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National Press Day: The Era of Alternate Journalism

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On National Press Day, this piece is an attempt to highlight the lack of verification in mainstream media, and the rise of alternative journalism.

“I want this Government to be criticised. Criticism makes democracy strong. Democracy cannot succeed without constructive criticism,” so said Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, well after he came to power in 2014 on a wave of optimism.

As circumstances have changed, so has the Modi Government’s media strategy. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) oriented, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), often known as the “Modi Government”, faces weakened economy, communal tensions, and unemployment across the country. To shed light elsewhere, they have resorted to hijacking the country’s once free media.

The Government has not created an official state-run news service, but instead relies on independent news organisations to peddle its economic narrative, chastise a Muslim minority, and prey on Hindu anxieties in the country.

In order to achieve this, the Government often relies on media networks called in slang as Modia or Godi Media like Zee News, India TV, Aaj Tak and Republic TV. Out of all, Republic TV appealed to the worst of the Indian media’s characteristics. It was loud, brash, and theatrics mattered more than civil discourse. And sadly, is one of the most viewed channel in mainstream media.

Take this segment for an example articulated well in The Diplomat, it says, “Goswami begins a fiery tirade against Waris Pathan, a member of the legislative assembly for the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (India’s only large-scale Muslim political party) in which he attacks Pathan for refusing to stand for the national anthem. On eight separate occasions in a mere 30 seconds, Goswami yells some version of ‘Why can’t you stand up for the national anthem?’. He proceeds to claim that he knows why Pathan does not stand. Goswami’s answer? According to Goswami, Pathan is an anti-national.”

If you don’t believe me that all of this is just a facade to distract the gullible audience from pressing national issues to communal politics, and India’s mainstream media is empowered and free, here are some facts which clearly justify — India is ranked at 140th of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index 2019.

As per a statistical survey conducted by Peeing Human, in the past 202 debates held at Zee News, Aaj Tak, News 18 and India TV collectively had 79 debates on Pakistan, 66 debates on attacking opposition, 37 debates praising the RSS and Modi, and not one debate on economy, unemployment, education, women’s safety, healthcare or even the farmer’s crisis, which encompasses 10 suicides by farmers everyday.

A sting operation done by the media house Cobrapost revealed that nearly two dozen media houses were willing to promote a Hindutva agenda and influence coverage for the 2019 elections. Simply put, media channels that are willing to play along find a lucrative payday and increased access by a Government that refuses to hold press conferences.

The BJP’s social media online troll army remains untouched. As Bloomberg noted, the troll farm, referred to as the BJP’s IT Cell regularly sends out death and rape threats to female journalists. A notable case is Barkha Dutt, who is not only viewed as being against Modi’s agenda, but is one of India’s only journalists who provides alternate perspectives on hotbed issues. The social media army is also used to stoke communal hatred, spread fake news, and intimidate those who would take a stand against Modi.

All these facts become much more horrific when realised that media is supposed to be the fourth pillar of democracy and not the slave of political propaganda.

There has been a rise in the need and establishment of alternate media. Alternate media is just like the left to mainstream rightist media. The proliferation of alternative journalism in India has happened, say experts, in the past five years with an attack on fundamental freedoms and a realisation that a space for uncensored information had to be created at personal cost as it were.

Alternate journalism paves way for unbiased, factual and verified news to be provided to mainstream media.

Taking an example of media coverage of Kashmir after scrapping of the Article 370. While Aaj Tak and India TV celebrated this decision and called the lockdown “peaceful”, independent channels like The Quint, Brut India and The Wire broadcasted the true harsh reality of this dictatorial rule.

YouTube channels like Dhruv Rathee’s, take time and space to explain and analysis of political decisions. His videos on the reality of air pollution in Delhi, India’s economic crisis and the Ayodhya verdict are dedicated to provide holistic information from all narratives, based on facts that he even cites in the description.

It has also made news much more accessible, and easy to comprehend. EIC’s outrage series on YouTube provided news in the second most entertaining way possible, appealing to a large audience. First obviously being a debate on Yogi Adityanath’s barber.

Patriot Act by Hasan Minhaj, A Netflix series brings light to many hidden issues of national and international relevance. The episodes on Student Loans, Sudan Protests, Indian Elections, and Censorship have been essential in their awareness movements.

Hence, the need for alternative journalism is real. How long would people depend on one anchor at one channel (obviously talking about Ravish Kumar) to prove them with news, not a narrative but news?

