MY PLACE

Happiness

2022-08-21T16:30:00.002+05:30

Today all the sufferings are due to desires. When we identify ourselves as mind and body then all the bodily desire and physical world’s inspiration become the central force of our day-to-day life. We tend to spend most of our time in managing and fulfilling these bodily desires.

Mind, too, is a separate dimension of this physicality and can be perceived as an extension of body. All the thoughts, feelings and emotions arising in our mind are nothing but the offshoots of our bodily and sensory reactions. Body through its five senses always keeps interacting with the external world. All the stimulus of this external world triggers the plethora of reaction in our mind by means of thought, emotions, desires etc.

Human being has an innate longingness for infinity. Most of our bodily desires are just the physical way to achieve the infinite. But as we know infinite is an abstract idea that only can be experienced not a physical thing to achieve. That is why we tend to desire even more when we get more. In fact, this desire for infinite can not be satiated by the physical or bodily pursuit. One must strive for going beyond mind and body.

Today we take instruction from external stimulus through our body and mind. We are being controlled by our mind and body not the otherwise. That is why our state of mind keeps changing with external environment. We tend to be happy when everything goes in our way and feel sad when our plan does not work. And most surprisingly this is happening despite our generation being technologically the most advanced one. Today we have all the luxuries of the world that even a king of past century could not afford. Still, we are at large anxious, unhappy and discontent. This, largely, is happening because today we are being govern by intricacies of external world.

If we really want to get rid of this suffering and rest in blissfulness, then we must take hold of ourselves and this identification of ourself with mind and body must be slowly but steadily reduced. We must realize that we are neither the body nor the mind but beyond that. Life should be the path to experience this very truth. This will help us in merging with nonphysical dimension of reality i.e. Supreme, Bramha(Infinity). And only that will give you true happiness and blissful life.

Left- Right of Indian secularism

2014-12-26T22:39:00.000+05:30

Fall of Constantinople and subsequent fleeing of the Byzantine-Greek scholars to Italy, has helped bringing the literature, art and cultural heritage of Greek and Roman into western world that had revived the classical learning and thus a spirit of enquiry developed. This spirit of enquiry stimulated the progress of science, art, architecture, sculpture, painting, literature, geography and religion. This led to the renaissance and consequent reformation. The term Reformation refers to a great religious reform movement in Europe during 16th century. There was a big protest against the Christian Church in different parts of Europe and it ultimately resulted in the emergence of Protestant Christian religion. And perhaps it was the beginning of new dawn where the role of religion into political sphere has to be abolished. And thus the process of secularization began.

In the West, the word secular implies three things: freedom of religion, equal citizenship to each citizen regardless of his or her religion, and the separation of religion and state. One of the core principles in the constitution of Western democracies has been this separation, with the state asserting its political authority in matters of law, while accepting every individual’s right to pursue his or her own religion and the right of religion to shape its own concepts of spirituality. Everyone is equal under law, and subject to the same laws irrespective of his or her religion, in the West.

In contrast, in India, the word secular does not imply separation of religion and state. The genesis of secularism in India needs to be understood before we venture into the real issue. Divide and rule policy of British has treated Hindu and Muslim differentially, that had created a gulf between them and their aspirations and interests were thus made contradictory to each other. Separate electorate for minorities, its acceptance by congress during Lucknow pact and amalgamating the religious Khilafat movement with otherwise secular movement of Non-Co-operation Movement was few step taken by congress which helped in reinforcing this differential treatment which later became the very base of Indian secularism.

In the name of divide and rule policy the colonial administration, under pressure, enacted the 1937 Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, which instead of separating state and religion for Western secularism, did the reverse. It, along with additional laws such as Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939 that followed, established the principle that religious laws of Indian Muslims can be their personal laws. It also set the precedent that religious law, such as sharia, can overlap and supersede common and civil laws, that elected legislators may not revise or enact laws that supersede religious laws, that people of one nation need not live under the same laws, and that law enforcement process for different individuals shall depend on their religion. The Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 continues to be the law of land of modern India for Indian Muslims, while parliament-based, non-religious uniform civil code passed in mid-1950s applies to Indians who are Hindus (which includes Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsees), as well as to Indian Christians and Jews.

These acts along with subsequent differential treatments to Muslims by left oriented governments including Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begumcase had been seen as an act of appeasement by the rightist of our country. They for the first time proclaimed that Indian secularism is nothing more than the act of appeasement. They went further in saying that instead of preparing minorities for becoming the part of main stream, they (Left- read congress), through their differential treatment and in the name of protective discrimination, went well beyond the western notion of secularism and created a society where minorities are becoming more conscious of their own religious interest.

Historian Ronald Inden, have also observed that the Indian government is not really "secular", but one that selectively discriminates against Hindu communities while superficially appeasing Muslim leaders (without actually providing any community or theological benefits to regular Muslims in India). And rightist believed that this very notion of secularism had been enforced upon Indians through state based education system without actually coming from the people as was the case of Western Europe where secularism had been preceded by popular movements. “As we all are the product of this state based education system our ability to revolt against this faulty notion of secularism is limited and are being seen as an act of communalism” Rightists claim.

India must come out of this debate of left-right of Indian secularism. Secularism in the political sense requires the separation of the state from any particular religious order. This can be interpreted in at least two different ways: The first view argues the state be equidistant from all religions – refusing to take sides and having a neutral attitude towards them. The second view insists that the state must not have any relation at all with any religion. In both interpretations, secularism goes against giving any religion a privileged position in the activities of the state. Here first form is more suited to India, where there is no demand that the state stay clear of any association with any religious matter whatsoever. However modern India is not symmetric in its treatment. What is needed is to make sure that in so far as the state has to deal with different religions and members of different religious communities, there must be a basic symmetry of treatment.

Protest & Public Policy

2013-07-30T19:11:00.002+05:30

Not a long ago, we as a nation stood very firmly behind Damini and showed our righteous assertion on the justice for her. Damini had become a household name. Candle marches, peaceful protests, and other related happenings were common those days. These post rape incidents led us to believe that a nation, long suppressed, has, at last, started finding its utterance as once said by Nehru. But, alas, what is even more unfortunate is the fact that she slipped in periphery from the center stage within a month or so and we could not even realize that.

Similarly, we had come across numerous scams, rapes, murders and other breaking news. They all were not only considered very serious but also they invited numerous protests from some or other quarters of our country and society. They all seemed to shake the nation at the time they broke the news. But again we forgot to deliver. Again we could not realize that how one new incident suppressed the intensity of our protest for other incidents that preceded the latest.

In fact the amount of news, we are being fed these days, left us with no or very little time to think and make opinion on any one of these issues. Today, the basic problem with our public protest is not the absence of support but is our inability to focus on the right things at right time. Today, most of our opinion is formed by media trial. The nature of news and incidents is sequential and is so large that, otherwise preoccupied, middle and lower class mind hardly gets the time and energy to think beyond these major headlines.

Actually, we are interested only on the effect (any individual case) and do not take any pain in understanding the real cause (defective public policy) behind that effect. We only tend to focus on individual cases. And a nation, which protests for stand-alone cases like Damini, 2G, CWG etc, is bound to forget it if another case emerges. Consequently we tend to jump from one piece of news to another piece of news and in spite of such a huge uproar and protest, these scams continues to hit the national daily. And it is this context in which they say that "Public memory is very short”.

