March 28, 2024

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Hindutva. A word that is not only frightens the minority community within the country, it is also the word the Indian educated class residing in the metropolitan cities fear.

For long the Hindutva brigands in the form of VHP, Hanuman Sena, XYZ Sena etc have resorted to violence in the name of Hindutva. If that has not bee enough, every now and then we used to see media running a story on one godman baba or the other and what mischiefs he resorted to. These Hindutva brigands were so powerful that even RSS at times kept its mouth shut. When rioting and communal violence was not enough, these brigands attacked young men and women, yes even women, in bars and clubs of Karnataka in the name of opposing western ethos which they claimed were inspired by Christianity. And then all hell broke on Valentine’s day when these Hindutva brigands attacked couples in parks and malls forcing them to seek forgiveness in front of the camera which would then go viral on the social media. Painful, isn’t it? When these wolves were free, they would rant on socially divisive lines and promote casteism and attack certain castes thus ensuring that the fear of the upper class prevailed among the different sections of the society. If that was not enough, in the name of Hindu family values, they would preach the wisdom of being conservative.  

Aaah, by the time you would have read till the word conservative, your eyes would have popped out with tears. This is particularly true for the generation that grew up in the first decade of the twenty first century (2001-2010), when all are hopes were high to be as free as the western societies and yet were tied down by our own western ethos that were being promulgated by the Hindutva forces.

And like me, every Indian educated middle class grew up hating the BJP which either shared the same platform with these Hindutva brigands or said nothing against them. Most of the members of the educated class, particularly non-Brahminical class among the Hindus grew up hating the BJP and RSS and always clubbed them together. There was a time too when there were sane voices among the muslim community who spoke out against radicalism and embraced modernism, but their voices were soon hushed by the radicals within their community and once 2002 happened, it created an indelible mark in their heads that made them never feel accepted and they could never love the BJP or RSS or both.

I, myself, grew up hating Hindutva. I was one who championed the cause of modernization and saw myself siding with the values of the western society. I was progressing as the country progressed, at least economically, and we saw a transforming landscape within the country, at least economically.

Till 2014 will saw the Manmohan Singh govt stay in power. During this time the Hindutva brigands raised their fangs now and then, but it was nothing that caused huge disturbance in the society. But then, dangers far bigger than that created by Hindutva brigands came to the light. Rampant corruption, demoralization of our armed forces by the enemy. Indians losing their sense of respect abroad and withing the country. The western powers did not give a damn about India. The foreigners who travelled to India belittled us. The government was seething in corruption and there was no decision making at any level within the govt. People were shaken, visibly shaken. And then rose the poster boy of politics: Narendra Damodardas Modi. His rise raised hopes within the country. There were hurdles, mostly within the contours of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Veternal leader L. K Advani wanted to be the Prime ministerial candidate. But the larger part of BJP went with Narendra Modi, the son of a chai-wala who himself sold tea in the coaches of railways when he was young.

This dramatic rise of Narendra Modi sent tremors in the Congress camps and that of their allies. Even within the NDA, people were visibly shaken. But Modi stood unshaken. From his election days to the days he continued to run his government, there has been no day when the prime minister has been mocked, criticized and obstacles created in his governance.

Why am I writing so much about Modi and his governance? Don’t we already know it? Yes. You do. But it was to remind you that here is man who cuts through all the all the barriers to rise to become the prime minister. Do you think such a man could achieve such great heights playing petty politics on caste or communal lines? In Gujarat, he fought the elections only on the development agenda. So how come this Hindutva leader who had been in power for so long in Gujarat allowed muslims in the state to flourish?

To the educated middle class of India I would say, here is a man who has risen above the very fundamentals of the Hindutva brigands and has risen to unite India on all fronts, an India that transcends above all differences. You have to remember, he diluted article 377 that criminalized homosexuality. Modi is the man who diluted section 497 of the constitution that made adultery a crime. But why given him the credit when it was actually done by the supreme court? You may ask! Remember the Shah Bano case when the courts ruled in favour of Shah Bano. Who overturned the judgement of the Supreme Court. It was Rajiv Gandhi who passed a bill legitimizing triple talaq within the muslim community. Who took action against all the illicit babas who incited the Hindu population among the poor and were a potent force? It was against Narendra Modi and his government.  Where is Praveen Togadia of VHP and why is he keeping silence? Why is Raj Thackerey not beating up workers of Bihar and UP in Mumbai? Who incited the Gujaratis against Biharis in Gujarat? It was certainly not BJP but the elements of the congress party in Gujarat. Why don’t we see any moral policing during valentine’s day and anyone being attacked in pubs and bars now?

