American embrace of Trump made me realise how wrong I was about Modi

October 12, 2016

Now we know what it is to be in the endangered minority whose rights and privileges may be at risk.

During the 2014 general election, I, along with many other NRIs, pledged my vicarious support to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi. Any arguments that called into question Modi’s dubious human rights record and worrisome support for the Hindutva-oriented Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) fell on deaf ears.

I was quick to exculpate Modi for these lapses as I was too enamoured, even distracted, by his extravagant promises of growth, change, and "acche din", and therefore unable to recognise his stirring speeches for the unattainable campaign promises they quickly proved to be.

I would often argue in response, "Look, nobody is clean, every politician in India has dozens of skeletons in his closet. Is the Congress government not riddled with criminals as well?"

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Courtesy: DaliyO

How Gujarat’s Debt Jumped from 53,000 Crores to 165,000 crores

October 12, 2016

With Spiralling Public Debt, now India Follows the infamous Gujarat Model

Narendra Modi came in as chief minister of the state in October 2001 and when he stepped into the state’s chief ministership post, Gujarat's debt stood at roughly 53,000 crore rupees. When he left his post, elevated to become prime minister, the public debt of the state of Gujarat was 165,000 crores.

That is, the state he led was several thousand crores more deeply in debt. Much of the spending was and is on showpiece infrastructure projects, while spending on health and other social sectors were and are low. Now it's appears that it’s India's turn to sink as we follow the same pattern of public borrowing and call it a successful ‘model.’

Earlier this year, then Gujarat state finance minister, Saurabh Patel, replying to a written question by MLA from Lunawada, Hirabhai Patel had, in the state assembly on February 25, 2016 stated that to date, the state of Gujarat owes Rs 1,65,742 crores in public debt, the Economic Times reported this. Today, after the Dalit Una agitation the state finance minister’s portfolio has been handed over to Nitin Patel. Saurabh Patel had also said that the government had paid a cumulative and whopping amount of Rs 54,349 crores as interest and principle during last three financial years.

In 2012-13, the state government has paid Rs 10,883 crores as interest and Rs 6,537 crores as principle amount against the loans taken by the state, the Minister said. In 2013-14, state has paid Rs 11,916 crores as interest and Rs 6,204 crores as principle. In 2014-15, the amount was Rs 13,297 crores and Rs 5,512 crores respectively, Patel said. In March 2012, when Gujarat's actual debt was Rs 1,38,978 crores and projected to touch Rs 1.76 lakh crores in 2013-14, was preceded by only two other states: West Bengal (Rs 1.92 lakh crores) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 1.58 lakh crore), according to these figures.

These figures put into shadow the much acclaimed and not critically assessed ‘Gujarat Model of Development.’ Huge social upheavals among Gujarat’s Dalit (7 per cent of the state’s population and the Patels (Patidars) have exposed this model of development, though much showcased, as making hollow claims.

This report in Counterview (Gujarat's total debts or liabilities cross 2.1 lakh crores, up by 10.19% in a year) revealed how, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Study of state budgets(2015) has revealed that Gujarat’s outstanding liabilities, also identified as “total debts”, have crossed Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014-15, reaching Rs 2,100.4 billion, or a little above Rs 2.1 lakh crore, up from Rs 1,886.4 billion in 2013-14, a 10.19 per cent rise.

While critics consider this a very “heavy debt burden” on the state coffers, Gujarat government officials do not think there is anything alarming here, as one should look at the ability of a state to pay debts instead of talking of debts in absolute terms.

Market borrowings topped appear to have topped Gujarat’s “total debts” for the year 2014-15. These include internal debts, which were to the tune of Rs 1,613.8 billion, followed by state development loans (SDLs) of Rs 1,058 billion. Other “outstanding liabilities” include power bonds, national small savings funds, loans from banks and financial institutions, loans from the Centre, provident fund, and so on.

By calculating outstanding liabilities, the RBI believes that there is a need to take a “broader” view of debts. It says, “In assessing fiscal sustainability, it is important to focus attention on a broader concept of debt. Sustained efforts by the states are required to keep debt levels from rising.” According to the RBI, earlier calculations, which only took into account public debt, was limited in definition, underling, “Conventional debt does not include the governments’ risk exposure to PSUs due to government guarantees, off-budget borrowings and accumulated losses of financially weak PSUs.”

The states which have higher outstanding liabilities than Gujarat are Maharashtra with Rs 3,387.3 billion, followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 2,936.2 billion), West Bengal (Rs 2,804.4 billion), and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 2,204.5 billion). All other non-special category states have much less amount of outstanding liabilities than Gujarat’s.

Significantly, despite a high debt burden, Gujarat’s outstanding liabilities as percentage of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) – which is considered the yardstick for calculating whether a state has capacity to pay the loans it taken – remains well within the permissible limit. Identified as debt-GSDP ratio, it was 25.3 per cent in 2011-12, and in 2014-15 it is 23.7 per cent. The “permissible limit”, as worked out by the Finance Commission, in 2011-12 for Gujarat was 31.9 per cent, while it was 19.1 per cent in 2014-15.

The RBI notes in the study titled “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2014-15”, states, “Setting the consolidated debt-GDP ratio of states on a declining trajectory is crucial to improving their finances.” It adds, “Halting the deterioration in the GFD-GSDP ratio that took place in 2013-14 is also critical in the context of fiscal consolidation.”

The RBI quotes other studies to say that a gradual fiscal consolidation based on a mix of revenue and expenditure measures can support growth, while reducing public debt. Higher initial levels of debt may also increase the probability of government pursuing successful fiscal consolidation.”

The RBI study further reveals that 52 per cent of Gujarat’s debts are more than seven years old, 24 per cent between 5 and 7 years old, 19.6 per cent between 3 and 5 years old, 2.5 per cent between 1 and 3 years old, and just about 1.8 per cent less than a year old. The percentage of loans of less than a year old is lowest among the 18 “non-special category states”.

As of 2014 figures when the political transition took place in the state, Reserve Bank's data shows that Gujarat received $9 bn in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) between April, 2000 and December 2013, adding that Maharashtra received the highest FDI during the said period ($65 billion), followed by Delhi ($38.8 bn) and Chennai ($12.6 bn). In 2011, Narendra Modi had claimed during the famed Gujarat summit that that the state had finalised FDI agreements worth $450 bn.“Just add it (the numbers). This was a ludicrously high figure since it is five or six times higher than what all of India had received in total FDI until 2014. http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/plan_finance/DEbt/state-fiscal-debt-liab.asp

Background:

Debt Obligations of Gujarat Government Crosses Rs 50000 Crores Mark

Gujarat Economy in Doldrums, Ensuing Government Will Find Itself in Trap

With every passing year, the public debt of Gujarat government is soaring high and high. Not only this, towards payments of interest on this debt Gujarat government has to rely on its revenue receipts and fresh loans. The state, which surpassed the statutory limit on overdrafts last year, finds its economy in sorry state. Economists have pressed their advice that if the government fails to act on timely repayment of its debts and interest payments there on, it will affect a severe blow to treasury. Sources in the finance ministry had then said that the total fiscal liabilities of Gujarat government has crossed Rs 50000 crores mark. If the state remains gripped by the debt trap in years to come, the ensuing government will have to face a critical situation. On the other hand, national and international financial institutions will hesitate to give grants and loans to Gujarat government.

