Home

Follow Countercurrents on Twitter 

Support Us

Popularise CC

Join News Letter

CC Videos

Editor's Picks

Press Releases

Action Alert

Feed Burner

Read CC In Your
Own Language

Bradley Manning

India Burning

Mumbai Terror

Financial Crisis

Iraq

AfPak War

Peak Oil

Globalisation

Localism

Alternative Energy

Climate Change

US Imperialism

US Elections

Palestine

Latin America

Communalism

Gender/Feminism

Dalit

Humanrights

Economy

India-pakistan

Kashmir

Environment

Book Review

Gujarat Pogrom

Kandhamal Violence

WSF

Arts/Culture

India Elections

Archives

Links

Submission Policy

About CC

Disclaimer

Fair Use Notice

Contact Us

Search Our Archive

 



Our Site

Web

Subscribe To Our
News Letter

Name: E-mail:

 

Printer Friendly Version

Bismillah Through The Motions

By Mukul Dube

02 April, 2012
Countercurrents.org

For some years now I have been going to protest demonstrations and
meetings and seminars to take photographs which can then be used on
the Internet and in other ways. In this work I try not to be
sectarian: I go where I find myself agreeing with the issues being
raised and pay no attention to personal and narrow political
disagreements. My reasoning is that I must contribute time and labour
to causes with which I am in sympathy, and that this is the most
logical way to do that in a time when publicity is both central and
simpler than ever before. Besides, at my age there is not a great deal
more that I can do.

Two recent experiences have made me ask if what I do is in fact in
support of constructive actions. The personal disappointment of which
I shall speak has, I suggest, larger implications which need to be
thought about.

I received word, from one of the organisers, of a protest
demonstration by AISA on 17 March. The time stated was 11 a.m. Only a
few individuals had gathered by 11.30, and at 11.45 the organiser said
to me that they were waiting for the banners and placards. I left for
home at noon, having reached the venue 15 minutes before time. Later I
found on my cell phone a text message asking where I was and saying,
“We are about to begin.” The time recorded was 12.27 p.m.

Does a 90-minute delay speak of commitment? Does it speak of sound
basic organisational ability? Just who will be liberated by slap-dash
activities which waste the time of many people? To me this seems much
like going through the motions, rather like the governmental body
which, in the last fortnight before they lapse, rushes to use up the
funds it has been allotted to buy sewing machines or to construct
latrines. That is, activity solely for the annual report. Rote
activity without concern for what is accomplished.

On 26 March there was a rally called by several Muslim organisations
to protest the criminal behaviour of the State towards young Muslim
men, who are arrested without reason, without even reasonable
suspicion, and are eventually set free by courts of law years later
after their and their families' lives have been ruined. Here too,
nothing was in readiness at the scheduled time: another bout of going
through the motions, I thought.

What was far more distressing, though, was the evident confounding of
issues. Many of the placards spoke of Israel and the US. The people
who had been brought to the rally did not seem to know what it was
about. They marched in shouting “Allahu Akbar”, which is perhaps what
they are programmed to do on all occasions. The rally itself began
with a cleric intoning “Bismillah al rahman al rahim”, which to me is
as objectionable as a concert of Hindustani classical music beginning
with the lighting of oil lamps.

What I ask myself is this. When I photograph people going through the
motions in this way, am I not assisting pathologists by taking
pictures of the faecal matter that they spread out?
I make no apology for mixing the metaphorical with the literal: I am
hopelessly confused and can only think up awful puns.

30 March 2012, to appear in "Mainstream Weekly"

Mukul Dube is a social activist from Delhi. He can be reached at
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8234304@N03/
http://www.shotindia.com/searchresults.aspx?photo=3903&phname=Mukul




 


Due to a recent spate of abusive, racist and xenophobic comments we are forced to revise our comment policy and has put all comments on moderation que.