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क्या मोदी का, ”हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद” एक यथार्थ है?

Raviraj Sahu
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क्या मोदी का, ”हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद” एक यथार्थ है?

वर्तमान समय की राजनीति का दौर RSS और लेफ्ट की विचारधारा के मध्य संघर्षों का है, लेकिन इसी के साथ ही लेफ्ट के बहुत ही नजदीक और RSS से मीलो दूर की एक विचारधारा होती है जिसे हम ”सेक्युलरिज्म” कहते है और लोग 2014 के बाद से अधिकतर बीजेपी और आरएसएस पर यह आरोप लगाते है कि इनकी विचारधारा से सेक्युलरिज्म खतरे में आ गया है, ”ये भारत को एक हिन्दू राष्ट्र, हिंदुत्व की विचारधारा फैला रहे है, राष्ट्रवाद का पाठ पढ़ा रहे है।”

वैसे इन तथाकथित बुद्धिजीवियों ने प्रधानमंत्री जी या आरएसएस के तथाकथित विचारधारा का सिर्फ एक ही पक्ष देखा है, जोकि उनके एजेंडो के लिए फायदे मंद भी होता है, परन्तु उन्होंने उनकी विचारधारा के सकारात्मक पक्षो को नकार दिया, क्योकि इससे उनकी तथाकथित बुद्धिजीविता खतरे में पड़ सकती है।

वस्तुतः अगर हम मान भी लेते है कि प्रधानमंत्रीजी ने अपनी हिंदुत्व की विचारधारा को बढ़ावा दिया है तो उसके परिणाम और फायदे भी सकारात्मक दिखे है।

वस्तुतः हिंदुत्व की विचारधारा बढ़ाने से जो हिन्दू जातियो में विभाजित थे वो धर्म के नाम पर इकठ्टे हुए, उच्च जाति से लेकर अनुसूचित जाति के लोग भी एक ही झंडे के नीचे नज़र आये जो 2014 में बीजेपी के विजय का एक प्रमुख कारण भी रहा।

इसी क्रम में बढ़ते हुए अगर उनके राष्ट्रवाद की चरम विचारधारा का अध्यन करे तो आप पाएंगे कि अलग-अलग धर्मो, राज्यो, भाषाओं, संस्कृतियों और विचारधाराओ का संगम राष्ट्रवाद के रूप में हुआ और पुलवामा हमले का जवाब बालाकोट एयर स्ट्राइक से दिए जाने के बाद राष्ट्रवाद की भावना चरम पर पहुँच गयी जिसका परिणाम 2019 के लोकसभा चुनाव में बीजेपी की अविश्वसनीय विजय थी।

वर्तमान के परिदृश्य को देखे तो जम्मू और कश्मीर से धारा 370 हटाने के बाद भी अगर मुस्लिम बाहुल्य कश्मीर घाटी में शांति है और वो हिंदुत्ववादी मोदीजी पर भरोसा कर रहे है तो इसका भी बड़ा कारण ये मोदी जी का राष्ट्रवाद है और उन्हें मोदीजी में किसी फ़र्ज़ी सेकुलरिज्म की छवि नही नजर आती जो उन्हें पहले की सरकारों में नज़र आती थी और साथ ही उनकी राष्ट्रवादी छवि उनके मन में विश्वास जागृत कर रहा है।

Tracing economic aspect of Pakistan’s U-turn over its nuclear attack warning to India

ankitsuman07
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Tracing economic aspect of Pakistan’s U-turn over its nuclear attack warning to India

On Monday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan took a fresh U-turn over his prior warning to India of a nuclear attack. Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan has repeatedly talked about the nuclear shadow hovering over the south Asian region. However, on Monday, he made the following statement “There will be no first from our side ever”. His remarks came on the back of earlier statements talking about the threat of a nuclear war in South Asia.

Well, one can easily tell that this U-turn might have come after Modi’s effective diplomatic foreign and defence policies but here’s an economic aspect too. This economic crisis in Pakistan is killing its people intensively and obviously, Pakistan’s immediate problem is not Kashmir but its dying economy.

The recent data shared by the Ministry of Finance of Pakistan, tells us that the first year of Pakistan’s Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) government has led its economy into a drain. Each and every newspaper, media house, scholars who are covering this data may easily tell that there are zero improvements in the dying economy of Pakistan.

In the last year, the country’s GDP has consistently declined also the fiscal deficit has grown fast. Though the fiscal deficit was already at its height by the Year 2017, and the PTI government has also done nothing, apart from distracting people from the real issues. By the start of the Financial year 2018-19, the government has had aimed to bring the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent from 6.6 per cent of 2017.

Moreover, the revenues plummeted while expenditures remained at the same level they were at the previous year when expressed as a percentage of GDP. In absolute terms, however, expenditures broke previous records while revenues were stagnant. As a result, the fiscal deficit, which is the difference between revenues and expenditures of the federal government, came in at a record 8.9 per cent of GDP.

This scenario takes us to a conclusion that even if the government has invested and has increased the expenditure, why does the revenue remains stagnant? It definitely means that the Pakistani government needs to concentrate on it.

Also, the very boasting of its defence strategy is not working in pro of the nation. The defence expenditures of this nation have increased in comparison to the year 2017, which doesn’t give them a worth benefit as its contribution in GDP is 3% which is same as the year 2017-18, I.e. unchanged. Now in this condition, if Pakistan goes for war, it will definitely die in the mid only, as it doesn’t have enough money to survive.

“I have never seen such a high fiscal deficit in my career,” said Dr Ashfaque Hassan Khan, the former economic adviser and now dean of the business school at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), He contends the increase in discount rate under the IMF program contributed about Rs1,110 billion to the interest payments, including Rs. 1,020 billion on domestic debt and around Rs 90 billion on external debt.

