रायता के लिए आये प्रदर्शनकारियों पर बरसाया गया पानी | जी हाँ पानी और बिजली के लिए प्रदर्शन करते दिल्ली वालों के साथ हुआ फ़रेब | सूत्रों के मुताबिक आज सुबह अरविंद केजरीवाल जी के घर के बाहर विरोध करते मासूम दिल्ली की जनता पर वाटर कैनन से पानी बरसाया गया | हालाँकि आम-आदमी पार्टी के समर्थकों की माने तो ऐसा इसलिए किया गया क्यूंकि काफी लोग भीड़ में नहा कर नहीं आये थे | पर हम सब जानते हैं कि ये बात उतनी ही बेबुनियाद है जितनी की तन्मय भट के खिलाफ ऍफ़ आई आर |
आज दिल्ली की जनता के साथ धोखा हुआ है धोखा ” एक पीड़ित दिल्लीवासी ने हमें बताया| जो लोग रायता के लिए आये थे उनको करारा झटका लगा है | रायता के बदले पानी का शावर ये तो सरासर नाइंसाफी है | खबर ये भी आई है कि एक आपी समर्थक इस अपमान को सहन न कर सके और दूध के केन में छलांग लगा दी | हालाँकि वो बच गए क्यूंकि दिल्ली का पौलुशन उसको दही बना चूका था|
इस सन्दर्भ में हमने आम आदमी पार्टी के खास चालुतोश जी से बात करनी चाही तो वो पहले ही रो पड़े | पर जब हमने बताया कि दही बनने की वजह से वो बच गए हैं तो हमारे कैमरामैन की डिग्री मांगने लगे|
बी जे पी के समर्थक भी खासे नाराज़ दिखे | दिल्ली की गर्मी से परेशान एक सज्जन ने हमें बताया ” बिजली पानी तो बस एक बहाना था | असल में बाल्टी भर रायता ले जाना था |” खैर!
कुछ ऐसे भी थे जो बेवजह इसका शिकार हो गए | नो स्मोकिंग ऐड के किंग मुकेश के भाई सुरेश और रमेश केजरीवाल जी से उनकी खांसी का राज़ जानने आये थे | पर उन्हें भी भक्त समझकर नहला दिया गया| पहलाज नहलानी इस पर काफी नाराज़ दिखे की उनको नहलाने के लिए आमंत्रित नहीं किया बी जे पी हाई कमांड ने| उन्होंने हमें ये भी बताया कि ” अगर अनुराग कश्यप नहलाता पंजाब बनाते तो उनकी फिल्म पर बैन कभी ना लगता |
इस मामले में हमारे एक रिपोर्टर को आप पेज के जुझारू सेवक नवीन प्रकाश जी से बात करने का अवसर मिला | हमेशा की तरह नवीन जी ने एक लाइन में ही सब कुछ कह दिया — #BestCMKejriwal”
कांग्रेस ने कहा है कि हम दिल्ली वालों से दरख्वास्त करेंगे कि अगली बार से प्रदर्शन करें तो कपडे , बाल्टी और साबुन भी ले कर आयें | अगर कोई भूल गया तो गर्निएर का, पतंजलि का डव का सबका कंडीशनर ले आयेगा रे तेरा राहुल |
इस घटना पर केजरीवाल जी ने ट्विट करके भरोसा दिलाया है की वो जल्द ही दही और खीरा भी भिजवा देंगे | उन्होंने ये भी कहा है कि मोदी जी अगर दिल्ली को पूर्ण राज्य का दर्जा दे देते तो ऐसे पार्ट्स में नहीं मिलता | जो कहा सो किया मत भूलिए | पर दिल्ली की जनता नाराज़ है | उनको लगता है कि जिस तरह 125 करोड़ बचा कर बनाये पुल में दरार आ गयी वैसे ही है रायता की बरसात के बदले पानी की बौछार करना |
India is witnessing a renaissance in its foreign policy domain under the present NDA government led by extremely competent Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.
India, by virtue of its history, has always been undermined in the world. Despite having best intellectual capital, vast resources, sustainable demand has been deprived of its appropriate recognition at world’s forum. Many blame incompetent leadership for this gaffe but I would rather put the onus on “not having long term perspective” in foreign policy.
Our neighbour (China), on a contrary has outclassed many developing/emerging countries by having a very effective mechanism to deal with other nations. It’s aggressive foreign policy in 1980 helped it to imported capital and technology from more advanced nations, adopted a course of attempting to build up its national strength. The Capex helped it sustain economic growth till of over 7 % for 3 decades. Now China holds such a commanding position at world market that a mere 0.5% devaluation of its currency can shake world markets.
India has now learned from its past and has a more forward looking approach now. Under Modi, the government has taken concerted efforts to gain lost grounds. It has set itself up for an audacious task of titling world’s opinion in its favour by citing its growing economic prowess. Modi has taken undertaken visits to almost 40 countries and received as many as heads of 15 countries (Obama’s visit as republic day parade chief guest remains as most coveted) ever since he has become PM. His initiative of “Neighbourhood First” has had significant impact with relations with Bangladesh (historic land boundary agreement passed in parliament), Afghanistan for building infrastructure in war torn country. India as a country gained a strong alliance partner, which could help both from security perspective (countering Pakistan) and economic perspective (Iran oil trade route).