Modi is fighting a war at multiple levels. He is fighting a war with Pakistan, China, international hypocrisy and the antinational elements within the country whose only wish is to see India rot so that these rotten elements can be controlled and suppressed. Even Mohan Bhagwat has kept silent and supported Modi without feeding the hungry mouths of the brigands.

The thing that needs to be understood here is that Congress has played the Hindutva card very well and it is not BJP but the grand old congress party which time and again fed the fangs of the Hindutva brigands like BJP and xyz sena to keep the Hindu society divided so that the educated lot of the Hindus would continue to support the congress party. The party has kept the fire of caste alive by ensuring that reservations continue to be a political issue and not a social issue. Why did the congress party not stop Raj Thackery when it went on a rampant creating fear among the UP and Bihar workers in Maharashtra? When 2002 happened, why did the congress party not send in the army in Gujarat to stamp down the communal riots? And now when Modi is in power, do you hear any of these brigands making noises. On the contrary Praveen Togadia used to criticise the Modi who has also been silenced. Religion was a political card of the Congress party and the BJP.

Today the Hindu community is fighting for its survival. Why should the burden of secularism fall only on Hindus? Muslims have their own laws; Christians are not obliged to pay respect to Hindu traditions and festivals. Muslims feel it is their right to be radical and support Pakistan in the name of free speech. The numbers of the Hindu society continue to dwindle and no one cares about.

The fact is, we Hindus have been fed so much of hate against our very own brethren that is difficult to think about Hinduism as a whole. The upper caste feel it is their right to dominate over the other castes. And ironically some of the members of the upper caste incite the Hindu masses against Narendra Modi in the name of caste. The backwards have been taught to rebel against the upper castes and suppress the Dalits. The Dalits feel closer home to muslims than to other castes of Hinduism because the latter has always been an enemy to them. As such, how can the Hindu society be united? Among the elitist Hindus, it bigoted and second class to celebrate Hindu festivals like Diwali and Durga Puja while it is fashionable to celebrate Christmas and Eid. As such, if the elitist Hindus are continuing to behave in this manner then won’t the poorer sections of the Hindu community rebel against the Hindu elitist?

Remember, you the educated society must speak up. If you don’t, then the insane, violent voices within the community will be get louder. They will motivate the masses, and if the masses follow them, then the sane voices will be drowned and the political class will have to follow communal forces. And once again, we will be sending Hinduism back to hell. Modi has skilfully managed to wade through the obstacles within RSS and BJP and has created a democratic system within the party that listens to its own voice and fights elections on national issues and national agenda. It is perhaps the only party where dynasts have no place, at least among the national leadership. And it is BJP that will force out the bigotry among the other political parties that are all run along the dynastic lines.

Only then will be able to bring renaissance to Hinduism and give rebirth to the values of Hinduism that once exited during the Vedic times. The values that promoted maternalism and not patriarchy, the values that promoted work culture and not caste, the values that promoted brotherhood, and not division. Let us create this kind of Hinduism where in Upper castes, lower castes and Dalits, all of us together call ourselves proud Hindus.

The recent CAA protests put many cities on a stand still affecting business and life. In the cold dreary weather of December, we saw thousands march on the streets protesting against the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Bill (which is now an Act). These protests were largely uncalled for and were politically motivated. But that is not the point of this particle. What these protests did was set a dangerous precedence: Using children as a shield.

