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Misery seeks company – China courts India to fight US trade war

Naagesh Padmanaban
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Misery seeks company – China courts India to fight US trade war

US sanctions against China seems to be having its intended effect. As pressure mounts, China’s change of stance is becoming more evident. According to recent reports President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are likely to meet at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November in an effort to work out a solution. But the meeting of the two leaders may not produce any dramatic resolution, given the tough stand of both the countries.

That the Chinese economy is bearing the brunt is in no doubt. Ford reported that its September sales in China fell 43% compared to same period last year. This comes in the midst of a big slump in Chinese auto sales. The IMF, for its part, has already signaled the slowdown of the Chinese economy and put its GDP growth estimates for 2019 at 6.2%. Despite all the bad news on the economic front, Chinese leadership continues to put up a brave face.

The US appears to have its strategy cut out. Vice President Pence, in a hard hitting speech at the Hudson Institute, unequivocally charged China with interfering in US elections and warned of consequences. In its 2018 National Defense Strategy paper, the US has clearly identified the two ‘revisionists powers – China and Russia’ as main threats. The paper goes on to further recognize ‘China’s military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics in its efforts to coerce neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to its advantage’ and perceives it as a long term threat to US interests.

The series of events leading up to the new set of tariffs on Chinese imports as well as the subsequent pronouncements should leave no room for doubt about US intentions. If anything, it is clear that the US will not stop with just the trade war. It is only part of an overarching strategy to contain Chinese influence globally.

China’s strategy, on the other hand, seems ambiguous and is banking on flat defiance of the US as a measure of projecting its power. It has unleashed a massive propaganda campaign, particularly in the US media, in a determined bid to win friends. Not surprisingly, many pundits have opined on how the trade war with China is unsustainable and could hurt the US too. But all this may not really alter the situation on the ground which is firmly in favor of the US

On the international scene, China has used its influence to marshal its friends and allies in an attempt to build a coalition to portray the US as the chief villain of the world. In this context, it is indeed interesting to see that China has reached out to India, pontificating on the requirements of ‘a stable environment that will facilitate the growth of the two key economies’. In its attempt to win India to its side in its trade war with the US, it has called for the two countries to join together to bring about a ‘more just and reasonable international order’.

China’s change in tone and tenor – evident in its statements and diplomatic outreach – is only symptomatic of the severe stress on its economy and political leadership. There are also indications of a lack of cohesion amongst its leadership in responding to the US.

Many in India recall the often rancid and undiplomatic statements emanating from its foreign office during the Dokhlam crisis. But the very same establishment has now unleashed the equivalent of a diplomatic charm offensive. This only highlights the fact that the country is up against the wall in its bid to untangle itself from the costly trade war.

But India is no China in every sense of the word. Its economy is not as big, nor is it as lopsided and heavily dependent on exports to the US for its survival. Secondly and most importantly, India is a plural democracy in the truest sense of the term and is in no danger of a systemic collapse if and when sanctions are imposed.

It is worth pointing out here that following the Pokhran II nuclear explosions in 1998, many countries including China, Japan and Canada condemned India. China, for its part, was at the forefront, demanding international actions against India. But now that the tables have turned, China has suddenly discovered the virtues of ‘regional economic stability and growth’ by working together.

When the US did impose sanctions on India in May 1998 following Pokhran II, the country did not implode. The fact was that its citizens rallied together in support of the democratically elected government. But in China’s case, their leadership is acutely aware that prolonged sanctions could trigger internal unrest and rebellion that could easily threaten its structural integrity as a nation state.

Unlike China, India’s relationship with the US is on an entirely different footing. It has no overt or covert aspirations to unseat the US as the world’s superpower, nor does it have a confrontationist approach to it. But it is indeed true that, like China, India probably has a boat load of differences with the US, on issues ranging from trade to political and world view. But that is par for the course betwixt democracies.

But at the end of the day, despite the differences, the US and India, as history bears witness, have resorted to bilateral discussions to resolve these issues. Unlike China, there is no public record of India threatening or confronting the US.

Being an authoritarian set up, China lacks that fundamental connect with the US or India. At a time when it is in serious trouble with the US, it cannot pretend a have a comradery with India since the latter too is ‘impacted by Trump’s unpredictable trade policies’.

Definitely, China is expending its diplomatic resources in creating a mirage of a synergy with India out of a non-existent common cause. The ground reality is that the leadership in India and the US are aware of the phoniness of this outreach by China.

In fact India must – and there is ample evidence to think it has – see the speciousness of this argument. It cannot join hands with China to make a common cause. India’s world view and priorities are different and dictated by New Delhi, not Beijing.

Misery loves company and China’s outreach to India is definitely a case in point.

Bollywood & its Feminists

Anant Chetan
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Bollywood & its Feminists

Bollywood is an industry filled with filth and coated with tinsel. It is so radiant and glamours from the outside that what rots beneath the surface goes unnoticed. The industry feeds on the skin of the leading ladies and continues to do that unabated and undiminished. If you add up the screen time of some of our leading actresses for their entire career after removing the songs, item songs and controversial scenes, it might be shorter than a typical movie duration. Of course, they hide behind the reasoning: “it was the demand of the script“. What script? Two decades of love & romance, love inside a marriage or outside a marriage, love story in the office, in the same caste or outside a caste, with the rich, with the poor, here & there, and once in a while a Don or a Terrorist; that‘s it. So much for the creative artists. Wasn’t that the success mantra during the 90’s and the decade following? What was the role of women in this? The actresses were confined to flaunting skin. Don’t the feminists see this as the objectification of women? Oh yes, they do but it is called the commercial cinema exactly like Congress calls tax evasion or corruption as a parallel economy or an informal economy. Euphemism at its best.

There always exists a quid-pro-quo for climbing up a ladder in every profession. If you have some unique skill or become indispensable, you use that to climb that growth ladder, otherwise, you find unethical ways to do so. Having a fair skin is not an indispensable skill; it is found in abundance in India. If you visit any Indian city, town or village you will find a multitude of Indian Women prettier than the women in Bollywood. Some of them don’t even think of going there, and some come back after some unpleasant experiences. Maybe this is one of the reasons as to why there are a lot of white (foreign origin) women as leading actresses in Bollywood. By white I mean a person coming from places farther from the equator, hence less exposed to the sunlight leading to less amount of pigments like melanin which causes the skin to be fairer or whiter than others who live near the equator. Although they are more prone to skin cancers but skin color is the key focus here. In comparison to that, how many male protagonists are white? As per the above definition of white. This is the reason why only a few women (most of them are already done with their careers) are complaining. They know if they speak up, there is no dearth of skin-flaunting talents out there.

This #metoo campaign invites difficult times for the women in India who have nothing to do with Bollywood. It affects only a handful of celebrity men but a lot of middle-class women. It is exactly like what they did in the past. The feminists forced different companies to award more maternity leaves both paid and unpaid. What did it do? Ask women, if they were more employable in the past or they are now? The companies now look before hiring if the women is going to have a baby in the near future. A similar example, one of the communities in India asked for a severe law calling for a non-bailable offense for a general category person if they say something unpleasant to people of a particular community, SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Ask them if they were more employable before the law or after the law?

People get scared, fear is one of the biggest and strongest motivators. With falling standards of morality, ethics, honesty and integrity, the fear is not paranoia. For an entrepreneur or a hiring manager diversity comes second, survival comes first. What if there happens to be an argument during regular work hours? If it happens with a general category man, you cool it off during the break but in the other case you end up in a jail. In case of annual appraisals or promotions if the general category employee gets upset he at most quits but if a person from that community gets upset, you not only lose your job but also go to jail. And these appraisal reviews happen in a cabin and are not recorded. How do you prove your innocence? Now just replace the SC-AT act with #metoo, the person comes out of the cabin with tears in the eyes and utters #metoo. With #metoo you only need a number of social media followers, if you have that, you win.

