Narendra Modi's Overwhelming Mandate

The 2014 Indian elections were also the largest democratic exercise in history of the world with over 550 million votes cast. The BJP has got an overwhelming mandate and has emerged as the single largest party. This is indicative of the fact that the people of India were sick of the successive coalition governments at the centre. Hence, India decided to give a thumping majority to Narendra Modi, who has promised unprecedented development right through electioneering. Modi has re-shaped the national political space. Before India went to polls in 2014, this canvas was largely dominated by the Congress with BJP mostly looking like a super regional party. At last, Indian democracy can bid farewell to the coalition era. Apart from this, the results have shown that regional parties do not have absolute power to change the equations in the Parliament, if the majority of the people decide so. So, now the Government is not on the whims and fancies of the regional players, who generally played spoilsport. This election was a watershed in more ways than one. It has given a big blow to communal politics. The appeasement politics of the so-called secular parties has ended. Almost all Muslim candidates have lost election, even from BJP. This goes on to prove that Muslim voters have summarily rejected vote- bank politics. They are ready to join the mainstream by stepping out of their religious identity. Today, Indians have elected a leader who is virtually incorruptible in his personal life with a track record of economic progress built with relentless free market capitalism. Modi has long been demonized by the left for 2002 riots in Gujarat that occurred only months after he became the state chief. His election to the office of Prime Minister of India means that the people of India have exonerated him of the charges. His invitation to the heads of SAARC nations to attend his swearing- in-ceremony has won hearts and minds alike, across the world. Political commentators talk about his charisma. This enables him to focus on the mammoth task of rebuilding India. He has successfully convinced the electorate and people at large to entrust him with this responsibility. After about 12 weeks in the Government, Narendra Modi, is keen to surgically remove tumors in the government machinery. The Council of Ministers is soon to be revamped and pruned to remove unwanted and non performing elements. There is a need to rewrite a new Citizens’Charter, to differentiate their rule from the earlier regime. The babus need to be reined in. For they have terrific powers but zero accountability. Administrative reforms are needed. They must repeal or reframe/ restructure Section 197 of the CrPC that shamefully continues in our statute books. The rule stipulates that no public servant can be prosecuted for any offence alleged to have been committed “while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty" without the prior sanction of the Government. Thus, the procedure of booking errant bureaucrats is so convoluted and agonizing that ordinary persons do not have the slightest chance of success. Secondly, changes are needed in Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and make it obligatory for sanctioning authority to decide within 3 months whether or not permission should be given to prosecute a public servant under the Act. This immunity to public servants grossly disrespects the charter of "Equality before Law “to every citizen. The Supreme Court had struck off this "Single Directive" provision of the act pertaining to prosecution of officers above joint secretary level in its recent judgement too. The officers need to be held accountable. Lastly judicial reforms are also needed. A well crafted Judicial Reform Law is essential to usher in judicial accountability and efficiency. We have to look at the Veeraswami Judgment that provides almost total immunity to the senior judiciary and ensure it is jettisoned at the earliest. I expect Narendra Modi to bring method into governance, keep his administration grounded and revved up, hold the ministers accountable and expect him to continuously exhort and motivate workers and his team in the Government. He leads by example and should continue to do so. His outreach will be specially directed at the youth. Just like ex-President Ronald Reagan of USA, Narendra Modi too believes in course correction. His biggest asset is self correction. This is the genesis of course correction. He does not hold anything sacred for himself, his government, policies or his party and ministers. He is ready to learn and unlearn without ego hassles. This is a huge asset rarely found in people of authority. The thoughts of the revolutionary sage Sri Aurobindo are particularly apposite now. “The Kshatriya of the old must again take his rightful position in our social polity to discharge the first and foremost duty of defending its interests. The brain is impotent without the right arm of strength. What India needs especially at this moment is the aggressive virtues, the spirit of soaring idealism, bold creation, fearless resistance, courageous attack ; of the passive tamasic spirit of inertia we have already too much. We need to cultivate another training and temperament, another habit of mind.”

Tit-bits: Virtual Reality

Tit-bits: Virtual Reality: She is smitten by the virtual reality for it is rosy and so very endearing.But she is terrified of the reality- for the reality is so crude,...

INDIA IS NOT A SECULAR STATE

India is not a secular state.


Of late, the issue of religion caste and politics has again resurfaced in the political firmament. Who is secular? Dictionary meaning of secular says of or pertaining to worldly things or to the things that are not regarded as religious spiritual or sacred ; temporal. The Latin term from which the word secular is derived is saeculum meaning of this generation or age and came to mean that which belongs to this life, to the here and now, in this world. Secularism was born out of Christianity in the Western world to separate religious affairs from mundane activities of the state and people. In India, the word secular was inserted into the preamble by the 42nd Amendment Act. It implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance and respect. Minorities are people who are less in number to the dominant group, and are ethnically linguistically and religiously different from the dominant group.

