Dear friends,

Thank you for sharing Vajpeyi's and Tufail Ahmad's articles.  In the case of Tufail, I find it difficult to take seriously (in a strictly intellectual sense) the political analysis of a writer who opines  "Conservatives are rooted, truthful and pessimistic. Liberals are hopeful, divisive and untruthful when describing realities."  Ahmad's suggestion that those who desire justice should simply stand back and wait to see what the state does ignores the thrust of Vajpeyi's (and others') arguments: that a state ruled by an explicitly fundamentalist party (be it the BJP or any other party) is not going to do anything in such a case as this.  Public agitation is necessary in order to keep the state accountable, and to hold elected representatives (including the Prime Minister) responsible.  To ask for justice through protest is not simply 'liberals playing politics'.

Similarly, Tufail ignores what Sonia Faleiro (see her Op-Ed in the New York Times) and others have been pointing out for some time: that the frequency of attacks on scholars, writers, and religious minorities has increased observably since the installment of the current BJP government, and the government has been noticeably silent and uninterested in pursuing the causes and groups responsible for this spreading violence.  

This is because the enactment of violence upon scholarly, religious, and caste communities are not isolated phenomena but closely linked-- exactly what Vajpeyi is trying to point out.  Ahmad and others seem willing to deny this, but as scholars (one of the groups under threat) I don't think we have the luxury (moral or material) to ignore such structural and ideological linkages.

Best,
Tyler Williams


On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 1:53 AM, Nityanand Misra <nmisra@gmail.com> wrote:

Here is a different view by Tufail Ahmed, former BBC journalist and Director of South Asia Studies Project at MEMRI (Washington DC), on linking the mob-lynching to Modi and the NDA government:

http://indiafacts.co.in/indias-thought-cops-are-angry-with-modi/

Also notable are the statements of Mohammad Sartaj, son of Mohammad Akhlaq, published by The Times of India and Firstpost today. Sartaj says he wants justice, not politics over his father's killing:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dadri-lynching-We-want-justice-not-politics-says-Akhlaqs-son-Sartaj/articleshow/49250333.cms

http://www.firstpost.com/india/dadri-lynching-case-do-not-politicise-my-fathers-death-says-akhlaqs-son-2456684.html

On Oct 6, 2015 10:07 PM, "Audrey Truschke" <audrey.truschke@gmail.com> wrote:
This may interest list members:

The Reactionary Present, by Ananya Vajpeyi, The Hindu.

"Under a government of the Hindu Right, India is witnessing yet another phase of reaction and orthodoxy, a return to medieval Brahminical values that seek to monopolise rights for a select few and turn everyone else out of the body politic."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-reactionary-present/article7727181.ece


Audrey Truschke
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Religious Studies
Stanford University

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