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Political violence in Bengal- A race to win over power

ritika10gupta
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Political violence in Bengal- A race to win over power

The overwhelming political culture of violence, existing for more than 50 years, has again taken the centre stage in the state of West Bengal, when a BJP worker Ganesh Roy was found hanging from a tree in September 2020. The incident hasn’t come as a shock in the continuous occurrence of political murders of the party workers which are now part of ‘normalised’ and ‘routinised’ face of violence in the state but has further raised concerns for the future of politics in Bengal.

Political violence is not only apparent during elections, instead violence is entrenched within the political structure of the state. Biswanath Chakravorty, a political analysist, has stated “The society of the West Bengal has always been highly politicised and political conflict is increasing day by day.” With the corrupt regime of the congress, toppled by the CPI(M) which ruled for the longest unopposed, overtaken by the TMC- similar tactics have served the political ends.

According to the report published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the state recorded highest number of political murders in 2018. Every election in the state is marked with increased violence and higher level of killings. Capturing polling booths, tampering with ballot papers, vandalism and clashes leading to killings during campaigns constitute the election season. 

The culture of violence in bengal isn’t a new phenomenon rather has existed for over 50 years. History provides enough evidences for understanding prevailing forms of violence. According to political scientist, Bidyut Chakraboty, “violence was part of West Bengal’s political history. It existed during Freedom movement too. For instance, even for the elections to the Union Board, there was a big fight between Subhash panthi (supporters of Subhash Chandra Bose) and Gandhi panthi (supporters of Mahatma Gandhi).” The recent deaths of BJP workers are nothing but the part of normal murderous brutality in West Bengal and the manifestation of continuous power struggle between Mamta Banerjee led TMC Government and the Far rightist BJP.

While every state has different nature of politics, localised territorial control forms the state politics of West Bengal. Bengal has a formidable rural population, with around 70 percent of it living in the villages. Policy implementation  at the ground level is the role of local leaders who have strong party loyalties since, the political parties contest for panchayat elections unlike in other states. Citizens constantly in touch with the local leaders getting access to the party hence, become the leaders’ source of legitimacy. Thus, power moves in the bottom up approach, party that wins at the grassroot level has clear chances of sweeping the state and national level polls. Where parties are in the constant battle to achieve the mandate of the people at the local level- violence seems inevitable. 

The nature of violence is the same when the faces have changed- the overthrow of congress regime by the left led- CPI(M) was bloody. In 1971, killing of Hemanta Basu, national secretary of All india forward bloc, became a highly controversial matter and still covered in a mystery.  After the incident congress was sure of losing ground in the state, mainly in the rural areas rigged the elections in 1972. Congress rule ended with CPI(M) coming to power in 1977, continued to rule till 2011. Violence and corruption became the hallmarks of CPI(M) 34 years of regime, rigged elections became a routine. The rise of TMC as a challenger to CPI(M) brought a new hope with Mamta Bannerjee raising slogans of ‘poribortan’ (change) and coming up with the promise of peace. Within the 15 days of TMC coming into power opposition party workers faced the brutality- continuing the tradition of violence in the state and assimilation into the old patterns of containment.

TMCs rule has been no different than the previous ones. Violence before, during and after elections is a regular activity along with booth capturing, burning ballot papers, bomb attacks- every election with increased action.   

The 2018 panchayat polls were fatal with killings of around 60 people, 34 percent of seats went uncontested with TMC winning those unopposed. ‘Thank you’ rallies of the opposition party workers were crashed and had to be relocated. The three parties- Left, Congress and BJP accused TMC of threats and violence. Achieving its objevtives through targetted killings and intimidating the opposition, controlling the overall elections process is mundane practice which were  evident even during 2019 during Lok Sabha elections. A new wave of  politics jolted Bengal  with the newest addition of the Bhartiya Janta Party to the state. 

The BJP created history with a huge leap from 2 seats in Lok Sabha elections in 2014  to  18 of 42 seats  in 2019 Parliamentary elections from the state. The party is slowly establishing itself pouring in with its hindutva narrative wooing the disgruntled Bengali Hindus. Targetting TMC, BJP has often accused it with appeasement of the muslim community and biased public welfare system- attracting young voters as well. More funds to the mosque, restrictions on the celebration of durga puja, influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh has for years frustrated the citizens and BJP well played around it to gain a strong ground in the state. TMCs stand on the supreme court’s  judgement on triple talaq as hindrance of the muslim women rights and the publicly condemning of the Citizenship Amendment Act as discriminatory has further helped BJP fit in its narrative the criticism of TMCs political ideology. The saffron wave is slowly penetrating into the cracks developed with administrative failure over 9 years of TMCs rule

BJP further is gaining ground in the rural belt of the state and has emerged as an only and the best alternative to the corrupt and terror filled rule of TMC. The infuriated citizens, traditionally associated with now fading  congress and the left are finding a relief with BJP therefore, has brought a shift of combined Anti-Mamata votes towards it and consolidating a huge support base for the party. 

The rise of BJP for the first time has severely come to challenge in last 9 years of TMC’s domination, creating dent in its vote bank.  The anticipated danger from BJP has led TMC to resort to violence and other tactics to contain the opposition form making gains in the state. BJP has often claimed to resist and counter violence with violence. The tuff between BJPs aim of capitalising its base and TMC objective of maintaining its domination has turned Bengal into a ‘real’ battlefield intensifying the political culture of violence. 

Clashes between the party workers is a new norm and a everyday practice specially when elections are around the corner. The state recently saw violent confrontation between the TMC and BJP party workers in the Sunderban costal police station area, injuring 6 police personnel. Such violent encounters are often followed by allegations and counter allegations fomenting each other’s image.          

Death of a party worker is generally an organised and well executed from of violence. It isn’t as costly as communal clashes but works well enough to create fear and suspicion among the members- serving the political purpose very well. Resorting to such violence is the clear indication of government using any means to maintain its dominance and contain the opposition tactics of expanding the base in the party’s alleged  territory. 

BJP claims to have lost 105 workers since 2019 parliamentary elections holding TMC responsible for all violence. The threats by BJP such as “will pay back inch by inch and burning down of police station if another bjp worker is touched” clearly implies for 2021 assembly elections would be no exception- intensified violence. In the battle of numbers of the dead both the parties claim larger deaths than the other. With BJP claiming to seek revenge for the dead, has even instructed the party workers to beat up TMC members and police in case attacked. 

Setting the stage for 2021 elections aggression is evident in the tone of BJP with the slogans like- Badla o hobe, badal o hobe  (revenge along with change) came in line with TMCs slogan badla noi, badal chai (need change not revenge) when it came to power overthrowing CPI(M) in 2011. 

TMCs leader Mamata Bannerjee decision to diverting the strategy indicates the intimidation by BJPs slogans as ‘Aar noi Mamata’. The tactics of raising newer issues, launching membership shuffles, referring to BJP as ‘outsiders’, TMC is all set on eyeing the hattrick. 

With BJP working on saffronization surge of bengal and TMCs attempt to maintain the dominance- setting the aggressive stage for 2021 legislative assembly elections, political violence is sure to play a key role in the power struggle.

