What could have been utilized as a golden opportunity to curb the powers of Robert Mugabe, the dictatorial ruler of Zimbabwe for a quarter of a century now, actually ended up further bolstering his political clout.
It is the Senate Elections that were held in this trouble-torn southern African nation on 26 November, 2005. The senate was created in August this year by the passage of a controversial constitutional amendment that gives the senate little real power and mandates that the body will go out of existence in 2010. Critics say that President Mugabe created the Senate as a source of jobs for ZANU-PF cronies.
This election, which witnessed Mugabe’s party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) winning an overwhelming majority of seats, had registered an average voters’ turn-out of mere 15-20%, the lowest in any national polls since the country’s independence in 1980. This was because many Zimbabweans regarded the new senate as, at best, an irrelevance, and more likely as a wasteful extravagance that the country can ill afford.
But what made the election a cynosure for the international community is the fact it has caused a split in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the only opposition party that could have offered a serious challenge to Robert Mugabe. The cause of the split is the differences between Morgan Tsangirai (the president of MDC) and Welshman Ncube (the party’s secretary) over the question whether the MDC should take part in the election. The former had called for a boycott of the polls on the grounds that President Mugabe would not allow a free and fair election, and therefore, participation in it would only legitimize a bogus process.
But the faction behind Ncube was firm on its stand that the MDC should run the polls, for a boycott would only strengthen the ruling ZANU-PF’s control over yet another administrative institution.
But there are other causes of the split and tribalism is one of them.While Tsangirai is a Shona,-along with three-fourth of his compatriots), Ncube is a Ndele, a tribe constitutes a majority in Matabiland where thousand of Ndeble people were killed in the 1980’s by the security forces.Naturally, the Ndeble were eager to participate in these elections.
Another factor, which can be cited as a cause of division in the MDC is the gradually increasing dislike for Tsangirai’s autocratic leadership.This discontent further deepened last month when Tsangirai overruled the decision of MDC’s National Council to run in the elections and went to the extend of expelling twenty six MDC members who had decided to stand as candidates against his orders. Tsangirai and his supporters have described the low turn out at the elections as an evidence people’s faith in his decision.
However, what he attempts to ignore yet remains conspicuous is the truth that the election campaign has left the MDC bitterly and perhaps, irrevocably divided. And, as it moves closer towards performing a political hara-kiri, the common Zimbabweans have lost almost all hopes of emancipation from the undemocratic, violence-ridden rule of Robert Mugabe. It is most palpable that the elections will do little or nothing to address Zimbabwe’s enormous and labyrinthine problems.
More than seventy percent of Zimbabweans cannot find employment in the ever-contracting economy. Inflation exceeds three-hundred percent. More than four million people are at risk of hunger. Government mismanagement has led to severe shortages of fuel and foreign exchange. The new senate may provide jobs for politicians, but it will not put food on tables or bring wages into alignment with inflation.
The future of Zimbabwe politics seems to have become all the more bleak.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
The Killing Fields.
On the morning of 18th October, 2005 the nation was shocked when it discovered the intensity of the brutality, which characterizes militant attacks in the North-East: twenty-two people belonging to the Karbi community were hacked to death the previous night by Dimasa rebels in Central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. The gruesome massacre took place after two buses were waylaid by militants and then, set on fire near a Karbi village called Charchim. The militants, next, raided the village, burning homes and killing fifteen more Karbis there. In the wake of this appalling incident, the administration had clamped an indefinite curfew in the area and had also issued shoot-at-sight orders. Karbi Anglong, indeed, is in a vortex of violence and blood-shed.
In 1970, the United Mikir and North Cachar Hills was split into the Mikir Hills district and the North Cachar Hills district and in 1976, the former was renamed Karbi Anglong. Though the district has a Karbi majority, over forty-thousand Dimasas live there and they had a peaceful coexistence until the late nineteen-nineties. This period witnessed the birth of the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) which claims to be the protectors of Karbi interests and the Dimasa Halam Daoga (DHD), which wants a separate state for the Dimasas called Dimaraji comprising of North Cachar and portions of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts. This demand of the DHD combined with the fact that the area along the Dhansiri river in Karbi Anglong has a Dimasa majority made the UPDS antagonistic towards it and clashes between the two soon became inevitable. In May 2002, the UPDS had entered into ceasefire agreement with the government and the DHD followed suit in January, 2003. Under the ceasefire rules, the 450 listed DHD militants and 115 UPDS cadres were to confine their movement in and around their designated camps. But the rule was not to be adhered to.
