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High fuel prices- Swindle or savior?

J Thiyagarajan
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High fuel prices- Swindle or savior?

On the last day of this January, the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India (GoI) gleefully announced that GST collection in that month was ₹ 1,19,847 crore, a record since GST was introduced in July 2017. One can understand their feeling of relief as the cumulative revenue in FY 2020-21 was well short of the target as pandemic-induced lockdown froze the economy, albeit briefly.  When most ordinary citizens would have hardly noticed this good news, almost none missed the steep price hike in domestic LPG rates that came up just a couple of days later. Citizens who were riled by this hike that came on top of the daily raise of retail prices of petrol and diesel, took to social media to share their anguish. One of them jocularly posted ‘Investment Tip: Buy Petrol at ₹97; Target ₹105 in two weeks’.  

In mid 2017 too, the chatter was quite loud as the fuel prices went up daily for a few months, albeit by only a few paisa at a time. But then, the reasons were different and less widely understood. In the decade prior to FY 2014-15, huge subsidies on Petroleum products had become a major component of GoI’s expenditure, leading to unavailability of those much needed funds for the growth and development activities. From 2014-15, the present government had orchestrated a high mop up through excise duty & cess to repay the gargantuan debt it inherited; it was followed suit by the State governments by levying higher VAT. The determinate actions by the GoI, as highlighted in my article High Fuel Prices – The Method in the Madness (September 2017), can be appreciated if one understands what good this has done to the Indian Economy.

The PPAC Ready Reckoner on petroleum products dated June 2020 shows that the consumption of LPG, petrol and diesel in India have grown 62%, 75% and 21% respectively (in quantitative terms) in the 6 years till FY 2019-20. This was despite a subdued GDP Growth in the quarters after the announcement of Demonetisation (Nov 2016). This makes one conclude that the consumers were not too much worried about the additional burden due to the increase in the price of fuels in those years. Further, the lack of any major and sustained protests or general strike against the higher fuel prices during the said years reinforced the belief that the Indian public trusted and supported the initiatives of the GoI.

But that is history!. Having tamed the subsidy monster, the widespread expectation over the last 3 years was that widely consumed Petrol and Diesel will be brought under the ambit of GST thereby passing on the benefit of lower prices to the consumers. But it hasn’t happened, much to the disappointment of the citizens and industry alike. Read on to understand why.

The Subsidy Support

It will help to understand the bigger picture if one gets know what all are provided subsidy now, its purpose and how long it will continue.

The aggressive and innovative measures towards reducing subsidies on Domestic LPG, Kerosene, LNG and Diesel reduced the total subsidy to ₹ 26,482 crores in FY 2019-20 from an unsustainably high level of ₹1,64,409 crores in FY 2012-13. The subsidy / under-recoveries on Petrol and Diesel were eliminated in Jun’10 and Oct’14 respectively and their prices are market-determined since then. The prices of LPG and Kerosene are market-determined since 2016 and the subsidy amount is directly transferred to the Aaadhaar linked bank accounts of the consumers, who chose to avail the benefits. Subsidy for Kerosene is available to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) consumers.

Image-1 : Subsidy on Petroleum Products – (Budget and Non-Budget)

As per data available, for the first 10 months of the current fiscal (2020-21) the subsidy spent is around ₹ 7100 crores. This excludes ₹ 8091 crores spent under the new PM Garib Kalyan Yojana implemented to overcome the economic impact of the pandemic induced lockdown on the poor. To be sure, the subsidies on LPG and LNG are going to remain for some more years to come. The only solace is the continuing reduction in the consumption of kerosene over the last decade (75% over 2014-15 levels), apparently due to switching to LPG for cooking. This has reduced the kerosene subsidy substantially.

In the above graph one can easily observe that the total subsidy provided in a fiscal tends moves in tandem with the Indian Crude Oil Basket price. But it is unlikely to reach the levels during UPA rule as the prices of all petroleum products are now market determined and the subsidy is provided directly to non-commercial consumers only for THREE products.

The Consumption Crunch
Image-2 : Consumption of Petroleum Products in India

During the pandemic-stricken 2020-21, the only petroleum product whose consumption has grown (in quantitative terms) is LPG and that too is likely to be due to the country-wide expansion of Ujwala scheme through which LPG cylinders are provided to the economically weaker section. This was despite the lower consumption by eateries, hotels and industries due the lockdown and restrictions. But this would only increase the subsidy outgo. The fuel trio – Petrol, Diesel and ATF – has shown a considerable shrinkage (16%) in consumption. In the case of ATF it is expected to be around 60% on an annualized basis.

Image-3 : Contribution of Petroleum Sector to Exchequer (Central & States)

An overall contraction in the consumption of petroleum products has hit the revenue of the central government as well as all state governments (Cess, Excise, VAT, Royalty, etc.) to the extent of a whopping 49% over FY 2019-20 though reduction is only 11% in quantitative terms. Due to this, the Centre’s share is seen coming down around 35% over the previous FY’s collection where as the states together are likely to take a hit of 50-55%. This has added insult to the injury caused by a tepid economic growth in the prior 3 years.

It is a no-brainer to understand that in the months of pandemic-stricken economy, the governments wouldn’t want to do anything to further reduce the revenue that they are getting when the economy revives in the post-lockdown months. This is the single most important reason why the benefit of a fall in the prices of crude early in 2020 was not passed on to consumers in full. Given this scenario, is there a case for reducing the fuel and LPG prices when the economic growth revives?

Fuel vs Crude Price Volatility

Before this question is answered one has to understand the changes in the Indian Crude Basket price vis-a-vis international crude prices. Indian Crude Basket price, is the weighted average of Dubai & Oman and the Brent Crude oil prices.

Image-4 : Petrol / Diesel Prices mapped against Monthly Swings in Brent Crude Price

The above graph depicts the month-on-month percentage change in average price of Brent crude. Clearly the volatility has been very high in the last 12 months and has affected the retail prices of the petroleum products worldwide. Starting March 2020 and well into April, the Brent crude prices crashed severely to a low of $9.12 per barrel only to recover equally sharply to $43.2 within next 60 days. After fluctuating for a couple of months it has moved up sharply from a low of $36.33 on 30th October 2020 to $65.37 on 23rd February, an increase of 80%. The Indian Crude Basket price also has followed suit.

As one can observe, the retail prices of petrol and diesel have moved in tandem with the Indian Crude Basket price. As the prices crashed in 2020, the Indian government had to hike the fixed components of the Excise Duty / cess on Fuels in March and May 2020 to ensure that the revenues do not dip sharply. This also dampened the price volatility. Mind that India is not the only nation which had raised the taxes during 2020, as you would see in the data presented later in this article. The relative stability of the retail prices of fuels in India till Nov’20, indicates that the Indian oil refineries had created some sort of cushion at lower prices to absorb the volatility, but up to an extent.

The strong winter oil demand from North Asian countries combined with a number of other factors has pushed up the oil prices since Nov’20. This substantial increase has made it imperative to pass on the costs to the consumers as the subsidies on these fuels have ended years back.

The Indian Union oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan explained, “The crude manufacturing countries are producing less crude to gain more profit. We have continuously been urging the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC plus countries that it should not happen. We hope there will be a change”. But no end is in sight for this vexatious issue and a solution doesn’t seem to be available for the GoI, either.

LPG Pricing

The LPG connections have grown from 14.6 crores as on 1st April 2014 to 27.9 crores by 1st April 2020 thereby increasing the coverage to 97.5% of households pan-India from 61% as on 1st April 2014. Of these, 8.01 crores were the LPG connections given free to BPL sections under PM Ujwal Yojana since its introduction in 2016. That constitutes a considerable 29% of the total connections. Hence it becomes imperative that the government continues the subsidy to these households to insulate them from the impact of the fluctuating crude oil price.

Image-5 : Price of Subsidized LPG vs Indian Crude Basket Price

From the above graph one can discern that the retail price of a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder usually moves in tandem with the price of Indian Crude Basket. But in the last few months it seems to have lost its mooring and moved much higher than what it was when the crude price was as similar levels in the past. In February 2021, the price has shot upto ₹ 769 and subsidy reduced to ₹ 24.

