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चीन और पाकिस्तान का भारत पर सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक: एक बार नहीं कई बार

funjuicy
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पहले जब भी समाचारों में ये सुनता था कि कश्मीर में इतने आतंकवादी मारे गए, भारत ने पाकिस्तान को मुँहतोड़ जवाब दिया, या फिर ये सुनता था कि भारत ने चीन का अहंकार तोड़ा, तो दिल को एक सुकुन सी मिलती थी, और लगता था कि देश सुरक्षित हाथों में है। मोदी जी और अमित शाह जी की वो गर्जना दिल में एक जोश सी भर देती थी कि आज का भारत दुश्मनों की आंखों में आंखों डाल कर बात करता है, और यहाँ तक की उनकी आँखें निकालने की भी दम रखता है।

चौंकिए मत मैं व्याकरण भुला नहीं हूँ, और न ही उपरोक्त बातें इतिहास की बातें है। बस यूँ समझिये कि एक गुब्बारा था गलत फेहमी का जो कुछ लोगों ने फोड़ दिया। हम वहाँ इस बात कि खुशियाँ मनाते रहे कि हमारी सेना ने पाकिस्तान और चीन को मुँह तोड़ जवाब दिया, और इधर हमे पता ही नहीं चला कि कब पाकिस्तान और चीन ने हमारे देश में घुस कर आक्रमण कर दिया। हम वहाँ पाकिस्तान पर की गयी सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक का जश्न मना रहे था किन्तु हमे क्या पता था की पाकिस्तान और चीन ने ना जाने कितने बार भारत में सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक किया। और उसमे में भी दिल तोड़ने वाली बात तो ये कि पाकिस्तान और चीन ने जो कुछ भी किया उसमे पैसा भारत का हीं लगा। ये बात तो कुछ ऐसी ही हो गयी कि जैसे किसी ने खुद की ही मौत की सुपाड़ी किसी गुंडे को दी हो।

अब आप सोंच रहे होंगे लेखक पगलाई गवा है। बौराहा गाँजा फूंक कर लिख रहा क्या। ये सवाल भी मन में उठ रहा होगा कि इतनी बड़ी बात हो गयी और सुधीर चौधरी, अर्नब गोस्वामी, और रोहित सरदाना जैसे राष्ट्रवादी पत्रकारों को कुछ पता भी नहीं चला। आखिर कैसे !
आप मुझे महामुर्ख कह सकते हैं, और शौक से कहिये किन्तु तब तक ही जब तक आप चीजों को भौतिक नजरिये से देखते हैं। पर सुनिए साहब, एक गुजारिश करता हूँ कि बस एक बार चीजों को वैचारिक नजरिये से देखने की कोशिश करिये। चलिए साहब, आप शायद कनफुजिया गए होंगे, तो मैं ही आपकी वैचारिक नजरिया खोलने में थोड़ी मदद कर देता हूँ।

पहले तो हमे ये समझना होगा कि मैं यहाँ आंतरिक आतंकवाद या फिर वैचारिक आतंकवाद की बात कर रहा हूँ न कि किसी भौतिक आतंकवाद की। अभी ज्यादा समय भी नहीं हुआ जब दिल्ली के जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय, और कुछ अन्य विश्वाविद्यालयों में, और देश के कुछ अन्य हिसों में भी “भारत तेरे टुकड़े होंगे” “अफ़ज़ल हम शर्मिन्दा हैं, तेरे कातिल जिंदा हैं जैसे नारे लगते थे। अभी ज्यादा समय नहीं हुआ जब अपने ही देश के कुछ हिसों में पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद के नारे लगा करते थें। अभी हाल कि ही घटना है जब चीन के सामानों के बहिष्कार की लहर चल रही थी तो अपने ही देश के कुछ लोग चीन की वफादारी में लगे थें। हाँ ये बात अलग है कि अब वैसे लोग जेल जा रहे है जो अच्छी बात है। किन्तु एक सवाल मन में उमरता है जो मैं आपसे पूछता हूँ। अगर आपके घर में कॉकरोच हो जाए तो क्या आप एक एक कॉकरोच को पकड़ कर मारेंगे या फिर उन जगहों पर उन्हें भगाने वाली दवा छिड़केंगे जहाँ से वे आते हैं। जाहिर सी बार है कि आप दुसरा विकल्प ही चुनेंगे क्योकि किसी मुसीबत को खत्म करने का सही तरीका उसे जड़ से खत्म करना है। किन्तु अब बड़ा सवाल ये है कि आखिर इन सब का जड़ कहाँ है। क्या जेएनयू जैसे संस्थान जिम्मेदार हैं ! नहीं साहब, हम किसी सस्थान को दोष नहीं दे सकते। और वैसे आप कितने सस्थान बंद करवाओगे 100, 200, 1000, लाख या फिर उससे भी ज्यादा। तो फिर तो आप भी एक एक कॉकरोच पकड़ कर मारने वाली बेवकूफाना हरकत करोगे।

साहब बुरा मत मानना, लेकिन दोष हमारी शिक्षा प्रणाली में है, और कुछ दोष कुछ महान राजनितिक पार्टियों में भी। माफ करना साहब, मै अर्णव गोस्वामी नहीं हूँ जो सीधा नाम लूंगा। क्योकि पता नहीं कहाँ कहाँ एफआईआर हो जाए। कामकाजी आदमी हूँ साहब, थानों के चक्कर नहीं काट सकता।

वैसे कमाल है न साहब, बच्चे अंग्रेजी तो खूब बोलते हैं, newton का नियम हो या फिर पैथागोरस का सिद्धांत हो, हर समय जुबान पर रहती है, किन्तु जब बात देश के प्रति नजरिये की आए, देश के विकाश में योगदान की आये तो जुबान थोड़ी अटक जाती है। वैसे गलती उनकी भी नहीं है। अब देश भक्ति तो सिलेबस में होता नहीं तो वो भी बेचारे क्या करें! और मजाक की बात तो ये है कि थोड़ी बहुत देश भक्ति इतिहास और नागरिकशास्र के माध्यम से सिखाई भी जाती है तो उस समय जब बच्चे माँ बाप के पैसों पर पलते हैं, और वो भी उद्देश्य देश भक्ति सिखाना नहीं बल्कि 90 95% स्कोर करवाना होता है। और जब बच्चे शिक्षा के उस चरण में पहुंचते हैं जहाँ से करियर की नींव रखी जाती है, तो वंहाँ देश भक्ति का कोई सिलेबस नहीं होता। ऐसे में कोई ताज्जुब वाली बात नहीं है कि कल को कुछ लोग इस देश में शिक्षा लेकर इसी देश की तबाही के सपने सपने देखने लग जाएँ। हालाँकि मुझे पूरा भरोषा है कि सरकार, सेना और पुलिस वैसे लोगों से निपटने में सक्षम हैं, किन्तु सवाल ये है कि हम वैसे लोग बनाते ही क्यों है जिनसे निपटना पड़े। क्यों न एक ऐसा विषय हमारी शिक्षा का एक अटूट अंग हो जिसमे बच्चे देश और देश में होने वाली घटनाओं पर अपने विचार रख सकें। हालांकि ये विषय नौकरी तो नहीं दिला सकेगा किन्तु इसका सबसे बड़ा लाभ ये होगा कि उमर खालिद जैसों पर देश का पैसा बर्बाद नहीं होगा।

वैसे हमारे बीच एक खास प्रजाति रहती है जिसे कुछ बुद्धिजीवी “भटके हुवे बच्चे” कहते हैं। इस प्रजाति की कुछ खास पहचान होती है जैसे सेना पर पत्थर मारना, देश के दुश्मनों का साथ देना आदि। हर कोई “भटका हुआ बच्चा” नहीं बन सकता। इसमें काफी मेहनत लगती है।
मुझे तो लगा था कि कहीं अर्णव को भी “भटका हुआ बच्चा” न बना दिया जाए। फिर मेरे विवेक ने मुझसे कहा कि बेटा “भटका हुआ बच्चा” बनने के लिए बेइजत्ती देश की करनी है न कि ये उपाधि देने वाले की, और अर्णव ने तो सब काम उलटा कर दिया। शायद वो भी कनफुजिया गए होंगे। अब भविष्य में कोई न कन्फुजियाए इसलिए “भटके हुवे बच्चे” की एक शपष्ट परिभाषा तय होनी चाहिए।

