Rama Murthy Prabhala

Church vs Hindutva in AP

2021-03-04T04:23:00.002-08:00

The past year we have seen damage to about 140 temples and now illegal construction of a Church on top of a hill lock in Edlapadu in Guntur Dt. The adjacent hillock which is a continuous formation has the ancient Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy deity which is revered by crores of people. The evangelists have brazenly occupied the hillock and raised a huge steel cross. The government seems to ignore this land encroachment and is letting the thing die down by itself. They are quiet aware that despite the huge cry by the opposition nothing came out of their temple protection agitation. Even TTD is not being spared with arbitrary actions and controversial decisions being taken in running the temple. The latest from TTD is leasing out Marriage halls to private parties. We have to wait and see who is benefitting through this action.

Opposition lacks Credibility

The TDP which was in power is guilty of destroying 30 odd temples in Vijayawada town during construction of the Kanakadurgamma flyover. They promised to rebuild the temples but they never did. The BJP which was its partner also has to take the blame for not insisting on re-construction. YSRCP knows TDP has no credibility on Hindutva issues and BJP is not a big force in the state.

The Government cares less

Evangelists and the church have been on an overdrive since the current dispensation of Jagan Mohan Reddy has come to power in AP about 2 years ago. CM Jagan knows he has come to power due to the block voting of minorities for his party hence as soon he came to power announced monthly payouts to Pastors and Ulemas. The AP Govt also has called for tenders to build churches at various places. As an external indicator he has also surrounded himself with practicing Christians in important roles. Eg: Home Minister, DGP etc. It can be a coincidence but will leave it to you. The CM is cautious about getting embroiled in any of these controversies and rarely speaks on these issues. He is aware he has a built a great relationship with Delhi and he can tied over these issues blaming some one else.

Inaction from Hindutva forces

Surprisingly AP police could not find any of the culprits who were involved in damaging temples. Instead they arrested some opposition cadres blaming them. Clearly the govt is taking advantage of dis-unity among Hindus to paper over the issues. Unlike Telangana where there is a under current of Hindutva which can be tapped, AP lacks it due to deep caste fissures and stronger evangelical forces. A group of peetadhipatis met and apparently discussed the temples issue but nothing came out. Whatever action we have seen on temples is from smaller Hindu organizations and heads of one or two smaller peetas but not strong enough to be taken note off. Imagine 140 temples being attacked in Telangana the response would have been different.

Jagan is aware that his welfare state is doing great and as long as people are getting the doles they would not be worried too much about these issues. By capturing the minority vote and the substantial BC vote behind him he is sitting pretty. To shake him up needs a concerted effort by all Hindutva forces to rally together and push him to act.

The sins of Syed Ali Shah Geelani

2020-06-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

J&K Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani dis-associated himself from the Hurriyat conference. He claimed he is quitting since there was no action on part of Hurriyat post article 370 abrogation by Indian Government and also due to Hurriyat leadership in POK busy going after ministerial positions etc. He also talked about corruption in Hurriyat. He is a life time chairman or something for the Hurriyat.

This man hates India like nothing else. He took successive state and central governments for a ride, threatened them, called for numerous shutdowns for all sorts of things (deaths of militants, pakistani terrorists, civilians etc leading to massive damage to public property and economic disruption). More than anyone else he should be held responsible for the destruction of development, education and economy in J&K.

He managed to carry an aura around him for a long time, the NCP, PDP, Congress crawled before him. It was ugly to see Mani Shankar Iyer and other Aman ki Asha team go and see him once in a while to make him agree for some peace talks etc. He held the whole J&K hostage with his calls for strikes.

The man's personal life is comfortable - Source - Wikepedia

"Geelani lives in Hyderpora Srinagar, Kashmir with his wife Jawahira Begum.^[ Geelani has six children- two sons Nayeem and Naseem, and four daughters Anisha, Farhat Jabeen, Zamshida, and Chamshida.Anisha and Farhat are Geelani’s daughters from his second marriage. Nayeem and his wife are both doctors who used to live and practise medicine in Rawalpindi Pakistan, but they returned to India in 2010.Geelani's younger son, Naseem works at an agricultural university in Srinagar.Geelani's grandson Izhaar is a crew member in a private airline in India. Geelani's daughter Farhat is a teacher in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and her husband is an engineer there. Geelani's other grandchildren are studying in leading schools of India. Ruwa Shah, daughter of Kashmiri separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah (SAS Geelani's son-in-law) is a journalist.His cousin Ghulam Nabi Fai is presently in London.^"

He did not like to call himself Indian, was proud to call himself a Pakistani. He was basically a Pakistani agent in India. One wonders why successive Indian governments tolerated this man's non-sense for so long.

This man condemned killing of Osama Bin Laden by the US and held a prayer meeting for Osama in Srinagar with thousands of participants. He supported Afzal Guru who master minded attack on Indian parliament and also supported Hafiz Sayyed of Lashkar-e-Taiba who planned the Mumbai attack. This man is pure vile.

This man's machinations had to come to an end some day and it came in the form of Narendra Modi. Modi took a hard stance on Hurriyat since he came to power and started investigating Hurriyat for illegal foreign funds, their anti national activities and in the process put many of their leaders behind bars. Geelani was for the first time cornered. Abrogation of article 370 finished the Hurriyat. Their bluff has been called. They wanted no development, no democracy their only desire was to turn J&K into a Islamic state.

Geelani has some form of terminal cancer and is recuperating at his home in Srinagar.

Coming down heavily on Syed Geelani, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav asked whether the separatist's action can absolve him of the "past sins".

"This man was singularly responsible for ruining the lives of thousands of Kashmiri youths and families; for pushing the Valley into terror and violence. Now resigns from Hurriyat without giving a reason. Does it absolve him of all the past sins?" he tweeted.

Covid and Vaccines - What is the story

2020-06-27T23:33:00.001-07:00

Covid-19 pandemic is fast spreading and today we are close to 10 million globally. India has crossed 5 lakhs as of Jun 28th. There is lot of talk about new vaccines, announcements about phase 1 trials etc stock prices of some pharma companies are going up with the expectation of a cure being found.

Comment from Dr. Hotez dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. - “These biotechs are putting out all these press announcements,” said Dr. Hotez. “You just need to recognize they’re writing this for their shareholders, not for the purposes of public health.”

As usual for lay men it is difficult to understand what is going on, medical jargon is confusing and we are all misled to believe some thing is coming soon to the nearby pharmacy so that we can get back to normal life.

Nothing is far from reality, the process of finding a vaccine can take up between 2 - 5 years. WHO says 18 months with the current global effort. Typically vaccine development takes decades. ( For HIV/AIDS phase 3 trails are going on after almost 40 years. Expected to get a vaccine by 2030 that is 50 years in all for a vaccine).

Steps involved in bringing out a vaccine - Research, Pre-clinical, Phase1, Phase2, Phase3, Building factories, Manufacturing, Approval, Distribution. Factories need to be repurposed or built new for Covid Vaccine since the manufacturing process will be different. Did we think about packing, distributing, global approvals, global supply chain and reaching to your nearest pharmacy.

In the case of COVID-19 it is expected that a vaccine could be found sooner since the virus doesn't mutate significantly and exists within a family of respiratory viruses ( SARS). SARS and the new SARS-CoV-2 ( COVID-19) share about 80-90 percent of their genetic code. So the previous work on SARS will give a good foundation to build on.

But it does not mean the virus is not mutating it will based on various conditions like population density which has direct impact on number of people infected, which gives more opportunities for the virus to mutate ( it spread from animail to human and now it is transmitting human to human). Many strains of the virus may emerge which require different vaccines ( you must have heard of new TB strains). So it is a highly complex challenge biologists, epidemiologists and other researcher's are handling.

About 100 vaccnies are under development for COVID-19. Some of the companies undertaking vaccine development are Moderna, Sinovac, Oxford university, Wuhan institute, CureVac( Uses mRNA method which can be mass produced but they say it is unstable) and many others. Some companies in India are also attempting.

The way that these companies are running to find a vaccine there is a chance that at least one may be successful. However It is said less than 10% percent drugs enter clinical trial stages.

Experts say the speed at which things are moving to find a vaccine has down sides too, what if the vaccine makes it easier to catch the virus easier or even worse make the disease worse after some one is infected.

"That’s been the case for a few H.I.V. drugs and vaccines for dengue fever, because of a process called vaccine-induced enhancement, in which the body reacts unexpectedly and makes the disease more dangerous. "- NY times

For now the safest way to protect one self from the virus is to maintain distance, wear a mask and wash hands frequently. Building immunity is definitely recommended. For Indians immunity building is core in its traditional Ayurveda. It has received enough popularity and many are taking Kashayam. Daily salt water gargling to clear throat and Water vapor also helps.

if you want to understand the nitty gritties of vaccines,anitgens etc visit - https://slate.com/technology/2020/06/covid-vaccine-candidates-knowns-unknowns.html

If you want to know the latest about vaccines under trial stage -https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/the-four-front-runners-of-the-race-for-covid-vaccine/articleshow/76652545.cms?from=mdr

Meanwhile in India we have to handle the confusion of Patanjali declaring Covid-19 cure, basically they seem to be immunity boosters and can address mild sore throat, cough etc. To their credit they declared that their medicine is not suitable for severe cases of pneumonia. This can be ignored for the moment.

Galwan Valley stand off - What is the real story

2020-06-21T02:31:00.001-07:00

The current India-China standoff at Galwan is a cause of anger for most Indians. Simply put Indians hate the chinese, they consider them back stabbers and rouges. Indians are also frustated and confused with a deluge of TV and news reports and are searching to know the truth ( what happened at Galwan?). I was also confused and thought will research and put the whole thing in perspective.

The border between India and China is divided into three regions - Eastern(1350km), Central(545km) and Western sections ( 1600 km). The Current dispute is in the Western section (Ladakh). Eastern section follows McMohan line ( it goes upto far east India - Arunachal Pradesh) and Central section covers states of Uttarakhand, Himachal pradesh. India and China have disputes on the correct demarcation of the border from Tawang in the east to Ladakh in the west. Typically the chinese walk into territory India claims as its and Indians also walk into territory China claims as its own. You might have guessed that most violations are by the chinese. Their hunger for real estate is insatiable ( Tibet, Aksai chin, Shaksgam valley, Sin kiang etc). India on the other hand takes a defence view on territorial claims, we have been claiming POK but do not really take aggressive steps in reclaiming it. Chinese are experts in taking small bits of land and adding to their kitty. They claim Taiwan, Islands in South china sea etc. So lesson for India keeping adding territory by hook or crook. Typically the disputes are in the Western and Eastern sections of the border , Middle section is relatively quiet.

Taking a step back into history - Modern India started loosing territory since our first Independent government led by Nehru gave away so called POK. Instead of going full throttle against the pakistan promoted tribals, pashtuns and regular Pakistani army personnel he went to UN in 1948 for cease fire which permanently divided J&K. Look at China it has in its control 43,000 sqkm of India territory ( Aksai chin 38,000 sqkm and another 5000 sqkm of Shaksgham Valley given by Pakis to China in 1962). China occupied Aksai chin after the 1962 war (remember Nehru's Himalayan blunders - Strategic, Tactical, Political and Military. His total belief in Non-alingment, Hindi- Chini bhai bhai day dream, poor choice of military leadership and inept response to chinese aggresssion led to India's defeat which hurts even today. I was not born in 1962 but reading about 1962 loss pains me a lot. Nehru was down right stupid. The loss of 1962 also finished him as a leader. Most damaging of Nehru's legacy is he has put in the seed of non- aggression in Indian minds. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Atal Vajpayee and Modi have since reversed the trend.

Since the emergence of Modi as a nationalist leader China has been trying to get closer to India and at the same time test him. Modi's aggressive international out reach promoting India and getting closer to US was a cause of concern to the Chinese. Chinese are aware of India's aspirations to be a global power, this is a cause of irritation for them. They do not want a parallel rising power in Asia. The first test was Doklam. Doklam stand-off happened in the Eastern section in 2017 (dispute was about construction of a road in a territory claimed both by Bhuta and China). India stood up for its ally Bhutan in a 70 day stand-off. Great job by our forces and our political leadership they did not wilt under pressure.

Since Doklam China has been relentlessly trying to get unsettle India at the border with border transgressions of 187 in 2019 and 170 till date in 2020.

Come to Galwan - The Ladakh region where the current flare up is happening does not have a clear demarcation of boundary. So whoever builds infrastructure first can claim it is their territory up to that point. You again guessed it right Chinese are good at erecting tents and structures. Indians i am hearing are getting good at that.

The current confrontation is due to the infrastructure ( roads) being built by India along the LAC. The road starts from Leh -> Dabruk - > Shyok -> to Karkoram pass. Between Shyok and Karkoram pass is called the Dault Beg Oldie road (DBO). India has been building this road on its side of LAC despite confrontations. Chinese are not comfortable with this since this road is 9KM from the LAC and they are aware this road will lead to faster deployment of Indian forces. A branch of the Dault Beg Oldie road branches of to Galwan Valley which is the point of standoff. Galwan river is the highest ridgeline which give Chinese a strategic position. Chinese want to control this area since India once its builds up its roads and other infrastructure will have a dominating position on the Aksai chin plateau. (remember China has illegally built a road from Sinkiang to Tibet through Aksai Chin which India claims)

What happened at Galwan - We are told that on Jun 15th morning a verification party of 6 Bihar regiment went to patrol point 14 ( PP14) to see if the Chinese have disengaged from the point. Post a Jun 6th meeting between commanders on both sides the Chinese were supposed to vacate the area. Reaching there Indian team found more than a bunch of chinese and apparently agitated on seeing the Indian team. Point 14 overlooks the Galwan valley and is startegic for both parties. We discussed about the Daulat Beg oldie road which is within a stricking distance from Point 14. Chinese wanted to occupy Point 14 permanently to create trouble for Indians who are building up this road that leads to Karkoram pass. They are aware once india builds roads in this area it is getting close to the LAC and also to Aksai chin and the chinese OBOR project.

Col. Babu and his team are well aware of the importance of Point 14 and hence went all out to force the chinese vacate the area. Remember Point 14 is on the Indian side of LAC and chinese are claiming it falls in their territory. Infact now the Chinese are claiming the entire Galwan valley is on their side of LAC. Anyway once the Indian verification team met the chinese at Point 14 all hell broke loose, the chinese attacked Indians with machetes, stones, rods. Col.Babu and his team were outnumbered and possibly unprepared for the type of warfare chinese indulged in. Chinese were prepared with Iron rods welded with spikes etc but the India team fought and pushed the chinese back. Col. Babu, Havildar Palani and Sepoy Ojha died on the spot rest of them succumbed due to injuries and hypothermia (falling into the river below). In all India lost 20 of its braves. As a professional army India declared in full details the number of its dead and the entire country mourned the loss. We salute our heros and wil not forget their sacrifice.

The back up team which was about 2 miles away reached to support the advance party, it has hit the chinese so badly that they lost 43 personnel which is confirmed and probably more. Unconfirmed reports say about 100 Chinese died due to the ferocity of the Bihar regiment personnel. Paltan ki izzat (a concept based on regimental values, sacrifice, honour, and tradition) has been restored. All in all about 600 personnel from both sides pushed, joslted that night leading to the disaster. It is possible in the thick of night personnel from India went to the chinese side and vice versa and they were exchanged later the next day.

China through its spokespersons is giving glib statements about how the Indian side did not stick to the Jun 6th agreements etc. No one is buying their stories.

As far as my reading goes no world power sided with the chinese version. Infact US Secretary of state Mile Pompeo went on to call china a rogue state which it is. China's actions i am sure will drive India to hasten the projects along the LAC to get to ready to fight another day. This will be a war of attrition and a long one for which India should be prepared. Diplomacy has its place but after 20+ meetings to discuss the border countours nothing has emerged. We should however keep trying but more important strengthen our resolve to call the chinese bluff.

Nepal and China Tango

2020-05-22T02:42:00.001-07:00

China is getting aggressive these days. Since the breakout of Wuhan virus China has been cornered by major global powers for hiding information with regards to the virus origin. Now there is a threat of a global investigation on the Chinese subterfuge.

India has not publicly called out China on the virus but it is facing Chinese heat on the borders. There are some altercations and exchanges going near the borders in Sikkim and Ladakh. Chinese are also trying to build a Dam in Pak occupied Kashmir on the invitation of Pakistan. Obviously they are aiming to irritate India. They also made the Nepal PM say some nasty things to India on the Virus ( Exact words - Indian virus more lethal than Chinese). Indian Army Chief General Naravane dismissed the comment made by Nepal PM as being said by some one else's behest.

China have issues with Hong Kong ( though part of China unrest by pro-democracy protestors), Taiwan, USA etc. It is a busy country these days fighting multiple battles. With Russia on its side the Chinese are getting aggressive in the international arena.

Nepal has many things common with India its culture, tradition, familial ties and above all both are Hindu majority. Till recent past Nepal was the only Hindu country in the world. Nepal is now calls itself Federal democratic republic of Nepal. Things have changed rapidly in Nepal post the emergence of the communists as strong political forces. The communist parties in Nepal look towards China for support and it is said china worked with the two competing communist parties CPN, UCPN to form Nepal communist party.

China obviously has deep interest in getting Nepal on its side. Nepal is a buffer state between India and China. China is offering billions of dollars of loans to Nepal for its hydro projects etc and has its political parties in its firm grip. It is said that Nepal PM Oli is paying back a favor to china through his comment against India, China negotiated unrest in the communist party leadership between Oli, Prachanda and Madhav Nepal and asked Prachanda and Madhav to backoff and let Oil be the PM and Chairman of the party ( violating the one post principle that was agreed).

Nepal brought in a project which was 5 years in the making to claim territory. They also released a map showing Indian territories of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its own. India was building this road which reduces the time taken to travel to Kailash manas sarovar by 6 hours.

Government of India has responded but kept it low key given the importance of India, Nepal relationship. The growing Chinese influence on Nepal politics is not at all a good sign and India must get its act together. While India is doing its best the Nepalese political establishment has been under the Chinese grip making it hard to smoothen the rough edges in the relaitonship. India should keep trying.

Explaining the Atma-nirbhar Package

2020-05-20T01:43:00.001-07:00

Post the Modi government announcement of the mother of all Stimulus there has been a lot of debate on its impact. Critics broadly are questioning the demand side of the stimulus, they want the government to out money in the hands of the consumer to increase demand in the market. They believe the liquidity measure only will be triggering the supply side. However the government is looking for a more sustainable recovery where the economic cycle kicks off, employment generation kicks up and both supply and demand stabilize in the medium term ( may be 2 quarters). Obviously comparisons are being made with developed countries like in the US, Canada, France etc where the government is doing cash transfers to tax payers accounts ( one or two months salaries). It is comparing apples and oranges given population size, wealth of the nation, its economy etc. I think the Modi government has a chosen a more sustainable method to kick start the economy taking into consideration fiscal deficit, inflation etc.

Some of the measures announced are transformative in nature and I am sure they will soon be made into laws ( APMC, Labor, Privatization across sectors, Commercial coal mining etc).

What it means -

1. For MSMEs ( micro, small, medium enterprises) - 3 lakh crores - MSMEs employ 11 crore people and have a GDP share of approximately 29 per cent – This sector is the economic back bone of the country – Ex: Fabrication units/shops, Small food manufacturing units, etc . 45 Lakh MSME units will benefit from this move. (for comparison IT sector employs only about 50+ Lakhs directly and another 1 crore indirectly) – If Medium, Micro sectors are impacted India will be in trouble.

INR 3 lakh Crore Collateral free loans ( that means no need of any pledging to get the loan), only condition it should be a running company. Also 50k crore equity infusion through fund of funds Much needed intervention and bold step by the govt in giving collateral free loans. (Political opposition will not talk about these collateral free loans)

2.NBFCS, HFC’s, MFIs - Rs 30,000 crore.

Means - The government will buy debt papers issued by NBFCs, MFIs and HFCs. These papers will be fully guaranteed by the government of India. This will give market confidence.

30K Crore - To all NBFCs, Housing finance and Micro finance - Relief for this stressed sector in the form of liquidity. They can start lending again and market cycle will start

3. Power companies ( DISCOMS) Revenues have dropped for DISCOMS due to drop in demand for these companies. 90K crore will be made available to DISCOMS against their receivables ( means the bills you have to pay, industries and commercial establishments have to pay to DISCOMS). 90 k Crore Excellent move to ensure cash flow to the DISCOMS. Else they will be bankrupt. DISCOMS already owe 1 Lakh crore to generation companies. Power sector is screwed up because of low tariffs, leakages and operational inefficiencies

4.Global tenders of up to 200 crores will not be allowed. To all Indian companies – They will not face competition from MNCs for up to USD 30 Mil dollars tenders by Govt of India – Make in India drive Policy intervention. Great move for Indian companies - no international competition

5.MNREGA Additional amount of 40k Crore to boost rural employment. This is in addition to the 60k crore announced in the budget. Great move. This is almost cash in the hands of the rural population. About 200 Rs/ Day is the wage

6. Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Fisheries, Dairy- For setting up Cold storage/ chains to preserve harvested food 1 Lakh Crore. India has very poor post-harvest infrastructure leading to wastage of food and farmers selling their produce dirt cheap. Cold storages will help in storage for longer periods

7.NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs Rs 45,000 liquidity infusion – Partial guarantee scheme which will cover commercial papers and borrowings.
Partial guarantee means - The first 20 percent loss will be borne by the government 45 K Crore NBFCs can lend to businesses and market cycle will start

8. TDS/TCS Rs 50,000 cr relief on TDS/TCS – more cash in tax payers hands. Payment for contract, professional fees, interest, rent, dividend, commission, brokerage, etc. will be eligible for reduced rate of TDS. Benefit - More money in the hands of tax payers

9. Kisan Credit Additional 2 lakh crore vis kisan credit cards to enable credit for farmers. Benefits farmers

10. APMC reform very important – farmers can now sell their produce wherever they want – they are now victims of traders who lower the prices when they buy from farmers. Higher price realization for farmers

Over and above all the above the Government has brought several long-term reform measures such as Commercial coal mining ( India imports coal despite having large coal deposits), labour reforms ( already initiated by BJP ruled states MP, Karnatak, Gujarat), and opening up of many other sectors for private players ( space etc). FDI in defence manufacturing increased from 49% to 74%.
While some analysts were not happy with the stimulus and the approach taken by the government others were having a favorable opinion - “The package largely meets our expectations. However, we believe the government will need to step in again to revive growth through demand stimulus, as well as measures to support the financial sector “ – Nomura - https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/how-potent-is-indias-economic-vaccine-explained/1963246/.