While a comprehensive explanation might be hard, some pointers can be extrapolated:

  • The retail price of LPG is not determined daily in tune with the price of Indian Crude Basket, as in the case of Petrol or Diesel. Hence the cumulative effect of the fluctuations in crude price as well as Indian Currency during a month is reflected in the price announced in the beginning of the following month, there by affecting or benefitting those who buy LPG in the following month.
  • The base price of subsidized LPG cylinder, used for calculating the subsidy amount, was increased in small increments since 2016, to reduce the gap with the retail price. It has taken 54 months for the subsidized price of LPG to move from ₹ 421 on 1st July 2016 to ₹ 594 on 1st December 2020 – an average increase is ₹ 3.20 per month. Due to this price of subsidized LPG was seen moving up smoothly as shown in the above graph. In line with this objective the government has reimbursed subsidy amounts varying from ₹ 41 to ₹ 434, constituting upto 46% of the price of the non-subsidized LPG. Only during 6 months of the pandemic it was zero as the prices moved lower due to the crude price crash.

Answers to Those Tough Questions

Qn : ‘Why should Indians pay more for fuel as compared to other countries ?’

Let us consider the data in these tables to answer this.

Comparing the data as on 1st June 2020, the prices of fuel have gone up in almost in all countries as shown in the illustrations above, barring Pakistan. Thankfully, in India, the LPG consumed by the common man was priced lower than in the neighbouring countries until recently.

Image-6 : Comparison of Fuel Prices – India vs Its Neighbours
Image-7 : Comparison of Fuel Prices – India vs Western Countries

It is important to note that the % of Taxes in these countries have gone up 4-14% from what they were around the same time in 2017, except in Japan. Data shows that the variances in % of taxes Indians pay vis-a-vis many of the developed countries is very minimal, barring Japan, Canada and USA. The low prices in USA is explained by the fact that it produces about 45% of crude consumed locally and in Canada the prices are higher than in USA though it is a net exporter of crude.

Qn: ‘Why are the fuel prices much higher in 2021 when the crude price is lower than, it was in early 2014 when the crude hit $110 or higher?’

The answer is that the prior government was aggressively subsidizing the fuel prices and pushing the burden of the huge subsidy to the future government in the form of oil bonds. Also there was a substantial leakage of subsidy to the undeserving. This topic is dealt in detail in my prior article High Fuel Prices – The Method in the Madness.

Qn: ‘Why is the Government not reducing the duties and taxes to keep the fuel prices in check or bringing them under GST?’

The answer is multi-fold:

  • The Pandemic-induced lockdown has lead to a considerable reduction in the consumption of petroleum products. This has adversely affected the revenues of the Central and State governments.
  • The GST revenue for the first 10 months of the current FY is 21% lower at ₹ 8.06 lakh crores compared to ₹ 10.19 lakh crores in the similar period in 2019-20. Also the Direct Tax collection is likely to fall short of the target, if the initial collections reported in June’20 are anything to go by.
  • Despite a reduction in the consumption during the first 7-8 months of 2020, India’s crude oil imports in December soared to the highest levels in nearly three years to more than 5 million barrels per day as its refiners cranked up output to meet a rebound in fuel demand of the recovering economy. This was 29% higher than Nov’20. Pushing up the domestic fuel prices could be one of the responses from the government to soften the consumption which might lead to lower oil imports.
  • Despite taking a hit in revenues from all avenues in FY 2020-21, the GoI has actually increased:
    • Relief package to support about two thirds of the population who lost earnings due to lockdown (PMGKY).
    • Stimulus package to the Industry to provide liquidity and sustain their business
    • Relief package towards pandemic management and vaccination.
  • Importantly, all the above measures were provided without compromising on any of already ongoing welfare programs like Farmer pension under PMKMY, LPG under PMUY, Medical and Life Insurance schemes under PMJJBY & PMSBY, Affordable housing under PMAY, etc. Sustaining these programs require a steady stream of revenue.
  • In the budget for the FY 2021-22, a number of new schemes as well as additional support for existing schemes (like MUDRA) have been announced to improve the health and welfare of the citizens and as well to boost the employment generation and economy. All these measures come at a cost which is financed through direct / indirect revenues and as well borrowings.

The above factors almost certainly reduce any wiggle room to provide an unplanned subsidy to reduce the fuel cost in the hands of the consumer. Undeniably, cheaper fuel prices are desirable but it cannot through artificial means. Let us hope that the crude prices cool down and the government finds some means to reduce the additional burden on consumers for whom LPG is a basic necessity for cooking.

It appears that one would have to wait longer to see the petrol and diesel included under GST regime.

Epilogue

A lot more can be said to justify why the a few hundred rupees more you pay annually to buy fuel is needed by the government to help in building the nation and making it a better place to live. But ultimately, it is only you – the consumer – who can decide whether that extra money is more important for you than for the country!

As far as India is overly dependent on imports of crude for auto fuel, the citizens have to face the vagaries of international crude prices. Some of the measures that could reduce the fuel consumption and lessen the impact of high fuel costs are :

  • Better highways between cities to reduce fuel wastage
  • Provision of mass transit systems like Metro Rail inside cities, to discourage single-occupancy vehicles run by fossil-fuel and avoid fuel wastage due to traffic congestion. The government has already shown good progress during its tenure on these fronts country-wide and more development is underway.
  • Adoption of electric vehicles for personal and mass transportation.
  • Adoption of electric vehicles and dedicated rail corridor for goods transportation.
  • Replacing fossil fuel and gas used in power generation by renewal energy sources like Solar. As at the end of Q3-2020, cumulative solar installations in India stood at around 37.4 GW vis-a-vis 6.4 GW in 2016. Solar and wind power represented 10% each of the of the total installed power capacity in India as of Q3 2020. Plans are afoot to expand it to 100GW.
References

1. https://www.ppac.gov.in/

2. http://www.gstcouncil.gov.in/

Electronic media, social media, and manipulation: An analysis

shashank261
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Electronic media, social media, and manipulation: An analysis

Electronic media, Commerce and Bias

Electronic or TV media’s role has come into question many times when the channels resorted to various unethical practices in order to increase their viewership, as an increase in viewership results in more advertisements and therefore more pecuniary benefit for these news channels. 

When the sole purpose of journalism becomes wooing the advertisers, then journalism ceases to be public service and becomes a corporate setup where all kinds of means are applied to meet the financial target. Such media setups are usually owned by people from corporate or political backgrounds who broadcast news as per their preferences and personal biases. The objective of these channels is to include catchy headlines and topics in news bulletins, in order to increase viewership, without checking the authenticity of facts. 

After the demonetization on 8th November 2016, the incessant spread of fake news caused a lot of inconvenience to people. Many media groups broadcast news bulletins in which the anchors said that the new 2000 rupee note contains a GPS chip to track it down if it is stocked anywhere in large numbers. Along with this many other rumors were spread on social media platforms after demonetization like apart from Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes, notes of other denominations would also be demonetized. However, such fake news and rumors were debunked by RBI and other stakeholders from time to time. This alacrity was shown by news channels in being the first to break a news also showed that they were negligent in not checking the veracity of facts and figures stated by them in their news bulletins.

Apart from this, certain media groups also act as flag-bearers of different agendas. They have a political belief of their own and they project it in their TV broadcasts by favoring or opposing certain specific political factions in an indirect manner. These TV broadcasts are used as means for supporting that agenda and for vilifying those who oppose it, by putting forth the shortcomings of those who do not see eye to eye with them.  

Some media groups also manipulate the common people by the means of selective news reporting, which includes preventing certain specific topics of national importance from coming to fore.

Trial by Media

Media trial is another vice in Indian journalism. It begins when a controversial case or a case involving notable people comes into the court of law for trial. The public shows eagerness to know all the facts related to such cases and then electronic media caters to this need through its reporting of such cases. This kind of news reporting is based not only on the officially disclosed information but also on the conjectures derived through the so called ‘investigative journalism’ carried out by these media groups with a motive to point towards an individual and refer to him/her as the culprit, which is followed by the vilification of that individual in this broadcast. Such broadcasts lack concrete evidence against the individual who is shown in bad light. The trial by media or media trial, acts as an opinion maker which influences the opinion of the viewers and makes them believe that the person being vilified in the broadcast is the real culprit. In this way, media groups succeed in imprinting their subjective opinion on the minds of viewers. 

