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शिक्षा नीति के सारगर्भित पहलू

Keshav Sharma
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शिक्षा नीति के सारगर्भित पहलू

आखिरकार करीब साढ़े तीन दशक के लम्बे इन्तजार के बाद केंद्रीय कैबिनेट ने ऐतिहासिक फैसले स्वरूप नवीन राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 को मंजूरी दी. देश में विगत काफी वर्षों से शैक्षणिक सुधारों की मांग ने काफी जोर पकड़ रखा था, अतः इस दृष्टि से नई राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति का महत्व और बढ़ जाता है. राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 को अंतिम रूप, डॉ. के. कस्तूरीरंगन की अध्यक्षता वाली शैक्षणिक कमेटी द्वारा निर्मित, गत वर्ष के राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति प्रारूप के अंतर्गत — देश भर से आए विद्यार्थियों, अभिभावकों व शिक्षाविदों से प्राप्त हुए करीब दो लाख सुझावों की छंटनी कर दिया गया. जैसा कि मसौदे में निहित था कि नवीनतम राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति का उद्देश्य विद्यार्थियों को गुणात्मक शिक्षा प्रदान करने, उन्हें विभिन्न नवाचारों के माध्यम से ज्ञान उपलब्ध कराने एवं उनके सर्वांगीण विकास की दिशा में उचित कदम उठाने से जुड़ा है.

इसके अतिरिक्त मसौदे में शिक्षा के विभिन्न आयामों – अधिगम (Learning), तर्कसंगतता (Rational), एवं जवाबदेही (Accountability) में सकारात्मक एवं गुणात्मक परिवर्तन की भी बात कही गई थी. समाज में शिक्षा की पहुँच हर तबके तक सुनिश्चित करने के लिए प्राथमिक स्तर से उच्च माध्यमिक स्तर तक नि:शुल्क एवं अनिवार्य शिक्षा प्रदान करने का महत्वपूर्ण बिंदु भी शामिल किया गया है जो कि निसंदेह सर्वोत्तम बिंदु है. साथ ही मुक्त विद्यालयों के माध्यम से स्कूली शिक्षा छोड़ चुके करीब दो करोड़ विद्यार्थियों को मुख्यधारा में लाया जाएगा. प्राथमिक स्तर पर शिक्षा पद्धति के भाषाई माध्यम में अंग्रेजी की अनिवार्यता भी समाप्त की गई. इसी कड़ी में वर्ष 2030 तक प्री-स्कूल से माध्यमिक स्तर पर सकल नामांकन अनुपात (GER) को पूरे शत प्रतिशत करने का लक्ष्य रखा गया है. वहीँ उच्च शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में उच्च शिक्षा संस्थानों में दाखिले हेतु एक कॉमन प्रवेश परीक्षा करवाई जाएगी जिसकी जिम्मेदारी राष्ट्रीय टेस्टिंग एजेंसी (NTA) को दी गई है. अन्य शैक्षणिक सुधारों में राष्ट्रीय मूल्यांकन केंद्र – ‘परख’ का गठन, शिक्षकों की गुणवत्ता में सुधार हेतु कुछ नए मानक (NPST) भी तय किए गए हैं.

स्पष्ट है कि नवीन राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 का दायरा काफी विस्तृत है और इसमें निहित शैक्षणिक आयामों और उपागमों में ज्ञान के प्रति समग्र दृष्टिकोण अपनाया गया है. साथ ही हमें उम्मीद है कि राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 हमारे देश के शैक्षणिक सुधारों और बौद्धिक विकास की दिशा में मील का पत्थर साबित होगी.

केशव शर्मा
राजस्थान विश्वविद्यालय
जयपुर

Interpretation of human rights

Sauro Dasgupta
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Interpretation of human rights

Human Rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal, national and international law. They are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. They include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, etc.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines human rights as rights belonging to an individual or group of individuals simply for being human, or as a consequence of inherent human vulnerability, or because they are requisite to the possibility of a just society. Whatever their theoretical justification, human rights refer to a wide continuum of values or capabilities thought to enhance human agency or protect human interests and declared to be universal in character, in some sense equally claimed for all human beings, present and future.

17th-century English philosopher John Locke discussed natural rights in his work, identifying them as being “life, liberty, and estate (property)”, and argued that such fundamental rights could not be surrendered in the social contract. In Britain in 1689, the English Bill of Rights and the Scottish Claim of Right each made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions. Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century, in the United States (1776) and in France (1789), leading to the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which articulated certain human rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms.

Philosophers such as Thomas Paine, JS Mill and Hegel expanded on the theme of universality of human rights during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1849, Henry David Thoreau, wrote about human rights in his treatise ‘On the Duty of Civil Disobedience’ which was influential on human rights thinkers.

The League of Nations was established in 1919 at the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I. The League’s goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global welfare. Enshrined in its Charter was a mandate to promote many of the rights which were later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1949).

During World War II, the Allies adopted the Four Freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—as their basic war aims. The United Nations Charter “reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, and dignity and worth of the human person” and committed all member states to promote “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”.

When the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany became fully apparent after World War II, the consensus within the world community was that the United Nations Charter did not sufficiently define the rights to which it referred. A universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals was necessary to give effect to the Charter’s provisions on human rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was the historic document that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 183rd session on 10 December 1948 as Resolution 217 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the then 58 members of the United Nations, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.

The Declaration consists of 30 articles affirming an individual’s rights which, although not legally binding in themselves, have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, economic transfers, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws. The Declaration was the first step in the process of formulating the International Bill of Human Rights, which was completed in 1966, and came into force in 1976, after a sufficient number of countries, had ratified them.

Our interpretations of human rights are constantly evolving. This may be due to changing societal contexts, technology and awareness of who is vulnerable to human rights abuses and to new potentials for violations. Human rights law must be responsive to our changing ideas and understanding of human rights practice. At the same time, laws and professional standards clearly shape rights-based social work practice.

If we consider the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a whole, we can view it as encompassing different aspects of a general humanism. Beyond its introductory articles, the Declaration addresses itself (Articles 3-21) to the rights of the individual-his personal freedoms as well as his civil and political rights. Another important segment of the Declaration refers to the economic, social, and cultural rights of man (Articles 22-27). Considering these separate sections as complementary parts of an overall commitment to Human Rights, it is possible to trace a corresponding emphasis in the major ideologies of democracy and socialism.

With respect to individual freedoms, a considerable part of the values enumerated in the Declaration are substantially identical with the theory of individual liberty which constitutes the distinctive ethos of Western democracy. Freedom from arbitrary arrest, equal protection under the law, rights of free expression and opinion these and related rights are bound up with the historical struggles associated with the French and American Revolutions. Rights of self-government acknowledged by the Declaration have their roots in the constitutional democracy identified with Western, especially Anglo-American humanism. Even the economic aspects of Western ideology are reflected in the recognition of the right of each, singly and in association, to own private property.

When considering the ideological basis for the economic, social and cultural rights enumerated in the Declaration, one should acknowledge that they have derived their major impetus from Marxist-Leninist thought and the spirit of the October Revolution. This is not to suggest that the protected values are exclusively dependent upon such inspiration. Present protection of the rights of workers is the result of universal efforts, but it is within socialist countries that their advancement has been the dominant purpose of political activity and governmental policy. Within this ideology the dignity of man is important.

