New York, June 30 (IANS) In a resounding endorsement of India's enduring secular values, an extensive report has found that most Indians respect all religions as it is "very important to being truly Indian" and they are all free to practice their religions.
"Tolerance is a religious as well as the civic value: Indians are united in the view that respecting other religions is a very important part of what it means to be a member of their own religious community," said the report by the US-based Pew Research Center that was based on face-to-face interviews with nearly 30,000 Indians.
"Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its post-independence ideals: a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely," the report released on Tuesday said.
Eighty-five percent of Hindus and 78 percent of both Muslims and Christians agreed with the view that respect for all religions is integral to being Indian, it said.
The report said there was overwhelming support for the view that "respecting other religions is a very important part of their own religious identity". It said that 80 percent of Hindus, 75 percent of Sikhs, 79 percent of Muslims, 78 percent of Christians, and 75 percent of Sikhs agreed with that proposition.
The belief that they were "very free" to practice their religion found tremendous support across religions, with 91 percent of Hindus, 89 percent of both Muslims and Christians, and 82 percent of Sikhs endorsing it.
Pew Research Center, one of the foremost think tanks and polling organisations on religion and society, said that it conducted the interviews in 17 languages across India between late 2019 and before the Covid-19 pandemic struck the next year.
Its report based on the polling covers religious beliefs, politics, and social issues and summaries of the report were also issued in Hindi and Tamil.
But in a discordant note, the report found that for many Hindus, being of the Hindu faith and speaking Hindi were essential to being "truly Indian". However, 65 percent of the Hindus who hold those beliefs and voted for the BJP also said that religious diversity was good for the country.
It said that for 64 percent of Hindus to be truly Indian one had to belong to the religion and for 59 percent speaking Hindi was essential.
There were wide divergences regarding the Partition of India, according to the report: 66 percent of Sikhs and 48 percent of Muslims considered it "bad", while only 37 percent of Hindus and 30 percent of Christians shared the view.
Forty-three percent of Hindus, 30 percent of Muslims, 25 percent of Sikhs and 37 percent of Christians said it was good, the report added.
In a sign of weakening caste barriers, Pew said that most Indians, 72 percent, from other castes said that they would be willing to have a Dalit as a neighbour.
The report also included the non-sequitur that members of various religions saw themselves as different from adherents of other religions: 66 percent of Hindus see themselves as "very different" from Muslims who reciprocate the perception by 64 percent.
But it also said that certain religious beliefs were shared by many people across the religious divide irrespective of their dogma.
Seventy-seven percent of both Hindus and Muslims, and 54 percent of Christians believed in Karma, and 32 percent of Christians believed in the "purifying power" of the waters of the Ganga, which 81 percent of Hindus also believed, the report said.
There was significant acceptance of rebirth, by 27 percent of Muslims and 29 percent of Christians, it said. Three percent of Muslims and five percent of Christians said that there were many gods.
"While these may seem like theological contradictions, for many Indians, calling oneself a Muslim or a Christian does not preclude believing in karma or reincarnation - beliefs that do not have a traditional, doctrinal basis in Islam or Christianity," Pew said.
When it comes to marriages, there is still strong opposition to alliances across religious and caste lines.
A larger percentage of Muslims, 80 percent, than Hindus, 67 percent want to stop women of their religion from marrying outsiders, according to the report, which also found that 76 percent of Muslims and 65 percent of Hindus were against their men marrying outside their faith.
Among Sikhs, 59 percent were for stopping inter-religious marriages of their women and 58 percent for their men, the report said.
Only 37 percent of Christians were against women of their religion marrying members of other religions, and 35 percent when it came to men having inter-religious marriages, it said.
When it comes to inter-caste marriages, a majority of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Jains consider stopping them for both men and women a high priority, Pew reported.
Overall, 64 percent of Indians said it is "very important" to stop women in their community from marrying into other castes, while it was 62 percent when it came to men, the report said, adding that "nearly identical shares" of Dalits and other caste members said that stopping inter-caste marriages is "very important".
The report said that in the 2019 national elections, 60 percent of Hindus who subscribed to the view that it was "very important" to be Hindu and to speak Hindi to be truly Indian voted for the BJP, compared to only a third of Hindu voters who felt less strongly about both these aspects of national identity.
The report, however, found very large differences between regions on these views of Indianess.
In the Central Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhatisgarh, 83 percent of Hindus considered being Hindu was very important to being truly Indian; while in the South the corresponding figure was 42 percent, and 87 of Hindus in Central India gave that degree of importance to speaking Hindi, while in the South the comparable percentage was only 27 percent.
Pew said that conversions have not had an impact on the religious composition of India and attributed the changes to different fertility rates among religious groups.
To buttress this argument, it asserted that 81.6 percent of Hindus said that they were raised as Hindus and a nearly identical 81.7 percent said they were still Hindus.
But it also said that among Christians, six percent said they were raised in the faith, while an extra one percent said they now belonged to the religion. Among Christians, 0.4 percent were formerly Hindus, while 0.1 percent Hindus were formerly Christians. Most of the conversion to Christianity was in the South, which accounted for 74 percent of the conversions, the report said.
It said that 84 percent of Hindus and Sikhs considered religion very important in their lives, while 91 percent of Muslims and 76 percent of Christians said so.
