Category Archives: Socio/Political

How 2019 ended on a hopeful note amidst hopelessness

The date was 23 May. It was, as expected, a hot Thursday morning but we were inside the confinement of our air-conditioned Yoga class. It wasn’t an ordinary day. It was on that day that the fate of the 130 crore odd Indians rested on the results of the Lok Sabha Elections, which were also set to be as unsurprising as the weather. BJP was set to win it easily.

As we wound up around 9:15 am, I could hear the excitement of few BJP supporters from the class over the results declared so far. As expected, NDA was leading. That was obvious considering we had an almost invisible opposition that did little to pose any danger to the arch rivals BJP.

As I already knew what the outcome would be, I didn’t keep a tab of it as a travelled from my Yoga class in Matunga to my office in Andheri. However, because of their many blunders and blatant misuse of power by the BJP, I was sure the margin of victory wouldn’t be as high as it was in 2014.

But as I was about to reach my office, a friend from Kolkata pinged and said that they are all set to win with a much bigger margin and that they are performing well even in West Bengal, which wasn’t expected.

Source: BBC

As the day progressed, it became all the more clear that the BJP was all set to win more triumphantly than it did in 2014. They eventually finished with 303 seats and the total of their alliance NDA stood at a resounding 353 seats.

The last five years had seen a number lynchings out of mere suspicion of a person carrying beef, which was banned in 2015. One or two lynchings were even supported by BJP leaders. One leader even went onto garland a group of people convicted [mind you, not just accused] in lynchings. One of the lynchings accused was wrapped in the tricolour after he died and India’s Minister of Culture went to pay him last respects.

The overall atmosphere of communalism was evident with BJP leaders dishing out one atrocious comment after another. After a point, this became a routine exercise.

Demonetization was a blunder of another level. It killed more than 100 people and at the same time almost the entire currency came back to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Not to mention how bundles of new currencies were found in the residences of powerful people, including BJP leaders.

The next year Ajay Mohan Bisht, known as Yogi Adityanath, was made the CM of Uttar Pradesh. The same person who, on numerous occasions, openly incited mobs for riots. Instead of putting him behind bars, he was rewarded with such a post.

The most audacious antic came from Pragya Thakur [not Saadhvi for me] who expressed her happiness at the killing of the supercop Hemant Karkare by terrorists during the 26/11 attacks. On another occasion she openly praised Nathuram Godse for killing Gandhi. While India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi continuously heaps praises on Gandhi, he took no action against Thakur except lip service that he will never forgive her (wow, amazing!).

It came as a jolt to many like me to know that Thakur went onto win the election with a large margin despite such shameless statements.

This coupled with the overall results was enough for me and a number of friends to conclude that is desh ka kuchh nahin ho sakta. It isn’t surprising to see the saffron party carry out such atrocious acts. But it indeed was a rude to surprise to see that people have absolutely no problems with it considering the even bigger margin of victory.

The results took away our interest from politics because, we thought, when the masses of India themselves are okay with such rulers, there is just no hope.

Anti NRC protests against BJP — Protesters at Azad Maidan on 27 December

But things turned around right at the last month of the year when the same masses got involved in large numbers to oppose the passing of NRC and CAA bills. And these protests weren’t confined to just one city or state but in the entire country. One can find people from all kinds of backgrounds, faiths and age-groups participating selflessly in the protests.

There has been rampant use of violence by authorities to nullify the protest at various places in the country but that didn’t deterred people from taking part in the protests. Even as I write this, I am wondering how such a turnaround happened in the same year. [It reminded me of the protests during the Anna Hazare movement which also I had attended].

I don’t know for sure whether we will succeed in getting the controversial bills scrapped. But I am certain that people will come together to agitate any sort of tyranny unleashed by the government or the Right Wing as a whole in the future.

With that renewed hope for our great country I am stepping into the New Year and decade.

Additional reading:

Only living people can protest, rest are dead, says Aarey tribal activist Prakash Bhoir

2nd Anti-NRC, CAA protest Mumbai: Videos and photos

3 Replies

The second protest in Mumbai against the NRC and CAA took place today at the iconic Azad Maidan. The protesters were earlier supposed to take a march from Byculla to CST station. However, as they didn’t get permission for the same, they had to hold a rally at Azad Maidan.

But this didn’t deter the Mumbaikars from turning up in large numbers. Although initially it looked like not too many people might turn up, the numbers gradually started increasing until a mammoth crowd had formed.

People from all walks of life, religions, age-groups and languages were seen once again. That Mumbai is a multi-cultural city was seen yet again.

