#kafila

It is easy to hate. In fact, one of the strongest emotions to have lasted so long and so vividly in our minds is hate. We are taught to become self-serving narcissists; we are fed jealousy and hatred strategically. From the day we are born, we learn hating. We learn to mock our classmates for following a different faith, belonging to another caste, non-confirming to given genders, and everything else. As we grow, we learn to despise them for their grades and perhaps, reservations they deserve. And, when looking for jobs, we start hating them absolutely because we believe they are the cause of all our problems. People hate what others eat. They hate what others wear. They hate Africans who study in this country because they wear ‘revealing’ dresses; they hate Muslim women because they do not wear those dresses. We let our lives be governed by this continuous production of systematic hatred that encompasses all our choices and decisions.

A short response to Nivedita Menon's signatory on Raya Sarkar's List

Mr Flo – Kafila (prod. Mystro)

Beyond the dedicated AAP supporters however, ordinary TV-watching and news-consuming Indians seem mesmerised by high-decibel rhetoric the BJP manages to generate again and again in the national media. There is no other explanation for the bizarre phenomenon of differential reasoning applied to the BJP and the AAP. If the BJP’s demonetisation policy caused unbelievable hardship and has not yet yielded a single concrete result, people say give the government a chance, it’s intentions were good. If Kejriwal’s odd-even policy does not do as much as intended, but does show a noticeable improvement in air quality and huge improvement in traffic, the anti-AAP sentiment condemns it as a total failure. And then there is that sulky anti-AAP opinion of the former supporter – one that withdraws its support at the slightest sign of a flaw, since it was held to a higher standard than the BJP.

Love is an act of resistance. Loving people of colour, people of all faiths, classes, castes, and genders are acts of resistance. I believe love and care are what bind us together. Love is what will give us strength to combat bigotry and fascism. Love is what will help us transcend our narrow boundaries and join forces. Because love does not happen between individuals and definitely not just between two individuals. Instead, love is a practice that brings to the realm of questioning the very production of the differences we live by. It not only challenges and disrupts the system but also takes the risk to imagine the new. It is a flight with a destination- one that is based on compassion and equality.

Juri Lomba Tahfidh Abatasa Pesantren Kafila