Archive for the 'Social Calls' Category

Fishpond

Believed 1 year, 5 months ago in Political contemplations and Social Calls. 6 Comments

Glassed walls of constriction; yet of comfort, and Sisyphean freedom. Vallisneria and strands of new born Java Fern muddles the few daring rays which made entries into the cloudly water. The little fish look at each other, crib, and gasp bubbles of discontentment. The Goldfish is showing off too much gold. The Black Molly is darkening up the place. The Swordtail Tetra’s comments are too sharp. The Siamese fighter eats too much. Encapsulated in their little glass pond, they breathed big bubbles against the walls. The world looks big and weird with the concavity.

That frog there.. Is that really a frog? Or is that a toad? Is it here to eat us up? Is she here to lay eggs? Yup, tadpoles for us to eat! Its a she? Horrible taste in skin, she should appeal for a better one…

And thus the fishes kept theorising life, the frog, and other miscellaneous things.

Fishpond.

Ladies, gentlemen, please welcome Meter Jam. A honest attempt by honest folk to give a dose of ‘their own medicine’ to dishonest autorikshaw drivers in a few major cities in India.

Meter Jam

So whats it all about? Autorikshaw drivers are known for being notorious in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai. Some won’t stop for you. Some will insult you. Some charge you extra. Some have tampered-with fare metres. Some adjust their rear-view mirrors to check out your breasts. These some hate you. They detest you. Just like you hate them. And Meter Jam is about giving them a ‘dose of their own medicine’ by refusing them, today, on the 12th of August, 2010.

But did you know that you are the result of these some being the way they are? Oh yes. You. You, me, all of us. I say you because this conversation is happening inside your head. There is no me, only you. Did you ever stop to think why they are the way they are?

Stung by poverty and hate, ignored and belittled in their own land, faced with stark economic opposition from the new big clan of people who live in an imaginary world earning ten or twenty times more than them, with nothing to aspire for, with the harsh antagonists of horrible traffic, irate drivers, and corrupt policemen per diem, they lead lifes filled with problems, real problems, those which cannot be solved by fancy, multi-node algorithms.

And you, dear sir, ma’am, made them the way they are today, by refusing to smile or acknowledge their humanness as they struggle to cope with life and death. You did it, by treating them as machines, as part of the autos they drive, as a system. They were not. You made them that way.

Each time you haughtily climb into an auto and flip out your mobile, each time you treat that driver with scorn, each time you battle with the driver for five units of currency, each time you scream at them, you make them more that way. Each time you oppose them, you create their new existence as a dumb system. Like a soft-drink vending machine.

Did you ever try talking to that driver? Ever asked him^* if he had a wife and children? What his children did? If he had lunch? If he wanted a toffee? If he liked A R Rahman? If he could read? Of his opinion on the nuclear liability bill? About life insurance?

You bust forty five rupees on a cappuccino in Barista, and a hundred and twenty two on a burger and french fries in McD. And you quarrel for five bucks from the auto-driver. Five bucks which is one of two hundred and twenty five billionth of McD’s yearly revenue^#. Five bucks which could buy rice for the auto-driver’s family today.

Also remember that their being poor is a result of your being rich.

Agreed that its horrible to travel by autorikshaws today. But does our solution lie in hating them, and oppressing them, in denying them? Or does it lie in trying to understand them, empathising with them, and in love? Can we engage them in love? Can we give them a smile each time? Can we talk to them about family and news? Can we see them as humans? Can we see ‘them’ as ‘us’?

Of course, this will not give us an immediate change. Not all auto-drivers will smile back. Not all will be ready to accept you. But some will. Some whose human lies beneath layers of conditioned systemisation, waiting to be uncaged as though a butterfly from a spider’s net. And some will start talking to you about corruption, about God, about being Christian, about Rajnikanth, about the importance of life insurance, about life, classical music, love, Marxism, the rain… Can we remember those some, and keep smiling, so that we might have a change by the time we transcend?

Can we break that fishpond?

Autojam?

–

* – based on the assumption, and probable fact that there are no women auto drivers.

[edit: I was wrong about the women auto drivers... Apparently, there are women auto drivers in Chennai. Thanks wise donkey!]

# – from Yahoo! Finance <http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=MCD>

Meter Jam

Why, Sri Lanka, Why? Why, UN, Why?

Believed 2 years, 8 months ago in Political contemplations, Social Calls and Tragic relief. 0 Comments Tags: human rights, human rights violation, ltte, sri lanka, un, united nations.

I am confused.

In my search to find the innate goodness, and purpose, and hidden direction, in people’s lives, I’ve been left horribly of-the-mark, when I read, when I sit on a chair, with my laptop in front of me, and with nothing more than a spot of thunder, and the heat, to bother me, and read, about things happening in Sri Lanka.

The Government is firing into declared ‘No-Fire’ zones. The Government is shelling its own people. Killing tens of thousands. I feel disgusted for typing that last sentence. Dismissing the number so casually, yup, around a few ten thousand…

I have not commented on the Sri Lanka issue so far. All this while, I was wondering, why add to the endless stream of noise already out there. But I can no longer remain silent. It had passed all measures of horribility a long time back.

I believe that Tamils, or anyone for that matter, should have equal rights and representation in Sri Lanka. At the same time, I wholeheartedly condemn the outfit called LTTE for their idiotic, stupid, and violent approach.

Et cetera, et cetera. But what on Earth is happening right now! The Government killing their own people? I’m kind of lost here… Why? You think killing is fun? Or is the artillery not working properly? Incorrect mathematics? Or do you think that there are LTTE terrorists hiding amongst the fleeing civilians? If yes, dear Government of Sri Lanka, why don’t you just fricking let them flee? Ever heard of forgiveness?

