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Is China ready to accept Indian stand of CPEC ?

HARIDAS KVS
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Is China ready to accept Indian stand of CPEC ?

KVS Haridas analyzes the statement of the Chinese foreign minister on 2nd Modi – Xi informal summit.

At last China to accept the Indian stand on the China- Pak Economic Corridor? Yes, those who believe that is in the offing cannot be blamed. The recent statement from the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the discussions that Chinese President Xi Jinping had with Narendra Modi shows the clear signs of that. Every one knew that it is not something that can succeed till everything goes on the right track; but we have the symptoms of that. Even Pakistan must have been taken into confidence by the Beijing in one way or the other. I have written earlier in an article on OpIndia, on Xi Jinping’s recent visit to India has raised the need for the China to recognize India’s positions on Kashmir for its own economic interests in Pakistan.

In my above article, it’s mentioned that, “for Xi, the Pak-China economic corridor is the most important issue now. But even Beijing seems to be convinced that it is impossible for them to move forward, without taking India into confidence. How that is possible, should be the subject that comes to us at this meeting. Will they be willing to include India too in the project, which passes through the PoK? It remains to be seen as to what is there in the minds of China. But they have few option; I do think that Narendra Modi has nothing else to say, i.e., China can’t do anything in Indian territory without India’s consent.

In that case, China has to do three things. One, it will have to accept or recognize that the PoK belongs to India; Second, China will have to have a new India-China-Pakistan agreement for the CPEC; Then, naturally, Pakistan also will have to accept the Indian position on the PoK. There are also some indications that Imran was summoned to Beijing last week to discuss this issue”. I do hope that things are moving slowly to that end.

Beijing must have by now come to the conclusion that they have no options but to accept Indian claims in the Pak Occupied Kashmir. Then there is a natural question, i.e., does it also mean that China had talked about this to the Pakistani leaders? The agenda of the recent Chinese discussion with Pak leaders, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army and ISI chiefs should have been around this. Wang Yi has admitted that they had discussions with the Pak leaders by the Chinese President before embarking to India. He also said that not just Imran Khan, Army, ISI chiefs were there then in Chinese capital for the deliberations. Indo- Pak tension is known to all and Beijing is aware of it much better than any other. So no scope for discussing it further. Then what is there? That is the point to be taken note of; but everything in Xi’s mind may not have been revealed; but the fact that ‘India also has to be taken into confidence by China ‘ must have come up then before Pak leaders.

We all know that China’s head ache is the huge investment they had made in Pakistan in the China- Pak Economic corridor or the CPEC; the billions of dollars spent in Gwadar port too is not providing expected results for them. So they have to go on with the CPEC which passes through the PoK. Delhi’s stand in this regard is crystal clear, that is, the whole of Kashmir belongs to India and won’t accept any work by anyone there. This Indian stand is the major road block for the China, Don’t forget, Modi had raised the moves to construct the CPEC thro PoK without India’s consent, when Xi was here in Gujarat in 2014 itself. He had then explained the Indian stand on PoK too to the Chinese leader. So naturally, China now accepts, or rather forced to accept, the reality that without consent and co-operation of Delhi, they cannot fulfill their Pakistan dreams.

Now come to what China says about the Xi- Modi deliberations. Foreign minister says, ” President Xi Jinping had shared with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi his vision for the trilateral co-operation among Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad”.

Just look closely at the words of Chinese minister. ” Xi Jinping stressed that the China sincerely expects sound China-India relations, China-Pakistan relations and India-Pakistan relations; he also says that they expects to see all sides work together to promote regional peace and stability, to achieve common development and prosperity”. We haven’t seen earlier any such concern for trilateral co- ordination coming out from the mouth of a Chinese leader. In fact, Beijing now starts to think of China- India- Pak co-operation. It is something that India has been expecting China to do. For them, the only interest is CPEC, But for Delhi, this move of our neighbor is so important; as I said in my earlier article, if China accepts that PoK belong to India, it is going to be an important diplomatic victory. for Modi’s India. More over, India will or should take a stand that they also be party to the agreement for the CPEC. My assessment is that China is now slowly taking things to that level.

It may not be easy for either China or Pakistan to openly declare that crucial decision at such a short notice; but they will have to. They cannot keep it in camera for long. That issue must have been discussed with Pak leaders by the Beijing. Let’s see how China presents that case now, in another way. They takes it as an extension of the present Indo- China- Afghan joint moves. They says about the Sino-Indian decision to have some joint projects in Afghanistan which was decided at Wuhan. “During the first informal summit’ in Wuhan, India and China had decided to work together on a project in Afghanistan which led to co-ordinated training of Afghan diplomats by India and China. The Chinese President, during his talks with Mr. Modi, had also proposed that “China and India should play a leading role in regional connectivity construction, and create a smoother connectivity network”. The Chinese Foreign Minister stressed that Xi had elaborated on enhancing the “China-India Plus” formulation, which could be gradually expanded to cover other countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa on the basis of the existing “China-India-Afghanistan” cooperation”. This ‘connectivity net work’ mentioned therein is nothing but CPEC,

Time to pause, think and reflect – A lot has changed in Indian Politics

vivekmisra07
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Time to pause, think and reflect – A lot has changed in Indian Politics

Whew! The last six to eight months have been perhaps one of most happening periods in recent times. Never a dull moment there was; instead there was plenty of action and drama. From the Balakot strike, the rumble and tumble of elections, the landslide victory of Modi and BJP, the unraveling of the opposition and the Congress leadership fiasco, passage of god knows how many bills in Parliament including the abolition of triple talaq, the loss of two BJP stalwarts, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, the ongoing Chidambaram saga, and then the abrogation of article 370 followed by round-the-clock diplomacy, UNHCR and UNGA. Whew!

Time to pause, gather our thoughts and reflect. That is for everyone – either this side of the fence or the other. Why did Modi win so big? What that means for Indian democracy? Whither the opposition? What does it portend for foreign, economic and social policy?

Modi’s Big Win
There are a multitude of factors that contributed to Modi’s and BJP’s thumping victory at the hustings. Although the numbers were amplified by Amit Shah’s electoral strategy and engineering, the rise of the BJP is rooted in Modi’s grasp of, and shaping of, Indian politics and its dominant narrative. There are five aspects to consider.

