‘Kashi’ advocates for inclusivity, compassion and equity
Tarun Kanti Bose
‘Kashi’ provides a refreshing counter-narrative
to the prevailing tendency to ‘sanitise’ the historical identity of the world’s oldest living city. By
prioritising human experience over architectural aesthetics, the book offers a
rigorous critique of how neo-liberal capitalist economy and its urban planning
disrupts local social cohesion. It effectively challenges the reader to
envision a future for Kashi that transcends the reductionist framing of tourism
and political branding, advocating instead for an urban environment defined by
inclusivity, compassion, and equity.
Mark Twain once said, Benaras is older than history,
older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of
them put together. The culture of Banaras is not just religious rituals. It is
the city of the music maestros, it is the city of Kabir, it is the city of the
holy river Ganga. Everybody shares a little bit of this city and it is only by
preserving these little bits that we can save the entire city, said the
American icon.
Once Tulsidas, Kabir, revolutionary Chandrasekhar
Azad, Premchand had tread these lanes.
It is a living museum, as I read through the pages of Kashi am filled with remorse over my lack of knowledge to identify
these gems very
well brought out by the authors.
One of the many ironies of Kashi is that for all the
talk of tradition and heritage, the plight of the marginalised, like the Muslim
weavers who make a living from the ancient arts is dismal. Living and working in dingy lanes of the city they are renowned for their skills at making Banarasi sarees — a skill
that’s been passed down generations.
However, after 2014 the project to turn the oldest city of Kashi
into a big marketplace like Japan’s cultural city Kyoto, interfaced for the
first time as the contemporary holds. A pall of gloom decended when Chinese looms pushed many weavers
to commit suicide. In this culturally rich and diversified city, houses and
shops were bulldozed for construction, transforming the
entire city. This has not gone well
with the Kashi population.
Hundreds of temples were razed to make way for the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project. The ruling dispensation is irreversibly eroding
Kashi's cultural legacy. Kashi's heritage is defined not just by its structures
and monuments, but also by the people who inhabit and live in them, continuing
on an unbroken path of traditional way of life. From Kashi to Kyoto the contrast is stark, a blend of hope and disillusionment. The present
class-in-power with an unmistaken
choice for modernity have sacrificed the
traditional ways the people are used to since ages without a vision for all. The promise it holds for some leaves in its
wake a bleak future for many.
‘Kashi’ a book of 150 pages and 12
chapters do a good job of capturing the spirit of the city's traditions. The
first chapter, "Need," establishes the book's imperative. The authors
then frame the discussion in terms of Exclusion vs. Resistance in the next ten
chapters, which include case studies and marginalised narratives.
Authored
by Lenin Raghuvanshi, Chandra Mishra and Shruti Nagvanshi covers a vast canvas
of Kashi, the oldest living city which has been at the helm of political and
electoral affairs in India for a few years. I know Lenin and Shruti for two
decades, Lenin and Shruti, as activist couple had worked among the marginalised
sections- be it Mushars, Muslim weavers, Dalit women and men working in the
sewages. Lenin, whose father is a communist and grandfather a Gandhian freedom
fighter. Though he was attracted towards his grandfather but as a Marxist I
found his understanding of dialectics at the practical level
exemplary. In the conservative milieu in
the villages of Varanasi, where untouchability is practised, Mushars are denied
primary health care facilities Shruti has put the primary health care in order
so that discrimination against Mushars are stopped. Both have been relentlessly
fighting to bring Mushars in the mainstream so that the practice of
untouchability is stopped and the exploitation of upper
caste government functionaries- be it police, health care employees or other
agencies is put an end to.
Development in Kashi acts as a site of ideological
conflict, presenting competing narratives that simultaneously exclude
populations and provide a framework for resisting that exclusion. The central
narrative of Benaras is anchored by its most marginalised
population—specifically Dalit women, Muslim weavers, widows, informal
labourers, sanitation workers, and the Mushars. While youth, social activists,
and intellectuals are active participants, they typically emerge at the
conclusion of the discourse, offering a vision for a reimagined 'dual-city'
model.
Lenin Raghuvanshi, Shruti Nagvanshi and Chandra Mishra
have done a commendable job. A must for all young journalists, social science
students, editors, civil society groups and the academia.
Tarun Kanti Bose is a multifaceted figure whose work
as an activist, journalist, media trainer and researcher, writer and a scholar
demonstrates a strong dedication to social justice, grassroots empowerment and
elevating the voices of the marginalised people. His emphasis on indigenous
rights, environmental justice, and the sufferings of down trodden is consistent
with progressive and leftist philosophies that value equity, anti-establishment
critique and systemic transformation. He has published two books ‘Marginalised
But Not Defeated’ (2023) and ‘And Quiet Comes the Dawn- Haryana its Identity
Issues, Grassroots Movements And Alternative Endeavours’ (2025) strengthens his
activist credentials.
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