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Sabarimala Case: An agonizing Verdict

Naagesh Padmanaban
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Sabarimala Case: An agonizing Verdict

In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court of India had in a 4-1 majority judgement decided to remove the ban on entry of women aged 10-50 into the famed Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala in South India. The case had generated a lot of interest- during the hearings as well as post judgement- all around the world. It is indeed a significant judgement since with the stroke of their pens, four judges reversed a practice that has been going on at the temple since time immemorial.

The four judges have averred that the practice “significantly denudes women of their right to worship”. Justice Chandrachud termed the custom as a form of “untouchability” which cannot be allowed under the Constitution of India.

Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone lady member of the bench, has attracted a lot of attention and admiration. As member of this five judge bench, she wrote her dissenting judgement. She has provided some profound reasoning for her dissent that certainly deserves examination. Former Supreme Court of India judge Markandey Katju has complimented her for “the balance and restraint required of a judge of a superior court”.

Judge Malhotra has pointed out that that “the petitioners were not directly affected and were not devotees” themselves and hence she found it “odd that the court was deciding on the entry of women into the temple at the behest of persons who do not subscribe to this faith”. This is an important observation, and has not missed the attention of millions of Hindus in the country.

She has further strongly argued for “heterogeneity in religion that allows diverse forms of worship, even if it were irrational”. Very pointedly she states that “in a secular polity, issues which are matters of deep religious faith and sentiment, must not ordinarily be interfered with by courts.”

Continuing her telling observations, Malhotra has said that permitting such public interest litigations (PILs) “in religious matters would open the floodgates to interlopers who are not followers of that faith, to question its beliefs and practices” since it would be a matter of grave concern, especially for minority communities. She has firmly concluded that the said writ petition “does not deserve to be entertained and the grievances raised are non-justiciable”.

But the majority judges thought otherwise. Their reasoning for the majority judgement seems to be a reiteration that the practice of forbidding women in the said age group was “a form of untouchability which cannot be allowed under the Constitution.” But many legal experts have already argued that this case cannot be viewed through the limited vision lens of gender equality and a broader view of Hindu religious practices was imperative in judging the case.

It is not that these points of law were not brought before the court during the hearings. In fact J Sai Deepak, who appeared before the Supreme Court in this case on behalf of the intervener organization People for Dharma, too had presented succinct arguments. For example, he had argued that “Lord Ayyappa has rights under articles 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India, and his right to remain a Naisthika Bramhachari- or a perpetual celibate- falls under Article 25 and hence, women’s entry to the temple should continue to be restricted”.

Thus, restricting entry of women into the abode of a Lord who is a Naisthika Bramhachari- or a perpetual celibate- may not tantamount to gender inequality or discrimination against women, when viewed though a broader lens. Be as it may, the other four judges, in their wisdom have obviously not been convinced by these arguments and hence their opinions have prevailed and the judgement is there for all to see.

The impact of the judgement is expected to be felt far and wide. From breaking its own restraint in not entering into the domain of religious beliefs and practices that are not pernicious, the Supreme Court has opened the possibility of internecine litigations between religious faiths where one practitioner is now free to question and seek the quashing of practices of another religion. The outcome could be a judicial nightmare which could easily lead to bloodshed on the streets.

In multiple discussions I had with Hindu women, particularly millennials in Tamil Nadu, I got a sense of their disbelief. Many did say that they were suspicious of the motives of the petitioners since they themselves would never have approached the courts on such a matter. Many felt violated since Hindu women had traditionally revered the practice of naisthika bramhacharya vratam of Lord Ayyappa. They pointed out that the unprecedented heavy rains and consequent damage to life and property in Kerala as a sign of Lord Ayyappa’s anger.

Plural societies like India have diverse groups and interest and by definition have differing identities and belief systems which have to be celebrated. But they also have large and vulnerable underbellies that have to carefully nurtured and protected, not exploited. But in India we seem to be witnessing the opposite.

But if the average Hindu, particularly the women, feel outraged, they cannot be faulted for, here is a judgement that nullifies a centuries-old practice that they did not ask for. The certainly avoidable outcome, is that a growing number of reasonable Indians now think that the judiciary appears to have abandoned all shreds of caution and sensitivity when treading on matters of religious faith, however irrational they may appear.

Over the ages, Hindu social memory has been burdened with a lot of baggage – from flawed to gross miscarriages of justice – more than what many other social systems have experienced. But they have been absorbed and digested in the sands of time. So too this will be.

Despite the judgement, out of reverence for Lord Ayyappa, Hindu women have not come forward to visit the temple. And they are steadfast in their resolve. Nonetheless, many Ayyappa Sangams – groups or forums of Ayyappa devotees – do expect the usual suspects – activist women who have a track record of protesting against Hindu practices – to visit the temple. But like always, most of them will be a flash in the pan.

The Gandhis & India’s fatal tryst with Italy

Vijaya Dar
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The Gandhis & India’s fatal tryst with Italy

October 2nd 2018 is the first day of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Whole libraries have been written about this remarkable man who appeared upon the scene in India after having cut his teeth in the political arena at the height of colonial ruthlessness and exploitation by the apartheid regime in South Africa. India, under the imperial heel of Britain, was fertile ground for transplanting his revolutionary ideas that he had seeded as a lawyer and political activist in Pretoria.

However, the purpose of this article is not to add one more page to the volumes in the library dedicated to Gandhi’s life. It is a reverie that was triggered some years ago when I first read Manohar Malgonkar’s book ‘The Men Who Killed Gandhi’. The work was first published in 1978, but somehow, had not come to my attention. I have read Malgonkar’s fiction, ‘The Combat of Shadows’ being the first. It is a passionate novel, set in the tea plantations of the Northeast, with revenge as its theme. Malgonkar writes with great ease and felicity. His understanding of the Indian mind is second-to-none, and his characters come alive in the narratives. Later I also read ‘Distant Drums’, a novel set around the 1857 Sepoy Revolt, whose protagonists are the leaders of that revolt. ‘A Bend in the River’ is also set in the times before Indian independence and the Partition that let loose a river of blood across the subcontinent. All Mangonkar’s fiction is full of passionate drama, with many melodramatic scenes of cinematic intensity. I have always wondered why no filmmaker has attempted to bring ‘The Combat of Shadows’ and ‘A Bend in the River’ to life on the silver screen! These two novels are admirably suited to the medium of cinema and would make for excellent viewing in the hands of a good craftsman.

