FUCK YEAH SOUTH ASIA!

"tw: violence, assault, caste hinduism On July 11, 1996, a band of these self-proclaimed brave..."

docecomoacanela — Sat, 25 May 2013 04:04:15 -0400

“

tw: violence, assault, caste hinduism

On July 11, 1996, a band of these self-proclaimed brave warriors entered the homes of dalit villagers and gunned down 21 people, 20 of whom were women and children.

As an EPW article notes, “It was a massacre perpetrated in broad daylight that targeted women and children, including pregnant women and infants, with a kind of barbarity seen only in genocides marked by the motto of ethnic cleansing.”

A year later the Ranvir Sena carried out the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre which again saw unimaginable acts of murder, mutilations and extreme sexual brutality that one usually read about in Darfur when it was witnessing the worst genocide.

The Brutality of Caste Violence.

There could be different kinds of violence. That which is done for pecuniary gains or to strike fear and gain unsanctioned hold over an area and people. There is reactionary violence that stems from a sense of hurt or injustice.

And then there is caste violence, peculiar to our society and way more perverse in its design and intent. For what kind of individual and collective mindset does it take to pump a child with bullets or draw a sword through the body of an infant, to take an aim at the vagina of a girl and slice off breasts from the bodies of women – all by design?

Such violence can only be fuelled by intense resentment and anger at the assertion of the dalits and weaker sections. How dare they demand anything more than servility? This violence is engineered to maintain the structure of caste society, which has religious sanction. How can we be anything other than noble if we are required to kill to maintain it?

“The land is ours. The crops belong to us. They [the labourers] did not want to work, and moreover, hampered our efforts by burning our machines and imposing economic blockades. So, they had it coming.” (The Hindu, April 19, 2012)The Patna High Court acquitting of all the 23 accused in the case, once again proved the Indian judicial system’s utter incapability to deliver even a semblance of justice to dalits. There is not even a pretence of it.

Right from the very first stage of filing an FIR and begging the police to investigate, to the last step of knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court, the police and the legal framework operate against the dalits thwarting any attempt to seek redress. Every petty procedure, every petty official poses an impediment and the gigantic and overwhelming legal edifice becomes a giant roadblock to justice.

No one understands this reality better than the dalits (and adivasis) themselves. In his news report ‘A dalit goes to court’, journalist P Sainath points out, “When Bhanwari Devi’s 13-year-old daughter was raped in the bajra fields by an upper caste youth, she picked up a lathi and went after the rapist herself. She had no faith in police and courts.”

The Bathani acquittals will only strengthen her faithlessness. The violence the outfit’s supporters unleashed in the aftermath of Ranvir Sena chief Bhrameshwar Singh’s murder presents in full measure the grim and brutal reality that nothing has fundamentally changed in the badlands of Bihar.

Caste violence is the essence of Nitish Kumar’s Bihar. What he does about Bathanis and Bathes should be more important than his mere stance of ‘development and justice’. Else, sooner or later his bluff will be called, like now.
Governments have always treated caste atrocity cases with utmost contempt and apathy. If evidence cannot be found in incidents on the scale of Bathani, what kind of redress can dalits expect from the daily agony of discrimination?

When the Sena-BJP government came to power in Maharashtra in 1999, a chunk of caste atrocity cases were summarily dropped without a whisper (The fear of democracy of the privileged –The Hindu, December 8, 2006). The current dispensation in Maharashtra, of the Marathas (who go by the name of the Nationalist Congress Party) and the Congress is no different.

Khairlanji happened in the constituency of a top NCP leader. He once said in an interaction with reporters during a campaign trail in 2009 that incidents like Khairlanji are a routine feature.

There are no rape or caste atrocity charges in Khairlanji. Even though fact- finding reports spoke of objects that were found stuffed in the vaginas of the women victims. It took a massive agitation by dalits, the burning of a train and arrests of activists who were maliciously labelled as Naxals, to reveal to the government the rather alien fact that when there is a crime there must be punishment.

Such is the concentration of the powerful castes in politics and the incest between political interests and dominant caste interests that it makes Indian democracy look like autocracy. Manjushree Thapa put it best (in the context of Nepal): With democrats like these, who needs autocrats?