We need to understand that these scams would continue to emerge until we see the real reason behind these. And the real reason behind many of such news i.e. scams, rapes, public disarray etc. is nothing but the very bad public policies of our own democratically elected government. Thus, only by changing the government and switching the loyalty from one politician to another would not solve this real and more serious problem.

I often remember a quote “Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived” which aptly and rightly justifies why the man of today is being exploited by his ruler. But we must have to look beyond what seems to be obvious. We must rather protest for a serious systemic change. We don’t have to look towards our politician for everything. And moreover, why would our politician support us, at the first place, when they are very successfully and convincingly exploiting us using the current system? They would never support such protest demanding for systemic reformation as they all are status quoist.

Most of our public policies are socialistic in nature and that is their major defect and flaw. Under this socialistic environment, governmental monopoly and control on our mind and thought is so total and complete that we could hardly even think of revolting against the current systemic exploitation. We need those policies to be abolished which are reportedly proven to be the existential threat to our individual liberty. Today, India must fight for freedom from the big government. We, rather, need those policies which not only help us in curtailing the very antagonistic power of our government but also make our administration more transparent and accountable. Only then, we will be able to provide a truly liberal and eternally peaceful society to our coming generations.

Why does India need Founding fathers ?

2013-07-27T10:26:00.004+05:30

I really can't recall, exactly, when I came to know that Gandhi is our father of nation and that, it was he who is, reportedly, said to have responsible for India’s independence single headedly. I do agree with the greatness of the great soul but making him only force would certainly be a very shallow assessment of our history and its martyrs.

In USA they have recognised their founding fathers as the group of people who have reported to have signed the declaration of independence, or framed the constitution, etc. Notable among them are such worthies as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. But, back home we always celebrated our success with only one hero.

You may note that the Americans have “the Founding Fathers” but India has only a “the Father of the Nation”. Why did India choose only one man that too as his father of nation, is something beyond my knowledge and comprehension. Is it because of some political interest or some shellfish propaganda? As they say, History is always a survivor's account of events, no wonder, in our case Gandhi was made a sole hero, presumably because many other pseudo Gandhis could rule this country effortlessly. Gandhi's sole worship has given birth to another political religion known as Gandhism. And all those following this 'ism' turn to be the de-facto rulers of this country. This is really interesting to note that how Sonia came to be known as another Gandhi, even though I would not surprise a bit if she comes out and tells that she was not even aware of real Gandhi and his work before coming to India. But again they say politics is the game of possibilities.

Indian diversity and cultural heritage is essentially more majestic than any country in the world. And in the context, if we do settle ourselves with a single hero, we would certainly not do any justice to our history and and her people. India i.e. Bharata is more than Gandhi. But, making India a sub set of Gandhi is one of the biggest existential threat to the very soul of our great nation.

India must move beyond Gandhi and must explore her set of founding fathers. It must not only include those who have defined the very soul of this country but should also include those who, at the very defining moments of Indian history, have shown their courage and valour in shaping India’s future. Our historical legacy is essentially bigger that that of USA. Thus "Indian founding fathers" cannot be concentrated at some certain point of space and time, just to suit the whims and fancies of her contemporary ruler. We have to exploit ourselves in exploring the legacy we have inherited.

In his famous last speech to the Constituent Assembly, Ambedkar warned of the dangers of hero-worship in politics and history. In a less known passage from that same speech he allowed that a nation must have its heroes. That is to say, one can appreciate and admire those who nurtured Indian democracy and nationhood without venerating them like demigods. In that spirit, one might choose hundred great Indians, or fifty, or ten but not just one.

Definition of a Modern Teacher

2012-09-06T10:52:00.000+05:30

There were numerous messages on Teachers day wishing happy teachers day etc. Some were talking about Dronacharya, some were talking about modern relation of Guru-Shishya, but no one tried to define the real role of a teacher in modern time.

First of all it is important to understand why we respect our teacher. Because, he is the teacher, who indoctrinates all the social and cultural values, customs to his pupils. He is the teacher who teaches all the evil and unscientific customs, social stigmas etc to us. What parents want their wards to learn and know about our culture and past, teacher tend to imbibed us with those values. So in that way teacher does a social service by creating a breed of altogether a new generation that never doubts his past and blindly follow all unscientific customs. That is why teacher is respected figure in our society as he makes the process of socialization much easier.

According to me, a teacher must be a revolutionary. A real teacher is he who never conforms to social customs and evils, he who teaches his wards to have doubt, as he believes that it is the doubt that leads to discovery of truth. He must have the courage and conviction to inspire a whole generation to uproot the established order and create a new one based on scientific temperament entwined with the flavor of modernity.

Myth of an Independent Nation

2012-08-15T11:11:00.000+05:30

Long year ago, when British bequeathed India as a God-forsaken country, our Prime Minister Nehru trysted our destiny with Spineless politicians. We are so attached with our politicians that, since then, we have been celebrating their independence with magnanimous ardour. Nowhere in the world of civilized human being, have we found such a nation where its subject worships their politicians like god and attach an importance of highest order.

In the time of British Raj, our leaders and politicians cursed and reprimanded English aristocrats for all our problems and, consequently, gave us a dream of a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC i.e. India. Being the type of creature that breeds wit of sheep, we Indians started nurturing the dream of our ambitious politicians, which led us to this day when even a non violent protest against corrupt government is being seen as an instrument that could create chaos.

With the bloomy words like Justice, liberty, equality and fraternity etc, they have fabricated the largest constitutional poem to tame the Indians forever. Moreover, it is next to impossible to find even a single residential area where people of various cult, sects and religions are livening in bonhomie and yet we foolishly say that we are a secular country.

Winston Churchill once notoriously said in prophetic fashion that Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power & India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air & water would be taxed in India. Though, sad and unfortunate, but what British politician said is correct to the core.

In fact ours is the only country where independence is celebrated not exercised. Moreover, it is largely ceremonious but not functional and still they say we are a vibrant democracy. As a matter of fact, we are living in a fool’s paradise where our beloved politicians, though black in color, possess taste of a King but intellect of an idiot and pillager. In fact in the spring of 1947 power transferred from British to those hands which were the produce of Maucalian Fornication, which have finally culminated into a morally dead, spineless, illiterate, unhygienic, corrupt and indolent political and social life.

Today I want to ask few questions. Are we free? Does a weakest of weakest can lodge a fir against a powerful feud? Can we independently and freely exercise our fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution? Can a poor get a job and live a life of affluent and dignity? Can a woman be a living being but not a commodity? Can Dharma prevail over religions, sects, cults? If you say and I hear a “NO” then I have no hesitation to say to hell with your independence and your freedom, Go and celebrate your independence and live a life wrapped in an illusion of a constitutional democracy. But I for one don’t give damn to such constitutional poem, nation and its independence.

Jan Lokpal : A damp Squib ?

2012-08-11T09:35:00.000+05:30

Team Anna needs no introduction in contemporary India. Anna Hazare, a fragile old man, and his enthusiastic team took the vow to overthrow the corruption with the might of Jan Lokpal. But visionless and over ambitious crusaders either took no pain to understand the nature of problem or they did not want to understand it beyond a point where their electoral aspiration could not be nurtured. Thus they took the easiest path of picking apart the established government which, in the wake of numerous scam and scandal, had already been become a great harassment to Indian middle class.

As the say “every society gets the leader what they deserve”. Ours is a society which is corrupt to the core and thus, is destined to vote spineless, morally dead and corrupt leaders to the power, again and again, even if they could have succeeded in passing such ombudsman bill. So instead of crusading for some Jan Lokpal bill, they could have agitated for a more scientific, rational, modern and prosperous society.

