Category: People

July 5, 2017

वाट्सऐप बांच लेवे है…उर्फ बुद्धिहीनता के विश्वविद्यालय…( आउटलुक, 17 जुलाई 2017 में प्रकाशित)

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सवाल करके  बवाल ना करे है  वाट्सऐप बांच लेवे है…

-पुरुषोत्तम अग्रवाल.

मध्यप्रदेश में किसानों के आंदोलन पर पुलिस द्वारा गोली चलाए जाने के बाद, स्थिति को काबू में लाने के लिए, अफवाहों पर रोक लगाने के लिए, प्रशासन ने सबसे पहला काम किया—वाट्सऐप पर रोक लगाने का। इंटरनेट की सर्वव्यापकता के इस युग में संप्रेषण बहुत आसान हो गया है, वाट्सऐप इस आसानी का सबसे सुलभ रूप है, बस एक सेलफोन की ही तो दरकार है। और इसीलिए, मंदसौर हो या सहारनपुर या नासिक, अफवाहों पर रोक लगाने के लिए वाट्सऐप पर रोक लगाना जरूरी माना जाता है। कश्मीर की स्थिति तो हम सब जानते ही हैं।

तनाव की स्थिति में वाट्सऐप की ऐसी भूमिका जाहिर है कि चिंताजनक है; अगर ऐसी स्थिति से अलग, सामान्य दिनों में भी वाट्सऐप की दुनिया में झांका जाए तो हालत खासी मनोरंजक भी लगती है। लेकिन, केवल ऊपर ऊपर से। असल में, सामान्य दिनों में सामान्य लोग वाट्सऐप पर क्या कर रहे हैं, क्या दे और पा रहे हैं, उसे समझने से ही मालूम पड़ेगा कि तनाव की स्थिति में वाट्सऐप से प्रशासन को इतना डर क्यों लगता है।

अधिक को तो झेलना असंभव है, मैं कुछ वाट्सऐप ग्रुप्स पर निगाह रखता हूँ। इनमें से एक पर अभी दो ही दिन पहले तुलसीदास और रहीम के बीच का वह संवाद जिसमें दान देने के लिए विख्यात रहीम की विनम्रता रेखांकित होती है, तुलसीदास और राजा हरिशचंद्र के बीच का संवाद बना दिया गया। रहीम के बजाय सतयुग के राजा हरिश्चंद्र कलियुग के तुलसीदास को ब्रजभाषा में दोहा लिख कर भेजते मिले—“लोग भरम हम पै करैं ताते नीचे नैन”। इस ग्रुप में सब ‘पढ़े-लिखे’ लोग हैं। कोई साइंटिस्ट, कोई इंजीनियर, कोई अफसर, और कोई ‘आंतरप्यूनर’— किसी को यह हरिश्चंद्र-तुलसीदास संवाद नहीं खटका, किसी को तुलसीदास और रहीम की मित्रता की किंवदंतियां याद नहीं आईं। शायद हम ऐसे हिन्दूपन के दौर में पहुंच रहे हैं जो तुलसीदास तक की किसी  मुसलमान से मित्रता बर्दाश्त करने को तैयार नहीं। जो यह सोचने को तैयार नहीं कि हरिश्चंद्र तुलसीदासजी की कल्पना या कविता में तो आ सकते हैं लेकिन वे तुलसीदास के साथ चिट्ठी पत्री करें—यह जरा अजीब बात है।  बात केवल खास तरह के हिन्दूपन की भी नहीं, खास तरह की ‘बुद्धि’ की है।

वाटस्ऐप और आभासी दुनिया के दूसरे ‘विश्वविद्यालयों’  में जिस ‘ज्ञान’ का निर्माण और वितरण हो रहा है, वह समाज में तेजी से वाइरल हो रही बुद्धिहीनता का ही प्रमाण है। जो बात किसी भी सामान्य सहजबोध संपन्न व्यक्ति को बेतुकी लगनी चाहिए, वह आजकल के अच्छे-खासे ‘पढ़े-लिखे’  लोगों को सहज ही विश्वसनीय लगने लगी है। यह इस बुद्धिहीनता-विषाणु (वाइरस)  का ही नतीजा है कि कोई लैटिन अमेरिका की वीडियो क्लिप को पश्चिम उत्तरप्रदेश की बता कर लगा देता है और लोग  उस क्लिप में दिख रहे लोगों के चेहरे-मोहरे, पहनावे, आस-पास के माहौल पर ध्यान दिए बिना उस पर भरोसा कर लेते हैं। पश्चिम यूरोप की किसी एक्सप्रेसवे की तस्वीर को गुजरात सरकार की उपलब्धि की तस्वीर मान लिया जाता है।

यह बुद्धिहीनता, बल्कि सहजबोध तक से दुश्मनी वाट्सऐप ज्ञान के प्रचार-प्रसार में सहायक तो है, लेकिन क्या इसका जन्म भी वाट्सऐप के साथ ही हुआ है? 

