As sultanate Oman has chosen for the path of peace, I would love to introduce it as the highest form of intellectual stimulation and to involve in discussions in a unique debate for the world problems. To make it happening, that the Arabic world was never used to. A conference where ideas are being respected, after all as we all know, the Oman and his Majesty Sultan Qaboos proved itself in the new dimension of civilization as well as in science, commercial values and the culture of the Humanistic -tradition.

The choice of Sultanate Oman will be offering the international oriental platform with the highest intellectual qualities. As we all know that the Arabic world as well as the western world is struggling with conflicts and how we will repeat the past with glory and not the mistakes (wars) of the past.Cases that do matter for both societies: Tolerance is required, a debate is required. In my point of view there is nothing called politics, there is something called economics. A mission has to be accomplished world wide.

In my opinion this must be the highest educational cultural intellectual moral awareness to teach the new generations how to deal with differentiation into societies in a peaceful matter. We want discussions to happen Boundaries to be set away. The Answer is taken with both cultural backgrounds the debate will bring people together. The new generations have to deal with the highest technical inventions that can bring the world together. Art, artists, philosophers, politicians, scientists and many distinguished guests of all religious parties will take place in Sultanate Oman to discuss future of the Middle east being affected by the West Vice Versa.

We shall discuss on an intellectual site in a humble and luxurious procedure with possibilities to open eyes and make the awareness happen. Dialogue will take place. People will be heard. Performances will happen with investments groups with projects that can put Sultanate Oman on the map of peace. Royalties do have a mission; they are decision makers for the best of their knowledge. every one of us must be guided. I think that Oman with the position in the Gulf region has been in this moment very crucial. It is having an excellent position to hold a masterpiece with a unique opportunity to deal with the topics.

Awareness has to be spread. We need international speakers that think and can inspire for finding solutions for a peaceful platform. Universities cannot do it alone; we need to give tools to our children, in cooperation with the government of Sultanate Oman. Poets will be heard, every Arab must be proud as H.M. Sultan Qaboos, the king of Oman just received the unique award of peacemaker man of the year. Let us make gardens and spread our borders, Let us hide from provoking wars. The great Arab culture and philosophy will lead to peace. With courage of knowledge we shall speak about all urgent questions. Let us talk of the nobility of the spirit of the new dimension of civilization. Let us make peace and build better tomorrow for the next generation.

(Dr Mohiba Khalil: The writer is an international peace ambassador and regular contributor to Opinion Express)

I remembered the first stanza of Rabindranath Tagore’s seminal poem Prasna (Question), written towards the end of his life, as I began writing this column. It reads in literal English translation: “God, you have sent messengers from age to age/To this compassionless world/ — They have said ‘forgive all’, said love/ — Destroy the poison of hatred from your hearts/they have been people to be respectfully welcomed and remembered, yet in these unfortunate days/we have turned them away from our outer door with futile salutation.”

Was Gandhi a messenger of God? Does Tagore’s lament apply to his case? He was certainly not a messenger if the word is taken to mean reincarnation; he himself had strongly denounced attempts at deifying him. He was, however, certainly so if the word is interpreted in the wider sense of being someone of towering stature spreading God’s message and applying it in practice. Deeply religious, Gandhi tirelessly strove to apply to both personal and public life the values of truth, compassion and non-violence enshrined in all religions.

His belief in truth had clearly prompted him to lay bare his weaknesses and inadequacies in My Experiments with Truth. His abiding faith in non-violence had led him to withdraw the non-cooperation movement, then at a high tide, after a mob had burnt alive 22 policemen in the local police station at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district on February 4, 1922, thereby courting intense unpopularity in some quarters. The savage communal violence in Noakhali, in which thousands of men were killed, women mass raped and property was systematically damaged on a large scale, shook him to his core. While there might have been other considerations such as continuing to wage his losing war against a partition of India, “it was”, in the words of Harijan, “the cry of outraged womanhood that had peremptorily called him to Noakhali.” The horrible atrocities perpetrated on women en masse had devastated the Mahatma emotionally and deeply violated his sense of morality.

Arriving in Noakhali in November 1946, Gandhi stayed on till March 1947, in the teeth of increasingly shrill attacks, verbally and in print, by communal groups associated with the Muslim League. The uneasy peace that had descended with his arrival continued even after his departure but many parts of the rest of India and Bengal continued to be wracked by periodic violence and India was partitioned. Towards the end of his life, he was increasingly haunted by a sense of failure. Nirmal Kumar Bose, pioneering anthropologist and a close associate of the Mahatma, has quoted him as saying, “My own doctrine was failing. I don’t want to die a failure….”

Some would consider him to have been a failure by looking at the outcome of what he tried to achieve. He could not stop Partition. Non-violence as a method, which played a major role in mobilising the masses for participation in the freedom struggle, has been swamped by an increasing resort to violent methods that began even before the communal riots had started with the Great Calcutta Killing (August 16-20, 1946). It now receives only lip service. The same goes for the values of truth, which few now seem to consider an end in itself, and compassion which, though not absent, moves a decreasing number of people.

From a historical perspective, however, it would be unrealistic to expect a massive transformation of Indian polity and society, and the lives of Indians, along the radically different lines prescribed by Gandhi, in the little over a century since his return to India. More than 2,000 years after the crucifixion, one finds that the ethical principles and conduct that Christ stood for are observed more in the breach in Christian countries.

Gandhi has provided a moral compass and a non-violent political trajectory to the world. The indication of the measure of his success would lie in the extent to — and the pace at which — people and nations adopt both. There have been significant developments. The values of truth and non-violence that Gandhi stood for, and the method of non-violent satyagraha that he applied in India’s freedom struggle, had deeply influenced Martin Luther King. His influence on Nelson Mandela is clear from the latter’s statement, made on being awarded the Nobel prize for peace in 1994, that he owed his success to Gandhi. One saw methods of protest, approximating his, in action in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989, in several cities, including Cairo, during the Arab Spring which began in 2010, arousing great hopes that ended in disillusionment, and several other places.

Yet, a very great deal of ground remains to be covered. What is needed is an increasingly powerful global mass movement propagating his ideals and implementing them through praxis. The first pre-requisite for its emergence would be keeping his ideals alive through political action, meetings, discussions, talks and writings. All of these continue, albeit primarily within academic precincts. There is also a growing corpus of Gandhiana containing volumes that are scholarly, readable and informative.

