buffaloes attend school, and building health have to use a helicopter service, which costs use for such age-old wisdom. “It used to be an businesses that provide jobs, will consist mainly of tight and mustard fields. centres that do not even exist? ₹1,500 a head and is unaffordable to most. annual pilgrimage of sorts for us locals, and so that students and workers slaps, along with giving We will then sell off “These are matters of governance This road will make life easier for us, but will created livelihoods. Besides, there was somewill be free to join us, thereby bamboo and providing bethe mustard fields and buy more SUVs. On handled by highly qualified IAS also bring an end to a part of our culture,” says thing charming about this journey, a thrill helping us to ensure a better future for the land where schools and colleges once fitting replies.” officers, in which the public Tundup Dawa, a guide on the Chadar. each time around, despite the dangers we them. We have also committed acts of ter- stood, we will build luxury condominiums Tyagi has a variety of supshould not interfere,” said Tyagi. At the moment, a 40-km stretch between faced every year. It makes me sad that ours is rorism against the national capital, to for our buffaloes. Once women stop drivplementary demands. “I “As a taxpayer, I am honoured Dhar and Charakdo is missing, which will be perhaps the last generation that will be a part show how easy this is. We are sure that, af- ing through our localities, the buffaloes would like Virat Kohli to hit that they are allowing me to pay completed in the next three years. of it,” Wangyal says. ter this, when we look for jobs in Delhi, peo- may need protection.” more sixes,” he said, “since it is their salaries.” An Army depot is also likely to come up in thet@shovonc valley, making this a busy route in the shail desai is a Mumbai-based writer Risk factor Localsis use sledges toround-up cart their load the Chadar The Investigator a monthly of allonthings droll and newsy. All views are personal. Really personal
TAXPAYER DEMANDS JATS TO DESTROY TEACHER’S JOB AT JNU! COLLEGES UNTIL
O
FUTURE IMPROVES!
Q R
ND-X _ A
talk takeaway
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
dipaknar
5 BL 21 BL
play know
BL BL 222
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Passage to India Horizon Trader, seen here being towed out of Brownsville (Texas), arrived in Alang after sailing unchallenged through the waters of five countries that are party to the Basel Convention basel action network Back and forth Ashish Nehra celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez at the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dhaka afp
A toxic ship comes ashore Horses for courses Alang in Gujarat may be world famous for its ship-breaking prowess, but vessels built with The returnmaterial of four veterans to India’sworkers’ T20 squad confirms fear that there isn’t enough hazardous are endangering lives and thethe environment fresh talent for the youngest form of cricket vijay lokapally
O F
ND-X _ A
n January 8, an end-of-life ship or four yearsoff hethe backed beached coasthis of instincts. Alang, in He Bhavnagar played by instinct becameMV an district,and Gujarat. integral part ofvessel) the Indian attack for a (merchant Horizon Trader before from losing for reached decade Indian waters thehis US,place through non-cricketing reasons. Having emerged the Africa. Like innumerable other ships that have team’s best bowler World Cup semibeen ripped apart at the this2011 ship-breaking yard, final against at Mohali, the consisHorizon TraderPakistan too is meant to be quietly distently Ashish Nehra wasno shown posed good of, sold for scrap, with tracethe leftdoor save after injury to miss the final, which for some oilforced stains him on the beach. India won. He was lost to international cricket. Commissioned in 1972 as a cargo container Now ishowever, back where he to deserves be — part ship, he it is, likely containtopolychlorof the Indian team for the World T20,organic begininated biphenyls (PCBs) — a persistent ning March 16. accumulates in soil, water and pollutant that Thewebs, otherincomeback has caught atfood addition that to asbestos andthe other tention of material. the cricket fraternity is of Parthiv hazardous Patel, the wicketkeeper-batsman from GujaInternational Labour Organisation’s (ILO) rat. returns tofor theship-breaking Indian squadoutline 13 yearsthe af2003Heguidelines ter a in Test debut against England at hazards detail: “Although many of the hazNottingham. He was youngest ever Test ardous materials usedthe to build a ship — asbewicketkeeper then. At biphenyls 30, he is now a veteran