NOONTIME UPDATE: a very different version of the events below, was presented on the pages of the New York Times today, titled Free Speech Ends Where Sedition Begins. Written by a Member of Parliament from the BJP party (same as Narendra Modi).
Do yo want a break from American primary season? Want to learn about a progressive movement taking place in a sort of alternate universe? I don’t normally dive into the complexities of politics in India. Learning about the pre-Byzantine politics of Nepal is complicated enough….. but this time I couldn’t resist. So, if you have a passport and a visa, join me for a quick trip. To Delhi.
The Short Version
Jawaharlal Nehru University is the Berkeley of India, with a long history of student activism and “leftism.”
The Modi government (the BJP) is considered to be “right-leaning” since one of the underpinnings is Hindu Fundamentalism.
There have been recent student demonstrations in favor of breaking down “Brahminism and Casteism.” In particular, the crowd did some chanting at a large rally about a month ago ( the date is fuzzy to me...) Here is an audio tape. Please note that somebody set it to a rap beat:
The elected student leader of JNU is Kanhaiya Kumar and he was arrested and put in jail February 19th for “anti-national sentiments.” There is a hashtag #JNUcrackdown to sample, and among other things, I note that the government hastened to announce that 3,000 condoms are used per day at the JNU campus, in an effort to build public sentiment against the morality of the students. Mr. Kumar was in jail for nineteen days, charged with “sedition." He is now out on bail, and after his release, he went straight to the JNU campus, where he delivered an impassioned speech.
Naturally it began by leading the crowd in chanting.
The full text of Mr. Kumar’s speech has been published by “The Wire.”
Just one excerpt:
You who don’t want these voices to come together, I want to remind you of what Babasaheb said – political democracy is not enough. Well, we will establish social democracy. That is why we speak of the constitution repeatedly. Lenin said, ‘Democracy is indispensable to socialism’. We speak of democracy, freedom of expression, equality and socialism so that a time may come when the son of a peon and the son of a president can study together.
This voice of struggle they want to choke. Science says the more you press down, the more pressure builds up. But then these people have nothing to do with science for studying science is not the same as being scientific. But if a dialogue could be established with people who are engaged in the quest to build a climate of scientific temper then we will surely wrest the freedoms that we are fighting for in this very country: freedom from hunger and poverty, exploitation and injustice, and securing the rights of Dalits, adivasis, women and minorities. That we will secure this freedom in this country through this very constitution, this very parliament and this very judicial process, is our dream. This was the dream of Babasaheb. And this was the dream that our comrade Rohith dreamed. from: http://thewire.in/2016/03/04/english-translation-kanhaiya-kumars-electrifying-speech-at-jnu-23820/
Here is the actual video. it’s in Hindi, and fortunately this one has English subtitles.
The speaker vehemently denies that he is secessionist or that the students ever were secessionist. You can see for yourself what he says.
There is now a stream of analysis from India, looking at whether this is a challenge to the Modi government, and how far it is likely to go. Somewhere along the way, the analysis included a comparison between events in India as opposed to free speech in USA, titled “Why the USA can't be a fig leaf for India's Crackdown on dissent" . They asked the provocative question as to whether a chant in favor of Osama Bin Laden would have been tolerated at an American University. This line was repeated in the NY Time editorial. I think the NY Times is also trying a handle on this.
Um, certainly not if it was a Trump rally….. I can't think of one place in this whole country where anybody would even consider it, let alone carry it out.... but - Oy Vey!
I was struck by the idealism, as well as the seemingly impromptu nature of the speech. No teleprompter in sight. This guy is an amazing orator.
Inviting comments
I travelled in India for six weeks last year. I don’t remotely pretend to understand the politics of a democracy that has more than a billion people. I invite any comments from those who are better informed. In USA there was so much coverage of the Delhi rape case that everything else is overlooked..... I'm curious to know if there are other India experts out there who would share their view of this?
Finally
I’m a rabid anti-smoker. This gem is a PSA about quitting. You don’t need to speak Hindi to “get it.” The actress Sunny Leone was not previously on my radar screen….. she is presently a bit controversial...