Shiva was the manifestation of the Hindu deity who was most popular as the one Hindus feel close to, it said. Forty-four percent of Hindus said that they felt close to Shiva, while 35 percent said it was Hanuman, and Ganesha 32 percent, Pew reported. In Central India, however, 27 percent said Ram was the divinity they felt close to, and in the North-East said it was Krishna, the report said.
New Delhi, June 29 (IANSlife) Owning a house is one of the life goals of many people. If you are willing to buy your dream house, it's time to make the move as the housing prices have seen optimal correction and are unlikely to fall further.
"In fact, all-time low interest rates, government impetus to housing for all, ample ready supply and attractive offers by the developers have made it an opportune time to buy a dream home," suggests Ankit Goel, Director, Goel Ganga Developments. He shares a few factors cementing the fact that now is the best time to buy a property.
Reduced home loan interest rates
Owing to the pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employed a liberal approach and reduced the benchmark Repo rates on multiple occasions during the last two years. This resulted in a sub-seven percent regime of home loan interest rates. A year ago, the home loan rates were falling in the range of 8-9 percent. Now, the rates have reduced to seven percent or even below it. It results in a significant cost saving in the Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs).
If experts are to be believed, the home loan seekers must pay heed to their credit score as the best loan rates are offered to clients with a credit score between 750 and 800. Once the loan is availed at low rates, the buyer will enjoy low EMIs throughout the tenure of home loan.
Corrected prices and offers
At the time of the sudden breakout of the pandemic, the homebuyers deferred their decisions in the hope of a further decline in prices and hoped to get the best quotes once the pandemic phase is over. However, the nation is now prepared to move ahead with the Coronavirus. The home prices have corrected to the lowest level they can get, and further scope of corrections is limited. Moreover, the real estate developers are offering attractive rebates such as EMI holidays, absorption of stamp duties and furnishing at no extra cost. In addition to this, developers are also transferring the benefits of stamp duty rate reduction in various states to the potential homebuyers, resulting in further cost savings.
Supply-side enablers
This time, the real estate market is far better off than in the times of the 2008 economic downturn. At that time, it was a sellers' market. Although, Coronavirus had temporarily halted the real estate and construction projects for a brief period, the arrival of vaccine has revitalized the sector. The new project launches have provided potential homebuyers with ample ready to move in options to choose from. In fact, a sufficient supply has enabled the buyers to negotiate and buy their dream home at bargained prices. Overall, it is a buyers' market, and one should not wait further to go ahead.
Government impetus
During the current situation, the government has been prompt and active in providing relief packages. Be it announcing the National Infrastructure Pipeline or extending the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for EWS strata of the society. The Government has also lent a helping hand by suspending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) so that corporate borrowers do not face insolvency proceedings due to factors beyond their control. The 'Housing for All' by 2022 Mission is providing a conducive environment to own dream home. The extension of CLSS benefits has presented a unique opportunity to the buyers to go for the home purchase.
Real Stability
Come what may, the real estate sector remains one of the most trustworthy investments options available. With declining Fixed Deposit (FD) returns, an ever-fluctuating stock market, and dwindling Gold prices, the idea to own a home attracts a majority of people. Moreover, the corrected state of prices has made home-buying an even more desirable and feasible option to opt for. In terms of stability, the real estate and property market beat almost everything. If one is thinking of a long term investment perspective, a home purchase must be on the priority list.
All in all, the real estate sector is filled with confidence and positivity and the time is ripe for the homebuyers to go ahead with the purchase.
(Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)
New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) After attending the recent all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, two former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti stood miles apart.
Omar Abdullah candidly admitted that Article 370 won't be restored, while Mehbooba Mufti announced that she won't contest the Assembly elections till J&K gets its special status back.
"It is foolish to demand the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution from the Modi government. It took the BJP 70 years to fulfill its political agenda for (Article) 370. Our struggle has just started. We don't want to fool people by telling them we will get 370 back in these talks. It will be foolish to expect 370 will be back -- there has been no indication it will be restored by the current government", Omar said.
After the meeting Mehbooba said, "I will not contest the elections. I will do this because otherwise people will feel that the resolution of Article 370 is just a slogan for me and I am just doing politics over it. That is not the case; hence, I will personally not contest any election till it's reversed."
She claimed that Article 370 and 35A were a means for J&K people to have job security and also their identity of being from J&K. "So, these are important to us. And that is why you must have seen that J&K was India's most prosperous state," she said.
Since August 5, 2019 when the Centre abrogated J&K's special status and divided it into two union territories -- Kashmir-based leaders have been claiming that "everything has been snatched" from the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
These leaders seem to have forgotten that no one in J&K opposed the Centre's August 5, 2019 decision. Not a single protest was witnessed anywhere. People didn't react at all. They remained busy with their daily chores and the life went on.
J&K on path of development
During the past two years Jammu & Kashmir has witnessed a massive change as the projects that were lying dormant for the last several decades were revived in a speedy manner. Various developmental schemes -- acceleration of the projects being executed under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP), targeting the individual beneficiaries, restarting the long-pending projects by removing the obstacles, to ensure effective administration with transparency -- have been taken up after J&K started functioning as a Union Territory.
For developing the Information and Technology sector in J&K many sops have been framed. These include providing "subsidy on rent" to the outside investors. The policy document of the government envisages two IT parks -- one each in Srinagar and Jammu -- spread over 5 lakh square feet.
