Category Archives: Democracy

Democracy, Everyday Life, Movements, Politics

The Movement in Bangladesh is for a Radical Reform of the State – Interview with Sarwar Tusher

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Interview with SARWAR TUSHER, writer and activist in Dhaka. Sarwar is one of the leading critical intellectuals associated with the important journal of political thought in Bangladesh, Rashtrochinta Journal and is also member of its editorial panel. In this detailed interview Sarwar explains not just the movement but also the larger politics of Bangladesh. The interview was taken by Aditya Nigam over email.

Turbulent July, Photo courtesy Rahat Karim

[After a round of massive repression and killings, the details of which the reader will find below, the movement is now back with renewed strength. This time it is not just the students and youth demanding an end to quotas but rather huge popular movement that is demanding nothing less than resignation of the Sheikh Hasina government and radical reform of the state. The conception behind this demand for “radical reform of the state” has been spelt out by Sarwar Tusher in detail below and the reader can see how it has grown in conjunction with mass movements of the past. Critical political thinking in tandem with the experience of mass movements has now led to the demand also of a new Constituent Assembly and the drafting of a fresh Constitution. It is also significant that “July” is no longer the name of a month but the name of the struggle itself as it reappears with greater vigour. I should add one more point here, which as to do with some misgivings in India about the quota and reservation question. Though Sarwar deals with it at greater length in different part of the interview, my own sense on reading his responses as well as following the discussions over the past one month, is that the situation is more akin to what might have been (and still is) in countries of state-socialism where the communist party certification was crucial in getting jobs and rising in the bureaucracy and other state institutions. The party certified whether you were “revolutionary” (muktijoddha) or “counter-revolutionary” (razakar) and it is not difficult to see why those regimes became so seriously unpopular (to put it mildly) in their own countries. AN]

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Violence/Conflict, Government, Politics, Culture, Movements, Democracy

The End is Nigh – Bangladesh Report from Ground Zero: Shahidul Alam

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This is a guest post by the well known Bangladesh photographer, SHAHIDUL ALAM. The article was earlier published in NEW AGE BANGLADESH and sent to us by SIMONE RUDOLPHI. The photographs are courtesy DRIK. Shahidul’s article actually answers many question that have been on Indian readers’ minds, including, not the least, the question of “quotas.” Interested readers may also find this article by academic Naveeda Khan useful, written as it is from within Dhaka, though she herself is based in the USA.

It would be a mistake to see this as simply a demand for more jobs. The quota movement, justified as it is, is simply the tip of the iceberg. A rampant government running roughshod over its people for so very long has led to extreme discontent. The quota issue has merely lit the fuse to this tinderbox. As citizens counted the dead and the injured, the prime minister fiddled, advising attendees at an aquaculture and sea food conference on tourism prospects in Cox’s Bazaar.

The original quota had been designed, shortly after independence in 1972 to be an interim arrangement to acknowledge the contribution of freedom fighters who constituted less than 0.25% of the population. Since a government known to be incredibly corrupt is responsible for creating the list of freedom fighters, over 50 years later the 120 fold allocation through a 30% quota has become an easy back door for party cadres to much sought after government employment. Confirmation came through senior Awami Leaguers saying, ‘just get through the initial screening and we’ll get you through in the viva’ and more tellingly, ‘government jobs will only go to party people.’

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Democracy, Government, Movements, Politics, Right watch, State Terror

In Defense of the Bangladeshi Students’ Uprising

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One of the innumerable anti-quota protests across Bangladesh, image courtesy Pressenza – International Press Agency

This post is dedicated to the innumerable young students of Bangladesh who have lost their lives in the last few days of struggle. This wasn’t supposed to be our first post on the Bangladesh students’ struggle because our friend Sarwar Tusher, one among the group of dynamic young critical intellectuals associated with the journal Rashtrochinta, was supposed to write a first hand analytical account. Meanwhile, from Thursday night (18 July) the Sheikh Hasina government enforced a total internet shutdown as the Army moved in to quell the protests. Tanks had already been seen moving in some streets and the protesters were expecting an exponential increase in state violence. Another Tienanmen Square seemed to be in the offing.