The package is announced the execution of the reforms will bear the results, for that we will have to wait.

Clean up in the Valley and uncertainity in Pak

2020-05-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

After the killing of Riyaz Naikoo,head of Hizbul in J&K, Pakistan is back to its desperate ways. It has formed a new organization called TRF - "The Resistance Front " to bring all operating terror groups in the valley under one umbrella to fight Indian forces. TRF seems to be a non starter since there are know ideological differences between terror groups. We should watch out how TRF takes shape in the days to come. Meanwhile Saifullah Mir aka Ghazi Haider, 26, is Hizbul’s new leader and face of terror in Kashmir. His days i am sure are numbered given Indian army's current philosophy of eliminating all terror leadership.

Meanwhile India is inflicting continuous pain on Pakistan through its soft and hard tactics. Indian forces are hitting hard across the LOC, DD News and AIR started including PoK weather forecast in their report, Ministry of external affairs lodging a strong protest about the Pak SC order of conducting elections in Gilgit Baltistan (India has always stated that the entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, are an integral part of India and that Islamabad should immediately vacate the areas under its illegal occupation), there is also unconfirmed news that India has reduced the water flow into Pakistan.

Due to the rapid response of the Indian forces in eliminating terrorists after the Handwara incident Paksitan is on high alert and is flying sorties along the LOC and over Islamabad expecting a Balakot re-run. Imran Khan government is struggling to handle the Indian firmness. In the previous regimes after an attack there were calls for "discussions" euphemism for let this pass too.

Under Modi's regime there has been no confusion with respect to handling Pakistan. After the initial bonhomie with Nawaz Sharief the doctrine has been to give it back to Pakistan.

If one looks at the cleaning up Modi government has done over the past 5 years -

1.Burhan wani, Riyaz Naikoo, Zakir Musa and mnay others eliminated, also all top leadership across all terror groups have been identified and eliminated
2.Surgical strikes and Balakot Airstrike
3.Some thing that many thought was sacred - A370, 35A removed
4.Repealing all laws manufactured by NC and PDP favoring valley Sunni Muslims at the cost of the rest of the population
5.Addressing the nefarious design of PDP to change the demography in Jammu region
6.Taking control of Hindu shrines in the state
7.Takign control of all govt institutions which were corrupt and compromised

Interesting times are ahead with rumour in the air about POK capture on the cards. It is said that Pakis are willing to hand over large portions of Gilgit Baltistan to China which provides access to Gwadar port. India will be alert to any such surrender of its land to china. Watch this space for more on this subject.

Hizbul Mujahideen hit hard

2020-05-07T03:27:00.000-07:00

There is a sense of relief among the security establishment after Riyaz Naikoo the head of Hizbul Mujahideen in India was killed by the forces. He was killed in his native village Beighbora when he went to visit his parents. Armed forces surrounded the village and got him after a standoff. He is said to be behind multiple killings of police, migrant labor and civilians. It is believed that Riyaz's whereabouts was given away by competing unit known as TRF (The resistance front).

Riyaz Naikoo was a popular terrorist leader in the Valley and was a magnet in attracting youth. Similar to Burhan Wani he was promoting gun culture and was hurting Indian forces. Hence it was important that he be arrested or eliminated. This is a body blow to the Hizb agenda in the Valley. Hizb earlier lost Burhan Wani, Mohammed Itoo who were leading this terror outfit in India.

The Hizbul Mujahideen or HM,was formed in 1989. It was founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar who hails from the valley/ It is said that it is the military wing of Jammat-e-islami which has its head quarters in Pakistan. It has presence in the valley since 1989 and is one of the oldest terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. The Hizb played a key role in ensuring that pandits do not return to the valley calling them Hindu agents.The group is currently headed by the wicked Syed Salahuddin who is based in Paksitan (POK).

Syed Salahuddin who hails from the budgam in the Kashmir valley contested as an MLA and lost and later took up militancy in 1989. He fights for integration on JK with Paksitan. He operates out of POK and has vicious hatred towards India. He frequently travels to Lahore and other cities in Pakistan and addresses large gatherings. Pakistan calls him a "freedom fighter ".

Syed Salahuddin's family happily lives in Soibugh, Budgum. He has five sons and 2 daughters. 4 of his sons are government employees. It is said he is in touch with his family through various NGOs etc.

"In 2017 the US Department of State has designated Syed Salahuddin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a consequence of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin's property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction are blocked "

With the elimination of Riyaz Nikoo Hizb temporarily is down. The killing of Col. Ashutosh, Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rakesh Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Singh and Sub-Inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police Shakeel Qazi was a blow to the forces. Response has been strong and immediate which should send message to all militants who are crossing the border. Jai Hind.

Targettig of Hindu Vegetable vendors

2020-05-05T03:28:00.002-07:00

The ongoing COVID is creating new social issues. The most recent being targeting Hindu vegetable vendors for having planted saffron flags (bhagwa) on their selling carts. These vendors are doing a very practical thing of ensuring the buyers identify them as different. These vendors are aware of the happenings around and are using the flag as a competitive advantage. There may be ethical issues in this but that is for another day. The current issue is a result of news about Tablighis and some Muslim vendors spitting on vegetables, fruits and currency with an alleged purpose of infecting the larger society. Some of these may be partially true, blown out of proportion etc but some of these things did happen. Attacks and spitting on police forces in mohallahs is also adding weight to the story. There is enough evidence of these attacks on social media.

Lots of social media activity on the above is suddenly bringing awareness all around and Hindu vendors obviously being sensitive to the issue are trying to differentiate themselves. The issue came into light when police in Nizamabad( Telangana) removed flags from Hindu vendors and also booked cases. The local MP came out strongly and defended the rights of the vendors to plant a bhagwa since it is their belief. He rightly pointed out that they are protected under article 25 of the constitution which gives right to profess one's beliefs. We have seen many such instances in other states and it is now spreading fast across. It is no one's case that this should happen. It is simply the case of lack of leadership in the Muslim community. Not a soul condemned the behavior of the Tablighis.

Media all over is questioning Hindu vendors since we are "secular" state. But no one is coming forward to ask the hard questions to the Muslim leadership on the behavior of the Tablighis, in spreading the virus and attacking doctors and nurses. Behavior of the some vendors and distribution of such videos on social media with a view to scare certain sections of the population. The police in their eagerness and lack of understanding of the law are harassing the Hindu vendors and threatening to file cases.

The current situation should be seen as a continuation of the events since article 370, CAA, JNU, Shaheen bagh, Delhi riots, Tablighi, attacking hindus in Gulf, etc. There is a clear attempt to malign India, make it look bad in the international community and destabilize.

Yogi takes his own path

2020-04-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Yogi Adiyanath on March 20th became the first BJP Chief Minister of UP to complete 3 years in office. When he first took oath people felt that Modi has appointed one more of his version but with saffron robes. While the BJP/RW supporters felt it was a great choice the other side announced that UP will be finished due to the supposedly communal appointment. They prophesized that there will be communal riots, law and order break down, no development etc.

3 years on Yogi has turned to be a man of his own. While still under the shadow of PM Modi he is creating his own brand/image. His welfare and development policies, honest actions (does what he says), excellent communication skills and agility (swiftness in thinking) is definitely positioning him for the top leadership position in the future. He has made himself acceptable to the country with his all-round performance. Every decision of his has an element of surprise. Even in the case of COVID directives from the central government Yogi has modified directives in the way it suits his execution plan.

Uttar Pradesh which has the highest density of population in the country poses a serious challenge in tackling Corona. With about 970 cases as of April 18th seems to be in control of the situation. Yogi’s actions since lock down are commendable for he took care of people welfare, creating jobs through MNREG in agriculture sector and at the same time empowering police to drive law and order.

His decision last week of moving 7000 students from Kota, Rajasthan to their home state took every one by surprise. Apparently there was online activity by these students asking for help and here comes the help. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar comments looked sheepish. He should have kept quiet if he could not take his state students back. Of course there is an element of risk in Yogi’s action but he is clear in his mind that risk taken is better under the circumstances. There is as much risk of contracting the virus in a cramped hostel room.

His action of moving migrant UP labor from Anand Vihar was timely and shows his quick thinking. AAP govt in Delhi could not provide food and shelter to these labor who were left to fend for themselves. Though there was blame game it was clear APP govt did not get points for the poor handling of this issue.

His promise of delivering vegetables, milk and essentials to 23cr people at their door steps shows his ability to scale and at the same time taking stringent actions against violators shows his determination to be in control of the situation. The Moradabad incident on April 16th where there was stone pelting on health workers, 17 were arrested including Seven Women on the same day after a 3 am hearing. Don’t mess with this man. If India needs clean up it should start from UP and we have the right man there.

Is India flattening the COVID-19 curve

2020-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Is India flattening the COVID-19 curve
Different countries are taking different strategies to address the Corona pandemic. India with its meagre resources in Medical Infra, Health care Professionals and Cash has chosen a “flattening the curve” approach to slow down the spread of the pandemic. This approach basically delays the spread of the virus ensuring that large numbers don’t get sick at the same time. Prime Minister has been proactive in giving this message to the people of the country. On multiple occasions he stressed the importance of social distancing as a key measure in tackling the spread. He in fact walking the talk by through his spaced-out cabinet meetings and through Video conferences.
Proactive measures taken by India are proving to be effective in flattening the curve –
• Isolation ( for suspect cases – 14 days )
• Sec 144 or no gathering of people
• Closing of educational institutions
• Social distancing – 6 ft
• Quarantine for positive cases
• Working from home
These measures have been appreciated by the WHO and India should adhere to this strategy.

A rapid “doubling rate” can spell big trouble, as even countries with advanced healthcare systems can become overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases. Image: Drew Harris, CDC
Source -https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/covid19-coronavirus-countries-infection-trajectory/

India is an early starter in imposing COVID-19 related travel restrictions. This has led to huge positives since many foreign returnees from Europe and US turned out to be carries.
1. Ban on domestic and international arrivals Mar 23rd
2. Ban on Rail travels since Mar 23rd
3. Ban on Inter state and Intra state bus travels
4. Band on public gatherings etc
By doing so India has contained people to people transmission quiet drastically. The Prime Minister more than any other world leader has used his personal image in rallying the nation and its people to come together on two occasions 1. Clapping/applauding to recognize the services of the Medical professionals 2. Lighting lamps to show solidarity, these are symbolic events to rally human energy to defeat a common enemy.
Countries which took partial steps in clamping down travel and social restrictions are faring badly – UK, US and Spain. Singapore delayed foreign travel restrictions and has now imposed ban due to rising cases. Look at the economist view of how strict government actions is slowing down virus spread.

credit : economist

The below trend for India as of 6th April,2020 which is the 14th day of lockdown ( 4000+ cases). The trajectory seems not indicating any plateau as of now, but one needs to wait. Popular wisdom is India has not yet peaked and it may flatten after 10,000 cases. The Tablighi issue has contributed to at least 30% of these cases . The other question is will increased testing also increase daily growth of cases drastically ?

Critics tried to make the social initiatives taken by the PM a laughing matter. One of the southern film stars Kamal Hasan wrote a public letter to the PM criticizing his approach in tacking COVID-19, it was a poorly drafted letter without any new ideas to share. The congress party chief also tried to poke holes in the strategy but was slammed all-round. Ramchandra Guha, Shashi Tharoor, Omar Abdullah etc are active in trying to bring down the PM but the general public are in agreement with the overall approach.
Unfortunately, due to lack of a sure cure medicine countries are trying various methods and the best non-medical intervention seems to be stay safe – practice social distancing, wash hands frequently, wear gloves and masks. Indian government has done a good job in propagating this message.
True testing in India the lowest per capita and hence critics say the true infected numbers are not showing up. If that be so we should see patients lining up hospitals with cough, flu or other symptoms. That is not happening. Assuming this theory is right we should see India’s, trajectory steepen in the coming days with increased testing. We need to wait and watch on this. My guess is it will be a steady growth to 10,000 rather than a steep jump.
Migrant labor issue is a big problem but to the credit of most Chief Ministers they have put in resources to manage the crisis well. The national capital witnessed migrant issue due to the cynical politics played by AAP, their intention of hurting UP CM Yogi Adityanath backfired since he proved to be a better administrator. He overnight cleared up all migrant labor and send them to safe houses.
The immediate concern is the Tablighi visitors who have spread across India and are causing havoc in the country. Identification, isolation and quarantining these Markaz participants and also the people they go in touch with is of utmost importance to control the pandemic in India.
The way Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,UP and Telangana which are top states in terms of number of cases handle the curtailment of the spread of virus will determine India’s success in tackling Corona. Mind you these are also the states which have many Markaz participants and these governments have launched a mammoth effort to round them up.

Leadership challenges at the time of Covid-19

2020-04-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

The world is enveloped in COVID-19, some developed nations are at the risk of declaring themselves bankrupt. Italy, Iran and Spain for sure are in trouble with many other countries if action is not taken sooner and effectively. The deaths caused by the virus are unprecedented and unseen in recent human history. This is a terrible jolt to the humanity as a whole. The virus has spread to all countries except Antarctica.

Want the latest on any country check - https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/iran/

World leaders are responding to the Corona situation based on their own understanding of the virus and its potential impact on their economies and scalability of their health care systems. Most countries are sourcing a variety of health care aids, suits, masks, gloves, hydroxychloroquine etc to respond to this challenge. It is fair to say no country is up to face this challenge on its own.

Chinese leadership as expected kept the virus a secret till the issue went out of hand. They managed to get it under control through heavy measures against their citizens, they also kept key information away from the world. The Chinese wall against information sharing shifted the problem to the rest of the world. Their public servants kept giving incorrect numbers to their own government and to the world. Transparency and China do not go together. It is a repeat of their failure in handling SARS, Bird flu epidemics. Meanwhile they let many travelers in and out of Wuhan for weeks after the virus was detected. One estimate says 5 million people moved in and out of Wuhan before they locked it down. As of April 3rd we are hearing that there are 3 more deaths related to Corona in Wuhan. China is not yet out of woods and their leadership is in trouble. There are reports that some CPC members are unhappy with Xi Jinping and some letters are doing rounds asking to unseat him. One can say the Chinese have failed their people and the world in providing leadership in managing a critical health scare.

Italy has one of the worlds best health systems but Corona showed that health care infrastructure could not meet up the challenge. Italy is currently in a lock down and is expected to open up in April some time. The northern regions of the country Lombardy etc have been most affected by the outbreak. 85% of infected patients are in the region which is home to 92% of deaths so far. But the virus has been confirmed in all 20 regions of the country. Italy's leadership responded to the challenge very quickly by banning flights from China but experts say that the virus may already have spread within the country. it is said that Italy's testing has been meticulous. Some quotes on Italys situation -

" These measures may have been undermined however as Flavia Riccardo, a researcher in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Italian National Institute of Health, told TIME that coronavirus could have been present in Italy before the first cases were diagnosed. Riccardo said: ‘The virus had probably been circulating for quite some time.".

"Some have argued that Italy’s high proportion of elderly residents has been a factor, with Professor Massimo Galli, the director of infectious diseases at Sacco hospital in Milan, quoted in The Guardian as saying: ‘Italy is a country of old people.". Italy seems to just have a lot of bad luck too.

Iranian leadership already struggling under US sanctions messed up handling the Corono out break. Iranian leadership took their own time to respond to the situation and yielded to its clerics by not locking down major religious sites which were at the epicenter of the virus. These blunders have made Iran a major exporter of the virus. Already on a weak wicket due to sanctions Iran is struggling to get out of this challenge. Instead of seeking help Iranian spiritual head Ali Khameni is busy throwing abuses at the US. Iranian leadership was indecisive at a crucial time and helped spread the contagion within the country.
Read this article on Iran -
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/03/iran-used-to-be-better-at-handling-epidemics-then-came-coronavirus-119651

India's response to the Covid-19 challenge has been quick and decisive. Though the peak is yet to be seen the measures taken by the government in declaring quarantine measures, People's curfew and a 3 week naionwide lock down seem to be working. The country's leadership deeply aware of the fragile healthcare infrastructure put emphasis on stopping the virus spreading through strict social distancing measures etc. A fine example of leadership under pressure the country's Prime Minister is rallying the population to come together to face the challenge. Though the economic impact of the lock down is devastating the more serious health care threat had to addressed first. Read this article on India's response -
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/indias-response-to-covid-19-has-been-pre-emptive-pro-active-roderico-ofrin-who/articleshow/74907802.cms

US is now the leader with the maximum number of infection cases. Its response led by President Trump is confusing. Trump hates markets going down, he measures his success with Dow and Nasdaq going up and up. He is finding it frustrating that he needs to take hard steps like lockdowns etc which will impact businesses. He continues to waver. Leadership is being provided by New York Gov Andrew Cuomo and California Gov Gavin Newsom. Both of them are taking the issue head on and steering their states towards safety. Meanwhile President Trump with his eyes on the November election perhaps for once and at a most important time of his presidency is indecisive.

The response of the Spanish leadership the Covid challenge is said to be cavalier. The leadership responded late and clumsily - read this - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/spain-coronavirus-response-analysis

China and its virus problem

2020-03-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

The world is realizing now but an Indian looks anything related to China with skepticism. Some of this stems from the 1962 war, the Chinese occupation of Aksai chin and Chinese occupation of Shaksam valley( gifted by Pakistan). Most Indians hate that Tibet is occupied by China and Indian leadership at that time kept quiet when the Chinese occupied Tibet. Tibet was a buffer between India and China and with its occupation India lost a natural defense. Ask any Indian foreign services officer to know about the Chinese deceit.

A closed country with authoritarian rule China is still a hard nut to crack for the world. China's growth statistics, financial markets etc are opaque. Any sort of dissidence is punished severely. Many warriors of democracy are rotting in Chinese jails. Even President Trump with all his threats to China surrendered to it on the trade deal. Chinese grip on the US market is scary. Pretty much everything in US stores is Chinese made.
Listen to Senator Marc Rubio on the threat Chinese pose to US economy and innovation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiRAW66wdV0&t=1130s.

China under Xi Jinping is even bigger threat. Having appointed himself as President for life or some thing like that Xi is busy expanding Chinese influence across the world. Xi is positioning Chinas a superpower and is trying to take US and Russia head on.The easiest victims to fall under this baleful Chinese influence are the poorer nations, Srilanka, Pakistan and many sub Saharan African countries. Pakistan is in fact an extended province of China. Pakistan leadership surrendered to the Chinese completely.

Even though the country is authoritarian corruption in the government and private sector is deep. The 2008 Chinese milk scandal raised concerns about food safety and political corruption in China. The political appointees are known to exploit the poor and are extremely corrupt. The central party often cleans up the hierarchy of any dissidence and dare anyone talk about democracy.

Virus originating from China is not new, In 1997 there was bird flu H5N1 virus which made lot of Hongkong residents sick and many died. The origin is from mainland china. The Chinese govt denied about any spread from main land and obfuscated the truth.

In 2002 there was a global crisis about SARS which originated in China. " SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) originated in animals and made the leap from animal to human infection somewhere in the Guangdong province of China in late 2002. The condition was relatively contained for several months. During that time, the Chinese government failed to appropriately tackle the problem and the virus eventually spread elsewhere, leading to worldwide panic. By 2003, there were about 8,000 infected people worldwide and almost 800 SARS-related deaths [source: Medical News Today; NAID] - read the article here - https://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/infectious/sars-come-from.htm.

Currently we have the Corona virus spreading like wild fire across the globe. The origin Wuhan market china. The Chinese govt and WHO gave incorrect and incomplete information to the world about the nature and potential destructive nature of the virus. Today Corona is a global pandemic with deaths across the world. China is upset when people call it Chinese or Wuhan virus. Some countries are calling for war like reparations. Who will hold china culpable in this world wide human and economic destruction. It is time to stop the Chinese.

Read this on why Virus's keep originating from china - https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/27/bird-flu-sars-china-coronavirus-is-history-repeating-itself/

Views expressed above are personal

How to win during a down turn

2020-03-23T00:21:00.000-07:00

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is throwing the global economy out of gear. It has already disrupted the global supply chains and it will take time for global trade to come back. For global economy to comeback first the contagion has to be stopped at the same time a medical cure has to be found. Remember this situation is a global health crisis and not financial crisis. However global markets respond to events which disrupt economic activities and hence we are seeing this world wide carnage on stock markets. On an average Indian markets are down by 30% in a month. Similar is the case with other global indices. The current event is shocking since the markets crashed steeply in a short time. Investor confidence will be at its lowest.

This global crisis will impact growth of global economy which will finally impact individuals directly. Jobs will be at stake.In general an economic recession is bad news for jobs. Typically plants are shut down and production slowed, demand for services will fall, companies will not invest in new products there will be wage cuts and all sorts of cuts. Coming from an IT services space i have seen the impact of economic disruptions in the years 2000, 2008 and potentially now in 2020.

While a recession is not yet announced top economists have declared that the world is in recession prior to Covid-19.

The question on top of every one's mind is how to save his/her job. The cut can be on anyone, economic distress does not choose people it will be arbitrary - high cost, low cost, poor performer, some times top performer,location based or any other parameter. Companies resort to layoffs or trimming staff due to - 1. reduced customer demand 2. customers cutting down on projects 3. customers postponing projects etc.

How does one get ready for a possible recession-

1. The good days are over be regular to work

2. Ensure you are in a relevant role - line function - you must be in a billable role

3. If you are not in a billable role get into one

4. Improve your productivity

5. Make your work visible to your managers and above

6. Don't panic learn new technologies - remember economy will bounce back and clients will invest in new tech always

7. Be proactive in taking up new responsibilities

8. Pay off your credit card bills and save cash

9. Cut down expenditure

10. Work with your bank on reducing EMIs in worst case

11. Be a good learner and respond to taking up different roles

12. Work with your clients and share ideas on improving efficiency of their business, understand their pain and share business solutions

The views expressed are personal.

CAA and the conspiracy to destabilize India

2020-03-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 has been passed by the Lok Sabha on 9 December 2019. The bill proposes to give Indian citizenship to illegal migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan from those belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities. The bill provides a path for providing Indian citizenship to these undocumented individuals who have been living in India for decades

At its core this bill is giving Indian citizenship to these 6 communities for having been persecuted in those countries due to the religion they practice. These communities since independence were “forced or compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion”. The bill also aims to protect such people from proceedings of illegal migration.

Cut-off date for Indian Citizenship

The act provides for providing Indian citizenship to all illegal immigrants belonging to the 6 communities who are in the country on or before December 31st, 2014.

The Act also reduced the time period of stay in India for these 6 communities from 12 years to 6 years to qualify for obtaining Indian citizenship.

Who are excluded

Even though there are sections within Muslim community ( Ahmedia’s, Shias) who are persecuted in these countries they have been excluded from the ambit of CAA, it is reasoned that they can choose from one of the many other Islamic nations to seek refuge. The government clearly says that all these communities can apply from Indian citizenship through regular route.

What about Northeast

CAA is not applicable to the areas notified under the sixth schedule of the constitution. These are the tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The CAA bill will also not apply to states that have the inner-line permit system (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram). CAA covers large parts of Assam. Assamese are protesting about impact to their cultural and linguistic heritage due to regularization of Bengali Hindus migrants from Bangladesh.

The opposition is protesting against bill since it believes that by excluding Muslims the bill is violating article 14 of the constitution ( right to equality of all persons) and that the bill gives preferential treatment to other groups. The opposition and the left cannot accept that Hindus can be a persecuted minority, their definition of minority ends with Muslims.

Obviously, there were organized protests across non-BJP states and attempt made to mount pressure on the government to withdraw the bill. Infact CAA was used by the opposition, left intellectuals and some media houses to tarnish India in the global stage. NYT, Washington Post and other media houses carried out articles penned by Indian authors. Democrat Congress woman Pramila Jaypal is leading the anti India brigade and is moving motions with respect to detentions in JK and giving statements on CAA. Overall a concerted effort is on to pull down India and make life difficult for PM Modi.

JNU, Marxists and agitations -

JNU was established in 1969 by an act of the parliament. Over the years JNU has turned more into a political and ideological theatre than an academic institute of excellence. Today JNU is in the grip of unruly extreme left Marxist crowd. Their only job is to live off on public money and agitate on everything the government proposes. JNU historically is in the grip of left of center student unions but center right student bodies are posing a challenge to this hegemony and hence we see lot of friction on the campus.

Since the elevation of Modi as the prime minister in 2014 JNU has become hyper active. In 2015 they agitated against so called saffronization of education when attempt was made to include Indian culture in curriculum. In 2016 Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid were booked under sedition charges when they organized an event against hangings of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru. The Delhi government after much dilly dallying recently gave permission to try them under sedition act.

Early this year JNU students agitated against fee hike in the University ( The university fee for hostel, tuition are abysmally low) . One more Jihadi leader from JNU Sharjeel Imam was recently booked under sedition act for inflammatory speeches in Shaheen bhag, he is one of the initial organizers of the Shaheen bhag blockade. JNU has become a hub for anti-national activities and is used by the Congress and Left parties to challenge the government.

The Shaeen bagh conspiracy –

This is a big one and a detailed investigation on the movers and shakers will reveal the real motive and drive behind this drama.

Shaheen bhag has turned into a major hub of anti- CAA agitations. It was occupied predominantly by Muslim women for over 2 months.

On December 14, people started gathering at Shaheen Bagh near Jamia Millia Islamia to oppose CAA and NRC. The protestors included women and children. This protest was completely taken over by left related bodies, Islamists, intellectuals and students. These protestors put barricades and other obstacles causing road blockages and traffic congestions.

Shaheen bhag was a god give gift to the left intellectuals. They fully used the occasion to spread their hatred towards an elected Prime Minister. The protestors had regular visitors from left intelligentsia who delivered divisive speeches and roused passions. The women claim they were there to defend the constitution and right to equality. They were blissfully unaware that the CAA/NRC against which they are protesting is not applicable to them. They were fed by community kitchens organized by various Left groups. Slogans, songs, shouts of democracy and anti-India slogans filled their days and nights. For Intellectuals like Ramachandra Guha, Javed Akhtar and others Shaheen bhag was a great opportunity to further their agenda of lies and polarize the society.

Infact one of the intellectual Arundhathi Roy declared that Muslim community members should lie about their names and addresses when they are asked by the officials. “Kaagaz nahi Dikhayenge” was the slogan. All these protestors gleefully showed their Kaagaz and voted enmasse apparently for the AAP in the recently held Delhi elections. .

The media ( NDTV type partisans kept harping that the protests were spontaneous and the there is not political affiliation. Karan Thapar said that protesters are trying to save the idea of India. He however did not answer why there were flags of DMK, Muslim League, Bhim Army flags seen in the protests? Who was sponsoring the protests, who was providing the food , transport and who spent money on the PR ?

While the protests were supposed to be to exercise democratic rights to reject CAA, the widespread arson and loss of public property in West Bengal, Assam and other states indicates the mind set of the protestors. Their minds polluted by the information fed by left intelligentsia and actions like throwing stones, burning buses etc indicate a complete melt down of the moral high ground they have taken. The UP chief ministers stand of recovering money from the protestors who indulged in arson is laudable. He is really taking the fight back to the arsonists.

The shaheen bagh gathering also had a victim in the death of a 4 month old infant. The mother Nazia who used to the bring the infant to the protests claimed the infant died due to catching cold. The father Arif blamed the government for his child’s death. Photos of the dead infant were used by the protestors to exploit public emotions. This is the lowest point in the protests. Infact the SC asked “Had four-month-old child gone to Shaheen Bagh to protest “.

Shaheen bagh also witnessed events like “ Artists against communalism” and more such drama. All such paragons of democracy strongly objected to progressive bills like triple talaq, abrogation of article 370 etc. They ended up further strengthening the Islamic identity of the protestors not democracy.

Meanwhile the ED has unearthed links between PFI and Shaheen bagh protests. As much as 120 crores has been deposited in cash in about 73 accounts of” PFI. The ED has questioned PFI Delhi head Mohammed Parvez Ahmed and is trying to establish links between PFI, Aaa Admi Party and other antI-CAA organizations.

In a sting operation conducted by Republic TV Republic TV, Sharjeel Imam one of the initial promoters of the Shaheen bagh protests by his own admission accepted that the protests and road-blocking incidents were all conducted to attract attention from 'western media'.

The CAA has shaken the intellectuals so much that one ‘eminent historian’ Irfan Habib heckled and disrupted the speech of Gov on Kerala – Arif Mohammad Khan when he was answering questions in the Indian History congress event in Kerala.

Meanwhile the world is stuck with Covid-19 and our protestors in Shaheen bagh are not getting the media attention and visitors and they are now deciding their next steps. I am sure good sense will prevail and they will all go home safe.

Sufis were no saints - by Sandeep Balakrishna

2020-03-16T09:46:00.002-07:00

History Vignettes
What the Sufis Really Said: In Their Own Words
By Sandeep Balakrishna
March 13, 2020 at 1:57 PM

One of the more enduring myths…actually a dense blanket of wool, which over the last century, has invaded the minds of and partially blinded the cultural and civilisational vision of Sanatanis is a hoax called sufism and variants thereof. It has been one of the more lasting successes of the Original Hoax: the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. As with such cases, it is the Hindus who have, and who continue to gorge on it like it’s some spiritual version of eating copious kilograms of Haleem. This class of Hindus have even adopted the annual ritual pilgrimage to the Ajmer Dargah with a piety that would surprise the arch bigot and cow-slaughterer Moinuddin Chishti. Few can equal the feverish enthusiasm of such Hindus for self-inflicted, gruesome halaldom.

Also Read: The Civilisational Wound and the Cultural Hoax Called Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb
Then there’s the other class of Hindus, naïve and genuine in their stainless faith in the Unqualified Paramatman who takes on infinite forms. This faith is towards inexpressible sanctity as both the means and an end in and by itself, most visible in their Tirtha-Yatras, Pushakaras, Kumbh Mela, etc. It is this that makes the Sanatana culture unparalleled. And it is precisely this that the snake-oil salesmen of a ghostly cult have exploited with great success most notably in Tamil Nadu . Sufism is merely a softcore version of the same ghostly cultish tactics only with a far longer history in Bharatavarsha.

Reality of the Sufis
Yet, not everybody were fooled from that period in history till the present day as well. The history of the Sufi cult simply doesn’t tally with their tall and phoney claims to being something akin to the Hindu Yogic Sampradayas, for example. The biggest evidence for this phoniness are the words of the Sufis themselves: copious amounts of oral and written accounts. The cloak of reclusiveness and piety of Sufis did prove an effective subterfuge that hid their bloodthirsty fanaticism from the public eye. However, history shows that almost without exception the more renowned Sufis acted in these capacities, both singly and a varying mix of the following:
1. As reconnoitring agents in powerful Hindu kingdoms. Most notably, the early Sufis with their garb of wandering mystics, implanted themselves in the Chalukya kingdom[i] of Gujarat and from its sprawling coastline, sent intelligence to sultans in foreign lands whose invasion they eagerly awaited.
2. As spiritual and theological advisors to various Muslim kings in the medieval era.
3. As a powerful, behind-the-scenes political power that had enormous influence over the nobility in the courts of these sultans.
4. As advocates of some of the most bigoted, cruel and oppressive measures against Kaffirs. Some of these Sufis whose Dargahs Hindus visit today were instrumental in passing some of the most appalling and savage “laws” so that these Kaffirs could be more effectively persecuted in peacetime.

Also Read: Why Sita Ram Goel's Challenge Became a Nightmare for Marxist Historians
The inimitable Sita Ram Goel—whose presence the Sanatana civilization misses so deeply in these troubled times—provides perhaps the most accurate backdrop to the topic, characteristically, mincing no words.
When the armies of Islam rode roughshod over the Hindu homeland, the swordsman of Islam was very likely to relax and retreat from callous carnage after some time. He was likely to get satiated after the first few rounds of slaughter and pillage, or feel some sympathy for fellow human beings, or balk at the destruction of beautiful temples and monasteries, or turn away from burning the sacred and secular literature of non-Muslims, or acquire respect for the spirituality and culture of a people who had behaved so differently from his own comrades-in-arms. It was the Mullah and the Sufi who would not let him relax. They threatened him with hell if he tried to turn away from the work assigned by Allah.

