An increase in its population is gratifying but the tiger still faces problems, including the frequent man-animal conflicts. A national-level strategy is needed to manage this interface
Jim Corbett wrote in the Man-Eaters of Kumaon, the “tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and that when he is exterminated —as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support — India will be the poorer, having lost the finest of her fauna.” Had the legendary hunter-turned conservationist and writer been alive, he would have noted with relief the contents of the latest estimation report on the number of tigers, titled the Status of Tigers, Co-Predators, Prey and their Habitat, 2018, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 29, annually observed as Global Tiger Day. The report puts the number at 2,967, which marks an increase of 33 per cent over the figure of 2.226 in the estimated tiger count in 2014 and a phenomenal 210 per cent over the 2006 figure of 1,411.
The increase is gratifying because it comes as a part of a continuing upward trend since 2006. Besides it represents one of the few instances in which the Union or a State Government’s efforts have succeeded. It all started in 1970 when the Union Government banned the hunting of tigers throughout the country. Two other important developments followed in 1972. The country’s first tiger census put the number of the striped lords of the jungles at 1,827. More important, Parliament passed the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for protecting animals, birds, reptiles and plants. It prohibited the capturing, killing, poisoning or trapping of wild animals, the injuring, destroying and removing any part of a wild animal’s body, also forbade disturbing or damaging of the eggs of wild birds and reptiles. It further prohibited the picking, uprooting, destruction, acquisition and collection of specified plants and trade in these. The Act also provided for the creation of sanctuaries and national parks where wildlife would be safe and for restriction of entry into these. More, it provided punishment for each category of crime.
The Act was an important step as the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act of 1912 (eight of 12) and the various State laws prevailing until then offered little protection. It was, however, aimed at wildlife in general and not specifically tigers. For the latter, Project Tiger was launched on April 1, 1973, with two objectives — identification of the causes of shrinking tiger habitats, adoption of remedial measures and repair, to the extent possible, of the damage already done; and, second, the maintenance of a viable tiger population.
The project’s distinguishing feature has been the creation of sanctuaries, called Tiger Reserves, to protect tigers from poaching and other threats. Against nine spread over 9,115 square kilometres at the beginning, there are now 50 of these encompassing an area of 74,749 square kilometres. No human activity is allowed in their core areas, while limited access is granted to the buffer zones around these. Strong action is being taken against poaching with rangers and forest guards being provided wireless communication systems, improved weaponry and facilities for rapid movement.
Funded by the Union Government, administered by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC), and functioning under the direct supervision of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), set up under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006, Project Tiger has made the most important contribution to increasing the number of tigers. One, however, has also to take into account the efforts made to protect wildlife from crimes against it, which has helped significantly, particularly since poaching to meet the demand abroad for tiger body parts for their allegedly medical and aphrodisiacal value, has been a contributory factor in the decline in numbers. In this context, one needs to recognise the critical role played by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) set up in 2006 under the same amendment act that established the NTCA.
A statutory multi-disciplinary body under the MOEFC, to combat organised wildlife crime in the country, it collects and collates intelligence pertaining to organised wildlife crime and disseminates the same among State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action. Its functions also include the establishment of a centralised wildlife crime data bank, co-ordination of actions by various agencies in enforcing the Act’s provisions and assistance to foreign authorities and international organisations to facilitate global action against wildlife crime. Among other things, it also helps to improve the capacity of agencies combating wildlife crime to conduct scientific and professional investigations and assists State Governments to successfully conduct prosecution for the same.
A proud feather in its cap has been the United Nation Environment Progamme’s conferring on it in November last year of an Asia Environment Enforcement Award in the Innovation category for successfully innovating enforcement techniques that have dramatically improved action against trans-boundary environmental crimes in India. Earlier, in 2010, it had received the prestigious Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award for outstanding work on wildlife law enforcement. Not surprisingly, its actions, along with those of other enforcement agencies, have resulted in the arrest of 350 wildlife criminals and huge seizures of tiger/leopard skins, rhino horns, elephant ivory, turtles/tortoises, raw mongoose hair, mongoose hair brushes, protected birds, marine products, live pangolins, deer antlers and so on across the States.
There is, however, hardly any scope for complacence. Human-tiger conflicts are becoming more frequent as the increase in the number of tigers continues along with growing human encroachments into their habitats in the form of new settlements, more extensive farming, infrastructure, and environmentally-disastrous industrial projects benefitting blue-eyed entrepreneurs. In this context, there is an urgent need to implement the NTCA’s suggestion for developing a national level strategy for management of human-tiger interface and dispersing tigers in compliance to its standard operating procedure, ensuring active collaboration between district administrations, police and forest department personnel, and, when required, for mob management to ensure safe capture or movement of animals.
All this, however, will not help if State Governments clear projects threatening the tiger’s survival. Two examples come immediately to the mind. Maharashtra sanctioned last year the diversion of 467.5 hectares of forest land in Yavatmal district for a cement plant. Also, its recommendation has led to the clearance, in principle, of 87.98 hectares of land in Kondhali and Kalmeshwar ranges — barely 160 km from Yavatmal — to an explosives company in Chakdoh for manufacturing defence products.
Unfortunately, tigers do not vote. Nor do they contribute to the funds of political parties.
