Case Study
I propose working on the project “Whisper of an Unfired Shot”, tracing appropriation of Sardar Udham Singh by the rising wing extremism in the current Indian socio-political landscape. The work maps over 20 statues of Udham Singh placed in Northern India in the last five years, and numerous exhibitions in museums; painting him as a symbol of an hyper-aggressive nationalism exuding a violent fervour.
Sardar Udham singh was a national hero claimed by both the left and right, famed for his dilated revenge against Michael O Dwyer for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; his association with the Ghadar party and contribution to an armed Indian freedom struggle; and his championing of a Hindu Sikh Muslim unity- famously announcing himself as Ram Mohammad Singh Azad at the Old Bailey in London during his trial. However in the current decolonial flip, he finds himself at the helm of an invasive hyper-nationalism that blatantly creates an ‘other’, where a floating hostility constantly threatens to turn corporeal.
Within this project, the triangulation of Intelligence, love and revolution becomes apparent as an integral undercurrent that configures the wilts in the socio-political and cultural fabric. Throughout civilisation, the rubric has been the provocateur and configurator of knowledge, of consciousness, and of existence. The history of philosophy, is deeply influenced by all three ingredients; Yet a new recipe comes to light where the ontological composition of these ingredients changes, but the veil that projects its surface stays intact. I attempt to unearth a new philosophy of othering brewing through the tinkering of these ingredients within my context; of which every statue placed, vandalised, or reinstated is a symptom. These statues emerge as hypertexts in a larger ur-system, where their form, aesthetics, placement as well as instrumentalization are manifestations of various impulses within the state machinery- ranging from extreme control, to ideological adherence, to its self awareness, and even its paranoia and insecurities.
At the very heart of the story of Udham singh lied the love for his country, and a call for revolution- one which he continued to follow till the end of his journey. In the now, A different imagination of love, which is based in a patriotic that quickly turns intolerant, and engages in dismissive differentiation threatens to engulf all. Instruments that generate truths whether through fact or affect , like statues, exhibitions, movies etc; are being utilised to construct histories, and invoke sentiments that are revolutionary and promise emancipation and justice in affect, but at their heart prompt discrimination, othering and violence. A systematic dismantling of civil rights, free speech and a death of public discursive capacities, is contouring a new dynamic with intelligence and knowledge- where known histories are erased from public memory and access, and new histories take their place. The project thus, will generate articulations, to map these shifting sub terrains, and interfaces where this philosophy makes itself apparent.
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