A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books
The involvement of Indian "intellectuals" in the seminar circuit operated by Dr Gulam Nabi Fai who was also the Director of the American-Kashmir Council does not come as a surprise to me at all. When I see the tele intellectuals from JNU sitting in the NDTV sudio with their poster girl Barkha Dutt making the most outlandish statements I only feel that India can never be a world class power with a brain trust that can be hired for an economy class ticket to USA. What is even more disgusting is that this breed of parasites has colonised the UGC, the media, the National Advisory Council, NGOs and the like and a younger generation is being trained to follow in the illustrious footsteps of such "intellectuals". These intellectuals do not read but trade in opinion and pass of political positions in the garb of academic research. The post-colonial theoretical armature that these intellectuals invoke elided the boundaries between truth and fiction, between opinion and judgement, between theoretical position and practice. What is most disconcerting is that these intellectuals profess unalloyed liberal views in public and rant with full vigor at "reactionary hindu extremism", froth at the mouth at the mention of Hon'ble Narendar Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and let their hearts bleed for criminals of every kind who happen to belong to the "right " caste are silent when it comes to real issues. For instance these tele intellectuals have written volumes on the 1992 event in Ayodhya, but hardly have a word on the criminal pogrom of the Congress Party in 1984. They are the first to hold candle light vigil for "terrorists" killed in police actions but do not have a word of succour for the victims of terrorism, On the one hand they seek the freedom to criticise the Nation state from every platform available but are the first to hold their grubby palms for trinkets and grants from the state. It is this kind of intellectual who has sold the country to Pakistan and the "liberal" anti-national rants are also given the legitimacy of post-colonial social science. The coming of the Sage Corporation into India has led to the erosion of the independent social science thinking India had for quite a long time.
While I am not a great admirer of the nation state, I can say with a great deal of pride that what I have written and published is based on my wide reading and honest understanding. In short, I represent the dying breed of independent historians and thinkers among the slumdog post colonial teleintellectuals. The UGC also rewards intellectuals for being anti national. If one stretches out ones hand for alms from the likes of Gulam Nabi Fai, the prestige value of such beggars in the Indian Universities goes up. He/she is circulating in the rarefied air of high policy ans so he/she must be rewarded and promoted. It is a shame that the Government of India has appointed on the Kashmir interlocutoer council Dilip Padgoankar who was a guest of Gulam Nabi Fai.
JNU is full of robust teleintelelctuals who have battened themselves on the pickings from Fai.The culture of mediocrity and showmanship which is encouraged in Indian Universities is responsible for the sorry state of affairs. These teleintellectuals do not have the time or the energy to teach as they are found lobbying with their political friends for research money and trips. The net result is a total lack of a national perspective in our educational and res each institutions. Moreover, the Indian academics have learnt to be mimic men and have prospered.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The Mumbai Terror Strikes of July 13th 2011: Why India cannot deal with Jehadi Terrorism
A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books
The recent terror strikes in Mumbai have demonstrated once again that the common Indian citizen will always be at the receiving end of terror strikes while the politicians escape. We have not forgotten the Dawood Ibrahim inspired 1993 blasts or the train balsts, or the India Gate attacks and 26/11/2008 will forever remain a day that will lie in infamy. The Congress response has been to draft the Anti Communal Bill which will make terror attacks even easier and will provide immunity to the perpetrators of terrorist strikes. The ruling party, particularly the Indian National Congress does not seem to realise that terrorism is not an identity issue. The fact that not a single sentence has been carried out to punish those guilty of terrorist attacks only serves to embolden the jehadi groups bent on creating mayhem in India.
There is absolutely no ground level intelligence gathering network that can provide information about plots, targets and finance. The civil liberty groups have ensured that there is blanket of security for all terrorist groups to operate with utter impunity.no one is saying that suspects should be immediately be arrested and thrown into jail, but there is need to have deep roots in the muslim communities, particularly of northern India and Kerala in order to identify potential recruits for terror attacks in India. A proactive policy of stopping terrorism is far better than merely indulging in platitudes after the even. The misplaced commissions such as the Sachar Commissions give legitimacy to a moslem sense of alienation. There is poverty and deprivation in all sections of Indian society and by making that an identity issue, the Congress Pary and its acolytes only encourage a feeling of alienation among the Muslim sections of the Indian population. It is the same misguided policy that led to the Partition and the Indian National Congress in its present dyanstic fascist avatar has not learnt lessons from the past.
