|
|
| Hot issues of Today |
|
|
|
| Archives |
|
|
|
| Mahatma Gandhi tag to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act |
| 
|
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the UPA government�s flagship job scheme that provides 100 days of work in a financial year to every rural household, will now be called the Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The new name will be unveiled on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Friday, a rural development ministry official told HT. Thursday�s cabinet approval paves the way for the government to bring an ordinance to adopt the new name, which will be ratified by Parliament during its winter session in November.
The name change is aimed at preventing state governments from taking credit for the scheme. The Centre has expressed concern over attempts by opposition-ruled states � particularly by UP chief minister Mayawati and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar � to publicise NREGA as their own programme by printing their pictures on the job cards.
The Congress is seeking a revival in both these states.
Senthil comments -
Actually, the very concept of this NREGA is flawed. This programme can be rightly called as Rural Destruction programme. IF we see all the works done under this scheme, all are like putting a pinch of salt in the sea. None of them are really productive work, nor it helps the community or the people.
The detrimental effect is that, NREGA collapses the work ethics of the people. WIth Rs.2 per kg rice scheme, and 100 days NREGA, most of the workers, lost the incentive to work. Two days of work is enough to buy the rice at 2/kg. So for any agricultural work, they dont come forward to work..
There is no accountability in these works. Just for the sake of work, some unproductive works are chosen. In normal course of society, when a land owner employs the workers, he expects a productive work, and a result at the end of the day.
In case of NREGA, there is no ownership of the scheme or the work undertaken. The workers usually work in a complete leisure, and lethargic. In my region, in many villages, simply a layer of clay for around .5 to 1 feet is scrapped and then this work is added to NREGA scheme.
The fate of farmers is now left to fend for themselves. Everyone knows that agriculture is a labour intensive work, even when machinery is used. By driving away from farmers, the very fundamental of our society gets broken.
Its akin to giving incentive to factory workers not to work there. What if the government comes up with a plan to provide employment to all IT employees, with 10% higher salary than the current one, along with reducing the dollar value. The present NREGA scheme is like that.
The government considers people as only votebanks, and NOT as a society. That's why, it doesnt care how much the farmers suffer or commit suicide.
I often suspect that this very scheme itself is a conspiracy.. by driving away workers away from farmers, it will make farming unsustainable. THis will force farmers also to move away from agriculture, which will create a food crisis. By artificially creating a food crisis, the government plans to take over land in the guise of Special Agricultural Zone, without any resistance. A sure plan to alter the very fundamentals of our society from diverse participatory one, to a corporate one like america.. a kind of medieval european fuedal society is being created.
__._,_.___
To post your articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required. Visit now @ http://india.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
| Vedanta Chimney Disaster - Govt issues look-out notices against Chinese workers of Balco plant |
|
|
Dear all,
As was feared, the nexus of the state with the Balco is established by the fact that they have allowed the chinese team to flee. The act of the government to bolt the stable after horses have run away. Shame on such governance. Moral of rulers going down to gutters. I have rasied the matter again and again that those who should be behind the bars are protected by none other than the state government. They were not only escorted out of Korba but were provided shelter at Community Centre at Bilaspur under police protection. They sliped out in groups to Raipur under the cover of the night, reports suggests that they stayed at posh Hotel Babylon at Raipur and from there to Raipur Airport where they have boarded the flight to New Delhi and Kolkatta to flee the country.
I share here below the news published online in Indianexpress.com
Pravin Patel
The government has issued country-wide look-out circulars (LOC) at all airports and ports of exit against 89 Chinese engineers and workmen employed at the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) thermal power plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, where a chimney collapse on September 23 left more than 45 dead.
The government has given the passport details of these Chinese personnel to immigration authorities and asked them to ensure that they do not leave the country and assist the police investigations into the incident if required.
New Delhi was forced to issue the LOC after all the 89 Chinese personnel, employed by Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO), China, for the construction of the thermal plant for BALCO, fled Korba after the chimney collapsed.
On Friday night, the immigration authorities at the IGIA airport in Delhi intercepted four Chinese engineers trying to board a flight to Beijing. These engineers were directed to report to the Superintendent of Police, Korba, and asked not to leave the country till the statements of those involved are taken.
This step by New Delhi has raised an alarm in Beijing with Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan seeking an urgent meeting with Joint Secretary (East Asia) Vijay Gokhale on Saturday and complaining about Chinese workers being held in India. However, New Delhi explained its position to Ambassador Zhang as 70 persons are feared dead in the tragedy and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has already ordered a judicial inquiry.
The Chhattisgarh police has already questioned eight Chinese employees of SEPCO in connection with the case registered against the company following the collapse of the chimney.
"We had detained eight Chinese staff, including three women, from the airport following a communication from the Korba superintendent of police to the airport officials that they could be required in connection with the investigations," Raipur district superintendent of police Amit Kumar said. "After questioning, the Korba police finally cleared them and said that they were no longer required (for the investigation)", he said, adding that all of them left for New Delhi by the evening flight.
A large number of Chinese employees, mostly engineers, had fled Korba fearing that workers and even locals could attack them after the chimney at the power plant site, which was being constructed by the Chinese company, collapsed. Initially, many of them checked into hotels at Bilaspur and Raipur from where they moved to Delhi and Kolkata, police sources said. Police have registered a case against BALCO, SEPCO and Gannon Dunkerly and Company Limited (GDCL). Police said GDCL staff, too, fled Korba, fearing a backlash.
As many as 45 bodies have been so far retrieved from the debris and operations for clearing the debris would take 24 more hours.
__._,_.___
To post your messages, articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required.
