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August 15th. A day associated with flags, flag hoisting, and a general level of celebration.
So, what is so very special about this day ? What is it that we are celebrating ?
Freedom is an obvious answer – but freedom from what? Theoretically, it is freedom from the rule of the British Empire or Independence from the British Empire.
So what is it that Independence means – it means the right to run your own life. But, as we all know, as human beings, we can’t ever be totally free. There are too many bonds and obligations. We cannot do what ever we want, in any society that we live in. For example, you cannot run naked down your street without being arrested for obscenity. You cannot increase the size of your home without a zillion permissions. you cannot marry more than one person simultaneously. Infact, most of our lives are determined by all those things that we can’t do, rather than all the things that you can. All that we can do is live within a certain set of laws, rules, norms and regulations – that hopefully, allows you maximum flexibility in leading your life without too many constraints.
What does Independence or indeed Freedom mean to nations? The ability to be free of ‘outside’ interference. But, we live in an interconnected world. (Unless, of course you live in North Korea). The UN, theoretically, ensures ‘good’ political behavior; the World Bank ‘good’ financial behavior; the ITU ‘good’ telecommunications behavior and so on. Most nations cannot get away with murder – unless of course you are the USA led by George Bush or Pakistan under any leader.
So, I come back to my question – what is it that we are celebrating, and should we really be looking at how we define that day – so that in a modern world, it doesn’t just become another day marked by cards and revelry without any substance ?
Is it freedom that we ought to be celebrating or the Right to Self Determination
If it is the latter, then what happens if one part of the Nation wants the right to self determination by itself ? Should there be force used to keep this part back in the whole or should the people be given the chance to exercise their right to determine their future ?
Maybe we ought to be celebrating interdependence rather than independence. A day where most people in this country choose to be part of the whole rather than being part of various fragments. Where each part of that whole is important, is treated with dignity and respect. And, where the nation lives up to the promise of allowing us the freedom to be.
For me, freedom is the ability to live my life with a certain sense of security – economic, political, religious, legal – where I can live my life without interference or threat of interference; without braving bullets to get to work or to get home; where my little savings grow steadily without fear that it will disappear down some rabbit hatch; where food is not a luxury; where medical care is available for all, not just those who can afford it; Where learning is accessible and not forbidden; where i don’t get beaten up for breaking rules written a couple of thousand years ago …
For me, Independence Day actually means all these. And, i have benefited from most of the things that i have listed. I am lucky that I don’t live in a community with a Khap panchayat or a state where the Armed Forces Special Provisions Act is in force; – I am lucky that my home does not adjoin hills rich in minerals that are gifted away to prospectors; and I count my blessings that my desire for education was neither hampered by my gender, or religious rules, or societal norms or abject poverty. But, a large chunk of people who became free on the same day as I, do not enjoy those freedoms.
Maybe – we all collectively, rather than converting 15th August to a Hallmark card and a shopping discount day, ought to keep this day contemplative and work towards ensuring that Independence is not just a term.
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Today is Bharat Bandh…. at least Mumbai Bandh. The road outside my house is deserted. All the building kids are out playing football. There isn’t a rick to be seen. Buses are few & far between …. And, I have nothing better to do than catch up on reading.
Amongst the old headlines that I read, in my poor inflated google reader, was one that struck me as being the panacea to all problems. It was, of course, my favorite body – the Khap Panchayat – coming out with another gem. They advocate the lowering of marriage age – from 18 to 15 for girls – to prevent elopement and therefore honour killings!
Om Prakash Mann, Haryana president of All India Jat Mahasabha, said.
“By lowering the legal age of marriage, young couples can be prevented from eloping. A girl brings shame to her family when she runs away. Parents kill the guilty children in a fit of rage,” he said.
My first response was WTF, and my second was ‘what a brilliant idea’ – if we take this kind of thinking to its logical end, think of all the social problems that we can solve. I have jotted down a few, please feel free to add your thoughts to this
- Rape – Men Rape. If men are castrated (chemically, we don’t want to cause the poor dears any pain) they can’t rape. So castrating all men – whether or not they are potential rapists will prevent rape.
- Widow remarriage is against our custom. If we didn’t get married, we won’t get widowed/widowered … abolishing marriage, therefore, will prevent widows. and therefore prevent the socially delicate problem of widow remarriage.
