Get your Rumpus merch in our online store. Where does that leave us? We play an ever more important role in these times when there is a fascist authoritarian regime in India and a deeply racist police state in the US. Those notes were raw and immediate. This is a serious, often funny and deeply revealing book. M, An essential, beautifully written report from the hellish margins of a modern mega-state struggling to be a nation, of people whose lives continue to be shaped by violent political marches across age-old homes and habitats. Its a dangerous moment where the figure of the rights-bearing citizen is being reduced to a consuming subject. Respond to our political present. And what does this mean for on-ground communities, governments, armed forces, and other institutional stakeholders? Vijayan began her journey in Kolkata. In the first season, when he and his team are tasked to thwart the terrorist attack Operation Zulfiqar, the plot moves from Mumbai to Kashmir. Vijayan: Chopra and others like her are a reflection of how popular culture and virality inform discourse and shape it. Instead, we need to ask what fate awaits us. There are instances when you and some voices in the narrative question their documentation practice. Love, passion, anger, the desire to make a point about something. Your prose is hopeful there. Feminism In India is an award-winning digital intersectional feminist media organisation to learn, educate and develop a feminist sensibility among the youth. To repurpose an old sayingall infamy is now good virality. During the initial search, the BSF troops recovered a black coloured drone - DJI Matrice (made in China), in partially damaged condition, lying near Dhussi Bundh near Shahjada village. This income helps us keep the magazine alive. Bigotry is also big business. Sari Begum, born of rape during the Partition and married off to a violent, alcoholic man twenty years older than her, is forced to part with her land to make space for an army bunker, while Natasha Javed stumbles upon a piece of family history that reveals her ancestor being killed in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 and the subsequent trauma and loss of having to be forcefully emptied of history when they crossed over to Pakistan, and how talking about this would make them traitors in their homeland. When I left him (the first time), I had a one-year-old daughter. Midnight's Borders by Suchitra Vijayan falls in both categories. [8] On 7 March 2017, she applied for divorce. We are consuming subjects in a surveillance economy, not citizens. No one is a stakeholder herethese are people, humans, citizens, who have been deprived of what the Ambedkarite constitution promised them. Good, honest and non-polemical writing has always forced us to confront the lies we tell ourselves. Now, border security policies are linked to domestic politics. Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. Also read: The History Of The Colonial State And The Unmaking Of The Tawaif. Vijayan reserves her own impressions for later, and allows us to know these people intimately. As a bedouin who grew up listening to beautiful stories from beautiful storytellers around a fire, I was transported by her storytelling. To them he is a man who has settled into a job that has no future. 'Suchitra's account of her journeys across the undefinable and ever-shifting borders between India and its neighbours is gripping, frightening, faithful and beautiful. The nation-state and its ruling class view borders as very different from the people who inhabit these liminal spaces or communities that have been affected by border making and policing practices. [3], She started singing after a few years as RJ. The government, of course, denies this. The Indian State and the people of this Republic. In her15,000-kilometre journey, spread over seven years, Vijayan mulls over the meaning of freedom, belongingness in a land of imagined communities, created by territorial demarcations. There are enough stories of people parachuting into communities to do human interest stories. As a trained barrister, I used to believe in the concept of justicebut now I simply call this freedom and dignity. Again, in the India-China border, she finds a young army officer closely referring to a book that contradicts the official version of the Indo-China war of 1962, and concludes that perhaps, he recognizes that most of soldiering involved cynical subordination to ideas that no longer made sense.. Why the Modi government lies. In politics, we will be recognising the principle of one man, one vote, and one vote, one value. An unprecedented militarisation of these spaces accompanied this. One feedback I often got was that I had to put more of myself in this book. The emotional cost is something else altogether. The latter is an act of violence against people whose voice you are appropriating. Midnights Borders perhaps also critiques the widely read body of work available as Indian English Writing (IWE), a literary canon that has so far told the story of India but seldom demonstrated social responsibility by acknowledging the atrocities India has committed silently within its borders. She has a sister named, Sunitha. Time to let the diplomats do the hard talk. How did writing this book affect you? A poll asked if its OK to be white. Heres why the phrase is loaded. Also, we shouldn't forget that the border making project is central to capitalist and neoliberal logic. O. In Midnight's Borders (Westland Publications, 2021), author and photographer Suchitra Vijayan travels the 9,000 miles of India's borders to understand what Partition did to individual lives and . Even the diasporic experience is often told through this limited lens, without taking into account how diverse the immigrant experience in this country is. I still do. They both have pregnant daughters, a fact that becomes significant as the novel progresses. Who is expendable, and the manufacturing of rightlessness to render