Vox Populi on Sabarimala

              ( Sabarimala in the 1940's photographed by the  prince of the erstwhile Travancore)

I watched an NDTV interview of about a dozen men pilgrims at the Sanidhanam , Sabarimala. What is glaring are some disheartening facts, though the flip side is, almost all of them were against violence and the boorishness shown towards women venturing to the temple following the Supreme Court verdict. Presumably there were no true (sic) devotees  in that group!

None of them interviewed seem to have even basic knowledge of the Supreme Court verdict, the words used by the Court and the philosophy, the thought behind the Court’s judgment. Secondly the veiled misogyny was raising its hood in quite a few observations. While all of them were steadfast holding on to what they claim to be customs, sentiments  and tradition that they believe have been in force for centuries, their utter lack of the knowledge and awareness of the history of Sabarimala and even the recent history and happenings ( of the past 50 years) sounded dampening .

One gentleman even went on to say there are a thousand Ayappa temples world over and why could not women go there and leave Sabarimala to the glory of traditions and customs. Yet another went on to express the ungodliness around menstruation. Another bloke wanted Pinarayi Vijayan to demand the Center to bring an ordinance nullifying the Supreme Court verdict. He even cited the Jallikattu .  I felt ridiculous hearing his asinine talk and utter lack of knowledge about the matter. Dreadful it was one fellow even said that women should tend their home and look into other matters of social importance. The only sane voice sounded that, perhaps the Government ought to have bought more time from Courts.

Some even spoke about the glory of sentiments and customs over the Constitution and how popular sentiments must prevail over the Constitution.

I wished in the end I did not watch the damned interview. It was disheartening, very, very much. But then as it was after the Guruvayoor temple doors were thrown open to Dalits and untouchables in 1936 , it took 12 long years till 1948 for the first untouchable to enter that temple. Social change has been sparked off, the fuse is lit, but the time to the keg of powder that would bring down the wall of bigotry and obscurantism in smithereens will take a while.

Intolerance of Fascists

സംഘ്പരിവാർ -ബിജെപി /മാർക്സിസ്റ്റ്‌ കൾക്കു തമ്മിലുള്ള വ്യത്യാസം ചർമത്തിന്റെ ആഴത്തിൽ മാത്രമേയുള്ളു .ഇരുവരും അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളെയും ,എതിർ ചിന്താഗതികളെയും ഭയപ്പെടുന്നു .അവരുടെ ചിന്താഗതിയാണ് സത്യം ,അതാണ് വെളിച്ചമെന്ന് കണ്ണടച്ചു വിശ്വസിക്കുന്നതിനാൽ വെളിച്ചമെന്താണെന്ന് ആ കൂട്ടർക്ക് ഇനിയും മനസിലായിട്ടില്ല .

സുനിൽ ഇളയിടാത്തതിന്റെ നേരെയുള്ള നീച പ്രവർത്തി അവരുടെ അധമ സംസ്കാരത്തെയാണ് വിളിച്ചോതുന്നത്.പ്രതിയോഗിയെ കിട്ടിയിലെങ്കിൽ നാക്കെടുക്കാപ്രാണികളെ വരെ ചുട്ടെരിക്കുന്ന സംസ്കാരമാണെല്ലോ നമ്മൾ കണ്ടിട്ടുള്ളത്. പാപ്പിനിശ്ശേരി പാമ്പു വളർത്തൽ സങ്കേതത്തിൽ മാർക്സിസ്റ്റുകാർ കാട്ടിയ നിഷ്‌ഠുരത ഇനിയും അതിന്റെ പൈശാചിക രൂപത്തിൽ നമ്മളുടെയൊക്കെ മനസുകളിൽ തങ്ങിനിൽകുന്നില്ലേ ഇപ്പോഴും ?

എന്താണ് ഈ കൂട്ടർ ഭയക്കുന്നത്? ആശയങ്ങളെ ആശയങ്ങൾ കൊണ്ട് നേരിടാനുള്ള കഴിവുകേട്, ഭയം , to put it in simple words 'impotency ', അല്ലാതെ വേറെ എന്താണ് ? ബഹുസ്വരത അവരെ വിറളിപിടിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.!

