There is not much India can do about forced marriages of Hindu and Sikh girls in Pakistan. What we can do, is to give up hopes of a peaceful relationship with Pakistan. Liberals always try to portray the Pakistanis as people similar to India divided by an imaginary line. Tell me, will you tolerate if any minor girl in your neighborhood is married just to force her undergo religious conversion? Let her be of any religion, your blood will boil with anger over the injustice. I have never read anything as such happening in India. How can be the same people? And if you don't have similar sympathies for a girl across the border, it makes you less human. But here liberals will give their classic twist. We are a secular country but Pakistan is an Islamic Republic. This is expected to automatically justify the heinous deed. You are being trained to accept the reality in an nonchalant manner, like your daily news, like a power cut in your colony or like IMD forecast. Its natural to accept such news, you need not feel angry. But this same people will tell you that Indian secularism is sham. Just because we have elected a right wing party, Hindus must be tarnished. Our inherent respect for all religions notwithstanding, India must be degraded and called Hindu Pakistan. USA currently has the most right wing President in many decades. Does the Western media similarly demonize Christians over there for his election? But read their coverage on Kashmir or Assam. Its the caste Hindus under the Premiership of Narendra Modi hell bent on destroying the secular fabric of India. When Arundhati Roy says that Pakistan never attacked its own people, that is not out of her ignorance but a clever ploy to make Indians feel dirty for trying to protect our borders against the Jihadis and the communists. And if she is now giving it a new twist, it is not because she has come across some new facts. Pakistan's human rights record from Bangladesh to Baluchistan has been well documented over the years. She is solely doing it because she stands discredited. In this age of social media, her videos and the hate and lies peddling thereof has been widely circulated. Their messianic veil tored, they are being forced to mend their ways. It is upto us, the people, to believe such old foxes.
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Sunday, 1 January 2017
Demonetization and Other Stories
The success of any program can be gauzed by the target fulfilled as laid out in its objective.Though the government did quite a few gimmicks with regard to the objectives of demonetisation,the holy war or yagna had initially started as a fight against the black money and counterfeit currency.Since then the narrative was transformed very successfully to promoting plastic money and digitalization with behaviourial change being hailed as the prime success.Though much has been written about the clumsy execution (it was very clumsy indeed with the constant tinkering with the rules) it is important to note how the execution not only was harrasing for the honest people,it hardly seemed to banter the dishonest as initially promised.
First,the initially declared target of fighting black money.The dishonest found it quite easy to bribe their way through the bankers.Second,their is no reason those caught in the tax net can not get away by bribing the tzx sleuths.This was quite early flagged by Tavleen Singh in her article and the government had absolutely no device to plug this important leakage.When the whole institional set up of India has been corrupted to its core,on what premises was the government expecting the bankers and tax sleuths to do their duty with honesty?The now empty roar of every dishonest being caught is a mere theatric.When the shock and awe target failed to dampen their spirit what good will come out of enquiry.Were not the tax sleuths active till now in catching the hoarders of black money?What did they achieve in these many years?Though the media played too much over hoarders being caught,in reality,they are very small fishes ranging from few lakhs to some crores.Were is the promised three-four lakhs crore that the government expected not to return to the bank (as admitted in SC)?Only three lakh crores were left to be deposited as on Dec 21.Since then no new figure has arrived.Multiple ministers are carefully sheilding this fact that since we have started an amnesty scheme (pay 50 per cent,keep the rest),all money will natuarally return to bank.But will three lakhs crores be decalred under the scheme?Impossible.Simply because people have easier means to convert the money,including paying a bribe to the banker or through hawala channels shelling out quite less than the 50 per cent figure of the government (the main reason why the government brought the amnesty scheme,almost twenty days after the announcement of demonetization).Why did not the government further dropped the 50 per cent figure,this will be discussed at the end of the article.
Apart from this glaring loophole at the planning stage,the execution was made a harrowing experience by the approach of government by declaring time and again that their was no fault in execution but we are changing rules based on feedback.But did they really needed a feedback about this being a marriage season or times for rabi crops?Could not the relief provided at the later stage started from the very beginning?And whose idea it was to allow people to exchange notes?I mean what was the use of allowing people to exchange notes?Demonetization could have been a simple two step process in which on one hand people could have deposited old notes and on the other they could have withdrawn their money through cheque or withdrawl form.By this process,every penny would have entered and exited in a recorded manner without that foolishness of id proof xerox that was so blatantly used for illegal conversion.Entering every Rs.4500 entry every time one reaches with old notes was an extra and useless burden on employees too.After noticing the flaw in the exchange regime,the government should had done away with it completely but it strangely continued to flourish in a lessened figure.
Next comes the ATM fiasco.What was the need to launch new money that needed a recalibrated ATM?Either the government should have released the prototype before and gave sufficient time to the bancks for recalibrating the ATMs (after all,new notes wont have given away the top secret) or better still the governemnent could have printed the new notes corresponding to the previous size only.Why to care for beauty when the system is actually burning?
Lastly,we can talk about the achievements.The demonetization was quite successful in routing out the scrouge of counterfeit currency.That the terrorist tried to loot banks in J&K as well as other intelligence reports are testimony to this fact.But the governement seems less interested in taking credit for this achievement.It is busy hailing the success of behaviourial change in the people with regard to plastic money and digitalization.But this we can emphatically declare after cash reaches back in people's hand.Taking out all the money from people's hand and then when they are only left with a single choice of paying online or plastic,hailing this as a behavioural change is sick.But first the preparation for this important achievement.Why did not the government waved of the extra transaction charges in the run-off of demonetization.Shopkeepers too could have been encouraged to install PoS machines.These doles were only provided after the demonetization seemed too large a disrution to the economy.Most honest people then would have got adjusted to the idea of digitaliztion had these doles been offered six months back.Digging a well when the house is on fire is never a good idea.Second,how much company like PayTm were operated by the public sector bank?Some MPs rightly raised the issue of going digital via a company having substantial share-holding by Chinese comapany (since then PayTm made a separate entity to handle online payment with completely Indian holding).Why should Indian digital revolution benefit the Chinese?Then reports came that plastic cards such as VISA provide benefit to their MNC owners for every transaction done.Even government is offering prizes only on those card transaction which is done via RuPay cards.But why did my bank offered me VISA cards in the first place?I did not asked for VISA instead of RuPay.Such ad hoc encouragement of digitalization is sad.But more importantly,did the people really took this change?I have only found one shop in my vicinity taking PayTm,but could not pay digitally due to a minor problem.My interent connection was not working properly.This in one of important urban towns.What about the village?Lastly,once people are getting access to cash,they are returning to their old habits except in places where they have clear incentives as in petrol pumps.By the way,saftey oragnizations have flagged up the issue of using PoS machines in the vicinity of petrol pumps (another example of foresight by the government).
This were only the directly related issues.Collateral damage too was huge.More than hundred people died.It did not make much furore since human lives are cheap in the East.Bussinesses suffered unexpected losses and many people lost thier employment.Employment generation figures are already low.I certainly hoped that at the end of the day government will take measure steps to boost employment figures.But the government stopped after offering relief to farmers and small business-men.The media has hailed this corrective measures for the poor,neo-middle class and middle class.Here I come to the last part of the article.Demonetization battle was fought on the name of poor against the rich and corrupt upper class.It ended with glory to Lohia,JP and Kamaraj.Each of them were freedom fighters and tall leaders of independent India.But distictly socialist.Socialism was the fashionable economic order in the newly emerging Third World just after the end of imperialism.This no longer cuts much ice in any part of the world except in India.Socialist government,by structure itself,is corrupt with too much power to the few in the ruling class and much government meddling in business.World over socialist government have become either collapsed or become defunct.This has been India's bane for seven decades,our own Achilles' heel.Indian leaders just refuses to embrace capitalism.Forty-five years after India Gandhi rode the "Garibi Hatao" wave,no one chooses to disembark off this time-tested formula.To make matters worse,PVN the architect of new-India and AB Vajpayee,his successor in this regard,failed to win public support of their policies in consequent general elections.No doubt,the Prime Minister failed to hail them after demonetization.Some how,capital and profit remains a crime.The communist agenda of taking money from the rich and distibuting amongst poor remains fashionable in academics even after the ebb of naxalism.The discoure is not simply about punishing the dishonest and those making black money.It is being hailed as a step that caused profound pain to the rich and as a result,happiness to the poor.The class battle still continues.And it will continue unless and until the people recognize the meaning of the pithy saying "Socialism is the best way of assuring poor about their welfare while simultaneously keeping them poor".After all,once they are no longer poor wont the class battle and those championing their cause will loose revelance.The government could have uneartherd the whole black money with an amnesty scheme with low taxation.But then this would not have been hailed as a pro-poor measure against the benefits of the upper class.
Creating money has become sin in this country.Rich must always be punished one way or the other.No matter he is honest or hard-working.If he is earning,he must be blamed for others' poverty.But what sort of institutions are serving the honest and poor?He/She will die a terrible death in a government hospital without proper care.His child (if happens to be from general cateogory) will be discriminated against in getting admission to colleges and government jobs.Private services are still too costly in this country thanks to protectionist measures against competition.His/Her daughter wont be married properly since he/she shell out dowry.The prosecution in such cases cut a sorry figure.Most importantly,who are the ones forcing everyone everyday to shell out bribe giving birth to this practice of black money.Business-men and honest people are routinely being harrased even in carrying out thier daily functions.But who cares about the business-men?And about the commoners,who are being hailed as foot soldier in this fight against corruption,how many of them are actually honest?Is not all this a fit legacy of the socialist era.And yes,not a single politician has so far been held in this war against corruption and only one high-level officer.So,all leaders and bureaucrat are honest?
Last line must go hailing the pro-active stand of the honourable Supreme Court.The SC is still examining the legal sanctity of the measure after the exercise has ended.What if it finds it illegal?Will the step be rolled back.But why will it be declared illegal in the first place?Is not it giving strength to the socialistic principles of our directive principles.No matter if few fundamental rights are a casuality.After all,since the famed Kesvanada Bharati case,SC has been sacrificing the fundamental rights at the alter of socialism.
First,the initially declared target of fighting black money.The dishonest found it quite easy to bribe their way through the bankers.Second,their is no reason those caught in the tax net can not get away by bribing the tzx sleuths.This was quite early flagged by Tavleen Singh in her article and the government had absolutely no device to plug this important leakage.When the whole institional set up of India has been corrupted to its core,on what premises was the government expecting the bankers and tax sleuths to do their duty with honesty?The now empty roar of every dishonest being caught is a mere theatric.When the shock and awe target failed to dampen their spirit what good will come out of enquiry.Were not the tax sleuths active till now in catching the hoarders of black money?What did they achieve in these many years?Though the media played too much over hoarders being caught,in reality,they are very small fishes ranging from few lakhs to some crores.Were is the promised three-four lakhs crore that the government expected not to return to the bank (as admitted in SC)?Only three lakh crores were left to be deposited as on Dec 21.Since then no new figure has arrived.Multiple ministers are carefully sheilding this fact that since we have started an amnesty scheme (pay 50 per cent,keep the rest),all money will natuarally return to bank.But will three lakhs crores be decalred under the scheme?Impossible.Simply because people have easier means to convert the money,including paying a bribe to the banker or through hawala channels shelling out quite less than the 50 per cent figure of the government (the main reason why the government brought the amnesty scheme,almost twenty days after the announcement of demonetization).Why did not the government further dropped the 50 per cent figure,this will be discussed at the end of the article.
Apart from this glaring loophole at the planning stage,the execution was made a harrowing experience by the approach of government by declaring time and again that their was no fault in execution but we are changing rules based on feedback.But did they really needed a feedback about this being a marriage season or times for rabi crops?Could not the relief provided at the later stage started from the very beginning?And whose idea it was to allow people to exchange notes?I mean what was the use of allowing people to exchange notes?Demonetization could have been a simple two step process in which on one hand people could have deposited old notes and on the other they could have withdrawn their money through cheque or withdrawl form.By this process,every penny would have entered and exited in a recorded manner without that foolishness of id proof xerox that was so blatantly used for illegal conversion.Entering every Rs.4500 entry every time one reaches with old notes was an extra and useless burden on employees too.After noticing the flaw in the exchange regime,the government should had done away with it completely but it strangely continued to flourish in a lessened figure.
Next comes the ATM fiasco.What was the need to launch new money that needed a recalibrated ATM?Either the government should have released the prototype before and gave sufficient time to the bancks for recalibrating the ATMs (after all,new notes wont have given away the top secret) or better still the governemnent could have printed the new notes corresponding to the previous size only.Why to care for beauty when the system is actually burning?
