AUGUST 1, 2020 Vol LV No 31 ` 110

A SAMEEKSHA TRUST PUBLICATION www.epw.in

EDITORIALS Mental Health and Migrant Workers  ‘One Nation, One Market’ The mental health system’s response to the COVID-19  Political Crisis in Rajasthan pandemic is marked by the avoidance of the FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK sociopolitical circumstances, and a rights-based language  A Portrait of Defection Politics is essential to account for the trauma suffered by STRATEGIC AFFAIRS daily-wage migrant workers. page 39  Trump’s Desperation and Manufactured China Threat Sex Workers during the Lockdown COMMENTARY The stigma attached to the profession has intensified  Our Essential Workers Need Essential Care the vulnerabilities of sex workers during the pandemic, COVID-19: Mental Healthcare without and their immediate distress has to be addressed from a Social Justice? human rights perspective, as well as by rethinking of Social Distancing and Sex Workers in India social norms and practices. page 21 Intellectual Property as Collateral REVIEW ARTICLE The State of Front-line Workers  Governing Islam: Law, Empire, and Secularism in Modern South Asia; Divorcing Traditions: Essential workers are the backbone of the healthcare Islamic Marriage Law and the Making of delivery system, but their condition is debilitating Indian Secularism due to social hierarchies, lack of equipment, and PERSPECTIVES institutional neglect. page 13  (De)Valuing Dignity: Three Risks of Dignity Inflation in the Indian Dignity and Judicial Reasoning Supreme Court’s Reasoning The absence of a rigorous constitutional doctrine of dignity INSIGHT could devalue the concept due to the lack of clarity over ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Migrant Workers and the Politics of its constitutional status and practical scope. page 33 Mental Health SPECIAL ARTICLES Intellectuals, Truth and Truthfulness  The Popular Aesthetics of Social Mobility The report concerning Jeffrey E Epstein’s connections to Harvard’s Trolley Problem Harvard University opens a window into the internal CURRENT STATISTICS working of eminent knowledge institutions, the integrity of POSTSCRIPT intellectuals, and the place of Truth in public life. page 53 ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY August 1, 2020 | vol LV No 31

Trump’s Desperation and Manufactured China Threat EDITORIALS 10 The American conservative construction of an enemy in China is an attempt ‘One Nation, One Market’ ...... 7 to create fear psychosis among voters to shore up the electoral prospects of a Political Crisis in Rajasthan ...... 8 beleaguered Donald Trump. — Atul Bhardwaj, Inderjeet Parmar FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK A Portrait of Defection Politics ...... 9 Our Essential Workers Need Essential Care 13 Through personal interviews of healthcare workers in India, the state of From 50 years ago ...... 9 front-line workers in dealing with Covid-19 in the country is discussed. — Nikhil Srivastav, Aditi Priya & Payal Hathi STRATEGIC AFFAIRS Trump’s Desperation and Manufactured China Threat COVID-19: Mental Healthcare without Social Justice? —Atul Bhardwaj, Inderjeet Parmar ...... 10 16 It is critical that the government takes long-term economic and mental health policy measures to ensure employment, basic amenities and public health. COMMENTARY — Roli Pandey, Shilpi Kukreja & Kumar Ravi Priya Our Essential Workers Need Essential Care —Nikhil Srivastav, Aditi Priya, Payal Hathi ...... 13 Social Distancing and Sex Workers in India COVID-19: Mental Healthcare without COVID Social Justice? —Roli Pandey, Shilpi Kukreja, 21 The deplorable condition of sex workers in India amidst the -19 lockdown Kumar Ravi Priya ...... 16 is discussed as social distancing and the lockdown have left sex workers across the country in poverty and hunger. — Priyanka Tripathi, Chhandita Das Social Distancing and Sex Workers in India —Priyanka Tripathi, Chhandita Das ...... 21

Intellectual Property as Collateral Intellectual Property as Collateral —Abhishek Kumar ...... 24 24 The scope of using intellectual property as collateral is discussed, and through examples, it is shown that, owing to its volatile and dynamic nature, REVIEW ARTICLE IP is not a reliable collateral. — Abhishek Kumar Governing Islam: Law, Empire, and Secularism in Modern South Asia; Divorcing Traditions: Islamic Marriage Law and the Making of Indian Risks of Dignity Inflation in Supreme Court’s Reasoning Secularism—Secularism, the State and 33 While the Supreme Court of India holds dignity to be a foundational Muslim Personal Law constitutional value, judicial enthusiasm about dignity must be sensitive to the —Nandagopal R Menon ...... 28 risk of devaluing it in the absence of close legal analysis. — Pritam Baruah PERSPECTIVES (De)Valuing Dignity: Three Risks of Dignity Migrant Workers and the Politics of Mental Health Infl ation in the Indian Supreme Court’s 39 The roping in of tertiary-care mental health institutes by the government in Reasoning providing individualised (tele)counselling services to migrant workers needs —Pritam Baruah ...... 33 to be viewed with caution. — Sudarshan R Kottai INSIGHT Migrant Workers and the Politics of The Popular Aesthetics of Social Mobility Mental Health 46 This article argues that the fi lm Gully Boy’s (2019) quest is anchored within — Sudarshan R Kottai ...... 39 neo-liberal freedoms, albeit topped with a laudable linguistic experiment. SPECIAL ARTICLES — Akshaya Kumar The Popular Aesthetics of Social Mobility ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY —Akshaya Kumar ...... 46 Harvard’s Trolley Problem Harvard’s Trolley Problem 53 The case of Harvard’s long association with the disgraced billionaire —Peter Ronald deSouza ...... 53 Jeffrey Epstein is discussed, and the analytical method advocated is the “trolley problem,” which is used to highlight the diffi culty of moral choices. CURRENT STATISTICS...... 61 — Peter Ronald deSouza POSTSCRIPT Postscript Beats of Misogyny— Anjana Menon (63), Of Unlikely Bedfellows: Classical Performance 63 Anjana Menon on how Malayalam cinema continues to devalue the concept and the Internet —Shreya Ramnath (64), COVID of consent; Shreya Ramnath asks whether the -19 pandemic has Bespoke but Not Woke—Isha Bhallamudi (65), opened up Carnatic music to the virtual world; Isha Bhallamudi on how Last Lines (66) “woke” politics must go beyond critiquing and cancelling popular culture in aggressive ways; and Last Lines by Ponnappa. Letters ...... 4 LETTERS Issn 0012-9976

Ever since the fi rst issue in 1966, EPW has been India’s premier journal for National Education The policy mentions that vocational comment on current affairs training of students will begin from Class and research in the social sciences. Policy 2020 It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949–1965), 6. This can have an adverse impact as it which was launched and shepherded RTE by Sachin Chaudhuri, he Right to Education ( ) Forum will push children into the labour market, who was also the founder-editor of EPW. Thas welcomed the reiteration of in- and their education will be discontinued. As editor for 35 years (1969–2004) Krishna Raj creasing public investment in education There is a lot of emphasis on digital gave EPW the reputation it now enjoys. to 6% of the gross domestic product in education, which the RTE Forum fears will Editor the recently approved National Education promote further segregation of children. GOPAL GURU Policy (NEP). The RTE Forum has also ac- India currently does not have adequate Executive Editor knowledged the recommendation on the infrastructure to support this, and more Lina Mathias universalisation of school education for than 70% children from marginalised SENIOR Assistant editorS lubna duggal three to 18 years. However, the organisa- backgrounds could be excluded, as evident INDU K tion has expressed its apprehension on from the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein Sunipa Dasgupta how universalisation will be achieved, as many children are missing online classes copy editorS the policy is silent on the extension of the due to the digital divide in the country. jyoti shetty Tejas Harad Right of Children to Free and Compulsory The policy, in the name of philanthropic RTE Assistant editor Education Act, 2009 ( Act). schools and public–private partnership Nachiket kulkarni The draft NEP 2019, submitted by the mode, is laying the road map for the entry editorIAL Assistant Kasturirangan Committee to the human of private players in education, which will Malvika Sharad resource development minister and sub- further commercialise education, and the CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER sequently released to the public for sug- existing inequalities will be exacerbated. J DENNIS RAJAKUMAR gestions, had promised downward and The RTE Forum has observed that this production RTE suneethi nair upward extension of the Act to in- policy is silent on the Common School Sys- clude pre-primary and secondary educa- tem (CSS), which was fi rst recommended Circulation KULDEEP NAWATHE tion within the ambit of the act. All sec- by the Kothari Commission (1964–66) and

Advertisement Manager tions of the civil society welcomed this reaffi rmed in the National Education Poli- Kamal G Fanibanda as it would have been a big step towards cies in 1968 and 1986, as amended in 1992. RTE General Manager & Publisher the universalisation of school education. The Forum believes that the only way Gauraang Pradhan But with disappointment, it is noted that to remove discrimination in the school ed- editorial: [email protected] the fi nal draft fails to make pre-primary ucation system is to introduce a CSS in the Circulation: [email protected] and secondary education a legal right. country, which will ensure uniform quality Advertising: [email protected] The fi nal policy talks about the uni- of education to all the children and that Economic & Political Weekly versalisation of school education from the NEP 2020 needs a robust road map for 320–322, A to Z Industrial Estate Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel three to 18 years, without making it a le- affi rmative action. Mumbai 400 013 gal right. Hence, there is no mandatory Right to Education Forum Phone: (022) 4063 8282 mechanism for the union and state gov- New Delhi EPW Research Foundation ernments to make it a reality. Without EPW Research Foundation, established in 1993, conducts RTE research on fi nancial and macro-economic issues in India. the Act, universalisation will be very A Social Stock Exchange Director diffi cult. There are signifi cant numbers J DENNIS RAJAKUMAR of dropouts after elementary levels, he necessity of a social stock exchange C 212, Akurli Industrial Estate especially among girls. The RTE Act is the (SSE) has long been felt as we have Kandivali (East), Mumbai 400 101 T Phones: (022) 2887 3038/41 highest stage reached in the evolution of roughly 2 million social enterprises, and ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY [email protected] education policy in India and it confers a the thrust for fi nancial mainstreaming Sameeksha TrusT legal right, while a policy document does was expressed in the Union Budget (Publishers of Economic & Political Weekly) not confer such rights. 2019–20. The capital market regulator, Board of Trustees RTE Deepak Nayyar, Chairman The Forum, meanwhile, has ap- Securities and Exchange Board of India Shyam Menon, Managing Trustee preciated the creation of the Gender In- (SEBI), was entrusted to constitute a André Béteille, D N Ghosh, Deepak Parekh, Romila Thapar, clusion Fund to promote and strengthen working group in September 2019 that Rajeev Bhargava, Dipankar Gupta, girl’s participation and completion of was responsible for suggesting the pos- N Jayaram, SUDIPTO MUNDLE school education. Another laudable as- sible structures and fi nancing mecha- Printed and published by Gauraang Pradhan, for and pect of the policy is that it rightly states nisms within the ambit of securities on behalf of Sameeksha Trust and printed at Modern Arts and Industries, 151, A–Z Industrial Estate, that there will be emphasis on conceptual markets in order to facilitate capital Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai–400 013 and published at 320–322, A–Z Industrial Estate, understanding rather than on rote learn- access by social enterprises and voluntary Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai–400 013 ing; creativity and critical thinking will organisations as well as sketching an Editor: Gopal Guru (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act) be encouraged. associated regulatory framework, inter

4 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly LETTERS alia, covering the issues relating to eligi- Third, the report stresses the impor- senior lenders and philanthropic foun- bility norms for participation, disclosures, tance of fostering the social sector devel- dations, CSR contribution, and impact in- listing, trading, oversight, etc. opment by creating a capacity-building vestors as junior lenders are also made Following several consultations with unit (with a provision of `100 crore funds), an option. However, in the absence of voluntary organisations, social enterprises, which would be responsible to set up appropriate regulatory architecture and and philanthropic bodies, the working a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for convergence of social, fi nancial, and en- group perhaps understood the modalities bringing the existing information reposi- vironment dimensions of sustainability, for blending of conventional capital and tories (IRs) in the immediate term, which such a solution could be a distant reality. social capital, and the signifi cance of “value can extend the necessary support to the Sixth, it is implicit that the SSE can plurality” and “economic and moral per- SSE. SRO would be accountable to imple- advance the frontiers of social fi nance for formativity” in the enterprise perfor- ment the minimum reporting standards innovation and entrepreneurship. While mance. In other words, the rationale for for social enterprises that access capital Brazil, South Africa, Canada, United King- an independent SSE hinges on the main- from SSE. Social impact scorecard relating dom, and Singapore have operational SSEs streaming of philanthropic or develop- to reach depth, inclusion, strategic intent for near about a decade, the proposed ment, strategic or private risk capital to and goal setting criteria are proposed to model for India bears novelty because the those social enterprises that have evinced be an integral part of such minimum re- exchange can provide a comprehensive interest and demonstrated their sustaina- porting standard for the immediate term. solution to FPEs and NPOs, and it can go ble business performance. Also, capacity building fund can be set beyond pure matchmaking or discovery While India has several conduits up to enhance reporting capabilities of to institutionalise a common standard for through which the social sector accesses NPOs, apart from awareness creation and reporting, locate avenues for direct listing funding, their varying degrees of modali- driving adoption of this fund among NPOs, and mainstream fundraising for NPOs, new ties, effectiveness, and implementation dy- philanthropists, and donor agencies. funding instruments and mechanisms for namics have been observed. To overcome Fourth, it is apparent that the SSE would harnessing the potential of social enterpris- this, a unifi ed broad-base exchange plat- contribute to championing social enter- es for inclusive growth and development. form with a standard reporting and meas- prises as the exchange can catalyse Nevertheless, execution is key to suc- urement system has been felt important. fi nancial intermediation for the social ceed the SSE in India as the self-regulatory Now, it is important to discuss some sector. However, the unifi cation process organisation needs to be encouraged to key outcomes of the report of the work- of social impact assessment framework strike a chord between the exchange, ing group relating to the role of SSE for adoption and listing modalities of the potential investors, and social enterprises. in structuring and mainstreaming or social enterprises (other than Section 8 Without handholding or intensive orienta- advancing the frontiers of social fi nance. Companies) on the SSE could raise some tion of native enterprises, the success of a First, the report mentions the fi nancing concerns in academic and policy circles. social stock bourse would be far-reaching. mechanisms and modalities for effectively The working group here emphasised on Sectoral orientation with a motive for deploying the fundraising instruments, SEBI’s capabilities and bandwidth to impact investing is necessary for the their structures and regulatory guidelines work out an appropriate regulatory foundation of the SSE. Due diligence is for social enterprises. Unlike the match- framework for allowing the NPOs, say important for channelising funds to the making or directory connecting platform trusts/societies, to raise funds through listed social enterprises as the magni- between social enterprises and potential zero coupon bonds, which can attract tude of risk capital being pumped by investors created by SSEs in Canada and the investors who want to anchor and the pool of investors would depend the United Kingdom, the working group invest in socially responsible ventures. on the trade-offs between speculative reasoned out that there is a distinction in Fifth, the working group envisaged that gains and impact investment for sectoral the functioning of for-profi t enterprises the setting up of the SSE can also be a growth and sustainability. (FPEs) and not-for-profi t organisations policy response to Covid-19. A Covid-19 In other words, the investor risk appetite ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (NPOs), and their difference is manifested fund has been proposed to activate for profi teering may drive the magnitude in balance sheet and income statements. solutions like pay-for-success bond with of alternative investment funds or SVFs in Second, the funding instrument is there- philanthropic foundations, corporate so- social enterprises. The regulator should fore proposed to be different for FPEs and cial responsibility (CSR) spenders, impact keep a vigil on the performance or utilisa- NPOs. For example, FPEs can meet their investors, and so on. In addition, struc- tion of such funds in the future course. fi nancing need through equity and social tured pooled loans with domestic banks Kushankur Dey venture funds (SVFs), while for NPOs, in- and non-banking fi nancial companies as Lucknow struments are like zero coupon bonds, SVFs, mutual funds, various pay-for-suc- EPW Engage cess structures like social impact bond, The following articles have been published in the past week in the EPW Engage section (www.epw.in/engage). other securities and units. For Section 8 (1) No Love Lost between Hate Speech and Indian Laws —Neha Gupta and Kavya Gupta Companies, equity and debt could be a (2) Justice, Care and Feminist Spaces —V Geetha (3) How Does the National Education Policy Accelerate the Privatisation of Higher Education? —Lakshmi Priya major fundraising option.

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6 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly august 1, 2020

‘One Nation, One Market’

Market integration will remain a pipedream without structural changes in agricultural markets.

n early June, the cabinet had approved two agricultural mandated rates, thereby making the marketing costs prohibi- ordinances—namely, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Com- tive for them. Imerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 and the Given such instances, various questions can be raised on Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price these ordinances, particularly that on the Farmers’ Produce Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020—potentially to Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation). First, while enable barrier-free inter- and intra-state trade in agricultural all APMC acts have exemptions for farmers to sell their produce produces outside the physical premises of the (deemed) markets anywhere, and some even allow turnover-based exemptions to notifi ed under the agricultural produce marketing legislations buyers (/traders), it is not clear why this ordinance is being and to empower the farmers to engage with the buyers of their promoted as a reform that will give farmers the freedom to sell choice. Both these ordinances should be welcome steps with their produce anywhere in the country. Second, if the purpose their perceived scope of ensuring seamless fl ow of farm produce of the ordinance is to expand the market outreach of the farmers, across the country without regulatory restrictions and excessive why is it using the APMC-notifi ed produce to defi ne “scheduled” intermediation, intuitively vital for raising price realisation by farmer produce, given that such notifi cation is likely to have the farmers on the one hand, and enabling the supply of food to limited relevance only to the APMC yards? Moreover, with such the consumer at competitive prices on the other, among several notifi cations being at the state APMC level, one is perplexed things. While the actual effects of these ordinances can only about their justifi cation, especially when the objective of the be comprehended during/after this year’s kharif harvest in central government in taking the ordinance route is presumably September, there is already much scepticism about the useful- based on the past experiences of low or no cooperation from the ness of these ordinances on various grounds. states for agricultural market reforms? According to existing empirical evidences, a maximum of In this context, it may not be too off the mark to conjecture two-fi fths of the agricultural marketable surplus in India passes that “one nation, one market” could be mere sloganeering, in through the regulated marketing yards/mandi. The remaining tandem with this government’s politics of “homogenisation.” three-fi fths or more fi nds its way outside the regulated premises That market integration and hence improved competitiveness and is no less fraught with the marketing bottlenecks that can benefi t farmers, whether small or big, could be intuitively make price realisation by the farmers, especially the small- appealing. But practically it is rendered a paper lion, when the holders, at least as challenging as on the mandi premises. For regulations for implementing the process leave much to be instance, the minimum support price (MSP) frequently ends up desired in their design itself. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY being the ceiling price, instead of the benchmark/fl oor price, Say, for example, the direct purchase clause under the Farmers’ so much so that private traders/aggregators refrain purchasing (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance from the farmers while the government procurement is on. and Farm Services is not only poorly drafted but also lacks sensiti- However, the MSP procurement window being narrow, farmers vity towards smallholders. We fi nd that this is considered almost eventually end up selling to the private buyers at much lower as a default method of procurement for the “contracting parties” prices. Or, take the example of the surreptitious method of like large retailers or supermarkets, and not a selling option for bidding for the “best price” between the commission agents the farmers. The ordinance itself is rather uncaring about the and buyers on the Agricultural Produce Market Committee farmers’ interest, in general, so much so that it does not make a (APMC) yards, by “touching hands under a handkerchief,” written contract—with prior price commitments—mandatory, whereby the price of the same commodity changes with every despite it being desirable. Simultaneously, a serious lacuna lies in buyer. Not to forget, here is also the case of the market charges the contract farming clause that links the contract price with the and commission rates charged to the farmers/sellers on APMC mandi price or electronic market price. Ideally, in the contract these premises, which conveniently overshoot the offi cially farming case, the price should be negotiated by the contracting

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 7 EDITORIALS parties. Further, if the objective of the ordinance is to provide and risks. For 80% of the Indian farmers, who are smallholders, alternative channels to farmers and create competition in APMC the prospects of returns dwindle if risks cannot be adequately markets to make price discovery effi cient there, then this aspect hedged. By using the APMC as a yardstick for price discovery, of a poorly drafted contract foils the very purpose of this law. these ordinances are undermining these smallholders’ concerns. Over the past decade or so, Indian agriculture has diversifi ed It is high time that the policy discourse brainstorms on creating from cereal-centrism towards relatively perishable, high-value better logistics and infrastructure, enhanced access to modern agricultural products, largely driven by the urban demand pull. capital, and effi cient price risk hedging mechanisms in agricul- Consequently, supply is now more dispersed over time and ture, if this sector must emerge as the country’s green shoots in space, which in turn has increased the chances of both returns the post-pandemic era.

Political Crisis in Rajasthan

Judicial intervention into the deadlock of defection has only caused further confusion and instability.

n the midst of a raging pandemic, Rajasthan fi nds itself in a break oppositions at will. No political party in power has political crisis that has once again shown how little political covered itself in glory on either of these matters, doing the very Ileaders care for constitutional norms and niceties. The things in power it complained about when out of it. Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government has been destabilised However, it is not enough to blame political partisanship for by a group of Congress members of legislative assembly (MLAs) the current state of affairs. The Constitution’s provisions relating led by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot who have to the appointment and removal of the governor and the Tenth refused to attend legislature party meetings and have holed Schedule relating to the defection of elected representatives are themselves up in a resort. Depending on who one listens to, fl awed. They have created perverse incentives for parties to act the source of troubles are either Pilot’s reckless ambition for in the way they do. Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra acts the the top post or Gehlot’s manoeuvring to sideline Pilot and his way he does because he owes his position to the NDA government coterie of MLAs. Either way, it is the last thing any state attempt- at the centre and knows that he will be removed from offi ce by ing to address a pandemic and economic crisis needs. them if he does not. When it suited his party, Joshi did not Attempts to bring some sort of stability and certainty to the bother to adjudicate the disqualifi cation of Bahujan Samaj Party situation have been stymied by the Rajasthan High Court and MLAs who switched to the Congress, but when the need for the the governor of the state. When Rajasthan Assembly Speaker party was dire, he tried to disqualify the disaffected legislators. C P Joshi issued disqualifi cation notices to the 19 MLAs in Pilot’s He too enjoys his position at the pleasure of his party. group, the Rajasthan High Court stepped in to stay these notices. Far from providing any certainty in the matter, judicial inter- When the Rajasthan cabinet resolved to call a session of the vention has only caused further confusion and instability. There state legislative assembly, the governor simply refused to do so, is a reasonable argument that the Supreme Court’s judgment raising trivial, technical objections to the exercise. Worse still, in Kihoto Hollohan v Zachillhu and Others (1992), interpreting the governor seemed to want to dictate how the assembly and upholding the Tenth Schedule, needs to be reconsidered. session would be carried out, something that is well outside his However, it is an act of judicial indiscipline for the Rajasthan limited constitutional mandate, given that he has not ques- High Court to assume that it can decide the correctness of tioned the Congress’s majority in the assembly. Although he Kihoto Hollohan and then proceed to stay the speaker’s notice eventually relented and has agreed to call the assembly to on this basis alone without offering any substantive reasoning session on 14 August, it once again highlights how the offi ce of the about the merits of the claim. While there is a debate about the governor can be easily used for partisan ends. extent and scope of the speaker’s powers under the Tenth ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) received a Schedule, to stay the proceedings altogether without going into thumping majority in 2014, destabilising opposition-led state the basic question of whether it is legally permissible to do it in governments has become an unhealthy pastime for the regime. this case is bizarre. The habit did not begin with them for sure, and the Constitution High court has indefi nitely stayed the disqualifi cation pro- arguably gives too much power to the union government to ceedings without offering any tangible reasons. If all of this meddle in the affairs of the state government. That said, the paints a dismal picture about the state of the constitutional crux of the problem has to be laid at the door of the holders of government in India, it is by no means an exaggeration. The two offi ces who were expected to be impartial and neutral, events in Rajasthan have played out in some way or the namely the governor and the speaker. In the long history of the other as they did in Manipur, Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Indian republic, they have proven to be anything but. It is quite likely that, irrespective of the outcome in Rajasthan, If the governor has been turned into an “agent” of the union the public at large is unlikely to come away with the belief government at the state level, the speaker has proven to be an that constitutional institutions in India work as they are “agent” of the ruling party in helping create majorities and supposed to.

8 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK A Portrait of Defection Politics

rom the point of view of idealistic or pure politics, politi- the defectors seem to be taking a high moral ground of justice cal acts like defection and fl oor-crossing may not enjoy and democracy for seeking justifi cation for such a decision. Fmuch moral credibility or even institutional integrity. Second, the element of justice that is sought to be integrated into When defection or fl oor-crossing becomes a regular practice, the act of defection is much narrower a conception of justice, which politics tends to lose its moral essence, although such a practice is based on an economic model. Put differently, from the economic may fi nd its support in the institutional procedures. Those who point of view, it would be just and fair to defect to a party as long are holding idealistic point of view would not lend themselves to as it is benefi cial to the individual. Parties that, due to their lack endorse the politics of defection. The recent political develop- of material resource or commitment to idealistic politics, are ments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka that suggest considered as a “liability” may not attract the defector. The cost of continuation of the politics of capturing and usurping formal defection, for example, to the natal party or to the constituency institutional power by means of engineering party defection, that the defecting legislators “represent,” however, does not show nothing but the ailing side of democratic politics. fi gure in the instrumental conception of justice that guides the It is often claimed that the decision to defect is driven by the decision of the defectors. Being fair to one’s self-interest forces a urgency to defend one’s political autonomy and stand by the particular defector to adopt it as a means to continuously defect principles of democracy and justice. Thus, in defection, such from one party to another till the personal interests are protected. defectors may choose to fi nd a “noble” cause. From the defec- In an instrumental sense, defection is justifi ed as a fair means tor’s point of view, defection may be treated as a moral protest for achieving personal interest, but it robs a defector of the moral that is aimed at restoring democracy, both within the party in capacity to be intensely aware about the need to realise that one’s question and in promoting democratic spirit in the polity. Such interests are actually divergent from the collective interests of the defectors, in their feat of self-righteousness, may also locate party or the electoral constituency that they represent. The defector the value of justice in the act of crossing over to other parties. does not care to see that their decision to defect also disregards the Put differently, such moves of defection are seen as desirable as larger concerns of justice that expect the defector to be fair to the though they were driven by larger concerns for justice; justice electoral constituency that they represent. Instead, the tendency that anticipates the party bosses to treat their leaders with is: Why care about the moral need to be fair to the electorate fairness and dignity. when defection would help one to serve one’s personal interest? One may fi nd some merit in defection on the grounds that it is A political party or parties that have achieved mastery in the through defection that the principle of justice gets linked to the manipulation of the selfi shness of the potential defector would larger cause of making democracy an ideal condition. However, provide necessary incentive for such a person to be “just” to oneself. it would be naïve to grant the defector the advantage of keeping From a realistic point of view, it is diffi cult to separate the defector’s self-interest at bay while fi ghting for justice and democracy. The claim to common good from their personal and parochial interests. much more complex question that we need to raise is this: Is the It is in this regard that one can leave the idea with the defector. struggle for justice completely separable from self-interest? Will the defector make the moral will to become a crusader and It is hard to argue in favour of such a separation and this is for fi ght for collective good and democratic values and take this fi ght three reasons. First, arguably, in most of the cases of defection, within the party and to the level of the common people? This, it is the personal ambition to be in power or get closer to power however, is an ideal alternative to a defector who wants to that is at the root of this decision. Since such defection driven by achieve the highest pay-off of self-interest without choosing to selfi shness looks brazenly selfi sh, such defectors seem to take become a crusader for systemic change. cover on normative grounds in order to defend their decision to defect. For example, in most cases, including the recent ones, ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY

From 50 Years Ago level of stability in that society. The launching with China. Among the Great Powers also there of an earth satellite marked the climax of a is a fresh awareness of the importance of China, series of remarkable successes in the fi elds of as evidenced by France’s renewed interest in science and technology which together have that country. ended the hopes that sheer paucity of resources It is only among its non-communist neigh- Vol V, Nos 29-30-31 jUly 1970 will force China to be content wit h a low level bours that a great deal of fear and concern The Emerging Triangle nuclear capability. The diplomatic isolation of about China persists. Developments in Cambodia China is ending. Not only has Peking succeed- have, while bringing about a new kind of soli- If there was ever any doubt that China was well ed in recent months in becoming the leader of darity among Asian communist countries, cre- set on the path to emerge as the world’s Third the Asian communist countries, it has also be- ated new anxieties among nations like Indone- Super Power, events of the last few months come an important factor in the policies of such sia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Burma, have set it at rest. The Cultural Revolution has European Communist countries as Yugoslavia Laos and Singapore about the future of the pre- come and gone without the disastrous conse- and Rumania. Within the non-communist world sent political structures in these societies. quences that many were fondly predicting. All more and more nations are showing their keen India also remains convinced that China poses the signs now point to a new and perhaps higher desire to establish economic and political links a threat to its security.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 9 STRATEGIC AFFAIRS

propaganda campaign against the CCP, Trump’s Desperation and the blaming it for almost all evils: economic espionage, data, and monetary Manufactured China Threat theft and illegal political activities, using bribery and blackmail to infl uence US policy and last but not the least for being “engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the Atul Bhardwaj, Inderjeet Parmar world’s only superpower by any means nec- essary.” (BBC 2020) s Donald Trump faces the possi- The US foreign policy establishment The Trump administration’s strategy of bility of a catastrophic electoral believes Trump has alienated allies like demonising China is succeeding, its pro- A defeat in November 2020, he has the European Union, weakened America’s paganda is being promoted by the GOP constructed an enemy that can be con- hand in competing with China, and has (the Republican Party) as an effort to stantly vilifi ed, and whose alleged inten- brought US power into disrepute across the advance a higher cause. And members of tions and actions to end American pri- world. They have a more nuanced view Congress are busy vying with each other to macy may generate fear psychosis among of China, as a security concern and eco- be the top China hawk. On the other hand, American voters and also among as many nomic opportunity and potential future the Chinese media blitzkrieg, in defence of his international allies he can persuade (junior) partner or “responsible stake- of its own actions, is falling fl at. Xi’s anger or coerce. Yet, his strategy may backfi re holder,” that is, as a subordinate to US and humiliation are spilling over in vio- as domestic uprisings against police rac- hegemonic strategies. The scenario today lence on Himalayan borders, in the South ism and brutality against peaceful prote- is more Karl Kautsky than Vladimir China Sea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. stors, combined with a pandemic reaching Lenin, with inter-capitalist class shared The Pentagon has identifi ed 20 Chinese deep into Trump’s own political heart- interests with sharp competition, even commercial fi rms operating in the US, lands, continue to demolish his credibility. tension and turbulence, rather than branding them proxies of the People’s And the levels of economic interdepend- inevitable inter-imperial warfare (Parmar Liberation Army. In an open letter to ence between the United States (US) and 2019; Huo and Parmar 2019). Trump, Brian Kennedy, president of Com- China, between American farmers and mittee on the Present Danger: China Chinese consumers, not to mention with Great Power Competition (CPDC) alleges, “under Beijing’s intelli- Asian and other major economies, indi- The war on terror is defi nitely over, which gence statutes, all PRC companies and cate that whatever security concerns ani- has been the case since Barack Obama– nationals are required to conduct espio- mate strategy, China is too economically Hillary Clinton’s pivot to Asia a decade nage” (Kennedy 2020). Hard evidence, signifi cant to be permanently alienated. ago. Great power rivalry is back on the as ever, appears unnecessary when it Other powers might fear China’s mili- agenda, embedded in the 2017 National comes to the vilifi cation of any competi- tary and technological strength, but they Security Strategy. And the Communist tor state that may appear to have future look with hungry eyes at the economic Party of China (CCP) and President Xi potential to challenge the world’s self- opportunity it represents, especially in Jinping are the villains of the piece. declared hegemonic power. recovering from the pandemic-induced While outrightly condemning the CCP Besides elections, the second driver of global crisis. and regime, the strategy claims to sup- Trump’s China policy is the American This is not, therefore, a new version port the Chinese people. According to problem with the 5G technology that the of the US-Soviet Union Cold War. There the White House, “The US has a deep and Chinese company Huawei has unleashed is no existential threat from China to the abiding respect for the Chinese people globally. US and the West, no division of the world … We do not seek to contain China’s ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY into rival ideological camps, and no com- development, nor do we wish to disengage The 5G Problem peting military blocs. This is a straight- from the Chinese people” (White House Nobody understands penetration of sov- forward geopolitical competition under- 2020: 1). Yet, the Trump administration ereignty—through soft and hard power— pinned by economic interdependence. has threatened to sanction all 90 million better than the US. It has adroitly Trump needs a foreign enemy, and hence members of the CCP and their families— used its imperial skills to advance the is rallying a broad US elite that distrusts which could amount to almost a quarter “American century” since 1945. For the his motives regarding China. Democrats of China’s population. fi rst time in decades, US hegemony is do not believe that Trump represents US Trump is not, however, fundamentally confronted by a potentially comprehensive national interests; his only interest different from the foreign policy elite. His counter-hegemonic force. But the China being in political survival and cronies’ levels of personal and political despera- challenge is greater than the Soviet fi nancial interests. Yet, even cronies like tion, however, threaten the broader US strategy of militarily irritation. Far more Sheldon Adelson have signi fi cant inter- elite programme of bringing China to heel. signifi cantly, China is marching ahead ests in China’s casinos (Cuccinello 2019). He has launched a desperate multipronged in the technological sphere.

10 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly STRATEGIC AFFAIRS For more than three decades, American geopolitical ramifi cations. Washington is The essay titled “The Flight 93 Election,”1 corporations and Wall Street elites have worried that it is losing its grip over the published in the Claremont Review of Books happily coexisted with and helped to world. In May 2019, Trump signed an played a crucial role in making Trump build Chinese capitalism, including the executive order to ban Huawei from acceptable to conservatives. Kennedy is Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). So what is accessing US information and communi- also the president of the American Strategy so different now? Why is the US feeling so cations technology and services supply Group2 that works on “the existential threatened by one Chinese company chain (Doffman 2019). threats to the US and western civilisa- namely Huawei? tion presented by the Islamic world, The basic problem is that Huawei has The Ultra Hawkish Think Tank Russia, China, and the loss of America’s introduced 5G technology to the world, At the core of the anti-Huawei campaign founding principles.” which revolutionises network speeds and is the recently-resurrected and retooled The vice president of CPDC, Frank ushers in the era of the Internet of Things CPDC, which has 60 members from Gaffney, is the executive chairman of (IoT), artifi cial intelligence and machine varied backgrounds, government, non- Center for Security Policy (CSP), an anti- learning technologies. This is a great leap government and international actors. Islamic think tank that advocates hawkish forward by the Chinese that has caused According to an ongoing study of the attitude towards Syria and Iran. Bannon, frenzy among Americans, who are deluded CPDC by the authors of this article, more a former navy offi cer and hedge fund into believing that they will remain tech- than 40% of the committee members are manager, is one of the most active mem- nologically superior to all others for poster- former military and intelligence offi cers. bers on the international stage, playing ity. The American fear is that the Chinese The three most prominent members an important role in forging an inter- 5G will colonise or subordinate them. of the CPDC team are its president Brian national right-wing movement and in To make matters worse, the consortium T Kennedy, vice president Frank Gaffney, convincing right-wing parties across the of US companies—Microsoft, Dell, and and Steven Bannon, the former White world about the supposed dangers others—are still struggling to come up House strategist. Kennedy is former posed by the CCP. In a recent statement, with an effective counter to Huawei’s 5G president of the Claremont Institute, a Bannon declared that the Trump admin- products. According to Foreign Policy California-based conservative think tank. istration has a war plan against China, magazine, Huawei is way ahead of other competitors in the fi eld. Huawei 4G infra structure is already being used by 170 WORK at EPW countries and the “majority of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America Senior Assistant Editor have begun working with Huawei to (Economics) develop their 5G networks” (Foreign Policy 2020). The Economic and Political Weekly is planning to appoint a Senior Assistant Editor. We are looking for those with research in the field of economics, and/or journalistic experience of at least eight To the US foreign policy elite, and years, and publications (research writing/reportage). A PhD will be preferable. Since editing will US their representatives in the Congress, be an important part of the work, a strong command over English is essential. A familiarity with it seems they are losing to the Chinese, digital publishing will be desirable. and lagging so far behind that catching The candidate should have a working knowledge of current economic theory (mainstream and up may become impossible. The US fail- heterodox). They should also be aware of the main trends in research in economic issues in and ure to lead the technological revolution on India. Apart from this, an awareness of contemporary debates in the Social Sciences and is being watched by the world. awareness of current affairs would be valuable. It is not that Washington has surren- The position offers an opportunity to engage with a whole range of current research and writing dered. The “Sputnik moment” in the late on the economic issues of the day. The Senior Assistant Editor will be interacting with writers 1950s triggered the Dwight Eisenhower from all over the world who seek to publish in the journal. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY administration to create the National The responsibilities will involve tracking research in economics and commissioning papers for Aeronautics and Space Administration publication. It will also involve reviewing and editing submissions, and collaborating in organising (NASA), the Advanced Research Projects special issues in economics. The selected candidate will have opportunities to write articles, book reviews, and editorials as well. Agency (ARPA) to avoid future technologi- cal surprises. Likewise, there is biparti- The EPW tries to, but cannot, match the salary of those in comparable positions in educational and research institutions. It makes up by offering an opportunity to work in a unique institution, san consensus among the lawmakers in which encourages its staffers to develop their skills and interests. Washington that tens of billions of dollars This is a contractual position based in Mumbai. should be invested in “America’s semi- conductor industry over the next 5 to 10 Interested candidates should send in their curriculum vitae along with a covering letter addressed to the editor at [email protected]. The last date for submission of applications is years to help the US retain an edge over 31st August 2020. The selection will be made on the basis of personal interviews and/or a Beijing” (Swanson and Clark 2020). videoconference. The selected candidate should be in a position to join as early as possible. The net result is that 5G is a game- We will give preference to candidates from marginalised backgrounds who meet our requirements. changing technological issue with

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 11 STRATEGIC AFFAIRS including aiding India on the borders of aversion to political correctness as an political desperation to remain in the “Chinese-occupied Tibet” (Jha 2020). indispensable qualifi cation for a com- White House until 2024. The CPDC is infl uential with direct reach mander-in-chief. CPDC Atul Bhardwaj ([email protected]) is an to the White House. It has all the elements Inspired by and other conser va- honorary research fellow at the Department of to show that it is a part of the deep state tive think tanks in May this year, the White International Politics, City, University of London. that runs the US and its foreign policy. House released a report titled, “United Inderjeet Parmar ([email protected]) Other prominent CPDC members are States Strategic Approach to the People’s teaches international politics at City, University of US London, LSE IDEAS (the LSE’s foreign policy think James Fanell, former navy captain and Republic of China,” enunciating its China tank), and is visiting fellow at the Rothermere director of Intelligence and Information strategy. The report highlights the obdu- American Institute at the University of Oxford. Operations, US Pacifi c Fleet, and R James racy of the CCP to resist any form of con- Member of the advisory board of INCT-INEU Woolsey, former Central Intelligence vergence with the free and open order, a (Brazil’s National Institute of Science and Technology for Studies on the United States). Agency director and venture capitalist. euphemism for the US empire. The report Notes Rod Martin is recognised as one of the laments that the CCP’s desire to shape leading experts on the linkages between the international order has “compelled 1 See the paper here: https://claremontrevie- US wofbooks.com/digital/the-fl ight-93-election/. technology and politics. Martin was senior the to adopt a competitive strategy, 2 For more details, see https://www.amstrategy.org. advisor to Peter Thiel, the founder of guided by a return to principled realism” References PayPal. Thiel is an important pillar of (White House 2020: 7). The phrase is BBC (2020): “FBI Director: China Is ‘Greatest Threat’ conservatism in the Silicon Valley, and considered to be the bedrock of Trump’s to US,” 8 July, viewed on 10 July, https://www. major Trump backer. foreign policy doctrine since its use in bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53329755. Cuccinello, Hayley C (2019): “Trump Megadonor The committee has fi ve Chinese dissi- National Security Strategy, 2017. Sheldon Adelson Got $1.2 Billion Richer This dents, including Xiaoxu ‘’Sean’’ Lin, who In an article by Stephen B Young, avail- Week, In Part Thanks to a Trump Tweet,” Forbes, viewed on 12 June 2020, https://www.forbes. works for the US Army as a micro- able on the website of CPDC, “principled com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2019/12/14/shel- biologist, specialising in viral diseases. realism” is explained as “principle as an don-adelson-trump -macau/#24ef79ad21c7. Doffman, Zak (2019): “Trump Signs Executive He claims to be a survivor from the 1989 inspiration for action and realism as a Order That Will Lead To US Ban On Huawei,” Forbes, 15 May, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing constraint.” The article is critical of zakdoffman/2019/05/15/trump-expected-to- and a victim of persecution by Chinese Kissingerian realism, which it considers sign-executive-order-leading-to-ban-on-hua- wei-this-week/#7fd1959b68d9. authorities for following Falun Gong, a unprincipled and “idolatry” because it is Foreign Policy (2020): “5G Explained: Part One— religious cult. An active networker and rooted in the appeasement of the pow- Technology and Infrastructure,” 22 January, viewed on 5 July 2020, https://foreignpolicy. broadcaster, he founded WQER-LP com- erful and devoid of values and idealism. com/2020/01/22/5g-cellular-huawei-china- munity public radio and the Sound of Kissinger’s realism “justifi es cronyism— networks-technology-infrastructure-power-map/. Huo, Shuhong and Inderjeet Parmar (2019): “‘A New Hope Radio Network, a Chinese radio the sucking-up to those with power, Type of Great Power Relationship’? Gramsci, Kautsky and the Role of the Ford Foundation’s network in America. celebrity, and money” (Young 2020). Transformational Elite Knowledge Networks CPDC, the hotbed of American conser- Kissinger’s crimes include détente with in China,” Review of International Political Economy, Vol 27, pp 1–24. vatives, believes that Henry Kissinger was the Soviet Union and cultivation of Deng Jha, Lalit K (2020): “Trump Administration Has Put one of the main architects of American Xiaoping after Mao Zedong. Trump’s Together ‘War Plan’ to ‘Take Down’ CCP: Steve Bannon,” Live Mint, July, viewed on 21 July 2020, decline, and there is a fundamental China policy is not interested in offering https://www.livemint.com/news/world/trump- need to steer the foreign policy away Beijing détente nor any cultural and eco- administration-has-put-together-war-plan-to-take- down-ccp-steve-bannon-11595301478234.html. from old shibboleths. nomic carrot because it does not consider Kennedy, Brian T (2020): CPDC Open Letter to them capable of constraining Chinese President Donald J Trump,” 28 June, viewed on 15 July 2020, https://presentdangerchina.org/ Kissinger Contra Americanism expansion and undermining its authorita- wp-content/uploads/2020/07/UPDATED- SIGNERS-June-28-Letter-to-POTUS.pdf. Trump is now the self-styled “Wartime rianism. Trump’s foreign policy self- Mahbubani, Kishore (2020): “China: Threat or President” who is fi ghting an “invisible servingly claims that the CCP is inherently Opportunity?” NOEMA, 15 June, viewed on 15 July 2020, https://www.noemamag.com/ enemy,” which he and his administra- aggressive. Hence, China must be placed ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY china-threat-or-opportunity/. tion have identifi ed as the “China virus” or under perpetual pressure. American power Parmar, Inderjeet (2019): “Transnational Elite Kno- wledge Networks: Managing American Hege- “Kung Flu.” Trump’s style of diplomacy is reasserting itself and is pitching for a mony in Turbulent Times,” Security Stu dies, based on name-calling and insulting the regime change in China. Vol 28, No 3, pp 532–64. White House (2020): “United States Strategic adversary, according to Kishore Mahbu- Trump’s foreign policy wants sover- Approach to the People’s Republic of China,” bani (2020), lacks what George Kennan eignty as the lynchpin of the world order. 1–16, viewed on 30 June 2020, https://www. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/.uploads/2020/05/ had identifi ed as “spiritual vitality.” This The fact, however, is that strong nation US-Strategic-Approach-to-The-Peoples-Repub- G lic-of-China-Report-5.24v1.pdf. lack comes from the fact that paleo- states in the age of 5 and digital cur- Swanson, Ana and Don Clark (2020): “Lawmakers conservatives who deride classical con- rencies is a contradiction in terms. Yet, Push to Invest Billions in Semiconductor Indus- try to Counter China,” New York Times, 11 June, servatism believe that blatant Islamopho- anxieties over global supremacy in secu- viewed on 17 July 2020, https://www.nytimes. bia and Sinophobia provide the much- rity terms, and the enticing reality and com/2020/06/11/business/economy/semicon- ductors-chips-congress-china.html. needed moral clarity to understand that prospect of economic interdepen dence Young, Stephen B (2020): “Henry Kissinger: Architect American civilisation is worth defending. remain the source of global tensions and of American Decline,” CPDC, viewed on 17 July 2020, https://presentdangerchina.org/2020/05/ This ideological stance considers Trump’s schizophrenia, exacerbated by Trump’s henry-kissinger-architect-of-american-decline/.

