Sayantan Dasgupta's Blog
July 9, 2017
“Dissent Develops Democracy”: Government And Its People
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“Humanism is the only – I would go so far as saying the final- resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.”
-Edward Said
I am everything that my government likes. I am an Indian. My surname suggests that I am a Hindu. My surname also suggests that I belong to that category of Hindus who wear a string around their neck and chest to prove their superiority among other Hindus. But the tragedy strikes when it is realized that I don’t believe in conventional religious beliefs. My structure of a perfect ‘government’s man’ starts crashing down. The idea of me being a ‘perfect’ example for the government seems to take a different turn as the identification marks celebrated by the government no longer carry any significance for me. The same marks that made me ‘likable’, now turn me into a formation of absent features and utterly detestable for the government.
The moment I start acting I don’t just act against the government’s beliefs, but also against my own imposed structures. It is not just an anti-government fight; it is also a fight against the societal myths that tried to turn me into one of many. Even when a woman opposes to follow the ‘many’ that, through societal myths, follow some feminine figure from some religious text, she also fights the same battle.
The government wants its population to be ‘clearly’ divided into two categories. The ones which they prefer and the ones which they oppose. The distinction is very clear. The people who bear the signs that government holds as the identification marks are believed to be in ‘favour’ of the government. And those who don’t are against it. And then there are people, who have all the signs to impress the government, but ideologically they prefer to oppose those signs in general and therefore the government as it is also a supporter of those signs. But, there is a certain difference between the people who don’t carry those signs and the people who do carry those signs but oppose them. The people who do not carry those signs are the ones that government uses as its propaganda tool, through falsification of facts, to influence the carrier of the signs to ‘unite’ against them. And the people who carry those signs but oppose them are the ones that break the ‘unity’ in the government. They become living examples of dissent and disruptor of government’s propaganda. Carriers of the signs have a choice to be with the government, but the ones without the signs have no choice; they are the victims.
Government’s process of identifying me is divided into two steps. Firstly, the government identifies me as one of its people, and then it points out the dissent and identifies me as not being one of its people. From my side, it is also a two step process. First, I identify the government as being a government of the country where I live (and therefore expecting it to be benevolent), and then I identify the government as being the supporter of the signs that I oppose. Government’s opposition to my dissent is a result of its generalized idea that every single person carrying those signs should also follow them. My opposition to government’s idea is a result of my logical recognition of the absurdity of carrying the signs that the government likes. So, for the government, I start changing my place and no longer belong to the same place where I used to be before the government recognized my opposition. Also, the government no longer remains in the same place when I recognized its biased treatment towards its own people (or I have recognized the biased nature even before the government came into power).
When someone opposes to be ‘one of many’ or try to be neutral they remove themselves from the line of ‘many’ and start a new line where that person is in front. The person used to be a dot among a long line of people. His/her existence seemed almost non-existent as he/she was a mere representative of a sign; just an example without any individualistic presence. He/she was like others and that’s why he/she was there. The moment I recognized a different path, I start finding signs that should not be there. And when I accept new signs and relate to them by opposing the previous ones, I became existent. My existence became visible through the opposition of conventions.
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Human beings make choices. Whatever the situation is, we choose a side that suits our opinion. And sometimes, we believe that we should not take any side, we should remain neutral. But, how neutral is neutral? Sometimes, we try to avoid a situation because we feel that our stand could categorize us into a particular group, but we should remain unbiased, maybe out of fear or mere opportunism, or because of our inadequate knowledge of the situation. Whatever the reason is, while taking the decision, we believe that we have taken a neutral stand and more precisely a safe stand; our stand is not going to affect the situation or leave a biased impression on other participants. But, while taking that neutral stand, we actually perform an act of taking sides. How impartial neutrality may seem, in reality, it means taking your own stand, which is unconventional, on an issue. I called it unconventional because, we generally believe that, one has to say yes or no in an issue to be a part of that. And one who says neither is not a part of the issue. We believe that taking a particular side which does not belong to any of the extremes makes a person neutral. But, in a situation which demands a person to be on a particular extreme and when a person’s side selection matters on a bigger level, it becomes evident and true that the people who stand neutral take the side of the wrong (in most of the cases). If I have got the signs that government favours and I don’t oppose them even when I see the ongoing transgression in the name of those signs, then my neutral stand is no longer impartial, but my stand puts me on the opposite side of justice and in favour of the baleful activities of the government.
To quote Dante, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” In the moments of social crisis, either one goes with the right or the wrong. And the ones with the above-mentioned signs should be the more responsible ones to oppose the pervading structure as they have the weapons to break the overtly pious unity of the rulers.
A step towards sanity against authoritarianism is also a step towards humanity against religious desecration. If the government is like a moving train, its people should be lucid enough to decide whether to take that train or not. And more importantly, only perspicuous comprehensibility could make people understand that the driver of the train could be the leader of the spiteful government, but it’s them, the people, who have the right to decide whether to provide the driver with the fuel to run the train or not.
The whole universe can be explained through structures. Break down those structures into smaller parts and we will know whether the face and the core are the same. The asymmetry between the face and the core is what destroys social ethics (*). The space between government and its people should not be born out of fear. It’s the people that choose a government. But disaster arrives when a government starts choosing among its people who they want to provide all its endearment to. Equality should not be an abstract metaphor but a perceivable reality. A reality that will provide justice to people according to their needs. A reality that will talk about equality not only among the people who follow the signs favoured by the government, but among humanity in general. A reality that will make people mourn for the suffering of people they haven’t even met. A reality that will stretch the boundaries of ‘imagined communities’ until they become one.