Lastly,we can talk about the achievements.The demonetization was quite successful in routing out the scrouge of counterfeit currency.That the terrorist tried to loot banks in J&K as well as other intelligence reports are testimony to this fact.But the governement seems less interested in taking credit for this achievement.It is busy hailing the success of behaviourial change in the people with regard to plastic money and digitalization.But this we can emphatically declare after cash reaches back in people's hand.Taking out all the money from people's hand and then when they are only left with a single choice of paying online or plastic,hailing this as a behavioural change is sick.But first the preparation for this important achievement.Why did not the government waved of the extra transaction charges in the run-off of demonetization.Shopkeepers too could have been encouraged to install PoS machines.These doles were only provided after the demonetization seemed too large a disrution to the economy.Most honest people then would have got adjusted to the idea of digitaliztion had these doles been offered six months back.Digging a well when the house is on fire is never a good idea.Second,how much company like PayTm were operated by the public sector bank?Some MPs rightly raised the issue of going digital via a company having substantial share-holding by Chinese comapany (since then PayTm made a separate entity to handle online payment with completely Indian holding).Why should Indian digital revolution benefit the Chinese?Then reports came that plastic cards such as VISA provide benefit to their MNC owners for every transaction done.Even government is offering prizes only on those card transaction which is done via RuPay cards.But why did my bank offered me VISA cards in the first place?I did not asked for VISA instead of RuPay.Such ad hoc encouragement of digitalization is sad.But more importantly,did the people really took this change?I have only found one shop in my vicinity taking PayTm,but could not pay digitally due to a minor problem.My interent connection was not working properly.This in one of important urban towns.What about the village?Lastly,once people are getting access to cash,they are returning to their old habits except in places where they have clear incentives as in petrol pumps.By the way,saftey oragnizations have flagged up the issue of using PoS machines in the vicinity of petrol pumps (another example of foresight by the government).
This were only the directly related issues.Collateral damage too was huge.More than hundred people died.It did not make much furore since human lives are cheap in the East.Bussinesses suffered unexpected losses and many people lost thier employment.Employment generation figures are already low.I certainly hoped that at the end of the day government will take measure steps to boost employment figures.But the government stopped after offering relief to farmers and small business-men.The media has hailed this corrective measures for the poor,neo-middle class and middle class.Here I come to the last part of the article.Demonetization battle was fought on the name of poor against the rich and corrupt upper class.It ended with glory to Lohia,JP and Kamaraj.Each of them were freedom fighters and tall leaders of independent India.But distictly socialist.Socialism was the fashionable economic order in the newly emerging Third World just after the end of imperialism.This no longer cuts much ice in any part of the world except in India.Socialist government,by structure itself,is corrupt with too much power to the few in the ruling class and much government meddling in business.World over socialist government have become either collapsed or become defunct.This has been India's bane for seven decades,our own Achilles' heel.Indian leaders just refuses to embrace capitalism.Forty-five years after India Gandhi rode the "Garibi Hatao" wave,no one chooses to disembark off this time-tested formula.To make matters worse,PVN the architect of new-India and AB Vajpayee,his successor in this regard,failed to win public support of their policies in consequent general elections.No doubt,the Prime Minister failed to hail them after demonetization.Some how,capital and profit remains a crime.The communist agenda of taking money from the rich and distibuting amongst poor remains fashionable in academics even after the ebb of naxalism.The discoure is not simply about punishing the dishonest and those making black money.It is being hailed as a step that caused profound pain to the rich and as a result,happiness to the poor.The class battle still continues.And it will continue unless and until the people recognize the meaning of the pithy saying "Socialism is the best way of assuring poor about their welfare while simultaneously keeping them poor".After all,once they are no longer poor wont the class battle and those championing their cause will loose revelance.The government could have uneartherd the whole black money with an amnesty scheme with low taxation.But then this would not have been hailed as a pro-poor measure against the benefits of the upper class.
Creating money has become sin in this country.Rich must always be punished one way or the other.No matter he is honest or hard-working.If he is earning,he must be blamed for others' poverty.But what sort of institutions are serving the honest and poor?He/She will die a terrible death in a government hospital without proper care.His child (if happens to be from general cateogory) will be discriminated against in getting admission to colleges and government jobs.Private services are still too costly in this country thanks to protectionist measures against competition.His/Her daughter wont be married properly since he/she shell out dowry.The prosecution in such cases cut a sorry figure.Most importantly,who are the ones forcing everyone everyday to shell out bribe giving birth to this practice of black money.Business-men and honest people are routinely being harrased even in carrying out thier daily functions.But who cares about the business-men?And about the commoners,who are being hailed as foot soldier in this fight against corruption,how many of them are actually honest?Is not all this a fit legacy of the socialist era.And yes,not a single politician has so far been held in this war against corruption and only one high-level officer.So,all leaders and bureaucrat are honest?
Last line must go hailing the pro-active stand of the honourable Supreme Court.The SC is still examining the legal sanctity of the measure after the exercise has ended.What if it finds it illegal?Will the step be rolled back.But why will it be declared illegal in the first place?Is not it giving strength to the socialistic principles of our directive principles.No matter if few fundamental rights are a casuality.After all,since the famed Kesvanada Bharati case,SC has been sacrificing the fundamental rights at the alter of socialism.
Wednesday, 4 May 2016
Stand with the Lovers
Article 15 : Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
Now see the first constitutional amendment of Independent India in 1951.
Article 15(4) : Nothing in this article ( read Article 15 ) or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Fast forward to 1992.SC decides that reservation in government jobs based on "caste" is perfectly constitutional thanks to the first constitutional amendment.
But what happened to original articles caveat ?
No problem,there is a leeway for socially and educationally backward "classes". And castes do make classes,don't they ?
They do.But didn't Article 15 explicitly prohibited discrimination on grounds of "castes" .
If the Parliament compromising of stalwarts of Indian Independence movement and some of the original makers of Constitution through Articles desired to give leeway to other "castes" nothing could have stopped them from writing the term socially and educationally backward "castes" instead of "classes". After all they have provided the leeway for Scheduled "Castes". You simply can not question their wit or knowledge of social conditions or constitutional rights for the Law Minister was none other than one of the greatest champions of backward empowerment and social reforms,Dr. B R Ambedkar.
But problem is Dr. Ambedkar or PM Jawharlal Nehru were not interested in exploiting the caste division among Hindus and garnering votes on the plank of reservation. They were interested in actual social uplift of any "class" that lags behind. The parliamentarians of 1991 decided to change the good great English forever when they decided that "class" from this day onward will mean only and only "caste". After all, I have not heard of any other "class" getting benefit out of Article 15(4) except and except few "castes" as decided by Mandal Commission.
Next is why the media and court played along ? Simply because the sheer force of number is sufficient to silence anyone critical of this system. By simple arithmetic calculation, 52% of OBC , 15% of SC and 7.5% of ST do enjoy reservation in India having a population of almost 125 crores. This transforms to more than 93 crore people. No one can show enough gumption to transform this saga from a right-based reservation to need-based. You can not simply snatch a right being enjoyed by 93 crore people.
But what about the rest ? Roughly, 33 crore people. Are all of them rich and affluent as the mainstream media regularly writes ? Are they scrambling for quota only since they are not having a good time due to agricultural distress and economic slowdown ? Does "equality", our fundamental right according to Article 16 not a necessary part of their existence ? If economic well being was everything wont everyone scramble to live in Communist China rather than a poor but free and democratic nation. Yet people lay down their life to protect this very freedom and democracy.
In Indira Sawhney case, apart from holding "caste" based reservation constitutional,SC categorically ruled out reservation in "promotions" saying it violates Right to Equality ( Article 16 ) . But still allowed it to go on for five years ( Why? ). Does already not much have been learnt from dark old days of emergency to protect our fundamental rights ?
But this did not end just here. Yesterday, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment proudly declared that government is making bill to bring reservation in "promotions". Opposition will play happily along. They will move a constitutional amendment bill probably adding a new Article 16 (5) reading Nothing in this article ( read Article 16 ) shall prevent the government from making any special provision for promotion of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.For a sample,you can read original Article 335 and the change thereof through eighty-second constitutional amendment act.
But why this farce ? Why not simply outlaw Article 16 itself ? After all, Right to Property was discarded from our fundamental rights list. Move out Right to Equality too. If upper castes are second-class citizens of this country, just treat them so. Why this whole big play of constitution,parliament,amendment and court ?
What was their crime ? That an ancient law-maker had divided the society into caste and it was discriminatory in nature. Are not the modern law-makers doing just the same thing ? There is no way to determine whether Manusmiriti was followed in words and spirit. After all we can clearly see how our present day rights and constitution are being upheld. There is no way one correct the mistakes of time gone by but every ancient society was discriminatory. The greatest champion of human rights,USA,battled racism a few decades ago. But they did not end up discriminating against present white population. You don't treat a rapist son with scorn,why to blame someone for ages gone by ?
A secular state should be secular in words and spirits. No one desires to protect casteism in this country. Using constitution to that effect would be disastrous for this country. After all a lot of ancient texts exist supporting equality of all men, and not only men but women too. It is true that the nation delved into superstition,anarchy,ignorance and casteism. But this should not stop us from making this nation great again. Kamasutra around 2000 years ago outlawed marital violence. We as a nation are still trying to come with terms to that. Such protections now exist only in very advanced countries. The recent furor over comments by Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development is a jolt reminder. Granting access to a solitary temple through intervention of court wont we of much help. Modernity is the greatest attack on casteism as recorded by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India. Let this ancient demon be slayed by the giant-killer time itself. And most importantly, if you can not provide protection to people enjoying their basic right to have their partner of their choice from the tyranny of khap panchayat, what is the point of having all this laws and cops. Young men and women marrying out of their castes and the biggest guarantors of equality. Do stand with them. Make bridges, don't exploit the caste divisions. Khap panchayats does it illegally, our politicians demanding votes based on caste reservations do it legally under the watchful eyes of both election commission and the honourable courts.
Now see the first constitutional amendment of Independent India in 1951.
Article 15(4) : Nothing in this article ( read Article 15 ) or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Fast forward to 1992.SC decides that reservation in government jobs based on "caste" is perfectly constitutional thanks to the first constitutional amendment.
But what happened to original articles caveat ?
No problem,there is a leeway for socially and educationally backward "classes". And castes do make classes,don't they ?
They do.But didn't Article 15 explicitly prohibited discrimination on grounds of "castes" .
If the Parliament compromising of stalwarts of Indian Independence movement and some of the original makers of Constitution through Articles desired to give leeway to other "castes" nothing could have stopped them from writing the term socially and educationally backward "castes" instead of "classes". After all they have provided the leeway for Scheduled "Castes". You simply can not question their wit or knowledge of social conditions or constitutional rights for the Law Minister was none other than one of the greatest champions of backward empowerment and social reforms,Dr. B R Ambedkar.
But problem is Dr. Ambedkar or PM Jawharlal Nehru were not interested in exploiting the caste division among Hindus and garnering votes on the plank of reservation. They were interested in actual social uplift of any "class" that lags behind. The parliamentarians of 1991 decided to change the good great English forever when they decided that "class" from this day onward will mean only and only "caste". After all, I have not heard of any other "class" getting benefit out of Article 15(4) except and except few "castes" as decided by Mandal Commission.
Next is why the media and court played along ? Simply because the sheer force of number is sufficient to silence anyone critical of this system. By simple arithmetic calculation, 52% of OBC , 15% of SC and 7.5% of ST do enjoy reservation in India having a population of almost 125 crores. This transforms to more than 93 crore people. No one can show enough gumption to transform this saga from a right-based reservation to need-based. You can not simply snatch a right being enjoyed by 93 crore people.
But what about the rest ? Roughly, 33 crore people. Are all of them rich and affluent as the mainstream media regularly writes ? Are they scrambling for quota only since they are not having a good time due to agricultural distress and economic slowdown ? Does "equality", our fundamental right according to Article 16 not a necessary part of their existence ? If economic well being was everything wont everyone scramble to live in Communist China rather than a poor but free and democratic nation. Yet people lay down their life to protect this very freedom and democracy.
In Indira Sawhney case, apart from holding "caste" based reservation constitutional,SC categorically ruled out reservation in "promotions" saying it violates Right to Equality ( Article 16 ) . But still allowed it to go on for five years ( Why? ). Does already not much have been learnt from dark old days of emergency to protect our fundamental rights ?
