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Is Madhya Pradesh going to witness next assembly elections on Hinduism?

Mehul Choradiya
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Is Madhya Pradesh going to witness next assembly elections on Hinduism?

Next year, that is in 2018, people of Madhya Pradesh will be enjoying the biggest festival in Democracy. There is assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh in 2018.

According to me these upcoming assembly election would be fought on Hinduisn rather on Development.

The reason behind this is that In the beginning of 2017 elections, Shivraj started Narmada Seva Yatra and he is ending the year 2017 with Ekatma Yatra. This Narmada Seva Yatra and Ekatma Yatra is mainly focused on to grab attention of Hindus. In No Narmada belt, Shivraj started Ekatma Yatra. This Ekatma Yatra is being started from Ujjain and passed through Nagda and Khachrod. I saw the yatra in Khachrod and after seeing it, I can say with conformity that It is more a political yatra than a religional yatra.

In reply of it, Congress’ mass leader and former CM of Madhya Pradesh is doing Narmada Yatra in the Narmada belt. Although he is saying it’s completely apolitical but in political class everyone saying it’s a reply to Shivraj’s Narmada Seva Yatra by Digvijay Singh.

According to me, Madhya Pradesh assembly elections will be fought like recent Gujarat assembly elections. The whole Gujarat elections was fought on Hinduisn, Ram Temple and Janeudhari Hindu. The world famous Gujarat Model was sidelined by PM Modi and BJP and interstingly Congress also not questioned BJP on Gujarat Model. Congress got traped in BJP’s plan and played on their turf and failed.

Despite governing for more than 12 years, Shivraj failed in bringing concrete changes in the field of Education, Health, Women security, employment and other key issues. They don’t have anything concrete to showcase it to seek votes. If we talk on Education, Health, Women Security, Employment Shivraj is miserably failed. Even many corruption charges are also following him.

The recent acts of BJP and Congress shows that Development will not be the key factor, Hinduism will play the most important role in the whole campaign. Both BJP and Congress are trying hard to grab votes through Hinduism. And In my Opinion, BJP has mastery in it, Congress and other political front can’t even give fight to BJP on Hinduism.

Now, I am introducing you a new political front in MP’s political arena that is Common Man’s party, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They also showed their strength many a times. They also exposed many irregularities but no action yet been taken against the irregularities exposed by AAP. AAP is continusly trying to fight election on issue based that is High rates of Electricity, Corruption in Electricity, Education, Health and other key factors. AAP also organised Parivartan Rally in Bhopal which was attended by AAP National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, yes it was a huge success.

I am closing here that if AAP succeeds in showcasing their ideology, they can create trouble for both BJP and Congress.

(writer is an AAP supporter and Volunteer)

An open letter to the BJP leadership from a supporter in Uttar Pradesh

anupam vats
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An open letter to the BJP leadership from a supporter in Uttar Pradesh

Dear Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, and anyone else,

I am an aspiring youth of this nation from its largest State Uttar Pradesh and BJP supporter since I attained consciousness and understanding of politics. The reason being, throughout my childhood I heard and witnessed the corrupt and biased politics of Congress at center, and in the state, the partisan politics of both regional parties BSP & SP.

I perceived BJP as the “Party with difference” and under the leadership of PM Modi saw the ability to change the plight of this great nation. I know change is continuous process and it isn’t possible in 3 years. But at the same time, people at ground who face distress can’t wait for long.

Opposition parties can go to any extent to capture the power and capitalize on existing social divide for short term political goals. This is the fault-line we have recently witnessed in Gujarat elections. I am writing this today because, we do not want to land the same way as in 2004 and halt the process of “Vikas” and “New India”.

I am middle class youth who fights in supports of your vision and policies at ground level, at Paan-shops, tea-shops, in buses, and give arguments like long term vision, 70 years vs 3 years, no corruption charges, and many more when people try to question Modi government. But when I sit along with like-minded people (all supporters of BJP) and youth of this generation, we feel disappointed.

While we all admire and cherish the way our PM works, we feel helpless about the local leadership, state government, weak implementation of policies with no reach at ground levels. While the initial months of UP government were admired by the people of the state, now the government has become as usual like its earlier predecessors, even worse from them at various levels.

Anyone can ask from any government employee or people, how corruption has become more institutionalized from Thanas to Secretariat level. Except few, all the ministers and legislators have become the medium of posting, contract allocation with no focus on ground level. Like satisfying their power-hunger after being last 15 years in opposition.

