It was expected that the fury and furore generated by the Sabarimala imbroglio would subside with the seasonal closing of the shrine. But controversy has resurfaced and resulted in a public outcry in Kerala once again. The latest provocation for the Hindus was the news widely publicised that the affidavit submitted by the lawyers of the Marxist Government of Kerala — that contained the names of women below the age of 50, who entered the Sabarimala shrine — is a fabricated list of lies. It has names of men and women over 50 years of age, whose age has been deliberately reduced and also the name of a woman, whose address cannot be traced.
A heap of lies concocted by the Government is beginning to get exposed. But the question of larger significance, which more and more Hindus are asking themselves, that too vocally now is: Why this haste to reform our rituals alone? Why resort to lies, police brute force and false propaganda to demolish Hindu faith?
Marxism and Hinduism in Kerala: Marxism anywhere cannot be tolerant of religion. But in Kerala (and in West Bengal too) the party confronted an Indian reality. They could not attack the faith of the organised religions who had well-established vote banks. In Kerala, therefore, Hindu faith became the primary object of derision. In this task, they always had the unstinted support of the Western-biased media.
Sanatana dharma and Marxism: As the erudite Purohit Swami wrote in his autobiography, “Civilisations superstructure may be very fine indeed but it totters like a house of cards, for the everlasting kingdom is established in man’s hearts and not an inevitable denouement outwardly to dazzle these eyes.” Marxist Governments in USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and East European countries did totter like a pack of cards because they did not improve the inner man.
Marxism and social maladies: Hindu youths have been the most vulnerable targets for this loss of values and Marxist indoctrination. If weaned away from religious moorings, youth become rebellious and Marxist ideology can then be easily driven into such discontented minds. In northern Kerala, these unemployed and under-employed youth are being used as volunteers to carry out the political murder.
The intellectual pauperism: Sloganeering and repetitions of cliché have stunted independent thinking minds in the State. “Idiotically pompous” that is what most people have been reduced to by the communists’ propaganda. They vainly mouth fascism, sangh parivar, renaissance (navodhanam) or any other phraseology coined by the communist bandwagon. While Vedantic traditions and faith hold through time, the communists are flogging a dead ideology.
Sabarimala and its unique tradition: Sabarimala has always been a temple that was intended to instill qualities of renunciation, peace and bramhacharya. A 41-day period of discipline regarding diet restriction, sleep control and celibacy is followed by the devotees as they prepare for a visit to the holy shrine. Once they put on the bead garland, they are called swamys, suggesting they are worthy of respect. When the devotee reaches Sabarimala, he is better qualified to realise the ultimate truth, tatvam asi (thou art that) inscribed at the entrance of the temple. Sabarimala is not just a place of worship, it is a nursery for those desirous, who follow the path of yoga. It is for this very reason that the unique tradition of Sabarimala needs to be preserved.
Yogic traditions and media lies: Can’t the women too practise these very virtues and discipline? They can, and it for this very reason that all temples, including the temple of Ayyappa, are open to women of all ages. The Sabarimala idol is conceived by the devotees as a naishtika brahmachari, a youth who has conserved all his vital energy and performs tapas for God’s realisation. He is depicted as sitting in a unique posture, yoga pattasana, which tantric science says is conducive for the arousal of the Kundalini Shakti. If one observes the idol, with even a rudimentary knowledge of tantra and yoga (the writer claims nothing more), it can be seen that in this posture of sitting, pressure is put on the mooladhara chakra and the lower energy centres of the body. This posture is unique and Ayyappa idol at Sabarimala is the only deity depicted in this posture.
Is the total sublimation of the vital energy, conceived in the idol, ideally suited to be worshipped by women of reproductive age?
To denounce esoteric religious practices in terms of modern-day rationality would be as absurd as dismissing the bread and wine taken by the faithful Christians during Eucharist as being bakery items of gastronomical delights or giving a biological explanation to the virgin’s motherhood of Christ.
Romo Rolland knew the dangers of state interference in spiritual matters and he was prompted to say that had Shri Rama Krishna Paramahansa been born in the West, he would have been subjected to shock treatments.
Gender and Sabarimala: If my right to swing my walking stick ends where your nose begins, then the feminist bandwagon should realise that the right place to swing their walking stick is not the Sabarimala shrine. The faithful women devotees of Kerala realise this unique nature of the deity and this is the reason why they spontaneously carried out rallies against Government interference in Sabarimala. The faithful respect the right to worship for others and Sabarimala is the only temple (one or two local exceptions apart) where age restriction for women is followed.
The feminists, who still insist on swinging their walking sticks at other worshippers’ noses, are State-sponsored activists of various hues. Many have shady pasts, police cases pending against them and have Maoist affiliations too. When the State Government manipulates the list of young women, who have already entered the temple premise, it was the culmination of a large game plan that divine intervention has exposed.
Gender, Sabarimala and some common sense: Gender parity is a pre-requisite for the functioning of democracy. There are times when you have to give Caesar what is his due and to God what is due to him. But again, who shall decide where Caesar’s domain ends and God’s begin? Justice Indu Malhotra said in her dissenting note that the judiciary itself should not judge matters of spiritual significance.
Media and the propaganda of lies: Ayyappa is no misogynist, nor is his celibacy under threat if women visit the shrine. Neither Ayyappa nor his devotees have contempt for menstruating women or consider them unclean. These are arguments concocted by Western-biased media and the communist propaganda machinery. If the true significance of Sabarimala’s rituals and tradition is to be understood, surely it has to be by using the semantics of spiritual literature and not new fangled words imported from an alien culture. To paraphrase Sri Aurobindo’s observations on Western psychology, the secret of the beauty of a lotus flower cannot be unravelled by analysing the composition of the mud in which it grows but it can only be done by looking at the ideal of a lotus existing in some heavenly sphere above.
