Friday, August 26, 2016

 

The paranoid art of nationalism

 by Shiv Visvanathan  , The Hindu  26-8-2016

The BJP’s nationalism is like a nervous tic which agitates itself every time the party runs out of ideas 

A great scholar once claimed that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. If he had lived another hundred years, he could have added that the nation state is the first home of the insecurely authoritarian. Today, the nation state has become a police operation, censoring categories, modes of thought that do not march in uniform with its official definitions of citizenship.
Oddly, this process of the nation state as a panopticon, an institution for policing thought, has to be seen today as a part of an electoral democratic phenomenon. Majoritarianism in India has combined with a jingoist nationalism to carry out two separate sets of policing operations. At a local level, vigilante forces like the Bajrang Dal police the body and guard against any threat of sexuality either in terms of dress or in terms of the creativity of art and cinema. The policing of sexuality at the local level goes with policing of thought at the national level. If America had a Ku Klux Klan on race, India is creating a network of vigilantes on the nation.
Citizenship and thought policing
This vigilantism of patriotic and chauvinist groups has the seal of official approval. A good citizen is not only someone who is corseted in dress but one who wears a corseted mind. Majoritarian nationalism creates a new kind of thought policing where the deviant, the dissenting, the marginal and the minoritarian find it different to fit into the chorus of the nation state. Parties like the BJP realise that anxiety about jobs, security, the body creates a vulnerability which the nation state can exploit. Anyone who differs from you becomes anti-national. The transition from nationalism of the independence movement, which was a costume ball of ideas, to the uniformity of the nation state is complete. Citizenship becomes a proactive idea of thought policing. Any sign of difference confronts the mob and the lynch squad. Thanks to this arid mentality of nationalism, democracy becomes a threat to a democratic way of life. The irony is virtually complete.
While Narendra Modi pretends to play statesman immersed in the problems of governance, his electoral double, Amit Shah, plays impresario to this knee-jerk nationalism, adding a surreal gravitas to what is both farcical and lethal. Mr. Shah is a menacing figure whose pronouncements become virtual diktats to party workers. He creates a fetish around nationalism which even threatens free speech blatantly. He is clear that nationalism is too sacred to be even questioned through free speech. He transforms it both into a theology and an official state ideology such that reasons of the nation state become even more sacrosanct than democracy. He is clear that what he labels as propaganda against the nation should not be considered as part of free speech. Such ‘free speech’, he claims, insults the martyrs of the freedom movement. In a fell swoop, past and present move under majoritarian control. He cites Bhagat Singh without realising he was a more open ended mind than Amit Shah is. Bhagat Singh would never endorse the Gujarat riots of 2002. This appropriation of the freedom movement by the RSS is a card-sharping act worthy of examination. Since character building seems to be beyond the BJP, this fiction of being the custodian of ‘nationalist character’ lets it beat back dissent or difference of any kind.
Rajnath Singh as Home Minister plays second fiddle to Mr. Shah contending that Pakistan has been deliberating misleading Indian youth. At one sweep, he exonerates Delhi, the police, the local government from any kind of error, locating the source of mischief in an external enemy. Blaming Pakistan is easy, while realising your own mistakes takes courage. Not be left behind, Manohar Parrikar, the Defence Minister, recently claimed going to Pakistan is like going to “hell”.
Ramya, the former actress and Congress member who visited Pakistan as part of a delegation, was quick to retort, “Pakistan is not hell.” In a sane civil way, she observed, “People are just like us. They treated us well.” This was enough to spark an accusation of sedition, and a complaint against her was filed by a Kannada advocate. The lawyer, Vittal Gowda, alleged that Ramya had insulted Indian patriots by praising Pakistan. Updating themselves, BJP activists who earlier advocated the train to Pakistan to any dissenter now insisted that anyone who thought Pakistan was heaven should take the next flight. Sedition now becomes the easiest label to tar your opponent with. All one needs is a simple difference of opinion.



