At Cooper Street

The reported racial attack on a Sikh youth at Cooper Street in Melbourne last Sunday again shows that the problem has not yet gone away. However, one positive point was that there was an attempt to prevent the attack by the companions of the attacking youth and also by the bus driver and a passenger at the bus station where the attack took place. We have in the past also drawn attention to this positive aspect of the Australian society. This indeed is an indication that getting out of what the French thinker Paul Virilio called the 'social swamp' is actually possible. This 'social swamp' is a result of individuals cooped up in their 'own black holes' and complementing the micro- fascism of local gangs who dictate local laws and local conditions of living, interacting and thinking in the modern(hyper modern) urban settings. This 'social swamp' according to him actually completes the 'obvious and super organised society' of the western world in the current times. This technologically super organised society he points out is driven by the relentless logic of speed which plays a crucial part in the militarization of urban space and the transformation of social, political and cultural life. Indeed history itself makes 'progress at the speed of its weapons system' It is here that Virilio tries to rescue a sense of history in his critique of the famous cyber Australian artists such as Stelarc. This critique by the humanist Virilio is to prevent situations where political power aided by technoscience turns against its own people. This happened, for example, recently in September 2009 when the military ruler of Guinea in Africa turned the guns at his own people who were holding a protest rally. Hundreds were killed and injured. Really a tragic consequence of attempts to control the mind and body. In India we need to be careful of the ' black hole' phenomenon as evidenced in the bizarre case of the murder committed by the 'brilliant' Phd student of IIT which was reported yesterday. At the same time the attempts to dictate what and how people should think in the wake of the condemnable Maoist violence can only throw us in to a 'social swamp'.(SFC, PG with the help of Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew)

Wake Up Sid

In yet another race attack, an Indian student was hit and robbed in North - West Melbourne in Australia on the 29th of September, reports of which are still coming in. We have been commenting on and actively mobilising opinion on the safety of the Indian students in Australia.Clearly more needs to be done both in India and Australia. However, equally shocking are the reports coming from Mumbai where a leading film maker was made to apologise for his characters using the name Bombay instead of Mumbai for the city in the film 'Wake Up Sid'. Incidents of this kind hardly project the right impression of India and the Indians in an interconnected world.Needless to say such incidents would not help campaigns for the welfare and security of students and other sections of society studying, travelling and living in various destinations across the globe.Within India this kind of identity politics immensely sets back our social, educational and democratic processes.

This kind of identity politics has arisen within the context of the advanced industrial world with which we are supposed to be integrating. We must remember that even within that world this identity politics is a problem area creating enormous difficulties for everyday life of the common people.It has led to riots and frictions in France, U.S. , U.K. and other countries. In Australia it had led to movements such as 'Australian Universities for Australians'. The dynamics of these politics differ from country to country. However in the context of the post- industrial society they seem to be marked by what a leading American author called the union of 'total commercialisation and politics'.This leads to 'one of the many ways' in which discourse and communication becomes immune to artistic and creative expression. The notions of Maharashtrians, Indians or Australians etc. are fixed as some kind of constructs in this discourse and are sought to be imposed. All development of meanings or history is cut off in this way. Human beings in this situation are reduced to these constructs and are vulnerable to the stereotypes generated by them. The 'north Indian outsider' or the 'pesky Indian student' are some of the stereotypes. The defining feature of the post industrial society is the dominance of technology. It is this dominance which identity politics uses to create a closed universe in which fixed meanings and constructs have to be accepted and internalised by individuals in order to survive. In other words multiculturalism is out and the individual is expected to associate with a fixated structure of institutions, attitudes, aspirations and he/she is expected to react in fixated,specific manner.Thus, one of the Bollywood filmstars actually said that her respect for Karan Johar went up because he apologised to Raj Thackeray.It is this internalisation of repressive and fixed constructs which marks the identity politics of the post industrial society.This could be even reflected in undemocratic state systems of the post industrial world which thrive on identity politics. The language of interaction which comes up here, is that of what the famous French linguist and semiotician Roland Barthes called 'intimidation and glorification' It is thus through the intimidatory tactics of Raj Thackeray the glorification of the Marathi 'manoos'(man) is achieved. Likewise glorification of such fixed identity constructs are achieved elsewhere in the world. This creates a hypnotic reality (as Barthes points out) and it is to this reality that we along with Sid actually need to wake up to.(SFC and PG of IGNOU with the help of Mr. Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew).