Blood-soaked Literature Abusing Infidel Hindus
Without further ado, let’s look at some quick examples of their pious words. For those wishing to do deeper research on this topic, a list of reading material has been provided in the Reference section at the end of this essay.
Credit for compiling most of the Sufi literature available in India till the mid 18th century goes to the unvarnished bigot, Shah Waliullah Dehalwi who is shamelessly described in our textbooks as a “reformer.” After the Mughal empire sputtered to a quick extinction after Aurangzeb’s death, Waliullah began writing anxious, frenetic letters to Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India and reestablish the might of The Only True Faith here. The Wikipedia entry on this Hanafi fanatic is a classic model of whitewashing. The late Sri H.V. Seshadri’s classic work, The Tragic Story of Partition has a valuable account of Waliullah’s appalling mindset and even more horrific writing.
Between the mid-14th century up to the 18th century, an inordinate number of madrasas and khanqahs spurted all over, including southern India and quickly became the centres from where Sufis wrote and disseminated copious tracts of piety. There was nothing spiritual about their piety. We turn to Sita Ram Goel again for a sample:
Many Hindus have been misled, mostly by their own soft-headed scholars, to cherish the fond belief that the Sufis were spiritual seekers, and that unlike the Mullahs, they loved Hindu religious lore and liked their Hindu neighbours. The Chishtiyya Sufis in particular have been chosen for such fulsome praise.

Chishtiyya, derived from its founder, Moinuddin Chisthi of the Ajmer dargah fame. This is what a Muslim scholar writes about Chisthi the pious Sufi:
In Indian Sufism anti- Hindu polemics began with Muin al-din Chishti. Early Sufis in the Punjab and early Chishtis devoted themselves to the task of conversion on a large scale. Missionary activity slowed down under Nizam al-din Auliya, not because of any new concept of eclecticism, but because he held that the Hindus were generally excluded from grace and could not be easily converted to Islam unless they had the opportunity to be in the company of the Muslim saints for considerable time.

Chishti's Dargah

Here are some samples of the piety exuded by Ahmad Sirhindi, the great Sufi. (Emphasis added)
It is said that the Shariat prospers under the shadow of the sword (al-Shara‟ tahat al-saif). And the glory of the holy Shariat depends on the kings of Islam.
Islam and infidelity (kufr) contradict one another. To establish the one means eradicating the other, the coming together of these contradictories being impossible…The glory…consists in the humiliation and degradation of infidels and infidelity. He who honours the infidels, insults Islam. Honouring (the infidels) does not mean that they are accorded dignity, and made to sit in high places. It means allowing them to be in our company, to sit with them, and talk to them. They should be kept away like dogs.
The abolition of jizyah in Hindustan is a result of friendship which (Hindus) have acquired with the rulers of this land. What right have the rulers to stop exacting jizyah?
If the infidels pray, they will surely seek the intercession of their idols, which is taking things too far. A wise man has said that unless you become a maniac (dîwãnah) you cannot attain Islam.
Ram and Krishna whom Hindus worship are insignificant creatures, and have been begotten by their parents. Ram could not protect his wife whom Ravan took away by force. How can he (Ram) help others?
Before that kãfir [the extraorindary sacrifice of the Sikh Guru Arjun Deva] was executed this recluse [meaning Ahmad Sirhindi] had seen in a dream that the reigning king had smashed the skull of idolatry. Indeed, he was a great idolater, and the leader of the idolaters, and the chief of unbelievers. May Allah blast him!

Also Read: The Concept of Širk: What it Meant Before the Advent of Islam
For fuller details of such gems, please consult the source work given in the References section. Next, we have some more gems from the selfsame Shah Waliullah from whom “Sir” Syed Ahmad Khan took great inspiration. The following are some excerpts from Waliullah’s letter to the Afghan savage, Ahmad Shah Abdali who he invites to invade Hindustan in order to reestablish the might of Islam.
The presence of the kings of Islam is a great blessing from Allah… Every (Muslim) king got mosques erected in his territory, and created madrasas. Muslims of Arabia and Ajam (non-Arab Muslim lands) migrated from their own lands and arrived in these territories. They became agents for the publicity and spread of Islam here. Up till now their descendants are firm in the ways of Islam… [Now] the country of Hindustan has passed under the power of non-Muslims. In this age, except your majesty, there is no other king who is powerful and great, who can defeat the enemies, and who is farsighted and experienced in war. It is your majesty’s bounden duty (farz-i-ain) to invade Hindustan, to destroy the power of the Marhatahs, and to free the down-and-out Muslims from the clutches of non-Muslims. Allah forbid, if the power of the infidels remains in its present position, Muslims will renounce Islam… May you acquire plunder beyond measure, and may the Muslims be freed from the stranglehold of the infidels.
This is just a fraction of a whole body of such Sufi literature, which drips with the choicest obscenities against the infidel Hindus and their religion of darkness. Shah Waliullah’s swearwords against Hindus are especially noteworthy for the level of violence they contain. He singles out the Marathas, the Jats and the Sikhs for this “special treatment.”
In our own time, even well-meaning Hindus need to read these horrific accounts before trying to equate Sufism with Yogic schools. And stop blindly praising the “mystic” Sufi “music” or whatever.
References
Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them: Volumes 1 & 2: Sita Ram Goel
Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences: Sita Ram Goel
The Tragic Story of Partition: H.V. Seshadri
Muslim Revivalist Movements in Northern India in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: S.A.A. Rizvi
Maktûbãt-i-Imãm Rabbãnî: Ahmad Sirhindi
Shãh Walîullah Dehlvî ke Siyãsî Maktûbãt: K.A. Nizami
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The Rohingya Problem

2019-08-10T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Rohingya Muslims, who fled Myanmar due to persecution by the Mynamar army have fled to Bangladesh, India and other south Asian countries. In India, they have settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan. The Myanmar govt does not recognize Rohingya’s as citizens and accuses them of seeking to create a Muslim state and also spreading terror.
In the south of India it is not surprising that Hyderabad is a natural place of asylum for the Rohingya’s, the city with its large Muslim population and culture is seen as a safe habitat. While official records talk about 14,000 Rohingya’s across India, unofficially the number is close to 40,000. Hyderabad is said to have at least 5000 of them. The city is also home to many Bangladeshi illegal migrants as well.
In the city of Hyderabad, the Rohingya’s are settled around Balapur. A few of them have refugee status and most are illegal migrants. They largely receive lot of support from NGOs and local residents. These NGOs register the details of the refugees and also coordinate with the police, UN agencies and provide them with help to settle. Some of them live in rent free tents and others in rented tents. The current
Politics –
AIMIM practices aggressive Muslim politics and has complete control over the old part of the city and its residents. With a pliant TRS as its ally there is no one to keep a check on the happenings in the old city. Despite past instances of tracking terror networks to the city there is fierce resistance to any mention of terror links to old city. MIM has an interest in ensuring that the Rohingya’s are taken care. Rohingya’s are their future vote banks. Owaisi said in 2017- “"As far as my party is concerned, we are of the firm opinion that the Rohingya issue should not be looked as a Muslim issue. It is a humanitarian issue,". He means Rohingya’s are Muslims don’t touch them.
Apart from the MIM rest like the Cong, TRS, TDP, MBT and others oppose deportation of the Rohingya’s on humanitarian grounds. Clearly their mind is on the Muslim vote.

What do Rohingya’s do –
Most of these illegal immigrants work as labour, construction, scrap collection, domestic maids etc. They live on meagre wages and some local support. They are exploited since they are illegal and paid half the wages Their children are sent to local schools. Their living conditions are miserable.
Security threat -
It is well known that Rohingya’s are actively trying to acquire PAN card, Aadhar card etc by illegal means. Some of them have been caught doing so. There is sufficient help from some of the NGOs in this illegal activity.
That they can be a potential security threat is well recorded. Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, the Harkat-al Yaqin, the Arakan Rohingya and Salvation Army (ARSA) are some of the organizations created to establish an independent Muslim state. There are also reports that Pak based terrorist organizations and Middle east based Muslim organizations are providing material help to the above.
There is little doubt that Rohingya youth are easy prey to fundamentalist groups and pose a grave threat to India’s security. Hyderabad has been in the news for wrong reasons in the past with respect to some terror incidents. The current government rejects them as allegations but there is no doubt they are going soft on suspects and illegals due to political compulsions.
There is also no doubt that many of the illegal immigrants would have moved out of the shanties and are trying to integrate into the larger society and will eventually claim to be citizens. Here is where the proposed NRC may prove useful. NRC will raise the political heat but is needed given the spread of the Bangladeshi and Rohingya’s into the country.

Legal position –
India has also not been a signatory of the 1951 UN Convention or the 1967 Protocol - both relating to the Status of Refugees and included in the UNHCR statute.
The government has told the SC that Rohingya’s are a security threat and wanted them to be deported. It has in its affidavit to the court said that some Rohingya’s with militant background are active in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jammu, Mewat.
UNHCR, Amnesty International and others are putting pressure on India to not deport the Rohingya’s as they are persecuted and are seeking a humanitarian approach. To its credit the government did not bow to international pressure and maintains a stance that it is going to deport all of them. Government has taken steps to collect biometrics of Rohingya’s so that they can be sent back to Myanmar.
India is facing multiple threats from various sources (Pakistan, NE and Left wing) and cannot afford to face one more front in this war against terror. Hence it is crucial that the Rohingya’s in India are counted, documented, tracked and at the right time deported to their country. India has till now deported all of 7 Rohingya’s with great difficulty and faced International condemnation for doing so. A lot needs to be done and quickly before the government can even track the Rohingyas.

Modi wins Trust

2019-05-23T04:49:00.001-07:00

‘India wins yet again’, tweets PM Modi - 23/05/2019

The tweet says it all. Here is a man who dedicates everything to the country. Nothing for self all for the people.
The people of the country completely understand this man's commitment to the cause of India and the results are there to see. This is a vote of trust.

For the people trust is gained through delivery of services. Toilets, homes, Ujwala, Ujala, Last mile electric connections, PM Kisan and more. Each of this service hit the beneficiary. Tangible benefits build trust. The voter listened to everyone and decided that the man who delivered is trustworthy than a man whose party promised NYAY for 60 years and did little.

They trusted him despite demonetization, which was supposed to have caused difficulties to all. They trusted him on GST which had impact on businesses in the short to medium term. They trusted him when he said there is no wrong doing in Rafale. Chowkidar Chor jibe did not stick. People infact felt opposition was besmirching an honest person. They trusted him in all his decisions since they saw honesty in each of his actions. The opposition missed the point on trust. For them trust can be purchased by peddling lies. It was not to be the people turned out to be smarter than the entire opposition.

The people of the country know he has built a stronger India than it was in 2014. They did not forget Doklam, Uri or Balakaot. Here is India finally shrugging of its shyness to show its might on the world platform. People like their country to be strong. They saw the misplaced pacifism of the congress with Pakistan and China. They enjoyed the moments when India secured wins in Uri and Balakot. They have seen the respect of their country grow in the league of nations. They saw a tireless man travelling all around to sell India. He made friends and positioned India as a nation that cannot be pushed away. They were pleased when china came around to declare Hafiz sayeed a terrorist. They attributed all these successes to Mr.Modi's work.