In the recent case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic death, media trial hit a new low as the news broadcasts dragged his matter for months taking in consideration the potential gain in viewership. This case saw the vilification of Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, his close friends, colleagues and the big names in the film fraternity were all made a party to this media trial. The media groups kept on bringing new angles like depression, black magic, drugs etc. to this matter, in order to gain maximum pecuniary profit from it.

The trial by media has also affected the course of justice which is based on true evidence, and this has been admitted by courts in various instances. It has affected the course of justice in popular cases like Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj dual murder case, Jessica Lal murder case, and the recent Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case.

Fake news on Social Media

Threat to Communal Harmony

The spread of fake news on social media is a major threat to peace and harmony in society, as it creates an environment of fear and at times, it makes people of different sections of society get involved in unethical activities and even crimes. There are messages shared repeatedly by anti-social elements on these social media sites to instigate people, which creates differences among different sections of society.  The differences may be on the basis of religion, caste, etc. This results in a rise of communal tension between any two sections and sometimes leads to riots. There have been instances where people committing such offenses have admitted to having been instigated by posts on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Whatsapp. Such incidents also raise questions on the mechanism opted by different social media sites to curb this menace. 

The 2013 riots of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh were a result of widespread sharing of fake news. The local police had stated that an old video clip from Pakistan was posted online and then repeatedly shared with an intention to incite violence. This is how the perpetrators misrepresent facts in social media posts and such posts create sparks that have the potential to burn down a city.

The Bengaluru riots of last year in the DJ Halli police station area which started at a Congress MLA’s house and later grew immensely violent were the result of a Facebook post. This post was allegedly derogatory to the religious faith of a community and the widespread sharing of that post led to communal violence. 

The abovementioned are two major communal incidents of the last decade that took the whole country by shock, but there have been a lot of cases of comparatively lesser magnitude.

Chaos during Pandemic

The spread of fake news on social media in the peak phase of the COVID – 19 pandemic led to a situation of ubiquitous confusion and chaos, not just in India but across the Globe. At a time, when not much was known about this lethal disease, the widespread sharing of mendacious claims of availability of medicinal solutions and surreal ways of prevention aggravated the situation. These rumors misled people and made them resort to panic buying. The dissemination of fake news happened at such a rapid pace that almost all users came across such messages or posts which can create an environment of fear. However, the government took various measures to spread awareness on the pandemic and debunked these rumors from time to time using TV advertisements and official social media accounts of various ministries.

Despite all the sincere efforts of the government, these rumors managed to affect the lives of common people because there were so many of them that making people immune to them became an uphill task. It is necessary that people refrain from forwarding unverified messages received from unreliable sources on different online messaging platforms and the same practice should be followed while an individual is scrolling through social media posts i.e one should avoid sharing unverified posts by unreliable sources on social media platforms. The online messaging service giant, Whatsapp took an important step to curb the mass forwarding of messages by including a feature that indicates if a message has been forwarded multiple times and also prevents the users from forwarding such messages to more than one user at a time. 

Similar feature was added by micro-blogging site Twitter, which puts warning labels on tweets which contain misleading information, which helps users to distinguish between the true and false information. 

Along the same lines, other social media platforms should also take steps to curb the spread of fake news.  

Conclusion

When electronic media groups become commercial entities, then monetary gains become their priority. In a quest of wooing advertisers, they abandon the virtue of public service and this gives rise to the vices like news fabrication, narrative formation and media trial.

 In my opinion, advertisement based media can never raise the genuine concerns of the public because if public funding is not the source of their income then one cannot expect them to be accountable to the public and that is the reason why the rise of subscription-based media is the need of the hour. Subscription-based media is the form of media that is completely advertisement-free and which is run only by the payment made by its subscribers(people who pay for news consumption).  As a result of this, the inclusion of personal bias in news bulletins will surely become past, the veracity of facts will be ensured and the media will become more accountable to people. 

Social media platforms should act more strictly in order to curb the spread of fake news and it is also the responsibility of people to avoid sharing unverified information especially in difficult times such as those of communal tension and pandemic. 

In this way, it can be said that both the media and social media are manipulating people in a direct or indirect manner and the same could be prevented by people if they pay heed to their surroundings and act accordingly.

Shashank Tripathi is a first year law student at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

The selectiveness of outrage against rape cases in India, and how it weakens the movement against it, and the judicial system of the country?

abhay9336
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The selectiveness of outrage against rape cases in India, and how it weakens the movement against it, and the judicial system of the country?

In the past few years, India has experienced several famous cases of sexual offenses against women, and also experienced agitations against the same. Some of them like Nirbhaya case, Kathua Gangrape case, Unnao rape case, Hyderabad rape case, Hathras rape case, and some more. But the question is this why only these cases achieve the limelight, and why do we not talk about other cases. These several cases may be hardly in hundreds in number, but the reality of rape cases in India is far above these numbers. According to the data released by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in 2019, on average 87 cases were recorded in India daily which means above than thirty thousand rape cases in 2019(precisely 31,755 cases) and a total of 4,05,861 crime against women, were registered in 2019. But how many cases do we know and protested against in 2019, hardly 10-20, what about the other 31,700 cases. About which we even don’t know does victim is alive or not. Why this choosiness and selectiveness while protesting against this heinous crime. On what basis do we choose them, is it random? And what are the results of these selective outrages? And at last what needs to be done?

Whenever we see any case getting active coverage by media houses, then we realize that there is something very wrong happened and we should come in the street but this condition comes maximum of 20-30 times in a year, where media decides which case should be highlighted or which should be ignored, for their reasons. And as I already mentioned that in the year 2019 more than 30 thousand cases happened. Were the cases other than the ones that got limelight were of less importance? Why were they ignored? Why this selectiveness while deciding the cases to be highlighted? Are we doing justice with other thousands of rape victims? Are we fighting against the evil of Rape or we demanding case-oriented justice?

These are some questions which we need to introspect and should look for what are the lacunae that have been left behind to be filled in the mass movement against this evil of rape in our country. Why after being so much outrage and protest there is nothing in the name of improvement and change in the condition of women’s safety is evident in this country. Many times we even never know what is the status of the victim is her case going towards justice or not. And what is the socio-economic condition of the victim can she afford to sustain long proceedings for her justice or not?

How we developed this attitude of selectiveness? I think behind the development of this attitude there is a major role played by media. Media which we consider as a fourth pillar of democracy. And which is supposed to show us the only facts, with the word facts I don’t mean the truth, truth is something which is subject to the analysis of facts and which is also something subjected to the person’s discretion who is analyzing it, So media should show the facts without any bias of any kind whether it be for a monetary reason or other reasons as well, And nowadays we see media very much covers the selective cases in which it thinks that there are chances to get some popularity among the mass and which will give benefits to the media houses.

Sometimes, due to the popular outrage which is created by manipulation of public opinions, we forget there is something like the law also prevails in the country which provides for some procedure of getting justice. This was seen during the Hyderabad rape case where four accused were encountered by the police on the alleged reason that they were trying to flee from the spot. Who knows what really had happened there other than police and those accused. I am not saying that they were innocent neither am saying they were culprits this was something which was to be decided by the Courts but unfortunately this stage never came up. Usually, we blame the police is not doing their job, it is corrupt, etc, etc we have lost our faith in them, but during these types of incidents, our feelings become too strong, and fade away this disbelief in police and belief in the judicial process.

The main thing is that when people start floating in the emotions then there is no space left for the judicial system and which can become a strong base for anarchism. We are right when we protest for something wrong that happens in society but that wrong should not be based on our choice like this wrong is against my feeling then I will support and that one doesn’t affect me anyway so I don’t care, this attitude only weakens the whole objective of the movement and protest. As of now, our attitude is approximately the same as I told you above and we haven’t achieved anything great in this regard and the incidents are continuously rising year by year.

So I only want to say that we should get equal anger and offense as we get in some selective cases, and protest equally as we do in highlighted cases. And if the media is failed to show the wrong to the world due to any reason whether mistakenly or voluntarily then it becomes our duty to raise our voice against those wrongs. So let us pledge to abolish selectiveness in protesting against this evil in our society and start protesting against each and every case which is happening around us to make this evil end.    

Authored by- Abhay Gupta

Author is a first year Law student at National Law University Odisha.

