The need for a positive outlook during times of conflict (for lack of a better title)

The need for a positive outlook during times of conflict (for lack of a better title)

The other day, I was taking a walk in the evening when I came across this huge poster splashed across a signboard which had a picture of Babri Masjid with Kar –Sevaks demolishing it and the title to the poster screaming ‘Betrayal … Lest we forget it’ . Somehow at that moment, it made me extremely sad… and that’s because whenever people try to put things behind them and move on, posters like these bring it all back.

I have often wondered how different communities ( in this case different religions) react to situations of conflict, in the sense , the methods of conflict resolution well after the actual period of conflict is actually over (lets define this period as maybe a decade – this is just an arbitrary period) ; do they have a sense of simmering anger (of course they do!!!). However the question which I’m posing here is whether communities who have gone been situations of conflict look inward and get into a cycle of blame/retribution/self pity which then gives rise to further trauma, anguish and related emotions or do they inspite of harboring such emotions are capable of rising above it and building their life afresh. I have posed this question to a number of friends (from various communities) and have been given various responses.

At this point, I must say that there are certain thoughts/biases/assumptions (for lack of better words) that I myself bring into this discussion, some of which have been strengthened and others which have been weakened during the course of discussions with friends.

My first point is this; I believe that in order to move ahead in life, one cannot be inward looking; one needs to rise to the occasion to overcome various challenges and difficulties. While this statement is generic and not many may dispute this, this is true for communities affected by conflicts as well. In fact, in their case it is even more paramount that they look outward and start actively re-building their lives because otherwise it is very easy to get caught in a cycle of self-pity and a feeling of retribution out of which there is no escape and there is nothing to look forward to.

The second point which I find, at least in the Indian context is that there are certain communities affected by conflicts which are more likely to be more inward looking and actively look for retribution thereby possibly missing out on development opportunities and other communities (also affected by conflicts) who would harbor negative emotions of the experiences that they have gone through albeit passively and who are more likely to engage proactively in processes and activities which would ensure that over a period of time they can once again claim their rightful place in society and get back what has been taken from them . The simple point which I’m making here is that wallowing in self pity over something which has happened in the past is not an option; one must look outward and start rebuilding one’s life in order to move ahead. What I’m also saying that it does not mean that you forget what has happened with you. You take legal recourse… the chances that you would see a positive outcome during your lifetime are pretty slim…but justice will prevail. You do not create an ecology where the only job you do is to berate other communities who may have led to your community being negatively affected, you do not portray a situation where retribution is seen as martyrdom. What you do is that you pursue the process of justice and more importantly what you do is to start re-building your life. That is the only way forward.

Somewhere above I talked about communities who represent both streams of thought. At the risk of being wrong, I will name communities and pinpoint what they do and where they go right or wrong and what they need to do to right the wrong.

History has shown that the path of retribution has been one of a downward spiral from where there is no return. The partition of the sub-continent which led to the creation of India and Pakistan was an extremely dark chapter for millions of families which still continues to evoke extremely strong emotions on either side of the border. Amongst many communities which were affected by the partition was the Sindhi community (mostly Hindus). An entire people whose ancestry was founded and nurtured in the Sindh province (now in Pakistan) were uprooted and suddenly found themselves traversing thousands of kilometers and be put up in refugee camps in various parts of India. I’m absolutely sure that like different conflict affected communities, they too would have been absolutely shattered and devastated at the fact of leaving their homeland without knowing where they were headed and what was to become of them. The question to be asked is… what did they do of the anger and devastation? Did they say that, ‘hey we have been wronged and therefore we must avenge the wrongdoings that we have suffered’ or ‘ ok… well while what has happened with me has been wrong, I will not let that come in the way of my progress and will start rebuilding my life from scratch’. They chose the latter option. Refugee camps which could have become a hell-hole without a future slowly saw themselves being transformed into business centres, where people of the Sindhi community made a name for themselves and have since then been rated as some of the people with the finest business acumen in the country…and all this when without silver spoons in their mouth(s??).

