in.jagran.yahoo.com/news
Sep 06,2009
तरुण विजय
डेढ़ वर्ष पूर्व एक हिंदू युवती रेवती मसूसाई को शरीयत अदालत ने जबरन उसकी बेटी और पति से अलग कर मजहबी सुधार-शिविर में भेज दिया था, क्योंकि रेवती को इस्लामी कानून भंग करने का दोषी पाया गया। वहा किसी भी मुस्लिम को अपना मजहब बदल कर शादी करने पर कानूनी पाबंदी है। अधिकृत तौर पर इस्लामी राज्य मलेशिया पर जैसे-जैसे मध्य-पूर्व और अरब के धन का प्रभाव बढ़ता गया वैसे-वैसे वहा गैर मुस्लिमों के प्रति असहिष्णुता भी बढ़ी है। वहा की गठबंधन सरकार नेशनल फ्रंट में उमनो का वर्चस्व है, जिसमें केवल मुस्लिम ही शामिल हैं। अपने प्रभाव को और बढ़ाने के लिए वह ज्यादा से ज्यादा इस्लामी कट्टरवाद को शासकीय संरक्षण देने की नीति पर चल रहा है। अभी मलेशिया की सुप्रसिद्ध मुस्लिम माडल कर्तिका सारी देवी सुकर्णो को बीयर पीने के जुर्म में सार्वजनिक तौर पर बेंतों से पीटने की सजा सुनाई गई। इस पर सारी दुनिया में हंगामा हो गया तो फिलहाल सजा निलंबित कर दी गई है। उस पर 5000 रिंगलिट का जुर्माना भी किया गया। फिर उसे जेल ले गए, पर वकीलों और महिला अधिकार संगठनों द्वारा शोर मचाने पर घर छोड़ गए। अब मलेशिया सरकार ने सांकेतिक सजा देने की बात कही है।
पूरे विश्व में यदि कोई ऐसा इस्लामी या मुस्लिम बहुल देश ढूंढने निकले, जहा अल्पसंख्यक गैर मुस्लिमों के साथ सामान्य, एक समान और सम्मानजनक कानूनी व्यवहार किया जाता है तो शायद ऐसा एक भी देश ढूंढने में मुश्किल होगी। हो सकता है तुर्की का उदाहरण दिया जाए, पर उसके बारे में कहा जाएगा कि वह यूरोपीय प्रभाव वाला 'गैर इस्लामी' मुस्लिम बहुल देश है। यह परिदृश्य दक्षिण एशिया और पूर्वी एशिया में हिंदू समाज के धार्मिक अधिकारों पर लगातार बढ़ रहे आघातों का एक दु:खद पहलू उजागर करता है। पाकिस्तान और बांग्लादेश में तो हिंदुओं की आवाज भी उठने की गुंजाइश नहीं बची है। नेपाल दुनिया का एकमात्र संवैधानिक हिंदू राष्ट्र था। उसकी वह स्थिति भी समाप्त कर दी गई और हिंदू-हनन को सेकुलर-विजयोत्सव बना दिया गया। मलेशिया और इंडोनेशिया जैसे मुस्लिम बहुल देश, जिनके बारे में कहा जाता था कि वहां का मुस्लिम समाज पढ़ा-लिखा, समृद्ध और आधुनिक है अत: गैर मुस्लिमों के मानवाधिकारों के प्रति सम्यक दृष्टि रखेगा, क्योंकि इन सुशिक्षित मुसलमानों के अनुसार इस्लाम सबके प्रति शांति और भाईचारा सिखाता है, वहा भी हिंदुओं के सामान्य नागरिक एवं धार्मिक अधिकार कुचले जा रहे हैं।
यह विचित्र है कि भारत चुप है। यहा के हिंदू चुप हैं, क्योंकि दुनिया में कहीं भी हिंदुओं के मानवाधिकारों के लिए आवाज उठाना सेकुलरवाद के खिलाफ है। यहा के वे राजनेता जो कभी तथाकथित तौर पर हिंदू हितों की राजनीति के बल पर अपार सत्ता और ऐश्वर्य का लाभ प्राप्त करते रहे, कहीं भी, कभी भी हिंदू मानवाधिकारों पर बोलते हुए इतना शरमा-शरमा कर भीगे जाते हैं, मानो कोई गलत काम करते पकड़े गए हों। आजकल तो वैसे भी वे आपसी अधिकारों के लिए संघर्षरत हैं। मलेशिया में बेचारे हिंदुओं के दर्द पर बोलने के लिए यहां फुर्सत किसे है? राजनेताओं द्वारा भारत में हिंदुत्व के प्रति छल ने हिंदू समाज के एकत्व और बल को तो क्षीण किया ही है, विश्व भर में हिंदुओं के मनोबल पर भी उसका गंभीर असर पड़ा है। कुछ समय पहले मैं बांग्लादेश की यात्रा पर गया था। वहा के हिंदू नेताओं ने बताया कि बांग्लादेश में हिंदू मानवाधिकारों के हनन पर वहा स्थित अमेरिकी राजदूत आवाज उठाते हैं, पर भारतीय उच्चायोग कभी कुछ नहीं बोलता। पाकिस्तान में ईसाइयों पर तनिक आघात होते ही अमेरिका और यूरोप के राजदूत इस्लामाबाद दौड़े जाते हैं और बड़ी पत्र-पत्रिकाओं में समाचार और खोजी-फीचर छापकर उनके अधिकारों की रक्षा की जाती है, लेकिन केवल भारत ही ऐसा एकमात्र देश है जहा के बहुसंख्यक हिंदू समाज पर आघात न स्वदेश के समाचार पत्रों में स्थान पाते हैं और न ही शासन या अन्य राजनीतिक दल उस संदर्भ में विचलित होते हैं। ऐसी स्थिति में हिंदू समाज केवल गैर राजनीतिक हिंदू संगठन में ही आशा की किरण खोज सकता है।
राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ के सरसंघचालक मोहन भागवत ने इस संदर्भ में असंदिग्ध हिंदू एकता पर बल देते हुए गैर राजनीतिक सागठनिक कायरें के विस्तार पर काफी जोर दिया है, जिसे अपने हिंदू धर्म के प्रति संकोच या लज्जाबोध हो या जो राजनीतिक लाभ-अलाभ के तराजू पर हिंदू हितों के संबंध में आवाज उठाने या न उठाने का फैसला करे, उन तत्वों से कोई उम्मीद नहीं की जा सकती। विश्व में बहुलतावाद, लोकतंत्र, अन्य मत के प्रति सम्मान और समान नागरिक अधिकारों की रक्षा के लिए हिंदू जीवन मूल्यों की रक्षा ही एकमात्र उपाय है।
Monday, September 7, 2009
Pranabda’s Bengal division
indian express.com
Saturday , Aug 29, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Saturday , Aug 29, 2009
Tarun Vijay
‘Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India’ Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Pranab Mukherjee has said that Syama Prasad Mookerjee supported Partition. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the Nehruvian trait of blaming the patriot and yielding to the separatists that he showed once again, to score a false point.
Here is the factsheet:
First they bullied, threatened and declared they don’t care for ethics, and that they have pistols to use. They invoked Allah to incite murderous passions. It was followed by massacres so unparalleled that Syama Prasad Mookerjee, first elected to Bengal legislature on a Congress ticket, wrote, “What happened in Calcutta is perhaps without a parallel in modern history. St. Bartholomew’s Day, of which history records some grim events of murder and butchery, pales into insignificance compared to the brutalities that were committed in the streets, lanes and bylanes of this first city of British India.”
Those for whom India’s unity and integrity had remained an article of faith were shaken by the sheer ferocity of the Muslim League’s open call to violence under the leadership of Jinnah. After the ‘Direct Action’ resolution was passed by the Muslim League on July 19, 1946, its president, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in his valedictory speech: “This day we bid goodbye to constitutional methods... Now the time has come for the Muslim Nation to resort to direct action. I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it.”
After the ‘direct action’ in Kolkata, during a debate on the no confidence motion in Bengal assembly, Dr. Mookerjee said (excerpts from assembly proceedings):
“When Mr. Jinnah was confronted at a press conference in Bombay on 31st July and was asked whether direct action meant violence or non-violence, his cryptic reply was ‘I am not going to discuss ethics’. (The Hon. Mr. Mohammed Ali : Good.). But Khwaja Nazimuddin was not so good. He came out very bluntly in Bengal and said that Muslims did not believe in non-violence at all. Now Sir, speeches like these were made by responsible League leaders . . . All this was followed by a series of articles and statements, which appeared in the columns of newspapers — the Morning News, the Star of India and the Azad. If . . . my friend Mr. Ispahani . . . . reads these documents . . . he will be able to find out that there was nothing but open and direct incitement to violence. Hatred of Hindus and jehad on the Hindus was declared was declared in fire-eating language . . . and the general Moslem public have acted according to the instructions . . .. It is therefore vitally necessary that this false and foolish idea of Pakistan or Islamic rule has to be banished for ever from your head. In Bengal we have got to live together.”
That was 1946, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. And that was Syama Prasad Mookerjee speaking. Pranabda’s half lies have tried to malign a patriot who remains a symbol of India’s unity.
It is amazing how a distinguished politician like Pranab Mukherjee can go so wrong on a great stalwart of India’s unity, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who lived for India’s unity and died mysteriously in Srinagar jail.
Syama Prasad was an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and hence had unflinching faith in the necessity of a united India. He said, “the dangers in front of us are many; the latest addition in the shape of a movement for Pakistan should not be lightly brushed aside. This preposterous claim must be nipped in the bud by all lovers of Hindusthan.”(Sylhet, 7th April 1940).
So the dream was always a United India and not a truncated one. He begged all to help realise it. But Muslim belligerence was continuously rising. He wrote, ‘In provinces where constitutional powers have passed to the hands of Moslem ministers, reports of oppression and injustices daily pour in. I myself can bear testimony to a systemic policy pursued by the Ministry now in power in Bengal which is aimed at crippling the Hindus in every sphere of life-economic, political and cultural.” (Ibid).
The Congress remained a silent spectator to Hindu plight. Mookerjee wrote, “Much though we wish that the truth was otherwise, it is no use concealing the fact that the Congress has not succeeded in bringing within its fold any very large number of Moslems. And yet the Congress dare not openly fight for the protection of Hindu interests even though they are deliberately trampled underfoot.”(Ibid).
As a reiteration of his stand he declared, “as Hindus our position is perfectly clear. We want communal harmony and amity. We fully recognise that this country must continue in future, as it has been in the past, the home of many people other than Hindus. We beg of them to treat this country as their fatherland and identify themselves with the joys and sorrows of the people of India.”(Ibid).
He remained hopeful till the last — “We shall rise, we shall unite. We shall live in a country whose destinies shall be in the hands of her children alone and where the flag of a free and United Hindusthan shall proclaim for ever the glory of peace and progress, of tolerance and freedom.” (North Bihar Provincial Hindu Conference,14 th April 1940).
He knew of the British hand behind the demand for Pakistan and said,”The British government is reluctant to transfer power to Indians for it apprehends that the Hindus constituting 70 per cent of the Indian population would then have the dominant voice, which leading Moslems would not be prepared to accept. It is open to government to institute national electorates and leave administration in the provinces and at the centre to be run by majority parties who will be returned through such electorates with a mandate for giving effect to political programmes that transcend the bounds of sectarian interest. It will not do that for it knows that the acceptance of joint electorates will ultimately reduce communal misunderstandings, lead to national solidarity and may sound the death knell of British supremacy in India....”(ibid).
He didn’t approve of Gandhi’s Muslim appeasement policy and said “Gandhiji committed a fresh Himalayan blunder by trying to placate Jinnah.”(30th Sept. 1944). He warned Gandhi and Congress again and again against appeasing Jinnah. In fact, to keep Jinnah’s divisive politics at bay he supported Fazlul Haque in 1939. He warned C. Rajagopalachari that Jinnah keeps changing his stand and even if his Partition proposal is accepted, he will demand district-wise plebiscite.(Bharat Kesari: Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee with Modern Implications by S. C. Das).
In Ludhiana he declared, “There can be no compromise with any fantastic claim for cutting India to pieces, either on communal or on provincial considerations. India has been and is one country and must remain so, whatever self-constituted exponents of so-called Hindu Moslem unity may declare. It is a most dangerous pastime to try to placate that section of Moslems who think it beneath their dignity to live in India as such and therefore demand a territory of their own, sovereign and independent, carved out of our motherland, a territory where crores of Hindus will continue to live bereft of their Indian nationality. It is nothing short of stabbing Indian liberty and nationalism in the back...I sincerely hope that in the period of struggle that lies ahead of us Hindus, Moslems, Christians, Buddhists and all others will merge themselves wholeheartedly in the cause of Indian emancipation and thereby baffle the machinations of those reactionary elements that create disunity or dissension among ourselves or seek to thrive on them.”(November 12 1944, Ludhiana).
Lastly, the Congress surrender to Jinnah left the nationalists no choice, and Mookerjee supported the partition of Bengal in 1946 as a fait accompli only to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan (“If 25 per cent Muslims could not agree to live in India, how could 44 per cent of Hindus live in Bengal under 54 per cent Muslims?”). He also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.
The massacres of Hindus shook everyone, and Hindu leaders couldn’t find a solution, but to accept division. Syama Prasad said,”Today we stand disillusioned. As Hindus we have been prepared to make sacrifices and forego many of our rightful interests in furtherance of a possible unity with the Moslems of India for the attainment of our goal (freedom for united India). Our anxiety to obtain their support has been often misunderstood for weakness and helplessness... Not only do the Hindus and the Moslems stand divided but among the Hindus artificial barriers have been imposed and our dream of a United Indian nation is receding to the background.”(Awake Hindusthan).
He never supported the vicious idea of Partition, but was helpless when the Congress surrendered to Muslim separatism. Like millions of unyielding Indians.
Pranab Mukherjee has said that Syama Prasad Mookerjee supported Partition. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the Nehruvian trait of blaming the patriot and yielding to the separatists that he showed once again, to score a false point.
Here is the factsheet:
First they bullied, threatened and declared they don’t care for ethics, and that they have pistols to use. They invoked Allah to incite murderous passions. It was followed by massacres so unparalleled that Syama Prasad Mookerjee, first elected to Bengal legislature on a Congress ticket, wrote, “What happened in Calcutta is perhaps without a parallel in modern history. St. Bartholomew’s Day, of which history records some grim events of murder and butchery, pales into insignificance compared to the brutalities that were committed in the streets, lanes and bylanes of this first city of British India.”
Those for whom India’s unity and integrity had remained an article of faith were shaken by the sheer ferocity of the Muslim League’s open call to violence under the leadership of Jinnah. After the ‘Direct Action’ resolution was passed by the Muslim League on July 19, 1946, its president, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in his valedictory speech: “This day we bid goodbye to constitutional methods... Now the time has come for the Muslim Nation to resort to direct action. I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it.”
After the ‘direct action’ in Kolkata, during a debate on the no confidence motion in Bengal assembly, Dr. Mookerjee said (excerpts from assembly proceedings):
“When Mr. Jinnah was confronted at a press conference in Bombay on 31st July and was asked whether direct action meant violence or non-violence, his cryptic reply was ‘I am not going to discuss ethics’. (The Hon. Mr. Mohammed Ali : Good.). But Khwaja Nazimuddin was not so good. He came out very bluntly in Bengal and said that Muslims did not believe in non-violence at all. Now Sir, speeches like these were made by responsible League leaders . . . All this was followed by a series of articles and statements, which appeared in the columns of newspapers — the Morning News, the Star of India and the Azad. If . . . my friend Mr. Ispahani . . . . reads these documents . . . he will be able to find out that there was nothing but open and direct incitement to violence. Hatred of Hindus and jehad on the Hindus was declared was declared in fire-eating language . . . and the general Moslem public have acted according to the instructions . . .. It is therefore vitally necessary that this false and foolish idea of Pakistan or Islamic rule has to be banished for ever from your head. In Bengal we have got to live together.”