If the feminists in Bollywood are serious about stopping the exploitation of women. They should make it possible for women to have bigger and more critical roles in the industry and not just flaunt skin. If it is an attempt for some publicity and creating some noise than #metoo might not work that well, #hetoo or #theytoo might work better. Our Bollywood is not a #metoo industry, we do things that others do. Somebody asked an actress, why did you do a bareback scene? She replied, “because she too did that in her movie and it became a hit.” Ask Bollywood “why do you need to add so much nudity and abusive language in the movies these days?” the best reply “they too (hollywood) do it and they make a lot of money”. Further, with #metoo the pain and agony of the victim would resurface along with the victim coming in the open but #hetoo does not even need the victim, it would just humiliate the alleged perpetrator. Hide the identity of the victim and point the fingers, you could also do #hetoo on someone’s behalf.  Moreover, like many of our Bollywood movies #hetoo would be an innovative, novice and creative work of Bollywood which has nothing to do with cut-copy-edit-paste.

Make no mistake, we live in a democracy and by co-incidence this is the election year, if the issue is pushed a little harder, there is a possibility that we will have some weird law passed before the year ends. I am just waiting for this campaign to unravel as a political stunt. PS: You could try to find the political/ideological inclination of the people in question, you might find the connection.

Please visit my personal blog Infinite Sea Of Opportunities.

कमलनाथजी का इंटरव्यू

alphakilosingh
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कमलनाथजी का इंटरव्यू

ऐसा लगता है कि राहुलजी का मूत्र और उनके समर्थकों द्वारा उसका सहर्ष पान 2019 के आमचुनाव का एक प्रमुख मुद्दा होने जा रहा है। कतिपय भाजपाइयों द्वारा अभी से अगले चुनाव को चाय और मूत्र के बीच चुनाव के तौर पर प्रचारित करने का अभियान शुरू कर दिया गया है जिसके आने वाले दिनों में और तेज़ होने की सम्भावना है। कांग्रेसी खेमा इस अभियान से अभी से असहज दिख रहा है, और उससे भी असहज दिख रहे हैं हमारे सम्पादकजी, जो एक सेकुलर मिजाज़ के व्यक्ति हैं और मोदी से बेहद दुःखी रहते हैं, पर जब मुझ जैसे कनिष्ठ रिपोर्टर को उन्होंने कमलनाथजी का इंटरव्यू करने का आदेश दिया तो मुझे घोर आश्चर्य हुआ। हमारे सम्पादकजी सेकुलर होने के कारण बुद्धि पर अपना एकाधिकार समझते थे और बड़े नेताओं के इंटरव्यू खुद ही लेना पसंद करते थे। अभी तक मुझे उन्होंने जिला-स्तर के ऊपर के किसी नेता के पास नहीं भेजा था, अब अचानक कमलनाथ का इंटरव्यू लेने का आदेश सुनकर पहले तो मैं चौंक गया, पर तभी मुझे याद आया कि सम्पादकजी कुछ मीटू वाले मामलों में फँसे हुए थे और आजकल बाहर कम ही निकल रहे थे। मैंने पहले सम्पादकजी का ही इंटरव्यू करने का फ़ैसला किया।

“क्यों?” कमलनाथ का इंटरव्यू क्यों?”- मैंने पूछा।

सम्पादकजी पहले तो चश्मे के अंदर से मुझे घूरते रहे जैसे पहचानने की कोशिश कर रहे हों, फिर अचानक चश्मा उतार कर मेज पर रखते हुए बड़प्पन के साथ बोले: “यही तो कमी है आजकल के लड़कों में! न अख़बार पढ़ते हैं, न सोशल मीडिया पर ख़बरें देखते हैं, बस चले आते हैं पत्रकार बनने। जाकर पहले कमलनाथजी को गूगल पर सर्च करो और देखो कि वह क्यों चर्चा में हैं, फिर मेरे पास आओ।”

पर मैं बेशर्मी के साथ वहीँ खड़ा रहा और बोला: “सर, मैं कमलनाथजी को जानता हूँ। वह मध्य प्रदेश में कांग्रेस के मुख्यमंत्री-पद के उम्मीदवार हैं, पर ऐसे उम्मीदवार तो और भी हैं, फिर उन्हीं का इंटरव्यू क्यों?”

सम्पादकजी ने जल्दी से मुझे चलता कर देने के उद्देश्य से कहा: “तुमने आरवीएस मणि का नाम सुना है?”
“आरवीएस मणि?”- मैंने कहा: “कहीं यह कोई मीटू वाली तो नहीं? कहीं कमलनाथजी पर भी तो किसी ने मीटू नहीं कर दिया?”
अब सम्पादकजी का धैर्य जवाब दे गया। आजकल मीटू का ज़िक्र छिड़ने पर उनके साथ ऐसा ही हो जाता था। पहले तो गुस्से में आकर बोले: “जाकर गूगल पर देखो!” फिर शायद समय बचाने की गरज से बोले: “आरवीएस मणि गृह मंत्रालय का कोई जूनियर अधिकारी था जिससे कमलनाथ ने कभी कोई काम करने के लिए कहा जिसके लिए उसके मना करने पर ज़ोर डालने के लिए कहा कि लोगबाग राहुलजी का पेशाब पीने के लिए तैयार हैं, और तुम उनके लिए इतना सा काम नहीं कर सकते?! अब उस आरवीएस मणि के बच्चे ने अपने गृह मंत्रालय के अनुभवों पर एक किताब लिख डाली है और एक घण्टे का एक वीडियो जारी किया है जिसमें उसने इस घटना का ज़िक्र किया है।”

“फिर?”- मैंने मासूमियत से पूछा।
मेरी मासूमियत का उनपर वाजिब असर हुआ और उनके माथे की त्यौरियाँ उतर गयीं और उनकी आवाज़ में भी मुलायमियत आ गयी।
“भाजपा वालों को तो तुम जानते ही हो कैसे घटिया किस्म के लोग हैं। अब इसी को चुनावी मुद्दा बनाने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। अगर चुनावी मुद्दा यह बन गया कि कांग्रेसी राहुलजी का मूत्र पीते हैं अथवा पीने के लिए तैयार रहते हैं, तो कांग्रेस के पास इस बात का कोई जवाब नहीं होगा, इसलिए तुम फ़ौरन जाकर कमलनाथजी से मिलो और देखो कि चुनावी मुद्दा बनने से पहले कैसे इस किस्से को ख़त्म किया जा सकता है।”

“पर सर” मैंने उसी मासूमियत के साथ कहा: “कमलनाथजी जैसे बड़े नेता के पास तो आपको खुद जाना चाहिए; मुझे क्यों भेज रहे हैं?”
“इसे अपनी ट्रेनिंग का हिस्सा समझो”, उन्होंने आराम से समझाना शुरू किया, पर तभी शायद मेरी आँखों में उन्हें शरारत की चमक दिख गयी और वह एकदम से उबल पड़े: “जितना कहा जा रहा है उतना करो; ज्यादा काबिल बनने की कोशिश मत करो! जाते हो या मैं किसी और को भेजूँ?”

बात को सँभालते हुए मैंने कहा: “मेरा मतलब था सर, कि क्या कमलनाथजी मुझसे मिलेंगे?”
-“मेरी बात उनसे हो गयी है, वह तुम्हारा कार्ड देखते ही तुम्हें बुला लेंगे; अब दफ़ा हो जाओ, और हाँ, जाने से पहले थोड़ी तैयारी कर लेना। वह मणि वाला वीडियो तो देख ही लेना।”

मैं अदब के साथ संपादकजी के कमरे से बाहर निकल गया। वीडियो मैंने पहले ही देख रखा था। किसी और तैयारी को अनावश्यक जान मैंने कैमरामैन और एक सहायक को साथ लिया और सीधा कमलनाथजी के यहाँ दस्तक दी। जैसा कि पहले से तय था, कमलनाथजी ने तुरंत मुझे बुला लिया, और वहाँ पहले से मौजूद लोगों को थोड़ी देर के लिए बाहर बैठने को कहा, और मुझे इंटरव्यू शुरू करने का इशारा किया।

“कमलनाथजी”, मैंने इंटरव्यू शुरू किया: “आजकल एक वीडियो चर्चा में है जिसमें एक रिटायर्ड सरकारी कर्मचारी कहता हुआ दिख रहा है कि आपने उससे कुछ ऐसा कहा कि कांग्रेसी राहुलजी का पेशाब भी पीने के लिए तैयार रहते हैं। इस पर आपको क्या कहना है?”
ज़ाहिर है, कमलनाथजी इस सवाल के लिए पहले से तैयार थे। उन्होंने तुरन्त जवाब दिया: “यह सब संघियों की चाल है। राफेल मुद्दे पर राहुलजी के आरोपों का वह जवाब नहीं दे पा रहे हैं, इसलिए उन्होंने यह नया नाटक शुरू किया है।”
“पर सर, यह आरोप तो किसी आरवीएस मणि ने लगाया है।”-मैंने कहा।

