Friday, May 15, 2015

A Tribute and a Bibliography: Remembering People’s Historian Amalendu Guha (1924-2015)

- Bonojit Hussain and Mayur Chetia

স্বৰ্গত ৰুচি নাই, যাওঁ মই ভাটিখানালৈ
জুৱাৰী-মদপী-বেশ্যা-সিহঁতকো মেলত গোটাই
মনৰ চিতাৰ ছাই উৰুৱাই গাওঁ আশাবৰী :
আকাশত উৰা মাৰে জাকে জাকে ফিনিক্স চৰাই !

I have no desire for heaven,
Instead I go to the brewhouse,
Gamblers, drunkards, prostitutes - bringing them together
I sing of hope, sprinkling ashes from my soul’s pyre:
In flocks the phoenix flies to the sky.

- “মোৰ কবিতা / My Poetry” Amalendu Guha 1960

I


Prominent Marxist historian, revolutionary, poet and a litterateur from Assam – Dr. Amalendu Guha – passed away at the age of 91 in the wee hours of 7th May at his humble residence in Guwahati. Remaining true to his rationalist outlook, he had willed in 2005 that his bodily remains should be handed over to Gauhati Medical College for scientific research. Before and during Dr. Guha’s final ride to the Medical College, large numbers of people had gathered to pay their tributes at his residence, Assam Sahitya Sabha office in Cotton College State University premise and Ellora Vigyan Mancha office in Guwahati.

An unwavering pillar of left democratic movements in his home state, although Guha was mostly known as a historian in mainland India, his contributions and presence in the field of poetry and literature are also immense.

He presided over the History conclave and Poetry convention of Axom Sahitya Sabha in 1978 and 1994 respectively. Among his many other writings in Assamese and Bengali, his incisive travelogue on Afghanistan ‘Afghantistanot Ebhumuki’ (A Glance into Afghanistan) published in 1961 is considered to be one of the classics in Assamese travel writing. Apart from a revised edition published in 2002, the book has also been translated into and published in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Despite publishing only two anthologies of poetry, Guha is counted among the most prominent modern poets of Assam. Guha has earned his place in the annals of Assamese literature as the poet of social consciousness, human sufferings and aspirations. His first anthology, called Luit Parer Gatha (in Bengali) was published in 1955 followed by his second anthology Tomaloi (in Assamese) published in 1960. Both these anthologies are resplendent tribute to Assam and the struggles and aspirations of its people.

In the lines of Neruda, Guha’s poetry resonate the universal themes of dreams, historical consciousness, poverty, political values, love, city life and nature; wherein aesthetics and politics mutually define each other. Markedly an optimist, for him poetry was one form of public salutation (ৰাজহুৱা সম্বোধন). A lover and balladeer of his land, Guha’s Assam is its splendid natural beauty, jhum farming, spring, rose chestnut, rivers, valleys, Oraons, Santhals, Mundas, laboring masses, Naga, Mizo, peaceful Manipur, mridang, cuckoo and weaving girls.

Talking of inspiration, writing in November 2000, Guha reminiscences that “around 1948 Hemanga Biswas gave me to read Pablo Neruda’s famous poem ‘Let the Rail splitters Awake’; inspired by it I wrote and published a long poem in Bengali corresponding to the situation prevailing in Assam as well as the world.” This poem composed and published in 1950 was a 136 lines poem called Luit Parer Gatha which was later used as the title of his first anthology with the same name.

Guha’s old friend Gautam Chattopadhyay recalls that sometimes in 1945 or 1946, when Guha was a BA student in Presidency College, they were travelling in a train to Guntur along with over a hundred fellow activists of Communist Party affiliated All India  Students’ Federation. Amidst discussions on politics and revolution, someone blurted out that “Amalendu writes wonderful poems!” Upon request to recite, tall, dark and lanky with a shock of bushy hair, Guha came forward and recited “Tram” his poem about a imagined journey from a Tram station to Dalhousie Square. The poem ends with this riveting line:

কন্ডাকটর ! বলতে পারতোমার আর আমারসাম্যের আর প্রাচুর্যের পৃথিবীটা কতদুর ?

