Our Politics Can Use a Little Humour

Gone are the days when Indian politics used to have a sense of humour about things. Politics is and always was a source of entertainment but over time, it has changed its genre from light-hearted daily soap opera to a hardline, intense reality tv. Where once the entertainment industry was complementary to the political news and happenings; It has now distanced itself from it.

Let’s take political cartoons, Great cartoonists like K. Shankar Pillai and R.K Laxman were artists, activists and Journalists fused together. They gave the common people a perspective other than the one presented by the media in that time and hence a respite from the constant negativity and political blah blah. Their cartoons were not only funny but also always had posed a deeper, more serious question or a take on politics. Journalism always means hardline facts but sometimes it’s just a different and more meaningful take on the happenings in the society which can be in any form be it written, news, cartoons and even news comedy.

Our political leaders have increasingly grown thin-skinned when it comes to remarks made against their stature and in this process, we miss out on one key ingredient of democracy, opposition; democracy without opposition is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. TV news has become trivial and TRP driven in a sense that they are completely impervious to the real essence of journalism which lies not in pleasing the authorities or entertaining the public but in going to any means to uncover the truth and lay it out to the world in any medium possible. Its job is not to feed into fears or anxieties of the masses but to rather drive behavioural change by instilling into them one key habit, the habit to question everything and everyone.

What we need in this country is a little bit of humour when it comes to politics because humour stands for more than just laughter, it stands for the ability to question because when we question, we hold them accountable and when they become accountable they become responsible. What the politicians of this country need to learn today, is the art of debate, the skill of listening and the manners to disagree with respect. This very idea to question each and everything around us is the true spirit of journalism and not just reporting the facts. Reporting is only a small cog in the bigger machinery of journalism. Journalism is a pillar holding the temple of democracy without which there is no expression, no growth no real power to the people.

 

Authenticity is scarce

With rapid commercialization and the ‘trending’ on social media, it is hard to find original content anywhere. Music, art, photography – even personal diary writing is now commercialized. The rise of youtube, facebook and every other platform is slowly killing the original creativity in art.

There was a time in the mid 20th century when people used to come up with original ideas and it was the time that saw the rise of raw, new and refreshing works. The pop music revolution led by BackStreet Boys, Queens, The Beetles, Bob Dylan are now masterpieces cherished even after a century. The Rock Revolution by ACDC, Metallica, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd is not just a stroke of genius but more like a legacy. The advent of the internet changed everything for better and for worse at the same time. It saw the emergence of new art forms like music videos, vines, blogging that took over music, art and writing.

It is not to be understood that everything that came with the internet is bad or unoriginal but the need for instant gratification and rapid monetization affected the artistic integrity of their works. The journey to create masterpieces of any art is along and arduous process that involves constant refinement of one’s self but the intense competition has led many to skip this process and make content that is crowd-pleasing. Artist now sees their art as a way to capitalize on the evergrowing advertisement industry backed by the power of billions of internet users and trillions of dollars.

Entrepreneurs saw this raw institution and organized it into rigid organisations run with the sole purpose of generating income. Music that was once open to everyone now became the music industry, it got categorized into genres and music labels with certain big houses controlling the entire industry. Same was the case with writing, where once pieces were written to inspire awe and instigate thinking it now became an industry with publication houses controlling what was printed. These money-spinning organisations killed the creativity and packaged it into mainstream content. Artists that differed had to suffer, their art remained under acknowledged and their works never received the appreciation they deserved. The ones that survived were either forced to retreat to the shadows or were forced to change themselves according to the market needs.

In a nutshell art – that was once an expression of creativity by the creator meant to be admired and capture imagination has now become ‘Intellectual Property’ and among all this, something important was lost, imperfection. Shakespeare was the greatest playwriter of all time not because he had a perfect command over the English language but because he dared to challenge the status quo, he dared to differ. Music is created not with autotune but with the constant jamming in a shady garage. We have to remember that true essence of art lies not in its flawlessness but the little imperfections that scream the fact that we are humans after all.

