Category: Enough said

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What makes JNU special?

A new book on the making of JNU details its history, inception and the campus life of a bygone era.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Every time I visit the sprawling campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, I have wondered why people have ever moved outside it. It is a wonderful place, and is well-connected, too. There is less chaos and more greenery, complete with well-defined roads that lead you to your destination without confusion.

To a casual visitor, the JNU campus is an extension of a dreamy academic getaway, set in calm environs. Sure, the calm is somewhat shattered by stray dogs holding forth at every corner and road crossing, but otherwise, the place is heavenly.

Many like me have often wondered what it is about JNU that makes it stand out from others. If you’ve wondered the same thing, it might be a good time to pick up this new book, JNU: The Making of A University, by JNU academic Dr Dr Rakesh BatabyalRakesh Batabyal (in pic on right). It carries a new insight into the very inception of this university and shines a light on lesser-known truths.

I ask Dr Batabyal why he decided to put together this book. He says, “I do not know at what point of time I began writing this book. It was most probably the words of a dear colleague, Richa Malhotra that motivated me to look deeper into the university whose air I breathed every day.”

He adds that he realised that the university required a “special historiographical treatment” as his research progressed. “A historian’s account, I realised, needed to be approximate to that larger canvas of the institution and at the same time, not allowing little histories to be treated merely as reflections of real big entities.”

Last week, at a discussion on this volume at the India International Centre, many unknown facts about JNU came to the fore. We learnt about the first vice chancellor, to the then political ideologies, the campus life of those times. However, the history of the university is captured only till about 1989. Since that is the year that Dr Batabyal had joined JNU, he probably did not want his personal views to trickle into the text.

(Pictures courtesy admissions.jnu.ac.in, www.thehindu.com. Images are file pictures.)

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Enough said

Starving farmers, and children being sold

We’re reaching an impasse as far as solving the problem of ruined farmlands and dying farmers goes – and nobody cares.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Murders, killings and riots over rotis…all of these have taken place in our country in the past, but at the moment, considering the condition of the affected farmlands all over the country, there are signs of even worse things to happen in the  days ahead.

It is estimated that 94 lakh hectares of crop area across 14 States over the past three months have been affected. In Uttar Pradesh, 29.64 lakh hectares of crop area was affected last year. In Haryana, it was 22.24 lakh hectares, while Rajasthan fared slightly better at 16.89 lakh hectares. Figures for other States (in lakh hectares) are 9.89 for Maharashtra, 5.70 for Madhya Pradesh, 2.94 for Punjab, 1.75 for Gujarat, 1.33 for J&K, 0.67 for Himachal Pradesh, 0.49 for West Bengal, 0.39 for Uttarakhand and 0.1 for Telangana and Kerala.

There are two points to consider. One, the condition of India’s farmers has reached pathetic levels. Hundreds have already died and many more could be dying – some of suicides, the rest of starvation. There are talks of compensation for these farmers, but the promised money never comes. A serious Government would have distributed the relief money cheques ages ago. Going by television news report, the compensation money does not even match the gravity of the loss. There are pictures on social media of Rs 2 cheques issued to distressed farmers – where crops worth lakhs of rupees perished overnight…

The other point is this: rising inflation, scarcity of grain and talks of inadequate monsoon this year is likely to kill thousands in the country this year. But have you noticed how immune we are to the news reports of parched lands and starving people? Are we soon reaching a stage where we will sell our own children to buy food? Recently, I watched a chilling news report about baby girls being bought from a Government-run orphanage in rural Telangana. Are we heading towards a time when we will willingly trade and traffic our newborns to fill our stomachs?

The poverty beaters

It seems that the only way out is to survive on one’s skills. A recently released book Breaking Through – India’s Stories Of Beating The Odds on Poverty, Meera Mitraauthored by Kolkata-based sociologist Meera Mitra (in pic on right), suggests that those who have fought poverty are able to get through any crisis in life.

I asked Meera if we were actually ‘developed’ as a nation, to which she replied that the present time is a mixed bag as far as social indicators are concerned. “ Indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) are down from previous times, but there is the damning sex ratio which has fallen to a dramatic low of 918 in 2011. Other indicators are also hopelessly off track for the Millenium Development Goals,” she says.