എല്ലാത്തിനും ഒരു ഓമന പേരും, ന്യായവാദവും ഉണ്ടാവും - മനോവികാരത്തേ , വിശ്വാസത്തെ വ്രണപ്പെടുത്തി എന്ന് ! അയലത്തെ വീട്ടിലെ നായ് ഒന്ന് കുരച്ചാൽ തെറിച്ചു പോകുന്ന വിശ്വാസ പ്രമങ്ങളാണോ ഇവർ പേറി നടക്കുന്നത് ? ഹാ കഷ്ടം!

തൊടുപുഴ ന്യൂമാൻ കോളജിലെ അധ്യാപകന്റെ കൈത്തണ്ട ഛേദിച്ച പിശാശുക്കളും ഇവരും തമ്മിലുള്ള അകലം അവരുടെ പേരുകളിൽ , സംഘടനയുടെ പേരുകളിലുള്ള ലിപികളുടെ വ്യത്യാസം മാത്രമേയുള്ളു . ശ്രീ സുനിൽ ഇളയിടത്തിനു എല്ലാ വിധത്തിലുമുള്ള ധാർമികമായ ഐകമത്യം രേഖപ്പെടുത്തി കൊള്ളട്ടേ . അന്തരിച്ച ചിന്തകനും , പത്ര പ്രവർത്തകനുമായ Christopher Hitchens പറഞ്ഞപോലെ , “Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. The grave will supply plenty of time for silence.”

There is a welcome outcome from all this furore, madness and cacophony about women entering Sabarimala. The articles, the debates on TV channels, the arguments and suddenly the plethora of information on Sabarimala, its past, the Indian constitution and its haloed basic principles all have suddenly come out to the center stage. Indeed one may have noticed a few anti women-entry friends & acquaintances, some who unlike the Indo –Pak soldiers at the Wagha border gates  and their energetic theatrics frown at you for real and murmur, “damn you anti Hindu –hindu”.

What the Sangh & the BJP along with other fascist fringe elements that constitute the Hindutva dynasty have inadvertently done through their sudden U-turn and opposition to the question of women entering Sabarimala, is in hindsight favourable to the society. It may facilitate the ushering in of an unstoppable debate, liveliness and paradigm change in the social psyche of Kerala. A 21 st century renaissance, if I may! Conservative opposition apart, in the form of “nama japa yatras”, I doubt if the rightwing can sustain their vile and opportunistic campaign of falsehood. For the incessant debates, the profusion of information that aids unbiased and dispassionate judgments have also allowed people to understand the flagitious agenda of the BJP-Sangh combine. The despicable and sinister game plan came out of the evil mule’s (K. Sredharan Pilla- the BJP State supremo) mouth itself in the form of braggadocio and hopefully the gullible who heeded to his call for Hindutva jihadh will take notice.

The so called Royals of Pandalam may rue the day they voiced their objection against the Supreme Court judgment. Thus opened up this social consciousness which is now threatening to dispossess them of their self-proclaimed rights and reverse their appropriation of the Sabarimala. Their locus –standi is as questionable as the writ of the 500 odd princess in the post Independent India.

The Tantri clan has walked themselves into a snare set up by themselves and is now like crooks trapped in an oubliette. A possible contempt of Court stare at them as much as the story of how they purloined the Malayarayans and their rights over the shrine.

The narrative that the State Govt ought to have bought sometime to educate the masses on the SC judgment on the facts about the shrine and the falsehood of the so called customs cannot be ignored. Well though one cannot rubbish them , yet the question remains was there any recourse to the Govt other than abide by the SC ruling on the question that touched the basic principles enshrined in the constitution?

The Monkey God

Polemics are always frowned upon. But that is because you feel your contention and comfort zone is threatened. At the same time when you make fantastic claims it must be supported not by fantastic faith but verifiable evidence. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”

Yesterday on this holy and zealously individual place called “my wall” on ‘face book’ a post someone posted happened to reflect on my Timeline. It was fascinating news of Hanuman Jayanthi being celebrated. Naturally my temperament did not let me ignore it. I posted a comment which read, “Goodness me finally they found the birth date of the Monkey God!”

