Intolerant Evictions

Around the month-end in September 2015 a Muslim man was lynched to death by a mob at Dadri (UP). While there was outrage all over there was sudden spate of artists of all kinds in an unusual campaign. They started the “Award Wapsi campaign” coupled with the “India intolerant” campaign. To rage over some incidents (selectively by the Fiberals) is one thing but for artists of various hues to be returning awards seemed very orchestrated. Nayantara Sahgal was among the first to return her called the Award Wapsi a “successful campaign”. So it was a “campaign”! A few weeks back someone sent me a translation of an article by prominent Tamil/Malayalam writer, B. Jeyamohan. I’m reproducing the translation and the original article appears here.

--- Quote:

"Intolerance"

I learnt the meaning of “Power” when I visited Delhi in 1994 to receive my Sanskriti Samman award and stayed for two days in India International Centre. I did have some familiarities with Information and culture ministries. However, IIC is the place where “Power” is served on a gold plate. IIC is located in a peaceful and luxurious bungalow with lawns, high class food and drinks, quietly moving waiters, the silken English spoken without the upper lip moving, lipsticked women gracefully adjusting their hair, the elegant welcome given to the inner circle members with signs and hugswithout making any noise!

I have stayed in many star hotels later. But I have never seen anywhere the luxury and comfort of IIC. IIC was established and funded by the Indian government as an independent body to promote arts and free thinking. If my memory serves me right, Dr. Karan Singh was also its head. I saw him that evening. I saw every intellectual that I had known through my reading of English language magazines. U R Ananthamurthy was staying there for almost four years almost as a permanent fixture. Girish Karnad was staying for a fewdays. Writers, journalists and thinkers such as Pritish Nandi, Makarand Paranjpe, Shobha De were seen everywhere in the Centre.

It was true that I was overwhelmed that day. Arunmozhi (my wife) ran to Girish Karnad on spotting him and was thrilled to introduce herself to him. I was told that Nayantara Sehgal used to come there on daily basis to have a drink. I saw her that day too. I realized that the two other individuals who were given the award along with me, Rajdeep Sardesai and Anamika Haksar were regulars there. They wear rough Kolkata kurtas and Kolhapuri chappals. Wear small glasses.Women in pure white hair and khadi saris.One of them, they said, was Kapila Vatsyayan. They said, Pupul Jayakar will also come. Wherever you turn, there were literary talks and art discussions.

That pomp kind of unnerved me. The ultra-high intellectualism seen there somewhat alienated me. Venkat Swaminathan, who saw me the next day, immediately recognised my sense of discomfort. He said, "Hey, three fourth of this crowd is just a perfect horde of crows (the Tamil equivalent of psychophants). The snobs that make their living aredraw their power by licking the boots of power centres. Most of them are mere power brokers. At best you may find one or two artists who you will really respect. And they can't bear this atmosphere for too long and willjust run away.

But these are the people who decide what is culture for this country. They can talk about everything in the world for one hour in colourful English with the right amount of jargon. But on the 61st minute, the colour will start fading. Actually they don't know anything in the real sense. Almost all are like the little boxes we find in attics which held things a long time back", said Venkat Swaminathan.

Everyone will have four or five trusts in the name of Service Organizations or Cultural Organizations. They will be flying from one conference to the other. Once they are given accommodation in a government bungalow, they can never be removed from there. In Delhi alone this crowd has illegally occupied about 5,000 bungalows. There is another Power Centre similar to this in Delhi which is called the JNU. It is the same story there too.

"Can't the government get rid of them?", I asked. He said, "normally governments do not think on that line. Because this crowd has stuck itself from the time of Nehru. They support each other. Even if some IAS officials try, they will fall at the right feet and escape".

"There is one more thing added to it" said Venkat Swaminathan. "Not only were these people just parasites, they also derive great power by showing themselves as progressive leftists. Did you notice it?". I said "Yes" with amazement. They are known throughout the world through the numerous seminars they attend. They are highly networked. Journalists around the world seek their opinion on whatever happens in India. They are the people who gave a leftist mask to the Congress Government. If you look at it that way, the amount spent on them is quite low”, he said.They are the trolls sitting on the head of India and nobody can do anything to them. They decide what is art or culture or thought of India.

I have often been to IIC with my Malayalam journalist friends. For them, this is the place to pick rumours and convert them in to news. They know there are no secrets as the day wears out and the spirits rise higher and higher in the head. But I can only pity those people who engage in to political debates based on the supposedly rare gems of wisdoms dished out by these “intellectuals” through the middle pages of English newspapers. These intellectuals never actually know the real politics. They just shout on the basis of the superfluous knowledge and stand points, with the prime space enable by the network. That’s all.

A long time back when I wrote about this Circle, I had mentioned that Barkha Dutt is no one else but a power broker, my own friends fought with me for degrading a “progressive fighter”. Fortunately for me, within a few days, the brokering she did with Tata leaked out through the Nira Radia tapes. (Incidentally, what happened to that case, does anybody know?). But even those stark revelations could not bring down Barkha Dutt from her exalted pedestal even for a month. That isthe kind of power they have.

But now, for the first time in the history of independent India someone has dared to touch this power circle. Warnings were circulated at the lower level for about the last 6 months. Last week the Culture Ministry decided to send a notice to them. This, perhaps, is the reason for these intellectuals to suddenly flare up against “intolerance”. For example, painter Jatin Das, father of actress Nandita Das is occupying a large government bungalow at one of the premium locations in Delhi free of cost for many years. Government has sent an eviction notice to him. This is the real reason for Nandita Das strongly speaking about intolerance in television channels and writing in English newspapers (all diligently carried by the network).

Even for a man as strong Modi, I think he has touched a wrong nerve. These elements are too powerful. They can destroy India through the media worldwide. They can create a picture that rivers of blood are flowing in India. They can make businessmen around the world to halt. They can wreck the tourism industry. The truth is there is no other power centre like this in India. Tolerating them is unavoidable for India. And Modi’s intolerance of them is extremely dangerous – not only for him but for the country itself.

---- Unquote.

Lutyens-leeches have an extraordinary squatting ability to occupy govt bungalows that they should have long vacated. These include politicians, artists, journalists and an assorted class of elites who have little respect for rules. So when the GOI issued notices to vacate bungalows the campaign by artists was cleverly cloaked as Award Wapsi against intolerance. Yes indeed, the eviction was intolerant, it seems. Read this:

“What is likely to cause heartburn to aam aadmi perennially plagued by housing trouble, these plush flats were to be allotted for three years to eminent artistes…. In three cases out of 27, families of artistes are still residing in the flats long after their death…”

And that just looks like the tip of the iceberg. There’s another article in Manorama that shows more of the horror of “Intolerant evictions”:

“Next on the eviction list are over 60 journalists who have also stayed beyond their tenure...  The practice of allotting houses to non governmental persons started during the reign of first Prime Jawaharlal Nehru, but the maximum allotments had happened during the tenures of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao”.

Any surprise then that a vast majority of the Commie media and their comrades in arts and entertainment are anti-Modi and desperately want the Congress to return to power?

PS: Although the translated article of B. Jeyamohan appears fairly accurate (as I checked other sites too) please post any inaccuracies noticed in the comments section.