Similarly significant gains have been made in relations with Myanmar (action taken against NSCN terrorists), Srilanka(sea trade link revival), Nepal (reconstruction aid of USD 1 Bn post massive earthquake in 2014), Thailand (trilateral road from Assam to Thailand), Fixing loops in DTAA with Mauritius and Singapore.
At the same time, Modi after extending hand of friendship to Pakistan as a responsible leader, has now sent out a very clear communiqué of stop terrorism before any talks. India has also been very successful in publicly shaming Pakistan by sharing dossiers with prominent world leaders. This has helped India gain confidence and also its ability to exercise restrain even in dire circumstances. Such confidence goes a long way in showing country’s maturity and develops long term alliances (present India – US – France is one such example of alliance)
Another huge success experienced under Modi’s leadership was the sharp upsurge in ties with the US, elevating the strategic partnership to unprecedented levels. The personal rapport established by Modi with Obama and other world leaders like Shinzo Abe and Angela Merkel significantly advanced India’s interests and enhanced India’s profile. His personal rapport has made businesses in these countries to commit investments of as many as USD 100 Bn over next five years. His feats include concessional bullet trains from Japan, manufacturing of auto by German majors, nuclear power generation from US companies. In addition to above, we have now line of sight of committed capital for road, ports, airports, solar and other infrastructure projects.
Modi has been able to negotiate with many European countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland etc to tighten strings around black money. His personal intervention has gone a long way to build consensus among these countries to bring unaccounted finances in mainstream. Results shall follow in due course.
Modi has been able to link foreign relations with domestic growth. He has sat with world leaders to adopt best business practices, worked out modalities and created common market access. Stable FDI regulations, predictable tax regime, even grounds for all businesses (30% local sourcing irrespective of whether it’s Apple or IKEA), projects such as Digital India(e-commerce has been a boon) etc are all outcome of a homogeneous mix of foreign relations and domestic growth.
India is on a cusp of revolution. It’s on a path from where only if it employs foreign capital, it can sustain growth rate of 8% for the next four decades, leave alone our own capital.
Godspeed !!!
Thanks
Ashish Narula
The Author works for a Foreign Bank and is based out of New Delhi.
Smriti Irani, a name that has been mostly harnessed by the television media in order to conduct debates around controversial topics ranging around her. Whether it be her educational qualification issue or Rohith Vemula case or the recent & most hotly debated JNU debate, she has been at the epicentre of media trial. Even this month ,her proposal to teach Sanskrit in IIT(s) have also generated a lot of discussions, mostly opining against the proposal. Admist all these debates & controversies, her work in the improvement of education system has gone unnoticed.
The Know Your College (KYC) portal started by the MHRD has helped the students in massive amount to get access to the government recognised colleges & the courses available within it on just a click of mouse. Even the student revolting against Smriti Irani would have used that platform and got admission to a good college because of the portal. The e-pathshala anchored by NCERT gives an easy and free access to the relevant study materials for all School going students. When talking about the e-resources availability, how can one forget the massive e-learning material available at National Digital Library. These two have revolutionised the whole scenario of education system. Saransh portal is one another positive move, hosted by the CBSE, that analyses the performance of CBSE schools vis-a-vis other schools & also analyses the performance of each student in the given basket of subjects that further helps the parents to understand about the highs and lows of their children and therefore allows them to put their children on the right career path.
Two programmes initiated by the MHRD are worth mentioning given the current discourse on Nationalism is taking place in the country. Seema Darshan is one such programme in which school-going students visit the border areas of the country. It serves dual purpose, firstly, it ingrains a sense of patriotism in the school going children and secondly, as the students perform and showcase traditional culture of the country, the jawans get a moral boost for the cause they are fighting for. One more similar kind of patriotism injecting programme is Veer-Gatha where the children are taught about the bravery of the Param Veer Chakra awardees. The recent decision of MHRD making it mandatory on part of all the universities to hoist the tricolour in their bastion will further embolden the cause of patriotism.
The Udaan Yojana of MHRD, that tries to prepare the girls studying in class 11 and class 12 for IIT entrance exams will help the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” Abhiyaan. Alongwith, a Pragati scholarship is also provided to the girls pursuing an undergraduate degree in a technical institute. So, if you are a girl and you have passed class 10, you don’t need to sit at home and prepare food in Kitchen. You should use the privilege conferred by state onto you and should try to get well educated. Not to mention, MHRD has recently decided to grant complete fee waiver to SC/ST/PH/EWS (Annual income less than 1 lakhs).
As India plans to become a knowledge hub, it is unequivocal opined that the academia-industry-society interaction is a pre-requisite to make India a knowledge hub. Atal Innovation Mission encourages innovation in technology to deal with daily problems of Indian people. The IMPRINT-India scheme provides the academia-industry interaction to deal with engineering problems that impact life of a majority of Indians. The Unnat Bharat abhiyaan seeks to connect the academia-society by putting the onus on technical institutes to transform the rural society through appropriate technologies.
