Aseema Feb 2017
VOLUME: 1 8 | ISSUE 29 | PAGES 52 | FEBRUARY 2017 | KUMBHA SANKRAMANA | PRICE: ` 30 India s Middle Class Biggest beneficiaries of Demonetization MAMATA RUINING BENGAL 7 ALL IMPORTANT BUDGET
- Page 4 and 5: IN THIS ISSUE 15 COVER STORY INDIA'
- Page 6 and 7: CRISIS IN MEDIA Crisis in Media! We
- Page 8 and 9: CRISIS IN MEDIA of the Delhi Englis
- Page 10 and 11: SPREAD OF TERRORISM Indian state wi
- Page 12 and 13: BANNING JALLIKATTU What Is So Cruel
- Page 14 and 15: BANNING JALLIKATTU compassion”? I
- Page 16 and 17: COVER STORY POLITICS OF BLACK MONEY
- Page 18 and 19: COVER STORY POLITICS OF BLACK MONEY
- Page 20 and 21: BUDGET 2017 Balancing the Budget
- Page 22 and 23: END OF AN ERA And then, a cash with
- Page 24 and 25: INDOLOGY who learned from professor
- Page 26 and 27: FORGOTTEN INDIAN SCIENCES Alien Cur
- Page 28 and 29: FORGOTTEN INDIAN SCIENCES all aroun
- Page 30 and 31: WOMEN & SAFETY What did Police Do?
- Page 32 and 33: REFINING BCCI Cleansing Indian Cric
- Page 34 and 35: HERO OF IPKF Who is Justice Lodha?
- Page 36 and 37: WEST BENGAL A Bharatiya Janata Part
- Page 38 and 39: HONORING NATIONAL ICONS Shivaji Sta
- Page 40 and 41: HONORING NATIONAL ICONS The Monetar
- Page 42 and 43: NATIONAL SECURITY the highest this
- Page 44 and 45: NATIONAL SECURITY of terrorists to
- Page 46 and 47: NATIONAL SECURITY basis. In an oper
- Page 48 and 49: 48
- Page 50: Massive cleanup of the corrupt NGOs
VOLUME: 1 8 | ISSUE 29 | PAGES 52 | FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong> | KUMBHA SANKRAMANA | PRICE: ` 30<br />
India s Middle Class<br />
Biggest beneficiaries of Demonetization<br />
MAMATA<br />
RUINING<br />
BENGAL<br />
7<br />
ALL<br />
IMPORTANT<br />
BUDGET
IN THIS ISSUE<br />
15<br />
COVER STORY<br />
INDIA'S MIDDLE CLASS<br />
The Biggest Beneficiaries<br />
of Demonetization<br />
32<br />
CLEANSING INDIAN CRICKET<br />
– SC SHOWS THE WAY<br />
06<br />
CRISIS IN MEDIA!<br />
WE ALL SHOULD<br />
WORRY ABOUT IT<br />
23<br />
WORLD'S EDUCATION CAPITAL<br />
TO DEPTHS OF ILLITERACY –I<br />
35<br />
APPEASEMENT OR<br />
INSTITUTIONAL DISEASE?<br />
MAMATA'S INDULGENCE OF<br />
RADICAL ISLAMISTS IS<br />
DROWNING BENGAL<br />
09<br />
THE GREEN CRESCENT<br />
26<br />
ALIEN CURRICULUM!<br />
MISSING ANCIENT INDIAN<br />
SCIENCE IN OUR SCHOOL<br />
SYLLABUS<br />
12<br />
WHAT IS SO CRUEL<br />
ABOUT JALLIKATTU?<br />
29<br />
BANGALORE'S NIGHT<br />
OF SHAME<br />
38<br />
SHIVAJI STATUE<br />
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION &<br />
A CATALYST FOR PATRIOTISM<br />
20<br />
BALANCING THE BUDGET<br />
41<br />
COUNTERING FIDAYEEN ATTACKS
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Path to Recovery<br />
“Those who cry the loudest are NOT always the ones who are<br />
hurt the most” said Aesop eons ago. While we may dither on<br />
how common man was affected or benefitted by a government's<br />
actions, the above proverb certainly applies to those<br />
who cried the loudest over demonetization. The common<br />
man on the street, the villagers in rural India and the middle<br />
class understood the motive behind the demonetization<br />
exercise and whole-heartedly welcomed it. Yes, they were<br />
surely affected for some time and considerable change in<br />
daily life had to be brought about. The long term goal of the<br />
demonetization exercise was what millions of Indians<br />
understood and absorbed the temporary hiccups. Same<br />
could not be said about political minions and rabble-rousers<br />
who tried to create anarchy in the name of the common man<br />
but failed miserably. The credit of this goes to the common<br />
man who understood such machinations and stood by the<br />
government's decision.<br />
Nearly 3 months since the demonetization exercise was<br />
announced, doubts about the efficacy and purpose of the<br />
exercise have remained in many minds. One of the aims of<br />
the exercise was to propel the use of digital modes of<br />
payments, remittances and business transactions. While<br />
there have been exponential growth in digital payments over<br />
the last 85 days, much needs to be achieved in terms of<br />
becoming a less-cash economy. Driving the unaccounted<br />
money from the system, increasing the tax net and nabbing<br />
the tax evaders, plugging the leakage of white money, are<br />
some of the long term effects of the demonetization effort and<br />
will result in benefitting the middle, salaried and the<br />
working class.<br />
It is evident that forces inimical to the national interests try<br />
to hijack any mass movements in the name of common man.<br />
While prudent steps by the government and RBI thwarted<br />
such efforts during the political rallies aimed to demonize<br />
demonetization, such anti-national forces got a foothold in<br />
the recent Jallikattu demonstrations in Chennai and<br />
elsewhere in Tamilnadu. They infiltrated the movement and<br />
attempted to polarize the people in the name of language,<br />
caste and region. If left unchecked such forces will gain in<br />
strength. The seemingly inactive Home Ministry under<br />
Rajnath Singh will do well to send a strong message across to<br />
rabid Islamists, Naxal sympathizers and violent communists<br />
in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamilnadu before it is too<br />
late.<br />
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advertising, sales promotion or publicity.
CRISIS IN MEDIA<br />
Crisis in Media!<br />
We all should worry about it<br />
• Samrat<br />
The mail announcing the<br />
closing down of seven editions<br />
and bureaus of the Hindustan<br />
Times landed suddenly on<br />
January 5th afternoon. The<br />
editions will print their last<br />
copies today. Not even the<br />
editors of these editions had the<br />
faintest clue on January 4 that<br />
by January 10, less than a week<br />
later, they would be jobless.<br />
A lot of people from India to<br />
USA have lost faith in big media<br />
and journalists, calling us<br />
“presstitutes” and “paid<br />
media”. Yet it was only a very<br />
small percent of journalists who<br />
sold out. Most continued to do<br />
their jobs as honestly as they<br />
could, for modest or meagre<br />
salaries, with zero job security.<br />
It was the managements that<br />
sold out. It was owners, who<br />
exploited their workers to<br />
maximise their profits, who sold<br />
out.<br />
It was the powerful network of<br />
big money and political power<br />
that turned journalism into<br />
“paid media” and forced<br />
journalists into “presstitution”.<br />
To do this, they increased the<br />
power of Human Resource and<br />
Marketing departments, and<br />
killed the institution of Editor.<br />
Over a period of time, strong,<br />
independent-minded journalists<br />
largely disappeared from<br />
the journalistic scene. They<br />
were replaced by agents of<br />
corporate or political entities.<br />
These forces often called the<br />
owners of newspapers to place<br />
their chosen people in positions<br />
of authority. Alternatively, yesmen<br />
or women handpicked by<br />
newspaper managements to<br />
protect their own private<br />
06<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
NEWS & MEDIA<br />
People see Left and Right in every situation. Since conspiracy<br />
theories are the flavour of the times, let me suggest that this<br />
division of honest folks into Left and Right on every issue is the<br />
greatest conspiracy of our times. It prevents people from seeing<br />
basic realities that surround them every day in their own lives.<br />
interests got key positions.<br />
These 'dalals' sold their souls at<br />
high prices. Their salaries ran<br />
into crores of rupees per annum.<br />
They lived the lifestyles of the<br />
rich and famous. To justify their<br />
salaries, they had to kill stories<br />
inconvenient to the owners or<br />
their friends, push stories<br />
beneficial to the owners or their<br />
friends, and – regardless of the<br />
political party in power –<br />
implement a strictly neoliberal<br />
agenda in journalism.<br />
People see Left and Right in<br />
every situation. Since conspiracy<br />
theories are the flavour of<br />
the times, let me suggest that<br />
this division of honest folks into<br />
Left and Right on every issue is<br />
the greatest conspiracy of our<br />
times. It prevents people from<br />
seeing basic realities that<br />
surround them every day in<br />
their own lives.<br />
Take any issue in the news…<br />
say rape, assault and molestation<br />
of women, for instance.<br />
People across the political<br />
spectrum broadly agree that<br />
these are crimes that must be<br />
ended, though they may differ<br />
on how. The most extreme<br />
opposing voices are carefully<br />
curated and the entire debate is<br />
focused around these voices to<br />
generate a spectacle for TRPs,<br />
and prevent any real, thoughtful<br />
discussion.<br />
What no one mentions is that<br />
every day in every major city in<br />
India there are many instances<br />
of rapes, molestations and<br />
assaults that do not find any<br />
mention in print or on television.<br />
They do not become news.<br />
When is rape not news? When it<br />
happens to poor people. In such<br />
cases, it becomes news only if it<br />
can be turned into a political<br />
issue, with caste or communal<br />
angles. The exception is the<br />
visual story. Dramatic footage<br />
that can be played on loop, will<br />
be played on loop, because it<br />
gets eyeballs.<br />
Why are rapes of poor people<br />
not reported? The logic for this<br />
is that poor people are not our<br />
readers or viewers, so we do not<br />
cover them.<br />
The obvious question then is,<br />
who are our readers and<br />
viewers?<br />
Well, they are people who can<br />
afford to buy the products<br />
advertised in our newspapers<br />
and on our TV channels.<br />
The reason the newspaper or TV<br />
channel exists, from the<br />
perspective of the owners, is to<br />
make money for them. In order<br />
for it to do that, it has to make<br />
money from ad revenues.<br />
Advertisers want to reach<br />
people who can buy their<br />
products. They look at society<br />
in terms of purchasing power –<br />
more the better.<br />
So, coverage is designed to<br />
appeal to the people with the<br />
most purchasing power.<br />
When I first came to Delhi from<br />
North-East India, I used to be<br />
furious at the neglect of the<br />
North-East in the supposedly<br />
national media. Then I gradually<br />
realised that forget North<br />
East, even North Delhi was<br />
relatively neglected compared<br />
to South Delhi. Slums and<br />
villages around Delhi simply<br />
did not exist in the imagination<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
07
CRISIS IN MEDIA<br />
of the Delhi English media.<br />
The map of India according to<br />
the Indian English language<br />
media is mainly South and<br />
Central Delhi and Mayur Vihar<br />
in East Delhi (many journalists<br />
live there), South Mumbai and<br />
the suburbs up to Andheri,<br />
Bangalore Cantonment and the<br />
new areas where the I.T. folks<br />
stay, and a few pockets from<br />
here and there. Other places<br />
appear sporadically when truly<br />
horrible things happen there.<br />
This map happens to coincide<br />
with the map of areas where<br />
concentrations of 'good consumers'<br />
live and work. It is the<br />
map of places where maximum<br />
products may profitably be sold.<br />
All my Leftist friends, with pain<br />
in their hearts for the poor and<br />
oppressed, seem not to notice<br />
the structural skew built into<br />
this neoliberal media of which<br />
so many of them are a part. It is a<br />
media that denies equal humanity<br />
to people who, for want of<br />
money, are unable to consume<br />
more.<br />
All my Right-wing friends, with<br />
pain in their hearts for the<br />
nation, seem not to notice that<br />
around 90 percent of the nation<br />
is missing from the national<br />
news. I wonder what could be<br />
more anti-national than that.<br />
Erasing 90 percent of the nation<br />
from the national imagination is<br />
not very different from wiping<br />
off 90 percent of the country<br />
from the map.<br />
Profit and power may be the sole<br />
objectives of the 'seths' who<br />
own and run these businesses.<br />
They are not the sole reasons<br />
that the media exists.<br />
The state extends many benefits<br />
to media houses because they<br />
are supposed to constitute the<br />
fourth pillar of democracy. A lot<br />
of idealistic young people come<br />
into the journalism profession<br />
because they want to contribute<br />
to making a better world for all.<br />
