Controversy over Fast
I was in two minds as to whether to go into the controversy over my fast here as the idea was to keep the discussion on Think India thoughtful and elegant. But on reflection I decided that it was a good idea to include it as an example for readers of the distortion and aggression in India's polity today.
One outcome of the way I handled the press, by not going live on their channels or directly commenting to the print media, and instead speaking only from my social media platform, was that they were forced to run my actual speech, which is where I wanted the focus to be instead of getting into a verbal duel with anyone.
The controversy ran on the news for about five days and most channels used only the first few minutes of my speech. I think because they were unable to find anything specifically objectionable in it. As a result, in the middle of what was being presented as a universal endorsement of a certain view of history and the role of religion in our polity, you had "I love my Mughal heritage" and "I love my Muslim brothers and sisters" playing on repeat for five days on every national channel.
Transcript:
Goodmorning, I just received a call from a television
channel saying that a certain Residents Welfare Association has issued a notice
against me for fasting in my house over the matter on which I have already
spoken and my speech, both written and spoken, are up.
I was asked to give a “byte” and so on. But I believe
that one of the reasons why the atmosphere in the country is so toxic is
because of the manner in which television is being used to have what are called
debates which are not debates; the manner in which these channels are
conducting themselves.
And I think that all of us in India deserve a better
kind of conversation, and a better kind of engagement. I think that we are
better than this. Ofcourse, we will disagree. I expressed the reasons for my
disagreement in my speech earlier. And I made a spiritual presentation of my
own pain about this by fasting peacefully in my home.
So I have decided not to engage in any kind of
television interview or giving a “sound byte” or anything else, other than
saying what I have already said. I have not myself received [the notice], I
have only heard of this from the journalist. And I just want to tell everyone
who is watching this that I am 49 years old and I have lived in this country
for all my life, except for when I was studying abroad; and I have worked in
many different fields, and you all know me.
You all know me from both sides of the political
aisle, and I really believe that we have to stop treating each other like this.
And I think that whether you agree with what I say or not, I think that
somewhere inside the people who know me and educated people who are watching
what is going on will also feel that this is not how we should be conducting
ourselves.
So I hope that this gives everybody an opportunity to
think about where we are going, and how we are going and whether we want to
become like this.
I am not keeping away from television because I want
to avoid a conversation. I want to have a conversation and that is why I
expressed my views.
[But] I don’t necessarily want to engage in a shouting
match individually with anyone. I come from a political family, so I know that
politics is very serious for us; and it is a question of not only beliefs and
intellectual thinking, but also of feelings and sentiments - from whichever
side of the political spectrum you come.
So I can understand if people would want to take the
conversation further and express their own point and counterpoint and so on. I
think that should happen. But it is not necessary for us to be facing each
other and shouting at each other to do that. There are many other ways of
expressing ourselves which can be civilized, and thoughtful, and reflective.
And it really doesn’t matter whether I am persuaded or you individually are
persuaded, if you are of a different view to mine.
What matters is that whatever point of view we put
forward, whether people are able to see some sense in it. And if at the end of
the day, at the end of this process, in India, we can even just find a more
civilised, a more thinking and a more sincere way of talking and feeling about
these things, then we would have achieved something. [Because] right now things
are pretty pathetic. And that’s all I have to say.
Ofcourse, I believe in the press. It is supposed to be
the fourth estate. It is one of the pillars of democracy. But unfortunately at
the moment, it is just not functioning in a way where it is doing anything
other than creating confusion and toxicity, which is why I think it would be
best for me to avoid the mainstream press at the moment; and so long as I have
this platform, to simply speak to you from here.
Jai Hind!