No changes in health amenities, education standard and public transport and not any visible indications for change in near future. And these are the issues faced by public at local level. While all over India, BJP celebrated the victory in UP’s urban local bodies, supporters like me know how the graph of victory was on decline from Municipalities to Nagar panchayats. And this is quite similar pattern to urban/rural divide in Gujarat too.

It is quite visible from the example that in urban centers like Noida or Lucknow, we found public transport like buses at every minute, but not a single bus for local transport in many districts of Purvanchal – the region which was the epic center of BJP’s 2014 election. Ask the youth of UP, huge delay in every government vacancies on the name of maintaining transparency; which does not go well with fast-moving generation. They have become more cynical about the the way of government functioning and faltering on the promises agreed before polls.

These are other issues on similar lines. Truth is “Vikas is trying but not able to reach where it should”.

The mandate received by BJP government was evident of the trust voters places in the party. Government should try to prove its work on ground. Merely engaging in debates isn’t going to influence the youth anymore.

This letter can be criticized, may be understood as way to gain some likes and shares on the social media; But I had to write because we all know that BJP is the only political party which can deliver and realise the dream of the inclusive “New India”. And for that BJP needs to win general elections of 2019.

Year and Half to go for the 2019 elections, How is BJP poised?

Siddhartha Kar
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Year and Half to go for the 2019 elections, How is BJP poised?

Three and half years into PM Modi’s term, where does the BJP government find itself? With around a year and half to go for the next Lok Sabha elections, there is very little room for manoeuvring left, especially given that the last six months may be pretty much eliminated in terms of the centre’s ability to deliver. Practically, the centre has only about 12 months remaining to analyse its standing and take any steps.

Needless to say, Modi has given hope to the people. And it has been acknowledged in turn by the country across several elections since 2014, Gujarat and HP being the most recent ones. However, as much as Gujarat results were in favour of BJP, it ought not to let its guard down given a significantly weaker show than its own expectations.

In light of the Modi’s election promises, below are items that his government must carefully consider delivering on, in the build up to 2019.

What should start immediately?

Foremost, correctives on the appeasement motivated wrongdoings by previous governments that Modi had personally promised on must be begun forthwith. The restoration of Kashmiri Pandits, and purge of Bangladeshi infiltration from India should figure on the top of that list. The fact that these have been completely put on the back-burner are troubling, especially since they have figured in his 2014 election speeches.

Secondly, verdicts on 2G and Adarsh scams have been extremely disappointing. Scams during the UPA regime have been conspicuous in Modi’s 2014 campaigns, and rightly so. The verdicts have gone on to hurt the trust reposed on the Prime Minister by his supporters. While it isn’t yet clear what triggered such outcomes in the cases, it does leave a significant dent on the image of the government.

Thirdly, the government must undertake proactive communication. Needless to say, the country has placed trust on Modi. As such, despite challenges, the average Indian stood firmly behind him on both Demonetization and GST. But, it is incumbent on the government to ensure that the impact of the steps are better understood by the nation. This may be done either in terms of whitepapers on the result of major government initiatives.

What needs to stop?

First and foremost, all forms of appeasement and vote-bank politics must stop. It is important for the government to realise the mandate received in 2014 was not an outcome of minority votes. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent tweet seeking the minority vote in lieu of India’s vote against US on Jerusalem has surprised and anguished many. Similarly attempts at appeasement by support for Palestine, or praises for J&K youth when the government is still to initiate any support for the Kashmiri Pandits are not in good taste.

Secondly, while Bullet trains and more futuristic developments are okay, but, they do also bring a stark economic divide between the rich and poor into the open. It may possibly do well, to mellow down such initiatives.

Thirdly, it is important for BJP to rid itself of complacency. The fact is that Modi appeared on the center stage of India when she was already treading down a suicidal path. It has taken an immense amount of unified energy and resolve to move together, not just on BJP’s part but, on the part of the entire nation. That resolve is rare and must be valued as such. BJP does not even have the moral right to complacency.

What should continue as is?

No doubt that three and half years into governance has been beset with many challenges. However, the courage, pace and commitment of execution has left a positive impression and must continue. While in the hindsight one could find faults with several decisions, the fact is that the government has pulled up several fantastic achievements within a short time.

Secondly, this government can singularly lay claim to a paradigm shift in handling of media. Something that was unthinkable before 2014, sections of media with questionable motivations have been rendered practically ineffectual and whining. The ability of the government to have largely overcome this massive propaganda machinery has been remarkable and well executed.

