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As Jyotiraditya Scindia quits Congress, what’s the way out for the Congress?

Sauro Dasgupta
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As Jyotiraditya Scindia quits Congress, what’s the way out for the Congress?

The recent exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Indian National Congress(INC) demonstrates that the haughty attitude of the Congress leadership towards the people and even to their own leaders will be their nemesis. The retaining of leaders who have been extremely loyal to the top leadership of the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family and the sidelining of non-compliant leaders has accentuated the Congress’ problems.

After the Congress was washed out in the Lok Sabha polls of 2014, many Congress leaders and analysts feel that the Congress needed a new leadership that would be strong, not guided by self interests and extremely proactive in strengthening and reviving the party and taking on the BJP. Many critics pointed out that the Congress had weakened over the years, especially since Sonia Gandhi took over as Congress President in 1998. Her son, Rahul Gandhi rose through the party ranks very swiftly and became the Vice President of the Congress in a very short period of time, superseding many senior party leaders. Congress went to the polls in 2014 under the leadership of the Gandhis and their loyalists. The party was virtually controlled by them. This was unlike the time of Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who despite being strong leaders and obeying unquestioned obedience , managed to attract talent from outside the Congress as well as from within the party. This helped the party prosper. Unfortunately, this generation of the Congress could not do so. The few faces that it managed to attract from outside the party, like Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and K Natwar Singh, IFS (Retd.) soon grew disillusioned with their leadership.

The Congress, however failed to find a new face as the top leader of the party. The entire party, with a few exceptions, agreed that only a Nehru- Gandhi family member could helm the party. The dominance of the Nehru- Gandhi family, their inability to innovate new methods of reaching out to the voters and the silence of the senior leaders of the party due to perpetual fear of offending them struck a heavy blow on the knee of the Congress. The Congress workers and legislators began to defect in huge numbers to other parties, whether the regional parties or the national parties. Congress, thus began to lose the polls at a rapid rate.

In December 2017, when Rahul Gandhi took over as Congress President, the party was full of enthusiasm as Mr. Gandhi had managed to build the image of a youth icon. Under his leadership, the Congress won a few polls, but these victories faded into insignificance when the UPA, with most parties accepting Mr. Gandhi as their leader and Prime Ministerial Candidate, was heavily defeated in the Lok Sabha polls of 2019. The Congress, however, improved its position and from 44 seats, its Lok Sabha strength increased to 52 seats.

Coming to the State Legislative Assembly polls of 2018, the Congress managed to win the polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. The Congress did not have much problem in forming the government in Chattisgarh as there was hardly any question raised on the appointment of Bhupesh Baghel as the Chief Minister of Chattisgarh. However, in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the younger leaders- Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia wanted the Chief Ministerial posts or a Cabinet Ministerial post at least. However, the writ of the Congress top leadership and that of their loyalists- Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath prevailed, who ultimately became the CMs of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively. A compromise was sought for Mr. Pilot when he was given the posts of the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and the President of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee(RPCC). However, Mr. Scindia was not given any post in the new state government and was asked to continue being the Lok Sabha MP from Guna.

After his defeat in the Lok Sabha polls of 2019, Mr. Scindia was appointed as the AICC In-Charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. However, he resigned from the post a few months later. For some time, speculation was rife whether he would really quit the Congress, particularly after he removed the words ‘Member of Parliament from Guna(2002-2019)’ from his Twitter biography. So, it his resignation from the Congress and his entry in the BJP a few days ago was not entirely shocking or unexpected.

The Congress clearly needs to change its management style. It must reorient its cadre. One of the fatal consequences of the exit of strong leaders like Mr. Scindia and Mr. Ashok Tanwar is their replacement by hardliners, who are making the party very aggressive and rough on the media, the bureaucrats, students and vulnerable groups of the society. A system of conflict resolution should be brought in by the Congress to resolve any dispute among party leaders. The party should not bring any extremist element within the party and strengthen the moderates, strategic and intellectual elements in the party. The Congress should conduct party polls on a regular basis, wherein the workers will get to elect their leader. Such steps alone can pave the rebirth of the Congress and enable it to be a brilliant Opposition.

Sauro Dasgupta is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. He is interested in reading, writing, public speaking and his writings have been published in many important magazines, journals and newspapers.

The after-effects of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act

kgatul
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The after-effects of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department by Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII of 1959, which came into force with effect from 1 January 1960. It was subsequently passed by other Indian state. From 1991, no religious and spiritual leaders are involved in maintenance and administration of the Hindu Temples and Charitable Endowments rather the Temple Management was taken over by the Government. But this was not the case with other religious buildings e.g. Mosques, Churches, Jain temples etc.

This Act now controls 36,425 temples, 56 mutts or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mutts), 1,721 specific endowments and 189 trusts all over India.

Let us analyse how this act changed the condition of Hindus:

In earlier days, every Temple had a huge land around it. There were Dharamshala (charitable hotel) for devotees to stay, farm field to grow the grains, Ayurvedic hospitals for the treatment of patients and Gaushala(Cow home having hundreds of cows) for milk supply and taking care of cows in temple premise. It was rare in those times, to stay in a hotel as Dharamshalas were so common. The devotees stayed in Dharamshala at a very nominal cost or no cost. The temples being self-sufficient organized religious discourse of Saints (The priest of higher order) for many days. Devotees from all parts of the country visited and stayed in Dharamshalas for many days.