The state economy should ideally follow the cardinal principles of sustainability and non-vulnerability. Taking into account its Gross Fiscal Liabilities and Gross Domestic Product as well as Revenue Receipts suggest that the state is sinking under mounting debts. At the same time the Revenue receipts from its own taxes has not witnessed any noticeable increase, thus lending it into vulnerable position. During the last five years (1997-2002), the rate at which its interest payments rose, surpassed the rate of growth in its Gross Domestic Product, suggesting violation of sustainability principle.

The high level of gap between the total fiscal resources against its total fiscal liabilities suggest that without giving a thought to its resource mobilisation capacity, the state indulged in increasing liabilities indiscriminately. Comptroller and Auditor general of India has also pointed out in its report that the state is using a large part of its revenue receipts to repay its debts and towards interest payments, which suggests a negative trend for the state government. The report submitted by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, director Prof. Bakul Dholakiya in April 2003 suggests that the Gross Fiscal Deficit of the state is rising at the rate of 6.00%. The said report warns that if the state government wants to sustain its economy, this deficit has to be brought down to 3.50%. Gujarat state finds itself in 15^th position amongst the 16 heavily indebted states. The report notes that while the burden of interest payment on debt was 16.9% of GDP in 1996-'97, it has become 46.6% of GDP in 2001-'02.

So, when looked from a retrospective angle, within last twelve years, the public debt has witnessed eight fold increase. Financial experts and sources in finance ministry suggest that at the end of the current financial year, the government will have to pay, merely as interests on it outstanding debts, the amount which equals to what it raises from its own sales tax.

From 1991-'92, how the total fiscal liabilities have increased by leaps and bounds is suggested in following table:

At the end of the fiscal year	Total fiscal liabilities of Gujarat government
1991-'92	Rs 6919.82 crores
1992-'93	Rs 7750.78 crores
1993-'94	Rs 8240.28 crores
1994-'95	Rs 9183.15 crores
1995-'96	Rs 10448.99 crores
1996-'97	Rs 11976.00 crores
1997-'98	Rs 20139.00 crores
1998-'99	Rs 24757.00 crores
1999-'00	Rs 31561.00 crores
2000-'01	Rs 40007.00 crores
2001-'02	Rs 45304.00 crores

According to sources the interests paid by the government on this mounting debt is as follows:
1999-'00: Rs 2808.00 crores
2000-'01: Rs 3100.00 crores
2001-'02: Rs 4200.00 crores

Sources also informed that the public debt of the state government has reached Rs 52000 crores mark, at the end of 2002-'03.

During the year 2001-'02 the state had paid back debts worth Rs 18510.44 crores. Out of this repayment on Government of India loans was Rs 742.24 crores, whereas to Reserve Bank of India it was Rs 17563.18 crores. Due to such damning resource crunch, the state government had to rely on overdraft eight times last year and paid Rs 2.17 crores as the interest on these overdrafts only. During the years 2000-'01 and 2001-'02 also it had to take overdrafts, 11 times and 10 times respectively. The highest amount generated from overdraft last year was Rs 589.30 crores.

Central government has warned the state that if it fails to minimise its debt obligations and restore economic sustainability, the Centre will have to think twice before giving it any grants or loans.

(Source: Gujarat Samachar, Baroda edition, June 28^th, 2003. Page 16.Translated by : Himanshu Upadhyaya)

दुर्गा दुर्मतिनाशिनी

October 12, 2016

षष्ठी की सुबह यह लिख रहा हूँ . आज माँ भगवती के भक्तों की वर्ष भर की प्रतीक्षा पूरी होती है. माँ की प्रतिमा में आज प्राण-प्रतिष्ठा होगी. वे जीवंत हो उठेंगी. आज से चार दिन उनकी आराधना के दिन हैं. मैं रोज़ अपनी बहन को देखता हूँ, चंडी पाठ सुनते हुए. बचपन की माँ याद आ जाती है: दशहरा आते ही घर में धूप की एक सुगंध उठने लगती थी. तुरत नहाई माँ को दुर्गा की छवि के आगे आँख मूँदे हुए पाठ करते देखता था. उस छवि के आगे रक्त जवा या उड़हूल फूल के अर्पण को नहीं भूलता. शरद की वह गंध-छवि अब तक मन में बसी है.इस बार मालूम हुआ, अम्मी पाठ नहीं कर पा रही हैं .यह सुनकर मुझ जैसे ईश्वरसंदेही को भी कुछ लगेगा, सोचा नहीं था.

आरम्भ लेकिन षष्ठी से हो, ऐसा नहीं. बचपन से ही महालया की प्रतीक्षा व्यग्रता से होती थी. इस बार भूल ही गया. पिता ने, जो फेसबुक-संसार के सहज नागरिक हैं, महालया के दिन आगाह किया:
“देवी पक्ष के प्रारम्भ होने की सूचना हो गई है। देवघर में हमारी चेतना में यह बात रही है कि दुर्गापूजा के अवसर पर उमा एक साल बाद कैलास से अपने मायके चार दिनों के लिए आती हैँ। सप्तमी को उनका आगमन और दशमी को विदाई होती है। आगमनी गीत बेटी के लिए माँ की व्यथा की मार्मिक प्रस्तुति हैं।

प्रान्तर में सफेद कास एवम् शिउली फूलों एवम् आसमान में सफेद मेघ से शरत काल के आगमन की सूचना होते ही कैलास में गिरिराज की पत्नी मयना का मन अपनी पुत्री उमा के लिए व्याकुल हो उठता है। वे गिरिराज से निवेदन करती हैं, “एक साल बीत गया। उमा का कोई समाचार नहीं है। श्मशान में भूत-प्रेत के बीच भिखमंगे महादेव के साथ मेरी बेटी किस तरह रह रही है, मन व्याकुल रहता है। अब उसे वापस नहीं जाने दूँगी। भोलानाथ को घरजमाई बनाकर स्थापित कर लूँगी। तुम कैसे पिता हो? अभी कैलास जाकर उमा को लिवा लाओ।“

गिरिराज के कैलास के लिए रवाना होने के बाद मयना की प्रतीक्षा प्रारम्भ होती है। वे नगरवासियों का आह्वान करती हैं, “नगरवासियो, उमा आ रही है। तोरणद्वार सजाओ, मंगलघट स्थापित करो। उमा आ रही है.”