“आरवीएस मणि की औकात क्या है? मामूली अंडर सेक्रेटरी था। मुझे तो याद भी नहीं कि मैं उससे कभी मिला भी था।”
“यह बेहतर है”, मैंने अपनी बात जारी राखी: “तो आप कह रहे हैं कि आप उससे कभी मिले, पर उसने तो एक किताब भी लिख दी है जिसमें उसने इस घटना का ज़िक्र किया है। किताब हाथोंहाथ बिक रही है और लोग उसकी एक-एक बात को सच मान रहे हैं। अगर आप उससे कभी मिले ही नहीं तो उस पर मानहानि का दावा क्यों नहीं करते? मंत्रालय में हर आने- जाने वाले की एन्ट्री दर्ज होती है, और जगह-जगह वीडियो कैमरे लगे होते हैं; मणि का झूठ फ़ौरन पकड़ा जाएगा, और आपकी प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ जाएगी।”

कमलनाथजी का आत्मविश्वास थोड़ा डगमगा गया; थोड़ा हिचकिचाते हुए उन्होंने कहा: “शायद एक बार मैं उससे मिला था।” एक अल्पविराम के बाद उन्होंने आगे कहा: “शक तो मुझे उसी समय हुआ था कि वह संघ से प्रभावित है, पर अब तो यह बिल्कुल पक्का है कि वह संघ से मिला हुआ है। अवश्य वर्तमान सरकार में किसी ने उसे द्वारा-धमका कर उससे यह कहलवाया है!”
– “हो सकता है वह संघी हो, पर इसे बाद में देख लेंगे; अभी तो आप यह बताइए: क्या आप यह कह कि आप मणि से मिले, पर कांग्रेसियों के राहुलजी का मूत्र पीने हेतु तत्पर रहने की कोई बात आपने उनसे नहीं की?”
– “बिल्कुल नहीं की!” उन्होंने मुट्ठियाँ भींचते हुए कहा। “यह सब संघियों की चाल है।”
– “इसका मतलब हुआ कि आपको सबकुछ याद है कि आपने उनसे क्या-क्या बातें कीं। तो दिमाग पर थोड़ा ज़ोर डालिए और यह बताइए कि आपने उनसे यह कहा कि राहुलजी का कृपापात्र होने के लिए भी कांग्रेसी उनका मूत्र पीने के लिए कभी तैयार नहीं होंगे?”
अब कमलनाथजी बिल्कुल घबरा गये, और बोले: “मैंने ऐसा कब कहा?”
– “तो क्या आप मान रहे हैं कि राहुलजी के कृपाकटाक्ष के लिए कांग्रेसी उनका मूत्रपान करने के लिए सहर्ष तैयार रहते हैं?”

कमलनाथजी के चेहरे पर घबराहट के स्थान पर क्रोध के भाव आ गये। उन्होंने पूछा: “क्या तुम्हें दिग्विजय सिंह ने भेजा है?”
– “तो क्या अब आप यह कह कि दिग्विजय सिंह मध्य प्रदेश मुख्यमंत्री होने के लिए के लिए राहुलजी का मूत्रपान करने के लिए तैयार हैं, पर आप इसके लिए तैयार नहीं हैं?”
कमलनाथजी ने अब शराफ़त का चोला बिल्कुल उतार फेंका, और मुझे धक्का देते हुए बोले: “फ़ौरन निकलो यहाँ से। न जाने कहाँ-कहाँ से आ जाते हैं पत्रकार बन कर! गार्ड, इनको बाहर निकालो यहाँ से!”

किसी तरह हम अपना सामान और जान दोनों बचाकर वहाँ से भाग निकले, और इस तरह किसी बड़े नेता का मेरा पहला इंटरव्यू समाप्त हुआ।

Promote AYUSH products as ‘proto’ and ‘pre’ medicinal products for wellness and popularize at global level

S Ranganathan
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Promote AYUSH products as ‘proto’ and ‘pre’ medicinal products for wellness and popularize at global level

The concepts, fundamental principles and the rich cultural and traditional values of AYUSH are well known to the world. Although AYUSH may be missing the explanation of ‘what’ in its products is exhibiting some benefit but definitely it has several faithful believers, followers, beneficiaries and missionaries who clearly trade the benefits and promises.

It is not the science or allopathic system challenging AYUSH but the real threat of AYUSH is those institutionally qualified AYUSH Vaidyas in private practice who are engaged in cross pathy and sabotaging the merit and relevance of our ancient healing practices.

Industry too adopts different strategies and standards for promoting AYUSH products starting from wellness recipes to nutraceuticals to food supplements, to cosmetics to drugs under different circumstances. To get tax benefit and for other advantages they use the tag drug but to get easy acceptance in global market the same product is promoted by many AYUSH product manufacturers as cosmetic products, food supplements etc.

Defining the AYUSH products in different way for commercial advantage is really corroding the significance and meaning of AYUSH along with rampant cross pathy by many institutionally qualified AYUSH Vaidyas in private practice.

To popularize and ensure global acceptance for AYUSH, the Ministry of AYUSH must adopt simple and easy to relate definitions for AYUSH products. Once such simple definition is made for describing all AYUSH products, AYUSH manufacturing industries as well as the users of AYUSH products can easily dialogue the system in a simplest manner possible. When AYUSH products are promoted as drugs, naturally the allopathic system and the literate, rationale community is bound to ask scientific proof and other details. If the AYUSH products are promoted as wellness preparations, no one will have any problem in accepting and promoting all such products as they fall under the category of wellness and health products.

AYUSH is a traditional, faith based healing system. Therefore the credence and richness of AYUSH lies in promoting the products as traditional wellness preparations and only then the world can embrace the system with full flavour of tradition and can appreciate the antique values of AYUSH. The tag ‘drug’ is being poorly understood or defined with reference to promoting AYUSH products.

AYUSH is a glorious tradition and its products are proto and pre medicinal products in scientific sense. Much before the advent of the scientifically proven drugs, AYUSH products had come to human rescue. Several lead molecules of proven pharmaceutical effect has come from several medicinal plants and hence the AYUSH products worth the definition of ‘proto’ or pre medicinal products.

The term traditional products should offer great comfort to the modern day AYUSH vaidyas. The AYUSH always argue that their products are drugs, as same as the scientifically proven allopathic drugs. When such pride is used to describe AYUSH products, the vaidya community ought to explain the science but unfortunately they do not have any convincing scientific explanation to offer which in turn dilute the mission of AYUSH.

AYUSH has rich tradition, divinity and faith. The AYUSH products offer several benefits to humanity in the form of pre and proto medicinal products. Pre and proto medicinal products are required more for maintaining health and to prevent diseases.  Drugs have very limited role and are prescribed only someone is sick.

The pre and proto medicinal products can be used regularly, likely to have fewer side effects and may correct the doshas as claimed by AYUSH and would further help mind-body balance. Placebo drugs are well known and are scientifically proven to have some effect for certain conditions.  Metals and minerals based products of AYUSH must be dealt with caution.

AYUSH is a fantastic wellness system known to offer rich paramedical and pre-medical benefits. If a separate status to AYUSH products either as proto or pre medicinal products or as wellness products, the system will gain greater acceptance and recognition. When we try to hard-fit AYUSH products under the matrix of ‘drug’, only questions, suspicion, clarifications and science shall remain which AYUSH may find it difficult to explain.

Considering the great health potential of AYUSH, it is better AYUSH products are classified as ‘wellness substances or proto or pre medicinal products for wellness. The appropriate amendments can be made in Drugs and Cosmetic act to re-define all AYUSH formulations as ‘products’ than as ‘drugs’.

Export of AYUSH products as wellness substances or pre or proto medicinal products is much easier than promoting them as Siddha or Ayurveda drugs. Commodity trade between different countries is much easier than drug.

Such simplified definition also would help the manufacturers to deal the system easily as well the users also would look only health and wellness benefits from AYUSH products and not the benefits of real drugs. The AYUSH Vaidyas also can enhance their role as wellness and health experts to render pre-health, post disease management and for providing regular paramedical services. It is not India, the world needs the rich tradition of AYUSH to achieve healthy, happy life.

