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Ways of countering the left liberal propaganda

goonereol
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Ways of countering the left liberal propaganda

The left liberal ideology has been dominant in India since its Independence. From education to bureaucracy , from media to legal bodies, from social strata to economic level our country is still suffering from this failed ideology. Rise of Modi & Nationalist power in 2014 surely rattled them but it did not stop them from peddling their lies & carrying forward their vicious propaganda. In fact it united them, strengthened them and intensified their concentrated attack on anything that does not suit their narrative. With 2019 elections on the horizon, they are back with new techniques. Countering them is a must . We can not let go and have a laid back attitude at this crucial juncture. Remember, you give them an inch they will take a mile. There are various ways of countering depending on the type/grade of liberal hypocrite under which one falls or depending on the nature of lies & propaganda being spread.

1. Countering liberal propaganda in the economic field – 

How to do it?

This is one field where fact checking in synchronized manner is required. This is the only way to burst their myths & educate common people about the lies being spread . Make them look immature and unprofessional, which they are. The rebuttal should come quickly after the allegations are spread. When lies are manufactured which could make people believe that a certain government scheme or action can hurt their pockets it does not take long to get them agitated.

Who should do it? 

When mainstream media is hell bent on demonising the government without checking facts and thereby maligning the image of the government and the Prime Minister, the counter should come from the very top level. It should come from a person having deep knowledge about the economy with no confusion and strong conviction.

Say for example lies peddled around demonetization and now against GST. The government should be swift and in fact go ahead and use traditional means of Media to counter the lies. It should not be confined just within the boundaries of Social media. Keep on circulating & countering without getting irked until the lie vanishes. Expose their lack of knowledge and humiliate them because most of the time they have a pretty shallow knowledge of the subject.

2. Countering liberal propaganda in institutions- educational , social & govt: 

How to do it?

Now in this field just presenting facts & debating with numbers is not enough. You have to be unapologetic keeping in mind the fact if they come back to power will they be as forgiving as us? The answer is NO. You have to stamp your authority to weed out the unwanted elements.

Who should do it? 

A) The head of that institution

This is why placing the right man at the helm is important. You need a person at the top who can take quick harsh decisions. Take for example fiascos in JNU & DU. It could have been nipped in the bud if the serpents were recognized and corrective measures were taken before hand. Do not pay heed if the liberal accuses of ‘Bhagwakaran’ of institutions. This is just another trap.

B) But what if the entire institution is a propaganda factory??

Like the ‘social institutions’ that deliberately spread fake news to tarnish the image of India in the outside world. Yes i am talking about famous Institutions such as Amnesty , Greenpeace & Ford Foundations . The darlings of Indian elite liberals .

In this case government should stop being wishy washy & act aggressively. It should have the courage to throw them out of this country & put a stop to their activities. India at this stage will not tolerate such sinister organisations inside India. If any professor is found to indoctrinate students & push them into the zone of Urban Naxalism, he/she should not only be removed from their positions but effort should be made to ban him/her from teaching in any institution & revoke his/her degree. Not only this but through that person we should try to get hold of the whole gang working inside a particular institution.

C ) Strong presence of Nationalist students/workers in that institution who instead of just complaining should take up the cause & fight the battle.

They should form the 1st pillars of resistance to the path of propaganda. They should make people aware outside the institution what plans are nurturing inside the minds of these liberal thugs and unite to take them down intellectually.

3. Countering Liberal propaganda on the political front- countering the shoot &scoot policy : 

Who should do it?

This is where along with top brass common Right wing mass needs to join in & puncture their lies. They can make huge difference in shifting the narrative both in social media & locally by informing people about the lies surrounding him/her. The 2nd part is important. There is a world beyond twitter & whatsapp. Once a lie has been circulated by the spin masters it is carried further by their silent partners in crime.

How to do it?

Take for example the false accusations of Wire on Jay Shah & thereby trying to implicate Amit Shah & tarninsh their reputations. The story had so much loopholes that they it was exposed within 2-3 hrs & Wire story had to be edited.
Here is orginal wire story.

https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/360998584/The-Golden-Touch-of-Jay-Amit-Shah

& here is the rebuttal.

http://www.opindia.com/2017/10/the-jay-amit-shah-story-low-on-facts-high-on-innuendo/amp/

after which the Wire quietly edited the article

http://www.opindia.com/2017/10/after-opindia-expose-the-wire-selectively-alters-its-story-to-be-further-slammed-by-readers/amp

Wire surely did not expect this to go wrong. It never thought that some ordinary common Right wing personels would take them down within hours & expose their false claims. They were puzzled , rattled & confused. But the fact remains the Wire aricle was circulated in whatsapp, shown by mainstream media & debates were organised around a fake news (not new for the media) completely ignoring the rebuttal. This is where taking a legal path is important. BJP this time was indeed quick to launch an attack & frame defamation charges on wire.

Lets hope at least this time for their own sake they take it to a logical conclusion. (Still remember how they backed out of the NDTV -ban for a day).

I & B ministry plays an important role in this sector & blessed are we that there is a more agressive & an unforgiving stance after Smriti Irani took charge.
Here is one example:

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.scoopwhoop.com/amp/smriti-irani-slams-news-agency-for-using-wrong-photos-passing-off-old-photo-from-chennai-as-that-of-gujarat-floods/

Lets hope Mrs Irani can continue in such a fashion. We need someone who can stand up & take on the Media Agencies for spreading false news.

4. Countering them in the cultural & social sector :

Left liberal intellectuals have their eyes fixed in this one very area. Disrupting the cultural unity, flaming up communal tensions & making us feel low & apologetic about our culture & religion is one of their core focus .

How to do it & who should do it? 

EVERYONE of us who cares about our cultural & aesthetic values. The movement should start from the very bottom & gradually build up. Here I would suggest there should be minimum interference from the government. It should be common man who should act & take responsibility to organize a movement. Take for example the case of Cracker Ban in Delhi . How liberal intellectual machinery finally got their wish fulfilled & were ecstatic seeing us defeated & dejected. But look how people revolted, united & even the ones who showed this interest a year ago took active participation. It was not just tokenism. It was about sending a message. A message that we will not bow down. More effective than govt coming to bail us out. It mobilizes & unites us. https://www.google.co.in/amp/m.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/supreme-court-s-cracker-ban-goes-up-in-smoke-on-diwali-night-in-delhi/story-RWTEz1cI4syldquV26dksM_amp.html

It was a show of our strength. And here people like Tajinder Bagga who supported the cause should be congratulated.

Administration & Govt too has a role – 

The liberals deliberately spread fake news to create a tension. Take for example this tweet by Pallavi Ghosh . It took 12 hrs for the Uttar Pradesh police to reply. By then the news was going viral on social media.

Another one just a day before.

Whether it is misinformation regarding  ‘no muslim dictat’  concerning AYUSH, or be it Rajdeep Sardesai spreading fake news against Yogi Adityanth when he was selected as UP CM, they do it in an organised fashion to demerit that person. This is where youth needs to step in along with online portals to counter their lies.