Indian universities and colleges have always been ranked at a global level. Given the sorry state of quality in Indian universities vis-a-vis the global universities,only a handful of universities were ranked amidst the global universities. But, Smriti Irani created an indigenous ranking framework christened as National Institute of Ranking Framework (NIRF) that ranked different universities on the basis of five parameters. It will now allow the students seeking admission into colleges to assess the performance and quality level of different colleges. GIAN is yet another programme that seeks to rein in the teachers of global institutions to teach in India for a short period of time.
There are many more programmes that have been initiated by the MHRD in these two years that have helped transform education and India.Whether the criticism on the issues mentioned by me in the first para hold some weight are of no value, is for the facts, truth and judiciary to decide. I can’t convict her, neither can I acquit her on any matter. But, whatever be the controversy attached to Smriti Irani, I dare to say that she has done a lot in these two years that has helped increase the quality, inclusivity and outcome of education.
Pakistan’s lack of good governance required me to play a role as “a soldier-statesman”, these were the words of Raheel Sharif at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London. For any country which claims to be democratic and run by an elected government, these words of the army chief raises many questions on the country, that is it really a democracy and sets alarm bells across the globe. In November 2015 when Raheel Sharif visited Washington a senior official said “what the civilian entities don’t have is the ability to deliver on things, at this point, Mr. Raheel can deliver”. It means the head of nuclear armed Pakistan military has eclipsed the role of the democratically elected lawmakers over the important issues of security, the foreign policy, the fight against Islamic terrorists.
The way Raheel was projected as a hero when the army took control of the most important and violent city of Karachi with a massive crackdown on MQM and other violent groups is shocking. This exercise under the leadership of the 59 years old general from Kunjah near Gujarat, is aimed at projecting him as the man who can restore normalcy more effectively than the elected government. According to many like Aqil Shah who teaches politics at the Princeton University and author of the book The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan “The surge in his popularity is due to projection by the army’s public relations wing-(ISPR)-and ISI”. The campaign in media is such that what Raheel ‘can do’ the civilian leadership is “incapable in the face of an existential threat to Pakistan”.
No one can ever the question that on the matter of foreign policy and internal security, he and his GHQ kitchen cabinet are the sole decision-makers. It is evident from the fact that when Ashraf Ghani first visited Pakistan in 2014, he went directly from the airport to the General Headquarters Rawalpindi (GHQ) to meet General Sharif before meeting the other Sharif, who is the so-called most important person in Pakistan. How powerful is the military during this period is also shown by the interview given by senator Mushahid Ullah Khan in August 2015, in which he claimed that an audio tape was obtained in which Zaheer-ul-Islam, the then director general of the Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI), could be heard giving instructions to raid the Prime Minister Office. This tape was given to Nawaz Sharif. Even the Defence Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Asif on record named two very senior military generals behind the political unrest created against Nawaz government and attempts to throw him out of power. But the army boss, is so powerful that Khawaja was sidelined and according to reports subbed like a gate keeper at a dinner with army generals.
The military under Raheel is cleverly using Zarb-e-Azb, National Action Plan (NAP), actions against bandits in Punjab-Sind belt, Karachi crackdown, 21st Amendment in the constitution to corner Nawaz government from all sides or say using these to legitimize their role of guardian and chief officer of struggle Pakistan. When Raheel Sharif started Zarb-e-Azb, a massive crackdown against Taliban in Waziristan, he did not think of seeking any permission from the democratically elected government which claimed to be in command. In Musharraf’s trial; Nawaz Sharif personally tried to trouble the former dictator, but again the present general came to his rescue which resulted in Musharraf shifted to Clifton and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhoods. This episode is a clear case of the power Raheel Sharif has over the civilian government.
Through the NAP (National Action Plan) and 21st Amendment military shiftily took the judicial landscape through military courts and dominated the administration through setting various committees at central and state levels. With all these attempts, it is clear that Raheel Sharif is the man who is calling the shoots in the affairs of Pakistan and it is not an exaggeration that he is the man in command.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, NDA opened its account in Kerala with a win for its alliance partner Indian Federal Democratic Party candidate P. C. Thomas from Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha Constituency). It was one of the narrowest victories (lead 511 votes) in the history of Indian parliament election. O Rajagopal (the current BJP MLA) was the only NDA candidate who had a decent outing garnering 2.28 lakh votes from Trivandrum Lok Sabha constituency. In 2011 Assembly elections O Rajagopal came second in Nemom constituency and lost the seat by a margin of 6000 votes. Many consider this as the starting of BJP’s growth in Kerala. However, many forget that 2004 LS win for NDA and 2011 second place was for the candidate and not for the party.
So, when did BJP start its growth in Kerala? To answer this question we would have to travel back in time, 4 years to be precise. The 2012 Mattannur municipality elections. Mattannur municipality is unique in itself because it’s the only municipality, which does not go to polls along with the other Local Bodies of Kerala. The last Mattannur municipality elections were held in 2012. The LDF retained the municipality with a majority of 20 against 14 seats of UDF.
In 3 wards out of the 34, BJP put up a stunning performance getting 2nd place in 2 wards and deciding the winner in 1 ward. In Kayaloor and Karetta, the BJP came in second, while in Mettady it finished 3rd position getting 274 votes. In Karetta, BJP’s Biju Elakkuzhi lost by 16 votes. It was one seat that BJP had pinned its hopes on. In Kayaloor BJP expected to put up a decent fight but never though of coming in second. Mettady was the one ward that surprised everyone including the 3 candidates. UDF won the seat by a margin of 4 votes. The surprise element was the number of votes that BJP had won, 274 which was 10 times more than it won in 2007. LDF lost the seat because of the growth of BJP.
