Hi Bobby, I read the article. it seems like its written in a hurry. It could have been better written. you only rubbish Shashikumar's opinionated views on PFI, and not provide some counter view ( except a little when writing about 'Thejas') I think you could have put the organization in some perspective, with its positive and perhaps more conservative or harmless activities,in fact its essential. I shall read the article again and elaborate my point better gouri
On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 12:53 PM, Anivar Aravind <[email protected]>wrote: > Tehelka’s Populist Turn – The magazine joins the Great Kerala Terrorist > Hunt > http://www.countermedia.in/?p=220 > October 9, 2010 > By admin > > Sudeep K S and Bobby Kunhu > > Kerala’s Radical Turn — cries the cover of the last issue of Tehelka > (dated 1st October, 2010). The cover story by V K Shashikumar, that > plays the familiar tunes of Islamophobia, hints at Tehelka’s Populist > Turn. It will be interesting to see where Tehelka goes from here, and > what happens to its current reader base that distinguished the > magazine from the likes of The Indian Express and The Times of India > and India Today. > > In the article titled “Here Come the Pious”, Shashikumar lists some > facts and his personal fears, on the eve of the Allahabad High Court > judgment on the Babri Masjid land dispute. What is missing in the > entire article is reason. The byline says that “A new Islamist body, > the Popular Front of India, is causing alarm with its religious > overdrive in the south.” After one goes through the article, however, > what one gets is a glorified picture of the outfit. Whether the author > likes it or not. > > The piece opens with the Rayana episode, where a young engineering > graduate got threats for wearing jeans in the Kasargod district of > Kerala. “They said they were from the Popular Front of India. > Initially it was teasing and harassment. But harassment is worse than > a threat to life. The comments and staring each time I ventured out, > as if I was a criminal, was intolerable. They wrote to me saying they > want me to wear purdah. They said what I did was blasphemy. But I > don’t think it is a problem of Islam. This is an issue of the right > over one’s body. It is sad that everybody is making it out as a > religious problem, even those who support me,” says Rayana. (quote > from the article). And without any guilt whatsoever, the author does > the same: makes it out as a religious problem. > > Many Muslim women in Kerala wear jeans and other modern outfits. So if > one Rayana is getting targetted for what she wears, we as a mature > society should extend our support to her and find out why she gets > targetted. Sadly, all that the author sees is “Them” — the imaginative > enemy. It seems the author has not even bothered to cross verify with > women’s groups and feminist activists who have been involved in > extending support to Rayana – nor has he done any homework or checked > with other journalists in Kerala. > > The article says: “They hated her jeans. They called her at odd times, > men she didn’t know, and told her what they would do with her if she > didn’t dump the jeans and put on purdah. Each time Rayana stepped out, > they stared and said horrible things.. Then, four months later, she > wrote to the Women’s Commission asking that she be allowed to wear > what she likes. The state posted constables to protect Rayana so she > could sport denim. Now, they stalked her. One day Rayana was returning > after meeting her lawyer in Ernakulam, a town near the middle of > Kerala. The constable got off midway. A group tried to block the car > Rayana was in. She drove off. They chased the car and attacked her > with stones. She had to drive to a town nearby, where the locals lent > a touch of security. All this, because they didn’t like what she > wore.” Who are “They”? Has the author cared to find out before flaring > up this fear for “Them”? Are we forgetting the fact that in Kerala > most women face these stares and hear horrible things if she chooses > to wear what she likes or chooses to live the life she wants? > > The article then cuts to : “The Popular Front of India (PFI), with its > headquarters in Kozhikode, Kerala, is throwing up a curious test for > India’s secularism.” Why? Here’s the answer: “In classified central > government reports, the PFI is accused of introducing an extremist > pan-Islamist movement to India. In submissions to the High Court, the > Kerala police claim it is linked to the Al Qaeda. Achuthanandan > suggested the PFI has a 20-year plan to Islamicise Kerala. And then, > Keralites were jolted out of their secular somnambulism on the first > Sunday of July when a bunch of PFI cadres chopped the right palm of a > college teacher, TJ Joseph, for setting a question paper that > allegedly insulted Prophet Mohammad.” The accusations of the central > government reports and the apparent police claims of Al Qaueda links > have not been proved, and the CM’s statement was arguably the most > irresponsible statement a chief minister could come up with. So the > author finds himself in need of some supportive data. > > “Evidences” follow — in the form of opinions from some of the author’s > caste Hindu and caste Christian friends who feel threatened that their > supremacy is getting questioned. To quote the author himself; “Hindus > and Christians are beginning to feel uncomfortable with this brand of > assertive, militant religion-centred politics.” As if Muslims are not > part of the Kerala society. Sample this: “They are the Indian Taliban, > but they cannot overcome the syncretic culture of Kerala,” says > Raveendran, a building contractor in Thrissur. According to him, the > PFI is a temporary fad funded by petrodollars from Saudi Arabia. > Mathew Nethumpara, a lawyer in Ernakulam, says he is not surprised > because “intolerance has been brewing for several years”. > > That these comments override Kerala’s Director General of Police Jacob > Punnose who says “I realise the danger but I don’t want to exaggerate > it” tells us where the author’s fears are founded. > > Moreover, in an SMS message to the authors of this piece – B > Unnikrishnan, the filmmaker and critic quoted by the author asserts > that he has been either misunderstood or misconstrued. > > Now comes some “historic” revelations. “Confidential missives of the > Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Kerala Police accessed by > TEHELKA suggest the PFI is the fastest-growing cadre-based