Modi the karma yogi did tapas in the last 5 years to change India. He pushed the bureaucracy, he pushed his colleagues to get things done. He knew time was short and he needs to prove. His politics is not old style. The opposition does not get it even now. Their only allegation is he is divisive, people do not agree. When he reached out with " man ki baat" to the people they mocked him. When he launched Swacch bharat they said he should be better things. When he made Yogi adityanath the CM of UP they criticized him as divisive and communal. They did read the killer instinct in the man.
The opposition damaged themselves asking for bodies in Balakot, they damaged their credibility with both the minority and majority communities by not supporting triple talaq (who is communal?), they damaged themselves crying foul on Rafale. Finally, they damaged themselves badly forming the Mahagatbandhan. People saw the crowd calling themselves as leaders and quietly voted for the man they loved.
Mr. Modi has his work cut out for his second term. I am sure he has plans in his mind and he will go about executing them with precision. I am sure these plans are as bold and daring (Ram mandir, 35 A etc). Meanwhile the opposition will be busy wasting their energies on faulty EVMs, calling for secular India etc etc. they should instead work and come back to the electorate on thier idea of India.

Here's wishing Mr.Modi an even greater success in his second term.

An unlikely alliance

2018-06-20T02:45:00.003-07:00

The termination of the PDP-BJP alliance is not surprising anyone. It was a marriage of convenience and was not expected to last the full term.

The PDP under Mehbooba was flirting with danger trying to appease the Huriyyat and calling for talks with Pakistan which is actively promoting cross border terrorism. She also lifted the cases against stone pelters and has been pushing for a softer approach towards handling terror. Obviosuly this has emboldened the Hurriyat and other hawks who are hell bent on breaking Kashmir from India. She has unwisely pushed for a ceasefire during the Ramadan season and the out come has been disastorous. Her policy of resettling Rohingyas in the Jammu region seems to be an effort to change the demographics of the region. The biggest failure of Mehbooba has been her inability to get the political action on the ground started. Her hobnobbing with the Huriyyat did not help her case.

The BJP on the other hand has been pushing for a muscular approach as its Kashmir policy. Purely in terms of eliminating terrorists it has acheived success with as many as 207 being eliminated but it has fell short on other things that people expected out of it. The Jammu region which voted for it in big numbers is obviosuly upset with it for not having addressed any of their concerns. Resettlment of Kashmiri pandits as an agenda has not started. Rohingyas refugees resettlement in the Jammu region is a big concern for them. Needless to say nothing has moved on article 370 and 35A.

The Governer's rule is a good opportunity to straighten things, first and foremost the Huriyyat has to be fixed. Thye had a free run for many years and this should stop. The NIA should complete the terror funding investigations on the Huriyyat and prosecute them. Under the Mehbooba regime the army was working with limitations, they should be given a free hand to deal with terrorists and their sympathisers.

The central government has given lot of funds to J&K for developmental works. Funds should now be fullly utilized to start projects and generate jobs for the youth. Recent issues like Kathua rape case should be investigated and the accused pusnished. There was no transparency in this case under the PDP regime.

The BJP has also work to do with respect to Pakistan. Diplomatic isolation can only achieve some results. We still have the MFN status with Pakistan why ? it should be terminated. Border trade is still on and is a big risk with infiltration possibiliites. India still has a dovish approach with Paksitan. What is the use of shouting that Pakistan is a rogue state while having trade and diplomatic relaitons with them. The Paksitan embassy in India is a spying center and should be clsoed. There should be muscularity in external affairs too.

There was one Special ops that was carried out on terror hang outs in 2016, why no such operation two years after the first one. Such strategies cant be one time events. India should get its act together and go for the kill against terror and restart the political process on the ground in the next year.

Third time Thrid Front

2018-03-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

With the 2019 elections nearing there is jostling in the oppositon to provide leadership to face off Modi and BJP. Telengana chief minister KCR has thrown his towel in the ring announcing his intent to provide leadership. He declared his interntions to lead the country. His son is waiting in the wings to take over the state and he has to make space.

KCR's party TRS went bonkers and the cadre celebrated his intent of providing leadership to the country boisterously. KCR called Mamata, Stalin etc and recieved support from them on the idea of third front. KCR claimed wide support for an anti-Modi group for 2019. He started the ground work and met Mamata. Its hard to read and manage Mamata, though she recieved KCR well and spent time with him she did not go to the town talking about thrid front as a great idea -means she is not convinced. The UP leaders Mayawati (BSP) and Akhilesh (SP) are notorious and will not do anything that will project a national leader other than themselves. Maywati sure nurtures the idea of being a PM, so does Mulayam perhaps his son Akhilesh too.

Sharad Pawar(NCP) is the master of the game and will not let an upstart like KCR to get away with ideas, Pawar started his own idea of a Third front and is meeting people. He may do a better job given his experience and National stature. Time will tell. The communists are nowhere and will join any front whcih will give them relevance and hope to live another day. TDP is quiet, Chandra Babu knows about the outcome so he is focussing on saving his seat in 2019. Shiv Sena despite rumblings will not endeavor into this kichidi front.

Third front in the Indian context is fraught with dangers. It is a battle for being the King of the forest.There are too many lions in the third front forest. It was attempted as National front under the leadership of V.P.Singh with an assortment of parties. The late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed it as a National affront which it ended as. They did a shabby job of running the country.

Then came the United Front in 1996, again an assorment of parties, H.D.Deve Gowda and I.K.Gujral were PM's in this miserable outing to run the country.

A bunch of parties with varied interests, diferent ideological moorings, hatred towards Congress and now BJP coming together to get power is what Third front is about. The last two outings were total disasters and there is no reason to believe why this one will not be. They may still form a a front time will what it will end up as.

KCR is under some pressure on his home turf with Congress giving a good fight. He pours vitriol on Congress on a daily basis and is scarred of Modi. He has two enemies to fight and so he is cleverly using the Third front plot to elevate himself as a National leader. His promise of Bangaru Telengana is now left for his son to achieve.

The Battle for Sanskrit – Rajiv Malhotra - in a 1000 words

2018-03-17T04:37:00.002-07:00

Rajiv Malhotra ji is a famous Indologist who is working tirelessly to defend Santana dharma and its traditions. He is leading from the front in providing a well-researched fight back to western Indologists on various topics concerning Hindu dharma. His latest work “The Battle for Sanskrit” talks about the sinister motives of the western institutions and scholars to disparage Sanskrit as a language and its influence on Bhartiya sanskriti. The beauty of Rajiv Malhotra’s writings is that he calls for discussions and debates on all areas of disagreements and not confrontation.

My attempt is to summarize the contents of the well-researched book in about a 1000 words, you should be able to read this in 10 mins. It is important for all us and those of Indian heritage to understand our selves better and become owners of our heritage –

• Indians have given away control of our language (in this case Sanskrit studies), culture and heritage to western institutions and individuals. No serious attempt by India, Indians or its institutions to establish seats of learning and research to protect and build our heritage. Through our neglect they became insiders (experts on our subjects) and we outsiders (trying to catch up to defend)

• Western scholars allege that Sanskrit was used a tool for political domination and suppression of masses, for many decades they spread such views in Indian universities and other channels to gain credibility. Indian traditionalists did not care to debate this point of view for a long time, did not create a platform to fight back the western interpretations of Sanskrit. We ignored them to our peril

• Western scholars with their limited understanding have brain washed a generation of Indians that our Vedic and other systems of knowledge are myths and non sensical

• Our scholars and teachers did not engage in Uttara paksha (debate) with these scholars and institutions to challenge their deductions. We ignored them for too long while they wrote tomes of analysis about our Sanskrit literature and hijacked our heritage. We are now ill equipped to fight back

• They incorrectly claim Sanskrit was used as political tool used for social abuse. This is due to their poor understanding of our heritage, but we never engaged them in a debate to correct their point of view

• We did not make them understand that Sanskrit was and is an integrated component of a Hindus life - Prayer, mantras, culture, built into our vernaculars and in many other areas of life. Though it is delayed it is our sacred duty now to protect and bring it back to life

• Western Indologists with a sinister motive deride Sanskrit propagating that it was used as a tool for social oppression, that it perpetuates elitism and that mantras and yagnas as meaningless. For us since ages it is an integrating factor

• Traditionalists argue there is no truth that Sanskrit was used as a tool for oppression and see it as a tool for liberation for all human beings. Traditionalists too are critical of any kind of social oppression and they do not see Sanskrit as the vehicle for the same

• Western scholars base their study and analysis on written texts, they believe oral traditions as unreliable, they also mischievously propagate that writing started in India after Buddhism came while the data shows a different truth

• Western scholars view Sanskrit as a foreign language brought to India by so called Aryans. They claim Sanskrit spread across Asia by kings for political purposes to wield control over public, for traditionalists it is an indigenous language which has played a major role in development of vernaculars and there was enrichment of both Sanskrit and vernaculars due to this

• Western scholars degrade shastras since they are derived from Vedas and hence they assume they carry the limitations of the source (lack creativity), they believe kavyas have some originality since they have some creative freedom, traditionalists dismiss such distinction and claim both shastras and kavyas have the same source but their expression only differs (kavyas are poetic, shastras are texts)

• Outsiders allege that European Indologists took the ideas of social oppression from Sanskrit texts and used the same against their population (Nazis against Jews), such interpretation is rejected by traditionalists saying infact Europeans came with such a conditioning and misinterpreted out sacred texts

• Misinterpretation of our scared text Ramayana and Mahabharata, for instance Sheldon Pollock says that Ramayana encourages “othering” Us vs Them ( rama vs ravana) which encourages bigotry, obviously he takes a myopic view of the ramayana and Mahabharata

• Western thought tries to highlight differences in the hindu society due to caste, and between Vedic and Buddhist thought, traditionalists argue such differences if any are part of a broader continuum in the evolutionary process and no western intervention is required to correct the same

• We should map Sanskrit to ancient languages like mandarin, Arabic and Persian and work and must revive Sanskrit ourselves and not allow western scholars to dictate us the same (western scholars try to map Sanskrit to Latin and other dead languages)

• Establish higher learning institutions of Sanskrit in India such that our bright youth stay back and contribute towards integrating their studies with the larger society

• Deploy Purva-paksha & Uttara-paksha methodologies vigorously to defend our point of view instead of meek surrender

• Rajiv gives the way forward –
 Revive Sanskrit ecosystem in a holistic way - battle for Sanskrit, Sanskrit and dharma are interrelated. ( organizations like sanskrita bharati are trying to revive use of Sanskrit)
 Non- translatable Sanskrit terms must enter main stream – sanskritize english
 Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation
 New itihas and smritis must be written - for example traumatic events over the last 1000 years in India (invasions etc)
 Sacred philology must compete against political liberation philology – that Sanskrit cannot be divorced from vedas and other sacred texts
 Revive purva paksha tradition
 Encounter with Christianity, Islam – Hindu understanding of Islam and Christianity to engage in debates through purva-paksha, uttara-paksha process
 Encounter with western secularism – do a purva-paksha of the west ( question and debate their models, ideas etc)
 Develop institutions to conduct trainings and research on our heritage
 Contest the use of Buddhism as a wedge against Hinduism & mischievously changing chronology of hindu texts – disprove this through research
 Allegation of Sanskrit’s death – debate this with data and the attempts being made to revive the same

And many other steps to provide fitting response to the well organized western scholars and institutions.