Perhaps they failed to understand that society, like other living organisms, has the potential to correct itself with its own feedback mechanism. Perhaps they could not understand that Great man produces ideas as a feedback that has the potential to revolutionize the society. But this old man and his over ambitious team has failed to do so and certainly is more interested in electoral politics than revolutionizing the Indian Society.

Consequently, what could have been a mile stone in history of civil society activism in India, has turned into another damp squib. Anna Hazare and his team, thus, cannot be forgiven for butchering the spirit of Civil Society Activism in India

Essence of raksha bandhan

2012-08-02T09:28:00.000+05:30

There has been numerous attempt by man to dominate,tame the woman. If you closely observe to various rituals, customs you would come to know that, not only, all of them are male centric, but also that all of them, that too without any exception, are being performed by some woman. It would be hopelessly sad that though there are numerous vrata (fasting) for husband, brother, son etc. but paradoxically there is none for mother, wife and sister by their male counterparts.

Don't you think, Raksha Bandhan, (the bond of protection) or Rakhi is such a festival in which a brother takes a lifelong vow to protect her sister and thus reflecting subconscious impuissance of a woman. Why a member of fairer sex should be made subservient to man.They say that men are the one who was given strength by the God to protect woman, dont you realize that this muscular strength is the only reason that dignity and innocence of a woman is being raped here and there. Don't you think that, this is sheer male chauvinism.

I for one would not term it as more than the act of self fulfilling prophecy.

Myth of young India

2012-06-20T21:51:00.002+05:30

India is the country of largest non younger population. It is the country where people have tendency to settle for the things, ideas much more below to their potential.. Though they boast for being the abode of largest young population but, yet it is difficult to find even a single young person in India. Young is he who never surrenders, has the potential to fight, courage to struggle and has courage to follow his conviction. A young is he who has the energy, large enough to convulse the world. But what do we find? We find flocks of people of lower age busy in searching for comfortable job, settling for life which does not have any challenge, for them Santosham Param Sukham (satisfaction is the ultimate peaceful state of mind) is the ultimate goal. For them, pursuit of excellence is an alien thing. They do not have to courage to uproot the established order and create a new world irrigated by their energy and flourished by their wisdom and knowledge. They are more interested in knowing their destiny than creating the one. They all are old, not because of their age, but because of their fatalistic attitude, ideological narrow mindedness and because of the tendency to settle for the things, ideas much more below to their potential. They don’t produce original ideas and are more interested in using the already over used ideas.

The dichotomy of God and Religion

2012-05-05T02:47:00.001+05:30

God had been a puzzling figure for me since I have started to understand my surroundings. I have always been opposed to those rituals, religious beliefs which seem to me the creation of human mind. It is really hard to believe that how a man is judged for his deeds which he has performed during his mortal sojourn on immortal earth and subsequently would be sent either to hell or heaven accordingly. Is heaven the ultimate fate of human soul? Does this life a judgment time? Is there exist any dichotomy between heaven (or hell) and life? These questions, along with numerous others, need to be answered.

Astonishingly, all the religions of the worlds talk of their glorious past and none have any optimistic plan for futures. According to them, our golden time has already passed out and hence our future seems bleak and consequently there is no hope for coming generations too. How can an analytical and logical mind accept the very existence of god on these very religious foundations? Hence it is quite a natural that a curious mind would be popped up with a question that is there any god? Or is it just another beautiful creation of human mind? He is very confused. He does not have any answer, based on some scientific notion.

Actually, religion has been made such an essential part of our life that an already over occupied human mind hardly invest any time and pain in understanding these nuances of religion and god. In Modern society it has become fashion to disown the God for the fear that they would be branded as religious fundamentalist or orthodox or backward that too without realizing the dichotomy of God and Religion

It should be clearly understood that God and religion is two different entities. While god is truth and real, religion is perhaps the strongest and most influential creation of human mind and had been established to identify, interpret the very existence of God. God is truly more than rituals, beliefs and religions. Religions are nothing but the interpretation of god in their own ways and terms which itself depends on values, culture and society of the place where these religions were evolved. And that is why there is difference among various interpretation of god and his stories.

Hinduism is born in a country which is richly endowed with water, fertile land and a society which was essentially an agrarian guild and hence preference for vegetarianism was enforced over non vegetarianism. Bull was needed to cultivate the land. Cow dung was needed as fuel (in the absence of modern energy resources) and as manure. In those primitive societies cow, the mother of bull was essentially considered as an asset and consequently was accorded the status and dignity of a mother.

Similarly, Islam was born in a rough terrain, a god forsaken part of the world where nothing was in abundance except the crude oil. These societies were not richly endowed with fertile land and abundant water and hence agriculture was not their main occupation. Their life entirely depended on herding and animal rearing and hence non vegetarianism has become the part of their culture and belief.

Similarly other religions were also the product of the circumstances that prevailed over the area or region of their origin. Astonishingly they still bear this baggage as a heritage in spite of their development in space and time that too without realizing that religion is the product of local culture and physical attributes of respective local climate.

It should be clearly understood that whenever we fight for Ram or Allah or Jesus or some other god propagated by some religion or other, it is not actually the fight for God but for their religion. In fact there is a race amongst all these humanly religion to assert their dominance on each other. It is really unfortunate that they all fail to understand the very purpose of god and his role. While God is a true and real entity which created everything including human mind, religion is essentially the product of intellectual and curious human mind and is now being protected by their so called religious saints.

It is not necessary to follow any particular religion for worshipping and interpreting the existence of god. This all can be achieved without following any existing religion. God is more than religion. But it is really unfortunate that while worshipping god we are more interested in religious rituals, beliefs etc. and hence in the process we have started worshipping the religion and consequently forgotten the god itself. We are now attaching more importance to religion and have made god the subservient of a religion. Suddenly religion has become larger than life institution threatening the very concept of god. No religion is great enough to define the god. God is in law of gravitation, in your heart and giving it energy all the time, is in the law of nature etc. He is omnipresent and omniscient. God is everywhere. God is itself sufficient to define himself. There is absolutely no need of human interference to define the creator of the universe that too in the guise of religion. He is beyond the scope of any religious text book.

So while making it very clear that there is a huge difference between god with religion we should try to respect the individual difference prevailing amongst various religions and create an atmosphere where those who are sponsoring these religions, should not be allowed to plan and execute any bloodbath in the name of almighty.We should also realize that time has come when we should start attaching more importance to god and make religion subsidiary of almighty GOD

Indian Muslims: Challenges and Opportunities

2011-02-11T16:28:00.007+05:30

The barren desert of south west Asia has given birth to 3 Abrahamic religions in which Islam is most hyped, dominant and static religion. Indian Muslim constitutes around 13.6% of

India

’s population and inspite of being the largest minority they are comparable, some time even worse, to SCs by all means of socio economic indicators. Though there are numerous movements which preached to improve the condition of backwards and dalits but unfortunately there is none by and for Muslims.

The Divide et impera policy of Britishers has created the gulf between Hindus and Muslims and the composite culture (and Ganga-Jamuna tehjib), which evolved over centuries and which we inherited from mighty Mughals, was destroyed and ruined with in no time. After the independence, Indian Muslims are being seen as the main culprits of partition by Hindu fundamentalists. This prejudice has created the feeling of in group and out group amongst the Muslims in

India

. Since independence, due to partition, they are misperceived as a separate group, the interests of which is not seen as same as that of Hindus. Our politicians, who became king (from slaves) overnight, encashed this misperceived conflict of interests between Hindus and Muslims and further widened this gulf and since then they have never been channelized into the main stream of India.