Descent In To Hell

The recent physical attack on a cab driver of Indian origin by the rising Australian sports star, Michael Hurley, in Melbourne, is quite disturbing. At a time when the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby is on a confidence building tour of India(after the racial attacks on the Indian students there), this incident could not have been more badly timed. The dispute was over the cab fare to be paid. It was then that the drunk Hurley punched and kicked the cab driver in the loins.
"Melbourne is a big city and this happens" said Brumby while reacting to the incident. Acts of similar kind in France, the U.S.and elsewhere tend to get explained away as urban crime and misdemeanour. While we leave it to the experts to debate the complex nature of today's urbanization, we do need to take in to account the increasing number of incidents of such 'crime' which are taking place in the Indian cities as well as cities abroad.What seems to be shaping the attitudes as the recent media reports suggest, is what 19th century writers called the 'Mammon Gospel'. Witness the recent furore over austerity drives etc. in India for example.
Perhaps here we could turn to the eminent English educationist, historian and writer of the 19th century, Thomas Carlyle, for some insight.(He had also visited and travelled in Australia). Carlyle's book 'Past and Present', published in 1843, was an attempt to understand the early modern society in England. It "is the only one which strikes a human chord,presents human relations and shows traces of a human point of view" said one progressive commentator of the time. Though Carlyle in his later works was to move away from his 'forward looking' views and was even accused of racism, his comments on the Mammon Gospel are instructive.He was to argue that the 19th century England had acquired an 'unchristian' new hell.The hell of modern England is the consciousness of "not succeeding, of not making money" To quote him:
"True we with our Mammon Gospel have come to strange conclusions.We call it Society;and go about professing openly the total separation, isolation.Our life is not a mutual helpfulness; but rather, cloaked under due laws-of-war,named 'competition' and so forth,it is a mutual hostility.We have profoundly forgotten that Cash payment is not the sole relation of human beings.'
Perhaps we need to address these 'strange conclusions' as they keep cropping up in the reactions to the various incidents, Australian and others.(SFC, PG with the help of Mr. Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew).

In the Cattle Class Now?

The recent racial attacks on three Indians in Melbourne by a mob of eighty again highlights the fact that the problem has not gone away.The repeated assaults indicate a mindset which refuses to see a human being as a human being.We have pointed out before that the problem is systemic. Clearly in this system the human body is being treated as a means to accomplish a racist end. Otherwise how do you explain this brutal physical assault degrading human beings?
At our end, in India, it could have been a matter of battling attitudes which lead up to the racial tensions.This is however not helped by the unseemly controversy in which our MOS for external affairs has got caught up in. Calling a large section of society 'cattle class' is hardly the way to build the right national and international attitudes.Being a former contender of the top United Nations job, he should have known that the majority of the nations in the U.N. are those who have fought these 'cattle class' attitudes to emerge out of war and colonialism and in to freedom. These 'cattle class' attitudes led to the racial segregation and the 'koi hai' culture of the British in India in the 19th century.This 'cattle class' culture also keeps a vast number of people today under 'techno-political' subjugation.Inherent in these 'cattle class' classifications are the attitudes of patriarchy, communalism and disdain for human life.In the last twenty odd years of India integrating with a globalized world, these were the issues to have been tackled by us. In tackling these we could have moved towards the right attitudes for tackling issues such as racism which seem to be emerging in Australia and as well as in the issue of health care reform in the U.S or attacks upon Muslims in Germany.
This is not to run down Mr. Tharoor whom we respect as a writer and a gentleman. However, his comments have given us an occasion to reflect upon the enormity of tasks ahead of us at a time when study processes have got caught up in racial and political tensions.Here we must stress to him that it is this historical and juridical positing of man to the animal nature by the German jurist, Gustav Hugo(1764-1844) which was criticised by a famous radical thinker in the 19th century as the German theory of the French ancien regime.The only conclusion which stems from this, as this radical points out, is "the right of arbitrary power". This ofcourse we must oppose.(SFC and PG IGNOU with Mr. Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew)

ALMORA SFC PG

As per the requirements of our experiment we are in the process of inviting volunteers for a remote area Student Faculty Cell and Peer Group at the Almora study centre under the Dehradun regional centre. Last weekend we visited the Almora study centre and met the coordinator Mr. Durgesh Pant. He has enthusiastically assured us his cooperation and help. Almora is a part of the famous Kumaon hills and our students there live in the scattered towns and hamlets characteristic of a hill region. In many places both road and telephone connectivity is difficult. Hence the students have difficulties in getting study materials etc. and in communicating with the study centre. The coordinator told us that as a result the attendance at counselling sessions is low. We hope that our study groups will be able to help out. We will also be watching with interest the progress made by the students of one of our peer group members who will be studying the development activities in this area.These students will be staying with families in remote villages like Dulum. They are expected to live like family members, help out the families with different chores and also carry out their studies. These students belong to different parts of India and in a sense in living with families of different communities of this region will experiment with multiculturalism.We can draw appropriate lessons from their experiences in their study process in this region for our study groups.For those of you who have been following the comments on the Australian incidents on this blog it may be of interest that one of the earliest Australian writers John Lang is almost regarded as a folk hero in this region(He had stayed here). He wrote with equal sensitivity about the Tasmanian and Kumaon-Garhwal landscapes and had taken up cudgels for Rani Laxmi Bai (of the first war of Indian independence fame ) against the annexationist designs of the East India Company during the British rule in India.
Those of you interested in coming forward may please contact Mr. Durgesh Pant:(M)09412375384. email:durgesh_pant@yahoo.com. Messages can be left with two counsellors suggested by Mr. Pant; Dr. M.M. Joshi:9690676632.Dr. Bheema Manral:9412514596.(Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew)