That was 1946, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. And that was Syama Prasad Mookerjee speaking. Pranabda’s half lies have tried to malign a patriot who remains a symbol of India’s unity.
It is amazing how a distinguished politician like Pranab Mukherjee can go so wrong on a great stalwart of India’s unity, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who lived for India’s unity and died mysteriously in Srinagar jail.
Syama Prasad was an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and hence had unflinching faith in the necessity of a united India. He said, “the dangers in front of us are many; the latest addition in the shape of a movement for Pakistan should not be lightly brushed aside. This preposterous claim must be nipped in the bud by all lovers of Hindusthan.”(Sylhet, 7th April 1940).
So the dream was always a United India and not a truncated one. He begged all to help realise it. But Muslim belligerence was continuously rising. He wrote, ‘In provinces where constitutional powers have passed to the hands of Moslem ministers, reports of oppression and injustices daily pour in. I myself can bear testimony to a systemic policy pursued by the Ministry now in power in Bengal which is aimed at crippling the Hindus in every sphere of life-economic, political and cultural.” (Ibid).
The Congress remained a silent spectator to Hindu plight. Mookerjee wrote, “Much though we wish that the truth was otherwise, it is no use concealing the fact that the Congress has not succeeded in bringing within its fold any very large number of Moslems. And yet the Congress dare not openly fight for the protection of Hindu interests even though they are deliberately trampled underfoot.”(Ibid).
As a reiteration of his stand he declared, “as Hindus our position is perfectly clear. We want communal harmony and amity. We fully recognise that this country must continue in future, as it has been in the past, the home of many people other than Hindus. We beg of them to treat this country as their fatherland and identify themselves with the joys and sorrows of the people of India.”(Ibid).
He remained hopeful till the last — “We shall rise, we shall unite. We shall live in a country whose destinies shall be in the hands of her children alone and where the flag of a free and United Hindusthan shall proclaim for ever the glory of peace and progress, of tolerance and freedom.” (North Bihar Provincial Hindu Conference,14 th April 1940).
He knew of the British hand behind the demand for Pakistan and said,”The British government is reluctant to transfer power to Indians for it apprehends that the Hindus constituting 70 per cent of the Indian population would then have the dominant voice, which leading Moslems would not be prepared to accept. It is open to government to institute national electorates and leave administration in the provinces and at the centre to be run by majority parties who will be returned through such electorates with a mandate for giving effect to political programmes that transcend the bounds of sectarian interest. It will not do that for it knows that the acceptance of joint electorates will ultimately reduce communal misunderstandings, lead to national solidarity and may sound the death knell of British supremacy in India....”(ibid).
He didn’t approve of Gandhi’s Muslim appeasement policy and said “Gandhiji committed a fresh Himalayan blunder by trying to placate Jinnah.”(30th Sept. 1944). He warned Gandhi and Congress again and again against appeasing Jinnah. In fact, to keep Jinnah’s divisive politics at bay he supported Fazlul Haque in 1939. He warned C. Rajagopalachari that Jinnah keeps changing his stand and even if his Partition proposal is accepted, he will demand district-wise plebiscite.(Bharat Kesari: Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee with Modern Implications by S. C. Das).
In Ludhiana he declared, “There can be no compromise with any fantastic claim for cutting India to pieces, either on communal or on provincial considerations. India has been and is one country and must remain so, whatever self-constituted exponents of so-called Hindu Moslem unity may declare. It is a most dangerous pastime to try to placate that section of Moslems who think it beneath their dignity to live in India as such and therefore demand a territory of their own, sovereign and independent, carved out of our motherland, a territory where crores of Hindus will continue to live bereft of their Indian nationality. It is nothing short of stabbing Indian liberty and nationalism in the back...I sincerely hope that in the period of struggle that lies ahead of us Hindus, Moslems, Christians, Buddhists and all others will merge themselves wholeheartedly in the cause of Indian emancipation and thereby baffle the machinations of those reactionary elements that create disunity or dissension among ourselves or seek to thrive on them.”(November 12 1944, Ludhiana).
Lastly, the Congress surrender to Jinnah left the nationalists no choice, and Mookerjee supported the partition of Bengal in 1946 as a fait accompli only to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan (“If 25 per cent Muslims could not agree to live in India, how could 44 per cent of Hindus live in Bengal under 54 per cent Muslims?”). He also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.
The massacres of Hindus shook everyone, and Hindu leaders couldn’t find a solution, but to accept division. Syama Prasad said,”Today we stand disillusioned. As Hindus we have been prepared to make sacrifices and forego many of our rightful interests in furtherance of a possible unity with the Moslems of India for the attainment of our goal (freedom for united India). Our anxiety to obtain their support has been often misunderstood for weakness and helplessness... Not only do the Hindus and the Moslems stand divided but among the Hindus artificial barriers have been imposed and our dream of a United Indian nation is receding to the background.”(Awake Hindusthan).
He never supported the vicious idea of Partition, but was helpless when the Congress surrendered to Muslim separatism. Like millions of unyielding Indians.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Grammar of good life
The Times of India
Friday August 28, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Friday August 28, 2009
Tarun Vijay
The feel of goodness often comes unannounced. This time it happened to me in the form of our dear Doctor's humble speech while he was giving away the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award to an unassuming Vaishnav of Paunar, Gautam Bhai. Manmohan Singh's words, to change our lifestyles and take a lesson from our villages were like a fresh breeze. His exact words, "We should question whether our current lifestyles and value systems are sustainable if we are to live in harmony with nature and at peace with ourselves."
Our lifestyle, complete urbanization and gobbling the natural resources, has resulted in catastrophes for the earth.
Like what? Small things perhaps matter most. In 1968, my sister's village in Haryana had enough water at 85 feet below surface and just a three horsepower motor was sufficient to get full throttles of water through a three-inch pipe. Today the same place gets less water after digging 460 feet. That too, using a 15 horsepower motor.
In Silvasa, the former Portuguese colony with a 73% tribal population, the main river Pipariya's water has gone muddy red and completely unusable for any purpose because the government introduced a policy of industrialization ostensibly to "help" tribal people and give a fillip to their modernization. The result is, tribal population is fast dwindling, their land is vanishing from their hands, they are losing touch with their culture and language, incidents of thefts, rapes and murders have increased manifold, their leadership has gone nauseatingly corrupt under the influence of Delhi's parliamentary "friends" and Silvasa , once known for its rustic tribal beauty and natural splendour has turned into a "daru-dance-party" destination for Mumbaikars.
We have learnt the art of destroying our nature and culture under the somber guidelines of an alienated Planning Commission and an attitude that defines everything under the head of progress as westernization. Cut the jungles to make roads, build big dams and don't care about the devastated people and their rehabilitation, convert agricultural land into non-agricultural and build farmhouses and multiplexes, concrete jungles for maddeningly Americanized crowds which run crazy after advertisements promising acres of green in the middle of city.
This life doesn't give you time for the kids but ample space for business trips and nine-to-nine work schedules. The kids get drunk, are hooked on drugs, drive fast and kill poor people sleeping on the footpath that makes the urban successful father to spend millions to ensure he is not put to the gallows. Rajesh Kalra wrote in his blog how Punjab is losing water. It's not just the loss of water, the fast-track lifestyle has led Punjab and Haryana, once known for its "gabru mundas" (strong young lads) into the dark alleys of drugs and alcoholism. It has a devastating effect on the height and strength of the Punjabi youth whose martial prowess has always been a subject of folklore. But who cares? Manmohan Singh or Badal or his ever yielding partner?
Now, Gautam Bhai leads a different kind of life that made Manmohan Singh say something different and off track.
People like them represent the real core of our civilizational mooring which has taught us to have a symbiotic relationship with nature. "Earn, only to give" is Vedanta's message. Significance of Upanishadic messages like live to fulfil needs and control your desires is as simple as that. Dharma is righteousness and that must drive our desires and wealth. No individual can survive in isolation and a part of the society is an inseparable constituent of the whole hence what he takes from the society requires an obligation to return the favours. To understand the real meaning behind it Manmohan Singh or any other person interested in an alternative path, must read at least these two books, Gandhi's "Hind Swarajya" and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's "Integral Humanism" to understand a lifestyle that would sustain the earth.
Gautam Bhai's Paunar is a place near Yavatmal, where the eternally famous ashram of Vinoba Bhave is situated on the banks of the river Dham. The ashram is better known for its Bhudan Yajna or the people's movement to give land to the landless, initiated by the great Gandhian Vinoba Bhave, whose treatise on Srimad Bhagwad Gita in Marathi is a household treasure named Gitai or the Mother Gita. His other masterpiece is on the Quran, as he was well versed in Arabic too.
Sometime ago, I was in Yavatmal for an RSS programme and when my friends Sudhir Pathak and Srinivas Vaidya, who accompanied me, told me that the Paunar Ashram was midway, I risked a delay for my scheduled programme and decided to make a stopover.
It was worth it. The ashram is like poetry in nature's lap. Vinoba represents the best in Hindu mind. Sauve, gentle, all encompassing and an epitome of total dedication to the Brahma, the creator. He might have been a misfit for the present politically charged society; yet he made his mark on the times he traversed with unflinching faith in reforming society through "bhakti". His ashram bears the name Jai Jagat, salutation to the world. The room where he breathed his last has his samadhi now and the only two words inscribed on the marble structure are Shri Hari, the name of Vishnu. A couple of years before he bid adieu to this mortal world he had stopped signing his name and instead would write Shri Hari, signifying that all is merged in one supreme identity of the Lord, everything belongs to Him, hence what's the use of having a name for the mortal body?
Gautam Bhai who knew me through my articles welcomed and took us around the ashram. It's more like a Vedic seer's hermitage than a social reformer's work station. Gautam Bhai personifies the Vinoba spirit. He hails from the highly motivated family of Bajajs, who were ardent Gandhi devotees, most famous being the father and son-duo Jamna Lal Bajaj and Kamal Nayan Bajaj. Did the Bhudan movement succeed? Yes and no, but it definitely kindled a spirit of sacrifice among the wealthier Hindus. One of them, Ashok Ruikar, whose father Nagoraoji Ramchandra Ruikar donated 600 acres of land to Vinoba's Bhudan was my host and he said: "Vinoba inspired our family though we had always been close to the RSS. Vinoba once wrote that he was a non-member member of the RSS, meaning though not active in the organization he finds an affinity with it."
This is a glimpse of the Bharat we hardly know about in our India. Someone inspired with the spirit of giving, feeling the pains of others and having a lifestyle which is synchronized with nature. The people in our villages have done much more for the nation, yet their concerns, worldview and lifestyle hardly find any echo either in our media or in the academia.
What's there if there are no air, water and earth? Clubs and politics and glamour? The grammar of good and sustainable life comes through self-control and respect for nature and not through the policies of the "whiskey drinkers" of Delhi. Those who take immense pleasure to wear fur coats and relish the meat of those poor animals who were brutalized before getting finally slaughtered must reap the results of their inhuman barbarism.
Subhash Sharma, a farmer in the drought-hit Yavatmal area and Devaji Tofa, a rebel rural worker who disapproves the interference of any state apparatus in his village to live happier, are two such examples that sustain the earth.
(Subhash Sharma of Yavatmal explains his philosophy of respect for Mother Earth)
I met Subhash Sharma recently when every newspaper was writing about farmers' suicides and parched farmlands in Vidarbha. He says: "We have lost the respect for Mother Earth, hence gets cursed." His is the only island of hope and happiness with green acres spread with no harvest loss even when the region is reeling under severe a drought. The reason? A new indigenous technique of water conservation and recognizing that beyond limit humans do not need much to store. Hence his first harvest is for the ants and insects that people his land. He always allows the "moong" crop to be "wasted" so that earthworms, ants and millions of other life forms which thrive on "moong" can have a full meal.
(Ant houses on Subhash's land are respected)
He has dug hundreds of staggered pits along the boundaries of his farmland that work as water reservoirs for crops. That's the main "secret" of never having his land parched even in a bad season. He has about 50 farm labourers working on his land and every year after Baisakhi, he takes them along with their children for a pilgrimage. This year the count was 80, including all family members of the labourers. All at his own cost. Last year they went to Mata Vaishno Devi. This year was the turn of Dwarka and Somnath.
(Green Acres of happiness in Subhash's farms in times of drought elsewhere)
That's Bharat. And that's a lifestyle perhaps Manmohan Singh was thinking of when he awarded Gautam Bhai.
And now a few words about Devaji Bhai Tofa.
I was fortunate enough to hand over the coveted Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Award to him, though frankly I felt too small and dwarved listening to his achievements and seeing his humility.
He is working against the government.
He believes wherever the government has interfered the people have been belittled.
And he makes sense.
He showed it in his area of influence.
He works in the Naxal-infested area of Gadhchiroli, in a Gond village Mendha-Lekha, in Dhanora Tehsil of Maharashtra. He asks: "You people say that in our villages, it is our government. Then whose governments are the ones in Delhi and Bombay?" The workers had no answer and the old man then told them, "The governments in Delhi and Bombay are ours because we elect them. But in our villages, we do not have a government. We are the government."
Most of the development work in his village has been undertaken and executed by Gond tribals.
And their happiness index has increased.
Is this the lifestyle Manmohan Singh tried to support. Really?
Our lifestyle, complete urbanization and gobbling the natural resources, has resulted in catastrophes for the earth.
Like what? Small things perhaps matter most. In 1968, my sister's village in Haryana had enough water at 85 feet below surface and just a three horsepower motor was sufficient to get full throttles of water through a three-inch pipe. Today the same place gets less water after digging 460 feet. That too, using a 15 horsepower motor.
In Silvasa, the former Portuguese colony with a 73% tribal population, the main river Pipariya's water has gone muddy red and completely unusable for any purpose because the government introduced a policy of industrialization ostensibly to "help" tribal people and give a fillip to their modernization. The result is, tribal population is fast dwindling, their land is vanishing from their hands, they are losing touch with their culture and language, incidents of thefts, rapes and murders have increased manifold, their leadership has gone nauseatingly corrupt under the influence of Delhi's parliamentary "friends" and Silvasa , once known for its rustic tribal beauty and natural splendour has turned into a "daru-dance-party" destination for Mumbaikars.
We have learnt the art of destroying our nature and culture under the somber guidelines of an alienated Planning Commission and an attitude that defines everything under the head of progress as westernization. Cut the jungles to make roads, build big dams and don't care about the devastated people and their rehabilitation, convert agricultural land into non-agricultural and build farmhouses and multiplexes, concrete jungles for maddeningly Americanized crowds which run crazy after advertisements promising acres of green in the middle of city.
This life doesn't give you time for the kids but ample space for business trips and nine-to-nine work schedules. The kids get drunk, are hooked on drugs, drive fast and kill poor people sleeping on the footpath that makes the urban successful father to spend millions to ensure he is not put to the gallows. Rajesh Kalra wrote in his blog how Punjab is losing water. It's not just the loss of water, the fast-track lifestyle has led Punjab and Haryana, once known for its "gabru mundas" (strong young lads) into the dark alleys of drugs and alcoholism. It has a devastating effect on the height and strength of the Punjabi youth whose martial prowess has always been a subject of folklore. But who cares? Manmohan Singh or Badal or his ever yielding partner?
Now, Gautam Bhai leads a different kind of life that made Manmohan Singh say something different and off track.
