THE RADICAL HUMANISTAUGUST 2014Vol. 78 No 5 Rs. 20/month
(Since April 1949)Formerly : Independent India
(April 1937- March 1949)
533
Founder Editor: M.N. Roy
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
FOUNDER EDITOR
M. N. ROY
(Page 3)
EDITOR
REKHA SARASWAT
(Page 2)
THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTORS
UDAY DANDAVATE
(Page 5)
AKANKSHA SINGH
(Page 30)
NAMITA S. KALLA
(Page 33 )
KULDIP NAYAR
(Page 9)
K.S. CHALAM
(Page 20 )
NIGEL BARBER
(Page 7)
K. PRATAP REDDY
(Page 22)
RAJINDAR SACHAR
(Page 16)
BONANI MISRA
(Page 30)
1
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
The Radical Humanist
Monthly journal of the
Indian Renaissance InstituteDevoted to the development of the
Renaissance Movement; and for promotion of
human rights, scientific-temper, rational
thinking and a humanist view of life.
Founder Editor:
M.N. Roy
Editor:
Dr. Rekha Saraswat
Contributory Editors:
Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal,
Professor Rama Kundu
Publisher and Printer:
Mr. N.D. Pancholi
Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8,
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Please Note: Authors will bear sole
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they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the
Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be
responsible for testing the validity and
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the authors. Also, sometimes some articles
published in this journal may carry opinions not
similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but
they would be entertained here if the need is felt
to debate and discuss upon them.
—Rekha Saraswat
Vol. 78 Number 5 August 2014
www.theradicalhumanist.com
1. From the Editor’s Desk:
The Universal Dilemma of Communal Hatred
—Rekha Saraswat 2
2. From the Writings of M.N. Roy:
Historical Role of Islam: The Mission of Islam 3
3. Guests’ Section:
Give Modi a Chance
—Uday Dandavate 5
Why Atheism Will Replace Religion:
New Evidence
—Nigel Barber 7
4. Current Affairs’ Section:
Modi’s 50 Days in Office
—Kuldip Nayar 9
B.J.P. Delusion:Article 370 of Constitution of
India cannot be abrogated
—Rajindar Sachar 16
Testing Competencies not imparted is Unethical
—K.S. Chalam 20
5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:
Security Apprehensions in the Minds of our
Muslim Brethren in India
— K. Pratap Reddy 22
6. Academicians' Section:
The theme of Existentialism in Vikram Seth’s
An Equal Music
—Bonani Misra
—Akanksha Singh 30
7. Book Review Section:
Afterglow
—Namita S. Kalla 33
8. Humanist News Section: 35
a) Prabuddh Nagrik Shakti Manch
b) NAPM Response on Union Budget and Rail
Budget
Contents
From the Editor's Desk:
The Universal Dilemma ofCommunal Hatred
—Rekha Saraswat
Human nature is very complicated yet
very comprehensible. One needs to look
within one’s own self to grasp its intricacies. Each
individual lives with two parallel identities,
personal and social; and continues to bring a
balance between the two till he is alive. Which
characteristic will over-power the other depends
upon the level of personal growth and development
in the circumstances available to each person. And
this directly becomes the cause of as well as the
effect upon human behavior. Each human being
has an individual brain which continues to guide
his thought process influencing his verbal and
motor responses. The mind uses past experiences
stored inside it to interpret the existing state of
affairs and responds accordingly.
Another important factor that persuades human
reaction is the level of cultural maturity the person
has achieved which decides his power of
independent thinking. The more insecure he is
about his ‘being’ the more irrational will be his
'mob-rejoinders'. The less sure he is about his own
convictions the more controlled he will be by
external pressures. The more confused he is about
the value and reason of his own existence the more
chances arise of his emotional exploitation.
It becomes difficult for an average being to follow
the rational dictates of his mind if the crowd around
him wants him to emotionally respond in a
particular situation to prove his solidarity with it or
face the consequences of isolation later. In his fear
of segregation he loses his commonsense and
refuses to use his reason and rationale during
mob-frenzy. But why does a group behavior lack
patience and usually tends to become impulsive? It
is because the sum-total of the individual’s
narcissism culminates into
'community-self-eulogization'. The psychology of
‘I am the best’, ‘what I say is the only truth’ and
‘what I believe in is perfect’ is needed for survival
against all odds and to save one’s self-esteem from
continuous bouts of uncertainty and pressures. But
when it evolves into ‘group-insecurities’ its effect,
in reverse, begins to jeopardize the survival
instincts of other groups. Different assemblages are
identified by the similarities in their behavior
which they develop after long and continuous
mutual-associations; each group developing its
own religion, its individual moral codes of social
conduct and its personal cultural beliefs. This is a
normal process of growth of civilizations.
But the problem arises when each or some of these
communities begin to assert their individual
superiority over the other. When narcissist
tendencies of ‘we are the best’, ‘our moral and
social codes of conduct are superior to all others’,
‘our culture is the most civilized’ and ‘our religion
is the most humane’ blow beyond proportion for
material, political and power gains the individual
who has learnt to peacefully exist in group-shelter
and has developed his identity in his own
community becomes mesmerized and gets caught
in the fury of communal hatred. His life’s candle
burns from both ends; he is the most harmed in the
burning passions. Killings, lootings, burnings, loss
of jobs for daily wagers; and then the government’s
administrative measures also take their toll upon
him only.
All extremist groups of different religions and the
terrorist outfits use him. He is their culprit as well
as their victim. He is the overt culprit in the
mayhem that they master-mind. He is the victim of
their latent self-seeking ambitions as well as of the
judicial chastising and punishments of the state’s
law and order machinery. There is an influx of such
tragedies in U.P. but the phenomenon is
world-wide. Palestine, Israel, Syria, Libya, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Ukraine are the latest examples. How
to help him disentangle from the ever-enlarging
sinister cobwebs of the power seekers is a problem
we may deal with in the month!!
2
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
From the Writings of M.N. Roy:
Historical Role of IslamChapter III
Social and Historical Background of Islam
The freedom of exile brought the
representatives of those diverse faiths
into closer contact enabling them to see what was
common to them all. In the calm atmosphere of
toleration, their heterodoxy disappeared, the fire of
proselytism died out, and the common essence of
the teachings of the learned guests was imparted to
the hospitable Beduin. In short, the Barbarians of
the desert inherited the best the religions of
antiquity had to offer, namely, the faith in the
existence of one supreme God who is exalted above
all the powers of heaven and earth, but who had
revealed himself to mankind from time to time
through his Prophets. Here is the essence of Islam
crystallized in the spiritual consciousness of the
Arabian people before Mohammad appeared with
the mission of building a new religion on its basis.
The spirit of Islam was not invented by the genius
of Mohammad; nor was it revealed to him. It was a
heritage of history conferred on the Arabian nation.
The greatness of Mohammad was his ability to
recognise the value of the heritage and make his
countrymen conscious of it.
The Arabs had acquired the notion of one Supreme
God; but out of habit and for tribal interests, they
still practiced their old polytheistic worship. To be
benefited by the positive outcome of earlier
religions, delivered to them as a heritage of history,
they must change their traditional mode of worship.
A supreme effort must be made with this purpose;
and Mecca was the most strategic point to lead the
attack from.
The particularist freedom and internecine feuds of
the Arabian tribes were mutually compromised and
composed at Mecca. All routes of trade led there.
The unity of the economic interest of the
decentralized nation had created at Mecca a symbol
of precarious spiritual unity. All the tribes from
distant parts of the vast desert, while visiting the
market of Mecca, worshipped in the temple of
Caaba. Each had introduced there its own emblem
of devotion. The temple had been adorned with no
less than three hundred and sixty idols of men,
eagles, lions, etc. But the prosperous tribe of
Koreish dominated the trade of Mecca, and the
powerful family of Hashim had seized control of
the temple. It was natural that the new spirit of a
rising Faith, which would further economic interest
through national unity, should be first felt
consciously at the heart of the nation. So, it
happened that a member of the Hashemite family
began to preach the new religion.
Once the family of Hashim and the tribe of Koreish
were converted to the new faith, the whole nation
would follow soon. All the tribes must visit Mecca
for the purpose of trade. Those who controlled the
trade of Mecca could easily dictate the faith and
conscience of the entire nation. But prejudice and
habit induced the Koreish to persecute the
innovating zeal of the kinsmen. They were afraid
that trade would be driven away from Mecca,
should the Pantheon of Caaba be disturbed. But
there were others ready to assume the leadership of
the revolution, when the most eligible candidate
failed. Medina espoused the cause of the Prophet,
and the call of unity found enthusiastic response in
other quarters. The supremacy of Mecca was
menaced. One family after another defected from
the Koreish conservatism, and joined the
revolutionary Hashemites. Before long the Koreish
capitulated before their exiled kinsmen, but only to
capture the scepter of the “Commander of the
Faithful”
As soon as the followers of the Prophet captured
Mecca, a perpetual law was passed that no
unbeliever should be allowed to set foot on the
territory of the Holy City. The new religion was
imposed upon the entire nation with the potent
weapon of economic boycott. Caaba was cleared of
its idols and became the shrine of “Mohammad’s
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
3
God”. Once the standard of the new religion was raised,
the whole nation flocked under it. The ground had been
prepared. The faith had unconsciously taken hold of the
mind before it was preached. Economic interest
demanded its establishment.
Continued..............
[Publisher’s Note: This book, first published in
1939, was written when Roy was in jail in the early
thirties under a sentence of twelve years rigorous
imprisonment, later reduced to six, for ‘conspiring
to deprive’ the king-Emperor of his sovereignty in
India. Looking back at events in the intervening
period, one might wish that this book had been read
more widely in the decade before the Indian
sub-continent became independent and at the same
time partitioned into two States. A better
knowledge and more objective understanding of
the history of Islam on the part of Muslim as well as
non-Muslim India might have prevented much of
the later tragic developments and human suffering.
But it is never too late for knowledge and
understanding to undo the harm that the lack of
them has done. Hence, this small book on the
historical role of Islam, in East and West, may itself
have a historical role to play, apart from its
intrinsic value as a scholarly treatise, beautifully
written, on a fascinating chapter of human history.]
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
4
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Guests' Section:
Give Modi a Chance—Uday Dandavate
This comment did not come from a Modi
supporter nor from a recent convert to his
agenda of development. A friend of mine, who
shares with me liberal values provoked me with a
further nudge, "How long should we just keep
judging him only on the basis of his role in Gujrat
riots? Maybe he does want to make a difference.
There is no doubt that his personal charisma and his
strong leadership earned him a solid mandate and
we need to let him govern."
My response to the provocation was balanced- not
quite typical of a staunch Modi skeptic that I am.
Well, Modi has a mandate and he is in the
government. It would be foolish of me to even
think that I could let him govern or not let him
govern". The reality is- India's politics is changing.
The congress party has been dismissed with
contempt. Political discourse in coming days is
more likely to be dominated by sound bytes from
the BJP and Mr. Modi. I fear that parliamentary
democracy would be compromised without vibrant
clash of ideas and a vigilant citizenry eager to
present, challenge and build on each others' ideas.
Sitting in the visitors' gallery of Lok Sabha for
several years, I have witnessed historical speeches
and invaluable ideas being presented by leaders of
the opposition. I have also seen Ministers and
Prime Ministers taking down copious notes during
these speeches. Both Mrs. Indira Gandhi and
Rajeev Gandhi have acknowledged publicly that
they made it a point to listen to the speeches made
by veteran Parliamentarians for refining their own
thinking on public policies. In this background, I
feel a need for a strong voice of dissent and a strong
mobilization of vigilance to keep the ideas of the
ruling party challenged every step along the way.
Unfortunately over the past several years a new
idea is being promoted, primarily by parties and
leaders who prescribe to authoritarian methods of
managing their own parties, that voice of dissent is
meant to be muzzled and challenging atrocities
committed by the state is akin to treason. I do not
subscribe to the idea that Modi will only bring harm
to India- I do believe he would want to leave an
imprint on the history by translating his beliefs into
fundamental shifts in governance. The point is- we
don't have to grant him a free reign to impose his
beliefs.
A big weakness in authoritarian mode of
governance is that it relies on the knowledge,
intelligence and authority of a single individual and
his/her coterie of advisers. Authoritarian mode of
governance promotes sycophants, eliminates
dissent, and confines innovation within the ivory
towers of a small coterie. Authoritarian model turns
government administration at lower level into
perpetrator of violence and corruption against the
powerless commoners. On the other hand, there is
clear evidence in the success of open source models
of development that when a leader assumes the role
of a catalyst and a cultivator of ideas present in the
wisdom of larger population, more robust, relevant,
refined and sustainable solutions to pressing
problems emerge. A culture of accommodating
diverse view points is central to open source
development.
Authoritarian leaders tend to pursue their own
social affiliates and listen to their biases when
building power structures. They tend to consolidate
their power by exploiting superstitious, and fueling
communal and cultural chauvinism. Every
authoritarian leader in a democracy sees
himself/herself as a benevolent dictator. That is
why popular dole outs are commonplace in
authoritarian governance.
Therefore, I say to my friend, who wants to give
Mr. Modi some time to prove himself, "Modi has
the next five years to prove himself. However, the
responsibility of progressive Indians, who are
skeptical of his belief system and the intentions of
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
5
the Sangh Parivar, there is an urgent need to build a
strong counter point that can alert the masses to the
need for cultivation of discourse and dissent as a
foundation of innovative change. Let the Congress
party languish in an exposed state. The only way to
build a credible alternative to Mr. Modi's style of
governance st to help develop participatory tools
and methods of governance that can provide
evidence of the rich potential of the ideas and
dissent emanating from common citizens.
[Uday Dandavate studies people, cultures and
trends worldwide and inspires people centered
innovation strategies. He heads a design
research consulting firm, SonicRim in U.S.A. He
writes and speaks on topics related to people
centered design and innovation in international
journals and conferences.
