After reading this letter by JogendraNath Mandal, a leader
of the Hindu Scheduled Caste members I was appalled. While Pakistan has not
done such a great job at hiding its atrocities with the Bengali’s, it has done
so with these Scheduled Caste members.
This story follows the same tragic sequence. We allied with them before the 1947 partition, called them our brothers and sisters, and then soon after gaining independence, what did we do?
We murdered 10,000 of them. We raped their women. We deprived them of their livelihood and their homes until they fled.
It is tragic, but the term ‘tragedy’ implies a state of events occurred without any input from us. It implicates a sense that an event occurred beyond our control. Therefore, we are not responsible for it.
However, even government officials at the top layer stood by and watched as people committed these crimes. Some even partook in them. Some led the civilians to burn the Hindu caste members’ homes.
Why is this story repeating itself again with the Shia’s, the Balochi’s, the Christians and with the intellectuals?
The answer is because we stand by and we watch and we let others decide for us. If I have learned anything from this class, it is to question opinions even if that results in making all my previous knowledge futile. We must learn to criticize the norm and form our own opinions. We must strive to take the road less taken and to look for information that we have been made blind to, because now, the unspoken tales speak to me the most.
To read this letter, please visit this link
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Resignation_letter_of_Jogendra_Nath_Mandal
This story follows the same tragic sequence. We allied with them before the 1947 partition, called them our brothers and sisters, and then soon after gaining independence, what did we do?
We murdered 10,000 of them. We raped their women. We deprived them of their livelihood and their homes until they fled.
It is tragic, but the term ‘tragedy’ implies a state of events occurred without any input from us. It implicates a sense that an event occurred beyond our control. Therefore, we are not responsible for it.
However, even government officials at the top layer stood by and watched as people committed these crimes. Some even partook in them. Some led the civilians to burn the Hindu caste members’ homes.
Why is this story repeating itself again with the Shia’s, the Balochi’s, the Christians and with the intellectuals?
The answer is because we stand by and we watch and we let others decide for us. If I have learned anything from this class, it is to question opinions even if that results in making all my previous knowledge futile. We must learn to criticize the norm and form our own opinions. We must strive to take the road less taken and to look for information that we have been made blind to, because now, the unspoken tales speak to me the most.
To read this letter, please visit this link
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Resignation_letter_of_Jogendra_Nath_Mandal
It is true that we let every incident pass by silently simply because we claim that it had nothing to do with us and so wasn't our fault. We fail to grasp that silence means not finding anything wrong with the current state of affairs and hence, is a supportive action for the oppressors. How long are we going to pay the price of our silence? When will we stand up? When they come to get us? Unless we stand up and own our nation's actions and atrocities committed by it, the nation cannot prosper. LUMS does leave us empty by striking at everything we've believed n all our lives but that ultimately leads us to forming better informed opinions and always looking at the other untold story as well before taking stances.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post and thoughtful questions. And Risha's response reminded me of this quote:
ReplyDeleteFirst they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
- German Pastor Martin Niemöller on his cowardice to not speak up against the Nazis
Beautiful quote sir. Yes Risha, it is time for us to challenge silence or like Sir said, in the end there will be no one left to take a stand for us. Who knew, our most important battle would be with Silence.
ReplyDelete