South Asia Citizens Web

The Dera Sacha Sauda fiasco is a classic example of the state-temple-business nexus and what ensues when the basic social functions of the state are “spiritualised” and contracted out to godmen.

continued intrusion of the military into civilian spaces and everyday lives of the Tamils in the Vanni can be seen in the work of the Civil Security Department (‘CSD’). The CSD was created in 2006 out of the existing National Home Guard Service. It originally employed primarily volunteer personnel in border villages and the Eastern province and was viewed largely as a surveillance network by Tamil communities. A few years after the war ended in 2009, the CSD began entering the Vanni region, but had recast itself as a livelihood provider and tried to convince local populations that joining the CSD was not the equivalent of joining the military

There are no longer any laws, the management system based on massive data implements detailed modifications of the conditions of service so that each citizen behaves in an optimal way. This system is framed as as an advanced cultural stage of freedom, progress and well-being. Questioning the system is considered a sign of mental illness and sociopathy.

Yesterday (17th September), we witnessed the shameful spectacle of the prime minister of a nation celebrating his birthday by dedicating a dam to the nation, even as thousands of people were protesting that their houses and lands are being submerged by this dam without the rehabilitation due to them. Are we living in a democracy, or what farcically passes off as one?

Perhaps the best way to move forward is not to leave the task of identifying the ’fakes’ to the fraternity itself and think of something like anti superstition law at the national level, a law for which Dr Narendra Dabholkar fought for more than eighteen years and was assassinated by right-wing fundamentalists for his tireless efforts in this direction only.