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संघ विचार-परिवार के वैचारिक अधिष्ठान की नींव- श्री गुरूजी

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संघ विचार-परिवार के वैचारिक अधिष्ठान की नींव- श्री गुरूजी


राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ के धुर-से-धुर विरोधी एवं आलोचक भी कदाचित इस बात को स्वीकार करेंगें कि संघ विचार-परिवार जिस सुदृढ़ वैचारिक अधिष्ठान पर खड़ा है उसके मूल में  माधवराव सदाशिव राव गोलवलकर उपाख्य श्री गुरूजी के विचार ही बीज रूप में विद्यमान हैं। संघ का स्थूल-शरीरिक ढाँचा यदि डॉक्टर हेडगेवार की देन है तो उसकी आत्मा उसके द्वितीय सरसंघचालक श्री गुरूजी के द्वारा रची-गढ़ी गई है। उनका वास्तविक आकलन-मूल्यांकन होना अभी शेष है, क्योंकि संघ-विचार परिवार के विस्तार और व्याप्ति का क्रम आज भी लगातार जारी है। किसी भी नेतृत्व का मूल्यांकन तात्कालिकता से अधिक उसकी दूरदर्शिता पर केंद्रित होता है।

यह उदार मन से आकलित करने का विषय है कि एक ही स्थापना-वर्ष के बावजूद क्या कारण हैं कि तीन-तीन प्रतिबंधों को झेलकर भी संघ विचार-परिवार विशाल वटवृक्ष की भाँति संपूर्ण भारतवर्ष में फैलता गया, उसकी जड़ें और मज़बूत एवं गहरी होती चली गईं, वहीं तमाम अंतर्बाह्य  आर्थिक-संस्थानिक-व्यवस्थागत सहयोग-संरक्षण पाकर भी वामपंथ लगातार सिकुड़ता चला गया। संघ के इस विश्वव्यापी विस्तार एवं व्याप्ति के पीछे श्री गुरूजी का मौलिक एवं दूरदर्शी चिंतन, ध्येयनिष्ठ-निःस्वार्थ-अनुशासित जीवन, अभिनव दैनिक शाखा-पद्धत्ति और व्यक्ति निर्माण की अनूठी योजना कारणरूप में उपस्थित रही है। क्या साधना के बिना सिद्धि, साहस-संघर्ष के बिना संकल्प और प्रत्यक्ष आचरण के बिना प्रभाव की प्रप्ति संभव है? श्री गुरूजी में ऐसे सभी दुर्लभ गुण एकाकार थे।  उनकी कथनी और करनी में कोई अंतर नहीं था।

संघ संस्थापक डॉक्टर हेडगेवार द्वारा सन 1940 में संघ का दायित्व सौंपे जाने के बाद उन्होंने तत्कालीन परिस्थितियों का अध्ययन करते हुए स्वतंत्रता-आंदोलन में संघ की रचनात्मक-विधायक भूमिका सुनिश्चित की। मातृभूमि के लिए किए जा रहे कार्यों का  श्रेय न लेना संघ के उल्लेखनीय संस्कारों में से प्रमुख है। स्वाभाविक है कि भारत छोड़ो आंदोलन में बढ़-चढ़कर हिस्सा लेने के बावजूद संघ के स्वयंसेवकों एवं कार्यकर्त्ताओं ने कभी उसका श्रेय नहीं लिया। देश का विभाजन न हो, इसके लिए संघ प्राणार्पण से प्रयासरत रहा।

पर जब विभाजन और उससे उपजी भयावह त्रासदी को देश और देशवासियों पर थोप दिया गया, जब अखंड भारतवर्ष के लाखों हिंदूओं को अपनी जड़-ज़मीन-ज़ायदाद-जन्मस्थली को छोड़कर विस्थापन को विवश होना पड़ा, जब एक ओर सामूहिक नरसंहार जैसी सांप्रदायिक हिंसा की भयावह-अमानुषिक घटनाएँ तो दूसरी ओर सब कुछ लुटा शरणार्थी शिविरों में जीवन बिताने की नारकीय यातनाएँ ही जीवन की अकल्पनीय-असहनीय-कटु वास्तविकता बनकर महान मानवीय मूल्यों एवं विश्वासों की चूलें हिलाने लगीं, ऐसे घोर अंधेरे कालखंड और प्रतिकूलतम परिस्थितियों के मध्य संघ ने अकारण शरणार्थी बना दिए गए उन लाखों विस्थापित-शरणार्थी हिंदुओं की जान-माल की रक्षा के लिए अभूतपूर्व-ऐतिहासिक कार्य किया। श्री गुरूजी स्वयं उन शरणार्थी शिविरों में जा-जाकर लोगों को सांत्वना व दिलासा देते रहे, उनकी यथासंभव सहायता करते रहे।

महाराजा हरिसिंह को समझा-बुझाकर जम्मू-कश्मीर का भारत में विलय करवाने में उनका निर्णायक योगदान था और जब पाकिस्तानी सेना ने कबायलियों के वेश में जम्मू-कश्मीर पर हमला किया तब उनके दिशानिर्देशन में ही संघ के स्वयंसेवकों ने राष्ट्र के जागरूक प्रहरी की भूमिका निभाते हुए भारतीय सेना की यथासंभव सहायता की। संघ के स्वयंसेवकों ने राष्ट्र-रक्षा में सजग-सन्नद्ध प्रहरी की इस भूमिका का निर्वाह 1962 और 1965 के युद्ध में भी किया। उल्लेखनीय है कि युद्ध सेना तो अपने दम पर लड़ती ही लड़ती है, पर युद्ध में जय बोलने वालों, उसका मनोबल बढ़ाने वालों और उसका सहयोगी-तंत्र बनने वालों का भी अपना महत्त्व होता है।

1948 में गाँधी जी की दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण हत्या का आरोप मढ़कर जब संघ को 18 महीने के लिए प्रतिबंधित कर दिया गया और श्री गुरूजी को जेल में डाल दिया गया, तब भी वे विचलित नहीं हुए। उन्होंने हार नहीं मानी, न डरे, न झुके, न समझौता किया। संघर्षों की उस आग में तपने के पश्चात वे और संघ दोनों कुंदन की तरह निखरे-दमके और चहुँ ओर अपनी कीर्त्ति-रश्मियाँ बिखेरीं। वह एक ऐसा निर्णायक दौर था, जब गुरुजी की एक चूक या भूल संघ की दशा-दिशा को सदा-सर्वदा के लिए प्रभावित कर सकती थी। वे चाहते तो प्रतिबंध की प्रताड़ना को झेलने के पश्चात संघ को एक राजनीतिक दल के रूप में परिणत कर सकते थे। उसे सत्ता-संधान या तदनुकूल परिस्थितियों तक सीमित कर सकते थे। पर नहीं, उन्होंने अभूतपूर्व दूरदर्शिता का परिचय देते हुए संघ को राजनीतिक नहीं, सामाजिक-सांस्कृतिक संगठन के रूप में विकसित किया। क्योंकि यह सत्य है कि व्यापक मानवीय संस्कृति का एक प्रमुख आयाम होते हुए भी राजनीति प्रायः तोड़ती है, संस्कृति जोड़ती है, राजनीति की सीमाएँ हैं, संस्कृति की अपार-अनंत संभावनाएँ हैं।