Now tell me was there any rudeness and disparaging tone in that remark? Absolutely not, I can tell and argue with reason. But the gentlemen who posted took umbrage at it and replied rather menacingly. “Desist...from making such an insulting words for the gods....and if you have any problem keep it with yourself ...If I start pointing the fingers ok on banana State of for yours ( Kerala)…. .” I really did not understand the last part, though. Moreover since the word 'jayanthi' is understood to mean  birth date, it was also natural to wonder , how the heck they established that.

I politely asked him in my reply what was insulting in my observation. Wasn’t Hanuman member of the monkey clan? Folks considering him God don’t alter his race. Does it? But he would have none of it. He warned me to desist from trolling. Well, I rest matters there as Facebook seems to be held and guarded zealously by many people where they can tell whatever they want, but frowns upon any critical comments. That, one must not ever agree.

But the question remained, “Did they uncover the birth date of Hanuman, the Monkey God.?”

This morning different post from another gentleman reflected on my page. There was a picture of a clan of monkeys being fed (they were seated like at a table and partaking). The caption read “Vanara sena- Hanuman Jayanthi party.”
Now, interestingly the gentleman who posted this is a staunch Hindu and an ardent fan of the saffron brigade.

Now where did I err? In asking if they really uncovered Hanuman’s birth date? Or did I err in calling Hanuman- ‘Monkey God’? I began to wonder but soon understood there was nothing to be astonished about.

I repeat the quote I mentioned earlier. “What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence”

To use the social media to purvey and assert one’s fantasies, bias, and idiosyncrasies or bizarre claims supporting ones belief system or political affiliations cannot be done without inviting criticism and scrutiny. If you do, yes you may do it, but don’t act offended when someone ask you to prove your fantastic assertion. There is no mockery and trolling in it. It is sarcastic reply to your eccentric and  assertion.
Take it or leave it. Its social media and it’s an open space.

The Malayalee

Deluge of anguished posts, statements that seem to not cease, (but will only last for a few more days are flooding the social media sites)! This began the day  the news broke out about a mentally unstable tribal youth being lynched in a tribal hamlet in Kerala for allegedly stealing rice. He was thrashed  mercilessly by the mob of puritans (sic) and succumbed due to severe internal injuries. The killing was not done at the behest of the Cow brigade, not by the Commies , not by the Jihadists and not by the Congis. But by Keralites- ordinary Malayalees! Some of whom even boasted selfies like game hunters pose with their trophy of a kill.

Cherry picking by the Sangh fans , bringing back quotes from Narendra Modi's infamous speech while electioneering in Kerala that allegedly compared the State with the dystopian Somalia  is being revived. "I told you so!"

There has been no hartals and bandhs sponsored by the political parties to protest the brutality.  For a dispossessed mentally deranged tribesman cannot be in the voters list. The political henchmen and masters seem to be muted in response. Perhaps the scale of the act may have even numbed their senses.

Am I incensed, angusihed, sad? Oh no, not  at all !
Such bestiality need not necessarily be the privilege of the  Sanghis in the Sangh dominated lands of the cow-belt. We Keralites are indeed adept in perpetrating the most despicable, heinous of  acts and a herd mentality can in fact bring out the best of barbarian in us. We need not be a Sanghi, a Commie or Islamist to assert that. 

Yes we Malayalees zealously bathe every morning, wear pristine white dhoti and shirt, we unfailingly read a couple of newspapers and boast about our literacy and wisdom; we believe we have expertise within us to assert on any subject that is thrown at us ; we think slightly of people  from other parts of the country and the world; we think deprecatingly of others for we indeed (claim) are yards ahead culturally and socially. We kvetch about expat youth from other States who fill-in for blue collared, lay jobs that the arrogance of our educated ( but unemployable) youth scorn.We are deeply religious and spiritual- flocking to  churches on Sundays, observe lent and Eid with astounding piety, do not miss namaz and as decreed perform that ritual five times a day, make temple festivities a cultural statement. We are both outraged and indulgent in  public display of affection. Well the lists that tells our primacy among societies are never ending.