Thirdly, PM Modi has personally brought about a refreshing turn in India’s foreign policy, either in setting the course of Indo-Israeli relations correct, handling Doklam specifically, or China generally, moving towards aligning US, Japanese and Indian interests are remarkable feats. Without doubt, India’s impression has started showing signs of changing globally.

Fourthly, pushing societal reforms, unconcerned with political correctness and vote banks is appreciated by all. Triple talaq, or even syllabus modernisation in Madarsas within Uttar Pradesh, speaks volumes on BJP’s intent and helps reinforce faith of the people.

Finally, civilisational issues in terms of Ramjanmabhoomi or Ram Setu are an integral part of Indian expectations. India today wishes to start viewing herself through the civilisational lens enlightened by scientific rationality. Neither one coming at the cost of the other.

**

BJP must take Gujarat’s electoral verdict as a cautionary signal and make sure that the next twelve months see some of the very significant pending issues getting addressed. The lack of leadership in the opposition is evident. However in 2019, BJP will be faced with an unified opposition of political parties, media, ‘intellectuals’. Additionally the surprise element that PM Modi enjoyed in terms of his campaign style and Amit Shah’s organisational abilities would have largely dissipated by 2019.

It is significantly probable that India would still like to have Modi back for a second term. However, one may hope that BJP displays sensitivity to the very small 12 month window it has to reinforce India’s faith in it.

When Nehru allowed the Mountbattens to tread on the Indian masses

mayuragrao
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When Nehru allowed the Mountbattens to tread on the Indian masses

Mani Shankar Aiyar had accused Narendra Modi of being a “neech” person doing “neech” politics, but he should look at his own party’s icons to know what it really takes to be such a person indulging in such brand of politics.

It is no secret that Mountbatten found in Nehru a British heart beating beneath his brown exteriors, who dreamt of ruling an India, for whose freedom many fought and died but with middlemen like Gandhi and Nehru, freedom had to be ultimately negotiated!

Here is an incident that happened on the Indian Independence day celebrations in New Delhi August 15th 1947:

Pamela Mountbatten, the 17 year old younger daughter of the Governor General, arrived with two of her father’s staff. The venue was jam packed and with great difficulty she worked her way towards the wooden tribune where Nehru and Mountbatten were to address the crowds. But at a 100 yards away they came on an impassable barrier of people, all seated tightly with hardly any space to breathe. Spotting her from his place on the tribune, Nehru shouted at her to cross over the people to the platform.

“How can I?” she shouted back, “I’ve got high heels on”.

“Take them off”, replied Nehru.

Pamela couldn’t dream of doing something as undignified on such a historic occasion, “Oh”, she gasped, “I couldn’t do that”

“Then leave them on” said Nehru, “Just walk over the people, they won’t mind”

‘Oh’, replied Pamela, ‘the heels will hurt them’

“Don’t be silly girl, take them off and come across” Nehru had said!

The daughter of India’s last Viceroy had treaded over the carpet of gleeful human beings who helped her reach the platform allowing her to tread on their bodies.

(from Freedom At Midnight _ Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins)

Nehru with his elite English mannerisms was a darling of the British, as he was very much like them, he neither had concern nor connect with the villages of India or its people. The above incident only shows how he treated and thought of the poor masses of India as indignant and worthless enough, to be trodden upon, and how he bent back to worship and accommodate imperialism.

It is past seven decades of this incident but the fact that the Congress of today is still smitten by the same white imperial arrogance with epithets like ‘neech’ is telling of their rigid feudal mindsets.

One only hopes that the masses have changed since then, and now they will not tolerate such imperialistic attitude of the rulers.

BJP and Modi could lose Hindu votes, and here’s why

Ashish Shukla
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BJP and Modi could lose Hindu votes, and here’s why

In an old Bollywood flick which starred my favourite actor Dilip Kumar, there’s a scene towards the end: Shankar (Dilip Kumar), hitherto penniless but now Raja of Belapur, returns and asks his former master Ramesh (Pran) if he could have the hand of Roopa (Waheeda Rehman) in marriage. Pran, now a virtually destitute, begins jumping up and down in disdain and contempt. He almost spits at Dilip Kumar and yells in his there-you-are moment: “Tum kal bhi bhikhari the, aaj bhi bhikari ho (You were a beggar then, you are a beggar now).

In political terms, today’s Dilip Kumar is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Pran is Congress and Waheeda Rehman is India. BJP has bigger footprints on India than Congress ever had in the last 50 years yet it seems to be seeking vindication all the time from the forces aligned against it. In this defensive frame of mind, it is steadily eroding its own plinth of authority, honesty and mass support. Its only time before it collapses in a heap.

