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Jury is still out on the Babri demolition verdict

Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
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Jury is still out on the Babri demolition verdict

“All 32 accused in the criminal prosecution for the demolition of Babri Masjid are acquitted” run the banner headlines in national newspapers. Electronic media has not stopped running the pronouncement of the verdict by the Special CBI Court Judge S K Yadav, in his 2300 page order with comments across the divide. Editorialising that it was an abomination and travesty of justice and the like, are also upon us. Social media is, of course, agog with comments bordering on eulogy, celebration and scandalous.

The hypothesis of those critical of the verdict, who can be identified by their affiliations, is that are we to take it that “An Earthquake pulled down the disputed structure”. It is not a rhetorical or a satirical or cynical poser, but one that typically arises, every time a convict is acquitted in the wake a dastardly crime of despicable proportions.

It may defy the imagination of the commoner as to how a court of law could acquit the accused ‘who were admittedly and undeniably on the scene of action when the structure was violently pulled down in public view’. It is understandable. But criminal jurisprudence is not easy to grapple with, particularly on the plane of burden of proof to establish beyond reasonable doubt, the guilt of the accused on the crucible of evidentiary mandate.

It would make robust common, logical and legal sense to de-clutter the maze to appreciate and possibly understand that it would be unfair and unjust to accuse the Judiciary of forsaking its duty or even allude to any unseen hand of the executive. To rescue the special judge from unwarranted criticism, a simple reference to the classic definition from the Supreme Court may be apt.

“One of the cardinal principles which has always to be kept in view in our system of administration of justice   for criminal cases is that a person arraigned as an accused is presumed to be innocent unless that presumption is rebutted by the prosecution by production of evidence as may show him to be guilty of the offence with which he is charged. The burden of proving the guilt of the accused is upon  the prosecution and unless it relieves itself of that burden, the courts cannot record a finding of the guilt of the accused.” (Kali Ram v. State of Himachal Pradesh- SC- 1973)

The Court has to be ruthlessly objective in its endeavour. The accused are entitled to take advantage of any and every evidentiary lacuna.The CBI had to be at its professional best. But, it is not always easy when there is a mob at work and identification of individual culpability difficult to come by. If anyone could fail, it is the investigation and the judiciary cannot be faulted for it.

It is not as if the Court is unaware of the broad daylight in which the structure was rudely pulled down. Or that the orders of the Allahabad High court discharging the accused was pulled apart by the top court and special court directed to conduct the trial within a time frame. Or that in the Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute verdict, the apex court did take note of the violent act of the structure being razed and the need to pin blame for it. Just as you are and I are aware of all these developments, the Judge S K Yadav would have been too.

In a case of this nature, CBI had to show that there was a ‘meeting’ and ‘a common plan/conspiracy’ and ‘meeting of minds’ and ‘common intention’ to ‘perpetrate the crime’ and the ‘hatched plan was carried out’ on Dec 6th, 1992. There must be ‘probative value in such evidence’ that each of the accused played their part and were involved in the conspiracy. It is the lack of such ‘evidentiary basis’ that the learned judge has premised his decision on, while expressing his inability to convict the accused. The inevitable conclusion of the absence of ‘proof of a plan between the co accused’ led him to conclude that the act perpetrated by the culprits was ‘spontaneous’. No other inference was possible or permissible. That did not and cannot mean the special judge was ad idem with the ruling dispensation, as is being harshly suggested. It is just that he was ad idem with the law of the land, as put in place by the top court, as he saw it.

Public perception is of no relevance before a court of law. We The People may strongly believe in a given set of facts or affairs. But, it will not pass muster unless it satisfied the tenets of rules of evidence vis a vis burden of proof and the basic SOP of proof beyond reasonable doubt. That is why you can have the spectacle of US footballer O J Simpson being acquitted of criminal charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend, but yet being asked to pay damages for ‘murdering’ her, in a civil proceeding. It is an ‘anachronism’ which surely may escape the bystander, not trained in legal niceties.

It may suffice to support Judge S K Yadav with these pearls of wisdom from the top court, as to what matters before a criminal court. “It needs all the same to be re-emphasised that if a reasonable doubt arises regarding the guilt of the accused, the benefit of that cannot be withheld from the accused.

The courts would not be justified in withholding the benefit because the acquittal might have an impact upon the law and order situation or create adverse reaction in society or amongst those members of the society who believe the accused to be guilty. The guilt of the accused has to be adjudged not by the fact that a vast number of people believe, him to be guilty but whether his guilt has been established by the evidence brought on record. Indeed, the courts     have hardly any other yardstick or material to adjudge the guilt of the person arranged as accused. It is no doubt true that wrongful acquittals are undesirable and shake the confidence of the people in the judicial system, much worse, however, is the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. The consequence of the conviction of an innocent person are far more serious and its reverberations cannot but be felt in a civilised society.”

Yes, the verdict may sound jarring and skewed in the face of the public demolition of Babri Masjid, photographed, videographed and witnessed by many. A crime was committed. But were the 32 accused the ‘criminals? Judge S K Yadav did not find satisfactory evidence of a conspiracy and a plan. It would be unbecoming of those to indulge in name calling or suspect the bonafides of the verdict or the integrity of the presiding official. Let us accept that the fat lady has not yet sung on this unsavoury episode, a blot on Indian constitutional secularism. The jury is still out as the matter may well be escalated to where it may truly belong, the judicial pulpit for a final imprimatur viz. the Supreme Court of India.

