Fragmented Discourse Of A Fractured System

By Srestha Banerjee

04 February, 2016
Countercurrents.org

Just when Rohith Vemula's death was being dissected over caste controversy, the racist India could not afford to remain left behind. Thus the dignity of a Tanzanian student had to be stripped off.

This is a known story now, an incident being discussed, shamed and also denied. But what caught my attention yesterday and irked me was the limited fashion in which the incident was being argued. The primary question asked was- Is India a racist country? Well, when a woman is made half naked in our ‘sophisticated’ urban enclaves today, her skin color adds to the abuse, few can deny the racist slant. Even Sushma Swaraj expressed her “deep pain”.

But what the discussions also sympathetically kept pointing out was "at no fault of hers" this woman was abused. So the question then is, is it legitimate to mob-lynch and abuse a person if she/ he is at fault?

And this is where the failure of our law and order lies. As long as a person is perceived to be at fault, we legitimize a lawless treatment of the affair.It can be stripping off a woman and parading her naked or beating a person to death. We the people consider it is perfectly okay to "punish" a wrongdoer, as our police force gets the perfect opportunity and excuse to remain silent. I was surprised how the police person tried to give a justification that the abuse of the Tanzanian woman was not a racist act (which itself was ridiculous), but had no problem in pointing out it was a road outrage. And he could gloss over it because the constant question remained racism and not the unlawful act of lynching; which with or without a racist slant is abominable.

I seriously hope someday we can look beyond incidences and hot button issues. Of course they are important, but our problems are more deep rooted. If we continue on fragmented discourses, we will perpetuate the fractured system. There will always be no dearth of issues to anger us, shame us, but no system to save us.

Srestha Banerjee, currently working with the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi