Israel’s recent actions in Gaza amounted to war crimes given the scale and intensity of the damage inflicted on the people in the region, according to Ambassador MK Bhadrakumar. He was delivering a Web-Lecture on “The Palestine Question and West Asian Politics” organised by the Vakkom Moulavi Memorial and Research Centre (VMMRC) in association with the Institute for Global South Studies and Research (IGSSR).
Amb. Bhadrakumar said that all that happened in the 11-day episode in West Asia has exposed many things. There is now an international recognition that Israel has been practicing apartheid in the Palestinian territory and the global public opinion has become increasingly critical of Israel for its role in the conflict. There is also a demographic shift within Israel with the recent inter-communal riots which do not augur well. The Palestine question has now come to the centre-stage of West Asian politics with more room for negotiations.
According to Amba. Bhadrakumar, West Asian has been the fulcrum of the world order for more than a century and the US continues to play its critical role in the region. Though there are talks about a US retrenchment from the region, it is quite inconceivable in the short-term or even in the medium term. Even if the US is no longer dependent on West Asia for fossil fuel, it is still to calibrate its crude oil market and ensure stability in the price of the oil. That’s why the US is keeping its evil eyes on the OPEC Plus.
Dr Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu, who chaired the session, said that the recent conflict has underlined the fact that Jerusalem remains the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict and sidestepping the Palestine question in any negotiation or accords will not ensure peace in the region. Moreover, the latest conflict has shown that the Palestinian people are united on the question of liberation notwithstanding the internal divisions between Fatah and Hamas who control the West Bank and Gaza. The fact that the emerging international public opinion in support of Palestinians in the Western countries, which traditionally supported Israel, could be a signal that Israel has come under increasing pressure to come to terms with the realities in West Asia.
Dr K.M. Seethi, Honorary Chairman of the IGSSR welcomed and Dr. Shahina Javad of VMMRC proposed a vote of thanks.
There has been a proliferation of literature on women, including women’s history across the world. Yet, women remain mostly invisible or misrepresented in mainstream history. They are either not present at all, or they are portrayed as innately ‘inferior’ and ‘subordinate,’ as perpetual victims of male oppression. This has been a pattern across nations and continents for long. Consequently, the role and engagements of women have rarely been registered in the historical literature.
However, mainstream history has come under severe criticism in recent decades—from different levels—for its inherent bias and prejudices towards women and marginalised sections. The very historiography of such top-down enterprise is seen as essentially a male-centred activity. This is true of the renaissance history and literature too. Kerala with its century-old history of social movements and democratic struggles is not an exception.
The discussion organised by the Vakkom Moulavi Memorial and Research Centre (VMMRC) on the theme Haleema Beevi and Kerala Renaissance has opened up a fresh debate about this scenario of marginality in mainstream history of Kerala.
Speaking on the subject, Dr. Khadija Mumtaz, noted writer and Vice President, Kerala Sahitya Akademi, said that “Women and the Dalits found hardly any significant place in the mainstream history of Kerala” because of the way the very history was written and “it remains a travesty of the state’s renaissance achievements.”
Dr. Khadija Mumtaz
Dr. Mumtaz said that “as long as writing history is a prerogative of the privileged sections and castes, such exclusions of women, Dalits and backward communities would prevail. But we tend to forget the fact that the very renaissance of Kerala began with the struggles of the depressed classes and castes,” she pointed out.
According to Dr. Mumtaz, “The other dimension of renaissance narrative is equally problematic. For example, the role of women in Kerala’s renaissance was obliterated due to many factors. Even as we discussed the pioneering role of Vakkom Moulavi and Swadeshabimani Ramakrishna Pillai, we almost excluded their own disciples among the womenfolk.”
Haleema Beevi (1918-2000), for instance, was the first Muslim woman editor of Kerala who faced resistance and harassment from within and outsider her community. She also stood firm despite threats and intimidation from authorities like CP Ramaswamy Iyer. “Sadly, Haleema Beevi, a person with multilevel engagements and achievements in journalism and social service for long, passed into oblivion.”
Dr. Mumtaz said that this happened in other movements also. “While Poykayil Appachan has been rightly held in esteem, his life-partner Janamma who led the spiritual movement for decades after his death, seldom emerged in the renaissance history. Very bold women like Kumarakom Chinna and others also fell into oblivion.”
Dr. Mumtaz noted that Haleema Beevi had to confront two levels of challenges—as a woman as well as a Muslim. She lived in a period when Muslim girls were not even permitted to go to school. As such she had to go to school with the escort of some people to protect herself.
However, Haleema Beevi’s life was a history of struggle and determination. She became the editor of her first venture in journalism, Muslim Vanitha in 1938 when she was only 20. Despite financial losses and resistance from the orthodox sections of her own community, Haleema Beevi remained resolute and committed. She also launched Bharatha Chandrika in 1944. Prominent writers of that period, like Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, P Kesavadev, G Sankara Kurup, M P Appan, P Kunhiraman Nair, O N V Kurup, S Guptan Nair and N Balamaniamma were regular contributors. Vakkom Abdul Kadir and Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer were also on the editorial board of the publication. Haleema Beevi also started another monthly Vanitha and, in 1970, she launched another publication Adhunika Vanitha.
Dr. Mumtaz said that “the fact that Haleema Beevi also served as a municipal councillor in Thiruvalla, in the late 1930s and early 1940s, was a testimony of her committed social engagements and organisational capacity. It was also a fact that Haleema Beevi was a forerunner of Islamic feminism in Kerala. However, it remains a mystery and embarrassment that we did not have a recorded history of her life and struggle till Noora and Noorjahan wrote her biography recently.”
