Category Archives: South Asia Bulletin

Dalit writer returns national awards

South Asia Bulletin

From thehindu.com

‘We should protect our heart, brain and eyes from religious fundamentalism’

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Devanur Mahadeva says his intention is to communicate to the government at the Centre that the issue of intolerance is pan-Indian. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Devanur Mahadeva says his intention is to communicate to the government at the Centre that the issue of intolerance is pan-Indian. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Devanur Mahadeva to return Padma Shri, akademi award in protest against ‘growing intolerance’

After eminent scientist P.M. Bhargava, Kannada writer Devanur Mahadeva has become the second person to return the prestigious Padma award in protest against “growing intolerance” in India.

He also happens to be the second Kannada writer to return a Padma award, the first being the late K. Shivaram Karanth who returned the Padma Bhushan in 1975 in protest against the imposition of the Emergency. Mr. Mahadeva, author of the celebrated novella Kusuma Bale and an eminent public intellectual, received Padma Shri in 2011 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990.

He spoke to The Hindu on Saturday on what spurred him to return the awards now. Excerpts from the interview:

When many others were returning awards protesting killing of M.M. Kalburgi and Dadri lynching, you were silent. What made you to return the awards now?

When others returned awards, I restrained myself much against my nature. But, I was shocked when some writers and artists organised themselves in support of the ruling government. Disgusted with the development, I decided to return the award… Religious fundamentalism first removes the eyes of its own people and renders them blind. It makes them irrational by numbing their brain. It makes them inhuman, forcing them to seek human sacrifices. With increase in intolerance in society, it is the responsibility of all those who believe in human values to protect the eyes, brain and heart of our children.

What message is your gesture of returning the Padma award sending out?

My intention is to communicate to the government at the Centre that the issue is pan-Indian. Freedom of expression and tolerance were the values ensured by the Constitution after the country gained Independence. But the ruling government is passing the buck to the State governments by saying that incidents such as Dadri lynching and killing for ideological differences are State subject. I consider this as the greatest tragedy the country has witnessed. I want to state that this attitude is resulting in increase in intolerance and violence.

Don’t you think returning awards is mere symbolism?

Of course, it is a symbolic gesture by the writers and intellectuals who are shocked by the recent developments. But symbolism has made an impact both nationally and globally. Processions and agitations would not have attracted the same attention. The response points to the fact that there is value for reaction of sensitive people in the country.

What is your reaction to the controversy over Girish Karnad’s statement on Tipu Sultan?

Intolerance in society, perceived to be dormant, has flared up with this controversy. However, I am of the opinion that Karnad should not have referred to the issue, considering the growing intolerance in the State. At the same time, there was no need for various forces to attack Karnad in a violent manner. If Karnad had said it at an earlier time, it would not have become an issue at all.

Political leaders such as H.D. Kumaraswamy have sought to know why in the first place you accepted the Padma award?

(Smiles) By accepting the award, I got an opportunity to return it and draw the attention of the country towards the issue! It has come in handy. I appeal to Mr. Kumaraswamy not to get upset with me for accepting awards.

British writers call on government to challenge Modi

South Asia Bulletin
BBC

Writers urge David Cameron to challenge Indian PM over freedom of speech

  • 12 November 2015

 

Salman Rushdie, Val McDermid and Ian McEwanImage copyrightAFP/Getty/PA
Image captionSalman Rushdie, Val McDermid and Ian McEwan are among the writers expressing concern

More than 200 writers including Salman Rushdie, Val McDermid and Ian McEwan have called on David Cameron to address India’s “rising climate of fear” with its Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An open letter has been published by Pen International as Mr Modi flies into the UK for a three-day visit.

The writers have expressed concern over the “growing intolerance and violence towards critical voices” in India.

They want to urge Mr Modi to “safeguard freedom of expression”.

The letter has been signed by hundreds of members and supporters of Pen International’s centres in England, Scotland and Wales, including Nikita Lalwani, Henry Marsh, Hari Kunzru, Neel Mukherjee and Owen Sheers.

It urges the British prime minister to raise the “crucial” issue with Mr Modi both “publicly and privately” during his visit, where plans include addressing parliament, visiting the Queen and staying at Chequers.