If false news is circulated about a particular area, youth of that area needs to be active. As a responsible citizen the 1st thing we should do is file police complain against that person. The online rebuttal can form a part of it but again the culprits should not be given a easy passage.

We should frame our arguement depending on the type & the degree of liberal leftism under which the person falls.

Grade 1: In the danger zone of ‘extreme liberalism’- un curable!

The person in this category is actually a regressive totalitarian. These people often do not know much about the issues, especially as far as fact and reality goes. What they do think they know, however, is that Right Wing and conservatives are completely against them and hence they try to bring them down on that particular issue. Fear mongering is their main trait.

How to counter them? 

Don’t even waste your precious time & energy by throwing numbers & facts to them.

Grade 2 : The intellectual zone

Now this one is tricky. All ‘extreme liberalites’ are in the intellectual zone but all intellectuals are not in the ‘extreme liberalite’ zone.
It comprises mainly of :

— College Students, especially those in Ivy League College

— Professors, especially those in Ivy Leagues ,Other teachers

— education administrators, policymakers Journalists and Media personalities

These people also fundamentally believe they are right, and will refuse to argue with anyone who they think is of “less merit” than them; they’re very elitist to a sense, and therefore blindly hold to their ideology despite any arguments thrown at them. It is Ivy League arrogance, journalistic elitism, and whatever else you can name, at its finest.

How to counter them?

Sarcasm. Yes they hate it when you give them back sarcastically in a jovial mocking tone. There must be a tone of humor mixed with your factual rebuttal which should make them feel ‘less important’. That is the main point . They love to be pampered. Bring them down.

Who should do it? 

Again, the common mass. It will irk them more  seeing who these intellectuals consider just low life trolls are able to call out their bluff. They are unable to digest the fact that someone who they consider ‘less intelligent’ can expose them & their propaganda.

Grade 3 : Victims who fall for the liberal Propaganda

Mostly school or college kids .
Working class people who are not in social media.
Elders who still prefer traditional media.

Who should counter them?

Their own family members & relatives.

How to do it?

Sitting down with them & explaining the malicious designs of Liberal propaganda. Make them realize. If a youth is falling for the propaganda it becomes much more important to do so. We surely do not want a generation who grows up to hate our own country & culture. Debate with them & try to neutralize the effect of leftist propaganda.

Understand one simple thing about ‘socialism’ , ‘leftism’, ‘liberalism’ & ‘communism’ or whatever you want to call it: It is nothing more than the lazy society demanding the hard working and industrious be their slaves. They are hypocrites & will go on to vilify you, abuse you & target your personal life in the most foul way to prove their point & when you retort back they will bring forward their ‘victim card’. But do not be bogged down Follow the principle of : ‘ give as good as you get’. There is no point being gentle with them, especially the ones belonging to Grade 1 & 2.

Defensiveness signals weakness, and makes the audience think that the liberal actually is right, which they are not.

‘Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage Rage against the liberal Thugocracy’

Letter to the PM of India: Suggestion number-03

hemenvarma
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Letter to the PM of India: Suggestion number-03

Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister

Government of India
152, South Block,  Raisina Hill
New Delhi  110001
October  10,  2017

Dear Sir,

Suggestion No  03

This is further to my last communication of  September  5, 2017.  Herewith, my third suggestion to you.

  1. a) Kindly advise all colleges/universities not to insist for a Police Complaint Report when a request is received for issuance of a Duplicate Degree Certificate or Mark sheet, because of “Loss/Theft” of the Original.”
  2. b) In the same spirit, kindly advise all Banks and Credit Card Issuers, not to insist for a Police Complaint Report when a request is received for issuance of a new Credit Card because of “Loss/Theft” of the Original.

RATIONALE for the above suggestion

  1. The Police NEVER investigate such complaint. The reports are  routinely filed which hardly anyone looks at or enquires about. Nor is it ever reported or published as an important crime statistic.
  1. This adds an unnecessary layer of bureaucratic action that has no purpose or meaning. It merely creates useless additional work for the Police Department and a pointless irritant to the common citizen of making a trip to the Police Station for no purpose at all.
  1. What would happen if such a report were not filed– NOTHING.  Nothing happens when they are filed and nothing would happen if they are not filed.
  1. Can there be any misuse or damage to government or society or the individual if such a report is not filed? No, not at all.

Let us suppose that a Loss/Theft Report is not filed for a missing degree certificate and the duplicate gets issued. Let us further suppose that original document is subsequently found or recovered by the individual.

What would happen now? Precisely  nothing. Just by having 2 copies of the “same degree” no one can get any extra or undeserved benefit.

The same argument applies identically, in case of a Lost Credit Card – in fact the lost credit card is immediately voided and hence any chance of misuse is non- existent.

Kind regards.
(Hemendra K. Varma)

Encl: a/a
cc: Shri Nripendra Mishra,  Principal Secretary to PM
Shri Pradeep Kumar Sinha,  Cabinet Secretary
Shri Rajnath Singh, Home Minister
Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for HRD
Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, Prime Minister’s Office

Infrastructure Financing – Constraints and Way forward for New India

Khyati Srivastava
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Infrastructure Financing – Constraints and Way forward for New India

India is sixth largest economy in the world with USD 2.26 trillion Gross Domestic Product (2016), and retained its position of being world’s fastest growing economy. Development aspirations of India are manifold and infrastructure development makes the base pillar of it. Infrastructure investment, thereby holds key role in accelerating the economic growth. It has been observed that more than public investments, currently private investments hold major potential in meeting up rising infrastructure development requirements. Nonetheless, Foreign Direct Investments in highway, rail, port and telecom projects in India attract attention world-wide. However, India ranked 81st out of 140 nations in Global Competitiveness Index[i] for Infrastructure and 23rd in Global Infrastructure Investment Attractiveness Index 2016[ii].

There are several issues and shortcomings that add to the financing challenges and deter the commercial viability of investment projects in infrastructure in India. Addressing these hurdles becomes indispensable to improve infrastructure in India in order to meet out the development needs of the hour. Infrastructure development forms the core element of UN Sustainable Development Goals[iii]. Furthermore, infrastructure sector is the promising sector in terms of creating huge employment opportunities to engage the bulge in the population pyramid of India. One percent increase in infrastructure investment as of GDP is estimated to generate 3.4million jobs in short-term[iv].

Infrastructure Investment – India on the Globe

When internationally USD 2.5 trillion is invested per year in infrastructure services comprising transportation, power, telecom and ports, accounting to around 7-10% of GDP in boom years, India on the contrary, invested around 3% of GDP in infrastructure till late 1990s. Challenges in Infrastructure development “were not the central focus of policy until mid-1991 economic reforms”[v]. In order to keep pace with growth and development aspirations, investments in infrastructure required a substantial impetus, and it was in late 1990s that private investments in infrastructure stepped up, popularly in form of Public Private Partnership (PPP). In the period 1992-2013, when China recorded 8.6% of GDP investment in infrastructure, India in the same period recorded 4.9% of GDP investment in infrastructure[vi].