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
6
An Appeal to the Readers
Indian Renaissance Institute has been receiving regular requests from readers, research scholars,
Rationalists and Radical Humanists for complete sets of books written by M.N. Roy. It was not possible
to fulfil their demands as most of Roy's writings are out of print. IRI has now decided to publish them
but will need financial assistance from friends and well-wishers as the expenses will be enormous
running into lakhs. IRI being a non-profit organization will not be able to meet the entire expenses on
its own. Initially, following 15 books have been ordered for print: New Humanism; Beyond
Communism; Politics, Power and Parties; Historical Role of Islam; India’s Message; Men I Met; New
Orientation; Materialism; Science & Philosophy; Revolution and Counter-revolution in China; India in
Transition; Reason, Romanticism and Revolution; Russian Revolution; Selected Works-Four
Volumes; Memoirs (Covers period1915-1923).
Cheques /bank drafts may be sent in the name of ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’ at (address):
Shri B.D. Sharma, Advocate, Chamber No.111 (Old), Supreme Court, New Delhi-110001
Online donations may be sent to: ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’
Account No: 02070100005296; FISC Code: UCBA0000207
UCO Bank, Supreme Court Branch, New Delhi (India)
We make an earnest appeal to you to please donate liberally for the cause of the spirit of renaissance and
scientific thinking being promoted in the writings of M.N. Roy.
Thanking you.
B.D. Sharma N.D. Pancholi, Narottam Vyas
President (IRI) Secretary (IRI) Treasurer (IRI)
Why Atheism Will ReplaceReligion: New Evidence
—Nigel Barber
The illusion of religion helps people feel
good, despite miserable experiences.
Atheists are heavily concentrated in economically
developed countries, particularly the social
democracies of Europe. In underdeveloped
countries, there are virtually no atheists. Atheism is
a peculiarly modern phenomenon. Why do modern
conditions produce atheism? In a new study to be
published in August, I provided compelling
evidence that atheism increases along with the
quality of life 1.
First, as to the distribution of atheism in the world,
a clear pattern can be discerned. In sub-Saharan
Africa there is almost no atheism2. Belief in God
declines in more developed countries and atheism
is concentrated in Europe in countries such as
Sweden (64% nonbelievers), Denmark (48%),
France (44%) and Germany (42%). In contrast, the
incidence of atheism in most sub-Saharan countries
is below 1%.
The question of why economically developed
countries turn to atheism has been batted around by
anthropologists for about eighty years.
Anthropologist James Fraser proposed that
scientific prediction and control of nature supplants
religion as a means of controlling uncertainty in our
lives. This hunch is supported by data showing that
the more educated countries have higher levels of
non belief and there are strong correlations
between atheism and intelligence.
Atheists are more likely to be college-educated
people who live in cities and they are highly
concentrated in the social democracies of Europe.
Atheism thus blossoms amid affluence where most
people feel economically secure. But why?
It seems that people turn to religion as a salve for
the difficulties and uncertainties of their lives. In
social democracies, there is less fear and
uncertainty about the future because social welfare
programs provide a safety net and better health care
means that fewer people can expect to die young.
People who are less vulnerable to the hostile forces
of nature feel more in control of their lives and less
in need of religion. Hence my finding of belief in
God being higher in countries with a heavy load of
infectious diseases.
In my new study of 137 countries1, I also found that
atheism increases for countries with a
well-developed welfare state (as indexed by high
taxation rates). Moreover, countries with a more
equal distribution of income had more atheists. My
study improved on earlier research by taking
account of whether a country is mostly Moslem
(where atheism is criminalized) or formerly
Communist (where religion was suppressed) and
accounted for three-quarters of country differences
in atheism.
In addition to being the opium of the people (as
Karl Marx contemptuously phrased it), religion
may also promote fertility, particularly by
promoting marriage3. Large families are preferred
in agricultural countries as a source of free labor. In
developed countries, by contrast, women have
exceptionally small families. I found that atheism
was lower in countries where a lot of people
worked on the land.
Even the psychological functions of religion face
stiff competition today. In modern societies, when
people experience psychological difficulties they
turn to their doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist.
They want a scientific fix and prefer the real
psychotropic medicines dished out by physicians to
the metaphorical opiates offered by religion. No
wonder that atheism increases along with
third-level educational enrollment.
The reasons that churches lose ground in developed
countries can be summarized in market terms. First,
with better science, and with government safety
nets, and smaller families, there is less fear and
uncertainty in people's daily lives and hence less of
a market for religion. At the same time many
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
7
alternative products are being offered, such as
psychotropic medicines and electronic
entertainment that have fewer strings attached and
that do not require slavish conformity to
unscientific beliefs.
References:
1. Barber, N. (in press). A cross-national test of the
uncertainty hypothesis of religious belief.
Cross-Cultural Research.
Barber, N. (2012). Why atheism will replace
religion: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie
in the sky. E-book, available
at:http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Will-Replace
-Religion-ebook/dp/B00886ZSJ6/
2. Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: Contemporary
numbers and patterns. In M. Martin (ed.), The
Cambridge companion to atheism. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. This book is not held
by any U.S. Library.
3. Sanderson, S. K. (2008). Adaptation, evolution,
and religion. Religion, 38, 141-156.
[This article was published on July 14, 2011 by
Nigel Barber, in The Human Beast
Nigel Barber, Ph.D., is an evolutionary
psychologist as well as the author of Why Parents
Matter and The Science of Romance, among other
books.]
Article Source URL:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-hu
man-beast/201107/why-atheism-will-replace-re
ligion-new-evidence
—Article received courtsey Mahipal Singh
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
8
Current Affairs:
Modi’s 50 Days in Office—Kuldip Nayar
If the first 50-odd day of rule by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is any guide, it is
the rightist government which has taken over India.
The Nehruvian ideology which tilts towards left
has been jettisoned. Once again, free enterprise and
unencumbered trade will motivate people.
This is a turnaround from the policies that has
guided the nation so far. The public sector will
shrink and the rich will expand their area of
influence and operation. This is a logical
consequence of a free economy. How far Modi will
go to remove limitations on unplanned enterprise is
difficult to say, but there is no doubting of
governance by the rich and powerful. It is bound to
drive the weak to the wall because the capitalist
system knows no other way to grow. Yet Modi
should be prepared to face stiff opposition from the
beneficiaries of the system which is leftist in
content.
However, there is nothing dynamic about the
programmes and policies which Modi has
unfolded. His election campaign promised so much
and aroused the aspirations of people to such a
length that his budget is considered inadequate to
bring about the changes which are necessary to go
forward.
Modi’s rule so far has been tepid and devoid of any
spectacular step to pull India out from the mire of
non-development in which it is stuck. The absence
of push becomes all the more glaring when there is
no lessening of poverty. Former RBI governor
Rangarajan’s report released a few days ago finds
three out of 10 Indians below the poverty line. This
is more than what we inherited when the British left
in August 1947.
It is disappointing to see Modi government not
taking concrete and immediate steps towards
bringing down inflation. After having experienced
a long spell of non-governance under the Congress
rule, I thought that the BJP government would spell
out legal and other measures to set the strangled
economy free to grow. The budget has not told us
how and when.
Instead, the government looks too timid to take
steps which would be considered risky. When the
BJP on its own has a majority in the Lok Sabha, it is
difficult to make out the reason for its halting
approach. During the election campaign Modi had
promised to cut red tape to ensure a rapid growth.
When it comes to action there is hesitation, if not
lethargy, on the part of the government.
The BJP should understand that the development
can mitigate the party’s parochial image. In an
atmosphere where the growth is slow people miss
the pluralistic society all the more. The only
redeeming factor is that the BJP government has
not underlined its communal agenda. Yet who
knows whether the Modi government will go back
to the policy of dividing people after making them
complacent.
In fact, it looks as if Modi is going out of the way to
give the impression that after becoming Prime
Minister he has changed his stance of promoting
Hindu nationalism. His party, the BJP, talks about
secularism all the time as if there is no contradiction
between a Hindu state and a pluralistic society.
True, this is the line of the RSS which believes that
all those born in India are Hindus irrespective of
whatever faith they may be pursuing. Yet the BJP
has kept a distance from the RSS because it is seen
as an advocate of hard line. In fact, the RSS men are
joining the BJP to get advantage of comparatively
better image it has.
Modi remained within limits when he went to
Srinagar a few days ago. He did not say that the
state was an integral part of India as he did earlier.
He merely remarked that he would pursue former
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s line of
humanism. Even the hartal in Srinagar on the day of
his visit did not provoke him to react differently.
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
9
Perhaps, he thought that he had already sent a
message across by visiting the state of Jammu and
Kashmir within days of his taking over.
The problem with Modi is his image. He is
considered anti-Muslim in a country which has
roughly 18 million Muslims. They, indeed, feel
insecure. They still recall his complicity in
anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. Although a
special investigation team (SIT) under the
supervision of state high court has given him a
clean chit, the tag of partisanship still pursues him.
As Prime Minister, he should go out of the way to
win the confidence of the minorities. His
accommodative approach towards the SAARC
countries—three of them are Muslim—is a step in
the right direction. Yet he has to do more to win
their trust as Vajpayee did.
I do not see yet any glaring false step in the
governance. Elections are such a torrid experience
that even the largest political party or a popular
leader takes time to get adjusted to the cold reality
of failure. This is what has happened to the
Congress and its leader, Sonia Gandhi. Both have
not yet recovered from the loss on the
parliamentary election after ruling the country for a
decade. The Congress has been reduced to a rump
of 44 in a 543-member Lok Sabha. It is time for the
party to analyse what went wrong. But the
statements by the Congress leaders reflect
complacency.
The insistence by the Congress leaders to be
recognized as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP)
makes little sense. When the party does not have
the mandatory one-tenth of members, that is 55, in
the Lok Sabha it should have accepted the defeat
and faced the facts. There have been occasions
when the Telugu Desam Party, despite being the
single largest outfit, did not get the LoP status some
years ago. I can understand the Congress’s
predicament. But the party should not make it a big
issue and instead leave it at that.
The voters who have returned the BJP want to see
the implementation of promises made by Modi. But
then these are early days in his governance. We
should wait for another 50-odd days to see before
assessing his performance since that is the target he
has set for himself and his ministers.
Defeat Talibanisation
I find it strange that New Delhi is not
seriously considering the pros and cons of
what happens once the American and NATO forces
reduce their presence in Afghanistan only in the
shape of a few thousand troops. US Secretary of
State Kerry has visited Kabul to devise the policy
after the withdrawal. But New Delhi is not in the
picture.
No doubt, the Afghans have the best goodwill
towards India because it has helped them to set up
hospitals, schools and build roads. Yet Islamabad,
which considers Afghanistan its “strategic depth,”
wants the country to be its satellite. New Delhi has
tried to persuade Islamabad to let Kabul be
independent and sovereign, but Pakistan has not
bitten the bullet.
It all started when the Soviet Union sent its forces
to Afghanistan to impose their ideology on a state
which was saturated with Islamic ideas. America
used the opportunity to bleed the Soviet Union by
training the fundamentalists in Pakistan to make
inroads into Afghanistan without considering the
long-term repercussions. And once the Soviet
Union started retreating from Afghanistan,
Washington lost all interests in the territory leaving
behind arms and other equipment in the field itself.
The fundamentalists used those weapons to
propagate their strict and disciplinarian
interpretation of Islam.
Islamabad had in its mind the armed and trained
Taliban against India and there are numerous
examples to testify that insurgency in Kashmir
were nothing but a byproduct of a bigoted stance to
shut out the participation of non-Muslims in
governance, however unwittingly demanded. I
recall when I met in Kabul a leader from the Masud
group, anti-Taliban in ideology and pro-India in its
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
10
approach, he told me that the road to Kabul goes
through Islamabad and if New Delhi was really
interested in stopping the tide of fundamentalists, it
should have a serious dialogue with Pakistan.
It is a pity that India refused to have any truck with
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who was Pakistan’s
confidante. No doubt, he is a nasty person to deal
with, but if we had fixed our eyes on the situation a
decade later, we should have swallowed some of
his anti-India rhetoric. But all this is now history.
The two countries, particularly India, should
formulate some strategy to thwart the Taliban
onslaught, which is bound to take place once they
are sure that the Western forces are not in a position
to match their weapons.
The most disconcerting aspect is the birth of
Tehrik-e-Pakistan Taliban (TTP), an indigenous
growth which is in a position to strike wherever it
wants and whenever it wants. It has proved it again
and again. The recent attack on Karachi airport is
an example. However, the Karachi happening is
only the symptom, not the disease. The disease is
fundamentalism which, to the horror of even
middle-of-the-road Pakistanis, is spreading
rapidly.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has opted for an easy
path. He has been negotiating with the Taliban to
accommodate their aspirations. The reason why the
talks have not gone very far is that the Taliban’s
insistence on Pakistan giving proof of their
sincerity of taking measures like closing
institutions for female literacy and making hijab
(veil) as a compulsory outfit for women in
Pakistan. No doubt the next step they will demand
is a ban on women car drivers, just like in Saudi
Arabia. Music has already been sacrificed on the
altar of extremism. The old time singers or
instrument players have no market in Pakistan.
How ironic that they come to India to earn a
livelihood.
Otherwise liberal but Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the
person who began placating the fanatics. He is the
one who started a government stipend for the head
maulvis in mosques and declared Ahmediyas as
non-Muslims. Today the graves of Ahmediyas are
being dug and the remains of whatever is left is
thrown out. The Pakistan establishment did not
think even for a minute in humiliating Sir Zafrullah
Khan, a prominent Ahmediya who turned the tables
against India at the UN on Kashmir. In fact, the
complaint which Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
made at the UN about “Pakistan’s aggression” in
Kashmir went against New Delhi largely because
of his efforts, blessed by Britain.
The past, however bitter, should not now be
recalled at a time when both India and Pakistan
have few options except to organize a joint front to
defeat the Taliban. New Delhi should not forget
that the Taliban would be at the Attari (Amritsar)
border if they are not defeated in Afghanistan itself.
If it is embarrassing for the two countries to talk
about their strategy in the open, they can establish a
back channel as they have done in the case of
Kashmir.
The repercussions of Taliban gaining an upper
hand, first in Afghanistan and then in Pakistan, are
so inimical to the defence and development of India
that it should go out of the way to befriend Pakistan
on a joint approach towards Afghanistan. Since no
serious talk takes place between the two because of
Kashmir, they should keep this problem aside and
allow the two army chiefs to sit across the table and
devise a long-term strategy which would enable
Afghanistan to stay independent.