‘The Men Who Killed Gandhi’ is a painstaking journey that began in 1960 as an assignment from Life International, and it came out as a story in its February 1968 issue. But, by then, Malgonkar had realized that his story and the research behind it warranted a book, much more than just a magazine article. So, he sat down to enlarge the story with inputs from several sources, of which the Kapur Commission’s report proved to be most invaluable. The edition that was finally published in 1978 was until then, perhaps the most factual account of the conspiracy that led to the assassination of Gandhi.

Reprinted in 2008 by Roli Books, the new edition has been richly enhanced by some, until then unpublished, documents and photographs of the many people and items involved in the actual conspiracy, and the subsequent trials. There are photocopies of the statements made by the indicted people as well as by the investigating agents. One can see a facsimile of the actual Air India tickets bought by Godse and Apte when they embarked on their deadly mission from Bombay to Delhi. There are copies of the entries made in the Visitors’ Index book maintained by Hotel Marina, New Delhi, where Godse had stayed in Room No. 40 when the first attempt on Gandhi’s life was made on 20th January 1948. Pictures of the two firearms procured by the conspirators to perpetrate their foul deed, with a complete account of how these came into their possession, can be found within the pages of this edition.

But, as Malgonkar writes in the preface to the 2008 edition: “The book first came out when the country was in the grip of the ‘Emergency’, and books were subjected to a censorship of the utmost ruthlessness. This made it incumbent upon me to omit certain vital facts such as, for instance, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s secret assurance to Mr. L. B. Bhopatkar, that his client, Mr. V. D. Savarkar had been implicated as a murder-suspect on the flimsiest grounds. Then again, certain other pertinent details such as the ‘doctoring’ of a confession by a magistrate whose duty it was only to record what was said only came out in later years.” This edition, according to the author, “is the complete single account of the plot to murder Mahatma Gandhi.” The edition brought out by Roli Books has been a great success that can be ascertained from the fact that between 2008 and 2011, it has undergone five impressions.

After having read and pondered over this wonderfully produced volume, I moved on, quite by chance, to read an almost innocuous novel titled ‘The Last Castrato’ by John Spencer Hill. Published in 1995, the mystery novel is set in Florence, Italy, a city that is said to overawe visitors by its sheer volume of culture. Situated on the banks of the silvery river Arno, the city has a domineering influence on people when they first espy Brunelleschi’s Dome, or Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. The quaint, fairy-tale-like Ponte Vecchio straddles the river like a magical bridge promising some wonderland on the other side. Florence can be both intimidating, and yet captivating.

The novel recounts a saga in which the victim of a crime committed almost three decades ago, exacts his revenge on the wrong-doers, by slitting their throats and severing their vocal chords. The victim, it appears, was criminally castrated by a group of aspiring musicians who called themselves the Camerati Dell’Arte, the Companions of Art. In their attempt to restore Renaissance opera to its original roots, they decided that they needed the voice of a castrato. They abducted a young peasant boy, plied him with laudanum, and then proceeded to emasculate him. However, they were unable to market their music because the recording companies guessed that the boy had been criminally assaulted and did not want to have anything to do with the group. The boy, however, never forgave the Camerati and, as a grown up, exacted his revenge upon them in the most macabre manner that he could devise.

There is obviously no connection between these two books, one a factual account of a conspiracy launched by five fiercely patriotic individuals who, although they held Gandhi in high esteem, felt that he had betrayed the cause of the majority, and therefore, had to be violently removed from the scene. In the end, their fanaticism got the better of their patriotism, and they succeeded in killing the Mahatma, who, if he had lived, may have ‘changed the shape of India’s polity and society’. ‘The world,’ according to Pramod Kapoor, the editor of the volume, ‘may not have been as violent as it is today.’ The second is a totally fictional work, in which a wronged individual seeks revenge for personal satisfaction.

However, it is rather ironical that Italy played a small role in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Of the two guns that Godse procured for the deed, it was the 9mm Beretta, an automatic pistol, made in Italy, which fired the fatal shots. The pistol had found its way to India from Ethiopia after the Second World War. Fate had decreed that an Italian weapon would be used to remove Gandhi from this earth.

Ironically, it was again the connection with an Italian; this time an individual, that brought down another Gandhi. The unhealthy influence of Ottavio Quatrocchi was chiefly responsible for turning Rajiv Gandhi from a promising Prime Minister into a common broker, a commission agent, thereby destroying his credibility with the people and bringing his government down from the heights of unprecedented majority to an ignominious minority, within the period of just one term. Quatrocchi was able to peddle his toxic influence only because he was an Italian, the nationality of Rajiv Gandhi’s wife.

The destructive Italian connection continues for over a quarter-century (and counting) after the downfall of Rajiv Gandhi and his untimely and tragic assassination by a Sri Lankan suicide-bomber. Sonia Gandhi, his widow, after a brief interregnum of staying away from the corridors of political power, took control of the Congress Party, consolidating her hold on it as its longest-serving President; and till 2014, ruled the country as an uncrowned Empress. Even now she commands an almost Caesarian, unconstitutional authority in Lutyen’s Delhi. The constricting embrace in which she held the Party has transformed it into a lifeless, spineless organism, almost a brain-dead creature. The government she headed (as the Chairperson of the UPA) was prostrate at her feet and its Prime Minister, like the peasant boy of the novel, seemed to have become the first castrato in the Opera Macabre that she was conducting, with the Indian media playing its diabolical orchestra from the wings. It is perhaps pertinent to recall here what Nathuram Godse, in his final statement, had to say about the Indian press: “The Press had displayed such weakness and submission to the High Command of the Congress that it allowed the mistakes of leaders pass away freely and unnoticed and made vivisection easy by their policy.” We can see that as far as the media is concerned, nothing has changed since the trial of the conspirators.

Sonia Gandhi has since handed over the baton to her son, now that she no longer commands the legislature, having led her party in the 2014 elections to its worst ever performance in history. Rahul Gandhi, like a modern day Don Quixote, suffering from a fevered imagination, is out to destroy whatever credibility the party is left with. Like a loose cannon he makes bombastic and conflicting statements about the economy with regularity. In his hatred for PM Modi he appears to be willing to join hands with the enemies of India if it can bring his party back to power, never mind the consequent rivers of blood that communal riots are known to generate. The endorsements he receives from Pakistan testify to this fact. His almost daily utterances of vile lies against Narendra Modi, his inane tweets, and the abuses he hurls at the office of the Prime Minister confirm that he and his family are unable to come to terms with their current state of political irrelevance. His personal identity is in a constant state of flux, altering his religious beliefs according to the town he is visiting and the audience he is addressing.

