Page 184 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Memory and Social Protest 159

to the English officer. Thus, he relived that memory of subordination
daily. In the process of that repetition, he now had to play both roles,
that of the cook and that of the English officer. This typical example
of a memory of subordination is confirmed by the old people of the
countryside of Dehradun.
The exploitation or manipulation of memory is the root cause of
many present-day national and ethnic conflicts in India. The traditional
cohesive communities construct their present and future with these
memories. Whoever be the caste heroes eulogized in folklore, the people
positively relate themselves to the heroic deeds. As a consequence, con-
temporary Indian politics is taking shape by drawing upon people’s
social memories: a complex of memories will attempt to dominate
others, while the same collective memories will be reconstructed as a
patrimony of autonomous identity and as an asset of protest against
these attempts of domination.
The conflict of memories between Hindu nationalists and Dalits
is a case in point clearly illustrating how memory may be used as a
means of dominance as well as a ground of protest. The tradition of
Hindu nationalism based on memories of the past is being presented
before the Hindu population tailored to political needs, with insist-
ence on authenticity and greatness. By awakening these memories, its
protagonists are playing a conspiracy game to attract the population
in their favour. They have developed a language that is architectural of
an illusion of sensitivity with great alacrity; they are using the modern
media to articulate old memories in the context of contemporary
political issues and power contest. They are reinforcing these memories
not only through oral tradition and speech, but also by written text, by
audio, by technology and, above all, by the visual images of video ads
and photographs. This kind of exercise consists of turning memories
into constitutive elements of dominance and hegemony.
But a parallel text of memories has been created by the Dalit classes
to deconstruct it and further challenge the culture of hegemony and
greatness. For this, they have been selective in discovering memories
and images suited to their purpose. Against the interpretation of
larger memories by Hindu nationalists in their favour, Dalit politics is
constructing immediate memories to counter the former. It is giving
a mythical content to Shambook and Eklavya, and continues to do so
even with Ambedkar and Periyar.