But look aren't we just like any other depraved minds, we think exists elsewhere? The beast trapped in our human body manifests often in fashion similar- a hapless mentally compromised youth can be wretchedly assaulted and left to die, a pregnant woman is kicked in her stomach that the pregnancy is miscarried, a father has no qualms in sexually violating his girl child...., a  Gulf returnee who dreamed of his own automobile workshop  is forced into misery by communists and takes out his anguish for ever by hanging himself.......!

And yet we claim to be a civilisation and society apart, decked in intellectual glory and prideful.
Hypocrisy thy name is Malayalee!

All said, be it Padmavati, Sexy Durga, Satanic Verses, MF Husain’s  "Saraswati", Taslima Nasreen's, “Shame” , Nicholas Kazanzthika’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” or Meera Nair's "Fire", what has been pilloried and strangled is the right of expression and speech, to criticize, to creative freedom and use the creation to critique a system, thought  belief or a person.

However dispassionate I get, I cannot totally forego the traces of mischief and may be a plot for possible commercial windfall in naming a painting or a movie provocatively. This is why I feel SunilKumar Sasidharan must cross his heart and confess to or refute the motive I allege him of.

 MF Husain had a host of other names to caption his painting of a nude decorated woman and “Saraswati” was a silly choice. SanalKumar Sasidharan had a plethora of names from which to choose one for his movie. Neither did! That either ought to be stupid, specious or cunning. 

The content of Sexy Durga as I can understand has nothing titillating or sexy about the protagonist. So a name that did not have that prefix would have fared uneventful. Just “Durga” would have avoided these controversies. Moreover when asked to change the name the producer over imposed “XXX” on the alphabets “exy” in the word SEXY. Wasn’t that trifle suggestive and mischievous?

Now what right does the puritanical (sic) brigade, be it the Hindutva forces, the Islamists, the Rajputs or any others have to proclaim fatwa and order violence upon an author, a film maker or a painter for her/his oeuvre?

The much fancied the then young Prime minister Rajeev Gandhi who we thought would be a harbinger of fresh young air, disappointed when he succumbed to Muslim vote banks and proscribed Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses and also circumvent the Supreme Court order in the Sha Bano case. Those of you who do not know the 10 years of turbulent and hounded life Salam Rushdie lived, after Ayatollah Khomeni ordered he be killed, must read his autobiographical work “Joseph Anton”. The whole civilized system and governments in multiple countries succumbed to the mad mullah in Tehran who ordered killing of Rushdie. That idiot may not even have read that work. Democratic societies world over being held to ransom by Islamist forces began with the “la affaire Salman Rushdie”.

Now when you say that the limits of expression and creativity are subservient to another person’s like and dislike, you are being a censor and an obscurantist. If you say that terrorists have a right to kill people who put up cartoons or paintings and even novelettes criticizing or lampooning their God or prophet, you are only endorsing the terrorists’ argument that rest of the World must acquiesce and follow their unitary beliefs and not be different or dissenting.  What then is the society you are expecting to have? A homogeneous, vacuous, scrawny moronic world? What then about the colourful diversity of thought, belief system, culture, tradition, languages etc that adds vibrancy and interest to life? Plow them down under and cover us with black cloak like Grim Reapers?

In Kerala the ancient art form of “Chakiarkoothu” is a medium to taunt, lampoon, mock, criticize, rubbish, shame, rebuke and rebut a person or system. Kings and rulers were mercilessly critiqued and mocked by the artists; the current art of mimicry is precisely a variant of the old “Chakiarkoothu”.

As much as one has the right to be hurt and flaunt offended sentiments, a writer or an artist must have the right to offend and critique.

If religious sentiments and emotions were hurt by using a prefix to the name Durga or the movie ‘Padmavati”, well what must first be banned ought to be the mythological treatise such as Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Bible. Wherein there is surfeit of incest, misogyny, sadomasochism, rape, violence, sex, sleaze, bestiality, sodomy and whatever you can think of as offensive to the pristine sentiments. I’m told the 12^th century treatise of Jayadeva, “Geetha Govindam” which describes the fantastic relationship between Krishna and his maidens the Gopikas , has enough and more that would pale D.H.Lawrence’s , “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” and Charles Devereaux ‘s “Venus in India” . Should they be burnt or proscribed? Well should Khajuraho and Konark be pulled own and the many Hindu temples too? Should Naga sanyasis be rounded up and forcibly clothed or forced into the ocean with millstones around their necks?