Fortunately, Ramya is a sensible person, who, in an article, matter of factly said, “we need to build enduring bridges with our neighbours.” The BJP’s attempt to create its storm in a teacup was quietly foiled by the film star. In fact, Bollywood known for its melodrama seems sane, allowing the BJP to monopolise all the hysterical roles. Ramya’s sanity is a perfect antidote to the ruling regime’s hysteria.
Uses of a nervy nationalism
The question one has to ask is, why are the BJP and its cohorts adopting this knee-jerk jingoism? Part of it is because as a party it has sought a theory of uniformity as unity without any real faith in inclusion. The backstage and the front stage of its politics just do not hold together. A nervy nationalism becomes its real claim to solidarity. The BJP’s attitude to Dalits has undermined any hope of inclusion. As election time approaches, this nervy nationalism nitpicking at every source of dissent becomes its one electoral plank. It is as if its majoritarianism by habit has nothing else to resonate with. Its inability to resolve issues in Kashmir, its illiteracy about the agony of Kashmir weaken its sense of problem solving. Besides, student revolts at JNU and Hyderabad have dented its claim to be the party of the youth. At a time when its claims to justice and competence are beginning to sound hollow, the drumbeat of nationalism seems to be its only calling card. By fusing majoritarianism and this spectacle of nationalism, it makes dissent to be against the nation. It is only this false fusaion that gives it a sense of unity.
The strategy is shortsighted and creates two casualties at the level of ideas. It aborts the power of nationalism as a process, disguising the many doubts about nationalism which stalwarts like Tagore or Gandhi had. It attempts to remove their voices from history to create its own meaner version of it. It demolishes the creativity of civil society by turning every act of dissent and difference into a canned idea of sedition.
Protest and differences which sustained both nationalism and democracy are now emptied out. As this new nationalism unfolds, one realises its lack of organic embeddedness. As it has no sense of communities beyond a conscripted uniformity, it is forced to rely on a false sense of leadership by inflating the reputation of one person and his alleged charisma or becomes an excuse for technocratism seeking a modernism around its uncritical acceptance of technology. Such empty bullying by nationalism eventually degenerates to a fascism that flies on democracy. Dialogue becomes impossible, and difference and debate unrealistic. Whatever the short-term popularity, it is becoming clear that this is not the world Nehru, Gandhi and Patel dreamt of. Nationalism rather than becoming a way of life becomes a symptom of an inferiority complex where the regime eventually lacks the cultural imagination to challenge the West or China. The regime has made the singing of the National Anthem compulsory. Here nationalism is converted into a form of church attendance. What could have been a way of life becomes a ritual for scrutiny. Such a perspective is illiterate about history and unprepared for any cosmopolitan future. It substitutes the unity of the flag with uniformity, the mob mentality of vigilantism. It fails to understand that both cadre and mob lack the nuance, the subtlety or mentality of a plural nation.
The BJP’s current view of history and the nation is inaugurating not an epic of nationalism but a jingoistic tragedy that threatens democracy both as plural imagination and a way of life. The BJP’s nationalism is like a nervous tic which agitates itself every time the party runs out of ideas.
Shiv Visvanathan is the Director of Centre for the Study of Knowledge Systems and Professor, Jindal Global Law School.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ
                                                                                         ਮੁਕੇਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ
ਕਵੀ ਬੇਬਾਕ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਬੇਬਾਕਤਾ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਰਚੀ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਰਚਨੀ ਖੇਡ ਨਹੀਂ, ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਪੂਛ ਨੂੰ ਫੜ ਕੇ ਭੁਆਟਣੀ ਦੇਣ ਵਰਗੀ ਕੋਈ ਚੀਜ਼ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਅੱਖ ਵਿਚ ਅੱਖ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਦਾ ਮੌਜੂ ਉਡਾਉਂਣਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਉਹ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਹੀ ਕੀ ਹੋਈ ਜਿਹੜੀ ਪਾਠਕ/ਸਰੋਤੇ ਨੂੰ ਹਿਲਾਵੇ ਨਾ ਅਤੇ ਹਾਕਮਾਂ ਦੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਅੱਗ ਨਾ ਲਾਵੇ ਦੂਜੇ ਦੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਅੱਗ ਲਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਕਵੀ ਆਪਣੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਨੂੰ ਪੱਥਰ ਵਰਗਾ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਤੇ ਮੋਮ ਵਰਗਾ ਕੋਮਲ ਬਣਾ ਕੇ ਸ਼ਬਦਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬੁਣਦਾ ਹੈ ਇਉਂ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਪੱਥਰ ਵਰਗੇ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਤੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਰਗੇ ਕੋਮਲ ਬਣ ਕੇ ਵਾਰ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ ਸ਼ਾਇਦ ਮੁਕੇਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਦੀ ਇਹ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਕੁੱਝ ਅਜਿਹਾ ਹੀ ਕਰਦੀ ਜਾਪਦੀ ਹੈਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕਵੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਪਾਠਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਇਹ ਵੰਨਗੀ ਹਾਜ਼ਰ ਹੈ(ਅਨੁਵਾਦਕ)
ਪੁਰਖਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਆਰੀਆ, ਸ਼ੱਕ, ਹੂਣ, ਤੁਰਕ, ਮੰਗੋਲ, ਮੁਗਲ ,ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼
ਦਰਾਵਿੜ, ਆਦਿਵਾਸੀ, ਗਿਰੀਜਨ, ਸੁਰ-ਅਸੁਰ,
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਹਦਾ ਕੀਹਦਾ ਖ਼ੂਨ
ਵਹਿ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਨਾੜੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ,
ਉਸੇ ਖ਼ੂਨ ਨਾਲ ਸੰਚਰਿਤ ਹੈ ਸਾਡੀ ਕਾਇਆ,
ਹਾਂ, ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਦੋਗਲੇ (ਵਰਣ ਸ਼ੰਕਰ) ਹਾਂ!