कदाचित गुरुजी इसे जानते थे। यह उनके द्वारा दी गई दृष्टि का ही सुखद परिणाम है कि देश-धर्म-संस्कृति की रक्षा हेतु प्रतिरोधी स्वर को बुलंद करने के बावजूद संघ का मूल स्वर और स्वरूप विधायी एवं रचनात्मक है, प्रतिक्रियावादी नहीं। वह सृजन, साधना और निर्माण का स्वर है। यह अकारण नहीं है कि राष्ट्र के सम्मुख चाहे कोई संकट उपस्थित हुआ हो या कोई आपदा-विपदा आई हो, संघ के स्वयंसेवक स्वयंप्रेरणा से सेवा-सहयोग हेतु अहर्निश प्रस्तुत एवं तत्पर रहते हैं। प्राणों की परवाह किए बिना कोविड-काल में किए गए सेवा-कार्य उसके ताज़ा उदाहरण हैं। संघ के स्वयंसेवकों ने यदि सदैव एक सजग-सन्नद्ध-सचेष्ट प्रहरी की भूमिका निभाई है तो उसके पीछे राष्ट्र को एक जीवंत भावसत्ता मानकर उसके साथ तदनुरूप एकाकार होने का दिव्य भाव उन्होंने ही स्वयंसेवकों में जागृत-आप्लावित किया था। यह कम बड़ी बात नहीं है कि एक ऐसे दौर में जबकि चारों ओर बटोरने-समेटने-लेने की प्रवृत्ति प्रबल-प्रधान हो, संघ के स्वयंसेवक देने के भाव से प्रेरित-संचालित-अनुप्राणित हो राष्ट्रीय-सामाजिक-सांस्कृतिक सरोकारों में योगदान देकर जीवन की धन्यता-सार्थकता की अनुभूति करते हैं।

संघ का पूरा दर्शन ही ‘मैं नहीं तू ही’, ‘माता भूमिः पुत्रोऽहं पृथिव्याः’, ‘याची देही याची डोला’ के भाव पर अवलंबित है। संघ समाज के विभिन्न वर्गों-खाँचों-पंथों-क्षेत्रों-जातियों को बाँटने में नहीं, जोड़ने में विश्वास रखता है। वह बिना किसी नारे, मुहावरे और आंदोलन के अपने स्वयंसेवकों के मध्य एकत्व का भाव विकसित करने में सफल रहा है। गाँधीजी और बाबा साहेब आंबेडकर तक ने यों ही नहीं स्वयंसेवकों के मध्य स्थापित भेदभाव मुक्त व्यवहार की सार्वजनिक सराहना की थी। संघ संघर्ष नहीं, सहयोग और समन्वय को परम सत्य मानकर कार्य करता है। उसकी यह सहयोग-भावना व्यष्टि से परमेष्टि तथा राष्ट्र से संपूर्ण चराचर विश्व और मानवता तक फैली हुई है। छोटी-छोटी अस्मिताओं को उभारकर अपना स्वार्थ साधने  की कला में सिद्धहस्त लोग और विचारधाराएँ संघ द्वारा प्रस्तुत व्यापक राष्ट्रीय-मानवीय अस्मिता के विरुद्ध जान-बूझकर कुप्रचार फैलाती हैं। 

वस्तुतः संघ जिस हिंदुत्व और राष्ट्रीयता की पैरवी करता है, उसमें संकीर्णता नहीं, उदारता है। उसमें विश्व-बंधुत्व की भावना समाहित है। उसमें यह भाव समाविष्ट है कि पुरखे बदलने से संस्कृति नहीं बदलती। जब-जब राष्ट्र की एकता-अखंडता, संघ के व्यापक विस्तार, वैश्विक व्याप्ति की चर्चा होगी श्री गुरूजी याद आएँगें, क्योंकि उसकी इस सफल-गौरवशाली यात्रा की नींव में उनके विचार ही ठोस आधारशिला एवं प्रेरणा-पाथेय के रूप में विद्यमान हैं।
-प्रणय कुमार

Smashing the false narrative on India’s Hindu movement

ind123
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Smashing the false narrative on India’s Hindu movement

Secularism is the belief that religion should not influence the organization of society, education and government, and thus each citizen should have the freedom to practice his personal faith. There is a narrative being pushed by ‘intellectuals’ in India that Modi and the Hindu movement in general pose a threat to this fundamental pillar of India’s Democracy. That narrative is laughable and deeply flawed; it demonstrates a fundamental inability to understand the crux of the problem. Why, it would be more accurate to say that the Hindu movement is the only thing protecting Secularism in India.

Let’s be clear, Hinduism has always been a natural fit with the ideal of secularism. Core Hindu philosophy provides its followers with tremendous religious freedom, and as a result we have millions of Gods, sects, practices and rituals. This directly translates into a society that is not only tolerant, but also adopts customs and practices from other faiths. For a long time Hindus have freely visited Masjids, Churches and Gurudwaras, and have happily celebrated festivals like Christmas and Baisakhi. Visit Mumbai in December and even today you will see Christmas trees in the homes of as many Hindus as Christians. There has never been any opposition to true secularism, and nor will there ever be. The real issue in India is that we demand secularism only from the Hindus, while giving a free pass to the ideology propagated by intolerant Abrahamic faiths. As a ‘liberal’, ‘left-wing’ college-student, the hypocrisy astounds me.

There is a reason Modi swept the elections in 2014 and 2019, and no, it is not because all Hindus are intolerant communal fascists, like the New York Times would like you to believe. It is because Secularism in India has long been replaced with Appeasement, and even the most tolerant reach a point where they say ‘enough is enough’. There is constant hypocrisy at every turn; ‘one rule for them, another for everyone else’. It is safe to say that intellectuals, academics and journalists have truly failed the country when it comes to holding different communities to the same social standards. Hindus cannot be expected to continue tolerating the intolerant, and it is time to shift the narrative to the real issue: the intolerance of Abrahamic faiths and the extreme threat they pose to secularism in India.

-This is just the introduction to my article, wanted to know whether OpIndia would be interested in publishing something with a theme like this before putting in the work to complete it.

शिवाजी महाराज मतलब अदम्य साहस, महिला सम्मान और गुरिल्ला वारफेयर के उस्तादों के उस्ताद

hemenji
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शिवाजी महाराज मतलब अदम्य साहस, महिला सम्मान और गुरिल्ला वारफेयर के उस्तादों के उस्ताद

वो छत्रपति थे, वो पौरुष का अंतिम अध्याय थे, संस्कारों की पावन मूरत, महिला सम्मान उनके रक्त में बहता था, वो नौसेना कमांडर थे, वो शक्तिशाली को पानी पिलाकर मारना जानते थे, मातृभूमि के लिए जान देना नहीं अपितु जान लेना उन्हें आता था, वो संस्कारों से सिंचित एक ऐसा वटवृक्ष थे, जिसकी भुजाओं की गर्मी से औरंगज़ेब जैसे बादशाहों का सिंहासन डोल उठा था, वो महानतम योद्धा परम आदरणीय छत्रपति शिवजी महाराज थे। नमन कीजिये उस रोल मॉडल को जिन्होंने उस समय के युवाओं को मात्र प्रेरित ही नहीं अपितु जीवन जीने का कारण स्पष्ट कर दिया, सोये हुए गौरव को ऐसा जगाया की उनके देहावसान के तीन सौ वर्षों बाद भी उनका नाम भारत माता के सबसे लाडले सपूत के रूप में अज़र अमर हो गया। कल यानि 19 फरवरी 1627 को उनका देहावसान हुआ था। आज भी पूरे देश में और विशेष रूप से महाराष्ट्र में उन्हें महसूस किया जाता है। एक विशाल व्यक्तित्व और उससे भी बढ़कर विचार बन चुके आदरणीय छत्रपति शिवजी महाराज को आइये याद करें इस अवसर पर और जाने उनके बारे में।