It is safe to say that at present,<br />
the profit and power of a few<br />
individuals is the raison d'etre of<br />
the bulk of Indian media<br />
companies. Media is no longer<br />
the fourth pillar of democracy; it<br />
is the central pillar of crony<br />
capitalism. It exists to sell<br />
products and influence to the<br />
highest bidder.<br />
This is a crying shame.<br />
(The writer is a journalist and<br />
author.)<br />
08<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
JAMMU & KASHMIR<br />
THE GREEN CRESCENT<br />
• Major Gaurav Arya (Veteran)<br />
When did it exactly start? No one<br />
knows. But it can be said with a<br />
degree of certainty that in the<br />
early nineties when the Pakistanis<br />
decided that JKLF or Jammu<br />
Kashmir Liberation Front, a “proazaadi”<br />
terror outfit in Kashmir,<br />
should cease to exist, it was the<br />
beginning of Islamic Jihad in the<br />
Kashmir valley.<br />
JKLF wanted Jammu & Kashmir<br />
to be 'free' from India. Pakistan<br />
applauded it. But JKLF also<br />
wanted Jammu & Kashmir to be<br />
free from Pakistan. Suddenly,<br />
JKLF leaders started getting<br />
killed.<br />
Look at the names of the terror<br />
outfits operating in Kashmir<br />
today. You have Lashkar-e-Toiba,<br />
Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al-Badr,<br />
Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Hizb-ul<br />
Mujahedeen, Harkat-ulJehad al<br />
Islami and many others. Do you<br />
see a single name with Kashmir in<br />
it? These are all Arabic names.<br />
And all along Pakistan has<br />
maintained that Kashmir<br />
“freedom movement” is an<br />
“indigenous” struggle for<br />
freedom from Indian “oppression”.<br />
Islam does not recognize nation<br />
states. The overriding belief is<br />
that of the “Ummah”, the global<br />
Islamic brotherhood, that all<br />
Muslims irrespective of the<br />
country they inhabit, are brothers<br />
bound by a common faith. The<br />
nation is incidental. Faith is<br />
supreme.<br />
From the Pakistani perspective,<br />
'azaadi' for Kashmir would be the<br />
legitimate cover. That would help<br />
lend credibility in the eyes of the<br />
west. But the soul, deep inside,<br />
would always be violent Islamic<br />
Jihad.<br />
When a Pakistani head of state<br />
goes to the United Nations, the<br />
speech is always about the<br />
'freedom struggle' in Kashmir.<br />
Recently, Burhan Wani has been<br />
dragged out of his grave to bear<br />
witness to India's blatant violation<br />
of all things fundamentally<br />
human. But go on the streets of<br />
Srinagar and you see something<br />
very different. During violent<br />
stage-managed protests, there are<br />
no Kashmiri flags being waved.<br />
Incidentally, Kashmir is the only<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
09
SPREAD OF TERRORISM<br />
Indian state with its own flag,<br />
constitution and penal code. It has<br />
more 'azaadi' than all the other<br />
Indian states combined. What you<br />
see is a sea of ISIS flags with a<br />
black background and Quranic<br />
inscriptions. And, you see the<br />
flags of the chief sponsor,<br />
Pakistan.<br />
Where is the Kashmiri flag?<br />
The truth is that the first Kashmiri<br />
who waves the Kashmiri flag will<br />
be floating in the Jhelum, face<br />
down. That is what happened to<br />
the JKLF.<br />
Increasingly, what you hear from<br />
the loudspeakers in mosques after<br />
Friday prayers is a script, which is<br />
more Arabic in spirit, than<br />
Kashmiri. The sermons discuss<br />
what is happening in Syria,<br />
Palestine, Myanmar and Yemen.<br />
There is an incessant one-way<br />
flow of disinformation, which<br />
thrives on those two factors so<br />
popular in the world of political<br />
Islam – victimhood and conspiracy.<br />
Tarek Fateh and I were panelists<br />
on a discussion at a TV studio and<br />
the show went on air, the voice in<br />
the background informing<br />
viewers about how a Lashkar-e-<br />
Toiba terrorist Bahadur Ali had<br />
been charge sheeted by the NIA.<br />
The terrorist's confessional<br />
statement was played. For a few<br />
seconds, Bahadur Ali's face was<br />
still, and then he started speaking.<br />
The terrorist, who had come into<br />
Kashmir to “kill as many Hindus<br />
as I could”, started confessing in<br />
chaste Punjabi, the lingua franca<br />
of much of Pakistan.<br />
Almost all infiltrating terrorists<br />
caught by security forces in<br />
Kashmir speak mostly Punjabi.<br />
Some speak Pashto. A terrorist<br />
speaking in Kashmiri is yet to be<br />
our guest.We have killed<br />
Sudanese, Lebanese and Afghan<br />
terrorists in Kashmir. This is a<br />
multi-national Islamic terror<br />
franchise.<br />
These terrorists have scant<br />
knowledge of the Kashmir<br />
'dispute' or the local ebbs and<br />
flows. This is important because<br />
what else could be the motivation<br />
of a young man who hails from<br />
rural Pakistan, to infiltrate into<br />
India? He enters India with the<br />
certain knowledge that he will<br />
come face to face with the Indian<br />
Army, and the encounter will be<br />
entirely brief and one-sided.<br />
These young men trained and<br />
equipped by Lashkar and Jaish,<br />
come not to 'free' Kashmir. They<br />
come to die for the supposed glory<br />
of Islam. This is amongst the two<br />
large-scale scams perpetrated by<br />
the Pakistan Army, the other being<br />
real estate.<br />
10<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
JAMMU & KASHMIR<br />
Young men trained<br />
and equipped by<br />
Lashkar and Jaish,<br />
come not to 'free'<br />
Kashmir. They come<br />
to die for the<br />
supposed glory of<br />
Islam. This is<br />
amongst the two<br />
large-scale scams<br />
perpetrated by the<br />
Pakistan Army, the<br />
other being real<br />
estate. Pakistan also<br />
knows that if the<br />
Kashmir issue<br />
becomes pan-<br />
Islamic, it will<br />
automatically be<br />
internationalized.<br />
Pakistan knows that if the<br />
Kashmir issue becomes pan-<br />
Islamic, it will automatically be<br />
internationalized. The<br />
Organization of Islamic<br />
Cooperation (OIC), that suboptimal<br />
and geriatric body of 57<br />
Muslim states, most of them tin<br />
pot dictatorships and sundry<br />
kingdoms, will need little<br />
persuasion to raise the Kashmir<br />
bogey at every turn of the road.<br />
They cannot give freedom and<br />
democracy to their own people.<br />
The least they can do is give<br />
opium. And what better opium<br />
than religion? Karl Marx was<br />
right.<br />
When was the last time you heard<br />
a Kashmiri politician on TV<br />
discussing anything else apart<br />
from the “Kashmir issue”? When<br />
the last time roads, education,<br />
health and electricity were<br />
important to the Kashmiri<br />
politician?<br />
Kashmir will continue to burn<br />
because the local leaders and their<br />
sponsors in Pakistan want it to<br />
burn. A burning Kashmir means<br />
money, fame and instant celebrity<br />
hood. It is a cash cow. If a burning<br />
Kashmir means personal profit,<br />
the last thing they would want is<br />
Kashmir to be peaceful. I know<br />
it's cruel. But it's also logical.<br />
Kashmir ticks all the boxes –<br />
money, religion, fame and<br />
leadership. Peace? Who wants<br />
peace in a state where blood is<br />
profit?<br />
Winters in India always bring the<br />
sad news of people dying in 'cold<br />
waves' in UP, MP and Rajasthan.<br />
But no one dies of a cold wave in<br />
Jammu & Kashmir, the coldest<br />
state in India. Farmers commit<br />
suicide in Maharashtra because of<br />
their inability to pay back loans<br />
and famine. But in spite of<br />
frequent “shutter-downs” and<br />
'hartals' in Kashmir, almost a<br />
weekly feature when business is<br />
totally shut down, no one<br />
commits suicide.<br />
Where is all this money coming<br />
from? It is not just simply our<br />
central government giving funds<br />
to Kashmir. The central government<br />
gives funds to every state.<br />
Today, there are more men with<br />
skullcaps in Kashmir, than ever<br />
before. Girls riding scooters have<br />
been threatened with acid attacks.<br />
Say “Khuda Hafiz” in downtown<br />
Srinagar, and you stand to be<br />
ticked off. The correct greeting,<br />
we are told, is “Allah Hafiz”.<br />
Khuda is secular. Allah is the God<br />
of the Ummah.<br />
Fading memory takes me back to<br />
Lucknow, where as a child I met<br />
an old Muslim man who said to<br />
me “Al-hamdulillahirabbil<br />
'alamin”. All praise be to God, the<br />
Lord of the worlds. Allah is the<br />
“rabb” of all the worlds. He is not<br />
“rabbil' Muslimin”, or “rabb” of<br />
the Muslims alone.<br />
The word Allah predates Islam.<br />
Before Islam was revealed, the<br />
pagans who inhabited Mecca<br />
worshipped Allah. The word<br />
“Allah” was carried forward after<br />
Archangel Gabriel revealed the<br />
Quran to Prophet Mohammad<br />
(PBUH).<br />
The word Allah itself is not a<br />
Muslim word. It is a secular word,<br />
which simply means God in<br />
Arabic. It was co-opted by the<br />
Muslim clergy later to mean God<br />
of the Muslims alone. It was coopted<br />
by force.<br />
They are now doing the same with<br />
Kashmir.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
11
BANNING JALLIKATTU<br />
What Is So Cruel About Jallikattu?<br />
• Anup Vittal<br />
It is said that what beauty is to<br />
women, valor is to men. Many<br />
may out rightly show disdain to<br />
my ensuing words. I would like to<br />
make it clear at the outset that I am<br />
not justifying cruelty in the name<br />
of valor or superstition. I am only<br />
proposing to dispel certain<br />
misconceptions as to what is<br />
animal savagery and what is<br />
compassion or tenderness.<br />
Before going to what “Jallikattu”<br />
actually is, let us take a look at<br />
other animal sports in India to get<br />
a brief background. Kambala is<br />
one he-buffalo race sport in<br />
Udupi, Karnataka; “Jallikattu” in<br />
Tamil Nadu is another; besides<br />
many animals viz. Elephants,<br />
horses, etc. are part of many local<br />
traditional carnivals in India;<br />
Pooram in Kerala, Dasara of<br />
Mysuru, to name a few. Basically,<br />
animals were and are a part of all<br />
festivities in India. Ours is a land,<br />
where it is taught to revere<br />
animals. Even during the times of<br />
Mahabharata, we hear the stories<br />
of valor of Emperor Bharatha. He<br />
used to ride on tigers in the forest.<br />
Now one may call his ability to<br />
tame tigers as “infringement of<br />
animal rights”, the other may call<br />
it “valor”. To view animal<br />
sporting in the lens of animal<br />
rights, barbarism, etc., first of all<br />
one has to understand what the<br />
animal is. Anyone who has<br />
visited the Mysuru Dasara will<br />
know – Elephants are made to<br />
carry loads of weight, and are<br />
made to move around in loud<br />
noises of musical instruments.<br />
Same is the case with Pooram in<br />
Kerala with the 'panch vadyam'<br />
echoing all around the elephants.<br />
All this to a superficial eyes seems<br />
to be barbarism and cruelty. If one<br />
reads the news at the end of<br />
Dasara or Pooram, or if anybody<br />
bothered to ask the mahouts of<br />
The bulls that are<br />
part of Jallikattu are<br />
strong and hefty<br />
ones.Their health is<br />
well taken care.<br />
These bulls are the<br />
responsibility of the<br />
entire village. If at<br />
all anybody is<br />
injured, it is the<br />
men. The bull is<br />
never injured in this<br />
event. Men display<br />
their valor and the<br />
fittest and the<br />
strongest wins the<br />
game.Then why hell<br />
was this event<br />
banned for cruelty<br />
on animals?<br />
those elephants which participate<br />
in these events, one will come to<br />
know of the bondage between the<br />
animal and the mahout. Elephants<br />
are reared with love and with<br />
compassion. These animals are<br />
but part of the families of the<br />
localities. The bondage is such<br />
that these animals sense the<br />
arrival of these festivals and their<br />
feelings and expressions are felt.<br />
12<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS<br />
Only those who “live” with these<br />
animals will know how happy the<br />
animals feel to be part of these<br />
festivities. Those who see<br />
animals in pictures and on their<br />
plates as “dead” ones will never<br />
understand this bondage and love.<br />
Coming to Jallikattu. It is a<br />
sporting event in the western<br />
sense. Yet, if you closely observe,<br />
it is nothing but festivity for the<br />
local people. In many places in<br />