ਪੰਜ ਤੱਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗਵਾਹ ਮੰਨ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ!
ਗੰਗਾ,ਯਮੁਨਾ, ਬ੍ਰਹਮਪੁੱਤਰ,ਕਵੇਰੀ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ,
ਵੋਲਗਾ,ਨੀਲ,ਦਜ਼ਲਾ,ਫ਼ਰਾਤ ਅਤੇ ਥੇਮਜ਼ ਤੱਕ ,
ਅਣਗਿਣਤ ਨਦੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਹਿਲੋਰੇ ਮਾਰਦੈ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਰੱਗਾਂ ਵਿਚ
ਉਹਨਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਬਣੇ ਹਾਂ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਮਠ ਤੇ ਸਦਾ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ਸ਼ੀਲ

ਸੱਚੀ ਨਿਹਚਾ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਿੰਨੇ ਸਭਿਆਚਾਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਅਸੀਂ ਆਤਮਸਾਤ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ
ਕਿੰਨੀਆਂ ਸਭਿਆਤਾਵਾਂ ਨੇ ਸਾਡੇ ਦਿਲ ਨੂੰ ਸਿੰਜਿਆ ਹੈ,
ਹਜ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਸਾਲਾਂ ਦੀ ਲੰਮੀ ਯਾਤਰਾ ਵਿਚ
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਿੰਨਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਛਿੜਕੇ ਨੇ ਬੀਜ਼ ਸਾਡੀ ਦੇਹ ਵਿਚ
ਸਾਨੂੰ ਬਣਾਈ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਹੈ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਉਪਜਾਊ

ਇਸ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਵਿਰਾਸਤ ਨੂੰ ਸਿਰ ਮੱਥੇ ਰੱਖਦਿਆਂ ਹੋਇਆਂ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਬੁੱਧ, ਮਹਾਂਵੀਰ, ਚਾਰਵਾਕ, ਆਰੀਆਭੱਟ, ਕਾਲੀਦਾਸ,
ਕਬੀਰ, ਗਾਲਿਬ, ਮਾਰਕਸ, ਗਾਂਧੀ,ਅੰਬੇਦਕਰ
ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਮਾਨਸ-ਪੁੱਤਰ ਹਾਂ
ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਸਿਹਤਮੰਦ ਤੇ ਪਵਿਤਰ ਹਾ