BJP’s Achilles’ heel is its mindset: It doesn’t want to be seen as a Hindu right-wing party. Their philosophy is that Hinduism has always been all inclusive; that India can’t rise to its full potential without everyone putting in its shoulders (sabka saath, sabka vikas); that it must not be seen at any time as an extremist, fascist force. Above all, it seems to seek approval from hitherto dominant class — like Dilip Kumar sought from Pran in the movie.

BJP wants to avoid social polarization. But the polarization has already taken place. The polarization has been caused by Left-Liberals but the blame has come the BJP’s “Hindutva” way. Bravo!

So has this really earned BJP, one side of the polarization, the Hindu side? You must be joking. Hindus are fed up that their cultural space is shrinking; Right to Education or freedom to manage temples isn’t part of main discourse; that its brothers and sisters are being mercilessly slaughtered in Bengal, Kerala and in neighbouring Bangladesh; that bigger issues like Ram Janmabhoomi, Article 370 and punishing the corrupt politicians is no better than a mirage.

Damningly, if this is BJP why not Congress, is a question being asked by million of Hindu supporters.

BJP today needs to retain and grow its support base; bring the corrupt politicians to book and take its’ information campaign to stratosphere. Let’s first tackle the last-named issue around which the other two issues revolve.

INFORMATION WAR

The verdict is: BJP is losing it, if it has already not lost it. So far, independent foot soldiers, a handful like me, have responded to their conscience, either moved by the lies of Lutyens Media; a passion to revive our heritage; or to boot out Congress-Left which has kept India only notionally independent. Such foot-soldiers are aware of colonial powers who are working in the background through their global propaganda machinery and NGOs.

Noble as these foot-soldiers are, it’s unlikely they can cope for long with forces which are well-funded and lack neither resources nor the surround noise. Websites like TheWire, Scroll, Huffington Post;; mainstream Lutyens’ Media and their international extensions such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist etc; along with entrenched academicians control the information matrix of our everyday lives.

BJP simply would have to activate its’ muscular well-wishers and create a similar ecosystem. It would require funds, resources and an unshakeable will. It doesn’t have to feel shy or apologetic about fighting the ideological war.

It could only happen if BJP is ready to gets its hands dirty. Not being apologetic or defensive. “Dharma” must prevail even if Dronacharya, Bhishma, Karna or Duryodhan are seen being taken down by deception.

Perception is all. Today, after winning 19 states, BJP is seen as loser. While a party with 44 Lok Sabha and with a leader who loses every single election despite the local crutches is being hailed as a winner. Why, even Manmohan Singh seems to have found his voice.

Today, millions of BJP supporters are unsure. It’s because in two sides of a story, its only the Congress story which is reaching the masses. Millions are unsure if in BJP they are supporting the right party. It’s for BJP to be firmly in front of this ideological war. Enough of pussy-footing.

RETAINING SUPPORT BASE

BJP must bite the bullet and respond to issues bothering millions of Hindus as outlined above. They are genuine issues and BJP can’t afford to be bogged down by tags such as anti-secular, extremist, regressive. BJP must come out in open in support and be seen as punishing those who are hurting Hindu lives and its cultural ethos. If it involves dismissing governments, do it. If it involves bringing Constitutional changes, do it. Otherwise, you won’t get approval of your opponents and all you would do is to lose your own support base.

PUNISHING CORRUPT

BJP for long has given a tirade against corrupts and black money. Something concrete must happen. Otherwise, it’s just an insinuation. It would cause a face loss and only embolden their mocking opponents.

Politically, Modi is the brightest hope in hundreds of years who could restore Hindu’s pride and injustices of a millennium. The next sun won’t appear on horizon anytime soon. India-breakers would’ve been rewarded for their shameless lies and ruthlessness. And ironically the blame would rest with Modi.

Artificial Intelligence in Political Scenarios

vinaypujari
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Artificial Intelligence in Political Scenarios

I am sure most of us have heard about the buzz word ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and its expected impact on our day to day lives. Some of the common use cases in AI include – asking Siri on your iPhone to dial a number, Google or Netflix personalized recommendations to you based on your search history and Facebook’s photo tags recommendations using image recognition.

Our machines/ computers are getting this intelligence through machine learning. Now you must be thinking what’s all the fuss about Machine Learning? In simple words, machine learning is enabled through a vast collection of algorithms, which self learns and expand its given learning base through past results.