“The important thing is, with deepening democracy, no party or Government can afford to ignore issues of food security and environment. There is a traditional trade-off between environment and industrialisation but with a greater consciousness and commitment to global dialogue. With the possibility of new technology, that schism can hopefully be offset somewhat while offering a better standard of life,” she adds.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy m.thehindu.com, www.gg2.net. Featured image used for representational purpose only)

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Enough said

Mass murders destined for pages of a diary…

The recent development in the Hashimpura murders of 1987 has led one to believe that there’s no countering State-sponsored violence.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

It is painful to even think of this subject, but think about it we must. For those survivors who witnessed the May 1987 massacre of 42 innocent Muslim men at the hands of Uttar Pradesh PAC cops in Meerut’s Hashimpura locality, these last 28 years must have been a torture of a different sort. The country is pained, disgusted and angry that the 16 cops accused of killing those young Muslims have been acquitted by a Delhi court – for lack of evidence!

This is just another instance of State-sponsored mass murders getting brushed aside so casually, it boggles the imagination. Maybe the incident will remain forever tucked away in the pages of a survivor’s diary, to probably be destroyed (if found) by vested interests. I would expect that by now, at least a couple of books on the incident would find their way to publishing houses, but that hasn’t happened. I suppose we have stopped reacting to State-sponsored terror.

“The judge tried hard to persuade me to withdraw the petition and suggested I move to Allahabad. I refused. That judge later became the first Chairman of India’s Human Rights Commission.”

Activist lawyer ND Pancholi says that Nandita Haksar had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 1987 on behalf of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), praying for the investigation into the Hashimpura incident and payment of adequate compensation for the victims. She had argued the case in person and the Supreme Court was constrained to award an amount, albeit nominal, for Rs 20,000 per victim. She has mentioned this case in her book, Framing Gilani, Hanging Afzal – Patriotism in the time of terror (2007).

I quote from the book, “And no one has apologised to the people of Meerut’s Hashimpura in May 1987. It was Syed Shahabuddin Sahib who had requested me to go to Meerut and intervene. He told me about the 33 men who were picked up by the PAC and taken to Murad Nagar and shot one by one near Ganga Nehar. I filed the writ as a petitioner in person (on behalf of PUDR) before the Supreme Court. The judge tried hard to persuade me to withdraw the petition and suggested I move to Allahabad. I refused. That judge later became the first Chairman of India’s Human Rights Commission. No one has been punished for those murders so far. It is not even on the agenda of any political party.”

What are your thoughts on the Hashimpura case? Do let us know in the comments below.

Humra Quraishi is a senior journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy muslimmirror.com)

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Urdu for the soul

A recent study proves that reading Urdu and Urdu couplets could aid brain development, even help in staving off dementia.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Will our politics never settle down? Are we condemned to be in a constant state of flux? Going by what is happening in Delhi and Kashmir, one would have to agree that things are not going well for the country. One trend to emerge from all of this is the new ‘fashion’ of politicians going on retreats, either to introspect or to get back their health. So while Rahul Gandhi ‘retreated’ to introspect on the future of the Congress party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal decided to get away from the capital to help settle his blood sugar levels. Every day we are entertained with pictures of him in the media, either practicing yoga or some natural remedy for his cough and cold, so at least it seems he is getting what he signed up for.

Arvind’s battle with diabetes will be a much simpler one, I’m afraid, than the battle of facing what is happening in the AAP at the moment. Brewing revolt, too many ambitious party members and a host of information leaks are plaguing the AAP. While Delhi watches in suspense about development unfolding every day, there is another battle brewing in Jammu and Kashmir, where opportunism recently joined hands and came to power. Till last autumn, I noticed that the saffron brigade was flourishing only in the Pampore region of the Kashmir Valley, but now it seems to be spreading everywhere. The BJP has not been able to grab any plum ministries in the State Government, but the RSS has now got an opportunity to spread its network. Don’t be surprised if, within a year, you hear of RSS shakhas and RSS-run schools spring up in the Kashmir Valley. The saffron will go much beyond Pampore from now on.

Moving on from these mind-boggling developments to some mind-clearing ones.

A recent study by the Lucknow-based Centre for Biomedical Researches (CBMR) reveals that Urdu can save our brains. Published in a recent edition of the international journal, ‘Neuroscience Letters’, the study states that reading the Urdu script and Urdu couplets helps in brain development. It is a detailed report that outlines how reading Urdu couplets and reciting them helps in controlling emotions, cope with stress and even delay dementia. It is also helpful for children with learning disabilities.

This means that reading Urdu could have large implications for one’s mental faculties. What’s more, Urdu couplets are steeped in passing and romance, so reading them is doubly enjoyable!