stos, polychlorinated (PCBs), toxic who compete in the(TBT), shortest the paintwill such as tributyltin andform heavyofmetgame. The 2016 Asia Cup T20, which ends als — are mostly restricted or banned today,to-a morrow, marks theago return Yuvraj Singh ship builtalso 20-30 years still of contains these and Harbhajan Singh. materials. It also carries hazardous and flamFor Nehra (36),used Yuvraj Patel repair and Harbmable chemicals for(34), painting, and hajan (both 35), thisCables is nothing of giving maintenance etc. and short electrical and their cricketing life contain a new hazardous lease on mathe other control systems strength their self-belief.gases In staging a cometerial andofemit hazardous if burned. The back, one has surpass theair, deeds of the depaint coat can to contaminate soil and water but season andorrelive conditions thathazardpropel when torched scraped, and is thus your selection. toand make the team than reous for human “Easy beings the environment.” tain slot,” was Sunil Gavaskar’s advice to Soyour why is a pollutant-laden ship, one that acdebutants. is a universally accepted that tivists haveItbeen tracking on its last fact journey, consistency has no substitute. For these four it coming to India to be broken up? became mantra forjourney comeback. “Shipsthe make a long at a huge eco“Never thought of quitting,” us nomic cost. The reason they areNehra willingtold to inon day he was theoccupational, Asia Cup and curthe this cost is toselected save onforthe
environment and health costs,” says Krishna Activists worry that countries such as the US World For Patel, was the culmination Gopal, T20. a member of itToxics Watch Alliance,ofa and backJapan, injury,with but many Yuvrajships and to Nehra imscrapcarry and not awatchdog good run. “I just backed that tracks wastemyself,” in India.he had re- bound mense responsibility. for Harbhajan, only by Basel, are As establishing a supply marked. was no different Yuvraj and chain HorizonItTrader arrived afterfor a four-month an injury R Ashwin would give him a spot in for to disposal in third-world shipyards. Harbhajan, both the ship, grindthe of the playing eleven. It went in the players’ favoyage, towed all going the waythrough by another in demand domestic in a throwback to their Dumpyards SS Gauntlet,cricket and tracked globally by activists. vour that Patil and colleagues did not follow younger days. “I knowvessel my cricket andformy ca- According The decommissioned was sold shipto non-governmental organisation in the footsteps of their predecessors who laid pacity thebybest,” was Harbhajan’s reply when breaking US shipping company Matson Inc, Shipbreaking Platform, Indian shipyards hanemphasis on age. asked theturn, chances of a comeback. whichabout had, in bought it from All Star dled of the 1,026 ships dismantled worldThe327 discerning, however, are convinced that It is indeed ironic that in the youngest for- wide Metals. Based out of Brownsville, Texas, All Star 2014; lastofyear, thisamong share fell 213 out it wasinthe lack talent theto younger mat of has the game, the robust T20where brand,it the Metals a recycling facility, re- of 791.that Steel pricespressure tumbledon 40the perselectors cent in 2015, crop added and field isthe marked by playerselectric who have spent moved ship’s PCB-laden cables and making it uneconomical to scrap espethe management to pick horses forships, courses. close to 15 years cricket. Ex- cially self-certified that in theinternational PCB levels were not hazthebuy tightly regulated developed “Youin can’t experience,” is Harbhajan’s perts want to believe that youthProtection is the es- world. ardous. Theus US Environmental Alang India andknow. Chittagong Banfavourite line.inHe should Sheer in experisence T20 cricket andtocoaches Agencyof(EPA) chose not chal- around the ence has keptgladesh, alongside shipyards in him in the reckoning in a field world emphasise on fresh legs lenge the self-certification and Pakistan, and Turkey have where theChina challenge comes from for these cleared thefierce exportcontests. to India. Not expanded their unreguAshwin, who is atlargely the peak of his many would bet on Patel and The original memorandum of Although many of the lated sectors to career.ship-breaking Skill is the dominating Nehra finding place in the Asia agreement forathe sale of Horimeet worldwide style, demand. feature aof Harbhajan’s not hazardous materials “You can’t buy Cup but theisselectors zon Trader with thealtered Basel the Ac“With no investment, the governto forget the guiles that Nehra used to build a ship experience,” is trend. tion Network (BAN) and it ment foreign exadds toishisearning repertoire. Hence the are