Apart from community based intelligence gathering, the country needs to have a doctrine to deal with terrorism. When the BJP handled the Kandhahar crisis one way the Congress politisied the issue and when the BJp advocates strong action, then the same foul moujted congresmen say that there is a communal agenda at work. Unfrtunately the "communal" bogey is raised whenever step need to be taken to protect the aam admi from jehadi terrorism. The politicians are not targetted and hence they do not worry about the plight of the common citizens who die in these brazen attacks. And the jehadis do not attack the politicians because they know that if they do they will be destroyed. In other words the Congres regime does not care about the loss of life in jehadi strikes.
Just think of the case of Kasab, He has been sentenced to death but the sentence is yet to be carried out and because the Congress regime wants to let Afzal Guru escape, Kasab will in all probabiity be repartriated back to Pakistan in a few months/years time. We have an absurd situation here in India where terrorists get full protection and the citizen gets none. There is a lot to be learnt from Israel and the success Israel has had in dealing with Palestenian terrorism. The justice of a political cause cannot be used to justify terrorism and Israel has shown how to deal with militants. Indian Government must seek the cooperation of MOssad and Mossad must be involved in training Indian Intelligence wing. I must also add that RAW and IB are both full of traitors and they must be disbanded.
Even as the death toll mounts, Prithiraj Chavan says that the NCP has the Home portfolio and hence the bomb attacks. Nothing can be more cynical and criminal than this statement. Instead of taking the responsibility for failing to protect the people of Mumbai, Chavan is making political capitsl. Congresman like vultures will feed on the dead bodies of our fallen citezens and they must be eliminated. As long as India continues to vote the corrupt criminals who are now in power the country will bwe asoft target.
The recent terror strikes in Mumbai have demonstrated once again that the common Indian citizen will always be at the receiving end of terror strikes while the politicians escape. We have not forgotten the Dawood Ibrahim inspired 1993 blasts or the train balsts, or the India Gate attacks and 26/11/2008 will forever remain a day that will lie in infamy. The Congress response has been to draft the Anti Communal Bill which will make terror attacks even easier and will provide immunity to the perpetrators of terrorist strikes. The ruling party, particularly the Indian National Congress does not seem to realise that terrorism is not an identity issue. The fact that not a single sentence has been carried out to punish those guilty of terrorist attacks only serves to embolden the jehadi groups bent on creating mayhem in India.
There is absolutely no ground level intelligence gathering network that can provide information about plots, targets and finance. The civil liberty groups have ensured that there is blanket of security for all terrorist groups to operate with utter impunity.no one is saying that suspects should be immediately be arrested and thrown into jail, but there is need to have deep roots in the muslim communities, particularly of northern India and Kerala in order to identify potential recruits for terror attacks in India. A proactive policy of stopping terrorism is far better than merely indulging in platitudes after the even. The misplaced commissions such as the Sachar Commissions give legitimacy to a moslem sense of alienation. There is poverty and deprivation in all sections of Indian society and by making that an identity issue, the Congress Pary and its acolytes only encourage a feeling of alienation among the Muslim sections of the Indian population. It is the same misguided policy that led to the Partition and the Indian National Congress in its present dyanstic fascist avatar has not learnt lessons from the past.
Apart from community based intelligence gathering, the country needs to have a doctrine to deal with terrorism. When the BJP handled the Kandhahar crisis one way the Congress politisied the issue and when the BJp advocates strong action, then the same foul moujted congresmen say that there is a communal agenda at work. Unfrtunately the "communal" bogey is raised whenever step need to be taken to protect the aam admi from jehadi terrorism. The politicians are not targetted and hence they do not worry about the plight of the common citizens who die in these brazen attacks. And the jehadis do not attack the politicians because they know that if they do they will be destroyed. In other words the Congres regime does not care about the loss of life in jehadi strikes.
