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Diverse expectations
Maldives’ negative approach |
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‘Facebooked’
Access to toilet a human right
For all the greenhearts
Invading the testosterone territory of art
The pursuit of justice in arts by feminists
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Diverse expectations
In
agriculture, diversification is a word that refers to a whole sweep of issues related to farming, farmer, food security, and the economy. President Pranab Mukherjee and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of Punjab Agricultural University, have referred to a few key aspects of this effort under way in the state. The President called for collaboration between the Centre and the state on this. It is important as many initiatives have been lost because of a lack of common vision and priorities. The Centre looks at food production from a security and economy point of view, while the state sees the farmers’ interest first. Both are important, but a common ground has to be found. Punjab’s addiction to paddy is at the centre of the debate in the state today. Spurred by the Central government’s focus on feeding the increasing national population, the water-guzzling crop proved to be like steroids for the state: It yielded high remuneration, but at the cost of health and sustainability of the soil and the increasingly precious resource, water. The Punjab Chief Minister has demanded the Centre offer a minimum support price (MSP) for the alternative crop of maize. This is a valid demand, for the simple reason that paddy too was sustained with an MSP. However, the quantum of MSP would not be easy to settle. The remuneration from maize cannot be the same as paddy, as the nutritional value it produces per hectare is less. That brings us to other alternatives that may match, or even outdo, paddy, that too without the MSP. These would be high-value horticultural produce. But this is easier said than done. Fresh foods — of which Indians have way less than the recommended daily diet — are not optimally sustained by the conventional production and distribution chain. For that, the President stressed private-public participation in the agro industry. That can also prove to be the crucial link in turning Punjab from a farm economy to an industrial one in a socially viable transformation.
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Maldives’ negative approach
The
Maldives government has taken a cynical decision of abruptly cancelling a $11 million deal with the Bangalore-based GMR group signed for the construction of an international airport at Male, the country’s capital. The deal was clinched by maintaining a proper procedure in 2010 when Mohammed Nasheed was the Maldivian President. He had to relinquish his office following political turmoil which continued for nearly a year. Nasheed’s departure from the seat of power led to the installation of his rival, Mohammed Waheed, as the President of the Maldives, with the backing of security forces and religious extremists. Since then Waheed has been looking for some pretext to undo most of the schemes initiated by the previous government headed by Nasheed. This is clearly vendetta politics and may harm the interests of the archipelago, but the Waheed administration appears to be the least bothered about this aspect of its decision. While cancelling the biggest infrastructure development agreement with GMR, the Maldivian Cabinet said, “It was not a valid agreement.” One fails to understand how it was “not valid” when the deal was finalised following a competitive bidding process with the help of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. The project was being implemented through a joint venture company consisting of GMR Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad. There were no allegations that GMR had adopted any controversial method to clinch the prestigious deal. Obviously, the Waheed government has taken this negative step under the influence of some outside forces. But in the process it has scared all the international investors taking keen interest in the Maldives. Now the investors who are already there in the tiny nation may start thinking of shifting their funds to safer places. Foreign companies planning to undertake projects in the Maldives may change their plan. No investor would like to endanger its business interests when the government in Male refuses to honour the agreements reached in the past. What has happened with GMR may be repeated when the present political dispensation is replaced by a new one. As former Maldivian President Nasheed commented, “This will put off potential investors for decades. Waheed is leading the Maldives down the path of economic ruin.”
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‘Facebooked’
The
crescendo of protest that rose up against the arrest of two girls — one for posting a message on Facebook that criticised the shutdown in Mumbai after the death of Bal Thackeray, and another for “liking” the message — has finally led to the suspension of the two police officers who had arrested the girls. It is, indeed, a strong step, but a much-needed one since there has been a dramatic rise in the number of arrests of people who voiced their opinions on various social networks, especially Facebook and Twitter, all over the nation. Indeed, it seemed the freedom of expression was under threat, at least as far as online activities were concerned. The arrest of the girls in Mumbai under sections 341 and 342, IPC, were also criticised because the comment could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be called illegal. The arrest had even been criticised by Central ministers, and there had been a clamour for action to be taken against the officers who had arrested the girls. The Shiv Sena bandh protesting the arrest of the two police officers is unfortunate, although not unexpected. The Sena has often taken recourse to street justice. It is high time it realised that it must operate within the framework of justice that the nation provides to all its citizens. Police officers, too, must be cautious in how they frame charges against persons accused of various activities that might not be illegal, merely inconvenient for some powerful people or interests. Indeed, cyber activities are nothing but an extension of physical activities of various individuals, and these should not be seen in isolation. These must be seen as manifestations of the real day-to-day activities of various people. Sometimes people are informal, and not too conscious while framing their comments. They treat social media as a conversational medium and not as a formal medium. The contest is of utmost importance in understanding why a comment is made, and should be looked into carefully by people, including police officers, before taking any drastic action like the arrest of the innocent girls.
