Swatiroy’s Weblog

Recently, the All India Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam led by founder N Sethuram, and the Vanniyar Peravai led by A K Natarajan, demanded the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu for “administrative purposes.” The Telangana Rashtra Samiti of Andhra Pradesh has also declared that all its elected representatives -16 legislators, six MLCs, four MPs and others in the local bodies - will resign on March 6 if the process for formation of a Telangana state is not initiated in the upcoming budget session of the Parliament. Following this, AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, M Veerappa Moily confirmed that a second States Reorganization Commission (SRC) with the specific mandate of examining the creation of Telangana and Vidarbha would be set up soon.

On January 28, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati, promised to create a Bundelkhand state if she became the Prime Minister . In West Bengal, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) called for a Gorkhaland state to be carved out of the Darjeeling hills and adjacent areas.
Although the demand for new states appears to be for administrative convenience or for the protection of minority communities and the indigenous populations, caste politics and political ambitions have superceded these reasons.

The demand for the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu can be traced to S Ramadoss, the founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The Vanniyar-dominated party has a stronghold in north Tamil Nadu and is allied to another north Tamil Nadu favourite, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam .
As the largest community (53 per cent) among the listed Most Backward Classes and probably the least backward among them, Vanniyars have been cornering the large share of the benefits of land transfers by the upper castes such as Reddiars, Naidus and Mudaliyars.

A Bundelkhand state will benefit Mayawati’s Bahujan Samajwadi Party which has cornered 14 of the 21 Assembly seats of Bundelkhand. A substantial chunk of the Scheduled Castes - which constitutes one-fourth of Bundelkhand’s population, higher than the national and state average - is made up of Ahirwars, Mayawati’s own caste.

The political parties have failed to move beyond electoral ambitions, even while supporting the demand of the local people for development. The Bhartiya Janata Party has supported the demand for the Telangana state, and with the general elections a year away, has passed a resolution in its National Executive for immediate formation of a separate state.

Chhattisgarh formed in 2000, was on the election manifestoes of both the Congress (I) and the BJP since 1993, although the demand for a separate state had existed at the time of linguistic re-organisation of states. In 1991the BJP lost all the 11 seats from the region and thereafter used the demand for statehood for Chattisgarh as a comeback tool, finally ascending to power in 1999. The demand for a separate state is traced to the need felt by the wealthy ex-Malgujars, mostly Brahmins and Kurmis, to become powerful under a new state. That there is no place for self-rule by the tribal people - a significant section of the population, is substantiated by the presence of Naxalite movement and its opposing Salwa Judum in the state.Statehood for Jharkhand on Nov. 15, 2000, based on fulfilling the aspirations of the indigenous people has not resolved many issues of this region. Conflict due to political ambitions has been marked within the parties fighting for self-determination of the Jharkhandis since the 1960s. The Jharkhand party merged with the Congress in the 1960s. Later, it suffered a series of splits. In 1970, Sibu Soren quit Santhal Pargana party to form the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). In 1980 he quit the JMM to form the parallel JMM (Soren). The state is populated by more than 50 communities belonging to various Scheduled tribes and Scheduled Castes, such as Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Birhor, Kharia, Bhumij, Dusad, Lohar, Gond to name a few. In. The Adivasis are principally an agricultural people, but industrialisation remains the chief agenda of the Jharkhand Government so far. The demand for a separate State, raised by the tribal people soon after Independence, was a natural reaction to prolonged deprivation. The movement remains overwhelmingly driven by personality clashes, held together by transient alignments.

Coalition conflictsThe demand for smaller states by the regional parties is definitely not a pleasant one for the coalition governments as in the case of Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress government is supported by TRS, and in Tamil Nadu where the DMK government is supported by PMK. In addition, all four parties are part of UPA-led Government at the centre. Interestingly, while these parties have been demanding separate states for some time now, pressure tactics are used only during elections .

While at some level the argument that the smaller states are administratively easier to manage can be accepted, setting up of new government machinery such as new legislatures, high courts, state capitals and other paraphernalia would burden the exchequer while possibly creating a domino effect among other states. It also means greater control over the people and greater the pressure of the ideas of that statehood, even if emerging from a small state, instilled in them, thus flouting their rights of self-determination.

An alternative would be autonomous councils under The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This Schedule, used in the Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram grants power to the governor of the state to declare the administration of certain tribal areas as autonomous. In the North-east, Ladakh and the Darjeeling Hills, local demands for further administrative re-organisation and the formation of smaller units has been met by forming autonomous and regional councils, so as to cater to specific interests.
However, while it is important for India, the largest democracy in the world, to give space to regional and ethnic expressions without perceiving it as a threat to national integrity, it is equally important to check political parties who might manipulate the demands of the people for short term electoral gain.

What Gender?

S. Santhi, a former athlete tried attempting suicide last year.  The
silver medal that she bagged in the 800-metre race at the Asian Games
was stripped from her, after she failed a gender test. ‘Santhi wept
like a woman’ was the headline of a DNA news report (Dec. 18, 2006)
carrying this story. Its lead said, “S Santhi ran like a man to bag
the silver medal in the 800 metres race for women at Doha last Sunday.
This Monday, the athlete wept like a woman after receiving the Rs 15
lakh reward from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.”

As per an Indian Express Report(Dec.19, 2006) this is not the first
time that an Indian athlete has been involved in a gender controversy
with Anusuya Bai and Nani Radha having put through such  tests in the
1970s and Solamathi later.

