Tarun Vijay

THE RIGHT VIEW

This war involves us all

28 July, 2008

Tarun Vijay

Rahul’s Shashikala has got the headlines and her share of glory. Now is the time to focus on India. Beyond party lines and boundaries. He is young, charming and holds a position that makes a mark wherever he goes. Why can’t he take up the fight against terror, which is bleeding India? If L K Advani can go to Sonia for a book presentation and still remain in the party, why can’t Sonia come to Advani for a collective fight against terrorism? Is India smaller than the personal and political egos and fortunes?

When the ISI or HuJI or Lashkar were planning attacks on Indians, we were counting notes in sacks and fighting each other. Isn’t it time to at least have Sonia, Advani, Rajnath, Manmohan, Mulayam and Mayawati along with Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi to put their heads together and strategize a time-bound “eliminate terror” programme? For power sharing they come together – sworn enemies of yesterday become born twins on political platforms. To liberate India from the dreaded scourge of jihad and all other kinds of terror we feel shy and instead keep ourselves busy in attacking each other, facilitating the country’s enemies.

We are Indians first and stop blaming mussalmans and others for terror. I have a large number of Muslim friends and I know Muslim society in India is uniquely different and as patriotic as any other Indian. And they don’t need any certificate from any one. But at the same time we must not hesitate to recognize that terrorism in India is pronounced essentially Islamic in its character and the aim is to have a so called Nizam-e-Mustafa wreaking revenge against Hindus. The Deoband’s denouncement of terror is not enough. Their dictates must show an impact on Islamic terror outfits, otherwise its papers and faxes would remain nothing more than a crude PR exercise. It’s the bounden duty of Muslim leaders to make it sure and visible that those involved in jihadi barbaric attacks are condemned as un-Islamic and are practically declared non-Muslims like they have done with regard to many others in the past.

A nation’s collective will is the biggest weapon against fissiparous tendencies. The US and China have shown that. They too faced Islamic terror, but handled it with a resolve that got united support by the people and all shades of political colours. Indians can fight each other on a hundred issues of political programming or power grab. But on the question of our sovereignty and security we must stand united, as one – and it must be visible too. After all, where would all these leaders take their money and enjoy it if India doesn’t survive? Even to enjoy the loot they must have a station to leisure and be free of threats. To say this is too rude and crude, yet, seeing the Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmadabad blasts, what can a citizen pray for? Security and a collective will to converge on national interest.

And for God’s sake if you can’t remove this home minister, appoint another capable minister for internal security with independent charge. It serves the interests of the UPA and Congress too. He is just incapable of holding that crucial position. It’s against national interest to keep such a non-performing person in North Block who becomes a source of demoralisation and incompetence to security agencies and law enforcers.

Intelligence must be strengthened and the present colonial structure of intelligence gathering has to be completely overhauled with a structure on the patterns of the FBI. Gujarat’s new law on terror is awaiting the Centre’s nod for the last four years. Why? Is tackling terror a partisan matter?

Israel is willing to help and now that the burden of the Left is removed, the govt must begin a long-term association with Israel to restructure our intelligence network against Pakistan and their hired goons masquerading as Islamists and befriending gullible locals to provide them basic support and shelter.

The terrorist can’t work in a vacuum. Hence the police and security network must ruthlessly deal with the local bases of the terror outfits without caring for the human rightists or the defeatist seculars lobbying for the terrorists. Like Punjab in Gill’s time, a group of daredevil police and army officers must be assigned to handle terrorism and given an autonomous status with powers to strike independently without awaiting a nod from the political masters. Let them tackle terror and leaders of all parties and ideologies can do the mass awakening campaign – instilling confidence in the general public and making them an active instrument in helping security forces to crack on terror network.

Let’s forget every other matter, temple or Setu or masjid or Church. Convergence to remove terror network should be our foremost offering to the gods and that should be our religious agenda too. If Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad fought against injustice and against the forces of dark evils, let all those who follow Mohammad’s teaching come together to defeat inhuman cowards killing Indians in the name of some jihad. This may prove to be the biggest opportunity for a genuine Hindu-Muslim solidarity and can be followed with greater ideas. Being a Hindu I can request all the priests and Mahants and spiritual leaders who go to different parts of the globe for world peace and human happiness, to include in their puja “eliminate terror” preachings and make their followers a part of the terror-busting programme. This is the greatest yoga – call it Rashtra Yoga, yoga of the nation.

If there is a war in our courtyard we do not go to temples worshipping deities as the biggest deity is our nation and her people. Jihad is a Kargil in our precincts. Let the ashrams and the other high-class facilities for nirvana be converged on rousing the morale of the faithful against demons and Ravanas of today.

Vijaya Dashmi is not far – and let this year’s festival be celebrated together with all communities coming to show solidarity with the Indian people rising above religious boundaries to kill the demon of darkness. We are all descendants of Guru Gobind Singh and Shivaji and have produced Rani Laxmi Bai and Bahadur Shah Zafar and Begum Hazrat Mahal and Abdul Hameed. It’s the power of togetherness that wins a nation ultimately.

It’s time that cricketers and film actors join hands to create a national mood of solidarity. They owe it to their motherland. They are born Indians and have not come here just to make money and earn fame from some other planet. Once an Amitabh, a Shah Rukh, an Aamir, John and Sachin share a dais and say no to communal, divisive elements and urge all Indians to merge their divergences in one Tricolour, it will have a tremendous impact on the nation’s confidence and all governments will get a big power push to act decisively.

When people are dying like cattle, it’s disgusting to see media houses deeply engaged in thumka jhumka vulgarity and issues that do not represent the nation facing a terror war. They know we can win it, finally and without losing time. But the atmosphere has to be created for that and who can do it better than the media? Indian media has proved it wonderfully during Kargil; it’s no different now.

If this terrorism has been exported to our land, we have a responsibility to bury it finally with our hands. Victory shall be ours, without doubt. Let the Spirit de India rise and strike.

Is it all daydreaming? A naive, emotional outburst expecting unachievable goals? Doesn’t India belong to us all?

(The author is the director of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, a think tank of nationalist school of thought.)

THE RIGHT VIEW
Reclaiming India
6 August 2008,
Tarun Vijay

None should say Omar is not allowed in Jammu. Let him come, listen and speak. Like any other Indian should feel free to visit Kashmir or any other part of the nation. He is welcome to visit my home even if he denies me a piece of land in Kashmir. Why should a few words uttered by him make me change my Indian-ness? If he spoke in Parliament as a Muslim, asserting his Islamic identity, let denial of land to Hindus be his Islam and my Hinduness must keep my nation as a free democracy where difference of opinion is a natural phenomenon unlike Islamic countries.

I had listened to Omar Abdullah when he was in Vajpayee’s cabinet and felt he had great potential to be an influential Indian leader. He spoke for India and brilliantly too. Now, if he has chosen to be just a regional one, it’s his choice.