During his stay the devotee learnt the Vedas, Shashtras (religious texts), Karmkanda (religious rituals), Ayurveda(for treating patients), Yogasana & Pranayam (to keep himself fit and healthy), Yuddha Kaushal (techniques of how to protect our country in case of war or attack) and many other skills useful for himself and society. The Kshatriyas (Hindu sub cast whose duty was to protect country) on the other hand, learnt about warfare. Devotees also used to volunteer in temples and help in farming, cooking, making furniture etc. The rich people used to donate money to the temple. This way everyone contributes to the temple and used to gain many skills and all for no prize.

Many small temples were affiliated to large temples. The large temples also trained the priests in Vedas, Shastras, Religious rituals, Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation who were later deployed to these small temples. Sometimes the salary of priests was also given by large temples. This way nearly everyone was connected to temple and everyone’s life was guided by the temple priests. Everyone had required skills to earn their livelihood and keep themselves fit.

Let us analyse how miserable our society becomes after acquisition of temple under Government

  1. After the acquisition of temple under Government, as part of a secular political agenda, people from different religions and people having no knowledge of religion were also made part of the Temple Trust. Obviously, they had nothing to do with dharma by any means. They along with some of the corrupt Congress and Leftists leaders started misusing the Temple property like selling the Temple properties to their own people and commercialized the Temple premises by building Hotels, Restaurant, Prasad shops on that land. This however became unaffordable to lower and middle class people and that discouraged devotees from visiting Temples.
  2. Also the priests salary being too low, he resorted to other jobs other than priesthood to make ends meet. His time was now divided and he never got enough time to focus on religious text/practice meditation and follow religious practices so his grip over knowledge of Hinduism loosened. Their capability thus became questionable and started being criticized by society.
  3. Elite class (mostly businessman) always support the religion by donating the money to temple. Religion was mostly the subject of lower or middle class. Because of the unaffordable commercialized Hindu Temples, poor people stopped going to Temples. The Christian Missionaries took advantage of this and posed as spiritual saviour for these people. The poor people who were thus getting detached to Hinduism, became an easy prey for conversion by the Missionaries.

Now the people in the society are no more connected with each other. Communists and Congress then took the advantage of this and was successful in creating the divide in the society. Hindu’s were no more united and thus suppressed ruthlessly in their own country. This is how the whole structure of society collapsed. It is thus an irreparable damage to Hinduism.

The unwarranted fear of CoronaVirus

Anant Chetan
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The unwarranted fear of CoronaVirus

If Coronavirus or Covid-19 had a social media account, it would literally have the highest number of followers anything living or dead ever had. Literally, everywhere I go I hear “coronovirus” in someones’ conversation. Economy is being hurt, companies are suffering, countries are trying to seal their borders. I think the panic is unjustified, the fear is exaggerated out of proportion. Covid-19 would be feeling like a superstar, on cloud nine. There are zillion other viruses that kill way way more people across the world every year and are as contagious as it is, show the exact same symptoms, but they don’t get the same kind of publicity that covid-19 is getting. The fear of the virus is causing more damage than the virus itself. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates that more than 40,000 people die every year because of influenza viruses. The fact sheet gives the exact same information regarding prevention of the virus that is being circulated for covid19. The exact same symptoms, the exact same targets groups. Did we fear flu or influenza the way we do covid19?

H1N1 and H3N2 which look like some fancy US visa (H1B) types, but are the names of viruses. As per a report, H1N1 circulated widely from October to mid-February, then H3N2 picked up from mid-February into the spring. In total, the CDC estimates that up to 42.9 million people got sick during the 2018-2019 flu season, 647,000 people were hospitalized and 61,200 died. That’s fairly on par with a typical season, and well below the CDC’s 2017-2018 estimates of 48.8 million illnesses, 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths. Was there even a travel advisory for the United States? How many people cancelled there flights to the US because of the flu virus? Are you keeping a track of the number of deaths?

International Journal for Infectious diseases, published a research work for the cases in Italy which estimated excess deaths of 7,027, 20,259, 15,801 and 24,981 attributable to influenza epidemics in the 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17, respectively, i.e. a total of 68,000 deaths. And these are deaths, not the ones who got sick, that number would have been huge. As an indication of how big that number could be, in the January of 2018, in just one week i.e. from Jan 8 to Jan 14, 832,000 flu patients were registered. Did Austria stopped its train connections? Did people think before visiting Rome? Were any districts of northern Italy placed in quarantine? Are you comparing the number of deaths caused by coronavirus with the deaths caused by other viruses?

Robert Koch Institute in Germany estimated more than 25,000 flu related deaths in 2017/18, and of course millions and millions infected.

In India every year more than 100,000 patients die of pneumonia, which could be due to a virus or a bacteria.

Should I continue? I can literally continue putting up links like these. Accessing data is not a difficult task in this era. As per WHO 250,000 to 650,000 people die of influenza across the world every single year. It is not at all difficult to find out the distribution of these deaths across different countries or continents. You could do it yourself, you will find thousands and thousands of people dying every year in the country you are living in because of some virus that is as contagious as Covid-19, only the name would be different but everything else would be the same. These viruses have been in existence probably as long as we (humans) have existed.