But this did not end just here. Yesterday, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment proudly declared that government is making bill to bring reservation in "promotions". Opposition will play happily along. They will move a constitutional amendment bill probably adding a new Article 16 (5) reading Nothing in this article ( read Article 16 ) shall prevent the government from making any special provision for promotion of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.For a sample,you can read original Article 335 and the change thereof through eighty-second constitutional amendment act.
But why this farce ? Why not simply outlaw Article 16 itself ? After all, Right to Property was discarded from our fundamental rights list. Move out Right to Equality too. If upper castes are second-class citizens of this country, just treat them so. Why this whole big play of constitution,parliament,amendment and court ?
What was their crime ? That an ancient law-maker had divided the society into caste and it was discriminatory in nature. Are not the modern law-makers doing just the same thing ? There is no way to determine whether Manusmiriti was followed in words and spirit. After all we can clearly see how our present day rights and constitution are being upheld. There is no way one correct the mistakes of time gone by but every ancient society was discriminatory. The greatest champion of human rights,USA,battled racism a few decades ago. But they did not end up discriminating against present white population. You don't treat a rapist son with scorn,why to blame someone for ages gone by ?
A secular state should be secular in words and spirits. No one desires to protect casteism in this country. Using constitution to that effect would be disastrous for this country. After all a lot of ancient texts exist supporting equality of all men, and not only men but women too. It is true that the nation delved into superstition,anarchy,ignorance and casteism. But this should not stop us from making this nation great again. Kamasutra around 2000 years ago outlawed marital violence. We as a nation are still trying to come with terms to that. Such protections now exist only in very advanced countries. The recent furor over comments by Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development is a jolt reminder. Granting access to a solitary temple through intervention of court wont we of much help. Modernity is the greatest attack on casteism as recorded by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India. Let this ancient demon be slayed by the giant-killer time itself. And most importantly, if you can not provide protection to people enjoying their basic right to have their partner of their choice from the tyranny of khap panchayat, what is the point of having all this laws and cops. Young men and women marrying out of their castes and the biggest guarantors of equality. Do stand with them. Make bridges, don't exploit the caste divisions. Khap panchayats does it illegally, our politicians demanding votes based on caste reservations do it legally under the watchful eyes of both election commission and the honourable courts.
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Dishonouring the Mandate
The voter's honeymoon with the new government was already over by the time of election in Bihar. Now it seems the marriage too will be over.Policy paralysis,a regular feature of the outgoing government seems to be a malady with the new government too.Of course they have a policy.A majority too in the Lok Sabha.But still their bills linger and linger and linger in the Rajya Sabha.That too when we have PM who was charged for being severely authoritarian when it came to running the administration as the head of a state.And the another feature,actually the only working policy,of the previous government,corruption seems to have made its first dent in the new government.The government stand is emulative of its administration.Yes,you read it write.The clean imaged Premier is bent on keeping the minister with such a dubious administrative record.
After all, what are Arun Jaitley's achievements.A turnaround on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's classified papers and few filmy dialogues on the culprits having accounts in tax havens.Gentleman are you there to play treasure hunt with Congress party.You seem too much worried about embarrassment the Congress will face.Or was it your own money form DDCA?And the fate of much anticipated GST bill.He declared we will incorporate all the demands of Congress party.If this was the case,why did we elect you in the first place.We had managed with Congress for 60 years.Five more would not have been too long.
And Prime Minister insistence on following Atal Bihari Vajpayee's path on the issue of dealing with a minister having corruption charges is noteworthy.But the problem is Modi is no Vajpayee and Jaitley is no Advani.He is not facing some flimsy charges by assailants unknown.He was the presiding authority at the head of DDCA. Before being elevated to the post of FM,he was walking behind the now infamous BCCI president Srinivasan along with the little know Congress leader Rajiv Shukla.People desiring to cross oceans don't usually fish in shallow waters but this is the usual case with BJP.They are hounded out and thrashed on petty issues.Remember their party president was caught on the camera taking a sum of mere Rs.1 lakh.Compare this with the money involved in 2G or Coalgate or CWG.And see the approach BJP undertakes towards exposing Congress leaders facing corruption charges. Subramaniam Swamy who forced Sonia and Rahul to seek bail like ordinary citizens does not have much clout in the party.It seems no one is even giving him support.Statement by leaders in parliament is at best lax.They seem to be on the back-foot and Congress is again dreaming a rerun of 1978 and then 1980.Sonia Gandhi is comfortably drawing analogy with Indira Gandhi.No lessons learnt sincethen by the BJP.And lets not forget the original scam that rocked India,the Bofors scam.How well BJP managed to surround the Congress.Twenty-five year onwards both Quattrocchi and the furore is dead.
And now the BJP has suspended Kirti Azad.As if he has created the mood against the government or its star minister.A typical case of shooting the messenger.And if you think this will be another passing moment like your discarding the elders like Jaswant Singh,Advani and Yashwant Sinha you are grievously wrong.The government is already in the midst of so much attack over intolerance.The few right-wing intellectual the BJP thankfully had including Arun Shourie and Subramaniam Swamy have all been kept in the bay.Combine it with the revolutionary bills which would have ushered India into the promised acche din. A government with a full-majority in Lok Sabha is having problems in passing its desired laws.Suddenly,the Rajya Sabha appears too crucial.They are waiting for the change in composition of the Rajya Sabha to take place.Sometimes by 2018.Elections in the Lok Sabha will take place the very next year.
Time is reap for the BJP either to read the writing on the wall.Or for the people to be more clever in electing the next government. Vajpyee showed that even non-Congress government can run in this country.Modi seems to show us "The importance of Rajya Sabha in the functioning of Indian democracy and the powers enjoyed by them".Never ever was this on display.And if you insist on throwing the authority bestowed upon you by the people in the historic 2014 general elections,little wonder that after the change in composition of RS in 2018 we will have a change in the composition of LS in 2019.At the end of the day,voters do not elect members to the Rajya Sabha and least interested in knowing what they are doing in the Parliament.The lessons you want your leaders to take to the people over the conduct of Rajya Sabha members,you better keep to yourself.In a democracy,the public is not your student to take your lessons.They are the evaluator who will judge you by your results.
Friday, 13 November 2015
The Secular Saga
Before we answer this question,lets dig a little to know just why did UK media raised such a sensitive issue within a highly successful tour?Because this single issue is too dear for our media-persons to let it take a backbench.And join it with the recent furore over intolerance in our country and you will realize what's the hottest news gossip available.What the Indian media has portrayed to the world at large is that we are soon going to face a genocide against Muslims in our country.That our country is just a mirror image of Pakistan,better still a Hindu Pakistan.Almost the entire country is up against the government to protect the secular ethos and all our legends are being crumpled(remember the good old days of emergency)."The situation is far worse than during emergency".Gentleman,far from saying it,if even you have thought about saying something like these during those golden ages of Indira Gandhi,you would have been languishing in jail.And your statement would have never appeared in media.Either you think the current generation knows nothing about the emergency or you think they are naive to be taught and tutored just anything.
True,some gruesome deaths have taken place.And some motor-mouth ministers have taken foolish stands over them.The ministers are much to be blamed.But so are the state government who failed to uphold the law.Their was not a systematic killing or a majority-backed genocide.Rationalist were killed by those disagreeing to their views and police failed to provide them security.This first of all impairs on their right to free speech.Everyone should feel free to express his views whatever that may be and then we should have civilized debates over them.The government should at least now so some efficiency and grab the killers.Why are they still at large and who is to be blamed for this failure?The Dadri lynching was no doubt a separate issue and directly related to the Hindu-Muslim conflict.The mob reaction was cruelly shocking.A systematic probe to grab all the culprits is the necessity of the day.But what the media tried to do was inflame the passions and develop a riot-like situation.Just no one,not even Hindus shared the views of the mob.Their was no spillover of the mob reaction.The decades of the 90's are long past.The media clamour was grabbed by the opposition and led to a series of award-vapasi program.The throat that never uttered a word when the nation stood by Anna Hazare on the anti-corruption plank or when the Delhi youths braved water canon in the cold December nights demanding justice for a rape victim,just in four years flat are crying tears of blood thanks to their "waken(raised will be a wrong word,it was sleeping)" conscience.When the national exchequer was robbed of amount in the tunes of 1.76 lakh crore in 2G scam and 1.86 lakh crore in coal scam(right under the eyes of then PM) not just the "idea" of India but the actual nation and its people were in for trouble.Nevertheless,in spite of all the awakening of conscience and the threat to democracy the state government though led by an opposition party,chose to keep quiet.Why?
All such media-headlines died last week and gave way to proclaiming Nitish Kumar's grand victory in Bihar elections on the plank of development as against the communal agenda of Modi and BJP.Riding on this plank of development alongside Nitish was the "social inclusion" champion Laloo who made a comeback.Bihar elections will remain a hallmark for showing that people prefer development over communal agenda.The penchant that people of Bihar have for development is infectious(it spilled over to UP,Jharkhand and now West Bengal).No doubt they elected the wonderful administrator that Laloo was for straight fifteen years.Fifteen years,fifteen long years of jungle-raj(the term was originally used by HC about Bihar government during Laloo's reign) was said to be an euphemism for social empowerment by our honoured jounalists.And much hailed development works by Nitish Kumar won JDU third highest vote in the assembly elections.Laloo started his campaign on a high note declaring it to be a fight between upper castes and lower castes.The media added the third dimension of communal agenda.This Bihar election result was decided to be a referendum on Modi's work in last eighteen months,the defeat to take the shine out of his UK visit.Not going into much details,he has launched 'Make in India' campaign to give a boost to manufacturing in India.Bihar does not have any industry worth its name.Employment opportunity is almost nil.The state has developed its roadways after sixty-seven years of independence.Electricity will reach probably before hundredth.India is the fastest growing economy,a world player.We will be developing world class cities and grab an UNSC seat which is not just a demand,but our just right.Too large and too powerful a nation our PM does represents and its very unkindly to judge him in the international arena by a state election and the tirade which was necessarily created to keep him down and out.
Thursday, 24 September 2015
Breaking the Unbreakable
She never demanded any priority due to her regional or religious status hailing from a Christian family in Manipur.Instead of providing her a helping hand,the sports administration and referees indulged in what she calls a regional and racial bias.When an entertainer like Shahrukh Khan faces a similar bias in United States it hits repeated headlines and causes what could best be described as sentimental crisis of people crying undue harassment of an Orient just because he is a Muslim.Such hypocrites never find a tear or two to shed for a girl who fights under the Indian flag and for the dignity of the nation.The land which worships girl child as Goddess of Strength,Durga is hell bent on breaking the unbreakable,Mary Kom.
M C Mary Kom is no ordinary boxer.Despite being still active in her game,she already has a legendary status in World Boxing.She is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championship.That she managed to retain her world championship even after becoming a mother of twins is no small miracle.Her place in Indian boxing is indispensable being the only woman boxer to qualify for last Olympics.And this very 'Magnificent Mary' is repeatedly compared with an anonymous boxer from Haryana.Not only that,she has often been declared a looser in their duel.Either the world is a fool to grace her as the unconquerable force of woman boxing or the Indian judges are a class apart having divine powers to judge.
If this is the attitude Indians have towards the greatest living ambassador of Indian Sports,no doubt we are still bracketed with some of the least developed nations in the world in any major sporting event.And if she faces such calamities,God forbid what the commoners their are facing.In spite of half-a-century of insurgency in her state,Mary Kom has repeatedly stressed her being an Indian and deserving equal respect.If the government is still failing to provide her with her due respect,it is being a traitor to national interest.It should close down all this tamasha about 'Unity in Diversity' and 'Woman Empowerment' with immediate effect.
Better still,since China has a long standing demand over India's North-East owing to irredentism,people who indulge in a racial bias with them,must be tied for sedition for forwarding Chinese claims.If the government has been able to contain discrimination based on caste,I see no reason for their failing to provide the basic dignity of being an Indian to all citizens.It would be better if Ministry for North-East could be handed powers and authority similar to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the culprits could be tied under similar laws.A more shameful feature is the prevalence of this mentality in educational institutes.Literacy rates are very high in North-Eastern states but unfortunately they have to face a lot of unwanted situations when they pursue higher education,especially in most developed of our states,Delhi.Students in such acts must be booked for criminal breach of conduct and essentially expelled from their colleges.