The RATIONALIST APPROACH to human rights is quite advanced and different from the naturalist school of rights. It says that individuals must apply their rationale to situations. If rights were to be implemented, they must be bound by law, failing which they’ll cease to exist. When the US Civil Rights Movement began, the leaders demanded rights for the Blacks that would be legally enforceable and questioned the government’s inability in implementing the Rule of law and the Civil Rights Bill. There must be a LEGALLY BINDING APPROACH AND FRAMEWORK to Human Rights in this manner.

The HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH to Human Rights states that any issue related to human life should be based equality of human beings, i.e. any issue should be handed from the foundation of interpretation of Human Rights. This approach is for the promotion of Human Rights. Eg. Right to Life should be seen as a legal guarantee. Humans, with and aware of their rights, are the foundation of any transaction. RTI is an example of Human Rights approach to Human Rights of the Government of India.

Every approach encompasses social, political, cultural and economic interpretations. Eg. Xenophobia is associated with social and cultural approach. Human Rights got legal endorsement since 1945.  

The DEVELOPMENT APPROACH to Human Rights is also pertinent here. Development is of three types: Economic development, Growth based development and Need based development. Need based development is critical for human beings. The approach of economic development becomes a facade if there is no profit. Development for economic growth was one of the main reasons behind the formulation of human rights. By the 1980s, the UN recognized the right to development. However, most countries aren’t in favour of this approach.

A LEGAL INTERPRETATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS is the basic interpretation of Human Rights as rights have both positive and negative consequences. This has been significant in the Human Rights regime. Acknowledgment, endorsement and implementation is done through promoting it actively, making people aware that they have the Human Rights. Rights have empowered the state to promote as well as limit the people’s rights. Eg. The state prohibits mob violence as the people don’t have the right to do so. Universality of Human Rights Regime provides a scope to question these actions.

LIBERAL INTERPRETATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS says that they are universal (held by everyone) and inalienable (they continue to exist regardless of whether or not governments recognise them).Classical liberals believe that the list of genuine human rights is quite short. It is comprised primarily of those things that are necessary to preserve life and individual liberty. This list includes the right to be free from torture, slavery, arbitrary arrest or detention. Freedom of association and freedom of speech are also seen as legitimate human rights. But other rights, particularly economic and social rights, are viewed as mere aspirations. The role of the state in fulfilling or protecting human rights should be very limited. States should do only what is necessary to protect life and property. They believe in a minimal state – as political philosopher Robert Nozick puts it, a “night watchman” state – that does not interfere with the privacy of citizens and their freedom to live, work and be educated in any way they see fit.

The existence of laws and normative standards is not enough to promote rights. Law has narrowed conceptualizations of human rights-based social work practice and needs to be replaced with broader conceptualizations of human rights law that allow for fuller social work practices. Human rights are not a settled concept and that evolutions in society require continuing conversations to ensure that human rights are met for all. However, even once rights are guaranteed in law, ongoing work is required to ensure they are realized.

We have interpreted norms of Human rights in its various aspects theoretically. The study remains incomplete if we do not consider it’s applicability in reality. We are to see how Human rights can be framed to ensure gender equity, how children’s educational rights from roots to top can be realised, how gender disparity in education of girls can be removed, how threat to Human Rights Education can be freed from terrorism and crime against women can be stalled. All these are very critical problems which have not been so far adequately reined in by the administrative bodies and the government of our country.

Consequently, assault and torture on women at different places namely the events at the Park Street Rape Case, Kamduni Rape and Murder Case, the assaults on the nuns at Ranaghat- all in West Bengal, kidnapping of girls and children across the border have to be witnessed. It may be observed that the movements of refugees and migrants have to be handled with humanitarian approach. The right to move is a universal human right and restriction on their right cannot be subject to policies and measures that violate the dignity of human beings. All these perplexing events have diluted the theoretical idealism of the interpretation of Human Rights. Mere interpretation of Human Rights becomes fruitless if it fails to be rendered in reality.  Despite above all, the glory of human rights has to be sustained by all means and measures.

It’s gratifying to note that the Government of India is taking measures to preserve people’s rights in the country. The disempowering Triple Talaq and Article 370 have been abrogated. Article 370 was extremely discriminatory to the Kashmiri women and it has been rightly abrogated. The government’s efforts to bring about CAA and Uniform Civil Code in India demonstrate its commitment to mainstream the marginalized, protect the people of all rights, bringing about national unity by uniting all under one umbrella and protecting people’s rights in India. Amidst many failures, we will ever aspire to establish the golden rules of human rights as interpreted by several great thinkers, leaving aside all hurdles. Our mandate should be ‘Ensure Human Rights to all and save humanity’.

Breaking free from the chains of Islam

sarahkalidasi
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Breaking free from the chains of Islam

She was always the girl who was given many a labels – a traitor, a deserter, a defector, a woman who has sinned. It is but natural for a Muslim girl hailing from an orthodox Muslim family who had embraced the freedom of Sanatana Dharma to earn these accolades for Islam forbids worshipping anyone other than Allah. But Sarah was guided by her Goddess and fuelled by her own desire to break from the chains of Islam and has now set out on a quest is to achieve complete physical, mental and spiritual freedom.

Sarah Khan was born in Kolkata, India in the year 1988. Sarah was raised in a traditional Islamic family that was highly influenced by the tenets of Islam. She was force fed non-vegetarian food even though she was averse to it. She was even beaten for not eating non-vegetarian. However efforts to tame her only ended in vain. Growing up in such a toxic environment could not really change Sarah from being and outcast and a misfit.

Sarah grew up to be a bright student in her school. As time passed, she realized that she was different from others in terms of her intuitive skills and creativity. Since school days she had been good with writing and creative arts. It was recognized by the principal of her school and was even awarded for her talents as the best writer and speaker. She grew up with a liberal mindset and wanted to advocate and support equal female rights in Islam. Her feminism and approach to life brought a lot of criticism and adversities. She was destined to be a rebel and nothing could stop her from practicing what she felt right.

But she had a price to pay for this. She was abandoned by her very own family.

Her father was frustrated with her approach towards life as a Muslim girl. His religion blinded his eyes. Her father subjected her to religious oppression and never allowed her to be the way she wanted to be. Sarah was a victim of her own religion.

With the growing awareness in Sarah, she decided to move out of her family and pursue her dreams. Moving out of the family was a great deal, as her fellow friends and relatives suspected her intent and integrity. They deemed her to be a fatal disaster.

But Sarah went on to complete her college and moved to Hong Kong to pursue a career in beauty and cosmetology. During her stay in Hong Kong she learnt a lot about spirituality. The serenity of Sanatan Dharma always fascinated Sarah. As time passed, she went through the process of self-realization. Her spiritual awakening led her to break away from the shackles of Islam. She transformed into a spiritual person and became a firm believer of Karma.

After her studies in Hong Kong she returned to India and stared working at a beauty studio in Kolkata. Everything seemed to go well until things went haywire.

Sarah lost her mother in the year 2006 in a car accident. That incident shattered her for her 
mother was the only person who loved her dearly, and had been a source of inspiration. But the spiritual knowledge she gained through her encounter with Sanatana Dharma expanded her horizons and helped her cope with the loss.

With time healing her, things seemed to change for the better. She fell in love with a friend of hers who was a Muslim. Within a few months they decided to settle down got married. Everything looked rosey and a few months passed by. Sarah assumed this could possibly be her new start after her mother’s death. But she was in for a meltdown when she saw her man in bed with another woman, in her absence.