Also read: Only living people can protest, rest are dead, says Aarey tribal activist Prakash Bhoir

People were holding banners and placards with serious as well as funny messages in protest of the controversial bills passed by the Government of India.

A lot of the banners contained sarcastic messages for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. A majority of them were memes, which had made their way into the real world from the virtual world. The same was also seen on the rally that took place on 19 December in Mumbai.

A series of speakers expressed their views and protest against the government for passing the bills. These included Varun Grover and Umer Khalid. Grover also recited his famous poem ‘Hum Kagaz Nahin Dikhayenge. See HERE.

Also see: Photos and videos from 1st anti-NRC, CAA rally in Mumbai

Few Bollywood actors like Richa Chadha, Swara Bhaskar and Jim Sarbh also graced the rally.

Just like the earlier rally, one could find quite a few selfless citizens who distributed biscuits and water to the people for free.

Anti CAA rally Mumbai — Two girls distributing packaged drinking water for free.

Only living people can protest, rest are dead, says Aarey tribal activist Prakash Bhoir

4 Replies

Aarey Forest has been in the news this year for all the wrong reasons and the same is the case now for the implementation of NRC and CAA bills. Earlier, the Maharashtra Government’s plan to make the Metro carshed over there led to a lot of protests by tree and environment lovers. The trees were eventually cut through deceit much to the heartbreaks of many in Mumbai and all over India.

While we are concerned about the trees, what a lot of city-dwellers are unaware of is that a large community of tribal population is also a part of the Aarey forest. The fact that we all spoke about the trees of the forest and not about the humans staying there since ages is alarming.

Considering how the tribal people of the Aarey forest are neglected, things are expected to get murkier for them if the NRC and CAA is implemented since having proper documents is out of question for tribals not only in Mumbai but also in other parts of India.

Tribal activist Prakash Bhoir spoke about the ordeal of the tribals at the chat session ‘Mumbai Rises To Save Democracy’ in the wake of the current widespread protests against the implementation of the controversial NRC and CAA bills on Friday 21 December.

Bhoir pointed out how they had never been outside the jungle before but now they are forced to because of the ‘development’. “If the birds and animals like leopard are also forced to go out of the jungle, who are we then?” he asked.

The protests ensured that Aarey made headlines but not much for its inhabitants. “Because of the protests Aarey came into the limelight for its jungle and its animals, including leopard. [But] this is where we have been staying too. There are 27 adivasi padas who have been staying in Aarey since long. In the whole of Mumbai there are 222 adivasi padas,” he added.

Bhoir added how the change that took place in their lives ever since the jungles gave away to commercial ventures. “We used to live happily among the lakes and wells. We didn’t feel the need to get anything from outside. But these padas were affected and became less in number after Aarey Colony, Filmcity, SRPF (State Reserve Police Force), veterinary college and other things came up and now there is Metro carshed too,” he said.

He added that in all this, the actual residents of the forest are becoming homeless, indicating that it makes all the more impossible for them to show any documents for the purposes of NRC.

Also see: Video and photos of NRC, CAA protests in Mumbai

Bhoir shared the horrific night when trees were forcefully cut in Aarey in October. He said that they were about to have dinner when they heard noises. “The trees were getting cut and we could hear the sounds. There were barricades. When we confronted the police, they told us none of the trees are getting cut, although we could hear noises of the machines and trees falling,” he said.

He also recalled how they have been offered accommodation in the past by the authorities with the pretext of keeping them safe and away from wild animals. “We said we don’t have any such complaints against them [animals] and neither have they against us. They are our neighbours. Don’t mislead us. They are saying we are poor and living in problems but we are definitely not. We are happy staying with them. We don’t fear them. We fear you,” he said.

Stressing the need to protest, Bhoir signed off saying, “I feel only those who are alive can protest. We don’t have hopes from those who are dead. They won’t feel anything. A lot of dead people are seen around. I feel they should shake themselves up to check in case they might be alive.”

Additional reading:

How Maharashtra leaders made a FOOL of their supporters

NRC, CAA Protests in Mumbai: See video & photos

3 Replies

In Mumbai, all roads lead today to the historic August Kranti Maidan where NRC and CAA protests will be held. A huge number of Mumbaikars are expected to turn up in what is the first major protest against the two controversial bills.

People started pouring in much before the scheduled time of the protest at 5 pm.

The scenes easily bring back memories of the Indian Against Corruption (IAC) Movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011. Mumbai hasn’t seen any major protest by common citizens after that movement, until the ongoing one at the August Kranti Maidan against NRC CAA.

Earlier in the day, a large number of students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) got into the local train to reach the venue and started shouting slogans during their journey itself.