Muslim > organisation in India.” Enough reason for fear. Though one wonders > what these confidential missives are. What adds to the fear is PFI’s > Kozhikode Declaration (2009) that the article quotes: > > “..The Muslims are the victims of the war on terror. The Indian > government supports the WOT and makes available the county’s machinery > for implementing the plan hatched by the US-Israel axis. It’s in the > wake of this alliance that we witness the increase in bomb blasts in > the country. > > The Muslims, on the other hand, have been pushed down by inferiority > complex created by peculiar historic developments. They are under the > wrong impression that any political move of their own is wrong. While > the national secular parties are anxious to use the Muslim votes, they > have been reluctant to take them in as equal partners. They have > failed to secure the rights of the Muslims as citizens and refused to > give even legal protection to them during communal riots which are a > byword for collective anti-Muslim attacks. When the administration > joined hands with anti-Muslim forces it created fear in Muslim minds. > There is strong suspicion that plans are being hatched and implemented > deliberately to break the Muslims economically and socially. > > The denial of basic needs and willful negligence of their just demands > have imposed social slavery. No political party can shrug off > responsibility for creating this situation. So it is imperative that > Muslim organisations come to the forefront for the advancement of the > community and to create awareness about their rights.” > > Blasphemy! Are we supposed to speak this out? Will it not get the > Muslims to think on these lines, and question the targetting of > Muslims? Will they not react to the picking up of Muslim men in > connection with any blast that happens anywhere in the world? Will > they forget the Mecca Masjid blast where hundreds of Muslim youth were > picked up and harassed? Yes, there is reason to fear. More so when > PFI’s Kerala head says his organisation is expanding because there is > a feeling among Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis that they have been > cheated. > > Then another friend of Shashikumar shares his concerns : “In the past > few years I have seen more women, and more educated women, for > instance my neighbour who has a Phd, take to the hijab.” Too sad. It > is evident that here we are not talking about women who are forced to > wear hijab. As the author quotes: “It is fashionable to wear hijab,” > says Salima, a student of BSc, Applied Statistics, in Kozhikode’s > Ferook College. This fear for any religious symbols that do not belong > to one’s own religion needs treatment. > > Another reason for fear is “their” faith in letters. “We see the media > as a vehicle for political empowerment,” the article quotes NP > Chekkutty, Executive Editor of Thejas. Then we see a letter classified > as secret issued by the union home ministry on 25 November 2009 that > states: “Thejas is part of a pan-Islamic publication network catering > to the communal agenda of certain organisations. The publication > invariably takes anti-establishment views on issues like plight of > Muslims, Kashmir, and India’s relations with the US and Israel. > Occasionally, it describes the government’s counter-militancy effort > as state-sponsored terrorism, thereby endorsing the stance of militant > elements. More importantly, contemporary developments and issues are > invariably projected with a communal slant.” Incidentally, this > particular letter has been a subject of speculation and debate in the > Kerala media circles and its existence has been denied by the > Government, and it is rather interesting that Shashikumar is > blissfully ignorant of this fact. > > Hasn’t Tehelka taken anti-establishment views and spoken up on > instances where there was denial of justice? Isn’t the government’s > counter-militancy and counter-Maoist efforts widely criticized by many > people publicly? And what is a “communal slant”? As far as the > Malayalam newspapers go, Thejas is one of the very few newspapers > where one hardly gets to see reports attempting to malign any > particular community. This is in a time when Mathrubhumi and Kerala > Kaumudi and the likes have been rolling out Islamophobia in the form > of headlines, reports and even cartoons day by day. Isn’t that > communal? > > As if to add insult to injury – another piece by Rajesh Ahuja > screaming that Gulf Malayalis are falling prey to LeT compliments > Shashikumar’s thesis. We are left clueless as to the relevance of this > story that has been much written about by veterans like Praveen Swami > in today’s context except to buttress Shashikumar’s fears of Muslims > getting richer and funding their own publications. We really do not > know and do not want to comment on the guilt or non-guilt of Nawaz or > others mentioned in the story – but to calumny a whole community > because of a few alleged miscreants is unfortunate – given that the > Gulf boom has been in many ways responsible for the upward social > mobility of the Muslim community in Kerala. > > One has to keep in mind that Kerala has one of the most vibrant, > diverse and political Muslim communities in India – one of the very > few places in India where the community has a strong political > presence. If anything, these kind of baseless reportage fuels > insecurity amongst the community that they are being targeted and > Shahsikumar, himself claims that is one of the tools that PFI is using > in its mobilization!! > > With all this and more, both the articles look like a fine example of > the proverbial “seeing yellow”, going by the facts we are presented > with. These facts are supposed to substantiate the fears expressed by > the authors, but it instead tells us there is something terribly wrong > with the way that people like Shashikumar and Rajesh Ahuja (and the > Tehelka editors) think. > > Both the articles say they are based on inputs from Shahina K K in > Thiruvananthapuram. Shahina is someone we all know as a journalist of > reason. We wonder if Shahina also shares Shashikumar and Rajesh > Ahuja’s extrapolations and exaggerations. > > (This was sent as a rebuttal to Tehelka – which Tehelka has not published) > > Cross posted in http://kafila.org/ & http://www.countermedia.in/ > > -- > 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]<greenyouth%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > > -- 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.