Rather than the joke being on them,it is on us.We are in no way comparable to them when it comes to educating ourselves.Only making money out of the industries and congratulating ourselves on our progress is idiotic.North-East is lagging only because we were not capable of providing them with any proper source of travelling and communication,be it roadways or railways.Mary Kom has already redeemed her pledge to the nation with her sweat and gained her place as the most glorious child of Mother India in our generation,If even this child has to cry,its only because we have the blood of an unworthy and inferior child.
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Why the Vogue video misses the point ?
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी
Between this couplet by freedom fighter and one of the most famous poetess of Hindi literature Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and the Vogue video with Deepika Padukone over women empowerment,I don't know whether the girls have progressed or have become just a copycats sycophants of the west.
You need not look far,you just to need through the three women discussed in the post.Rani Lakshmi Bai and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan fighting for the true "freedom" and Deepika Padukone demanding "freedom" for adultery.
Its true that if male chauvinism was allowed to deride Rani Lakshmi Bai and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan,India's glorious history and literature would have been a bit dimmer.The need is to promote feminist culture.But its really sad if this culture is all about dress,sex and misguided notions of modernity.
One thing is that the video is boring to the core.Secondly it promotes in the name of equal standards few things that are shameful even by men standards.You are not actually equalizing the standards,you are just pulling them down and down.The need is to provide better education,nutrition,amenities and safety to the millions of growing girls.In a society where dowry and sexual harassments are incidents of day-to-day life,the video talks about rights that are unheard of in the east.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPv7IEhWRA
Girls have always found utmost respect in the Indian society from ages past.The need is to imbibe back that culture again.This will take considerable effort and education.Meanwhile rather than promoting free sex and adultery,the people behind the video could have done better by promoting faithfulness and love among both the genders.If men are strolling the wrong path,force them to see the light.To encourage women to walk the same path can never be the solution.
Between the modernist designs to see a west in India and the culturalist fantasy of following the Taliban standards,somewhere the ancient land of Sita,Gargi and Padmini is lost long away.
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी
Between this couplet by freedom fighter and one of the most famous poetess of Hindi literature Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and the Vogue video with Deepika Padukone over women empowerment,I don't know whether the girls have progressed or have become just a copycats sycophants of the west.
You need not look far,you just to need through the three women discussed in the post.Rani Lakshmi Bai and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan fighting for the true "freedom" and Deepika Padukone demanding "freedom" for adultery.
Its true that if male chauvinism was allowed to deride Rani Lakshmi Bai and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan,India's glorious history and literature would have been a bit dimmer.The need is to promote feminist culture.But its really sad if this culture is all about dress,sex and misguided notions of modernity.
One thing is that the video is boring to the core.Secondly it promotes in the name of equal standards few things that are shameful even by men standards.You are not actually equalizing the standards,you are just pulling them down and down.The need is to provide better education,nutrition,amenities and safety to the millions of growing girls.In a society where dowry and sexual harassments are incidents of day-to-day life,the video talks about rights that are unheard of in the east.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPv7IEhWRA
Girls have always found utmost respect in the Indian society from ages past.The need is to imbibe back that culture again.This will take considerable effort and education.Meanwhile rather than promoting free sex and adultery,the people behind the video could have done better by promoting faithfulness and love among both the genders.If men are strolling the wrong path,force them to see the light.To encourage women to walk the same path can never be the solution.
Between the modernist designs to see a west in India and the culturalist fantasy of following the Taliban standards,somewhere the ancient land of Sita,Gargi and Padmini is lost long away.
Friday, 30 January 2015
Mahatma is Immortal in his Death
Today is death anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.Although sixty seven years have passed since his death still the Mahatma is being remembered as usual.But after the historic elections to the Lower House of Indian Parliament,one man who is being remembered earnestly is Nathuram Godse,the assassinator of Mahatma Gandhi.Situations have become so grim that today hardly any tributes have been paid to Mahatma without invoking Godse's name.Most of the people are busy pointing towards the attempt by Hindu right wings to honour Nathuram Godse.They are pouring hate towards Godse without having any serious love for Bapu.The thing is that they want to use the situation to beat black and blue over the intentions of the new government.And,remember what path the right wing organizations are treading to honour Nathuram Godse.They have decided to built a temple in his honour.Both of them are doing huge injustice to both Mahatma and Godse.
A man is the combination of both good and evil.No man born is perfect,so,says the legend of Lord Ram,one who was termed Maryda Purshottam (man of perfect conduct) for his flawlessness.Now,Mahatma had his share of flaws.They were never important as long as he was in the helm of Indian freedom movement.His control over the affairs of the nation had suffered a drastic setback by the time India won its Independence.This didn't at all mean that he didn't enjoyed the support of public which swayed according to the directions of his soul.He had simply been sidelined by the Congress party which no more needed his ethics and virtue to enjoy their newly found treasure of power.The country was divided despite his reservations and Muslim League and Congress found their respective goals.But there lies an important catch.A partition had taken place about which Gandhiji is believed to have said will take place only over my corpse.Mahatma put on all efforts to convince Congress to reject the idea of partition but failed to do so.But the story didn't end there.Soon after Pakistan secured its independence from Britishers and a division from India,it launched a scathing attack on the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir.That too when all the conditions of partition had not been fulfilled.One of the conditions required India to pay Rs.75 crores to Pakistan.The amount was to be paid in two instalments.The first instalment of Rs.20 crores had already been paid and the Indian government decided to withheld the payment of Rs.55 crore to put pressure on the Pakistan government.It was an open secret that the Pakistani establisment will use the money to buy arms and ammunition to sustain its Kashmiri adventure.However,Mahatma Gandhi who was a strict observer of his principles found the stand of Indian side unethical and was using his influence to force the Indian government to change its stand.He wanted the government to release the fund and he even proclaimed his desire to go to Pakistan with the money so that he can show the correct path to the Pakistan government too.This was in January 1948,the same month that Gandhi was assassinated.
Under such situations a man decided to eliminate Mahatma Gandhi.He has been described by some scholars as a mad Hindu.Mad you can argue,but Hindu was simply an attempt to give the murder a religious flavour.Nathuram Godse's statement over the assassination has been kept out of public by the Union government.However,the stories that have come out have pointed to political connections.This may be true considering Godse's association with right wing outfits.However dismissing him as a mad his rather silly.He did it with dead precision and clear consideration.His motive may not have been disclosed by the government but this does not barres us from speculating the reasons for the murder.There may have been religious inkling inside the conspiracy but no one can deny the immediate political fallout of the murder.It would have served a much better purpose had RSS had similar organizations worked hard to research the reasons for the shocking murder of the Father of the Nation rather than honour the murderer.
However,this does not at all mean that Nathuram Godse was a traitor or terrorist bent on harming the nation.Seeing the situation from the other perspective one arrives at the inevitability of Mahatma's death.Bapu felt that people of both the countries,India and Pakistan,were like his sons.He failed to see that Pakistan will soon turn into a Islamic nation (it was secular at the time of its Independence) were the people will have no respect for the life-long service and sacrifice he gave for the freedom of both the nations.Books in Pakistan describe him as a "Hindu" leader.It will be good if could show more sense and not dismiss Bapu as a "Muslim" nation.He was in the truest sense,a father-like figure for both Hindus and Muslims,and all other religions living in India.But one thing that we all must not forget is that if indeed Mahatma Gandhi had been able to secure the due amount for Pakistan he would never been remembered as fondly as he is remembered today.He would forever have been dismissed in this country as a "Muslim" leader.Just imagine,the man who changed the world scenario forever with his tools of peace and non-violence would have had a haughty legend of being a religious leader in the 2-nations whose independence was secured under his leadership.
A man is the combination of both good and evil.No man born is perfect,so,says the legend of Lord Ram,one who was termed Maryda Purshottam (man of perfect conduct) for his flawlessness.Now,Mahatma had his share of flaws.They were never important as long as he was in the helm of Indian freedom movement.His control over the affairs of the nation had suffered a drastic setback by the time India won its Independence.This didn't at all mean that he didn't enjoyed the support of public which swayed according to the directions of his soul.He had simply been sidelined by the Congress party which no more needed his ethics and virtue to enjoy their newly found treasure of power.The country was divided despite his reservations and Muslim League and Congress found their respective goals.But there lies an important catch.A partition had taken place about which Gandhiji is believed to have said will take place only over my corpse.Mahatma put on all efforts to convince Congress to reject the idea of partition but failed to do so.But the story didn't end there.Soon after Pakistan secured its independence from Britishers and a division from India,it launched a scathing attack on the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir.That too when all the conditions of partition had not been fulfilled.One of the conditions required India to pay Rs.75 crores to Pakistan.The amount was to be paid in two instalments.The first instalment of Rs.20 crores had already been paid and the Indian government decided to withheld the payment of Rs.55 crore to put pressure on the Pakistan government.It was an open secret that the Pakistani establisment will use the money to buy arms and ammunition to sustain its Kashmiri adventure.However,Mahatma Gandhi who was a strict observer of his principles found the stand of Indian side unethical and was using his influence to force the Indian government to change its stand.He wanted the government to release the fund and he even proclaimed his desire to go to Pakistan with the money so that he can show the correct path to the Pakistan government too.This was in January 1948,the same month that Gandhi was assassinated.
Under such situations a man decided to eliminate Mahatma Gandhi.He has been described by some scholars as a mad Hindu.Mad you can argue,but Hindu was simply an attempt to give the murder a religious flavour.Nathuram Godse's statement over the assassination has been kept out of public by the Union government.However,the stories that have come out have pointed to political connections.This may be true considering Godse's association with right wing outfits.However dismissing him as a mad his rather silly.He did it with dead precision and clear consideration.His motive may not have been disclosed by the government but this does not barres us from speculating the reasons for the murder.There may have been religious inkling inside the conspiracy but no one can deny the immediate political fallout of the murder.It would have served a much better purpose had RSS had similar organizations worked hard to research the reasons for the shocking murder of the Father of the Nation rather than honour the murderer.
However,this does not at all mean that Nathuram Godse was a traitor or terrorist bent on harming the nation.Seeing the situation from the other perspective one arrives at the inevitability of Mahatma's death.Bapu felt that people of both the countries,India and Pakistan,were like his sons.He failed to see that Pakistan will soon turn into a Islamic nation (it was secular at the time of its Independence) were the people will have no respect for the life-long service and sacrifice he gave for the freedom of both the nations.Books in Pakistan describe him as a "Hindu" leader.It will be good if could show more sense and not dismiss Bapu as a "Muslim" nation.He was in the truest sense,a father-like figure for both Hindus and Muslims,and all other religions living in India.But one thing that we all must not forget is that if indeed Mahatma Gandhi had been able to secure the due amount for Pakistan he would never been remembered as fondly as he is remembered today.He would forever have been dismissed in this country as a "Muslim" leader.Just imagine,the man who changed the world scenario forever with his tools of peace and non-violence would have had a haughty legend of being a religious leader in the 2-nations whose independence was secured under his leadership.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
The Outcast Heroes
" history is written by the victors "
Some great king,politician or poet said that.May be Napoleon,may be Churchill.Exact source is quite unknown.But one thing is for sure - he was great.He was great by the shear magnitude of his words.Coming to the Indian context,not only history but also the signboards of all the famous monuments and universities have been written by the victors.The Independence of India is seen to be the magical of a single party,with 'The Family' at its helm and Mahatma as its spiritual guide.So much so,that the role of Indira Gandhi as the head of Monkey Brigade has now become legendary.I too heard the story as a child.But what you don't get to hear in Independent India is the story of millions and millions of commoners who died fighting for their motherland.And their fight was not the non-violent fight preached by Mahatma Gandhi.They paid the price in blood.Chandrasekhar Aazad,the man who fought till his second last bullet,only to put the last bullet in his own temple so as to be not captured by the Britishers alive,died in the famous Company Garden of Allahabad.After Independence,the Garden was renamed Motilal Nehru Park.Only after much furore,the particular spot of Aazad's martyrdom was encircled and named after him.Veer Savarkar was never arrested and kept in the infamous Cellular Jail or Kaala Paani for petty crime like theft.He was involved in serious political activities which included a struggle against the British Empire for India's freedom.Yet he was not even given the monthly pension customary for freedom fighters until Nehru was Prime Minister.No honour was bestowed upon the man who served the gruesome jail term of eleven years under the evil British laws in a place where hell and death were things one dreamt of attaining.Not even in his death,although Indians are none to glorifying one and all after their deaths.All because he was a political opponent of Congress.Another man who never bowed to the Britishers but was soon systematically ignored by subsequent governments after Independence was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.But he was not just a political opponent.He was the man who commanded the respect of the commoners and the mighty alike.Be it Hitler or Stalin in 1940's or the common Congress worker in the 1920's and 30's.The man who served as Congress President,winning the election only after defeating a candidate supported by Mahatma himself but had to go because of "differences" with the 'High Command',had the weight of 60000 strong soldiers behind him.And a nation which thought him as another pole of India's freedom struggle.With his slogan "Tum Mujhe Khoon Do,Mai Tumhe Aazadi Dunga (Give me blood,and I will give you freedom)" and "Dilli Chalo (Capture Delhi)" he was a man whose voice could be clearly heard and felt far and wide at a time when even Gandhi was compelled into using the term "Do or Die".And that proved to his undoing.That a man single-handedly raises a force and declares a war against the mightiest empires of its time,is quite unheard of in the entire history.And what a dedicated force!Two-third of his soldiers fought till their last breath.And those who were left alive in the war were not even accepted as freedom fighters in Independent India.They never got their due credit in the freedom struggle(in the words of NSA Ajit Doval).So much so,they were even kept out of the Indian Army.No government tried to celebrate the contribution of Netaji in freedom struggle or even tried to dig his whereabouts.He was a man whose presence or even discussion in independent India could have hurt the treatment of India's independence as the sole handiwork of the ruling dynasty.The glorious fighter was fatefully or forcefully faded into oblivion.But the harsh truth is that these freedom fighters were never fighting for petty prizes or to sit on the throne of Independent India.It was a selfless struggle for their Motherland and for the self pride which never allowed them to become allies of the Empire(Subhash Chandra Bose came fourth in the esteemed ICS Exams).Even the politicians of Bengal,who are famous for protecting and promoting the relics of its legends,only paid lip-service to Netaji.While the poets and painters continue to bash in the cultural saga of the state,Netaji is a forgotten hero.
