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Book Review – Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali

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The classic novel, set in Delhi of 1911-1919 with the backdrop of colonial rule and Indian independence struggle, chronicles the rapidly changing socio-political happenings through the eyes of Mir Nihal, his family, and the denizens of beloved old Delhi.

Like a lot of people I got to hear about Twilight in Delhi through City of Djinns by William Dalrymple. In William Dalrymple’s own words ‘Twilight in Delhi is not only a very fine novel; it is also an irreplaceable record of the vanished life and culture of pre-war Delhi.” After reading the 275 pages of this 1940 classic, which was originally published in Britain on the behest of  E. M. Forester and Virginia Woolf, I can second every single world said in its praise.

Writer Ahmed Ali has succeeded in bringing the Delhi of the early twentieth-century alive. The story revolves around Mir Nihal, his family, and other inhabitants of the city. The story-telling is so vivid that one can actually feel, smell and sense the activities that are being described. One could hear the cries of fakirs and pigeon fliers, the buzz of Chandni Chowk, the renditions of poets, and smell the stink of sewers, the fragrance of jasmine and the medicated scent of hakims. The changing seasons of Delhi are illustrated so well that the stark oppressive heat, dampness of rainy July and chill of December could be eerily felt. The novel also encapsulates many historical moments, such as the coronation of the British King George V as the Emperor of India, the pillage of old city walls which was followed by the construction of Lutyens’ Delhi.

Even though there really is no plot to speak of, the story remains engaging. The characters are endearing and you will find yourself rooting for them at a crossway between their most joyful and most vulnerable moments. In one particular scene when Mir Nihal is left heartbroken after the death of his beloved pigeons, the sadness drips through the pages, but when he recovers from the loss one feels relieved.

What is most interesting is that the snippets of daily lives of characters give precious insights into the norms of that time. For instance, during a sandstorm, Begum Nihal tells her house help to place a broom under a leg of the cot as it was believed that doing this stops the sandstorms.

Another special feature is that couplets of Ghalib, Zauq, Zebun Nisa and Bahadur Shah Zafar are bestrewed liberally throughout. While the bland English translations rob the verses of their essence, the tone of the book remains very poetic. Sample this – “The night, with its awakening cold, was spreading her dark and star-bejeweled wings over the earth.”

For the love of poetry, family saga that delineates cruel restlessness of life, and Delhi – pick this book as your next read.

Image Credits: Andrew Amesbury

Niharika Dabral

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Delhi University Professor sentenced to life imprisonment

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Professor G.N. Saibaba, former English professor at Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by sessions court in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on 7th March, 2017. The court has found him of “hatching criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India and collecting people with the intention of waging war against the Government of India”.

Professor G.N. Saibaba’s activism.

Before his arrest in 2014, wheelchair-bound and 90% disabled Professor Saibaba use to be an outspoken critic of the human rights abuses by the Salwa Judum and Operation Greenhunt, launched by the government against Maoists. He also played an active role in mobilizing public intellectuals under a group named Forum Against War on People. Owing to his open activism several academics, teachers and students have described his arrest as a deliberate attempt to stifle dissent.

Abduction or arrest?

On the afternoon of May 9, 2014, he was heading back home from the university when a group of policemen in plainclothes arrested him. The next morning after his arrest from Delhi, Professor Saibaba was immediately flown to Nagpur, where the District Magistrate heard his case and sent him to prison. His family was not informed about his arrest and this prompted his wife to file a missing person’s report. The question of this abrupt, almost haphazard arrest raised questions that- why did the Maharashtra police abduct Professor Saibaba in this way when they could have arrested him formally?

The charges against him.

He has been charged under the notorious and dangerously vague Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for advocating unlawful activities, conspiring to commit a terrorist act and inviting support for a terrorist organization. Simply put, Prof. Saibaba was arrested for his alleged Maoist links and being a ‘Naxal ideologue’.

Another offence listed against him is that he is the joint secretary of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), an organization that is banned in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. However, it is not banned in Delhi. So how does his association with Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) matter?

 

The validity of evidence.

The charges against him rest on of letters, pamphlets, books and videos seized during raids that were conducted in his house. During the raids, his laptop, hardisks and pendrives were taken from which the evidence was gathered. Talking to The Hindu in a 2015 interview Prof. G.N Saibaba claimed that “Police claims to have recovered a letter that I had written to some top Maoist leader. To this day, the police never showed me that letter.”

Even if Prof. G.N Saibaba is found to be a member of a banned organization, it won’t be sufficient enough to prosecute him as according to the previous judgments by the Supreme Court ( the Kedar Nath Vs State of Bihar 1962) “mere membership of a banned organization would not make a person criminally liable unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence or creates public disorder by violence or incitement to violence”. 

Not an isolated case.