What triggered off the recent spate of violence were the murders on September 26 of three Dimasa auto-drivers whose bodies were found near the predominantly Karbi town of Maza. In the three-week-long orgy of bloodshed and devastation that followed, 88 people officially confirmed killed, of which 76 were Karbis and nearly 45,000 people from 200 villages lost their hearths and are presently living in relief camps numbering around 55. The fact that it is the Karbis who are he worst affected by the violence has made many Karbi leaders contend that it was pre-planned by the DHD. The latter, however, has refuted the allegations and has, instead, foisted the charge on the Black Widow, a breakaway DHD faction. The blame-game does not end ever. The Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in the state feels that both DHD and UPDS are responsible for the protracted violence as both have flouted the ground rules of the ceasefire. The Governor of Assam, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ajai Sinha has even sent to Delhi the recommendation of disarming both the rebel groups. The authorities have also decided to investigate the allegations that the local CPI ML (Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist) leader Jayanta Rongpi and the former Defense Minister of India, George Fernandes –he visited the area twice before the outbreak-had instigated the clashes. But the Opposition parties like the CPI (ML) and AGP (Assam Gana Parishad) have blamed the State government, which according to them, could have stymied the violence through timely deployment of security forces n the area. The BJP and RSS, on the other hand, have accused the NSCN (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim) of provoking the Dimasas and Karbis by proselytizing people in Karbi Anglong, an accusation to which the NSCN has reacted sharply. All these only render egregious the deplorable state of Indian politics in which every unsavoury occurrence sparks off volleys of accusations and counter-accusations.
The need of the hour, however, is an immediate and thorough revision of the ground rules through democratic consultations and also implementations of other measures like allowing not more than one designated camp for each outfit and that too, only in the area densely populated by members of their community. Monitoring of the militant outfits is also necessary. But these short-term measures are not sufficient; for permanent resolution of conflict between the Dimasas and Karbis, the first and foremost step that needs to be taken by the governments at Guwahati and New Delhi is to initiate peace talks with the DHD and the UPDS. But the DHD has declined to participate in talks unless the DHD camp in the Dhansiri region of Karbi Anglong is shifted; a demand which the DHD has refused to concede. There are, indeed, several hurdles in the path of resolution of the Karbi-Dimasa ethnic strife; the necessity is that the State and the Central governments should look in to the problem and its various aspects, in earnest.
In 1970, the United Mikir and North Cachar Hills was split into the Mikir Hills district and the North Cachar Hills district and in 1976, the former was renamed Karbi Anglong. Though the district has a Karbi majority, over forty-thousand Dimasas live there and they had a peaceful coexistence until the late nineteen-nineties. This period witnessed the birth of the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) which claims to be the protectors of Karbi interests and the Dimasa Halam Daoga (DHD), which wants a separate state for the Dimasas called Dimaraji comprising of North Cachar and portions of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts. This demand of the DHD combined with the fact that the area along the Dhansiri river in Karbi Anglong has a Dimasa majority made the UPDS antagonistic towards it and clashes between the two soon became inevitable. In May 2002, the UPDS had entered into ceasefire agreement with the government and the DHD followed suit in January, 2003. Under the ceasefire rules, the 450 listed DHD militants and 115 UPDS cadres were to confine their movement in and around their designated camps. But the rule was not to be adhered to.
What triggered off the recent spate of violence were the murders on September 26 of three Dimasa auto-drivers whose bodies were found near the predominantly Karbi town of Maza. In the three-week-long orgy of bloodshed and devastation that followed, 88 people officially confirmed killed, of which 76 were Karbis and nearly 45,000 people from 200 villages lost their hearths and are presently living in relief camps numbering around 55. The fact that it is the Karbis who are he worst affected by the violence has made many Karbi leaders contend that it was pre-planned by the DHD. The latter, however, has refuted the allegations and has, instead, foisted the charge on the Black Widow, a breakaway DHD faction. The blame-game does not end ever. The Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in the state feels that both DHD and UPDS are responsible for the protracted violence as both have flouted the ground rules of the ceasefire. The Governor of Assam, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ajai Sinha has even sent to Delhi the recommendation of disarming both the rebel groups. The authorities have also decided to investigate the allegations that the local CPI ML (Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist) leader Jayanta Rongpi and the former Defense Minister of India, George Fernandes –he visited the area twice before the outbreak-had instigated the clashes. But the Opposition parties like the CPI (ML) and AGP (Assam Gana Parishad) have blamed the State government, which according to them, could have stymied the violence through timely deployment of security forces n the area. The BJP and RSS, on the other hand, have accused the NSCN (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim) of provoking the Dimasas and Karbis by proselytizing people in Karbi Anglong, an accusation to which the NSCN has reacted sharply. All these only render egregious the deplorable state of Indian politics in which every unsavoury occurrence sparks off volleys of accusations and counter-accusations.