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

गाँधी हाथरस में!

bibhutisrivastava
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गाँधी हाथरस में!

बैरिस्टर मोहन दास करमचंद गाँधी जो अब महात्मा गाँधी के नाम से जाने जाते हैं आज अपनी अंतरआत्मा के साथ एक बेहद पेचीदा द्वन्द में उलझे हुए थे। उनका ह्रदय अपने देश को राजनितिक समूहों में बटा देख कर विगत कुछ वर्षो से बेहद दुखी हैं। उनका किसी पक्ष या विपक्ष से कोई लेना देना नहीं हैं। बुजुर्ग महात्मा देश के आमजन से जुड़े हर मुद्दे को विभिन्न गुटों के संघर्ष में दम तोड़ता देख दुखी रहते हैं। महात्मा आजीवन अहिंसावादी रहे हैं। इतने आदर्शवादी के कई बार अपने ही देश के लोगो के विरोध में अनशन तक कर चुके हैं।

उनके आदर्शो और प्रयासों का सम्मान करते हुए हर भारतवासी उन्हें पितातुल्य मानता है। ये सम्मान उन्होंने ने सत्य के साथ अपने प्रयोगो को करते हुए अकल्पनीय परिणामो को प्राप्त कर के कमाया है। बैरिस्टर साहब आत्मसम्मान को इंसान की सबसे बड़ी पूंजी मानते हैं। बैरिस्टरी छोड़ कर जनमानस के साथ जुड़ने का फैसला भी उन्होंने अपने आत्मसम्मान से जुडी एक घटना के बाद ही लिया। महात्मा महिला सम्मान के भी पुरजोर समर्थक रहे है। बाल विवाह, पर्दा प्रथा का विरोध हो या विधवा पुनर्विवाह, महिला शिक्षण का समर्थन, वो हर कदम पर महिलाओ को सम्मान दिलाने वकालत करते है। महात्मा अहिंसा को अपना सबसे बड़ा हथियार मानते रहे है अतः स्वाभाविक तौर पर उनके हर आंदोलन में महिलाओ की भरपूर भागीदारी रही है।

हर साल 2 अक्टूबर को महात्मा का जन्मदिन होता है। उन्हें पितातुल्य मानने वाले भारतवासी इस दिन को उत्सव की तरह मानते है। पर महात्मा ने इस बार अपना जन्मदिन ना मनाने का फैसला किया है। वो विगत कुछ दिनों से होने वाले महिला अत्याचारों से व्यथित हैं। उनका सबसे बड़ा दुुुख न्याय का घुुुट घुुुट कर दम तोड़ देेंना है। महात्मा जानते है इस तरह पीड़ित को न्याय नहीं मिलेगा। दुराचारियो का मनोबल और बढ़ेगा और समाज से महिला अत्याचार और बढ़ेंगे।

इन्ही अंतरद्वंदो के बीच महात्मा ने हाथरस जाने का फैसला किया। उन्होंने जो जानकारिया जुटाई थी उन से वो आश्वस्त थे की हाथरस में एक 20 वर्षीय युवती के बहुत बड़ा अत्याचार हुआ है। दुर्भाग्यवश युवती की मृत्यु हो चुकी थी। आनन फानन में उसका अंतिम संस्कार भी किया जा चूका था।

जैसे ही महात्मा हाथरस पहुंचे उन्होंने चमकते कैमरों की रौशनी से अंदाज़ा लगा लिया की पीड़ित परिवार का घर कौन सा है। चीखते चिल्लाते पत्रकारों के बीच सहमे बैठे कुछ लोगो को देख कर महात्मा आश्वस्त हो गए की यही उस युवती के परिजन है। गरीब के घर शायद इतनी रौशनी पहले कभी नहीं हुयी होगी, आज हुयी भी तो तब जब घर का चिराग बुझ चूका था। पत्रकारों के आतंक के बीच पुलिस वालो का रवैया भी भय का माहौल ही बना रहा था। पत्रकारों का कुछ न कुछ बुलवाने का प्रयास और पुलिस का कुछ न बोलने देने का दबाव अपने आप में परिवार के लिए अलग ही मानसिक वेदना थी। भुक्तभोगियों की ऐसी बेबसी देख कर महात्मा की आँखें आंसूओ नम हो गयी और वो अनायास ही बोल पड़े “हे राम”. वेेेदना हृदय में ही रहे तो अच्छी होती हैं अगर चेहरे पर आ जाये तो कुुछ लोगो का व्यवसाय बन जाती है। महात्मा की नम आंखों ने पत्रकारो को जैसे निमंत्रण पत्र भेेेज दिया।

