TAKING SIDE…. I AM CHOOSING…(the whole and not a selective piece)

TAKING SIDE…. I AM CHOOSING…(the whole and not a selective piece)

I was remembering the movie Taking Sides (by Istvan Szabo) today. It was based on the legendary German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwangler. The movie, (and by no means I would claim that it was great cinema) was an interesting one which made me think a lot on the issue of “taking stand” and indeed had a lot of promise (if only Harvey Keitel’s character had not been over the top)

In the movie Harvey Keitel plays the role of Maj. Steve Arnold who sets up an enquiry against Furtwangler, accusing him of being a Nazi collaborator. Furtwangler, an artist and the one who played for Hitler, Goebbel, was close to them, however portrays himself and reasons for him as having humanitarian values but was not in a position to take a stand. And then there are few instances he recalls of him having helped Jews or speaking against certain policies. However Maj. Arnold was unconvinced… and rightly so… he couldn’t believe and exclaims loudly.. “ when millions of people were being sent to concentration camp to die, to be exterminated, when the LEADER was spewing hatred, then he was leading concerts…” The high-art-matters-more-than-anything argument is the one Furtwängler clings to as his excuse for thinking that he could detach himself from the gruesome realities of Nazism…

I felt the movie could have played with much more nuance… but the argument it brings forth is true.. something which even Bernhard Schlink also speaks of in The Reader.

In the last few days, the current situation is making me remember this movie. Especially when I read those who in their good hearts are forwarding links to call out the fears and the protests unwarranted and how a strong nation needs to hold itself against “infiltrators” and for that citizens need to gear up. That CAA is fine and its only against persecuted, (oops sorry religiously persecuted minorities) from 3 neighbouring countries and hence one community/religious representation is missing, since they are majority, so on and so forth…

Now enough has been said and written on this to refute and explain. E.g. Bangladesh is a secular democracy, yet we are saying (and this may be true) that there are tortured Hindus there… saying this about the only friendly neighbouring country may be. Geopolitics is not played with nuance and astute political consciousness!! Its fine. In fact today I find a video which is supposed to speak to the Muslim brothers (mind you- only men since only men go to protests it seems) who are dressed as per all stereotypes showcasing majoritarian patronising attitude but with no facts… but that I will write about later (tomorrow may be).

What I want to question though are the following (and only a few)…

1.       1. When one is trying to assuage fear or attempt to call the protests as baseless or needless, saying “they are not after Muslims”, who are they speaking to?

a.       Muslims

b.       Protestors

c.       Themselves

2.       2. Is there a them and us in this?

a.       Like we don’t need to fear and

b.       They (the Muslims) also should not be fearing

3.       3. Is it only about the logistics of NRC or..

a.       The symbolic isolation of a particular community in a particular bill

b.       The invoking of need for NRC for the “protection of the country” from whom?

c.       And isn’t it about understanding and engaging with a “constitutional ethos” which calls for a lens of humanity, equality and equity?

And now comes (may be long-winded) my point of remembering the movie. Whenever we are trying to explain or justify CAA or NRC, which side are we taking? Since it is about taking sides right? CAA, NRC is not a disjointed, isolated issue which someone has pinned to the notice board. Its part of the political ideology and manifesto of a party who makes no qualms about their position when it comes to religious majoritarianism. Are we saying that ’92 Babri demolition and the Rath yatra never happened? (and yes please don’t get into the whataboutery of “what about then of this party who also… etc. etc.) or rampaging universities, a collective effort of suppressing intelligentsia (excellence) in the name of mass or rather bargained, suited, loyal mediocrisy… these did happen right?

So are we claiming that the policies have no connection with the party ideology. I will refuse to see CAA with NRC only. I will see this in the light of their political ideology and question this. And yes indeed its about taking sides. Though we are free to change sides, if only we can get over our majoritarian complex and hubris.

Again, whose fears are we assuaging? Who are we saying not to worry and to trust? Is there still a chance of “them”…. Like “ I am telling them, not to worry?”…. remember as long as you do this, you are speaking from a position of privilege, externalizing risk. And you have taken a side…

For me its personal… those who know something about me will know that… I am writing for myself… I am writing for I am scared… I am writing since I know that something which was once told in an embarrassing tone “ we wont rent out to Mohammedans”, will now be said as a right… (since we don’t know who will be infiltrators right and we have to protect the country from them)… and I don’t want that… I don’t want as a woman to show my lineage, my fathers certificates to prove my rightful existence… I refuse to do that…

And then again trust… that’s the issue… when you personalize the issue, looking at the protesting youth or anyone, you understand, engage, empathise. Then only you can see that trust is not built with an article, a notice, a video post. Its built over the years through outreach, love, truth, activities. If we have seen people from my community being lynched and killed for their “eating choices”, if I have felt isolated, treated as an outsider, no PR campaign can create trust within me….

So by choosing to endorse or accept CAA and NRC is fine… but remember this is YOUR STAND and history will always see you “taking a side”… and not as an apolitical social media user… Also when you choose, you choose the whole…. Always…