When she confronted her husband, she was told “we men can bed as many women we like.” He even justified saying that Islam allowed to have multiple woman partners for “pleasure and satisfaction” and that the woman has to understand a man’s needs in the absence of his woman. To add fuel to the fire, Sarah her ex mother in-law said that women should always compromise and understand the nature of a man. “A man is a lustful being since Islamic history. The key to a happy family is to over look the man’s deed and continue with other household chores. Even our prophets had many wives, so why can’t men have many wives now.” Disgusted, she divorced him to overcome her mental misery and stress.

Sarah was once again left in the lurch in this vast world. Such incidents either ruins or builds a woman. She had learnt her lessons. She realized that it was the ignorance and the lack of true knowledge that made women like to fall prey to Islamic men.

Meanwhile, she started reading about other religions to understand why the phenomenon of exploitation of woman in the name of religion. In this quest, she realized that Hinduism is the religion that respects both male and female equally. The pre-historic roots of Hinduism also show that woman had equally played an important role in the Hindu religion. The endless list of Goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga and Kali were all divine form of feminine entities who banished evil. Having such a past and a history to look up to, Hinduism she felt respects every feminine being, be it in history or in the present times.

Sarah realized and felt a strong urge towards the Goddess Kali. There had been endless acts of Kali destroying evil. She started relating herself to the new entity. Since then she made it as a mission in her life that she would create awareness and save gullible women from falling prey to such religious oppression in the name of love, marriage and Islam. Sarah says – “I was clueless and a misfit since childhood. I was exploited and supressed by my faith until l I started embracing the divine feminine within me and I could see things changing for the better. I see no religion as good or bad. It is the people who immerse in dogmatic beliefs that set a wrong precedent and Islam remains stuck in these dogmas.  Hinduism allowed me to explore the divinity in me. I have come to realize that I am just a small particle from the divine feminine form. Every woman is indeed divine. Goddess Kali has been my inspiration and the source of enlightenment. Henceforth I adore her and will live and swear by her name till the very last moment of my existence in earth, for I am nothing but her cosmic dust”.

Kashmir: My two bits

kunalverma
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Kashmir: My two bits

Most of my life I have been confused about Kashmir. As a school kid I barely ever read the newspaper. The first time I went to Kashmir was when I was four years old in 1980. I have very cute pictures from those days. My mom used to tell me how the people there would talk of India as a foreign country.

The first time I had a proper conversation with a Kashmiri was in college. I went to an engineering college in Bangalore where I met Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits. The Pandit friend told me how they had to abandon their home because they were threatened by militants. The rumour about this one Muslim guy in the hostel was that he had an elder brother who was a militant. And after that I dropped the topic from my consciousness. I didn’t care. I was young and there were many other things to explore.

Then in 2008 I chanced upon a documentary on Kashmir. It told me about the countless cases of rape, torture, disappearances of men and the endless searches of their property the people of Kashmir had to endure at the hands of the Indian Army. I was enraged. How could my country do this to its own people? It was grossly unfair for people to be subjected to this. I felt sorry for the Kashmiris. Then later that year Mumbai was attacked by Pakistani forces. Apparently, they were also responsible for the problems in Kashmir.

I continued with my relative ignorance of Kashmir. It wasn’t affecting my life in any way really. In 2014, I made friends with a documentary filmmaker. She would go on to win a National Award for her film on Kashmir. We were catching up at her place, along with her Kashmiri Muslim friend. I asked them what the scene was with Kashmir. They both broke into an almost practiced speech about how Kashmir was illegally occupied by India. I don’t remember much of the content. Then I asked them about Kashmiri Pandits. Why were they thrown out? To which they both pounced on me and said “because the Pandits had all the jobs and land and money and the Muslims needed it.” Somehow, through the haze, I kind of remember being confused as to how that justified murder, rape and rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless but at that moment I was afraid of my high being murdered by those two militant women and chose discretion over valour.

Then in 2018 I visited Kashmir for a second time. My mom was very worried that her 41 year old son would be unsafe in a place prone to random violence. So I asked a friend of mine to have me put up at the Army Base next to the Airport and I was driven around in an Army officer’s car. I called up my old college friend, the Kashmiri Pandit from college, who told me not to worry and I was safe as long I was not with anyone from the Police or the Army. I gulped. At that very moment I was getting into the Army vehicle that could not be more conspicuous with flags and paint. The driver was from Kerala and told me all the nice wooden houses that were built around Srinagar were made using money they got as aid from India as well as money from Pakistan.

I was walking in the lanes adjoining the Hazratbal Shrine when an eldery Muslim gentleman, with a beard and a skull cap sitting on a chair, said something to me in Kashmiri. I did not understand him and politely asked him what he was saying. He asked me where I was from. I said from India. To which he appeared offended. I thought I had been waylaid by a ‘Free Kashmir’ fundamentalist. He told me that if I was Indian then I should know the Kashmiri way of saying hello. Then it dawned on me that the man was being friendly. I apologized to him and asked him to teach me the Kashmiri greeting. He did and then spontaneously gave me a hug as I said bye. This completely disarmed me.

As I had landed in Srinagar, my first experience was that of departmental stores, where I needed to buy essentials for the week-long ‘Great Lakes Trek’ that I was to embark on in a few days’ time. These stores were run by people wearing what I call the ‘Srinagar Scowl.’ Actually, they were expressionless as I transacted with them. If I went up to a lady (they were always ladies who would manage the inventory and assist the shoppers) to ask where an item was to be found, I would always be answered with a pointing finger. And an expressionless face. At first I thought it was because Srinagar was conservative. But it turned out this was the preferred method of communication in Srinagar for an Indian even at the famous Ahdoos restaurant, where I half expected the waiter to point me towards the kitchen when I placed my order.

In January 2020, I encountered a Kashmiri couple on a tour bus in Da Nang, Vietnam. I could recognize them from a mile away because they wore the ‘Srinagar Scowl.’ So the old gentleman at Hazratbal was rather unexpected. What was also unexpected were the young men in their late teens who stopped me as I was clicking photos of the Hazratbal and exclaiming that they had never been clicked on a DSLR before, made me take a few photos of them, and also had me search for them on Facebook so that I could add them as a friend and send them the photos later. All of this happened in an unreal fashion, with me barely saying a few words and receiving full instructions on what to do. This happened twice in the span of fifteen minutes with two different people. I did as I was told, sending them the photos once I was back home in Lucknow. Then it struck me that maybe there was a sinister game afoot and these late teen kids might be terror agents, tracking people outside Kashmir, so I removed them from my friend list. In hindsight, maybe I was a wee bit paranoid.

One of the evenings in Srinagar, I had a few drinks with a high ranking Army officer. At one point I asked him what the Kashmir conflict was all about. He called out to his orderly to fetch a map. On that map he showed me the rivers that flowed through Kashmir and into Pakistan. “Water”, he said, “that’s what the game is about. And other than that”, he lowered his voice in his own house, ”it’s a war over faith”.

As it turns out the scowl is limited to Srinagar. My next stop was Sonamarg where I walked to the Thajiwas Glacier. There were two young men in their early twenties who were the only other people there besides me. They requested me to take a photo of them, a routine I had got used to, and in turn they took a few pictures of me. Then they started chatting with me. They were Kashmiri boys who worked in Jammu as electricians. They were genuinely friendly and took me for tea at the only dhaba at the glacier. As we parted ways, they took my number. For months I would get occasional video calls from one of them who wanted to know ‘What’s up?’

