Express editorial: It will hurt democracy if Balakot leaves behind only the patriotism test // Nationalism Is Being Used To Divide People: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
NB: What is missing from this editorial and Pratap Bhanu Mehta's excellent talk, is the normalisation of violence and intimidation, the subversion of the law and of Article 21 of the Constitution, under which no person may be deprived of life and liberty except by legal provision. These matters go far beyond partisan responsibility. They signify a dismissive attitude toward political murder and a culture of genocidal complicity. The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the events of 1984 are examples of this.
I have no idea whether the interviewer or members of this gathering were or are bothered by the sight of people being beaten to death by cow-vigilantes; or by the fact that files pertaining to criminal cases such as the Aseemanand case can disappear. Nor whether any of them think about what happened to Judge Loya. (Loya's friends, Adv. Shrikant Khandalkar and retd District Judge Prakash Thombre also died mysteriously. A third, Mr Uike, narrowly escaped death. Read the details here). Leave aside your 'idea of India' ladies and gents; what's your idea of murder? Next time you complain about Maoist violence, kindly look in the mirror. You all have your own justifications for murder, don't you?
It is this abolition of the distinction between legal and illegal violence - i.e. the militarisation of civil society, which is the hallmark of fascism, and about which many citizens across the social spectrum are indifferent. It signifies a scheme for a totalitarian regime - the dictatorship of an ideology. This is what the RSS represents. It is the elephant in the drawing room; and we would rather not talk about it. And why need we, when Pranab Da has certified their patriotism? What a spineless bunch! DS
Express editorial - Opposition’s duty
The BJP, and the government it leads at the Centre, fiercely deny that they are politicising the February 26 Balakot strike and, ahead of a crucial Lok Sabha election, putting it to electoral use. Yet, to any question raised by the Opposition on the operation carried out in the wake of the Jaish attack at Pulwama, the answer of top leaders of party and government is: Are you doubting our armed forces? Followed by the not-unstated insinuation: By asking a question on a matter of national security, you are making Pakistan happy.
In this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have set the tone. In a rally in Patna, PM Modi accused the Opposition of demoralising the armed forces. And Shah claimed in Ahmedabad, breaking a heavy official silence - and even as the Indian Air Force chief says: “We don’t count human casualties, we count what targets have been hit, or not hit” - that “more than 250” terrorists were killed in Balakot.
Nationalism Is Being Used To Divide People: Pratap Bhanu Mehta At IT Conclave 2019
Purushottam Agrawal - Why does the RSS hate the idea of India ? (2001)
There are two options before the Opposition. One, it can evade and skirt the issue of national security altogether, ahead of what may well turn out to be a national security election. And play dead, as it has done so often in the past on fundamental issues. On cow vigilantism, the Congress, for instance, has been so spooked by the fear of Hindu consolidation in favour of the BJP, that it has either retreated or caved in to the BJP’s terms. It is a law and order issue, not a hate crime against Muslims, says the Congress, even as its newly-elected governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh unleash their own showy schemes and programmes in the name of the cow.
see also
Ajai Sahni: Blind Escalation
A message and an appeal
RSS organisations in Dehradun force two colleges to say they won’t admit Kashmiris
The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals: Written by Benedetto Croce (1925)
The Broken Middle - on the 30th anniversary of 1984
I have no idea whether the interviewer or members of this gathering were or are bothered by the sight of people being beaten to death by cow-vigilantes; or by the fact that files pertaining to criminal cases such as the Aseemanand case can disappear. Nor whether any of them think about what happened to Judge Loya. (Loya's friends, Adv. Shrikant Khandalkar and retd District Judge Prakash Thombre also died mysteriously. A third, Mr Uike, narrowly escaped death. Read the details here). Leave aside your 'idea of India' ladies and gents; what's your idea of murder? Next time you complain about Maoist violence, kindly look in the mirror. You all have your own justifications for murder, don't you?
It is this abolition of the distinction between legal and illegal violence - i.e. the militarisation of civil society, which is the hallmark of fascism, and about which many citizens across the social spectrum are indifferent. It signifies a scheme for a totalitarian regime - the dictatorship of an ideology. This is what the RSS represents. It is the elephant in the drawing room; and we would rather not talk about it. And why need we, when Pranab Da has certified their patriotism? What a spineless bunch! DS
Express editorial - Opposition’s duty
The BJP, and the government it leads at the Centre, fiercely deny that they are politicising the February 26 Balakot strike and, ahead of a crucial Lok Sabha election, putting it to electoral use. Yet, to any question raised by the Opposition on the operation carried out in the wake of the Jaish attack at Pulwama, the answer of top leaders of party and government is: Are you doubting our armed forces? Followed by the not-unstated insinuation: By asking a question on a matter of national security, you are making Pakistan happy.
In this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have set the tone. In a rally in Patna, PM Modi accused the Opposition of demoralising the armed forces. And Shah claimed in Ahmedabad, breaking a heavy official silence - and even as the Indian Air Force chief says: “We don’t count human casualties, we count what targets have been hit, or not hit” - that “more than 250” terrorists were killed in Balakot.
Nationalism Is Being Used To Divide People: Pratap Bhanu Mehta At IT Conclave 2019
Purushottam Agrawal - Why does the RSS hate the idea of India ? (2001)
There are two options before the Opposition. One, it can evade and skirt the issue of national security altogether, ahead of what may well turn out to be a national security election. And play dead, as it has done so often in the past on fundamental issues. On cow vigilantism, the Congress, for instance, has been so spooked by the fear of Hindu consolidation in favour of the BJP, that it has either retreated or caved in to the BJP’s terms. It is a law and order issue, not a hate crime against Muslims, says the Congress, even as its newly-elected governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh unleash their own showy schemes and programmes in the name of the cow.
Or two, the Opposition, including the
Congress, could call out the BJP - full throatedly, putting the party
leaderships’ weight behind it, not as sporadic, testing-the-waters
interventions by mid-level leaders - on its attempt to use the figure of the
soldier as a shield to stanch criticism. Parties of the Opposition could find
the language to talk back to government on national security, to point out that
while the nation is united in support of the soldier in times of conflict, the
government that frames the policy cannot claim any exemption from disagreement
or difference. In India, the armed forces are, have always been, subject to
civilian control. That power equation squarely casts on the political executive
the responsibility to take the questions and the duty to give the answers on
national security... read more:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/balakot-air-strike-pulwama-indian-air-force-narendta-modi-rahul-gandhi-5610985/see also
Ajai Sahni: Blind Escalation
A message and an appeal
RSS organisations in Dehradun force two colleges to say they won’t admit Kashmiris
The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals: Written by Benedetto Croce (1925)
The Broken Middle - on the 30th anniversary of 1984