अगले ही पल कुछ माइक और कुछ कैमरे महात्मा की ओर मुँह कर के खड़े हो गए। कुछ ऐसी होड़ लगी थी पहले खबर दिखाने की होड़ में कोई महात्मा को लड़की का चाचा तो कोई मामा और कोई ताऊ बताये जा रहा था।महात्मा असहयोग आंदोलन के दिनों में ज्यादा सहज थे। पर आज की व्यवस्था में वो चाह कर भी असहयोग करने में असमर्थ थे। जबरदस्ती का सहयोग उनके लिए कष्टकारी था। पर महात्मा अब समझ चुके थे की झूठ के बाज़ार की बनावटी बातो आपूर्ति कहाँ से और कैसे आती है। पीड़ परायी जानना किसी का मकसद नहीं था। युवती की मौत को बेच कर कुछ धन्ना सेठ अपनी जेबो को जिन्दा रखना चाहते थे। महात्मा के पास पत्रकारों का बढ़ता जमवाड़ा देख कर पुलिस भी सतर्क हो गयी थी। दरोगा जी अपने रौब में थे। उन्हें किसी की बेटी के जाने के गम से कोई सरोकार नहीं था। उनका काम बस किसी को भी परिवार के पास जाने से रोकना था। चाहे आने वाला जिन्दा हो या मुर्दा। बीती रात ही उन्होंने बिटिया के मृत शरीर को परिवार के पास आने से रोका था। दुःख एक मानवीय अवस्था है। ये पुलिस वाले भी तो इंसान ही है। क्या इनका ह्रदय नहीं पसीजा होगा। इन्ही विचारो से घिरे महात्मा दूर खड़े उस माँ बाप को देख रहे थे जिनका अपना जा चूका था और पराये अपना बनने का नाटक कर रहे थे। अब वो समझ गए थे कि न्याय की लडाई कीतनी मुश्किल है।

इन विचारों में डूबे गाँधी को ख्याल भी नहीं रहा होगा की आज 2 अक्टूबर है उनका जन्मदिन। वो 2 अक्टूबर जिसे हम एक ऐसे महापुरुष के जन्मदिवस के रूप में मनाते है जो अहिंसा का पुजारी था। वो राष्ट्रपिता जो महिलाओ के सम्मान के लिए मुखर था।

अगर हम डाटा पर नज़र डाले तो हर 15 में किसी न किसी महिला के साथ बलात्कार होता है। बलात्कार के साथ साथ हत्या की घटनाओ में भी तेजी से बढ़ोतरी हो रही है। किस ओर जा रहे है हम। क्यो हम इतने बड़े जानवर बनते जा रहे है की हम अपनी हवस के लिए किसी को भी शिकार बना ले। अपनी हवस पूरी करने के बाद महिला की हत्या कर दें। ये कैसे लोग है तो ६ महीने की बच्ची से ले कर ९० साल की बुजुर्ग को भी नहीं छोड़ते। इंसान कितना भी पागल हो जाये पर वो कैसे भूल सकता है की उसे जन्म देने वाली माँ भी एक औरत है। उसे राखी बाँधने वाली बहिन भी एक औरत है।

बात सिर्फ हाथरस की नहीं है। दिल्ली के सुरक्षित माहौल में भी निर्भया के साथ अत्याचार हुआ। हैदराबाद जैसी महिलाओ के लिए सुरक्षित जगहों पर भी औरतो महिलाओ को शिकार बना लिया जाता है। मुंबई जैसे आधुनिक वातावरण में काम के नाम पर शोषण होता है। जरुरत मानसिकता बदले की है। जरुरत महिला सम्मान के लिए जागरूकता बढ़ने की है। बलात्कार जैसे जघन्य अपराधों में कठोरतम सजा की व्यवस्था होनी चाहिए। कुछ न कुछ ठोस कदम उठाने की जरूररत है वरना अगला शिकार हमारे अपने घर से हो सकता है।

आज गाँधी हाथरस के किसी चौराहे पर खड़े हाँथ जोड़े आसमान की तरफ देख कर बस यही गुनगुना रहे है “ईश्वर अल्लाह तेरे नाम सबको सन्मति दे भगवान ……“

~ विभूति श्रीवास्तव (@graciousgoon)

Beneath Paytm, Google drama lies a bigger monster: Beware India!

Soru Kumar
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Beneath Paytm, Google drama lies a bigger monster: Beware India!

The empire of Google is acting like judge, jury and executioner, said Paytm founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar while talking about Paytm and google store drama. Without getting into the specifics, I’d like to draw readers’ attention to the below quote that gives us a clue on why it is a bigger issue than it seems on the surface.

“someone else’s hand is blessing the business in India, not the rules and regulation of our Land”

Vijay S. Sharma, Paytm CEO

For India, it is not merely a challenge of saving the start-up ecosystem from the tyranny of a monopolist. India needs also to worry about who the monopolist is. Google is first and foremost a foreign company — and it prioritizes the interest of America before India.

Market Power and Monopoly

Startup founders in India have been talking about the monopoly power of ‘global’ giants for a long time. It is easy to be cynical and dismiss them, rationalizing they are crying foul to avoid competition. Why not? As a parent, we have seen kids complaining about a neighbor’s kid after loosing a street cricket match.

However, we also know that bullies exist. Indian Founders are crying foul because there is a systematic problem. We must understand and raise voice against it. Otherwise, our startup will pay rent to global power like Facebook and Google to live and operate in their own home. Monopoly unchecked will transform into a corporate colonialism.

