Rethinking Nationalism with the Poor

             Religious nationalism is spreading fast in several parts of the world. In each context, there are specific reasons for the ascendancy of this brand of nationalism. It has engendered serious conflicts and violence. It is a permanent threat to the survival of the poor and the marginalised, their identity and dignity. The new avatar of nationalism creates serious polarisation in terms of insider/outsider, we/they. Furthermore, it has a dangerous homogenising tendency that does not allow for difference and pluralism. It functions by exploiting religious symbols, rites and myths. In the process, it violently co-opts or suppresses other identities. On the other hand, secular nationalism is supposed to transcend the sphere of religion and religious identities. It is centred on a separation of religion and politics in its strict interpretation, and equi-distance of the state from religion in its more liberal version. It relies on the basic equality of all citizens. The crucial question is whether secular nationalism could be a response to religious nationalism and can stem its tide. 

While secular nationalism has its own points of strength, it seems to be inadequate to face up to the challenge posed by religious nationalism. Specifically, there are many doubts about its capacity to defend the cause of the poor and the oppressed. There is, in the first place, a general opinion that “secular” is a Western concept that is ill at ease in our Indian context. The conception of neutrality implied in the understanding of secular is formal in nature. We need a substantive conception of equality that would take into account the incontestable fact of plurality of groups and identities, especially the vulnerable groups. Granting that this is possible within the frame of secular nationalism, we cannot, however, ignore the fact that the “secular” has become a highly debated question when it comes to interpretation. As a result, strangely though, the religious nationalists themselves could claim to be true secularists and brand others as “pseudo-secularists”. I mean to say that the secular approach is preoccupied so much with the negativities of religion that it is not able to tap the humanistic message religions have to offer.

We need to move in the direction of an inclusive humanistic nationalism that would uphold the cause of the poor and the marginalised. It will create the space for religious insights to play their humanising role in society. Humanistic nationalism suggests the particularity of nation and fuses it with the universalistic vision which is very important for the encounter of people and culture. It will ensure, within the nation itself, that no group of people is neglected or left out. It will be particularly attentive to the marginalised and vulnerable groups by setting in operation social equity.

Finally, one of the avenues open for a religion’s involvement is the collaboration with new social movements, which go in the direction of secularity and social equity. These movements try to bring ethics in action and transcend the narrow boundaries of caste and creed. Its support to humanistic nationalism would be in the form of fostering pluralism that is very crucial for harmonious and just inter-relationship among the groups and identities subsumed under the nation. 

Collected & Contributed By- 

Agriti Shrivastava,

Article Analyst, FSA

CNLU, Patna

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The InfoMission Project- Cause Ignorance Is No Excuse.

Finally our team catches up with Harshavardhan Ganesan, Mooter, Munner, Theater Artist and the Founder of The InfoMission Project.

Q) Tell us something about yourself.?

           Alright, well my name is Harshavardhan Ganesan and I am a 4th year law student at ILS Law college, Pune. I am generally quite social and am a self-confessed event-aholic. Meaning I need to continuously do something or the other! It doesn’t necessarily have to be work related, but just has to be some activity!


Q) Tell us something about TIP.?
    
       TIP ( The Infomission Project) is an organisation started by myself along with a couple of friends. We are as of now a portal to spread awareness and ideas on matters of urgent importance. We have been trying to spread basic knowledge about day-to-day events to different people across the country, including RTI Act, traffic laws, Aadhar card rules etc.

3) When did this idea occur to you.?

     This originally occurred to me in November 2012, after a Parliamentary debate in Nalsar, Hyderabad. I was thinking about how there are so many rules and laws that even we as educated individuals are not aware about, how will illiterate people be aware of the same? I mean sure, ignorance of law is no excuse, but surely not having access to a portal to understand it is an excuse.

4) Were people initially convinced when you pitched this idea to them.?

      I have to admit it took a bit of effort, and it still is taking a bit of effort. I think people just feel that changing anything in this country, is a bit of a tough ask. I always tell my ‘cynics’ ( if I can give our organisation so much importance) that it never hurts to try. I mean our post on the new auto meter rules in Chennai went pretty viral! We had over 15,000 page views on that one, and people wrote in about how helpful the entire info-graphic was. So it is things like that, that pushes us on.

5) What plans do you have for TIP.? What is its future.?

     I will be the first to admit, that we have not achieved all that we have wanted to when TIP was first inaugurated. We had a labour-shortage so posts started become to infrequent. We have slowly started kickstarting things again, albeit slowly. So I think my first aim for TIP would be to get back into the groove of constant information feeding, after which, I think we need to move away from merely social media and target schools for various workshops and seminars. That is definitely on the cards.

