This is a topic which has for various official reasons been haunting me. Today I was both happy and sad to see somebody else with a even higher level of honesty who - at least in the short term - paid the price for his morality!!
I was reading up a post on the IIPM ponzi scheme and how it worked. While it was a good read on what happens within many Corporate Organisations that "work" the system, there was nothing very astonishing there for me. However what shocked me was this link to an article by Mr. Gaurav and how IIPM had arm twisted IBM for the sole reason of being the employer of Gaurav! Gaurav clarified that what he had written was his personal view on his personal blog and yet IBM was forced to the extent where they - in the most favourable scenario - did not refuse his resignation!
Please find below the write up by Mr. Gaurav on why he had to quit IBM!! A more clear cut case of bullying can't be found in any school yard! Kudos to Gaurav to have the courage in his morals ( and his ability) to stand up to this! I truly hope that life has good things coming up for him to make up for what it has put him through!
http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.in/2005/10/update.html
I was reading up a post on the IIPM ponzi scheme and how it worked. While it was a good read on what happens within many Corporate Organisations that "work" the system, there was nothing very astonishing there for me. However what shocked me was this link to an article by Mr. Gaurav and how IIPM had arm twisted IBM for the sole reason of being the employer of Gaurav! Gaurav clarified that what he had written was his personal view on his personal blog and yet IBM was forced to the extent where they - in the most favourable scenario - did not refuse his resignation!
Please find below the write up by Mr. Gaurav on why he had to quit IBM!! A more clear cut case of bullying can't be found in any school yard! Kudos to Gaurav to have the courage in his morals ( and his ability) to stand up to this! I truly hope that life has good things coming up for him to make up for what it has put him through!
http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.in/2005/10/update.html
There are so many such cases of Individuals standing for what is right against "The System". It could be a large Corporate, it could be society in general or the biggest Baddy of all, the Govt.
We know of Wikileaks and the illegal but very moral actions that he took and the devastating consequences it has had on his personal life.
Closer home, we see the cases of the BK16, of even Chief Ministers and Dy. CMs ( Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia) where the system has decided to put aside nuance and come down to brute force.
One of the cases which has personally affected me the most is that of JNU Scholar Umar Khalid.
Now before I go into his case, let me talk about my background. I come from a moderate Brahmin family - in the sense that we don't greatly practice Brahminical values but still identify as Brahmins.
So a lot of the typical Hindutva talking points have been thrown in and around our Social circles. The "Ghetto" mentality of Muslims, how "All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim" - evidence to the contrary being 'selectively ignored'.
One of the biggest talking points was "Where are the Liberal Muslims? Why don't they speak up against the extreme elements of their community?". A statement which has now become so ironic ( considering how most of Hindus have ignored - if not lauded - the growth of Hindutva hate) that it borders on the farcical.
In those days, I felt this was a kind of fair question. Where indeed were the Liberal voices? Either they weren't there or were too scared to speak up against the extreme elements.
Then comes Umar Khalid. A Muslim Scholar (Scholar in the Secular term, not in the Imam type scholarship), in a relationship with a - GASP! - Hindu woman. ( Don't you dare start the BS Love Jihad story here!)
A secular Hindu who has unabashedly spoken up for the Constitution being THE ruling document of the nation.
A voice of reason and of non-violence. Not just non-violence but of love. Of the Gandhian form of Ahimsa where he said Ahimsa is not just an absence of violence. It is not a passive negation of violence but an active push to it's opposite - Love!
Umar spoke of a nation shared together where all come together to help the less fortunate. He did his PhD Thesis on the circumstances of the Adivasis of Jharkand.
Umar spoke of a nation shared together where all come together to help the less fortunate. He did his PhD Thesis on the circumstances of the Adivasis of Jharkand.
You could not find a better poster boy for the "Liberal Muslim" us "Regular Hindus" were in search of.
So by all the definitions above, he should be somebody we praise, we elevate to a position of adulation. We showcase to our fellow Muslim citizens as an ideal to aspire to.
What, instead , did we - as a nation - do to him?
We booked him under the most stringent anti - terrorist law on the flimsiest of pretexts!
Knowing that his Muslim identity precludes him from sympathy and empathy from the majority community, we (Or more accurately our "representative" Government) used him as an example to the protestors, a whipping boy if you will.
He has spent the last 4 years in jail with ZERO progress in his case. His various applications for bail have been rejected. He has been villainized by the majority as anti-national - without knowing ANYTHING about the case and where not possible, wilfully ignored.
What then can we expect from the rest of the Muslim community when we clearly show them what happens when you - as a Liberal Muslim - speak up?
Do let's think about it.
Love
Ninetanks