He wasn’t the only one to do that though. Mushtaq, who was working at the hotel where I was staying befriended me and promptly made me his Facebook friend. It basically started with me seeing him in a T-shirt while I was all bundled up in warm clothes and my paternal instincts kicking in and nagging the guy who I had never met before to wear something warm or he would catch a cold in the single digit temperature. He still messages me once in a while and we both faithfully like each other’s pictures on Facebook.

About five days later, miles away from Sonamarg on the Great Lakes Trail, I was wondering if I would live to see the end of the trek and was comforted to see that of the group of some 17 random people signed up on the same trek, at least three others were going to die with me. High altitude trekking at the speed which we were going can be taxing on the body. At the end of the first day of the trek, I was doing some photography, when a twenty something Kashmiri gentleman started a conversation with me. His father had sent him on the trail to look out for some land that they had there in this hard to reach area. He was a philosophy graduate and wanted to have a conversation with some “educated” people, being forced to hang out with “uneducated” shepherds on this trail. He remarked on how sad it was that so many problems were being created between Kashmir and India and he frankly did not believe in any hostility. That young man’s words and his constant smile really touched me.

At three different points on the trek, we had to stop at army check posts and show our IDs. These were not posts by the road. These were posts on a trail that only shepherds followed. At one vague location that took five days of walking to reach, we reached a large post with a permanent brick hut. One of the many army men at that place was particularly chatty and was asking us to play a cricket match with them. Then he walked up to our guide, Abdul, a fair Kashmiri man probably in his late twenties. He tells Abdul to shave his long, Islamic beard or someone from the army might mistake him for a terrorist at night and shoot him. The exchange had a school ground bully feel to it and Abdul just kept looking at the ground and kept smiling. On the last day of the trek, Abdul carried my bag for me because I was struggling with a bad back.

I was on the road from Srinagar, on my way to Gulmarg, in a cab that I had hired. The driver seemed friendly. I decided to take a chance and asked him about the Kashmir fight for freedom. And then I asked him about the Pandits. Why did they chase them away? I still can’t forget the answer. “Sir, they had all the money and land so we chased them away and took it from them.” I was stunned at his candidness. Later on I was told by a friend who had stayed at the Khyber Hotel in Srinagar, that the staff there had told her that the Pandits did not actually belong to Kashmir so they were chased away.

Pehalgam was my last stop in my two and a half week Kashmir trip. It was mandatory to visit Aru Valley or be branded a loser. I didn’t see myself as a loser at that point in time so I took a cab to Aru Valley. I was given one hour to look around by the driver and then we would have to head back. It was beginning September and the skies were still cloudy. It started raining and I found my driver was not in the designated parking area. I went looking for him in the wee little town and found him chilling at a chai shop. I got drenched. When I got back to the hotel, I told the hotel staff who had arranged for the driver, about what had happened. They called the driver and blasted him for being irresponsible for treating a guest like that.

After my trip I was a bit confused about Kashmir. The people there, at least the ones who were not from Srinagar, were very nice and friendly. Yet there was this raging issue of freedom that had everyone in the area up in flames and most people in India wondering what was their problem and why they couldn’t be at peace with being Indians. So for my sake I had to dig deeper and find out for myself.

The root of the problem lies in the deep communal divide. The Kashmiri is a Muslim. There used to be Hindus too but they were chased away because they wanted a homogenous lot. The seeds of communalism were sown some 650 years ago, during the Shah dynasty. From then on, Hindus were discriminated against and even Shia Muslims were not spared, depending on who took the throne. Then the tides turned with the arrival of a Sikh ruler, Ranjit Singh. Muslims suffered what the Pandits had endured for hundreds of years. Things did not change with Gulab Singh and his dynasty of Dogras for the next hundred years. The people saw the rulers as anti-Muslims, which they probably were to varying degrees.

This served to strengthen the Muslim identity and since the time of the Partition of India, the Kashmiri Muslims identified with Pakistan and the Hindus with India. This identity was further reinforced in the 1980s leading to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the Islamization of Kashmir. To date it is not easy to find a shop selling alcohol in Srinagar, as it is un-Islamic. It is clear to me that the Kashmiri people, all of whom were Hindus once, see Kashmir as a Muslim province. It is also clear to me that this view is not really subscribed to by the majority. The people of Kashmir are human beings first and they recognize this fact. The angry, vociferous, propaganda-filled lot compel the rest to project themselves as Muslims first. And India is to be held accountable for a part of this anger and freedom movement.

Nehru never gave the Kashmiris a chance to express themselves through the franchise set up for them under article 370, though at all forums he kept on shouting out that the Kashmiris need to decide for themselves if they want to be a part of India or not. All the elections were rigged till 1979 and only the pro-India parties were allowed to stand for elections. Corruption was sewn into the blanket of self-governance, as Nehru allowed Bakshi, the first proper Chief Minister, to do as he pleased while Nehru kept diluting Article 370; something India continued to do until 2019, when the Article was scrapped altogether.

Today, ex-Chief Ministers Farooq and Omar Abdullah, father and son, are being investigated for corruption and no Kashmiri doubts for a moment that they are guilty. Because India helped foster a culture of corruption much as it did with its own self. Nehru from the start was obsessed with Kashmir, for some reason. Maybe because he was a Kashmiri Pandit himself but then he had never really lived there. So it defies logic. He handled all Kashmir related matters himself.  Rightfully it should have been handled by the Home Minister. Nehru himself rode into the leadership of the country, riding on Gandhiji’s back and his own pedigree and education, so he probably thought nothing of installing leaders of his choice as he did with Kashmir. Maybe if Kashmir had good and honest governance, the people wouldn’t be such a disgruntled lot. However, all this can be termed as conjecture at best.

What is very real is the influence of Pakistan. They justify their involvement in Kashmir and systematic promotion of terrorism as jihad and a freedom struggle. That would not be such a tough pill to swallow if all of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was not equally dissatisfied with the Pakistan Government, so as to approach the United Nations with the human right abuses there. Even they want an Azad Kashmir, one free from the tyranny of Pakistan. This brings me to the moot point. Pakistan’s only reason to claim Kashmir is because its population is Muslim. This is strange because it does not account for the suffering of the people of Gilgit and Baltistan, a large percentage of whom are Shias and, hence, not the brand of Islam that Pakistan endorses. There has been conflict between the Shias of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Sunnis who have arrived from Pakistan. Very few of the militants are fighting for an Independent Kashmir; Kashmir as a separate country. Most of them want Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan and want to convert India into an Islamic state. It is difficult to call a militant a freedom fighter under these circumstances.

I personally don’t endorse the Islam front. And Kashmir has a strong Islamic case to it. The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits was a sin that they cannot be absolved of, no matter what argument is presented. ‘Kashmiriyat’, the culture under which people of different faiths coexist, is long dead. I personally feel that the Constitution of a nation should stand higher than any religion. A country should not be defined by the religion that people follow. I probably sound silly because I belong to a country that is obsessed with religion. The people of India are hyper sensitive when it comes to their religion and it takes barely more than a sneeze to ‘hurt’ someone’s religious sentiments. I recall once seeing a debate on one of the news channels years back.

A Christian priest sat on the stage, offended about something someone had said about Christ and the whole affair had been organised to discuss how ‘hurt’ the priest was feeling. At one point a young Muslim lady, wearing a burkha with her face uncovered, took the mike and asked the priest why was he so offended because lots of people say many hurtful things against Islam, but her faith was not so fragile that it was shaken by what people said. The priest really did not know what to say to the young lady. For me, that lady is an icon of what the attitude of Indians should be. India, for whatever its shortcomings may be on this front, with the minorities in the nation feeling that they are not being treated fairly and equitably, still upholds an ideal of secularism that is worth striving for.