Tamil Nadu this carnival is in<br />
vogue since many years. Some<br />
even believe that this tradition is<br />
as old as 2000 years. Let me tell<br />
you on the face of it, not one bull is<br />
killed or even injured to the least<br />
in this festival. I am purposefully<br />
using this word “Festival”. I do<br />
not want to equate local traditions<br />
with sports. That is when the<br />
prejudices arise. That is when the<br />
question of barbarism arises.<br />
The bulls that are part of Jallikattu<br />
are strong and hefty ones. They<br />
are fed handsomely. Their health<br />
is as well taken care. These bulls<br />
are the responsibility of the entire<br />
village. Many rich and well off<br />
people look after these bulls like<br />
members of their families. Even<br />
before these bulls are let loose in<br />
Jallikattu, their health and<br />
condition are examined by<br />
certified Veterinary Doctors. This<br />
event is also overlooked by<br />
Government officials under the<br />
provisions of “Jallikattu Act” by<br />
the officials of the Tamil Nadu<br />
Government. The bulls are<br />
trained fervently, and with<br />
dedication Jallikattu is carried<br />
out. Even the athletes who<br />
participates in the Jallikattu event<br />
will undergo medical tests and<br />
will be tested for alcohol. These<br />
athletes will observe 10 days of<br />
austerity before the event which<br />
includes eating vegan food, no<br />
smoking, no alcohol consumption<br />
and not even sex. Many<br />
youth have given up smoking,<br />
alcohol, and sex on account of<br />
“Jallikattu”. Youth have been<br />
averse to addictions to keep<br />
themselves fit and healthy. For the<br />
people who raise these bulls, their<br />
bulls are alleged to be sacred to<br />
them. In the actual event the bull<br />
is let loose and the participants<br />
will have to hold on to the hump of<br />
the bull. If a participant is able to<br />
hold on to it till the finish line, he is<br />
declared victorious. Else, the Bull<br />
is declared as the victor. Now,<br />
anybody will laugh at this. Why<br />
the hell was this event banned for<br />
cruelty on animals? If at all<br />
anybody will be injured, it is the<br />
men. The bull is never injured in<br />
this event. Men display their valor<br />
and the fittest and the strongest<br />
wins the game.<br />
Let us now come to this very<br />
interesting discussion. The sheer<br />
hypocrisy surrounding the<br />
controversy of this ban on<br />
“Jallikattu”. Since childhood we<br />
were taught the lessons of Rome<br />
and Colosseum. People there<br />
were raised like sheep and pig to<br />
be slaughter in a fight of madness.<br />
For the King's “entertainment”,<br />
men had to become slaves and be<br />
slaughtered as per the whims and<br />
wishes of the barbaric king. This<br />
stupid sport is justified as valor<br />
and Jallikattu is cruelty? Praises<br />
for the sport of the white men and<br />
condemnation for the traditions<br />
of the east. There is this another<br />
practice of“Halal” food among<br />
our Muslim brethren. In this<br />
practice, the animal's throat is slit<br />
so that the blood spills completely<br />
out of its body before it dies an<br />
agonizing death. Killing animals<br />
cruelly is pure love towards<br />
animals and rearing bulls with<br />
“love and compassion” is<br />
barbarism! How is this logic<br />
justified? Why are the hypocrites<br />
not ready to point their fingers at<br />
actual cruel practices? This only<br />
points to one thing: All the acts of<br />
“Pro-Animals Rights Activism”<br />
is just limited to curtail and<br />
criticize local Hindu traditions<br />
and customs.<br />
I would like to now look into the<br />
observations of the Honorable<br />
Supreme Court of India on its<br />
judgement on the ban of<br />
“Jallikattu”. The Supreme Court<br />
judgment cited a number of<br />
doctrines like the right to life,<br />
doctrine of necessity, compassion,<br />
humanism and repugnancy<br />
to rule that Jallikattu was a nonessential<br />
activity, in which the<br />
welfare of the “bulls was ignored<br />
solely for human pleasure”. I<br />
would not wish to comment on the<br />
veracity of the judgment. What<br />
Supreme Court decides is the law<br />
of the land. But something is<br />
missing in this entire story. Is not<br />
slaughtering of animals also<br />
cruelty? Animals are butchered<br />
for “Pleasure, taste, and money”.<br />
What is this then, “love and<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
13
BANNING JALLIKATTU<br />
compassion”? I do not want to<br />
make this a debate of “Vegetarianism<br />
v/s Non- Vegetarianism”. All<br />
I wish to say is this: When it<br />
comes to ethnic traditions it is<br />
cruelty, whereas when it comes to<br />
fulfilment of one's pleasure or<br />
making money by running<br />
slaughter houses it is not cruelty.<br />
This is veritably double standards.<br />
Now the political parties would<br />
always like to reap their harvest<br />
out of this. What better occasion<br />
than the “Sankranti” or “Pongal”<br />
itself? This is the time to harvest.<br />
For the farmers it is the crops, and<br />
for the politicians, it is the vote<br />
bank. The Central Government<br />
took a bold step to reverse the ban<br />
on“Jallikattu”. But with the<br />
pressure from “Animal Rights<br />
Activists” and from the opposition<br />
the situation worsened.<br />
Supreme Court finally hit its<br />
baton and all was over.<br />
This Pongal, in Tamil Nadu, there<br />
will be many questions to be<br />
answered. These questions shall<br />
not be raised by any political<br />
party, media, or the supreme court<br />
of India. These questions shall be<br />
raised by the “Bull” that participates<br />
in Jallikattu. Yes this Pongal<br />
the bull shall ask questions and all<br />
shall stand mum,<br />
Where is the love? Where is the<br />
compassion?<br />
Where are my people? Where are<br />
the festivities?<br />
Where is the Pongal? Where are<br />
the sweets?<br />
Where are the races and the<br />
display of valor?<br />
------<br />
Fie on your activism; fie on your<br />
law;<br />
Fie on the political game; fie on<br />
the hypocrisy;<br />
Oh Lord! The Protector of the<br />
world.<br />
Where is my life? Where is my<br />
Jallikattu?<br />
Finally among all the clamor the<br />
Jallikattu bull asks the God,<br />
“Why have you taken away the<br />
love, in the name of 'protecting'<br />
me, and why have you taken<br />
away my life in the guise of<br />
'safeguarding' my life?” And in<br />
reply the god stays mum……….<br />
(The author is Writer/ commentator<br />
on current affairs and a<br />
Yoga expert.)<br />
People will reclaim their culture by breaking the<br />
law - this is the expected outcome of unnecessary<br />
activism by the judiciary. Some 'secular'<br />
judgements are hugely unpopular and are clearly<br />
dividing our society. The breaking of law and the<br />
unpopularity of judgements are both disturbing<br />
news for a democracy.<br />
I hope Tamil Nadu people understand that public<br />
sentiment across India is with them. The<br />
#Jallikattu ban has nothing to do with North<br />
versus South or Rational versus Irrational or even Animal Rights. This is simply Indian<br />
culture/pride versus Foreign-funded activism.<br />
The netas have failed to safeguard people's interests and our culture.<br />
Also, at this time we need an overhaul of the judicial system. A combination of a jury-judge<br />
system should be considered. Jurors, who are random ordinary voters, can ensure<br />
cultural/societal values are not compromised while arbitrating cases.<br />
#Jallikattu #DahiHandi #Sabarimala #AntiSuperstitionLaws#TargettingHinduCulture<br />
- Aparna Patwardhan on Facebook<br />
14<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
COVER STORY<br />
BANNING JALLIKATTU<br />
India's Middle Class<br />
The Biggest Beneficiaries of Demonetization<br />
• Narayan Ammachchi<br />
Cashless payments are the way of future<br />
s demonetization completes its full<br />
Acourse and digital economy takes shape,<br />
the middle-class Indians, the biggest<br />
income tax payers but the least beneficiaries of<br />
government subsidies, have begun to cheer.<br />
Middle-class in India account for almost half the<br />
size of the country's total population, and their<br />
number has been rising by the day. According to a<br />
study by two Mumbai-based economists, the<br />
number of middle-class in India doubled in the<br />
space ten years, between 2004 and 2012.<br />
The note ban has left banks brimming with cash.<br />
Therefore, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is<br />
showing all signs of cutting interest rate drastically.<br />
Another noteworthy impact will be the<br />
increase in income tax slabs. In other words, the<br />
government is most likely to free those earning less<br />
than 5 lakh rupees annually from paying income<br />
tax. Today, everyone earning more than 2.5 is<br />
required to pay income tax.<br />
Another advantage for the salaried class is that<br />
there is possibility of the government exempting<br />
tax on allowances such as conveyance allowance,<br />
medical reimbursements etc. These moves will<br />
increase the disposable income of the middle class<br />
Historically, middle-class population is reputed for revolutionizing<br />
both politics and economy. The industrial revolution, which<br />
changed Britain's fortune hundreds of years ago, had in fact<br />
thrived on middle-class values. With measures for<br />
demonetization in place, India's middle-class appears to be<br />
setting the tone for a new revolution.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
15
COVER STORY<br />
POLITICS OF BLACK MONEY<br />
household.<br />
Third major impact from demonetization is the fall<br />
in real estate prices. Skyrocketing property prices<br />
were such a curse on the middle class was that, until<br />
yesterday, those salaried people who bought<br />
residential sites in urban neighborhoods had to<br />
spend their lifetime to repay their home loans.<br />
Today, if you have already bought a site, the loan<br />
amount you are going to pay will be lessened. If<br />
you have bought a site yet, then this will be the<br />
ideal time. Not only the prices are bottoming out,<br />
but there are also easy availability of loans at lower<br />
cost.<br />
The biggest beneficiary of digital economy will<br />
always be the middle-class because digital<br />
transaction pushes down the prices of consumer<br />
goods. As inflation dips further, their buying power<br />
will increase dramatically. In other words, they<br />
will be able to buy more amounts of goods with the<br />
same amount of money than in the past. If you had<br />
to spend 50 lakh rupees for residential site, they<br />
will soon find a similar site for half of that price.<br />
The demonetization has now prevented people<br />
from laundering money in real estate, NGOs and<br />
educational institutions.They have been forced to<br />
go online or pay up hefty charges in tax.<br />
A combination of demonetization and digital<br />
transaction puts an end to hoarding and inflating<br />
prices artificially. Therefore, today you are seeing<br />
a drop in the prices of most of the goods you<br />
consume. Prices of dal, for an example, has almost<br />
halved from their annual highs of 250 rupees per a<br />
kilogram.<br />
The retail inflation dropped to its lowest level of<br />
3.63% in November. Digital economy will keep<br />
the prices under control by keeping the hoarders at<br />
bay. This is the biggest positive outcome of the<br />
demonetization and digital economy.<br />
Residential properties in urban neighborhoods<br />
have not yet gone cheap, but they are certainly on<br />
their way down, because there are hardly any<br />
buyers in the real estate market. Some predict that<br />
property prices may slide by 40 or 50 percent.<br />
16<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
DEMONETIZATION<br />
e Growing Power of Middle-Class<br />
India's middle-class are a powerful group, both politically and<br />
economically. It is a common belief that if a child from a middle-class family<br />
is freed from the shackles of money, he will achieve more than what his<br />
peers from rich or poor families will achieve.<br />
Of course, there is no universally accepted definition for middle class and it<br />
is hard to define who can be categorized in middle-class and who is not. It<br />
could be however true to say that those with APL cards (above poverty line)<br />
are middle class and those with BPL cards (below poverty line) are poor.<br />
But it is certain that the expansion of middle class is a sign of great<br />