6) How do you manage everything with college, mun, moot, TIP.?


      Funnily enough, I still don’t think I am doing as much as I should, and think I should do much more! It is all about passion at the end of the day, and that is what keeps me going, it gives me a lovely sense of intellectual stimulation that few other activities do! I think my personal motto while dealing with so many different activities, is that have no expectations from anyone but yourself, and make sure that you achieve those expectations. I usually come down on myself quite hard for not being able to meet my own high expectations, my psychologist friends say that is quite harmful to my personality! However, when I do achieve the standards set by myself for myself, there is no greater sense of happiness. So to answer your question in a nut-shell, by being a very strict taskmaster!

7) Tell us something about your experience with Moot Courts till date.?


       Well, have done 3 moot courts till date at a national level, and multiple moots within college. Am currently working on a moot court in Vienna in April! Mooting has been a passion right from the first year for me, because it is the lawyer’s ‘practical’ activity. The case laws and citations are our apparatus and the court room is our lab! That apart, I think that the concept of researching on a particular factual situation and pitting your mind against the judge’s, is an amazing activity. I honestly believe that tips in moots are a little redundant, because at the end of the day, each mooter has his/her own style and method of research as well, for example at a recent qualifying moot court competition in college, I went in with just a fact sheet and the bare text of the act, to test myself, if I could convince the judge with logic and voila it worked! However, I would definitely not recommend such tactics to novice mooters! The most tip I learnt through mooting is that we all need to learn to judge the judge. By which I mean, underplay or overplay your arguments in order to please the judge.


8) How long have you been doing MUNs.?


      I have been doing MUNs, since I was in 10th standard I think, and have done about 18 MUNs since then. MUN-ing has always been a very important passion for me, and I have loved every bit of it!

9) Tell us something about your experience as the Judge for ICC at CBIT MUN '13.?


      Oh CBIT MUN 2013 was amazing! Definitely one of the best MUN conferences I had been to. It made me get out of my self-imposed MUN retirement. I think it was a very different experience from the other councils I had been in, simply because as a judge, I had to take on a much more active role as compared to other EB roles and members. In fact it was necessary for me to know more than the counsels who argued before me, therefore I needed to brush up a lot on the Rome statute and other international instruments. It was a lovely experience and I can speak for everyone else in my court that we had a wonderful time!

10) What are your future plans after law.?


        I have multiple paths before me, but have no idea which one to finally take!

Quoting Robert Frost,
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
I hope that will make all the difference!

Special Thanks To Harshavardhan for his precious time.

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Religions and Martyrdom Today

     Religions claim the prerogative to illumine matters that are of an absolute order such as life and death. The mode of these explanations, given the mysterious nature of these realities themselves, has been in terms of symbols, myths and rituals which transcend the realms of critical reason. These forms of explanation seek to reconcile the contradictions in actual life-experience. Martyrdom is one such religious mode of explaining what appears to be humanly a tragedy. The construct of ‘martyr’ comes from a particular community which claims him or her to be someone who tenaciously upholds even unto death all those ideals it cherishes. In all religious traditions the ideal of martyrdom has undergone an evolution with reference to the concrete historical context. We note also in all major religious traditions an interiorisation and spiritualisation of martyrdom in such a way that this ideal is made accessible to all the believers of the particular religious community.  

The victimhood, pain, suffering and death associated with martyrdom are mirrored in political realities. The ideology, moods and motivations provided by religion are today transposed to the sites of ethnic, regional and national conflicts. As a result, we face serious ambiguities which surround martyrdom. As with religion, the spectrum of martyrdom has become extremely wide in its operation and interpretation. Martyrdom, like religion, stands for the noblest and also for the most heinous crimes human beings are capable of- all in the name of God.

Religious traditions need to counterbalance the classical ideal of martyrdom with education for tolerance and peace. Today, blowing out of proportion the martyr ideal could foster religious fundamentalism and turn religions into the very opposite of what they claim to be- agents of peace. We do not need “martyrs” of religious bigotry and obscurantism. Today the world needs witnesses (original meaning of “martyr”) of love, justice, peace and tolerance, who will be ready to sacrifice their very selves for greater understanding among peoples, nations and religions. These martyrs will not be the possession of any one particular religious community. They will belong to the whole of humankind since through their sacrifice, steadfastness, fidelity and fortitude, they bear witness to the universal values of truth, love, justice and peace. Could the various religious traditions jointly create the climate for the emergence of such universal martyrs? It involves rethinking martyrdom. That is where we need to begin.