Of course, this means that Islamabad would have to
change its policy and not consider Afghanistan
their “strategic depth.” This is in Pakistan’s own
interest. The manner in which the Taliban have
begun to count in the affairs of Pakistan should be a
warning that the Taliban would not allow Pakistan
to be a liberal Islamic state.
New Delhi should take the initiative to get America
on board regarding anti-Taliban policy. If and
when they are defeated in their designs both in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, they would cease to be a
force which is beginning to loom large in other
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
11
Islamic countries where the Taliban-like thoughts
have begun to assert themselves.
It is a pity that India is not seeing the writing on the
wall. At least Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said
to be a strong ruler, should pick up the threads with
Nawaz Sharif on this matter. Both hit it off well
when they met in Delhi. Nawaz Sharif has even
said so in a letter to Modi. Can things in the same
vein go ahead in the interest of policy to contain the
Talibanisation, already quite assertive in Pakistan?
Relics of the Past
Imagine renowned poet Rabindra Nath
Tagore seeking admission to the Culcutta
Club, a preserve of the British, and getting rejected.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the legendary Urdu poet,
receiving a similar treatment at Lahore’s Punjab
Club in Pakistan and Nazar-ul Islam at the Dhaka
Club. In all these cases, the public outrage would
have been difficult to assuage.
The white rulers saw to it that the leading clubs in a
country where they had ruled remained an
exclusive place for them and their elitist friends.
Refusal to the non-whites’ clubs was part of
apartheid. Posh clubs would have a billboard at the
entrance saying: Dogs and Indians are not allowed.
Shocking it may sound, but the white rulers
enjoyed humiliating dark Indians, apart from
heaping on them other indignities.
The upper stratum of society which rubbed
shoulders with the white and lived more or less in
the western style was given entry straightway.
Therefore, it was not surprising to find the same
members of the society replacing the white and
making clubs exclusively for their use. The club
management prescribed dress code, the western
style, essential and banned local dress within the
premises.
A club in Chennai went to extent of
banning dhoti consequently. A Madras High Court
judge wearing dhoti was refused entry. There was
an outcry when this happened. Chief Minister J.
Jayalalitha called the act an “insult” to Tamil
culture. The AIDMK chief promised a quick law is
passed to put an end to such a practice. The CM has
also promised prompt action against the Tamil
Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) in Chepauk,
which had denied admission to Justice D.
Hariparanthaman and two other guests, ostensibly
for violating the dress code of the club.
Members and their guests are expected to be
well-dressed, which for men is usually interpreted
as Western attire. “The way of tying the dhoti in
Tamil Nadu style may leave it to a number of
aspects of exposure. Many clubs cite this as a
reason for not allowing guests in dhotis,” a member
of the Madras Club said. However, in a state where
most politicians prefer a dhoti and a white shirt
over the Western attire, charges of indecent
exposure have backfired. R. Gandhi, 77, a senior
advocate who was turned away along with Justice
Hariparanthaman, said it was an “arbitrary
reaction” by the club’s staff against respectable
men “in their natural dress”.
People in South East Asia, however democratic in
their temperament, are enamoured of authority.
Clubs may be the relics of the British rule but they
represent power. That is the reason why clubs of the
past are kept as they were, although they do not fit
into India’s reality of austere living.
Authoritarian police is another relic which has been
retained, with more powers to silence the
opponents. It was an investiture ceremony where
top police officials were being honoured for the
outstanding service they had rendered to trace and
punish those who had committed excesses during
the emergency. In the midst of the ceremony, then
Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi got up and
ended the ceremony.
Another example is the disdain with which the
Police Reforms Commission report was treated by
here. It confirms fears that the Shah Commission
proceedings may have been destroyed. In fact, even
a copy of the report is not available either in market
or in government offices. Does the Congress
believe that the emergency would disappear from
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
12
the history itself? At least, the Police Reforms
Commission report exists, although its
recommendations have not been implemented
because most state chief ministers are not
less authoritative than Mrs. Gandhi was.
The BJP feels that it can afford to give the
impression of being liberal at a time when soft
Hindutva has engripped even the leftist parties. The
Congress is seen steadily losing its secular
credentials in the past few years despite the fact that
Muslims, by and large, voted in favour of
Congress. But the biggest dilemma facing the
Muslim community today is who among all parties
is liberal. The radicalization of the community is
not the answer, as it is happening. This would be
used as an evidence to stigmatize the community.
Muslim terrorism has no chance against Hindu
terrorism simply because of the numbers.
I realize that some Muslims out of desperation have
taken to violence. But this is the path Hindu
militant organizations like the Bajrang Dal, Ram
Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad want the
community to take. The guilt of these organizations
has been proved from the bomb blasts at
Malegaon, Ajmer and Hyderabad. Initially, the
suspicion was on Muslims—as is the police
practice—and the Muslim youth was picked up.
At Hyderabad, they were beaten by the police. But
a detailed investigation revealed a Hindu hand. Had
there been accountability, such chauvinist deeds by
the police would not have taken place. Young men
have been arrested when law courts have found that
there is no evidence against them. Who made the
mistake? Who is responsible for illegal arrests? He
should be punished if the impression that the
Muslim youth was picked up without any rhyme or
reason is to be removed.
A commission has also been appointed under the
chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India J.C.
Varma to suggest changes in rape laws and the
quantum of punishment. The students have asked
for death penalty or chemical castration. Yet it is
strange that the government acted only under
pressure. The authorities pressed the panic button
because for many days all roads leading to India
Gate were closed and even water cannons were
used to push back the agitating students behind the
barricades the police had erected. The lathi-charge
was uncalled for and widely condemned.
The biggest support to the politicians is the police
which are supposed to maintain law and order. The
force has to be purged of sycophants and sluggish
elements. But for that to happen, the police have to
be made independent so that they are free of
pressure from politicians. The worst example is in
Punjab and Haryana where the police force has
become a private army of chief ministers.
Importance Of Being AnExtremist
Amit Shah is a new word in the Sangh
parivar jargon. It means loyalty. Shah is,
without any doubt, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Man Friday. But what differentiates him
from others is the blind faith he has in his master,
Modi. Amit Shah was given the task to polarize the
biggest state of Uttar Pradesh. He won the Bhartiya
Janata Party (BJP) 71 seats out of 80 in the Lok
Sabha in the recent elections.
Modi has now put Shah at the head of the BJP to
spread the same divisive ideas, the Hindutava, all
over the country. One thing is clear from his
appointment: Resistance to extremists has worn out
so much that even a fanatic Hindu like Shah can
occupy the highest position in the Sangh parivar.
He is openly trying to put RSS and Modi’s
government on the same page. For example,
Kaptan Singh Solanki, appointed as governor of
Haryana, is a hardcore RSS member. What it
conveys is that the BJP is willing to be used as an
instrument of RSS.
By stating that the Sangh would take part in politics
Mohan Bhagwat, RSS chief, has only confirmed
the perception that the parivar is dictated by RSS.
This may be against the undertaking that RSS had
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
13
given to Home Minister Sardar Patel that it would
not participate in political activities. Then the Jan
Sangh had to amend its constitution to re-enunciate
that the organization would remain “devoted
purely to cultural work.” The appointment of
Solanki also sends out the message that there is no
difference between BJP and RSS, the liberals and
the extremists. Both are two sides of the same coin.
Modi may not have taken any step to accelerate the
pace of Hindutava. Yet his prime ministership has
emboldened the RSS elements. So much as that one
BJP member called Sonia Mirza, India’s pride in
tennis, a Pakistani. It must be tough for the
Muslims who have to prove their loyalty to India all
the time. Her husband is no doubt a Pakistani. She
was naturally hurt for being questioned on her
nationality.
The Hindutava of sorts was seen in Haryana where
a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC) the Haryana will control by all
the Gurudawara in the state and their offerings. It is
a serious matter which should have been ponder
over seriously to find a formula to allay the fears of
Sikhs in Punjab and Haryana. RSS considers the
Sikh part of Hindu community. The Sikhs, on the
other hand, are against the assumption. The violent
reaction of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh
Badal showed that the Punjab Sikhs, a majority in
the community, will not tolerate any division in
what he describes as panth, the Sikh order.
Another unfortunate deduction is that the liberal
elements in the BJP have dwindled in numbers.
They find no option to the RSS leadership. Maybe,
the distance between the BJP and RSS was never a
reality. It was part of the RSS tactics to make a dent
in the general perception that the Indian society
prefers the liberal BJP to the obdurate RSS.
The perception about tolerance in the Hindu
religion is largely true. Had this not been the case,
the constitution would not have said in the
preamble that India would be a secular republic.
The proof is provided by elections where 80
percent of Hindus, who constitute an
overwhelming majority, vote for a liberal India.
Another indication is that even the liberal Muslim
leaders don’t get elected even when their
community constitutes 15 to 16 percent of
population in the country.
The ominous side is that the bigoted are adopting a
still harder line and getting acceptance. Otherwise,
Shah’s elevation makes little sense. After the BJP
victory at the Centre, he has been polarizing the
society and ensuring that the party does not snap its
ties with RSS or the extremist Shiv Sena in
Maharashtra.
The recent episode of forcible-feeding a fasting
Muslim by a Sena MP is in a bad taste. What is
more surprising is the explanation offered by the
MP concerned and others. Several Sena members
failed to condemn the MP and instead said it was
done only to let the authorities know that the food
supplied at the Maharastra Sadan was awfully bad.
Though the Sena MP had subsequently apologised,
the party had no business to equate it with some
Muslim men raping women during Ramzan. The
Modi government has at last reacted with Home
Minister Rajnath Singh regretting the incident and
reiterating that the government was committed to
safeguarding the religious freedom guaranteed by
the constitution.
Despite this, Modi’s overall say in favour of
Hindutva cannot be denied. He is associated with
the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. He is also
known for his strong anti-Pakistan and
anti-Bangladesh, the two Muslims republics in
India’s neighbourhood. Amit Shah was part of
Modi’s ministry at Ahmedabad at that time.
Fortunately, Modi also realizes that he should have
good relations with both the nations. His invitation
to the Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh and
the Maldives, to his oath-taking ceremony says so.
For Modi to have good relations with India’s
neighbours would strengthen the idea of pluralism,
something that has helped the country to sustain a
liberal atmosphere in the subcontinent.
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
14
Both New Delhi and Dhaka are fighting against
fundamentalism, represented by the Taliban.
Islamabad is used to do so because it uses them for
fighting ‘a battle of independence’ in Kashmir.
There is also a strong influential lobby within
Pakistan to support fundamentalism which is
spreading in the entire Muslim world.
I wish New Delhi could act against the Hindu
Taliban which is emerging as a serious force. The
liberal Muslims, whether living in Pakistan or
Bangladesh, cannot afford to be complacent in their
resolve to eliminate the Taliban, the
fundamentalists. They want the Islam to abandon
the efforts at reformation and go back to the type of
Islam was at the time of inception 1400 years ago.
They too realize that it is not possible to do that. But
then their approach is based on the strategy in
elections which seem to return a candidate who
supports pluralism. Rulers of Pakistan and
Bangladesh seem to be realistic enough not to do
anything which would scare away the non-Muslim
electorate.
[Kuldip Nayar is a veteran syndicated columnist
catering to around 80 newspapers and journals in
fourteen languages in India and abroad. He may be
contacted at:[email protected]]
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
15
Important Announcement
The next meeting of the Citizens for Democracy will be held on Saturday & Sunday, the 20th and 21st
September, 2014 , 10 am to 5 pm both days, at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi.
Main focus would be on electoral reforms, besides other programmes of action as well as building and
strengthening of the organization.
The complete agenda follows shortly.
This advance notice is being given to enable the delegates/invitees to have travel reservations in advance.
Those who wish to have accommodation should inform in advance at least by 20th August, 2014.
N.D.Pancholi, General Secretary (CFD)
Mob.: 91-9811099532
Dear Friends,
Your article for the RH should be emailed to me at: [email protected].
Or posted at: C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P.
Please send a passport size photograph and your brief resume if it is being sent for the first time
to the RH.
A note whether it has also been published elsewhere or is being sent exclusively for the RH
should also be attached with it.
— Rekha Saraswat
Mob. : 91-9719333011
B.J.P. Delusion:
Article 370 of Constitution ofIndia cannot be abrogated
—Rajindar Sachar
President of B.J.P. Rajnath has called for a
debate on why Article 370 of the
Constitution should not be abrogated. One wishes
he had sought this enlightenment before including
the provocative item of abrogation of Article 370 in
B.J.P. Election Manifesto.
Apart from legal angle, Togadia’s hate Speech
against Muslims and politically dishonest attempt
by B.J.P. and R.S.S. leaders to paper it over, would
by itself alone be a justification enough for
retention of Article 370 in Muslim Majority State
of J & K.
On August 15th 1947, when India became
independent, J&K was not a part of its territory. It
was only by the Instrument of Accession, dated
27.10.47, signed by the Maharaja of J&K that the
state acceded to the Dominion of India. By clause 3
the Maharaja accepted that the matters specified in
the schedule are the matters with respect to which
the dominion legislature may make laws for the
State of J & K. The instrument further provided that
the terms of instrument shall not be varied by
amendment of the Act or of the Indian
Independence Act unless such amendment is
accepted by the Maharaja. The instrument also
clearly laid down that nothing in the instrument
shall be deemed to commit the State in any way to
the acceptance of any future Constitution of India.
This Instrument accepted only a limited number of
matters, Defence, External Affairs,
Communications, as those with respect to which
the Indian legislature could make laws for J&K.
This special relationship of J&K found its
reflection in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution
which laid down that notwithstanding anything in
the Constitution, the powers of the parliament to
make laws for the State shall be limited to those
matters in the Union List and the concurrent list,
which, in consultation with the Government of the
state, are declared by the president to correspond to
matters specified in the Instrument of Accession,
and such other matters in the said lists with the
concurrence of the State, the president may by
order specify.
Thus by virtue of Article 370 parliament can
legislate for J&K on matters other than those
mentioned in the instrument but only after
obtaining the concurrence of the State of J&K.
(emphasis supplied) Thus J&K has a special status,
unlike the other States in India where Parliament
can legislate on its own on subjects mentioned in
the Union and concurrent lists.