Just think of the case of Kasab, He has been sentenced to death but the sentence is yet to be carried out and because the Congress regime wants to let Afzal Guru escape, Kasab will in all probabiity be repartriated back to Pakistan in a few months/years time. We have an absurd situation here in India where terrorists get full protection and the citizen gets none. There is a lot to be learnt from Israel and the success Israel has had in dealing with Palestenian terrorism. The justice of a political cause cannot be used to justify terrorism and Israel has shown how to deal with militants. Indian Government must seek the cooperation of MOssad and Mossad must be involved in training Indian Intelligence wing. I must also add that RAW and IB are both full of traitors and they must be disbanded.
Even as the death toll mounts, Prithiraj Chavan says that the NCP has the Home portfolio and hence the bomb attacks. Nothing can be more cynical and criminal than this statement. Instead of taking the responsibility for failing to protect the people of Mumbai, Chavan is making political capitsl. Congresman like vultures will feed on the dead bodies of our fallen citezens and they must be eliminated. As long as India continues to vote the corrupt criminals who are now in power the country will bwe asoft target.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
TREASURE TROVE IN THE PADBHANABHA TEMPLE, TRAVANCORE
A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books
Travancore,a princely state that tried to become a member of the United Nations after the declaration of Independence in 1947,has always been an example of good governance thanks to the efforts of Sir T Madhava Rao, the Prime MInister in th second half of the nineteenth century. The kings of Travancore devised a novel legitimizing strategy for their rule. They ruled in the name of the Deity, Padmanabha, one of the forms of Vishnu. The kIngs claimed to be the deputy of the deity. Such a political theory was obviously inspired by the political practices of the the Vijayanagara Empire. The wars with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the expanding sultanate of Mysore especially under Tippu Sultan made the kingdom of Travancore an early entrant into the subsidiary alliance and the Rajas of Travancore were firm supporters of the Company like the Mahratta chieftains, Scindia, Holkar and the Gaikwad.
The good administration together with the prosperity engendered by the trade and commerce made the kingdom extremely rich. The discovery of the treasure trove in the Padmanabha Temple reflects this.
Two days back i.e. 30th June 2011, the ante chambers near the sanctum sanctorum of the temple was opened and a veritable treasure trove was discovered. Nearly 1000 golden chains,bag full of diamonds,golden plates, fabulous jewelery,and a numismatists' delight in the form of hundrens of coins dating to the medieval period down to the rulers of Travancore. The inventory of this treasure trove is being done under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. The Archaeological Survery of India has lost its credibility due to its partisan role and politisised nature of its functioning. In fact the suspicion that many entertain that the ASI and its top brass are involved in smuggling of antiquities makes us extremely apprehensive of any cultural property which is in the hands of the ASI.
The temple was the personal property of the ruling family and therfore the situation in Travancore or Trivandrum is much different from that of TamilNadu where tEmples became state property as soon as the Company established itself. The various instruments of accession signed at the time of Independence are specific to Government property and excluded religious holdings. This being the case the ruling family can make a good case for the restoration of the jewellry to the descendents of the last raja of Travancore. The precedent in this case is similar to that of the Nizam of Hyderabad who was permitted to keep his personal wealth.
The discovery of the treasure trove provides a major opportunity for historians to study a hug cache of historical antiquities. Numismatists must take the opportunity to analyse the coins using the methods that Peter Spufford has outlined in his Money and its Uses in Early Medieval Europe (Cambridge 2009).
Travancore,a princely state that tried to become a member of the United Nations after the declaration of Independence in 1947,has always been an example of good governance thanks to the efforts of Sir T Madhava Rao, the Prime MInister in th second half of the nineteenth century. The kings of Travancore devised a novel legitimizing strategy for their rule. They ruled in the name of the Deity, Padmanabha, one of the forms of Vishnu. The kIngs claimed to be the deputy of the deity. Such a political theory was obviously inspired by the political practices of the the Vijayanagara Empire. The wars with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the expanding sultanate of Mysore especially under Tippu Sultan made the kingdom of Travancore an early entrant into the subsidiary alliance and the Rajas of Travancore were firm supporters of the Company like the Mahratta chieftains, Scindia, Holkar and the Gaikwad.
The good administration together with the prosperity engendered by the trade and commerce made the kingdom extremely rich. The discovery of the treasure trove in the Padmanabha Temple reflects this.