Author- Ritika Gupta

मुस्लिम, खान्ग्रेस, हम और भारतीयता

Bhartiya
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मुस्लिम, खान्ग्रेस, हम और भारतीयता

मुस्लिम लीग ने 1946 के चुनावो में 492 मुस्लिम बहुल सीटों में से 429 सीटें जीत ली थी। मतलब की 90% सीटें। कांग्रेस 1585 सीटों पर लड़ी और 923 सीटें जीती थी। जीतने का प्रतिशत तकरीबन 60% था, वो भी जब केवल दो बड़ी पार्टिया और कुछ छोटी महजबी पार्टियां ही चुनाव मैदान में थी। JDU भी बहुत सिकुलर बन रही थी। JDU ने 11 मुस्लिमो को टिकट दिया था, सभी उम्मीदवारों का हाल बुरा ही हुआ। इससे ये कोई भी समझ सकता है की खान्ग्रेस और दूसरी लिबरल पार्टिया उनकी पहली और नेचुरल पसंद नहीं थी, ना ही आज है, न ही कल होगी।

खान्ग्रेस और तथाकथित लिबरल और सिकुलर पार्टियों ने मुस्लिम वोटबैंक के लिये, सिकुलरिज्म और गंगा- जमुनी तहजीब की जो गंदगी फैलाई थी, उसे ढ़ोने का ठेका सिर्फ हिन्दुओ को ही दे रखा था और आगे भी दिए रखेंगे। हमारे मदिर तोड़े गएँ, बहन और माताओ का बलात्कार किया गया, हमारे पुस्तकालय जलाये गए, हमारी संस्कृत को खत्म किया गया। हम मूकदर्शक बने बस देखते रह गएँ गंगा-जमुनी तहजीब और सिकुलरिस्म का चोला ढ़ोने के लिये। न गंगा उनकी, न जमुना उनकी, बस जेहादी तहजीब ही उनकी थी। आज मुस्लिमो को एक जेहादी पार्टी मिल गयी है,अब वो खोंग्रेस्स या तथाकथित लिबरल पार्टियों को वोट नहीं देंगे। आने वाले समय में आप AIIM की सीटें बढ़ते हुए देखेंगे और इन सिकुलरो का रुदन भी सुनेंगे। आपको ये समझना होगा की, इस्लाम सिर्फ और सिर्फ मुस्लिम ब्रदरहुड में विस्वास रखना सिखाता है।

मेरी बातो को आँख मूंदकर मत मानिये, आप हदीसो के साथ कुरान पढ़िए, तभी आप की आँखे खुलेंगी। इस्लाम जिस भी देश में भी गया, वहां की सभ्यता और संस्कृत को नष्ट करते हुए, सबका खतना कर दिया। खान्ग्रेस ने बहुत खाद-पानी दिया हैं, इन लोगो को। जितना नुकसान मुंगलो ने 300 सालो में भी नहीं किया, उससे ज्यादा तो इन बामपंथी और खोंग्रेस ने पिछले 50 सालो में ही कर दिया।

हमें फेक इतिहास पढ़ाया जाता हैं की मुग़ल दुनिया के सबसे बड़े सिकुलर थे, देश के लिए ब्लॉ-ब्लॉ किया है। देश को फलाना दिया, ढेकाना दिया, बेचारो ने सिर्फ दिया है, लिया कुछ नहीं। आज हम दुश्मनो से कई मोर्चो में लड़ रहे है, पहले है क्रिस्चन मिशनरीज, है जो एक हाँथ से हाथ से कुछ रुपये देते है, और दूसरे हाथ से बाइबिल। दूसरे वो हैं जो डरा धमका कर और हमारी घर की बहन-बेटियों के माध्यम से ७२ हरे पाने का सपना देख रहे है।

तीसरे हैं, सिकुलर जमात, कम्युनिस्ट, समाजवादी पार्टी, तृणमूल खान्ग्रेस,और खान्ग्रेस जैसे कई पार्टियाँ, जो हमारे समाज को नपुंसक बनाने का काम कर रही हैं। ये वही खान्ग्रेस और तथाकथित लिबरल पार्टियाँ है, जो कश्मीरी पंडितो के नरसंहार, लव जिहाद और इस्लामिक आतंकवाद पर मौन रहती हैं पर आतंकवादियों के एनकाउंटर पर रोती हैं, एनकाउंटर्स को फेक बताती हैं। आतकवादियों का महिमामंडन करते हुए थकती नहीं है। इसरो और बार्क के वैज्ञानिको को जेल भेजती हैं, मनगढ़ित केसों में। चौथे हैं निओ बौद्धिस्ट और खालिस्तानी जो किसी और के इशारो पर अपनी ही सभ्यता और संस्कृत को खा रहे है, भारत माता के टुकड़े करने के लिए बेकरार है। पाँचवे हैं, तथाकथित NGO वाले जो इन सब से सांठ-गाँठ करके बहुत ही प्यार से हमें ख़त्म कर रहे हैं।

इनमे सबसे ज्यादा खतरनाक हैं खान्ग्रेस, जो की इन सबकी जननी हैं। खान्ग्रेसी वही हो सकता हैं जो कुंडित हो, श्रेष्ठता की भावना से ग्रषित हो, जो सोचता हो की एकलौता वही सही हैं, उसे ही इस देश में शासन करने का अधिकार हैं, इसी सोच के चलते वो कई तरह के हथकंडो का प्रयोग करता रहता है, शासन करने के लिये, इस भूमि को लूटने के लिये। वो इतना गिरा हुआ हैं की यदि आज जयचंद जीवित होता तो वो बहुत ही खुश होता की उसके खून कितना विकास कर लिया हैं, ऐसा रूप ले चुका हैं की आम जन-मानष उसे पहचान ही नहीं पा रहा है। ये खान्ग्रेसी, कलयुग से भी ज्यादा रूप बदल रहे हैं दिन-प्रतिदिन। हम एक रूप पहचान पाते हैं , उससे पहले ही ये दूसरा और तीसरा रूप धारण कर चुका होता हैं। ये कभी NGO, कभी समाजवादी, कभी कम्युनिस्ट, कभी आतंकवादी, कभी जेहादी, कभी नक्सलाइड, कभी आपिये, और कभी लिबरल बन जाते हैं। इनके हज़ारो रूप है, बहुत ही मायावी होते हैं ये। इन खांग्रेसियों को पहचानना बहुत ही मुश्किल हैं। आपको ये समझना हैं की, देश में जो भी समस्याएं हैं, कही न कही, खान्ग्रेस से जुडी हुई हैं।