12 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY

In mid-March, when a resident doctor Our Essential Workers Need in King George Medical University in Lucknow contracted COVID-19, his col- Essential Care leagues demanded personal protective equipment (PPE), while citing growing community spread. Their demand was Nikhil Srivastav, Aditi Priya, Payal Hathi later turned down by the hospital ad- ministration. The letter from the admin- Through personal interviews ne of the biggest worries that istration said, of healthcare workers in India, epidemiologists, medical practi- According to ICMR/WHO guidelines N-95 tioners, and governments across mask and PPE are mandatory for Doctors the state of front-line workers O and Staff who are treating Corona Virus the world have cited during the COVID-19 in dealing with Covid-19 in the Positive patients or involved in diagnosis of pandemic is running out of healthcare COVID-19 … For doctors and paramedics country is discussed. Lack of resources—hospital beds in wards and involved in OPD and emergency care of pa- personal protective equipment intensive care units (ICUs), and ventila- tients, 3 ply mask is suffi cient. tors. But for anyone who has visited and beds as well as the caste India’s public hospitals even once in The Lack of Protective Equipment system that operates when it their life, this has been a harsh reality It is true that, during this pandemic, comes to doing cleaning work for decades. Having two patients on the medical facilities across the globe are in the hospitals aggravates the bed and one on the fl oor is not an un- facing a dire shortage of PPEs, but the common sight, even in the maternity surprising part here is that when this let- already debilitating condition of wards that receive a larger share of ter came out, on 23 March, there were healthcare personnel. Despite funds under the Indian government’s only about 500 reported COVID-19 cases being the most important National Health Mission (NHM). India’s across the country. Was the Lucknow stakeholders of health in rural public health system was already failing medical school, so early in the pandemic, many of its citizens and staff. Now facing PPE shortages? areas, the accredited social COVID-19 has emerged as the latest cri- Moreover, making PPEs mandatory health activists are leading a life sis and is worsening the delivery of only for staff dealing with COVID-19 pa- full of struggles. health services. tients, as the letter cites the Indian Coun- In this article, we strive to attract at- cil of Medical Research/World Health tention to the existing gaps that are wid- Organization (ICMR/WHO) guidelines say- ening during the pandemic, and how ing, does not mean that the staff dealing they may be affecting everyone’s health. with non-COVID-19 patients should not In the fi rst section, we discuss the lack of be following infection control protocols. protective equipment for health work- Outpatient departments (OPDs) and ers. Second, we look at how overcrowd- emergency rooms are the fi rst point of ing and inadequate staffi ng in hospitals contact with patients, and if the staff is affecting care during the COVID-19 there is not being provided enough pro- pandemic. In section three, we talk tective gear, hospitals are, in fact, put- about how hierarchy in public health in- ting the health of their staff and patients stitutions makes infection control diffi - at risk. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY cult; and section four explores issues A resident doctor in a medical college that health workers working outside the describing the current situation told us, hospitals are facing. In my OPD, if I ask for a COVID test done for— To refl ect on how this current pan- let us say—a hundred patients, about ten re- demic is interacting with a struggling sults are coming back as positive. We have a healthcare system and the challenges it sustained community spread. Emergency Nikhil Srivastav ([email protected]) is poses, we use learnings from interviews rooms have a similar situation. COVID test a researcher with r.i.c.e., a research institute we have done during the pandemic, and results can take from 24 hours to up to 48 for compassionate economics. Aditi Priya before, with many different health hours to come, so during this time patients ([email protected]) is associated with are getting housed in what hospitals call an workers—doctors, nurses, cleaners, ac- LEAD at Krea University. Payal Hathi (payal@ “holding area.” This means that everyone— riceinstitute.org) conducts research with r.i.c.e. ASHA credited social health activists ( ), from potential COVID patients, to patients and is a graduate student at the University of auxillary nurse midwife (ANMs), ward with other morbidities, doctors, paramed- California, Berkeley. boys and ward aayas—in North India. ics, ward staff, and cleaners—all remain in

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 13 COMMENTARY the same environment without appropriate Health and Family Welfare, there are a out of facilities. But they are not ade- protective gears. little over seven lakh beds in public hos- quately staffed to provide all necessary He added, “Yesterday, I had a patient pitals across India (Central Bureau of care to their patients. who was coughing in my face. Today, Health Intelligence 2019). As compared In an incident, which we learned when we got his test results back, he is a to Sri Lanka, which had about 360 hos- about after talking to an ASHA, a hospital confi rmed COVID-19 patient.” pital beds per one lakh population in nurse, refused to offer delivery care to a Soon after the test results came, this 2012, this is equivalent to about 60 hos- pregnant woman because her COVID-19 patient was shifted from the “holding pital beds per one lakh population. More status was unknown. According to the area” to the COVID-19 ward, however, we densely populated states in the northern ASHA, this led to the death of the wom- do not know if some staff or other pa- plains have an even more dismal ratio. an’s unborn child. The ASHA told us, “We tients who were around him contracted In Uttar Pradesh (UP), for instance, there kept requesting her but she refused to the infection while he waited for his test are about 38 beds per one lakh popula- touch the pregnant woman, who lost her results. If another patient or staff person tion, and Bihar only has about 11 hospi- fi rst child in the hospital itself.” did contract the infection in the “holding tal beds per one lakh population. This area,” they could become super spread- leads to overcrowding of hospitals, Hierarchy: Social and Institutional ers of COVID-19. The lack of protective which is dangerous because it can lead A study by Newcastle University, pub- gears for non-medical and medical staff to the spread of infection, and is particu- lished in the Lancet as a correspondence, outside the COVID-19 wards and ICUs to larly dangerous in times of COVID-19. analysed 1,000 tests carried out on work- be worrisome. Having more patients than a facility is ers at a hospital in England. It found that designed to handle has some serious the number of health workers testing Overcrowding and Inadequate consequences for infection control, as positive was no different from that of Staffi ng the maintenance of 1 metre of distance staff working in non-clinical roles like Two of the authors of this article visited between beds becomes impossible. the cleaning staff, suggesting that staff a large district hospital in Madhya Pradesh The severely inadequate availability across health facilities face similar occu- (MP) in 2016. What we saw in the hospital of hospital beds in the population, which pational hazards. But sadly, in Indian ward was startling. The general ward had is the result of repeated government de- health facilities, non-medical staff re- a pile of waste—which included needles, cisions to cut public expenditure on ceive fewer trainings and protective intravenous bags, bloodied cloth, empty health, is only part of the problem of equipment. Below, we will show that injection vials, and discarded food, biscuit overcrowding (Sen and Dreze 2013). An- this difference in treatment is being wrappers, and plastic cups—right out- other important consequence of meagre driven by the caste system, a historical side its door. The ward was housing far government spending on health is inad- system of social classifi cation. more patients than the number of beds it equate staffi ng, which leads to over-reli- An indicative estimate, based on the had. To accommodate the extra load of ance on patients’ attendants to provide National Sample Survey Offi ce’s 68th patients, the hospital administration had patient care (Karan et al 2018). round data, suggests arranged some mattresses and sand- Unlike in some societies, where patients that the share of Dalit workers in the occu- wiched them in the spaces between beds. who are admitted to hospitals are fully pations of the healthcare sector [medical Unhygienic conditions, like the one taken care of by health workers, patients professionals] is far below as compared to MP other social groups and is notably under- we saw in this hospital ward in , are in India are accompanied by several of represented as a proportion to their total risky because they could become hot- their family members when admitted. population in both rural and urban India. beds of infection. As we strolled around Hospitals rely heavily on attendants to (George 2015) the ward, we kept on wondering: Why buy medicines from nearby pharmacies, In stark contrast, however, when it was this place so fi lthy? Like some other and even perform the tasks of a trained comes to the cleaning staff in the hospi- problems in the hospital, was this also paramedic, such as informing staff if the tals, almost everyone is a Dalit. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY due to negligence from the staff? blood oxygen level in a patient goes be- A sanitation supervisor in a district It is true that some hospital staff do low normal. Attendants, in many cases, hospital in Bihar, in 2017, told us that not show up on time, and that some take also play an important role in advocat- people from “non-sweeper castes” do long breaks during their shifts. How- ing for better care for their patient. How- not want to take up the cleaning jobs. He ever, if everything else remained the ever, their constant presence further said, “No, they don’t want [these jobs]. same and these workers, instead, were overcrowds hospitals, adding to the This is a hospital so of course there will punctual and conscientious, would pub- burden of the cleaning staff, and poses be blood, wounds, tuberculosis, all lic hospitals be able to maintain more hurdles in the enforcement of infection kinds of other ailments. Many people hygienic conditions and mitigate the risk control policies. This makes everybody— fi nd this disgusting.” of hospital acquired infections? Perhaps, the patients, the attendants, and the Unless someone is a high-ranking doc- the answer here is no. hospital staff—vulnerable to infections. tor, nurse, or a pathologist, dealing with According to the National Health Pro- During COVID-19, public hospitals, for good body fl uids and excreta is considered fi le 2019, published by the Ministry of reasons, are trying to keep attendants polluting and dirty, according to the

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casteist rules of purity and pollution. shoulders. Now, in this highly conta- Although ASHAs have been given criti- And these high-ranking staff, too, when gious environment of COVID-19, it is all cally important tasks during COVID-19, working closely with body fl uids, limit the more important to do away with our such as visiting households to identify their work to performing medical proce- caste prejudices, recognise their work, likely COVID-19 patients, and even man- dures. Cleaning the blood and mucus on and provide them with infection control aging block-level quarantine facilities, surfaces after check-ups or procedures training and protective gear. they face other hardships in addition to falls on cleaners. For example, when not being paid on time. For example, doctors and nurses help pregnant wom- Health Workers Outside none of the ASHAs we talked to have re- en deliver babies, even on a busy day, the Hospitals ceived proper training on COVID-19, its they never clean the delivery table. Many of the problems that we have dis- symptoms, or the do’s and don’ts of Many told us that if a sweeper is not cussed so far have focused on the health- wearing a face covering. Moreover, since available, “the dirtiness will stay.” While care facilities, but, with the sustained the start of their COVID-19-related fi eld- it is acceptable and even expected for community spread of COVID-19 that the work, several said that they have re- cleaners to help with other people’s country is now witnessing, rural health ceived a mask from the government only tasks, no one among the hospital staff is workers like ASHAs are facing several once, and that too of poor quality. willing help with their work. challenges as well. On 29 March, under the Pradhan Mantri Because of their caste, cleaners in hos- ASHAs are honorary volunteers, so they Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Finance Minis- pitals often face discrimination. “The do not receive any salary or honorarium, ter, Nirmala Sitharaman announ ced an rules are given. So, if someone is a and their monthly remuneration de- insurance cover of `50 lakh for 90 days sweeper, they can’t come in this area, pends on the type of work they do in a to workers performing COVID-19-related eating with them is not supposed to be month. According to the National Rural work. The insurance scheme covers the done. This all has been going on for a Health Mission (NRHM) guidelines, they loss of life due to COVID-19, and acciden- long time, so one doesn’t feel that there have been assigned 43 different func- tal death on account of COVID-19-related is anything wrong with it. This is why tions—from raising awareness on health duty. However, the insurance scheme some distance is maintained,” a nurse and nutrition, to providing primary does not cover the cost of medical ex- explained when we asked about the rela- medical care, to promoting toilet con- penses in case of illness, leaving low-paid tionship between cleaners and the rest struction, taking pregnant woman to workers like ASHAs, or cleaning staff, of the staff. In hospitals, even if a chair is hospital for deliveries, and bringing chil- vulnerable in the case of a long COVID-19 vacant, it is expected that cleaners will dren and pregnant women to immunisa- illness. In addition, the 90-day period of not sit on it. They either sit on the ground tion sites. Now, during COVID-19, about a coverage has lapsed, and it is unclear if it or on a stool that is dedicated to them. million ASHAs have been assigned the has been extended. Moreover, the ASHAs Repeatedly, through these actions and work of conducting door-to-door surveys, are unclear if the insurance scheme even justifi cations, cleaners are shown their educating people about the pandemic applies to them. The ASHAs we spoke place in the “institutional hierarchy.” and necessary precautions, and tracking with were confused because they have The low status of cleaners in the social and ensuring that returning migrant not received an offi cial word about the and institutional hierarchy and the out- workers are placed in a 14-day quaran- scheme. Instead, all that they know right discrimination from staff in higher- tine. They have been asked to do this on about it is from news stories, family ranking occupations means that clean- top of the work they were already doing. WhatsApp groups, and neighbours. ers lack the agency to even demand their The workload for ASHAs has increased An ASHA in Bihar described her hard- legal rights, like asking for protective manifold during COVID-19, increasing ships and disappointment of the govern- equipment (Hathi and Srivastav 2020). the hardships they face in their work. An ment’s appreciation and support as, ASHA UP In an interview with Firstpost, a clean- in whom we spoke with in early Almost every day it used to feel like I would ing staff person at Gandhi Hospital, July told us that, since March, neither she ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY die working in the fi eld. No shops were open Hyderabad, said nor her colleagues have received any pay- to buy food, there was no transport available to travel, and all we got from the government It is my job to clean up the ward after any ments for their work of facilitating insti- was Rs 1000 for a month. surgeries or operations. I have neither been tutional deliveries. The only money they given a mask, nor gloves or any proper medi- have received in the name of “corona The ASHAs in the past have been in- cal kit. I use a mask that I buy myself. Other- duty” since the lockdown began was strumental in improving the rates of im- wise, I just wrap a dupatta over my face. `2,000. In Bihar, some ASHAs told us munisation and institutional deliveries, Hygiene and infection control at hos- that they are still waiting to receive any and there is no doubt that they can help pitals requires a combined and orches- money for their COVID-19-related work, in check-ups and contact tracing as the trated effort from all its staff. But, given even though they have been going out pandemic unfolds in rural India. But by that cleaning staff rarely receive any and doing door-to-door work. Unfortu- not paying them on time, not providing support from their colleagues or pa- nately, this is not a rare occasion when them protective equipment and the nec- tients’ attendants, the burden of keeping ASHAs are struggling to get their entitled essary training, we are demotivating the facilities clean falls squarely on their incentives.1 them. If governments continue to not

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 15 COMMENTARY References care about these front-line workers, we manage the fi rst. How effectively India will not only hurt them but also the rest is able to “fl atten the curve” and how Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (2019): Nation- al Health Profi le, Ministry of Health and Family of the citizens. well it can help in the recovery of those Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi. who will suffer from the disease, de- George, S (2015): “Caste and Care: Is Indian Health- Conclusions care Delivery System Favorable for Dalits,” pends a lot on our health workers. We Working Paper 350, the Institute for Social and It has now been over three months since should care for all of them all the time, Economic Change, Bengaluru, http://www.isec. the WHO, on 11 March, declared COVID-19 but now, in the COVID-19 pandemic, it is ac.in/WP%20350%20-%20Sobin%20George.pdf. Hathi, P and N Srivastav (2020): “Caste Prejudice and a pandemic. So far, over 5 lakh people extremely important to offer gratitude, Infection: Why a Dangerous Lack of Hygeine Per- worldwide and over 20,000 in India have protection, and compensation to the sists in Government Hospitals,” Economic & Politi- ASHA cal Weekly, Vol 55, No 16, 18 April, pp 38–44. been reported to have lost their lives. cleaners, s, and the trained medical Indian Council of Medical Research (2016): “Hospi- Experts believe that the worst is yet to staff on whose efforts much of the tal Infection Control Guidelines,” Indian Coun- come. Countries, including India, are all at healthcare delivered in India depends. cil of Medical Research, New Delhi. Karan, A, H Negandhi, R Nair, A Sharma, R Tiwari different stages of the pandemic. How- and S Zodpey (2018): “Size, Composition and Dis- Note ever, they all are still facing the fi rst wave tribution of Human Resource for Health in India: New Estimates Using National Sample Survey of infections. We know neither how far 1 A study sponsored by the State Innovation in Family Planning Services Project Agency and Registry Data,” BMJ Open, Vol 9, No 4, https:// the end date of the pandemic is, nor do we (SIFPSA) of UP claimed that 73% of ASHAs in bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/4/e025979. know how countries will face a second UP reported not receiving full payment for Sen, A and J Dreze (2013): An Uncertain Glory: their work because they were forced to resort India and Its Contradictions, Princeton, NJ: wave of infections, even if they successfully to bribery. Princeton University Press.

events. For them, the causes for concern COVID-19 and distress are the questions of survival by fi nding employment or resuming one’s Mental Healthcare without Social Justice? work, safeguarding social identity and individual voice that are under threat, and ensuring education for their chil- Roli Pandey, Shilpi Kukreja, Kumar Ravi Priya dren (Bracken et al 1995; Priya 2015, 2018; Summerfi eld 1999; Viswambharan Mental health is not just about he general view of professionals and Priya 2016; Weiss et al 2003). absence of mental illness. It is within mainstream psychiatry and As Summerfi eld (1999) has pointed medicine as well as social media- out, even the psychosocial intervention critical that the government takes T dependent masses is that a pandemic, such towards mental health does not appear long-term economic and mental as COVID-19, creates trauma-triggering meaningful to them if the structurally health policy measures to ensure mental disorders, of which post-traumatic induced injustice is not acknowledged by employment, basic amenities stress disorder (PTSD)1 is the predomi- the interventionist. Given that, in today’s nant one (Taylor 2020). This conception world marked by neo-liberal push towards and public health, without which is based on the premise that it is primarily decreasing allocation of funds for health mental healthcare cannot address the traumatic event (for example, the and education by the government, inse- the debilitating effects of ongoing outbreak of a life-threatening pandemic) cure employment and commodifi cation structural violence on a majority rather than the adverse sociopolitical con- of labour or human capital—all of which ditions preceding and succeeding (pov- propagate denial of equity and equality, of citizens. erty and migration of labourers) that in- thereby creating injustice for the less- fl icts the mental health of the person. Is privileged—how can one imagine mental ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY one of the worst affected sections during healthcare without social justice? More the pandemic—migrant labourers, whose specifi cally, we would analyse how the life, health or mental health has always unjust neo-liberal context may threaten been at risk (Yadav 2018) even before mental health and related care for citizens this pandemic—really concerned about during this pandemic. Roli Pandey ([email protected]) is a diagnosis and treatment for PTSD or oth- In the pre-COVID-19 society of the past counsellor and is pursuing her PhD at the er disorders? No, they are not. In most of few decades, people—in most of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, the developing societies of the world, countries of the world, whether deve loped IIT Kanpur. Shilpi Kukreja (shilpi2903@gmail. com), PhD in psychology, is a counsellor and the less privileged have feelings of being or developing—in everyday life might not teaches psychology at Dr Virendra Swaroop further dehumanised when exposed to have had a clear awareness about living Public School (Kanpur Cantonment), Kanpur. political violence or other massive trau- in a neo-liberal world order. According to Kumar Ravi Priya ([email protected]) teaches matic events like COVID-19, irrespective of Kannan (2020), Prashad (2020) and Sak- psychology at IIT Kanpur. developing PTSD2 following the traumatic pal (2020), the arrival of the the current

16 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY

pandemic has made its presence felt by around hatred; a toxic hatred drawn from the Given the neo-liberal or capitalist eco- threatening any sense of “secure” liveli- old lineages of conservatism and tradition and nomic system that continues to guide hood and future aspirations that sud- which sharpens its toxicity against women, mental healthcare primarily through bi- foreigners, minorities, and against anyone denly look vulnerable through layoffs, omedical perspective, it is not diffi cult to seen as the undeserving outsider. (¶ 14) pay cuts and unemployment, particularly fathom that the crucial “social determi- among 161 million casual or contract We have already witnessed politicisa- nants of mental health (for example, workers of formal or informal sector dur- tion of virus spread on religious grounds poverty, gender, literacy, employment, ing the lockdown as well as the gradual (Ellis-Petersen and Rahman 2020a). social exclusion, etc)” may continue to reopening of the economy. There is stigma against not only COVID-19 be ignored (p 22). However, the gravity patients, but also the potential carriers of this pandemic situation demands Profi t Motivation of virus, such as migrant labourers who quick and careful attention to this per- These labourers directly or indirectly cater are returning home or even the doctors petual ignorance of social exclusion to the profi t of the capitalists without and medical staff (E llis-Petersen and and injustice causing threat to survivors’ any provision of employment (or even a Rahman 2020a, 2020b). Domestic vio- well-being. minimum daily wage) guarantee and lence cases are also on the rise (EPW health insurance. No doubt, such threats Engage 2020). Another structurally cre- Online Counselling to employment, health and livelihood are ated problem is inadequate residential In the scenario of disasters or pandemics, there for other employees (with more than space for home quarantine (as per the such as COVID-19, even if the worst affect- three year job contract) too, but the mis- guidelines of the World Health Organi- ed persons, including migrant labourers, eries of the contract or casual labourers zation [WHO]) and the unavailability of unemployed, overworked doctors, victims are way too high to be compared, as these in-house water facility for drinking and of domestic violence, are diagnosed with authors have elaborated. Thus, the mis- other household chores (so that one a mental disorder, hospital-based care eries of the pandemic are the making of avoids community visits for the same) might not be practically possible be- neo-liberalism where “the state has been for adequate social distancing, and this cause of the sheer number of patients. utterly compromised. Social life has been has become a hazard distressing a ma- Online counselling, yoga and suicide pre- atomised and private capital has driven jority of people (Khan and Abraham vention have been the major way to effec- the service sector so that it is most effi - 2020). Within this context of structural- tively address mental health concerns. Ini- cient in production of profi t rather than ly shaped inequality and injustice, let us tiatives by National Institute of Mental in the delivery of social services.” People, look at the issue of mental healthcare for Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), particularly the less-privileged, have to people affected in the pandemic. associations of mental health profession- fend for themselves. Migrant labourers als (including psychiatrists and psycholo- engaging in mostly casual labour who have Mental Healthcare gists) and non-governmental organisa- become jobless in the informal sector The WHO defi nition of mental health fo- tions (NGOs) have been some sigh of relief and are now forced to reverse-migrate cuses not only on the absence of mental for people. However, such people largely are the worst affected (Dandekar and illness; it rather defi nes mental health as constitute about 400 million middle class Ghai 2020; Mander 2020a). Also, small- “a state of well-being in which every in- who are able to take care of their surviv- er retail-based businesses that were af- dividual realizes his or her own poten- al and health, besides social distancing fected by the online corporate giants, tial, can cope with the normal stresses of (Menzes 2020). The rest of the country such as Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart, and life, can work productively and fruitful- faces the greater brunt of neo-liberal Alibaba, are now in much graver danger ly, and is able to make a contribution to economy in the post-COVID-19 society. of being completely abrogated. her or his community” (¶ 1). In India, the Already exploited in the pre-COVID-19 Although the government is promising Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 has been an period, the workers in the informal sector to provide its services to the people with improvement over earlier acts in terms face further assault on their dignity. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY short-term relief measures, the basic of provisions for safeguarding human According to Kannan (2020), out of 418 structure of the economy in the pre- and dignity of the patients (Math et al 2019). million workers in the informal sector, post-Covid-19 times continues to remain More importantly, as Jacob (2016) points even before the COVID-19 outbreak, about in favour of the profi t-driven capitalist out, it also puts the responsibility on the 67% (278 million) of them were not get- few. Along with their diminished hopes state for “promotion of mental health, ting “`375 daily wage [or earnings in the for fulfi lling personal aspirations or training mental health professionals, and case of self-employed individuals] rec- dreams due to facing or perceiving im- provision of care” (p 23). A critical issue, ommended as the national minimum minent unemployment, pay cuts or lay- however, as he accentuates is that wage necessary to meet their household offs, people may also get affected by the political economy of health, deeply root- basic needs at 2017–18 prices” (¶ 4). In what Prashad (2020) terms a ed in capitalistic economic systems, under- the post-COVID-19 lockdown period, as girds many medical and psychiatric formu- Sakpal (2020) points out, despite central zombie-like situation: The death of the ideal lations … Medicine is politics writ large and hope on the one hand and at the same time the health sector is a powerful player in na- government’s advisory to the employers the existence of a callous hope that is crafted tional economies. (p 23) or establishment for not terminating or

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 17 COMMENTARY doing pay cuts to any worker (including condition (due to structural violence) being camoufl aged or silenced in the contract or temporary), it will be extreme- that shatters any sense of well-being, grand narrative of PTSD or psychiatric dis- ly diffi cult to get legal justice against any what else is? Where is human dignity for orders. It forecloses care for the deprived. termination or pay cuts for about 161 such a section that constitutes about One also cannot ignore the danger that million workers because a “worker,” in one-third of our country’s population? if the digital technology (currently being legal terms, needs to have at least a What about their well-being that is intri- used to get information about the loca- three-year contract with the employer. cately tied to their family members’ tion of infected or uninfected cases) is The relief package announced by the well-being and children’s education? Do also used for surveillance purposes es- government for the informal sector is a we wait for the diagnosis of psychiatric tablishing a mentally “ill-healthy” cate- welcome step, but Mahatma Gandhi Na- disorder to take care of their well-being? gorisation among people that also risks tional Rural Employment Guarantee Act More than two decades ago, Summer- stigma or discrimination based on their (MGNREGA) workers (work discontinued fi eld (1999) illustrated how disaster sur- social identity. due to the pandemic) and millions of mi- vivors could face revictimisation if men- grant workers without ration cards were tal healthcare could begin only after Exclusion and Re-traumatisation excluded from this relief (Khera and So- they were diagnosed with a psychiatric The fear of COVID-19 infection and fac- manchi 2020). Although some state gov- disorder like PTSD. He accentuated that ing oppression, social exclusion or hazard- ernments have launched e-coupon facility “some victims would not be believed if ous living conditions at the same time for those who do not possess a ration card, they could not secure the diagnosis” may be re-traumatising for people. To the benefi ciaries are not aware about it. (p 1450, emphasis added). the population of migrant labourers The sudden creation of such facilities for mentioned above, if we also add the list people who are struggling to understand Medicalising Dehumanisation of vulnerable groups in post-COVID-19 the online working of it does not contrib- The grand narrative of PTSD and its treat- scenario, which are victims of domestic ute to meaningful relief. These authors ment, however, continues to dominate violence that is reportedly on a rise, reli- also elaborate on the need to replace mental health care during this pandemic gious groups, doctors, and medical staff Aadhaar-based biometric authentication the world over. For example, Taylor (2020), facing stigma of being “virus spreaders,” (ABBA) used for ration distribution with on the basis of his research on SARS (severe and slum dwellers, chawl dwellers with offl ine procedures as the Aadhaar and acute respiratory syndrome) 2003 out- hazardous living conditions, the impact ABBA systems are exclusionary. break in China and a survey in the United of the structural violence owing to neo- Due to uncertainty associated with States and Canada after the COVID-19 liberal policies on their mental health the extension of lockdown and inade- outbreak, has estimated roughly 10% of appears daunting. Recalling Prashad’s quate relief (lack of ration cards) and the population affected by it may develop (2020), structurally shaped exclusion or worries about the family, migrant depression, anxiety disorder or PTSD. re-traumatisation in this pandemic is in- workers are reverse-migrating to their Also, more than 40% of patients of the tricately linked with neo-liberalism that villages. Dandekar and Ghai (2020) infection may develop with PTSD. While through its false hopes for a dream future have noted that “roughly more than 120 it is agreed upon by psychiatrists and (without a care for employment and to 140 million are, at the moment, either social scientists that PTSD could be a health by the government) has led to walking back or are stranded in various mental health outcome of massive trau- frustration among people. Their displaced camps” due to the effects of the lock- matic events, such as, this pandemic, frustration (further fuelled by patriar- down. Sixteen of these physically and and appropriate chemotherapy, psycho- chy and local politics) has often resulted mentally fatigued reverse-migrating la- therapy and community rehabilitation in hatred for and the exclusion of some bourers were run over by a goods train in are needed to address that, it is also vulnerable groups, whose mental health Aurangabad, Maharashtra, on 8 May strongly advocated that such mental dis- also needs our attention. 2020 in the morning hours. They were orders may not be the only mental health Gender-based exclusion and denial of ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY oblivious of any information about the problems or threats to well-being (Kine- voice has intensifi ed as post-COVID-19 timings of the trains during lockdown, zler 2008; Priya 2018; Weiss et al 2003). cases of domestic violence have increased and to avoid police who were monitor- As noted above, in the case of the mas- (EPW Engage 2020). Although helplines ing road route to their destination, slept sive exodus of migrant labourers under- are available, the calling device (land- on those railway tracks the previous night. going reverse migration with no certainty line or mobile phone) and the safe space Agarwal (2020) reports that at least 89 about income, health or future, their de- (away from the gaze of oppressing in-laws such deaths have occurred due to re- humanisation speaks of the structurally or family members) to call the helpline verse migration since lockdown. Those induced threats to well-being, irrespective are not available to the victims. Dalit who were able to return to their villages of a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. women who are the sole earners of live- face exclusion due to the stigma of “vi- With no appropriate economic and health- lihood for their families working as do- rus spreaders,” with some of them made care policy, and professionals or institu- mestic labour may face potential double to live on the trees (Hindu 2020). If this tions to take care of their debilitating exclusion: from their families for being is not living in a forced dehumanised mental health may face a real danger of “unproductive,” and at the workplace

18 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY

for being “super-spreaders” (Dixit and facts that (i) Sixty percent of Indian health care, NGOs working for public Chavan 2020). households has less than a room per cap- health, besides community members— Ellis-Petersen and Rahman (2020a) ita, making home quarantine diffi cult, need to work together for: (i) building and Mander (2020b) have explicated how (ii) Forty percent urban and 75% rural trust among the survivors of structural Muslims are being discriminated against houses do not have in-house or within- violence (dehumanisation and exclusion) for congregating in mosques with dangers residential-areas water facility for house- that can be initiated only with the ac- of potential spread of the virus; such ac- hold purposes to avoid community knowledgement of inequality and injus- tivities amounting to a similar violation visits and maintain social distancing, tice, and (ii) advocating long-term policies of social distancing by other religious (iii) Thirty three percent of Indian house- for social justice- and equity-based poli- groups have been ignored. It is critical to holds do not have drinking water facility cies for economic development as well note that this amounts to an assault on within the house or residential areas, as public health. Only through these their social identity as Ellis-Petersen and out of which 73% households send wom- long-term policies ensuring provision for Rahman (2020a) have reported: en to fetch drinking water, risking infec- employment or income guarantee, basic While they Muslims have now seen their tion, and (iv) Eight percent of Indians amenities for survival (safe and hygienic businesses across India boycotted, volun- use community bathrooms and latrines, housing, food and water), and public teers distributing rations called “coronavi- and 25% do not have any such facility health measures, mental healthcare could rus terrorists,” and others accused of spitting within or outside their houses. be realistically achieved. On the possi- in food and infecting water supplies with the virus. Posters have appeared barring Mus- bility for intervention through Mental lims from entering certain neighbourhoods Unacknowledged Healthcare Act, we also share Jacob’s in states as far apart as Delhi, Karnataka, Laurence J Kirmayer (2012) reiterated (2016) hope that the capitalist or neo- Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. (¶ 5) the need within mental health profession liberal economy (exposed in this pan- In another context of exclusion and for “cultural safety,” that is, to take up demic for initiating and medicalising the stigma, various doctors and medical the “responsibility to work to make the structurally induced distress) that may si- staff have been facing exclusion literally clinical encounter safe by acknowledging lence sufferers’ voices can be explicitly within the hospital premises (sleeping and addressing structural violence and and meaningfully addressed with “people in the bathrooms or on the fl oor) and in inequality” faced by the sufferer (p 251). with mental health conditions, caregiv- the community (barred from entering Despite having the Disaster Manage- ers, activists, and judges on its central the rented house or even the commu- ment Act, 2005 and the Mental Health- and state decision-making bodies and on nity) because of the fear of virus spread care Act, 2017, a majority of citizens are review commissions” of the act (p 23). (Ellis-Petersen and Rahman 2020b). compelled to undergo experiences of ei- While such long-term policy changes, About one nurse who was evicted from ther dehumanisation (migrant labourers hopefully, may take time to get forma- her rented house by the landlord due to fending for their survival amidst the lised and implemented, the grand the fear of being a virus spreader, the au- fear of viral infection, stigma of being narratives of medicine and psychiatry thors pointed out her miseries, “virus spreaders,” and facing life-threat- may continue to medicalise debilitating The nurse said she and her children had ening reverse migration), denial of voice effects of structural violence. As a char- been forced to move in with her mother, and double exclusion (gender-based vio- acteristic feature of neo-liberal policies, who lives in a single-room house in a slum. lence and discrimination, especially for these grand narratives that commodify “Five of us have to huddle in that 10ft by 10ft Dalit women), assault on religious iden- mental healthcare have often silenced room now,” she said. “I am working on 12- hour shifts in my hospital. It’s all extremely tity through stigma (Muslims), margin- citizens’ experiences of dehumanisation, exhausting. And now I have to fi nd a new alisation enhanced by hazardous living exclusion and re-traumatisation as elabo- place to live—but if people know that I work conditions (a majority of citizens living rated above. Particularly, the workers in as a nurse in a big city hospital no one will be especially in rural area and urban slums the informal sector and temporary workers willing to rent out an apartment to me.” (¶ 10) or chawls), or literal exclusion at work- of the formal sector (418 million, consti- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Besides these stigma- and identity-based place and from residential areas due to tuting about one-third of Indian citizens) exclusion and social injustice, a majority stigma (doctors and medical staff). continue to bear the severest brunt of of people are not privileged to have These are serious threats to the well-be- structural violence; COVID-19 outbreak has enough space within their house to ing of our citizens as the canvas of neo- only partly foregrounded such violence follow WHO recommended home quar- liberalism has overshadowed the social to public glare. For Taylor (2020), 10% of antine for potentially infected persons. services and induced social injustice the population exposed to the COVID-19 Since they have to rely on community through structural violence. The rest of pandemic may develop psychiatric dis- water and latrine facilities, it becomes the country may forget this violence orders. But, the dehumanisation faced hazardous for social distancing. As Khan gradually and it may remain unacknowl- by a reverse-migrating labourer might and Abraham (2020) have analysed, their edged forever until another pandemic or remain buried in their heart as these sense of marginalisation enhanced by traumatic event arrives! might only be comprehended through the fear of infection, owing to hazardous All the stakeholders—professionals compassion rather than a checklist of living conditions, can be guessed with the engaging in disaster management, mental symptoms of psychiatric disorders. Very