The Mattannur municipality saw the beginning of the rise of BJP as a force in Kerala. It polled 7% votes and made its presence felt in 6 out of 34 wards which was a first in itself. This growth reflected in the 2016 results where BJP’s Biju Elakkuzhi got 18K votes, 10K more than what he got in 2011.
P.S. I havent considered the performance of KG Marar of BJP in the 1991 Assembly Elections as the seat Manjeshwar has always been considered a stronghold of BJP.
The winner of Mettady ward C. Anitha is my Mother-in-Law.
So finally the forensic lab in Mathura concluded that the meat at Akhlaq’s house was in fact beef. But as it always happens in India, there will be another test by some other forensic lab which will say that it was not beef. Because in India terrorists can be worshipped by secularists as martyr (e.g. Ishrat) or a Godhra train burning in which children and women were burnt alive by a mob can be presented as a mere accident. Nevertheless the finding not at all justifies the killing of Akhlaq. No one has any right to take the life of other human beings. If anyone is found guilty of violating any law then the law of the land should take care of it.
Amidst all this cacophony the poor cow again will have to bear the brunt of the secular lobby who love to see her dead only because Hindus revere cow, worship cows and the Hindu holy books enjoin that cow should be treated as mother and should be taken care and most importantly should be protected. But the left liberals who loathe Hindus and their beliefs vociferously advocate cow slaughter. After the revelation that the meat was beef the left liberals are shouting what is wrong with beef? And to buttress their point they say that earlier Hindus i.e. followers of Vedas consumed beef.
Now there will be many who will start giving references from Vedic books proving that in Vedas it is mentioned that cows can be killed for eating. They will quote few verses in support of their argument. And we will find many such verses flooding the internet. But the problem is that the way they interpret the Sanskrit verses is grossly incorrect. In English or in Hindi a word mostly has one meaning. But in Sanskrit the same word may have multiple meanings depending on how we pronounce it, spell it and use it. Sanskrit is a complex language and not as simple as Hindi or English.
Just an example: The word “go” (or gau) has three meanings – cow, senses and land. The meaning changes according to the context. This is why when Lord Krishna is called as Govinda it means one who gives pleasure to cows, senses and land. In Vedas there are verses where it is mentioned that “godamana” is essentially for sages. Now our dear left liberals took liberty and have concluded that “go” stands for cows and “damana” means violence (killing) so they said that sages were expected to eat cow meat. But actually the word “godamana” in context with the sages meant controlling (damana) the senses (go).
In Srimad Bhagavatam 6.9.11 it is mentioned that Tvasta, a brahmana, was performing ritualistic ceremony so that Indra could be killed. But instead of chanting the mantra short he chanted it long and as a result of which the meaning of the mantra changed. And the mantra which was being recited so that Indra could be killed now no longer was valid and so Indra was able to kill the enemy. The word was the same “indra-satro” but since it was chanted longer its meaning got changed. So we can see how the meaning of Sanskrit word depends on how it is pronounced and how long it is pronounced and on many other factors. So we should be wary of such gross misinterpretation of holy Vedas.
But why there is attack on holy cow which is revered in the Vedas? It’s pretty simple to understand. Attack on cow implies belittling Vedas (because Vedas recommend cow protection) which means belittling Hindus belief, tradition and culture. It is like indirectly telling Hindus that Vedic books are not worthy to be followed.
Several instances can be cited to show how Hindus always have to compromise with their religious values.
M .F. Hussain is extolled as a great painter although he painted obscene pictures of Hindu deities but Kamlesh Tiwari was put behind bars and is still inside it just because he used derogatory words against Prophet Mohammed. Prashant Poojary who was fighting against “beef Mafia” was too brutally murdered like Akhlaq but his dead body did not bring tears to the eyes of the so called secularists. We all know about the Malda violence and how it was brushed aside. India is the only country where the majority Hindus feel threatened because of large scale conversion which is going on especially in tribal areas by Christian missionaries.
Since Hindus face discrimination in India so some of the Hindus feel that they need to be proactive to protect their religion. Sometimes they resort to violence which is condemnable and bring bad name to Hindus. Violence can never bring any solution. The best approach would be to spread the authentic message of the Vedas.
The leftists cunningly nurtured academicians, writers, newspaper columnists etc. to spread lies about Vedas. They grossly misinterpreted the Sanskrit language to suit their narrative and also made sure that Sanskrit gets uprooted from India so that their lies could not be caught. This is why they vehemently oppose the teaching of Sanskrit language in academic institution.
We should try our best to re-establish the authentic teachings of the Vedas by educating people especially children. Learning Sanskrit should be made mandatory in schools/colleges and if it is not possible in the current environment then parents could take initiative in imparting knowledge of Sanskrit to their wards. This will be of great help in reading and understanding the Vedic literature in the right context. Once the authentic teachings of Vedas reaches to the people then Hindus who are today confused about the Vedic literature will unite and throw away the pseudo seculars who have disdain for Hindus.