फिर सप्तमी तिथि को उमा आती है, माँ बेटी को देखकर विह्वल हो जाती हैं। उमा को “ओमा, ओमा” कहते कहते आनन्द विभोर होती रहती हैं। नगरवासी मिलकर मंगलगीत गाते हैं। पूरा नगर उत्सव में डूब जाता है।

अष्टमी तिथि उल्लास से भरी होती है. कहीं कोई अभाव नहीं है, कोई विषाद नहीं है।। मां आई है, सारा परिवेश उत्सव मुखरित है। गीत-संगीत वातावरण में गूँज रहे हैं।

अष्टमी की रात के बीतने की सूचना होते ही नवमी की दस्तक सुनाई पड़ती है। मयना आशंका से आतंकित हो जाती है, “ कल उमा चली जाएगी! काल देवता से प्रार्थना करती हैं, नवमी की रात तुम नहीं बीतना।”

फिर दशमी की ध्वनि सुनाई पड़ती है। मयना को दूर से आती हुई डमरु की आवाज सुनाई पड़ती है। प्रहरियों को पुकार कर कहने लगती हैं. “ गौरी को लिवा जाने के लिए भोलानाथ आ रहे हैं, डमरू की आवाज निकट से निकटतर होती जा रही है। जाओ, तुम लोग उन्हें रोक दो, मैं उमा को नहीं जाने दूँगी। तीन दिन तो रुकी है मेरे पास । अब वह मेरे ही पास रहेगी। “

गौरी माँ को सँभालती है। कहती हैं, “बेटी को तो पतिगृह में ही रहना होता है। तुम अपनी ओर भी देखो। तुम भी तो किसीकी बेटी हो। मैं तो फिर भी साल में एक बार आती हूँ , तीन दिन तुमलोगों के साथ रहती भी हूँ.”
बेटी की बातें सुनकर माँ और नगरवासी अभिमान से भर उठते हैं, “ उसकी भर्त्सना करते हुए दुर ग्गा, दुर् ग्गा कहते हैं।“

अन्ततोगत्वा मान अभिमान का दौर थमता है, बेटी फिर से उमा हो जाती है, “ओ मा ,उमा” से वातावरण मुखरित हो जाता है। नगरवासी मयना के साथ अश्रुपूरित नेत्रों से विदा करते हैं. … आबार एशो”अगले साल फिर आना, माँ!”

बाबूजी ने कथा संक्षेप में ही कही है. जितना बंगाल के लोग इससे परिचित हैं, उतना ही नचारी के देश मिथिलावाले भी. प्रत्येक वर्ष ही दुहराई जाती है. उतनी ही तन्मयता से इसे सुना भी जाता है. कथा आखिरकार बेटी के आने की उत्सुकता और उसके फिर से पति-गृह चले जाने के निश्चित होने के बावजूद किसी तरह उसे रोके रखने की माँ की इच्छा की है. मेना बोलती हैं, पिता हिमालय खामोश ही रहते हैं लेकिन आखिर वे क्या सोचते हैं, जानने का कोई उपाय नहीं .

महालया को सुबह-सुबह रेडियो पर कलकत्ता स्टेशन लगाया जाता था. रेडियो की सुई को ठीक ठीक जमा देना कि वह सही फ्रीक्वेंसी पर जा टिके. बांग्ला देश के निर्माण के बाद बांगला देश रेडियो से भी आगमनी का प्रसारण शुरू हो गया था. लेकिन कलकत्ता से आने वाली बीरेंद्र कृष्ण भद्र की मंद्र-गभीर स्वर-ध्वनि से शारदीय अन्धकार का झंकृत होना रोमांचकारी लगा करता था.

पूजा के समय देवघर जाता था. अपने दादा को नियमित घर के पूजा गृह में पाठ करते देखता था. शहर भर में पंडाल सज जाते थे. प्रत्येक की अपनी ख्याति थी. कहाँ की दुर्गा कैसी होंगी, क्या इस वर्ष भी वे पिछले वर्ष जैसी ही हैं या इस बार कारीगर ने कुछ और कमाल किया है! पंडालों का अभिमान उनके कारीगरों की ख्याति के साथ जुड़ा था.इस कुतूहल के साथ हम बच्चे एक पंडाल से दूसरे पंडाल का चक्कर लगाते रहते थे. पूजा की व्यस्तता का कहना ही क्या था! एक-एक दुर्गा को देख कर उसके रूप की विवेचना करना भी तो एक बड़ा काम था!

हर दुर्गा दूसरे से भिन्न होंगी ही, इसमें कोई शक न था. कोई सौम्यरूपा थीं तो कोई रौद्ररूपा. उदात्त और कोमल का संयोग निराला और बाद में मुक्तिबोध में देखा, लेकिन उसके पहले इस मेल की संवेदना का बीजारोपण इन पंडालों में हुआ होगा. पंडाल में उठता और गहराता हुई धूप का धुआँ, जिससे आँखें कड़ुआती थीं अवश्य लेकिन वहां से टलने का मन न होता था. वह धुआँ आहिस्ता आहिस्ता शरीर में जज्ब हो जाता था. एक रहस्यमय भाव का उदय होता था. धीरे-धीरे जैसे ढाक-ध्वनि और उस ध्वनि के साथ देवी की प्रतिमा के आगे दोनों हाथों में धूपाधार लेकर नृत्य करते भक्त एक कलात्मक वातावरण रच देते थे. भक्ति सुंदर ही होती है और अनिवार्यतः कलात्मक, यह बात पूजा में साल-दर साल भद्र महाशय को सुनते हुए और देवघर के पंडालों में घूमते हुए मन में बैठ गई.

भीतरपड़ा और बंगलापर की दुर्गा पुरानी थीं.प्रतिष्ठा उनकी थी. लेकिन वे देवघर के बाशिंदा पंडा-घरों का आयोजन था. वैद्यनाथ मंदिर में भीतरखंड की दुर्गा का रहस्य और रुआब कुछ और था. ये मंदिर के अंदर प्रतिष्ठित थीं . नवमी के दिन हर जगह बलि पड़ती थी. भीतरखंड में भैंसे की बलि होती है, सुना था. देख कभी नहीं नहीं पाया. लेकिन नवमी को बलि के रक्त के देवघर की अधिकांश भूमि लाल हो उठती थी. प्रत्येक घर की अपनी बलि होती थी. उस बलि के प्रसाद की प्रतीक्षा क्या सिर्फ बच्चे ही करते थे? वैसे, देवघर में मांस को आमतौर पर प्रसाद ही कहते हैं. शायद ही कोई पंडा घर हो, जो मांसाहारी न हो. आखिर माँ के प्रसाद को ठुकराया कैसे जा सकता है!

पंडालों में कुछ ऐसे होते थे जो कोने में बैठे हुए पाठ करते रहते थे. किंचित विस्मय के साथ हम स्वर में पाठ करते सुनते थे जो अष्टमी और नवमी को अश्रु से कम्पित हो उठता था. लेकिन हममें से भी किसी को संदेह न था कि षष्ठी और सप्तमी की देवी का मुख प्रसन्न रहता है, अष्टमी से वह मुरझाना शुरू होता है और नवमी को वह मायके से वापसी का समय आ गया, जानकर विषण्ण हो उठता है. अपने भाव को ही प्रतिमा पर आरोपित करके भक्त हृदय संतोष लाभ करता है, समझने की उम्र बाद में आई.

दशमी को लेकिन माँ की विदाई के आयोजन में अपने दुःख को भुलाकर नाचते गाते नगरवासी उसे पति-गृह को रवाना करते हैं. इस समय कोई रुलाई नहीं. विविधरूपा दुर्गा को उसके मायकेवाले अलग अलग नाम से पुकारते हुए उसके साथ चलते हैं. एक टुकड़ा मन में अटका रह गया है और दशमी को कहीं भी रहूँ, बज उठता है:”ओ,माँ दिगंबरी नाचो,गो!

दुर्गा को क्या महिषमर्दिनी के रूप में आराध्य माना जाए या उसे सार्वभौम पुत्री के रूप में पुनःप्रतिष्ठित किया जा सकता है? बेटी भी वह बेटी नहीं है, मायके की मायने भी बदल गए हैं,पति गृह अब उतना ही स्त्री का घर है: तो क्या यह स्मृति अब अर्थहीन हो गई है?
मैं जो भक्ति की इस सम्वेदना से वंचित रह गया, यह सब सोचता हूँ. दुर्गा से जुड़े भावों की तीव्रता और सांद्रता के सच को मैं जानता हूँ .लेकिन आज जो वह क्षुद्र होता दीख रहा है, उस समय इसे कैसे याद करूँ?