The Sikh community too has gone through hell over the past 3 decades before seeing a phase of relative normalcy and prosperity from the 90’s onwards. The Khalistan movement in the 70’s and 80’s and its violent repression by the administration which culminated in Operation Bluestar to flush out militants holed up inside the Golden Temple (the holiest shrine of the Sikh community) which led to the temple complex itself close to being destroyed created deep fissures and led to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards. Not surprisingly Congress workers led by Congress leaders like HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler amongst others went about massacring Sikhs en masse especially in and around the Delhi region. The debate about whether Khalistan would emerge as an independent nation or would remain as part of India in the form of Punjab was settled over the next few years either through state suppression and/or through new economic opportunities which made themselves available especially during the early 90s, making Punjab an economic powerhouse. I really haven’t had the opportunity to talk to many people from the Sikh community, however the few of whom I have interacted with tell me the same story which I narrated of the Sindhi community. True… they were very upset and angry with the Indian government for Operation Bluestar, for the carnage and the mass slaughter of Sikhs that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi. There were times when they actively wanted to join the Khalistan struggle… not because they may have believed in it, but as a way to get back at the government. However, at some point of time they moved on… not forgetting what had happened but making a conscious effort to put behind them what has happened and to move on in life. 3 decades hence, efforts at justice are slowly bearing fruit. Sure HKL Bhagat was acquitted… but he was made to go through hell through the courts and he died a lone and bitter man… a far cry from his ‘days of glory’. The noose seems to tightening around Jagdish Tytler too and it may not be very far away when he is held accountable for his actions.

Somewhere in the beginning, I started off with a statement where I said that I hope to illustrate both sides of the story… where one can get to look at stories of communities rising back from situations of conflict and other communities which look inward and the need therefore to rise above these difficult situations and look forward.

I was very tempted to write about those communities whom I felt were inward looking which was an impediment to their growth. Personally, I still do believe that there are elements within those communities who are inward looking and its because they tend to dominate media spaces, there is a danger in labeling the entire community in a certain way which would be the worst kind of injustice on one’s part towards that community.

As one person whom I was talking tells me … how can you even begin to tell residents of Palestine that they should look forward to life and start rebuilding their lives when there is nothing in fact they can look forward to. Their economy is in shambles, their airways, waterways and all modes of transport and communication are controlled by an apartheid state and where there are no visible means of livelihood. They probably don’t know what is going to happen the next day … whether Israeli helicopter gunships might target them claiming as they are militants and where they have to survive on dole outs from the UN. What do you even tell such people... and frankly I don’t know what to say. The same is true of conflict zones such as Kashmir and the North East or even the Naxalite affected areas.

The road to reconciliation though difficult and arduous, must be attempted in the truest sense. The best instance of reconciliation which I recall was one attempted by the South African administration after the end of apartheid. Titled as ‘Peace and Reconciliation’, the process aimed at bringing both victims and perpetrators together and attempt to create a process of unraveling the truth and finding out what even happened to individuals who lost their lives during the ant-apartheid struggle. The aim was not to create a negative atmosphere, but to make people realise their wrongs and to heal wounds which would have otherwise gone unaddressed. While some cynics were of the opinion that it let the perpetrators go almost scot-free, and the process itself did not meet its intended outcomes, the truth remains that we need more of such interventions if we are to become a more humane society.

Ahmedinejad and his politics

This posting is once again something which i read over an email posting on the Iranian president and his simple ways. The URL to the original posting is given at the end. Do read that before reading the blog itself.

While I'm sure that the author of this report must have done his homework as far as this news story is concerned (inspite of the fact that the source is Fox News), the tenor of the article itself is quite disturbing. It portrays Ahmedinejad as a very simple man etc etc, we know for a fact that this probably is 1/100th of his personality trait. Lets not forget for a moment that this very same man makes the denial of the Holocaust state policy, his ultra orthodox views on the role of women in society is nothing short of appalling, he openly calls for the annihilation of a country and makes awful foreign policy which takes his country to the brink of war (and for an instant let it not be assumed that I agree with Bush's views on Iran). I think both of these world leaders are equally crazy and that their ultra hawkish views are bad news for the entire globe. I will also add Hugo Chavez to this list.

I actually wonder if someone wrote a similar article on Narendra Modi, would we have given a similar response. Yes, he has brought about development, he has brought in some sense of transparency to the bureaucracy, but the one issue which defines his rule is the divisive nature of governance which he has encouraged and to which he has been an active promoter of. So while we might applaud at the finer points, its important to be acutely aware of the larger picture, because these are not merely individuals who have a skewed point of view, rather they are leaders who then enforce their skewed writ through the might of the entire state apparatus at their disposal.

So with Gujarat going to the polls today, one can only hope that better sense prevails in the minds of the voters and they do the right thing by voting out Modi. BTW the Congress in Gujarat is nothing short of a 'B' grade version of the BJP. So God help the people of that state.