The last citadel and the long fight: Kerala is the last communist citadel and the LDF would fight with all collective strength of the Government machinery, police force and the numerical strength of its well-knit party cadre against any consolidation of the forces of Hindu dharma. They will try to buy over the Christian and Muslim vote banks and also use nefarious tactics of widening caste divide to split the consolidation of Hindu votes.
For the Hindus of Kerala, the battle is a long drawn out one. They will be isolated, maligned by the media and curbed by police power. What the Hindus of Kerala need is belief, the perennial nature of Sanatana Dharma that has survived greater onslaughts and invasions. But Hindus need to fight without forsaking the spirit of tolerance and compassion fostered by their faith, without becoming cowards in the bargain.
But in the political battle field, Governments of the day will only acknowledge the strength of the vote bank. In the neo-Darwinian political scene of India, it is the survival of the vote bank. And it is here that divided Hindus will have to think wisely, decisively and cast their votes. Hindu religion never did stoop to fascism. It fostered civilisational values and strengthened nationhood. The writing on the wall is clearer now for the Hindus of Kerala than ever before.
(The writer is President, Thapasya Art and Literary Forum)
Writer: P Narayana Kurup
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The Kiru Hydro Electric Project is being implemented by the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL) and is a joint venture between the NHPC Limited, Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Limited (JKSPDC), and PTC India Limited.
Satya Pal Malik, Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Nirmal Singh, Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Shamsher Singh, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha also graced the occasion.
During the address Modi said that the hydro electric project shall not only meet the increasing energy requirement of the state but also provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to thousands of persons during the construction phase and thereafter during the operation phase.
Kiru HEP, to be constructed on River Chenab in the District Kishtwar, in Jammu and Kashmir, is one of the biggest hydroelectric projects under implementation in the state. The project is scheduled to be completed in 54 months at an estimated cost of Rs. 4708 crore. The annual generation from the project shall be 2272 MU. The project envisages construction of 135 m high concrete gravity dam and an underground power house with four units of 156 MW each (624 MW).
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has accorded a waiver of free power at decremental rate for the first five years and the water usage charges for the first ten years after the commissioning of the project besides the exemption of levy of tolls on all imports. It has also given a consent for wavier of nine per cent state GST for the project on order to keep the project cost and its tariff at the minimum. The government will get 12 per cent free power from the sixth year of the commissioning and the water usage charges after 10 years.
The welfare of the people affected from the hydroelectric project shall be taken care of through the proper implementation of a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement plan. The cost of the land for house and house construction assistance, scholarship to children of the project affected families, training program for skill development and so on has been included in the plan. Also, a provision of Rs 29 crore has been earmarked in the plan for infrastructural development in the project affected areas to improve the socio economic condition of the people.
An additional one per cent free power towards Local Area Development Fund (LADF) shall be provided by the CVPPPL with a matching contribution by the Jammu and Kashmir Government after the commissioning of the project as per the Hydro Power Policy of the Government of India and an annual revenue of approximately Rs. 25 crore shall be available for the infrastructural development and welfare schemes for the Project Affected People on a continuous basis over the life of the project.
Extensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities have also been taken up in the region for the development of local area. The construction of the project will also lead to a considerable improvement of the roads and bridges as well as the communication systems and electric supply system in the region, thereby developing the area socio-economically.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is bestowed with huge hydro potential and in the Kishtwar region there are many projects in the pipeline for construction. This potential has to be harnessed so that the state can become the power house of the country which will bring about an overall development of the region as well.
In a similar instance, the FFoundation Stone of the 1000 MW Pakal Dul HE Project of CVPPPL was also laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018 and the construction of the project is in progress. The third project of the company- 540 MW Kwar HE Project, is also ready to begin construction after getting an investment approval of the project.
Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer
The Conference of the Parties (COP) with its 24th session as a part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018. Particularly relevant was the fact that Katowice is located at the very heart of Poland’s coal resources and this source of energy provides Poland with about 80 per cent of the country’s electricity supply. Clearly, this is in sharp contrast with the direction that is required to mitigate climate change by phasing out fossil fuels.
The Polish leadership has been emphasising for some time now what it calls a “just transition.” At another level, an unfortunate development, which goes counter to the science of climate change, is the obstruction of the delegations from the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait in questioning the special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which clearly maps out the science behind accepting the limit of 1.5oC by the end of this century as opposed to 2.0oC, which had tentatively been decided during the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015. As the special report clearly shows the impacts and risks associated with the range between average temperatures that cover 1.5oC to those at 2.0oC are quite significant. Risks associated with the 2.0oC limit are, therefore, considerably higher than those at 1.5oC.
As a result there would be several vulnerable regions and communities across the globe which would suffer the negative consequences of these impacts and risks. In fact, it is now obvious that extreme events related to heat waves, extreme precipitation events, extreme sea level rise related events and the damage carried out by hurricanes and cyclones is on the increase in frequency and intensity across the globe. This reality has to be seen against the well-established principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” because it indicates insensitivity on the part of countries which are primarily responsible for increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases historically while the most vulnerable societies in the world are the ones who have had no responsibility whatsoever in contributing to the emissions and concentration of GHGs in the past.
The one outcome of Katowice which can be treated as a contribution to the efforts in dealing with climate change is what is referred to as the Paris Rule Book. Essentially this is truly an operating manual which is required for implementation of the Paris Agreement. There are a number of technical and socio-political issues included in this rule book such as how countries are required to report their GHG emissions as well as contributions to climate finance.
It also lays down clear-cut rules on voluntary market mechanisms such as carbon trading. This rule book was the subject of considerable discussion and contention between specific countries. The homework for this was actually carried out on the basis of a large meeting in Bangkok, Thailand which was held in September 2018, but that conference failed to reach agreement on the subject, and thus took up time at the COP in Katowice. Overall this resulted in a substantial effort being put in at Katowice on the technical and the other details for coming up with an acceptable system. It almost seems that in a rush to reach agreement in Paris in 2015 the rule book was postponed for finalising subsequently. Some policy makers and analysts actually question whether this could have been done before the Paris Agreement, even if the agreement itself was postponed to 2016.