Conductor! Can you tell us, how far is the world of equality and abundance?

Guha got involved in active left politics at the age of 14 as a high school student when he joined the All India Students’ Federation (Assam unit) in 1938/39, also around that time he started his engagement with Marxist study club “Progressive Union”.

1938 to 1940 was the time when leftist politics started making inroads into Assam. Many students around that time got attracted to Marxist ideas under the influence of Bengali leftists like Soumendranath Tagore, Kamal Ghosh, Biswanath Mukherjee and Amiya Dasgupta who had shifted to Assam for political work. As a result two different Marxist study groups took shape; those under the influence of Soumendranath Tagore gravitated towards “Radical Institute” which was associated with RCPI. Amiya Dasgupta and Kamal Ghosh took the initiative in the formation of “Progressive Union” which was associated with Student Federation. By 1942, during his Intermediate College days, Guha had already started to see himself as a communist. He remained an active member of Student Federation until 1947. He became a member of the Communist Party of India in 1943 and remained active as a party cadre until 1965 when he left his job at Darang College in Tezpur, Assam and moved to Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune. But he continued his participation in politics and movements till his last years.

During the 1962 Indo-China war, within 15 days of his return to Darang College after finishing his PhD at Indian School of International Studies in Delhi, Assam Government arrested Guha under the Preventive Detention Act. From Tezpur, first he was brought to Nagaon jail and then to Guwahati jail. Within days around 52 inmates were flown in a special plane and shifted to special cells of Behrampur Jail in Orissa and were imprisoned there for six months. Among those 52 were prominent leftist intellectuals and activists of Assam like Bishnu Rabha, Baneswar Saikia, Achintya Bhattacharya, Biresh Misra, Gauri Shankar Bhattacharya, Jiban Kalita and Mohanlal Mukherjee.

In a 2004 interview on his 80th birth anniversary, Guha said that academically he always wanted to be based in Assam but the right prospect never came his way. Despite being one of the best candidates, he was denied a job at the newly established Gauhati University in 1948, and Guha strongly felt that he was denied the job because of his leftist ideology. That very year he joined Darang College, Tezpur, Assam as a lecturer of Economics and taught in the college till 1965. In between, from 1959 to 1962, he did his Phd from Indian School of International Studies, New Delhi and wrote his thesis on ‘Economic Transition in Afghanistan, 1929-1961’. From 1965 to 1973 he worked, first as a Research Fellow and later as a Reader, at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Econmics in Pune. In 1973 he moved to Centre for Studies in social Science, Calcutta to teach Economic History and retired as a Professor in 1990. In between he also taught at the Delhi School of Economics in the years 1969-1970.

II
As a historian, Guha was primarily known for his work ‘Planters Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam: 1826-1947’ published in 1977.  Till recently, it was the only academically informed work that was available on the region that professional historians could refer to, without hesitation. It was supposed to be a boring, factual and sarkari history of Assam legislative assembly, as part of a plan to write official histories of different provincial and central legislatures of India. It was commissioned by the Indian Council of Historical Research, as per the request of the Education Ministry of the Government of India, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of India’s independence. But with  Guha’s enthusiasm and ICHR director R S Sharma’s full support,  the book turned into a comprehensive history of Assam, touching as diverse topics as the national movement, labour struggles, peasant rebellions, politics of migration, effects of colonial economy  and so on. People have long forgotten the other books published in the series and yet Guha’s book has since become a classic, with thousands of students, researchers and activists still devouring its pages for rare insights and excellent handling of primary sources.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

