BLEEDING BIHAR

I cannot claim to know the state of affairs if in the last Bihar assembly election, the other rival political combination could have been on the victory stand. But today, in the light of happenings, I can definitely hold a view that the worst fears of the watchers of Bihar are coming true. In course of electioneering, countering the opposition salvos, Nitish was repeatedly telling that there was not any jungleraj earlier and there will be none also in days to come. He also projected his image as a ‘vikas purush’ and assured to improve the infrastructure so that an extensive industrialization was ushered in. In the wake of these commitments, it would be interesting to assess the ground reality touching its ebb in just a few months of gaining the public mandate. 

I had  a very befitting cartoon on my Face Book today. A young man has gone to a pandit with the ritual ingredients on a platter, requesting him to perform his ‘pinddan’ as the Bihar Govt. had offered him a civil engineer’s job. No words can describe it more vividly. Some years back, under Nitish dispensation, an engineered named Satyendra Dubey had been murdered causing a nationwide great hue and cry. The CM explained it away as a stray incident with the assurance to restrain the unruly elements effectively. This time, leave aside others, as many as three engineers have cold-bloodedly murdered by ‘rangdari mafias’. They all were associated with road construction.

A day before yesterday, Tejaswi Yadav, Dy CM of Bihar came to Delhi to have discussions with Nitin Gadkari, Central Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister. Yadav told Gadkari that his govt proposed to construct a network of roads to attract business houses to come and invest. We can just guess that Gadkari, a seasoned politician must have assured to look into. However, Yadav was on a very slippery pitch when the press pointed out that who will be a foolish entrepreneur  to throw his money in a state where law and order was so pitiable. They pointed out how the road constructions including one between Samastipur to Darbhanga came to a standstill after the murder of three engineers overseeing them. The knowledgeable circles understand that all investers are in a mood to wait and watch at least for six months and if they found no escape from the return of jungleraj part ii, they would silently pack off to other convenient places. The leading partner of the  ruling coalition being RJD, Lalu could install his both sons as ministers. Now he is determined to send his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misha Bharti to Delhi as MP/RS. The voters who had rallied behind the Mahagathbandhan, have been left in lurch. They feel cheated. The writing on wall is very clear in Bihar which has virtually started bleeding.      

ANOTHER SIDE OF DELHI POLICE

You must have seen slogans on PCR vehicles telling that the Delhi Police is always with you. One sees and does not put any credence for obvious reasons. But if you see some other public services of this force, you may change your old dismal picture of the police.

Today, on a news channel I saw that the Timarpur police station is running classes to teach the depri'ved children of the neighbourhood. Over and above their routine law and order duties, the PS personnel take classes of 50 students from standard one to nine. There are about 180 police stations in this metropolis and if all of them take up this part time great cause, the city is bound to be illiteracy free very soon. The authorities are very clear in their mission that with the spread of education, crime graph will automatically go down. 

Myself and my wife are the registered senior citizens of the Palam police station. The assigned beat officer on regular intervals visit our premises and never hesitate to sort out even our personal problems within their reach. I know that on being called, they come with ambulence and get admitted senior citizents in hospitals.
This evening while I was discussing with my wife about these police innovations, like in the past, the beat officer came and handed over the New Year greeting card. When I requested him to change the address of our police identity cards, he gave a very encouraging reply. He said that the DP is going to launch an app from Jan,2016. Beat officers will personally go to Sr. C , collect their personal details as well as take photographs. On their mobile, this I.Card will be available with GPS facility. The Sr. Cs can contact the police at any time without carrying any I.card.
We wish that such good initiatives of Delhi police should be widely publicised and their counterparts in other states should draw a lesson to try in their own jurisdictions. Three cheers to DP - Hip-hip Hurray.

POLITICS OF DOUBLE STANDARD

We are at our wit’s end for last nearly two years over the prevailing double standard in Indian politic. Today there are only two camps – BJP and its opponents. Whatever the BJP does is bound to be adversely reacted to by the second group. In the opposition view, the only target is Modi and none else in the govt. Even a novice of opposition rank and file will hold Modi responsible for anything including a natural calamity. Has anybody delved into the reasons behind the sky- rocketed prices of onion and dals when the Bihar election campaign was at its peak? This racket of hoarding for escalating prices, must have been awell planned election eve plot.
The Dadri murder related to the Akhilesh govt. but from Lalu/Nitish to Yachury everybody held BJP responsible. Since last few days it has gone viral in social media that in some villages of Bundelkhand, the hapless people are dependent on ‘ghas ki roti’. Unaware of it, Mulayam spent Rs. 5 crore on his birth day celebration. Equally expensive festivities are afoot in the name of Saifai Mahotsav. Where are Lalu, Nitish, K.C. Tyagi, Manish Tiwari, Sitaram Yechury and Salman Khurshid?
At 2 pm today, I was stunned to see on a news channel that in last 40 hours, there have been six murders in Bihar. Most of them by ‘rangdari’ Mafiosi. The people have started complaining that it is the return of dreaded Jungleraj-II. One villager was repenting for having been befooled at the hustings. K.C. Tyagi was telling correspondents that they should not go for such a hasty media trial and requested them to give Nitish sufficient time to tide over the mischief. So far so good. But is not it the same Tyagi among others who immediately after Modi was inducted as the PM, started asking ‘where are achchhe din’. Did not Modi also deserve leeway  to prove himself?
Just on Dec.27, 2015, K. Chandrashekhar Rao, CM, Telangana completed his 5-day Chandi Mahayagya, spending crores of rupees. The worship spot was visited by 50,000 people daily when 1,500 priest chanted Sanskrit hymns. Several viips including CM/Andhra and V. Naidu/Central minister attended the same. Till today, no political spokesman has mustered courage to call him a communalist. Suppose, if this religious function had been staged by a BJP chief minister, you can easily guess the outbursts of known socalled secular  camp follower?. Some of the left out scholars could have surrendered their awards.
In connection with DDCA case, most of the politicians led by AAP are demanding that Arun Jaitley should resign, pending enquiry. Similarly, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Yadav are out on bail. Have they any locus standi to call others corrupt. Why such politicians should be given any heed while electioneering and begging for votes? In this backdrop, if not the opposition politicians, at least the people should make an unattached assessment so that they are not led to garden path by discredited politicians.

OPPOSITION FOR OPPOSITION SAKE

                                

In democracy, despite a party scoring comfortable majority at the hustings, the opposition closely monitors its functioning and puts it in dock for any acts of commission or omission so that the govt. could not turn autocratic. As a matter of fact, taking a cue from Great Britain and other established democratic systems, the opposition also constitutes their shadow govt. in which they earmark an able leader for each ministry. This criticism as a mark of countercheck is the core of democratic norms and hence the left benches cannot be castigated for that. But what happens when the opposition decides to create problems for the party in power left and right? The just concluded unscheduled Pak visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us a chance to examine the role of the opposition in India.

To start with, we shall locate the elements all over the world supporting or opposing this token visit which will enable us in identifying them in their true colours. The UNO Secretary General, USA, Russia, Afghanistan, UK, CM/J&K, Hurryat etc have welcomed the initiative which has given them optimism of a thaw in strained Indo-Pak bilateral relations. On the other hand, the most wanted terrorist leader Hafiz Sayeed in Pakistan, Congress and CPM with some other parties in opposition have drawn only a black picture of the visit. The congress at the Centre ruled for 54 years whereas the CPM had its sway in W. Bengal for about thirty years. So, without power they are restless like a fish out of water.Modi’s stewardship is giving them sleepless nights and so they are determined to deny him any space to settle down.

The Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Manishankar Ayar, Ranjit  Singh Surjewala, Manish Tiwari and Anand Sharma charge that Modi has no expertise in foreign policy and so he has made a mess of it via his Lahore trip. Moreover, they repeatedly ask what did the country get out of that. We know that already Pt. Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had gone there on well scheduled state visits. What tangible could they bring from there? Was even a single irritant in Indo-Pak relation  sorted out? Then how you expect Modi to move the mountain in an informal talk of just 60 minutes with Nawaz Sharif? Only recently Manishankar and S. Khurshid were in Pakistan when they begged for Pak support to destabilize NDA Govt. Did it enhance Indian prestige?

Before concluding, we must admit that despite the known planks of any opposition party in any country, the opposition for opposition sake is a dangerous trend and should be eschewed because we have seen two parliamentary sessions getting wasted as a result of this bias. 

DROPPING DIPLOMACY

                                                  

The Christmas Day of 2015 has suddenly become historical for South Asian region due to sharp diplomatic intuition of Narendra Modi. This day was fortunate for some other political developments besides  being the Christmas festival. It was on this day that both Atal Behai Vajpayi and Nawaz Sharif were born. Moreover, Mehrunnisa, grand daughter-in-law (from daughter side) of Sharif is having her marriage eve mehndi celebration in the household of the Pak Prime Minister. Till the morning of Dec.25, 2015 when Modi was taking off from Moscow on a flight to Kabul, neither in India nor in Pakistan nor anywhere else anyone had an inkling that on his way back to Delhi, he would undertake another 40-minute sojourn and drop in at Lahore as a mark of unique diplomatic initiative.