Relevance of Netaji for 21st century leaders

Biswadeep Banerjee
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Relevance of Netaji for 21st century leaders

When an entire country and generation after generation gets inspired by one man even after 70 years of his death, you got to believe that he was a great leader, and so he was. Netaji which in English translates to a Leader was the title earned by Subhash Chandra Bose, the title which his followers always added with love and respect before they even take his name. Not even Gandhi or Nehru earned this title from their followers, such was the greatness of this man. Even former British PM Clement Atlee who signed the Indian Independence act later on when he visited India in 1956 has stated that it was primarily Bose and INA rebellion that forced British to leave India and that Gandhi’s role was less significant. This was also the statement of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar in 1955 BBC interview. Politicians, British, History and historians did not do justice to Bose’s life however as in India we say “Satya mev jayate” (Truth alone triumphs), today everyone recognizes the contribution of Bose in India’s independence struggle despite all conspiracy theories.

Today in 2021, we do not have Netaji among us physically but he continues to live in every nationalist Indian’s heart, what he did for his motherland has made him immortal. It is more important now that we remember and celebrate this man’s achievements since we are in desperate need of great leadership in 21st century in every sector. So what can we learn from Netaji, well frankly speaking a lot and frankly speaking the list is too long even to implement in a single life time. However let me give it a humble and respectful try to even summarize a few which leaders can learn from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Vision – Right from his Calcutta Presidency college days Bose had a clear vision in mind, Drive British away and win freedom for India and till his death he never deviated from that vision and every decision he took was a result of his vision. He was jailed 11 times and tortured by British for his vision, he left coveted Indian Civil Service job (where he ranked 4th) to return to India to fight for India’s independence for his vision, he won and then left National congress president position just because that position was not helping him to advance his vision as congress wanted to follow the Gandhi way & Bose was not on the same page with Gandhi regarding the strategy to achieve independence, he risked his life and fled to Germany to build a global alliance against the British for his vision, he even shook hands with the infamous Hitler knowing fully well that he is siding with the evil but again just for his vision.

He could have taken it easy, he could have lived a happy luxurious life having a prestigious ICS job and also later on being congress President, perhaps could have officially become India’s first PM instead of Nehru however he sacrificed everything since for him India’s independence was life and death. Does modern day leaders have this level of commitment for their vision and company ( It is another thing that most of them does not even have a worthy purpose to run business ). Will a CEO sacrifice his own salary, wealth or even a profitable deal to see his company progress towards its vision without deviation or lets say save employees during a recession ? The answer is No most of the times and that is why no one will think about or remember the leader once he is gone and till the time he is there, he will be hated or feared.

Courage – If you even think of Subhash Chandra Bose then the first word that will always will come in your mind is courage. At the age of 16 Netaji got his admission in Presidency College Calcutta. A British professor named Mr. Oaten used to treat Indian students very poorly at college, being a racist he used to even beat Indian students. No one till now did anything against that since India was under British rule and British atrocities were well known by all in those days. Bose showed courage to complain against Oaten to college principal and he did not stop there, he even demanded apology from professor Oaten. On not receiving apology Bose called for a student strike and it made headlines in newspaper, finally the professor Oaten had to apologise. Bose kept raising his voice against racism and even was a leader for the student council. As per Bose, a sin of bearing or compromising with a crime is far greater than the sin of doing a crime. For all his national activities he was expelled from Presidency college in 1916. To fulfil his father’s wish Bose went to London to study for Indian Civil Service ( ICS ) and he cleared it with flying colours only to leave the prestigious job and come back to India in 1921 to fight for freedom. During the time of world war 2, Bose wanted to take help of Global alliances to free India, a move no one will even dare to imagine since that meant that he had to go to Germany and shake hands with the infamous Hitler and take help of German and Japan to build Indian national army ( Azad Hind Fauj ) to attack and weaken British in India. But we are talking about Bose, he did exactly that. As per Bose, if he needs to shake hands with the devil to see India free so he will. Now you need to understand the courage at display here, even for a Prime Minister of a strong country meeting Hitler in his own den was a nightmare but for a freedom fighter of a poor enslaved country India under mighty British rule not only thought but executed a plan of building a Global alliance by shaking hands and convincing Hitler and then Japan to help India, was not an act for the weak heart. Bose later on built his army and attacked British troops in the eastern India in 1944 and unfurled Indian tricolor flag at Manipur. Many consider that incident as our true independence day and Netaji as our first Prime Minister of India. Compare his courage to modern day CEOs, they do not have to sacrifice their own lives nor they have to go to a war but there are many forms of courage so how many CEOs will have the guts to abandon a successful product since he believes in something better and so he plunges company into temporary loss for future gains, how many leaders will even think of getting into an unknown industry when rest are waiting for others to take the risks first. How many leaders will have the courage to say no to a customer just on grounds of values or morals or ethics or vision? How many leaders will provide an increment in employee’s salary during recession rather than doing layoffs to preserve wealth? We know the answer.

Influence – There are too many instances to cover the power of influence Bose exhibited in his lifetime. To site important few, when Lord Irwin (Governor General & Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931) proposed Gandhi for a Dominion status for India, Gandhi & Nehru thought of that gesture as sincere however Bose did not agree, he wanted complete independence from British and so even though Gandhi & Nehru were much bigger in stature as political figure of India Bose was successful in convincing them to go for Purna Swaraj (Complete independence). Another story of his influence over the masses can be seen in 1939.

By 1939 Bose became more influential than Gandhi, so even though Gandhi campaigned for Sita Ramayya for Congress presidential election (to make sure Bose loses) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose still won and became congress President. Clearly shows that people favoured Bose because his intent and his work both matched. He walked the talk. Another story of influence was how he convinced Hitler to support India and later on made Japan (German’s ally) to provide some 4000 Indian POW (British used Indians in their army in World War 2) which Bose later on used to built his own army “ The Azad Hind Fauj “ ( Indian National Army) His influence over Hitler was so much that though Netaji left Germany for Japan soon after to raise the more famous Indian National Army in Singapore, the Germans kept to their side of the deal, even in the face of a losing war. Once again I have to say there are too many to cover.

Now let me ask a valid question here, how many leaders of country or leaders of an organizations have this kind of influence over their people, friends, customers & employees ? I left the shareholders aside since you cannot influence shareholders for long since they will dump your shares as soon as you go down or someone better comes up, their loyalty will be with money and not with you mostly.

Emotional Intelligence – Bose was the first Indian to rank as a topper in ICS, he ranked 4th and those days the top spot belonged to only British. Not only that, Bose took only 7 months to prepare and clear the ICS which otherwise was a  4 years curriculum. So obviously that was a Breaking News of that time and Indians back in India started talking about this man. As we know the vision and purpose of Bose was too clear for him to lead a comfortable life under the umbrella of ICS, he left his job in 1921 and set sail to India. When his ship arrived at Mumbai he was shocked to see thousands of people who came to receive him and some just to see this man. Bose sensed that moment that if this small sacrifice can unite and inspire so many people then if he works hard he an inspire the whole country to rally against the British. The rest of his journey to enter politics and congress is history. That’s strong EQ at play. Another incident was when he met Hitler in Berlin in 1942, Bose studied about Hitler long back, so he knew a Dictator’s mindset. He praised Hitler with phrases like “Old revolutionary “ , then he used Hitler’s anger against the British to showcase British as a common enemy of India and Germany, at the same time Bose was also quick to ask Hitler to modify or take out the derogatory comments he made about Indians in his book “ Mein Kampf “ knowing fully well that it might irate the Fuhrer however the way he reasoned it showcases both his wit and EQ. Bose said that Hitler’s comment on Indians not only was not correct but might be used by British to instigate Indians against Germans as well. Bose knew that the strong and powerful can only exercise forgiveness and mercy to the weak but never respect weakness, so he had to point this one out since he was troubled by that line for years and by stating his dislike openly on Hitler’s face will send the right signal to the Fuhrer that Bose is a strong, fearless leader. Another incident was when Hitler reached Japan with the help of Germans and met Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.

He once again displayed his emotional intelligence by talking about Asians and Buddhism connect between India & Japan and convinced Tojo to help India. However Bose’s greatest chapter for me in terms of displaying Emotional Intelligence was to form the Indian National Army. Those days during world war 2 British used Indians to fight war for them,  90% of British Army consisted of Indians, an approximate size of 2.5 million Indian men fought for British and about 85000 lost their lives. This current day we cannot even imagine that you can use another’s country’s men as slaves to fight war for your country’s benefit. Bose always knew that Gandhi’s path of peace is good for peaceful times but when entire world is in a chaos no one will even listen to the weak. He knew he had to raise an army even if peace had to be achieved. Only the strong can preach and establish peace, no one listens to the weak talking about peace. Bose realized that the slavery mindset of Indians has sipped in deep and infected all men, Indians took service in British Army as a prestigious job rather than insult.