But he must stop to think why he can own a bungalow in Delhi or Bangalore and at the same time deny that privilege to a fellow Indian in Kashmir?

Kashmiri Muslim leaders would like to enjoy the fruits and liberties of a Hindu majority democracy but vehemently deny that to Hindus in their area of influence. Why?

When they are in a minority they crave and get special privileges. But once a majority, every single right to be at par is refused to other minorities.

It’s the same phenomenon all over the globe. A direct consequence of turning Wahabi. Wahabi intolerance and separatism is poisoning Muslim brotherhood too. A brilliant report in TOI elaborating how Wahabi elements are gaining ground in the small towns of Gujarat and the softer, humane version of Islam, the Bareilevi school, which is resisting their aggressive expansionism makes an interesting reading and gives a frightening picture of the inter-communal strife within Muslim society.

Kashmir is predominantly Sunni and Wahabi. Hence the intolerance that denies even the basic features of Kashmiriyat.

And see what the de-Indianised intellectuals wrote on the front pages in Delhi’s newspapers: “All over a piece of land!” Really?

Then why are the Indian soldiers defending a barren piece of dead snow in Siachen? Or what’s that piece of cloth known as the Tricolor? Is it worth dying for?

Jammu is witnessing a mass patriotic uprising, unprecedented till now. It’s a Second Ayodhya enveloped in the Tricolour outshining the 1952 Praja Parishad movement, which demanded one flag, one constitution and one head of the state. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was martyred for this cause in the jail of Sheikh Abdullah, grandfather of Omar. The situation hasn’t changed in the last 56 years. It has in fact worsened.

Such a mass movement goes beyond the controls of any party or organisation. For the last 20 days, the roads are empty and markets closed. The sudden eruption of protests has seen grandfathers and grandsons and mothers and grandmothers ringing bells against Muslim separatism and shouting at the top of their voice: “Har har Mahadev”. Such a protest by every single member of families who had never come out for a public demonstration can’t be engineered. It’s an uprising, a spontaneous expression of anger accumulated in the last five decades of misrule by people of suspect loyalties. The Doctor’s Association, Bar Association and Govt. Employees Association, Sikhs, Gujjar-Bakkarwal Muslims and Congress MLAs defying their party, the Hotel Association and every single sect of Hindu society have joined and supported the movement.

One young man, Kuldeep Kumar Dogra, took his life in utter disgust after reciting a patriotic poem before the hunger strikers in Jammu. Policemen in plainclothes forcibly took his body away and tried to burn it in his village in the dead of night without even informing his family. A monk saw them burning the pyre with country-made liquor and used car tyres and managed to alert the villagers. The policemen ran away seeing the protesters swelling in number. And none of the human rightists raised a voice of dissent. Did the policemen belong to India or an enemy country?

In fact the whole movement is a revolt of Tricolour people against unpatriotic politics on Kashmir. It’s an effort to reclaim India in a region where the central leaders and regional parties have abandoned the idea of pan-Indian nationalism and geographical integration. India has been reducing every day in the valley and the seculars keep on counting their votes and encouraging separatists at the cost of an Indian identity.

After all, the Amarnath Shrine Board was created on the recommendation of the Nitish Sengupta Committee formed by the state government in 1996 when more than 250 Amarnath pilgrims died in a snowstorm. That made the state government realize that facilities are inadequate and hence a committee was formed under the chairmanship of retired senior IAS officer Sengupta. The government accepted the recommendations of the committee a year later and decided to create a separate board on the pattern of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board through an act passed by the Farooq Abdullah goverment in 2000. The Secretary, Tourism Depaetment, was appointed CEO of the board.

Initially, toilets and other facilities were added but they proved inadequate as neither the office of the shrine board was set up nor any staff worth its name was appointed. It was only when Gen. SK Sinha took over as Governor in 2003 and hence became Chairman of the Shrine Board that the office was established with Arun Kumar, IAS, as its full-time CEO. Kumar changed the entire gamut and pilgrims were provided with livable camping facilities.

Earlier, mahants and local interest groups were taking home all the offerings of the shrine. Now the shrine board regulated the income, spending it on providing more facilities to pilgrims and regularizing the fare structure regarding pony hiring, collies, camping sites, toilets and emergency medical help. The chief mahant was given huge compensation and other Muslim helpers were employed in the board. Kumar also introduced bacterial toilets using the latest Japanese technology which was environment-friendly and turned night soil into usable fertilizer for local farmers. Prior to this, concrete toilets had proved a colossal waste as they would get choked and the entire structure needed to be demolished. But this had proved profitable for the local contractors; hence, when the new green technology was introduced the contractors’ lobby protested and the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayed, halted the work in 2005. As a result of it, the Shrine Board approached the High Court which gave a stay order and the work continued.

It’s noteworthy that during the while that the Secretary, Tourism was acting as the CEO of the Shrine Board, all the toilets and camping facilities were constructed on government land and nobody objected. It was only when the bribe channels were stopped for the politicians’ protégés that they objected to government land being used for pilgrims. Hence, after the stay was obtained from the High Court, the Shrine Board asked the state government in 2005 to regularise use of government land by formally transferring a few plots of land to the board en route to the Amarnath shrine. It took three years to take a decision and finally on May 26 this year, the state cabinet passed a proposal diverting (not selling or leasing) 38 hectares of land near Baltal to the Shrine Board on a temporary basis at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The Minister of Forest, under whose jurisdiction the land was diverted for the Shrine Board’s use, was a member of the PDP headed by Mufti.

After the order was signed, word spread that a huge amount of land had been given to Hindus and now they would come and outnumber Muslims. It’s a plot against Kashmiri Muslims, it was argued. An anarchical agitation began with Mufti, the Hurriyat and Omar Abdullah uniting to deprive Hindu pilgrims a camping facility.

They needed to support their false presumptions and Arun Kumar’s press briefing was used for this purpose by communalising his innocuous statement regarding environment and Hindu-Muslim solidarity. Kumar’s entire press briefing is audio recorded and though he has been suspended and an inquiry instituted, nothing can be proved against him. In fact he is being punished for providing pilgrims better facilities.

This is the genesis of the whole issue.

The same government has given hundreds of acres of land to Baba Gulam Shah Badshah University in Rajouri and to the Islamic University in Pampore. None objected. The all-encompassing nature of Hindus is taken for granted as is their timidity.

You can tell the facts to those who would like to consider them and not to those who play petty communal politics. Governor Vohra acted on the advice of North Block and not only took back the letter for land allotment on behalf of the Shrine Board without taking board members into confidence, but also gave the charge of providing facilities to the pilgrims back to the state tourism department, which means the same murky business flowering again. With the Shrine Board having no CEO at present, since Kumar’s suspension hasn’t been revoked, yatra arrangements are in limbo. The Governor’s secretary, who has a hundred other tasks, has been asked to take care of the yatra.