The Congress Party has run its race and is now completely out of wind. Its leadership is moribund and has survived the various court cases so far because of a dysfunctional judicial system it created over 60 years of governance. In any other Democracy its entire top leadership would have been in jail within months of losing power. In China they would probably have been executed. The Gandhi’s have long outlived their usefulness to the Congress party and to India. The hangers-on who are still holding on to the pallu of Sonia Gandhi’s sari have no existence outside the fold. They are the last castratos of the Cameratismo di Ladri (the comradeship of thieves) that the party’s Italian connections have transformed it into. The shrill cacophony of the servile media and the continuous assault by the judiciary on India’s traditional culture and civilization can, at best be described as the last ditch attempts by a derelict surgery to give voice to these castratos even though their vocal chords were excised long ago by the Italian descendants.

If India survives this fatal Italian connection in 2019, it can be assured of the “tryst with destiny” that its first Prime Minister had promised at the dawn of independence, though he did not do much to make that tryst come about.

Here is how BJP has scored five goals in handling the Kashmir affairs

Pulind Samant
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Here is how BJP has scored five goals in handling the Kashmir affairs

The interview of Mehbooba Mufti, ex-CM of J&K, by a Hindustan Times correspondent, was published in HT’s 19/09/18 issue. In the said interview, Mehbooba claimed her party to have suffered political setback by combining with the BJP in forming the government in the state. When a party to a contract claims to have suffered a loss in a transaction involving two parties, the other party is logically said to have gained correspondingly, unless it was a loss-loss situation for both. That triggers a thought for verifying whether the said interpretation was true. However, since the current political discourse in the country includes invariably RSS or Sangh Parivar whenever there is a discussion about BJP, weighing the gains for the Sangh Parivar or the right wing as it’s popularly called by the mainstream media, in the whole matter would be a good idea.

BJP had its 25 representatives in the last state assembly, elected in the elections of 2014, which was a historical achievement for the party, compared to its earlier tallies. That was the first visible gain thereby establishing its electoral merit in the state politics, consolidating its vote bank among the Jammu Hindus, which had not found such a clear expression earlier.

When it decided to form the government with PDP, it was not approved of by the general sentiment of its nationwide supporters, quoting PDP’s history of hardline agenda, only marginally different than that of the separatists. The opposition too, had expectedly criticized it to be the marriage of the incongruous. Notwithstanding the same, it went ahead with the decision and got its Deputy CM entrenched there. Having done that and run the state administration jointly with PDP for three and a half years before breaking up, it gained actual experience of running the state apparatus and related insights. That was the second gain.

The party continued in position by extracting decisions from its central leadership on unilateral ceasefire during Ramzan, appointment of an interlocutor of a chief secretary rank and even granting amnesty to the stone pelting Kashmiri youth who did not have such history, obviously at PDP’s nudging. That way it displayed the necessary patience towards handling the pressures of governance, contributing substantially towards the state’s effort for peace simultaneously. Here it was the third gain, where nobody could find fault for lack of sincerity or it getting dictated by the Sangh ideology in any manner.

The fourth and biggest gain has been on account of its steadfastness with regard to its core ideology of nation first, demonstrated through various actions like heavy retaliation against terror including the surgical strike of 29/09/16, improving the record of Indian security forces hunting down highest ever number of terrorists including many high profile ones like Burhan Wani. The episode of Major Gogoi getting felicitated at the hands of the Army Chief, for his brave action of tying up a local Kashmiri on Army’s jeep in order to save his soldiers’ lives, would never have happened under any other political dispensation at the centre. As a result, the larger social discourse in the country about terrorism vis-à-vis human rights took a turn in favour of the said actions.

In the above referred interview with HT, Mehbooba Mufti rued throughout about the centre not towing the line of late A.B. Vajpayee with regard to the affairs of J&K. She lauded Vajpayee for being consistent in engaging with the separatists internally as well as reconciling with Pakistan externally, despite the episodes of Kargil war and terror attack on the Parliament, both perpetrated by Pakistan.

Although Mehbooba holding up the Vajpayee era examples belonging to almost two decades old period to be the ideal ones in her perspective is understandable, they would not be acceptable ones in the current scenario where much has changed in the intervening period, including the intensity of cross-border terrorism, that of the counter-terrorism operations and also the public opinion.

When quizzed about the distinction between her party’s agenda and that of the separatists in the said interview, Mehbooba could respond with only a single point of difference viz. her party’s (or the mainstream Kashmiri political parties’) belief in the Constitution of India.

Apart from the ‘Vajpayee era’ thing, Mehbooba has also lamented the fact that the central government has not played its role by legislating against any possible challenge to Art.35-A, which is currently under adjudication in the Supreme Court. She has also underlined that Art.35-A was the condition for Kashmir’s ‘alignment’ (not integration) with India in 1947 and is thus unchallengeable. Both PDP and NC have by the way decided to boycott the upcoming Panchayat polls in the state, as a sign of protest against the challenge to Art.35-A.

Now looking at both the above claims from a perspective, can one conclude that the mainstream Kashmiri political parties viz. PDP and NC are mouthing their belief in the Constitution of India only because of the presence of Art.35-A and Art.370 there and if the same happen to be removed from there in future as a result of a supreme Court decision, the said belief would end naturally?

As if apprehending the natural fallout of falling out with each other being only a matter of time, BJP decided to exit the government in time, making way for the governor’s rule, scoring its fifth gain in keeping its vote bank intact.

In conclusion, the right wing of India has succeeded in presenting the ‘right’ view to the people of India, as far as the Kashmir affairs are concerned.

Visual, hearing, tactile, olfactory and scam hallucination of Rahul Gandhi needs immediate medical attention

S Ranganathan
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Visual, hearing, tactile, olfactory and scam hallucination of Rahul Gandhi needs immediate medical attention

Rahul Gandhi seems to be suffering from a series of mind related problems these days so whatever he sees or hears or touches or smells, he finds nothing but scam.  May be due to his mind problem, he scream, cry, shout and rant about scam.

It is like those who drown in water would cry water, water. It appears the dynast is drowning under various allegations of scams of his own and that of UPA 1 and 2 and save him from drowning he is ranting scam and alleging the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The recent utterance being the IL &FC (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Group) issue. IL&FC is facing financial tight spot so Government is exploring whether the financial problems of IL&FC can be solved through LIC. The intention of the government is good and certainly the Prime Minister will look into all aspects before execution.

The medical world is familiar with several medical problems such as visual hallucinations where people would complain of seeing something which really doesn’t exist, hearing hallucination where people would complain about hearing things that aren’t there. People also sometime experience tactile hallucinations– like feeling the mobile phone vibrate in the pocket when there’s no phone call. Similarly people do sometime suffer from olfactory hallucination which is otherwise called as Phantosmia (phantom smell) or phantom odour which is nothing but one smells an odour that is not actually there.