According to Aracadis report on ‘Global Infrastructure Investment Attractiveness Index (GIII)’ 2016, Singapore retained the top rank for a third consecutive time, followed by Qatar and UAE. India on the rank chart stood 23rd, while China secured a stable rank at 17th.  In Asia Pacific zone, despite its slow growth rate, China still leads the charts for infrastructure investment, owing to its attractive business environment. India, in the same zone has improved two places between 2014 and 2017, given to the Chinese slowdown and India’s consistent growth story in the past decade, even during the recent global recession.

Falling Investments in Infrastructure

Government plays an imperative role by way of addressing the challenges in infrastructure financing. Government has made significant contribution in infrastructure investment so far till 12th five year plan. However, public investment in infrastructure as a percentage of GDP has been almost static during these 5-year plan periods. It was 3.9% of GDP during 10th five-year plan, 4.4% of GDP during 11th five year plan, and 3.5% of GDP under 12th five year plan[vii]. There is wide dependence on private investments for infrastructure development in India. As per 12th five year plan, 51% sources of debt financing identified were domestic commercial banks, 27% were NBFCs and 15% were ECBs. So far domestic commercial banks have driven debt financing in infrastructure sector, followed by specialised NBFCs including insurance companies.

Besides raising capital through IPO/FPO, India, in past decade has witnessed several private equity infrastructure funds (PE) coming up to raise capital. PE investments in India in Infrastructure (excluding telecom), was USD 2176 million in 2011, which went down to USD 688 million in 2013, and gradually increased to USD 1435 million in 2015[viii]. Considering, PPP investments in India for infrastructure are continuously shrinking and reached a 10-year low in 2015, as per World Bank. Then, Foreign Direct Investments in infrastructure projects in India was some 0.1% of GDP, which shot up to 0.8%-0.9% of GDP between 2008 and 2010, however, declined to 0.4% of GDP in 2014[ix].

Constraints in India

Rising Fiscal deficit has been one of the major reason behind fall in public investment in infrastructure in India. Rising fiscal deficits push up the cost of debt for public funding. Furthermore, currency exposure and its management, when India follows floating exchange rate calls for uncertainties in currency market. Then, price stability also impacts investments in India. Continued Inflationary trends hinder investment prospects. Despite high saving rates in India, debt markets for corporate sector is still underdeveloped. Thereby, debt funding for infrastructure financing for private players involves low profitability and long term debts.

On the other hand, PPP investment model has reached its “trough in the capex cycle”[x]. Furthermore, it is known that in India, since developers largely have limited capital, they tie up with financial investors to form Private Equity Infrastructure funds (PE). But capital markets with poor exit norms are deterring the private players to take up investment in infrastructure. India has an underdeveloped bond market, featuring liquidity crunch, high cost debts, and fluctuating interest rates, with ceiling limits on foreign investments in certain sectors. External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) in this context, has made affordable infrastructure finance accessible.

Recent developments and reforms on regulatory framework related to Taxation, such as Dividend Distribution Tax, Minimum Alternate Tax to foreign companies under New Companies Act, deductions under IT Act u/s 80 IA, introduction of GST and GAAR rules, are indeed encouraging, but their compliance procedures have created uncertainties amongst the investors. Complex rules and interpretation of compliance procedures discourages investment. Furthermore, restricted land acquisition rules, and new PPP models coming up, have created perceived apprehension amongst the investor fraternity. Comprehending and meeting compliances, procedures and regulations deters interests of investor in taking up long-term risk projects in infrastructure.

Rising Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) of domestic commercial banks, which was INR 6 trillion as on March 2016, has subdued the risk taking capacity of domestic banking sector. Infrastructure projects, in this context, are executed by Special Purpose Vehicles, which neither have a credit history nor a balance sheets. Indian financial market, apprehensive due to rising GNPAs, discourages debt financing to these SPVs. Then, since banks lend loans at floating rates, entire project span is subject to interest rate fluctuations, restricting the viability of the project in the long run. Scope of External Commercial Borrowing (ECB), in order to curb the monetary expansion effects of capital inflows from outside, has been regulated and restricted by RBI. In January 2015, it was reported that ECB applications worth USD 2billion were pending for approval, most of it include housing and infrastructure finance[xi].

Lastly, there are sectoral challenges that deter investment in projects pertaining to infrastructure[xii]. Transportation projects, particularly highway projects have to largely depend on collaterals due to inadequate bandwidth to undertake project appraisals and structuring. Furthermore, under-performing assets impact portfolio returns, and the sector is facing growing debt levels due to delay in commissioning of projects. Moreover, they suffer lack of clarity on repayment on project termination, and face limited confidence in availing funds under new funding models such as Hybrid Annuities due to backlog of previous projects. Port development projects struggle with shorter debt tenures and project concession periods. All of these challenges altogether limit infrastructure finance in these sectors in India.

Similarly, infrastructure financing for power and energy sector faces certain challenges. For instance, financial constraints of Discoms working under accumulated losses of around INR3.8 trillion[xiii], has indeed been deterring investment environment in power sector until UDAY scheme came for rescue. Then, renewable energy sector is a new and buoyant sector for investments presently. Whenever a new sector is opened for investment, aggressive bidding follows. Government on the other hand undertakes reverse bidding for effective low tariffs. This aggressive bidding phase often calls speculative instinctive quotes, beyond project viability in long term. Analysis of project viability in this context is significant so as to ensure reasonable returns to investors in this sector.

Overcoming Barriers and Innovating finance options

At first, it is important to mitigate risks in financing infrastructure. Frequent changes in policies, government actions and industry norms adversely impact investment appeal. Firstly, clarity on legislations and simplified policy for regulatory authorities for easy compliances is important to mitigate with regards to infrastructure financing. Second, maintaining fiscal discipline is very crucial for state to build a better investment market in the long-term. This helps minimising business risks involved for investors arising out of high/fluctuating cost of debt/finance, inflation or currency fluctuations. Following FRBM rules, most states have been conservative spenders emphasizing fiscal prudence. However, of late certain states have opted to break fiscal conservatism in order to boost economic activities, particularly infrastructure financing[xiv].

Then, optimum risk allocation and cushion throughout the project investment phase, viz. development, construction, operation and termination phase is important. Most risk is perceived during development and construction phase. So besides, availing adequate funds in this phase, it is also important to ease and simplify the regulatory compliances to build on risk taking potential of the investors. These compliances include, permitting processes, environment permits, land acquisition, contract negotiations, taxation, collaterals, and other permits. Instruments that enable bankability of projects, should be prioritised and incentivised.

Given to recent developments and that the incumbent regime is putting high impetus on spurring growth rates through infrastructural development, several measures have been put in to encourage investments. States/PSUs are taking up new investments in sustainable infrastructure projects through Public Private Alliances. Furthermore, RBI is taking measures to facilitate infrastructure funding by easing lending norms, ECB guidelines and giving scope to emerging options. Promoting alternate and emerging funding options such as, Rupee denominated offshore ‘Masala’ bonds, InvITs, REITS, Sovereign funds, Hybrid models, Special Purpose Vehicles, etc. is lightening the tunnel. Further, it is important to build a dynamic and responsive policy deliberation forum to overcome glitches in these new models of funding. Similarly, development of more new funding options such as auctioning upcoming revenues from infrastructure projects to fund the infrastructure, and more convenient financing options must be encouraged.