”

- Rahi Gaikwad, ‘The warriors who slayed babies and other tales’

The voices we don’t hear; the tales we don’t read.

Adivasi & Dalits have long history of protest, but they are either made into marxists, or are patronized as subordinates of the caste hindu. It is never said that we fight caste hindus. We, Adivasis, and Dalits have to document our resilience, and keep the caste hindus away before they start appropriating our struggles, our tales, our culture again.
(via castehindusstolemybhagwaans)

fotojournalismus: A Bangladeshi family member of a missing...

waveofeuphoriaa — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:37:44 -0400

fotojournalismus:

A Bangladeshi family member of a missing garment worker places roses on the barbed wire fence as she pays tribute to the victims at the site of the April 2013 nine-storey building collapse in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka on May 24, 2013. Some 290 unidentified bodies were buried after DNA samples were collected to match those of relatives as the Bangladeshi army wrapped up its search May 14, 2013 for bodies at the site of the building collapse. Industrial disasters since November have killed at least 1,250 workers, highlighting the appalling safety problems in the plants where three million workers toil for a basic monthly wages of 40 USD, among the world’s lowest.

[Credit : Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images]

mehreenkasana: Birmingham: A 75-year-old Pakistani man was...

mehreenkasana — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:43:09 -0400

mehreenkasana:

Birmingham: A 75-year-old Pakistani man was stabbed to death yards from his home by a white man between 20-32 according to CCTV.

Tell me how the United Kingdom is “post-racial.”

paro + looking down

waveofeuphoriaa — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:52:18 -0400

paro + looking down

islamic-art-and-quotes: Scenic View of Faisal Mosque...

waveofeuphoriaa — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:49:12 -0400

islamic-art-and-quotes:

Scenic View of Faisal Mosque (Islamabad, Pakistan)

"When Mahatma Gandhi launched his campaign of peaceful resistance, Churchill raged that he “ought to..."

docecomoacanela — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:01:45 -0400

“When Mahatma Gandhi launched his campaign of peaceful resistance, Churchill raged that he “ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back.” As the resistance swelled, he announced: “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.” This hatred killed. To give just one, major, example, in 1943 a famine broke out in Bengal, caused – as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has proved – by the imperial policies of the British. Up to 3 million people starved to death while British officials begged Churchill to direct food supplies to the region. He bluntly refused. He raged that it was their own fault for “breeding like rabbits”. At other times, he said the plague was “merrily” culling the population.”

- Not his finest hour: The dark side of Winston Churchill (via foucaultthehaters)

kadalkavithaigal: Bally Sagoo - Aaja Nachle

hinduthug — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:30:31 -0400

kadalkavithaigal:

Bally Sagoo - Aaja Nachle

hinduthug: eijoo: Bally Sagoo - Noorie I sing this all the...

hinduthug — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:30:19 -0400

hinduthug:

eijoo:

Bally Sagoo - Noorie

I sing this all the time.

So good.

inthesetimesmag: Out of the tragedy of the massive garment...

docecomoacanela — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:07:00 -0400

inthesetimesmag:

Out of the tragedy of the massive garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, workers have now won two major reforms:

1) A panel to raise the minimum wage in the garment industry and

2) The right to form trade unions without prior permission from factory owners.

Still, more pressure—and responsibility—need to be placed upon America’s big-brand companies to win further protections.

Two Wins for Bangladesh Garment Workers, But the Fight Isn’t Over

Photo

hinduthug — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:27:05 -0400

mehreenkasana: Medea Benjamin of Code Pink being “escorted” out...

mehreenkasana — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:13:18 -0400

mehreenkasana:

Medea Benjamin of Code Pink being “escorted” out as she bravely questioned President Obama on drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen as well as Guantanamo Bay. Full speech here.

Looks like our Nobel Peace Prize winning harbinger of hope and justice and what not couldn’t handle actual freedom of speech. In other news, grass is green.

fotojournalismus: Pedestrians and vehicles moving on a road are...

waveofeuphoriaa — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:47:19 -0400

fotojournalismus:

Pedestrians and vehicles moving on a road are reflected in mirrors displayed for sale outside a mechanic shop, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on May 23, 2013.