Speaking on the challenges of writing Haleema Beevi’s biography, Noora, a writer and teacher, said that woman as an agency had multiple challenges in society and hence her own biographical details found no place in the archives of history. Haleema Beevi is only an example and there could be any number of such characters in history. According to Noorjahan, the co-author of the book, who is also a research fellow at the Tata Institute of Social Science, Haleema Beevi remained obliterated in our cultural history because of her identity both as a woman and Muslim. Many Muslim organisations and groups who were so proud of their ‘renaissance past’ also conveniently ignored her, she said. Though women’s issues have emerged in the centre-stage of our public life and Islamic feminism has made much headway over years, these organisations are reluctant to step in and acknowledge such contributions. The biography of Haleema Beevi is only a beginning, and her multilevel contributions need to be registered in the cultural history of Kerala, Noorjahan noted.
Dr. B. Ekbal, Dr A.K. Ramakrishan, Mujib Kinalur, Muhsin, K.M. Althaf and others took part in the discussion. Dr. Shahina Javad and Shabeera Seethi coordinated the programme.
“Secularism in India faces manifold challenges that require multilevel interventions to make it socially relevant and sustainable,” according to Irfan Engineer, noted Human Rights activist and Director, Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. Engineer was speaking on “India’s Tryst with Secularism: Past and Future Challenges” at the Annual memorial Lecture organised by Vakkom Moulavi Memorial and Research Centre (VMMRC), Vakkom. Engineer said that in the current scenario of majoritarian political challenges, democratic secularism would be the only viable alternative that could blend the Nehruvian vision and the Gandhian ideals. Adherence to democratic secularism entails essentially two things—ensuring freedom of all religions and right to belief, including belief in atheism and different ideologies; ensuring affirmative action in such a way that all socially and economically backward people can have a level playing field and equal opportunity. Democratic secularism should also be necessarily antithetical to all variants of hierarchical systems such as caste, patriarchal and communal formations, he said.
Engineer said that the task of secularism in India is two-fold that should keep in perspective the responsibility of the state as well as of individuals. The interventionist role of the state can be effective and fruitful only when it works for the welfare of citizens, particularly the most needy. Here the focus should be primarily on development and the state should be an effective regulator of institutions with a commitment to fairness and distributive justice. The individuals and the civil society have equal responsibility to ensure that the rights and privileges of communities do not interfere with the democratic-secular aspirations of the society at large.
Engineer pointed out that the secular credentials of the state had come under challenge even during the liberal era of the Nehru government. The first major communal riot in Jabalpur way back in 1961 had brought to light the partisan role of the state and this has been the pattern ever since. Over the years, two contesting realms of secularism emerged. One, the Opportunistic secularism of the so-called secular parties which amounted to compromises with the fundamentalist forces within the minority community in the hope that they would be able to fetch electoral returns. This eventually emboldened fundamentalism and religious sectarianism. The other version—positive secularism—went in a majoritarian way, demonising minorities and their identities. The second variety sought to curb the freedom of religion of minorities in the country. Demonising of minorities expressed itself in the form of persistent campaigns and they were made “responsible for partition” and called “loyalists of Pakistan.” The other dimensions of this demonising tendency came to light with the current campaigns against “love jihad” and “corona jihad.” Hence, the positive secularists of the right-wing formation were so exercised over suppressing minority identity, rights and heritages. On the other side, the opportunist-secularists gave in to the pressures and persuasions of the fundamentalists of the minority community. Engineer warned that it would be a major challenge to our constitutional system if minorities are rendered second class citizens without any political or cultural rights.
Engineer said that though state could permit religious practices, subject to public morality and law and order, it should not favour any religious community by way of promoting or deepening any identity as we have seen it recently in a series of measures put in place—from the CAA to ‘love jihad legislations.’ He said such tendencies will only weaken the social fabric of the Indian secularism and thereby undercut the constitutional ideals. Engineer also stressed the need for reforms within religious communities as a spontaneous process, rather than as an imposed tyranny of reforms from above.
Veteran journalist BRP Bhaskar, former Vice Chancellor Dr. B. Ekbal, State Planning Board Member Dr. Ravi Raman KUT Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Ayoob and others attended the session. Sameer welcomed and Sabin Iqbal proposed a vote of thanks.
“Journalism demands multidimensional engagements with freedom,” according to veteran journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar. He was delivering the inaugural address of Vakkom Moulavi Memorial and Research Centre established in Vakkom in memory of Vakkom Abdul Khadir Moulavi, a pioneer of Kerala renaissance and founder of Swadeshabhimani. Bhaskar said that “freedom is not something given on a plate free of cost, but a condition of emancipation achieved through long struggles and negotiations.” “The idea of freedom enunciated in the Constitution has meaning only when we engage it in the context of issues of emancipation and social change. Both Vakkom Moulavi and Ramakrishna Pillai still remain the stalwarts of the Indian press because they belonged to a tradition of journalism that transcended the constraints of power and money.” In fact, Moulavi and Pillai “were ahead of their time and hence their sense of social engagements had a punch of unfettered freedom,” Bhaskar said.
Delivering the lecture on “Freedom and the Press,” social critic Sunil P. Elayidam said that “the concept of freedom is actually based on a fundamental notion of justice.” And journalism, if it is to be meaningful, “needs to engage questions of justice from multiple vantage points—from gender, marginality, ecology to wider social and economic realms.” Social change and social reconstruction could be possible if journalists go beyond mere news-information distribution task. “Interpretation entrenched in the idea of justice should necessarily be a part of journalism” and this paves the way for a society with critical consciousness, Elayidam added.
Writer Sabin Iqbal chaired the meeting. K.M. Seethi welcomed the session and Sameer Munir proposed a vote of thanks.