It is learnt that this morning, when Modi wished Nawaz a very happy birth day, the latter informed him about the family social function and wished him to join the occasion of double celebrations at his residence. The Indian PM, known for his forte for experiments and confidence, then and there accepted the offer and accordingly made it to Pakistan for the first time as the Indian premier without any established preparations and protocol. Of course the Defence Secretary and the the National Security advisor among some others were already in his entourage.

After taking breakfast at Kabul, he came for lunch in Pakistan and if anybody thought that the iceberg of last nearly seven decades will melt away in the pleasantry thaw of two hours, he would make a fool of himself. Our shastras say, ‘phalen prichiyte’ meaning that one knows only after seeing the fruit or result. But in international diplomacy confidence building measure (CBM) is a prerequisite to bridge any strained bilateral relations. From that angle, it was a token meeting which definitely brought both the countries closer, paving the way for the silver lining so deeply cherished by the public at large on either side of the LOC. 

There is yet another side of this unprecedented diplomacy. Of late, Russia, our old friend, after we went closer to the USA, felt crestfallen and cultivated a better relation with China and Pakistan. Russia also gave S-400, the so far most effective anti-missile RADAR cover to China. The moment Modi assumed power, he directed his efforts to revive the dissipating relation with Russia. On his last Dec. 23&24 visit to Russia, marked as a masterpiece diplomatic stroke, he could not only befriend President Putin but made him agree to contribute to ‘make in India’ campaign. The main thrustline of the visit being defence, he could successfully bargain for S-400 and several other arms, aeroplanes and helicopters. With the satisfaction of this success in the back of his mind, he had no hesitation to oblige Pak premier. Modi knows, if the continuing Indo-pak stand off ended on a peaceful note, he would go down in history not onlyas a harbinger but also a messiah of peace.

This unique diplomatic dropping, executed by Modi, may help him to smilingly say, ‘From Lahore with love’.   

SLOGANEERING A SOFT PROTEST MEASURE

Of late it has been observed in India that the people resort to sloganeering, protest candle march and arranging yagnas to highlight their different demands. The most vociferous candle march and  sloganeering was seen in 2012 when the Delhi public caused traffic jams for days together around the India Gate following the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident. What purpose did that serve? Did the incedents of such sex crime abate? Did it make the youth aware of their duty in this regard? Did they ever thereafter come actively to the resque of any such victim on the roadside? Did anyone pick up the rape viictim and got her hospitalized? Frankly enough, the answer will be a big no. In this backdrop, the said protests normally end up like nothing short of a tamasha.
This scenario can be assessed in some other situations also. When the Parliament is in session, the national Exchequer pays  Rs.1.5 crore every hour. For last two sessions, the House has not conducted any business and ended in a fiasco. Does it cause any concern to any quarter of thinking people? Did any intellectual, writer or poet return their rewards in protest? Were they all waiting for the Dadri incident to prove that the ruling party is intolerant and they are the only progressive elements? If they have any concern for the nation, they could have come out in a procession and immobilised the legislators who have for their parochial ends hamstrung the Parliament. This rampant wastage of public fund has failed to stir up tolerants like Ashok, Bajpayi, Mrs. Naintara Shehgal, Munnawar Rana and others. Of late it has been observed in India that the people resort to sloganeering, protest candle march and arranging yagnas to highlight their different demands. The most vociferous candle march and  sloganeering was seen in 2012 when the Delhi public caused traffic jams for days together around the India Gate following the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident. What purpose did that serve? Did the incedents of such sex crime abate? Did it make the youth aware of their duty in this regard? Did they ever thereafter come actively to the resque of any such victim on the roadside? Did anyone pick up the rape viictim and got her hospitalized? Frankly enough, the answer will be a big no. In this backdrop, the said protests normally end up like nothing short of a tamasha.
This scenario can be assessed in some other situations also. When the Parliament is in session, the national Exchequer pays  Rs.1.5 crore every hour. For last two sessions, the House has not conducted any business and ended in a fiasco. Does it cause any concern to any quarter of thinking people? Did any intellectual, writer or poet return their rewards in protest? Were they all waiting for the Dadri incident to prove that the ruling party is intolerant and they are the only progressive elements? If they have any concern for the nation, they could have come out in a procession and immobilised the legislators who have for their parochial ends hamstrung the Parliament. This rampant wastage of public fund has failed to stir up tolerants like Ashok, Bajpayi, Mrs. Naintara Shehgal, Munnawar Rana and others.
All the educated people in the country should rise up and ask the disturbing MsP as to for what purpose they had voted them. They were favoured in election to discuss the public issues in the House and constitute laws and not to cripple the proceedings. They who have been agitating on Nirbhaya issue should have charge their legislators why the bill like Juvenile Justice, after getting through the LS  was hanging fire in the Rajya Sabha. That shows the non-feeling heart of these so called representatives of the people.They love politics and not the people.
Only a couple of days back, Rahul Gandhi had gone to the agitation ground near Jantar Mantar. There he had to face a group of flag and festoon waving people who charged him for blocking the Parliament functioning. Without boldly facing them, he just left the place. This is an indication that candle march and slogan chanting are not worth. If the people think that the politicians are playing truant with the constitutional system, they should gather around their legislators and force them to see the reality. After all the ultimate power lies with the public only. They are the masters who should not be misled by a handful of corrupt politicians.

All the educated people in the country should rise up and ask the disturbing MsP as to for what purpose they had voted them. They were favoured in election to discuss the public issues in the House and constitute laws and not to cripple the proceedings. They who have been agitating on Nirbhaya issue should have charge their legislators why the bill like Juvenile Justice, after getting through the LS  was hanging fire in the Rajya Sabha. That shows the non-feeling heart of these so called representatives of the people.They love politics and not the people.
Only a couple of days back, Rahul Gandhi had gone to the agitation ground near Jantar Mantar. There he had to face a group of flag and festoon waving people who charged him for blocking the Parliament functioning. Without boldly facing them, he just left the place. This is an indication that candle march and slogan chanting are not worth. If the people think that the politicians are playing truant with the constitutional system, they should gather around their legislators and force them to see the reality. After all the ultimate power lies with the public only. They are the masters who should not be misled by a handful of corrupt politicians.

HERALDING DISTURBANCES

                                

The rejection by the Delhi High Court of the  petition of Mr. Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi seeking leave from personal appearance in the court has propelled a new trend of recording protest. The Congress party has rated it as an example of political vendetta and accordingly its MsP in both Houses have been stalling proceedings since yesterday. The Speaker kept on enquiring about the reason of this protest but ignoring the same, they continued shouting in the well of the House.

Outside  the Houe, the Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma etc haverepeated only one charge that under the NDA regime there were two sets of rules – one for the ruling party and the other for the opposition. When the press pressed for further clarification, they said that while nothing was being done in cases against the chief ministers of Rajasthan,  Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, why the Gandhi family alone should be singled out.

The ruling party representatives argued that this case was launched by Dr. Subramanian Swamy in 2012 when the Congress was in power both in Delhi and at the Centre. At that time Dr. Swamy was the President of the Janata Party and had nothing to do with the BJP. In this backdrop it was baseless to allege that the BJP was firing on the Congress leadership by putting its gun on the shoulder of Dr. Swamy. Earlier also he had fought several important PILs including one against alleged corrupt practices of Dr. Jaylalithaa in which she was sent to jail. At that time also he had no truck with the BJP.

According to NDA leaders in the Parliament, Gandhi family should not make it an issue. The court has not given any verdict. It has just asked them to appear in person to project their defence. Earlier Dr. Manmohan Singh, Narsimha Rao (both the then PM) and Narendra Modi (CM Gujarat) had appeared in the court. The court, in connection with the National Herald case had asked six named persons namely Mrs. Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Moti Lal Vora, Sam Pitroda, Oscar Fernandez and Suman Dubey to appear in person. This much has irritated the Congress so badly that they have disturbed the parliamentary functioning. The country wants to know how for a judicial action the BJP is held responsible and how far is it justifyable to drag this outside issue to the Parliament. The Congress has been intentionally blocking the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha because with its passage, the national economy will look up and the Modi Govt. score an honour. In last few weeks the political parties like SP, BSP, BJD and TMC have indicated to support the GST. The Congress, out of fear for getting exposed is exploiting the Herald case to hamstring the House. Of late, the TMC supremo has started nourishing a soft corner for the Congress. The reason is her restlessness after getting hints that Mrs. Gandhi was probing an electoral alliance with the CPI (M).