NFI broadcasts public submitted multi-media contents on more than thirty websites like http://forum.ozg.in | http://hot-debate.ozg.in | http://india-forum.ozg.in | http://india.ozg.in
NFI Posting Policy - http://india.ozg.in/2009/07/national-forum-of-india.html
http://Delhi.ozg.in http://Bombay.ozg.in http://Kolkata.ozg.in http://Chennai.ozg.in http://bangalore.ozg.in
http://Andhra.ozg.in http://Arunachal.ozg.in http://Assam.ozg.in http://Bengal.ozg.in http://Bihar.ozg.in
http://Chhattisgarh.ozg.in http://Goa.ozg.in http://Gujarat.ozg.in http://Haryana.ozg.in http://Himachal.ozg.in
http://Jammu-Kashmir.ozg.in http://Jharkhand.ozg.in http://Karnataka.ozg.in http://Kerala.ozg.in
http://Madhya-Pradesh.ozg.in http://Maharashtra.ozg.in http://Manipur.ozg.in http://Meghalaya.ozg.in
http://Mizoram.ozg.in http://Nagaland.ozg.in http://Orissa.ozg.in http://Punjab.ozg.in http://Rajasthan.ozg.in
http://Sikkim.ozg.in http://Tamilnadu.ozg.in http://Tripura.ozg.in http://Uttarakhand.ozg.in http://Uttar-Pradesh.ozg.in
->-> REGIONAL MUSIC N MOVIE LINKS <-<-
http://Arunachali.ozg.in http://Assamese.ozg.in http://Bengali.ozg.in http://Bhojpuri.ozg.in http://Chhattisgarhi.ozg.in
http://Gujarati.ozg.in http://Kannada.ozg.in http://Haryanavi.ozg.in http://Himachali.ozg.in http://Jharkhandi.ozg.in
http://Kashmiri.ozg.in http://Malayalam.ozg.in http://Konkani.ozg.in http://Maithili.ozg.in http://Manipuri.ozg.in
http://Marathi.ozg.in http://Oriya.ozg.in http://Punjabi.ozg.in http://Santali.ozg.in http://Kurukh.ozg.in
http://Mizo.ozg.in http://Tamil.ozg.in http://Telugu.ozg.in http://Rajasthani.ozg.in http://Uttarakhandi.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
| Demolishing the walls of hate |
|
|
India is going to celebrate 141st birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, on 2nd October. His teachings on non-violence and the message to demolish the walls of hatred has become more relevant today as the country has witnessed terrorists' attack in different strategic locations at Mumbai and the month-long communal violence in Kandhamal has tarnished the peaceful image of Orissa in the last one year.
The continuous terrorist attacks at Mumbai, Ajmer, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other places in the country has projected a negative image of Muslims. All Muslims cannot be terrorists. Similarly, the Hindus, who resort to planting bombs are not saints. All Christians cannot be angels. Ironically, the walls of hate have been built in this country amongst all the faiths and communities thanks to growth of fanaticism and religious chauvinism unleashed by vested interests having a say in our collective religious lives.
Swami Vivekanand had said, "Every religion is a statement of God." If every religion is a god-given statement and if the goal of all religions is the same, where is the need of unleashing a terror in the name of religion? How can there be an Islamic terrorist or Hindu terrorist or even a Christian terrorist? Who have coined all these phrases? How can there be a religious hiatus? How can a Temple of God or Masjid of Allah or a Church of Jesus be the devil's workshop?
If any self proclaimed god's representative on this earth does it, I think we should lynch him or her without having any mercy. Does it mean, I give a call that we should take law in our own hands? Can in a civilized society, I say let us wield guns to kill the devils like naxals are doing in Orissa and elsewhere? Am I sure who I call a devil is a devil? My answer to all these questions is an emphatic - NO.
All these I say in the context of terrorism, which troubles you, me and all of us and in fact most parts of this country are under the fear of attack of terror. Terrorism in the name of religion is an out come of intense sense of hate. Vandalizing churches in Kandhamal or any other religious institutions is also an outcome of hate. Cities after cities are burning. In the name of Naxalism, hundreds of criminals are throwing challenge to the government killing police officers and common innocent people just giving them a bad name. These criminals are getting support in the name of ideology, getting money to unleash terror in the jungles. Where from do they get money to continue with their diabolical activities? Is it just the looted amount from the rich or that they are being funded by some sources which are working against the interest of the country? If they are so patriotic and lover of the people, what prevents them to come forward to take care of their own country and become leaders. Violence cannot be a means to achieve any salutary end howsoever glorious that may be.
Is it not correct that in their love for jungle-raj, Innocent people are being mercilessly killed? It is a war against the government. It is a challenge to the civil society? Every body in this country is condemning terrorism. We see terrorism with a jaundiced eye. We term an act of terror as Islamic terror or Hindu terror or Christian terror. And then we go on to blame the government of the day. If a Mumbai like incident happens killing three hundred people, we take out procession wielding candle lights to claim that we are Indians. We shout slogans "jo hamse takraiega voh chur chur ho jayega." little realizing that we are never strong and emotionally united.
Though a good number of voters from among us do not vote, they talk of the requirement of stringent laws. They hate politicians but go to them for favour when they get caught for offending the laws. In most cases police is approached for favour by offenders themselves through powerful public representatives. If my neighbour's house is a haven of terrorists, I do not dare to inform police about it least my family will be in trouble. I do not realize that I am the next person in the queue for the chopping block.
What have we learnt from experience? Can police stop terrorism? Can government stop terrorism? Can law stop terrorism? If our collective wisdom finds an answer in "Yes"- then I would say we are irrational.
I put a situation to all of uscan there be a vacuum in the air or water? The moment, vacuum is created, water or air gush in to that vacuum. Tradition has it that when a state / kingdom becomes weak, the neighbouring powerful kingdoms attempt to invade it and annex it. This has been the history of the world, particularly the sub-continent that we call India or Bharat today.