अब कुछ लोग खुद को आतंकवादी कहने पर बवाल खड़ा न कर दें इसलिए मैं यहाँ शपष्ट कर दूँ कि मैं यहाँ वैचारिक आतंकवाद अथवा आतंरिक आतंकवाद की बात कर रहा हूँ। इसमें देश विरोधी विचारों के बम ब्लास्ट किए जाते हैं जिसका असर न सिर्फ कई लोगों पर बल्कि कई सदियों तक होता है।

India at the borders

anshtewatia
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India at the borders

“If you win, you need not have to explain…If you lose, you should not be there to explain!”                                                                     ― Adolf Hitler

The above said words of the world’s most barbaric dictator are being adopted nowadays by some ruthless world leaders. The unfortunate year of 2020 is keeping its nastiness upheld and this time the globe is at war. If we draw a conclusion from all the media around us, it can be easily surmised that the world is at the brink of 3rd world war or the battle has already begun.

Virus hit countries are already in pain and now the wicked states are unveiling their true colours by being mindlessly barbaric through military actions. Whether it’s North Korea, Turkey, China, Pakistan, Nepal or Palestine all are attacking their adversaries in these horrific times. India is a peaceful country having all the insolent nations as its neighbours.

INDO-PAK

Pakistan has been a perpetual threat since its partition from India and has fought many wars against us. It uses the weapons of terrorism and diplomacy to defy India. Recently two Pakistani high commission officials who were posted in Delhi were thrown out of India on the charges of espionage and to revenge the act, the terrorist nation started harassing Indian high commission officials posted in Islamabad by following them on cheap bikes and detaining Indian personnel on fake charges. Reports suggest that Indian officials were tormented for hours and even made to drink dirty water.

Along with such despicable acts, the neighbour is keeping its terrorist activities intact. The apple bowl of Kashmir (Shopian)has turned into a death valley with everyday encounters. The Indian armed forces have suffered huge loss of lives and killed around 100 militants so far this year. The 3 commanders of the Armed Forces of Pakistan were summoned by the ISI recently to discuss the issue Kashmir. No wonder they are in huge debts without any stable democratic government, their acts are too witless.

SINO-INDIA

China, another tyrant country of the east and unfortunately our neighbour who is the source of the deadly virus who has crippled the whole planet, has crossed all the limits on the Indian borders. The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has been engaging in border issues with India at the Sikkim and Ladakh frontier along the LAC since the past few days. A consensus was reached by both the counter parts to solve the issue through high level diplomatic and military talks but the agreement was violated by the Chinese side as their only aim is to divert the world’s attention from its role in covid-19 and by peace their purpose would be defeated, so they carried out military actions on the Indian personnel. They repeated their back stabbing act of 1962 after many decades. Reports suggest that around 20 Indian Army soldiers and 43 from the Chinese side have lost lives. The act is done just to gain as much sympathy as they can on the global platform and improve their spoilt image.

China is also using its sabre-rattling techniques in the South China Sea against Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and even against Taiwan.

 INDO-NEPAL

Nepal, the Hindu state on the northern side, has also opened fire and killed an Indian civilian. The peaceful nation has changed its foreign policies towards India and its allies, they are now becoming a puppet in the hands of the Chinese and breaking their ties with India and USA like powerful countries. Nepal is also plummeting into the debt trap of the Chinese government just like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and helping the dragon in achieving their goal to encompass India from all the sides.

Nepal started acting funny when the Chinese ambassador started getting involved in the local Nepalese Politics to fulfill the Chinese agendas and as a result Nepal started claiming 3 Indian territories situated in the State of Uttarakhand (Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura). Nepal was one of our oldest companions in the area whose citizens are spread throughout India and many are even enrolled in the Indian Armed Forces, they jeopardized all this just to form a new alliance with their communist neighbour.

NEED OF THE HOUR 

The Defence minister recently said that the world knows that USA, Israel and India can protect its borders from any external forces, but the tents of PLA in the Galwan Valley and in the northern side of Pangong Lake doesn’t sync with the minister’s statement.

USA is the nation who has fought in almost all the parts of the world and taken revenge for every attack which happened against its citizens. Has India taken any steps against the perpetrators of 26/11, 7/11, Dawood Ibrahim or taken the revenge of the deaths of our soldiers in the valley? Was a surgical strike which was glorified in every news debate and became a turning point for the 2019 elections enough? And on top of that our Bollywood made a movie out of it and earned a fortune. Can we compare India with the US on the basis of these acts?

Israel, an impregnable maverick of the Middle East which is also known for its notorious neighbours have fought many wars and won. The Jewish nation fought a 6 day war in 1967 against Egypt, Jordan and Syria simultaneously and won. The state has the most powerful intelligence agency in the world – Mossad. The Israeli citizens are filled with patriotism and don’t question their government on every military action they take to uphold the safety of the nation. To keep their enemy (Hamas) in control, Israel keeps the electricity and water supply under their dominance and has even given many sanctions to block Gaza’s air, land and sea routes.

Has India ever acted so aggressively against any of its counterparts? Can we compare ourselves with Israel? In one week India has suffered casualties from Pakistan, Nepal and China whereas Israel defeated 3 nations in 1 week, that’s the difference which we need to understand before comparing our docile India with aggressive Israel.

It’s time for our bureaucrats to wake up and take steps to stop blood shedding at our borders. Innocent soldiers getting martyred in the name of politics and trade relations with the adversaries is not something which India needs.

Modi 2.0: Solved many insolvable; waiting for solution for the Dragons?

vasureddy
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Modi 2.0: Solved many insolvable; waiting for solution for the Dragons?


With BJP government under the leadership of Modiji taking his second term was successful to solve many issues which we are been struggling to sort out for decades. But Modi 2.0 put the whole country into surprise by settling them one after the other which our previous leaders have put in a controversial position and had lead to everlasting issues. With succeeding one after the other we have moved on to one of the major issues that is the border issue with China where there was continuous intrusions and standoffs going on from decades. Though we felt there was betterment of relations with China under Modiji , but China didn’t leave his mentality of backstabbing, misleading and trying to occupy land of other countries.

The republic of China is consistent in continuously trying to expand its territory by various tactics used by intellectual, monetary and military efforts. With these it was able to occupy Manchuria, south Mongolia, East Turkestan, Hong kong, Taiwan and Tibet (Fig.1). Before moving ahead on the present situation we need to go with the History at the time of Indian independence. With no well defined borders with Tibet and china where there was trade with India for many centuries, we need to go by the treaties signed by the Britishers in defining our borders. Initially in 1865 Johnsons line was been defined as the boundary of India which was accepted by China till 1893, until in the great game between Russia and British, the British decided to give a part of Aksai Chin to China redefining the border as Mc Cartney-Mc Donald line in 1899 (Fig.2).

After attaining independence in 1947, India failed to define its map till 1950.The Republic of China with an intent to occupy Tibet extended its invasion towards Ladakh in the Himalayas, Tawang in Arunachal pradesh proclaiming them to be a part of Tibet and henceforth part of China. The border in North east was defined by Mcmahon line which is defined by a treaty signed by Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh. This confusion among which lines to be defined as territory led to continuous struggle between these nations.