A final point on Ahmedinejad( I cant even pronounce his name)... apparently his hawkish attitude is really not endearing him to the masses back home as well.... masses including the mulah's as well... so I won't be very surprised if one sees the return of Rafsanjani or Khatemi even...

URL: http://www.apniisp.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41913

The case of IT policy and civil society non-engagement

This musing is in response to an article on Internet censorship which I read today morning. ( The article is posted below ). The article talks about the fact that a man who was arrested for allegedly tainting the image of ‘Shivaji’ – a prominent Maratha(Hindu) ruler, over Orkut was finally released after 50 days… because they had got the wrong guy and he in fact was innocent…

What is disturbing is the fact that this person was behind bars for 50 days… I mean we know that there are probably hundreds of thousands of people in India and all over the world even who are behind bars for donkeys years without facing any kind of trail/not knowing why there are in there in the first place… however there are 2 aspects to this story which appalls me

1. One is this inherent disgust with the Indian citizenry which does not seem to care… and it is something which I keep talking about … and if this beautiful attitude continues to pervade us, not even the Almighty can help us… brings me to this very touching and moving poem???, which I came across a couple of years ago, and something which I thought was worth sharing… This was apparently written in a Nazi concentration camp (that’s what a lawyer friend of mine tells me)… So here it goes

They came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up

And I think this quite sums up the mental attitude of citizens who dont seem to care as long as it does not affect them

2. The second point which I want to raise and specific to this context is the fact that, in the case of shaping policy for the subject under consideration… what clearly seems to be happening is that policy is already getting enacted very discreetly by the government… just last week there was this report in a newspaper(Recipe for killing internet in India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Recipe_for_killing_Internet_in_India/articleshow/2464971.cms) , which says that a govt committee had recommended that the onus of filtering all ‘objectionable material’ on the Internet broadcast over Indian territory should fall on the ISP’s. Now, the newspaper itself said that the committee itself did not understand the nuances of the functioning of the Internet and therefore was making such wild suggestions. The truth however as we now know is that, with tremendously powerful technologies being available, it is relatively easy for governments and companies to regulate the content which is being broadcast over the Internet. As long as governments did not grasp the complete nature of the Internet, they let it develop on its own and did not interfere. However, with a deeper understanding of the Internet and the realization that the Internet in fact could make or break governments and so on, governments have started investing heavily into these technologies. In fact, for the first time this year, the government had a dedicated portion of the IT budget for procuring such powerful servers which when fitted to the backbone, could very easily differentiate content and block ‘unwanted content’. FYI… a court in Belgium has ruled that ISPs are responsible for filtering content entering that country.

So the point which I am making or trying to make is the fact that the engagement or lack of engagement by civil society in shaping policy in an area whose implications are still nebulous and where there is a real chance to do some good is damning . Amongst those few organisations in civil society itself working on this issue, there seems to be an amazing ambivalence … that ambivalence had got to do with the fact, whether one should have a policy at all ( since having a policy may in fact be detrimental to the Internet which is the last free space and so on )… and others who are fence sitters who are not too sure which way to go, but feel that not having a policy is not an option, the only question being whether to influence policy at the national or global level … since negotiating policy spaces at UN type summits could be more broader than national ones which are seen to be more restrictive. My position is that, there needs to be a policy and there can be no two ways about it. The moot question of course being, how, where and under what conditions does one being to negotiate a policy space on this front… As I said non engagement is not an option.

The article which I have referred to write this article is as follows

"Shivaji taint off techie", The Telegraph, October 25, 2007

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071025/asp/nation/story_8471391.asp

An Urban Mess

Bangalore (I will gladly change the name to Namma Bengalooru once the Centre gives its permission for the name change) is witnessing some of its heaviest rains … I believe that it rained around 108 mm last Thursday (14th September 2007) and as usual the roads were clogged up with rainwater which refused to drain off well after the rains were over with. Most of this mess (the clogging up of rain water) has been rightly blamed on the man-made obstructions caused to the natural flow of rainwater that would have otherwise found its way into major water bodies and helped the rainwater drain off more quickly. Citizens and the media (who usually slumber for the rest of the year) are now asking tough questions. The BMP is sweating and in their quest to find the genesis of the problem (read scapegoats), they have declared that major obstructions including housing complexes, which have been constructed illegally atop the course of natural water bodies, must be demolished. And thus begin the demolitions in right earnest. As of today, around 11 such illegal buildings have been demolished, most of them residential.