It is no doubt true that Article 370(3) provides that
the President may by notification declare that this
article shall cease to be operative, but the proviso
clearly lays down a limitation that the
recommendation of Constituent Assembly of the
State shall be necessary before the President issues
such a notification. It is not disputed that the
Constituent Assembly of J&K has never given any
such recommendation. In that view, Article 370
cannot be withdrawn by Parliament purporting to
exercise the power of amendment given by Article
368. That the power to amend the Constitution is
not totally unfettered admits of no disputes vide the
famous case of Keshvanand Bharthi, (1973) where
Supreme Court held that a “Constitution like ours
contains certain features which are so essential that
they cannot be changed or destroyed”.
There is also nothing very special in laying this
limitation in Article 370. Even Article 368 limits
the Parliament to make any amendment of the
Constitution which would result in a change in any
of the lists in the Seventh Schedule; such
amendment shall also require to be ratified by the
legislatures of not less than half of the States.
Under our Constitution Governors are only formal
heads of state and have no powers at all in the
administration of the state which is vested in the
Cabinet. But yet by Constitutional Amendment Act
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
16
1956, Article 371 provides for special
responsibility of the Governor for establishment of
a separate development for Saurashtra and Kutch
(in Gujarat) and Vidharbha in Maharashtra for
equitable allocation of funds for development of
the area. No objection by BJP has been raised
which curtails the power of Gujarat Chief Minister
Modi while there is not such limitation on the Chief
Ministers in other States.
Article 371G introduced by Constitution (55th
Amendment Act 1986) provides that no Act of
parliament in respect of ownership and transfer of
land shall apply to the State of Mizoram unless the
legislative Assembly of State of Mizoram by a
resolution so decides. This provision is identical to
Article 370 of the constitution regarding J & K.
B.J.P. was a party to above amendment. Why does
BJP apply double Standard in the case of Muslim
majority State of J & K.?
Even in U.S.A. such is the width of State autonomy
that an Advocate getting his law degree from
Washington University can not as a matter of right
practice in State of New York. No one has
suggested that this is endangering the unity of
U.S.A.
Recently in the Election fever even Congress seems
to have been entrapped when it also gave an
Election promise to separate Laddakh from the
territory of J&K and even give it a separate
Legislative Assembly. This is the most provocative
suggestion, which can only inflame the sentiments
of people of J&K against India, apart from the fact
that it is not legally possible because J&K
legislature will never give its consent, as provided
by Article 370.
It needs to be appreciated that retention of Article
370 is a matter of self respect and honour and
assertion of its distinct identity for people of J&K.
Can not BJP, even when most of Parties in J&K are
desirous of finding a lasting solution, be statesmen
enough to give up its opposition to Article 370
which no Kashmiri can possibly agree to abrogate
because it is a matter of preserving his special
identity.
Faced with this reality, any politician must realize
that all talk of abrogation of Article 370 is
moonshine and a non-issue. It is also a very
sensitive matter touching the credibility of our
secular professions and the justifiable fears of the
minorities. With all this, when it is also patent that
abrogation of Article 370 is not legally and
constitutionally competent, is there any moral,
political or logical justification to keep up this
empty noise? I submit there is none.
Dominance of PrivateCorporate Sector:
Unacceptable Under theConstitution
Now that the high sounding praise by
Corporate Sector of Modi Governments
maiden budget is less noisy, it is time to look at it
impartially. The insidious pro rich Bullet Train,
Project is an open declaration of anti labour, anti
rural bias in the context of about 60% of rural areas
being only able to use bullock cart type of
transport. As it is, 14% hike in railways fare has
already demoralized the poor. The bullet train
thinking is similar to Queen Marie Antoinette of
France cynical remark who asked “why should
poor protest if they can’t buy bread – let them
instead buy cake.”
The budget has out done UPA in its approach to
Foreign Direct Investment which has been raised in
one sweep from 26% to 49%, which UPA even
though it wanted to, could not do ironically because
of the protest from amongst others BJP itself. Does
it not show double faced-ness in politics which Dr.
Lohia used to lament by emphasizing the morality
angle, namely the absence of approximation
between words and deeds.
The policy on Public Sector Banks has been left
dubious. The market is interpreting it as a gradual
device to privatize banks and even reducing public
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
17
Banks equity to less than 51%. This thinking in BJP
Government is bound to lead to massive protest
amongst public which still remember the vast
damage done by private banks to serve the need of
their private owners in 1969 and were saved since
then only by nationalization of banks and
prohibiting private banks which were mainly
owned by owners of Industry. Such a ban is on
sound principle of avoiding conflict of private
business interests from those of public interest in
sound banking.
More surprisingly government is planning to go
ahead to off load 5% in ONGC shares for Rs.
17,000 crore notwithstanding the protest by ONGC
that the government will suffer loss and will not be
able to realize its potential value. That Modi
Government considers a policy of disinvestment of
public sector almost as a religious compulsion is
quite evident when almost within weeks of taking
over, the finance Ministry has started exercise to
selling residual government stake of 49% in HZL
and Balco just as earlier UPA Government had
decided to sell the two PSA to the common election
fund donor of both the parties but because of
certain circumstances could not finalize it. There is
a real danger of Modi Government going all out to
dismantle public sector and hand it over to private
oligarchy, even when this action is violative of
Article 39 C of our constitution which mandates
“that the operation of economic system does not
result in the concentration of wealth.........” I feel
strongly that unless a determined combined effort
by all leftist parties and Trade Unions as urged by
Socialist Party (India) is taken throughout the
country, public assets are in danger of being given
almost gratis to the big business lobby which has so
liberally contributed to Modi Campaign.
But a more serious attack on the poor farmers has
been announced by Modi Government to amend
New Land Acquisition Act 2013, which was passed
by UPA Government but with full support of BJP.
This bill was the result of culminating struggle by
scores of trade union and farmer’s organization of
Narmada Bachao Andolan led by Medha Patkar
and legally assisted by Sanjay Parikh. This New
Act was a radical change from old Act which
permitted land to be acquired for Private
Corporations (a provision not to be found either in
USA or UK legislations). Modi government wants
to delete the consent clause which requires 70%
affected parties consent if land is required for
Private Public protect and 80% in case of private
persons and also the compensation package, which
is in accord with international covenants; such a
dilution will be illegal and would be massively
resisted.
One would have expected that the misstatement by
Minister for Minority affairs that Muslims are not a
minority would have been sought to be assuaged in
Modi first Budget by making adequate provision
for the development of Minorities i.e. Muslims,
Christians. But one is disappointed. One would
also have expected some special provision for
recruitment for Minority especially the Muslims in
the police. No doubt it is a hangover from the UPA
government, but must the minorities continue to
suffer intentional neglect both under UPA and now
under BJP government. I should have thought that
Modi would clutch at this opportunity if he wanted
to show his impartiality. I am referring to the
Report “Strategy for making police force more
sensitive towards minority sections prepared by
three Director Generals, of Maharashtra; of U.P.; of
Tamil Nadu along with Intelligence Bureau, which
has concluded that there is a trust deficit amongst
Muslims, who see the Police as Communal biased
and insensitive….” The report emphasized that the
“poor representation of the Minorities in the police
forces has contributed to this distrust and
suspicion”. That the worrisome gap of Muslims in
the police force is no conjecture was clear when
U.P. Government during Muzaffar Nagar killings
was asked by PUCL in 2013 (which had sent an
enquiry team to enquire into killing therein) to post
Muslim inspectors in dominant Muslims area as a
reassurance as had been recommended years back
by a High Powered Committee set up by Central
Government in 2005. Information was however
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
18
given that it was not possible because Muslims
were only 4% in the police and only 1% as
inspectors ( as against a population of 18% in U.P. a
state-which has been ruled by apparently secular
parties - can hypocrisy in politics go any further).
The above report had called for urgent action at
Director General’s conference held in 2013 (during
UPA) but no action was taken – sad that the
Minorities find themselves orphaned both under
supposedly secular UPA or Modi government
which is openly backed by RSS Communalism.
FDI in retail is being brought back and such is the
unabashed contempt for public opinion that even
the mild provision that 30% sourcing should be
from within India which is compulsory at present
may be dispensed with – a total surrender to foreign
capital by BJP contrary to its earlier position. If
Modi had enquired from President of Brazil, she
would have enlightened him about the role played
by her predecessor President Lula who boldly
fought against “foreign capital” domination and
also that one of the fundamental principles of
Brazil’s constitution is the “Social value of
Labour.” Will Modi rethink and revise the
development model being contemplated for India
which can only damage the country.
[Justice, Rajindar Sachar, Chief Justice (Retd.)
High Court of Delhi, New Delhi; Chairperson
Prime Minister’s High Level Committee On Status
of Muslims (Ex.) UN Special Rappoetuer on
Housing; Member, U.N. Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities (Ex.); President, Peoples Union for
Civil Liberties (PUCL) India (Ex.) may be
contacted at:A-19, New Friends Colony, New
Delhi, 110065(India) Tel: 091-11-26847786,
2683019; 9810009644;
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
19
Humanist News:
Prof. D. Prempati Is No More
One of the most active members of social justice movement who stood with secular values all his life,
Prof D Prempati passed away in the early hours today morning in Bangalore. He was not keeping well
for past few months and was staying with his son in Bangalore.
Prempatiji taught in Delhi University but frankly speaking his public life was vast and open to all. He
travelled far and wide, Northern India, in particular, UP and Bihar and tried to unite the Mandal forces,
the OBCs and Dalits. His oratory was made for common man and despite Hindi not being his first
language he focused on writing in it. Young people like me had a lot to learn from him. He did not suffer
from ‘academic arrogance’ which is the order of the day and worked like a commoner. Many times,
people could not know that he was a professor of English and a very senior person, such was his
simplicity. His death is a loss to the secular movement for social justice. He worked to unite the non
Brahmanical progressive forces all over the country. He was uncompromising in his fight against
Brahmanical Hindutva and wrote extensively upon it after the demolition of Babari Masjid. His book
Hindutva Hai Kya became very popular with grassroots activists.
—News sent by V.B. Rawat
Testing Competencies notimparted is Unethical
—K.S. Chalam
The storm over the UPSC screening test
known as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude
Test) in the country seems to have not attracted as
much attention of the academics as that of a
common man in the street. Civil Service
recruitment tests are increasingly considered by
many as public examinations that reflect very little
about the academic components of a discipline
rather theyrely more on the rote memory. That is
why it is said that an engineer trained by an IIT
becomes an IAS officer with History or
Anthropology as subject ofpublic examination.
These tests are not directed to examine the
achievement (learning measure) of a candidate, but
evaluate scholastic capability of the incumbent.
Civil services became popular and reached the
imagination of ordinary people when D.S. Kothari
Committee recommended subtle changes in the
method of examination to accommodate all
categories of aspirants from 1978. It was also the
period that had seen the impact of democratisation
of education after independence in the form of
excluded social groups entering mainstream public
service.
Economic reforms in the year 1991 created many
opportunities and shattered existing structures and
values. This has also influenced the mode of
functioning of civil service system and the civil
servants. Bureaucrats or the paid policy makers are
seen as facilitators to ease conditions for market
players to enter sectors that were once restricted. A
new philosophy of NPM was introduced imitating
our former colonial masters who since then
discontinued after a dissolute experience. Yet, the
boost given to those elite who never had an
experience with the rural life and depraved
conditions of people considered it as a boon for the
development of an emerging new nation. Some of
them even got their grounding prepared elsewhere
to implement some of the dictates of funding
agencies and started evangelizing it in our system
of administration. They did not realise that
governance is different from management of
economic sectors and we have in India sectors that
need empathy, intellectual calibre, social traits and
moral integrity to deal with such issues in the day to
day functioning. Otherwise, the whole exercise of
processing candidates for civil service would be
futile and the government can directly recruit
MBAs from our IIMs and outsource the process to
some HR companies like that of MNCs.
While the discerning exercise over the relevance of
the existing system of governance was continuing,
the government has appointed the Y.K Alagh
committee to review the scheme of civil services
examination in 2001. The committee felt that
majority of candidates are opting subjects based on
“scorability” and not on the basis of their
specialisation. It has recommended replacing the
optional subjects with three sets of compulsory
papers grouped in to different areas of knowledge.
It was the Alagh committee for the first time
mooted the idea of ‘Civil Services Aptitude Test”.
But, the government did not accept the
recommendations of the committee and in the
meanwhile the Second Administrative Reforms
Commission under its tenth Report in 2008
commented on the civil service recruitment. SARC
has categorically said that” the Commission feels
that it cannot be gainsaid that the Combined
Admission Test(CAT) which selects entrants to the
IIMs fails to provide candidates having a
propensity and aptitude for acquiring new
knowledge and skills”. SARC therefore,
recommended that “the Preliminary Examination
should consist of an objective type test having one
or two papers on general studies including the
Constitution of India, the Indian Legal system,
Indian economy, Polity, history and culture. There
should be no optional subjects”. Confused with too
many committees and divergent recommendations,
the UPSC seems to have appointed S.K. Khanna,
Ex-chairman AICTE as chairman with Engineering
and Management professors along with Vineeta
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
20
Rai and bureaucrats as members. The committee
has recommended the CSAT outline that was
internally discussed by the UPSC and a draft was
sent to the government for its approval. The present
CSAT was notified in 2012 and the test was
conducted to screen candidates for the mains in
2013. The Nigvekar committee was appointed to
recommend the method of examination for the
mains. The plan consisted of General Studies 4
papers, an optional paper and PT with an overall
total of 2075 marks. We may recall that the
recommendations of the committee have also
provoked resentment on allegation of denial of due
weightage to regional languages. However the
results of 2013 are declared and the 2014 CSAT is
due in the month of August 2014.
The efficiency of our administrative mechanism
and the interest groups involved in the process of
decision making and the impromptu nature of our
policy makers on issues of grave concern can be
seen in the present CSAT uproar. It is unfair to
blame UPSC singularly for this mess. It is always
the government, may be the bureaucrats in the
PMO, DOP&T and others who take the final
decisions on issues of policy, though UPSC is an
autonomous constitutional body like the Supreme
Court. However, the committee appointed to
examine the issues of CSAT was initiated by UPSC
and therefore the blame implied. It seems the
government is looking in to the matter and some
reasonable order is expected soon. The candidates
who are from regional languages and are from
Hindi are alleging that their prospects to become
civil servants are weakened. The data from the
annual reports of UPSC show that there is some
reason behind the grumbles of aspirants from
Telugu, Hindi and other languages as the number of
candidates appearing for the examination with
Telugu, Hindi etc as optional has come down and
the number of engineering graduates who qualify
for the services has increased during 2o1o-2012.