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Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics, Right watch

McCarthyism in India?

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Return of The Urban Naxal Bogey!

‘India Will Awake to Police Raj’!

““I am reminded of Pandit Nehru ‘s speech “ At the stroke of midnight India will awake to freedom” . At the stroke of midnight night 1st July 2024 India will awake to police raj,” (1)

There are rare occasions when a simple tweet underlines the unfolding reality in stark terms.

Noted lawyer and human rights activist Indira Jaising’s tweet a fortnight back created similar ripples. Her concern was over the three new criminal laws coming into operation the next morning.

And she was not alone, other leading lawyers and human rights activists seemed equally concerned about it …

But perhaps nobody had a faint idea that more was in the offing.

Post elections, Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra in one of speeches had talked of Urban Naxals ‘penetrating NGOs and help creating ‘..false narratives against the government’    A speech made during a rally for BJP Konkan Graduates Constituency in the MLC polls was considered out of tune with the ambiance.

Little anyone had premonition that within a month of this speech the government will come out with a bill supposedly to curb the ‘menace’ of Urban Naxalism.’ ( Read the full article here : https://countercurrents.org/2024/07/mccarthyism-in-india-the-return-of-the-urban-naxal-bogey/)

Capitalism, Democracy, Government, Law, Politics, Right watch

Arvind Kejriwal’s Bail: Why the Establishment Wants to Destroy AAP

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The Establishment’s desperation is becoming clearer by the day. And by ‘Establishment’ here, I do not mean simply the ruling duo in power today but a constellation of forces, many of whom congregated at a mega-wedding event in Mumbai recently. The embryonic New Congress thankfully stayed out of it – though the Old Congress is pretty much part of the Establishment, as we will see below.

Popular Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal has finally got bail from the Supreme Court – both interim and regular – in the totally fictitious Enforcement Directorate (ED) case in which he has been framed. Yet he must remain in jail because on the eve of his release by a Delhi court and Additional Sessions Judge Nyay Bindu, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) went and arrested him while he was still in jail!

Image courtesy The Economic Times

This arrest-within-arrest shows a desperation of the Establishment that has rarely ever been seen before. The desperation was even more evident in the fact that the High court judge, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain went ahead to uphold the ED plea against the bail order by Judge Nyay Bindu, even before the order had been uploaded to their website. 157 lawyers wrote to the CJI alleging that the brother of the Judge, Anurag Jain is one of the counsels for the ED, which showed a clear conflict of interest. More importantly, referring to the urgent listing, hearing and stay of the trial court’s bail order by the high court, the lawyers’ letter said,

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Democracy, Everyday Life, Identities, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Anti Muslim violence after June 4th election results: APCR

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Report prepared by Association for Protection of Civil Rights

Although the BJP came back with a much reduced majority (or perhaps because of that) the agenda of anti Muslim violence has been ramped up.  We, the people of India, who restored the dignity of the Constitution, must continue to bear witness, continue to fight against the hate filled politics of Hindu Rashtra, continue to assert  – Not in My Name.

Sab yaad rakha jayega, as the poet Aamir Aziz says.

We will remember these names, and the names of thousands of Muslims killed by lynch mobs, who have had their livelihoods destroyed, whose faith has been insulted, who suffer imprisonment without any basis till today.

Sab yaad rakha jayega.

There has been total of eight lynching incidents after the results of the General Elections were announced on June 4, 2024.