Now let’s put the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a political context. AI will need an underlying application for data feed and then providing the insights and recommendations back. For the underlying application, nothing can be better than a cloud based CRM application.

The CRM application will contain data of party workers, Assembly/ Loksabha Constituencies, demographics and election results data for each of the constituencies.

Loksabha Constituency Data in CRM Application

Loksabha Constituency Data in CRM Application

Party Workers Data in CRM Application

Party Workers Data in CRM Application.png

Demographics Data in CRM Application

Demographics Data in CRM Application.png

Elections Data in CRM Application

Elections Data in CRM Application.png

Once the above underlying data from the CRM application is fed in to the Artificial Intelligence engine, AI will provide insightful recommendations to the party leaders. I will categorize these capabilities under three buckets.

1) Candidate Selection Scoring

AI Powered CRM application will help political leaders to optimize their candidate selection process during elections. It will connect to the Social media accounts of the candidates and the regional/national news media houses websites. AI engine will then provide the scoring for each of the candidates based on the positive and negative events covered from Social Media and News articles published. For example- If a probable candidate has some corruption charges or was involved in some grave crime, then AI engine will reduce the total score for that particular candidate.

2) Events Recommendation

AI Powered CRM will provide recommendations to the party leaders based on any favourable/unfavourable events which occurred or are scheduled to occur in any constituency. AI can also suggest the impact of such events in the constituency on the party’s reputation based on the historical impacts of similar events. AI will empower party leaders to take decision on participation worthiness of an event.

3) Personalized Campaigns

AI powered CRM will help party leaders to run specific campaigns as per the need in the locality/ constituencies. AI will also help in segmenting and building the right audience of party workers based on some parameters like age, interest level and geo location of the party workers. Something like:

Once an event is recommended by the AI Events Recommendation engine in a constituency based on some reports from news media, AI Personalized Campaigns will help in building the right audience of party workers by matching the interest level of party workers and nature of the event. This data will then be used during the candidate selection process by AI – Candidate Selection Scoring engine in the future elections. AI Candidate selection scoring engine will recommend the party worker scores to the party leaders based on their performance in past events, which occurred in their constituencies.

Having stated all the above scenarios, the acceptability of such applications will still take considerable time in our country. The major deterrents for such AI powered CRM applications can be some political leaders themselves, who may not like automating political processes like candidate selection, as they will always prefer candidates who work for them rather than for the party!

BJP should forget the mistakes but not the lessons from Gujarat elections

manasdoon
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BJP should forget the mistakes but not the lessons from Gujarat elections

The Gujarat and Himachal elections are now over and Narendra Modi has proven once again that when he pushes his election campaigning to full throttle, it is often impossible to match him. To make it even more potent you have Amit Shah as a strategist, a ruthless politician who takes every single election very seriously.

BJP has retained the state as expected. Who even is undermining the victory is being very thrifty in appreciation for the party who increased its vote share in spite of not only fighting 22 years of anti-incumbency, hostile media but a very vicious campaign.

This election and its results throw up some serious points which must not be ignored by the BJP:

Counter the narrative

BJP seem to be in a perpetual defensive mode when it comes to the issue of secularism. The lame and half-hearten effort of its spokesperson can often be seen in the TV panels and lousy op-eds. Once can see how an unfortunate lynching of Akhlaq dominated not only state elections but also international media. The ecosystem was successful the narrative of an unsafe environment for minority very sturdily, none of its leaders put efforts to raise the voice for ‘Prashant Pujari’ who was hacked in Karnataka and was the sole bread earner for his family. This sends out the signals to its supporters of its seclusion.

While family of Akhlaq got substantial compensation for an irreversible damage, Prashant Pujari’s family was left for local leaders. The campaign for Gujarat started by the opposition the day Una incident was highlighted. This was another brick in the wall on foundation of a dubious narrative. While the ecosystem was activated, anti BJP hydra heads were writing op-eds left, right and center. This narrative was countered by its spokesperson by non-stop rambling and glorifying only popularity of NaMo.

Jignesh has won a safe seat which was vacated for him by INC, still media is hyping him as the next youth icon. His tweets have already started to get space in main stream media. This should be closely watched and countered before it turns into another Frankenstein.

Be ruthless in applying the law (selectively)

Any case of corruption, communalism or compromising national security which is raised by the BJP should also be followed to a logical conclusion. There is no point on harping on the same points not realizing that you are now in power and have the responsibility of walking the talk. The accusations against the Gandhi family have reached a point of saturation and their image cannot be damaged any further thus should not be overplayed now.

