The desecration Mohenjo Daro dancing girl
My introduction to the Indus Valley civilisation happened in history class in school, of course, but also at home. My father was a history buff and among the many replicas of historical artifacts displayed in our small living room’s glass-fronted cabinet, was a tiny one of the famous Mohenjo-Daro Dancing Girl.
Highly regarded as a work of art, the Dancing Girl is a bronze statuette created by “lost wax casting” over 4,500 years ago, circa 2300–1750 BCE, and is a rare and unique masterpiece. It was found in the ancient Mohenjo-Daro site in 1926. The statue is a cultural artifact reflecting the aesthetics of a female body as conceptualized during that pre-historical period. The figurine, which is nude, shows vigour, variety, and ingenuity. The right arm of the dancing girl rests on the hip and the left arm is heavily bangled.
The significance of the Dancing Girl statue lies in its artistic value and its reflection of the aesthetics of the female body during that period. It also signifies that there was knowledge of blended metal casting in that era and that dancing may have been a part of the cultural activity then. The Dancing Girl statuette, 10.5 centimetres in height, is an iconic representation of art and culture during prehistoric times in the Indus Valley civilisation.
Well, now, with some contribution from the ruling regime in India, that icon has been desecrated. On May 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Museum Expo 2023 by unveiling a life-size mascot for the event. The mascot is supposedly a “contemporised” version of the Dancing Girl.
The original statuette was dark in colour and was a nude depiction of the girl. In the so-called contemporised version, the five-foot replica shows the statuette with a pink skin tone and clad in bright pink and yellow clothing. This has led to a controversy in social media and public discourse.
In recent years, particularly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in India, fiddling with history has become commonplace. A pink, clothed replica of the iconic Dancing Girl is another instance of the attempts to distort India’s history–and in this case, pre-history. The controversy over changing history textbooks by tweaking or blanking out events and facts that pertain to eras and periods in India’s History that don’t sit well with the ruling regime’s perceptions and beliefs about “Hinduism” are rife. What this achieves besides distortion of history is difficult to comprehend.
The outrage over the desecration of one of Indian history’s most iconic artifacts has been limited. To be sure, the mainstream media in India, generally lemming-like in their behaviour, has reported about the controversy but has gone no further. There has been no campaign against what is yet another attempt to banalise and vulgarise historical facts–in this case, an important artifact. The net outcome: India’s rising breed of self-proclaimed moralists have scored another shameful victory.
Making sense of the Manipur violence
When it comes to the north-eastern part of India, which comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura (commonly known as the “Seven Sisters”), and the “brother”, Sikkim, India’s media coverage is scant and often superficial. Many of these states are socially and demographically complex with different tribes and ethnic diversities that are not adequately understood. In recent weeks violence has erupted in one of India’s north-eastern states, Manipur, and it has led to nearly 60 deaths, thousands left wounded, and 25,000 displacements.
The violence has been between ethnic groups and has led to buildings being set ablaze and charred vehicles strewn across roads. The violence has also led to thousands of people fleeing their homes. The situation in Manipur is complex and has been fueled by a number of factors, including ethnic tensions, political instability, and economic inequality. The violence has also led to calls for a separate state in India.
The ethnic divisions in the Manipur violence are not simple and have been fueled by a number of factors. The valley area in Manipur is largely inhabited by Meiteis, while the hill areas are dominated by tribals – mainly Kukis. Small fractions of people from both communities live in areas dominated by the other, and these were the people caught in the crossfire first when the violence began. The Meiteis are the predominant ethnic group in the state and the majority of them are Hindus, while the Kukis, a hill tribe, are predominantly Christian.
The ongoing unrest began when Kuki tribes organised a protest march that led to a clash with the Meitei community. The Meiteis form nearly 50% of the 4-million population of the state. The genesis of the violence was the Kuki (the community is classified as a Scheduled Tribe) protest against Meiteis also being classified as a Scheduled Tribe. The Scheduled Tribe classification is an affirmative action policy that is aimed at ensuring that minority tribes in India get reservations with regard to education and government jobs.
The Kukis believe that the Meitei demand for being classified as a Scheduled Tribe is not fair because as the dominant ethnic group they already enjoy advantages that minority groups don’t. The fissures between Manipur’s ethnic groups have a long history and violence between different groups has flared several times over the past decades.
India’s Opposition boycotts inauguration of new Parliament House
Several opposition parties in India have decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. The decision came after several Opposition parties demanded that President Draupadi Murmu should inaugurate the new building in Delhi instead of Modi because Parliament is a non-partisan institution. The opposition parties have cited various reasons for their decision to boycott the event, including the sidelining of the President and the violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur has criticised the Opposition for its decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building, saying it was an insult. Ex-bureaucrats and veterans have also condemned the Opposition for boycotting recent ‘non-partisan’ events of Parliament.
Modi, as most Indians are aware, has a penchant for inaugurating things–it could be a new train, an educational institution, an exhibition, metro lines, expressways, or even less. There is a comical aspect too to the pomp and drama that usually accompanies these inaugurations… but, hush now, he also has a low threshold of tolerance for criticism.
Modi’s Australian extravaganza
Prime Minister Modi likes acronyms and alliterations. Last week, when he received what the media called “a rock star” welcome by the Indian diaspora in Australia–an audience of 20,000 thronged a venue where the public meeting was organised, Modi said: “There are three Cs that defined our relationship with Australia: the commonwealth, cricket, and curry. But now it is three Ds: democracy, diaspora, dosti (which in Hindi means friendship),” he began. “Now there are also three Es that define the relationship: energy, economy, and education.”
The crowd, mainly comprising Indian diaspora, lapped it up. Indians abroad are always in awe of Modi. In the US, UK, and in Europe, Indians living abroad are drawn by the thousands to Modi’s events when they happen and their cheers and applause are always overwhelming.
Even the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, appeared to be in awe of Modi. He was quoted as saying: “The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that prime minister Modi has got. Prime minister Modi is the boss.”
No one did speak about the suppression in Kashmir, the insecurity of India’s Minority communities, the violence in the northeastern part of India, the ill-conceived introduction of 2000-rupee notes followed by their recent withdrawal, or the state of the mainstream media that cower like sheep when a wolf approaches their pen. Amen.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Ukraine war…
Last week, Russia’s attack on Ukraine entered its 15th month and it shows no signs of relenting. The war in Ukraine has seen major developments since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian troops have made lightning gains in the east of the country, inflicting one of Russia’s worst military setbacks. But cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odesa have been hit by Russian missiles.
Here are more recent updates: Power at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was lost for several hours. Heavy fighting continued around Bakhmut in the east of the country. Front lines in the south around Kherson were largely stable. Ukraine has also accused Russia of coercion in ‘sham’ referendums aimed at annexing four occupied regions. Russia and Ukraine have held their first direct negotiations since March over grain exports, but without any immediate signs of a breakthrough, and missile strikes across Ukraine continue to be reported. The war continues.
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