The need of the hour, however, is an immediate and thorough revision of the ground rules through democratic consultations and also implementations of other measures like allowing not more than one designated camp for each outfit and that too, only in the area densely populated by members of their community. Monitoring of the militant outfits is also necessary. But these short-term measures are not sufficient; for permanent resolution of conflict between the Dimasas and Karbis, the first and foremost step that needs to be taken by the governments at Guwahati and New Delhi is to initiate peace talks with the DHD and the UPDS. But the DHD has declined to participate in talks unless the DHD camp in the Dhansiri region of Karbi Anglong is shifted; a demand which the DHD has refused to concede. There are, indeed, several hurdles in the path of resolution of the Karbi-Dimasa ethnic strife; the necessity is that the State and the Central governments should look in to the problem and its various aspects, in earnest.
Amit Chaudhuri: The Portrait of an Author who is also a Conjurer
“ In Bengal, both tamarind and babies are soaked in mustard oil, and then left upon a mat on the terrace to absorb the morning sun…….With their frantic, miniature limbs and their brown, shining bodies, they look like little koi fish caught from the Hooghly River, struggling into life.”- ‘A Strange and Sublime Address’ is liberally interspersed with such comparisons that are unusual, unexpected, startling. They are one of the myriad of factors, which make the novel what it is: a delight that is stimulating and relaxing at the same time; a tale which fills one with a sense of wonder at its author’s power of evoking brilliant imageries.
The author is Amit Chaudhuri, one of the most widely acclaimed among the Indian authors who write in English. Born in Kolkata in 1962 and brought up in Mumbai, Chaudhuri has an academic resume as impressive as his literary achievements. He graduated from University College in London, then was research student at Balliol College in Oxford and later, was a Creative Arts Fellow at the Oxford University. Yet he says- and this heightens his appeal amongst his readers- he knew no English until he entered school. In his essay on ‘Bombay’, he writes, “My Bengali parents had taught me no English, settled outside Bengal, they had longed to make me intimate with the Bengali language”. In this essay published in the Granta magazine, he reminisces with nostalgia about the Bombay of his childhood which he feels has many a trait of the American cities. “Bombay’s mixture of the childlike and the grown-up, of naivety and ruthlessness, a mixture that, as I know, is also peculiarly American.” he says. His another famous essay ‘The Tailor of Gujarat’, also published in the Granta, followed the fortunes of Ansari, a Gujarat riot victim whose picture with folded arms and tearful eyes, was widely circulated and published in the national media and had consequently, rendered him an unlikely celebrity. In the piece, Chaudhuri in a subtle yet effective way, lambastes the media, which unscrupulously and often makes a ‘breaking news’ out of human tragedies, strips a common man of his protective cover of obscurity and then, when the hullabaloo surrounding the news dies down, turns a blind eye towards him.
But Amit Chaudhuri is best known for his novels. His first novella ‘A Strange and Sublime Address’, which won the 1991 Betty Trask Award as well as the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Best First Book, captures through the eyes of a ten year-old boy, Sandeep, the ineffable but endearing beauty of the apparently mundane, middle-class life in Calcutta. The observations, ideas and of course, the comparisons of the precocious protagonist are all so remarkable and revealing that one cannot help but resolve to treasure his copy of the novella for life. His second novel, Afternoon Raag (1993), revolves around the life at Oxford of an Indian student whose imagination is dominated by his love of Indian classical music and the memories of home and parents. His other novels are Freedom Song (1998) and A New World (2000). None of these works have action-driven plots but various facets of family-life, dreams, memories, yearnings et al are all explored and expressed with such astonishing vividness by Chaudhuri that they are most fascinating to read. Chaudhuri’s editing skills and poetic talent found expression with the publication of the Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature (2001) and ‘St. Cyril Road and Other Poems’ (2005).