Most world commentators now believe that Mao’s Communist “revolution” was a guise for China to grab countries and become a neo Middle Kingdom. China’s PRC (People’s Republic of China) itself says since 1980, that the only “Communism” followed by China is “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”, which essentially means state-controlled capitalism. In 1950’s, under banner of Communism, China annexed Inner Mongolia, East Turkestan (Xinjiang) and Tibet, just as Soviet Union had gobbled up lands of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan etc) earlier.
The real China
Ukraine was always a cultural extension of Russia with a similar language – Kiev was alternative capital of Russia in the past. Ukraine was also the rice bowl of Russia. One reason that Soviet Union set up huge Industries in Ukraine was its core oneness with Ukraine. Crimea was a part of Russia, before it was put under Ukraine jurisdiction in 1954 as an internal shuffle in Soviet Union.
Soviet Union was dismembered and Cold war ended. American deal with Russia’s Gorbachev was that Soviet Union would transition to a healthy democracy, freedom of its citizens and EU (European Union) & NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) won’t gang up on Russia’s borders. With demise of Soviet Union, that deal was broken by West deep state. The EU & NATO moved on to reach Russia’s borders. What remains of Soviet Union is a Russia which is a super power in its own right albeit with a foundation almost entirely built on Defense & Oil industries.
Recent turn of events have seen Ukraine trying to move out of Russian orbit, into a tight embrace with the EU. Since then, Russia took over Crimea and Russian backed rebels control roughly 15% of Ukraine with unstable truce & intermittent fighting raging on.
Why is Russia reacting badly to Ukraine’s move towards the EU? Much has been written about “Iron wall” syndrome of Putin, who was a member of KGB, the dreaded spy agency in ex-Soviet Union. However, it is to do with the history of Russia where the real answer lies. It is through the direction of Ukraine that most threats emanated for Russia – bloody wars were fought with loss of precious lives which threatened the very survival of Russia.
Looking at the case of India – It was dismembered sequentially by British. Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar were artificially separated by British. Nepal offered to merge with India but Nehru, independent India’s first Prime Minister (PM), declined. Bhutan is a case just like Sikkim. British partitioned India separating Pakistan (Pak) before leaving. So in stark contrast to China, India saw its lands of modern Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan separated from it. Off these, after creation of Bangladesh, only Pakistan remains the real thorn in the flesh of the Indians with intermittent headaches presented by the Chinese through some of these nations.
Pakistan has been supported by China to weaken its southern border front against India – to the extent that China even made Pak nuclear and is its only reliable supporter internationally. China knows it will be suicidal for India to fight on two fronts – Pakistan front and Chinese border. The other perennial supporters of Pakistan viz Saudi Arabia and US now seem to be drifting away. US has now given a NATO ally status to India and extended its drone campaigns in whole of Pakistan by first killing Pakistan Taliban chief through a drone attack in Baluchistan. Saudi Arabia is miffed at Pakistan for not joining its international Islamic coalition but support in form of Oil deliveries still remain.
The only country which is a perennial thorn for democratic republics of US, India, Japan and ASEAN nations is China. Solving the China problem means taking it head-on: economically and militarily. This seems to be work-in-progress with the US pivot towards Asia and focus on South China Sea. An international partnership is building with regular military exercises between India, Japan, US, Australia, Vietnam and South Korea. But one nation is missing from the canvas!
Now I ask the readers to take a look at the map – the final pressure needs to come from northern border of China, the Russia front.
Russia China border
China indeed realizes its weak link up its North border. After China’s defeat at hand of Russia at Ussuri River, it learnt its lesson well. With subsequent international isolation of Russia by US and EU, it is China which has stood up to Russia, but in ways beneficial to it. China has made most of its permanent seat in UN Security Council with the $100 billion Russia Gas deal, big defense orders like the S400 batteries and cutting-edge technology Sukhoi’s, merging of One-belt-One-road project with Eurasian Union and the strengthening of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). China also made full use of its UN seat by cutting mega deals with anyone sided by US – like the mega Iran oil deal stitched prior to US-Iran nuclear deal.
But China also is a threat to Russia. China claims entire Siberia as below post from a Chinese daily explains
What is Russia to US & EU and more importantly, what can it be? Russia, under KGB’isque Putin, is currently seen as a thorn in the eyes of US & EU. While a large reason for this is history of Russia’s super power moves as erstwhile Soviet Union, but a case can be made that the offensive policy of US & EU is past overdue. US, EU and Russia share a common Christian civilization, the heads of Orthodox & Catholic Church also met recently and shared a common vision for the two.
Russia showed by its fight against ISIS (Islamic state) in Syria, the kind of understanding it has of political Islam and the Middle East. History shows it was Russia which defeated political Islam through the ages – be it Ottoman Empire, conquering Islamic marauders coming down from the Central Asian steppes, subduing Arabs with Jihad in their mind from Arabia to Egypt to Slavic lands of ex-Yugoslavia. US, in spite of its wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, seems to have liberal blinkers and doesn’t seem to have the kind of experience & understanding of the dictatorships which Islam creates to propagate itself wherever it goes.
There is indeed a case of a coalition between large powers against China. With Australia, South Korea and ASEAN, Russia doesn’t have prominent issues. Only with Japan, there is a legacy issue of Kuril Islands under occupation of Russia, but the recent visit of Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to Russia seems to be resolving that. What remains is the US deep state syndrome and Ukraine to solve for US rapprochement with Russia.