Bose used the spirit of Nationalism to awake the sleeping patriots in them. When he was in Japan and he knew Japan was planning to attack Singapore ( Which was under British army control ) and he knew that out 85000 British troops around 45000 of them were Indians so this was a golden opportunity for him to influence Indians. The only way you can awake someone sleeping is inner implosion of shame and guilt. He asked Tojo to drop pamphlets along with bombs in which there was writing in Hindi, Tamil, English and other Indian languages stating “How long will you do slavery for British army”. It worked like magic and started rebellion within British army and Singapore lost to Japan. Japan was very happy and rewarded Bose with Indian war prisoners using which Bose created Indian National Army.

Later on in 1944 at Burma at INA rally Bose gave the speech that made him immortal, like all great leaders of the world who could deliver a vision in clear and simple terms that appeals to all, Bose uttered those words, ”Give me blood and I will give you Freedom”. This inspired not only INA to invade India and liberate Moirang at Manipur and hoist the Indian National Flag but also later on when Netaji died in a plane crash caused revolts in the Indian Royal Navy and Army which helped the cause for Indian Independence greatly. Compare the levels of EQ to today’s leaders and CEOs, there are very few who could exhibit high level of EQ these days and those who have are making the headlines.

Diversity – Even the western world and strong countries like Japan, Italy, Russia and Germany of that time suffered from male chauvinism, leave alone the weaker enslaved countries. Bose was a different metal. He was a devout Hindu and follower of Dharma, in Indian tradition the queens not only needs to be beautiful but also needs to be brave to wield the sword to protect Dharma and soil. India is filled with stories of brave queens who fought war fearlessly and gave their lives. In his speech, Why I left Home and Homeland, he said, “I want also a unit of brave Indian women to form a ‘Death-defying Regiment’ who will wield the sword, which the brave Rani of Jhansi wielded in India’s First War of Independence in 1857.” He was responsible to bring in women in INA and create the first women regiment which was the first women regiment of the world named “ Rani of Jhansi Regiment”.

Under the command of Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, the RJR was known for attracting members of all ages and from different backgrounds, giving women the outlet to come out of their homes and fight for their nation. Bose also had men from different regions and religions to join his INA, whether its Hindu, Sikhs, Muslims, tamilians, Bengalis, Biharis, Marathas etc he treated them all equally and like brother in arms. It’s a pity that CEOs today are trying to enforce diversity in organization and putting women as heads of departments as they have failed to build a naturally diverse culture within organization for so many years. When Bose wanted to create women regiment he faced strong resistance and harsh criticism from every towers even from within India, he was laughed at  but he didn’t budge, our CEOs however did budge for so long due to peer pressure maybe or something else, they lacked courage to against the wind long back, what they are doing now on so called “ diversity push” is moving with the flow which is easy and easy is not leadership.

The danger of enforcing diversity in an organization whether it’s a gender or race, is that when you have a suitable candidate who should become a head of department or to get hired for any position on basis of merit and capability alone, in case he or she has a rival from a diverse or minor group then chances are that merit and capability can be sacrificed just to advance cause of Diversity. That kind of forced diversity does no good to any organization or country. Diversity should not be driven, it should be in the DNA of any culture.

Empathy – Bose cultivated a brotherhood feeling in the INA. His commitment to the safety of the members of the women’s regiment and the INA was paramount. During enemy’s aerial bombardment and machine-gun assault, Netaji refused to take shelter until the last of his volunteers had taken refuge. At the end of the war, when the Japanese offered him a car but did not arrange transport for his soldiers, Netaji refused to travel alone. He marched from Rangoon (Yangon) to Bangkok through the jungles for three weeks with his soldiers, braving the enemy’s assault. His empathy towards his combatants greatly impressed everyone, including the Japanese authorities.

When the war was over, Bose quickly disbanded the women’s regiment and sent the girls back home before the enemy could discover their identity. He did this to protect their honour. Empathy must be practiced and not spoken about. It is a daily drill. Empathy is really a rare quality seen in business Leaders these days, it is difficult to practice empathy if you are far away from people or you are leading too many people. That is why empathy must be practiced in hierarchies, CEOs must be empathetic towards his immediate subordinates and they must do the same to their subordinates and it should continue passing down till the last chain of employees are reached. Remember Netaji not only stood on a stage and gave directions and speeches, he rubbed his shoulders with his fellow soldiers, that’s how respect is earned and feeling of trust develops.

REFERENCES

https://www.femina.in/trending/achievers/remembering-the-rani-of-jhansi-regiment-from-indias-freedom-chapter-162145.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33105898
https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/netaji-subhas-chandra-bose-birth-anniversary-legacy-death-mystery-3327674.html

UK court gives a tight slap to Indian Judiciary skeptics

shivamchatterjee
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UK court gives a tight slap to Indian Judiciary skeptics

Nirav Modi has been accused of being the principal beneficiary of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking as part of a conspiracy to defraud the Punjab National Bank to the extent of Rs 13,570 crore. Since his arrest on March 19, 2019, he has been living his life in the Wandsworth Prison after being frequently denied bail. In December of 2019, a special PMLA court in Mumbai declared him as a ‘Fugitive Economic Offender’. The first set of hearings in the extradition case commenced in May 2020 which established a prima facie case against Modi.

He can still appeal before the crown court and then the supreme court there. However, as witnessed in the extradition case of former Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya – who remains on bail in the UK while a “confidential” matter, believed to be an asylum request, is resolved, has lost in all the courts in UK to block his extradition but is yet to be extradited, in fact he is roaming freely. There is still some way to go before Modi can be formally moved from Wandsworth Prison in London to Mumbai and face trial in India. It now sits upon the table of Priti Patel, the Secretary of the State, to stamp his fate, Modi also has the right to appeal within 14 days, and the decision on extradition cannot be made until the appeal is disposed of.

Katju’s horrible attempt to block Justice
Former Supreme Court Justice and current meme icon due to his sarcastic and troll posts on Facebook Markandey Katju, the legal counsel of Nirav Modi argued in bad faith in the UK courts, he had said that India was in terrible economic collapse and the BJP were trying to solve the problem but they did not know how to, so they were trying to make a scapegoat out of Nirav Modi, and that he won’t get a fair trial in India.

Katju was reprimanded by the Westminster Court

Katju’s ‘astonishing’ and problematic statements were highlighted by Government of India. During the cross examination, the lawyer representing the Government of India, Ms. Helen Malcom Queen’s Counsel and Nicholas Heren, highlighted some public comments made by Justice Katju. Katju’s comments such as “50% of judges are corrupt”, “gay relationships are humbug and non-sense”, “90% Indians are fools”, “women who remain single are prone to psychological problems”, were brought up by the India Government’s lawyers. The Court also observed that Justice Katju made certain “astonishing, inappropriate and grossly insensitive” comparisons.

Ordering the extradition of Nirav Modi on Thursday, the District Judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court Sam Gooze not only defenestrated Katju’s evidence but also made sharp observations against him – “I attach little weight to Justice Katju’s expert opinion. Despite having been a former Supreme Court judge in India until his retirement in 2011 his evidence was in my assessment less than objective and reliable. His evidence in Court appeared tinged with resentment towards former senior judicial colleagues. It had hallmarks of an outspoken critic with his own personal agenda.”

“He made bold assertions about corruption across the judiciary in India (including former Chief Justices) and that the Supreme Court had surrendered itself to the executive. Of note, despite being critical of a former Chief Justice passing a verdict in a Supreme Court case in exchange for a nomination to the Upper House of Parliament in India on his retirement on a quid pro quo basis, suggesting collusion and corruption, Justice Katju himself secured appointment by the Government to Chairman of the Press Council of India following his own retirement,” the Judge observed. Katju himself was a beneficiary of Government secured position and it was hypocritical of him to accuse former CJI Gogoi of collusion as it would be nothing more than projection.
The court further said – “Despite being highly critical of the ‘trial by media’ and its impact on Nirav Modi’s case, he (Katju) took the astonishing decision to brief journalists in relation to the evidence he was giving in these proceedings, creating his own media storm and adding to the heightened media interest to date.”