लालन पालन में माँ की भूमिका

माता जीजाबाई की संस्कारयुक्त शिक्षा बाल शिवा पर सकारात्मक प्रभाव डालने लगी थी। रामायण और महाभारत के ज्ञान के साथ पौरुष और नेतृत्व क्षमता दिखने लगी जब उनके पिताजी की दी हुई छोटी सी रियासत से हुई शुरुआत को उन्होंने एक मराठा साम्राज्य का गठन कर दिया। ये माता जीजाबाई की ही शिक्षाओं का असर था जो उन्होंने युद्ध में एक बार बंदी बना कर लाई गई महिलाओं को ससम्मान न सिर्फ वापस भेजा अपितु जिम्मेदार लोगों को दंडित भी किया गया।

धार्मिक किन्तु धर्मनिरपेक्ष

धर्मनिरपेक्षता उनकी एक ऐसी विशेषता थी जिसने उन्हें सर्वमान्य नेता के रूप में मान्यता दी। उनकी सेना में पैंसठ हजार से अधिक मुस्लिम सैनिक थे और हिन्दू पादशाही की स्थापना करने के साथ साथ उनके राज्य में रहने वाले मुस्लिम लोगों को हिन्दुओ के सामान धार्मिक अधिकार प्राप्त थे।

आधुनिक नौसेना के जनक

शिवाजी महाराज न सिर्फ दूरदृष्टा थे, अपितु आधुनिकता की सैन्य अभियानों में आवश्यकता को भी समझते थे। उन्हें नौसेना की स्थापना का श्रेय दिया जाता है, भारत में उस समय उन्होंने सबसे पहले नौसेना की स्थापना की और कई किले बनवाये जिससे शत्रु से राज्य की रक्षा की जा सके।

महिला सम्मान के असली पुरोधा

एक सभ्य समाज के नेतृत्व में जिन गुणों को हम आज परिलक्षित करना चाहते हैं, शिवाजी महाराज में वो सभी उस समय थे। अपने समय से बहुत आगे की सोच रखने वाले शिवाजी महाराज ने अपने राज्य में सभी को महिलाओं का सम्मान करने और शत्रु समाज की महिलाओं से भी दुर्व्यवहार न करने का आदेश दिया हुआ था। एक बार एक मुग़ल सूबेदार की बहु को उनका एक सैनिक इसलिए पकड़ लाया कि महाराज उससे खुश होंगे। लेकिन हुआ उल्टा। महाराज ने उस महिला को सम्मानपूर्वक वापस लौटा उस सैनिक को दण्डित किया। इस प्रकार एक आदर्श समाज की व्यवस्था के जनक थे छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज।

गुरिल्ला युद्ध के जनक

शिवाजी महाराज अपने क्षेत्र के कण कण से परिचित थे। पहाड़ और पठार उनके प्रिय सखा थे। कहाँ से अचानक आकर हमला बोलना और गायब हो जाना उनकी विशेषता थी। वो अपने क्षेत्र के इस प्रेम के कारण ही गुरिल्ला युद्ध कर बच निकलते थे और मुग़ल हाथ मलते रह जाते थे।

छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज अप्रतिम योद्धा, कुशल रणनीतिकार और सामाजिक रूप से वसुधैव कुटुंबकम के प्रणेता थे। उनकी महान सोच और उनकी दूरदृष्टि ने मराठा साम्राज्य की नींव डाली जिसने संख्या में कम होने के बाद भी दक्कन में निज़ाम और उत्तर में मुगलों को लालकिले ही हद तक सीमित कर दिया था। आगरे की किले से बचकर निकलना हो या खुदसे बहुत बड़े दैत्याकार अफ़ज़ल खान का वध, उन्होंने अपने कृत्यों से हमेशा सिखाया है की विपत्ति चाहे मुगलो की फौज के समान असीमित हो या अफ़ज़ल खान जैसे दैत्याकार दानव सरीखी विशाल – आपकी विजय निश्चित है यदि आपमें हौसला, साहस और विवेक है और आप कर्मशील हैं।

कोटि कोटि नमन! जय शिवाजी!

The malaise that is ailing our country

bapiraju3
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The malaise that is ailing our country

I believe in a robust democracy. One where, there is an honest appraisal of the Government’s performance by the opposition and one where, the freedom of speech and expression is absolute. But for that to happen, the citizens of that democracy should collectively move towards the welfare of the country rather than political, religious or any other self serving bias clouding their judgement. There are absolutely no two ways about it. The freedom to demand a constitutional right comes with the duty of respecting that constitution in the first place.

For the past year and a half, our country has witnessed a spate of protests, communal violence and rioting with people from various walks of life, whether they are college going youngsters or old nannys, participating in the literal abuse of our constitutional processes. While blatantly ignoring the injury to the rights of other citizens of the country, these people have been demanding their constitutional rights be upheld. Whether it was the CAA protests, the Delhi Riots following it or the present farmer protests, that resulted in the insult to our national flag on our Republic Day from our Nation’s capital, they followed a clear pattern of blatant disregard to the laws of the country.

I am not going to speak about the politicians, who have squeezed every bit from these protests for their own political agendas, nor will I speak about the protesters, who have been misled by various vested interests including the aforementioned politicians. I don’t have a problem with either of them. What I do have a problem is with the woke generation of this country. It is hightime that this generation wakes up from its idealistic and utopian idea of the society and look at what is happening on the ground before blindly associating with causes that are destroying the so called rights they think they are upholding. Right from the time, the Azaadi slogans have been raised to the day when an almost insurrection happened on the ramparts of Redfort, there has been a concerted effort by vested interests in creating unrest in this country over absolutely nothing.

Take for example the current farm laws that seems to have upset a lot of farmers and from whose shoulders the vested interests are again trying to create unrest. Before we jump on the farmer bandwagon, I want the educated and the Woke generation to understand the plight of the farmers and whether the present laws alleviate their pain and suffering. For almost 70 years since independence, the Indian farmer has been getting poorer and poorer inspite of being in a position to feed the country. Why has it been like that? Are the APMC Mandis and the MSP’s actually making any difference to their lives? Has the Indian farmer been in a position to innovate and succeed? These are just some of the questions one needs to ask before looking at the laws themselves.

I believe in the ability of our educated to actually make a difference. Don’t go by what I have written here. Look at the problems facing the Indian farmer with an open mind and then look at the laws that have been passed to give them a level playing field bereft of middlemen. The very fact that neither could the protesters in CAA nor those in the Farmers agitation could point out what is black about the laws and only want a repeal without a reason should make us understand that the intent is to disrupt and not discuss to find a solution. I haven’t spoken in depth about all the benefits accruing out of these farm laws or the CAA before that or the many other reforms undertaken by the present government.