(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)
Writer: Hiranmay Karlekar
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Yes, the numbers of the big cat have doubled but so has the intensity of man-animal conflict. Let’s address that too
In 2008, alarm bells had rung when the tiger census in the country threw up a dismally low number of 1411, despite years of initiatives under Project Tiger. Home to 70 per cent of the world’s wild tiger population, India had no option but to turn the needle through aggressive pursuit of various conservation efforts. So it is indeed heartening that in little over a decade, we now have almost doubled that number, clocking 2,967 tigers and registering an increase of almost 33 per cent in the fourth cycle of the latest census. Little wonder then that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who released the new figures, seized another moment of national pride that India has achieved by claiming that the target of doubling the tiger population has been met four years before the deadline. What makes the numbers remarkably reassuring is that they have come at a time when biodiversity is severely challenged. Yet the government and the community have persistently been in sync with their conservation efforts. Also the four-year counting exercise, the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage and intensity, is a celebration of technology. Over 15,000 camera traps were installed for capturing tiger images and recording their unique stripe pattern with the help of a dedicated software, there were satellite mapping and GIS-based apps for in-depth tracking of the big cats and the data collection process. Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of tigers at 526, followed by Karnataka at 524 and Uttarakhand with 442 tigers. So it is the healthy patches which have pushed up the total numbers rather than the dotty ones.
This brings us to the most important aspect of tiger management in their habitats than just recording figures. While tiger numbers have increased, tiger habitats have been dwindling due to human encroachments, infrastructure projects and truncated wildlife transit corridors. The man-animal conflict has never been worse, therefore. Be it the killing of Avni or villagers beating up straying tigers, or the confused tiger hitting back with a counter-charge, the headlines point to a dangerous trend of overpopulation not being commensurate with increase in prey base-rich forest zones. The Wildlife Trust of India’s conflict database for Uttar Pradesh records 63 cases of attacks on humans by tigers from 2014 to February 2019, an average of 10.8 cases per year. This marks a dramatic increase from an average of 5.6 attacks on humans per year between 2000 and 2013. The tiger will stray into human settlements when its food chain is frayed and villagers cannot be expected to prioritise conservation when the lives of their own and the livestock are at stake. It is now imperative to understand what’s causing the conflict on the ground on a case by case basis and address it immediately before avenging kills start showing up in the numbers. Awareness of tigers should now also include equal awareness about its ecology and behaviour and the need to provide alternative ranges. Recent examples have shown how some railway underpasses to facilitate wildlife transit are working as animals, like the elephant and tiger, are adapting to changed migration routes. There are still viable tracts of pristine forests that can be turned into reserves by relocating animals from overpopulated stretches. But forests are a state subject and an inter-state agreement on shared corridors needs to be ironed out and coordinated if translocation is to succeed. Meanwhile relocation needs are mounting. The entire process cannot be fast-tracked but needs to be graded and spaced out to ensure tigers’ acceptance of a new territory as their own household. Apart from peripheral villagers, a new tiger also has to deal with resident cats or in the total absence of its kind, reconcile to being a lone ranger and sync up with other relocated companions. And if forest dwellers have co-habited with tigers before, there is no reason why we cannot make them stakeholders in conservation efforts, keeping them invested as park patrollers and monitors, generating a subsidiary tiger economy that ensures them revenue, incentivising forest produce and enhancing the tiger gene pool that can promote “sighting tourism.” Till this is done, our pride will continue to be their enemy. The tiger sits on top of the food chain in the forest and by saving it and giving it a home, we are protecting all sub-species and curating a biosphere that even includes grasslands and rivers.
Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer
He debuted with Jhalli Anjali and has experimented with different roles. MUSBA HASHMI speaks with ZAAN KHAN about his new show Hamari Bahu Silk and acting journey
I play Naksh Parekh, a 22-year-old photographer. My grandmother wants me to give up photography and take over the family business of catering services.
I had to work hard to get into the skin of the character. I am a Pathan and my character is a Gujrati. I had to learn to speak Gujrati and bringing in that accent which was a challenge for me. To get it correct, I spent time with my Gujrati friends so that I could learn the language and get my accent correct. I didn’t want to sound fake. Also, I had to learn photography. I weighed 82 kg when I was offered the role. I had to look like a 22-year-old so I shed 15 kg in one month. It was difficult. A lot of preparations went into it. It was like a learning process for me.
No, I never wanted to get into acting. I wanted to become a singer. I was clueless about acting. But it happened all of a sudden. I was in my third year of engineering and I was going home during the vacations. On my way, I saw a film shooting going — it was for Satyagraha. Ajay Devgn and Amitabh Bachchan were shooting and I was excited to see them. I stopped there for some time. Some of my friends were line producers on the sets. Suddenly, one of them came to me and asked if I was comfortable in standing behind Ajay for a scene. I told them that I have never done acting and they said that all I had to do was was to stand behind him. It went on for 10 minutes and then they offered me to go with them for 10-15 days as they needed those same group of boys for other scenes. I went for it. On my second last day on the sets, I met Prakash Jha sir and they asked me if I was comfortable in reading out dialogues. The positive thing in me is I am confident. I don’t get anxious. Then, he offered me a role — Vicky. This is how I got into acting.
Mumbai has been extra kind to me. I still remember when I first came to Mumbai in 2014. Within two weeks I got my first show as a lead — Jhalli Anjali. It aired on Channel V. I have seen both highs and lows. I got a bit distracted in between my career and lost my focus on acting. But, I managed somehow and started focusing on my work again.
I love challenges. Any role that would challenge me as an actor, I would love to do that. I have played a lot of different roles. From a simple and innocent boy —Dhruv in Jhalli Anjali to a negative one — Kunwar Jeewan Singh in Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani. I love playing different characters. I love to enhance my craft (acting) and as long as I am getting to do it, I would love to play any role.
I love playing football. I love to eat. I read a lot in my free time. I am a family man, I visit my family once a month.
I am concentrating on this show. I am very clear in my mind that till the show is running, I will only focus on it.
Writer: Musba Hashmi
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The far-right going mainstream can hardly be challenged by the liberal-left, which is spiralling into acts of demonisation and reckless accusations as well
It’s being called the “new McCarthyism”. This spike in media censorship and relentless demonisation of those considered to be enemies because they hold different points of view. It’s gone global. But first, a bit about McCarthyism. The old one.