(*) According to a BBC report, “India’s economy is growing at an annual rate of more than 7%, the fastest of any major country.” But also, according to a The Times of India report, “India continues to have serious levels of widespread hunger forcing it to be ranked a lowly 97 among 118 developing countries for which the Global Hunger Index (GHI) was calculated this year (2016).”(2) (emphasis added)
The BBC report link: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-34070965/is-india-s-economic-growth-as-strong-as-it-seems
The Times of India report link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ranked-97th-of-118-in-global-hunger-index/articleshow/54822103.cms
Harry Potter Memories…
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When the last Harry Potter book came out… I prayed with all my strength that Voldemort would escape and we will have more Harry Potter books. I know it’s silly.
I have never been to Hogwarts, but I was always there with all of them, always being a part of those classes, those battles. I had always considered myself to be an unknown and alive but unmentioned enemy of Voldemort trying to protect Harry Potter. I still run with Harry Potter inside that Chamber of Secrets to help him get to the hat. I still feel to be the happiest person in the world when Phoenix flew past me and saved Harry. Though I was only in my bedroom shivering and crying and murmuring some unwritten magic spells that could heal Harry. Whenever I go to railway stations, I still get the belief that I will surely find that secret platform to get to Hogwarts. When I fail and exit the station, I look for Ron’s car in the parking lot to help me escape. Whenever I go to the zoo, I try to speak with snakes. And when I fail, I never consider myself to be unmagical, I put the blame on the snake and call it a ‘muggle snake’.
Hogwarts is never far from me. I have always been an invisible cloak to protect Harry and his friends and Hogwarts. I was there in the Goblet of Fire’s battle as a shadow of memories trying to punch Voldemort in the nose! I still feel bad for the people in the libraries, who move books by their hands, and not using their wands, and when I just sit there like “I will use my wand only if they ask for my help.” I am a silent protester of Quidditch not being a part of Olympics. I still search all those weird places around to see if Hagrid lives there! I still talk to cats thinking Professor McGonagall is one of them. I am happier seeing a bird coming toward my house than a mailman. But sadly, I never found my letter of acceptance. I speak to the wind shouting Expecto Patronum and imagining every dark cloud to be dementors. I still believe three-headed monsters do exist when I argue about many things in life. I still believe a flying broomstick will be helpful in solving traffic issues when I try to be rational with all other socio-political issues. I still believe Lucius Malfoy is an idiot when I respect every other old people with white hair. I still try to look out of my window to see if Hagrid is coming to get me in his funny looking bike when, unlike Harry, I love my present family and yeah, when I hate fast bikes. I still dream of riding that train to Hogwarts with all my ‘non-magical’ close friends and say to the top of our voice “Let the magic begin”!!!!
I still miss those “Harry Potter Days” when I felt magical. And… I genuinely believe, during the writing of the book or the shooting of the movies, somehow, magic got escaped and reached me and the Patronus Charm touched and healed my broken limbs forever. It will always embrace me. Forever.
Hogwarts will always be written as an attended school in invisible ink on our CVs when we look for jobs. Sometimes, I just feel like running and running and find Hippogriff to take me to Hogwarts. I feel like shouting ‘Alohomora’ in front of every closed door to see if that’s Hogwarts. It is because of Harry Potter that I still believe in miracles and magic in this world of despair and bloodshed.
The Boy who Lived… And With Whom We All Lived…
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Does anyone know when will another orphan boy with the help of age-old magical beings in a safely hidden magical school kill an evil power that made him orphan?
Does anyone know when will a fragile looking low-on-confidence pale boy, a know-it-all girl, and a boy with one-set-of-clothes-for-all-generations show the meaning of true friendship?
Someone.. anyone.. please tell me, can we again follow the spiders? Please? Or maybe a rat?
Can we again disappear into the map and stroll those corridors of Hogwarts to see if any chamber remains unclosed and Harry Potter needs to come back to close it?
Can we please ride those moving staircases to see if there is any philosopher’s stone left to be found to see if Harry and his friends need to come back and save the Hogwarts and therefore our lives again?
Mmmm…. or maybe, Voldemort has a brother? The one without an ear or an eye? Was he involved in killing Harry’s parents? Shouldn’t you call Harry Potter back, Miss Rowling? Alas.. no..
Why this magical connection between London-to-Hogwarts-to-the-rest-of-the-world never seems to go away?
When most of the children of my age were dreaming about buying a palace, why was I the only one who was dreaming of a small room under the staircase?
The last few words you wrote, Miss Rowling, were enough to give me a heart-attack. No no, they weren’t bad. But the mere thought of no-more-Harry-Potter was like reading how my life’s gonna end.
I, sometimes, feel this is just a winter break and soon Ron will surprise the world with his chess-genius. Soon, Hermione will levitate my frozen dreams and warm it with the morning Sun. Soon, Harry will teach me to fight dark forces with sheer innocence.
But… I did not know… this winter break was meant to freeze me for the rest of my life.. with the memory of the boy who lived. Yes, I also lived with him..