  • Twenty-three-year-old Salman Vohra, who had gone to watch a cricket tournament match in Chikhodra, Gujarat on 22 June, was mercilessly beaten to death by a group of men.
  • Three Muslim men, residents of Uttar Pradesh, were brutally attacked by a Hindutva mob in Chattisgarh’s Raipur on 7 June. Saddam Qureshi and his cousin Chand Miya Khan (23), both from Saharanpur district, and Guddu Khan (35) from Shamli district, were transporting cattle when they were allegedly chased by a mob in Raipur; two died on the spot, while one died after 10 days.

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Culture, Debates, Democracy, Feminism, Religion

How Women Were Publicly Humiliated in a Programme in India and Nobody Protested

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Israel’s unending war against Palestine – with due support from the Western World – is widely known.

Less known is the fact that representatives of extreme patriarchal Judaism have unleashed a war of a different kind against women. (1)

With their growing ascent in social life their emphasis has been increasingly on segregation of women in public domain….including their being bundled to the back side of public transport buses. (2)

Much has already been written about situation of women in Muslim majority countries.

Right from they being denied right to education, one can cite numerous examples about the laws and customs which prohibit or restrict their participation in education, job or other professions or they being prohibited from mixed gatherings. (3)

India, which claims itself to be a tolerant country – which is celebrating 75 years of its ushering into Republic this year… had a glimpse of what it means to be women in a set up dominated by extreme patriarchal notions. ( Read the full article here :https://countercurrents.org/2024/07/how-women-were-publicly-humiliated-in-a-programme-in-india-and-nobody-protested/)

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Government, Politics, Right watch

Return of the ‘Urban Naxal’ Bogey

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What does it portend for the unfolding struggle to save the Constitution and reinvigorate democracy?

Despotic kings or autocratic leaders share one thing in common. They have an uncanny ability to live in their bubbles or not learning from the immediate or past history at their own peril.

Narendra Damodardas Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Pracharak (propagandist), who famously declared during elections held for the 18th Lok Sabha that he was ‘non-biological’, looks no different. He has returned as the Prime Minister of India – for the third time, albeit with a reduced majority and with support from mercurial allies. Yet, he still wants to believe that nothing has changed. The oath taking ceremony, where (barring Pakistan) leaders of other neighbouring countries were invited, looked like a coronation of sorts.

Much on the lines of a king from a literary fairy tale written by a legendary Danish author, he is going about his business with usual élan.

( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/return-urban-naxal-bogey)

Culture, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

Elections 2024 – After the Euphoria, What Next?

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Representational image. Women voters in queue, image courtesy Hindustan Times

A Turning Point

We have all been justly euphoric since 4 June 2024 as results started pouring in, especially since the non-biological being himself was trailing behind the Congress candidate Ajay Rai for quite some time. If the claim made in a video of a hardcore BJP worker Ujjwal Kumar from Banaras is to be believed, they – the unsung workers – had to arrange for ‘extra votes’ to ensure that ‘he’ wins. Regardless of whether his claim is correct, we kept up our euphoria even as the ECI website stopped updating counting figures and reports kept coming in from different constituencies in UP and some other places that INDIA alliance candidates were being forcibly declared lost after having won.

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Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Government, Politics, Right watch

‘Decoding the Verdict’ : Prof Zoya Hasan and Dr Ajay Gudavarthy

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Democracy Dialogues Series 32

Theme : ‘Decoding the Verdict’

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Culture, Debates, Democracy, Identities, Religion, Right watch

‘Waterloo’ in Ayodhya : Who Is Stigmatising Hindus Now ?

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The debacle faced by BJP at Ayodhya-Faizabad is a big loss of face for the party and the broader Sangh Parivar.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

– George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905.

‘Zor ka Jhataka Dheere Se Lage‘ (roughly translated ‘powerful jolt felt lightly’)

The catch line of a song – or perhaps a famous ad campaign – very well describes the reverses faced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

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Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics, Religion

Stop ‘Pooja Archana’, Bow Before Preamble in Court Premises

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Towards 75 years of adopting the Constitution, it is time for a new beginning.