Coming back to coronavirus, more than 100,000 cases and more than 3000 deaths at some point (not updated). That means the virus has a 3% fatality rate. When we do the calculations based on this number and extrapolate it to the population of our own region, we are bound to get scared. But Biology and Mathematics are different and you cannot simply extrapolate the numbers by using a mathematical equation. For two reasons:

First, 100,000 is the number of cases detected, meaning a person showed some symptom and got tested. However, this number does not say the number of people who actually carry the virus in their bodies. It is quite possible for a healthy person to be infected by the virus and still continue to live a normal, regular life for ever.  If that was not true, the virus would not have spread so fast, especially when every border is screening incoming people and handling people who show some symptoms. There are approximately 11 million people in Wuhan, do you think only 100,000 of them have this virus? Even if you assume that 1% of the total 11 million have the virus, and out of that 3000 died, the fatality rate become .3%, less scary. 

Second,  the number 3000 in the number of deaths does not indicate the number of people who already had chronic respiratory disorders or heart problems or kidney issues or diabetes. The number does not tell how many people never took any kind of vaccines (not talking about Covid-19, but SERS/MERS/H1N1/H3N2 and many more). The number does not tell how many people had their immunity suppressed because they had some kind of transplant or major surgeries? If you take out the ones who had perfectly fine immune system, got sick and died, you won’t be scared at all. 

It does not help if you just google the number of cases detected and the number of patient that died simply because that is an incomplete piece of information. It is the fear of extrapolation that is creating the panic and not the virus or the deaths.

So, the moral of the story is that you keep doing what you have been doing so far, following basic hygiene like washing hands, cover your mouth with your elbow while sneezing or coughing and you actually do not need a surgical N95 mask. You need the mask if you yourself are sick and don’t want to spread the virus or you are sitting in a room with patients who are sneezing and coughing right on to you i.e. a doctor or a nurse. 

You will just be fine like you have been so far with all other zillion viruses roaming around you. 

People are already making money out of this manipulated fear. Be it social media or mainstream media, they have an addictive item to milk. How many times have you checked for Coronavirus related information since morning? What is happening? What is happening? How many died? Which country got it now? Am I not correct? Second, where are these corona-virus testing kits coming from? Somebody is manufacturing them and they aren’t for free or do you think that’s the case? Third and the last, a company would come up with a vaccine in a few months from now and would not need to say a word to market the vaccine. More than a billion customers already waiting in line. 

Thanks for reading!!! Wish you all good health. 

Also read: Coronavirus will hit India from Pakistan, not China

Only Namaskar, No friendly Shaking Hands says- COVID-19 for its exit

G Indira
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Only Namaskar, No friendly Shaking Hands says- COVID-19 for its exit

COVID-19 i.e coronavirus of December 2019 that effectively killed many in China and all over the world  later, is amazing in its potential to scare the human kind with its nano microscopic existence, as a virus, smaller than bacteria. No wonder corona, a crown-shaped virus, is ruling the world at present, hopping from place to place. Is easy-mobility of people from place to place, is the reason for its spread? Doesn’t seem to be. Earlier, before the advent/invention of railways and airplane, this kind of pandemics had spread. The bubonic plague is one such pandemic, in the 14th century, that shook the world, killing millions of people. In each crisis, the scientists of the world, through their humongous efforts of research and analysis, co-operation and collective endeavour, were able to find drugs that annihilate the potential dangers of these harmful viruses. After all, scientists are all one community to make a joint endeavor for the welfare of mankind.  

The world leaders have become alert in taking measures, scientifically, to contain the virus and to save their people. Generally, the trust levels of people on politicians, in any country, is low. Now, this is the right time for the politicians to bridge that trust deficit by effectively controlling the Covid-19 and its resultant loss of lives. India is taking right steps in making awareness campaigns of the dangers of the specific virus. On the other side, magaphoning the precautions to be followed in order not to fall victim of the said virus. The Union Health Minister Shri Harsh Vardhan has been doing his job indefatigably in order to contain the spread of coronavirus. The closure of schools and cancellation of public events are part of the program.

Our prime minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, whose words people of India listen to intently, has been advising people regarding the care to be taken and for the stoppage of non-essential travel abroad. In fact, he instructed his ministerial colleagues not to take foreign tours/jaunts. As a matter of fact, treating this as the right time to coordinate with the neighbouring countries, PM Modi has called for SAARC-video conferencing to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, that was immediately responded by Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and surprisingly Pakistan.

The world has become ‘one’ because of coronavirus. For, it (the virus) doesn’t care about boundaries, politics or religion to inflict and cause disease. It attacked all kinds of people all over the nations. In a way, it has unified the world nations in their fight against it. However, as is the wont of human nature, some leaders in the world, specially of US, are calling the coronavirus as ‘Wuhan virus’ and ‘foreign virus’, which is in poor taste.

In this internet-age, people are not distinguishing cultures of other nations as alien to them. There is a kind of cultural tolerance. Since, coronavirus is not air-borne and is transmitted by touch to an extent, the western custom of shaking hands has taken a back-seat. The world leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Donald Trump of US have been guiding their people to follow the Indian custom of Namaskar (with folded hands), from a distance, to greet people, as is done in India. When one person does Namaskar to the other, he is respecting the divine soul in the other and bowing before it. This is what many Indians believe. How did shaking hands become a custom ? Many among us, do not know the reason as to why.