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 19 COMMENTARY often, compassion reaches too late in the We will think of death as a dream (long sleep) Khera, R and A Somanchi (2020): COVID-19 and Aadhaar: Why the Union Government’s Relief day for them to have trust on the listener in which we are alive (which makes us embark on a new journey). Package Is An Exclusionary Endeavour,” EPW (care-provider), and they cry singing to Engage, 27 April, https://www.epw.in/engage/ And, thus, mocking at our destiny and giggling, article/covid-19-and-aadhaar-why-union-go- themselves (their feelings of shattered we will move on (towards the new journey)!] vernments-relief?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D7f dreams, deep sorrow, consoling them- 5f50a6394d335c1884fdb9d8302a9a. selves until death) or to destiny some- Notes Kinezler, H (2008): “Debating War-trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in An thing similar to this song titled, “Ik 1 Other lesser prevalent psychiatric disorders re- Interdisciplinary Arena,” Social Science and bagal me chand hoga” (On one hand, sulting from exposure to traumatic events are Medicine, Vol 67, No 2, pp 218–27, April. depression and anxiety disorders. Kirmayer, L J (2012): “Cultural Competence and there is the moon) by Piyush Mishra, a 2 Bracken et al (1995) and Summerfi eld (1999) Evidence-based Practice in Mental Health: renowned theatre artiste, musician, have illustrated that for the survivors of politi- Epistemic Communities and the Politics of cal violence or other traumatic events, the diag- writer and poet: Pluralism,” Social Science and Medicine, Vol 75, nosis of PTSD does not necessarily get refl ected No 2, pp 249–56, July. in experience of dysfunction or psychopatholo- Ik bagal mein chaand hoga, ik bagal mein rotiyaan, gy. Similarly, as these authors point out, absence Mander, H (2020a): “A Pandemic in an Unequal Ik bagal neend hogi, ik bagal mein loriyaan, of symptoms of PTSD or other disorders does India,” Hindu, 1 April, https://www.thehindu. com/opinion/op-ed/a-pandemic-in-an-unequal- Hum chaand pe roti ki chaadar daalkar so jayenge, not necessarily rule out intense experience of distress. Such intense distress could include india/article31221919.ece. Aur neend se keh denge lori kal sunaane aayenge demoralisation due to inability to adhere to the — (2020b): “The Coronavirus Has Morphed into an Anti-Muslim Virus,” Wire, 13 April, https:// [On one hand, there is moon (aspirations or de- culturally valued norms, denial of voice due to hierarchies of gender, race, class, religion or thewire.in/communalism/coronavirus-anti- sires); on the other, food (survival), ethnicity, and disaggregation of valued rela- muslim-propaganda-india. On one hand, there is sleep (tranquillity); on tionships (Priya 2018). Math, Suresh Bada, Vinay Basavaraju, Shashidhara the other, lullabies (aesthetics), Nagabhushana Harihara, Guru S Gowda, ReferencES Narayana Manjunatha, Channaveerachari We will (have to) go for survival keeping aside Naveen Kumar and Mahesh Gowda (2019): aspirations or desires, Agarwal, K (2020): “Not Just the Aurangabad Acci- “Mental Healthcare Act 2017—Aspiration to And, we do not see soon a possibility of tran- dent, 383 People Have Died Due to the Punitive Action,” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 61, quillity through aesthetic engagements.] Lockdown,” Wire, 10 May, https://thewire.in/ No 10, S660–S666. rights/migrant-workers-non-coronavirus-lock- Menzes, V (2020): “India’s Leaders Have Panicked: Ik bagal mein khankhanati sipiyaan ho jayengi, down-deaths. Now the Millions Who Power the Country Are Bracken, P J, J E Giller and D Summerfi eld (1995): Suffering,” Guardian, 8 April, https://www. Ik bagal mein kuch rulaati siskiyaan ho jayengi “Psychological Responses to War and Atrocity: theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/08/ Hum seepiyon mein bhar ke saare taare chun The Limitations of Current Concepts,” Social india-leaders-coronavirus-lockdown. ke aayenge Science and Medicine, Vol 40, No 8, pp 1073–82. Prashad, V (2020): “A Socialist Cry for Civilisatio- Aur siskiyon ko gudgudi kar kar ke yun behlayenge Dandekar, A and R Ghai (2020): “Migration and nal Change: COVID-19 and the Failure of Neo- Reverse Migration in the Age of COVID-19,” liberalism,” EPW Engage, 14 April, https:// [on one hand, there are clinking oyster shells Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 55, No 19, www.epw.in/engage/article/socialist-cry-civi- pp 28–31, 9 May. (fond memories of playful, spontaneous and lisational-change-covid-19-coronavirus. Dixit, Madhuri and Dilip Chavan (2020): “Gender- exciting younger days,) Priya, K R (2015): On the Social Constructionist ing the COVID-19 Pandemic: Women Locked Approach to Traumatized Selves in Post-disaster and Down,” Economic & Political Weekly, On the other, grief and sorrow that makes me cry, Settings: State-induced Violence in Nandigram, Vol 55, No 17, pp 13–16, 25 April. We will gather all the stars and fi ll them in the India,” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Vol 39, Ellis-Petersen, H and S A Rahman (2020a): “Coro- No 3, pp 428–48. oyster shells (all exiting dreams and playful- navirus Conspiracy Theories Targeting Muslims ness of youthful past), Spread in India,” Guardian, 13 April, https:// — (2018): Well-being and Mental Health in the aftermath of Disasters: A Social Constructionist And, through these playful exciting dreams www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/ coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-targeting-mus- Approach,” Psychosocial Interventions for Health and memories, we will caress our sorrow.] lims-spread-in-india. and Wellbeing, G Misra (ed), New Delhi: Amma teri siskiyon pe koi rone aayega, koi rone — (2020b): “Indian Doctors Being Evicted from Springer, pp 355–68. aayega Homes over Coronavirus Fears,” Guardian, Sakpal, R S (2020): “Saving Jobs and Averting Lay- Offs Amidst COVID-19 Lockdown,” Economic & Gham na kar jo aayega wo fi r kabhi na jayega, 13 April, https://www.theguardian.com/world/ 2020/mar/30/indian-doctors-being-evicted-from- Political Weekly, Vol 55, No 19, pp 22–24, 9 May. Yaad rakh par koi anhoni nahi tu laayegi, homes-over-coronavirus-fears. Summerfi eld, D (1999): “A Critique of Seven Assump- laayegi to fi r kahani aur kuch ho jayegi EPW Engage (2020): “COVID-19, Domestic Abuse tions behind Psychological Trauma Programmes and Violence: Where Do Indian Women Stand?” in War-affected Areas,” Social Science and [(Mother being comforted and cautioned by 17 April, https://www.epw.in/engage/article/ Medicine, Vol 48, No 10, pp 1449–62, May. her child) covid-19-domestic-abuse-and-violence-where-do. Taylor, S (2020): For the Generation Shaped by Mother, someone will visit us who will sympathise Hindu (2020): “Migrant Workers Returning to Bal- Coronavirus, Life May Never Fully Return to

ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ‘Normal’,” Guardian, 7 April, https://www.the- with your sorrow. arampur Village in West Bengal Told to Live in Trees,” 29 March, https://www.thehindu.com/ guardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/07/ Do not feel sad as the visitor will not abandon news/national/coronavirus-migrant-workers- life-never-return-normal-coronavirus-shape- you again. returning-to-balarampur-village-in-west-ben- generation. But, you make sure that you do not create any gal-told-to-live-in-trees/article31198455.ece. Viswambharan, A P and K R Priya (2016): “Docu- mentary Analysis as a Qualitative Methodology crisis (disharmony to your life). Jacob, K S (2016): “Mental Health Legislation: Con- tradictory Paradigms, Uneasy Compromise,” to Explore Disaster Mental Health: Insights If you create disharmony, it will be a different Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 51, No 50, from Analyzing a Documentary on Communal story (mental peace will be lost).] pp 22–24, 10 December. Riots,” Qualitative Research, Vol 16, No 1, Kannan, K P (2020): “COVID-19 Lockdown: Protec- pp 43–59. Honi aur anhoni ki parvaah kise hai meri jaan ting the Poor Means Keeping the Indian Economy Weiss, M G, B Saraceno, S Saxena and M van Om- Hadd se jyada ye hi hoga ki yahin mar jayenge Afl oat,” EPW Engage, 3 April, https://www.epw. meren (2003): “Mental Health in the After- in/engage/article/covid-19-lockdown-protecting- math of Disasters: Consensus and Controversy,” Hum maut ko sapna batakar uth khade honge yahin poor-means-keeping-indian-economy-afl oat. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol 191, Aur honi ko thenga dikhakar khilkhilakate jayenge Khan, M I and A Abraham (2020): “No ‘Room’ for No 9, pp 611–15. [(Mother telling her child) Social Distancing: A Look at India’s Housing and Yadav, S (2018): “Socio-culturally Induced Distress Sanitation Conditions,” EPW Engage, 10 April, among Migrant Labourers in India: A Qualita- Who cares about destiny or disharmony, dear! https://www.epw.in/engage/article/no-room- tive Inquiry,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, The worst would be that I shall die here only. social-distancing-lowdown-indias-housing. Vol 22, No 1, pp 12–24.

20 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY COVID-19 pandemic, the government Social Distancing and identifi es Indian states as red, orange and green zones. They are channelised and Sex Workers in India extensively advertised by the government and non-government agencies for mass awareness and virus prevention, but in Priyanka Tripathi, Chhandita Das between the stakes of these coloured zones, the trailed existence of the red- The deplorable condition of sex ith an intention to break the light areas is ghettoed and ignored from workers in India amidst the chain of the novel coronavirus the socially insensitive narratives of the spread in India, Prime Minister COVID-19 crisis. The case in discussion COVID-19 lockdown is discussed. W Narendra Modi announced the “Janata here is of the sex workers who reside in Prostitution, now called sex work, Curfew” on 22 March 2020, coupled these red-light areas and their profession has been a historical reality with with a complete nationwide lockdown is considered as “a contact job” (Hurst et al cultural connotations. However, from 24 March 2020. Even though the 2020). The ravenous and derailed condi- nation is in the unlocking phase now, tion of the sex workers in every corner of a signifi cant amount of shame the lockdown in India has dispropor- India during the lockdown period rein- and stigma is attached to the tionately affected various sections/class- forces these questions of uneven social profession wherein it is not even es of the society. foundations, and again, their missing link seen as work. Social distancing While the comparatively rich and in the government’s relief packages com- privileged class can afford to be locked pels one to wonder if the sex workers and the lockdown have left sex down, it is primarily the poor and the have been denied their human rights. workers across the country in vulnerable that have been driven by the Several reports across the world indi- poverty and hunger. There is distress of survival. Diseases and disas- cate that whether it is a developing or a need to address the issues of ters may not differentiate much while developed country, sex workers are at infecting human bodies, but the uneven the cliff, holding on to life with the bare this section of the society from a social structures do render non-uniformi- minimum. A recent report by the Inter- human rights’ perspective. ty of pandemic impacts upon people, and national Committee on the Rights of this has already been witnessed in the Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSWE) high- recent past during epidemics across devel- lights the discriminatory and exclusive oping nations, like the crises of Human nature of government’s pandemic-recovery Immunodefi ciency Virus (HIV) in 1999, schemes across continents (Wheeler 2020). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Offi cially, over six lakh sex workers1 are (SARS) in 2003, the Ebola outbreak in there in India, while the unoffi cial num- 2014, the major spread of Zika in 2016, bers may be higher. Many of them con- and others. The present pandemic of tinue their profession from the narrow, COVID-19, particularly in India, allows a dingy lanes of the urban metropolises like revisiting of those grim realities where Delhi’s GB Road, Mumbai’s Kamathipura, the poor and the marginalised sections Kolkata’s Sonagachi, Varanasi’s Shiv- suffered, being denied of their rights daspur, Pune’s Budhwar Peth, etc, and and entitlements amidst a crisis. more than 1,100 red-light areas are here During this COVID-19 pandemic, one in India, falling within the range of plau- becomes a witness to how social distanc- sible hotspots of the ongoing pandemic ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ing has intensifi ed the already-existing (Parthsarathi 2020). These areas under class inequalities, wherein there is a larger complete lockdown have been shunned section of people desperate to sustain from any income. their livelihoods. Amidst the practice of “social distancing,” and “self-quarantine” Irony of ‘Social Distancing’ becoming an important phrase in our The entire concept of “sex work,” parti- vocabulary and practice, there are various cularly in India, is at the relative juncture measures taken by the government for of the economic, social, and cultural en- Priyanka Tripathi ([email protected]) teaches at and Chhandita Das virus prevention. However, at the grass- gagement. Although, Indian history wit- ([email protected]) is an Institute roots level, they do not appear to be very nessed the categorically esteemed institu- Fellow at the Department of Humanities and inclusive of the marginalised sections in tion of sex work within the brief accounts Social Sciences, Indian Institute of terms of their strategies of pandemic of Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata, Buddhist Technology, Patna. management. To identify the effect of this literature, Kautilya’s Arthashastra, etc,

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 21 COMMENTARY but under the colonial hegemony of Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has adults resulting in “human rights viola- moral politics, sex workers were relegated already sounded the grave threats that tions” (Pai et al 2018). Although the Su- to the margins. Our society continues to the COVID-19 pandemic will cast upon sex preme Court of India recommends enti- use their professional services but casts workers due to the combined effect of tlement rights of sex workers and as per them out publicly under the garb of a patriarchy, poverty, and social discrimi- the norms of Article 21 of the Constitu- gentlemanly outlook playing upon the nation. Being “excluded from COVID-19 tion, which urges states to provide willing politics of “shame.” One iconic text that social protection responses, sex workers sex workers a conducive situation to con- can be noted here is George Bernard are faced with putting their safety, their tinue their profession, there are several Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession (1893), health, and their lives at increased risk instances under which sex workers often which had immense refl ection of Shaw’s just to survive” (UNAIDS 2020a). The face harassment and are abused by po- discussion with sex workers, of course to lockdown has put them in the midst of the lice, agents, clients, goons and whoever no avail as far as the change of the mind- worst reality ever. Even as they respond sees them at work. Even a decade ago, a set towards the profession is concerned. to the government’s call by deciding to Supreme Court panel did recommend Sex work became a derogatory dhanda stay indoors at their residences with no the central government and Election for them, making them dhandewalis.2 work, the “Laxman Rekha” between pri- Commission to issue sex workers voter ID The Covid-19 pandemic may now add vate and public spaces drawn by India’s cards relaxing verifi cation and appealed “social distancing” in sex workers’ exist- Prime Minister in his nationwide lock- to states and local institutions to pro- ing vocabulary, but each one of them has down announcement hardly guarantees mote ration cards to them.3 Under stig- already felt and imbibed the nuanced the safety of these sex workers both from ma, till date, sex workers are often de- distance that society maintains with them. disease and hunger. nied the basic entitlements of ration In “normal” or the pre-COVID-19 days, cards, health cards, and if they ask, they this distancing may not be of much con- Futility of Laws and Codes are routinely silenced at the end of legal cern to them, but since the virus tight- The socially and economically precari- questions. Apart from prostitution poli- ened its grip over India and the govern- ous position of sex workers that this pan- cies, this lack of documentation provides ment announced the safeguard of “social demic crisis only exacerbates is duly grounds to exclude them in broader distancing,” the distance between sex rooted in their ambiguous position in forms of social and economic sectors workers and mainstream society widened Indian laws and codes. Most of the anti- and increases the level of vulnerabilities the gap, making them swoon over the sex work policies and policing practices amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. double edge of crisis. Most of them work do cause hurdles in accessing their rights from the brothels; while some as call to earn from rendering their sexual-ac- Economic Fallout girls provide services in places of de- tivity contingent services. The entire in- Sex work in India is one of the unrecog- mand, but due to the lockdown, the ma- dustry of commercialised sex was crimi- nised economic sectors where most of jority of them are stuck in their residen- nalised soon after India’s independence the work is informal and unprotected tial red-light areas. in 1956 under the Suppression of Immoral (Agarwala 2013). Under dominant dis- Considering their places of residence Traffi c Act (SITA). Under the pressure of courses of the developing nations, sex as “home,” the entire sacrosanct ethos constitutional challenges regarding the workers are either “exploited victims” of the tag line “Stay Home, Stay Safe” right to the profession, this act was or “fallen women” and are rarely in the promoted by state agencies and social amended in 1986 as the Immoral Traffi c broader spectrum counted as workers. media raises a big question mark in the (Prevention) Act (ITPA), and it partially Although, in recent times, by valorising context of the sex workers’ plight. Their decriminalised sex as a profession for the term “sex worker” other than “pros- places of stay are located mostly in the adults, putting sex workers across India titute,” efforts are being shown towards jam-packed lanes of red-light areas in a legally vague position. The activities their inclusion in the labour markets of where practising social distance is close to needed for sex work like keeping a India, and, for fi nancial inclusion, the ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY impossible. In Delhi’s GB Road, over 3,000 brothel, “soliciting in public places,” “liv- need of linking their profession with sex workers share 80 small brothels. ing off the earnings of prostitutes,” “seduc- formal banking systems has already Similar types of congested residences are tion of persons in custody,” etc, are all been highlighted by various scholarly in- there in Kolkata’s Sonagachi, from where under criminal provisions (Reddy 2004). sights, yet the results are still not satis- more than 10,000 sex workers continue The Union Cabinet of the Government factory (Chakrabarty and Sharma 2018). their living. As many as 15–20 people of India’s recently approved Traffi cking Still, their profession is away from the share one bathroom with limited water of Persons (Prevention, Protection and loop of standard labour-protection meas- supply, therefore, “hand sanitisation,” Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 is also not clear ures, and thereby, both in the long- and “self-quarantine” and overall hygiene and comprehensive about sex workers’ short-term, their work is the most “infor- are altogether too heavy phrases to rights, since the bill is coupled with the mal” among India’s informal economy follow up. The recent joint report of ITPA 1986 with extensive emphasis on the where the ongoing pandemic crisis hits the Global Network of Sex Workers strategies of raids and rescue that hardly hard, and overnight, they are left with Project and the Joint United Nations pay heed to the consenting sex between no income. India’s quick imposition of

22 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY lockdown as a precaution as well as a pre- social media, there is rarely any concern persons, and persons with disabilities. ventive measure for the deadly COVID-19 shown over the troubles of sex workers The government has also announced free pandemic receives international appre- amidst the lockdown, although their con- liquefi ed petroleum gas cylinders for ciation. In reality, it costs the country’s dition is grimmer than other wage earn- three months to the benefi ciaries of economic growth, and each section has ers. Quite a few attempts have been “Ujjwala Yojana.” to undergo its cascading impact more or made by some non-governmental organ- However, nowhere is it clearly men- less. However, it is the daily wage earn- isations at the local scale to distribute tioned as to how much these relief packag- ers working in the unorganised sectors foods and other necessary items tempo- es are going to benefi t the socio-econom- who are instantly bearing the brunt of rarily to the sex workers in red-light are- ically excluded groups like sex workers. the crisis. The lack of a far-sighted plan as, such as by the Kat-Katha in Delhi, To avail the benefi ts of these govern- during the lockdown became visible Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee ment’s relief packages, the Aadhaar num- with the plight of migrant workers in in Kolkata, Kranti in Mumbai, etc. While ber has been made mandatory, which their desperate attempts to reach home. such initiatives are highly commenda- most of the sex workers lack, and so is Lucknow had witnessed an accident ble, they are barely enough for the suste- the issue with having a bank account, of a migrant worker’s family in their des- nance of the entire sex workers’ commu- since they sustain mostly on liquid cash perate attempt to go back home over 750 nity amidst this extended time this pan- due to the highly informal nature of their km on a cycle (Pandey 2020). Recently, demic crisis continues. profession. Their clientele mostly includes 16 migrant workers were run over by a Finance Minister of India Nirmala Si- truck drivers, migrant workers, and oth- freight train near Aurangabad, who tharaman, in response to the pandemic ers who are also facing an economic were also walking back towards home lockdown, announced relief packages challenge amidst lockdown that has de- (Banerjee and Mahale 2020). These inci- for the benefi t of people in informal sec- creased their footfalls at a noticeable dents make visible the real disparity be- tors. In brief, these include doubling of rate in red-light areas. Since sex workers tween the decision of an unforeseen ration entitlements free of cost to the often have no savings and the lockdown lockdown and hunger in the country, benefi ciaries under the National Food has blocked their source of income, they which is refl ected on social media, with Security Act, giving `500 per month di- are unable to pay their residential rents the picture of pieces of bread scattered rectly to the “Jan Dhan Yojana” bank ac- and are left at the stake of hunger and over that railway track. The irony of dis- counts of female customers, disbursing a anxiety. Even if the lockdown gets en- course is that while the public exhibits pension amount of `1,000 for the com- tirely lifted soon, it is a matter of debate its concerns for migrant labourers over ing three months to the widows, old as to how much they will be allowed to

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ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY A PhD/MPhil in the above-mentioned subjects will be preferable. Since editing will be an important part of the editorial work, a strong command over English is essential. An awareness of current affairs and contemporary debates in the social sciences will be useful. A familiarity with digital publishing will be welcome. The EPW tries to, but cannot, match the salary of those in comparable positions in educational and research institutions. It makes up by offering an opportunity to work in a unique institution, which encourages its staffers to develop their skills and interests. This is a contractual position based in Mumbai. Interested candidates should send in their curriculum vitae along with a covering letter addressed to the editor at [email protected]. The last date for submission of applications is 14th August 2020. The selection will be made on the basis of a videoconference call. The selected candidate should be in a position to join at the earliest. We will give preference to candidates from marginalised backgrounds who meet our requirements.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 23 COMMENTARY continue the profession, for “social dis- the marginalised in this kind of a state Pai, A, M Seshu and L Murthy (2018): “In Its Haste to Rescue Sex Workers, ‘Anti-Traffi cking’ Is tancing” has become the new normal. of crisis is quite utopian, it surely points Increasing Their Vulnerability,” EPW Engage, towards an opportunity to rethink the Vol 53, No 28, 14 July, https://www.epw.in/en- Conclusions gage/article/raid-and-rescue-how-anti-traf- existing norms and practices collectively. fi cking-strategies-increase-sex-workers-vul- The trajectory of the COVID-19 crisis in nerability-to-exploitative-practices. India and its intersection with political de- Notes Pandey, A (2020): “Migrant Couple on 700-km Cy- UNAIDS cle Journey Home Run Over, Children Injured,” cisions setting up new sociocultural norms 1 As per the survey in 2016, there are NDTV, 8 May, viewed on 9 May, https://www. 6,57,800 sex workers present in India. have placed sex workers of India at the ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-lockdown- 2 Dhandewali is a native Hindi word for sex in-up-migrant-couple-trying-to-cycle-home- receiving end of apprehensions. Over and workers which is considered to be derogatory. amid-lockdown-run-over-by-car-2225355. again, it puts their human rights in ques- 3 In 2011, the Supreme Court of India, in its in- Parthsarathi, M (2020): “No Money, Food or Medi- terim order, urged rehabilitation of sex work- cines, Delhi’s Sex Workers Struggle to Survive in tion, although the executive director of ers. For further details, see: http://indialaw- Lockdown,” Outlook, 6 April, viewed on 28 April, UNAIDS yers.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/sex-workers- https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/ , Winnie Byanyima (24 April 2020), rehabilitation-case. no-money-food-or-medicines-delhis-sex-work- continuously reminded the countries to ers-struggle-to-survive-in-lockdown/1793198. be inclusive of sex workers in their pan- References Reddy, G B (2004): “Prevention of Immoral Traffi c and Law,” Hyderabad: Gogia Law Agency. demic management schemes, since human Agarwala, R (2013): Informal Labor, Formal Poli- Shaw, G B (1893): Mrs Warren’s Profession, L W Conolly rights are universal, inalienable and inter- tics, and Dignifi ed Discontent in India, New York: Cambridge University Press. (ed), Toronto: Broadview Press, 2005. dependent. The roots and layers of sex Banerjee, S and A Mahale (2020): “16 Migrant UNAIDS (2020a): “Sex Workers Must Not be Left workers’ problems attuned to the broad- Workers Run Over by Goods Train Near Au- Behind in the Response to COVID-19,” 8 April, rangabad in Maharashtra,” Hindu, 8 May, viewed on 2 May 2020, https://www.unaids. er spectrum of the social, economic, po- viewed on 9 May, https://www.thehindu.com/ org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleasean- litical, and legislative contexts of India news/national/other-states/16-migrant-work- dstatementarchive/2020/april/20200408_sex- ers-run-over-by-goods-train-near-aurangabad- workers-covid-19. are densely exclusionary in that invent- in-maharashtra/article31531352.ece. — (2020b): “COVID-19 Responses Must Uphold ing its fi xed antidote may even be more Chakrabarty, A and V Sharma (2018): “Financial and Protect the Human Rights of Sex Workers,” Inclusion of Female Sex Workers: A Study from 24 April, viewed on 4 May 2020, https://www. challenging than discovering the vaccine Andhra Pradesh,” Economic & Political Weekly, unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/feature- for COVID-19. Should not some immedi- Vol 53, No 44, 3 November, pp 30–35. stories/2020/april/20200424_sex-work. Hurst, L, M Martinez and L Monella (2020): “‘It’s a Wheeler, S (2020): “Sex Workers Struggle to Sur- ate infrastructure be arranged for this Contact Job’: Sex Workers Struggle Amid the vive Covid-19 Pandemic: Criminalisation marginal section of women, at least to Coronavirus Crisis,” Euronews, 16 April, viewed Makes a Bad Situation Worse,” Human Rights on 9 May, https://www.euronews.com/2020/ Watch, 4 May, viewed on 8 May, https://www. sustain them amidst this pandemic? At 04/16/it-s-a-contact-job-sex-workers-struggle- hrw.org/news/2020/05/04/sex-workers-strug- a point when imagining an agency for amid-the-coronavirus-crisis. gle-survive-covid-19-pandemic.

unlike gold or real estate, and would Intellectual Property as Collateral therefore pose a high amount of risk to any bank accepting it as a valid collateral for a loan. Abhishek Kumar However, the World Intellectual Pro- perty Organization (WIPO) has observed The scope of using intellectual he question of whether intellectual that there is an emerging trend regard- property as collateral is discussed. property (hereafter IP) could be ing the collateralisation and securitisa- used as collateral for a bank loan tion of IP, especially in internet start- Through examples, it is shown T is a recent and a controversial one. Cash- ups, the music industry and in high tech- here that, owing to its volatile strapped entrepreneurs may have the nology sectors (WIPO 2018). Hence, the and dynamic nature, IP is not idea, yet at the same time, could lack the emerging importance of studying the money to condense it into reality. To mainstreaming of IP coll ateralisation ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY a reliable collateral. There is a bridge this gap, it would be worth con- cannot be understated. pressing need for proper methods sidering whether and under what cir- Among some insightful works delving of valuation and registration so cumstances—their very idea itself into this question—Kenan Patrick Jarboe that confi dence in IP as collateral should be deemed suffi cient for success- and Ian Ellis (2010) have, in their paper is enhanced. fully securing a loan. titled “Intangible Assets: Innovative Finan- While such a situation would be ideal cing for Innovation” examined the usage of for entrepreneurs, when this question is IP backed fi nancing as well as the reasons considered from the perspective of a why lenders and investors feel uncomfort- bank; a natural apprehension that comes able with regard to IP. Among other rea- to mind, pertaining to the use of IP as sons for this aversion to IP—they observe Abhishek Kumar ([email protected]) collateral for a loan, has to do with the that IP is highly erratic showing no set is a student at the National Law University, fundamental nature of IP itself—in that pattern regarding its market behaviour, a Delhi. it is intangible, might not retain its value characteristic absent in other assets.

24 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY In “Secured Financing of Intellectual asset ideally must be capable of replicat- turn contributes towards increased tran- Property Assets and the Reform of Eng- ing its past performance as markets saction costs (Jarboe and Ellis 2010). lish Personal Property Security Law,” need a degree of predictability in order While lenders at present rarely rely on Iwan Davies (2006) too considers the in- to be able to valuate an asset. IP-based collateral, in ignoring the same, herent diffi culties associated with using The perceptions of risk associated with they altogether exclude a valuable asset IP as economic assets. intangible assets have also posed a major from being called upon in the case of a In India, the National Intellectual Prop- hurdle towards the use of intangible default—owing to their own inability to erty Rights (IPR) Policy, released in 2016 assets such as IPR in capital markets. The understand or valuate the intangible as- proposed the securitisation and collater- pre-existing thinness of the market and set. However, there have been instances alisation of IPR (Chitravanshi 2015). In the accompanying paucity of informa- wherein lenders have relied on IP as col- the Indian context, however, there re- tion contribute towards increasing un- lateral, which need to be engaged with. mains a dearth of literature exploring certainty and feeding the perception of this question. higher risk (Jarboe and Ellis 2010). Inve- Real-world Instances Against this backdrop, this article will stors and lenders therefore tend to over- Despite the manifold problems associated seek to examine the following: (i) the estimate the risk of default on securities with furnishing IP as collateral, there nature of IP vis-à-vis the regular array of (Jarboe and Ellis 2010). are real-world instances involving its us- properties pledged as collateral to banks, Some of these perceptions pose a real age (albeit not always successful). One (ii) instances wherein IP has been pled- risk. In fact, it is estimated that in cases of the earliest examples is that of Lewis ged as collateral for a loan, and (iii) the of loan default, it may take twice as long Waterman, founder of the famed Water- viability of and hurdles to collateralising to liquidate IP. “Toys R Us”—an American man pens company, who started his IP in India. toy retail chain which went insolvent, is business after borrowing a sum of $5,000 a prime example of this (Ellis 2009). backed by his iconic fountain pen patent. Routine Forms of Collateral Accounting for this high level of risk, More recently, “Toys R Us”—an Ameri- One need only look as far as acquisition bankers tend to offer such loans with can toy retail chain, had secured a loan drives to realise that intangible assets, high interest rates. However, such an on the basis of its IP and had some debt such as customer relations and brand approach undervalues potential cash backed by real estate as collateral. As it loyalty, are increasingly viewed as an fl ows (Patrick and Ellis 2010). IP with went insolvent, its debt backed by real integral aspect of a company’s value. In only future implied value tends to be estate was estimated to be 70% to 90% other words, a company’s skill and placed at a 10% loan to value ratio as op- recoverable while its debt backed by IP intell ectual capital may in fact be the posed to IP with a positive cash fl ow, was listed as less than 10% recoverable driving force behind its acquisition which tends to be placed at a 40% loan (Ellis 2009)! Incidents like these only (King 2005). to value ratio. This signifi es that IP with serve to reinforce the perception that Despite the increasing importance of only future value is treated very cau- the use of intangible assets as collateral IP, it remains underutilised as collateral. tiously as collateral. comes at a high risk. The primary reason behind the prevai ling Another important aspect which must An innovative use of IP as an asset was aversion to IP as collateral is because IP be considered here is liquidity. Assets witnessed in the 1990s when David tends to be highly erratic, showing no set that can easily be liquefi ed are prefe rred Bowie along with his fi nancial manager pattern regarding its market behaviour— by lenders. Markets for the sale and lease Bill Zysblat, and banker David Pullman much unlike tangible assets (Jarboe and of IP, although up and running, need to issued “Bowie bonds” in order to collect Ellis 2010). be regularised and brought into the cash from Bowie’s extensive body of work. Additionally, the prevailing perception mainstream still (Jarboe and Ellis 2010). These “Bowie bonds” essentially be- is that intangible assets are “unsuitable,” Given the high interest rates and low stowed upon investors a share in Bowie’s especially due to their suspect valuation loan to value ratios, currently, even if future royalties for a per iod of 10 years. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY and the accompanying risk involved. loans backed by IP are allowed—they They were purchased by Prudential The suitability of an asset as collateral remain highly prohibitive in nature as a Financial, an insurance company based depends on various different factors: result of the high cost for borrowers. in the United States, at a price of $55 m valuation, asset recognition, transfera- Since the estimated recapture rates of IP (Espiner 2016). However, while the arr- bility, risk and liquidity (Jarboe and Ellis assets are usually low (ranging from angement was lucrative for Bowie, the 2010). Financial markets require that an 10% to 40%) (Jarboe and Ellis 2010), same could not be said for the investors. asset be capable of having its behaviour they appeal to only risk tolerant inves- Moody’s, a prominent rating agency, calculable, that is, it should be discerni- tors. Moreover, IP, even in the rare ins- eventually had to downgrade its rating ble how that asset acts over time in the tances where it is accepted as collateral of the “Bowie bond” from the invest- market. Certain predictable patterns of by lenders, these instances are one-off, ment grade rating that it had originally performance need to emerge over time individualised events where different assigned (subject to a low risk of default) in order for an asset to be perceived as a methods have to be employed in order to to just one level above “junk status” secure and dependable security. The reach a valuation of the IP assets. This in (Chen 2020). This was principally due to

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 25 COMMENTARY the advent of Napster and the rise of In Canara Bank v N G Subbaraya Setty In addition, Section 2(1)(zf) of the act online music sharing services, and as the and Anr, the assignment of the trade- defi nes “security interest” as a right, title industry witnessed a paradigm shift, mark “EENADU” for the manufacture of or interest of any kind upon property the investment soured as a consequence incense sticks was held to be impermis- created in favour of secured creditor and (Boulden 2016). sible in light of the Banking Regulation includes such right title or interest in Tranlin Paper, an eco-friendly paper Act, as it was not a part of the agreement intangible assets. Additionally, Section manufacturer based in Shandong, China, when taking up the debt. The Supreme 2(zd) mentions that the bank which is in 2014 borrowed over $1 billion from Court held, reading Sections 6(1)(f) and accepting the assignment of a trademark the China Development Bank, providing (g) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as the security for such an outstanding its IP portfolio as collateral. In 2018, which permit the sale of goods under loan would become the secured creditor. however, around 21 suits were fi led trademark, and earning a royalty from a Therefore, the bank would possess a against the company as it defaulted on sub-assignment respectively, that a security interest over the trademark and its repayments on a separate grant. As of trademark could not be assigned to a would be permitted to further sell or now, Tranlin’s fi nancial health appears bank by a borrower, after the borrower assign the trademark for a royalty and weak and observers are so far uncon- had defaulted on the loan. recover the defaulted loan. vinced that the China Development This was unlike the Kingfi sher scenar- It follows that the aforesaid decision Bank will be able to successfully recoup io discussed previously, where the trade- needs to be reviewed in light of the the loan amount from the IP it received mark had been offered at the time of SARFAESI Act, in order to facilitate the as collateral (Schindler 2018). agreement and therefore did form a part usage of IP as collateral even if not a part In India, Vijay Mallya’s trademark of the security under Section 6 of the of the initial agreement, as a set-off “Kingfi sher” airline brand was offered as Banking Regulation Act. (Umarji 2018). collateral in 2009, in a fi rst, to State The Court went on to observe that the Again, the nature of the IP in question Bank of India for a loan amounting to bank could not be permitted to sell is also of importance, given that each over `2,000 crore (Dasgupta and Vyas incense sticks and collect a royalty from type of IP, that is, patents, copyrights, 2016). However, when the trademark a trademark by way of a third party, giv- trademarks, trade secrets—all prop up was sought to be auctioned by the bank, en that banks are prohibited from mov- new hurdles when it comes to valuation. it was unsuccessful—as by that time the ing beyond the banking business. At In the case of a copyright, if someone brand had suffered a huge hit. It no long- most it could sell goods in order to rea- were to offer a copyrighted work as col- er commanded a stellar goodwill, altho- lise the security with it. lateral, given that in India there is no re- ugh still possessed a signifi cant “brand Notably, Section 2(1)(t) of the Securiti- quirement of registering a copyright, recall” value. sation and Reconstruction of Financial this would pose a roadblock towards de- While these instances show that IP Assets and Enforcement of Security termining whether or not there already has in the past and continues to be used Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) defi nes existed confl icting copies of the work in as collateral, the fact that lenders are “property” to include even intangible question, which in turn may result in a unable to recover their loan through assets such as trademark, copyright, future lawsuit for copyright infringe- such IP collateral is discomforting to say licence or franchise. ment. If such a lawsuit were to turn out the least. A major problem remains one of valuation of IP, especially given its EPWRF India Time Series volatile and dynamic nature. Expansion of Banking Statistics Module (State-wise Data) Indian Scenario and Drawbacks The Indian Patents Act, 1970 and the The Economic and Political Weekly Research Foundation (EPWRF) has added state-wise data to the existing Banking Statistics module of its online India Time Series (ITS) Designs Act, 2000 both allow for the ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY database. cre ation of mortgage or other security State-wise and region-wise (north, north-east, east, central, west and south) time series interests on patents and registered de- data are provided for deposits, credit (sanction and utilisation), credit-deposit (CD) ratio, signs by means of executing an agree- and number of bank offi ces and employees. ment in writing between the parties Data on bank credit are given for a wide range of sectors and sub-sectors (occupation) seeking the same. such as agriculture, industry, transport operators, professional services, personal loans (housing, vehicle, education, etc), trade and fi nance. These state-wise data are also Similarly, the Trade Marks Act, 1999 presented by bank group and by population group (rural, semi-urban, urban and and the Copyright Act, 1957 each allow for metropolitan). a trademark and a copyright respective- The data series are available from December 1972; half-yearly basis till June 1989 and ly, to be assigned by the owner through annual basis thereafter. These data have been sourced from the Reserve Bank of India’s the execution of an assignment agree- publication, Basic Statistical Returns of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India. ment in writing. A security on a trade- Including the Banking Statistics module, the EPWRF ITS has 20 modules covering a mark can also be created through the range of macroeconomic and fi nancial data on the Indian economy. For more details, visit www.epwrfi ts.in or e-mail to: [email protected] execution of a deed of hypothecation.