Welcome

We the Student Faculty Cell and the Peer Group members extend a warm welcome to Hon.Julia Gillard MP and Deputy PM of Australia on her visit to India. Her visit is significant at a time when both the people and the governments of India and Australia are moving towards resolving the tensions caused by a spate of racial incidents in which a number of Indian students were attacked in Australia. Her positive interactions with the students of the LSR of Delhi University have sent the right signals to the student community and the country at large. We have also given our representation when she visited IGNOU today on the 1st september2009 for a university ceremony. Following is the text of the pamphlet:
"STUDENT FACULTY CELLS AND THE PEER GROUPS OF IGNOU
SUB: TREATMENT OF INDIAN STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIAHON. Ms. Gillard, MP and the Deputy PM of Australia,
We express our greatest concern regarding the recent reports of racial attacks on the Indian students in Australia. We have been expressing our concern by appealing both to the Australian public opinion through our blog http://www.expressionssfcpg.blogspot.com/ and to the MPs and political parties in Australia who have been taking up the battle against racism and for multiculturalism. We have also appealed to the Indian students in Australia and India to approach the issue through upholding multiculturalism. In this context we welcome your visit to strengthen India-Australia ties and your assurances for the safety and wellbeing of the Indian and the international students. The backdrop of the recent visit of the Indian Foreign Minister to your country, where we believe this issue was taken up in right earnest, underscores the importance both governments have attached to countering the ugly issue of racism in the modern world. However we believe that more needs to be done to counter racism by addressing systemic factors which give rise to it. Meanwhile steps towards genuine multiculturalism taken by the governments and the peoples of India and Australia will, we hope, counter this menace. We appeal to you and your government to maintain a constant vigilance in this regard.
THANK YOU AND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO INDIA "
(SFC and PG members with the help of Mr.Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew)

Lessons From The Flying Club Get Together

We the SFC and the Peer Group members take satisfaction from the free and frank exchange of views which took place on the subject of formation of study groups at the Flying Club study centre on the 26th July 2009. .We have noted the several suggestions made by the students including the formation of a website to display counselling schedules and other matters. In the process of organising the get together we met a large number of students at the study centre. We also talked on phone, corresponded through email,SMS and ordinary post to exchange views on formation of study groups and also on the student problems in Australia(which we have been discussing on the blog). In this way we were able to interract with majority of the active students of the 700 strong study centre.
It is correct that the expected number of students did not turn up on that day.But the positive side was the free and frank exchange of views on that day. Several students who were nervous about interracting got a chance to speak and socialise.Some of the parents who had come also expressed happiness that such opportunities for interraction existed. IGNOU students tend to miss out on these aspects of university life which the students of other universities tend to take for granted. Matters have not been helped by a market driven logic employed by the university where students are clients/customers and the university is a firm supplying materials etc. to the students. The student here becomes a customer looking for goods on the shelf rather than an active participant in the corporate life of the university.
Moreover we were not mobilising for a student demonstration.The purpose of the Student Faculty Cell and Peer Group is to enable students to solve their study related problems at their own pace and voluntarily with the senior students or ex students who in turn join this group voluntarily.(This indeed is the concept in UKOU).We want the students to work on this with the Peer Group at a time and place of their mutual convenience. The taking forward of the study processes is basic to this.You can at your pace of study avail the option of going to the peer group members to sort out your problems relating to studying, study materials etc.You can do it individually or in a group.This is merely a facilitative mechanism.
Too often we get caught in the logic of 'political' or 'political state' in evaluating and setting forth our study processes.This perhaps comes from the perspectives of 'Open University' as a political institution; a point emphasised, argued and taken up by several authors in the recent issues of UKOU's journal of 'Open Learning'.In these perspectives the civil society and the political state are confused.As a result the open universities have become entangled in a 'bureaucratic mindset. 'While we do not discount the importance of a healthy and facilitative educational bureaucracy, we definitely need to tackle the unresponsive situations the IGNOU students get caught up in.Everytime we go to a study centre we encounter student helplessness in the questions of getting study materials, assignments, grades not being entered on their cards etc.
It is here that we need to point out that our concepts facilitating study processes are not just a 'particularisation of the political state'(to paraphrase a well known 19th century thinker) and need to be demonstrated as such.It is in this demarcation that we will be able to tackle the 'political' and 'civil society' aspects which building up of study processes encounter.It is perhaps only in building up these study processes that we will be able to sort out the (19th century debate) whether it is with the notion of equation of 'political state' with 'civil society' which suspends the 'political' in the air or whether these differences of political and civil society exist historically and the political life is life in the airy regions-the ethereal regions of the civil society.Either way the university of the air and we have a task ahead.(SFC and PG Flying Club with the help of Mr. Ajay Mahurkar and Dr. Dolly Mathew)