From 1950 to 1957, China constructed a 179 kms road Sinkiang-Tibet road in Aksai Chin a territory considered to be integral part of India then. The government of India at that movement didn’t consider this as a serious issue and even said as even a grass blade can’t grow there then what is the use of that land? With continuous criticizism from other parties , the then government decided to confront with china which led to war with China in 1962. India failed to use their air force from Tezpur in Assam efficiently then which led our country lose the war in 1962. India lost a territory of Ladakh to China which is named as Aksai Chin which is around 38,000 sq. Kms. Present day India shares around 3440 Kms border with china which can be divided into three sectors–> Western sector( 1570 kms), Central sector (545 Kms) and Eastern sector (1325 Kms). In each of these sectors there are disputes regarding a portion of land which is under the control of India which is claimed by China as theirs. Peoples Liberation army (PLA) has continuous intrusion around 250-300 times annually.

The usual areas of intrusion are Tawang, Tulung La in Arunachal pradesh, Dokhlam in Sikkim, Barahoti in Uttarakhand, Pangong lake, Demchok , Galwan valley in Ladakh. With previous incursions India has lost many territories like Tia Pangnak and Chabji valley in 2008, Zorawart fort in Demjok destroyed in 2008, Doom cheley (ancient trade point) occupied in 2008-2009 and chinese colony developed in Demjok under the previous government somnolence. Dokhlam standoff in 2017 lasted nearly more than 70 days. Previous bilateral agreements signed by the two sides in 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012 and 2013 has remained ineffective in checking Chinese incursions. But since 1975, there was no death reported even though there were many episodes of standoffs between the two nations until 2020.

Now the question raises why this year the standoffs turned violent and why China turned more aggressive in entering Indian territory? The answer remains the categorically strategy India developing to handle a crisis situation by developing these territories to carry better means of transport and Indian diplomacy with other nations leading to impending support for the Modi Government. The reasons for China’s behaviour:

1. Improvement of border infrastructure (Construction of Roads)
2. Abrogation of article 370 and formation of 2 union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh which led these areas to be controlled by center and paves way for better development in these areas
3.Improvement of airstrip (Daulat Begi Oldi (DBO), Fukche and Nyoma)
4. Development of missiles like Brahmos and acquisition of Rafael aircrafts
5.Curbs on Chinese investments in India
6. India’s support for Tibet , Taiwan
7.India along with other 62 countries supported to probe COVID origin
8. Many companies had moved out of China and India was thought of next place to start up their companies
9. Growing defence and security ties with the US, Japan and Australia
10. Plan to include India in G11 nations group
11. India’s decision to withdraw from negotiations for the mega-regional trade agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) disappointed China.

All these together had put China into a critical situation. India had supported for Taiwan to represent in WHO. DSDBO (Darbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldie) road built by Border Roads Organisation-connects Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), the northernmost corner of Indian territory in Ladakh. DBO is the highest airstrip in the world and the DSDBO road has a length of 255 Kms and is a all weather road. It runs parallel to Line of actual control at Aksai China. Also the DBO remains close to the Korakorram pass and the economic corridor which is planned and build along the border by China to Gilgit-Balistan. Chewang Richen Bridge opened in October 2019 located at 14,650 feet world’s highest bridge (Fig.3 and 4). The longest bridge Dhola–Sadiya Bridge (9.15 Kms)(2017) in north east running parallel to the LOAC, Chewang Richen bridge (inauguarted in October 2019) and road to the world’s highest airstrip DBO lead to increased fear in Chinas heart.

But this is the time India under the leadership of Modiji is able to successfully retaliate the situation and strategically sideline China by India’s diplomatic ties with other nations under the leadership of Modiji.

China and its territorial expansion
Indian territorial boundary defined in different years
India’s construction of roads in central and eastern sector
India’s road construction DSDBO ROAD which led to present standoff

Mind Power – A discourse on mental health

deepblues1983
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Mind Power – A discourse on mental health

Mental Health is not a very popular topic of discussion. Any deliberation on this is mostly triggered by an unfortunate incident, like what is happening now with the extremely distressing news of Sushant Singh Rajput. The problem is that once the initial frenzy of discussions dies down, this topic usually starts to take a back seat and ultimately gets forgotten.

From definition perspective, mental Health is the level of psychological well being or we can say the level of emotional and cognitive well being of an individual. The state of the mind, in fact, is the very key to how we live our lives and how we react to circumstances. This is not very difficult to fathom. After all, it is our mind that governs our every action. So, if our mind is in a happy state we tend to behave and act in a happy way. Conversely if our mind is in a disturbed state, we act rashly, sometimes violently, and in the worst cases, we act in ways, which harm us or those in our close proximity.

Sadly, this most important tenet of well being is also the vastly neglected. According to a report published by the WHO in October 2019, one in 4 individuals have some form of mental or neurological disorder. In fact, Depressive disorders are already the fourth leading cause of the global disease burden. They are expected to rank second by the end of 2020, behind ischaemic heart disease but ahead of all other diseases. In the new report titled “New Understanding, New Hope” the WHO director general has stated that mental illness is not a personal failure. In fact, if there is failure, it is to be found in the way we have responded to people with mental disorders.

Depressive disorder is a mental health disorder characterised by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life. This is such a common ailment nowadays that in India alone there are 10 million cases per year. The persistent feeling of sadness or loss of interest that characterizes major depression can lead to a range of behavioural and physical symptoms. These may include changes in sleep, appetite, energy level, concentration, daily behaviour & worse of all, the self-esteem. According to research, besides medication, talk therapy also may normalise brain changes associated with depression and can be a very effective treatment.

Talk Therapy in itself is a highly specialised field of psychology and involves a lot of training. However, the crux of this therapy is to have regular interactions with the concerned individual and help him to overcome the negative feelings. This roughly translates to providing a helpful ear to the person and gently guide her/him to overcome the negativity in order to prevail over the situation.

In the current world of globalisation and digitization, human interactions, sadly, have taken a beating. There was a time when people used to wait for weeks and months for one letter of encouragement / information / any news from their loved ones. Then came the glorious period of telephones. The World instantly became small with the advent of this magnificent device which could connect you with anyone anywhere for venting your frustrations or sharing your joys.

Now we are in the age of instant messaging. We do not feel like writing to anyone or even talking, strange acronyms have been invented and a plethora of emojis are supposed to reflect our emotions. Friends don’t see each other or hear each other’s voices, often for years, and still claim to be in touch due to the occasional WhatsApp and Facebook posts. The progress in each other’s lives are measured through Instagram photos and post-crisis well-being are noted from “marked safe” posts in social networking sites. The Human Touch, the Personal Bond, the Physical presence have all been casualties of this technological windfall.

We thus live in a highly connected yet largely lonely world.

Some, who are fortunate, still have the luxury of living with their families and having at least some one to talk to. The rest, who may have traveled to some distant lands for work, or those who have to stay alone due to unavoidable circumstances, do not have that option.

We often criticize youngsters for partying and just having a good time. What we fail to see, is that they too are on the brink of a very difficult future. Soon some of them will go elsewhere, some will slowly start missing get-togethers due to work pressures, some will just themselves go missing due to some complexity or the other. Then all that will be left will be memories of the good times and of course our social networking tools to poke, like and comment. They too will unfortunately become fellow citizens of this lonely world.

Another problem with the digital phenomenon is the need for self-validation. We have become highly conscious on how the world conceives us and become obsessed to make our profiles and posts look dashing. We get anxious on how many likes and shares our posts garner. We get irritated and upset if this falls short of our expectations. We make spontaneous and needless comments on other people’s posts just for the sake of one-upmanship, failing to realise that this conversation will be like a teardrop in the vast ocean of notifications. The only achievement is that we burn bridges with those who had actually been part of our life in some way or the other. And all this to try and look great in the eyes of the social media community who don’t even know or care that you exist.

Concepts like cyber bullying have come up. This indeed is a very serious problem. What however is even more problematic is that this is like a food chain. A person who has been bullied also can be found to bully some one else in some form or the other to demonstrate that they are at a higher ground. This is like an infectious disease and needs to be treated through self-awareness and restraint. Taking a short-term hiatus from social media for mental detoxification may not be a bad idea.