Chaudhuri has been variously described as a ‘miniaturist’,-perhaps his elliptical, understated style of writing, renders his works in to some kind of miniatures- ‘a master of prose’, ‘sensual writer’ and ‘a great writer of the world’. But for the readers enamoured by his works, he is simply a conjurer whose magic-wand are his words, subtle, simple, evocative and beautiful, which leave an indelible mark on his mind.
The author is Amit Chaudhuri, one of the most widely acclaimed among the Indian authors who write in English. Born in Kolkata in 1962 and brought up in Mumbai, Chaudhuri has an academic resume as impressive as his literary achievements. He graduated from University College in London, then was research student at Balliol College in Oxford and later, was a Creative Arts Fellow at the Oxford University. Yet he says- and this heightens his appeal amongst his readers- he knew no English until he entered school. In his essay on ‘Bombay’, he writes, “My Bengali parents had taught me no English, settled outside Bengal, they had longed to make me intimate with the Bengali language”. In this essay published in the Granta magazine, he reminisces with nostalgia about the Bombay of his childhood which he feels has many a trait of the American cities. “Bombay’s mixture of the childlike and the grown-up, of naivety and ruthlessness, a mixture that, as I know, is also peculiarly American.” he says. His another famous essay ‘The Tailor of Gujarat’, also published in the Granta, followed the fortunes of Ansari, a Gujarat riot victim whose picture with folded arms and tearful eyes, was widely circulated and published in the national media and had consequently, rendered him an unlikely celebrity. In the piece, Chaudhuri in a subtle yet effective way, lambastes the media, which unscrupulously and often makes a ‘breaking news’ out of human tragedies, strips a common man of his protective cover of obscurity and then, when the hullabaloo surrounding the news dies down, turns a blind eye towards him.
But Amit Chaudhuri is best known for his novels. His first novella ‘A Strange and Sublime Address’, which won the 1991 Betty Trask Award as well as the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Best First Book, captures through the eyes of a ten year-old boy, Sandeep, the ineffable but endearing beauty of the apparently mundane, middle-class life in Calcutta. The observations, ideas and of course, the comparisons of the precocious protagonist are all so remarkable and revealing that one cannot help but resolve to treasure his copy of the novella for life. His second novel, Afternoon Raag (1993), revolves around the life at Oxford of an Indian student whose imagination is dominated by his love of Indian classical music and the memories of home and parents. His other novels are Freedom Song (1998) and A New World (2000). None of these works have action-driven plots but various facets of family-life, dreams, memories, yearnings et al are all explored and expressed with such astonishing vividness by Chaudhuri that they are most fascinating to read. Chaudhuri’s editing skills and poetic talent found expression with the publication of the Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature (2001) and ‘St. Cyril Road and Other Poems’ (2005).
Chaudhuri has been variously described as a ‘miniaturist’,-perhaps his elliptical, understated style of writing, renders his works in to some kind of miniatures- ‘a master of prose’, ‘sensual writer’ and ‘a great writer of the world’. But for the readers enamoured by his works, he is simply a conjurer whose magic-wand are his words, subtle, simple, evocative and beautiful, which leave an indelible mark on his mind.
Who writes poetry?
Some one in Ulanbator,
wakes up in cold dawn
and almost weeps
at the sight of virgin,freshly-fallen snow…..
Some one in Kingston,
spends all noon on the balcony
reading on his palms and neck
the sapphire messages brought by the wind…..
Some one in Chennai,
gulps coffee every alternate hour
with a coffee addict
who has smirks galore and nonchalance unbound for her..
Such are the people whom
u are likely to find
on days
gloomy and joyous…..
writing poetry!
wakes up in cold dawn
and almost weeps
at the sight of virgin,freshly-fallen snow…..
Some one in Kingston,
spends all noon on the balcony
reading on his palms and neck
the sapphire messages brought by the wind…..
Some one in Chennai,
gulps coffee every alternate hour
with a coffee addict
who has smirks galore and nonchalance unbound for her..
Such are the people whom
u are likely to find
on days
gloomy and joyous…..
writing poetry!
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