‘Secularism is the religion of humanity …. It is a protest against theological oppression, against ecclesiastical tyranny, against being the serf, the subject or slave of any phantom, or of the priest of any phantom. “

– Robert Green Ingersoll

Simple ideas are perhaps the most difficult to implement.

For a country of around 1.4 billion, which has witnessed internecine violence on religious lines at the time of Independence, and which has turned a new leaf by adopting a Constitution based on secularism, which abhorred even mentioning the word God, why it is still difficult to avoid religious rituals in public domain, at least in the precincts of the courts?

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Centre watch, Debates, Democracy, Government, Law, Right watch

When a State Breaks Its Own Laws !

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The model of vigilante justice, i.e, bulldozer politics, by the State itself is a phenomenon that has gained fresh legitimacy during the past decade under Modi.

“Under what law can they demolish a house for an offence that hasn’t been proved?”

  • Former SC Justice Madan Lokur.

..police cannot, “under the guise of investigation”, bulldoze anyone’s house without permission, and if such practices continue then “nobody is safe in this country” ..: “Show me from any criminal jurisprudence that for investigating the crime, the police, without any order, can uproot a person, apply a bulldozer. .”

There are interventions of courts which are considered to be ‘breaking new grounds’.

The Gauhati High Court’s judgement in the ‘illegal demolitions’ at Salonabari (May 2022) was one such occasion.

The two-judge bench of the high court led by Chief Justice RM Chhaya and Justice Soumitra Saikia had come down heavily on the demolitions executed without following any procedure and declared such actions ‘illegal’ and compared the police actions akin to a ‘gang war’ and ordered compensation to the victims as well as actions against guilty officials.

Two years later, this issue was again before high courts recently, as the affected families had approached it for the government’s dilly dallying on compensation and actions against officials.

Much water has flown down the Brahmaputra and its tributary rivers during this period. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/when-state-breaks-its-own-laws)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Media politics, Politics, Right watch

Towards a ‘Suitable’ Ambedkar and a ‘New’ Dalit ! 

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How Ten Years of Modi Regime Has Undermined Constitutional Rights to Dalits

Image courtesy: Wikimedia commons

“If the fundamental rights are opposed by the community, no Law, no Parliament, no Judiciary can guarantee them in the real sense of the word”,..“What is the use of fundamental rights to the Negro in America, to the Jews in Germany and to the untouchables in India. As Burke said there is no method found for punishing the multitude’

– Ambedkar

Introduction

Within less than a fortnight we will have a new government in power.

Indian people normally make a judicious choice while electing their representatives, their government and this year won’t be different.

One can recall their wisdom when their united resistance helped unseat Indira Gandhi regime after the emergency (1977) or their concerted action could overthrow the Vajpayi government ( 2004) despite the much hyped ‘India Shining’ rhetoric pushed by it.

Today also ground currents definitely suggest change is in the air.

People’s desire to defeat the Republic of Hate which is pushed before them and regain their Republic of Hope seems overwhelming. 

As already expressed by scholars, political activists, concerned citizens, if the elections remain free and fair, if the various guardrails of democracy can remain true to their mandate , we will have real ‘Acche Din‘ waiting for us.

It is an opportune time to look back and see how this much trumpeted regime fared in the last decade in various aspects of India’s society and state.

It is opportune to see how the ‘New India’ – which we have supposedly ushered in – has fared via-v-vis Dalits. What follows is not an exhaustive picture of the last decade of Modi rule but a cursory glance at the issue at hand.

Perhaps it would be opportune to begin with RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat’s interview in the wee hours of Modi’s reign as PM. ( Read the full article here : https://countercurrents.org/2024/05/towards-a-suitable-ambedkar-and-a-new-dalit-how-ten-years-of-modi-regime-has-undermined-constitutional-rights-to-dalits/

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Education, Politics, Right watch

How BJP Covers Betrayals in Glory

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The Right-wing party has been justifying and legitimising Mir Jafar, Mir Sadiq and associates, while demonising Siraj-ud-Daulah and Tipu Sultan.