economic transformation to come. In his book, Farewell of Alms, economist<br />
Gregory Clark argues that the spread of middle class laid the foundation for<br />
the Industrial Revolution in Britain. It is this revolution that led to<br />
economic transformation in the West.<br />
World over, we have seen the rising share of middle class reshaping the<br />
political discourse. After all, the French Revolution was not launched by<br />
starving peasants but by the newly emergent middle classes who wanted a<br />
seat at the table.<br />
In India, too, the emergence of the neo middle class is fundamentally<br />
altering the political landscape. The movement against corruption, which<br />
did everything it could to tarnish the image of the previous Congress –led<br />
government in the center, was in fact a middle-class movement.<br />
With demonetization dealing a deathblow to corruption, middle class can<br />
now get things done far easily. Cash is the root cause of corruption, because<br />
it is the necessary lubricant for all black-market transactions.<br />
In addition, high property prices had also pushed up house rent in urban<br />
areas, increasing the living cost for millions of middle-class families. More<br />
than anything else, it had directed capital from being invested in<br />
manufacturing and services. Now, with little option to launder cash, the<br />
rich will choose to reinvest their money rather than hide it in real estate and<br />
gold. Such investments will create jobs and once again the biggest<br />
beneficiary will be the middle-class.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
17
COVER STORY<br />
POLITICS OF BLACK MONEY<br />
As the note ban bites, every consumer price is going downwards,<br />
from daal to housing rents and education fees to income tax. The<br />
biggest winner is the middle-class, because their salary is not<br />
going to go down. More jobs will be created for them in the days<br />
to come, as the rich will be forced to invest in enterprises rather<br />
hide money in real estate and gold.<br />
Property owners will not give up in this game so<br />
easily, but they may have no option but to get off<br />
the market once Narendra Modi government starts<br />
seizing benami properties.<br />
Like or dislike, it is a fact that high real estate<br />
priceshave long hampered the growth of entrepreneurship,<br />
denting the country's competitiveness in<br />
the global marketplace. Cheap real estate will<br />
stoke business expansion, creating jobs for<br />
millions of people.<br />
(LESA), for an example, has seen its revenue grow<br />
several fold after the note ban. It has reportedly<br />
collected more than 100 crore for the month of<br />
November. One consumer paid 45 lakh in cash to<br />
pay off an outstanding bill.<br />
A consumer in a VVIP division cleared his<br />
outstanding bill of Rs 45 lakh, which he had been<br />
contesting for years together while two others in<br />
the old city area cleared dues of Rs 27 lakh and Rs<br />
28 lakh, respectively, in cash.<br />
Tax Burden<br />
Digitalization paves the way to clean up the<br />
economy, making it vibrant and transparent.<br />
Therefore, in the days to come, you will hear more<br />
stories about the increase in government revenue.<br />
The more the government earns the lower will fall<br />
the tax rates. That means, middle-class will soon<br />
find its tax burden ease.<br />
Before demonetization, some municipalities<br />
would collect barely 5 crore in electricity bills.<br />
Now they are collecting 15 crore.<br />
Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration<br />
School Fees:<br />
Over the past two decades, poor and middle-class<br />
people in towns and citieswere forced to spend<br />
their hard-earned money for securing admission of<br />
their children in schools. This practice is going to<br />
stop in the months to come.<br />
That's because all private education institutes have<br />
been told to pay employee salary through bank<br />
accounts. In addition, they now have to receive<br />
tuition and other fees in electronic mode.<br />
In this post-demonetization era, banks have been<br />
told to levy a huge surcharge on cash deposits.<br />
18<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
INSTITUTIONALIZING HINDUPHOBIA<br />
Similarly, they make mention of your pan card<br />
number every time you withdraw more than<br />
30,000 in cash. This makes elite educational<br />
institutes, most of which are run directly by<br />
politicians or their associates, transact in transparent<br />
digital mode.<br />
As more revenue draws more tax, educational<br />
institutes will reduce fees on everything, from<br />
tuition to donation.<br />
Chit fund companies<br />
In the past decades, thousands of poor and middleclass<br />
Indians lost billions of rupees by chit funds<br />
and private financiers. Digital economy will put an<br />
end to this black business. Formal banks will now<br />
take away the business from these shady financiers.<br />
As private financiers cannot find hard cash to run<br />
their operation, they will give up on their business<br />
once and for all. Moreover, middle-class will find<br />
formal bank loans cheaper than the exorbitant<br />
interest rate that private financiers impose on their<br />
loan.<br />
In the past few years, there has been hundreds of<br />
stories of private financiers making off with the<br />
hard-earned money of depositors. Demonetization<br />
has cured the menace of private financiers once<br />
and for all. So, there will be lesser chances of<br />
middle-class Indians getting duped by private<br />
finances.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
19
BUDGET <strong>2017</strong><br />
Balancing the Budget<br />
• Raja Shekhar<br />
Arun Jaitley will have various tough tasks<br />
while presenting the union budget<br />
The common man in<br />
India has gone through a<br />
lot in the last few<br />
months. From standing in long<br />
queues due to demonitization to<br />
paying an additional 0.5%<br />
'Swacch Bharat' cess on all<br />
taxable services, he is merely<br />
paying for the Achche Bharat<br />
dream, promoted by Prime<br />
Minister Narendra Modi. Will<br />
the Union Budget, to be presented<br />
by finance minister Arun<br />
Jaitley, be a payoff for all these<br />
hardships? Or will it be another<br />
burden on a common man like<br />
the previous decisions.<br />
Well, we will have to wait till<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1, 2016 to know that,<br />
for that's the day when Arun<br />
Jaitley will present his union<br />
budget. But nevertheless,<br />
Narendra Modi's bold moves on<br />
demonitization have certainly<br />
raised the expectations from the<br />
budget this time around. People<br />
of all classes, right from the<br />
common man to the corporate<br />
czars, everybody has expectations<br />
from the budget.<br />
Any common man will first look<br />
at the tax structure presented in a<br />
budget, as that will affect him<br />
the most. This time around, it<br />
will be hard for Arun Jaitley to<br />
resist populist moves like<br />
increasing the taxable income<br />
limit 3 lakh rupees per annum.<br />
But what they can do to our<br />
economy is also a point worth<br />
pondering about. In our country,<br />
only 130 lakh people pay taxes<br />
and if the taxable income limit is<br />
raised to rupees 3 lakh per<br />
annum that will take out 15-20<br />
lakh tax filers out of the tax net<br />
burdening those who pay their<br />
taxes even more.<br />
Arun Jaitley will sure have a<br />
Arun Jaitley will sure<br />
have a hard time<br />
bringing in more<br />
people under tax net.<br />
Apart from greater<br />
efficiency in bringing<br />
in lucrative sectors<br />
like real estate into<br />
the tax net, the big<br />
challenge is the low<br />
compliance of those<br />
earning between Rs<br />
10-15 lakh. Bold<br />
decisions to curb tax<br />
evasion, improve<br />
spending and<br />
financial literacy of<br />
common people and<br />
institutions alike will<br />
win the day for him<br />
and the Modi<br />
government.<br />
hard time bringing in more<br />
people under tax net. Apart from<br />
greater efficiency in bringing in<br />
lucrative sectors like real estate<br />
into the tax net, the big challenge<br />
is the low compliance of those<br />
earning between Rs 10-15<br />
lakh—tax compliance here is a<br />
20<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
FINANCE & ECONOMY<br />
<strong>2017</strong><br />
Common man has lots of expectations from<br />
Modi's budget after the hardships he has faced<br />
mere 10% versus 20-25% in all<br />
other tax brackets, based on a<br />
comparison of the tax data with<br />
a theoretical income distribution<br />
of the country for that year.<br />
For other inspirations on his<br />
budget, the finance minister can<br />
look at the unlikeliest of places,<br />
Jammu and Kashmir. The<br />
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)<br />
government became the first to<br />
commit to a Universal Basic<br />
Income for all citizens living<br />
below the poverty line by<br />
providing direct benefit<br />
transfers. This has set a cat<br />
amongst the pigeons and many<br />
expect Arun Jaitley to follow<br />
suit when he presents his<br />
budget.<br />
Universal Basic Income is a<br />
social security fund and provides<br />
a basic income to all those<br />
living below the poverty line.<br />
This will happen through a<br />
direct benefit transfer system.<br />
The J&K government expects<br />
this move to not only eliminate<br />
all the leakages, but it also<br />
expects that to dramatically<br />
reduce the cost of delivery. But<br />
interestingly, although the J&K<br />
government has kicked off an<br />
ambitious scheme, it will not be<br />
able to implement that scheme<br />
without substantial monetary<br />
assistance from the central<br />
government.<br />
So far, the center has been<br />
giving positive vibes about the<br />
possible implementation of this<br />
scheme on a nationwide scale.<br />
Chief economic adviser in the<br />
finance ministry Arvind<br />
Subramanian in September had<br />
said that the UBI is an “exciting<br />
idea”, promising to further<br />
elaborate his thoughts in the<br />
upcoming Economic Survey<br />
scheduled to be presented on 31<br />
January.<br />
While the reasons for providing<br />
UBI in Western countries,<br />
where the idea was originally<br />
developed, are stagnant wages<br />
and an effective demand<br />
collapse, in India, the issue at<br />
hand is providing financial<br />
security to the poor. Switzerland<br />
recently rejected a proposal in a<br />
referendum to guarantee every<br />
adult citizen and long-term<br />
resident 2,500 Swiss francs<br />
(around Rs1.7 lakh) per month,<br />
while Finland is set to experiment<br />
with the idea on a pilot<br />
basis.<br />
In his speech on the eve of New<br />
Year, the Prime Minister<br />
Narendra Modi had promised<br />
cheap housing for the poor<br />
people. The Modi government<br />
could reduce the interest rate on<br />
home loan between 5 and 6 per<br />
cent. In its first budget in 2015,<br />
the government had made<br />
provisions for cheap housing.<br />
Since the announcement was<br />
made in the midst of financial<br />
slump, the builders did not show<br />
much interest in it.<br />
People below poverty line are<br />
facing the hardest times after the<br />
fresh initiative. Their job<br />
opportunities have shrunk. The<br />
poor are forced to leave cities<br />
and go back to their villages.<br />
Financial experts are of the<br />
opinion that unemployment<br />
could rise for some period. The<br />
government could significantly<br />
enhance the budgetary allocation<br />
of MNERGA to counter the<br />
impact. A big announcement<br />
could also be made for the direct<br />
benefit transfer scheme to<br />
connect this section of the<br />
population to cashless economy.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
23 21
END OF AN ERA<br />
And then, a cash withdrawal tax<br />
Post the demonetisation exercise in early November last year, the Modi<br />
government has been pushing hard with its objective to boost digital-based<br />
transactions in the country and curb lesser usage of cash in the system.<br />
To give a leg up to its cashless economy agenda, the government also<br />
introduced several incentive measures of late. Taking it further, the government<br />
is also mulling bringing in 'cash tax', which will be levied on withdrawal of cash<br />
from the bank beyond a threshold limit. The proposal could be made in the<br />
forthcoming Union Budget for scal year <strong>2017</strong>-18, which is mainly aimed at<br />