Secondly, he attributed the devaluation of the exchange rate to the problem, claiming “it also added about Rs3.2 trillion to the public debt. When interest payments go up, so does current expenditure and total expenditure”.

Just as the defence sector, the tax revenue has also remained unchanged, also without making any contribution to its company’s GDP. Rather it has fallen to 11.6 per cent from 13 per cent in 2017-18. The non-tax revenue has also fallen to Rs. 427 billion from Rs 760 billion in 2017-18.

Of course, the credit for increment in Pakistan’s fiscal deficit should be given to the Modi government too (to some extent) as the major jump Pakistani economy took towards the drain in the last quarter of the financial year 2018-19. By June 2019, the government had targeted to stop it’s country’s fiscal deficit at 7.1 per cent but due to Kashmir issue.

Why Chetan Bhagat is so very wrong on Kashmir

Prasenjeet Kumar
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Why Chetan Bhagat is so very wrong on Kashmir

Sometime back, I stumbled upon Chetan Bhagat’s article in the Economic Times on Kashmir titled, “Restoring normalcy in Kashmir: How to take J&K to the point where the internet need never be blocked again.”

To be frank, I was thankful that this eminently readable piece was a refreshing change from those usual India-bashing articles on Kashmir that galore on the internet on websites like The Wire, Scroll, the Quint, the Print (gosh these names really do rhyme, like in some bad poetry!) or the Hindu. But that’s expected from an author of Chetan Bhagat’s eminence.

I also agreed with Chetan when he says, “To not have the internet to book tickets, send emails or communicate with friends/ relatives/ business associates/ customers would play havoc with a person’s quality of life.” I run an online business myself, with all my books selling worldwide on platforms like Amazon, Apple, and Google Play. I was there in Kashmir in 2016 when the Burhan Wani protests had broken out and the consequent internet restrictions had thrown my business totally out of gear. I have no hesitation, therefore, to empathise with all affected residents of J&K (and not just Kashmiris) on this issue.

Although I need to also underline that internet shutdown isn’t peculiar to Kashmir. Sri Lanka had done the same after those ghastly April 2019 church bombings that killed over three hundred people. France (a secular, democratic country by the way) did the same after every Paris bombing. Jan Rydzak, a research scholar at Stanford University’s Global Digital Policy Incubator has documented 400 to 450 cases of such internet blackouts since 2011, and from Ethiopia and Venezuela to India and Iraq.

Coming back to Chetan, I was glad, he is not screaming human rights violations as some other media outlets (both Indian and Western) and the do-gooders of the left-liberal kind are wont to. He mentions the Burhan Wani protest and how a hundred people got killed in its wake. Bhagat concludes that “the Indian state may have had little choice. There is context, and precedents from the recent past.” So far so good.

Where I truly disagree with Chetan Bhagat is on the solutions, he proposes to help bring normalcy in Kashmir. He talks about offering employment to Kashmiris, and “orders”, “Offer employment to almost all Kashmiri youth who need it. Move government call centres there, open new ski resorts or build more infrastructure.” No harm in offering employment to the needy, but why restrict it to only Kashmiris? Also, when you wish to fool around with public money, shouldn’t selections happen based on merit and not on nepotism, fabulous political connections, or your stone throwing capabilities?

Certainly, I’m not a fan of Nyay-Scheme-type of government jobs. I’m glad that Article 370 has been abrogated. And now private sector companies, from India or abroad, can set up their businesses in Kashmir leading to more job opportunities. Which brings me to the point where I disagree with Chetan Bhagat the most.

He suggests “a retrospective immunity and amnesty ‘clean slate’ scheme for all militants and their sympathisers. A new date can be announced, after which certain activities—stone pelting, taking up arms, joining militant organisations, circulating terror related content—would become serious crimes. You won’t be hounded for your past, but you will have to behave in the future.”

Sadly, and I don’t know whether Chetan knows this, this has more or less been the official government policy from Muftis’ days till now. The same frustrating, idiotic suggestion that stone- pelters throw stones because they don’t have jobs. You forget how many of Burhan Wani’s sympathisers were actually government employees, doctors, Ph.D. students or professors at Kashmir University. You forget what Zakir Musa had said —that when Kashmiris pick up stones, they do so for Islam. And you forget (how very conveniently) that both Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa were not fighting to get Kashmiris employed in government service but to openly usher in the Islamic Caliphate Rule in Kashmir.

But coming back to jobs, I wonder if Chetan Bhagat realises that he has just turned stone-pelting into a job criterion. Just imagine two Kashmiris: one, who remained pro-India, studied hard and got his degrees, and the other, who is pro-Pakistan/pro-azaadi, never attended classes and his only achievement is that he’s quite an athlete when it comes to throwing stones. Guess who gets the job as per Chetan Bhagat’s suggestions? Obviously, the stone-pelter because we need to save him from the clutches of Pakistan/Jihadis. Does he know that any number of Kashmiri killers (like Yasin Malik or Usman Majid) were allowed to join mainstream politics with many like Usman Majid even becoming a government minister? Has he heard of the terrorist going by the name Javed Nalka because he was a plumber in the government’s water supply department (called PHE in J&K)? But those who neither throw stones nor pick up guns nor show any disloyalty to India should get nothing. Is that justice?

Do you think following Chetan’s prescriptions, we can ever confront the real problem? Can we? It’s no surprise that Kashmiris are still picking up stones and shouting anti-India slogans. It is no surprise that internet needs to be shut down to maintain peace and order. Because the problem has never been the dearth of jobs (who started this myth?). It’s not about poverty either or homelessness or destitution because an average Kashmiri is wealthier than your average Bihari, Bengali, or Oriya. Remember Adil Ahmed Dar, the famous suicide bomber who blew himself up killing 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama? Not even once did he mention his desire to get a government job. Instead he ranted about killing cow-piss drinkers, and praised Islam, Allah and afterlife.