The Kashmiri claims they have their own culture and their own way of living. I say take a good look at India, where every few hundred kilometres people have their own culture and their own way of living. After finishing his engineering in Bangalore, a batchmate of mine went to Chennai to work at a software company. He was a Punjabi. One day he went to the neighbourhood kirana shop to buy some paneer. “You want paneer? Go to your bloody North India and buy paneer.” This is what the shopkeeper told him. I lived in Bangalore for five years while doing my engineering. I faced numerous incidents of discrimination by teachers and local people alike. The brand new KFC there was stoned by a  local organization for not conforming to Karnataka and its culture. But I don’t hate Bangalore or its people because I know they are nice people. Screwed up things happen sometimes. Despite the Tamil pride in its language and culture and that of the Kannadikas and the Andhraites and the Malyalis, we have still forged a republic together. Same is to be said of the Eastern states, where each state has its own unique identity and culture.

Another dimension to this Kashmir issue is that it pertains to only the Kashmir Valley. They never cared about the people of Ladakh or those of Jammu. Their identity is contained within this small area. Everyone else is an outsider. Especially if you are a Hindu and, doubly so, if you belong to India.

So what is it that the Kashmiris pride so much about their culture that they feel they cannot be a part of the diverse cultures of India? I am afraid the answer for that may lie with how they have been treated since 1990. It’s the chicken and the egg story. True, the Kashmiris through sponsorship from Pakistan participated in militant or terrorist activities and so the army moved in. But since then the people there have suffered and are suffering a life punctuated with fear, defiance and guns. I do believe with all my heart that India did try and carry out a genuine dialogue with the people from 1999 to 2012 to try and end militancy. Even after that attempts have been made to have a meaningful dialogue. Unfortunately, with so many stakeholders in the mix, the militant groups, many of whom are at odds with each other, the Government of the state, the people of Kashmir, the Indian Government and Pakistan, it only takes one screw up from one of the involved parties to ruin a peace process. If a certain group of militants are willing for a ceasefire another group will shoot it down. If India and Pakistan are talking it out, then a Pakistan-based militant group will perpetrate an act of terrorism. Things might be going well and suddenly a lapse on the part of the army or some corrupt army personnel will destroy the peace. Attaining peace in Kashmir is akin to learning to walk on eggshells.

Why doesn’t India just give up Kashmir? That is a question that may be asked of Pakistan too. And it is a difficult one because the Indian Republic is very finely balanced with certain regions wanting autonomy or Independence. Kashmir is not the only one. It might send a wrong message out to the rest, if India was to give up Kashmir. And with the ever changing dynamics of the power structure in South Asia, who knows what will happen? Could an independent Kashmir be invaded by Pakistan or China? Pakistan struggles with its own issues with Balochistan, where the people want independence. Who is to say what will happen to the tiny Vale of Kashmir, that will certainly not be able to survive without aid from its neighbouring country, as the area lacks a number of resources. For Kashmir to exist as an independent country, it will need the power dynamics in the region to be at equilibrium.

So how do we resolve the issue? I really don’t know. I have read many books that offer different solutions. One by Christopher Snedden offers many possible scenarios depending on the different possibilities that may play out. There are contingent on a number of ‘what ifs’ What if China decided to do this or what if the people in Azad Kashmir decided to do that or what if the military in Pakistan was disabled? I will not dwell on those because it’s an exercise in permutations and combinations. What I see far more possible is that for India to reach some kind of resolution with the Kashmiri people and to provide them with such a favourable environment within their land that the Kashmiri are content with being a part of India.

The current Government has put an end to dialogues and imposed a lockdown on Kashmir that seems like the opposite of what we want to achieve. Maybe they think they can flush out militants altogether in this Draconian curfew that the area has seen since 2019. A part of what must be on their mind would be to try something different as previous methods of talks have not helped. It stands to reason that even their curbing of whatever freedom the Kashmiri had will be provoking them to pick up arms.

What I say is as an Indian I would like Kashmir to be a part of India. Also as an Indian, I would like the Kashmiris themselves to want to be a part of India. As an Indian, I don’t want the people to suffer as they have, whatever be the reasons. My friend Mushtaq of Sonamarg had put up an anti-India meme on Facebook and I wrote to him scolding him and launching into a rant about how he should come to Lucknow and see Hindus and Muslims living in peace. His reply was very short. “Yes sir. It is a war like situation here, sir”. There is no way sitting at home, wherever you are, for you to understand what the people there are going through. And as an Indian I hope what I have written, will make you understand Kashmir a little bit better.

A friend and I have written a book to inform people about the conflict in Kashmir. You can download it for free from https://kashmiravalleyindarkness.in/ or read it online.

Kunal Verma

India: The next global manufacturing hub?

Ajay Verma
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India: The next global manufacturing hub?

In 2017, Elon Musk pitched both India and China to set up Tesla’s first electric car factory outside the United States. Even, in 2015, PM Narendra Modi visited the Tesla factory in California. However still, in the end, he chose to set up the Tesla Factory unit in Shanghai, China.

OFFERS

India had offered land near ports to set up a Tesla factory and an export base. While China offered that Tesla won’t have to share its profit or technology with them. Plus, it can build a factory in Shanghai’s Free trade zone.

See, China offering Tesla that it doesn’t need to share its profit was a huge departure from its existing laws. According to its present laws, when a foreign firm comes into China, it is required to come by entering into a Joint venture with a local firm. But to woo Elon, China bent the laws.

COMPLAINS

Elon Musk pointed out two reasons for choosing China over India. First was that the import duty in India is as high as 100% which would have made Tesla unaffordable. Another reason was that the electric vehicle market in India is minuscule in relation to China.

ATTITUDE

When I read that China relaxed such a stringent FDI law just to attract Tesla (let me tell you that China didn’t do this even for giant automobile makers like General Motors and Ford Motors when they were coming into China), I learnt that China would go to any extent to attract the firm, if it really wants that firm to come in China.

In short, to attract FDI, India would do anything within its laws. But China would do anything, even if it demands to bend the laws. India can also do that but unfortunately, it is slow and sometimes even unresponsive to do so.

OTHER OPTIONS

India’s main Brahmastra to attract investment in the country is its cheap labour. However, it has to understand that this is also offered by many other Asian countries. Like Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. So, it has to offer something more solid rather than drumming the beat of increased in meaningless Ease of Doing Business ranking (which only considers Delhi and Mumbai).

HOPE

The recent changes in labour laws in some states like UP, MP, Punjab, and Gujarat, can help in attracting investment in the country. But again, this should be a permanent fix.

Most firms are afraid to come to India due to the current volatile business environment. They live in the fear that they don’t know which new law the government would pass tomorrow.

So, the only hope we can have from the government is that it will bring solid reforms soon to create a conducive business environment. Because we can no longer fix cancer by putting bandage around it.

NEP 2020 is the policy, that’s highly lauded

G Indira
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NEP 2020 is the policy, that’s highly lauded

With very high applaud from across all political parties and intelligentsia, National Education Policy – 2020 (NEP 2020) is poised, to be implemented very soon on the ground. This enlightened policy was achievable because the government crowd-sourced opinions related to, from a wide Diaspora of public, who evince interest in academics. For any durable policy change to happen, consensus should be arrived at, by a coalition of partners from different perspectives.