- Female Foeticide - If men are castrated, and marriage is banned, then there can be no children and therefore no female foeticide
- Dowry – if there are no girls there should be no dowry. But, to be on the safe side, let’s ban all goods and services. And, while we are at it – let’s ban money.
- Pollution – Industries cause pollution. Get rid of industries then most pollution will disappear. Also, since industries produce goods, and people ask for goods as dowry – banning industry will also stop dowry …
finally, even if there are only one boy and one girl from the Jat community renaming after all our strictures are followed, we will still oppose intercaste marriage — because it is against our culture 
And finally, to all my friends who were embarrassed by the Maulvi’s and their idiot fatwas, don’t worry the Hindus have caught up
Two very different instances of religious/caste patriarchs intervening in civil society have come to the fore in the last couple of days. Both are Anti Constitutional. And, its about time the Government and the System said religious oppression in the name of Religious freedom be damned – the Constitution comes first.
The first instance was the Khap Panchayats that has been flexing its muscles for quite some time – excommunicating and killing without consequences. They have got Navin Jindal to tow the line now.
Mr. Jindal has said –
“I and my whole family respect the years old traditions and rituals of khap panchayats. My house is their own home and they can come there any time. I am just like their own child and I can never go against them; rather I always need their blessings.”
Navin Jindal, if you remember, is the man who went all the way to the Supreme Court for the right of Indian Citizens to fly the Indian Flag, and won .
Mr.Jindal has forgotten that the Indian flag represents the Indian Republic. And, the Indian Republic is enshrined by the Indian Constitution . The Indian Constitution states:
14. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
15. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
If the Khap Panchayat had its way – it is not just same gotra marriages that will be nullified, but there will be penalties to anyone who breaks caste rules . And, as all of us know, these rules – if applied to their logical conclusion – will lead to the Hindus getting their equivalent of the Taliban.
I wonder if a Member of Parliament who is so ready to violate the Constitution has the right to be in Parliament !
The second instance of the Constitution being violated, is the Deobandi’s – who have declared that it is haram for women to work
“It is unlawful (under the Sharia law) for Muslim women to work in the government or private sector where men and women work together and women have to talk with men frankly and without a veil,”
If the fatwa is followed through to its logical conclusion, it would mean that Indian citizens who are Muslim women cannot be the President, Prime Minister, Member of Parliament. They can’t work in a Hospital, a Call Centre, a Hotel. They can’t teach in a co-educational school, they cannot work for a NGO, they can’t work as engineers…. This essentially means that women are barred from most professions except sweat shops where they can sit with other women and sew stuff at cut price rate.
In both cases a bunch of patriarchs want the world to bend to their interpretation of religion, and honour …. I hope that in both cases this is the straw that breaks the back of an communities that have kept quiet — and rise up to delegitimise both the Khap Panchayats and the Deobandi’s. The best way to destroy them is to stop listening to them !!
And finally – i hope everyone remembers that the reason Krishna wasn’t invited to Rukmini’s swayamwar was because he was a Yadav and she was a Kshyatriya princess.
Let us also remember that the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife was Khadijah bint Khuwaylid – a merchant who employed him.
Those who have proclaimed themselves as guardians of religion and tradition seem to have forgotten their own religion and tradition 
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From the ToI, a couple of days ago :
Those who speak in favour of Maoist guerrillas will face legal action and 10 years imprisonment, the government announced Thursday in a warning to civil society groups who raise voices in favour of Leftwing extremism.
Much as the idea of Mamta Banerjee, Arundati Roy & Digvijay Singh locked up in adjoining cells is interesting, it seems to be an overkill to prosecute people for speech and create more martyrs ….
The Government would be better off, trying to combat propaganda with propaganda, rather than prosecution. Creating more Binayak Sen’s is maybe, not the right way to go….especially when you seem to be doing the right things to bring the Maoists to heel….
Cut off the Maoist funds, seal the borders, send people who provide material support to prison – even if they are supporting your party from the outside ….. but prosecuting members of civil society for speech – even if it is speech you don’t agree with — is futile – it will lead to more speech in favour of what you are trying to suppress .
