Land of Lime

Dear Readers, it has been somewhat frustrating to merely comment on everyday faltu matters, be it the recent Reservations struggle in India or Immigration and other assorted battles here in America. Some of my recent notes on Rajkumar films, Kannada writers and geneal history themes have not found their way here. It is also not easy to remain silent on these matters, because quite often what our Pundits and writers have to say is very disappointing. Anyway, it is time to return to more substantial concerns, even in a blog.

But let me link the following two artciles and also vent a little. The first is Arundhati Roy’s recent interview by Amy Goodman in Democracy Now. It was a very frustrating read and this morning I was thinking about reproducing several paragraphs from this hour long interview and annotate / comment on them. I admire Roy’s courage and commitment to many progressive causes. I am with her when she says no state or country should make or possess nuclear arms. I am also in broad agreement with many of her fundamental positions. But her arguments are often loose and exaggerated. I am not sure what she means when she claims India is not a democracy or Supreme Court micromanages our lives by dictating what we should have for lunch. Well, I made up the lunch part but in the true Roy spirit. The point is I don’t know what she means by democracy. I am not sure whether any country is a democracy by the standards she has. While I am not one of those ‘patriotic’ Indians who is offended by statements such as tens of thousands of farmers are committing suicide in India, the exaggeration bothers me. Farmers commit suicide and as a society, we should be ashamed even if one farmer commits suicide. But should we pull a number out of our hats? Roy often talks about many districts in Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh being taken over by Naxal activists, who do not allow state officials to enter into that district. There is a hyperbolic clarity in her exaggerated statements but whether they are accurate or reflective of any on the ground situation is a different question.

Anyway, I don’t know what to do with it.

On a slightly different note, Harish Khare recently wrote an interesting OPED piece in the Hindu on the inability of the political parties to influence public opinion.

Most political parties, especially the two centrist parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, no longer can be deemed to have the street fighters and the instruments to influence how the masses formulate their thinking and reflexes.

This painful reality has become acutely evident in the current rigmarole over the reservation controversy. While the political parties have remained mute spectators, a handful of individuals, assorted groups and voices have succeeded in creating an impression of a nationwide backlash against the proposed quotas for the backward classes. Egged on by the electronic media, the anti-reservation groups have run away with the controversy ball. Granted, those opposing any change in the status quo are better educated, better skilled, better financed, and are armed with mobile phones, and therefore can generate a louder scream; still, the total silence of the political parties is both baffling and revealing. (emphasis mine)

Khare points out how political parties seem to unable to create and influence public opinion. One could also include writers and intellectuals to that group.