Whatever is required to be done both with the rule book and the Paris Agreement itself, it is particularly important that human society needs to work out an arrangement by which we reach a limit of no more than 1.5oC by the end of the century. One important consideration in this would be the avoidance of an overshoot scenario. In other words, it would be wrong to suggest that the world could exceed 1.5oC and then this could be brought down quickly through technologies, structural changes and human behaviour by the end of the century. Such overshoot scenarios would create serious impacts and risks, which today’s younger generation would find totally unacceptable. Also the feasibility of descending below an overshoot scenario is questionable, because the technological challenges and institutional responses in that case could prove to be insurmountable.
India has to realise, like the other countries of the world, that whatever may happen, the 1.5oC target is now totally sacrosanct. As a democracy, a society dedicated to sustainable development and a country with a large percentage of youth — who would face the risks of climate change — we have every reason to induce, encourage and motivate every country in the world to mitigate emissions of GHGs. This, of course, would require the persuasion by many stakeholders of national governments to adopt policies and measures which are totally effective. A case in point would be that of Germany where its programme “Energiewende” has been a remarkable case of energy transformation, despite the fact that Germany is completely at the bottom of list in renewable energy resources. China is also making great strides, and it would also help us greatly to join hands with that nation.
A move towards a fossil fuel-free world is the new diplomacy that India needs to practise. Diplomats do not necessarily have to lose their traditional base; in order to do so, apart from going around the cocktail circuit, they need to push mitigation actions which are totally in the interest of India and certainly in the interest of this planet and the species which live on it. What we need, therefore, is a blending of domestic actions with a huge step up in diplomatic relations by which India is at the centre of promoting a sustainable society, however challenging and difficult that might be. That incidentally is also the direction in which trade will expand, and we would do well to build on these opportunities ahead.
(The writer is former chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2002-15)
Writer: RK Pachauri
Courtesy: The Pioneer
An unpublished periodic labour force survey by the National Sample Survey Office for 2017-18 on the state of employment in India revealed the real story on job crisis in the country. The undisclosed report would have been India’s first official survey on jobs after 2011-12. According to the report, unemployment rate rose from 2.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, which is the highest in the last 45 years since 1972-73. In particular, unemployment rate among the youth (15-29 years) jumped from five per cent in 2011-12 to a massive 17.4 per cent in 2017-18 in rural areas, while unemployment rate among women of the same age group in rural areas increased from 4.8 per cent in 2011-12 to 13.6 per cent in 2017-18. In urban areas, a whopping 18.7 per cent of young men and 27.2 per cent of young women were unemployed in 2017-18.
This data was also confirmed by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent think-tank, which recently published a report stating that unemployment rate in India was at 7.4 per cent in December, 2018. However, there isn’t enough official information about job creation, except a few sectoral reports with the limitation on job creation and speculation of job losses due to the implementation of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax and automation. The CMIE report revealed that 11 million jobs were lost alone in 2018, while the Reserve Bank of India’s KLEMS database showed that around seven lakh jobs were lost in the textiles, textile products and leather sectors between 2014 and 2016.
On the other hand, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data revealed that 18 million jobs were created in the last 15 months with some limitations and the labour bureau data showed that 4.2 million new jobs were created during 2016-17. The Government claimed that the transport sector alone contributed 3.4 million jobs in 2018; leading cab aggregators, Ola and Uber, added about 2.2 million jobs; the IT sector contributed close to 1.5 million jobs; around 10 million people were registered under the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana; loans worth Rs 15.43 were given to 120 million people via Mudra scheme; road construction added three million jobs; and around 19,000 start-ups have provided jobs to thousands of people in recent years.
Citing these figures, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant, asserted, “So, are we saying that no jobs are being created. This to my mind is unbelievable.” There are stories of both job-gains and job-losses in the past, yet the truth is that we have achieved the highest level of unemployment, particularly among the youth. The important point here is that the much-awaited employment-unemployment data by the NSSO survey was disclosed to the public by a national newspaper and not by the Government.
The fiasco on NSSO data started after the resignation of two independent members — PC Mohanan and J Meenakshi — of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) on January 29, who said that they did not like the way the Government shelved the NSSO employment report, which was vetted by the NSC in early December, 2018. They also reportedly complained that the Government released back-series Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data in November, 2018, without even taking their inputs into consideration.
The back-series data was controversial because it dramatically reduced the growth rate achieved during the United Progressive Front’s (UPA) tenure. Statistics commission head PC Mohanan said, “Both of us in the commission have been feeling that we are not effectively discharging the responsibilities supposed to be done by the commission.”
However, the Government is still not acknowledging and has been dismissing the NSSO’s survey report finding, which is deemed as the most creditable source on the country’s job picture. It is defending its decision of not disclosing the report by saying: “It is an interim report; methodology used in the survey to calculate job creation is faulty; the data collection method is different — it is computer-assisted now whereas it was person-to-person earlier; it does not look at self-employment and entrepreneurships; all sectors are not captured, particularly new types of internet-based services such as Ola and Uber and e-commerce.” Kant said, “The GDP growth data has come out today; you can’t be growing at 7.2 per cent and say there are no jobs being created in the economy… the problem is there is a lack of good quality jobs and that is what we need to focus on.”
The Government is now faced with a difficult task to reassure the people that the data released by it is credible as some other recent data on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Ujjwala Yojana, rural electrification campaign, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, National Crime data, banking data and Annual Employment-Unemployment survey of the Labour Bureau have either been withheld or sought to be massaged. This has raised concerns about these data being politically driven. Critics wonder how bad the job data might be for the Government to put it aside without explanation and leave it to the people to decide.
