Sunday, August 22, 2021

Woke,Inc : Inside America's Social Justice Scam A Review of Vivek Ramaswamy's expose

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Woke,Inc Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam
Vivek Ramaswamy
Center Street, 2021

In Biden's and Kamala's America public discourse is around three ideological tenets: Systemic Racism, White Privilege and Equity. Together they constitute the foundations of Wokeism, a new political and cultural movement based on Identity Politics of Race Gender and Sexual Orientation. Vivek Ramaswamy has studied the ramifications of these ideological shibboleths  both in the larger context of American public life and the institutional carapace within which these ideologies are impacting both policies and culture. 

Vive Ramaswamy, is the son of Indian immigrants from South India and grew up in Ohio. He graduated from Harvard and went on to earn a JD from Yale University. He founded a Biotech Company, Roivant which raised venture capital funds of nearly a billion US dollars and remained a highly profitable venture. He was chose  to resign following the pronounced drift to Woke culture within the American Corporate World.

The book is a scathing indictment of Corporate America at least in its Woke avatar. This ideology argues Vivek is pernicious in that it robs the citizens not only of their money and wealth but their voice in the Public Square and their identity as well. The huge and unaccountable power in the hands of Corporate Mughals like Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of FaceBook has led to distortions in the information available to the citizens for making informed political judgement. The manner in which all these three Mega Tech Companies censored dissenting views on the Origin of COVID 19 and blindsided any discussion on the possible origins of the Virus in the Wuhan Virology Lab suggests a degree of coordination in pushing forth a scripted line. And Vivek rightly compares this with the Soviet style censorship of the 1930s. The de-platforming of President Trump by Twitter constitutes a violation of fundamental rights of a citizen to express himself. The flip side of this is that if the State or the agencies of the State acted in such a dictatorial or high handed manner the Judiciary would have intervened. But these Mega Tech Companies are private  players protected by an Act of Congress that limit their liability. He, unlike other critics who want to use the Anti Trust Laws to break up and discipline these entities, suggests that it is better to make Corporate America aware of its obligations to its shareholders leaving stakeholder concerns to the politicians

Vivek Ramaswamy is a crusader and like every crusader is armed with moral indignation which bristles on every page. The very companies that promote Black Live Matter and its agenda in USA are often extremely callous in other parts of the world. Nike which retained Kaepernick as its "brand ambassador" was hailed as a hero for kneeling when the US National Anthem was played and the Company gave a large donation to the Black Lives Matter Inc. However the fact that Nike shoes are made by Uygar slave labour in Communist China is of little moment for the awakened "woe" souls of the liberal world. Self interest passes off as morality in the Brave New World of Wokedom. Jeff Bezos who had several minority employees fired for speaking about the terrible working conditions in Amazon facilities, gave a donation of 10 Million US dollars to the Black Lives Matter and ensured that there is no adverse reaction. There is obviously a disconnect between the professed objectives of Social Justice and the actual practices of the Corporates. The fixation with BLM seems to be so overwhelming that outward expressions of fealty covers up great malfeasance. Volkswagen  which was hailed as a game changer in conforming to the demands of rigorous environmental norms was exposed as a cheat which beat the tests by installing a software that generated fake results. Such examples can be multiplied but the basic argument is that Wokeism is only an ideological cover for corporate greed and an alibi for gross violations of law, regulations and even Constitutional mandates. The example of Unilever is most instructive. The UN has several times commended the organization for "fempowering" women, Unilever speak for Female Empowerment. Women working in a Tea estate in Kenya were attacked and several of them assaulted and around 11 of them even killed. Unilever which was hailed as a great liberal upholder of Women's Rights did not pay any compensation and when the affected party appealed to the UN, strategic  contributions to NGOs  ensured  suppression and soon the matter was forgotten. Vivek rightly says, the "cloak of wokeness hides wrongdoing". 

Woke Corporate America's sins seem to be many. Airbnb shared personal data with the Communist Party of China a major player in the woke world. McKinsey, an Accounting Firm, prepared a Report for the Saudi Government in which it identified 3 major critics of the regime who posted o Twitter. The result they were arrested. Authoritarian regimes like those of China and Saudi Arabia seem to have close ties with Corporates subscribing to Woke ideology.  And China as a consummate player in this game has learnt to co opt woke methods to serve its own ends. The reason for this support is not hard to find: the immense wealth of China makes it inviting and New York Times and Washington Post carry full page advertisements issued by China and this is one way of funneling money into the American Ideological Apparatus. 

