Political Pandora

Art is a way we can realise our imagination, feel its potential and piece it into a form of hope. Upon entering the Edinburgh Palestine Museum, one is not first encountered by images of ruin, but by Anani’s grand canvas of rolling hills, lush green trees, and floral meadows. Where one enters expecting violence, Anani’s painting embraces us in its haven and pokes at our presumptions: Why is it that people expect only darkness when they hear of Palestine? 

The function of spoken language extends far beyond mere communication—it is an indicator of one’s identity, an instrument of access, and, mostly, a mechanism of establishing authority in a social setting. Our language, accent, dialect, and even grammar influences favourably, and adversely the type of opportunities made available to us, society’s perception of us and our sense of belonging. 

In previous conflicts between India and Pakistan, there was a general sense that it was our governments who were at war and not the people. But this time, it seemed different. There was a parallel war being fought on social media. It was clear that the governments on both sides wanted to shape public opinion through controlling the flow of information. 

With standardisation comes homogeneity, and homogeneity creates anomalies who do not fit into the mould and therefore need to be discarded on the margins. These beings on the margins, who do not fit sanitised and legally-enforced definitions created by states and adopted by nations, are at the centre of the discussion. Dalit-Queer folx (people who are both Dalit and Queer) inhabit the "death worlds" that Achille Mbembe discusses in his theorisation of Necropolitics.

The global rise of right-wing gender discourse and advocacy is a testament to the fact that there is no monolithic gender system that exists in any given society.