getting hold of black money holders and lower cash transactions in the<br />
economy.<br />
Previously, between 1 June, 2005 and 1 April, 2009, the UPA government under<br />
nance minister P Chidamabaram had introduced the banking cash transaction<br />
tax (BCTT) to curb black money transactions in the country. The rate of 0.1<br />
percent of cash withdrawal was levied under BCTT, other than from savings<br />
accounts. This tax was levied on any individual or Hindu undivided family<br />
towards withdrawal of Rs 50,000. For entities, the tax was imposed on<br />
withdrawal of Rs 1 lakh in cash.<br />
The current Modi government now wants to tweak the previous cash transaction<br />
rule and get more people to embrace digital technology and reduce cash<br />
transactions. The aim of the new tax is to shrink the scope of cash economy and<br />
encourage digital transactions. As a part of the proposed move, the Special<br />
Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has recommended to the government<br />
asking it for a ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh and a Rs 15 lakh limit on<br />
individual cash holding.<br />
After the demonetisation move,<br />
Prime Minister Narendra Modi<br />
had indicated in Goa that the<br />
government could take a pathbreaking<br />
step against benami<br />
properties. The agricultural land<br />
could be linked with<br />
AADHAAR. Further, the<br />
immoveable properties could be<br />
linked to PAN card. These two<br />
steps could prove decisive in the<br />
government's war against<br />
corruption.<br />
Come <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1, it will be<br />
interesting to see whether Arun<br />
Jaitley will succumb to populist<br />
demands or will carve a new<br />
path on to economic<br />
sustainability of the country.<br />
22<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
ANCIENT INDIAN EDUCATION<br />
World's Education Capital to Depths of Illiteracy –I<br />
• Sahana Singh<br />
hen Tagore started an open-air school at<br />
WShantiniketan in 1901, which later went<br />
on to become a famous university, he<br />
was one in a long line of educators from India, who<br />
believed that holistic learning could only be<br />
obtained in the midst of nature under the close<br />
supervision of a parent-like guru.<br />
India's earliest teachers were the gurus, who taught<br />
in gurukulams and ashrams located far away from<br />
the hustle and bustle of towns in what could be<br />
called forest universities. It is no surprise that the<br />
Vedas, which are the earliest known oral books<br />
containing the thoughts of a highly civilised society<br />
are replete with exquisite references to nature and<br />
the concept of inter-dependence of living organisms.<br />
To these gurus, it was important for humans to<br />
realise their humble status in the infinite universe<br />
before embarking on the long journey of learning.<br />
Over time, the systems of transmission of learning<br />
to newer generations got institutionalised and gave<br />
birth to famous universities such as Takshshila,<br />
Nalanda and many famous temple universities of<br />
which the remains are still found in southern India.<br />
A sizeable number of foreign students came to study<br />
in India from China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and<br />
West Asia. While the most famous names are Fa-<br />
Hien and Xuanzang, who left behind detailed<br />
accounts, there are scores of others, who made<br />
difficult journeys by foot and on board the ships just<br />
to imbibe knowledge from Indian professors. Many<br />
of the foreign students copied texts and commentaries<br />
to carry back to their countries. The rush for<br />
gaining an education from the Brahmins and<br />
Buddhist scholars of India was similar to today's<br />
rush to study in or be certified by American and<br />
European universities.<br />
There is a curious hesitation among modern<br />
historians to refer to India's multi-disciplinary<br />
centres of traditional learning as universities. This<br />
comes from the excessive importance given to the<br />
written word, to solid buildings with established<br />
pedagogy and rigid systems of certification. Thus,<br />
the talented, but bare-chested and dhoti-clad<br />
engineers and architects of ancient India, who built<br />
incredible irrigation canals, rainwater harvesting<br />
structures, palaces, forts, roads, dams and aqueducts<br />
are barely acknowledged as professionals,<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
23
INDOLOGY<br />
who learned from professors in universities.<br />
Similarly, the medical practitioners of yore, who<br />
knew which combination of herbs could help in<br />
healing diseases, where to procure them in forests,<br />
how to conduct complex surgeries and who<br />
additionally possessed spiritual insights are often<br />
regarded as quacks or witch doctors.<br />
Learning was a sacred, important duty<br />
Ancient Indians were obsessed with gaining<br />
perspectives about “the material and the moral, the<br />
physical and the spiritual, the perishable and the<br />
permanent”. During the process of gaining these<br />
perspectives, they made important discoveries in<br />
the sciences, mathematics and applied medicine.<br />
The sacredness of learning is evident from the large<br />
number of Sanskrit shlokas that deify the guru such<br />
as “Acharya devobhava” (Taittiriya Upanishad).<br />
Initiation of children (both male and female) into<br />
the alphabets for the first time was done ceremonially<br />
in most parts of India.<br />
Even today, the ceremony survives in the<br />
Haathekhori in Bengal (performed during<br />
Saraswati Puja) and the Vidyarambham in Southern<br />
India (when children are asked to trace alphabets on<br />
rice). The sacred thread ceremony or the<br />
Upanayanam ceremony performed for Dwija<br />
children between the ages of eight and 12 customarily<br />
marked the beginning of education. It was<br />
considered terrible to barter knowledge for money.<br />
Gurus usually took a token gift (Guru Dakshina) in<br />
return for the long years of knowledge they<br />
imparted.<br />
The forest universities of Ancient India<br />
The Mahabharata gives examples of famous<br />
ashramas such as Naimisha, which was a forest<br />
university headed by Saunaka. Other hermitages<br />
mentioned in the epic are those of Vyasa, Vasishtha<br />
and Visvamitra. One hermitage near Kurukshetra<br />
even mentions two female rishis. Among Vyasa's<br />
famous disciples were Sumantra, Vaisampayana,<br />
Jamini, Paila and Suka.<br />
Rishi Kanva's hermitage is not mentioned as a<br />
solitary unit, but as an assemblage of numerous<br />
hermitages around the central one presided by Rishi<br />
Kanva. There were specialists in every branch of<br />
learning cultivated in that age; in each of the four<br />
Vedas; in Yagna-related literature and art; Kalpa-<br />
Sutras; in the Chhanda (Metrics), Sabda (or<br />
Vidyarambham or Aksharabhyasa is an important Hindu<br />
ceremony marking the initiation of young boys and<br />
girls into the writing of alphabets.<br />
Just a thousand years ago, India was dotted with universities across<br />
its length and breadth where international students flocked to gain<br />
credentials in advanced education. But in the last 200 years, the<br />
connection with age-old knowledge streams has been severely<br />
disrupted. In the first part of this new series, Sahana Singh will<br />
examine the pedagogy of ancient Indian universities, and in<br />
subsequent parts will trace their demise.<br />
24<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
ANCIENT INDIAN EDUCATION<br />
Vyakarana), and Nirukta. There were also<br />
Logicians, knowing the principles of Nyaya, and of<br />
Dialectics. Specialists in physical sciences and art<br />
also taught their skills. The art of constructing altars<br />
of various dimensions and shapes for conducting<br />
yagna was regarded as significant and this required<br />
the teaching of Solid Geometry. There were no<br />
artificial demarcations between religion and<br />
science and often, one led to the other. Other topics<br />
that were taught included properties of matter<br />
(dravyaguna) and physical processes. Zoology was<br />
also a subject. Thus, the forest universities laid out<br />
an entire spread of subjects that imparted a holistic<br />
view of the world as it was then known.<br />
The citadels of learning distributed across India<br />
There were a staggering number of universities<br />
spread across the length and breadth of India. The<br />
oldest excavated so far is Takshashila, which is<br />
dated to the 6th century BCE, but could be much<br />
older. It is located in today's Pakistan in the<br />
Rawalpindi District of Punjab. Others were<br />
Nalanda, Valabhi, Vikramshila, Pushpagiri,<br />
Jagaddala, Odantapuri, Somapura, Bikrampur,<br />
Ratnagiri, Mithila, Ujjaini and Kanchipuram,<br />
though this is only a partial list. Even today,<br />
archaeologists are coming across the remains of<br />
ancient universities close to the already excavated<br />
ones.<br />
It is possible that both the forest universities and the<br />
brick and mortar universities existed side by side.<br />
There is an instance of Svetaketu, who is a graduate<br />
in the “arts” from Takshashila. He set out to gather<br />
practical arts by wandering all over the country,<br />
when he came across 500 rishis in a cluster of<br />
hermitages, who taught him their arts, texts and<br />
practices.<br />
Traditionally, it is believed that the Mahabharata<br />
was first recited at Takshashila by Vaishampayana,<br />
student of Vyasa. Takshshila is described as a centre<br />
of great learning in the Buddhist Jātaka tales,<br />
written around the 5th century CE. The Chinese<br />
traveller Fa-Hien mentioned it in his account of his<br />
visit to Takshshila in 405 CE. Xuanzang (Hieun<br />
Tsang), another Chinese monk, visited Takshshila<br />
in 630 and 643CE. The city was overrun by the Huns<br />
in 455 CE so it was in ruins by the time Xuanzang<br />
visited.<br />
Takshashila made great contributions to world<br />
culture and Sanskrit language. It is associated with<br />
Acharya Chanakya, also known as Kautilya. His<br />
famous Arthashastra is said to have been composed<br />
in Takshashila itself. The renowned physician<br />
Charaka to whom Ayurveda owes a huge debt, also<br />
studied at Takshshila. He later became a professor<br />
in the same institute. Jivaka, another famous<br />
physician and surgeon studied here, according to<br />
Pali texts. The ancient grammarian Pāṇini, who<br />
codified the rules that would define Classical<br />
Sanskrit, was also a part of the Takshshila alumni.<br />
Clearly, Takshshila produced some formidable<br />
scholars.<br />
According to the Jatakas, the students went to<br />
Takshshila for higher education, and they were<br />
trained in the Vedas. Apart from this, there were 18<br />
Sippas or Arts that were taught. The Sippas include<br />
scientific and technical education. Takshshila also<br />
had special schools teaching Medicine, Law and<br />
Military Sciences. There was a demand for its<br />
archery courses, and there is a mention of 104<br />
princes studying there at the same time. Not<br />
everyone came from affluent families.<br />
It is said that Jivaka, a Takshashila alumnus cured<br />
Emperor Bimbisara of fistula and, as a result, was<br />
appointed as the physician to the King and to the<br />
Buddhist sangha. He is also credited with curing<br />
King Pradyota of Ujjaini of jaundice. Jivaka was<br />
noted to be a skilled surgeon. A case has been<br />
described where a merchant, who was suffering<br />
from a head disease, was treated by Jivaka by tying<br />
the patient to his bed, cutting through the skin of his<br />
head, drawing apart the flesh on each side of the<br />
incision, pulling two worms out of the wound, then<br />
closing up the sides of the wound, stitching up the<br />
skin on the head and anointing it with salve. He is<br />
also said to have successfully cured cases of twisted<br />
intestines. (To be continued…)<br />
(The author is a writer/editor who specializes in environmental<br />
issues, current affairs and Indian history. She is a member of<br />
Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR), a think tank<br />
headquartered in Houston. She tweets at @singhsahana. This<br />
article was first published on www.indiafacts.org to whom it<br />
belongs)<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
25
FORGOTTEN INDIAN SCIENCES<br />
Alien Curriculum!<br />
Missing Ancient Indian Science in our school syllabus<br />
• Subhash Kak<br />
he best universities in the<br />