The J&K administration also released a real estate policy which states that "land banks" created by the government will be disbursed to "private developers" through a transparent bidding process.
The development has not been only confined to building roads and highways. Almost all the sectors that were ignored during the past political regimes have been explored and new life stands infused in the projects to help J&K grow and come at par with the other states of the country. From 2015 to 2020 only 37 per cent funds from PM's Rs 80,000 crore package were utilized.
In 2015, Prime Minister Modi had announced Rs 80,000 crore package for J&K's development. When PM Modi had announced the special financial package late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the chief minister of J&K, his party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had joined hands with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form coalition government in the erstwhile princely state.
PM Modi had stated that it was his "heartfelt desire" that the Rs 80,000 crore package announced by him should help in turning the fate of J&K people. He had stated that the money should be used for converting J&K into a modern, prosperous and progressive place. "Delhi's treasury is for you. Not only our treasury, but our heart also beats for you," Modi had said.
However, in 4 years the J&K government could only spend 37 per cent of Rs 80,000 crore package. When the package was announced at that time it was decided by the Central Government that the sanctioned amount would be spent in five years and the developmental works under the package had to be completed by the ending 2020.
According to the official figures, of the Rs 80,068 crore package, Rs 30,049 crore were released till March 31, 2019 for the erstwhile J&K state. Of the 63 projects, only 18 were completed. In 2020, the parliamentary panel had expressed dismay over the slow pace of work under the package.
Article 370 deprived J&K of benefits
When the Article 370 - a temporary provision of Indian Constitution - was in vogue, the Kashmir-based politicians remained in power for nearly seven decades. For the 70 years the Centre kept on pumping money into J&K with a hope that it would be utilized for the benefit of the common man. But the leaders in J&K kept on feeding people with slogans like self rule and autonomy and forgot to concentrate on the issues which touched the skin of the populace.
The so-called special status of J&K deprived people of the benefits of the centrally sponsored schemes and the progressive laws that were devised by the Indian Parliament. The reservation laws for the weaker sections of the society were not applicable in J&K. There was a complete gender bias as if a man from J&K married a woman from any outside state he could retain his property rights but if a woman married an outsider she used to lose all her rights.
But now, J&K is a changed place as the benefits of it getting merged with Union of Indian have started to trickle down to the people.
Since the day Article 370 has been done away with Mehbooba Mufti has been claiming that J&K has lost its identity but the facts and figures contradict her claims. Local leaders beating around the bush has failed to impress J&K denizens, who have witnessed a massive change during the past two years.
The Articles 370 and 35A deprived outsiders from buying land in J&K due to which Kashmir didn't witness much industrial growth as outside investors were not ready to invest in the erstwhile state.
After the Centre's August 5, 2019 decision Jammu & Kashmir Government received investment proposals worth Rs 15,000 crore from nearly 40 companies. Players from various fields like Renewable Energy, Hospitality, Defence, Tourism, Skill, Education, IT & Technology and infrastructure have come forward to invest in J&K.
J&K's transition into a Union Territory restored confidence of the people in the Constitution of India and robust democratic system of a united sovereign India with Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity assuring the dignity of every Indian.
Reforms in power sector
During the past two years the J&K government has strived to achieve 24x7 power for all. J&K has achieved 100 per cent household electrification which has rekindled the hope of many who had never seen electricity in their lives. Household water connections have reached 43 per cent of rural households which is double the national average of 21 per cent, and a road map has been prepared to ensure 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply to all 18.16 lakh rural households by December 2021.
The Indian government approved a nearly Rs 6,000 crore multi-purpose project in February 2020 to provide uninterrupted water for irrigation to farmers in J&K's Kathua district and to produce power. In 2014, when assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir were round the corner and the Himalayan state was facing acute shortage of electricity, then J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah had chosen to lock horns with the Centre over return of power projects by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
"Return of power projects by the NHPC to the state is of significant importance and critically essential for the energy supply and economic development in Jammu & Kashmir," Omar had said.
He had claimed that the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan was "a cause of enormous losses to J&K". "While both India and Pakistan benefited from the treaty, J&K was put to disadvantageous position."
The Centre had turned down Omar's demand and had made it clear that NHPC would continue to own the power projects in J&K.
In September 2019 Union Power Minister R.K. Singh and then J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik jointly inaugurated 15 power projects and laid the foundation stone for 20 others worth Rs 10,000 crore. The unbundling of the Power Development Department into two corporations, Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) and Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited (JPDCL) has opened new avenues. J&K is on way to becoming self reliant in the power sector.
Article 370 won't come back
Kashmir-based leaders, including Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, need to understand that no government at the Centre would even think of rolling back Article 370 and there are no takers for their rhetoric that they will get everything back. J&K is prospering and people have already associated themselves with "New India" where they know that their future is secure and they will grow.
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Srinagar, June 27 (IANS) The influence of Wahhabism has changed the nature of insurgency in Kashmir.
During the last 10-15 years, the Ahle-Hadith (Followers of Wahhabism) controlled mosques have doubled from 1,000 to 2,000.
The funding of these mosques is lavish so that they look grand, attractive and pompous in comparison to the traditional Kashmiri mosques built by followers of Sufist Islam.
The Ahle-Hadith controlled mosque takes hardly six months to complete because of the lavish funding from the gulf.
The Salafis sport beards, wear a skull cap and their pants or lowers are always worn above the ankle.
