JNU oh JNU

Whatever is happening in India after the controversial protest at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has raised many questions in the minds of people like me. This incident exposed deep-rooted hypocrisy in the minds of people belonging to both camps. I wonder why Baba Ramdev was not allowed to speak at JNU but shouting anti-India slogans is considered a right of freedom of expression? I also wonder why a trivial student protest is treated like some sort of terrorist attack by the Indian government? Questions are many but I don't think there is anyone who is looking for answers, most of them are busy delivering judgments. It is sad to see the sense and sensibility murdered like this. It also exposed once again the inability of the government to control mob violence and their desire to encourage the tendency to deliver mob justice whenever this type of behavior suits them. Let me first clarify that, I am not in any way sympathetic with any leftist ideology and not associated with any political party or ideology so I have no interest in justifying any side's behavior in this case. What was supposed to be a student agitation rally has now turned into a full-blown national crisis. It seems everyone is trying to judge other person's nationalism or patriotism using their own prism. 

Student life is and should be full of interesting things. We go through many phases during our student life, and passion for certain issues and causes is an integral part of it. People are prone to take risks at that age. As a student, I also went through these phases. At that age, we are very angry about so many things that we feel are wrong or unjust but have no idea about the reasons behind those things. This happens more in a country like India especially if you come from underprivileged background. I was angry about so many things and I didn't know whom to blame. I am sure this is still the case with many students. Students at that age already have highly impressionable minds when you add to it a lot of anger and unrest, there are very high chances of volatile behavior. During that age, we easily get attracted to rebellious behavior. Lack of patience and maturity can result in very immature or even foolish acts which we often misinterpret as rebellious or brave acts at that age. Therefore, a forceful and bitter attack on the government, a rival political group, or ideology is not something unusual at that age. Anger about the state, religion, or any other establishment is also not unusual. These types of things used to happen in the past also but because of the internet and mobile, we all can see these things now. Of course, there can not be any logical explanation for this but any sensible person should understand the reasons behind this indignant behavior. We can only blame it on ignorance, immaturity, or plain stupidity. But the question I am raising is not about the behavior of some students who acted foolishly, as it was no surprise to me, but the way government, media, and public responded to that immature or foolish behavior by even more immature and foolish actions. 

I am a supporter of freedom of expression, except in case of direct incitement of violence against anyone. I support the right of any person to express their feelings or opinions freely. I may or may not agree with what they say but I can not take away their right to express those things. I have the right to agree or disagree with anyone, and I have the right to oppose or support their argument but I have no right to silence anyone just because I don't like their views. It is amazing to see how various political outfits define 'nationalism' in a very narrow way, especially in a way that suits their own ideology. Not only do they define nationalism or patriotism at their own convenience, but they also start handing out certificates of patriotism. Both major political parties of India, Congress and BJP are guilty of this type of behavior. It is also sad to see that this drama of sedition, nationalism, and patriotism has been played on many national news channels. During most debates someone is branded as anti-national, news anchors are behaving as if they are sacrosanct judges and jury who are running some criminal trial. It is a pathetic display of jingoism and hooliganism in the name of journalism. In any democratic society expressing dissent in a peaceful way should not be considered as a crime. Actually, it should be encouraged and the right to express dissent should be protected. Any attempt to suppress any peaceful dissent is bound to create more disturbance, no matter how misguided that dissent is and how well-intended the action to suppress is. I wonder how and why the current Indian government committed this totally avoided mistake.  

The arrest of the JNU student leader was definitely a mistake. I think they have to release him ultimately but sadly this will not happen without a lot of political drama and chaos. There are so many other pertinent and serious problems that need urgent attention from the government and citizens of India but sadly they are busy focusing on the wrong issues. It is really distressing to see that so much energy and resources are being wasted to deal with such trivial issues. Politics should be played and there is nothing wrong in having bitter political rivalries but to take any political fight to such a low level is really pathetic. It is really disturbing to watch television debates and the kind of language used by some anchors and participants. It is also shocking to see that kind of aggression and violent behavior displayed on the premises of court where even sentenced criminals are also supposed to be treated with dignity. I hope some sense will prevail on both sides and they will stop all this drama.

JNU oh JNU I hope you forget this painful episode and get back to your normal routine. I hope educational institutes behave and remain like educational institutes. I hope they don't become political battlegrounds of various political parties to propagate their ideology at the cost of healthy debate and logical discussions. I hope we all try to listen and understand each other rather than judge and punish. I hope we apply the same rules to everyone and don't behave like hypocrites. I hope people stop perversion of terms like nationalism and patriotism. I hope the media behaves like media and not like the mouthpiece of some political party or ideology. I hope both sides realize their mistakes and try to correct them rather than playing the blame game, and I also hope that I am not expecting too much from the people and government of my country.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Was Aseem Trivedi right or wrong?

There was so much fuss in Indian electronic and print media as well as on social networking sites about the arrest of Aseem Trivedi and the reasons behind his arrest. He published some cartoons as a part of the anti-corruption movement which many people didn't like and he was arrested in Mumbai on 9 September 2012 on charges of sedition. He is also facing very serious allegations of insulting the national emblem, Parliament, national flag, and constitution through his cartoons. Let's first see what are these cartoons, I am reproducing them below.

Cartoons are also artistic representations like any other art, most cartoonists try to comment on particular political or social situations through his/her cartoons. These cartoons are trying to covey some message that something is wrong with the current political and bureaucratic system of our country. I agree that they are very explicit and full of anger, but nowhere do I see the criminal intent of artist or his intention to insult the nation or its emblems. No one objected to why there is only Mother India, not Father India (gender bias). I know it's a silly question but so are the ones who say that these cartoons insult India or anything else. They are just an artist's ways of expressing their feelings. In India, people are over-sensitive about their religion, caste, or so-called monuments of honor like the parliament, national flag, temples, and historical figures. The list is too long and you never know what can become a reason to hurt people's feelings and trigger nationwide protests or even a riot.

As Indians we project ourselves as a very tolerant and broadminded society but this is not true. What we see is very intolerant people and political outfits who are ready to kill each other over very minor differences of opinion and I wonder as Indians do we even think about this paradox in our behavior or not. What Aseem's cartoons are doing here is trying to tell some message and this cartoon controversy has resulted in such a turn of events that this message of the anti-corruption movement or seriousness of corruption got totally sidelined and totally unrelated issue about press freedom and respecting national symbols dominated the discussions. I am sure government would love this.

In India, we have so many restrictions on the use of flags, and national symbols because we can insult them in so many ways. In many developed countries where people are as patriotic as Indians and love their country, the flag, and other symbols as much as we Indians, it is allowed to print the flag on almost everything (starting from slippers to bikinis) but in India one can't do it. We need to look into this issue more seriously. For anything we want to give respect, we make it sacred and sacred things no one can touch, comment on, or criticize, let it be any book, monument, emblem, flag, or person. Let people express their love for their nation, flag, or symbols the way they like. If these symbols are just made to stand in a showcase or for display books then how will they generate patriotism in people? I think everyone should be free to use them. 

According to me, Aseem Trivedi didn't do anything wrong, he was within his limits when he drew these cartoons and his intention was to spread some social message and not to hurt or insult anyone. We should learn to listen to criticisms directed toward our nation or leaders or religion or its gods, there is no shame or harm in listening to others' points of view. Many times these things make us realize us our own shortcomings or mistakes and if we shut others up just because they are saying or showing something unpleasant that means we don't have courage to face criticism and this also means that we are not willing to learn from our mistakes. I hope that incidents like this will never happen in the future and we will have a truly tolerant and democratic society in India and all over the world.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)