Nonetheless, more public guarantees for major infrastructure projects, promoting refinancing options, long term funding and grants, besides dynamic and responsive grievance redressal mechanism is expected to boost infrastructure financing. Lastly, it is important to overcome policy paralysis and inconsistency in policies to boost investors’ confidence. Most reasons that deter investors’ confidence comprise delay in project planning, implementation and payment disbursement. It is important to identify and eliminate points of conflict and delay in processes, besides continuous dialogue to build their trust in Indian markets. Political stability, efficiency in Parliament proceedings and budgetary performance are macro variables that boosts investors’ confidence in country’s markets, while easy land acquisition laws, licensing and other regulatory framework besides, low cost of compliances and simple processes and friendly bureaucracy are micro variables that keep the investors’ morale.

High level Committee under HDFC chairman, Shri Deepak Parekh was set up, that submitted its report in 2014 on infrastructure financing addressing most of the challenges highlighted here, which are under consideration with the Government. In recent years, efforts have been made by Government of India in form of economic and budgetary reforms, coupled with improved foreign policy which has indeed resulted in an upsurge in Foreign Direct Investments in India. There was a significant 23% growth recorded in FDI in FY 2015-16.  This even replicated into increase in capital expenditure outlay in infrastructure, at INR 2.2 trillion in FY 2017-18[xv].

REFERENCES:
[i] World Economic Forum Report (2017). Refer http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016-2017_FINAL.pdf

[ii] Aracadis, ‘Third Global Infrastructure Investment Attractiveness Index 2016’.

[iii] Goal 9, UN Sustainable Development Goals; Refer http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-9-industry-innovation-and-infrastructure/targets/

[iv] Mckinsey & Co. (2016), ‘Bridging Global Infrastructure Gaps’.

[v] Ahluwalia M.S., ‘Infrastructure Development Reforms in India’, Planning Commission (Speech), Refer http://planningcommission.gov.in/aboutus/speech/spemsa/new/msa29.pdf

[vi] Ibid 5.

[vii] Deepak Parekh Committee Report 2014, 12th Five Year Plan Vol.1 Report.

[viii] Grand Thornton (2016), ‘The Fourth Wheel 2016’.

[ix] DIPP, FIPB Report (2015). *Infrastructure here includes – Construction, Electricity, Petroleum oil and gas, Real estate.

[x] http://ficci.in/spdocument/20792/FICCI-Infrastructure-Financing-2016.pdf

[xi] Refer http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/Reserve-Bank-of-India%E2%80%99s-ECB-norms-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/article14017722.ece

[xii] Refer http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-infrastructure-investment-and-stressed-assets-outlook/$FILE/ey-infrastructure-investment-and-stressed-assets-outlook.pdf

[xiii] Press Release (2015), Ministry of Power, Government of India. Refer http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=130261

[xiv] Refer http://www.livemint.com/Politics/6md0IVDzvmIkzk9c22oT8J/State-governments-driving-fiscal-expansion-in-India.html

[xv] Refer http://www.livemint.com/Politics/zdmiM68OZXnq2Kg5sMJESI/Budget-2016-Govt-to-spend-Rs218-trillion-on-roads-railway.html

Rahul Gandhi as Twitter’s Newest Troll

Aaina
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Rahul Gandhi as Twitter’s Newest Troll

While the Modi government has been carefully using social media to engage with the common folks and solve the issues first hand, Rahul Gandhi is using it to launch his stand-up career. Or so it seems.

The Modi ministers have used Twitter as an effective way to engage with the citizens. Besides the Prime Minister himself, his many colleagues have used the medium as a two-way communication tool. The government is not only promoting its flagship schemes but is also listening intently to what people have to say. Probably this is the reason that the Prime Minister has emerged on the top in a survey conducted by the HT to find out the most inspiring public figure for the youth of India. From ministers to party leaders, the entire top brass of the central government and the BJP has made itself available online.

In contrast, the leaders of the Indian National Congress showed immense technological inertia in understanding the reach and magnitude of social media platform. Besides Shashi Tharoor, no other minister from the UPA had any substantial presence on the social media site, till the recent times. The Congress Vice President displayed a lot of resistance, but eventually joined Twitter in 2015. However, it is only now that Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter page is seeing regular activity.  Standing at 3.81 million followers (last checked on October 21, 2017), it is still a long way to go for the Gandhi scion when it comes to competing with the Prime Minister whose personal Twitter account has one of the world’s highest follower count at 35.5 million, next only to U.S. President Donald Trump.

In fact, Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter following, in comparison to other popular political faces, puts things in right perspective. Many of the top ministers, such as the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley enjoy a Twitter following of 9.84 million and 9.78 million respectively.  His opponent from Amethi, and a very vocal I&B minister in the Modi government, Smriti Irani has a follower count of 7.5 million, racing much ahead of the Congress Vice President.

Contrary to the claims being made by the Social media and Digital communications cell of Congress of the enhanced reach and impact of the twitter handle of the party vice-president, the growth is not extraordinary. It is only managing to hold ground in comparison to the second rung leadership of the BJP.

The tweets between the period of Oct 1 -Oct 16, 2017, clearly illustrates that the retweets from the Twitter handles of various BJP leaders, on an average, are at par with the retweets from the Twitter handle of Rahul Gandhi.

Following are some of the examples of the tweets by BJP leaders’ Twitter handle:

Following are some of the examples of the tweets by Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter handle:

I&B Minister Smriti Irani, with her witty come backs, has been at the forefront of taking on the Congress President both offline and online. Recently, when the @OfficeOfRG tried to take on the skewed narrative using the Global Hunger Index, she countered the claim with facts and some shayari of her own, garnering more retweets than the original tweet by the Twitter handle of Congress Vice President:

This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter handle has been deployed to run down India’s image in the world. Recently, he retweeted Donald Trump’s tweet indicating better relations of U.S.A. with Pakistan to mock Prime Minister Modi. Even when India’s stated global position is to de-hyphenate her vis-à-vis Pakistan, the Congress leader attempted to do just the same, undermining national interest.

As noticed by many, Rahul Gandhi is attempting to do an image makeover on the social media. But the opinions are divided whether he wants to reinvent himself as a troll or a fake news propagator. Many observers have labelled his penchant for incendiary remarks of jocular nature, lacking the gravitas of serious political contemplation, as master trolling.   While the tag of fake news enthusiast is also under contestation, considering the following example:

Rahul Gandhi tweeted a PTI report claiming that the Yogi government in U.P. has cut the budgetary provisions for secondary education and higher education compared to that of previous government.

A few of the online blogs and Twitter accounts demolished the claims by doing a simple fact check on the story. It was also brought to the attention of the Congress Vice President who chose to keep mum rather than retract his tweet or question the agency for its spurious reporting.