Similar to visual hallucination or hearing hallucination or tactile hallucination or phantom odour, today the dynast is suffering from a hallucination called ‘scam hallucination’ therefore the dynast is making unnecessary noise pollution over scam where there is no scam.

Congress was chased out by Indians in 2014 mainly due to the allegations of several scams and the allegations of scams of UPA 1 and 2 has disfigured Indian economy and defamed the credibility of country like how Tsunami destroy everything on its way.

Like the Hamlet who feared, doubted and believed ghost and in his soliloquy he uttered about the ghost, the dynast also utters scams may be because the ghosts of all the scams of the self and that of UPA 1 and 2 are hunting the dynast when he sleep, when he awake and at rest.

Because of the fear of the scams and its consequences, the dynast in all likelihood may be thinking nothing except scams and hence he utters scams, scams at everything and now he has surfaced again with another such allegation over IL&FC.

The complex mind problem of the dynast must be immediately attended otherwise the present problem can grow to an incurable proportion. He is given the oar of the dilapidated ship called the congress party which was anchored on the shores of scams by several of its leaders. Unfortunately the dynast himself is facing the charge of loot in National Herald and is on bail.

Scams are hunting the dynast every day and he is in a precarious condition. To get some attention he is crying scam but no one is going to take the dynast seriously because everyone know the imbecile behaviour and lies of the dynast.

When Narendra Modi talks about development and Sab ka vikas, the dynast talks about scams, when PM Modi talks about New India, the dynast attempts to fill India with confusion and lies by joining hands with those divisive forces.

In the fight between intelligence versus imbecile, we the Indians must ensure the victory of Narendra Modi led BJP in 2019 and beyond, to develop India and ensure sab ka vikas.

मोदी जी, ऑपोसिशन के प्रोपगेंडे की मंडी और हम

kishor
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मोदी जी, ऑपोसिशन के प्रोपगेंडे की मंडी और हम

मोदी जी के खिलाफ प्रोपगेंडे की मंडी जिसे 2014 के पहले लगाई गई थी आज इतनी बड़ी और भयावह अंतराष्ट्रीय बाजार बन गयी है जिसमे आज मोदी-विरोधियों के घरेलू-उत्पाद को सिर्फ उसके चट्टे-बट्टे ही नही बल्कि पाकिस्तान जैसे देशों के द्वारा भी जी भर के लाइक और इस्तेमाल किए जा रहे है.

ये प्रोपगेंडे बिल्कुल एक ब्रांडेड प्रोडक्ट की तरह लांच किए जाते है, जिसमे टाइमिंग और टारगेटड ऑडियंस पहले से डिसाइड है! प्रोमोशन के लिए मीडिया मैनेजमेंट की टुकड़ी, टुकड़ों के खातिर तैयार रहती है! चिन्हित बुद्धिजीवियों की एक जमात जो प्रोडक्ट को 5 स्टार देने के लिए हमेशा तैयार खड़ी मिलती है.

आप किसी भी प्रोपगेंडे को उठा के देख लीजिए, आपको वो एक थोड़ा एनालिस्ट टाइप दिमाग घुमाना पड़ेगा, साफ साफ दिखेगा की कैसे मार्केट में आये अच्छे घोड़े को बुरा बताने के लिए कहा गया कि उसकी पूंछ उठा के सूँघो और बताओ बदबूदार है या नही, और अपने गधे को घोड़ा बता कर बेचने के लिए कहा गया कि कितना गोरा है, कितना क्यूट है, और हंसता है तो डिंपल भी बनते है. और बेचारा सेकुलर भी है.

2014 के पहले हमारे जन-नायक को कट्टर हिन्दू, मास-मर्डरर और न जाने क्या बनाया गया. अभी देख लीजिए, राहुल गांधी खुद एक हिन्दू प्रोडक्ट बन के बिकने के लिए आतुर है. टाइमिंग का फर्क देखिए में कट्टर हिन्दू वाले प्रोडक्ट का बाहिष्कार करने वाले आज जनेऊ से 2019 के सेल में अपने प्रोडक्ट को लपेट के बेच रहे है.

असहिष्णुता को ही ले लीजिए, हर छोटी बड़ी घटनाएं जो वोट बैंक के साथ हुई, अपने दमदार प्रोमोशन, मीडिया कवर और मार्केटिंग इवेंट के दम पर जितनी जल्दी सुर्खियां बटोरी, काबिले तारीफ है.

राफेल को ही ले लीजिए, कांग्रेस कतई मानने को राजी नही की बिना दलाली या भ्रष्टाचार के कोई (रक्षा) सौदा किया जा सकता है.

प्रोपगेंडे से अकेला मोदी नही लड़ सकता. इसे जरूरत है सबके द्वारा समझने की क्यों इसमें सिर्फ और सिर्फ मीडिया ट्रायल होता है, पूरी कोशिश होती है कि जनता जांच से पहले किसी खास को अपराधी घोषित कर दे, उसकी क्रेडिबलिटी खत्म हो जाये, उसके सारे किये कराए पे पानी फिर जाए!

निम्नलिखित कुछ ऐसे प्रोपगेंडे के प्रोजेक्ट्स है जिसके प्रोडक्ट्स की लॉन्चिंग पैड चौकस है,
– भाजपा शाषित प्रदेश की पुलिस व्यवस्था, प्रशासन, आदि को बदनाम कैसे भी करो,
– देश हित में हुए रक्षा सौदे, नीतियां, यात्राएं, परियोजनाएं, नए कार्यक्रम की निंदा
– हिन्दू घर्म, उनकी कार्य-विधि, संस्कृति को कैसे भी बदनाम करो और हिन्दू-आतंकवाद को कैसे भी साबित करो
– पॉजिटिव आंकड़े पे चुप्पी, निजी कंपनियों से साठ-गांठ के आरोप,
– न्यायपालिका और लोकतांत्रिक व्यवस्था और सैन्य-शक्ति पे अविश्वास
– घरेलू घटनाओं को अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पे ले जाके अपने देश की छवि खराब करवाने की कोशिश

टाइमिंग 2019 का है, प्रोपगेंडे की मंडी में बहुत प्रोडक्ट्स है, टारगेट सिर्फ मोदी जी नही बल्कि हम सब है. कल तक जिन्हें हम एमिनेन्ट पत्रकार या समाज के कला प्रेमी या बुद्धिजीवी समझते थे आज बहुतों के छुपे चेहरे सामने आए है. देश जल्दबाजी, झूठ और कमजोर नेतृत्व की कीमत आजतक भुगत रहा है.