Many of these protests emerged from the cradle of learning institutions and universities, largely which were minority based. We saw Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Milia Islamia take the lead. When the protests began at Jamia on 16th of December, little did we expect to see it turning into the nightmare. Four buses were torched, scores of private and government vehicles were damaged, public property, including that of the university, destroyed. How did this all happen. More than 35000 people had gathered to protest against CAA. Later, the VC of Jamia Milia Islamia University claimed that there are hardly 1000 students who were protesting and they were protesting peacefully. It is was the outsiders who had entered the campus and caused ruckus. Ironically, The VC of AMU seems to be making the same claim. More than 750 fake ID cards were seized at Jamia.

How did this all happen?

One thing is for sure that these protests were not spontaneous random outcry against the ‘heinous’ bill. On the contrary, most did not even understand the CAA bill. Some said the bill was meant to throw out the muslims of the country, some said it was against the rights of LGTBQ, and others said many things but the thing which was meant to explain exactly what the bill was about: ie, providing citizenship to the minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Therefore, the misconception and lies fed in the minds of the protesters clearly shows that the protests were instigated for selfish reasons to benefit a few political parties.

Another thing to look at is the modus operandi of these protests. The central to these protests was violence. Violence seems to be the yolk of this protests and the white layer was the political and leftist intellectual class that protected this violence. But who was protecting this white layer of the political and intellectual class? Answer: children. Naïve, innocent children studying in colleges, who believe anything that is told to them and sometimes motivated by even a little monetary benefit. These naïve, innocent, gullible children were used as the shell to protect the diabolical political and intellectual class and the devils were creating fear through violence.

Within this out layer of the children who were put at the fore front, the miscreants threw stones, and petrol bombs at the Police who were controlling the riots which began as protests. Hiding their faces, they torched buses, houses, destroyed public and private property and attacked innocent bystanders and the police. More than a hundred police and bystanders were hurt in these violence acts. And yet, the police and government were helpless. How could they attack the children? Worse still, in that moment of chaos how do they identify who are the actual students of the university and who are not. The crowd was mixed so homogeneously that it was difficult call out the wheat from the chaff making police work a very difficult task.

The use of children highlights a modus operandi borrowed primarily from Palestine, successfully implemented in Kashmir and now being used in the rest of the part of the country. In Palestine, the Hamas militants used to children to protest against Israeli forces and allowing the terrorist elements to act freely. In Kashmir, we all know how the kids were paid about 500 rupees daily to lead protests and throw stones at the army. Now, it seems, those elements have vacated the valley and shifted to other parts of the country.

The question to ask here is: What should the police do? Should it be the mute spectator and allow the miscreants to escape police action? Should it attack the crowd and try and quell the violence but simultaneously end up hurting the children and be seen as the ‘bad guy.’ Should the police enter campuses and at the miscreants there and be seen as ‘the evil force’ attacking institutions of learning?

The next question is: How did so many people gather in the first place? It is without doubt that everything was planned in advance. Mobs were incited, political activists were brought, sleeper cells of Pakistan were activated, illegal infiltrators were called in and the local goons were asked to join in the support. It is no wonder the VCs of Jamila Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University shared the same views and used almost the same set of words,i.e, “It was not the students of the university who created ruckus, but elements from outside who entered the campuses and created the ruckus.” Can these VCs get away with such layman statements? It is a thing to ponder.

Today it has become an international crisis. Where ever there is a propagandist protest, the frontline is led by children. Be it Palestine, Pakistan, middle east, Lebanon, Kashmir and now the rest of India. The modus operandi is the same. This has rendered the Police, the security forces and the government alike helpless. In case the security forces take actions against such illegit protests, the media burns them down for cracking down against children.

Even a bigger question to ask is: How do we stop it all? How do we stop the antisocial elements from using children? How to stop the campuses from being misused by miscreants? How do we keep learning institutions ‘safe’ from politics while still teaching them the values of democracy?

 

It is a very perplexing situation that goes beyond the measurements of morality. The miscreants have found a loophole that exists in our legal, pollical and social structures and using it to their advantage. One way to begin with is to spread awareness. The next step is yet to be figured out. 