The increasing popularity of Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account is being hailed by the usual suspects based on the number of retweets he has been receiving. The sudden spike is sure an aspect worth investigating, as past experiences have shown that in most of the cases fake followers constitute most of the follower count. In fact,  ANI report has brought out the truth behind the inorganic rise in Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter popularity. It has found out that most of the Twitter accounts RT-ing Rahul Gandhi’s tweets are fake. Such actions do raise suspicion, since the battle of perception is bitterly fought on the social media.

It would be interesting to see how this battle shapes up in the next few months, as one nears Gujarat election. Will the shoot and scoot strategy of Rahul Gandhi’s social media campaign sustain eyeballs or the Modi government’s performance push emerge as the real winner in the end?

Why Javed Akhtar’s equivalence between British and Mughals is false

shreyakhan19
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Why Javed Akhtar’s equivalence between British and Mughals is false

Recently Javed Akhtar tweeted something knowing well it will evoke sharp response:

Robert Clive and Warren Hashtings became multi-millionaire after they set foot on Bengal. This is a reality! Robert Clive is accredited for establishing political & military power of Britain over Bengal, a state which alone was richer than Britain. While difficult to say who looted more, Warren Hashtings was impeached in British parliament over charges of corruption. Charges were so extensive that it took two days to cover them in parliament.

Coming down to the main question, why it is that in spite of British plunderer’s loot well documented in history, Indians don’t treat British with equal disdain as Mughals?

Answer lies in the way Islamic invaders ruled India and treated Hindus! Even most benevolent of them ‘Akbar the great’ carried out genocide at whims and fancy. Most notable of this was when Akbar lay siege on Chittorgarh, home to Rana of Mewar:

It took 60 days for Akbar and his large army to penetrate through the defence of the fort, once in, Akbar ordered slaughter of anyone who was found sympathetic to Rana, over 40,000 inhabitants of Mewar were massacred by ‘Akbar the great’ and the kingdom was destroyed. Historians write, as soon the fort was broken fire leapt to the sky implying women jumped into razing pyre to save their honour. Another example is from 1556, when ‘Akbar the great’ defeated Hemu at Panipat, after slaughtering Hemu’s army, Akbar built a victory tower with the heads. Building tower with the skulls of opponents was not new to Islam and idea came with Mughal from Central Asia.

Here’s a Mughal miniature from 1590, showing a skull tower being built during Akbar’s reign:

Obviously if Akbar was capable of such ghoulish act his predecessors and followers were even more ferocious!

When Timur sacked Delhi in 1398, he slaughtered a hundred thousand people, and built a tower with their skulls.

Destroying temples and using the broken parts for building mosques was a regular occurrence under Mughals.

Somnath temple the pride of India, was sacked many times in history. Notably Prithvi Raj Chauhan forgave Mohammad Ghauri seven times in battle after defeating him, but Ghouri succeeded ninth time, looting, plundering and killing in the most horrific way along with sacking the temple.

Alauddin Khilji whose lust for Rani Padmavati against her wishes is well known, not only sacked Somnath temple but took the idol away to Delhi to be trampled under feet of Muslims.

Bakhtiyar Khilji who was general to Qutubuddin Aibak destroyed Nalanda which attracted over 12,000 students, fire razed from university for three months, several Buddhists were killed during invasion.

Tipu Sultan who is commemorated yearly by government of Karnataka wrote “I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam. I am now determined to march against the cursed Raman Nair (Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma).” His jihad against Hindus & Christians in Deccan and beyond is unparalleled.

The entire list of temples looted, destroyed and sacked by Mughals is so extensive that it will take work of many historians running in 1000s of pages to compile it!

If anyone wants an exhibit of how Mughals treated Hindus, they should turn to how ISIS treats minorities in Middle East. What happened to Yezidis prompted Obama to carry out military operation in Syria. In Pakistan & Bangladesh stories of churches razed down, Christians tormented and Hindus converted or killed are almost heard on daily basis.

Savagery, barbarity driven by religious hatred is what puts Mughals apart from British. While British exploited and looted India, their colonisation was not driven by religion. Mughals invaded and conversion was at the heart of their rule. Many noted historians have described conversion and genocide in books. K S Lal describes loss of 20 million Hindu lives between invasion of Mahmud Ghazni and end of Mughal sultanate. Similar figures have been cited by Stephen Knapp and Belgian historian Koenraad Elst.

Rise of Islamic extremism in modern world is a real threat and dividing the world like never before, daily terrorist attacks by radical Islam all over the world has changed the way people live, inviting far right governments in countries one after another. People like Javed Akhtar should be more worried about this clear & persistent threat rather than trying to draw false equivalence between Robert Clive & Aurangzeb!

Social work teaching and reality, when preacher is a demon: My ordeal as a learner

Dr. Pankaj Gupta
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Social work teaching and reality, when preacher is a demon: My ordeal as a learner

I remember when I completed my 12th standard; I was quite confused in choosing a career option. As many a people, in my locality, did not concentrate on higher studies, during my time, so I did not have many options where I can get guidance in this regard. Getting into social work was more like an accident for me as I was interested to pursue LLB whereas my father wanted me to get into social work. I had a discussion with one of the professors from social work department who suggested me many of the courses and social work was one of them. Since, I could not have had the courage to say no to my father; I was landed into this profession. So, I did graduation in social work.

After completing my graduation I took admission in the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, one of the premier institutes of social work. I had seen that students are target in social work department at under-graduation level but yes some sort of dignity always remained there. The teachers over there never came to the lower level as they had come in the post-graduation level. Though, I did not get targeted in the first year of post-graduation but the second year was little problematic. There was an associate professor, who is the professor now, started targeting me even for the smallest issues. I was quite impressed with his oration skills, during my first year of Post-Graduation, and believed in his teachings.

I remember how the classroom discussions, during his classes, were mainly focused around Gujarat Riots and the role of the then Chief Minister of the state. I became an ardent believer of his classroom teachings. But things changed in second year of my PG, when I was getting targeted for no apparent reasons. I did not understand what went wrong, therefore, I went to him and asked about the problem. But he did not give me any reply.

The most surprising thing came at a time when my final year’s exams got over and I had to choose an NGO, wherein I could complete my block field work, as part of the MSW course. I choose ‘Youth for Justice’ NGO, which was run by Mr. Kapil Mishra, former Tourist Minister, Government of Delhi and a senior of mine in graduation and post-graduation. This professor was the field work director at that point of time so he also has to agree with my decision. But instead of having discussion on my decision I was scolded like anything, as if I had committed a crime. I was told that I have committed forgery by choosing this organisation. I did not understand what he wanted to convey by this and neither he explained. Generally, no sane individual would behave like this even if he has any personal grudges against any other individual or the organisation. But his behaviour was unwarranted. I was even asked what relationship I have made with him. I feel social work department should have been the place of discussion and dispelling fear but unfortunately this professor was doing exactly opposite. However, I did not pay much attention to his misbehaviour during this period and followed his instructions.