26 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY to be successful for the plaintiff, the result of the high cost for borrowers. economy/policy/national-policy-suggests-use- IP of-intellectual-property-rights-as-collateral-to- value of the item pledged as collateral Since the estimated recapture rates of raise-funds/articleshow/50194124.cms?from would fall to naught, as there would no assets are usually low—they attract only =mdr. IP Dasgupta, Pritha Mitra and Maulik Vyas (2016): longer be vested in it an right. risk tolerant investors. These risks, how- “Kingfi sher Trademark High on Brand Recall Patents too pose a high risk, given that ever, tend to be overestimated on ac- But Low on Brand Valuation,” Economic Times, viewed on 6 November 2019, https://econo- they might not retain their value in the count of the small market and general mictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/cor- future. Hence, if securitised, a concern lack of information. porate-trends/kingfi sher-trademark-high-on- would be to exploit the patent and While the concept of IP as collateral or brand-recall-but-low-on-brand-valuation/arti- cleshow/51366949.cms?from=mdr. extract the maximum possible from it security is legally permitted, it is yet to Davies, Iwan (2006): “Secured Financing of Intel- within a given period of time. Trade pick up in practice. IP is very diffi cult to lectual Property Assets and the Reform of Eng- lish Personal Property Security Law,” Oxford secrets on the other hand, owing to their valuate owing to its volatility and dyna- Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 26, No 3, pp 559–83, very nature are unlikely to be disclosed mic nature, which in turn renders it an https://academic.oup.com/ojls/articleabstract /26/3/559/1452016?RedirectedFrom= PDF. in the fi rst place. unattractive back-up for banks and lend- Ellis, Ian (2009): “Maximising Intellectual Property There are considerable drawbacks ers. The need of the hour remains the and Intangible Assets: Case Studies in Intangi- ble Asset Finance,” Case Studies in Intangible when we look at trademarks as well. introduction of an appropriate method Asset Finance, Working Paper 07, November, Trademarks are closely associated with for valuation and registration which Washington, DC: Athena Alliance. the value of the brand in question. would boost confi dence in IP as collateral. Espiner, Tom (2016): “Bowie’s Bonds: The Singer’s Financial Innovation,” BBC News, viewed on Therefore, should the goodwill of the The National IPR Policy, recognising 29 October 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news company or the brand take a hit in the this drawback, seeks to alleviate it by /business-35280945. Jarboe, Kenan Patrick and Ian Ellis (2010): “Intangi- future, it is likely that the trademark too prescribing appropriate methodologies ble Assets: Innovative Financing for Inno vation,” would lose its value as a consequence, as and guidelines for valuation. It further Issues in Science and Technology, Vol XXVI, No 2, Winter, https://issues.org/jarboe -2/. was the case with Kingfi sher. seeks to facilitate the securitisation and King, Kelvin (2005): “The Value of Intellectual collateralisation of IPR by pushing for a Property, Intangible Assets and Goodwill,” Conclusions World Intellectual Property Organization, conducive administrative, legislative and viewed on 31 October 2019, https://www. Much more needs to be done to promote market framework. The policy, however, wipo.int/export/sites/www/meetings/en/ IP 2005/smes_qtc/presentations/wipo_smes_qtc the usage of as collateral in India. remains silent on how it will go about _05_king.pdf. Recently, an entire marketplace dedicat- the same. Schindler, Jacob (2018): “Chinese Company Which ed towards IP assets and their auctions Raised $1.3 Billion in IP-backed Financing Has References Virginia Factory Site Foreclosed,” Lexology, was established by Internet Content 22 May, viewed on 2 November 2019, https:// Adaptation Protocol Ocean Tomo. The Boulden, Jim (2016): “David Bowie Made Financial www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g= History with Music Bond,” CNN Money, viewed a48706aa-b6a6-4d44-9142-799a4eb3cc62. emergence of such web-based market- on 29 October 2019, https://money.cnn.com Umarji, M (2018): “Why Intellectual Property Rights places can greatly bolster the transfer of /2016/01/11/media/bowie-bonds-royalties/. as Security for Loans Is Correct in Legal Canara Bank vs NG Subbaraya Setty & Anr (2018): Terms,” Economic Times, viewed on 17 Decem- technology and aid businesses that seek “Civil Appeal 4233 of 2018, Supreme Court,” ber 2019, https://economictimes.indiatimes. to sell or licence their IP; upfront cash Judgment dated 20 April, https://indianka- com/news/economy/fi nance/why-intellectual noon.org/doc/163696803/. -property-rights-as-security-for-loans-is-cor- can be generated by company by means Chen, James (2020): “Bowie Bond,” Investopedia, rect-in-legal-terms/articleshow/64657067.cms. of it selling or auctioning its IP, licensing 6 March, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/ WIPO (2018): “The Securitisation of Intellectual on the other hand leads to the creation b/bowie-bond.asp. Property Assets—A New Trend,” World Intel- Chitravanshi, Ruchika (2015): “National Policy Sug- lectual Property Organization, 11 November, of a future revenue stream (Jarboe and gests Use of Intellectual Property Rights as viewed on 18 September 2019, https://web.ar- Ellis 2010). India, in its recent National Collateral to Raise Funds,” Economic Times, chive.org/web/20181111142818/http://www. 16 December, viewed on 18 September 2019, wipo.int/sme/en/ip_business/fi nance/secu- IPR Policy, explores what may be done to https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/ ritization.htm. promote the commercialisation of IPR and mentions this as a potential option as well, as there is a need for a platform Corrigendum ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY to connect inventors with potential users and buyers. Deutsche Bank AG – India Branches An impediment that needs to be recti- Notes forming part of the fi nancial statements of the India Branches for the year fi ed is the decision of the Supreme Court ended 31 March 2020 published in the edition 27 June–4 July 2020. in Canara Bank v N G Subbaraya Setty and Anr, which is problematic to say the In Notes to fi nancial statements, page 280 of the said issue: least. It needs to be revised with refer- 1. Schedule 4 m. ii. AS 17-Segment Reporting: Segment Assets (Commercial ence to the SARFAESI Act, in order to Banking), the amount of Rupees “660,533,357” thousand may be read as facilitate lending against IP. Rupees “497,143,350” thousand. Given the high interest rates and low 2. Schedule 4 m. ii. AS 17-Segment Reporting: Segment Assets (Retail loan to value ratios, currently, even if Banking), the amount of Rupees “61,384,475” thousand may be read as loans backed by IP are allowed, they Rupees “224,774,482” thousand. remain highly prohibitive in nature as a

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 27 Secularism, the State and Muslim Personal Law

Nandagopal R Menon

tudies on secularism have bur- review ARTICLE they produce “religion as a distinct fi eld” geoned in the recent past. Moving (pp 13–14) that the two volumes provide Saway from understanding it as the Governing Islam: Law, Empire, and Secularism insightful commentaries on secularism. principle of separation between state in Modern South Asia by Julia Stephens, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (South Asian Edition), 2019; Colonial Origins and Development and religion, infl uential scholarship has pp xiv + 220, price not indicated. proffered a twofold analytical differen- Stephens’ is an archive-driven approach Divorcing Traditions: Islamic Marriage Law and tiation between political secularism and the Making of Indian Secularism by Katherine to investigate the origins and develop- the secular. Political secularism denotes Lemons, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019; pp x + 232, ment of Muslim personal law in colonial the modern nation state’s sovereign power price not indicated. India. She elaborates on how the British to reconfi gure religion in particular forms, colonial state, in its two avatars as rule with religion itself being modelled on about secularism necessitates acknow- by the East India Company and subse- Protestant Christianity privileging the ledging the continued disparity in power quent direct rule by the Crown, through concept of belief (Asad 1993, 2003). The between the West and the non-West, that protracted and interrelated legal reforms secular is a “particular confi guration of secularism is intimately entangled with repeatedly marked and made illegible the the human sensorium” (Hirschkind 2011: these inequa lities and its effects. All of divide between religion, family and the 633) that produces a secular society and this undermines assumptions that the economy. In Chapter 1, Stephens brings is presupposed by the doctrine of politi- study of secularism in a non-Western out the constellation of ideas that paved cal secularism. place like India has nothing to contribute the way for the evolution of personal law History as an inquiry into the “positiv- to theoretical thinking on secularism as a in colonial India. She notes how territori- ity of events” (Mahmood 2016: 206), for historical phenomenon (Agrama 2013a). ality, historicism and evangelical Christi- example, has become indispensable for The two books under review are anity enabled this process. verifying and interpreting religious truths. important interventions because they These ideas, which assume an inequali- In fact, it is important to underscore that bring together the two broad themes ty between the colonisers and the colo- the contemporary surge in thinking on outlined above. They think about personal nised on multiple registers, enabled the secularism has its roots in a particular law—Muslim personal law to be pre- British to govern not despite but through historical and political conjuncture in cise—in India by drawing on and con- ambiguities. Hence, while territoriality postcolonial India in the 1990s, often tributing to accounts of secularism that stipulated “jurisdictional monopoly [of termed the “crisis of secularism” (Need- stress its disciplinary, boundary-defi ning/ the state] within a bounded geographical ham and Rajan 2007). The threat posed undermining powers. Based on different space” (p 34) and encouraged the com- by an aggressive, xenophobic and Islamo- disciplinary approaches, history and an- pany rulers to initiate legal reforms (ban phobic Hindu nationalism required urgent thropology, there are nevertheless points sati, for example) in the early 19th cen- and detailed reassessment of secularism. where they converge. Both stress the tury, historicism, which emphasised the Debates about secularism’s goals, sub- centrality of the colonial and postcolonial organic links between law and volksgeist jects and agents, colonial roots, distinc- Indian state to secularism—important (national spirit), exercised a restraining tiveness from or isomorphism between continuities and discontinuities between infl uence in preventing the colonisers ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY comparable categories in other national the two forms of governance are evident from going the whole hog and in impos- contexts, suitability or necessity—all when the two volumes are read togeth- ing British law on Indian subjects. these have and continue to shape the con- er—but hasten to add that non-state ac- The “civilisational immaturity” of the tours of debates in popular and academic tors are equally involved in this project. colonised meant that subjects needed a discourses in contemporary India (Bhar- As Katherine Lemons observes, the focus “premodern form” (especially those who gava 1998). However, despite these ori- in the anthropological research on secu- followed Indian religions) like personal gins, scholarship on secularism often larism has been on the secularisms of law (p 37), which was completely distinct works with an implicit binary that pits Egypt and France, which are primarily from the rational and universal British general, abstract theorising on the topic “project[s] designed and carried out by a law. So as economic activity came to be (secularism) against specifi c examples rigorously centralised state” (p 24). It is governed by rational, universal and secu- from countries, including India (secular- in highlighting, to cite Julia Stephens, lar law, there was an equation among isms). Putting the condition of postcolo- the “dynamic tension” between state religion, family and irrationality (the niality back at the centre of the thinking and non-state legalities in India and how domain of personal law). Incidentally,

28 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly REVIEW ARTICLE as the Crown institutionalised religious to the wife because she was a woman differentiations between state and com- personal law in post-1857 India, in Britain, observing pardah and thereby “vulnera- munity, and reason and religious belief. domestic matters such as marriage and ble to economic exploitation” (p 65). I will focus on the Rangila Rasul contro- divorce were moved out of the religious Stephens underscores the disparity in versy, related to a scurrilous pamphlet domain and brought under secular law. the situations between the metropole about the Prophet, which brings the story But, as Stephens shows, this differentiation and the colony and the underlying Ori- to the 1920s and, in a way, is a prelude to of spheres was hardly or ever accomplish- entalist ideas. While British women several debates about secularism in con- ed; instead it repeatedly threw up ques- gained property rights only a decade or temporary India. Stephens writes that tions about the boundaries between them. more after the 1867 judgment, the Privy the British treated religious communities These “deep currents of instability” “in- Council was to deal with the anomaly that as a category rather than a unit of gov- fused secular legal governance” (p 56). Muslim women had rights that their Brit- ernance (pp 107–08). Unlike in the Mughal Stephens traces the impact of this ish counterparts did not. Stephens ob- period, communities no longer, at least in governance through indeterminacy by serves that the Privy Council solved this theory, had the rights to their own means looking at case law in a host of matters— dilemma by arguing that though women of legal regulation and enforcement. marital property, customs, Islamic ritual, in pardah had the right to own property, Instead, the British administered per- relations among Hindus and Muslims, “their actual capa city to manage this sonal laws, included religion as a census and Islamic fi nance. Chapter 2 on marital property was still inferior to that of a category and implemented separate elec- property traverses the realms of colonial mature male” (p 66). Turning to another torates for religious communities. Indian law courts and fatawa (sing. fatawa, le- case, involving the question of mahr (an religious laws, particularly its Muslim gal advice) production in Deoband’s obligatory payment made by a Muslim version, were neither rational nor uni- Dar-ul-Uloom to reveal how, even as husband to his wife, which is incorpo- versally applicable, were distinct from there were differences in the interpreta- rated in the marriage contract or nikah- the rational codes of the Raj and had to tion of the Islamic tradition regarding nama), an Indian Muslim judge ruled in be neutrally administered by the coloni- details of marriage and divorce, the two 1886 that once the marriage was con- al courts themselves rather than be left forums converged in continuously defi n- summated, the wife did not have the to the respective communities. Stephens ing and redefi ning the boundaries bet- right to leave her husband even if the points out a noteworthy feature of ween the secular and the religious. mahr was not paid. Syed Mahmood, the the Rangila Rasul controversy—Muslim Marital property is a particularly Indian judge and the son of the famous protests against the pamphlet and its tricky issue because it conjoins a private, Muslim thinker and reformed Sayyid Hindu author reached its peak not im- religious matter (marriage/divorce) with Ahmad Khan, drew extensively on Hanafi mediately after its publication in 1924, a public, secular concern (property). Ste- fi qh (jurisprudence), but clinched his but following his acquittal by a colonial phens also shows how Muslim personal decision by relying on the Indian Con- court in 1927 from charges of promoting law was far from a static entity, though it tract Act, which supposedly applied ex- enmity and hatred among religious was sought to be presented as such, as it clusively in economic and, hence, secu- communities (p 141). was constantly contested within and out- lar matters (pp 70–72). Hence, the Muslim sentiments were side the judiciary. Consider how the res- In contrast, Deobandi alim (Islamic not visceral or natural (and therefore ir- titution of the husband’s conjugal rights scholar) Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani issued rational) but intertwined with and pro- was interpreted by various levels of the fatawa noting that if a husband failed to duced by how the colonial state respond- judiciary and in Deoband fatawa. pay the mahr or fi nancially support his ed to the injury caused by the pamphlet. In a major precedent-setting 1867 wife, the latter was well within her rights The Hindu reaction to Muslim protests is judgment analysed by Stephens, the Privy to leave his house (p 79). Stephens clear- especially relevant to understand the Council endorsed the restitution of the ly brings out the complex interactions eventual development of secularism in conjugal rights of an estranged Muslim between these diverse domains and their postcolonial India. Following the Muslim ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY husband by drawing mainly from English deep intertextuality, despite pronounce- dissatisfaction with the 1927 verdict, the legal precedents and civil law, and only ments to the contrary. Moreover, despite colonial government amended the Indian marginally engaged with the Islamic tra- differences in reasoning and decisions Penal Code to include a new Section 295A dition’s views on this matter (pp 62–64). arrived at, both the state and non-state that criminalised expressions made with Even as the Privy Council acknowledged actors “increasingly emphasised the par- “deliberate and malicious intentions of that marriage was a domestic matter to ticular importance of religious laws in outraging the religious feelings of any be governed by Muslim personal law, adjudicating domestic matters” (p 85). class” (p 147). Hindu politicians took to what was applied was colonial civil law. the press and the podium to condemn In the same decision, the Privy Council Ambiguous Differentiations “Muslim fanaticism.” also ruled on the husband’s right to his In Chapters 4 and 5, Stephens shifts her Lala Lajpat Rai was perhaps one of the wife’s property; in this matter, however, focus to explore how secular governance earliest nationalist politicians to use the the Privy Council rejected Muslim law exacerbated intra-religious and inter- word secularism in opposition to and a and concluded that the property belonged religious confl icts through its ambiguous solution to what he termed “religionism,”

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 29 REVIEW ARTICLE which he identifi ed as a distinctly “Mus- non-state body of the mahila panchayat the private sphere of the family [also the lim problem” (pp 149–50). Stephens writes is, in theory, committed to the secular domain of religion], that the state itself that Rai’s thoughts points to the “inti- idea of a similarity in economic precarity is invested in maintaining” (p 107). The mate relationship between calls for sec- of women across religions and often last section of the book turns to the work of ularism and a majoritarian discourse of draws on secular legislation against a mufti (jurist) who, through his fatawa Hindu nationalism that demonised Islam” domestic violence in adjudicating marital and spiritual healing, engage in adjudi- (p 150). Even as the law recognised that disputes mainly aimed at reconciling cating talaq ul-ba’in and marital prob- religious feelings ought to be protected, feuding couples (p 57). But Muslim women lems. In Chapter 5, Lemons writes that the nascent discourse of secularism did and families were marked out as particu- the contradictory approaches of fatawa not see all religious sentiments (espe- larly religious, and the mahila panchay- and state courts to talaq ul-ba’in—one cially Muslim) as equal. at the author studied in a Muslim-domi- mostly authorising it, while the other nated neighbourhood in Delhi also occa- seldom endorsing though still sustaining The Current Conjuncture sionally relied on Islamic precepts in it (p 152)—nevertheless works to repro- But, is the demonisation of Muslims and their adjudication practice (pp 60–64). duce secularism. Islam a feature peculiar to Indian secu- Lemons concludes that for both state and The contradiction in the interpretation larism? Lemons argues otherwise in her non-state bodies, “religion is the instru- should not obscure the fact that the mufti book. She writes that “like minorities in ment for regulating the family” (p 64). works within the domain of personal other modern states, Indian Muslims Hence, secularism produces Muslims, law and the courts concern themselves must perform both their difference from particularly Muslim women, as religious mainly with the economics of divorce. the majority and their loyalty to it” (p 37). and peg their emancipation to freedom Both, importantly, do not see a space for The situation of Indian Muslims is an from their religious tradition. Muslim women beyond family. The pen- example of the “constitutive bind” faced Lemons’ ethnography moves on to ultimate chapter turns to healing prac- by religious minorities in a secular state, study other Islamic fora where marriage tices such as amulets (ta‘wiz) or inges- Lemons writes (p 64) citing the anthro- and divorce matters are adjudicated. In tion of Qur’anic verses to solve marital pologist Mayanthi Fernando’s work on the second part of the book, she looks diffi culties. This is quite a distinct adju- French Muslims. Indian Muslim women closely at the activities of the Dar ul-Qaza dication method unlike any other en- bear the bulk of this dynamic’s burden (inappropriately translated as shari‘a countered in the book so far. One reason with “their inequality [being taken] as a courts) presided over by a qazi (judge) at for this is that spiritual healing is not a sign of the pathology of Muslim kinship the All India Muslim Personal Law Board directive like a fatawa or a court judg- and consequently of the community’s offi ces in Delhi and its intersections with ment because the former “transform[s] failure to be fully modern and fully state courts. Dar ul-Qazas participate in both people and the broader cosmologi- Indian” (p 37). the secularism project in two ways. cal relationships that affl ict them and In Chapter 2, Lemons lays out this ar- The division between the family and produce their problems” (p 190). gument through the analysis of the 2016 economy allegedly fi xed by secularism is Hence, certain Qur’anic verses are Supreme Court judgment outlawing tri- repeatedly called into question in divorce considered to be particularly effective ple talaq (talaq ul-ba’in) and the work of proceedings at the Dar ul-Qaza. Divorce in combating black magic (pp 179–80). a Muslim woman’s arbitration centre is granted by a qazi when he is con- Varying assumptions about what lan- called mahila panchayat in Delhi. The vinced that a marriage failed to “replace guage is or can do underlie these differ- 2016 judgment was hailed as a victory relations of exchange and distribution ent forms of directives. However, Lem- for Muslim women in their battle for with relations of care and shelter” (p 78). ons underscores that because its practi- equality, though, as Lemons notes, in- In adjudicating such matters by relying tioners (like the mufti), its critics (cer- stant/irrevocable divorce, or triple ta- on Islamic principles, the Dar ul-Qaza tain currents of reformist Islam) and laq, had already become legally untena- not only marks out the family as distinct those who are indifferent to it (courts, ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ble in practice (p 41). The Muslim Wom- from the economy, but also underscores for example) see it as a religious matter, en (Protection of Rights on Marriage) that it is to be governed by religious spiritual healing “captures the secular Act, 2019 passed by Parliament, follow- norms (p 97). Engaging with a 2017 Su- work of co-constituting religion and ing the court’s directive in the 2016 preme Court judgment on the legality of secularism” (p 172). judgment, criminalised triple talaq. Dar ul-Qazas, which termed them as “Al- The point about the judgment and the ternate Dispute Resolution mechanism” State–Society Disjunct law that Lemons highlights is impor- (p 100), Lemons argues that they, in There is plenty of food for thought in tant—while both stress the need for gen- practice, “intersect with, rather than run these two important volumes, though I der equality and equality between Mus- parallel to, the state courts” (p 101). will refl ect only on a few morsels here. lim and non-Muslim women, the solution By implementing the same laws as the As pointed out at the outset, it is neces- for that is to rectify defective kinship state, Dar ul-Qazas, despite operating sary for empirical studies of secularism practices among Muslims based on a cor- beyond the purview of the state, “enforc- from places like India to engage in a di- rect interpretation of Islamic law. The es and produces the very construction of alogue with path-breaking theoretical

30 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly REVIEW ARTICLE interventions in the subject. And that is violence, which is then battled by the state power” (p 97, emphasis in the orig- something that both these volumes do. state in the name of defending secular inal). In other words, the centrality of Agrama (2013b) has observed that secu- and nationalist ideals (Nandy 1998; the state to secularism. Seen from a dif- larism is a “questioning power … a form Madan 1998). ferent angle—that of effects, or the kind of of power crucially involved in question- subjects produced by state and non-state ing the norms it establishes” (p 33, em- Conclusions actors—both the state and practices like phasis in the original). Secularism si- One question which I was left wondering fatawa (notwithstanding differences be- multaneously defi nes and challenges the as I read through the books, especially tween them) occupy the same secular boundaries that separate religion from Lemons, was how the authors underscore space and confi ne Indian Muslims to the other spheres of social life. Stephens and the difference between the state and the space of religion and render precarious Lemons show how across its history non-state to advance their core argu- their belonging to the nation. Muslim personal law has been used to ment of secularism as a project jointly Hence, it is not really clear what and constitute and reconstitute religion along advanced by state and non-state actors. how the distinction between the state with domains, such as family (private), This differentiation has been troubled and the non-state contributes to the while distinguishing it from others, such by scholars to ask how the “state effect” debate on secularism, or how it can ad- as economy and politics (public). is produced, or the ability of the state to vance a comparative study of secularisms Stephens, in particular, shows the di- appear “as an apparatus that stands across national contexts. Perhaps, there vergences in the evolution of personal apart from the rest of the world” (Mitch- is another question to pose. If Mitchell law in the metropole and the colony; ell 2006: 180). In fact, Sharma and Gup- (2006) and Sharma and Gupta (2006) moves that were undergirded by Oriental- ta (2006) argue that we ought to are observations on the modern state, ist ideas about the irrationality and infe- conceptualise “the state” within (and not au- what does the adjective secular add to riority of the colonised masses. The lega- tomatically distinct from) other institutional it? How do we understand secular pow- cy of colonial rule, which saw the begin- forms through which social relations are er if, inter alia, it is produced through nings of the problematisation of Mus- lived, such as the family, civil society, and the “state effect,” or the apparent dis- lims and Islam, has become the norm in the economy [and, if I may add, religious tinction between state and non-state? life]. (p 9, emphasis in the original) postcolonial India. Another striking feature that requires Lemons, on the other hand, under- If these scholars’ refl ections about the commentary is the totalising character of scores that the “constitutive bind” of reli- modern state are endorsed, does the secularism in the two books. That secu- gious minority is a structural effect of proposed difference between Indian larism generates and operates through secularism rather than something pecu- secularism and those in France, Egypt or indeterminacies is something proved liar to Indian secularism. The simultane- Turkey, which are state-centric projects, beyond dispute in both Stephens and ous and incessant demanding/troubling stand up to scrutiny? Maybe one way to Lemons. But they are sceptical about the of religious minorities’ belonging to the read Lemons and Stephens is that, since existence of a space beyond the state or nation is integral to the operation of sec- fora like the Dar ul-Qaza work within law, as is assumed by Madan and Nandy, ularism. But where the authors depart or and reproduce the Indian state’s concep- that can solve the pathologies incessantly add to literature like that of Agrama tualisation of what counts essentially as generated by secularism. (2013b) and Asad (2003) is when they religious and the latter’s scope in social One cannot transcend the secular and stress the role of non-state actors in the life, these fora instantiate the state’s ulti- secularism as they are defi ning elements project of secularism. mate authority in this matter. of the condition of our modern being, Secularism in India, according to Then we are close to Agrama’s (2013b) and they also shape our thought, its Lemons, is thus “particular but not ex- observation that the “active principle of forms and its modes of production ceptional” (p 28), which can help nuance secularism [of deciding the role of reli- (Agrama 2013a). Both the works under arguments like that of Bhargava’s (2007), gion in social life] is a principle of sovereign review are acknowledgements of these ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY which overstress the “distinctiveness of In- dian secularism.” Drawing on Foucault’s Licensing by EPWI idea of governmentality, Stephens writes about “rubber-band-like control” of the EPW has licensed its material for non-exclusive use to only the following content aggregators— colonial state, which allowed them to Contify, Factiva, Jstor and Magzter. govern religion that was “simultaneously Contify currently disseminates EPW content to LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, Securities.com, wide in scope, and fl exible and fragment- Gale Cengage, Acquiremedia News Bank and ProQuest. ed in application” (p 14). In a way, these Factiva and Jstor have EPW content on their databases for their registered users, books can also be read against and with Magzter on its subscriber-based portal. scholars who have identifi ed a vicious EPW does not have licensing arrangements with any other aggregators. circle—the lack of fi t between the statist EPW requests readers to let it know if they see EPW material on any unlicensed aggregator. secular project and a traditional Indian EPW needs the support of its readers to remain financially viable. society leads to pathologies of communal

Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 31 REVIEW ARTICLE fundamental realities. Yet, Stephens es- not explicitly debate questions of public also be read as to how the law simulta- pecially is not dismissive of the law as an order and the family, it can be neatly neously creates inter-religious discord instrument to engage with secularism’s separated from the political work of de- and enables unanticipated forms of be- failings. She rejects the “deep pessi- lineating the relation between religion coming otherwise (Povinelli 2011). If we mism” of Agrama (2013b) who seeks and law/politics” (p 151). Both of these take the “excess” of the secular condition “possibilities outside of secular, liberal claims do not hold in the Indian case seriously, there might be possibilities law to foster alternative ‘cultural and and fatawa are “touched by, and help for other forms of beings and relations ethical sensibilities’ or methods of ‘care to make, the secular present” (p 152). to emerge, some of which include non- of the self’” (p 18). There is no freedom They are “a matter of public debate” and human and non-natural beings like jinns. or escape from these constraining and their primary subject (talaq ul-ba’in) is enabling powers of secular law, but Ste- “the object of even more vociferous Nandagopal R Menon (nmenon@uni-goettingen. phens cites Judith Butler who advocates debate” (p 152). de) is a research fellow at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies, University of strategies “to work with the trap that It is worth noting that Agrama (2013b) Göttingen, Germany. one is inevitably in” (p 18). who posits the “asecular” is cautious to One such instance is found by her in distinguish it from the non-secular (of- References the Rangila Rasul controversy. Rajpal, ten equated with religious) and the post- Agrama, Hussein Ali (2013a): “Notes on the Idea of the publisher of the pamphlet, was mur- secular (a temporal marker for that which Theorizing Secularism,” viewed on 1 April 2020, https://politicaltheology.com/notes-on-the-idea- dered by a man called Ilmuddin, who comes after secularism) and stresses of-theorizing-secularism-hussein-ali-agrama/. was subsequently executed. Defending that an “asecular” practice like fatawa or — (2013b): Questioning Secularism: Islam, Sover- Ilmuddin in court, Muhammad Ali the fatawa council exist within and are eignty and the Rule of Law in Modern Egypt, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Jinnah, even while not condoning the produced by secular power (p 187). The — (2018): “Proximate Enigmas,” 21 November, murder, pleaded for mercy because it asecular is “like a bubble within a bub- viewed on 1 April 2020, https://tif.ssrc. stemmed from feelings of anger at the ble, produced by it but no longer of it, org/2018/11/21/proximate-enigmas/. Asad, Talal (1993): Genealogies of Religion: Disci- person who ridiculed a religious fi gure bouncing around within its confi nes yet pline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and the accused venerated. Stephens adds otherwise largely indifferent to it” (p 187). Islam, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. — (2003): Formations of the Secular: Christianity, that the courtroom turned out to be “a Temporally nor spatially, it is neither Islam, Modernity, California: Stanford Univer- potent space for fusing feelings of injury outside or comes after secular power. sity Press. Bhargava, Rajeev (1998): Secularism and Its Critics, and calls for mercy with protests against Agrama’s (2013b) thought opens the New Delhi: Oxford University Press. injustice” (p 151). That is, though Jinnah possibility to think about forces and pro- — (2007): “The Distinctiveness of Indian Secular- could not save Ilmuddin, colonial law cesses that enable subjects to be other ism,” The Future of Secularism, T N Srinivasan (ed), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp 20–53. that rendered religious (particularly Mus- than what they are or should be. It is not Fernando, Mayanthi (2017): “Supernatureculture,” lim) sentiments irrational nonetheless insignifi cant that scholars who have made 11 December, viewed on 1 April 2020, https:// provided the space to articulate affects infl uential contributions to theorising tif.ssrc.org/2017/12/11/supernatureculture/. — (2020): “Human,” 13 March, viewed on 1 April that could not be easily grasped by it in secularism, whose work frames the out- 2020, https://tif.ssrc.org/2020/03/13/human- the fi rst place. look of Lemons and Stephens, have turned fernando/. Hirschkind, Charles (2011): “Is There a Secular Lemons is not persuaded by Agrama’s to other beings (ghosts and the post-hu- Body?” Cultural Anthropology, Vol 26, No 4, (2013b) identifi cation of the “asecular” man) and modalities (enigma, the un- pp 633–47. (p 187) practices and spaces that are in- canny) to trouble the “human-centric Madan, T N (1998): “Secularism in Its Place,” Secularism and Its Critics, Rajeev Bhargava different to or disentangled from the foundations of secularity” (Fernando 2017; (ed), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, central question of secularism to draw Fernando 2020; Agrama 2018). Lemons pp 297–320. Mahmood, Saba (2016): Religious Difference in a the line between religion and other writes about the “excess” produced by Secular Age: A Minority Report, Princeton: realms of life. Agrama (2013b) writes that “spiritual healing’s powerful speech,” Princeton University Press. fatawa issued by the Fatawa Council of which is “anathema to secular ism” (p 172), Mitchell, Timothy (2006): “Society, Economy and ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY the State Effect,” The Anthropology of the State: Egypt’s Al-Azhar does not partake in the for it has “the capacity to bring together A Reader, Aradhana Sharma and Akhil Gupta labour of secularism and is a “practice spirit and matter, mind and body” (p 187). (eds), Oxford: Blackwell. Nandy, Ashis (1998): “The Politics of Secularism by which a self, in the multiplicity of its The treatments are not meant only for and the Recovery of Religious Toleration,” affairs, is connected to and advanced as the body or the person, but meant to Secularism and Its Critics, Rajeev Bhargava (ed), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp 321–44. part of the Islamic tradition” (p 184). transform the entire sphere of relation- Needham, Anuradha Dingwaney and Rajeswari Lemons, however, states that positing ships within which they are embedded, Sunder Rajan (2007): The Crisis of Secularism the “asecular” requires the acceptance which includes other beings like jinn. in India, Durham: Duke University Press. Povinelli, Elizabeth A (2011): “Routes/Worlds,” of the secular premise of differentiation. Maybe Stephens “politics of grieving” e-fl ux Journal, No 27, viewed on 1 April 2020, First, one has to assume that “divorce and (p 150) manifest during the well-attended https://www.e-fl ux.com/journal/27/67991/ routes-worlds/. reconciliation are private matters that funerals of Rajpal and Ilmuddin, in Sharma, Aradhana and Akhil Gupta (2006): can be separated from the state’s inter- which both communities mourned their “Introduction: Rethinking Theories of the State losses and subsequently strengthened in the Age of Globalisation,” The Anthropology est in family,” and second, one has to ac- of the State: A Reader, Aradhana Sharma and cept that since “the fatawa council does the calls for inter-religious amity, could Akhil Gupta (eds), Oxford: Blackwell.

32 AUGUST 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES

careful judicial doctrine of human dignity. (De)Valuing Dignity I identify three reasons for why the wide- spread application of dignity in Indian Three Risks of Dignity Infl ation in constitutional discourse runs the risk of the Indian Supreme Court’s Reasoning devaluing it. First, the constitutional status of dignity is unclear. Is it a right under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty), or a value that provides meaning Pritam Baruah to Article 21, or a value that underlies all fundamental rights? Each of these choices The Supreme Court of India Human dignity is beyond defi nition. It may has signifi cant constitutional implications. at times defy desc ription. To some, it may Second, the scope of dignity is unclear. holds dignity to be a foundational seem to be in the world of abstraction and Does it guarantee a minimum standard constitutional value. Judicial some may even perversely treat it as an attri- bute of egotism or accentuated ecce n tricity ... of life, or instead, is it necessary for enthusiasm about dignity must, Dignity speaks, it has its sound, it is natural human fl ourishing that entails extensive however, be sensitive to the risk and human. It is a combination of thought state obligations? Third, dignity has the and feeling. of devaluing it in the absence of — Justice Dipak Misra, Common Cause potential to limit rights pursuant to the logic of community dignity in the Aad- close legal analysis. Three such (A Regd Society) v Union of India and Anr (2018: para 156) haar decision (K S Puttaswamy [Retd] v risks are identifi ed here. First, the ormer Chief Justice of India (CJI) Union of India 2018), which portrays dig- constitutional status of dignity Dipak Misra’s words illustrate judi- nity as a reason to favour collective goals is unclear. Is it a right under Fcial irony about dignity. Judges hold at the expense of individual rights. it to be a foundational constitutional justi- What unites these reasons is the scant Article 21 or a value underlying fi cation despite its admittedly indetermi- attention that the content of dignity has fundamental rights? The choice nate nature. It is ironical that metaphors, received in judicial decisions and its has signifi cant interpretive instead of law and logic, fi gure promi- casual invocation by courts. Motivated implications. Second, does dignity nently in applying the concept. Indeter- by this, I conclude that India’s judicial minacy ordinarily invites scepticism in experience with dignity provides rea- guarantee a minimum standard judicial decision-making, as judicial deci- sons to rethink the functional legitimacy of life, or does it refer to human sions are expected to “justify” their conclu- of constitutional courts. fl ourishing entailing extensive sions when litigants disagree. As Ludwig state obligations? Third, can Wittgenstein pointed out, justifi cations A Double-edged Sword arise from fi rmer ground than the reasons Controversies over dignity abound outside dignity be understood as a source for which people disagree (Wittgenstein India. Two European examples highlight of limiting rights as held in the 1969: 97, 99, 104). The indeterminacy of the rights-limiting potential of dignity. Aadhaar decision? dignity thus makes it shakier, rather than In the German Peep Show case (German it being fi rm grounds for justifi cation. Federal Administrative Court 1981), the Despite its indeterminacy, dignity is almost Federal Administrative Court in Germany ubiquitous in the Indian constitutional banned peep shows stating that they law. Recent decisions on the right to violated the dignity of female performers. privacy, euthanasia, criminalisation of In peep shows, individuals could watch ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY consensual homosexual practices, rights erotic performances by women through of transgender persons, and Aadhaar peepholes in private cabins on payment uninhibitedly invoke human dignity. This of money, creating a sense of voyeurism. follows an established tradition of the Applying Kant’s famous object formula, Supreme Court of India where it draws the Federal Admi nistrative Court found The author thanks Akruti Ramchandran and Raja Venkata Krishna Dandamudi for excellent upon the concept of dignity in cases in- that the practice reduces performers to research assistance. The article has benefi ted volving fundamental rights. mere objects, despite the contending from discussions at Ambedkar University, Delhi; This essay argues that judicial enthusi- morality of the performing women that Academia Sinica, Taiwan; Asian Law Institute asm about dignity is not misplaced, but the it was their chosen means of livelihood Signature Conference 2018, Seoul; and IVR concept must be used cautiously. Courts (Botha 2009). Similarly, in France, dwarf Annual Conference 2019, University of Lucerne. should avoid casual application of the throwing was banned on the grounds Pritam Baruah ([email protected]) teaches value, which would devalue its justifi catory that it violated the dignity of dwarves.1 law at O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat. potential; instead, they should construct a Manuel Wackenheim, a dwarf who chose

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 33 PERSPECTIVES to participate in the activity, challenged fraternity. In fact, the textual inspiration to South Africa, Canada, and Germany, the ban, arguing that it was his choice as for dignity being included in the preamble dignity does not fi nd any mention in the an autonomous human being to earn his is the Irish Constitution of 1937. Arguably, fundamental rights provisions in India. living by dwarf throwing. His challenge if we were to trace the content of dignity Despite this textual absence, the Supreme was unsuccessful all the way up to the through its textual roots, then it is a con- Court has primarily applied the concept United Nations Human Rights Commit- servative, catholic conception that would in adjudicating fundamental rights, some- tee, defeated by what courts understood face us (McCrudden 2008: 658–59). A times holding it to be the source of all fun- to be the dignity of dwarves (Manuel focus on context would avoid this awk- damental rights. This bears out the gen- Wackenheim v France 2002). wardness. Much like the German, Costa erosity and fl exibility with which the Even if we agreed with the courts’ Rican, South African, and other constitu- Court has approached the concept. This, deci sions in these cases, they illustrate tions, the Indian one evolved in the context however, is no guarantee for rigour. For that dignity is employed by opposing par- of not only the independence movement, example, if there was any textual clarity ties in a disagreement to arrive at confl ict- but an international push for universal about dignity, it was the fact that the ing conclusions. Consequently, the ration- human rights that culminated in the Constitution spoke of dignity of the indi- ale for choosing dignity as a justifi cation Universal Declaration of Human Rights vidual. However, after Justice Sikri’s artic- for either of the conclusions should be (UDHR) in 1948. Scholarship on the UDHR ulation of “community dignity” in the strong. India’s experience has been to the points towards an inherent/intrinsic worth Aadhaar case, the text is drained even of contrary, and the text of the Constitution concept of dignity that was accepted by this clarity. The confusion about dignity, is a suitable place to begin this account. the framers (Morsink 2009: Ch 8). It is however, emerges much before. this Kantian, individualistic view of dig- Dignity in the Constitution nity rooted in Enlightenment values that Dignity as Source of Rights The word “dignity” is mentioned thrice has found favour with the Court. Dignity has been employed by the Court in the Constitution: in the preamble, the How this individualistic concept of as the source of several unenumerated directive principles of state policy,2 and dignity bears upon the fraternity–dignity rights. Dignity has been used to justify the fundamental duties.3 Unlike the con- relationship is yet to receive judicial the creation of new rights. For dignity to stitutions of South Africa and Germany, attention. For example, Article 51A in be an effective source of justifi cation, dignity fi nds no mention in the chapter on the fundamental duties invokes dignity the Court must explain how dignity is fundamental rights in India. The Court in the context of derogatory practices re- related to the rights that it generates. has unshackled itself from this textual lated to women within a subclause about Unfortunately, there is scant explana- limitation by reading the preamble as brotherhood among the people of India. tion for how dignity is related to specifi c an integral part of the Constitution Dignity’s connection with fraternity there- rights, which demands more justifi cation (Kesavananda Bharati and Ors v State of fore resonates in this provision. Since than stating that dignity is so related. Kerala and Anr 1973), containing the dignity in the fundamental duties has not A good example is the right to educa- ideals and aspirations of the Constitu- witnessed adjudicative action, it remains tion. The constitutional entrenchment of tion (Subbarao J in I C Golaknath and to be seen how the fraternity–dignity the right by the 86th amendment was Ors v State of Punjab and Anrs 1967). relationship would develop. preceded by constitutional litigation that In the preamble, dignity, along with the The directive principles of state policy, pronounced the right to be a fundamen- unity and integrity of the nation, is assured despite their non-justiciability, have been tal right. The Court did so by reading the by fraternity. Each of these values, includ- used to interpret the right to life with right to life along with the directive princi- ing “unity and integrity” are moral ideas dignity. Courts have held directive prin- ples of state policy. Education was pro- and not territorial facts (Baruah 2019). ciples and fundamental rights to be nounced to be essential for a dignifi ed life: As Upendra Baxi propo ses, the two values complementary and supplementary to The dignity of man is inviolable. It is the point towards an empowering idea of dig- each other (Chandra Bhavan Boarding duty of the State to respect and protect the ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY nity due to the development of “fraternity- and Lodging v State of Mysore and Anr same. It is primarily the (sic) education dignity values” by the Court (Baxi 2014: 1969). The balance and harmony be- which brings forth the dignity of a man … An individual cannot be assured of human 239–40). What this term precisely denotes tween the two is a basic feature of the dignity unless his personality is developed remains to be fl eshed out, but Baxi inter- Constitution (Minerva Mills Ltd and Ors and the only way to do that is to educate him prets this to mean that dignity is rights-apt, v Union of India and Ors 1980). … Although a citizen cannot enforce the while fraternity is duty-apt. This line of Despite the high status accorded to it directive principles contained in Chapter IV of thinking vindicates the rights-generating by courts, textual references to dignity the Constitution but these were not intended to be mere pious declarations. (Mohini Jain tradition of dignity and invites refl ection in the Indian Constitution pale in com- v State of Karnataka and Ors 1992: para 8) on the potential of fraternity. However, parison to those in other constitutions. there is a prior question of content that Compared to Germany, where dignity At fi rst sight, this appears to be a must be settled. It is the content of dignity has absolute and overriding status, in harmless, generalist application of dignity. that would determine which rights it India, dignity is one among the several However, a close reading of the passage supports and what its relation is with values listed in the preamble.4 Compared is disconcerting. The Court establishes