इस सवाल का जबाव तलाशने के लिए जरूरी  है याद रखऩा कि ऐसा नहीं है कि बुद्धिहीनता के इस समकालीन वाइरस की गिरफ्त में केवल अपना ही समाज हो। तर्कसंगत सोच-विचार की कमी समाज का स्वभाव क्यों बनती जा रही है, नॉम चाम्स्की ने पिछले ही दिनों अमेरिकी पत्रिका ‘दि नेशन’ को दिए एक इंटरव्यू में इस सवाल पर अमेरिका और पश्चिम यूरोप के संदर्भ में विचार किया है। वे याद दिलातें हैं कि  सातवें दशक में अमेरिका और यूरोप के मजदूरों, विद्यार्थियों और कर्मचारियों, स्त्रियों और अश्वेतों के बीच  व्यापक असंतोष फैला था। वियतनाम में अमेरिकी मौजूदगी पर अभूतपूर्व सवाल उठाए गये थे। फ्रांस में दगाल जैसे राष्ट्रपति की सत्ता को चुनौती मिली थी। चॉम्स्की याद दिलाते हैं कि अमेरिकी सत्तातंत्र और बड़े कारपोरेटों ने इस घटनाक्रम से अपने ढंग से सबक सीखे, और तात्कालिक के साथ ही दूरगामी कदम भी उठाए। समस्या यह मानी गयी कि “ नौजवानों का संस्कार निर्माण करने वाली संस्थाएं अपना काम ठीक से नहीं कर रही हैं, इसीलिए ये लोग सवाल बहुत पूछने लगे हैं, जरूरत शिक्षा पद्धति में ऐसे परिवर्तन करने की है, जिनके कारण नौजवान अपने काम से काम रखने की आदत डालें और फालतू सोच-विचार से दूर रहें”।  साथ ही यह भी तय किया गया कि बुनियादी सामाजिक ढांचे पर चोट करने वाले आंदोलनों की उपेक्षा की जाए और सामाजिक वर्गों के स्थान पर सामाजिक पहचानों के स्वरों को ताकत दी जाए।

इन नीतियों पर अमल आठवें दशक के मध्य से शुरु हुआ और हम अमेरिका में देख सकते हैं कि विश्वविद्यालयों के विद्यार्थी “सुधर” गये हैं, वे व्यापक ज्ञान से नहीं, केवल अपने काम की सूचना से वास्ता रखना चाहते हैं। राजनैतिक चेतना का अर्थ तरह तरह की अस्मितावादी राजनीति का समर्थन करने से लेकर नो स्मोकिंग के अभियान चलाने तक सिमट कर रह गया है। चॉम्स्की ने लीविस पॉवेल द्वारा तैयार किये गये जिस दस्तावेज का जिक्र किया है, उसमें दर्ज इच्छा पूरी हो चली है। विश्वविद्यालय में पढ़ने का अर्थ व्यापक ज्ञान की प्राप्ति न रह कर तकनीकी से लेकर मैनेजमेंट तक की “स्किल”  हासिल करना हो गया है।