Like these, many other reports came on this issue, ripping  Santhi’s
life apart and made her an issue, rather than looking at the question
of how there is no space in the mainstream for someone who does not
fall in the ‘male’ or the ‘female’ category.

It is not just sports, but everywhere. Most common example is that of
the application or other forms that we fill in; just two genders
exist. They might however ask for ones’ cast specifics.
There is nothing we can do formally if we are outside any one of these
gender categories.

There is a scene in the Movie Chakh De India were the girls of a
hockey team beat up men who misbehave with them. After that, Shahrukh
Khan goes up to one of the men, holds him by the neck and says
something to the effect of the girls not being Chakkas (a derogatory
Hindi word for Hijras) in their defense. Very few of the mainstream
Bollywood movies, like Tamanna by Puja Bhatt, have shown Hijras as
normal people; mostly they potray comic roles. They are used for the
loud song and dance scene but that is it.

There are two categories, physically and psychologically, that we are
put into, as soon as we are born.

The article ‘Sexuality and its pertinence’ elaborates on ‘human
sexuality’ and what defines it.

“Human sexuality has to do with emotions, ideas and choices, with
regard to intimate and bodily relationships, with other men and women,
and one’s self. These relationships are not merely personal, but
possess particular social forms and identities. The realm of sexuality
is thus not entirely given over to bodily sensations and drives - and
is mediated by notions of appropriate pleasure, social worth, trust
and loyalty. These notions differ from place to place, culture to
culture and have changed over time. If this were not so, we would not
be able to account for the multiplicity of sexual practices that
actually exist; nor would we be able to understand why practices
celebrated in one era are derided in another. …”

As the article mentioned there are some ways in which certain sexual
norms are normalised while others are not only not accepted but also
are criminalized. In India, it is the Article 377 drafted in 1860
under British rule criminalizes homosexuality.
An excerpt from India Today, March 14(2008), on this Article:
Legal angle
* What Section 377 of IPC says: Whoever voluntarily has carnal
intercourse     against the order of nature, with any man, woman or
animal, shall be punishable with imprisonment for life or with
imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to 10
years and shall also be liable to fine.
* History: Section 377 was drafted in 1860 by Lord Macaulay. Britain
repealed it in 1967 by decriminalising homosexuality in England.
* India’s role: Has rejected countless pleas to repeal Section 377
citing reasons of “public morality”.
* Injustices: Besides criminalising the lives of sexual minorities,
the law has neither any provision for same-sex marriage nor for
adoption of children. They are the most affected with loss of
property, education and jobs.

When even biological differences in the human body that do not fall
under male and female gender norms are not accepted by the society,
situations become further complex if we do not feel as we are supposed
to feel with the structure or framework of the body that we are born
with, which then determines our course of life.

While on our way back from a college tour, i encountered yet another behavioural norm that speaks of the mindset of the society i live in. we had two male and one female faculty members accompanying us. one of the males would get down at a station where the other, with another team of students would join us. so the former comes up to this female faculty and asks,” i have all the train tickets with me, whom do i hand it over to?” and then when she replied give it to any one of the faculty and not let it be with the students, he thought for a second and said,” it will be better if i hand it over to sir.”
He of course couldn’t say much but laugh stupidly when the female faculty sarcastically replied that considering she was this helpless, old women, who wouldn’t be able to handle things like tickets for the whole lot of students, perhaps giving it to the other faculty would be better.
it reminded me of so many experiences that i have had, which have asserted my identity as a woman in many ways, not always pleasant. there was this one time that i was travelling on a train, in my compartment was another girl , accompanied by her brother, and two other passengers who seemed to be a newly married couple. They were sitting on the side birth, and on the window the next to which was the husband sitting, could have my reflection as i was sitting on the other side of the coach, right opposite to that window. and suddenly, i noticed that his wife, pulled the curtain of her husband’s window and said “i won’t let you see her.” of-course she had a casual tone to this, and meant just to tease her husband, but i found myself in a very odd situation for a minute or two, to think of what made her do so. and i wondered why was it me and not that girl, sitting next to me, the one who was accompanied by her brother, almost the same age as me, and also with a pretty face. that’s when i first thought of my identity as a ’single’ woman as well. that’s has been perhaps the funniest way i have been introduced to what i am! among other things, A single woman.
while in college , i was a part of the womens’ development cell of my college and had been writing stuff like letters to the editor or for the college magazines on issues that would concern women, and not intentionally. and usually my reaction would be strong. and when few of my relatives have seen my writing, they advised me to changed the course of my interest as it is biased, one of my cousin in fact advised me to write on other issues as well, as otherwise i wouldn’t be taken seriously!
i remember, when as a part of my assignment i had to write an article about gender discrimination in Carnatic music, the professors i had to deal with laughed it off first and then made politically correct statements.
and to think of it, as a professor of mine pointed out to me while i told her about these reactions, why shouldn’t i write about women centred issues and why are other issues universal while the one concerning women, become women issues only? they are very much a part and result of the same socio-political, culture that all these universal issues stem from.
it’s interesting the way i am made to recognise a part of my identity even for few moments by people around me, often complete strangers. Makes me think of how people think and happy that i don’t think the same way…….

Click here to get your own player.

.flickr-photo { }
.flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

The road to bhutaipod,
originally uploaded by swat86.

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

so here, my first blog post…. i hope i enjoy blogin and people out there enjoy reading it…that’s about it for now….