The answer to the present malaise effecting our country is education. And by that I mean the educated amongst us taking up the responsibility of being socially aware and educating those under the misguided notion about the laws. It is not such a difficult task considering the fact that we will be doing this country a great service by helping in building of a robust democracy we all so love to see. Let us not let the hatred that we might harbour for a person or a party manifest itself into a destructive cancer to the country. Whether Disha Ravi, a supposedly young 21 year old climate activist is guilty of sedition or not, one cannot condone her actions and have to bemoan the education that she has been imparted. When an educated young girl feels that there is no humanity left in this country anymore simply because a person she doesn’t like is the Prime Minister of this country, then there is something seriously wrong in our education system, which is producing absolute dimwits.

If 1000 years of invasions, loot, plunder and occupations could not kill the humanity of this great nation, can one person sitting in the chair of the Prime Minister kill it? Are we as a nation so bereft of morality? After hearing a young girl, that the liberal media constantly refers to as the 21 year old climate activist, speak with such hatred and venom against her own country and her own people, it begs a lot of questions about her education. Does she believe that her parents are inhumane too because they apparently support BJP? Where is she getting her information from? Does she not realise that she is shaming her country and its people in front of those, who tried to and are still trying to, control us? Has her education made her such a dimwit that she doesn’t realise that her personal bias is making her act against her own country? And that is why I say, it is time for the educated amongst us to take the time to explain the history of our great nation minus all the Nehruvian liberal whitewashing to the younger generation. The kids of today surely need to understand their history better so that more don’t become like Disha Ravi and spew venom against their own country and countrymen and women in their hatred towards one man.

For our democracy to survive and for us to make our place in the new world order post the pandemic it is the duty of every citizen, whose heart beats for this country to make informed choices and educate those around us to make informed choices. Let’s not let the hatred for a man or a party tear the very moral fabric of our great nation. Let us all stand up to be counted as a part of a robust and vibrant democracy. None of us would want to live in the chaos that was our bane for the past 65 years.

We have moved on from it. We have twice elected a Government with overwhelming majority. That speaks volumes about how much we have come forward as a nation. Let us not falter when the victory line is in front of us. Speak about the laws, the Government’s performance and the situation of this country. But speak only after understanding things with an open mind. Again I reiterate this is not a clarion call to support a party or its idealogy. This is a wake up call to our citizens to be vigilant and keep national interest above one’s own prejudices. If one thing Disha Ravi’s case should teach us, it is that our so called educated young generation have a lot to learn. Let’s not let that malaise destroy this country!!! Jai Hind!!!

School ‘Twitter’ before it’s too late

Bimal Prasad Mohapatra
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School ‘Twitter’ before it’s too late

If the micro blogging site Twitter is not schooled now for its willful disobey and disregard to Indian sovereign laws, note it will be too late to do the same by the victim that is sovereign India as the elements the US headquartered social media has been facilitating and promoting -now openly- will be so powerful that the victim will not be able to rise to successfully face the challenge, forget about schooling the social media in the future. Now, it has been crystal clear that there is a broad based well networked international conspiracy financed by western established billionaires and organisations to destroy the idea of India and her physical integrity to retain their political and ideological supremacy over the world polity as seen from 18th to 20th centuries.

If the objective of them was not that, the Yoga (India’s origin health recipe) and Chai (popularly tagged with PM Modi), which have nothing to do with the farmers protest, would not have got mention in the infamous ‘toolkit’ of the environmental activist, who of course hurriedly have withdrawn the same for reason best known to her, though the analysts believe the same was done as per late understanding of the perpetrators that the act is illegal. The activist is known for years for her worldwide activities for preservation of healthy environment, but now found poking her nose in farmers protests in North India, the latter have been going on for last three months for among others to get a law that will protect farmers’ environment polluting agricultural residue burning.

“Toolkit is an attack on India’s sovereignty,” opined Harish salve, Senior Advocate in Supreme Court of India, who is a former Solicitor General of India and now Queen’s Counsel for the court of England and Wales, in an interview to Rahul Shivshankar, the Editor-in-Chief, Times Now. Going further, while being interviewed by Republic TV, he continued, “On the other hand of the spectrum, you have troublemakers like the Khalistani movement people who have always looking out at an opportunity to further their agenda. And their agenda is unlawful. It violates a host of Indian laws. It is an act of terror. I am deeply disappointed to see environmental activists becoming the bridge between these two ends of the spectrum allowing these terrorist elements to infiltrate genuine protests.” All these activities as stated above are being facilitated by social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Zoom which are share-holders invested business/corporate entities, and are based in western countries. For them, Indian audiences are nothing less than their colonial subjects as were before August 15, 1947.

Here, I attach a photograph of meeting between Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey with PM Narendra Modi held in November 2018 in New Delhi. Just carefully analyze the photo: a company CEO meeting the world’s largest sovereign democracy and the third largest economy (in terms of PPP)’s elected head of the government. Has anybody ever seen any Indian or MNC (having business in India) CEO’s sitting like this while meeting with India’s PM? But, yes, I have not seen. Who is the boss here: PM of 135 crores populous democratic India or a businessman from West? Just note: Where is Jack Dorsey’s left leg? To me, it looks like PM Modi is subordinate of Jack Dorsey. Body posture matters! And, surprisingly, neither PM Modi nor his office or any other self-respected Indian had raised this issue in my knowledge. Is it for which Twitter got emboldened later? May not be ruled out? Now onwards, let us don’t allow this short up protocol vandalism, if even it provokes badmouthing from powerful western media. Enough is enough.

Next issue that bothers me is Open Society Foundation founder billionaire George Soros’s Davos World Economic Forum 2020 vow to invest in India against nation’s nationalist government. This is nothing less than questioning largest democracy’s democratic ethos. Here, it is to be noted that George Soros’s, one of the planet’s wealthiest men, past is marred with serious allegations of crimes and misdemeanors including a conviction for ‘insider trading’ by a French court that fined him $2.3 million. He may not be alone in this anti-India propaganda which has come to light in recent past. With passing of days, many mores’ on-going misadventures may come to light. After George Soros’ Davos declaration, the anti-Indian publicities and propagandas in western media, in particular, and demonstrations and vandalism of things connected to India in western world cities, which includes sacrilege of Mahatma Gandhi statue -the apostle of peace and non-violence- in London, Washington DC and California, have seen many folds increase. Even these anti-India activities have been so profitable that the child environmental activist Greta Thunberg risked her carefully built credibility and threw her weight on unjust farmer protest limited to some pockets of northern India spearheaded by some electoral rejects, unelected and known separatists and their dynasty political associates. Even Meena Harris, the niece of newly elected US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been warned by The White House for her activities taking advantage of her aunt’s position, jumped the bandwagon of farmers protests, forget about the tweets pop star Rihanna and porn star Mia Khalifa’s so-called grieves for Indian farmers getting ventilated in their Twitter accounts.

Now, let us discuss the so-called liberal democratic concerns of social media Twitter. In the recent past, in the so-called heaven of the western liberalism where Jack Dorsey, George Soros and liberal advocate Meena Harris were born and brought up, Twitter dared to block the world’s most powerful person that is the President of America’s account on the ground of his tweets’ unreasonably questioning of the sanctity of November 03, 2020 presidential election, causing social polarization, and in fact, provoked January 06, 2021 violence and vandalism of Capitol Building that houses country’s top law making institutions like Senate and House of Representatives, pending President-elect taking oath of office later.