Outside the digital world, a major cause for Depressive Disorder is bullying, in any form. This can happen to anyone at any age. In the past hostel ragging used to be a way of welcoming freshers into the culture of the institute. This was mostly constructive. But somewhere down the line, this got misinterpreted as a way to intimidate and hit the self esteem of the new comers. Several Governments having recognized this as a problem, put forth several preventive rules to deter the perpetrators. However, this phenomenon is not restricted only to the educational institutes. We see this happening in offices, workplaces, film industry, field of sports etc. Here too the cause is more or less the same. One-upmanship, ego, self-validation. The victims can either accept the supremacy of the perpetrators and join their team, or they can hold their ground doggedly and carve their own niche. The latter though very rare, show exemplary character and strong will. The problem is however with those individuals who do not see any way out of the situation. They don’t want to fall in line, neither do they see any ways of holding their ground. They do not have any support system who can lend them an ear or provide well meaning suggestions & mostly they are either far from their families or do not have a comfortable degree of openness with them.  It is this group, that starts to brood over the situation and the negativity starts consuming them.

Another obvious cause is “Failure”, in any endeavor. In an age when success and failure are taken as the measures of your life, failure is not treated as a learning opportunity. Failure is only treated as the ultimate blow to a person’s vision of her/his own life. This can be in a professional or personal sphere. The extent of the depression depends on how much value was assigned to this work, at the time of starting the venture. People have a way of planning what all to do if they succeed in this or that. But what to do if they fail does not constitute a part of this grand plan. This is why, in the unfortunate event of a failure, along with the work, the person themselves also falls flat on the ground!! Of course, they do not have a shoulder to hold on to, in order to break their fall, as remember, “we are living in a lonely world”!

As a society, may be, this can be a good time to start the discourse on the importance of mental well-being. Unless there is a widespread social interaction and acceptance of this issue, this will continue to remain as a taboo or something to poke fun off in parties. People facing these issues, definitely want to interact with others to have some light in their dark thoughts. However, they hesitate, because, we as a society do not want this discussion to happen. There is a constant fear of getting judged or deemed as a nag or nincompoop if they broach this topic of their depressive disorder. So, they continue to live amidst the darkness and sometimes, unfortunately, take brash steps as an ultimate means to end the situation.

It is never too late to start rekindling old connections and friendships, one or two at a time, and start “talking” with each other. Give that personal touch. Don’t be intrusive but provide assurance that wherever you are, you are ready to provide an ear and may be a couple of thoughts, with anyone who needs them. That too without being judgmental about their problems while maintaining confidentiality of the interaction.

When feeling down, it is not at all a sign of weakness if you approach your confidante, your family, close friends, colleagues, with your problems. Rather it points to your courage of having the willpower to sort your problems. It is indeed a sign of a strong character.

Several foundations, NGOs and even Government bodies have set up helplines who are happy to help in such circumstances and keep complete confidentiality of the clients. They are all just a google search away (Yes, digital world is way more than just social networking sites!!).

At the end of the day, life is what we make it to be.

Let’s be responsible towards our society and give each other an opportunity to come out of every situation stronger and more determined.

चीन के दुस्साहस वायरस की मानेकशॉ थैरेपी

ASHISH TRIPATHI
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चीन के दुस्साहस वायरस की मानेकशॉ थैरेपी

चीन के साथ जंग पाकिस्तान की तुलना में कहीं ज्यादा मुश्किल होगी, जिसके कई कारण हैं:

  1. सैनिक संसाधनों में पाक की अपेक्षा चीन कई गुना ज्यादा शक्तिशाली है।
  2. चीन आर्थिक महाशक्ति है जबकि पाक अर्थव्यवस्था कर्ज में डूबी & FATF की ग्रे-लिस्ट में है।
  3. चीन की पैठ दुनिया भर के(भारत के भी) वामपंथी मीडिया हाउस में है जिससे अपना प्रोपेगैंडा चलाता है!
  4. चीन से लड़ाई में भारत के वामपंथी (Communists) राजनीतिक पार्टियां(CPI, CPI-M, CPI-ML), कैडर और छात्र संघ (AISA, AISF, etc) भारत का नहीं, चीन का साथ देंगे(1962 की तरह)!
  5. क्योंकि चीन कम्युनिस्ट देश है वहां सरकार को न विपक्ष की चिंता है और न ही गद्दारों की।
  6. भारत कोरोनावायरस के कारण पहले ही एक बड़ी आपदा से जूझ रहा है!

1962 में जब भारत चीन से विशाल भूमि क्षेत्र हारा था तब चीन के पास वायुसेना नहीं थी और चीनी अर्थव्यवस्था भारत से पीछे थी। आज 2020 में चीन विश्व की तीसरी सबसे बड़ी वायुसेना रखता है और उसकी अर्थव्यवस्था भारत से तीन गुना ज्यादा है! तो क्या हम अपनी ज़मीन पर चीन को कब्ज़ा कर लेने दें? बिल्कुल नहीं। मगर समझदार लोग जंग का समय और स्थान अपनी ताकत और अपनी सहूलियत के अनुसार चुनते हैं। चीन की सेना विशाल जरूर है, मगर उसकी मौजूदा सेना में किसी सैनिक या अफसर ने कभी कोई जंग नहीं लड़ी और फिर पहाड़ी की लड़ाई तो और भी कठिन आयाम है, जिसमें भारतीय सेना को महारत हासिल है।

1971 में 25 अप्रैल को जब इंदिरा गांधी ने एक कैबिनेट मीटिंग में जनरल सैम मानेकशॉ को ईस्ट पाकिस्तान (आज का बांग्लादेश) पर हमले के लिए कहा तो सैम ने साफ शब्दों में कहा, “मैडम अगर आप अभी जंग पर जाने का आदेश देंगी तो मैं गारंटी देता हूं 100% हमारी हार की!” सैम की इस निराशाजनक गारंटी के कई कारण थे- सैन्य संसाधनों व तैयारी की कमी, मौसम, चीन के हस्तक्षेप की संभावना, इत्यादि। इंदिरा इसे सुनकर गुस्से से इतनी लाल हुई कि मीटिंग खत्म होने के बाद सैम ने अपने इस्तीफे की पेशकश की जिसे इंदिरा ने ठुकरा दिया। सैम ने तब दूसरी गारंटी दी कि “जंग तो हम कर लेंगे, मगर अभी नहीं; यदि हमें तैयारी और प्लानिंग का पूरा वक्त मिलता है तो मैं आपको जीत का विश्वास दिलाता हूं!” दिसंबर को जब इंदिरा ने सैम से युद्ध के लिए फिर पूछा तो पूरी घेराबंदी और तैयारी के बाद सैम ने मज़ाकिया अंदाज में जवाब दिया, “मैं तैयार हूं स्वीटी”। 3 दिसंबर को शुरू हुई जंग को एक पखवाड़े के ही भीतर जीत कर 16 दिसंबर 1971 को अपने किए वादे के मुताबिक सैम ने विजय श्री दिला कर ईस्ट पाकिस्तान को आज़ाद मुल्क बांग्लादेश बना दिया।

आज भी चीन के विरुद्ध कोई कठोर कार्रवाई करने को लेकर सरकार पर विपक्ष और जनता का बड़ा दबाव है, सरकार को अब सेना प्रमुखों और CDS को पूरी छूट, साजो-सामान और पर्याप्त समय देना चाहिए, तभी कार्रवाई असरदार रहेगी। तब तक सरकार को चीन की वैश्विक स्तर पर कूटनीतिक घेराबंदी, देश के अंदर चीन की आर्थिक घेराबंदी और विशेष रूप से चीन को समर्थन करने वाले वामपंथियों पर लगाम कसनी चाहिए! जंग हारने या जवानों की वीरगति के लिए नहीं लड़ी जातीं, जीतने के लिए लड़ी जातीं हैं और जीत तभी मुमकिन है जब आप पूरी तैयारी, प्लानिंग और संसाधनों के साथ जाएं!