ऐन इसी तरह के सुझाव अपने देश में उच्च शिक्षा के बारे में मार्गदर्शन करने के लिए बनाई गयी अंबानी-बिड़ला कमेटी ने दिए थे। जाहिर है कि चिंताएं भी यही थीं कि किस तरह विद्यार्थियों को सवाल पूछने और सोचने वाले इंसानों के बजाय चुपचाप अपना काम करने वाली स्किल्ड वर्कफोर्स में बदला जाए। यह कमेटी सन 2000 में वाजपेयी सरकार द्वारा बनायी गयी थी। बाद में, मनमोहनसिंह सरकार ने भी इस कमेटी की सिफारिशों में से दो-एक को इधर-उधर भले किया हो, इन सिफारिशों का जिक्र करना भले ही कम कर दिया हो, सारी शिक्षा-नीति की दिशा पिछले पंद्रह एक बरसों में ऐन वही रही है जो अंबानी-बिड़ला कमेटी ने सुझाई थी। मानविकी के विषयों की पूर्ण उपेक्षा, स्कूलों में भाषा तक को संवेदना के विस्तार के बजाय केवल बिजनेस लेटर के माध्यम में बदल देना, विज्ञान के नाम पर केवल तकनीक का बल, शोध का एजेंडा शोधार्थी की ज्ञान-पिपासा और विषय की अपनी समस्याओं के हिसाब से नहीं, इंडस्ट्री की जरूरतों के हिसाब से तय होना—यह सब बिड़ला-अंबानी कमेटी की इच्छा के अनुसार ही है।  ऐसी शिक्षा-पद्धति से निकले नौजवानों से तर्कबुद्धि की तो क्या, सहजबोध की भी उम्मीद करना बेमानी ही है।   

किसी समाज के बुद्धिविरोधी समाज में बदल जाने का इससे बड़ा प्रमाण क्या होगा कि ‘बुद्धिजीवी’ शब्द धिक्कार के लिए बरता जाने लगे। संसद में मंत्रीजी ‘बुद्धिजीवी आतंकवाद’  जैसी शब्दावली का प्रयोग करें। यह बात किसी एक राजनैतिक दृष्टि तक सीमित हो, ऐसा भी नहीं है। बुद्धजीवियों को ‘गण-शत्रु’ मानने का इतिहास वामपंथी राजसत्ताओं और विचारधाराओं का भी रहा है। हमारी मौजूदा हालत इसलिए और भी दुखद लगती है क्योंकि  भारतीय समाज और सत्तातंत्र पारंपरिक रूप से इस लिहाज से विलक्षण रहा है कि यहाँ निरक्षर व्यक्ति भी विद्वानों, गुणियों का सम्मान करता रहा है। रावण और अन्य ऐसे राजाओं को  अत्याचारी मानने का एक कारण यह भी रहा है कि वे अपने समय के बुद्धिजीवियों ( अर्थात् ऋषियों) को सताते थे। इसलिए यह और भी दुखद लगता है कि अपनी सांस्कृतिक स्मृतियों के एकदम उलट हम अपनी शिक्षापद्धति तक को एक बुद्धिविरोध की नर्सरी ही बनाए दे रहे हैं। बुद्धि और संवेदना की घोर उपेक्षा करते हुए राजनेता, कारपोरेट और ‘ओपिनियन मेकर्स’—सब के सब ‘स्किल डेवलपमेंट’  के गीत गा रहे हैं, इसी को कसौटी बना कर सरकार  को जाँच रहें हैं।

सोच-विचार की घोर उपेक्षा कर केवल तथाकथित “कौशल—स्किल”  के विकास पर केंद्रित शिक्षापद्धति और जैसा इन दिनों है, वैसा टीवी दोनों मिल कर हाल करेला और नीम चढ़ा वाला कर देते हैं। इसलिए इसमें ताज्जुब की बात नहीं कि वाट्सऐप के जरिए आप लोगों को कुछ भी यकीन दिला सकते हैं, कुछ भी करा सकते हैं। आजसे कुछ ही दशक पहले तो भैंस ने मनुष्य के बच्चे को जन्म दिया टाइप की खबरें कस्बों के कमजोर अखबारों में ही छपा करतीं थी, आज आप राष्ट्रीय चैनलों पर  भी नागिन की प्रेमकहानी भी देख सकते हैं, और भूत का मोबाइल नंबर भी प्राप्त कर सकते हैं, औऱ ऐसे ही चैनलों के  कवरेज के आधार पर देश-दुनिया की दशा के बारे में अपनी राय भी बना सकते हैं।

हमारे बचपन तक अधिकांश मध्यवर्गीय घरों में अच्छी बहू के लायक लड़की का बखान कुछ  यों किया जाता था, “ सुंदर, सुशील, गृहकार्य में दक्ष…चिट्ठी लिख लेवे है, रामायन बाँच लेवे है…”। इस बखान का वाट्सऐप के काल में विस्तार यों किया जा सकता है, “ सुशील है, सवाल करके बवाल न करे है, ऑफिस का करने लायक अंग्रेजी जाने है, जॉब- स्किल बहुतै बढ़िया हैं.. वाट्सऐप  बाँच लेवे है…”