Particularly needed in the context of a mass movement, however, are books that bring Gandhi to life through photographs and readable prose.  One that does this admirably is the historian Aparna Basu’s Gandhi’s Vision: Freedom and Beyond (2019), published by Niyogi Books. It covers the entire span of Gandhi’s activities from his life and movements in South Africa to his defining role in India’s freedom struggle and efforts to end communal violence and prevent the Partition of India. It puts his arrival and work in India in perspective by placing both in the background of the social, political, cultural and economic developments, and the reform movements that transformed India in the 19th century. It also dwells on the political movements that, gathering momentum from late 19th century and, involving direct action and the participation of a large section of the middle class during the movement against the Partition of Bengal in 1905, had laid the foundations of a national struggle that Gandhi transformed into a mass movement across the country.

The distinguishing feature of the publication, which combines scholarly knowledge with accessible prose, is the large number of photographs it carries, covering the entire range of Gandhi’s activities. This gives it the character of a pictorial biography which vividly recalls a time of great stirrings and upheavals and the man with the stick and steel-frame glasses who played a defining role in it.

(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)

Writer: Hiranmay Karlekar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

As India celebrated its Republic Day, one’s mind goes to the Constitution and the wonderful promises it made. The most poetic of them all is liberty, equality and fraternity, a vow taken from the central slogan of the French Revolution that began in 1789. The three words incidentally contain a harmless contradiction; namely, that liberty and equality cannot go together. If a society wants to have equality, it has to willy-nilly curb liberty. If say, the income of all its citizens is desired to be equal or equable, inevitably, the Government must place control on higher incomes. And, perhaps, also add subsidy to the lowest incomes. An extreme of this social desire was tried by the communist states led by the Soviet Union.

The contradiction between liberty and equality has best been illustrated by the Hindu faith in karma. How can any society place control over good or better karma? And if a person’s karma is excellent, his bhagya or luck is also likely to be commensurate. How can the society or its Government curb it in order to ensure equality among the citizens? If a person with poor karma performance is expected to have poor luck, he could be subsidised or even fed and clothed for free. But what about the other facets of good luck rewards? Then there is also the risk of the Government running out of money if too many of its citizens are unlucky, poor and need subsidies.

Article 15(1) states: “The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.” This Article is commendable in insisting that there would be no discrimination on any ground. In other words, it means absolute equal treatment by the state. Yet, Article 30 promises minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions. “(i) All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This stands in contradiction of Article 15. It gives this right and freedom to the minorities, which are not allowed to be members of the majority community, namely the Hindus. Minorities comprise mainly Muslims. Christian schools are in such demand that they normally face no problem, nor do the linguistic minorities encounter any difficulties. Article 30 (1A) gives the minorities the privilege of being assured the allocation of land that is affordable by the proposed school or its society.

A more fundamental question arises out of this inequality. That was raised by Acharya Justice Dr Durga Das Basu, who rightly contended that a minority, which deserves such special privilege or protection, is one which became one (a minority) by circumstances beyond its influence or control like a war between two or more countries. In the case of Muslims of the sub-continent, it is they who demanded a separate homeland, a Darul Islam or a New Medina called Pakistan. And it had to be granted by the departing British rulers and conceded to by the Congress because the Muslim electorate in the 1945/46 general elections overwhelmingly voted for Pakistan. To quote from Hamid Khan’s authoritative book,  Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan: “The results showed a decisive victory for the idea of Pakistan. The League won all Muslim seats in the Central Assembly and 446 out of a total 495 Muslim seats in provincial Assemblies. In Bengal, the Muslim League won 113 out of a total 119 Muslim seats and was able to form a Government with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy as Chief Minister. In the Punjab, the Muslim League captured 79 out of 86 Muslim seats. In Sindh, a Muslim League Ministry was formed. Only in the North-West Frontier Province did the League fall short of a majority by winning only 17 out of a total of 36 Muslim seats. These elections proved conclusively that the Muslim League alone represented the Muslims of India.”

Partition was the single-point manifesto of the Muslim League, which obtained nearly unanimous support in the elections. The League’s proposal, repeated by MA Jinnah and seven of his senior colleagues, was that there should be an exchange of population. Thereby, ideally, all Muslims should gather in Pakistan and all non-Muslims would emigrate to Hindustan. Justice Gopal Das Khosla, ICS, was commissioned to survey the Punjab and report on the immediate post-Partition situation. The report was printed in an Oxford University Press published book entitled Stern Reckoning: A Survey of the Events Leading Up to and Following the Partition of India. Therein, the Justice wrote that an exchange of population was an integral part of Partition. After all, the vivisection of the country was necessary because as Jinnah said that Hindus and Muslims could not co-exist in the same country. If they were able to co-exist, where would be the need for the division?

Article 27 states, “Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion. No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.” The writer petitioned the Supreme Court in 2007, requesting that the Haj subsidy  be withdrawn as the Constitution declares that India is a secular country. If, however, the Government was not prepared to do so, he should be exempted from the payment of Income Tax. The subsidy was paid from the consolidated fund of India as the Income Tax was credited to the same fund. Four years later, Justice Markandey Katju delivered a long judgement. Its gist was that the Haj subsidy was like an expenditure made by the Government as incidental to maintaining law and order at the Kumbh Mela or on making arrangements for a visit to Mansarovar. To reduce or abolish the Haj subsidy would damage the edifice of secularism that Jawaharlal Nehru had so painstakingly built.

The following year, namely 2008, Justice Aftab Alam decided, in a petition filed by one Syed Intesar Mehdi, that the Haj subsidy should be progressively reduced and discontinued in the course of 10 years. The subsidy was not in conformity with the tenets of Islam, the judgement said. Incidentally, the late Syed Shahabuddin, IFS and a former MP, had told this writer twice that this subsidy should be gradually withdrawn. So much for the implementation of our secular Constitution.

In conclusion this writer would like to quote Acharya Basu from his book, Introduction to the Constitution of India, 2002, that makes a telling point: “The leaders of divided India incorporated in their draft Constitution, certain safeguards for minorities, notwithstanding the Partition, because they refused to concede on the principle that the Muslims in India constituted a separate nation. That India constituted one nation, whose unity and integrity must be maintained, was proclaimed in the very Preamble of the draft Constitution of divided India. The Muslims, who did not go to Pakistan, did so with their eyes open to this Preamble and the safeguards for minorities included in the Constitution.”

