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The slow and steady demise of Indian National Congress

martand123
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The slow and steady demise of Indian National Congress

Congress is a ‘sinking ship’; many of us have heard that by now. The history of Congress ran in parallel almost with the history of India herself, to an extent where the line between the histories of these two seemed to get blurred.

Leaders of Congress were leaders of India and a large part of Indian Freedom Movement owed its existence to this “grand old party”, which was not just a political party, but was like an umbrella organization where different schools of thought used to co-exist together.

From Gandhi to Jinnah, from Nehru to Bose, from Tilak to Gokhale, Congress had people with ideologies poles apart from each other. And yet, it was one party which went on to define the ‘political system’ in India. So much so, that a term ‘Congress System’ was coined by Dr. Rajani Kothari. The organizational structure of Congress was so deep rooted and entrenched that it made the party reach to the ground level, to the last man standing, as a part of Gandhian idealism.

But, Congress couldn’t follow up these ideals of working on the ground for as long as people of India wanted it do. Much of the Congress dominance in center as well as state was due to the fact that people voted in the name of Congress, which won freedom for the country. People felt almost indebted to the party and continued to bring back them to power in the hope that ‘Swarajya’ would actually be realized at the ground and the days of ‘Ram Rajya’ would come, which Gandhi used to mention in his speeches and writings.

People waited for years but neither ‘Swarajya’ came, nor ‘Ram Rajya’ could be realized, what was realized by people that ‘nepotism’ and ‘corruption’ was increasing day by day in our political system leading its way to bureaucracy. It was not ‘Ram Rajya’, it was the Raaj of one family- The Gandhi family, which gave 3 prime ministers to India who ruled the country for around 37 years, while another 10 years in 21st century was also lead by this family.

Slowly, the Congress System started to deteriorate, but it took around a decade for a non-congress party to come into power in a state. Kerala did the honors, when Left was voted to power in the 1957 legislative assembly elections. EMS Namboodripad became the first democratically elected communist leader, though Congress was still a huge force to reckon with.

But things were about to change tremendously against the Congress specially in the heartlands of India, where people were now looking for an alternative. They were angry with the false promises made by Congressmen in election after election. The first jolt to the Congress came, when Jawaharlal Nehru died in 1964. Everyone in Congress was asking only one question, “Who after Nehru?” Nehru was the tallest national leader of the party and India itself, his death created a vacuum in the political space which he had been acquiring for the last 17 years since the independence of the country. Luckily, Congress had Lal Bahadur Shastri to offer as India’s second Prime Minister, but not for long. He died suspiciously at Tashkent in 1966.

With the death of two prime ministers in quick succession, Congress party which was able to win constituencies just on the charisma of its tall leaders, couldn’t do so now, at least at the regional level. The fight within the party was increasing and there came the 1967 elections. Here, the picture changed radically after the Indian electorate had voted in the fourth general elections held from February 15 to 22 this year. Of the 16 states, only eight returned Congress to power with absolute majorities in the state legislatures.

Equally bad was the rout of Congress’ top leadership. Seven members of Mrs. Gandhi’s cabinet at the Center were defeated. This included two top leaders of Congress which were: Mr. Kamaraj and Atulya Ghosh of West Bengal, both of whom had been defeated. So had been the Presidents of Congress party organizations in 6 states and the Chief Ministers in 4 states. Congress was clearly losing its touch, as the party started showing the first signs of break. The party got divided into many factions like Indian National Congress (I), Indian National Congress (o), Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Utkal Congress and Bangla Congress. Many of these factions later got defunct as they merged with Janata Party later during the emergency.

Indira Gandhi, who was referred mockingly as ‘Goongi Gudiya’, emerged as a strong and decisive leader, under whose leadership India won a decisive war against Pakistan in 1971. The war resulted in Congress reclaiming its place as the most dominant player in the Indian political system, so much so, that its power became increasingly unchecked. In a democracy, the unchecked power of the government by other institutions like legislature, executive and media is quite problematic.

India realized this late when on the midnight of 26th June 1975, emergency was proclaimed in the country by the Indira Government, thereby suspending all democratic rights of people and concentrating all the power in the hands of Indira Gandhi. This was done to subvert the decision given against Indira Gandhi by Allahabad High Court Bench in the case of fraudulent electoral practices in 1971 elections.

Emergency was the darkest period in India’s independent history, where the government had become authoritarian, opposition was decimated as most political opponents were put behind bars; press was under extreme censorship etc. The 19th month emergency proved to be costly for Congress, as for the first time a non-congress government was formed at the center. Though, the new government couldn’t stay for 5 years in power, but that period was definitely a paradigm shift in Indian politics.

Both people and political parties started believing that there can be an alternative to the Congress. Though, it took another two decades after Janata government for a non-Congress party i.e. BJP to come to power and stay for a full 5 year term.

Congress made a comeback again in quite an astonishing fashion by defeating the incumbent BJP in power and stay for the next decade fully at the center. This decade, especially the second half was marred by corruption. Telecom, railways, coal, land, sports and various other ministries name were tarred under the charges of corruption. A popular resentment against the regime was prevalent among the public due to the increasing corruption within the government and the party’s inability to take any affirmative action against it.

Even the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s image was of a weak leader, who couldn’t act tough on the corrupt members within the party and the government. As a result, the party lost pathetically in the 2014 general elections where its tally of seats went to 44 in the house of 543 seats, an all-time low. Since then, the party hasn’t settled yet. It has been losing elections after elections across many states in India.

The recent loss was in Uttar Pradesh, the highest populated state in India, where the party got just 7 seats in an assembly of 403 seats. Most political observers are of the opinion that Congress lack a genuine mass leader, which it used to have in dozens in its glorious days. Now, the situation is so bad that the vice-president of the party Rahul Gandhi has been laughing stock of the town due to his lack of leadership skills resulting in his inability to win elections.

To sum up, the party has lost its sheen and doesn’t look in a position to even throw a challenge to the current BJP regime in the 2019 general elections. If they manage to do so, they would be pulling rabbit out of a hat! The demise of Congress means the demise of a balanced political system in India. Congress and BJP used to balance off each other in Indian politics, being the two most dominant parties. With this balance being lost, the earlier ‘Congress System’ is being replaced by a newly emergent ‘BJP System’.