अगर ऐसी “सुशीलता” ही सामाजिक लक्ष्य है, अगर बुद्धि का प्रयोग करना तिरस्कार के ही लायक है, अगर पढ़ने-लिखने का मतलब केवल कामचलाऊ अंग्रेजी सीख लेना और किसी तरह की “स्किल कंपीटेंस”  हासिल कर लेना है, तो “वाट्सऐप यूनिवर्सिटी”  के ज्ञान के साथ जीने की आदत भी समाज को डाल ही लेनी होगी। दंगे के दौरान वाट्सऐप पर रोक लगा कर आप दो-चार दिन के लिए अफवाहों पर रोक लगा भी लें तो उन अफवाहों का क्या करेंगे जो तीन सौ पैंसठ दिन, चौबीस घंटे वाट्सऐप पर प्रसारित की जाती हैं, और बुद्धिविरोध की ओर बढ़ता समाज जिन्हें सच मान कर कुछ लोगों से नफरत करने लगता है, कुछ लोगों से दैवीय चमत्कारों की उम्मीद करने लगता है।

January 28, 2015

न.प्र. कमल आ रहे हैं, न.प्र. कमल जा रहे हैं….

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फेसबुक के लिए लिखा गया नोट – https://www.facebook.com/notes/purushottam-agrawal/नप्र-कमल-आ-रहे-हैं-नप्र-कमल-जा-रहे-हैं/953161794707747

न.प्र. कमल नगर के प्रसिद्ध व्यक्तियों में से थे, कवि, पत्रकार और राजनीतिक कार्यकर्ता। अपना महत्व भी बखूबी पहचानते थे। गल्ला-मंडी के जिस बाड़े में रहते थे, उसके दरवाजे के ऊपर पाँच बाई तीन फुट का काला बोर्ड टँगवा दिया था, जिस पर चमकीले सफेद अक्षरों में लिखा था- न.प्र.कमल।

आप बाड़े के विशाल दरवाजे से अंदर घुसे, दस कदम चलने पर एक पेड़ के तने पर तख्ती देखेंगे- बाँई तरफ इशारा करते तीर के साथ- न.प्र. कमल। थोड़े फासले पर एक और तख्ती दीवार पर दिखेगी- दाँई तरफ बढ़ने का इशारा करती हुई- न.प्र.कमल। दाँई तरफ कुछ कदम चलिए, निश्चिंत रहिए, भटकने की कोई गुंजाइश नहीं, इस बार बाँई तरफ जाना है, तख्ती बता रही है—न. प्र. कमल। चंद कदम चले और एक दुमंजिले मकान के दरवाजे पर तख्ती है—न.प्र. कमल। मकान के आँगन में पहुँचे तो सीढियाँ हैं और तख्ती ऊपर की तरफ इशारा कर रही है—न.प्र. कमल। सीढ़ियाँ चढ़ कर पहुँचे तो बस पहुँच ही गये, सामने दरवाजा है, और वही—न.प्र. कमल।

न.प्र. कमल के इतने सारे बोर्ड और तीर चर्चा का विषय रहते ही थे। कमलजी गोधाजी की कैंटीन पर कभी-कभार ही आते थे, गंभीर आदमी ठहरे, कहाँ रोज-रोज अड्डेबाजी में पड़ते।

उस दिन प्रकाशजी तरंग में थे।  न.प्र. कमल जैसे ही गोधाजी की कैंटीन पर अवतरित हुए, प्रकाशजी चहक उठे। कमलजी ठीक से स्थापित भी ना हो पाये थे कि प्रकाशजी बोले, ‘कमलजी एक सुझाव है…’

‘हाँ, बोलो प्रकाश, बोलो…’

‘जनता की सुविधा के लिए इतने सारे बोर्ड तो आपने लगवा ही रखे हैं…’

‘हाँ भई, लोग इधर-उधर भटकते रहें, अच्छा नहीं लगता …’

‘जी, वही तो, आखिरकार आप का तो जन्म ही  राष्ट्र को सही रास्ता दिखाने के लिए  हुआ है।  बस दो बोर्ड और बनवा लें तो किसी कन्फ्यूजन की गुंजाइश ही न रहे, एक छाती पर लटकाने के लिए- न.प्र. कमल आ रहे है, एक पीठ के  लिए– न.प्र. कमल जा रहे हैं…’

 