(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author)

Writer: Prafull Goradia

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Delivering a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 ‘Message of Compatriots in Taiwan’ on January 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “A Taiwan independent from mainland China is not an option and no person or party can stop the trend towards unification.” Xi also reportedly said that China would not renounce the idea of using force to re-unify Taiwan with China. He further said, “Independence would only bring profound disaster for Taiwan” and assured the island a bright future under a “one-country, two-system framework.”

In an equally strong reply to President Xi’s speech, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen argued that her Government does not accept the “1992 Consensus,” and emphasised that a vast majority of Taiwanese stand resolutely opposed to “one country, two systems.” She further said that the development of cross-strait relations must be based on “the four musts”: China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and not deny the democratic system that the people of Taiwan have established together; China must respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy and not foster divisions and offer inducements to interfere with the choices made by the people of Taiwan; China must handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on the basis of equality, instead of using suppression and intimidation to get Taiwanese to submit; and it must be the Government or Government-authorised agencies that should engage in the negotiations. Any political consultation that is not authorised or monitored by the people cannot be called “democratic consultation.” This is Taiwan’s position, a democratic one.

Of course, the tension between Taiwan and China is not new. In fact, the genesis of the conflict between them goes back to 1949, when losing the mainland China to the Mao-led Communist Party of China, Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to Taiwan, establishing Taipei as the capital of the Republic of China Government. Subsequently, China and Taiwan claimed to represent all of China.

The ouster of Taiwan from the membership of the United Nation General Assembly and its Security Council as well as the US’ decision to recognise China as a country, ending its diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1979, boosted China’s position against Taiwan. At the same time, the Chinese leadership focussed on using the 1992 Consensus between representatives of the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang (KMT) party of Taiwan as the strongest tool to claim Taiwan as a part of China.

However, since President Tsai came to power in 2016, she made one thing very clear that her Government does not recognise the 1992 Consensus. At the same time, Tsai’s New Southbound policy to strengthen Taiwan’s ties with Southeast Asian countries and build a strong relationship with South Asian countries, including India, and other developments caused heartburn in the Chinese leadership. As if these developments were not enough for China to initiate punitive actions against Taiwan, US President Donald J Trump’s special focus on elevating ties with Taiwan accentuated the rift between China-Taiwan relations. This is evident from the fact that after being elected as President, Trump received a telephone call from Tsai Ing-wen and also initially questioned the ‘One China Policy.’ Trump signed into law the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the 2018-19, which mentions strengthening defence partnership between the US and Taiwan as continuing US legal commitments.

The NDAA also stated that the US should invite Taiwan to participate in military exercises and consider re-establishing port-of-call exchanges between the navies of the two sides. Trump signing the Taiwan Travel Act cleared the way for the visit of high-ranking officials to Taiwan. A new de facto US Embassy was inaugurated in Taipei, among other things. In December 2018, the US President signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which reiterates American commitment “to counter efforts to change status quo and support peaceful resolution acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

In turn, while China has been extensively using its economic power to force several countries — Nigeria, Panama and others — to de-recognise Taiwan as an independent country, it also opened a new air route over the narrow Taiwan Strait separating China and Taiwan and has been carrying out military details in the vicinity. China put pressure on the International Civil Aviation Organisation to not initiate Taiwan as a guest of the Icao Assembly in September 2016. Beijing wrote letters, asking dozens of international airlines to change the way they refer to Taiwan on their websites and threatened to disrupt their operations in China if they did not comply.

Amid China’s offensive strategy against Taiwan, the defeat of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the local elections of Taiwan encouraged Beijing because the Chinese leadership saw the DPP’s electoral loss as the rejection of the Tsai Government’s efforts to make Taiwan an independent country. At the same time, the victory of the KMT in the elections was a welcome development, given its pro-China stand. In fact, Chinese state-run media depicted the election reversals as a vindication of Xi’s measures to isolate Taiwan and undercut its international standing.

But the fact remains that the defeat of the DPP in the local elections must not be seen as an indication of the change in the thinking of the people of Taiwan as far as the country’s independence and sovereignty are concerned. The reality is that in a poll, 75 of the Taiwanese respondents saw China and Taiwan as two different states. Viewing mainland China as a perverted form of Chinese culture, Taiwanese also consider their culture and tradition as pure Chinese and feel proud of their democratic institutions, freedom of Press and other liberal values. They do not want to give up these hard-earned markers.

To argue that the DPP’s loss in the elections resulted from the Tsai Government’s assertive policy towards China would be misplaced. In fact, a number of domestic issues, including her Government’s labour and pension policy, Tsai’s poor leadership, lack of strong strategy, her Government’s performance on marriage and economic policy among others were responsible for the DPP’s loss in the elections. On the other hand, the KMT planned an effective election strategy to defeat the DPP.

While saying that the use of military power cannot be ruled out to bring Taiwan under the control of China, the Chinese President completely overlooked the fact that today, Taiwan enjoys strong ties, although unofficial, with a number of countries, including all the other major powers of the world. It is also a fact that countries across the globe have recognised Taiwan as a champion of democratic institutions. At the same time, it is also a core interest of the US to see Taiwan flourish as a promising democratic and independent country. Given the fact that the people of Taiwan are aware of China’s dubious stand on ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong and Tibet, Xi could not win over Taiwanese with these tactics.

Thus, it is imperative for the Chinese leadership to recognise the direction of the wind as far as the China-Taiwan issue is concerned. Any provocative statement will only make the people of Taiwan more resilient against China. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of the global community to see that Taiwan must remain a strong democratic country. It is only through peace talks that the two sides can end conflict, leading to strengthening peace, security and development in the Taiwan strait and the region.

(The writer is Visiting Fellow, National Chengchi University, Taipei, and Research Fellow, Maulana Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata)

Writer: Sumit Kumar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Media is the sword arm of democracy and is also considered as  the reflection of our society. It depicts how the circle works. This is the reason why it is often said that media has today become the voice of our society.

The extensive impact of media can easily be seen these days in the front page of news papers or during primetime debates on major news channels. The subject matter of most of these debates are mostly the interaction of eminent persons among themselves or with the people. These important figures may be the present heads of various countries or elected representatives, or they may be well-known because of their participation in some past movements or present one’s. But, a special feature of our times is that the rise of a particular person to eminence is due, in no small measure, to the publicity he receives in the media in his own country and or abroad.

