Mahua Moitra, KSLF: “The Bilkis case is about all of us, the society we are.”
A profound start to the second day of the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival (KSLF) was provided by a discussion of the environment, politics of hate, and the power of music during the first half of the morning. This weekend, the Kasauli Club hosted the opening session of a three-day festival on ‘The Tiger of the Sunderbans’, featuring author Paul Waters and BBC broadcaster Amitav Ghosh in conversation. The conversation resonated with the festival’s theme, “Climate Change: Still sprightly at 75?”. According to Ghosh, “My writing reflects my deep affinity with nature, the current planetary crisis of climate change, the weaponization of nature, and the catastrophic events that have led to the extinction of species.”
In a session entitled, ‘Cry, The Beloved Country’, Mahua Moitra, Member of Parliament, and Revati Laul, activist and author, discussed the Bilkis Bano gangrape of 2002, in which they brought to light how the case not only demonstrates the poor state of the country, but also indicates the mindset of current Indian citizens, a concern.
We are a schizophrenic society, and the silence and the fantasies of hatred we possess are playing out through the attackers. It is important to recognize that we are also part of this society. It is a performance of hatred that we are practicing in our politics,” Moitra said.
