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Maha vendetta

Vijay Sundar
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Maha vendetta

When arguing in the High Court for quashing the case against Republic TV, senior advocate Harish Salve pleaded for protection for Arnab Goswami, chief Editor, by explaining how Mumbai Police was maliciously acting against the channel. It appears the courts are yet to take serious view of the vendetta angle.

Look at the series of events so far:

  1. On 8th October 2020, Mumbai Police Commissioner calls for a press conference and specifically mentions Republic TV and went on giving interviews in the rival channels like India Today, which readily painted Republic as accused.
  2. Republic TV then published a copy of the FIR which has the mention of India Today and not Republic TV. Obviously, the Police Commissioner deliberately omitted mentioning India Today in his press conference.
  3. Republic TV then published a copy of the Hansa research report on the alleged malpractices which mentions India Today many times, not even once Republic TV.
  4. It also came to light that BARC has found India Today violating the rules and was fined 5 lakhs; India Today admitted the same.
  5. Republic TV publishes a copy of the email from BARC which confirms there was no wrong doings found against the channel.
  6. Republic TV senior editors and officials are summoned and held in the police station hours and hours on end for “questioning”.
  7. Republic TV releases a sting in which a Congress politician speaks how the authorities have targeted republic.
  8. Republic TV releases a sting in which Maharashtra minister claims Arnab Goswami may be so much frustrated that he might even commit suicide.
  9. Probably to prevent the CBI take-over of the case, Maharashtra government withdraws consent to CBI takeover of cases from the state.

The above events clearly show how Republic TV is being systematically targeted. Hope the courts take note of the events to stop the intimidation and ensure freedom of media.   

The free temple Movement and scams

indicwriter
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The free temple Movement and scams

There is a big argument on social media that why should the government have temples in their control, Swαmy went to court against several state govt. to free temples will explain to you all why does Swαmy wants to free temples & why Modi thinks differently.

Let us understand, this matter in detail. It’s estimated that Temples in India could have potentially around 3k to 4k tonnes of Gold. That’s a huge amount of Gold, but who owns it, it’s the individual temple. Apart from Gold, our temples have precious jewels & antiques worth billions. One of the Gold mines is Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, which has precious stones & Gold worth 1 Trillion dollars, there have been regularly thefts going on at various temples. Even this temple in Travancore has experienced theft which was informed to the Supreme Court.

Now it’s important to understand why this matter went to the Supreme Court. Kerala gov said, once the princely state is merged, its assets become state’s property hence Kerala gov should be able to encash by selling gold & jewels. Devotees said that’s a sin, we are not supposed to touch it.

Now Supreme Court’s verdict is out, that temple’s assets should be protected at any cost, rejected the claim of ownership of Kerala gov. They formed a temple committee that consists of public servants & private members to ensure a fair & strict audit of temple assets to avoid theft.

Here is a Youth Congress leader caught stealing antique Jain idols to generate funds for the elections. Smuggling temple artifacts is big business.

Now let’s look at the precious Pink Diamond from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam which went missing. A temple priest accused the government of Andhra of smuggling this precious diamond out of India. Now this precious diamond was auctioned in London but the Pink Diamond failed to attract a buyer, probably the price was too high or the others got aware of the smuggling, it is believed now the jewel has returned to Tirupati.

Now Indian jewels have high demand in the international market, here are some precious Mughal jewels going on auction, now Mughals also stole these precious jewels from Hindu kingdoms and our temples, so much of our assets are already being taken away from us.

Here you can see the UK has returned valuable antique idols of Ram, Sita & Lakshman. I am sure most of you don’t even know if any such idols ever existed, thousands of idols are already being sold in the International market.

I think most of you know that Swαmy had accused Sonia Gandhi of smuggling antiques from India and her sister selling those antiques in Italy and Europe. This petition was filed in 2002, now don’t ask me what happened further. #MandavliMama

Let’s hear from the man himself what he has to say about antique smuggling and the charges on Sonia Gandhi.

There is a complete documentary on Blood Buddhas which talks about antiquity smuggling business which is destroying our legacy of temples, Our deities are sold in the International market.

This documentary is based on the submission of two saints Shri. Swαmy & Shri. Tharoor.

Here is the trailer of Blood Buddhas where Swαmy himself has said that smuggling antiques from India are a million-dollar business. See the video you will realize how deep-rooted is the problem.

Now coming to the Uttrakhand, Kedarnath-Badrinath committee which was formed in 2019. This Committee has 30 members just like SC’s verdict in Padmanabhaswamy Temple’s case with public-private participation, headed by CM himself, committee also includes the biggest donor Ambani family.

Governments’ utmost priority is to protect the thefts of the temple assets and preserve our culture & heritage. In order to preserve, govt should know about all the assets of the temple and this can only be known through a strict audit where all stakeholders are aware of assets

Giving all ancient temples to private members is like giving a free hand to smugglers to move the assets in and out at free will. The audit is the only way to keep a record of all the assets in the temple’s possession. Plus we don’t know to whom we are handing over the temple.

Now, most of you will ask me, what happens when BJP is not ruling & Congress comes to power. Will Congress sell assets of the temple? The answer is No, coz once the temple assets are under audit then assets become subjudiced, plus its public-private participation to ensure smooth functioning.

The entire argument of the free Temple movement is a farce and malicious. It’s related to billions of dollars in illegal businesses. Our temple assets should be protected at any cost. Swαmy has a reputation of playing the role of the broker, he is doing the same under the name of Hindutva. Earlier I spoke about the Thorium scam related to Ram Setu & here I explained to you about Blood Buddhas & Pink diamonds. This solves our riddle, why Swαmy turned Hindu in 2007, coz he has a larger interest which can only be fulfilled under the mask of Hindutva’s emotional quotient.

Now I explained my perspective on this topic. Now I leave the decision to you, whether you stand with Modi ji and trust his actions or you still think Swαmy is right in filing a petition against the government.

The choice is yours.

जय श्री राम ?

Global Ganesh

Dinesh Hosamani
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Global Ganesh

Last year when parts of North Karnataka were hit with floods. I traveled to Gokak to be with my mom and brother. Gokak lies at confluence of two rivers Ghataprabha and Markhandeyya, this makes the city easily susceptible to floods. During floods, the connecting bridges to city gets cut off. The farming communities at the river banks are disrupted the most. The supply network of groceries and essentials gets paralyzed. My mom and brother were narrating how hotels and tea kiosks were selling just black tea due to abrupt halt of milk supply. All in all, it wasn’t a perfect time. And then came Ganesh Chaturthi.

I saw the area Ganapathy being setup with usual enthusiasm. There was no effect on the availability of groceries for prasada (food offered to god later distributed to devotees and reverently consumed). The organizers were able to pool paraphernalia for the pooja (worship ritual in Hinduism ). Due, to influence of Lingayats, the concept of Dasoha (unattached charity) is practiced in our city no matter what community is celebrating which festival. The prasada here is open invitation, one just walks into the venue gets in line and eats it with utmost devotion. Though this ritual isn’t any new what surprised me was even with such natural disaster, the festivity continued without any let and hindrance, as if nothing ever happened and somehow the festivities brought people a ray of hope. Organizing an event like this made us forget all that had happened and hope for a better tomorrow. Amazing how festival helped us to come together and realize the special unsaid bond.