The Government, in its interim Budget, announced a slew of sops for the marginal farmers, the middle class and the informal sector workers but remained silent on one of the most important issues of job creation. Instead, interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal only mentioned about the number of jobs that have been created in sectors such as aviation, railways and renewables with the potential of many more jobs to be created in the future as a part of the Government’s push towards digital infrastructure.
The term ‘job’ found a mention only five times in the Budget speech. This shows the nervousness of the Government. The Government can at least provide some future remedy about job crisis by filling the existing huge 2.4 million vacant posts across Central and State Governments. Just filling these vacancies can provide the much-needed relief to the unemployed youth of this country. This also reflects that the Government is now in election mode and is busy defending the reasons of unreleased reports than acknowledging the findings and taking positive steps. One thing is sure that politically, job crisis or youth unemployment will be an important agenda for the 2019 election. As George Orwell once said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they want to hear.” This suitably fits the description of job data for the Government, which is likely to present its superior economic performance in an attempt to sway the voters. However, voters will choose to believe what they want to.
(The writer is a Fellow with Institute for Human Development, New Delhi )
Writer: Balwant Singh Mehta
Courtesy: The Pioneer
One of the surprising statistics released by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) immigration arm, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is that Indians are the fastest growing illegal immigrants into the US. While most of them come through its southern border, many of them involve students travelling to the US to study and then staying on to work, illegally. While the absolute number of Indians going to that country and over-staying there is rather small compared to the number of illegal immigrants from countries south of the US border, the growing number has obviously become a matter of concern for the DHS. Particularly, many of them, who use a well-worn route of applying to nondescript US universities, which facilitate the move. The latest episode involving a fake university, the University of Farmington established by the DHS, which ensnared 129 Indian students, mainly from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, follows in the footsteps of other scam universities such as Tri-Valley and Herguan. Much like the students in Farmington, a majority of them were from Telugu-speaking States. Unsurprisingly, a visit to the crowded lanes of Secunderabad will reveal that providing student immigration to the US via some rather questionable routes is a thriving business.
While one can understand what forced the students to do what they did, the Indian Government and the Ministry of External Affairs have done the right thing by demanding consular access to the students and petitioning to halt their deportation. However, given that US President Donald Trump holds extreme positions on immigration, it appears that many students will be deported unless they can find a good lawyer. But the US cannot escape the blame for the situation, like many Western countries that sell their education programmes in India while quietly whispering that it can be a path to eventual emigration. America has to strengthen the rules that govern such sham educational institutions. In Australia and the United Kingdom, several such varsities also existed and following crackdowns, many of them have folded up. At the same time, the US, a nation built on encouraging the best and the brightest from across the world to move there, has to ensure that genuine students do not get caught up in the fiasco. India has for years sent some of its brightest halfway across the world and they have made the US their adopted home. Although this brain drain has hurt India, it is also reflective of the lack of opportunity within this country. India should continue encouraging some of its children to return and, indeed, some have. That is another story for another time. For now, the US and India have to ensure that young students do not get caught up in any further controversies.
Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer
Prime Minister Narendra Modi largely stuck to his developmental agenda during his visit to Jammu, Srinagar and Leh on February 3, 2019, inaugurating projects worth Rs 44,000 crore but disappointing the faithful in Ladakh and Jammu by failing to address their core anxieties. Ladakh was expecting a grant of divisional status to redress decades of neglect but perhaps Modi has kept that for another day. His major focus was on education and healthcare, the prime concerns since 2014. He launched the University of Ladakh, a long-standing demand recently granted under President’s rule and laid the foundations for two All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jammu and Srinagar.
At Jammu, however, he acknowledged the unresolved problems of Kashmiri Pandits before massive crowds: “We haven’t forgotten their persecution. I always feel their pain and I am committed to delivering justice.” He spoke about the importance of the now-shelved Citizenship Bill and the rights of Hindus, who had to come to India to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This is a clear hint that Modi intends to pursue this if returned to power in the coming elections.
Given the Kashmir-centric bias imposed on the region from 1947, Modi surely understands that much can be achieved under President’s rule. Indeed, it is time to take the bull by the horns and begin by granting Indian citizenship to refugees from West Pakistan from 1947 and end the sense of betrayal which pervades the Hindu psyche in the region. Scrap the State flag, the issue for which Syama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life, and begin the debate on filling the 24 Assembly seats reserved for the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) regions with nominations from among the POJK refugees. Part III of the Constitution of India, pertaining to Fundamental Rights, should be bestowed upon citizens of Jammu & Kashmir without further ado.
Modi is surely aware that Kashmiri is an ancient classical language that could have been the official language of the State but for Aligarh Muslim University alumnus Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah imposing Urdu. Kashmiri in Sharda script should replace Urdu in educational institutions; Jammu can have Dogri and Ladakh Bhoti. Hindi and English would continue as link languages with the rest of India. Though the subject of Article 370 and 35-A is before the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister should promise that these will be scrapped by presidential order and the State fully integrated with India, as desired by Maharaja Hari Singh, who was repeatedly rebuffed and humiliated by Jawaharlal Nehru. It is for Modi to set the agenda; the BJP does not owe anything to Sajjad Lone; he can take a walk if he cannot accommodate nationalist sentiments.
Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Dharam Sansad of religious leaders have expressed concerns over sustained assaults on Hindu traditions and sensitivities by vested interests. In Sabarimala, people with no locus standi persuaded the Supreme Court that entry of women of a prohibited age group was imperative for gender justice, equality or parity. Keen to deliver a ‘landmark judgement’, the court invented Constitutional morality and waded into liberation theology, a concept invoked by Christian clergy of Latin America, who stood with their people against American-backed, Vatican-endorsed dictatorships.