mostly restricted Harbhajan’s “Yuvraj that is special,” National mandates the buyer should change and we are getting steel critics are not willing to accept or favourite banned today, line a Selection Committee responsibly recycle thechairman vessel in out it,” argues Rane, thatofselection ofVidyadhar these veterans ship built 20-30 years Sandeep the US. Patil reminded critics. g general Alang Sosiya was drivensecretary, by a refreshing policy ago still contains NoShips doubt about Equally that have that. reached the Ship to pickRecycling performers.and General these materials special is Harbhajan, with 700 end of their life are governed by Workers (the sole Where Association are the performers? plus international wickets. that be the case Even the selectors the Basel Convention, whichIfregtrade are union active Alang). aghast atin the appalling one wonders why they lost their positions in decline in quality ulates the disposal of hazardous Theplayers. falling steel price has hit The paucity of talthe national team in the first Patel was ent, without debating waste. India is a signatory andplace? it the ship-breaking as a the abilityindustry of the senior pushed back in because the selectors hadcounMa- whole, cannot trade hazardous waste with fewer than 50 yards active in players,and is glaring. More than are anything, it hendra Singh Dhoni as the firstconvention choice with(inDi- Alang tries that are not party to the withthere moreisthan in drives today, home compared the point that not 100 much nesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa and NamanTrader Ojha 2014, cluding the US and Japan). The Horizon according the Ship Recycling Industrito rave about intoterms of flair to excel in the as back-ups. sailed unchallenged through the waters of es (SRIA). “Chinese imbigAssociation league. ForIndia the likes of Nehra andsteel Yuvraj, What does the return of Trinidad these four for the ports five countries — Mauritius, and Tobacost us Their dearly. We have at ships there ishave always hope. performance the Asia Cup imply? confirms the fear thattoIndigo, Namibia andItIndia — that are party the coming to should Alang, set butthe webenchmark. are unable to get World Cup an cricket has not BAN found Basel Convention. didyoung notifyplayers each ofwith the good prices for the steel we recover,” says Jivalokapally is the DeputyofEditor (Sports), potential. True, Patel remains a but standby for vijay countries where the ship docked, in every rajbhai R Patel, president SRIA. As demand Hindu back home, Chinese steel is floodDhoni incalls casewent the Indian captain aggravates a The case the unheeded. plummets
Q Q R R
know scan
saturday, march 5, 2016 saturday, march 5, 2016
Hindi skills to pay Babus who pass exam to get bonus
ing world markets. At the ship-breaking units, explosions frequently lead to loss of life or limb, and workers battle a range of illnesses after coming in contact with toxic chemicals. In Alang, accidents during ship-breaking left eight workers dead in 2015, while the death toll was 18 in 2014, according to official figures. “We have been able to get compensation for loss of life, but not for injuries sustained,” says Rane. “For the first time, in 2012, we were able to offer pension to the families of four workers from Piparla village, near Alang, who had died in 2009. For migrant workers, on the other marksdifficult in a Hindi course hand, itood becomes to trace them once will home,” mean ahe payout they return says. of up to forCourt-appointed Central government A₹10,000 Supreme committee of employees. The found parangat course, a technical experts that the ship-breakmarathon which rate pro- six times ing160-hour industry had a fatal accident motesthan practice as opposed to theohigher mining, considered to be the ry, was introduced industry. in April last most accident-prone The nearest year. Babus withisa at working knowlhospital for Alang Bhavnagar, more than edgeaway. of Hindi are expected to take 50km All that this coastal town with a the test, livelihood and the marks score hazardous has isthey the Red Cross Hosdetermine their payout. ho! every day pital, which sees about 100 Jai patients and can treat only minor injuries. Past studies have documented the plight of migrant workers in South Asian shipyards who work in rags, with the barest minimum of safety equipment, cutting massive hulks of steel and metal into pieces that can be carted away by hand. “We understand that change cannot come in a day, but there must be the will to change; we are pursuing the matter at every level,” says Rane. A worker’s training centre is under construction to spread awareness on safety and health issues.