It is a story that is not limited to Bangalore. Delhi has seen some pretty intense demolition/sealing drives against unauthorised constructions. The suburb of Ulhasnagar near Bombay also suffered a similar fate. And while there should be no leniency towards such illegal constructions, I really wonder as to who is paying for whose deeds and where does the buck stop. Reading news reports today, it was pretty apparent that the residents of these ‘illegal constructions’ were caught totally unawares that their houses were in fact unauthorised in the eyes of the law and in a few hours time, they would have no roof over their heads. And even though I have a pretty serious and uncompromising stance when it comes to issues concerning urban governance, I can’t but feel sorry for these people who are suffering for something that very honestly was not even within their control. And I’ll explain why I feel sorry for them. A couple of years ago when my sister and brother in law were scouting for a house in Bangalore, they took great pains in ensuring that they were on the right side of the law with respect to purchase of the house … which meant ensuring that the builder showed them that the ‘title’ to the land was clear… having a look at the Development Plan (DP) of the area… to ensure that the area earmarked was in fact meant for residential use. There were a couple of times when they were about to seal the deal when they realised that something was amiss… and they came pretty close to being duped …given these experiences, it took quite some time for them to satisfy themselves …and touch wood… they have a house that is not ‘illegal’, till now at least. However, what became amply clear is the fact that getting these intricate details can be an arduous task and a majority of people who buy a house are probably not aware of many of these details. Even looking at the development plan of your area is no guarantee that a space earmarked for a specific purpose is actually meant for that. It is very easy to show a wrong DP or to manipulate/misrepresent the DP in a way that can confuse the shrewdest of people.

So what I’m trying to say is that it’s next to impossible to be a 100% sure that the plot of land on which your house stands is in fact legal. One might argue that nothing in fact is a 100% and that one must satisfy oneself to a certain degree after which one must have faith in one’s actions… and while I agree with this stance, the sheer scale of racketeering in this business makes you shudder.

In the Bangalore case, it was only after the houses were demolished, did the house owners actually come to know that their apartment complex was in fact sitting atop a riverbed. And there is no way that this fact could have been omitted in a DP which clearly lays out the geographical terrain of any place and then accordingly earmarks the areas fit for development. The residents whose houses were demolished, clearly had no idea what they were in for and the DP that they had been shown at the time of construction did not highlight these facts, which is the clearest indication of collusion between builders and civic officials.

The same was the case with Delhi and Ulhasnagar. What really worries me though is the case of Bombay, cause there the problem is much greater and it is a ticking time bomb. In Bombay the DP shows huge chunks of area as being available for development (residential and commercial), however it has recently come to light that many of these areas in fact are forest land which had not been reflected in the DP. Forest land or no forest land, the truth is that these are now full fledged residential areas and the implications of declaring these constructions as illegal would be catastrophic and would probably displace 40% of Bombay’s populations… a ominous thought indeed. The truth also is that the courts will declare these constructions as illegal and all hell will break loose … a situation very similar to that in Delhi where there was full fledged rioting. It is a very scary proposition indeed and something that I would not even like to consider.

In the case of Bombay, it is quite clear that 2 departments (forest and revenue) did not talk to each other while the DP was getting made … and while this is something, which happened close to 20 years ago… it will be people who invested their hard earned money in purchasing a home who will be made to suffer. And here, the law must show compassion liberally towards house owners and in fact treat them as victims rather than criminals. In the case of Delhi and Bangalore, it is a clear instance of collusion between builders and civic authorities and here this nexus must be brought to book. In Delhi, they said that nothing could be done since the violations happened close to 2 decades ago and the government officials who allowed these violations are now long gone … some retired … some dead … and some transferred… I don’t agree and I think that these people must be held liable for their actions and an example must be set. In Bangalore, the slide is more recent and there might still be time to catch the perpetrators.

In conclusion, I think 2 things must be done… the law must really look at each case independently and not merely go by the book … and house owners must be more vigilant towards property investments … though it is a tough job as I have said earlier.

One final point that I would like to make is that, this entire mad rush for land is part of a larger malice emerging out of the ill effects of urbanisation and that needs to be addressed… though I will keep that for later.

Blogs Anyone???

