I do not want to undermine peaceful anti-CAA/NRC protests. But I do want you to spare a thought on what effect “Azadi” slogans have on some of us. Some are rejoicing that these are now reverberating from Kashmir to cities across India (Thread)
In Kashmir in 1990, the “Azadi” slogan became a weapon for the brutalisation of minority Hindus. On the night of January 19, coupled with other slogans, it scared a mother so much that she stuffed Parle-G biscuits in her crying toddler’s mouth, lest it attracted rioters outside
This is a passage from my memoir “Our Moon has Blood Clots,” where I write about what memories “Azadi” slogan brings back <div class='jekyll-twitter-plugin'><p>There was a ‘Not Found’ error fetching URL: ‘https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1208240619652431872/photo/1’</p></div>
Last year, a film shoot happened to take place in Kashmir, where the “Azadi” slogan was being enacted. A Kashmiri Pandit mother heard it and this is what her reaction was. <div class='jekyll-twitter-plugin'><p>There was a ‘Not Found’ error fetching URL: ‘https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1208240628649168896/photo/1’</p></div>
Sometimes when some of us are drunk, we enact these slogans (just to shrug it off our psyche, I guess!) in what Michael Taussig calls the “normality of the abnormal” when he refers to the notion of “despair and macabre humour”. But I cannot do it in front of: <div class='jekyll-twitter-plugin'><p>There was a ‘Not Found’ error fetching URL: ‘https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1208240641517314051/photo/1’</p></div>
Will leave you with one last thought: what if hordes of people walked across Faizabad, Jamia, Lucknow, Bijnore, Hyderabad, holding flags, protesting some government legislation, shouting: Ek dhakka aur do?
@rahulpandita @threader_app compile