The tomb of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha have broken records in many ways.

Right from the arrests of Opposition leaders on the eve of elections, the spinelessness shown by the Election Commission (EC) to the open mouthing of hateful speeches targeting a community by top members of the ruling dispensation, to complete metamorphosis of the mainstream media into a cheerleader of the government, all such signs are ominous for the future of democracy in the country.

May be one should add to it the open justification by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the betrayal by the likes of Mir Jafar and his associates like Raja Krishnachandra Roy, Jagat Seth, Omi Chand — which lead to defeat of the Siraj-ud-Daulah (1733-July 2,1757), the last independent Nawab of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey, which ultimately opened the gates of conquest of the rest of India by the Britishers.

If 2019 elections are still remembered because BJP had fielded candidates who were accused of involved in terrorist acts, the 2024 elections would also be remembered how they helped betrayals covered in glory. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/how-bjp-covers-betrayals-glory)

( For a Hindi version of this article access this link : https://thewirehindi.com/275497/west-bengal-bjp-amrita-roy-battle-of-plassy-krishnanagar-loksabha/)

Centre watch, Debates, Democracy, Government, Politics, Right watch

The Political Economy of New India : Dr Parakala Prabhakar

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Democracy Dialogues Lecture 31 :

Speaker: 

Dr Parakala Prabhakar

Author, economist and public intellectual

Theme :

The Political Economy of New India

Time : 

6 PM (IST), Sunday, 26 th May 2024

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85326195073?pwd=UE4yeGxaU1RLWkhJMWZTTG1aamZIZz09

Meeting ID: 853 2619 5073
Passcode: 134090

The lecture will also be livestreamed on facebook :  facebook.com/newsocialistinitiative.nsi

About the Speaker and His Talk :

Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, is an author, economist, and public intellectual.
He  served as Communications Advisor, held a cabinet rank position in Andhra Pradesh Government between July 2014 and June 2018. He was also a former spokesman and one of the founding general secretaries of Praja Rajyam Party.

For several years he presented a current affairs discussion programme on television channels of Andhra Pradesh. His programmes included Pratidhwani on ETV2 and Namaste Andhra Pradesh on NTV  .

His book of essays ‘The Crooked Timber of New India : Essays on a Republic in Crisis‘ was widely discussed.

Dr Parakala completed his doctorate from the London School of Economics. He did his Master of Arts (M.A.) and Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

About the Talk :

Relentless in exposing the sinister nature of the communal politics of the current ruling dispensation and meticulous in exposing the voodoo economic policies pursued by them which are disastrous to the Indian economy, Dr Parakala Prabhakar is going to speak on ‘The Political Economy of New India’ in this lecture.

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Government, Identities, Media politics, Religion

बढ़ती जनसंख्या का डर: असलियत और फसाना

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May 11, 2024

आधा ज्ञान या आधी जानकारी हमेशा ही खतरनाक साबित होती है।

2021 की जनगणना तक करने में फिसड्डी साबित हो चुकी मोदी सरकार की इकोनॉमिक एडवाइजरी काउंसिल की तरफ से चुनावों  के ऐन बीच जारी आंकड़े शायद यही कहानी कहते हैं। इस रिपोर्ट के जरिए 1951 से 2015 के कालखंड के दौरान विभिन्न समुदायों की आबादी में हुए परिवर्तनों के आंकड़े पेश किए गए, जिसमें हिन्दुओं, जैनियों तथा अन्य धार्मिक अल्पसंख्यकों की आबादी मे कुल गिरावट देखने को मिली है, जबकि मुसलमानों की आबादी बढ़ी है। और इस रिपोर्ट को लेकर सत्ताधारी पार्टी के प्रवक्ताओं ने तथा मुख्यधारा के गोदी चैनलों ने जनसंख्या का हौवा दिखाते हुए बहस भी छेड़ने की कोशिश की ।