In India demographically , Muslims have grown so much in size after the Independence that they hardly qualify to be called minorities anymore. Yet the appeasement politics prevents the political parties to declare them as dominant community . So the tag of minorities shall remain labelled against them even after they outnumber caste Hindus in India. Mind you, caste Hindu many times include Jains Buddhists Sikhs Virashaiva and a few other communities Moreover Hindus are further and definitely divided along caste region and language basis. A Tamil Brahmin has nothing in common to a Brahmin from Maharashtra or Uttaranchal. So by that parameter Hindus are definitely not a majority community.

India declares itself a secular state but it is predominantly a minority read Muslims appeasing State. Most of the riots that have ravaged India are between the Hindus and Muslim minority. If the Muslims were really minor as a group they would have never dared to attack Hindu processions or Hindu neighbourhoods. Since they are very sure of State protection and appeasement that they dare to riot. This is a predominant mentality and not a minority's action. The other biggest and shocking riots was the Sikh Riots of 1984. This was again not a work of ethnic Hindu groups but hoodlums and anti social elements in connivance with the ruling Congress Party.
Article 25(2) of the Constitution calls for providing "social welfare and reform and throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of public character to all classes and sections of Hindus." But India's Constitution does not define who or what is a Hindu, but it does define followers of Buddhism Jainism and Sikhism as Hindus for purposes of Hindu temple entry. Isn't it strange? How come the Constitution and State direct a community while still calling itself secular and  irreligious.
The Uniform Civil Code could not be implemented in India because the Muslims are against any interference in their religious matters. Yet Government of India doles out crores as Haj subsidy and this is not considered interference by the same Muslims. So is India not a Muslim appeasing nation than a secular state.

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, applies to Sikhs Buddhists and Jains as equally to Hindus. How can this constitutional provision call for social reforms among Hindus if India is a secular State. This shows that the nationalist leaders and constitution makers, most of whom were upper caste Hindus were progressive and taking cue from Gandhian philosophy actively advocated and practised reforms in the Hindu religion while leaving all minority groups like Jews Parsis and others untouched.

So we may say that India guarantees religious freedom and protection only to the minorities and not to caste Hindus.  And so India is definitely not a secular State.

Courage

Malala Yousufzai   is  the Nobel Peace prize nominee this year.  The feeling is somewhat heartening as well as  invigorating. Malala personifies everything that a girl child ought to be in a feudalistic male dominated society and culture. She looks confident smart and extremely sorted out in her long robes and head covered with colourful chadars. To the uninitiated, Malala Yousufzai is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the north western town of Mingora in the picturesque Swat Valley- The girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, last year on 10/09/12. The Pakistani school girl became a global inspiration after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban, an ultra orthodox terrorist group dominant in the  interiors of Pakistan. Apparently she has become famous- and I do not just mean being shot by the Taliban, which is a tragically common experience but the attention that followed. She is being dubbed as a "kid" who has been nominated for the prestigious Nobel in certain circles, but to me she seems an entirely genuine person with a thinking mind. It must have taken enormous courage to have spoken about girls' . She is candid when she says " I believe it's a woman's right  to decide what she wants to wear and if a woman can go to the beach and not wear anything , then why can't she also wear everything. " Having said that she goes on to clarify that she doesn't think a woman should cover her face in court or in other places where it is necessary to show my face because I want to show my identity." She regrets having penned a diary anonymously for BBC Urdu, this clearly proves that she wants to maintain her identity. Now this shows her clarity of thought and purpose. She has spoken about punishing the Taliban and later abandoned the idea, for she says that it would be much better to have a dialogue with them. This again is her mindset , very different from the Islamic laws , which advocates tit for tat.

So much for Malala but my concern is the arm chair activists and society leaders who speak eloquently about girls ' education and her rights yet deny it systematically for their domestic help and poor relatives . Same courage and vigour is shot down and panned out in common households across the Orient. While the old dowagers of the family dominate all policy decisions , the younger females toil and suffer right under their tutelage. The emancipation  of all women across all stratas of society is yet to come. Even in the West where Malala is being feted and applauded for her courage , women are educated and liberated yet suffer many humiliations as rape and abuse. The days of celebration is yet to become a reality.

