It is a disorienting time. I have been reading the revolutionary poets these days. Gorakh Pandey, Faiz, Amrita Pritam, Anna Akhmatova, Rahat Indori. I revisited a recording of Zeeshan Ayyub reading political poems at an old ‘Mumbai Collective’ event. Many had heard these now popular lines for the first time:
“Sabhi ka khoon hain shamil yahan ki mitti mein,
kisi ka baap ka hindustan thodi hain”
I had shared that recording and the entire poem when commemorating the demise of Rahat Indori saab. You could read the post here. I apologise to those who are not able to access the poetry because it’s in hindi. I will attempt a translation soon.
In the recent past I have seen unnatural drops in numbers every time there is a “political post”. Well it is difficult to be silent. The conscience doesn’t allow it. This page promised to be an evolving archive of the present. This is all one can do, to deliver on that promise. There are others who have to pay with their lives, for speaking up. At least, one can be a witness? a sensitive witness…
I met an old friend from my college the other day. She told me a story so horrifying that I asked her if she could put into words. I share an extract below:
Ten years ago, I participated in a conversation between a senior RSS ideologue and a Phd scholar from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The conversation was about “re-converting” the educational institution. The word “ghar waapsi” was thrown around, and the right wing guy was cursing “Marxist” professors who corrupted “young eager minds” of the students at TISS. He was a suave type of guy - ‘intellectual’:
“We have already started the work. JNU will be ours soon. TISS will also come back home eventually”.
The man was referring to the work going on in different educational institutions across the country, to install administrators whose ideological moorings reflected that of the RSS and BJP.
The news of the installation of Dhirendra Pal Singh as Chancellor, TISS, completes the circle. The RSS has delivered on its promise to its kar sevaks.
Most reports about the newly instated TISS head note that D. P. Singh is the Ex UGC chairman (2018-2021). He was also vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Dr. H.S. Gour University, Sagar, and Devi Ahilya University. The absence of his most prestigious posting, however, in the extant reportage is significant. In 2022, Singh was appointed education adviser to UP CM Yogi Adityanath. The CM’s office claimed that the move was made to effectively implement the National Education Policy in the state’s schools and colleges. This is yet another data point in the mysterious affiliations of administrators who have been named Vice Chancellors, as Lok Sabha Polls take place across the country.
A few days ago Aligarh Muslim University appointed its first Woman Vice Chancellor Prof. Naima Khatoon. A report from The Wire details the controversy surrounding Khatoon’s appointment. After the tenure of the ex VC Tariq Mansoor ended in 2023, Mohammed Gulrez, Khatoon’s husband has been acting VC. The report also notes that Khatoon’s appointment has been mired in controversy, since Gulrez chaired a critical meeting which shortlisted Khatoon and two other candidates for the post. Recently a vitriolic smear campaign by Op India culminated in the sacking of a Principle by the administration.
Mumbai goes to vote in a few days, and some faculty/staff are required to do ‘sarkari duty’. TISS is the foremost social work institute in the country. I am stating facts, nothing else.
We are at the cusp of a wave. This time the ripples are outward in. As the noose tightens, students and activists will find creative forms of agitating. I hope we practice humility. I hope we learn from our friends and humkhyaals across the world - from students in American Universities, and elsewhere, raising their voices for Palestine. We have been doing this for a while. The fight is in our blood, now.
Victims of narcissistic trauma teach themselves a dictum: Never Forget. No matter what they say - remember. Public memory is the only thing that can bring a tyrant down.
I share with you something I wrote some years ago, after witnessing young Muslim youth being picked up from Jama Masjid. They were told they were being dropped to their homes, and instead, they were carted to various lockups in the city. It was a long night, and the realisation of utter and complete helplessness was paralysing. I wrote to ground experience then. Forgive me, this is all one could do…
I hope you are finding the space to write, to dream, and to resist.
If you like what you read, do consider ‘buying me a coffee’
Gaslight!
60 years ago I wrote:
Everything was white at first
Later they filled in the shadows.
"In the recent past I have seen unnatural drops in numbers every time there is a “political post”. Well it is difficult to be silent. The conscience doesn’t allow it."
Nuff said.