At the end of World War II, the then US President Harry Truman signed an executive order, which required all civil service employees to be screened for loyalty. The order required that federal Government employees be investigated whether they had had any past links with “‘un-American” organisations and which could undermine the loyalty of a Government employee towards the US’ interests. Between 1949 and 1955, various committees were formed to root out “the enemy within.”
In a 2014 essay, “Creating the Idealised Nemesis,” author and literary critic Alexander Chirila writes that, between 1920 and the beginning of World War II, the US had largely followed an isolationist path by refusing to play any major role in international politics. However, after it decided to join the war in 1941, the isolationist policy was abandoned. By the end of the war in 1945, the US had become a major international power. But so did its erstwhile war ally, the Soviet Union.
Chirila wrote that the shift from voluntary isolationism to active international interventionism triggered a suspicious mindset within America’s body-politic. This resulted in certain policies and narratives that were constructed by segregating what was “patriotic Americanism” from what wasn’t. So anything that allegedly wasn’t “patriotic” became “communist” and, thus, “dangerous.”
Interestingly, though Truman’s executive order was signed in this environment, it was also lobbied for by those, who believed that during the unprecedented four terms of former President FD Roosevelt (1933-45), “communists” within the US had already “infiltrated” the American state and Government.
Most large businesses had explained Roosevelt’s economic policies as being “socialist.” When Truman became President in 1945, a firebrand senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, claimed that the federal Government was crawling with socialists and communists, who were working against domestic and international US interests. In 1950, McCarthy brandished a list in which he claimed were names of 205 state employees who were or had been members of communist organisations.
Committees sprang up within Government agencies and in various private companies to identify possible communists “working to weaken America.” The hysteria spilled over and even Hollywood script-writers, actors and directors suspected of having communist links and sympathies were reined in. E Schrecker, in his 1998 book, Many Are the Crimes, writes that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) doubled the number of its agents to help the Government investigate possible “communist saboteurs” in various fields.
Dozens of state workers, artists and others were investigated and demonised. Many lost their jobs and could not find any other means of income. The hysteria was also used by lobbies, who were against public health services. According to an essay in the 1994 anthology, Psychiatry in Transition, these lobbies claimed that forced vaccination, mental care services and the fluoridation of water were “plans of communist world Government.”
The hysteria began to subside after McCarthy looked more and more like a demented, egotistical demagogue and when the Government of Dwight Eisenhower (1952-61) realised that the commotion was doing more damage than good to the American image. McCarthy was increasingly discredited by certain journalists and he died in 1957 due to alcoholism. But his name became associated with a tendency that makes unabashed and reckless accusations of treason and unpatriotic acts without offering any convincing evidence. This tendency became known as McCarthyism.
Till the end of the Cold War in 1989, McCarthyism was often seen as a demagogic, right-wing tendency, even though deadlier purges of this nature took place in the Soviet Union, China and in Cambodia against so-called “counter-revolutionaries.” Recently, the social psychologist Lee Jussim and controversial clinical psychologist Professor Jordan Peterson have been turning the idea of McCarthyism on its head by explaining “new McCarthyism” as the liberal-left version of old McCarthyism.
In an essay for Psychology Today, Jussim cites the findings of an elaborate 2014 research, which say that there has been “a rising tide of leftist intolerance” on American campuses. It has resulted in harassment, even violence, directed at speakers from non-left backgrounds. Speakers who present perspectives challenging “leftist sacred cows” such as affirmative action, diversity programmes and feminism have been subject to aggressive, intolerant, “proto-authoritarian” tactics, according to him.
The report concluded that “students and teachers who refuse to hear opposing viewpoints will be less likely to learn critical thinking skills and less able to defend their own beliefs once off-campus.” Professor Peterson blames post-modernism for the intolerance exhibited by the liberals and new leftists. He describes post-modernists as “cultural Marxist conspiracy theorists”, who emerged in the 1970s after Marxism failed to win the class war. He adds that post-modernists readjusted Marxism’s core axiom of class struggle to other frameworks of perceived group power struggles: Race, sex and ethnicity among other things.
Whereas post-modernism had already disintegrated by the 1990s into meaning nothing more than empty intellectual kitsch, Peterson says it went on to create subjects such as sociology, anthropology, gender and ethnic studies, which he believes use “unscientific methods” to reach conclusions that have more to do with peddling ideologies than intelligence. He says these create “cult-like behaviour”, which can explain the manner in which the so-called neo-leftists have been reacting to opposing points of view. Peterson’s own views have often been criticised as conspiracy theories.
But in an environment where the far-right is going mainstream in various countries, it can’t be effectively challenged by the kind of liberal-left Peterson is critiquing. Simply because, it seems, more than anything else causes being championed by the new liberal-left are a way to just appease individual existential crises — that old post-modernist trap. Thus, the reactionary behaviour and thin-skinned responses, which are coming from a disposition of misplaced arrogance, self-righteousness, and an assortment of intellectual and emotional insecurities.
The response (to the far-right) would require a more informed (and less reactive) retort which should involve making pragmatic alliances. But such alliances cannot be made when the new liberal-left too spirals into acts of demonisation and reckless accusations. In fact, Peterson believes that it is this which has given birth to dangerous reactions in the shape of the rise of the far-right and the discrediting of once-powerful ideas such as democracy and socialism.
(Courtesy: The Dawn)
Writer: Nadeem Paracha
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Several committees and commissions have emphasised the importance of the mother tongue medium. It is to be seen what comes of it in the final education policy
The report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century was released at the session of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) in Geneva on October 2, 1996. The chairperson of the commission, Jacques Delors, very clearly summarised the essence of global consultations and the future vision of global education in the 21st century. For individual national contexts, he unequivocally stated: “Education in every nation must be rooted to culture and committed to progress.” The report begins with Delors’s Preamble entitled, ‘Education: The Necessary Utopia’ and says it all in the first sentence: “In confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees in education an indispensible asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice.”