Google is an American Company that operates in India

Two months back, in the USA, House committee on the judiciary questioned the big boys of technology world, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. They grilled them on their market power, and how they exercise it to kill competition and gain more market dominance. For the starters, the hearing is a window to understand the growing monopoly of technology behemoths, and how they curb startup ecosystem and innovation.

Market monopoly is a serious problem. America needs to work on it; India needs to work on it; All countries need to work on it. However, for India, the issue is more serious because the monopolist is a foreigner with own interest and value system. When asked whether Google is committed to supporting America and the US military, Google CEO Sundar Pichai responded:

Google is deeply committed to serving the US military and the government, and we have undertaken multiple projects.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Closing Thoughts

Free market and open world is a philosophy that we must live by. However, it requires all parties to be transparent. It is not enough that we don’t have a hidden agenda, we also need to make sure that the companies we are doing business with are transparent. We need to make sure, like us, they believe in a positive-sum relationship. If a company is multinational on paper, we ensure that they behave like a global company, and don’t differentiate between countries.

In the environment the world is in, the concept of global company is romantic. In the real world, we know nationalism does not allow any company to become truly ‘global’, so India as a country need to take care of her own interest.

China’s new provoking statement: New stand on Ladakh as UT?

Shelal Lodhi Rajput
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China’s new provoking statement: New stand on Ladakh as UT?

China’s new provoking statement: New stand on Ladakh as UT?

China is intent on burning bridges, now China is provocating India by making false, baseless and completely belligerent remarks as China on Tuesday said it does not recognize the “illegally” constituted Ladakh Union territory, also the Chines Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Webin opposed infrastructure development on border areas. Through this comments China once again played a cheap shot against India at the time when already there is much heated situation at LAC, there is not an iota of doubt that the comment made by Chinese spokesperson is wrong of multiple fronts. Amid the prevailing border tension between India and China the instant statement made by Chinese side is just a provocative remark.

“China does not recognize the so-called Union Territory of Ladakh illegally established by India, and opposes infrastructure construction in disputed border areas for military control purposes,” spokesperson Wang said while commenting on India’s move to build roads along the border areas. He also said “We are also opposed to infrastructure construction aimed at military acquisition and control in the disputed border areas”

The statement holds no ground as it is the internal matter of India. It may be recalled that Ladakh used to be a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir till 2019. ON August 5, last year, Indian government scrapped the Article 370 and revoked the special status of Jammu & Kashmir and created two new Union Territories named Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In the recent past, China never completely oppose this development at any juncture as Pakistan does it from United Nation to other platforms but now China is making such statement due ongoing clashes between both the nations at border area and continuous standoff for more than 4 months now. It is not wrong to say that China is becoming Pakistan’s mouthpiece against India.

After an ongoing long-lasting tension, first time both the nation issued a joint statement after the last week’s Army Commanders meet that both the sides will refrain from sending more troops to the border and avoid any such step that worsen the situation between two countries at border areas. The statement released by Defence ministry after talks, “The two sides agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen communication on the ground, avoid misunderstandings and mis judgments, stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation.”[1] Now, China is contradicting itself by employing the new troops at LAC region. The recent agreement is not honoured by China that was happened in sixth round of military talks.[2] The statement given by Chinese side is indicating that China is interested to raise the issue more and not interested in deescalating the tensions between two countries. The China is making claims on LAC border disputed side on the basis of Tibet but we cannot forget that Tibet is a autonomous region and not a part of China. If China is merely occupying Tibet, how can it claim sovereignty over those borderlands?

The Chinese side repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas, earlier also China said that the carving of Ladakh into a separate union territory as a “unacceptable”. In the past years there is a paradigm shift in the diplomatic relationship between India and China, the recent impose ban on Chinese app in India to the closeness of China and Pakistan. India has blown hot and cold when it comes to China, setting the border issue aside to pursue political and economic cooperation with its largest neighbour. If once again tension gets heightened at LAC now it will be highly disruptive for both the nations, also it will affect global peace. The current situation at LAC is really worrisome for both the nations and in this time the statement made by Chinese side can be interpreted in multidimensional ways that would cause grave consequences.

There is an urgent need to de-escalate the things with the global interference to bring the peace between two countries at LAC, as in the instant issue the things are just expanding from the recent times. We need to understand the current India-China standoff raises multidimensional uncomfortable questions-for India, China, the U.S. and the whole world. But they must be asked, and eventually answer the current situation on Ladakh’s issue and standoff situation.

[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-calls-ladakhs-status-as-a-union-territory-an-illegal-move-objects-border-activities/articleshow/78385064.cms

[2] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-china-agree-not-to-send-more-troops-to-the-frontline-11600790554117.html

Does a rapist have religion?

sc00
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Does a rapist have religion?

We live in a country where terrorist has no religion but a rapist has a religion and has a particular caste. It all started with Hathras (U.P.) rape case , where a 19 year old girl was gang raped, usually its a norm to keep the identity of victim secret but it could be modified as per one’s interest. Similar thing happened in Hathras case, where not only victim’s identity was disclosed but the caste angle was brought up in limelight. People like Dr. Udit Raj gave it a caste angle and made it a Brahmins or Upper Caste v/s. lower caste Case.

The vultures craving for TRP took it swiftly, the woke and pseudos remembered to feel ashamed as “Hindu”, feel ashamed as “Indian” and smash the “braminical patriarchy” brigade refilled its engine . Here are some rape cases happened in different states.