And if this line of reasoning is not clear, I would like to ask all those who advocate poverty-is-the-root-cause-of-terrorism this question: If you ever unfortunately lost your job, will you throw stones, disrupt traffic, force shops to shut down, or blow yourself up in a Pulwama-kind of suicide operation? Will you? Does that even make sense?

Stone-pelters should be dealt with, exactly the same way you would deal with them in any other part of the country. How do you deal with them, for example, in Mumbai in Chetan’s neighbourhood? Do you offer them government jobs on a platter or do you let the law take its own course?

The rest of his article I’m rushing through. He talks about doles and reservation for Kashmiris (for a limited time, of course). Chetan Bhagat thinks he’s being practical. But if you really want to solve the problem of employment, I say, make it merit based, as it is everywhere else, except in Kashmir. Bhagat’s books do not sell because he’s politically connected but because his readers love his books. That should be the mantra for employment too.

Chetan Bhagat believes that unemployment is the root cause of radicalisation. That’s an incredibly, fundamentally flawed assumption. Ask those, the likes of Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa, azaadi ka matlab kya? And the unabashed answer, as you know, would be La ilahi il-lil-lah. Or a State governed by the rule of Allah. An Islamic Caliphate. So, let me ask this question: How can jobs successfully challenge the narrative for preferring an Islamic Kashmir to the exclusion of all other communities and faiths?  Forget about challenging this narrative, right now we are mis-diagnosing the disease and prescribing the wrong treatment.

Kashmiris have for long been brainwashed by Pakistani sponsored mullahs and politicians for decades. They’re told that a country governed by the rule of Allah will solve all their problems—both in this life as well as in the afterlife. Unless we challenge this narrative, emphasising on the horrors of ISIS imposed Sharia in Syria and elsewhere, we cannot fight this battle. We’ll keep on breeding more Burhan Wanis and Zakir Musas and keep coming up with quick fixes of killing the internet.

And if you truly want to understand the horrors of the Islamic Caliphate, please feel free to read  “Kashmir Thinks It’s Free,” a dystopian novel where Kashmir finally becomes “free” and is then ruled by ISIS.

Chetan Bhagat’s last point is: “Despite naysayers, Kashmir can and will be integrated into India. Kashmiris and other Indians have enough cultural ties. Indian tourists have been constant visitors over the past few decades. India is already a diverse, melting pot country.”

I’m afraid that the dominant narrative in Kashmir is that—Kashmir was never a part of India and will never be. Decades have been spent in carefully crafting this narrative. Kashmir’s glorious Hindu past has been erased from their history text books. We know a lot about the Mughal Emperor Akbar but can anyone tell me when did we last hear about Lalitaditya, the great Kashmiri conqueror whose reign extended from the Caspian Sea to Assam?

On the other hand, Kashmiris are fed that their culture is basically Central Asian. That Kashmiris are descendants of Uzbeks, Kazaks, Tajiks, and so on. Nothing can be farther from the truth. I’ve been to Uzbekistan and (while I admire Uzbekistan for all its architectural beauty and culture) Kashmir has no similarity whatsoever with Uzbekistan. Certainly not in cuisine, which is so superior to whatever I could eat in Samarkand and Bukhara.

Thirdly, the demographic change of Kashmir was carefully planned. 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus had been driven out in the early 1990s (the horrors of which I’ve attempted to capture in my book You Can’t Kill My Love: A Kashmir Holocaust Love Story). Why? Because the Islamists knew that Hindus were the last link that connected Kashmir to India. Once chased out, they knew no government in India will be able to bring them back.

And lastly, just because Indian tourists visit Kashmir does not make Kashmir a part of India. Pretty much like Britain or France or Thailand which are all so very popular with Indian tourists.

So, unless and until, we challenge this narrative of an Islamic Kashmir “ruled by the might of Allah which had no connection to India,” we’ll continue to have mass killings and internet shutdowns. No matter how many stone-pelters you try to employ in the government.

झूठा इतिहास सेक्युलर और वामपंथियों द्वारा

pulkitkaul
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झूठा इतिहास सेक्युलर और वामपंथियों द्वारा

दो कौड़ी के वामपंथी और जिहादी प्रोफेसर हिन्दुओं को आर्यन बताकर विदेशी बताने में लगे रहे लेकिन ये नहीं बोल पाए- इस्लाम अरब देश में उपजा और इसका भारत से कोई सम्बन्धी नहीं।

मुग़लों को तो अपनी आँखों का तारा बना दिया, लेकिन समुद्रगुप्त को साम्राज्यवादी लिख दिया। नेहरू अंग्रेज़ों की भीख पर ही भारत के अंतरिम प्रधानमंत्री बने लेकिन अंग्रेज़ों से मिले होने का सारा दोष आरएसएस पर डाल दिया।

जवहारलाल नेहरू को ब्रिटिश शासन प्रणाली बहुत पसंद थी और याद रखे 1929 से पहले कांग्रेस के मुख्य नेता पूर्ण स्वराज की बात नहीं करते थे।

तिलक और मदनमोहन मालवीय जैसे नेता जो अंग्रेज़ों के विरुद्ध खुलकर बोलते थे और अंग्रेज़ों की मार खाते थे इन्हें पार्टी में सही जगह नहीं मिली।

1991 में उदारीकरण और वैश्वीकरण की ओर बढ़ना आर्थिक सुधार नहीं था बल्कि IMF द्वारा थोपी गयी शर्तें थीं।

राजीव गाँधी, इंदिरा गाँधी ने प्रधानमंत्री रहते हुए देश के कोष को खाली कर दिया और भारत को अपना सोना बैंक ऑफ़ इंग्लैंड और बैंक ऑफ़ स्विट्ज़रलैंड में गिरवी रखना पड़ा था।

आजतक 1991 हमे आर्थिक सुधर के रूप में पढ़ाया जा रहा है।

मैं हिन्दू हूँ, इसलिए भारत और सनातन संस्कृति के पक्ष में बोलता हूँ। ये वामपंथी हिन्दू नाम रखकर हिन्दुओं के विरूद्ध बोलते है. प्रश्न इनसे होना चाहिए ये किस विदेशी संस्था के एजेंट है?