Prime Minister Narendra ModiImage copyrightReuters
Image captionModi, seen here addressing a rally in Srinagar earlier this month, will be in the UK for three days

The letter highlights threats made to writers who have “challenged orthodoxy or fundamentalism in India”, and the murders of three intellectuals – Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar – in the last two years.

Recently at least 40 Indian novelists, poets and playwrights have returned prizes awarded by India’s National Academy of Letters in protest over the organisation’s silence on the attacks.

They criticised the academy’s failure to speak up and challenge the government to “demonstrate tolerance and protect free speech” and the “deteriorating political environment in which those expressing dissent have been attacked by government ministers”.

The letter concludes: “In line with the United Kingdom’s stated commitment to promoting human rights, we ask that you raise the above issues with Prime Minister Modi and urge him to provide better protection for writers, artists and other critical voices and ensure that freedom of speech is safeguarded.

“Without these protections a democratic, peaceful society is not possible.”

Downing Street has yet to respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Bhargava returns Padma Bhushan

South Asia Bulletin

 

From thehundu.com

HYDERABAD, November 12, 2015

P.M. Bhargava sends back Padma Bhushan award to President

Founder-director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) P.M. Bhargava has returned his Padma Bhushan to Presdient. - Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar.
The Hindu

Founder-director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) P.M. Bhargava has returned his Padma Bhushan to Presdient. – Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar.

 This award has been very dear to me. My returning it to you, for whom I have much respect and admiration, is an expression of my concern at the currently prevailing socio-politico situation in the country, said Mr. Bhargava.

Well-known scientist and founder-director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) P.M. Bhargava has returned the Padma Bhushan award, received by him in 1986, to President Pranab Mukherjee in protest against the direction in which “today’s Government run by the BJP is driving the country”.

Mr. Bhargava sent the award to the President on November 6. Explaining the reasons for his decision to return the award, he said in a letter to Mr. Mukherjee: “it is with much regret that I am, with this letter, returning the award of Padma Bhushan that I had the privilege of receiving in 1986 from the then President of India, Shri Giani Zail Singh. This award has been very dear to me. My returning it to you, for whom I have much respect and admiration, is an expression of my concern at the currently prevailing socio-politico situation in the country. I am deeply concerned that the Bharatiya Janata Party which is ruling at the Centre and several States, has deserted the road of democracy and is driving my beloved country on a path that would make the country a Hindu religious autocracy, somewhat like Pakistan with Islam replaced by Hinduism”.

He said “no one would be more aware than you that, de facto, BJP is the political front of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and functions under the leadership of the RSS that is fully committed to the ideology of Hindutva, which I find divisive, unreasonable and unscientific”.

Referring to the Constitution (Article 51 a(h)), he said that one of the duties of citizens was to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. He said: “Steeped in superstition, unreason and irrationality, much of what RSS and BJP do goes against the grain of scientific temper. An example would be the recent statement of Shri Mohan Bhagwat, who heads the RSS, that marriage is a contract according to which the woman is supposed to be only a housewife and not work outside”.

Dr. Bhargava said “The Dadri incident in which Mohamed Akhlaq was lynched to death in a pre-planned manner (probably by fringe elements that are related to BJP) showed the control that BJP wants to have on what we may eat and what we may not, just as it wants to control what we may wear or whom we may love or what we may read.”

“Incidentally, our scriptures put no bar on our eating beef. Charaka Samhita says: “The flesh of the cow is beneficial for those suffering from the loss of flesh due to disorders caused by an excess of vayu, rhinitis, irregular fever, dry cough, fatigue and also in cases of excessive appetite resulting from hard manual work”.

He also expressed his concern that the space for dissent, “which is the hallmark of a democracy is decreasing and intolerance increasing. Minorities are made to feel that they are second class citizens of the country. There are organised attempts to impose Hindutva agenda across the country. Cultural intolerance is a dominant element in the functioning of the present government”, he said.

Stating that he was a professional scientist with an experience of 65 years, he mentioned that he had the occasion of interacting on matters of science with the governments at the Centre since Independence. “I find the present government the least knowledgeable and least concerned about science. The climate of religious conservatism that we have today is a major obstacle in the functioning of science and thus in meeting developmental objectives”, he added.

