‘Our Problem is Civil Obedience..’ (1)
Words of legendary American historian, playwright, philosopher and socialist intellectual Howard Zinn ( 1922-2010) still are repeated world over whenever the people living in a country have no qualms in gulping whatever the rulers do or say.
Less is known about the brief history of this speech which was delivered in the Baltimore campus – during heydays of anti war movement in US, (1971). It was period when a mass movement had emerged opposing US governments participation Vietnam war, where he was invited to address the students in one of the Universities.
What had happened a day before was rather unplanned and unexpected.
The federal police had detained him when he along with other war protesters were participating in an anti war demonstration.
Zinn was asked to appear before the attorney next day.
The immediate problem was whether to appear before the courts, perhaps get a warning from it and return home or to opt to leave for Baltimore, respect the invite by the radical students and then submit oneself before courts the next day. It was clear that such ‘misdemenour’ would cost him few days / months behind bars.
Zinn left for Baltimore, where he delivered the said speech where he was received by a thunderous applause by students and teachers and when he presented himself before the courts next day, as expected was sent to jail for few weeks.
Time and again, as the phenomenon of – what is popularly known as ‘bulldozer justice – raises its head here in India which is now called as the ‘biggest country which regularly holds elections’ – this poser by Zinn in his Baltimore speech sounds more and more appropriate.
The growing normalisation of this metamorphosis of a bulldozer into dispenser of ‘justice’ is for everyone to see.
Not sometime back a leading newsmagazine talked of India’s bulldozer raj wherein merely in a span of two years 1,50,000 houses have been razed and around 7.4 lakhs have been left homeless in two years. (2) It also discussed how Muslims and other marginalised groups bear the brunt as massive yellow machines force their way through brick walls of houses and business establishments.
One also learns, how within less than a fortnight of the elections results, a massive demolition exercise was undertaken in Lucknow, in and around Akbarnagar, where the State government demolished around 1,800 structures, including 1,169 houses and 101 commercial establishments despite people living in the area since many decades. (-do-) What is emphasising that this summary action could be undertaken despite presence of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees the fundamental right to protection of life and personal liberty and also emphasises no person can be deprived of these fundamental rights except according to procedure established by law.
The latest in the series seems to be demolition of one Haji Ali’s massive house built at a cost of around 5 crores in district Chhatarpur. Madhya Pradesh
What the country and its people witnessed – as usual rather mutely again this time was this house of Congress leader – was demolished in day time -without any proper notice, nor any prior information about it.
It is unclear who ordered the demolition of the huge house and even the crushing of three cars parked there? Under what law the police and administration such summary justice could be served to a citizen of India, whether it is a crime to lead people to raise their grievances or asking people not to get violent and remain peaceful. And even if the crowd gets unruly, then does it mean that the community leader or a respectable man in the area, who is supposedly leading the procession, be faced with demolition of his own house and establishments..
Can it be said that the varied stand taken by the administration over this action not only expose the confusion at the highest level but has put them on the defensive. As analysts have put it rather sharply that first the demolition was justified by saying that it was on a government land, then the tune changed a claim that it was situated near a water body and the last one heard was that although the land belonged to Shahzad Ali but the map was not approved (3)
Since when such a construction – supposedly on a map not approved by the concerned authorities – is summarily demolished, without going through a long procedure to rectify the anomaly, pay some fine or at best remove a portion of it?
In fact, the blatant manner in which the palatial house was demolished and the so called explanations offered, it is increasingly difficult for the state government officials to save themselves from charges of ‘partisan governance’ or functioning not as upholders of the Constitution but as ‘servants of the BJP’ (4) Merely two weeks back before this controversial demolition, Congress party under the leadership of its ex Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had led a massive rally which had sought ‘FIR be filed against Bhind DM for Religion-Based Demolition of Houses’ (- do-)
What should not be missed that these demolitions are just a ‘tip of the iceberg’ in BJP ruled states.
Less than a week after the results to the Lok Sabha elections were announced, eleven houses – built on government land by 11 persons in tribal majority district Mandla of MP, were demolished as part of action against the illegal beef trade in the state . (5) As alleged by victims no procedure was followed before the demolition, no notices were issued, just a claim that they were built on ‘government land’ and bulldozers just barged into their area and their houses were demolished under heavy police protection. (6)
It looked like a case of ‘police/ administration taking over the job of a mob’ (7) where state vigilantism was legitimising violence against the minority community , a replay of sorts of the 2015 incident in Dadri ( near Delhi) when villagers had barged into the house of one Akhlaq – merely on the suspicion that he was storing beef in his fridge, and lynched him.
The gravity of the situation could be measured from the fact that as of now ‘At least 1,000 petitions against ‘bulldozer justice’ are pending in Madhya Pradesh courts. The Supreme Court is yet to take cognisance of this form of summary justice. (8)
Question arises why are the courts at various levels – even its highest level – have not yet taken a cognisance of such acts of ‘summary justice’ being meted out in different BJP ruled states.
Remember it is not merely a question of MP – a BJP stronghold since last more than two decades – but other BJP ruled states as well. For example, Udaipur in Rajasthan, witnessed killing a ( Hindu) boy by his ( Muslim) classmate under some pretext. What the police did looks still unbelievable, while the courts had not decided about the issue and had not even started deliberating about it, then it went to the house of the accused boy, whose family lived as a tenant in another Muslim man’s house and it demolished the whole house. (9)
This type of vindictiveness and vengeance against a particular section / community of people cannot be merely explained in legal terms or its alleged lacunae ?