ਇਸ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਆਤਮਾ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਇਕ ਬਾਪ ਦੀ ਸੰਤਾਨ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਸਾਡੇ ਵਿਚ ਸ਼ੁਧ ਖੂਨ ਨਹੀਂ ਮਿਲੇਗਾ
ਸਾਡੇ ਨੈਣ-ਨਕਸ਼,ਕੱਦ-ਕਾਠ,ਬਾਤ-ਬੋਲੀ
ਰਹਿਣ-ਸਹਿਣ, ਖਾਣ-ਪੀਣ, ਗਾਣ-ਗਿਆਨ
ਸਾਰੇ ਦੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਗਵਾਹੀ ਦੇਣਗੇ
ਸਾਡਾ ਡੀ.ਐਨ.ਏ ਟੈਸਟ ਕਰਵਾ ਕੇ ਦੇਖ ਲਉ
ਗੁਣ-ਸੂਤਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਮਿਲਣਗੇ ਅਕੱਟ ਸਬੂਤ
ਸੁੱਟ ਦਿਉਗੇ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੁ-ਤਰਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਧਨੁੱਸ਼-ਬਾਣ

ਮੈਂ ਇਕ ਵਾਰ ਫਿਰ ਐਲਾਨ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਜੰਮੇ ਹਾਂ ਕਈ ਵਾਰੀ ਕਈ ਕੁੱਖਾਂ ਚੋਂ
ਐਨਾ ਜਾਣਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ
ਜਿਹਦੇ ਹੋਣ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਅਸੀਂ ਉਸ ਰਾਮ ਦੇ ਵੰਸ਼ਜ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਮਾਫ਼ ਕਰਨਾ ਰਾਮ ਭਗਤੋ
ਅਸੀਂ ਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ

ਹੇ ਸ਼ੁਧ ਰੱਕਤ-ਵਾਦੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਪਵਿਤਰ ਸੰਸਕ੍ਰਿਤ-ਵਾਦੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਗਿਆਨੀਉ, ਅਗਿਆਨੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਸਾਧੂਉ ਸਾਧਵੀਉ !
ਸੁਣੋ ਸੁਣੋ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਹਰ ਆਮ ਤੇ ਖ਼ਾਸ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਨਰ ਮੁਨੀ ਦੇਵੀ ਦੇਵਤਾ !
ਸਭ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਅਨੰਤ ਜੰਮਣ-ਪੀੜਾਂ ਚੋਂ ਗੁਜ਼ਰੇ
ਇਸ ਮਹਾਂਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਨਜਾਇਜ ਔਲਾਦ ਹਾਂ
ਇਸ ਲਈ ਡੰਕੇ ਦੀ ਚੋਟ ਉੱਤੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਹਾਂ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
*****
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ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ
ਮੁਕੇਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ
ਕਵੀ ਬੇਬਾਕ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਬੇਬਾਕਤਾ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਰਚੀ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਰਚਨੀ ਖੇਡ ਨਹੀਂ, ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਪੂਛ ਨੂੰ ਫੜ ਕੇ ਭੁਆਟਣੀ ਦੇਣ ਵਰਗੀ ਕੋਈ ਚੀਜ਼ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਅੱਖ ਵਿਚ ਅੱਖ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਦਾ ਮੌਜੂ ਉਡਾਉਂਣਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਉਹ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਹੀ ਕੀ ਹੋਈ ਜਿਹੜੀ ਪਾਠਕ/ਸਰੋਤੇ ਨੂੰ ਹਿਲਾਵੇ ਨਾ ਅਤੇ ਹਾਕਮਾਂ ਦੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਅੱਗ ਨਾ ਲਾਵੇ ਦੂਜੇ ਦੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਅੱਗ ਲਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਕਵੀ ਆਪਣੇ ਸੀਨੇ ਨੂੰ ਪੱਥਰ ਵਰਗਾ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਤੇ ਮੋਮ ਵਰਗਾ ਕੋਮਲ ਬਣਾ ਕੇ ਸ਼ਬਦਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬੁਣਦਾ ਹੈ ਇਉਂ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਪੱਥਰ ਵਰਗੇ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਤੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਰਗੇ ਕੋਮਲ ਬਣ ਕੇ ਵਾਰ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ ਸ਼ਾਇਦ ਮੁਕੇਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਦੀ ਇਹ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਕੁੱਝ ਅਜਿਹਾ ਹੀ ਕਰਦੀ ਜਾਪਦੀ ਹੈਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕਵੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਪਾਠਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਇਹ ਵੰਨਗੀ ਹਾਜ਼ਰ ਹੈ(ਅਨੁਵਾਦਕ)
ਪੁਰਖਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਆਰੀਆ, ਸ਼ੱਕ, ਹੂਣ, ਤੁਰਕ, ਮੰਗੋਲ, ਮੁਗਲ ,ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼
ਦਰਾਵਿੜ, ਆਦਿਵਾਸੀ, ਗਿਰੀਜਨ, ਸੁਰ-ਅਸੁਰ,
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਹਦਾ ਕੀਹਦਾ ਖ਼ੂਨ
ਵਹਿ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਨਾੜੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ,
ਉਸੇ ਖ਼ੂਨ ਨਾਲ ਸੰਚਰਿਤ ਹੈ ਸਾਡੀ ਕਾਇਆ,
ਹਾਂ, ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਦੋਗਲੇ (ਵਰਣ ਸ਼ੰਕਰ) ਹਾਂ!