Women take on Tatas

South Asia Bulletin

From BBC

The Indian women who took on a multinational and won

Justin RowlattSouth Asia correspondent
  • 19 October 2015
  • From the section India
Tea workers in IndiaImage copyrightGetty Images
Image captionThe women have taken on not only the company that employs them but also the trade unions supposed to represent them

This is the story of an extraordinary uprising, a movement of 6,000 barely educated women labourers who took on one of the most powerful companies in the world.

In a country plagued by sexism they challenged the male-dominated world of trade unions and politics, refusing to allow men to take over their campaign.

And what’s more, they won.

You may well have enjoyed the fruits of their labour. The women are tea pickers from the beautiful south Indian state of Kerala. They work for a huge plantation company, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations, which is part-owned and largely controlled by the Indian multinational, Tata, the owner of Tetley Tea.

The spark that ignited the protest was a decision to cut the bonus paid to tea pickers, but its roots go much deeper than that.

Going solo

Tea workers in India are not well treated.  When I investigated the industry in Assam last month I found living and working conditions so bad, and wages so low, that tea workers and their families were left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses.

It seems conditions in Kerala are not much different.

Part of the women’s complaint is that they live in one-bed huts without toilets and other basic amenities and, while they earn significantly more than the tea workers in Assam, they say the 230 rupees (£2.30; $3.50) they are paid for a day’s work is half what a daily wage labourer in Kerala would get.

Women tea workers in IndiaImage copyrightAFP
Image caption“We pick the tea and carry the bags on our shoulders, you carry off the money bags”

But when, in early September, the women in Kerala demanded the bonus be reinstated – along with a hike in daily wages and better living conditions – it was not just a challenge to the company that employs them, but also to the trade unions that are supposed to represent them.

The women workers say the male trade union leaders are in cahoots with the company management, denying women their entitlements while ensuring they get the plum jobs themselves.

When tea prices collapsed a few years back, and some estate owners abandoned their plantations, the women argue that trade union leaders always managed to keep their jobs.

They also say that the trade unions haven’t done enough to stop their men from drinking away their earnings without regard for their children’s education or the medical needs of their families.

And they showed that they could launch an effective protest without the help of the trade unions.

‘Women’s Unity’

When 6,000 women occupied the main road to the headquarters of the plantation company it was organised by the women themselves, most of whom have no history of union agitation.

They called themselves “Pempilai Orumai”, or women’s unity.

In effect the women laid siege to the Munnar, one of Kerala’s most popular tourist destinations. Trade and tourism were brought to a near standstill.

Many slogans were directed squarely at the union leaders. “We pick the tea and carry the bags on our shoulders, you carry off the money bags,” read one. “We live in tin sheds, you enjoy bungalows,” said another.

Women tea workers listen as an unseen NGO worker speaksImage copyrightAFP
Image captionA group of semi-literate women had taken on the most powerful interests in the state and won.

When male trade union leaders tried to join the protest they were chased away. The women attacked one former trade union leader with their sandals. He had to be rescued by the police.

In another incident they tore down the flag poles outside the trade union offices.

They also saw off local politicians who wanted to be seen offering their support.

The women insisted they would continue the protest until their demands were met.

At first the plantation company was defiant but, after nine days of protest and marathon negotiations overseen by the chief minister of the state, it gave in.

It was a stunning victory: a group of semi-literate women had taken on the most powerful interests in the state and won.

The women had represented the workforce at the talks and forced management to accept their demand to bring back the 20% bonus. Meanwhile the male trade union leaders had to swallow their pride and sign the deal the women had negotiated.

Nothing to lose

But the battle isn’t over yet.

The issue of the pay rise was to be negotiated separately and, when the women’s demand for an increase in wages wasn’t met, the unions launched an indefinite campaign to raise rates from 232 rupees to 500 rupees a day.

In part this was an attempt to seize the initiative back, following the success of the women’s campaign.

Women tea workers balance bags of plucked leaves on their headsImage copyrightAFP
Image caption“We won’t allow anyone to exploit us. Enough is enough.”

The women have refused to be part of the union effort and launched their own independent demand for higher wages.

Earlier this month some male union activists are alleged to have attacked the women’s demonstration by throwing rocks. Six people suffered minor injuries.

But the women are determined to continue. “We have nothing to lose”, Lissy Sunny, one of the leaders of Pempilai Orumai, told the Indian news website Catch.

“Hunger and suffering are part of our lives. We don’t care even if we starve to death.

“But we won’t allow anyone to exploit us. Enough is enough.”