नवसंवत्सर एक नये सफर की शुरूआत

डॉ नीलम महेंद्र
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नवसंवत्सर एक नये सफर की शुरूआत

नव संवत्सर नववर्ष नवरात्रि नवभोर, समय है अपनी जड़ों को पोषित करने का समय है आगे बढ़ने का। नवरात्रि अर्थात् शक्ति स्वरूप माँ के नौ रूपों के पूजन के नौ विशेष दिन। वैसे तो नवरात्रि साल में दो बार आती हैं लेकिन चैत्र मास में पड़ने वाली नवरात्रि का पहला दिन जिसे गुड़ीपड़वा के नाम से भी जाना जाता है भारतीय नववर्ष का पहला दिन भी होता है।

यहाँ यह जानना रोचक होगा कि अंग्रेजी नव वर्ष 365 दिनों में 12 महीनों के एक चक्र के पूर्ण होने की एक बेहद सरल प्रक्रिया है जिसमें 31 दिसंबर की रात 12 बजे तारीख़ ही नहीं साल भी बदलता है और पूरी रात अलसुबह भोर तक जश्न में डूबे लोग जाते साल को अलविदा कहते हैं और नए साल का स्वागत कुछ इस तरह करते हैं कि उसके पहले सूर्योदय तक थक के चूर गहरी नींद की आगोश में अपनी थकान मिटा रहे होते हैं।

यह खेद का विषय है कि आधुनिकता की दौड़ में हम लोग अपनी पूर्णता वैज्ञानिक संस्कृति को पिछड़ा हुआ मानकर भुलाते जा रहे हैं। अंग्रेजी नव वर्ष के विपरीत भारतीय काल गणना के अनुसार नव वर्ष अथवा नव सम्वत्सर ‘समझने के हिसाब से एक सरल प्रक्रिया’ न होकर सूर्य चन्द्रमा तथा नक्षत्रों तीनों के समन्वय पर अनेकों ॠषियों के वैज्ञानिक अनुसंधानों पर आधारित है। यह 6 ॠतुओं (भारत वह सौभाग्यशाली देश है जहाँ हम सभी 6 ॠतुओं को अनुभव कर सकते हैं) के एक चक्र के पूर्ण होने का वह दिन होता जिस दिन पृथ्वी सूर्य का एक चक्कर पूर्ण करती है। इस दिन की सबसे खास बात यह है कि इस दिन, दिन व रात बराबर के होते हैं अर्थात् 12 -12 घंटे के। इसके बाद से रात्रि की अपेक्षा दिन बड़े होने लगते हैं तथा दिन व रात के माप में अन्तर आने लगता है।

नवसंवत्सर ‘न्यू ईयर’ जैसे केवल 12 महीने का समय नापने की एक ईकाई न होकर खगोलीय घटनाओं के आधार पर भारतीय समाज के लिए सामाजिक सांस्कृतिक एवं वैज्ञानिक तरीके से जीवन पद्धति का पथ प्रदर्शक है।

यह केवल एक नए महीने की एक नई तारीख़ न होकर पृथ्वी के एक चक्र को पूर्ण कर एक नए सफर का आरंभ काल है। यह वह समय है जब सम्पूर्ण प्रकृति पृथ्वी को इस नए सफर के लिए शुभकामनाएँ दे रही होती है। जब नए फूलों और पत्तियों से पेड़ पौधे इठला रहे होते हैं , जब मनुष्य को उसके द्वारा साल भर की गई मेहनत का फल लहलहाती फसलों के रूप में मिल चुका होता है ( होली पर फसलें कटती हैं ) और पुनः एक नई शुरुआत की प्रेरणा प्रकृति से मिल रही होती है।

यह वह समय होता है जब मनुष्य मात्र ही नहीं प्रकृति भी नए साल का स्वागत कर रही होती है। धरती हरी भरी चादर और बगीचे लाल गुलाबी चुनरी ओड़े सम्पूर्ण वातावरण में एक नयेपन का एहसास करा रही होती है। लेकिन बेहद अफसोस की बात है कि जो भारत अपनी सभ्यता संस्कृति और ज्ञान के क्षेत्र में दुनिया के लिए एक आश्चर्य था, जिसे कभी विश्व गुरु और सोने की चिड़िया कहा जाता था आज एक विकासशील देश बनकर रह गया है।

जिस गुरुत्वाकर्षण के सिद्धांत की खोज आधुनिक विज्ञान में न्यूटन के नाम है उससे 550 वर्ष पूर्व भास्कराचार्य ने इसका विस्तार से वर्णन किया था। पश्चिमी सभ्यता में 15 वीं शताब्दी में गैलीलियो के समय में यह धारणा थी कि पृथ्वी स्थिर है तथा सूर्य उसका चक्कर लगाता है परन्तु उससे 1500 वर्ष पूर्व आर्यभट्ट ने यह बता दिया था कि पृथ्वी अपने अक्ष पर घूमती है और सूर्य का चक्कर लगाती है।

जिस सापेक्षता के सिद्धांत के लिए आइन्सटीन को जाना जाता है उसका उल्लेख वर्षों पूर्व हमारे पुराणों में मिलता है। आज हम लोग जिस पश्चिमी सभ्यता का अन्धानुकरण कर रहे हैं किसी समय उसने भारतीय ज्ञान का अनुसरण करके अपनी सभ्यता स्थापित की थी। 1752 ई तक इंग्लैंड में भी नव वर्ष 25 मार्च से ही आरंभ होता था इसलिए वर्ष 10 महीने का होता था और महीनों के नाम आप स्वयं समझें कि कहाँ से आए, सातवाँ महीना सितंबर (सप्तम),अक्टूबर (अष्टम), नवम्बर (नवमी) तथा दिसंबर। (दशमी )।

लेकिन न जाने क्यों आज हम पश्चिमी सभ्यता की नकल करते हुए रात्रि 12 बजे तारीख बदलने की संस्कृति को स्वीकार करते हैं जबकि हमारी संस्कृति में तिथि सूर्योदय के साथ बदलती है। इस जानकारी से शायद हर भारतीय को शर्मनाक आश्चर्य होगा कि जो पश्चिमी सभ्यता इंग्लैंड के ग्रीनविच नामक स्थान से मध्यरात्रि 12 बजे को दिन परिवर्तन का समय मानती है , उसका आधार यह है कि उनकी मध्यरात्रि के समय हमारे भारत में सूर्योदय हो रहा होता है।