The Perfect Marriage

December 23, 2019

Every now and then a question that pops up in the minds of the 'would be getting married' people is 'Will our marriage be perfect?' Or maybe people get married with the hope that their marriage is going to be perfect. But if they were to ask the ones who are already married and if they were to answer honestly, the only truth that would come out is that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. Marriage, like everything else, is a full time job. So basically, you have a job for which you go to office and then come home to another job. Marriage is responsibility. Marriage is discussion, meetings and a deal, a deal that suits both parties. And most importantly, like any other relationship, professional or personal, marriage requires many deals that are made over a period of time, often a life time. People get married thinking or believing that it is going to be all fun and pleasure. Alas, the pleasure ends the day the honeymoon ends, and it is and was never meant to be a prolonged honeymoon. Marriage is neither an insurance policy that you cash in when you are too old to be able to change your underpants. Marriage, to be honest, is a journey. And these journeys are going to have a lot of highs and lows, a lot of puddles and crashes. Like all journeys, you need to focus on the road ahead, ensuring that you are not distracted by that enticing thing passing by. Marriage is management, mostly human resource management. At the beginning you have to care for one, and soon the family grows. Only if people planned their marriages like they planned their career, things would be way smoother. But in it all, there is the heart which needs to be fed with love. And for that things need to be spiced up as well. Marriage is actually more than a job as there is no room for pretense and there is no appeasing the boss. Marriage is no charity either. It is the most selfish thing that one does for oneself. If you are not happy in a marriage how can you keep your partner happy? So what is marriage? It is more of a partnership and the company that you are investing your money and effort in is called family. So what is an ideal marriage? The definition to which varies for couple to couple. But what is more important here to understand is that before one gets married, it is important to have no flimsy idea of it and be ready to take up the responsibilities that lie ahead. Marriage is not to make your parents happy, your society happy. And if people became aware of what marriage is not, that is a job well begun, a step taken in the right direction in understanding what responsibilities lie ahead that come with marriage.

When the Pulwama attack happened, they again mocked our prime minister questioning him as to where is his ' 56 in ch ka seena' now?When he responded by air strikes destroying the Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorist camp in Balakot, again they were back at criticising and mocking the government. Their statements were being played on Pakistani television repeatedly. They sided with Pakistan and forgot about national interests completely. They demoralized and attacked the armed forces too. Can the opposition be forgiven for this.

People are saying we need a strong opposition or else absolute power will corrupt BJP absolutely. Tell me one thing guys, what should BJP do. BJP the should follow the principles of communism and donate any seat above 273 to Congress. Is that okay? Oh wait! Some are even suggesting that it is BJP's fault now that none of opposition parties could cross the mark of 53. Is that so guys?
It is for the opposition parties' and their supporters to introspect. Name one opposition party which is not a family business( dynasty politics) or nepotism is hugely prevalent. There are NONE. The people supporting the opposition parties should introspect and rebel against their dynasty masters so that these parties can become democratic like BJP. Then only you will find a stronger opposition.

This was indeed a masterstroke by the Modi govt. The people of Ladakh are extremely happy because of the UT status, their loyalty and love for India increases many fold. The troubled territory of J&K is reduced to half, and once the Ladakh region is developed further with private and public investments, we shall is a humongous growth in tourism in the region. Further, the independent Ladakh region will be able to confidently thwart any anti India activities emerging from the Kashmir valley as well. Furthermore, the J&K region can further halved in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Jammu is loyal and loving towards India. So only one third of the previous territory remains troublesome. It seems our own James Bond has taken upon himself to see terrorism end once and for all in the Kashmir valley. He has already started playing his cards in the region. More than 70 terrorist sympathizers have been shipped off from the valley. The heads of the two troublesome political familes: Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are under house arrest. Some other terrorist sympathizers have gone into hiding. Majority of the people from the Kashmir valley are innocent, simple mountain valley who can be easily converted towards India even though they are not really anti Indian. With the right investments and greater political fair play, the simple majority will easily triumph over the subjugating political families and will have a greater role in the valley. With this, we should see a full stop to terrorist activities from the valley. The exchange of people and greater tourist movement shall see the valley bloom once again. I think the Modi Shah duo has done a win-win for everybody leaving behind only the congress party and Pakistan red-faced.