Similarly, in the same month, on January 26, when India was celebrating 72nd Republic Day, there was violence in the national capital and vandalism in the Red Fort ramparts from where Prime Ministers of India have been unfurling the national flag on Independence Day non-stopped since start of self-rule. Protesters scaled the flag post and hosted the religion flag in place of national tricolor. Before, after and during the intervening period between before and after the January 26 violence, there were several tweets, including hashtanged tweet that alleges PM Modi causing farmers’ genocide, provoking violence. Later, the investigations located the tweets were originated both in India and beyond including Pakistan and Western countries. And there were tweets from eminent journalists and elected politician like elected Donald Trump that a protester killed in police firing whereas the truth was the so-called protester died due to his tractor’s overturn after violently hitting a barricade in front of several TV and mobile cameras.

Issue of contestation is the Government of India enacted new Farm Laws with objectives to reform the much debated farm sector and to make the farming more profitable to dependents, who constitute more than 50% of nation’s population with GDP contribution of just 18%, and relieve the small farmers from middlemen rampant manipulations and exploitations.

Before the farm laws were passed in 2020, there was demand for the same in the past.

One of the top farmer leaders, who has several other businesses, had once supported the reform as soon as the same was voted in the Parliament to be law of the land, is now protesting.

Even a regional party that rules Delhi and has gone to the extent of getting the gazette notification of the part of laws on November 23, 2020 for implementation of the law in the state is found providing infrastructure facilities including WiFi service to the agitators who include separatists, extremists, etc. which Republic Day violence has exposed.

Post violence, the Government of India directed the Twitter management to block the said social media accounts of dubious entities and individuals, who have been found engaged in promoting violence on Republic Day, using the same logic that the social media used while blocking Donald Trump account just a few weeks back. But, SM management has not implemented the same in full. Instead, it argues to protect Freedom of Expression of account holders as per Art 19.1.a in Indian Constitution. Who are they to interpret Indian Law? Are they above the Supreme Court of India which time and again says FoE is not absolute? In the meantime, the ‘toolkit’ to promote violence in farmer agitations, designed and developed by offshore based extremist elements, who used Twitter accounts of pliable and juvenile environmentalists in India and abroad to carry forward their anti-India agenda, has been accidentally found leaked over the site. The contents of ‘toolkit’ now reveal that Twitter had provided, has been providing and will be providing the main propaganda platform for sustainable campaign.

Is it for this that the vested interest Twitter is reluctant to comply the sovereign Indian government dictate? Above all, Twitter is a business entity based in the US. Its majority of share-holders are in America. And the share-holders have invested in Twitter for monetary return. Plain logic is if providing propaganda platform the SM earns handsomely, why should it bother for social conflict and sovereignty of another country? Here, neither the Government of India nor Twitter forget that GoI is duty bound to maintain law and order in the nation as well as to provide justice to small farmers and the consumers of firm products at large. If, on the way, Twitter is found a huddle, it should be schooled appropriately and as per law of the land -now itself- by the government accountable to the citizens of India in every five years.

Siddharth, India hasn’t changed. You have.

viswanathv
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Siddharth, India hasn’t changed. You have.

Actor Siddharth’s exchanges with social media influencer and pro-BJP commentator Karuna Gopal on Twitter have resulted in some polarization and partisan commentary, which is hardly surprising. Karuna Gopal’s political leanings are no secret. She is a strong Modi supporter who was on the Sub Committee BJP National Manifesto 2019. And Siddharth is bipartisan. Or so he wants the gullible to believe. Which is why the actor, in the wake of the heated exchanges with Karuna Gopal, made it a point to share his speech at the Indian School of Business in 2009.

The speech is interesting on several counts. At about 16 minutes, it was delivered by an impassioned Siddharth with conviction. One feels his angst and there is no doubt about it. At one point in the speech, the actor complains that K Rosaiah, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, didn’t show the inclination to listen to him when he went to him to make a monetary contribution towards flood relief. For a celeb to say such a thing openly, especially down South, takes guts. Most celebs feel extremely humble when they just get an appointment. Most celebs are just craven down South. Siddharth understandably felt bad that his well-meaning thoughts didn’t find an audience when he met the Congress leader. 

To be sure, his 2009 speech is bipartisan. Plugging it, the actor confidently said, “I wonder why I never got a single complaint or threat then about the tone and nature of my speech? Nobody attacked me for having an opinion… For asking questions. India has changed. It changed in front of our eyes. Question is… what are we going to do about it?”

Siddharth is clearly complaining that, after 2014, he has been abused for attacking the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the surface, this looks like a genuine complaint. But scratch it a bit and Siddharth’s too-clever-by-half sophistry comes to the fore. 

Why do I say this? Let’s analyze the contents of the speech point by point:   

1. In the speech, Siddharth says this with exasperation: “There are morons in every single party.”
Someone please tell me who was expected to take umbrage and troll him for this generic description of the political class? Isn’t this something everyone and their aunty says in our society? Does anybody get labelled as this or that for saying it even today – in the so-called India of Nazism, fascism and worse? 

2. The most beautiful part of the speech comes when Siddharth declares, “The stench of dynastic politics is going to kill this country.” (8:05 minutes).
This was incredibly bold of Siddharth to have said this. Except that it’s non-specific, much like the comment analyzed in Point #1. Which political party was he targeting? Or, better still, which party was he NOT targeting by saying this? Who should have felt offended, given most political parties are led by dynasts, some of whom are notoriously incompetent? (If anything, some BJP supporters must have presumed that Sid was indirectly batting for BJP back then by talking in the language of anti-Dynasty Sanghis!) 

In 2009, Siddharth believed that the country was going to go to dogs because of dynastic politicians. Shouldn’t he just thank Modi for averting the catastrophe, then? Siddharth might argue (for the sake of arguing) that BJP is killing the country. Taking the stupidity of this argument at face value, why should ONLY the BJP be the target of its righteous ire, day in and day out, when the country would have been ruined by others anyway? 

Against this, Siddharth and his ilk might say: “Corruption, incompetence and poverty are less dangerous than poisonous communal hatred.” But by saying this, they would merely be taking recourse to the discredited vocabulary of Lutyens sellouts, compromised intellectuals and self-diagnosed secularists. How is Siddharth different? 

3.  In the speech, Siddharth calls a spade a spade and calls out the conduct of “the shameless Indian media” that took “us on a circus journey for three days” during the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008. What a solid statement against Arnab Goswami! Wait. He was actually calling out Barkha Dutt and her ilk. 

This brings us to the argument, how many times has he taken Dutt’s name directly over the years while he doesn’t think twice before lampooning some journalists like Goswami and Navika Kumar? Has Siddharth ever questioned those self-righteous people who see the very same “shameless Indian media” elements whom he called shameless in 2009 as conscience-keepers of a sane, secular India? 

There is so much dishonesty in Siddharth claiming that he never used to be trolled but he has been viciously abused only since 2014. Sid may genuinely be deluding himself that the climate was awesome back then. But it barely was. There were instances of attack on Freedom of Expression back then. Senior journalist Kanchan Gupta and about a dozen “right wing” Twitter handles were sought to be suspended during Manmohan Singh’s era. Do such incidents count? Do the many rape threats that Hindutva-leaning women receive count? Or does Sid want the world to believe that only one side gets abused/threatened?