यह भक्ति और स्मृति टकराती है एक और याद से: जो स्वयं को महिषासुर के वंशज मानते हैं, उनके इन दस दिनों के शोक की याद से. वे दुर्गा का मुख भी नहीं देखते. इस बार सुना, सुषमा असुर उद्घाटन करेंगी कोलकाता की फूलबागान सार्बजनीन दुर्गा पूजा समिति के पंडाल का. उसके दस दिन पहले नंदिनी सुन्दर ने बताया, छत्तीसगढ़ के नेता मनीष गुंजाम पर किसी ने मुकदमा कर दिया है क्योंकि उन्होंने महिषासुर को मारे जाने की कथा का दूसरी व्याख्या प्रसारित कर दी थी. फिर दुर्गा सार्वजनीन तो नहीं ही रह गईं .

“शक्ति की करो मौलिक कल्पना”: यह चुनौती निराला के राम को मिली थी. आज हम सबके सामने यह चुनौती है. पुरखों ने जो कल्पना की उसकी स्मृति को रखते हुए, उन्हें इसका श्रेय देते हुए हम अपने बाद की सोचें: हमारे बाद आनेवाली पीढ़ियाँ क्या हमारी किसी भक्ति और शक्ति की कल्पना की याद करके हमारे प्रति कृतज्ञता का अनुभव करेंगी? या हम मात्र माध्यम रह जाएँगे: जो मिला उसे वैसे ही आगे पहुँचा दिया? हमने कौन सी छवि गढ़ी?

( First published by SATYAGRAH on 8 October, 2016)

Who’s Your Perfect Dalit Woman?

October 12, 2016

The oppressor is in solidarity with the oppressed only when he stops regarding the oppressed as an abstract category and sees them as persons who have been unjustly dealt with, deprived of their voice, cheated in the sale of their labor — when he stops making pious, sentimental, and individualistic gestures and risks an act of love. True solidarity is found only in the plenitude of this act of love, in its existentiality, in its praxis. To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce."

~ Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Christina Thomas Dhanaraj

I have come to believe that intersection is a beautiful thing. Not necessarily from the lens of the onlooker, but from within myself, for myself. The fact that I'm Dalit, Tamizh, Christian, Woman, and everything else could only mean there are layers to the person that I am, with every layer attributing me with experiences that make me complex and unique. So as a contemporary Dalit woman living in urban India, I recognize the path my ancestors and I have travelled to reach this place in history. Like many of my peers, I grew up listening to the stories of how our grandfathers and grandmothers moved from place to place; how they found jobs before they found a career; how they found a religion that promised the dignity Hinduism denied; how they navigated social, academic, and political spaces rife with discrimination; how they married and loved and had children amidst hate;and how they survived, and sometimes thrived, in a country that refused to recognize their humanity. I grew up seeing my parents carryon this legacy of assertion, at their workplace, at the church, in the community, and in our so-called social circles. Needless to say, this was no easy feat.

Who am I? Why am I a Dalit woman?

I grew up in a lower middle class family in a town on the outskirts of Chennai. And unlike many of my Christian friends, I came to know which caste I belonged to much earlier in life. I was probably 5 years of age when my mother sat me down, and almost in whispers, explained what our ancestors were made to do for a living. "They disposed of the dead", she said. That those we saw dancing and playing the parai during a funeral, could in fact be our brothers. That they, and therefore we, were supposedly untouchable. I remember being very upset, refusing to believe what she told me. I may have even cried a little.

But perhaps similar to other Dalit (Christian) families, my parents tried their very best to shield us from the pain and trauma our caste locations would otherwise bring. And because I was a 3rd generation Christian, my primary label was that of an 'Indian Christian'. All through my teenage, I stuck to it. I did not have a community certificate either, and was slotted under open competition, which meant I would not benefit from affirmative action. This lack of an official caste identity did not however grant me any social status. The Indian church, and specifically Tamizh CSI congregations, to which we belong to, are very adept at spotting caste markers of every family. This means that no matter how much one tries to distance oneself from his/her oppressed-caste identity, the community inside the church ensures that his/her label stays alive in their eyes. This means that inter-caste marriages will not happen. This means that unless one has enough class to help compensate, caste will continue to determine social acceptance and respect. And no, the fact that my grandfather and my maternal uncle were both presbyters did not help.

I was almost 20 when I finally found a platform that helped me unpack my caste location. Given that I grew up in a very non-politicized Christian context, I heard the word 'Dalit' for the first time only when I was in college. I took to it like I was waiting for it my whole life. The more I heard and the more I read, the more I understood how caste had shaped my experiences, and that of my family's. The biology teacher who made me stand up in class and repeatedly asked me if I was really, really sure I came under OC, and not SC. The girl at my church who nonchalantly called me a parachi. The hesitation in attending weddings that screamed caste privilege. The gaze of the upper caste Christian families, and their talk of God's blessings. The beef curry that we never spoke about.

Articulation of the Dalit identity, and from there on the Dalit woman's identity, by my mentors at the Student Christian Movement, who were Dalits themselves, encouraged me to articulate my worldview that was unique and mine. I moved on from the writings of Divakaruni and Roy, who I had hoped will tell my story because they were Indian women, to that of Bama and Pawar, who actually did. I yearned for voices in literature that synced with mine. I yearned for voices everywhere life took me. While I had still not come out as Dalit, things seemed to be falling in place; my people were recognizing me, sisters across boundaries were sharing experiences, and my parents were telling us their stories. The fog was lifting.

Academic Jargon and Pretty Dresses: The Privilege Criticism

As far as my memory takes me, one thing had always remained constant in our families (immediate and extended) – the mandate to work hard. We were to work hard at school, and strive harder to find a job; not just any job but a career.

Education and employment were non-negotiable. "Both your grandmothers were teachers; your maternal grandfather was a theologian; your paternal grandfather was an ex-serviceman. Do you know how much they had to struggle to get us here? You study. Period. You work. Period." None of us women in the family even dared to explore the possibility of becoming homemakers. We simply could not afford to. Unlike our dominant/upper caste peers, we had no ancestral lands, close to no networks, and no monetary cushions. My cousins and I grew up watching our mothers and our fathers slog it out, at work, at home, and everywhere else.

Because my parents made some very tough choices, such as moving into the city regardless of the hardship it brought, putting us in English-speaking schools knowing well that tuitions were something they could not afford, pushing us to create a life that would demand the respect they had to fight for; we are where we are today. And my parents were able to make these choices because their parents had to make tougher choices and fight harder battles. Yet, despite all their efforts, we are not entirely protected from the storm that is determined to blow us out – the chasm is wide and deep, and we are building the bridge as we cross it. This means that we work hard too, that we take our opportunities seriously, that we not just show up but be ready to lead, that we push ourselves fiercely and passionately. This means that I don't shy away from speaking in English, if that's what it takes to tell my story to the world. This means that I be academically sound and be taken seriously in a country that has for so long not recognized my people's intellect. This means that I wear the best of my clothes and walk with my head held high in a place that did not allow my mothers to cover their breasts.