#MeToo #Stalking time for society to address these issues

Priya Vandana Jayarajan
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#MeToo #Stalking time for society to address these issues

“The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people”.

Post Harvey Weinstein, we have entered a very strange, scary world. Although many victims who were celebrities, have come out and spoken up, there is still a hush all around. Back home when Tarun Tejpal was slapped with rape charges, not many in the Media/Bollywood etc had spoken up or stood up for the victim. With #MeToo hitting India finally, feeling of guilt, shame and anxiety pervades the society. We are in a period of almost unprecedented mainstream discussion of gendered harassment.

In this day and age, when the number of working women is going up, sexual exploitation has become more rampant at work place. Although it has been going on for decades, seldom the victims spoke, either due to fear, intimidation or personal ambitions. While the real world is battling hard to fight this problem, the virtual world too is posing a dangerous threat- stalking on social media platforms like Facebook etc. It’s extremely dangerous and more common than we actually think. FB allows people to connect with one another without ever having met or talked. Sexual predators, stalkers use this aspect to their advantage and it has deleterious consequences.

A stalker can be anyone – a colleague, a long lost family member, ex boyfriend/girlfriend, a friend of friend or a complete stranger. It’s pertinent to note that they are not ignorant people, they are extremely intelligent. Most stalking is perpetrated by men against women. They may do it for the sake of escaping their own problems in life or because of obsession with someone. Rejection, anger, resentment may also fuel decision to stalk. It can involve threatening behaviour and harassment. Out of context, these actions may appear non threatening but they cause the victim to feel fear and emotional discomfort. It can be a very frightening experience leading to exacerbation of mental health of the victim. I am speaking from my own experience.

Sexual predators are all over the world and those who are affected adversely are people who did not take the precautions to protect themselves by putting their foot down and exposing the perpetrators.

Social media gives a cover of anonymity and a cloak to indulge in vacuous behaviour towards women. It has assumed gigantic proportions of late.

The line should be clear and not blurred about transgressions of any kind. As responsible citizens, we should be totally against such egregious behaviour.

Lastly, its imperative that you exercise caution and never allow anyone to assume that friendship/association gives them the licence to cross a well defined line. Relationship is built on respect and trust. No one should try to breach that trust or they’ll end up losing the moral right to continue being a friend as the edifice of friendship will crumble.

Misusing #MeToo

shrikant
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Misusing #MeToo

A victim of sexual harassment when corned by the predator feels trapped. The logical way out of the situation seems to comply with the predator to avoid any repercussions. And after the incident has taken place the victim is utterly ashamed of their helplessness and thinks its better to keep quiet and not attract attention to self’s weakness and vulnerability.

The men seem to have a natural biological and historical privilege that has put them in the position of power. But it has been teachings of this nation and culture that power should be used to protect the weak, help the helpless and guard the defenseless. They pay for this privilege by being the first causality at war, chosen and reared for dangerous jobs, last one expected to be evacuated in times disaster, of losing their children in a divorce battle, one expected to carry the burden if there is death in the family and no one questions that. That is the definition of good and examples too. And rightly so for men who are to misuse their powers, there are special provisions and laws made for women and kids who are the victims of their actions.

This is a fight between good and evil, people who want to protect and people who want to abuse but its very disturbing to see it being turned it Women VS Men. It is not supposed to be.

Yes Men are victims of sexual assault but by percentage women who are victims of sexual assault outnumber it. It is a fact and you don’t need even a brain to understand that, you just need to observe. That’s why there are laws especially protecting women.

Sexual assault is shameful and difficult to talk about, you can ask even the men who are subjected to it, that’s one reason why people choose to be anonymous about it.

Sexual harassment is a serious issue. It destroys the self-esteem and self-confidence of the victims if they are preyed upon at a very tender age it becomes very difficult to come out it. It is difficult to talk about it because of the attention it brings about them. Most people find it better to bury it deep their past.

People who say throw away all allegations because few women lie are also wrong and their argument ends up supporting evil. It is very rare that people come and talk about it exposing their identity. It brings unwanted attention and questions and light that good and honest people generally don’t want to be seen in.

That’s also one reasons why 85% of all rape cases filed against men are false. I am not summoning this number out of thin air you can go look it up. This statistic has taken a sudden jump in 2017 after Nirbhaya case, in 2014. The rate of false rape cases were 53%. Men find it easier to commit suicide rather than face their day in court.
Watch the video below:

The percentage of married men committing suicide is twice that of females. This paints a picture which is rather comforting for the feminists, that women can also be evil. Watch this video below. If you heart does not bleed you have ceased to be a human. I dare you.

https://youtu.be/KrGmSI-xdTk

In 2017 more than 4000 rape cases in Jaipur turned out be false, Evil psychopathic women use the powers given to them by law to extort money for innocent and weak men, to get revenge at them.

That is the reason why people who support “Believe All Women” are not standing up for good against evil but Women against Men.

Only truly evil people oppose that sexual assault is not a heinous crime. But also truly evil people would believe its alright if innocent people suffer under one of the harshest penal law of India as long as the majority gets served right.

We learned from Nibhaya case, we should not take time to learn from “Rothak Bravehearts Case“. Its so sad that we can’t find a single news article which states about how grossly guilty they were of misusing law, destroying innocent boy’s self-confidence, self-esteem, and whole life by their media tricks. They walk free.

Maneka Gandhi has started fast-track courts calling judges out of retirement to help the people who have come out and taken names. I think everyone should support polygraph and narco test. We want the truth and good to win. People who abuse their powers must suffer the consequence. People should not give in to only to the pathos of “Believe all women” and sacrifice their logic. It is tempting, it will get you into good books of mainstream media driven crowd but that creates propaganda.

Innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of law if sacrificed because the testimony is coming from women is highly sexist (that too when the evidence of women lying about it is overwhelming), Saying that women are inherently more believable than men is sexist and yet have the section 498a Dowry Law where a mere complaint from a woman can a put a man, his whole family including his elder parents, even kids associated with that family who may not even be older than FIVE years of age in jail. IN JAIL. kids of five years and even less. Feminist can say a lot and get away with it but one thing they can not say is that Indian law is a misogynist.

Include men who have come out during this #MeToo segment and talked about how their aunts and maamis have sexually exploited them and hold females accountable too. Subject these men to narco tests and polygraph. The fight is against evil and not one gender. No need to follow marching orders of America. It’s time for the feminists to walk the talk about equality and show they are not only about avenging under some twisted idea of justice. Pay attention to what is happening in Kerala too. This the cure part I talked about. Which is always gruesome and can never be pretty and agreeable.

Lets talk about prevention.

We assign the blame and burden to the men who rape and rightly so. Every adult should be held responsible for their actions. But when are we going to start blaming their parents for raising such monsters? Should the parents not shoulder responsibility for raising a respectable and moral child? When are we going to start blaming the culture?

In a metropolitan scenario where sex is a commodity which a person is provided with an inexhaustible surplus, it is detached from any sort of values and standards. In the name of freedom we have started renting our bodies to our internal demons and urges, as children we have learned that not all urges we have inside ourselves are right and we need to learn to control them and direct them in proper manner. Then why not this? Should we not teach our kids that our body is a temple? Shouldn’t the person we share it with must embody some ideal or aspect of God? Or if not God then at least the highest value attainable?

People have stopped holding themselves accountable to any higher ideals than whoever they are at the moment and whatever that is in of five feet reach from their hands. They do not take pains to instill any value in themselves and they do not wish to scrutinize themselves. They are like Cain who is jealous of the ideals Abel. Even though they are aware of their miserable existence they choose to find faults in society. Getting high on freedom of every sort day in and day out, fed on a steady dose of ‘be yourself’ and be nothing else. They are not looking for love, they are looking for people who will let them be. However, they are, whoever they are. Monsters in gutters.

Liberals will be waiting like rabid dogs to share this image coming Diwali.

There’s one thing I want everyone to tell them. Rape and assault are heinous crimes, against ANY human being. There are special privileges in Indian Law to especially protect women. There’re even non-bailable offenses without any questioning. You won’t get it by being a philander, drunk and chain smoker, who does not pay proper attention to her kids because she wants to go clubbing and celebrate women equality and freedom.