Here goes popular story: Long time ago, people were afraid of strangers. They were also afraid to talk to the strangers. For, in those days, there were many thieves and robbers. Those men were dangerous as they carried knives in their hands. So one man was afraid to meet another. When they did meet, each showed his empty hand to the other (to prove that he had nothing in his hands), then came close and shook hands. It meant: We are friends. That was long ago. Even now, the same custom is followed as a friendly gesture. Namaste in Indian custom is associated with respect and divinity towards the other person. It indicates nobility. So, the coronavirus is propogating good things crosscultural!

Anticipating, the scale of coronavirus disease spread (if not checked properly, it could wipe out villages), the Indian government is taking all steps to contain it. And at the same time instilling confidence among people not to panic. It’s doing a balancing act. Hope our scientists subdue the virus by inventing some inoculation against it. That would be a big achievement of human kind. It is heard that the said drug is under trial stage. Hence people, right now, should be careful of the deadly virus, specially the elderly and aged-population of all nations.  So, the sooner the solution comes to this pandemic, the better.

It is not ‘party government’; people’s government is the goal of superstar Rajinikanth

S Ranganathan
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It is not ‘party government’; people’s government is the goal of superstar Rajinikanth

Ever since the announcement of the entry of our Superstar Rajinikanth into Tamil Nadu politics to save the state from the rotten dynastic, corrupt political party that is waiting to grab the power, the prince of the party who had inherited the party purely because of the dynastic culture has started to worry about Rajinikanth. 

Vaiko is the best example for how the DMK had removed and reduced him politically to ensure the succession of MK Stalin as the sole claimant and owner of DMK without any challenge or resistance.

Rajnikanth is not interested in just defeating DMK but have taken enormous tasks of putting the entire system in perfect state, end corruption, nepotism, dynastic culture, hate and negativity selling, fear mongering and minority appeasement, hate Hinduism and Hindu Gods, abuse Brahmins one of the intellectual communities in India and has credited India with several Nobel prizes.   

DMK has to be completely decimated politically from Tamil Nadu and only then the state can be saved. Even before the Super Star enters into the political fray, he has eloquently and loudly told to the people of the state that he is not entering into politics for Chief Minister’s chair or power but he is interested only in giving clean and development centric government. Similarly the Super Star is also not interested in establishing the dynastic politics (family politics) or he ever wishes his party to a family business like DMK.

After Karunanidhi, his son Stalin is heading the party and then his son Udayanidhi would and then his son and that is how the DMK is run. DMK from early 1960’s has been promoting and perpetuating lies, caste centric politics, and minority appeasement, abuse Brahmins, abuse Hindus and Hindu Gods etc., and that is how it was making its political capital. In 2019 parliamentary election also DMK very successfully spread, sold and established several groundless facts and total lies about Modi and won the election. Today DMK has done nothing to the state even after winning all most all parliamentary seats in the state. 

The political sunset of raising sun symbol of DMK has started to doom and soon DMK becomes history so shall its hate and negative politics.

People of Tamil Nadu must celebrate Krishna Jayanthi on the day Super Star announces his political entry because the Super Star is not an ordinary human being but he is a divine persona, come with divine message for the state of Tamil Nadu. 

Rajinikanth is the ultimate saviour of Tamil Nadu, destroyer of negative and hate politics, the messiah of love and peace and missionary of spirituality and practical living. People of Tamil Nadu must realize that this is the last chance for them to save the state from dynastic, family run, corruption dominant politics.  Defeat of DMK is much more essential than anything else and therefore people should support Rajinikanth unconditionally.  Support Rajinikanth, save Tamil Nadu and defeat DMK should be the sole mission of people.

Jai Hind.   

West Bengal assembly election 2021- Time for BJP to create effective election strategy

Sam
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West Bengal assembly election 2021- Time for BJP to create effective election strategy

Nearly a year left for the assembly election in West Bengal (WB) in 2021. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made deep inroads into the political scene of WB and the party’s performance in 2019 Lok Sabha election is inspirational. Leaving no stone unturned, diligent karyakartas are tirelessly working on several areas. In the upcoming election, BJP will win the election with a thumping majority if the party creates effective election strategies.

WB has experienced, unfortunately enough, forty-four years of deprivation of development by Left Front (1977-2011) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) (2011-2021). It is unimaginable that for nearly half a century the state has not seen the light of development. Bengalis feel afraid when they realize that WB has gone backwards by nearly 50 years! Since BJP’s entry into WB’s political scenario comes at a crucial juncture, the primary aim of BJP in the 2021 election is not to defeat TMC. Rather, BJP is determined to bring the tide of development in WB. For the fruition of this noble aim, the people of WB should help BJP win the 2021 election.

People of WB have a revolutionary temperament. If the political direction is slow and sluggish, then people of WB are going to reject such political directions. Certainly, BJP is aligning the political directions with the political aspirations and expectations of the Bengalis. What BJP needs is a dedicated campaigner who will cover entire WB from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. Aggression, tinged with a good command over Bengali language, is an essential qualification of the campaigner. Extremely importantly, reciting short quotations from Bengali literature, especially patriotic songs, boils the lifeblood of nationalism that flows in the veins of millions of Bengalis.