'गब्बर इज़ बैक' एन्ड ही इज मोर डैंजर

जावेद अनीस

शोले फिल्म के ओरिजिनल क्लाइमैक्स में ठाकुर द्वारा गब्बर को मारते हुए दिखाया गया था जिसे बाद में सेंसर बोर्ड की दखल के बाद बदलना पड़ा, सेंसर बोर्ड नहीं चाहता था कि फिल्म में ठाकुर का किरदार कानून को अपने हाथ में ले। लगभग चालीस साल बाद आयी “गब्बर इज बेक” के क्लाइमैक्स में सरकारी कर्मचारियों की बेधड़क हत्यायें करने वाले फिल्म के “हीरो” को किसी शहीद की तरह फांसी की सजा पाते हुए दिखाया गया है, यही वह फर्क है जो हम 1975 और 2015 के बीच की अपनी फिल्मों में पाते हैं। तो क्या यह परिवर्तन सिर्फ फिल्मों के मामले में हुआ है और हमारे समाज, संस्कृति और राजनीति के कोने इससे अछूते है? जरा ठहर कर विभिन्न क्षेत्रों के सितारों पर एक नज़र डाल लीजिये जवाब खुद बखुद मिल जायेगा,आज साहित्य के सबसे बड़े ब्रांड और सितारे चेतन भगत है, संगीत में हनी सिंह और मिक्का सिंह, सिनेमा में सलमान खान,अक्षय कुमार, अध्यात्म में बाबा रामदेव,आशाराम,राजनीति में नरेंद्र मोदी,केजरीवाल,अमित शाह, ओवेसी ब्रदर्स हैं। इस लिस्ट को देख कर स्पष्ट है कि अब हमारे नायक बदल गये है, अब वे दूध के धुले नहीं हैं और ना ही वे मूल्यों की परवाह करते हैं, श्रेष्ठ होने का पैमाना भी बदल चूका है। लीडरों, नायकों के साथ चलने की जगह उनके पीछे चलने की भेड़चाल की प्रवृति और ज्यादा हावी हो गयी है। 

हम उदारीकरण के दौर में हैं जहाँ अपने आप को बाजार में बनाये रखने के वास्ते सब को ब्रांड बनने के लिए संघर्ष करना पड़ रहा है,अगर एक बार भी आप ब्रांड बन गये तो सक्सेस हैं, फिर आप चाहे अन्दर से कितने भी खोखले और फर्जी ही क्यों ना हो और जो ब्रांड नहीं बन पाता है उसे हाशिये पर ही रहना है, फिर वह चाहे कितना भी प्रतिभाशाली क्यों ना हो, इस खेल का दूसरा नियम यह है कि ब्रांड वही बनता है जो मार्किट के रिक्वायरमेंट के हिसाब से फिट बैठता है, तभी तो ठीक पार्लियामेन्ट के पास आत्महत्या कर लेने वाला एक किसान न्यूज़ इंडस्ट्री के लिए एक ब्रांड बन जाता है जबकि वर्षों से ग्रामीण भारत के अलग–अलग हिस्सों में आत्महत्या कर रहे हजारों किसानों की आत्महत्यायें का कोई न्यूज़ वैल्यू नहीं बन पाता है, इन ब्रांड्स को ही रोल माडल के रूप में गढ़ा जा रहा है, लोगों में इनकी लत डाली जा रही है जो बाद में करोड़ों की संख्या में फैन्स बनते हैं, फैन्स होने की पहली शर्त अंधभक्त होना है। हमारे दौर के “रोल माडल” तानाशाह भी होते जिनका करोड़ों फैन्स आँख और कान बंद करके फालो करते है। सलमान खान से जुडी हालिया घटना इसका ताजा मिसाल है। 