The`Dhoni’isation’ of Indian society
First, no one better than Modi has understood the`Dhoni’isation’ of Indian society and its political and socio-economic implications. Over the last two decades, Indian society has undergone a remarkable transformation. Three key developments contributed to this structural change. First, the implementation of Mandal Commission report completely upended the then prevalent social structures and gave immense agency to the emergence of the backward classes as a force in politics and subsequently in socio-economic terms.

Secondly, liberalisation removed the shackles from Nehruvian socialism and ushered India into the unchartered waters of liberal yet crony capitalism. Growth boomed, some of it trickled down; but the economic forces it propelled opened new vistas of economic opportunities.

The third development was social media which virtually broke the digital divide between the English-speaking elite and the vernacular-speaking masses, thereby leveling the field of opinion-making and communication. So, from an elitist and socialistic socio-economic set-up, the country has gravitated towards a more egalitarian but chaotic and contested system.

This`Dhoni’isation of India’s society has come to represent the aspirations and ambitions of a youthful rurban India straining at the lease to speak their mind and to grab opportunities. Modi has continuously engaged with this young, aspirational and, perhaps, irreverent segment and has won them over, breaking through class and caste barriers.

The majoritarian angst against appeasement politics
Second, Modi also tapped into the simmering undercurrent of majoritarian angst against appeasement politics. The majoritarian impulses which are evident in India today did not come to be overnight. A lot of political analysts, rather disingenuously and perhaps intentionally, associate the majoritarianism playing out today with Modi and his politics. The simmering discontent in the majority community had been festering for long, ever since Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Shah Bano verdict to appease Muslims and then opened the gates of the Ram Lalla in Ayodhya to make assuage Hindu sentiments. Every subsequent event – a riot or a terror incident – has served to further widen the communal divide, not without help from political parties of all hues. This was exacerbated further by the appeasement politics of many national and regional parties in the garb of secularism.

The more the mention of saffron terror, or appeals to the Imam Bukharis for the Muslim vote, or that minorities have a first right on development resources, the more the angst solidified. And if Mamata’s Bengal is secular, then god save our souls. This is the reason why secularism has become a cursed word in Indian politics. Modi and his BJP changed the rules of the game and channelled this majoritarian impulse to reap the political dividends. If earlier the Congress and regional parties divided the Hindu vote on caste lines and consolidated the Muslim vote through appeasement, Modi and the BJP have now consolidated the Hindu vote and are seeking to divide the Muslim vote. Secularism, as practised by the Congress and its clones, is now equated with appeasement. No wonder Rahul’s recent temple run to course correct looked utterly butterly comical and hypocritical. And Mamata, the less said the better!

Hard State and National Security
Third, and perhaps the most distinct feature of the Modi government, has been the uncompromised stance on national security. India until 2014 was always perceived as a soft state. We let off the Kandahar hijackers easily, we did not cross the LOC after the Parliament attack or after Kargil, and we did not have a military response after 26/11. Infiltration in the North-East compromised security and demography and we hardly batted an eyelid in providing voter ID cards to the ineligible. The Maoist insurgency problem fettered, ably supported and encouraged by leftist activists. Modi saw the opportunity in providing a strong counter-narrative that resembled a hard state. And with discernible actions. It used a gamut of instruments to capture the national security space including diplomacy, policy reforms, modernisation of the armed forces and surgical strikes. The action in Kashmir with the abrogation of article 370 was the icing on the cake. These actions have suitably fed into the over-arching nationalism narrative that BJP revels in, and which the opposition is not comfortable with. Majority of the Indian public have lapped up these developments and as a result Modi’s BJP is now synonymous with National Interest.

Fight against Corruption
Fourth, a key differentiator for Modi’s BJP against the opposition has been action against corruption. The NDA government, by and large, is perceived to be much less corrupt when compared to the previous Congress regime. No major scam has been unearthed – and Rafale deal was a dead issue in the absence of solid evidence. Demonitisation struck a positive cord, particularly among the poor, even though it hit economic activity adversely. Though the promised billions did not materialise, the optics of actions on Vijay Mallya or Christian Michel or P. Chidambaram resonate among the general masses strongly. The Congress and the opposition were anyway on a weak footing on corruption; at the same time Modi has successfully restrained his Ministers, taken some tangible actions to retain public confidence. And with hundreds of skeletons in the opposition cupboard – National Herald, Augusta Westland, INX Media, Air India, Coal scam, 2G, etc. – it is a bonanza for Modi to selectively pursue his opponents. Which he most certainly will.

Socialism Still Works. And Handsomely.
Fifth, Modi smartly avoided the trap that the Vajpayee-led NDA couldn’t. A swathe of right-wing intellectuals and the business community were waiting for the grand economic reforms from the Modi administration. Waiting in the wings was the Congress, the wider opposition and the left-liberal lobby eager to pounce on anything that distracted from their pet theme – povertarianism. But Modi put paid to their hopes. The Swachh Bharat campaign, the JAM initiative, the Ujjwala Yojana, the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, the PM Kisan Scheme, the PM Awas Yojana and more – not that these schemes were just in name, but the actual delivery of most schemes was much more efficient than that in previous governments. This enabled the government to not only maintain a pro-poor image, but also to checkmate the opposition in its own game. In the BJP’s calculation, major economic reforms could wait for the next term which it has anyway got now.

Party Mechanics and Electoral Strategies
I don’t discount the organisational work that Amit Shah was instrumental in. His sharp political intellect, superb political engineering, understanding of macro and micro dynamics and overall organisational management were unmatched. While these went a step further to consolidate BJP gains, they would have been sub-optimal without the larger structural issues that I have alluded to. Amit Shah made Modi more effective; but he did not create the essence of Modi.

Foreign, Economic and Social Policy
The results of the general elections have had a significant influence on policies. The clear mandate that Modi got enabled him to get legislative backing to the Triple Talaq Bill and for the abrogation of article 370. More are in the offing for sure.

