To all those who care about the idea of the country and the world we want to build.
“This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move and then, hear my heart burst again” – “Skyfall” by Adele
Just last week the main headlines in newspapers around the world, referred to some of the most horrifying and heartbreaking events around the planet. In India, the ruling Hindutva government abrogated Article 370 and 35A dismissing Kashmiri voices and threatening the Indian democracy. Bengali Muslims were targeted in Assam under the guise of NRC—an ongoing onslaught on human rights of the most vulnerable and the poorest of people who have to prove generations of citizenship records in a country where the Prime Minister cannot even prove his educational records.
In the U.S., yet again there were mass shootings and related deaths, along with the confining and deporting of immigrants in the most inhumane ways imaginable. In Lebanon, a music band was barred from performing at a concert due to attacks from Christian religious fanatics. These were not even a fraction of the big, bad and ugly that is surrounding us right now and forcing us to drown in the cesspool of hatred. Now is the time to take a stand before it is too late.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” – 1984 by George Orwell
On August 5, 2019, India gagged the internationally disputed territory of Indian-administered Kashmir in a blink of an eye, abrogated important legal instruments that supported the disputed Indian claim over Kashmir. The government claimed it as a step for Kashmir’s own good. However, the key speeches post the dictatorial decision described how the decision would benefit mainland India: from the ease of buying lands, to shooting locations for films, to getting fair-skinned Kashmiri girls! Kashmir and its people have been left out of this decision yet again.
The Indian political landscape hit by the wave of majoritarianism welcomed this blatant attack on the Indian constitution. The majoritarian Indian sitting in his comfy/semi-comfy/un-comfy homes, worshiping the upper/dominant caste Hindu gods and goddesses who forbid him from eating cows, but allows them to assault minority women, in particular (and now women from Kashmir), celebrated while eating their home-cooked vegetarian meals, albeit with some non-veg items sneaked in. Everyone but Kashmir and the people of Kashmir celebrated.
The catastrophe of catching and punishing illegal immigrants is unfolding in front of our eyes—fathers committing suicide as their daughter’s name did not appear in the NRC, ex-army man being left out of the NRC because he is Muslim, and men, women and children languishing in detention centres that are unfit for animals, leave alone humans. Those who are cheering the government’s moves, which are nothing but massive attacks on our young democracy and the very fabric of our society, are equally culpable. History will remember you, if I may say so, as it remembers the ordinary German citizen who allowed Hitler’s Germany and the nightmare that followed, to take place.
History will remember the U.S. government for failing to stop gun violence or from failing basic humanity when it came to dealing with immigrants. Immigrants from countries that the U.S. meddled with, and created conditions that compelled people to cross borders in the first place. History will remember those in power siding with the religious fundamentalists and silencing music. History will remember all those who support the politics of hate, which will no doubt have repercussions. After all, who could imagine that Hitler would commit suicide and the dream of world domination will come crashing down, breaking Germany into two halves?
Similarly, those who support the abrogation forget that dictatorial attitudes only expand, and the first repercussion of supporting it may put one’s own civil liberties and freedom at stake. What happened in the Indian Parliament on 5th August was the death knell ringing for the fledgling Indian democracy.
“Your imperial sun on our, subject, made wretched and puny, our eyes blinded – our ears, anyway are like a bat’s” – from the poem, At Papa 2 in Kashmir [2] by Ather Zia
Of course, the PM knew how to woo because it is in mainland India’s name and pride that Kashmir has been held under siege. His party’s political ideology is based on the rhetoric of hate: hatred of the beef or cow eater/transporter/seller, or the Muslim boy who wages what they call a ‘love jihad’, or the Muslim who is unable to prove his or her citizenship, or the immigrant, or Kashmiris who are demanding to be heard and the list can go on. Hate, by its very nature, is crude and doesn’t require many nuances or detailing; it is an easy and profitable commodity to sell.
Each time the economy is failing or the environment is deteriorating, they peddle us the drug of hate, and we buy it, forgetting the urgent concerns of unemployment, banking crisis, inflation, etc. Buying into the politics of hate salvages whatever sense of pride that remains despite the uncertainty of our own existence. But remember, once they are done with Kashmir and NRC, they will turn their attention to you. After all, history teaches us that the politics of hate and ‘othering’ is endless.
“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” – A law of Nazi propaganda
There had been some excitement on how the PM has stated that the curfew in Kashmir will be lifted before Eid on Sunday, and it is only to maintain calm. I remembered two things: the many other promises (read lies) spoken by the PM and the lull before a storm. The 15 lakh rupees that never made into our bank accounts, the demonetization that never stopped the flow of black money or corruption or terrorism in India, making the Indian GDP grow to an impossible rate, all his foreign trips that culminated to nothing—not even trade benefits from the leader of the U.S., who the right-wing Hindutva groups in India worship. We conveniently forgot those lies and the fact that no amount of bullshit can calm the wronged Kashmiri people.
Today, India is the colonizer, and it is delusional on our part to think the false promises and open threats of the takeover will bring calm. What we have done is provoking a war; now, whether or not it is a civil war, only time will tell. In every war, there are two sides, and at least one of them is on the irredeemably wrong side of history—the grossly guilty ones. Occupiers and colonizers are universally on the wrong side, but as citizens, we are not bound by the government’s chosen stand. In fact, in a democracy or whatever remains of it, citizens must continuously remind the government when it is wrong.
“The duty of a true Patriot is to protect his country from its government.” – Edward Abbey.
An imperial subject, which was meant to take forward the imperial goal rejected it and became one its greatest critiques. Even though born into the wrong side of history, by siding with the right, George Orwell redeemed himself. Of course, there are many others who have rejected the narrow labels of religion/nationalism, etc., and taken the humane stands that went against these labels. Therefore, it is possible and a duty that we take the correct stand, even when it is against the popular discourse because we are in a decisive moment in history and playing an instrumental role in shaping the world.
“They’ll tell you it’s a crime to have a union card. They’ll raid your meetin’, they’ll hit you on the head, They’ll call every one of you a goddam red, Unpatriotic, Japanese spies, sabotaging national defense!” – Talking Union by Pete Seeger
Ask these questions to those in power and see how they try to distract you with NRC or Kashmir. At that moment, decide not to get divided and stand up for the most vulnerable: the Muslims, the Kashmiris, and all other marginalized groups. Together, demand answers for these questions and even better, fight for human rights and ethics and build the world that is worth living in.
Power is addictive, and those in power love being in power more than anything else. They will do everything to make sure their positions are strengthened. Therefore, always doubt those in power and listen to those who are being silenced or held at gun points. The ones who doubt those in power and ask difficult questions get arrested and slapped with sedition charges. Standing up for humane values, doubting the powerful and asking questions to hold them accountable is the right thing to do. The powerful will try to distract you and evoke past traumas that need to be avenged when they do so remind them that the best lesson from any trauma is to gain empathy so that what happened to us, does not happen to anyone ever again. They will convince you that arbitrariness, dictatorship and brute force is what strength is.
Remember that strength is in being kind, especially when the situation demands cruelty. They will try to say you are wrong because you are alone/among few, while everybody else believes in the powerful. Remember that the majority is often on the wrong side of history—popular culture, laws and nations were formed on the backbones and with the blood of indigenous people, the poor and the vulnerable. One can be alone and yet be right. Finally, all this will be daunting, but the worthwhile is always awfully difficult and a better world, is definitely worthwhile.
“And Kashmir will Rise Again, Like a blooming Flower” Kashmir – My Bleeding Paradise by Liah
Sincerely,
A very concerned fellow human being.