पीटीआई की तरफ से जारी यह आंकड़े इस प्रकार थे:

वर्ष 1951 से 2015 के बीच जहां हिन्दुओं की आबादी में 7.8 फीसदी की घटोत्तरी हुई वहीं मुसलमानों की आबादी 43.1 फीसदी बढ़ी। अगर हम आंकड़ों का ब्रेकअप करें तो 1950 में जहां आबादी में हिन्दुओं की तादाद 84.68 फीसदी थी तो वह 2015 में 78.06 फीसदी तक पहुंची थी , जबकि मुसलमानों की आबादी जहां 1950 में कुल आबादी का 9.84 फीसदी थी तो 2015 में वह 14.09 फीसदी तक पहुंची। भारत के जैन समुदाय के बारे में भी बताया गया कि उनकी आबादी देश की कुल आबादी के 0.45 फीसदी से लेकर 0.36 फीसदी तक कम हुई है।

पुराने आंकड़े-नया रंगरोगन ?

सबसे पहली बात यह है कि इकोनॉमिक एडवाइजरी काउंसिल की तरफ से जारी इन आंकड़ों  में नया कुछ नहीं है। 2011 तक जो जनगणना का सिलसिला विधिवत चला है, उसके बाद यह आंकड़े पहले से ही चर्चा में रहे हैं। ( Read the full article here : https://janchowk.com/beech-bahas/fear-of-increasing-population-reality-and-trap/)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Politics, Religion, Right watch

The Unending Discomfort of RSS With the Constitution

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The Vajpayee government tried to change the Constitution, but lost in 2004. We must be vigilant, as a similar chorus is being raised again by Hindutva Supremacist forces.

..make India an independent sovereign republic and guarantee and secure for all the people of India social, economic and political justice; equality of status and  opportunities and equality before law; and fundamental freedoms—of speech,  expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action—subject to law and public morality;

and also ensure that

adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes.

(Excerpts of Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly, moved by Pandit Nehru on December 13, 1946 and adopted unanimously by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947)

It was just another press conference in the national capital.

The only difference was that it was held at the house of a member of Parliament belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party then…

This was on December 25, 1992. Less than three weeks before India had witnessed one of its deeply troubling, disturbing moment in its history where a mosque, which stood for more than 500 years, had been demolished by a horde of people who had gathered there from different parts of the Country, mobilised by the forces of Hindutva supremacism.

..Swami Muktanand and Vamdeo Maharaj, who were closely associated with the Ram Mandir movement (India Today, January 31, 1993) addressed the press meet.

‘This Constitution is anti Hindu‘ and needs to be rejected.”We have no faith in country’s laws‘ and ‘Sadhus are above the law of the land‘.’

..The press meet ended rather abruptly.

Journalists, who had gathered there to hear something about the movement, felt cheated that what unfolded there was an anti-climax.

Little did they have a premonition that the press meet was just an opening shot and more was coming. ( Read the full text here : https://www.newsclick.in/unending-discomfort-rss-constitution)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Politics

भारतीय संविधान और हिंदुत्व के पैरोकारों की अंतहीन बेचैनी

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लोकसभा चुनाव के प्रचार के कई भाजपा नेता संविधान बदलने के लिए बहुमत हासिल करने की बात दोहरा चुके हैं. उनके ये बयान नए नहीं हैं, बल्कि संघ परिवार के उनके पूर्वजों द्वारा भारतीय संविधान के प्रति समय-समय पर ज़ाहिर किए गए ऐतराज़ और इसे बदलने की इच्छा की तस्दीक करते हैं.

कुछ तारीखें हर जम्हूरियत की तवारीख में सदा के लिए अंकित हो जाती हैं.