Its obvious when so many media persons interview and publicise certain people, they tend to take the centrestage  and gain stature or have a steep fall in public eye. More important than this, however, is the fact that in their search for dominant persons and news, media ends up giving more importance to the people who are not that prominent. In doing this, the media becomes not merely instruments for diffusion of information but also the creators of history.

The image or personality of a public leader is, thus, the joint effort of the individual concerned and of all those who interact with him. But, in this whole process, the role of the media is of great consequence. When media men give sharp profiles of and endow a person with greatness — political, religious or economic — they influence the formation of individual personalities. In this sense, the emergence and prominence of public figures is due to a considerable extent, to the mass media.

The media thus participates actively in the formation of the eminent personalities. No doubt that it plays a major role in forming a positive as well as a negative image of an individual. By reporting about a person in their columns or putting one on big T.V. screens, media intensifies a person’s sense of personality. His personality traits which were nebulous before now become concretised or crytallised in a particular form. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the media persons to be careful and selective in reacting positively or negatively in profiling persons. It has a great responsibility being the fourth pillar of democracy along with judiciary, executive and legislature. Media of today has an all embracing role to act against the injustice, oppression, misdeeds and partiality of our society.

The recent events in few states of India as well as in countries like UK and US were to a great extent, a creation of the media reports and the media comments. Hence, if the media persons look upon their work as of great responsibility, they would do better service to mankind as shaping the public opinion is one of the most crucial function of media.

Writer: Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Fertility rates have fallen, but the inability of men of effectively manage and have a proper family planning continues. It is a deep rooted social, economic, and gender inequality issue that makes the issue difficult to resolve.

In September 1994, India was among the 179 countries that signed the first international agreement recognising the right to sexual and reproductive health at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. This meant that India agreed that couples and individuals had the right to decide whether, when or how many children they wanted to have. With 2019 being the 25th anniversary of the historic ICPD Programme of Action, how far has this right been realised in India? How many women are empowered to make their own choice and be in control of their bodies? More specifically, since the burden of planning families is on women, have they been able to exercise their reproductive rights? Has there been an enabling environment to facilitate women’s autonomy in reproductive decisions?

Many of the answers to these questions lie in the Government’s population policies and its skewed implementation. One of the biggest barriers to realising reproductive rights has been the inherent gender discrimination embedded in its approach to family planning. The push for female sterilisation by Government family planning programmes has undermined women’s autonomy. There has not been any major shift in the Government thinking although terminologies have changed. Even though it is claimed that the population policy is no longer target-oriented and offers contraceptive choices, female sterilisation remains high and the most popular form of contraception. The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3) had found that 77 per cent of women had not used any other method of contraception before accepting sterilisation. Not much has changed since then.

Ninety three per cent of the total 14,73,418 sterilisation procedures between 2017-18 were conducted on women, according to a June 2018 report by the Government’s National Health Mission. Only 6.8 per cent were performed on men. In fact, there has been a decline in male sterilisation from an already low 1.0 per cent in 2005-06 (NFHS 3) to 0.3 per cent in 2015-16 (NFHS 4). It is not surprising that the percentage of male sterilisation (0.3) in urban and rural areas is exactly the same.

Further, drop in the prevalence of contraception, from 56.3 per cent in 2005-06 to 53.5 per cent in 2014-15 (NFHS 4), means the onus of ‘controlling fertility’ has continued to remain on women. That men are disinclined to take responsibility has been corroborated by NFHS 4 which clearly states that “female sterilisation remains the most popular modern contraceptive method”, even though compensation in high focus States is higher for vasectomy (Rs 2,000) than for tubectomy (sterilisation for women), which is Rs 1,400.

While much of the female sterilisations stem from entrenched patriarchal beliefs that males would lose their virility and masculinity if they opted for vasectomy, women’s lack of sexual and reproductive health knowledge about appropriate and available contraceptive methods and, their limited access to services has increased their vulnerability. Women have been given little or no information and counselling on contraception and that has prevented them from knowing its benefits and side effects. This could be why one of three women had not given informed consent before undergoing sterilisation, according to a Population Research Institute study.

For many women, this ignorance has had fatal consequences. In the last five years, approximately 1,000 women have died following sterilisation procedures. Government sterilisation camps were banned in 2016 by the Supreme Court following the death of 363 women during or after sterilisation conducted in such camps between 2010 and 2013.

In Andhra Pradesh, the fall out of the focus on female sterilisations as a means of family planning and fertility control has been the onset of early menopause. The State has the highest proportion of women aged 30-49 who are in menopause in the country at 31.4 per cent. Bihar comes second with 27.1 per cent. This high menopause in Andhra Pradesh is due to the numerous hysterectomies (surgical removal of uterus) conducted with the simultaneous removal of the ovaries. Removal of ovaries is the biological equivalent of castration and results in the immediate and sudden onset of menopause, in contrast to natural menopause which is a gradual process.

Hysterectomies have been driven by sterilisations for a long time in Andhra Pradesh, the fifth most populous State in India. Female sterilisation accounts for 98 percent of contraceptive method use according to NFHS 4. It’s a vicious circle — sterilisations conducted under unhygienic conditions have led to medical conditions prompting many women to opt for hysterectomies to end its debilitating after effects. Eighty-two per cent of the women who opted for hysterectomies had undergone a family planning operation prior to it, found a 2009 study by an autonomous institution in the State.

India had committed to enabling its people to make informed sexual and reproductive health choices as a matter of their fundamental human rights at the 1994 ICPD. But it hasn’t been able to fulfill its promise entirely. Although fertility rates have fallen, it is varied. Even now, inability to engage men effectively in family planning and, deep-rooted economic, social and gender inequality continue to deny women the power of choice. As the United Nations Population Fund 2018 State of the World Population report points out, fertility transitions can be sustained only when reproductive health services are universally accessible and women are empowered to take decisions. Only then will women be able to avert unplanned pregnancies, unwanted fertility and unnecessary abortions and, be free of ‘coercive’ sterilisations.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

Writer: Swapna Majumdar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Few acts on Electoral Reforms have raised as an intense debate in recent years. The focus of the debate has, however, been diverted away from the core issue of electoral reform.  As political will and consensus is important, the process must begin soon.