Some great king,politician or poet said that.May be Napoleon,may be Churchill.Exact source is quite unknown.But one thing is for sure - he was great.He was great by the shear magnitude of his words.Coming to the Indian context,not only history but also the signboards of all the famous monuments and universities have been written by the victors.The Independence of India is seen to be the magical of a single party,with 'The Family' at its helm and Mahatma as its spiritual guide.So much so,that the role of Indira Gandhi as the head of Monkey Brigade has now become legendary.I too heard the story as a child.But what you don't get to hear in Independent India is the story of millions and millions of commoners who died fighting for their motherland.And their fight was not the non-violent fight preached by Mahatma Gandhi.They paid the price in blood.Chandrasekhar Aazad,the man who fought till his second last bullet,only to put the last bullet in his own temple so as to be not captured by the Britishers alive,died in the famous Company Garden of Allahabad.After Independence,the Garden was renamed Motilal Nehru Park.Only after much furore,the particular spot of Aazad's martyrdom was encircled and named after him.Veer Savarkar was never arrested and kept in the infamous Cellular Jail or Kaala Paani for petty crime like theft.He was involved in serious political activities which included a struggle against the British Empire for India's freedom.Yet he was not even given the monthly pension customary for freedom fighters until Nehru was Prime Minister.No honour was bestowed upon the man who served the gruesome jail term of eleven years under the evil British laws in a place where hell and death were things one dreamt of attaining.Not even in his death,although Indians are none to glorifying one and all after their deaths.All because he was a political opponent of Congress.Another man who never bowed to the Britishers but was soon systematically ignored by subsequent governments after Independence was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.But he was not just a political opponent.He was the man who commanded the respect of the commoners and the mighty alike.Be it Hitler or Stalin in 1940's or the common Congress worker in the 1920's and 30's.The man who served as Congress President,winning the election only after defeating a candidate supported by Mahatma himself but had to go because of "differences" with the 'High Command',had the weight of 60000 strong soldiers behind him.And a nation which thought him as another pole of India's freedom struggle.With his slogan "Tum Mujhe Khoon Do,Mai Tumhe Aazadi Dunga (Give me blood,and I will give you freedom)" and "Dilli Chalo (Capture Delhi)" he was a man whose voice could be clearly heard and felt far and wide at a time when even Gandhi was compelled into using the term "Do or Die".And that proved to his undoing.That a man single-handedly raises a force and declares a war against the mightiest empires of its time,is quite unheard of in the entire history.And what a dedicated force!Two-third of his soldiers fought till their last breath.And those who were left alive in the war were not even accepted as freedom fighters in Independent India.They never got their due credit in the freedom struggle(in the words of NSA Ajit Doval).So much so,they were even kept out of the Indian Army.No government tried to celebrate the contribution of Netaji in freedom struggle or even tried to dig his whereabouts.He was a man whose presence or even discussion in independent India could have hurt the treatment of India's independence as the sole handiwork of the ruling dynasty.The glorious fighter was fatefully or forcefully faded into oblivion.But the harsh truth is that these freedom fighters were never fighting for petty prizes or to sit on the throne of Independent India.It was a selfless struggle for their Motherland and for the self pride which never allowed them to become allies of the Empire(Subhash Chandra Bose came fourth in the esteemed ICS Exams).Even the politicians of Bengal,who are famous for protecting and promoting the relics of its legends,only paid lip-service to Netaji.While the poets and painters continue to bash in the cultural saga of the state,Netaji is a forgotten hero.
Friday, 31 October 2014
भोपाल गैस त्रासदी : जिसे देश ने भूला दिया
वारेन एंडरसन की आज अमेरिका में मृत्यु हो गयी । आर्थिक वैश्विकरण के बाद देश में आए उद्योगीकरण और उससे जुड़े पैसे एवं खुशाली की बयार में लोगों ने इस मनुष्यरूपी दानव को भुला दिया । किसी नेता ने कभी उन मासूमों के हक़ में आवाज नही उठाई । कोई नेता इससे आजाद भारत के सीने पे सबसे बड़े बोझ के तौर पे याद नही करता । साल सन 1984 का ही था । देश में दंगे हुए थे । आज ही के दिन 30 साल पहले देश ने इंदिरा गांधी को खो दिया था । सब याद रह गया पर भोपाल गैस त्रासदी भुला दिया गया । दरअसल राजनीतिक हस्त-छेप नहीं था न । वरना मुर्दे कभी बिना गिने गाड़े नहीं जाते । 16000 आदमी या तो मारे गए या ज़िंदगी भर के लिए अपाहिज़ बना दिए गए । पंच-परमेश्वर ने सजा भी तय की थी,दो साल की । गौरतलब है की ये विश्व का अबतक का सबसे व्यापक औद्योगिक अपराध था । 2-3 दिसंबर के बीच की रात हुए इस त्रासदी के तुरंत बाद भारत आया । भोपाल की सैर भी की । सरकार की गाड़ी में उसे घुमाया गया । उसके बाद वो देश छोड़ के हमेशा के लिए चला गया । मध्य-प्रदेश में अर्जुन सिंह की सरकार थी और केंद्र में थें नवनिर्वाचित प्रधान-मंत्री और स्वर्गीय प्रधान-मंत्री इंदिरा गांधी के सुपुत्र राजीव गांधी । देश का सबसे बड़ा मुज़रिम विदेश से भोपाल पहुंचा, यहाँ तक की सरकारी गाड़ी में घुमा और फिर आराम से लौट गया । पर न अर्जुन सिंह ने ध्यान दिया और न राजीव गांधी को खबर मिली । बाद के सरकारों ने भी कुछ नहीं किया । हाँ एक तस्वीर है । बच्चे की ज़मीन में दबी एक खोपड़ी है । आत्मा को ताउम्र रुलाएगी । सिर्फ मेरी आपकी नहीं इस देश की धरती माँ पे एक ऐसा धब्बा है जो भोपाल की हवा की तरह कभी साफ़ नहीं होगा । आज जब विज्ञानं और उद्योगीकरण का ज़माना है तो युवा पीढ़ी के लिए महत्वपूर्ण है की इस घटना को याद में बसाया जाये । हाँ अगर मीडिया को ये हंगामा करने से फुरसत मिल जाये की सरदार पटेल किसकी "संपन्ति" है तो एक बार आज फिर भोपाल की काली रात को याद कर दो बूंद आँशु बहा लेने चाहिए । राजीव नहीं,अर्जुन नहीं और अब तो एंडरसन भी नहीं । जवाब देने वाला कोई नहीं । पर न्याय होगा । इस लोक में में नहीं, इहलोक में । पर फिर इस अंधे कानून का क्या काम ? और क्या काम इन ज़मीर विहीन सत्ता के बादशाहों का जिनके लिए सारा मुल्क दरअसल एक रखैल मात्र है जो उन्हें सुख देता है । अच्छा है की आज सरदार पटेल की जयंती भी है । पहली बार मीडिया इतने व्यापक तौर पे उन्हें याद कर रही है । शर्म की बात है की ऐसे राजनेता को भुला दिया गया जिसके लिए ये धरती माता थी और सत्ता जनता की सेवा का माध्यम मात्र ।
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
ज़मीर का द्वन्द : एक धर्मयुद्ध
जो अब भी चैन से सो रहा बेकार उसकी जवानी है
जो अब भी नही खौला वो खून खून नही पानी है
कृष्ण राम के भूमि पे रोज़ पद्मिनी चिता चढ़ रही
हर तरफ मोहम्मद गज़नी की ही जयजयकार मची
खोया पृथ्वीराज का सपूत है जयचंद ने है सत्ता धरी
कब तक ये जड़ता सह लेंगे निर्बलता से मुह सी लेंगे
पूर्वजों ने जुबान पे जान दी है फिर ये सर कैसे झुका लेंगे
गंगा को भी लाल कर देंगे जिस दिन अपने आन पे ले लेंगे
मेदनीपति के वसुधा पे अब और न होने देंगे पाप
फिर उतरेंगे कई पार्थ रण में धनुष उठाने को बेताब
और आएगा एक मोहन सीखने गीता का अमर पाठ
अतंत तो सब को एक ही जगह एक ही में मिल जाना
पर जब तक साँस है जिंदा होने का फ़र्ज़ तो है निभाना
तपस्वी का तपोबल न परखो धरती को फिर आज़ाद करेंगे
मद में मशग़ूल बैठा है रावण उसे रामायण याद दिला देंगे
सहस्त्रभुजा से युद्ध करने का माद्दा हम भी दिखला देंगे
बहुत कर लिया फरियाद अब तो ये झूठी आस खत्म करो
योगनिद्रा में सोये है भगवान शक्ति का ही अाह्वाहन करो
रो रहा है खून तुम्हारा कम से कम उसका तो क़र्ज़ अदा करो
नीलाम होती है पुरुषत्व अब और सहने का धीज न धरो
शर्मसार होते आर्यव्रत की वीर संस्कृति का नाम ले लड़ो
जीत तुम्हारी ही है बस अपने कर्म की शुरुआत तो करो
अभी विनती कर रहे हैं अहिंसा धर्म मान गांधी की तरह
अब उठेंगे कफ़न बांधे भगत सिंह और आज़ाद की तरह
Saturday, 5 April 2014
The Temple and the kingdom
Mahatma Gandhi is said to have uttered 'Hey Ram' as his dying words.For a man,who spent all his life reading Quran sitting in Temple,his association with Ram can be best defined as an ideal administrator.He believed in the idea that present-day Uttar Pradesh indeed harboured what was once the Ram-Rajya described in Ramayana.As with all the attributes attached to his persona(Maryada Purshottam),the kingdom of Ram,Ayodha too like him was perfect.Invoking this sentiment was quite important in pre-independence India to show the derogatory effect of British Administration in India.Four decades into Independence,and still successive governments were promising Ram-Rajya in every election.The fifth decade proved revolutionary with right-wing politicians promising Ram temple apart from Ram-Rajya.This time the electoral was on fire.Another decade saw BJP clinging to power at the centre.The political outfit remaining mostly as an out-caste became the new band wagon for leaders of all hues who shaded themselves brilliantly under the pretext of supporting Atal Bihari Vajpayee,the most secular voice in a communal party.Economy and governance bore fruit of an stable administration,it was the first stable government after the liberalization of economy under PV Narshima Rao.However,the dream temple was never built.Then Gujarat riots took place and next election proved to be a mandate against the ruling BJP.Opinion polls had suggested otherwise and the shock was written off as anti-incumbency factor.However the opinion of the lost general,Vajpayee was ignored.He believed even after good governance and a secular image,he lost solely due to Gujarat riots.That one state determined the fate of his governance was a far-fetched cry according to many analyst.A man of much less stature,Vinay Katiyar lamented many years after the loss,we lost since we failed to fulfil our original promise.Winding quickly to the present times,exactly a deacde after the loss,the temple genie is again out.That too from the ground of Vinay Katiyar,the revered Uttar Pradesh.Nine months before,when Modi wave was still catching and he was still the grey horse,the belief of another BJP government at the center was a distant dream.His charisma and good works in Gujarat,most importantly,a three-times decisive mandate backing his development claims,ensured that this distant dream becomes the obvious.Still,his right-hand man,Amit Shah,needs to ask votes in the name of religion.Did he miscalculated or will his tactic burst the development plank of his mentor Modi.However good a leader Vajpayee was he failed to read a simple writing on the wall.If people voted for the same government for almost six out of seven decades of independent India,on the same belief of a Ram-Rajya,it was because the people never really expected the government to built an idea kingdom.Just the stories of good all times,each time said in a different clamour,was sufficient to keep people hooked to the massive political rallies.At least in Uttar Pradesh,were successive governments have given people simple choice,either I will waste your hard earned money in making my own idol(read Mayawati) or I will give you a law and order free governance(read Akhilesh Yadav),the talks of development will fall on deaf ears.Few people are interested in Ram-Rajya,the chunks will in the Temple were they can sit and pray for the Ram-Rajya.Last line,Mahatma Gandhi too belonged to Gujarat and Lord Ram from Uttar Pradesh.The roots of this country are too strong to be eroded by any individual.The situation of Uttar Pradesh forces one to cry tears of blood and Gujarat is an state which burnt continuously in the fire of riots after riots.