Security forces believe that the spread of Wahhabi sect has changed the paradigm of militancy in Kashmir.
From seekers of the so-called 'Azadi', majority of the youth under the influence of the Wahhabi sect are claiming to be fighting for the global cause of establishing the Islamic Caliphate.
Terrorist organisations spread all over the world, controlled by the followers of Wahhabism, are based on Ibn Taymiyyah's principles and traditions.
These terrorist organisations rely on references taken from Ibn Taymiyyah's books especially his Mardin Fatwa in which he says one can kill anyone to achieve his target.
The influence of Ibn Abdul Wahhab's intolerant and supremacist theology has spread to many parts of India especially to Kashmir.
Textbooks taught in the Salfi-Wahhabi Madrassas include controversial books like Taymiyyah's 'Majmua Fatwa' (Compilation of his fatwas), Ibn Abdul Wahhab's 'Kitab al-Tawheed' (Book of monotheism), 'Taqwiyatul Iman' (Strengthening of religion) and 'Sirat-e-Mustaqeem' (The straight path) authored by the hardcore Indian clerics Shah Ismail Dehlvi and Syed Ahmad 'Shaheed'.
Syed Ata Hasnain, former GOC of Srinagar based 15 corps said, "Wahhabism has not been understood by the Indian nation, nor by the armed forces.
"The manner in which Wahhabiyat was introduced in Kashmir. The manner in which mosques changed hands in 10-15 years (referring to the early 90s when militancy was at its height) from the local Sufi maulvis to the ones who came from central India e Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh."
In 'Kashmir-the rise of a hard faith', author Tariq Mir says, "The rise of this dogmatic faith has raised a host of fundamental questions. Is Kashmir headed the way of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the Islamic radicalism has fueled a nihilistic ideology of settling disagreements through violence?
"Does its rise mean the complete dominance of Pakistan-based jihadists?
"How might Sufis beat back this onslaught in an age of globalization, free travel, and religious satellite channels constantly beaming in a stream of foreign cultural prejudices?
"Will Kashmir's unique identity survive in this turbulent neighbourhood? Or will Sufism soften this hard faith, too, and tame its dogmas and thus serve as a lesson to the larger region awash in Islamic radicalism?"
The spread of the Wahhabi sect is gradually changing the religious and the socio-cultural scene in Kashmir.
Instead of extending time in prayer and penance during the five-times daily 'Nimaz', as is practised by the followers of the Sufist Islam in Kashmir, the Salafis end their prayers in less than 10 minutes.
They do not observe the birthday of the Prophet of Islam known as the 'Eid-e-Milat'.
The Safis do not believe in observing nightlong prayers like the night of the 'Shab-e-Baraat' as do all other Muslims following practices other than Wahhabism.
The spread and influence of this sect in Kashmir is clearly depicted in the declining numbers of devotees seen at the Hazratbal shrine, the shrine of Sheikh Humza Makhdoom, the shrine of Kashmir's patron saint, Sheikh Nuruddin Wali at Chrar-e-Sharief town, the Baba Rishi shrine at Gulmarg and scores of other shrines spread through the length and breadth of the Valley.
The arrival of the Wahhabi sect in Kashmir has similarities with the rule of the local King, Sikandar, the iconoclast, who ruled Kashmir from 1389 to 1413 A.D.
Known locally as 'Sikandar Butshikan'
His rule virtually terminated the longstanding syncretic and tolerant culture of Kashmir and in its rigorous abidance by Sharia, severely oppressed the Kashmiri Hindu population.
'Music, dance, gambling, intoxicants, etc. were prohibited and the office of 'Shaikhu'l-Islam' was established to enforce these rules.
"Brahmans were forcibly converted, Hindu and Buddhist shrines of worship were destroyed, Sanskrit literature were purged, 'Jizya' (Tax on religious minorities) was imposed for those who objected to the abolition of hereditary Varnas and caste marks were prohibited.
If left unchecked the spread of the Wahhabi sect in Kashmir would usher in an era of intolerance and religious frenzy that would finally wipe out all socio-religious customs, practices and traditions of tolerance.
As a keen Kashmir observer said, "Would this become a colossal tragedy in which Kashmir would lose everything, including its name and innocence?
"Or, as a hardcore optimist believes, would Sufist Islam with its historical moorings withstand the Wahhabi onslaught?
"Would Kashmir's tradition of tolerance and brotherhood overcome the Wahhabi tempest and reclaim the land of the Sufis?
Would the Maulvi's 'Azaan' from Sheikh Humza's mosque-shrine and the sound of the 'Shank' from Sharika Devi's temple in its neighbourhood beckon humankind to its eternal reality of oneness and co-existence?
Hyderabad, June xx (IANS) If the outcomes of various elections over the past few decades, till the recent Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are any indication, south of the Vindhyas, the electoral arena remains a minefield for mainstream national parties, read the BJP and Congress.
Of the five states that comprise south India, three are ruled by regional parties, one has a Left-coalition dispensation, with only Karnataka having a fragile BJP government uneasily in place.
While the Congress continues to lose prominence across the country, its situation has been particularly precarious down south, long considered its citadel. The slow slide to inconsequence began in Tamil Nadu with the party succumbing to the anti-Hindi stance that continues to this day.