हमारी संस्कृति वर्षों पुरानी होने के बावजूद आज भी प्रासंगिक है और आधुनिक विज्ञान से कहीं आगे है। जो खोज हमारे ॠषी मुनी हजारों साल पहले कर गए थे 21 वीं सदी के वैज्ञानिक उन पर अनुसंधान करके उनको सही पा रहे हैं। चाहे गणित के क्षेत्र में शून्य की खोज हो चाहे चिकित्सा के क्षेत्र में अंग प्रत्यारोपण (गणेश जी के सिर पर हाथी का सिर), चाहे शिक्षा का क्षेत्र में तक्षशिला विश्व का सर्वश्रेष्ठ विश्वविद्यालय हो चाहे सभ्यता के क्षेत्र में भारतीय सिन्धू घाटी सभ्यता, हर क्षेत्र में भारत शिखर पर था।

अब समय है अपनी गलतियों से सबक लेकर अपनी संस्कृति की तरफ वापस जाकर विश्व में पुनः आगे जाने का। अब समय है कि हम अपनी भावी पीढ़ी को अपने अतीत पर गर्व करना सिखाएँ। इस नवसंवत्सर समय है कि पृथ्वी के साथ साथ हम सभी एक नए सफर की शुरूआत करें, एक बार फिर से विश्व गुरु बनने के सफर की शुरूआत।

इस संवत्सर यह प्रण लें कि हम उस भारत का निर्माण करें जिसका अनुसरण विश्व करना चाहेगा।

Why did English media ignore the fact that Air Hostess defended Ravindra Gaikwad?

Nitten Gokhaley
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Why did English media ignore the fact that Air Hostess defended Ravindra Gaikwad?

Lok Sabha MP Ravindra Gaikwad’s quarrel with Air India took a surprise turn on March 26. An eye-witness (the air hostess) seen in the video came out in support of the MP. This was expected to happen because it was clear from day one that the mainstream media, especially Times Now, was showing just one side of the story. They even presented a twisted, edited interview with the MP to show him under bad light.

Related: AI air hostess defends Gaikwad, says Shiv Sena MP pulled up Sukumar for misdemeanour

A small clip released after the incident showed Gaikwad arguing, and pushing Air India’s staff. Air hostess in question can be seen urging the MP to control his behavior. This was constantly played by news channels and it created a wrong impression about the whole incident.

But, on March 26, the air hostess came out in support of the Lok Sabha MP from Osmanabad and agreed that the incident turned violent because of Air India’s staff. She recently interacted with journalists and made it clear that crew members had provoked Gaikwad, forcing him to retaliate.

Marathi news channel-Zee 24 Taas recently released some unseen footage that clearly shows how AI’s employees provoked, pushed, abused, and were even planning to thrash MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

“Let’s take him inside the plane and thrash him, there is no one here to help him,” said one of the crew members in Hindi.

“You are extremely arrogant,” Gaikwad can be heard saying.

While convincing the MP to sit down, the air hostess said-“You have worked hard to reach this position. You are our representative, you are a democratic leader, and we have elected you. Please don’t do anything silly for this stupid man. He is mad.”

During her interaction with journalists, she pointed out that the MP wanted to meet the duty manager as he had to travel in economy class in spite of being issued a ticket and boarding class for J-Class. This was the reason that triggered an argument between Gaikwad and the ground staff.

“He was not violent while on board and was very courteous to the crew. He called me sister, so, I was sure that he won’t hit me if I intervened. He wanted the senior management to hear his concern and did not aim to throw out Sukumar. The MP took his slipper out only after the physical entanglement and argument which was triggered when Sukumar used incorrect language while addressing the MP.”

The video has also raised questions about the way Air India’s employees treat passengers as many frequent travelers have come ahead with similar complaints since the incident.

Initially, Shiv Sena was hesitating to support its MP. But, after the statement made by the witness (air hostesses) as well as looking at the first half of the video, it’s expected that the party will come out on streets to protest against the national airline that already has a horrible reputation. Both, the MP and Shiv Sena are expected to file defamation cases against AI and bring a privilege motion in the parliament soon.

Airlines decided to add the Lok Sabha MP to the no-fly list without waiting for police investigation results. From day one, Osmanabad Lok Sabha MP has maintained that the airline’s staff needs to apologize, and not him. But people probably do not wish to trust him as he represents the party that elite, mainstream media and the BJP dislikes the most.

(It’s logical, why would BJP leaders come out to defend Gaikwad when Shiv Sena Chief constantly criticizes the PM?)

Plus, the former teacher from Osmanabad cannot speak fluent English in front of journalists. He does not look like Shashi Tharoor and does not participate in English debates.

Thankfully, leading Marathi newsgroups recently took the initiative to present the reality in front of the people instead of one-sided hate stories. Even senior Congress leaders have shared the opinion that AI’s staff members were equally guilty.

  

He was twice elected as an MLA and was in the headlines last time when he forced Maharashtra Sadan’s Muslim staffer to eat while fasting. The MP is well known for working towards solving water and electricity problems in his constituency.

Shiv Sena has submitted the complete video clip to Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Civil Aviation Minister A-Gajapathi Raju. The saffron party has demanded the ministry to immediately dismiss all the involved Air India employees.

What did Sukumar say to Ravindra Gaikwad? Why did journalists release just one part of the video and kept the other half under wraps? Was this done intentionally to target the Shiv Sena MP and to get an opportunity to run a hate campaign against the party? Should Gaikwad be considered guilty just because he is from Shiv Sena?

Anyway, the center has assured a probe in this matter and Delhi police team has already gathered all the video footage as well as statements of eye-witnesses. Hope cops declare their findings soon.

The crime of walking on the street, and why I support Yogi Adityanath

Sanghamitra
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The crime of walking on the street, and why I support Yogi Adityanath

Ever since Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister of India’s largest and most populous state Uttar Pradesh, media professionals have gone on a propaganda overdrive. The honourable CM’s dedication for rapid, firm action is matched only by the tireless virtue signalling, condescension and ranting of most news channels and online news portals.

Added to the madness are random social media stars who post tweets after tweets, posts after posts on how the extremely popular Mahant of Gorakhspeeth is the worst candidate for CM. Issues that concern these virtue signalling celebrities are almost all actions taken by Yogiji, from the ban on illegal slaughter houses to formation of “Anti Romeo” squads in UP to crack down on nepotism and favouritism and when they run out of all issues, even his sartorial choices.

Now, I am no expert on politics, governance or even law and order. But when I see twitter superstars post tweet after tweet criticising these “Anti-Romeo squads” (which I am sure is not the official name ) something stirs in me.  I want to ask them a few questions.

  1. How many of them have ever lived outside Delhi or Mumbai?
  2. How many of them have actually seen or experienced the day to day problems of millions of rural or small town girls?
  3. How many of them have walked to school /college or tuitions?
  4. How many of them use public transport?

Considering roughly half of these so called celebrities and journos are women I am sure not many can answer the above questions in “yes, I have”.

Millions, yes, millions of school going girls are harassed every day. In small towns and rural areas where, (to the big surprise of these celebrities) most Indians live, the existence of a girl who gets to go to school is a blessing in itself. Yes, even after 70 years of independence. Because when a family struggles to make ends meet, girls are needed for household chores, for looking after their younger siblings while their parents go looking for daily wage and for working in the fields if her family owns some land. So for the poor, a school going girl is a luxury they are only barely starting to afford.

The lower middle class is slightly better off. Their girls do not have to labour in fields. So when the girl steps out of the house after so many hurdles, imagine her mental state when on the way to school, neighbourhood “Romeos” wolf whistle, sing cheap songs and pass lewd remarks on her. Some are lucky, they learn to ignore these Romeos and continue, escaping assault and rape by mere chance. Some are not. If they complain to their parents, half will be asked to sit at home and help their mothers; the other half will have a brother or cousin accompany them. So no school when the brother has to go to work. And this is only a small part of the countless other problems.

Years ago, when I landed in Lucknow, to pursue a training programme at Central Drug Research Institute, the first piece of advice I received was, “Beta, din ka ujala rehte hostel wapas aa jana” (please come back before dark).

I was a postgraduate student from Visakhapatnam, a city which, thankfully, is a lot safer than Lucknow. A couple of days later, my roommate, a bubbly, chirpy girl from Rampur, came to the hostel and burst into tears. Lucknow University to IT Chowk, two guys came out of nowhere in a speeding bike and slapped her hard on her back. By the time she balanced herself, they were gone. Her skin was red where they had hit, and her ears were still ringing with the filthy words shouted at her. Everyone knows what those common filthy words are.

Harassment, “eve-teasing” and molestation are the ugly reality of millions of poor and middle-class girls. The men doing it are no Romeos, they are one darkened alley and one lonely girl away from becoming rapists and killers. I have had my breasts touched, my waist pinched and my dupatta pulled. I have heard filthy words hurled at me, men shouting they would like to squeeze me and taste me, and men calling me “whore”. My fault in all the above scenarios was the same; I was walking on the road.

So when the honourable CM of UP orders police to take Suo moto action on this street “Romeos”, I feel an immense sense of relief and gratitude. I think about the countless girls in UP who won’t suffer embarrassment from now on for the crime of walking on the street. For contrary to what Ms Barkha Dutt believes, if the girls of India try to complain to the police for every incidence of harassment they face, every filthy expletive they hear and every time they are touched or groped in crowded places, they would be spending most of their lives inside police stations.

These virtue signalling social media journos have one common disease, they suffer from a severe metro city, rich life myopia. See, its simple, when you are rich, u go to school or college in cars, and you have your “drivers”. So your chances of getting molested are drastically reduced. Also, street Romeos seldom dare to harass the woman in a car, because they know, there will be consequences. She will have a rich father who will get them arrested.

So, dear SM journos, the poor and middle-class girls are actually very happy. Because now they have a protector too. Their CM. A leader who has lived the life they live, who knows the situations millions of Indians face and who doesn’t see the world from behind an expensive wine glass. I wish with all my heart that Yogi Adityanath continues his crackdown on these Romeos.

Hopefully, in a few years, we will have many, many girls who will be proud that they can walk the streets without fear, without guilt and without shame. Hopefully, eventually, they will grow up into strong, proud women and break every glass ceiling that has been weighing down upon millions of their elder sisters, aunts and mothers . Yogi Adityanath, I hope every state in India gets a CM like you.

Justice Katju’s letter to Yogi Adityanath

Pankaj Vaidya
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Justice Katju’s letter to Yogi Adityanath

Dear Yogi Adityanath,

I read media reports that lions are starving in the UP zoos because of the unavailability of meat. Also, Akhilesh Yadav has expressed concerns that the cows you will bring in to your new residence might cause inconvenience to the peacocks he had adopted.

Please remember that the only policy which can hold India together is equal respect and treatment to all animals and birds. India does not belong to cows alone, it belongs equally to tigers and peacocks.

Secondly, your ban against eating Gutka and pan masala in government offices is draconian. Everyone should have the right to chew whatever he wants. This was the policy of the great Emperor Akbar. There is nothing wrong with eating Gutka. I have eaten Gutka and will eat it again.

Thirdly, your creation of Anti-Romeo Squad shows your ignorance and bias against one of Shakespeare’s greatest heroes, Romeo.
I would suggest you rather name this squad Pro-Juliet Squad to highlight its pro women identity.

Regards,
Justice Markandey Katju

Meanings of BJP victory in Uttar Pradesh

Jai prakash Ojha
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Meanings of BJP victory in Uttar Pradesh

In picking up Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, BJP played to its strength and showed that it is not apologetic about promoting its core agenda of Hindutva despite the apprehensions of the opposition.

At a time when the entire political spectrum reeks of hypocrisy, it’s refreshing to see a party adhering to its core ideals and conviction. The decline of the Congress has led to intense contestations between different ideologies and it was necessary for BJP to appoint a Hindutva poster boy in the politically significant state of UP to give wings to its agenda of cultural nationalism.

The electoral verdict has delivered a death blow to the politics of social justice & secularism. This was bound to happen. Social justice politics was divisive; it identified a common enemy i.e. upper castes. It promoted hatred. It thrived at the cost of upper castes by constantly demonizing them and excluding them from state benefits.

Though it was originally intended for social transformation and democratization, it departed from its moorings and legitimized power in the hands of dominant castes just below the upper castes in hierarchy. It was Reverse Manuwad in motion. It was never inclusive. It was caste majoritarianism at its worst.

The lesser be said on secularism politics, the better it is. It made us fearful to acknowledge that we are Hindus. It divorced us from our cultural, civilization roots. It mocked at our convictions & religiosity. It painted us as violent communities.

The victory of BJP is an endorsement of politics of social cohesion; politics of development, politics of nationalism. It is rejection of politics of blatant casteism under the garb of social justice, politics of Hindu bashing & Minority appeasement on the pretext of secularism and politics of Kichdi nationalism in the name of plurality.

The society has changed but the political leaders have refused to acknowledge. Just witness how the leadership is busy in dividing society, digging old wounds and needlessly debating about ideologies that were relevant fifty years ago. The leaders have been treating the citizenry as worthless, unable to decide for it and hence, driving the agenda.

Now, with an increasingly young population where 50 percent of it is below the age of 25 years and is highly aspirational rather than be driven by any ideological baggage, things have become complex for political leaders. The fact that any information can be accessed by a mere click of the mouse or a swipe on the mobile screen and there are more mobile phones in the country than toilets with around 400 million internet users has made the political class sweat. Leaders have got to perform in a nation which is rapidly getting urbanized and digitalized. They can’t get away playing caste and religion easily.

With PM Modi at the helm, things have changed fast. Leaders are expected to behave like CEOs and deliver tangible outcome within time schedule. Development and Governance agendas have acquired more importance. People are learning to dream. The Union Government’s programmes for financial inclusion of the marginalized through Jan Dhan, creating opportunities for youths through loan grants through Mudra and providing gas connections to poor through Ujala have greatly increased his pro poor image.

Though the benefits of Demonetization may be debatable, the conclusion that this led to class cleavage in Indian society may not be untrue. This move has wide ramifications for changing the grammar of mass politics in the country which has till now being defined in terms of caste. Nationalism agenda of the BJP has found many takers and this has led to the party dismantling the liberal left of the political spectrum. No wonder, the party is winning states after states.

Modi has shaken the society out of slumber. He has challenged status quo. He has exposed the hollowness of the political regimes that have taken the nation for a ride in the past more than six decades. He has shown the willingness to think new and think big to change the lives of ordinary people rather than relying on outdated & tested programmes and policies. His appeal has cut across caste and regional barriers; people are ready to believe his words and support actions that may not be popular and even, at times, defy popular wisdom.

The UP poll outcome has the potential to change the face of Indian polity. The opposition has to come out with new ideas and programmes to find any resonance with public demand. It has to introspect whether its disruptive and confrontational approach while dealing with BJP is doing any good for the cause of the nation. For the time being, it’s Modi on the roll with the opposition dwarfed.

The illegal immigration threat India is facing

Lakshmi Prasad Jonnalagadda
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The illegal immigration threat India is facing

Is India oblivious to Middle Eastern crisis? Has India become highly self centered? What is our own migrant crisis story? Do we have any moral responsibility towards any migrants like the Western powers that created the ME crisis?

Pakistani stars like Adnan Sami can become Indian citizens. It is easier for Hindu refugees from Pakistan to become Indian citizens as the Govt. has slashed the fee from 15,000 to 100. This makes me wonder if we should afford the same opportunity to the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants too. But there are concerns.

In the case of Pakistanis (Hindus and Muslims) seeking Indian citizenship, they are actually seeking asylum in India or have found their home in here.

Can we assume the same in the case of Bangladeshi immigrants? My personal experience with Bangladeshi immigrants in Bangalore has been good. They are like any other Bengali household. In Assam and Bengal, but in South, one finds them engaging in manual labour, house hold service, small businesses like scrap dealing etc. However, unlike in Western countries where migrants’ labour and service is highly competitive, in India they do not offer any such advantage. That’s because, the local labour pool itself is very large, poor lacks any bargaining power whatsoever. On culture front too, they don’t add much as they are hardly different from our own Bengali Muslims.

But, in places where they are a significant majority, they have a mischievous track record. The recent Rakine backlash on Rohingyas is symptomatic of the inherent propensity to call for Islamic statehood in areas where Bangladeshis are in majority. Our own experience in Assam and Malda is not very encouraging.

Given the porous border, granting citizenship will only encourage even more waves of immigration into India. Their number stands at 3 million as of 2001 census. Although, there are no census numbers after 2001, the fact that we find a thriving community of illegal Bangladeshis deep South gives us an idea of their further growth and proliferation in the last 15 years. Also, our censuses will never capture the true number as most illegal immigrants apply for voter ids and Aadhar cards with the help of our own politicians and become Indian citizens.

Extrapolating the 2001 census, Assam alone gives us a figure of 2 million. Some estimate the pan India figure at 20 million. A crude simple average puts the figure at 11.5 million marginally ahead of USA which is officially the country with highest number of illegal immigrants. All this, after sealing the border at Assam with a fence. Such a full length fence is not possible at the WB border due to the unique nature of the terrain that includes the mouths of Ganges and the Sunderbans.

Illegal Bangladeshi immigration has already created backlash from locals not just in Assam and Bengal but in places like Mumbai where they settled in significant numbers via Bengal, Bihar and UP. Since immigration has political consequences, the parties are polarized on this issue. This long standing issue was debated in the Parliament resulting in the enacting of Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 and rules. However, this Act was severely criticised on the grounds that the Government was creating vote banks in the name of giving protection to minorities.

In 2005, the Supreme Court in Sarbananda vs. Union of India case observed that the Act “has created the biggest hurdle and is the main impediment or barrier in the identification and deportation of illegal migrants” and had struck the Act down.

In addition to Bangladeshis, there are Pakistanis (infested in Kashmir), Burmese, Rohingyas, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, Afghanis and a few other nationals who live illegally in India and are unaccounted for. India is a country with the lowest per capita GDP that has the highest number of illegal immigrants. All this for absolutely no fault of ours. Unlike the West that created the crisis in ME, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Libya etc., we did not create Pakistan, yet we suffer everyday.

India absorbed Syrian Christians, the Israeli Jews, the Parsis, the Ahl Bayt Arabs and many other ethnicities. But we were a prosperous and bountiful country then. By the end of British rule, we were so impoverished that even the British, who left England in search of our riches, did not want to stay back.

Yet we stood our moral ground on Syria. Unlike the West, we did not support destabilization of the region in any manner. We can certainly commit more funds for the rehabilitation of the Syrian immigrants. At the same time we must ensure resettlement of the 7,00,000 internally displaced Kashmiri pandits.

Cinematic context of love and Romeo-Bandi

Manmeet Bali Nag
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Cinematic context of love and Romeo-Bandi

The Thesaurus calls for a review, as contemporary times get inundated with new terminology, off and on. The latest doing the rounds is “Romeo Bandi” or total blackout of love in all forms in UP. Couples are being monitored and hounded with a hawks discerning eye and how! It’s said that love & fragrance are visibly palpable in essence “Ishq aur mushq chupaye nahin chupptey”; hence I tried to envision it through a prism of  Bollywood verse to ascertain what all comprises Ishq or Love in contemporary and common Indian parlance.

Aura of Bollywood and Muslim Socials

Call me a bumpkin but my sensibilities aren’t as attuned to the bards’ “Romeo & Juliet”, as they are with the nuances of Sadhnas demure, kohl lined eyes behind the Chilman of  burqa, as she nervously picks up her fallen books under the “fallen in love”, gaze of Jubilee Kumar. To the uninitiated, I am referring to the celluloid blockbuster “Mere Mehboob” –A cinematic era when Nazakat & Nafasat, replete with Amma miyaans, Nawabs, Aligarh, Lucknow, Allahabad, churidaars, garaaras/shraaras, paans & hookahs comprised the stereotypical hallmarks of many a Muslim social.

As lovelorn Rajendra Kumar crooned “Mere Mehboob tujhey meri mohabbat ki qasam” one couldn’t but gasp at the imagery of the verse, when lyricists wrote odes in honour of a beloveds Nigaah & Muskurahat- “Bhool sakta nahin ye dil woh suhana manzar, jab tera husn merey ishq se takkraya tha”; When love manifested itself in the unspoken words and sweet nothings under or beyond the gaze of planets & constellations- “Chalo dildaar chalo, chaand k paar chalo”; When a sheer curtain turned into an iron grid as Rajesh Khanna lamented the chilman in Mehboob ki Mehndi– “Ye jo chilman hai, dushman hai humari”; When Leena Chandavarkars wide eyed innocence and flush of first love exudes charm as she sings “Itna toh yaad hai mujhey, ki unn se mulaqat huyi” OR her pathos in “Jaaney kyon log mohabbat kiya kartey hain”.

Blue blooded nawab Rajkumar, falls in love with the pristine as a pearl “Tawaiff”, Meena Kumari in Kamal Amrohis “Pakeezah”. Not for nothing does the heart skip a beat when he mouths the lines “Aapke paanv dekhey, bohat haseen hain; inhein zameen par matt uttariyega, mailey ho jaiyengey”. Add to it, the background score of a puffing train, meandering its way around the rainy terrain of “Nawab land” during monsoons. The stretching sighs or “Aahs & Lilaahs” sufficed for dialogues, before the ghungroos orchestrated “Chaltey chaltey yun hee koi mil gaya tha” or a trains whistle initiated each “Mukhdda” in “Mausam hai aashiqana, aey dil kahin se unko, aisey mein dhoond lana”. Such honed sensibilities, when the lovers haven’t even set eyes on each other.

Moreover, delving beyond the profane, there was no such term as “Love Jihad” and if at all such prohibited encounters happened, they did so as a holy war for soulful love, beyond narrow societal demarcations. Remember Shankar-Hussain, a simple love story which delved into the aspect of love across religions, between a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy. Jaan Nisar Akhtars verse tugs at the heart as the somnambulist girl croons “Aap yun faaslon se guzartey rahey”. It lead us to believe that “true love” conquers all, and no one should even bat an eyelid. Supposedly that generation was more “religious” so to say, till Mani Ratnam’s “Bombay” happened.

The Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb & Shringaar Rass:

Another aspect of such movies was the ubiquitous backdrop of an unmistakable  Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb or Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. Apart from the mentioned Muslim socials, the days of yore saw the Gangetic plains of UP & Bihar as the “emplacement privilegie” to churn out the nuances of many a romance against the backdrop of socialistic mores; a la Mother India or Naya Daur; an existential analysis of life, a la Teesri Qasam  where the beloved is compared to a enchantress in the form of a caged sparrow (chalet musafir moh liyo re pinjddey waali chiddiya” or the namesake “Ganga Jamuna” where love is nothing but a bursting cracker, as it finds its way (nain ladd jayi hein toh manwa maa kasak hoi be’ kari, prem ka chuutey hain patakha toh dhamak hoi be’ kari”.

Be it the rustic appeal of Dilip Kumar’s “Tujhey chaand k bahaney dekhu, tu chatt par aaja goriye” or the earthy charm of Vyjanthimala in “Abhi cheddengey gulley k sab laddkey, ki chaand bairee chupp jaaney de”, the concept of eve teasing was nothing more than a harmless naughty fringe and harassment beyond that was left to the lecherous moneylender Zamindar, a la Kanhaiya, Jeevan or Ajit. The sociological context of the screenplay never undermined or limited the antics of romance. Raj Kapoor’s Krishenesque obsession was validated in Sangam, as he stole her lady loves clothes while she bathed, held her to ransom by his query “Bol radha bol sangam hoga ki nahin” without caring for her “Nahin, kabhi nahin” till she had no choice but to relent “Hoga Hoga”, culminating in “Oh Mehbooba terey dil k paas hee hai meri manzil e maqsood”. Cinema lovers didn’t label Raj Kapoor a cheap, vulgar, obsessive maniac. In fact these very “endearing antics” resonated with the sensibilities of Indian masses who worship the God of love Krishna and his consort Radha. Not for nothing is Vrindavan & Gokuls Ras Leela, the backdrop of many a Thumri and Raag. Take the sonorous notes of “Madhuban mein Radhika naachey re” or mellifluous tenor of “Mohey panghatt pe nand laal chaedd gayo re”; The art of wooing, gets intertwined in “shringaar rass” manifesting itself in the dynamics of delicate gender chemistry and love. There are Raags and dance forms dedicated to this fine sensibility which evokes many a verse and sustains human existence in a soulful way.

Humour & pranks, intertwined in romance:

Cut to the 70s and we find even cheating and humour as an inseparable paradigm of the romantic plot. Be it the prankster Dharmendra in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke, or Amol Palekar in Golmaal; the ghats of Varanasi and the fertile plains of Ganges gave birth to many a fertile idea. Recently the plot of Ranjhana the movie, was set around these ghats and raised the bar of “stalking, obsession and inter-religious love” to an altogether new level of sacrifice and pristine selfless aura beyond human vagaries.

Cinematic Love: A nurturer in all its hues

Do movies mirror a society or vice-versa; this has always been a chicken and egg story and one may debate endlessly till cows come home. Nonetheless, Bollywood songs always caught the imagination of cine-goers and seamlessly manoeuvred its way in the socio-cultural context of our conditioning. It goes without saying that Indian mind-set is in some or the other way influenced by movies and from the song and drama ensemble it encapsulates. Movies and big screens are an art form that mould our existence in conscious and sub conscious ways. The larger than life personas and the eastmancolor imagery of love songs was no less than a delirious and intoxicating concoction as opined in the verse “Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka shabaab, usmey phir milaayi jaaye thoddi si sharaab, hoga jo nasha jo taiyaar who pyaar hai”. Stalwarts like Kaifi Azmi, Gulzar, Shailendra, Neeraj, Javed Akhtar, Sahir and their likes aren’t just film lyricists but unmistakably, poets par excellence. The muse of their verse and their poetic license never disrupted our broader sociological context but rather enriched it in innumerable ways.

Manifestations of Love: Can it be bridled or reined in?

Having gone into the sepia tinted pages of romance of yore, as juxtaposed to contemporary times, the question remains- What is “True Love”? Is “love” permanent, transient, decipherable, measurable or explicable? However one thing is for sure that it’s ineffable and can’t be gauged by tangible or technical parameters of an administration. The “look in the eyes” paradigm is too ambiguous/hilarious to say the least and societies can’t be iron caged to rein in “love” in any form till it doesn’t infamously qualify as exploitation or crime in garb. Yes, law and order has its placement in a civilized society as does the socio-cultural context of our moorings. However religion, misogyny, patriarchy or any dictatorial smoke screen can’t snuff out the life breath of existence- Love.

Let Love be a personal affair and let people take onus of their failings. Let societies evolve from their achievements and misdemeanours equally. Let a collective society be akin to an individual who learns and evolves from all that life has to offer. Let’s not tackle existential dimensions with kid gloves or iron fists. Let’s not imitate those whom we critiqued and were privy to their fall from a zenith; the so called Talibanized civilizations. It doesn’t take time before harmless seeming endeavours that impinge on civil and individual liberties, cause catastrophic damage to societies.  Let Love be; as the maestro Gulzar immortalized it- “Pyaar ko pyaar hee rehney do, koi naam na do”, unless it’s about “Tu haan kar ya na kar, tu hai meri Kiran”. Remember we still have a saving grace in Sahirs “Chalo ikk baar phir se ajnabi bunn jaayein hum dono” and no mechanism to chain it in a free democratic society.

Attempts to de-link Hinduism with Indus Valley Civilization

Raghav Mittal
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Attempts to de-link Hinduism with Indus Valley Civilization

Veenu Sandhu, a bright scribe from the house of Business Standard chose to enunciate her weekend moorings in the column View Finder by the title “Bring it On” dedicating it to The Dancing Girl of the Indus Valley Civilization Fame.

Veenu recollects as to how the lesson on the Dancing Girl left an indelible mark on her which she has not forgotten so far. Whether it was out of her deeper penchant for the historical and civilizational explorations of India or whether it was owing to the enactment of The Dancing Girl by Sister Linda- chin thrust out, eyes closed, right hand on the hip, left hand resting on the leg- who in her own admission used to be a terrifying nun who made everybody around freeze at once.

The transmogrification of the frightening Sister Linda into The Dancing Girl which filled Veenu’s heart for admiration towards her principal, seem to have cast a halo of constricted derision towards a more indigenous worldview of The Dancing Girl which tend to ascribe a connected connotation to the same in consonance with the Civilizational currency of India.

Veenu is thereby forced to think and claim that today, attempts are being made to trap this masterpiece from a lost civilization in restrictive labels. She further goes onto invoke the oft-repeated and discredited design of settling contemporary political scores by cleverly inducing civilizational narratives. She thereby says, the fate of the dancing girl is as though being steered in the direction that politics in the country is taking, which is allowing religion to creep into everything.

I tend to empathize with Veenu who got her early cerebral nurturing from within the confines of a restrictive regime ran by a religious order for whom the genesis of this world happened some 4000 years before the arrival of the Christ.

The definitive direction of contemporary politics of the country is yet to be ascertained but having been chiseled in an educational setup ruled by a religious order which posits an absolute blind faith in the gospels and miracles more than the scientific reasoning of the nature of things, makes Veenu a bit compromised in carrying further her fetish for a free fall argumentation.

It’s none of Veenu’s fault. Her principal might have been in a perpetual fix as to how come a prosperous civilization could have taken shape producing a bronze figurine of just double the size of Veenu’s thumb in the Indus-Saraswati belt of India when God was yet to create the cosmos.

Interestingly, many of us including myself have had the onerous burden of going to a missionary school for want of our parental aspiration to get their wards English Educated. But the teaching and training back at home did salvage our conscience from becoming utterly anglicized and alienated from our roots. My lawyer mother used to say it amidst the family gathering that her purpose to send us to English Medium Missionary School was just to make us learn the Global Language and the connected motifs. Sanskaras of the traditional Vaishnavite fold, I shall induce in them back at home. Her efforts probably paid off well.

It’s during these homemade tutoring, I got to know amidst many other things that complimentary values are quite integral to the Indic worldview. And that’s why as a Computer Science & Engineering Graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur I don’t find any objection to the scientific enough rationale extended by a retired professor of the Banaras Hindu University who claimed that the Dancing Girl is, in fact Parvati, the wife of Shiva.

It would certainly be hard for Veenu to deduce and comprehend this simple mathematical abstraction of complimentary truths owing to her Biblical over-dosages at Sophia Convent. She might be having a tougher personal space as well or else her Mommy would have made up for her frightening principal and helped her expand her constricted worldview emanating out of her classrooms.

It’s but very natural to a native Indian that Shiva & Shakti happen to be a conjugal pair. It’s an axiom of the Indian pantheon, howsoever diversified it might be from Kailash to Kanyakumari.

Constructing a wild and weird referential framework by introducing terms and introductions with heavy ideological overtones remain the trick of the trade for the libertarian cabal when merit of the argument falls short. This is probably scholarship by deception.

I could not find any relevance of political volatile terms like Right Leaning thinkers have for long maintained that Shiva was worshiped by the inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilization.