मजे की बात ये हैं की हम जाने-अनजाने इन सब की मदद की कर रहे हैं। ये सब सातवीं शताब्दी से चल रहा है। हमारे पूर्वज बहुत ही विद्वान् थे, उन्होंने बहुत कुछ बलिदान किया है, जो आज भी हमारे ह्रदय में सनातन धर्म बचा हुआ है। उस दिन शायद ये दुनिया ही न रहे, जिस दिन हमारा नामो-निशान न होगा। हर शताब्दी में जन नायक आतें रहे हैं, जो की हमारे होने का एहसास कराते रहे हैं। हमसे, हमारा ही परिचय कराते रहे है। इस शताब्दी में इसका श्रेय तो मोदी जी को भी जाता हैं। सारी जनता ने उन्हें इसी कारण वोट के साथ प्यार भी दिया हैं। मोदी जी ने भारत को फिर से विश्वगुरु बनाने का वचन दिया हैं। हम मोदी जी की आलोचना तो कर सकते है, करना भी चाहिये, परन्तु उनका साथ किसी भी कीमत में नहीं छोड़ना चाहिए। ऐसा करके, हम देश के दुश्मनो का ही साथ देंगे। नौकरियाँ तो कोई भी दे सकता हैं, अदानी, अंबानी, टाटा, फ्लिपकार्ट, पाकिस्तान, तुर्की, मलेशिया या कोई और दुश्मन देश भी दे सकता है। पर कई हज़ारो लोगो को उनके होने का एहसास तो मोदी जी ने ही कराया है, उन्होंने कुछ हद तक यूनाइट तो किया ही हैं।

इस भारतवर्ष दूसरा कोई भी माई का लाल पैदा नहीं हुआ था जो धारा 370 हटा दे और राम मंदिर बनवा सके। इसलिए हमारी ये नैतिक जिम्मेदारी हैं की मोदी जी के ऊपर विश्वास रखे और उन्हें सहयोग करे। अंत में मैं इतना ही कहूंगा की हम सबको चिंतन और मनन करने की आवश्यकता हैं की इतने जन-नायको के बाद भी हम हमेशा ही संघर्ष क्यों करते रहते हैं? क्यों इतना आसान है हमें आपस में बाटना? क्यों हमें अपने ही भाइयो का खून चूसने के लिए प्रेरित किया जाता रहा है? और तो और, हम एक दूसरे का खून चूसने और नीचा दिखाने का प्रयत्न भी करते रहते है। हमें आपसी मतभेदो को भुला कर इनके कुचक्रो से निकलने की जरुरत है। हमें इन सिकुलरो के असली रूपों को समय रहते पहचानना होगा, तभी हम इनके जाल में फसने से बच पायेंगे।

The bloody history of communism: USSR

indicwriter
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The bloody history of communism: USSR

Communism is a political system in which the state owns the economy and aims to treat everyone equally. But the last 100 years have proved it to be a nightmare which brought only bloodshed, torture and fear. From Marx or Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, the materialist philosophy of communism transformed these humans into theorists of violence and masters of cruelty. With the emergence of the USSR as the world’s first communist state, the slow poison of communism’s association with the Soviet economic model and Marxism–Leninism started to spread throughout the world. The philosophical aspects of Communism have always been used to defend it.

But the defenders of this ideology have conspicuously failed to highlight the horrors of Marxism-Leninism – the most well-known Marxist school of thought as it was a driving force in international relations during most of the 20th century. The goal of Marxism–Leninism was the revolutionary transformation of a capitalist state into a socialist state by way of a two-stage revolution led by a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries drawn from the proletariat. Lenin knew that power is constricted in certain knots, that you take over an important place, and you’ve already got a city. During the 1917 October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin & his followers applied this to take control of St.Petersburg. They captured railway stations, telephone exchanges, post offices, etc. The 1917 October Revolution in Russia set the conditions for the rise to state power of Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks which was the first time any avowedly communist party reached that position.

The aftermath of the Russian Revolution

Tsar Nicholas II destroyed Russia to the best of his abilities. After his abdication, he and his family were imprisoned and later killed on the orders of Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks didn’t even spare the Tsar’s 5 children who were innocent. All the children were brutally murdered. And this was not justice. This was Lenin’s revenge as the Ulyanov against the Romanov family.

The Red Terror was a period of political repression and mass killings carried out by Bolsheviks in 1918. The most reliable estimations for the total number of victims of Bolshevik repression put the number at about 100,000 to 200,000.

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party civil war immediately after the two Russian revolutions of 1917, as many factions vied to determine Russia’s political future. Thanks to Vladimir Lenin, the Russian Civil War alone took 7,000,000 – 12,000,000 lives.

Joseph Stalin assumed leadership over the SovietUnion following Lenin’s death in 1924. Despite initially governing the Soviet Union as part of collective leadership, he eventually consolidated power to become the country’s de facto dictator by the 1930s. A communist ideologically committed to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalized these ideas as Marxism–Leninism, while his own policies are known as Stalinism. Stalinism has been the bloodiest chapter in the history of Communism. Political repressions were at the peak in the USSR during the Stalin era.

#Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy, pursued between 1928 and 1933, to consolidate individual land & labor into collective farms. As the peasantry resisted this policy, the Soviet government resorted to harsh measures to force the farmers.

The GreatPurge/GreatTerror was a campaign of political repression in the USSR that occurred from 1936-38. It involved large-scale repression of wealthy peasants (kulaks); genocidal acts against ethnic minorities; a purge of the Communist Party, Govt officials, and the Red Army leadership; counter-revolutionaries; imprisonment; and arbitrary executions. Historians estimate the total number of deaths due to Stalinist repression in 1937–38 to be between 680,000 and 1,200,000.

The GULAG was the government agency in charge of the Soviet network of forced-labor camps set up by order of Vladimir Lenin reaching its peak during Joseph Stalin’s rule from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Roughly 1,600,000 people died due to detention in these camps. After Stalin’s death, the suppression of dissent was dramatically reduced and took new forms.

References:

1) The Black Book of Communism

2) The Russian Revolution: A New History by Sean McMeekin.

3) The Russian Revolution, a documentary.

4) Wikipedia

Chapter 2: People’s Republic of China and Cambodia – coming soon

How a Muslim man tried to convert a Hindu girl, who was saved only because of being a minor

GujaratRiots.com
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The Mumbai Mirror reported on 17 March 2015:

“A Ruia College student, who had gone missing on March 9, has been traced and brought back to the city. Kavita (name changed), 17, had been kidnapped by an Odisha resident who had befriended her on Facebook.

Kavita had gone missing after appearing for her HSC exam on March 9. Her parents lodged a case of kidnapping against unidentified persons at the Matunga Police station [in Mumbai].

On the social media site, accused Sajan Sheikh, 21, had created a profile by the name Rohit Das and claimed he was a college student. After being in touch with the girl for over six months, Sheikh came to Mumbai on March 8.

“A day later, Shaikh asked Kavita to leave with him. Initially she refused but when he said he will commit suicide if she didn’t marry him, she agreed. The two boarded the Chennai Express”, said a police officer from Matunga.

He said, “In Chennai. Kavita realized that Sheikh worked as a waiter. Later, he took Kavita to a market and bought a burqa for her, saying it will help them in not getting identified. The same day, they left for Sheikh’s native place in Balasore, Odisha.”

They reached Balasore on March 13, where Kavita confronted him after realizing that even his name was fake. Sheikh’s family called a community leader, who told them the girl was a minor and if they got her married, they would land in legal problems.

Shaikh and Kavita then reached Bhubaneswar on March 14. There she saw some policemen and ran to them for help. The cops alerted the Mumbai Police on Saturday (March 14). Now Kavita is back in Mumbai while a manhunt has been launched to trace Shaikh. The police will later record her statement to ascertain if there was any sexual abuse” (full story read here).