Hindus have never been treated so contemptuously as is being done under the UPA dispensation. Kashmir is the land of Shiva, the greatest place of the Shaivite school of Hindu dharma. At every mile there was a Shiva temple, but most Hindu temples have been razed in the valley during the Islamic Jihad. More than 70 lakh pilgrims visit Vaishno Devi and Amarnath every year and contribute enormously to the economy of the state. Yet, Hindus have always been looked down upon and driven out of their homes and hearth. This is the Kashmiriyat of the valley’s politicians and patriotism of their protectors in Delhi. The Kashmiri leaders, so possessive about a hundred acres, never raise their voice to take back 78,114 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir under the illegal possession of Pakistan. Thousands of square km of land to Pakistan can be tolerated, but “not an inch” to Hindus.

It was the political expediency of the communally “secular” leaders that created the land row, but now the agitation has gone beyond the land issue becoming a symbol of the struggle to ensure India’s return to the valley. The un-Indian elements have to be defeated so that the honour of the Triclour can be protected in our land. The only fear is that the politicians of Delhi may compromise, betraying the cause of the people anytime.

This is the time when a complete abolition of all those acts which segregate the valley from rest of the country are being demanded, including the obnoxious Article 370, and a grand plan to have patriots shifted from various parts of the country to Kashmir valley is implemented, with priority given to soldiers who have served in the area.

Jammu’s agitation to reclaim India in J&K has to be supported by every patriotic Indian. It’s a pain of Indian nationhood and not just of the Jammu region. Failing this movement will fail India.

(The author is the Director, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3179920,flstry-1.cms
THE RIGHT VIEW
Saluting Sam Bahadur
30 Jun 2008, ,
Tarun Vijay

 
Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw was the name of the hero India saluted. He died at the age of 94 at Wellington early last Friday. The only Indians who didn’t mourn were the people in the UPA government.

It’s still unbelievable that a government formed by Indians would be so rude and indifferent to the greatest military leader India has produced post-independence, to use the words of former army chief General V.P. Malik. Rare are the heroes of a nation admired by commoners as their idol, inspiration and icon. Manekshaw was one such hero India always looked up to with pride and excitement. A government that decided to lower the national flag for three days as a mark of mourning when the Pope died didn’t send its defence minister to attend the funeral of Field Marshall Manekshaw; nor did it allow the other two service chiefs to attend.

Manekshaw was the only living Field Marshal, was listed on the active list of army officers as number one and hence drew a full salary. He participated in action in the Second World War, in the 1947 war with Pakistan, the ‘62 war with China, and the Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971. Manekshaw received the Military Cross, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. Above all, he provided hope when light was dimming and courage when disillusionment was setting in. He was utterly contemptuous of politicians and often spoke fearing no one. He was proven right about them. The Field Marshall became a legend, leaving behind the dwarves occupying South Block as dustbin material for history.

A nation that can’t honour its heroes can’t produce them either. A Bharat Ratna can’t be given to persons like Manekshaw. In fact till this date no soldier has been given the highest award though they won four wars for us. We hardly see a politician whose child is serving in the forces. If you know some, kindly pass on the information to me.

The people ruling the nation today are infested with a slavish mentality – taking orders sheepishly and trying to preserve their wealth and position. History will do justice. It’s not wealth and power, but grit and spine that matters ultimately. Sam Bahadur, as Gen. Manekshaw was affectionately known, had both in abundance. The leaders who chose to stay away from giving a last salute to this brave man one last time may have huge money but that’s not a factor to give them a place in history and public memory. They die a double death, one of the body and the other of infamy. Their system orders the national flag to be lowered for a third-rate corrupt politician, but the nation’s bravest man was denied the honour because some bureaucrats in the defence ministry looked at Sam just like another career officer ranked at par with the Cabinet Secretary, hence undeserving of an official national mourning. The heavens would not have fallen if the President and Prime Minister had attended the last rites of our Field Marshall. But chained to 10 Janpath, the smallness couldn’t rise to the Himalayan call of duty. The government failed but the nation rose to say: “Sam Bahadur Zindabad.”
 
When Nehru’s two protégés, V.K. Krishna Menon and Gen B.M. Kaul, failed the nation during the 1947 war (remember the infamous jeep scandal involving Menon?) and after the 1962 defeat at the hands of the Chinese, Maneksahw was called to take command of the eastern sector. His first order was: “No more withdrawals, march to the posts and recapture.” This re-energised the demoralised troops but both Kaul and Menon tried their best to make life hell for the brave Manekshaw, though they couldn’t succeed beyond a point. I was told by a senior military officer that they also instituted an inquiry against him for committing “anti-national activities” when Manekshaw replaced the name of a Gandhi Hall with Sardar Patel’s at Wellington (though there are other more interesting stories for that inquiry having been set up).

Fighting on the Burma front against the Japanese in 1942, Manekshaw was almost pronounced dead when brought to Rangoon hospital with nine bullets in the lung, liver and kidneys. The military surgeon was reluctant to operate seeing the hopeless condition even though Sam was just about conscious. The surgeon asked what had happened to him. Sam replied: “Oh, a donkey kicked.” The surgeon decided that if a soldier could have such a sense of humour at that critical hour, he must operate to save him. Sam survived and rose to become India’s eighth army chief.

He led India to glory in 1971 when after many centuries our soldiers decisively defeated a foreign force and ensured its complete surrender. Able lieutenants always assist a leader, but the credit should always go to the commanding abilities of the captain. Sam had great colleagues in Lt. Gen. JFR Jacob and Lt. Gen J.S. Aurora. Yet it was his leadership that won the day for us.

Manekshaw was outspoken. He literally refused to take Indira Gandhi’s orders and finally had the cabinet accept his timing on when to declare war. At the height of his popularity Indira Gandhi feared he might take over in a military coup, but he assured her that he didn’t have such ambitions.

After retirement Manekshaw was denied the honours usually given to a Field Marshall. No assistant, no bungalow and staff car and no emoluments befitting his rank. Only last year when he was in military hospital, the old dues were restored and a cheque of Rs 1.6 crore presented to him covering all his past dues. But to what avail?

He was a true Parsi. The story goes that when the Parsis landed in India a thousand years ago driven out of their land, Iran, by Muslim rulers, they prayed for shelter in the Hindu kingdom of Jadu Rana in Gujarat. The king offered a jar of milk filled to the brim and the Parsis returned the jar after adding sugar to it indicating they would be part of the larger society as a contributing, sweetening factor and not as an alien segment demanding extra space. And they proved it too.

During the framing of the Constitution Parsis were offered special status as minorities but politely refused. They have contributed greatly to the national wealth, pride and valour. Dadabhai Naoroji, Jamshetji Tata, Madam Bhikaji Cama, Ardeshir Godrej, Homi Jehagir Bhabha and Nani Palkivala are among the best who have added to the glory of their adopted nation without ever asking for anything special in return. Manekshaw was one of the greatest gems among them, nay among us all. Recently, a book by Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy titled Sugar In Milk (Rupa publications) has admiringly presented the great lives of 12 eminent Parsis, which I recommend as a must-read.
 