People like them represent the real core of our civilizational mooring which has taught us to have a symbiotic relationship with nature. "Earn, only to give" is Vedanta's message. Significance of Upanishadic messages like live to fulfil needs and control your desires is as simple as that. Dharma is righteousness and that must drive our desires and wealth. No individual can survive in isolation and a part of the society is an inseparable constituent of the whole hence what he takes from the society requires an obligation to return the favours. To understand the real meaning behind it Manmohan Singh or any other person interested in an alternative path, must read at least these two books, Gandhi's "Hind Swarajya" and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's "Integral Humanism" to understand a lifestyle that would sustain the earth.
Gautam Bhai's Paunar is a place near Yavatmal, where the eternally famous ashram of Vinoba Bhave is situated on the banks of the river Dham. The ashram is better known for its Bhudan Yajna or the people's movement to give land to the landless, initiated by the great Gandhian Vinoba Bhave, whose treatise on Srimad Bhagwad Gita in Marathi is a household treasure named Gitai or the Mother Gita. His other masterpiece is on the Quran, as he was well versed in Arabic too.
Sometime ago, I was in Yavatmal for an RSS programme and when my friends Sudhir Pathak and Srinivas Vaidya, who accompanied me, told me that the Paunar Ashram was midway, I risked a delay for my scheduled programme and decided to make a stopover.
It was worth it. The ashram is like poetry in nature's lap. Vinoba represents the best in Hindu mind. Sauve, gentle, all encompassing and an epitome of total dedication to the Brahma, the creator. He might have been a misfit for the present politically charged society; yet he made his mark on the times he traversed with unflinching faith in reforming society through "bhakti". His ashram bears the name Jai Jagat, salutation to the world. The room where he breathed his last has his samadhi now and the only two words inscribed on the marble structure are Shri Hari, the name of Vishnu. A couple of years before he bid adieu to this mortal world he had stopped signing his name and instead would write Shri Hari, signifying that all is merged in one supreme identity of the Lord, everything belongs to Him, hence what's the use of having a name for the mortal body?
Gautam Bhai who knew me through my articles welcomed and took us around the ashram. It's more like a Vedic seer's hermitage than a social reformer's work station. Gautam Bhai personifies the Vinoba spirit. He hails from the highly motivated family of Bajajs, who were ardent Gandhi devotees, most famous being the father and son-duo Jamna Lal Bajaj and Kamal Nayan Bajaj. Did the Bhudan movement succeed? Yes and no, but it definitely kindled a spirit of sacrifice among the wealthier Hindus. One of them, Ashok Ruikar, whose father Nagoraoji Ramchandra Ruikar donated 600 acres of land to Vinoba's Bhudan was my host and he said: "Vinoba inspired our family though we had always been close to the RSS. Vinoba once wrote that he was a non-member member of the RSS, meaning though not active in the organization he finds an affinity with it."
This is a glimpse of the Bharat we hardly know about in our India. Someone inspired with the spirit of giving, feeling the pains of others and having a lifestyle which is synchronized with nature. The people in our villages have done much more for the nation, yet their concerns, worldview and lifestyle hardly find any echo either in our media or in the academia.
What's there if there are no air, water and earth? Clubs and politics and glamour? The grammar of good and sustainable life comes through self-control and respect for nature and not through the policies of the "whiskey drinkers" of Delhi. Those who take immense pleasure to wear fur coats and relish the meat of those poor animals who were brutalized before getting finally slaughtered must reap the results of their inhuman barbarism.
Subhash Sharma, a farmer in the drought-hit Yavatmal area and Devaji Tofa, a rebel rural worker who disapproves the interference of any state apparatus in his village to live happier, are two such examples that sustain the earth.
(Subhash Sharma of Yavatmal explains his philosophy of respect for Mother Earth)
I met Subhash Sharma recently when every newspaper was writing about farmers' suicides and parched farmlands in Vidarbha. He says: "We have lost the respect for Mother Earth, hence gets cursed." His is the only island of hope and happiness with green acres spread with no harvest loss even when the region is reeling under severe a drought. The reason? A new indigenous technique of water conservation and recognizing that beyond limit humans do not need much to store. Hence his first harvest is for the ants and insects that people his land. He always allows the "moong" crop to be "wasted" so that earthworms, ants and millions of other life forms which thrive on "moong" can have a full meal.
(Ant houses on Subhash's land are respected)
He has dug hundreds of staggered pits along the boundaries of his farmland that work as water reservoirs for crops. That's the main "secret" of never having his land parched even in a bad season. He has about 50 farm labourers working on his land and every year after Baisakhi, he takes them along with their children for a pilgrimage. This year the count was 80, including all family members of the labourers. All at his own cost. Last year they went to Mata Vaishno Devi. This year was the turn of Dwarka and Somnath.
(Green Acres of happiness in Subhash's farms in times of drought elsewhere)
That's Bharat. And that's a lifestyle perhaps Manmohan Singh was thinking of when he awarded Gautam Bhai.
And now a few words about Devaji Bhai Tofa.
I was fortunate enough to hand over the coveted Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Award to him, though frankly I felt too small and dwarved listening to his achievements and seeing his humility.
He is working against the government.
He believes wherever the government has interfered the people have been belittled.
And he makes sense.
He showed it in his area of influence.
He works in the Naxal-infested area of Gadhchiroli, in a Gond village Mendha-Lekha, in Dhanora Tehsil of Maharashtra. He asks: "You people say that in our villages, it is our government. Then whose governments are the ones in Delhi and Bombay?" The workers had no answer and the old man then told them, "The governments in Delhi and Bombay are ours because we elect them. But in our villages, we do not have a government. We are the government."
Most of the development work in his village has been undertaken and executed by Gond tribals.
And their happiness index has increased.
Is this the lifestyle Manmohan Singh tried to support. Really?
Monday, August 24, 2009
नेपाल से जरूरी निकटता
in.jagran.yahoo.com/news
Aug:24-09-2009
तरुण विजय
Aug:24-09-2009
तरुण विजय
नेपाल के नए प्रधानमंत्री माधव नेपाल की भारत यात्रा का खास महत्व है। माओवादी सरकार गिरने के बाद लोकतात्रिक शक्तियों के सर्वसम्मत समर्थन के फलस्वरूप माधव नेपाल संघीय नेपाल गणतंत्र के दूसरे प्रधानमंत्री निर्वाचित हुए। उन्हें 22 राजनीतिक दलों के 360 सासदों का समर्थन मिला, जबकि माओवादियों के 238 सासदों ने उन्हें मत नहीं दिया। माधव नेपाल से मेरा परिचय लगभग 20 वर्ष पुराना है, जब वह अपनी पार्टी के उभरते नेताओं में माने जाते थे। सौम्य, सरल और असंदिग्ध रूप से नेपाल के प्रति प्रतिबद्ध माधव नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी के नेता भले ही हों, पर वह प्रखर राष्ट्रवादी नेपाली हैं। इस बार उन्होंने अपने व्यस्त कार्यक्रमों से समय निकालकर मुझे सुबह चाय पर आमंत्रित किया और उनके साथ एकातिक रूप से मेरी नेपाल के नए भविष्य के संदर्भ में चर्चा हुई। वह मुख्यत: नेपाल के औद्योगिकीकरण, भारत द्वारा पूंजी निवेश और नेपाल के युवाओं के लिए विज्ञान तथा प्रौद्योगिकी के क्षेत्र में नए अवसर उपलब्ध कराने के प्रति चिंतित दिखे। उन्होंने स्पष्ट कहा कि अभी भी काफी बड़ी संख्या में माओवादी गुरिल्लाओं ने हथियार नहीं डाले हैं और अगर उन्होंने लोकतात्रिक रास्ता नहीं अपनाया तो सरकार उनके प्रति कठोर कार्रवाई से नहीं हिचकेगी। यह विडंबना है कि लोकतात्रिक अभिव्यक्ति के सर्वश्रेष्ठ प्रतिनिधि के नाते माधव नेपाल की प्रधानमंत्री के रूप में पहली भारत यात्रा मीडिया और सामान्य जनचर्चा की दृष्टि से उपेक्षित रही। मीडिया शिमला, जिन्ना और जसवंत सिंह की पुस्तक की चर्चा में इतना डूबा रहा कि दुनिया में जिस हिंदू बहुल नेपाल राष्ट्र के साथ भारत के सर्वाधिक आत्मीय और सामरिक दृष्टि से महत्वपूर्ण रिश्ते हैं उसके संबंध में चर्चा के लिए किसी चैनल या अखबार को अवकाश नहीं मिला। इसके विपरीत यदि भारत से शत्रुता रखने वाले पाकिस्तान जैसे देश से कोई प्रधानमंत्री से भी छोटे स्तर का नेता आता तो यही अखबार और चैनल उसे ज्यादा महत्व देते।
नेपाल में 22 राजनीतिक दलों के सामूहिक निर्णय से बनी गैर माओवादी सरकार का गठन होना भारत के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण घटनाक्रम है। एक दशक से अधिक समय तक चले माओवादी हिंसक गुरिल्ला आतंकवाद के फलस्वरूप 12 हजार से अधिक नेपालियों की हत्याएं हुई थीं। तब उसे रोमाटिक पंथनिरपेक्षतावादियों द्वारा राजतंत्र के विरुद्ध जनविद्रोह की संज्ञा दी गई थी। नेपाल के माओवादियों तथा भारत के कम्युनिस्ट समर्थकों ने मान लिया था कि माओवादियों को गणतंत्र की मुख्यधारा में शामिल करके नेपाल का भविष्य सुरक्षित किया जा सकता है। राजतंत्र की समाप्ति, हिंदू राष्ट्र की संवैधानिक मान्यता के अंत और नेपाल की शाही सेना में माओवादी गुरिल्लाओं की भर्ती जैसे विवादास्पद बिंदुओं पर टिका नया संघीय नेपाल गणतंत्र उदित हुआ। यह भारत में चीन समर्थक तत्वों की विजय के रूप में भी देखा गया। गणतंत्र के पहले माओवादी प्रधानमंत्री पुष्प कमल दहल यानी प्रचंड प्रधानमंत्री की शपथ लेने के बाद पहले बीजिंग गए और बाद में भारत आए। वह यहा सभी राजनीतिक दलों के नेताओं से मिले और भाजपा अध्यक्ष राजनाथ सिंह के साथ जलपान के दौरान उन्होंने हिंदू हितों के प्रति अपनी संवेदना दिखाते हुए भारत-नेपाल संबंधों को अयोध्या-जनकपुर के रिश्तों अर्थात राम और जानकी के संबंधों से निरूपित किया, लेकिन काठमाडू पहुंचते ही उनका हिंदू और भारत विरोधी रवैया अनेक घटनाओं द्वारा प्रकट हुआ। उन्होंने पशुपतिनाथ मंदिर की चिरपुरातन पुजारी व्यवस्था बदलने का प्रयास किया, जो व्यापक जनआदोलन के विरोधस्वरूप वापस लेना पड़ा। राष्ट्रपति चुनाव के समय भितरघात और अहंकारयुक्त राजनीति केपरिणामस्वरूप उनकी सरकार गिर गई और माधव नेपाल नए प्रधानमंत्री बने।
माधव नेपाल के सामने कठिन चुनौतिया हैं। एक ओर नेपाल के विकास की योजनाएं लागू करने और नया संविधान लिखने का काम समय सीमा के भीतर पूरा करने का दायित्व है और दूसरी ओर माओवादियों द्वारा सरकार गिराने की कोशिशें जारी हैं। साथ ही नेपाली काग्रेस के महत्वाकाक्षी नेता सरकार चलाने में राजनीतिक बाधाएं डाल रहे हैं। प्रधानमंत्री माधव नेपाल की भारत यात्रा के समय विदेश मंत्री सुजाता कोइराला नहीं आईं। हालाकि इसके लिए उन्होंने अपनी खराब तबियत को कारण बताया, किंतु नेपाल में मोटे तौर पर यह माना गया है कि सुजाता कोइराला ने उप प्रधानमंत्री पद हासिल करने के लिए दबाव बनाने को यह रास्ता चुना। इसकी नेपाल में निंदा हुई। स्वयं सुजाता की पार्टी ने ही इसकी आलोचना करते हुए माधव को पूरा समर्थन दिए जाते रहने का आश्वासन दिया, लेकिन इस प्रकरण से माधव नेपाल की कमजोर अंदरूनी स्थिति का तो अंदाजा हो ही गया। यदि उनकी सरकार में शामिल कैबिनेट मंत्री ही अपने प्रधानमंत्री की विदेश यात्रा के समय इस प्रकार का घटनाक्रम उपस्थित कर सकते हैं तो केवल नेपाल में ही नहीं, बल्कि अन्य देशों में भी ऐसी सरकार के स्थायित्व पर सवाल उठने स्वाभाविक ही होंगे।
नेपाल में गैर माओवादी लोकतात्रिक सरकार का स्थायित्व भारत के लिए रणनीतिक आवश्यकता है। दुर्भाग्य से भारत के राजनीतिक दल अपनी आतंरिक स्थितियों के प्रति इतने केंद्रित रहे हैं कि नेपाल में अपने मित्रों की सहायता के लिए उन्होंने समय ही नहीं निकाला। नेपाल पाकिस्तान और चीन ही नहीं, बल्कि बाग्लादेशी जिहादियों का भी अड्डा बनता जा रहा है। भारत में पाकिस्तानी षड्यंत्र से नकली करेंसी भी नेपाल मार्ग से ही भारत भेजे जाने के समाचार मिले हैं। मौजूदा स्थिति नेपाल में वर्तमान सरकार को स्थायित्व देते हुए माओवादियों को भविष्य में सिर न उठाने देने की माग करती है। अगर भारत अपने इस दायित्व से चूका तो आने वाला समय अस्थिर और अराजक नेपाल को उभरते देख सकता है।
नेपाल में 22 राजनीतिक दलों के सामूहिक निर्णय से बनी गैर माओवादी सरकार का गठन होना भारत के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण घटनाक्रम है। एक दशक से अधिक समय तक चले माओवादी हिंसक गुरिल्ला आतंकवाद के फलस्वरूप 12 हजार से अधिक नेपालियों की हत्याएं हुई थीं। तब उसे रोमाटिक पंथनिरपेक्षतावादियों द्वारा राजतंत्र के विरुद्ध जनविद्रोह की संज्ञा दी गई थी। नेपाल के माओवादियों तथा भारत के कम्युनिस्ट समर्थकों ने मान लिया था कि माओवादियों को गणतंत्र की मुख्यधारा में शामिल करके नेपाल का भविष्य सुरक्षित किया जा सकता है। राजतंत्र की समाप्ति, हिंदू राष्ट्र की संवैधानिक मान्यता के अंत और नेपाल की शाही सेना में माओवादी गुरिल्लाओं की भर्ती जैसे विवादास्पद बिंदुओं पर टिका नया संघीय नेपाल गणतंत्र उदित हुआ। यह भारत में चीन समर्थक तत्वों की विजय के रूप में भी देखा गया। गणतंत्र के पहले माओवादी प्रधानमंत्री पुष्प कमल दहल यानी प्रचंड प्रधानमंत्री की शपथ लेने के बाद पहले बीजिंग गए और बाद में भारत आए। वह यहा सभी राजनीतिक दलों के नेताओं से मिले और भाजपा अध्यक्ष राजनाथ सिंह के साथ जलपान के दौरान उन्होंने हिंदू हितों के प्रति अपनी संवेदना दिखाते हुए भारत-नेपाल संबंधों को अयोध्या-जनकपुर के रिश्तों अर्थात राम और जानकी के संबंधों से निरूपित किया, लेकिन काठमाडू पहुंचते ही उनका हिंदू और भारत विरोधी रवैया अनेक घटनाओं द्वारा प्रकट हुआ। उन्होंने पशुपतिनाथ मंदिर की चिरपुरातन पुजारी व्यवस्था बदलने का प्रयास किया, जो व्यापक जनआदोलन के विरोधस्वरूप वापस लेना पड़ा। राष्ट्रपति चुनाव के समय भितरघात और अहंकारयुक्त राजनीति केपरिणामस्वरूप उनकी सरकार गिर गई और माधव नेपाल नए प्रधानमंत्री बने।
माधव नेपाल के सामने कठिन चुनौतिया हैं। एक ओर नेपाल के विकास की योजनाएं लागू करने और नया संविधान लिखने का काम समय सीमा के भीतर पूरा करने का दायित्व है और दूसरी ओर माओवादियों द्वारा सरकार गिराने की कोशिशें जारी हैं। साथ ही नेपाली काग्रेस के महत्वाकाक्षी नेता सरकार चलाने में राजनीतिक बाधाएं डाल रहे हैं। प्रधानमंत्री माधव नेपाल की भारत यात्रा के समय विदेश मंत्री सुजाता कोइराला नहीं आईं। हालाकि इसके लिए उन्होंने अपनी खराब तबियत को कारण बताया, किंतु नेपाल में मोटे तौर पर यह माना गया है कि सुजाता कोइराला ने उप प्रधानमंत्री पद हासिल करने के लिए दबाव बनाने को यह रास्ता चुना। इसकी नेपाल में निंदा हुई। स्वयं सुजाता की पार्टी ने ही इसकी आलोचना करते हुए माधव को पूरा समर्थन दिए जाते रहने का आश्वासन दिया, लेकिन इस प्रकरण से माधव नेपाल की कमजोर अंदरूनी स्थिति का तो अंदाजा हो ही गया। यदि उनकी सरकार में शामिल कैबिनेट मंत्री ही अपने प्रधानमंत्री की विदेश यात्रा के समय इस प्रकार का घटनाक्रम उपस्थित कर सकते हैं तो केवल नेपाल में ही नहीं, बल्कि अन्य देशों में भी ऐसी सरकार के स्थायित्व पर सवाल उठने स्वाभाविक ही होंगे।
नेपाल में गैर माओवादी लोकतात्रिक सरकार का स्थायित्व भारत के लिए रणनीतिक आवश्यकता है। दुर्भाग्य से भारत के राजनीतिक दल अपनी आतंरिक स्थितियों के प्रति इतने केंद्रित रहे हैं कि नेपाल में अपने मित्रों की सहायता के लिए उन्होंने समय ही नहीं निकाला। नेपाल पाकिस्तान और चीन ही नहीं, बल्कि बाग्लादेशी जिहादियों का भी अड्डा बनता जा रहा है। भारत में पाकिस्तानी षड्यंत्र से नकली करेंसी भी नेपाल मार्ग से ही भारत भेजे जाने के समाचार मिले हैं। मौजूदा स्थिति नेपाल में वर्तमान सरकार को स्थायित्व देते हुए माओवादियों को भविष्य में सिर न उठाने देने की माग करती है। अगर भारत अपने इस दायित्व से चूका तो आने वाला समय अस्थिर और अराजक नेपाल को उभरते देख सकता है।
Why India needs the BJP
rediff news
Aug-21,2009
Tarun Vijay
Aug-21,2009
Tarun Vijay
The ideology that the Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] represents and its pan Indian appeal makes it an important cog in our democracy, argues Tarun Vijay
In a nation where most of the political parties are known by the names of their 'owners' turning the political process into a kind of family fiefdom, the existence of a party that still runs on democratic norms and represents a completely different ethos, must be valued as a need of the society. That is the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is useless to indulge in the contemporary dichotomies and scuffles that mar its current framework.