Foreign policy will be more forthright. With the world obsessed about the US-China trade war, human rights abuses in China and Yemen, threat of conflict in the Middle East, Kashmir is a no-brainer. India has got time to sort it out. With Pakistan stuck with a selected PM, its economy in a mess, ethnic conflicts raging and a possible FATF blacklist, it has few options. The sooner India stabilises the situation in Kashmir, the better. For the wider world, the renewed mandate to Modi has given him a significant boost – which can only be sustained if the economy does well.

But economic policy is its Achilles’ heel. The NPA crisis and the global headwinds combined with ill-advised policy reforms like the tax on the super-rich and weaknesses in the GST implementation along with the remnants of Demo, have all come together to put the Modi government in a quandary. It needs to do some serious soul-searching on why things have become so dire, and why certain policy decisions were taken and on whose advice. This is the foremost test for the government and one that will need utmost skill and resolve to overcome.

Socio-political issues are largely favourable for the present regime, regardless of the noise of the left-liberal caucus. The upcoming Ayodhya verdict is likely to be a shot in the arm of the Hindu right; a mediated solution before that could be the best solution. Whichever way it goes, the net beneficiary will be Modi and BJP. The next ace up its sleeve will be the uniform civil code and which the BJP will unleash, but not in a hurry. It has still 4 years to go and it will bide its time to muddy the waters before the next general elections.

Whither the Opposition
Well, in Bangkok! Bad joke, but one that aptly sums it up. The opposition is not in the game now. It has been busted and defanged. Democratically. The silence of the so-called left liberal lambs in the aftermath of the election results said it all. They did not understand India, but India understood them and their likes. Yet, a person of the stature of Amartya Sen still opines that more than 60% of India is not with Modi! I remember the same pseudo-lefties said it was 70% in 2014! Politics 101 for the respectable Nobel laureate and his ilk will be helpful.

There are strong discordant chords emerging within parties, and along with the desertion of party members into the BJP camp it will further weaken the opposition. Its narrative on many issues has been contradictory such as on the abrogation of article 370. It needs to rediscover a seamless narrative that can take on a dominant BJP, but instead it is bursting at its seams. The outcome of the upcoming elections in Maharasthra and Haryana are almost foretold. And in Delhi. And probably in Bengal, where the TMC variety secularism continues its bloodbath. And then the left-liberals continue to ponder why it happened what happened. It will continue to happen. No surprises there.

Political parties and their left-liberal stooges must realise four fundamental facets. A. The political rules of the game have changed – the narrow confines of caste-communal vote bank politics cannot win anymore – you need to widen the voter base, and that means reaching out to wider population segments. B. Appeasement of minorities now provides diminishing returns in politics. Playing this kind of secularism game actually marginalises parties rather than catapulting them to power. C. Liberal politics needs honest brokers, not hypocritical ones. You cannot denounce the triple talaq bill on the ground that it will help BJP garner votes, and yet call yourself liberal. D. The basis of opposition should be on principles rather than on personalities. That the politics of anti-Modi was soundly defeated is testament to this fact.

My Reflections
• Democracy: It is alive and kicking in India. Just ask Naveen, KCR or Jagan.
• Pluralism: This is the basic essence of India, which should not be undermined.
• Nationalism: Anything that is in the national interest is Nationalism.
• Politics: The rules of the game have changed. Adapt to survive.
• Economics: Not determined by the box office or uber rides – wake up and smell the coffee.
• Social Reforms: The only way civilisations progress.
• Article 370: From `them’ and `us’ – to `We’.
• Humour: Makes life worthwhile. Smileys to all.

Politically Yours
Vivek Misra

Dismemberment of Pakistan: Implications for India

motivatedvijay
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Dismemberment of Pakistan: Implications for India

PM Imran Khan’s speech at UN general assembly on 27 Sep 19 has disturbed the hornets’ nest amongst people all over the world. At the UN general assembly, he vocalised a rant on Kashmir to express his undying love for six million Kashmiris. His justification of terrorism, divisive mind-set, religious radicalisation and racial hatred is a reflection of the medieval ideology that does not accommodate pluralistic, peace loving and progressive pragmatism. He even went on to threaten the world with nuclear holocaust. Brinkmanship that the Pakistan PM displayed on the podium of UN general assembly, reflects his utter disdain for the UN charter. However, in India’s ‘Right to Reply’ (a rare event in such a forum), India chose their first secretary Minstry of External Affairs (a junior officer in the Indian foreign service) Ms Vidhisha Moitra, to rebut the ill-timed tirade of Pakistan PM. Ms Vidhisha Moitra clearly brought out the obsession of Pakistan with Kashmir and convinced the world that Pakistan indeed is a sophisticated state sponsored terror factory. She even pronounced to hold Pakistan PM to his promise of verification by UN regarding presence of religious radicalised terror manufacturing units on the soil of Pakistan. Few pointed questions were asked to be answered as a precursor to this UN led verification of presence of terror factories in Pakistan.

Question now arises as to why the Pakistan PM is deeply concerned about six million inhabitants in Kashmir? Especially in the light of his own state apparatus is persecuting, marginalising and tyrannising millions of Pakistanis (be it from any religion or minorities) in Sindh, Baluchistan, K P Province and Gilgit-Baltistan. As Husain Haqqani at the Aspen Institute on 28 Jun 2013 put it, “it is the psychological obsession with India and Kashmir which Pakistani society suffers from”. Haqqani termed it as a fear psychosis which does not allow Pakistan to come to terms with its own history, geography and present international standing, thus preventing a pragmatic utilitarian progressive approach for itself.

It could also be the result of events at partition full of hatred for each other which have been perpetrated down to the generations. Now they are used as a perfect recipe to generate votes during elections and the entire nation feeds on fictitious anti-India propaganda as the only unifying bond. Pakistan, instead of sending its children to modern schools, chose to promote radicalising MADRASSAS for them. Pakistan, instead of using its Nuclear Posture to enter in productive alliances with other nations, chose to look for terror outfits to deploy against India and other neighbours courtesy the ‘OP Topac’ (bleeding India with thousand cuts) embarked on by then President Zia-ul-Haq. This has pushed Pakistan into utter chaos and she is on the brink of dismemberment i.e Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunwa or Pakhatunistan apart from Pakistani Punjab.