Honouring Manekshaw doesn’t mean he was an angel incarnate. But he was a man with a capital ‘M’. He had weaknesses and an officer’s arrogance. But who among us and among the “worshipped tall deities” comes without their share of such points. Any dearth of tall men with feet of clay? But the primary driving force to bestow honours on men and women has always been their principal achievements and conduct. Manekshaw too should be judged on his greater contribution to national life. In our daily lives we see ordinary people doing great deeds and becoming extraordinary. The nation must learn to appreciate them and bow her head before such people.

Such acts alone enliven a civilisation and provide oxygen to grow. Every nation worth her name does that. The body of the lone officer to die in the Entebbe operation was received at the airport by the Israeli Prime Minister. The British monarchy and the democratic government take the greatest pride in honouring their soldiers and so do other nations who have a soul. Heroes are always beyond the regime of bureaucratic protocol but this can be understood only by those who have their own mind to decide and do not follow others’ diktats. In India, soldiers are treated second rate, their prestige is often mocked at and their fate is decided by the IAS babus who have earned notoriety for reasons other than providing a clean administration and efficient governance. Hence joining the forces is no longer a matter of pride and preference, see the number of vacancies the forces have now. When the ugly politicians look down on patriotism and honour of the soldier, we see heroes laid to rest unsung and soldiers committing suicide.

This is the government which has put up special instruction boards at airports authorising free access to a gentleman belonging to the royal family to pass security gates without frisked, for reasons not unknown, but has denied that privilege to army chiefs, who are entrusted with defending our nation. This government has also another dubious distinction of having been returned the bravery medals awarded posthumously to security personnel who died fighting the jihadis while protecting Parliament and the MPs sitting inside it. The medals were returned because the parents of these armymen were stunned to see the rulers protecting the attacker, Afzal Guru. They regarded this as an insult to their brave children who had laid down their lives fighting Afzal for the sake of the nation.

The government also refused to celebrate the Pokharan-II blast anniversary as it thought the day eulogises the Vajpayee government. Pokharan made the nation proud but the government of the day didn’t want to share that elation. There is no more a Kargil victory day celebration and the level of Vijay Diwas, celebrated on December 16 each year to commemorate the 1971 victory, has also been drastically scaled down. There is not a single Victory Memorial worth its glory dedicated to the Indian soldiers’ bravery. The Jai Jawan Jyoti lies under the shadow of a memorial erected by the colonial masters in honour of those who fought for their empire and not for Indian freedom. And the British memorial is so gigantic and overpowering that it literally dwarfs the small memorial lit for the Indian national heroes.

The politicians ruling our nation have myopic dreams and a shrunk vision for the great land called India but huge manoeuvring power and insatiable greed for their personal empowerment. Hence their houses are clean and ostentatious, but public hospitals stink, railway platforms are dirty and airports look like anemic bodies dating back to the 1950s famine. Policies are not people-oriented but commission-driven. Any surprise if the Manekshaws are ignored and traitors of the 1962 war honoured?