These are trivialities and have been a part of every political party, including the Jan Sangh that saw much bitter scenes involving top guns even when that was hardly as strong as its new avatar the BJP has become.
The basic question is -- do we have a future for a party that symbolises Hindu aspirations and civilisational rejuvenation through political instruments and acts as a part of a larger saffron brotherhood that has grown stronger by each year since its emergence in 1925?
Suppose if there was no Jan Sangh or the BJP there would have been no Kashmir [ Images ] movement, no demands to scrap two flags and two constitutional provisions for an Indian state and abolishing two Constitutional heads system for it. Who would have taken up the cause of an invincible Indian security and carried out the Pokaran II nuclear tests while preparing for Pokaran III?
The last millennium saw the foreign attacks on Bharat that is India and the target of these barbaric assaults were essentially the Hindu population and their temples. The truncated independence should have given them the highest freedom to flower and come to their own as a free and fearless nation would have honoured the great spirit of resistance that made Allama Iqbal write 'Kuch baat hai ki hasti mit-ti nahin hamaari (There is something extraordinary that we -- the civilisation -- survived centuries of assaults)'.
But after the massacres during Partition/independence in Calcutta, Noakhali, Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi, Hindus got the secular marginalisation and a State apparatus that looked down at anything representing their age old-bruised ethos. That is why to uphold the dignity of being a Hindu and ensure equal attitude of the State for every citizen without any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion, the Jan Sangh was founded in 1951. The principles were unity in diversity, one nation, one culture and one people and justice to all, appeasement of none.
At the first all India session of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, its founder president Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee had said, 'India has been for centuries past the homeland of diverse people pursuing different faiths and religions. The need to preserve and respect the personal laws of such people especially in matters of religion and fundamental social obligations is undoubted. In all matters concerning the rights and duties of citizenship as such, there must be complete equality for all. We must be able to carry all sections of the people with us by creating in their minds a healthy and progressive attitude of co-operation based on true equality of opportunity and mutual tolerance and understanding. Our party's door remains open to all who believe in our programme and ideology irrespective of considerations of caste and religion.'
'Our party,' he added, 'believes that the future progress of India must be based on a natural synthesis between its full economic advance and the development of mind and character of the people in accordance with the highest traditions of Indian culture and civilization. The political freedom that we have achieved will be meaningless without economic freedom. It is a tragedy that a vast country such as India, with its almost limitless resources and raw materials, should be steeped in poverty, disease, ignorance and degradation. Our party believes that without plunging the country into the vortex of violent chaos and conflict, it should be possible for us to readjust the conditions of our economic life so as to bring to an end a shameful era of exploitation and silent human suffering.'
Without mincing any words he declared, 'Our party though, ever prepared to extend its hand of equality to all citizens, does not feel ashamed to urge for the consolidation of Hindu society, nor does it suffer from an inferiority complex to acknowledge proudly that the great edifice of Indian culture and civilization, which had stood the test of thousands of years, has been built, most of all by the labour, sacrifice and wisdom of Hindu sages, savants and patriots throughout the chequered history of our motherland. We are not so mean as to forget that in this gigantic process our country came into contact and conflict with many foreign races and ideologies and our great ancestors had the courage to fashion and refashion the country's structure in accordance with new ideas and with the changed conditions of our society. If India's freedom is to be purposeful, a correct appreciation of the fundamental features of Indian culture -- the discovery of that unity in diversity, which is the keynote of her civilization -- is highly essential.'
These lengthy quotations are essential to understand the real purpose behind the BJP, which has accepted Dr Mookerjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya as its sources of inspiration showing the ideological path.
In pre-Partition days, the independence movement essentially drew from Hindu nationalist symbols and writings expressed through Mahatma Gandhi's [ Images ] Ram Rajya, Sri Aurobindo's Bhawani Bharati concept which saw India as Durga incarnate and declared Sanatan Dharma as the nationality of India, Vivekananda, Lokmanya Tilak, and Subhas Bose. They were all deeply Hindu spiritual personalities who espoused the cause of freedom, liberty, equality and democracy.
There was less ideological apartheid that we see today and newspapers like The Hindu and The Hindustan Times were not looked down just because they bore a word Hindu and parties like the Hindu Mahasabha, Ram Rajya Parishad etc were in the mainstream without experiencing any kind of 'ideological untouchability'.
It's only after Independence under the influence of Nehruvian left-to-centre policies that the assertive Hindus segment was sought to be humiliated and segregated.
In the contemporary political scene, the Congress, which once represented the federal liberal character of Hindu nationalist ideas advocating equality to all, has turned into a family oriented party where internal democratic process is completely subjugated to the wishes and whims of a supreme leader who also happens to be a family head. Except for the Communist parties and the BJP there is a hardly a party that is democratically run and controlled from the grassroot levels.
Hence, in spite of internal bickering and trivial issues cropping up, a party that was born post Independence representing a distinct ideology and programmes can only be a strengthening factor for democracy. Its amazing growth and power to rule the nation quite successfully have further added to its credibility. Those who oppose it must look at the fact sheet it has so far built -- giving India the best of the highways, an IT and technological revolution, best run states in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh [ Images ] and Chhattisgarh and above all a credible opposition that has a vast acceptability at an all India level, giving a pan India character to the polity.
The poet who wrote, 'Gagan mein laharta hai bhagwa hamara (The saffron flies high in the sky)' became the most admired prime minister, the first genuinely non-Congress one and his regime saw the best of relations with neighbours. Atal Bihari Vajpayee [ Images ] allowed Pokaran II, yet maintained better ties with the US, China and Pakistan without compromising on national interest.
This party has another distinct feature -- it can boast of a galaxy of national leaders who command a mass following unlike others who have none but their 'eternally elected' chiefs alone for the posters and platforms diminishing any second or third rank leadership.
And you don't have to belong to a family or a family's durbar to aspire for higher goals and posts in the party. Someone who was a village level worker and did his bit to gain acceptance could become party president and was never told, oh you don't have a particular last name hence can rise this far and no further.
Pardon me if in this context, to clarify a bit more, I recall a Q&A session I had in China where I was asked in a university by students – 'What's the use of your democracy if it can't deliver? See Bihar and Orissa and UP's rural areas and farmers suicides? We may not be having the democracy you like to ape from the West but our one party system is delivering fine.'
I was not surprised. The value of democracy can be understood only when you lose it after enjoying its fruits. I simply said, even with half filled stomachs and often self defeating noises, we prefer freedom more than a totalitarian regime guaranteeing prosperity to all.
Liberty can have no alternative. And that's exactly the most powerful factor that makes the BJP indefatigable and invincible. The party's inner core promises to rise like a Phoenix if the outer shell fails to translate the ideals it was born to achieve.
It may look a bit preposterous to say these high pedestal things when the party is making news not for some happy reasons. It is sad, but it will pass. The party is not built by those who were adherents of a family, but by those small yet strongly committed young hearts who built it on their shoulders because they shared a vision and a dream.
I have seen three generations working together, first for the Jan Sangh and then for its new avatar, the BJP. They never aspired to make it big in Delhi [ Images ] but from Silchar to Shimoga and Doda to Port Blair, they have been working. These workers are the strength of the party and not those who make big speeches and then wash dirty linen in the media. They must be powered and their moral needs to be boosted by a united commitment to principles leaders claim they accept.
Today these workers have emerged taller because they have lived the ideals espoused by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who had merged his identity with the common cadre and lived by his principles through his own life's example. He gave the alternative ideology of integral humanism before the two alien ones namely capitalism and communism. That almost supplements and complements Gandhi's Hind Swarajya whose hundredth year is passing so unceremoniously in the raj of the 'Gandhis'.
It is this perfectly ideological rock of our civilisation represented by the BJP in politics that India needs fervently.
In a nation where most of the political parties are known by the names of their 'owners' turning the political process into a kind of family fiefdom, the existence of a party that still runs on democratic norms and represents a completely different ethos, must be valued as a need of the society. That is the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is useless to indulge in the contemporary dichotomies and scuffles that mar its current framework.
These are trivialities and have been a part of every political party, including the Jan Sangh that saw much bitter scenes involving top guns even when that was hardly as strong as its new avatar the BJP has become.
The basic question is -- do we have a future for a party that symbolises Hindu aspirations and civilisational rejuvenation through political instruments and acts as a part of a larger saffron brotherhood that has grown stronger by each year since its emergence in 1925?
Suppose if there was no Jan Sangh or the BJP there would have been no Kashmir [ Images ] movement, no demands to scrap two flags and two constitutional provisions for an Indian state and abolishing two Constitutional heads system for it. Who would have taken up the cause of an invincible Indian security and carried out the Pokaran II nuclear tests while preparing for Pokaran III?
The last millennium saw the foreign attacks on Bharat that is India and the target of these barbaric assaults were essentially the Hindu population and their temples. The truncated independence should have given them the highest freedom to flower and come to their own as a free and fearless nation would have honoured the great spirit of resistance that made Allama Iqbal write 'Kuch baat hai ki hasti mit-ti nahin hamaari (There is something extraordinary that we -- the civilisation -- survived centuries of assaults)'.
But after the massacres during Partition/independence in Calcutta, Noakhali, Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi, Hindus got the secular marginalisation and a State apparatus that looked down at anything representing their age old-bruised ethos. That is why to uphold the dignity of being a Hindu and ensure equal attitude of the State for every citizen without any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion, the Jan Sangh was founded in 1951. The principles were unity in diversity, one nation, one culture and one people and justice to all, appeasement of none.
At the first all India session of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, its founder president Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee had said, 'India has been for centuries past the homeland of diverse people pursuing different faiths and religions. The need to preserve and respect the personal laws of such people especially in matters of religion and fundamental social obligations is undoubted. In all matters concerning the rights and duties of citizenship as such, there must be complete equality for all. We must be able to carry all sections of the people with us by creating in their minds a healthy and progressive attitude of co-operation based on true equality of opportunity and mutual tolerance and understanding. Our party's door remains open to all who believe in our programme and ideology irrespective of considerations of caste and religion.'
'Our party,' he added, 'believes that the future progress of India must be based on a natural synthesis between its full economic advance and the development of mind and character of the people in accordance with the highest traditions of Indian culture and civilization. The political freedom that we have achieved will be meaningless without economic freedom. It is a tragedy that a vast country such as India, with its almost limitless resources and raw materials, should be steeped in poverty, disease, ignorance and degradation. Our party believes that without plunging the country into the vortex of violent chaos and conflict, it should be possible for us to readjust the conditions of our economic life so as to bring to an end a shameful era of exploitation and silent human suffering.'
Without mincing any words he declared, 'Our party though, ever prepared to extend its hand of equality to all citizens, does not feel ashamed to urge for the consolidation of Hindu society, nor does it suffer from an inferiority complex to acknowledge proudly that the great edifice of Indian culture and civilization, which had stood the test of thousands of years, has been built, most of all by the labour, sacrifice and wisdom of Hindu sages, savants and patriots throughout the chequered history of our motherland. We are not so mean as to forget that in this gigantic process our country came into contact and conflict with many foreign races and ideologies and our great ancestors had the courage to fashion and refashion the country's structure in accordance with new ideas and with the changed conditions of our society. If India's freedom is to be purposeful, a correct appreciation of the fundamental features of Indian culture -- the discovery of that unity in diversity, which is the keynote of her civilization -- is highly essential.'
These lengthy quotations are essential to understand the real purpose behind the BJP, which has accepted Dr Mookerjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya as its sources of inspiration showing the ideological path.
In pre-Partition days, the independence movement essentially drew from Hindu nationalist symbols and writings expressed through Mahatma Gandhi's [ Images ] Ram Rajya, Sri Aurobindo's Bhawani Bharati concept which saw India as Durga incarnate and declared Sanatan Dharma as the nationality of India, Vivekananda, Lokmanya Tilak, and Subhas Bose. They were all deeply Hindu spiritual personalities who espoused the cause of freedom, liberty, equality and democracy.
There was less ideological apartheid that we see today and newspapers like The Hindu and The Hindustan Times were not looked down just because they bore a word Hindu and parties like the Hindu Mahasabha, Ram Rajya Parishad etc were in the mainstream without experiencing any kind of 'ideological untouchability'.
It's only after Independence under the influence of Nehruvian left-to-centre policies that the assertive Hindus segment was sought to be humiliated and segregated.
In the contemporary political scene, the Congress, which once represented the federal liberal character of Hindu nationalist ideas advocating equality to all, has turned into a family oriented party where internal democratic process is completely subjugated to the wishes and whims of a supreme leader who also happens to be a family head. Except for the Communist parties and the BJP there is a hardly a party that is democratically run and controlled from the grassroot levels.