The report has been deliberated upon globally for over two decades; it has received global appreciation and has impacted policies and implementation strategies internationally. Its articulation of four pillars of education — learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together — has received admiration from common folks to seasoned academics alike. In the first quarter of the 21st century, who would not appreciate the fact that education “is not a miracle cure or magic formula” but one of the “principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and, thereby, to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war.” India, known for its economic, social, cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity, is committed to transform its education system to achieve social cohesion and religious harmony and strengthen unity in diversity. But its education system has to encompass a very sensitive canvas. Its three-language formula, accepted in the mid-1960s, is yet to be implemented fully in letter and spirit.
Its national policy on education was last revisited in 1992. After more than a quarter of the century, in 2019, the Kasturirangan Committee submitted the draft National Education Policy (NEP) to the Government for finalisation of a new education policy. The preparation of this report was preceded by a national consultation process spread over four years. The draft NEP is open for inputs and suggestions from every quarter before finalisation. It is interesting that widespread fresh consultations have generated demands for further extension of the time limit for submission of suggestions beyond July 31, 2019.
Yes, people are concerned about education, its quality, utility and capacity to achieve total personality development. While there is no limit to improvements in the presentation of such reports, one has to begin implementation at some point. The NEP, 2019 mostly consists of formulations that deserve support of all and active involvement of academics as well as scholars, who are unconstrained by ideological bonds and narrow political considerations.
The draft report attempts at giving a comprehensive view of national expectations and aspirations fully synchronised with international trends and requirements: “The vision of India’s new education system has accordingly been crafted to ensure that it touches the life of each and every citizen, consistent with their ability to contribute to many growing developmental imperatives of this country on the one hand and towards creating a just and equitable society on the other.” To achieve such an objective, the issue of ‘language’ and ‘medium of instruction’ will become relevant.
For obvious reasons, the British were not interested in educating Indians in their mother tongue. They needed obedient and loyal educated people who would despise everything that was Indian — be it culture, history or heritage. This could best be achieved by “delinking Indians from India.” The best and easily available tool was to develop fascination for English language and all that was Western and, hence, admirable. Under severe burden of learning an alien language, where was the time for children as also parents’ inclination to realise the importance of learning the mother tongue? It was rather interesting that within hours of the presentation of the report to the Human Resource Development Minister and its simultaneous uploading on the Ministry’s website, certain vested interests attempted to create an unsavoury conflict in the minds of people, raising the issue of the so-called imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States. It must go to the credit of the Ministry of Human Resource Development that within hours of the issue emerging on the national scene, it issued a clarification that the Government has no intention to impose any language on any set of people unwilling to learn it. In fact, ever since the three languages formula was accepted by the Government and a commitment made to the nation, none of the Union Governments ever tried to impose any language hegemony.
The issue of mother tongue medium has once again been comprehensively addressed in the draft NEP, 2019. It is a universally accepted fact that initial education must be provided in the mother tongue of the child. It is also a known that children in the age group of 2-8 years are extremely flexible in learning multiple languages.
The NEP report acknowledges: “Language has a direct bearing as the mediator in all cognitive and social capacities, including in knowledge acquisition and production. The science of child development and language acquisition suggests that young children become literate in (as a language) and learn best through (as medium of instruction) their ‘local language’ ie, the language spoken at home. It is interesting to note that the committee uses two terms — mother tongue and also the language spoken at the home.” One can cite an example that will indicate the farcical levels of fascination for English medium schools in India, particularly among those who can afford paying exorbitant fees in privately managed “public schools.”
A young professor, working in a national academic institution in Delhi, sought transfer to his home-town in Bengaluru to look after his octogenarian in-laws, who had no other support. The request was accepted and the family shifted to their home place “happily.” Their two kids — 10 and 12-year-old — got admission in a public school without any difficulty. However, their grandparents could communicate in Kannada only and the children were made monolingual, meaning they could speak English only. One had the occasion to ask the young parents how it was beyond comprehension that children were totally alien to Kannada. The response was very truthful and also revealing: “We decided to speak only English in our home and family conversation, even guests were requested accordingly. All this to ensure children acquire greater fluency in English — it was all for their bright future and to make their life easier to get a green card.” If highly educated people are so charmed by English medium and English language, none will be surprised to find the mushroom growth of English medium schools in villages and towns.
The growing fascination for English as the medium of instruction from day one onwards in schools is not new. It has a historic legacy. The language policy adopted by the British in India included every trick of the trade to wean Indians away from their culture and heritage and language was the first tool. One cannot ignore how Mahatma Gandhi analysed this fascination very early in his life.
On February 4, 1916, Gandhiji raised the issue of language and referred to the insight he had gathered from some Poona (now Pune) professors, who assured him “that every Indian youth, because he reached his knowledge through the English Language, lost at least six precious years of life.” On July 5, 1928, he made a very touching statement on the medium of instruction, which deserves to be re-read and examined in the context of language learning and policy formulation. In fact, more than the policy-makers, it is the parents who should be aware of the harm being inflicted on the children by forcing children to learn English at the cost of mother tongue language: “The foreign medium has caused brain fag; put an undue strain upon the nerves of our children; made them crammers and imitators; unfitted them for original work and thought; and disabled them for filtrating their learning to the family or the masses. The foreign medium has made our children practically foreigners in their own land.”
In his opinion, among the many evils that the British imperialists imposed on India and its people, the imposition of a foreign medium was the greatest. He fervently wanted India to shake itself free from the hypnotic spell of foreign medium; sooner the better. Sadly enough that was not to be. Practically every commission and committee appointed in the post-independence period accepted and emphasised the importance and necessity of the mother tongue medium but things have gone from bad to worse. We have reached a stage when Governments, having failed to look after schools properly, have allowed their credibility to touch the nadir. The failure to maintain the mother tongue medium, Government schools are now being covered under the plan called school merger. People understand the real position. It will be interesting to see what emerges on the language front and the issue of medium of instruction in the final national education policy.