The Judge further said that he found Katju’s “evidence and behavior in engaging the media the day before giving evidence to be questionable for someone who served the Indian Judiciary at such a high level appointed to guard and protect the rule of law.

No evidence to say judiciary in India no longer independent. The Court observed that there was no cogent and reliable evidence that the Indian Judiciary was no longer independent, or capable of managing a fair trial even in a high-profile case with media interest.

Judge Gooze said in judgement– “Despite making commentary about the fairness of any trial process in India, he(Katju) accepted on a number of occasions in cross-examination that he had not considered the evidence and it is evident from his report he certainly had not considered the full requests from the Government of India”.

This comes as a reality check to the delusional skeptics and “intellectuals” who are opposed to the mythical “fascist restructuring of Indian Judiciary” and the alleged “Bhagwafication”(Saffronization) of Justice which has been compared to Kangaroo Courts and Nazi Germany, milked to the bone each time their side fails to provide evidence of their meaningless claims, be it the Ayodhya Verdict or restoring 370 petitions, even the case of Contempt against Prashant Bhushan where despite losing the skeptics claimed moral victory.

Dismissing every setback as failure of system (“Bhagwa Courts, Godi Media, IT Cell”) being biased against them and people being in the spectrum of illiterate and brainwashed into “Bhakt” culture has been what the opposition with all its thinktanks and Lutyens bubble can come up with, that combined with lack of introspection to a fault, unacknowledging its faults nails the coffin of the opposition’s ambition to overthrow the Modi Government.

By Shivam Chatterjee

Is right-wing politics still on a rise across the world?

abhishekpathania
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Is right-wing politics still on a rise across the world?

Back in 2019 when Boris Johnson won a landslide Tory electoral victory not seen since Margaret Thatcher’s triumph in 1987, it became evident that the world politics is heading toward right-wing populism. But with Donald Trump losing the presidential election in 2020 many thinkpieces were written asking: are populism’s days numbered? 

I don’t think so.

Right-wing populist and nationalist governments are in power in Russia, India, Israel, Hungary, Poland, and Philippines. They share power with left-wing populists in Italy. Japan’s Shinzo Abe has taken his conservative Liberal Democratic Party in a notably nationalist direction. And with Angela Merkel announcing her intention not to run for re-election, and her party anxiously watching the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany, it’s likely her conservative coalition will also begin sounding right-wing populist themes.

First of all, let’s look into what is right-wing actually and why it is named so.

Some people might wonder is politics a bird which has two ‘wings’? Why is the right-wing called ‘right’; not ‘left’?

Hmm, buckle up. I’ll get you sorted.

What is the concept of right and left-wing?

The History

During French Revolution (1789–1799) AD; the seating arrangement in French Parliament was such, that the people sitting on the left of the Parliamentary President were of liberal ideologies like: “All men are equal by birth so their rights should be equal too”; and the people on the right side of the Parliamentary President were of conservative ideologies like: “All men are equal by birth, but their rights will vary only according to their degree of actions.”

In British politics; these terminologies like ‘left’ and ‘right’ entered in the 20th century; little late and then it entered as usual in Indian politics.

However, the rule of thumb in politics is that there is no middle way or central position. Anybody who is claiming he holds the middle-path or something like center-right or center-left; is simply either a confused one or a highly diplomatic one seeking his own interest only.

Politics has only two ends, or two opposing destinations only: Right and Left. They are like two brinks of the river where you can build a good home in any side. But anybody who is standing in the middle of the bridge above the river has simply no clue about his own destination, and he’s just measuring both sides cautiously.

For years, liberals or left-wing is supportive of human rights, democratic reform and the protection of minorities. They are a class of Socialists, Communists, Social Democrats, Liberals, Environmentalists, etc. Often, it is still these “progressive” causes that appeal to younger activists.

But today, with an increasingly diverse mix of people and political goals, with those on the right are gaining traction. They are Conservatives, Ultra-conservatives, Nationalists, Revisionists, etc. For example, The BJP of India which won two consecutive elections to form the central government, advocates social conservatism and a foreign policy centered on nationalist principles.

The Idea of Extremism

By now, you must have already got the idea; that since the Right-wing is the highly pragmatic version of ideologies, it’s quite an extremist in approaches.

Who is an extremist? Anyone who seeks a final solution for every problem is called an extremist.

I came for peace, but I am prepared for war. I will fight for the ideas of the Republic and all that She stands for.

It’s not essential that the right-wing preaches war, but they indeed think of it as a viable option when all other intelligent solutions are exhausted.

This leads me to my next point.

Do Wars lead to the rise of Right-Wing politicians or is it the economy?

World War 1 started due to Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism. It was the primary cause of the great depression (1929–1939) And that so-called Great War, along with the Depression it spawned, was the driver that eventually produced the even greater catastrophe of World War II. Any war; therefore; must have an important or unimportant, significant or insignificant—economic reason. Around which the Politics revolves; and based on the axis of that politics; the War rotates

Let’s take the case of The Great Depression

The biggest economic disaster

The great depression was the largest economic collapse yet, in the history of economics; and it turned people hungry and poor overnight; lots of dices changed on the boards of Wall Street just like, with a single snap of a finger.

And the worst thing it created: Mass unemployment.

Unemployed men queued up outside free soup kitchen (Source: wikimedia.org)

Now we all now ill-effects of unemployment. It leads to hunger, poverty, high crimes and so on. Apart from that, low self-esteem, anxiety and other mental health issues also prevail. The latter is more dangerous when you club it with the former.

My mother always quote a famous line which goes like this- ” An empty mind is a devil’s workshop”. So keep yourself preoccupied with something, lad.

Long stretches of leisure; if not handled properly; can be choking—and makes people impatient. Spending a life of emptiness; purposelessness makes people mad—and mind starts to ponder all kinds of negative thoughts. And if this conflict in mind goes on for too long; slowly they become frustrated to get rid of this restlessness feeling. Not that they wanted to get rid of great depression at that moment; but they wanna get rid of their own madness running inside their mind.

And then A man like Adolf Hitler, or Benito Mussolini comes out of the mass and claims: “I can get you out of this madness chaps”

We need heroes first and foremost because our heroes help define the limits of our aspirations. So that heroic leader attracts you with his persona, the subtle rhetorics, and ultimately his charisma works! He promises to his people, the final solution and extreme ways for each and everything.

The mob gets happy and the leader gets the candy: Power.

The Modern World

India

Now if we look at how India chose a right-wing Nationalist party like BJP to rule the country, the root is yet another economic disaster. 2008 was the year when the global market was hit by another economic disaster, the biggest after the Great Depression. The stock market crashed, companies became bankrupt or sold out, a recession followed by mass unemployment led to people on streets walking with a CV to get a job.

Same scenario but with a comparatively less impact than the Great Depression!

India didn’t take the brutal blows as its economy recovered quite quickly, but the other factors such as rising inflation, high fuel prices, scams and corruption on a large scale by the ruling coalition government led by Congress party made people mad again.

People were impatient to throw away this incompetent government. And then people saw the rise of a charismatic leader- Narendra Modi.

The Middle East and the Syrian Civil War

After the recession of 2008, the oil prices spiked up. This led to more money pumping in the middle east where most of the oil reserves are. Some of this money was also invested in the extremist organization.

The Syrian dictator Bashar-Al-Assad who has been the President of Syria since 17 July 2000( his family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971); started killing rebels with help of Iraq and Russia. Saudi Arabia and Qatar provided weapons to rebels.

According to the United Nations, over 100,000 people were killed by June 2013. When chemical weapons were used in 2013, the UN got alarmed and the US army started bombing Syria on a daily basis. With the bombing as an excuse, Islamist extremist organizations strengthened the ISIS and recruited more new and unemployed, fresh soldiers.

So, in this case, we saw the rise of the world’s biggest terrorist organization ISIS.

The USA

To prevent the rise of ISIS and its terror attacks; American people who had already passed a phase of hopelessness and impatience during 2007–2010; were not very to take another risk; and started to support Trump; when he promised them the final solutions for everything.

Trump bet his whole campaign on the idea that popular hostility to liberal immigration and free trade policies would propel him to the White House.