Sources
https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/culture/story/romila-thapar-s-new-book-is-about-the-cultures-in-india-1202265-2018-04-01

On 1991 reform
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indian_economic_crisis

New India; asserting its place in world

OliveGreens09
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New India; asserting its place in world

Narendra Modi, in G7 summit at Biarritz, France made it absolutely clear during his bilateral meeting with the American President Donald Trump that his misguided attempts at mediation in the aftermath of the the Abrogation of Article 370, were not welcome. The language used by the Prime Minister was Hindi and the impact of his statement when translated was revealing, India has walked a long way from 1947, 1965, 1971 and the Kargil misadventure by Pakistan army. The hurried acceptance by the American President of the new equation was evident from Trump’s opening statement which precluded any intervention or mediation by any of the World powers in Kashmir. Interestingly, the Americans realised the fact that it is not the India of yore, when world powers could bully it to accept the terms laid down by emasculated UNSC which was nothing but an extension of the American Superpower status. But, Donald Trump has always bitten more than he can chew.

His bullying of China, his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement, his threatening India on trade issues, withdrawal from Climate Change Agreement, all has been hyped by his supporters in the US. However, he overplayed his hand in his ambitious attempt at meddling in Kashmir. Many strategists believe that Narendra Modi preempted the fallout of the US pullout from Afghanistan and its turning a blind eye to the potential threat which India faces from the rejuvenated Taliban and the Pakistani Deep State, the ISI and the Jihadi groups operated by ISI. Pakistan, in recent months has again played its Daggers and Bouquets game to the hilt. American President is a consummate businessman and does his business well, he knows that Pakistan is the key to his negotiations with the Taliban, with re elections looming large he is keen to wrap up some kind of a pullout from Afghanistan before the elections.

Donald Trump believes in the disruptive power to further negotiations, his methodology has been similar ranging from North Korea, Iran, China, Pakistan, he hasn’t shied away from offending his neighbours, both Canada and Mexico, neither has he any compunctions in blasting his NATO allies. His attempt at invoking his mediation effort in presence of Imran Khan was to push India into a corner while trying to salvage his Taliban deal where Pakistani Deep State is the biggest stakeholder. Trump has generally done away with diplomatic niceties often relying on his sole superpower status and his disruptive powers to force negotiations. He did alright with the Kim but the Iranians and the Chinese aren’t enamoured by his tactics.

It is here that Narendra Modi has set global discourse with his aggressive positioning of India as being different from the past. The Prime Minister has been relentless in his pursuit for equality among the World Powers. Strategists are watching the new approach very closely, Modi had stared down the Chinese in the Doklam Standoff, not that it has any strategic gains but it impressed many in the Western Capitals. His ordering first of Surgical Strikes in response to Uri Attack by Pakistan supported Jihadis, second, the Balakot Airstrikes reinforced the image Modi had been trying to project. India does not believe in infructous dialogue with Pakistan nor is he accommodative of external intervention in matters which are internal and bilateral. India, one of the leading though developing economies has the heft to pull its weight when it matters.

The latest flashpoint has been the abrogation of Article 370. Pakistan has upped the ante, threatening nuclear war, pleading at the same time in the UN, espousing support for its cause with the OIC or the Organisation of Islamic Countries, trying its time tested ally in China besides seeking support of the Sunni figureheads in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Interestingly, none of the all weather friends, fellow travellers in Sunni theocracies have supported the shrill attempts to internationalise Kashmir by Pakistan. Except for Turkey and a couple of Balkan Muslim nations none have even given much credence to the usual rants. Pakistan is in an overdrive to make Kashmir the focal point of all bilateral disputes between India and Pakistan. It has wagered all against none, without realising that the abrogation was an internal matter. Parliament of India had passed this legislation when it felt that it was a requirement and it is the Parliament of India which has repealed the same with absolute majority in both the houses of the Parliament. For reminder, it was a Temporary provision of the Constitution.

The manner in which this piece of archaic legislation was repealed was a masterpiece in political manoeuvring by the government. Except for the Congress, DMK and some fringe no party could oppose the Reorganisation Bill on J&K.

India has very astutely worked out the international community and the powers that be on this very important issue, especially in light of the fact that Pakistan has more than often made Kashmir an issue of life and death, linking its survival to the question of Kashmir being part of Pakistan and fulfil its deepest wound of the Partition when the Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir decided to accede to India.

The fact that Indian Parliament has so speedily consigned Article 370 to the Dustbins of History has taken the World with surprise. World was resigned to the fact that Kashmir cannot be solved by any Indian government after initially messing it up by taking it to the UN , then accepting a UN resolution on a Plebiscite. Not realising that Article 370 was an internal piece of legislation and it could be repealed anytime, it was only a matter of time. Pakistan, is not really worrying about Kashmir, or IoK as it calls but the fear of India staking aggressive military claims to the Northern Areas is giving Pakistan sleepless nights. The Army which decides the Fate of Pakistan is caught between the Devil and the Deep Sea, it is good at Sabre Rattling and that’s what it is doing right now. Raising the spectre of a War over Kashmir between two nuclear armed nations, a constant blackmailing ploy employed by Pakistan, it was done in the heat of Kargil, but the leadership in India called off this bluff and forced a complete withdrawal of Pakistan forces behind the LoC.