Thereafter, in the eighties, fuelled by filmstar-turned-politician NT Rama Rao's Telugu Pride, the then state of Andhra Pradesh showed the door to the Congress. Post-bifurcation, the party has made way for regional parties in Andhra Pradesh as well as the fledgling state of Telangana. For a change, the Congress has managed to be on the winning side in Tamil Nadu, but it lost the Kerala polls for the second time in a row.
The story is not very different for the BJP, ruling the roost at the Centre, and a host of states in the north, west, and eastern parts of the country. With negligible presence for decades, the south remains a tough nut to crack for the BJP. Although the saffron party did make inroads with successes in Karnataka, it has lost steam and continues to steer a leaking ship through the choppy waters of an unconvincing majority in the Assembly.
Compared to states like Tripura and Assam in the East, the BJP has had a lacklustre performance in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. While it drew a blank in Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls in 2019, the BJP's graph in neighbouring Telangana has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Bolstered by its wins in Dubbaka Assembly poll and Hyderabad municipal polls, the BJP is preparing to squarely take on the ruling TRS in the next Assembly election. While Telangana is its most promising arena in the south, the reverses it suffered in Bengal polls should give the BJP some food for thought.
Despite high expectations, the party ended up losing even the sole Assembly seat it had won in the previous Kerala election. To its credit, the BJP has won four seats, making a comeback in the newly-constituted Tamil Nadu Assembly after 20 years. But with a distinctly Dravidian party at the helm, there is little that the BJP can expect to achieve here in the foreseeable future.
So, what really are the reasons for the national parties' lack of traction in the South?
For starters, the southern states have had a strong tradition of throwing up homegrown leaders. From Karunanidhi, MGR, Jayalalithaa, NTR, KCR, and Jagan Mohan Reddy all have built up their votebanks assiduously. All of them are accessible in the vicinity rather than faraway Delhi. In fact, the BJP's success story in Karnataka wouldn't have been possible without Chief Minister B.S. Yediurappa, another homegrown leader.
In the Congress, a culture of subservience to the family has effectively killed local leadership. For the BJP it is a case of not having sufficiently large mass base. Unfortunately for the BJP, the process of building up local leadership is a slow and labourious process that cannot be substituted by wholesale imports from other parties. It needs to plan for a long-term future rather than the immediate future.
The second factor that is a stumbling block in the BJP's expansion plans in the south, has to do with demographics.
Compared to the other three parts, the communal composition is not so pronounced in the south. Therefore, sharp polarisation on religious or cultural lines is not easy. The Congress has seemingly hit a wall, apparently not a favourite with youngsters who make up the major share of the electorate. According to social scientists, rising urbanisation and education levels have also majorly affected the party's fortunes at the hustings.
Most importantly, it is the presence of a strong local sentiment in each of these states, wary of being swept away by a north Indian wave. This is precisely why regional parties thrive, and pose challenges for the national parties. A trend that is likely to sustain for at least the next few election cycles.
Leaders across the political spectrum should spread vaccine awareness
The new vaccine policy of the UnionGovernment, after many twists and turns, got off to a thumping start with nearly 82 lakh citizens getting a vaccine shot in a single day. The role played by State Governments, many of whom have realized the potential of vaccinationsto ensure getting the economy back on track,cannot be underplayed. The zeal they showed in driving the vaccination exercise in a 'mission mode' is commendable. The second good news amid nearly three months of gloom and pandemic-stricken psyche is the constantly reducing number in active Covid cases across the country, providing relief to the stretched healthcare system.
These two developments along with a limited unlock process and the upcoming festival season could bring a ray of hope for prosperity and growth for all enterprises. Early signs of revival in FMCG sales and signals emerging from auto manufacturersand real estate developers indicate a healthy bounce-back.However, it is also the time for extreme caution and to try to be ahead of the shape-shifter virus before it strikes back with vengeance. India has managed to provide at least one jab of the vaccine to nearly 30 crore citizens. This means a vast majority of the population is still at risk.The nature of the war against the virus is as strong as the last vulnerable citizen. The challenge is toquickly rampup vaccination and overcomevaccine hesitancy. These two issues are interrelated, as one of the reasons for India's reluctance to place bulk orders of vaccines in the global markets was a second thought on the need for vaccines towards the beginning of this year. The government correctly launched the vaccination programme with the most vulnerable segments of the population and front-line healthcare workers. However, somewhere in the high decibel election campaign and the frenzy of religious gatheringsthe messageof and the need to vaccinate all was lost. The result was a disaster with fatal consequences includingfor many senior government officials.
The issue of vaccine hesitancy is a matter of concernas reports indicate that rural India is resisting attempts to take the jab. While urban India is queuing up in front of vaccine centers,there are numerous reports of the rural folk literally running away from them. This is where the role of the state governments and local administration kicks in. The government can devise strategies for dispelling myths about the vaccine and persuade its grassroots employees to spread vaccine awareness. The local village influencers have their roles cut out too. The reality is that many of the states are now ruled by personality-driven chief ministers who would like to share the political dividends of free vaccination with the Uniongovernment. A clever sharing of optical space between the Centre and the States, providing ample opportunities for both to achieve their political goals while ensuring the safety of the citizens, can be a milestone. Afterall, a single central team of vaccinators no matter, how large, will not be able to reach the stated target of one crore vaccinations per day without the local leaders' help. The problem gets more acute in rural areas where various pressure and caste groups create a system of opaqueness for an initiative to save lives. The governments have ample evidence in the past of vaccinating nearly 17 crore children every week which led to the eradication of polio in the country. Lessons from the past would come in handy in vaccinating another 70 crore citizens of the country against Covid-19.