 

 

Feature Image Credits: Chhavi Bahmba for DU Beat.

Graphic Credits: Kunal Kamra.

 

 

Chhavi Bahmba

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Arts & Culture

The Story of Great Indian Divorce

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It doesn’t come as a surprise that India has the lowest divorce rate in the world, which sounds good but isn’t necessarily a good sign.

According to a report, stating the ten most and least divorced nations, India stood at the lowest with a contribution of 1% to the total divorces in the world.

Only 13 marriages out of 1,000 result in divorces in our country, making it even less than 1% which clearly tells us that people here are more comfortable with unhappy marriages rather than a broken marriage. Couples could be living under the same roof but be separated for years, maintaining a thin line between failed marriages and divorces.

The main reason for this atrocity remains societal pressure. People think that they are liable to live according to society’s idea of what counts as a good life, which is basically putting efforts for everybody’s happiness but yours. The need for seeking everyone’s validation has made our decisions restricted and counterproductive.

Furthermore, the concept of arranged marriages completely ignores the needs of the only two people involved. As long as their families are happy, who cares about them? And these are the same families who turn their backs on the couple when they are withstanding marital problems by giving the ultimate solution, “Have a kid, that’ll solve everything”.

Apart from this, there is hardly any concept of remarriage in our society, so a lot of people drop the idea of divorce and incline towards adjusting due to the fear of dying alone rather than having a second chance at love. Because, after somebody gathers all the courage to let go of an unhealthy marriage and start a new life, how dare they consider moving on with someone new?

How many times have we compromised our happiness over the thought of log kya kahenge? This fear is indulged inside us so deeply that we follow the ideology of “Sanskar over happiness” but at what stake?

Staying in failed marriages not only creates life long problems but also promotes the mentality in the future generations that it’s okay to stay with someone you’re not happy with, only giving rise to toxic relationships with a dead end.

We’re long into 2019 and still the Indian society, a society whose utopian dreams has made the younger generation hell-bent on westernising themselves, remains deeply rooted in centuries’ old values. Low divorce rate might look nice and ideal on paper but in practical, it hints at the rigidity in our society. Indian society needs to understand that divorce is not the end of a happy marriage but an escape from a bad marriage. In the end, it results in two happy individuals rather than one miserable couple.

Feature Image Credits: 

Avni Dhawan

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DUB News

Tenth Day of Turmoil in Jamia Millia Islamia Ends

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Usually called as a politically ‘shy’ University, this Tuesday, Jamia Millia Islamia erupted with thousands of students outside the Vice Chancellor’s office which was subsequently followed by a muscle fight between the protesters and some goons, which are alleged to be hired by the administration itself.

The event raises significant questions that ought to formulate certain conjectures, but through a detailed assessment and statements from both the parties, we have tried to trace down most possible answers to these questions.

The first question that arises in our cerebral manifestations is what was the protest all about?

Apparently, yesterday on 22 October, a number of student organisations arranged a Solidarity March from the Central Canteen to VC’s Office as an extension of the 10-day long ongoing protest against the University administration which has issued a show cause notice in the name of five students of the University.

Protests in support of Palestine, outside the Edward W Said Hall, named after famous Palestinian- American Scholar Edward W Said. Credits: The Jamia Review
Protests in support of Palestine, outside the Edward W Said Hall, named after famous Palestinian- American Scholar Edward W Said.
Credits: The Jamia Review

What was it with regard to the show cause notice?

The five students who have received the show cause notice were among the 12 students who were a part of a symbolic protest probing the intrusion of an Israeli delegation that was supposed to be the country partner of ‘Global Health Zenith Confluence’19’, organized by the Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics, JMI, on October 5, 2019.

According to the administration, the students were rewarded with this show cause for hampering the University’s image and vandalising in an otherwise peaceful campus with an unnecessary protest.

One of the members of the All India Students Association says as we quote,

“It is our fundamental right to express our voices and it is utter nonsense to say that we engaged in some kind of vandalism, rather it was us who were manhandled by the guards.”

What was the progression of the protest?

For past one week the All India Students Association and the Dayar-e-Shauq Student Charter, another student organisation assembled near the central canteen demonstrating their contempt regarding the administration, and demanding for a revocation of the show cause notice against the students and a total boycott of Israel.

What happened at the Solidarity March?