The author is the Director, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.
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जयपुर में बम धमाकों के बाद फिर से घिसे-पिटे शब्द सुनने को मिल रहे हैं- ये कायरतापूर्ण हमले हैं, हम इनकी तीव्र भ‌र्त्सना करते हैं। सरकार इन हमलों से डरेगी नहीं, पाकिस्तान से बातचीत का रास्ता खुला रखेगी। एक-दूसरे पर दोषारोपण के बाद रोजाना के कामकाज। पिछले दो दशकों से लहूलुहान हो रहा भारत इसी जड़ता का शिकार रहा है। हमारा पंथनिरपेक्ष दृष्टिपथ सिर्फ पोटा हटाने, आतंकी अफजल को माफी और कश्मीर से मिजोरम तक देशभक्त नागरिकों के निर्वासन और शरणार्थीकरण पर आंखें मूंदे रहने तक सिमट गया है। जो देश अपने चित्त और मानस को आत्मदैन्य एवं आत्मविस्मृति का शिकार बना देता है, वह राष्ट्रीय प्रज्ञा और प्रजा का कवच बनने का पराक्रम नहीं दिखा पाता। ऐसे ही प्रज्ञा और पराक्रम विमुख देश में केवल धन और वैभव को राष्ट्रीय प्रगति का मापदंड मान लिया जाता है। विद्वान, विश्लेषक और प्रशासक इस बात पर फूले नहीं समाते कि हमारे कुछ नागरिक विश्व के सबसे धनी व्यक्तियों में शामिल हो गए हैं और भारतीय इंजीनियर विश्वव्यापी कंपनियों एवं संस्थानों के प्रमुख कार्यकारी बनने लगे हैं। वे इस बात पर तनिक भी गौर नहीं करना चाहते है कि भारत के चित्त पर प्रहार हो रहे हैं। राम के अस्तित्व पर सवाल उठाए जा रहे हैं। देवी-देवताओं और भारत माता के नग्न चित्र बनाने वाले का सम्मान राज-कर्म में शामिल हुआ है। गरीबी लगातार बढ़ रही है और किसान व व्यापारी आत्महत्या करने को मजबूर हो रहे हैं। किसान सेज का शिकार हो रहा है तो व्यापारी मूलत: शोषक और अपराधी मान लिए गए हैं। उनसे पैसा लेना तो अच्छा लगता है,पर परिवार सहित उनकी आत्महत्या को उपेक्षित करना छद्म प्रगतिशीलता का परचम बन जाता है। आंतरिक सुरक्षा पर गृह मंत्रालय की नवीन वार्षिक रपट विभीषिकाग्रस्त भारत और वैभव में मस्त शासकों का दृश्य उपस्थित करती है। समूचे पूर्वोत्तर में जम्मू-कश्मीर से अधिक हिंसा एवं आतंक फैला है। इसका अर्थ यह नहीं है कि जम्मू-कश्मीर में आतंक की घटनाएं घट गई हैं। सांबा ब्रिगेड कमांड के सामने हुए हमले के बाद जयपुर के धमाके आतंक की अनवरत श्रृंखला का ही परिचय देते हैं। इन घटनाओं के मूल में जहां भारतीय राजसत्ता में वीर-भाव से अधिक वोट भाव को प्रमुख मानने का चलन है वहीं भारत के इर्द-गिर्द असफल राज्यों का होना भी है। अभी तक ले-देकर नेपाल को भारत का घनिष्ठ पड़ोसी देश माना जाता था। अब यह स्थिति भी समाप्त हो गई है। माओवादी भारत के प्रति मैत्री के सभी पुराने अध्याय जिस भावना से फिर लिखना चाहते हैं वह आशंकाएं और दूरियां ही ज्यादा पैदा कर रही है। बाकी देशों का हाल क्या है? भारत को घेरे असफल राज्यों में पाकिस्तान, श्रीलंका, बांग्लादेश, म्यांमार, नेपाल और अफगानिस्तान आते हैं। ये देश आर्थिक दृष्टि से तो विपन्न हैं ही, सामाजिक और राजनीतिक दृष्टि से भी अराजक तथा मजहबी मतांध हैं। ये देश दुनिया के सबसे खतरनाक इलाके बन गए हैं। इनमें भूटान को अलग विशेष वर्ग में रखना चाहिए। वहां हाल ही में लोकतंत्र की स्थापना हुई है। परंतु चीन और भारत से घिरा यह देश भारत में सक्रिय आतंकी गुटों की शरणस्थली और नेपाल से तीव्र वैमनस्य के फलस्वरूप शरणार्थियों की उग्र असंतुष्ट उपस्थिति का अखाड़ा तो है ही। बांग्लादेश एक अराजक जेहादी फैक्ट्री बना हुआ है, जहां जनसंख्या का बढ़ता दबाव, अप्रभावी आर्थिक नीति और एक अजीब नवीन सत्ता की सनक हावी है, जिसने देश के अधिकांश लोकतांत्रिक नेताओं को जेल में बंद कर चुनाव प्रक्रिया को लगातार टालते हुए एक ऐसा स्वच्छ और नैतिक शासन देने का दावा किया है, जिसका रास्ता सैनिक तानाशाही और जेहादी जमातों की मजबूती से गुजरता है। बांग्लादेश की इस नैतिक सरकार को इसकी कतई चिंता नहीं है कि उसके यहां दुनिया के सबसे खतरनाक जेहादी संगठन पनप रहे हैं और वहां की धरती पर उल्फा जैसे संगठनों के सरगना खुलेआम सहायता, सहयोग और शरण पा रहे हैं। म्यांमार में सैनिक शासन है और वहां चीन का बढ़ता प्रभाव भारत के लिए चिंताएं और खतरे पैदा कर रहा है। नेपाल में वही माओवादी सत्ता में आ रहे हैं जिन्होंने लाल क्रांति के नाम पर पिछले दस वर्षो में पंद्रह हजार से अधिक नेपालियों की बर्बर हत्याएं की हैं। वे प्रच्छन्न रूप से हिंदू धर्म के विरोध में अपनी नीतियां चला रहे हैं। उनके नेताओं पर खुलेआम शक किया जा रहा है कि वे पश्चिमी विश्व की ईसाई साम्राज्यवादी ताकतों से वित्तीय एवं नैतिक सहायता प्राप्त कर रहे हैं। उनके निशाने पर प्रत्येक वह संस्था रही है, जिसका संबंध हिंदू नाम से जुड़ा था। आज तक उनकी क्रांति का निशाना कोई भी गैर-हिंदू व्यक्ति, संस्था नहीं बनी। हालांकि अफगानिस्तान व पाकिस्तान में अमेरिकी दखल है और वहां की सरकारें अमेरिका को खुश करने के लिए तालिबान के खिलाफ कार्रवाई कर रही हैं, पर उससे भारत को राहत नहीं है। पाकिस्तान में हाल के चुनाव में लोकतांत्रिक शक्ति की विजय हुई है, पर न तो यह कोई नई बात है और न ही वहां के राष्ट्राध्यक्षों को फांसी या निर्वासन के दृश्य। लोकतांत्रिक पाकिस्तान ने भी भारत में आतंकवाद पनपाया। वहां घरेलू हालात संभालने के लिए निशाना भारत पर साधा जाता है। श्रीलंका में लिट्टे का अलगाववादी युद्ध भारतीय थल और जल सीमाओं को तो आक्रांत करता ही है, तमिलनाडु की राजनीति पर भी अपना विखंडनवादी असर छोड़ता है। दूसरी ओर बांग्लादेशी घुसपैठियों के कारण असम से लेकर दिल्ली तक राजनीतिक और सामाजिक असंतुलन पैदा हो गया है। असम में 42 से अधिक विधानसभा क्षेत्रों में बांग्लादेशी मुस्लिम घुसपैठिये निर्णायक भूमिका में आ गए हैं। आंतरिक सुरक्षा व्यवस्था को अभेद्य बनाने के लिए हमें आतंकियों के खिलाफ कड़ी कार्रवाई करनी होगी। ऐसा केवल वही सरकार कर सकती है जो चुनावी हार-जीत से अधिक महत्व राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा को देती हो। (लेखक वरिष्ठ स्तंभकार हैं)

Source Link: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/feb/15guest.htm

February 15, 2008
I thought being an Indian is enough till I saw people being killed and ousted for not being Maharashtrian and contributing ‘appropriately’ for the cause of Maratha culture.

But how do I convert to their version of a good citizenship so that my existence in Mumbai and Nashik is not under threat?

First it’s difficult to explain to which state I really belong. My father hailed from Punjab and my mother came from Rajasthan. They settled down in a city, which was, then under UP, but has now become the capital of a newly created hill state. Read the rest of this entry »

Published here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3021915,flstry-1.cms

‘The only place I call home’

7 Mar 2008, 1654 hrs

This letter was written by a Times of India.com reader who chooses to be called ‘Asa’ in response to a recent article (“ Allah’s will and US strategy ”) on our website by our regular columnist Tarun Vijay. The lucidly written letter, which provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Hindus living in Pakistan, is reproduced in its entirety below.