The 133-year-old Congress during its heydays would have shuddered to think of a day when it would have to resort to crowdfunding to augment its finances. The cash-rich party, which had been in power for over 50 of the 70 years since Independence, is facing an unprecedented fund crunch due to various reasons. It has reached the bottom now with the party launching a 40-day booth committee fund raising programme from October 2. The Congress leadership appealed for funds in a tweet, “The Congress needs your support and help. Help us restore the democracy which India has proudly embraced since 70 years by making a small contribution”. Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor even tweeted that there should be no embarrassment in accepting the facts.

With elections due in three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled States — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — and 2019 Lok Sabha poll, there is an urgent need for the party to mobilise its resources. Facing a string of defeats in State after State since 2014, the Congress coffers are almost empty. Corporate funding too have dried up perhaps because the Congress is not perceived to be poised for a return. Gone are the strong State leaders who would collect funds in States.

The Congress has been tightening its belt for some time. According to the party constitution, the members are supposed to donate 10 percent of their earnings and the party has now asked them to step up their donations. The other easy route is to cut down expenses. With the party ruling barely in four or five States, the Congress has even stopped sending money to the State units for day-to-day expenses. Budget has also been cut by almost half for meetings and also on celebrations.

In olden days, many political parties used to collect smaller donations (chanda). Over the years, this system has disappeared with parties resorting to make money through deals if it is in power, or through corporate donations. They meet the poll expenses from donations, party membership fee and interest earned on fixed deposits, and other savings. However, with campaign expenses touching astronomical figures with huge election rallies, chartered flights, media advertisements and other expenses, opposition parties have been unable to meet the cost.

The following figures might give a clue. According to the Association for Democratic reforms (ADR), during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, national parties spent Rs 858.97 crore on publicity, Rs 311.8 crore on travels, Rs 104.28 crore on other expenses and Rs 311.47 crore on expenditure towards candidates. It was shocking that almost 69 per cent of the income for these parties had come from unknown sources.

Related to that is inequalities in election expenditure. The ADR notes that the total funds collected by all national parties in 2014 Lok Sabha poll was Rs 1,158 crore, up from Rs 854.89 in 2009 polls. The BJP collected Rs 5.88 billion while the Congress received Rs 3.50 billion followed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with Rs 77.85 crore and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with Rs 77.26 crore. The income of the BJP increased by 81.18 per cent to Rs 1,034.27 crore while that of the Congress decreased by 14 per cent to Rs 225.36 crore between 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Congress is still the second richest party but far behind the BJP. The Government had announced an electoral bond scheme in 2017 but this was not enough and much more needs to be done.

The Election Commission has a long list of suggestions, including decriminalisation of politics, reforms of political parties, auditing of accounts of parties, checking black money in polls, making ‘paid news’ an electoral offence, and punishment for false affidavit by candidates and capping of anonymous donations to 20 per cent.

Several panels have recommended poll reforms, including Goswami Committee (1990), Vohra Committee (1993), Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998), Law Commission Report on Reform of the Electoral Laws (1999), Election Commission’s Proposed Electoral Reforms (2004) and Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008). One suggestion was state funding but there was no consensus on this.

It is time to push through these long pending big-bang electoral reforms to cleanse politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been talking of ‘one nation one poll.’ This could be the beginning but other issues like criminalisation of politics, use of money and muscle power, transparency in election funding, auditing of accounts of political parties, and their regulation also need to be tackled.

Even the Supreme Court in a recent judgement has left it to Parliament to check criminalisation of politics. Last year, the Court had also ruled that seeking votes in the name of religion, race, caste community, or language of a candidate would amount to corrupt practice. No doubt these cannot be done in a day but it has to start some time or the other, the sooner the better. What is needed more is political will and consensus for reforms.

(The writer is a senior political commentator and syndicated columnist)

Writer: Kalyani Shankar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The Government is taking many citizen-centric initiatives and shedding its erstwhile obsolete governance centred around lower-level bureaucrats.

My father is a retired professor in his mid 80s and one of his biggest challenges is the annual ritual of proving to the State Bank of India that he is alive so that the bank disburses his pension. This is true of lakhs of pensioners across the country. Often, one comes across elderly lining up in public sector banks to assert their existence. Not only in banks, go to any Government office dealing with pension, it’s not difficult to find a number of hapless elderly people struggling to negotiate the rude, stubborn and archaic mindset of lower-level bureaucracy.

In one stroke, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dealt a severe blow to this mindset and age-old roadblock to good governance when he launched the ambitious doorstep delivery of Government services programme this month. Described by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as a first-of-its-kind in the country, people can avail of 40 services from seven Government departments, sitting at home. This is truly a historic initiative and transforms the way governance is delivered. In a tweet, Kejriwal wrote that there is a need to change the way we are being governed — administration and governance needed complete overhaul and both should become citizen-centric.

This programme can become a game-changer and a model for several States as it promises to bring about a paradigm shift in people’s engagement with the Government. It will mean a world of difference to them, especially the elderly, disabled, women and children. After the ‘happiness curriculum’ and ‘mohalla clinic’ programmes, this comes as an icing on the cake and takes governance reforms to new levels. One of the understated advantages of competitive federalism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi so passionately articulates is that it sets a new benchmark in public policies and programmes.

The Prime Minister has led from the front and his people-centric programmes are yielding effective results. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, for instance, is lighting up lives in areas that hitherto remained mired in misery and darkness. Narendra Modi once said, “Federalism is no longer the fault line of Centre-State relations but the definition of a new partnership of Team India.” Among others, this spirit may have triggered multiple innovations of governance. Recently, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched a unique programme to enable poor families to get access to information on Government programmes without any intermediary. Under the Bhamashah Digital Family Scheme, every Bhamashah family who are entitled to National Food Security, will be given Rs 1,000 in two installments by the State Government to purchase Internet-enabled smartphones.

Telangana Civil Supplies Department and Civil Supplies Corporation undertook a unique reform to plug loopholes in the public distribution system (PDS). “IT-based systems are the only way to cut corruption on a long-term basis. IT helps to cut interaction between Government and citizens while offering public services. Lesser interaction means lesser corruption,” says Akun Sabharwal, Commissioner & Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Food & Civil Supplies. According to Sabharwal, an IPS officer, “Technology has been effectively integrated at the four layers of the PDS architecture, from procurement till distribution to beneficiaries, and this has brought about transparency and efficiency besides blowing a death-knell to corruption, informs.” In fact, Telangana Minister for Finance and Civil Supplies, Eatela Rajender had said that the State Government had saved more than Rs 1,000 crore worth rice by plugging loopholes by effective use of IT in procurement and distribution.