Hence, in spite of internal bickering and trivial issues cropping up, a party that was born post Independence representing a distinct ideology and programmes can only be a strengthening factor for democracy. Its amazing growth and power to rule the nation quite successfully have further added to its credibility. Those who oppose it must look at the fact sheet it has so far built -- giving India the best of the highways, an IT and technological revolution, best run states in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh [ Images ] and Chhattisgarh and above all a credible opposition that has a vast acceptability at an all India level, giving a pan India character to the polity.
The poet who wrote, 'Gagan mein laharta hai bhagwa hamara (The saffron flies high in the sky)' became the most admired prime minister, the first genuinely non-Congress one and his regime saw the best of relations with neighbours. Atal Bihari Vajpayee [ Images ] allowed Pokaran II, yet maintained better ties with the US, China and Pakistan without compromising on national interest.
This party has another distinct feature -- it can boast of a galaxy of national leaders who command a mass following unlike others who have none but their 'eternally elected' chiefs alone for the posters and platforms diminishing any second or third rank leadership.
And you don't have to belong to a family or a family's durbar to aspire for higher goals and posts in the party. Someone who was a village level worker and did his bit to gain acceptance could become party president and was never told, oh you don't have a particular last name hence can rise this far and no further.
Pardon me if in this context, to clarify a bit more, I recall a Q&A session I had in China where I was asked in a university by students – 'What's the use of your democracy if it can't deliver? See Bihar and Orissa and UP's rural areas and farmers suicides? We may not be having the democracy you like to ape from the West but our one party system is delivering fine.'
I was not surprised. The value of democracy can be understood only when you lose it after enjoying its fruits. I simply said, even with half filled stomachs and often self defeating noises, we prefer freedom more than a totalitarian regime guaranteeing prosperity to all.
Liberty can have no alternative. And that's exactly the most powerful factor that makes the BJP indefatigable and invincible. The party's inner core promises to rise like a Phoenix if the outer shell fails to translate the ideals it was born to achieve.
It may look a bit preposterous to say these high pedestal things when the party is making news not for some happy reasons. It is sad, but it will pass. The party is not built by those who were adherents of a family, but by those small yet strongly committed young hearts who built it on their shoulders because they shared a vision and a dream.
I have seen three generations working together, first for the Jan Sangh and then for its new avatar, the BJP. They never aspired to make it big in Delhi [ Images ] but from Silchar to Shimoga and Doda to Port Blair, they have been working. These workers are the strength of the party and not those who make big speeches and then wash dirty linen in the media. They must be powered and their moral needs to be boosted by a united commitment to principles leaders claim they accept.
Today these workers have emerged taller because they have lived the ideals espoused by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who had merged his identity with the common cadre and lived by his principles through his own life's example. He gave the alternative ideology of integral humanism before the two alien ones namely capitalism and communism. That almost supplements and complements Gandhi's Hind Swarajya whose hundredth year is passing so unceremoniously in the raj of the 'Gandhis'.
It is this perfectly ideological rock of our civilisation represented by the BJP in politics that India needs fervently.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Jinnah. He had a pistol. He used it.
The Times of India
Aug:19:2009
Tarun Vijay
Aug:19:2009
Tarun Vijay
"I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it." So said Mohammad Ali Jinnah while delivering his presidential speech at the Muslim League convention on July 19, 1946.
What followed was an unimaginable massacre of Hindus in Kolkata on August 16, 1946. Six thousand killed, twenty thousand raped and maimed.
Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of Hindu Mahasabha had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India."
If one single instance should be cited to understand what Jinnah really was, it would not be his speech in the Constituent Assembly, Karachi, often quoted by Indian Hindus, but his call for "Direct Action".
That was August 16, 1946, known as the day of "great Calcutta killings". After the "Direct Action" resolution was passed by the Muslim League on July 19, 1946, its president, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in his valedictory speech: "What we have done today is the most historic act in our history. Never have we in the whole history of the League done anything except by the constitutional methods and by constitutionalism. But now we are obliged and forced into this position. This day we bid goodbye to constitutional methods…. Now the time has come for the Muslim Nation to resort to direct action. I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it."
Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, who had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India", organized Hindus fearlessly and foiled Jinnah’s plan to oust Hindus from Kolkata. He formed a volunteer group of the Hindus named the Hindusthan National Guards, resisted horrendous goondaism of the League and moved in the riot-affected areas giving courage to the victims of a planned slaughter and orgy of violence by the League’s marauders.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was traveling all over India awakening the masses to rise against the partition plot. On October 8, 1944, at a United Provinces Hindu Conference, he said, "The sooner Mr Jinnah understands that Pakistan in any form or shape will be resisted by Hindus and many others with the last drop of blood, the better for him, for he will then quietly descend on realities and himself plead for a just and equitable settlement. None but an agent of imperialism will so block the path of Indian unity and freedom as Mr Jinnah is doing."
Dr Mookerjee, who is respected as the ideological icon and source of inspiration by the Bharatiya Janata Party, was a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. In fact, he had been in close contact with Sri Aurobindo, who had said, "The idea of two nationalities in India is only a new-fangled notion invented by Jinnah for his purposes and contrary to the facts. More than 90% of the Indian Mussalmans are descendants of converted Hindus and belong as much to the Indian nation as the Hindus themselves. This process of conversion has continued all along; Jinnah is himself a descendant of a Hindu,converted in fairly recent times,named Jinabhai and many of the most famous Mahommedan leaders have a similar origin."(SABCL, vol.26, page 46).
It was Dr Mookerjee who stood firm and tried to organize a people's movement against partition. He said: “Hindus regard this country as their sacred and holy land. Irrespective of provincial barriers or the diversity in faiths and languages there exists a remarkable economic and cultural unity and inter-dependence which cannot be destroyed at the will of persons and parties who think it beneath their dignity to regard India as their motherland. We must live and die for India and her liberty.” (24th December 1944).
He disagreed with Gandhi placating the Muslim demands and said,"As soon as the other communities realize that the Hindus of India are united and have pledged themselves to stand together for the attainment of their ideal and have adopted a policy of understanding and tolerance to all classes of people residing in India, other communities whose support we are seeking in vain today will then join us voluntarily and on terms honourable to all.”(“Awake Hindusthan”, Page 12).
He further said: “Our experiences in recent years have proved that much as we would be willing to surrender the rights and interests of the Hindus for the purpose of placating other communities, much as we would like to pursue the policy of delivering “blank cheques” the response from the other side is slow and halting, if not sometimes hostile in character.("Awake Hindusthan", Page 13)
In this context, I would like to add that however different Jinnah might have been , we just can't belittle Nehru before Jinnah. Nehru belonged to us; he fought for India’s freedom, spent years in jail and had an Indian dream. We may have a thousand differences with him on policies and programmes, but so what? That would be our "domestic matter". Jinnah led our motherland’s vivisection and he never fought for the freedom struggle.
MJ Akbar has written these lines describing his persona,"Muhammad Ali Jinnah, aristocrat by temperament, catholic in taste, sectarian in politics, and the father of Pakistan, was the unlikeliest parent that an Islamic republic could possibly have. He was the most British of the generation of Indians that won freedom in August 1947. As a child in the elite Christian Mission High School in Karachi, he changed his birthday from 20 October to Christmas Day. As a student at Lincoln's Inn, he anglicised his name from Jinnahbhai to Jinnah. For three years, between 1930 and 1933, he went into voluntary exile in Hampstead, acquired a British passport, set up residence with his sister Fatimah and daughter Dina, hired a British chauffeur (Bradley) for his Bentley, kept two dogs (a black Dobermann and a white West Highland terrier), indulged himself at the theatre (he had once wanted to be a professional actor so that he could play Hamlet) and appeared before the Privy Council to maintain himself in the style to which he was accustomed. He wore Savile Row suits, heavily starched shirts and two-tone leather or suede shoes……Despite being the Quaid-e-Azam, or the Great Leader of Muslims, he drank a moderate amount of alcohol and was embarrassingly unfamiliar with Islamic methods of prayer. He was uncomfortable in any language but English, and made his demand for Pakistan — in 1940 at Lahore — in English, despite catcalls from an audience that wanted to hear Urdu.”
That was a bit of Syama Prasad and the related reflections that may prove worthwhile in the present political debate enveloping the nationalist school of politics. At the end of it, what the Gita has said and the RSS teaches us must make the final lines to this blogpost:
It’s better to die unwavering even in tatters than to change track midway and die stinking rich.
That’s Dharma.
Krishna said: "Swadharme nidhano shreyo (to live and die in ones’ own path alone is the life worthwhile and adopting the ‘other’ dharma is horrible)".
For small desires we lose a lifetime’s achievements and glory.
History was never made essentially by those who became state heads, but often by those who didn’t.
Or by those who gave up everything for others’ good, honestly. Syama Prasad and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya are two major icons of faith for the Hindu nationalist parivar. Both created history and died in their early fifties. Both were mysteriously ‘murdered’. Their lives must light the path of those who care to follow swadharma.
That’s BJP’s legacy too. As it is of other ideologically committed organisations of the saffron hue.
Lincoln didn’t shy away from the civil war and stood like a rock on the question of American spirit and unity. So was Syama Prasad. He died but didn’t bend.
What followed was an unimaginable massacre of Hindus in Kolkata on August 16, 1946. Six thousand killed, twenty thousand raped and maimed.
Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of Hindu Mahasabha had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India."
If one single instance should be cited to understand what Jinnah really was, it would not be his speech in the Constituent Assembly, Karachi, often quoted by Indian Hindus, but his call for "Direct Action".
That was August 16, 1946, known as the day of "great Calcutta killings". After the "Direct Action" resolution was passed by the Muslim League on July 19, 1946, its president, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in his valedictory speech: "What we have done today is the most historic act in our history. Never have we in the whole history of the League done anything except by the constitutional methods and by constitutionalism. But now we are obliged and forced into this position. This day we bid goodbye to constitutional methods…. Now the time has come for the Muslim Nation to resort to direct action. I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it."
Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, who had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India", organized Hindus fearlessly and foiled Jinnah’s plan to oust Hindus from Kolkata. He formed a volunteer group of the Hindus named the Hindusthan National Guards, resisted horrendous goondaism of the League and moved in the riot-affected areas giving courage to the victims of a planned slaughter and orgy of violence by the League’s marauders.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was traveling all over India awakening the masses to rise against the partition plot. On October 8, 1944, at a United Provinces Hindu Conference, he said, "The sooner Mr Jinnah understands that Pakistan in any form or shape will be resisted by Hindus and many others with the last drop of blood, the better for him, for he will then quietly descend on realities and himself plead for a just and equitable settlement. None but an agent of imperialism will so block the path of Indian unity and freedom as Mr Jinnah is doing."
Dr Mookerjee, who is respected as the ideological icon and source of inspiration by the Bharatiya Janata Party, was a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. In fact, he had been in close contact with Sri Aurobindo, who had said, "The idea of two nationalities in India is only a new-fangled notion invented by Jinnah for his purposes and contrary to the facts. More than 90% of the Indian Mussalmans are descendants of converted Hindus and belong as much to the Indian nation as the Hindus themselves. This process of conversion has continued all along; Jinnah is himself a descendant of a Hindu,converted in fairly recent times,named Jinabhai and many of the most famous Mahommedan leaders have a similar origin."(SABCL, vol.26, page 46).
It was Dr Mookerjee who stood firm and tried to organize a people's movement against partition. He said: “Hindus regard this country as their sacred and holy land. Irrespective of provincial barriers or the diversity in faiths and languages there exists a remarkable economic and cultural unity and inter-dependence which cannot be destroyed at the will of persons and parties who think it beneath their dignity to regard India as their motherland. We must live and die for India and her liberty.” (24th December 1944).
He disagreed with Gandhi placating the Muslim demands and said,"As soon as the other communities realize that the Hindus of India are united and have pledged themselves to stand together for the attainment of their ideal and have adopted a policy of understanding and tolerance to all classes of people residing in India, other communities whose support we are seeking in vain today will then join us voluntarily and on terms honourable to all.”(“Awake Hindusthan”, Page 12).
He further said: “Our experiences in recent years have proved that much as we would be willing to surrender the rights and interests of the Hindus for the purpose of placating other communities, much as we would like to pursue the policy of delivering “blank cheques” the response from the other side is slow and halting, if not sometimes hostile in character.("Awake Hindusthan", Page 13)
In this context, I would like to add that however different Jinnah might have been , we just can't belittle Nehru before Jinnah. Nehru belonged to us; he fought for India’s freedom, spent years in jail and had an Indian dream. We may have a thousand differences with him on policies and programmes, but so what? That would be our "domestic matter". Jinnah led our motherland’s vivisection and he never fought for the freedom struggle.
MJ Akbar has written these lines describing his persona,"Muhammad Ali Jinnah, aristocrat by temperament, catholic in taste, sectarian in politics, and the father of Pakistan, was the unlikeliest parent that an Islamic republic could possibly have. He was the most British of the generation of Indians that won freedom in August 1947. As a child in the elite Christian Mission High School in Karachi, he changed his birthday from 20 October to Christmas Day. As a student at Lincoln's Inn, he anglicised his name from Jinnahbhai to Jinnah. For three years, between 1930 and 1933, he went into voluntary exile in Hampstead, acquired a British passport, set up residence with his sister Fatimah and daughter Dina, hired a British chauffeur (Bradley) for his Bentley, kept two dogs (a black Dobermann and a white West Highland terrier), indulged himself at the theatre (he had once wanted to be a professional actor so that he could play Hamlet) and appeared before the Privy Council to maintain himself in the style to which he was accustomed. He wore Savile Row suits, heavily starched shirts and two-tone leather or suede shoes……Despite being the Quaid-e-Azam, or the Great Leader of Muslims, he drank a moderate amount of alcohol and was embarrassingly unfamiliar with Islamic methods of prayer. He was uncomfortable in any language but English, and made his demand for Pakistan — in 1940 at Lahore — in English, despite catcalls from an audience that wanted to hear Urdu.”
That was a bit of Syama Prasad and the related reflections that may prove worthwhile in the present political debate enveloping the nationalist school of politics. At the end of it, what the Gita has said and the RSS teaches us must make the final lines to this blogpost:
It’s better to die unwavering even in tatters than to change track midway and die stinking rich.
That’s Dharma.
Krishna said: "Swadharme nidhano shreyo (to live and die in ones’ own path alone is the life worthwhile and adopting the ‘other’ dharma is horrible)".
For small desires we lose a lifetime’s achievements and glory.
History was never made essentially by those who became state heads, but often by those who didn’t.
Or by those who gave up everything for others’ good, honestly. Syama Prasad and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya are two major icons of faith for the Hindu nationalist parivar. Both created history and died in their early fifties. Both were mysteriously ‘murdered’. Their lives must light the path of those who care to follow swadharma.
That’s BJP’s legacy too. As it is of other ideologically committed organisations of the saffron hue.
Lincoln didn’t shy away from the civil war and stood like a rock on the question of American spirit and unity. So was Syama Prasad. He died but didn’t bend.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Liberation for Bharat
Times of India
Monday August 14, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Monday August 14, 2009
Tarun Vijay
In 1947 an India of the elite, rich and English-speaking got freedom and started enjoying the fruits of a truncated independence achieved at the cost of an unprecedented massacre. Farmers, tribals, the scheduled castes and poor Indians of all denominations remained outside the zone of a progress so passionately touted by our Prime Ministers and leaders.