It is utterly ridiculous and inane to be anguished over a movie, its name, a painting or a book.  At least here in India where we have great tradition of dissent, heterogeneity and argumentation as well as tolerance. To argue that the Abrahamic world are far sinister and intolerant is a childish argument because the choice we have is, should we accompany them and stay like them in a barbaric archaic mental existence or use the greatness of Indian culture to look forward.

Cartoonist Bala

If Liberty means anything at all , it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” George Orwell

This post is not intended to pillories you or accept your version of the incident absolving any culpability in the ghastly suicide that happened in the Collectorate premises.

My concern is only at the utter lack of  respect and reverence  for democratic and civil rights that, you ought to have, as a senior civil servant shown to Cartoonist Bala  who caricatured the incident and the powers that are.

I wonder what you as the candidate at the Civil Service interview would have replied or may have replied to perhaps  the question put to you regarding the constitutional  provisions guaranteeing free speech and expression. Very curious!

I’m sure that you are not oblivious of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Section 66A in April 2017. The honourable Court observed in its ruling on the draconian Section  66A thus, “…. it invades right to free speech , every expression used in it is nebulous. It is clear that Section 66 A arbitrarily excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free speech and upsets the balance between such right and the reasonable restrictions that may be imposed on such right.”

You by your act ordering the arrest of the cartoonist took a miserably weak position using the tattered apron of Section 66 A to hide like a weasel.. This is the same narrative and reasoning ( if one may call it reasoning) often used by political parties and religious outfits to bludgeon unpleasant truth and satire . The right to offend is a sacrosanct right and if you feel offended by a caricature, a novelette or a statement it only shows the shallowness of your thought and philosophy. Plowing down the author is the easiest way and that is the path weaklings take to.

You showed that there is no difference between an intolerant mind of  the Charlie Hebedo killers and folks who hound free speech and expression in this country. To find a civil servant among that unsavoury ranks is a sad thing for this country.

Tell me what difference is there between the act of arresting Cartoonist Bala and decapitating or gunning down people over a caricature? What difference is there between you, arresting cartoonist Bala  and the Siva Sena thugs who ensured the arrest of two girls for voicing their disagreement on Facebook  over the shutting down Mumbai after Bal Thackrey’s death? What difference is there between your act and that of the mad Ayatollah Khomeini who ordered death for Salaman Rushdie for his magnificent novel? What difference is there between your act and that of the feral bigots in Bangladesh and India who hounded Taslima Nasreen for being candid about the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh in her novel “Shame”? What difference is there between you Mister Sandeep Nanduri and the  Hindutva ideology that banished MF Hussain? The list will go on and you may find yourself in a very notorious and depraved company.

This October the centenary of the October Revolution was commemorated by the working class, world over. I wonder if you are aware that , in India  the October Revolution worked as a accelerator , a catalyst that actuated progressive literature. This triggered a fecund environment for egalitarian and socialist thoughts in the people. This was heartily  harnessed and channelised by the leaders of the Freedom movement too. Indeed the Brits used the draconian legislations to pulverise such expressions in literature. But they survived and stand even today as immortal hand-downs to posterity.

Not so long ago during the pre-independence days expressive people, editors of news papers, social workers were all subjected to banishment by the Brits and their cahoots, the Princes, for their candid speech, writing and literature. It’s a pity that there are remnants of the Raj  amongst us today. Now, you underlined that ominous reality  through your act of arresting the cartoonist for doing his job. A sad day for Indian democracy and Civil Service!

I will have to remind you  the words of Gopal Subramaniam the SC lawyer , he said, “Poetry encouraged fearlessness of expression and this cannot be restricted because of the use of the name of a personality. Freedom to offend is also a part of freedom of speech”.