We Indian will die for our Goddesses and their dignity and not tolerate any bruises. (The Indian law believes in this idea of Goddess and the dignity of Indian Women that’s why we’re one of the harshest laws in the whole world to protect women–India has the lowest number of rapes by percentage, the number seems huge just because of the sheer size of population– but many evil women have been misusing them).

Bollywood industry is based on sexual favors. Just ask the spot boys and crew who work on the sets they will tell you how after a hot steamy scene in front of the camera the actor and actress sneak for a quickie wherever they can find room. The Bollywood is reaping the fruits it had sown.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act wrongly interpreted and explained by a JNU professor

kingsukh
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Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act wrongly interpreted and explained by a JNU professor

While perusing the editorial “Unlawful acts” written by Prabhat Patnaik, a reputed professor of JNU in The Telegraph, I came across his dispensation. It is laudable for a man of such stature to speak on Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Sir is a regular columnist for The Telegraph and I appreciate his intellect. In his article, he mentioned about the people falsely accused in Bhima-Koregaon case and the stigma a person gets due to police custody. I strongly condemn this unwholesome practice (police custody stigma). At society level, we should eradicate such unethical prejudices prevailing in our mind.

However, when seen through a different prism, his article seems biased. Prima facie it appears that the accused concerned or urban naxals as called by populace share a common ideology with the petitioner (Romila Thapar and four others including him). Also, the university he belongs to is known as a citadel of communism or leftist ideology. His assertions are justified only in his realm.

We need to understand that every system has lacunae but that doesn’t befit the whole system as corrupt or failed one. For instance, Somalia is called a failed state in political parlance but in reality, it is a collapsed state where the government has collapsed and not the state of affairs. Their cheap and efficient telecommunication and mobile payment system i.e., pay by phone for fueling car or others is praiseworthy.

At times, we will find shortcomings in the assessment process; however, that doesn’t mean that the whole system is a fiasco. We also acknowledge the fact that most of the sexually harassed cases filed by woman turn out to be false allegations; however, we don’t doubt the integrity of women because of it. Calling judicial system as rogue penal system and accusing BJP of such misconduct by Prabhat Patnaik is beyond the pale. It shows his biased mindset.

As a true denizen of this proud country or world’s largest democracy, we should possess unbiased temperament and remain unswayed from such tinged perceptions.

Shelf-life of Siva bhakti of the dynast

S Ranganathan
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Shelf-life of Siva bhakti of the dynast

“जटिलो मुंडी लुंजित केशः
काषायान्बर बहुकृत वेषः ।
पश्यन्नपि च न पश्यति मूढः
उदर निमित्तं बहुकृत वेषः ॥ १५ ॥“

(Bhaja Govindam)

[There are many who go with matted locks, many who have clean shaven heads, many whose hairs have been plucked out; some are clothed in orange, yet others in various colours all just for a livelihood. Seeing truth revealed before them, still the foolish ones see it not].

The Siva bhakti expressed by the dynast in scientific sense will fall under the category of seasonal, niche product. Once the season is over, the unsold products are moved from the shelf and again the same products would re-appear with the return of the same season.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working hard to reform and develop India and achieve sab ka vikas. The development agenda of PM Modi is not just materialistic in content. Unless people are empowered and the responsibility is engraved at the emotional level than imparting such messages to the intelligence, no country can develop or progress and that is the political philosophy of PM Modi. This sacred fact is well known to him and that is why he is re-kindling our glorious Hindu tradition, sacred scriptures and essentials of Hindu culture.

Every one born in India is impacted by Hindu culture and its practices in some way or other. From the point of view of cultural ethos, all Indians can be called as Hindus or Hindu culture practicing non Hindus.

People may wonder at the sudden emergence of the Siva Bhaktas and Vishnu Bhaktas in our political bazaar.  Instead of people of India doubt or question about the truthfulness of Siva Bhakti or the honesty of the Siva Bhakta, we must ask is the Bhakti manufactured recently or are quite old.

People all over the world would believe that the products that are manufactured recently are to be good. But some products will have very short shelf-life and hence, however recent be the date of manufacture, its expiry also will be quite close.

It is the election season.  The dynast has recognised that he is voyaging in a sinking boat.  His boat is sinking not because it has holes in it or the sea is rough and rogue. But his ship is heavy and it is carrying huge baggage beyond its carrying capacity. The baggage is nothing but scams and scams. UPA 1 and 2 experiment is still fresh in the minds of people.  People of India are not going to forgive the dynast or his party.

It is like when the market shrinks, the companies would adopt different marketing strategies like giving offers, price cut, packaging change, advertisement etc. The dynast is also appears to have adopted the same strategy to save his sinking ship.  It looks like he has manufactured a new product called Siva bhakti so that he can sell the same to Hindus and can attract Hindu voters.

The question is how long his siva bhakti would last? In all likelihood, his Siva Bhakti would expire once the election is over. He has manufactured Siva Bhakti only for election and that is how people perceive and hence his Siva Bhakti is likely to expire once the election is over. The people who manufacture several products during election season just to harvest profit are on the one side.

We need not just a Siva Bhakta but a committed leader with vision, passion, sincerity, commitment and high level of personal integrity. People of India must think of the fortune and future of our country and should not fall victim to those who wants to experiment their personal political ambition.

India need development and sab ka vikas, hope Indians will ensure victory of India by re-electing Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP in 2019 and not the dynast.

Retired officer’s outrageous lie that Army wasted 1 day at Ahmedabad’s airfields on 1 March 2002 and other lies nailed

GujaratRiots.com
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Retired officer’s outrageous lie that Army wasted 1 day at Ahmedabad’s airfields on 1 March 2002 and other lies nailed

On 6 October 2018, The Indian Express reported some claims of retired Lt. Gen Zameer Uddin Shah on happenings of 1 March 2002 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The report said:

”On the intervening night of February 28 and March 1, 2002 when Gujarat was engulfed in flames, Lt. Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, met the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of the then Defence Minister George Fernandes, at 2 am in Ahmedabad and gave him a list of immediate requirements to enable the Army columns to fan out to restore law and order.

But the 3,000 troops that had landed at the Ahmedabad airfield at 7 am on March 1, had to wait for a day before the Gujarat administration provided the transport– during which period hundreds of people were killed. “These were crucial hours lost,” Shah, who retired as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, has revealed in his upcoming memoir titled “The Sarkari Mussalman” to be launched by former Vice President Hamid Ansari on October 13 at India International Centre here [New Delhi].

In the memoir, a copy of which is with IANS, Shah writes that the Gujarat government requested for deployment of the Army through the Union Home Ministry and the Ministry of Defence on February 28, 2002.

The then Chief of Army Staff, General S. Padmanabhan was quoted by him as saying: “‘Zoom, get your formation to Gujarat tonight and quell the riots.’ I replied, ‘Sir, the road move will take us two days.’ He shot back, ‘The Air Force will take care of your move from Jodhpur. Get maximum troops to the airfield. Speed and resolute action are the need of the hour.'”

Upon arriving at the “dark and deserted” Ahmedabad airfield, he enquired: “Where are the vehicles and other logistic support we had been promised?” He learnt that the state government was still “making the necessary arrangements”.

“The crucial periods was the night of 28th February and the 1st of March. This is when the maximum damage was done. I met the chief minister at 2 am on the 1st morning. The troops sat on the airfield all through the 1st of March and we got the transport only on the 2nd of March. By then the mayhem had already been done,” Shah, who has been conferred Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal and Sena Medal for his services to the armed forces, told IANS.

Asked if the damage would be lesser had the army been allowed full freedom and provided with what he had personally asked Modi for, he agreed and said: “Most certainly the damage would have been much, much less had we got the vehicles at the right time. What the police couldn’t do in six days we did in 48 hours despite being six times smaller in size than them. We finished the operation in 48 hours on the 4th of March but it could have been finished on the 2nd of March itself had we not lost those crucial hours.”

He said that he is not blaming anyone in particular. “It may take some time in arranging transport but in a situation like that, it could have possibly been done faster,” he added.

He said the police were “dumb bystanders” while the “mob was setting fire on streets and houses”. They were taking “no action” to prevent the “mayhem” that was being done.