Misunderstood Modi

December 15, 2019

Nice to see our new Prime Minister actively taking care of all the country's problem. Unlike our ex-mute mule, he has actively put India on the global map with his recent dealings in the international arena, taken care of and actively involved in the natural calamities that have chosen to strike India in the first six months of his tenure; given a befitting reply to Pakistan and China with respect to the border tensions, brought the inflation down to 6.46%, the stock market is zooming, the rupee is rising and the interest rates have not risen. Mr. Modi, you score a cool 9.9/10 on your report card. If only you were not a human but God, you would have got a 10/10.There is a plan, an agenda, a surety, a belief, a confidence in your actions, the inspiration that makes the nation feel stimulated. Never before has one felt that for the central govt. in India. He makes the international leaders take note, hardly 4 months into governance and he has went knocking on all the doors of international leaders and some have returned the gesture when they came knocking to India. He is Mr. Modi, the leader, the teacher, the self proclaimed highest servant of the Indian democracy. Suddenly there is a new found respect for India, a new found self respect in being Indian. Political leaders, religious, spiritual, economic, xyz leaders are ensuring that the world knows they are connected to India.... some seek opportunities, some look for allies, some look for friends while some come looking for help and guidance. A country bestowed with natural resources, has the highest man force in the world, and yet we remain as poor as ever. Governance, its essence, its importance and the impact it has; one now realizes when one has begun experiencing this governance as true governance, as good governance; as governance that one can look up to; look up to a man, who has heart of Mandela, the force of Lincoln, the charm of Kennedy and inspiration of Gandhi. India has finally found her true Prime Minister in Narendra Modi.

The USA and its hypocrisy once again outshines every other evil in the world. Dear Americans, what is the end that you are trying to achieve. I wouldn't say that the attack on the school in Pakistan was good or something like that, but I would definitely say it wasn't surprising. When you breed snakes in your backyard, you can't expect them to bite only your neighbors. And yet, the Americans and Pakistanis have nothing to learn from this episode. There is no such thing as good terrorists you retards. And the bigger fools are we Indians...the Indian social media suddenly became the biggest compatriots of Pakistan and took every step to show that they are going to 'be with them' and expressed their solidarity to their fullest. Rather, it was a moment to ponder, to question as to why did this happen. Who is to blame and what needs to be done...is the Islamic fundamentalist society of Pakistan to blame as a whole or was it a one off incident...but sadly, let's just put a burning candle in our profile picture and continue to 'express our solidarity' till this terrorist attack becomes obsolete and there is nothing so 'hip' and social about it. When are we going to become humans from buffoons?

Pegging only helps if you are a behemoth exporter like China, otherwise it only over inflates your economy. The rich are unaffected because they spend and earn in the same over inflated form of economy as most of their income is passive, the poor and middle class suffer because of their active income, and in this payments and salaries tend to be sticky and thus do not really reflect the actual economic needs of the people. Good move Denmark. Other ailing European countries should contemplate leaving the Euro and thus devaluing their currencies in order to make their Economies more competitive.

Fitoor: A review

December 15, 2019

Fitoor is a unique movie quite uncommon to the screens of Indian Cinema. A good adaption of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, the movie is made in a very artistic manner. The characters are intense and lays the human emotions bare open, ripping apart every flaw that exists in a human heart. Most of us are born with an idea of what life is, but it takes time to realize what life really is. It's a story on unrequited love that leads one to take revenge from an innocent soul jut for the satisfaction of seeing someone suffer the same as one has done in the past. It's a story of raw passion, one that is your 'fitoor' for someone. Love you something that is difficult to rationalize, so go and experience it on screen. It is rare to see justice done to the subject of 'love' in a manner that Fitoor does, complete with all the flaws of being a human and yet not accepting of being one, and our attempt to become God as we try to control our own destiny and so the destiny of others. Watch it for the intense characters of Noor and Firdaus that has portrayed beautifully by Aditya Roy Kapur and Katrina Kaif. Not a typical Bollywood movie, I must warn you, and if you are one who does not deals with emotions too intensely, Fitoor might prove to be disappointing, but if you are one who likes to see and feel beyond the contemporary; Fitoor may just prove to be a pleasant surprise....

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