While delivering his speech at India Foundation Dialogue-74 (on 19 Aug), Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Cabinet Minister of Education, GOI; exuded confidence that, Bharat being Vishwa Guru, the new NEP-2020 focussed on Bharateeya Jeevan Mulya: Ayurveda, Charka, Susrutha, Aryabhata, Bhaskaracharya, Bharadwaj, Kapil Muni, Madhava, Chanakya, Patanjali, Panini and  Bharat’s value of: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

He said in Bharat, once upon a time, universities like Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila and Vallabhi had set high standards of multi-disciplinary teaching and research, indicating that India should again get back her glory with high standards of education. For attaining that standard, he enunciated the measures taken in NEP 2020.

He stated, the aim of  NEP 2020 is, to give highest quality in education which includes equitable access and inclusive education-learning for all. For the improvement of higher education, he said, ‘academic bank of credit with a multiple entry and exit points, is introduced. After completion of one-year course, a student can exit but yet can get a certificate. In case, if he exits after two years, he could get a diploma. Similarly, after three-years a Bachelor degree and four-years i.e. after finishing the whole course, the student gets a Bachelor’s degree with research. This kind of flexibility is given first time in the country removing the earlier rigid method of one should complete his/her degree at one go. This leverage provides the student an opportunity, in case, he drops out due to unavoidable circumstances while pursuing a course. At each year, the student’s work gets its credit and is kept in academic credit-bank in a digi-locker. It can be retrieved as and when desired by the student to enhance his higher education further.

Shri Pokhriyal also stated that every year, eight-lakh students would go to foreign universities, with them, he added, Indian merit and money goes along. To buttress his point he went further to add; the tech-giants like Microsoft and Google of the U.S; have Heads that had studied in prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) of India! So, the new NEP 2020, to contain student-migration, would introduce twining with foreign universities with that of the Indian. That way, it is beneficial to students in India to get required knowledge on technology and skills, he opined.

 The minister also emphasized on the creation of National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, and administration. He mentioned about the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct entrance examinations for admissions to universities across the country. To promote high quality research : National Research Foundation (NRF) would be promoted and  at the university level, multi-displinary education would be incorporated, in the Policy.  

‘The foundational pillars of the Policy are, access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability of education. The principles of the policy are based on flexibility. At university level Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as important form of Open Distance Learning (ODL), are encouraged’, was the message from him.

Talking about school education, he said, ‘the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is introduced with 5+3+3+4 pattern, as the child’s mental growth and development spurs from 3-5 years of age. Teaching in “play way method” is an added advantage. From class-6, vocational stream, multilingualism to promote indigenous Indian languages and culture. Mother tongue/regional/local language is made as medium of instruction up to class-v, with no imposition of any (specific) language. To get quality in school education the measures taken were, a four-year integrated B.Ed course and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses for teachers would be conducted’.

‘In the Covid-19 period, online education programmes have been started for crores of children on premise of: one nation, one digital platform. Smart phones, internet, 24-hours dish TV, community radio, various other educational channels etc. are used for the purpose. There are some drawbacks in it’, he pointed out, as the poor are unable afford the above, but exuded the confidence of overcoming the pitfalls.

Citing the PMs call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, as a part his appeal to youth during the lock-down, the IIT Delhi students remained in labs (while others were at home) making and testing for ventilators  of international standard. All in all, he said, for school education and higher education there was a kind manthan (churning) that went on for over a period. The prime minister monitored it step-wise and passed on the Policy. Calling Indian education programme to be a massive one, the minister said in wonderment, there was more number of students studying in India than the entire country: America’s population.

‘Nation first, character-first was of the view. For the first time after independence, for the first time after Macaulay education for a long time, this policy brought in by Padma Vibhushan Kasthurirangan, Manjul Bhargav et.al would take India to the Vishwa Sikhar i.e. highest point/ pinnacle. The New India would be: swatch (clean), shresta (high quality), samruddh (abundant), Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat. This would further blossom into Gyan era in Bharat’,  the minister said.

‘Earlier, the critics of the BJP, derided the party by saying that it’s saffronising education, now the same people are quiet’, he quipped at the end. So, the policy got a wide acceptance from all quarters. Now, it is for the people to take the policy forward.

माफीखोर वकील

Rajeshwar Singh
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माफीखोर वकील

आज पूरा लिबरल गैंग #प्रशांत_भूषण के उस बयान को लगातार चमका दमका कर दिख रहा है, जिसमें उसने सुप्रीम कोर्ट में माफी मांगने से मना किया है। कई ऐसे टुटपुँजिया जिन्हें सावरकर का ‘स’ तक नहीं पता, वो एक उलूल जुलूल ट्वीट करने वाले वकील की सावरकर से तुलना कर रहे हैं।

कुंठा से लदे दिमाग वाले इन क्रांतिकारियों से कोई पूछे कि इस बहादुर वकील ने हार्ले डेविडसन बाइक पर बैठे CJI वाली तस्वीर ट्वीट करने को लेकर कैसे माफी मांग ली?

कोई उनसे पूछे कि कैसे बाबा रामदेव को डिफॉल्टर बताने वाले पोस्टर को लेकर किए ट्वीट पर इस एक्टिविस्ट वकील ने बाबा रामदेव से कैसे नाक रगड़ कर माफी मांग ली?

कोई इनसे पूछे कि इस कथित वरिष्ठ वकील ने 2017 में भगवान कृष्ण को सबसे बडा मनचला बताने वाले ट्वीट के लिए कैसे माफी मांग ली?

कोई इनसे पूछे कि एम नागेश्वर राव की सीबीआई अंतरिम निदेशक के रूप में नियुक्ति के बारे में ट्वीट करने वाले इस क्रांतिकारी वकील ने कैसे गलती मान ली?

मतलब सुप्रीम कोर्ट में वकालत करने वाले, खुद को एक्टिविस्ट कहने वाले इस वकील का उलूल जुलूल ट्वीट करके चर्चा में आने और खुद को राजमाता के चरणों में दण्डवत दिखाने का लंबा इतिहास रहा है। इससे कोई पूछे कि ट्वीट करते समय दिमाग को फ्रिज में ठंडा होने रख देता है क्या, जो बाद में उन्ही ट्वीट पर सरेआम माफी मांगनी पड़ती है।

अरबन नक्सली थक हार कर अब सुप्रीम कोर्ट को अपमानित कर रहे हैं!

Kumar Narad
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अरबन नक्सली थक हार कर अब सुप्रीम कोर्ट को अपमानित कर रहे हैं!