This is the full quote from the GoI,
It has come to the notice of the Government that some Maoist leaders have been directly contacting certain NGOs/intellectuals to propagate their ideology and persuade them to take steps as would provide support to the CPI (Maoist) ideology. It is brought to the notice of the general public that under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, any person who commits the offence of supporting such a terrorist organization with inter alia intention to further the activities of such terrorist organizations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or with fine or with both. General public are informed to be extremely vigilant of the propaganda of CPI (Maoist) and not unwittingly become a victim of such propaganda.
This is being issued in public interest so that the general public are aware that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and all its formations and front organizations are terrorist organizations whose sole aim is armed overthrow of the Indian State and that they have no place in India’s parliamentary democracy. CPI (Maoist) continues to kill innocent civilians including tribals in cold blood and destroy crucial infrastructure like roads, culverts, school buildings, gram panchayat buildings, etc. so as to prevent development from reaching these under-developed areas.
Propaganda needs to be combated with propaganda, religion with religion, law with the law — using the Power of the State to combat propaganda is a bit like using a earth mover to crack open a walnut — kind of an exercise in futility !
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There is a time to talk about how this Fundamental Right can be implemented better. And, there is a time to celebrate the fact that it is a fundamental right !
For now, i will feel good about the fact that a system cares enough to make this a Fundamental Right !
One of the things that you notice when you travel into India, is that communities that have traditionally been deprived formal education, bend over backwards to ensure that their children get educated. Often this is a daily struggle.
a child outside a balwadi in Udgir, Maharashtra – waiting to get into school. The child is from a Dalit family and faced discrimination in the main school. Dalit women set up a SHG and from their profits set up a school where their children can learn without discrimination.
This is the Pardhi school – the yellow plastic bag in the foreground contains all the educational material. Pardhis are a tribe in India who traditionally hunted for a living. However, in a more modern setup with the kings owning land – Pardhi’s were declared as criminals – hunting from the kings’ land. Ostracized they began to survive through minor crimes – poaching, making away with livestock and so on. Very often caste, class and social systems ensured that the Pardhi’s could not assimilate with main stream society, and their dependance on crime increased. The British Raj declared the Pardhi’s to be criminal tribes.
Post independence the term cirminal was dropped and attempts were made to bring the tribe in line with mainstream society. However, it hasn’t been easy. Even today the police will look for a Pardhi at the first hint of a crime. Villages don’t want Pardhi’s settling down near them – because of their past. Many settle illegaly on Forest Land and their settlements are torn down at regular intervals. All this leaves the children in dire straits. A nomadic lifes tyle is not condusive to education, and social ostracization means that they are wary of going to the local schools. NGO’s have set up a number of projects that help educate Pardhi children, Using volunteers it ensures that basic education skills are imparted to these children.
Hopefully, the fundamental right to education means that getting access to education is no longer a struggle. Now, all that remains is to put the teachers and infrastructure in place ! Given that this is now a Fundamental Right citizens can be more empowered to demand the supply of education in their neighbourhood…. What i would like to see now is a military like campaign that drafts teachers to give the new law a leg up. Maybe the State can start with those who have retired over the last 10 years and see if they can teach again !
It is not often that one has the opportunity to laud the Government – here is one. Well done !
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And, finally that day has arrived …. the day we were all waiting for with bated breath. The day entertainment and news jointly mutated to become a completely different entity … newtertainment, perhaps ? As the name suggest Newtertainment , a term i just coined out of sheer boredom, to describe the heady mix of sensationalist headlines, fluffy features, and celebrity mutterings that are shown on most 24 hour news channels – that ends to end up neutering the senses and possibly the brain !
Star News is conducting a national hunt for news anchors .
From their FB page
STAR Anchor Hunt is first ever talent hunt on news platform. Star News will choose best talent of the country to anchor news shows on STAR channels through STAR Anchor Hunt
The eminent judges are:
Deepak Chaurasia – from Star News :
“one of the smartest political minds in Indian television who would often offer the most provocative take on the day’s news from the campaign trail and beyond.”
Tisca Chopra.
Kushwant Singh’s niece, is an actress who has worked in theater, television and movies.Tisca Chopra topped Hindu College, University of Delhi in English Literature.
Chetan Bhagat
the author of four blockbuster novels, Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of life (2008) and 2 states-the story of my marriage (2009).
(all the descriptors are from the Star Site )
I guess if the world’s largest selling English Language daily can have a car shaped hole through its masthead, a news channel can hunt for anchors !