Reclaim Internet Project

With 2 billion people within their reach, it is easy for extremist groups to spread online hatred quickly and effectively through social media. As Facebook penetrates more and more spheres of social media and acquiring every social media platform there is, it isn’t good news for pacifists around the world as with great reach comes great power and if this power can fall into the wrong hands; with great power would come great destruction.

As we have seen in recent times, with the reports of alleged Russian meddling in US presidential election and the rise of right-wing extremist parties like the conservatives in the UK and the AFD in Germany, it has got the authorities to swing into action and hold social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter accountable and force them to change their content policies but many experts are of the opinion that it would do little good as we can’t expect open platforms to forcefully restrict their reach geographically of ethnically rather it would open up a world of other problems, who controls this mechanism, it’s repercussions on freedom of speech and how do we prevent authorities to misuse it to gain electoral benifits.

What researchers and experts have identified is that simply banning content isn’t enough in this age of information as there will always be someone else saying the same thing somewhere and you cannot stop this menace by simple banning instead when we come across someone who for some reason chose to consume such content we need to provide these vulnerable people with counter-narrative and use the combined power of organic communities and artificial intelligence to counter this problem once and for all.

Keeping all this in mind we at Reclaim Internet Project powered by P2P: Countering violent Extremism by NESA have come with an innovative way to provide a solution. We have developed a chrome extension Flagg.it that will act as a community-powered repository where people can flag online content anywhere over the internet and not only that but within our future prospects is a way to redirect these consumers to sites that offer the other side of the argument made on these sites. We are sure that with enough support and a little bit of hard work we can achieve this monumental feat and when we do we will truly Reclaim the Internet and will be able to flag extremism to fight extremism.

 

Remembering Ayodhya and what it stands for

Ayodhya is a town held sacred for its association with Hindu religion but lately, it has acquired a reputation for being a  cradle of Hindu-Muslim violence and political conflict whose echoes are felt both nationally and internationally. But a less known fact is that Ayodhya has long been known for its inter-faith harmony where it was not odd for a Muslims to visit and donate to a temple or for a Hindu to visit a Muslim shrine.

It was the October of 1990 when LK Advani leader of BJP (then in opposition) organised a yatra, which is considered the most divisive yatra in the history of independent India. He knew that Islamophobia was deeply imbued in the minds of millions of Hindus and all it needed was a spark to set the fire of communal violence ablaze.

It wasn’t just the act of demolishing the mosque, but the attack on the integrity and self-respect of the Muslim community across India that led to communal violence that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of innocent lives. It was a paragon of religious extremism in independent India.

Ayodhya is a perfect example of religious harmony and secularism, owing to its deep culture and history but it also an example of how politicians and religious leaders can sensitize and create an issue out of religious unrest. Even today the attacks on minorities in northern India are proof that the kind of politics Advani supported is still exacting its price even today. No other single issue in independent India has ever created such widespread polarization of public opinion or adversely affected life on ground generating hostility between two groups of citizens.

Indian Police: Brutality or Incompetance

It is more often than not that we hear the cases of police brutality where police mercilessly beat up people in their custody (criminal or innocent is not the matter). In fact, it has become a regular scene in movies and TV shows, where they show the police brutality and dialogues like ‘Police ke dande padenge to sab yaad aa jeaga‘ are portrayed very casually as if police brutality was a norm. It is hard to fathom that in many cases like that of Aarushi Talwar or Rayan International School murder investigation that the law enforcement agency of the largest democracy in the world is so incompetent that it cannot even collect the proper evidence, let alone finding the ‘right’ culprit.

We have to keep in mind that it is not a problem of numbers, our number of police personnel is second only to China, which is acceptable considering the population metrics. The problem with our police force that our policemen/policewomen are overworked, they handle any and every task on the ground from serving court summons to kill stray dogs and all of this work is in addition to the security duty of our ‘VVIPs’. We even ask our police to keep vigil at monuments and collect intel.

Looking at the police structure of different countries, what we need is a proper division of our police force. We need to make departments for every job that comes under the police and there should be clear allotment of duties. The job of a policeman is a thankless job but not an insignificant one. We need to remember that it is because of the hard work of our police officers that this country is still in motion. We thank all our police officers for their tiresome job and we urge the legislature to implement a complete overhaul of our law enforcement.