It isn’t surprising that many Ganesh mandalies (referred to group of people, like board members of a company) can pull off such feat. These mandalies have a history of their own. Bal Gangadhar Tilak is a colossal figure in Indian freedom struggle. It was he who sensed that setting up public gathering pf people for Ganesh festival will get them more organized, make people mingle and create a bond among all Indians. These mandalies can then be molded into an organization for Indian freedom movement. Ganesh is worshiped par India. Let me put this in perspective, according to Hinduism, it is said that before performing any pooja, one should perform a Ganesh pooja first only then it is deemed fulfilled. This makes every sect of Hindus connect to a common god, whose rituals, likes, and legends are known to everyone. The very thought of Tilakji to choose Ganesh Chaturthi was indeed deeply thought. Though, many of know about the how celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi became a public event, what is rarely known is the worship of Ganesh worldwide. By this I don’t mean about NRI folks celebrating it at their respective countries. I mean how Ganesh is part of many countries, his temples and his worship and how it has connected countries to a common culture.

First let’s talk about Indonesia. On Mount Bromo, you will find a Ganesh idol, placed ages before by unknown saint. It is believed by people living around the mountain that Ganeshji is protector of the villages and he keeps the dangers of a live volcano at bay. There are around 3 Lakh Hindus from the surrounding 48 villages who worship lord Ganesh. The rituals of Yadnaya Kasada is an example of how rich and deep this culture is rooted in modern Indonesia.

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Ganesha on Mount Bromo, Indonesia. Image Credit : arhnue

In Thailand, Fine arts department logo is adorned by Ganesh. This department is under the Ministry of culture and Heritage indicating the deep connection the country has with Hinduism. Hence, it won’t be surprising to mention that Chachoengso city also known as “City of Ganesha” has 3 huge statues ranging from 19 to 43 meters. In Vietnam, Cham communities have been worshiping Ganesh as remover of obstacle. There is a temple dedicated to him in Po Nagar, Stele dating back to 781 indicated deep cultural ties with Hinduism.

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Hozanji Ganesh Temple. Image credit : Bryan Baier

The most fascinating one will be that of Japan. In the Asakusa area of Tokyo in Japan, are a series of temples dedicated to Japanese Buddhism. Among them is the Matsuchiyama Shoden temple. This temple of the Tendai Sect of Buddhism was established in 601 according to legend (some sources even state 595). There by making it older than the Senso-ji temple, which was established in 645. There more than 250 temples of Ganesh in Japan referred as ‘Kangiten’ also by other names such as ‘Shoten’ ‘Ganabachi’ or ‘Binayakaten’. The most actively visited Ganesh temple is the Hozanji temple, on eastern slope of Mount Ilkoma, just outside Osaka. It is said to be established by 17th century monk Tankai , who is also known as Hozan.

It is said, Hozan wanted to attain ‘Siddhi’, but he always faced a lot of obstacles and wasn’t able to achieve it. Hozan’s master then introduced him to Ganesh and asked to worship him. Hozan promised to make the idol of Ganesh and make him the guardian of Mount Ilkoma. It is said that after this Hozan, got a boon from Ganesh and attained Siddhi. Later in 1680 followers of Hozanji established the present temple complex. The merchants of Osaka began worshiping in the temple and huge donations made it as one of the richest temples in Japan. The number of devotees visiting this temple made it to be have one of the first cable car in Japan to be built here in 1918. The very fact that a Hindu gods temple making such impact on lives of people in Japan is profound. This influence of culture in land as far as Japan, without India being a colonial power, suggests that Indians did conquer people but by heart. Though most of this is knowledge in public domain the influence of Ganesh in Japan is not know to many Indians. I will be humbled if you gained some insight reading this article.

I pray that Ganesh keeps us safe in this global pandemic and keep us all connected.

50 years after 1971 war Uncle Sam switches the Tibet issue on

Ankit Shah
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50 years after 1971 war Uncle Sam switches the Tibet issue on

There are untold, behind the curtain scenes of before and after war. Leaders and strategists at the bare minimum must look at 300 years plus and minus before making a security policy. While most of the domain experts consider US foreign policy as transactional in nature, I see a greater game plan pattern in the last 50 years. Why is it a surprise if Rank 1 wants to pit Rank 2, 3 and 4 against each other while the three Asian giants also happen to be neighbours?

Let me explain why and how.

On 15th July, 1971 President Nixon officially established relations with China after using the good offices of Pakistan for months for the breakthrough. Kissinger personally delivered a taunt and a threat to the Indian Prime Minister.  Like a 30 days challenge, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stormed with retaliation by signing the Indo-Soviet Treaty. Come December, she got Bangladesh liberated. India and USSR were now established giants on the political stage of the World. The soviet navy’s role in the war irritated the west a lot. More than that, China’s inaction despite encouragement from the US is what handed it a clue for weaving a bigger game plan. In effect, US put up a complete full stop on the training and funding of the Tibetans living as refugees in India. Fifty years from then in 2020, now US appoints a special Tibet representative and invites the in-exile President.

Rank 1 acts like a new Sherriff in town every point in time. It pins down whoever grows enough to challenge its position. It is important to note here that the US enjoys a pretty decent neighbourhood all the time. This is a critical factor which ensures steady growth and progress. Pitting neighbours against each other makes a lot of sense. China had 7000 years of on-record economic and cultural ties with India. Most of the Indian trade with China happened through the ports. There is not one instance in 7000 years where the Chinese captured or even claimed even a small piece of Indian land. Whereas it was the West which planned takeover immediately as soon as they found out Indian ports. So, Chinese culture has never been an expansionist culture. So, what we are facing in the last 50 years is the effects of Pakistan army and the Chinese communist party hijacking our neighbourhood. Who built them so strong?

UK and US saw USSR in Afghanistan and the newly independent India actually joining as a strong alliance by geography. They carved out a Pakistan in between using Islamists in India. This was not enough. To win the cold war with USSR, US propped up Pakistan army to run jihad war in Afghanistan and push the soviets out. In the same format they propped up the Chinese communist party against USSR and India. Entire Chinese economic monster for delivering products and services to the World was built by the West. The Chinese communist party was equipped and empowered with training and education to its cadres, mainly CCP leaders’ family members at the beginning in the West. Make no mistake, the technology theft of China was not something hidden from the intelligence agencies of the West. Nor were the human rights abuses perpetrated by CCP on its citizens for delivering cheap products to the world, neither the nuclear and defence proliferation tango between Pakistan, China and North Korea was hidden from the West. Nor was it unknown to the US that China was sponsoring students in security sensitive programs in the West, neither was it unaware that the CCP is giving away “gifts” to top US executives for conducting intellectual property thefts. The West trained entire CCP cadres in the West on how to run free-market economics of China while keeping communist format of the polity intact. To be frank and honest, Chinese economics is on the life-support of free trade benefits trickling from the West from the beginning and till date.

Entire economic miracle of China was basically spoon-fed by the West by creating vehicles like Taiwan and Hongkong as nodal agencies to ensure smooth flow of transactions with mainland China of communist character. All the while, Pakistan was also supported with all kinds of aid while it continued bleeding India and Soviets in Afghanistan with terror-nuisance. As a result, in the last 50 years the target of the collapse of the Soviet Union and bogging down India’s growth potential was achieved. The formula was copy-pasted all over the middle-east, be it Iran-Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Saudi-Iran and so on. The great game plan of pitting neighbours against each other worked really well.