Monday, 27 January 2014
Tiger of Mysore
Tipu Sultan forever remained a silver lining in the modern history as the only ruler in modern Indian history who not only challenged the might of imperialist Britishers but was also able to snatch some glorious victories from their jaws.A defeat,ultimately,merged with his death in 1799.He did not led down his arms until he had breath,holding the highest ideals of bravery and kingship being followed in our country through ancient times.And his death was not only a result of fate but by the collaboration of mighty 'traitors' Maratha chieftains with the British Army.Apart his deewan too was bought by the Britishers.This as much is the recorded history of at least his last period,sufficient to earn him a place among the greatest rulers India ever had and the biggest challenge England ever faced in their colonialism of India.Only yesterday I had the pleasure of learning,after his icon was displayed in the R-Day parade that he was the 'traitor of Mysore'.Tipu Sultan ever bowed to the Britshers,no historical record suggest that.What is indeed controversial is his history before he became the nightmare of the Britishers.His zeal for his religion or conquest lead him to commit heinous crime against Hindus or Christians,including destruction of temples and ethnic cleansing of entire communities on suspect for being faithful to his enemy Hindu kings.But,Tipu Sultan was no Aurangzeb fighting for establishing the supremacy of Mughal Empire.He was a king fighting to protect India from foreign clutches.In fact,he later changed his anti-Hindu stand so that he gets enough support across the religious lines for his chivalry against Britishers.He was one of the rare Indian rulers of modern history who recognized the importance of navy in the changing world scenario and developed a powerful fleet along India's west coast.The diplomatic capacities of the ruler was exceptional in Indian history.Although Indian rulers frequently invited rulers from Afghanistan and further East to settle their scores over enemy states,Tipu Sultan read the world order right and forged an alliance with none other than powerful competitors of Britishers in world market,French.That European upstir slowing down French help should always be remembered as a lost chance of Indian independence.But Tipu Sultan was not the one who was much concerned with allies tuning hostile or stab by his own people.He fought alone against the colonization of our country when all odds had turned against him,even building probably the world's first missile.The history will certainly be kind to him while remembering the atrocious of his successors in Indian might,Britishers or even the selling of national soul by the Maratha chieftains.He may was a religious fanatic,but his exemplar and inspiring courage in India's fight against world order will certainly ensure the 'Tiger' will not be bestowed an honour below the jackal,both being wild and preying,Tiger commands respect for his valor that jackal lacks.His life is best summed in his own quote "It is far better to live like a lion for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years".
Thursday, 2 January 2014
Far Above Lokpal
The political battle for Parliament has become hotter in December cold with AAP sweeping Delhi.Alright,not sweeping,but becoming a considerable player and ultimately forming government at the Legislature.Whatever media has to say about the revolution,for a twenty-four-into-seven coverage,from bathroom to metro is giving the feelers of a Quit India movement or closer still the political drama of post-emergency in 1977,the corruption eradication revolution is unmistakably a revolution based on knowledge,past its prime.The more important matters of real ground-check is being seriously avoided by all,from politicians to journalists.May-be debating Delhi,Modi and Kejriwal will fetch more viewers to votes.The war for Delhi was mostly a two-way affair between BJP and AAP thanks to Congress suspicion for social-media thereby making youths suspicious of it.Coming closer to the heels of political debacle of ruling party,a bill that was stated to change the course of Indian governance forever and which was derided for almost five decades now,was passed with an unanimous applause from all sides.None other than the new carved almighty of Indian politics,AAP and the old-horse SP voiced against the bill.For entirely different reasons though.For AAP,the bill was not perfect thus it gave ample space for the forever merry-making corrupt practices and for SP,another five decades of debate was needed so that the alleged disproportionate asset case against their favourite leader never calls for harsher punishment.Nevertheless,all parties agreed that the bill was a monster leap against corruption and the small changes can be addressed later.A similar,but dilute bill was promised last year too but Anna and his team,riding high on public support had opposed citing many flaws.The flaws where addressed,alright but not in an exact manner as was wished by civil society.Why they compromised on the relevant point,especially one putting PM outside the loop of Lokpal,for the technicality of calling PM is more of a safe-guard,can not be ascertained at once.May be fractured ranks has taken the sheen out of their struggle.More importantly,an all-subduing authority,in the form of Lokpal is not very safe for democracy,specially what if it itself indulges in corruption.Afterall,other powerful agencies and authorities have been marred with several cooked or who knows,startling charges ranging from CJI,PM,CEC to chiefs of nodal agencies like CVC or CBI chief.But this debate can be rested as of know,since corruption has become a nerves formula,destroying the entire central system on which the governance functions and the country runs.The most shocking aspect of Lokpal,which no parties having a stake in the corruption movement pays a heed upon,is the rainbow federation of employees coming under purview of Lokpal.The authority is all now set posed to control five million government employees along with handful of powerful ministers.All voices talking about the mammoth work-load for Lokpal was silenced with harsh reasons,better still taunts.But its important to underline that all five millions,except the mighty few,already come under the vigil of different watch-dogs.These mighty few are the most respected and powerful occupants,the black-coat clad senior-most bureaucrats and the khadi wearer humble servant of the people.No authority or vigilance had the muscle powerful enough to fix them.All the massive corruption figures,from CWG,2G to Coal-gate,which caused so much furore in the nation,was not the work of a government clerk accepting few forgotten hundreds in some petty deal.Powerful officials from PMO to cabinet ministers were involved and business-man earning name,fame and reputation around the world were doubted.Yet a sinister attempt is being made to cover this multi-billions scam and concentrate instead on the corruption being faced by public in day-to-day life.So,there is a Lokpal.He will arrest and persecute peons and clerk,the lower-most effete of our society for taking a bribe of fifty or hundred rupees.While the people selling national asset like coal will wipe their hands clear of any black,before the Lokpal gets the time to look above the clinging corruption in lower honchos to a corruption being rising from a government policy fixed by none other than the Telecom Ministry in accord with the Finance Minister at the Lutyens.This Lokpal is not Akbar holding a big and powerful empire but its Bahadur Shah holding an empire big enough to be weak.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
नयी मंज़िले
कभी आता है कुछ याद
कभी कुछ भूल जाते है
वक़्त के पहलु मे अक्सर
जज़्बात कही खो जाते है
ये किसके लिए रोते है हम
और किसके लिए जिए जाते है
यहाँ कौन है अपना
जो हम रिश्ते बना लेते है
काँधे पे सर रख
दिल तो बहल जाता है
पर रोने का मन करे
तो हालात बदल जाता है
हाथ मे हाथ हो तो
ज़माने को खटकता है
मोहब्ब्त नही दीखती
तेरा हुस्न आँखों मे चढ़ता है
क्या करेगी ये दुनिया मेरा
फिर भी इन्साफ कि बाते होती है
जब तन्हा था तो सब अपने थे
जो तुम मेरे हुए सब पराये है
रास्ते नही बदले हों पर
मंज़िल बदल चुकी है
कल ना चूमूंगा होंठ तेरे
झूमेगी पर बाहों में सफलता मेरे
कभी कुछ भूल जाते है
वक़्त के पहलु मे अक्सर
जज़्बात कही खो जाते है
ये किसके लिए रोते है हम
और किसके लिए जिए जाते है
यहाँ कौन है अपना
जो हम रिश्ते बना लेते है
काँधे पे सर रख
दिल तो बहल जाता है
पर रोने का मन करे
तो हालात बदल जाता है
हाथ मे हाथ हो तो
ज़माने को खटकता है
मोहब्ब्त नही दीखती
तेरा हुस्न आँखों मे चढ़ता है
क्या करेगी ये दुनिया मेरा
फिर भी इन्साफ कि बाते होती है
जब तन्हा था तो सब अपने थे
जो तुम मेरे हुए सब पराये है
रास्ते नही बदले हों पर
मंज़िल बदल चुकी है
कल ना चूमूंगा होंठ तेरे
झूमेगी पर बाहों में सफलता मेरे
Monday, 18 November 2013
सफ़ेद कागज़
किसी को लम्हात रुलाता है
किसी को ख़यालात रुलाता है
मेरा तो ये हाल है हमनशीं
साथ लम्हात का ख़यालात रुलाता है
किसी का प्यार दूजा हो गया
किसी का प्यार पूजा हो गया
मेरा तो ये हाल है हमनशीं
प्यार पूजा,मैं दूजा हो गया
नाकामयाब मेरे इश्क़ कि मंज़िल
हृदयघात अपने साथ कि मंज़िल
मेरा तो ये हाल है हमनशीं
नाकामयाबी इश्क़,हृदयघात मंज़िल
ये प्यार सपना बन जायेगा
कोई और अपना बन जायेगा
मेरा तो ये हाल है हमनशीं
अपना कोई सपना बन जायेगा
पंक्तियों में मोहब्बत समेटता हुँ
जहाँ में न समाये वो गम समेटता हुँ
मेरा तो ये हाल है हमनशीं
रक्त भी सफ़ेद कागज़ में समेटता हुँ
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Wizard of Hockey
Major Dhyan Chand has not been considered for the first Bharat Ratna for excellence in sports.He did not deserved it,of course.The criterion for awarding the Ratna was too narrow to accommodate a sports-person in its preview.No complains.Period.And,Dhyan Chand was a true Ratna (jewel),not just for the nation but for the whole hockey and sports world as well.What he alone did for Indian hockey was magical.His records and number stand even six or seven decades later.Apart,he was the sole brand ambassador of hockey.Football had Pele and Maradona,cricket had Bradman and Sachin,but for hockey he was the only man to be remembered forever.To come more pointedly on Indian context,he was the architect of eight gold medals (the highest ever for any nation) in olympics ,three coming even before its independence.
Dhyan Chand did not belong to an era of commercialization.He played for the spirit of sports and not for money,as in those days sports had no money.The all powerful Hitler,after watching the 1936 olympic final on 15th August(if you want a heavenly sign,its it),offered Dhyan Chand the post of colonel in his army.No one in those eras,even powerful heads of nation,let alone sports-person,had guts to say no to Hitler.But,Dhyan Chand,who was a mere soldier,refused with a smile.He choose to remain a soldier but win laurels for his own nation.And,Hitler accorded him with immense respect,by not saying a word further.Don Bradman,who was no way related to hockey,was quoted as saying "he scores goals like run in cricket".Had it not for the second world war,two more gold medals were waiting to brighten his feathers.
He finally retired as a major in The Indian Army,never to become a colonel.Actually,we are a law-abiding nation.A man is promoted based entirely on his merit in his job.So what if the world worships him.And yes,while Dhyan Chand used to play,no media was there to cry hoax that world worships him.So,nation and politicians have no real idea of his merit.Youngsters,whose blood burns in an India-Pakistan match,most of them are not even sure about the olympic games in which Dhyan Chand made an appearance.After its discussed in the media,48 hours coverage is done on his life and news-channel debate his skills,may be Indian government will realize his worth.