 

Sexual Violence in India

I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men; they are far superior and always have been.

-William Golding

Women are just as much human and perhaps even more than men. Being human comes with certain rights and privileges, entitlements. To say that women have just as much share in shaping the human civilization as their male counterparts would be an understatement. Women don’t need equal rights, they are equal, period.

The gruesome nature of the recent attacks on women, the high-profile incidents of gangrape of women over the last several years, has led international rights groups to push the newly elected Indian government to act swiftly to mete out justice. Simply condemning these acts would be to overlook the complexity of sexual violence in India, or anywhere else for that matter. While our Prime Minister has already pledged to act on addressing the issue.

If we look at our police system riddled with bureaucratic norms and brimming with corruption is often more of a hurdle to justice. Other times, village leaders often use rape as a punishment for women who are seen as ‘uncultured’. This is why men accused of rape can usually avoid justice if they have the right family connections, tribal, or caste ties.

Perhaps introducing sex education in schools, along with working to nurture sexual maturity from conservative parents and religious leaders can help us to promote a new norm for Indian social interactions based upon the premises of equality and respect. Contrary to the decrees of some religious leaders, culturally sensitive sexual education is possible. Moreover, channelizing sensitivity towards sexual violence of all law enforcement officials might go a long way in addressing the problems of indifference and apathy towards victims of sexual violence.

So summing it all up, we at redivide say that let us draw the boundaries of sexual violence right it is not a fight between Men and women rather it is a fight between a Sexual Abuser and A vulnerable Woman. All men must take a stand; disown the sexual abusers and support the victims of sexual abuse with compassion and dignity. It is amazing what a society can accomplish when it’s women walk toe to toe with men.

Violence in Chachar, Assam

There has been a yet another incident of communal violence in Katigorah in Assam’s Chachar district on Sunday evening when a carcass of a cow was found near a religious institute. As soon as the news of the carcass spread, large crowds from the majority community gathered near the site and they turned violent when a local leader of the All India Democratic Front, Khalil Uddin Majumdaar, went to the site to take stock of the situation. Two police personnel were also injured amid the ruckus and the mob also blocked the NH-6.

If we notice this run of the mill incident and every other similar incident we find one thing common among them all, somebody with a political association is always around when things go south. It is common knowledge that politicians are exhibitionists and will say or do anything to hog limelight. We need to remember that people in almost every community are always peaceful, it is the politicians that instil violence in the otherwise peaceful crowd by making extremist remarks and their remarks are taken seriously by some because it is human nature to believe thing when they come from a higher authority. Come on pacifists, stop this falling prey to these attention mongers and use your senses to raise your voice against them. Redivde the extremists from Hindus and Muslims to Political and Apolitical.

When symbols become more important than people

The national flag, the national animal, the national fruit, national river hell we even have a national microbe! Symbols have always been an important tool for the governments to promote national agendas in public and to distract people from the real issues. We have grown up with the idea that to respect the national symbols is necessary to become a ‘True national’ and people who disrespect the national symbols should be ‘taught’ a lesson.

Recent verdict of our Hon’ble supreme court that made playing the national anthem compulsory in cinema halls across the country just goes to show how misguided our notions of national pride have become. Cinema halls are meant to be a place of relief and light entertainment, not a place to showcase your patriotism. The problem just doesn’t stop at that but some violent extremists take it to next step and thrash people who don’t stand up for the anthem when it is played in the cinema halls. These extremists don’t even spare the women and disabled from this ‘ritual’. In doing so they forget that the citizens of this country are a way more important part of national identity than any song or a flag.

It is the fault of the government that makes use of these symbols to gain votes. We have not even spared the dead from this symbolism game, Dr.Ambedakar has become a representation of the Dalit community and his words and symbols are deliberately thrown around during elections. It is not to be assumed that we are urging the people to disrespect our national symbols but we are simply condemning the use of violence to forcefully display approbation.