ਪੰਜ ਤੱਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗਵਾਹ ਮੰਨ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ!
ਗੰਗਾ,ਯਮੁਨਾ, ਬ੍ਰਹਮਪੁੱਤਰ,ਕਵੇਰੀ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ,
ਵੋਲਗਾ,ਨੀਲ,ਦਜ਼ਲਾ,ਫ਼ਰਾਤ ਅਤੇ ਥੇਮਜ਼ ਤੱਕ ,
ਅਣਗਿਣਤ ਨਦੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਹਿਲੋਰੇ ਮਾਰਦੈ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਰੱਗਾਂ ਵਿਚ
ਉਹਨਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਬਣੇ ਹਾਂ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਮਠ ਤੇ ਸਦਾ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ਸ਼ੀਲ

ਸੱਚੀ ਨਿਹਚਾ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਿੰਨੇ ਸਭਿਆਚਾਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਅਸੀਂ ਆਤਮਸਾਤ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ
ਕਿੰਨੀਆਂ ਸਭਿਆਤਾਵਾਂ ਨੇ ਸਾਡੇ ਦਿਲ ਨੂੰ ਸਿੰਜਿਆ ਹੈ,
ਹਜ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਸਾਲਾਂ ਦੀ ਲੰਮੀ ਯਾਤਰਾ ਵਿਚ
ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਿੰਨਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਛਿੜਕੇ ਨੇ ਬੀਜ਼ ਸਾਡੀ ਦੇਹ ਵਿਚ
ਸਾਨੂੰ ਬਣਾਈ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਹੈ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਉਪਜਾਊ

ਇਸ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਵਿਰਾਸਤ ਨੂੰ ਸਿਰ ਮੱਥੇ ਰੱਖਦਿਆਂ ਹੋਇਆਂ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਬੁੱਧ, ਮਹਾਂਵੀਰ, ਚਾਰਵਾਕ, ਆਰੀਆਭੱਟ, ਕਾਲੀਦਾਸ,
ਕਬੀਰ, ਗਾਲਿਬ, ਮਾਰਕਸ, ਗਾਂਧੀ,ਅੰਬੇਦਕਰ
ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਮਾਨਸ-ਪੁੱਤਰ ਹਾਂ
ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਸਿਹਤਮੰਦ ਤੇ ਪਵਿਤਰ ਹਾ