Interspersed in the book are interesting insights into the evolution of corporate structures in USA. Corporations enjoyed the benefits of limited liability in return for a Social Contract based on maximizing profits to the shareholder and serving the Nation's needs. Over the years Corporates have been able to expand their footprint in USA by claiming to represent the stakeholders, a catchall phrase for citizens, professional groups, church goers etc. By claiming to represent stakeholders  corporate USA has moved to the dangerous territory in which it is virtually accountable to no one.

Vivek Ramaswamy has stated clearly and argued that unless USA wakes up, democratic space and freedom in USA will be eroded.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Netaji Bose Papers: The Legal issues and the Nehruvian Regime's Prevarications

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Bose inspecting troops 
The declassified records of the Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office make sordid reading. Nehru and his dynastic successors were mortally afraid of Subash Chandra Bose and his legacy as he had the potential of absolutely destabilizing the Congress Regime had he perchance survived the Air Crash and returned to India. It would not be wrong to say that the Congress Government under Nehru and his successors were invested in the Air Crash Theory not just as a hope but as an insurance against the challenge from Netaji. This is made clear from the questions and controversies surrounding Netaji in the months following the defeat of Japan in August 1945. 

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Japan in August 1945 Lord Wavell the Viceroy sought to have Netaji Bose declared or at least considered for prosecution for alleged "war crimes". It is not clear from the available records if the UN War Crimes Commission that was constituted by the victorious Allies considered the prosecution of Netaji. What is shocking, however, is the absolute nonchalance with which the possibility was treated by Nehru and his Government.  There is no evidence on hand to suggest that Nehru either protested such a characterization nor did he try to put the facts in a clear and unambiguous manner. Even during the Red Fort Trial the allegations around Netaji were not addressed. There is no doubt that the Imperial Japanese Army did commit war crimes against Indian citizens in Andamans, Singapore and Malaya. However, in the case of Andaman Islands even the British realised that Bose was only "nominally" in charge of the Islands.

The closest parallel we can make with another contemporary personality is Charles de Gaulle. Like de Gaulle, Bose escaped from his country during war time and sought the assistance of states which were opposed to the Government that existed in France. The only difference is that de Gaulle chose the side that emerged victorious and Netaji Bose ended up on the losing side. Charles de Gaulle was able to discredit Pierre Laval to such an extent that not only was the French Premier executed as a "war criminal" after a flawed trial, but also was able to get all the advantages of a victor, though France was a defeated, collaborationist state. 

The Secretary of State for India and the Colonies was reluctant to accept the reports of Bose's death in the crash of 18th August 1945 and this reluctance was taken as grounds to challenge the findings of both the Shah Nawaz Commission and the Justice Khosala Commission. And to the Nehruvian regime this was god sent. Any issue or question regarding Netaji Bose could be avoided or better still horribly confused by stirring it in the pot of the Air Crash theory. And later the repatriation of ashes back to India issue. And there was a constituency which played to the gallery and the charade continues thereby important questions about Netaji and his legacy are evaded.

R F Mudie in his letter to the Viceroy makes it clear that Bose cannot be treated as a  "war criminal" and he does not come within the "extended definition" which came into vogue and adopted by the United Nations. This letter is found in the Transfer of Power Documents and a photocopy is also found in the Netaji Papers. When it is so clear to a British Officer why was Nehru so reluctant to come clean on this issue.

During the course of the INA Trials at the Red Fort Delhi several facts were adduced regarding the torture and beatings to which Indian troops who were reluctant to join the INA were subjected to. And there is evidence to show such instances were not frequent. The INA was not complicit in any of the major war crimes committed by the Japanese forces in China and Southeast Asia. Joyce Lebra is clear on this. 

The controversy over the "war criminal" charge was allowed to fester only because it served the interests of the Nehru establishment and the Congress friendly regime sponsored "historians' lie Bipan Chandra and others have chosen to play along.