Already certain influential thinkers, former naval chief and the now the Defence Minister has hinted changes in No First Strike Doctrine. The nuclear bluff being called off with defined policy is again a reflection on the way India wants to project and protect itself from any misadventure by any hostile force. India has the credibility of being a responsible Nuclear Power and the World believes that it will behave as one. That is not the case of Pakistan, its links to North Korea, China, Iran and its links to the most dreaded Islamic Terror Organisations make it vulnerable to blackmail or even forcible takeover of Nuclear weapons by Rogue organisations within Pakistan. This too has tilted the scales of balance in favour of India.

However, there is a long way to go before we can safely assume that Kashmir is restored to normalcy. Indian economic heft, military strength and diplomatic acumen notwithstanding, it is inclusiveness which shall restore normalcy and make Pakistan irrelevant. Until then, the Nation needs the best commitment of its People.

Listen to us as well

ANSH CHOWDHARI
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Listen to us as well

I’m a Dogra, a not much known entity of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is, we Dogras who have kept the flame of Nationalism lit brightly in this state, even during those difficult years in early nineties. Since independence, we Dogras have played a pivotal role in the development of this state by keeping the idea of INDIA alive at the expense of losing our own worth and dignity but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. We have been instrumental in keeping the state intact. Even before Independence, If it wasn’t for the Dogras and its soldiers, the state would have had a different fate altogether.

But, sadly the narrative that has ruled our conscience since long has largely been Kashmir centric, for the region of Jammu always playing a second fiddle to the former. The recent abrogation of Article 370 and the consequent reorganization of the state has given voice to the oppressed and marginalized. Had the power elites ever understood the pain and agony of a single mother who wasn’t able to transfer her property to her children just because she was married to a non JKiian? Or the throes a person whose children were not getting admissions into the government educational institutions. No, they didn’t .They rather considered it as an extended ‘liability’ shrouded under the garb of  triviality.

The abrogation of 35A has ushered in an era of equality, liberty and fraternity as was espoused by the ideals of French Revolution. I don’t understand as to how one can justify the discrimination of women, Jammu based Schedule Castes, Gurkhas and West Pak Refugees, who braved the tribal brutalities in 194, and that too in the world’s largest democracy. They’d have heaved a euphoric sigh of relief after braving 72 year long incessant state sponsored discrimination.

This decision of Indian government was passed by our Parliament wholeheartedly, reflecting the ingenuity and willingness of the Indian state to ameliorate the oppressed and the downtrodden. The move, in no way, sought to harass the Muslims of the state, as is being claimed by Pakistan. For another, the move aimed to curtail the hold of separatists and secessionists riding on the gravy trains of Pakistan and ISI, who were threatening the security of India by instigating the gullible Kashmiris for Aazadi using the tag of Islam and Jihad. These machinations of Pakistan were unbearable, so it became pertinent to nip those devious tendencies in the bud itself.
The cultural ethos of J&K, in particular and India in general have always been all inclusive and secular, stemming from the age old idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (World is our Family). Hence, no claim of Muslim persecution can be held true, given India has second largest Muslim population in the world with the highest number of mosques. But, on the contrary it’s the Pakistan that has persecuted its minorities and the forced killings and conversions of Hindus, Sikhs,Christians, Ahmadis etc is well documented.  As a matter of fact, the proportion of Hindus in Pakistan has plopped by 12% since independence. Under what moral precept, Pakistan carries the gumption to lecture India on minorities and Human Rights, when its own backyard is facing for Pakistani Army’s brutality.
Broadly speaking, the Indian government has killed two birds with one stone. It has brought the discriminated into the mainstream and gave voice to Dogras, Ladakhis, Gujjaras and Bakerwals. But, sadly what finds recognition at the international level is the voice of Kashmiris. What about another half the population of the state that has overwhelmingly welcomed this decision. They have termed it as an undoing of a historic blunder to give justice. But, no international media will highlight such stories, for anything except Kashmir is untouchable for them. For them, the state starts and ends with the Kashmir. Jammu, virtually has no representation. Surprisingly, many in the Indian media as well refer to the state as ‘KASHMIR’, which is factually incorrect, for Kashmir is just a 15% territory of this state.
It is, Jammu which has freed herself from the shackles of Kashmiri hegemony and is now free to chart it’s own developmental agenda in line with the region’s aspirations and cumulative will. Well, in the short run, we shouldn’t be expecting much  of the windfall to be accruing from this restructuring but in the medium as well as long term, gains will surely be highlighted. But, in the meantime, it’s necessary that we fill the prevailing chasm between the two regions and work for development and peace.
Now, the onus lies upon the residents to bring normalcy and peace back to the state. The government has already lifted communications blackout and landlines are functional in the whole state,barring few patches. 99% of the state is out of curfew. The 3 civilians who lost their lives during this period were killed by the terrorists and stone pelters. But, the propaganda machinery has overlooked all these facts and in turn, has brought grist to the Pakistani mill. It’s therefore, necessary that the world understand J&K from a perspective that is not Kashmiri and as Chinua Achebe says “If you only hear one side of the story,you have no understanding at all”

Gujarat knows the pulse and soul of business and economy- Common man see Indian economy is robust under Modi Govt

S Ranganathan
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Gujarat knows the pulse and soul of business and economy- Common man see Indian economy is robust under Modi Govt

Recently the congress party has launched a defective space jet with the former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh to attack PM Modi for ruining the economy. The opposition parties are constantly engaged in spreading canard propaganda and fear among people that India’s economy is in a bad state.

The truth is far from those political heralding of congress party and other tukde tukde gangs which wants to fuel despair and fear among people. India had undergone a major structural reform starting from drug price control to demonetization to implementation of GST under one tax one India principle to enactment of IBC code and bringing NCLT to linking Aadhar and PAN with all purchases to investigation and recovery of NPA to initiate fair legal actions against all those corrupts who looted India indeed, all of them have collectively shaken the lethargic, callous political establishment.