एक बेहतर भारत के नव-निर्माण हेतु प्रोपगेंडे के बाजार और उसके प्रोडक्ट्स का बाहिष्कार करे. फैक्ट्स और फिगर ही आपके मापदंड होने चाहिए.

Aadhaar verdict: Not just a setback for fintech companies but has also invited old hassles to ordinary citizens

Anshul Mandowara
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Aadhaar verdict: Not just a setback for fintech companies but has also invited old hassles to ordinary citizens

The Supreme Court of India in its much awaited verdict on Aadhaar, which it delivered this week, has held the Aadhaar scheme constitutionally valid, however, invalidated Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act to the extent which enabled the contractual use of Aadhaar data by the State or body corporates or any person. This single observation of holding Section 57 partially invalid, has virtually killed e-KYC facility used by banks, mobile wallets, NBFCs, Fintech, lending companies, insurance companies and telecom companies, which used the e-KYC facility, as enabled by Aadhaar to on-board customers, henceforth, can’t access authentication facilities from UIDAI servers anymore.

This particular decision of the SC has hit the India Stack project, which was appreciated everywhere in the World including Bill Gates who during his visit of India observed and understood the India Stack Project and said, “India is on the cusp of leapfrogging!”

Indiastack and the e-KYC model

IndiaStack is a set of Application Program Interface (APIs) that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilize an unique digital infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery. This allows people to store and share personal data, and authenticate using digital signing for documents. IndiaStack is based on Aadhaar, which allows paperless identification, authentication, cashless payment in form of UPI, sharing e-KYCs to banks, telecom companies etc. The author has explained India Stack in detail in his article FinTech and IndiaStack: The Stage is set for Digital India by Anshul Mandowara on Anshul Mandowara .

e-KYC facility is the facility which helps the service providers in public and private sector to fulfill ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) requirements hassle-free, online, paper-less and quick, on the basis of Aadhaar based authentication, in which the beneficiary (customer) provides his Aadhaar number to prove his identity, and subsequently, the beneficiary provides his thumb impression to authenticate the genuineness of the identity, then the identity is authenticated by the Service Provider from UIDAI servers. e-KYC facility is subset of IndiaStack.

Section 57 is the mother provision, which has given birth to the India Stack and e-KYC. Private players in finance, insurance and telecom sectors were using the e-KYC facility, and after the verdict of the SC, private players will not be able to access the UIDAI server anymore.

How does it affect Aam Aadmi

Imagine it is year 2010, and you wish to open a saving bank account, you had to walk into the bank, submit photo, proof of identity and proof of address along with other forms and requisite docs, despite all this formality it used to take more than 2-3 days for the bank to open your account. For getting a SIM card back in 2010, you had to submit similar set of proof of identity, proof of address and photo to the telecom operator and even after that you had to wait for 1-2 days for the connection getting started. Meanwhile, you were supposed to receive a call in which you had to authenticate yourself by answering security questions like DOB and mother’s maiden name to the telecaller for proving your identity.

Compare this with scenario in 2018, before the #AadharVerdict, for opening a bank account all you had to do is, walk into the bank with no documents whatsoever, and you could get bank account opened within hours or less by providing Aadhaar Number and thumb impression, within next few hours the Bank activates your saving account. For buying a SIM card, you just had to walk into the store along with no ID card whatsoever, just quote your Aadhaar number and provide thumb impression. This whole procedure is of less than 5 minutes, including time taken for filling up the form and gathering relevant information. After completion of this activity, within next 10 minutes your SIM card gets ready for usage.

With Aadhaar and e-KYC, it became so easy for every Indian to get any services, not only from govt. agencies but also from private service providers. The daily problem of proving your identity to avail any service, was solved and life of billions of Indians was made easy. Consider the case of an Indian citizen who has just shifted to Mumbai from his home state Bihar, with Aadhaar it was so easy for him to get a local sim card opening and a bank account. Because in Aadhaar card, the change of address is very easy and it is the fastest way than any other available proof of addresses. The Aadhaar has solved the basic problems of aspiring Indian youth, for whom whole nation is one, and for whom, he just needs to have one identification to avail any service from government or private service providers. With the supreme court judgement, we are back to square one, and all the hassles of Physical KYC procedure will become a reality.

Blow to Fintech and Startup India

It is e-KYC facility, that has allowed fintech companies like Paytm, Jio and Zerodha to reach new heights in customer acquisition and service delivery to consumers in hassle free on their mobile devices at their home. Reliance Jio would not have been able to acquire 200 Million customers in less than 2 years of time, if there was no e-KYC facility. This facility alone has helped Reliance Jio in miraculous way to become fastest growing telecom company and most popular telecom company across the world. Paytm would not have been what it is today, if there was no e-KYC.

With the e-KYC, the cost of acquiring the customer and providing various services came down drastically. It has helped the service providers to rapidly tap India’s big market and provide services at lessor cost and with much ease. e-KYC provided the ease of authentication and done away hassles of paperwork, all that was possible at a much lower costs.

Was it possible for a startup like Paytm to open offices everywhere in India to acquire customers and that too on physical KYC model. Imagine the cost of all this, and most importantly, whether the consumer, who adopted Paytm with all love and enthusiasm, would have gone for Physical KYC hassle unless it was an absolute necessity. Holding Section 57 invalid partially would have a far reaching impact for Indian startups and fintech space.

What did Supreme Court actually do

For understanding that, we need to understand what was Section 57 of The Aadhaar (targeted delivery of financial and other subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016, the section read as

“Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose, whether by the State or any body corporate or person, pursuant to any law, for the time being in force, or any contract to this effect: Provided that the use of Aadhaar number under this section shall be subject to the procedure and obligations under section 8 and Chapter VI.”

This section actually enabled government agencies and private players to use the Aadhaar data and provide services to Indians on the basis of Aadhaar based identity. Abuse of the Aadhaar data by govt agencies and private players could not have been possible, as necessary safeguards were put in place as this use was restricted by Section 8 and Chapter VI.

Section 8 put necessary safeguards as regards to access the Aadhaar data, so that it can not be misused and violate privacy of an individual. Section 8 mandated that for accessing the Aadhaar data, the requesting entity have to pay necessary fee, obtain necessary consent of the Individual who wished to be authenticated from Aadhaar Data, ensure that the identity information of an individual is only used for submission to the Central Identities Data Repository for authentication. Not only this, the requesting entity was mandated to inform the individual submitting his identity information for authentication, that the nature of information that may be shared upon authentication; the uses to which the information received during authentication may be put by the requesting entity; and alternatives to submission of identity information to the requesting entity. Further Chapter VI, provided necessary safeguard for protection of information and Aadhaar data.