What benefits did the West derive?

Huge war-time business of defence deals, arms development-testing areas and diplomacy potential with both the parties involved in the conflict. The West also became the investment parking lot of all the finances and corruption money of the rogue regimes, non-state actors and dictators while playing this game. Be it the Chinese communist party, Pakistan army or Saudi royals and so on, all the corruption money, wealth and investments got parked in the West due to power struggles at home. Their family members got educated and were equipped with golden visas for citizenship and travel by the West. I would not shy away from claiming that the CCP and Pakistan army’s rule and strength were entirely sponsored by the West.

The Turning point of the Great Game

With Xi Jinping’s appointment in the top office in 2012, the effect of economic strength started showing anti-US colours. The belligerence went on unabated. China grew bigger and monstrous with tremendous clout after significantly decimating Russia and India’s sphere of influences. Just then the economic repercussions started appearing in the West of being reduced to a net importer of products, services and capital to an irreversible level. Suddenly the West stopped supporting “secularism” concept vocally and started giving the ruling party in India direct access to the NRI assets. Suddenly the Pakistan army’s cadres became terrorists in the West and the CCP has become rogue actor for the Pentagon. Come 2020 and now after 50 long years, the US switches on the Tibet issue. The plan here on is to start propping up India and Russia against China and Pakistan. Mind well they finished off the USSR, now its China’s time and after closing the China chapter in few decades, it will be India’s turn.

Delhi needs to be very, very alert

To put it in perspective, the median average age of the Indian population stands at 28 today. Next 1.5 centuries we will not have the kind of population dividend we are going to enjoy till 2050. If we squander the next three decades in constant conflicts with China by keeping the LAC red all the time, we will become aged before becoming rich. While it’s true that we need to counter the actions of the Chinese communist party, it is also true that we don’t slip into the game plan of the West. We do need US’s friendship specially to tame Pakistan and gain an edge to manage China. That should not necessarily translate into becoming an ally. To remind our South block strategists, the word ally in Washington means following the White house diktat with plenty of discipline like London and Canberra does. India’s strategic autonomy is like a Hindu family virtue and as a core principle of our security and foreign policy it cannot be compromised. We need to buy time to reach the economic might where we become the game-planners. Alignment with and access of our armed forces and critical technology to US need to be handled with massive strategic cost-benefit calculations before jumping in blindly.

Tibet issue switched on

Tibet can either be an Indian protectorate, a Chinese vassal state or an autonomous region at the end. The issue of Tibet is in the interest of all 10 nations dependent on water flows from the plateau. A separate consortium of these 10 dependent nations will be very helpful. India needs to manage Uncle Sam as much as Xi Jinping, though the textures and tones of the handling are very different. Beware as the Rank 1 is cheering the possibilities of setting another match between Rank 2, 3 and 4 by switching the Tibet issue on. Asia is the core economic center of the World and the Asian biggies must show some wisdom in behavior matching that status.

Propaganda and misinformation using TV and Bollywood movies

Ramesh Roy
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Propaganda and misinformation using TV and Bollywood movies

Indian media, TV, and Bollywood have been indulged in spreading propaganda and misinformation right from the beginning. It is a common theme and is practiced by almost all countries, political parties, and organizations. This is done to make sure that the image of the country, political party, and organizations improve in the eyes of the public. India is the only country where the majority of people i.e. the Hindus are demonized and portrayed in a bad light in movies. It is not a new phenomenon as our various leaders of the past used to consider India as a land of snake charmers, poor, hungry, and desolate people. In this regard, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Anti Hindu propaganda in movies is evident as we go through the tweets of the Twitter channel Gems of Bollywood (@GemsOfBollywood) / Twitter. One can find out that the Hindus are shown as rapists, murderers, extortionists, and full of all kinds of vices. They are further demonized subtly with the use of words like Kaafir, ButParast, etc. in the songs. This displays the innate hatred of the writers towards Hindus.

This may have been checked by the interventions of the experts and the governments. But the experts were hands in gloves with the Bollywood. The government too paid little heed to this and used Bollywood movies as its own propaganda piece. It is evident wherein the movie Shaan, a kid can be seen uttering “राजीव गाँधी बच्चों को बहुत प्यार करते है”।

It is not that this is confined only to the movies. This has crept into the field of television as well. And the most worrying thing is that it is not only confined to the normal TV shows. It can also be found in the TV shows that are devotional in nature. One such instance is the devotional TV serial “Vishnu Puran by B. R. Chopra”.

One can quite easily hear from the political leaders that “We will not do the politics of Dharma (Religion)”. I quite believe that the politics of religion is not good and must not be done. But it is quite difficult to distance Dharma from politics. It is because Dharma is quite a vast word and is not confined to the religion as is believed by many. What is more funny is that the word “Rajdharm” itself has the word Dharma in it.

In the serial “Vishnu Purana”, Prahlada can be heard saying “मेरे राज्य में राजनीति का धर्म होगा किन्तु धर्म की राजनीति नहीं होगी”| This statement is wrong on so many levels.

There were not that many religions available in that age.

Dharma was not equated as religion and had to be followed by everyone in every aspect of the life.

No such statement can be found in the Vishnu Puran.

Hence one must keep their minds open while watching the movies and TV and not fall prey to the propaganda imparted via these mediums. It is also necessary to educate our near and dear ones about the propaganda that they are fed into so that they do not regard movies, TV serials, and books as the gospel truth. It is necessary that they go through the sources themselves before making an informed decision.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: Don’t muddy waters in the land of Brahmaputra

harshukla
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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: Don’t muddy waters in the land of Brahmaputra

India, the world’s largest democracy, is situated between two of its own fragments- Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east, both Islamic states. Pakistan’s terrorism against India is explicit but Bangladesh’s insidious way of hurting India goes largely unnoticed.

Bangladeshis have been infiltrating into India ever since the inception of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, in 1947. Unfortunately, an accurate and up-to-date number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India is not available. According to information provided to Indian parliament by the Minister of State for Home Affairs in 2004 the number was 12 million and in 2016, 20 million. That number could be anywhere between 20-25 million by the year end 2020.

This massive Bangladeshi infiltration has dramatically changed the demography of several neighboring Indian states, especially Assam. Several districts of Assam have now Muslim majority population. Crime has risen and wages dropped. The Bangladeshi infiltration has uprooted the natives in the bordering Indian states forcing them to flee, leaving their homes behind. The infiltrators have occupied natives’ homes, farms, and stores. The infiltrators have plundered the fertile land, forest, natural resources like minerals and fisheries. They are also engaged in smuggling, trafficking of Bangladeshi women, and terrorism thanks to increasing influence of ISIS in Bangladesh.

The infiltrators with the sole intent of making selfish economic gain at the cost of Indian citizens are threat to India. The infiltrators are invaders, not refugees, and clearly fail to qualify for Indian citizenship and must be deported back to Bangladesh. India is a densely populated country with a density of 464 persons per square kilometer and can ill-afford absorbing immigrants, legal or illegal, from other countries unlike wealthier USA which has a population density of 36 persons per square kilometer.