A celeb chooses to highlight some issues while forgetting about others. When Article 370 was abrogated in 2019, Siddharth batted for Kashmiri’s entrenched interests. He got into specific issues and treated us to his celestial genius by mocking Uttar Pradesh and Yogi Adityanath (by deliberately referring to him as Ajay Bisht) and projecting J&K as the better State without understanding the complexities of the issue at hand. How many times did he get into such political issues when the UPA was in power? 

Generic criticisms are not the same as sustained, focused attacks on only one party. Nobody deserves abuse. But if Siddharth is bipartisan, then Bin Laden was a peace-monger. Siddharth was non-ideological in 2009. He is in company with ideologically-compromised intellectual dwarfs today.  India hasn’t changed. Siddharth has.

PS: Sidharth in the speech displayed his admiration for Jayaprakash Narayan of Lok Satta. For the unversed, JP is a vehement supporter of the farm reforms, which the actor doesn’t understand a bit going by his empty rants in recent weeks.

Crucial significance of foreign secretary’s Moscow visit in February 2021

tsdarbari
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Crucial significance of foreign secretary’s Moscow visit in February 2021

India and Russia have a decades-old bilateral relationship. Diplomatic relations between India and Russia began even before India achieved independence, on 15 August 1947. In the period immediately following independence, the goal for India was of attaining economic self-sufficiency through investment in heavy industry. The Soviet Union invested in several new enterprises in the areas of heavy machine-building, mining, energy production and steel plants. During India’s second Five Year Plan, of the sixteen heavy industry projects set up, eight were initiated with the help of the Soviet Union. This included the establishment of the world-famous IIT Bombay.

The historic moment in relations between India and the Soviet Union was the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in August 1971. The Treaty was the manifestation of shared goals of the two nations as well as a blueprint for the strengthening of regional and global peace and security. Since then, the bilateral relations between India and Russia have flourished expeditiously.

Traditionally, the Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defence, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism co-operation and space. The planned visit of Foreign Secretary of India Mr. Harsh Shringla to Moscow on 17-18 February 2021, prior to the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit to be held in the first half of 2021 is of substantial significance.

The visit is a part of preparations for the 21st India Russia Annual Summit and includes Foreign Secretary of India Mr. Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s meeting with Hon’ble Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mr. Igor Margulov to finalize a high-level interaction calendar for Hon’ble President of Russia Mr. Vladimir Putin’s visit to India for the 21st India Russia Annual Summit.

From the perspective of strengthening India Russia bilateral trade, these all events will play a crucial role along with other measures to boost the bilateral trade which are as follows:

-An India Russia Green Corridor to be established soon.
-The multi-modal International North-South Transportation Corridor, already planned, will reduce the transit time and costs for containers to get from Mumbai via Iran to Russia and onwards to Central Asia or Western Europe.
-Negotiations on an India-Eurasian Economic Union FTA are to be completed very soon.

Tribhuvan Darbari, MD & CEO – Texmaco Defence Systems Private Limited, Chief Executive (Corporate Business) – Texmaco Rail & Engineering, said that this visit of Foreign Secretary of India Mr. Harsh Shringla to Moscow after the disengagement between India and China along the LAC is also strategically important as Hon’ble Foreign Secretary of India is expected to draw up a roadmap with his counterpart in Russia to deepen the strategic ties that enabled incessant supply of defence items for the military during India and China stand-off along the LAC.

Tribhuvan Darbari further added that Texmaco has a strong relationship with Russia and has signed several strategic ‘Make in India’ MoUs with globally renowned Russian OEMs.Texmaco has also arrived at an understanding to set-up a dedicated Indo-Russian Centre of Excellence for facilitating the transfer and promotion of advanced emerging technologies, such as: Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (loT), Cyber Security, Blockchain, Robotics, Quantum and Cloud Technology and other emerging ‘State-of-the-art-Technologies’ from Russia and other sources.

Tribhuvan Darbari also said that we all wish for the success of this visit as the core objective of the visit is to revive the proposed Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor and finding ways to increase bilateral trade, which is currently worth $10-11 billion.

Mr. Ajai Malhotra, a former Indian career diplomat who has also served as Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, in his article in the Economic Times, said, “With the original India-Russia cumulative investment target of $30 billion by 2025 already being exceeded, the performance snapshot of our trade & economic cooperation changes radically when the two-way investment is taken into account.”

“As preparation for the annual summit, Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu would visit India in early 2021 for the IGC on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation. It would review the timely delivery to India of five S-400 air defence systems, the purchase/construction of four stealth frigates, besides progress in implementing projects to make AK-203 rifles and Ka-226 light utility helicopters in India. A long-term Military-Technical Cooperation Program for 2021-30 would be finalized as also an IGA,” according to the article by Mr. Ajai Malhotra.

On the basis of the above-mentioned facts, Tribhuvan Darbari said that this visit and several other high-level engagements and summit in the pipeline are expected to give a push to pending projects as well as open a new window of multiple opportunities to boost the India-Russia trade partnership.

Is the Dravidian despotism ending: The fickle state of polity

malavika2510
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Is the Dravidian despotism ending: The fickle state of polity

The Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu are well aware that the ground under their feet is slipping and have resorted to contemptible methods to find their footing.

In the grab of subtle campaign activities by many parties for assembly elections it is imperative to talk about the challenges it throws. With the 5-state election coming up in summer of 2021, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal seem to be the toughest for the BJP. B.S.Yeduyurappa is the first leader to set up a BJP Government in South India. However, the local scenario seems to be absolutely different in Tamil Nadu when compared to any other state. The state has never had a nationalistic approach towards elections. The coordination between state and central governments as well as true representation of the people have never been given importance. This was evident in the 2019 parliamentary elections when the DMK won 24 seats all by itself despite being purely anti developmental.

Tamil Nadu has always been at the forefront of economic development. The main grounds on which any election is fought is always women empowerment, education and infrastructure. The state has successfully done all of these through the years irrespective of changes in governments. As of 2017-18 The southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala alone had a combined GDP of 25.8 lakh crore and a per capita income of 1.7 lakh crore. (source: MoSPI)

With regard to industrialization, Major automobile manufacturers, such as Hyundai, Ford, Renault and BMW, have production facilities in and around Chennai. Also the Tiruppur-Coimbatore-Salem corridor is considered the “Manchester of South India” due to its large cluster of textile industries. The main reason for Chennai being the automobile capital is not only the conducive environment for investment but also the technical capacity of labour. Founder of AIADMK and former Chief minister, M.G Ramachandran opened new avenues for education, particularly geared towards industry. He strengthened lower level technical education by setting up various industrial training institutes and polytechnic colleges which prove beneficial till date.

Tamil Nadu today has universal primary school attendance and the highest gross enrolment in higher education in India. The midday meal scheme started by Kamaraj was restarted by MGR in 1977 when he formed the government after a long DMK rule. This proves as a decisive factor in the electoral scene even today.  Moreover, The state has performed better than any other state with managing the covid-19 pandemic too.

The state has maintained policy consistency and commitment to industrialisation across changes in political leadership. 

So when food security, education and infrastructure are taken care of, where Tamil people are feeling secured with this development trajectory, what has the state done wrong?