मुझे आज सुबह एक टेलीविजन चैनल से फोन आया कि किसी रेजिडेंट्स वेलफेयर
एसोसिएशन (RWA) ने हाल ही के मेरे अपने घर
में अकेले अनशन करने के लिए मेरे खिलाफ नोटिस जारी किया है। सबसे पहली और मजेदार बात
तो ये है कि मैं उस कॉलोनी में नहीं रहती हूँ, और न ही वहां मैंने कोई जगह खरीदी हुइ
है या किराए पे ली है. वैसे भी शेरनी तो जंगल में रहती है।
मैं आपको ये भी बता दूं कि मुझे नोटिस नहीं मिला है, मैंने केवल रिपोर्टर
से इसके बारे में सुना है। मैंने अनशन क्यों किया इसके बारे में मैं पहले ही बता चुकी
हूं और इस बारे में मेरा आधे घंटे का लिखित और मौखिक भाषण पहले से ही 19 जनवरी से ऑनलाइन है।
मुझसे टेलीविजन चैनल ने "बाइट" वगैरह देने के लिए कहा ।
लेकिन मेरा मानना है कि देश में माहौल इतना जहरीला होने का एक कारण ये चैनल ही हैं
। जिसे वे डिबेट कहते हैं, वह वास्तव में डिबेट नहीं है। और मुझे लगता है कि भारत में
हम सभी को बेहतर तरह की बातचीत और बेहतर तरह का संवाद करना चाहिए।
हम विवेकी और सुंदर संवाद की परंपरा वाले प्राचीन सभ्यता से हैं। इसे
कविता में व्यक्त किया जाता है, लय -बद्ध किया जाता है और यही कारण है कि हमारे कई
शास्त्रों को गीता और लीला कहा जाता है। वाल्मिकी रामायण के शुरुआती अध्यायों में कहा
गया है कि इसे तीनों लयों में - विलम्बित, मध्य और ध्रुत - तीनों लयों में गाया जा
सकता है।
मेरा मानना है कि हम सुंदर और सुरुचिपूर्ण संवाद की उस परंपरा को
भूल गए हैं। बेशक, हम समय-समय पर असहमत होंगे। मैंने कुछ दिनों पहले अपने भाषण में
अपनी असहमति व्यक्त की थी। और मैंने अपने घर में शांतिपूर्वक अकेले अनशन करके इस बारे
में अपने दर्द की प्रस्तुति दी।
तो मैंने फैसला किया है कि मैं फिलहाल किसी भी तरह के टेलीविजन कार्यक्रम
में शामिल नहीं हूँगी और किसी भी मीडिया को कमेंट नहीं दूंगी।
और मैं एक और बात कहना चाहती हूं - मैं अपनी पूरी जिंदगी, उनचास साल,
इसी देश में रही हूं, सिवाय कि जब मैं विदेश में पढ़ रही थी. मैंने कई अलग-अलग क्षेत्रों
में काम किया है, और राजनीतिक दृष्टिकोण के दोनों पक्षों से आप सभी मुझे जानते हैं।
मैं आपसे पूछना चाहती हूं कि क्या आपको ऐसा नहीं लगता है कि हमें एक-दूसरे के साथ इस
तरह का, नोटिस देने का और डराने-धमकाने का, व्यवहार बंद करना चाहिए।
मुझे लगता है कि चाहे आप मेरी बात से सहमत हों या न हों, जो लोग मुझे
जानते हैं और जो शिक्षित, ऐज्यूकेटिड लोग देख रहे हैं कि क्या हो रहा है, उन्हें भी
कहीं -न-कहीं यह महसूस होगा कि हमें इस तरह का व्यवहार नहीं करना चाहिए।
मुझे उम्मीद है कि मेरे साथ जो हो रहा है, इससे हर किसी को यह सोचने
का मौका मिलेगा कि हम कहां जा रहे हैं, कैसे जा रहे हैं और क्या हम ऐसा बनना चाहते
हैं।
मैं टेलीविजन से इसलिए दूरी नहीं बना रही हूं क्योंकि मैं बातचीत या
डिबेट से बचना चाहती हूं। मैं बातचीत और डिबेट चाहती हूं.
इसीलिए ही तो मैंने अपने विचार कुछ दिन पहले अपने भाषण में व्यक्त
किये. लेकिन मैं किसी के साथ व्यक्तिगत रूप से चिल्ला-चिल्लाकर लड़ाई में शामिल नहीं
होना चाहती ।
एक राजनीतिक परिवार से आती हूं, इसलिए मुझे पता है कि राजनीति हमारे
लिए बहुत सीरियस है; और यह न केवल आइडियौलेजी या सोच का सवाल है, बल्कि भावनाओं और
संवेदनाओं का भी है - चाहे आप राजनीतिक मान्यताओं के किसी भी पक्ष से हों।
इसलिए मैं समझ सकती हूं कि मेरा भाषण सुनने के बाद लोग अपनी बात और
प्रतिवाद वगैरह व्यक्त करना चाहेंगे। मुझे लगता है ऐसा होना चाहिए.