34 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES the duty of the state to protect the dignity equal intrinsic worth of humans. As I argue it favourably quotes the following from a of the individual by establishing a pecu- below, in the application of the concept scholarly source: liar relationship between education and by the Court in other cases, it is the Kan- The Right to Food in the context of Human dignity: dignity is assured only if an tian idea that emerges (C Masilamani Rights doesn’t mean that the state is a super- individual is educated. This raises the Mudaliar and Ors v Idol of Sri Swami- entrepreneur determining and carrying out economic activities according to its own question whether uneducated people nathaswami Thirukoil and Ors 1996). wisdom. It means the Right to Feed Oneself, have less dignity than educated ones? Or which emphasises dignity and self-reliance, is it that education increases the dignity Flourishing or Bare Necessities? very different from command economics of of human beings? If so, then the idea In employing dignity as a source of une- big government. (para 50) that all human beings have equal dignity numerated rights, the Court at times Again, in P G Gupta v State of Gujarat becomes suspect, as with incre asing edu- reads dignity as guaranteeing the bare and Ors (1995: para 8):

cation, more dignity is realised. Perhaps, minimum necessities of life, and at others To the poor, settlement with a fi xed abode and the Court implies that dignity requires as mandating human fl ourishing. Cases right to residence guaranteed by Article 19(1)(e) that every person should have the op- involving the right to food bring out this remain more a teasing illusion unless the portunity to be educated. But on what contradiction with clarity. State provides them the means to have food, reading of dignity do we arrive at such an In People’s Union Of Civil Liberties and clothing and shelter so as to make their life meaningful and worth-living with dignity. interpretation? These questions become Anr v Union Of India and Anr (2014), the pertinent since, in the same case, the Court in a single breath articulated a life These excerpts imagine a life with dig- Court holds that the right to education with dignity in terms of both of the min- nity as limited to the bare necessities of fl ows from the right to life (Mohini Jain v imum standards for dignifi ed existence life as opposed to the broad interpretation State of Karnataka and Ors 1992: para 12). and the maximalist standards that would given in People’s Union of Civil Liberties But is dignity the best concept through make a person’s life meaningful and and Anr v Union of India and Anr. It also which to establish this relationship? It is worth living: contrasts with the expansive ambit of perhaps possible to justify the intrinsic In C E S C Ltd v Subhash Chandra Bose … this dignity described in Chameli Singh v relationship between education and life Court held that right to social and economic State of Uttar Pradesh (1996: para 8): by appealing to other values in the pre- justice is a fundamental right … Therefore, The ultimate object of making a man amble. For instance, in the Indian con- right to life enshrined in Article 21 means equipped with a right to dignity of person something more than mere survival of ani- and equality of status is to enable him to de- text, a burden to provide education arg- mal existence. The right to live with human uably lies on the Indian state as part of velop himself into a cultured being. Want of dignity with minimum sustenance and shel- decent residence, therefore, frustrates the its duty to achieve social and economic ter and all those rights and aspects of life very object of the Constitutional animation justice; or to ensure equality of opportu- which would go to make a man’s life com- of right to equality, economic justice, funda- nity; or to facilitate the liberty of thought plete and worth living, would form part of mental right to residence, dignity of person the right to life. Enjoyment of life and its at- and right to live itself. and expression. These valuable ideals tainment—social, cultural and intellectual— fi nd explicit mention in the Constitution without which life cannot be meaningful, In fact, in C Masilamani Mudaliar and provide more specifi city as to why would embrace the protection and preserva- and Ors v Idol of Sri Swaminathaswami the state is obligated to provide educa- tion of life guaranteed by Article 21. (para 4) Thirukoil and Ors, the court held that the tion. In contrast, an easy and vague This line of reasoning fi ts judicial de- right to equality and dignity formed the recourse to dignity has pushed the Court cisions on the right to education, where basis of the preamble, the fundamental to hazy conclusions. Another such con- education was held to be a component of rights, and the directive principles. clusion is that it is education that makes a life with dignity, however debatable There are numerous other cases where a person conscious of their dignity: this may be. However, the present ext ract dignity has been employed as a source

The fundamental rights … cannot be appreci- leaves the meaning of dignity contingent for rights. The point I want to draw atte- on what meaning the Court gives to a ntion to is that existing decisions can ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ated and fully enjoyed unless a citizen is ed- ucated and is conscious of his individualistic complete life that is worth living, on the justify both a maximalist and a mini- dignity. (Mohini Jain v State of Karnataka one hand, and the minimum standards malist understanding of dignity, espe- and Ors 1992: para 13) that would guarantee it, on the other. It cially in the context of socio-economic Such observations strike at the very could imply that all socio-economic rights. Such ambiguity surely has a very heart of the common intuition about rights are included in the right to life low normative potential to guide the dis- human beings having equal dignity despite with dignity. Simultaneously, it could cretion of judges in future cases. all differentiations, including educational mean that only those rights that ensure levels. Theoretically, it may be argued the minimum standards for a dignifi ed Status of Dignity Limited that, on some performance-based under- life are included. For example, in Kapila Judicial decisions employing dignity as standings of dignity, it is a virtue that Hingorani v State of Bihar (2003), the a source of rights speak of dignity both must be achieved through the actions of Court limits the meaning of dignity to as a right and a value that justifi es rights. individuals. Such views are at variance some valuable aspects of human life and This has legal implications for the status of with the Kantian idea of dignity as the also indicates restrictions on them when dignity within the Constitution. If dignity

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 35 PERSPECTIVES is a specifi c right, then must it not be located K S Puttaswamy (Retd) and Anr v Union of they are beyond the reach of the state. within a constitutional provision? The India and Ors (2017), where while articu- Despite recognising the indeterminacy agreed place for dignity is Article 21. In that lating the relationship between dignity, of human dignity, the Court held that the case, dignity is not an absolute value as is privacy, and liberty, the Court employed concept was illimitable by state action. ordinarily understood, but limitable by law. terms such as “inalienable” (paras 45, 101, Similarly, in Mehmood Nayyar Azam v In Francis Coralie Mullin v Administrator, and 169), “natural right” (Part G), and the State of Chhattisgarh and Ors (2012), the Union Territory of Delhi and Ors (1981), core of fundamental rights. This might Court held that the right to life with one of the early cases that brought dig- lead one to believe that dignity is an dignity includes within itself the right nity into focus in Indian jurisprudence, absolute value in India just as it is against torture, especially by the police the Court unequivocally stated that any in Germany. In decisions on Aadhaar, and other public authorities. Though other deprivation of human dignity would euthanasia, and the rights of transgen- fundamental rights can be restricted, this constitute a violation of the right to life. der persons, the Court employs a similar right can never be stripped away as there As such, it would have to be in accord- concept of dignity where dignity is the is a loss of meaning to life when it is not ance with reasonable, fair, and just pro- source of all fundamental rights and even fully recognised. Again, In Re Inhuman cedure established by law. This imp lies above the text of the Constitution itself. Conditions In 1382 Prisons (2016), the that an individual’s dignity is not abso- Given these distinct articulations of Court held that prisoner’s rights under lute, and can be deprived by a fair, just, dignity, at least three possibilities emerge Article 21 continue to exist despite being and reasonable law. Due process can in thinking about the status of dignity. detained. Though there could be restric- thus limit dignity claims. Indeed, the First, that as a part of Article 21, there is a tions on movement and behaviour, hu- court went on to say that “the magni- specifi c right to life with dignity that can man dignity guaranteed under Article 21 tude and content of the right (to life with be limited by a just, fair, and reasonable could not be taken away. human dignity) depends on the extent of law. Second, that dignity is a constitu- These cases on custodial rights unam- economic development of the country,” tional value that justifi es all fundamental biguously hold dignity to be an absolute but must include the right to basic neces- rights but can be limited whenever some value. Perhaps, it is the severe implica- sities, and “the right to carry on such rights can be limited based on other con- tions of the abuse of detenus by coercive functions and activities as constitute the siderations. And third, that dignity is an state powers that motivates the Court to bare minimum expression of the human absolute constitutional value that under- protect rights in an absolute manner. In self” (para 8). What is of greater signifi - lies all fundamental rights and is inaliena- protecting these traditional civil and cance is that the Court went on to state ble. Despite these possibilities, it would poli tical rights, the Court fi nds an ally in in paragraph 11 that the right to live be safe to conclude that most decisions dignity as intrinsic worth as it operates with human dignity is a part of personal take dignity to be absolute. This reading through the basic humanity of individu- liberty. The implication is that judicial gains support from other decisions that als that even the taboo of criminal con- decisions that speak of dignity as a source articulate dignity in terms of the intrinsic viction cannot eclipse. An appeal to of rights, especially socio-economic rights, and inalienable worth of the individual. inalienable natural rights as the basis of are also related to personal liberty under fundamental rights has been the Court’s Article 21 in some sense. Inherent Worth of Individual chosen philosophical aide in articulating To be fair, in the Francis Coralie Mullin There are several decisions of the Court this position. Interestingly, a similar case, the Court does say in paragraph 6 that employ a natural rights justifi cation trend can be seen in cases that involve of the judgment that the dignity of the for fundamental rights, where dignity is egregious violations of socio-economic individual, and the worth of the human taken to be a basic feature of the Consti- rights, not only by the state but also by person, requires that the provisions in tution. For example, in M Nagaraj and other individuals. For example, in State question be interpreted in a wide man- Others v Union of India and Others (2006), of Punjab and Ors v Jagjit Singh and Ors ner. However, despite the licence for wide referring to Justice H R Khanna’s dissent (2017), the Court held that an individual ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY interpretation, the textual implication of in the habeas corpus case (ADM Jabalpur being paid lesser for the same amount of dignity being a part of the right to life v Shivkant Shukla 1976), the Court held work as another violates the individual’s remains in that it can be subject to the that fundamental rights in general were right to life with dignity. Another example limitations of the due process of law. not privileges given to a citizen by the is People’s Union for Democratic Rights In contrast, in Maneka Gandhi v Union state. Dignity as a principle signifi es the and Ors v Union of India and Ors (1982), of India (1978: para 4), the Court ascri- inherent value of every human being, where the Court held that the rights pro- bes an absolute, non-negotiable nature and rights embodying dignity therefore tected by Articles 17, 23, and 24 protect to dignity, where all rights according to placed limitations on state power. Dignity the individual’s right to life with human the Court exist to protect the dignity of was akin to principles, such as reasona- dignity that cannot be violated even under the individual and that “since Vedic bleness, fairness, and social justice that the garb of a “voluntary” contract. times, dignity weaves a pattern of guar- inform and connect various fundamental These cases show that in cases involving antees on the basic structure of human rights, particularly Articles 14, 19, and both civil–political and socio-economic rights.” This reasoning is refl ected in 21. Due to the nature of these principles, rights, it is the concept of dignity as an

36 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES intrinsic and absolute value that has guided Disconcertingly, the trend of uninhi- of transgender persons) (National Legal the courts. This conclusion maps well bited theorising resulted in a contradic- Services Authority v Union of India and Ors with two similarities emerging from the tory conclusion about dignity in the Aad- 2014) to conclude that the positive obli- application of dignity across juris dictions haar case: that dignity had a communi- gations of the state entail a communitar- pointed out by McCrudden (2008: 679): tarian aspect which meant that collec- ian aspect to the right to life with dignity. (a) the limited-state claim: that the state tive goals could limit individual rights. It is unclear as to how Justice Sikri arrives exists for the individual and not vice-versa; After privacy was declared a fundamen- at this conclusion. The paragraphs quoted (b) the relational claim: that dignity req- tal right, there was speculation that the from the NALSA decision clearly spell out uires that others recognise the intrinsic worth of human beings and not violate material provisions of the Aadhaar Act that the right to life with dignity is to be rights that protect dignity. would be held unconstitutional. To the understood as the right to human devel- contrary, the Court upheld the validity of opment aimed at securing “basic essen- Perfectionism, Rights and Dignity most provisions of the act. In doing so, tials designed to fl ower the citizen’s per- The intrinsic worth account of dignity Justice Sikri’s majority opinion extensively sonality to its fullest” (K S Putta swamy has now been fi rmly established in Indian relied on dignity to advance a novel propo- [Retd] v Union of India 2018: para 109). constitutional law by the right to privacy sition: that dignity has individualistic This is staple dignity language in terms decision. A nine-judge bench of the Court and communitarian aspects that require of individual fl ourishing. Its motivating held that “Dignity is the core which balancing through the test of proportion- logic is that the state must provide unites the fundamental rights because ality. At the heart of his reasoning were essential goods that guarantee human the fundamental rights seek to achieve for two propositions that I think are mistaken: dignity to the individual. There is no in- each individual the dignity of existence” (i) That previous judicial decisions recog- dication of how this involves collective (K S Puttaswamy [Retd] and Anr v Union of nising the positive obligations of the state goals that can limit rights, or how that is India and Ors 2017: para 107). In reaching under Article 21 implied that the right had implied by the concept of dignity. this conclusion, the Court for the fi rst time a communitarian aspect, where community At fi rst sight, Justice Sikri’s conclusions goals postulating a good life assumed an devoted an entire section to the meaning important role in understanding the right. argue for a “perfectionist” state: a posi- of human dignity. This is a welcome trend (ii) The communitarian aspect of dignity al- tion in political theory that holds that in terms of focus, but there is still much to lowed the collective goals of the community the state can determine what is a good be desired in terms of rigour. For instance, to limit rights. life for the individual. Whether the Indi- the Court expresses contrasting views In arriving at these conclusions, Justice an state should be perfectionist or not is in the right to privacy and Aadhaar de- Sikri’s opinion surveys vast philosophical a philosophical question not ordinarily cisions. In the privacy case, the Supreme materials to reconcile individualism and adjudicated by courts, especially so when Court, through Justice D Y Chandrachud’s communitarianism—a task that has elu- there is agreement that the people through opinion, clearly indicated that the idea ded philosophers for centuries. Decipher- the Constitution, and not the state, set out of dignity in the Constitution was that of ing the wisdom of the Court in all its the values of the republic. The state can individual dignity (K S Puttaswamy [Retd] breadth is a daunting task. I shall there- surely set new goals, but only within con- and Anr v Union of India and Ors 2017). fore focus on what it specifi cally says stitutional limits. That is why the question Indeed, the preamble too speaks of the about community dignity. Referring to before courts is whether a goal/objective dignity of the individual. However, in Ronald Dworkin’s views on dignity, and set by law is legitimate, and not whether the Aadhaar case, Justice A K Sikri added incorporating Upendra Baxi’s views, the the state can set goals for individuals. the idea of community dignity as a core Court characterises dignity in these terms: Courts adjudicate the limits of state aspect of dignity, which could then (i) respect for one’s capacity as an agent to action based on the Constitution. They serve as a reason to limit individual make one’s own free choices; also articulate the content of constitu- rights (K S Puttaswamy [Retd] v Union (ii) respect for the choices so made; and tional provisions, including rights and (iii) respect for one’s need to have a context of India 2018). obligations. For a court to hold that a ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY and conditions in which one can operate As I have argued elsewhere, the Court’s as a source of free and informed choice. constitutional concept like dignity limits application of dignity even in the privacy (K S Putta swamy [Retd] v Union of India rights, it must demonstrate how that decision is very general, leading to poten- 2018: para 107) concept fi gures in the provisions that tially confusing conclusions (Baruah and It then proceeds to articulate the idea limit rights; for example, the reasonable Deva 2019). Uninhibited theorising, unan- of community dignity in terms of collec- restrictions on fundamental rights. The chored in rigorous disciplinary literature, tive goals: court’s opinion in Aadhaar does not dis- has its fair share of disadvantages. How- Dignity as a community value, therefore, em- charge this burden. Instead, it takes easy ever, a sympathetic reading of the privacy phasises the role of the state and community recourse to not only dignity, but takes a decision shows that dignity is protected as in establishing collective goals and restrictions contested position in political theory about an inalienable value, and privacy is in- on individual freedoms and rights on behalf perfectionism to read it as a new source strumental in realising dignity. Dignity of a certain idea of the good life. (para 116) of restrictions on fundamental rights. was a reason for protecting individual In arriving at this conclusion, reliance This is troubling as the decision is silent rights and not for restricting them. is placed on the NALSA decision (on rights on how a perfectionist state is entailed

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 37 PERSPECTIVES

by the idea of positive obligations and more rigorous constitutional doctrine of Integrity,” Wire, 27 December, https://thewire. how perfectionism is related to dignity. dignity. Of course, a realist argument in/rights/caa-constitution-equality. Baruah, Pritam and Zaid Deva (2019): “Justifying The idea of community dignity in the would yield that the personal inclinations Privacy: The Supreme Court of India’s Com- Aadhaar decision does not fi nd support of judges might explain divergences in parative Analysis,” Indian Yearbook of Compar- ative Law 2018, M P Singh and Niraj Kumar in Kantian arguments either. In explain- understanding dignity. That might be (eds), Singapore: Springer. ing what dignity is, Kant does not invoke true, but the argument cannot be a nor- Baxi, Upendra (2014): “The Place of Dignity in the the role of the state or the community. mative guide in how judges should apply Indian Constitution,” The Cambridge Handbook of Human Dignity, Düwell Marcus, Jens Bra His focus is on the individual in that others the concept. I think that, at heart, the arvig, Roger Brownsword and Dietmar Mieth should respect the dignity of the individual problem is epistemological: there is a le- (eds), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Botha, Henk (2009): “Human Dignity in Compara- by not treating them as a mere means to gitimate question about how we acquire tive Perspective,” Stellenbosch Law Review, an end. When Kant speaks of individual knowledge about vague moral values such Vol 20, No 2, pp 121–220. Chameli Singh v State of UP (1996): SCC, SC, 2, autonomy as the grounds for dignity, he as dignity. In thinking about courts, the p 549. appeals purely to reason as a source of epistemological question can be partially Chandra Bhavan Boarding and Lodging v State of moral obligation, which in turn requires avoided, and pragmatic questions can be Mysore and Anr (1969): SCC, SC, 3, p 84. Common Cause v Union of India (2018): SCC, SC, 5, p 1. that an individual be treated with dignity put: What materials should judges rely Francis Coralie Mullin v Administrator, Union Terri- (Kant 1998: 4:435). In Kant’s Kingdom of on in employing values such as dignity? tory of Delhi and Ors (1981): AIR, SC, 746. Ends (where dignity reigns supreme), the What training or individual expertise do German Federal Administrative Court (1981): BVerwGE 64, 274. individual is an autonomous lawgiver as a judges have in applying moral values as I C Golaknath and Ors v State of Punjab and Anrs member of that kingdom: someone who the foundational reasons for our funda- (1967): SCR, SC, 2, p 762. In Re Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons (2016): only obeyed the universal law that they mental rights? These are pertinent ques- SCC, SC, 3, p 700. give onto themselves. Someone could be tion in countries where constitutional Kant, Immanuel (1998): Groundwork of the Meta- sovereign there, for example, the state, the judges mostly have legal expertise. physics of Morals, trans Mary Gregor, Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press. community, or some individual, only if In India, constitutional judges are app- Kapila Hingorani v State of Bihar (2003): SCC, SC, they had a godlike character: someone ointed by promotion from the lower judi- 6, p 1. Kesavananda Bharati and Ors v State of Kerala and who was “a completely independent be- ciary and by elevating advocates. Though Anr (1973): SCC, SC, 4, p 225. ing, without needs, and with unlimited re- such persons have expertise over areas K S Puttaswamy (Retd) and Anr v Union of India and sources” (Kant 1998: 4:434). It is implausi- of law, it is unlikely for them to have Ors (2017): SCC, SC, 10, p 1. K S Putta swamy (Retd) v Union of India (2018): Writ ble that the Aadhaar decision ascribes that cognitive expertise over values like dig- Petition (Civil) No 494 of 2012, Supreme Court character to the state. nity for two reasons. First, there is limit- judgment dated 26 September. M Nagaraj and Others v Union of India and Others To understand dignity in terms of ed legal material on dignity that lawyers (2006): SCC, SC, 8, p 212. achieving collective goals implies that the can claim expertise over. Second, most Minerva Mills Ltd and Ors v Union of India and Ors individual is a mere instrument in cases of the literature on these concepts is (1980): SCC, SC, 3, p 625. Maneka Gandhi v Union of India (1978): SCC, SC, 1, where the state and the community postu- found in other disciplines, such as phi- p 248. late the idea of a good life for individuals losophy, even if some legal philosophers Manuel Wackenheim v France (2002): Communica- tion No 854/1999, UN Doc CCPR/C/75/D/ and restrict their rights towards that end. mistakenly argue that law is the proper 854/1999. The individual then is not autonomous, starting point for discussions on dignity C Masilamani Mudaliar and Ors v Idol of Sri Swami- and thus, such an idea of dignity goes (Waldron and Dan-Cohen 2012: 13–14). nathaswami Thirukoil and Ors (1996): SCC, SC, 8, p 525. against the very grain of Kantian dignity. Philosophy has long-standing traditions McCrudden, Christopher (2008): “Human Dignity Be that as it may, Justice Sikri’s invo- on dignity in at least Kantian, Catholic, and the Judicial Interpretation of Human Rights,” European Journal of International Law, cation of the idea of community dignity Greek, and Chinese philosophy. For these Vol 19, No 4, pp 655–724. has made it an integral part of Indian reasons, constitutional values like dignity Mehmood Nayyar Azam v State of Chhattisgarh and dignity jurisprudence. He makes this deserve careful attention by both law- Ors (2012): SCC, SC, 8, p 1. Mohini Jain v State of Karnataka and Ors (1992): clear when he states that the core values yers and scholars across disciplines. SCC, SC, 3, p 666. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY of human dignity are “intrinsic value, Morsink, Johannes (2009): Inherent Human Rights: Notes Philosophical Roots of the Universal Declaration, autonomy and community value” (Sikri J Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1 Dwarf throwing is an act where participants National Legal Services Authority v Union of India in K S Putta swamy [Retd] v Union of compete in the sport of throwing dwarves to India 2018: para 109). It would not be off the farthest distance possible. and Ors (2014): SCC, SC, 5, p 438. P G Gupta v State of Gujarat and Ors (1995): SCC, the mark to say that community value is 2 “Article 39 (f). ..that children are given opportu- nities and facilities to develop in a healthy man- SC, Supp (2), p 182. the odd one out here unless it is under- ner and in conditions of freedom and dignity.” People’s Union of Civil Liberties and Anr v Union of India and Anr (2014): SCC, SC, 15, p 327. stood in terms of some other constitu- 3 “Article 51A: It shall be the duty of every citizen of India—… (e) … to renounce practices de- People’s Union for Democratic Rights and Ors v Union tional value such as fraternity. rogatory to the dignity of women.” of India and Ors (1982): SCC, SC, 3, p 235. 4 Articles 1 and 2 of the German Constitution. State of Punjab and Ors v Jagjit Singh and Ors In Conclusion (2017): SCC, SC, 1, p 148. References Waldron, Jeremy and Meir Dan-Cohen (2012): Dig- The problems with the application of nity, Rank, and Rights, New York: Oxford Uni- dignity pointed out in this essay demand ADM Jabalpur v Shivkant Shukla (1976): AIR, SC, 1207. versity Press. Baruah, Pritam (2019): “Not Just Equality, the Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1969): On Certainty, Oxford: refl ection on how courts could provide a CAA Betrays Constitutional Values of Dignity, Basil Blackwell.

38 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly INSIGHT

march on foot, cycles and trucks to their Migrant Workers and the homes thousands of kilometres away killing many en-route.2 Ramachandra Politics of Mental Health Guha observed that this was the great- est human-made tragedy since independ- ence and which could have been easily Sudarshan R Kottai averted (Hindu 2020). While the policy framework of the union government The roping in of tertiary care The nation may be great, but our lives are was oblivious of the lifeworld of the miserable. migrant workers, it was at the forefront mental health institutes by The wicked disease struck us and wrecked our lives. in responding to the privileged class the government in providing COVID What life is this, what life is this? stranded in -19 affected countries, individualised (tele) counselling A wretched life, a pathetic life, an abject life, including China. services to migrant workers a broken life. The reason for the untold sufferings of Is there a disease worse than poverty? these migrant workers3 and the very needs to be viewed with caution. Is there a solace greater than being with poor is clear: the state failed to chart out Instead of acting as a catalyst one’s family? —Aadesh Ravi1 on the migrant workers’ crisis a plan concerning daily wage labourers in upholding the dignity and across the country, denying them “cog- human rights of migrant daily he COVID-19 pandemic unwrapped nitive justice” (Visvanathan 1997). wage workers who were left the social stratifi cation entrenched in Indian society as the marginal- Politics of Psychiatry high and dry, mental health T ised sections became a target of violence Psychiatry has often been employed as practice, shaped by political and state dispossession. The obsession a political tool to support destructive and institutional infl uences, with caste/race superiority, communal/ regimes and reinforce social control. provided “counselling” to lakhs class consciousness and xenophobic ten- Several psychiatrists have employed bogus dencies came to light as Dalits, minority diagnoses to punish enemies of the of people who bore the brunt of religious groups, people from the north- state exposing the dark side of psychiatry governmental apathy during the eastern states and migrant daily wage (Lifton 1986; Luty 2014). Metzl (2011) pandemic crisis. labourers across India faced discrimi- narrates the compelling story of the nation and exclusion. The spread of the politics of psychiatric diagnosis; how pandemic aggravated the segregation racism was written into the diagnostic that lower caste groups were facing language; and the processes through (Venkataraman 2020). The Yanadi com- which American society equates race munity of Andhra Pradesh that has been with insanity. Medical journals describe a forced to engage in “fi lthy” jobs, such as condition called dysaesthesia aethiopis waste picking and drain cleaning for as a form of madness manifested by centuries were barred from venturing “rascality” and “disrespect for the mas- outside by the dominant caste groups ter’s property” that was believed to be after the pandemic outbreak (Sur 2020). cured by extensive whipping. A Dalit family in Haryana was attacked Psychiatry under the Infl uence: Institu- for not adhering to Prime Minister’s call to tional Corruption, Social Injury, and Pre- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY turn off lights (Ekta 2020; Scroll.in scriptions for Reform showcases psychiatry 2020). Reports about racial discrimina- as a case of institutional corruption tion against citizens from the north- given the political and economic infl u- eastern parts of the country resurfaced ences in its theory and praxis (Whitaker during the pandemic (Bordoloi 2020; and Lisa 2015). Cracked: Why Psychiatry Is Offbeat CCU 2020). The abrupt stoppage Doing More Harm Than Good by Davies of public transport left migrant workers James (2013) is a compilation of evidence completely helpless since they had lost against psychiatry’s claim to be an ob- their daily wage jobs during this period. jective science that is value-neutral and The crisis worsened as governments apolitical. Cultural contexts and political Sudarshan R Kottai (la14resch11003@iith. failed to provide food, shelter or means struggles are left in the dark in this pur- ac.in) teaches at the department of psychology, of transport to those who could not suit of techno-psychiatry resulting in an Jain University, Bengaluru. afford to pay rent. Then began the long imbalance in knowledge. Aware of this,

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 39 INSIGHT Lewis (2006) proposes post psychiatry, scrutiny of moral boundaries of relation- response of mental health systems that an alternative vision bringing the two ships become the ground for psychiatrists’ provided “counselling” to the hunger- sides together. clinical efforts to “locate biological truth” stricken migrants is yet another story The heinous murder of George Floyd (paranoia, schizophrenia) and assess of violence perpetuated by mainstream in the United States in May 2020 led illness, thereby reinstating patriarchal psy disciplines.4 to the Black Psychiatrists of America, norms producing distress (Pinto 2011). issuing a press statement urging the Saiba Varma (2016) highlighted the con- Sugarcoating Suffering government to declare racism as a public tradictions within the National Mental The central government called upon health problem. The press statement ends Health Programme where psychiatrists centrally run mental health institutions with the evolution and purpose of this support the generation of the specialist to assist state governments in providing organisation. professional workforce through trans- counselling to stranded migrant workers

Fifty-one years ago, the Black Psychiatrists forming mental hospitals into “centres (Agarwal 2020; Dutta and Chandna of America was founded in response to the of excellence” so that psychiatry is 2020). These mental health institutions failed response from the European model shored up as a modern, scientifi c disci- opened helpline numbers to address psychiatric system in America, to fi ght pline. Still, they opposed the other policy “mental health concerns.” The website5 against racism, marginalization and other objective of de-professionalisation and of a central mental health institution forms of racial discri mination against Black people. We will continue to fi ght for an end task-shifting of psychiatric practice to read, “Wish to share any mental health to these acts of racism that threaten the non-specialists by questioning their ability concerns during this crisis of COVID-19 health of our community and all other areas to diagnose and treat mental disorders pandemic? Feel free to call our helpline….” of life for Blacks in America. (Howard 2020) correctly, which, according to them is (www.lgbrimh.org). Such notifi cations The book Institutional Racism in not easy even for psychiatrists with years that keep fl ashing on the websites of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology: Race of experience. the mental health institutions fl ag the Matters in Mental Health calls for a model Although the [mental health] reforms were reductionist approach to mental health shift in both theory and practice of clinical intended to address human rights and human- as they remain silent about the grave psychology and psychiatry infected with itarian concerns around asylums, these con- human rights crisis that the vulnerable cerns were occluded by the desire to build deep racism (Fernando 2017). Mainstream specialized psychiatric manpower. (Varma communities are facing. Mental health psychiatry and a majority of psychia- 2016: 13) concerns are not to be resolved through trists equate the mind with the brain The coalition of the state and psychiatry counselling over telephone or distributing and invent fake diagnoses, theories and in framing non-heteronormative people pills when people are being discriminated, cures resulting in the indiscriminate as mentally ill is one of the most recent physically assaulted, humiliated, denied prescription of psychotropic medicines. and much-criticised instances of main- food and shelter and left to die on the Such dehumanising conduct of psychiatric stream psy disciplines acting as a highways for mental health and human “science” has led to a situation where it political agent of the state (Kottai and rights are co-constructed. is the only medical discipline against Ranganathan 2019). Concerns about hunger, concern to be which user-survivor movements are in A whistle-blower government doctor with near and dear ones at home, pain of place (The Cape Town Declaration 2011). in Andhra Pradesh who spoke openly being not acknowledged as an equal citi- There have been similar profound about the shortage of personal protection zen, violation of fundamental rights, the critiques of the practice of modern psy- equipment (PPEs) to treat COVID-19 feeling that “We are not part of this chiatry in India in recent times. In her patients was suspended and later com- country” also constitute mental health moving ethnography on suicide among mitted to a mental health centre by the concerns that need be resolved through transgender people, Rao (2012) showed police when neither he nor his mother concrete political, community and sys- how premier mental health institutions wished to be treated for an alleged mental temic response. Addressing these issues depoliticise suicide with substantial disorder (Assuncao 2020). The visuals of of survival through pills and telethera- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY political, economic and gendered ramifi - the half-naked doctor being taken into pies almost always exhort the individual cations addressing it as just a mental custody with his hands tied with rope are to adjust to an unjust system as the site health problem. “It [psychiatry] thus symbolic of political abuse of psychiatry. of intervention remains the suffering ‘depoliticises’ suicide by situating it within There is a larger room for malpractice person. Mental health professionals un- the realm of medical and psychiatric and manoeuvre in psychiatry as it lacks derstate sociopolitical factors that cause science, controls it through regulating any objective laboratory test or clinical mental health issues seldom speaking access to substances and space” (Rao investigations for diagnosis. Keeping about it loudly and clearly. This paves 2012: 10). Central to an ethnographic study this in mind, when the inability to access the way to loosely execute armchair of psychiatric practice in north India is psychiatric care itself is dubbed as human therapies without inviting the wrath of how kinship aberrations of love, mar- rights violation by popular (biomedical) the power structures. riage and divorce are probed by psychia- discourse, grave psychiatric violations Writing in Nature on the mainstream trists with clinical attention to women. by dominant technocratic biopsychiatry global mental health response to COVID-19, Emotions related to marriage and the are rarely brought to light. The knee-jerk including that of the World Health

40 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly INSIGHT Organization guidelines, Rochelle Bur- mental health professionals who main- Nair 2020; Mander 2020; Stranded gess presses the point that these individ- tain such an emotional (cultural) dis- Worker’s Action Network 2020). ual-centric recommendations miss out on tance from their immediate “social” In contrast, mental health institutions social realities and systemic vulnerabili- in their real lives equipped to tap the and professionals have charitably gifted ties like poverty and inequality that con- phenomenology of people living in dif- mental health helplines and free treat- tribute to poor mental health. “A woman ferent planes of consciousness, forget ment to the migrant workers when chil- who has lost her job and cannot feed her the migrant workers? The emphasis of dren and pregnant women look forward family will fi nd little relief from a medi- mental health institutions on technobu- to food and water, are thrashed by baton- tation app … Are mental-health cam- reaucracy over values, rights and politi- wielding police personnel when they try paigns arguing for better social protec- cal consciousness refl ected in their cur- to walk home and are humiliated in tions so that unemployed people don’t riculum, clinical training and practice public by spraying disinfectants (Times fear death from starvation during lock- boils down to offer a very narrow world of India 2020). Offering a corrective, down?” (Burgess 2020). Scheper-Hughes’s view of persons as patients, distress as Miraj Desai presses for a paradigm shift (1992) research in drought-stricken disorders and power imbalances as away from insularity towards travel and villages of Brazil showed how hunger chemical imbalances. movement to the world outside the clinic became so normalised that medicines I remember my clinical training days that radically has an impact on the public began to replace food for the starving when I was eager to learn family therapy mental health poor. A report by the United Nations that was popularly the domain of the to allow clinical psychology to better under- special rapporteur on right to health department of psychiatric social work. stand people’s lives in their communities, presented evidence showing that social When I expressed my eagerness to my to more deeply perceive social structures, justice and quality of social relationships clinical psychology faculty, I was not to help challenge the fi eld’s theoretical and cultural presuppositions, to better engage di- are the main determinants of mental allowed to reach out to them. My friends verse viewpoints, voices and practices that UNHROHR health ( 2019). Experiences of from psychiatric social work were denied often get marginalised, and to more directly multiple discrimination put people at permission to learn to conduct IQ (intel- partner with those groups fi ghting for social higher risk for mental health problems. ligence quotient) tests and the much- change. (Desai 2018: 4) Stefan Priebe, a psychiatrist, maintains hyped Rorschach tests by the clinical Johnstone (2000) remarks that in the that lack of political involvement has been psychology department. Some modules course of professional training of psychia- a signifi cant failure for the profession of the workshops were reserved to trists, common sense attempts to make of psychiatry. He succinctly states that students of the hosting department so sense of people and their distress are “political engagement appears a moral that other department students do not ignored as evidence-based medicine pre- imperative for a credible profession with get the “secrets” of their popular thera- cludes such efforts. Limited or no expo- coherent values” (Priebe 2015). pies. While four of us were block-posted sure to social sciences and humanities and My experience at two central govern- at a mental health institution, the reply psychiatry’s shift towards the “neuro”— ment-run mental health institutions fi rst to the request to clinical psychology neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuro- as a trainee and later, as a clinical psy- faculty to allow us to sit for classes on pathology, neuropharmacology and genet- chologist revealed the intense power play psychotherapy was spontaneous but ics—makes the situation worse. In the among the various stakeholders. These shocking: “Psychotherapy classes are age of “many psychiatries” where psy- included psychologists, psychiatric social only for our students.” chiatry is divided along various perspec- workers, psychiatric nurses and psychia- Sheer insularity among mainstream tives, ontologies and epistemological trists and the mental health professionals mental health institutions in opening standpoints, a majority of mental health and “other” supporting staff and patients. up towards even their own fraternity is professionals who get trained in main- The display of hierarchy was so intense monumental evidence of parochialism stream psychiatry largely appropriate the that the greetings extended by the Class IV towards “others” constricting a broader biomedical “ways of knowing” as a part ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY workers were not reciprocated by most world view about the mind, mental of their strategy to stay within the pres- of the clinicians even though they met health and different ways of being in tigious camp of medicine (Rose 2018). each other at the workplace every day. the world. We also see a dearth of This shows the lack of acknowledgement mainstream mental health professionals, Mental Health Institutions of the “other” based on one’s superior including clinical psychologists and Mental health policy rhetoric of biopsycho- social status; a vivid case of erasure psychiatric social workers speaking social model and intersectoral approach and violation of natural justice. This about sociopolitical sufferings from a seldom gets translated into praxis. For a mimics what Harsh Mander (2015) rights-based perspective even though a recent example, mental health institutions refers to as “looking away” at both the lot of prominent social scientists and ac- have failed to uphold its constitutional state and individual levels. Lack of tivists have fervidly expressed concerns duty (primarily a moral obligation) to ad- acknowledgement denies the existen- about the denial of natural justice to here to the Supreme Court’s order asking tial rights of the staff and is a painful lakhs of migrant daily wage workers state parties to disseminate its landmark feeling that affects mental health. Are (Bhargava 2020a, 2020b; Baruah 2020; 2018 judgment on decriminalisation of

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 41 INSIGHT same-sex love to create awareness on (McKinnell 2020; Serdarevic 2020). focus is essential in mental health systems sexual diversities amongst the public. Researchers also contend that task-shift- to shape a humane discipline of psychiatry. Mental health systems in India have ing has the danger of becoming merely Even though I do not deny the existence not been able to come out with a single task dumping of healthcare activities of extreme conditions where judicious awareness campaign on lesbian, gay, (Kohrt and Griffi th 2015). Another reason interventions by sensitive mental health bisexual, transgender, queer, inter- why mental health is witnessing intense professionals may be helpful, it becomes sexed and ally community (LGBTQIA+) task-shifting may be attributed to the imperative to respond systemically if issues when news of suicides on account of lack of objective medical investigations the problem is systemic rather than non-heteronormative sexual orientations and struggle for explanatory power “pathologising and treating everyday keep coming in. A bisexual student’s characteristic of psychiatric diagnostic life” (Burstow et al 2014). suicide (in Kerala) exposed yet another categories. Research on task-shifting in Should mental health professionals instance of notorious conversion therapies Kerala has shown that it is a complex from tertiary care mental health institu- practised by mental health professionals socio-politico-moral process that accel- tions be roped in to provide “counsel- to “treat” non-heteronormative sexualities erates medicalisation and professional- ling” when we have a severe shortage of (Desai 2020; Sharma 2020). The Analy- isation of non-psychiatric professionals mental health professionals to take care sis of the websites of three central mental with fatal consequences for the most of people with severe mental health health (academic) institutions (www. marginalised population (Kottai and issues? Criticisms were raised by NIMHANS lgbrimh.gov.in, www.cipranchi.nic.in, Ranganathan 2020). alumni themselves against NIMHANS www.nimhans.ac.in) suffi ces to signify closing its door on patients for more how medicalised they are in their Avoiding Social Context than two months even after the lockdown approach to mental health. Even the NIMHANS conveyed to the court that it was eased. Many poor patients had to legislative provisions of various mental provided “counselling” to 21,000 migrant rely on private hospitals for treatment health-related affi rmative laws (for ex- workers in Karnataka (Chauhan 2020; (Rao 2020) as priority of NIMHANS shifted ample, the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, Plumber 2020). This is a demonstration to providing counselling to lockdown the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that intervention is being “done” by the citizens and migrant workers (Urs 2020). Act, 2016) and copies of judgments of the state, which is quickly and easily materi- There is a need to refl ect on the paradox apex court which have immense social alised through knee-jerk tele-counsel- inherent in this overstated approach to justice repercussions are not available ling to the most vulnerable and weak citi- mental health during COVID-19 pandemic. for public dissemination on any one of zens. Will counselling restore/improve At such a juncture, framing of COVID-19 these websites. “mental health” when life itself is on the as a signifi cant mental health problem in Mental health is thus transformed verge of total collapse? As Boyle poign- need of mental health assistance opens into an individual medical problem to antly puts it, such strategies to avoid up critical questions. be rectifi ed by helpline numbers and social context “are actually ways of First and foremost, can we label the psychopharmacological interventions di- obscuring the operation of power and of very disturbance, distress and disability vorcing them from oppressed people’s protecting relatively powerful groups caused by the pandemic as mental traumatic contexts. The National Institute from scrutiny” (Boyle 2011: 39). This fear health problem? Is it ethical to defl ect of Mental Health and NeuroSciences of social context, widespread among all attention of the already scarce mental (NIMHANS) guidance manual on mental mainstream psy disciplines, including health professionals from people with health in the times of COVID-19 has com- psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology severe mental health issues to COVID-19, fortably transmogrifi ed every aspect of and psychiatric social work, is danger- which has turned out to be a human COVID-19 beginning from quarantine to ous, for it does more harm than good for rights disaster for the most vulnerable? post-COVID-19 phase as a mental health the most vulnerable people. Focus on In this context, regular expression of crisis that needs to be rectifi ed through the individual “creates a kind of institu- sadness for living in such harsh environ- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY individual counselling, and psychophar- tionalised ignorance about how our social ments get reconfi gured as symptoms of maceuticals eclipsing the exterior aspects and personal contexts relate to how we mental illness to be treated by the globally of human lives lived on the margins of feel, think and act” (Boyle 2013) that dominant biomedical model (Mills 2015). the social (NIMHANS 2020). This narrow fails to locate “mental and emotional Scholars have emphasised on the need outlook overstates vulnerability in the distress as a social justice issue” (Rimke for understanding distress in marginal- vulnerability-stress model and reinforces 2016). Writing about child mortality, ised populations outside the medical the idea that adverse contexts are conse- Mehdi (2019) argues in her book that framework and addressing its social quences and not causes (Boyle 2011, 2015). child mortality, which is perceived widely determinants by employing a rights-based Scholars have expressed concerns at the as a biomedical issue, and vaccination approach (Gikonyo 2014; Tribe 2014). increasing prescription of psychiatric being projected as its solution, is primarily Nikolas Rose argues prolifi cally that drugs during COVID-19 for sadness and a problem of justice and that a justice- increasing mental disorders projected as anxiety, which are natural and “normal” oriented approach is vital for affi rmative “burden” in the global South has to do with reactions to an unprecedented situation policies to check child mortality. Similar high prevalence of social determinants of