When the horizon for Bharat Ratna had been widened to include sports-person,Dhyan Chand should have been the first choice.That he is no more in glamour,so can be excluded,is a bizarre way to judgement.Its not about Sachin being awarded the honour first,its about leaving him.He was senior,no money came for him selling tooth-pastes and biscuits,milk were not poured for his success,he did not hogged lime-light in those slow moving undeveloped nation.He,by all means deserved this honour,which poor nation could not afford for him during peak of his career,may be together,may be before.But not after.Already,this award has been given to people below standard.Sachin is sure to enhance the prestige of this award.But,Dhyan Chand,was and will remain forever above the clutches and glory of this award.The man who challenged Hitler's Aryan superiority theory,does not needs the blessings of rubber-stamp politicians to maintain his superiority above any other sports-person.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Pseudo Secularism
India,as a nation,if it really existed at the times of Ashoka the Great upto Akbar the Great was always cosmopolitan.The country,as Fahien wrote,was so proud about all its aspects of life,from science to economy,that it cared little about the thronging religious practices rampant in any other country.The culture of Hinduism was so much bifurcated with regional difference that any new religion hardly proved to be significant.Buddhism came and conquered without a single noted muscular opposition.So did Jainism,with its too rigid practices,Judaism originating from Israel and Christianity.After the advent of Islam,both Islam as well as Zoroastrianism came and thrived together in India.All religions were not disregarded but were patronized together with Kings offering due support to the communities with rich social,intellectual or cultural values mostly out of their sense of judgement and fair practice to all and sometimes due to their personal interest.Taking cue from all powerful Mauryan Empire of 2nd Century BC,Chandragupta Maurya,the founder followed Jainism,his son Bindusara,Hinduism and finally his grandson Ashoka the Great followed Buddhism.Advent of Muslim rulers from Afghan,caused much chaos with the looting and breaking down of many temples but the country soon absorbed the initial shocks to maintain their festive and brotherhood rhythm.Sikhism came and rose to prominence following religious debacle by Aurangzeb.English-men being too clever spread Christianity during their rule in 19th century only through the neglected classes of society without mingling with the practices of general masses.
Things changed forever when the country was divided along religious line during Independence.Divide and Rule was the principle British policy and many historian suggest that Britain actually believed that the two nation will sure plunder to come under their rule.Not a very insignificant conclusion,seeing the failed state of Pakistan although the new world order prevented it from becoming a colony.Evidences from that period suggest that,Mahatma,who had promised that the country would not be divided even on his dead body,was deserted by his own colleagues in the Congress party.So,when some people blame Nathuram Godse for killing the Mahatma,they should never forget that an issue dearer to him more than his life was back-stabbed by none other than the party whom he brought to the fore-front of Indian independence struggle and whose crop they cut even six decades after independence.What indeed was Nehru's take on not passing the crown to Jinnah was a majority thronged by Hindus will never accept a Muslim PM.During independence and partition that followed,Hindus and Sikhs were brutualy mascarred in Pakistan but the anger persistent in India was consciously diffused by sane sections.After independence,India became a secular country with a Muslim population even larger than the green new country of Pakistan.Muslims hardly needed to feel any twang of suspension about the secular nature of our constitution.Lots of learnt Muslims,including the first Education Minister,Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,stood testimony to the fact.
But,government was over-conscious and over-enthusiasm over the welfare of Muslims.As a result,the bill for the upliftment and modernisation of society,was termed as Hindu Code Bill.The bill,brain child of Nehru and Ambedkar,chose to keep Muslims out of its preview.Why?It will be done in future.The future never come.Delibrately or foolishly,it wound a blanket around the Muslims.That they must feel themselves differentiating from the majority slowly turned into a poison.Four decades later,Sikhs in Punjab were politicized into playing a blood-bath,and were soon cut to size with Operation Bluestar.Kashmiri Pundits were flushed out of their homes under the nose of central government which chose to go carefully this time(meaning wait and watch,do nothing).Their homes and the valley has since not been restored although the victims have been identified as the present dwellers of valley.They are again shielded from mingling with the majorities of the main-land as if the majorities will go on a killing spree if they are allowed to descend in the valley.Demand for the removal of ASFPA,which is termed draconian,is catching in recent years.Will the demanding Kashmiri politicians explain,what did they do as a responsible forebeares of Indian constitution,did to protect the fundamental right of life for the Kashmiri Pundits.The then CM,Abdullah has since been part of different central governments.The infamous Shah Bano case of 1986,although being about the plight of a single women,had a huge symbolic meaning.Muslim appeasement term was not just coined but its extent too was tasted.A ruling coming from the honourable Supreme Court was reversed on the whims of a PM who had gained more than two-third majority riding on the wave of hate against Sikhs following the assassination of his mother,preceding PM Indira Gandhi.Any chances of a feeling of equality between all communities was systematically broken,as much as that the law of land was not the same for all.Talking about the central government,what helped them treat the two states of Punjab and Kashmir differently.Certainly the census foretold them,they can treat the two minorities differently.Minority for them has become synonymous with Muslims,which in fact with a population of 18% hardly in any real vulnerability.The other minorities,together constituting almost 2% of population is systematically ignored.Its a pure vote bank politics.The constitution,law,society,secularism,fundamentalism and all sorts of ideal bench-marks fail against the ludicirious offer of crown through votes.A uniform civil code bringing uniformity in all,that should have been demand of every political ideology to promote feeling of brotherhood,was discarded so that Muslims can be alienated from other groups and can be treated simply has a bunch of votes.Forwarding to the next decade,an dilipidiated and controversial Mosque had Ayodhia was pulled down by a crowd supported by leaders of BJP.The most significant name missing from the spot and who criticized the whole episode was Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who riding on the wave of many things included but votes captured on the emotional propaganda of this fiasco,became PM within 6 years.Was the mentality of people in India had became so sick that they were voting for a tamasha,for the mosque episode was nothing but a mockery of sympathy for Hindus.The matter could have been peacefully and legally sorted out,as the decision from High Court showed.In another half century,a Supreme Court decision would have probably upheld the law of the land.But,would the then government would have cared.A law once revoked to favour a certain community for nothing but mass voting can certainly be given another chance.An ace is never a wasted card in a game.Many people who muster and almost force us to believe that Babri Mosque fiasco was the start of communalism in free India,must not forget the earlier episodes right from 1952 and Hindu Code Bill to the present demand of implementation of reservation along religious lines.BJP did a grave mistake,as was said by AB Vajpayee.It brought the veil of secularism to the fore-front of Indian politics,toring it and starting the naked dance of religion.But,Babri was only a methodology to do something different and come to be noticed.An anti-corruption venture during the rein of Manmohan Singh could also have done the same thing later.Afterall,Babri Mosque was not the only Mosque built on the ruins of a temple(there were numerous converted by Babar or Aurangzeb) neither it was the only one related to birth-place of a God(there is a mosque just at the entrance of Krishna birth-place in Mathura).Simply.Babri Mosque was disputed in court so it became an easy target.The episode forever ended the chances of identification of such mosques either for historical and religious purposes.Apart,it put Hindus on par with religions that use muscular strength for their spreading.But,it was actually in no way spreading,but simply a political chronicle discarded by almost a majority of Hindus.But,unrepairable harm had already been done to the religion.
Babri Mosque was not the only mosque felt in the entire world.As much as that,the mosque in which none other that the Prophet Mohammed had offered his prayers,was brought down,for a purpose as simple as building a road.But such information that could have diffused the tension,as had been done during partition,was rubbished.Important thing to understand here is the prevalent political conditions of those era.A saffron coloured party was gaining huge mileage thanks to its Rath Yatra bringing a new sense of bonding among all Hindus.Other major party,Congress had lost big time elections a couple of years earlier on high-profile Bofors issue halving its seats from 1984 to 1989.Situation was not getting any turn around with economy in chaos(pre-liberation era) and a government handicapped on coalition partners.Regional satraps,better said,caste-satraps were losing their respective holds as kamandal had certainly etched out mandal.All party choose to play the last ace of religion.Some,like BJP,Shiv Sena,Akali Dal sided with divided majority and others like Congress,SP,RJD,CPM and DMK choose to go with the consolidated minorities and branded themselves secular.No where,was the fundamental question of tumbling to religious politics relevant.Most of the secular parties did not hesitated in putting a fear in the minorities for the sake of votes.Necessary rights were treated as government favours.The required government support was not given until big boasts had been braided.The constitution protection to minorities was doled as an allowance by few parties.Most of these so-called secular parties including LJP,JD(S),NC,BSP and TMC never hesitated in forming a government with saffron parties.Remembering the two great icons of anti-Congress,JP and Lohiya,the parties and leaders born out of their good name,RJD and SP,left all shades of other socio-economic policies to join hands with Congress on secularism.
The real secular or communal never existed,nor will exist.Politics on issues pertaining to public completely lost out.So did,all alternate visions from Sampoorn Kranti of mid-70's to the sins of Punjab riots in 1984.When capital punishment issued out to a terrorist,Afzal Guru is made politically sensitive and justification is made for the deeds of IM,the jink must be broken,once and for all.
Three decades of change has not forced any big change in the attitude of all political parties.The belief that politics has moved beyond those era and people no longer vote on religious lines is only half conceived.The next general elections,against the wishes of public and the youth,is again a fight between saffron and green.The most important issues of price-rise and corruption,be it 2G,Coal-scam or CWG causing a cumulative loss of almost 4 lakhs crores to the exchequer is being neglected solely due to the opposition candidature of Godhra-tainted Narendra Modi.Decision on secular or communal character of Narendra Modi has not been left out to judiciary or public.Its daily teared in news-channels and election debates.What puts some party above board to throw mud at other is above any just thinking.But,in doing so,they are robbing people to vote with an eye on all issues,from women security,internal security,Pakistan and Bangladesh infiltration,price-rise,Lokpal,China's advances to just a remembrance of the religion they were born into.All parties,who have failed to make an impact on public welfare,are trying hard to pull us back to the dark eras of 1990's with riots after riots.Muzzafarnagar is just the cherry-top.More is coming unless youth does remember that the colour of blood is red,whatever be the party,saffron or green.
Things changed forever when the country was divided along religious line during Independence.Divide and Rule was the principle British policy and many historian suggest that Britain actually believed that the two nation will sure plunder to come under their rule.Not a very insignificant conclusion,seeing the failed state of Pakistan although the new world order prevented it from becoming a colony.Evidences from that period suggest that,Mahatma,who had promised that the country would not be divided even on his dead body,was deserted by his own colleagues in the Congress party.So,when some people blame Nathuram Godse for killing the Mahatma,they should never forget that an issue dearer to him more than his life was back-stabbed by none other than the party whom he brought to the fore-front of Indian independence struggle and whose crop they cut even six decades after independence.What indeed was Nehru's take on not passing the crown to Jinnah was a majority thronged by Hindus will never accept a Muslim PM.During independence and partition that followed,Hindus and Sikhs were brutualy mascarred in Pakistan but the anger persistent in India was consciously diffused by sane sections.After independence,India became a secular country with a Muslim population even larger than the green new country of Pakistan.Muslims hardly needed to feel any twang of suspension about the secular nature of our constitution.Lots of learnt Muslims,including the first Education Minister,Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,stood testimony to the fact.