Supreme Court of India concluded in a 2015 hearing that the state of Assam was facing “external threats and internal disturbance” because the government was not doing enough to stop the infiltration and deport the infiltrators. A major reason for the ever-worsening problem of illegal immigrants in Assam was the reckless politics of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who changed a national law just for the state of Assam in 1983. The new law, known in short as “IMDT Act 1983”, put the onus on investigating police personnel to prove that a suspect was an illegal immigrant. In the rest of the country the onus was on the suspect to prove that he or she was an Indian citizen. The new law in Assam was a boon to illegal immigrants making it impossible to deport them until it was struck down unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India in 2005.

Although Indira Gandhi’s law in Assam was abolished the incessant flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh never stopped because of the porous border and inadequate patrolling force.

Now, when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is earnestly trying to implement Supreme Court’s directives he is being vilified by his detractors. Let the detractors, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, USA’s 2020 Democratic Presidential ticket explain why Modi should ignore his constitutional duty of protecting the citizens of his own country and let the illegal immigrants rampage India unabated. If Biden and Harris are genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of 20-25 million illegal immigrants in India let them resettle those Bangladeshis in the vast and expansive land of USA or just stop shedding crocodile tears.

American President Donald Trump, a Republican, and his predecessor Barrack Obama, a Democrat, were prudent enough to have a cordial relationship with India and its Prime Minister Modi. Conversely, Biden-Harris ticket has drawn a battle line against Modi right from day one of it’s election campaign denouncing India’s policies, one of them being Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a law that deals with the illegal immigrants.

Biden-Harris ticket has decried CAA saying essentially that it is discriminatory to Muslims because it excludes them from Indian citizenship. This crafty portrayal of CAA created a public perception that the Indian Muslims would be stripped off their Indian citizenship. This deceptive portrayal is largely responsible for the anti-India resolutions passed by several cities across USA, damaging India’s reputation Biden-Harris ticket is simply trying to muddy the waters in the land of Brahmaputra to champion an illegal cause of illegal immigrants.

CAA’s critics must understand that Indian Muslims are not at all affected by CAA because it is not applicable to them in any shape or form. CAA is applicable to illegal immigrants and also to refugees in India who were persecuted based on their religion in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. These refugees are followers of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism (Parsis), and Christianity. Indian government will grant them Indian citizenship under CAA provided they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan will not be eligible for Indian citizenship under CAA for the simple reason that they are not persecuted based on their religion in their own Islamic nations. Muslims from these three countries can always apply for Indian citizenship like any one else from any other country. India Today, a weekly magazine, reported on December 18, 2019 that nearly 4000 people from the three countries, hundreds of them Muslims, were granted Indian citizenship in the past six years.

CAA’s critics complain that Indian citizenship cannot be granted based on religion. They say that the CAA must include Muslims as well for the Indian citizenship. In other words what the critics imply is: the persecutors and the persecuted be rewarded equally with Indian citizenship. If this ever happens in future it will be a total travesty of justice.

COVID-19 and India’s obsession with the state

ninadkulkarni
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COVID-19 and India’s obsession with the state

COVID 19 has wrecked havoc around the world and India is no exception to it. Much has been said about the virus, strategies to handle it, the performance of the government and its broader societal consequences. The pandemic has given us a chance to ask some tough questions that we should have asked ourselves before. The world, including India was caught off-guard as our health systems were just not capable enough to handle a crisis of this magnitude. As we put the worst part of the health crisis behind us, it is important to ponder upon a few issues that didn’t receive any attention barring a few criticisms on social media. Following are some issues that caught my eye.

  1. The government arbitrarily decided to cap the prices of the oxygen cylinders.
  2. The government’s decision to take over private hospitals
  3. The government did not allow private testing labs to conduct tests for a very long time

There is a common strand that knits these cases together. All these cases reek of the chronic condition of utter distrust of the Indian private sector. Independent India has been in the vice of a pernicious psychological monster which somehow compels us to turn to the government and the public sector whenever there is a crisis. The reason why this seems so strange to me is because of the abysmal record of the government handling of the problems that India has faced and the disastrous levels of inefficiency of the public sector undertakings.

India is a nation of many nations. This is the first time in the history of the subcontinent that our civilisational and cultural oneness has been legitimized by the existence of a relatively strong state that gives us clearly defined national and co-incidentally, civilizational boundaries. Thus, post independence, when we had a choice of selecting a path of prosperity, our ancestors chose a state led model for prosperity. It decided that the state would have to take the responsibility to industrialize India. Thus it decided that it had to run mines, factories, hotels, banks, etc all by itself by literally crowding out the private sector. However disastrous it might seem today, in the past context, the state led model had legitimacy. Thus India began its journey to modernize itself and to give itself the prosperity that it always deserved. Alas, it still remains a dream of many a people to even get access to basic amenities is still a pipe dream. Governments have been pouring money at the problems we face but to no avail.

Most of the government programs are riddled with corruption and inefficiencies and the PSUs, as Shankkat Aiyyar puts it, are a zombieland of the taxpayers’ money. That doesn’t mean that the public sector has been just a disaster. There are a few bright spots that we as a nation celebrate. Take the example of ISRO. It makes us immensely proud to thump our chests and say that we launched a moon mission with a budget less than the movie Gravity. When the boosters fire up at the launch site at Sriharikota, the whole country shakes with it. Unfortunately, such examples are rare. Back on the ground, governments after governments have failed to provide even the basic amenities that people need viz, water, sanitation, electricity, and so on. Yet somehow our governments seem to think that the public sector still has answers to our problems. This just sheds light on the utter distrust that the government has towards the private sector. 

The Vibrancy of India’s private sector –

Our attitude towards the private industry isnt a new thing. Since we are in a public health crisis, lets put India’s healthcare in context. The poor state of health infrastructure has been on the minds of the government officials for decades. Shankkar Aiyer has put up a concise picture of the history of healthcare in India in his book, The Gated Republic. There have been committees, five year plans, allocation of funds for various programs for seventy years that have paid homage for the need of healthcare in India. Despite these efforts, owing to a vastly inefficient and corrupt state, much of the government infra remains in a very poor state. Some states have public healthcare that can be compared with sub-saharan Africa. 

Contrast that with the private sector healthcare. Dr. Prathap Reddy was a successful doctor living in the US. But upon seeing the deleterious condition of public healthcare in India, he decided to take upon himself the responsibility to start solving the problems with innovation and technology. What came next was a journey through the labyrinth of Indian bureaucracy to get the required permissions. The final result took the shape of Apollo Hospitals, a chain which boasts some of the best healthcare infra in the world.

Another example which many are familiar with is of Arvind Eyecare. By recreating an assembly line operation for surgery, AE has dramatically reduced costs making cataract surgery available to some of the poorest sections of the society. 

There are numerous such examples. But the point these examples underscore is that Indian quality healthcare is standing on the pillars of Indian private sector efforts. Yet when times are tough, the private sector is the one which gets the pointy end of the stick. The attitude can be surmised in an anecdote where Verghese Kurien, the father of Amul, wanted to recreate the Anand model in Maharashtra but faced tremendous resistance from the bureaucracy because the Amul model had ‘capitalist tendencies’. 