Thus the basic problem with Muslims in

India

happens to be the illusion of identity. They are more interested in maintaining their identity than anything else even some time sacrificing their own socio economic interests. This misperceived conflict of interest has made few shrewd politicians CMs, PMs but the real cause of Indian Muslims was never politicized in the same way as that of Dalits and backwards in

India

Though the periodic steps taken by the government, in the form of Sacchar committee, Rang Nath Mishra committee, minority commission etc, may help them in winning the parliamentarian debates over opposition but the real emancipation of poor fellows would remain a distant dream. Moreover Indian Muslims will continue to live and remain in destitute poverty as long as they would be guided by the leaders who are more interested in satiating their own political ambitions and who treats Muslims no more than a means to earn power.

The real solution of their agony lies in their own political determination. Rather than being guided by such conventional political leaders, they should launch their own version of Mandal movement and that too in consonance with fellow Hindus. This will not only ameliorate the prejudice among both communities but also would help in their empowerment. Muslims in India enjoy a unique position. They have been rulers here, they have been ruled and now they are sharers in power (of course, junior partners). They are not in majority but they are also not negligible minority. Rather than being the mute spectator, they should be proactive towards day to day problems of

India

. Muslims in

India

have yet to react on the problems of national and social interests and problems which are secular in nature.

In due course they may have to make some sacrifices too, as the cost of being largest minority but this would prove beneficial for their own socio economic development in long term.
Because as they say “When Prophet Mohammad entered into a treaty with the rival group at Hudayliyah, it appeared to be abject surrender even to his staunch supporters. However the Quran described that as clear victory and it did prove so. Within a short span there from Muslims entered the Mecca as victors, and not a drop of blood was shed."

Naxalites are terrorists ?

2011-01-16T14:16:00.001+05:30

A protest of unprivileged and disadvantaged, which was started in late 1960s from Naxal bari, has risen slowly but steadily and today has taken the form of wide spread movement better known as Naxalite Movemant. What was launched as a protest of rural poor against the bureaucratic and social set up, though, with limited geographical extent , has become the threat to the democratic set up of our country and a major challenge to our policy makers, jeopardizing the internal security of our country.

India is a largest democracy and in democracy,unlike oligarchy, every one has equal rights.If a particular section is not satisfied it can protest peacefully, form political parties and can contest even elections. Rise of leaders like Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati etc bears the testimony of miracles in democracy, showing how even the person from disadvantaged section can rise to the horizon of governance. Thus any form of violent revolt from any section against the government can not be allowed and thus amounts to sedition and in no case can be justified by citing irrelevant ideologies and sacrosanct human rights.

Moreover these Naxalite cadres has become the potent threat and can be handy against India especially when we are surrounded by tiny and unstable nations and shrewd China. They should be countered with strong hand and must be crushed, if could not channelized into the main stream of our society by the policies and rulings of democratically elected governments.

Who is the best PM of India

2011-01-11T14:22:00.004+05:30

It is amazing that a country having more than 1 billion populations with unbelievable natural, linguistic, ethnic , religious diversity is unified by the political democracy. It is a herculean task to lead this largest democracy. India, after her independence, successfully demonstrated the will and wish of her people in the form of periodic election. Though President is the executive head in India but his office is largely ceremonial and it is the Prime minister who is the real authoritative figure in India. There had been 14 PM since our independence. However it is very difficult to describe who the best one is. Here I will try to explore this on the basis of their positive and negative contribution to India.

J.L. Nehru

He was the first PM of India. His contribution to India is immense which includes the establishment of Planning Commission, AIIMS, IITs, IIMs, RECs (Now NITs) and numerous other institutions. He was also instrumental in bringing the rapid industrial growth. He was the pioneer of non-alignment policy and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement. However he made some historic blunders while attempting to solve the Kashmir problem. Further, his hunger of earning the stature of a global leader was robbed by the might of shrewd China in war of 1962 in which India suffered a historic shameful defeat by the later. Becoming of Indira Gandhi a Congress president even during the period of Nehru had given the glimpse of future of dynastic politics in Congress.

L.B. Shastri

Being the successor of Nehru, there was huge expectation from this man. He was the man of distinguished honesty, integrity. He became the PM at a time when India had been facing the problems of drought, food shortage and threat from Pakistan. However he successfully tackled all the problems. The main features of his tenure were victory of Indo-Pakistani War (1965), Initiation for Green Revolution in India and Operation Flood. He gave the slogan of jai jawan, jai Kisan. Though his ability, undoubtedly, makes him one of the best politician of independent India, but his tenure as PM was too short to be termed him the best PM.

Indira Gandhi

After the sad and sudden demise of Shastri, the daughter of Nehru became the First and last woman PM of India. With her began the era of political dictatorship, dynastic politics not only in Congress but in India also. She fought war of 1971 which helped in bifurcating the Pakistan (for which she awarded herself with Bharat Ratna) and thus a rivalry with Pakistan became much stronger. Though she did some remarkable things like nationalization of banks, grant success of green revolution etc but she also holds the distinction for imposing the emergency, placing puppets as CMs, imposing president rule for more than 50 times(unimaginable!!!) etc. Nobody had harmed Indian political and democratic system more than what she had done. To sum up, she worked more like an autocratic queen than a democratically elected PM.

Rajiv Gandhi

Assassination of Indira has given the way for Rajiv to become her successor in the same way the Mughals, Guptas, Mauryas and likes used to find their successors. Though Rajiv was soft spoken and was instrumental in encouraging computer and telecom in India but the reason, for which he was awarded the much deserved Bharat Ratna by the brigade of political sycophants created by his mother, was his alleged role in Bofors , anti Sikhs riots (1984) and his involvement in nullifying the Supreme Court's judgment on Shah Bano case and decision of opening the doors of ram temple at Aydhoya .

VP Singh and Chandra Shekhar

People like VP and Chandra Shekhar does not deserve space in this text as their contribution as Prime minister is not worth mentioning if not nil. Though the recommendations were made to uplift the backward section but the poorly executed, ill intended implementation of the recommendations of Manadal Commission brought the era of caste politics in Indian democracy at forefront and has led to the creation of another class among class. And as for as Chandra Shekhar is concern, when a person cannot do anything to his own constituency, how can we expect from this poor chap to do anything as a PM (I belong to his constituency).

PV Narsimha Rao

The assassination of Rajiv and absence of other eligible alternatives from the owner of congress i.e. nehru-gandhi family, made it possible for PVNR to become the PM of India who has the distinction of only PM from congress who has completed his 5 year term in PM office that too without the mercy of any gandhis (MMS is the mask of Rahul and Sonia). He inherited an economy riding on huge current account deficit, however his economic reforms has changed the very face of country. The disintegration of USSR in early 90s has created the vacuum for India’s foreign policy, but the successful formulation Look East Policy and a beginning of formal diplomatic ties with Israel has once again justified that PVNR deserve more appreciation than his party has given him. However the demoilition of Babri Masjid and subsequent bomb blast in Mumbai gave the much needed reason to humiliate him for the loss of congress in 1996 general election by the political sycophants of Gandhi family. Even he was denied funeral in Delhi and was forgotten.

(This justifies the fact that for becoming great you have to leave legacy behind you who would appreciate your greatness even after your death).