OUTRAGE

Today the verdict has come in the 16/12 gang rape case and the four adult accused have been given death sentence, rightly so.But the fifth accused was exempted from the gallows because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.Prompt global outcry and weeks of incessant protests on the streets of India led to the arrest and conviction of these men . This brutal rape and torture on a moving bus highlighted not only the routine abuse of hapless women in various parts of India as they travel for work but also the extreme insensitiveness displayed by her tormentors even while trying to derive pleasure at her cost. The idea to insert an iron rod into her body to rip her apart is so very repulsive that it makes me feel giddy and nauseating even as I write it. How could they get pleasure and high even as the victim was so agitated, bleeding and gory.Infact what kind of pleasure it is to make love(if it is so)on a moving vehicle when so many other hands and mouths are also hovering over a pinned hapless person. It is this thought which overwhelms me whenever I am thinking about that fifth juvenile convict.The police spokesman had said that the minor was the most brutal attacker and had "sexually abused his victim twice and ripped out her intestines with his bare hands." yet the juvenile was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years'imprisonment in a reform facility. Is it right or enough for a person who is not a serial sex criminal nor even a psycopath yet could be so very inhuman??? This query is tormenting my thoughts today even as news channels are gloating over today's verdict. Cesare Beccaria had advocated for abolishing torture and death penalty in 1764 in Renaissant Italy. Of course these were enlightened thoughts after the Dark Ages in Europe, and many intellectual debates are currently being held in the newsrooms and drawing rooms, as to the fate of this fifth nameless convict. To my mind, this fellow should also be hanged with his gang members or even better he should be burnt alive along with others as was the last dying wish of "Nirbhaya". I overheard from the news channels a few days ago that even as he was engaged in his daily chores, his eyes were glued to the television and after hearing of the conviction of others , he preferred to lie low and aloof. To my mind, even though he is young and has a right to live, he has lost that mandate/right by the magnitude of his crime.In all these months, as has been reported, he looked remorseless and unrepentant. To me by giving him another chance we might be giving him another life to commit more such crimes.If the chances for this is even 20%, I would recommend death for him.This demand by me is of a sensitive and concerned woman citizen who can imagine the pain of the victim. I also demand gallows for all those men convicted in rape cases and all the more for saints and seers like Asaram Bapu if they are convicted. To me, this is 21st century and we need to change our mindsets and punishments in this hightech age accordingly. Earlier it may have been fashionable to desist from awarding death penalty, but now, as the magnitude and propensity of such crimes have increased manifold,it looks more reasonable to send these criminals to gallows so as to send a message loud and clear to the society and community at large.

Sense ans Sensibilities

Love for motherland translates into love for Patna for me many times.....Biharipan aka apnapan to me. Do not know why , but have always felt an instant connect with the people from my homeland. Is it the same for others too.. have always wondered.

 As late social scientist, Arvind Das, had said ,Bihar is not a state but a state of mind. To me everyone irrespective of caste or creed who has  lived in Bihar  is a Bihari..be it Bengali or Marwari settled  in  Bihar. Biharipan....what a word!!. What does it mean??  To me it encompasses all things that Bihar and its mindset symbolizes. Biharipan means that attitude of belongingness for your neighbour that the line gets blurred and one starts  poking  in others' affairs. Infact many a times all our bestest friends are people having origins in Bihar. That awaragardi of the roadside romeos which almost threatened the girls of the house to remain indoors. That attitude of streetsmarts to con gullible junta and then bask and show off among friends and peers.This is all so Bihari way.

Have not seen such behavioural concepts in the metro.The so called friends talk over the phones/intercom for hours together but rarely visit each other.Chatting in the parks, elevators and corridors is commonplace ..so much so that people talk to neighbours standing on individual gates instead of  stepping in or inviting the neighbour to walk into their drawing rooms. In hours of need and crisis most of these friends disappear in thin air.They feign ignorance  in most cases. Is this politeness or indifference?? And then we had complained about nosey neighbours back home...atleast they were their for us in all situations. Awara boys of Patna were not so bold enough as to rape and molest neighbors  at the drop of a hat. This is so common in all metros. And moreover the same yeteryears romeos act as family members if bumped into later in life:).

This is the Bihari way of life to me ...the people who have reslience, patience and courage to survive in toughest of odds and ordeals of day to day life.Maybe this also explains their success away from home in all realms of  life and professions. I am in love with this Bihar and even if I do not have a single relative/ friend to visit in Patna, yet the town shall hold the same fondness for me. People from Bihar instantly become apna for me. This is Biharipan aka apnapan to me.

Virtual Reality

She is smitten by the virtual reality for it is rosy and so very endearing.But she is terrified of the reality- for the reality is so crude,stark and hateful.O what dilemma and what a paradoxical existence.

she is beautiful and gorgeous...umm she has the looks and the wits to endear all and sundry.She loves art,music poetry and books.To her family and kids are her sole interest with a dash of solitude and aloofness.She hums songs and cook meals;she loves tending plants and langrously savour the rich bounties of nature.

He is soo average and no wits..he loves pomp and show and loudness.For him success is a measure of a person's character..means a successful person is of good character and his social standing is a proof of his goodness.for her personal character matters and not a person's success.

She is supposed to look like a girl in her early 20s ;when he himself looks haggard,slouched and aged.In beautiful ,calm and sylvan surroundings,her mind is constantly hammering with his shouts and inner contradictions of her life.She meets her friends on the facebook amd sings and laughs talkng to them by way of comments...he meets his friends in person and exults and rejoices.

Aren't they two different souls packed for life together.So the virtual world entices her as much as her real life is a nightmare.