WB is the land of myriad luminaries like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Meghnad Saha and Shyamaprasad Mookherjee. Connecting the political directions with the dream of freedom fighters, spiritual leaders, social reformers, educationalists, literati, scientists and political leader will imbue the feeling of rich tradition. The campaigner can come from any professional background, a school-teacher, a sweeper, a film-star. Whatever be the background, the campaigner should tell about her / his broad vision for all-round development of the state. In other words, the campaigner should present a clear roadmap to development. The claim goes that BJP does not have a potential leader in the state, but I believe that a person with a broad vision for development can emerge as a potential leader.

Looking into the political situation and tendencies in WB, I have prepared a rough draft for campaigning. The campaign should include two phases: pre-Durga Puja and post-Durga Puja. Taking into consideration certain political probabilities that would happen before the Durga Puja, the pre-Durga Puja campaign has specific agenda. I feel this campaign should have already started. The pre-Durga Puja campaign is inextricably connected to the post-Durga Puja campaign. If BJP succeeds in the pre-Durga Puja campaign, then certainly TMC loses ground. Besides the two phases, the campaign should be of three types: micro, macro and social media. I have formulated innovative strategies for campaigning.

TMC government has indeed failed in key issues such as employment, agriculture loan and farm product price. However, TMC’s greatest failure is following the path of the Left-front: giving position to corrupted politicians, inciting mindless political violence, encouraging politicization of governance, crippling of opposition, lashing out against dissent, and rigging elections. Such kind of political culture proves that TMC is a party without any ideology. Since there is acute poverty of innovation, TMC does not have new ways of engaging people in the democratic process. Eventually, the party failed to bring changes which the electorate of WB expected.

TMC opposes CAA without any reason. Moreover, the party raises no voice against the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Surprisingly, the party remains silent about the persecution of minorities in the three countries but violently opposes CAA. People of WB are yet to overcome from the trauma of rioting, train burning and vandalizing public property.

Anti-incumbency factor is going a play a major role in 2021 election. The rallying cry for anti-incumbency can be বাংলাকে নির্মূল, কোরে দিলো তৃণমূল (Banglake nirmul, kore dilo Trinamool [WB’s ruination, TMC’s action]) and বাংলার সুবর্ণ অগ্রগতি, বিজেপির দৃঢ় প্রতিশ্রুতি (Banglar subarna agrogati, BJPr driro pratisruti [WB’s golden development, BJP’s firm commitment]). WB has witnessed an appalling exodus of industrialists and people have realised that TMC cannot undertake development initiatives in the state. Indeed, WB is struggling due to lack of industrial growth and development. Besides violence and lawlessness, appeasement politics, which has divided the state along communal lines, make Bengalis feel disenchanted. The outcome of such a coercive political situation is that people of WB are exhausted with TMC.

During campaign BJP’s sole aim is not to highlight the failures of TMC government but to present a roadmap to development. Pro-development and anti-corruption are the two hallmarks of BJP and this image is going to have a potential impact on the people. BJP after coming to power will boost industrial growth, transform the educational system, and modernize the health sector.

Before 2021 election several TMC MLAs would abandon the party and participate in the rat race for joining BJP. The reason behind the present deplorable condition of TMC is the turncoat MLAs who were with the Left Front, and as the political situation changed they shifted to TMC. The treasure these turncoasts brought with them is unscrupulousness and corruption. BJP has to handle such turncoats with iron-hands, otherwise, there would be no difference between the political condition under TMC and that of BJP. If BJP gives ticket to such turncoats, then it would be a great strategic blunder and dilution of ideology. I have a potential strategy which might prove to be a game-changer.

Another major problem with TMC is its student organization. Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student organisation of TMC, is extremely weak and the student leaders have earned a bad reputation among the student community through violence and vandalism. On the other hand, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, holds a good reputation and the organization engages in constructive activities. ABVP has a potential role to play before the election.

BJP winning the 2021 election should be a landmark achievement in the political history of India. The intellectual resources that BJP will generate will have a powerful impact on the entire country. It would be a historic moment to see the erstwhile Left bastion turning Right. WB has a colourful political history, red turning green, and green on the verge of turning saffron. Undoubtedly, BJP is going to win with a thumping majority. The need of the hour is disciplined campaigning and timely implementation of effective election strategies.

The author can be contacted at [email protected].

Wikipedia’s anti India bias

chandrahas
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Wikipedia’s anti India bias

Recently we have seen the obstinacy of Wikipedia Editors regarding the page: 2020 Delhi riots, where they have blocked attempts to remove the bias against Hindus and make it a neutral article. There are umpteen such examples of Wikipedia, just like Twitter and Quora, having a strong bias against India, Hindus and RSS/BJP.

In this article, we focus on the lies on Wikipedia regarding the F-16 downing incident and how they have focused on extremely biased articles to try to prove that India lied about downing an F-16 and Balakot strikes.

I write this article when the news from Pakistan talks about an F-16 crashing in a parade rehearsal in Islamabad. Pakistan regularly releases information about fighter jets crashing. “About nine or 10 F-7PGs/FT-7PGs have been lost during their 15 years in service. The losses of F-7PGs/FT-7PGs in air crashes are within normal limits, aviation experts claim“. I have always had a suspicion that Pakistan would retrofit its loss of F-16 by Wing Commander Abhinandan in one of these “Training” crashes and bury the information in its archives. Only time will tell when they release information of an F-16 lost in a “training crash”.