[Credit : Muhammed Muheisen/AP]

fotojournalismus: Kashmiri bakarwals travel towards Baltal, on...

waveofeuphoriaa — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:38:12 -0400

fotojournalismus:

Kashmiri bakarwals travel towards Baltal, on the outskirts of Srinagar on May 22, 2013. Bakarwals are nomadic herders who wander in search of good pastures for their cattle.

[Credit : Dar Yasin/AP]

Photo

waveofeuphoriaa — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:15:12 -0400

a krishna menon story

joethought — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:11:37 -0400

joethought:

VK Krishna Menon, Nehru’s close friend and ally, was India’s representative to the United Nations from 1952 - 1960. Known for his outspokenness and unapologetic championing of India all through the world, Krishna Menon was referred to by various names by the media in the west.

Among his many epithets were: - Mephistopheles in a Savile Row suit, India’s Rasputin and Nehru’s Evil Genius.

I had wondered why this was, given that in all of Menon’s interviews, I’d judged him for a surefooted, but softspoken man.

I had my questions regarding this, wondering if the portrayal was accurate or if it were a deliberate attempt to delegitimize Indian ambassadors during the time of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Fifteen minutes into searching for answers, an old Hindu article told the following story, of an old Krishna Menon interview:

(Interviewer begins the interview by elaborating Menon’s background and education, in a very derisive tone)

Meet the Media Interviewer to Krishna Menon: ”That is wonderful, Mr. Menon; from log cabin to White House in a manner of speaking. But tell me Mr.Menon - is it true that you are a communist?”

VK Krishna Menon to Interviewer: ”Thank you Mr.Stormwell, I would like to return the compliment; you too, sir, have risen from humble beginnings, from selling newspapers in the streets to leading this distinguished panel. I believe that you draw a salary higher than that of the President of the United States. Now that is wonderful, Mr. Stormwell, but tell me is it true that you are a bastard?”

Currently, I have no more questions.

humansofnewyork: “After this I go to work at a pizza shop. My...

docecomoacanela — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:36:47 -0400

humansofnewyork:

“After this I go to work at a pizza shop. My wife and I were college professors in Bangladesh. I taught accounting. But one dollar in America becomes eighty dollars when we send it back home.”

myworldview-photography: “The Kashmir Hotel” Mumbai - India

waveofeuphoriaa — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:40:58 -0400

myworldview-photography:

“The Kashmir Hotel”

Mumbai - India

"It is a problem when religious symbols become widespread and therefore lose their religious..."

docecomoacanela — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:45:24 -0400

“

It is a problem when religious symbols become widespread and therefore lose their religious significance. But the fear of dilution isn’t really an issue here — the bindi has lost whatever religious significance it once had to Hindus some time ago, and is now used mostly for decoration. Madonna and Gwen Stefani didn’t turn the bindi into a fashion statement when they adopted it in the 90s — we desi women already did so years before that.

What makes the non-South Asian person’s use of the bindi problematic is the fact that a pop star like Selena Gomez wearing one is guaranteed to be better received than I would if I were to step out of the house rocking a dot on my forehead. On her, it’s a bold new look; on me, it’s a symbol of my failure to assimilate. On her, it’s unquestionably cool; on me, it’s yet another marker of my Otherness, another thing that makes me different from other American girls. If the use of the bindi by mainstream pop stars made it easier for South Asian women to wear it, I’d be all for its proliferation — but it doesn’t. They lend the bindi an aura of cool that a desi woman simply can’t compete with, often with the privilege of automatic acceptance in a society when many non-white women must fight for it.

I understand being a little flummoxed at the rage that the bindi issue inspires in our community. The anger always seems disproportionate to the crime. But will I celebrate the “mainstreaming” of a South Asian fashion item? Nope. Not when the mainstream doesn’t accept the people who created it.

”

- Jaya Bedi, Beyond Bindis: Why Cultural Appropriation Matters, May 10, 2013 (via androphilia)

mehreenkasana: isqineeha: Pakistani Woman - Emirati...

mehreenkasana — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:43:12 -0400

mehreenkasana:

isqineeha:

Pakistani Woman - Emirati Artist Fatema Al Mazrouie

This is brilliant. The statements in Urdu on the sides are beautiful.

beard-watch: Aakash...

hinduthug — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:06:45 -0400

beard-watch:

Aakash Nihalani

http://www.aakashnihalani.com

http://www.eyescreamsunday.com