I am hoping that April 1st has come early, but i fear that it is not the case !
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This From Today’s ToI
If the state government has its way, it won’t be possible for students to dream of a seat in a professional degree course merely because they have been born in Maharashtra or because they have passed their Std X or XII from institutions in the state.
A change sought to be introduced by the director of technical education (DTE) provides that not only the student, but also his/her father, should have been born in Maharashtra for the student to be eligible for the professional degree course seat. Besides, the father should have been a permanent resident of the state for 20 years.
My former colleague, good friend & verbal sparring partner Vijay Sampath – wrote to me about this. Rather than add my two bits of comment, i will reproduce the mail in full:
Sphere: Related ContentDear Harini
As you may have read in the papers these past two days, the Maharshtra Government has enacted the most ridiculous Domiciliary requirements for students aspiring to write CET (Engineering, Management) Entrance Exams.
The govt says that from this year, the candidate HAS TO BE BORN IN MAHARASHTRA AND THE CANDIDATES FATHER TOO HAS TO BE BORN IN MAHARASHTRA.
This rule has placed lacs of children in Maharashtra outside the ambit of their rights to admission to Maharashtra colleges.
The arbitrary ruling is surely unconstitutional and flies against all norms of defining Domicile . Going by this logic, the Govt can also add that the Candidates Grandfather should also be born in Maharashtra ? And why only father ? Why is the Govt discriminating against women. Is a woman born in Maharashtra less Maharashtrian than a man ?
I was born in Lucknow to Tamil Parents. My wife was Born in Surat to Punjabi Parents. My children were born in Maharashtra and have lived here all their lives. Where do I take them if Maharashtra is not their Domicile. Does the Govt of India have a provision to exclusively accommodate such Children as mine who have been Exclusively Excluded by Chauvinistic and Cruel state governments ?
Will the Govt of Maharashtra refund all the taxes it has earned from my 17 year stay in Mumbai, now that it considers me and my children as not Domiciles of this state- At least we can take that money and buy a seat in one of the colleges run by the Maharashtra Education Barons cum politicians. What happens to the millions of Indians who are in Railways,Armed Forces, Paramilitary,Banking, Central Govt, who move from state to state and really ensure the integrity of this country. Where will the children of Indian’s go if they are not considered Domiciles of Any state.
Are such arbitrary rules against my Children’s Fundamental rights ? Or is there is a different constitution for each of the states of India, with the India Constitution only applicable in the Union Territory of Delhi ? As time passes, the states of India are exercising their powers wrongly to destroy the unity and integrity of the country.
Is this Manmohan Singh ,Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s idea of “Inclusive India ”
Can this plea be converted into a PIL by someone in the Supreme Court, so that once and for all, the larger constitutional question of the rights of an Indian living anywhere in India is clarified on all aspects. As also staying the enforcement this retrogressive ruling of the Maharashtra government
Regards
Vijay
I spent 90 odd minutes today debating – “challenging Left Liberalism” on the offstumped community portal
I am pretty much a Liberal centrist moderate who has a 10 degree oscillation on issues to the left and right. There are policy issues on which I may agree with either, neither or sometimes both. For example – GM – the Indian Left & the right were in tandem on this issue. or the Women’s reservation bill – ditto.
I have a problem with labels because they tend to straight jacket views and opinions and polarise discussion – which may make for great spectator sport, but achieves very little in terms of tangible goals.
In India most of these labels break down. I don’t know why but they do. Most parties seem to occupy more or less similar positions on most issues. the points of dissension tend to be Minorities – be they gender, religious, ethnic, caste etal. and policies regarding these minorities.
Just as the cold war was between right wing ‘conservatism’ & right wing socialism – In India the sides are left wing ‘conservatism’ and left wing socialism in various various avtaars. .I see right wing socialism from the BJP and left wing socialism from the Communists. The Congres, is somewhere in the centre.
Of all the parties – I see the Congress, or rather the UPA, being more free market. I see the BJP having a slightly more aggressive stance on National security – but – if I leave out ‘secularism’ and do a blind test between the parties – they are in more or less the same space.
Be it reservation – caste or gender; be it social welfare – in terms of NREGA or education – politically there is a broad consensus that it ought to be done. There may be dispute on the modalities – corruption, leakages, no reservation for religious minorities, no reservation for women etal – but no one is opposing any of these ‘conceptually’.
