I read. There is a point. But I guess Siddharath Vardarajan has consistently supported to make this deal happen
On 7/15/08, Afthab Ellath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Attached another great article by Tanika Sarkar in EPW on the Muslim card > being played on Nuclear deal... It is important it the context of the CPI-M > state leaders' continued use of Muslim Card in Nuke deal even after > Prakash Karat disowned Pandhe's statement... > > She writes... > .. > *Mayawati or anyone else to suggest that the deal is "anti Muslim" or that > the agreement should be scrapped because the Muslims are not in favour is an > act of political cynicism that the "Muslim masses" would be well advised to > be wary of. For today they are being used only as alibis to justify a > political realignment. Tomorrow, they could well be turned into scapegoats > when the next realignment occurs > *.... > > *It is almost as if there is a conspiracy to keep Muslims, like other > Indians, confined to pressing purely identitybased sectional demands. > Muslims or Gujjars who protest against SEZs could find themselves arrested > or shot and their demands will never be addressed in a 100 years. But if > Muslims and Gujjars protest against Taslima Nasrin or for scheduled tribe > status, they may still get shot at but their irrational demands are almost > always acceded to.... > > to drag the Muslims into the midst of their squabblesis to do a great > disservice to the struggle of the community against marginalisation and > discrimination and to turn them into nothing more than sacrificial sheep at > the altar of the BJP, if and when the party ever returns to power > ... > > * > Regards > Afthab Ellath > > On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 10:17 AM, Afthab Ellath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> The last para brought everything that was missing, but essential, in our >> dialogue on nuke deal... >> >> A classic example of disconnection of people from political discourse... >> hegemony of sovereignity, state, alliances and "development" over freedom, >> peace, internationalism and egalitarianism even in critical discourses like >> that of us... >> >> Regards >> Afthab Ellath >> >> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 8:23 AM, damodar prasad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> >>> Adding to the nuisance, article from ET- the print title is more >>> exciting- A DEAL BETWEEN BAZAAR AND THE NATION. For last few days, I was >>> searching for soemthing like this. Also do read todays ET third editorial. >>> >>> >>> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms >>> >>> >>> >>> *What controls the Indo-US nuclear deal?* >>> >>> * * >>> >>> *The politics of the nuclear deal in India was turning horribly >>> repetitive. At one end, we had our Prime Minister, almost echolalic in his >>> protestations, and at the other the Left immaculately ideological in a throw >>> back role to the sixties. In between were a cast of characters from Mayawati >>> and Chandrababu Naidu to Sonia Gandhi and chorus of defence experts that >>> could easily lay claims to a place in a Russian novel. The repetitiveness >>> moved to redundancy as the play moved from the comic to the insufferable, >>> when a sudden gestalt switch brought about a transformation. >>> >>> **The ideological machismo of a Prakash Karat suddenly wilted losing out >>> to the wheeler-dealing of an Amar Singh. An old set of cliches led to new >>> ones, both hiding a deep change in the political drama. How is one to read >>> it? >>> >>> One of the great things about Indian democracy is its combination of >>> predictability and surprise. In its working, it is a bit like its wiser >>> cousin the Bollywood of the last three decades. In an ordinary sense, it >>> operates on stereotypes of corruption, banality and cynicism**. The >>> ordinary citizen almost despairs whether this system will ever change. He >>> also realises that it is both open and venal, which in >>> democratic<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/3234057.cms>terms >>> may be more creative than a world that is aristocratic and closed. >>> >>> **Such a politics begins with the simple assumption that there are no >>> permanent enemies, just permanent interests. However, it goes beyond this >>> Machiavellian premise to realise the difference between an adversary and an >>> enemy. In politics, as political scientist Chantal Mouffe said, the man >>> you battle with is not an enemy, someone you have to defeat, eliminate or >>> ** exterminate. He is an adversary**. ( I read it closely- DP) >>> >>> **Adversorial politics is more playful, more unpredictable. It is >>> competitive but allows for negotiation, but it has the negotiability of the >>> bazaar and not the market. It is not impersonal, it is based on old >>> memories, it prefers the logic of coalitions, a win-win situation rather >>> than a zero-sum game. ** It seeks system stability rather than regime >>> crisis. Politics is based on continuous re-readings of the situation where >>> text, pretext and context are convertible. For instance, you cannot quite >>> figure out whether the nuclear deal will go through to solve a political >>> issue in UP or vice versa. >>> >>> **The parties bring in our former President Kalam as a quotable quote >>> and keep him out of the rest of the political text. Kalam's words, 'Nuclear >>> deal is in national interest', is to read as a signal for action. If our >>> ex-president as patriot and scientist has spoken, can SP be far behind? >>> Nationalism, always a potent mix, triumphs and trumps CPI(M) politics. The >>> Left is back to being a duo of regional parties. The pack is expertly >>> shuffled. Whoever thought of the Kalam strategy is a master player of the >>> political game. They have in one gestalt move changed the game of politics. >>> Politicians<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/3234057.cms>like >>> Karat, Raja, Bardhan look like verbose villains who have overstayed >>> their time on stage with parts that were overwritten. One realises the game >>> is cynical, pragmatic and it is precisely interests that permit stability. >>> * >>> >>> * * >>> >>> *Values, exaggerated to the extreme as ideology, may destabilise >>> politics. In fact, the politics of non-negotiability is seen as >>> anti-political. It is not that values are not important. It is just that >>> they have to be articulated in the right way, at the right moment. They must >>> not sound intractable or fundamentalist. It is not that people do not know >>> the difference between good and bad, only they feel the necessity for their >>> coexistence. It is a covert plea for the existence of multiple frames and >>> viewpoints. One can personally grade or prioritise them but one has to allow >>> for some notion of plurality. The politics of untouchability of groups or >>> functions cannot threaten system stability. Electoral politics, in that >>> sense, operates between the homeliness of the bazaar and the nation as home. >>> >>> >>> **One immediately asks two questions. What does this mean for the >>> liberal market imagination? Secondly, what does it hold for the future of >>> values? It is not an open domain where everything is for sale. It is a grid, >>> a gradient where negotiation is possible, where the same good is valued >>> differently, where personal benefits derive from public goods, but no one >>> denies the necessity of the public good. It is here that values come in >>> because even interests and deals need a framework of value, a sense of the >>> bigger community. A nuclear deal is not passed as a nuclear deal. That >>> would be too profane. A nuclear deal is an affirmation of national >>> interests, of >>> science<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms>, >>> of our dignity as a nation. Kalam affirms it as myth and Mulayam carries it >>> out as ritual, as a part of the processes of politics. A few good >>> clichés from Amar Singh also help create the sense of values and community. >>> It might be a horse-trade but you express it in terms of >>> species<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms>value. >>> >>> **There is a bit of hypocrisy here but it is a hypocrisy which appeals >>> to stability, which claims a loyalty if not an adherence to values. Of >>> course, there is no debate about the essential qualities of nuclear >>> energy<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms>. >>> Sixty years of debates on history of the peace movements, the memoirs of the >>> Pugwash moment, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists could be non-existent. >>> Our politics is not contending that what it is good for GM, is good for the >>> country, only that if the nuclear deal is good for the country, it may be >>> good for the party. It is a lowest common denominator politics but within >>> the >>> democratic<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms>framework. >>> The fission and fusion of Indian politics control the nuclear >>> deal and men like Amar Singh act as fast breeder reactors. Some deeply >>> Chanakya-like-brain must have planned this little possibility in the >>> blackhole of politics that the Left had created for Manmohan Singh. The new >>> events provide a sense of relief, a breather. >>> ** >>> There is a second slippage of science that few have noticed. We have >>> debated whether the nuclear deal is good for Indian state as a legal >>> contract or a political deal. But few ask whether nuclear >>> energy<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/What_controls_the_Indo-US_nuclear_deal/articleshow/msid-3234057,curpg-2.cms>is >>> good for India as a society. The sadness lies there. Meanwhile, Indian >>> politics will muddle its democratic way through lesser questions. Such is >>> the way of our democracy, stumbling between mediocrity and searching for the >>> ** greatest good of the greatest number. >>> **Politics provides value for money and values for sale but fortunately >>> within the electoral democratic framework.* >>> >>> * * >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