September 4, 2014

How about a national commission for hurt sentiments? – ( My monthly column in Governance Now)

categories Freedom, India, People | comments 0 Comments

This 23rd August was a sad day. We lost a great writer who was rooted enough in his tradition to interrogate aspects of it with courage and affection, and who was modern enough to challenge the dominant, Euro-centric conceptions of modernity, even while upholding its universal aspects and values both in his creative writing and in his role as a public intellectual. He was openly sceptical of much of ‘Indian writing in English’; and was one of the few non-English writers to be short-listed for the Man Booker award. His Praneshacharya (the hero of the novel, Samskara) typified the traditional/ modern Indian’s search of the moral core of his/her ‘Indian-ness’.  In his long career, U.R. Anantamurthy performed what the Hindi poet Muktibodh had described as Sabhyta Samiksha – a civilizational critique.

Apart from the loss of one of our finest writers and a noble soul, what makes the 23rd even sadder was that the demise of such a figure was ‘celebrated’ by the bursting of fire-crackers by some who wanted to punish him, even in death, for his forthright criticism of the politics of hatred and violence.

Like any reflective human being, Ananthamurthy’s ideas invite debate and criticism and there is no denying his critics their right of disagreeing with any of his ideas or expressions. The question is, whether this disagreement is to be articulated in the grammar of rational argument or in the rhetoric (and attendant violence) of ‘hurt sentiments’?  The matter assumes larger significance than the case of one individual, as we are fast turning our democracy, which is rooted in humane values, into a virulent mobocracy of hurt sentiments.

Those celebrating the demise of Anantamurthy quite expectedly belong to the ‘Hindutvawadi’ groups. The defence, if any, from the Hindutva forces is likely to be on equally expected lines: there was nothing organised or ordered from above, what happened was just ‘local’ and purely ‘spontaneous’. The point is:  this ‘spontaneity’ is much more ominous than a controlled spectacle. A few days back, I published a short story (in Hindi, the language of my creative expression). The story fantasises about a present wherein the discourse of hurt sentiments is systematically turned into pervasive social common sense under the supervision of NACOHUS (National Commission of Hurt Sentiments). In such a setup, people are perennially afraid and unconcerned about any suffering while society marches on following the glittering path of ‘development.’ Let us face it – Nacohus is not merely a fantasy, but a distinct possibility emerging out of the current depravity of thought and the pervasiveness of the discourse and politics of ‘hurt sentiments’.

Given their world-view, the Hindutva forces are more inclined than most others towards stigmatising their critics and opponents. They are also more persistent and systematic in persecuting chosen targets and victims in myriad ways. One can recall many names in this context from Romila Thapar to Habib Tanvir to M. F.  Hussian, and now having tasted success in their ‘pulp the books’ campaign, the Batras of the world are much emboldened under the present political dispensation.

However, I would like to leave aside the extreme Right for the moment, and focus on the role of those who claim a commitment to liberal democracy and take pride in the legacy of fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution? Is it not true that M. F. Hussain was subjected to well organised, country-wide legal harassment by extremist elements while the Congress was in power, and the ‘Padma-Vibhushan’ painter was forced to go into a self-imposed exile, getting no support from the party of Jawaharlal Nehru, or for that matter the party of Rammanohar Lohia?

‘Taslima must fall to her knees and apologise’- this was not a rant of some Maulana, but a statement from a Congress minister for Information and Broadcasting keen on furnishing his ‘secular’ and ‘progressive’ credentials by pandering to minority communalism. Under the same worthy Minister, the film ‘Da Vinci Code’ was pre-screened for the approval of Church ‘elders’. Such an act of ‘secularism’ did not take place even in Italy, the seat of Roman Catholic Church, or in any other Christian majority country. In this context, it is not surprising that the late Rajiv Gandhi took pride in the fact of India being the ‘first’ to ban the ‘The Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie.

The same Salman Rushdie was supposed to attend the Jaipur Literary festival in 2012. Of course, the state government under the competent and politically smart Congress CM Ashok Gehlot did not ban his participation, but merely ‘advised’ him to not visit. The ‘advice’ was put in practice by informing the organizers that the state police could not guarantee Rushdie’s security. Rushdie was not allowed, because his mere presence at the festival (which incidentally he had attended in an earlier edition) was likely to ‘hurt the sentiments’ of the believers. So particular was the government about its benign advice that some authors were booked for the ‘offence’ of reading excerpts from the undesirable author at the festival, and of course, no action was taken against those who ‘purified’ the venue by offering namaz on the last day of the festival! I can personally vouch for the eager expectation and then despondency among the participants at the abdication of responsibility by the State Government, as I had the privilege to deliver the key-note address to this edition of the festival, which was focussed on the Bhakti and Sufi literature. I wondered and continue to wonder: would the secular-liberal congress have advised Kabir also to keep away from this festival and refrain from hurting the religious sentiments of the people?