people expendable. That capacity to be able to go away and then come back profoundly affects how you write because then you are still rooted. They cannot be abusive or personal. Now imagine how it would be for someone from a Dalit/Bahujan, Muslim, Adivasi, or working community to try to make inroads. What moral and political stands we should take in the face of ongoing oppression. I think this book will change the global conversation about India and shape what gets written in the future about India. We no longer ask if this will lead to a better society, if it will benefit the vast majority of those farthest away from power. Suchitra Vijayan talks to FII about Indian politics, communal violence, marginalisation and her book Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India. The third thing is: were going back to relitigating everything. Even as 70% of the border with Bangladesh has been fenced, smugglers, drug couriers, human traffickers and cattle rustlers continue to cross to ply their trades. All along the border, the common refrain is, It feels like Partition is still alive., A story from near Jalpaiguri in north Bengal, that of a man named Ali, is heartbreaking. Categories. So we might never know the true extent of this loss. With sharp political analyses, dense historical research and lyrical, image-rich prose, Vijayans journalism displays an inspiring ethic, one that is invested in the micro-histories of the small man, the one existing on the fringes of history and the one that most requires urgent representation. B, A book that will enlighten every citizen of every nation. Are you expecting any pushback at all? So now, how do we respond to this? How "The Family Man" champions the carceral security state. If she wasnt real she would be a marriage between a meme and parody. I was much younger when I took on this project, so I wanted to prove those people wrong. So the question is not: will the future be borderless? If you want to support the work that goes behind publishing high-quality feminist media content, please consider becoming a FII member. In this podcast, Vijayan discusses with host Alex Woodson her 9,000-mile journey through India's borderlands, which formed the basis of the book, and she discusses the violent and continuing history of the 1947 partition, the stark differences and similarities along South Asia's various borders, and what "citizenship" mean in India in 2021 and She's a good friend and kindly agreed to take our City Hall wedding photos. Who gets to shape these stories, what stories are chosen, what stories then are exiled? None of this helps in telling richer, more textured stories. We removed an image just before the printing to make sure the person was protected. Suchitra Vijayan's new book, Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India, takes a deep look at such stories by prioritizing the experiences of the silenced victims as well as lesser-known accounts from victims of state violence. They are arriving from various cities and people I have never met. The act of recording and documenting cannot be divorced from the inherent question of power. In Midnight's Borders, Suchitra Vijayan meditates on belongingness, freedom and political implications of territorial demarcations 'The border making project is central to the capitalist and neoliberal logic,' Vijayan says. Suchitra was married to actor Karthik Kumar between 2005 and 2017. The events in Hathras did not happen at the border; neither did the murder and gang rape of two teenage girls in the Katra village of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh. We have already chosen silence and obfuscation even before the pushback has arrived. 6,253 Followers, 902 Following, 1,165 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan) It has taken me over a decade to get here. Why do you think India has gotten away with this so far? Rumpus: In such a climate, what do you think is the responsibility of the diasporic Indian writer? This Life Draws Attention to Life Behind Bars and the Transcendent Power of Rap, Wrestling with Reality in The Big Door Prize. As a spy working for TASC, Tiwari has to juggle being an underpaid government employee as well as an absent husband and a perpetually late and distracted father. Suchitra is a BSc graduate from Mar Ivanios College (Trivandrum). We perform rituals of freedom in a right-less societywe dont ask if the rules, laws, and policies that are put in place are fair, just, right or equitable. These may not be perfect worlds or even equal worlds, but they strive to be. In Afghanistan, Kashmir, and India, from one dangerous conflict zone to another, she spoke with people, ate with them, and listened to their stories. We are all complicit in upholding and maintaining this fear. Q: Speaking about the content of the work, by including under-represented perspectives on the frequently debated partition and border laws you present a novel perspective to journalistic canon. Finally, Indias current transformation, the aggressive posturing of an aspiring ethno-nationalist state, will have dire consequences for the people and the region. I cant think in terms of the future being borderless, I can only think in terms of fracturing. There are already about 20 million climate refugees around South Asias borderlands. What is the function of seeing and documenting? The complexities of the Naga peace process were apparent on a visit to remote villages of Tuensang district where many of the women remained silent with others admitting they had never encountered an outsider, except Indian soldiers. No one can write a book alone. Its impossible for a writer not to be affected by their personal life. I left a few names out in the acknowledgment, worrying if it might direct more trouble towards them. Like most women, I learnt to navigate this toxic misogyny, the threat of sexual violence, and patriarchy by merely existing as a dark-skinned woman in this country. Suchitra Vijayan is a barrister at law and the author of Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India. So here, 'Midnight' functions as a moment of violent birth, but also perhaps the foundational violence that becomes codified in various ways, especially in the bodies of people farthest away from power. Born and raised in Madras, India, she is the author of the critically acclaimed book Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India (Melville House, New York). If it does, I have failed. She was part of a music band at PSG. Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. Barrister. Whose Stories Are Told In Indian History? March 06, 2021 04:50 pm | Updated March 07, 2021 08:05 am IST. Acted as the General Manager for a day and motivated employees to work for the same purpose to reinforce team . She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. He writes about how when the Constitution was adopted, "We are going to enter into a life of contradictions. Commentary Politics. Q: You had to deal with a lot of ethical considerations as a writer and photographer, which echo throughout your and your fellow journalists work, as evaluated in your book. But for me hope is radical; hope is the last bastion of our defense. Co-founded the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, Suchitra is also the founder of the Polis Project, a research and journalism organisation. Vijayan: Its a very generous reading, and thanks for that. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Its a practice. She is the founder and executive director of The Polis Project, and the author of Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India, recently published by Context, Westland. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers readers already know and love. So lets be very clear that Indias intellectual literary landscape is deeply problematic, feudal, and alienating," says Suchitra Vijayan to FII, Featured Image Source: And yet, the research and the history never overpowers the flow of the narrative. What changeshave youobserved in the way you treat your subject after finishing your journey and book? Includes previously unreleased investigation under #JackStraw. Its easy for Indian Americans and diaspora Desis to become tokens who speak of diversity but not equity or representation, talk of caste as culture and whitewash Hindutva. The book was called ``a genre-bending book of nonfictionmade The pandemic showed us that crises and recurrent disasters that annihilate our lives are here to stay. Beyond the confusion over the death tolls at Balakot, news organizations variously reported that between 25 and 350 kilograms of the explosive RDX was used in the attack, when no such information was officially released. In another essay from 2019, I write about the banality of bearing witness as an excuse to produce extractive work. These questions about documentation practices started long before I started this book project, and I learnt along the way. But also, to be clear in terms of what I wanted to accomplish: as I say in the book, I wasnt bearing witness or giving voice to the voicelessthe people in this book are eloquent and political voices of their lives and realities. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. Vijayan: As we have this conversation, Dr. Stan Swamy, the eighty-four-year-old Jesuit priest, Indias oldest political prisoner, was murdered by the Indian state with the complicity of the judiciary. A: This geopolitical violence is not new, theres a long bloody, brutal history to thisa cyclical, ongoing and never-ending history. We also need a fundamental reframing of language. She sang her first song for the movie, Lesa Lesa under the composition of Harris Jayaraj and her co-singer was the legendary, K. S. Chitra. The Family Man has found tremendous success as a slick and funny espionage drama, particularly for its treatment of the protagonist, and even for humanising terrorists. Also, I am an unknown and insignificant entity. Its not comparable and should not be compared. Its not sustainable, it fractures who we are, chips away and erodes what it fundamentally means to be human. Often, we settle comfortably into describing things as communal riots instead of saying that it was a state-abetted violence, a pogrom, or a brutal massacre. We live in a surveillance economy where we are constantly just bearing witness we are record keepers, unwitting spies, and voyeurs. Why is this particular time of the day intrinsic to the book? One of the ways she upholds the humane in this book is through her interaction with the men in the security forces. In the same chapter of the book, Kamal says, "If I am an Indian, then why am I afraid?" Contributions for the charitable purposes ofThe Rumpus must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. It is meant to manufacture an underclass of rightless subjects. Suchitra Vijayan is the executive director of the Polis Project. These are edited excerpts from the interview: 'Midnight' seems to be a metaphor for multiple things both freeing and frightening. I find that profoundly inspiring. I particularly loved the fact that all our couple shots were very natural and came out truly . This idea of responsibility gets obfuscated in many ways. They continue to. When your investigations in Kashmir came to an end, what changes did you observe in your 'grammar of dissent'? In an early chapter of the book, you talk about how new worlds are created by the people at Indias borders. India has consistently warred against its own citizens; this book is about some of these wars. Co-founded the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, Suchitra is also the founder of the Polis Project, a research and journalism organisation. Why dont people see the ground shifting beneath their feet? When Vijayan meets him, he is inside his home with all the windows closed and sealed to snuff out light. It was just a sad moment, and I couldnt celebrate a book when there was so much human tragedy playing out. 42, Moss Rose Heights, M.M Ali road, WASA Circle, Lalkhan Bazar, Chittogong 4000. A:I dont think an ethical or moral compass exists nowI dont know if it ever existed. I havent spoken or celebrated with my friends in Kashmir or Assam. That was my starting point. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike on an alleged militant training camp in Balakot in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A relatively small group of people runs it. My friend Ritesh Uttamchandani said this once, the lens that elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed is often impossible to bridge. Rumpus: What do you think is the value of well-crafted literary nonfiction in sustaining conversations about equality and justice? There is also a lot of deep-seated misogyny, casteism, and anti-Black racism in our communities that need to be addressed. This article was published more than4 years ago. By looking beyond maps to create a museum of forgotten stories, Vijayan has given voice to those who live on the fringes like Ali or Sari. I have no formal training as a writer or a photographer, I taught myself and learnt by doing, failing and creating my own grammar. Fear seems to be a constant motif in the book we see versions and types of it. Apart from his long-suffering wife, no one else in the family knows that he is a spy. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. As a graduate student at Yale, she researched and documented stories along the Af-Pak border and was embedded with the US forces in Afghanistan. Q: Since publishing the book last year, what reflections have you hadgiven that its relevance is increasingly ascertained by 2022s interpersonal and geopolitical violence? In Midnight's Borders, barrister, political analyst, and writer Suchitra Vijayan documentsmany such telling accounts of lives both growing and barely getting by alongIndian borderlands. Stallings, Rumpus Original Fiction: The Litany of Invisible Things. Founded in 2009, The Rumpus is one of the longest running independent online literary and culture magazines. Such writings have long been implicated in the history of colonial ethnographic practices, where native informants are poised to become the voices of the empire. On Feb. 14, an Indian paramilitary convoy was attacked in Pulwama in India-administered Kashmir, resulting in the death of 40 Indian officers. Despite the failures in investigation and prosecution related to criminal trials arising out of the pogrom, the judiciary has projected itself as an able and willing neutral arbiter of justice that is not complicit with the deep structures of Hindutvas anti-Muslim prejudice https://t.co/EFf5bxYEBt, True societal change has always emerged from the ground-up, with communities fighting for their own freedom and dignity. Suchitra Vijayan is the executive director of the Polis Project. Itembodied young Indias grand ambitions and aspired to a nation made of men and women equally protected by the law. You can speak of confidence and body positivity and defend selling skin-lightening creams. The public is sold a lie as the attack is framed as a gas leak. How does one think of violence, how does one make sense of all this, how does one retain a sense ofnot exactly humanity, but ratherempathy for the other? I dont want to make this about me. A memorable, humane museum of forgotten stories that we must all read and remember. M, What experiences and lives unfold in these pages. Perhaps thats their victory. How did you achieve empathy in your writing, without the privileged lens that is common in journalistic canon? As a Bookshop affiliate, The Rumpus earns a percentage from qualifying purchases. Barkha Dutt: India has made its point in Pakistan. Its a hard book to name, and I kept going back and forth. The people whose lives are not just materials for the book, who are, in some ways, your co-conspirators in trying to make sense of the social reality. Anvisha Manral March 20, 2021 09:50:40 IST I can see small cracks beginning to appear. However, at work, Tiwari is in his element. Many news channels are not only owned, operated or invested in by politically influential families, but also are sometimes run for the express purpose of advancing party positions. He writes TPS reports for an overbearing boss who calls him the minimum guy. He has replaced eating vada pav at ungodly hours on the streets with overpriced salads. The interview has been paraphrased and condensed for clarity, at the interviewers discretion. Pushback is such a benign word, isnt it? . It is truly the treason of the intellectuals. We could have attributed this to ignorance even a few years back; now its just silence thats deeply complicit in the Hindutva project. In politics we will have equality, and in social and economic life, we will have inequality. British India was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan on the eve of independence in August, 1947. Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of military command centers, with anchors assessing military technology and strategy (sometimes incorrectly). The book arrived in the middle of a pandemic and a devastating second wave [of COVID-19] in India. Having been trained in law, Suchitra Vijayan initially worked at the United Nations war tribunals in Yugoslavia. ( I hate this word, voiceless, by the way). Vijayan has travelled 9,000 miles over seven 7 across India's borderline remote areas and has collected many bone-chilling, painful, myth-breaking stories of the people caught in between inter-state disputes because of the lines created by colonial powers who ruled over us for . Fearful of the future he asked quietly, Where did all this hate come from, where is it going to take us? echoing what many residents had told her. The Rumpus: It is shocking how unaware the world is about the violence the Indian government has committed since independence on its border citizens.
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