Hence, Section 57, though allowed private players to access Aadhaar data, however it came with necessary protection of data and safety mechanism, which safeguards the data from falling in wrong hands.

The SC in its judgement has concluded that, “Section 57, to the extent, which permits use of Aadhaar by the State or any Body Corporate or person, in pursuant to any contract to this effect is unconstitutional and void. Thus, the last phrase in main provision of Section 57, i.e. “or any contract to this effect” is struck down.”

The SC in its Aadhaar Verdict, has observed that, Section 57 makes use of Aadhaar on two basis. Firstly, “pursuant to any law, for the time being in force” and secondly “any contract to this effect”. When the legislature uses the phrase “pursuant to any law, for the time being in force”, obviously the word law used in Section 57 is a law other than Section 57 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the regulations framed thereunder. When any law permits user of Aadhaar, its validity is to be tested on the anvil of three¬fold test as laid down in Puttaswamy case (i.e. The Right to Privacy judgement), but permitting use of Aadhaar on any contract to this effect, is clearly in violation of Right of Privacy. A contract entered between two parties, even if one party is a State, cannot be said to be a law.

What is way forward

The SC has put Section 57 on test in view of Right to Privacy, and accordingly, the SC has not stopped use of the Aadhaar Data by Govt or private entities, if the same is backed by necessary law, which in turn have to be constitutionally valid. All what the SC has done is invalidated use of Aadhaar data when the same is backed by contracts between UIDAI and other entities.

Responding to the Aadhaar verdict on Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, FM Arun Jaitley has said, “There are two-three prohibited areas. Are they because they are totally prohibited or are they because they need legal backing? So my answer in general, the generic answer will depend on what is the rationale… for instance on these private entities, it needs to be backed by law. That’s my understanding. I still have a detailed reading of the judgement to do”. He further added “The prohibited areas do not assume are perpetually prohibited, they could be procedurally prohibited or they could be prohibited as such,” and “If it is backed by law, it is not unconstitutional”.

The SC should have raised concerns regarding safety of the data, however it has totally invalidated contractual use of Aadhaar data. It is for the Government to undo what has been done by providing legal backing to the use of Aadhaar data by private players, at the same time, the safety of the data needs to be further increased. The UIDAI should provide authorised biometric devices for the use of third party agencies, which should be temper proof and protocol for communication of data between Aadhaar server and handheld device from which services are provided, should be set in such a way that would make impossible for local storage of Aadhaar and biometric data on any device. The Government as a measure of further safeguard can mandate that no data can travel from UIDAI servers to the service delivery device, except for what is required for authentication of the beneficiary. The practice which is being followed currently that name, address, DOB and photo is being fetched by private players from the Aadhaar server can be stopped and just authentication of identity and Aadhaar number can be allowed, and such data sharing can be stopped.

The Government should come up with necessary law, which would provide legal backing to use of Aadhaar data by private entities. There is a pressing need of bringing up such law to enable private players to use Aadhaar Data within the constitutional framework, to keep the dream of Digital India alive. Gone are the days of Nehruvian Socialist era, where the Growth of India would only include Growth of Government. The India growth story is incomplete without the growth of it’s Industries, Businesses, Entrepreneurs, Startups and Public at large.

Reference:

  1. Text of the Aadhaar Act https://uidai.gov.in/images/the_aadhaar_act_2016.pdf
  2. Text of the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/ht2018/9/35071_2012_Judgement_26-Sep-2018.pdf

Some simple yet very much effective mind boggling achievements of the Modi Government

indiarag
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Some simple yet very much effective mind boggling achievements of the Modi Government

“Lok Sabha Election” is not very far. After a few months, Indian will choose their Prime Minister again. Till now The Modi Government has already completed 4 years 3 months. But, the most debated things is “What changes have been made by the Modi Government?” Many things have been done, many projects are accomplished, many facilities and privileges have been provided under numerous Yojnas. However, question still remains unanswered, what has Modi government done?

The main thing is that the Modi Government has given more importance to the poor, small businessman, farmers and the Indian Army than the rich people of India. The rich people who live in AC rooms, in big cities and ride on own four wheeler and have never experienced the life of villages or backward places or even worse, the bordering villages. How can they see the signs of progress of those Indians? How can they Judge they are progressing or not?

There are many great of Yojanas created by Modi Government like, “Avas Yojana To Ayushman Bharat, Make in India to Digital India” which have helped lots of people in India. It is nearly impossible to state all such beneficial Yojnas initiated and specially crafted for the poor by this government in one single go.

Here is a list briefly which highlights the sparkling initiatives taken by Modi Government. Those who hate and blame Narendra Modi should surely take a look.

  1. Before 2014, people who earned between 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh had to pay 10% income tax, But now they have to pay only 5% income tax.
  2. Before 2014 in restaurant there was VAT between 14-28 %, but now one tax, GST only 5%.
  3. People had to pay 10.95% interest for car loan, but now people are paying 8.9%.
  4. Personal  loan rates were anything around 14%, which has now lowered down to 9.95%.
  5. Before 2014 common people had to give Rs/-80 for Life Insurence Premium, but now Indian have to pay only Rs/- 27.50 .
  6. Before 2014 3G mobile data costed Rs. 269 per GB, which is now only Rs. 19 per GB.
  7. In the UPA times Indians paid 17 taxes directly or Indirectly, but now Indias pay only 1 tax which is GST.
  8. In UPA times sanitation coverage was only 38.70% but now that is 92%.
  9. On that time tax benifits for Senior Citizens  for health insurance deduction was Rs. 15,000, which now is Rs. 50,000.
  10. In the Congress times the pregnant women could take rest for only 12 weeks, but now that has been increased to 28 weeks.
  11. Before 2014 the price of Drug Eluting Stents was 1.98 lakh but now that is 28 thousand.
  12. Before 2014 the price of Metal Cardiac stents was 75 thousand but now that is 8 thousand.
  13. In congress era the number of villages without Electricity was 18,452 but in Modi era That number is O.
  14. In Congress Era the speed of national highway construction was 12 KM per day, but now that is  27 KM per day.
  15. In Congress Era the number of Common Service Centres were 83 thousand but now that is 2.7 lakh.
  16. Four years ago the number of Gram Panchayat connected through Optical Fibre Connectivity was 59, but now that is more than 1.19 lakh.
  17. The cost of 9w LED light bulbs was Rs. 310, but now that is only Rs. 70.

Reference – India Rag

Global Vultures Organisation announced Order of Vulture award for Kejriwal

akshatgaur
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Global Vultures Organisation announced Order of Vulture award for Kejriwal

Global Vultures Organization the prestigious international organization for vultures have decided to gratify the most controversial political figure from India i.e. Arvind Kejriwal with Order of Vulture award.