At the first stage of procurement, 3,000 odd paddy purchase centers were provided with tabs to enter the details, besides effective streamlining of the procedure through what is called the Online Procurement Management System (OPMS). This caused impressive gains in procurement — from 24.28 lakh metric tonne in 2014-15 to 54.06 lakh metric tonne in 2016-17, besides eliminating middlemen in payment of MSP to farmers. To monitor movement of procured paddy in GPS fitted trucks, from buffer godowns to corporation godowns and subsequently to fair price shops, a special Command Control Centre was established by the department. The department introduced geo-fencing of 18,0000 routes to curb pilferage and smuggling. For last mile distribution through fair price shops, the department effectively used National Informatics Centre’s (NIC) ePDS software and Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries.

“Telangana is the first State to have completed 100 per cent seeding of Aadhaar with 2.75 crore beneficiaries. Our electronic point of sale machine has also been introduced in all 31 districts and this offers massive ease to consumers besides securing the system against any foul play,” informs Sabharwal. CCTVs at PDS shop, a special T-Ration app and offering anywhere ration portability are some other revolutionary reforms that have brought about a revolutionary change in the PDS. Sabharwal didn’t lose time in acknowledging Herculean team effort, including those of his predecessors IAS Officer Rajat Kumar and IPS Officer CV Anand, who ensured this iconic metamorphosis. “I am just carrying the baton forward,” he avered. And he seemed to be doing that quite well.

Writer: Navneet Anand

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The representation of women in indian corporate boardrooms has increased over past few years but it still remain low. In order to draw more female participation in higher management, corporates need to  develop an internal pipeline and make sure it will be followed for the long run. This can be done by positioning strong individuals to key leadership positions.

Recently, I came across a beautiful advertisement by Mahindra on educating  a girl child — Ladki haath se nikal jayegi. It is an inspiring take on how education can empower girls. But all this joint effort of the Government and corporates would be futile if we do not create a pathway for retention and growth for women in workplace, and elevate strong individuals to key leadership positions.

It is a well-researched fact that having more women in workforce has a direct impact on GDP growth. For example, in the US, since 1970, as much as 26 per cent of growth in GDP has been directly attributed to an increase of women in workforce. According to another study, teams with mixed gender are more productive and creative. In fact, economists found that simply moving from an all-male or all-female office to one that was evenly split could possibly increase revenue by 41 per cent. This is because greater social diversity implies a greater spread of experience, which add to the collective knowledge of a group of workers and make the unit perform more effectively.

However, women around the globe have remained underrepresented at every level in the corporate world. For most women, balancing both home and career takes a toll, and they decide to take a break. It is a huge loss for the company, society and nation as a whole. Although hiring women has been clearly beneficial, the benefits will not accrue with a mere increase in headcount. Women are largely untapped resources that are often not recognised. Hence, increasing the number of women in leadership positions is critical not only to give women a voice, but also because women’s involvement improves the way leadership and decision-making is practiced. As a nation, we should develop strong leadership and succession programmes to mentor or guide deserving women candidates to leadership positions in the country.

Women’s representation in the management pipeline drops substantially as one climbs the higher ladder. The proportion of women in seniormost management role falls to 18 per cent from 46 per cent at the entry level. Apart from some of the challenges that both men and women face in the workplace like work/life balance, parenting, juggling responsibilities and multitasking, there are specific challenges such as wage gap, discrimination and sexual harassment at workplace, that are distinctive for women. Women still earn only 73 percent of what men earn for the same job, and sadly, sexual harassment is still not a thing from the past.

In one of studies of 400 largest companies in California, only 9.7 percent of boardrooms or top paying executive positions were held by women. Thirty-four per cent had no women on their executive board and none of the companies in the study had an all-female board. In addition, none of the companies had a gender-balanced board or management team.

What steps should companies take to improve more women participation in higher management? The first step is to develop the internal pipeline and make sure that it is not choked. Leveraging existing HR information and data analytics can generate important insights about the workforce and help identify high potential women as leadership candidates. Developing the internal pipeline is not solely about the talent process. Workplace programmes and efforts such as work-life integration and pay equity are also important factors to consider in strategies to develop the talent pipeline in the industry.

Opportunities for individual coaching, affinity-based leadership development, executive sponsorship and mentoring are also essential components of the leadership development continuum — particularly for women who may lack access to training and advancement options. Stretch assignments are also effective interventions to develop new skills and perspectives, and including diverse high potential employees in networking events with company and industry leaders is another strategy to build competencies and forge new relationships.

To hire right women talent, organisations should determine the current and future needs. The identification and analysis of critical roles is the first step in developing the pool of next generation leaders and critical talent. Companies should assess the talent pool and characterise necessary skills and competencies needed for success in those roles. Also, companies should determine the mix for filling gaps and the cultural importance of hiring from within for critical roles. An important aspect is to define the pool of internal candidates. Steps are needed to track promotion and turnover rates, and lower-than-expected promotion rates may indicate that development programmes need to be revisited and refined.

Similarly, higher-than-expected turnover rates should drive changes in how the organisation approaches building pipelines for critical positions. Also, define the pool of existing external candidates, bearing in mind the skills needed, competencies, and talent profiles, mine information on past candidates in the organisation’s candidate database to identify matches and assess the potential of external hires to fill critical roles.

Also define and execute campaigns to engage candidates. Identify conferences, industry associations, and social networks that match the critical role profile. Moreover, work with hiring managers and employees for relationship building. In addition, assess and refine current sourcing strategies and analyse sources that have been successful in the past to develop a targeted sourcing strategy for external candidates based on ideal candidate profiles and historical trends. Companies should implement and monitor sourcing strategies to seek talent that can fill critical roles, and capture information about those people’s knowledge, skills and experience in addition to contact information for ongoing communications. Finally, it is crucial to track the overall size and quality of internal and external pools.

Once potential women leaders are identified, organisations should establish a development framework to nurture them. Organisations should actively engage potential leaders by identifying and investing in high performing women with the capacity and inclination to lead, and give them the skills, training and confidence to do so. They should treat leadership as a tangible skill and provide training opportunities and confidence building for women who wish to hone their skills. Networking is the most important skill and organisations should help potential women leaders to establish relationships and networks. They should actively connect junior-level employees with senior female leader mentors and create networking opportunities regardless of level.