The case against Prof. Saibaba should not be seen in isolation, since the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act id not unprecedented. Earlier cartoonist Arun Ferreira, public health specialist Binayak Sen  and many members of Kabir Kala Manch were imprisoned on similar charges. The apparent similarity in all these cases is that they all have been accused of being Naxalites since they talked about issues of lesser known state oppression. Arun Ferreira was eventually released as innocent after spending five years in prison, and Binayak Sen is out on bail since 2011 while the case against him is still pending since 2007. The acquittal rate in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is 72%, despite this the law is used very frequently.

What can we do?

With corporate driven media, there is hardly any news from remote conflict ridden territories. Those few individuals and organizations that attempt to highlight these problems are harassed in with help of laws such as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In this situation it is up to us to either live in complicity or listen carefully to what the state machinery does not want us to hear. To not ignore, but to acknowledge what the dissenters are trying to say is the least and often most what one can do.

Image Credits- Shalendra Panday/Tehelka

 

Niharika Dabral

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Schmooze with Strangers

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Project FUEL (Forward the Understanding of Every Life Lesson), founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, collects life lessons from people all over the world and turns them into interactive session with performance activities, to pass on the learning. The passing on happens by way of workshops, seminars, and sometimes even over coffee. To facilitate more such exchanges Project FUEL initiated Pop–Up cafe, a place where people can pass on and receive all the wisdom from each other.

On 18th March, Saturday, Project FUEL organised the first ever Delhi version of Pop-Up Cafe  at Cafe 121, Satya Niketan from 4pm- 7pm. DU Beat had a wonderful opportunity to be part of the meet up.

A diverse crowd of 35-40 people gathered at Cafe 121 and soon after a brief introduction session by the volunteers everyone was randomly allotted a seat at different tables. It was made sure that on each table everyone is a stranger.

To start off, everyone was asked to give an introduction and then, was asked to assign three adjectives and talk about the first impression of everyone at their table. To make sure that the conversations keep flowing and things stay interesting, small games and appetising snacks were infused. For instance, people were given a placard each with various questions on it which resulted in a fun question and answer session. These placards were later given out as souvenirs. At the end, everyone was told to give one advice, tip, or any life lesson that they thought would add value in one’s life.

Later in the day after two hours of surprisingly unreserved chats the session was called to an end, but it wasn’t all. Before leaving, the oldest member of project fuel Miss. Sharaddha taught us the “Happiness Song” which was followed by an impromptu open-mic session where people recited poems, shayaris and songs.

Acceptance is the first step in overcoming bad memories and moving beyond the unjust happenings of past. It takes a great deal of courage to acknowledge the troubling aspects of one’s life, but with support and impartial understanding speaking out become easy. Keeping this in mind the last activity of the day was conducted. Based on the principles of Sociometry it encouraged people to speak out. Many individuals came forward and shared their life experiences with others, and with the uplifting display of solidarity and catharsis the meet-up was concluded.

Niharika Dabral
([email protected])

Nikhil Kumar
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Gerush Bahal
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Why it is important to come out for protests

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Delhi University has seen a fair share of protests and marches in the past few weeks. While a huge section of the student community enthusiastically participated in rallies, another section chided the protesters for wasting their time and energy. If you happen to fall in the latter group and hold disdain for demonstrations, allow me to convince you otherwise.Here are five reasons why it is important to come out for protests:

1. Protests bring attention to issues and help drive the narrative forward. Media coverage keeps the issues at the forefront and makes people aware. The bigger the crowd, the better is the exposure. Therefore, it’s important to participate in protests rather than just click ‘Like’ on Facebook, as at the end of the day authorities only take cognizance when there are a huge number of people involved.

2. Protests often result in forging solidarities across different backgrounds and even ideologies. Such consolidation unites people against a common enemy and gives strength to the movement.

3. It’s better to attend a parade, rather than complaining and doing nothing. Surely, there are more effective ways of expressing dissent, but sometimes strikes and rallies are the only options left when all other attempts are met with apathy.

4. Protests inspire positive social change. Historically, all radical advancements have been achieved by sustained strikes and sit-ins. It was because of civil disobedience that we won our civil rights.

5. Protests strengthen representative democracy by enabling direct participation of the masses in public affairs. Basically, demonstrations display democracy in action.

I know, many of us maintain distance when it comes to our involvement in political campaigns. One major reason for such behavior is a simple notion that considers activism futile and inconvenient, but we live in times when we can’t afford our conveniences or the luxury of remaining apolitical. As much as we would like to believe otherwise, the fact is that all our personal problems are political problems as well. Politics is directly deciding our future, so it’s only logical to challenge the politics that distorts our social fabric. If we don’t dissent and remain indifferent then we’ll be guilty of complicity.