The president of Global Vultures Organization announced it on Sunday, the president said, “We, the Global Vultures Organization are feeling proud to announce that we are honoring India’s fine politician Arvind Kejriwal with our highest and very special civilian award, Order of Vultures”, the president added, “We have been observing Mr. Kejriwal from a long time, his style of doing politics on deads have impressed us the most, our branch in India has been constantly following Mr. kejriwal on twitter, however it gave us the report a year back which recommended that Kejriwal should be honored with Order of Vulture but we waited, our motive behind that was, we wanted to see Mr. kejriwal grow much more and today we have finally decided to honour Mr. Kejriwal with our highest civilian award i.e. Order of Vulture, before this we have felicitated few more Indian politicians but Mr. Kejriwal has been the most impressive so far, we are hopeful that India will keep on producing such gems”.

This has made Kejriwal fans really happy, they are excited and started jumping as soon as they got this news. Some of them have also claimed that they will come up with T-shirts like “I’m vulture and this is my culture“.

As expected the news hit the social media platforms, people started expressing their views by trending #VultureKejriwal , केजरी_गिद्ध_है

Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has also congratulated him, he simply tweeted that “Congratulations Mr Kejriwal you deserve it”.

Sources also say that Mr. Kejriwal has accepted the invitation and is supposed to leave for New York to receive the award.

Disclaimer: This is a satire article, my intentions are not to hurt anyone’s sentiments or spread rumors or bring disrepute to anyone (person, organization or an idea) living or dead.

Verdict on Adultery: Dangerous for every section of the society

shivaallu011
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Verdict on Adultery: Dangerous for every section of the society

The seventh vow of Hindu marriage is “We will love, honour and cherish each other forever”. Catholics vow to hold their spouses for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do them part. They also promise to be true to their spouses in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. They promise to love and honour them in all the days of their lives.

A Jew promises his/her lawfully wedded wife/husband, to love, to honour and to cherish. A Muslim pledges, in honesty and sincerity, to be a faithful and helpful husband/Wife. Is it not a fact that most of the marriages in the world happen by any of these pledges? Does Adultery, not break this promise?

A marriage is not just a means for food, livelihood etc. A marriage is not only for living together and having babies. The most important thing is the bond between a man and woman for which marriage is an important link. This bond is the foundation of the great institution called family. A family is what makes a house a home, where a person retreats at the end of the day. A faithful marriage gives comfort and honour to both husband and wife. It is a great insult for a person if other people come to know about any affair of his/her spouse. Can the judiciary or state protect this honour? Can state replace a family or even supplement it? Can it protect all the weak, dependent, poor, unemployed, uneducated which is effectively done by the family.

This SC verdict strikes at the very core of this Institution.

On the topic of adultery, would any person like if his/her spouse is in physical relation with another. Who can live normally with the fact that his/her spouse is seeing someone else? CONSENT is a key word in the text of the judgement but the court should know that an average person DOES NOT consent to their spouse having physical relation with another unless he/she has fantasies of Cuckolding. Adultery is not often the result of a failed marriage as being suggested by the SC. Adultery is often the result of temporary sexual desire where it only satisfies a physical craving and not an emotional one. Given the chance, people would be more than happy to have multiple sexual relations and live happily with their spouses at the same time. But, can sexual gratification replace emotional attachment?

Rishi Jamadagni’s wife Renuka used to go to the river to fetch water in an unbaked pot held together only by the power of her chastity. Once in the river she saw a group of Gandharvas in a chariot passing in the sky above and was filled with desire for only a moment. The unbaked pot she held dissolved in the river. Jamadagni noticed his wife had not returned. Through his yogic powers, he saw all that had taken place and was enraged. He ordered Parashuram to kill his mother.

There is another story of a young man who went to the Prophet Muhammad. He asked for permission to fornicate because he could not control himself. The Prophet asked him if he would approve of someone else having illegal sex with his mother, sister, daughter, or wife. Each time the man said ‘no’. Then the Prophet replied that the woman with whom he plans to have sex is also somebody’s mother, sister, daughter, or wife.

These stories emphasize the importance of faithfulness in marriage. All religions prohibit adultery and even propose strict punishments including death. Islamic shariah suggests stoning or flogging for adultery. Bible says that anyone who even looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. It should be noted that Jealousy is a natural instinct which even animals have and the court should know that these natural tendencies can never be curbed by judgements or by any other reasoning.

The most important thing that differentiates a marriage and a live in relationship is responsibility. The state can provide food, water, house, job and protection but it is has no scheme for loneliness, need for companionship and love. A promise given at the time of marriage is what protects us all, but can the society depend on restraint or self control of the mind of a married person to save marriage? If that were true then police, Judiciary and other law & order mechanisms can be removed and society can sleep happily by just giving moral instructions.

Any removal of inhibitions to adultery will open a Pandora’s Box which no state can control. People would lose faith and respect and relationships would seem meaningless. There will be conflicts between people and no way to solve them except breaking off the marriage by divorce. The judgement has done well to reduce the difference between lifestyles of animals and humans. The judgement is silent on feelings of dejection and heart break a person has when he/she finds out about cheating.

It is also much true that women have been tormented, enslaved, sold off, bought, kidnapped and killed reducing them to property. SC says that curtailing the sexual autonomy of a woman once she enters a marriage is antithetical to Constitutional values. If sexual autonomy is like a fundamental right then people should rather not marry and bring in the issue of adultery. SC says in its judgment that adultery can still be a ground for divorce as if a great concession has been given. The SC should have tried to remove this bias against women rather than give a free hand to destroy marriage.

Recently Supreme Court ruled that Triple Talaq practice against the basic tenets of Quran. Is not faithfulness in marriage a basic tenet of all religions? There will be serious negative consequences and the only hope now lies in the fact that SC can review its own judgement.

राफेल: खोदा पहाड़ -निकला “रॉबर्ट वाड्रा”

RAJEEV GUPTA
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राफेल: खोदा पहाड़ -निकला “रॉबर्ट वाड्रा”

कांग्रेस पार्टी और इसके नेताओं को सत्ता से बाहर रहने की आदत नहीं है- इन लोगों ने अपने ६० सालों के कुशासन में देश को इस कदर लूटा है कि सत्ता से बाहर जाते ही जैसे ही इनकी लूट बंद हो जाती है तो इन सबके पेट में जबरदस्त दर्द होने लगता है. पहले तो यह लोग दुष्प्रचार इस तरह से करते हैं कि कोई दूसरी पार्टी सत्ता में आ ही नहीं पाती है और अगर कोई पार्टी पूर्ण बहुमत के साथ अपनी सरकार बना भी ले तो यह लोग अपने षड्यंत्रों का सिलसिला तब तक जारी रखते हैं, जब तक वह सरकार सत्ता से बाहर ना हो जाए.