Given this context of my experiences, and in specific reference to the privilege criticism placed by savarna/other allies^1,2,3,4 on English-speaking, 'upwardly mobile' Dalits such as myself, I would like to make a few points in response:

1. While privileges do exist within present-day Dalit communities, these are not in any measure close to the kind enjoyed by our upper caste counterparts. Caste oppression has been in practice for more than 2500 years and it is needless to say that our families face an inter-generational deficit of resources, land, and capital; that which would take several more economically secure generations to compensate. The gift of choice that we have received from our parents and our grandparents, who fought through massacres and beheadings; the gift that we are now fighting to keep; is not in any way comparable to the blatant privilege our oppressors are born with. Privilege within the Dalit community, whether it is class, social mobility, education, or others, should thus be defined with precision; and more importantly it should be defined by us, the Dalits.

2. Secondly, the ally (savarna, white, South-Asian, or any other) has no authority whatsoever to define the aforementioned type of privilege. To say that English-speaking Dalit women are taking away the space of other Dalit women^1,3, is basically saying that to begin with, we have only a few spots to aspire for; and these spots cannot be taken up by the 'already empowered', 'privileged' Dalit women who 'wear pretty dresses' and 'speak academic jargon'. If the ally (especially the savarna) is so concerned, why doesn't he/she/they give up their spot, the one that has been held by their families for ages now? Why should the ally use our internal discourses on privilege as opportunities to disregard the voices of our women?

3. Thirdly, who gets to define what is the most authentic Dalit experience? Who defines what is Dalit-ness: "Are you Dalit-enough?", "What is so Dalit about you?", "You don't look like a Dalit". As Somwanshi points out⁶, "one needs to rightly situate the 'Dalit-ness' of a person as arising from someone's 'Brahmin-ness', without which it wouldn't exist…(However) Reification of the Dalit identity turns it into a commodity, something to be studied, critiqued, to be used and discarded in isolation, with full convenience for the Brahmin-savarna". This implies that any Dalit man or woman who does not fit into the reified image of a helpless, voiceless victim, will not be accepted as an authentic-enough Dalit. His/her Dalit-ness will have to be justified, failing which their narrative will be dissed out as 'too-privileged'.

Celebrating Our Ancestors, Our Sisters, and Ourselves

I'm a Dalit, middle class, university educated, Tamizh and English speaking, Christian, woman. I'm an intersection of all these identities, and these constitute the basis to who I am, and who I will be in the years to come. No matter how the world sees me, I will hold the light of my ancestors, my mentors, my sisters, and Babasaheb close to my heart; knowing that I owe much to those who came before me, and need to give much more to the ones who will come after. I will not shy away from being fully human and living fully, simply because an ally or an oppressor is doling out hateful and reckless opinions on my life and my choices, and those of my sisters, under the guise of calling out privilege.

Margaret's voice in 2005⁷, which said, "I am a Dalit-middle-class, university educated, Telugu speaking Dalit-Christian-Woman. All these identities have a role in the way I perceive myself and the worlds I inhabit. I, as a Dalit woman, primarily write for Dalit women to uphold our interests. This statement of mine is necessary because if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others – for their use and to our detriment. This voice is not representative of all Dalit women. However, I know that my voice is important because it is the voice of a socially denigrated category, suppressed and silenced, is an important reminder to realize that our identities are ours only to define. Our lives and leadership, as Dalit women and Dalit men, cannot be controlled by the boundaries set by the oppressor, who may in some cases look like an ally or a friend.

Additionally, it is important that we celebrate ourselves and our ancestors, who believed that we were all capable of achieving a fuller humanity; who believed that there is hope in the darkest of times; and who acted on those beliefs. We have to celebrate our sisters, our brothers, who are all trying to cross the chasm, who we should join hands with, to get to the other side, quickly and safely. We have to celebrate our leadership within our movements, and work to find creative, more innovative ways to achieve the vision Babasaheb has set out for us. And we must always, always watch out for the oppressor, and not let their worldviews dictate our decisions or influence our love for one another.

~
Notes
* Parai: One of the oldest musical instruments of the Paraiyar community in Tamilnadu that has now become a symbol of liberation.
* CSI: Church of South India
* Presbyters: A Church minister of the second order under the authority of a bishop.
* OC: Open Competition
* Parachi: A hateful caste slur used against Paraiyar women
* Student Christian Movement (of India): One of the oldest youth ecumenical organizations of University students in India, formed in 1912.
* Divakaruni: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
* Roy: Arundhati Roy
* Bama: Bama Faustina Soosairaj
* Pawar: Urmila Pawar
* Theologian: An expert in theology (Christian theology in this context)

References
1. https://www.facebook.com/chandana.chandragiri/posts/10154723536749742
2. https://www.facebook.com/shruti.m.bhadra/posts/1419528568076518
3. https://www.facebook.com/sharmin.hossain.1293/posts/10157402517480032
4. https://www.facebook.com/insaneamar/posts/990660371055286
5. http://www.nbcnews.com/science/indias-caste-system-goes-back-2-000-years-genetic-study-6C10874609
6. http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8748:dalit-identity-or-commodity-for-savarnas&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132
7. https://www.countercurrents.org/feminism-margaret030605.htm