लेकिन ऐसा करने के लिए हमें टीवी चैनलों पर एक-दूसरे पर चिल्लाना जरूरी
नहीं है। अपनी बात रखने के कई और तरीके हैं, जो सभ्य, विचारशील और चिंतनशील हो सकते
हैं।
मायने यह रखता है कि हम जो भी विचार सामने रखते हैं, लोग उसमें कुछ
देख पाते हैं या नहीं। और यदि भारत में हम इन चीज़ों के बारे में अधिक सभ्य, अधिक सोच-विचार
और बात करने और चीज़ों को महसूस करने का अधिक ईमानदार तरीका खोज सकें, तो हमने कुछ
हासिल किया होगा। क्योंकि अभी, इस समय में, सार्वजनिक चर्चा बहुत गिरी हुई है, गाली-गलौच
और झूठ के अलावा और कुछ नहीं है।
मेरा मानना है कि प्रेस किसी भी लोकतंत्र में आवश्यक है।
लेकिन दुख की बात है कि इस समय प्रेस और मीडिया सिर्फ भ्रम और जहर फ़ैला रहे हैं। इसीलिए
मुझे लगता है कि मीडिया से दूर रहना ही मेरे लिए सबसे अच्छा होगा। और जब तक मेरे पास
यह मंच है, मैं यहीं से आपसे बात करती रहूंगी।
जय हिन्द!
During my fast I got messages from all over the country and abroad, Indians and Indian-origin people of all religious backgrounds, expressing their happiness at my gesture, thanking me for speaking what had been on their minds and talking about the ways in which they were expressing their own protest. I also sensed that people had been feeling very demoralised and hopeless.
When the controversy blew up two weeks later, I knew that everyone would be feeling intimidated and deflated afresh – as though what had gone on before had not been enough. So, on the morning of February 1st, the day after the news exploded with the controversy, I sent them this message to cheer them up.
As the controversy dragged on and on, I too got upset, angry and frankly in the mood to punch someone on the nose. Most un-Gandhian, in-elegant and unworthy of the ideals of Think India, I know.
In one of my speeches while fasting I had said that this was a way of registering one's protest without being confrontational. I got a good lesson in how any questioning of the Hindutvavadi position could be taken as confrontational by its votaries.
But I refuse to lose hope and urge you all to be the same. Once, in the middle of giving birth to my first baby, without any pain relief, I cried out "I can't do it" and I really meant it, and the doctor said very calmly "You have to". And that's how it is for us all.
Three days later, I successfully staged "Satyagraha" as planned, a play written and directed by me on Gandhiji. I was not going to allow all this drama to stop me. Here are some photos from the show.
IN THE MEANWHILE.........THE ABUSE
The above video has death threats
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| Please note the words in the profile picture |
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| More abuse |
Hello again everyone,
I am back here to take stock of events since my fast
and to talk about the way ahead. First, I want to thank all those who reached
out in solidarity and agreement with what I said and what I did. There are
many, many people who are disturbed by the situation in India, who said they
agreed with every word I said and who thanked me for doing this. There were
even some who said they were already fasting or were inspired to themselves
fast for the same reasons as I did. This was all very heartwarming and gives me
hope for our country.
There are many things that I want to talk about but
first of all I think that it is quite interesting for us to look at the YouTube
analytics of my speech to get a sense of how people are responding to it. This
is, ofcourse, only a very rough and ready sort of analysis, but I am putting it
here for what it is worth. The YouTube views stand at about 9000 today. Of
these about 6000 were between January 19th and January 30th
- this is before a certain Resident’s
Welfare Association of a colony where I do not and have never lived made a
controversy of my fast and speech, which was followed by a tweet from a famous BJP
functionary, and hysterical news reports on all television channels and in all
mainstream newspapers for about 5 days continuously. Despite all this free
publicity, views on my speech only rose by about 2000 from 6000 to 8000 in this
period which, judging by the last negative comment that I received, lasted till
about February 7. After that the views rose to about 9000, so another thousand
over ten days but with no negative comments and a steady increase in likes, so
I am going to assume for this analysis that this small but steady trickle of
viewers is of those favourable to the views that I expressed.