Pakistan finds itself in this mess due to perpetual obsession with Kashmir of which it has no locus standii in the international arena. Its compulsive and obsessive disorder to compete with India at all possible costs has financially bled Pakistan. Pakistan has not made any investments in human Index. Instead all regimes, particularly military regimes, led with Punjabi domination, have resorted to crushing the growth of other provinces of Pakistan. At this juncture, India has to analyse as to what is good for India i.e. stable Pakistan or dismembered Pakistan (four different countries)?

This debate may have views and counter views but more pertinent for India, at this juncture, is if dismemberment takes place, what should be the response to a humongous refugee influx from Pakistan into India and other allied issues? What should be the India’s foreign policy objectives Vis-a Vis four different countries which are likely to be headed by radical Islamist jihadi leadership? How will peace prospects in the region be affected? What should be Indian policy of accommodating refugees as it severely influences the economic, social and global criterion as it happened in 1971, when the majority Bengalis in East Pakistanis were subjected to genocide by Pakistan establishment in East Pakistan leading to its dismemberment?

In event of such a probability, the first reaction should be immediately to take control of all nuclear and missile sites in Pakistan. They should be sealed, protected and all measures should be taken to ensure that they don’t fall in the hands of ‘Jihadis Tanzeeins’ like AL Qauda, LeT, JuD and other radicalised elements. Thereafter, all jihadi leaders and drug warlords of the likes of Hafiz Sayed, Lakhvi, Masood Azar and Dawood Abraham should be arrested to prevent them from taking over the leadership of the dismembered states. At a later stage, the above mentioned outfits along with others in Govt, who are responsible for war crimes and genocides, should be presented before International Court of Justice or such tribunals for trials as was done when Yugoslavia broke up into eight different states. At the same time, the plans to integrate Gilgit – Ballistan and POJK with India should also be in place.

Efforts should be made immediately, to promote the Govts in exile headed by the acceptable popular leaders from each region. It could be Bugati led Govt in exile for Balauchistan, Altaf Hussain led Govt is exile for Sindh and similarly some prominent leader from Khyber Pakhtunwa can be promoted. There should also be security plan for these new regimes to be able to function supported by a good economic package to make them viable during initial phase. All this can be done only, if India has track II secret pacts with USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China etc. These countries must provide an assurance or blessing for this plan to succeed, given that in the present international scenario, no new countries are likely to get recognition in ‘Normal Course’. In the recent past, there is only one case of  an African state i.e. South Sudan being recognized as an independent nation. Even that has run into many kinds of retrogations.

Hence, the clear understanding with economically powerful nations like USA and religion leaders like Saudi Arabia is a must. There needs to be plan for real development in Jammu and Kashmir UT as well. This is to prevent any kind of opportunistic adventurism in form of military manoeuvre in Indian territory by Pakistani state.

We can now take on possible Pakistani argument that though there are problems in different regions in Pakistan, yet they haven’t reached the alarming proportions akin to some of the African on Middle East countries where civil war has erupted and the State has virtually no control over events. In some cases, UN forces have been deployed for peace enforcement as well. In this regard, it is pertinent to foresee the events on 13 Oct 2019 when FATF meeting took place. It is quite likely that Pakistan be downgraded to black list which will halt all kinds of financial aids from IMF and other monetary institutions. This may lead to financial breakdown in Pakistan leading to unrest and possible dismemberment.

FATF of Asia Pacific Group has already black listed Pakistan as it has failed to fulfil almost 20 conditions in FATF charter. Presently, the chairmanship of FATF is with China, and given the strategic partnerships of the Chinese with Pakistan, will try their level best to prevent this catastrophe for Pakistan. But it remains to be seen if  other members (barring Turkey) listen to China.. Two extensions have already been granted to Pakistan on Chinese recommendations. Instead of complying with the FATF stipulations, Pak PM Imran Khan Niazi espoused to promote state sponsorship terror plot rhetoric during his week-long visit to USA during his meetings with foreign bodies especially at Council on Foreign Relations and in UN General Assembly.

Whether dismemberment happens or not, one thing is clear, India has to be prepared for this eventuality no matter what, else it meets same fate as in 1971 on the borders with East Pakistan. Besides, India has to take all possible precautions and pre-emptive proactive measures, be it strategic, operational or tactical, both internally as well as at international level to prevent any major terror incident which Pakistan may like to embark on against India. This may lead to escalation due to Indian response which would be nothing short of Balakote incident during the month of Feb this year.

In any case, even in case of an escalation initially with conventional forces, India will have to gun for control of nuclear and missile sites in Pakistan so that question of nuclear escalation does not arise. It is quite likely that India has already negotiated with USA and the plans are in place to counter this contingency.

Islamic lies in Ram Janmabhoomi case

pulkitkaul
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Islamic lies in Ram Janmabhoomi case

Irony that surrounds India- A person can question birth place of Lord Ram but can you question existence of Muhammad with same intensity?

It is clear after examining marathon hearing of Ram Janmabhoomi case that Muslim side has no facts only secular rhetoric is their game-play.

Dhavan, appearing for the Muslim parties, created a flutter after he took strong objection to senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for a faction of All India Hindu Mahasabha (AIHM), relying on a site map and books written by foreign and Indian authors to buttress claims that the central dome of the now demolished structure was the birthplace of the deity.

Muslim side do not wish to believe Archaeological Survey of India, they wish to deny map and books written by foreign and Indian authors. They wish to refute every credible evidence and want their own secular dramebaazi to be supreme.

Muslims asked for ownership on the claim that they were the first and long time owners(doctrine of adverse possession).

Vaidyanathan said if the Muslim side claimed title over the disputed land under the doctrine of adverse possession, they will have to accept that the deity or the temple was the previous real owner.

Vikas Singh said the plea of Muslim parties that grants were given by a Board in 1860 during the British regime to Babri mosque for its upkeep was untenable as the Board was dissolved by the Government of India Act two years before in 1858.

One cannot keep on defending lies under the secular garb. Rajiv Dhawan started his theory of Aryan invasion to defend cruel demolition of temples by Islamic invaders like Babur.

One needs to admit that secularism is not bigger than facts and evidences.