The party should not be scared of getting blamed for vindictive politics when it is doing the right thing. While multiple incidents of people taking law in its own hands which gave an impression of the state machinery crumbling down, many do not know if any arrest were made and what’s the real truth. Junaid’s killing is still seen a hate crime than a personal rage of two groups against each other. The state/center govt need to be ruthless when it comes to application of law. While many journalists take pot shot at the political leaders for travelling on a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet, many are seen flouting the same rule while covering election campaigns.

Stay away from NaMo Vs RaGa

By putting RaGa against NaMo, he might look as a no match initially but in the long run he will start to be taken seriously. It is very well for him to be engaged via 2nd tier leaders who bring down his stature signalling that he is not even worthy of a comparison, leave alone being compared. INC and its proxies have already breached the unsaid decency agreement by engaging very personal life of the PM, the BJP still maintains a decency by not dragging worst kept secrets or giving those rumors any legitimacy. While the newly crowned president of INC has mocked the PM for his suit he wears, no BJP leaders they called out for his bloopers. BJP must ensure that RaGa should never be taken seriously and expose his shallowness when it comes to any subject matter.

Development Vs Hindutva

BJP must ensure a fine balance between Hindutva and development. Hindus have a tendency to have an excellent “Dharmic Chetna” but lack ‘Samajik Chetna’. Development is important and increasing the quality of one’s life. It brings prosperity and opens up new avenues. With this it also brings greed and a tendency to safeguard one’s self-interest. It also sometimes makes you take many things for granted and search for a void which if often fulfilled by association with an identity. This can be seen via the results in Saurashtra where in-spite of BJP bringing drinking water to the area which was a monumental work of development done for the region BJP was not able to gain any seats.

This is a perfect ground for sowing seed of discontent and exploit the fault lines. Addressing the core Hindu values gives people a sense of pride and unifies them with a common identity. Pursuing the Hindu agenda should never be mistaken or should be carried out as anti-Muslim agenda. India has many indigenous culture and traditions. These act as a unifying thread for people from different states. Any attack on them will break the thread which binds them together making them vulnerable. While much of the reforms need to come from within the society, least govt can do is give a level playing field to the Hindu’s. Issues like RTE, control over temples, poor maintenance or neglect of many Hindu structures is dear to many. If GOI is serious to remove the poison of caste-ism then it need to ensure that the Hindu community never feels dis-advantaged on associating themselves with Hindu identity as compared to other sub-identities or from another faith.

The way the media is pitching people as youth leaders who are nothing more than mob instigators one can guess what lies ahead. With the RaGa taking over INC, many ore young leaders will be put in forefront who are already tripping in the ecstasy of cacophony and are the direct outcome from echo-chambers of INC one can expect more slanderous days ahead. It becomes more important now for the leaders in the BJP to match the efforts of what the PM is doing and ditch the tendency of freeloading on his popularity.

Rest I would appeal to keep calm and trust NaMo.

Here is the ‘secular’ Calendar for 2018 with list of Holidays and how to celebrate