Among the countless other articles written, I chanced across a news release by Human Rights Watch, published on the 5th of May. It recounted a few stories by refugees. Here are a few quotes from that article -

“We were living in such fear. There was constant shelling. On April 5 or 6, our neighbors were injured in the shelling. A shell landed inside the bunker. Ten people were injured, and of them, five died. There was no anesthesia. The doctors had to cut off a girl’s hand without any anesthesia. My small daughter was crying and scared. I decided then that we had to leave. I would take a bucket to clean up the mess and bury it in the sand”
S Indra Kumar

“One day, I was waiting in queue for food and there was suddenly shelling. I ran away, but later heard that 40 people had died.”
“Many people have died. Whenever they heard there were bodies, they would collect for burial. Two months ago, my father went missing. I went to the hospital to look for my father. I found his body. The entire back of his head was missing. Only his face was there. We asked the doctor to do something to his head so we could bury him, but they said we should just be grateful that we had a body to bury.”

Sivadasa Jagdeshwaran

“We were drinking salt water. One by one, the people started dying. First it was the children. My brother’s little daughter died.”
S Indra Meenan

Jagdeshwaran, the mason, told Human Rights Watch about the journey by boat that included his wife and two children and his wife’s relatives: “My son died on April 24, four days after getting on the boat. He was 4 years old. We had no water, no food on the boat. Then her father died. Her two brothers jumped into the sea. My wife was in shock. She was weak and not even able to move. That morning, April 29, she asked for some water. We gave her seawater. She vomited and then she passed away.”

Their 8-month-old son, having been fed on breast milk until his mother’s death, survived.

“These accounts must be multiplied tens of thousands of times to capture the full horror of those who remain trapped by the Tamil Tigers and shelled by government forces.”
Meenakshi Ganguly, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch

Here is a video, capturing the essence of the article.

Why Sri Lanka, why? Why don’t you, atleast now, forgive the Tamil Elem. Agreed, the horrific things they did. But be different from them, and forgive them. They are fleeing now anyway, why does it matter? Why do you have to endanger your own people?

And you rascals in pinstripes who call yourselves the leaders and representatives at United Nations, and the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the United Nations Security Council, and the hundred zillion other Councils and Funds and Programmes that start with the acronym UN, art thou blind? Do you possess atleast an iota of the feeling and passion possessed by your grassroot activists, workers, and peacemakers? If yes, why UN, why?

Free Binayak Sen – one face, a million profiles, May 14

Believed 2 years, 9 months ago in Social Calls. 0 Comments

Dear reader,

This is a call for action. Do you -

Believe in Human Rights?
Believe that human rights defenders, i.e. people working for human rights, should be protected, and not jailed?
Believe in democracy? In fairness and equality?
Have a Facebook account?

If you checked a yes to all the four above, let me introduce you (you might already know…) to a person, a human rights defender, named Dr Binayak Sen, a pediatrician, who was put into jail by the Government of the state of Chattisgarh, India, in May, 2007. Neither he, nor his family, were shown the FIR, chargesheet, or complaint, which led to his arrest.

I did a short radio documentary on Dr Binayak Sen for our college internet radio. A small excerpt -

A pediatrician by profession, hailing from Chattisgarh, Dr Binayak Sen undertook may health related activities in the rural areas of the state. He helped set up a hospital, and trained community health workers, along with his wife Illina. While working with marginalized communities, Dr Sen also got involved with People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a forum working for human rights. In March 2007, Dr Sen and the PUCL helped draw attention to the murder of several adivasis under the controversial state funded Salwa Judum project.

Dr Sen was detained on May 14, 2007. The police accused him of absconding for the past one week.

During the year, his house was searched and computer examined, with the police finding no incriminating evidence. He was not shown the FIR, Complaint, or Grounds, on which he was detained. His wife says that there is no charge-sheet against him either. He was being detained on the slain that he was a Maoist messenger. Allegedly he helped transmit a message from an ex-maoist, who happened to be Dr Sen’s patient. The item described by the police as incriminating turned out to be a postcard, dated 1 and a half years previous to the arrest.

In December 2007, the Supreme Court heard the appeal for Dr Sen’s Bail. Of the 2 judges who heard the case, one was replaced, and the other was extended hospitality by the Chattisgarh government just days before the trail. The appeal was dismissed, 35 minutes into the trial.

In 2008, it was revealed that Dr Sen was put in solitary confinement for periods longer than a month.

He was awarded the R R Keithon Gold Medal of the Indian Academy of Social Sciences in December 2007, and he was selected for the highest international honour in Global Health and Human Rights – the Jonathan Mann Award in 2008, by the Global Health Council.

He was not given parole to attend either of the functions.

Since 2007, protests against Dr Sen’s arrest has been led by prominent organization and people like Amnesty International, The British House of Commons, Noam Chomsky, Amartya Sen, Arundathi Roy, retired Delhi High Court Judge Rajinder Sachar, and many other professors, scientists, and human rights groups in India, United States of America, United Kingdom, and Australia.

The British Medical Journal, and the Wall Street Journal, were among the countless Indian media, which publicized the illegal detainment of Dr Sen.

‘Free Binayak Sen’ campaign have erupted worldwide, with millions to Dr Sen’s support. Documentaries, film festivals, seminars, and petition have been made and organized in his favour.

And yet, even today he remains in jail.

In 2007, the Tehelka reported “It is feared that Sen’s arrest may be followed by arrests of other activists in Raipur. Activists in other parts of the country could also be targeted.”

Two years later, Dr Sen is still in jail.

Yes. Two years later, Dr Sen is still in jail. Without reason. Without warrant. Without examination.

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