As we can see, this was not ‘Love’ but purely ‘Love Jihad’. It isn’t ‘Love’ for a Muslim from a far-off state of Odisha to befriend a girl from Mumbai on Facebook, fake a Hindu name, buy a burqa for her, and try to convert her to Islam. The family of the Muslim man also wanted to convert the girl to Islam. The only reason the girl was saved was because she was not yet 18, still only 17 and the man’s community leader informed the family that they would get in legal trouble if they got the girl married while she was still a minor.

Dara hua Musalman? [Scared Muslim?] Ha!

Imagine the opposite. A Hindu man faking a Muslim name, and doing this to a Muslim girl in Pakistan. Forget Pakistan, this does not happen even in India. This episode is a concrete proof for the motive of conversion of non-Muslims to Islam, as per the basic beliefs of Islam. We have negationists whitewashing the fanaticism of Muslims in India. We have negationists denying the very existence of Love Jihad in India. This, despite brave journalists like Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya proving a pattern, of Muslim men faking Hindu identities to trap Hindu girls or women.

Such horror cases need to highlighted by the national media for what they are, not mere sex/stalking/ pressurization for marriage crimes, but crimes of religious fanatics in trying to convert Hindu girls to Islam. This is not an isolated incident. There are so many cases of such Muslims pressurizing Hindu girls to convert to Islam. And ‘seculars’ say India is becoming a ‘Hindu Pakistan’! Far from it, it is becoming an Islamic Pakistan. Can you imagine Hindus in Pakistan killing Muslim women for refusing to convert to Hinduism? Or pressurizing them, mentally and physically torturing them to convert to Hinduism? Forget Pakistan, not a single such case is known to me even in India!

Negationism is an integral part of the psyche of the pseudo-secularists in India. Their response to the Godhra carnage of 27 February 2002 where 2000 Muslims burnt to coal 59 Hindus, including 25 women and 15 children, including babies and toddlers, proves this beyond doubt. Instead of blaming the Muslims, they blamed the victims, slandered and insulted the victims.

The ‘secularists’ in the media and the non-BJP politicians slandered the dead Ram sewaks and blamed them for the tragedy, and not the Muslims who actually burnt the train. This troubled the conscience of one of the ‘secularists’, Vir Sanghvi, who condemned this response of the ‘secularists’ and said that the dead Ram sewaks are being dehumanized, are being insulted. His exact words were:

“…And yet, the sub-text to all secular commentary is the same: the kar sewaks had it coming to them. Basically, they condemn the crime; but blame the victims…Why have we de-humanised them [the dead kar sewaks] to the extent that we don’t even see the incident as the human tragedy that it undoubtedly was and treat it as just another consequence of the VHP’s fundamentalist policies? The answer, I suspect, is that we are programmed to see Hindu-Muslim relations in simplistic terms: Hindus provoke, Muslims suffer. When this formula does not work – it is clear now that a well-armed Muslim mob murdered unarmed Hindus – we simply do not know how to cope. We shy away from the truth – that some Muslims committed an act that is indefensible – and resort to blaming the victims…”

This shows that the negationists simply cannot see Muslims as anything but victims, and will instead blame dead babies and children for being roasted to coal, but not their attackers. A BJP opponent, as late as 2017 refused to blame Muslims for Godhra and called the dead 59 Ramsewaks in Godhra as ‘fanatics’ including the 15 children killed including babies which was allowed to be published by India Today’s platform DailyO. The editor of the Leftist website The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan too slandered the dead and defended the heinous killers.

When this is what they do in cases as clear and horrific as Godhra, what will they do in other cases? There are cases when Muslims have beheaded Hindu wives for refusing to convert to Islam. Instead of accepting this as LoveJihad, negationists in India (like Kavita Krishnan) are saying that men cheating on women is not a phenomenon unique to Muslims.

The issue is conversion. As we saw in the above case of the Muslim man from Odisha, there was undeniably a motive to convert the girl to Islam. The right wing needs to expose the Leftist negationists for who they are – self-described in the article of confession by Vir Sanghvi. Expose of their response to Godhra will help people understand their response (whitewashing, negationism, and denial of existence of LoveJihad) to other cases.

This compilation gives a list of around 135 cases where Muslim men converted or killed, or raped, or sexually assaulted, or tried to convert, or tried to sexually assault Hindu girls or women, mostly of the past 4 to 5 years itself.

Stupidity with Manusmriti

Dr Jadabeswar Bhattacharjee
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Stupidity with Manusmriti

The editor of ‘The Wire’ is an Indian born Leftist from an upper middle class family and is a citizen of Capitalist USA too. From USA, he, in all likelihood, has aligned with ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ of India and doing a sustained anti-Hindu propaganda through his Delhi based news website “The Wire”. The recent anti-Hindu feather in his cap (of The Wire) is an article criticizing and abusing ‘Manusmriti’.

I have been seeing posts and remarks in social media criticizing and abusing the allegedly wicked Hindu holy religious scripture (?) called ‘Manusmriti’. For criticizing Hinduism, as a counter to the violent and xenophobic verses of the desert cult, people have even equated Manusmriti with Asmani Kitab. The desperation to criticize Hinduism was too obvious in those posts and remarks.

No Hindu, worth his salt, can claim that Hinduism is beyond any criticism. Of course Hinduism has no concept of ‘Kafir’, ‘Jihad’, ‘Blasphemy’ and ‘Apostasy’. It even accommodates atheists in its fold. So anyone, including a Hindu, can criticize Hinduism to her/his heart’s fill without fear of being killed even by near and dear ones as sanctified in scripture of some other religion, which you will not dare to talk about.

Coming back to Manusmriti, it should be noted that Hindu philosophy, not religion, is divided into Smriti (roughly meaning ‘traditions’) and Sruti (roughly meaning inspired ‘revelations’). So, ‘Manusmriti’ is actually a commentary on traditions (Smriti) by sage Manu. As is known, Hinduism does not have a single scripture. Moreover, scriptures of Hinduism are not ‘prescriptive’. So if anybody wants to draw a parallel between Manusmriti and Asmani Kitab, then she/he neither has idea about Manusmriti nor about Quran.

There is also uncertainty and lack of agreement among scholars of Hinduism about the source, time of writing and authenticity of multiple manuscripts of Manusmriti with variations in texts. So Manusmriti is a dicey issue too. Manusmriti is not all about ‘chaturvarnya’ (caste system) alone. ‘Casteism’ among Hindus has been there and Hindus don’t refer to Manusmriti to justify about the practice of ‘casteism’ today.  Manusmriti has no authority to issue ordinance like Asmani Kitab and no Hindu claims its divine origin either.

‘Casteism’ is an evil form of social stratification like Arab Muslims and non-Arab Muslims or Ashraf, Ajlaf and Arzal or Mawali and Jinz etc., as are still in practice among Muslims. To make the point clear, Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia had sometimes back called Pakistan their slave country. Saudi Muslims consider Muslims of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as inferior Muslims. On the other hand, even till today Pakistan has Muslims with Rajput, Jat and Gujjar identity of pride, which is the driving force of caste pride even in today’s Pakistani society.