Organisations should also  consciously enhance the visibility of role models and highlight female senior leaders. Companies should articulate the steps for career development, starting with employees in their twenties or earliest stages of their careers and combine ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ rewards. It is necessary to reinforce and validate women’s performance with clear and consistent personal feedback, together with the more conventional rewards of raises and promotions.

Several companies have identified the importance to developing women leaders. For example, Sanofi’s ELEVATE initiative was launched as an accelerated, six-month development programme to prepare potential women in the organisation for leadership roles. Participants were nominated based on the existing talent review process, with a target cohort size of 20-25 women. Women were identified from the senior director and AVP level, the natural feeder pool for the leadership level where Sanofi saw the largest gender gap.

Participants represented all lines of business at Sanofi including STEM fields, commercial roles, staff roles and manufacturing. They were split into small teams that worked on projects outside their current business entity. Each team was assigned a senior-level sponsor and executive coach. The six-month action-learning project provided experiences for participants to develop senior-level leadership skill sets while identifying new growth opportunities and building new capabilities for Sanofi.

Leadership competencies developed included cross-functional collaboration, managing stakeholders, negotiation and exercising influence, navigating and influencing gender dynamics, communicating with vision, leading strategic change, and creating a culture of innovation and growth. Of all the women who went through the programme, about 60 per cent had been promoted or had made developmental moves that expanded their knowledge.

Organisations and policy-makers have a responsibility towards the nation to develop strong internal pipelines, which identify and nurture women employees and develop them into strong leaders. This will ensure that the efforts of every girl child to become empowered will have a clear roadmap to succeed in the corporate world.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Amity University)

Writer: Hima Bindu Kota

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Atal Bihari Vajpayee did a lot in his time as a statesmanship, he was the person who made the bridge that enabled India to transit from the Left of Centre politics to Centre-Right. All he commanded was admitation and adulation of all.

The outpouring of grief across the country and across the political spectrum following the demise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was indicative of how well he had endeared himself to the people during his long innings in politics that had made him truly an Ajatshatru (one without an enemy).

It was this winsome nature of his which enabled the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which, unlike him, was virtually friendless to later acquire allies and even dislodge the Congress from its perch. He, therefore, played a critical role in ensuring the smooth transition at the federal level from Centre-Left to Centre-Right. When Vajpayee took oath as the Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha election in 1996, he was perceived by the media to be India’s first “right wing” Prime Minister. He headed the single largest party but did not enjoy a majority in the House. His Government lasted just 13 days. But Vajpayee knew that this was just for starters — a kind of a practice session. Although the party was the single largest party, the BJP was regarded as “untouchable” by other political parties and, therefore, found it difficult to cobble up a coalition for a stable Government. The lessons from this defeat were not lost on the party. Therefore, when the United Front Government collapsed and a fresh Lok Sabha poll was called in March, 1998, a lot of background work was done to overcome the deficiencies of 1996.

Vajpayee sent his emissaries around and succeeded in ending the “untouchability” stigma that the party suffered from. Leaders of many disparate parties backed him and found him to be a moderate leader. In no time, Vajpayee demolished fears in the minds of his coalition partners about associating with a “right wing” party. He made the “untouchable” in Indian politics eminently touchable and the party, which had a horde of shatrus (enemies), now had 23 allies!

This became possible because Vajpayee had genuine respect for smaller parties and regional forces and, hence, struck a good equation with Karunanidhi, Mamata Bannerjee and Naveen Patnaik and many other regional leaders. He also saw merit in the regional aspirations of people from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand regions and, therefore, facilitated the emergence of the new, smaller States — without any bloodshed or violence. It was Vajpayee’s statesmanship that enabled the smooth bifurcation of three big States — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This was quite in contrast to the muddled approach of the Congress and United Progressive Alliance  (UPA), which led to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and the emergence of Telangana and the extent of violence that preceded the creation of the new State.

Vajpayee was a great admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru. In fact, it is said that Nehru had spotted his potential even in Vajpayee’s first term in the Lok Sabha and even introduced him as a future leader of the country to some foreign guests. Nehru’s influence tempered Vajpayee and although he came from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-Jan Sangh stock — he gained acceptability from parties on the other side of the political divide. Therefore, many saw him as a Nehru of the Right Wing. When he wrote the poem, Kadam Milakar Chalna Hoga (We must walk in step), it was not just a day-dream of an idle poet — it conveyed the liberal inner voice of a true democrat.

While Vajpayee retained this liberal approach to politics, he was unrelenting when it came to national interest. That is why he was keen to make India a nuclear state and it is said that he had discussed this with nuclear scientists even during his 13-day Government in 1996. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was keen to conduct the tests during his tenure from 1991-96. However, he had to hold his hand because somehow the Americans had got wind of it and he did not want to antagonise them. He needed the United States during the process of liberalising the Indian economy, which was in tatters when he took charge.

Narasimha Rao had acknowledged that he regarded Vajpayee as his guru. Anyway, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been fully briefed by Rao in regard to the readiness of Indian nuclear scientists. It was, therefore, no surprise that Vajpayee went ahead with the nuclear tests in May 1998, when he returned as the Prime Minister heading a coalition of many disparate parties.

The nuclear tests skyrocketed India to the status of a major nuclear power but Americans were indignant and imposed sanctions. American President Bill Clinton was angrily wagging his finger and accusing India of escalating the nuclear race but Vajpayee stood his ground. He knew that the Americans would soon realise that India was a huge market and he sent his Minister Jaswant Singh to talk to the Americans and to bring them round and eventually succeeded in restoring Indo-US ties.

Pokhran–II showed the true Atal Bihari — a gutsy, strong leader who was confident that he would eventually bring the Western world to accept India’s new status. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approach to international relations is largely in line with Vajpayee’s approach.

Unlike the humming and hawing of the Centre-Left establishment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy is far more muscular and has given India its rightful place at the high table in international politics.

Vajpayee was a strong leader who handed his responsibility with a lot of tact and firmness. That is why India comprehensively defeated Pakistan in the Kargil War. He also stepped up investment in infrastructure in a big way, opened up the telecom and transport sectors and laid the foundations for spectacular development of highways with his golden quadrilateral scheme  and turned the focus on the north-eastern States .