Niharika Dabral
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Image Credits: jeanbarker.wordpress.com

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Frenzy at Delhi Technological University’s fashion show

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To win lauds during the fests is the reason why various societies, as well as the Organising Committees invest months of hard work and dedication in preparation, but all these efforts can turn futile if there is a tiff between the participants and the organisers. The latest case in point is Engifest – an annual three day extravangza organised by Delhi Technological University (DTU).

While a look at the Facebook page of Engifest boasts of successful completion, the testimonies of the participants of Pradhan – fashion show completion says otherwise.

Unacceptable Delay

All the participating teams were asked to report at 1pm as the show was to begin at 3:30, however due to the mismanagement of the organisers, it commenced at 5:30 pm. To make the matters worse a sponsored event “Campus Princess” was added in between the ongoing competition which went on for 1 hour. Later in the day, Paridhan was again interrupted with the performance by Lagori Band. All these additional activities stretched the competition till late at night and this caused many teams to back out. Clearly, preference was given to other things besides the “cordially invited” teams.

Tanisha, President of Galore, fashion society of Maitreyi College said, “The organisers told the remaining teams that the show will resume only after the band gives their whole performance as a result of which all the performers had to wait for another couple of hours. Maitreyi is an all-girls college. We told DTU’s coordinators that it’ll be tough for us to travel back alone after 9 PM, but no solution came to action.”
No Green rooms, arbitrary slot allotment and technical glitches

The very basic requirement of a green room to change into outfits, set hair-makeup and props is a must, but Delhi Technological University failed in providing that too. Sanya Sood, President of Poise – fashion society of Indian Institute of Home Economics affirms that, “There were no green rooms. Being an all-girls team we asked for a proper room, but weren’t given any. We’ve never faced this kind of treatment before.”

Somehow the participants got ready and started with their performance, only to encounter another problem: the essential spotlights and the audio won’t work. “There was no lightning during our performance and no volume during our voiceover”, Hitesh from Finesse – The Fashion Society of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies deplored.

Sarthak Kathuria, President of IVogue, fashion society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce resonated the same sentiment, “We were performing when the music stopped, we waited on stage hoping that someone would fix the technical glitch, but no avail. Meanwhile the indecent elements in the crowd started passing lewd comments. After a point it became unbearable and we had to get off the stage.”

Distasteful delinquencies

Inconvenience is one thing, but disrespect is a whole new deal altogether. Everyone can deal with minor disruptions, but when organisers pretend that nothing is going wrong that’s when the situation becomes problematic.
When the DTU management announced that the fashion show has been postponed to accommodate the performance by Lagori Band, the participating teams rebelled against this decision. Within seconds a heated arguments flared up. The remaining teams agreed not to perform and asked the DTU coordinators for a public apology and compensation by dividing the cash prize.

Tanisha Sharma, President of Galore, fashion society of Maitreyi College alleged that, “The Professor and the coordinators didn’t listen to a word we said. Instead they made fun of our situation and also threatened us to leave the college premises. What’s more deplorable is that one coordinator who was drunk offered money to our participant and misbehaved.”

Sarthak Kathuria, President of IVogue, fashion society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce conceded by adding that, “Harsh Kapoor, a member of our group was threatened while defending Kunica, a participant from Maitreyi College.”

In defense of DTU

Talking to DU Beat, the Cultural Council of DTU maintained that the allegations of misbehavior are false and baseless. Responding to the accusations of not providing green rooms and addressing technical glitches, they asserted that, “There was no compromise with lights. Only a minor power failure occurred during the performance of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce. We tried our best to fix the glitch as soon as possible, but decision to stop the performance midway was made by the IVogue at their own discretion.”

DTU did admit that the allocation of the green rooms did take some time, but reasoned by saying, “We had to look for new rooms because the portable green rooms became inhabitable due to heat. Finally the teams were allotted air conditioned classrooms in the electrical block.” They also added that the fashion show was delayed as a result of two factors – teams arriving late and green rooms getting shifted.

In this situation where there are equally convincing and conflicting narratives, it not just hard but almost impossible to conclude which side is at the fault. When college fests are increasingly becoming all about star nights, it is often that the concerns of participating teams are trivialized. On the other hand, the participants do not take cognizance of the ceaseless and pressure the over-worked organizers face or make vexatious demands.
Ideally, there should a mutual understanding between both the parties and judging by this incident we can tell that the absence of understanding turns fests into a regrettable experience.

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

Image credits: Enigfest, DTU (Facebook Page)

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A riot of colours at Delhi University’s 59th Annual Flower Show

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The 59th Annual Flower Show of University of Delhi took place on 23rd February 2017, with a plethora of activities, which saw the participation of horticulturists, photographers, students, teachers and flower enthusiasts from all over the Delhi-NCR region.