Two days back i.e. 30th June 2011, the ante chambers near the sanctum sanctorum of the temple was opened and a veritable treasure trove was discovered. Nearly 1000 golden chains,bag full of diamonds,golden plates, fabulous jewelery,and a numismatists' delight in the form of hundrens of coins dating to the medieval period down to the rulers of Travancore. The inventory of this treasure trove is being done under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. The Archaeological Survery of India has lost its credibility due to its partisan role and politisised nature of its functioning. In fact the suspicion that many entertain that the ASI and its top brass are involved in smuggling of antiquities makes us extremely apprehensive of any cultural property which is in the hands of the ASI.
The temple was the personal property of the ruling family and therfore the situation in Travancore or Trivandrum is much different from that of TamilNadu where tEmples became state property as soon as the Company established itself. The various instruments of accession signed at the time of Independence are specific to Government property and excluded religious holdings. This being the case the ruling family can make a good case for the restoration of the jewellry to the descendents of the last raja of Travancore. The precedent in this case is similar to that of the Nizam of Hyderabad who was permitted to keep his personal wealth.
The discovery of the treasure trove provides a major opportunity for historians to study a hug cache of historical antiquities. Numismatists must take the opportunity to analyse the coins using the methods that Peter Spufford has outlined in his Money and its Uses in Early Medieval Europe (Cambridge 2009).
Sunday, June 26, 2011
P Chidambaram and Amnesia: Why the 1984 Riots organised by the Congress Party cannot be forgiven or Forgotten
Yesterday the Home Minister of India said someting no Home MInister of India have ever said: He asked the Sikhs to "forget the 1984 Riots and move on". This plea for amnesia is strange as the job of the Home Minsiter is to ensure the esucity of the State and its citizens. The main reason P Chidambaram made these thoughtless and callous remarks is bacause of the infighting within the Congress and the Home Minister wants to position himself on the side of the dynasty. Even the loose cannon of the Congress party its General Secretary, Shri Digvijaya Singh has not made any remark which rubs salt in the wounds of the Sikh community. P Chidambaram should apologise for his intemperate remarks and all should take a vow never to forgive or forget the black deeds of 1984.
In any civilised society, the Party like the Congress which was responsible for burning to death nearly 15,000 men in New Delhi alone would have been banned from the political field and its leaders proscecuted for organising and participating in the mayhen starting on October 31st 1984. Instead all that the party did was to make man like Jagdish Tytler, H K L Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar minister who even represnted India in the high councils of the world. Even after 27 years not a single person has been convicted for the crimes. Now the Home Minister asks the community to move on. Mr P Chidambaram is forgetting that the people of India have neither forgiven or forgotten 1984 and the Congress will pay a heavy price.
Why this indecent haste to bury the past? The present UPA Government is neck deep in scams, scandals and scum of every kind. After some time these scandals can also be forgotten and the nation asked to move on. The Congress has perfected this art of amnesis because the JNU breed of domesticated "historians" like to brush under the carpet all the crimes of the Congress in the name of fighting "communalism". I ask is not killing such a large number of men belonging to a minority community the worst kind of communal atrocity which even puts the post Godhra carnage to shame. It is shameful the P Chidambaram should say such an unkind thing.
There is another reason for the haste in burying the crime of 1984 comitted by the Congress Party: The Nehru Dynasty was in power and as long as that dynasty is in power such crime will take place and by making a Sikh the Prime Minister of India-- a dummy Prime MInister at that--the Congress cannot hope to cover up it gory, bllod filled past. India intellectuals are ever ready to apologise for the Congress Party but people will remember.
I hope 1984 is not forgotten and we will keep the memory of the horrible crime alive even if the Ramachandra Guhas of the world conspire to consign the memory of 1984 to the River of Lethe.
In any civilised society, the Party like the Congress which was responsible for burning to death nearly 15,000 men in New Delhi alone would have been banned from the political field and its leaders proscecuted for organising and participating in the mayhen starting on October 31st 1984. Instead all that the party did was to make man like Jagdish Tytler, H K L Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar minister who even represnted India in the high councils of the world. Even after 27 years not a single person has been convicted for the crimes. Now the Home Minister asks the community to move on. Mr P Chidambaram is forgetting that the people of India have neither forgiven or forgotten 1984 and the Congress will pay a heavy price.