Let’s look at the Bias on Wikipedia against India especially centered around the Balakot and aftermath incidents-

1. On the F-16 Wikipedia page, it is written:

On 27 February 2019, two Pakistan Air Force F-16s, one F-16AM flown by Wg. Cdr. Nauman Ali Khan, , and one F-16BM , flown by Sqn. Ldr. Hassan Mehmood Siddiqui, both aircraft from No. 11 ‘Arrows’ Squadron, shot down two Indian Air Force fighters, one MiG-21 Bison and one Su-30MKI over Kashmir using AIM-120C AMRAAMs. These were the first air-to-air kills using beyond visual range (BVR) missiles in South Asia.[119][120][121] India disputes the loss of the Su-30MKI and instead claimed the downing of an F-16. The only confirmed loss from the engagement was the MiG-21.[122][123]

Citation 119 is from Al Jazeera, where they have said that Pakistan military claims that they shot down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace and captured two pilots. Pakistan Military continued to claim that no F-16s were used in the sortie.

Citation 120 is from Hindustan Times, where they mention that Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Parliament that two Indian planes were shot down by them. He names the two pilots who shot down Indian Aircraft. But in this startling revelation unearthed by India Today, it comes out that these pilots actually were F-16 pilots and the article says: A pilot Pakistan officially identified for attacking Indian aircraft last month did fly an F-16, the probe established.

Citation 121 is from CNN, where they have only said that Pakistan claims that they shot down two Indian Aircraft Pakistan says its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets over the disputed border region of Kashmir.

As seen above, nowhere in the secondary sources has it been said that two fighters were shot down, and even the articles talk only about the lies peddled by the Pakistani ministers. Instead of bolstering their claims, the Pakistani Foreign Minister accidentally revealed information which helped us validate that F-16 were indeed used in the attack.

And the citations 122 and 123 are from private blogs which only further peddle lies of the Pakistanis that they also shot down a Su-30 MKI. Citation 123 says Pakistan Air Force made Operation Swift Retort Memorial at PAF Base Mushaf . How can this article be quoted as a secondary source on Wikipedia?

And the battle to edit the article continues on Wikipedia. It can be seen in the history of edits of the pages.

2. On the 2019 Balakot Strike Wikipedia Page, it says,

Neutral sources have asserted that the munitions dropped by Indian warplanes appeared to have hit several trees in a wooded area but caused no other damage, nor any casualties in the area where the attack took place.[60][61][62][63][64][65] Some Western diplomats also stated that they did not believe Indian Air Force had hit any militant camp.[63] Western security officials have cast doubt over Indian claims and asserted that there are no longer any such large scale militant camps in Pakistan.[66]

All of the citations in this paragraph are from famously Anti-India newspapers such as Guardian and New York Times. If these links have to be used always, let us just shut down Wikipedia and make a New York Timespedia and a Guardianpedia.

3. On the 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes page, they quote one Foreign Policy article which claims unnamed sources say that a count of F-16 fighters revealed that none are missing. When Hindustan Times countered this false propaganda, the anti India news papers jumped on the bandwagon to prove that Indian Air Force is wrong.

While New York Times labelled Pakistan victorious in the dog fight that took place on 27 February 2019, Washington Post claimed India was lying.Regarding the Washington Post article which claims Indian Air Force did not shoot down an F-16, they rely on a private blog website to bolster their claims.

The IAF responded last week by releasing “irrefutable” evidence — including electronic signatures and radio transcripts — that Pakistan lost a fighter jet during the February aerial combat. A number of U.S. and Indian defense analysts called the evidence circumstantial.

The defence analysts mentioned in the Washington Post article is cited to https://www.thedrive.com/ , which is an Automobile enthusiast website with certain defence related articles. This is appalling to say the least, that Washington Post’s hatred for India is so great that they can use any random source to validate their argument

It is extremely difficult for young Indian students who read Wikipedia for gaining knowledge to ever know the true picture when Wikipedia has editors who are anti-India and sympathetic to Pakistan who ensure that the story is nowhere close to neutral and they are being helped by scores of rabidly Anti-India, Anti-Hindu newspapers such as Washington Post, New York Times and Guardian.

Let us make young India aware about how neutrality has disappeared when it comes to India and especially to Hindus.

Why Yogi Adityanath is the leader the left wants and deserves

Shubham Sharma
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Why Yogi Adityanath is the leader the left wants and deserves

While it may sound absurd to many, Yogi Adityanath resembles everything the left liberal stand for, not the motive but the means. ‘Left-liberal’ being a misnomer evident by their behaviour which is consistently void of liberal thought.

While one may recall the series of events that unfolded in JNU, the news coverage by mainstream media was a bit shocking and misleading with the ground reports. The day of 5th Jan, when naxal attacks happened in many hostels targeting ABVP cadres and common students who were in favour of restoring normalcy and doing semester registration. The next step to further their naxal agenda, the left student parties allegedly distributed pamphlets containing photos of ABVP activists and a clear cut message written to boycott them academically and socially. An interesting thing to observe about these pamphlets was that they had no mention of any organisation or individual under whose initiative these pamphlets were distributed in hostel messes.

Tweets by an ABVP activist, Vikas SIngh Gautam saying that he was boycotted by the left supporters in the campus
Another tweet with the parchas being circulated among whatsapp groups targeting ABVP activists.