A vicious sense of separatism has developed over the last few years, After the death of J.Jayalalitha , to be precise.  The anti-BJP result in 2019 was portrayed with pride in the state. It is natural to see varied results as that is the essence of a democracy. However, the elections are only driven by hatred.  The Dravidian parties, with concerted efforts have made sure that they have a strong hold by making people think that the Tamil people will be neglected by the BJP.  The meaning of the word “Dravidian” has changed according to political conveniences to the extent that brahmins living in the state are called invaders. In the contrast, The same Dravidian party lauded Kamala Harris for her “Tamil roots”.

Whether it was the jallikattu issue or the sterlite protests, it was made sure that Narendra Modi’s name was dragged in and tarnished. Speaking of the sterlite protests, It was an activity of only political intentions and nothing else. The Tamil Nadu pollution control board was still inspecting the issue while the protests went out of hand and the plant was closed. Little is any politician aware of the repercussions. The copper import increased to 233% in 2018-19. In 2017-18 export increased by 70% and import fell by 69.9%. this has caused a net increase of  2 billion dollars in import cost. Unfortunately, the so called broadminded youth were at the forefront of this.

The Narenda Modi government has repeatedly made schemes for young minds and encouraged their participation in the development of the country, Especially the first time voters and first generation graduates.

However, in Tamil Nadu, the youth are carried away by the separatist idea. “Periyarism” is considered as the broadminded approach. E.V Ramasamy Naicker (Also known as thanthai periyar) started the dravidar kazhagam to preach atheism, anti- brahmin  activism, abolition of caste system  and women empowerment. The Dravidian ideology was diluted long back when C.N Annadurai left the DK to form the DMK ( dravida munnetra kazhagam) and shifted to a more secular approach instead of an atheist one.

However, These parties have contradicted themselves time and again. ‘Periyar’ was a vocal supporter of British Raj, hoping that they might accept his demand for ‘Dravida Nadu’ (A separate south India) when the British were the people who even introduced the caste system. Hence, the sense of separatism is age old and not anything new-fangled. The (ostensible) care for backward people is always garbed in Brahmin hatred and not real, impactful work. As much as the protestors always speak of abiding by the constitution, little do they respect the freedom of faith of the Hindus. If the DMK was truly formed to establish secularism, why did they have to ally with the Muslim league which is clearly a religious party? The minority appeasement is so shameless that these parties have lost their primary ideology and in the court of public opinion, these parties are on a terminal decline.

In the recent past, Tamil Nadu has been represented by black balloons and spewing of uncouth slogans. The impact of this was largely seen in the 2019 general election results.

So, what affects the votes in TN?

J.Jayalalitha’s schemes for women still have popularity among masses. The most prominent ones have been gold for marriage, amma canteen, provision of household appliances, laptops for education and maternity care schemes. Her idea of progressive women development has been crushed by the regressive feminism of the DMK. Being a woman who rose amidst absolute patriarchy of the men in the opposition, The women of the state have immense respect for her work and compassion. Despite this , the AIADMK which got 44.34% votes in 2014 got only 18.53% in 2019.

Why the anti-incumbency upsurge?

The DMK has used caste, patronage and  brazen BJP hatred to their socio-political benefit. Ironically, these are the ones who talk of “samathuvam” (equality) despite getting caste / religion based votes. What happened in 2019 need not necessarily happen in the 2021 assembly elections. With new faces such as Rajinikanth, kamal haassan and especially the new BJP state leadership ,the votes will drastically differ.

The disassociation of the state is dangerous for the country not because of the anti-BJP sentiments but because of the separatist ideas. It might sound very easy for one to demand a “thani Tamil Nadu” (separate TN), but it’s high time we realise that this is a menace troubling our nation’s integrity and economic development. Above all, It is a threat to our democratic ideals adopted by the constitution.

There is no space for developmental politics in the state, Hence, very evidently, religion is the crucial tool.  In a state where forcefully cutting a brahmin’s janeau and disrobing a female MLA is not questioned , how can democracy thrive?

Under the Dravidian despotism, Hindus used to dread to exercise their freedom of speech. The DMK simply needed an easy-going Brahmin community as a pushover for their cheap political tricks. They are not the custodians of Tamil identity anymore. We are making a grave mistake by calling these devastating forces as liberals even as a joke. Dravidian parties and Tamil nationalism have become mutually exclusive and we need to act like it.

गरीब किसानों की कौन परवाह करता है?

satyanweshibharat
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गरीब किसानों की कौन परवाह करता है?

गरीब किसान असमंजस में है कि क्या सरकार उनके लाभ के लिए कानून ला रही है जबकि किसान नेता और विपक्षी दल कह रहे हैं कि यह उनके खिलाफ है। हमें गरीब किसानों के लिए खड़े होना होगा और इन “ब्रेक-इंडिया” ताकतों के खिलाफ खड़े होना होगा।

विपक्षी राजनीतिक दल –
आइए हम प्रत्येक विपक्षी पार्टी के सदस्य से पूछें, जिन्होंने ट्विटर पर, हर मंच पर, ईमेल पर कृषि कानूनों का विरोध किया था – यह बड़ा सवाल है – क्या भारत वर्तमान एमएसपी दरों पर कृषि उत्पादन का निर्यात कर सकता है?

जवाब है- एक बड़ा नहीं!

भारत को निर्यात करने में सक्षम नहीं होने से किसे लाभ होगा? – चीन, कनाडा।
कनाडा दुनिया में गेहूं का सबसे बड़ा निर्यातक है, और यह वास्तव में भारत में बढ़ने की तुलना में कनाडा से गेहूं खरीदने के लिए सस्ता है। भारत से दुनिया क्यों खरीदेगी?

किसान नेता –
किसानों से पूछें कि क्या उनके पास ऐसा कोई नेता है, जिसके पास एक हेक्टेयर और कम भूमि है? किसान नेताओं की जमींदारी क्या है? कम्युनिस्ट किसान नेताओं के रूप में क्यों नेतृत्व कर रहे हैं?

वजह साफ है। गेहूं की फसल के लिए कहें- एक हेक्टेयर और उससे कम भूमि वाले किसान के पास प्रति किलो इनपुट के रूप में लगभग 12 रुपये खर्च होते हैं, एक बड़े लैंडहोल्डिंग वाले किसान प्रति किलो इनपुट के रूप में 7-8 रुपये खर्च करते हैं। यदि गेहूं का एमएसपी 19.75 रुपये प्रति किलोग्राम है, तो बड़े भू-भाग वाले किसान को 90-110% का मार्जिन मिलता है, जबकि गरीब किसान को 40-50% का मार्जिन मिलता है।

पिछले 20 वर्षों में 3 लाख से अधिक किसानों ने आत्महत्या की है – ये “किसान नेता” कहाँ थे? करोड़ों की संपत्ति वाले अमीर किसान-नेता अपने लाभ मार्जिन की रक्षा के लिए हैं। वे गरीब किसानों के बारे में कम से कम परेशान हैं।

एमएसपी में किसी भी वृद्धि से उन्हें अधिक लाभ होता है। एक गरीब किसान के लिए जिसकी मासिक आय 4-6000 रुपये है, मार्जिन में कोई भी वृद्धि कम से कम 50-60% तक मिटा दी जाएगी, क्योंकि उसे अन्य खाद्य उत्पादों – प्याज, आलू, फूलगोभी, सेब, केला, और खरीदनी होगी अधिक कीमतों पर – खुले बाजार से।

कनाडा में, किसान खुले बाजारों में बेचते हैं। वे ऐसा इसलिए कर सकते हैं क्योंकि उनके पास बड़ी-बड़ी लैंडहोल्डिंग हैं। गरीब किसान को खेतों को संयोजित करने के लिए एक साथ आने की जरूरत है, और निजी खिलाड़ियों के साथ साझेदारी करें ताकि वे प्रौद्योगिकी से लाभ उठा सकें।

यदि यह “गेहूं” है, जिसके बारे में आप बात कर रहे हैं, तो हम गन्ने के बारे में बात करते हैं – भारतीय किसान गन्ने की फसल का उत्पादन करते हैं, लेकिन क्या हम निर्यात कर सकते हैं?