On 23rd February, the 59th Annual Flower Show of the University of Delhi took place in Mughal Garden, North Campus. Special Holiday was announced for the Delhi University colleges on account of this event. As a result, the premises were abuzz with students, teachers and flower enthusiasts appreciating the vibrant and varied blossoms.
The event was inaugurated by Vice Chancellor Mr. Yogesh Tyagi and the Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Science and Technology Minister.

Both, indigenous and exotic plants were displayed at the exhibition for the students and visitors. This year, the special attractions were cacti, orchids, succulents, and herbal plants. The show saw both competitive and non-competitive entries from colleges affiliated with the university, schools, and other educational institutes.
Nukkad Natak performances kept the audiences engaged. Students from Department of Botany performed a street play on the topic “Evolution of Natural Selection”, this was followed by another performance by Dhwani, the theater society of Acharya Narendra Dev College. Petals, the on-the-spot Photography competition, was organized at the event for the first time. The theme for the competition was ‘Flower and Emotions’ and with on-the-spot registration, the competition was open to all.

Talking to DU Beat, Shashi B Babbar, Chair of the flower show committee asserted that, “The main objective why we have been organizing this annual event since 1956 is to acknowledge the hard work of our horticulture staff. I believe that Students should raise some plants of their own; this habit can do wonders for our environment. It’s sad that when it comes to botany, India lags behind despite having immense potential since we have a wide and rich biodiversity in terms of flora. I hope that programs like this would infuse some interest in regarding gardening and botany among the general public, primarily the university students.”
The flower show started at 12 noon and remained open till 5 p.m.

Niharika Dabral
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Imgae credits: Ened D’souza

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Smashing sexism one letter at a time

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The academic space of university is supposed to be conducive for personal growth and in which a young woman thrives into an independent and confident person, but thanks to the regressive hostel rules and constant moral policing of the authorities; it’s actually a space which reinforces and strengthens patriarchal norms that hinders growth of female students.

Chitra Dabral, Secretary of Phrophecy- fashion society of Lady Irwin College laments, “My society members, who live in hostels, never get to enjoy even a single the star night during the fest session because of the hostel timings. What’s worse is that we often have to cancel our participation, if competitions are scheduled later than 6pm.”

While male hostel residents enjoy late nights and have lax curfews rules (none, in many cases), girls are obliged to return within the walls by as early as 7pm. Such discriminatory regulations are very conveniently justified under the grab of women’s “safety”. What authorities fail to understand is, such rules put women at further risk as they are unable to return to the hostel at night and hence have to look for shelter elsewhere. Besides, if the authorities were so concerned about the “safety” issues then they would have shown the same enthusiasm they display while exercising control, in constituting Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee Cells as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of India.

Voices of resistance against unfair rules are cropping up across campuses. The latest case in example is the permission letter written by two students to the warden of Kaveri Hostel of Ambedkar University, Delhi.

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Letter written by two students to the warden of Kaveri Hostel of Ambedkar University, Delhi

Unlike their male counterparts, girls are asked to give explanations and seek permission to spend a few extra hours out of the hostel. In response to this “permission culture”, the girls wrote an honest letter resonating that they were “stressed and disappointed” with their academic life and hence needed a break. The picture of the letter was shared by Pinjra Tod on their Facebook Page .Talking to DUBeat, on condition of anonymity, one student of Ambedkar University confirmed that the duo was granted permission.

We don’t know if the letter was rebellion of a sort or just an honest request. Though by the looks of it, the latter seems to be the case. As they say, humor is the best way to expose the ridicule.

Feature Image Credits: The Quint

Niharika Dabral

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JNU Sedition Row: A timeline and analysis

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For most people, February 9th will be just another day in the calendar. But, in the history of student movements, this day will be known for the beginning of a remarkable battle between the sedition-professing state and the students, who advocated absolute freedom of expression. This row erupted after a public event organized by a few students corroborating the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and demanding the right to self-determination of Kashmir dominated the public discourse for months and in the process raised many plausible questions pertaining to nationalism, dissent, activism, politics, and policies. Yes, we’re talking about the famous (or infamous) JNU Sedition Row.

Here is a look at the sequence of events:

• A program organized by a few students, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya ,against the execution of Afzal Guru and for Kashmir’s right to ‘self-determination’ takes place on the evening of 9th February, 2016. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protests against this event and a scuffle takes place. Meanwhile, a few media channels (mainly Zee News) that were present at the ground report that anti-India slogans such as “Bharat ki barbara di tak jung rahegi” and “Bharat tere turkey hongay” were raised and contested videos of the same are widely circulated.

• On February 12th, Kanhyaiya Kumar, then JNU Students Union(JNUSU) president is arrested by Delhi Police for sedition and criminal conspiracy. Many JNU students are booked for the same; five of them go into hiding. Protests in support of Kanhiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya erupt.