On the ninth day of the protest, the students planned for a peaceful protest seeking a reply from the administration regarding the show cause notice and a face-to-face talk with the vice chancellor, reportedly almost a thousand students joined the March chanting slogans of ‘Inquilab‘ and ‘Azadi‘. After a day-long protest, in the second set of the day, some 10-15 students appeared at the venue, asking the protesters to vacate the place within next 30 minutes, failing which severe repercussions may befall upon them (as reported by one of the protesters).

Subsequently, the protesters refused to withdraw the protest following which they were attacked with flower pots and which were later dragged around, creating a huge scuffle, injuring many students; one of them being Shah Alam of B.A. (Hons.) Political Science is reported to be in extremely critical condition. The varsity campus was then flooded with a Delhi Police delegation which attracted lots of eyeballs.

The students then went on to protest for the entire night and were joined by more students from all over the University in the later part of the tenth day of protest. Songs and slogans complemented the fulmination, with flags of Palestine and India being raised outside the office to signify the protest. They were also extended support by the Hon’ble MP of the Thissur Constituency, Mr. T N Prathapan, who expressed his grievances against the authority and ensured his support to the students protesting. Protest also witnessed support from the JNU General Secretary, Satish Chandra Yadav, who backed the students with his words.

Congress MP Mr T N Prathapan extending support to the protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia. Credits: The Jamia Review
Congress MP Mr T N Prathapan extending support to the protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia.
Credits: The Jamia Review

What next?

The students have now raised their demands to be fulfilled by the administration, following which they are ready to withdraw the protest and return to the classes which elsewise witnessed a boycott of classes in the University today.

The demands by the protesters include three major points which include, a withdrawal of the show cause notice against the five students, an assurance of the safety of the protesters which ensures no action to be taken against the students, and a serious action against the ‘goons’ that prompted the attack on the protesters.

What happens further is yet to be discovered but this incident has surely engaged number of students who have expressed their solidarity and support in concerning times.

Feature Image Credits: The Jamia Review

Faizan Salik
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Apna Time Aa Gaya: Entry of Gully Boy in the Oscars

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From Dharavi to Oscars, read how Gully Boy’s nomination and how “apna time aa gaya”.

Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, which created a stir and started a lyrical revolution for the underdogs of Indian music, has been selected as India’s official entry in the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards, more popularly referred to as the Oscars. This film, featuring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, has been inspired by the lives of two Indian rappers, Divine and Naezy. The story of an aspiring rapper rising from the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai, fighting against the odds and obstacles was tied together with brilliant music and lyrics that touched upon the realities of life. Singh’s character, Murad, represents a myriad of ideas in the film. He is a young boy who finally finds meaning, and a voice in the songs that he writes. The struggles in his life take the centre stage in his songs, and authenticity becomes his uniqueness.

A dominant part of these struggles was the stark difference between the “haves” and “have-nots”. It draws out these visual contrasts when unaffluent Murad passes tall towers in his boss’ fancy car. Gully Boy also talks about the issues over authority between the protagonist and his father; it shows the plight of his mother when her husband remarries, and the persistent desire to be emancipated from the endless struggles that the “common man” faces. When this nomination was announced, it was met with appreciation, except several people also voiced out the other side to this decision. The Indian Film Federation unanimously selected Gully Boy over 27 other films, including Article 15, Super Deluxe, and Pahuna. Critics have argued that a Bollywood film of this scale and star-cast has certain factors playing in its favour, and while smaller films from other regions, languages, and demographics are also strong contenders in terms of the quality of cinema, they will not be given the recognition they deserve. Netizens are tweeting about other such critically acclaimed films such as Andhadhun, And the Oscar Goes To, Tumbbad, Uyare, among several others. Over the years, the films that have been nominated have been in the mainstream domain of the Hindi language. Till date, only two Malayalam films have been selected, along with one Telugu film, and no Kannada film has ever made it to the nominations. A common narrative that exists is that the Indian cinema is synonymous with Bollywood. There is a prevalent lack of awareness about other important industries, and those domains of Indian cinema are seen as the “others”. It is forgotten, almost always, that the Indian cinemascape goes beyond the dominance of Bollywood, to the diverse regions, languages, and identities that our land comprises of.