Yes, Manusmriti has bad things. But the larger question is as to how many Hindus have heard of Manusmriti in today’s India, least to speak of reading it and reinstalling its bad teachings by the priests of temples in the brains of Hindus on regular weekly basis for practicing the bad tenets of Manusmriti? Even how many Hindus visit temples on regular basis today?

It should not be forgotten that over the centuries Hinduism has evolved a lot. It is a flowing river and not any stagnant pond like the desert cult. In many Hindu families there are inter-caste marriages today. But it is also true that passion of caste can lead to violence in many places of present day India. So, the actual situation is not a ‘black and white’, which ‘The Wire’ has been trying to push through our throats.  

In the political field of North India, the name ‘Manu’ was heard by common Hindus and Muslims for the first time when ‘Manuvad’ became a ‘catch word’ (Taqiya Kalam) in the lips of BSP leader Mayawati. In actual there is nothing like ‘Manuvad’ in Hinduism. Mayawati has been using it to draw ‘Dalit’ votes in her favour. Otherwise unlike prophet of some religion, ‘Manu’ has nothing to do with day to day life of Hindus at conscious or unconscious level.

It will be interesting to survey one thousand randomly selected Hindus from different social-economic strata of India covering its all geographical parts and pose questions like, “Have you heard of Manusmriti”? If the answer is ‘yes’, then ask “what is Manusmriti”? The same question can be asked by replacing Manusmriti with Quran to similarly selected one thousand Muslims. The result of survey is foregone conclusion!!!

The bottom line is, from legal point of view, Casteism (of Manusmriti or otherwise) is illegal in India and upper caste Hindus have never fought for imposition of Manusmriti in independent India. On the other hand, passion for imposition of Sharia across the non-Muslim world is too obvious Mr Editor of ‘The Wire’ and that makes the whole difference.

I am sure that Editor of ‘The Wire’ will be happy to remember what his Guru Karl Marx wrote in New-York Daily Tribune on 15 April 1854, “…….The Koran and the Mussulman legislation emanating from it reduce the geography and ethnography of the various people to the simple and convenient distinction of two nations and of two countries; those of the Faithful and of the Infidels. The Infidel is “harby,” i.e. the enemy. Islamism proscribes the nation of the Infidels, constituting a state of permanent hostility between the Mussulman and the unbeliever. In that sense the corsair-ships of the Berber States were the holy fleet of Islam. How, then, is the existence of Christian subjects of the Porte (Ottoman Government of Istanbul) to be reconciled with the Koran?…..”

Mr Editor of ‘The Wire’, be informed and sensible!

Telemedicine: Sanjeevani for Inclusive Healthcare Delivery Services in Hills

rajenderbisht09
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Telemedicine: Sanjeevani for Inclusive Healthcare Delivery Services in Hills

In the remote and sparsely populated hills of chapad village in Champawat district, Revati Devi was carrying out her daily chores in hilly terrain when she suddenly began getting headache and in sometime she fainted on the ground. Her companions immediately came to her rescue and took her to shade. She was offered water and gained consciousness. After some time, instead of showing any panic sign or seeking a medical consultation, she started working again in the fields as if nothing happened. I was dumbstruck and ask her why?  

With a pale smile she says “hm aurato ki jindagi aisi hain. yeh to hota rehta hain, phr khud thik ho jata hain”. “bal yaha se doctor bhi bahut dur hain, ana jane main hi bahut paise lg jata hain aur uska upar dawai ka kharcha aur private doctor to hm jaiso k liye hain hi nahi”. Ignoring illness is her way of living while she has to look after her three children in absence of her husband who earns a modest income working in a petrol pump in Delhi. After few years, one day Revati didi (as I fondly called her) I got to know that she lost her long battle to illness and died in local hospital. She was very weak and was suffering from extreme pain. She was diagnosed with anemia and her lungs were also very weak. Nothing doctors could do to save her. It was too late. I keep mulling a question “If only she had consulted doctor in the first place?”

Health in Doldrums: Uttarakhand Dismal Healthcare 

Revati Devi was not the first victim of her ignorance nor she will be last. Local newspapers are filled with such numerous deaths and critical cases on daily basis. Unfortunately, the government is more ignorant and the system have displayed apathy towards her people. The poorly equipped local primary health infrastructure have wiped away people’s confidence from government healthcare system and turned people ignorant towards their own health until it becomes unbearable (Prakash, 2019). In the end the out of pocket expenditures in the critical stage pushes people into poverty trap.  

The state’s expenditure is higher than national average, but the budget allocation is insufficient and unequally distributed i.e. more resource being concentrated in cities/plains. 

Despite having a special status privilege under National Health Mission, NITI Aayog Health Index 2019 reports Uttarakhand as one of the worst performing states in almost all the 23 indicators. Uttarakhand stood at 17th position among 21 states, slipping down 2 positions from last year. The report outlines the worrisome mismanagement, high Infant Mortality Rate (child deaths), under five Mortality rates and Maternal Mortality Rates[1] etc. The national Family Health survey (NFHS-4) also puts Uttarakhand among highest in underweight, stunted growth and anemia as highlighted in the following table[2].       

The debilitating healthcare infrastructure in the hills exposes the crumbling rural healthcare causing hill people to migrate to plains. The poor primary care and lack of awareness on preventive care has jammed ill-equipped district hospitals across state. If the primary healthcare system could be strengthened, the tertiary cases will go significantly down over the years saving lives and immense costs of managing it.  

COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare

With healthcare at the epicenter of pandemic COVID-19, it has turned the entire healthcare planning upside down. The focus on non-COVID illness had come to a temporary pause and stringent lockdowns exacerbated the non-COVID patient care. It is obvious that the state’s health indices will further deteriorate.             

Telemedicine: Sanjeevani for Better Healthcare Delivery Services in Hills 

Telemedicine interface provides a real-time Patient – Doctor consultation through text/audio/video.  The platform uses ICT for the exchange of information for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases by a certified medical professional. The applications aim at addressing the health issues of patients by health workers without unnecessary exposure to infections. The application provides immediate support and delivery of healthcare services to the underserved communities in rural and urban areas without travel[3].  

In hills where distance is a critical factor, the telemedicine aims to ease the delivery of services. It is highly flexible and can be developed as the desired geography and people. The penetration of telecommunication followed by exponential growth of smartphones offers an opportunity to take preventive and curative medical services to the palms of common man in hills. The model empowers skillsets and fosters an entrepreneurship among youngsters helping them to earn a dignified livelihood and thereby becoming role models in the society. Thus developing a low dependency on government funds. 

Fig. Telemedicine Technical & Operational Setup for Hills

Some of the key benefits of a telemedicine are highlighted below:   

  1. Telemedicine is an inclusive, accessible, acceptable and affordable which blends the modern technology with efforts of healthcare establishments to provide services to the last mile reach leverages the advancement in technology and human resource.
  2. Focuses on providing primary care at minimal cost to prevent the critical cases. Early detection of any critical illness will avoid unforeseen fatalities.
  3. Uses real time data to develop focused intervention against specific diseases.
  4. It has capacity to cater the people with disabilities who are mostly left out of the mainstream healthcare system.           
  5. Reduces the inconvenience/impact to family and caregivers and social factors.
  6. Increased legal protection of both the parties with good documentation management
  7. Provides patient’s safety, as well as health workers safety especially in contagious diseases.
  8. Enable the availability of vital parameters using medical devices.