 This Article Is A Part Of The Utopia Series. Utopia is not an unreal figment of imagination, or a chimera we chase in futility. It is the projection of another real order of things, a different set of values, and a new shape of the world and society. The suppressed identities, women, minorities, Dalits and tribals and all those who are marginalised in any way project their utopias. Utopia leaps out from the shoulder of may struggles to glimpse and experience the new and the different. Critique is indissociable from utopias.

Collected & Contributed By- 

Agriti Shrivastava,

Article Analyst, FSA

CNLU, Patna

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Consumerism in a Society of Negations

Is India shining? The irresistible consumerism gives the appearance of an India on the highway of progress and of becoming a super-power. The actual examination of the consumerist culture, however, has shown the deeper issues and questions lurking behind the facade of such slogans and impressionistic assessment of society. The social dynamics of consumerism tells us how it is part of a culture that is focussed on the enjoyment of the present moment, here and now, and how the form takes over the content, and aesthetics precedes ethical considerations. Consumerism serves as a means to identity-building and serves the purpose of affirming social status.

Conspicuous consumerism has serious repercussions on the poor of our society and also the natural environment. This twin concern is the primary basis for serious critique of an unbridled consumer culture, which can break the sustainability barriers of nature as well as of society. Depletion of natural resources and its degradation through the production, use and disposal of consumer goods calls for an alternative model of development. The control and checks the consumer movements can have over the production and marketing of goods regarding their ecological sustainability will serve as an important restraint. At bottom, in the ethical critique of consumerism what we need to do is to challenge the philosophy that believes the promotion of self-interest and personal ambitions as the way to progress and development. Ostentatious display of wealth and wallowing in luxuries in a country in which millions wallow below poverty line amounts to further humiliation of the poor. Consumer culture also brings in the challenge of self-transformation through a centrifugal movement towards the other.

Moralising is certainly not the most effective kind of response to consumerism. In fact, this could be counter-productive. Educational institutions have an important role to play. For example, what the colleges could do is to create a proper intellectual and cultural climate for the development of a critical sense and deep social and political consciousness among young students and the faculty. The proper response would be one that triggers the critical sense of the youth. It is they who have to put into operation their active agency. Given their idealism and the capacity for sacrifice, the boys and girls in the colleges and schools, far from requiring adults to protect them from consumerist culture, could transform themselves into active agents who critically challenge consumerism.

It is true that for many young people today, the ideal is to make money, and that too very quickly. For not a few, their icons would be a Bill Gates, or even a Harshad Mehta. There are very few who would like to be a Nelson Mandela, or a Medha Patker. But then we should remember that human beings not only have the tendency to fulfil their desires and aspirations, that is being exploited by consumer culture; but there is also a deep-seated capacity for selflessness and sacrifice, especially among the youth. The formative process of the youth today calls for even deeper involvement with the life of the poor and the marginalised. One of the greatest sons of India, Gautam Buddha, was challenged to leave behind the luxuries and the comforts of princely life, when human suffering and deprivation confronted him. I am convinced that greater social sensitivity and exposure to the struggles of the poor will stir the young students to exercise their critical sense vis-a-vis the prevailing consumer culture, and turn them into beacons of hope for a new and transformed society. 

This Article Is A Part Of The Utopia Series. Utopia is not an unreal figment of imagination, or a chimera we chase in futility. It is the projection of another real order of things, a different set of values, and a new shape of the world and society. The suppressed identities, women, minorities, Dalits and tribals and all those who are marginalised in any way project their utopias. Utopia leaps out from the shoulder of may struggles to glimpse and experience the new and the different. Critique is indissociable from utopias. - See more at: http://sbfsa.blogspot.in/2013/11/minorities-in-age-of-globalisation.html#sthash.011yqV4U.dpuf

 This Article Is A Part Of The Utopia Series. Utopia is not an unreal figment of imagination, or a chimera we chase in futility. It is the projection of another real order of things, a different set of values, and a new shape of the world and society. The suppressed identities, women, minorities, Dalits and tribals and all those who are marginalised in any way project their utopias. Utopia leaps out from the shoulder of may struggles to glimpse and experience the new and the different. Critique is indissociable from utopias.

Collected & Contributed By- 

Agriti Shrivastava,

Article Analyst, FSA

CNLU, Patna

This Article Is A Part Of The Utopia Series. Utopia is not an unreal figment of imagination, or a chimera we chase in futility. It is the projection of another real order of things, a different set of values, and a new shape of the world and society. The suppressed identities, women, minorities, Dalits and tribals and all those who are marginalised in any way project their utopias. Utopia leaps out from the shoulder of may struggles to glimpse and experience the new and the different. Critique is indissociable from utopias. - See more at: http://sbfsa.blogspot.in/2013/11/minorities-in-age-of-globalisation.html#sthash.011yqV4U.dpuf

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Cyber Extortion

Cyber extortion is a crime involving an attack or threat of attack against an enterprise, coupled with a demand for money to avert or stop the attack. Cyber-extortion can take many forms. Originally, denial of service (DoS) attacks were the most common method. In recent years, cybercriminals have developed ransomware that can be used to encrypt the victim's data. The attacker then demands money for the decryption key.