This film was lauded for its social and political undertones, except many also argue how it addressed these issues in a very ambiguous manner. The scene where Singh’s character goes around the city with Kalki Koechlin’s character and they spray-paint billboards all over the town and write “Feed Me” next to a model, “Brown and Beautiful” on a fairness cream advertisement are some of the ambiguities in the message it attempts to put forth. Even the ideas of majoritarianism, politics, and corruption are subtly hinted at. Many people also called out Bhatt’s character, Safeena, to be problematic after the Kabir Singh debates. For some, these mixed ideas of politics added to the layers in the film as they did not overpower the story, while leaving an impact. They further argue that this film opened doors to the discourse on these issues, except some others emphasise on how the film shrugs off its burdens by using subtlety as a tool. It is said that the jury which was responsible for the selection believed that a “feel-good factor” was essential for an Oscars nomination. While these are the many sides to this debate, apna time aa gaya (our time is here) and Gully Boy is now heading towards a much-awaited Oscars. It is a film which gave us a reality check, Siddhant Chaturvedi, catchy dialogues, and a seat at the Oscars.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Shivani Dadhwal

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Digitisation of Currency: India and Its Financial Future

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With the advent of plastic money, e-banking, Paytm, cryptocurrency, and other digitised methods of payment, can India become a cashless economy?

With the rise of Digital India Campaign, and the growth of e-commerce in the country, it looks like the future of the Indian currency is moving forward in the digital sphere. However, this is not as easy as it may seem. With problems such as the country having an internet penetration rate of just 27%, as compared to the global average of 67%, only 60% of the country having bank accounts, and with 98% of the economic transactions by volume being done through cash, it is evident that the journey ahead is long and difficult.

Adding on to all this, India is a developing country with a very high poverty rate, as a student from the University of Delhi (DU) points out, “I don’t know what our Government is trying to achieve by Digital India when half the people in this country can’t even afford the internet. There are people suffering all over the country but nothing has been done about that”.

Along with this, cryptocurrency has been virtually banned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as stated in a circular, prohibiting banks, and financial institutions from rendering all services related to cryptocurrency in 2018. This, in turn, has also led to criticism from many who argue that the RBI has no right to pass this legislation on cryptocurrency, as it is not within the ambit of the Banking Regulation Act, through which the RBI draws most of its power.

In the face of all these statistics and opinions, why is the digitisation of currency even in the conversation? The positives of greater digitisation include paper trails which would make it harder to hide income, and would make finding black money easier, which was also one of the failed objectives of the infamous demonetisation done by the Modi administration. It would save the Government money, with the RBI currently spending INR 2,700 crores in the fiscal year 2018 on just currency issuance and management, it would be easier to conduct international payments, and the entire problem of fake currency would essentially disappear.

One of the arguments put forward against digitisation in India is that India is a majorly agrarian country, with most people depending on rural cooperative banks, most of which might not have an internet connection and the Government would not have the funds to provide it. However, this statement at its base can be proven wrong. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, there are around 94,384 rural banks in India, as of the fiscal year 2017. Assuming all these banks do not have internet service, calculations of the initial cost can be made. Internet service would cost around INR one lakh for the initial licensing and legal admin fees, along with INR three to four lakhs to set up the infrastructure covering one square kilometre of the area around the tower. This leads us to a total cost of INR five lakhs on the highest end of the spectrum. Now, making the assumption that all rural collective banks do not have internet access, multiplying the number of rural banks with the initial cost would amount to around INR 4,719 crores or around USD 655 million. To put this into perspective, the Statue of Unity cost around INR 3,000 crores, and therefore, it is evident that funding this is not out of the reach of the Indian Government.

In this age of globalisation and technological revolution, the world economy and, more importantly for us, the Indian Economy is constantly changing and evolving. While digitisation of currency might be a part of this evolution further down the line, there is a still a long way for this country to go in order to make that possible, with work required in every sphere to even think about fully implementing it.

 

Feature Image Credits: 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

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A Lunar Disconnect: India and Kashmir

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Amidst outpouring sympathies after the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission, questions arise on “losing communication”. Read why mainland India has forgotten Kashmir from its memory.

Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar mission was meant to explore an area never explored before, the south pole of the moon. On 7th September, as the Vikram lander began its descent to the lunar surface, the country watched carefully. Just 2.1 kilometres over the surface of the moon, ISRO abruptly lost contact with the lander. The rover was found on 8th September, with a possibility of a harsh landing. At the time of writing this article, NASA promised to send pictures of the landing region and the rover for ISRO’s analysis.