Over 500 small and big kingdoms fought among themselves for centuries together and thus became prone to attack from forces those came from beyond the Sindhu river. Foreign invasions continued unabated. Countries became weaker economically. The trend continued. Status quo-ists representing higher class always remained the beneficiaries in any given period. The back bone of this great land was the spiritualism (love for gods and goddesses) but it received shocks because of spread of hate by one religion against another. The flourishing culture of the Gupta era in the third century gradually collapsed and there has been a decline in all spheres be it art, culture or languages. India continued to fight foreign elements particularly in the last thousand years.
In 1947, British left. We got independence. We gave a constitution to ourselves. We became a biggest democracy of the world. But we failed to give ourselves the much desired identity - a sense of being Indian. We continued to be divided emotionally. We feel being Indians when we are abroad with our passport. We feel being Indians when there is a war or a cricket match. We feel being Indian when there is a picture like Laggan or Chak De or Border but that is for the purpose of a temporary entertainment.
We have a democracy. We are duty bound to elect our own leaders so that we govern ourselves. Yet we were taught to hate politics. By doing so we prevented good people from entering politics. Ultimately unwanted people got into politics. When they fail to give results, we blame the government ignoring the fact we ourselves are responsible for the failure. When the leaders or managers of a democracy are not competent and committed to the purpose they are elected, then anarchy is bound to visit. Government is bound to face challenges from within in the form of terrorism in White and Red.
White terrorism involves the babus, bureaucrats, politicians and contractors who eat the vitals of the institution they are serving and close their eyes for every thing around. For them country India is not important- what is important is their money, monthly salary, happy-home, luxury and extra perks (illegitimate income). These people justify taking money for any thing and every thing be it taking a ration card, birth certificate or movement of a file from one table to another table. Is it not terrorism when a pensioner does not get pension money merely because he does not have money to satisfy the greed of a Babu.
Thousands of people are dying of heart-attacks and shocks on account of harassment from the government offices. And, Orissa still remains one of the poorest states because of the large scale corruption as the funds allocated for the development of the poor people is being eaten away by the corrupt government officials and politicians.
The other form is Red that involves criminals in the name of Islamic terrorists or radical Hindus or rich and powerful Christians- who never mind to see the picture of the dead in the pools of blood and taking credit in the number of deaths they count. While the first one comes from one's selfishness, the second one comes from the intense hate.
In fact both corruption and terrorism are behavioral disorders and these cannot be stopped by enforcement of laws. Laws can be enforced only if the citizens approve of it. In Delhi, building bye-laws are being violated every day by educated residents, police and Municipal Corporation officials. Smoking is banned in Delhi but police officers themselves are found smoking at public places. Therefore, behavioural disorders cannot be corrected unless there is pressure from the social milieu.
This means terrorism and corruption shall continue unabated until our house (read country) continues to be divided. Today, our house is not in order. How would we bring order to our house?
There has to be an intense sense of hate against the activity such as terrorism and corruption.. This intense sense of hate can be fostered only when there is a collective programme involving each and every individual and that programme has to be a celebration that people must enjoy. This will bring in the much desired order to our house. But how can it be done?
Yes It can be done, by inculcating a sense of belonging to the house in each individual and the house is our country. The answer is we must love our own nation. Once we get united emotionally, we can fight any thing and everything that comes in the way of our nation's progress. We need a mechanism or instrument that can keep us united and that instrument could be a powerful weapon to create a sense of hate against terrorism and corruption. What could be the nature of that instrument? That must be an instrument which does not hurt any good citzen's sentiment irrespective of his or her social and religious identity. That instrument must take care of the common interest of every body against terror. That must wake up the cynics (selfish educated) from the deep slumber to make them aware of their own responsibility. That must aim at addressing a problem common to all of us and for this we require an electrifying moment. What gives us electrifying moment?
Glory gives us electrifying moment. It may come to us in form of a victory in war, windfall in money, power or an award in respect of an achievement. Country's glory comes mostly in victory in wars or contests or festivals. There are two types of festivals. One you bask in glory for the past achievements and the other is a festival of commitment. Festival of commitment includes EID, Rakhi, Garva Chauth in North India and Savitri brat in Orissa among other festivals and the other one is Independence Day, Dusshera or Janmastami.
Now what I am indicating is a festival of commitment to the country. It has to be a festival across the country involving all Indians at one point of time. For this festival there has to be a mantra for all people. That mantra has to in the people's language and in fact in one's own mother tongue. That mantra is the pledge of allegiance to the constitution which rules supreme and which is our true national religion. We have tried to draft that mantra to say "we the people of India today do solemnly pledge ourselves to the service of our nation with honesty, sincerity and commitment, always keeping our nation's interest paramount in all that we think do or say for the greater glory of this land." This is in circulation in a large number of educational institutions. This is being appreciated by lawyers in Delhi. We are now drafting the pledge in all Indian languages and making ourselves ready for the big moment and the biggest movement. If this gives us the desired yield then what are we going to achieve? Please see:
1. The biggest campaign to promote Indian-ness.
2. The first pledge of allegiance to the constitution.
3. The biggest campaign to hate corruption and its ugly face called terrorism.
4. The first national festival in the true sense.
5. The first national event involving all Indians in unison.
6. The first national event involving all religious institutions
7. The first stepping stone to a cultural renaissance.
8. The first movement which gives equal importance to all languages, all individuals, all faiths.
9. It will be the biggest secular festival in the country to be celebrated religiously.
10. It will be the first major step in the country to demolish the walls of hate amongst different faiths.
Two pertinent questions often come to me. The questioner asked, "I am little worried about playing the nationalism card over and above the call to be a true Indian - tolerant, living with the cherished values of ahimsa, and the values taught by a long lineage of sages and seers of this land. Does the nationalism call not worry you? And the answer is why should this nationalism call worry any body? We say one should be tolerant, live a life with cherished value of ahimsa and stick to moral values. This is what we say in the pledge itself. You love your nation does not mean you hate another. It is a call to the whole humanity to love one's own soil and people. Anybody cannot and never talk of violence in any form.
