PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2002 ID-42437
.
ANJUMAN-THE J.N.U. STUDENTS' .
' ''...homosexuality, QUEER COLLECTIVE.
A RESPONSE TO THE LAST 'INDIC CONSOLIDATION' .
PAMPHLET.
.
within the lndic discourse, does not constitute an entire political identity... ".
.
traditions ofthe regions that now constitute India. Furthennore, the pamphlet refers solely to those texts dated back pamphlet is equated with brahminical texts like the Kamasutra and the Manusmriti and this excludes many popular -the 'lndic Consolidation.
' There are a few questions that need to be addressed at the outset. What is the 'Jndic discourse'? 'Indic' in this .
to early India and thus homogenizes.
regions after a particular timeframe. Very often, as may be seen, these texts reflect not just the dominant dictum of the notion of a 'civilization', which then excludes traditions from these .
a particular time, but also the structures ofoppression and 'asymmetricalities.
The division of humanity into four different, homogenous ' in the power relations in society.society' is superior to another is a result of a fascist mindset given the fact that there is no one unitary measure of and oppositional civilizations .
'other' and therefore gloss over conflicts that are essential to any culn1re. Relatedly, to propose that any 'human 'human society'. is baseless and is dangerous to any analysis ofhuman history. Such classifications necessarily exclude marginalized traditions as theThe addressaJ of homosexuality.
any understanding within the so-called 'Semitic' and 'Tndic' traditions have been used out of the .
hierarchies prevalent in the very myth itself. Within the myth, it is Parvati who fuses into Shiva and not the other context of larger structures prevalent in both. These structures include among others, patriarchy, which is crucial to of sexuality. The glorification of the concept of the Ardhanarisvara.
masculine figure ofShiva. .
glosses over the gendered .
way around. She occupies the lesser important left halfofthe Ardhanarisvara, \\hich is ultimately thought ofas the The idea that the 'sensual' always translated into the 'spiritual' in the so-called ·rndic' tradition is again .
problematic, as the former was almost always rooted .in the oppressive strucrures of class, caste and gender of the .
time, instances ofwhich are prevalent in most brahm1nical texts, including the Kamaswra. The linkage ofsexuality in which sexuality has been expressed. .
with sin in the so-called 'Semitic' tradition is similarly problematic as it puts a cloak over the heterogeneous ways.
would be naive as most definitions arc based as much on the 'other ' as oneseu·. With special reference to the so-.
To even begin to claim that the so-called 'Indic paradigm' is characterizednumerous processes of 'othering'. These include the concepts of the mlechcha, the yavana and the asura. In .
addition to the recognition ofthe 'other', there is also a conscious penalization ofthe same. .
by .. the marked absence of the other'' .
called 'lndic paradigm', even with a limited knowledge of the tmditions being spoken about, one can ident:i1).r .
the non-existence The idea that within the dominant discourses of the so-called 'Indic' tradition, 'alternative' sexualities did not .
constitute an entire political identity is flawed as there is a marked presence of non-heterononnativeconstitutes a positive clement? sexualities as .
public identities, including Aijuna as a kliba, or Shikhandi as a political figure in the Kurukshetra war. To valorize .
of an identity in the political sphere is itself problematic as people such as Dalits and women .
were also kept out of the mainstream. Does one then contend that "indifference' towards all marginalized.
All social formations have their complexities, groups.
specificities,.
addressed and c1itiqued, both specifically and holistically. Any fascist atlempt to vilif)' one for the purpose of .
understanding hierarchies and exclusions, which have to be .
.
of class, religion, caste, race, gender and sexuality, such readings of early texts are fraught with .
glori(ving another is condenmabJe for any constructive perspective on human history. Far &om adding to an .
ideology that led to both Nazi Gennany and Gujarat in the history ofhuman beings. .
vested interests, which propose a one-sided and-'exclusionary .
perspective on these social formations. It is similar.
.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST CASTEISM, COMMUNALISM,.
PATRIARCHY & HOMOPHOBIA! FASCISM, RACISM, .
--~ ·· -~ .
.
PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2002 ID-42437
.
ANJUMAN-THE J.N.U. STUDENTS' .
' ''...homosexuality, QUEER COLLECTIVE.
A RESPONSE TO THE LAST 'INDIC CONSOLIDATION' .
PAMPHLET.
.
within the lndic discourse, does not constitute an entire political identity... ".
.
traditions ofthe regions that now constitute India. Furthennore, the pamphlet refers solely to those texts dated back pamphlet is equated with brahminical texts like the Kamasutra and the Manusmriti and this excludes many popular -the 'lndic Consolidation.
' There are a few questions that need to be addressed at the outset. What is the 'Jndic discourse'? 'Indic' in this .
to early India and thus homogenizes.
regions after a particular timeframe. Very often, as may be seen, these texts reflect not just the dominant dictum of the notion of a 'civilization', which then excludes traditions from these .
a particular time, but also the structures ofoppression and 'asymmetricalities.
The division of humanity into four different, homogenous ' in the power relations in society.society' is superior to another is a result of a fascist mindset given the fact that there is no one unitary measure of and oppositional civilizations .
'other' and therefore gloss over conflicts that are essential to any culn1re. Relatedly, to propose that any 'human 'human society'. is baseless and is dangerous to any analysis ofhuman history. Such classifications necessarily exclude marginalized traditions as theThe addressaJ of homosexuality.
any understanding within the so-called 'Semitic' and 'Tndic' traditions have been used out of the .
hierarchies prevalent in the very myth itself. Within the myth, it is Parvati who fuses into Shiva and not the other context of larger structures prevalent in both. These structures include among others, patriarchy, which is crucial to of sexuality. The glorification of the concept of the Ardhanarisvara.
masculine figure ofShiva. .
glosses over the gendered .
way around. She occupies the lesser important left halfofthe Ardhanarisvara, \\hich is ultimately thought ofas the The idea that the 'sensual' always translated into the 'spiritual' in the so-called ·rndic' tradition is again .
problematic, as the former was almost always rooted .in the oppressive strucrures of class, caste and gender of the .
time, instances ofwhich are prevalent in most brahm1nical texts, including the Kamaswra. The linkage ofsexuality in which sexuality has been expressed. .
with sin in the so-called 'Semitic' tradition is similarly problematic as it puts a cloak over the heterogeneous ways.
would be naive as most definitions arc based as much on the 'other ' as oneseu·. With special reference to the so-.
To even begin to claim that the so-called 'Indic paradigm' is characterizednumerous processes of 'othering'. These include the concepts of the mlechcha, the yavana and the asura. In .
addition to the recognition ofthe 'other', there is also a conscious penalization ofthe same. .
by .. the marked absence of the other'' .
called 'lndic paradigm', even with a limited knowledge of the tmditions being spoken about, one can ident:i1).r .
the non-existence The idea that within the dominant discourses of the so-called 'Indic' tradition, 'alternative' sexualities did not .
constitute an entire political identity is flawed as there is a marked presence of non-heterononnativeconstitutes a positive clement? sexualities as .
public identities, including Aijuna as a kliba, or Shikhandi as a political figure in the Kurukshetra war. To valorize .
of an identity in the political sphere is itself problematic as people such as Dalits and women .
were also kept out of the mainstream. Does one then contend that "indifference' towards all marginalized.
All social formations have their complexities, groups.
specificities,.
addressed and c1itiqued, both specifically and holistically. Any fascist atlempt to vilif)' one for the purpose of .
understanding hierarchies and exclusions, which have to be .
.
of class, religion, caste, race, gender and sexuality, such readings of early texts are fraught with .
glori(ving another is condenmabJe for any constructive perspective on human history. Far &om adding to an .
ideology that led to both Nazi Gennany and Gujarat in the history ofhuman beings. .
vested interests, which propose a one-sided and-'exclusionary .
perspective on these social formations. It is similar.
.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST CASTEISM, COMMUNALISM,.
PATRIARCHY & HOMOPHOBIA! FASCISM, RACISM, .
--~ ·· -~ .
.