IT IS GOOD THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL GRATEFUL AND LOYAL TO THE ISI FOR ITS MONEY. AND DO WRITE FOR IT.
On Jul 20, 6:39 pm, reny ayline <[email protected]> wrote: > The Great Incendiary Hunt Takes Off in Kerala By J Devika > > I have been watching the whole drama that has been unfolding after the > unspeakable and utterly condemnable act of violence at Muvattupuzha in > central Kerala early this month, which has been widely interpreted as the > first instance of ‘Talibanist’ violence here, with a sinking feeling in the > pit of my stomach. A whole manhunt has followed it and this continues to be > front-page news in many Malayalam newspapers, especially the > *Mathrubhumi*.This newspaper has been working very hard to homogenize > the Malayalee > Muslims and make them collectively responsible for ‘Talibanism’. Everyday > the news is full of reports of raids on offices of the Muslim organization, > Popular Front, and the homes of activists, which apparently unearth all > sorts of incendiary material, especially CDs and printed matter. Meanwhile > the *Mathrubhumi* has worked overtime to plant tit-bits that would collapse > many Muslim organizations into a single, threatening, monstrous presence. It > looks as if the assault which began with the false propaganda around ‘Love > jihad’ is careening into a horrendous climax which will undo whatever peace > and trust that exists among the major religious communities in Kerala.The > manner in which the Popular Front leaders have been trying to ‘explain’ the > act as ‘natural’ reveals the dangerous dimensions of what it to come (of > course, it is another matter that neither the CPM leaders nor the BJP bosses > in north Kerala have ever been really apologetic of the horrific political > murders there). > > The media is producing tons of ‘evidence’ on a daily basis on how the > Popular Front activists have been planning and plotting this dastardly > attack.The power of rhetoric is clearly being utilised to the fullest: just > the other day, the mainstream media went wild about the alleged attackers > possessing several SIM cards, as if possessing many SIM cards is in itself > evidence for someone’s links to terrorism. I know many fellows in Kerala who > possess several SIM cards and use them for such purposes as the efficient > management of multiple amorous interests; would they be ‘suspected > Talibanists’? Similarly, the hysteria about the hoards of CDs and printed > matter seems to be with the clear intention of misleading readers into > thinking that possessing such material is a crime or evidence for assent to > Talibanist ideology. Well, just looking around my office, I find my desk and > bookshelves full of material that celebrates ‘virtuous Malayalee womanhood’ > which demands an impossible repression of anything sexual; I also have > plenty of material that argues for a sadomasochist aesthetic. Now does that > make me either a good asexual Malayalee woman (god forbid!) or a > sadomasochist aesthete? According to the rules set by the mainstream media, > I will certainly be a propagandist of sadomasochist aesthetics, because I > have multiple copies of an article that defends the same which I intend to > hand out to a group of readers who would like to discuss the sexuality > debates within feminism! I may also be a good repressed specimen of > Malayalee womanhood (alas!) since I have stored for several purposes, plenty > of copies of K Chinnamma’s early 20th century proposal to turn all ‘native > women’ into mothers with sexualities stiffer and straighter than my * > Valyammavan*‘s (Grand-Uncle’s) stiffest starched mul-mul *mundu* (a > Malayalee dhoti)! All depends on what they choose to find in my room. It is > time that our journalists were taught some logic, and helped beyond the > statistical fallacy (which, simply put, is the error of reasoning that > results from examining a number of episodes, for example, (1) whisky+soda = > intoxication,(2) vodka+soda = intoxication, and (3) gin + soda= > intoxication, and coming to the conclusion that the most apparent common > factor,soda, is responsible for intoxication). > > I am of course not saying that I know who were behind this horrible act of > violence and that I am sure that the Popular Front were not involved. Given > the trajectory of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has been floating around, it may > well be the case that this is a foolish, irresponsible, completely > unjustifiable, impulsive response by the accused. All I am saying is that > the present ‘evidence’ offered by the media by which the accused are already > guilty works to not so much actually prove them guilty, as to offer bits and > pieces that promptly generate certain false associations that pronounce > them already guilty. This is by now a familiar strategy and I am sure there > are better ways to report a case investigation in a democratic society, and > that there are ways to gain a degree of distance from the police accounts. > > But there is a parallel I can’t help noticing — between the present incident > and and earlier one I had written about on kafila (1 oct 2009). The latter > had to do with another shocking murder, of an innocent man on a morning walk > at Varkala, near Thiruvananthapuram, and a dalit organization which had been > working in the dalit colonies at Varkala, the Dalit Human Rights Network, > was blamed instantly. In a sequence of events almost uncannily similar to > the present one, activists of the DHRM were rounded up and accused of the > most appalling crimes, with the mainstream media gleefully lapping up the > cartloads of ‘evidence’ that the police was discovering on a daily basis and > coining such conceptual gems as ‘dalit terrorism’. The violent act in that > incident was as mindless and atrocious as in the present one — an act that > was politically so damaging that one would be justified to think that only > the politically-dumbest person would commit such a crime. In fact, such a > person could well be judged as incapable of elementary rational calculation > — and could therefore be called dangerously mad. The present act is exactly > this. The professor in question had been punished and the matter seemed to > have ended there. On the other side, the Muslims in Kerala, especially those > active in youth organizations such as the Solidarity, have been under > incessant attack recently, and therefore to engage in such violence would be > nothing short of political suicide, and this is as clear as daylight to the > most ordinary observer of public life in Kerala.It happens, and the police > get into their act, exactly like in the Varkala murder case, producing tons > of ‘evidence’ to feed the media which utilizes it to homogenize and > criminalize a particular group of people. The police have still to produce > credible evidence against the ‘suspects’ who have been arrested in the > Varkala murder case; it is most likely that they will be let go, like the > ‘suspected Maoists’ who were arrested a couple of years back in Kerala who > have now been released, of which I had written about in an earlier post (22 > Jan 2008). > What really strikes me, however, is the timing of these incidents. The > Varkala murder case came just at the point when negotiations around the > Chengara land struggle seemed to be reaching somewhere; the anti-dalit > tirade did much to diminish the political gain that the dalits had made > through the Chengara land struggle. Now, this comes just after the > successful thwarting of government promotion of neoliberal predators at > Kinaloor in north Kerala in which Muslim organizations were actively > involved. And lo! Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Home Minister of Kerala, tells the > Kerala State Assembly on 14 July (according to *The Hindu*, Trivandrum > edition,15 July) that “the Intelligence wing of the Police Department was > keeping a close watch on certain human rights organisations who were > suspected to be indulging in activities aimed at subverting development > initatives in the State.” He further hinted that “foreign sources” may be > funding these organisations and that “subversive activities would not be > permitted in the State under any circumstances”. Too neat, I must say. I am > well aware that one should not read too much off such close associations, > one simply lacks the hard evidence to do so. But I do feel that the uncanny > likeness between the two incidents gives us good reason to insist on > critical distance from police versions and on independent investigation > especially because the mainstrean media is outdoing the police. > > And of course, Balakrishnan’s profound observations may be completely > innocent — but that is not the point. His words may be a brave attempt to > make hay while the sun shines in between an unrelenting monsoon. Such is the > desperation in the LDF: the panchayat elections are approaching and it MUST > be won! As the drama unfolds after the violent incident at Muvattupuzha,our > political benefactors, the LDF, have been busy with the Great Beneficiary > Hunt, in view of the approaching panchayat elections which the LDF cannot > afford to lose. In the recent weeks we have been witnessing a amazing > proliferation and elaboration of governmental categories who are being > handed pensions, cheap loans for housing, noon-meals, medicines — everybody > from people suffering from various kinds of chronic and genetic ailments to > unwed (tribal) mothers to senior citizens neglected by their NRI children to > financially challenged Gulf-returnee women workers — have been sought out > and lined up for welfare,and LDF legislators and panchayat members are busy > combing their constituencies for anyone who may fit into this amazing range. > The festival will last up to the upcoming panchayat elections. However, what > I have been discussing — which may perhaps be called the Great Incendiary > Hunt — is also part of the LDF strategy which, as even our littlest brats > would tell you, has changed with a vehemence — it has moved towards the > Hindus, and is determined now to tell them that they are safe from the ‘bad > Muslims’. > > And in the bargain, one can get rid of the *rea…llly baa..dd* Muslims too, > the ones who thwart neoliberal predators. There is great unity in this — > everyone, including the Congress and the Muslim League, would like to be fed > by the predators, everyone would love to paint themselves ‘secular’ in the > bargain,everyone would love to subsume the meaning of ‘development’ to > ‘neoliberal growth’. In addition, the Great Incendiary Hunt and the Great > Beneficiary Hunt are strategies that ensure success in the Game of > elections, but only there is only one player who can access both. Only the > first is available to all players, and therefore no player sacrifices it. > The second is available only to one player, the ruling coalition, and > therefore the others try their best to delegitimize it — while continuing to > access the first the best they can. Since all players are incessantly > forwarding-calculating and promises (and lofty political ideals) are nothing > but ‘cheap words’ in the universe of such Games, the LDF is likely to access > both strategies. > > Welcome to the world of political games! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an 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.