The other question - what was the need to involve religious institutions in a national pledge festival activity which is more political in nature? And the answer is we are talking of a celebration of our commitment to the country. In fact such a thing involving all religions for our country has never happened in India. Religious bodies need not affect their regular temple / mosque / church or other institutional rituals.
All that these institutions need to do is to make people alert by beating drums from temples, sending out the clarion call from masjids, and through the pealing of church bells, and the like, so that people can be alerted about taking the pledge. Since there are religious shrines in every village and hamlet and city and corner of India, this will take the message to even remotest village in the country and involve each and every household. The Pledge Festival will evolve as a festival of commitment to the country to be reiterated by each and every citizen. Even those who would not like to empathize with or participate in such a festival will get the message and ask themselves about their roles in this sense of belonging to the country.
For thousand years, India has been seeing bloodshed owing to religious fanaticism and the religious institutions which have been shaping the civilizations at times jumped the rails. The consequences have been terrible and gory. When our religious bodies talk of tolerance, they themselves become parties to instigate violence by one community against another. Today our intellectuals have forgotten that collectively religious institutions can form the most powerful institution which can really play a great role in fostering social harmony and love among the people.
Let all the religions join together for this common cause that people must hate Terrorism and Corruption. All religions preach the value of love. In the court of God, Ram, Allah and Jesus, there cannot be any place of hate against civilization. Hence, let this be our message on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti to all the religious institutions that they help us to demolish the walls of hate amongst the communities and let us unitedly work to make this a reality.
Biraja Mahapatra
__._,_.___
To post your messages, articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required.
NFI broadcasts public submitted multi-media contents on more than thirty websites like http://forum.ozg.in | http://hot-debate.ozg.in | http://india-forum.ozg.in | http://india.ozg.in
NFI Posting Policy - http://india.ozg.in/2009/07/national-forum-of-india.html
http://Delhi.ozg.in http://Bombay.ozg.in http://Kolkata.ozg.in http://Chennai.ozg.in http://bangalore.ozg.in
http://Andhra.ozg.in http://Arunachal.ozg.in http://Assam.ozg.in http://Bengal.ozg.in http://Bihar.ozg.in
http://Chhattisgarh.ozg.in http://Goa.ozg.in http://Gujarat.ozg.in http://Haryana.ozg.in http://Himachal.ozg.in
http://Jammu-Kashmir.ozg.in http://Jharkhand.ozg.in http://Karnataka.ozg.in http://Kerala.ozg.in
http://Madhya-Pradesh.ozg.in http://Maharashtra.ozg.in http://Manipur.ozg.in http://Meghalaya.ozg.in
http://Mizoram.ozg.in http://Nagaland.ozg.in http://Orissa.ozg.in http://Punjab.ozg.in http://Rajasthan.ozg.in
http://Sikkim.ozg.in http://Tamilnadu.ozg.in http://Tripura.ozg.in http://Uttarakhand.ozg.in http://Uttar-Pradesh.ozg.in
->-> REGIONAL MUSIC N MOVIE LINKS <-<-
http://Arunachali.ozg.in http://Assamese.ozg.in http://Bengali.ozg.in http://Bhojpuri.ozg.in http://Chhattisgarhi.ozg.in
http://Gujarati.ozg.in http://Kannada.ozg.in http://Haryanavi.ozg.in http://Himachali.ozg.in http://Jharkhandi.ozg.in
http://Kashmiri.ozg.in http://Malayalam.ozg.in http://Konkani.ozg.in http://Maithili.ozg.in http://Manipuri.ozg.in
http://Marathi.ozg.in http://Oriya.ozg.in http://Punjabi.ozg.in http://Santali.ozg.in http://Kurukh.ozg.in
http://Mizo.ozg.in http://Tamil.ozg.in http://Telugu.ozg.in http://Rajasthani.ozg.in http://Uttarakhandi.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
| Communalizing History: Shivaji and Afzal Khan |
|
|
The assembly elections have been declared in Maharashtra, and with this the atmosphere is heating up politically. In this state there have been substantial number of farmer's suicides, all over there are serious issues related to rising prices, unemployment and other problems of daily life. But it seems that some political parties in Maharashtra are not much concerned about these core issues of society and seem to be more interested in the identity issues emerging from the past. Recently (September 3rd, 2009) tension developed in Miraj, Sangli and neighboring areas during Ganesh festival. This is the major festival of the state. During the festival trouble began with the erection of an arch on the route of Ganesh Visarjan, this arch depicted the slaying of Afzal Khan by Shivaji. Anticipating trouble due to the communal polarization around Shivaji and Afzal Khan, to maintain peace, the police removed the arch. Protesting against this removal of the arch some Ganesh Mandals decided not to immerse the Ganpati idols till the arch was restored. This is what led to the violence in due course, in which one person died and five got injured.
BJP leadership condemned the Governments' step of removing the arch. Shiv Sena leader asserted that they will put posters of Shivaji slaying Afzal Khan all over the state and stated that had Shivaji been not there all of us would have been reading Namaz! The state administration did control the situation but since by now lot of emotive appeal has been generated around Shivaji it was an easy job. Few years ago during the previous Parliamentary elections, the same parties had tried to organize the procession to demolish the tomb of Afzal Khan. Fortunately at that time it was brought to people's notice that this tomb was built by Shivaji himself and the matters came to a rest, but not before it created lot of bad blood. The matters related to Shivaji are very sensitive in Maharashtra, the state administration has even planned to construct the statue of Shivaji in the Arabain sea, costing thousands of crores, from public exchequer, at the cost other public necessities.