REASON FOR OUR ATTITUDE PROBLEM

Why this apathy though? As we have seen from the above examples that Indian industry is able to take challenges head on if provided a valuable helping hand. To understand this, we have to understand the history of economic thought and development in India post independence. India was under abject poverty when the British left the subcontinent. There was utter hopelessness as India did not have the required resources to even feed its people. The repercussions of the decision of our leaders about the economic path of independent India were going to be massive and far reaching. Ignoring the stalwarts like C. Rajagopalachari and Sardar Patel, who were in favour of a free market system and a mixed system of public and private industry respectively, Nehru decided to adopt the socialist model of development which was heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. Thus a Planning commission was set up which devised 5 year plans as a way to industrialize India. The 2nd 5 year plan would prove to be a death blow to the Indian industry. Many economists warned the leaders that the plan to industrialize India through heavy industry would lead to chaos. But the die was cast and the era ushered in the stringent license permit raj which eventually stifled the industry and ironically de-industrialized India. 

The result of the proto Marxist economic policies was that ‘profit’ was made into an effective taboo. ‘Don’t talk about profit with me. Profit is a dirty word’, were the words of Pt. Nehru to JRD Tata, an icon of India industry. This incident is a testament to the attitude that the Indian government had towards Industry.

The governments work on the political necessities of the day. But what about the civil society? Were they any kind to the Indian business? 

If we take a look at the kind of stories that were being put out during the golden age of socialism in India, we would get a clear picture of our attitude towards our businesses. It seemed as if honesty was a prerogative of only those who were bureaucrats, policemen or people in some kind of a public capacity. Those with wealth were either the bad guys or were portrayed as immoral people. The only way to earn money was through illegitimate means. All this created a generation of people who aspired for nothing more than a government job. Those with higher ambitions did not stay in India as our system was not capable enough to power their ambitions. The most damaging result of these circumstances was a sheer apathy and indifference towards honest wealth creation. The enormity of the disaster starts to seem apparent when we realise that these years have been an aberration. Indians have been one of the most enterprising people in the world. Ancient India was prosperous because we encouraged wealth creation through innovation and trade and had implicit trust in our wealth creators. In the quest of modernizing India on the model of western democracies, we forgot the learning of our own ancestors. Kautilyan school of economics has professed that ‘labh’ or profit is a legitimate return for the risk the business person takes. What was not warranted was ‘lobh’ or greed. Unfortunately, post independent India conflated the two to its own detriment. 

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Take the example of problems that are mentioned above. Some of the issues could have been dealt with clean efficiency of the private enterprise would have been seen as a partner and not a profit seeking impediment. 

  1. Hadn’t the govt arbitrarily capped the prices of oxygen cylinders, private hospitals would not have had to increase prices elsewhere to recover the cost of the infra they had built
  2. If the government would have taken the private hospitals in the loop, they could have brought their resources and expertise in increasing the capacity which would not have led to the need of govts simply taking over private hospitals, rendering other medical procedures absolutely inactive.
  3. If the govts had taken private testing centers in the loop earlier, many people would have taken voluntary tests by paying for themselves which would have helped ramp up testing numbers rapidly. 

There are many experts who have prescribed some great policy measures which would work in favour of entrepreneurs and business persons enabling them to create wealth without having the shadow of the big state lurking over them. But of all the solutions the most important is having a positive public opinions towards wealth and wealth creators. We need to encourage and celebrate people who take endeavors that would enable them to create wealth through ideas and innovation.  We need to get out of the poverterian mindset and look at wealth as a sign of empowerment. We need to remind ourselves that we are a culture that celebrates and worships ‘Lakshmi’. It is time for us to unshackle our minds from the constraints of the past and engage ourselves in a responsible wealth creation.

Smoke screen and the fall guy

venugopal
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Smoke screen and the fall guy

A government which is facing mounting pressure of its inept handling of Covid19, all the stories about baby penguin, and a news channel breathing at its neck for its brazen misuse of power and in being cahoots with the criminals, now they are out to demolish the news channel itself. The government is hell bent on muting the voice of free media and the opportunity presented itself to PBS (Param Bir Singh) in the form of TRP scam and he grabbed it with both hands, to prove his loyalty to the masters.

A couple of weeks ago, all TV news channels were blazing the audience with theories in to the Death/ Suicide/ Murder of film actor SSR. It is better not to delve in to the intricacies of the theories as to a baby penguin being involved, to put it simple, there is something fishy in the way the police acted in the whole episode. The government wanted to hush-up the matter, reasons better known to them.

The Republic TV news network was the front-runner in race to unravel the truth of the death of SSR. Actually it was the interview of Kangana on Republic, which kick started the vociferous demand for CBI enquiry, which in turn leads to shaking of hive of drug conspiracies, which brought many prominent actresses to doors of NCB. Taking the cue of mood of the nation, some media outlets, reluctantly joined the bandwagon though with their own perspective. Another reason for the jump was their dwindling TRP’s.

The plan to destroy Republic was conceived, the TRP scam was just a Smoke Screen, and put it into action. The script was right out of a Bollywood film, may be some production houses helped write the script. PBS and India today news channel (the actual culprit) faked a press conference in which Republic was named in the scam of manipulation of TRP. All the TV channels went wild with joy and shamed Republic channel, but the truth prevailed. The script didn’t hold ground for even six hours. Republic showed the FIR of the scam and India media was bewildered to find the name of Republic missing but the channel which was crusading against the TRP scam, the India Today, was the actual culprit. It was really a failed bollywood script.

The brazen and blatant lies peddled by PBS that too with a straight face, the intent to please the masters was so hard, he forgot to check the FIR also. His schemes fell flat on his face. Now his future is at stake with an unhappy government and a court case by republic suing him for 200 Crores in damages.

What is in it for the Government? The government, had it been successful, would have sent a clear warning to all news channel to moot their line or face oblivion. If the plot fails, the Mumbai police and its commissioner were the fall guy, will be blamed for the inept handling or false accusations. But the government achieved what it always intended, to divert the public and media attention from the SSR case. Now all news channel are nearly forgotten the SSR, drug peddling and consumption by Bollywood, instead Republic is busy with proving itself as innocent. The Government is in win-win situation except for PBS.

Western feminism विष, नारी शक्ति अमृत है

aryaveer
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Western feminism विष, नारी शक्ति अमृत है

सत्य सनातन वैदिक धर्म में नवरात्र के पावन दिनों में उस परमब्रह्म सर्वशक्तिमान की उपासना उसके नारी रूप अर्थात शक्ति के रूप में होती है। परंतु लगभग हर वर्ष इसी समय कुछ विषैले वामपंथी समूह फेमिनिज्म का सहारा लेकर हिंदू रीति, कर्मकांड और देवी-देवताओं का सुनियोजित तरीके से अपमान करते हैं। इसी दिशा में प्राचीन आर्यवर्त्त में नारी शक्ति के स्थान और महत्व के ज्ञानरूपी अमृत के कुछ छींटे इन अधर्मियों पर डालने का छोटा सा प्रयास किया है।