ਇਸ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਆਤਮਾ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾ ਕੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਇਕ ਬਾਪ ਦੀ ਸੰਤਾਨ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਸਾਡੇ ਵਿਚ ਸ਼ੁਧ ਖੂਨ ਨਹੀਂ ਮਿਲੇਗਾ
ਸਾਡੇ ਨੈਣ-ਨਕਸ਼,ਕੱਦ-ਕਾਠ,ਬਾਤ-ਬੋਲੀ
ਰਹਿਣ-ਸਹਿਣ, ਖਾਣ-ਪੀਣ, ਗਾਣ-ਗਿਆਨ
ਸਾਰੇ ਦੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਗਵਾਹੀ ਦੇਣਗੇ
ਸਾਡਾ ਡੀ.ਐਨ.ਏ ਟੈਸਟ ਕਰਵਾ ਕੇ ਦੇਖ ਲਉ
ਗੁਣ-ਸੂਤਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਮਿਲਣਗੇ ਅਕੱਟ ਸਬੂਤ
ਸੁੱਟ ਦਿਉਗੇ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੁ-ਤਰਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਧਨੁੱਸ਼-ਬਾਣ

ਮੈਂ ਇਕ ਵਾਰ ਫਿਰ ਐਲਾਨ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਜੰਮੇ ਹਾਂ ਕਈ ਵਾਰੀ ਕਈ ਕੁੱਖਾਂ ਚੋਂ
ਐਨਾ ਜਾਣਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ
ਜਿਹਦੇ ਹੋਣ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਅਸੀਂ ਉਸ ਰਾਮ ਦੇ ਵੰਸ਼ਜ ਨਹੀਂ,
ਮਾਫ਼ ਕਰਨਾ ਰਾਮ ਭਗਤੋ
ਅਸੀਂ ਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ

ਹੇ ਸ਼ੁਧ ਰੱਕਤ-ਵਾਦੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਪਵਿਤਰ ਸੰਸਕ੍ਰਿਤ-ਵਾਦੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਗਿਆਨੀਉ, ਅਗਿਆਨੀਉ !
ਹੇ ਸਾਧੂਉ ਸਾਧਵੀਉ !
ਸੁਣੋ ਸੁਣੋ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਹਰ ਆਮ ਤੇ ਖ਼ਾਸ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਨਰ ਮੁਨੀ ਦੇਵੀ ਦੇਵਤਾ !
ਸਭ ਸੁਣੋ !
ਅਸੀਂ ਅਨੰਤ ਜੰਮਣ-ਪੀੜਾਂ ਚੋਂ ਗੁਜ਼ਰੇ
ਇਸ ਮਹਾਂਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਨਜਾਇਜ ਔਲਾਦ ਹਾਂ
ਇਸ ਲਈ ਡੰਕੇ ਦੀ ਚੋਟ ਉੱਤੇ ਕਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ,
ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
ਹਾਂ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਹਰਾਮਜ਼ਾਦੇ ਹਾਂ !
*****
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Tuesday, August 23, 2016


Mining As A Threat To The Commons: The Case Of South America

  by  César Padilla
      August 23, 2016


The struggle against mining in the region is often presented as opposition to development. In fact, the communities affected and environmental organizations are struggling to recover and exercise their basic human rights. This struggle will continue so long as mining corporations and governments rely upon the mining model to enclose the commons