(The writer is a policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.)
Climate change and poverty are part of a vicious cycle. The inability of the vulnerable sections to effectively mitigate climate change-induced impacts make them worse off
In South Asia, India has a huge role to play in the field of climate change, given the enormity of its industrialisation levels. In the 1970s and 80s, we had little clue about how climate change would impact India but one thing was amply clear that unequal development patterns between developed and developing countries and greed were the biggest polluters — eloquently voiced by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
As years passed, the Indian position at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) revealed its domestic interests: Developing countries should not be bound by emission reduction requirements unless they were provided with the necessary financial and technological assistance to lower their GHG emissions and, such provisions to curb GHGs would not come at the expense of their development trajectories.
Gradually, sound economic growth of the country catapulted India into taking the leadership role, when in the COP-21 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Visionary actions such as these can help bend the rising curve of global warming, provided they are implemented both nationally and globally. The overall objective of ISA, with its current 121 member countries located in the sunbelt — those between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn — is to work tirelessly in making solar energy available at affordable costs to all. This would require scaling up solar energy projects to meet growing energy demands and combat climate change.
The World Bank has released a report, 'Turn Down The Heat', on the likely impact of rising temperatures on agricultural production, water resources, coastal ecosystems, and cities. The report projected future scenarios in a world warmer by 2-degree and 4-degree Celsius.
According to their findings for India, extreme heat events will occur more frequently and cover larger areas than before. Western and Southern India are likely to shift to high climatic regimes, with cities reeling from the 'urban heat island' effect. The Global Climate Risk Indices for the past few years has ranked India as the worst-affected country due to heatwaves.
Secondly, dry years will become drier and wet years will become wetter, making the summer monsoon extremely unpredictable. It will trigger massive losses in agricultural production. Environmental extremes and meteorological events like tropical storms, cyclones, tornadoes, river floods, landslides, wildfires, and droughts are becoming common. Recently, the estimated loss due to damages from cyclones Tauktae (west coast) and Yaas (east coast) is to the tune of $5 billion, including infrastructure, electricity grids, agricultural lands, houses, and losses of precious human lives. Previous years have had other devastating cyclones like Amphan, Titli, and Gija.Drought years have led to massive declines in agriculture production. There are estimates that agricultural yields will start falling by the 2040s.
Thirdly, glaciers in the Himalayan ranges have been retreating. Alterations in glacial caps will affect the downstream population of the Indus, Ganges and the Brahmaputra plains.
These direct implications of global warming-induced meteorological and hydrological changes will have their bearing on the society and economic growth of India. Climate change and poverty are part of a vicious cycle as each entity reinforces the effects of the other. Climate change threatens to disrupt natural resource systems, thereby adversely impacting populations (farmers, fisherfolks, and Adivasi communities) dependent on these ecosystems. The inability of the vulnerable sections to effectively mitigate climate-change-induced impacts makes them worse off.
The prime impact is on agricultural production and food security. The yield of the wheat crop has already peaked in India. Rising water scarcity, sea-water intrusions and rising temperatures will threaten crop yields, jeopardize food security, and make India dependent on food imports. Crop failures and increased infestation of pests and insects are commonplace. It would not be an extrapolation to link farmers' suicides to climate change.
is also reeling under malnutrition and child-stunting. Increasing temperatures will enhance vector-borne diseases such as malaria and diarrheal infections- the prominent causes of child mortality — declining worker productivity, rising cardiovascular diseases, and deaths.
Changes in rainfall patterns and glacial melt will impact water security. Irrigation facilities for crop production along with rising demand from population growth will lead to water shortages. Cities like Chennai have already witnessed this form of insecurity, suffering extreme flooding in 2015, while the year after the city suffered from acute water shortages. Also, water shortages will impact sanitation facilities- an essential prerequisite for the health of a country.
Hydel power plants may undergo an erratic supply of electricity generation due to the reduced flow of rivers. Thermal plants of India that guzzle up freshwater supplies may also face electricity generation issues.
Water-sharing is already a contentious issue in South Asian politics. Water scarcity may further add to the pressure. Declining agricultural productivity and reduced farm incomes may result in heavy migration, either rural-urban or even transboundary. Such large-scale migration of people referred to as climate refugees may generate conflicts.
With the loss of forests and ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs, several ecosystem product provisioning will decline. These include medicinal plants and herbs. Ecosystem services provided by forests and mangroves such as climate moderation, water filtration, and clean air may reduce due to global warming-induced climate change.
The vulnerability of the people in India and South Asian countries is because of lower coping capacities that become further embossed because of low per capita incomes, social inequality, and poverty. A study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) pointed out that South Asia is expected to lose five per cent of its working hours due to heat stress by 2030, corresponding to 43 million full-time jobs.
Non-economic losses refer to those losses which are not commonly traded in the markets but bear high relevance to those affected. These include loss of life and sea-level rise leading to losses in biodiversity and cultural heritage. Thus, there is a need to integrate these non-economic losses into decision-making processes to reduce the losses ex-ante. For these, historical analogs, remembrance and recognition, and oral histories provide valuable insights for UNFCCC's science-policy interface.