The result of that progress is this: 2009 has been declared drought-hit, the disabled have to demand through demonstrations a place in the Right to Education Act, rivers are drying, farmland is fast shrinking giving space to malls and multiplexes, small and marginal farmers are either committing suicide or sending their children to other more beneficial and stable vocations. Primary education in villages has yet to get proper attention and in most hill areas potable water is still brought home from a distance source which can be, in some cases, two to three kilometres away. In politics, a caste-conscious regime rules — scheduled castes and tribes are treated as showpieces or their leadership gets too corrupt and self-obsessed forgetting the cause of the social segment they represent. At the ground level, our interaction with tribals and scheduled castes remains formal, untouchability hasn't gone out of our minds.
It's Bharat that needs freedom from the Indian colonialists who decide, sign files, devastate huge chunks of land for big dams and power projects and do not care a hoot about the rehabilitation of the evacuees. It's India that doesn't hesitate to start projects killing the Ganga up in the hills making it trickle where it used to roar like a lion enchanting the entire region.
It's Bharat that travels sleeper class in unreserved coaches and sees every day new schemes for the affluent elite, yet keeps on working, happier with an NREGS and giving votes in the biggest numbers thus protecting the honour of our democracy. Bharat tills the farms, sees the water level going down every year, weaves the mats for schools, works a coolie to the nation and yet always gets the slap, the hurt and the punch of all that's decided by those who never had a feel for the underprivileged except when they seek votes.
Bharat is the voter, India the ruler.
Three days before August 15, I was in Chamaseri, a village five kilometres from Mussoourie, which we call the "queen of the hills" because that is what the British called it. It has a number of internationally famous schools which charge per student as high as Rs 7 lakh a year. There is no dearth of power supply and drinking water which is clean and safe. Roads reach the doorsteps of the residents and students are comfortably placed enjoying studies and the cool weather. Chamaseri, has a population of about 1,000 people. A gram sabha is functioning which means it has at least 250 houses. It's just behind the Woodstock School, famous for having educated some of our elite political leaders' siblings. But it's not connected with Mussoourie through any road. We had to walk eight kilometres each way, through a rough hilly terrain full of big stones and muddy craters to reach a friend who lived on the other side of the village. We saw a couple of naked electric poles and wondered why they were so powerless? A villager sarcastically said that a year back they had erected the poles to get votes. Now votes have been cast so they forgot to put wires in them. Yes, this village in the backyards of Woodstock doesn't have electric supply. Children walk to Mussoourie to study in Ramabai School, run by the local government as there is no school in the village. It means walking eight to nine kilometres each way, almost two hours, as the school is situated at another end of Mussoourie. Children, little kids wih a bagload of books on their backs leave home at six in the morning to reach school by eight, spend the day there and return home by six in the evening. Many times they have to carry extra load on their heads bringing kitchen needs from the city. On a holiday or often on their return from school, they are sent to forest to collect firewood for cooking and grass for cows. A little girl, not more than eight, was bringing a load of green grass on her head, I tried to weigh it by lifting it. Believe me it was too heavy, must have been about 25kg. And she was bringing it from two kilometres from her home that took a tough hilly terrain. It's a daily routine for her. And of course the village doesn't have any landline telephone connections.
(Daughter of Garhwal: Burdened at this tender age yet smiles abound)
I asked some silly questions like what if there is an emergency. (They take patients on a charpoy to Mussoourie, where the nearest government hospital is located). How do you communicate with relatives living in distant areas? (Through post cards). What do you watch on TV channels in the evening? (They don't have any TV as there is no power supply). Have you been given proper care instructions about Swine flu? (What is that, sardi jukam?) What books do you read and is there a library? (They work in lantern and chimney lights, hence can only concentrate on school textbooks). Hospital? (There is one building coming up for it. Doctors will arrive only after the building is done).
(She will traverse the path on her left to reach the green area where her home is, with this load for the cows.)
That's Bharat, Sir
Forget about politicos. What about those who turned Mussoourie into a money spinning station to them and enjoyed a life of a sahib? Why didn't they think they had a social responsibility towards those who provide the chai, servants, chaprasi and vegetables and grains? Have the British left, really?
(This girl, a Class VII student, brings home a sackful of goods from Mussoourie with her school bag hung on the shoulders. Every day she walks 8km way to study and brings household goods too.)
That's visible in most of the rural areas that makes the real Bharat. From Nandigram to Sylhet and Udalguri to Phulbani. India acts through khaki. Killings, arrests and no hearing and accountability. The Manipur episode is not an isolated one. If something of this kind happens to the Indian brown sahibs they would threaten to secede. Why should I have my love for a state that doesn't have any relation with me except collecting votes and tax and giving bullets and backwardness in return? I can love Bharat as my nation but the state power's ruthless rudeness needs to be punished. But how? Through guns? Or use people's power?
Gun never succeeds, it never has
The only solution lies in collecting strength on the basis of positive resolution of people's consolidation. It alone wins ultimately. Gandhi did it and succeeded. Hedgewar did it and showed it works. So can us.
(The poles are there but the wires are missing.)
Here are some tips to begin
Instead of blaming the government for every ill, start a public-interest group, adopt an area to spread literacy, and teach hygiene and etiquettes, organize small help centres like "how to use RTI" and get information about MPs and MLAs funds distribution.
(On the road to Chamaseri, a girl takes fuel wood home for evening cooking.)
Land acquisition is a big racket and it's killing farmers and a social life. Try to collect data about how much land has been converted for non-agricultural use and write letters to editor in local newspapers creating awareness and appealing to people to petition courts to stop urbanization of farmlands.
Plan a holiday in the northeast. It's the most panoramic part of our nation but too neglected and ignored. We must be as naturally going to the northeast as we go to Haridwar or Shimla. It's a great experience in fun and national integration.
Send the best child in the family to join the forces. It's a shame that forces are lacking good human material and they have to advertise to attract youngsters to join their ranks. There can be nothing more satisfying than serving in any wing of our security set-up. Start distributing beautifully designed stickers for the vehicles of those whose children have joined forces, saying "proud parents of a soldier"'. It helps create a patriotic atmosphere.
Try spending a weekend in a village close by. Learn and teach your children about the importance of village life, its autonomous structure, meet people and share a meal. Maybe you will find a child who needs your help or an old man who would like you to write his application to the district magistrate or you may use your connections to expedite a project for the common good. Nothing will be more satisfying than this, believe me.
Remember Ramakrishna Paramhansa said: "Jeever Seva, Shiver Seva" (to serve humans is to serve gods). I don't think we need more temples and mosques and churches, whatever we have is enough to make God hear our petitions and prayers. If humans are living a miserable life, what use is it spending millions on such structures? Ensure that the temple in your vicinity or any place of worship is kept clean and puja is conducted correctly; that will be more useful than erecting a new structure. Our places of worship should cater to the needs of the society. If they teach how to face swine flu in such times, and why we shouldn't panic, that will be more in tune with serving the gods. The temple must start teaching physical exercises to keep the body fit and inspire devotees to make religious groups for river cleaning and stopping the use of plastics while on a pilgrimage. After all, rivers are dirtied and plastic bags thrown in our holy places by devotees only. Why can't we start a reformist action at such places?
The result of that progress is this: 2009 has been declared drought-hit, the disabled have to demand through demonstrations a place in the Right to Education Act, rivers are drying, farmland is fast shrinking giving space to malls and multiplexes, small and marginal farmers are either committing suicide or sending their children to other more beneficial and stable vocations. Primary education in villages has yet to get proper attention and in most hill areas potable water is still brought home from a distance source which can be, in some cases, two to three kilometres away. In politics, a caste-conscious regime rules — scheduled castes and tribes are treated as showpieces or their leadership gets too corrupt and self-obsessed forgetting the cause of the social segment they represent. At the ground level, our interaction with tribals and scheduled castes remains formal, untouchability hasn't gone out of our minds.
It's Bharat that needs freedom from the Indian colonialists who decide, sign files, devastate huge chunks of land for big dams and power projects and do not care a hoot about the rehabilitation of the evacuees. It's India that doesn't hesitate to start projects killing the Ganga up in the hills making it trickle where it used to roar like a lion enchanting the entire region.
It's Bharat that travels sleeper class in unreserved coaches and sees every day new schemes for the affluent elite, yet keeps on working, happier with an NREGS and giving votes in the biggest numbers thus protecting the honour of our democracy. Bharat tills the farms, sees the water level going down every year, weaves the mats for schools, works a coolie to the nation and yet always gets the slap, the hurt and the punch of all that's decided by those who never had a feel for the underprivileged except when they seek votes.
Bharat is the voter, India the ruler.
Three days before August 15, I was in Chamaseri, a village five kilometres from Mussoourie, which we call the "queen of the hills" because that is what the British called it. It has a number of internationally famous schools which charge per student as high as Rs 7 lakh a year. There is no dearth of power supply and drinking water which is clean and safe. Roads reach the doorsteps of the residents and students are comfortably placed enjoying studies and the cool weather. Chamaseri, has a population of about 1,000 people. A gram sabha is functioning which means it has at least 250 houses. It's just behind the Woodstock School, famous for having educated some of our elite political leaders' siblings. But it's not connected with Mussoourie through any road. We had to walk eight kilometres each way, through a rough hilly terrain full of big stones and muddy craters to reach a friend who lived on the other side of the village. We saw a couple of naked electric poles and wondered why they were so powerless? A villager sarcastically said that a year back they had erected the poles to get votes. Now votes have been cast so they forgot to put wires in them. Yes, this village in the backyards of Woodstock doesn't have electric supply. Children walk to Mussoourie to study in Ramabai School, run by the local government as there is no school in the village. It means walking eight to nine kilometres each way, almost two hours, as the school is situated at another end of Mussoourie. Children, little kids wih a bagload of books on their backs leave home at six in the morning to reach school by eight, spend the day there and return home by six in the evening. Many times they have to carry extra load on their heads bringing kitchen needs from the city. On a holiday or often on their return from school, they are sent to forest to collect firewood for cooking and grass for cows. A little girl, not more than eight, was bringing a load of green grass on her head, I tried to weigh it by lifting it. Believe me it was too heavy, must have been about 25kg. And she was bringing it from two kilometres from her home that took a tough hilly terrain. It's a daily routine for her. And of course the village doesn't have any landline telephone connections.
(Daughter of Garhwal: Burdened at this tender age yet smiles abound)
I asked some silly questions like what if there is an emergency. (They take patients on a charpoy to Mussoourie, where the nearest government hospital is located). How do you communicate with relatives living in distant areas? (Through post cards). What do you watch on TV channels in the evening? (They don't have any TV as there is no power supply). Have you been given proper care instructions about Swine flu? (What is that, sardi jukam?) What books do you read and is there a library? (They work in lantern and chimney lights, hence can only concentrate on school textbooks). Hospital? (There is one building coming up for it. Doctors will arrive only after the building is done).
(She will traverse the path on her left to reach the green area where her home is, with this load for the cows.)
That's Bharat, Sir
Forget about politicos. What about those who turned Mussoourie into a money spinning station to them and enjoyed a life of a sahib? Why didn't they think they had a social responsibility towards those who provide the chai, servants, chaprasi and vegetables and grains? Have the British left, really?
(This girl, a Class VII student, brings home a sackful of goods from Mussoourie with her school bag hung on the shoulders. Every day she walks 8km way to study and brings household goods too.)
That's visible in most of the rural areas that makes the real Bharat. From Nandigram to Sylhet and Udalguri to Phulbani. India acts through khaki. Killings, arrests and no hearing and accountability. The Manipur episode is not an isolated one. If something of this kind happens to the Indian brown sahibs they would threaten to secede. Why should I have my love for a state that doesn't have any relation with me except collecting votes and tax and giving bullets and backwardness in return? I can love Bharat as my nation but the state power's ruthless rudeness needs to be punished. But how? Through guns? Or use people's power?
Gun never succeeds, it never has
The only solution lies in collecting strength on the basis of positive resolution of people's consolidation. It alone wins ultimately. Gandhi did it and succeeded. Hedgewar did it and showed it works. So can us.
(The poles are there but the wires are missing.)
Here are some tips to begin
Instead of blaming the government for every ill, start a public-interest group, adopt an area to spread literacy, and teach hygiene and etiquettes, organize small help centres like "how to use RTI" and get information about MPs and MLAs funds distribution.
(On the road to Chamaseri, a girl takes fuel wood home for evening cooking.)
Land acquisition is a big racket and it's killing farmers and a social life. Try to collect data about how much land has been converted for non-agricultural use and write letters to editor in local newspapers creating awareness and appealing to people to petition courts to stop urbanization of farmlands.
Plan a holiday in the northeast. It's the most panoramic part of our nation but too neglected and ignored. We must be as naturally going to the northeast as we go to Haridwar or Shimla. It's a great experience in fun and national integration.
Send the best child in the family to join the forces. It's a shame that forces are lacking good human material and they have to advertise to attract youngsters to join their ranks. There can be nothing more satisfying than serving in any wing of our security set-up. Start distributing beautifully designed stickers for the vehicles of those whose children have joined forces, saying "proud parents of a soldier"'. It helps create a patriotic atmosphere.
Try spending a weekend in a village close by. Learn and teach your children about the importance of village life, its autonomous structure, meet people and share a meal. Maybe you will find a child who needs your help or an old man who would like you to write his application to the district magistrate or you may use your connections to expedite a project for the common good. Nothing will be more satisfying than this, believe me.
Remember Ramakrishna Paramhansa said: "Jeever Seva, Shiver Seva" (to serve humans is to serve gods). I don't think we need more temples and mosques and churches, whatever we have is enough to make God hear our petitions and prayers. If humans are living a miserable life, what use is it spending millions on such structures? Ensure that the temple in your vicinity or any place of worship is kept clean and puja is conducted correctly; that will be more useful than erecting a new structure. Our places of worship should cater to the needs of the society. If they teach how to face swine flu in such times, and why we shouldn't panic, that will be more in tune with serving the gods. The temple must start teaching physical exercises to keep the body fit and inspire devotees to make religious groups for river cleaning and stopping the use of plastics while on a pilgrimage. After all, rivers are dirtied and plastic bags thrown in our holy places by devotees only. Why can't we start a reformist action at such places?