The latest cycle of mining expansion in South America dates from the mid-1990s. Since then, levels of investment in exploration and exploitation have generally held steady. Such investment has benefited from reforms in the laws governing mining in almost all countries, and the high demand for basic minerals for industrial use, especially in China and India, which have translated into high prices. The so-called “financial crisis” of the early 21st century further accelerated the rising prices of precious metals, which are now seen as a “safe-haven” value given the vulnerability of currencies. This trend has meant, in turn, an increase in the number of mining projects in the portfolios of transnational corporations and an expansion of the areas given in concession throughout the region.
The concessions granted to mining interests have soared in Peru, from 7.3 percent of the national territory in 2005 to 15.4 percent in 2009. This, in turn, has intensified socio-environmental conflicts on territories and communities. In Colombia, President Santos’s aggressive promotion of mining (“la locomotora minera”) has entailed a substantial increase in mining concessions. According to the Ministry of Mines of Colombia, more than 40 percent of the national territory is being sought for mining concessions. In Argentina, the number of mining projects increased 740 percent from 2003 to 2007 alone, reaching the considerable number of 336 projects (Swampa/Antonelli, 2010). In Ecuador, despite the mining mandate (mandato minero) that reverted mining concessions to the State during the Constituent Assembly in 2008 (Acosta 2009), there has been an increase in mining concessions, especially along the southern border with Peru.
The increase in areas given over to mining concessions in South America has involved profound disruptions of ecosystems and the communities that have depended on them for centuries. Communities have lost access to their most valued properties that they customarily shared in a sustained manner. The natural and cultural elements that have supported the communities’ development, lifestyles and systems of existence – all the components that contribute to the concept of “vivir bien” (literally, “living well”) – are under siege1 (Choquehuanca 2010).
Water has been one of the commons goods most affected by mining in the region. Defined as a “thirsty industry” (Cereceda 2007), mining has been dispossessing the agricultural communities of their water sources. It has also diminished access to water for urban populations, especially in critical hydric zones such as northern Chile, southern Peru, and the Bolivian altiplano.2 Accordingly, one of the most important demands of the communities affected by mining is protecting the water sources for their use in agriculture and for human consumption. They also seek to keep water resources intact to conserve the ecosystems and ensure that various rituals associated with water can continue.
The most recent conflicts between communities and mining enterprises – in which the governments have not been neutral actors but rather allies of the transnationals – have been over protection of the water. The people of Islay in the Tacna region in southern Peru, worried about their access to water and its conservation, succeeded in getting the government to reject the environmental impact study submitted by Southern Copper Peru for its Tía María mining project. They understood the dangers that mining poses for human existence. For example, the Puno region in Peru was brought to a standstill for 45 days in 2011, and the border with Bolivia was shut down, because of the risks of mining contamination of the rivers that flow into Lake Titicaca.
Mining cannot be productive and sustainably managed if it ends up driving the population from its territory. Mining not only brings an end to the water, but also to the way of life tied to the land, traditions, spirituality and sense of belonging. It has recently been learned that mining by transnational companies in the high Andean glaciers along the border between Chile and Argentina is jeopardizing waters that are critical to these mountainous ecosystems.3 Fortunately, a new Argentinean law protecting the glaciers has been enacted in an attempt to prevent droughts and conserve the ecosystems of these highly productive valleys.4
There are similar fights to protect water in northern Colombia’s páramos, the ecologically vulnerable high elevations between the upper forest line and permanent snow line. Thepáramo are a symbol of life in extreme conditions, a place of long cycles of regeneration, reproduction of species and arrested growth. Destroying the páramo destroys not only the ecosystem and the water, but the reproduction of life itself. A Canadian mining company, GreyStar, in the páramos of Santurbán in the department of Santander, near the border with Venezuela, was involved in intense negotiations with the government to build a massive mining operation in the páramo. Ultimately, the government succeeded in getting the company to withdraw its environmental impact study.