Why this indecent haste to bury the past? The present UPA Government is neck deep in scams, scandals and scum of every kind. After some time these scandals can also be forgotten and the nation asked to move on. The Congress has perfected this art of amnesis because the JNU breed of domesticated "historians" like to brush under the carpet all the crimes of the Congress in the name of fighting "communalism". I ask is not killing such a large number of men belonging to a minority community the worst kind of communal atrocity which even puts the post Godhra carnage to shame. It is shameful the P Chidambaram should say such an unkind thing.
There is another reason for the haste in burying the crime of 1984 comitted by the Congress Party: The Nehru Dynasty was in power and as long as that dynasty is in power such crime will take place and by making a Sikh the Prime Minister of India-- a dummy Prime MInister at that--the Congress cannot hope to cover up it gory, bllod filled past. India intellectuals are ever ready to apologise for the Congress Party but people will remember.
I hope 1984 is not forgotten and we will keep the memory of the horrible crime alive even if the Ramachandra Guhas of the world conspire to consign the memory of 1984 to the River of Lethe.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
SLUT WALK IN INDIA
The proposition that India is a dangerous country for women cannot be gainsaid. The number of cases of violence against women in states such as Haryana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is increasing. In Mayawati's Uttar Pradesh alone over the past month or so more than a dozen case of rape have been reported and in the Lakimpur incident it appears that even the police were involved. In Delhi women, particularly the young ones find it difficult to lead a life free from sexual harassment. So I agree that public attention has to be directed toward the menance of sexual predation. Having said this, we have to examine the motivation behind the "Slut Walk" which is being organised by a few women in the national capital. Yesterday on TV channel, Headlines Today, I watched the debate on this issue and would like to respond to it.
I wish the women behind the Slut Walk take up real issues that pertain to the conditions of the girl child in India today instead of making a splash in the name of post colonial ideologies of gender and identity. One remarkable way of depoliticising any society is to police the terms of the debate within which a society negotiates with its constituent elements. Post colonial forms of individual choice based on sexual preference, gender, and identity skit the issue of social change by taking the problems of society out of the realm or domain of organised politics and placing them squarely within the framework of individual choice and identity. Unfortunately, the vaporisation of post colonial theories in our so-called Institutions of higher education has resulted in the elite women of Indian society mimicking western feminism and thy simply ignore the reality that confronts the girl child in this hell called India.
The women who have organised the Slut Walk claim to represent Indian women. I am certain that they are not aware of the real conditions faced by women in India and are resorting to sensational methods which only skit the real issue and trivialize the abominable conditions faced by the girl child. Are these women aware of the fact that India ranks among the highest in terms of maternal mortality? What are they doing to create public awareness about it. Are they aware that in India dowry deaths have become so common that it does not make news anymore. Slut Walks of the sort that these pyts (pretty young things) are organising will make things even worse for the girl child. Are these women aware of the declining sex ration and female fetishist that is rampant in north Indian societies. How will the Slut Walk help in making even women aware of the horrid reality of female feoticide that is taking palce all over India. By asserting their idividual right over collective destiny, the organisers of Slut Walk are playing havoc with the future of the girl child in India because of the conspiracy of silence over the real issues facing the girl child in India. I wish that the articulate and obviously educated young women take the plight of their less fortunate sisters more seriously.
The fact that India remains a dangerous country for women should make us sit up and take notice. But Slut Walks will not make India safe for young girls. The solution lies in what Dr B R Ambedkar said--educate, organise and agitate. Tamashs like slut walks are mere spectacles
I wish the women behind the Slut Walk take up real issues that pertain to the conditions of the girl child in India today instead of making a splash in the name of post colonial ideologies of gender and identity. One remarkable way of depoliticising any society is to police the terms of the debate within which a society negotiates with its constituent elements. Post colonial forms of individual choice based on sexual preference, gender, and identity skit the issue of social change by taking the problems of society out of the realm or domain of organised politics and placing them squarely within the framework of individual choice and identity. Unfortunately, the vaporisation of post colonial theories in our so-called Institutions of higher education has resulted in the elite women of Indian society mimicking western feminism and thy simply ignore the reality that confronts the girl child in this hell called India.