For further reading
1. http://www.daga.org.hk/btr/btr9v/v95-3-20.htm
2. http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8770:i-will-not-die-a-victim-i-want-to-live-as-a-leader-manisha-mashaal&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132
3. http://www.lionsroar.com/ambedkars-vision/
4. Analogous narratives: Interactions of class and race – http://www.classism.org/class-identity-woman-african-descent/
~~~

Christina Thomas Dhanaraj is a 3rd generation Christian Dalit woman from Bangalore, India. She is a co-founder of the Dalit history month collective (Dalithistory.com), and a volunteer for #dalitwomenfight. She currently works a business analyst.

This article was first published on Round Table India

India is borrowing more and more to pay its existing loans, and that could wreck development dreams

October 12, 2016

The government has set up a cell to manage India's public debt and expects better results than those achieved by the Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry.

Narendra Modi and Raghuram Rajan
Image: Reuters

If debt is bad, taking new loans to pay back old ones has all the makings of a debt trap and the Indian government seems to be doing just that. India owed Rs 57,75,685 crores to internal and external lenders in the financial year 2014-2015 – a whopping 46% of the country’s gross domestic product. And it turns out that 77% of all long-term borrowings made by the government were actually used to pay back interest and principal on earlier borrowings rather than being spent on development expenditure.

Part of the reason for this is deficient forecasting and management of public debt, which is usually the responsibility of the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance. Both these authorities have been considering ways to improve India's debt management and they seem to have finally found a way.

Last week, the government announced the setting up of a public debt management cell that will be converted into an independent authority in two years with a mandate to manage India’s public debt and forecast requirements well in advance and find ways to fund them at a desirable interest rate.

The Reserve Bank has been doing this job for the government so far in cooperation with the Department of Economic Affairs, and the results have not been great. Many believe the move to set up a public debt management cell will dilute the central bank's role in the country’s money management. But the idea behind it is something the Reserve Bank itself has pushed since 1997 through the Working Group on Separation of Debt Management from Monetary Management. And multiple committees, including the one headed by former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, have endorsed the view.

Ending conflict of interest

The formation of a new agency, experts said, would remove the alleged conflict of interest the Reserve Bank faces while deciding on monetary policy through interest rates and then making borrowing decisions for the government.

“There is a conflict of interest between the RBI being the debt manager and targeting inflation," said Radhika Pandey, an economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. "As a debt manager, the central bank would aim at lowering interest rates, but this would come in conflict with its inflation management mandate."

Rajan, however, said last year that the public debt management cell must remain equidistant from both the government and the Reserve Bank to actually remain independent.

“If that agency is too close to the government, then we should be careful… Government owns a number of entities in the economy today, public sector banks, LIC, etc, so that same conflict that existed in the RBI should not be transferred to an entity that has closer links with the government,” he was quoted as saying in the Hindu.

With the constitution of the new cell – which would be housed at the Reserve Bank's office in Delhi – the conflict of interest would be gradually removed. The government expects the cell to monitor its finances and arrange cash as and when needed through cheap interest rates and instruments such as government securities.

The formation of such a public debt management authority is also in line with the recommendation of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which in a report to Parliament in July had pointed out the dismal state of public finance management in the country.

Broken system

As the chart above shows, India’s borrowings have continuously grown alongside its GDP over the last four years, but the percentage of public debt as percentage of GDP has risen marginally from 40.2% in 2011-'12 to 40.7% in 2014-'15. Moreover, much of this debt is internal as external debt and other liabilities together make up for a mere 11.6% of the government’s total liabilities.

The problem, however, lies in the fact that most of the short-term and a substantial part of the long-term borrowings are being used to service debt already taken, implying that little of the amount is left to spend on constructive development projects. For instance, India’s debt servicing liability for short-term borrowings was 101% of total receipts in borrowings in the year 2014-'15 while the corresponding figure for long-term borrowings was a high 77%.

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General took note of this and said that debt servicing liabilities should not become larger as they undermine development expenditure, which is presumably the major reason behind government borrowings in the first place.

“In 2014-'15, 77% of long-term internal borrowings and 73% of external borrowings were utilised for debt servicing, implying that a larger percentage of debt was being used for debt servicing, which in turn meant lower percentage of debt taken was available for meeting development expenditure to promote growth, which is one of the reasons for contracting debt,” the report noted.

Inefficient forecasting

In its response to the government auditor, the Reserve Bank said it had been “discharging its functions effectively and efficiently".

A closer scrutiny of the numbers, however, casts doubts on this claim. For instance, the audit noted that expected cost of debt was not being projected forward efficiently and stress tests were not being conducted, both vital to ensuring the government has the ability to pay back its liabilities on time.

The Department of Economic Affairs, however, stated that most of the external debt was concessional and backed by bi/multi-lateral cooperation agreements between two or more countries. Hence, it did not bracket it under the category of “borrowings” – effectively excluding it from the government’s debt management strategy.

The Comptroller and Auditor General discovered that borrowings from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank accounted for nearly 31% of total external borrowings by the end of the financial year 2015, and these were not on concessional terms.

“Further, whether concessional or not, [debt] is subject to exchange rate risk that needs to be managed through a well thought out strategy,” said the auditor.

The chart above shows how widely the government’s estimates and its actual borrowings varied in the last few years, ranging from a negative 33% to a positive 225%.

“Thus, it appeared that the system of preparation of budgeted estimates and revised estimates in respect of external debt was not robust,” said the auditor.

A similar trend was seen in forecasting estimates of the government’s cash needs. The Reserve Bank is tasked with forecasting weekly inflows and outflows in the government of India account, which needs to maintain a balance of Rs 100 crores on each reporting Friday. However, there were at least 40 weeks in each year when the variation between the projected cash balance and the actual cash balance was more than Rs 1,00,000 crores.

Data maintenance

“The purpose of the forecast was to ascertain the possible position of cash so that appropriate steps could be taken to bridge the gap between projected cash management and projected cash availability, if any," the Comptroller and Auditor General said. “A wide variation between the projected and actual cash balance defeated the purpose of this projection.”

That is not all. The government should ideally have a robust internal monitoring system with near-real-time data of its borrowings and forecasts that are shared between the Reserve Bank and the finance ministry. But this is not the case. The auditor observed that E-Kuber, a platform used by the central bank for internal debt auctions, and the Integrated Computerised System, which it used to maintain various ledgers and registers, did not have any analytical functions as needed.