Dragging the judiciary in a political seesaw battle and involving the Parliament is not auguring well for democracy. The people at large should stand up and tell such political outfits to behave. 

ISIS READY FOR DEATH KISS

Till the Syrian government was all alone, besides occasional bombings by the USA, while fighting out the ISIS, Baghdadi with his committed force, mad with fanaticism was conquering cities one after another. However, when Russia finding its friend Assad, the Syrian President in soup, jumped into the fray, the scale turned against marauding ISIS.

Meanwhile, the war took a new turn when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane on Turkish-Syrian border. Russia alredy knew that Turkey was stealthily purchasing oil from IS, which gave enough monetary support to Baghdadi to carry out his dangerous sectarian war. In this backdrop the downing of a Russian plane was the last straw on the back of the camel. Russia was bent upon teaching a bitter lesson to Turkey when the USA stood behind Turkey as a member of  NATO. President Obama declared that the Russian plane had intruded into Turkish territory and did not go back despite repeated warnings. As such in keeping with its sovereignty, Turkey was within its power to protect its territory. Obama also threatened Putin to behave. The dark clouds of the Third World War started hovering over the world. It was the happiest moment for Baghdadi.

The latest development, however, indicate that reason has prevailed on both the super powers. Despite not in a mood of pardoning Turkey, Russia restrained itself till the ISIS was decimated. Meanwhile Paris attack by the Baghdadi miscreants further forced the West to unite. Along with Russia, France also jumped on the bandwagon of anti-Baghdadi campaign. America also decided to be more ferocious in attacks on ISIS strongholds. To their good luck, Germany and Great Britain have also joined the crush Baghdadi mission.

Both the USA and Russia, after having burnt their fingers in Afghanistan, hesitate to engage their forces in the ground battle in Syria. So they have decided to adopt a long distance method of bombarding ISIS positions from their nearest air bases and destroyer ships. However, the war strategists understand that the ultimate victory is stamped out by the army on the ground. Already Syria is devastated in the two-month long heavy bombings and missiles. The ISIS is still alive in bunkers as there is none to eliminate them on the ground. However, of late Iran has agreed to send its force to Syria. As we know, the ISIS is basically opposed to Shia Muslims. Iran being a country of Shias, is ready to take revenge. Now the Iranian force with the army of Assad and the ferocious air cover from the five super powers, is sure to completely eliminate these enemies of humanity. 

SARASWATI-SINDHU CIVILISATION

SARASWATI-SINDHU CIVILISATION
- Bageshwar jha
Despite excavation of the first recorded history of Indian sub-continent in 1920 by Sir John Marshall, we are still in dark about the role of the river Saraswati and hence still today  call it ‘ Indus Valley Civilisation, as preferred by that Englishman. This ambiguity is there for two reasons – political and lack of adequate research.

River Ghaggar, known as Saraswati near Panchkula, Hariyana
POLITICAL:
The Leftist historians believe that this civilization sprang up on the banks of the Indus in the Bronze Age, which was eliminated by the Aryan invaders in 2,500 BC who came from Central Asia. Simultaneously, there is another school of historians christened as Rightists, who flatly discard this invasion theory and hold the view that the Aryans are the natives of the land.
Since the Indian Government for a long time remained under the leftist influence, the invasion theory gained currency and found place in the school and college text- books. No serious effort was made for further concerted archaeological excavations to unravel the truth. The Indus, thus remained associated with this civilization till much later. However, laden with convincing evidences, the Rightist Indian history clan pushed to rename it as the Harappan Settlements. Even the National Museum acknowledged this argument and named the related part of its display as the Harappan Gallery. But still under pressure from the opposite camp, that is not treated as the last word. In this backdrop, several neutral historians feel that these confusions could be wiped out if it could be proved that the Saraswati was not only a living river but also played its role as the cradle of the first recorded civilization of the Indian sub-continent.
  Origin of Saraswati near Badrinath, Garhwal, Uttarakhand
Every Hindu knows that their one of the most sacred pilgrimages, known as Triveni at Prayag is the confluence (Sangam ) of the three rivers, namely, the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati of which, the last is not visible (antahsalila). Why it is so, will be discussed later. Here it is important to note that the Leftists treat it as a myth and flatly dispose of the fact that in reality, during Harappan and vedic period, there was a mighty river, named as Saraswati. This clever section understands that once the Saraswati is accepted as a reality, their invasion theory will automatically collapse.
VEDIC EVIDENCES:
As discussed above, undoubtedly the Saraswati is a Vedic river. Except one or two, in almost all the mandals (books) of the Rigved, the name of this great sacrosant river occurs. The Nadistuti hymn of the Rigved clearly mentions that the Saraswati was located between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west. The Rigvedic Aryans revered the river so deeply that they called it, “ambitame (mother), naditame (river) and devitame (goddess) Saraswati”. This makes it clear that the name had some other meanings as well including mother and the goddess of wisdom(Saraswati) besides the river. Thus Saraswati, the goddess of learning can be treated as one of the oldest deities of the Aryans. Often she is shown with a symbolic river in the background which is quite significant.

 Veenavadini Saraswati
The subsequent Sanskrit literary compositions, namely, Brahmnas, Puranas, Upanishdas etc also contain references to the Saraswati. Later on, for the first time, the Mahabharata mentioned it as a dry river.The Mahabharata hs an interesting comment. It says that on the banks of this the Saraswati were the settlements of the Abhiras and Shudras. Due to their mutual deep differences, the river went underground (Shudrabhir ganaishchaiva ye chashritya saraswatim- II.29.9 and Shudrabhiran prati dweshad yatra nashta saraswati-  IX.37.1). This bolsters the contention that dry or flowing, the people in Dwapar Yuga knew Saraswati as a river. History records extraordinary geological changes due to huge outbursts of natural forces. As a result, the level of water in oceans went up and several islands and hills disappeared due to submersion. Similarly, when the water level went down, new geographical entities appeared. Rivers changed their course. Only recently, after an ambitious excavation to locate the Ayodhya of Treta, the archaeologists came to the conclusion that due to the repeated and severe changes in the course of the Saryu river, the location of the original capital of Ram could not be determined. The same is the saga of the invisible Saraswati. The huge literary evidences cannot be brushed under the carpet to prove that the Saraswati river is a myth.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCES:
Of late, science has come to the rescue of the Rightist historians by validating the Rigvedic references about the existence of Saraswati as a mighty river when this great Sanskrit work was under compilation. For the first time in 1970, the NASA admitted that its satellite imagery had supported the existence of Saraswati as an underground river course now. It further clarified that the river is still alive at some 50’ – 60’ below the earth surface. Accordingly experimental excavations started in some states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat falling on the Saraswati course which further strengthened the contention about existence of the present invisible (Antahsalila) Saraswati. Strangely enough, waters from these places confirmed to belong to a single source and they also tasted alike. It may be emphasized here that in the said states, at places there are small lakes and ditches, full of clean water, honoured as the sacred Saraswati by the locals. The water of these lakes is pure like the Ganga water.
 
      Sattelite image of the Saraswati river
“The latest studies, whose findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, too are clear on the river’s existence and its role in sustaining the ancient civilization. The report said that the Saraswati was ‘not Himalayan, fed by a perennial monsoon supported water course. It added that the rivers in the region (including Saraswati) were indeed sizeable and highly active”
“The Union Water Resources Ministry had then quoted in writing the conclusion of a study jointly conducted by scientists of indian Space Research Organisation, jodhpur and the Rajasthan Government’s Ground Water Department, published in the Journal of Indian Society of Remote Sensing. Besides other things, the authors had said that “clear signals of paleo-channels on the satellite imagery in the form of a strong and powerful continuous drainage system in the North- west region and occurrence of archaeological sites of pre-Harappan and post-Harappan age, beyond doubt indicate the existence of a mighty paleo-drainage system of Vedic Saraswati river in this region.
ORIGIN OF SARASWATI:
At different places the origin of the river is mentioned differently. The main, however, are two – Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet and Har-ki-Dun in Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Upliftment of the Arawalis forced Saraswati to go westward.  The Saraswati river could be traced through palaeo-channels as a migratory river. Its initial course flowed close to the Aravali ranges and the successive six stages took west and north-westerly shifts till it coincides with the dry bed of the Ghaggar. Due to this, even today, many people treat the Ghaggar as the old Saraswati. Originating from  Har-ki-Dun. The river comes to the plain at Aadi Badri, located some 60 km from Jagdhari. Then it goes westward through Shivalik ranges and falls in the Arabian Sea, known as Sapta-Sindhu near Prabhash Patan (Somnath). Some also believe it meeting the sea at Kutch. Some 5,000 years ago, when the river was flowing, from the origin to the falling in the sea, its course was 1,6oo km long and the width varied from 3 to 16 km.
According to the Geological Society of India, some 4,000 years ago, plate tectonics changed the course of Saraswati. As a result at Paonta Saheb in Himachal Pradesh, the Yamuna caught the water of Saraswati and flowing eastward joined the Ganga at Prayag This supports the mythological account that Balram changed the course of Yamuna with his plough. On the other hand the Sutlej took a 90 degree turn at Ropar and going westward, joined the Indus. This Sutlej and Ghaggar, are told to represent the Saraswati. Another survey had mentioned that around 1900 BC, due to changes in the underground rock structures, the Yamuna got a lion’s share of the Saraswati water, moved to east whereas the Sutlej also got some Saraswati water and moving west joined the Indus. The poor Saraswati, after losing these two important tributaries, became thin and disappeared in the Thar desert. Dr. R.S. Bisht, former Director, ASI who launched the excavations at Dholavira in 2001, is of a strong view that the Saraswati was a reality.
ONE NEW EVIDENCE:

Water source found at Mughalwali


As a matter of fact in 2002 itself, the NDA Govt. at the Centre decided to dig out the hidden Saraswati from Adibadri to Sirsa in Haryana but the idea did not click on ground. Of late, a normal digging under the MNREGA project brought a chance find of a water source at Mughalwali village in Yamunanagar district of Haryana. The Haryana Govt. has accepted it as the part of the Saraswati. The place has become a religio-tourist destination where visitors from far-flung areas flock as pilgrims. From that point a channel of 5 km long has also been found. Encouraged by this solid lead, the Centre, Haryana Govt. and the RSS backed Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan have joined hands to make the river a reality. The Narendra Modi Govt. has gone a step further by announcing to open Saraswati River Institute at Mughalwali.
 
    Saraswati at Bhim Pool, Badrinath
Historical claim of Saraswati: By now, some 3,000 sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation have been dug out in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Out of them only 600 are located on the banks of the Indus. The rest are scattered over other areas of these states. It is remarkable to point out here that out of the remaining 2,400 sites about 2,000  have been traced on the banks of the Saraswati. If we give any credence to the Saraswati-related Rigvedic hymns, this river then used to be a mighty stream, allowing the people to develop their first recoded civilization on its banks. Thus, despite being invisible at present, it has every right to be related with that great civilasation. The Indus alone cannot steal the lime light. So if a section of scholars is hesitant to replace Indus with Saraswati, the said civilization, under a compromise formula can safely be renamed as the Saraswati- Sindhu Civilisation.
As discussed above, the Saraswati, in its course of some 1,600 km length, often remaining underground, is overground at several places. They are known as lakes, bearing religious sacrosance. Quite interestingly, the excavational activities have propelled the people also to probe the economic aspect of this hidden river. At several places the people have started digging up canals for irrigational purposes. Thus while the flowing Saraswati allowed the civilization to flourish on its bountiful banks, the underground river is today ready to play an equally creative role by irrigating the huge tracts of barren lands and turning them into greenery. In this changed scenario, the Saraswati, not only will be known for its role in rearing a civilization, but also feeding the present population suffering from lack of water.


References:
⦁ The Lost Saraswati and the Indus Civilisation, S.P. Gupta (ed),1999
⦁ The Saraswati Flows on the Continuity of Indus Culture, B.B.Lal, 2002, Delhi
⦁ Rajesh Singh’s article, named The Saraswati Civilisation in the Pioneer, Delhi edition, June 6,2012
⦁ Internet
⦁ The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives, jane Mcintosh
⦁ Saraswati The River That Disappeared, K.S. Naldiya, 2002, H’bad
⦁ Seema Chisti in The Sunday Indian Express Magazine, July 12,2015, New Delhi edition.
 

 

   

POST-MORTEM OF ELECTORAL LOSS IN BIHAR

                  The loss suffered by the BJP in the last assembly poll has given a new turn not only to Bihar but also the national politics. The BJP leadership feels so much crest- fallen that the internal bickerings have ensued. The four senior citizens of the party, namely, L.K. Adwani, M.M. Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar are demanding that the responsibility for this defeat should be fixed. Thaey charge that the party has weakened in last one year. As a matter of fact they do not acknowledge that agewise they are down the hill and should stand away from  active field work. Overestimating themselves, they thought that no election campaign would succeed without their involvement. So was the high expectation of Bihari Babu also. When the present leadership ignored them, they were frustrated and wanted the party to lose, which really happened and now they are exploiting the situation.

In this background, it may be recalled that in the light of 'India shining', the Atal Govt prematurely went to election, seeking a bigger mandate. The said seniors then were at the helm of affairs. The party lost. Then there was no hullabaloo for fixing the responsibility. In the following general election, the BJP projected Adwani as its prospective PM candidate and the Congress once again swept the poll. Did he fix the responsibility? Then the explanation was given that it was the collective responsibility of the party. Today Ram Madhav is openly saying that earlier we won less and lost more. After half a dozen of victories, the party had only two losses in Delhi and Bihar. We understand that despite an intensive and laborious electioneering by Modi and Amit Shah the success deceived because Mohan Bhagwat's dangerous statement on reservation had already done an irreparable loss to the NDA. But these four elders have no courage to challenge the RSS Sarsanghchalak.

An important information is making rounds in the political circle, indicating that the surrender of awards, charges of intolerance, communalism and dictatorship, just before the Bihar elections, were created under an international conspiracy. They say that Pakistan, Saudi Arab and USA engaged a PR on a heavy cost to propagate India as an intolerant country so that its chances of getting entry into the UNSC were impeded. Secondly, most of the involved awarded literateurs have their NGOs drawing funds from outside. The Modi Govt. conducted a quick enquiryand  nailed their mischief. Quoting the FERA laws, a ban was imposed on foreign money. Thus these peiole are feeling restless and intending to defame and dethrone Modi Govt at any cost. As a matter of fact these internal developments are known to the PMO which awaits the right moment to burst the baloon.

The Samajwadi Party is not taking Mulayam and Akhilesh to gallows for defeat in Bihar. Awaisi stands unscathed. What about Mayavati, Pappu Yadav and Tariq Anwar? All are hale and hearty. Then why alone the BJP foursome is nourishing a last ditch gameplan?

The people of the country, who have the taste of democratic practices, should read between the lines when such tendentious propagandist kites are flown. If they feel that the Modi dispensation is really delivering, they should not only ignore the critics but ask to shut up and show them the exit gate. Modi must be taken to task if he has failed to take the country in right direction. 

A SILENT INDIAN LEADER

In a democracy, rulers are elected by the people and hence the politicians need to be endowed with persuasive oratory. So, in the race to win over the electorate, they are so loud that the ones who really believe in performance, are either unheard or ignored. The most glaring example in India is our present NSA incumbent Ajit Doval. An unassuming retired IPS officer, Doval, like a true karmyogi believes only in work and no bragging. Even while in police service including the Central Intelligence Bureau, he had a breath- taking track record. As such, they who know him closely are not surprised over the saga of his recent successes.
While still in intelligence outfits, he stayed under cover in Pakistan for several years without any hint to the locals about his intentions. When he returned after the completion of his mission and the story was leaked, Pakistan felt crestfallen. As such, when he was tipped to become the NSA, there was an utter restlessness across the borders. Pakistan knows that like Osama bin Laden, Doval may also target our most wanted suspects like Dawood, Lakhvi  and Hafiz and hence his security was intensified.
The recently concluded Naga Peace Accord was the result of Doval’s tiring efforts. As a matter of fact he is also known for his in-depth knowledge of North-East affairs. When recently several people were butchered in Assam by extremists, led by Doval, Indian commandos secretly in darkness landed in deep forests on Indo-Myanmar borders and eliminated these hiding elements. Knowing that India now means business of paying the culprints in the same coin, such mischief mongers are hesitant to venture out now.
We know how Chhota Rajan has been underground in foreign countries for last over twenty years. Since Doval came on the scene, the don was accurately followed, Interpol at his request issued Red Corner Notice and a close liaison was maintained with the countries where he was hiding and as result, he was nabbed by the Indonesian police at Bali. Rajan will be brought to India any day now. Since he has many secret leads about Dawood, the latter in Pakistan is badly perturbed over his own security.
It may be added here that on the initiatives of Doval one more success has been achieved. A Thai national and gunrunner Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich aias Willy Naru, accused of being a middleman of Chinese arms meant for Naga insurgents has been arrested and the local judiciary has given a verdict that he may be extradited to India. Thus securing Naru’s custody would be a significant breakthrough for the NIA.
Though he does not deliver self-praising loud and long speeches, but his image of a matter of fact man has disturbed the countries nourishing anti-India designs. After the Ufa conference when the NSAs of India and Pakistan were to meet at New Delhi for bilateral talks, Pak authorities could realise that their NSA, Sartaj Aziz was no match for his Indian counterpart. So they declared to include in the agenda matters beyond the agreed brief. As a result of that the talk failed.
Thus one after another, Doval has been successfully cracking knotty problems. The country hopes that with his wisdom and commitments the people here can rest peacefully.  