non-negotiable. “The Gujarat Pollution Con- Dutch Environment Minister wrote to her Introl Board, the Atomic Energy Regulatory dian counterpart, A Raja, asking him to deny Board and the Customs department have in- clearance for dismantling a Dutch fugitive spected Horizon Trader and found no toxic ma- ship, Riky. Raja refused, memorably telling the terial,” says Sudhir Chadha, port officer, Dutch minister that ‘a ship sailing on its own Gujarat Maritime Board. “Alang has changed a power is not waste’. lot and we follow the highest standards of In 2006, the SC-appointed monitoring comsafety here,” he adds. mittee denied entry to the French aircraft car“We inspected the ship and found that it rier Clemenceau, as the seller had failed to 75 goats of hired to it conhugeofamounts asbestos contained no loose hazardous waste, so as per remove thecrew chomp downscrapped invasive eventually in the UK. the Ship Breaking Code we allowed the ship to tained. It was SS Blue in 2006, SS plants fromThe a park in Lady Salem, be beached,” says RR Vyas, reand the ExII in 2010 Oregon, Platinum US has been shown gional officer, Gujarat Pollu2014 were xonTheValdez the door. goats inwere tion Control Board. “Any to on India and dismanin to feast Armematerial that forms part of the Studies have brought brought tled, going against nian blackberry, English ivythe moniship’s structure is not normaldocumented the plight toringforeign committee’s strictures. and plants ly considered hazardous,” he of migrant workers in other Blue Ladynative got permission Thechoking which were contends. South Asian shipyards to dock at Alang on humanitarvegetation across the city’s Bhavnagar is the site of at who work in rags, with ian grounds, following claims park. At appraisal least three landfills that are pilthe barest minimum largest of that itofficials could not be refloated. found ing up with waste from the desafety equipment,time, park SCcost order that goats five specifying times veloped world. In a landmark cutting massive hulksthat of theThe ships be decontaminated, to must maintain, were judgement on October 14, steel and metal intoas much present full inventory smellymust and also ate anative 2003, the Supreme Court held pieces that can be carted away by hand plants and formally notify the importindiscriminately. The that the “right to a healthy ening country priorfired to arrival was animals have been vironment has been defined as not followed. for now, but might be part of the Right to Life under Platinum II, flyUS-origin brought The in again to mainArticle 21 of the Constitution.” inghills. the flag of the Republic of tain steep The court issued notices to State governments, the Central Pollution Con- Kiribati, arrived in Indian waters in October trol Board and State pollution control boards 2009 with papers showing that it was owned and set up a high-powered committee to ex- by Platinum Investment Services of Monrovia, amine in depth all issues relating to hazard- Liberia. The ship’s registration was confirmed as a forgery by the Kiribati government. In Inous waste and make recommendations. dia, till date, no one has been held accountDubious callers able for allowing entry to this dubious ship. Reputed to be the world’s largest ship-breakReinvention pays ing yard, Alang has been a graveyard for hunGatekeepers to the graveyard dreds of ships. In 2009, the world’s largest The Basel convention, in force since 1992, is a In Alang, various government agencies are en- ship, the Seawise Giant, was notably scrapped strong framework that can help ensure that trusted with the task of checking the end-of- here. Over the years, Alang has made its fair India retains its ship-breaking business and, life ships, and the Ship Breaking Code 2013 is share of negative headlines too. In 2005, the at the same time, safeguards its workers. By igBritish man has changednoring his name Bacon DoubleIndia Cheesethistovital standard, risks becomburger. 