1975 में आई फिल्म शोले का खलनायक गब्बर सिंह इस फिल्म का ही नहीं हिंदी सिनेमा का भी एक ब्रांड है, अब 2015 में फिल्मी परदे पर गब्बर एक बार फिर वापस आ गया है, इस बार वह विलेन नहीं हीरो है, हालांकि उसके कारनामे एक विलेन की ही तरह हैं लेकिन उसके विलेननुमा करतूतों का ना केवल महिमामंडित किया है बल्कि 'नाम विलेन का, काम हीरो का' जैसे पंच लाइन के साथ उसे स्थापित करने की कोशिश भी की गयी है। शोले फिल्म में गब्बर अगर अपने करतूतों पर शर्मिंदा नहीं भी था तो भी कम से कम उसने नायक बनने की कोशिश नहीं की थी। लेकिन गब्बर इज बैक का गब्बर एलान करता है “ना मैं सरकारी हूँ ना गैर कानूनी, ना मैं कोई नेता हूँ और ना ही कोई टेररिस्ट, काम से हीरो नाम से विलेन हूँ, मैं गब्बर हूँ”।

Friday, May 8, 2015

Farmers’ Struggles at Battleground Peripheries

- T Venkateshwarlu

The farmer suicide in the Aam Admi Party (AAP) rally at Delhi once again facilitated national level discussions on farmers’ suicide in the country. The rally was organized by the AAP against ‘Land acquisition Bill, 2014’. The farmer suicide is a big tragedy and very painful thing. Ruling party BJP and opposition party Congress blamed AAP to the farmer suicide. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP party leader Aravind Kejriwal accepted his mistake that to continue the meeting after the farmer suicide. Rahul Gandhi promised to the farmers that he will fight against land acquisition in the country. These statements and tragedies are all became the part of history. In the country farmers’ suicides have been happening for three decades without any interruption. From 1995 almost every 30 minutes one farmer is committing suicide. In these three decades nearly three lakh farmers were committed suicides. This is the according government data. In reality this number may be three times higher. In 2014 the rate of farmers’ suicide increased 26% comparing with previous year. No party did not take serious about farmers’ suicides and not wage struggles against the farmers’ major problems which are causing to the farmers’ suicides.

Many parties, organizations, forums and Non- government Organizations are waging struggles in various forms against ‘Land Acquisition Bill, 2014’. Modi government designed the ‘Land Acquisition Bill’ 2014’ by making changes to earlier Land Acquisition Bill, 2013. After curtailing the workers’ rights in the name ‘Sramevajayati’ Modi started his attack on farmers’ rights. Once again these actions proved that people took disastrous decision by electing Modi government. The tragedy is that many political parties did not respond and wage struggles against ‘Sramevajayati’ which is against workers and serve the industrialists interests. It shows that the parties’ interest in farmers’ vote bank in Indian politics.

In the new Bill Modi removed the consent and social impact assessment clauses in the Land Acquisition Bill, 2013. He wants to provide a lot of opportunities to the corporate companies to grab the farmers’ land and make huge profits. So, he removed the consent and social impact assessment clauses in the previous Bill. After the prolonged struggles for decades farmers succeed in getting ‘Land Acquisition Bill, 2013 which included progressive clauses such as 70% to 80 % consent of land owners which provides bargaining powers to the farmers to get better compensation to them at the time of land acquisition. The social impact assessment prevents corporate companies to make real estate business with the farmers’ land which were taken in the name of establishing industries and projects. There is no doubt that the Modi Land Bill is against farmers’ interests. He wants to serve the interests of the corporate companies. So, he thought that consent clause and social impact assessment may give troubles to corporate companies at the times of land acquisition. He never feels and hesitates to work for the corporate companies. Actually he proved himself that he is the best servant of the corporate owners. The corporate media is projecting him as a ‘savior’ of the country. He changed the Bill to fulfill the corporate companies’ aspirations. So, struggles against ‘Land Acquisition Bill, 2014’ are genuine and required. Any farmers’ family should not fell into vulnerable situation because of the land acquisition. Before taking farmers’ land for private companies, development projects and infrastructure projects, government should provide sufficient compensation and sustainable livelihoods to the land owners. Most of the parties which are waging struggles against ‘Land Bill, 2014’ largely confined to compensation. But compensation will not suffice to the farmers. We should demand that along with sufficient compensation land owners should be include as shareholders in the industries and development projects. No government has right to grab land from the farmers and distributes it to the corporate companies in the name of development. Farmers have the right on their lands. No government has to take their right on their lands. Only at the time of building cooperatives by themselves farmers may give their rights on the lands for collective benefit. The agriculture labourers and other people those who depend on lands and other natural resources for their livelihoods have to consider as the victims development projects at the time of land acquisition. Sufficient compensation has to pay them for losing their livelihoods opportunities. Even within the land acquisition arena those who are fighting against land acquisition are not demanding shareholder status of the land owners in industries and developmental projects.