‘The only place I call home’ Asa Karachi bears the symptoms of Mumbai. It has the Arabian Sea where the hordes go to breathe because the ceiling is so high, hopeful youth walk briskly on the roads to seize the day and of course fail, beautiful women travel in the quiet isolation of the backseat with a man they know as driver, eternal Parsis fear that they are all dying. And, incredibly, Shiva, Lakshmi and Vishnu have encroached on prime real estate. Outside one such temple in the posh Clifton neighbourhood, on a distant Monday four years ago, stood a man in pathan suit. His name was Jayanti Ratna. He was wielding a stick and surveying the large crowds that were trying to enter the temple. “Jai Shiv Shankar,” he kept screaming. Occasionally, he stopped some people by placing his stick horizontally around their chests. “Muslims are not allowed,” he said to them. He stopped me too. “Are you a Hindu,” he said, “Muslims are not allowed inside.” That was the first time during the two month tour of Pakistan that my religion was asked. And it was outside a Hindu temple. He was shown the passport. His eyes softened. “Christians, too, are not allowed. But then you are an Indian.” It was inevitable that he would let me pass. Wasn’t it dangerous for a man to stand in the heart of Karachi, outside a temple, and ask Muslims to get lost? “Not at all,” he said, “I was born here. I belong here. I’ll exercise my right to serve my faith.” The next day, outside the Lakshmi Narayan temple, a small austere shrine that stood at the edge of a creek, four Pakistani girls were stopped at the gate by an ageless Gujarati woman called Bani. “Muslims aren’t allowed,” Bani told them angrily. “We just want to walk around and look,” Rumi, one of the girls said. “Then go to the zoo,” Bani told them. The girls were not outraged at all. They pleaded in between giggles. “We just want to pray,” one of them said. From inside the temple emerged, Hirakumari, a young woman who was related in a complicated way to Bani. She shouted at the girls, “Go pray to your god. You eat cows, make fun of our gods, ask if our gods don’t feel cold being naked…” But Hirakumari would eventually tell me that deep down she loved the Muslims. “They will feed us for the rest of our lives, if it comes to that. Pakistan is the only place I call home but how can we let them inside the temple?” Pakistan’s Hindus number somewhere between 2.5 million (an official estimate which is suspect) and 5 million (the figure granted by Hindu politician Kishinchand Parwani). Over 95 percent of them live in the Sindh province, chiefly impoverished farmers and labourers. Some of them are visibly rich though, and they are allowed to be rich without peril. Like fashion designer Deepak Perwani who had a Ganesha tattooed on his right arm, and whose red dyed hair often perplexed urchins. His analysis of the Indo-Pak divide was, “Indians can’t cut a salwar to save their lives and Pakistanis can’t cut a churidar .” Ten years ago, when he wanted to open a store in Karachi, his friends asked him not to flaunt his name on the door. He didn’t listen. “There’s been no trouble, not a single incident outside my shop,” he said. Since Partition, the only time the Hindus of Karachi felt insecure was in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. But Perwani, once Pakistan’s cultural ambassador to China, did have a problem. The Sindhi community was small and it was not easy for him to find a suitable girl. “The girl has to be imported,” he said, “since I am doing too well here to be exported.” His mother Renu, an amicable and efficient woman said, “People in India don’t want their daughters to live in Pakistan. It’s a mindset.” As she considered the various options for her son, her eyes turned a bit severe. “I will never accept a Muslim girl in my house.” The simple aggression of Pakistan’s Hindus was just one of the many things that confused the Indians who toured that country in the merciless summer of 2004. The visible life on the streets of a nation that was almost always governed by the military and of another that glorified democracy, was the same. The roads and the slums looked the same. Even there, lazy cops stood in street corners without poise. People drove like fools. Pedestrians ran across the road and giggled at the end of the effort. This place was home. Our plight was the same. Our hereditary memory was common. True, pork was hard to find here and beef easily available. Every hotel room, no matter how cheap, had a bidet. There were no pubs, and emasculated newspapers said, “Pakistan and India” instead of “India and Pakistan”. But we had expected much grander things to separate the two nations. After an unscathed life in Pakistan, a Hindu in Karachi becomes dust in a crematorium that lies beside a Muslim graveyard. The crematorium has a room called the ‘library’ where there are no books. Just bundles of ashes of men and women who have become memories. These ashes will stay here, sometimes for years, until the relatives are granted visas to let them immerse the remains in Ganga.

‘If you sow the seed of poison you will reap hate’ -Tarun Vijay

‘Onkar Singh in New Delhi March 03, 2008 14:18 IST

Two decades ago Tarun Vijay was asked by then Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak Professor Rajendra Singh to edit Panchjanya, the RSS Hindi weekly. It was a job Vijay accepted gleefully as it coincided with his views of strengthening Hinduism.
On February 25, Vijay relinquished the editorship of Panchjanya to take over the directorship of the Bharatiya Janata Party think-tank, the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation.
In an interview with Senior Associate Editor Onkar Singh in New Delhi, Vijay says the India of his dreams is one where everyone gets an opportunity to flower just like the Jews who found solace in India while they were being persecuted elsewhere in the world.
A journalist since 1976, he began his career with Russi Karanjia at the Mumbai-based tabloid Blitz and then as a freelance journalist for major dailies and magazines before spending five years as an RSS activist in the country’s tribal areas. He was the youngest member of the then home minister’s advisory committee during Indira Gandhi’s government before joining Panchjanya.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said about him: ‘Tarunji looks small in physique, but his brilliance and sharp intellect, his logical writings make a deep, very deep impression on the readers.’
An avid photographer he has covered the Himalayan region extensively and his pictorial book An Odyssey in Tibet has been well received. His photographs on the river Indus had been exhibited in Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. He also led the first Indus expedition from Demchok to Batalik.Why is Indian society becoming so intolerant?
I must admit that intolerance is everywhere. This kind of apartheid is due to the Leftist influence in politics and the intellectual arena. Though Charvak spoke against the Vedas he was given a high pedestal of a Rishi by Indian society. He was called one of the six most exalted Rishis. So intolerance against other religions is an un-Indian attitude.
The Indian ethos believes in a million flowers and a million fragrances. The growing intolerance is because of jihadi assaults and the wrong policies of the government which thinks that anything that is linked to Hinduism has to be ignored. It pays to be a non-Hindu in India. There are endless examples like special universities for non-Hindus, special loans for a particular community. If non-Hindus are in trouble the government and the media gets perturbed.
Has the establishment ever thought of including Hindus in Kashmir in this list?
Do you think Hinduism is under attack?
Hinduism allowed all the religions of the world to flower in India. But now the very core of Hinduism is under attack. It is our responsibility to make society awaken to such dangers.
Are you saying that Hinduism must be strengthened?
Certainly so. We must have free and fair society which believes in coexistence, in Vasudeva Kutumbam (The world is one family).
Do you believe that the BJP has a chance to win the next general election?
The present atmosphere gives us hope that the BJP will come to power in the next Lok Sabha election provided the party continues to stick to its ideological moorings. I feel that people have trust in the party. It is a party which believes and propagates the nationalist ideology.
Did the BJP commit a mistake by giving up the Ram Mandir issue?
The construction of a Ram temple is a one hundred per cent certainty. Whether the BJP does it or someone else does it is hidden in the future. The Hindu is the first enemy of Hindu issues. The Ganga is polluted by Hindus. The majority of cow slaughter houses are run by Hindus. Many exporters who export meat including beef are Hindus. Those who give reservation to non-Hindus are Hindus. They find it politically beneficial to assault Hindu issues. This situation has to be reversed.
And this can be done only through Hindu reforms. We must show Hindu solidarity which is the key to most of the problems that we face today. Those who visit temples do not keep them clean. People do not ensure that the priests recite the right shlokas and that the pronunciation is correct. We have to ensure that the priests do not loot pilgrims. This is a kind of reform that has to come from within.
The youth of today must take the initiative and we cannot blame others.
Hindu solidarity is not against any minority and it would be beneficial to all minorities including Christians and Muslims. It is for the national good.
Are you turning into a hardliner once again?
To be a Hindu one is essentially liberal. My liberalism is inherent in being a Hindu. It is part and parcel of my Hindu religion. I would like everyone to share this thought including Muslims and Christians. According to me, if water and education is not provided to everyone and if the women are not empowered there is no Hindutva — it means that every citizen of India, whichever religion he may belong, achieves progress.
What was the RSS’s reaction when Mr Vajpayee announced that he was going to Lahore in 1999?
We were the first to welcome it and I was invited to join the party. Nawaz Sharif, then the prime minister of Pakistan, was there to receive the Indian prime minister. Pakistan has been created on the basis of hate and this must go. Pakistan should not be Arab-centric. This is civilisational disorientation in Pakistan. India and Pakistan have the same roots and just because we worship God or Allah should not make us enemies.
What is your solution to the problems faced by the BJP?
Any organisation needs water to bind it and the answer lies is Bhagwakaran (saffronisation). India’s greatness would lie in Vidya (knowledge) and Charitra (character) , Rajju Bhaiya (Professor Rajendra Singh) once told me. I believe he had a point.
My job is to have a manthan (discussion) where both friends and those who do not subscribe to our theory can come together.
Can you emerge from the shadow of leaders like Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani?
I don’t have to. In fact, I do not even think in such terms. I am fortunate that these stalwarts are there to guide me. My post may be director but I will be a student seeking their advice, guidance. I will be providing inputs on ideology and governance. All policies would have to be looked at from our point of view and interpreted accordingly so that they can apply in the areas of their influence. We will be setting up chairs in the name of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in areas where our nationalism is being challenged and assaulted. This is a very critical period.
What about the nationalism of the kind that Raj Thackeray propagates?
If you sow the seed of poison you would reap the hardest of hate. The fragmented polity of the country provides this kind of space that further divides society and fragments it. It is beneficial to those who are looking for such opportunities to get votes.
In Jammu and Kashmir and the north eastern states you cannot buy land despite the fact that you are a citizen of India. Things like Article 370 create problems.