वर्तमान में भारतीय समाज में विशेषकर युवा वर्ग स्वयं को फेमिनिस्ट कहलवाने मे गर्व की अनुभूति करता है। कारण स्पष्ट है कि उन्हें इस पश्चिमी उत्पाद-फेमिनिज्म का विष कई दशकों से धीरे-धीरे पिलाया जा रहा है, कहीं पर विश्वविद्यालयों में, कहीं सोशल मीडिया पर बॉलीवुड के भांड और वामपंथी विचारको द्वारा। यह तथाकथित फेमिनिस्ट महिलाओं के समान अधिकार और नारी सशक्तिकरण के लिए मुखर रहते हैं जो प्रथम दृष्टया एक अत्यंत आधुनिक और प्रगतिशील विचार प्रतीत होता है। परंतु थोड़ा गहराई में खोजने से इनकी सच्चाई बाहर आ जाती हैं। सीमा पर देश की सुरक्षा में लगी हुई महिला कमांडो या फिर राफेल उड़ाने वाली महिला पायलट इनके लिए नारी सशक्तिकरण का प्रतीक नहीं है। इनके लिए विमेन एंपावरमेंट है-भारत विरोधी नारे लगाना, कश्मीर की आजादी मांगना, कॉलेज कैंपस में धूम्रपान और मदिरापान करना और वामपंथी विचारधारा पर सहयोग न करने पर अपने ही माता पिता को भद्दी भद्दी गालियां बकना।

महिलाओं को समान अधिकार दिलाने के लिए ये तथाकथित फेमिनिस्ट सबरीमाला मंदिर में तो खूब भाग भाग कर जाती हैं, जबकि तथ्य यह है कि संपूर्ण भारतवर्ष में मात्र 2 या 3 मंदिर ही ऐसे हैं जहां पर देव ब्रह्मचारी के रूप में उपस्थित है और सनातन पद्धति में किसी भी ब्रह्मचारी को स्त्री का दर्शन नहीं करना चाहिए। इसलिए वहाँ एक विशेष आयुवर्ग की स्त्रियों का जाना मना है। वहीं दूसरी और विश्व की अधिकतर मस्जिदो में मुस्लिम महिलाओं का प्रवेश वर्जित है, किसी भी मस्ज़िद में उन्हें पुरुषों के साथ मुख्य भाग में नमाज़ नही पढ़ने दिया जाता। क्या उन्हें समान अधिकार नहीं चाहिए? यहां पर समान अधिकारों की बात पर इन फेमिनिस्ट के मुंह में दही जम जाता है।  हर हिंदू त्यौहार पर ये लोग सुनियोजित प्रपंच चलाते हैं। हिंदू कर्मकांड और संस्कारों आदि को कभी महिला विरोधी बताकर, कभी पुरुषवादी और रूढ़िवादी बताकर। वहीं दूसरी ओर इस्लामिक रूढ़िवादिता का दंश झेल रही तीन तलाक, बहुविवाह, निकाह-हलाला, निकाह-मुता, बालिका-खतना आदि कबीलाई प्रथाओं से पीड़ित मुस्लिम महिलाओं को समान अधिकार दिलाने के नाम पर इन तथाकथित फेमिनिस्ट को सांप सूंघ जाता है। यही है इनका चुनिंदा वेस्टर्न फैमिनिज़्म। वास्तव में, इन्हें महिलाओं के लिए समान अधिकारों और नारी सशक्तिकरण से कोई लेना देना नहीं है। इनका एकमात्र उद्देश्य है-सत्य सनातन संस्कृति पर प्रहार करना और हिंदू समाज के अंदर अपने ही धर्म और संस्कृति के प्रति घृणा और हीन भावना पैदा करना।

फेमिनिज्म का इतिहास 

फेमिनिज्म  पश्चिम से उधार ली गई एक विचारधारा है । पश्चिम के संपूर्ण इतिहास में महिलाएं केवल घरेलू कार्यों तक ही सीमित थी। मध्यकालीन यूरोप में स्त्रियों को संपत्ति रखने, सामाजिक जीवन में भागीदारी करने और पढ़ने लिखने के कोई अधिकार प्राप्त नहीं थे। 19वीं सदी के अंत तक महिलाओं को सामाजिक स्थानों पर अपने सर ढकने पढ़ते थे और जर्मनी के कुछ हिस्सों में तो पति को अपनी पत्नी को बेचने तक के अधिकार प्राप्त थे। बीसवीं शताब्दी के प्रारंभ तक यूरोप में महिलाएं न तो वोट डाल सकती थी ना ही कोई पद ग्रहण कर सकती थी और अमेरिका के अधिकतर राज्यों में महिलाओं के लिए बिना पुरुष की सहायता के कोई भी व्यापार आदि करना वर्जित था। 1872 ई० मे न्यूयॉर्क में सूजन एंथोनी को केवल इसलिए गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया क्योंकि चुनाव में उसने वोट डाल दिया था। आश्चर्य की बात यह है कि स्वंय को आधुनिक समाज कहने वाले अमेरिका के मिसिसिपी में 1984 में महिलाओं को वोट डालने का अधिकार मिले हैं। इस असमानता ने पश्चिम की महिलाओं में रोष उत्पन्न कर दिया और उन्होंने अपने अधिकारों के लिए मांग उठानी प्रारंभ कर दी थी। इस प्रकार फेमिनिज्म का जन्म हुआ। लेकिन इस्लाम और क्रिश्चियनिटी के प्रादुर्भाव से कई हजारों वर्ष पूर्व ही एक ऐसी सभ्यता और संस्कृति विद्यमान थी जहां पर कन्याओं के लिए अलग पाठशाला और गुरुकुल हुआ करते थे। शास्त्र, शस्त्र, राजनीति, युद्धकला, शिल्पकला आदि अनेक विद्याओं में स्त्रियां पारंगत होती थी- वह पवित्र भूमि थी आर्यवर्त्त जो आज भारतवर्ष कहलाता है।

आर्यवर्त्त में स्त्री का स्थान

युधिष्ठिर से यक्ष प्रश्न करते है- पृथिवी से भी भारी कौन है? युधिष्ठिर उत्तर देते है- माता, माता पृथ्वी से भी भारी है। इसलिए माता को पृथ्वी भी कहा गया है। जिस प्रकार पृथ्वी सम्पूर्ण प्रकृति को अंकुरित और पालन पोषण करती है, ठीक वैसे ही माता और स्त्री सम्पूर्ण समाज का दायित्व उठाती है। इसी कारण सत्य सनातन वैदिक (हिन्दू) संस्कृति में नारी का स्थान पुरूष के बराबर नही रखा गया, अपितु सदैव पुरुष से ऊँचा रखा गया है। मनु महाराज कहते है-

” यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यंते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः।
यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यंते सर्वास्तत्राफ़ला: क्रिया:।। ” 

अर्थात – जिस स्थान पर नारी की पूजा- आदर सत्कार होता है वहीं देवता भी वास करते है, और जहाँ पर नारी का सम्मान नही होता वहाँ किये गए समस्त शुभ कार्य भी असफल हो जाते है।