The way forward is to first provide the rural population of India with access to fossil-fuel-free clean energy to meet the basic energy demands of cooking, heating, and lighting. Two, eliminate the burning of agricultural waste and instead use the crop residues to produce renewable biomass fuels for energy and compost feedstock for healthy soils. Three, phasing out of diesel fuels by 2030 would prove to be effective in declining carbon dioxide emissions.
Four, need to accelerate soil's natural ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide from the air through better land management. It would not only remove carbon dioxide from the air but also enhance soil quality and increase the yields of crops like rice and wheat. Five, a massive climate education program to educate high school and college students and foster indigenous knowledge on climate change. Six, a gender audit is needed of both micro- and macro-planning and program implementation, providing a platform for women farmers, community workers, students, and youth working on environmental issues. There is an equal need to strengthen climate and gender equality agendas by encouraging the participation of Adivasi and Dalit women and feminist experts in climate change.
(The writer is a Simi Mehta is CEO and Editorial Director, Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI) andRia Mohal is a researcher atthe Institute.The views expressed are personal.
As UP and other elections approach, India must stop looking at people through the prism of religion
We have been sensitised in our schools not to differentiate in terms of gender, caste, color, or religion. Given to read books that have moral lessons and humanitarian concerns of compassion and tolerance. It may not have embedded as deeply as it should, it does leave an imprint. When we grow up, we wash it up. Why else we turn into hate mongers, suspecting, even vengeful grown-up individuals. Then there is Ajeera. An Indian no one knows about. As it happened, she needed a job as domestic help tried her luck in a Hindu family. She was refused. She wore a Muslim identity. Burqa. Then seven years later, she turned up again. This time more practical. Throwing nothing to smack of her Muslim identity. “Namaste, looking for work.” The work and payment details were done and dusted. Then something came over her, she added: “By the way, I am a Muslim.” Not important if she got the job. Now, really? Does it matter? Did it ever matter? It is happening in our cultural cauldron. India. Where people came made it home and assimilated. They lived together, shared laughter and their sorrows. Of course, sometimes they fought and then forgot. Nevertheless, not like now. The schism is visible. Split is wide open. How did it all come about? Didn’t we see it coming? We will never know.
No one knows when religion a personal expression for one's search for self turned into a political plot. One could ask maybe Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro or our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why even blame anyone else. We agreed. Yielded. Unthinking. We nodded in agreement everything doled out to us; started suspecting our neighbor who we knew from childhood. Aren’t we all responsible for Ajeera’s innocent second utterance? Are we not pushing ourselves towards dispensation we despise most ISIS, Taliban, Burmese Tatmadaw, and what have you. There is a world beyond article 370, Ram Temple, love jihad, and many other divisive issues. Would we ever go beyond them? Building a home for God who left his kingdom is a good idea. But then Ram returns to Ayodhya — Ayudh(ya) — a place where there is no conflict. In that, state Ram resides. As Rumi reminds “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there..”. And then, there is Ajeera...
In a cleft stick, the Punjab Congress needs to bring its house in order before the Assembly elections
The forthcoming Assembly election in Punjab is for the Congress to lose. The party’s campaign for the election, scheduled for February-March 2022, is caught between the tale of two Sidhus from Patiala and their mutual political animosity. The Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, is a Sidhu though he does not use the surname which he shares with his bete noire, Navjot Singh Sidhu. Both are Jat Sikhs and hail from the same city of Patiala. The similarities end there as the Congress high command has realised, trying to ensure that their differences will not affect the party’s electoral prospects. On paper, the Congress faces little opposition from other political parties. The Akalis have never recovered from the drubbing they got in 2017. The 2015 incident of the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib weighs heavily on them. They have no defence against it and cannot wriggle out of what the Sikhs consider the ultimate sin. They have signed a pact with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the elections, but that has not made their supporters confident. The Aam Aadmi Party rests on its 2017 laurels, trying to become an influencer this time. The Bharatiya Janata Party faces the ire of the farming community in Punjab over the new farm laws. However, these parties are waiting for theCongress infighting to implode, to pick up the best pieces before the elections. Nothing is going the Congress way at present. The Captain, known for his authoritarian rule, dependence on the bureaucracy, and the habit of being aloof from party workers and legislators, is not too popular in the State Congress unit.
He prefers war over diplomacy in dealing with his rivals, whether Sidhu, Pratap Bajwa, Ravneet Bittu and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Each has his pocket of influence in the State and the party and sees himself as a potential Chief Minister. The Captain faces, apart from the usual anti-incumbency, charges of nepotism and worse, a soft corner for the Akali patriarchs, the Badals. That is precisely why Navjot Sidhu raises the 2015 desecration affair, obliquely hitting out at the Captain for not being serious about pursuing the perpetrators. The party high command appears to have no love lost for him even though it is also miffed with Sidhu’s frequent outbursts. The dilemma before it is whether to face the elections under Amarinder Singh, in which case it will have to pacify the rival pack of leaders. It has sent an encouraging signal to the rivals by replacing Captain’s sympathiser Asha Kumari with Harish Rawat as the AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab. The Captain, who returned to Chandigarh without meeting the leadership in Delhi, is yet to get a positive signal. The worst fear of the high command is the State unit breaking up beyond repair as elections approach. The worst move the high command can make is being openly partisan to any one side and further inflame matters.