चीन और कांग्रेस: गलतियों का इतिहास और वर्तमान!

Vikas mishra
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चीन और कांग्रेस: गलतियों का इतिहास और वर्तमान!

आप कहते हैं कि हम हर बात में नेहरू को ले आते हैं, सदियों पुरानी बात करते हैं! तो चलिए, हम ये सारी बातें छोड़ देते हैं, भूल जाते हैं कि आपने सेक्युरिटी कॉउंसिल की सीट चीन को गिफ्ट कर दी थी, जमीन का हिस्सा अपने दिमाग की तरह बंजर होने की वजह से चीन को दे दिया था या हमारी सेना के पास लड़ने के लिए ढंग के जूते तक नहीं थे और आपका सिगरेट का डिब्बा प्लेन से मंगाया जाता था! ये सब भूल जाते है क्योंकि ये तो बहुत पुरानी बात है!

यूपीए की बात तो बहुत पुरानी नहीं मानी जाएगी ना? उसको ही याद कर लेते हैं! संसद में रक्षा मंत्री बोलते हैं कि हम बॉर्डर पर विकास कार्य नहीं करा सकते क्योंकि चीन बहुत मजबूत है! आपके साथ करोड़ो लोगों का और सेना का साहस था, आपने खुद को कमजोर कैसे मान लिया? रॉकस्टार मूवी में तिब्बत का झंडा दिखाए जाने वाले सीन को आपने सेन्सर कर दिया क्योंकि चीन आपत्ति दर्ज कराएगा! अधीर रंजन चीन के खिलाफ ट्वीट करते है तो वो ट्वीट डिलीट करा दिया जाता है.. मणिशंकर अय्यर जो 62 के युद्ध में चीन के लिए पैसे इकट्ठा करते है वो आपकी सरकार में मंत्री बन जाता है! मोदी सरकार आने के बाद चीन की इकलौती पार्टी आपकी पार्टी के साथ समझौता करती है.. क्या आप देश को बता सकते है कि किस हैसियत से आपने ये समझौता किया और किस मकसद से किया?

तो ये ध्यान रखिये कि जब हम लोग नेहरू की गलतियां बताते है तो आप शुक्रगुजार रहिये कि आपकी अबकी गलतियां नजरअंदाज कर दी जा रही है वर्ना गलतियों का तो कांग्रेस का ऐसा इतिहास रहा है कि क्या नेहरू और क्या राहुल! बस फर्क इतना है कि कुछ बड़े वाले है और कुछ छोटे वाले- गलतियां करने में!

P.S- एक विपक्ष के तौर पे आपको सवाल पूछने का पूरा हक है लेकिन पक्ष में रहते हुए जो कर्म आपने किये है, उनका जवाब आपको भी तो देना पड़ेगा ना क्योंकि वर्तमान आपकी अतीत की गलतियों का परिणाम है!

The invisible Corona-virus (an equalizer), the visible bias- virus (a divider) and all lives matter

agarwalvj
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The invisible Corona-virus (an equalizer), the visible bias- virus (a divider) and all lives matter

We have commonly encountered viral infections such as flu globally for decades and have a vaccine to contain it. However, the COVID 19 pandemic, caused by an invisible virus, is the most devastating but the greatest “equalizer” of all times in our lifetime. It does not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, and geography except its association, not well understood, with the human genetics and immunity, or lack thereof, due to age and/or past medical history. On the contrary, let us admit that we all are the carriers of “bias-virus” in our hearts and/or minds. We perhaps manifest it to a different degree under varying circumstances even if the law prohibits it in each geographical boundary.

This article discusses the similarities and differences between the coronavirus and bias-virus. Is the latter a “divider” based on race and/or religion with a slogan such as “Black/White/Muslim/Hindu/xxx Lives Matter?” Why not openly embrace, “All Lives Matter,” which is global, inclusive, and free of bias-virus, at least visibly?

The invisible coronavirus has visibly changed our way of doing almost anything during the pandemic. Examples include the learning and working at home using “zoom,” online shopping, repeated handwashing on daily basis, virtually no travel, infrequent visits to grocery stores and pharmacy necessitating social distancing and masked face, the global economy at a standstill, and prisoners in our own homes and thus socially isolated. Unfortunately, the COVID 19 virus has taken away an unprecedented number(over 400,000) of precious lives globally in a short time of about 6 months. I define these deaths due to causes beyond our control unlike the deaths caused due to the bias-virus.

I contend that the bias-virus is largely manmade and implicit and the resulting discriminatory and/or differentiated behavior can be ascribed from the “privileged’ (due to the economic/social status, color, gender, race, religion, perceived superiority, etc.) toward the “underprivileged.” Undoubtedly, it is in abundance today and it has been equally evident in the past. The British colonizers against the colonists, Muslim aggressors against Hindus, Hitler against Jews, apartheid in South Africa, and Native Indians eliminated/banished into reserves in the USA and Canada are just a few defining examples of the so-called privileged treating the underprivileged with utmost disrespect and contempt.

The tragic death of George Floyd (GF, the underprivileged and Black) due to the alleged brutality by the police officers (the privileged and White) in Minneapolis (where I live) on May 25 is the most visible and stark example of the bias-virus in recent times. The world saw GF losing his life due to chokehold and heard his last words, “I can’t breathe.”. Another recent example of the police brutality under similar circumstances happened in Atlanta; once again an unarmed Black man killed by a White police officer. Such incidences of visible unequal treatment, social injustice, and heavy-handedness by police are not unique to America but everywhere.

Our society has been rocked for decades and even centuries with incidences related to bias-virus with a slight variation on who constitutes the privileged and the underprivileged? But the gruesome death of GF shook our conscience to the core because it was avoidable and unwarranted. It was a direct consequence of bias-virus, allegedly a premeditated and willful murder due to negligence. This reignited the age-old issues of social injustice, racial disharmony, racial inequality, prejudices, police brutality, minority versus majority, rich versus poor, social status, etc.

Following GF’s death, the protests have erupted globally with an emerging theme, “Black Lives Matter (BLM),” across America to draw attention to far too many deaths of Blacks due to the bias-virus. It is not the first time that the Black community is justifiably asking why one of them must die unnaturally or more bluntly why a Black must be killed/murdered? It is shocking, but not too surprising, that the BLM is already being politicized in India by the opportunistic, corrupt, and misguided people of the Islamic faith as MLM (Muslim Lives Matter). Not only the slogan hijacked but reportedly, many even started having wet dreams about the Muslims of India getting inspired by the happenings in America and kickstarting violence again. They are using it as a victim card and changed the narrative from BLM (race-based) to MLM (religion-based) to incite hatred and bigotry. I have already seen someone using Hindu Lives Matter (HLM) as the Twitter handle; the next could be Christian, Jews, Sikhs, etc., a never-ending series because every life, irrespective of race or religion, does and must matter.

In accordance with Indian philosophy, the whole world is one family (Vasudhaiva Kutubkam). Thus, all lives worldwide are precious and must be celebrated and so is every death which must be mourned. Therefore, our collective wisdom and voice must invoke, “All Lives Matter (ALM),” and not associate death with any form of bias. In fact, death is a great equalizer and must be respected as such irrespective of skin color, religion, gender, etc. All deaths caused by the bias-virus anywhere must be unequivocally condemned, investigated, and the perpetrator appropriately punished. Any association of tragic death with the color of skin and/or religion is a travesty. It must stop because the death is not the “divider,” rather the union of one’s soul to another life.

It behooves me that Indian Muslims with the support of opposition political parties and external influences used MLM banner to justify a totally baseless claim of Hindus committing atrocities against Muslims, a religion-based bias-virus. Why? Because, their past attempts to incite unrest on university campuses, paid protestors in Shaheen Bagh, and the violent protests, deaths, and destruction in Delhi during Trump’s visit have been linked to their own leaders. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been the subject of protests for unjustified reasons and to malign India. No longer, the perpetrators of lawlessness can hide from the law and order and thus seeking new ways like MLM victim card.