India was down in shame with waves of corruption allegations such as 2G, Aircel Maxis, Coal block scam, CWG, Adharsh etc under UPA and UPA 2. But Narendra Modi has not only corrected the economy but is also rebuilding the new Image of great India from total ruin caused by UPA.

Let us analyse a few examples of some of the reforms to ask whether such reforms are needed and if so, should we not accept the short term side effects due to such reform measures as necessary evil?

The drug price control was implemented by Modi government to stop over pricing of drugs and leeching the blood of poor people by pharmacy companies. Similarly the government also brought stringent norms for bringing the treatment cost as many of the so called experts, specialists and super specialists were looting the poor people by selling fear and anxiety over their health problem. When the above norms were introduced, some of the pharma companies looting the people were bound to hit badly and either they must stop doing the same or must shut down the show if looting alone is known to them.

The inability to comply with the new law or conscious and advertent unwillingness to comply with the new norm has indeed affected the market to a small extent. But the initiatives of PM Modi to bring reforms in our health care sector were inevitable and therefor the transient slump is imminent.

The new automobile vehicle amendment act is going to curb the unlicensed driving and or the use of unlicensed vehicle by the habitual offenders. As a consequence, the sale of motor cycle can diminish for the time being. Many habitual offenders are in all likelihood are going to accuse the government for the above stringent law. The new law and its implications to the economy cannot be attributed as bad economic policy of the present dispensation. Similarly the electric vehicle proposal is also hurting the current automobile industry to some extent but electric vehicle are must to prevent pollution and petrol consumption.

Linking of Aadhaar and PAN has really limited many looters and scamsters to loot the public exchequer as the money they find it difficult to convert as white. Any such effort is if made, they will have to disclose the source which would put them in great peril. As a result of the above, big ticket scams have reduced. Earlier the money obtained through illegal means were coming to the market only to returns to the scamster as white money but now such possibility has comedown which has caused a slump in the market. This slump is not real slump or due to wrong economic policy of Modi government.

The implementation of GST has indeed eased the business but the unwillingness coupled with inability and helplessness of several micro and small business enterprises catering some services to big manufacturing units has indeed caused some trouble. Such slump is quite transient and we should not define the above slump as part of wrong economic policy.

NPA was a major worry for our economy and UPA 1 and 2 had gifted heavy financial debt to our banking sector due to wrong policy, including possible corruption, kickbacks and political mismanagement which PM Modi is correcting brick by brick.  The economic instability that our country is facing today is due to the NPA gifted to our nation by UPA and the same cannot be therefore attributed to Modi. The creation of IBC and subsequent setting of NCLT in bringing our economy back to action deserve appreciation. PM Modi is doing the right thing to make India a great country.

The common man does not see the economic slump as a part of any wrong economic policy of the present government but is due to the structural reforms, the new policies, inevitable economic reform. The common man believes completely that India’s economy is stable, robust and growing swiftly. The slump is natural, transient and also as a consequence of several structural reform measures taken by PM Modi to make India a stable, ever developing country.

Nawab Bugti: The forgotten Baloch

Anant Chetan
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Nawab Bugti: The forgotten Baloch

13 years ago on August 26, 2006 marked the culmination of a three day operation including security forces with heavy weapons and gunship helicopters. The operation although succeeded in assassinating Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti along with his 37 associates in his hideout cave in Dera Bugti, but also re-kindled the Baloch Freedom Struggle; the fifth struggle of its kind.

The Baluchistan’s struggle began in April of 1948 when Pakistan tried to annex Kalat. This marked the very first armed conflict in the nationalist struggle for Balochistan. A struggle that was going to be very bloody and would continue till eternity. The second armed conflict took place in 1958 to quell Balochis resentment against One Unit Scheme. Followed by the third armed conflict in 1962, when Pakistani army attacked Balochistan to fight against the left-wing nationalists. And the fourth and the most fiercest one started in 1973 and continued till 1977. Some 80,000 Pak troops supported by the combat helicopters fought against 55,000 poorly armed Balochi Guerillas.

The Balochi struggle became even more difficult after Mussharf signed the project agreement to build Gwadar Port with Chinese Vice Primer Wu Bangguo in March 24, 2002. The Baloch were never included in the discussions. The natives were threatened to leave their ancestral land. Gwadar land was illegally transferred to the personnel of army and civil bureaucracy. Moreover, since the people living their for generations after generations did not have proper papers for their lands, those lands were sold to Punjabis and some others at rock bottom prices with the actual inhabitants just disappeared. In addition to this, the entire business ecosystems like fishing, oil industries were shut.

Nawab Bugti and some others like him wanted a greater control of the natural resources of Balochistan. Balochistan is the richest source of natural gas, Copper, Uranium, Gold, Silicon, Platinum etc. but still the poorest and most underdeveloped province in Pakistan. According to the 1998 census, the literacy rate was 26% against the national average of 47%, only 20% people had access to electricity and reliable drinking water and 33.47% were unemployed against 19.68% national average.

Unlike many others, Nawab Bugti was not pro-independence. As per Al Jazeera, he was a very reasonable man, willing to discuss and willing to settle. Unfortunately, it was the Pakistani establishment’s mindset, unwilling to concede the legitimate rights of the smaller provinces, like Balochistan along with Army’s paranoia that lead to the armed conflict. Bugti, a former chief minister, a former governor of the province, all of a sudden became a terrorist, that needed to be taken out by brute force. Was it because he questioned the rape committed by a military personnel and came up with a 15 point agenda?

Arbitrary detentions, tortures, enforced disappearances were a daily things. The most unfortunate part is that even though these human rights violations were well document in reports like “Report of the human rights commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) fact finding mission on conflict in Balochistan”, or Amnesty International, no body did anything. Why? Because powerful countries like China and the US had their vested interests.  China has invested not millions but billion dollars in China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which goes through Balochistan. Do you think China would raise Human rights issues against Pakistan in the UN and sacrifice its investment?