एक टन गन्ने की कीमत –
भारत- $ 42.5 (3086 रु)
ब्राज़ील- $ 20.09 (1450 रु)
थाईलैंड- $ 23.57 (1720 रु)
ऑस्ट्रेलिया- $ 23.91 (1740 रु)
(सोर्स – https://www.financialexpress.com/market/commodities/do-not-increase-sap-up-sugar-mills-urge-cm-yogi-adityanath/2135964/)

भारतीय गन्ना इतना महंगा क्यों है?

अमीर किसान, कांग्रेस और कम्युनिस्ट देश से खून बहा रहे हैं – सब्सिडी मांगने और गरीब किसानों को ढाल के रूप में इस्तेमाल करने से। ये उच्च मार्जिन हमारे छोटे किसानों को लाभ नहीं पहुंचाते हैं। छोटे किसानों को जानबूझकर गरीब और निरंतर भय में रखा जाता है ताकि पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र जीवित रह सके।

Why do we hate Ambani and Adani?

ninadkulkarni
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Why do we hate Ambani and Adani?

Recently, PM Narendra Modi gave yet another stellar speech in the parliament. This speech was important for several reasons. This was the first general address by the head of the state after the pandemic hit us. Several questions were lingering for some time and the PM was expected to answer most of them. Also, this speech came after an extremely important budget and a slew of third wave reforms that were ushered in by the government during and after the lockdowns. What struck me the most during the budget and PM’s speech is the unabashed utterance of the P word i.e. Privatization.

We in India have been lingering under the socialist hangover for so long, that we have had to invent words like ‘disinvestment’ to even begin thinking about reducing the public sector influence in our private lives. In such a backdrop, chest thumping about privatizing the ever loss making PSUs is nothing short of audacious. But not to anyone’s surprise, the opposition hit back by making a petty comment about ‘Hum 2 Hamare 2 ki sarkar’. This was nothing but a jibe to the long standing reference to Ambani and Adani. The first and the second richest persons in India have become a virtual punching bag for not only the anti-reformists but also for the entirety of the political left. This attempt to make the Gujarati duo into India’s poster boys bourgeoisie is neither new nor surprising. But this pegs the question – Why do we hate billionaires? 

Indian Society and Mimetic Violence

To answer the above question, we need to understand the current nature of the Indian society. Even with the economic reforms and the subsequent boom in the economic growth, a large part of the country is still poor. Adding to that were the horrific socialist years for a young republic which made prosperity a distant dream for most Indians. Indian millennials are the first Indian generation in history to have seen abundance of most things for most of their lives. A large part of India is still playing catch up. India is also largely a status driven society. Many rich societies also value status but a society which lacks enough economic opportunities values status more than its prosperous counterparts. We tend to fill the gaps left by low economic growth and social mobility with signals of status. For example, weddings in India are a great way to signal status. People borrow money to signal status that they don’t have. Rich people on the other hand don’t need to flaunt their status beyond their means as their wealth gives them access to things that even status can’t. This brings us to the French philosopher Rene Girard and his theory of ‘Mimetic violence’. 

To put it succinctly, Girard states that humans fight not because we are different but because we are the same. When we are the same, we end up chasing the same goals and end up as competitors instead of peers. This effectively results in violence which Girard terms as Mimetic violence. But as the society progresses, the warring participants feel the need to end the violence. But since none of the warring factions are willing to back down, they find something Girard calls a ‘scapegoat’. This scapegoat acts like a surrogate victim who is held responsible for the violence. This helps the warring factions to escape the violence as both parties get a face saver. The problem is that the scapegoat is often innocent.

Status and status games are by definition zero sum. If many people are of the same status then that status makes no sense. For one person to gain status, another has to lose. India largely being a status driven society, often engages in these frivolous status games. This gives rise to our own forms of mimetic violence in the form of envy and hatred for anyone who is seen to be doing well for themselves. In order to maintain our status in our own minds we find a way to make a scapegoat out of our fellow prosperous citizens by assuming that the wealth they have accumulated must be ill-gotten wealth. If you are following the thought, Ambani-Adani are nothing but our Girardian Scapegoats. 

Are billionaires good or bad?

This is, as usual, a complicated question. But it is simplified to an extent by Ruchir Sharma in his books. In short he posits that whether billionaires are good or bad depends on where their wealth has come from. Wealth that has come from rent seeking, political connections, passed on for generations, etc is much less ideal for a society as it extracts wealth at the expense of others. But wealth accumulated from investments in innovations, new technologies, etc often is valuable as it creates a tide that lifts all boats. I would put Ambani and Adani in the second camp as their wealth or future wealth is dependent on telecommunications tech and international trade respectively. Both of which have a significant positive impact on India’s economic progress.

When we neglect this fact, we risk losing out on potential economic activity that arises due to the investments that such people make. Adani by virtue of his investments in ports is having a monumental impact on India’s ability to trade with the world. None is stranger to the tectonic shift that Jio has brought in India’s internet and tech landscape. Let’s admit, no government or private entity would have the financial and mental wherewithal to patiently put 20 billion dollars in a tightly competed field of telecommunications. We often tend to forget the second and third order consequences of this phenomenon. Let’s take the example of Steve Jobs. Apple not only created the iPhone which literally changed the world, but the archetypal great founder Steve Jobs inspired millions others to start their own ventures thereby creating a virtuous cycle of economic progress. 

That’s not to say that billionaires are all saints and only care for the greater societal good. The recent adventures of our Bad Boy Billionaires certainly doesn’t help my case. But a little nuance always comes handy in this complex world.

So what do we do?

This piece is not in defence of the ultra rich. To say that they have enough resources to defend themselves would be a severe understatement. This is to make ourselves reflect on our own attitude towards wealth and prosperity. We don’t hate the rich if we know that we can be a participant in the same system. We hate them when we know that the system is stacked against us by the same people. Thus we need to differentiate between the rent seekers and the wealth creators. Wealth creators are good for society as they often chase wealth in opportunities that have the ability to grow the overall societal wealth.

Being economically independent makes us socially independent, thus ensuring individual liberty. Chasing wealth, as opposed to chasing status, can be a positive sum game. As Girard would suggest, to be happy and prosperous we all need to be differentiated. Differentiation suggests having own differentiated goals that make us economically and socially independent which in turn renders any form of mimetic violence, obsolete.

In summary, chase opportunities, think independently, live long and prosper! Cheers

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