It is ironic that the COVID 19, an equalizer to most people worldwide, was used as a divider by the misinformed, suspicious, and controlling leaders of Indian Muslims. Many mosque-goers defied Friday congregations despite the administrative advisory not to assemble; refused to follow social distancing and attacked the frontline health and law and order professionals, who went to protect them against the spread of coronavirus. The most contemptible act included the hiding of thousands of Muslim missionaries from many countries, participants of Tablighi Jamaat event, which became India’s worst coronavirus vector. Did these Hinduphobics believe, or fear, that Modi, a globally recognized leader, also had the mystical divine powers to direct the coronavirus to sicken the Muslims more than Hindus?

The infamous Minneapolis is the city where GF took his last breath. But the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul became the global hotbed for most violent protests, looting, and arson necessitating National Guard and city-wide curfew. I cannot refrain but ask Saint Paul city councilors why they spent time and resources discussing India’s CAA if they are incapable and/or incompetent to even manage the racial issues and police brutality in the city? What business they had about CAA with little or no understanding of India’s political, religious, social, cultural, spiritual, and economic landscape. As reported earlier, it was the Muslim radical group CAIR influencing the city council to falsely accuse India of Islamophobia. What an irony that Saint Paul will offer a misguided judgment of discrimination against Muslims in India while the Blacks are visibly being killed by Whites due to bias in their backyard?

In the post GF death era, police reform and social justice are the most debated issues nationally and globally. Muslims in India have openly sabotaged the BLM narrative to play the victim card and created the religion-based bigotry. Do the radical groups like CAIR in the Twin Cities have a silent but sustained agenda of keeping BLM narrative alive until the Presidential election in November? There are enough indicators pointing to the comradery between a sizable population of Somalis in the Twin Cities, the practicing Muslims, and many Blacks with the Muslim faith. Historically, Minnesota is a Blue state with a Congressional member of Somali descent and a Muslim( Ilhan Omar). She was perhaps the most animated in her media remarks as the Twin Cities dealt with the protests and riots. She is also up for reelection in November and thus a high probability of an alliance with the Blacks and other minority communities and keeping BLM in the front and center.

If there is one silver lining underneath the invisible KOVID 19, it is the manifestation of equality without bias and prejudice. Most people feared being infected and therefore followed uniform guidelines in keeping the infection at bay. As we are in the race to find a vaccine to save and celebrate the lives of those affected by the KOVID 19 virus, why not create a world without the bias-virus by embracing ALM. It is inclusive and a greater equalizer than the divisive and bias-ridden BLM, MLM, or xxx Lives Matter with xxx representing race, religion, the color of skin, social status like rich/poor, etc.

The ALM is meant to celebrate and value all lives but it equally well is the recognition that one’s life also matters in her/his death. While, the is generally get associated with the family’s name and social status, the inevitable death due to coronavirus, bias-virus, or other reasons, when one can’t breathe, takes the person far beyond any manmade biases.

Sorry Sushant! We killed you!

kumarr260
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Sorry Sushant! We killed you!

I saw Sushant Singh Rajput in 2013 in Comedy Nights with Kapil show, and my first reaction was “He is going to be the next Shahrukh Khan of Bollywood, an outsider who will become the best and most successful actor in future”. He also belonged to my home district Patna and was an engineer like me, so I shared an emotional connection with him. As he started from “zero money and zero publicity” and reached the heights of success, it further enhanced my respect for him, as he was a symbol of an aspirational Indian , who wanted to achieve their dreams and become successful.

But suddenly, we heard that he has committed suicide in his apartment. Many co-actors outpoured their grief on Twitter, asking ” Why Sushant! Why?”. Many others also extended their support that they understood his pain but they are sorry for “not being in touch”. Some went to the extent of saying that his depression was the cause of his death, and he should have sought help for treatment of mental health. Some even called him unstable, mentally unfit, etc. But as Vivek Oberoi tweeted, this is a blatant hypocrisy, where the system has killed him.

In this article, I will argue how Sushant suicide was driven by the institutions of Bollywood, actors,  media, Bihar state, political parties and the common man, whose acts of omissions and commission have failed him.

Lets first look at role of institutions of Bollywood who have driven Sushant towards depression. After his successful movie M.S.Dhoni, he was offered “Paani movie” by director Shekhar Kapoor. He worked for six months for preparing this movie by loosing his weight and researching about the character. But, as Shekhar Kapoor confessed in his live show, the producer of Yash Raj films Aditya Chopra cancelled the project saying, “Hum nahi banayenge Sushant ke saath. Paani nahi banegi”.

Over the past few years, Sushant was replaced in several big banner films including Sanjay Bhansali”s “Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela” and Aditya Chopra”s “Befikre”. (Incidentally, his replacement in both films, Ranveer Singh– although a self-made superstar and an undeniable talent — is related to the Anil Kapoor clan. He is Sonam Kapoor’s cousin.)

Similarly, after the release of his superhit film Chichore in 2019, he had signed seven films only to be revoked in just six months. Further, his film Drive was released just after the success of Chichore, to puncture his growing popularity as a mature actor. This film was shot in 2017 itself with the Dharma productions, headed by Karan Johar, but was not released, as the movie was of not satisfactory. Further, it was released by Dharma productions on Netflix, and not in Theatres. This upset Sushant and he expressed his unhappiness over this issue to Karan Johar, only to be blocked by Dharma productions and others.

These production houses forms a cartel (a group of people , who promote their selfish interests, at the cost of others) and determine the fate of the actors. If any hero or director doesn’t act as per their whims, then they are boycotted and their career destroyed. The recent controversy was about Abhinav Kashyap, director of Dabangg, but was subsequently exploited and dropped from Dabang franchise, to the benefit of Salman khan and family. https://rb.gy/ascjjt

Further, can anyone forget the ordeal of Vivek Oberoi and Arijit Singh, whose career has been ruined by Salmaan Khan, after they expressed their personal grudges against him. These are self-proclaimed gate-keepers of Bollywood, who determine whose career has to be promoted and who has to be crushed down.

These cartelised gatekeepers also promote kids from their own family and friends, as seen in the rise of Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, etc. who were backed by their fathers David Dhawan and Mahesh Bhatt. Even Uday Chopra was promoted by his brother Aditya Chopra in movies like Dhoom. Even some independent producers like Anurag Kashyap, dares to take an initiative in film making, they threaten the movie distributors and screens like PVR, Innox, etc. This was the case in Sonchiriya, where Sushant’s film was not allowed to be screen in most theatre screens, leading its revenue collection of just 4 crores. This helped these cartel houses to support their argument that Sushant is a flop actor, while hiding their power plays, in throttling the success of the movie.

The argument given by these cartel groups is that, star kids have the natural ability to act from day one, and the producers have a freedom to choose where they want to invest their money, because they are taking risks in producing these films. However, nepotism cannot be justified, even if it is prevalent, because it eliminates the equality of opportunity which every aspiring actor has been promised in Bollywood, while showing him a dream of becoming an Actor. If we allow such nepotism to persist, it will justify the argument that, politician son only will become politician, doctor son only will become doctor, Judges son will become judge, etc..This will erode the meritocracy and competition in the country and damage the institution itself in the long run, and the country at large. After all, Bollywood is a symbol of India’s soft power also in the international stage, and thus should be transparent and accountable for its failures.

The award shows also are done to boost the public image of these stars, backed by these gatekeepers, to legitimize their choices of low grade actors by projecting that the decision was made by independent jurists, which is obviously a fraud. In Sushant’s case, he had not received any award so far, inspire of many hits like Kai Po Che, M S Dhoni, Chichore, etc. On the other hand, Ananya Pandey has received the debut filmfare award, because of her lineage of her father, Chunky Pandey. When gully boy was given 13 filmfare awards, Sushant was given none for M S Dhoni in the same show. Thus, these award shows have become a means to promote their fraternity, while crushing the work of real talented people.