There are experts who argue that it is not possible to
test non-cognitive competencies and therefore
analytical and problem solving skills need to be
tried for the entrants in to civil services. But the
fact of the matter is that civil services are wide
opened now unlike the pre-Kothari era. It is really
an All-India and all pervasive service being the
dream career of millions of educated youth cutting
across socio-economic and even educational
backgrounds. It is really a formidable task for
UPSC to satisfy every group and at the same time
meet the high standards of selection. At the same
time test scores are always considered as subjective
judgments particularly in a pluralistic society. Even
the test scores of SAT in the USA for graduate
admissions are indicted by the African Americans,
Hispanics and other minorities as biased in favour
of whites. It represents an iniquitous society. CSAT
comes under this category as of now due to the
biases of our education system that is vertically and
horizontally divided with several inconsistencies.
CAT and CSAT as alleged by the aspirants seem to
be elitist and do not provide the level playing field
to majority of the aspirants, around 70 percent ,who
come from rural backgrounds, regional language
medium and depraved socio-educational
backgrounds. Thus, 70 per cent of the aspirants are
eliminated from reckoning at the entry level itself.
Further, our education system today is totally
paralysed and the urban middle classes and those
who could afford to send their children to elite
schools are taught the prerequisites of reasoning,
analytical skills, interpersonal skills, mental ability
and all that is required for management and
engineering education. The rural schools and the
regional medium instruction do not have academic
and financial resources to cater to the needs of
things like CSAT. Is it moral and honest to test in a
subject that was not taught to qualify candidates not
for a degree but for a lifelong service?
[K.S. Chalam former Vice- Chancellor, Dravidian
University, Kuppam (AP) and Ex-Member, UPSC
is the author of ‘Governance in South Asia: State of
the Civil Services’, Sage 2014, He may be
contacted at: [email protected]]
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
21
IRI / IRHA Members' Section:
Security Apprehensions in theMinds of our Muslim Brethren
in India—K. Pratap Reddy
Time and again we have been hearing
some apprehensions of insecurity from
our Muslim brethren in India. To my mind such
apprehensions of insecurity are based upon or are
arising out of a misreading of the history of India.
While such misapprehensions in the minds of
uneducated Muslims could be understood, we are
surprised to hear such things, even from some
persons who are also educated and supposed to be
well informed about historical background of the
growth of Indian Nation before independence and
are continuing even thereafter, out of ignorance of
the constitutional guarantees as are now existing in
our Constitution.
Recently, Editor, Mr. Zahid Ali Khan wrote in his
Urdu daily, Siyasat that “in spite of 800 years of
Muslim Rule in India there is a feeling of insecurity
among Muslims of India and that they are
compelled to live under the mercy of one or the
other Ruling Party”. It is interesting to note that he
had himself in his own editorial of the same daily,
some weeks earlier, exhorted the Muslims of India
to come into the main stream and participate more
and more in the socio, economic and political polity
of India under the Constitution and try to guide the
whole country as one nation and not to segregate
themselves as a different class and not to depend
upon the mercy or charity of any political party. I
wonder why he diverted himself into a historically
wrong conceptualization of the growth of modern
Indian Nation.
I had decided to write the following article
immediately thereafter with a view to remove the
misapprehensions in the minds of our Muslim
brethren but refrained to do so with a hope that such
misapprehensions would automatically vanish
away by mutual exchanges of view and
understanding in course of time. But again on
28.04.2012, I saw another article in the Siyasat
under the pen-name of Abu Email purporting to
highlight the condition of poor Muslim women
forced to do odd jobs of collecting Kachra for
livelihood in Hyderabad city describing it
Khush-Hal Musalmanon Ka Shahar (happy city of
Muslims) forgetting or ignoring the historical fact
that this city of Hyderabad was and has always also
been the Khush-Hal Shahar (happy city of) of
Hindus and all others as well who constituted in the
past and constitute even today 75 per cent of the
population and among them also there are poor and
old women forced to do the jobs of collecting
Kachra for livelihood in the same proportion of
population.
While starting to write this article, I read another
article in The Hindu daily of Monday, 7th May,
2012 written by Sri. Hilal Ahmed, an Associate
Fellow, Centre For the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi, under the Heading Do India’s
Muslims Need to be represented by Muslims? After
a historical, data based analysis, the learned author
of the Article summed up the predicament of the
problems faced by the Muslim brethren in three
questions which I cite here: one, what are the
Muslim issues? Two, who are responsible for the
present crisis of Muslims? And three, what could
be the way out?
The learned author had, no doubt, tried his best to
address those questions and while not contradicting
and not even disputing the findings given by him, I
have strong conviction that these oft repeated
questions must be addressed on a comprehensive,
but brief historical study of the growth of the Indian
Nation as it exists today.
No historical synopsis of the growth of our Nation,
right from the Aryan invasion of our country up to
the establishment of British Empire, can be better
described than quoting the great poet Iqbal which I
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
22
am quoting hereunder in Roman Script: Quafiley
Chalte Rahe - Aur Hindustan Banta Gaya
I would like to emphasize the fact that there has
been no single Muslim Rule much less had there
been any single Hindu Rule, Christian Rule,
Buddhist Rule or any other Religious Rule in the
History of India. As everywhere else in the world,
every Rule in India was wielded by force of sword
and sometimes by barbaric force; under the pretext
of and even at the cost of denigrating that very
religion, they, the Rulers (or wielders of sword)
were proclaiming, with very few exceptions like
Ashoka and Akbar, who were, therefore, called by
the historians as Ashoka the Great and Akbar the
Great.
On account of wonderful natural resources like
water and other means of better livelihood, which
were either rarely existing or not existing in some
other parts of the world, the hitherto
semi-barbaric-hunting and nomadic tribes, moving
from place to place in search of food and good
habitation, came into this country and settled here
and later civilized themselves. One will not find
any other country in the world, which has given
shelter to almost all the races in the world. Name
any race of the world and they are all found in India
in some measure or the other. Leaving apart the
earlier un-recorded history, the Aryans (who were
also hunting tribes before coming into India) found
immense natural resources of water and fertility of
land, helping them to grow food. Thus the hitherto
nomadic Aryans settled as a civilized human race in
this land of India and very soon also divided
themselves into different religions as Hindus
(Brahmanical), Buddhists, Jains, Charvakas etc.
After the Aryans came the Kushans led by
Kanishka; thereafter, came Huns in the 4th century.
Then came the Zoarashtrians (Parsees), Chinese,
Greeks, Jews, Christians etc., all of whom got
shelter here on adopting this land as their nation.
Arabs came as traders and were given shelter by the
Hindu King Zamorin in Calicut – (Now named as
Kozhikode), and thus the Arabs settled in Kerala at
first and became part of Indian Nation.
Before we go into the advent or rule by kings
purporting to abide by Islamic faith, it is necessary
to note the historical fact that there have been
several conflicts among various Kingdoms in
India, the greatest being the Kalinga War forcing
Ashoka to adopt Buddhism, in the 2nd and 3rd
centuries and again revival of Hinduism or Hindu
Kingdom in the 4th Century A.D to 7th Century A.D.
Even these kingdoms purporting to be Hindus of
Brahmanical faiths were indulging in constant
warfare only for power and wealth; religion and
faith were used only as excuses to raise wars. The
earlier invasions under the names of Aryans,
Kushans, and Huns were not belonging to any
particular religion or faith. It was only after these
nomadic tribes came to India, that they adopted one
or the other faiths i.e., Brahmanism, Buddhism,
Jainism etc., depending upon the strength the
religions gave them to establish their authorities.
The greed for power and wealth among these
chiefs, Kings or Raja’s was so much that every time
a new adventurist came to India, one or the other
local Chiefs took the support of the invader to take
revenge on their victors or stronger enemies.
It was only at the end of 6th century (i.e., 592 A.D),
that the Islamic faith was introduced by Prophet
Mohammed in Arabia and adventurists that came
into India, thereafter, were described as Muslims
i.e., Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Iranians etc.
Jawaharlal Nehru in his celebrated Book The
Discovery of India in chapter VI Page 244 referring
to the growth of Hindu-Muslim culture and
Indo-Arab relationship wrote as follows, I quote,
“There were no invasions, contacts between India
and Arab world grew, by travel to and fro,
embassies were exchanged, Indian Books,
especially on Mathematics and Astrology were
taken to Baghdad and were translated into Arabic.
Many Indian physicians went to Baghdad. These
trade and cultural relations were not confined to
North India. The southern states of India also
participated in them, especially the Rashtrakutas,
on the west coast of India, for purpose of trade….”
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
23
This frequent intercourse inevitably led to Indians
getting to know the new religion, Islam.
Missionaries also came to spread this new faith and
they were welcomed, mosques were built. There
was no objection raised either by the State or by the
people, nor were there any religions conflicts. It
was the old tradition of India to be tolerant to all
faiths and forms of worship. Thus Islam came as a
religion to India several centuries before it came as
a political force” (emphasis is mine).
It was about 711-712 A.D. one young Arab
adventurist Mohd Bin Quasim, with the help of the
Buddhist monks, (who were driven away by Hindu
Brahmanical elements) crossed the River Indus and
defeated the Hindu King, Raja Dahir. After a lapse
of about two more centuries i.e., towards the end of
the 10th century A.D., two Afghan nomadic tribal
Chiefs, Alaftagin and Subktagin attempted several
unsuccessful raids into India. About their
successor, Mahmood of Ghazni it is mentioned in a
modern authoritative History book under the title
of An Advanced History Of India, (Mc. Millan
publication), in Part II, Chapter I ‘Medieval India’,
that “in addition to his victorious expeditions in
India, he (Mohammad Gazani) had to his credit two
memorable campaigns against Turks in the course
of which he routed the latter”. So I wish to draw the
attention of the readers that these expeditions were
also against Muslim Rule, only to loot and plunder
by use of sword and, therefore, not for spread of
any civilization much less Islam. The same book at
page number 268, further describes Mohammad
Gazhni as ‘an insatiable invader’ and that he was
neither a missionary for the propagation of religion
in this country nor an architect of empire. His
eastern expeditions seem to have been for the
‘acquisition of wealth’. Nobody can deny that the
great Prophet Mohammad who is the first
revolutionary in the history of the world spread
only three things: Firstly, that there is only one God
for the whole humanity and for the whole of the
universe, and secondly Justice (Insaf) and finally
Mercy (Raham) are the only guiding factors of
humanity.
For almost another 200 years, thereafter, the same
anarchy of invasions into India continued for
power and wealth but the local Hindu Kingdoms
and other Kingdoms in Western Asia prevented
such destructive expeditions. Only in the year 1192
A.D., after several defeats, one Mohammad Ghori
defeated the powerful Rajput King, in conspiracy
with and with the help of the other Rajputs led by
Raja Jayachand. He too could not establish any
Kingdom and left it to his slave Qutubuddin Ibak
which gave rise to the historical period of ‘Dynasty
of Slaves’. Every person acquainted with the
message of Prophet Mohammad would admit the
fact that Islam does not acknowledge the concept of
slave much less a slave dynasty.
Then begen the period of Khiljees beginning with
Jelaluddin Khilji and ends with another slave of
Allauddin Khilji known as Malik Kafur. The entire
period of Khilji is full of hunger for wealth,
coupled with treachery and deceit, both of which
are undoubtedly un-Islamic. While Jalaluddin
Khilji, the founder of the Khilji dynasty brought up
his minor orphan nephew (elder brother’s son)
Allauddin Khilji and made him his own son-in-law
and gave him almost all powers except his throne,
Allauddin Khilji the son-in-law and nephew killed
his own father-in-law in a most barbaric and
un-Islamic way and also blinded the minor sons of
his father-in-law. No true Muslim can claim that
these actions would conform to Islamic Tenets and
the message of the great Prophet Mohammad. For
his ungrateful conduct towards his uncle,
Allauddin Khilji met the same destiny in the hands
his own favorable slave Malik Kafur.
Then came the period of the Tughlaks! This
dynasty was established during 1320-1412 A.D.
The text book of history referred to above narrates
the whole period (quoting Iban Batutha) as a period
of Anarchy. Thereafter another invader by name of
Taimur, came into India and plundered the land
ruthlessly killing countless number of people,
which can never be claimed by any Muslim as an
Islamic act, much less, brining any pride to the
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
24
Islamic faith or to the message of the great Prophet
Mohammad.
This was followed by the period of Sayyad
dynasty. This was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi
Sultanate from 1414 to 1451. This family made a
questionable claim to be the descendants of
Prophet Mohammad. Their claims of being the
descendants of Prophet Mohammad were not only
rejected by the Islamic ulemas, but even their
actions and conduct were found to be anarchic,
unjust and un-Islamic (see Chapter V of Part I of
the History Book referred to above).
This brings us to the end of the so-called
Turko-Afghan Sultanates of Delhi. This period is
described by the Text Book of History quoted
above in Chapter VI, Part II, at page 384 as follows,
“The Muslim State in India was in theory supposed
to be a theocratic one, but in practice, the Muslim
Sultan of India was a perfect autocrat, unchecked
by any restrictions; and his word was law”. The
State being essentially military in character, the
Sultan was the chief commander of forces; he was
also the chief law-giver and the final court of
appeal. All these things were undoubtedly un-
Islamic and against the message of Great Prophet
Mohammad, who spread the religion only on the
basis of Justice, Equality and Compassion. As
would be explained in more detail hereinafter, the
spread of Islam in the world culminating it into the
second largest religion in the world is only on
account of the above referred to three tenets of
Prophet Mohammad and not on account of the
marauders trading in the name of Islam.