H. D. Deve Gowda and Gujral

Like earlier, these twins, too, do not deserve space here like the twins VP and Chandra Shekhar. However the famous Gujral doctrine desrve some illustration in which he propagated that India should behave in non reciprocal way with her neighbors (with the exception of Pakistan).

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The divide et impera policy of Congress has given ample of space to Hindu right wingers to rise to the horizon of Indian politics. ABV was the product of this Movement. However the miraculous persona of ABV made it possible for BJP to come in to power. His oratory skill and his quality of statesmanship has already earned a lots of accolades for him. His leadership during kargil victory and Pokharan test makes him a deserved candidate for Bharat Ratna. If PVNR has initiated the economic reforms, it is ABV who beside with integrating India with world, ushered in an era of real globalization in India. He is the only PM after Nehru and Shastri who was appreciated even by other political parties. He was called as BHISM PITAMAH of Indian Politics. He is the only PM after Nehru who won 3 successive terms as PM and only non Congress PM who completed his 5year term in his office. Vajpayee met Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad and agreed on talks to try to end a half-century of war and hostility. Anwar Sadat's 1977 mission to Jerusalem is the only other journey in modern history that bears comparison. However, his passivity over Masjid demolition and Godhra massacre is the biggest blot in his career and which, sometimes, undermines his secular credentials.

Man Mohan Singh (Sonia Gandhi)

The over confidence of NDA has ended their reign for decades. And this has given way to Man Mohan Singh (Sonia Gandhi) to become PM of India. He degraded the office of a PM in the same way as Indira has tried to damage the democratic political system. He is not more than the chief of the brigade of political sycophants of Nehru-gandhi family. In no case honesty and educational qualification can be the only qualities to hold the highest post. It needs more than what MMS can dream of. Nuclear deal signed during his reign was more because USA’s interest to tap Indian Market and to suppress the iran as supplier of energy to India. He has made India a virtual slave of western world. He is more interested in becoming the darling of west and gandhis than that of Indians. His plans like NREGA, Loan waiver etc has done much harm to nation than doing any good. At best he can be seen as a puppet of Sonia and is working as a transition from Sonia to Rahul and like PVNR he will also be pushed to oblivion as he has no political legacy to follow.

Above discussion left us with 3 candidates for final round of conclusion who the best PM is. These 3 names Include Nehru, ABV, PVNR. The statesmanship of Nehru was, beyond doubt, more than anyone else. His role for building modern India is substantial. Nehru is followed by ABV. ABV is the only non- Congress PM who deserve some space here. His political leadership was instrumental in forming NDA at the centre.
Like Nehru, Vajpayee understands that India is a pluralistic society. He is a humanist and his commitment to democratic values is as deep as Nehru's". But Vajpayee's job is much tougher. Though Nehru also had to battle conservatives within the Congress, his stature was so much higher that they were no match for him. "But Vajpayee's stature is nowhere like Nehru's though a great deal higher than that of the next man." India has become more difficult to govern since the days of Nehru. "Vajpayee has to contend with an India where diversities are more assertive, largely on account of democracy."
Once, after Nehru had heard the young Vajpayee make an impressive speech in Parliament, he had remarked: "Here is a man of prime ministerial timbre." Years later when Vajpayee would actually become PM, his popularity would touch dizzying heights, partly because he had the instinct to build an image moulded on his idol.
The trouble with Vajpayee is that though he holds out the promise, he has never really lived up to it. Nehru was very clear in his ideological vision. Vajpayee is a flip-flop man. "Instincts alone do not take you far. They have to be backed up by hard work, something beyond the ability of Vajpayee. For instance, he is a good orator, but there is not one speech of his since becoming PM that is worth mentioning. But there are so many brilliant speeches Nehru wrote himself".
It may be a shade unfair to Vajpayee to compare him with Nehru. But it does serve one purpose: to remind him of the sort of legacy he could leave behind were he to have the courage to follow his instincts to the very end. As Nehru always did.
PVNR, the unsung hero, was also in the league of these two. His role for liberalization, privatization and globalization (of India) was immense. However Nehru being the first PM, he had done more than anyone else. Moreover Vajpayee’s statesmanship puts him at second place and PVNR at third. LB Shastri could be the candidate for best PM but because of the short tenure he could not do what he, otherwise, could do..

HOWEVER YOU CAN VOTE HERE.............

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommPollResults?cmm=370&pct=1293533776&pid=31817458

Indian Congress: Then and Now

2010-12-16T23:47:00.004+05:30

Congress, the grand old party of India, holds the distinction of being the largest and the one which helped in channelizing the efforts of our freedom fighters to win freedom for India. Though there is contrasting school of thought which states that WW –II along with several other factors, not the congress, won freedom for India. A lot of facts can be produced in against as well as in favour of this argument however focus of this topic is not to analyze the factors behind the Indian independence but on the positive and negative contributions of congress to our nation.

There was time when congress was studded with the galaxy of leaders which includes the stalwarts like Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, Tilak, Patel and several other leaders who because of their sheer determination and indomitable courage put forward an example of extreme patriotism which in modern time is almost impossible to emulate. Though a lot of arguments can be put forward against Gandhi and Nehru however it should be kept in mind that nobody is perfect and they all were human being. Moreover the contribution of Gandhi is not confined to freedom struggle alone rather he gave us a legacy and principles, which if followed, can lead us to become a great human being in general and a greater nation in particular.

However the congress during pre 1947 was not free of error it had committed some blunders which we still find difficult to undo its effect. Acceptance of separate electorate for Muslims during the Lucknow Pact, preference of Nehru over Bose and Patel by Gandhi, use of religious symbols by Gandhi, inability to foster the trust of Muslims etc are few instances which can be cited to support what blunders congress had made in the pre independence period . However, inspite of all such blunders, Congress, at least till the death of Nehru, was one of the most progressive and popular political organization in India.

Nehru was one of the best PM India has ever had. His Foreign policies, his attitude towards imperialism, colonialism and cold war had earned a lot of accolades for him. His attitude towards industrialization, though was against to Gandhian principle, was also welcomed. However his hunger of earning the stature of a global leader was robbed by china in 1962 war in which India suffered a historic shameful defeat by the hand of China. Nehru’s attitude towards china was though friendly but very ambiguous. At one place he gave the slogan of hindi- chini bhai bhai (India and china is brother) and at another place he welcomed the refugees from Tibet in India. Becoming of Indira Gandhi a congress president even during the period of Nehru had given the glimpse of future of dynastic politics in Congress.

After the sad demise of Shashtri, Indira Gandhi became the first and last woman PM of India. With her began the era of political dictatorship, dynastic politics not only in Congress but in India also. She fought war of 1971 which helped in bifurcating the Pakistan and thus a rivalry with Pakistan became more intense. Can anybody explain why a country would not spread terrorism and would not produce a breed of people who would hate a country which helped in dividing that very nation? If china would have helped in dividing the northeast from India what could have India done? However coming to Indira Gandhi again, She also holds the distinction for imposing the emergency, placing puppets as CMs, imposing president rule for more than 50 times(unimaginable!!!) etc. Nobody had harmed Indian political and democratic system more than what she had done. To sum up, she worked like an autocratic queen rather than a democratically elected PM.

Her death has given the way for Rajiv to become her successor in the same way the Mughals, Guptas, Mauryas and likes used to find their successors. Though Rajiv was soft spoken but his alleged role in Bofors and anti Sikhs riots (1984) contributed towards his crushing defeat in next general election.