Finally, one can say that Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statesmanship was the ideal bridge which enabled India to transit from the Left of Centre politics of Nehru and Indira Gandhi to Centre-Right. That is why the transition has not been so harsh. And that is why he commanded the adulation and admiration of all Indians across the political spectrum.

(The writer is Chairman, Prasar Bharati)

Writer: A Surya Prakash

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The ancient India may give us things to admire, but constitutional stability is not one of them, and filled with other social ills.

Over the past four years, India has been in the midst of a tug of war. This tug of war is less in the form of political adversaries fighting for seats or attempting to win elections, but is more in the nature of a fight for India’s conscience. On one side of this battle are the forces of Hindutva and on the other is the Constitution of India. I will look at some of the spheres where the battle between the values espouses by the RSS/BJP and the values encompassed in our Constitution have come to the fore and how we as Indians must recognise the crossroads our country stands at and decide which way we will decide to go.

The RSS was founded in 1925 and represents itself as a cultural organisation. However, only the wilfully blind can really believe this to be true. The fact is that right from its inception in 1925, the RSS has been a very visible player in the political and social field. The RSS and its workers are often the foot-soldiers of the BJP during elections and it is not uncommon to find BJP leaders praise the RSS and attend their functions. The Prime Minister himself is a former worker of the RSS and it is obvious that Narendra Modi’s views on political and social issues are shaped significantly by the RSS. Therefore, for the RSS to continue to claim that it stays within the “sandbox” of a cultural organisation is to give very little credit to the intelligence of India’s populace. The fact is that the RSS has consistently shaped the BJP’s views on crucial national issues and I want to highlight some of these issues and request the BJP to clarify which side of the debate the current Government is.

The RSS has an uncomfortable history of admiration for fascists. From VD Savarkar who said, “The very fact that Germany or Italy has so wonderfully recovered and grown so powerful as never before at the touch of Nazi or Fascist magical wand is enough to prove that those political ‘isms’ were the most congenial tonics their health demanded”, to MS Gowalkar, affectionately called “Guruji” by RSS workers, who echoed similar views. In his book, “We, or our Nationhood Defined”, Guruji stated: “There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and to quit the country at the sweet will of the national race.” He went on to say that “the foreign races in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture…or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment not even citizen’s rights.” What is meant by “national race and its culture”? The question is whether this includes people from the South? Does it include people from the North-East? Does it include the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes? Do we need the permission of the RSS to be considered a citizen of India? These are the uncomfortable questions the RSS needs to address.

Instead of taking these questions head on, we have to hear the RSS’ language of division and parochialism. India is fortunate to be blessed with different races, different religions, different cuisines and different people. What MS Gowalkar identifies as a problem or a weakness is actually a Courtesy of strength. From Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to Dr Homi Bhabha, India’s varied diaspora have helped her take great strides towards the respected status it occupies today. Do we think that the next Homi Bhabha will be allowed to thrive, succeed and contribute to our country’s prosperity he is looked upon as an outsider? Of course not. This brings us to the tone of politics today. If the BJP does not share the view of India espoused by Gowalkar, should it not come out unequivocally against it? Instead, what we find the Prime Minister who on the birth centenary of Deendayal Upadhyaya, a man who considered secularism as an attack on the soul of India, offer tributes to these ideologues. It is possible that the BJP no longer subscribes to such views but by offering tributes, naming programmes and institutions after such individuals, you would forgive me for thinking otherwise. The fact is that irrespective of religion, race, gender, caste et al, we as Indians owe duty to the country and not just to our communities. The Constitution, which in its preamble talks about a “secular, democratic republic”, acts as our North Star and guiding light in this respect and reminds us that our true affiliations lie with the rule of law and the values prescribed by our Constitution.

If you’ve tuned into speeches by members of the BJP or the RSS, you will invariably have heard how things were in the good old days. It is amusing to hear fantastical stories of how ancient India already had nuclear weapons and wi-fi and while we should all be grateful to these leaders for providing the Internet with a gold mine of memes, the underlying sentiment behind these views does not inspire laughter or levity. The fact is that the RSS often waxes lyrical about ancient India and in some cases even about the Manusmriti, which according to some leaders of the organisation should override provisions of our Constitution. This betrays an ominous outlook for India. We must remember that while there may be things to admire about ancient India, the idea of India which the RSS wants to go back to, was rife with social ills. The Manusmriti, for example, essentially prescribes privileges for Brahmins and only “duties” for the ‘lower’ castes and untouchables.

While discussing caste, Gowalkar said: “Castes, there were in those ancient times too, continuing for thousands of years of our glorious national life. There is nowhere any instance of its having hampered the progress or disrupted the unity of society. It, in fact, served as a great bond of social cohesion.” Terming the caste system as a “great bond of social cohesion” is akin to saying dowry enables women to show how much they value their husband. It’s just as ridiculous and there should be no half-measures in condemning it. Similarly, ancient India was not particularly wonderful for women either. Women in ancient India had no right to get an education, to practice a vocation and to establish their own, independent identity. They had no agency and were subject to unfair social rules of conduct that have no place in a modern democracy. Is this the vision of India we should aspire to?

The Constitution, on the other hand, is antithetical to such views. It, inter alia, provides for abolishment of untouchability, guarantees certain fundamental rights such as the right to be treated equally before the law, right to life and also crystallises crucial freedoms like the freedom of free speech and expression. There is no denying that at times these freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution are not enforced in the most ideal manner. However, this is an issue with implementation of these prescribed rights and freedoms. It does not, however, in any way take away from the noble objectives outlined in the text. This is primarily why the RSS had issues with the Constitution. In 1949, while speaking about the Constitution, the Organiser (an RSS newspaper) stated: “But in our Constitution, there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”

The RSS’ problem with the Constitution is that it embodies a vision of India that is inclusive, equal and strives towards a modern democratic society. For the RSS, however, India is only a Hindu State. As a Hindu myself, I am affronted by this idea because there is no doubt in my mind that the Constitution represents the best parts of all religions like inclusiveness and compassion and rejects the worst parts of ourselves, like discrimination and hate. The ongoing fight, therefore, between the idea of India envisioned in the Constitution and the one advocated by the RSS, is increasingly becoming a fight for India’s conscience. Let’s hope she makes the right decision.

(The writer is Jharkhand PCC president, former MP and IPS officer. Views expressed are entirely personal)

Writer: Ajoy Kumar

Courtesy: The Pioneer