Now, taking a thumb rule that the pre-Jan 31st,
i.e. pre publicity views, were of seculars and the post publicity views were of
Hindu chauvinists, the ratio of seculars to chauvinists is 3 seculars to 1
Hindu chauvinist. If you add the 1000 in the last ten days, then the ratio
rises to 3.5 seculars to 1 chauvinist. And if you further adjust these figures
for the fact that the 6000 secular views were pre-publicity, whereas the 2000 chauvinist
views were after massive publicity, then the proportion of chauvinists goes
down to a mere fraction of seculars. And, at the same time, the percentage of
likes to dislikes on the video is at 70 percent to 30 percent. So this also
indicates the much larger measure of support versus opposition to what I said.
But while this is very encouraging and good, I think I
need to tell you about the hate mail that I received because too many of my Hindu
friends who self-identify as secular but who disagree with me about the January
22nd production say that democracy and freedom of speech is all well
in India, and that what we are seeing is all about Hindu love of their gods and
there is no element of animosity or any negative feeling towards anyone
involved in any of this and that Hindus are being freed from 500 years of
ghulami (ghulami means enslavement).
So let me read to you the hate mail that I got on
Facebook and You Tube. I did not post these on my You Tube video because I
wanted the conversation to stay positive, but just because I was brave and
restrained in responding to the filthy abuse and threats that were made to me
and my family, I find this is giving my Hindu friends who don’t agree with me the
excuse to remain in a state of self-delusion as to what is really going on in
India today. So I have decided that I must tell them what I was subjected to
from their ideological fraternity. What I will now read is very ugly and can be
distressing to the reader so please switch off here if you are not able to take
filthy and hateful language.
Exhibit No. 1: This is from one Mr Narayan Singh whose
Facebook profile picture is a red background with the words “Ram Ram Ji” on it.
“Sali Randi Harami Randi Ki Dogale kutta ki chudayi ki
nasal Sali randi teri maa ki choot me gadhe ka land Sali tere muh kutta mute”
Exhibit No. 2: This is from a prominent national Hindi
TV Channel in which four men, of whom three were dressed in sadhu attire and
had various huge tikkas on their foreheads, and one was in shirt and trousers,
were interviewed. Of these four, the second person, who wore orange robes and
had a big tika and vibhuti and a large banner of some Sangathan behind him says
this about me (the name of the video also has my name in it) “Aise logon ko
mukt ho jana chahiye. Aise logon ko dharti pe koi avashyakta nahi hai. Inko
lagta hai ki hum jite ji to mukt nahin ho sakte Ramji ka naam aur virodh kar
kar ke to usko lagta hai ki mrityu ke baad jab uske peechhe log challenge aur
kahenge ‘Ram Nam satya hai’ to ho sakta hai ki uski mukti ho jaye. Mujhe lagta
hai ki aise logon ko dharti par jine ka adhikar nahi hai. Inko Ram Nam se mukti
dila hi dena chahiye.” This is what he is saying about me and what is
interesting is that only the sadhus statements are aired. The question that the
reporter from the channel must have asked is not shown.
Exhibit #3: A news report in a leading Hindi language newspaper
in which the RWA member who wrongly thought I live in his colony says that I am
lying when I say that I don’t live there and that if I live elsewhere I should
announce my address and publish my adhaar card.
I want to ask these Hindu friends of mine who think
all is well in the country, how would you like it if in the context of such
filthy abuse and death threats, how would you like it if someone kept telling
you through a national newspaper to declare your address and publish your
identity cards?
And you know the funny thing is that even while I was
writing this speech and setting out the abuse that I received and even as I
read this out to you, I am feeling apprehensive that my repeating this abuse is
going to be used against me. So this is supposed to be a ghulami-free country
for Hindus, in which I, a Hindu woman, am not feeling safe to repeat the abuse
I have received and the intimidation to which I have been subjected? Please
tell me who is made a ghulam and who is being freed from ghulami?
