As an Indian have you ever wondered why our laws are still steeped in the habits of Empire, while seemingly the rest of the world has moved on? Or why Indian businessmen routinely land up in jail?
Is it because we are a particularly corrupt people or because we particularly despise businessmen, and the idea of making money? Up with Socialism, down with Capitalism! is bred into us from school but we understand neither, except there are only two sides - one good and the other bad.
Is it possible that the answer is more complex than that?
Have you wondered why Indian life & politics is so violent? Or even, is it, compared to other countries? What does a Freedom Index mean in real terms for you and me on a daily basis? Which freedoms are we losing ? If India holds elections every 5 years, doesn't it automatically mean we are a free country? Or does it? What freedoms do Indians even care about? Do we put freedom of religion above freedom of speech? Or do we think they're equal? And what does either answer say about us, as a people?
I've long wondered about these and other things and more often received ideological opinions instead of facts. It's hard to even get a discursive conversation about the smallest things Indian. What are the dominant Indian values, for instance? By that I don't mean the values of political parties that come and go, or values that newspapers, scholars and public intellectuals tells us we should have. But an honest discussion on things that the Indian every-man/woman values in his or her daily life. You and me. Our parents. For better or worse, what value choices do we make in our everyday lives, why, and how do they impact us as individuals and as a society?
This Outpost is a wide-ranging and meandering search for answers to all sorts of questions that have plagued me for years. JS Mills said on
Why did the Western world take over the seas, exploration and therefore become the colonizers and why didn't we, as a much older civilization? (I could ask the same question for the Chinese, but I'm really not that interested in them).
Why does honor have such a different meaning in our culture, than it does in enlightenment cultures? Why do we lie so easily? Why are we so good at Math and yet so bad at architecture?
It's an Indian Outpost, because however much I may like to believe I’m a citizen of the world, Indian experiences have shaped my growth for better and worse. And while I have more questions than answers at this time, perhaps, perchance, I may find some answers as I go along.
This isn't me. Though I was once here. Image by Vivek Chugh @ Pixabay
The Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) is a legacy of the British and steeped in the habits of empire. It is 65 olders than Independent India and its members believe they carry the flame of an older, better, value sytem. The IB was not empowered by an elected body, whether British or Indian. It's loyalty is to those who hire them, not to the rule of law. The government told the court a few years ago that the IB was a 'private body'. Strictly speaking - that would make them vigilantes in the service of the party in power; an internal security agency, that anwers only to its political masters with no legislalative or judicial oversight. Yet - they get people jailed through 'secret informants' and 'sealed evidence', influence elections in the most populous democracy in the world, and vet Supreme Court and High Court Judges. The question almost asks itself - Who answers to Whom?
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