The congress can also congratulate itself for adding section 66A to the IT act, and can derive satisfaction that after the Lok-Sabha elections, the Kerala Police under Congress leadership has been Numero Uno in booking those who dare say anything ‘offensive’ to the sensibilities of the admirers of the Prime Minister Modi on social media, and even in college magazines.

All this is not merely ‘appeasement’. These actions were a perversion of the idea of democracy and subversion of its functioning. Democracy is by far the best system of social and political organisation, because it is about choice based on informed debate and deliberation. It is distinct from mob-mentality as it not just about numbers and their manipulation but about division of powers amongst various organs of State. It is about the autonomy of individuals and institutions. It is about rule of law, as well as about the norms of civilised behaviour.

Freedom of expression, an essential pillar of democracy, is not some middle class luxury, but a crucial guarantee of an individual’s right to record his or her will. It is about the right to alternative point of view on any given matter. Far from being a privilege claimed by chattering classes, freedom of expression and social respect for creativity is a pre-condition for a truly humane society. The rhetoric of hurt sentiments and its uses for populist politics is bound to turn nightmares of the NACOHUS kind into reality sooner than we might expect

February 23, 2014

Towards an insane society? Reflections on Khurshid Anwar’s suicide and beyond

categories India, JNU, People | comments 0 Comments

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A slightly edited version of the following has appeared in today’s Asian Age.

Towards an insane society?

-Purushottam Agrawal

 

So-called ‘media trials’ are only one of the disconcerting aspects of the proliferation of 24X7 news channels in an era where the capacity to reflect calmly is waning fast. Everybody, including intellectuals, seems to be in a hurry “to act” on their chosen causes. The idea that calm reflection must precede any action – individual or collective – seems to have become quite old-fashioned. Even in the response of institutional structures to serious issues, one can discern a mob-mentality under the garb of political correctness. The growing reach and power of electronic media is contributing greatly not only to the creation, but also to the institutionalisation of such a mentality and needs to be balanced with a sense of responsibility and ethics.

Recall how, a couple of years ago, a female school teacher in old Delhi was almost lynched by a furious mob as a news channel had portrayed her as a ‘procuress’ by manipulating audio and visual clips. One doesn’t know if the channel and the reporter were ever legally charged and proceeded against.

Khurshid Anwar, the well-known activist and writer committed suicide on the morning of 18th December last year. The previous night, in a distorted  and sensationalist programme, the Hindutva supporter chief of a news channel and a celebrity feminist turned Narendra Modi enthusiast  had repeatedly described him as a ‘rapist’ and vowed to have him punished.

 

This programme was the culmination of a sustained hate campaign against Anwar. For the preceding three months, he was being charged with rape on the social media. The statement of a girl from a north eastern state was video-recorded by the Hindutva activist, in which Khurshid was charged with raping and sodomizing this girl, and the CD of this recording was distributed to many social activists in various parts of the country. This was done well before any official complaint was lodged with the police or even before an act of rape was established as the complainant has never been subjected to a medical test.

In spite of this, the distribution of this CD and other scurrilous material was condoned and even promoted by ultra-left hate-mongers posing as activists. A vigorous campaign of innuendos was launched against Khurshid on social media websites. The most curious thing in this entire affair was that the accused was acting more transparently than the accusers! Khurshid Anwar kept challenging those charging him to go to the police, to have a medical test of the complainant and proceed formally so that he gets a chance to clear his name. He said this publicly many times over this period, and was thoroughly dispirited at the idea of living with this taint on his reputation as a fierce fighter for gender rights. He filed a defamation case against some of the people whom he knew to be distributing the recording, and reported the matter to the police. No action seems to have been taken to quell the rumours which were damaging Anwar personally and professionally.