PVNR was the best PM after Nehru as he initiated several policies which have changed the very face of India which includes opening of economy, look east policy, beginning of indo-Israel relations and several such other progressive policies. But pseudo democratic Congressmen and the army of sycophants were unable to find the merits of PVNR over Indira and Rajiv.

Entry of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was another instance which justified that congress was never interested in country’s development and always endorsed the person from Nehru-Gandhi family and is working more as a company rather than a political organization. See the courage of Sonia Gandhi that she started dreaming of becoming the PM of India. But when opposed by other political parties especially right wing BJP she wisely chose to keep herself away from the post and subsequently our congressmen termed her the goddess of sacrifice. This very behavior of congress is unparallel and unmatched in the entire political history of mankind.

Everyone knows why MMS is preferred over Pranav Mukherjee for the post of PM though later was more eligible and deserved candidate for the same post. MMS has made India a virtual slave of western world. He is more interested in becoming the darling of west and gandhis than that of Indians. Coming to Rahul Gandhi, he did not have any quality other than being the grand grandson of a person who was himself (Nehru) the spiritual son of late Mr. M.K. Gandhi. I don’t find any reason why and how Congress sees PM in Rahul Gandhi. He does not have any views and opinions on any topics of national and international importance.

To sum up, it can be said that congress has undergone a revolutionary change. What has founded to counter the British and propagating certain ideologies has turned into the nursery of political sycophants. Moreover its involvement in a lot of scams has further tarnished the image of congress. Moreover its attitude towards minorities is more because of vote bank compulsions than its intentions. What a paradox, the grand old political party of largest democratic country is not itself a democratic party.

India as compared to China.

2010-10-04T19:05:00.001+05:30

There is hardly any doubt that China is far ahead than any developing economy including India. Pathetic infrastructure, terrifying unskilled population, wide rampant corruption, naxalite problem is the few factors which pulls India way behind China. But if we look at future prospect, scenario is very different.

China's rise is more because of manufacturing revolution while India’s because of services sector. To counter this, India is coming with a new plan of establishing NMIZs (National Manufacturing and Investment Zone) for repeating the success of services and making India a manufacturing hub. This will try to address the problems regarding inflexible labour laws, infrastructural bottlenecks, FDI inflows and such other problems. Further, India has already established the National Skill Development Corporation to tap the demographic dividend of the country. Huge and massive investment in to infrastructure is planned and will surely erode the infrastructural bottlenecks to a larger extent.

Beside other factors, one major factor which contributes towards China's phenomenal rise is the absence of venues which can offer them stiff competition in terms of investment. As they say, it is much easier to enter into China but very difficult to operate in China. Google controversy is not hidden and manifests this fact. Now when a country i.e. India, the largest democracy, the oldest continuing civilization on the face of earth, is slowly but steadily marking its presence felt, it is not very difficult to imagine where India will share this space with authoritative and communist china .

Moreover, most of the western countries are becoming sick of industrial productions because of rising concern of climate change, aging population and dwindling profit at home. This would certainly make these plants to shift to newer and much profitable places. And no place will be more lucrative than democratic India with largest young and English speaking population.

Since the manufacturing sector requires huge raw materials, it would be very difficult to sustain this higher growth with the domestic raw materials and resources in future. This will enable the China and other countries including India and other emerging economies to look for the raw material away from their homes. This will generate huge competition among the developing nations, eroding the competitive advantage of China.

Moreover, India’s strategic location in the Indian ocean, places India in much better position than China in exploiting the raw material and other resources from Africa , Australia, southwest and south east Asia. India is being encouraged by various ASEAN members to actively participate in their region to counterbalance the rising presence of China. Further, various south west Asian countries are actively being encouraged to invest their oil earned forex in India.Further, the friendly and old cordial relation with mineral rich Russia would also an advantage for India in near future

Further, as far as service sector is concern, India, with largest English speaking population in world, will continue to climb the ladder much faster than any country across the globe.

Moreover, it is not all about becoming the super power and comparison of growth rates rather it is the comparison of both the nation as a whole. It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on the face of Earth does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of cultures and religions, races and tongues. Enriched by successive waves of migration and marauders from distant lands, every one of them left an indelible imprint which was absorbed into the Indian way of life. Every aspect of the country presents itself on a massive, exaggerated scale, worthy in comparison only to the superlative mountains that overshadow it. It is this variety which provides a breathtaking ensemble for experiences that is uniquely Indian. Perhaps the only thing more difficult than to be indifferent to India would be to describe or understand India completely. There are perhaps very few nations in the world with the enormous variety that India has to offer. Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled anywhere else.

As rightly said by Mark Twain, “India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only”.

Securing India’s future in science

2010-07-28T01:52:00.001+05:30

Science involves the study of any phenomenon, event and object which can be distinctively observed, scientifically measured and can be objectively reproduced. Though science has been the part of our culture and tradition since time immemorial but its development on the modern line is the gift of western world in the aftermath of industrial revolution. Further, the achievement of industrial revolution had generated the quest in the mind of curious scholars who led the way for modern discoveries.
India, which is the cradle of ancient civilization, has been highly influenced by the scientific development of western world during its initial phase. Modern scientific development of India can be divided in 3 broad categories.
1. Pre independent phase
2. From 1947 to 1991
3. From 1991 to present

During the colonial period in pre independent phase the scientific development of India was imported from western countries. The ruler of India i.e. English were least interested in any sort of development. It was mainly imported from west. However the individual achievements of likes Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, C.V. Raman and others cannot be underestimated as it has to provide much needed confidence, inspiration for generations to come.

After the independence India witnessed the formation of democratic setup in political sphere which not only realized the importance of independent scientific research policy but also took certain steps to promote the scientific research in the country. The works of Homi Jahangir Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and others can be illustrated in this regard. This coupled with green revolution of 1960s and white revolution of 1970s has provided much needed good launching pad for India’s future scientific developments.

In the post 1991 phase when our economy was liberalized and opened for global interactions gave quality impetus for fast paced scientific growth which is still continuing and in all probability would continue in the time to come.

Today India’s scientific development revolves around the policy which envisages India as dominant world power in terms of scientific development, being second to none. This vision can be realized only through proper planning and multipronged strategies.

Scientific development of any country should be backed by proper Research and development. As we know that socio economic condition of India does not permit us to invest a large sum in to R&D. beside this, India is surrounded with large number of tiny and unstable countries which eats up substantial portion of our defense budget leaving very little for R&D. This problem can be eliminated by promoting the foreign assistance and investment. Moreover, today masses have largely become money oriented with almost no interest in R&D. further the rigid attitude and traditional outlook of masses is the potent weapon which hampers the growth of modern sciences. This can be reduced through imparting quality technical and moral education and by injecting nationalistic sentiments into the masses. This investment should not be limited to mere financial transaction but also should cover the technology, skills etc which promote the indigenous research.

Infrastructural bottleneck is another factor which discourages the promotion of scientific development. With investment coming up, not only it would promote the infrastructural development but also provide an attractive background for involvement of future generation in the field of scientific research.

The success story of pharmaceutical sector in India is phenomenal. The reason for it is the competition amongst various players striving for excellence, which not only promote the scientific environment of the country but also providing an attractive avenue of employment for future generations. This success story can similarly be adopted in other sectors of researches like defense, nuclear energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology etc.

One of the most important factor for the fast paced scientific development is the collaboration with foreign countries. Instances of Brahmos , chandrayan 1 and 2 etc. provide ample of evidences that signifies that mutual ties in this regard cannot be underestimated .With likeminded countries India can tie up to ripen the fruit already earned by those countries by providing a win-win deal.