विश्व के मुख्य तीन बड़े धर्म इस्लाम, क्रिश्चियनिटी और सत्य सनातन हिंदू धर्म में से हिंदू धर्म ही एकमात्र ऐसा धर्म है जिसमें परमेश्वर के स्त्री रूप को समान मान्यता दी गई है। भगवान शिव को कई अलग-अलग रूप में पूजा जाता है। जिनमें से एक है उनका अर्द्धनारीश्वर रूप। इस रूप में आधे हिस्से में जो शिव है, वह पुरुष है और आधे हिस्से में जो शक्ति है, वह स्त्री है। शिव का यह अवतार स्त्री और पुरुष की समानता दर्शाता है। भगवान शंकर ने तो सृष्टि के आरंभ में ही नारी शक्ति को समान अधिकार दे दिया था क्योंकि ईश्वर के लिए तो हम सभी उनकी संतान एक समान हैं। इस प्रकार दुर्गा, काली, लक्ष्मी और अन्य बहुत से रूपों में देवताओं के समान देवियों की भी हिंदू धर्म में उपासना होती हैं। जैसे कुबेर धन के देवता हैं,तो लक्ष्मी धन की देवी हैं।

प्राचीन भारत अर्थात आर्यवर्त्त में स्त्रियां अनेक विद्याओं जैसे धनुर्वेद, युद्ध कौशल, शिल्प विद्या, पठन-पाठन आदि में पारंगत हुआ करती थी। अपने युद्ध कौशल से ही माता कैकेयी ने राजा दशरथ के प्राणों की रक्षा की थी। रानी कर्णावती जिन्हें नाक काटी रानी भी कहा जाता है, उन्होंने अपने युद्ध कौशल से ही इस्लामिक आक्रांता के छक्के छुड़ा दिए थे और बची कुची सेना के नाक काट कर वापस भेजा था। सनातन संस्कृति में ऐसी वीरांगनाओं के असंख्य उदाहरण है जैसे रानी लक्ष्मीबाई रानी दुर्गावती झलकारी बाई रानी चेन्नम्मा आदि।

ज्ञान के क्षेत्र में भी सनातनी नारियां पुरुषों से कभी कम नही रही। द्वैतवाद और अद्वैतवाद को लेकर आदि शंकराचार्य और मंडन मिश्रा के बीच प्राचीन समय में एक ऐतिहासिक शास्त्रार्थ हुआ था। शास्त्रार्थ के लिए एक मध्यस्थ व्यक्ति की आवश्यकता होती है जो हारने और जीतने वाले का निर्धारण करता है। दोनों ही उस समय के प्रकांड विद्वान थे,उन जैसा दूसरा कोई भी नहीं था संपूर्ण भारतवर्ष में। अब यह प्रश्न खड़ा हो गया कि उनके समकक्ष विद्वान कौन हो सकता था? जिसे कम से कम इस विषय पर दोनों के बराबर ज्ञान हो। आश्चर्य की बात यह है कि वह कोई विद्वान नहीं एक विदुषी स्त्री थी, मंडन मिश्रा की धर्मपत्नी – उभया भारती।

जब मंडन मिश्रा शास्त्रार्थ में हार जाते हैं तब शास्त्रों की प्रकांड ज्ञाता उभया भारती मध्यस्था का पद छोड़कर पत्नी धर्म के लिए खड़ी हो जाती हैं और शंकराचार्य से कहती है- ” जैसा कि आप जानते हैं, पवित्र शास्त्रों के अनुसार पत्नी पति की अर्धांगिनी होती है अर्थात पति का आधा शरीर पत्नी होती है इसलिए मेरे पति को हराकर आपने उन पर अभी आधी ही विजय पाई है। आप की विजय तभी पूर्ण होगी जब आप मेरे साथ शास्त्रार्थ करके मुझे भी हरा देंगे”। कितना पांडित्यपूर्ण और तार्किक दृष्टिकोण था यह? क्या यह सब बिना विद्या ग्रहण के सम्भव हो सकता था? गार्गी, मैत्रेयी जैसी अनेको विदुषी स्त्रियां सनातन धर्म मे हुई है।

सनातन में विकृतिकरण 

हम क्या थे? क्या हो गए है अभी? आइये बैठकर विचार करे सभी। अब प्रश्न यह उठता है कि सनातन हिंदू समाज जो कभी स्त्रियों को इतना सम्मान और अधिकार देता था, सदैव पुरुषों से ऊपर रखता था वह आज की स्थिति में कैसे पहुंच गए?  इसका पहला कारण है कुछ सनातनी का अधर्मी हो जान कुछ लोगों ने स्वार्थ वर्ष अपने मन से कपोल कल्पित श्लोक गढ़ लिए जैसे- 

“स्त्रिशूद्रो नाधीयातामिति श्रुते:। – अर्थात स्त्री और शूद्र न पढ़े, यह श्रुति है।” इस तरह के झूठे श्लोकों का प्रचार प्रसार किया गया जबकि यह श्लोक किसी भी प्रामाणिक ग्रन्थ का नही है। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि स्त्री शिक्षा में भारी कमी आई। इस विषय पर वेद क्या कहते है- देखिए यजुर्वेद के छब्बीसवे अध्याय का दूसरा मन्त्र-

“ यथेमां वाचं कल्याणिमावदानि जनेभ्य:। – परमेश्वर कहते है कि इस कल्याणकारी चारो वेदों की वाणी का उपदेश सब मनुष्यों के लिए है।” यहाँ ईश्वर ने ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य ,शुद्र, स्त्री में कोई भेद नही किया है। सभी के लिए शिक्षा अनिवार्य है। अथर्ववेद का मंत्र-

“ ब्रह्माचर्य्येणः कन्या युवानम विन्दते पतिम। – कन्या ब्रह्मचर्य का पालन करते हुए वेदादि शास्त्रो को पढ़ पूर्ण विद्या और उत्तम शिक्षा प्राप्त करके ही पति को ग्रहण करे।” स्त्री शिक्षा का प्रावधान वेदों के समय से सदैव ही सनातन संस्कृति में रहा है।

दूसरा और मुख्य कारण है- इस्लामिक आक्रमण और राज।  दुर्भाग्य से, 11 वीं शताब्दी से ही भारत वर्ष की इस पवित्र भूमि पर इस्लामिक आक्रांताओ ने विध्वंस करना शुरू कर दिया। यह एक ऐसी कबीलाई विचारधारा को मानने वाले लोग थे जहां पर औरतों को खेती कहा जाता है, इस्लाम से इतर दूसरे धर्मों की स्त्रियों को माल ए गनीमत अर्थात युद्ध में लूटा हुआ माल माना जाता है और दूसरे धर्मों की स्त्रियों, बच्चों आदि को दास की तरह बाजार में बेचना एक पवित्र काम माना जाता है।  इस्लामिक शासन के समय में हिंदू स्त्रियों पर घोर अमानवीय और अकल्पनीय अत्याचार आरंभ हो गए। हिंदू बालिका और स्त्रियों को जबरदस्ती उठाकर, धर्म परिवर्तन, बलात्कार होने लगे। उन्हें दास बनाकर बाजारों में बेचा जाने लगा। इस्लामिक शासक उन्हें अपने हरम में रखने लगे। कुछ कृत्य तो इतने घिनौने थे कि उन्हें लिखते समय लेखनी भी काँप उठे! इन विभत्स अत्याचारों से बचने के लिए और अपना अस्तित्व बचाये रखने के लिए सनातन संस्कृति ने अपने भीतर कुछ विकृतियों को अपना लिया। जिसमें बाल विवाह और पर्दा प्रथा मुख्य है, जबकि इनका उल्लेख सनातन धर्मशास्त्रो में कहीं नही है। इन दोनों रूढ़ीवादी प्रथाओं का मुख्य उद्देश्य हिंदू स्त्रियों को कुछ स्तर तक इन अत्याचारों से बचाना ही था। एक अन्य प्रथा -जौहर का मूल कारण भी इस्लामिक आक्रमण ही है- हिन्दू राजाओं के हारने के बाद होने वाले दानवीय अत्याचारों से अपनी अस्मिता की रक्षा के लिए उस राज्य की कई कई हज़ार हिन्दू स्त्रियां सामुहिक रूप से अग्नि में कुंड बनाकर कूद जाती थी। क्योंकि इस्लामिक सेना जो राक्षसी अत्याचार उन पर करती उससे उन्होंने अग्नि में जीवित भस्म होना अधिक सुखदायक लगा। आज उन अत्याचारों की कल्पना भी नही की जा सकती। स्वतन्त्रता के सत्तर वर्षो के बाद भी बाल विवाह और पर्दा प्रथा भारत के कुछ क्षेत्रों में आज भी विद्दमान है। जिन्हें अविलम्भ समाप्त करने की आवश्यकता है।