A 60 year old citizen, Prateek Das  posed as a woman, Rita Basu, and created a fake e-mail ID through which he contacted  V. R. Ahmed, a Abu Dhabi based man. Das trapped Ahmed in a ‘cyber-relationship’ sending emotional messages and indulging in online sex. When 6 months passed by then Das sent an e-mail that ‘‘she would commit suicide’’ if Ahmed ended the relationship. He also gave him ‘‘another friend Ruchira Sengupta’s e-mail ID which was in fact his second bogus address. When Ahmed mailed at the other ID he was shocked to learn that Das had died. Further, Das began the emotional blackmail by calling up Ahmed at Abu Dhabi to say that police here were searching for him. Ahmed panicked on hearing the news asked ‘Sengupta’ to arrange a good advocate for him and in this context deposited lakhs of rupees in Sengupta’s account. Das even sent e-mails as high court and police officials to extort more money. Ahmed finally came down to Mumbai to lodge a police case. After the investigation, Das was booked for cheating, impersonation, blackmail and extortion under sections 420, 465, 467, 471, 474 of the IPC. During the whole period, Das was able to abstract around a sum of around 96 lakhs from Ahmed.

As the number of enterprises that rely on the Internet for their business has increased, opportunities for cyber-extortionists have exploded. The probability of identification, arrest, and prosecution is low very because cyber-extortionists usually operate from countries other than those of their victims and use anonymous accounts and fake e-mail addresses.

In India, IT Act 2000 has amended the sections dealing with records and documents in the IPC by inserting the word ‘electronic’ thereby treating the electronic records and documents on a par with physical records and documents. The Sections dealing with false entry in a record or false document etc (420, 465, 471, 474, 476 etc) have since been amended as electronic record and electronic document thereby bringing within the ambit of IPC, all crimes to an electronic record and electronic documents just like physical acts of forgery or falsification of physical records.

Through concerted, high tech efforts, a few cyber-extortionists have been found, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to prison. However, according to some reports, most cyber-extortion episodes go unreported because victims do not want the publicity and that; furthermore, the majority of reported episodes do not result in arrests.

Author- Tejaswini Ranjan

HR Head, FSA

CNLU, Patna

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Minorities in the Age of Globalisation

Minority is so to say a “cohort concept” or a concept which envelops a cluster of issues. Far from being a matter of the past, minorities have become a very actual issue affecting the politics of many nations. The approach taken towards minorities is so important because the future shape of a nation and its destiny often depends on this. Globalisation has further problematised the issue of minorities and is changing its configuration, bringing in new experiences.

We hear strident voices of opposition and even rejection of minority rights. But a look at the global level will suggest how our world is trying to come to terms with this issue with ever new means. They include legal ones to protect the minorities by recognising their identity, culture, religion, and their rights to establish and maintain their institutions, and so on. The trajectory of the development shows that it will not be long before minority rights become part of the international law binding on all the states. Ofcourse, there is room for fine-tuning and negotiating within the framework of the Constitution. However, a summary opposition and rejection of minority rights can be sustained neither by reason nor by global experience.

Minority rights may not be looked at either as concessions or as defence, but must be viewed as realisation of democracy in pluralistic societies and as a way to bring about social equity. For this, we need to affirm basically the right of communities, which cannot be reduced to individual rights. These communities are not to be reduced simply to religious communities. We need to focus today specially on the economically, socially and culturally marginalised minorities. The special provisions in terms of reservation or affirmative action are in keeping with the democratic spirit, and the sense of social justice that should animate the nation. Finally, the thorny question of Uniform Civil Code for certain religious communities as the Muslims in India, deserves to be considered with historical perspective and with due account to the need of a certain legal pluralism for a country of such diversity as India.  Uniform Civil Code is a project and a process.

This Article Is A Part Of The Utopia Series. Utopia is not an unreal figment of imagination, or a chimera we chase in futility. It is the projection of another real order of things, a different set of values, and a new shape of the world and society. The suppressed identities, women, minorities, Dalits and tribals and all those who are marginalised in any way project their utopias. Utopia leaps out from the shoulder of may struggles to glimpse and experience the new and the different. Critique is indissociable from utopias.

Collected & Contributed By- 

Agriti Shrivastava,

Article Analyst, FSA

CNLU, Patna

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