Pandemonium of opposition from nothing to everything

S Ranganathan
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Pandemonium of opposition from nothing to everything

The sick and tired opposition parties in India, especially the party that was led by the bumper looser ‘dynast the great’ in 2019 parliament election and many self-attested left wing intellectuals are running from self-made confusion to chaos, from a state of panic to pandemonium.

They are unfortunately mixing different the lyrics, ragas why even the Shruti while singing their song to people of India. One for their age old accusations is that PM Modi has not changed anything starting from poverty to corruption to what not. At the same time the opposition parties also come up with another accusation that Modi has changed the entire fabric of India. How it is possible that nothing has changed in India to everything has changed accusation of the opposition parties?

The opposition parties have not only lost their relevance and voice in recent times but also have gone blind, deaf and mute towards truth that Modi has changed Indian politics from corruption to honest governance.

Most of them seem to be in the state of stupor and nude & naked to the new age of development centric politics of Modi. Most of the opposition parties are so intoxicated and enervated with anti-Modi fever and therefore anything and everything they see in India as creation of Modi. If there is heavy rain or no rain, flood or scarcity of water, severe winter or not, for everything the opposition parties wants to accuse Modi. Without criticising Modi their day can neither be born nor can end.

The recent utterance of the un-teachable dynast during Maharastara election campaign has attracted the attention of everyone in India because India is enjoying the great entertainment of Rahul Gandhi after a gap of several months. Rahul Gandhi was mocking at the mission of make India initiated by PM Modi. How can Rahul Gandhi mock the mission of make in India and make fun in saying it had failed? Is this way a responsible opposition party would behave in any country in the world? 

The growing problem of unemployment is mostly due to India becoming either a service provider or a mere consumer. Only when we start to export make in India mission, our economy and the problem of unemployment can be answered. Therefore India must attract investors and ensure India shall be the best destination of investors and manufacturing activity. Further Indians also must shift and transform from employee mind set to entrepreneur so that they can explore and exploit all their creative talents in the manufacturing area.

The way China has grown in manufacturing sector and has taken the economy of China to a great trajectory, India too can achieve much more easily than any other country because the availability of educated, creative, intelligent youths in India is quite high than any other country. PM Modi is working tirelessly to energise people to become entrepreneurs and reforming the governance intoto so that government shall remain guide and guardian to all entrepreneurs in India.

As a responsible political party, congress should promote and support the mission – make in India because success of India should be the goal of congress party and not the failure of the mission so that the dynast can make some politics out of it.

All the missions and reform initiatives PM Modi has taken only to transform India and make India a great land and the governance free from corruption, nepotism, dynastic politics and sab ka vikas and not for the vikas of one family.

Millions and millions of people in Indian have understood the sincere intent and commitment of PM Modi and hence are supporting PM Modi and rejecting all opposition parties including the un-teachable dynast.

Most of opposition parties have gone mad, perverse and become eccentric due to their unfound phobia towards Modi. Due to such phobia the opposition parties are willing to go to any extent to score some political points and even if such political pleasure warrants them to malign and betray of own country. That is why the opposition parties have raised doubt over Balakot surgical strike, nullification of article 370 etc. Some of the opposition parties find great enjoy and entertainment from Pakistan when it abuses India because some opposition parties seem to believe that Pakistan when it attacks India, it attacks Modi and hence some opposition parties even support Pakistan for the above reason.

Some of the media houses exhibit extra-ordinary pleasure to make the report viral that the hunger index in India is quite high due to enormous population. They feel that through hyping the reported high hunger index, they can malign Modi. It is the responsibility of everyone starting from those who wish to limits their responsibility only report all news no in a honest manner but in convoluted and distorted manner also must owe to the nation that they also must do their bit to remove poverty.

People of India must be extra vigilant towards all those negative and evil forces.  Lucifer is likely to look bright because only when the evil force come in glittery colour can attract people. Time has come people of India must vote out all opposition parties because good governance by a noble leader need no opposition. Like God and godliness to remain, we do not need ghost and demons.

Indian judiciary & the art of killing Hindu festivals

Akhand
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Indian judiciary & the art of killing Hindu festivals

The recent judgment of Tripura high court to ban animal sacrifice in all temples of the hilly state should not be seen as an isolated event.

It would be a grave mistake if we do not see through the well coordinated campaign in which Hindus are consistently being painted as some sort of demons. Native Hindu festivals, traditions and rituals have been under constant attack over the years. The intensity of attacks keeps on increasing with every passing day.

Exactly five years before this judgment of Tripura high court, in 2014, Himachal Pradesh high court too delivered a similar order. The court ordered to stop animal sacrifice in all temples of state with immediate effect. Animal sacrifice had been part of Kullu Dasehra celebrations for over five hundreds years. One judgement ended this tradition instantly.

In same year, the Supreme Court passed an order to ban Jallikatu sport in Tamilnadu ending hundreds of years old traditional Pongal sport. In the same order, court banned Kambala in Karnataka and Bailgada Sharyat in Maharashtra.

All three are traditional sporting events, involving bulls & buffaloes, held during annual festive celebrations. Huge protests were held against this verdict everywhere demanding stay on the order. However, Karnataka high court in 2016 reiterated the ban on Kambala and refused to allow any relief to the farmers. Later, Bombay high court also did not allow Bailgada races in the state of Maharashtra.

All these petitions were filed by animal rights groups. Protecting animals from human cruelty was the common theme connecting all five cases. Using this common theme cases were filed in the courts to ban these native traditions. Subsequently, courts ordered to ban the traditions, effectively killing the very essence of the festivals.

The question we must ask then is, does judiciary really want to protect animal rights?

As we will see in the later part of this piece, the answer perhaps is a big NO.

The judiciary has fallen into the trap of unholy alliance of fake animal rights activists and anti Hindu brigade. This unholy alliance’s agenda is not to protect animals, but to destroy every native Hindu tradition bit by bit.

Hindus are probably only religious people where every form of nature is worshiped. The Earth, the Sun, the Moon, mountains, rivers, plants, animals- everything has a unique place in the dharmic way to life of Hindus. In that context, animal sacrifice for religious rituals is not a common practice. Therefore, Hindu rituals’ contribution to animal killings in India is negligible.

So, which is the major cause of animal killings in India and world?

It’s the MEAT industry.