42 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly INSIGHT mental health related to neo-liberal capi- vulnerable sections. In this context, a unkind system is indicative of failure of talism. He asks prolifi cally: more ecologically valid intervention is “embodied interaffectivity” and “inter- aggressively addressing the systemic corporeality” (Fuchs 2017) and defi ciency [D]o the fi gures on the prevalence of mental distress, however it is organised, refl ect the failures other than framing the distress as of political empathy; “empathy that joins personal consequences of the “organisation of “mental health concerns” in need of (tele) with the individual and group based on misery” that characterises the political manage- therapy and drugs. Either adjustment or social location and oppression” (Burstow ment of so many societies in our contempo- maladjustment to injustice does not 2003: 1310). A human science that does rary world? (Rose 2018) invalidate injustice. Maladjustment to not address oppressive political struc- Roping in mental health institutions injustice is a sign of resistance and agency. tures while seeking to improve personal by the governments to provide “counsel- When the pandemic and an apathetic experiences amounts to extraordinary ling” to migrant daily wage workers who state combine to cause immense suffer- failure. have been the worst victims of state ing to the most vulnerable citizens, I invoke Gandhi’s Talisman (Tripathi oppression illustrates the connivance psychiatry should not be allowed to 2020) to take a hard look at experience- of psychiatry and state in ignoring a distil that suffering into a simplistic distant mental health practices, for it is human rights crisis. Both psychiatry and psychiatric diagnostic category that is a call to bring the ethics question back the state happen to be in a win-win situ- not as straightforward as a diagnosis of into our mental health systems: Have ation; psychiatry’s voice gets amplifi ed, a broken bone. counselling and psychopharmaceuti- and the state’s oppression gets reconfi g- The elitist mainstream mental health cals helped the poorest of the poor, the ured as individual psychological prob- discourses have miserably failed to offer starving daily wage workers? Until and lems to be cured by the “expert” mental richness of rights-based language to unless mental health systems recognise health professionals. The Indian Associ- account for the trauma suffered by the the fact that mental health is not only ation of Clinical Psychologists’ (IACP) daily wage migrant workers. We did not about disordered individual minds and Kerala chapter complained that school see the fl agship organisations of psychi- brains but also about disordered socie- psychologists without an MPhil degree atric social workers, psychologists, and ties, they tend to put the psychological at in clinical psychology and Rehabilitation psychiatrists voicing concerns or issuing the heart of the psychological. It is high Council of India (RCI) registration were a position statement over this human time all of us urged the mental health providing psychosocial support for lay- rights crisis when social scientists, law- systems to put the “political at the heart persons and people in quarantine. The yers and people across the spectrum of of the psychological and the psychological state nodal offi cer of the mental health society converged to offer support to at the heart of the political” too (Good et programme responded that it is the pro- the workers demanding safe stay, food, al 2008: 2). It would go a long way in fessional rivalry that instigates clinical accommodation and safe travel back resisting the gravitational pull of psychi- psychologists to term government school home.6 By “making [their] world go atry in defi ning and redefi ning political counsellors with a postgraduate degree away” (Boyle 2011), psychology, psychi- economy of hunger, homelessness and in psychology as unqualifi ed to provide atric social work and psychiatry have increasing inequalities to the extent of psychosocial support. The offi cer also benefi ted in front-staging a “mental losing its sheer meaning (Mander 2012). clarifi ed that as the programme is not health crisis” that would cease to exist When diverse understandings of a intended for treatment of mental illness, once they are provided justice and complex human rights issue are replaced it cannot be mandated to have clinical human rights protection. The landmark with a single story of mental health psychologists on board as hunger cannot book Compound Solutions: Pharmaceuti- problem, it is vital to resist the psychiat- be addressed by counselling. Psychosocial cal Alternatives for Global Health written ric politics that executes psychiatric re- support is meant to identify those who in the context of tuberculosis argues sponses to systemic problems. Such a require food, he explained (Manorama that due to overwhelming population much-needed shift away from psychiatric Lekhakan 2020). This exemplifi es the tuberculosis affects, pharmaceutical forms of truth-telling and knowledge mak- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY urge of clinical psychologists who are in companies are not interested in develop- ing about social suffering would also help the lower hierarchy of mental health pro- ing better drugs for the deadly disease us in ensuring facilities and medical care fessionals to gain visibility and authority (Craddock 2017). to those who are really in need of psychi- to “treat” everyday life hassles pitching a Taking this fast forward, avoiding atric services. Ultimately, human rights large tent of “patients” to be cured by their social context and abstaining from need to be invoked as an essential tool in “expert” professional interventions. political activism in the face of human the practice of mental health to enable suffering benefi ts the mental health reconstruction of people’s sufferings, Conclusions industry in gaining visibility and market which would pave the way in bridging the The fundamental problem in the re- for “global monoculture of happiness” vast gulf between academia and activism. sponse of mental health systems to the where people are urged to think that all COVID-19 pandemic crisis is the avoid- social ills can be cured with pills and Notes

ance of the sociopolitical circumstance, individualised psychological therapies 1 The full song titled “The Long March of which is at the core of suffering of the (Ecks 2014). The inhibition to diagnose an the Locked-down Migrants” can be accessed at

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 43 INSIGHT

People’s Archive of Rural India YouTube chan- 2013, https://theconversation.com/mental-ill- Howard, Jacqueline (2020): “Racism Is a Public nel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ5 ness-isnt-all-about-brain-chemistry-its-about- Health Issue and ‘Police Brutality Must Stop’, ZrakzmIQ. life-13976. Medical Groups Say,” 1 June, https://edition. 2 The state of Kerala is an exception as its — (2015): “Is Clinical Psychology Fearful of Social cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/racism-public- response to the pandemic has been caring and Context?” YouTube, viewed on 27 May 2020, health-issue-police-brutality-wellness-bn/in- inclusive of their guest workers. See Week https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?V= dex.html. (2020) and Jacob (2020). Kt4jctdpuoc. Times of India (2020): “Migrant Workers Sprayed 3 I use “migrant workers” as employed in majori- Burgess, Rochelle (2020): “COVID-19 Mental- with Disinfectant in UP,” 30 March, https:// tarian public discourse. 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Nair, Janaki (2020): “Some Must Take Barefoot to Scroll.in (2020): “COVID-19: Dalit Family in Hary- Tripathi, Salil (2020): “Mahatma Gandhi’s Talisman the Highway, Others Make Privileged Journeys,” ana Attacked for Allegedly Not Following PM’s Is More Relevant Than Ever Today,” Livemint, Indian Express, 28 May, https://indianexpress. Call to Turn Off Lights,” 9 April, https://scroll. 2 April, https://www.livemint.com/opinion/ com/article/opinion/columns/coronavirus-la- in/latest/958665/covid-19-dalit-family-in-har- columns/mahatma-gandhi-s-talisman-is-more bour-ministry-migrants-movement-cri- yana-allegedly-attacked-for-not-following- -relevant-than-ever-today-11585772154724.html. sis-6430535/. pms-call-to-turn-off-lights. Urs, Anil (2020): “NIMHANS to Offer Mental NIMHANS (2020): “Mental Health in the Times of Sebastian, Manu (2020): “Migrants Crisis: SC Health Counselling to Lock-Down Citizens,” COVID-19 Pandemic: Guidance for General Wakes Up Finally; Thanks to HCs & Public Crit- Business Line, 30 March, https://www.thehin- Medical and Specialised Mental Health Care icism By Ex-Judges & Lawyers,” 27 May, htt- dubusinessline.com/news/nimhans-to-offer- Settings,” Department of Psychiatry, National ps://www.livelaw.in/columns/migrants-cri- mental-health-counselling-to-lock-down-citi- Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, sis-sc-wakes-up-fi nally-thanks-to-hcs-public- zens/article31211009.ece. Bengaluru, http://nimhans.ac.in/wp-content/ criticism-157366. UNHROHR (2019): “UN Expert Highlights Impor- uploads/2020/04/MentalHealthIssuesCOVID- Serdarevic, Mirsad (2020): “When Medications tance of Social Relationships for Mental Health 19NIMHANS.pdf. Hurt: How the COVID-19 Crisis Highlights And Well-being,” 24 June, https://www.ohchr. Offbeat CCU (2020): “Northeast Indians Say #Sto- Serious Problems with Psychiatric Treatment,” org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. pRacism,” 16 April, https://livewire.thewire. Psychology Today, 11 April, https://www.psy- aspx?NewsID=24731&LangID=E. in/out-and-about/watch-northeast-indians- chologytoday.com/us/blog/sound-bell/ Vaidyanathan, A and Shylaja Varma (2020): “Send say-stopracism/. 202004/when-medications-hurt. Migrants Home within 15 Days, Drop Cases: Pinto, Sarah (2011): “Rational Love, Relational Sharma, Deepsikha (2020): “Problems with Supreme Court to States,” NDTV, 9 June, Medicine: Psychiatry and the Accumulation Conversion Therapy & the Search for Justice https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/identify- of Precarious Kinship,” Culture, Medicine, and for Anjana,” 27 May, https://feminisminindia. migrant-workers-send-them-home-within- Psychiatry, Vol 35, No 3, pp 376–95. com/2020/05/27/problems-conversion-thera- 15-days-supreme-court-orders-states-says-cas- py-search-justice-anjana/. es-against-them-should-be-dropped-2243061. Plumber, Mustafa (2020): “21,000 Migrant Workers Counselled During Lockdown: NIMHANS Tells Stranded Worker’s Action Network (2020): “21 Days Varma, Saiba (2016): “Disappearing the Asylum: Karnataka HC,” 29 April, https://www.livelaw. and Counting: COVID-19 Lockdown, Migrant Modernizing Psychiatry and Generating in/news-updates/nimhans-counselled-21000- Workers, and the Inadequacy of Welfare Meas- Manpower in India,” Transcultural Psychiatry, migrant-workers-during-lockdown-155942. ures in India,” 15 April, https://ruralindiaonline. Vol 53, No 6, pp 783–803. org/library/resource/21-days-and-counting- Venkataraman, Padmaja (2020): “‘COVID-19 Priebe, Stefan (2015): “The Political Mission of Psy- covid-19-lockdown-migrant-workers-and-the- Reaffi rmed India’s Caste, Class Inequalities’: chiatry,” World Psychiatry, Vol 14, No 1, pp 1–2. inadequacy-of-welfare-measures-in-india/. 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Questioning the Orthodoxies —Partha Ray ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Finance and Monetary Policy beyond Neo-liberalism: The Way Ahead for Emerging Markets —Rakesh Mohan Regime shifts in Indian Monetary Policy and Tenures of RBI Governors —Utso Pal Mustafi , Rajeswari Sengupta Economic Slowdown and Financial Fragility: The Structural Malaise of India’s Growth Process —Zico Dasgupta Financial Misconduct, Fear of Prosecution and Bank Lending —Abhiman Das, Avijit Bansal, Saibal Ghosh Time-varying Nature of Stock Market Interdependence: A Global Perspective —Avishek Bhandari, Kamaiah Bandi

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Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 45 SPECIAL ARTICLE

The Popular Aesthetics of Social Mobility

Akshaya Kumar

Reflecting on the aesthetic trajectory of the idea of social ocial mobility as a thematic axis around which various mobility in Hindi cinema and situating such film texts “pleasures” could be mounted, has been a long-standing within the long history of the optical relation between Skernel of Hindi cinema, particularly of the relatively big- budget star vehicles aimed towards attracting a mass audience. cinema and the city, this article argues that the film One could distinctly recall the fi lms of 1970s–1980s featuring Gully Boy’s (2019) quest is anchored within neo-liberal Amitabh Bachchan, for the manner in which they showcased a freedoms, albeit topped with a laudable linguistic cross section of the city while narrating a tale of the protago- experiment. In comparison with the social mobility films nist’s rapid ascent. In the years to follow, numerous fi lms would deploy the social-mobility text to profi le the city as a of the last three decades, the film is marked by certain stack of identifi able tiers, segmented by infrastructural barri- key departures and new blind spots, which occasion a ers and communal bonds of solidarity. rethinking of popular culture, particularly due to its Indeed, rapid social mobility was nearly always projected as increasing over-reliance on the attention economy driven by an inner evil that would be duly punished via a self-confessional account—one of the last instances of which of social media. was witnessed in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992). In the last three decades, however, such narratives have undergone a rapid decline. It may be a good idea to investigate the popular aesthetics of social mobility, which have shifted from the mainstream of fi lm-going habitus to the margins of the cinema-city organism, for which the promise of social mobility constitutes its inner vitality.

The Cinema-city Organism The idea of social mobility, in all possible valences, has held much sway over cinema for at least three reasons. First, the destiny of cinema in India has been deeply tied to large- scale migration to cities. This includes both the working classes and the salaried middle class. The promise of social mobility has provided the defi nitive overlap between the aspi- rational profi le of the audience as well as that of an outsider- protagonist, who intervenes, interferes and interrogates via satire, action, public shaming or by self-incrimination. It allows popular cinema, in general, to make formal crossovers and aggregate a variety of pleasures. Second, the social-mobility ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY text also carries the legacy of fi lm history and its maturation in the furnace of postcolonial nation-building. Particularly in the fi gure of Raj Kapoor, Hindi cinema found its peculiar formal and scalar stability by foregrounding cinema’s self-confessional affi liation to nation-building. Providing social mobility was key to the basis of national citizenship segmented by class, The author is grateful to Sreedeep Bhattacharya and the anonymous caste, language and region-specifi c boundaries. It offered a peer-reviewer for the comments on an earlier draft of this article. cumulative affordance to amplify the role of cinema. Akshaya Kumar ([email protected]) teaches at the School of Third, the blend of social mobility narratives with the epic Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Indore. sweep of melodramas allowed cinema to index the city in His monograph, Provincializing Bollywood: Bhojpuri Cinema in the terms of classes and saturate the frames and narratives with Comparative Media Crucible, will be published by Oxford University fascinating contradictions and diversity. The ode to the city, Press (New Delhi) in late 2020. imagined in terms of confl ictual image-making—frames

46 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE within frames, play with foregrounds and backgrounds, verti- moral compass, have been increasingly set aside in favour of a cality and horizontality, style and squalor—which have consti- genre-oriented packaging of the cinema-city organism. If tuted the mainstay of “artistic” optics of journalistic, anthro- the idea of social mobility brought cinema and the city pological and creative knowledge economy, comes alive in together to offer a new postcolonial, imaginary, Hindi cinema cinema when the verbal enterprise is allowed to mount the in the 21st century largely offers most of the activity on genre- optics of cinema and the city. In such an imaginary, cinema specifi c optics. In effect, the cinema-city organism has gradu- and the city are implicated in each other as complementary ally shifted its focus to complex subjectivities suspended in optical systems constituting a singular organism that feeds between polarities at best, even as its optical self-defi nition is insatiably on capital. increasingly tethered to the provincial or historical counter- In a sense, then, cinema has a privileged point of “view” to point, as in so-called small-town fi lms or period dramas. In investigate and delineate the city, making it both complex this paper, I will discuss the neo-liberal revisitation of the and legible. But, of course, by the same token, it may prefer cinema-city organism in Gully Boy vis-à-vis some recent fi lms, covering up for the city by way of “distractions,” since it is particularly Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008) (hereafter referred hardly in the best interests of popular cinema to reveal the to as Oye Lucky). environment in which it germinates. In fact, social-mobility texts repurpose the cinema-city organism to open up the Social Mobility in Recent Films “enormous semiotic playground of the city’s signage” with the Oye Lucky is set in a rapidly transforming New Delhi, increas- help of the media production toolkit. This process of repur- ingly constituted by a multiplicity of fl ows, caught between posing is not unlike the Las Vegas fi lms of Hollywood that the provincial and global infl ections. I have discussed at deploy the “neon signage clustered against the night sky” to length the friction between these infl ections in my earlier navigate the alleys of compulsive overconsumption as the work on the provincialising imperative, which is marked by kernel of American identity (Goggin 2015: 252). two key features that determine the shape of our urban every- This cinema-city organism allows the fi lms to mount a day: architectural indifference and time warfare (Kumar demographic and psychographic cross section of “the social,” 2013). Oye Lucky features a charming burglar as a protagonist so as to illustrate and amplify the class-based indexing of who grew up in a West Delhi suburb. Lucky is irrationally neighbourhood communities, individual aspirations and the and insatiably drawn towards affl uent neighbourhoods attendant frictions between them. Indeed, much of Hindi and objects of wealth. He is in a perpetual hurry not to get cinema in the 20th century was shaped by the overlapping somewhere but to leave behind his lower middle-class architectonics of the cinema-city organism and the aesthetics upbringing. Kanglon ke ghar paida ho gaya hun main (I seem of social mobility. The city of Mumbai was the unchallenged to have taken birth in a family of paupers), he declares once, representational territory of Hindi cinema. However, this pre- on the edge of a city rapidly accumulating wealth. Via Lucky, sumed singularity now stands challenged since the spread of the fi lm presents a biography of rapid wealth accumulation in what I have termed the provincialising imperative upon the the National Capital Region. While Lucky, the suburban boy, media industry (Kumar 2013). might be grabbing objects for pleasure in posh neighbour- The rise of competing units from within the media economy hoods, the city itself was plundering “provincial” wealth by (television, mobile phone and the worldwide web in particular) expanding into lands bought at throwaway prices for farm- has also destabilised the pre-eminence of the cinema-city houses and suchlike. organism, since other narrative platforms have their own At one point in the fi lm, Gogi, a small-time performer and optical relation to the city, as well as its rival constellations. racketeer, abuses his manager, complaining about accepting a The emergence of new media platforms has introduced us to show on a highway farmhouse, while the crowd is going wild on competing optical regimes, which often privilege a raw, “un- account of the delay in the appearance of a female dancer. The mediated” access to reality itself, over the narrative of social dancer belongs to a lower middle-class family from a northern mobility rendered over time. Particularly notable among the suburb, speaks broken English with a thick accent, and ends ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY contemporary media forms would be reality television and its up marrying a non-resident Indian to immigrate to Canada. many allied forms—interviews, podcasts, talk shows, news Lucky also shows off his driving skills on a half-built highway debates, pre- and post-match shows of all sorts and current af- in the outskirts of the city. His love for automobiles, which fairs satire television shows. All these forms offer an alterna- runs through the fi lm, is also symbolic of the heady cocktail of tive composition of immediacy and hypermediacy—two inte- infrastructure, mobility, capital and real estate. Oye Lucky gral tendencies that constitute the essence of remediation stages the intended or unintended processes by which the city (Bolter and Grusin 1999). expands way beyond its municipal territory, and unleashes a Social mobility, as a key narrative axis to consolidate variety of means without an identifi able end, of which one is heterogeneous themes, is relatively discarded while remedia- the trajectory that Lucky takes. Events, properties, automo- tion across media platforms, along with the attendant battle biles and business transactions are all multiplying around for an appropriate dressing/dwelling of intimate reality, has him, and Lucky is too skilled to remain a mute bystander. taken centre stage. This is partly due to the fact that the Another fi lm that revisits the social-mobility text from the contrasting class profi les, which anchored popular cinema’s classical side would be Raees (2017). A period fi lm about

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 47 SPECIAL ARTICLE

prohibition set in the 1960s–1990s Gujarat, Raees is caught in self-awareness of the political cartography of the contempo- an over-stylised delirium between the smuggler–gangsters of rary city marks Gully Boy, which fi nds in rap music an avenue the 1970s and the relatively outdoorsy and gritty gangster cin- by which everyday political contrasts precipitate in the ema of the 1990s. The text is borrowed from the former peri- aesthetics of protest. od and the formal expanse from the latter, but the fi lm is However, the fi lm simultaneously reassembles the non- deeply overshadowed by the imperatives of star iconography linearity of class confl ict into a linear narrative of social of an actor terribly out of step in an action fi lm. Rehabilitated mobility. In the fi nal act, ironing out the complexities, the from the dated romantic melodramas of upper-class Punjabi triumph of an individual over his inherited condition is reha- non-resident Indians into the urban slums, the struggling bilitated from its political dwelling. As a result, even as the erstwhile star refashioned himself into a working-class hero fi lm celebrates the triumph of Murad—the Gully Boy—the to use the narrative ladder of social mobility to rise through glittering makeover of his life underscores the only cinematic the ranks, as it were. destination such a politics can be allowed in popular cinema. To lend more credence to the pursuit, Raees foregrounds its We rejoice in Murad’s success in exiting a world that we exit communal harmony politics baked in the mercantilist ratio- with him. We are overwhelmed by the thunderous applause nality of “free” trade. In this case, the city is a haphazard his affected voice is rewarded with, and overlook how this blend of bazaar and festive spaces that the protagonist cuts appropriates the rage and agony he feels on behalf of his across, animatedly gesticulating and ventriloquising over social condition. The problem remains the neo-liberal deface- mundane affairs, broadly constituted by two attributes I ment of the fi lm’s political orientation, by which I mean the have termed “animated visuality” and “sovereignty effect” fi lm’s subsumption to the doctrine that David Harvey (2007) (Kumar 2017). The landscape of a social-mobility text is identifi es in terms of the unquestionable ethical value of mar- therefore repurposed for the caricatured and messianic ket exchange as the radar for all human action. agency of a star without much star power. The social-mobility text is more a vehicle of the star’s own aspirations at the The Neo-liberal Mobility of Gully Boy time of his rapidly waning power over the market, and less an Living on the borders of legality, morality and aspiration, the actual attempt at reframing the navigation of class and fi lm’s characters are shaped by the politics of the permissible, community barriers. whether in terms of class conditioning, gendered mobility or Contrary to the spectacular, loud and restless narrative livelihood choices. Through their melancholic and enthusiastic style of Raees and Gully Boy (2019) sincerely deliberates over overtures, we grow increasingly aware of the politics of urban existing class confl ict, while also gradually bringing that settlements, sexual unfreedom, joblessness and class-based broad confl ict down to the individual desire for social mobility. ceilings. For example, one could think of the sequence in For a curious parallel, one may recall the rape-revenge fi lms which Murad makes sense of his growing intimacy with an of the 1980s, in which rape was the price professionally suc- upper-class Indian American girl, Sky. He makes sense of her cessful female characters had to pay in order to take over as lifeworld on his fi rst visit to her apartment—the fl awless tidi- violent protagonists who could avenge themselves (Gopalan ness of objects, the expanse, and the multiplicative refl ec- 1997). Similarly, in Gully Boy, the submission to a reality- tions. Gradually, he comes to recognise Sky as not just a per- television aesthetic is the price the political aesthetic must son, but also the representative of a class, with which he pay to appear briefl y in the foreground before retreating. shares no common ground. The delicate tone of wonder, Just as rape-revenge fi lms threatened to destroy female amusement and pathos with which he registers, Acchha upar bodies’ self-worth before regenerating them in an identifi ably bhi hai! (Oh, there is more upstairs!), is one of the most en- “masculine” mould, Murad’s televisual regeneration from during triumphs of the fi lm. a now-defunct aesthetic of the working-class claim for Such a reconciliation is triggered by Murad’s moment of social mobility is of contemporary provenance. It is drawn reckoning for Safeena, his long-time girlfriend from a middle- from the fascination with attention metrics of social media, class Muslim family. Most remarkably, he retreats from a ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY as if it offered a radical popular affordance—pure, immediate tender moment between him and Sky declaring that living and unblemished by the constitutive optical manipulation without Safeena, for him, would be like having grown up of cinema. without a childhood. This profound rendering of the depth The fi lm features a slum-dwelling Muslim neighbourhood of his relationship not only establishes their bond as the pre- where subjects live amidst soul-crushing contrasts of up- eminent anchor of his life, but also acknowledges that they bringing, access and desires. The subjects breathe in the toxic share more than an interpersonal bond. The relatively con- air of inequality while mockingly positioning themselves on tiguous corridors through which they walk may be divided by the map of their metropolis. They are not mere victims of a their class-specifi c upbringing, but they remain connected by political arena, but deeply aware of the undercurrents the shared ethos of a conservative upbringing. Both Murad that shape their lived reality. To that extent, their view of the and Safeena walk in and out of this ethos, tentatively step- city and the world is neither innocent, like Yasmin’s in ping into the “free” world of glitter and glamour, only to take Dhobi Ghat (2010), nor cynical as in Oye Lucky, nor is it cognisance of their place in that world and to promise to saturated in the juvenile overenthusiasm of Raees. An acute return with a fi rmer resolve.

48 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE This in-between subjectivity, suspended between polarities show business, just as the fi lm itself is appropriated by the and struggling with its submissive in-transit docility, is best cross-promotional dynamics of reality television. Unlike Terry, symbolised at Murad’s father’s second wedding ceremony, who fi ghts to reclaim his rightful workplace, Murad seeks where the soundtrack switches between the rhythms of rap the uncertain freedoms of the neo-liberal variety, hopelessly music playing on his earphones and the shehnai playing as celebrated by numerous fi lms, such as Tamasha (2015) and the sound of a sacral ritual, or in the fact that Murad writes Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016). The kernel of this triumph is estab- in Urdu in the Roman script. Safeena is also adept at using lished in a false binary between the desk job and relentless her hijab to step outside the world of desire and freedom. self-promotion towards “fractal celebrity” (Beller 2016; Kumar On multiple occasions, she switches between an aggressive 2018). The false binary allows the fi lm to create a false value in and assertive individual and an obedient woman from a neo-liberal freedoms, which become the barometer of social Muslim family, by wrapping the hijab around. Both of them mobility the fi lm celebrates. live on the fringes, scratching the boundaries they identify and wish to break out of. Safeena is confi dent of her bright Deviance, Risks and Suffering in Neo-liberalism future, while Murad is partly resigned to his fate, and only What do such neo-liberal freedoms mean? The freedom from eventually comes to acknowledge his talent, which he self- work, instead of the freedom to work, is a sign of our peculiar identifi es as a tohfa (gift). Their romantic track, however, sits aesthetic morphology of livelihoods. The freedom to be unsure, orthogonal to this narrative of social mobility, intercutting as tentative and confused is celebrated in numerous fi lm texts as it recalibrates their individual positions vis-à-vis their place in a prerequisite to commitment—as if to “fool around” is the the social hierarchy. necessary condition for settling down. Freedoms of the neo- The key site to which the romantic track returns occasion- liberal world, therefore, try to wed the moralism of traditional ally is a bridge from where their paths depart every day. “choiceless” commitments with the excesses of modern capi- The bridge is built over what might have earlier been a nullah talism. The idea is to reach the same conservative destination, but is now a sludge fi lled with dry waste, mainly plastic. but without “missing out” on the pleasures of excess. To the This gulf of trash that separates the protagonists’ neighbour- extent that the star is a morphological construct saturated hoods and ends their day of togetherness is, after all, not with the fantasies of capital, their eventual submission to a dissimilar to how it begins—in the public transport bus where conservative, moralist thesis must take the long-winded route they claim their romantic intimacy in the midst of an unfor- so as to suffi ciently celebrate the freedom to “deviate.” In this giving and wasteful grind that marks life in the metropolis. neo-liberal imaginary, deviance is proportional to risk-taking, The city is represented here in its fl ows and horizons, intima- which, in the language of fi nance capitalism, translates to the cies intended or unintended, and the mountains of waste debt-carrying capacity (Ascher 2016). A salaried desk job, engulfed in light or darkness. Mounted on such bridges and quite obviously, does not ensure full participation in the neo- buses that promise social mobility, we witness Murad’s dis- liberal freedoms to speculate and gamble on all sorts of valua- comfort with the abusive world he is trapped in. It is to this tions, most of all, one’s own self-worth. discomfort that rap music renders a voice. But, of course, the On the other hand, a parallel rise in the media economy trajectory of his aspiration is contested on account of its has been that of the reality-television aesthetic. Reality televi- precarious character. sion brought together the possibility to miniaturise, while While Murad is gradually convinced of his worth as a per- intimately rendering a candid studio space with its own former, both his parents try to admonish him against such enthusiastic “mass audience.” The aesthetic invigorated the “momentary” distractions, which would not alter the funda- very idea of television, which was thought to address a mental truths of life as they see them. Murad challenges this comparatively dull and distracted audience that could only belief in their truth, which looms large over their agonising glance, instead of possessing the gaze of the immobilised fi lm lives, by pointing to the joy his music offers to him and his fol- audience in a darkened theatre (Ellis 1982). The emotionally lowers. Iska kuchh matlab hai! (There is some meaning in “active” studio audience would therefore become an indexical ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY this!)—he says—in a scene starkly reminiscent of Marlon representation of the anonymous masses, compensating for Brando’s “I coulda been somebody” in On the Waterfront television’s fundamental lack against cinema. The newfound (1954). Brando’s character, Terry, is forced to lose a fi ght he relative parity made reality television commensurate with could win, but Murad is asked to quit fi ghting altogether, it ap- cinema, signifi cantly enough for fi lm stars to perform their pears. The agonising struggle to articulate the pride and prolonged promotional bids on various reality shows. Ever meaning one searches for, in a life pushed to the margins of since 2004—approximately after the fi rst season of the popu- respectability, is what brings Gully Boy together with one of lar music show Indian Idol—cinema has drawn its cues for the the fi nest fi lms on class confl ict, refracted via an icon sitting on mass audience from television, most notably in Rang De the edge shared between the individual and the community. Basanti (2006) and PK (2014). While both the sporting bout of a boxing match and rap music This revised kernel of projecting the star as a champion of are “spectator sports” that symbolise a higher battle for self- the public cause or crowd-entertainment now has the televi- worth in trying circumstances, they are also separated by their sion fi rmly stationed in the middle of the arena. To that ultimate horizon. In its fi nal act, Murad is appropriated by the extent, we must take another look at Gully Boy via what

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 49 SPECIAL ARTICLE Anna McCarthy (2007) calls the “neo-liberal theater of suffering” attempt to leave Mumbai, as if to declare that much of the the key characteristic of reality television. Murad’s journey blame for their own corruptibility lies in the immoral charac- from Dharavi to the rap music championship studio then ter of the city, before conceding that there may yet be pockets becomes a mere backstory of suffering—the kind of quick barricaded by a community-specifi c ethic to stay back for. summary montage that has become commonplace on Indian What binds the community the protagonists fi nally choose is reality television, particularly in Kaun Banega Crorepati and not just their modest means but their moral resolution. That is Satyamev Jayate (Kumar 2014). a window unavailable to Murad in Gully Boy. His parents are Seen this way, a sophisticated refl ection on class- and in a crushingly abusive relationship ratifi ed by his grandmoth- community-based inequities is repurposed to add yet another er who approves of the domestic violence. His friends deal in chapter to the book of neo-liberal mobilities, akin to “fi nancial drugs, carjack and engage in numerous petty crimes. The inclusion” via “free basics” and ride-sharing apps. One would walls that separate Dharavi from its employers are not made of imagine Murad adding the Dharavi fl avour to exoticising moral steel, to say the least. Mumbai in his rap when not singing the anthems of social It is language and the performative solidarity of their mobility, such as Apna time aayega (My time will come). The collective consciousness that the invisible walls are built of. issue is not so much of the choice of profession, but that of This is most evident where the fi lm cuts between a training tethering one’s self-worth to the metrics of raucous popularity. module at Murad’s engineering fi rm and a rap session with Having probed the social construction of the protagonist’s his team of artists. One is an avenue for social mobility Murad self-worth for most of the duration, Gully Boy deceives us and resents and the other he aspires for. They are not merely sepa- undermines itself by eventually surrendering to an idea of the rated by his choice, as the fi lm nudges us to concede, but also “neo-liberal popular” determined by the attention economy of by the linguistic community he belongs to. Unlike the Rajus in subscribers, likes and shares (Kumar 2018). both Shree 420 and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Murad cannot simply walk in and out of enclosures and tiers on account of The Language Question “native” accomplices. Linguistic felicity and enthusiasm in On the whole, the true protagonist of Gully Boy is the linguis- Gully Boy represent an entire sensibility, a state of being, tic community of Mumbai subalterns, whose rebellion against beyond which there is acute discomfort and alienation that their political inexistence—“a case of unfreedom arising from Murad perpetually struggles to reconcile with. It is an index a linguistic disorder” (Prasad 2014: 93)—is registered in not of the warmth he shares with Safeena, Sher or his other just rap music, but also how it is provincialised in Mumbaiyya friends, as also of the alienation he gradually learns to reconcile swagger. The treatment of Mumbai slang in Gully Boy is wor- with through his music. thy of highest appreciation since it is not merely deployed for The language in Gully Boy is not merely the cache of social garnishing and occasional grandstanding. Instead, the fi lm relations, but also an eminent source of nourishment. The displays sublime felicity with the slang even for the tender mo- triumph of the fi lm is in highlighting how much the linguistic ments. Regardless of the fi lm’s other failures, therefore, its intimacy means to Murad in particular, and to the felicity ability to cognise language as the pre-eminent basis of com- that rap music essentially demands in general. Through most munity is a substantial triumph. of the fi lm, Murad cuts back and forth between alienation/ Among the social-mobility fi lm texts mentioned earlier, abuse and intimacy/empathy, the pre-eminent index of which only Oye Lucky registers such a pre-eminence. While we have are linguistic registers. His rap music is born out of these witnessed some extraordinarily sensitive linguistic nuances contradictions and emotional fatigue; it lets him avail of an emerge in the last decade, very few have been able to stage in-between language, and through that, of an in-between the contradictions, discomforts and alienation embedded in performative subjectivity. While the subsumption to neo-lib- the linguistic experience of a metropolis as vast and diverse eral environs is quite evident, the fi lm also invites us—against as Mumbai. The interpenetration of Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and its own axis of narrative progression—to wonder if Murad’s Deccani not only further nuances the urban-provincial sensi- quest would really end with an early infatuation with the at- ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY bility once inaugurated by Satya (1998), it invites us to rei- tention economy. In a key confrontation with his father who magine the city in terms of a spectrum of linguistic orienta- admonishes him against the same, Murad says, Logon ko farq tions. Murad’s Urdu-infl ected Deccani leaves a peculiar im- padta hai isse … Iska qadar hai, mera qadar hai! (This matters print on the fi lm and summons us to attend to the distinction to people … this has some value, I have some value.) But at it claims from a generic slang. the same time, there is enough evidence within the fi lm for us Herein lies a key distinction between the classical social- to wonder if Murad would not realise, sooner or later, that mobility text and Gully Boy. Two fi lms separated by almost popular investment in a media artefact is too fragile a thing four decades—Shree 420 (1955) and Raju Ban Gaya Gentle- to tether one’s self-worth to. man—are remarkably similar in their treatment of the subject. An “outsider” arrives in Mumbai to make a decent living, is Between Money and Capital poisoned and cursed by “dirty” ambition, leading to a public Among the fi lms we have discussed, Oye Lucky best documents scam before coming clean in full public view, to redeem him- some of the key characteristics of the cinema-city organism self. The key overlap is at the end where both the protagonists prior to the neo-liberal takeover. Lucky deals in cash and cars;

50 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE he physically carries unwieldy objects of wealth, like the While the neo-liberal renderings of wage employment may stereo system. The fi lm also breaks new ground by mockingly not eliminate hard labour, they continue to try and quarantine accepting a whole variety of provincial globalisms that it. The media, via the neo-liberal undergrowth within the cin- contemporary New Delhi is grappling with. The promise of ema-city organism, has largely become an ally in that quaran- social mobility the fi lm stages is propelled as much by the tining project that rushes over or drowns out the “boring bits” unintended outcomes of wealth accumulation as by the of labour’s materiality. In a certain sense, Lucky, Raees or intended ones. In Gully Boy, however, the divide between Murad could be thought of as period-specifi c and site-specifi c intended and unintended trajectories of urban redevelop- instances of the same character, however different the cine- ment are differentially arranged. The underground rap ses- matic treatment meted out to each of them may be. Their jour- sions and above-ground rap championships are fundamen- ney to popularity—whether in terms of political power or tally distinct realms of activity. The contempt Murad’s father, merely to attest one’s self-worth—is navigated through a host a car driver for an elite family, has for Murad’s music videos is of tentative entrepreneurial moves. indicative of a deeper divide between the attention economy Regardless of their aspirations, means and talents, what the and its predecessors. cinema-city organism draws out of them is determined by the To qualify for neo-liberal cool, to cross the aspirational character of capital’s contemporary toolkit. The mobility they threshold, work must not look like actual work; it should in- are propelled by, however extraordinary it may be, is mandat- stead appear in the stylised forms of “free choice.” Most curi- ed to them by capital’s contingent reconfi gurations of the cine- ously, for example, we know that when Murad goes through a ma-city organism. Both Lucky and Raees are, however, tragic diffi cult time, he lives off carjacking while working in his characters who walk across the premises of freedom, some- friend Moeen’s garage. Yet, the fi lm treats the sequence like a what unwittingly, and are then cut down to size. Murad’s free- footnote, rushing us through actual work with heavy, un- doms instead appear to be limitless in comparison, but therein wieldy objects of wage labour. In fact, Moeen is particularly lies Gully Boy’s false promise. hurt when Murad asks for work in the interim period before Going only by the evidence present within the fi lm, Murad he could fi nd something “adequate,” promptly responding, is able to enter the competition only because of his substantial Kyun? Ye dhang ka nahi hai kya? (Why? Is this not adequate?). partnership with Moeen’s two-faced business—motor garage While the scene gives us a jolt about the dignity of work, the by the day and carjacking and drug-smuggling by the night. fi lm is unfl inchingly propelled by a fascination for the celebrity In projecting its false binary between a desk job and the aesthetics of the attention economy. freedom to discover one’s true calling, Gully Boy may have

National Family Health Survey-4 February 8, 2020

Twenty-five Years of the NFHS: Lessons for the Future —S Irudaya Rajan Quality of Data in NFHS-4 Compared to Earlier Rounds: An Assessment —K Srinivasan, Rakesh Mishra Demographic and Health Diversity in the Era of SDGs —K S James, S Irudaya Rajan, Srinivas Goli Trends, Differentials and Determinants of Child Marriage in India: Evidences from Large-scale Surveys —Sanjay Kumar

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Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 51 SPECIAL ARTICLE expertly hidden this interim toolkit as well as its unwieldy fi lm and television economies, and partly about media’s materiality. The carjacking montage does not only make it increasing reliance on advertising capital, for which its look too easy, it hides from us how the stolen vehicles were claims to popularity must be based on a tangible promotional transacted further, what the material form of money received calculus (Kumar 2020). was, and how it was stored away. As we know from Lucky’s story, Where do they leave the optics of the cinema-city organ- there would be challenges in that segment that we can barely ism? The classic texts of social mobility over the 20th century afford to submerge under the high-decibel anthem hailing the maintained the distinction between money and capital, cinema-city organism. which has now fallen through. Dick Bryan and Michael Raf- To the extent that social mobility is tied to the material ferty (2005) argue that fi nance capitalism, particularly deriv- form of money, one way to unpack the aesthetics of social atives, has falsifi ed the conventional distinction, leaving no mobility is to engage with how they handle the spectre of separation between a “real” economy of values and epiphe- actual money. The classic action fi lms of the 1970s–1990s fet- nomenal fi nancial markets. The money form was key to the ishised cash itself—in briefcases and trunks, apart from the optics of cinema-city organism, whether in Shree 420 or Raju gold biscuits—the social mobility they offered was funda- Ban Gaya Gentleman, to illustrate what it feeds on and to slip mentally tethered to illicit means, outside the purview of a warning in the midst of an elaborately mounted and furious market regulations. In one of the later instances, even the big- but deranged fetish. budget romance drama Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) stages the In this century, however, even though capital has made the struggle of a millionaire’s heir protagonist in handling cash to money form redundant, it expertly hides behind the noisy in- prove his self-worth. Even the safest of the industry vehicles dices of popularity metrics, illustrating the cashless variants for social reproduction capital therefore deploys the money of value-productive transactions. As the pre-eminent compo- form to avail of the genuine credentials of social mobility. nent of the attention economy, in which attention could be reliably monetised, the cinema-city organism was always key Conclusions to capital’s ability to harvest attention (Beller 2006). In the Over the last two decades, proving one’s self-worth against age of computational capital (Beller 2016), however, digital the traditional wisdom and systems of evaluation is increas- wallets, online transfers, and a variety of metrics traded across ingly tethered to a more direct and immediate manifestation the platform economy have aided capital’s apparent algorithmic of popularity. Candle light vigils, mass protestations, and neutrality. Gully Boy leaves Murad at the doorsteps of compu- various “extra-curricular” performances variously render the tational capital, absorbed in the optics of attention but entirely arena of reality shows, where the optics of popularity keenly unaware of the algorithmic governance of social media plat- harvest manifest public feedback to index the popularity forms. It therefore reveals the optical blind spot of the out- metrics of the box offi ce. Such televisual affordances increas- dated cinema-city organism in the age of logistically compacted ingly mandate that the popular aesthetics attest to the pro- “smart” organisms of computational capital. Murad can barely tagonists’ valuations prior to the enunciation of the verdict. prevail over the smart futures contract he has bought, with- This is partly about the increasing interdependence of the out an inkling about its attendant risks.