One of the biggest challenge before the country is the bureaucratic red tapism and corruption in the administrative circle, which alone consumes substantial portion of budget allocated to the R&D. with the introduction of transparency, RTI, e-governance and IT, it can be reduced to satisfactory level if not eliminated completely.

India’s achievement in the past one decade or so is very impressive if not stunning. Our achievements in this regard are more remarkable than our developing counterparts. However for a country striving for scientific excellence, this cannot be taken as for granted and we should evolve a good foundation for solid educational system which promotes the creativity amongst its students and help in creating altogether the new breeds of curious scholars who would work as engine of scientific growth in the time to come.

Further, according to an estimate of UN, Indians are very efficient in formulation of policies and planning but when it comes to implement those strategies we fare poorly if not worst. So a proper and effective implementation mechanism should be set up to monitor the progress of relevant policies.

Moreover in the post financial crisis when economic growth of India is phenomenal India witnesses its rise in statue and it can no longer be labeled as third world country and consequently being known as emerging economy. This provided India much needed attention in the world affair and now when India deserves a better place in a new world order; it is in the position to negotiate with other countries on its own term. This is self evident from the fact that Japan, which was earlier opposing any nuclear pact with India, is now in no mood to wait for inking the nuclear pact with India any longer and expressed a great intention for such pact with India.

Any conclusion to such issues, that involve the scientific development, will be half hearted attempt if one does not mention the name of Israel. Israel is the country of limited natural and human resource and surrounded by number of unstable enemies which are the threats to its very existence. Still the achievement of Israel in scientific sphere is, in all standard ,more than wonderful and provides a thoughtful lesson to other countries that how to excel in any field.

Today, India is having largest number of younger population in terms of demographic distribution. This can be made useful with proper skill development. This coupled with proper planning and effective implementation can do wonder for this otherwise old and traditional civilization.

Are we a soft state?

2010-01-25T17:43:00.002+05:30

This topic has attracted huge debate in the academic circle of Political Science and International Relations. Various theories and views have been put forward to explain the true nature of Indian Foreign Policy and its constitution. Before examining the nature of Indian Foreign Policy and constitution, I would like to explain the circumstances and bases which accounted for the formulation. It is important to note here that formulation of any such policies and documents for any country requires a special and concerted efforts and skills. This becomes even more complicated for the country like India as we belong to the nation which is the home of the people of diversified interests and aspirations and any radical and fundamentalist policies will only work for the disintegration of one of the oldest civilization. On the other side policies of the countries like US and countries of north western Europe are much simpler and less complicated due to host of factors like homogeneity in society and their stable boundaries and friendly and developed neighbors and moreover they also share common interest and elitist attitude with each other.

India’s recorded history started with the Indus valley civilization and since then it has come to an age. Various factors helped in enriching her culture and tradition and finally led to the formulation of composite culture. Mauryan King Ashoka was among the first in the subcontinent to spread the feeling of fraternity and brother hood. Further, various attacks and invasions to her frontier led to the accumulation of people of number of cultures. However all the invasion, right from mighty Greeks to ubiquitous Islam, led to enrich the diversity of the land and its people. All of these invaders were not only absorbed by the superiority of her culture but also they settled across her frontier and in due course of time they became as much the part of the land and its people as their earlier counterparts.

However the arrival of Europeans was dramatically different. In the early 18th century society of Hindustan was caught in the vicious web of social obscurantism and religious superstition and had become the pool of brahminical dominance. While on other hand Europeans were enlightened and had already organized on the modern lines in the aftermath of Renaissance. Interaction of these two, altogether different, societies led to the revival of our social structure and rise in the educational base of the country. However the biggest achievement of this phase was the birth of a nation which we today called as India. Here I would like to quote the difference between a nation and a country. Country really refers to geographical characteristics while nation refers to political and social characteristics. A nation is made up of states and a country is a nation defined geographically. This provided the much needed and solid foundation for the freedom struggle as it helped the Indians to be Indian and also provided a common identity to the nation.

With this background, world witnessed the rise of one of the greatest man of the century, known as Gandhi, who led India to independence with his charismatic leadership and principles of truth and non violence. It is often argued that Gandhi delayed Indian independence. Though it is very difficult to test this fictitious hypothesis but one thing is very true and well justified that this man has given India a base around which our might democracy revolves and because of this we earned the accolades of being the largest and one the most stable democracy in last six decades or so, inspite of its diversified interests and aspirations of her sons and daughters.

After the independence, a need for an acceptable constitution and independent foreign policy has risen and subsequently it led to the formulation of constitution and foreign policy. However any document of national important would not be acceptable until it accepts the principles and cultures which it inherits from its history and thus a constitution and a foreign policy was documented by keeping these things in the mind.

Now I would like to look into the notion if we are a soft state. Indian independence came into the time when World War 2 had already come to an end and world was being lobbied into two blocs. For the country like India which has the exploitative past and which was gifted with wretched poverty and has the hopelessly underdeveloped social structure, it would have been the easiest foreign policy to join any bloc especially of the USA in the hope of their merciful response. But what did India do? We not only rejected such proposal to join any bloc but also we went one step ahead and helped in the formation of largest group of nations, after UN, NAM and decided to judge any international issues on the basis of its merit. Can a soft state do this?

On the issue of terrorism and Pakistan, Indian policies have hugely criticized for being soft. Most of the scholar and so called intellectual class of Indian elites compared it with USA and went to the extent of saying that, had USA be in such condition response would have been drastically different. I pity them. The policies and measures opted by USA to counter the 9/11 attack is much different than Indian action would have been. Why? Because USA is not waging these wars in its neighborhood but India is. How can India be as hard as USA? Any aggression with neighborhood will only attract instability and violence in the region as is the case of Israel and south west Asia. Further we should not forget that Indian neighborhood is much different than that of developed world and so called elite states. We are surrounded with number of instable, underdeveloped nations, dominated by traditional society which is divided on number of ethnic and religious lines. The presence of China is only making situation worse. How can India be as hard as USA and other such other nations? Instead, we evolved a novel foreign policy which is based on the ideologies which we inherited from our great ancestors.

Similarly on the issue of nuclear deal, we were able to clinch the deal that too without signing CTBT and NPT inspite of strong opposition from China, Pakistan and such other nations. At the same time we successfully demonstrated our support for nuclear disarmament by publishing our “No first use policy” which is unparallel and unmatched in the world politics. How can a country like India be called as soft?

On the issue of Global warming, too, we successfully asserted our opinion and views which was, though, opposed by so called developed world. But instead of succumbing to the pressure we put forward our interest and aspiration regarding the issue which was again based on shared responsibility. How can we soft?

Time and again India has demonstrated the politics of ideology and asserted the power of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam”. If being soft means being weak then India is neither weak nor soft but if being soft means following the ideologies and values, based on its cultural heritage, then India is not the soft country but the softest country, showing light to the rest part of the world.

Burning Kashmir and its Solution

2010-01-05T10:48:00.000+05:30

Perhaps Kashmir is the most puzzling problem Indian polity has ever witnessed. The exact solution of this problem is yet unknown even to the governments of both sides of border. Before looking into the possible solutions of this problem I will give a brief note on the genesis of problem as most of us don’t know what exactly the problem of Kashmir is.