Electronic Media and social media has also danced to the tunes of these gatekeepers, and has acted as a Public perception management agency. They find every story of star kids interesting while neglecting the aspiring actors like Sushant. For ex, they plant or find abundant stories from their “sources”, to publish the events concerning lives of future Star kids , as seen in articles concerning Taimur Ali Khan diet, his walking or jumping skills, and swimming schedules of Suhana Khan, daughter of Shahrukh Khan. But, they don’t find the life of aspiring talented self-made actors boring. Actually, they are warming the sets and creating public expectations for these Star Kids, which would then by occupied by them later. Further, if an aspiring actor make any comment which hurts the sentiments of these Star Kids or their Godfathers, then an army of Social Media trolls led by them is set in action. They flood the accounts with personal abuses and misogamy, to force these actors into silence. Thus, the actors gets disconnected from their real fans, who could have acted as a source of support for them during times of self-doubt.

The people of north India, are also to blamed for this. All north Indians, especially Biharis basked in the glory of his success, as he belonged to Patna. After all, “Bihari” word has become a slang in south India, and Sushant intellectual, physical or linguistic skills had the ability to change the public perception , because of rising stardom in Bollywood. He was Bihar’s biggest soft power across India , but no person with economic, political or social  power backed him up. Sometimes, I wonder if CM Nitish Kumar, or Union Minister Ram Bilash Paswan or former Home secretary R K Singh or Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, has just said him, that “We are there to support you in all possible ways. Just go and fight with the unfair world”, would this not have given him the courage and reduced his loneliness and helplessness in the ruthless world of Bollywood. Sadly, no one did anything to encourage him, but only wanted to be associated with him in public discussions.

Even the Hindutva organizations like RSS, who occasionally advocates for boycotting Khans and promoting Hindu actors, didn’t helped him either in fighting against the injustices of the institutions. They only believed in boycott strategies of the Khan films, but they never tried to find an alternative strategy for doing the same. Sushant had the talent and the ability, and had high visibility across the country, especially after his success of M S Dhoni movie. Sadly, they didn’t intervened here , but only used trolls to boycott actors like Aamir Khan and Shahrukh khan. So, Sushant was left alone fight the unjust system.

Finally, we the people of India are equally guilty for this tragedy. We have become mindless consumers of entertainment, who will watch any film made by a superstar or his kids . This encourages these gatekeepers of Bollywood, assume that they can dictate who can become a hero, because people don’t use their conscience while watching movies. They will accept any Star Kid. This gives them the power to sideline many talented actors, like Manoj Vajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sushant Singh, etc. Any Khan movie can easily earn 200-500 crores , even if it is full of cheap talks , as seen in recent Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan movies. On the other hand, recent Sushant singh movie, Sonchiraye earned just 4 crore because it was not marketed enough. Had the common man boycotted the movies of the nepotistic clubs, then they would have been forced to promote real talented heroes . Sadly, Indian movie consumers are found lacking here!

Well certainly, I don’t justify the step taken by Sushant, as suicide is never a solution. He should have fought back against the rotten system, just like Kangana Ranaut did. However, it cannot be denied that the entire system has failed him. Perhaps, his loneliness arising from his separation from his mother and girlfriend, had  amplified his sufferings. May we could not see the tears behind his smiles. He had fought this systen, alone for the last 16 years in Bollywood. Perhaps, beyond a point, a person becomes to weak to endure his sufferings, as he finds himself completely helpless and sees no light at the end of the tunnel. What cannot be denied is that, we have a lost a talented actor and his loss will hurt us for a long time. We can only hope that we introspect and take corrective measures, so that another Sushant does gets compelled to commit suicide again.

I wish the words of Rabindra Nath Tagore is realized,
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
Where words come out from the depth of truth,
where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection.
In to that heaven of freedom, my father,
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE!”

Domestic Violence: Is the triggering response brought about by the lockdown?

anurimamukherjee1d
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Domestic Violence: Is the triggering response brought about by the lockdown?

“With the COVID-19 taking a toll on human lives,
Humans have turned into beasts, devouring violence as the weapon to end boredom.”

While growing up, I’d always been learning to “love my neighbor as I love myself”. Funny, isn’t it? This whole statement seems like a sugarcoating on the bitterness of the world.

It’s quite evident to see that the world right now, is battling with a deadly virus. But, some families are battling with their inner demons. Whilst in the lockdown, people are slowly getting exasperated of the monotonous lifestyle, out of frustration from the facts of less salary, social life and a balanced diet.

But the aftermath of this frustration is gory. I remember listening to “Cherry Wine” by Hozier and murmuring the lyrics, I heard the pain in it, the pain of abuse, hurting and harassment. People are getting addicted to content that promotes illegal physicality.

The world, post COVID-19, would definitely look like one from those Steven Spielberg movies. The sounds of utensils being thrown at the spouses, mostly the female counterparts are becoming victims of this huge massive social trouble.

There have been numerous petitions against domestic violence in courts. Taapsee Pannu even slayed a role in “Thappad”, with the role of a woman, who was physically abused by her husband in front of a hall, full of a vibrant mass. It’s no special news that women are becoming increasingly prone to these kinds of torture. In fact, the records are breaking and India is holding a position in that record.

Taking into analysis, let us delve into the severity of verbal abuse. “Words cut deeper than knives”. I wonder who even said that. Had they been alive today, they’d be weeping out of the truth in their words. They’d being a celebrated poet like Rupi Kaur or Nikita Gill.

When I was growing up, I had a terrible experience of hearing my neighbours fighting. I was quite scared after hearing they were talking to each other. It’s actually a terrible truth that women are told to hide these scars of domestic violence and move on. After all, mental health is another synonym for euphoria, in our stigma-torn society.

The lockdown gave way for this violence to persist even more. Meanwhile, lives are perishing from the grief of less monetary support, the other half of the population for their savings and the distinct areas with the female population, facing the storm of their husbands threatening to throw them and the children out of the house. Verbal abuse is depicted as “mere”, “forget it” and “women are born to sacrifice to the male dominance”.

Tremendous pressure of abuse and harassment has been the silent killer of millions of innocent ladies and women, who never got to fly higher than the eagle and chase the clouds. The patriarchy wouldn’t let that happen.

There are screams and fights and physical abuse, along with a heavy-flown vernacular language usage. This too, has a serious impact on the growing children of the household, especially on the boys – since they start imitating the ill traits of their fathers and uncles. Some children have a deprived childhood, where they hallucinate the echoes of their parents quarrelling or fighting.

Although, this is not the first time that Domestic Violence has come into force, yet, I’d still emphasize on the very fact that verbal abuse is far hazardous and strenuous for a person, regardless of their background, to handle. But what if this social devil keeps on circulating even if the lockdown is taken over? Well, that’s another matter to take into consideration, since most of us, are aware of the “dowry system” too. But it’s still prevelant.

There’s only one weapon to overcome this societal pressure – education.
But again, would online education lend it’s hand in teaching the children, the basics of adversities and how to deal with them in our day to day life? Or would they have be victims of a dark demon approaching their threshold?

How partition of India could have been averted

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How partition of India could have been averted

Often, we hear the arguments from leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and Patel that partition was accepted, because it was the need of the hour, to save the country from civil war and hatred. The prominent reasons which justified the acceptance of partition were

  1. An immediate transfer of power could forestall the spread of communal violence.
  2. Congress had failed to draw the Muslim masses into the national movement and nationalistic feelings
  3. British would not have transferred sovereign power until Hindu Muslim differences were settled, and terms of transfer of power are acceptable to both the parties.

In this article, I will discuss how the above arguments were unjustified. Further, I would also try to suggest alternative strategies which INC could have pursued to stop partition of India.