Ashish
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Here is the ‘secular’ Calendar for 2018 with list of Holidays and how to celebrate
DATE DAY RELIGION HOLIDAY How To Celebrate
14-Jan-18 Sunday Hindu Makar Sankranti File a petition and ask for a ban on Kite flying. Organize protests to save birds from Kite threads. Write articles against Kite flying. We are bird lovers.
14-Jan-18 Sunday Hindu Pongal File a petition and ask for a ban on Jallikattu. Write articles against Jallikattu and how harmful it is for poor Bulls. We are animal lovers.
14-Feb-18 Wednesday Hindu Maha Shivaratri Write articles against superstition. Organize awareness campaigns against wastage of Milk and ask people to instead distribute it to poor. And remember, we don’t lead by examples.
14-Feb-18 Wednesday Christian St. Valentine’s Day Celebrate the day of love and friendship. This day teaches us to live in peace and harmony.
2-Mar-18 Friday Hindu Holi Write articles against Holi. Organize awareness campaigns against wastage of water and ask people to celebrate only dry Holi. Only we will decide how to celebrate a festival.
30-Mar-18 Friday Christian Good Friday A festival of communal harmony and peace.
15-Jun-18 Friday Muslim RamJaan A festival of communal harmony, peace and joy. Let’s flood the internet with best wishes to our Muslim friends.
21-Aug-18 Tuesday Muslim Eid-al-Adha Another festival of communal harmony, peace and joy. Time for PETA to go on leave and we still love animals, this time in our plates.
26-Aug-18 Sunday Hindu Raksha Bandhan We hate this festival of patriarchy where a brother wants to protect his sister, don’t forget to write a provocative article. Any provoked Hindu will be labelled as Sanghi and communal bigot. Only we will decide how to celebrate a festival.
2-Sep-18 Sunday Hindu Krishna Janmashtami File a petition to ban human pyramids and using kids in Dahi-Handi. Court will take care of rest. Only we will decide how to celebrate a festival.
13-Sep-18 Thursday Hindu Ganesh Chaturthi File a petition to ban loud speakers and use of public place for Ganesh Pandals. Ask provoking questions and post blasphemous comments on lord Ganesha. Don’t forget to label any provoked Hindu as Sanghi and communal bigot. Only we will decide how to celebrate a festival.
20-Sep-18 Thursday Muslim Muharram Muharram is a day of communal peace and harmony.
17-Oct-18 Wednesday Hindu Navaratri Time to write an article against Goddess Durga and to tell the world how cunning Aryans used Durga to setup a honey trap for mahishasur to kill the poor fallow. This is Mahishasur martyrdom day for us.
19-Oct-18 Friday Hindu Dussehra Time to write an article against Ram and to tell the world how cunning Aryans killed poor Ravan for a small kidnapping.
27-Oct-18 Saturday Hindu Karwa Chauth We hate this festival of patriarchy where a Wife fasts to show her love for her husband. Don’t forget to write a provocative article. Any provoked Hindu woman will be labelled as slave minded, backward, anti-feminist bigot. Only we will decide which festival to be celebrated.
7-Nov-18 Wednesday Hindu Diwali File a petition to ban fire crackers. This doesn’t mean we will stop using cars, a/c, cigarettes. We know, court won’t let us down. Don’t forget to write articles to shame Hindus for bursting crackers. Only we will decide how to celebrate a festival.
21-Nov-18 Wednesday Muslim Milad un Nabi Such an auspicious day of communal peace and harmony. Let’s celebrate the day with Sheer Korma and seviyan.
25-Dec-18 Tuesday Christian Christmas After waiting for a year, finally the festival of lights, gifts and joy has come. Let’s play secret Santa and distribute gifts to everyone.

 

Che Guevera – why youth shouldn’t idolise him

Sanjay Dutta
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Che Guevera – why youth shouldn’t idolise him

Let’s admit it, Ernesto “Che” Guevara or Che Guevera as he is commonly known is a pop culture icon. Go to any t shirt shop in India and the world over and in most probability you will find a Che Guevera T shirt. He is considered a youth icon and his popularity has transcended borders. That he was the a Marxist revolutionary has made him a darling of the left intelligentsia in India especially of the youth wing of the left who have accorded him a Demi god or a good like status considering the fact that most Communist identity themselves as atheist.

He is considered an icon of youth rebellion around the world so much so that popular brands like Converse, Nike, Taco bell, Smirnoff have extensively used his image to promote their products among the youth and made him a “Capitalist commodity”, something which he fought against his entire life.

But there is more than what meets the eye and the youth of this country and around the world has every right to know about the man they flaunt on their t shirt, handbags and even carve his image into their bodies and consider to be their idol.

That Che Guevera was an ally of Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro and was a proponent of guerrilla warfare but what many do not know about him is the fact that he was a homophobe, racist and a mass murderer like Stalin, Mao and Castro were.

He believed in the idea that an individual under socialism is complete and the state should everything in it’s power to educate the people about it, be it by force or otherwise.

He referred to homosexuals as ‘Sexual perverts and considered homosexuality as bourgeois decadence (meaning middle class Decay, who doesn’t contribute anything to the society) and something that was counter revolutionary. He along with Castro put them in concentration camps and tortured and raped them and many died in these concentration camps.

People in Cuba who spoke against him and Castro were arrested and either executed or kept in slave labour camps where they would be tortured to death.

He was also upright racist who thought of the white as the superior race. He referred to black people as “those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing” and described Mexicans as “a band of illiterate Indians”. If this doesn’t sound bigoted and racist, I don’t know what else does?

He derived pleasure in killing and torturing animals , something that has been confirmed by Alberto Benegas Lynch Jr. , Cousin of Che. He had no regard for human life either as is evident from his quote ” Death is necessary for revolution”.

