God bless those who say what they feel must be said!
Even as it is a known fact that all revolutions must have ideologies to spurn them on, however, it is also true that “in the heat of the conflict these ideologies tend to be smelt into rigid dogmas claiming exclusive possession of the truth”. And this is where the tragedy lies, because dogma is the […]
Doing what one can with what one has…
In ‘The Professional Radical’, Marion K. Sanders quotes an interesting anecdote. He says one of the greatest political organizers the world has ever seen – Saul Alinsky was once lecturing at a college run by a very conservative, almost fundamentalist Protestant denomination. After the lecture was over, some students came to Alinsky, and narrated their […]
Mess on roads!
Developed West: If you are driving a car and you hear a siren – of an ambulance or a police car – you simply pull up to the side to make way for them. The rule-book says you can’t just slow down but you have to stop, and people obey this rule so religiously that […]
Using ‘national myths’ to polarize people
William Ury once said: “dealing with the differences is today one of the greatest challenges facing human beings.” True, what we are seeing happening these days is that the differences of opinions and worldviews are actually being exploited to breed conflict. And what is really unfortunate is that it is not only the regular “conflict […]
When defending indefensible is confused with serving ‘national interests’!
More than two weeks have passed since Major Leetul Gogoi of Budgam human-shield infamy was caught from a local hotel here along with a local girl. But so far not much has been heard about the progress on the investigations against him. On May 25, the Army chief General Bipin Rawat, who was here, promised […]
Extolling courage, resolve, and sacrifice
If there is a thing all the different political leaders and formations here are unanimous about – it is the SACRIFICE. This is why word ‘sacrifice’ has become a flag-post of the entire political discourse here, with both mainstream and separatist parties claiming its ownership, so much so that past experiences as well as future […]
When will political speeches translate into actions?
Even as the words and terms like ‘fast-track’ (development) are recent entrants into the official vocabulary, they too have become sort of clichés now. Cynicism aside, the unfortunate reality remains that whatever is being said in political speeches is not visible as much on the ground. This is indeed the great worry. Politics alone […]
When will they wake up?
In his ‘Adventures of Ideas’, Alfred North Whitehead says “the enjoyment of power is fatal to the subtleties of life. Ruling classes degenerate by reason of their lazy indulgence in obvious gratifications”. In such a state ‘people of power’ fall asleep, for it is in sleep that ‘we’ each turn away from the world […]
Revolution and the law of change
Unfortunate it is, but true nevertheless that Kashmiri society has, in general, permitted and patronized a suicidal situation here wherein ‘revolution’ has been confused with ‘sure-loser confrontations’. A good mass of society, in fact the most vibrant and productive chunk (the young) has somehow been led into believing that the panacea of the political […]
Igniting ‘national myths’ for polarizing people
DIFFERENCE, though an inherently natural and important behavioral characteristic, is also a dangerous trait in socio-psychological make-up. Beginning as a minor difference in (of) opinion, left unchecked and uncontained, it takes no time in acquiring monstrous proportions of difference of (in) interests. Once interests — be they selfish personal ones, or the social, political, cultural, […]