TWest prepare intellectual<br />
leaders of tomorrow using<br />
a classics-based curriculum<br />
which includes the earliest texts of<br />
the western tradition. Educators<br />
in India have also begun to speak<br />
of a similar classics-based<br />
curriculum for India.<br />
Such an emulation of the western<br />
liberal studies curriculum must<br />
include scientific classics. This<br />
will help the student get a sense of<br />
the historical changes associated<br />
with the Indian sciences and<br />
understand the relationship of<br />
these sciences to other aspects of<br />
culture.<br />
But there is general ignorance<br />
about India's scientific tradition. It<br />
is granted that Indians had<br />
philosophy and religion,<br />
Ayurveda, mathematics and the<br />
symbol zero, but it is believed that<br />
there was little hard science.<br />
Nothing could be farther from the<br />
truth. India had many sciences<br />
that were based on fundamental<br />
principles, axioms, logical<br />
inference and empirical observations.<br />
These sciences, in which<br />
there is no mention of gods or<br />
anything that a modern scientist<br />
will consider unreasonable, were<br />
generally written down in texts<br />
that were called śāstras and sūtras.<br />
A śāstra is a discipline that is<br />
obtained using the instrument<br />
(śastra) of logic. The word sūtra,<br />
Sanskrit for thread, is cognate<br />
with the Latin sutura (or English,<br />
suture), which is the silken thread<br />
that was used to hold the seam<br />
together after surgery. A sūtra is a<br />
pithy representation of a key<br />
element of the knowledge basis.<br />
Taken in totality, the sutras,<br />
together with a commentary,<br />
provide a full representation of the<br />
science.<br />
There are some sutras that are<br />
primarily philosophical, description<br />
of practices, and discursive.<br />
Some of the more famous<br />
mathematical treatises before the<br />
astronomical siddhāntas of<br />
Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta and<br />
their successors are the Śulbasūtra<br />
(SS) of Baudhāyana, the<br />
Chandaḥ-sūtra (CS) of Piṅgala,<br />
and the Nyāya-sūtra(NS) of<br />
Gotama.<br />
SS is the subject of geometry and<br />
26<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
SCHOOLING &EDUCATION<br />
The attraction of a piece of iron to a magnet is mentioned<br />
in the epic poem Kumārasambhava by the poet Kālidāsa.<br />
it includes the Pythagoras<br />
theorem several centuries prior to<br />
its later discovery in Greece; CS is<br />
the mathematics of meters and it<br />
includes the earliest description of<br />
binary numbers, which now are at<br />
the basis of computers; and NS is<br />
the first formal description of<br />
logic, which predates the logic of<br />
Aristotle. Combinatorics is also to<br />
be found in the Nāṭya Śāstra of<br />
Bharata Muni.<br />
magnet is mentioned in the epic<br />
poem Kumārasambhava by the<br />
poet Kālidāsa.<br />
There are accounts of temples<br />
with levitating images as in<br />
Somnath, which was destroyed by<br />
Mahmud of Ghazni in 1025-1026.<br />
When the temple fell, “the king<br />
directed a person to go and feel it<br />
There were many<br />
sciences based on<br />
fundamental<br />
principles and<br />
empirical<br />
observations, and<br />
without any mention<br />
of gods. There are<br />
some sutras that are<br />
primarily<br />
philosophical,<br />
description of<br />
practices, and<br />
discursive. Students<br />
would only benefit<br />
from studying these<br />
texts and would surely<br />
aid in further research<br />
of the present<br />
scientific disciplines.<br />
Indians were not only into theory<br />
and abstract speculation. Apart<br />
from the careful study of motion,<br />
vibratory phenomena, acoustics<br />
and transforming power of fire<br />
were studied. It was known that<br />
lightning bolts had electricity.<br />
Magnetism, which was also<br />
known and the Suśruta Saṃhitā,<br />
speaks of how a loose unbarbed<br />
arrow lodged in a wound with a<br />
broad mouth can be withdrawn by<br />
the use of a magnet. A compass<br />
consisting of an iron fish floating<br />
in a pan of oil is described. The<br />
attraction of a piece of iron to a<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
27
FORGOTTEN INDIAN SCIENCES<br />
all around with a spear, which he<br />
did but met with no obstacles. One<br />
of the attendants then stated his<br />
opinion that the canopy was made<br />
of loadstone (a magnetised rock),<br />
and that the idol was iron and that<br />
the ingenious builder had<br />
skillfully contrived that the<br />
magnet should not exercise a<br />
greater force on any one side —<br />
hence the idol was suspended in<br />
the middle. When two stones were<br />
removed from the summit the idol<br />
swerved on one side, when more<br />
were taken away, it inclined still<br />
further, until it rested on the<br />
ground".<br />
I want to speak now of one of the<br />
greatest early classics of Indian<br />
science which was not discussed<br />
in the Encyclopedia of India<br />
edited by Stanley Wolpert. This is<br />
the Vaiśeṣika-sūtra (VS) of<br />
Kaṇāda. This is physics which<br />
includes laws of motion as well as<br />
general principles to describe the<br />
physical reality. I recently<br />
translated and analysed VS under<br />
the title Matter and Mind: The<br />
Vaiśeṣika Sūtra of Kaṇāda.<br />
Kaṇāda in his sutras enumerates<br />
real entities irrespective of<br />
whether they can be perceived<br />
through the sense organs or not.<br />
These are the building blocks of<br />
Kaṇāda's world described<br />
through their attributes and<br />
motion.<br />
The Vaiśeṣika system has<br />
categories not only for spacetime-matter<br />
but also for attributes<br />
related to perception of matter. It<br />
starts with six categories that are<br />
nameable and knowable. Nothing<br />
beyond these six fundamentals is<br />
necessary, because they are<br />
sufficient to describe everything<br />
in the universe from concrete<br />
matter to the abstract atom. The<br />
six categories are: substance,<br />
quality, motion, universal,<br />
particularity, and inherence. Of<br />
the six categories, the basic one is<br />
that of substance and the other five<br />
categories are qualities associated<br />
with the substance.<br />
There are nine classes of substances,<br />
some of which are nonatomic,<br />
and some atomic. Every<br />
Some of the more famous mathematical treatises before the<br />
astronomical siddhāntas of Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta and their<br />
successors are the Śulba-sūtra (SS) of Baudhāyana, the Chandaḥ-sūtra<br />
(CS) of Piṅgala, and the Nyāya-sūtra(NS) of Gotama.The Vaiśeṣika<br />
system has categories not only for space-time-matter but also for<br />
attributes related to perception of matter.<br />
substance was taken to be<br />
composed of four different kinds<br />
of atoms, two of which had mass<br />
and two did not.<br />
Kaṇāda in the VS presents laws of<br />
motion and two of them almost<br />
read identical to Newton's laws of<br />
motion. It also deals with laws and<br />
symmetries, atoms and molecules,<br />
transformations and<br />
evolution. It argues that molecules<br />
can inter-transform and<br />
amongst the effects it describes is<br />
that of electricity and magnetism.<br />
It was presumed that the atom<br />
underlying fire and light was at the<br />
basis of the electric and magnetic<br />
phenomena.<br />
28<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
UNETHICAL CELEBRATIONS<br />
Bangalore's Night of Shame<br />
• Krantiveer<br />
A huge crowd gathered for New Year celebrations in Bangalore<br />
angalore, touted as<br />
BSilicon Valley of India<br />
and a nerve center of the<br />
country's cosmopolitan culture,<br />
showed its dark side on the New<br />
Year. Dozens of women,<br />
gathered to celebrate New Year<br />
the country's prestigious MG<br />
Road, were molested.<br />
It didn't matter what type of<br />
outfits they were wearing, it<br />
didn't matter if there were alone<br />
or with their friends and family.<br />
Our collective decency was<br />
molested; our proud culture that<br />
worships women was disrobed.<br />
The last day of the year is usually<br />
a sight of frantic activities on<br />
places like M.G. Road and<br />
Brigade Road. Anarchy prevailed<br />
on the streets after 11 pm<br />
as revelers gathered to welcome<br />
the New Year. Despite “elaborate”<br />
security arrangements,<br />
women found unknown males<br />
coming to hug them, while male<br />
friends and relatives had a tough<br />
time protecting them from<br />
unruly men. And all this happened<br />
despite the presence of<br />
1,500 policemen in the area.<br />
Thousands of people, on bikes,<br />
cars and on foot had converged<br />
here for the revelry. Though<br />
police had initially claimed to<br />
take all precautions to ensure an<br />
'incident-free' New Year, it<br />
seemed they underestimated the<br />
attitude of the mob.<br />
It's easy to blame the policemen<br />
for incident. But they were<br />
outnumbered by scores of<br />
'leeches' scattered all around the<br />
area, looking for an easy prey.<br />
Following the incident, someone<br />
blamed the kind of dresses the<br />
women were wearing. But there<br />
is a saying in Kannada: “Lust has<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
29
WOMEN & SAFETY<br />
What did Police Do?<br />
It's not as if the police didn't do anything. In fact, they took a lot of precautionary<br />
measures this year in view of untoward incidents in the last few years. Here are the few<br />
measures taken by police this year:<br />
In the wake of New Year celebrations, a contingent of 16,000-plus policemen were<br />
assisted by 3,000 home guards in the bandobust across the city .There was a special<br />
focus on central business district areas like MG Road, Brigade Road and Church<br />
Street that drew thousands of revellers.<br />
CCTV cameras were installed at vantage points on MG Road and in surrounding<br />
areas. Over 100 cameras had been taken on rent for the purpose and around 10 highrise<br />
platforms were constructed on MG Road and Brigade Road to keep a hawk's eye<br />
on mischief mongers. Explosive detection squads along with sniffer dog squads were<br />
put into service from Friday itself and a decision on restricting vehicular movement on<br />
MG Road and Brigade Road on Sunday was also made.<br />
Special police teams along with intelligence wing were active and were keeping an eye<br />
on bus stands, railway station, air port and hotels. Hotels with lodging facility had been<br />
directed to maintain register on guests, fix CCTV cameras at manager's room, cashier<br />
chambers and main lobbies of the hotel. There was no specific intelligence input on any<br />
untoward incidents, but the police made all efforts to tackle any situation.<br />
At least on paper.<br />
no eyes.” When it comes to<br />
groping, the age, attire or the<br />
attitude of the woman don't<br />
matter. Eve-teasing has long<br />
present in colleges, and it did not<br />
change when women came in<br />
full gowns.<br />
Although pictures of molestation<br />
kicked off debates on social<br />
media and television channels,<br />
police claimed that they had not<br />
received a single complaint.<br />
Well, they would not, because<br />
the women who were attacked<br />
were probably too traumatized to<br />
go to a police station and lodge a<br />
complaint. And maybe, they<br />
knew it was futile to lodge a<br />
complaint, as they simply<br />
couldn't remember the faces of<br />
molesters.<br />
This is not the first time such<br />
incidents have taken place in<br />
Namma Bengaluru. Such<br />
shameful incidents have<br />
occurred during the New Year<br />
eve earlier also, especially on<br />
Brigade road and M. G. Road. In<br />
fact, this was the very reason the<br />
government had deployed 1,500<br />
policemen on those places this<br />
year.<br />
On the light of such incidents,<br />
many have even questioned the<br />
logic behind women going to<br />
those places in party wear. This<br />
society will continue to point<br />
fingers at women, blaming them<br />
about their choice of dress and<br />
the way they have chosen to<br />
celebrate.<br />
30<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
UNETHICAL CELEBRATIONS<br />
If women cannot safely and securely be part of celebration an<br />
event like New Year in a public place, it is not the problem with<br />
women but the society in general. We still need to realize that<br />
women are just as human as men. Until we don't stop looking at<br />