Let’s discover the two different yardsticks used by the intellectual. First the dynamic duo of brother – sister,

Here’s the dynamic duo raising voice against rape cases in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh.

What is an HTTP 404 error and how to fix it on your online store?

Here is example of special treatment when accused is Muslim

Their yardsticks are not different but we don’t have the superpowers required to see it. May be the Rajasthan Rape cases doesn’t meet the sufficient conditions required to become a news headline. The requirment are as follows :

Now the question arises why this happens? Well the divide and rule policy still work. What happened at Hathras was extremely execrable and voices must be raised as everyone has F.O.E, but selective use is perilous . The government must be questioned but voices should also be raised against the mentality which inspires politicians to say “young boys make mistake”.

Dire need of judicial and police reforms

aayushp25
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Dire need of judicial and police reforms

Whenever any gruesome rape committed against any woman in India, why everyone starts trending #JusticeforXYZ? Why does no one demand judicial and police reforms? A woman is raped in India every 13 minutes, according to the country’s crime statistics. Modern India is unsafe for half her citizen. Is asking for mob and street justice is enough to defeat the rapidly increasing rape cases?

Why does no one demand to govt for the implementation of Justice JS Verma committee report in its letter and spirit? Why no one asks for strengthening the police corps for the preservation of the rule of law, which is a basic feature of our Constitution? Why does no one ask our govt to implement the directives of Prakash Singh case? 

Nirbhaya Fund, a supplementary fund which was set up in 2013, for enhancing the safety and security of women in the country largely remains underutilized by the states. Underutilization of fund shows the apathy of govt towards the women of our country.

Even after 70 years of independence, India is yet under the grasp of delayed decisions and denied justice. The ratio of judges per citizen is alarmingly inadequate with 17 per 1 million residents. India needs to wake up to the dire need for strengthening the judicial system.

We all should realise this today that implementation of law in its letter and spirit is the only surest way of securing the interest of victims. The need of hour is ensuring accountability, 100 % conviction and better enforcement of existing laws.

Otherwise, mere writing 2 liners on women safety, politicising the case, adding caste angle, accusing the political parties, calling the victim Sita and correlating the case with Ram Mandir, trending #JusticeForABC and demanding “Hang the rapist” will not change the situation. Rape will not stop by these dramas. 
Effective deterrence can emanate from sure, strict and swift justice only.

Crime against women must be taken up with the utmost importance from the societal perspective also. As we say, Home is the first school where every kid learns the basic etiquettes. We need to start this from home. While teaching the kids of our home G for ‘Girl’ also say, R for ‘Respect’. 

The nation has to account for its Naari Shakti.

समकालीन मुद्दे और वाम-पंथ

Author_Rishabh
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समकालीन मुद्दे और वाम-पंथ

मैं प्रथम बार कुछ कठोर लिखने का प्रयास कर रहा हूँ।

भारतीय संस्कृति के बारे में इतिहासज्ञों एवं विद्वानों के पास एक भी प्रमाण ऐसा नहीं है कि जो इस सनातन संस्कृति को संकीर्ण, परंपरावादी, धर्मांध, नारी विरोधी एवं दलित विरोधी साबित कर सके। किंतु, जब भी कोई दुष्कर्म जैसी घटना होती है तो उसके तमाम संदर्भों को भुलाकर चोट केवल सनातन के प्रतीकों पर होती है।

आमतौर पर इनका उस घटना से कोई संबंध नहीं होता। टीआरपी, एजेंडा और राजनीतिक दुराग्रहों के चलते सेलेक्टिव मामले उठाए जाते हैं और सनातन प्रतीकों पर हमला किया जाता है।

यह हमारी असावधानी का ही परिणाम है कि उनके सिद्धांतों को झूठ साबित कर देने वाले अनेकानेक तर्क और प्रमाण हमारे पास होते हुए भी हम उनका खंडन नहीं करते हैं।
क्योंकि हम अक्सर उन तर्कों और प्रमाणों पर ध्यान ही नहीं देते हैं।

इस प्रकार हम राष्ट्रवादी प्रगतिशील विचारधारा (भगतसिंह, चंद्रशेखर आजाद से लेकर जयप्रकाश, दुष्यंत कुमार और रामधारी सिंह दिनकर तक के महान लोग इसी विचारधारा के पोषक रहे हैं।) के लोग उनके दोतरफ़ा धोखे का शिकार होते हैं।

हमें हर समकालिक मुद्दे पर मुखर होकर लिखना होगा। स्पष्ट लिखना होगा। तर्क और प्रमाणों सहित लिखना होगा। हमारे सनातन प्रतीकों को अनजाने में अनावश्यक आरोपों से बचाते हुए लिखना होगा।

साथ ही हमें वामपंथ की हर नस को पहचानकर उसे अपनी सशक्त लेखनी से दबाना होगा। ताकि जब उनकी नस दबे, तो वह फड़फड़ाएँ और अपने असली कालनेमि के रूप को धारण करें। ताकि हम प्रभु श्री राम और हनुमानजी का नाम लेकर इस कालनेमि रूपी वामपंथी विचारधारा का सफाया कर सकें।

ऋषभ
युवा कवि एवं लेखक

नोट- ये मेरे निजी विचार हैं।

It was never a DILEMMA!