POLL-EVE CACOPHONY

 Never before in the electoral history of India, the campaigning was so abusive and in higher decibel as seen in the yet incomplete Bihar Assembly election. Why was it so? Is it a trend being set for future? Many would confide that the electioneering was unprecedently intense and bitter because of the huge stakse involved.
One may like to know these stakes. Are they related to property ? Not at all. The major stake is the Possibly political future of the stake holders. In this connection the first politician is Lalu Prasad Yadav. A convict of the fodder scam and now out on bail, he understands that his personal electoral fuutre is doomed particularly if the Supreme Court sets aside his review appeal. In that case he will again land in jail. Since his present stature is due to politics, he would like to groom his scions to take over. He never had any faith in any other senior RJD leader when he resigned as the CM and passed on the mantle to his illiterate wife. Now, his two sons and one daughter are in the political arena. Without giving good education to his sons, he was in a haste to immediately baptise them politically. The daughter had contested the last parliamentary election and lost to Ram Kripal Yadav, a close Lalu follower. At present in UP while half a dozen of Mulayam’s relatives are in state and centralegislatures, Lalu has none. As a matter of fact, Lalu has no residence in Delhi. So he his both sons are in fray today. If any wins in case of Grand Alliance victory, he is bound to be the deputy chief minister. It is in this backdrop that Lalu is in a do or die position.
On the other hand, ever since Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP, his all decisions have been letting him down. After this parting of ways his entire concentration has been no saving his minority government even at the cost of befriending his bitter bete noire, Lalu. He committed hara-kiri once again when after the huge loss in at the hands of Modi, he resigned and installed Jitan Ram Manjhi as the new CM. Nitish could not remain restful without power and chasing out Manjhi, settled in the throne once again which badly antagonized the Manjhi vote bank. Humiliated Manjhi jumped on the NDA bandwagon. In this wake, if Nitish loses the election, he will be reduced to dust and may take at least a decade to rise again. Similarly, the Congress, which is virtually a non-entity in Bihar is trying hard to hold the apron of MG to share power.
The BJP, which has a comfortable majority at the Centre, has two important objectives – firstly, on its path to Congress-free Bharat, it wants to get a big state like Bihar under its control and secondly, the victory will improve its position in the Rajya Sabha, where it has been sustaining strong opposition onslaughts. The party does not like to continue Delhi defeat in Bihar too.
The Third Front constituents want just to register their presence. Its seniormost leader, Mulayam exposed Lalu and Nitish for the failure of the Maha Gathbandhan coming to reality. Similarly Owaisi, from Hyderabad, having made entry in the Maharashtra assembly, is in Bihar assembly election to proveo his countrywide appeal.

MIGRATION FROM VILLAGES TO CITIES

                                

The country, for last over a quarter of a century has been facing a strange scenario of villages being empty and cities growing over populated. Previouly a lot of fuss was being made and that being rihtly so, over uncontrolled demographic rise. The planners complained that all their welfare projects were being infructuous because the fast rising population made them inadequate. The hectic steps and publicity appear to have restrained the pace. Whereas the population of all the four southern states has become stagnant, the scene, though improving, has yet not reached a satisfying point in the North. Juxtaposed to this big picture is another problem of demographic imbalance due to migration of people from villages to towns and cities which is baffling the town planners.

If we go into history, we shall find that before Independence, villages followed old feudal system in which the labour class people were very mercilessly exploited. They did not enjoy a bette treatment than the cattle of the landlord. Residing at the small plots of land of the landlord, they could never say no to any duty. Even the virtue of their womenfolk was in jeopardy. The payment for the day’s labour was in kind (food grain) and its weight depended on the whims of the land owner. If they fell ill, the entire family went on the street. Against this outrageous scene, when the country became free and communications improved, these farm workers started going out of the state in search of better payment.

 To start with, they moved to the eastern areas of Bihar and contiguous regions of West Bengal for a few months in a year for jute harvesting. The payment made them happy because they came back with some saving for the family. When they found better avenues elsewhere, they moved for wheat harvesting to Punjab, Haryana and western UP. Still they were returning to their native villages.Then came the age of huge constructions in cities like Mumbai and Delhi and their influx took route to these metros. Today, the minial work in these mega cities are done by the labour from Bihar, Rajasthan and Odisha. There is a new change. These workers started earning enough to change the life conditions of their families left behind in villages. Some years later, they built Jhuggies on govt land and started living with their families. This trend made the rural areas vacant and the cities receiving these unwanted guests. Some 25 years ago, the population of Delhi was nearly 50 lakh which today is 2.5 crore. All the public services like hospitals, transport, schools etc are crumbling under this demographic pressure. It is not true that the civic authorities have not done anything. The ever rising population growth is negating their efforts.

In this backdrop, the govt. has to evolve an effective remedial measure to stop this city-bound migration. For this the best way is to improve the agriculture on which even today over 70% people depend and establish factories so that the have-nots are not compelled to leave out in search of livelihood.  

PLIGHT OF MINORITIES

                                                

For nearly last three months there has been a sudden row in the country as a class of people have been clamouring over the alleged outrages against the minorities. In this connection they quote the incidents like the murder of two literary persons and cow slaughter. These incidents have come handy to the intellectuals who were leading an ignored status after the new dispensation at the Centre, to suddenly wake up and steal the limelight. In an earlier blog here, the subject had been touched upon. Today, after seeing the miserable condition of some Hindus of  Pakistan on a TV channel, I thought it better to post a blog for the friends who might have missed the show.

Some months back, after applying for a religious visa to go to Haridwar on a pilgrimage in 2014, they were obliged by the Pak govt. Accordingly 88 Hindus of six families came here on a 6-month visa. Their visa has expired and the Indian authorities who are persuading them to return to their native country, have extended the visa for a fortnight. Now these unfortunate people are clustered in a village in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. As a matter of fact these people, prior to 1947 were having settlements in the region which got divided into India and Pakistan. When the division took place, they were stuck up in the area which formed the part of Pakistan. Actually they are originally from a village, now in India. So they are ready to die but not to go back to to which is worse than a hell for the minorities. The plight of the Hindus there, as narrated by these sufferers is so heartrending that reference to it here may be disturbing. But the most objectionable part is that any Hindu girl entering into teens is forcefully abducted by the muslims, converted and married. Even in schools, Hindu students are forced to sweep the floor, wash the toilets and not taught anything.

The TV anchor quoted some demographic figures which are unbelievable. In 1947 there were 15% Hindus in Pakistan which in 1998 got reduced to 1.6%. In Karachi in 1947 there were 51% Hindus and 42% Muslims. In 1998, the Muslims increased to 96% whereas the Hindus got reduced to nearly 2%. It may be added here that Pakistan has not conducted any census since 1998. The latest data are bound to surprise anybody.What is the explanation of the Pak authorities on these strange demographic figures? The Hindus living in Pakistan are looking for opportunities to flee to India. On the other hand, no Muslim, even the Kashmiri wants to go to Pakistan. That tells the story.

In 1990, all on a sudden some four lakh Pandits of Kashmir had to desert their home and hearth. Since then they are living like refugees in different cities of the country. For last 25 years they have been leading a wretched life. How many Sahitya Akademi laureates surrendered their laurels? Are the said scattered incidents of India more painful than the above two.  Did Munnawar Rana, the Urdu poet who wrote a poem in praise of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi ever think to compose some lines for the Pak minorities and Kashmiri Hindus?Let us think.   