women merely as 'objects of desire', incidents of this kind will<br />
repeat.<br />
The celebration soon turned into a nightmare for many women<br />
But instead of blaming women<br />
for such incidents, we as a<br />
society will have to look inwards<br />
and see why we tend to brush<br />
such incidents under the carpets<br />
as 'one off incidents in an<br />
otherwise peaceful city.'<br />
Ours is a society that blames<br />
women even when they are the<br />
victims. Why did you go out so<br />
late? Why did you dress like<br />
that? Why there wasn't a male<br />
companion with you? Why did<br />
you go out with so many males?<br />
A woman has to face endless.<br />
But maybe, the molesters are<br />
only a part of the problem. It's<br />
our system which has created a<br />
'conducive' environment for<br />
these molesters and gropers and<br />
rapists, wherein they are let off<br />
without any penalty. It's our<br />
system where a senior politician<br />
just shrugs off these incidents<br />
saying that 'such things happen.'<br />
It's our collective attitude which<br />
sneers at the molested women,<br />
saying “see, you dared to venture<br />
out in the night, so you invited<br />
trouble”.<br />
No, not all Indian men are<br />
molesters. But somewhere down<br />
the line, we will have to take<br />
collective responsibility of<br />
whatever happened. Because,<br />
we as a society failed to protect<br />
our womenfolk; we as a system<br />
failed to create an atmosphere<br />
which prevented the molesters<br />
from fearlessly attacking our<br />
sisters and mothers. And<br />
somewhere down the line, when<br />
all this happened, we still have<br />
the shamelessness to look at the<br />
dresses of the women and say<br />
maybe they deserved it.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
31
REFINING BCCI<br />
Cleansing Indian Cricket<br />
SC Shows the way<br />
• Raju Shanbhag<br />
BCCI has been defiant in implementing Justice Lodha Committee's report<br />
India's premier sports body is in<br />
tatters. Supreme Court, not<br />
willing to bow down to the<br />
audacity of BCCI anymore, has<br />
cracked the whip. The apex court<br />
has removed BCCI board<br />
president Anurag Thakur and<br />
Secretary Ajay Shirke for being<br />
defiant and stalling the reforms<br />
recommended by Lodha panel.<br />
But, as cricket commentator<br />
Navjot Singh Sidhu put it, the<br />
“writing was on the wall” for the<br />
BCCI. For more than a year, the<br />
cricket body defied the orders<br />
from the highest court of the land,<br />
offered lame excuses and<br />
threatened to disrupt the sports<br />
itself if its wishes were not<br />
granted. It was the battle of wits<br />
between BCCI and the Supreme<br />
Court, and there was no doubt<br />
who would win the end.<br />
Since Jagmohan Damliya paved<br />
the way for BCCI to become the<br />
richest cricketing body in the<br />
world with his sweeping commercialization<br />
of the game. BCCI<br />
has had one aim in the mind: to get<br />
rich further. Ironically, when<br />
questions were raised about<br />
BCCI selling off broadcast rights<br />
to private channels back in 1995,<br />
it was the same Supreme Court<br />
that came to the BCCI's rescue<br />
and ruled that it had the right to<br />
sell the rights to the highest<br />
bidder.<br />
This ruling allowed BCCI to get a<br />
stranglehold on the financial<br />
It seems the Supreme<br />
Court is cleansing the<br />
BCCI much the same<br />
way as Modi<br />
government is<br />
cleaning the country's<br />
economy with<br />
demonitisation. The<br />
SC is insisting that the<br />
BCCI should appoint a<br />
working committee<br />
made of former<br />
players and a<br />
nominee from the<br />
Comptroller and<br />
Auditor General of<br />
India.<br />
aspects of the most popular game<br />
in the country and thereby control<br />
its administration. With loads of<br />
money came oodles of corruption.<br />
Major politicians fought<br />
bitter battles to gain control of the<br />
premier sporting body. The list<br />
included prominent politicians<br />
like Madhav Rao Sindhia and<br />
Sharad Pawar.<br />
Like the officials, the money<br />
corrupted the players too. The<br />
darkest period of Indian cricket,<br />
the match fixing scandals<br />
surfaced in 2000 and the board<br />
dropped senior players like<br />
Azaruddin to regain public faith<br />
in cricket. But the seeds of decay<br />
had already been sown and they<br />
were threatening to overtake the<br />
32<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
SPORTS AND ADMINISTRATION<br />
very sport on which BCCI<br />
thrived.<br />
Despite corruption and highhandedness,<br />
BCCI still enjoyed a<br />
considerable clout in the international<br />
circuit because of the<br />
popularity of cricket in India and<br />
the financial power that carried.<br />
The agency's utter disregard to<br />
the rules was evident in 2008<br />
when it allowed then secretary, N<br />
Srinivasan, to buy an IPL team<br />
(Chennai Super Kings).<br />
The rule barred BCCI officebearers<br />
from having such<br />
commercial interests. It said: “no<br />
administrator of BCCI could<br />
have had, directly or indirectly,<br />
any commercial interest in the<br />
matches or events conducted by<br />
the cricket board”.<br />
Apart from its tussles with local<br />
administrations, the BCCI was<br />
not far behind in locking horns<br />
with the international community<br />
too. From introducing new<br />
technical aspects in the game to<br />
refusing to accept the whereabouts<br />
clause of the World Antidoping<br />
Agency (WADA), saying<br />
giving out such information<br />
could jeopardise the security of<br />
its high-profile players, BCCI has<br />
always been pain the neck for<br />
International Cricketing<br />
Community.<br />
But it was IPL, which opened the<br />
Pandora's box. The IPL spotfixing<br />
scandal erupted in May<br />
with the arrests of four Rajasthan<br />
Royals players, including Test<br />
paceman S Sreesanth, for<br />
underperforming in return for<br />
Over the past few years, BCCI has been in the<br />
news for all the wrong reasons<br />
money. Lalit Modi's corruption<br />
cases came to the fore, as<br />
skeleton's tumbling out of the<br />
closet.<br />
Gurunath Meiyappan, senior<br />
CSK official and board president<br />
N Srinivasan's son-in-law was<br />
arrested by the Mumbai Police on<br />
charges of illegal betting and<br />
insider deals. The Supreme Court<br />
forced a reluctant Srinivasan to<br />
'step aside' from the post until the<br />
inquiry was completed on<br />
Meiyappan. A probe report into<br />
the IPL spot-fixing by former<br />
high court judge, Justice Mukul<br />
Mudgal, held Meiyappan guilty<br />
and CSK flouting the franchise<br />
agreement. The SC asked<br />
Srinivasan, who had been<br />
allowed to resume office, to step<br />
down as BCCI chief.<br />
With all this corruption of<br />
highhandedness of BCCI, it was<br />
only a matter of time the government<br />
and the courts of the country<br />
took matters into their hands. The<br />
Supreme Court appointed the<br />
Lodha committee in January<br />
2015 to look into the functioning<br />
of the Indian board and suggest<br />
changes to its constitution.<br />
The Lodha committee has<br />
suggested a number of changes to<br />
the way BCCI functions. The<br />
committee has recommended a<br />
complete overhaul of Indian<br />
cricket, from the very top down to<br />
the grassroots level, affecting<br />
every stakeholder. Its report<br />
covers every aspect of the game<br />
with special focus on the BCCI's<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
33
HERO OF IPKF<br />
Who is Justice Lodha?<br />
Justice R. M. Lodha (born 28 September 1949) was the 41st Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India.<br />
Before being elevated to the Supreme Court of India, Lodha served as the Chief Justice of Patna High<br />
Court. He has also served as a judge in Rajasthan High Court and Bombay High Court.<br />
In <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1973, he got enrolled with the Bar Council of Rajasthan at Jodhpur. He shifted to Jaipur in<br />
1977 on formation of Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court. He was appointed as Central<br />
Government standing counsel at the Rajasthan High Court in 1990. On 31 January 1994, Lodha was<br />
elevated as a permanent judge of Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur. On 16 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1994, he was<br />
transferred to Bombay High Court and served till 2007. He assumed office as a judge of Rajasthan<br />
High Court on 2 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 2007. On 13 May 2008, he was elevated as the Chief Justice of Patna High<br />
Court. On 17 December 2008, Justice Lodha was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.<br />
Lodha was appointed as the Chief Justice of India succeeding P Sathasivam on 11 April and assumed<br />
charge on 27 April 2014. Justice Lodha said that infusing greater transparency in the appointment of<br />
judges and initiating steps to bring down the staggering backlog of 3.3 crore cases will be among his<br />
priorities. He retired on 27 September 2014 and was succeeded by H L Dattu.<br />
administrative and governance<br />
structures and the issue of<br />
transparency.<br />
The most important set of<br />
recommendations aims at<br />
transforming the entire power<br />
structure in the board. It has<br />
changed the BCCI's electorate to<br />
one association per state - some<br />
states have three - and removed<br />
the vote from associations<br />
without territorial definitions<br />
(e.g., Railways and Services).<br />
The most important point, which<br />
has irked the current bosses of<br />
BCCI, is the point which proposes<br />
stringent eligibility criteria<br />
for the board's office-bearers and<br />
set limits to their time in office.<br />
Ministers and bureaucrats will<br />
not be allowed to hold positions<br />
on the board, nor will those<br />
holding positions in their state<br />
associations or those above 70<br />
years of age. That could rule out a<br />
host of current office-bearers.<br />
Dealing another deathly blow,<br />
Justice Lodha's report has called<br />
for replacing current Working<br />
Committee, the BCCI's highest<br />
decision-making body, with a<br />
nine-member Apex Council,<br />
which will include representatives<br />
from the players' community<br />
- including one woman.<br />
There will also be a nominee of<br />
the Comptroller and Auditor<br />
General, presumably to keep an<br />
eye on how the board's vast<br />
resources are being utilized.<br />
There's also a big push for<br />
transparency, with the recommended<br />
appointment of three<br />
independent officials - an<br />
ombudsman, an ethics officer and<br />
an election officer - to look into<br />
the three contentious areas within<br />
the BCCI: conflict of interest,<br />
dispute resolution and election<br />
processes. It also set high<br />
eligibility criteria for each, to<br />
ensure their independence.<br />
In spite of defiance shown by<br />
BCCI in last few weeks, it is clear<br />
that it has no option but to simply<br />
implement the changes<br />
demanded by the Lodha panel.<br />
They can beat around the bush,<br />
delay the implementation for a<br />
while, but there is simply no way<br />
they can escape the Supreme<br />
Court's verdict.<br />
Finally, it seems that the muchawaited<br />
reform in governing the<br />
country's biggest game has begun<br />
in its full earnest.<br />
34<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
CATERING TO RADICALS<br />
Appeasement or institutional disease?<br />
Mamata's indulgence of radical Islamists is drowning Bengal<br />
• P Ghose<br />
Mamata-banerjee has been engaged<br />
in Muslim appeasement for a long time now<br />
Appeasing Muslims has long been a strategy to<br />
win votes for political parties in this country, but<br />
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West<br />
Bengal, has taken appeasing to a new highs. Like,<br />
everyone else, she doesn't do it out of her love for<br />
Muslims, she is eying their votes.<br />
Come what may, she wants power. Whether it is<br />
the endless influx of illegal immigrants from<br />
Bangladesh or the increasing attack on Hindus,<br />
Mamta looks the other way every time people<br />
question her policies. Repeatedly, she has demonstrated<br />
that she can go to length to secure her votes.<br />
In her blind attempt to safeguard her vote banks,<br />
she has even undermined national policies. Her<br />
government recently cancelled an event scheduled<br />
