[WSMDiscuss] India in movement…, Dalits in movement…, Caste in movement… : Fwd: Who Threw That First Stone in Thoothukudi? (Jeya Rani, translated from the Tamil original by Kavitha Muralidharan)

Wed May 30 19:12:33 CEST 2018

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

India in movement…, Dalits in movement…, Caste in movement…

[Umakant, thank you so much for posting this brilliant article on WSMDiscuss.  This article is such a necessary reading of the world as it is – and of India as it is -, and that is so so necessary to read at this moment, as the struggle in and of Thoothukudi continues to unfold, and as this struggle over meanings envelops the entire country...  It is of course vital to read and to understand the brutal corporatisation and privatisation of the state that Thoothukudi represents, but also this dimension of brute casteism and racism.  And indeed, if there is one thing missing in this article, it is how these two dynamics are intertwined in emerging India - and how Thoothukudi represents this relentless intertwining, and mating.    

[I am, as per your request, posting this on all the other lists I have been posting on the Thoothukudi massacre and struggle, and in short, I would like to most strongly recommend to everyone seeing this to open and read this article :

Who Threw That First Stone in Thoothukudi ?

Jeya Rani, translated from the Tamil original by Kavitha Muralidharan

            Umakant, in case you have their contacts, please do extend my appreciation to both to Jeya Rani for the article and to Kavitha Muralidharan for the translation -

            JS

fwd

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Umakant via WSM-Discuss <wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net>
> Subject: Re: [WSMDiscuss] Who Threw That First Stone in Thoothukudi?
> Date: May 30, 2018 at 9:02:16 AM EDT
> To: Post WSMDiscuss <wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net>
> Cc: Umakant <uk4in at yahoo.co.in>
> Reply-To: Discussion list about emerging world social movement <wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net>

Dear Friends 
Greetings! Please click on the links given below to read an interesting as well as an informative write-up on the question of State violence against its own citizens. 

Do pass it on to others in your circle/network. 

Who Threw That First Stone in Thoothukudi?
Jeya Rani, The Wire, May 30, 2018 
https://thewire.in/caste/sterlite-protest-dalit-thoothukudi <https://thewire.in/caste/sterlite-protest-dalit-thoothukudi>

The history of state terrorism says the first stone is always thrown by representatives of the police.

In the Indian social context, Dalit and tribal communities have always borne the brunt of police excesses or, to call it by its proper name, state terrorism. This violence has been a part of normal life for them. They had to face it just as they face caste abuse and untouchability every other day. Whenever they have asserted their rights – against atrocities, untouchability, sexual oppression, for their right to live, their right to livelihood and better wages – police lathis have split their heads. The guns that fire never miss their targets. Their humble dwellings are vandalised and razed to the ground. In independent India, one could cite any number of examples to establish this pattern.

The truth is that general society – so caste society – is not aware of the pain inflicted on Dalits and Adivasis by the state. For them, it is not just another case of violence. It is a betrayal of trust that no human being should be made to suffer. It robs from them the bonds they have with what they thought was ‘their nation’. It removes from their soul the thought that they are its citizens. When a society oppresses someone, when a society denies someone their rights, the government should embrace and support them. But the Dalits, tribal communities and minorities in India have never had any such ‘luxury’. Instead, the government unleashes the worst kind of violence, turning victims into refugees in their own land.

------------------------------

With Regards and In Solidarity 
Umakant, Ph. D 
New Delhi 

My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality. 
B.R.Ambedkar

______________________________

Jai Sen

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net/> / http://www.openword.net.in

Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

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