Mining operations in South America are also having a major impact on the soil, which is especially important to the indigenous and small farmer populations. Mining concessions have taken tens of thousands of hectares from these people and, in the process, impeded free transit through many regions. The mining has also prevented communities from using the soil to raise stock and harvest subsistence resources such as firewood, mushrooms, wild fruits, natural materials for crafts and plants for culinary and medicinal uses. Mining has also wounded the forest, which is the habitat of the spirits, the forces in favor of and against humans, the place where one consults one’s destiny and where one gets the answers for future decisions. The mountains have a special meaning in the mythology of the high-Andean cultures; they are theApus, or sacred mountains, understood as divinities whose supernatural powers care for and protect the inhabitants of the altiplano and govern their destinies.
The ancestral and agricultural peoples depend on their territories for their subsistence and for the development of their culture. This is made clear every time the states make commitments to mining development, such as in the case of Wirikuta in Mexico, spurring opposition by communities that the state wants to resettle elsewhere.5 The Huichol people, who call themselves Wixárika, who inhabit the Sierra de Catorce, consider their surroundings to be a sacred place. They call it Wirikuta and they have paid tribute to it from time immemorial. In their cosmogony, Wirikuta is one of the five cardinal points that gave rise to the world; there were born the gods under the influence of the powerful Tau (the Sun), which they consider the pillar of life. Therefore, they say, its destruction would mean the end of humankind.
What is at stake in all these situations is the replacement of stable, ancient systems of life with systems of consumption and markets. Mining displaces the “permanent” view of life, and imposes conceptions of life as “transitory and disposable.” By forcing communities to migrate to cities or other regions, or disrupting their traditional cultures, mining concessions profoundly alter and even destroy communities. In addition, mining interventions destroy archeological vestiges, ceremonial sites, cemeteries, and other material and nonmaterial expressions of culture. Mining exploration roads and large craters resulting from open pit mines inflict harm on large areas of nature, threatening biodiversity as some plant and animal species disappear forever.
Biodiversity is also threatened by climate change, another side effect of mining through the use of fossil fuels in its operations, and in generating thermoelectricity to feed the mineral production processes. It has been noted that nearly 10 percent of global energy consumption can be attributed to mining (Earthworks 2003).
Mining is not just displacing farming from one area to another it is disrupting biodynamic agriculture cycles based on ancestral knowledge that have been effectively used for centuries. Mining threatens the cultural traditions and customs that have sustained soil conservation practices, managed planting time and coordinated agricultural work with subtle bio-indicators. The Quechua and Aymara farmers of Puno were accustomed to predicting the climate and the moments for planting their crops based on biological indicators. The state of development of a species of ants made it possible to determine the rains and frosts in that region of the Peruvian altiplano. If the young ants had lost their wings early, the crops would also come early. A certain cactus that flowered early ratified the message of the insects: the time to plant had come. With the displacement of communities and the consequent abandonment of traditional activities based on ancestral and millenary knowledge of one’s surroundings, we are losing priceless cultural knowledge and traditions, which are often impossible to recover.
The mining industry’s involvement in South American societies has devalued the idea of sovereignty – the ability of a people to decide the fate of its territories. It has also corrupted governments as mining interests use political manipulation and blackmail to achieve their goals. Mining companies have used a series of financial mechanisms to hide their actual income so that they can avoid paying their due income taxes and royalties (Alcayaga 2005). Such corruption of public servants and white collar crime are further eroding the ethics and morality of South American socieites.
The struggle against mining in the region is often presented as opposition to development. In fact, the communities affected and environmental organizations are struggling to recover and exercise their basic human rights. This struggle will continue so long as mining corporations and governments rely upon the mining model to enclose the commons.

REFERENCES

  • Acosta, Alberto. 2009. La maldición de la abundancia. Quito. Abya Yala.
  • Alcayaga Julian. 2005. Manual del defensor del Cobre.
  • Cereceda, Enrique. 2007. Agua y minería, una industria sedienta. Bnamericas.
  • Choquehuanca, David. 2010. Hacia la reconstrucción del vivir bien. Alai.
  • Swampa, M. and A. Antonelli. 2010. Minería Transnacional, Biblos. Buenos Aires.
César Padilla (Chile) is an anthropologist with a master’s degree and co-founder of the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OCLA), specializing in mining, environment and communities, and coordinator of the Observatory of Latin American Mining Conflicts (OCMAL). He has been involved with conflicts among communities, mining companies and states in several Latin American countries and has published works about social and environmental conflicts provoked by mining.
First published in Wealthofthecommons.org/
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.