6Mar 2008

Tarun Vijay

Mahashivaratri is a day of awakening from darkness to light. To annihilate the wicked and usher into a regime of Shiva, literally meaning goodness. Those who worship Shiva and observe fast, and their count keeps on swelling to unimaginable numbers each passing year, have a responsibility to pray that the third eye of Shiva is directed for a national rejuvenation too. Shiva’s third eye has inspired millions around the globe since ages, Adobe being the latest one. Before that, CERN was inspired by it. Its the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as a highly respected centre for nuclear research focusing primarily on fundamental physics, finding out what the universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature. CERN established a two metre high statue of Nataraj, the dancing form of Shiva with an open third eye at their headquarters in Geneva. A special plaque next to the Shiva statue explains the significance of the metaphor of Shiva’s cosmic dance with several quotations from The Tao of Physics . Here is the text of the plaque, which I have taken from Fritjof Capra’s site: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, seeing beyond the unsurpassed rhythm, beauty, power and grace of the Nataraja, once wrote of it “It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of.” More recently, Fritjof Capra explained that “Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter,” and that “For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.” It is indeed as Capra concluded: “Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shiva in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.” Foreigners adore the significance of our Shiva, but what about Indians and the duty that this knowledge bestows upon us? Rather we use Shiva for our personal plans, for a secular barter in the garb of religiosity that touches nauseating arrogance of castiesm and shamanism. Shiva is the most benevolent boon giver of all the gods we know. He destroys the negative forces with his glance and feels happy in the company of the most disadvantaged and the deprived ‘un-elitist’ crowd! He loves Bhakti , the true devotion and not the artificiality of the rituals. And there is a story of a tribal boy Tinn in the western Godavari area of Andhra, who would offer a handful of pork meat and water stored in his mouth at the Shiva Lingam, daily in the wee hours of the morning climbing up the steep hill where the temple was situated. The priest got mad seeing such a sacrilegious act, caught him one day and beat him red and blue so much that the Lord appeared from the Lingam and scolded the priest saying the boy’s devotion was more honest and innocent than the priest’s mechanized rituals.
If Shiva is so clear hearted and noble, his anger knows no bounds and when he opens his third eye, the radiant energy emanating from it destroys all the evil and brings in Pralay Kaal . The dooms day or apocalypse won’t be able to convey the true meaning of it as the purpose of discharging energy from the third eye is to prepare for reconstruction. The same Shiva spirit is manifest in peoples’ power. They are virtuous, noble but unleash an uncontrollable energy out of anger when cheated and abused. Shouldn’t we say, the time for its occurrence is now? Have leaders kept our faith in them intact and delivered even fifty percent of what was expected of them? Or turn inwards and ask, if we, the people, have discharged our citizen dharma in maintaining the civility and contributing in the goodness factor of the society? If the answer directs us for self introspection, shouldn’t we be asking for an annihilator’s attitude for the destruction of evil in us and the leaders through ballot boxes? With ‘vote the budget’ Chidambaram basking in his last year of glory in Parliament, the election campaign has been virtually kicked started. It’s the time for people to open their democratic third eye to destroy all that evil accumulated in the political jungle and reconstruct with a clean slate. The world is changing fast. Iran-Iraq animosity has ended. Obama is on a wining trek. Russia has got a new President. India’s young are the world champs. And we are stuck with the same old archaic polity of status-quo-ism and appeasement (take a not-give a vote) as if time has frozen for Indian politics. Change it or perish, that’s the only message of a youthful, vibrant India who can’t wait to emerge victorious. Ask a few questions before you go to sleep. Why can’t our primary schools, universities and airports be the best in the world? And courts, police posts, hospitals, roadways and railway stations more people friendly? The chaotic and dirty platforms, uncleaned compartments and difficult journeys speak about the rich oriented, elitist hypocrisy of ‘Garib Rath’ wallahs. The stark truth shows up on any metropolitan station where the poor wait for a corner in the trains like unwanted dirt as they can’t afford to buy a reserved berth. Any day, any time, Indian capital’s twin station show the raj of the middlemen, filthy platforms and a system blind to the passengers’ plight. The situation has improved only for the internet users and credit card holders who travel AC class. But which part of India do they represent? Thousands of people, Indian citizens, live like insects on footpaths in Delhi and the night shelters govt. runs for them are the messiest dens of dark acts.
A double digit growth chart is fine, but the poor have become poorer and the suicides of farmers are a statement of an economy that doesn’t care for its common people. Travel north to south in any train, preferably in a sleeper class and see the vast expanse of the land on both sides. It’s all agricultural land and people with faith in karma sweat to feed a nation that cares more for the cricketers and film actors. Political parties vie with each other to give a parliamentary seat to glamorous entertainers who would be simply inaccessible to the cadre and masses after the swearing in. Its moneyed who live luxuriously on the labours of the commoners. The system facilitates this irony. Faith and economy go hand in hand in Indian ethos. Deriding faith and hijacking economy for the neo-rich and politically influential is a murder of trust imposed in the state by the people. That’s what this government is doing. Imagine leaving your house in New Jersey, Oklahoma , Fatehpuri in Delhi or Lucknow for fear of terrorists and living in tented accommodations hundreds of miles away. Lost orchards, deserted temples, bewildered and traumatised children, emasculated dreams and ambitions dying young. With no future that can excite or thrill. Life means waiting to die. That’s what this government has given to our own patriotic people in an independent nation. From Kashmir’s Pandits to Tripura’s Reangs, the story is the same. Look at Bundelkhand. Scorched earth dried up water levels, no harvest and no space for any livelihood. People have died of hunger, malnutrition and lack of bare minimum living conditions. And the politicians are the richest millionaires of this region. None helped the dying farmers and rural labourers. Moneyed and powerful, who could have helped wrote letters to the editors and issued statements condemning each other. Political leaders failed. The non-political leaders fled. Is that the India we celebrate as the fast moving economy? Money spent is not development ensured. If that was the case, J&K would have been the most developed area with people happily singing national anthem and north-eastern states would have left Mumbai and Bangalore miles behind. Money was never in scarcity for Orissa’s Kalahandi or Punjab’s farm lands. Yet the poor died of hunger or committed suicides. Farmers of Punjab on the suicide path? It should have woken up the people and Parliament like the Taj Mahal was being bombarded. Nothing happened. Because farmers are not models or film actresses. Hence media too took a cursory notice.
The worst kept temples in the north are the Shiva temples where Brahmin priests have not only refused to train the disadvantaged children into priesthood, but have laboriously managed to tighten their stranglehold on disrobing the faithful and keeping the lanes and surroundings of the temple in the most unhygienic condition. Sometime back, a friend’s family came from Suriname to visit Kashi with young members of the family, obviously first time visitors to Hindustan, to show them the land, culture and religious places of their ancestors. Having visited Kashi, they wept and lamented for their decision. Brahmin priests robed not only their money but also their trust in the pilgrimage and religious rituals. Opening third eye means unshackling our temples from such a castiest stranglehold and making them a centres of cultural and civilisational rejuvenation open to all Hindus without any discriminations and seeing that to be the high priests, the only factor that should matters is the qualification and a scholarship to deliver and not the caste which makes even the illiterate to hold high position and deprives the others even to aspire for it. Why do we have to wait endlessly to have our brave hearts released from the Pakistani jails? That too after their conversion to Islam? Is converting a helpless, jailed person an act of bravery and brings glory to their religion? Rivers of India are fast drying from Ganga, Kaveri to Bharat puzha. Glaciers are shrinking. The senseless pilgrims and apathetical governance leaves all the garbage at Har ki pauri, Rameshwaram, Gangotri and Gaumukh- the source of Ganga. All the filth and human excreta is straightway downed in Ganga and Jamuna by hoteliers and government guest houses in Gangotri and Yamunotri. And then they worship the river for ’sanctioning’ a son or an election ticket!! An Islamic centre known world over as the production point of Taliban mentality issues a statement on terrorism like its the victim of terrorists who come from ‘Unidentified Foreign Lands’ and media laps it up as if India and United states have joined hands to finally ‘smoke out the terrorists from their hideouts’. No voice is heard against the sheer duplicity and the hypocrisy of the long bearded insensitive mullahs using 21st century luxuries and liberties to nurse a 14th century Arabian mindset. It’s the flow of the Indian soul that’s been under assault by a stale, fossilised, unacceptable colour of politics. Change it. For the good of the nation. Make up your mind. For preserving and re-inventing everything that defines India.