The crowd contains people of all ages and walks of life. Mane of them have banners which they must have prepared before leaving their residences or offices.

We have just come to know that the crowd has increased and there is a general mood of anger among the people who have gathered. People are heard chanting slogans against India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is a rising discontent among the people against the passing of NRC and CAA bills.

Additional reading:

How Maharashtra leaders made a FOOL of their supporters

How Maharashtra leaders made a FOOL of their supporters

3 Replies

The massive twists and turns in the Maharashtra politics over the last few weeks have put some of the best Bollywood thrillers to shame. The events have also inspired memes that shared on social media platforms and What’s App literally non-stop. While the jokes passed around are indeed hilarious and applaud-worthy, the situation is far from funny.

Over the last few years ever since the boom of social media, politics has suddenly become one of the most favourite topics for people across age groups. This has also given rise to most people clinging on to one party and becoming its ardent supporters. So, obviously, the ideology of their favourite party becomes their ideology.

The flipside of this is that most of the supporters of each party start defending their favourite party and its leaders with fierce determination; at times even when they themselves are aware that they are defending the indefensible.

This, in turn, has seen plenty of old friendships being broken over the last few years just because of difference in political views. Those who used to hang out with each other now don’t see eye to eye, literally.

Now, the dramatic events of the last few weeks after the results of the recently concluded Maharashtra Assemble Elections were declared have made supporters of all parties look like fools to say the least.

Maha U Turn:

It all started when Shiv Sena went rogue soon after the results. They fought the elections in alliance with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and people voted for them because of this reason. However, they broke the alliance post-results for their demand of a bigger share of power despite earning almost half the number of seats won by BJP and shockingly tied up with the Congress and NCP (Nationalist Congress Party).

It will be an understatement to say that the two parties have been Shiv Sena’s arch enemies. They have continuously slammed Congress and NCP for the corruption cases against them over the years. You don’t need to be an iota of expert in politics to know how Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the party, hated the two parties and made Shiv Sena successful only by his campaign against the two.

Now spare a thought for the Shiv Sena supporters who have been lambasting Congress and NCP over the years or even decades. The same can be said also for the supporters of Congress and NCP who have been sternly against Shiv Sena for its Hindutva ideology.

Maha surprise:

Last morning the nation got a jolt after knowing that Devendra Fadnavis was suddenly sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra after getting support from NCP’s Ajit Pawar and other rebel MLA’s (Member of Legislative Assembly) of his party. Ajit Pawar apparently turned rogue against his uncle and party head Sharad Pawar at the last moment just when Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress were about to form the government.

Ajit Pawar has got highly rewarded for his coup as he is made the deputy CM of Maharashtra. Interestingly, he has been named in irrigation scam when he was the Irrigation Minister from 1999 to 2009. He got a clean chit later from the then Congress-NCP government in 2012.

Also read: Does Thackeray hint at Shiv Sena’s changing relationship with Congress?

Now this is where it gets more interesting. After BJP-Shiv Sena government came into power in Maharashtra in 2014, they, under Fadnavis’ leadership, re-initiated enquiries into the alleged irrigation irregularities. Now, the same BJP awarded the post of the deputy CM to the person alleged in the same scam.

You don’t need to go too far to recall how India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called NCP as ‘Naturally Corrupt Party’ more than once (read HERE). Funnily, a past video of Fadnavis vowing never to tie-up with NCP has also resurfaced.

(Article continued below the video)

Hence, now it is the time of the BJP supporters to feel embarrassed. Any regular social media user would know how Ajit Pawar has faced flak from BJP supporters over the years.

The events and twists of this month have proven that the ideology of a party is only followed by its supporters. And only ideology their leaders follow is power.

Let’s hope this turns out to be a wake-up call.

By: Keyur Seta

Additional reading:

When BJP leaders were so against EVMs that they wrote books on its ‘dangers’

Amol Palekar’s fight for freedom of expression goes back to the Emergency

Why people in their 30s should stop believing they are 70

4 Replies

There was a time when 7-8 of us would play cricket. We used to enjoy it. But as much as playing the sport, our constant jokes, one-liners and banter used to delight us. As years passed by and all of us started working, playing cricket slowly faded away, which isn’t surprising.

But thanks to What’s App, we started a group few years ago with the hope that we would regularly revisit those days of fun and laughter.

But strangely, the atmosphere in the group was nowhere similar to the time we used to spend years ago. There were only serious talks. Jokes had no place. Even after I tried numerous times to create humour, it fell on deaf ears. There was just no response. Finally, I gave up.