Majority of animals are slaughtered in India (and globally too) to satisfy taste buds of meat eating population. More than 150 millions of animals are slaughtered everyday to cater to meat eating population of just one country- India. This is when Indians eat much less meat than the global average. We can only imagine how many more millions are slaughtered globally every day.

On the Muslim festival of Bakrid, millions and millions of animals are slaughtered in full public view in most barbaric manner possible- halal- in a single day.

Any animal loving person who really cares for animals should ideally campaign against meat industry first before targeting Hindu festivals. Any animal rights activist who does not advocate ‘meat ban’ is a hypocrite of the highest order. Lecturing Hindus on animal rights while enjoying mutton biryani, has become the most fashionable thing to do in recent years. It is like those activists who drive big diesel guzzling cars while going to ‘save our environment’ kind of seminars.

When Hindus demand complete ban on cow slaughter, they are branded as saffron goons. Counter campaign in the name of ‘right to food’ is run by these activists. Nobody then asks what happened to animal rights campaign run by same activists? Many Gau Rakshak have lost their lives while trying to save cows from cow smugglers in last many years. No one stands up for them. In contrast, these same activists organize ‘beef festivals’ after killing cows in full public view.

And then there are some Hindu festivals in which animals have no role at all. Still those festivals are targeted by the activist gang demanding ban of festivals.

Kite flying on Makar Sankranti is one such example. Activist gang is running campaign to ban it alleging that kite flying results in birds getting injured/ killed. Can anything be more illogical than this? Offering milk to Naagdevta on Naagpanchami also has been attacked in recent years.

Many temples in south India own elephants and they are part of annual celebrations. They lead the festive procession and are revered by millions of devotees. This too is under constant attack of activists alleging ill treatment of elephants by temple authorities.

And it’s not that only animal rights gangs are after Hindu festivals. Participation of children in Dahi Handi was banned by the courts on petition filed by child rights activists despite no direct evidence of child rights violation in Dahi Handi celebrations. Similarly, burning of crackers on Diwali in Delhi NCR was banned by the Supreme Court of India. This was done to control the air pollution levels in Delhi even though there was no evidence that cracker burning is the prime cause of air pollution in the capital city. In fact, studies suggest that cracker burning is not even in the top ten causes of pollution.

With these examples, anyone can clearly see that protection of animal rights or for that matter any other cause, is just a cover for real motive behind such campaigns and petitions– and that is destruction of Hindu festivals.

The question is why they are after every Hindu tradition- festival?

The answer lies in one simple reason.

We allowed our education and legal systems to continue the way British used to run it. We did not make any substantial changes to eliminate colonial hangover and inferiority complex from Indian psyche. We are still looking at our own traditions, practices and customs through the eyes of western thinkers. Western colonial prism makes us hate our own traditions in the name of morality.

This fake morality is leading us to a situation where our vibrant, multi faceted and diverse culture will be robbed of every single tradition.

That day is not far, if we do not realize NOW.

Gladwell’s “Talking To Strangers” is strange talk

Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
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Gladwell’s “Talking To Strangers” is strange talk

It was Friday morning. 11.30 a.m. Early 1990s. Justice Prabha Shankar Mishra presiding, with a brother Judge in tow, in the large and spacious fourth court hall of Madras High Court. In a Habeas Corpus petition initiated by concerned parents of a girl alleging that their minor daughter was kidnapped and being forcibly drawn into marriage with a boy, the police had traced the girl and produced her in Court.

The parents were in attendance. Justice Mishra asked his fellow judge to query, in the vernacular. The girl started sobbing and denied that she was a minor. She said she was in love with her neighbour’s son and they had decided to get married. She informed the judges’ that her parents and the boy’s, both, were opposed to it.

The Judges told her that there was no evidence on her age as yet. If she was a minor then she cannot have it her way. The Court needed time to verify her age from documentary proof or medical examination- which may take time, and hence she had to wait before she took the plunge.

In the meanwhile, Justice Mishra said that they were inclined to send the girl with her parents, where she belonged. The girl asked the Judges not to do so, as she feared violence, (honour killing was not in vogue freely then, as now) as both parents’ were against the marriage.

Justice Mishra conversed with his brother Judge and said, “We are truly shocked that this young girl should even think so ill of her parents who had come to court, concerned with her welfare. Maternal instincts have not hardened so much, that a Tamilian mother would conspire against her own daughter’s well being. We feel the girl should be with her parents for a week, until we get clinching proof on her age status.”

Justice Mishra then turned to Mr. S. Sampathkumaar, a senior advocate of respect, with a pious look, in his panchakatcham veshti, and white turban and asked for his advice on this tricky time lag. Sampathkumaar responded, “Mi Lords, you are placed in an unenviable position. The girl is young and looks a minor. I appreciate your reverence for maternal instincts and Tamilian cultural moorings. Honestly, my only concern is- Your lordships’ decision either way, would be dicey and hope the court does not live to regret it. This is Kaliyugam and we may need to err on the side of caution”.

Cleverly, Sampathkumaar avoided making the choice. The litigants were total strangers. He was in no position to judge them on their words and appearances. Justice Mishra and his brother Judge let the girl go with her parents for a week or more.

Alas, within two weeks, reports came in that the girl was badly mauled and permanently disabled from an attack by unidentified assailants, on her way to a temple, with her mother. When the court was put on notice, Bench called Sampathkumaar in, as well. Mishra, “Mr. Sampathkumaar, how could this happen in Tamil Nadu. Where did we go wrong? Are we to feel guilty for sending the girl to her parents, where she belonged? We are shocked beyond disbelief?” Sampathkumaar said, “Mi Lords, in hindsight, it may be easy to take the right call. Day in day out, this court is making decisions as any court is bound to. It is all done in good faith. It is impossible for any of us, in your position, to have decided differently. Your Lordships would recall that I was myself a hypocrite in not giving a straightforward answer. I was happy that I did not have to decide. Factuallz and legally, the court cannot be held responsible for the tragic turn of events. It is singularly regrettable that matters have come to such a pass that we cannot even imagine.”