As a matter of fact, Shivaji is popular amongst people, not because he was anti Muslim or worshipper of Cows and Brahmins, but because he reduced the taxation on the poor peasants. Shivaji adopted humane policy in all the aspects of his administration, which did not base itself on the religion. In the recruitment of his soldiers and officers for army and navy, religion was no criterion and more than one third of his army consisted of Muslims. The supreme command of his navy was with Siddi Sambal, and Muslim Siddis were in navy in large numbers. Interestingly his major battles were fought against the Rajput army lead by Raja Jaisingh, who was in the administration of Aurangzeb. When Shivaji was detained at Agra forte, of the two men on whom he relied for his eventual escape, one was a Muslim called Madari Mehtar. His confidential secretary was Maulana Haider Ali and the chief of his cannon division was Ibrahim Gardi. Rustom-e-Jamaan was his bodyguard.
His respect for other religions was very clear and he respected the holy seers like 'Hazarat Baba Yaqut bahut Thorwale', whom he gave the life pension and also he helped Father Ambrose, whose church was under attack in Gujarat. At his capital Raigad, he erected a special mosque for Muslim devotees in front of his palace in the same way that he built the Jagadishwar temple for his own daily worship.
During his military campaigns Shivaji had issued strict instructions to his men and officers that Muslim women and children should not be subjected to maltreatment. Mosques and Dargah's were given due protection. He also ordered that whenever a copy of Koran came into the hands of his men, they should show proper respect to the book and hand it over to a Muslim. The story of his bowing to the daughter-in-law of Bassein's Nawab is well known to all. When she was brought as a part of the loot and offered to him, he respectfully begged her pardon and asked his soldiers to reach her back from the place from where she was forcibly brought in. Shivaji was in no way actuated by any hatred towards people of other religions.
As a matter of fact he had great respect for holy people of all religions. All this goes on to show the values of communal harmony which Shivaji pursued, and that his primary goal was to establish his own kingdom with maximum possible geographical area. To project him as anti-Muslim and anti-Islam is travesty of truth. Neither was Afzal Khan an anti Hindu king. When Shivaji killed Afzal Khan, Afzal Khan's secretary Krishnaji Bhasker Kulkarni attacked Shivaji with a sword.
Today communal forces are out to 'use' Shivaji issue, to communalize the same for their political goals. In Maharashtra, Shivaji Afzal Khan have been projected as Hindu and Muslim kings. From amongst all the possible pictures of Shivaji, why is the one related to Afzal Khan is chosen? One can also show the pictures of his Pratapgadh fort with Afzal Khans tomb in that, one can show Shivaji paying respect to the Mazar of Madari Mehtar, a Muslim prince, who helped him to escape from Agra? The very selection of this picture is to divide the communities along religious lines. Communal interpretation of History, Communal historiography has been the major tool in the arsenal of communal forces. Minorities should not react to such things and try to call for peace with all the communities all the time. Now we are witnessing this pattern of history being used to communalize the society, to create sectarian divides in society. What is needed is to overcome these communal angles, to undermine identity issues, to build the Indian nation. We need to look at historical icons, as kings ruling for power, rather then the representatives of a particular religion.
Ram Puniyani
__._,_.___
To post your messages, articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required.
NFI broadcasts public submitted multi-media contents on more than thirty websites like http://forum.ozg.in | http://hot-debate.ozg.in | http://india-forum.ozg.in | http://india.ozg.in
NFI Posting Policy - http://india.ozg.in/2009/07/national-forum-of-india.html
http://Delhi.ozg.in http://Bombay.ozg.in http://Kolkata.ozg.in http://Chennai.ozg.in http://bangalore.ozg.in
http://Andhra.ozg.in http://Arunachal.ozg.in http://Assam.ozg.in http://Bengal.ozg.in http://Bihar.ozg.in
http://Chhattisgarh.ozg.in http://Goa.ozg.in http://Gujarat.ozg.in http://Haryana.ozg.in http://Himachal.ozg.in
http://Jammu-Kashmir.ozg.in http://Jharkhand.ozg.in http://Karnataka.ozg.in http://Kerala.ozg.in
http://Madhya-Pradesh.ozg.in http://Maharashtra.ozg.in http://Manipur.ozg.in http://Meghalaya.ozg.in
http://Mizoram.ozg.in http://Nagaland.ozg.in http://Orissa.ozg.in http://Punjab.ozg.in http://Rajasthan.ozg.in
http://Sikkim.ozg.in http://Tamilnadu.ozg.in http://Tripura.ozg.in http://Uttarakhand.ozg.in http://Uttar-Pradesh.ozg.in
->-> REGIONAL MUSIC N MOVIE LINKS <-<-
http://Arunachali.ozg.in http://Assamese.ozg.in http://Bengali.ozg.in http://Bhojpuri.ozg.in http://Chhattisgarhi.ozg.in
http://Gujarati.ozg.in http://Kannada.ozg.in http://Haryanavi.ozg.in http://Himachali.ozg.in http://Jharkhandi.ozg.in
http://Kashmiri.ozg.in http://Malayalam.ozg.in http://Konkani.ozg.in http://Maithili.ozg.in http://Manipuri.ozg.in
http://Marathi.ozg.in http://Oriya.ozg.in http://Punjabi.ozg.in http://Santali.ozg.in http://Kurukh.ozg.in
http://Mizo.ozg.in http://Tamil.ozg.in http://Telugu.ozg.in http://Rajasthani.ozg.in http://Uttarakhandi.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
| Goli maar do, but we will never go back |
|
|
Rana Ram carries a bit of his pained past in a weathered wallet that's always close to him. It's a photocopy of a grainy clipping from an Urdu newspaper that shows a woman and her child. The caption reads: 'Impressed by Islam, the woman with the baby became a Muslim'.
"This isn't true,'' says Rana, a lean man with expressive eyes. For the last 18 months, he has been crying himself hoarse that the newspaper lied. "No, that's not why Samdi Mai, my wife of 10 years, changed her religion. Ever since my father-in-law switched his faith, we were under pressure from the maulvis and others to become Muslims too."