प्राचीन ही आधुनिकतम नवीन है

विश्व की सबसे प्राचीन सभ्यता और संस्कृति होने के नाते हमें किसी से फेमिनिज्म सीखने की आवश्यकता नहीं क्योंकि हम तो आदिकाल से ही शक्ति के उपासक रहे हैं। अब यह निर्णय तो स्त्रियों को ही लेना है कि उनको वेस्टर्न फेमिनिज्म वाला पुरुष के बराबर का अधिकार चाहिए या फिर अपना सनातन का पुरातन ईश्वर प्रदत्त पुरुष से भी ऊंचा स्थान पुनः प्राप्त करे। अब समय है कि भारतीय नारी शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में उभया भारती, गार्गी, मैत्रेयी बने, युद्ध कौशल में रानी लक्ष्मीबाई, दुर्गावती बने, समाज से दुष्टों का संहार करने के लिए महिषासुर-मर्दिनी बने और जब उनकी अस्मिता पर कोई राक्षस आक्रमण करे तो वह किरणमयी राठौर बन जाये। वही किरणमयी राठौर जिसने मीना बाजार में अकबर द्वारा बलात्कार का प्रयास करने पर अकबर को जमीन पर पटक कर दे मारा था और उसकी गर्दन को अपनी कटार की धार पर ले लिया था। अंत मे बहुत क्षमा याचना करने पर ही उस दुष्ट को जीवनदान दिया था।  आवश्यकता है,सनातन में नारी की खोई हुई गरिमा को पुनः स्थापित करें, पाताल लोक तक फैली अपनी जड़ों को ढूंढे क्योंकि प्राचीन ही सनातन का आधुनिकतम नवीन है।

Donald Trump: The man defying all odds

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Donald Trump: The man defying all odds

Donald Trump is going down in the history books as one of the most controversial Presidents of the United States. Starting his journey in 2015 as a Republican candidate, Trump was seen as more of a nuisance character rather than someone who can win the race to be the President. The Republican Party put forward the most talented from its own party, during 2016 primary with Governor like Chris Christie of New Jersey, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and even Jeb Bush who is the brother of former President George Bush.

CANDIDATE TRUMP TAKING DOWN TRADITIONAL POLITICIANS

CANDIDATE TRUMP DEBATING SENATOR MARCO RUBIO AND SENATOR TED CRUZ.

Candidate Trump took all his opponents one by one in the debates. Personally attacking candidates, calling them liars, and attacking their records. One of the most successful things he did as a candidate was letting people know he was not a part of the system which they thought was corrupt. However, This did not sit well with the Republican establishment which came out heavily against Trump’s tactics of xenophobia and racially dividing comments as unacceptable, many leaders denounced the candidate calling him a bully and a liar. Unsympathetic to the establishment’s concern Trump went on to win the Republican nomination by beating the most powerful and conservative candidates of the party. Nevertheless, the journey was not over for him yet as he was facing one of the most experienced candidates on the Democratic side of the party former Secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton already had the experience of a Presidential race, as she ran against former President Barack Obama back in 2008. Not bothered by his opponent the 74-year-old Trump made his election bid into one of the most talked-about campaigns in the history of television as every day at his rallies, he would often make controversial statements.

He said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. This anti-immigration rhetoric rallied up his base who lost their jobs due to the influx of immigrants in the United States. A few of his campaign promises which resonated with his base were immigration, getting jobs back from overseas, and defeating the terrorist outfit in Syria. He often talked about getting Troops back home and telling his supporters “The US won’t be World’s ‘Policeman.’

The United States has spent $2 Trillion in Afghanistan since 2001. The President often called his supporters the forgotten or the silent majority but he found a new name after Hillary called them Deplorable for supporting Trump. Secretary Clinton was not a popular figure among the older voters, as she was blamed for pushing Libya to the brink of war and also the famous attack on the Benghazi consulate during her stint as Secretary of State.

Despite, Trump winning the election in 2016, the Democratic party constantly looked for reasons to oust Trump from the Presidency. Ever since the intelligence agencies blamed Russia for interfering in the elections. The Democratic establishment went ahead blaming the President of colluding with Russia, also calling him the ‘Illegitimate President’. In addition to this Democrats asked for an investigation into the Trump campaign and spent a whopping $32 Million to try and find a connection between his campaign and Russia which ended up with no conclusion. Besides, Russia ‘Witch hunt’ as the President calls it, the Democrats took an unprecedented step of impeaching the President, as he became the third President to be impeached in the History. Democrats accused Trump of seeking advantage in the upcoming election by asking Ukraine President to open-up an investigation into the Democratic Presidential front-runner Joe Biden and his son for his deals with Gas companies.

CANDIDATE TRUMP 2.0

Fast Forward to the 2020 elections, we still have Donald Trump at the helm and seeking re-election this year. Moreover, this year is one of the most bizarre time in the history of mankind with the Coronavirus, or as the President likes to call it the ‘Chinese Virus’ is wreaking havoc all around the World. As a result, the United States has the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the world with the count touching more than 8 million people and more than two hundred thousand dead. President’s critics have often blamed him for not taking the virus seriously in the early stages which led to the economy suffering and the worst economic recession since 1929. The President himself got infected by COVID-19, and made headlines after he decided to go out to greet his supporter while being infected. However, after getting recovered, the president’s campaign team has decided to hit the campaign trail in the important swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. In the recent polls, that are out President is losing to Biden with decent points. On the other hand, The American people are facing the wrath of the political class after the talks of another stimulus bill was put on halt by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

President Tweeting about Nancy Pelosi halting the Bill

The current stimulus package of 1.8 Trillions dollars is going to help re-open businesses and help people who lost their job due to the pandemic and are suffering delay due to opening up of the economy in mostly democrat ruling states. In addition to the pandemic, recent racial tensions have pushed the country on the brink of Civil war and the death of George Floyd which led to widespread looting and rioting bringing the opening up economy to a grinding halt. President Trump faces a tough re-election bid against former Vice-President Joe Biden who is been in Washington for more than five decades. Joe Biden is running for the President for the third time, as his previous campaigns have failed due to one reason or another.

With less than 15 days left for the election, the race is getting more intense as both the president and his opponent are campaigning more out in the open.

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