The dawn of Indian independence was accompanied by the bifurcation of the country which was based on the two nation theory proposed by Mr. Jinnah. With this division, a struggle has begun for gaining the sovereignty over Kashmir between two newly freed nations. At the time of independence the entire Kashmir was under the control of a Hindu ruler of Kashmir however the demographic division was in the favuor of Muslims. Keeping this in mind Pakistan attacked on Kashmir with the intention of claiming its sovereignty over the region. And instead of counter attacking the Pakistan army we went to king of Kashmir with a proposal that we would defend them only when they acknowledge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir. By the time we got the assurance form Kashmir, Pakistan had already occupied almost one third of Kashmir by hopelessly defeating its army. And instead of throwing them out from the portion they have already snatched from Kashmir, which is still in the control of Pakistan and now called as POK(Pakistan Occupied Kashmir), we just blocked their further advancement towards Srinagar. We didn’t stop here and finally we made the biggest mistake in the history of independent India by going to UN and making Kashmir a disputed territory. And henceforth this issue has been pending with UN. Our war with China also aggravated this problem and was one of the main reasons of the friendship between China and Pakistan. Further, we fought 3 wars with Pakistan which has worsened the condition in the region. However in the decade of 80s Kashmir pundits were thrown out from their home region making Kashmir almost a Muslim region. With the rise in Islamic terrorism Kashmir problem has become puzzle to solve. The ultimate tragedy lies in the fact no one has a readymade solution which is acceptable to both side.

Now question arises that what should be the solution of this political dilemma. With the awareness level rising day by day it is almost impossible for any country be it Pakistan or be it India to give up their portion. So it is prerequisite for the ultimate solution that present condition is resumed and LOC should be made permanent boundary. Once India gets its part of land, the next step would be to create a pro Indian sentiment in the valley. For this I would suggest two pronged strategy. Firstly, India should involve itself in the developmental work of the region and by taking suitable and relevant projects a engine of growth can be generated but while doing this, participation of local individual should be ensured so that simultaneous development of a feeling of belongingness should take place among the peoples of region. And secondly, India should also look at the transition of demographic distribution of the area by encouraging Hindus to settle in the valley so that a balanced demography could be achieved.

However this solution is not as simple as it looks to my readers. Certain hurdles are bound to arise, for an example Pakistan is not interested in making LOC a permanent boundary. Moreover, the growing influence of China in the region can not be ignored. This becomes more important when we consider that we are still fighting on boundary issues with China as well and our relationship with our mighty neighbor is not cordial. Further the increasing closeness of Pakistan with China is also a cause of concern. So, according to me, while solving the Kashmir problem, our disputes with China should be settled as early as possible so that Pakistan could not bargain on the name of mighty China. Here the role of geopolitics is inevitable. As India and China both are rising at the same time, a bond of friendship can be developed as the aspirations and interests of both countries are almost same. Further, the historical ties can also be taken as morale booster.

While bargaining with Pakistan Indian should be ready to make some minor sacrifices to maintain the peace in the region as India is a responsible nation in the world and is known for its principle of peace and non violence. It should also kept in the mind that beside being the biggest nation in the subcontinent, India is also surrounded by numbers of poor, underdeveloped and tiny nations, the price of which India has to pay in the name of minor sacrifices . However any such sacrifice should be made by keeping in mind that there are number of separatist movements active in India and such sacrifices in no case should work as a morale booster for these separatist groups

Should States be divided?

2010-01-04T09:55:00.001+05:30

Recently in the wake of Telangana issue, once again the issue of dividing the various states has got the ground in the political sphere of our country. A demand of dividing one of the largest state in the country i.e. UP has gained ground to such an extent that its echo can be listened even in state's assembly. A long pending demand of dividing UP in 3 or more part has once again came into prominence.

Now, it is pertinent here to think how useful is to divide any state and create a new one. It is often said that smaller states has more prospect to grow than larger one and this statement can even be supported by citing the example of Punjab,Haryana etc. Perhaps because of this or only because of this belief Assam was ruined and divided into various part keeping in mind that it would also helping creating the engine of growth .But needless to say what happened to our North eastern states, not only they could not ripe the fruits of development but also the demands of further division of states have risen periodically. So dividing larger states into smaller one is not the ultimate solution.

Further, i will ask here a question, which state in India has the potential to be on the top? Mh, GJ or southern states... any guess...i will bet for Jharkhand....it is the most prosperous stete in the country in the term of mineral wealth. Also , it is endowed with natural beauty which only enhances its prospect of becoming prosperous. Bihar was divided and Jharkhand was born in the winter of 2000 with the hope that this would usher an era of development but needless to say what is the present condition of Jharkhand. So even the availability of resources should not be the taken as assurance for the development of state

In India, most of the states are dependent on central aid for their survival as their own income is not high enough to feed their own population. So by just dividing states and creating new one will only aggravate the burden of central government. Moreover the financial assistance required for the setting up the administrative machinery will only do the worse. Further it is the centre which has to bear the additional cost of erratic election caused by irresponsible state politicians. So any further division of any state will thus create only additional burden on the centre. Then what is the solution?

Before looking into the possible solution, just takes a case study. What is the difference between PB, HR and UP,BH . An ordinary person will say that first league of state is more prosperous than later but I will say second league of state has the potential to make 100s of PB and HR out of them. But why are they lagging? Because they are large or they don’t have resources? The eastern UP and northern Bihar has one of the most fertile land not only in India but also in the world but still they are lagging. But what is the reason? The answer is the psycho-social condition of these states.. The reader will be amazed to know that more than 70% of land holding belongs to the elite of respected areas which in no case would be more than 10% of population of related areas. Land being the only resources and agriculture being the single most important occupation of rural folks, this type of inequitable land distribution will only create the havoc in the states and such demand of dividing the state is inevitable. Similar is the case of many states in India.

So instead of dividing the state on the name of development we should look into the matter more deeply and instead of trying the solutions that is cliche we should go for more novel solutions. We should not feed the unsatisfied politicians to make their own career and work for better recourse management and upliftment of socio- economic condition of our citizens

Why I am an ATHEIST

2010-01-03T16:50:00.000+05:30

As regards the origin of God my own idea is that having realized the limitations of man, his weaknesses and shortcoming having been taken into consideration, God was brought into imaginary existence to encourage man to face boldly all the trying circumstances, to meet all dangers manfully and to check and restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God both with his private laws and parental generosity was imagined and painted in greater details. He was to serve as a deterrent factor when his fury and private laws were discussed so that man may not become a danger to society. He was to serve as a father, mother, sister and brother, friend and helpers when his parental qualifications were to be explained. So that when man be in great distress having been betrayed and deserted by all friends he may find consolation in the idea that an ever true friend was still there to help him, to support him and that He was almighty and could do anything. Really that was useful to the society in the primitive age.

What does a woman want?

2010-01-03T16:00:00.001+05:30

A woman is never interested in an ordinary man – no woman worth anything is ever interested in an ordinary man. A woman is always interested in something extraordinary, something majestic, something beyond the grasp. But once a woman catches hold of the man she was interested in, she starts destroying that very power, because then she becomes afraid: he will dominate, and nobody wants to be dominated.

Before he starts dominating, she has to destroy that very power. And I call it a tragedy, because once that power is destroyed she will no more be interested in the man. This is the dilemma: she is interested in power, then the power feels frightening. If the man remains so powerful then she will remain dependent; she will never be the whole – and soon she starts playing feminine tricks. And because he loves her, the man goes on yielding.

Once he starts yielding, the lion disappears and the mouse is born, and no woman is interested in a mouse