Writings on Hate Speech and Violence: Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction

Abstract

Writing used to be considered a form of witnessing; to record for posterity, to mark the present so that it would “never again” be allowed to occur. To keep a diary, write a realist work of fiction, a searing short story or a memoir interspersed with journalistic facts might have once been considered acts of resistance, a form of speaking truth to power. In this vein stand writings by Asghar Wajahat, Krishna Kumar, Ziya-us-Salam, Rahul Bhatia, Saeed Naqvi, Rakhshanda Jalil, Farah Bashir, Ghazala Wahab and numerous others. My paper will consider some of their writings to understand how contemporary Indians narrate and thereby grapple with the rising evidence of hate towards their fellow citizens.

But increasingly some writers in India have also been helping build a different future, a “Hindu Ecosystem.” Armed with legions of followers on social media, they write poetry and rap songs, publish memes and works of “history” to present a very different vision of the past and future to garner votes in the present. My paper will explore the work of writing and literature, history and the humanities in interpreting this gritty and dark present.