मामला अब मात्र प्रशांत भूषण के माफी मांगने तक सीमित नहीं रह गया है। यह एक बहाना है। उनका असली मकसद देश की संवैधानिक संस्थाओं के प्रति आम लोगों में अविश्वास की भावना विकसित करने के लिए एक नरैटिव तैयार करना है, जिससे लोगों के भीतर अपनी ही सरकार और संस्थाओं के प्रति भरोसा कम होता जाए।

उच्चतम न्यायालय की आलोचना में किए गए विवादास्पद ट्वीट्स के बाद न्यायालय की अवमानना में दोषी करार दिए गए विवादास्पद वकील प्रशांत भूषण इतने आत्ममुग्ध हो गए हैं कि अब खुद ही अपनी तुलना महात्मा गांधी और नेल्सन मंडेला से करने लगे हैं। हालांकि अभी तक यह सामने नहीं आया है कि वे कौन लोग हैं जिन्होंने उनकी तुलना महात्मा गांधी और नेल्सन मंडेला से की है। ट्वीटर पर लोग उनसे जानना चा रहे हैं कि आखिर वे कौन लोग हैं जो उनकी तुलना महात्मा गांधी और नेल्सन मंडेला से कर रहे हैं। स्वघोषित और आत्ममुग्ध प्रशांत भूषण का विवादों से पुराना संबंध रहा है। उनकी इस सनक में वे लोग भी शामिल हो रहे हैं, जिन्हें सरकारी गलियारों में तवज्जों नहीं मिलने से देश में लोकतंत्र पर खतरा नजर आ रहा है।   

हाल ही में प्रशांत भूषण ने दो ट्वीट किए थे। अपने पहले ट्वीट में उन्होंने लिखा था कि जब भावी इतिहासकार देखेंगे कि कैसे पिछले छह साल में बिना किसी औपचारिक इमरजेंसी के भारत में लोकतंत्र को खत्म किया जा चुका है, वो इस विनाश में विशेष तौर पर सुप्रीम कोर्ट की भागीदारी पर सवाल उठाएंगे और मुख्य न्यायाधीश की भूमिका को लेकर पूछेंगे। और दूसरे ट्वीट में उन्होने मुख्य न्यायाधीश पर निशाना साधा था जिसमें वह स्टैंड पर खड़ी बाइक पर बिना हेलमेट और मास्क लगाए बैठे थे। इन दोनों ट्वीट्स को उच्चतम न्यायालय ने अवमानना की श्रेणी में रखते हुए उन्हें अवमानना का दोषी पाया है और 25 अगस्त को उन्हें सजा सुनाई जा सकती है। अवमानना के दोषी पाए जाने पर प्रशांत भूषण माफी नहीं मांगते हुए खुद को महात्मा गांधी साबित करने में जुट गए। और समर्थन में हारे थके सैकड़ों लोग आ खड़े हुए।

सवाल यह है कि वर्तमान केंद्र सरकार के खिलाफ लगातार बयानबाजी करने वाले प्रशांत भूषण को आखिर पिछले छह वर्षों में ही लोकतंत्र पर खतरा क्यों नजर आ रहा है। मोदी सरकार के फैसलों पर लगातार सवाल उठाने और उन्हें अदालत तक ले जाने और वहां से मुंह की खाने के बाद प्रशांत बौखलाए हुए हैं। अरबन नक्सलियों से हमदर्दी रखने वाले प्रशांत भूषण ने राफेल मामले में अरुण शौरी और यशवंत सिन्हा सरीखे नेताओं के साथ केंद्र को बदनाम करने और इसे बोफोर्स सरीखा मामला बनाने की भरपूर कोशिश की, मगर अदालत ने राफेल मामले में जांच की मांग वाली उन लोगों की सभी याचिकाओं को रद्द कर दिया था। और सौभाग्य से राफेल आज देश की रक्षा प्रणाली में शामिल हो गया है।

आतंकी और नक्सलियों से प्रशांत भूषण का प्रेम बहुत पुराना है। भीमा कोरेगांव हिंसा का अरबन नक्सलियों से गहरा संबंध था। और इन लोगों से प्रशांत भूषण की पुरानी हमदर्दी है। कई रिपोर्टों में इस बात को तथ्यों के साथ रखा जा चुका है कि कथित तौर पर मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता बनकर अरबन नक्सली कैसे देश को तोड़ने की साजिश में जुटे थे। लेकिन पुलिस ने समय पर उन्हें गिरफ्तार कर उनके षढ़यंत्रों को विफल कर दिया था। पुलिस के अनुसार सभी पर प्रतिबंधित माओवादी संगठन से लिंक होने का आरोप थे। पुलिस ने रांची से फादर स्टेन स्वामी , हैदराबाद से वामपंथी विचारक और कवि वरवरा राव, फरीदाबाद से सुधा भारद्धाज और दिल्ली से सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता गौतम नवलाख को गिरफ्तार किया था। लेकिन प्रशांत भूषण इन लोगों की गिरफ्तारी के लिए उच्चतम अदालत तक पहुंच गए थे। उन्होंने उनकी गिरफ्तारी की तुलना आपातकाल से की थी।

सनातन संस्कृति और राष्ट्रीय अखंडता पर नकारात्मक टिप्पणियां करना प्रशांत भूषण की पुरानी आदत रही है। लेकिन जागरूक समाज के कारण उन्हें हमेशा मुंह की खानी पड़ी है। लॉकडाउन के समय दूरदर्शन पर प्रसारित महाभारत और रामायण पर उनकी बेतुकी टिप्पणी के विरुद्ध एफआईआऱ पर उन्हें गिरफ्तारी से बचने के लिए उच्चतम न्यायालय का दरवाजा खटखटाना पड़ा था। प्रशांत भूषण  ने अपने एक ट्वीट में रामायण और महाभारत की तुलना अफीम से की थी।  

प्रशांत भूषण को कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता कि आतंकी देश में निरपराधों को मौत की नींद सुला दे, लेकिन उनका प्रयास रहता है कि आतंकी को मानवीय आधार पर फांसी की सजा नहीं दी जाए। देश में पहली बार किसी आतंकी के लिए रात के तीन बजे अदालत खोली गई। 29 जुलाई 2015 को 3.20 बजे मुंबई सीरियल ब्लास्ट के दोषी याकूब मेमन की फांसी पर रोक लगाने की अर्जी पर सुनवाई के लिए सुप्रीम कोर्ट खोला गया था। प्रशांत भूषण समेत कई वकीलों ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट में याकूब की फांसी रुकवाने को अर्जी दी थी। करीब तीन घंटे सुनवाई के बाद सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने अर्जी खारिज कर दी थी। बाद में याकूब मेमन को फांसी दी गई थी। उन्होंने 2008 के मुंबई हमले में शामिल अजमल कसाब को भी फांसी दिए जाने का विरोध किया था। मानवाधिकार का तथाकथित हितैषी प्रशांत भूषण को सिर्फ आतंकियों के मानवाधिकार ही क्यों ध्यान में रहते हैं?

ट्विटर पर प्रशांत भूषण खुद को महात्मा गांधी की कतार में खड़ा करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। एक खबर का लिंक डालते हुए उन्हें ट्विट किया है- व्हेन गांधी रिफ्यूज्ड टू अपोलोजाइज एंड फेस्ड कंटेम्प्ट प्रोसीडिंग। 1919 के एक मामले में तत्कालीन बॉम्बे हाइकोर्ट ने गांधीजी के खिलाफ यंग इंडिया में एक पत्र प्रकाशित होने के मामले में गांधी जी के खिलाफ अवमानना की कार्रवाही की गई थी, जिसमें गांधीजी ने माफी मांगने से मना कर दिया था। इन मामले में प्रशांत भूषण खुद को ऐसे पेश कर रहे हैं जैसे माफी मांगना उनके चरित्र में नहीं है। लेकिन सच यह है कि प्रशांत भूषण का गलतियां करने और माफी मांगने का पुराना इतिहास है। इस वर्ष अप्रेल महीने में प्रशांत भूषण ने ट्वीट कर योग गुरु बाबा रामदेव से माफ़ी मांगी थी। प्रशांत भूषण ने अपने उस ट्वीट को लेकर माफ़ी मांगी थी जिसमें डिफॉल्टर और क़र्ज़माफ़ी को लेकर रामदेव का ज़िक्र किया था। इससे पहले अप्रेल 2017 में उत्तरप्रदेश सरकार के रोमियो स्क्वायड को लेकर भगवान श्रीकृष्ण पर अपमानजनक टिप्पणी के लिए भी उन्होंने सार्वजनिक तौर पर ट्वीट कर माफी मांगते हुए लिखा था अपने ट्वीट में लिखा है- ‘ट्वीट डिलीट करता हूं, मानता हूं लोगों की भावनाओं को ठेस पहुंची’ 

राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा को प्रभावित करने की प्रशांत हमेशा कोशिश करते रहे हैं और अपने बयानों से राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा को चुनौती देते रहे हैं। वे नक्सल प्रभावित इलाकों में सुरक्षाबलों की तैनाती को लेकर जनमत संग्रह कराने की वकालत करते रहे हैं। उनका अजीब तर्क था कि सेना तैनाती से पहले इन इलाकों में लोगों की राय जरूर ली जाए, क्योंकि कश्मीर में बिना जनमत संग्रह के सेना तैनात की गई थी, इसलिए आज वहां तनाव है। अक्टूबर 2011 में कश्मीर पर दिए विवादित बयान पर आक्रोशिथ तीन लोगों ने प्रशांत भूषण को उनके चैंबर में पीट डाला था. तीनों ने पहले भूषण को थप्पड़ मारे, फिर उनका चश्मा छीन लिया था।

मामला अब मात्र प्रशांत भूषण के माफी मांगने तक सीमित नहीं रह गया है। यह एक बहाना है। अरबन नक्सल और राजनीति का अजीब किस्म का घालमेल इस वक्त नजर आ रहा है। और इनका असली मकसद देश की लोकतांत्रिक संस्थाओं के प्रति आम लोगों में अविश्वास की भावना विकसित करने के लिए एक नरैटिव तैयार करना है, जिससे लोगों के भीतर अपनी ही सरकार और संस्थाओं के प्रति भरोसा कम होता जाए।

Why I want Wikipedia to refund my donation

anjandeveshwar
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Why I want Wikipedia to refund my donation

I am, Anjan Kumar Deveshwar, doing my bit to help the society. Recently I came across an emotional appeal from “Wikipedia” to donate at least 150 INR. to help them thrive. They almost pleaded for survival “We ask you, humbly: don’t scroll away”. As per them only less than 02% of the readers pay them. I was moved by all this and felt a bit guilty so decided to pay 150 INR, to my surprise I was asked to pay 25 INR extra to cover the transaction charges. I was taken aback by this as all the UPI transactions are free at least in our country Bharat, however, I paid 150 INR only as I was not convinced by theory of 25 INR exhorbitant transaction charges.

Immediately after the payment I received an Email from Katherine Maher, (Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation) which read “Thank you for giving Wikipedia shape, and purpose, and momentum. Thank you for fitting us into your life. With immense gratitude- Katherine Maher.

I proudly shared this on on my twitter handle @anjandeveshwar and FB. As soon as I posted this I came across “OpIndia” articles about biased attitude of wikipedia also my friends started telling me about the agenda of Wikipedia after this I did extensive research and found that for Delhi riots wikipedia squarely blames Hindus while kingpin “Tahir Hussain” is a Muslim while on the contrary for Bangalore riots they don’t want to name the religion of the rioters, while the religion of rioters is very much evident, therefore, I neither want to give shape, purpose and momentum to such communal and arrogant organisation nor I want them to fit in my life until and unless they mend their ways hence I want my money back. I also asked katherine Maher why the transaction charges are so high, still waiting for the reply. Thank you OpIndia for opening my eyes and for giving an opportunity to write this article.

Is Narendra Modi taking Hindutva too far or a fabricated hoax by liberals?

sourav1995
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Is Narendra Modi taking Hindutva too far or a fabricated hoax by liberals?

Ever since the epoch-making victory of NDA, Hindutva ideology is on a rise. It is a change that India desperately needed to survive. But the idea of right wing politics is not only ends with that. It has many aspects of application but grossly can be grouped into three areas namely political, cultural and economical. These are not exclusive rather overlapping in many ways.

In the political scenario it had it’s roots already there which just came to surface now. It is governing the politics so much so that even left politician are lowering there hostile sentiments against majorities and as for congress they started playing soft Hindutva card to survive. But at the same time opposition criticizes the ruling party for their majoritarianism trends.

Is it majoritarianism?

Though the left liberals are ousted from the power but they still control a large part of the media through which they are propounding such ideas. According to them abolition of art 370, criminising tin talaq, enacting CAA-NRC, and of course PM doing “Bhumi Pujan” are clear signs of majoritarianism. Opposition even criticized the govt. for enfeebling institutions like judiciary and parliament. BJP led govt. is criticized for repressing dissent, spreading misinformation, creating mistrust among different religious groups and most markedly their appeal to nationalism is also vilification of the same by this group. And PM Narendra Modi was the creator of this authoritarian regime is their ultimate point to put forward.

It is all hoax
Pseudo-secularism, which was practised in the name of secularism was tear apart much before Modi phenomenon happened, by Shushma Swaraj in her blistering speech in parliament. What irked these pseudo-liberal politician more is that their lie got exposed to general public and their opinion has no value to them. Art 370 enables to a separate constitution for Kashmir which is a state of India is not in accordance with the definition of a country. The question is,the abolition of 370 whether it is constitutional or not, is lies with the decision of the supreme court. But even they didn’t have any confidence in judiciary also until the judgement are in their favour. In the case of triple talaq bill it was criminalised to stop the sordid system not to demean any religious groups but as it was put forward by certain group of political leaders and media that it is an atrocity against Muslims.

In the case of CAA both sides have strong arguments. But the case of constitutional validity lies with the Supreme Court not with the intention of opposition leaders. But Indian media mostly controlled by left liberals and other opposition party vilified it to such an extent which resulted in a riot, most likely to be pre-planned.

It is a common tool for liberals to demonize right wing politics by crying out that “democracy is in danger”, “secularism is dead”, “this is not the country I lived in”, “judiciary is suppressed”, “No freedom of speech”. These are catchy terms to control the mind of people and the moment regime changes these institutional problems will go away in one day. One can hear the same arguments in Democrat convention just happened in America where the same rant is going on.It is tactics to get their work done.

The politics of PM Modi unmasked the dangerous separatism they tried to install in Indian society. It ripped apart the vote-bank politics which was a hindrance towards growth and which led to the weakening of grip that they had on government.

Is PM Modi doing it all right?

It is clear that PM modi and his brand of politics failed to appeal to a large number of people especially to the Muslims. Philosophy of Hindutva was not exclusive but inclusive in it’s core but how it played out by his supporters is not a good example for many of the citizens. BJP to such extent failed to produce counter-narrative against the lie spread by Media. Spirit of nationalism is still not conquered all the hearts. There is a growing intolerance among the majority of the people and strained relations between two religious communities. This is not what Hindutva offers. It did talk about cultural revival but not by excluding certain group of people.These are loopholes through which pseudo-liberals manage to put forward their “majoritarianism” narrative.

In the case of economic scenario it is a complete failure no doubt. India ruined it’s comfortable position by taking reckless-decision. Job-market in India shrinking day by day. Criticising govt on economic front can’t be labelled as anti-national and govt cannot brush-off their failures by attacking them. To some extent PM Modi failed to established a goal in front of people for which they should struggle together. It is duty of the govt to accept the failure and start anew. But hushed them up by sheer power of mandate given by people is surely a step towards majoritarianism.

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