SAHITYA AKADAMI ROW

Since after the recent Dadri (UP) lynching incident, which was shocking enough, it appears that it has stirred up the hornets’ nest of a particular type of Sahitya Akadami awardees. By now 22 of them are reported to have surrendered the awrd. Mrs. Nayantara Sahgal, niece of Pt. Nehru who earned this achievement in 1986 has declared also to return the amount accompanying the citation. They also took strong objection to the murder of literary persons in Maharashtra and Karnataka (Kalburgi) and called upon their fellow writers to join the protest against the Prime Minisster. Strangely enough, while the law and order is a state subject and all the three incidents occurred in the said three states, why they have targeted their well orchestrated protest singularly against Narendra Modi. Yet they have not spoken a single word against the concerned three chief ministers. The educated and politically conscious people smell a rat in this mysterious opposition to the Prime Minister.
First of all we have to trace the track record of this bunch to delve into their motive. All of them, by and large are aged people who had a heyday during nearly 45 years of Congress rule at the Centre and in several states. These Congress sympathizers are having leftist leanings. Therefore, all the academic government run institutions were exclusively occupied by them. The worst sufferer was the Indian Council of Historical Research. Such elements not only enjoyed unchecked  the comforts of the key offices but also indulged in tendentious history writing. Mrs. Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, Dr. D.N. Jha, Ram Chandra Shukla, Dr. Ram sharan Sharma, Dr. Nurul Hasan left no stone unturned to give a tainted picture of the Indian history. If any other scholars differed, their works were denied publication and they were sidetracked. The fund defalcation is a separate story. A former editor of the Indian Express and later a minister in Atal government had published a detailed account of sorry state of affairs in the ICHR.
Now when the regime has changed and their rampant trivializing of facts got ignored, they have become restless. Since they are no more in the limelight, they have turned to this trade union type activity to draw public attention. Let me ask a question, the butchering of over 3,000 Sikhs of 1984 in Delhi was worse or the Bisada/Dadri incident ? Then why Mrs. Sahgal accepted the Sahitya Akdami award in 1986? Was the Muzaffarnagar riot less despicable ? Where were they when inhuman Bhagalpur blinding incidents took place ? Please see the list of these awardees and know the regimes which oblized them. Did any one  of them receive during the rule of Atalji or Modijharmai? Moreover, some days back Sh. Mahesh Sharma, Central Minister for Culture told in an interview that whereas the Padma awards are given on the recommendations of the Government, the selections for the Sahitya Akadami awards are made by a separate committee of  eminent literateurs without any interference from the Govt.
Now the question arises as to why did they prefer this method of protest to defame NDA rule particularly at a time when the Bihar Assembly election was round the corner? Since they have ganged up to pursue their ideological game plan, it is the duty of the common people to expose them by not only paying any heed to them but also telling the people that these rewarded literary persons, really having no love for the minorities, were just manoeuvring to bring back their erstwhile patrons to power.

A TRUE ISLAMIC FATWA

Every religion is basically meant to bring peace and happiness in the individual as well as the societies. However, the matter leads to complications when religion is mixed with law though both are separate subjects. Religion has spiritual fundamentals to improve internal goodness of the man. On the other hand law has an explicit charter of maintaining peace and harmony in the community. Such tenets in English are called lawbooks while in Sanskrit we name it as ‘dharmshastra’. They are both two lines of a railway track. So long they are parallel, running of trains is normal. When they meet, accident is the outcome. Likewise, whenever faith and law get mixed up, chaos becomes an obvious outcome. The wave of terrorism, all over the world today is just an approach of proving that only your faith is true and you take law in your hand to wipe out others as if they have no right to live on earth. It has stooped to such low that even such criminal activities are supported by their co-religionists believing that after all it is intended to protect the faith from non-believers (kafirs).
In this backdrop, there  has been a healthy development in one sect of Islam. Immediately after the Eid Namaz on July 18, 2015 Mufti Saleem Noori of Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam issued a fatwa telling its followers to  keep off terrorism.   The fatwa requires  not to offer the ‘namaz-e-janaza’ or the last prayer before burial for terrorists and those helping terror-accused. According to him, any terrorist who claims to be a Muslim is acting against the tenets of Islam. The religion does not propagate violence and shedding of blood of innocents. Thus, such people cannot be treated as Muslims as they are violating Islamic principles.
According to the fatwa, in no way Islam allows terrorism and killing of people. Therefore, no Imam or any other person  should offer their ‘namaz-e-janaza’ after their death. It called upon the Muslims to stand up and raise their voice against such terror activities as they give a bad tinge to Islam. When “namaz-e-janaza will not be offered, their bodies cannot be buried in the approved graveyards. In other words, it amounts to clearly disowning terrorists from the religion. It is bound to work as an effective deterrent for the misguided youth.
In the light of the fatwa above, everybody in our beyond Islam should tune themselves to maintain a safe distance from terrorists/militants, mercilessly shedding the blood of innocent. Yakub Memon, who was involved in the Mumbai Blast claiming 257 lives, is destined to be hanged. Over the years, he has explored all avenues either to avoid the gallow or minimize the sentence without success. Despite that I heard a Muslim NCP leader telling the press that Yakub was awarded death sentence because of being a Muslim. Should not he pay heed to the above fatwa? 

PANCHDEVATA

               If you are a Hindu, staging different types of poojas for different occasions, you must have come across the word ‘panchdevata’. Do you remember who are these five deities ? They are Ganesh, Surya (sun), Bhagvati, Vishnu and Mahadev. Your priest must have directed you to recite ‘pancgdevatabhyo namah’. If the Pooja is held in daytime, it is ‘suryadipanchdevata’ but if it is in the evening, it is recited as ‘ganpatyadidevata’. It is remarkable that the subsequently more popular gods like Ram and Krishna have no place in that arrangement which appears to be more pristine.
It is said that previously, the devotees of Mahadev or Vishnu would claim superiority of their deity and clash among themselves. They constructed separate temples of their deity. In 14th century, the leaders persuaded the people to forget such petty differences and adopt religious harmony. So the society of that period in Mithila favouring this spiritual inclusiveness started founding ‘panchayatan temple’ in which under a single roof all the five were installed and the devotees worshipped all of them. Though it became the acceptable trend in 14th century and around, by now such temples are not being founded. The remains of such a panchayatan temple can be seen at Dekuli (Devkuli) village near Darbhanga town. Except the Vishnu statue, the damaged statues of other four deities are extant. These ruins are in the historical Vardhmaneshwar temple in the east of Dekuli. Shri Parmeshwar Jha, in his book Mithila Tattva Vimarsh has thrown adequate light on this aspect.
This system of panchayatan temple appears to have been forgotten by the modern society. Temples are intended to appease all sections even if it militated against the classically approved regulations.  You can find the images of Vaishno Devi, Daddev, Sai Baba and the heads of different other cults in Hindu temples which is not approved by our authentic scriptures. Our ‘dharmshastras (Lawbooks) have clearly laid down the qualities of a god deserving to be installed in a Sanatani temple. Any cult is free to have its own temple with the image of its deity but to encroach upon the Sanatan hierarchy is not acceptable. What the Shankaracharya (Swaroopanandji) says is exactly the same thing. He is disrespectful to no cult, no deity but opposed to adjusting them in a Sanatan system temple. Nobody has quoted any scriptural authority to justify installing a Sai Baba statue or photo in a Ram temple. If one is so liberal and cohesive, he should accommodate others in his family residence and set an example. It is also our duty to deny entry to any unauthorized deity in our places of worship besides the panchdevata.
       

INDIA IN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS

There was a time when in international sports, the country was known for only cricket and hockey.In Olympics, the country waited only for hockey matches and if we missed any medal therein, our score remained zero. In this backdrop the country unwittingly tilted towards cricket. I remember when in early 1960s, as a college student I learnt a few jargons like pitch, wicket, LBW, gully. silly, fineleg etc which mesmerised me to the extent that in search of friendly families/cricket with a radio to listen the running commentary of Jasdev Singh, I often ignored my studies. Particularly when the Indo-Pak series were in progress, one could see hundreds of fans clustered in front of pan stalls.
Whenever the Olympics started, the country eagerly waited for hockey matches involving India. Particularly Indo-Pak match of any level crowded the pan shops and dhabas. The families with a radio were swarmed by the hockey/cricket lovers. If we lost any medal in that event, our score remained ZERO. The fans on the street wept bitterly as if some near and dear has taken his last breath. The victorious team on return was received in a colourful procession and quite contrarily, when returned as a loser, their houses were pelted. If there was any loss of a match in cricket or hockey at the hands of India, Pakistan wailed as if hit by a national calamity with similar reaction when India lost. Even today, in these two events, these two country can digest defeat from any other team not each other..
The economic revival in India since late 80s has turned the table. Obviously when you can afford to give good food, good training and good paraphernalia to your sports persons, they are bound to give a better account of themselves. Previously on international plane, only Japan was seen ahead of any Asian country. Today China, India, Japan, South Korea etc are honourably competing with developed countries. India's performance in cricket, hockey, lawn tennis, badminton, shooting, weightlifting, boxing, wrestling and kabaddi is taken as a matter of pride by all Indians. Not only that, within last one fortnight, 7'2" inches Satnam Singh in basketball and Vijender Singh in boxing have joined famous professional groups. It appears that India has shaped itself as a fertile land for sports materials and the world is looking at us for such talents. 