(The writer is the Indian Representative on the Executive Board of UNESCO)
Writer: JS Rajput
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Syama Prasad Mukherjee was thoroughly grounded in Indian ethos which actuated his political choices. Throughout his political life, he prioritised ideals over positions
It is a truism that occasion produces the leader. One of its telling examples would be Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee (1901-1953), independent India’s first Minister of Industry and Supply and founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951. His 118th birth anniversary is being observed today (July 6). A qualified barrister by training, his passion was education, academics and Indian culture. A Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University at a mere 33 years — the youngest ever in India — he would have preferred to spend a lifetime in the hallowed portal of goddess Saraswati. However, the perilous political situation in undivided Bengal in the late 1930s compelled him to pursue active politics. Over the ensuing 14 years, he came to occupy an important place in national politics. He had become a symbol of new national aspiration when he passed away prematurely at the age of 52.
The party he co-founded, viz, the Jana Sangh, on the eve of India’s first general elections, felt orphaned at his untimely death. It had anyway put up a modest showing in the election. But it was the purity of his vision that impelled the party to increase its tally and mass base at every successive election from 1957 to 1977. It was the largest constituent that formed the Janata Party Government (1977-1979) and later took shape in its new avatar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
But it is not for the sake of partisan politics or even his individual political brilliance that we remember him today. His parliamentary career was as brief as six years between 1947 and 1953. But what sets him apart and makes him a stuff of remembrance is not his characteristic brilliance but the principles he lived and died for. He gave up his Cabinet rank in protest against Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s response towards the plight of the Hindu minority in East Bengal (erstwhile East Pakistan) in 1950. Three years later, he laid down his life to uphold the status of Jammu & Kashmir as inalienable and an integral part of India. Conscience always outweighed authority in Dr Mukherjee’s plan of action.
Education ran in the veins of Dr Mukherjee. His father, Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (1864-1924), five-term Vice Chancellor of the Calcutta University, had turned the institution into a constellation of talent. Sir Asutosh was deeply imbued with the Indian ethos and wanted his son to do post-graduation in Bengali literature. Dr Mukherjee, having graduated in English literature with flying colours, chose to switch over to Bengali for post-graduation. He promoted serious research in Indian history from an Indian standpoint, opened the university’s first museum of Indian history, culture and archaeology and invited foreign universities to send their students to study Indian civilisation, culture and Sanskrit.
Apart from promoting serious research in Indian history, he also initiated a course in Islamic culture and history. Breaking the convention, Shri Mukherjee invited Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to deliver the convocation address in Bengali for the first time in 1937. He also strongly believed in inculcating patriotism and love for the motherland among the students as also promoting our culture and civilisation. In September, 1939, he came in contact with Veer Savarkar and joined the Hindu Mahasabha. Soon afterwards, Dr Mukherjee was appointed its working president, which necessitated him to travel all across the country. Even Mahatma Gandhi welcomed his decision.
The Hindu Mahasabha years gave Dr Mukherjee the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership qualities, oratorical skills and organisational abilities. His first meaningful contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) happened during that time. “I see in this organisation the one silver lining in the cloudy sky of India”, said Dr Mukherjee while addressing the Swayam Sevaks in Lahore in 1940. His relationship with the RSS became his capital when he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh 11 years later.
Impressed by his nationalistic outlook, Mahatma Gandhi insisted that Dr Mukherjee be included in the first Union Cabinet headed by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. In spite of his reservations to be part of a Congress-led Government, he joined the Cabinet following the advice of Veer Savarkar.
As India’s first Minister of Industries and Supply, he piloted the industrial policy and laid the foundation for industrial development in the country. He believed in encouraging the private sector while creating a strong public sector base in the country.
He never hankered after power and placed the interests of the country above everything else. He had quit the Nehru Cabinet in protest against the Liaquat–Nehru Pact, which sought to protect the rights of minorities in India and Pakistan following the attacks on Hindus in East Pakistan. Dr Mukherjee wanted exchange of population and property at governmental level as a solution.
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was proof of Dr Mukherjee’s farsightedness. The sapling planted by him, with the benefit of time, has today grown into one of the world’s largest political parties. Dr Mukherjee, the unofficial leader of the Opposition, was in no mood to rest on his plumes. In a short span, he emerged as one of the tallest parliamentarians and his speeches used to be heard with rapt attention by one and all.
Soon, he found the issue of fuller integration of Jammu & Kashmir close to his heart. He advocated the concept of One Constitution, One Flag and One Prime Minister for the country, saying “Ek desh mein do vidhan, do pradhan, do nishan, nahi chalenge” (Two constitutions, two heads of states, two flags in one country is not acceptable to India).
He lent his support to the movement of Praja Parishad, founded by Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, for fuller integration of the state with India. He visited the state once in 1952 when he had spoken to Sheikh Abdullah and Pandit Dogra. When his extensive correspondence with Pandit Nehru and Sheik Abdullah on the subject failed to break the deadlock, he decided to visit Jammu again to lend support to the satyagraha there.
But this visit, started on May, 8, 1953, was about to prove the last ever journey in his life. He was arrested on May 10, 1953, by the state police for entering Jammu & Kashmir without permit. He was flown to Srinagar and confined to a small cottage near Nishat Bagh, where he spent the last 40 days of his life as a prisoner before he died in a hospital under mysterious circumstances.
Following his death, Dr Mukherjee’s mother, Jogamaya Devi, wrote to Pandit Nehru seeking an impartial probe, which, however, was not accepted. In her reply to the condolence message sent by Nehru, she wrote, “I am not writing to you to seek any consolation. But what I do demand of you is justice. My son died in detention — a detention without trial”, she stated. On his birth anniversary, the best tribute to Dr Mukherjee would be to inculcate the values of nationalism and patriotism among the younger generation and to strive for protecting our culture, traditions, civilisational ethos and the unity and integrity of the country.