But Rana, of Sadiqabad tehsil in Pakistan Punjab's Rahimyar Khan district, resisted. Then one day, when he was away tending goats, a fleet of cars filled with bearded men arrived at his house. On his return, he found his wife gone. The 30-year-old farmhand rushed to the police station only to be told that his wife had converted of her own will.
Someone passed on a message a few days later. It said, "To get her back, you also must become a believer."
Rana, though, wasn't ready to give up. He managed to get back his three-year-old daughter at a village 'court' after paying off the decision-makers. But his wife was 'out of the question'. That's when he decided to take the weekly Thar Express to Rajasthan.
Over the past four years, more than 4,000 Hindus have come to India from Pakistan, hoping never to return. A majority says they lived in constant fear of losing their religion, of worrying that their daughters would be dragged away and converted to Islam. Whenever such traumatic incidents occurred, local authorities just looked away. It was simply a question of 'us' and 'them'.
Laxmi Ram, daughter-in-law of Arjan Ram from Punjab's Bahawalpur district, says her uncle's seven-year-old daughter was abducted and that's the last they saw of her. Kewal Ram, from Punjab's Rahimyar Khan district, says his sister's daughter was converted to Islam by a locally influential man after her husband's death. "I went to every authority, two top minority leaders, one a Hindu, the other a Parsi. But nothing happened. That's when I decided to leave Pakistan, the only home I had known."
Displaced people like Kewal Ram now live in wretched settlements in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer. And though they are disappointed with the local authorities' attitudes, they say, "Goli maar do, par wapas nahin jayenge."
This exodus from Pakistan is not new. During the 1965 and 1971 wars, Hindus arrived in steady streams from across the border. "The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 sparked a violent reaction in Pakistan, forcing many Hindus to flee. In the following years, the rise of extreme fundamentalism in Pakistan further ensured that migration continued," says H S Sodha, president, Seemant Lok Sangathan, which works for refugees across Rajasthan.
The latest rush started around 2007. Refugees say fundamentalism has grown dramatically in Pakistan's Punjab. Dina Ram, who now lives in Jaisalmer's Bhil Basti, says older Muslims were more understanding towards minorities. "The younger boys are more fanatical," says this former resident of Rahimyar Khan. And it is not the Taliban at work.
Like Rana Ram, many of the displaced come from Sadiqabad tehsil. Its Rahim Yaar Khan district is too far away for the followers of Baitullah Mehsud, based in Pakistan's remote northwest. Rather, refugees say, a general pro-conversion social climate prevails in rural Punjab that encourages even shopkeepers, neighbours and schoolteachers to urge Hindus to convert. Allurements ("Tumhari shaadi kara denge"), taunts ("Why do you worship idols?"), fear ("Tum dozakh mein jaoge") and veiled threats ("Tumhare liye yehi accha rahega") â?" every ploy is used to make them cross over to Islam.
There's a class dimension to the problem too. The refugees are among the poorest of the poor. Many originally belong to Rajasthan's border districts; their ancestors had moved westward in search of employment before Partition. Most worked as farmhands for zamindars and then were forced out. Dhapobai from Bahawalpur district, who now lives on Jodhpur's outskirts, says her family changed home 25-30 times. Being rootless, they are at the mercy of the local powers: zamindars and maulvis. Class exploitation combines with religious bigotry to force them to quit Pakistan.
About 100 displaced families live in Kali Beri, 20 km northwest of Jodhpur. The settlement looks like a half-excavated Stone Age ruin abandoned by archeologists. Thorny vilayati babools are everywhere, but there is no sign of toilets, electricity or hope. "Every family has a malaria patient," says Goman Lal, a resident since 1997. "The men work in the stone quarries and do 10-12 hours of backbreaking toil. But they have no complaints. These mines have saved our life and honour."
They live under stacked blocks of unpolished sandstone. Byapari Ram, 32, stays here with his family. His arrival on January 4, 2009 was spurred by Rana Ram's plight. "I feared we would be the next target," he says. His new home is furnished with just a bunch of plastic sacks packed with clothes, and a trunk with his sisters' photographs. "I wish I could get visas and bring them here," he says.
Having fled from religious pressures, the displaced land in further humiliation. When they arrive on the Thar Express, which runs from Karachi to Jodhpur, border officials are rude and demand bribes. Imran Kumar says that at Munabao, the first stop in India, an official confiscated his passport and demanded Rs 7,000. He got away with paying Rs 2,600. "Back there, Muslims troubled us. But I can't understand why even Hindus treat us badly," he despairs.
A majority of the displaced are either Meghwals (SCs) or Bhils (STs). Those in Ramdev Nagar feel the absence of a proper burial ground. Though Hindus, the Meghwals bury their dead. "We have had to fight with other communities. The government has given us jeevan daan but we also need mrityu daan," says Nand Lal, a former driver in Karachi who got Indian citizenship in 2005.
There is another battle. Those on extended long-term visas are legally bound not to leave Jodhpur's municipal limits or travel west of NH-15. But with limited jobs, many slip awayto other towns in Rajasthan.
In December 2008, a high-powered committee submitted its report on ways of improving the lot of these displaced people. But, says H S Sodha, also a committee member, even those with citizenship are not part of any state scheme for SCs. They don't have BPL cards either. "They need better livelihood programmes and comprehensive social security. Land should be more easily made available to them. Those on long-term visas but yet to receive citizenship are not eligible for a driving licence, bank account or insurance scheme. This must change."
Citizenship itself is an issue. Before 2004, the displaced had to stay put for five years to become eligible. This has been extended to seven. Application fees too have doubled. Between 2004-05, 11,327 were granted citizenship. Expectedly, this number dropped to 1,201 in 2005-06 and 1,207 in 2006-07. However, Naveen Mahajan, DM, Jodhpur, says that the administration is seriously trying to help. "We are preparing the list of those who have got citizenship. Our prime focus will be on BPL cards. We are identifying a piece of land for their rehabilitation in Jodhpur," he says.