33-year-old Simon changed his name after a ingSmith a dumping ground of hazardous waste, few rounds of drinks, although it brought little joythe to lives his fianseriously endangering of its citizens. cée. Mr Cheeseburger, a consultant in the the oil and gas government industry, Meanwhile, Central in 2013 told the Evening Standard newspaper, “No girl ever dreams of moved ship-breaking from the ambit of the spending her big day marrying a man called Talk of Ministry. Steel Ministry to thatBacon.” of the Shipping bringing home the Bacon! It has also proposed changes to the Ship Breaking Code. In Mundhra, Gujarat, the Adani group is building a new ship-breaking/recycling facility adjacent to its port. The plans mention that the facility would use the airbag method, where ships are carried onshore using inflated airbags and then broken down. This method is safer and less damaging to the environment compared to the open beaching practised at Alang. The project site, however, is surrounded by sensitive ecological zones and wildlife sanctuaries. On the very day the Horizon Trader beached at Alang, the National Green Tribunal quashed the environmental clearance for the Adani port at Hazira and imposed a ₹25-crore penalty to restore the damaged environment. The tribunal’s western zone Bench held that the environmental clearance granted to the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2013 was “illegal and must be set aside.” Four shipyards in Alang have taken steps towards safer and greener ship-recycling practices, and they have received approvals from Japan’s classification society ClassNK. ove for a broomstick could invite This bul- trying time is an opportunity for Alang lets in the US. Police in Salt Lake to City reinvent itself as a safe shipyard and claim fired bullets at 16-year-old Abdi Mohamed an edge over competitors. How it handles the when he refused to drop the broomstick twin challenges of falling steel prices and enhe was carrying. The shootout led to cityvironmental impact will determine whether wide protests. Mohamed was in an altercathe Alang-Sosiya shipyard continues to be a tion when the police spotted him world near aleader or fades away piece by piece like homeless shelter. The teenager is now thebatships that come to die here. tling for his life. RIP, hulks A 2011 photo of the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard that earns foreign exchange and serves as a saurabh yadav source for recycled steel afp/ sam panthaky
Goat the pink slip Smelly, expensive animal workers get the boot
Q
G
The secret of the unicorn Mascot escapes from party, runs amok
A
pony dressed as a unicorn escaped a birthday party and led police in Madera, California on a chase through traffic. The white pony dressed in a pink halter, and a horn strapped to its head, escaped onto a busy avenue and frolicked on roads for hours. Drivers called police in disbelief and some cars nearly hit the frisky pony. It took a highway patrol helicopter armed with heat-seeking radar to locate and capture the truant beast in an orchard.
A
R
Mr Bacon Double Cheeseburger
Man changes name after night out
A
Sweeping shot
Police shoot broomstick wielding teenager
L
ND-X _ A
3 23BL BL
hang
saturday, march 5, 2016
BL
24
in-faq by joy bhattacharjya
T
his quiz was written under protest, given all that is happening around the country.
here,there & elsewhere
Redemption songs
Octopus love
1
The Boston Tea Party was one of the first open rebellions by American settlers against the British government. The tea from three ships, The Eleanor, The Beaver and The Dartmouth was dumped in the Boston Harbour. The question is, which organisation owned the tea?
2 3
By what name is the protest songwriter and singer Gummadi Vittal Rao better known among the people of Telangana? Which iconic song did Neil Young write after seeing a picture of 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the dead body of college student Jeffrey Miller?
4
Which novel, protesting the conditions of immigrant labour in 1930s America, sold 4,30,000 copies in its first year of publication and was regarded as the main reason for the author winning the Nobel Prize in 1962?
5
Which agitation got its name after Gaura Devi and the women of the village of Reni decided to take matters in their own hands to save their trees from lumbermen?
6 7
Which actress protested against the state of Israel and the oppression of the Palestinian people in her Oscar acceptance speech in 1978?
Holi was a 1984 film depicting student unrest on campus based on a play by Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar. The cast included Aamir Khan, Shreeram Lagoo, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah and was directed by Ketan Mehta. In which location was it primarily shot?
8
Which 1906 novel based on the meatpacking industry in Chicago created a stir among readers and caused an almost 50 per cent fall in domestic and foreign meat purchases? It also resulted in public support for congressional legislation to regulate working conditions.