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Let us live for the beauty of our own reality. —
Charles Lamb
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Access to toilet a human right
Union
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's advice to women that they should not get married into a house where there are no toilets is a sound suggestion, considering how basic a human need toilets fulfil. Therefore, his remark that we are more in need of toilets than of religious places makes eminent sense. However, a large section of the population, which is deprived of access to toilets, seems to perceive toilets as an object of desire rather than of necessity. Apart from grinding poverty, one of the foremost factors responsible for this is the fact that access to toilets as a basic human right is yet to sink in the public consciousness, marked as it is by gender inequality. Unless this right is fought for and put forward as an unassailable claim, it will continue to be erroneously regarded as somehow not on a par with other human rights. In this context, the most important step towards ensuring access to toilets to the people has to be strengthening this right by constant assertion-both conceptually and empirically-so that its denial to anyone becomes unacceptable. It is important to make a strong conceptual case for this right because unlike other human rights, provision of a toilet for every human being belongs to a category which may be called 'inferred human rights'. These rights have not been explicitly mentioned either in any international human rights document or domestic law in India. However, that should neither be a surprise nor a disadvantage. There is, in fact, a school of thought among political philosophers, led by John Rawls, which argues for a 'thin theory of rights', also known as human rights minimalism. Rawls's justification for his minimalist account of human rights partly lies in the risk that too broad a list may lead many states to reject it as in some way distinctive of Western political tradition and prejudicial to other cultures. On the other hand, there are human rights theorists like Jack Donnelly who maintain that lists of human rights emerge from concrete human experiences in a society and are, therefore, evolutionary in nature. Perceptions of human dignity are liable to change with time. Lists of human rights are invariably going to reflect that change. There is, of course, a case against adding frivolously to the already long list of human rights. Proliferation of human rights can result in the dilution of the international human rights norms which are accepted by almost all states as binding obligations. At the same time, if a widely felt basic human need that requires protection for dignified existence is not incorporated among human rights, it can cause loss of faith in human rights as a preferred and authoritative instrument for defining and implementing conditions necessary for a life of dignity. Inference of more rights from the existing list of rights or their logical extension into newer forms of rights offers a convenient halfway house between the maximalist and minimalist positions on human rights. It enables human rights to be a dynamic and living concept amenable to adaptation by different societies characterised by their particularities. Far from compromising the basic character of human rights, it helps in augmenting their universality. The importance or status of an inferred right is not diminished by the mere fact that it is an assumed and not a textually stated right so long as the inference or extension itself has not been a contrived or superfluous one. The right to toilets is so intimately linked with the right to housing, shelter and privacy that these human rights cannot meaningfully exist in the absence of easy access to a toilet. Therefore, the right to toilets is indisputably a basic and universal human right. In India, the judiciary has played a considerable role in the evolution of human rights standards. Through liberal and constructive interpretation of the constitutional provisions, the Supreme Court has enlarged the meaning and scope of human rights. The right to shelter has been deemed to be a fundamental right emanating from the right to life. It does not imply a mere right to a roof over one's head; it rather includes panoply of amenities like adequate living space, clean and decent surroundings and sanitation. Access to a toilet is an indispensable part thereof. Denial of this right could, in fact, amount to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, as argued by Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. The provision of clean and hygienic toilets for everyone in India can bring about significant improvements in the quality of life of people, and also save many lives. Deaths from diseases associated with inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene like acute diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera can be prevented. Vulnerability of women and girls to risks of sexual violence due to going to open and dark places for defecation can be reduced. Girls who drop out of schools for a lack of private latrines can continue their studies. The abysmal sanitary conditions also hurt the image of the country badly and should, therefore, prick our national pride. Foreign tourists shrink in horror when they see people urinating or defecating shamelessly in the open. Such despicable behaviour coming especially from people who have a civilised choice speaks volumes about their lack of civic sense. Stenchful and squalid environment also seems to mock at India's claim to a rich cultural history. Clean and hygienic toilets at every place visited by tourists would be a far more effective advertisement than a series of 'Incredible India' mantra repeated ad nauseam. Despite far-reaching social and economic benefits, talking about toilets still remains a taboo in our country. Gandhi and Ambedkar had broken that taboo at the national level and made sanitation and cleanliness an important part of their mass campaigns. But there seems to be a reluctance to follow their legacy today. It is particularly tragic, given the appalling state of sanitation in which open defecation is rampant. Further, to attribute open urination and defecation to an Indian mindset may be true of a tiny population which has the means, but it is a cruel joke upon the poor masses who are forced to subject themselves to the humiliation of defecating in the open day after day. There is an urgent need to get rid of the apathy towards access to a toilet as a human right. It can only happen when people at large become more aware and begin to claim toilets as a matter of right. Women, who suffer more than men do for want of sanitary facilities, should be at the forefront of spreading the message out. Who can blame them should they refuse to marry in the event of not being assured of this right? After all, it is a matter of everyone's
dignity. The writer, a senior IPS officer, is associated with the National Human Rights Commission. The views expressed are personal.
