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Book: Genocide, Democracy And Development Under Focus

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  • Book: Genocide, Democracy And Development Under Focus

    GENOCIDE, DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT UNDER FOCUS
    By Pjj Antony, [email protected]

    Arab News
    http://arabnews.com/lifestyle/article18301.ece
    Fe b 17 2010
    Saudi Arabia

    Democracy as a form of government has been praised and criticized with
    equal passion and fervor by the common people and intellectuals alike.

    The concepts behind democracy vary so much that a universally
    acceptable format is non-existent.

    However, it is to be noted to its credit that no government on our
    planet is complete without an element of democracy in one form or other
    at some level of governance. Be it a republic, monarchy, theocracy or
    military dictatorship. Such is the panoramic versatility of democracy.

    In her latest book "Listening to Grasshoppers -- Field Notes on
    Democracy", Arundhathi Roy passionately criticizes the way democracy
    is practiced by its most ardent supporters among contemporary states
    and questions its very credibility as the most acceptable form of
    government.

    She doesn't condemn it but argues for the need to go beyond democracy
    in search of a better form of government by the people and for the
    people. It certainly makes for interesting reading. Her arguments find
    fuel from issues related to the rights of minorities, refugees, people
    displaced in the name of development, protection of environment etc.

    Nearly a dozen essays included in this book were written by the
    author in response to sociopolitical developments and were published
    previously. But in-depth analysis and the author's ability to touch the
    very roots of controversial issues as well as her gifted capability to
    present her argument amidst the backdrop of fundamental human concerns
    make the book very much contemporary, relevant and widely appealing.

    Roy is no ivory tower dweller. She is direct, transparent and forceful
    and moors her writing boldly on her convictions. Her concern for
    the underprivileged minorities and willingness to fight on their
    side is well known. "Listening to Grasshoppers" is mainly about
    the victimization of Indian Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis (Hindu low
    castes) and people driven away from their habitat to make way for
    mammoth dam projects.

    According to Roy, a kind of perverted consensus exists within Indian
    democracy that tolerates these injustices. She cites it as examples
    of democracy facilitating fascism from within, nullifying its very
    essence and spirit.

    The book is certainly engaging but disturbing and provocative at
    the same time with its threadbare observations about the vulnerable
    underbelly of Indian democracy. It keeps on thinking the unthinkable
    and speaking the unspeakable and questions the credentials celebrated
    within Indian democracy. The author even ridicules democracy by
    intentionally misspelling it as 'demon-cracy'.

    She pulls the reader from his comfort zone to face uncomfortable truths
    from recent history. She dwells on the past to give an insight into
    the unfolding world of democracy and development.

    The ninth chapter, titled "Listening to Grasshoppers: Genocide,
    Denial and Celebration" is a commemorative lecture Roy delivered in
    Istanbul on assassinated newspaper editor Hrant Dink. This particular
    chapter is the crux of her presentation. She shocks her readers while
    she traces the undesirable but historical connection between genocide
    and development. The history of genocide is as old as man himself. An
    aggressive majority targeting a minority, blaming them for social and
    economical ills and eventually forming a consensus to annihilate the
    minority, is an oft-repeated scenario from human history.

    In 1915 Ottoman Turks successfully targeted the Armenian minority,
    killing nearly one and a half million in Anatolia. White Americans
    targeted the original natives and systematically murdered 90 percent
    of the Red Indian population. One method was the distribution of
    blankets infected with small pox. America's second biggest holocaust
    took place when thirty million Africans were kidnapped and transported
    to the US to be sold as slaves. Half of them died in the dirty dark
    gallows of ships from starvation and diseases.

    In October 1904 the German general Adolf Lebrecht ordered the genocide
    of southwest Africa's entire Herero tribe. They were driven into the
    desert and cut off from food and water, eventually perishing.

    Germany exterminated six million Jews during the Nazi regime. The
    genocide of the Gypsies throughout Europe went unnoticed because they
    were too soft and vulnerable. The British killed the entire Tasmanian
    people of Australia. Massacres in Rwanda, Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq
    are also recent examples of genocide. The same can be said about the
    Indian state-supported 2002 mass murder of Muslims in Gujarat and
    the killing of Christians in Orissa in 2007.

    Narendra Modi, the brains behind the Gujarat massacre and elected
    provincial chief executive is now being praised as an icon of
    development. He has become the darling of the corporate India.

    Everything, however heinous it is, can be pardoned in the name of
    development. The core of Roy's argument is the alarmingly strengthening
    connection between genocide and development in the interests of a
    corporate mafia.

    Roy feels that the next target will be the Dalits and tribal people
    (low caste Hindus) from the mineral rich provinces of southeast India.

    Telugana, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Utharanchal, Orissa, among
    others, are the most economically backward regions with sizable lower
    caste populations.

    They are disillusioned with mainstream political parties including
    the institutional communist parties and are being mobilized under the
    Maoist umbrella. One quarter of India is already under the control
    of these resistance groups.

    Corporate India is impatient to evict these poor people from their
    mineral-rich land to harvest profits. Premier Manmohan Singh, Narendra
    Modi and Communist Party secretary Prakash Karatt has already opined
    publicly that these lower caste resistance groups are the single
    largest threat to India's unity and progress. The country is getting
    ready for another genocide, which has already started thanks to right
    wing militias such as the Salwa Judum, armed by the state and aided
    by upper caste Hindus.

    Genocides have a common pattern. Victims are initially marginalized and
    later targeted for annihilation after the majority forms a consensus
    to justify the genocide. In other words a kind of democratic process
    underpins genocide.

    Another common factor is the economical interests of the genocide
    masterminds. In the post-modern era old empires have been replaced
    with corporate giants. The drama goes on. Democracy is turning into
    a dictatorship of the majority. Is there a way out? Is there life
    after democracy? Shouldn't we look for something more democratic than
    democracy itself? Roy passionately raises these questions.

    The book is certainly worth reading. However I find it strange to
    find the author leaving the question of nationalism untouched. Does
    she too consider it as a holy cow? If we analyze the origin and
    development of democracy it is easy to observe that the encroachment
    of nationalism into the concept of democracy has created oppression
    against the minority, paving the way for eventual marginalization
    and probable extermination.

    The very concept of nationalism tends to be chauvinistic and fascist in
    practice. Along with democracy, nationalism too needs some fundamental
    revamping.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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