Off late, Obama has been travelling to places which historically have been at war with US. Cuba, Hiroshima in Japan and Vietnam being case in point – he seems to be wanting to live up to his Nobel Peace prize and leaving an Obama legacy of applying soothing balm to these countries.
So why not Russia?
US would do better to solve the China problem by letting go of US and EU’s involvement in Ukraine in return for a long-term partnership and putting pressure on China’s northern border through Russia. That would be a true Obama moment in history!
With Russia in a bear hug with China, now it’s up to US deep state to recognize Russia as a long term ally. An adverse US action against any country in the world results in that country going to other camp whose flag bearers are China & Russia. With US, EU & Japanese economy being in perennial decline, US needs to break this theorem to maintain its longevity of rule in a multi-polar World with close cooperation with Russia, based on principles of this age viz Democracy, Freedom and rule of Law.
China has a $10 trillion economy, but it’s an outlier to the open system propagated by the West and indeed a threat to it. It’s another Soviet Union which is sitting on annexed countries of East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia by sheer force. It has an outsized ego, is too big for an authoritarian system to be at peace with the World and carries a heft largely based on its nuisance value.
Hence, I posit that Putin & Obama need to hug & make up to solve the China problem.
As for India, with China out of the Pakistan equation, India will ensure Pakistan terrorism affecting the entire world goes down and the military state controlling Pakistan also gets relinquished. With cutting down of Pakistan to size, the Afghanistan problem will also be solved. It will also enable the world to curtail the “International Migraine” (as Hillary Clinton famously named Pakistan) that Pakistan is, by looking to have maintainable countries in the form of Baluchistan, NWFP (North West Frontier Province) and Sindh, break offs from the terrorist state of Pakistan. It would also enable to denuclearize Pakistan.
Disclaimer: These views are not to propagate or defend the increased drug use in Punjab. Its to provide another view point to look at things, which in the current political narrative, has been clearly lost. This is to discuss NRI Hypocrisy, not the past, current or future government of Punjab.
There’s a lot of news regarding Punjab as land of drugs these days. It has almost become a standard to say so just to fit the political narrative. It’s surprising sometimes that statistics of drug abuse are not studied fervently before passing subjective judgements. There’s specific concern regarding such issues being raised by the Punjabis residing abroad.
Yes the recreational and drug abuse has increased. It has definitely increased compared to a few years ago. Yes, with the increase of personal incomes of people, overall drug abuse has increased. But that has happened everywhere else in the world. It has happened across USA, Canada, UK and Australia.
The official numbers, according to various NGOs and Government health departments of respective countries, of the total population that used and abused banned drugs are as follows:
These incidentally are also the countries where NRI Punjabis live with their heads held high. These statistics show the drug users are individually much greater than the official numbers on the drug use/abuse in India, let alone Punjab.
Some uncomfortable questions need to be considered before passing judgements on the state of youth of Punjab. This interference of NRI Punjabis, who have sworn allegiance to other countries voluntarily and are leading comfortable lives abroad, are still interfering in matters of Punjab. Their comments without substantiating with any factual data is disturbing and dangerous. Dangerous because NRIs end up altering the political course of Punjab by directly funding the political party that would advance their agenda in Punjab.
Specific attention needs to be paid to Canada. There has been strong lobby of Punjabis that are living well established lives in Canada who consider Punjab now has a sixth river flowing – that of drugs. Punjabi diaspora has been deliberately and vehemently raising issues regarding the the increased drug abuse in Punjab through various organisations, social media and punjabi media (such as local punjabi radio stations, channels) based out of Brampton or Vancouver.
NRI Punjabis over-vehemently voted and brought to power Liberal Party in Canada in the 2015 elections held in Canada. They have been boasting about having more than 10 members of parliament in current Canadian government, including the first ever Sikh as the Defence Minister. One of the Liberal Party’s official agenda declared in their manifesto for Election was to legalise Cannibas (Marijuana) – which is banned by UN and more than 120 countries of the world. Check Liberal Party Manifesto Website. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-legalizing-pot-global-treaties-1.3390745)
Why this hypocrisy of supporting a Party in Canada that wants to legalise drugs but adopting a completely opposite stance in Punjab? Is it acceptable to do drugs if you’re in Canada/Australia/USA? What happened to the moral values of all Sikh parliamentarians when their own Liberal government wants to legalise recreational Marijuana in all of Canada? Isn’t this against our supposedly perfect Punjabi culture? Is this no Hypocrisy? We don’t see any Punjabi Organisation condemning or protesting against the same. Similarly, Why are Punjabis, living in Australia or US, not condemning such high rates of drugs in their own societies?
Other uncomfortable questions that need to be considered:
-Should NRI Punjabis not consider the fact how many Punjabi youngsters in Greater Vancouver area/Greater Toronto Area/Sydney are recreational users of drugs?
-How many Punjabis employed in the logistics and trucking sector have been charged by US border control or Canadian border control for peddling drugs across border in their trucks? What about the ones that didn’t get caught?
-How many Punjabis living abroad have had “country liquor (ghar Di kadhi sharaab)” in Australia, Canada, US with different local flavours. And how proudly they offer these among the community and boasting about their liquor making skills?
