Sanity egresses

In the aftermath of multiple blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi, within the last 2 months, Indian politicians and the mediascape have notched up the din on combating Terrorism with tougher terror laws. Even a catchy name has been assigned to the blasts that gels with the foot-tapping beats and motion graphics of News Networks. Operation BAD (Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi). The nifty acronym optimistically presumes that this might be the end of the operation since Delhi was bombed on the 13th of September.

The responsibility of the blasts was taken by a group that calls itself the Indian Mujahideen. In perverted displays of machismo, the group sent out emails to media networks and SMS messages to cops, minutes before the blasts, presaging the inevitable certainty of what was about to happen and taunting them to stop it if they could. Perhaps this was their idea of fair play and feeling invincible. Twenty one people were killed in Delhi that day.

When a bomb rips through a busy public place it kills without prejudice. It does not discriminate between a man, woman or a child, a believer or a kaffir, rich or poor, black, white, brown or yellow. It is unbiased as the harbinger of death and destruction to all those and that within its periphery. As it shamelessly robs its victims of life, it also rips through the social bonds they carry with their loved ones. Just like the barbarity of those who planted it and the truculence of a Government that vows revenge, a bomb is apathetic to that extended adjunct of its prey. These families and friends are left to deal with their psychological wounds on their own. Then there are those who are left maimed at the borders. A lost limb, a lost sense, shredded skin and a benumbed mind. These scars of trauma they carry for the rest of their lives.

The Final Solution

Five years ago, in 2003, Rakesh Sharma made a documentary film, the Final Solution about the politics of hate in Gujarat. It chronicled the instigation and aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat Riots.

These riots broke out after the burning of Coach S/6, on the Sabarmati Express, in Godhra, on February 27th, 2002. Fifty eight people (23 men, 15 women and 20 children) were killed, burnt to death by a mob, while returning from a pilgrimage from Ayodhya. Using these killings as an excuse, the Hindutva outfits VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal (members of the Sangh Parivar) unleashed mass riots in which close to two thousand people were killed and over a hundred and fifty thousand people displaced. Most of them were Muslims.

The Sangh Parivar (family of strong associations) is a group of various political parties. The BJP, which controlled both the state and national government, at the time of the riots, is the largest member of this family. The Prime Minster of India, at that time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee started his political career as a member of the RSS. The BJP chief minister of Gujarat, Narinder Modi has close ties to the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.

When the riots went on unchecked for over two months, till May 2002, allegations started surfacing that these riots were pre-planned, organized and aided by local authorities with carte blanche from the Government. It was a serious charge because if these allegations were true, it meant the government of Gujarat was aiding the massacre of its own people divided on lines of religion.

Farewell in nineteen forty seven

This is how it all ended and started. Here's some incredible newsreel footage of the last British soldiers leaving India and the idea of a nation being born. Nationalism was a big thing in the 20th century. Even though I am aware of the propagandist nature of all newsreels, it still amazes me how congenial the final exchange must have been. There are a lot of post-mortem theories speculating that Britain left only because World War II had devastated the British Empire etc. but the magic of nineteen forty seven was that the British left as friends wishing India well and India wishing the last leaving soldiers a safe return back home. The magnanimity of this gesture is a testament to Gandhi and his non-violent movement.

Sure, they left us with the horror of partition and we still deal with the consequences, but even at that devastating moment in history, there was a sense of dignity in bidding farewell to a colonial imperialist power... with peace.

This film also gives us a fascinating glimpse into the birth of a young nation and the innocent hope of a better tomorrow. We've come a long way from naive innocence to a kleptocracy.

The Mahatma as your avatar

This happened a couple of months ago, but worth blogging about. NY based artist Joseph DeLappe does an interesting experiment: the reenactment of the Salt Satyagraha at Second Life

DeLappe actually 'walked' throughout second life online using a customized treadmill in NYC for 26 days, meeting people and asking them to join him. His journey is documented on his Satyagraha blog.