An Iranian Exile in Sambhalpur

harish:

yaar you guys have more tokens than the other side!

as a writer the headlights are on here;)

rgds

t

Dear Mr. Harish Nambiar:

This piece is so beautifully written! You seem to really excel when you are “musing” instead of describing events.

Journalists, like most other folks, tend to block out unpleasant facts and thoughts, especially those they feel helpless about. Unfortunately, the nature of the job demands facing those same facts repeatedly.

On a lighter note, why do I suddenly get the feeling that many Chowkees (including perhaps myself) who were rather harsh on your last piece have developed cold feet, and are in fact suddenly, rather uneasily checking out the same feet for possible moistness, now that we understand what you do to them “in mind”!

P.S. I STILL feel very suspicious of your friend Rohan. The guy is not only into womanizing and boozing, he also appears to be quite devious. If I were you, I would dump him like a hot potato, that is, unless HE is paying the bills, in which case I would wait till he is finished doing what he is doing so well!

Sincerely,
BeeJay.

“and for the tabloid size paper that meant a day’s entire coverage was to be recorded in The Daily as a 600-word story.
The chief reporter chose me as the executioner of the worst editorial decision”

After reading this long reportage/travelogue, I must say that you did not use that training well! :)

It took me awhile to read this but I am glad I did. Traveling hundreds of miles on the back seat of a bike is not my idea of fun especially in India, where road conditions are horrible. India highways are nothing more than one lane roads shared with all kind of vehicular or animal driven traffic.
Before reading this travelogue, I knew nothing about Orissa. Therefore, I did some Google search. Lo and behold! I find out that this Indian state is number two, right behind Gujarat in experimenting and creating a model for ``Hindu Rajya”.

When I begin to read about communal problems and how RSS/VHP/BJP are working to create the model for Ram Rajya, I begin to think that all this talk of liberalism, progress, development, IT development and manufacturing is confined to a very small section of Indian union. Rest of the country is still mired in age-old prejudices and most of the talk about secularism is total BS. It is time that Indians begin to face the reality and do some introspection about this unparalleled bigotry in their society. A society that shuts out a major portion of its population from the economic progress, ignores and in India’s case, accepts bigotry at the highest level, despite all the big talk would eventually lose it. The USSR is the closest example of the gross negligence of basic human rights and despite their tall claims about humanitarianism, equality, and justice for all, they refused to look right under their nose and eventually lost one of the greatest movements in the history of mankind.

“Your god has no eyes. He cannot have a soul. Your god is violent, just like you are.’ A Hindu neighbour charges Hasina Begum. With her technician husband, Hasina`s is the only Muslim family in a housing society in a small town in Orissa. They relocated in 2003. Hasina and her husband are isolated with few acquaintances in the area. Geeta, a Hindu woman, befriended Hasina only to be confronted by others about such association with Muslims. Geeta slowly withdrew, saying. ‘We like you but we have to live in society here, do we carry you with us, or carry them? What choice do we have?’ Geeta and Hasina do not speak any more.”


The story of Hasina is no different that a clearly successful businessperson. Taraz is also cognizant of underlying dangers of living in a so-called secular society.

“But Taraz’s was a very delicate position. I did not think his Bahaism would be a strong enough fig leaf to protect him from Hindu rioters were a riot to happen in Sambhalpur. And his alliances with the secular, educated elite, and his leadership role in furthering a progressive worldview would expose him to the orthodoxy of enemies like the VHP. His religious identity that was so amorphous would make him an easy and soft target.

…Taraz would be the first enemy among the Hindu secular bulwark of Sambhalpur. Others would have their Hinduism to save them, but Taraz?”

Then I also read the story of a small Muslim village that has been surrounded by the Hindu villages and Muslims and their women are fearful of their lives, honor and property every moment of their lives.

“Subash Chouhan, state convenor for the Bajrang Dal, the paramilitary wing of Hindutva, claims, ``In the country, Orissa is the second Hindu rajya [state].”

“Today, the annual Jaganath Yatra and other Hindutva organised religio-nationalist spectacles continue across the state. Muslims, and adivasi and dalit groups connected to self determination movements in dissent to the Sangh Parivar, are afraid as thundering mobs engulf their villages.”


How could a society allow this kind of perversion and terrorism?

Harish Gee, any plans to turn these essays into a book someday? I think its good idea and sure it has cross your mind.

Harish:
Nice to see you return seamlessly to the theme. I would have liked to read a bit more about Taraz`s reasons for leaving Iran and then choosing India.
Keep going!

t,

Regarding tokens...as Veeresh would say...our tokens are better than your tokens! Thanks for liking the writing.

BeeJay,

Hey...such blasphemous thought will never cross my mind...though Rohan would easily think of it...were you to be mean! Thanks for staying with the journey.