One thing is for sure: nobody wants to go back. "Sar kalam kar do, wapas nahi jaoongi (You can chop my head off, I won't go back.)," says Chhannobai from Bahawalpur district. Jeobai, the family's female head, takes pride in the fact that "Bacchi bacha ke aayein hain. Yehi bahut hai. (We have saved our daughters. That's enough)."
Rana Ram now lives with his uncle on the city's outskirts. Every morning, he gets up around five, cooks for his kids and readies his eight-year-old son for school before setting out to work in the quarries. It's a tough life. But he doesn't care. "At least I have the freedom to keep my faith and live without fear," he says.
The great escape
On the midnight of August 15 last year, two young boys fled the bondage of their Muslim landlord and crossed the border to freedom. The sand was soft and they could scoop it out with their bare hands. But the fence was deeper than they had imagined. It was midnight, August 15, 2008. The Indo-Pak border was floodlit and any moment they could have been caught and sent back to the hell they were trying to escape.
They had walked 20 km, fleeing at noon when everyone had gone for Friday prayers. It was sheer luck that in his rush, the master had forgotten to tie them up. For three years that had been the routine, ever since their father sold them off to the Pakistani landlord for Rs 50,000.
Bhagwan Ram was 14 then and Pahelwan Ram 11. Their mother had died and their father needed the money for his second marriage. So, Bhagwan Ram and his brother became the property of Haji Zamir. For three years, the lads were strapped to a plough and made to till the fields from 6 in the morning till 6 in the evening. Dinner was the Zamir family's leftovers. And, at night, they were tied to their cots.
This was why they were seeking freedom on the midnight of August 15 last year. They had heard of relatives who lived east, "where the sun rose every day", a place called Jaisalmer. So they followed the sun as it slid west, and then the stars and a smelly canal that runs from Rahimyar Khan to the Indian border. On the way, they stopped at Dadi Ka Mazar, and sought dua. If they were to cross the border, dodge BSF bullets, and eventually find their relatives, they would surely need more than just the blessings of Tanot mata, their deity.
But they needn't have been here at all. Their master had given them a choice: "Become Muslims, forget Tanot mata, stop worshipping the boots (idols), and from tomorrow, you will get some money, more rotis, more dal, and maybe later, some land, and even a woman in your bed. And at night, nobody will tie you up. You will be free".
They chose real freedom instead.
When they could dig no further, they pulled at the wires till the gap was wide enough for them to scrape through. They still remember how the barbs dug into their flesh, the blood â?" but they kept their tryst with the midnight hour and got their independence.
And then, after stumbling along the sand on the Indian side for an hour, maybe more, suddenly the three â?" their cousin Sumeer Ram had come along too â?" were overpowered by sleep.
They were woken by the sun beating down on their faces. "A farmer saw us," says Pahelwan. "He asked where we were from. We said we were from Pakistan, and asked for water. He filled our two bottles, but said he would have to take us to the police. That was fine by us. We wanted to tell the police our story. We wanted rotis and dal. We wanted them to take us to Jaisalmer, where every day from our virtual prison in Pakistan, we saw the sun rise."
When they were handed over, the BSF jawans blindfolded them and took them back to the border. "They followed our footsteps," says Sumeer Ram. "They wanted to find out if we were telling the truth." After that, it was a year and three days in a police lock-up at Ramgarh in Jaisalmer. They didn't mind this either. They were never tied up and there was always enough roti and dal. Bhagwan Ram said, "I held the feet of the police officer and told him to shoot me, kill me but not send me back."
Freedom finally came on August 19 this year, when the Union home ministry decided not to deport them. They were released on the guarantee of their grandfather, who lives in Jaisalmer's Bhil basti. He traced them after a local newspaper report about three boys who had run away from Pakistan.
It will be at least another seven years before Bhagwan, Pahelwan and Sumeer can become Indians. Till then, every Monday, they must visit the local police station to prove that they haven't gone back to the hell they managed to escape from.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Goli-maar-do-but-we-will-never-go-back/articleshow/5060544.cms
__._,_.___
To post your messages, articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required.
NFI broadcasts public submitted multi-media contents on more than thirty websites like http://forum.ozg.in | http://hot-debate.ozg.in | http://india-forum.ozg.in | http://india.ozg.in
NFI Posting Policy - http://india.ozg.in/2009/07/national-forum-of-india.html
http://Delhi.ozg.in http://Bombay.ozg.in http://Kolkata.ozg.in http://Chennai.ozg.in http://bangalore.ozg.in
http://Andhra.ozg.in http://Arunachal.ozg.in http://Assam.ozg.in http://Bengal.ozg.in http://Bihar.ozg.in
http://Chhattisgarh.ozg.in http://Goa.ozg.in http://Gujarat.ozg.in http://Haryana.ozg.in http://Himachal.ozg.in
http://Jammu-Kashmir.ozg.in http://Jharkhand.ozg.in http://Karnataka.ozg.in http://Kerala.ozg.in
http://Madhya-Pradesh.ozg.in http://Maharashtra.ozg.in http://Manipur.ozg.in http://Meghalaya.ozg.in
http://Mizoram.ozg.in http://Nagaland.ozg.in http://Orissa.ozg.in http://Punjab.ozg.in http://Rajasthan.ozg.in
http://Sikkim.ozg.in http://Tamilnadu.ozg.in http://Tripura.ozg.in http://Uttarakhand.ozg.in http://Uttar-Pradesh.ozg.in
->-> REGIONAL MUSIC N MOVIE LINKS <-<-
http://Arunachali.ozg.in http://Assamese.ozg.in http://Bengali.ozg.in http://Bhojpuri.ozg.in http://Chhattisgarhi.ozg.in
http://Gujarati.ozg.in http://Kannada.ozg.in http://Haryanavi.ozg.in http://Himachali.ozg.in http://Jharkhandi.ozg.in
http://Kashmiri.ozg.in http://Malayalam.ozg.in http://Konkani.ozg.in http://Maithili.ozg.in http://Manipuri.ozg.in
http://Marathi.ozg.in http://Oriya.ozg.in http://Punjabi.ozg.in http://Santali.ozg.in http://Kurukh.ozg.in
http://Mizo.ozg.in http://Tamil.ozg.in http://Telugu.ozg.in http://Rajasthani.ozg.in http://Uttarakhandi.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
| Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study |
|
|
The great Indian divide along north-south lines now stands blurred. A pathbreaking study by Harvard and indigenous researchers on ancestral Indian populations says there is a genetic relationship between all Indians and more importantly, the hitherto believed ``fact'' that Aryans and Dravidians signify the ancestry of north and south Indians might after all, be a myth.