How to do it?

  • Robust Platform Development: It is the backbone of the system. A technology platform with simple UI and easy navigation is desired. The platform must be developed such that it is able to perform smoothly with enough backup for the multimedia data storage. 
  • Cluster of Villages: In hills, hub & spoke model suites the terrain. Common point of a cluster of villages is called hub, preferably small market and villages around are part of spoke.  A cluster can serve 25-30 small villages. Multiple clusters will be required for last mile outreach.
  • Doctors’ Empanelment: The doctors needs to devote a fixed time for telemedicine. All the queries shall be addressed during that stipulated time. The government doctors can be deputed to address the patients. Intermittently Doctors needs to schedule visit to clusters to earn         
  • Micro-Health Entrepreneurs (MHE): Amid COVID-19, entrepreneurship is a path to lure youngsters to stay back. The system requires ambitious youth who could be trained into health entrepreneurs. The local chemist shops can use this technology to extend health services on a minimal charge. They will also conduct non-invasive test like BP, sugar checks on a meager charge MHE can operate in clusters serving around 25-30 villages in hills.   
  • Bike Ambulances: The likes of a pizza delivery boxes could be mounted on the back of an efficient motorcycle. The box shall have compartments where non-invasive test kits and medicines packets will be kept separately.      
  • Doorstep Delivery of Medicines and Test: Either the people can come to a nearby empaneled chemist shop operated by a MHE to receive or with a minimal charge the MHE can deliver medicines to his cluster of villages. ANM/ASHA could be instrumental in last mile delivery.   
  • Patient Support Centers: In villages women and senior citizens are more comfortable over call than a mobile application. A patient support center will entertain calls and fix appointments for them. They will also address queries if there is any concern in delivery of services.    
  • ANM/ASHA: The government appointed ASHA/ANM can be used for last mile delivery of medicine. They can also train local people in application usage or support senior citizen in consultation process. Also as outlined above they too can perform non-invasive test and medicine delivery at door steps like an MHE.  
  • Jan Aushadhi Stores: These governments subsidized stores needs to open in the remote places. They offer very affordable medicines in generic form. The MHE can be awarded these stores to supply low cost medicine to people.   

Nutrition Awareness for Pregnant Ladies

 Complementing the telemedicine system, an IVRS (interactive voice recording system) can be added to disseminate key dietary information to mothers based on the pregnancy week. The embedded IVRS into system helps to raise awareness on proper nourishment for a mother and child. The mobile number and pregnancy week registration can be done by local ANM/ASHA and thereafter she would receive audio messages. For any issue she may directly reach out to doctors through a call/app via Telemedicine platform.   

Conclusion

Are we doing right things in wrong manner? Uttarakhand healthcare system need to question this to itself. Instead of blindly adopting the National Health Mission guidelines, the government needs to adopt a sophisticated method of healthcare delivery model customized to the landscape diversity and needs of hill people. A grassroots based model it provides an opportunity for youngsters earn sustainable livelihood. Foreseeing any COVID-19 like situations, the telemedicine offers widespread opportunities for preventive and curative care. This also helps in providing data that can be factored into the future policy planning. This is probably a way to prevent any more Revati Devi’s die in such an unforgiving manner.        

Reference

  1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/ukhand-slips-to-17th-spot-in-healthcare-ranking-performs-badly-in-almost-all-indicators/articleshow/69963737.cms

A gloomy little teen

ironagoswami
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A gloomy little teen

Literally speaking, we all know happiness these days is too much temporary. For instance, I get overwhelmed a lot after I get praised for my artwork and photography. But the very next moment maybe, I come thru some video which makes my mood dull. The happiness which retained for that 10mins, maybe just gets so useless after that.

So, what should we do to overcome this? Should we talk to our parents? But no, they will push me back again saying it’s all my adolescence rush which is resulting in such rapid mood swings of mine.  So, I will not prefer to tell that to my parents and keep it within me.

You know, when I was a kid, back in class 5 I am talking about, a little girl who was just discovering the world, I had a habit. Whenever I got money from my ma or my dadu, I used to keep it somewhere where they would never find it. But very obviously, every time I hid it somewhere, I used to forget where I kept it. Losing money back then wasn’t any great sad matter to me. The very next moment I used to get accompanied with something else and forget about the money thing. After a few months, when I used to get the money from where I had hidden it, I used to get how much happy I can’t tell u. The happiness of finding out the money was much more than when I actually got it.

Childhood was fun, isn’t it? I sound a bit heavy maybe. But ya, I am in the last year of my childhood after which no more toys, no more silliness, no more FUN basically. Everything is gonna change. No one would then spare me for doing something kiddush.  Sad of me that I couldn’t even enjoy my last year at school.

Thinking of all this already gives me a migraine. But just now, I just got a 20rs note from my headphone’s box. I don’t know when and why I hid it here. Anyway, this made me smile for a while today. I guess this is what is gonna remain constant in my life forever, even when I lose the kid inside me 🙂

आरसेप और भारत

ankur
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आरसेप और भारत

आखिरकार 15 नवंबर 2020 को क्षेत्रीय वृहद आर्थिक भागीदारी समझौते (आरसीईपी) पर 15 देशों ने हस्ताक्षर कर दिए। इस करार में भारत का शामिल ना होना चर्चा का विषय बना रहा जिसने पिछले वर्ष इससे किनारा कर लिया था। आरसीईपी मैं 10 आसियान देश व पांच अन्य देशों में चीन, न्यूजीलैंड, कोरिया व क्वाड देशों से जापान-ऑस्ट्रेलिया है। इस समूह के निर्माण की नींव 2012 के 21 वे आसियान सम्मेलन में पड़ी थी।
इस संगठन का उद्देश्य व्यापार व निवेश को बढ़ावा देना व सदस्य देशों के मध्य व्यापार नियमों को उदार व सरल बनाने से है। इस समझौते में व्यापार, निवेश, आर्थिक-तकनीकी सहयोग, बौद्धिक-संपदा, ई-कॉमर्स जैसे मुद्दे शामिल हैं। जिस प्रकार विश्व में नाफ्टा, मरकोसार, ईयू जैसे क्षेत्रीय व्यापारिक संगठन कार्यरत हैं, वैसे ही यह एशिया-प्रशांत महासागर क्षेत्र के समूह के रूप में स्थापित हो सकता है।

विश्व की तकरीबन 30% जनसंख्या व वैश्विक जीडीपी के 30% भाग के प्रतिनिधित्व के कारण यह विश्व का सबसे बड़ा व्यापार समझौता है। भारत प्रारंभ से इस समूह के निर्माण में सहयोगी रहा किंतु विभिन्न बिंदुओं पर सदस्य राष्ट्रों से असहमति के चलते भारत ने इस समझौते से नवम्बर 2019 में अपना नाम वापस ले लिया था।