On the anniversary of the only state of Emergency that India has seen, here’s a look back at the dark days and those preceding it
Certain maxims like “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Spanish philosopher George Santayana) or “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (British statesman Winston Churchill) get more and more powerful and relevant as the years go by.
The notes of caution issued by Santayana and Churchill come to mind on every June 25, the day in 1975, when Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, declared internal Emergency and arrested all those who questioned her authority to continue in office despite the Allahabad High Court declaring her 1971 election to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli null and void for using fraudulent means.
According to Shanti Bhushan, the lawyer who appeared for Raj Narain Singh, the challenger to Indira Gandhi in the 1971 election, the charges against her included using Indian Air Force planes during the campaign, employing the services of Yashpal Kapur, her private secretary, as her election agent even as he was in the Government of India service and using the symbol of cow and calf, which was deeply associated with the religious sentiments of Hindus.
Bhushan has given a vivid account of the election suit and its trial in his memoirs, “Courting Destiny”. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, who delivered the verdict on June 12, 1975, set aside Indira’s election and disqualified her for six years from contesting elections. But the stay granted to her by Sinha turned out to be the spoilsport, says Bhushan. “If I had been in Allahabad, I would have opposed the prayer for a stay and perhaps it would have been declined and the political history of India might have been different,” Bhushan writes in his memoir.
It was to facilitate her continuation in office that Indira declared the Internal Emergency. She was persuaded to do so by the members of her “kitchen cabinet” that included Congressmen and the CPI under the garb of pseudo intellectuals. Having lived through that period, one can easily say that Indira, who had a landslide win in the 1971 election, had squandered the public goodwill through acts of corruption and favouritism.
Discontentment was brewing among people. They had understood their folly behind slogans like “Garibi Hatao”. The voters across the country wanted quality rice, wheat, pulses and employment that would help them realise their dreams. Our politicians propagated the wrong brand of socialism, wrote eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala in an article (Socialism: Its kernel and its shell) way back in 1972. “Socialism means different things to different people, and to some people it means no more and no less than Cabinet rank,” wrote Palkhivala.
Public resentment was at its peak against Indira and her cartel of select politicians who never had any mooring among the electorate. Slogans like “Indira is India and India is Indira” coined by the then AICC president Dev Kant Barooah reverberated across the country, thanks to serviles in Akaashwani and the obliging media. Civil rights were suspended and the judiciary was turned into a scarecrow. The worst kind of press censorship was introduced. The All India Radio (Akaashvaani) became Indirawani or All Indira Radio.
The CPI, which bemoans that democracy is in danger in India, was hand in glove with Indira to suppress and oppress dissidence of any kind. C Achutha Menon, party leader, was the Kerala Chief Minister with Congress support. What we witness now is a replay of the days of Emergency. Court jesters and sycophants would never take India to the position of a developed country. International honours accorded to top political leadership are nothing other than a ploy to retard the country’s progress. The same “well-wishers” finance all disruptive forces to foment riots and chaos across the country.
The problem with Indira was her fear for people around her whom she feared of toppling her from power. Leaders like K Kamaraj, Morarji Desai, Chandrashekhar, Sidharth Shankar Ray, Jagjivan Ram, Lalit Narayan Misra and Biju Patnaik were all competent.
We had Jayaprakash Narayan, whom people addressed as Lok Nayak at the time, to rekindle the passion for democracy and honesty in our hearts. But as we approach the golden jubilee of Internal Emergency, what we see in the national political arena is a replay of what was witnessed in the early 1970s. There is not a single leader who can inspire the youth. Politics has become a big-time business with State chieftains of national parties getting caught with their veshtis down! Not merit or competence, but the ability to sing paeans in honour of the supremo matters.
When Indira was defeated in 1977, a widely respected politician (we had a few of them then) was heard telling “Indira is not even Rae Bareli”. The lady failed to learn her lesson even after the bitter experiences of Emergency. A leader starts fearing her/his colleagues when s/he loses self-confidence. Need any proof?
(The writer is a senior journalist working as a Special Correspondent with The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal.)
New Delhi, June 24 (IANS) As climate concerns take centre stage globally amid the pandemic, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) has assured to take steps towards creating awareness and adoption of green buildings across the country, saying that India can be a global leader in this respect by next year. India is currently placed third after China and Canada in terms of green buildings.
During a webinar on 'India's Leadership Role in Advancing Green Buildings', which was jointly organised by NAREDCO, CII and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), the apex bodies noted that the developers are firm believers of sustainable development. The sector stakeholders were of the view that although the cost of green buildings is marginally higher, it is in greater good to go green.
Addressing the webinar, Surendra Kumar Bagde, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said that a campaign should be launched to spread awareness about the marginal cost difference between green and conventional buildings and the former's benefits.
He also said that all the required laws and regulations are in place to help the developers construct green buildings. The official, however, noted that it needs to be seen whether cities in specific are adopting the norms to support the growth of green buildings.
Chairman of NAREDCO, Rajeev Talwar, stressed on having more greenery in the cities. "Now city forests are parts of life and that's where the government can step in. In many urban agglomerations it may not be possible, but the more vertical we go, the greater the chance that we can go green," he said.
Gurmit Singh Arora, Vice Chairman, IGBC, noted that India has been a global leader in the green buildings movement over the last two decades, with over 7.83 billion square feet of green footprint.
"The contribution of all the stakeholders, including the government, developers and builders, in the green journey has been phenomenal," he added.
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