Mainstream Weekly

Widespread Misuse of a Photograph

Mukul Dube — 2018-07-15T13:01:41Z

When I used to visit Sushri Krishna Sobti's home, which is near my own, I sometimes took photographs. One photograph of her, taken in 2011, appealed to me and I put it up in my Flickr “photostream” (https://www.flickr.com/photos/8234304@N03/6471151101/) Some months or years later I put the same photo on Krishna ji's page on Wikipedia.
The announcement that Krishnaji had won the Jnanpith Award came on November 3, 2017, and pretty soon media people were swarming over my photo of her with (…)

- 2018

Hatred Justifies All

Mukul Dube — 2017-02-12T17:08:06Z

A judge of the Bombay High Court recently gave bail to three men who were charged with a murder committed in the presence of eye-witnesses. Here is part of the judgment, which looks not at facts but at presumed motivation:
“The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the applicants/accused. Moreover, the applicants/accused have no criminal record and it appears in the name of the religion, they were provoked and have (…)

- 2017

Leading by Example

Mukul Dube — 2016-12-11T18:04:40Z

Throughout history, it has been held that leaders should lead by example. In the military, the officer is expected to set an example of bravery and good soldiering. In society in general, the expectation is that if the leader does good things, the people too will do good things.
In today's India, however, our leaders lead only by command and set an extraordinarily bad example. If Modi is taken to be the ideal, the exemplar, then the poorest of his followers should have many, many suits of (…)

- 2016

On the Lethality of Pellet Guns

Mukul Dube — 2016-09-05T17:20:24Z

I recently wrote the following letter to newspapers:
“It is deceitful to describe pellet guns as ‘non-lethal'. While they may not kill, they have maimed people permanently, specially by causing loss of vision. Breaking up a public gathering by blinding those in it is inhuman. Tear gas is at least as effective and does no long term damage.”
An English friend reacted thus: “I find it outrageous that the situation in India has deteriorated to the point at which you are advocating the use of (…)

- 2016

Gau Rakshaks — A Note

Mukul Dube — 2016-08-10T05:17:06Z

NDTV released a video on July 30, 2016 which posed the question, “Gau-Rakshaks—Protectors or Extortionists?”
(http://www.ndtv.com/video/news/truth-vs-hype/truth-vs-hype-gau-rakshaksrprotectors-or-extortionists-425653)
The video shows how “gau rakshaks”, always associated with one or other Hindutva outfit, forcibly stop those who are transporting cattle and snatch away the cattle. The animals are taken to one or other cow shelter owned by the same cabal and are released only when (…)

- 2016

Two Years of Hindutva Rule

Mukul Dube — 2016-06-26T19:57:59Z

According to a report in The Hindu newspaper of June 12, 2016, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Abhay Vartak said that he is “sad to see that Hindu organisations [are] being targeted in spite of a Hindu government being in power”. He forgot that the law has no religion and that the law is above the government in power. A man who kills another human being is a murderer, plain and simple, and he is liable to the same punishment regardless of his religion. Most important, the Constitution of India (…)

- 2016

Damning Urdu

Mukul Dube — 2016-03-28T06:47:08Z

“The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), which operates under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has introduced a form which requires authors of books NCPUL acquires annually to declare that the content will not be against the government or the country.” (http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/urdu-writers-asked-to-declare-my-book-not-against-the-govt-nation/)
The same source reproduces the form, originally circulated in Urdu, thus: “I, (…)

- 2016

A Note on “Anti-National”

Mukul Dube — 2016-03-12T22:53:23Z

I am past the half-way mark between sixty years and seventy, but I did not until recently hear the expression “anti-national”, which is now flying around like a swarm of maddened bees. Just what might it mean?
In accepted usage a “national” is a person who belongs to a nation, a citizen; but “anti-national” has nothing to do with this. Would it not make a damn sight more sense to use “anti-nation” as an adjective and apply it to nouns like “person” and “action”? We could leave “an (…)

- 2016

Patriots and Intolerance

Mukul Dube — 2015-12-06T20:39:06Z

Some weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing the returning of the first few awards by writers. I said that the gesture was likely to have little effect as too few Indians cared for writers and their work. I added that what would be effective was something similar from the world of popular films. Sure enough, the actions of a couple of directors drew attention: but the real bomb-shell was the words of Aamir Khan, a major star, from a well-publicised platform.
The reaction of the Hindu (…)

- 2015

A Note on Dadri

Mukul Dube — 2015-10-10T21:09:58Z

When I read of the killing, in Bisada village of Dadri, of a Muslim man by Hindus who suspected him of keeping beef in his house, I was taken back to the Gujarat massacre of 2002. That wound is fresh: the passing of a dozen years has done nothing to lessen the pain and the anger. Indeed, many more wounds have been added after Modi's election victory, which has enabled the underlying evil to spread its tentacles and grow more vicious. It is not surprising that people are reacting to Dadri (…)

- 2015