Upon reading the 2019 work of Malcolm Gladwell (MG), Talking to Strangers (Allen Lane, 387 Pages, Rs.799/-), memories of the above episode came flooding to one’s mind. The Judges were confronted by strangers. As they were and are on a daily basis. They have to trust their instincts. Exposure and experience comes in handy. But even their conscience calls could go awesomely awry.

MG cites the instance of Patrick Dale Walker, who the Judge claimed “showed remorse after he tried to shoot his ex-girl friend and failed when the trigger jammed”, was enlarged on bail, and four months later killed her. So many questions. But no readymade answers. MG is bewildered at the ‘inability of otherwise intelligent and dedicated people to understand when they are being deceived…And the puzzle is that group who were deceived are the ones you’d expect not to be.” MG goes on, “We have CIA officers who cannot make sense of their spies, Judges who cannot make senses of their defendants, and prime ministers who cannot make sense of their adversaries…They struggle with assessing a stranger’s honesty. They struggle with a stranger’s character. They struggle with a stranger’s intent. It’s a mess,” he muses.

MG zeroes in on the only explanation for this mysterious inability. “We have a default to truth: Our operating assumption is that the people we are dealing with are honest”. And then he adds for clarity, “You believe someone not because you have no doubts about them. Belief is not the absence of doubt. You believe someone because you don’t have enough doubts about them”. And then he adds enigma to mystery “the distinction between some doubts and enough doubts is crucial”. Though he identifies characters like Harry Markopolos, who saw Bernie Madoff the international Ponzi fraud for what he was, a decade earlier than the regulators realised late, MG cannot say when ‘some becomes enough’.

Six years it has taken for MG to get back to writing, after his bestsellers’ The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw and David and Goliath, but it has been worth its weight in gold. In between, he indulged in Podcast with Revisionist History, which influence has invaded the Audio version of this book. The story telling of MG is riveting and the characters Sandra Bland, Amanda Knox, Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nassar, Sylvia Path, Queen of Cuba Ana Montes, and a host of others come alive, in ‘Gladwellian style, which has spawned a new genre as Ernest Hemingway’s short, simple, pithy sentences once did’ as a more qualified reviewer puts it.

The redeeming lifeline thrown by MG is “The advantage to human being lies in assuming that strangers are truthful.” He quotes Prof. Tim Levine, “The trade-off between truth-default and the risk of deception is a great deal for us. What we get in exchange for being vulnerable to an occasional lie is efficient communication and social co ordination. It may sound callous, but the price of giving up that strategy is much higher.” Gladwell has inked a serious issue but with no readymade solutions, in a book of unputdownable genre. To let us breathe easy, here is the clincher from Gladwell, “We default to truth- even when that decision carries terrible risks- because we have no choice. Society cannot function otherwise”.

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

Why India needs a Uniform Civil Code

thataditya
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Why India needs a Uniform Civil Code

The whole controversy of the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code got a fresh breath of air after Shiv Sena signaled that BJP is likely to introduce it in the upcoming parliament session. It is to be noted that BJP promised the abrogation of article 370 and the implication of the Uniform Civil Code in their 2019 general elections manifesto. The opposition ridiculed the idea by classifying it as a political gimmick.

Wikipedia defines the Uniform civil code as “the ongoing point of debate regarding the Indian constitution’s mandate to replace personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in India with a common set of rules governing every citizen”. In layman’s terms, UCC refers to the common law that will be applied to every citizen of the nation irrespective of their religion. As of now, there are various laws for different religions like Hindu law acts 1955-56, Muslim personal laws (Shariat) application act 1937, Parsi marriage and divorce act 1936, etc. pertaining to matters of marriage, divorce, property and so on. However, the exception is in the case of Goa which has a functioning Uniform Civil Code.

UCC has a long history. Back to the times when the Indian Constitution was being drafted, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar wanted to include it in the constitution but he cautioned that this couldn’t be done by force. In the constituent assembly when the matter came up for the discussion, Ambedkar vehemently opposed the Muslim leaders who criticized the UCC on the religious grounds. India’s first Prime Minister could be said of the same opinion too. Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to implement UCC too but he felt that in his times, given pre and post-independence war, if they enacted the law then it will cause Muslims to feel insecure. He stated that UCC had his extreme sympathy but the time wasn’t ripe for it. This all resulted in article 44 of the Indian Constitution which states that “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”.

This delay in the implementation of the UCC has contributed a lot to the oppression of women. A classic example may be the Sarala Mudgal versus Union of India case (1995) in which a lady complains that after 30 years of marriage her husband converted to Islam and married another lady without giving divorce to her. According to Islamic Personal Law, a person can have as many as four wives at the same time. There are other similar cases too resulting in the persecution of the women.

At times and again, the Supreme Court of India has reminded the government to bring in the UCC. Recently on 14 September, a Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said that the government has done nothing to bring in the Uniform Civil Code. The apex court cited the example of Goa where the Uniform Civil Code applies to everyone.

Upon being asked about the Uniform Civil Code, Former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that it is not a bad idea. Unfortunately, unlike him, many of his fellow Congressmen are not very pleased with the idea. They allege that the BJP is Anti-Muslim and is trying to harass Muslims through the implication of the Uniform Civil Code. Ironically, by going through the same definition of “anti-muslim” the Supreme Court of India and the muse of the Congress party Jawaharlal Nehru would fall in the same category as they also supported the Uniform Civil Code. On the closing note, political parties should rise above the appeasement politics, which is very unlikely, and should unite at least when the matter is of the welfare of the nation.

When ignorance and illiteracy sandwich Shri Rahul Gandhi

S Ranganathan
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When ignorance and illiteracy sandwich Shri Rahul Gandhi

Cheap and illiterate politics of the dynast of the congress party is not only hurting India but also is hurting the age old national party in India called Indian National Congress.

Soon after the Nobel Prize in economics was announced and one of the recipients of the award is an Indian, Abhijit Banerjee, before even congratulate him and express our pride over his victory, the dynast Raghul Gandhi tweets and wants to drag him to his dirty politics by saying he only framed NYAY for the party. Just to tell people about his association with the Nobel laureate to score some browning point during election season he drags the Nobel laureate.