Nationalism, divisive and polarizing campaigns won him the silent voters

The Social Media factor

Modern politicians and especially right-winged are smart to realize that social media is their weapon to catch the nerve of common people. This is the reason they are investing so much on social media, creating IT cells to propel their propaganda and trying hard to woo voters.

The fact that Trends on Twitter, political ads on Facebook can actually win elections was strengthened in the US election of 2016.

Conclusion

It’s a reality that world politics is heading towards right-wing populism and people are loving it, and our left-wing friends are lagging behind.

Reason for their fading popularity is because:

  • Leftist are still stuck in Orthodox politics
  • They are failing to read the mindset of youth after the social media revolution
  • They are not able to comprehend the shift in world politics and new world order.
  • They ignore that Nationalism has become the core sentiment due to the global uprising of brutal religious organizations.

If you’ve made this far, thanks for reading! 🙂 Do let me know your views on this one.

मोदी मोटेरा और झन्नू

naveendubey
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मोदी मोटेरा और झन्नू

आज झन्नू की आँख देर से खुली, उसने लपक के तकिये के नीचे से फोन निकाला और पूँजीवादी कंपनी के सिम से इंटरनेट चला दिया। ट्विटर की नीली चिड़िया पे हाथ रखते ही झन्नू के चेहरे पे चिंता की रेखाएं गाढ़ी हो गयी, लाल गैंग के सारे नर एवं मादा क्रांतिकारी अंगरेजी में ताबड़ तोड़ विचार ठेले पड़े थे और भक्त मंडली नेहरू जी का इतिहास उधेड़े पडी थी। दिमाग की नसों पे उच्चतम दाब डालने पर भी समझ नहीं पाया की मोदी ने कोई काण्ड किया है या फिर अम्बानी-अडानी ने कुछ और खरीद लिया है। झन्नू की उगलिया कुछ ज्ञान ठेलने को विह्वल हो रही है।
टाइमलाइन पे कुछ और गौर देने पे झब्बर भैया का ट्वीट दिखा तो मुँह से आह निकल गयी, मने की मन में ही कराह उठा “हाय दैय्या मोटेरा का नाम मोदी हो गया”। फिर क्या था झन्नू दिमाग के घोड़े दौड़ाने लगा, एक विचार बनाने के लिए देश के सबसे शांत चैनल की खबरे तलाशने लगा तो पता चला, की रात नौ बजे बैठकी में चर्चा का आयोजन है। मुद्दा है “क्या राज नेतावो के नाम पे क्रीड़ास्थलों के नाम होने चाहिए?”। फिर क्या था झन्नू के मन मस्तिष्क में विचारो का आवाह प्रवाह होने लगा। अभी बस मायावती के पुतले और मोदी के मोटेरा का तुलनात्मक अध्ययन शुरू ही किया था की अम्मा की चपेट कनपटी पर पडी और झन्नू सबकुछ छोड़ के बाथरूम की तरफ भगा।

अब प्रश्न ये है की “मोटेरा का नाम मोदी रखना कहा तक उचित है?”

मोदी आलोचकों, लाल बाबुओ और जिटरी (अंगरेजी शब्द है, जानबूझ के लिखा है) ट्विटरियो की माने तो, ये मोदी का तानाशाही की तरफ रखा गया पहला कदम है और ये अखंड भारतवर्ष में हुयी पहली घटना है, महाप्रलय बस कुछ दूर ही है। अटल जी की तरह सोचे तो बात इनकी भी ठीक ही है। भला कोई अपने नाम का दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा स्टेडियम थोड़े बनाता है?

कुछ अतिउत्साहित उभरते हुयी राजनीतिक विश्लेषकों (जिनको अभी तक ये नहीं पता चल पाया है की वो किस पाले में है, उनकी हालत “वो बेटा जी किश्मत की हवा कभी इधर, तो कभी उधर वाली है) की माने तो “मोटेरा का नाम बदल के मोदी ने ठीक नहीं किया, इससे तो बहन मायावती का पुतले वाला पाप धुल गया। मोदी का कद घटा है। खैर अटल जी की तरह सोचे तो बात इनकी भी ठीक है।

चलिए छोड़ते है इस बात को, मेरे हिसाब से पंचो की राय माने तो “मोटेरा का नाम मोदी होना” एक चर्चा का विषय है और इसपर जम के चर्चा होनी चाहिए। आखिर कबतक प्रबुद्ध समाज “पावरी हो रही है ” या “बागपत की चाट युद्ध” में उलझा रहेगा। अब जबतक स्वेता जैसी किसी होनहार की जूम काल या प्रोफेसर साहब का कोई जूम वीडियो ना लीक हो तबतक “मोदी और मोटेरा ” पर घनघोर वाद प्रतिवाद होना चाहिए।

परन्तु एक बात समझ में नहीं आयी, हमारे कांग्रेसी बंधू इस मुद्दे पे किस मुँह से बोल रहे है? अकेले नेहरू चचा और शाही परिवार के नाम पे २३ से ज्यादा स्टेडियम और १९ खेल पदक है। इसी वंशावली में ऐसे प्रधानमंत्री भी हुए, जिन्होंने खुद को ही “भारत रत्न” दे डाला। ये बात तो ऐसी हुयी “जैसी मेले में मजनू के पिजरे में बंद किया गया मनचला, महिला सुरक्षा पे व्याख्यान दे”।

बहुत देर हो गयी झन्नू शौचालय से नहीं निकला है, लग रहा है शौच गद्दी पे बैठ के ही क्रान्ति लाने का प्रयास कर रहा है। सुना है कल रात उसने भरी हई मिर्च का अचार खाया था, इस कारण वश अगर वो कुछ ज्याद उत्तेजना प्रकट करे तो भक्त गणो से अनुरोध है की #अरेस्ट_झन्नू का हैसटैग ना चलाये- आज बात “मोदी और मोटेरा” तक ही रहने दे!

‘Their’ Feminism is limited; ‘ours’ is not!

abhigya
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‘Their’ Feminism is limited; ‘ours’ is not!

यत्र तु नार्यः पूज्यन्ते तत्र देवताः रमन्ते, यत्र तु एताः न पूज्यन्ते तत्र सर्वाः क्रियाः अफलाः
Meaning- Where women are worshiped, there lives the Gods and where they are not worshiped, all actions are rendered fruitless.

When above lines define the culture of my soil where does feminism fit in Bharatiyan context? Feminism strives for egalitarianism but none of the educated, I emphasize educated and not merely literate, Bharatiya nari (women) want their positions to be pulled down to equal men’. As alien is the language in which it is coined so is the concept; nonetheless, both have mingled in our society.

Bharat has always offered women equal and at times superior opportunities, be it the archery division of army in Chanakya’s time, performing a yagna, conferring degrees like Ganini, Mahattara,etc; or mastering the 64 Kalas that was a must for a woman that included art of solving riddles, mechanics, knowledge of foreign languages, etc. She was a wrestler, doctor, Upadhyayi (teacher), minister and every other thing unlike her western counterpart who had to struggle all her life to get one job as is vivid in ‘On The Basis Of Sex’.

Even now vows are taken to protect her and she is seen as the divine manifestation of love, care and nourishment. The fact that she is programmed differently in her genes simply surpasses the swill sense of woke feminists for is it not ridiculous that a country summoned as ‘Ma’ (mother) has glass ceilings? Not having a single use, feminism has only degraded our society by fighting against triple talaq, injecting HPV vaccine without parent’ permission to depopulate India, fighting for Rohingyas, opposing CAA, starting  MeToo and falsely accusing men, allowing women in Shabrimala when the positive scalar waves are fatal to her and coining exhibitionistic disorder as empowerment.  

Once a Mallyali acquaintance was blabbering hogwash how women in her society are respected to such an extent that the children are given surnames of their mothers (I accentuate ‘Mallyali’ as they have a matriarchal society). This is a perfect example of baloney, in Northern India fathers’ surname is taken over (Gotra system) simply because only the y chromosome undergoes perfect replication from generation to generation, it’s a system to sustain the genetic information and has nothing to do with patriarchy. We don’t need the genetic compatibility test because of the Gotra System but should I expect this to be understood by wooden headed feminists?

Do you take yellow fever vaccine? While you can’t take medications for diseases that do not exist in your land feminism being gulped down the throats is beyond the pale. A unique problem of the west need not spread its unique solution globally.