Sabarimala has been on the evangelical hit list for decades; the inquiry into the fire and desecration of the shrine in 1950 hinted at missionary involvement. In September 2006, a non-Hindu actress, Jaimala, claimed to have entered the temple at the age of 27, which was revealed in a devaprasanam conducted by astrologer Unnikrishna Panicker, who had old links with her. This incident was linked to the incrimination of Chief Thantri Kantaru Mohanaru in a sex scandal involving a Christian woman of allegedly questionable morals. We must see these incidents as a calculated assault on Hindu society, a continuum of the plot against the Kanchi Acharyas.
Sabarimala’s unique rites and customs, including restrictions on women of a certain age group, qualify it as a denominational temple under Article 26 of the Constitution. Ayyappa, son of Shiva and Vishnu as Mohini, is Naishtika Brahmachari (eternal celibate) and performs eternal tapas (penance); hence women of reproductive age (10 to 50 years) do not disturb him. This age group spontaneously reacted to the verdict with the #ReadytoWait movement.
This forced the RSS, the Prime Minister and the Dharam Sansad to appreciate that the threat to a unique practice in a remote corner of the country is a threat to Dharma itself because the myriad forms of worship comprise the unity of Sanatana dharma. Claptrap like unity in diversity is the cross of Abrahamic faiths with their notion of singular divinity. For Hindus, diversity reflects unity of creation.
The Supreme Court’s majority verdict ignores Article 26 of the Constitution which bestows the fundamental right of freedom to manage religious affairs. Activist PM Ravindran has noted that if the court had to apply the fundamental right to equality to the fundamental right of freedom of religion, it should have invoked to Article 25(2)(b) which is specific to Hindu religious institutions. In Sri Venkatramana Devaru and Others Vs State of Mysore and Others (1958 SCR 895), a five-judge Bench tackled the conflict between Articles 25(2)(b) and 26.
The trustees of Sri Venkataramana of Moolky Petta temple were managing the temple on behalf of the Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. After the Madras Temple Entry Authorisation Act (Madras V of 1947) permitted Harijans entry into Hindu public temples, the trustees claimed the temple was private and outside the Act. The Government rejected this claim. The Bench addressed the question of whether the right of a religious denomination to manage its affairs in matters of religion guaranteed under Article 26(b) is subject to and can be controlled by a law protected by Article 25(2)(b), throwing open a Hindu temple to all classes and sections of Hindus. The judges held that Article 25(2)(b) protected the right to enter a temple for worship but the right is not absolute and unlimited.
Applied to Sabarimala, this means that women of the restricted age group do not form a separate class or section and, hence, the restriction is not violative of the law. As this verdict was questioned in the Sabarimala petition, it should not have been overturned without reference to a seven-judge Bench. Perhaps the review will take note of this crucial point.
(The writer is Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library; the views expressed are personal)
Writer: Sandhya Jain
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The concern expressed by Opposition leaders during West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s United India Rally in Kolkata on the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) is not only perplexing but confusing as well. The Opposition is so serious about the misuse of these poll devices that it has appointed a four-member panel comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Satish Misra of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to make a case for the Election Commission of India for wider use of voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) and campaign against the malfunctioning of EVMs. While many Opposition leaders have raised the issue of the trustworthiness of these machines, the loudest of them came from none other than National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, who has earned the reputation of being one who “changes colour with each season” and is hardly even taken seriously by the voters. “The EVM is a chor (thief) machine. Honestly speaking, it is so. Its use must be ended,” he thundered at the above-mentioned rally.
However, the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora was very critical of the claims by the Opposition parties and blamed them for treating EVMs like a “football” by using them as an alibi for their poor electoral performances. He further emphasised that the EVMs were foolproof as far as fears of manipulation were concerned. According to his predecessor, OP Rawat, political parties only question the EVMs when they lose the elections. “Generally this has been the trend. When they win, they don’t give credit to EVMs but when they lose, they blame the EVMs,” Rawat had said.
Though Opposition parties have formed an election cartel in the form of a mahagathbandhan, they are not sure of victory in the impending 2019 general election. Hence, they are trying to create a public perception about the EVMs by stating that they can be easily hacked and, hence, misused by the ruling party. In doing so, they are not only casting aspersions on the independent functioning of the Election Commission but also creating an adverse international opinion about Indian democracy. They are also casting doubts on the nation’s judicial system since numerous courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled in favour of the fairness of elections conducted with EVMs. The reality is that Opposition unity is not guided by any ideological glue but the urge to survive. It is somewhat similar to the Panchtantra story about animals of all hues, who formed the cartel against the king of the jungle, the lion.
There are inherent contradictions among the mahagathbandhan, which the people of this country understand because similar endeavours in the past have proved disastrous and weakened our nation and its well-defined institutions. Our country can ill-afford to hand over its reins to ambitious regional satraps, whose vision is limited to vote-banks in their respective States, and for whom, national interests or a nation’s economy is only secondary to their regional interests. Ironically, the Congress is willing to play a second fiddle because it sees no future in the coming elections. Like the poorly trained handyman always blames his tools, the election cartel formed by regional parties, sensing imminent defeat, has begun to raise the bogey of EVMs.
It would be interesting to note that EVMs were introduced in India by the Congress Government in 1982 for a by-election in Kerala and were used for the first time in the State of Goa during the 1999 election, which was won by the Congress handsomely. The 2004 Lok Sabha election was held using only the EVMs and with their introduction, chances of rigging through booth capturing, that had been mastered by the Congress to remain in power, were minimised. Though the Congress won the 2004 and 2009 general elections, it failed to gain absolute majority of its own and had to opt for alliances to form the Government. But the grand old party made no noise since it was able to form the Government on both occasions. The popularity of the Congress plummeted to an all-time low in 2014 and it started to blame the EVMs for its electoral loss thereafter. The Modi wave, which swamped the nation like a tsunami, swept away the regional parties as well, who like the Congress, began to blame EVMs.