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ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY putational-capital-beller/. — (2018): “Media Portfolios after Credit-scoring: mons: Language and the Nation-state Form,” Bolter, Jay David and Richard Grusin (1999): Reme- Attention, Prediction and Advertising in Critical Quarterly, Vol 56, No 3, October, diation: Understanding New Media, Cambridge: Indian Media Networks,” Postmodern Culture, pp 92–105. MIT Press. Bryan, Dick and Michael Rafferty (2005): Capitalism with Derivatives: A Political Economy of Finan- cial Derivatives, Capital and Class, London: Permission for Reproduction of Palgrave Macmillan. Articles Published in EPW Ellis, John (1982): Visible Fictions: Cinema, Televi- sion, Video, London: Routledge. EPW Goggin, Joyce (2015): “Opening Shots and Loose No article published in or part thereof should be reproduced in any form without Slots: Adapting Las Vegas,” Screen, Vol 56, prior permission of the author(s). No 2, pp 245–52. Gopalan, Lalitha (1997): “Avenging Women in A soft/hard copy of the author(s)’s approval should be sent to EPW. Indian Cinema,” Screen, Vol 38, No 1, pp 42–59. Harvey, David (2007): A Brief History of Neoliberal- In cases where the email address of the author has not been published along with the ism, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kumar, Akshaya (2013): “Provincialising Bolly- articles, EPW can be contacted for help. wood? Cultural Economy of North-Indian

52 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE

Harvard’s Trolley Problem

Peter Ronald deSouza

The most troublesome of questions, the relationship ne of the most popular lecture series ever, counting between intellectuals, truth and truthfulness is both physical attendance and the millions who have discussed. The site for the investigation is Harvard Otuned in on YouTube, is Michael J Sandel’s “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?” His brilliance lies in his use of University, whose motto is Veritas (truth), and the case moral dilemmas to introduce complex issues of moral choice if discussed is Harvard’s long association with the we wish to build a fair and just society. Sandel’s favourite disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, convicted for example, with which he begins his series, is the trolley paedophilia but whose relationship with Harvard problem. Should we intervene and pull the lever on a runaway trolley, redirecting it onto a track and kill one, or abstain and continued long after the conviction. Using the details allow it to continue on its existing path, and kill fi ve? Sandel described in the report of the internal committee, it is informs us of the moral costs of each option. What, then, is the argued that a huge gulf exists between the intellectual’s right thing to do? ideal of “speaking truth to power,” the illusion, and the The 1 May 2020 report on the Jeffrey Edward Epstein case, by the vice president and general counsel of Harvard Univer- practice of complicity, falsehood and co-option by sity, Diane E Lopez and her team, would present Sandel with power, the reality. The analytical method advocated is an interesting trolley problem. Imagine that he is standing on the “trolley problem,” which is used to highlight the an overbridge when he sees the trolley car carrying the Report difficulty of moral choices. Concerning Jeffrey E Epstein’s Connections to Harvard University hurtling towards him. If he pulls the lever, the trolley will go towards his classroom made up of moral theorists, lawyers, analytical philosophers, management scholars; in sum the entire Harvard faculty, who would subject the report to withering critical scrutiny. By doing so, the “truth” would be safeguarded but Harvard’s reputation as the social embodiment of Veritas would be seriously harmed. This is option one. Option two is for Sandel to let the trolley continue on its way and let Harvard’s Epstein’s problem die with the report’s publication. All those concerned could then return to their normal life, treating the case as merely an unfortunate error of judgment and not the “Lord of the Flies” moment that it actually is. The options before Sandel are clear: Uphold the “truth,” but by doing so, damage the university’s standing, or compromise the “truth” and protect the university. What is the right thing to do? A close reading of the report leaves one with the feeling that ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY it conceals more than it reveals. Although the committee had access to the entire university e-archive of the case, such as the exchanges between faculty and administration, the email cor- respondence between members of faculty, minutes of offi cial meetings; in short, all that was required to give a complete and The author would like to thank Harsh Sethi, Ramdas Menon, Tridip Suhrud, Thomas Abraham, Rukmini Bhaya Nair and Siddharth detailed account of the case. What was instead published on Peter deSouza for comments on an earlier version of the paper. The 1 May 2020 was a tepid 27-page report. I had hoped, in this responsibility for views in this paper are, however, his alone. paper, to keep the level of polemics to the minimum, and Peter Ronald deSouza ([email protected]) is a political scientist; former discuss only the facts as presented in the report, but reading it, director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, 2007–13; former one gets the feeling that the report is intended to feed the illu- professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 2006–20; sion of being a rigorous Harvard investigation, the fi nal word D D Kosambi visiting professor, Goa University, Goa, 2019–21, and so to speak, after which nothing more needs to be said. This is BITS visiting professor -Pilani, Goa Campus. not the case. The Epstein case raises important questions, and

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 53 SPECIAL ARTICLE therefore, this illusion of a rigorous investigation must be called This is not a terms of reference (TOR) given by the president. We out. Hence, the brief departure from my original intention not to are not told what that TOR was. In the face of this lacuna, we be polemical. Veritas, Harvard’s motto, has it seems gone awol. have to assume that the investigation was quasi-formal and con- I have introduced this question of “truth” early in this paper, ducted in good faith. Since it was headed by the vice president because, I believe, the report raises issues that go beyond what and general counsel of the university, it had the necessary gravitas. was done, not done, should have been done, failed to have On page 2 of the report, it is mentioned that 40 persons were been done, and so on. I shall discuss these issues after I have interviewed who were senior members of the administration, presented the facts. My paper is concerned less with the infi r- faculty, staff, and others. This list is not available. We cannot, mities of the report (which I shall nevertheless point out), and therefore, assess why they were interviewed or wonder whether more about what it tells us about the internal working of emi- there were others who should have been invited to meet the nent knowledge institutions, about the integrity of the intel- committee. Some of the names of eminent Harvard professors are lectuals within them, and about the place of Truth (with a mentioned in an article in The Verge titled “Professors Rally capital T) in public life. This, I have described as a “Lord of the behind MIT Media Lab Director after Epstein Funding Scandal” Flies” moment for Harvard. This is because it is the leading (Griggs 2019). We do not know if they were interviewed, even knowledge institution in the world, involves some of the best though they had taken a public position on the Epstein contro- minds on the planet who are admired for their achievements, is versy. Further, we are informed that eight reports were an institution that is resource abundant (it has an endowment submitted on the hotline, set up for the investigation, but these of $40 billion in 2020), that these questions are important. We too are unavailable. Page 2 of the report informs us that expect “Truth” at Harvard to be the bedrock on which every- 2,50,000 pages of documents were consulted, but no details thing stands or falls. Harvard is the gold standard of reason, are given on the documents used. evidence and judgment. We expect no less. This silence is intriguing. Further, the report has no mention of the public controversy that accompanied the media exposure The Case of Epstein’s lavish lifestyle, of his sexual exploitation of minors In what follows, I shall discuss the report in four sections: for which he was convicted, and so on. It is written as if it exists (i) the procedures adopted by the investigation; (ii) the fi ndings in a social and political vacuum, while, in actual fact, a tornado presented in the subsections of the report; (iii) the recommen- of ethics was raging outside. The context seems to be deliber- dations for action; and (iv) the troubling aspects of Harvard’s ately missing in the report. We are only told of what Epstein did “Lord of the Flies” moment. I shall rely mostly on the facts within the university (a bare-bones account), but not of his presented in the report itself, and will, only occasionally, draw world that was so attractive to those within the university. on data from outside. The report mentions that Epstein chose his associates and friends. Procedures adopted: To assess the thoroughness of the investi- He generally gave Professor Nowak the names of persons he wished to gation, one needs to be informed of (i) the committee’s terms meet and either he or Professor Nowak invited them to meet with of reference, (ii) the extent of its authority to access confi dential Epstein at PED’s offi ces. (p 6) documents in the university’s archive, (iii) whether its scope These meetings most often took place at weekends although some took place during the week. (p 6) would be limited to being just an internal affair or would it, if considered necessary, also extend to engaging with institutions Were there minutes of these 40 meetings for us to assess the and individuals from outside. For example, the report mentions agenda for discussion since Epstein, “typically used the visits false fi nancial information given to the Templeton Foundation. to meet with professors from Harvard and other institutions to Did the committee meet offi cials of the Templeton Foundation? hear about their work” (p 6). Who attended these meetings? Why Further, we also need to know (iv) what procedures the committee were they so attractive? No information is available. This is had set out for its task, and fi nally, (v) what was the timeline particularly unfortunate since Massachusetts Institute of within which it had to submit its fi ndings. Technology (MIT), the big neighbour next door, was having its ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY From President Lawrence Bacow’s message to the Harvard own Epstein trolley problem when 100-plus academicians from community of 12 September 2019, till the submission of the both MIT and Harvard signed an open letter (now no longer report on 1 May 2020, it took approximately seven months for available online),1 in support of Joichi Ito the former director of the committee to complete its investigation. None of the de- the MIT Media Lab, who resigned because he had solicited and tails mentioned in (i) to (v), deemed necessary for anyone to received funds from Epstein.2 The missing context, both in assess the thoroughness and impartiality of the report, is, terms of the wider public debate around Epstein as a sexual however, available. Not even as annexures. The vice president predator and about receiving tainted money faced by a sister and general counsel, in her covering letter to the president institution such as MIT, is what makes the report so feeble. when submitting the report, states that the Findings review addresses three principal areas of focus: (1) Epstein’s donations to Harvard; (2) his appointment as a Visiting Fellow; and (3) his relation- This excess of legal, ethical, and philosophical timidity, stands ship with the Program on Evolutionary Dynamics, a program within in sharp contrast with the public statement of Bacow who, in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences that Epstein initially funded. his message of 12 September 2019 to the Harvard community,

54 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE found Epstein’s crimes “utterly abhorrent … repulsive and repre- working very hard.” After a year, he applied for a renewal of hensible.” He regretted “Harvard’s past association” with the fellowship on 14 February 2006. It was approved on 21 Epstein. What was the basis of Bacow’s judgment? Was it the April 2006. The speed of granting the fi rst approval and over- phone calls with his former colleagues at MIT or the wide- looking his lack of work by the second makes one ask why the spread media coverage that made the case a global scandal? chair and the dean disregarded the rules? The discrepancy be- Bacow’s moral outrage is, however, excised from the report. tween their memory of the case and that of the administrator What we get instead is a story of administrative lapses, false is also very intriguing. Amnesia is a recurring defence in the statements intended to mislead, arbitrary decisions, violations report. Psychology departments understand amnesia. Is this of security procedures, a cavalier attitude by senior faculty genuine amnesia or is it a cavalier attitude towards rules by towards ethical issues, selective amnesia, and, most galling of Harvard’s eminent professors? all, a craven attitude towards the fi nancier. In what follows, Strangely, the report mentions that Epstein appeared at the let me mention only a few of these, clustering them into fi ve “registration accompanied by several women who appeared in groups: (i) bypassing of norms and rules; (ii) administrative their 20s” (p 8). A similar remark is made later where he was lapses; (iii) fi nancial fraud; (iv) reputational laundering; and “routinely accompanied on these visits by young women, (v) faculty support for Epstein even after he was convicted described to be in their 20s, who acted as his assistants” (p 18), of sexual crimes. but no comment is offered on these facts. The details from MIT of the women accompanying him on his visits says more. Signe Bypassing of norms and rules: I shall discuss two instances Swenson, development associate and alumni coordinator of that highlight the ease with which senior faculty showed the MIT Media Lab, writes about one such Epstein visit. The utter disregard for university norms and rules. The fi rst took women who accompanied him were place in the psychology department in early September, 2005. models. Eastern European, defi nitely, … all of us women made it a Pages 5 to 8 of the report discussed Einstein’s application and point to be super nice to them. We literally had a conversation about approval as a visiting fellow in the psychology department. It how, on the off chance that they’re not there by choice, we could may- began by recording, without comment, Epstein’s $2,00,000 be help them. (Farrow 2019) gift to Harvard to support the work of Stephen M Kosslyn, then The second case concerns the Program for Evolutionary chair of the psychology department. It further noted that Dynamics (PED) set up with Epstein’s money. Here, I shall Epstein met none of the requirements of a visiting fellow, such only discuss one aspect of the case. In 2017, Harvard created a as a PhD degree or at least some comparable research experi- tighter security system requiring that those entering a Har- ence in the proposed area of study for him to be eligible for vard building have a Harvard identifi cation card, if they en- consideration. His application identifi ed an area of work tered unaccompanied. For those who were not from Harvard, similar to that of Kosslyn, that is, “social prosthetics systems the security informed the chief administrative offi cer (CAO) and their relationship to the environment.” To research this that temporary guest Harvard University numbers were avail- problem, Epstein indicated that he will use, in addition to able for a period from 10 days to 12 months. To get them, how- other techniques, “functional magnetic resonance imaging ever, Nowak, the director of the PED and the biggest benefi - machines.” Kosslyn admitted that Epstein did not meet the ciary of Epstein’s largesse, or the CAO, would have to recom- requirements or have the expertise to use MRI machines, but mend the applicant who would have to be photographed. The recommended his application anyway. “I wish I could have CAO “circumvented” (a term used in the report) this require- even a single student who asks such good questions or is ment, by asking the security for several unassigned access capable of synthesizing material from such diverse sources” said cards, which were granted with the condition that records be Kosslyn in his recommendation. With “great enthusiasm,” he kept of who they were assigned to (p 19). Two cards were sent recommends Epstein because he is “not just intelligent and by courier to Epstein, giving him, thereby, unfettered access to well informed” but “creative, deep, extraordinarily analytic, the PED facilities. The report mentions that Nowak and his CAO and capable of working very hard” (p 7). There is no mention permitted Epstein unrestricted access to the PED building ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY of his $2,00,000 gift for Kosslyn’s research. whenever he came to the campus. The security rules were Epstein’s application went to the administrator who deals knowingly “circumvented.” with such cases. She advised the dean of the graduate school This may seem like a small matter, but it is an illustration of not to admit Epstein because he did not meet the requirements. how the system bends to accommodate the powerful. No The dean spoke to Kosslyn and overruled the administrator on photograph of Epstein was given to the security, and hence, the grounds that a “Visiting Fellow status” was a “status within there were no alerts and no record of who accompanied him. a department.” He would hence “defer to the wishes of the Till 2018, Epstein had unfettered access to Harvard’s PED offi ces department chair” (p 7). Interestingly, the report mentions and lab. So, if institutions are rules of the game (North 1990), that neither the dean nor Kosslyn have any memory of this how do we explain this culture of arbitrariness, collusion, conversation. Epstein applied for the visiting fellowship on 1 and disregard for rules. Are some institutions impervious to September 2005. It was granted on 3 September 2005, within transgression of their rules, and if so, what are the necessary two days. He did little work during the year, even though in and suffi cient conditions for such imperviousness? Perhaps, the fi rst recommendation Kosslyn said he was “capable of observance of rules is for the ordinary members of a society

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 55 SPECIAL ARTICLE who, because they conform to these rules, keep the wheels of attend the kick-off of the University’s Capital Campaign” society moving. The wealthy and the powerful need not bind (p 13). Is it illustrative of the ethical casualness that comes themselves by such rules. In fact, perhaps, it is because they are into play, even in a university such as Harvard, when it comes transgressors that society evolves. Is this a credible proposi- to soliciting large amounts of money? If Epstein could not tion? So, we have a two-tier theory of rules: abidingness by the give money, because of Faust’s decision, this did not mean ordinary member; and transgression by the powerful. However, that he could not be asked for help in getting his friends to Kara Swisher (2019), in an opinion piece in the New York Times, give money. Nowak and Church of the Harvard Medical has a less ambivalent view: School received money from Epstein’s friends. The report this story of looking-the-other-way morals should not be seen as an acknowledges that, with Epstein’s recommendations, the unusual cautionary tale of a few rogue players. These corner-cutting foundations associated with the black family (Epstein had ethics have too often become part and parcel to the way business is been a trustee) gifted $7.5 million for the work of Nowak. The done in the top echelons of tech, allowing those who violate clear rules blacks had previously mainly donated to Harvard’s Veteran’s and fl out decent behavior to thrive and those who object to such behavior to endure exhausting pushback. program. This is the fi rst time they were giving money to Nowak (p 15). The report mentions that Administrative lapses: There are many instances of adminis- Epstein’s staff, for example, took steps, at Professor Nowak’s direction, trative lapses mentioned in the report, and whether these are to ensure that the letters accompanying Black’s gifts earmarked those deliberate or the product of incompetence is for the law school, gifts specifi cally for Nowak’s research. (p 15) business school, and school of government to determine. I This is ingenious. Refl ect on the reasoning. “I cannot take shall, in this paper, discuss just two instances of administra- money from X, but I can take money from the friends X intro- tive lapses to raise the suspicion that what is at work is not duces me to. And please ask your offi ce to get the donor to the standard explanation of ineffi ciency of personnel, but of specifi cally mention that the donated money is for my use.” the culture of power, which is so contemptuous of systems How does one ethically and legally read this behaviour. Does that regulate the lives of commoners. This is how the elite moral judgment appear fi rm, when the case is existentially dis- live and rule. tant, that is, politicians, but is more accommodative when the The fi rst instance of a lapse comes from the offi ce of then case is existentially closer, that is, colleagues? president Drew Gilpin Faust. The report mentions that she assumed offi ce on 1 July 2007 and, certainly, by November 2008, Financial fraud: Here, I shall discuss just one case. The report had taken a decision, in consultation with vice president mentions that in 2014, Nowak applied to the Templeton Foun- Tamara Rogers, that Harvard should “no longer accept gifts dation for a grant of $3 million. Nowak was informed that from Epstein” (p 10). This “decision was unequivocal” (p 10). since “the new grant related to work performed on a previous Surprisingly, the decision was not recorded and nor was it for- grant, Templeton would consider granting half of the money” mally conveyed to the faculty. The report notes that (p 16). Further, it informed him that the Templeton charter we have seen no documents indicating that Harvard formally in- required him to formed either Epstein or the faculty members whose work Epstein had demonstrate that [he] had funds available to provide the other 50% of supported of President’s Faust’s decision. (p 10) the money from another source and to obtain a letter from either an- Although the report states that the decision of Faust was other donor or Harvard attesting that the funds have been secured “unequivocal,” Nowak thought that the “decision might be and will be applied to the proposed project. (p 16) subject to reconsideration” (p 11). This ambiguity led other Nowak got Epstein to send a letter from one of his foundations, professors to ask the faculty of arts and sciences (FAS) develop- Enhanced Education, that such funds had been allotted to the ment offi ce to solicit more funds from Epstein in 2013. In a note PED. The report acknowledges that this was a false statement to Michael D Smith, then dean of the FAS, a staff member of in two respects: the FAS development offi ce writes: First Enhanced Education had never provided support to Nowak’s pro- gram and, second, the funds that Epstein had provided had long been ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Epstein is a convicted sex offender, who completed a 13 month prison spent. (p 16) term. His wealth was earned through his work in the fi nancial sector. Both Professor Gross and Jeremy Bloxham, [Divisional] Dean of the When it came to giving a project completion certifi cate to Tem- Sciences, feel that the Math department should be permitted to solicit pleton Foundation in 2018, the CAO of PED deceived Templeton Epstein for additional funds. They feel that the good his support can further, by writing that do for Professor Nowak’s research out-weighs the reputational risk of We used a gift from Enhanced Education to Harvard University fund accepting further funds from him. (p 11) 3,47,150 for the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. Is this a trolley problem? To his credit (small mercy here), The report states that “this statement was also false” (p 17). Dean Smith declined to place their request before the Gift The contrast with George Floyd case could not be more Policy Committee. glaring. He was arrested and killed by the police for allegedly The second episode comes from a lower level of administra- passing off a counterfeit $20 bill when buying cigarettes, tion, the development offi ce. Since Faust had decided not to whereas Templeton Foundation is defrauded of $1.5 million, accept donations from Epstein, it is puzzling as to why “the and all that happens is that Nowak is placed on paid adminis- development offi ce invited Epstein to come to the campus to trative leave.

56 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE

Reputational laundering: While Epstein gave funding to Florida, New Mexico or the Virgin Islands, visited him in jail or on Nowak, and secured funding from his friends for George work release, or travelled on one of his planes. Faculty members told Church at Harvard Medical School, these were not the only us that they undertook these off-campus activities primarily in their personal capacities rather than as representatives of Harvard. These benefi ciaries of his largesse. Footnote 6 of the report mentions actions did not implicate Harvard rules or policies. (p 18) that his foundations made donations in 2016 of $50,000 to the Hasty Pudding Institute of It is true that this is a private matter and not one for Harvard 1770 (a student social club) and $110,000 to Verse Video Education to legislate on, but that its faculty thought it perfectly proper to (a non-profi t whose president, Elisa New, is a professor at Harvard). enjoy the hospitality of a sexual predator of underage girls Elisa New is the spouse of former Harvard President Larry raises some diffi cult questions that I propose to discuss in the Summers. The report suggests that since these were not gifts next part of this paper. In contrast to the general counsel and to Harvard, “the review did not examine the circumstances professors arguing that this was a private matter, the students surrounding these gifts.” If the information did not have a had this to say. The editorial in the Crimson of 5 May 2020, fi ve bearing on the Epstein case, why was it mentioned? If it was days after the publication of the report states:

relevant, why did the review not offer a comment on the pro- While Harvard professors can interact with whomever they please, priety of receiving money from Epstein? pursuing such trips suggests, at the very least, an extremely concern- If these cases are to be seen as indirect efforts by Epstein to ing lapse in basic moral judgment, and we should judge them accord- build his reputation as a concerned philanthropist, then his ingly. Relegating that information to a footnote reveals the extent to efforts also took a more direct route. His publicist asked which Harvard has not only failed to mount suffi cient moral criticism PED but perhaps failed to acknowledge the signifi cance of these relation- Nowak to give Epstein prominence on the website, an ships. (Crimson 2020) offi cial Harvard website. Wrong information was given and his photograph was posted on the page. The report mentions Without ambiguity, the students answered the question: that the vice president for alumni affairs and development and “What is the right thing to do?” No grey zones for them, unlike other senior offi cials were unaware that Epstein featured on the professoriat for whom it was business as usual. the Harvard portal. It concludes with a small rebuke to Nowak that he “failed adequately to consider Harvard’s interest in Recommendations: In the light of its fi ndings, the committee seeing that its name is well used” (p 23). offered fi ve administrative recommendations on how the Seven and a half months after Bacow had regretted “Harvard’s system can be improved. These range from reviewing donations, past association” with Epstein, the report could only say that to better dissemination of policy decisions, to refusing to Nowak had “failed adequately to consider Harvard’s interest in accept donations from people, such as Epstein. The recom- seeing that its name is well used.” One wonders if there is a mendations sought to fi ne-tune the administrative system, link between such moral timidity when confronted with the which, it was felt, was basically in order. Suprisingly, even moral improbity of those in power across the institutions in though the committee was constituted by the highest authority America, and the turmoil that has engulfed it. Few American of the university, the president, it gave its recommendations scholars of democracy who preach to the world about corrup- of penalties not to the president but to a subordinate authority, tion have thought it relevant to pose such questions to the faculty affairs offi ce in the FAS and to the dean of human themselves. There seems to be a surreal disjunction between affairs to determine what disciplinary action should be taken the lectures in the classroom, especially those on justice, and in the Nowak and CAO cases. Some would consider this a the behaviour of the university’s offi cials and professors. whitewash. To me, it is a sign of a deeper problem, which I Students are taught to align their ethical beliefs with their shall now discuss. actions, which they do, while senior professors and adminis- trators apparently do not have to. The Issues In the preceding discussion, I placed on record the facts of the Faculty support for Epstein: If this was just a case of an error case, as offered by the report itself and, only occasionally, ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY of judgment by some, whereas others meet the condition of relied on evidence or comment from outside. The time has uprightness, then I would drop my harangue. But it is not. It is now come to move from a presentation of facts to a discussion a problem that seems to permeate every level of the university, of the ethical and social issues that emerge from the case. from the offi cers, to many among its professoriat, to its admini- The committee presented the case as if it was discussing a strative staff, and its social groups. This comes out very clearly series of “errors of judgment.” The system, for them, remains in footnote 13. I need to quote it at length. There is not just a basically in order—the few lapses mentioned can be fi xed problem of an unfortunate series of events, but of a persistent through additional review and reporting procedures—just institutional culture. some fi ne-tuning is required. In contrast, Bacow’s statement In spite of the ethical turbulence raging across the world, regretting Harvard’s “past association” with Epstein has the committee found the Harvard faculty largely untouched more interpretative potential and can be read in two ways. by the Epstein scandal. According to footnote 13, First, a variation of the committee’s position is that there has A number of the Harvard faculty members we interviewed also been a major failure, but remedy is possible within the system acknowledged that they visited Epstein at his homes in New York, since it is basically sound. Second echoes the position of

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 57 SPECIAL ARTICLE MIT President L Rafael Reif who acknowledged that the “tech Let me, therefore, begin by explaining why I have referred world in general, devalues the lives, experiences, and contribu- to this case as Harvard’s “Lord of the Flies” moment. If William tions of women and girls” and that Golding’s acclaimed novel Lord of the Flies was a fi ctional it took this cascade of misjudgments for me to truly see this persistent attempt to explore the confl ict between the inherent human dynamic and appreciate its full impact. It’s now clear to me that the tendency towards violence and savagery and the societal culture that made possible the mistakes around Jeffrey Epstein has norms and rules designed to regulate and contain it, then the prevailed for much too long at MIT. (Guardian 2019) Epstein episode at Harvard is clearly a “Lord of the Flies For Reif, it was the “university’s culture” that allowed an Epstein moment.” The institution has well-formulated norms and to roam unchallenged. The university’s pursuit of money, sans rules, both written and unwritten, which every member of ethical engagement, led to the “cascade of misjudgments.” It is the Harvard community knows about. Students are regularly this second reading of Bacow that I want to pursue. required to affi rm them through the “honour code,” which I do so with some hesitation because Bacow’s decision to declares that “we hold honesty as the foundation of our give the balance unspent money, some $2,00,937, to two community.” So why was there a deliberate and persistent groups, “My Life My Choice” and “Girls Educational and departure from this honour code? Mentoring Service,” who “support victims of human traffi ck- The “Lord of the Flies” moment requires us to treat Harvard ing and sexual assault,” makes one suspect that he belongs as an island in which there is, at play, all the key elements of a to the fi rst reading. Bacow is silent about the entire tainted society: money, power, glamour, sexual gratifi cation, glory, money of $9.179 million received from Epstein. Although social esteem, intellectual curiosity, and self-worth. On this $9.179 million is just 0.023% of Harvard’s corpus, keeping it hypothetical island, certain human relationships develop. poses no moral issue for Bacow. This takes us to another These, as the Epstein case shows, have violated the norms and Harvard trolley problem, that is, keep the money received institutional rules that have evolved to check and penalise from Epstein or give it to some worthwhile causes, as is being errant behaviour. This regulation did not happen, not even done with the $2,00,937? after Epstein was convicted as a sexual predator. Such trans- I have chosen to discuss Harvard because, as I said in the gression of norms and rules continued at every level of the beginning of this paper, it is a knowledge institution that institution, from the president’s offi ce to the security system, stands at the apex of the global knowledge pyramid in every from the development offi ce to the section that manages the sphere: humanities, law, business studies, government, ethics, cyber profi le of the university, from the offi ce of the alumni justice, and so on. It is also unrivalled in its resources, both affairs to the Gift Policy Committee, and from the academic intellectual and material, which gives it a unique position departments to the non-offi cial social groups. There was com- from which to assess the vagaries of the “the human condition.” plicity in dishonouring the honour code. Only after Epstein And so, if Harvard can be shown to be complicit in sustaining died, and only after his actions became a global controversy, falsehood, because material inducements cloud its judgment, did Harvard sit up, take notice and produce a feeble report. then we are faced with more fundamental questions than When reviewing the report, I offered, in passing, some prop- has been considered so far. By referring to Arendt’s book, ositions to explain the Epstein affair. Proposition (i): In every The Human Condition, I have, at this juncture, brought her society, there are two sets of norms—one for the ruling class into this discussion because hers is the response, a kind of and the other for the ruled class. The ruled class has to be “Eichmann in Jerusalem” and the “banality of evil” framing, “rule abiding,” which sustains the institutions and processes of that I would like to mimic. The Epstein case at Harvard shows society, whereas the ruling class can be “transgressors” since a “culture of casualness towards collective norms by the they benefi t, as free riders, from the “rule abidingness” of the elite.” Its attempt to treat the case as a fi xable one therefore ruled class. The ruling class, to continue to rule, offers the needs to be resisted. ruled class “political formula”—democracy, rights, veritas—as This resistance will not be easy since even the New York palliatives. This is a modern version of the Pareto–Mosca thesis. Times and the Washington Post, two crusading and fearless Harvard is the ruling class. Proposition (ii): Although the ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY newspapers that have taken on the United States presidency, rules of the game are essential for a society to build trust, produced tame comments on the reports. They did not have they do not apply in certain spaces where the chosen few in the courage to take on the intellectual Leviathan, offering a society do not pay a price for disregarding them. There are merely weak summaries of the report (Levenson 2020; Svrluga no penalties if the transgressors can mobilise other social 2020). The boldest comment came from the Crimson (2020), forces—money, sex, power, glamour, and status—as factors which stated in its editorial that the report to trump the rule. Harvard’s grandees can trump the rule. reveals the extent to which our institution was actively complicit in Proposition (iii): Our ethical attitudes, which are fi rm when Epstein’s pattern of abuse. It betrays the infl uence of power, reputa- judging distant events, begin to fl ounder and get more accom- tion, and wealth, even within academic institutions that profess to be modative of wrongdoing and falsehood when the event is ex- committed to truth and the nurturing of young people. istentially close. This is particularly so, if the event concerns Because of Harvard’s tremendous public legitimacy, it is im- our intimate circle. portant to raise the issues, since they are necessary for the These are important issues, but having stated them, I academy as a whole to introspect. shall shift to the issue I primarily want to address here; the

58 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly SPECIAL ARTICLE relationship between intellectuals and the truth. While the The second case, when a lie has some justifi cation, comes three propositions just mentioned are important, they are not from Euripides’ play Ion. Michel Foucault, in his six lectures at Harvard-specifi c and concern, more broadly, the human con- the University of California at Berkeley, in October–November dition. For these issues, Harvard is just an illustration. The 1983, titled “Discourse and Truth: The Problematization of relationship between intellectuals and the truth is, however, Parrhesia” has a wonderful discussion on the question of lies Harvard-specifi c. The question therefore is: What does the and truth. Creusa is raped or seduced by the god Apollo from Epstein case at Harvard tell us about the relationship between whom she bears a son, who she abandons as an infant in the intellectuals and the truth. If we can explain it at Harvard, we open expecting him to be killed by wild beasts. Apollo, the can explain it anywhere. It is therefore to Veritas, Harvard’s father, has the child rescued, and Ion, then grows up in the core, to which I shall now turn. temple of Delphi, Apollo’s abode. Only Apollo knows his gene- The relationship between truth and falsehood has been alogy. When, decades later, the king Xuthus and his queen at the centre of every major philosophical and theological Creusa, who are childless, come to the temple to ask the oracle system, both in the East and in the West. It is too big a question if they will have a child, they ask separately. The answers to explore here, and so, while it would be interesting to given are different to Xuthus and Creusa. “Apollo’s temple, explore, for example, the idea of “Taqiyah” in Islamic theology, the oracle at Delphi, was the place where the truth was told where denial of religious belief is accepted as an option if it by the gods to any mortals who came to consult it” (Foucalt saves a life as long as the content of the deception is not 1983). Xuthus is told that the fi rst person he meets—and believed, honesty for a higher cause being the basis of the lie, he meets Ion—when he leaves the temple will be his son. To or the concept of “Apadharma” in Indic philosophy, where it is Creusa’s question on what was the fate of the son she had had permitted to stray from one’s “dharma” (moral norms) under with Apollo, the god remains silent. He is ashamed to speak. extreme circumstances, for example, when life is under Foucault writes that

threat; these conditions do not obtain in the Epstein case, so What is even more signifi cant and striking is what occurs at the end of I shall skip them. the play when everything has been said by the various characters of My attention will focus on two aspects of the issue. First, the play, and the truth is known to everyone. For everyone then waits how has this relationship between truth and falsehood for Apollo’s appearance — whose presence was not visible throughout been discussed in different fora, and second, what are the the entire play (in spite of the fact that he is a main character in the dramatic events that unfold). It was traditional in ancient Greek trag- inducements that make intellectuals, who by defi nition are edy for the god who constituted the main divine fi gure to appear last. committed to the truth, stray and fl irt with falsehood instead. … [but] Apollo does not dare to appear and speak the truth. (p 16) These are perennial questions, and so my paper should be regarded as just a modest contribution to this continuing Harvard is the modern-day oracle of Delphi. The report was philosophical quest. intended to be its answer to Epstein’s crimes. As shown in the Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his refl ections on Judaism, gives fi rst part of this paper, it choose not to speak the truth. Apollo two illustrations, the Old Testament story of Jacob and his did not appear. Is the silence defensible? I think not. I agree brothers and that of Abraham and Sarah, of when it is permitted with Bernard Williams, who in his book Truth and Truthfulness: to tell a lie. I shall recount only the latter one. Sacks recounts An Essay in Genealogy, states that the “authority of academics the story of the angels visiting the childless Abraham and his must be rooted in their truthfulness” in respect of both the wife Sarah to tell them that they are about to have a child. virtues of truth; “accuracy and sincerity” Williams (2004). On Sarah, ever sceptical, laughed at the news saying, “Will I really both these counts, Harvard came up short. It lost its way. A have a child when both of us are old?” God asked Abraham, 0.023% donation, measured in terms of its corpus, caused it to “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now abandon Veritas. Harvard needs self-introspection, which the that I am old?’” God did not mention that Sarah believed that report was supposed to do, and return to its core identity. Apollo she was too old to have a child. So was Abraham. God did not must appear on stage at the end of the play. To start with, it could mention it because he did not want there to be bad feeling give away all of the tainted money received from Epstein. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY between husband and wife. From this, the sages derived the The second question, however, still continues to trouble. principle Mutar le-shanot mipnei ha-shalom: “It is permitted If the fi rst was directed at the university administration, the to tell an untruth (literally, “to change” the facts) for the sake second is directed at the faculty, the globally renowned intel- of peace.” A white lie is permitted in Jewish law (Sacks nd). lectuals on the university’s rolls. Why was Epstein able to so Even god told a white lie to prevent “bad feeling” between the easily co-opt them? Was it because he made money available husband and the wife. We then ask: Were the lies recorded for research, gave them access to people in power, introduced in the Epstein report, and the report itself, white lies told for them to people of status, offered them a lifestyle that was the sake of some higher principle? Emphatically no. They alluring and titillating? Was it because he makes them mem- were self-serving. They were intended to deceive, to protect bers of a high-society social club? Through Epstein, Harvard’s the interests of some powerful professors and the reputation of intellectuals could be both, knowledge seekers and society the university as seen by the president and the general counsel. icons. He only required from them a suspension of Harvard’s They were not for Veritas. This line of defence too is, there- honour code and to offer him a platform for a “reputation fore, unavailable. retouch.” For the intellectuals, this was not too heavy a price

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 59 SPECIAL ARTICLE to pay. Nobody would notice. For the benefi ts to be gained, this replaces Veritas, which gets obscured by all the rationalisations. was small change. Their doing so resulted in what Julien Benda Soon, the intellectual mistakes rationalisations for Veritas. describes as the “treason of the intellectuals,” the abandonment We need to get back to a self-examination. We need to return of truth and justice for political gains. to making connections between our material aspirations and Global capitalism today has, unfortunately, with all its our ethical beliefs. We need to identify the social processes seductions, produced such complicity of “supping with the that threaten and undermine our ability to be true to these devil” among most intellectuals across the world. Saying “no” beliefs. If it can happen at Harvard, it can happen anywhere. to an Epstein becomes diffi cult, if not rare. On the contrary, one Instead of Harvard infl uencing Wall Street, Wall Street has fi nds rationalisations for such complicity. Kosslyn the chair of begun to dominate Harvard. The university needs to stop psychology wrote about Epstein, “I wish I could have even a being a corporation and return to become a university again. single student who asks such good questions.” Rationalisation Return to Veritas? Yes, Michael?

Notes petition-jeffrey-epstein (viewed on 6 May www.theguardian.com/education/2019/sep/19/ 1 Incidentally, the list of 100-plus signatories is 2020). mit-jeffrey-epstein-donations-female-faculty- now not available on the internet. letter. 2 “Now is a time to revisit how the principles of an References Levenson, Michael (2020): “Harvard Kept Ties with organisation are expressed through its funding Jeffrey Epstein after ’08 Conviction, Report process—and to explore how we can, together, Crimson (2020): “What Harvard Sold Jeffrey Shows,” New York Times, 2 May, viewed on build mechanisms to ensure our fundraising Epstein,” 5 May, viewed on 6 June 2020, https:// 6 June 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/ efforts refl ect our core values. However, the www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/5/5/edito- 05/01/us/jeffrey-epstein-harvard.html. conversation has veered into increasingly pes- rial-what-harvard-sold-jeffrey-epstein/. North, C Douglass (1990): Institutions, Institutional simistic territory, and the media has focused Farrow, Ronan (2019): “How an Élite University Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge: their attention largely on this negativity. As such, Research Center Concealed Its Relationship Cambridge University Press. it is our responsibility as members of the greater with Jeffrey Epstein,” New Yorker, 7 September, Sacks, Rabbi Jonathan (nd): “When Is It Permitted Media Lab community to add our voice to the viewed on 12 July 2020, https://www.newy- to Tell a Lie?” https://www.chabad.org/par- conversation. We have experienced fi rst-hand orker.com/news/news-desk/how-an-elite-uni- shah/article_cdo/aid/2759422/jewish/When- Joi’s integrity, and stand in testament to his versity-research-center-concealed-its-relation- Is-It-Permitted-to-Tell-a-Lie.htm. overwhelmingly positive infl uence on our lives— ship-with-jeffrey-epstein. Svrluga, Susan (2020): “Jeffrey Epstein Had His and sincerely hope he remains our visionary Foucault, Michel (1983): “Discourse and Truth: The Own Offi ce at Harvard University — After He director for many years to come.” Problematization of Parrhesia,” p 15, https:// Was Convicted as a Sex Offender,” Washington A number of prominent professors and think- www.cscd.osaka-u.ac.jp/user/rosaldo/On_ Post, viewed on 6 June 2020, https://www. ers involved with MIT and Harvard are listed Parrehesia_by_Foucault_1983.pdf. washingtonpost.com/education/2020/05/01/ as signers, including Harvard law professor Griggs, Mary Beth (2019): “Professors Rally behind jeffrey-epstein-harvard-report/#comments- and creative commons founder Lawrence MIT Media Lab Director after Epstein Funding wrapper. Lessig, Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Scandal,” viewed on 9 June 2020, https:// Swisher, Kara (2019): “He Who Must Not Be Brand, Media Lab co-founder Nicholas Negro- www.theverge.com/2019/8/27/20835696/mit- Tolerated,” New York Times, 8 September, ponte, Harvard law professor and EFF board media-lab-joi-ito-apology-petition-jeffrey-ep- viewed on 8 May 2020, https://www.nytimes. member Jonathan Zittrain, and synthetic biology stein. com/2019/09/08/opinion/joichi-ito.html. pioneer George Church (who also had ties to Guardian (2019): “MIT’s Female Staff Members Williams, Bernard (2004): Truth and Truthfulness: Epstein). https://www.theverge.com/2019/8 Express Outrage over Epstein Donations in An Essay in Genealogy, Princeton: Princeton /27/20835696/mit-media-lab-joi-ito-apology- Letter,” viewed on 10 June 2020, https:// University Press, p 11.