Prashant Mishra
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It was never a DILEMMA!

The recently released documentary The Social Dilemma has received animated response worldwide. It has raised some pertinent questions regarding the modus operandi of the companies operating in the social media domain. Various ethical issues have been raised by some of the former employees of reputed companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. India is one of the largest user bases for many tech giants that rule the roost. Social media behemoth Facebook has largest number of users in India. Same goes true for many other companies belonging to this ilk.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a novel technology that would be impacting the human lives at an unprecedented scale. Its use by the social media companies requires a rethink in light of the emerging facts. What lessons can we learn as small city dwellers from this very timely documentary? As the maverick entrepreneur Elon Musk posited in his famous interaction with Joe Rogan, artificial intelligence may pip the natural human intelligence in the times. Would the science fiction nightmares become a reality in the near future?

Homo Sapiens can no more be complacent regarding this scientific evolution. Artificial intelligence has all the attributes of evolving into a Bhasmasura. It might lead to the creation of a world that would be ruled by machines. Human brain might lose its supremacy and get tamed by the machines created by it. Kabir exhorted few centuries ago that excess of anything is bad. Has the human race breached the limits pf sanity in the urge of outdoing itself?

I feel that this race towards the so-called excellence is devoid of any shock value. It is reflective of the primal human urge of survival of the fittest. Human being is a paradox. Human race creates society for ensuring its survival. This does not attenuate the urge of the individual human being to compete with fellow human beings. We keep searching for a competitor who could be trounced to assert our supremacy. Social media panders to this desire surpassing all possible constraints.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY
Social media reflects this hedonistic urge of the human being in form of erstwhile untasted cocktail of technology and human psychology. The documentary showed the human being like a voodoo doll under the spell of a charlatan called artificial intelligence. Humans has the distinctive ability to emote. When these emotions become a subject of some algorithm, it is the death knell of the fleshy existence. Are we ready to move to an existential state that would be governed by self-evolving algorithms? Corona-induced lockdown has witnessed the rise in courses like coding for children. Isn’t it too early for a child to follow the set of instructions rather than understanding the nature surrounding him? These are no trivial questions. Answers to these questions would shape our future. The way we think or are forced to think would lead us to a land of nothingness.

Where is the dilemma in this whole development? A decadent psyche is devoid of any dilemma. Human psyche in its quest to dominate has succeeded in dominating the idyllic aesthetics of human existence. We are unknowingly moving to an era of homogeneity. Social media sets certain standards of acceptance forcing the users to conform to a particular behavioural mode. This mimicking is very subtle and not discernible easily.

Social media, is not an outright villain. It has many benefits. it has changed the way human interact. Canvas of communication was never so large in the human history. Social media has helped people speak up. One might find it inanely hilarious, yet it has provided platform to many nondescript people. The proverbial aam aadmi got his own stage. Some of the viral videos are nothing less than folk artistry of the modern times. Many popular democratic movements of recent times owe their success to social media. A trending hashtag wields a great power in these times.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SOCIETY
However, all these benefits are marred by the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation. Hate speech, unrelenting hydra of unverified content, lack of regulation and other associated vices are turning the social media into a directionless juggernaut. Most dangerously, social media is distorting the way social interactions take place. Phubbing is a malaise that hopelessly ails our smartphone wielding society. Cogbitive abilities of children is being hampered irreparably. Human brain is becoming dependent on the technology to such an extent which might trigger atavism. Privacy concern is the perpetual reality where a closeted existence is nearly impossible for a person. Finding your own space within your control is a big issue in itself. Right from your travel history to the food habits to the sleeping pattern, everything is in hands of corporate giants in form of data.

Data is the new diamond. Every corporate conglomerate is aiming to get hold of the data. Big Data, as they call it, are the new fingerprints of the society. Nothing is secret in the data dominated world where an app cam measure your appetite!

I remember watching a magnificent movie Her in which the protagonist falls in love with an Operating System. So future might see breakups between human and operating systems. Would these operating systems express their agony in prose and poetry? As people say that anything that can be imagined can be created. The butterfly has flapped its wing. What shall be its effect is unknown until some machine delivers an algorithm that can prophesise better than a clairvoyant’s crystal ball.

WAY FORWARD
Till then, the best way to tackle this so-called dilemma is to discipline oneself. Stop being slave to the amygdala. Everything is so intricately interconnected that one neural mismatch can throw the person into bottomless abyss. Self-awareness devoid of dopamine kick is the only way to obviate unnecessary changes in brain. The anachronism between the biological evolution and technological evolution is ripping apart our society. Next time, if you buy an ice-cream think again. It might not be your favourite flavour. In fact, it might be the specimen of your loss in the psychological battle between you and the social media platform that hosted its advertisement. Subliminal persuasion has reached and altogether different level with the onslaught of the technology-data duo.

Understanding this slavery is essential so that one learns to rule rather than submitting helplessly to the engagement seeking and money earning spree of tech-giants. It must be understood that we are standing at the cusp of transformation where robots might act as mercenaries. When the people become product and everything including emotions is saleable, morality nosedives to destruction. Homo Sapiens need to take a call now! It is not a social dilemma but an existential crisis. Reduce your screen time. Talk to your friends. Use social media on the need basis. Reclaim yourself by being the master of your fate once again.