After India’s freedom struggle in 1947, Indians got a nation but Pakistanis did not get a nation; they got an army and that army got a state. An army that still behaves like the invaders of medieval era and believes in the rules of that era. They still believe that wars are won by military might. Build a large number, attack, kill all the males and make all the females as slaves. They believe in kill and dump policy, using rape and dishonor as an instrument to crush the nation. They did exactly the same things with East Pakistan (Today’s Bangladesh) in 1971 or with Sindhis in 1983. I guess Pakistani army would be the only army in the world who have killed and raped more of their own than their enemies.

The most unfortunate part is that even India did not help Baloch in any way what so ever. Calling out Balochistan from Red fort isn’t going to do anything. Instead it would make things difficult for them. In fact in today’s world it is way more easy to help them as compared to few decades ago. In today’s world, wars are not won by armies of soldiers with deadly weapons, but they are won by the armies of doctors, engineers, artists, writer, celebrities, diplomats, lawyers, and so on and so forth.

The world (other than Pakistan) in this globalized era abides by only one rule: You scratch my back and I scratch yours; A simple straightforward, give and take relationship.  Pakistan still think it can persuade other countries to be a part of its  plans just on the basis of a religious identity. This is the major reason why Pakistan every now and then gets humiliated at the OIC forum – the so called Muslim Ummah.

India can definitely help Balochistan in this way. India could provide them quality education, a platform to flourish and excel at whatever they want to. Once some of those would make a name for themselves, they would be able to further their cause. The harsh reality is that people aren’t even aware of their issues and concerns so far. I don’t think I have seen any good movies about Balochistan, have you? You must have seen movies about Bangladesh issues, Sri Lankank issues, Iraq issues, Afghan issues and so on, but not on Baloch issues. Why? Indian Bollywood industry is quite popular, shouldn’t they make movies on this issue? Moreover, wouldn’t it be better if a Baloch writes the script or a Baloch plays the character?

Yes, this would take time, you would not see the results in tomorrow or in next five years but you would definitely see some results in next few decades. This is the only possible way, if weapons were ever to solve the problems, seven decades were more than enough.

Thanks for reading!

Also read: ASAT, ABM and the shifting Nuclear Paradigm & The only way to get rid of terrorism!!!

Some other references:

 

Global Innovation Rankings: Onwards and upwards for India?

anandkulkarni
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Global Innovation Rankings: Onwards and upwards for India?

Increasingly, innovation is the lifeblood of economic and social prosperity, through new and improved products, services and business models, employment in higher value, satisfying jobs, and to address national and global challenges in areas such as natural resource management, health care and urban renewal. It is also a key way of promoting an inclusive society. Ideas come from all walks of life. Nurturing the free flow of ideas, and connecting idea generators with idea users is vital.

How does India fare on innovation? The 2019 Global Innovation Rankings, by Cornell, INSEAD and WIPO, confirms the continued rise of India. https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii-2019-report. Out of 129 countries, India is ranked overall 52nd, climbing from 57th position in 2018. The Global Innovation Rankings measures both input (such as human capital and research, institutions, infrastructure and market and business sophistication) and output domains (knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs). India is ranked an even more impressive 26th on the quality of innovation, which encompasses globally ranked institutions, overseas patent performance and publications. Moreover, India “punches above its weight”, achieving an overall innovation ranking above what might be expected given its level of economic development ie GDP per capita.

Yet for all these apparently impressive outcomes, there is still room for improvement. Investing in the building blocks of innovation, including the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of India’s institutions and overall business environment (e.g ease of starting a business) will bring further dividends. India continues to lag in many of these aspects in the rankings. It is true that the Modi Government has placed significant emphasis on an “investor friendly” environment, which has seen improvement in the World Bank Doing Business Index, and progress in access to credit for business, support for investors, and in reducing red tape where possible. However, more needs to be done to ensure that the fruits of the overall improved competitiveness is better distributed and shared. India suffers from one of the highest inequality levels in the world, including by wealth, gender, labour market access, education and spatially.

It is in the arenas of pre-tertiary education and the natural environment in the Global Innovation Rankings that the magnitude of the challenges confronting India really hit home. Despite improvements in access and opportunity for secondary and primary level students, India is still rated at the lower end of the spectrum (110th) when considering education expenditure, performance in reading, mathematics and science on an international scale, and pupil-teacher ratios. Higher levels of investment in foundational education with an outcome and performance oriented ethos are paramount. The other key input metric where India performs poorly is in ecological sustainability (117th). A comprehensive and collective approach to environmental management planning is required by Government, industry and the community, which fosters and draws on research (India is a very creditable 35th on research and development in the rankings), technology and innovation to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures, preserves scarce natural resources and ensures energy access in a sustainable manner.

Another key area for improvement is in knowledge workers (India is ranked 99th) which comprises employment in knowledge intensive industries, formal training by firms, research funded by business and employment of females who possess advanced degrees. It is well documented that India has a parlous jobs situation, but perhaps what is less well known is that difficulties extend to skilled labour. India’s relatively weak manufacturing sector is a concern in this light. Industry development on a large scale is a pressing priority. In addition, the gender imbalance in the labour market, which favours males, requires urgent attention.

On a related note, India’s tertiary education is ranked 40th in the world, and within that an impressive 7th globally for graduates in science and engineering. However, quantity does not equate to quality. A plethora of reports have bemoaned the challenges of employability of graduates, the absence of 21st century skills in curricula, quality concerns in institutions of higher learning and the lack of interface between higher education and labour market needs. So while India does rate well on the performance of its most highly ranked Institutions (as mentioned before in respect of the Innovation quality rankings), it is the tiers of higher education below the very best that needs overhaul, including to promote wide access to education in society. India’s gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education lags a number of overseas counterparts. To be fair, recent policy directions and announcements are promising with their emphasis on performance, accountability, institutional autonomy, strengthened governance, quality standards and frameworks, and enhanced investment in teaching and research. The proof will lie in the ability to implement reform.