``This paper rewrites history... there is no north-south divide,'' Lalji Singh, former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and a co-author of the study, said at a press conference here on Thursday.
Senior CCMB scientist Kumarasamy Thangarajan said there was no truth to the Aryan-Dravidian theory as they came hundreds or thousands of years after the ancestral north and south Indians had settled in India.
The study analysed 500,000 genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 diverse groups from 13 states. All the individuals were from six-language families and traditionally ``upper'' and ``lower'' castes and tribal groups. ``The genetics proves that castes grew directly out of tribe-like organizations during the formation of the Indian society,'' the study said. Thangarajan noted that it was impossible to distinguish between castes and tribes since their genetics proved they were not systematically different.
The study was conducted by CCMB scientists in collaboration with researchers at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. It reveals that the present-day Indian population is a mix of ancient north and south bearing the genomic contributions from two distinct ancestral populations - the Ancestral North Indian (ANI) and the Ancestral South Indian (ASI).
``The initial settlement took place 65,000 years ago in the Andamans and in ancient south India around the same time, which led to population growth in this part,'' said Thangarajan. He added, ``At a later stage, 40,000 years ago, the ancient north Indians emerged which in turn led to rise in numbers here. But at some point of time, the ancient north and the ancient south mixed, giving birth to a different set of population. And that is the population which exists now and there is a genetic relationship between the population within India.''
The study also helps understand why the incidence of genetic diseases among Indians is different from the rest of the world. Singh said that 70% of Indians were burdened with genetic disorders and the study could help answer why certain conditions restricted themselves to one population. For instance, breast cancer among Parsi women, motor neuron diseases among residents of Tirupati and Chittoor, or sickle cell anaemia among certain tribes in central India and the North-East can now be understood better, said researchers.
The researchers, who are now keen on exploring whether Eurasians descended from ANI, find in their study that ANIs are related to western Eurasians, while the ASIs do not share any similarity with any other population across the world. However, researchers said there was no scientific proof of whether Indians went to Europe first or the other way round.
Migratory route of Africans
Between 135,000 and 75,000 years ago, the East-African droughts shrunk the water volume of the lake Malawi by at least 95%, causing migration out of Africa. Which route did they take? Researchers say their study of the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar islands using complete mitochondrial DNA sequences and its comparison those of world populations has led to the theory of a ``southern coastal route'' of migration from East Africa through India.
This finding is against the prevailing view of a northern route of migration via Middle East, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia and then to India.
TNN 25 September 2009
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Aryan-Dravidian-divide-a-myth-Study/articleshow/5053274.cms
__._,_.___
To post your messages, articles, write-up, issues for public discussions, documentary video and public event invitations at The National Forum of India (NFI) websites, simply send it to national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.com. No sign-up required.
NFI broadcasts public submitted multi-media contents on more than thirty websites like http://forum.ozg.in | http://hot-debate.ozg.in | http://india-forum.ozg.in | http://india.ozg.in
NFI Posting Policy - http://india.ozg.in/2009/07/national-forum-of-india.html
http://Delhi.ozg.in http://Bombay.ozg.in http://Kolkata.ozg.in http://Chennai.ozg.in http://bangalore.ozg.in
http://Andhra.ozg.in http://Arunachal.ozg.in http://Assam.ozg.in http://Bengal.ozg.in http://Bihar.ozg.in
http://Chhattisgarh.ozg.in http://Goa.ozg.in http://Gujarat.ozg.in http://Haryana.ozg.in http://Himachal.ozg.in
http://Jammu-Kashmir.ozg.in http://Jharkhand.ozg.in http://Karnataka.ozg.in http://Kerala.ozg.in
http://Madhya-Pradesh.ozg.in http://Maharashtra.ozg.in http://Manipur.ozg.in http://Meghalaya.ozg.in
http://Mizoram.ozg.in http://Nagaland.ozg.in http://Orissa.ozg.in http://Punjab.ozg.in http://Rajasthan.ozg.in
http://Sikkim.ozg.in http://Tamilnadu.ozg.in http://Tripura.ozg.in http://Uttarakhand.ozg.in http://Uttar-Pradesh.ozg.in
->-> REGIONAL MUSIC N MOVIE LINKS <-<-
http://Arunachali.ozg.in http://Assamese.ozg.in http://Bengali.ozg.in http://Bhojpuri.ozg.in http://Chhattisgarhi.ozg.in
http://Gujarati.ozg.in http://Kannada.ozg.in http://Haryanavi.ozg.in http://Himachali.ozg.in http://Jharkhandi.ozg.in
http://Kashmiri.ozg.in http://Malayalam.ozg.in http://Konkani.ozg.in http://Maithili.ozg.in http://Manipuri.ozg.in
http://Marathi.ozg.in http://Oriya.ozg.in http://Punjabi.ozg.in http://Santali.ozg.in http://Kurukh.ozg.in
http://Mizo.ozg.in http://Tamil.ozg.in http://Telugu.ozg.in http://Rajasthani.ozg.in http://Uttarakhandi.ozg.in
__,_._,___ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hot issues of Today |
|
|
|
| Archives |
|
|
|