After passing out of this department I worked with different organisations. Later, I joined a public sector Bank and got posted in Goa. But destiny has a different plan for me. My father was not keeping well since I joined the Bank services in Goa. For more than 2 years, I was unable to concentrate either on my job or my family and finally I quit the job. I returned back to Delhi to take care of my ailing father. Even after coming back to Delhi, my father’s condition did not improve. Therefore, the only thing that struck to my mind was that if I get into teaching job I would be able to takecare of my father and also do the job. So, I enrolled myself in PhD in the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi. But it seems that this faculty has got another chance to humiliate me.

I remember once this professor forced me to take the garbage bin to each and every scholar present in his room because I committed a small mistake of dropping the empty disposable glass, after finishing off my coffee, into the garbage bin kept in his room and used by him. And all this happened not under ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ but his ‘Humiliation Abhiyan’. I do not understand how shamelessly this professor accuses others of discrimination when he himself committing it. It is surprising that this professor talks a lot about non-discrimination and such other terminologies yet he does opposite to it. If a professor, who preaches like him and cannot tolerate even the dropping of disposable glass, into the dustbin used by him, by a research scholar, what value education would he give to the students? It’s better to compare him with the self-styled godman, who preaches about good things, yet behind the close doors, they do not leave the chance of exploiting people.

The major reason for me to not to get into any trouble with this professor was that my father was facing serious medical problems and this professor was very well aware of it and took full advantage of it. During this time, I realised how much difficult it is for an ordinary scholar to fight the oppression in a department like Social Work. On another occasion, when my left hand knuckle was broken and it was plastered, this professor, instead of asking me about it, sarcastically pointed out that the colour of my t-shirt was matching to the colour of bandage. I feel any sane person would first ask about the injury- how it had happened, whether I have consulted the doctor and taken medicines or not- but his obnoxious comment was hurting me.

Further, once I was asked by him about the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and when I said I don’t know much about it, I was told ‘Tum Jhola Chap Doctor Banoge’. It was surprising to me as I am doing PhD on the topic of CSR and asking questions on AFSPA was out of context. Also, even if I complete my PhD, I cannot become an MBBS doctor. This incident also served his purpose of targeting me for no fault of mine. In yet another occasion, I was continuously asked for a month to change the frame of my spectacles, as these were not as per the likings of this professor. I still think what wrong I have done.

The most annoying thing was that this professor has no remorse for what he has done and yet he preaches about discrimination and oppression in Indian society. It is ironical that the people like him, who clamour about discrimination in the society, are generally perpetrators of such a crime. In my institute this professor is quite vocal about discrimination, equality and such other terminologies and advocated for brining equality in the society but his actions speak otherwise. He sets a perfect example that one’s action should be different from one’s words or in more precise terms be an opportunist.

It reminds me of the lines of Hitler, who once said “by the skilful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise”. The same has been the environment created by such people in the department. The sort of threatening environment created in my department actually desist students from speaking the truth.

My guide is my mentor in social work. He is the one who has guided me on many of the occasions, not only professionally but personally also. Whether it’s about leaving the job of Bank or family problem or joining the PhD, on all the occasions I sought his guidance and help. He was like a father figure for me. So, I discussed the incident of garbage bin with my research guide, who told me only two things that ‘I have taken a mature step by not getting into any sort of argument with this professor’ and ‘I should learn to forgive and forget’.

I understand why he said this because he does not want me to get into any problem that affects my future. But I feel at times, it is not the right step and remaining tolerant encourages such a professor, at Delhi University. I also feel that the teacher and the student relationship is two sided and both shall respect each other but if such professors are there then it would definitely reduce the respect for a teacher. Teachers are given the stature of God in Hinduism but professors like him demean the teachers’ status in the eyes of students.

In the social work department, where I am doing my PhD, I had learnt a lot about advocacy, discussion, debate and protests but on the ground it is difficult to apply it in my own department, which is supposedly be the place where such suffocating environment should not have been there. The unfortunate part is that a male member of general category does not have many options, when it comes to such humiliation. The only options that an individual like me can have are either to fight, if he is capable to do so, or remain silent if he is weak, as system does not consider them vulnerable. Such things remained hidden and even if I disclose such thing I don’t have any hope to get justice. This experience of mine have had affected my understanding of the terms equality, non-discrimination, communalism etc. and I developed a different understanding from what I have been taught because I feel that my oppressor’s ideology cannot be right.

Before writing this article, a closed friend of mine, with whom I have discussed the content of this article, have suggested me not write it otherwise I may get into trouble and it may affect my PhD but social work teaches me to speak against injustice and if it is happening with me in my own department than I must write about it. I told this friend of mine that either I will get the answer or I may face problems but it will at least have some effects.

I don’t have personal grudges against this professor but yes my education has no use if I am scared even at this level. Also, I think my education has no meaning if I do not speak up against injustice in my own department. In today’s time when people can clamour against the Prime Minister and make allegations that the freedom of expression and intolerance level is increasing in the entire country, then why should not I also speak against the intolerance in my own department by the professor who is also quite vocal in making such allegations at personal level, classroom level and on television debates as a spokesperson of a political party? Though I have written about my experience but I have the apprehensions that I may be subjected to further humiliation and it can jeopardise my PhD as well.

Common yoga myths

Durga Prasad Dash
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Common yoga myths

The celebration of international yoga day has brought a lot of limelight to the ancient Indian practice of yoga. However, the myths surrounding yoga still continue.

In fact, as more and more people take to yoga in various capacities as practitioners, teachers, propagators and entrepreneurs new myths are created and propagated to suit vested interests. Here, let us explore a few of such myths.

 

  1. Yoga is all about asanas and body contortions

Now a days many forms or rather distortions of physical postures and activities are practised and are passed for as yoga.

In a wider context yoga is all about bringing integration to one’s various levels of existence. The word yoga which has been derived from the root ‘yuj’  means to join.  The English word ‘yoke’  has originated from the word yoga.

Asanas or the physical postures are part of the branch of yoga known as ‘Hatha’ Yoga. The broader context of yoga can be understood from the fact that various chapters of Bhagavat Gita are named as various types of yoga. Like Arjun Bishad Yoga, Sankhya Yoga, Gnana Yoga etc. Lord Krishna is also known as yogeshwar even though he is not known to have taught any kind of asanas. However, whenever there is talk of yoga, people understand the physical part of it.

  1. Maharshi Patanjali is the harbinger of yoga

Interestingly the word asana occurs in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras only a couple of times. Patanjali’s compilation of Yoga Sutras explores the basic philosophy of yoga. It does not contain any technique or procedure regarding how to do yogasanas or prayanama etc.

Various forms of yoga including Hatha Yoga have been in existence long before Maharshi  Patanjali compiled the Yoga Sutras  around 200 BC. Proof of yogic postures have been found to be in existence in the lost civilization of Mahenjodaro. Like the Upanishads whose writers preferred to by anonymous, the exact inventors of ancient yogic postures and practices are not known.

  1. With so many fake gurus around, it is better to self learn yoga. 

There are black- sheep in every profession. There are fake or fraud doctors. That does  not prevent us from going to a doctor when a need arises. Nor, do we brand the whole profession as frauds because of the existence of a few fraud doctors. Ravana came to abduct Sita in the garb of a saint.