Isn’t it perplexing that the party, which introduced the EVMs and hailed them as the biggest electoral reform, found nothing wrong with them till 2014, when all of a sudden it became their biggest critic? The reason is obvious. As long as the going was good, everything was hunky dory but unable to swallow the disgraceful defeat of 2014 and the subsequent State elections, it started blaming the EVMs rather than respecting the peoples’ verdict gracefully. The Congress saw a glimmer of hope when it managed to win the election in the three BJP-ruled States towards the end of 2018. However, a detailed analysis of the polls revealed that the BJP’s loss was not due to a popular vote shift towards the Congress but due to the provision of NOTA (None of the Above). Unsure of the NOTA coming to its rescue once again in the 2019 general election, the Congress continued with its tirade against EVMs.
Closer home, it is not surprising that Abdullah is now making loud noises against EVMs. He knows that his party has been exposed so badly that it stands no chance of returning to power if free and fair election is held. He doesn’t want to be held responsible for the decline and subsequent demise of the Abdullah dynasty in Kashmir. He wants the State to return to those days when his father, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, had pioneered the art of rigging elections since he wanted Jammu & Kashmir to be a “single party State” and abhorred the Opposition. Beginning in 1951, the NC and later its converted avtaar, the Congress, depended on rigged elections to remain in power.
The introduction of EVMs reversed the trend and sounded the bugle for NC’s decline. Unprecedented rigging by Abdullah and his alliance partner, the Congress, is considered as the raison d’etre for eruption of militancy in the State. Incidentally, Mufti Mohammad Syed, former Chief Minister and father of Mehbooba Mufti, was the Congress’ boss in the State. Wish EVMs had been introduced in 1987. The State would have been saved from the vagaries of ongoing militancy and a Pakistan-sponsored proxy war since Abdullah and Co would not have been able to rig the elections.
To ensure free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the NDA Government, under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, introduced EVMs in the 2002 Assembly elections. The NC got a rude shock when its seat share declined to just 28 from 57. Its vote share nosedived in every subsequent election. In 2008, its seat share remained unchanged but it managed to form the Government with the Congress’ support. Surprisingly, neither NC nor Congress found anything wrong with the EVMs though hey failed to read the growing unpopularity among the voters. In 2014, both NC and Congress were decimated but still they did not blame the EVMs.
Abdullah won a parliamentary election in 2017, polling seven per cent votes. Till then everything was fine. However, the conduct of the local bodies and panchayat elections in the State threw up an unpleasant surprise and Abdullah woke from a deep slumber. He realised that his party had lost its mass base and was no longer acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly Kashmiris, its core constituency. It is this awakening that prompted Abdullah to term the EVMs as “chor machines.” Incidentally, Abdullah is under a wrong impression that voting with postal ballots will win back the mandate for his party. Kashmiris will not allow him to re-enact 1987.
Sensing the nation’s mood, Opposition parties are disheartened but are pretending to put up a bold effort with slogans like jo garajte hain who baraste nahi. People know that loud noises carry no meaning. They will just help them save their skins as most leaders are faced with judicial proceedings for corruption and misuse of authority. The electorate has matured over the years to not be misled by fake campaigns launched by them. Their defeat in the forthcoming elections is a foregone conclusion and, hence, they are preparing ground to justify their defeat by blaming the EVMs. Whether the machine is chor or their niyat (intent), only time will tell. In a democracy, people are the ultimate deciders.
(The author is a Jammu-based political commentator and strategic analyst. The views expressed are entirely personal)
Writer: Anil Gupta
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Soon after the CBI conducted raids over illegal sand mining during his chief ministership, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav categorically issued a statement saying, “Hamare paas gathbandhan hai aur BJP ke paas CBI (We have alliance and the BJP has CBI).” The succinct import was not lost on anybody, the ruling BJP at the Centre seen as trying to squeeze the new SP-BSP alignment in Uttar Pradesh, considering the latter’s pilot experiments in last year’s byelections could hold and challenge the former more than creditably in the Lok Sabha polls. Even BSP supremo Mayawati, the bua to babua Akhilesh, jumped in with all her protective instinct, saying she would stand by him in fighting the politically motivated probes by Central agencies, unleashed to scare them off a tough electoral race. So when several pre-poll surveys indicated that the SP-BSP alliance could indeed make a difference to the seat tally, even the voter on the ground was wondering what the BJP leadership would throw up next to derail Mayawati. Soon enough the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids about alleged fund embezzlement in construction of memorials during her chief ministership, one that ostensibly cost the State exchequer thousands of crores of rupees.
Of course, all scams need to be investigated impartially and the guilty booked but the timing of the ED raids raises more questions than answers. For starters, the latest swoops were conducted five months after the Allahabad High Court sought a status report on the memorial scam. The Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta had even indicted former ministers Nasimuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha along with 197 others for “wrong-doings” in procuring sandstone for Dalit memorials in Lucknow and Noida during Mayawati’s regime from 2007 to 2012. However, the Lokayukta had exonerated Mayawati for lack of evidence and said there was no proof against her or any bureaucrat. Meanwhile, Siddiqui, who is facing several probes in disproportionate assets cases, has quit the BSP and joined the Congress. And Mayawati herself expelled the other accused, Kushwaha, after she came to know about his complicity in another scam related to the National Rural Health Mission. By this yardstick, it doesn’t seem the latest round of ED raids will have an unnerving impact on the BSP though the case could implicate some contractors and engineers. Of course, this corrective probe mission could have gone in BJP’s favour if it had followed a timeline approach and brought all the scam-tainted, including its own and allies, in that bandwidth. But selective amnesia punches holes in the theory of ensuring a corruption-free society. Revenge politics has been played in Uttar Pradesh by the Congress too as well, especially while putting together numbers for propping up Central coalitions. Unfortunately, this see-through ploy is now past expiry date.
Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer
Any Budget that precedes a general election, particularly one that will be announced a few short weeks after it has been presented, is going to be full of sops for the electorate and on that front interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal did not disappoint. He announced support for farmers both as a direct benefit transfer to small landholders and improvements in the minimum support price. For taxpayers, the lowest tax slab and the minimum deductions will mean that they can save money, which should drive some improvements in the sluggish consumption economy. But with no proposals to increase revenue, it remains to be seen how exactly the government will pay for all these schemes, including the increased allotments for social sector programmes. That will be a problem for the next government but can this budget help Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which finds itself on the backfoot in the face of the mahagathbandhan of Opposition parties, towards electoral victory?
That, of course, is a question that the Indian electorate will determine in April and May of this year but is this too little too late by Modi and his government to win back the affection of voters who propelled him into the prime ministership five years ago? The unemployment data that has been recently released, albeit unofficially, shows what everyone in the country has suspected, that jobs growth has come to a screeching halt. In addition, trust in economic data released by the government has fallen with numbers suggesting that economic growth continued in the aftermath of demonetisation, whose rationale has now been well and truly demolished. And the costs of this budget will be paid by the next government. That said, Goyal promised that these rebates and subsidies have been made without really impacting the fiscal deficit. Whether that is the case remains to be seen but the Indian government will borrow heavily. In fact, any future government will continue to pay high borrowing costs and none of the proposals will drive employment directly at least.
However, the demand for some of these sops have been going on for a while, particularly by income tax payers, who have seen the huge number of social sector schemes and have loudly wondered when their turn would come. After all, effective tax rates have increased, these tax payers have given up their cooking gas subsidies voluntarily or involuntarily and paid far more at the fuel pump to fund the government machine. So the increase in deductions by the government for income tax payers will be welcomed and it will have the benefit of putting more money in their hands to increase consumption spending, which should be beneficial to the economy. That was clearly evident in the way the stock markets reacted to the budget, particularly consumer-oriented firms such as car manufacturers.
Predictably, industrialists came out in support of this budget although many qualified it saying that this was expected to be an election year version. None of them, however, went on record if they believed that this would help Narendra Modi. But this budget will definitely give him some momentum in the final few weeks of his administration. With elections expected to be announced within the next six weeks, the time for action is almost over. The time for politics is well and truly upon us.
Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer
One often comes across laments in the media and during discussions on educational issues that Indian universities do not figure prominently in global institutional rankings. This is followed by an expression of serious anxiety regarding a decline in the overall quality of education across the board. The shrinking of learner attainment in sarkari schools is regularly highlighted through credible surveys; and this includes Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Everyone seems to be concerned about how to reform the education system to overcome the increasing problem of unemployment among educated young people. To what extent can steps like the creation of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship help? What needs to be done to restore credibility and public acceptance of the present education system?
India has reached a stage when every parent wants to educate children — both boys and girls — in a good school, which in the current context means a private school. If around 60 per cent of the students still go to Government schools, it is only because parents are not in a position to afford the ‘luxury’ of a private school, or its non- availability in the vicinity. In higher education, competition is too tough to get entry into reputed public-funded professional institutions. Private ones charge huge fees. Those who can manage and afford look for ‘good quality education’ beyond the shores.
As demand increased, the Indian State quietly withdrew from its commitment, paving the way for private entrepreneurs, both in schools and the higher education sectors. There are assured increasing returns and takers are many. India had just around 50 universities in 1950. Today, it is set to touch the four-figure mark. Further, there are around 40,000 colleges across the country. All of this could be seen as a great achievement — expansion was necessary and one should be happy about it. However, the dilution of quality is not the only concern; the problem surrounding Indian education is much more complex. The emphasis on practised values in our institutions stands hopelessly diluted. To recall a somewhat similar situation and its analysis, one could refer to John W Gardner’s Essay titled, Excellence: Can We be Equal and Excellent Too? Referring to over emphasis on attending colleges and universities, Gardner summarised: “The crowding in our colleges is less regrettable than the confusion in our values. Human dignity and worth should be assessed only in terms of those qualities of mind and spirit that are within the reach of every human being. If we make the assumption that college is the sole cradle of human dignity, need we be surprised that everyone wants to be rocked in that cradle?”
Gardner went on to elaborate that the intention is not to undervalue attainments and importance of higher education but to remember that they alone need not become the sole criterion for assessing human worth. We could get a much better comprehension of the missing elements in the Indian education if we were to reflect on how the decline/change 1960 onwards has altered our emphasis on the total worth of an individual. There are occasions when personal experiences reflect the prevalent institutional ethos; and that could lead to tangible reforms without the need for illusive fiscal inputs.
In 1962, obtaining a MSc degree in physics with electronics as a special paper was one of the most sought after courses offered by the University of Allahabad. Just before the start of the preparation leave for the final examination, Professor Krishnaji took stock of how far the prescribed course was covered. He was a highly respected academic, known internationally for having established the microwave laboratory, which at that stage was a pioneering effort. One of the chapters on ‘Detectors’ was not taken up in the regular class teaching and students were sure that it would not feature in the exam paper. When the learned professor came to know of it, he asked the group to assemble the next day. Detectors were taught for four hours that day, followed by another three hours the very next day. Every student was convinced that at least one question would certainly appear in the exam paper on Detectors. On the crucial electronics exam paper day, once the question paper appeared before each one of them, examinees received a big jolt as there were no questions on Detectors. One could say not a big deal as it does happen in exams when expected questions escape the attention of paper setters. But this was a special instance.
After over three years, in a regular 3.30 pm tea gathering, someone hesitatingly recalled how Detectors could not be detected in the exam paper. Some five of that group of 15 became research scholars, and like all others, were eagerly waiting how the professor would react to this recollection. He did and said: “I was the paper setter. I knew there were no questions on Detectors that year. But tell me, how could anyone get a degree of MSc in physics with specialisation in electronics from the University of Allahabad, and not learn sufficient enough about Detectors?” He went on to elaborate how the university gained its reputation and credibility; how the department of physics should maintain its name and fame; and how the professors and even the laboratories of the department have professional, moral and ethical obligations to discharge. He wasn’t preaching but narrating a tradition and there were oceans of learning that afternoon. He also recalled how he was advised by his favourite teacher: Never enter a classroom if you have are not dutifully prepared for it; never use old notes; prepare afresh each time even if you have to teach the same topic in two different sections.