So what does blogging entail and why should one take it up or not take it up…. I think (and I could be wholly wrong even) that the word ‘blog’ arrived from the word ‘weblog’ which literally means maintaining an online dairy. (Note: MS Word refuses to acknowledge the word ‘blog’… it gives me a spell check error and instead suggests that I replace the word ‘blog’ with ‘bog’… quite emancipatory I must say… but seriously what else would you expect from MS Word) Somewhere along the way …some person decided to give it a jazzy name and hence the word ‘blog’ evolved. Pretty catchy I must say… A blog could relate to anything… your thoughts about life capturing different emotions, hues, various moods etc etc…in essence it is a personal diary which reveals much about you (or does it J) … could be personal ramblings, which you would like to share with a certain audience (oops … I mean ‘constituency’ … since the words ‘audience’, ‘target-group’ and their ilk are not supposed to be used by development practitioners… and for better or for worse I am one by qualification...sigh…lol). However, if one goes back to the very classical understanding of a personal diary, diaries are meant to be extremely intimate in nature… usually not shared with all and sundry… a passage to one’s deepest secrets privy only to oneself.

So, if a blog is the web equivalent of a personal diary, what is it that makes all those people who maintain blogs literally advertise it to the entire world… and trust me even with the strictest of privacy settings, it’s impossible for your blog to remain anonymous on the big bad world of the Internet (so my notions about the Internet or at least some facets of it have come out pretty strongly in this sentence). I have a strong hunch that people who maintain blogs are not privacy purists anyways… they typically know that information of this sort is bound to be accessed by people the world over. So I come back to my original question… why do people blog… why do they reveal so much about themselves… and here I think there are two important points to understand… one about the seductive nature of the Internet and the second point, about human psyche, which typically likes to flirt with this seductive nature of things… Internet or otherwise. And at this point, I must draw your attention to something similar … not exactly a parallel but something which intrigues me immensely … it’s from the original Star Wars Trilogy of which I am a HUGE fan… it’s a beautiful trilogy…masterpiece even… and has something for everyone…and you can draw parallels with different aspects of life … the thing about that trilogy which really intrigues me is the entire concept of ‘the dark side’ and especially ‘Darth Vader’… I mean, there is something about the dark side/Darth Vader that really pulls you towards it… you know it represents evil and yet you are completely enamoured by it. The tremendous power that it brings along with it, the sway that it has over matter … there is something extremely compelling about it which draws you to it… The seductive nature of the Internet is akin to the power of the dark side… it completely overwhelms you… though by no means am I suggesting that the Internet is evil ;-) … just to illustrate the power of the Internet :).

So now I have this situation where I was so caught up about analysing about the dark side that I have totally forgotten what I am writing about… So coming back to blogs, bloggers and the Internet (MS Word once again reminds me that the word is not ‘Bloggers’ … but in fact ‘loggers’… thank you MS word once again for showing the light), it is extremely easy to put a cloak of anonymity over who you really are. The Internet does not ask who you are, does not demand any kind of verification. It accepts you as you are and allows you to be who/what you want to be (I think this line is borrowed from some movie or something… can’t remember which one though). And therefore it is not entirely surprising that millions of people the world over are coming online and giving themselves an ‘online-avtaar’. People create blogs, communicate with fellow bloggers, share stories, criticise each other (constructively and otherwise) and so on.

The human mind is a unique entity. It requires to vent, to be acknowledged, loved, loathed and so on. And the human mind will search for all possible avenues to satiate these diverse needs. A blog is the simplest way in the pursuit of the above points. When we want to vent, all we need to do is to go ‘clickity clang’ on the keyboard and voilà… there you have it… a blog allows you to create your own truths … it is your own space to do whatever you want …well at least virtually :). Some of us would blog to just express our thoughts which would otherwise have been difficult to get across other medium, while others would, as I said hope to achieve something totally different. Who knows what are my hidden motivations to jot down these points ;-)…

Personally, I think that blogging is a good stress buster, mentally and physically (you get a good exercise for your fingers and eye muscles). It has tremendous potential for the immediate future, some people have referred to it as a new wave in journalism… which allows for people to do their own thing… and while I am initially tempted to agree with that point… a majority of the blogs which I have read are nothing but vanity and trivia … they represent the values of people who are presently connected to the Internet… typically the yuppie middle class population (I’m talking about Indian bloggers) and we very well know what kind of value system they represent and the danger in equating their writing to journalism and their views as the voice of India… Therefore, at this point of time, lets leave journalism to serious journalists (such as those from Indian Express and Hindu) and take blogs less seriously, however at the same time hope that increased Internet penetration will bring about a divergent population online who will and I’m sure that they will… take up blogging on serious topics and that’s when blogs will truly realise their potential.

P.S. - Darth Vader on the Internet

“The Internet … it is your destiny”