For those not aware of the political scenario of JNU campus, the political campaigns are carried out by the means of small black & white pamphlets or as students call them ‘parchas’. These parchas bear the name of the organisation, and their message and/or views. But a parcha with no name of organisation clearly meant that people involved in distributing are aware of their illegal deed. Another spin off to this event was that these parchas mean and open declaration to the cadres to target these ABVP activists and thus undermining the personal security of those being “socially boycotted.” This is not an isolated event but something regularly faced by the ABVP activists in the campus by the group of far-left cadres.

Not going so far as to do what these hooligans are busy doing in JNU, Yogi Adityanath administration hung poster of alleged rioters. One may argue that this is the same means which is used by left activists all the time and the same is used by their opposition, they shout words like fascism, undemocratic. Much to their hypocrisy, this is their modus operandi, use any means necessary when their authority is challenged and an invasion of individual privacy when used against them. But what they did in JNU campus after the 5th Jan naxal attack and not stand up to it, publicly shaming some individual, the same approach is used by the Uttar Pradesh administration.

Thus, I reiterate – Yogi Adityanath is the leader the Indian left wants and deserve.

Open letter to Bombay Bar Association on condemning judges for their political views

ravanapandita
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Open letter to Bombay Bar Association on condemning judges for their political views

To,                                                                                                 Dated: 13.03.2020

Office Bearers & Standing Committee,

Bombay Bar Association,

Room No 57, 3rd Floor,
High Court Building,
Dr M Kane Marg,
Mumbai 400 032.

Respected Ladies and Gentlemen,This is in reference to resolutions dated 5TH March 2020 (attached herewith), passed by the Bombay Bar Association, deprecating the comments of Hon’ble Justice Arun Mishra of Supreme Court of India, made by him at the International Judiciary Conference on 22nd February 2020, wherein the Hon’ble Justice Arun Mishra had praised the current Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, the head of the Executive in India.

In the above context, please note for the record, my sincerest disagreement with the resolutions passed by the Bombay Bar Association, which in my view appear to be rather myopic, in that the said resolutions dated 5th March 2020 appear to be condemning the Hon’ble Justice Arun Mishra of the Supreme Court of India for merely exercising his right to free speech and expression guaranteed by the Indian Constitution under Article 19.

Be that as it may, it may be necessary to point out that since the Bombay Bar Association has chosen to condemn the comments of Hon’ble Justice Arun Mishra because “Comments of this nature shakes the confidence of the members of the legal profession and the public at large in the independence and integrity of the Higher Judiciary.”, the Bombay Bar Association would be well advised to also pass similar resolutions against a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Gautam Patel (incidentally a former member of Standing Committee, Bombay Bar Association), who in the past has also made several comments in the public domain, which will likely also shake the confidence of the members of the legal profession and the public at large in the independence and integrity of the Higher Judiciary.

Following are a compilation of Comments/Quotes made by Justice Gautam Patel which have shaken confidence of the members of the legal profession and the public at large in the independence and integrity of the Higher Judiciary:

His criticism of the political leader Late Balasaheb Thackeray as a fascist for his alleged role in the 1992 Bombay riots (Incidentally, the last will and testament was a subject matter of Testamentary Suit in Bombay High Court which was also adjudicated upon by Justice Gautam Patel):

“Against those who instigated, triggered and participated in the carnage, and ravaged forever the face of an entire city, nothing followed. Nothing, that is, except two decades later, a valorization of Bal Thackeray that is as perplexing as it is disquieting. Not because he had legions of followers, but because in accepting the elision of the past of people like him, we move ourselves closer to fascism and an acceptance of everything we should not aim to be, everything our Constitution demands we not become.”

(Source: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/XYRvSCCOhN7MMXwEqChq5O/The-poisoned-earth.html)

His criticism of the Allahabad High Court’s verdict on demolition of Babri Masjid and construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya:

“The findings and orders of the special full bench of the Allahabad High Court on the successful Bhagwan Sri Ram suit and the dismissed Wakf Board suit demand close examination. Central to the final order are two findings – that the disputed site in Ayodhya is the birthplace of Ram, and that it is a juridical entity. Both conclusions are of extremely doubtful legal tenability. In addition, it is on the basis of the dubious legal proposition of faith and belief that the court arrives at a finding of legal and lawful ownership. The placing of idols in the disputed site in 1949 was as much an act of illegality as the events of 6 December 1992, but the court gingerly steps around them. In short, its September 2010 verdict surrenders judicial soundness and integrity for political expedience.”

(Source: https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/50/verdict-ayodhya-special-issues/idols-law.html)

His views on the political ideology of Communism:

“It is fashionable today to belittle and decry communism and Marxism, and even to equate it with anti-nationalism. This is a shame, because this attitude overlooks matters that are, or should be, fundamental…”

(Source: http://bombaybar.com/in-memoriam/kbff5cahr16sova1n4umju6lrgtvm3)

His views on Cow Slaughter Bill in Karnataka:

“Beef is food to many; not coincidentally, Dalits and Muslim.”

“there is no similar act about sheep, goats, fish or fowl – is less about animal rights than right-wingery and reactionary politics. It is a surreptitious destruction of entire communities by undermining their lives.”