The assumption by INC that communal violence can be checked by transfer of power does look to be true, if we see the relative peace and communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims, achieved after Independence. However, INC failed to realise that it was the British, who gave carrots to Muslims and used sticks against Hindus, in order to divide and rule India. Communal violence was not the popular demand of Muslim masses, but the government apathy and insensitivity, in punishing the fringe elements, which boosted their morale. When one community is given a free hand to be violent, and engage in loot and arson, then the affected community would retaliate to protect its life, liberty and property. The raison d’etre of any government, under the social contract theory of Rousseau, is to maintain law and order, but it was neglected by British by helping rioters. British used army and police to crush any mutiny and Hindu protesters, while turning a blind eye against Muslims.

If we see the example of China, then Muslims in Xinjiang province also protest against Chinese policies, but they are effectively dealt with, if it turns violent, with the help of police and army. Similarly, if undivided India assumed powers of police and army after independence, then no riots or violence could have taken place, by effective use of force. Any demand for independence could have been dealt with sedition charges, while genuine demands could have been met under constitutional framework. After all, INC never resolved to impose a Hindu Rashtra to the Muslims, before or after partition.

Secondly, Congress failed to draw the Muslim masses in the national movement and it seemed that Muslim masses supported the Muslim League, as Muslim League got 97% Muslim votes in 1945 elections. However, 1945 elections took place after congress leaders had resigned from its ministries since 1939, due to Indian participation in WW2, without ascertaining India’s wishes and aspirations. Further, during Quit India movement in 1942, most congress leaders were in Jail, including Gandhi, Nehru and Patel, and thus could not carry INC organisational works. On the other hand, Muslim league continued to occupy ministries and work for the Muslim community. They also boycotted Quit India movement, and were trying to strengthen its Muslim constituency and appease British masters during the Quit India Movement period. Thus, Congress went into 1945 elections unprepared, and with limited appeal to Muslim masses, while Muslim league was strengthening its leadership and organisation for a while. Thus, the 1945 elections cannot be considered to be a true reflection of people’s mandate.

Further, Muslim league was established by Prince of Dacca, and supported by Zamindars and nobles, who professed loyalty to British empire to perpetuate their political and economic dominance, while the illiliteracy and ignorance among Muslim masses was very high. The most prominent example was Md Ali Jinnah himself, who did not adhered to Islam principles in personal life and was from a nobility class, but use Islam to further his political interests. They deliberately did not pursued social reforms, to check the growth of rationality and free thinking among the masses, while controlling them through the orthodox Mullahs and Maulanas, which continues till today.

Moreover, Eastern India and western India Muslims were hardly united, as seen in the division of East pakistan from West Pakistan in 1971. Thus, INC cannot be blamed for not drawing the Muslim masses in Indian national movement, as Muslim league also failed to truly attract the Muslim masses. Similarly, the demands of Muslim league for Pakistan, also cannot be considered to be the demands of the Muslim masses, but only of the few powerful people who wanted to perpetuate their socio-economic and political power. After all, Pakistan is still a feudal and orthodox society, where masses are still poor and ignorant after 70 years of Independence, which is not in coherence with the demands of Muslim league during independence. And Pakistan is still ruled by few elites, in the army and polity and religious organisations.

Thirdly, British would certainly not had transferred the sovereign powers, until communal differences were settled. However, nothing should have stopped our leaders to abolish the unfair treaties of acceptance of partition, after the British left the subcontinent. After all, North Vietnam merged with South Vietnam after USA withdrew. West and East Germany became united after cold war powers left. So, Indian leaders should have scrapped these unfair treaties of partition, on the pretext of correction of historical injustices and signing under compulsion without adequate sovereign powers.

China has annexed Tibet after end of British occupation, while it accepted Tibet as independent during British Rule. Similarly, Nepal is reigniting the claims of Kalapani territory, under pretext that it was signed by King monarch, who was not sovereign against British. Further, British frequently, reversed their treaties made with the princely states and Anglo – French wars to establish their rule in India in the 18th century. So, Machiavelli’s realpolitik demanded that India scrap partition treaties after assuming powers of Army and annex Pakistan.

However, even with these arguments and INC (Indian National Congress) miscalculations, INC still had abundant choices to thwart the demands of partition, as discussed below.

Firstly, the strength of India lays in its diversity. While diversity in terms of religion, language, race, ethnicity,etc have created differences and violent protests, since ancient ages, it has also promoted unity and continuity to Indian civilization. Diversity acts as check and balance against the unilateral demands by any cultural community. Lets take the case of Dravidistan movement of demand of a separate country. South India dravidian races want to create a separate country Dravidistan, with Tamil as its predominant language and culture in 1950s.

However, Telugu, Kannad and Malayalam speakers did not want to get suppressed or overwhelmed by Tamil language and culture, and therefore they didn’t support Dravidistan separatist movement.Thus, South India has remained peaceful since linguistic reorganization of states in 1956.  Similarly, Hindi was supported as an official language by non-Hindi speakers also, as long as scheduled languages like Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, etc. reflected the diversity and its traditions, thereby promoting unity in diversity in India.

Thus, our leaders should have propped Shia leaders like Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan against Sunni Muslims like Md. Ali Jinnah in West Pakistan region. Further, Bangla linguistic speaking Muslim population in East Pakistan region could have been propped against Urdu speaking Muslims of West Pakistan. Further, diversities in terms of caste like upper caste Khans and Kazis, could have been propped against lower caste Qureshis, etc. These diversities, if unchecked, leads to differences and conflicts, as seen in division of Pakistan in 1971 over linguistic domination i.e. between Bengali and Urdu population. Had such divisions been used in 1940s, then votes of Muslim league could have been undercut and partition averted.  The contemporary western policy in West Asia is to prop Sunni Saudi Arabia, UAE against Shia Iran and Iraq to perpetuate its dominance. But Indian leaders failed to exploit the divide policy, which was brazenly exploited by the British and co-opted by the Muslims.

Secondly, they should have used Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh region Muslims – by highlighting their fears that they cannot migrate anywhere in East or west Pakistan because of their geographical discontinuity. Even if they wish to migrate to Pakistan, their socio-economic-political power would diminish against the native Muslims of Pakistan region, as some were considered as Kafirs, who had migrated to Pakistan after 1947. Moreover, if they wish to remain in India after partition, their population in the country, in percentage terms, would get further reduced. Thus, they will become further marginalized in numerical terms also, which would reduce their bargaining power, given the democratic set-up India is trying to embrace. Further, there will be anti-Muslim hostility among Hindus for a long period of time, if partition takes place. Therefore, they must support INC and protest against the demands for partition. Here also, INC didn’t needed to take support of entire masses. Only the Maulanas and Elites had to be taken on-board.

Thirdly, Jinnah could have been sidelined through him own party men, through helping the INC loyalists in the Muslim league. After marginalizing and then defaming Jinnah as anti-national, he could have been murdered. Let the killing come from a Radical Islamist to create further divisions in Muslims as good and bad Muslims. If secular Gandhiji could be killed by a Hindu fanatic, then communal Jinnah can also be killed by an moderate Islamist to save a country. After all, life of one person cannot be bigger than the country or lives of crores of people.

Fourthly, after Pakistan attacked India in Kashmir in 1948, India should not only have occupied entire Kashmir, but also upped the ante against Pakistan, and annexed its western front. After all, it was Pakistan who was the aggressor in this war, and India had every moral high ground to annex it. The argument for the world community would have been that  “India doesn’t recognizes Pakistan, because British (a third party) have forced India to sign the partition of the country under political pressure while India was not sovereign at that time”. This is what China has done by annexing Tibet completely in 1954 after its independence. However, we failed to use that opportunity and even lost Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by internationalizing this issue, whose consequences are felt even today in terms of Kashmiri unrest.

Had India followed these strategies, then partition of India could have been averted. This would have increased India’s territory and its population and resources, which could have turned it into a superpower, as done by China. It would also have checked internal security problems in Kashmir, Khalistan, North East insurgency, terrorism, etc. Sadly, history cannot be undone. But as historians says “people  who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it”. So, let’s learn from our mistakes and try to avoid it in future, so that India can uphold its sovereignty, unity and integrity in the future, while promoting peace and prosperity for the country and the world.

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