The best example in this context would be the case
of Indonesia which is by far the largest Muslim
populated country in the world. History does not
record any Mohd Bin Quasim, Mahmood Ghazani
nor Mohd Ghori, nor Babur, nor Chengez Khan,
nor Taimur Lung, having either occupied Indonesia
and much less any Muslim or Islamic kingdom was
established in Indonesia. The message or Paigham
of Islam given by the Prophet Mohammad was
carried by the Arab Traders and other Islamic
philosophers, Sufis, Fakirs etc. The result is that
while the background and underlying civilization is
of Hindu or of Indian origin the faith is Islam.
Coming back to Indian history, after the Sayyad
dynasty came the period of Lodhis and Afghans
and the last one of the latter namely Ibrahim Lodhi
was defeated by Babar in the year 1526 at Panipat
thus ushering in the Mogul period. Babar could not
live for a longer period, and died on 26.12.1530.
His son Humayun was not in a position to establish
any Kingdom, on account of incessant assaults by
Lodhis and Afghans. Humayun was forced to
wander from place to place for shelter.
After Humayun, Akbar under the tutelage of his
guardian and protector Bairam Khan, ruled for a
period of 49 years which can be described as the
most glorious period of Mogul Empire. After
getting rid of domestic feuds, Akbar began his
independent rule from May, 1552, which continued
up to the year 1605. Leaving all the details of
history, what is important for our purpose is that
Akbar successfully brought together all the
different cultures and civilizations and in fact
invented a new faith naming it as Din-E-Elahi,
based upon the message of Prophet Mohammad
and some chosen values of Hindu civilization. I
quote hear a passage from the same book which
gave the brief description of the Rule of Akbar,
which has united the people of all different faiths
and also helped in establishing the glorious period
of history for about five decades.
I quote, “Gifted with the true insight of a statesman
and liberal in outlook, Akbar realized the value of
Rajput alliance in his task of building up an Empire
in India. By his wise and liberal polity, he won the
hearts of most of them to such an extent that they
rendered valuable services to his empire and even
shed their blood for it. The Empire of Akbar was, in
fact, the outcome of the co-ordination of Mogul
prowess and diplomacy and Rajput valour and
service. In 1562, Raja Bihari Mal, of Amber
(Jaipur), tendered his submission to Akbar and
cemented his friendship with him by a marriage
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
25
alliance. Bihari Mal, with his son, Bhagwan Das, and
grandson, Man Sigh, proceeded to Agra, who was given
a command of 5,000 and his son and grandson were also
admitted to high rank in the army. Thus was opened the
way through which the Mogul Emperors were able to
secure their rule for four generations “the services of
some of the greatest captains and diplomats that
medieval India produced”.
In the midst of his enormous efforts of building a
great empire, Akbar did not leave any stone
unturned to bring all the different faiths under one
roof. The same book writes about his efforts to
ecumenism of all the faiths in the country in the
following terms: I quote “The conflicts of the
different religious sects shocked his soul, and he
devoted himself “to the evolution of a new religion,
which would, he hoped, prove to be a synthesis of
all the warring creeds and capable of uniting the
discordant elements of his vast empire in one
harmonious whole”. “He therefore called to the
Ibadat-Khana (place of worship) the wise men of
different religions and sects, notably Hindu
philosophers like Purushottama, Devi, and some
others; some Jaina teachers, the most prominent of
them being Hari Vijaya Suri, Vijaya Sen Suri and
Bhanuchandra Upadhayya; and Parsi priests and
Christian missionaries from Goa. He patiently
attended to the arguments of the exponents of each
faith, and went so far in relation to each religion
that different people had reasonable grounds for
affirming him to be a Zoroastrian, a Hindu, a Jaina,
Or a Christian”. But he was not converted to any of
these faiths”, “Akbar’s conception of universal
toleration was indeed a noble one, and is a brilliant
testimony to his national idealism”, “His (Akbar’s)
ideal was a grand synthesis of all that he considered
to be best in different religions – an ideal
essentially national, for which he is justly entitled
to the gratitude of posterity”.
This sagacious rule of Akbar a symbol of
ecumenism of all faiths with a comprehensive
co-operation of all the powers and forces, more
particularly the Rajput Kings, laid a foundation for
the Mogul Empire to continue at least for four
generations after him. In this background, Jahangir
and after him Shahjahan ruled five more decades
after Akbar.
It is only after the emergence of Aurangzeb on
Indian political horizon that the downfall of the
Mogul Empire started. This statement of mine may
not get the approval of some sections of society
who believe Aurangzeb to have extended the
Mogul Empire throughout India and assumed the
title of Alamgir that is ‘Conqueror of the Universe’.
But neither the message of Prophet Mohammed nor
the concept of Islam of winning of hearts of men to
attract them automatically towards conversion into
Islamic faith were followed. I emphasize, the
meaning of the word ‘Muslim’, as one who accepts
(Taslims) the message of Prophet Mohammed that
is, there is only one God and he (Allah) governs all
people with Equality, Justice and compassion
(Insaf, Masaviyath and Raham).
I would like to draw the attention of the readers that
majority of conquests made by Aurangzeb were
against Muslim Kings, Golconda, Beejapur,
Ahmed Nagar, Bengal, Khandesh (Gujarat),
Punjab and Afghanistan etc. The treachery adopted
in conquering Golconda Fort can never be claimed
to be an Islamic pride by any person who knows the
message of its Prophet. Referring to the actions of
Aurangzeb, the reputed authors of the above said
book wrote as follows, at Page No. 500 “All
seemed to have been gained by Aurangzeb now;
but in reality all was lost. It was the beginning of his
end. The saddest and most hopeless chapter of his
life now opened. “Not a single edifice, finely
written manuscript, or exquisite picture
commemorates Aurangzeb’s reign”.
Even during his life time Aurangzeb’s six sons
fought against each other with the encouragement
of Aurangzeb himself. After Aurangzeb’s death in
1707 A.D., the Mogul Empire fell asunder from his
decadent descendants, the Governors or persons in
charge of different regions began declaring
independence. Taking advantage of that situation
the East India Company, which had already been
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
26
established in India began grabbing different parts
of India culminating in the occupation of Delhi and
the imprisonment of the Emperor Bahadur Shah
Zafar himself i.e., leading to the first war of
Independence and after its failure, the
establishment of British Rule directly by the
Crown. Thus India became part of the British
Empire and all Indians its subjects! Can a true
Indian claim any pride for this phenomenon of
Indian history.
But at the same time these very tragic historical
events leading India into subjugation of British
Imperialism, had brought an awakening in the
minds of some reformists as well as revolutionaries
lead by Bankimchandra chatterjee, Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Surendra Nath Banarjee, Sir Syeed
Ahmed Khan, Dadabai Naoroji, etc., guided and
assisted by a benign Irish Civil servant, Allan
Octavian Hume, the theosophist Mrs. Annie Besant
etc. The efforts of these reformists gave birth to a
renaissance and growth of national consciousness
among Indians. Meanwhile, the American and
French Revolutions gave a great impetus to
development of the national awakening which was
based up on two fundamental principles viz., the
unity of India as a whole and the right of her people
to vote and form democratic governments.
The advent of British Rule had brought about two
directly heterogeneous historical changes in the
making of modern India. The overzealous and over
ambitious Britishers, firstly through their trading
company (East India Company) and thereafter
through direct Rule after 1858 annexed all the
territories of India (including the territories now in
Pakistan and Bangladesh) from Arunachal Pradesh
in the far East and borders of Afghanistan in the
west and from Kashmir in the North to Kanya
Kumari in South which were under the occupation
of different local chieftains, who were engaging
almost always in internal warfare and skirmishes
neglecting the welfare of the people and forgetting
the glorious past of India. It is, no doubt, true that
the method or means adopted by the Britishers in
the process of such annexation was never worthy of
any praise, much less based on any morals or ethics
or politically accepted civilized norms. It was
always by treachery and deceit. But nonetheless,
the process howsoever debased morally and
ethically, resulted in the unification of the country
as one political unit which never existed in any
period of Indian History earlier hitherto. It may not
be correct to accuse the Britishers alone of their
treachery and unethical political conduct in
conquering the sub-continent of India; we must
also admit and acknowledge the degrading and
degenerated submissive collusions of Indian
princess, or military chieftains, both Hindus and
Muslims, which contributed to the conquest of this
sub-continent by the Britishers. But, however
pathetic the story may be, the fact remains that this
vast sub-continent of India, comprising of various
races, cultures and religions became one political
unit, which did not exist at any period in earlier
Indian History.
It was perhaps this pathetic story which stirred the
hitherto slumbering conscience of Indians –
Hindus, Muslims, Parsees, Sikhs and even Indian
Christians and brought them together to fight for
freedom of this sub-continent from the humiliating
subjugation under a foreign country.
The result, as stated above, was the birth of a
renaissance but it was only after the advent of the
most charismatic revolutionary the world had ever
known, i.e., Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that
the freedom movement which was confined to
some intellectual leaders, became a massive mass
movement involving every individual,- Hindu,-
Muslim, Parsee, – men and women of all ages,
which forced the British to leave India; and India
became an independent country.
India’s becoming a sovereign, democratic, secular,
socialist republic ruled by a single Constitution is a
development about which every Indian, be a
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsee, Jain, Sikh,
speaking any language, bearing any faith and
belonging to any part in India must feel proud of
forgetting the past feuds, and mutual bickering. In
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
27
fact, the whole struggle for freedom, including
‘The First War Of Independence’ of 1857, the
period of renaissance and the popular, massive and
non-violent moment for Purna-Swaraj all were
with the participation of all sections of the Indian
population, including all prominent Muslims like
Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Mohd Ali Jinnah, Ali
Brothers, Choudhury Khaliquzzamma etc. But the
very prospect of the end of their ill-gotten and
treacherously acquired empire made the British to
invent some method of conspiracy to prevent the
advent of such a big sub-continent blossoming into
a powerful country competing; nay, posing a threat
to their very existence. Very soon they started
inventing various theories and devises to divide the
people on the basis of religion, race and culture- the
very factors which had united the people into one
nation over the period of more than thousand years.
They invented for the first time the theory that India
was not one nation but consisted of two nations i.e.,
Hindu Nation and Muslim Nation. They also
announced that the five hundred and odd princely
states in India would be free to declare their
independence once their subjugation under British
suzerainty was removed by the British Empire. The
British people and the British imperial forces could
never reconcile to the fact of loosing such a big
empire and also to the much bewildering fact of
such a vast country with such enormous resources
becoming a competitor to their hitherto domination
of the world. The imperialists, therefore, sowed the
seeds of distrust and hatred among the two
communities Hindus and Muslims leading to the
partition of the country on the basis of religion
which resulted in the largest massacre and exodus
of population, the world had never witnessed, the
memories of which are still existing in the minds of
people of both the communities in India.
Although Mahatma Gandhi tried his best to pacify
and unite the people and bring together the victims
of the massacre and exodus, he could not succeed
and was ultimately assassinated bringing shame to
the whole nation, to the whole Humanity.
Nonetheless, the brave people of India led by the
legendary leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Moulana
Abdul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel, Dr.
Rajendra Prasad, Rajagopalacharya, Dr. B.R.
Ambedhkar strove for a period of 2 years, 3
months, 11 days and ultimately gave a Constitution
to our country India i.e., Bharat declaring it as
sovereign, secular, democratic, republic resolving
to secure all to its citizens Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, Jain, Sikh, etc.
Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of
thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
Equality of status and of opportunity; and promote
among them all, Fraternity assuring the dignity of
the individual and the (unity and integrity of the
Nation).
Apart from the eloquent declaration in the
Preamble of the Constitution, the Guarantees in
Part III and Directives in Part IV of the Constitution
inspire and build confidence of safety and security
to every citizen with a further guarantee of
implementing them by Mandates issued from the
Highest Judiciary. While it cannot be gainsaid that
some selfish and short sighted groups of people
have been responsible for promoting feuds and
disturbances among our people, it must be admitted
that the State and all its organs in India, legislative,
executive and judicial have done their best to
maintain the integrity and unity of the nation.
By using the parliamentary system of Government
that is adopted by our Constitution, political parties
have been trying to make an exclusive claim of
being secular and protecting the minority
community. I earnestly request readers to
recognize that the claims are only odious, artificial
and fake. In the course of last six decades of
independence, the people of India have become
very much conscious and aware of these political
exploitations of the minority community.
I earnestly appeal to my brethren of this community
not to be led by the empty proclaims of such
political parties. This is not to deny the shameful
events of demolishing of Babri Masjid and Godhra
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
28
incident etc, but at the same time I wish to
emphasize the fact that such actions were
condemned and protested against by a vast
majority of the majority community which gave
and brought about great confidence and restored a
sense of security in a large number of the minority
community.
In this context I wish to refer to the historical events
in the earlier part of this paper the fights between
different groups of Hindu communities and also the
attacks on the Banaras and Mathura Temples. But
none of them divided the people on the basis of
religion. When occasions demanded both Hindus
and Muslims were bought together against the
mightiest imperial British force to redeem India of
its slavery.
What is more important to notice that things not
only united socially and culturally but also brought
them together at many common altars of worship
and faith? A visit to Ajmer and Saleem Chishty
Dargah shrines in Rajasthan and a visit to Dargah
Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi would make one forget
whether he is a Muslim or Hindu. Coming to our
own city, a visit to Pahadi Shariff or Jahangir
Peerain puts oneself at a loss to find out whether he
is visiting a Hindu Shrine or a Muslim Dargha. I
happened to visit a place known as Budan Shahab
Dargah at Chikmaglore in Karnataka, where I saw a
greater number of Hindus than Muslims visiting
the Dargah of Shaik Budan Shahab. Even in
Karimnagar district in the well known Shiva
Temple at Vemulavada there is a small dargah right
at the entrance where each and every Hindu
devotee who visits that temple takes the blessing of
a Muslim Sufi. At the end I wish to emphasize upon
the fact India is one unique nation of the world
where religions are culturally and socially
respected but politically exploited. So, as aware
and careful citizens of both minority and majority
communities we should stop playing in the hands
of power seekers.
[K. Prathap Reddy is senior advocate at High
Court of Andhra Pradesh. He is the Chairman of
A.V. Education Society, Andhra Mahila Abyudaya
Samiti and the President of Vigil India Movement.