A wave of social media sympathy took over. People immediately took the responsibility – for being proud of ISRO and for the failure of their efforts – into their own hands. A video of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the ISRO Chairman, K. Sivan, emerged where Sivan can be seen wiping away his tears. Trolls took to mansplaining a female engineer who worked on the mission. Hate politics on social media also emerged between India and Pakistan, leading nowhere.

On social media and otherwise, the issue was widely compared to the communication blockade in Kashmir. Importantly, analogies were drawn between ISRO’s loss of communication with the Chandrayaan and the Kashmiris’ loss of connection with the rest of the world. “I want to know how India feels, knowing that there is no connection even in modern times like these. It also raises questions about if India is progressing at all,” a student from Kashmir said, under the condition of anonymity. “On one hand you claim the knowledge of the moon, but Kashmir has gone back several decades with a complete gag on communications for (now) more than 40 days.”

The Kashmir Valley has been under clampdown since 5th August, the day Article 370 was abrogated. Curfews have been imposed almost regularly. The clampdown has also been criticised for its authoritarian and colonial nature. Freedom of the Press no longer exists in the Valley and reports of violence, curfews, and killings have emerged as the Indian state urges that “the situation is normal”.

It is interesting that people chose to mourn the lander, a non-living object, instead of an entire state of over six million under clampdown. The poignant question to ask is this: if the people of this state are your own citizens, why are you not worried about their repression yet?

The insensitivity of the masses adds to the absurdity of the situation; as if it is normal for a population to exist without phone networks and the internet for more than a month! The common argument that the Bharatiya Janata Party propagates is that people lived before there was the internet. Yes, but the times have changed and because of an ambiguous “threat from militants”, it is not justifiable to keep human beings deprived of their civil rights.

The Kashmir clampdown is no longer seen in the mainstream media channels or the front pages of newspapers. Kashmir has been an object of selective outrage, or rather, an intermittent outrage.

Dr. Dharan Sharma, a senior aerospace engineer at NASA, said, “The timing of this mission was wrong, the mission seemed to have bleak chances of success. The economic crisis means every penny is priceless. The failure of this mission could mean the loss of what India has gained on the international space platform. It will weaken the flow of investment in science and technology.”

Many scientists on Twitter refused to call Chandrayaan 2 India’s greatest scientific feat since it takes away the light from other fields of science which lack funding.

India has been seeing disasters from multiple sides – be it the floods, the Kashmir issue, the economic crisis, or now the failure of Chandrayaan. What remains to be seen is how the Government deals with them to ensure that no more damage, than has already been made, is endured.

 

Feature Image Credits: BBC

 

Maumil Mehraj

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Jaishree Kumar

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The Eco-Feminist Village of Piplantri

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In Rajasthan, a state often characterised by low sex ratio and an arid climate, the villagers of Piplantri in Rajsamand have resorted to planting 111 trees with the birth of every girl child to battle female foeticide and climate issues.

In Piplantri, whenever a girl child was born, the family pushed a hard, jagged grain into her mouth to cause infection and ensure her death. Shyam Lal Paliwal never understood this practice.He had always loved his daughter. So when Sarpanch Shyam Lal Paliwal’s 16-year old daughter Kiran died in 2006, he planted a burflower tree in her remembrance and vowed that no one would mourn the birth of a baby-girl in Piplantri anymore. Instead, it would be celebrated with the planting of trees.

Before 2005, Piplantri had been a drought-prone area. Shyam Lal recalls that once in 2005, the drought had been so bad that the government were forced to send water trains to the village. But it all ended with Kiran’s tree and Shyam Lal’s vision.

Alongside planting 111 trees, whenever a girl child is born in Piplantri, donations are collected so that INR 31,000 can be saved and put aside, so that with investment, there is a sum to match a potential dowry, allowing the families to become financially independent and in turn, be able to send their daughters to school, not marry them before they turn 18, and care for the planted trees as well. Along with this, getting inspiration from his wife, Shyam Lal also helped establish an aloe vera business in the village. After training, women can make and market aloe vera gel, juice and pickle, and some earn up to INR 6,000 a month.  The Sarpanch has also started a rainwater harvesting plant in the village.