HP,

Orissa is quite a scary place with regard to the VHP. What gives impetus to such work in this state is that being a predominantly tribal state, there is a fertile ground for resentment to be fanned. The missionaries are pretty active among the tribals. So what happens is any joker with a Hindu name can tap into the VHP gravy train, and mobilise what they call a significant lot to seek political prominence. First through noteireity, and then, perhaps through political legitimisation through elections. Of course, the success rate is abysmall small for that route, but like in everything in India, job applicants are galore!


patwari,

Yeah, looks like this is going to be a book alright. It already is. Though publication is another matter! Thanks for the kind words.

dost,

Taraz`s father was some high official in the energy ministry in Iran. It seems after the revolution, the new regime asked him to convert to Islam if he wanted to stay in the job. He refused, lost the job, but also refused to leave the country. But his children were sent away to India early on, to study. And they were encouraged NOT to return, and make a life away from Iran. This is what I remember. Sima`s case towas something similar. It boiled down to them being unable to rise in society in Iran, without yielding to the pressure to convert.

HN

Whether the Indian society is divided on communal lines or not , is debatable , and varies from case to case , region to region , person to person....but certainly not for a Paki to judge. Most countries are divided in one way or another. Even US is divided along the lines of race/religion/ethnicity. Every society is polarised one way or another. That cannot be avoided. But what is important is to ensure that there is no discrimination by the state or by law on basis of religion , race or ethnicity.

But is must be said that the root of all communal polarisation is Islam. In any secular country , as soon as muslims cross a certain threshold of population , they create problems. This is visible in Europe in countries like Holland , France and UK . In US , we all know what the Americans think of em` rag heads.

Thanks for the information HN.

BTW this is the difference between your and my kind of writing. While I would have been equally and perhaps even more severe in my criticism of the hindutva hoodlums, I would have also highlighted the plight of the non-muslim in an islamic state to provide a balanced perspective.

harish,

i`ve read through this once, but wanting to read through it again before i give a response that makes sense. but since it`s early morning and i`m still reeling from the fact that i got a perfect score on my farsi written exam, i`d be interested in hearing what an iranian sounds like when they speak hindi. my best friend who is iranian laughs at me sometimes when i speak farsi as if i was speaking urdu/hindi/punjabi. :)

more later. . hopefully. this has been a wonderful read.
--ana

Harish,

I came to chowk through a poem of yours and pieces like this make me linger on!
Thank you!

#3,

So you read about Orissa and Gujarat and generalized to whole of India. I hope that made you happy.

Anything to propagate any notion of minority mistreatment in India.

dost-mittar #8
I would have also highlighted the plight of the non-muslim in an islamic state to provide a balanced perspective
First of all the power of Harish`s pieces lie in the fact that he is talking about people ; and thats why he has come across as so objective.He was not looking for any story about secularism; but he did not keep away from it, if it came across from the people he met. Secondly, even if he was writing about secularism in India or the treatment of minorities in India, what perspective is to be gained if he tallks about how minorites are treated in Islamic countries?This kind of perspective that cuts across time and space always obfuscates the subject being discussed.

[In the first three days after Godhra, 400 Muslims were butchered, 179 of them in Ahmedabad alone. The ratio of Muslim versus Hindu deaths in police firing was a numbing 6:1, 42 Muslims and seven Hindus. And this was what had already happened by the time we left Vapi.]

Yo Harish, why only talk about the first three days AFTER Godhra? Why not Godhra itself? There the score was 62 Hindus to 0 Muslims. If the ratio of 6:1 is numbing, how would you describe the ratio of 62:0?

Are you Shia by any chance? You know, those guys are known for beating themselves bloody with chains and knives on Moharram. You seem to be revelling in self-bloodletting just like those guys.

Ref dost-mittar #8

[...this is the difference between your and my kind of writing. While I would have been equally and perhaps even more severe in my criticism of the hindutva hoodlums, I would have also highlighted the plight of the non-muslim in an islamic state to provide a balanced perspective.]

Wow! How wonderfully equal-handed!

Instead of that, how about highlighting the fact that a Muslim minority in a non-Islamic state dared to attack the followers of the majority religion? And asking what would drive them to do it?

That WOULDN`T be secular now, would it?

Hard-hitting ending. Kept on reminding me of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Iyer with that lingering sense of spookiness.

rahul-capri:

``Secondly, even if he was writing about secularism in India or the treatment of minorities in India, what perspective is to be gained if he tallks about how minorites are treated in Islamic countries?``

I agree with you that for India and Indians, the benchmark is not an islamic society. And there is no question of justifying what happens in India based on what happens in another country; for that matter, there is no justification for what is done to one community in India based on what is done by the members of that community in another place. I thought that both of us have been at chowk long enough for you to know my opinion on that issue.

However, when writing a piece like Harish has written, one needs to keep in mind who the target audience is? If the target audience is like-minded people, I have no problem with this approach, but then one is simply preaching to the converted. But if the target audience is the english-speaking people who are not firmly in one camp or the other, then I do have some problem. These people are not ignoramuses, they do know what is happening both in and outside India. If one is perceived to be not balanced in one`s reporting, he or she would be considered unfair and therefore lose credibility in their eyes. The moment one loses one`s credibility, one loses one`s power to influence. I do want to wean these undecided people away from the hindutva brigade and I wont be able to do so if I lose my credibility with them.