This book caught my attention and I picked it up almost immediately. A superficial whisk through the pages told me that I've finally found something readable from Sen (if you want something unreadable, try "On Ethics and Economics" by him). The central theme of "Identity and Violence" is the provable fact that humans necessarily possess multiple identities (like woman+vegetarian+hindu+...) and that trying to fix/impose/singularly focus on one and only one identity is the reason for violence in the world.
I'm taking up two important themes concerning the book and its application to karnATaka.
1. The real face of violence
There is no doubt that Sen's theory is correct, as is shown in the case of violence during the partition of India, which the book alludes to.
But what is to be doubted is whether Sen understands the real meaning of violence. This doubt cannot be answered by reading "Identity and Violence..."
Is killing a person X violence? That is not necessarily so. If it was violence to kill duryOdhana, kRuShNa must be dismissed as a violent person. Nay, violence is not violence which breeds non-violence. There is nothing wrong in planned and last-resort violence as long as it goes to protect the peace and calm of a larger people. It is not violent to kill the miscreants, the corrupt and the irrepairable adharmi. Indeed, such violence is the dharma of a kShatriya. Gandhi (for whose steadfastness in his own principes I admire him) was terribly mistaken in calling for a complete eradication of kShAtradharma. As one could imagine, in his gItAbhAShya he argues that kRuShNa never ever asks arjuna to kill. That is of course pure nonsense born out of irrepairable steadfastness in his pet principle. That his single-minded devotion (nay, singular identity) was good for the military zero that was India then is a different thing altogether.
Blind followers of so-called non-violence must be reminded of the fact that their very existence is contingent on "violence" performed by our army. Such must also read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
Coming back to the book, I agree with Sen that we must focus on alternate ways of knitting people together. Within Karnataka, for instance, a whole forest of violence-breeders exists. They're the champions of the so-called jAtyateeta political parties who act just opposite to jAtyateetate. They are the ones who breed jAtivAda. They end up imposing a violent identity on the clueless kannadiga, thereby breaking up karnATaka into pieces in the hope of being able to rule atleast one of the pieces. Bastards. O for the real kShatriya who will suppress these bastards!
The real way of knitting together karnATaka is through kannaDa. kannaDa is that identity which can be non-violently imposed on almost every kannaDiga. Fools will definitely oppose its imposition, but fools always oppose what's good for them. And if it comes to embracing violence to suppress those fools, it must be embraced by the true kShatriya for the true cause of the sarvAMgeeNa abhivRuddhi of karnATaka. If it comes to killing those fools who form 1-2% of karnATaka's janasaMkhye for the sake of the 98-99%, such a sacrifice is the purest form of ahiMse. Remember, it is not only the knife or gun that kills. Words and policies of the government also do.
2. Globalization and karnATaka
Sen handles the topic of globalization (jAgateekaraNa) with finesse. He shows that there's neither "nothing good at all" nor "nothing bad at all" about jAgateekaraNa. In short, he shows that the effects of jAgateekaraNa have to be measured using the following yardsticks:
I'm taking up two important themes concerning the book and its application to karnATaka.
1. The real face of violence
There is no doubt that Sen's theory is correct, as is shown in the case of violence during the partition of India, which the book alludes to.
But what is to be doubted is whether Sen understands the real meaning of violence. This doubt cannot be answered by reading "Identity and Violence..."
Is killing a person X violence? That is not necessarily so. If it was violence to kill duryOdhana, kRuShNa must be dismissed as a violent person. Nay, violence is not violence which breeds non-violence. There is nothing wrong in planned and last-resort violence as long as it goes to protect the peace and calm of a larger people. It is not violent to kill the miscreants, the corrupt and the irrepairable adharmi. Indeed, such violence is the dharma of a kShatriya. Gandhi (for whose steadfastness in his own principes I admire him) was terribly mistaken in calling for a complete eradication of kShAtradharma. As one could imagine, in his gItAbhAShya he argues that kRuShNa never ever asks arjuna to kill. That is of course pure nonsense born out of irrepairable steadfastness in his pet principle. That his single-minded devotion (nay, singular identity) was good for the military zero that was India then is a different thing altogether.
Blind followers of so-called non-violence must be reminded of the fact that their very existence is contingent on "violence" performed by our army. Such must also read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
Coming back to the book, I agree with Sen that we must focus on alternate ways of knitting people together. Within Karnataka, for instance, a whole forest of violence-breeders exists. They're the champions of the so-called jAtyateeta political parties who act just opposite to jAtyateetate. They are the ones who breed jAtivAda. They end up imposing a violent identity on the clueless kannadiga, thereby breaking up karnATaka into pieces in the hope of being able to rule atleast one of the pieces. Bastards. O for the real kShatriya who will suppress these bastards!
The real way of knitting together karnATaka is through kannaDa. kannaDa is that identity which can be non-violently imposed on almost every kannaDiga. Fools will definitely oppose its imposition, but fools always oppose what's good for them. And if it comes to embracing violence to suppress those fools, it must be embraced by the true kShatriya for the true cause of the sarvAMgeeNa abhivRuddhi of karnATaka. If it comes to killing those fools who form 1-2% of karnATaka's janasaMkhye for the sake of the 98-99%, such a sacrifice is the purest form of ahiMse. Remember, it is not only the knife or gun that kills. Words and policies of the government also do.
2. Globalization and karnATaka
Sen handles the topic of globalization (jAgateekaraNa) with finesse. He shows that there's neither "nothing good at all" nor "nothing bad at all" about jAgateekaraNa. In short, he shows that the effects of jAgateekaraNa have to be measured using the following yardsticks:
- Is jAgateekaraNa more inclusive or more exclusive? Meaning - does it help the majority of karnATaka get the benefits or does it help only a minority?
- Even among the minority which enjoys the benefits of jAgateekaraNa, are they getting a fair deal?
So posing these questions to karnATaka, we see immediately that both the answers are negative. Indeed, as Sen argues, more kannaDigas are excluded from benefiting from globalization than included. And indeed, as pointed out in the book, the way to solve this problem is not to shoo away investors coming to your door, but to solve the problem internally in karnATaka. How? By making education better, for instance.
Although Sen doesn't point to the fact that the main engine of an education system is the medium of instruction, we can conclude that good education - and by education I mean not just primary but all education whatsoever - in kannaDa is crucial for karnATaka to reap the benefits of globalization.
jAgateekaraNa is not a bus we can afford to miss. But it's our job as kannaDigas to see to it that all our brethren can make it to the bus.
Although Sen doesn't point to the fact that the main engine of an education system is the medium of instruction, we can conclude that good education - and by education I mean not just primary but all education whatsoever - in kannaDa is crucial for karnATaka to reap the benefits of globalization.
jAgateekaraNa is not a bus we can afford to miss. But it's our job as kannaDigas to see to it that all our brethren can make it to the bus.
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