भारत जैसे अपार जनसंख्या व विपुल व्यापारिक संभावनाओं वाले देश का सदस्य ना होना इस समझौते के प्रभाव को कम कर देता है। साथ ही इससे समूह में चीनी पक्ष के ध्रुव का निर्माण होने की संभावना बढ़ाता है जबकि भारत के होने से समूह में सकारात्मक संतुलन स्थापित हो सकता था।

इस समझौते में भारत के ना होने के प्रमुख कारणों में चीन का दबदबा व साम्राज्यवादी मानसिकता होना है जहां भारत पहले ही चीन के साथ सीमा विवाद में उलझा है वही व्यापारिक मोर्चे पर भी लामबंदी किए हुए हैं, इस समझौते से चीन को भारतीय बाज़ार अपने सस्ते माल से पाटने का नया अवसर मिलेगा व भारत प्रशुल्क द्वारा नियंत्रण की नीति नहीं अपना पाएगा।

भारत के आसियान देशों से पूर्वकालिक व्यापारिक अनुभव भी लाभदायी नहीं रहे हैं। भारत आरसीईपी के अधिकांश देशों के साथ व्यापार घाटे में है जिनमें से चीन से तो यह 53 बिलियन डॉलर से अधिक है जो कि समझौते के पश्चात और भी बढ़ने का अनुमान था।

इसके इतर भारतीय उद्यम संगठन भी इस करार के विरोध में है व पूर्व में ही व्यापक आंदोलन की चेतावनी दे चुके हैं। चीन के सस्ते माल, न्यूजीलैंड ऑस्ट्रेलिया के सस्ते व उच्च गुणवत्ता के कृषि व दुग्ध उत्पादों से प्रतिस्पर्धा करने की भारतीय उद्यमियों-किसानों में अभी क्षमता नहीं है। इस्पात उद्योग व टेक्सटाइल उद्योग अपना विरोध पहले ही जता चुके हैं।

इस समझौते में पर्यावरणीय व श्रम मानकों का ना होना भी एक वजह बताई गई है। भारत ने विभिन्न मंत्री स्तरीय वार्ताओं में अपनी आपत्तियों व सुझावों से समूह को अवगत कराया किंतु असहमति या उचित प्रतिक्रिया के अभाव की स्थिति बनी रही। हाल ही में भारत की बहु प्रचारित ‘आत्मनिर्भर भारत’ व ‘वोकल फॉर लोकल’ नीतियां भी इस समझौते के विरोधाभासी स्थितियां बनाती है।

हालांकि यह परंपरागत संरक्षणवाद से भिन्न है फिर भी घरेलू उद्योगों, शिशु-मझोले उद्योगों को कड़ी विदेशी प्रतियोगिता से संरक्षित किया गया है क्योंकि ये अभी विकासशील अवस्था में है एवं प्रशुल्क मुक्त प्रतियोगिता के लिए तैयार नहीं है। भारत के दसियों कारण गिनाकर नकारे जाने के बावजूद यह सिद्ध नहीं होता कि यह करार किसी अर्थव्यवस्था की सेहत के लिए अहितकर है। आज के प्रतिस्पर्धी विश्व में ऐसा एकीकृत बाजार आर्थिक व सामरिक लाभ के अपार अवसर देता है, ऐसे समूह का सदस्य होना एक उपलब्धि ही मानी जाएगी।

भारत के इस समझौते से पीछे हटने की बड़ी वजह अपनी औद्योगिक व ढांचागत अक्षमता भी है। स्वतंत्रता के 73 वर्ष व आर्थिक सुधारों के 30 वर्ष के बाद भी देश वैश्विक मंच पर प्रतिस्पर्धा करने व कम लागत पर सस्ते, गुणवत्तापूर्ण उत्पाद उपलब्ध कराने में असमर्थ है यह स्वस्थ अर्थव्यवस्था, उद्यमिता, व कारगर नीतियों की परिचायक नहीं है।

साथ ही यह घरेलू उपभोक्ताओं के सरोकारों के भी विरुद्ध है जिन्हें इस करार के जरिए अधिक रियायती दामों पर वस्तु भी मिलेगी व गुणवत्ता से भी समझौता नहीं करना पड़ेगा। चीन ने जहां इसे भारत की रणनीतिक भूल बताया है वहीं भारत द्वारा अपने आर्थिक सरोकारों से समझौता ना करना, अपनी विशिष्ट स्थिति देखते हुए उपयुक्त संशोधनों का प्रस्ताव रखना अनुचित नहीं है। आरसीईपी सदस्य भारत की वापसी की आशा में टकटकी लगाए हुए हैं और आज के कोरोना प्रभावित विश्व को भी बेहतर सामंजस्य, सहयोग, सुगमता व संबंधों में मधुरता की आवश्यकता है।

Time to be contemptuous of such contempts

Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
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Time to be contemptuous of such contempts

AR. PB. Now KK. One honestly feels that the Supreme Court may do well to ignore such ‘characters’ and not be seen to be affording them the ‘adverse publicity’, they are desperately craving, to embrace it with alacrity and willingness. It is pure Oxygen for them. They do not consider contempt proceedings as avoidable stink, sludge, stench and taint. But, instead they welcome it, as offering them manna from heaven as they sing and dance in the stain, as most welcome.

Why should the Attorney General or the top court be wasting their time, effort and resources in pursing these ‘characters’ – Arundhati Roy, Prashant Bushan, Kunal Kamra, in painting them darker than they are, for they love it as much as the decent, dignified and respectable abhor it. That is THEM. Notoriety is their popularity.

KK is absolutely spot on when he derisively says that he would not like the Supreme Court to waste time and space over and on him. He deserves our accolades. One is alluding to Kunal Kamra- the stand up comedian- who stands up for insults, invectives, barbs and demeaning pejoratives in his defiantly disdainful hate speeches, in the name of exercising his free speech, as a fundamental right under our Constitution. And he claims be a comedian. It is not funny.

But, be it Arundathi Roy or Prashant Bushant or this KKK sorry KK, Supreme Court ought to be disdainfully dismissive of their very existence. It ought not to be even noticing their comments or trolls. There are others on the social media platform and Twitterati who can answer them in the language they appreciate and understand.

The apex court would be surely wasting its time in dealing with these ‘characters’ and utilising constitutional means to put down their unconstitutional a.k.a acts of contemptuous construct. They do not deserve to be recognised on the constitutional plane. They speak and write in such a language which is intended to arouse, infuriate and antagonise. It is their vocabulary. You cannot expect anything better. They have mastered the art of felicity in such filthy expressions and employ it, just so that they may needle the decent and dignified. They love it when the majesty of an institution of impeccable pedigree, bends down to pick them up to try and straighten them. They are unlikely to morph into the respectable genre.

‘They’ deem it too respectable to climb from the lovely low they are in. They love the stench they are in. And when someone holds their nose and passes by, they make such a ruckus lest they be ignored. Why give them what they are desperately seeking? Instead, it makes robust common, logical and legal sense to avoid them like the plague or the pathogen they are.

In fact, this writer sought to borrow the language of Lord Denning, Justices Krishna Iyer, Hugo Black, Michael Kirby and then thought the better of it. That too would be wasted on these ‘characters’. ‘They’ would love it when defended with such wisdom. These ‘characters’ are not wise. They are cheap. Being anti-establishment is one thing. Dissenting is also different. To indulge and engage in filthy scandalising retinue, is nothing of that sort. To pull them up does not serve the constitutional cause. Instead, it emboldens them to indulge in more of the same. The Supreme Court is too majestic an institution to be slighted by such characters.