91-9848055502; [email protected]]
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
29
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Academicians' & Research Scholars'
Section:
The theme of Existentialism inVikram Seth’s An Equal Music
—Bonani Misra
—Akanksha Singh
Published in 1999, An Equal Music
belongs characteristically to Vikram
Seth’s repertoire by virtue of it being stunningly
different from all his previous works. All of Seth’s
novels are one-offs and this one too is no exception.
The backdrop of the novel is the enchanted,
romantic world of Vienna and Venice, and the
subject is Western Europe’s supreme cultural
achievement: classical music. This novel examines
the impact of western classical music on the lives
and hopes and fears and final desperate choices of
its European protagonist. “Seth’s novel was
stunning by many accounts, not the least of which
was its grafting of the twin bulwark of the
European tradition-its verbal and aural inscriptions
onto the life of its thirty something protagonists,”
suggests Anjana Sharma, a critic. She continues,
“Seth tells the story of a young man’s growth and
maturation-the loss and partial recovery of his lost
love, and the loss, and the more certain recovery of
his artistic self.”1
The present paper deals with the theme of
existentialism in this novel. The term
‘existentialism’ emphasizes the idea that an
individual is in control of his own actions.
Existentialism is a philosophical theory that
stresses the existence of the individual person as a
free and responsible agent determining their own
development through acts of will. In the novel,
Michael, the protagonist is a professional musician
who leads an obsessive and neurotic life and
describes himself as “irreparably imprinted with
the die of someone else’s being.”2 This someone is
Julia and the one true love of his life. Michael is an
existential hero whose present condition is the
outcome of his deeds. Back then in Vienna, both
Michael and Julia were passionately devoted to
each other and to their music. They found that their
music complemented each other very well and
found a trio with another musician. But owing to an
irreconcilable war of wills with their stern teacher,
Karl Call, Michael who was nervy and strong
headed left Vienna and unintentionally, Julia. By
the time he recovered from his distress two months
had elapsed, and Julia, hurt beyond redemption,
was lost to him forever.
The character of Michael is a dominant portrayal of
Vikram Seth’s central concern with existentialism,
a philosophy that views each person as an isolated
being who is cast into an alien universe and
conceives the world as possessing no inherent
human truth, value or no meaning. As an existential
hero, Michael is in control of his actions or deeds
and his identity is measured by the outcome of his
deeds in which only work is given priority to the
exclusion of family and friends. Michael is
separated from his family and his beloved Julia
because of his neurotic behavior as well as
preference to his career but his segregation from
Julia makes Michael more isolated than before. An
existential critic states in this reference –“Each
individual assumes responsibility for his life
through the act of choosing between two
alternatives.”3 Michael too makes a choice out of
two sets of alternatives that stand before him-career
over family and love, artificiality over nature. It is
this very choice that becomes the predicament of
his life. As a result, he becomes alienated from
everything that surrounded him. Alienation is
crucial to existentialism because an alienated
individual is much more able to see his
surroundings.
Ten years later, where the novel begins, Michael is
earning his living in a string quartet, the Maggiore.
Michael spends his days listlessly in memory of his
beloved Julia, with only music providing an
emotional anchor and in effect, any meaning to his
life. The opening of the book sets the tone of the
novel, bringing home to the reader a loneliness that
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
30
is only briefly assuaged by long walks and
ruminations, a loneliness that clearly attracts
Michael to the dark water the wind is blowing at
him: “The branches are bare, the sky tonight a
milky violet. It is not quiet here, but it is peaceful.
The wind ruffles the black water towards me…”4
Michael’s loneliness is emphasized in
pathos-inducing descriptions in several parts of the
book. For instance, when a Sales-girl tells Michael
that he is a happy man, Michael tells the reader, “I
stared at her with such incredulity that she looked
down.” 5 This isolation is punctuated by accounts
of his tormented past, a past which constantly
haunts him, making him yearn for answers, for
absolution. His dark brooding consciousness is
reflected in his thoughts when he murmurs at pains
to unburden his travails and disillusionment with
the city of London, “London unsettles me-even
from such a height. There is no clear countryside to
view. But it is not Vienna. It is not Venice. It is not
for that matter, hometown in the north in clear
reach of moors.”6
Michael goes to London to rise in profession.
London, the essential urban cosmopolitan evinces
the existential issue of desperate unhappy people
struggling for existence. He is alone and it has been
ten years since Julia and he parted.
Through his resistance and disinclination of an
urban cosmopolitan society, London, the problem
of existentialism is reiterated and it irrevocably
brings to mind the decadent western civilization
that T.S. Eliot, in his great masterpiece, The Waste
Land had sketched. Some very unforgettable
images come alive. There is the description where-
“A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many
I had not thought death had undone so many
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.”7
The protagonist in the poem surveys London as an
unreal city and the crowd moving over London
Bridge appear as spiritually dead people of the
Waste Land going for their daily round of routine
life. Indeed everything is mechanical in the present
cosmopolitan life. There is hardly any alternative
left than to let things happen as they come. Michael
too is part of such a crowd whose dreary life
appears to move on, devoid of zest and focus. He
undoubtedly, tries to assuage his loneliness through
sexual gratification with someone he does not love
since sex appears a viable commodity in the
absence of love in modern times. Michael is also a
part of the modern society who is gripped by
feeling of loneliness and ennui on account of which
his way of thought appears erratic and meandering.
Michael is solely responsible for his present
condition. In this context, Sartre, An existential
critic comments – “Man makes himself.”8 His
melancholic consciousness is the consequence of
his deeds which is reflected in his dejected
personality. He himself realizes the dark side of his
own personality with surprising clarity. “A
volatility, a sense of resistance, of skepticism,
roughness, impulsiveness, even at times, of dark
panic, almost brainsickness.” 8
In a nut shell, it is observed that through the theory
of existentialism, Michael’s character is analyzed
truly. It is existentialism that makes Michael
realized his milieu and gradually, Michael finds
solace from his isolation in playing the music
which transforms his thoughts. Consequently,
Michael as an existential hero is alone like he was
in the beginning, but there is one important
difference - his thoughts have reached a resolution
and he is no longer troubled. He has learned
acceptance and it has brought him serenity. This
change in perspective has enabled him to come to
terms with the past, make the present bearable and
the future promising. And most essential of all, he
has realized that to be complete is an advantage, not
a necessity.
References-
1. Mohanty,Seemita-An Equal Music(a criticism).
New Delhi: Atlantic publishers,2007.print-226. A
Critical Analysis of Vikram Seth’s Art and fiction.
2. Seth,Vikram-An Equal Music. Viking Penguin
India,1999:print.166
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
31
3. Ibid-3
4. Ibid-4
5. Ibid-81
6. Sinha, Prerna- ‘The Enigma of The Modern
Man’. New Delhi: Creative Books, 2007.
print-127.Vikram Seth-A Suitable Writer (A
critical response)
7. www.d.umu.edu.
8. www.123.helpme.com
[Bonani Misra is Associate Professor & Head,
Dept. of English, R.G. (P.G.) College, Meerut
Akanksha Singh is her Ph.D. Research Scholar.
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
32
Books By M.N. ROY
Published By Renaissance Publishers,
Indian Renaissance Institute,
Oxford University Press And Others
1. POLITICS POWER AND PARTIES Rs. 90.00
2. SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY Rs.95.00
3. BEYOND COMMUNISM Rs.40.00
4. THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF ISLAM Rs.40.00
5. MEN I MET Rs.60.00
6. INDIA’S MESSAGE Rs.100.00
7. MATERIALISM Rs. 110.00
8. REVOLUTION & COUNTER REVOLUTION IN CHINA Rs. 250.00
9. REASON, ROMANTICISM AND REVOLUTION Rs.300.00
10. NEW ORIENTATION Rs 090.00
11. ISLAAM KI ETIHASIK BHOOMIKA (IN HINDI) Rs.25.00
12. HAMARA SANSKRITIK DARP (IN HINDI) Rs.40.00
13. NAV MANAVWAD (IN HINDI) Rs.90.00
14 .SAMYAWAD KE PAAR (IN HINDI) Rs.45.00
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
33
Book Review:
Afterglow—Nandita S. Kalla
[E-BOOK: Afterglow, Dr Brahm Dev, ISBN No:
9781477461457, Amazon-Kindle version, File
Size: 344 KB, Print Length: 178 pages, Sold by:
Amazon Digital Services, Inc., Language:
English, ASIN: B0082LI72W, Text-to-Speech:
Enabled]
(Cover jacket is by Dr Ankur Dev, the author’s
only son who passed away in 2013)
I had first read Afterglow in the
Amazon-Kindle version and did find it
captivating although the typos were quite
unsettling, coming from the house of Amazon.
The New Thomson Press release is thankfully free
of blemish and is also easy on the eyes. Luckily I
got to know the author at Delhi through one of my
family friend and was struck with his zest for life
coupled with an enviable literary taste in his
formidable medical arena of surgery. As a surgeon
in army he seems to have tasted life the way not
many of us can afford to; serving humanity,
surrounded by bloodshed yet full of life. Inevitably
the debut novella is a vast panoramic biopic
stretching over a full half century and more of a
green soldier and a surgeon.
The 1962 Chinese onslaught gets a first had war
theatre rendition and the dismal failure of the
military intelligence and army preparedness
combined with lopsided government level fiasco is
brought out candidly, vindicating Gen Henderson
Brooks report.
The 1965 Indo-Pak war is chronicled from the
surgeon’s tent in a forward most hospital based in
Sialkot. The VIP visit of then Information and
Broadcasting Minister Indira Gandhi accompanied
by the redoubtable yoga guru Dhirendra
Brahmachari takes one down memory lane.
“And then without a preamble we had visitors. This
time the army jonga driven by a godly man in
loincloth brought us our VIP visitor, I&B minister
Indira Gandhi. Ms Gandhi was demure and oozed
youthful charm while her secretary Mr. Fernandes
was suave and civil… Brahmchari had an air about
him and even in the wintry cold had draped himself
in the flimsiest of a dhoti…
I asked Ms Gandhi if she would care for tea. She
looked directly into my eyes and said with a smile,
“Being a good Kashmiri, I shan’t say no to tea.” Mr
Fernandes and Brahmchari joined us then, the latter
declining tea. “Only saffron and honey for me,” he
quipped. Ms Gandhi suppressed a knowing smile.
The author would live to seem to live the adage – all
if fair in love and war –and his passionate love
affair in Mount Abu with an Anglo Indian woman
brings more agony than ecstasy. Later he finds
himself posted at Chandigarh as the sole surgeon
and falls inexorably for a Sikh medico even while
being wedded to a gentle soul.
The lovely escapades of the love birds to Simla,
Srinagar and Kathmandu make for riveting
reading.
Lastly with the Saudis as their neuro-surgeon at the
King’s hospital, he paints the times and customs of
the natives vividly. He then lives through the entire
Gulf war (based close to the Iraq border) that was to
eclipse Saddam Hussein from power in an
incredible novel maneuver to bring in the US
military might in the Holy Land for good.
[Namita S. Kalla is a freelance journalist based in
Jaipur, Rajasthan, 09413341616
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
34
"Michelet did not live long enough to write his Universal History to show how history and philosophy
had been intertwined through the ages. But he had the occasion to proclaim that “all science is one:
language, literature, history, physics, mathematics and philosophy; subjects which seem to be the most
remote from one another are in reality connected, or rather they all form a single system”. So, the
organic view of history is not the result of Marx putting his master on his feet. As a matter of fact, Marx
and Engels had read Michelet, and Vico’s ideas were also not unknown to them. On the other hand, the
“new science” born at Naples had reached the German seats of learning through Leibniz, Wolff,
Herder, Lessing, Goethe and other scholars and philosophers. Not only did Herder know of Vico’s
work before he wrote his Ideas Towards the Philosophy of the History of Mankind; Vico’s influence
can be detected also in Hegel’s philosophy of history. Vico, in his turn, had read Francis Bacon’s work.
Unkind critics of the time though that the Scienza Nuova was a plagiarism Novum Organum. That was
of course, malicious; but it is a fact that Vico’s work was cast on the pattern of Bacon’s researches. It
was from the latter that Vico admittedly got the idea of applying to the study of human history the
inductive method which Bacon had recommended for the study of natural history. Grotius had made a
philological study of history, of theology and philosophy, in order to discover the universal laws of
nations. Having studied his works, Vico conceived of the possibility of applying similar methods for
discovering the general laws of history. The dynamics of ideas can be traced all the way back to the
great thinkers of the remotest antiquity. Tracing the chain of thought in modern times, one finds
Savigny recognizing a similarity between Vico’s doctrine of historical jurisprudence and his own. The
preface to Hegel’s lectures on the philosophy of history published in 1837 mentions Vico as one of the
three, the other two being Herder and Schlegel, who had treated the subject previously. The first
German translation of Vico’s Universal Law, published in 1884, carried an introduction which pointed
out the similarity of Hegel’s ideas with the doctrines of the Italian historian expounded more than a
hundred years before.”
—M.N. Roy (Reason Romanticism & Revolution, Volume 1, page 3.)
Humanist News:
I
Prabuddh Nagrik Shakti ManchNotes of the Meeting of the NGOs Dt. 23-6-2014
Recently, attempt has been made for inquiry
through I. B. on the functioning of NGOs and by
this, undue pressure has been exerted on the rights
of activists and on the NGOs.
To deliberate on the positive strategy and plan of
action in this matter, a meeting was convened on
Thursday the 19th June 2014 at Ahmadabad. In this
meeting, Suresh Mehta (Prabuddh Nagrik Shakti
Manch), Indukumar Jani (Editor – Nayamarg),
Gautam Thaker, (PUCL – Gujarat), Balendra
Vaghela (PUCL-Gujarat), Prof. Hemantkumar
Shah, Mahesh Pandya (Gujarat Social Watch),
Parsis Jinwala (JAG), Sagar Rabari (Gujarat
Khedut Samaj), Rajani Dave (Editor –
Bhoomiputra) and representatives from Congress
Party – Ex.M.P. Shri Jagdish Thakor, and Dr.
Manish Doshi had remained present.
Govt. of India has presented a report of the I.B.
before the Home Ministry to the effect that the
NGOs are engaged in anti-progress activities.
Representatives present in the meeting informed
that PUCL, Gujarat Sarvoday Mandal or the
Movement for Secular Democracy are not taking
any foreign fund or assistance. These institutes are
ready to face inquiry against any misuse of the fund
and are not at all engaged in any anti-progress
activity.