The Reserve Bank, in its reply, stated that it used Excel-based tools for its debt management strategy and the Department of Economic Affairs used spreadsheets too.

“The RBI stated that all data was available as a system of maintaining physical registers also existed in parallel and there was no risk of data loss, and [it] accepted that there might be issues with the report generation," the auditor said in its report.

All these deficiencies in the country's public debt management system led to huge cash outflows that could have been prevented. For instance, India paid more than Rs 600 crores in the last six years as commitment charges for withdrawing loans at a later date rather than the one it had earlier agreed upon.

“The need for payment of commitment charges points towards inadequate planning of loans/credits without proper linkages, with the requirement leading to avoidable payment of commitment charges,” the auditor noted.

With all that is going wrong with India's public debt management, the importance of a specific agency has become more pronounced, and economists hoped the government’s step to set up the public debt management cell would improve its financial condition and reduce the debt burden steadily.

“This move is timely as now the government has given the RBI the mandate to target inflation,” said Radhika Pandey of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. “The new cell would typically also require a liquid bond market so that it is able to raise finances for the government at the lowest cost. All this augurs well for the economy. This is not dilution of the RBI’s powers as the RBI will be able to focus on its core job of inflation targeting."

This article was first published on Scroll.in

Feminists and feminisms come in many forms: Suspend judgment!

October 12, 2016

The responses of feminist activists to the Suspend Judgement! campaign reveal the hidden hierarchies of power and exclusion we must confront. Part 2. Part 1.

Suspend Judgment! leaflets on display at the AWID Forum. Designed by Sherna Dastur/ CREA.

In the days before the internet, smartphones, texting, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, and what have you, the distribution of parchas (Hindi for political leaflets, pronounced pur-chah) was once a popular organizing tradition of street activists and protesters, especially in South Asian countries. Even today, you can see variations of parchas pasted across city walls, although they are more likely to be advertisements rather than political messages.

Inspired by these movement traditions of the global south, CREA decided to use this medium as an integral part of the “Suspend Judgment” campaign launched in September at the AWID International Forum in Bahia, Brazil. Suspend Judgment features fourteen feminist parchas exploring difficult questions at the intersection of sexuality, gender and rights. As described in part 1 of this two-part article, we see Suspend Judgment as a campaign that both challenges and goes to the heart of the future of feminist organizing and practice. It is an innovative movement-building effort focused on feminists themselves as much as other social actors, provoking all of us to think and act intersectionally, and reflect critically on deeply rooted assumptions about who is deserving of rights, what forms of difference construct stigma and marginalization, and what an inclusive agenda for social transformation might actually look like – if we suspend judgment!

Comments made by AWID participants in reaction to Suspend Judgment! leaflets posted at the AWID Forum. Designed by Sherna Dastur/ CREA.

The decision to use parchas was strategic and built on what had once made them a popular option for social movements at mass gatherings like the AWID Forum: they were cheap, imperfectly printed, and easy to produce in massive quantities. This economical aspect made parchas easy to print, distribute, take home, or read and discard. Small collectives, opinionated individuals, well organized political parties – everyone could make parchas. Which is why they were ubiquitous in marches, rallies, campuses – sometimes so much so that people recall using parchas as tissues.

Our strategy was simple: Starting from the CREA booth where the parchas were available for taking and fanning out through the Forum grounds. CREA invited feminists to read, comment, and like street activists themselves, paste the parchas on walls and columns. The fourteen Suspend Judgment parchas addressed both dominant perceptions and alternative perspectives on a wide spectrum of issues, from sex workers rights, pleasure and consent, intersex rights, abortion stigma, SRHR, anti-trafficking, bodily integrity, disability and sexuality, and more.

The responses to the parchas were equally diverse: the conversations and reactions from activists [see box] represented a wide spectrum of feminist positions from movements around the world, some energizing and some revealing. In one exceptional instance, a young intersex activist walked into the booth and expressed surprise and then thanks for our inclusion of intersex issues. For those of us in the booth, being thanked for this was a shocking confrontation with the architecture of power within our own movements. We realized not only that certain conversations and constituencies are minimized or invisible even under our feminist and LGBTQI umbrellas, but that we are facing an even more colossal task: how do we authentically address this kind of othering without flattening our agendas in order to build collective voice and power? It requires self-education, re-education, and un-learning past attitudes and ideas. Most of all, suspending judgment is the first step towards understanding and valuing struggles outside of our own.

Suspend Judgment! parcha (leaflet) on display at the AWID Forum.Designed by Sherna Dastur. CREA

AWID Forum participants Comments posted on Suspend Judgment leaflets by participants at the AWID Forum:
“I’ve sold my mind (my ideas, my creativity) and my hands (my physical abilities) in order to survive. That’s called WORK. I don’t see what’s wrong about selling my body – it is my CHOICE. Do you?"
“Can money buy consent?”
“South-South Collaborations and collective organizing will realize equality & justice for women all over the world. Amandla!!”
“Regardless of sexual orientation/preferences, each human being has the right to be free, safe and love!”
“My friend had an abortion & was worried about – [what] her family thought – going to jail – her future hardships [were] more stressful than the abortion itself.”
“Sin limites<3” (“No limits” – on the Disability and sexuality parcha)
“I JUST WANTED the right to choose my sexual life and life plans – always!!”
“Derecho a decider ya!” (The right to choose now!)
“I had two abortions when I was younger because: 1. I was careless; 2. My contraception failed and I thought I shouldn’t pay FOR LIFE for those small, stupid mistakes. A huge mistake (an unwanted child) is no way to solve a small one. Later on I had THREE wonderful children, because I wanted to.”
“We need to be open to thinking outside of the box and allow ourselves time and space to think beyond [the] current to new realities.”

Discomfort was a common reaction to several of our parchas, but we soon realized that discomfort is a powerful force for change. It can be generative, reveal gaps in our organizing, and push boundaries – it can make us better feminists. For example, barely anyone commented on our sadomasochism parcha, though it dealt with the fundamentals of consent, trust and diversity. There were also many NGO representatives who stopped by the booth, looked through the leaflets and congratulated us on a brilliant “marketing strategy” without once referring to the content or messaging. But this silence could equally signal disturbance, and therefore hopefully a deeper impact of the messages. Some of these specific reactions around aesthetics rendered the parchas back to their contemporary form on the streets of Delhi – as though they were an attempt at self-advertisement and branding. These encounters were also emblematic of the penetration of a highly corporatized development paradigm that feminist organizations are compelled to confront in both their donors and supposed allies.