(The writer is Vice President of India)
Writer: M Venkaiah Naidu
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The Chennai water crisis calls for the establishment of a National Water Committee, consisting of scientists, administrators and domain experts
The country is witnessing acute water shortage in many areas either due to the failure of rains or inadequate rainfall. The crisis has been brewing in many States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and even the national capital of Delhi because of which people are suffering terribly.
In Chennai, women were seen lining up in queues, holding plastic buckets and waiting for tankers, some of which are reportedly fleecing the public. IT firms, restaurants and the construction industry have all admitted that they are struggling without water. Violent clashes between residents on the issue of water sharing, too, have been reported. Meanwhile, reservoirs supplying water to Chennai have all dried up.
A BBC report said, “India is facing its worst water crisis in its history.” India Today stated that “50 per cent” of the country is staring at “drought.” In this connection, this writer had written an article titled, ‘Water Woes’, which was published recently in The Hindu. I also issued an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately set up a ‘National Water Committee’ consisting of scientists, administrators and other eminent people to deal with the problem on a war footing.
This writer had set up a similar committee by a judicial order as a judge of the Supreme Court in MK Balakrishnan vs Union of India (2009) case under the chairmanship of former Secretary in the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, Thirumalachari Ramasami. In the case of Delhi Water Supply & Sewage Disposal Undertaking vs State of Haryana (1996), the Supreme Court observed, “Water is a gift of nature. Human hand cannot be permitted to convert this bounty into a curse, an oppression.” However, scant notice was given to this admonition and the natural resource has been converted into precisely that.
When this writer was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court (2004-2005), a Bench, presided over by him in L Krishnan v. State of Tamil Nadu (2005), noticed that most of the lands marked in the revenue records of the State as ponds or lakes had been encroached upon. Many houses and illegal shops were built on them. The Bench directed the removal of all illegal encroachments. It is doubtful if the order was effectively implemented by the authorities. In Karnataka last year, a piquant situation cropped up. While in the coastal and Malnad region as also some districts of the State, the rain fury wreaked havoc, other regions, especially the northern part of the State, witnessed drought-like situation during the same time. This was unbelievable.
China, too, experienced a similar situation before the 1949 Revolution. Some areas (those next to Hwang He, also known as the ‘river of sorrow’) experienced frequent floods, while others experienced drought. After the Chinese Revolution of 1949, the authorities constructed huge dams on these rivers. Canals were built to carry excess water to drought-hit areas. This way, flood as well as the drought problem was solved. Why could this not have been done in India, too?
States along the coastal lines have access to unlimited sea water but it needs to be desalinated. Desalination methods like reverse osmosis are extremely expensive. But with the help of scientific research, inexpensive methods can be found out. The Himalayas, too, have almost unlimited water in the form of snow but it needs to be harnessed properly. Other techniques like rain water harvesting must be made mandatory in all human settlements. All such efforts call for a strong political will — on the part of the Central as well as State Governments — using scientists (both Indian and foreign). Unfortunately, this will was missing until now.
Now that his Government has a mandate, it is hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not miss this opportunity. He should immediately set up the National Water Committee, giving it adequate funds and other support.
(The writer is a former Judge of the Supreme Court)
Writer: Markandey Katju
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The odd killing of elephants by tigers at Corbett is not just aberrant behaviour, it is about survival
Tigers tend to get maligned every time they display aberrant behaviour and become the subject of alarmist headlines that make them a feared monstrosity rather than the endangered species that they could become. Yet the fact of the matter is we need to study the conditions and reasons for their uncharacteristic behaviour and mutations and factor them in future wildlife conservation policies. The latest Government study, done with the Corbett National Park authorities, which has found that park tigers have killed and eaten elephants, at first sounds incredible and unbelievable. Considering the different physical dimensions of both creatures and the fact that elephants move in herds, a tiger’s kill potential indeed seems microscopic. But it is not impossible, considering the tiger is remarkably agile, adaptive, has penetrative canines and claws and is extremely intelligent, isolating stray members of any pack animal before the hunt. Elephant calves can become its prime target, even borne out by the study which says that carcasses of the young were the maximum among the 60 percent deaths because of tiger attacks. Besides, the big cat attacks the trunk, the major food conduit of the elephant which usually dies on its own subsequently, unable to eat and nourish itself back to health. Also, as the Sundarbans tiger has shown, the big cat can alter hunting behaviour according to its location. For example, African leopards have taken down the largest antelopes as elands, greater kudus and wildebeests, though they are more than five times heavier than their own size. Lions, too, there have taken down elephant calves. Which is why the study is worrying wildlife experts as tigers usually don’t eat elephants and this could be the beginning of a new intra-wild species conflict.
Not that the alerts haven’t been there. Instances of tigers charging at elephants have been fairly videographed in Corbett. We also seem to have not learnt our lessons despite isolated cases settling down into a patterned behaviour. In 2017, six elephants died in Kerala’s Wayanad wildlife sanctuary in tiger attacks, triggered as they were by bitter turf wars over scarce water in a drought year. Tigers are already bearing the brunt of over-population, reduced roaming territories and prey base, broken habitats and migration corridors as well as human encroachment. All this is challenging their primal instincts and forcing them into evolving survival tactics given the context they find themselves in. So cattle-lifting and man-eating are not just about an old territorial tiger anymore but regulars who are getting accustomed to easy prey options. Even Corbett in-charge Sanjiv Chaturvedi admitted that tigers “need comparatively less amount of efforts and energy in killing an elephant as against that needed in hunt of sambhar and cheetal. It is large quantum of food for them too.” He said the national park has a unique ecosystem with more elephants than tigers, 1,100 against 225, unlike other national parks like Ranthambore, Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Does this mean that Corbett tigers are working out their own kill choices depending on easy availability of a stray calf or a sick pachyderm? That they are feeding on elephants, which were killed in herd infighting, also proves that they are changing the rules of hunt and game. Does it mean they are prioritising easy availability as evidenced in tiger attacks on elephants in Kaziranga too? If this is an emergent crisis, then we need to develop strategies to save both species. Buried in the report is also the fact that most tiger deaths are because of infighting over mating and territorial rights. Has the tiger then been literally pushed into a corner?
Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer
Dastango Nusrat Ansari, through Dastan Alice Ki, presents Alice in a way that she is a dreamer and digs her own path through her struggles rather than being seen as an escapist. By Team Viva
Imagination has no restrictions. Who would know this better than Lewis Carroll? When Alice stepped through the looking glass one summer afternoon and fell down a rabbit hole, a tale replete with mystery, magic, twisted poetry, rhymes, confusion and logic came to the fore, where rabbits could talk and caterpillars would smoke hookah.
As artists Nusrat Ansari and Ainee Farooqui present the classics — Alice in the Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass — through the art of dastangoi, Nusrat explains how the duo brought out Alice’s story’s essence through the art form. She says, “Dastangoi has been picking up a lot recently. It’s written in a way that it naturally brings out the essence of a story. It is such a natural art form that it stays alive within the audience too as much as the performers.”
She says the art form involves a lot of improvisations and voiceovers, since this time they had kept it very interactive as well. But how? Nusrat explains with an instance, “When Alice has to guess the age of the queen, she tries to transfer the questions to the audience. So this way it is interactive. And it was so good to see that the audience was also actively participating in giving the answers and making the guesses.”
The artist says that such classics remain timeless and ever-relevant, and hence are narrated time and again. Hence, while Carroll’s classics had been penned in the 19th century, they remain relevant and ever-engrossing even today.
There are multiple interpretations of a character. When it was first presented by dastangos Poonam Girdhani and Ankit Chadha, they had their own interpretation of her, she says. Chadha had once said that the reason he chose Alice’s stories to begin their work for children is because her adventures are tilismi (magical) in nature, and the flavour of fantasy is similar to what they find in traditional dastans. Nusrat says, “My understanding and interpretation of Alice is that she is a very smart woman and one of those who knows that they are smart people. Even though she is being called an escapist and a lonely person, I see her as someone who finds her own way through her struggles, is a dreamer and believer, and has vivid ideas and imagination. She is a strong woman who can find out her ways.”
The dastan, based on Carroll’s classics, starts with Alice entering the fantasy land and discovering the world through the looking glass. After her size changes multiple times, Alice begins her journey on the chessboard to become a queen.
Talking about how the art form has evolved over the years, which had lost its charm among the audience in the late 1920s and brought back to life by Mahmood Farooqui during 2005. “People were amazed by what they saw and wanted to continue it after that. They saw it as an art form and an engaging form of storytelling.”
This is the first time, she says, that the classic is being presented even to the adults when it is mostly labelled as children’s tales or literature. “We did not just focus on children but kept in mind the adult audience too. And even they were equally engaged throughout.”
Writer: Team Viva
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Sumeet Vyas has romanced Kareena Kapoor Khan, played goofy roles in web series and is now looking forward to portraying Ram Jethmalani in The Verdict: State Vs Nanavati. By Siddhika Prajapati
He has no second thoughts while answering any of our questions. Nor does he hesitate or fumble. He is quick and smart while at the same time has an air of of detachment around him despite the recognition that he has been getting for his work of late. Actor Sumeet Vyas, who has been seen across different platforms — films, TV and web series — is devoid of any regret or guilt about his life or the kind of work that he has done.
It is the actor’s confidence and self-conviction that has got him so far. Vyas is set to play an intense role in Ekta Kapoor’s forthcoming web series, The Verdict: State Vs Nanavati, which is a switch from the goofy roles that he has been portraying recently. He took it up as it was a long time since he found a story which offered something different as he had been getting roles that were similar to TVF’s Permanent Roommates. So when the show’s director approached him to play lawyer Ram Jethmalani, he was surprised and overwhelmed at the same time.
Based on the famous case where KM Nanavati, a much-decorated naval officer shot his wife’s paramour, it has had cinematic outings in the past too, including Yeh Raastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963), then Achanak (1973) and the most recent one being Rustom, starring Akshay Kumar. The case in 1959 put the spotlight on Jethmalani, who was the prosecution lawyer while the public sympathy lay with Nanavati who was supported to the hilt by fellow Parsi Russi Karanjia’s tabloid, Blitz. Nanavati was eventually declared not guilty by a clearly partisan jury vote of eight to one. The larger outcome of the case was that the jury system in India was scrapped forever.
The actor says that there is a method to choosing any role. “I agreed to take up this character as I was bored of doing those ‘nice guy’ roles. I wanted to play someone with characteristics that do not define me in real life. Also, the story at its core is so powerful that any actor would want to take up the opportunity.”
It is the first time that Vyas is being seen portraying a layered role unlike the linear characters that he has been seen in, be it in Tripling or Official CEOgiri. When it comes to preparing for any role, the actor doesn’t believe in getting into its depth as this would affect his personal life. “I don’t believe in living the character. Once the shot is done, I immerse myself in my life. It’s very important for me and for my process of preparation to disconnect from the character once I have wrapped up the role,” he elaborates.
The Veere Di Wedding actor accepts that playing a real-life character, especially someone as dynamic as Jethmalani, was a huge responsibility. He read his biography and watched video tapes as a part of his homework for the role. He adds, “It’s very important to me to know exactly where the character is coming from. I don’t apply my personal logic into the character’s behaviour or the motives behind his action. I prefer to be natural without stressing too much.”