28 Feb 2008, 1739 hrs IST,

Tarun Vijay

What does it mean to leave a newspaper one has grown with for several decades and join a political party’s think-tank? Leaving Panchjanya is like giving up a part of my body, a whole world of love and affection and unstinting support from those who kept the flame of my conscience alive. It’s rare to become the second youngest editor of a journal which is widely regarded as the voice of the largest Hindu movement on earth and survive so long there. Working in an ideological paper elevates. But it binds too. It’s unbelievable that in my nineteen years as editor, there was not a single moment when my RSS bosses called me and said: “Look, this is not done. What you have published is wrong in our eyes, better correct or…” Never. We committed mistakes, published what hurt our own, and took immense liberties. When L.K. Advani was Deputy. Prime Minister and Home Minister, we wrote an editorial severely criticizing his Kashmir policy. We were not de-listed. And Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not only my first editor, but first reader too. Many of our issues were warmly appreciated and severely criticized by him. He would call even when he became Prime Minister to say what we have published is good or simply intolerable. He didn’t like criticising opponents personally and would always advise: “Oppose as vehemently you can, but on policies and programmes. Refrain from personal attacks.” We started publishing film reviews more freely, a women’s column with a picture of a beautiful lady and news and views of all our opponents in a paper that was widely perceived as conservative and archaic. Everyone who opposed our ideological stand was published honourably without a single cut, from Somnath Chatterjea to A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja to Shahabuddin and Bukhari. IPTA’s theatre new items got published along with Sanskar Bharati’s. It shocked our opponents but pleased our friends – it showed the strength of our commitment to what we believe in – dialogue. That’s Hindutva and not the Siberia-ism or creating of a Gulag on every news desk by the so called ‘independent’, ‘objective’ and ‘fearless’ journalists of the secular hue. There were moments when the Sarsanghchalak (RSS Chief) would simply walk in without prior notice to see how we were working and have a cup of tea or nimbu pani . We all worked at very low salaries put in the longest hours without complaining or demanding overtime; the mission kept us alive. It’s difficult, if not impossible to work in a Hindi journal to cater ideological arsenal to the faithful when the entire intellectual discourse has been confined to just one language – English. You end up creating more foes than friends. But as Rajju Bhaiyya (Prof. Rajendra Singh), my mentor and the fourth RSS chief used to say, take the challenge head on and look into the eyes of your opponent fearlessly. You will emerge a winner. Be willing to self-correct and believe only in one god – your ideology with a 200 per cent commitment. Everything else, including the top leaders, is secondary to ideology. He would add that if you are going to Thiruvananthapuram, don’t get into a squabble at Jhansi station. Once he said: “Never go too close to leaders you adore” , adding that sometimes proximity turns you from idolatrous to iconoclastic, citing the examples of Nehru and Narsimha Rao.
Too many years at one station makes one yearn for a change and new challenges. Going to Zanskar on a 10-day Wangchuk Chhenpo chaddar trek or getting lost in the Indus source region in Nyari province of western Tibet are some of the things I wanted to take up while exploring new avenues and vistas of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s Integral Humanism as a student. I also had to honour my commitment to my Chinese friends to write a book on bilateral relations. It took exactly three years to have my work station changed. In the history of Panchjanya I got the best farewell ever given to an editor. What else would a journalist dream of? Some felt happy and a couple of friends emailed me – “Oh! Sorry to see you joining a political set-up… It’s a world where old tea planters of the butchery inclinations have been replaced by ‘news planters’ pocketing media sources to back stab a colleague, in whose appreciation a book might have been released by the same politician hours before. In contemporary polity, talking ideology is not exactly an ‘in’ thing. Ideologies look collapsed and are fast replaced by a polity of wealth and deceit. Though it might be a general perception, the basic values of simplicity and commitment have survived and always find a patient audience. Deen Dayal Upadhya