Exhibit #4: Mr Amit Kumar Pandey from Facebook. His
profile picture has a picture of Maa Durga and another one of Maa Kali behind
him. “Bahut hi neech aur besharm unpadh aurat ho tum jaisa baap hai gaddar
harami vaisi hi ladki ho.”
Exhibit #5: Someone with the You Tube handle @
hanuman-sg9lo: “Abdul ke paas maa jathi thhi ya Abdul ghar me aya tha” and
“Pakistan us taraf”
Exhibit #6: Someone with the You Tube handle
arjunchauhan9851 “Zahreele drakht ka zahreela phal…poisnous fruit of a poisnous
tree.” He also said “Please kick her out…”
Exhibit #7: Someone with the You Tube handle
Sabyasachi Banerjee8545: “Your Mughal Heritage [emojis] It seems you were a
member of the Mughal harem in your previous birth [laughing emojis] You miss
being pumped by the tyrant Mughal rulers [laughing emojis]”
Exhibit #8: Someone
with the You Tube handle pbharatpatoliya1458: “Tu wha rehne laik nhi hai mule”
Exhibit #9: Someone with the You Tube handle Vineet
Kumar Singh 9283 “Pagal rula diya tune. Teen din mein mar jayegi. Gaye/Bhains
ka maas se apna vrat todna ye un Mughlon ko achhi shraddhanjali hogi.”
Exhibit #10. This is on my video saying elder
gentlemen should not threaten youngsters especially ladies, where I said in response
to the news item where the RWA person kept telling me to reveal my address,
that he should not do so as it is endangering my family. In response, this is
what someone with the You Tube handle Arun Sharma-ov1bz said: “We know whom
kids they are. You have been to other culture since your marriage. HALALA
Products…Don’t be so fake….Your video show everything….”
Exhibit #11: Someone with the You Tube handle Dhan
Bahadur Limbu 5564 “No you are purely muslim and go back to pakistaan and
bothrel work in pakistaan.
Exhibit #12: Someone with the You Tube handle @prateek
Sisodia3915: “Raandi you must go pak if you love muslim lund (laughing emoji)”
Exhibit #13: Someone with the You Tube handle @anand
jogi 8058 : “You are free to convert to Islam. Your Mughal love needs this
(laughing emoji)
Exhibit #14: Someone with the You Tube handle
@seemanprabhakaran224 : “Please vacate the country”
Exhibit #15: Someone with the You Tube handle
@BharatiyaSanatan: “You are not citizen of our country, get out from our
country. Technically you can claim citizenship, but morally not. We cannot
accept neither your father and nor you type of creature are ready to accept as
Indian, get out from our country.
Exhibit #16: Someone with the You Tube handle @ke482:
“You do look like Muslim. I hope you and your retard dad move out of India for
good so people live in peace in India.”
There were others which I made the mistake of blocking
and deleting before I realised that I should keep them for the record.
After discussion with lawyers they said, and I agreed
as a lawyer myself, that I should not file any police or court complaint about
this as it would carry the risk of escalating matters. So please understand the
situation in which I have been put, in what my Hindu friends who believe that
democracy here is all very well and that everything which happened on January
22nd and the while build up for it was about the love of God, I have
no recourse with either the security or judicial apparatus of the state in
India today. And we are being told that ghulami has ended? Let all you Hindu
friends of mine who think that all is well in India please take note – I as an
Indian and a woman do not feel free to ask for any protection or any justice
against this filthy abuse and all these threats because I am afraid that this
will make matters worse for me, and will be used against me.
And the most unfortunate thing, is that the people who
are watching this harassment of me since January the 31st, more than
10 days after I did my fast and made the speech, they are completely
intimidated by it. They are not speaking up because they are scared. I see their
silent or privately expressed support but the total demoralisation of people of
my point of view in India – Indians, Hindus – their demoralisation and fear –
from whatever walks of life, station of life they come from, it is palpable.
This is the victory of Hindutvavad. And you can have
your victory, but don’t tell me that this is the end of any ghulami. You have
made all these scared people your ghulams. This is the age of ghulami in India
for anyone who does not agree with you and you can give that whatever name you
like to this new age, but it is not an age of freedom. It is an age of intimidation
and bullying.