Weeks later, a friend, one of the members of the group, bumped into me. I straightaway asked him the reason for everyone being so serious on the group and what all happened to their humour. His only reply was, “Ab humne 30 cross kar liya. Ab kya hasi-mazaak?” I stood frozen there, not knowing what to say. I never knew hasi-mazaak had an expiry date and that too so soon in life.

But this is just one example. As the months passed by, I regularly kept hearing similar things from people in their 30s. While having conversations, it is a must for them to say things like, “Ab toh umar ho gayi hai hum logon ki,” “Hum toh buddhe ho gaye hain ab,” etc.

It seems as if they have started believing that they are 70 +. But on second thoughts, I am reminded of how people even in their 80s are seen having fun and laughter while sitting on the fence of Shivaji Park maidan. Also, my Yoga teacher is 80 but I have hardly seen anyone so cheerful and funny. My aunt and her friends are in their 50s but when they meet they behave like teenagers.

But having said this, each one is entitled to live and think the way he or she likes. So, if friends who are in the 30s feel they have become too old to crack jokes and laugh their hearts out, it is their choice. Some of them have also stopped exercising or doing any kind of physical activity thinking there is no hope now for them to get into a better shape or health. I don’t have a problem with that too.

But I do have a problem when they assume that I also think and feel the same. I have a problem when they say umar ho gayi hai ‘hum’ logon ki and ‘hum’ buddhe ho gaye hain. Boss, please replace ‘hum’ with ‘tum.’

While you would be busy spending your evenings with a cup of tea while staring at the sunset thinking life mein ab kuchh raha nahin, I would be taking a jog or thinking about some idea for my next funny write-up or meme.

Never knew I would feel generation gap with people of my own age group.

By: Keyur Seta

Additional reading:

Why arranged marriages are nothing but shopping?

6 noteworthy moments from Article 15

Poem: Loktantra Ke Mandir Mein

Will Raj Thackeray’s fierce attack on Modi have any effect on the Lok Sabha elections?

Amol Palekar’s fight for freedom of expression goes back to the Emergency

2 Replies

The country witnessed a brutal attack on freedom of expression yesterday when veteran actor and filmmaker Amol Palekar was interrupted from sharing his views at an event at the NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art) in Mumbai.

The Chhoti Si Baat actor was politely voicing his dissent on the decision of the Ministry of Culture to scrap the advisory committees of local artists at the NGMA’s branches in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

However, he was repeatedly interrupted in his speech by the NGMA director Anita Rupavataram and the curator of the show and ex-chairman of the organization Suhas Bahulikar. They urged him to stick to the topic, which was about the work of the renowned artist Prabhakar Barwe. But Palekar stood firm and voiced his opinion as much as he could saying that his comments are related to the NGMA itself.

Read about the whole incident by clicking HERE.

Watch the whole incident in the video below:

The incident was enough to trigger continuous reactions of the citizens on social media. Palekar has been receiving support for his right to express himself while those who tried to supress his voice have been heavily condemned. The most common sentiment shared is that if a veteran artist can be supressed of freedom of expression, what to think of common people like us?

But amid this, Palekar is also accused of being ‘selectively’ against the current BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government, as is evident from various comments on social media. These people seriously need to take a look at his past activism.

Palekar, like many other actors, started off with theatre in his younger days. Apart from honing his acting skills, he also used the medium to mark his protest against the Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Congress party.

I had the good fortune of interviewing Palekar last year for the web portal Cinestaan.com where I currently work. He was speaking while remembering his friend and fellow actor Hemu Adhikari, who had passed away a day before.

Palekar and Adhikari were a part of the parallel theatre movement then. During the conversation, Palekar shared how they used to stage thespian Badal Sircar’s Juloos, which was their way of protesting against the Emergency.

“One of the most cherished moments of my career in theatre was when we did Badal Sircar’s Juloos. It was produced by Bahuroopi, which was Hemu’s group. And I was the guest director. It was during the Emergency that we thought of doing this. That was our little protest against the Emergency,” he had said.

In fact, Palekar, Adhikari and the rest of members even showed the guts of performing their anti-Emergency play in the drama competition held by the state government itself. “We used to get this kick by performing it in the annual state drama competition, which is organized and funded by the government. It was our personal kick that we wanted to perform it there. We were very clear in our minds,” he had said.

Palekar also added that their first performance of Juloos was also attended by underground opposition leaders like Mrinal Gore and others. “It was a proud moment for us that we were able to do this in theatre as our expression and fight against censorship and any kind of curtailment of freedom,” said Palekar.

This piece of information is also enough to create laughing stock of the Congress leaders who have come out in support of Palekar for their own political gains. They too are clearly unaware of their own history.

You can read the whole interview by clicking HERE.

By: Keyur Seta