Monday, August 2, 2021

Netaji Bose Papers: The Controversy over the "Bharat Ratna"

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

The decision of the Government of India headed by Hon ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi to throw open the records of the Government of India relating to Subash Chandra Bose has evoked considerable interest. The records clearly show that at every step of the way Nehru strove hard to undermine the contributions of Bose and later appropriated them as part of the Congress legacy by inducing prominent lieutenants of the Netaji like Shah Nawaz Khan and Mohan Singh to defect to the Congress. Shah Nawaz rose to be a Minister in the Union Cabinet and presided over the first major Enquiry over the alleged death and disappearance of the great Patriot. 

Throughout the 17 years of Nehru's and the years of his daughter and grandson the Dynasty did not allow the contribution of Netaji to the Freedom Struggle to occupy its rightful place and after the Left took charge of the Ministry of Education after the split in the Congress in 1969, which saw Syed Nurul Hassan being crowned as the Czar of Higher Education, Netaji's stature in Indian History was deliberately slighted. One has only to read the badly crafted sentences in Bipan Chandra's Struggle for Freedom to realize the pathetic depths to which the leftist historians would go to diminish the stature of this towering figure. Throughout those long years Professor Samar Gupta kept raising questions about the disappearance of Netaji but little was done about honouring his memory. It was left to Hon ble Narendra Modi to build a suitable Museum to house the relics of the Indian National Army in New Delhi.

Why was the Nehruvian State hostile to Netaji? This questions goes right to the elephant lurking in the room. How did India get its Freedom. Dynasty friendly historians have chosen to silence the contribution of the INA and treat it as a mere embarrassing interlude in a Glorious Chapter headed by the great Troika--Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. Savarkar was brushed aside as the man who wrote "mercy petitions" thereby undermining his many years of sacrifice and suffering. Bose was made to "disappear" literally and metaphorically and so his legacy remained alien to Indian political life. The Forward Bloc founded by Bose tried to carry the torch but after the advent of the Communist Party of India, the Marxist Faction to prominence under Jyoti Basu swerved leftward leaving Bose behind. 

In 1991 when P V Narashima Rao was the Prime Minister and was running a minority Government with a deft combination of inducement (bribes JMM Bribery Case) and state coercion (the Jain Diary Case), a decision was made to award the Bharat Ratna to Subash Chandra Bose. He was tagged with Abdul Kalam Azad whose standing in India was certainly not of the same stature as Netaji Bose. A shrewd political gambit to link Bose with Azad hoping that it could be sold as "secular" recognition of two outstanding individuals. 

On October 10 1991 the Prime Minister wrote to R Venkataraman, the then President requesting the investiture of the Bharat Ratna on the two individuals, Bose and Azad, in recognition for "public service of the highest order" and "outstanding contribution to the freedom struggle". As far as the dynasty friendly historians were concerned, Bose ceased to struggle for Freedom once he was expelled from the Congress and as I have shown earlier the INA was reduced to an embarrassing footnote. So what exactly was being honoured in 1991--the Bose of the Congress Days or the great Netaji of the INA. 

On 3th February 1992, A K Narayanan, Joint Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to K N Bakshi the Indian Ambassador to Austria to contact Mrs Emilie Schenkl the widow of Netaji and Dr Mrs Anita Pfaff the daughter of the Great Patriot. On Feb 21 1992 Dr Anita Pfaff wrote to the Ambassador:
           "We are aware, however, the fact that in the past Netaji's achievements and contributions have not been recognized, particularly when it could be avoided comfortably". She went on to say that "Such an honour would have been appropriate in the 1950s."

A stinging rebuke from the daughter of the Patriot. And she went on to say "Whether his achievements were so minor that he had to stand in line for so long or so great that they would be remembered even after such a long time". Obviously the Bharat Ratna to Subash Bose who is a legend in India puts him at par with Nehru, Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi and scores more and hence no patriot of India will ever like to see the legend diminished in this way. She concluded by saying that "One cannot honour Netaji today by awarding the Bharat Ratna.

The Bose Family did not accept the award and the insignia and Sanad as per the procedure are now in the Ministry of Home Affais.


 stinging