It was the wisdom of the well-known activists who knew of the matter and presumably knew of the targeted smear campaign to condone such a course of action. This alliance of the ‘ultras’ of the left and right was probably a result of the uncompromising and sustained stand Anwar had taken against the fanaticism of both Hindu and Islamic variety. His recent series of articles against Wahhabi Islam had particularly angered some ‘comrades’ who refuse to acknowledge the possibility of Islamic fundamentalism.

It is more than two months to the death, but the police have not registered a FIR in the case. The family of Khurshid Anwar lodged a complaint charging the TV channel head, the Modi enthusiast and those who distributed the CD and carried out the social media campaign with conspiracy and abetment to suicide. They have provided documentary evidence which calls for at least a FIR and a thorough inquiry, but the police remain unmoved.

The police seem to be under pressure due to the involvement of ‘big names’ on one hand, and the pressures of identity politics on the other. This is symptomatic of the rot not only in the system but also in the ways the media and intellectuals seek to address systemic short-comings. The rot is characterised by the plethora of laws passed as a result of knee-jerk reactions to situational challenges and under pressures from identity politics of various types. It is also characterised by the fast spreading habit of domain-specific and sometimes frankly opportunistic thinking amongst activists and intellectuals.

To take an example, those well-meaning scholars who are disturbed at Penguin pulping Wendy Doniger’s book due to the fears of harassment under the vague provisions of section 295 of IPC, have been enthusiastically supporting laws which are almost customised for harassment and which compromise on the basic tenets of the rule of law. One mustn’t forget the lampooning of Sharad Yadav by our ‘thinking’ classes for showing the courage of questioning the dangerously vague provisions of the law passed in the wake of the horrendous rape and murder of ‘Nirbhaya’.   Passing stringent and often ill-defined laws has somehow became equivalent with ‘action’ against sexual harassment in the minds of our chattering classes. In this, they forget the duty to protect the rights of the accused. The accused is not guilty just by virtue of accusation.

Such laws are empowering not individual victims but rather ‘representatives’ of identities which have a stake not only  in perpetuation of conservative power structures, but also in creating of an even more oppressive state machinery. The presumption of innocence till proved otherwise has been replaced by the presumption of guilt; instead of state proving the accused guilty, the accused has to prove his/ her innocence under the regime of ‘progressive ‘and ‘empowering’ laws. It is not the victim, but the policeman and his bosses who are becoming more and more powerful.

To take another recent example, the Goa police have charge-sheeted Tarun Tejpal for ‘rape’ under the post-Nirbhaya rape-law. The peculiarly broadened definition of rape under this law can lead to ten years RI for Tejpal. Is it not analogues to legally eradicating the difference between a fist-fight and an attempted murder? Sexual harassment is of course morally repugnant and ought to be treated as a legal offence as well; but can it be put at par with rape? ‘Off with his head’ for each and every offence, may be understandable in the wonderland ruled by the Queen of Hearts; certainly not in a civilized society.  

Khurshid Anwar was driven to desperation due to the psychological pressures created by the troublesome combination of the media cherishing the creation of a moralist mob-mentality and the thinking classes succumbing to the desire of being seen to be politically correct even at the cost of basic tenets of rational thinking. The pressing need of the hour is to resist the temptations of such ‘domain specific’ thinking and move away from knee-jerk reactions.

Gender rights and the rights of other social groups and identities can be ensured only by a system which is genuinely committed to the broad framework of human rights and basic tenets of rule of law. The tragic death of Khurshid Anwar is a stark reminder that the only alternative to such a commitment is to speedily tumble toward an insane society.

July 16, 2013

Remembering Comrade Dang

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Remembering Comrade Dang

–         Purushottam Agrawal

Year 1982. It was a second class compartment of a Jabalpur bound train. I, along with my friend Nilanjan Mukhopadhayay, was going to Jabalpur to participate in an event against communal politics organized by IPTA. One of our fellow travelers was a quiet, almost withdrawn old gentleman, his constant reading interspersed by bouts of reflectively looking out of the window. We took him to be a retired teacher, heading home.

It was only at Jabalpur Railway station that we realized that this unassuming, quiet gentleman was comrade Satyapal Dang – the very famous and universally respected leader of the CPI. It was one of those rare occasions upon which I cursed myself for not sharing the typical Indian tendency of striking friendship and indulging in gup-shup with fellow-passengers.  But for the total absence of this tendency in Nilanjan and me, we might have used the many hours of the journey from Delhi to Jabalpur in talking with the man whose articles we used to read with deep interest.