“The now-beleaguered Yedurapp offered a bedazzling explanation. “Cow slaughter ban is in force in Cuba and Iran,” he said in 2010, and went on, with all the emphasis at his considerable command to outline the therapeutic advantages of a daily quaff of a holy cow’s micturition; divine bovine urine.

(Source: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/columnists/gautam-patel/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bovine/articleshow/16214963.cms)

His views regarding 2002 riots in Gujarat:

“Based as we are in Bombay, at this distance from what transpired in Gujarat, in the initial days following the riots in 2002, we were at sea about what we could do and how we could contribute towards seeking justice for the victims of the events. Teesta Setalvad and others called a series of meetings at that point to explain clearly what the on-ground reality of Gujarat was and how, as concerned citizens, we could help make a difference. The other avenue where specialised help was required, of course was that of legal work. With respect to this second proposition, a number of us have been helping out as best we could and I’ve appeared for R.B. Sreekumar (former Gujarat director general of police) before the Central Administrative Tribunal. This man has been hounded for standing his ground against the government and the threats/pressure he’s been living under is astounding. Luckily, we got a good bench who weren’t easily swayed. They weren’t pressurised (or if they were, they withstood it really well) and justice was done.”

(Source: Teesta Setalvad’s magazine Communalism Combat published in Feb-March 2012)

That accordingly in view of the abovementioned compilation of political and partisan comments made by Justice Gautam Patel, members of the legal fraternity and also the public at larger will easily be able to ascertain the partisan ideological position of Justice Gautam Patel which will likely shake their collective confidence in the Judiciary and resultantly it is incumbent upon the Bombay Bar Association to similarly also pass a resolution deprecating the partisanship of Justice Gautam Patel whose political ideology may affect his ability to dispense justice.

Alternatively, the Bombay Bar Association may consider withdrawing its resolutions dated 5th March 2020 against Justice Arun Mishra and extend an unconditional apology to him.

Yours Sincerely,

Ravana Pandita

Need for implementing holistic nutrition through POSHAN Scheme to tackle Cerebral Palsy

radheshankar1
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Need for implementing holistic nutrition through POSHAN Scheme to tackle Cerebral Palsy

Mrs. Vandana Agarwal, Director, Narayan Seva Sansthan

In spite of various schemes and plans to prevent undernourishment in India, a recent report by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2019 stated that 1 in 3 children under 5 are undernourished or overweight. To overcome this, families below poverty line must be granted about 35 kg of food grains per month at subsidized rates after implementation of “Antyodaya Anna Yojana” (AAY) for prohibiting hunger crisis in India. Not only Malnutrition represents the underweight and thin but also represents height below the average for their age which deals into lack of proper nutritional habits with post-natal care.  

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that 14.5% of our population is undernourished where alleviating hunger in India requires more complex strategy and big corporate initiatives can help where the prevalence of Hunger can be eradicated before 2030. There are reports which suggested the change in the food consumption process where sugary products, Junk food and irregularities in food consumption take place where food contains a negligible nutrient value.  

In a recent case of 9 year old Musami Dali who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy came to Narayan Seva Sansthan at Udaipur for the treatment with her family, where the doctors from our team pointed out a major problem of undernourishment in her family. National Food Security Act provides significant options for the pregnant mother, lactating mothers from 6 months to 14 years to get nutritious food. Even though, under nutrition data is highly uncontrolled and increasing drastically day by day. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 stated in the report that Rajasthan 36.7% of children less than 5 years of age are rerecorded underweight in 2015-16.

There are multiple steps initiated by the Central government for the eradicating the malnutrition crisis in India by proposing schemes like Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan or National Nutrition Mission to improve healthful results for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the POSHAN Abhiyaan on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2018 from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

POSHAN Abhiyaan is a mission which has been converged by multiple ministries to attain a malnourished free India by 2022. With an aim to provide and develop a holistic plan which is adequate for children, pregnant women and mothers, offering nourishment to reduce malnourishment and stunting in various districts across India, the government introduced the POSHAN Abhiyan. According to the Global hunger index 2019 it was stated that India ranked at 102 positions out of 117 countries. According to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s zero hunger section, it was stated that Rajasthan scored 35 including 22 worst performed states like Union territory and states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat Madhya Pradesh enlisted in the report released by NITI Ayog. In the report, Top performer for zero hunger is Goa scored 76 and Chandigarh 73. 

Mrs. Vandana Agarwal, Director, Narayan Seva Sansthan said, “Cerebral Palsy is related to birth, pre-natal care and post-natal care, this calls for more concern and care in new mothers or mothers during their delivery and before they give birth to a normal child. The POSHAN Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls), and low birth weight by 2 per cent, 2 per cent, 3 per cent, and 2 per cent per annum, respectively. It targets to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.”

In the recent campaign running by NSS to nurture new 25 nutritionally affected areas as a part of the campaign against malnutrition and nutritious food in Udaipur, Rajasthan. So that, Prevention of Malnutrition Campaign to be served nutritious food to target the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) in a mission-mode. Rajasthan government is also implementing rapidly POSHAN scheme in Rajasthan for fighting against undernourishment.

Narayan Seva Sansthan has worked on the principle of helping the differently abled and the weaker section of the society through campaigns such as corrective surgeries of over 4 lakh conducted to reduce disability prejudices every day. The Narayan Seva Sansthan has also urged the society through efforts and campaigns on reduction of malnourishment in the society and support child and mother nourishment through various campaigns.

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