Then Krishnaji gently pulled out two sheets of paper from his pocket and said, “these are my notes for the first year undergraduate class that I took in the morning.” It was so revealing. He had been teaching for around 30 years and could teach the post-graduate students continuously for three to four hours without any notes or books. He was also scrupulously following the advice of his teacher even at this stage. This was teacher education for the prospective teachers, this was value education for the educated — young and old — and this was the measure of university teaching quality in higher education. It was also a lesson in how to sustain and enhance credibility of the university.
Reflecting over it after about six decades, it is not tough to visualise why India is worried about its educational quality, practically in every aspect and at every stage. The department of physics of the University of Allahabad was reputed to be one working 24X7; visit it at any time in the night and you will find a couple of youngsters working in the laboratory. Unbelievable, even for the present-day students of the same university. There were no instructions to do so and no biometric attendance for anyone. Values were learnt because these were being practised in the department by all seniors. It may sound utopian but quality of education will improve only when the situation is analysed and inferences drawn independent of ideological constraints.
It must also be mentioned that the university system did not face the challenge of vacant academic posts in universities at that stage. Whenever a vacancy arose because of someone going abroad; or on deputation; or retirement, the head of the department was authorised to make ad hoc arrangements. He would trace out the topper of the last batch, or the next one and just ask him to begin work. In due course, his appointment letter would follow from the Registrar’s office, with all the pay and allowances as admissible to others.
There was no system of guest lecturers or lecture-basis payments. Every senior academic of the department was available to provide necessary inspiration, motivation and guidance to the new entrant to their family. He could take his chance along with others whenever the regular selection committee would meet next. Today, in the University of Allahabad, several reputed departments may not be having even one-third of the sanctioned posts filled. Such situation is not new — it has developed over the decades — and there are no signs of application of brain power to overcome it.
It is common knowledge that at most universities, Vice Chancellors have to take “permission of the Government” to make appointments even against regularly sanctioned academic posts. And that in effect implies Vice Chancellors running to under secretaries and deputy secretaries in the State sachivalalya. How does it impact the morale of the institutional leadership will not be too tough to visualise. But that is a reality which must be acknowledged to envision how to bring about some positive changes. The role of academic leadership just cannot be ignored. And entrusting effective control of academic institutions to bureaucracy is certainly a folly that must be corrected at the earliest. Any serious effort to restore the right ambience of learning and also of teaching in the university system will require a serious study of how changes in recruitment policy parameters have impacted the quality decline and how it has resulted in the gradual erosion of the much-needed empathetic bond between the teacher and the taught.
(The writer is the Indian Representative on the Executive Board of UNESCO)
Writer: JS Rajput
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Any government of the day should respect data collated by autonomous institutions that map the country’s growth and development indices for its own good. If favourable, it means it is on the right track. If not, then it means it needs to reset priorities. That’s why autonomous institutions exist, to be the government’s conscience keeper and the nation’s reality check. But if the government sees them as its antithesis, as if pathologically given to uncharitable assessment instead of being a prescriptive tool, then it is in big trouble. One that the Modi government has stepped into by suppressing a job statistics report that is a comment on its demonetisation drive and some hard talk that don’t quite make for rosy election propaganda. What the government forgot was in a digitally empowered knowledge society, that it has itself pushed aggressively, data is hard to protect, will spill out and do more damage than good. As it has. Media leaks show the country’s unemployment rate was at a 45-year-high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) periodic labour force survey (PLFS), which was vetted by the National Statistical Commission in December but not released by the government. The resignation of two non-government, well-known academics, who have cited unprecedented interference and institutional insult as their reasons, has further put a moral burden on the government to come out clean. It also speaks of the moral integrity of acting chairman PC Mohanan and JV Meenakshi that they did not make matters acrimonious like the heads of other institutions, where the government reportedly tried to wield some influence, saying they were just bowing out for being “sidelined.”
Going by media reports, our unemployment rate is at its highest level since 1972-73. Not only that, youth unemployment is at an “astronomically high” 13 to 27 per cent. Joblessness is higher in urban areas (7.8 per cent) than in the rural areas (5.3 per cent). More people are, in fact, withdrawing from the workforce than previous years. The Government has egg on its face because this unbiased report is the most definitive comment on the period of distress after the demonetisation of November 2016. Of course, pushed to the corner and clearly in damage control mode, it tried to put a lid on the controversy by arguing the two members had never raised concerns about the delay in releasing the report, which it felt needed to be on point given the size of our informal sector. But the charges against it are grave indeed. It seems that by stalling the report, it violated guidelines and the Ministry concerned, that of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has been bypassing this august body for quite sometime when it came to releasing facts and figures or formulating methodologies. Revisions and tweaking were allegedly done in an autocratic manner to suit a certain narrative. If recent pre-poll surveys are anything to go by, then joblessness has emerged as the biggest plank and it would have done the NDA government a world of good if it had projected the extent of the crisis at the right time, honestly admitted that its hard economic decisions did result in a short-term tumble as they always do and kept an alternative redemption plan ready, even notionally. The silence on this volatile matter at this time is certainly not golden and the Opposition now has more wind under its wings. With pressure to keep India’s growth story galloping at a GDP growth of around eight per cent, whichever government takes over in May has to begin with creating domestic demand, incentivising the medium-scale and services sector and keeping job training focussed on specific industry demands. Hard decisions all. By withholding the statistic sheet, the Modi government has unwittingly forced an economic referendum on the voter. One it could have controlled if only it had been transparent. And one that shreds its 2014 claim of creating two crore jobs per year into smithereens.
Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer
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