• On February 15th and 16th, there is mob violence outside Patiala House Court during the hearing of Kanhiya Kumar. Journalist, JNU teachers, Kanhaiya Kumar himself, and activists are assaulted by a group of lawyers.

• On February 17th, JNU faculty members start open lecture series on Nationalism and 133 eminent professors from prestigious universities, including Noam Chomsky, writes a letter condemning the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, and expresses solidarity with the students and faculty.

• On February 18t,h three office-bearers of JNU unit of ABVP resigned by stating disagreement over the Centre’s crass handling of the matter.

• On February 21st, all the absconding students return to the campus and offer themselves for surrender.

• On February 24th, Delhi Police arrests Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

• On March 24th Kanhyaiya Kumar returns to JNU amidst much media attention.

• On March 19, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are released on bail and subsequently address the huge gathering at JNU’s administrative block.

• On April 26th, varsity’s inquiry committee found 21 students guilty of breaking disciplinary norms, the Student’s Union and Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) rejects the punishments.

• On 10th and 12th May, rusticated students move to the Delhi High Court against their rustication.

• On May 13th, High Court stays the disciplinary action against the students.

A slew of confrontations and protests between students, teachers, and administration regarding multiple issues continued throughout the year.

The best and worst of media coverage
The reason why a seemingly small public meeting, which is typical of a politically charged campus like JNU, became a subject of prime time after prime time was not because the media was interested in discussing the controversial trial of Afzal Guru, the Kashmir problem or student politics, but because an incident was blown of out proportion to suit another agenda altogether. The narratives that many sections of media weaved reduced many complex issues into simplistic binaries and the dangerous Bush discourse of “you’re either with us, or against us” was created. The media trial that was run against students and against JNU as an institution itself incited violence towards the accused and jeopardized their safety. Multiple false claims such as: Umar Khalid visited Pakistan (except that he doesn’t hold a passport) and that he made 800 calls to Gulf countries in 4 days (which means 8.9 calls per hour) were callously thrown around. Mainstream media houses like News X quoted an unverified Intelligence Bureau document and announced Umar Khalid a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, but conveniently forgot to add a correction disclaimer when Intelligence Bureau denied any such findings. Even Home Minister Rajnath Singh made an unsusceptible statement saying that “The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed“. With an enthusiastic circulation of morphed videos and jingoistic shooting matches, JNU row could be seen as a perfect example where certain section of media lost its credibility to some vested interests.

However, while it was the worst of times, it was also the best of times. Independent and alternative portals like Newslaundy, The Wire, ScoopWhoop, Catch News, National Dastak and India Resists provided the much needed unbiased coverage of the whole fiasco. Taking a stand against Zee News’s propaganda laced documentation of JNU issue journalist Vishwa Deepak openly resigned from Zee Media. Somewhere in the media frenzy, we also saw journalist Ravish Kumar’s Black Screen prime time episode which was an epitome of fair reportage.

Current status of cases
The sedition cases which were to be investigated by Delhi Police’s anti-terrorism unit, the Special Cell, are presently at halt. No charge sheet has been filed. Delhi Police has seen two police commissioners in the past year and it appears that except for BS Bassi (commissioner during February 2016 who filed suo moto cases against the students) no one is interested in further pursuing the cases. This indifference is understandable since the grounds on which the charges were filed are fragile.

What changed for the anti-nationals?
Kanhaiya Kumar reached instant fame after his arrest and the much broadcasted ‘Azaadi’ speech. He bagged a book deal with publishing house Juggernaut Books and subsequently released ‘Bihar to Tihar: My Political Journey’ on 1st July 2016. Kanhaiya Kumar has addressed multiple rallies across the country in past one year.

Umar Khalid is currently working on final semester of his Ph.D which is centered on the tribals of Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. Because his face was continuously splashed across the television screen for weeks, Umar became a familiar face and unfortunately still has a fair share of haters (both online and offline). Even though the Umar is a popular activist and has been invited as a speaker to several conferences and demonstrations, he still faces security issues as a result of the vilification.

Shehla Rashid Shora, Vice President of JNUSU 2015-16 spearheaded the stand with JNU movement and represented the university in all major forums. She has signed a book deal with Penguin Random House. Her book titled ‘I, Student’ is expected to hit the stands this year.

A year on, five of those six students at the heart of the controversy are still studying at the university except for Anirban Bhattacharya, who left after submitting his Ph.D. thesis. Currently, he works as a researcher with a Delhi-based think tank.