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For all the greenhearts A
communication from a colleague on how we are wrecking our planet set me thinking. There is a veritable deluge of data and info on how to green your life and be eco-friendly. Rewind to the Shimla of the early 1960s, 1970s and even the 1980s. One walked everwhere, be it from Tara Hall in Upper Kaithu to St Bede’s College or up the steep slope to the Kalibari temple and to The Mall. The walk was wooded and no cabs or buses spewed smoke. Traffic jams were unheard of. There were was no hype about Earth summits or hi-fi green talk of saving the environment in fancy ways and fancier budgets. People just connected to their environment with simplicity and cherished the connect with Nature. On her part, Mother Nature was a living entity in their lives and not something to be annually remembered as a token on Earth Day or Earth Summits in far off climes. We had to survive so we had to ensure we did not mess with Nature was the underlying philosophy. If the students were often taken for a nature walk it was to become familiar with the various conifers that dotted the hillscape and trace the patterns of the bark and file it in their drawing book. Wood roses and cones of pine trees were collected and some creative ones even painted them in bright hues. In all the seasons, Simla sparkled. Whether it was the rain-washed look of the monsoon or the bright sunny winter days, it was sheer joy to watch the sun rise and set because the view was unhindered. As years passed and greed grew, cottages were knocked off to make way for concrete monstrosities, totally out of synch with the environs. There was obviously enough for the inhabitants’ need but not for their greed. This greed blinded them to such an an extent that the manner in which Nature was being vandalised neither dented their consciousness nor forced them to introspect. For all those who have grown up in the hills and love them, the sight of denuded mountainsides actually hurts. Now one winces as the greens have given way to grotesque structures that look like warts on a hill girl’s smooth skin. With utter disregard to the ecology, the more one builds, the more is destroyed. Walking down the slope of Upper Kaithu, from Hawa Ghar, I watch Annandale’s varying hues of green— from lavender to emerald to a deep bottle green. It is soothing for one’s eyes and nerves. But for how long? If not a cricket stadium, with the accompanying chips and cola cans cast away by frenzied spectators, then some day in the future an ‘enterprising’ builder might make fancy villas and penthouses and sell them at an equally fancy price. What an astronomical price to pay for progress! Then the greenhearts will rave and rant, only to be silenced by a sarcastic look or a patronising smile much as to say, “Keep yelling, no one will
listen.” Or will they?
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Invading the testosterone territory of art
In the 21st century we talk about equality and homogenization of world societies. We claim to have discarded the old stereotyped notion of gender and genderized perception. But, in reality, our global male-dominated societies have not yet thrown off their tattered garb of gender and racial discrimination that still continues to exist, even in the most advanced and modern nation-states. This is so bizarre and embarrassing that how these global realities that are deeply entrenched in the very fabric of social system also get structured in corporate, political and cultural institutions in the form of hierarchies and peripheries. Even the art world is not spared by the hypocrisy and dominance of the male contingent. This creates an ugly gap in the face of the post-modern world. 'Guerrilla Girls' is one among such heterodox voices who have taken up the task of bridging this gap to offer a hopeful vision of the world that would include all the voices in it. Artists as activists
This feminist activist-artists' group, fighting racial and gender based inequalities in the Western world, was formed accidently about twenty-seven years ago in 1985 when they saw the underrepresented state of the women artists in the New York Art world. The siren call was the exhibition titled 'An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture'. The exhibition mounted by the Museum of Modern Art had only 17 women artists out of total 169 participating artists. The status quo around the city in other museums and galleries, even the text books on history was a picture detrimental to the country that talks about equal opportunities and claims to be ahead of others in achieving equality. Guerrilla Girls took up this issue by horn and decided to expose gender discrimination in the art world by putting up a couple of posters on the streets of New York City. This was their first artistic intervention to break the glass ceiling and expose the androcentric bias of the museums where women's art is strategically made obscured by keeping it locked up in storages or basements. The posters that caused all the turbulence in the boys' club were also a critique on women's own submission to their condition that denigrates them before the male supremacy. "If they throw you out the front door you go in the back door and if they throw you out the back door you go in the window and if they throw you out the window you go in the basement. And you don't even take it personally." These words of Jeffrey Katzenberg are enough to tell the treatment received by women art in museums and galleries and the passivity of women artists upon their own discriminated state.