I would go as far as suggesting that Urdu be introduced as one of the prime languages in our primary schools, however, I am also aware of how this sentiment will be attacked with communal propaganda. But why see Urdu as a language of the Musalmaans of this country? Let State Governments introduce it in schools as a pilot project and let every child, irrespective of religion, learn to read it. There is nothing religious about Urdu, just as there is nothing religious about any language. Urdu derives many of its words and phrases from different languages such as Hindi, Braj, Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic. In that sense, it is a connecting language – and in today’s times, don’t we all need that connection with each other?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.theguardian.com)

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The SAARC Writers Meet – a round-up

A meeting for writers from all the SAARC countries concluded recently in Agra, and had several prominent persons in attendance.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I have just returned from the SAARC Literature Festival held in Agra. It was a great getaway from Delhi’s frenetic pace, compounded by a harsh winter. I was glad to head to this meet of writers and poets and academics from our country and from the other SAARC countries – Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

We landed at Agra on Thursday evening and after the usual formalities – the inaugural and interactive sessions – the meet took off. For me, however, the interaction had started much earlier with the Afghan writers and poets who were my co-passengers on the plane heading towards Agra. I was pleasantly surprised to see at least six Afghan women in this group, with a couple of them speaking fluent English.

When we reached Agra, it was great to meet friends from all across the country and outside. One of the positives of such meets is that one can freely interact with people from other countries without a hint of tension and hectic schedules coming in the way. Many academics who we ordinarily see only on television were there in the flesh – Ashis Nandy, Rajmohan Gandhi, Alok Bhalla, Om Thanvi, Suneet Chopra. Though all of them spoke about issues concerning them at the moment, the most vocal was Om Thanvi, as also Ziya-us-Salam, academic and journalist and the senior deputy editor of The Hindu.

Also present were two of our well-known poetesses, Ambala-based Paul Kaur and the New Delhi-based Tarannum Riyaz. I was also glad to meet Bangladeshi writer Selina Hossain (I had met her almost eight years ago at another SAARC writers meet), who has not changed at all. There is something serene and modest about Selina – the 67-year-old writer has authored 36 novels, 13 anthologies of short stories, 27 children’s books, 10 anthologies of essays and heads several organisations. While we were chatting, we were joined by Nepal Bhupen Vyakul, and the topic drifted to the extent of freedom a writer could indulge in. She was rather categorical in stating that “there is nothing called ‘absolute freedom’ for a writer or for any creative head, and words should not hurt or become the cause of disaster.”

The group from Pakistan stood out, especially with their ‘malangs’, the whirling darveshs from Lahore. I was thrilled with poet Nasir Ali Syed, and as I heard his verse, it became increasingly clear why his writing is so popular in Pakistan. He has a definite way with words and his verse leaves a mark?

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Of flying chariots and other ‘scientific’ claims

If the claims in the recent Indian Science Congress were to be believed, ancient India had invented and discovered everything.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I don’t understand this. If India was really as evolved as all that, where did all the knowledge go? Worse still, why are we such an unevolved species now, when we have technology at our fingertips?

I have been following news reports about the Indian Science Congress held recently in Mumbai, and I am amused and bewildered by turns. The scientists attending this Congress must have been even more bewildered by the goings-on.

Here’s why. If the claims made during this event are anything to go by, the India of yore achieved the unimaginable. Take flying, for starters. As per one claim, Indians had flying devices that not just roamed the skies from one end of the universe to the other, they also hopped planets and were able to fly sideways and backwards. And here we are in present-day India, our flights stalled for hours and passengers stranded when their standard issue plane is able to fly in no direction, including flying forward.

Then somebody else spoke with authority of ancient Indian doctors performing miracle cures and conducting the most advanced surgeries with basic tools.

A Lucknow-based scientist said India knew about America years before Columbus supposedly discovered it in the 15th Century. According to the scientist, not just India, but all of Asia was aware of America long before Columbus. (I wonder who will break the news to US President Barack Obama when he arrives here for the R-Day celebrations).

And then I began to wonder, if we were all that wonderful in the ancient years, at what point did we start losing this information? How is it possible that entire generations became slowly ignorant of their predecessors’ great discoveries and inventions? Surely there must be some record in existence somewhere that documents all these ‘facts’ that were laid out at the Congress? Where is the proof that all this happened?

And assuming that all of this was true, it is a shameful state of affairs that today, we are unable to solve murders that are years old. We cannot contain our pollution levels and we have no concept of population control. We don’t know how to treat our old parents and we are shamelessly sycophantic of moneyed people. Despite so many different industries opening up today, we still push our children into studying either medicine or engineering.

So what is the truth? Were we really such an astonishingly intelligent civilisation? So why are we such buffoons now?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.niticentral.com)

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