Language is obviously a key issue with the use of a printed medium like leaflets, and this was a major barrier in a space like the AWID Forum, with participants from every major and minor language group. CREA staff at the booth struggled to translate the parchas to polyphonic visitors, especially Lusophones. Our team did their best to communicate – in English and broken Spanish – what the parchas said, and what the Suspend Judgment campaign was about. But these instances of linguistic awkwardness also helped highlight another power structure when trying to connect across geographies – the hegemony of certain languages – which begets the larger question of creating more inclusive strategies of feminist knowledge production.

Then there were phenomenal discussions around the idea of Suspend Judgment itself. One person posted the question, “Can money buy consent?” adjacent to another participant’s comment supportive of sex work as work. All this against the backdrop of the birthdays of FRIDA (the Young Feminist Fund) and the Red Umbrella Fund (a global fund by and of sex workers to advance sex workers’ rights) – celebrated jointly with a sex worker and ally-led fashion show that transgressed the norms of a generally polite Feminist Forum!

This, perhaps, is the crucial point: there are many feminisms and feminists come in many forms. The old binaries of power – North versus South, rich versus poor, indigenous knowledge versus academic epistemology– are still present, but many new axes have arisen over the past decade, creating new gatekeepers of who is or is not “truly” feminist, and what is and is not “real” feminism. The diverse commentary that Suspend Judgment generated highlights how inclusion is itself a moving goal post that needs to be constantly surfaced and relocated through discussion, debate, inquiry, and listening to unfamiliar voices – but also through discomfort, dancing, friendship, and grace.

This is not a historic moment when we can politely agree to disagree. As activists from the Pacific regularly reminded us throughout the AWID Forum, we have far greater forces arraigned against us: the corporate monopolies that dictate climate change policy, the rising seas themselves; and the lack of recognition across the board of how intimately our feminist movements are actually connected to the struggles for economic justice, environmental justice, and social justice. The struggle to give new form to our many different ways of practicing solidarity and alliances, the struggle for more intersectional thought and action, all need to be a fundamental part of practicing a more powerful new feminism. This means having the courage to smash our comfortable silos and smash our judgments.

The authors are indebted to CREA colleagues at the AWID Forum and participants for their contributions to this article. We would like to specially thank Rupsa Mallik, Sherna Dastur, Shuchi Tripati, Chaitali Bhatia, Sushma Luthra.

About the authors

Nafisa Ferdous is a programme coordinator at CREA. She has worked as a qualitative researcher and gender specialist in India, Kenya, Indonesia and several other countries in the field of gender, environment and rights

Geetanjali Misra is the co-founder and Executive Director of CREA. She has worked at the activist, grant-making, and policy levels on issues of sexuality, gender, and rights. Before CREA, she worked for the Ford Foundation, was co-founder of SAKHI, an anti-VAW organization for women of South Asian origin, President of the board for AWID, and is currently on the board of Mama Cash.

Srilatha Batliwala is Director Knowledge Building and Feminist Leadership at CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action). She is a feminist activist, scholar, and writer with four decades of experience that ranges from grassroots activism and movement building with some of the poorest women in India, to research and building theory from practice in premier international academic institutions and feminist organizations.

Article was first publihed on Open Democracy

गौरक्षकों पर मोहन भागवत की राय प्रधानमंत्री से अलग

October 12, 2016

देश भर में गौरक्षकों के नाम पर बढ़ रही गुंडागर्दी की घटनाओं के बीच आरएसएस के प्रमुख मोहन भागवत ने इन गौरक्षकों की हिमायत करते हुए इन्हें अच्छे लोग बताया है। नागपुर में अपने स्वयंसेवकों को संबोधित करते हुए मोहन भागवत ने जो बोला, वह प्रधानमंत्री के गौरक्षकों के बारे में दिए बयान से एकदम अलग था।

Image: ANI

प्रधानमंत्री कह चुके हैं कि अधिकतर गौरक्षक अपराधी होते हैं, जो दिन में गौरक्षक बन जाते हैं और रात में अपराध करते हैं। प्रधानमंत्री की बात के उलट मोहन भागवत ने गौरक्षकों को कानून का पालन करने वाला बताया, जो बहुत अच्छी समाज-सेवा कर रहे हैं।

प्रधानमंत्री जहाँ गौरक्षा को गोरखधंधा बता चुके हैं, वहीं मोहन भागवत आरएसएस के 91वें स्थापना दिवस पर वार्षिक संबोधन में गौरक्षा को समाजसेवा और गौरक्षकों को समाजसेवक बताया है।

वैसे प्रधानमंत्री के बयान के बाद आरएसएस के एक बड़े हिस्से में नाराजगी तो देखने को मिली थी, लेकिन बड़े स्तर पर किसी ने उनकी बात का प्रतिवाद इस तरह से नहीं किया था जिस तरह से मोहन भागवत ने किया है। प्रधानमंत्री के बयान के बाद पंजाब में एक गौरक्षक दल का प्रमुख गुंडागर्दी और अप्राकृतिक यौन शोषण के आरोप में पकड़ा भी गया था। हाल ही में राजस्थान में गौरक्षा के नाम पर अवैध वसूली करते हुए बजरंग दल की स्थानीय इकाई का अध्यक्ष पकड़ा गया। गुजरात में ऊना कांड ने तो साबित ही कर दिया था कि गौरक्षक पूरी तरह से असामाजिक और अमानवीय तत्व हैं।

ऐसे में गौरक्षकों और गौरक्षा के नाम पर हो रही हिंसा का समर्थन करके मोहन भागवत ने प्रधानमंत्री से कड़ी असहमति जताई है।

आइए, याद करते हैं, प्रधानमंत्री ने गौरक्षकों के बारे में क्या कहा था। प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा था- "कुछ लोग गौरक्षक के नाम पर दुकान खोलकर बैठ गए हैं। मुझे इस पर बहुत ग़ुस्सा आता है।

कुछ लोग पूरी रात असामाजिक कार्यों में लिप्त रहते हैं और दिन में गौरक्षक का चोला पहन लेते हैं। मैं राज्य सरकार से कहता हूं कि वे ऐसे लोगों का डोज़ियर बनाएं। गौरक्षकों में से 80 फ़ीसदी लोग गोरखधंधे में लिप्त हैं। गौरक्षक गाय को प्लास्टिक खाने से बचाएं, ये बड़ी सेवा होगी। कोई स्वयंसेवा किसी को दबाने के लिए नहीं होती।”

अब आइए, जानते हैं मोहन भागवत ने क्या कहा है। मोहन भागवत ने गौरक्षकों का हौंसला बढ़ाते हुए कहा है- “असामाजिक तत्वों और कानून का पालन करने वाले गौरक्षकों के बीच अंतर को समझा जाना चाहिए। गोरक्षक एक महत्वपूर्ण समाजसेवा कर रहे हैं। गोरक्षक अच्छे लोग होते हैं… देश में गोरक्षा के लिए कानून हैं… प्रशासन को ध्यान रखना होगा कि कुछ लोग ऐसे होते हैं, जो असामाजिक तत्व हैं, और कभी गोरक्षक नहीं हो सकते… उनके ज़रिये बेवकूफ न बनें… उन लोगों तथा गोरक्षकों में फर्क होता है… उन्हें एक साथ जोड़कर नहीं देखा जाना चाहिए…"

इंडिया टीवी के रिपोर्टर ने पीएम मोदी को लिखा पत्र, चैनल पर लगाए कई सनसनीख़ेज़ आरोप

October 12, 2016

इंडिया टीवी के रिपोर्टर ने पीएम मोदी को लिखा पत्र, चैनल पर लगाए कई सनसनीख़ेज़ आरोप

इंडिया टीवी के एक सीनियर रिर्पोटर ने प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी को पत्र लिख कर अपने चैनल के खिलाफ सनसनीख़ेज़ आरोप लगाए हैं। वरिष्ठ रिर्पोटर इमरान शेख ने अपने पत्र में लिखा है कि रजत शर्मा अपने चैनल में कई अवसरों पर प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी को खुश करने की न्यूज़ बनवाने का दबाव बनाते हैं।

इमरान शेख आगे लिखते हैं ” मुझे कई बार गढ़ी हुई न्यूज़ बनाने के लिए कहा गया है और उसकों कई बार ठीक वैसे ही जनता के सामने लाने के लिए कहा जाता था। कई बार मेंरे सीनियर ने प्रधानमंत्री को खुश करने के लिए गढ़ी हुई न्यूज बनाई है इसलिए क्योकिं उनकी रोज़ी रोटी इससे चलती है, लेकिन मैं सोचता हूं मेंरे सीनियर द्वारा कही गई ये बातें गलत हैं जिनमें मैं यकीन नहीं रखता।

उन्होंने कहा, “जैसे-जैसे समय बीतता रहा मैंरे सीनियर, मुझसे मोदी को खुश करने और गढ़ी हुई न्यूज़ बनाने का दबाव बनाते रहे। और इस वजह से में दिन-ब-दिन दिमाग़ी रूप से परेशान हो रहा था। और मैंने सोचना शुरू कर दिया कि क्या वाकई में सरकार/नेताओं को गढ़ी हुई न्यूज़ की जरूरत होती है। फिर में सोचने लगा मुझसे गढ़ी हुई न्यूज़ बनवाकर इंडिया टीवी ने मुझे बली का बकरा बनाया है।

जनता का रिर्पोटर से बात करते हुए इमरान शेख ने बताया कि मेंरे सीनियर फैज़ुल इस्लाम, राहुल चौधरी, जयप्रकाश चौधरी ने मुझे बहुत प्रताड़ित किया है क्योकि मैं गढ़ी हुई कहानिंयों को चलाने से मना करता था।

शेख ने आगे बताया ” मुझे गलत मत समझों मैं भी मोदी का बहुत बड़ा फैन था लेकिन मैंरे लिए पत्रकारिता के आदर्श ज्यादा मायने रखते हैं।

उन्होंने आगे कहा ” जब भी मेंने गढ़ी हुई न्यूज़ करने से मना किया है, मेंरे सीनियर ने प्रताड़ित किया और वो लोग मुझे हफ्ते में दो-दो बार सस्पेंड करते रहे। मुझ पर अनुशासनात्मक कार्रवाई भी की गई।
शेख आगे कहते हैं कि प्रधानमंत्री मोदी जब आपकी अदालत में आए थे तो मैं ऑडियन्स बनना चाहता था लेकिन मुझे इसमें भी निराशा हाथ लगी।

आपको बता दें कि शेख ने फैज़ुल इस्लाम, राहुल चौधरी, जयप्रकाश चौधरी के खिलाफ मानहानि का केस किया है।

शेख द्वारा किया गया सनसनीखे़ज़ खुलासा तब सामने आया जब कुछ महीनों पहले ज़ी न्यूज के पूर्व पत्रकार विश्वादीपक ने ज़ी न्यूज़ पर मनगढ़त न्यूज चलाने का आरोप लगाते हुए चैनल से इस्तीफा दे दिया था।

जब जनता का रिपोर्टर ने इंडिया टीवी के एडिटर-इन-चीफ रजत शर्मा से बात करने की कोशिश की तो रजत शर्मा ने इस मुद्दे पर बात करने से मना कर दिया और कहा कि आपकों जो भी बात करनी है मैसेज करके पूछिए लेकिन जब शर्मा को मैसेज किया गया उनका कोई रिप्लाई नहीं आया।

Courtesy: Janta ka Reporter

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