पिछले लगभग साढ़े चार सालों से राहुल गाँधी और कांग्रेस पार्टी इसी तरह के षड्यंत्रों को अंजाम दिए जा रहे हैं, सोशल मीडिया की जागरूकता के चलते, इनके हर षड्यंत्र का भंडाफोड़ हो जाता है लेकिन यह लोग हार माने बिना किसी नए षड्यंत्र के जरिये देश में चुनी हुई सरकार को बदनाम करना शुरू कर देते है.

हिटलर ने अपने एक बयान में यह कहा था कि अगर आप चाहते हैं कि आपके सफ़ेद झूठ को  भी लोग सच मान लें तो उस झूठ को बार-बार तब तक दोहराते रहो, जब तक लोग उस झूठ को एकदम सच न मान लें. कांग्रेस के DNA  में ही हिटलरशाही घुसी हुई है और इसीलिए वह हिटलर की बताये गए इसी फॉर्मूले पर काम करके लगातार झूठ बोल बोल कर मोदी सरकार को बदनाम कर रही है.

रोहिल वेमुला दलित नहीं था लेकिन कांग्रेस लगातार आज भी उसे दलित कहती है, जज लोया के घरवाले कह कह कर थक गए हैं कि जज लोया की मौत स्वाभाविक रूप से हुई है लेकिन कांग्रेस उसकी मौत को हत्या साबित करने पर तुली हुई है. मोदी ने हर देशवासी को १५ लाख देने का वादा किया था, यह झूठ भी कांग्रेस आज तक फैला रही है और यह झूठ भी कि नेहरू-गाँधी परिवार ने देश की खातिर बलिदान दिया है. आधार कार्ड को कांग्रेस आज तक खतरनाक बता रही है और नकली दलित आंदोलन और नकली किसान आंदोलनों का भंडाफोड़ तो पहले ही सोशल मीडिया पर किया जा चुका है.

अब जो सबसे नया झूठ कांग्रेस निकाल कर लाई है वह  लड़ाकू जहाज़ राफेल की खरीद को लेकर है. राहुल गाँधी और उनके सुर में सुर मिलाकर गाने वालों का यह कहना है कि मोदी सरकार ने इस सौदे में कोई भ्रष्टाचार किया है. क्या भ्रष्टाचार किया है, कितना भ्रष्टाचार हुआ है, भ्रष्टाचार हुआ कैसे है और अगर भ्रष्टाचार हुआ है तो उसका पैसा कितना कितना किसके खाते में गया है, इसके बारे में न राहुल गाँधी कुछ बता रहे हैं और न मीडिया में बैठे उनके चाटुकार बताने की स्थिति में हैं. हर छोटी मोटी बात पर आधी रात को भी सुप्रीम कोर्ट का दरवाज़ा खटकाने वाली कांग्रेस पार्टी इस मामले के लिए सुप्रीम कोर्ट का रुख क्यों नहीं कर रही है? जाहिर है कोर्ट भी मामले का संज्ञान लेने से पहले वही बेसिक सवाल पूछेगा जो मैंने यहां ऊपर लिखे हैं और जबाब न देने पर मामले को दर्ज़ करने से ही मना कर दिया जाएगा जिससे कांग्रेस पार्टी की किरकिरी होगी वह अलग, मोदी सरकार के खिलाफ एक दुष्प्रचार करने का मुद्दा भी कांग्रेस के हाथ से चला जाएगा.

इसलिए कांग्रेस यह चाहती है कि अपने नेताओं, कार्यकर्ताओं,मीडिया में बैठे चाटुकारों के जरिये इस मामले में जितना दुष्प्रचार करके मोदी सरकार की छवि को ख़राब किया जा सकता है, उतना कर लो. अगर यह तुक्का भी नहीं चला तो कोई और षड्यंत्र लेकर आ जायेंगे.

इस सारे तमाशे में जो असली खुलासा हुआ है उससे यह बात और निकलकर सामने आ रही है कि कांग्रेस सरकार ने राफेल बनाने वाली कंपनी से सौदे बाज़ी करते समय रोबर्ट वाड्रा के करीबी दोस्त संजय भंडारी की इसी मतलब से बनाई गयी कंपनी “ऑफसेट इंडिया लिमिटेड” को बीच में घुसाने की कोशिश की थी ताकि इस डील में जो भी कमीशन मिले वह इस कंपनी के जरिये वापस आ जाए. संजीव भंडारी ने रोबर्ट वाड्रा पर पहले से ही काफी “मेहरबानियां” भी कर रखी थीं. क्योंकि राफेल बनाने वाली कंपनी ने इस झंझट में पड़ने से मना कर दिया था, लिहाज़ा यह डील कांग्रेस सरकार ने रद्द कर दी.

लेख मेरे हिसाब से कुछ बड़ा हो गया है लेकिन चलते चलते इस डील को भी समझने की कोशिश करते हैं. मान लीजिये एक कांग्रेसी एक कार के शोरूम में कार लेने जाए और वहां मारुती आल्टो को खरीदने का सौदा इन शर्तों पर कर ले कि प्रति कार कीमत २ लाख रुपये होगी और उसमे से २०००० रुपये प्रति कार कमीशन अलग से किसी व्यक्ति या कंपनी को दिया जाएगा. कंपनी २ लाख रुपये में कार देने को सहमत हो गयी लेकिन उसने कमीशन देने से मना कर दिया और कांग्रेसी आदमी वापस आ गया.

अब सरकार बदल गयी और भाजपा का एक आदमी शोरूम में पहुंचा. उसे लगा कि मारुती आल्टो से कुछ काम बनने वाला नहीं है क्योंकि देश  की जरूरत से हिसाब से मर्सिडीज़ गाड़ी ठीक रहेगी. मर्सिडीज़ गाड़ी की कीमत मान लीजिये १२ लाख रुपये बताई गयी जिसे मोल भाव करके भाजपा के आदमी ने उसे ८ लाख रुपये में सौदा कर लिया. जब यह सौदा हो गया तो कांग्रेसी आदमी जो पहले ही अपने कमीशन मारे जाने की वजह से खिसियाया हुआ था, उसने जोर-जोर से चिल्लाना शुरू कर दिया कि देखो मैं जिस गाड़ी को २ लाख रुपये में ला रहा था, उसे भाजपा के आदमी ने ८ लाख रुपये में ख़रीदा है.

न खाता न कोई बही- जो राहुल गाँधी कहें, बस वही सही!

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