Most of the ongoing farmers’ struggles are almost confined to the problem of ‘Land Acquisition Bill, 2014’. But we have to remember that this is one of the problems of the farmers’. Focusing more on ‘Land Acquisition Bill’ these parties put aside the other major burning problems of the famers’. Because of these problems small, marginal and middle class famers are facing serious crisis in agriculture. Famers have been gradually drowning in to the debt trap. Throughout the year farmers and their family members’ hard work did not get any reasonable income to survive. Instead of providing income to their hard work it gives huge debts and pushes them into more vulnerable conditions. These conditions are facilitating tragedy of farmers’ suicides across the country. Farmers are facing many serious problems such as lack of sufficient and timely financial assistance from the government banks, increasing prices of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, lack of irrigated water facility, decreasing the soil productivity, lack of agricultural department services, lack of drying platforms and storages, lack of agriculture produce processing centers, marketing facilities to the produce and Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the agriculture produce.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

नर्मदा के संतानों की रूहें

- जावेद अनीस

कई सालों से देश के किसान मुसलसल आत्महत्या कर रहे हैं लेकिन किसानों के इस देश में यह एक मुद्दा तब बन पाया जब एक किसान का बेटा लुटियंस की दिल्ली में ठीक हुक्मरानों के सामने खुदकशी कर लेता है। इसके बाद देश भर में भूमि अधि‍ग्रहण कानून और किसान आत्महत्या से जुड़े मुद्दे कुछ समय के लिए बहस के केन्द में तो आ जाते हैं लेकिन इसकी मियाद ज्यादा लम्बी नहीं होती है, व्यवस्था के चेहरे से गजेन्द्र के खून के छीटें अभी सूखे भी नहीं थे कि इधर मध्यप्रदेश में नर्मदा की संतानें अपने आप को रूह बनाने के लिए मजबूर हैं। खंडवा जिले के घोघलगांव में ओंकारेश्वर बांध क्षेत्र के डूब प्रभावित किसान पिछले11अप्रैल से नर्मदा की पानी में अपना शरीर गलाते हुए प्रतिरोध कर रहे हैं और सैकड़ों लोग पानी से बाहर से उनका साथ दे रहे हैं। यह वही नर्मदा नदी है जिसे यहाँ के लोग प्यार और सम्मान से “नर्मदा मैया” कर के बुलाते है और जो सदियों से उनकी जीवन रेखा रही हैं, लेकिन विडम्बना देखिये कि हमारे सिस्टम ने सैकड़ों सालों से लोगों की पालनहार रही नर्मदा की धारा को उसकी आँचल में बसे लोगों के लिए जानलेवा बना दिया है, यह विस्थापन बनाम तथाकथित “विकास” की लडाई है जिसमे जीत अक्सर “विकास” की ही होती है और जिनकी कीमत और नाम पर यह “विकास” होता है वह हार जाते हैं। भोपाल और दिल्ली में बैठे इस लोकतंत्र के हुकमरानों के कानों में जैसे लोहा जम गया है क्योंकि अपनी जान की बाजी लगाकर जल-समाधि ले रहे इन आवाजों को सुनने के लिए उन्हें पूरे 21 दिन लग गये। इक्कीसवें दिन बाद सरकार सत्याग्रहियों से मिलने के लिए पुनासा के तहसीलदार को अपने प्रतिनिधि के रूप में भेजती है जिसके नतीजे में ना तो कोई हल निकलना था और ना ही निकला। 