Perhaps such acts can take place when either there are discriminatory laws which allow the state and its machinery to target particular ethnic, cultural group or members of a particular social / religious community or there is a biased official behaviour which has its roots in the historical faultlines of the society.
History tells us about the promulgation of Nuremberg Laws ( 1935) in Germany under Hitler which enabled official persecution of Jews and institutionalisation of anti-semitism in Germany which even culminated in their ethnic cleansing. Such a situation, puts the minority among them devoid of any rights and leave it at the mercy of the majority community.
One can encounter similar situation where formally such discriminatory laws do not exist but for various historical and other reasons such biased or discriminatory treatment is increasingly normalised
There may be situations where everybody is equal before law thus de jure such laws may not exist but de facto, discrimination targeting a particular community exists. (10)
Now it cannot be denied that this deep penetration of biases in the bureaucracy itself – what Apoorvanand calls ‘ Hindutvafication of the Indian state machinery’ – is the ‘most horrific development of the last ten years’ And he very well underlines that they should not forget that at some point of their own lifetime, the society will go back to the ways of justice.
“The victims do remember the names of all the officers who sign the orders to take out bulldozers and do the encounters. A day will come, and it is not too far, when they will have to face justice. When their present-day actions will be judged by the principles of justice and each one of them will have to answer for the crime that they are committing now individually. Each individual is responsible for their act. All the administrative and police officers, who are thought to be the brightest minds which are in their positions after cracking the UPSC examination, must not have forgotten the Nuremberg trials. All the accused were in the dock as individuals. Let us hope that these officers remember their individuality and start exerting their minds, the greatest gift that God or nature has bestowed on humans. They must not allow themselves to be turned into the cogs of this Hindutva wheel crushing Muslims or the hands turning this wheel.” (11)
When the administration adopts a biased attitude, when the judiciary prefers not to expedite such cases and when under the overall ambiance, the rest of the civil society adopts a very compromising stand over such ‘ergegious violations of rule of law’, then what is the way out for concerned citizens or idealistic youth who yearn for justice and peace !
Perhaps need of the hour is that they strive for a more creative and inspiring solution
With ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians continuing unabated within Israel it would be inspiring to know that there there are still Israelli youth who are trying to Physically Block the Ethnic Cleansing Unfolding in the West Bank
Meet the Israelis Who Are Trying to Physically Block the Ethnic Cleansing Unfolding in the West Bank
Under the cover of war, backed by Israel’s army and police, settler violence targeting Palestinian shepherding communities is surging. These Israeli activists are putting themselves in harm’s way to protect them (12)
And they can also look towards the legendary Rachel Korrie to take inspiration in these difficult hours.
Remember it was the year 2003 when a 23 year old Rachel Corrie, an American Peace Activist, was crushed under a Israeli bulldozer when she was protesting the demolition of Palestinian Homes in Southern Gaza. The demolition of the particular house was no lone incident, it was part of a campaign unleashed by the brutal Israeli regime wherein it had already destroyed over a thousand homes in Gaza strip. 1
Rachel – part of a group of Palestinian and International activists were
“[s]eeking to halt the destruction of Palestinian property. That day, they had been acting as human shields to stop the flattening of a home in the Rafah refugee camp occupied by the families of two brothers, Khaled and Samir Nasrallah. 2
There were reverberations of this unique martyrdom of Rachel Corrie across the globe. What is worth emphasising that following Rachel few other peace activists were also martyred defending homes of Palestinians, sacrificing their lives for defending Palestinians wronged by the Israeli regime.
It has been more than two decades that Rachel and other peace activists have been martyred.
And we need to think afresh, and ask ourselves, what prompted the Israeli youth or the likes of Rachel Korrie to get ready for ultimate sacrifice.
Perhaps they knew by heart the famous speech by Howard Zinn and had no qualms implementing it.
…. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. And our problem is that scene in All Quiet on the Western Front where the schoolboys march off dutifully in a line to war. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem. We recognize this for Nazi Germany. We know that the problem there was obedience, that the people obeyed Hitler. People obeyed; that was wrong. They should have challenged, and they should have resisted; and if we were only there, we would have showed them.(13)
Question arises whether youth here or concerned citizens are ready to learn proper lessons from this famous speech by Howard Zinn ?
Subhash Gatade is a left activist associated with New Socialist Initiative
Notes
1 https://www.howardzinn.org/collection/the-problem-is-civil-obedience/)
3. (https://thewire.in/communalism/nuremberg-local-administration-police-bulldozer)
6. (https://twocircles.net/2024jun19/450009.html)
8. ” (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/courts-in-madhya-pradesh-allow-police-to-deliver-bulldozer-justice)
9. (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajasthan/udaipur-stabbing-muslim-students-house-demolished-as-city-limps-back-to-normalcy/article68537264.ece#:~:text=A%20day%20after%20communal%20tension,on%20the%20Forest%20Department’s%20land.)
10. (https://thewire.in/communalism/nuremberg-local-administration-police-bulldozer)
11. (https://thewire.in/communalism/nuremberg-local-administration-police-bulldozer)
13. (https://www.howardzinn.org/collection/the-problem-is-civil-obedience/)