6 दिसंबर 1992 ऐसी ही एक तारीख है. इस घटना के तीन सप्ताह के अंदर दिल्ली में एक प्रेस सम्मेलन हुआ था. 25 दिसंबर 1992 को स्वामी मुक्तानंद और वामदेव महाराज, जो राम मंदिर आंदोलन से क़रीब से जुड़े थे, उन्होंने मौजूदा संविधान को बदलने की बात छेड़ दी और कहा कि यह संविधान ‘हिंदू विरोधी है’. (इंडिया टुडे, 31 जनवरी 1993 )

एक सप्ताह बाद 1 जनवरी 1993 को स्वामी मुक्तानंद के नाम से हिंदूवादी संगठनों की तरफ से एक श्वेत पत्र जारी किया गया, जिसमें भारतीय संविधान को ‘हिंदू विरोधी’ घोषित किया गया था. श्वेत पत्र के कवर पेज पर दो प्रश्न पूछे गए थे: एक, ‘भारत की एकता, बंधुत्व और सांप्रदायिक सद्भाव को नष्ट किसने किया?’ और ‘ किसने भुखमरी, गरीबी, भ्रष्टाचार और अधर्म फैलाया ?’

श्वेत पत्र का शीर्षक इस प्रश्न का जवाब दे रहा था , ‘वर्तमान इंडियन संविधान’!

( Read the full text here : https://thewirehindi.com/273053/bjp-rss-and-their-desire-to-change-indian-constitution/)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Education, Government

In New India, No Ambedkar Readings ?

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How a Central university is being allowed to humiliate/ stigmatise Ambedkar and a conspiracy of silence still pervades it.

Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra is again in the news for wrong reasons. It has been more than around four months that a unique initiative of doing readings from Ambedkar has been forcibly stopped, show-cause notices being issued and even punitive action being taken against Dalit teachers, but there is no murmur of protest about it and despite being in the know of these developments, the top bosses of the UGC or University Grants Commission are silent over it.

Stop readings on Ambedkar in open in University Campus, it could endanger the “safety and health of (participating) students and reputation of the university‘

The news of this unbelievable diktat by an educational institution remained dormant for a day.

Expectedly, the tremendous nationwide uproar about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election speech in Banswara, which is considered his most ‘divisive’ in last 30 years, overshadowed other similar urgent issues.

The institution under scanner for this diktat to teachers is Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra, a Central university. You would recall that some time ago, this institution had similarly attracted eyeballs when a team of Hindi research scholars from China had visited it. A visit that was followed by this team’s meeting with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) leaders at their headquarters in Nagpur.

What is rather troubling to note is that it has been more than four months that this unique experiment of doing readings from Ambedkar, in open, which was an initiative undertaken by the Dalit teachers of the vishwidyalaya, under the informal group called Ambedkar Study Circle India, stands forcibly stopped, show-cause notices being issued to teachers involved and even punitive action taken against three of them, but a conspiracy of silence has pervaded it.

What must have prompted this action by the University administration against the teachers, who were were just following the UGC recommended Code of Professional Ethics?  ( Please read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/new-india-no-ambedkar-readings)

Democracy, Everyday Life, Government, Right watch

Nari Shakti – A report card for the 2024 Elections: Bahutva Karnataka

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Statement released by Bahutva Karnataka, a forum of concerned citizens and organisations


“Nari Shakti” was invoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ in 2022. Since then it has been highlighted as an important plank by the BJP. This report looks at how women have fared over the last decade and outcomes of key women focused initiatives.

Violence against Women

Claim: Women’s security will be given more priority (BJP Manifesto, 2019).

“India has been shamed by a string of high-profile rapes and sexual attacks on women….Our heads hang in shame when we hear about rapes….Why can’t we prevent this?”

–   Narendra Modi, 2014

“Women security is UP government’s top priority

  • CM Yogi Adityanath

Reality: Crimes against women and sexual violence have increased in 10 Years of Modi Rule Continue reading Nari Shakti – A report card for the 2024 Elections: Bahutva Karnataka →