Talking in-depth about the character, the Parched actor says, “For any actor, the complexities of each character are an interesting aspect to scrutinise. No one can completely understand someone as multi-dimensional as Jethmalani. Neither I nor anyone can term him unfair or even reasonable. Thus, it’s an intriguing experience to play him on screen.”
The actor is one of the reasons we’re glued to YouTube. Back in 2016, he made us notice him with his substantial role in the film Parched, but it was his portrayal of the character Mikesh/Micky in TVF’s Permanent Roommates that garnered eyeballs.
Meanwhile, Vyas does not believe in comparing the digital platform with the silver screen. “As an actor, I personally, don’t find any difference. I will invest the same amount of efforts in the film which I would put in any other medium. The only difference is the platform through which the story is conveyed,” shares the actor.
According to the TVF star, web shows can never replace cinema. He agrees that it has emerged with new opportunities and its market is expanding. But cinema has its own essence. “Cinema has a vast reach whereas web series are quite personal. One can enjoy the film with family but series offers one the freedom to experience it alone,” he adds. Vyas has also written Yashraj’s web series Bang Baja Baarat, which was again a huge success among youth.
Besides acting and writing, Vyas has directed plays. He joined theatre at 17 which helped him grow up as an actor. “The content and the people with whom I work with satisfy me while choosing any project. For me, the medium is inappropriate. Whether it’s for stage, web or silver screen, I make sure that it has to improve me as a person. So, what I enjoy and what I don’t is the process which makes me decide on taking up any project,” Vyas says.
The show is expected to release by the end of this month.
Writer: Siddhika Prajapati
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Filmmaker Benoy K Behl says that there is a dire need of introducing and promoting yoga in all branches of education, medicine and even workplace to create an atmosphere of harmony and oneness. By Chahak Mittal
We live in a world torn by strife, violence, confusion, drug abuse and a medical system, which is too commercial and exploitative. And one of the best answers to the problems and ills of the modern world is yoga, believes filmmaker and historian Benoy Krishen Behl.
Today, the ancient science of yoga has perhaps become more relevant than it was ever before. The first step towards world peace is the creation of peace within each person. It is through the transformation of individuals that the world would be changed. Each person should grow in the understanding of his true self and develop compassion. This would lead to more harmony within families and groups, in society and finally in the community of nations. The world would become more joyous and peaceful.
Through a 52-minute documentary film, shot in 26 cities and regions across 11 countries over five years, he is set to showcase a voyage of discovery, capturing the poetry and grace of yoga and of the world of nature. The film has interviews with leading medical practitioners, who speak in objective and scientific terms about the positive benefits of yoga, and with leading exponents as well as with academicians and students of the field.
Talking about how he chose the locations across the globe, he says, “These were decided to cover a broad range of the practice of yoga. It began with India, its birthplace. And then shot across East and West Coast USA, as these are some of the places where yoga is extremely popular. To show spectacular seascapes and beautiful backgrounds, we also shot in Bahamas and Costa Rica. We also wanted to show how yoga is proving to be extremely beneficial in areas ravaged with strife and conflict and hence, we shot in Brazil. There, the practice has proved to be useful even in jails and juvenile rehabilitation homes. We shot in dense jungles in Colombia. Other shooting locations were China, Japan and Vietnam to show the spread of yoga in Asia.”
Behl calls these five years of shooting as a “long labour of love,” which has also been a wonderful experience for him “to shoot with and capture the finest yoga asana practitioners and the beauty of nature.”
The filmmaker has been through some unforgettable experiences of meeting some of the “gentlest, kindest and the most generous people in the world.” From hearing the chants of Sanskrit bhajans across the globe at various ashrams every day, he and his team also went to some of the most dangerous and violent cities in the world like Medellin and Cali in Colombia, where yoga is being used to heal the scars of violence. He shares that often the camera had to be kept hidden while in taxis and on the streets. “However, local escorts accompanied us for safety at all times,” he says.
Behl says that making and conceptualising the documentary came very easily and “naturally” to him, as it has been 43 years in practising and researching about the ancient art of India that led him to make a film on the subject. “All Indian philosophy is yoga. It is all about achieving the final knowledge of our oneness with all that is around us, through meditation. Through yoga, we calm ourselves and see that we are less affected by the noise and distractions of the world around us. That is the purpose of yoga, it takes us to a state where the ever-changing perceptions around the world do not assail our consciousness. It represents a state when the constant fluctuations of the mind have been stilled, in which we may be able to direct our consciousness in a search for what is true and lasting,” explains he.
For someone who has been travelling around and researching about yoga since so many years, how has he witnessed the world around him change in terms of its understanding and recognition of yoga? He says that over the years, yoga has become extremely popular around the world and today “even modern hospitals in countries like India, Germany and USA have started taking the benefits of yoga seriously. The initiative of the Prime Minister of India in having an international day of yoga declared by the UN has gone a long way to give the practice its true place in modern international society.”
Yoga has a vision which symbolises oneness in all that there is around us, believes Behl, who says that there is a dire need of introducing and promoting yoga at more branches of education, medicine and even workplace to create an atmosphere of harmony around.
He says, “It is a vision of a great harmony and works towards integrating and joining us with the eternal reality.” However, one obstacle on this way of unity, he adds, is our ego. “Our ego makes us look at ourselves as separated individuals, with limitless desires. This leads to an endless chase towards them. We are never able to attain satisfaction and are constantly restless. We remain trapped in the noise and clamour of the materialistic world.”
He feels that such a vision of life should be introduced at all levels of education and at the workplace and it goes far beyond just the medical system. “It not only prevents disease, but as well covers all aspects of life.”
He believes that yoga not only enables us to understand ourselves better but also puts us on the driving seat for our own health. It is the study of consciousness, understanding one’s body, emotions, mind and beyond that, the true self.
Writer: Chahak Mittal
Courtesy: The Pioneer
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