It is good that we value our national motifs deeply but the real reason our founding fathers set those symbols was that they signify our true Indian values and should be used to identify India across the globe. In some cases, the government declare national animals and trees that are endangered to make their preservation easy. We need to set our priorities straight, values of a true Indian lie in our compassion and empathy. Everything about being an Indian relates to our ability to accept people and ideas, not songs and flags. We have more important problems like education and corruption at our hands than wasting time on jingoism. It is the duty of us, the pacifists of this country to redivide the nation from patriotic and non-patriotic people to compassionate and callous people. Let us make compassion our national emotion and work hard to keep it in our hearts.

Save the free thinkers

“To be able to think freely isn’t a crime, it’s a gift. A real privilege; one not enjoyed by a vast majority of people globally, unfortunately.”

-Mamur Mustapha

We are a country born out of a revolution and revolutions are created by people who think freely without the constraints of society, race, caste, gender and authority.  These are the people that inculcate the very idea of freedom of thought. The freedom of thought with itself brings freedom of expression and naturally is followed by freedom of religion, education, peaceful protest and so on.

We live in a country that is formed by the very idea of the Freedom of Expression. Freethinkers are at the foundation of this nation. Rabindranath Tagore, the author of our national anthem is an example of what influence the freethinkers hold on governments and why they are considered a threat to a nation if their thoughts are not aligned with the government. Socrates and Giordano Bruno were executed because they were freethinkers, they dared to differ and that has made all the difference.

Now looking at our country and more specifically the state of creative freedom in our country, we won’t be wrong to say that it is in grave danger. Writers, cartoonists, moviemakers and reporters that ‘offend’ a group of people are issued life threats and some of them even lose their lives doing what they are supposed to do.

Take Gauri Lankesh for example, she was a reporter who strongly opposed a certain set of political ideologies and the parties that followed those ideologies; the validity of her convictions is not of the question here but the fact that she was murdered because she upset the wrong people. Organisations, people and associations all over the country condemned this and even rallied against it, what impact it had is of little importance but the fact that these acts have become more prevalent in recent years. Another recent example is the entire row over the movie Padmavati that has taken a turn for worse when people and especially one insignificant group ‘Karni Sena’ are making violent protests against a movie; claiming it hurts the sentiments of the Rajput community by distorting the facts regarding a fictional character ‘Rani Padmavati’. The mere fact that people can issue life threats and bounties to behead people in public should rock your senses and send shivers down your spine.

The solution to this menace is that the authorities should listen to the woes of the creative community and uphold the law above all because as they say “without the rule of law we are no different from savages”. The elected officials should for once give more importance to something other than getting re-elected and make way for creative freedom and take a stand.  Nextly the peace-loving people of this country should raise their voice and generate enough momentum to make a significant difference.

We need to remember that art of any form has been a medium to influence and mobilize mass support throughout history. Art is a tool when it comes to establishing a state that has social welfare at its heart because a society with creative freedom is the one that prospers. While the stick can be used in place of expression, words will always retain their power. Art of any form offers inspiration and to those who admire it the reason to live.

 

Redivide

Pacifism is the idea of using non-violence to fight violence. It is a belief that war and violence are unjustifiable under any circumstance. It is a great concept for creative welfare but not so much for social welfare. A major chunk of every society has people who believe in pacifism and because pacifism is based on non-violence it is intrinsically a passive belief rather than an active one. It urges people to not do anything rather than to do something.

What we want to accomplish by our campaign is that we want to promote active Pacifism,  we acknowledge that societal differences and boundaries exist but we urge the people to draw them right.

All acts of extremist violence occur between two or more extremists who just happen to hold different and often conflicting religious or political ideologies. If enough people from their respective communities disassociate themselves from these extremists we will be left with only two kinds of people; Pacifists and extremists.

We at redivide do not say that people should not hold convictions but rather should use more sophisticated, peaceful and intellectual ways to showcase their beliefs. Everybody has a right to believe in something and to persuade other people to see their point but we should be ready to accept other ideas too.

Come on pacifists, take a stand and make a difference. Only two things wrong with this world are Extremist Violence and Pacifist silence.