-It ll be interesting to see the bar collections of each and every single Punjabi living abroad! It’s hypocritical especially when these NRIs are the ones that bring liquor bottles from duty free to India and still suggest “bahut mada haal hai Punjab da” (Punjab’s condition is the worst ever).
There could be a few NRIs who have good intentions. But, no matter what political party these NRIs fund, we can’t say with any certainty that drug use would decrease when the new government comes in. Taking example of Goa, government after government has tried, but the recreational drug use has increased every year. Where there is demand, there is supply. No political party in Goa is forcing people to eat drugs.
Instead of funding political parties, if the same money was donated by NRIs to set up drug de-addition centres in Punjab by some NGO in last 4-5 years, we could have gone a long way in tackling this problem. We have rarely seen action by any NRI s on this front, which clearly proves that their first concern with political donations is pushing their own agenda for Punjab rather than tackling this drug problem.
It’s dangerous for me as a citizen of Punjab that a new upcoming political party in Punjab is being financed and influenced by vested interests sitting abroad, agendas for which agendas include but are not limited to Separatism, Low Taxation on NRI Investments and Political Reservation for NRIs in Punjab. We should discourage and condemn parties that make beeline for Dollars and Pounds, hold rallies abroad, make promises to lobbies sitting abroad, make their party cells abroad and Malign & Defame opinion through social media campaigns and accept NRI conditions for funding their campaigns in Punjab.
Only God knows what promises these new political parties have made to these foreign financiers, and how it will affect us in the coming days.
Raghuram Rajan or R3 as he’s called on social media is the current Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Prior to this he was appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser to the erstwhile UPA government for a brief period of 1 year.
Dr Raghuram Rajan- man with an intellectual pedigree, always had an illustrious career. He was the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007, the youngest man ever to occupy the position. He was also a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business from 1991 to 2013, whereas his alma matter includes IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and MIT Sloan.
There’s no doubt about his capability to lead the central bank of India or the value the he would bring to any assignment he takes up.
Rajan’s relationship with BJP led NDA government
When Modi government came to power in May 2014, it was speculated that all the appointees of the previous regime will face axe. While the government did change the National Security advisor and the Principal Secretary to the PMO bringing in Ajit Doval and Nripendra Misra. Dr Rajan stayed on his job.
Rajan enjoyed pretty much the same freedom that he did under the previous dispensation and never appeared to have been under any kind of duress while discharging his duties. He even made some comments to show government in poor light. Be it during the politically motivated Award Wapsi campaign on intolerance or for that matter speaking not so kind words on the performance of the Indian economy at International forums.
Controversy surrounding him?
Rajan’s position came in the eye of storm, the day BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dr.Subramanium Swamy called for his ouster.
Swamy was never known to have held Finance Minister Arun Jaitely or RBI governor Dr Rajan in high esteem. However since his nomination to the upper house of the parliament his attack against the RBI governor has escalated further
It is worth remembering that Subramanium Swamy is not Kejriwal to just shoot and scoot. He has the reputation of going against anybody only with proper reason and evidence to back him. Moreover he’s also known for taking cases to the logical conclusion. Dr Swamy wrote to the PM citing reasons why he wants Rajan out.
Here are some of the reasons to validate his argument, according to Swamy:
Rajan’s insistence on lowering the interest rates slower than what was demanded led to recession in the domestic small and medium industries and thereby causing not only a sharp decline in the output but also a massive unemployment of semi-skilled labour. As a Professor of Finance he ought to have known this would be the inevitable consequence of rising interest rate and hence his policy was willful and thus anti national in intent.
The RBI Act ruling out Sharia compliant financial institutions was re-affirmed by the RBI and Finance Ministry in their respective affidavits filed in the Kerala High Court in 2012, yet Dr. Rajan permitted Sharia complaint financial organizations to be set up in India, only for Prime Minister Modi to put a stay on it in December 2014
Rajan continues to hold on to his US Green Card which is essentially a transitional visa arrangement for acquiring US citizenship, and requires performing US military duties if called for by the US Government. Despite holding a sensitive and very high Government of India post, he has continued annually to renew his Green Card by making the mandatory trip for at least one day residence in USA. The RBI Governor post is very high in the Warrant of Precedence and requires a patriotic and unconditional commitment to our nation
As Governor of RBI, Dr. Rajan has sent confidential and sensitive financial information to various persons around the world on his University of Chicago unsecure personal email address: [email protected]. This is a reckless disregard of the national security interests of India
Despite being a government official he has been publicly disparaging of the BJP government. For example he has by innuendos in effect held our government responsible for the “climate of intolerance” in the country. In a Washington Meet recently he disparaged the growth rate of India as being equal to a “Aandho ke beech mein kaana Raja” (cockeyed person in the land of blind persons). Such pejorative sarcasm against the Government is a violation of the Rules governing public officials and conduct unbecoming of such an official.
Rajan is a member of the US dominated Group of 30 [www. group30.org]. From a close reading of the Group’s objectives it appears to be a group set up to defend US’s dominant position in the global economy. The way the booming Japanese economy crumbled in the 1997-98 East Asian Financial Crisis showed how the US Bond Market rates could trigger the crisis contagion across East Asia. This crisis led to US businesses buying into most of the collapsed Japanese companies. The US grip on the Japanese economy today is profound, in stark contrast to the reverse during the 1980s. This seems now also the modus operandi of Dr. Rajan in his strangulating the small and medium industries by untenably high interest rates.