“I did see a lot of MLAs from the majority community sitting at the police stations. They had no business to be there. Whenever we used to tell the police to impose the curfew, they never did so in the minority areas. So the minorities were always surrounded by the mobs. It was a totally parochial and biased handling,” the decorated army veteran maintained…

The government had told the parliament in 2005 that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, 223 more people reported missing and another 2,500 injured during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Shah maintains in the book that the “official figures of deaths and damage do not reflect a true picture of the actual extent of the carnage”.

After this, some anti-BJP journalists like Hartosh Singh Bal supported these claims (as expected) and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held him guilty. So did Congress leaders like Manish Tiwari.

Unfortunately, this is not even a manoeuvre, these are plain lies. A factory of lies. The Godhra massacre of 59 Ram sewaks took place on 27 February 2002 (Wednesday). The riots after that began on 28 February 2002 (Thursday) at 11:00 am in Ahmedabad. India Today weekly reported in its issue dated 18 March 2002 that the Centre was contacted for sending the Army informally at 12:00 noon, i.e. within 1 hour, and by 4 pm an official request was sent to Delhi.

The Army was posted at the border at that time (in view of war clouds with Pakistan after the Parliament attack of 13 December 2001), but reached Ahmedabad so quickly on 28 Feb night, that newspapers reported its arrival the next day ie. 1 March itself. The Hindu reported on 1 March 2002 (Friday) that “The Army units, frantically called by the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, as the situation seemed to slip out of hand, started arriving in Ahmedabad and are likely to be deployed in the city on Friday (1 March).” The same day The Indian Express also reported: “This pushed the toll, by 1.30 am, to at least 70 out of which 60 was for Ahmedabad alone. By this time, Defence Minister George Fernandes was in town meeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the Army’s Gandhinagar-based 11 Division had begun to send out reconnaissance patrols. The news of the Army’s arrival came as a glimmer of hope to residents of the city …”

After this, the Army DID NOT waste 1 day due to lack of transport but immediately swung into action. It began flag marches in the forenoon of 1 March 2002. India Today [18 March 2002] reported in its article “Chronology of a Crisis” that the Army staged a Flag March by 11:30 am in Ahmedabad on 1 March. It said:  “According to Modi, he had officially called for the army by 4 p.m. on February 28. By 6.30 p.m. a formal request had landed in Delhi. By 1 a.m. on March 1, George Fernandes had landed in Ahmedabad at Modi’s behest. At great personal risk, he bravely took to the streets next morning to check the violence. At 11.30 a.m. the army was staging a flag march in Ahmedabad.”

The Hindu’s report on events of 1 March 2002 said the next day: “The Army began flag marches in the worst-affected areas of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot and Godhra cities and the `shoot at sight’ order was extended to all 34 curfew-bound cities and towns in Gujarat as the orgy of violence in the aftermath of the Godhra train carnage continued unabated for the second day today…”

The Times of India reported on 2 March 2002: “Neither the Army nor the shoot-at-sight orders given to the Gujarat police could control the mob frenzy in Ahmedabad on Friday (1 March 2002) as the city witnessed a total collapse of the law and order machinery for the second straight day, taking a heavy toll of human lives….”

And this was on 1 March, the 2nd day of the riots, when the violence was much less as compared to 28 February. This has 2 very important implications. First- if even the Army and shoot-at-sight orders could not control the violence when it was much lesser, what must have been the situation on 28 February when the Army was not present during the day and the violence was far more? And the second and most important implication is that the Army was out in action staging flag marches and trying to quell riots, not wasting the day at the airfields of Ahmedabad.

But some people are looking for some excuses to somehow crucify Modi. They earlier lied that Modi did not call the Army for 3 days. When it was clear that the Army was called not only on the same day, it was called FRANTICALLY, i.e. as soon as possible, someone looked for some sticks to somehow beat Modi with, lying that the Army wasted one day at the airfields! The Hindu said that the Army was called ‘Frantically’ by Modi.

Hence came this ridiculous charge of the Army wasting one day of 1 March 2002 due to lack of transport provided by Gujarat Government! Retired officer Shah claimed, “The troops sat on the airfield all through the 1st of March and we got the transport only on the 2nd of March.” This is absolute trash, the troops were staging flag marches in the forenoon of 1st March 2002 itself.

Note here that no one ever made this charge against Modi for so many years after 2002. In between these years, all sorts of lies were spread to blame and try to crucify Modi. From fake claims by Tehelka in 2007, by CNN-IBN TV channel on 26 October, 2007 after Tehelka’s operation was broadcast that ‘3 days license was given to kill with no Army called’ to several other lies, all sorts of claims were made. So carried away were Tehelka and Aaj Tak by their Gujarat ‘sting’ that they suffered the ides of February. The late B.P.Singhal wrote in his article “Gujarat ka sach” in The Pioneer dated 29th October 2007- “Aaj Tak harped on the same old refrain that ‘Modi did not call the Army until three days had passed’. When the TV channel contacted me on phone to get my response, I told the anchor that the Godhra carnage took place on February 27, 2002, that the Hindu backlash commenced on February 28 and the Army was doing flag march on the forenoon of March 1… He cut me short by saying that ‘This is exactly what we had said, no action was taken by Modi on 29th, 30th and 31st thus giving three clear days to the murderers…’ I had to cut him short by reminding him that the date 28th was 28th of February 2002 and there was no 29th, 30th or 31st in that month. The phone was of course disconnected.”

But not even these channels and Modi’s worst enemies like Outlook or Tehelka or The Week or anyone else ever alleged for 16 years since 2002 that the Army called to Ahmedabad had to spent 1 full day i.e. 1 March 2002 on airfields. This is because it simply did not! And making this charge would also have meant accepting that the Army was called on 28 February 2002, the first day of the riots itself, immediately, else it would not have been able to reach by 1st March 2002 morning. Had this charge of the Army spending 1 full day at Ahmedabad air-field, it would have reported like this in the media at that time definitely. The newspapers would have screamed the next day that ‘Despite the Army reaching, it has had to spend the whole day at the airfields due to lack of transport’. But nothing of this sort was reported, instead, it was reported that the Army staged flag marches. This claim, if true, would certainly not have been made for the first time after 16-17 years.

Retired officer Shah also said: “We finished the operation in 48 hours on the 4th of March but it could have been finished on the 2nd of March itself had we not lost those crucial hours.”

Again totally wrong on facts. The Army began operations on 1 March and ended them on 2nd March itself, not on 4th March. There was almost total peace in Gujarat on 3 March 2002, Sunday. The violence on 2nd March 2002 was much lesser as compared to 1st March, and Ahmedabad was almost back to normal. The Tribune reported on 3 March 2002 that: “(On 2 March) Ahmedabad, the worst hit by the communal flare-up in the wake of Godhra train killings, was virtually back to normal….”

That is, the Gujarat Government managed to control riots in the communally sensitive state in three days after Godhra and in only two days in a communally ultra-sensitive place like Ahmedabad! Reports of The Hindu and The Telegraph of 3 March 2002 also prove that Ahmedabad was virtually back to normal on 2 March 2002 itself. The Hindu reported that ‘The situation improved in Ahmedabad on 2 March 2002 with no major incidents of arson reported’ and The Telegraph reported that ‘Riot spins out of Ahmedabad’.

The following report from The Hindu dated 4 March 2002 will make it clear that the operations indeed ended on 2 March 2002 itself in the whole state with no violence occurring on 3 March:

“Ahmedabad, 3rd March. The orgy of violence in Gujarat appears to have ended. Today only two deaths were reported, one from Godhra. Officially the death toll is 431, more than half of them in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad was quiet, apart from two major arson attacks on a Muslim-owned petrol station and warehouse. Curfew has been lifted in most areas of the 40 towns and cities where clashes were reported, including Naroda and Meghnaninagar (i.e. Gulberg Society case, i.e. Chamanpura, Ehsan Jafri case) in Ahmedabad, where hundreds were killed. The state administration says that curfew will be relaxed in more areas tomorrow. There was a ‘sense of normality in the State’ today.

But the smouldering remains of burnt-out buildings and the acrid smell of burning rubber, five days after the violence began, are a reminder that ‘normality’ in Ahmedabad is a very long way off”.

Thus, Shah’s claims are proved to be totally false, the violence ended on 2 March 2002 itself with 3 March being peaceful.