मूल्यों के संकट की महामारी
जागरण
Aug 09-2009
तरुण विजय
Aug 09-2009
तरुण विजय
नदियों को सुखाकर जहा आवासीय कालोनिया बनें, पशुओं को अकथनीय ढंग से तड़पा-तड़पा कर उनकी खाल से बने कोट 'संभ्रात और कुलीन' लोग पहनें, खेती की जमीन पर सिनेमाहाल और मल्टीप्लेक्स खोले जाएं तथा रासायनिक खाद से 'जल्दी और ज्यादा' फसल उगाही के लोभ में जमीन को जहरीला बनाया जाए वहा स्वाइन फ्लू तथा एड्स जैसे रोग नहीं फैलेंगे तो क्या अमृत वर्षा होगी? जिन रोगों से आज पृथ्वी आक्रांत है और अरबों डालर खर्च करने के बाद भी जिनसे निजात पाना संभव नहीं हो रहा है वे सब मनुष्य की अप्राकृतिक वासनाओं और जुगुप्साजनक सीमा तक पहुंची भोगलिप्साओं का स्वाभाविक परिणाम हैं। वैज्ञानिक अपनी प्रयोगशालाओं में इनके समाधान खोजेंगे, पर प्रकृति पर विजय पाने की पश्चिमी मानसिकता ने पृथ्वी को आहत किया है। पहले उन्होंने दूसरी आस्था और समाज को बर्बरता से कुचला। कोलंबस की खोज के बाद चार करोड़ रेड इंडियन तो अमेरिका में स्वर्णभक्षी, ईसाइयत के आक्रामक प्रचारकों द्वारा किए गए संहारों में मार डाले गए। फिर सामी पंथों के जिहाद प्राय: छह करोड़ जानें लील गए। सामी पंथों की ही भाति तीसरा पंथ कम्युनिज्म उभरा, जिसके पुरोधाओं स्टालिन, माओ त्से तुंग और पोलपोट के शासन में अनुमानत: 12 करोड़ लोग बर्बरताओं के शिकार हुए और मारे गए। परमाणु बम जैसे जनसंहारक शस्त्र भी पश्चिम ने दिए। इन भोगवादी लिप्साओं के कारण पृथ्वी के प्राकृतिक वनों का घोर विनाश हुआ तथा मौसम में बदलाव आ गया। ग्लोबल वार्मिंग, कार्बन फुटप्रिंट आदि अंधाधुंध पश्चिमी औद्योगिकीकरण और प्राकृतिक नियमों के विपरीत जाकर अप्राकृतिक विश्व रचाने के परिणाम हैं। यह वह मानसिकता है जो पुरुष की पुरुष से शादी को स्वीकार्य, उचित व न्यायसंगत मानकर प्रकृति के नियमों का उपहास उड़ाती है, जो परिवार संस्था के पक्ष में दिए सब तर्क स्वच्छंद भोग की आधुनिक शैली में दफन करती है, जो स्त्री के मातृत्व को कारावास तथा डिस्को में बीयर पीकर गिर जाने को स्वातं˜य चेतना का प्रतीक मानती है, जो स्त्री की स्त्री से शादी और 'वन नाइट स्टैंड' को पेज थ्री की ग्लैमरस खबर बनाती है, जो पशु-पक्षियों को निर्दयता से मारकर उनके मास भक्षण को 'नवीन युग' का प्रतीक मानती है।
फिर स्वाइन फ्लू, एड्स, बर्ड फ्लू और मैड काऊ रोग क्यों नहीं हों? एक साल में सत्तर हजार किसानों ने भारत में आत्महत्या की। ये सत्तर हजार किसान कितनी जमीन में खेती करते थे? कितना अन्न उगाते थे? किसी ने जानने की कोशिश नहीं की। सत्तर हजार अन्नदाता भूस्वामियों की आत्महत्या ने देश का दिल नहीं दुखाया। आज व्यक्ति का मूल्याकन धन कमाने की कला में प्रवीणता से माना जाता है, विधि-विधान के औचित्य-अनौचित्य का कोई महत्व नहीं है। अरुणाचल के जंगलों से प्लाइवुड बन गई, वरुणा और असि पर मकान बन गए, भारतपुझा नदी से लेकर यमुना तक गंदा नाला बन गई है या सूख रही है, माता-पिता के लिए अनाथालय खोलने वाले करोड़पति बेटे हैं तो डल झील के सिकुड़ते जाने से लापरवाह जिहादी सिर्फ सांप्रदायिक नफरत के लिए मनुष्यों का रक्त बहा रहे हैं, तो बचेगा क्या? स्वाइन फ्लू का अर्थ है सुअर के संक्रमण से पैदा हुआ बुखार। सुअर को मारने के अजब तरीके अपनाए जाते हैं। पहले उसके नथुने काटे जाते हैं, वह तड़पता है, फिर उस पर नमक डालते हैं, वह फिर तड़पता है, इससे उसका मास इकट्ठा होता है, फिर उसे सरियों से पीटते हैं, इससे उसका मास नरम होता है। इससे भी ज्यादा बर्बरतापूर्वक गाय को मारा जाता है। ऐसे में स्वाइन फ्लू क्यों न हो?
हम वह बन जाना चाहते हैं जिसे पश्चिमी समाज अब त्याग रहा है। हम परिवार तोड़ रहे हैं, वे परिवार बचाने के तरीके ढूंढ रहे हैं। हम अपने बच्चों को न्युक्लियर फैमिली यानी दादा-दादी, नाना-नानी रहित परिवार बसाने के फैशन से जोड़ रहे हैं तो वे फैमिली ट्री यानी अपने पुरखों की वंशावली ढूंढने में हजारों डालर खर्च करते हैं। हम गे-शादियों को कानूनी जामा पहनाकर खुद को आधुनिक समझते हैं। बच्चों की परवरिश ठीक से संस्कारित कैसे हो, इसके उपाय ढूंढने भारत आते हैं। हमारे शासक और विपक्षी दल सत्ता, वैभव और व्यक्तिगत गुटबाजी को देश सेवा मान बैठे हैं। किसी भी पार्टी में संस्कारित राष्ट्रीय जीवन बचाने के संदर्भ में चर्चा और चिंतन करने का वक्त नहीं है। हमने कभी यह नहीं सुना कि कोई राजनीतिक दल देश की स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं संबंधी नीति पर राष्ट्रीय संगोष्ठी कर रहा है। सीमावर्ती जिलों तथा संवेदनशील क्षेत्रों में, जहा आतंकवाद व्याप्त है, बच्चों की शिक्षा में क्या विशेष अवयव जोड़े जा रहे हैं? क्या मणिपुर में विद्यालयों में राष्ट्रगीत पर पाबंदी और हिंदी फिल्मों की जगह कोरिया की फिल्में दिखाने से दिल्ली में बैठे किसी पक्ष-विपक्ष के नेता को दर्द होता है? लेह से तवाग तक की हिमालयी पट्टी में बच्चों का स्वास्थ्य और मानस कैसा बन रहा है, इस पर कभी संसद में चर्चा हुई? चर्चा होती है नेताओं की सुरक्षा घटाने, रोकने के बारे में।
हम मूल मानवीय संस्कारों को खत्म कर अच्छे परिणाम की आशा कैसे कर सकते हैं? इस परिदृश्य में मंगल विकास की अवधारणा सर्वाधिक उपयोगी और ग्राह्य प्रतीत होती है। प्रख्यात अर्थशास्त्री बजरंग लाल गुप्ता इन दिनों मंगल विकास की अवधारणा के कारण काफी चर्चित हैं। इस अवधारणा के मूल में मनुष्य और उसका आह्लाद है। उनका कहना है कि धन और संपदा अनिवार्यत: प्रसन्नता नहीं देते। यदि मनुष्य समाज को प्रसन्न तथा सर्वत्र सबके सुख के लिए माध्यम बनना है तो उसे प्रकृति-संरक्षण के लिए सिद्ध होकर मानवीय मूल्यों की रक्षा का दायित्व निभाना होगा। जब हम इस धर्म से च्युत होते हैं तभी स्वाइन फ्लू, एड्स, जैसे संकट आते हैं।
फिर स्वाइन फ्लू, एड्स, बर्ड फ्लू और मैड काऊ रोग क्यों नहीं हों? एक साल में सत्तर हजार किसानों ने भारत में आत्महत्या की। ये सत्तर हजार किसान कितनी जमीन में खेती करते थे? कितना अन्न उगाते थे? किसी ने जानने की कोशिश नहीं की। सत्तर हजार अन्नदाता भूस्वामियों की आत्महत्या ने देश का दिल नहीं दुखाया। आज व्यक्ति का मूल्याकन धन कमाने की कला में प्रवीणता से माना जाता है, विधि-विधान के औचित्य-अनौचित्य का कोई महत्व नहीं है। अरुणाचल के जंगलों से प्लाइवुड बन गई, वरुणा और असि पर मकान बन गए, भारतपुझा नदी से लेकर यमुना तक गंदा नाला बन गई है या सूख रही है, माता-पिता के लिए अनाथालय खोलने वाले करोड़पति बेटे हैं तो डल झील के सिकुड़ते जाने से लापरवाह जिहादी सिर्फ सांप्रदायिक नफरत के लिए मनुष्यों का रक्त बहा रहे हैं, तो बचेगा क्या? स्वाइन फ्लू का अर्थ है सुअर के संक्रमण से पैदा हुआ बुखार। सुअर को मारने के अजब तरीके अपनाए जाते हैं। पहले उसके नथुने काटे जाते हैं, वह तड़पता है, फिर उस पर नमक डालते हैं, वह फिर तड़पता है, इससे उसका मास इकट्ठा होता है, फिर उसे सरियों से पीटते हैं, इससे उसका मास नरम होता है। इससे भी ज्यादा बर्बरतापूर्वक गाय को मारा जाता है। ऐसे में स्वाइन फ्लू क्यों न हो?
हम वह बन जाना चाहते हैं जिसे पश्चिमी समाज अब त्याग रहा है। हम परिवार तोड़ रहे हैं, वे परिवार बचाने के तरीके ढूंढ रहे हैं। हम अपने बच्चों को न्युक्लियर फैमिली यानी दादा-दादी, नाना-नानी रहित परिवार बसाने के फैशन से जोड़ रहे हैं तो वे फैमिली ट्री यानी अपने पुरखों की वंशावली ढूंढने में हजारों डालर खर्च करते हैं। हम गे-शादियों को कानूनी जामा पहनाकर खुद को आधुनिक समझते हैं। बच्चों की परवरिश ठीक से संस्कारित कैसे हो, इसके उपाय ढूंढने भारत आते हैं। हमारे शासक और विपक्षी दल सत्ता, वैभव और व्यक्तिगत गुटबाजी को देश सेवा मान बैठे हैं। किसी भी पार्टी में संस्कारित राष्ट्रीय जीवन बचाने के संदर्भ में चर्चा और चिंतन करने का वक्त नहीं है। हमने कभी यह नहीं सुना कि कोई राजनीतिक दल देश की स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं संबंधी नीति पर राष्ट्रीय संगोष्ठी कर रहा है। सीमावर्ती जिलों तथा संवेदनशील क्षेत्रों में, जहा आतंकवाद व्याप्त है, बच्चों की शिक्षा में क्या विशेष अवयव जोड़े जा रहे हैं? क्या मणिपुर में विद्यालयों में राष्ट्रगीत पर पाबंदी और हिंदी फिल्मों की जगह कोरिया की फिल्में दिखाने से दिल्ली में बैठे किसी पक्ष-विपक्ष के नेता को दर्द होता है? लेह से तवाग तक की हिमालयी पट्टी में बच्चों का स्वास्थ्य और मानस कैसा बन रहा है, इस पर कभी संसद में चर्चा हुई? चर्चा होती है नेताओं की सुरक्षा घटाने, रोकने के बारे में।
हम मूल मानवीय संस्कारों को खत्म कर अच्छे परिणाम की आशा कैसे कर सकते हैं? इस परिदृश्य में मंगल विकास की अवधारणा सर्वाधिक उपयोगी और ग्राह्य प्रतीत होती है। प्रख्यात अर्थशास्त्री बजरंग लाल गुप्ता इन दिनों मंगल विकास की अवधारणा के कारण काफी चर्चित हैं। इस अवधारणा के मूल में मनुष्य और उसका आह्लाद है। उनका कहना है कि धन और संपदा अनिवार्यत: प्रसन्नता नहीं देते। यदि मनुष्य समाज को प्रसन्न तथा सर्वत्र सबके सुख के लिए माध्यम बनना है तो उसे प्रकृति-संरक्षण के लिए सिद्ध होकर मानवीय मूल्यों की रक्षा का दायित्व निभाना होगा। जब हम इस धर्म से च्युत होते हैं तभी स्वाइन फ्लू, एड्स, जैसे संकट आते हैं।
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Punish Emraan
Times of India
Monday August 03, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Monday August 03, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Last week I was on a TV discussion on a famous channel with Shabana Azmi, Mahesh Bhatt and Emraan Hashmi, the complainant who said he was denied an apartment because of his faith. He could not provide a single instance that would substantiate his arguments. I was pained to see that instead of upholding the values of a justifiable secularism and fairness, these celebrities wanted to buy a few headlines through cheap gimmicks and didn't mind vitiating the communal atmosphere. They virtually had no argument, no facts to prove their so-called grievances, yet tried to humiliate and belittle a majority that has been so supportive of their careers and given them unlimited love without considering which religion they belong to. That they will return the love of people by maligning them speaks of their own deep-rooted prejudices against the majority.
Emraan Hashmi, who didn’t get fame through excellence in acting but by a stunt of kisses, has done a male Rakhi Sawant on the nation with gullible people watching in shock and a trivialized media lapping it up as a five-rupee ice candy. To such a shameless person who earned money and headlines with the majority Hindu support and showed the temerity to abuse them so fictitiously for the apparent reasons to buy media coverage for his coming movie, a severe punishment must be given charging him of vitiating the communal atmosphere and provoking hatred among people who are already fatigued with post-terror-strike trauma. In a country where the biggest house of the land — the Rashtrapati Bhavan — and the chief minister’s bungalow in Mumbai had been occupied by Muslims, Hashmi raised a fictitious issue to malign the majority and the land for cheap publicity. Nobody would object if the housing society is found guilty and punished, but what if Hashmi is proved a liar? Shouldn’t he be given an exemplary punishment simply because he wanted to kill the residual harmonious relations between the communities?
In any case, every house owner and a community-based society reserves the right to decide whom to sell or rent out property it owns. Like in Delhi and other cities, the feelings based on biradari or community bonds matter more than anything else. There are colonies for journalists and it’s very difficult, if not impossible, for a non-media person to get a house there. In IAS officers’ colonies, an IFS officer finds it difficult to get a house. It's the biradari feeling; everyone likes to live in a group with which he shares the worldview and can communicate. Likewise Punjabis face problems in finding a house on rent in many Delhi localities and in a Muslim-dominated area Hindus won’t be entertained — see the Okhla-Batla House locality. Many houseowners won’t rent out their property to meat-eaters even if they are Hindus and in some areas Tamils and Bengalis are preferred for being cool and peaceful, while in other areas they are not. So should it become mandatory for everyone to sell or rent out his property to anyone liking it? It’s an obscene proposition. One can try to change the communal biases through various other means but the way Hashmi has chosen. Persons like Hashmi give a bad name to their community also by raising such petty issues as a cover for advance publicity for their coming movies. Hence all Muslims and Hindus alike, in a show of solidarity that upholds values of the Indian tricolour, must refuse a house for a communally hateful Hashmi in Maharashtra for at least a year. That will serve as a deterrent for other "Rakhi Sawants" also who raised the issue of woman’s dignity — and earned publicity — through Women’s Rights Commission, etc, gained a hefty fee rise in the tinsel market and of course more roles.
Of late a tendency to use secularism for ruffling Hindu sensitivities has been dangerously on the rise. Someone has to work out a balance and mark a point where all such largesses would end. One segment of our society gets — on purely religious grounds — government reservations, special bank loans, segregated universities which receive huge amounts of grants from Saudi Arabia and Iran and open special centres to encourage learning about a world that breeds Taliban and terrorists. And collect donations to help those who have been accused by Delhi police as waging a war against the nation. Have you ever wondered why Muslim universities are always tagged to the Arab world and never think to have special centres to study our neighbouring countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka which have closer and friendlier civilisational ties with India? Why always the language and culture of those areas which have sent attackers and marauders to India find a warm heart on such campuses? Why not a Thai, a Laosian or a Cambodian study centre?
Every Khan in Bollywood lives on the money and popularity earned from non-discriminatory Indian people that goes beyond religious fault lines but not a single Khan has ever raised his voice in favor of justice to Hindus in any incident that involved their brutalization by jihadis or like-minded extremist elements. An unconfirmed incident of an "apartment sell refusal" becomes a national issue as the media take it up, simply because a Muslim was involved. But never, even for once, has a Muslim taken up the cause of Kashmiri Hindus ousted from their ancestral property in Kashmir and exiled to live as refugees in their own independent motherland called India. Neither a Shabana nor a Mahesh Bhatt raised his voice against the refusal of Kashmiri Muslim leaders to give "even an inch of land" to Amarnath pilgrims, for yatra camps. There are Muslims who win elections from Hindu majority constituencies, yet would not hesitate to hit at Hindu sentiments. Should that be taken as a token of their secularism? Why can't we have the spirit of Indianism above all boundaries?
These celebrities are taking Hindu sentiments for granted and think that their acting style would cover their communal prejudices. It comes out on occasions like the Hashmi episode.
