Lara Jesani
Human Rights Lawyer and Activist, Mumbai
AN ADVOCATE FOR PEACE AND COMMUNAL HARMONY
“I'm a lawyer, practising human rights law in the Mumbai High Court. I’m a part of PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties), a national network on civil liberties and democratic rights, and also other collectives and feminist groups. In my practise I look at constitutional rights, environmental law and am part of several movements and struggles for that work. I am the child of an interfaith marriage. I grew up in Bombay and saw the ‘92 riots as a child. When I was in college, we lived in a progressive space with all kinds of friends from different faiths. I was in government aided schools and colleges, and had a lot of friends from diverse socio-economic groups, caste and religious locations. We used to intermingle and go to each other's homes, and had a kind of familiarity with each other's cultures. I feel the current generation that has grown up with so much hatred does not have that. That's why I feel fiercely protective of this syncretic culture and oppose communalism and casteism. When I was in college some of us stood up against the brahmanical anti-reservation stir led by upper caste students. There was a push back from the colleges, as the anti reservation agitation was a loud vociferous movement. It came from the technology and management institutes of India, a disgusting show of brahmanical patriarchy and tyranny. When the 2014 elections happened I didn't anticipate that people would have so much hatred for others and such false sense of loyalty for their own religion, that they would forget the Godhra riots and lap up the communal propaganda. After 2014, it's been an extremely different world, a stark change, where the politics of hate that we oppose is now in power, using this power to crush voices of the people and abusing it. We’re veering towards an authoritative regime, a fascist rule, and it's a very scary world for many people.”
In the wake of the pandemic, Lara and a few others like Anil Hebbar, a social entrepreneur and Bilal Khan, a housing rights activist with Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan started doing relief work in Mumbai.
“We've frequently collaborated to work on disasters over the few years. We started relief operations immediately even before the lockdown in the third week of March. The communalisation of the pandemic around the Tableeghi Jamaat event and arrest of several people for allegedly spreading the virus, which was deliberately propagated to distract from the massive economic disaster and food and livelihood crisis because of the sudden lockdown, stoked a lot of communal tension. With the hate speech that was floating around in the media and the whatsapp forwards, the bastis that we work with were being fed misinformation and fake, hate news. This was a big concern. We had several experiences that were blatantly communal. We had donors who gave us money but didn't want us to use them to help Muslims, knowing very well that Muslims and Dalits live in most of the ghettos and bastis we work with.
In these times of extreme polarization, Lara saw community kitchens becoming sites of resistance and solidarity.
“There was a lot of communal tension in the bastis due to the hate propaganda. We were worried that the tension between communities would flare up due to scarcity or during festivals like Eid. Lockdown violations were setting a false narrative against the poor. Grocery shops were not stocked or were closed, getting supplies was tough, the wholesale market was shut, so there was a huge crisis. And people in bastis couldn't afford going to the retail shops. On 20th March, Bilal put up a post online that he’d got calls from the basti activists in Ambujwadi and Govandi saying that people are panicking and help will be required if the lockdown happens. The requirement of the number of people to be fed on a daily basis was 2500+, too much for us to give rations or cooked food to. So we set up 6 community kitchens across Bombay, in the bigger bastis, led by the local activists themselves. In one of the bastis with which had experienced communal tensions, the setting up of the kitchen itself brought the people closer. Sitting together, drawing up lists, cooking in turns, distributing food and eating together quelled the tension and brought in renewed confidence and feeling of self-empowerment. Their shared struggles, loss of livelihood, worsening economic conditions also led to inter community solidarity. Those who had ration cards and could get ration, shared it with those who couldn't get any.”
Lara says that people like to hear and tell stories of rich privileged people going and saving the poor, but she has witnessed real stories of communities standing up and taking care of its own people. She feels that the basti activists were the real heroes and sheroes of the crisis, who identified requirements to distribute rations, networked with civil society and fought rationing officers, authorities demanding their rights and sustained the kitchens feeding upto 5000 people in a single basti.
“Many of them are talking about starting interfaith circles, more unions and associations that would question government policies and fight for right to livelihood, housing and food. These structures will bring a political churning and change. If the change happens it will be from the ground level and this top bottom approach and charity discourse wont work. The people's struggles alone have the power to stop religious conflicts too.“
Lara believes that fascist rule always has a shelf life and will not last for long.
“People are going to rise. For their own reasons and to fight their own oppressions. And one can only hope when they do, these struggles unite them. We have to learn about each other's experiences and respect each other's differences. Leaders from the grassroots have a clear understanding of the oppression and are invested personally in political issues. Unfortunately it is often always the elites with their vested interests trying to lead the people's struggles. When grassroots leaders take charge and lead their own struggles, I believe, social transformation is bound to happen. And people like us will be there on the frontlines working hand in hand, where our work will be more affirmative rather than defensive and collaborative rather than invasive. There has to be a churning. Power needs to be taken away from those that have held onto it for too long and has to be given back to the people. And if elites don't hand over the seat occupied and power accumulated on the exploitation of the marginalised, it will be snatched. And we’re seeing that in assertion of the Dalit identity with the Bhim army and the Muslim identity during anti CAA-NRC-NPR movement. Because they've realised that they will have to lead the battle for their rights themselves so that their issues are not exploited for political gain and to root out the systems of inequality and discrimination from their very core.”
Interviewed by Nida Ansari
Collage by Shreya Roy Chowdhury, Embroidery on collage by Singhleton
Art Directed by Nida Ansari