Let the birds of love tweet in your heart rather than the blue bird on the screen. Humans have evolved to ensure their survival. Regulating artificial intelligence is essential for saving the natural human intelligence.

The Social Dilemma started with an intriguing quote of Sophocles– “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse. ” Human will is distinguishable by its resolve. Let us resolve to thwart the process of transmutation of social media into a curse. World needs to communicate without losing itself to avarice. Life is the best business. Rest everything must revolve around it and not control it.

Small cities can provide and example by clinging to their social cohesion and warmth. A hearty laughter, few cups of tea and unlimited gossip is better than stalking the profile of your ex. Let the poetry drip from your heart, fight your heart out, walk alone along the banks of small rivers. Nothing artificial should ever trump the ingenuous human spirit.

A take on the rising anti Hindu chant

Siddhartha Sudhir Kulshrestha
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A take on the rising anti Hindu chant

I am in no way a political or social writer but this morning I came across an article written by Mr. Ramchandra Guha about how Rahul Gandhi cannot take on Mr. Narendra Modi as PM.

The overall theme and the conclusion of the article which really explained how Rahul Gandhi cannot be the Prime Minister of India in the future due to the lack of control over Hindi Language and his lack of eagerness to learn and the passion. Now I have been a long time believer that if Indian National Congress wants to have a playing field in the 2024 General Elections, They actually need someone else and not from the Nehru-Gandhi Family to be their leader, but they have failed to do so. I am writing today due to the main points of the article by Mr. Guha to what he sees Hindu and Hindutva as.

Right at the beginning of the articles Mr. Guha mentions this and I quote here, “Those who oppose Hindutva seek to recover the founding principles of the freedom struggle, such as religious and linguistic pluralism, gender and caste equality, a critical attitude to state power, and an open-ness to other cultures and civilizations: all principles which Hindutva threatens to abandon or overthrow”. This is really disheartening to read from one of the most acclaimed socio-political writer of all time to what he perceives of Hindutva which is clearly misunderstood and this is the first point that I want to put up in my article.

As I have been following the shift in Indian political landscape from the very beginning of BJP coming into power to Anna Hazare and to the formation of Aam Aadmi Party and to Mr. Arvind Kejriwal coming into power, I have followed everything. But in my personal experience Hindutva is being targeted by the opposition as it is some sort of disease that one needs to get rid of. As Mr. Guha mentions in his article that “the founding principles of freedom struggle like religious and linguistic pluralism and gender and caste equality, a critical attitude to state power and an open-ness to other cultures and civilizations” right from the very beginning, Hinduism and to it’s extension of Hindutva, the religion as a whole which is being targeted these days have always been historically and in the future as well will always be The guiding light towards religious and linguistic pluralism, gender and caste equality, a critical attitude to state power and an open-ness to other cultures and civilizations. After BJP came into power in 2014, the government has always fought to keep the rights to every legal and hardworking Indian, rules like Triple Talaq ban, Foreign Policy, One Nation One Pension, Full Scale Debate over Uniform Civil Code are some very bright example of it. Even the LGBT Community was given legality in India in 2018 and right after that we started to see how government introduced them into government and private sector jobs.

Hindutva and to it’s extension of Hindu and Hinduism has always been accommodating. Hindutva do not believe in forced or paid conversion of religion, It does not have the expansionism ideology like other religious groups have. Hinduism is the most sought after and tolerant religious community in the world which has always proven itself to be the guiding light towards inner peace but is also the community and the religion which is easily misunderstood.

The Second Point that I want to put forward in the article is that Mr. Guha has mentioned several times that how BJP actually targeted the leadership and Mr. Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress(INC) during the election and has made references to the emergency in India or the Bofors Scam which shook the nation at the height of the Kargil War. The main thing that I want to point out in this, is the fact that BJP didn’t target the leadership of one single man but of the party as a whole largely due to the fact that not one or two of the party members of INC was related to some sort of scam but the entire party was. Now, here I want to say that not everyone in the party is bad, people like Dr. Shashi Tharoor is also an integral part of the INC and as an Indian citizen, a world renowned academic and politician, he wrote several books which are a must read.

The slogan used during the 2019 Election campaign “Chowkidar Chor Hai” against the sitting Prime Minister of the country who has been trying to make India’s image better in world eyes on an international platform is not really very good because not only it didn’t work, it backfired in the face of INC. Also a mention of how INC needs to unite with other spun off congress parties like Trinamool Congress, YSR Congress and the Nationalist Congress can actually give INC a larger foot print and a playing ground in the next general elections. This tactic is not only bad but will back fire so bad that the INC might never recover from it and my proof can be the coalition of 2019 also called the “Mahagathbandhan” during the 2019 general election that parties like BSP was virtually wiped off the map and they have slim to none chances of returning to power in the near future. With all the allegations against the parties like the recent bomb blast while a party member of Trinamool Congress was trying to make a bomb is a very fitting example here.

At the end of the article it was mentioned as how the PM has done “grievous damage” to India, to which I want to remind him as to how PM’s Make In India Campaign is coming to fruit. Here is a list of latest happening.