NGOs are functioning as per their ‘Objects’ to
voice people’s problems and to resolve them. This
stand of the Government was strongly opposed and
resented and it was deliberated that the NGOs shall
continue doing the tasks of mass education and
people’s awareness.
During the 2014 elections, an issue was raised
about the credibility of the EVMs. Detailed
discussions took place on the complaints received
about the defective EVMs and on the course of
actions to be taken there against. Since there was a
consensus on the susceptibility that these machines
can be tampered with, it was decided to make a
reference to the Election Commission after detailed
discussions to be made separately.
In this meeting a thought was also expressed to
reach out to the youths by making use of social
media and to collect together necessary documents.
During the discussions it has been revealed and
realized that to guard against attempts aimed at
extinction of democratic values, there is no other
remedy except to raise people’s awareness.
In the situation emerging out of changed political
scenario consequent upon 2014 elections, there is a
need of concerted and coordinated efforts by all of
us. There is no way out other than to make our fight
for human rights and well being of the deprived in
the new political dispensation or formation, more
effective.
Suresh Mehta,
Prabuddh Nagrik Shakti Manch,91-9824022677
Gautam Thaker,
PUCL – Gujarat, 91-9825382556
News sent by - Gautam Thaker
II
NAPM Response on UnionBudget and Rail Budget
a) NDA’s National Budget Pushes for Foreign
Investment, Privatisation and Offers Nothing
for Aam Aadmi-Aurat: New Delhi, July 10: The
very first budget of the NDA Govt. is certainly
brought nothing very special to the voters. As
against promise of strong government and good
governance Narendra Modi and his colleagues are
just continuing economic reforms agenda of UPA
government. No doubt budget is an exercise of
allocating financial resources not just for one year,
but with both short and long term, but certainly
speaks out the direction and new govt. It is clearly
pushing the agenda of PPP and privatization,
including the dangerous provisions of FDI in
35
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
Defence and Insurance sectors. There is neither
concern of the natural resources of the country –
land, water, forests nor any mention about the
impacts of huge projects; nor is there any
consideration for needs of aam aadmi and aurat.
Govt. and Modi seem to be in an unprecedented
haste to transfer resources from common people to
the investors to bring in money capital but take
away sources of livelihood. Who will be the real
beneficiaries and to what magnitude is not
disclosed as yet, although the signs of the same
have been revealed. This is certainly not what was
promised.
Provision of money without any realistic
assessments or mandatory clearances for the river
linking and Sardar Sarovar statue doesn’t show
either prudence or seriousness to development
planning. Unless the projects are allowed to go
through a scanner the test would be as to whether
these projects would lead to income generation
opportunity and how much?
The skewed priorities of the government are visible
from the fact that they allot 200 Cr for Sardar
Sarovar statue and 100 Crore for girl child
education and 50 Crore for women safety in public
transport. It is political gimmick and nothing much.
The budget clearly indicates that those who would
invest money will benefit and that extent the
government is surely to take forward Manmohan
Singh’s agenda, but with much more of political
and economic expediency. They have continued
the practice of revenue forgone and in this Budget
total revenue(direct and indirect
taxes) foregone from central taxes is Rs. 5,72,923.3
Crore for 2013-14, which is whopping 36% of total
expenditure of Government and can actually
fund 20 NREGA programmes.
The emphasis on industrial corridors, SEZs, hig
hways, waterways, high speed trains will all need
large scale land acquisitions, which will severely
impact the food security. On the other hand, Budget
is short on addressing the agrarian crisis and
livelihood insecurity for the farmers, its pro
agri-business and will offer no respite.
We can’t expect anything better from this
government but continuation of the same old
neo-liberal economic policies, price rise and high
inflation.
b) Response On Rail Budget: Will the Bullet
Budget hit the common commuters?
FDI with Disinvestment in the name of
Development cannot be Beneficial, Hence
Unacceptable. Commerce is the priority, not
Commuters! NDA Government’s ‘Bullet Budget’
will not only avoid stoppages en route but it also
indicates no halts to take in the common people -
Aam Aadmi & Aurat- across the country. Not just
the language but priorities to privatization as a goal
clearly suggests that the Modi model is going to
knock off the social, environmental as well as
antyodya criteria with courage, confidence but also
callousness towards the large majority of people,
not only the downtrodden but even middle class…
Not inclusive but exclusive approach towards the
toiling masses of this country will be furthered by
shocking inclusiveness towards the private
investors, not just Indian but also foreign.
Both opening up of Railways - the profit making
public sector through disinvestment on one hand,
and warning us about the need to raise fares, if not
today, (though they did raise the fares a few days
before budget, with contempt for the people and
parliament) but tomorrow, when the organized
strength in the Railways will not be there to
question these decisions. What would this mean, no
one knows but can be imagined. Disinvestment
from the sector and investment from the private
corporates in a big way is in the offing. It won’t be
limited to infrastructure alone then, although it’s
reported that Home Ministry has warned the
government against going beyond!
When Sadanand Gowda to Narendra Modi has
already set priorities by ‘bullet targets’ for bullet
train, to be met with foreign (in this, Japanese)
investment, the real cost is going to be paid by the
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
36
people of this country. The elitist priority may
shine today but it can be furthered only with a
compromise against employment generation, other
common facilities, more trains, more space for
lower classes, cheaper transport to the needy &
disadvantaged etc. Railway being one of the public
sector corporations which we are proud of, Gowda
has to take in consideration landmarks of social
justice in dealing with this. A mere promise of
social viability to be ensured along with
commercial viability without any signs of the real
balance can’t suffice nor can it satisfy those who
can read between lines.
What will happen to land oustees, when “foreign
investors can acquire land themselves &
government will only fix the rates” as declared by
the Chairman, Railway Board, one has to ask?
Mamata Banerjee’s budget was so much
categorical on such issues, promising job to the
oustees & no forcible acquisition. Gowda is quiet
on this, as also on environmental aspects. One,
however, knows that bullet train, dedicated freight
corridors have to go with large scale Industrial
corridors such as DMIC targeting as large channels
of agricultural land as 3,40,000 hectares in the first
go! The budget presentation will not bring this out
but we can’t wait till the bullet hits us all!
Cleanliness on the stations, good food through
branded companies, high tech services etc are no
doubt attractions for varied sections, especially the
aspirants of American Western paradigm in every
sector of Indian economy and governance. How
will this be achieved has to be our concern; here
and now. We, the people have to keep an eye on
every action and decision that would tell us very
soon whether there is heavy retrenchment of
present workers to bring in huge inflow of
contractors and contract laborers, beyond what is at
present. We have to wait to see whether the decade
old caterers who have served commuters without a
‘brand’ get a blow due to railways favoring brand
and grand corporate, more than McDonalds,
Comesum & Food Plazas.
Appointment of 4000 women in Railway Police
Force, cleanliness as focus and no new large
projects announcement can be welcomed provided
all this also do not prove to be moves towards
disinvestment by the state and entry of the private
players. No doubt there is a need to curtail bad
politics in Railway, as for that matter, every public
sector yet this very first budget brings out reactions
from labor unions to commuter organizations, and
points to a danger that democratic rights of workers
will be trampled in name of governance and
efficiency.
Medha Patkar - Narmada Bachao Andolan and the
National Alliance of People’s Movements
(NAPM); Prafulla Samantara - Lok Shakti
Abhiyan, NAPM, Odisha; Dr. Sunilam, Aradhna
Bhargava - Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM,
MP; Gautam Bandopadhyay – Nadi Ghati Morcha,
NAPM, Chhattisgarh; Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar,
Prasad Bagwe - NAPM, Maharashtra; Gabriel
Dietrich, Geetha Ramakrishnan – Unorganised
Sector Workers Federation, NAPM, TN; C R
Neelakandan – NAPM Kerala;Saraswati Kavula, P
Chennaiah – NAPM Andhra Pradesh, B S Rawat –
Jan Sangharsh Vahini, Rajendra Ravi, Sunita
Rani – NAPM, Delhi; Arundhati Dhuru, Richa
Singh - NAPM, UP; Sister Celia - Domestic
Workers Union, NAPM, Karnataka; Sumit
Wanjale – Ghar Bachao, Ghar Banao Andolan,
NAPM, Mumbai; Manish Gupta - Jan Kalyan
Upbhokta Samiti, NAPM, UP; Vimal Bhai - Matu
Jan sangathan, NAPM, Uttarakhand; Vilas
Bhongade - Gosikhurd Prakalpgrast Sangharsh
Samiti, NAPM, Maharashtra; Ramashray Singh -
Ghatwar Adivasi Mahasabha, Jharkhand; Anand
Mazhgaonkar, Krishnakant - Paryavaran Suraksh
Samiti, NAPM Gujarat; Kamayani Swami, Ashish
Ranjan – Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, NAPM
Bihar; Mahendra Yadav – Kosi Navnirman Manch,
NAPM Bihar.
—Madhuresh Kumar
9818905316
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
37
III
World Bank Turns Its Back onRights Protections for the Poor
Global civil society response gathers
momentum
New Delhi, July 29, 2014 – Civil society
organisations around the world are decrying a
leaked draft of the World Bank’s proposed new
policies to avoid harmful impacts from the
development projects that it finances. Despite
earlier commitments by Bank President Jim Yong
Kim that the policies would not be diluted and that
safeguards on land rights would be strengthened,
the proposed changes have gutted essential
requirements that are necessary to prevent
displacement, impoverishment, and environmental
damage. The draft policies are up for discussion by
the Bank’s board on July 30 ahead of public
consultations.
“This draft effectively winds back the clock to the
1970s, before the Bank had binding policies in
place to protect the poor and the environment. We
see nothing more than a naked attempt by the Bank
to shield itself from accountability for the
destructive impacts of the mega-projects it is
planning.” said Madhuresh Kumar, National
Organizer of the National Alliance of People’s
Movements in India.
Most shockingly, the draft policies provide an
opt-out option for governments that do not wish to
provide essential land and natural resource rights
protections to Indigenous Peoples.
Joji Carino, Director of the Forest Peoples
Programme, said “we have engaged with social and
environmental safeguard development with the
World Bank for over twenty years and have never
seen a proposal with potential for such widespread
negative impacts for indigenous peoples around the
world. The proposed ‘opt-out’ for protections for
indigenous peoples, in particular, would undermine
existing international human rights law and the
significant advances seen in respect for indigenous
peoples rights in national laws.”
The draft also weakens protections for people who
will be evicted from their homes, land and
livelihoods, increasing the risk that Bank-financed
projects will impoverish people, exacerbate
inequality and cause human rights violations. The
proposal scraps critical rules that have been in
place for thirty years requiring the Bank to take
concerted measures to avoid and minimize
displacement and for resettlement action plans
capable of restoring the livelihoods of the displaced
to be in place before committing funds to projects.
It provides multiple opportunities for borrower
governments, or even private “intermediary”
banks, to use their own standards for impact
assessment, compensation and resettlement,
without clear criteria on when and how this would
be acceptable.
Theodore Downing, President of the International
Network on Displacement and Resettlement, a
14-year old network of involuntary resettlement
professionals, said “the proposed changes
eviscerate existing international standards –
knowingly placing millions of people at risks of
impoverishment.”
“The Bank is trying to exonerate itself from all
responsibility for the devastating effects of the
displacement it finances, while giving private
equity funds to some of the world’s most abusive
governments unfettered discretion to uproot the
poor as they fit,” said David Pred, Managing
Director of Inclusive Development International.
Land titling projects are exempted from the
coverage of the draft resettlement policy. This will
leave affected communities completely
unprotected from forced eviction by their
government, as happened in the case of
Cambodia’s Boeung Kak Lake community whose
homes were demolished after they were deemed
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
38
not to have ownership rights under a Bank-titling
project.
“If this policy is adopted, many communities
around the world will be forcibly evicted like mine
was, and they will not be able to seek any recourse
from the Bank,” said Tep Vanny, a community
leader from Boeung Kak Lake. After filing a
complaint with the World Bank’s Inspection Panel
about the controversial project, Tep Vanny and
local organisations finally secured title for
hundreds of families that were previously
threatened with eviction. With the proposed
changes to the Bank’s policy, that would not have
been possible.
Despite the growing land-grabbing crisis
displacing countless indigenous communities,
small farmers, fisher-folk and pastoralists
throughout the global south, the draft policy fails to
incorporate any serious protections to prevent
Bank funds from supporting land-grabs.
“In Ethiopia, World Bank funds have been used to
facilitate one the world’s biggest land grabs, with
the indigenous populations of entire regions being
uprooted to make way for agro-industrial
investments. We had hoped that the new safeguards
would include strong requirements to prevent
governments like Ethiopia from abusing its people
with Bank funds, but we are shocked to see the
Bank instead opening the flood-gates for more
abuses,” said Obang Metho, Executive Director of
the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia.
Not only is the current draft an unconscionable
weakening, it is a complete misrepresentation of
two years of consultations with civil society. The
Bank’s Board must not endorse this draft, and at a
minimum must insist that these fundamental
loopholes be addressed before the next round of
consultations,” said Sasanka Thilakasiri, Policy
Advisor for Oxfam International.
97non-governmental organizations and civil
society networks and 17 distinguished individuals
from Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, North
America and Europe sent a statement to the World
Bank’s Board yesterday, demanding that the draft
be sent back to the drawing board and re-written
with serious safeguards to respect and protect the
land, housing and livelihood rights of the poor.
News Source URL:
http://www.hastakshep.com/english/news-1/wo
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THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
39
"The crisis of our time is a moral crisis. To understand the problems of that crisis, let us take the
pragmatic approach. Indeed, we need not start with the assumption that there is a crisis. Our point of
departure should be a critical review of the contemporary world situation. It is that situation which has
compelled many thinking people to re-examine the philosophical moorings and theoretical premises
guiding their views on social and political problems, and led to the conclusion that there is indeed a
crisis. These are problems which until now were left to the tender mercies of academicians, but they
confront us today not as problems of pure thought, not merely as academic problems to be treated with
pure logic in abstraction, but as realities of actual life."
—M.N. Roy (Politics, Power & Parties, p.15)
THE RADICAL HUMANIST AUGUST 2014
40
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