The women who have organised the Slut Walk claim to represent Indian women. I am certain that they are not aware of the real conditions faced by women in India and are resorting to sensational methods which only skit the real issue and trivialize the abominable conditions faced by the girl child. Are these women aware of the fact that India ranks among the highest in terms of maternal mortality? What are they doing to create public awareness about it. Are they aware that in India dowry deaths have become so common that it does not make news anymore. Slut Walks of the sort that these pyts (pretty young things) are organising will make things even worse for the girl child. Are these women aware of the declining sex ration and female fetishist that is rampant in north Indian societies. How will the Slut Walk help in making even women aware of the horrid reality of female feoticide that is taking palce all over India. By asserting their idividual right over collective destiny, the organisers of Slut Walk are playing havoc with the future of the girl child in India because of the conspiracy of silence over the real issues facing the girl child in India. I wish that the articulate and obviously educated young women take the plight of their less fortunate sisters more seriously.
The fact that India remains a dangerous country for women should make us sit up and take notice. But Slut Walks will not make India safe for young girls. The solution lies in what Dr B R Ambedkar said--educate, organise and agitate. Tamashs like slut walks are mere spectacles
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Ramachandra Guha's "New Political Gurus":A Critique
The prolofic Indian intellectual, Ramachandra Guha has published an article entitled "India's New Political Gurus" in the latest issue of Newsweek (June 20th 2011). The main purpose of this rather pointed intervention in the Indian debate over corruption and the role of the so called civil society activism spawned by the like of Dr Kiran Bedi and Anna Hazare is to belittle and trivialise the common Indian before the elite Newsweek reading audience of the world. As a historian, at least having some academic training in social and environmental history, one can expect Dr Ramachandra Guha to show a modicum of integrity in his analysis. However what he comes up with is only a tendentious piece of reportage for an American audience which is both fale in its approach and apologetic in its tone.
The likes of Baba Ramdev have entered the political space only because during the course of the last 60 years since Independence the politicians have rendered Indian democarcy into a dynastic fascist regime it is today. The COngress party started this trend in the years following the split in 1969 and today the party is only an appendage of the Gandhi-Nehru family. What Ramachandra Guha hides from the rest of the world that itn was the Nehru dynasty that strarted praticing massive corruption on a scale that essentially made India into a third world kleptocracy. The Nagarwala case, the Oil import scandals of the 1980,s the Bofors Scandal and of of course the present season of 2G Spectrum Scandal and a host of other scandals are all the creations of the Congress Party with support from their allies like the DMK. Ramachandra Guha completely distorrts the context when he cleverly shields the Congress Party from any balme for the scandals. I was really shocked when in his massive 800 odd page book India Since Gandhi we do not find any discussion on the criminal pogrom of massacre organised by the Congres Party in the days following the excecution of Indiara Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. So Dr Ramachandra Guha is extremely economical with the truth.
The emergence of men like Baba Ramdev upsets western educated aritocrats like Ramachandra Guha because they represent the India that is srtruggling to keep afloat unlike the middle class that battened itself with the pickings of liberalisation and its concomitant corruption. Baba Ramdev articulated his stand against the monstrous corruption in India using the rhetoric of India religion and myhology--a rhetoric that Nohandas Gandhi had perfected. Comaprng Corruption to demons from the rich reporoire of India myhology and making people aware of their inherent human and constitutional rights using the idiom of morality and religion is what every teleevalgalist in the USA does. When Baba Ramdev articulates a similar argument, the Ramachandra Guhas of the world must paint them in dark colours of superstition and reaction.
The regime in poweer very cleverly manipulated the rather simple minded Baba Ramdev and tried to create a very public split in the ranks of the growing anti corruption movement in India. The other crusade against corruption, Anna Hazare is more to the taste of Ramchandra Guha. He has gathered around him some media friendly faces like Arvind Kejariwal and Kiran Bedi and this crew is projected as the very backbone of the crusade against corruption. In fact Baba Ramdev is the one whose movement will go forward and Anna Hazare and his crew are now busy debating whether the Prime MInister should be brought under the aegis of the Lok Pal Bill.Baba Ramdev has rightly identified foreign bank accounts of Indians as the major source of unaccounted wealth and wants the Government to nationalise the ill gotten wealth stashed abroad by the corrupt Indian politicians. In a recent raid on the "ashram" of the Afro headed "saint" Satyanarayana Raju, more than 100 kilos of gold bars and 400 kilos of silver were found. There is enough black money within India for the Government to seize and Baba Ramdev is being very reasonable when he demands the return of this wealth.