Questions that remain unanswered
It’s been one year since the arrests were made and an esteemed institution was equated as ‘the den of terrorists’. However, unlike last year, T.V studios are now busy covering the Uttar Pradesh elections, those self-righteous anchor-students who were baying for the blood of so-called ‘anti-nationals’ are today silent on the police and state inaction. The question arises: Should the media be held accountable for the victimization of students? Should Delhi Police, which actively raided hostels and made arrests be asked about the developments of the case? It is still unclear who were the people who raised the anti-India slogans or if at all there was any sloganeering.

However, what is clear is that Jawaharlal Nehru University students are stronger than ever: They are still dissenting despite the grills that are installed at the administrative block. Yes, their protests are not being televised but they sure are alive.

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

Image Credits: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

 

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Let’s talk about Bela Bhatia and Bastar

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To isolate the enemy, to cut off all sources of information and resources and to discredit and defame the dissenters, is a tried and tested strategy of an authoritarian state. A very apparent example and implementation of this can be seen in Chattisgarh where routine intimidation of lawyers, activist and journalists is a norm. To bring forth the ground reality of state-sponsored harassment of civil society and tribals and persecution that she herself was subjected to, renowned researcher Bela Bhatia addressed the students of the University of Delhi in a public talk at Delhi School of Economics organized by People’s Union for Democratic Rights and Bastar Solidarity Network, Delhi chapter on 31st January.

While 2016 wasn’t a pleasant year for liberal-democratic ethos, with hounding of renowned researcher Bela Bhatia out of Bastar in January this year 2017 doesn’t seem any promising.

On 23rd of January, a bunch of 30 odd people belonging to vigilante group AGNI (Action Group of National Integration) barged in Bela Bhatia’s residence in Parpa village and threatened arson if she did not leave Bastar immediately. The mob also forced the landlady and Bhatia to sign a declaration saying that she would leave the house within 24 hours. Though she managed to call the police, it did little to control the mob. In the face of such intimidation and for the concern of her landlady’s safety, Bhatia agreed to leave the house in 24 hours. However, due to an uproar from the civil society members, Chief Minister Raman Singh has given assurance of Bela Bhatia’s safety. Bela Bhatia, with a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, is an ex-faculty member at Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). She has served on the panel of the Planning Commission with government officials to look at challenges in Maoist-infected areas and since 2007 she has been researching in Bastar on counter-insurgency.

Activism followed by attacks.

This isn’t the first time that she has become the target of such threats. In November 2015, her then landlord, had asked her to vacate the house in Jagdalpur after he was coerced by police and vigilante groups to do so.  This was promptly after Bela Bhatia helped the women of Peddagelur and Bellamnendra village to file first information reports on charges of sexual assaulted by security personnel. in January 2016, Naxal Peedit Sangharsh Samiti engaged in sloganeering against her: “Bastar chhodo, Bastar chhodo, Bela Bhatia Bastar chhodo.”

Again on March 2016, close to 100 people belonging to another vigilante group, Samajik Ekta Manch arrived at Parpa village (where Bela Bhatia lives) in jeeps and pick-up trucks and started sloganeering “Naxal samarthak Bastar chhodo.” Mahila Ekta Manch, the women wing of Samajik Ekta Manch distributed leaflets that identified her as a Naxalite, and also termed her companion and noted economist Jean Dreze as a “foreigner dalal”.

The most recent attack on her in January this year also came just three days after she accompanied a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team to record the statements of rape and sexual assault survivors who had filed FIRs against police personnel following which The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government over the alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16 tribal women by the state police in 2015.

Repression is not unprecedented.

Last February, under conditions similar to Bhatia’s, lawyers of the Jagdalpur Aid Group, who provide legal aid to poor tribals implicated in capricious laws such as Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act,(CSPSA) were also forced to leave Bastar. Tribal activist and the Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Soni Sori also sustained chemical burns at the hands of some unknown assailants in Dantewada last February. Award winning Journalist Malini Subramaniam, too had to leave after her residence was stoned and slogans were shouted outside her house in a similar fashion. BBC Hindi journalist, Alok Prakash Putul, also had to leave his assignment in Bastar, Chhattisgarh midway after he received threats. Dantewada-based journalist Prabhat Singh was arrested for allegedly posting an “obscene message” against a senior police officer on WhatsApp group in June and before that freelance journalist, Santosh Yadav was arrested in September 2015 by the state police under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act. This was immediately after he helped secure bail of a juvenile prisoner who was mistaken as a Maoist. Nandini Sundar, a Delhi University professor who has been working with Adivasi population in Chattisgarh for years now was booked for the murder of a tribal man in November 2016, the case was later struck off after the wife of the deceased, said that she had given no names to the police.

Suo-motto of silencing the questions.

With so many instances, of harassment of activists, journalists and lawyers who come in the way of impunity of police and security forces it is easy to tell that intimidation is being used as a tool to discourage and discredit the dissenters. Many similarities in the pattern of oppression can be observed in these cases such as protests by so-called “people’s group’s” and eviction by landlords and branding of activists as Naxal sympathizers.