Our Feminism and their Feminism

Doing away with such an absurdity, we should keep in mind that West needs feminism very badly and only India continues to be the acme of gender roles. By keeping India perpetually under the limelight of ‘most dangerous country for women’ we are belittling the pain and suffering of actual victims. Their jealousy towards Bharat cannot justify the ignorance of Boko Haram kidnapping or the persecution of Falun Gong. Now you cannot point out to dowry and go eureka, evil in Indian society unveiled! It is anyways sickening to see people performing marriage completely according to Hindu rituals and then adding a taste of slavery by taking/giving dowry. Not that there is zilch misogynistic denizens but the fact remains that they are a product of English education system for where else do you find men respecting women if not in India.

While feminists get busy changing the Myntra logo, US women undergo deliberate obesity to avoid sexual harassments, brides get abducted in Kyrgyzstan, Swedish women become slaves to sex tourism, almost every Hindu girl child is raped daily in Pakistan, UK girls convert to rape victims before school graduation (they don’t even report the crime because it’s a ‘cultural norm’). If you mull over the intentions of such charlatans, oops! Feminists, you soon conclude that the wave of upliftment is nothing more than a form of gender proselytization, the goal being to bring the Indian women at par with the low standards of western women.

Only when the efflux of feminism in Bharat is deemed null and void and Indian naris realize their power they can work for genuine women empowerment in the accused nations.

BHARAT JAITU!

Can Hindus unite?

ramtarak
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Can Hindus unite?

The continuous evolution of Hindu society in terms of political, caste, and philosophical aspects has contributed a lot to the societal reforms. But this evolution came up with some defects also.

Those new philosophies which came for the purpose of reform in the caste system have themselves become a caste. Political orientation has caused the next level of division among Hindus in current times.

Philosophical Division

This is the worst division in Hinduism because all those previous philosophical clashes were in-terms of intellectual level but now it has turned into physical fights. In brief words, philosophical division means the schools such as Vishnavaites, shivites, Vedantic, Advaita, dvaita and new schools such as ISCKON, Shankaracharyas has certain inner philosophical difference with them.

During those times the difference between the school wasn’t much impacting the society because at those times governments weren’t democratic in nature. But now this philosophical difference has caused enormous damage to the unity of Hindus. During those times the great Indian saints were debating at the intellectual level and that didn’t hurt much to the harmony of the society.

But now this philosophical difference can hurt a lot to the Hindu society because it will become tough to unite Hindus under one philosophy. I have presented a screenshot of the comment which was done by a person who is Hindu but belongs to another school on Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev. This is actually only one example to show “How ideological difference among the Hindus is hurting Hinduism in a bad way“.

This happens with every Hindu school and the above was just an example. When one school starts to criticize another school in such cases Hindus will lose the belief in their own religion and they will think other religions will give peace to them and they will start to convert. This ideological difference is a big hindrance to Hindu Unity.

Caste and political Division

Casts are derived basically from the Varnas system but later on, most of the caste emerged out of the Bhakti moment and religious scholars. But the caste system was good social security for the person until the pride entered it.

Some of the caste orient themselves with a certain political ideology and they started to hate the other. Both caste and politics have become synonyms to each other and it has become tough possible to separate both.

Caste was supposed to act as social security by promoting the unity and sense of “OUR PEOPLE” but ended up creating a false EGO and division among Hindus. When politics entered the caste it started to divide them in terms of the upper and lower caste. Politicians started to divide by favoring some of the casts in the name of the reservation and they made certain casts their vote bank.

This caste system has created a huge hole in the unity of Hindus because certain communities started favoring certain political parties. During election times it ends in disputes. We all know that congress has created a successful gap among the Hindus which is Dalits v/s upper casts. This is the major setback to a country like India where diversity has become a curse instead of becoming a boon. The worst danger is I see so many young guys have been filled with the poison of the caste conflict.

People have oriented so much to the political parties that they even started to criticize their own religion. The propaganda of political parties was so strong that they made certain caste people believe that all Hinduism rituals are rituals of Bramins but not Hindus.

Possible solution

It is very tough to find the solution for the philosophical division because it is the game of the belief and everyone thinks that their philosophy is the best and truth than others. One possible solution could be schools/followers should follow their school without criticizing the others. Another possible solution could be drawn from Swami Vivekananda’s words:

For the next fifty years, this alone shall be our keynote — this, our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from our minds.

Swami Vivekananda

For the caste/political division Hindus must stop identifying their caste with the political parties. Another possible solution is inter-caste marriage and it should be promoted because it nullify the superiority of the caste felling that they carry.

Summary: In the present context it is highly important to unite the Hindus in the country. Continuous attack by leftists has caused a great sense of division among people. If it is not fixed then it is very easy to dismantle Hindu society.

A budget contrary to the goals of New Education Policy

khushi25
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A budget contrary to the goals of New Education Policy

Quality education is central to any nation’s development. According to the Global Education Monitoring Report 2020 ‘India, being a developing country already had inequalities in education but this pandemic even enhanced these inequalities and widened the digital gap’. To sail the economy through the current crises and most importantly Education sector, the first budget of this decade was presented by our Honorable Finance minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman but the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education saw a considerable fall of Rs. 6086.69 crores and is likely to receive Rs. 93,224.31 in year 2021-22 which is lowest budget allocated to it in the past two years.   

Union Budget 2021: Expectations in tandem with reality for Education Sector?

The New Education Policy 2020 was all set to transform the Indian Education System to meet the huge unmet needs of the 21st century. This policy seeks to rectify the poor literacy and numeracy outcomes associated with primary schools, reduction in dropout rates in middle and secondary schools. Not only this, it also had provisions for early childhood care which is evident in its 5+3+3+4 model for school education. This policy focuses on revamping and restructuring the curriculum and pedagogy; reforming assessments and exams, investing in teacher training and broad-basing their appraisal. Laudable aspect of this scheme is the introduction of vocational courses with an internship which would help realize the goals of Skill India Mission.

It proposes to make education more inclusive through the extension of Right of Education to all children up to the age of 18. This new policy seeks to lay the foundation for a multi-disciplinary approach in higher education by further establishing a super regulator for education which will be responsible for standards-setting, funding, accreditation of higher education in India. Most crucially NEP once and for all, buries the strident Hindi verses English divide and rather focuses on making local language as the medium of teaching at least till grade 5. It also encourages the infusion of international perspective and innovation by allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

Since all were awaiting to see the implementation of New Education Policy through this interim budget but contrary to our hopes, the first budget following the new policy of 2020, in no way lays the path to realize the lofty goals of NEP 2020. Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan which is a flagship scheme of the Modi government to provide inclusive and equitable school education to all; witnesses a sharp decline in its fund allocation. Since this scheme subsumes three other schemes which are Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, and Teacher Education, they all are likely to receive less funds this year. Apart from NEP 2020, budget will not even help in realizing the Global Education Development Agenda specified in Goal 4 of Sustainable Development Goals. This budget explicitly mentions that only 15,000 schools (1% of the total schools) will be strengthened to have all the components of NEP 2020 which means 99% of the Indian schools are not even the concern of the government. However, the New Education Policy seeks to establish gender inclusive fund for promoting girls education but the funds for National Scheme for Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education saw a sharp decline of more than 100 crore in this budget. 

Though this Budget fails to accommodate many concerns but its collaboration with UAE and Japan to generate skilled workforce and to facilitate the transfer of vocational skills, knowledge and technical know-how is a step welcomed by all. But this single good initiative cannot surpass the loopholes that prevails in this hopeful budget of 2021.

Indian education system does not require a paradigm shift in its approach to make education more inclusive and accessible to all. But it simply should start by focusing more its social sector for better implementation of policies. The government should consider the recommendation of Education Commission, that is, the then Kothari commission which also stressed on the need to spend at least 6% of our GDP on Human Development. They should work more closely with the States as they spend a major chunk of their funds on social sector.

But none of this can happen unless there is political push to achieve the goal of Universal Education, at the part of the government. But with less funds being imparted to education, it seems that the government do not even intend to address the problems that exist in education sector, especially, when it has witnessed a serious setback due to the pandemic. In the recovery packages of Covid-19, Education sector was thought to remain at the core of this budget, but it has unfortunately not happened. One can just hope for better implementation of the funds assigned.

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