Wearing masks for crusade
Now to speak the issue out loud and clear, they needed to come out of their comfort zone to work anonymously and keep their identity under cover. So they took the names of the most acclaimed dead female artists like Frida Kahlo, Kathe Kollwitz, Alma Thomas, Julia de Borgos, Rosalba Carriera etc. as pseudonyms. As women and also as established artists, (as many of them are) it was not easy for them to work as dual-identities and reconcile their real life with the guerrilla life but it was important to keep them from being caught, as putting up street posters is illegal in New York city. This also kept the focus on the issue without getting any credit. And about the gorilla mask, they say, it came about accidentally. "As an anonymous group we needed a disguise. One of our early members misspelled guerrilla as gorilla and we have worn gorilla masks ever since." By wearing this beastly masculine mask, they have not only challenged the male hypocrisy but have also subverted the notion of gender itself, as their creative appropriation misappropriates femininity and presents a radical image of women who have come out of their "genderized identity" to challenge the man's world as
"transgressive icons".
Tools of transgression
These interventionists expose and appropriate prejudices and art world politics by employing mass advertising techniques and strategies. Their guerrilla operations for combating the male-chauvinism include protest actions, poster and billboard subvertisements, bus ads, letter writing campaigns, publication of books and other manipulation tools like spoofs and parodies. Humour is their main weapon to fight the serious issue of sexism and racism notwithstanding the fact that it has its own dangers in case the audiences fail to look seriously behind this mask of humour. Guerrilla Girls run this risk as they believe, like every joke is a tiny revolution, humor helps them fly under the radar. "If you can get people who disagree with you to laugh an issue, you have a hook right into their brain. Once inside, there's a much better chance to convert them" asserted these 'mask avengers'. This way, they unabashedly unmask the hypocrisies and strongly censure the dominance of the white-men in galleries and museums. One of such posters asks even the bigger question "Do women have to be naked to get into Met. Museum?" This strapline severely criticizes the museum of sexploitation of women because less than 4% of the artists in its Modern Art section are women, but 76% of the nudes are female. This poster, with its outrageous visual and statistically supported provocative strapline, brought the question of gender from the close door discussions into the very public space as it was displayed in the New York city buses.
Taking the issue beyond art
This gender discrimination is not restricted to galleries and museums only and to say that Hollywood, the most modern film industry nurtures the most conservative idea in keeping the stereotype alive, might sound ludicrous but it is true that the American cinema is an arena predominated by white-men while the women artists and artists of colour remain at the periphery. Seeing this gender bias, Guerrilla Girls expanded their operation to target and break the celluloid ceiling. These 'professional complainers' expose the politics of discrimination in Hollywood in their usual light-hearted, sarcastic yet bitingly trenchant style. Their billboard 'Anatomically Correct Oscar' bombards with statistics which say that no woman director has ever won an Oscar, only 35 of the acting awards have gone to people of color and 94% of the writing awards have gone to men only. Guerrilla Girls realized that demonstrating outside the galleries was not sufficient to claim the place that has long been denied to women. They needed to go inside the galleries and put up their own exhibitions. They have successfully shown in all the important spaces including Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern in London etc. They have not stopped here. They are making public appearances, doing talks, performances, workshops and large scale projects in countless countries including UK, Spain, USA, Canada, Italy and Turkey. They are relentlessly doing this and want the other women artists to do the same. Woen should know that if they want to bring a change, they will have to invade the 'testosterone territory' and show that it's not all men's world. "We believe that the world will continue slowly, slowly inching towards more rights for women and people of color and lesbian, gay and transgender people. But everyone has to speak up about the issue they care about. There's a long way to go" believe Guerrilla Girls and thus, carrying forward this feminist art activism as a movement in their own crazy guerrilla way. This article is based on an interview of Guerrilla Girls taken by the author, an independent art writer and curator
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The pursuit of justice in arts by feminists Women
claimed their rights in the literary space way back in 1792 by Mary Wollstonecraft's writing of 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'. This was followed by women's music festivals that began in 1973. Feminists woke up to claim their rights in the filed of visual arts as late as 1985 when some anonymous women artists started a campaign to claim their space in museums and called themselves Guerrilla Girls
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