इससे पहले प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री शिवराज सिंह चौहान बीते 24 अप्रैल को खंडवा के चांदेल में पुनासा उद्वहन सिंचाई योजना का लोकार्पण के लिए आये थे लेकिन उन्होंने सत्याग्रहियों से मिलना मुनासिब नहीं समझा उलटे उन्होंने जलसत्याग्रहियों से कहा कि ‘निमाड़ अंचल के किसानों की आकांक्षाएं पूरा करनें के लिए ओंकारेश्वर बांध की उंचाई 191 मीटर तक करना जरूरी है और जो लोग पूर्वाग्रहों से ग्रसित होकर सत्याग्रह में शामिल हो गये हैं वे जनहित की आवश्यकता को समझते हुये इसे तत्काल समाप्त कर दें और निमाड़ के समृद्धि उत्सव में शामिल हो जायें।‘ अब मुख्यमंत्री महोदय को कैसे समझाया जाए कि बर्बादी के उत्सव में शामिल होना कितना दर्दनाक होता है, यह मुख्यमंत्री और उनकी सरकार के लिए निमाड़ का समृद्धि उत्सव तो हो सकता है लेकिन उन किसानों के लिए बर्बादी का दंश हैं जिनकी उपजाऊ जमीने इसकी भेंट चढ़ाई जा रही हैं। उनके लिए इस उत्सव में शामिल होने से अच्छा है कि वह अपने लोगों के लिए इन्साफ की उम्मीद में खुद के शरीर को उसी नर्मदा में गला दे जो उन्हें और उनके पुरखों की सदियों से जीवन और समृद्धि देती आई है।

सत्याग्रही यही तो कर रहे हैं, वे ओंकारेश्वर बांध के जलस्तर बढ़ाए जाने को लेकर जल सत्याग्रह कर रहे हैं, क्योंकि पिछले दिनों मध्यप्रदेश सरकार द्वारा ओंकारेश्वर बांध के जलस्तर को 189 मीटर से बढ़ाकर 191 मीटर कर दिया गया है जिससे उस क्षेत्र में आने वाले किसानों की कई एकड़ उपजाऊ जमीन डूब क्षेत्र में आ गयी है। किसानों का कहना है कि सरकार ने अपनी मनमर्जी से बांध का जलस्तर बढ़ा दिया है, इसके बदले सरकार द्वारा जो जमीन दी गयी है वह किसी काम की नहीं है। इधर लगातार पानी में खड़े होने से सत्याग्रही किसानों की हालत लगातार बिगड़ती ही जा रही अब उनके पैर लगभग गल चुके हैं ,वह बीमार भी हो रहे हैं,उन्हें सूजन,सर्दी- जुखाम, बदन दर्द हो रहे हैं,धूप भी लगातार तीखी होती जा रही है, डॉक्टरों ने सत्याग्रहियों के पैरों की जांच और इलाज की सलाह दी है मगर उन्होंने उपचार लेने से मना कर दिया है, इतना सब होने के बावजूद प्रदेश सरकार असंवदेनशीलता नजर आ रही है, लेकिन जल सत्याग्रही “लड़ेंगे, मरेंगे ज़मीन नहीं छोड़ेंगे", “हक लेंगे या जल समाधि दे देंगे” के नारों के साथ डटे हुए हैं। उनका कहना है कि सरकार हमें जीते जी मारने पर तुली हुई है इसलिए हमने भी ठान लिया है कि मर जाएंगे, मगर जमीन नहीं छोड़ेंगे।सत्याग्रहियों की मांग है कि पुनर्वास नीति के तहत जमीन के बदले जमीन और सर्वोच्च न्यायालय द्वारा निर्धारित मुआवजा दिया जाए।