Ramachandra Guha did not make any attemt to hide his glee at the brutal crackdown on the unarmed men, women and children on the night of June 4th 2011 when the regime of ManMohan Singh sent its police to attack the grounds where the peaceful demonstration was taking place. The brutal crackdown against Baba Ramdev drew the attention of the Indian Supreme Court to the unlawful act and Ramachandra Guha does not mention the criminal actions of the regime in power.
Guha calls Baba Ramdev "reactionary". I think by using the language of the Congress Party to stiganatise all its opponents as "communal" reactionary, "anti national" etc Ramchandra Guha has shown himself to be a publisist of a corrupt, criminal regime.
The likes of Baba Ramdev have entered the political space only because during the course of the last 60 years since Independence the politicians have rendered Indian democarcy into a dynastic fascist regime it is today. The COngress party started this trend in the years following the split in 1969 and today the party is only an appendage of the Gandhi-Nehru family. What Ramachandra Guha hides from the rest of the world that itn was the Nehru dynasty that strarted praticing massive corruption on a scale that essentially made India into a third world kleptocracy. The Nagarwala case, the Oil import scandals of the 1980,s the Bofors Scandal and of of course the present season of 2G Spectrum Scandal and a host of other scandals are all the creations of the Congress Party with support from their allies like the DMK. Ramachandra Guha completely distorrts the context when he cleverly shields the Congress Party from any balme for the scandals. I was really shocked when in his massive 800 odd page book India Since Gandhi we do not find any discussion on the criminal pogrom of massacre organised by the Congres Party in the days following the excecution of Indiara Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. So Dr Ramachandra Guha is extremely economical with the truth.
The emergence of men like Baba Ramdev upsets western educated aritocrats like Ramachandra Guha because they represent the India that is srtruggling to keep afloat unlike the middle class that battened itself with the pickings of liberalisation and its concomitant corruption. Baba Ramdev articulated his stand against the monstrous corruption in India using the rhetoric of India religion and myhology--a rhetoric that Nohandas Gandhi had perfected. Comaprng Corruption to demons from the rich reporoire of India myhology and making people aware of their inherent human and constitutional rights using the idiom of morality and religion is what every teleevalgalist in the USA does. When Baba Ramdev articulates a similar argument, the Ramachandra Guhas of the world must paint them in dark colours of superstition and reaction.
The regime in poweer very cleverly manipulated the rather simple minded Baba Ramdev and tried to create a very public split in the ranks of the growing anti corruption movement in India. The other crusade against corruption, Anna Hazare is more to the taste of Ramchandra Guha. He has gathered around him some media friendly faces like Arvind Kejariwal and Kiran Bedi and this crew is projected as the very backbone of the crusade against corruption. In fact Baba Ramdev is the one whose movement will go forward and Anna Hazare and his crew are now busy debating whether the Prime MInister should be brought under the aegis of the Lok Pal Bill.Baba Ramdev has rightly identified foreign bank accounts of Indians as the major source of unaccounted wealth and wants the Government to nationalise the ill gotten wealth stashed abroad by the corrupt Indian politicians. In a recent raid on the "ashram" of the Afro headed "saint" Satyanarayana Raju, more than 100 kilos of gold bars and 400 kilos of silver were found. There is enough black money within India for the Government to seize and Baba Ramdev is being very reasonable when he demands the return of this wealth.
Ramachandra Guha did not make any attemt to hide his glee at the brutal crackdown on the unarmed men, women and children on the night of June 4th 2011 when the regime of ManMohan Singh sent its police to attack the grounds where the peaceful demonstration was taking place. The brutal crackdown against Baba Ramdev drew the attention of the Indian Supreme Court to the unlawful act and Ramachandra Guha does not mention the criminal actions of the regime in power.
Guha calls Baba Ramdev "reactionary". I think by using the language of the Congress Party to stiganatise all its opponents as "communal" reactionary, "anti national" etc Ramchandra Guha has shown himself to be a publisist of a corrupt, criminal regime.