And what showed me how crazy all this was, is that
this male relative of mine – a distant relative but one who has known me since
I was a small girl. He is a great BJP supporter and he has been bombarding my
whatsapp with pro-Modi and other pro-Hindutvavad propaganda ever since he heard
of my fast. When I showed him the kind of filthy mails I was getting, he had
nothing to say. He just kept on sending his pro-Modi and Hindutvavad propaganda
messages. And this showed me how this brand of politics is blinding people. Because
no uncle in his sane mind who saw such things being said to their child, that
too a girl, would be able to ignore this unless they were completely blinded by
their ideology. Is this something to be happy about?
Anyway I have made it quite clear to everyone around
me, everyone who loves me, cares for me whom I am responsible for, I will not
be silenced by all this, scary and risky as it may be. And you, all my Hindu
friends who think all is well in India, who are watching this, I want to ask
you. You know me very well. Do you think I deserve to be thrown in jail or to
be told to get out of India? Look at how I have served my fellow Indians,
without taking a paisa of money, without looking at whether they are Modi-supporters
or not – and so many that I have helped are Modi-bhakts. I have helped people
without even anyone knowing that I have done so. I have served my countrymen
with my whole heart and soul and I have asked for nothing in return – neither money
nor recognition. And I am being told to get out of India? I cannot say “I love
my Mughal heritage”? I cannot express regret and sorrow about events in India?
I have law degrees from Oxford University and New York
University. I have a mathematics degree from St Stephen’s college. I chose to
come back to this country. I could have settled in any rich Western country
with my education. I came back to India because I love India.
And I am a good person. I have been very generous even
to complete strangers here with my time and money. And you want me to be shut
up? Do you care what will happen to my children if I am put away? And for what?
What did I say that was illegal or scandalising? No one has been able to point
to one word till today from what I have said. Not one word.
And is this where we are? My Hindu friends who know me
and say that all is well in the country; I want to ask you despite winning a
thumping majority in Parliament; despite implementing every point of the
Hindutva agenda, even that is not enough and someone like me who thinks this is
all wrong has to stay silent or have criminal action taken against them? Is
this the level of compliance that you want – that no one is allowed to say they
disagree with you? I am not allowed to say that your actions pain me? This is
ghulami. And it is time for you people to come to your senses.
Our grandparents made us independent and our fathers
liberalised this country. You middle class and elite Hindus, you’ve done really
well. I know, because I’ve done well with you. We have reaped the rewards of
our freedom and then we have reaped the rewards of the opportunities that were
thrown open to us. Now is time for you to stand up and do your duty by this
country.
I will be speaking more. There are many points to go
over. But for now I will end with this poem that I wrote when all the drama was
at its height.
ONE DAY, ONE DAY
One day, one day
They will put you away.
One day.
One day, one day
The sky will expand
And Freedom will reign
From Mountain to Sand.
One day.
One day, one day
They will put you away
The silence will deafen
Your will shall be broken
Your pride a mere token.
One day.
One day, one day
The Silence will break
The Song will rise
Lost courage in its wake
With Hope once more prized.
One day.
One day, one day
They will put you away
The end will seem final
The bleakness desp'rate
The judgment determined
Justice blind, obdurate.
One day.
One day, one day
They'll take Love over Hate
Be patient and wait
Find your lost souls, my mates!
One day.
One day, one day
They will put you away.
Your mother will weep
Your father will cry
Your man will despair
Your children,
How'll they fare?
Your sisters will swallow
Their pain and their sorrow.
One day.
One day, one day
The gates will unlock
Joy gushing forth
And Laughter will ring
Colours filling in
Be Brave and we'll win.
One day.
One day, one day
They will put you away
The walls will close in
The darkness will blind
The binds, they will sting
This is hard you will find.
One day.
One day, one day
The Timid will wake
Filled to the brim
With all t'injustice they can take
How long can this last
Only s'long as you look past
The lies and the sins
Say "No!" and Good wins
That is all that it takes
A pure heart and good mind
Which you have, you will find.
One day.
Jai Hind. Aur Daro Mat.
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