Gratitude – all content from Rajiv Malhotra’s (The battle for Sanskrit)

Why they hate Modi

2018-03-10T04:13:00.001-08:00

It is Modi vs all in the Indian politics. To extend it can be BJP vs all but it is the name Modi that sends shivers down the opposition. He is hated, vilified, berated and singled out for abuse by the opposition. They are scarred of his oration, his charisma, his presence, his organization skills, his ability to speak more or little based on need and finally his name itself. He is a nightmare for the opposition.

He has won all that is of essence since coming to power four years ago. They are not able to break the fortress called Modi. He is solid, brave and intimidating. His study of his country, his people’s emotions and their needs is spot on. He may have made mistakes but the people are unwilling to breach fortress Modi yet. This is the key thing point the opposition is failing to get. Just crying hoarse about Modi will not bring results. What is Modi representing which they are not able to?

Honesty, endearing (listen to man ki baat), execution, result oriented, clear vision, unsullied, risk taking and in spirit and deed sab ka saat . Where is one party of opposition leader who can come close.

They thought they got him in Gujarat how accurately has he gauged the people’s emotions and slogged it out in the last couple of days to swing it to BJP. He planned the North-East assault not now but when he took office and here we see the results. BJP got copious seats in Christian majority Nagaland. Is he secular or not? If he is not secular why will the Christians vote for him in NE? The opposition is a confused lot. They are searching for reasons for his success and are throwing a lot mud at him and the BJP hoping something will stick. It is not their hands are getting dirty.

Mamata is scarred that BJP has reached her backyard, she is doing everything that is needed to stop BJP in West Bengal which includes losing Hindi run schools. KCR from Telangana too is making noises on third front to take on Modi and BJP. He is aware of the past experiments which ended in the dustbin of history as failures. He is afraid Amit Shah may train his sights on Telangana. Shiv Sena pulled out to keep their relevance in Maharashtra.

So as we enter the penultimate year of NDAs term the opposition is as broken as they were in 2014 after the loss of the general election. Time they realize hatred towards Modi will get them nowhere what about talking about people’s aspirations for a change. Modi has done that and is reaping success.

Gaining strength

2017-03-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

2014 was a historic mandate,a mandate against corruption, mandate for change. Narendra Modi captured the nations imagination with a call for development - sab ka saath sab ka vikas. After decades of disappointment, hearing the same old cliched slogans from the Congress people saw someone authentic in his call for developing India.

3 years later this man still remains sincere and purposeful to the cause of development, people are still voting in droves for him and his party. Setbacks in Delhi and Bihar apart he has led the party to success in other state elections and grown its base. BJP has effectively replaced Congress as the only party with Pan India presence,

While the opposition is stuck in its narrative of communal, secular, anti modi agenda, Modi and BJP have taken the nations agenda to a more purposeful direction. People are willing to accept the direction and risks being taken by the PM. Demonetization was supposed to be a death knell for the BJP, it turns out the opposite. People were willing to give chance to a man who is sincere is his efforts to clean up the society of blackmoney. They are willing to listen to "Man ki baat" on various aspects he is tackling to get the nation back to shape. Opposition parties should tune into "Man ki baat" the PM lays out his vision so articulately on the show.

Opposition led by Congress is deaf to the new India and its aspirations. Their leadership is tired and bereft of new ideas. How long can your agenda be anti-modi. While you were busy being that the BJP has caught the attention of the poor who now vouch for it as their vehicle for redemption from poverty. The PM has crossed the barrier of caste, religion and other divisions to be the pan India leader perhaps last seen at the time of Pandit Nehru.

Opposition for now seems to be happy with the students noise in DU, JNU etc trying to score brownie points talking about freedom of speech, they forget India is huge and beyond universities. Until they change their narrative they are condemned to be what they are - small

On Modis' Agenda and Clueless oppositon

2016-11-20T18:37:00.001-08:00

The debate on demonetization is fascinating almost every Indian has a view, in general there seems to be an agreement that black money or economy has to end.

The questions is Narendra Modi winning the battle of perceptions on his attack. Opposition crying hoarse on an issue on which most Indians feel strongly will put them to risk if Modi comes out Successfully. Bad news for the opposition is 2 weeks into the process the lines are reducing. Things seems to be settling in. He has asked for 50 days.

By choosing corruption as an issue he has put himself above all the other pretenders to the throne. Public memory is terribly short, all hardships will be forgotten once things settle. And knowing Modi he will leave no stone unturned to bring down his opponents as insincere on corruption ( he is already on it). They are asking him to explain his actions in the parliament, better not since we have seen him take them to cleaners on a couple of occasions in parliament on Jan dhan and MNREGA.

Opposition is clueless on Modi's agenda and keeps responding to his grand plans. Swach Bharat, Jandhan, Surgical strikes, they are not able to blow holes in his agenda. They should try hard. Folks like Kejriwal instead of saying this is not enough fell to the hate Modi whatever he does campaign and lost the plot. He is no more the champion of anti-corruption.

Rahul, Mamata and Kejri shouting foul on Modi's mother of all initiatives is not helping, the aam admi is not responding to their calls for agitation (needless to say Government has to be swift in taking measures to ease the pain on the street). All said India has been waiting for some one to take this action for long ( justifiably common man believes the obstacle for his personal progress is corruption which is closely associated with black money).

Sure there are difficulties since India is a cash economy people cannot do a lot of things without cash.This will push little more of India to digital payments and transactions. The farmers will suffer, so the kirana wala, the auto driver etc but this well intentioned move will ultimately benefit the poor of the country ( good quality revenue and more tax collections). We have ignored the poor of this country for long, promising them a lot and delivering nothing, this act of the PM should cleanse the stables for building a cleaner India and hopefully a more equitable society.

2016-06-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Battle for Sanskrit – Rajiv Malhotra - in a 1000 words

Rajiv Malhotra ji is a famous indologist who is working tirelessly to defend Santana dharma and its traditions. He is leading from the front in providing a well researched fight back to western indologists on various topics concerning Hindu dharma. His latest work “The Battle for Sanskrit” talks about the sinister motives of the western institutions and scholars to disparage Sanskrit as a language and its influence on Bhratiya sanskriti. The beauty of Rajiv Malhotra’s writings is that he calls for discussions and debates on all areas of disagreements and not confrontation.

My attempt is to summarize the contents of the well researched book in about a 1000 words, you should be able to read this in 10 mins. It is important for all us (Indians) and those of Indian heritage to understand our selves better and become owners of our heritage –

• Indians have given away control of our language (in this case Sanskrit studies), culture and heritage to western institutions and individuals. No serious attempt by India, Indians or its institutions to establish seats of learning and research to protect and build our heritage. Through our neglect they became insiders ( experts on our subjects) and we outsiders (trying to catch up to defend)
• Western scholars allege that Sanskrit was used a tool for political domination and suppression of masses, for many decades they spread such views in Indian universities and other channels to gain credibility. Indian traditionalists did not care to debate this point of view for a long time, did not create a platform to fight back the western interpretations of Sanskrit. We ignored them to our peril
• Western scholars with their limited understanding have brain washed a generation of Indians that our Vedic and other systems of knowledge are myths and non sensical
• Our scholars and teachers did not engage in Uttara paksha (debate) with these scholars and institutions to challenge their deductions. We ignored them for too long while they wrote tomes of analysis about our Sanskrit literature and hijacked our heritage. We are now ill equipped to fight back
• They incorrectly claim Sanskrit was used as political tool used for social abuse. This is due to their poor understanding of our heritage, but we never engaged them in a debate to correct their point of view
• We did not make them understand that Sanskrit was and is an integrated component of a Hindus life - Prayer, mantras, culture, built into our vernaculars and in many other areas of life. Though it is delayed it is our sacred duty now to protect and bring it back to life
• Western indologists with a sinister motive deride Sanskrit propagating that it was used as a tool for social oppression, that it perpetuates elitism and that mantras and yagnas as meaningless. For us since ages it is an integrating factor
• Traditionalists argue there is no truth that Sanskrit was used as a tool for oppression and see it as a tool for liberation for all human beings. Traditionalists too are critical of any kind of social oppression and they do not see Sanskrit as the vehicle for the same
• Western scholars base their study and analysis on written texts, they believe oral traditions as unreliable, they also mischievously propagate that writing started in India after Buddhism came while the data shows a different truth
• Western scholars view Sanskrit as a foreign language brought to India by so called Aryans. They claim Sanskrit spread across Asia by kings for political purposes to wield control over public, for traditionalists it is an indigenous language which has played a major role in development of vernaculars and there was enrichment of both Sanskrit and vernaculars due to this
• Western scholars degrade shastras since they are derived from Vedas and hence they assume they carry the limitations of the source ( lack creativity ), they believe kavyas have some originality since they have some creative freedom, traditionalists dismiss such distinction and claim both shastras and kavyas have the same source but their expression only differs ( kavyas are poetic, shastras are texts)
• Outsiders allege that European indologists took the ideas of social oppression from Sanskrit texts and used the same against their population ( Nazis against jews), such interpretation is rejected by traditionalists saying infact Europeans came with such a conditioning and misinterpreted out sacred texts
• Misinterpretation of our scared text Ramayana and Mahabharata, for instance Sheldon Pollock says that Ramayana encourages “othering” Us vs Them ( rama vs ravana) which encourages bigotary, obvioulsy he takes a myopic view of the ramayana and Mahabharata
• Western thought tries to highlight differences in the hindu society due to caste, and between Vedic and Buddhist thought, traditionalists argue such differences if any are part of a broader continuum in the evolutionary process and no western intervention is required to correct the same
• We should map Sanskrit to ancient languages like mandarin, Arabic and Persian and work and must revive Sanskrit ourselves and not allow western scholars dictate us the same ( western scholars try to map Sanskrit to Latin and other dead languages )
• Establish higher learning institutions of Sanskrit in India such that our bright youth stay back and contribute towards integrating their studies with the larger society.
• Deploy Purva-paksha & Uttara-paksha methodologies vigorously to defend our point of view instead of meek surrender
• Rajiv gives the way forward –
• Revive Sanskrit ecosystem in a holistic way - battle for Sanskrit, Sanskrit and dharma are interrelated. ( organizations like sanskrita bharati are trying to revive use of Sanskrit)
• Non- translatable Sanskrit terms must enter main stream – sanskritize english
• Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation
• New itihas and smritis must be written - for example traumatic events over the last 1000 years in India ( invasions etc)
• Sacred philology must compete against political liberation philology – that Sanskrit cannot be divorced from vedas and other sacred texts
• Revive purva paksha tradition
• Encounter with chistianity, islam – hindu understanding of Islam and christainity to engage in debates through purva-paksha, uttara-paksha process
• Encounter with western secularism – do a purva-paksha of the west ( question and debate their models, ideas etc)
• Develop institutions to conduct trainings and research on our heritage
• Contest the use of Buddhism as a wedge against Hinduism & mischievously changing chronology of hindu texts – disprove this through research
• Allegation of Sanskrit’s death – debate this with data and the attempts being made to revive the same

And many other steps to provide fitting response to the well organized western scholars and institutions.

Credits and Gratitude – all content from Rajiv Malhotra’s (The battle for Sanskrit)