Shah said the police were “dumb bystanders” while the “mob was setting fire on streets and houses”. They were taking “no action” to prevent the “mayhem” that was being done. That is again factually wrong. Police took a lot of action.

In some cases, police were indeed bystanders but that was because they were heavily outnumbered by mobs on 28 February 2002. But they still did their best, and were certainly taking ‘action’ to prevent mayhem. The only paper which accused the police of deliberate inaction on 28 Feb 2002 was The Indian Express. After that, even The Indian Express admitted that the police did its best from 1st March 2002. Shah reached only on 1 March, so he certainly cannot say that the police were ‘dumb bystanders.’ What they did, we will see briefly here.

The Indian Express reported on 2 March: “ (On 1 March) The police, its credibility lowest than ever, tried to salvage its reputation intervening in some clashes by opening fire. Twenty were killed in police firing across the state, 12 in Ahmedabad.”

There are two things to be noted from this very vital statement. First, the police did their best to control the violence and could not be accused by anyone, even The Indian Express, of negligence from this day onward, the second day of the riots, i.e. 1  March 2002. And second, there were “clashes” going on between Hindus and Muslims, and not one-sided massacres of Muslims.

The report from India Today dated 18 March 2002 revealed the following points:

  1. The entire police force of Ahmedabad was deployed, total 6,000, out of which only 1,500 were armed. The size of the mobs was unprecedented on 28 February and the police forces were woefully short.
  2. Even though the Rapid Action Force was deployed, it too could not prevent the riots.
  3. Ahmedabad police received at least 3,500 calls on 28  February, against a normal average of 200.
  4. Ahmedabad Fire Brigade, which has the capacity to handle 100 calls, received 400 calls on 28 February.
  5. The statement of the then Ahmedabad Police Commissioner, P.C. Pandey showed that the situation was out of control.

The Hindu also reported the next day that mob fury reached its crescendo on 28 February 2002 and the situation slipped out of hand. Even in its infamous article misquoting the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi as saying, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” (which he never said), The Times of India reported on 2nd March 2002 that: “The mobs had swelled to enormous proportions.  The sparse police presence looked like a drop in the ocean of violence”. This was despite the deployment of the entire police force, State Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force and CRPF personnel. The Times of India dated 1 March 2002 also said that the situation was out of control in Rajkot and that the fire brigade received 175 calls and was out of the water. This clearly shows that the situation was out of control.

Despite this, the police did their best and were not ‘dumb bystanders’ even on 28 February. Official records show that the police fired 1496 rounds in the state, including at least 600 in Ahmedabad on 28 February 2002. The police shot dead 11 Hindus and injured 16 and a total of 17 people were killed in police firing on that day. [SIT report, page 210] At least two were shot dead outside Ahmedabad in Nadiad and Godhra as per The Telegraph of 1 March 2002. 98 were killed in police firing in the first 3 days [28 Feb, 1 March & 2 March]. Total 5450 rounds were fired in the first 3 days, and 10,559 in the whole period of riots as per official records.  In fact, the BBC reported online on 28 February when the death toll reported by it was a mere 40 for the entire state of Gujarat, i.e. when violence was going on: “The army has been deployed there (Ahmedabad) to counter Hindu youths…. They included six people, who were shot dead by police in Ahmedabad as they tried to restore calm. (the Final figure was 17 for the state)”.

No allegations of police inaction, or police joining rioters, instead it said: “The police tried to restore calm”.

The Telegraph dated 1 March, 2002, also reported [Author: No link available]: “Authorities said police were forced to open fire and lob tear gas shells at several places as protesters got out of hand during today’s VHP bandh (28 February, Thursday).  Two persons died in police firing in Nadiad and Godhra.”

The Tribune (which editorially fully supported the claim of U.C. Banerjee that the Godhra train burning was an accident, absolving Muslim attackers of their heinous crime in January 2005) reported on 1st March, 2002:

“(On 28th February) The police complained they were outnumbered and the rampaging mobs had set up road blocks hindering their movement. Chief Minister, Narendra Modi told a crowded press conference here 700 arrests had been made throughout the state (BBC report quoted earlier also admitted 700 arrests), including 80 in Godhra, where the train was set ablaze killing 58 persons. Mr. Modi had telephoned Mr. Advani to apprise him of the situation in Gujarat in the wake of yesterday’s attack on Sabarmati Express and requested for additional paramilitary forces to deal with law and order. The Centre today issued a fresh direction to the state governments and Union Territories to deploy security forces in sensitive areas while arranging logistics for implementation of contingency plans …. The police opened fire in Kalol town to disperse unruly mobs…”

The staunchly anti-RSS, anti-BJP newspaper, The Hindu also reported the next day that on 28th  February, the police were outnumbered and discarded tyres were used to create road blockades. Nowhere is it alleged that the police deliberately turned a blind eye to the rioting. No mention of police being involved in the violence or giving a free hand to the rioters. No mention of any delay in calling the Army. These charges of “police turning a blind eye, allowing killings for three days, not calling Army until three days had passed…etc.” were made after the riots. If these charges were true, the newspapers would have screamed and gone downtown on the very next day. Nothing like this happened. And, of course, no charge that the riots were being ‘sponsored’ by the Gujarat Government!

700 people were arrested by the police in the state, including around 80 in Godhra on the very first day of the violence i.e. 28 Feb when the situation was out of control. Official records reveal that 4297 tear gas shells were also burst in the whole state that day. The total number of tear gas shells burst is 15,369 for the entire period, and it is 6,500 in the first three days.

Direct evidence of the fact that Muslims were also on the offensive from 1 March 2002 is available from the report of a newspaper as anti-BJP as The Hindu dated 2 March, 2002:  “But unlike Thursday (28 February) when one community was entirely at the receiving end, the minority backlash (on Friday, 1 March) caused further worsening of the situation. Police presence had little impact on the two communities pelting stones at each other in Bapunagar, Gomtipur, Dariapur, Shahpur, Naroda (all areas with high Muslim population) and other areas, from where incidents of firing had been reported…. A pitched battle was continuing between the two communities late in the evening. The official sources said timely arrival of the police foiled a retaliatory attempt to break into a prominent temple in Jamalpur locality in the walled city”.

The Indian Express reported on 2 March 2002: “(On 1st March) Tension escalated in the walled city areas just before the Friday prayers. There were violent clashes between mobs in Jamalpur, Bapunagar and Rakhial (all Muslim concentrated areas of Ahmedabad).” Clearly Muslims were on the offensive. And The Times of India also reported the same day: “(On 1st March) There were signs of retaliation in areas like Juhapura, Kalupur, Dariapur and Shahpur (all Muslim-dominated areas)….” This clears all possible doubts.

The efforts of Narendra Modi to control violence can be clearly seen from the report in India Today weekly dated 18 March 2002 in an article titled “Chronology of a Crisis”.

“27th  FEBRUARY, 2002

8:03 a.m.: Incident at Godhra claims lives of 57 karsevaks.

8:30 a.m.: Modi is informed of the carnage. (This could be at 9 am)

4:30 p.m.: Gujarat Assembly adjourned and Modi visits Godhra where he holds a meeting, giving shoot-at-sight orders to the police.

10:30 p.m.: CM holds meeting with senior government officials at Gandhinagar; (This meeting was simply a law and order review meeting) orders curfew in sensitive places and pre-emptive arrests (These orders of curfew and preventive arrests had nothing to do with that meeting).

28th  FEBRUARY, 2002

8:00 a.m.: Special control room set up in CM’s house to monitor the situation during VHP bandh.

12:00 p.m.: Modi informally contacts Centre for calling in Army. Cabinet Secretary, T.R. Prasad tells Defence Secretary, Y. Narain that army is to be mobilised.

12:30 p.m.: Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General N.C. Vij tells Narain that only two columns are available as the rest are deployed on the border.

12:35 p.m.: Prasad directs Narain to advise Chief of Army Staff, Gen.  Padmanabhan to have troops ready due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ahmedabad.

12:45 p.m.: Narain tells Vij to arrange immediate movement of troops to Gujarat.

4:00 p.m.: Modi requests army deployment following consultations with Advani (the then Home Minister of India).

6:45 p.m.: Cabinet Committee on Security meets under the Prime minister’s chairmanship; approves the immediate movement of troops to Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat. Vajpayee (the then Prime Minister) deputes Fernandes (Defence Minister) to supervise the deployment of troops.