Emraan Hashmi, who didn’t get fame through excellence in acting but by a stunt of kisses, has done a male Rakhi Sawant on the nation with gullible people watching in shock and a trivialized media lapping it up as a five-rupee ice candy. To such a shameless person who earned money and headlines with the majority Hindu support and showed the temerity to abuse them so fictitiously for the apparent reasons to buy media coverage for his coming movie, a severe punishment must be given charging him of vitiating the communal atmosphere and provoking hatred among people who are already fatigued with post-terror-strike trauma. In a country where the biggest house of the land — the Rashtrapati Bhavan — and the chief minister’s bungalow in Mumbai had been occupied by Muslims, Hashmi raised a fictitious issue to malign the majority and the land for cheap publicity. Nobody would object if the housing society is found guilty and punished, but what if Hashmi is proved a liar? Shouldn’t he be given an exemplary punishment simply because he wanted to kill the residual harmonious relations between the communities?
In any case, every house owner and a community-based society reserves the right to decide whom to sell or rent out property it owns. Like in Delhi and other cities, the feelings based on biradari or community bonds matter more than anything else. There are colonies for journalists and it’s very difficult, if not impossible, for a non-media person to get a house there. In IAS officers’ colonies, an IFS officer finds it difficult to get a house. It's the biradari feeling; everyone likes to live in a group with which he shares the worldview and can communicate. Likewise Punjabis face problems in finding a house on rent in many Delhi localities and in a Muslim-dominated area Hindus won’t be entertained — see the Okhla-Batla House locality. Many houseowners won’t rent out their property to meat-eaters even if they are Hindus and in some areas Tamils and Bengalis are preferred for being cool and peaceful, while in other areas they are not. So should it become mandatory for everyone to sell or rent out his property to anyone liking it? It’s an obscene proposition. One can try to change the communal biases through various other means but the way Hashmi has chosen. Persons like Hashmi give a bad name to their community also by raising such petty issues as a cover for advance publicity for their coming movies. Hence all Muslims and Hindus alike, in a show of solidarity that upholds values of the Indian tricolour, must refuse a house for a communally hateful Hashmi in Maharashtra for at least a year. That will serve as a deterrent for other "Rakhi Sawants" also who raised the issue of woman’s dignity — and earned publicity — through Women’s Rights Commission, etc, gained a hefty fee rise in the tinsel market and of course more roles.
Of late a tendency to use secularism for ruffling Hindu sensitivities has been dangerously on the rise. Someone has to work out a balance and mark a point where all such largesses would end. One segment of our society gets — on purely religious grounds — government reservations, special bank loans, segregated universities which receive huge amounts of grants from Saudi Arabia and Iran and open special centres to encourage learning about a world that breeds Taliban and terrorists. And collect donations to help those who have been accused by Delhi police as waging a war against the nation. Have you ever wondered why Muslim universities are always tagged to the Arab world and never think to have special centres to study our neighbouring countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka which have closer and friendlier civilisational ties with India? Why always the language and culture of those areas which have sent attackers and marauders to India find a warm heart on such campuses? Why not a Thai, a Laosian or a Cambodian study centre?
Every Khan in Bollywood lives on the money and popularity earned from non-discriminatory Indian people that goes beyond religious fault lines but not a single Khan has ever raised his voice in favor of justice to Hindus in any incident that involved their brutalization by jihadis or like-minded extremist elements. An unconfirmed incident of an "apartment sell refusal" becomes a national issue as the media take it up, simply because a Muslim was involved. But never, even for once, has a Muslim taken up the cause of Kashmiri Hindus ousted from their ancestral property in Kashmir and exiled to live as refugees in their own independent motherland called India. Neither a Shabana nor a Mahesh Bhatt raised his voice against the refusal of Kashmiri Muslim leaders to give "even an inch of land" to Amarnath pilgrims, for yatra camps. There are Muslims who win elections from Hindu majority constituencies, yet would not hesitate to hit at Hindu sentiments. Should that be taken as a token of their secularism? Why can't we have the spirit of Indianism above all boundaries?
These celebrities are taking Hindu sentiments for granted and think that their acting style would cover their communal prejudices. It comes out on occasions like the Hashmi episode.
A Devi in Balochistan
The Times of India
Saturday August 01, 2009
Tarun Vijay
Saturday August 01, 2009
Tarun Vijay
I had almost finished my book on my Balochistan sojourn when the region hit the headlines fiercely. The people of this region are immensely India-friendly. I was there three years ago in a "first of its kind" pilgrimage to Mata Hinglaj, the "kuldevi" (family deity) of kshatriyas. The temple is situated in the rugged mountains of Balochistan. The yatra was made possible by the efforts of Jaswant Singh, then Union minister and an ardent devotee of Devi. We went by road, first time post-independence, via Munabao and Thar Parkar, crossing Amarkot (renamed as Umarkot, where Akbar was born), Mirpurkhas and Karachi. My inclusion in the group was a sort of miracle — last day, last pilgrim, that too thanks to the then Pakistan high commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan.
It has all the ingredients to make people brave and courageous. Seashore, awesome mountain ranges (Gwadar lies in its vicinity and to reach Mata Hinglaj, we travelled on Gwadar highway), Hingol river (named after the vermillion, or hingula, of Devi Parvati), the Central Makran Range and the Makran Coast Range, sandstone ridges and a tough life in a rough terrain. The road to Hinglaj in Balochistan was one of the toughest pilgrimages in our history as travelogues have described, taking more than 45 days from Karachi on camels through hot, arid and dacoit-infested desert. Death or "darshan" defined the mission. A famous Bengali movie on Hinglaj pilgrimage had Uttam Kumar in the lead role, which described it as the pilgrimage of a lifetime. But thanks to the Chinese, a national coastal highway is built up to Gwadar port that takes us to Aghore, where we turn right for the temple. Airconditioned Toyota vans had replaced the camels.
Still, journey from Karachi fatigued us so much we could imagine the travails of earlier pilgrims. Now a semi-pucca road of 22km right up to Nani Mandar, as the signboard describes the Hinglaj temple, had been built by Baloch state government under the then chief minister Jam Yousaf Mir Mohammed, former nawab of Lasbela, the district the Hinglaj temple is situated in. Fire, thunder and sandstone sculpted mountains mark the road to Hinglaj. It's a great centre of reverence and as the belief is, Parvati’s self-immolation in her father’s "yajna" drove an angry Shiva take the body of his divine consort and travel as many as 52 places where various parts of her body fell and at each such place a "shaktipeeth" or the seat of indescribable spiritual power emerged. One such "peeth" is Hinglaj, where the forehead of Devi with vermillion mark had fallen. For a millennium the pilgrimage to this great seat of Shakti is going on. That Shiva reached from the Himalayas to this region where the sea of sand mingles with blue deep shores of the Arabian Sea while magic appears on the horizon at sunset is an unparalleled tale of our civilisational flow.
The Baloch are hospitable and proud people. The factor of "izzat" is paramount and the Khans will give their lives or take others' to save their "honour". Pakistan’s rulers have always been hurting Baloch pride since partitioned independence. The ruler of Balochistan Mir Ahmad Yar Khan declared independence in 1947 but was coerced by Jinnah to sign documents of accession, with a loosely granted permission to act under the provisions of old Baloch traditional constitution called "Rawaj". But Baloch nationalists never accepted Pakistan’s rule and local uprisings kept brewing. The only mass-supported organization Anjuman-i-Watan Party, led by Samad Achakzai, a staunch supporter of Gandhi’s Congress, was banned and the Pakistan army took complete control of the region, beginning an era of brutal suppression, killings, and forced backwardness. Highly profitable gas finds in the Sui region made Islamabad’s Punjabi rulers billionaires and Gwadar helped Pindi’s army officers to buy huge chunks of land and earn profits. The Baloch people see their land and resources being used to provide luxuries to those who never belonged to them. Hence the rebellion.
In 1958, an octogenarian leader of the Baloch people, Nawab Nowroz Khan, led an armed struggle for independence which was crushed by the Pakistan army led by Lt Gen Tikka Khan, who invited the Nawab for negotiations along with his sons and nephews, but instead executed the sons and nephews without a trial. The Nawab died later in jail. From 1963’s liberation war, which lasted till 1969, led by Sher Mohammad Bijarani Marri to the big rebellion, which is known as Baloch Civil War in the 70s, the Baloch people have never reconciled with the Pakistani rule. The 70s war was morally strengthened by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s demand for a separate Bangladesh. Stalwarts like Ghaus Bux Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Khair Bux Marri and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti led the movement for liberation. It was again suppressed by the warlike response of the Pakistan army. Thousands have been killed and arrested without a trial, increasing and intensifying the hurt in the hearts of the Baloch people.
In 2005 again, Baloch nationalists rose to demand the protection of their rights and safeguarding Baloch cultural identity. In response the Pakistani army killed their 79-year-old leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in August 2006.
Forming 43% of Pakistan’s total area with a population of about 6.5 million, Balochistan remains the weakest point of Pakistan, which has been ruled by leaders insensitive to Baloch realities and aspirations.
Local Baloch Khans had been friendly with the Hindus whose numbers were about 54,000 in 1941. Baloch Hindus had a great physique and controlled trade and education sectors till 1947. After the Pakistan army’s complete control over the area, their numbers have reduced to almost less than a half. Hindu concentration is limited to Las Bela, Uthelo, Mithi and Chaman. A large number of them are Valmikis doing menial jobs. Unfortunately the breeze of reform never reached the Hindus in these areas and the so-called low-caste Hindus are suffering the worst kind of "distanced relation" and isolation. How many of them still survive? Nobody has an authentic data but those whom we met at the cave of Mata Hinglaj temple belonged to the affluent sections of the Hindus. There were doctors, traders and engineers who were supporters of parties like Jamate Islami and Pakistan People’s Party. They have learnt to live in their own shell, agreeing to be low-profile and learning ways to survive in a hostile atmosphere. One of the ways is to join available Muslim parties and another, like the Hindu women have learnt, is to refrain from showing marks like bindis that identify them as Hindus. It's better to be invisible as a Hindu when you are moving out, said one of them.
I met a couple of singers who sang beautiful hymns in praise of Mata Hinglaj and almost all of them had a word of praise for Baloch Muslims. Muslims call this sacred place as Nani Mandar or the temple of the elder.
Devi is a witness to the worst kind of upheavals of history. One can only hope sanity will prevail, bringing peace to this land of devotion.
It has all the ingredients to make people brave and courageous. Seashore, awesome mountain ranges (Gwadar lies in its vicinity and to reach Mata Hinglaj, we travelled on Gwadar highway), Hingol river (named after the vermillion, or hingula, of Devi Parvati), the Central Makran Range and the Makran Coast Range, sandstone ridges and a tough life in a rough terrain. The road to Hinglaj in Balochistan was one of the toughest pilgrimages in our history as travelogues have described, taking more than 45 days from Karachi on camels through hot, arid and dacoit-infested desert. Death or "darshan" defined the mission. A famous Bengali movie on Hinglaj pilgrimage had Uttam Kumar in the lead role, which described it as the pilgrimage of a lifetime. But thanks to the Chinese, a national coastal highway is built up to Gwadar port that takes us to Aghore, where we turn right for the temple. Airconditioned Toyota vans had replaced the camels.
Still, journey from Karachi fatigued us so much we could imagine the travails of earlier pilgrims. Now a semi-pucca road of 22km right up to Nani Mandar, as the signboard describes the Hinglaj temple, had been built by Baloch state government under the then chief minister Jam Yousaf Mir Mohammed, former nawab of Lasbela, the district the Hinglaj temple is situated in. Fire, thunder and sandstone sculpted mountains mark the road to Hinglaj. It's a great centre of reverence and as the belief is, Parvati’s self-immolation in her father’s "yajna" drove an angry Shiva take the body of his divine consort and travel as many as 52 places where various parts of her body fell and at each such place a "shaktipeeth" or the seat of indescribable spiritual power emerged. One such "peeth" is Hinglaj, where the forehead of Devi with vermillion mark had fallen. For a millennium the pilgrimage to this great seat of Shakti is going on. That Shiva reached from the Himalayas to this region where the sea of sand mingles with blue deep shores of the Arabian Sea while magic appears on the horizon at sunset is an unparalleled tale of our civilisational flow.
The Baloch are hospitable and proud people. The factor of "izzat" is paramount and the Khans will give their lives or take others' to save their "honour". Pakistan’s rulers have always been hurting Baloch pride since partitioned independence. The ruler of Balochistan Mir Ahmad Yar Khan declared independence in 1947 but was coerced by Jinnah to sign documents of accession, with a loosely granted permission to act under the provisions of old Baloch traditional constitution called "Rawaj". But Baloch nationalists never accepted Pakistan’s rule and local uprisings kept brewing. The only mass-supported organization Anjuman-i-Watan Party, led by Samad Achakzai, a staunch supporter of Gandhi’s Congress, was banned and the Pakistan army took complete control of the region, beginning an era of brutal suppression, killings, and forced backwardness. Highly profitable gas finds in the Sui region made Islamabad’s Punjabi rulers billionaires and Gwadar helped Pindi’s army officers to buy huge chunks of land and earn profits. The Baloch people see their land and resources being used to provide luxuries to those who never belonged to them. Hence the rebellion.
In 1958, an octogenarian leader of the Baloch people, Nawab Nowroz Khan, led an armed struggle for independence which was crushed by the Pakistan army led by Lt Gen Tikka Khan, who invited the Nawab for negotiations along with his sons and nephews, but instead executed the sons and nephews without a trial. The Nawab died later in jail. From 1963’s liberation war, which lasted till 1969, led by Sher Mohammad Bijarani Marri to the big rebellion, which is known as Baloch Civil War in the 70s, the Baloch people have never reconciled with the Pakistani rule. The 70s war was morally strengthened by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s demand for a separate Bangladesh. Stalwarts like Ghaus Bux Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Khair Bux Marri and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti led the movement for liberation. It was again suppressed by the warlike response of the Pakistan army. Thousands have been killed and arrested without a trial, increasing and intensifying the hurt in the hearts of the Baloch people.
In 2005 again, Baloch nationalists rose to demand the protection of their rights and safeguarding Baloch cultural identity. In response the Pakistani army killed their 79-year-old leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in August 2006.
Forming 43% of Pakistan’s total area with a population of about 6.5 million, Balochistan remains the weakest point of Pakistan, which has been ruled by leaders insensitive to Baloch realities and aspirations.
Local Baloch Khans had been friendly with the Hindus whose numbers were about 54,000 in 1941. Baloch Hindus had a great physique and controlled trade and education sectors till 1947. After the Pakistan army’s complete control over the area, their numbers have reduced to almost less than a half. Hindu concentration is limited to Las Bela, Uthelo, Mithi and Chaman. A large number of them are Valmikis doing menial jobs. Unfortunately the breeze of reform never reached the Hindus in these areas and the so-called low-caste Hindus are suffering the worst kind of "distanced relation" and isolation. How many of them still survive? Nobody has an authentic data but those whom we met at the cave of Mata Hinglaj temple belonged to the affluent sections of the Hindus. There were doctors, traders and engineers who were supporters of parties like Jamate Islami and Pakistan People’s Party. They have learnt to live in their own shell, agreeing to be low-profile and learning ways to survive in a hostile atmosphere. One of the ways is to join available Muslim parties and another, like the Hindu women have learnt, is to refrain from showing marks like bindis that identify them as Hindus. It's better to be invisible as a Hindu when you are moving out, said one of them.
I met a couple of singers who sang beautiful hymns in praise of Mata Hinglaj and almost all of them had a word of praise for Baloch Muslims. Muslims call this sacred place as Nani Mandar or the temple of the elder.
Devi is a witness to the worst kind of upheavals of history. One can only hope sanity will prevail, bringing peace to this land of devotion.
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