India’s improvement needs to be seen relative to the performance of others. It is interesting and instructive that India outranks Brazil (66th) and South Africa (63rd) and is narrowing the gap with Russia (46th) among the BRICS nations with whom India is often compared with. However, China, the other BRICS nation, is making major inroads in the innovation rankings, reaching 14th place in 2019 climbing from 17th place in 2018. China exhibits many broad based strengths in both input and output domains which facilitate its strong ranking, including in education at all levels, leading edge manufacturing capabilities in medium and high technology sectors, strong patent performance (nothwithstanding the disquiet about the country’s intellectual property laws), and globally prominent corporations.

Moreover, it should be noted that India’s pattern of innovation, reliant in large measure, on grass roots innovation, is not necessarily captured by the Global Innovation Index. It is this author’s contention that for India to move forward and address its myriad of wicked problems, will require all forms of innovation to be nurtured and integrated.

Dr Anand Kulkarni is Associate Director, Planning, Performance and Risk at Victoria University, Australia. The views expressed here are those of the author. His book India and the Knowledge Economy has just been published by Springer.

Pakistan Army mulls guerrilla warfare tactics to counter India, looses 2 SSG commandos

levina
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Pakistan Army mulls guerrilla warfare tactics to counter India, looses 2 SSG commandos

Two SSG commandos had been killed by Indian Army at Gurez sector. Since last few days there have been sporadic reports of SSG commandos being deployed to the border, for carrying out BAT attacks. Pakistani soldiers cross  fences to kill and mutilate the bodies of our soldiers. Such cock-a-snook BAT attack, in the past has been resorted to by Pakistani Army, whenever they faced a threat of conventional war with India or whenever Pakistani Army’s morale took a dip. Myriads of such inexpensive tactics are used by Pakistani Army in an attempt to have psychological dominance over India.

Pakistan is at the verge of an economic apocalypse, yet the gluttonous Pakistani army has the temerity to funnel funds to terrorist groups created by ISI. Earlier this year, Pakistani terror groups moved their bases close to International border near Kunar (Afghanistan) to avoid blacklisting by FATF (Financial Action Task Force). Pakistani government had been busy since last few months finding ways to dodge such circumstances, yet last week the terror watchdog blacklisted Pakistan for its non-compliance to the FATF’s instructions.

Pic credit: Google map

Ergo, under such circumstances, Pakistan Army relies on ways to counter India which do not hurt it monetarily, yet provide it the psychological dominance over the perceived enemy. Last week, there were reports of Pakistan deploying close to 100 SSG commandos and Afghani terrorists to the border which were later denied by the Pakistani Prime minister, Mr Imran Khan.

Pakistan Army’s parsimonious ways to counter India

Guerrilla warfare, by definition, is an irregular warfare conducted by small combatant groups composed of paramilitary personnel, armed civilians etc that resorts to ambushes, hit-and-run tactics and petty warfare, against a larger and traditional military. America, which has the mightiest and biggest military, in the world burnt a hole in its reputation when it could not effectively counter the guerrilla warfare in Vietnam, and had to pull back after bearing colossal amount of damage to its military. On the slippery economic slope that Pakistan is in right now, using these tactics serve well for it, as it can not afford to wage a conventional war against India. Now that its nuclear bluff has also been called out by Indian think tanks, the enemy state is left with no option other than intensifying its guerrilla war against India.

BAT or the border action team of Pakistan, is largely composed of SSG commandos and terrorists. The operations carried out by BAT helps stitch the gap between its economic restrains and insatiable military ambitions. Their BAT teams have sporadically managed to cross border, kill and mutilate Indian soldiers. Almost on all such occasions, Indian Army, has retaliated to such ambushes, at times against the political will, causing impressive wounds of humiliation to Pakistan Army. Since Pakistan has reputation of not accepting bodies of its soldiers back, such guerrilla groups can be conveniently bracketed as violent non state actors, VNSA.

Another method that Pakistan Army uses is guerrilla snipping. A sniper is reckoned as a force multiplier by military strategists, as the sniper can not just help take down important assets (human or otherwise) of the enemy, but also prevents any loss on sniper’s side.

Adding wind to Pakistan Army’s torn sails, is its media wing called ISPR (inter services public relations), which wages a (dis)information war against India. DGISPR, Maj Gen Ghafoor’s social media account, and other ISI run accounts, keep radiating waves of fake news campaign against India. Different social media platforms have now began to take down such accounts after Modi government rebuked them for giving audience to propaganda.

Kashmir and scrapping of 370

Pakistan woke up to an “earth shattering” news on August 5, when the government of India headed by Prime Minister Modi, took the landmark decision to purge Jammu & Kashmir’s special status by scrapping article 370. It was like rubbing salt into the wounds of Pakistan army, which had received a huge setback in the valley after the terror structure which it had created in Kashmir over last 3 decades, collapsed like a house of cards, after Indian defence forces mercilessly hunted down terrorists trained by ISI. With Kashmir on its way to returning to normalcy, Pakistan Army saw existential crisis descending on itself, forcing it to amp up its game against India. To assuage Pakistani people’s anger against its army and to prevent further plunging of morale of Pakistani soldiers, the higher echelons of Pakistani establishment decided to use BAT action against Indian soldiers.

Nuggets of wisdom that India gets from the above observations is –Pakistan will try to increase the cost of conflict for India. It will resort to inexpensive ways of carrying out clandestine attacks against India, be it cheap IED blasts to hurt our soldiers, clandestine snipping, instigating violence by inserting wedges between different communities in India, promoting Khalistanis or carrying out psychological warfare by “influencing” Indian media. Skulduggery is the only means for an emasculated military organization called Pakistan Army, to survive against a behemoth that Indian Army is.

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