7:00 p.m.: The Gujarat Government’s formal request for Army deployment is received in Delhi.

11:30 p.m.: Airlifting of troops begins.

1st MARCH , 2002

2:30 a.m.: A brigade reaches Ahmedabad. The 54th Division’s General Officer Commanding contacts acting Chief Secretary.

9:00 a.m.: Discussions between representatives of the Army and the state take place, followed by troop flag march in Ahmedabad.”

This above article also nails the lie that the Army spent one day at the airfield in Ahmedabad.

On pages 445-450 the SIT report [SIT was appointed and monitored by the SC] says, after giving various facts:

   “There is evidence available on record to show that immediately (after Godhra which occurred between 7:47 to 8:20 AM on 27 Feb) the State machinery was put on the high alert and this was communicated to all District authorities and Commissioners of Police. The first alert message of 27-02-2002 from the Home Department covered the need to take precautionary measures including adequate police bandobast and preventive measures including the issuance of prohibitory orders depending upon the local situation. It was instructed that anti-social and hardcore communal elements should be dealt with firmly… (Page 445)

    …It was understood that withdrawing the Army at such critical juncture when war like situation existed with the neighbour needed a high-level decision at the Centre. This decision to withdraw the Army and deploy in Gujarat was immediately taken at the highest level in the Centre at the request of Gujarat Govt.… (Page 447)

   …The State Govt. had also made a request on 28-02-2002, to the neighbouring States of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to spare the services of their Armed Reserve Police companies. However, only Maharashtra responded by sending 2 Coys of SRP, whereas the Govt. of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh expressed their inability to spare any police force due to the internal commitments. It may thus be seen that there was no delay, whatsoever in requisitioning the Army and its deployment by the State as and when they realized on 28-02-2002 afternoon that the situation was going beyond control. Significantly, Union Defence Minister arrived at Ahmedabad on 28.02.2002 night to ensure that Army formations take their positions without delay.

   Shri G. Subba Rao, the then Chief Secretary, who had gone abroad, was recalled and he arrived on 01-03-2002… (Page 448)

   …Frantic messages were sent by the Home Department on 01-03-2002 to 06-03-2002 and specific instructions were given to the effect that the riots had to be controlled and all steps should be taken to restore normalcy and peace in the State… (Page 449)

   …Further investigation has established that the State Govt. was reasonably vigilant vis-à-vis the developments on the law & order front and immediately responded by bringing to the notice of all District officials, the need to maintain adequate bandobast in view of the Godhra incident on 27-02-2002…(page 450)”

    This confirms what we have said in our book. That the Army was called ‘frantically’, that George Fernandes came immediately, that alert was sounded, the police force was requested from neighbouring states, etc.

The UPA government had told the parliament in 2005 that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, 223 more people reported missing and another 2,500 injured during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Shah maintains in the book that the “official figures of deaths and damage do not reflect a true picture of the actual extent of the carnage”. These are again lying.

That the UPA Government, with Congress President and staunchly anti-BJP Sonia Gandhi as the UPA chief, and Communists as outside supporters, gave the figure of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus killed in the Gujarat riots inside the Parliament is something worth pondering  about. This was in a WRITTEN REPLY, i.e. the government knew fully well what it was doing. It was in response to a question asked by a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha and Babri Masjid Action Committee lawyer, R.K. Anand. The ex-gratia compensation paid by the Gujarat Government shows 1169 deaths. The UPA Government also gave a special additional package of 3.5 lakh rupees to the Gujarat riot victims in 2008, also to the same number- 1169. UPA Government would have given compensation to all those killed in the riots, and there is no way it would not have given to the kin of any dead, so it shows that the correct figure of people killed is around 1169.

Actually, official records show that the figures given initially in 2002 said that 228 people were missing (closely matched by the UPA Government also saying 223 people missing in Parliament on 11 May 2005) and later 101 people were found alive, so the final missing people’s figure is 127 only. The official statistics show that 101 people were found alive and 127 people are still missing and hence assumed dead after the 7-year period is over.

The death toll is less than or equal to 1169 since it is absolutely impossible that the UPA Government would have failed to give ex-gratia to families of people killed in the riots when the riots have been politicized so much. (And if the UPA government which was a staunch opponent of Narendra Modi claims that any more than 1169 people were killed in the riots, then it itself would be admitting that it did not pay compensation to some killed people’s families!) UPA’s figures in Parliament would amount to 1171 deaths- 790 Muslims, 254 Hindus and 127 missing people (after many missing were found alive), 790+254+127= 1171. This closely matches the ex-gratia figure of 1169, paid by both Gujarat and the UPA Government. Even assuming that every single missing person is dead, the death toll cannot cross 1171. Despite this, Shah tries to imply that the death toll is higher.

The Tribune reported on 30 April 2002 that the death toll crossed the 900 mark on 29 April. The riots had almost ended by that time and maximum 50 more would have been killed by 10 May 2002. And this was 2 months after the real violence of 28 Feb, 1st and 2nd March had ended, most of the bodies of the killings of these days had been found by 30 April.  Thus there is no way at all that the toll could be anywhere close to 2,000. The 950-odd toll was exaggerated and inflated to 2000 by the liars some months after the riots.

There is huge evidence to show PM Modi took all steps to prevent & control riots which were also not one-sided. Read http://www.gujaratriots.com  We gave a challenge to our opponents to refute any of our arguments on merit. This challenge was given in April 2010 and has not been answered since the past 8 years. Our book “Gujarat Riots: The True Story” gives all details. Such defamatory & inflammatory lies spread by Shah & journalists like Hartosh Singh Bal need to be nailed and refuted comprehensively.

Can BJP save its ‘Savings’ of the decades?

Hariharan Iyer
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Can BJP save its ‘Savings’ of the decades?

What is the concept of Savings? Savings act as security while venturing into an unfamiliar terrain. When savings built over the years is eroded, there exists no solid support for future unfamiliar expeditions.

Upper castes have always been the back bone of the BJP. Such support base is developed only when the voter believes that his ideology is in sync with that of the vote seeker, which in turn is developed with relentless efforts over years. BJP recently restored to its original effect an amendment made by the Supreme Court in SC/ST Act. It rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order. It provides that no preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval. The restoration was aimed at changing the BJP’s perceptional position in the Dalit graph from the negative axis to the positive axis, skipping the central equilibrium.

This has the capability to erode the savings of the BJP manifesting itself in the form of its core vote base built over the years.

This restoration has irked the core vote base of the BJP. Strong social and political voices of opposition are emanating from all the corners. These voices are significant as they have the capability to determine the electoral prospects of any party and especially the BJP in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. These three states in turn play a crucial role in the formation of any government at the centre. The 2014 General Elections witnessed an exceptional performance by the BJP in these three states and any dent to its core vote base in the Hindi heart land can significantly impair its electoral prospects. A significant manifestation of the restoration decision is the resolution of Samanya Pichda Evam Alpsankyak Varg Adhikari Karmchari Sanstha (SAPAKS) to contest the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections and 2019 General Elections. SAPAKS is vehemently opposing the decision of restoring the amendment to SC/ST act to its original effect and is raising the question of benefits of reservation as a policy in the larger context.

If the disenchanted core vote base of the BJP start identifying their grievances with the agenda of SAPAKS, it can easily erode a considerable amount of BJP’s core votes. Although a good number of parties like the LJP led by Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan & the RPI (A) led by Mr.Ramdas Athawale representing Dalit interests are with the BJP, it should not try to hedge its potential loss in its core vote bank with the votes brought in by these parties. This is simply because Savings should grow and not shrink. Savings are assets to be used in times of contingent distress and savings themselves should not be the cause of distress. Another important aspect to remember is that the ruling clan is facing natural anti incumbency and LJP and RPI (A) being part of the ruling coalition is no exception to it. Hence, any shift of Dalit votes to parties representing their interests in the opposite camp will have disastrous effects as these votes are mass mobilized.

This represents the uncertainty and pitfalls present in future expeditions which BJP is expected to undertake.

In order to optimize the benefits of Savings, it needs to be constantly monitored. Activities on a war footing should be undertaken to curb negative developments. BJP should act as early as possible against the growing dissent in its treasury.

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