Aloe Vera gel made by the women of Piplantri village. image Credits: Lifegate
Aloe Vera gel made by the women of Piplantri village.
image Credits: Lifegate

The government of Rajasthan, which has been shamed with a concerning sex ratio for years, decided to introduce a yojana (scheme) inspired by Paliwal’s work. Under the policy, the family receives INR 2,500 on her birth and the same amount on her first birthday. This is doubled to INR 5,000 if she finishes class five and class eight. When girls complete their senior secondary education i.e. class 12th, they get INR 35,000, making an overall total of  INR 50,000.

Piplantri has become an inspiration to various villages in rural India and holds itself up to be an important symbol of not only women empowerment, but also sustainable development in India.

Feature Image Credits: Procaffenation

Shreya Juyal

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Campus Central

Follow Request: The Government of India

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A brief look at the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (MHRD) letter to all higher education institutes to link all student accounts to the social media accounts of the institutes, and the ministry and the reactions of college students.

A letter sent on 3rd July 2019 by the MHRD to all higher education institutes requesting them to identify and designate a faculty/non-faculty member as the “Social Media Champion” (SMC) whose duty it will be to get all the students of the college to connect their Twitter/Facebook/Instagram accounts to that of the MHRD and the educational institution by the 31st July. This move has already received a lot of backlash with the AISA saying on 9th July, that this step was aimed at curbing the freedom of expression of students. While the MHRD has replied that this step is completely voluntary for the students and they will not have any access to the student’s posts or data if a student follows them on social media, this move is still a cause for concern among the student community.

A copy of the MHRD’s letter sent to all Higher Education Institutes
A copy of the MHRD’s letter sent to all Higher Education Institutes

On talking to several students, it was found that some students felt the very act of asking students to follow certain pages was wrong, even though the MHRD ministry claims that it will just use this as a way to promote good work done by them and the educational institutes. Srijan Vaish , a first-year student from Dyal Singh College said, “The MHRD ministry is run by the government which is run by a  political party with its own particular ideologies, in this case the Bharatiya Janta Party  and the ideology of ‘hindutva’. So if students are compelled to follow their page, as young students, we can fall prey to the ideas that the central government is trying to promote. I feel that this manipulating the youth and not giving us the right to think for ourselves.”

While most students disagreed with the idea of following the MHRD, there was some who felt that something more sinister was going on behind the scenes, and felt that this would be the first step to monitoring students, their posts and their data. Prachi Johri, a second-year student from Indraprashta College for Women said that this could open the door for the government to “invade the privacy” of students. Prachi went on to say that if the government does take this extreme measure, it would “make the minorities, Muslims, LGBTQIA+ community, tribes and people with ideologies against the BJP lives very hard to survive, as the government will probably bully or lock them up for speaking against the government. It’ll disclose a lot of things to public which a student might not want to share. This will create a sense of fear and will stop students from pursuing higher education.”

In conclusion, while the MHRD might have good intentions and want to share their good work with students, perhaps connecting social media is not the best way to do it as lots of students are against this step, and additionally, feel that “sharing good work” is not the real motive of the government behind taking such steps.

Feature Image Credit: The Quint

Prabhanu Kumar Das
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The Three Language Formula and Unity in Diversity Do Not Go Hand in Hand

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The progressive National Education Policy (NEP) was in headlines recently when an old controversy reappeared in its document.

‘Balkanisation’ is a geo-political term used to explain the fragmentation of a large sovereign territory into smaller units due to social, political or cultural differences. The optimal examples of countries that surrendered themselves to this phenomenon are Yugoslavia and USSR. There are other failed attempts of segregation where states could not attain sovereignty because of compromise or suppression. Among others, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is an astute example. The unflattering and relentless opposition of Tamilians towards the Hindi language has an 80-year-old history. It has led to violent protests, polarization and demand for a separate nation at different epochs of 20th century.

The current draft of the NEP is progressive in many ways. Orchestrated by noted scientist K. Kasturirangan, it promises to revitalize the ailing education system of India. Among other reforms, it changes the focus group for imparting education from 6-14 to 3-18 years. It also brings accreditation system in schools and envisions that by 2035, the gross enrolment ratio in schools will increase to 50% compared to the current 25%. But these amendments did not grab the eyeballs as much as a paragraph in the policy to implement the Three Language Formula did.

