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Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of military command centers, with anchors assessing military technology and strategy (sometimes incorrectly). This media blitzkrieg resulted in the erasure of two important political trends. How do you think this inspiration from a variety of genres allowed you to tell underrepresented stories? Say, for instance, do we need a James Nachtwey to fly to war-torn Bosnia? 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. We need more such books. [4] She also worked as a dubbing artist for popular heroines like Shriya Saran and Lakshmi Rai.[5]. As a trained barrister, I used to believe in the concept of justicebut now I simply call this freedom and dignity. We are all complicit in upholding and maintaining this fear. 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. One feedback I often got was that I had to put more of myself in this book. We thank her for her time, patience, and illuminating insights into her work. ""The historical unity of the ruling classes is realized in the state." Antonio Gramsci" But Pakistan responded by rejecting these claims and told the Associated Press that the area was mostly deserted wooded area and that there were no casualties or damage on the ground. Especially when you can be charged with sedition for a tweet or arrested for the crime of committing comedy while being Muslim. Suchitra Vijayan. The images, however, are not all bereft of hope, as children from both India and Bangladesh use a border pillar as a cricket stump, while men on opposing sides of the war on terror in Afghanistan gather around in a cold evening, smoking and sharing stories. Always. That, perhaps, is the only way to avoid further destruction in the region. When fires burn down large swathes of what were peoples homeswhat borders will you impose when climate change will fundamentally remake them? Early on, the idea of bearing witness as a rhetorical tool and as a literary device became deeply problematic. Copyright 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. Apart from his long-suffering wife, no one else in the family knows that he is a spy. The emotional cost is something else altogether. Q: What struck me about your work was its immersive style. 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. Ali lived right on the edge of the India-Bangladesh border. Suchitras account of her journeys across the undefinable and ever-shifting borders between India and its neighbours is gripping, frightening, faithful and beautiful. You can claim to be patriotic but not political, you can claim to support the troops but ignore the ongoing civilian casualty. She has a sister named, Sunitha. My job was to make sure that their voices were centered. Why dont people see the ground shifting beneath their feet? 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. The public is sold a lie as the attack is framed as a gas leak. I left my 18-month-old daughter to travel and finish this book. RT @project_polis: Writing fiction in a dystopian world - @kiccovich in conversation with @mohammedhanif https://thepolisproject.com/listen/writing-fiction-in-a . Also, I am an unknown and insignificant entity. Now, border security policies are linked to domestic politics. Perhaps that offers some protection? She writes about war, conflict . And join us by becoming a monthly or yearly Member. Theyre screaming all the time, its just that we dont listen to them. 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. In an early chapter of the book, you talk about how new worlds are created by the people at Indias borders. Zoya, a young female officer, is now confined to her wheelchair, and Milind, who also makes it out alive, is seen at home with drawn curtains, battling trauma. It was not going to be easy as she quickly found out. There are enough stories of people parachuting into communities to do human interest stories.. If she wasnt real she would be a marriage between a meme and parody. The constant making and remaking of who is a citizen, who is not, is accompanied by a profoundly dehumanising process. At worst, its navel gazing peppered with white guilt, but always politically vacuous. Instead, the Indian media has ascribed to itself the role of an amplifier of the government propaganda that took two nuclear states to the brink of war. There is something deeply flawed in the way we live today. Suchitra Vijayanis a barrister-at-law, writer and researcher. As I travelled, I was very aware of these inherent power differences. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, GQ, The Boston Review, The Hindu, and Foreign Policy, and she has appeared on NBC news. Because you are constantly thinking about the ethical universe you are bringing this child into What values do you teach this child? Suchitra is a BSc graduate from Mar Ivanios College (Trivandrum). First, does my work aid the powerful? 42, Moss Rose Heights, M.M Ali road, WASA Circle, Lalkhan Bazar, Chittogong 4000. The taxi driver who describes the Egyptian revolution in five minutes to an American columnist (who speaks no Arabic) is sadly where the genre is today. She lucidly explains the complicated history of the McMahon Line, how the India-China border is the result of a fabrication perpetuated by the British colonial administration. I felt the same way when I would prepare legal petitions for my clients. Siaan On Being Queer And Being Online, FII Interviews: Journalist Meena Kotwal On Minority Politics, Journalism Today And The Caste Divide. While Nehru was still declaring this victory, the slaughter began. It took me 8 years to write the book. These new worlds are already herethey are maps of survival, maps of resistance. As Sari Begum's story [in the book] illustrates, 'A life where the violence of the border is not