She misses the law of complimentary truths all over again. If she chose to invoke the term Right Leaning thinkers, she is by default qualifying herself to be a left leaning one. But she cleverly misses this objective insertion for want of monopolizing the mind space of the reader.

Her sinister contempt for scholarship & corresponding reasoning in the Hindi language comes out emphatically when she says that the professor, while making this assertion in a research paper published in the Hindi journal of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) argued that the statuette had to be of Parvati because ‘where there is Shiva, there should be Shakti.

Veenu might not have been told by Sister Linda that civilizational discourse and corresponding commentary does need a profound mastery over the indigenous precepts which are best suited to be comprehended and expressed in the native language per se. Civilizations across the Globe have had their own evolution and enriched life experiences. A 26 literal language which is incomplete to express the possible spectrum of phonetics just can’t claim to have its suzerainty in perpetuity.

What is so unsurprising for Veenu that this issue of the journal was published under ICHR Chairman Y S Rao, a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana. A cogent historiography anchored into the civilizational narrative of India shall come out from a native formulation alone after having weathered aberrations from Missionary Scholars.

After inducing the doctrine of deception, Veenu goes on to invoke the doctrine of fixation, whereby you peddle all your logic towards a known result for which you have been erected as a proxy. Objective Scholarship warrants for due reasoning and a systemic deduction of a result from a series of coherent steps. Short circuiting a logical argument by tending to discredit a substantial line of reasoning is akin to establish an opposing view. This subtle tactic has eventually got demonetized.

It astonishes Veenu that demands are being raised to rename the Indus Valley Civilization as Sarasvati River Civilization as she remains ignorant of the elaborate GIS mapping of the archaeological sites excavated all across the region and interestingly majority of the habitations have been found dotting the course of now extinct but then roaring Saraswati.

The objective realities of Science do have a precedence over theological beliefs and propaganda of faiths which nurture the cardinal principle of exercising dominion over the fish of water and fowl of air.

When the focus of Governance in India shifted from enjoying & exploiting power to slogging for the welfare of people at large, Race Course Road got renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg. Every Civilization does have its Magna Carta moment and India is probably witnessing the same whereby her subdued conscience is resurrecting layer by layer. Like the British imperialists, the ruling dynasty post 1947 took it to be its privilege to rule and enjoy the fruits of power rather than making it a means to serve the needs and aspirations of people at large.

On the emergence of definitive evidence, Jagdish Chandra Bose was accorded the credit of being an independent inventor of wireless along with Marconi. The more we tread in future, the more we start knowing about our past.

Veenu now invokes her third tactic from her arsenal – deflection – at once. She deflects the narrative by invoking Pakistan that the Islamic nation as also been staking claim on The Dancing Girl. What argument is she trying to bring into the discourse by introducing a reference to an enemy state. Pakistan has been staking claim for a whole lot of things which are essentially India.

She then goes onto creating a dubious comparison by asserting that Pakistan’s demands we can simply ignore. It’s the forces within that are the worry.

Reclaiming the lost heritage is a cause of worry for this libertarian scribe who as a child fell in love with the 4 inch figurine. Nobody is contesting her personal preference to ascribe whatsoever abstract meanings of strength, which Veenu exhorts so beautifully as “This little girl had survived the ravages of time – thousands of years. No wonder she still stood with such impudence, as though mocking the world. My admiration for her multiplied”. Her romance with the audacity and resilience with The Dancing Girl is a matter of great elation as it somehow represents the intrinsic spirit of womanhood, which Veenu might probably be experiencing.

But denying and challenging the right of a duly placed scholarly pursuit to associate The Dancing Girl with Parvati doesn’t augur well on her part. This association in no way restricts the abstracted view of The Dancing Girl. On the contrary it catapults the figurine to a differential order of feminine audacity, courage, conviction et al. The values and virtues which Parvati reverberated with.

Extending a political diatribe in the veil of a civilizational feature column is no sign of mature journalism. It simply establishes the advent of wilderness into which the left liberal thought process has strayed itself into. How long would a sheer materialistic dialectics could have served the cause of human emancipation. Imperialistic religious orders intolerant to diversity and oblivious to a reasoned re-creation of the philosophical framework would find difficult to match up to an utterly iconoclastic tradition of objective scholarship based on personal experience.

The mask has actually got off the face of left-liberal intellectualism which has failed to produce an integrated view of human life and the due fulfillment of its vivid aspirations. India has never been more inclusive and more embracing than today. How many streams of faith she has assimilated in her vast bosom with fortitude. Just that it has got its spirit liberated from the sword and sophistry of its invaders like the little figurine which has faced the vicissitudes of centuries, unfettered and undeterred and using the phraseology of Veenu but from a different perspective, she says to the world of intolerance “Bring it On”.

Artists should be able to express freely for the sake of Democracy

Prankur Chaturvedi
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Artists should be able to express freely for the sake of Democracy

“Ye saala Anti-National hai…Ise toh Pakistan Bhejo” is a very common statement people are using in India these days. The literal meaning of the word “Anti-National” is someone who is opposed to one’s own nation. The law of the land has clearly laid down sections to deal with such anti national elements. One such law is Sedition which is defined under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code which was invoked in the celebrated case of Queen Empress vs Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1897.

However, the section needs to be read along with the explanation given below:

Explanation 2: Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

Explanation 3: Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

It is interesting to note that time and again courts have taken a view that Sedition can only be invoked in very serious and grave cases as the chances of it being mis-used are very high.

This section would apply only to those activities involving incitement to violence or intention to create public disorder or cause disturbance of public order (Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar).

File Photo: Prankur Chaturvedi reciting a poem at Tuning Fork

Art and artists in India have time and again been threatened for what they say and feel. It is really shocking because Artists should be able to express their emotions freely for the sake Democracy. The way we are using the word Anti National so casually is just hilarious. Disagreement and criticism within the constitutional framework is healthy and an essential element for any democracy. We all say and believe that the Constitution of India is supreme and no one else can overpower that. Then why it happens that an artist is being threatened because of his or her art. The Constitution of India was formed after various rounds of discussions, debates, sometimes arguments because the objective was clear. Anybody can agree to disagree. I don’t know what has happened to us? And why it has happened?

Honestly, if you see, intolerance was there much before Independence, continued during the emergency and is still very much prevalent. But we need to do something about it because these trolls are destroying the democracy, Again and Again!

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