Friday, June 17, 2011
CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE LOK PAL BILL; WHY WE NEED A DEBATE
The concept of civil society evolved in eighteenth century Europe when the socilal organisation based on the 4 estates started disintegrating under the twin impact of secularization and economic changes engendered by the Industrial Revolution. Groups of professionals loosely associated with political factions, coffee shops, newspapers--constituting what Habermas would later designate as the public sphere--started asserting their point of view against the entrenched political and social elites. The newly emergent groups were called civil society and political philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau and even Montesquieu termed as civil society those organised and articulate members of society that struggled for political and economic rights, freedoms and were at the forefront of what in the last century came to be called the Human Rights movement.
India does not have a civil society in the real sense of the term and if we are to apply the western concept of civil society then it is the caste based social organisations such as the Khap panchayants which constitute civil society. Along with the Khap Panchayants we can include sectarian and identity groups, bhajanna mandalis, charity organisations and the like. We harly hear any of them ever making a political demand. Civil society in India, particularly parts of northern India, are bastions of social evil and nothing good can ever come out of Indian civil society.
Suddenly we have the media speaking of Anna Hazare and his designer dress wearing cohorts as the "civil society". I find this situation absurd. 5 self appointed front runners cannot appropriate for themselves the right to speak for the dispossessed masses and who gave them the right or the mandate to represent the non political calsses. I agree that the Congress led UPA II is a corrupt regime and I have always said that the dynastic fascist Congress Party will always remain corrupt and criminal. The only way to get rid of corruption and criminalization of India is to get rid of the Congress Party by any means possible. A Lok Pal will not be able to reign in corruption. See how the Cong res managed to appoint P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner even though he stands ac cued in a number of criminal cases. We have a situation in which the Courts at different levels alone seem to stand for decency and justice. Now this present Lok Pal bill as suggested by the Regime in power will take the Prime Minister out of the purview of the Lok Pal.This immunity to the PM does not exist even in the Constitution and by asking for a Lok Pal the so called civil society activists have further insulated the Office of the Prime Minister from proper political and judicial accountability.
There is another problem about the concept of civil society. The more articulate members of the so called civil society are always on the defensive over the issue of the RSS. The RSS represents a point of view and in a democracy it has the right to express that point of view. How can Arvind Kherjiwal call that organisation "communal". Is the Congress Party not a criminal organisation given its track record in 1984 and the present 2G scam. I feel that Corruption, dynastic fascism and criminalisation all stem from the Congress Party and the fight for a better and more civilised India should mean a struggle to liberate India from Congress rule.
India does not have a civil society in the real sense of the term and if we are to apply the western concept of civil society then it is the caste based social organisations such as the Khap panchayants which constitute civil society. Along with the Khap Panchayants we can include sectarian and identity groups, bhajanna mandalis, charity organisations and the like. We harly hear any of them ever making a political demand. Civil society in India, particularly parts of northern India, are bastions of social evil and nothing good can ever come out of Indian civil society.
Suddenly we have the media speaking of Anna Hazare and his designer dress wearing cohorts as the "civil society". I find this situation absurd. 5 self appointed front runners cannot appropriate for themselves the right to speak for the dispossessed masses and who gave them the right or the mandate to represent the non political calsses. I agree that the Congress led UPA II is a corrupt regime and I have always said that the dynastic fascist Congress Party will always remain corrupt and criminal. The only way to get rid of corruption and criminalization of India is to get rid of the Congress Party by any means possible. A Lok Pal will not be able to reign in corruption. See how the Cong res managed to appoint P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner even though he stands ac cued in a number of criminal cases. We have a situation in which the Courts at different levels alone seem to stand for decency and justice. Now this present Lok Pal bill as suggested by the Regime in power will take the Prime Minister out of the purview of the Lok Pal.This immunity to the PM does not exist even in the Constitution and by asking for a Lok Pal the so called civil society activists have further insulated the Office of the Prime Minister from proper political and judicial accountability.
There is another problem about the concept of civil society. The more articulate members of the so called civil society are always on the defensive over the issue of the RSS. The RSS represents a point of view and in a democracy it has the right to express that point of view. How can Arvind Kherjiwal call that organisation "communal". Is the Congress Party not a criminal organisation given its track record in 1984 and the present 2G scam. I feel that Corruption, dynastic fascism and criminalisation all stem from the Congress Party and the fight for a better and more civilised India should mean a struggle to liberate India from Congress rule.
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