at the fence, or in the trenches, but at the center of 'their' and our 'universe'. It is always Bollywood, the ascent of Priyanka Chopra, or the diasporic loneliness. Panitars division is as cruel as it is arbitrary: here, the houses on either side of one dusty lane occupy two neighbouring countries. How "The Family Man" champions the carceral security state. Thats part of the political imagination that I believe we need for political movements or any sustained acts of resistance. Who gets to shape these stories, what stories are chosen, what stories then are exiled? Vijayan: The photographs were the heart of this project. When I left him (the first time), I had a one-year-old daughter. Like you train for a marathon, you train to be hopeful everyday. The book was called ``a genre- bending book of nonfictionmade of stories, encounters, vignettes, and photographsabout home, belonging, and displacement.`` Her essays, photographs, and interviews have appeared in The Washington Post, GQ, The Nation, The Boston Review, Foreign Policy, Lit Hub, Rumpus, Electric literature, NPR, NBC, and BBC. Instead, we need to ask what fate awaits us. Rumpus: How hard was it to write nonfiction about such a violent contemporary history? Through these real histories of the people, she gives readers another perspective on old wounds like Partition and new divisionary tactics like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. She has also been appreciated for her honest and positive-humour-filled judging at reality shows like Vijay TV's Airtel Super Singer, Sun TV's Sun Singer, Asianet's Music India, and Bol Baby Bol on Gemini TV and Surya TV. A memorable, humane museum of forgotten stories that we must all read and remember. M, What experiences and lives unfold in these pages. We are consuming subjects in a surveillance economy, not citizens. The stories were a way to understand how people struggled and survived. The pair experience similar situations in their lives: abuse, the death or absence of a husband, and the longing for a better future. I think its the other way round, these communities have always been speaking, writing, documenting, teachingwe must simply listen rather than represent them in any way. Excerpts from the #BBC documentary telecast about PM . These instances are also about border practices because modern states, especially liberal democracies, expend immense energy in creating and maintaining identity categories: who belongs, and where. The travel, the people they encounter, and the political events they record quickly become cameos. Itembodied young Indias grand ambitions and aspired to a nation made of men and women equally protected by the law. Suchitra is a BSc graduate from Mar Ivanios College (Trivandrum). Vasundhara Sirnate Drennan is director of research at the Polis Project. When your investigations in Kashmir came to an end, what changes did you observe in your 'grammar of dissent'? Fear seems to be a constant motif in the book we see versions and types of it. Midnight's Bordersis an exceptional read, but one that may make some uncomfortable. This language drums the idea of the fundamental importance of justice, and such language is inalienable: it can easily be defined and empathetically understood. This is a profoundly alienating place for anyone without the networks of privilege and resources. At a time when right-wing nationalism is crescendoing in India and across the world, Suchitra Vijayans Midnights Borders raises pertinent questions about the very foundations of Indias nationalism the cartography of South Asian nation-states defined by arbitrary lines drawn hastily by the British colonial administration. Another name that came to my mind was 'An Outline of the Republic', only to discover Siddhartha Debs excellent book by the same name. But the number of anonymous sources willing to disclose classified and conflicting information to reporters who cited them without corroboration points to a serious crisis in how information is reported to the public. Invariably its the writer who is the protagonist. This is not the violent right wing and their siege; its centrist and liberal media that is also relitigating history, deconstructing the core values of the constitution. Keywords: LTTE love jihad Beef politics Hindu Nationalism Kashmir She digs deep into colonial history to show how years of violence and consequential suffering has shaped these lives across generations. More than two weeks after the attack, our analysis finds that no news site had rectified the errors in their reporting, leaving these misleading facts as a matter of public record. Who is expendable, and the manufacturing of rightlessness to render people expendable. They cannot be abusive or personal. @suchitrav. Thank you! You need a community of people to support you. 'Music I Like', an album of Suchitra's renditions of Mahakavi Bharatiyaar's poetry, set to contemporary tunes and music, released by Universal Music, was a turning point in her career. 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. And that violence is often abetted by the state and goes unpunished. The people in the text fear statelessness, unknown violence, and being forgotten. It was just a sad moment, and I couldnt celebrate a book when there was so much human tragedy playing out. Vijayan reserves her own impressions for later, and allows us to know these people intimately. Each of these subscription programs along with tax-deductible donations made to The Rumpus through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, helps keep us going and brings us closer to sustainability. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle. The entire episode is emblematic of a broader trend in Indian media. In politics, we will be recognising the principle of one man, one vote, and one vote, one value. In politics we will have equality, and in social and economic life, we will have inequality. Rumpus: The book derives its emotional strength and narrative energy from the stories of people you encounter at the borders. Sometimes they are no more, but your storytelling is so invigorating that the reader doesnt forget them. We once asked these questions, even if there were no clear answers or consensus. Vijayan: There is an elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed that cant be bridged. There are some notable exceptions, but they are an exception. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. Lets start with a very simple statement that everyone can agree on: the way were living right now cannot continue. Bigotry is also big business. It is here that we subsume all that we otherwise celebrate under the demands of freedom, progress, liberalism, liberty, and secular ideals.". India has consistently warred against its own citizens; this book is about some of these wars. Suchitra was married to actor Karthik Kumar between 2005 and 2017. The black and white pictures accompanying the chapters add a thousand words more. My friend Ritesh Uttamchandani said this once, the lens that elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed is often impossible to bridge. Not mine. I have two tests. Suchitra Vijayan is a writer, photographer, lawyer, political essayist, and a lecturer. Suchitra Vijayan traveled Indias vast land border to explore how these populations live, and document how even places just a few miles apart can feel like entirely different countries.. In addition, she is an award- winning photographer, the founder, and executive director of the Polis Project, a hybrid research and journalism organization. Vijayan: Its a very generous reading, and thanks for that. Vijayan began her journey in Kolkata. Rumpus: I believe your book contributes to an important conversation about India we must have right now in the United States, for its own sake. Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitrav) / Twitter Follow Suchitra Vijayan @suchitrav Author: Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India. Also, a book is an act of community; it has many midwives. 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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. Excellent interview, brave insights and critical reflections! They dont. They create cleavages of fear, xenophobia, and insecurity. Pushback is such a benign word, isnt it? But, more importantly, I wanted my readers to walk away with a sense of empathy. To them he is a man who has settled into a job that has no future. The Indian media must learn to portray the conflict and human rights violations in the region in a more nuanced way, and not reduce Kashmir to a catalogue of death, destruction and emergency laws. 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. How violence against women and girlsand even how sexual violence against men and boys (something we dont even talk about enough) is depictedis all seriously problematic. Suchitra Vijayan: The Indian state has always used excessive and extrajudicial violence on communities that resist, whether its the borderlands, peripheries, or mainland Now the international viewfor instance while the Gujarat riots of 2002 brought critical international media attention and criticism, and [current Prime Minister] Modi was banned from entering the US, India was able to effectively manage global public opinion. He writes about how when the Constitution was adopted, "We are going to enter into a life of contradictions. Along the way, we meet the men and women of TASC, dissenting students, ISIS terrorists and Pakistani military officers. Aruni Kashyap writes in English, and his native language Assamese. Instead, she shows the absurdity of the army apparatus that strives to comply with the narrative of patriotism. It's a disorienting time when your library or what books you read can become evidence of sedition . How do you think the media ought to responsibly report on peoples lives and experiences? Why the Modi government lies. In the middle of significant change, this fraught system cannot exist as it is. This is the backdrop against which we map how border practices and policies have played out in India. Q: As you wrote this book, you dont hesitate to meditate on how your personal life bidirectionally impacted the book. That changes how you write and photograph a place. Co-founded the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, Suchitra is also the founder of the Polis Project, a research and journalism organisation. FII Media Private Limited | All rights reserved, "Imagine how it would be for someone coming from a Dalit/Bahujan, Muslim, Adivasi, working class background, who wants to come into thisit is especially difficult if youre a woman coming from these backgrounds. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. [1] Career [ edit] Your prose is hopeful there. These are stories of massive human rights violations committed by the Indian state in the countrys margins. Indian Foreign Secretary V.K. Bhawan Singh, who photographed the Nellie massacre, said he had never seen anything like it. The failure to forget affects how I use images, and texts; my photographic practice and also how I put everything together. Chopra has long been neoliberalisms reluctant feminist, hawking giving a voice and sisterhood while silencing those who question her. A: I dont agree with this kind of framing, because its not that underrepresented people dont have voices. "Fighting for justice and human rights in India is a long and lonely battle" Nishrin Jafri Hussain, the daughter of Ehsan Jafri (from 2019) Sharing borders with six countries and spanning a geography that extends from Pakistan to Myanmar, India is the worlds largest democracy and second most populous country.