THE WORST HAS HAPPENED

  For last several months, being a student of history and associated with museum movement, I have been giving vent to my deep concerns on the recent vandalism in archaeological sites of West Asia due to ongoing war inspired by communal hatred. To this I have been posting my feelings in the blog. I had already drawn a very sorry picture of rampaging of aretfacts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. I had hinted that the axe was due to fall on another ancient city, Palmyra in Syria. I was afraid that the innumerable monuments and artefacts there were due to fall in jeopardy as the IS had captured it in last May. Unfortunately, the rampages have come true.
According to a leading English daily of Delhi dated June 23, 2015, the Islamic State group fighters have destroyed two ancient Muslim mausoleums in the historic Syrian city of Palmyra which was confirmed by the countrie’s director of antiquities. According to him, the IS jehadis blew up the tombs of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammed’s cousin , and Nizar Abu Bahaaeddin, a religious figure from Palmyra. Bin Ali's burial place is located in a mountainous region in north of Palmyra in central Syria. Abu Bahaaeddin;s tomb, located very close to Palmyra's ancient ruins , is said to be five centuries old. The jehadis destroyed at least 100-200 years old 50 mausoleums. They do so because these structures are allegedly militating against their faith. It is reported that several ancient sites have been mined and in days to come many more historical monuments, which gained world heritage status for Palmyra, will lick the dust.
Like my earlier posts and other such pieces, wherein I gave expression to my feelings over these calculated iconoclastic rampages, I once again end here with the same heavyness without any ray of optimism.
  

ANOTHER SUPER EXPERIMENT IN BIHAR

Particularly since after 1960, Bihar has been a politically boiling cauldron. All sorts of experiments have been tried here and more and more appear to be in the offing. It has been the cradle of Lohia’s socialist movement as well as the historic Sampoorn Kranti of JP. The Janta umbrella raised  in 1977 under JP stewardship, in the following years, for its inbuilt contradictions, just frittered away and the subsequent periods showed the state politics stooping so low that Bihar started being castigated as a state of inert people. But this is just one side of the coin. The ingenuous people of the state, kept on giving adequate expression to their talents in other fields.
We understand that in metropolitan cities including Delhi, there are coaching centres for competitive examinations which charge heavily for preparing the aspirants to get through. It has emerged as a lucrative industry. Against this background, one Anand Kumar of Bihar started a unique coaching system called Super 30. He collected students from the lowest strata of society, offered them free boarding and lodging and gave personal attention to coach them. For last several years, the Super 30 has been scoring nearly 100% success. Anand kumar emerged as an icon and today is being invited by different universities in the world to deliver lecture on his success story.
It has inspired others too to draw inspiration. We know that Muslim society is lagging behind in the economic race as well as education. The situation is still worse so far as female education is concerned. Taking a cue from Alok, a young Muslim, named Rahmani, after his name recently launched Rahmani 30. Since he has the experience of association with Alok, his group has also started showing similar breathtaking results as this year out of 30, 27 have cracked IIT test. Rahmani knows the weak sides of his community and so rightly decided to concentrate on girls as his next step.
These are very incouraging trends. We can draw several healthy lessons. Firstly, instead of playing only politics, we should do some creative work in the field. Secondly, let us forget to blame the govt for every deficiency in the society. And finally, the self-help has no substitute.   

AK AT RECEIVING END

AArvind Kejriwal, the incumbent CM, Delhi started his political career in a circuitious way under the Anna umbrella. He had a two-pronged policy – firstly of proving that all the political parties were corrupt and secondly, if given the chance, he would usher in ‘sushasan’.  When he joined the electoral politics, he claimed that his candidates were washed in milk. When he took the oath of CM, he invited people to pay bribe if asked for but at the same time conduct a sting operation and for adequate punishment leave he matter to him.  

He managed some papers and one by one in public meetings called Salman Khurshid, Robert Badra, Nitin Gadkari and several others corrupt in toto. He showed papers telling that the NGO of Salman’s wife was indulging in corrupt practices. Only three days back, along with 48 NGOs, his deuty, Manish Sisodia’s NGO Kabir’s FCRA permission was withdrawn for not filing returns of funds received from foreign countries. The AAP movement’s main plank was Lokpal which he removed immediately after returning to power and the post is still vacant. At least three persons carried sting operation on AK himself which were shown on different national news channels without any action on any. Fouder leaders like Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav, Rajesh Garg, Binny etc who challenged his dictatorial decisions, were shown the exit door.

His law minister, Jitender Tomar resigned as he was charged with forged educational certificates. Another person, MLA from Cantt. is also charged with the same crime. AAP/MLA from Karolbagh AC, Vishesh Ravi is allegedly having an office in Rohini which prepares forged certificates. His previous law minister, Somnath Bharti had forced the cops in Malviya Nagar to arrest some foreigners, allegedly running sex rackets. On June 11, Lipika Mitra, the wife of same Bharti has complained of domestic violence including acute mental torture and demanded divorce with adequate alimony for herself and two issues.

If AK takes action in some of the above said incidents, his party will collapse. It appears that except agitations, he has not learnt  any administrative quality. A man assuring good governance does not tolerate any opposition. In a hurry, he distributed tickets to several undeserving elements and same mistake was committed while selecting ministers. The electorate of Delhi are bewildered and pondering if they commited a blunder at the hustings. Let him defend.        

HAWA HAWAI IN BIHAR POLITICS

                                

The Bihar assembly election is round the corner. It will decide the fate of the state for next five years. Being a man from that state, my interest in the local politics is genuine. Will it mark the return of ‘jungle raj’ ? Will somebody emerge as a leader to be truly called a ‘vikas purush’? Will the tired electorate lose interest and give a fractured mandate generating known political uncertainty ? Will at the last moment Lalu’s appeal in the SC be turned down ? Will the NDA, like the last parliamentary election turn the table once again? All these baffling questions are bound to make Bihar a boiling political cauldron.

On June 8, 2015 meeting in Delhi at the residence of Mulayam Singh’s residence, expectations were high in both the main partners of the alliance – RJD and JD/U. Lalu wanted the issue of CM candidate to be decided after election to keep Nitish on tenterhooks. On the other hand Nitish put his candidature as an nonnegotaiable precondition. Lalu appeared to be on a rough turf. His two sons and the eldest daughter, Misa Bharti are ready for political debut but for all political purposes, they do not carry any weight before a tested Nitish. Lalu himself, despite tall talks is not sure about his own status. Lalu’s senior colleague, Raghuvansh babu is also in favour of electing the CM by successful MLAs of the alliance. Thus he is facing internal opposition.

Moreover, Lalu wants seat sharing on the performance of the last Lok Sabha election, whereas Nitish bats for the results of the last assembly polls. Mulayam, finding these howling realities, despite the blood relationship with Lalu, decided in favour of Nitish as the CM prospect. About seat sharing a committee of representatives has been constituted. Thus, Lalu appears to have lost the ground vis-à-vis Nitish on all counts. Since he has hardly any option, as the Congress had already preferred to uphold JD/U, Lalu in a crestfallen manner admitted that in order to debar the communalists to grab power in Bihar, he had agreed to consume poisons of all sorts to protect the alliance.

To the Bihar political analysts, the arrangement to take on ever strong NDA does not appear foolproof. Perhaps , the situation may take some new turn.    

A HEALTHY NEW TREND

                                          

Since India achieved Independence, a common scene has been persisting to create pressure groups and demand reservations in public service jobs. Once such a pressure group succeeds, it would die for keeping it to continue indefinitely. To start with, we saw that our Constitution framers, with a feeling heart, gave reservation to SC/ST for ten years. Today after 65 years of the promulgation of the Constitution, it has been reviewed several times but no ruling parties had courage to take it back as the beneficiaries would be antagonized in vote bank politics. The matter has gone such a far that no political party has courage or commitment to come forward and announce a date for its discontinuance. It did not stop there. Service holders of this category enjoy reservation in promotion as well. Later on, the so-called OBCs united and launched their struggle for similar reservation and ultimately succeeded when B.P. Singh became the PM. It was followed by the Jats and now the Gujjars are on war-path.

Against this parochial decisions, the NDA Govt. in last one year of its dispensation, has launched nearly half a dozen of concessions, aimed at the wellbeing of the people at large without any consideration of caste or religion. Till a year ago, if a poor coolie, farm labour, rickshaw puller or similar others  died of a disease or in some accident, nobody came forward in his support. Today, if he invests just one rupee per month, on death, his family will get Rs 2 lakh. If he accepts another insurance scheme and invests Rs 30/- per month, again on death, his family will get a good amount. Under the Jan-Dhan Yojna, everyone is opting to have his bank account. For insurance claims, he will not have to depend on agents or middle- men. The amount will straight go into his account. If he joins the Atal Pension Scheme and regularly contributes every month a small amount, after being of 60, he will start getting pension for life. Thus, nobody in India will remain uninsured and on death he will not depend on anybody’s or govt’s mercy. Similarly, today everybody’s subsidy money on LPG cylinder goes to his bank account.

It is an excellent experiment, obviating malpractices on petty considerations.    