  1. India is the Second Largest FDI In Britain
  2. Apple Supplier Foxconn to invest in India
  3. 705 Million Dollar investment by Samsung,
  4. GWM to invest INR 7600 Crore in India
  5. Daimler and WeWork to invest more than 200 Million Dollars
  6. 1 Billion Dollar Investment by Amazon
  7. 10 Billion Dollar Investment by Google, 1.04 Lakh Crore Investments in Jio Platforms
  8. Laws like Triple Talaq, CAA, RERA Act, Article 370 Removal, Motor Vehicle Act, Weaponry for Indian Armed Forces, NEP, 7 New IITs IIMs
  9. 2nd Larger Solar Power, 2nd Largest Steel producer, 2nd Largest Mobile Manufacturer
  10. Fugitive Economic Offender Act, Reduction in Bank Non Performing Assets
  11. Clearing 2 Lakh Crore of Fuel Debt by UPA Government

And trust me the list goes on.

At the end, I want to make a quick conclusion that No, PM has not divided the country rather it is the other forces and religious extremists have divided the country and has been doing so for a very long time. India has never been better on the international front than now. Our armed forces are getting what they need and are equipped better than before. I can make this case a lot longer but I believe that the important points have been covered here. If you still cannot research and look from an open eye, I humbly request to refrain saying anything against anyone’s religious sentiments.

Tejasvi Surya and ideological commitment

abhinavsingh
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Tejasvi Surya and ideological commitment

Last week BJP National President JP Nadda announced his new team at national level. The announcement which caught the eyes of everyone, especially youth, is the appointment of Tejasvi Surya as National President of Youth Wing (BJYM). Tejasvi Surya is currently MP from Banglore South, where he polled more than 7 lakh votes in 2019 general elections. He is carrying forward the illustrious legacy of Late Shri Ananth Kumar. He is a law graduate and started his work as ABVP karyakarta and later served as General Secretary in BJYM. Being involved in 2014 general elections and 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka, he became a known face in country after securing ticket from BJP to contest 2019 general elections in leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

One can easily get the hold of his ideological positions after reading very well articulated articles written by him for India Facts and lately through discourses he put forward in public space. His stance on Hindutva and Bhartiyata shows him close to the thoughts of Swami Vivekananda and Veer Savarkar, stance on promotion of regional languages shows his proximity to Guruji Golwalkar idea of ‘all Bharatiye languages as national language’, whereas his commitment towards the upliftment of socially backward community shows proximity to the idea of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. In this way his ideological positions and thoughts are broadly encompassing and influenced by Veer Savarkar, Swami ji, Guru ji and Babasaheb. This broadness and completeness shows him being firmly grounded in Bharatiye thoughts. Firmness in indigenous cultural thoughts is sufficient to prove that he is warrior who will/can fight battle for Sanskriti and Samanjasya in political sphere. 

Coming from the land of Vijaynagar Empire, we hope that he will prove to be instrumental in calling out, scolding and busting out the Tipu Elements. Tipu Elements is an imagery used here and it includes all Tyrants, Invaders, Anti Nationals and Pseudo Seculars present in our society. History has proven that these four elements are the biggest threat for the independence and existence of our nation/civilisation. Our Bharat Mata has seen tyrants like Tipu, Jinnah & Razzakars; invaders like Turks, Uzbekhs & Timurids; anti-nationals like TukdeTukde gang and Pseudo Seculars like so called secular political outlets, carrying corpse of Nehruvian secularism. We can only expect well versed and well read man like Mr. Surya to call and expose them both academically and legally in public spaces. 

Being President of the Youth wing of world’s largest political party, he will have enormous man power of hard working young karyakartas. With his astute clarity of ideology, he can transform this force into ideologically motivated political force for good. It can be believed that, he will play instrumental role in building dynamic youth leadership across the length and breadth of country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Kutch to Kamrup and Kashi to Karnataka. The foundation of such youth leadership would not be of any imported ideas from foreign land but of our own indigenous ideals of Dharma, Hindutva and Rashtriyata. The teachings of our great Rishis could be applied to set high standards in public life. This work is very important in today’s time as our Sanskritik ethos are being attacked from all sides and both from internal & external front. Hence it is now or never moment to build fierce ideologically motivated youth leadership and only a true guide can do this.

In his (still) short Parliamentary career, Tejasvi Surya has raised voice on various issues of both national and regional importance. This includes subjects ranging from – the use of Kannada language in banking to his views on broad Banking sector in recently completed session. He was among the first to call out Tukde Tukde gang on floor of house and raised the issue of Law&Order situation in Delhi created out from facade of so called Anti CAA protests. This law&order situation later resulted in Anti Hindu Delhi riots in February 2020. He has raised issues without any consideration of being “Politically Correct” or “(pseudo)Secular” which is sufficiently enough to back the thesis, put forward earlier in the article.

At last it’s evident that after his term as President of BJYM, Tejasvi Surya would be playing crucial role in Kannada politics and later on National stage. In this term as president, he would be facing legislative elections in large states of UP, Bihar, MP, Karnataka and Rajasthan. These elections will be of great significance in his political life and challenges posed to him in these states would be discussed in subsequent articles.
– Nahar

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