People of India are extremely curious to know from Rahul Gandhi whether he would also show the same level of zeal and zest to say Mr. Christian Mitchel, the middleman in Augusta Westland was also associated with his family and party? Will Rahul Gandhi admit his party’s association with many other scamsters and looters like Nirva Modi with him he gave a photo shoot which was revealed by none other than his onetime close aid, Sheshzad Poonawalla. 

Recently one article was appeared in ‘The Print’ under the title “Three reasons Sonia Gandhi should make one last sacrifice for congress”,

In the article, it is said that one very prominent and important congress leader close to the pariwar has said that Sonia Gandhi must abdicate her putramoh (abysmal love for her son to become PM and president of congress party) and only then the party would survive.  Will the dynast Rahul Gandhi proudly admit that the congress leader who made such statement is also closely associated with him?

According to the essence of the article published in the ‘The print’, Sonia Gandhi is going the way the blind Dridarastra has gone in Mahabharata, with his wretched son Duryodhana and his brother-in-law Shakuni.

What ails India today is the dynastic politics, politics of negativity, nepotism, corruption and sycophancy. Like an immature child, the dynast is trying to make claims even on the Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee. Thanks, Raghul Gandhi did not say he only guided Abhijit Banerjee to get such prize.

Would the dynast Rahul Gandhi also admit the truth that his party when was in power in 1983 had arrested Abhijit Banerjee and put him in Tihar jail for 10 days?

The dynast may remain un-teachable but why no congress men are willing to learn their lesson and limit the services of the dynast as sparingly as possible and limit his exposure as the face of the congress party election hour and avoid disgrace and embracement to the party.  Neither proper political wisdom, nor civility and decency in public discourse are known to the dynast. The dynast is seriously affected by the disease called Modi-phobia and whatever he sees around him he believes, are the creation of Modi and hence he constantly criticize Modi. This is how Mr. Arvid Kejriwal of AAP, once behaved.

The dynast must realize the truth that the doldrums that we face today in our economy is due to the rampant corruption and NPA of UPA. Our banks were looted in the name of giving loan to several rich business men in the name of loan mela, UPA has ruined our economy. Today Modi is working overtime to recover the money that got looted, prosecute all those offenders and even the dynast is facing litigation in National Herald money laundering case and is on bail.

The recent media revelations show a close link between Mumbai blast mastermind Dawood Ibrahim and the prominent leader of NCP – Praful Patel. Will the dynast take pride in saying his party too had such affiliations? People of India are not fools.  People are experiencing a different India, vibrant India and India with less corruption in bureaucracy and in politics, there is no policy paralysis, most of the departments are responsible and accountable, there is no nepotism, promotion of dynastic politics and sycophancy.

People of India must stay united under our great cultural and traditional identity called Hinduism, must render unconditional support Modi to make India great, honest and corruption free.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa lived by example so is Modi, mission Swacch Bharat in Mahabalipuram

S Ranganathan
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Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa lived by example so is Modi, mission Swacch Bharat in Mahabalipuram

Billions and billions of people across the world in general and in India, in particular worship, adore and support PM Modi mainly because the world has so far not seen such an honest person like Modi in politics. Modi is not only honest but also leads people by setting example though his own life and by actions. He walks the talk. Governing India is not that easy even with thumbing majority. In fact India needs a benevolent dictator than decent democracy because our sacred culture and tradition has not fully embraced all Indians under one umbrella called Bharatiya due to several regional forces play negative role against such unity of diversity.

PM Modi was the second leader next to Mahatma Gandhi to promote and popularize Swachh Bharat mission, sensitising people about its importance, building crores of toilets to poor people in villages and proving them drinking water facility etc.

Our health and economy always go together with our responsibility and commitment to protect our environment and hygiene living. PM Modi not only inspired but also has enthused people to partner in Swachh Bharat mission and inspired people to keep the mind also clean from corrupt thoughts and deeds by initiating tireless war against corruption, scam and nepotism in bureaucracy and politics.

The responsibility and sensitivity shown by PM Modi in engaging directly in cleaning the beach in Mahabalipuram by collecting all plastic wastes on the shore has really touched and moved even the hearts and minds of those who live just to abuse and criticize Modi and do it as their only profession.

It was told that once a boy was brought by his mother to Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and requested Swamiji to advise her son not to consume lots of sweet, Ramskrishna Paramahansa told the mother to bring her son the next day. On next day Swamiji has advised the boy not to eat lots of sweet. Out of surprise and curiosity, the mother had asked Swamiji why the same advice he did not give the previous day. To her doubt, Swamiji has told that he too had taken some sweet the last day and hence he was not morally right to offer such advice to her son the previous day. Only when we practice, we should preach was the logic of Swamiji.

The present generation has not seen Ramakrishan Paramahansa but have heard a lot about him and his student Swami Vivekananda. But PM Modi has re-lived through the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa through his action by collecting all plastic wastes from Mahabalipuram beach when came to receive and have an informal meet with the president of China.

PM Modi is a leader of uncommon honesty, simplicity, commitment and decisiveness. People believe, love, adore and support Modiji because he walks the talk and never engage in hollow promises or political rhetoric and semantics.

If we analyse why Modi is different from most of the other political leaders in the opposition? The answer is simple. Modi follows the great tradition of India in letter and spirit, believes in theory of karma, follow the paths of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna paramahansa, Ramana Maharshi etc.

Modi is focusing on development, progress and success. When people develop and enjoy the luxury of the present day materialist life and comforts, people also must grow spiritually and only they become socially and societally responsible, can do lots of good to people below poverty line and make the nation collectively progressive. Hinduism believes in two separate state of being such as jeevathma and paramatma. PM Modi is the example for paramathma in paramathma as he believes in sab ka vikas, wellness, wealth and boundless joy of everyone in the world.

Like Lord Ram, Lord Krishna who too had to face several abuses and criticism. Today many opposition parties who lost their purpose and objective of looting the nation by coming to power and appease minority to divide the society so that their political capital is always safe, are abusing and criticising Modi.

Time has come people of India must stay together by re-tracing our cultural identity and must support Modi unconditionally to save India from several corrupt, dynastic forces and break India team. Stable India, strong India and decisive India need a stable and majority government.  Good government by a true leader needs no opposition like God and godliness to exist we do not need ghost or evil forces.  Good and God are not the counter or anti-product of bad and evil.

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