The Formula first appeared in the NEP in 1968. The clause suggests that along with Hindi and English, any Modern Indian Language be taught to students in Hindi-speaking states and the regional language be taught in non-Hindi speaking state. The formula resurrected the long running resistance against Hindi imposition in South Indian states, especially Tamil Nadu. Tamilians, in order to conserve their identity and culture, have been protesting against compulsory Hindi education since 1937. Leaders like Periyar, who formed the Dravidar Kazhagam, initiated this anti-Hindi agitation when the then Indian National Congress government made teaching of Hindi compulsory in schools of Madras Presidency. The anti-Hindi sentiment has given genesis to the idea of Dravida Nadu, a hypothetical sovereign country comprising the non-Hindi speaking states of Southern India. E.V Ramasamy (Periyar) and C.N Annadurai, who were the initial proponents of Dravida Nadu, made an attempt to Balkanise India as they feared the hegemony of Hindi would repress their native languages.

But the fear is not inappropriate either. One of the most controversial subjects in the Constitutional Assembly debate was selection of India’s official language. Noted historian Ramachandra Guha writes that when R.Dhulekar, a member of the house from United Provinces stood up to move an amendment, he started speaking in Hindustani. When the chairman reminded him that many people do not know the language, he replied, “People who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India.” The amount of chauvinism reflected in his majoritarian perspective makes it evident why our dear ones in the South are sceptical about compulsory Hindi education.

Following backlash from political parties in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the government officially amended a portion of the NEP. In the new draft, students will have the choice of changing any language they want to. The war of language has been very sensitive and controversial in India. It has fabricated the politics of Tamil Nadu in such a drastic way that the implicit advocate of Hindi imposition, the Congress party has never come back to power after 1967 following the anti-Hindi agitation of that year.

The ship of Unity in diversity sails only when there’s unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation. Imposing uniformity by enclosing a country like India will bring consequences that we don’t need or deserve.

Feature Image Source: NCERT

Priyanshu

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Beyond the Obvious of Delhi University Colleges

Turning a Blind Eye Towards Maternal Mortality

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Three lakh women die from issues in pregnancy and childbirth. So why the ignorance and indifference towards this huge loss to a family?

World Health Organisation (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a woman while pregnant, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy. Maternal mortality rate is the number of registered maternal deaths due to birth or pregnancy related complications per 100,000 registered live births. In a world with almost 4 billion women, this issue is touching our lives in one way or the other, yet we do not talk about it as much as we should.

People are not equipped with the knowledge they need, especially in a country like India, to understand the gravity of the issue. This often begins and ends at being a “women’s issue”. Three lakh women, all over the world, die each year from problems in pregnancy and childbirth. About 700 women die each year in the United States alone, while 830 women die each day worldwide, as reported by WHO. The chances of dying during pregnancy, in some places, are 1 out of 15.
I can recall workshops being held at schools regarding menstruation, pregnancy and related ideas only attended by girls, while boys stood outside waiting to hear what this ‘forbidden fruit’ was. Firstly, why should this just be restricted to them when each and everyone is impacted by it?

Secondly, the knowledge provided to the students is inadequate.Several factors can lead to maternal mortality. The first being age, where women below the age of 20, and above 35 are at risk. Socio-economic status in the society is another factor. Where poor and illiterate individuals do not have access to education, healthcare, proper nutrition, guidance, and care are at risk of death during pregnancy. Women are also placed on a lower pedestal and viewed as subordinate, which can be a reason for not being given adequate support during their most important time. The societal pressure of bearing a male child also adds a strain on the emotional and mental health. Unplanned babies, poor sanitation and hygiene facilities,infections, and other factors can also increase the risk. Hypertensive disorders are responsible for 14% pregnancy related deaths, pulmonary embolism causes 3% of the deaths, and 10% women die due to direct complications. Yet, we are not aware of these statistics. To understand the core issues, the world needs to move beyond books like ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’.
The Special Bulletin of Maternal Mortality in India by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in June 2018 stated that among the southern states, the decline has been from 93 to 77 and 115 to 83 in others. As reported by the WHO, factors like access to quality healthcare, state subsidised financing, mitigation of social determinants, and positive engagement between public and private healthcare providers has helped India in reducing MMR by 77% in 2016.
The death of a mother is tragic, with a devastating effect on the families. Though the MMR has witnessed a decline, it is important to educate the masses of such prevalent issues. Proper check-ups during the pregnancy and a nutritious diet is a must for both the mother and the baby.

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat.

Shivani Dadhwal

 [email protected]

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