In the Yogasara Upanishad it is said, “Gururantike yogabhyaset”-  Learn yoga under the guidance of a Guru. Similarly, setting aside their friendship, Arjuna accepts Sri Krishna as a Guru and seeks his advice for his existential dilemma. (Shishyasteham trahi mam prapanna… thus goes a stanza in the Bhagavat Gita)

Authority from the scriptures apart, let it be known that any kind of yoga, even hatha yoga is not just a kind of sundry exercise.  Many subtle energy centres and channels get activated while doing yoga.  So, the presence of a master or an expert is always a safer option.

Self learning of yoga is a kind of self medication where trial and error may sometimes lead to  dangerous consequences. Even if one may not face any kind of danger, one has to do a lot of trial and error and spend a lot of time unnecessarily to find out what form or pattern of yoga would suit one, considering that various combinations of yogic practices may run into thousands. Either way, it makes sense to seek the guidance of a master.

It is better to learn yoga first under the guidance of a master- a genuine master.

Dalit priesthood and Samajik samrasta

Jai prakash Ojha
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Dalit priesthood and Samajik samrasta

The appointment of dalit priests in Govt controlled temples through affirmative action in Kerala is a welcome development. Priesthood to non Brahmins is certainly a silent revolution in the making but it’s not the first time it has happened and even upper caste people have accepted it either in the name of tradition in some places or progressiveness. Moreover, no Brahmin youth today wants priesthood and the hereditary entitlements in temple affairs have broken in most of the places.

The resurgence of Hindu Right has added an element of religiosity in the masses. Since the contemporary support base of the BJP depends to a great extent on the lower castes, it is but natural that RSS will make all out efforts to Hinduise them as part of its Samajik Samrasta strategy.

No ploy can work better than democratization of religion/temples and perhaps, this is why RSS is not averse to the idea of appointment of non Brahmin priests. The apex judiciary has already made it clear that non Brahmins can be appointed as priests provided they have knowledge about the Hindu rituals and religious texts.

The Hindu religion is different, it is not based on the teachings of a single prophet, it is not bound to one book but there are layers within layers. It is a religion of the believers and non believers, the theists and the atheists, the vegetarians and non vegetarians, the idol worshipers and non idol worshipers.

Interpretations vary from one religious text to another and it’s difficult to determine which one is authentic. It is only through certain core rituals that the continuity of religion is maintained. Islam/Christianity will survive even without rituals because there is a set of norms that have been codified but not Hinduism. The court should desist from telling people how to celebrate Diwali, Holi or Dahi Handi.

UGC approved Karmkand courses and Priesthood courses should be started in all the major universities. There is no better way to create social harmony than having lower caste priests who have completed UGC certified ritual courses. Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and other Hindu scriptures should be taught to the students at the school level so that they develop an understanding of their culture and civilization.

Eyebrows will be raised no doubt but its high time we learn not to put the Abraham religions and the Indic religions into one basket for they are fundamentally different. If there is a need to amend the constitution for this purpose, let’s do it because no country can become great with borrowed ideas…..it has to look inside for ideas.

BJP should stop its attempts at appropriating Ambedkar; if it tries to digest Ambedkar, it will lead to indigestion because it’s Hinduisation and Sanskritisation project for dalits is diametrically opposite to what Ambedkar had in mind for dalits. Ambedkar’s dalits were supposed to be autonomous and de-Hinduised. The proper course for the party should be to take Ambedkarism head on and dismantle the aura of grandeur built around Ambedkar by vested left liberal spectrum. And nothing could be better than making dalits priests in the Hindu temples with Hindu gods/goddesses who were anathema to Ambedkar.

What is wrong with our Media?

seafarer
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One who is watching the TV Or reading the Newspapers Or reading social media messaging services will be aware of the so called Nasty, Crude and Boorish comments made by the BJP leaders about Taj Mahal. How he can speak about our Proud Mughal ancestry and Monuments that Mughals made by utilizing only the Mughal laborers, only Mughal designs and architects and only Mughal personal money and gifted to India as unmovable property.

The ones which could be moved had already been moved to British (another of our ancestors from the same analogy- apparently the attackers of the country get indemnified and become the historical rulers of the country if they happen to make one beautiful building after razing thousands of temples/beautiful buildings). I am certain that readers will agree to media support for asking the mentioned BJP leader’s resignation or summary sacking from the party.

At the same time some more events have taken place which hardly could be noted by common person getting the news through the above mentioned media. Let us review such news here:

  • SIT in Gauri Lankesh’murder claimed that no evidence is available after a month of investigation as to WHO DID IT? However all learned scholars already know the murderers sitting in their drawing rooms and openly claimed that from their tweeter handles or media bytes. Media of course is silent for the updates and no questions are asked from the local government as secular credentials are all that you want from a government and rest all issues are secondary in Independent India.
  • At the same time in the same city, a woman was attacked brutally for reporting regarding the animal smuggling attempts or whatever the issue was. However this mob attack is widely considered as probably the freedom of expression of the mob and cannot, should not and would not be compared to any other incident which happens in the other states where communal party is ruling after farcical, EVM fraud type elections.
  • Surprisingly in the same city mentioned above, civic amenities have gone for a toss after heavy rains. There are multiple deaths resulting from accidents due to pot holes in the roads but still the media remains occupied somewhere else as government of the state has committed itself to secular causes.
  • Some other secular government in the Eastern part of India made it impossible to follow the religious traditions on Durga Pooja OR Chatth puja in October but still no media outlet was outraged and no tweeter hashtags were trending. This was because the government of the state falls in POOL A – Type Secular and thus exempted from such criticism.
  • A news website published a possibly defamatory or surely suggestive article for Mr Jay Shah and ended up getting sued by the person in his individual capacity. After seeing the writing on the wall, the editor himself acknowledged on his Urdu channel (available on You tube at this link) that story does not mean any wrong doing or even allege the impropriety on the individual part. He claims that only facts have been highlighted in the story. Once such acknowledgement is available from the editor himself, why the issue became so hyped for the opposition parties? Probably because finding an ounce of the corruption or even a smell of it against the communal party will come as Diwali bonanza to Oppn parties. Anyways the matter is in court and judgment is awaited.
  • On the issue of Economy, IMF was being quoted when they reduced the growth forecast by all the media channels. However same IMF positive story for Indian economy is not being considered by the same channels. The only negative effect of Demonetization what i can understand is creation of overnight economy experts in India. (my article – Demonetization- irony of morality)

The incidents list is long and readers probably have got an idea of the situation.

What one can understand and realize that India mass media including the social media is operating in 2 modes- Pro Modi and Anti Modi. No wonder that Prime Minister has acquired the larger than life persona as India seem to be rallying around him praising him or criticizing him. Gone are the days when one would be able to praise the Govt for good jobs/planning and criticize them for bad plans/decisions.

Nowadays either you are with the government or against it. This sums up the condition that our country is in today and probably remained so for so many years as people are blinded by their political alliances and switch to praise/criticize Govt actions depending upon the political benefits or losses that they will incur.