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I see Liberalism – as essentially standing for freedom – freedom of choice, freedom of market, freedom of individual, freedom to be, and a modern Constitutional Republic being one that guarantees these freedoms. I don’t see any of these parties really standing for these values –because their entire power base is vote bank driven . This entire ‘majority minority’ fault line that is referred to in the question – is also a result of these vote bank politics.
And then I see this fringe – both on the left and the right that will protest at anything – that that is that is made up of the Arundati Roy’s and the Pramod Muthalik’s of the world . They exist on the left and right – and tend to scream shout and grab media attention.
Now, if we are going to use the neo conservative label of ‘left liberal’ with all its associations of the ‘loony fringe’ and that includes the Indian equivalent of being anti big business and pro gay marriage or Anti state – then the answer is no –that group if it exists is barely organised or indeed in agreement on a variety of issues. However, these groups tend to be more elite – and therefore can occupy more media space and are – IMHO – fairly colonised in their thinking. The kind of people who will talk about Indian issues with the US constitution as a reference point.. I have had ‘debates’ with them where, for example, theism would immediately be countered by ‘do you believe in evolution’
But, I believe it is more arm chair rather than any direct involvement ! It is also got the wrong reference points ! but these are convenient reference points for the ELM to latch on to and further the debate. And, to be very honest – the same is the case with the right wing – the western reference points in terms of Nationalism and National Identity – which breaks down in a multi dimensional entity like India.
All sides of the debate – have taken on very firang definitions & positions – that neither accounts for the differences in history, nor the diversity of India, nor the unique developmental challenges. They have taken on values from more or less homogeneous states and societies and tried to transplant them here. So, the debates that I have followed on the net are more in the “Hindutva” v/s “Secularism” space rather than balanced budget v/s “Social Spending” space. I guess the former is easier to disagree/agree on.
Economics is very rarely discussed. There may be an occasional outcry on the farm loan waiver, or a diatribe against Nehruvian planning – and how it is bad for the economy, but very rarely do we discuss the fact that an average of Rs.50,000 crores annually is given as subsidy to fertilizer companies – that possibly distorts the entire market ! There is little focus on now and tomorrow. Most of the focus is historic – and the tack seems to be ‘they misbehaved then, i have a right to misbehave now’ – fairly juvenile and not very productive in terms of achieving anything! it often seems like a fight between kids in the 3rd standard !
Most groups are still stuck on the Hindu v/s Muslim (yawn !!) issues with little attention given to economics or strategy – except that it would be broadly pro regulation – yet not clear on how much; broadly anti-Pak, look blank about China, Think of Africa as a place where they could go on Safari, South America being somewhere out there !
And, of course the fact that we should do ‘something’ about poor people who live in the villages – a line that has me cracking up with laughter !
These also tend to be very absolutist – for example M.F.Hussain. Does he have the right to paint – of course. Does someone else have the right to protest against those paintings ….. they are more ambiguous ! or Should people learn local languages – and can non violent protest be a way of ensuring that ? We may agree on that there should ‘be no violence’ but for some reason – we are anti – protest – and decry protest -against our pet causes – as being misguided.
In all this – the Middle Path is muddied. And, for me, India has always been about the middle path.
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My mother told me, a long time ago, never to debate religion or politics with strangers. i am breaking that rule tonight!
there is a panel discussion (more like panel typing) on “Challenging Left Liberalism” . It is being ‘held’ at the Offstumped Community Portal , and starts at 7 pm IST. the debate/discussion (i am hoping it is the latter’ will be between Swapan DasGupta, Kanchan Gupta, Ashok Malik & yours truly !!
Left Liberal is defined by the site as ” any ideology or policy that advocates all of below.” :
#1 Primacy of Individual over Community and the State in making Cultural Choice
#2 Illegitimacy of Community in making any Cultural Choice on behalf of Individual.
#2 Primacy of the State over Community and primacy of the Community over the Individual in making Economic Choice
#3 Illegitimacy of any autonomy to the Individual in making Economic Choice
#4 Illegitimacy of any autonomy to the State in making choices to preserve itself
I guess that this slicing & dicing would make Margaret Thatcher a somewhat left liberal the debate should be fun … do drop in !
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