9
‘Razom nas bahato! Nas ne podolaty,’ meaning ‘Together we are many, we cannot be defeated’ was the rallying slogan of agitation in which country in 2004?
ookie, my not-so-tame raccoon friend, drops by for a chat. K “What’chu reading these days?” he wants to know. “You might not like the book I’ve just finished,” I say as I hand him a cookie. It’s hard to keep him focussed unless he’s chewing on something. “It’s called The Soul of an Octopus,” I say, by Sy Montgomery. “Sounds great,” says Kookie, as he crunches away. “After all it’s about an animal, right? All animals are great. Even octopi – ” I stop him in his tracks. “Apparently, the correct plural of ‘octopus’ is ‘octopuses’,” I tell him. “Because it’s a Greek word. The i-ending belongs on the plurals of Latin words.” Kookie is not impressed. “Whatever,” he says, as he holds out his paw for another cookie. The author is a keen naturalist, screenwriter and well-beloved nonfiction author, whose books include a best-selling memoir called The Good Good Pig. One day, she stopped by at the New England Aquarium in Boston to make the acquaintance of an inmate there, a giant Pacific octopus by the name of Athena. Despite the extreme differences between molluscs and humans, the author is quickly drawn into a close emotional relationship with the eight-limbed creature. In the course of the book, we meet and grow to love
at least three others. “She learns to love an octopus? REALLY?” Kookie is incredulous. “Even though it lives in a tank of cold water and doesn’t have a spinal cord?” I shrug, smiling. Like all air-breathing mammals, Kookie has an instinctive superiority complex concerning Us versus Them, in this case the boneless creatures of the sea. “I agree, it seems really amazing. Yet, as she describes it, octopuses are very smart. They have excellent eyesight. They can taste using the entire surface of their skin. And their tentacles are covered with incredibly powerful and sensitive suckers. Just one of them can lift a weight of 30 lbs. A big octopus like
Athena can have over 1,600 suckers!” Kookie’s eyes have grown round with amazement. He knows that humans are quite selective about which animals we choose as friends or foes or food. Raccoons, for instance, are not exactly friends. Even though they’re cute to look at, very intelligent and seem to like all the same foods as us, still: we humans regard them as “wild”, not acceptable in our homes as pets. Yet here’s a solitary, predatory creature that spends its entire life in the ocean, being accorded the same kind of deep affection as a human companion! “I agree,” I say, “it does sound unlikely.” But the author’s description is very persuasive. “[Athena] was an individual — who I liked very much — and also, possibly, a portal. She was leading me into a new way of thinking [...] of imagining what other minds might be like. And she was enticing me to explore, in a way I never had before, my own planet — a world mostly of water, which I hardly knew.” I look up to find that Kookie has fallen asleep. His ears are twitching, as he dreams. Perhaps of eating cookies, in an octopus’s garden, by the sea. manjula padmanabhan, author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column
cornerstone
10
Fill in the blanks with the initials of this common protest chant in the US, and the actions of the American government which it referenced. “Hey, hey, ____, how many kids did you kill today?”
Answers 1. The East India Company 2. Gaddar, the name he took as a tribute to the Gaddar party which opposed colonial rule in Punjab in the early 20th century 3. ‘Ohio’, about the protests in Kent State University in 1970. The song was performed by Crosby Stills Nash and Young 4. The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 5. The Chipko Andolan, started in 1973 in the Garhwal Himalayas 6. Vanessa Redgrave, who won an Academy award in 1978 for Julia 7. The Film and Television Institute of India campus in Pune. Most of the supporting cast were also students and staff 8. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, first serialised in the newspaper Appeal To Reason 9. Ukraine 10. LBJ, for Lyndon Johnson; to protest the American involvement in the Vietnam War In the last edition of In-FAQ, the year of Morarji Desai’s birth was erroneously mentioned as 1876: it was 1896. The error is regretted.
ND-X _ A
joy bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj
Reach us at blink@thehindu.co.in. Follow us: t@Ink_BL f facebook.com/blink.hbl
www.businessline.in/blink