The only language from the decent and dignified they hate and despise is the language of Silence. Just ignore them. Do not give them the adverse publicity which is oxygen for their likes. They are not shamed. They feel recognised and respected in the filth and stench they generate, as ‘thought leaders’. That is their level of thinking and thought.

In fact, honestly, most of us come to know of what they say or crack as wisdom, only when they are sought to be arraigned as now. That is why they love it. They get to be known more. It matters little to them that they are proceeded against as accused and when they are held guilty by Rule of Law – they are smiling, happy and thrilled to bits that they have succeeded in, what they set out to achieve. That they needled the law abiding and a constitutional institution.

They make the headlines. Their responses are publicised. Print and electronic media- the liberal logs- splash them. They adore the attention. Even when they are called names by law. They don’t care. They just want to be known and heard. They achieve their ends by dreadful means, most of us, would not touch with a barge pole, as honest and law abiding citizens. We would feel small and ashamed, if we were alleged to be in contempt of court. Instead, these ‘characters’ would feel big and proud. That is the difference that needs to be noticed and responded to, while acting against these ‘characters’. After all, PB paid the Re.1/- fine, willingly and smilingly, though his proclaimed bravado was to brazen it out, to go to jail. Typical of them.

They are harmless ‘characters’ in the larger scheme of national interest, if they are ignored. They will feel sighted and small when ignored. They may raise the decibels and get coarser. But, rest assured, when ignored, they sulk and disappear. The ‘liberals’ in the media would have little to trumpet, as newsworthy, when their comments and tweets just pass on, unresponded to, with a whimper.

Unfortunately and regretfully, these ‘characters’ are fed with the one feed they are desperately craving for – viz. adverse publicity. They would feel desperate and lost, if they were ignored. Instead, we are succumbing to their wily wiles and keeping them in the ‘news’. And to be elevated to a contempt proceeding before the Supreme Court of India and with the consent of the leading law officer in the nation, is the pinnacle in the lowest of lows, ‘they’ regard as an Oscar prize. When will or can they ever, otherwise, get to be seen and heard on whatever they say? Just whatever? And when and if they get jailed even for a day or more – they would love to issue statements on a daily basis which our liberal media would endearingly offer space to. Shame.

For heaven’s sake, the only answer to these ‘characters’ is to let them be. Contempt power of a constitution is too sacred and sacrosanct to be wasted over such filth and stench. The only medicine or vaccine against these viral beings or characters is to ignore them. They would be feeling mortified. The only solution such scandalising conduct is to not punish them for contempt. But, to be contemptuous of their contemptuous conduct and not elevate them, from the low beings they are, and offering them what they are desperately craving for. Let us not fall into their trap. As Michelle Obama, said in another context, When ‘they’ go low, We go high. Never go low to their lows, to bring them up to the higher courts even to catch their lows for what they are. These ‘characters’ do not deserve to be dignified by such highs. Never. Let them revel in the filth and stench they revel in, for we can never, ever change the spots on them, for the filth and stench is their very essence and core.

(Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan- Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)

A broken society

kashvi0411
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A broken society

Rape culture is an environment or culture where rape and sexual violence is normalized due to societal ignorance and attitude. It extends from rape “jokes”, casual sexism, catcalling, acceptance of toxic masculinity, victim blaming, and other violent acts. Such an environment does not only exist in India, but it is actually fostered.

In India the severity of this culture is to an extent where it ranges from young girls being told how to dress as to not “invite unwanted attention or trouble”, to male predatory behaviour being normalized. Women are only given a shrivel of respect if they are seen as “sanskari” by society. Whether it’s different dress codes for girls and boys in school, or not letting girls roam around at night because of safety concerns, India’s rape culture is extremely deep-rooted. It is a country where men have raped few months old babies and even 100 year old women.

India is a terrifying country to be a woman, and according to government data there is a rape case reported every 15 minutes. If you think about it realistically, these are just the reported cases which means, this only includes the 100 courageous women who come forward and report the sexual acts against them. The actual number – definitely much higher – never get the attention they require and end up getting buried under judgement, victim-blaming and the overall stigma surrounding it.

Out of the ones that are reported, very few are investigated due to the fact that they are termed as “false accusations”. People often jump to conclusions without enough information, and it has been recorded that false accusations have only been seen for less than 2-10% cases. This is the reason very few are pursued in court, and out of these only 27.2% cases have a conviction rate. Such a low conviction rate shows, that perpetrators of sexual violence enjoy a high degree of immunity, including being freed of charges. Does this not encourage more men to commit sexual offences? Does this not discourage women to speak up against their persecutors?

Even though women are not the only victims of sexual harassment, in most cases they are. Women live with a constant sense of alarm and trauma, unlike men. Do they have to think twice about what clothes they are wearing like women need to? Do they have to check the time they are leaving their house or see if it’s too dark outside like women need to? Do they always need to share their location like women need to? 

It is important to understand that the way women dress or act is not what perpetuates rape, it’s the attitude of the oppressor that does. Women wearing short or “slutty” clothes or consuming alcohol or flirting does not mean a yes, so men need to stop assuming it does. We have to overcome the belief that victims contribute to their victimization. Instead of instilling the belief and telling women to not get raped, we need to educate men not to rape.

In order to even attempt to tackle this issue, we need to start at the roots. This would include the actions and attitudes we term as ‘harmless’ and ‘not related to rape’, which are not only in fact very much related to rape but also reinforce, as well as excuse, more violent sexual acts. It all starts from school and our homes, from having sapid conversations about this prevalent issue to teaching boys it’s wrong to talk disparagingly about women. Whether it’s media glorifying toxic masculinity by saying “Mard ko dard nahi hota” or “Ladke nahi rote” or big Bollywood blockbuster movies promoting treating women like their “property”.

The lack of the enforcement of laws, the extreme ignorance of the government and many other such factors combine together to give a rise to sexual violence. We can’t simply ignore this topic, because the process of change is “too slow” or the problem is too deep-rooted, we need to keep fighting for it and let it be known that such rapacious behaviour is not in any way “normal”, “ok” or justified because “boys will be boys”. Otherwise instead of building an inclusive and diverse culture, we’re just feeding rape culture.

** Here men are not being talked about as individuals rather as structural issues such as patriarchal systems, institutions and the community as a whole. It is necessary to remember that “not all men” is a statement that is very controversial as one benefits from the privilege by being a part of a group. By being a man, one is automatically more privileged than a woman. A trauma starts building up inside of women, due to the innumerable news articles they read about sexual violence. And as a result, women end up assuming the worst most times because most times when they assumed the best, they ended up enduring painful consequences. For them, it’s easier to refer to the oppressors as “all men” because it’s never known which man is “good” and which isn’t, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. **

Works Cited:

1.     Menon, Anjana. “Sexual Violence: India’s Serious Problem, Its Men” The Economic Times, 10 December 2019.

2.     Singh, Prerna. “Understanding Rape Culture 101” Feminism In India, 2 July 2018.

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