Dear friends who are organising support meetings for Chengara, 1) P. Geetha and her kind of revolutionary budhijeevis are upset because they were not the FIRST ones who came in support of Chengara struggle. Unfortunately for them, the Night Vigil got lots of coverage (any publicity is good publicity for them if you take some usages). Geetha always had this problem of sitting on the fence approach, if you analyze her earlier positions, for please the ruling CPI(M). It is good that if Govt. is ready to inquire about Night Vigil and Geetha (the one and only Geetha in Kerala) can use her good office with CPI(M) to do so. But it will be nice if she can also explain her position on morality issues in Kerala and whether she is taking an about turn in her past positions. (This could be the middle age blues too.)
2) Basing on Laha Gopalan's interview and his dismissal of Night Vigil as unrelated to them, I wonder do Chengara struggle expect or want support from the same group? There are feeling that this group is imposing their solidarity on Chengara struggle. Did we inquire at any point of time with Laha Gopalan, who seems to be the Leader, who should give what kind of solidarity to the struggle? If our efforts are unwanted then we should spent our energy else where. it is not that there are no issues in Kerala that we all have to go to Chengara. Any way these are some of my thoughts. In Solidarity, Santhosh On Sun, Apr 6, 2008 at 11:51 PM, bharadwaj reshma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We base this response on a news report published in Madhyamam Daily (not > read, but was reported to us by our friends in Kozhikode) today. As per this > report P.Geetha, during a public speech has demanded governmental enquiry > into 'night vigil'. She also appealed Kerala society not to 'tolerate' such > 'anarchists'. She repeated the already circulating argument that the > discussion on night vigil has dampened the discussions on Chengara land > struggle. > We are very happy to hear this public demand. Though we are not much > bothered by this mantle of 'anarchists' discarded on our backs, the baggage > of 'ganja' and alcohol it is filled with, is at times a bit heavy to carry. > So it would be good if those who are raising these accusations have solid > evidence to base them upon. > And another thing which made us happy is that the demand is made to the > 'government'. If AIDWA took brooms and cow dung, P.Geetha is 'taking' state > to clear off the civil society of political adversaries. This is not in the > least surprising as Savarna hindutva and state have always been natural > allies. Poor AIDWA, they haven't yet learned the trick of sugar coating it > in revolutionary rhetoric. > Let us play a mind game. What will happen if 'Revolutionaries' like > P.Geetha assume absolute power? Who will be 'left' in Kerala? > Let us ask a very simple question to those who raise hue and cry over the > diminished importance for Chengara agitation. > nammude natile 'rashtreeya' budhijeevikal evideyayirunnu ithuvare? > .We attempted to make public protest out of the guilt that such an > important and massive agitation is being suppressed by the state, party and > media. We don't make tall claims as we feel that whatever we did was > insufficient. Even this 'we' is not an unchanging group, but individuals > coming together in an issue based/ programme based manner. > To list the activities we were part of till now.. > 1. Raising this issue in "KariNiyamaVirudha Convention" In calicut , > November 1st. > 2.Continued internet and media interventions by posting appeals and facts > and other issues connected with this agitation.Folloing this , Mr. Shaji > gave a > Report in Thehelka which helped in attracting national attention on the > issue. > 3.A protest demonstration by Non CPIM forum for Democracy in IFFK in > December 2007.. About 40 concerned people participated. K.Gopinath, > J.Devika, Janaki, Elizabeth,K.K.Baburaj et al participated. > 4.Night Vigil in front of secretariate Trivandrum, in the context of > agitators resorting to suicide threat to ward off police action of eviction. > About 40 concerned people participated. BRPBhaskar, Sanni Kapikkad and > CSJayachandran spoke. > 5.Convention at Calicut Press Club auditorium ( convenors: Gargi, > Raveendran Op, Vidhu Vincent, Reshma R) subsequent to Night Vigil. A.Vasu > inaugurated. Civic Chandran, V.P.Suhara, A.K.Ramakrishnan, Subrahmanian, > Sanni Kapikkad spoke. A documentary on Chengara agitation was screened. An > organizing committee for national convention in Pathanam Thitta on April 25 > consisting of A.Vasu ( Chair Person), RekhaRaj, Elizabeth, M.B.Manoj > (Convenors) was announced. > 6.Tried to engage public including CPIM sympathizers through various > media. > > At least these "ideal" activists with ancestry and pedigree could utter > Chengara while condemning Night Vigil. Instead of pouring oil into the CPIM > slandering campaigns against Chengara agitations, we hope they will show us > the right way in engaging politics. > We don't mind if we are untouchables to these puritans. All these small > overtures were attempted by us on mutual trust and respect. No protest is a > solo performance. Neither is Night vigil. One should at least consider the > whole sequence and context before condemning it in toto, if they are really > friends of Chengara struggle as they claim. > > We all are thriving on the hyped myths about Kerala's public sphere and > civil society. > ( We were sad to read in today's newspapers that Pinarayi Vijayan alleged > CIA connection to Chengara struggle in the esteemed presence of KNPanikkar > and M Mukundan, who mourn continuously over the shrinking of Malayali Civil > Society) Very minimal is actually happening out there. Let us wake up out > of this inflated myth > and form ourselves part of an emerging civil society, through solidarities > built between the marginalized among marginalized, outcastes, stigmatized > and "cultural untouchables". > > Reshma Bharadwaj > DileepRaj > > > > DELETE button is history. Unlimited mail storage is just a click > away. 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