Even though Chattisgarh police freely uses arbitrary laws like Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA to incarcerate people, they have devised many state-sponsored vigilante groups which act against opposition on their behalf. It’s a part of a devious strategy where vigilante groups are used when the police can’t take direct against the well-connected activists.

Case in point is Action Group for National Integrity (AGNI)-a vigilante group, which has been at the forefront of such attacks. This group organised Lalkar’ rally (an anti- Maoist rally) in September last year which was attended by  Bastar police Inspector General SRP Kalluri, as well as Superintendent of Police RN Das.  It may be noted that AGNI was formed after a similar vigilante group called Samajik Ekta Manch (SEM) was disbanded by the state government in April, 2016 after the Chhattisgarh police officials were caught in a sting operation where they admitted facilitating the group.

What can we do?

There is hardly any news from conflict-ridden Chattisgargh that makes it to the national news- not the resistance, not the repression, not the atrocities of the state. Attempts to highlight some issues are made by dedicated members of civil society and we can tell it is increasingly becoming a hard task. In this situation, it is up to us to either live in complicity or listen carefully to what the state machinery does not want us to hear.

While talking to DU Beat, Bela Bhatia said that “Youngsters living in privileged urban settings should be aware of the happenings in conflict zones and they must tell other people about these stories against the backdrop of massive government censorship. To not ignore, but to acknowledge is the least and often the most what one can do.”
Image Credits- newslaundry.com

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DUB Speak

Decoding Fashion Society- It’s more than just a strut in stilettos!

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Delhi University has all sorts of societies to accommodate various talents, be it drama, dance, debate, photography or even the most glamorous of them all: fashion. When one visualizes fashion, one thinks of spotlights, high heels and flawless models. Anyone who has had the luck of witnessing a DU fashion society perform can affirm that such performances scream confidence and ooze glamour. However, underneath the makeup (and what phenomenal make up it is!) and costumes, simmer hours of rehearsals and meticulous conceptualizing, a fact that people are unaware of.

Themes and Dresses
Before preparing for the ramp, it’s the dresses and props that are designed and this is not about randomly assorting an array of garments.Rather, everything is made exclusively on the basis of a theme.

The Institute of Home Economics’ fashion society Poise has won praise for their awe-inspiring and graceful performances on themes such as ‘Palace of Illusions’, which showcases the Mahabharata through Draupadi’s eyes (it must be inspired by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s book of the same name) and ‘Naqaab’, which depicts multiple personality disorders.

‘Prophecy’, the fashion society of Lady Irwin College prides itself for interesting interpretations of topics such as ‘Circus’ and ‘Gods and Men’. Their most famous creation was ‘Contemporary Cleopatra’s Eviction’, which is a recreation of Egypt’s iconic pharaoh Cleopatra’s descend and demise.
‘IVogue ‘, the fashion society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce aced almost all the completions last year with the theme of the liberal and much needed rendering of LGBTQ Rights.

‘GLITZ’, the fashion society of Kamla Nehru College have performed on themes like ‘Androgyny’, ‘Feminism’, ‘Fifty Years Of Fashion’, ‘LGBT’, and very recently- ‘Rape’, where they showcased the journey of a rape survivor who must fight the stigma of society and earn justice.

Bhavya Atreja, President of ‘Prophecy’,says, “The hardest part of running a fashion society is to make a theme and then present it accurately thorough our dresses, props and expressions so that the audience can understand it. It takes a lot of creativity since we don’t seek help from any choreographer.” “For weeks I’ve been taking trips to Shanti Mohalla, Katran Market and Chandani Chawk to get desired fabrics. Once you get the cloth, it’s another challenge altogether to convince the tailor to stitch it accordingly within a limited budget.” Chitra Dabral, Secretary of ‘Prophecy’ sighs.“But at the end it’s worth it,” Medha Singh from ‘Glitz’, reveals, “We not only have to walk effortlessly in high heels, but we also have to plan and portray a theme relevantly through a fashion show which is not an easy task as a fashion show isn’t as expressive as say, a dance sequence or a play. Designing an entire collection, creating props, doing everything in a fixed budget- everything is a challenging task in its own. But all said and done, the end result makes all the hard work worth it.”Talking about themes and dresses Sarthak Kathuria, President of ‘IVogue’,points out, “I would really like to mention the fact that fashion societies should understand the difference between fashion and fancy dressing. While everyone’s different taste in fashion is appreciated, fancy dressing kills the vibe of what fashion is. Also, plagiarism is another issue that is in play and must end in order to have a healthy and fair environment for the fashion societies to exist.”
Plagiarism is a pertinent problem and has increased manifolds, especially after the practice of hiring the same choreographer by some societies has started taking place.