But,government was over-conscious and over-enthusiasm over the welfare of Muslims.As a result,the bill for the upliftment and modernisation of society,was termed as Hindu Code Bill.The bill,brain child of Nehru and Ambedkar,chose to keep Muslims out of its preview.Why?It will be done in future.The future never come.Delibrately or foolishly,it wound a blanket around the Muslims.That they must feel themselves differentiating from the majority slowly turned into a poison.Four decades later,Sikhs in Punjab were politicized into playing a blood-bath,and were soon cut to size with Operation Bluestar.Kashmiri Pundits were flushed out of their homes under the nose of central government which chose to go carefully this time(meaning wait and watch,do nothing).Their homes and the valley has since not been restored although the victims have been identified as the present dwellers of valley.They are again shielded from mingling with the majorities of the main-land as if the majorities will go on a killing spree if they are allowed to descend in the valley.Demand for the removal of ASFPA,which is termed draconian,is catching in recent years.Will the demanding Kashmiri politicians explain,what did they do as a responsible forebeares of Indian constitution,did to protect the fundamental right of life for the Kashmiri Pundits.The then CM,Abdullah has since been part of different central governments.The infamous Shah Bano case of 1986,although being about the plight of a single women,had a huge symbolic meaning.Muslim appeasement term was not just coined but its extent too was tasted.A ruling coming from the honourable Supreme Court was reversed on the whims of a PM who had gained more than two-third majority riding on the wave of hate against Sikhs following the assassination of his mother,preceding PM Indira Gandhi.Any chances of a feeling of equality between all communities was systematically broken,as much as that the law of land was not the same for all.Talking about the central government,what helped them treat the two states of Punjab and Kashmir differently.Certainly the census foretold them,they can treat the two minorities differently.Minority for them has become synonymous with Muslims,which in fact with a population of 18% hardly in any real vulnerability.The other minorities,together constituting almost 2% of population is systematically ignored.Its a pure vote bank politics.The constitution,law,society,secularism,fundamentalism and all sorts of ideal bench-marks fail against the ludicirious offer of crown through votes.A uniform civil code bringing uniformity in all,that should have been demand of every political ideology to promote feeling of brotherhood,was discarded so that Muslims can be alienated from other groups and can be treated simply has a bunch of votes.Forwarding to the next decade,an dilipidiated and controversial Mosque had Ayodhia was pulled down by a crowd supported by leaders of BJP.The most significant name missing from the spot and who criticized the whole episode was Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who riding on the wave of many things included but votes captured on the emotional propaganda of this fiasco,became PM within 6 years.Was the mentality of people in India had became so sick that they were voting for a tamasha,for the mosque episode was nothing but a mockery of sympathy for Hindus.The matter could have been peacefully and legally sorted out,as the decision from High Court showed.In another half century,a Supreme Court decision would have probably upheld the law of the land.But,would the then government would have cared.A law once revoked to favour a certain community for nothing but mass voting can certainly be given another chance.An ace is never a wasted card in a game.Many people who muster and almost force us to believe that Babri Mosque fiasco was the start of communalism in free India,must not forget the earlier episodes right from 1952 and Hindu Code Bill to the present demand of implementation of reservation along religious lines.BJP did a grave mistake,as was said by AB Vajpayee.It brought the veil of secularism to the fore-front of Indian politics,toring it and starting the naked dance of religion.But,Babri was only a methodology to do something different and come to be noticed.An anti-corruption venture during the rein of Manmohan Singh could also have done the same thing later.Afterall,Babri Mosque was not the only Mosque built on the ruins of a temple(there were numerous converted by Babar or Aurangzeb) neither it was the only one related to birth-place of a God(there is a mosque just at the entrance of Krishna birth-place in Mathura).Simply.Babri Mosque was disputed in court so it became an easy target.The episode forever ended the chances of identification of such mosques either for historical and religious purposes.Apart,it put Hindus on par with religions that use muscular strength for their spreading.But,it was actually in no way spreading,but simply a political chronicle discarded by almost a majority of Hindus.But,unrepairable harm had already been done to the religion.
Babri Mosque was not the only mosque felt in the entire world.As much as that,the mosque in which none other that the Prophet Mohammed had offered his prayers,was brought down,for a purpose as simple as building a road.But such information that could have diffused the tension,as had been done during partition,was rubbished.Important thing to understand here is the prevalent political conditions of those era.A saffron coloured party was gaining huge mileage thanks to its Rath Yatra bringing a new sense of bonding among all Hindus.Other major party,Congress had lost big time elections a couple of years earlier on high-profile Bofors issue halving its seats from 1984 to 1989.Situation was not getting any turn around with economy in chaos(pre-liberation era) and a government handicapped on coalition partners.Regional satraps,better said,caste-satraps were losing their respective holds as kamandal had certainly etched out mandal.All party choose to play the last ace of religion.Some,like BJP,Shiv Sena,Akali Dal sided with divided majority and others like Congress,SP,RJD,CPM and DMK choose to go with the consolidated minorities and branded themselves secular.No where,was the fundamental question of tumbling to religious politics relevant.Most of the secular parties did not hesitated in putting a fear in the minorities for the sake of votes.Necessary rights were treated as government favours.The required government support was not given until big boasts had been braided.The constitution protection to minorities was doled as an allowance by few parties.Most of these so-called secular parties including LJP,JD(S),NC,BSP and TMC never hesitated in forming a government with saffron parties.Remembering the two great icons of anti-Congress,JP and Lohiya,the parties and leaders born out of their good name,RJD and SP,left all shades of other socio-economic policies to join hands with Congress on secularism.
The real secular or communal never existed,nor will exist.Politics on issues pertaining to public completely lost out.So did,all alternate visions from Sampoorn Kranti of mid-70's to the sins of Punjab riots in 1984.When capital punishment issued out to a terrorist,Afzal Guru is made politically sensitive and justification is made for the deeds of IM,the jink must be broken,once and for all.
Three decades of change has not forced any big change in the attitude of all political parties.The belief that politics has moved beyond those era and people no longer vote on religious lines is only half conceived.The next general elections,against the wishes of public and the youth,is again a fight between saffron and green.The most important issues of price-rise and corruption,be it 2G,Coal-scam or CWG causing a cumulative loss of almost 4 lakhs crores to the exchequer is being neglected solely due to the opposition candidature of Godhra-tainted Narendra Modi.Decision on secular or communal character of Narendra Modi has not been left out to judiciary or public.Its daily teared in news-channels and election debates.What puts some party above board to throw mud at other is above any just thinking.But,in doing so,they are robbing people to vote with an eye on all issues,from women security,internal security,Pakistan and Bangladesh infiltration,price-rise,Lokpal,China's advances to just a remembrance of the religion they were born into.All parties,who have failed to make an impact on public welfare,are trying hard to pull us back to the dark eras of 1990's with riots after riots.Muzzafarnagar is just the cherry-top.More is coming unless youth does remember that the colour of blood is red,whatever be the party,saffron or green.
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Bihar : The Last Laugh
State of Bihar is again at cross-roads.The improved roads of Bihar since last decade has already ruled out Bihar out of media bad-light but a new political dilemma has brought it under shudder review.Political pundits are crying hoarse over the outcome of Lok Sabha elections but the fact remains that people have no real choice.Exactly speaking,no clear-cut choice as in 2009 elections.And a more dangerous situation lingers.Bihar may again be a marginal player in nation politics if it does not plays a big role in formation of next government at center.Apart from number game,many startling changes linger high upon the political moral of public.The blue-eyed boy in the center of storm is certainly the CM Nitish Kumar,once held as being Vikas Purush(Development Man) but now his fight seems to turn against the alleged communal agenda of his Gujarat counter-part Narendra Modi.A divorce between ruling partners BJP and JDU ensured Laloo Prasad Yadav,who had been by most journalist written off in Bihar politics,got a chance to recover his lost ground.In terms of total registered voters,the difference in percentage of votes between RJP and JDU was a minor 2%.With JDU breaking its tie with BJP,RJD could have easily pipped JDU had Laloo been able to held its fort of M-Y(Muslim-Yadav) votes.Then Laloo could have comfortably garnered close to 20 seats as in 2004 parliamentary elections.But Nitish breaking with BJP will further divide Muslim mandate as in 2009.A tie-up with Congress could have the most helpful circumstance.As if to spiral the dice further,the court intervened just in time to book RJD supremo for corruption charges in the infamous fodder-scam. JDU and BJP together could have further cashed on the ruling to increase their tally but their mutual fight leaves neither time nor will to attack Laloo.The other small player but big politician,Ram Vilas Paswan could have had a fruitful time but the political uncertainty of future allies will not reap rich dividends for him.And what will the two big players,JDU and BJP loose?It seems BJP has nothing much to loose,of course except one of its oldest ally which ended its political isolation.And on moral front,a CM who could have been used to show-cause the developments works of a NDA government.But intruding further,BJP may manage to improve its tally in Bihar but its certainly loosing important numbers in its run off for the Parliamentary elections.Lastly,talking about the decision maker,Nitish.JDU has lost enough grounds in terms of upper caste and Hindu votes to concede his first position in turns of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to RJD or BJP as per claims by poll surveys.But has his gamble to win over minority votes has completely failed can not be ascertained at once.The last elections show minority votes swaying towards non-player Congress winning it its face-saving 2 seats.It can very well go towards JDU.But the trump card which all seem to miss is women votes.This factor worked only too well for ruling coalitions in 2010 assembly elections helping it touch massive total of over 200 seats.The law and order as well as women education promoted by his good governance,if sustained till next year,could certainly help Nitish beat his previous tally of 20 seats.The point is wether a tally of around a score seems insufficient to prop his name for prime-ministerial candidature,no matter how fractured is the overall mandate in the country.A lot will depend upon how RJD,Congress and LJP manage to bifurcate the caste votes.A voting pattern breaking along the fault lines of religion will certainly take all the credit coming from good governance away from JDU handing BJP close to 20 seats.The political chaos of Bihar ultimately proves to be a circus in which ultimately all lions can roar but are captive.Jinx can be broken only by public decision.Its necessary that people give a strong mandate to single party so that Bihar voice comes strong in the policies of next central government.
ज़िन्दगी से गुनाह
तन्हाई में आज भी जो एक आवाज ढुंढता हुँ
तेरी तस्वीर में अपने लिए जो प्यार ढुंढता हुँ
कैसे कह दुँ ज़िन्दगी है तुम बिन अधूरी
तुम्हारी यादों में ही अपनी ज़िन्दगी ढुंढता हुँ
वो लाल लब मैं जो कभी चूम सका
उस शबनमी गालों से मैं जो खेल सका
चोरी-चोरी जो हम तुम मिले सनम
मेरे मन का हसरत निकल सका
पायलों में सजे घुंघरू जो रागिनी सुनाये
फितरे हमें संग देख जो लोगों ने सुनाये
मेरी आवाज से जो तुम आवाज मिलाओ
आज फिर दुनिया को नया एक गीत सुनाये
बागों में तुमने जो मेरे सीने पर ज़ुल्फे बिछाया
शाम ढले तेरी सूरत को जो पलकों पे बिछाया
दामन मे हमने तुम्हारे खुशियाँ सजाई
तुम्हारी राहों पे हमने फूल बिछाया
नदी किनारे हाथों में जो शाम गुज़री
बातों ही बातों में जो हमारी रात गुज़री
कही से खींच लाता वो दिन मैं वापस
तेरे कपकपाते बदन को बाहों में समेटे गुजरी
हकीकत नहीं तो तसव्वुर में जो किया है
मोहब्बत को ख्वाबों में जो किया है
ना हुआ ये प्यार पूरा तो सोच ज़रा
ये खता किसने किया है
कहती हो जो तुम मेरा इश्क़ है गुनाह
मैं ये सबकुछ जो न कर सका है गुनाह
ज़रा देख कभी सपने में मिल के हालत अपनी
कोई कर बैठा है तुम्हारे लिए ज़िन्दगी से गुनाह
तेरी तस्वीर में अपने लिए जो प्यार ढुंढता हुँ
कैसे कह दुँ ज़िन्दगी है तुम बिन अधूरी
तुम्हारी यादों में ही अपनी ज़िन्दगी ढुंढता हुँ
वो लाल लब मैं जो कभी चूम सका
उस शबनमी गालों से मैं जो खेल सका
चोरी-चोरी जो हम तुम मिले सनम
मेरे मन का हसरत निकल सका
पायलों में सजे घुंघरू जो रागिनी सुनाये
फितरे हमें संग देख जो लोगों ने सुनाये
मेरी आवाज से जो तुम आवाज मिलाओ
आज फिर दुनिया को नया एक गीत सुनाये
बागों में तुमने जो मेरे सीने पर ज़ुल्फे बिछाया
शाम ढले तेरी सूरत को जो पलकों पे बिछाया
दामन मे हमने तुम्हारे खुशियाँ सजाई
तुम्हारी राहों पे हमने फूल बिछाया
नदी किनारे हाथों में जो शाम गुज़री
बातों ही बातों में जो हमारी रात गुज़री
कही से खींच लाता वो दिन मैं वापस
तेरे कपकपाते बदन को बाहों में समेटे गुजरी
हकीकत नहीं तो तसव्वुर में जो किया है
मोहब्बत को ख्वाबों में जो किया है
ना हुआ ये प्यार पूरा तो सोच ज़रा
ये खता किसने किया है
कहती हो जो तुम मेरा इश्क़ है गुनाह
मैं ये सबकुछ जो न कर सका है गुनाह
ज़रा देख कभी सपने में मिल के हालत अपनी
कोई कर बैठा है तुम्हारे लिए ज़िन्दगी से गुनाह
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