A NEW EUPHEMISM

There is an old English saying : it is just not enough to be honest, one should at the same time also look to be so. This is possible only when the people at large are aware of your performance and to take it to the public, the role of publicity comes. There is one more similar maxim in the public, which says, publicise yourself and you will be popular. It has strongly caught the imagination of politicians worldwide today. Therefore, they prefer to dress immaculately, develop speaking power and arrange commandeered crowd in their public rallies. Publicity, today  has assumed some cheap dimensions and so nobody would like to digest the epithet that he is publicizing himself. This led to the exploration of a better and more communicative euphemism and thus the most such popular word is known as marketing.
Today, the opposition in the Indian politics charges that Narendra Modi does little and projects more as he is adept at marketing. In the business world, marketing is a strong force and no producer can survive without giving an attractive look to the packaging of his product which once again is nothing but pure and simple marketing.
I donot think why somebody should be abhorrent of publicity as it is an established measure of taking your product or philosophy to the public. The word has suffered an erosion in its connotation because of its rampant misuse. When you give a catchy packaging to your inferior product, you are indirectly cheating the gullible customer. Now come to politics and apply this logic. The parties or their political leaders, when they utterly fail on the ground and try to make up through empty marketing/publicity, they are fleecing their constituency. Since this trend is gaining more and more currency, the word marketing has been losing its punch.   

WHEN BRIDE LEAVES PARENTAL HOUSE

                   

In the Indian marriage system, the bride leaves her parental house and goes to her husband’s house. We all are aware of that moment of departure as well as the deep pain of separation in the family and environment. Being a male one cannot fathom that highly sentimental atmosphere. A girl who is under the strict control of the mother, father, brother and entire community and never allowed to go alone even fifty yards from the house, has in this moment to say goodbye to her birthplace. Even Maharshi Kanva, wept bitterly when Shakuntala left the hutment and went out with Dushyant. Kalidas in Abhigyanshakuntalam writes that when even a recluse is sentimentally shattered, what about the worldly parents.

This sad scene deserves a sad song. In Mithila, such songs are traditionally famous as SAMDAUN. When good-throated ladies, marking this pathos,sing such songs in orchestra, everybody starts weeping. Even the eyes of the cruel become tearful. A couple of days back I listened to Prasoon Joshi in the Vigyan Bhavan, who also recited a similar moving poem, giving expression to a departing bride: ‘babul more itni araj suni lijo’ which virtually compelled me to weep. On return to my residence, moved by that theme, I penned down the following lines in Maithili:

Kaya   kera paat jakan, sihari rahal achhi anukhan,

Jee uchat bha matha hammar, ghoomi jaet achhi kaukhan,

Chhooti rahal achhi baba aangan, jae parat pardes,

Bipati ki hoet aar bisesh?

Since the one will have problem in reading the entire text in Roman script, I propose to post it on Facebook by tomorrow. 

WORLD MUSEUM DAY

                             

18^th of May every year is worldwide observed as the World Museum Day. On this date every big or small museum organizes programmes for community awareness. As a matter of fact, museums are the repository of human heritage and the heritages are nothing but the objects recording achievements of the human beings. Museums will fail in their duty if they fail to acquaint the society with the saga of human civilization. As a matter of fact, the greatest responsibility of this public institution is to educate the community and that they cannot discharge without a greater outreach. That is why, such an important date is utilized to go closer to the mass.

In this backdrop, the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, a unique experiment in the field is also making allout efforts to apprise the people of the need of toilets. Established in 1992, by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, it is perhaps the first complete toilet museum. So far nearly three million people have visited its website and annually some ten thousand people, with a good chunk of foreigners come to see it. By apprising the mass at large of the dangers of open defecation and benefits of clean inhouse toilets, the museum is contributing its mite in the campaign of cleanliness, ushered in by the Sulabh.

The other day, in my blog, I had quoted an American journalist, who called the toilet a seat of soul. Whether it was Gandhi, Narendra Modi or Dr Pathak, who pleaded for toilet first and temples later, have wisely got inspiration from the saying, cleanliness is next to godliness. On this eventful day, I request my fellow countrymen to give an impetus to the movement of toilet for all. I also invite them to visit the Sulabh Toilet Museum, which earlier was adjudged third in a list of top ten quirkiest museums of the world by the Time Magazine. Thanks.      

ROW OVER PUTRAJIVAK

                              

A few days back, there was a strange uproar in the Rajya Sabha over an Ayurvedic medicine.  K.C. Tyagi, MP/RS/JDU charged that Baba Ramdev was marketing an illegal medicine, produced by his pharmacy, Divyajyoti Sansthan. Waving a cash memo for purchasing that drug, he argued that while the Prime Minister was running a ‘beti bachao’ campaign, Ramdev was selling a medicine, claimed to get only sons. Supporting him, Mrs Jaya Bachchan took a serious view of the matter and demanded not only an immediate withdrawal of the medicine from the market but strict punitive actions against the Baba.

The Treasury Benches could avert the situation from taking any ugly turn under the plea that without ascertaining the fact, nothing could be committed. The Deputy Chairperson in the chair was convinced and directed the govt to hold an enquiry and inform the House in due course.

Responding to the issue, Baba argued that ignorance about the medicine and intention of some quarters to malign him had led to the row. He claimed that it is a very old Ayurvedic medicine, having no sex preference. From hundreds of years it has been getting prescribed for the barren ladies to be pregnant. The drug helped such needy ladies to conceive and enjoy a safe pregnancy. We further probed and found that Ayurved knows a tree with the name of Putrajivka, whose seeds have properties helping the ladies to conceive. Thus it is evident that the name Putrajivak was not coined by Ramdev and he is being falsely implicated. He had earlier also to undergo a similar acid test when some persons, led by Mrs. Vrinda Karat, MP/CPM had charged that some of the Divyajyoti products contained human bone powder. The charge could not stand when necessary thorough enquiries were conducted.

Quite interestingly, some person on FB wrote that the son of K.C.Tyagi, a senior executive in M/S Hindustan Lever was unhappy over declining business of his company due to a stiff competition from the Divyajyoti products. Another man viewed that if Tyagi is so particular about the meaning of a name, he should himself renounce his worldly possessions to justify his name (Tyagi). Meanwhile, in a pragmatic fashion, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has held the view that the said name was creating confusion in some sections and hence may be changed. To me, a new name Viz. ‘SANTANJIVAK’ has struck and I propose it to be considered.

NAME, FAME AND SHAME

    What is there in a name? Call the rose by any name and it will smell like a rose. It looks very simple but it is not so. I am associated with an organization, having hundreds of ladies but I did not find any named Sita. This compelled me to think over the reasons and I came to a conclusion that the very name of an individual, I mean either sex, tells a lot of history, geography, culture and many such things.
There is a story in the Indian mythology. It says that Sajan, a butcher by profession, achieved deliverance because while taking his last breath, he called his son Narayan and it is said to be a great thing to take the name of Lord while dying. Thus the benefit unwittingly accrued to him. Taking a cue from this incident, in Hindu families, children started being named after heavenly figures like Ram, Sita, Krishna, Bharat, Kaushalya etc. But after the 20th century set in, this attitude took a nose dive. With modern education, people started discarding the logic that even if one was disvirtuous for the whole life, by simply taking God's name at the end would lead him to heaven. The Manusmriti has prescribed how a new born should be named. The modern crop is not amused.
 One does not like to be named as Sita because it has a rustic tinge despite the real Sita standing for all virtues of womanhood. Manthara of Ramayan and Draupadi of Mahabharat are also no more in demand for known reasons. Famous Ram bhakt Hanuman may be preferred but another great devotee of Ram, Vibhishan is no more liked for reasons known to all. Strangely enough, Radha is popular among the youth even today not only for her unstinted devotion to Krishna but also romantic aspects (Ras-Lila). After the mid 20th century, family call names took English turns and thus Sonu, Monu, Bunty, Santy etc are still household names. Even in the families of traditional pundits such names are not despised at.
In educated families, now a days sanskritised names, though with freedom of spelling are getting preference. Surendra of Bihar, UP, MP and Rajasthan becomes Surinder in Punjab and Suren in West Bengal. The moment such a name is heard, one can roughly deduce the background of the family as well as geography. The legendary ex-President of Indonesia was named as Sukarno. He had told Pt. Nehru that the Mahabharat's Karn had some blemishes and hence his parents named him as Sukarno (Sukarn). In the beginning, in Bollywood, non-Hindu actors preferred a Hindu name to appease the majority community. Yusuf Khan became Dilip Kumar. Even Jayant and Jagdip were Muslims. With democracy taking deep roots here, no such euphemism is perceptible. On the other hand in Punjab , J&K and most of South, people prefer to add thier parents as well as villages' names and thus like in Saudi Arabia, their names become quite long.
Thus, the lesson drawn is that the name is just not a fun. It may denote shame, fame and other associated matters. So, while naming a new born, let us keep all these angles in view before  putting the stamp of name on him.