How someone like him became a youth icon is beyond my compression. He should not celebrated, but rather condemned. So the next time you flaunt a Che Guevera T-shirt, think of the countless innocent lives he took in the name of a superfluous revolution.

The importance of Jignesh Mevani

Jai prakash Ojha
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The importance of Jignesh Mevani

Is Jignesh Mevani going to be the next big thing in dalit politics? His victory at the Badgam Assembly seat in Gujarat as an independent candidate is a feather in the cap for dalit activism. Hardik and Alpesh may not have much of an impact outside Gujarat due to the localized nature of caste politics but there is no gainsaying the fact that if Jignesh channelizes his energy in the proper direction, he could transcend the regional boundary. In this age of optics and increased visibility where perception matters as much as reality, Jignesh’s Una agitation not only caught the imagination of the entire nation but also hurt its conscience. The refusal of thousands of dalits to dispose of cattle carcasses in protest against the public flogging of 4 dalits by cow vigilantes was a defining moment in dalit activism.

Yes….the grammar of dalit politics has changed. It’s no longer Rudaali-style activism but it is some sort of —-an eye for an eye—type of confrontation marked by a new found confidence and assertion. Unlike Chandrasekhar led Bhim Army’s protest against Saharanpur incident which made bad optics due to acts of arson and violence and defied logic, Jignesh’s Una movement was better organized and had logic which made the task of public approval easier. Saharanpur was kneejerk activism which failed to secure public empathy while Una was pragmatic thoughtful activism.

Though Mevani has won from a reserved seat with the support of Congress and has not yet managed to come out of the caste bracket, his politics offers hope. Unlike most of the politicians of his community, he does not talk much about caste or reservation but has espoused an issue that is not on the menu of present day dalit politics. He has filed a PIL in Gujarat High Court seeking 5 hectares of land to every dalit family and has even led agitations for land entitlements of dalits. The lower social status of the dalits has been there for centuries due to their historical dispossession from land something that has made them rootless and broken.

Investing energy in useless rhetoric against Manuwad and Hindu religion is not going to solve the problems of dalits; dalit activism needs to focus on land rights for dalits. The post independent land reforms have hardly benefited the dalits because a major chunk of the distributed land has gone to the OBCs/intermediate castes; even where dalits have got lands, they have failed to take possession due to muscle power of OBCs. Dalits have been massacred in caste wars over land, they have been reliable recruiting grounds for Naxals seeking to destroy feudal order but does this issue bother dalit politics?

Apart from a land movement in Maharashtra in early fifties under the banner of Republican Party, has any dalit agitation centred on land rights? Dalit politics needs to move out of reservation because reservation has reached a point of no return. Moreover, reservation policy has created layers among the dalit population and gains are getting restricted to just 15-20 percent of the entire dalit population.

The fact that Mevani has raised the issue of jobs for youths as a whole and not only dalits manifests that he is willing to come out of the sectarian bracket. His emphasis on leading a movement of sanitation workers is also a welcome move. Dalit politics can’t work in isolation and sectarianism. It has to join the mainstream in this integrated electorate system if it has to survive. Isn’t it shocking that despite more than 70 years of independence dalit politicians are not able to win from general seats in elections?

Dalit politics needs to take a departure from past modus operandi. Mevani can’t afford to fall into the black hole of rabid virulent left inspired dalit activism. Continuous virulent bashing of Hindu religion & Manuwad, pontifications over Buddhism and Ambedkarism, debates over who is better – Ambedkar or Gandhi and frivolous discourses over Vedas are not going to fetch dividends for dalit politics; the fight has to be strictly political. All this talk of Mulnivasis and solidarity of 85 percent Bahujan Samaj is rubbish as contradictions galore between dalits & OBCs; moreover caste is hierarchy seeking and is prevalent even within so called Bahujan societies. Kanshiram tried to prepare a common platform between OBCs and dalits but his experiment was short-lived and failed miserably in UP.

A constitutional Ambedkar would do wonders for political empowerment of dalits but a religio-socio cultural Ambedkar would marginalize dalit polity and push it to the periphery. A Periyar inspired dalit activism might look macho but it can’t gain acceptance from majority of non dalit castes; just look at Tamil Nadu, despite more than 7 decades of Dravidian politics, power remained confined to non Brahmin castes at the intermediate level, refusing to percolate downwards to the dalits and to cap it all, virulent caste struggles for domination between dalits and OBCs are every day news in the state.

Mevani needs to guard against all of these if he wants to make a long stride in dalit politics. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on how he is going to take the plunge.

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