The series of events that we all have witnessed is a kind of ‘othering phenomena’, wherein a situation has been established, in order to designate the existence only for a few, thereby, conveniently rejecting a lot of people, in our country.
This kind of a phenomenon is absolutely venomous in its characteristics and an absolute plucking away of this systematic ‘othering’, right from its roots, is the only method possible.
As we celebrate Republic Day, let us not forget, there are, there were and there still continue to be a lot of ‘others’ who have, who will, and who continue to brush history against the grain. It is in this brushing of the history against the grain that a country becomes a republic.
A few days back, Indian mobs, by and large, were exposed to a series of bloodshed. While peaceful protests were on the other end, it is this ‘other end’, that has been targeted always. Why is it so? In my opinion, this is because the ‘other end’ has a sense of history, the ‘other end’ is educated, and the ‘other end’ knows what it means to be human. On the basis of this idea, let me also take the readers through a brief history.
India is a secular, democratic, republic and this is ingrained in the Preamble, which is a part of the Constitution of India. Today, while we stand confronted with amendments of a degenerative kind, the duty of an Indian citizen rests in seeking and understanding from the original text of Constitution that Dr BR Ambedkar has crafted.
The reason that makes you or me an Indian citizen is not that we have an Aadhar or any other means of identification, rather it is the republic characteristic of the nation and the understanding of the same, that makes one an Indian citizen.
In other words, a rephrasing of Simone De Beauvoir’s statement on women perhaps can substantiate the concept I am trying to explain; “One is not born, but one rather becomes an Indian”.
Recently, a person who has been in India well before the partition, and has witnessed the Independence and Republic movements was asked to prove his citizenship. His fitting reply to prove this was, “I have been in this country much before the country has been divided.” This is an example of a being, out of becoming, and this absolutely does not require any tags ingrained, because, the existence in itself, is a tag.
Hence, going back to my primary point, I believe, it is a fear of the history that makes the forces to forcefully indulge in a mechanism of ‘othering’. This is because the sense of history and their involvement in history has always been very bleak.
Amidst all that I have said above, what confronts me personally, if one would ask, are the images that kids are exposed to in the media. Imagine, kids are growing up seeing professors being hit on their heads, students who study, being hit on their heads. Aren’t these images, in themselves, a generation of fear and the dark times that we live? But a larger issue here is that these images soon start turning out to be a generalised conveniently absorbed norm.
Most of the imagery today has been that of blood oozing. Perhaps, this is a purposeful attempt, that is what I fear. Today, while I write this article, I am in my 26th year of living in India. While I was a kid, I used to celebrate Republic Day, though I didn’t have much sense of history. But I was aware of the fact that it is something worth celebrating.
But today, while I celebrate along with others, there is a tension that is haunting me. The tension of the images that the kids of this generation are exposed to. During our childhood, (the ’90s), I believe we weren’t exposed much to these kinds of images. We had Jataka Tales, Panchatantra and a lot more. Perhaps, holding on to the old is the new, new.
Without any scope for pessimism, I am nonetheless hopeful enough, that better days are yet to come. India will be a Republic again. The duty is to brush history against the grain and catch hold of the memory in this moment of danger.
Attempts shall be made in every epoch: be it the ruling class or the opposition. But the point is, do not forget how we became a Republic.
As Walter Benjamin puts it in his essay on Karl Kraus; Walter Benjamin quotes from Kraus’ speech “In This Great Age” where Kraus speaks of “these unspeakable times”:
“[I]n these times, when precisely what is happening could not be imagined, and when what must happen can no longer be imagined, and if it could it would not happen; … In the empire bereft of imagination, where man is dying of spiritual starvation while not feeling spiritual hunger, where pens are dipped in blood and swords in ink, that which is not thought must be done, but that which is only thought is inexpressible (R 242-43).”
References:
- The Arcades Project – Walter Benjamin
- Discovery of India – Nehru