A funny example comes to mind that leading opposition party ran to Election commission in Jan 2017 as the Centre Govt was advancing the Annual Budget date to First week of Feb 2017. The party claimed that budget incentives will affect the coming state elections in March 2017. EC could not stop the Govt and budget was announced as planned. However the same party leaders were now criticizing the budget as anti-people and what not. They also claimed that people will teach the Govt a lesson in state elections for such anti –people budget and demonetization.

When election results were announced, the communal party had won a land slide victory. Now same leaders were back on media channels considering the demonetization was done to win political mileage. Such is the value of logic in Indian politics.

This is quite understandable in political parties but how one can explain the same among media reporters, anchors, scholars, authors and common people

It is sad to find such animosity among social media users such that even family members/religious beliefs are targeted over minor altercations. This is the high price which country has to pay for electing a communal Govt at the centre. So the choice is clear and written on the wall- India can have a secular Govt with corruption or communal Govt with honesty. Yes we are between a rock and a hard place

Let us pray and wish for the best and hope that logic/sanity to prevail in coming days

Shubh Deepawali wishes to All.

मेट्रो में मोबाइल फोन – समय का सदुपयोग

ravijan
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मेट्रो में मोबाइल फोन – समय का सदुपयोग

समय का सर्वोत्तम सदुपयोग यदि कहीं आप लोगों को करता देखेंगे तो वह होगा दिल्ली मेट्रो रेल के सफर में। शहर के व्यस्त और तनावग्रस्त जीवन में आखिर किसके पास इतना समय है कि उसे व्यर्थ गंवाया जाए? एक-एक पल बेशकीमती है।

लोग आपको तरह-तरह की बात-चीत करते मिलेंगे। कुछ लोग अपने दफ्तर के काम पर चर्चा कर रहे होंगे। कुछ लोग अपने घरेलू मामलों पर। कुछ लोग इस देश की वर्तमान दशा पर विचारशील होंगे तो कुछ सामान्य इधर-उधर की बातें कर रहे होंगे। हालांकि दूसरों की बातों को सुनना शिष्टाचार के नियमों की बलि देना है, किन्तु आँखों की भांति कानों को बंद तो किया नहीं जा सकता। और फिर कोई आपके समीप खड़े हो ऊँचे स्वर में बोले तो आप कर भी क्या सकते हैं सिवाए इसके कि ना चाहते हुए भी उसकी बातें सुनें।

कुछ लोग समचार-पत्र या कोई पुस्तक / उपन्यास पढ़ रहे होते हैं तो कुछ युगल जोड़े आँखों ही आँखों में प्रेम के सागर में गोते लगा रहे होते हैं। और यदि किसी कॉलेज की मित्र मण्डली से सामना हो जाए तो समझिए सारा कॉलेज उठकर वहीं आ जाता है। परीक्षा के समय में तो मानिये सारी तैयारी लौहपथ पर ही होती है।

नौकरी-पेशा लोग लैपटॉप कम्प्यूटर पर खटा-खट खटा-खट अपना काम कर रहे होंगे चाहे वह कोई रिपोर्ट हो या कोई प्रेज़ेन्टेशन।

किन्तु समय के सदुपयोग का नोबेल पुरस्कार यदि किसी को मिलना चाहिए तो उन लोगों को जिन्होने सदी के सर्वश्रेष्ठ आविष्कार को अपनाकर अपने जीवन का अभिन्न अंग बनाया है। जी हाँ मैं बात कर रहा हूँ मोबाइल फोन की – मोफो। बहुत ही कम ऐसे संयंत्र होते हैं जो इतने बहूपयोगी, सर्वव्यापी और सर्वगुण सम्पन्न हों। छोटा मोफो, बड़ा मोफो; बटन वाला मोफो, स्पर्श चालित मोफो; बेवकूफ़ मोफो, स्मार्ट मोफो; काली बेरी मोफो, सेब मोफो; 2जी, 3जी, 4जी, सब्जी इत्यादि। मेट्रो में मोबाइल का साथ मानो अलौकिक सुख की अनुभूति।

चाहे जिधर दृष्टि पड़े, कुछ लोग कर्ण-कुण्डलों की भांति ईयरफोन – ईफो लगा अपने पसंदीदा गीत सुन रहे होंगे तो कुछ लोगों की ईफो की ध्वनि इतनी ऊँची होगी कि वे अनायास ही दूसरों को भी सुना रहे होंगे। और ईफो और मोफो तो अब एक ही सिक्के के दो पहलुओं के समान हैं। एक है तो दूसरा तो होगा ही। कुछ लोग ईफो लगा मोफो से अपने सारे काम निपटा रहे होंगे। कोई घर बात कर रहा होगा तो कोई दफ्तर में। आज घर देर से आऊँगा; सर टेंडर जमा करा दिया है; तुम्हे काम करना है तो करो नहीं तो छोड़ दो … वगैरह वगैरह…।

अपने कानों में ईफो लगाइए और जीवन के मोह-माया के जाल से मुक्त हो जाइए। और कहाँ आपको ऐसा अवसर मिलता है कि आप अपने बाहर की दुनिया से बेखबर हो अपने अंतर्मन में झाँकें और आत्म विवेचन करें। परमानन्द की प्राप्ति और आत्मा के परमात्मा से मिलन का यह सबसे सुगम साधन है।

ईफो लगा मोफो पर बात करने की कला में कुछ लोग तो इतने परिपक्व हैं कि उनके साथ भी आप खड़े हों तो एक मच्छर के भिन-भिनाने जितनी आवाज़ भी ना आए। भई प्यार का दुश्मन तो सारा ज़माना है। किसी ने कुछ सुन लिया तो? कितने ही किशोरों ने अपनी प्रेम प्रतिज्ञाएँ मेट्रो में मोफो पर ली होंगी और ना जाने कितने ही घर बर्बाद … ना ना … आबाद हुए होंगे। तेरे चेहरे से नज़र नहीं हटती, नज़ारा हम क्या देखें – मेरी मोफो से नज़र नहीं हटती …।

कुछ लोग कोई फिल्म या धारावाहिक देख रहे होंगे तो कुछ खेल खेल रहे होंगे। पक्षियों को गुस्सा क्यों आता है (एंग्री बर्ड्स) और मंदिर के लिए कैसे भागा जाता है (टेम्पल रन), ये तो कोई इन लोगों से पूछे।

यदि मेरी मानें तो मेट्रो में मोफो ही वास्तव में समय का सदुपयोग है। कुछ पढ़ना, बात करना या कुछ काम करना समय का दुरुपयोग है। आखिर अधिकांश लोग जो मोफो का वरण कर अपनी मेट्रो यात्रा को मंगलमय बनाते हैं वो कोई मूर्ख थोड़े ही हैं।

किसी शायर की दो पंक्तियाँ याद आती हैं –

वक्त की कैद में ज़िंदगी है मगर,
चंद घड़ियाँ यही हैं जो आज़ाद हैं।
तुमको अपनी कसम जाने-जाँ,
बात इतनी मेरी मान लो।

मेट्रो में समय का सदुपयोग करो।

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