Rehearsals and sequences
It is usually assumed that fashion societies don’t have to do anything in terms of rehearsals. “It’s just about looking good and walking” many people are heard saying. However, to be honest, it’s just a stereotype.
Addressing this issue Bhavya Atreja, says “We get to hear this always- you guys simply walk in heels. But I want to ask them, can you spend even two hours in heels without complaining? We practice daily for two hours minimum and it takes lots of sweat to master our walk, expressions, sequences and poses. It’s very calculative in terms of timings and music beats.”Sarthak Kathuria, echoes the same sentiment, “People have a misconception about the work of a fashion society, because all they think we do is ‘walk’. What they don’t know is how much practice goes in to perfect the kind of walk that looks good on stage and is acceptable for a fashion show. Understanding the right posture of the body, the right kind of poses, switching between paces, to name a few. Working to create a theme altogether is a great task in itself. From designing the garments to developing a great choreography and music are all important things that need to be taken care of. So we practice 5 days a week, for a minimum of 3-4 hours, which increases to sometimes 5-6 hours if we have events coming up in the near future. The more time one invests in practicing the right way to walk, the better the body gets adapted to walk easily on stage, especially for girls since walking with poise and confidence in a pair of heels is no joke!”

Like it takes choreography in dance and direction in theater, fashion also requires sequences to be orchestrated. When to enter and leave, where to take a position and how to strike- a pose all these things are diligently thought of and now with the invention of chair arrangements, horizontal-vertical – cross formations and dangerous lifts- everything should go as per plan.

Dealing with harassment
On 21st January 2017, during Aurobindo College’s fest ‘Mehak’, ‘Poise’, the fashion society of Institute of Home Economics was performing. In the middle of their performance, due to circuit failure the music stopped. Hoping that the music will resume soon, the models stood in their positions, whereas it took about five minutes for fixing the glitch. Meanwhile, the rowdy elements in the crowd started passing lewd comments such as “Khadi kyu hai? Naach na!” Some of them even threw coins on stage. Somehow, the models kept calm and ended their performance. When they were leaving the stage, one particular voice shouted another expletive.Unable to take it anymore, Srishti Panday (member of ‘Poise’) turned back, showed that guy her middle finger and called him out from the stage.

Regrettably this isn’t an isolated incident; eve-teasing and name calling are frequent occurrences during fashion shows.Medha Singh from ‘Glitz’,Kamla Nehru Collage, agrees, “Unfortunately, every girl in a fashion society has dealt with something like this on stage at least once. The advice that we give to our members is- Do not let them get to you. You’re stronger, and better, than one mean comment passed on to you by an ignorant member of the audience. Slay them with your confidence!”

Sarthak Kathuria, President of ‘IVogue’ resonates “We have seen a display of rowdy behavior happening and heard various lewd comments too but I believe it has reduced over time. Although, we train our members to deal with any such instance that might occur when they are performing. We can’t really change the mentality of the person passing any unwanted comments, so we usually ignore such things or simply laugh it off.”

Bhavya Atreja, President of ‘Prophecy’ reiterates Sarthak’s view but also insists on taking a stand, “We have always faced such unruly attitude from anti-social elements in the crowd. Although we concentrate more on our performances while on stage, if something like this happens off stage then the whole team takes a strict stand.”

What it takes
What exactly does it take to run or become a part of a fashion society?
According to ‘Poise’,a person has to be confident and willing to stick with the team in through thick and thin. Bhavya Atreja, values “regular practice, sincerity and creativity.”

Sarthak Kathuria has valuable advice for those who want to work in this area,“The only suggestion that I would want to give anyone who wants to be with us is- join only if you’re ready for all the work that goes in developing what’s being showcased on the stage. And removing all preconceived notions about a fashion society before joining one is a must. To pursue glory only for yourself won’t take you far. You must work as a team and for the team.”

If you think only certain body type and height can get you in, then Medha Singh from ‘GLITZ’ has some insights for you, “Freshers are often intimidated by a fashion society, and they are wrongly led to believe that we only pick people who fit in a certain body type or height requirement. Our advice to them is to not give in to these myths. Anyone with a passion for fashion and creativity is welcome in our society, despite the way they look. We’re all about cultivating fierce girls who feel comfortable in their own skin. Pro tip for auditions: Confidence is the key.”

Now you can imagine that with designing, choreographing and practicing for long hours, a ramp walk is certainly not a cake walk and that being in a fashion society is more than just a strut in stilettos. All that glitters is truly, not gold!

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

Image Credits: Gerush Bahal for DU Beat
Image Caption: Lady Irwin College’s ‘Prophecy’ showcases ‘Cleopatra’s Eviction’

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