Comrade Dang was there as the chief guest of IPTA’s event. We had long arguments – both during the sessions and afterwards. Of course, he was articulating the party-line regarding the then on-going Akali agitation in Punjab -“we must look at the ‘content’ of the agitation, i.e. the demands of the farmers, not it’s ‘form’ i.e. the utterly communal idiom and orientation”

It was difficult to agree with this dialectics, and we did not. But, comrade Dang, far from being dismissive of our concerns and suspicious of our intentions, was open to our criticisms and eager to engage on the issue.

After this meeting, we continued to receive his support and blessings in our anti-communalism activities. When, in 1983, we brought out the first issue of our inter-disciplinary journal ‘Jigyasa’, he was one of its active supporters, helping us to reach contributors and finding subscribers.  The next face to face meeting took place in 1987 when the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan (SVA) invited him along with Gurusharan Singh to deliver the key-note at its founding conference. The founding of the SVA was an outcome of the agony and activism of many friends like Dilip Simeon, Bhagwan Josh and others who, besides intervening to help the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and other communal incidents, were also trying to understand the true nature and implications of communal mobilizations of all hues. Comrade Dang’s address to this conference was thought-provoking, inspiring and moving. The 1984 and 1987 (Maliana) massacres had already taken place, the issue of communal mobilization had traversed way beyond the comfortable dialectic of ‘form’ and ‘content’. The country was faced with mobilizations exhibiting fascistic characteristics. Who but comrade Dang was better placed to realize this truth first hand? He heartily welcomed the founding of the SVA and its agenda of understanding the nature of ‘Indian variant of fascism’ and fighting the menace without bothering about political correctness of this or that type; without giving any concession to either the majority or the minority versions of the fascistic communal mobilization.

Comrade Dang promised all help and co-operation to us, and stood by his promise when three SVA activists – Dilip Simeon, Jugnu Ramaswami and I decided to visit Punjab in 1988. It was the period of renewed, intense militancy and we wanted to have a first-hand, direct idea of the situation.

The CPI office in Amritsar served as our base courtesy Comrade Dang. It was also his virtual residence. Moving from our ‘base-camp’ we visited many villages and towns. We went to Damdami Taksal and tried to understand the viewpoint of the Kharkus, i.e. militants themselves. We realized the trauma of a militancy ridden society. One can never forget the visit to village Vein-Puin, where a local comrade was our host. The seven year old daughter of this farmer could tell a Mauser pistol form a revolver. While the home-maker cooked food, her elder daughter stood guard with a gun in hand. When we went to the fields to answer the call of nature, the comrade Sardarji himself guarded us with gun in hand!

After all, comrades of all hues were on top of the hit-lists of the militants. It was a young member of the CPM in Amritsar who made the tongue in cheek remark- “we have been talking of Left unity for so many years; here in Punjab it has been already realized, and the credit goes to Kharkus– who treat all communists as enemy number one- without bothering about the differences in the party programs of CPI, CPM and CPI (M.L).”

This observation was confirmed by a top BJP leader as well, who was frank enough to admit, “Neither we, nor the Congress, but only the Communists are really fighting back against the militants.” The experience of those days deserves a much more extensive treatment, but here I just wish to recall the universal respect and admiration comrade Dang enjoyed not only throughout the political spectrum but also in all the sections of society. It just took one phone-call from him to make leaders of the Congress and the BJP, and of course Leftists of all types; – academicians, journalists, social workers, factory workers and farmers, open their doors to guests of ‘Kamredji’. Notwithstanding sharp ideological differences, to a senior woman leader of the BJP, now part of the national leadership of that party, Dang Saheb was nothing less than the elder brother, Bhraji. In those bleak, militancy-ridden times, comrade Dang’s dignified and courageous presence was a beacon of hope and inspiration to all.

I saw him last in 2006 when he had come to Meerut on a private visit. This time, my friend of JNU days, Akshaya Bakaya was with me. Age had taken its toll on the body of the old comrade, but his mind was as alert as ever. He was in an introspective mood, and was trying very sincerely to sound optimistic about the future and to assess the past and present of the Left movement in India and the world. He sounded very uncomfortable with the effective marginalization of the category of ‘class’ even amongst Leftist circles amidst their over-indulgence with the politics of social identities and castes.

Comrade Dang was a lamentably rare exemplar of the idea of a Communist – who while following the party-line honestly, showed intellectual competence and moral courage to think differently as well.