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ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Rural India for 20 states starting from July 1998 (also available, data for agricultural year July 1995–June 1996). Additionally, it presents quarterly and annual series (calendar year, fi nancial year and agricultural year), derived as averages of the monthly data. The wage rates for agricultural occupations are provided for ploughing/tilling, sowing, harvesting, winnowing, threshing, picking, horticulture, fi shing (inland, coastal/deep-sea), logging and wood cutting, animal husbandry, packaging (agriculture), general agricultural segment and plant protection. The non-agricultural occupation segment presents wage rates for carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, weavers, beedi makers, bamboo/cane basket weavers, handicraft workers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, LMV and tractor drivers, porters, loaders, and sweeping/ cleaning workers. The data have been sourced from Wage Rates in Rural India, regularly published by the Labour Bureau, Shimla (Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India). With this addition, the EPWRFITS now has 20 modules covering both economic (real and fi nancial sectors) and social sectors. For subscription details, visit www.epwrfi ts.in or e-mail us at [email protected]

60 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly CURRENT STATISTICS EPW Research Foundation

Wholesale Price Index Foreign Trade The year-on-year (y-o-y) infl ation rate declined to -1.8% in June 2020 from 2.0% The trade balance reported a surplus of $0.8 billion in June 2020 compared to the reported a year ago, but lower than -3.2% a month ago. The index of primary defi cit of $15.3 bn reported a year ago. Exports decreased by (-)12.4% to $21.9 bn articles fell by (-)1.2% against 6.4% registered a year ago, but lower than -2.9% and imports by (-)47.6% to $21.1 bn from $25.0 bn and $40.3 bn, respectively. Oil a month ago. The index for food articles decreased by 2.0% compared to 7.3% imports went down by (-)55.3% to $4.9 bn and non-oil by (-)44.7% to $16.2 bn from recorded a year ago, higher than 1.1% a month ago. The index for fuel and their respective values of $11.0 bn and $29.3 bn. During April–June 2020–21, the power declined by (-)13.6% against (-)2.1% reported a year ago. The index for cumulative exports declined by (-)36.7% to $51.3 bn and imports by (-)52.4% to manufactured products decreased by 0.1% compared to 1.0% registered a year ago. $60.4 bn from $81.1 bn and $127.0 bn, respectively, during the same period last year.

Consumer Price Index Index of Eight Core Industries The CPI infl ation rate increased to 6.18% in June 2020 from 3.1% reported last year, The index of eight core industries declined by (-)23.4% in May 2020 against but lower than 6.3% a month ago. The CPI-rural infl ation rate rose to 6.20% from 2.2% 3.8% reported last year. Growth in the production of refi nery products, coal, registered last year and 6.18% a month ago and the urban infl ation rate increased to steel, and cement dropped to -21.3%, -14.0%, -48.4% and -22.2% from their 5.9% from 4.3% a year ago, but was lower than 6.4% recorded a month ago. As per respective growth rates of -1.5%, 1.7%, 13.3% and 2.8% registered a year ago. Labour Bureau data, the CPI-infl ation rate of agricultural labourers (CPI–AL) increased Production of crude oil decreased by (-)7.1%, natural gas by (-)16.8% and to 7.2% in June 2020 from 6.3% registered a year ago while that of industrial electricity generation by (-)15.6% against -6.9%, -0.1% and 7.4%, respectively. workers (CPI–IW) decreased to 5.1% in May 2020 from 8.7% reported a year ago. Only fertiliser production reported an increase of 7.5% compared to -1.0%.

Movement of WPI-Inflation Rate January 2018–June 2020 Merchandise Trade June 2020 Year-on-Year in % June 2020 Over Month Over Year April–June ($ bn) (%) (%) (2020–21 over 2019–20) (%) 24 Exports 21.9 15.0 -12.4 -36.7 16 Imports 21.1 -4.9 -47.6 -52.4 Primary Articles Trade surplus 0.8 -125.4 -105.2 -80.2 8 Data is provisional. Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 0.1% 0 Trade Balance January 2018–June 2020 Manufactured Products Fuel and Power -1.2% -8 $ billion -13.6% 8 -16 4 -24 0 Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan June*M*AMF 2018 2019 2020 Non-Oil * Data is provisional; Base: 2011–12 = 100. -4 Oil Trends in WPI and Its Components June 2020* (%) -8 $3.9 bn Financial Year (Averages) -12 Weights Over Month Over Year 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 Total Trade Balance $0.8 bn -$3.1 bn All commodities 100 1.4 -1.8 2.9 4.3 1.7 -16 Primary articles 22.6 2.3 -1.2 1.4 2.7 6.8 -20 Food articles 15.3 2.0 2.0 2.1 0.3 8.4 Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan JuneMAMF 2018 2019 2020 Fuel and power 13.2 5.5 -13.6 8.2 11.5 -1.8 Oil refers to crude petroleum and petroleum products, while Non-oil refers to all other commodities. Manufactured products 64.2 0.4 0.1 2.7 3.7 0.3 *Data is provisional; Base: 2011–12=100; Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Movement of Index Values of Components of IIP January 2018–May 2020 Index Value Movement of CPI Inflation January 2018–June 2020 185 Electricity Year-on-Year in % 149.6 148 15 111 12 87.0 Manufacturing Mining 74 9 37 6 82.4 0 Miscellaneous Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan May*AMF 3 2018 2019 2020 ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY 7.9% CPI 6.1% * May 2020 are quick estimates; Base: 2011–12=100. 0 Consumer Food 5.7% Index of Eight Core Industries May 2020* (%) -3 Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan DNOSAJJMAMF Jan June*MAMF Weights^ Index Values Growth Rate (%)

2018 2019 2020 May-19 May-20 Over Year 2018–19 2019–20 * Data is provisional; Source: National Statistical Office (NSO); Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Base: 2012=100. Infrastructure industries 40.27 137.0 105.0 -23.4 4.4 0.3 CPI: Rural and Urban June 2020* (%) Coal 10.3 127.3 109.4 -14.0 7.4 -0.4 Latest Over Over Financial Year (Avgs) Crude oil 9.0 88.2 82.0 -7.1 -4.1 -5.9 Month Index Month Year 2018–19 2019–20 Natural gas 6.9 68.7 57.2 -16.8 0.8 -5.6 CPI Combined 151.6 0.5 6.1 3.4 4.3 Petroleum refinery products 28.0 129.6 102.1 -21.3 3.1 0.2 Rural (2012=100) 152.5 0.9 6.2 3.0 5.4 Fertilisers 2.6 105.5 113.4 7.5 0.3 2.7 Urban (2012=100) 150.5 -0.1 5.9 3.9 4.8 Steel 17.9 161.8 83.4 -48.4 5.1 3.2 CPI: Occupation-wise Cement 5.4 149.3 116.1 -22.2 13.3 -0.9 # Industrial workers (2001=100) 330.0 0.3 5.1 5.4 7.5 Electricity 19.9 176.8 149.3 -15.6 5.2 0.9 Agricultural labourers (1986–87=100) 1018.0 -0.1 7.2 2.1 8.0 ^In the Index of Industrial Production (Base: 2011-12=100) ; *Data is provisional. * Provisional; #May 2020; Source: NSO (rural and urban); Labour Bureau (IW and AL). Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Comprehensive current economic statistics with regular weekly updates are available at: http://www.epwrf.in/currentstat.aspx.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 61 CURRENT STATISTICS EPW Research Foundation

India’s Quarterly Estimates of Final Expenditures on GDP 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 ` Crore | At 2011–12 Prices Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Private final consumption expenditure 1769688 (9.3) 1750056 (5.5) 1911901 (5.3) 1948175 (7.7) 1889008 (6.7) 1903853 (8.8) 2046415 (7.0) 2068782 (6.2) 1992967 (5.5) 2025488 (6.4) 2182352 (6.6) 2125099 (2.7) Government final consumption expenditure 362769 (21.6) 367882 (7.4) 319547 (10.5) 293024 (8.9) 393709 (8.5) 407780 (10.8) 341988 (7.0) 335089 (14.4) 418249 (6.2) 465643 (14.2) 387729 (13.4) 380747 (13.6) Gross fixed capital formation 958859 (0.7) 967190 (5.9) 1014300 (8.8) 1120847 (13.7) 1082670 (12.9) 1077942 (11.5) 1130201 (11.4) 1170154 (4.4) 1132195 (4.6) 1035736 (-3.9) 1071838 (-5.2) 1094323 (-6.5) Change in stocks 49996 (61.7) 54050 (75.8) 52497 (78.3) 59252 (79.6) 64131 (28.3) 66159 (22.4) 63999 (21.9) 70126 (18.4) 67328 (5.0) 66999 (1.3) 64718 (1.1) 70445 (0.5) Valuables 62905 (80.1) 46317 (25.0) 39512 (11.2) 43928 (1.5) 41080 (-34.7) 44629 (-3.6) 39252 (-0.7) 44772 (1.9) 51347 (25.0) 51761 (16.0) 43368 (10.5) 46153 (3.1) Net trade (Export–import) -137041 -85422 -128661 -125231 -122238 -141491 -104580 -51926 -117242 -76355 -44444 -59686 Exports 627176 (3.9) 639543 (4.5) 646620 (4.4) 688438 (5.0) 686695 (9.5) 719352 (12.5) 748505 (15.8) 767991 (11.6) 708546 (3.2) 703282 (-2.2) 703023 (-6.1) 702809 (-8.5) Less imports 764217 (21.8) 724965 (10.5) 775281 (14.1) 813669 (23.6) 808933 (5.9) 860843 (18.7) 853085 (10.0) 819917 (0.8) 825788 (2.1) 779637 (-9.4) 747467 (-12.4)762495 (-7.0) Discrepancies 69397 132000 105705 151725 10803 73679 -17242 52683 -9576 15062 -62812 146521 Gross domestic product (GDP) 3136572 (5.1) 3232072 (7.3) 3314801 (8.7) 3491719 (7.4) 3359162 (7.1) 3432553 (6.2) 3500033 (5.6) 3689678 (5.7) 3535267 (5.2) 3584335 (4.4) 3642748 (4.1) 3803601 (3.1)

India’s Overall Balance of Payments (Net): Quarterly 2018–19 ($ mn) 2019–20 ($ mn) 2018–19 (` bn) 2019–20 (` bn) Item Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 04 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Current account -15803 -19054 -17752 -4647 -15004 -7579 -2630 558 -1059 [-2.3] -1337 [-2.9] -1279 [-2.7] -328 [-0.7] -1044 [-2.1] -534 [-1.1] -187 [-0.4] 40 [0.1] Merchandise -45751 -50037 -49281 -35214 -46774 -39650 -36040 -35042 -3065 -3510 -3552 -2482 -3253 -2793 -2567 -2536 Invisibles 29947 30984 31529 30567 31769 32070 33410 35600 2006 2174 2272 2154 2209 2259 2380 2577 Services 18676 20256 21678 21331 20075 20941 21879 22027 1251 1421 1562 1503 1396 1475 1558 1594 of which: Software services 18605 19286 19895 19868 20998 21064 21455 21125 1246 1353 1434 1400 1460 1484 1528 1529 Transfers 17031 19331 17424 16160 17964 19952 18893 18400 1141 1356 1256 1139 1249 1405 1346 1332 of which: Private 17216 19511 17558 16317 18224 20188 19132 18673 1153 1369 1265 1150 1267 1422 1363 1352 Income -5760 -8603 -7573 -6925 -6270 -8822 -7361 -4827 -386 -604 -546 -488 -436 -621 -524 -349 Capital account 4787 16604 13770 19241 28624 13580 23626 17350 321 [0.7] 1165 [2.5] 992 [12.1] 1356 [2.7] 1991 [4.0] 956 [1.9] 1683 [3.3] 1256 [2.4] of which: Foreign investment 1427 7612 5199 15856 18835 9791 17572 -1782 96 534 375 1117 1310 690 1252 -129 Overall balance -11338 -1868 -4296 14162 13984 5118 21601 18794 -760 [-1.7] -131 [-0.3] -310 [-0.6] 998 [2.0] 973 [2.0] 360 [0.7] 1539 [3.0] 1360 [2.6] Figures in square brackets are percentage to GDP.

Foreign Exchange Reserves Variation 17 July 19 July 31 March Over Over Financial Year So Far Financial Year Excluding gold but including revaluation effects 2020 2019 2020 Month Year 2019–20 2020–21 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 ` crore 3588345 478335 402538 3344616 9849 75797 15725 218620 25300 353270 68050 668976 $ mn 478335 318 17190 443645 -2836 83458 146430 16297 10160 53217 -14168 56831

Monetary Aggregates Variation Outstanding Over Month Over Year Financial Year So Far Financial Year ` Crore 2020 2019–20 2020–21 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Money supply (M3) as on 3 July 17536790 142550 (0.8) 1933856 (12.4) 170867 (1.1) 736859 (4.4) 1170657 (9.2) 1469480 (10.5) 1367864 (8.9) Components Currency with public 2571573 27167 (1.1) 461643 (21.9) 57721 (2.8) 221858 (9.4) 495583 (39.2) 292496 (16.6) 297506 (14.5) Demand deposits 1631361 33522 (2.1) 202622 (14.2) -197773 (-12.2) -106331 (-6.1) 86962 (6.2) 142800 (9.6) 111180 (6.8) Time deposits 13293677 88625 (0.7) 1266046 (10.5) 306028 (2.6) 619662 (4.9) 585266 (5.8) 1026347 (9.6) 952412 (8.1) Other deposits with RBI 40178 -6765 (-14.4) 3545 (9.7) 4891 (15.4) 1671 (4.3) 2817 (13.4) 7835 (32.8) 6765 (21.3) Sources Net bank credit to government 5635073 64532 (1.2) 825367 (17.2) 421216 (9.6) 728490 (14.8) 144799 (3.8) 387091 (9.7) 518093 (11.8) Bank credit to commercial sector 10948780 39487 (0.4) 641448 (6.2) -75387 (-0.7) -89864 (-0.8) 802225 (9.5) 1169004 (12.7) 655925 (6.3) Net foreign exchange assets 4023975 44557 (1.1) 878180 (27.9) 74954 (2.4) 222939 (5.9) 364065 (14.2) 148546 (5.1) 730195 (23.8) Banking sector’s net non-monetary liabilities 3097354 6028 (0.2) 411470 (15.3) 250013 (10.3) 124706 (4.2) 140995 (6.8) 235396 (10.7) 536777 (22.0) Reserve money as on 17 July 3182919 -792 (-0.0) 389084 (13.9) 23354 (0.8) 153245 (5.1) 518300 (27.3) 351701 (14.5) 259193 (9.4) Components Currency in circulation 2675760 15227 (0.6) 488249 (22.3) 50740 (2.4) 228481 (9.3) 494078 (37.0) 307423 (16.8) 310508 (14.5) Bankers’ deposits with RBI 467884 -16579 (-3.4) -102432 (-18.0) -31653 (-5.3) -76004 (-14.0) 21405 (3.9) 36444 (6.4) -58081 (-9.6) Other deposits with RBI 39276 560 (1.4) 3267 (9.1) 4267 (13.4) 768 (2.0) 2817 (13.4) 7835 (32.8) 6766 (21.3) Sources Net RBI credit to Government 1077033 -46863 (-4.2) 22384 (2.1) 252698 (31.5) 84841 (8.6) -144836 (-23.3) 325987 (68.5) 190241 (23.7) of which: Centre 1066981 -52294 (-4.7) 15430 (1.5) 251078 (31.4) 77240 (7.8) -145304 (-23.5) 326187 (68.8) 189268 (23.6) RBI credit to banks & commercial sector -296169 -13957 (4.9) -167704 (130.5) -281316 (-184.0) -95276 (47.4) 372643 (-120.5) 89478 (0.0) -353744 (0.0) Net foreign exchange assets of RBI 3869002 38288 (1.0) 919207 (31.2) 101208 (3.6) 278599 (7.8) 363571 (15.2) 87806 (3.2) 741816 (26.0) Govt’s currency liabilities to the public 26315 0 (0.0) 330 (1.3) 97 (0.4) 0 (0.0) 572 (2.3) 236 (0.9) 427 (1.6) Net non-monetary liabilities of RBI 1493261 -21740 (-1.4) 385133 (34.8) 49333 (4.7) 114919 (8.3) 73650 (8.8) 151805 (16.7) 319547 (30.2)

Scheduled Commercial Banks’ Indicators (` Crore) Variation Outstanding Over Month Over Year Financial Year So Far Financial Year ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (As on 3 July) 2020 2019–20 2020–21 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 Aggregate deposits 14075185 119799 (0.9) 1399914 (11.0) 101499 (0.8) 507693 (3.7) 668390 (6.2) 1147722 (10.0) 993720 (7.9) Demand 1510533 33652 (2.3) 197200 (15.0) -197955 (-13.1) -106470 (-6.6) 88843 (6.9) 141005 (10.3) 105715 (7.0) Time 12564652 86147 (0.7) 1202714 (10.6) 299454 (2.7) 614163 (5.1) 579547 (6.1) 1006717 (10.0) 888005 (8.0) Cash in hand 83392 -1122 (-1.3) 5455 (7.0) 3061 (4.1) -3868 (-4.4) -1295 (-2.1) 14811 (24.7) 12384 (16.5) Balance with RBI 441784 -3743 (-0.8) -68185 (-13.4) -55738 (-9.9) -94402 (-17.6) 16906 (3.3) 40021 (7.6) -29521 (-5.2) Investments 4218390 65693 (1.6) 672755 (19.0) 164579 (4.9) 471041 (12.6) 287494 (9.5) 62602 (1.9) 366293 (10.8) of which: Government securities 4217503 66472 (1.6) 675177 (19.1) 163325 (4.8) 478807 (12.8) 287657 (9.5) 61594 (1.9) 359695 (10.6) Bank credit 10291611 36835 (0.4) 594177 (6.1) -74289 (-0.8) -79250 (-0.8) 783965 (10.0) 1146298 (13.3) 599138 (6.1) of which: Non-food credit 10205725 36631 (0.4) 579059 (6.0) -103447 (-1.1) -113372 (-1.1) 795906 (10.2) 1146677 (13.4) 588984 (6.1)

Capital Markets 24 July Month Year Financial Year So Far 2019–20 End of Financial Year 2020 Ago Ago Trough Peak Trough Peak 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 S&P BSE SENSEX (Base: 1978–79=100) 38129 (0.7) 34869 37848 (2.8) 27591 38140 25981 41953 32969 (12.1) 39714.20 (12.4) 29816 (-21.8) S&P BSE-100 (Base: 1983–84=100) 11233 (-1.0) 10424 11350 (-0.2) 8180 11268 7683 12456 10503 (11.5) 12044.07 (9.1) 8693 (-25.2) S&P BSE-200 (1989–90=100) 4679 (-0.1) 4365 4684 (-1.8) 3416 4693 3209 5185 4433 (12.0) 4986.55 (7.1) 3614 (-25.1) CNX Nifty-50 (Base: 3 Nov 1995=1000) 11194 (-0.7) 10305 11271 (1.2) 8084 11215 7610 12362 10114 (11.1) 11922.80 (11.1) 8660 (-24.3) CNX Nifty-500 9086 (-0.8) 8496 9160 (-3.1) 6638 9114 6243 10119 8912 (12.6) 9805.05 (5.3) 7003 (-26.3) Figures in brackets are percentage variations over the specified or over the comparable period of the previous year. | (-) = not relevant | - = not available | NS = new series | PE = provisional estimates Comprehensive current economic statistics with regular weekly updates are available at: http://www.epwrf.in/currentstat.aspx.

62 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly POSTSCRIPT CINEMA Beats of Misogyny

Malayalam cinema continues to devalue the concept of consent and naturalises all violations of women’s personhood.

Anjana Menon

ongs tend to live much longer in public memory than their Raja Lakshmi (portrayed by Sanusha), as being for her own parent fi lms, and have a lasting impact on society. Some- good. The repeated portrayal of a “hero” who sneezes to make Stimes, this is because of their musicality, and some- the heroine’s dress fl y, thus demeaning the otherwise confi dent times because of their lyricism—and yet, we often don’t pay heroine, is extremely shameful and problematic. Such ac- much attention to exactly what the lyrics say. A classic exam- tions, and the complete disregard for consent, even if “only in a ple is the song “Poomukha Vathilkkal Sneham Vidarthunna movie,” cannot be ignored on the grounds of the “art for art’s Poomthingalagunnu Bharya” from the Malayalam fi lm sake” argument, as they hold the potential for multiple ways Rakkuyilin Ragasadassil (1986) directed by Priyadarshan. The of social conditioning. Both men and women are naturalised lyrics describe an “ideal wife:” as an “abode of love, an obedient to stalking. Men’s actions are legitimised by their “duty” of slave in duty, a pacifying soul and a ‘Lakshmi’ in appearance.” pursuing (pestering) a woman of their interest till she ac- This song, though more than three decades old, continues to knowledges them, and women are pictured as passive but, in frame young men’s conception of a suitable partner and a case of what is called gaslighting, who fi nally accept to love continues to be used in orthodox religious preaching in a any man who continuously approaches them. The concept of nostalgic tone of a glorifi ed past while deliberating on the consent has always been alien to Mollywood romance. “need to keep the wife at home and under control.” The 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act criminalised Malayalam movies have played a signifi cant role Pop-up cautionary stalking. And, more recently, under the directive in the manufacture of ways to express “real” love. The messages in the of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission, Malayalee audience continues to be fed an idea of present form are Malayalam cinema has started to display a statutory heroism that applauds the concept of “persuading” a incomplete and warning that “Violence against women is punishable woman to love the hero, no matter what it takes. Such non-inclusive if not under the law” while showing scenes of violence actions are often depicted as innocent expressions of used in all scenes that against women (usually not inclusive of stalking). true love and sympathise with the male protagonist. portray any violent However, this directive is not appreciable for two reasons. Fundamentally, violence in any form is an Even turn-of-the-century movies did not offer action against much respite for the female protagonist. In the offence and must not be legitimised or accepted. sexual, verbal or song “Maine Pyar Kiya” from CID Moosa (2003), Such pop-up cautionary messages in the present physical abuse Sahadevan, portrayed by actor Dileep, pursues a form are incomplete and non-inclusive if not used against any gender girl from the neighbourhood, Meena (actress Bha- in all scenes that portray sexual, verbal or physical vana), despite her visible expressions. This causes Meena to abuse against any gender, caste, or creed. Secondly, it is not lose her job—an insignifi cant matter for the moviemakers, legal warnings that we need but creating a culture that empa- more interested in depicting how she started to respond posi- thises with the victim and not one that glorifi es the perpetrator. tively to the hero’s approaches. Nonetheless, clichés and harmful stereotypes in Malayalam The next decade, however, began on a more powerful note as movies have continued to thrive. Women who wear Western movies from a feminist standpoint, like 22 Female Kottayam dresses are portrayed as lacking humility and culture in contrast to ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (2012), began to shake off the male chauvinist stronghold in the “refi ned” characters symbolised by saree-clad women. Romance industry. But, the possibility of a total shift was still a far cry. The in Mollywood seems to have no concern for the woman’s agency. big-budget mainstream movies refused to change. Songs like In movies like Thattathin Marayathu (2012), Sound Thoma “Karthave Nee Kalpichappol” (Christian Brothers, 2011), which (2013), and Jacobinte Swargarajyam (2016), the heroine is a portray a character stalking his “love interest” in the streets, mere object for the hero to objectify and adore. Such stereotypes who eventually “falls” for him, made waves at the box offi ce. propelled by the male gaze have denied and ignored the person- The year 2012 also witnessed the release of Mr Marumakan, hood of women. However, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (2014) did rec- “enriched” with rancid dialogues, rape jokes, and a derogatory ognise the existence of the female gaze—a pattern that was portrayal of womanhood by suggesting that women need to neither preceded nor succeeded by similar fi lms, unfortunately. be disciplined by a man, and denounced single and divorced Women in the Malayalam cinema industry, both on-screen and women. The song “Bale Bale” deserves special mention here. off-screen, have moved forward in the path of empowerment No logic can justify the actions of Ashok Chakravarthy’s thanks to the #MeToo movement and the subsequent formation of (portrayed by Dileep) attempt to discipline the “haughty” the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) in 2017. In due course,

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 63 POSTSCRIPT CINEMA | CARNATIC MUSIC

movies that portrayed imperfect human beings, like Kumbalangi that, for me, remained untouched, too hallowed a practice Nights (2019) and Uyare (2019) did get made. Appreciably, to allow for much change. young actors who have taken up roles that are different from Exactly seven months later, the future of this year’s Margazhi the traditional conceptualisation of the hero, like Fahad Fazil season is shrouded in uncertainty. Hit by a pandemic that refuses (22 Female Kottayam and Kumbalangi Nights) and Asif Ali to abate, it seems unlikely that the festival—with its thousands (Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha [2019] and Uyare) are ably of concerts across scores of halls big and small—will continue manoeuvring the industry away from the tradition of misogynistic in its traditional avatar. Very early on in the pandemic, the heroes. They are simultaneously helping their female colleagues Western world stepped up to the plate. By March, major orches- to prove their mettle and reclaim their rightful space, both tras like the London Symphony Orchestra began broadcasting on-screen and off-screen. But sadly, commercial big-budget full-length performances from their archives; others like the movies still prefer to run within the patriarchal narrative. Budapest Festival Orchestra ensemble began live-streaming It is certain that Malayalam movies still uphold misogyny as concerts fi lmed during the lockdown; and individual artistes much as the community suffers in the clutches of patriarchy. like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Igor Levit shared home con- While women are subdued and made to keep their romantic certs on social media. In India too, Carnatic musicians streamed feelings, sexual desires and anxieties to themselves, those who home concerts on an almost daily basis, both from personal dare (however rarely) to express themselves, run the risk of social media accounts and using cultural platforms that curat- being slut-shamed. Men too suffer the burden of patriarchy in ed presentations and advertised them online. It became having to meet the demands of being “manly.” Masculinity quickly evident that the pandemic—and the swift adoption places on their shoulders the burden of approaching the and exploitation of the online platform—had opened up sev- women of their interest, with the duty of safeguarding and eral new opportunities for the production, curation and con- “disciplining” them. While the younger generation continues Carnatic music has sumption of classical music. to be closely watched for signs of “immorality,” the movies long reverberated Historically, technological media- tend to uphold the social ills. This system needs to be shaken with connotations tion has played a crucial part in the from within, even as the potential of the industry to be the of exclusivity, manufacturing of the Carnatic tradi- tool for this revolution remains underexplored. inflexibility and tion. The introduction of the micro- [The author would like to thank her supervisor Vinodkumar Kallolickal for his continued extreme complexity. phone, for instance, marginalised some support and guidance, as well as her friends and family for their valuable suggestions.] groups of people while empowering The internet, others. Existing anthropological work Anjana Menon ([email protected]) is currently a PhD Research Scholar however, is proving points to how, while the microphone in history at the Department of History, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. Her research to be a tool of explores aspects of culture, gender and scientific pursuits in the history of Kerala. is said to have led to the disappearance democratisation of the nadaswaram—an instrument considered too loud to be amplifi ed and therefore not suitable for the concert stage—it also played a role in enabling women Of Unlikely Bedfellows to enter the realm of performance by providing the necessary amplifi cation for their “naturally soft” voices. The gramophone, Classical Performance and similarly, allowed women (hitherto kept away from the public the Internet realm in accordance with notions of femininity and Victorian morality) to be heard, recorded music to be played multiple times, and geographical and demographic boundaries to be How has the COVID-19 pandemic opened up new weakened. Today, artists otherwise surrounded by their coterie of co-musicians sing to the meditative drone of their tanpura ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY opportunities for the production and consumption of Carnatic music in the virtual world? alone. It is a new and exciting world, in which the artist is sud- denly no more an enigmatic fi gure removed from their audi- ence, and the gap between the least expensive last-row seat and Shreya Ramnath the concert stage is bridged by a small handheld device. There ast December, I sat in the last row of the Madras Music is, therefore, good reason to believe that this encounter with Academy’s stately auditorium, marvelling at how little the online space and social media may be a signifi cant mo- L had changed in the 15 years I’d been attending the ment in the trajectory of Carnatic music. Margazhi (December–January) season concerts. Every year, The challenges of the new medium will undoubtedly impact I felt the familiar exhilaration of being able to listen to my the content and form of Carnatic music—it is, after all, unlikely favourite performers live, and greeted the same rasikas that Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar’s architecture of the Carnatic (audiences) with a deference reserved for the gatekeepers concert, which was tailored to the modern stage, can be of the arts. While Carnatic music itself is often criticised replicated with equal success on an online platform. But it is as being a static art form, it was the listening experience not just the format that is reimagined; greater liberties are

64 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly POSTSCRIPT CARNATIC MUSIC | POPULAR CULTURE

taken with content too. Virtual concerts are shorter, often accompanists and others marginalised in the classical world. organised around a theme or a particular composer, may It is also true that the online concert cannot rival the ritual of experiment with genres and styles, and sometimes involve the the concert hall. Superior acoustics aside, there is great thrill artist explaining the signifi cance of their choices. There is grow- in the collective gasp let out at an unexpected variation, ing evidence that audiences across the world are omnivorous, whispered debates about which raga is being sung, and the consuming art forms both popular and consecrated with equal burst of applause after a particularly creative percussion solo. interest. It is unsurprising, therefore, that local audiences have Virtual listening is a far more individual practice, scrolling embraced the variety on offer. Perhaps, it is the novelty and comments and fl oating emojis notwithstanding. excitement of watching a reticent musician one admires from The last few months have made one thing clear: the internet afar dabble in an alien genre, but taste eclecticism and openness, presents exciting new opportunities for the production, instruc- though yet academically unexplored in the Indian context, tion and consumption of Carnatic music. Affording greater seem to be a defi ning characteristic of the internet rasika. access and a less rigid approach to the classical, live perfor- Carnatic music has long reverberated with connotations of mances and recorded videos have proven to be effective tools of exclusivity, infl exibility and extreme complexity. The internet, democratisation. Both an analysis of the impact of digitisation however, is proving to be a tool of democratisation. For on listening experiences as well as ethnographic investigation example, vocalist Saketharaman’s YouTube series seeks to of the new live concert could prove crucial to the chronicling make the classical accessible by exploring its intersection of the evolution of the southern Indian classical form. with fi lm music and unpacking its intricacies with examples. A variety of collaborative concerts with explanation of the Shreya Ramnath ([email protected]) is a doctoral candidate in sociology and social anthropology at the Central European University, Vienna, and a performer of light lyric draw in the uninitiated listener. There is little doubt that classical musical genres. Her research focuses on the festivalisation of Carnatic music and these attempts challenge the boundaries between highbrow the transformations effected by global changes to its canon, production, and consumption. and lowbrow, and work at reconfi guring the artistic pecking order within the classical itself, doing, in essence, what T M Krishna’s Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha, a festival that Bespoke but Not Woke celebrates diverse music and dance forms and seeks to subvert existing artistic hierarchies, has worked towards over the last few years. Previously unfamiliar with the classical, a “Woke” politics must go beyond critiquing and friend had just stumbled upon a series of now-viral videos of a cancelling popular culture in aggressive ways that young girl lacing popular English songs with notes from heavily do not foster a culture of solidarity and learning. classical ragas like Todi and Saveri. This virtual experiment, completely unfettered by the seemingly oppressive framework Isha Bhallamudi of the purely classical, had proved successful in recruiting a he docuseries Indian Matchmaking only premiered possible new member into the folds of Carnatic music. two weeks ago on Netfl ix, but its eight episodes have However, as the concert diversifi es from the stage to the home already generated an avalanche of reactions. The show via virtual networks, who makes decisions crucial to upholding T ostensibly introduces Indian arranged-marriage culture to a standards of performance? In the late 1800s and early 1900s, global audience, but really it focuses only on very privileged when the landscape of Carnatic music shifted from the temple Indian families (in India and the United States), all of whom and royal court to the urban colonial centre, the sabhas, which are upper caste, upper class, heterosexual and largely Hindu. organised concerts, played a pivotal role in selecting musi- Produced by Smriti Mundhra, who also directed the cians, setting the standards of classicism and becoming the acclaimed and sensitive documentary A Suitable Girl (2017), arbiters of “good taste.” In the case of cultural platforms that ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY this docuseries is fashioned differently, like an American real- plan virtual performances, the organiser shoulders a double ity show. There is a titular character, “Sima from Mumbai,” the responsibility: that of curating the event while setting and high-end matchmaker trying to satisfy her wealthy clients, maintaining standards, as well as of creating a platform that while providing meme-worthy quotes (“In India nowadays, accommodates democratic debate about artistic boundaries marriages are breaking like biscuits”). The participants are and the contestation of widely held cultural hierarchies. quickly slotted into singular stereotypes. The men are deemed There are, of course, some downsides to this brave new world. sweet, successful, loving, lazy, confused, while the women are Despite its democratising potential, the virtual concert is assessed against the familiar standards—slim/trim/fair, too unequal in its own way, only allowing for some types of artists ambitious, too rigid, too unaccommodating. The sexism, and art forms to take the spotlight. A soloist is more likely to be ageism and colourism are all too familiar. able to perform for an audience than an accompanying artiste, Throughout, the show teases intimacy, love and romance, but and those without access to or the ability to adapt to the new stops itself from exploring these themes more deeply. The format may be disadvantaged. It is unclear how it will generate format, which feels extremely American, clearly works—the show revenues for the actors involved, especially instrumental quickly became extremely popular online, especially in India.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 65 POSTSCRIPT POPULAR CULTURE

To Netfl ix’s growing Indian audience, the prospect of getting to clockwork, but stops us from asking ourselves, for instance, why watch this world of high-end matchmaking and wealthy clients we tend to only be attracted to people from our own class, caste at convenience seems to have been quite irresistible. And so, in or religion, even when we fi ght the arranged marriage system and the two weeks since it released, Indian Matchmaking has inspired marry “for love?” Do we recognise and question the ways in an avalanche of responses—tweets, opinion pieces, news arti- which our voluntary (and self-congratulatory) romantic choices cles, memes, social media statuses and reaction videos. Even refl ect the very social structures we are committed to disman- the universe of critical responses to the show is only helping tling? Do we give ourselves opportunities to think about how Netfl ix generate more revenue off of it. While we Do we recognise our personal landscape of desire and decision- critique popular culture for (even if only mirroring) and question the making buys into these structures we are comfort- regressive ideas, are we able to extend the same ways in which our able criticising, but which we rarely extend to our- critical eye towards our own social practices and voluntary (and selves in any meaningful way? And what does it mean internal biases that provide fodder for such shows? self-congratulatory) when our engagement with popular culture, more Across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, not to broadly, begins to revolve around critique in such a romantic choices mention all the opinion pieces on various online way that it forecloses enjoyment and pleasure? platforms, I was astonished to see the intensity of reflect the very The case of Indian Matchmaking tells us some- the critical responses to the show. Clearly, it had social structures we thing about the nature of “woke” politics today—it is struck a nerve. This is perhaps unsurprising, as are committed to slowly becoming about constantly throwing insight- Indian marriage is the most visible and crushing dismantling? ful criticism at others, often in very aggressive site where caste, gender, class and religious boundaries come ways that do the opposite of fostering a culture of solidarity and together in a single explosion. Nearly every single Indian is learning, but losing the ability to do it to oneself or accept feed- affected by the social pressure around marriage, and younger back from others, with grace or ease. We are all implicated in urban Indians are pushing back against this pressure more the social structures we criticise, but often, this kind of public and more. While they are pushing back against arranged mar- critique-making, or “calling out,” serves to let us distance riages, are they also questioning the way in which their volun- ourselves from the goings-on. Yes, engaging in public reac- tary choices (even in “love marriages”) still fall largely within tion politics often lets us fi nd validation, courage and solidar- accepted social categories of caste, class and religion? ity towards our experiences and traumas, and strength to While the fi rst few responses to the show seemed to refl ect stand up against practices we fi nd inexcusable and violent. viewers uncritically enjoying the show and relating to it, very While this is wonderful, it is also essential that we do not quickly, the tide of public response turned towards equally stop here, but move beyond this sort of politics, and towards uncritically bashing the show for holding up regressive traditions a politics of radical reimagination, which will allow us to col- and views without challenging them. Smriti Mundhra, the lectively engage with the personal, cultural and social with producer, pushed back a little, saying that the show simply joy, care and freedom, rather than staying in a space of reac- held up a mirror to the reality of Indian matchmaking and tionary anger directed outwards. that it represents a diversity of experiences. In my opinion, the trajectory of public reaction to the show Isha Bhallamudi ([email protected]) is a PhD student in sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests are at the intersections of gender, technology, has been both predictable and boring. Unfortunately, this is social networks and youth in India. increasingly becoming the norm whenever a new piece of popular culture comes out—it has become almost fashionable LAST LINES to interpret the show as prescribing or promoting the realities it shows, to quickly come up with salient structural criticisms of the piece at hand, and to do so in such a way that enjoyment of the piece is instantly vilifi ed and imbued with guilt. Yes, it

ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY is necessary and transformative to engage in thoughtful public discourse around popular culture, which more often than not refl ects and holds up structural inequities. However, it is not so useful when we consistently direct our constructive criticisms only outward, make a habit of reacting instantly, and weaponise the public response to “cancel” the makers of the piece or its defenders (and arguably, even viewers who don’t necessarily defend the piece), all with no engagement afterwards. We are becoming adept at honing this critical ability outward, but are we also building the parallel capacity to levy these critiques inward? We are all very much a part of the Indian social fabric. We are as implicated in the Indian gender–caste–religion matrix as anyone else. What is it that allows us to come up with such nuanced and thoughtful criticisms of popular culture like

66 august 1, 2020 vol lV no 31 EPW Economic & Political Weekly Sameeksha Trust A Special Appeal

For more than half a century, the Economic & Political Weekly (EPW) has been a major presence in India’s intellectual space. It has been a crucible for ideas and a forum for debate, which has created a journal of international repute that has become a virtual institution. EPW provides a multidisciplinary platform for academics and practitioners, researchers and students, as well as concerned citizens, for critical engagement with economy, polity and society in contemporary India. It has always been a struggle to ensure EPW’s financial viability and sustainability. The resource constraint has been exacerbated by our conscious decision to abstain from receiving grants from governments and donations from abroad, to preserve the autonomy and independence of the journal. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent nationwide lockdown, EPW is now experiencing an unexpected and drastic drop in revenue from retail sales (as there has been no print edition for three months) and advertisement income (as advertising has contracted sharply with the crisis in the economy), resulting in an acute financial crisis. This is not unique for EPW alone. However, while other print media organisations have resorted to closures, large-scale retrenchment of staff, and salary cuts, it has been our endeavour not to undertake such drastic measures in EPW. In the first two months of the lockdown, full salaries were paid to all EPW staff. The Editor and his team adopted drastic austerity measures and cut expenditure to the bone. In spite of this, there was a large operational deficit every month, which could aggravate further if the problems associated with and following the lockdown, persist. If this excess of expenditure over income goes unchecked, a stage would come when we would no longer be able to keep EPW alive. The situation became so critical in the month of June that there was no other choice but to implement a temporary measure of reducing staff salaries. This is being done for the months of June and July 2020 in a graduated progressive manner ranging from 0% to 40%. The situation, however, continues to remain extremely uncertain. The financial situation of EPW will be reviewed again in August 2020. In these difficult and troubled times, an institution of EPW’s stature and credibility is needed more than ever before. Well-wishers of EPW have been reaching out and urging us to do whatever necessary to ensure EPW’s sustainability. We therefore appeal to the community of readers, contributors, subscribers and well-wishers of EPW to come forward and make donations to the extent each one can, so as to ensure that EPW continues to perform its historic role. This is urgent. And it is of utmost importance. We hope you will join us in supporting EPW. Trustees, Sameeksha Trust and Editor, EPW 9 July 2020 How to make donations: We welcome donations from Indian citizens as well as from non-resident individual Indians and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), but only in Indian currency and through regular banking channels. Donations in foreign currency and from political parties are not accepted. Donations can be made in one of the following ways:

1. Through NEFT/RTGS: 2. By Cheque or Demand Draft: Name of the Account: Sameeksha Trust These should be drawn in favour of Bank: Union Bank of India “Sameeksha Trust” and sent to: Editor Branch: Mumbai Samachar Marg Economic & Political Weekly

ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY Account No: 317901010029033 320–322, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, IFSC CODE: UBIN0531791 Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013

All donors will have to send a photocopy (or scanned image) of Permanent Account Number (PAN) and a covering letter, clearly stating that “this donation is to the corpus of the Sameeksha Trust” in order to receive the Income Tax rebate under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Covering letter and PAN card details can either be emailed to [email protected] or posted to our address given under (2) above.

For further information, please email to [email protected] Published on Saturday, August 1, 2020 Regd No MCW-238/2018-20 WPP Licence No MR/Tech/WPP-197/West/2018-20. Licensed to post without prepayment. Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai-1 on every Tuesday-Wednesday. Regd. with the RNI – No 14089/66 ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY

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