Link to Swamy’s Letter to PM Narendra Modi is available below
The allegations by Dr Swamy do make a strong prima facie case against the continuation of Raghuram Rajan as RBI governor . The veracity of these charges could be proved only in the court of law.
What makes Dr Rajan’s saga intriguing?
The recent turn of events surrounding Dr Rajan seem to suggest that there’s more to this case than what meets the eye. There are some very interesting questions that come to mind.
Why Congress and the Intelligentsia is trying hard to impress upon the Government into retaining services of Dr Rajan? Almost every day we read OpEds or see some Senior Congress leader giving an interview on how Dr Rajan is the best thing to have happened to this country.
If you think that something is amiss here, wait there’s more in store.
Congress attributes the success of Indian economy amidst global uncertainties, to Dr Rajan’s impactful monetary policy.What doesn’t add up here is that, if Rajan is indeed so critical for the performance of Indian economy, then their rivals NDA would benefit largely by giving him extension. And if they don’t extend his services beyond Sept 16 then economy would suffer and the Government will face tough time getting re-elected in 2019, in short Congress would benefit. Why is Congress then so much against his ouster? When by their own hypothesis it’s to the detrimental of their opponents.
Why Media and Congress are trying to create a false narrative that government is sacking R3 ? Dr Rajan took charge in September 2013 , his 3 year term comes to an end in Sep’16. Whether government continues with him or not is their own decision. Rarely in the past have we seen so much furore over the post of RBI governor. If we look into the history of RBI governors, only in about half of the cases services of RBI governors were extended.
Is Dr Rajan the only capable individual available in India to head the RBI ? Regardless of whether he still holds US Green Card or not, I doubt whether there’s any dearth of qualified people with requisite experience and skill sets in India to head the Central bank.
Above factors allude that the prospect of Dr Rajan’s removal as RBI governor has petrified Congress. Why else would Congress and some sections of media unleash all their energies to pressurize the government into granting him extension?
Post Script : In another letter written by Dr Swamy, R3 was alleged to have been shielding P Chidambaram and his son Karti on their Benami financial empire overseas. We will have to wait till September to see what transpires, but one thing that is clear here is that there is indeed something fishy.
It’s dangerous – Meddling in political affairs of a distant country! With the election year approaching, it is becoming more and more apparent, the high level of interference NRI Punjabis have in local politics in Punjab. These are Punjabi families that voluntarily moved abroad to countries like USA, UK, Canada, Australia etc. They are well established there and hold positions of social, cultural, and legal importance. They, along with their sponsored family members and relatives, took oaths to the constitutions of various developed countries for betterment in their personal life. They have social security nets such as free medical care, pensions and other welfare schemes. No doubt they have done well in their life. But they forget they gave up their moral and legal right to have a say in matters of Punjab when they took oaths of citizenships of Canada, US, Australia, UK.
It’s hypocritical behaviour when money is raised to influence electoral results of Punjab, through sponsoring and funding one political party over another, accepting leaders of one Political party and rejecting the others. It is gladly suggested that USA is bad and overreaching when they interfere in middle-east or south-Asia or anywhere else in the world.
But they wouldn’t think twice before donating to organisations and political parties trying to alter the result in favour of the government that would treat their political goals (eg. separatism, low taxation on NRI investments, political reservations for NRIs) as primary than to the local needs and requirements of local citizens.
Imagine if people living in a different country (Lets say Pakistan or Canada) start interfering by sending money or favouring some political party in an Indian state (lets say Kashmir or Punjab) that would keep their interests above and beyond the local citizens interests? What would u call it?
Yes NRIs send money to their families in India or Invest in property here. It’s not for social work. Its either for their family or for better returns on their investment (higher interest rates and faster real estate growth compared to western economies). If they left their inherited their land here, but moved abroad for greener pastures, whose problem Is It? Having investments in any place doesn’t give them right to interfere in the local politics. They are free to take their investments to any country that gives them high returns or back to their countries of Current citizenships. Holding Land in USA, UK, Canada wouldn’t allow any Indian Citizen voting rights in their Elections.
Why should Citizens of Punjab, whose income per capita is much lower than NRI Punjabis and cannot match the donations made by NRIs, be held ransom to the political agenda of those who aren’t even part of the local society?
Yes, intentions of a few NRIs would be betterment of Punjab, but it wouldn’t be more than any citizen who is paying taxes here and holds the voting rights locally. Every single day – a local farmer, a local doctor, a local student, a local labourer, a local widow has to deal with elected government. Someone sitting abroad with their jobs and social security net would never have to deal with with local government like citizen.
It’s dangerous for me as a citizen of Punjab that a new upcoming political party, leaders of which have been going abroad and wooing NRI Punjabis for donations, has been financed and influenced by vested interests sitting abroad who don’t seek the same things that I as a local citizen do – peace, prosperity and industrialisation. Its important to have a political representation that is free of foreign influence and foreign funding. Only God knows what Promises these new political parties have made to these foreign financiers, and how it will affect us in the coming days.