to place in the Calcutta Club, where author<br />
and political commentator Tarek Fatah was to<br />
speak on the topic of Balochistan and its struggle<br />
for 'freedom' from Pakistan.<br />
The Calcutta Club cited “unavoidable circumstances”<br />
for cancelling the event at the last minute,<br />
according to a Facebook post of Tarek Fatah. The<br />
unfavorable circumference was none other than<br />
Mamata Banerjee, looking to settle a score with<br />
Tarek Fatah for being pro Modi<br />
Tarek Fatah has been supporting the Narendra<br />
Modi-led BJP government for a while now. Fatah<br />
has been a vocal supporter of Modi's plan to<br />
expose Pakistani government and its army's<br />
atrocities in Balochistan. For Mamata, personal<br />
grudge against Modi is far superior to the country's<br />
policy against Pakistan.<br />
Therefore, this is really no surprise at all. Mamata<br />
Banerjee's government has been curbing on<br />
freedom of speech for a long time now. It has also<br />
been looking the other way whenever Muslim<br />
miscreants has been targeting Hindus in West<br />
Bengal. The most recent example is the riots in<br />
Dhulagarh, a town 25 kilometres west of Kolkata,<br />
which became platform for communal clashes that<br />
saw Hindu's houses and shops being targeted and<br />
set on fire.<br />
. Despite the heavy presence of police and armed<br />
forces in the area, things didn't return to normalcy.<br />
Recently, in Dhulagarh, a town 25 KMs west of Kolkata, riots broke<br />
out, with a Muslim mob ransacking Hindu houses and setting them<br />
on fire. Mamata blocked reporters and opposition party leaders<br />
from visiting the town. She even brought lawsuits against those<br />
journalists who reported the incident.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
35
WEST BENGAL<br />
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation —<br />
comprising party leaders Jagdambika Pal, Satpal<br />
Singh, state president Dilip Ghosh and national<br />
secretary Rahul Sinha, and several volunteers —<br />
was stopped at Ekabbarapur Road, about one KM<br />
away from the spot where the clashes had taken<br />
place a few days ago.<br />
Clearly, the Mamata Banerjee government had<br />
lots of things to keep under the wraps. This was<br />
evident from the way it blocked media from doing<br />
its job in this whole episode. It slapped a nonbailable<br />
offence against three employees of the TV<br />
channel Zee News, including editor Sudhir<br />
Chaudhary, West Bengal correspondent Pooja<br />
Mehta and cameraperson Tanmay Mukherjee<br />
under Section 153A (promoting enmity) of the<br />
Indian Penal Code.<br />
Had this been done by the Modi government, the<br />
alleged thinkers, free-spirited actors and their ilk<br />
would have cried foul and have kicked up “intolerance”<br />
debates. But it was not a Modi government<br />
scam. It was a Didi's scam, and it was neither wise<br />
nor beneficial to raise a voice. So they kept quiet.<br />
Mamata Banerjee's Muslim appeasement theory<br />
is not just the imagination of a few writers or right<br />
wing Hindu activists. Even Calcutta High Court<br />
has accused Mamata Banerjee government of<br />
trying to appease Muslims for the sake of votes. In<br />
a order passed on October 6, 2016, the High Court<br />
accused the Mamata Banerjee of indulging in<br />
minority appeasement by ordering organisers to<br />
immerse their idols by 4 pm on Doshomi, the final<br />
day of West Bengal's largest festival, Durga Puja.<br />
The government had put in time limits to the idol<br />
immersion given that Moharram processions the<br />
next day could cause, it argued, a law-and-order<br />
issue. The order struck this down by proceeding to<br />
argue that these processions are not an “inseparable”<br />
part of Moharram and that this "is also not the<br />
Mamata's Madness<br />
Not surprisingly, Mamata Banerjee has always been ranting against Narendra Modi on<br />
every possible issue. She, along with Arvind Kejriwal, has been providing some relief to<br />
the people tired of waiting in long queues in ATMs. Here are some of the Mamata;s<br />
antics to your reading pleasure.<br />
On December 1, Banerjee sent shockwaves across West Bengal by claiming the Centre<br />
was plotting a coup against her government by amassing army in Kolkata without<br />
permission. She decided not to go home and remain at the state secretariat, Nabanna,<br />
to what she called “guard the democracy”.<br />
Banerjee even asked: “Is this a military coup?”. Later it emerged that the army was<br />
carrying out a routine exercise and the West Bengal administration was already aware of<br />
it. Logic doesn't explain as to how a state government can think that centre would ever<br />
need military to stage a coup. In a federal system like ours, the Centre can do it simply by<br />
imposing President rule.<br />
On the same day, Mamata had made another bogus claim that Centre had conspired to<br />
kill her by not allowing her flight to land on the airport. From January 1, Mamata has<br />
launched a “Modi hatao, Desh Bachao” campaign across West Bengal. The campaign<br />
again defies logic as to how can one overthrow the Centre by protesting only in a single<br />
state. What Mamata's campaign has been successful in doing is in increasing the 'hate-<br />
Modi' sentiments of her party workers and dragging West Bengal into a season of<br />
violence and tensions.<br />
36<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
CATERING TO RADICALS<br />
The government remained a mute spectator when Hindu's were being attacked in Dhulagarh riots<br />
most important festival of people having faith in<br />
Islam”. The court also held that immersion is a<br />
vital ritual for “puritan Hindus” and those who<br />
“worship Maa Durga with a pure and clean mind”.<br />
Did you ever wonder why Mamata Banerjee had<br />
been so vocal against demonitization? Now, no<br />
one in their right mind would believe that a Chief<br />
Minister who would let innocent children die to<br />
secure minority votes would be concerned about<br />
people standing in queues to get their money. The<br />
real reason for Mamata's outburst against<br />
demonitization is that her friend's business is hit<br />
hard by Modi's bold move.<br />
Government's decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs<br />
1000 notes has caused the maximum damage in<br />
West Bengal's Malda. The minority-dominated<br />
district of West Bengal shares a 223 km border<br />
with Bangladesh. It is regarded as gateway to<br />
counterfeit currency in India. Much of the fake<br />
currency seized across the nation are traced back<br />
to Malda. In 2015, nearly Rs 2.6 crores of seized<br />
counterfeit noted were traced back to Malda. In<br />
2016, Rs 1.6 crores of seized fake money (till<br />
October) has been traced to Malda.<br />
Mamata Banerjee has been relying on the power of<br />
Muslims, whose number is rising like never<br />
before in the past decade. Infiltration from<br />
Bangladesh and non-existence of family planning<br />
are the two important reasons resulting in the<br />
growth of the Muslim population in West Bengal.<br />
As per the latest census data of 2011, three districts<br />
- Murshidabad, Major Somnath Uttar Sharma Dinajpur and Malda - of<br />
West Bengal have already become Muslim<br />
dominated. Besides these three districts, Muslims<br />
have significant presence in other districts like<br />
North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly,<br />
Howrah and Birbhum. Out of 294 Assembly seats<br />
of West Bengal, more than 100 seats are such<br />
where Muslim vote is the major factor to determine<br />
the outcome of poll.<br />
Mamata Banerjee is repeatedly testing the<br />
patience of Hindus in West Bengal. Time again,<br />
she has proved that the only that matters for her is<br />
vote. She wouldn't mind sacrificing scores of<br />
Hindus, just to be at the helm.<br />
Wonder how long Hindus in West Bengal will<br />
tolerate these atrocities.<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
37
HONORING NATIONAL ICONS<br />
Shivaji Statue<br />
Source of Inspiration &<br />
a Catalyst for Patriotism<br />
• Ganashyam<br />
Work has already begun for the statue with the PM inaugurating the work<br />
aharashtra is excited about building a<br />
Mlife-size statue of Maratha warrior<br />
Chhatrapati Shivaji. The construction<br />
work is expected to pick up in <strong>Feb</strong>ruary, because<br />
9th of <strong>Feb</strong>ruary is the king's birthday.<br />
The 192-metre statue, expected to be completed by<br />
2019, is estimated to cost Rs. 3600 crores. But the<br />
government is hopeful of recouping the money it is<br />
spending, as the statue will turn out to be one of the<br />
popular tourist hotspots.<br />
Considering its master plan, this is going to be the<br />
tallest statues in the world, with analysts estimating<br />
it to grow twice the size of New York's Statue of<br />
Liberty and five times taller than that of Christ the<br />
Redeemer in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.<br />
To minimize the potential damage could be caused<br />
to the local environment, Maharshtra government<br />
will use the rubble generated from the construction<br />
of the underground Metro line between Colaba and<br />
Seepz.<br />
The rock islet where the memorial is being built<br />
submerges during the high tide. To build the<br />
memorial and set up allied facilities, tonnes of sand<br />
would be needed. So instead of sand dredged from<br />
other parts, the PWD felt that it would be environmentally<br />
and economically sound to reuse the<br />
excavated sand from the Metro project.<br />
Some of the arrangements for transportation of the<br />
rubble to the memorial site are already in place. Six<br />
months ago, the chief minister had permitted the<br />
MMRC to make use of a jetty near the Bandra end<br />
of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. This could be used<br />
for the transportation of the muck in barrages to the<br />
memorial site. The agency is also in talks with<br />
JNPT authorities for allowing a similar operation<br />
for another jetty (Kerosene jetty) in Sewri.<br />
Ram Sutar, the 92 year old acclaimed artist, will be<br />
the sculptor for this statue. The project management<br />
consultancy service is given to the Egis India,<br />
a part of a French construction group that provided<br />
consultancy service for building five flood-<br />
38<br />
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CULTURE & HISTORY<br />
Shivaji Memorial will be the tallest statue in the world<br />
Our cultural and civilizational icons need to be revered and celebrated. Places,<br />
memorials and statues of our national icons are not merely pieces of concrete<br />
but a reminder to recall their sacrifices and live the path they showed us. Some<br />
suggest that the government should rather invest in alleviating property than<br />
spend money on building statues. But this will not end up being a mere statue<br />
but a tourist hotspot, generating hundreds of crores for the state's exchequer. It<br />
is therefore an investment in tourism too.<br />
protection dams in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Egis<br />
group is also looking after a container terminal at<br />
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust at Raigad. This group<br />
also looks after the maintenace of Eiffel Tower.<br />
Apart from the statue, the project will also encompass<br />
an amphitheatre and auditorium with a<br />
capacity to hold between 500 and 2000 people.<br />
Also part of the project is an exhibition gallery.<br />
There will be an art museum spread over in an area<br />
of 4000 sq. meter and a world class aquarium. The<br />
project will also house a library which will include<br />
literature about Shivaji's life. You can view the<br />
statue from varying levels. It will also have<br />
helipads, jetties, sea wall and breakwaters.<br />
Mammoth statues of this kind are popular tourist<br />
sites elsewhere in the world. Both the Statue of<br />
Liberty and the Jesus Christ statue in Brazil, for<br />
example, draw scores of travelers from around the<br />
world, generating millions of dollars for local<br />
governments.<br />
Therefore, the government is optimistic that the<br />
area in and around the statue may be able to<br />
generate a lot of jobs once the statue is built. It will<br />
also bring in more tourists to other nearby tourist<br />
spots in Maharshtra.<br />
Since this project was announced, many fishermen<br />
in the surrounding area have been protesting<br />
against the project. They said that the road constructed<br />
to the Shivaji memorial will take away<br />
their fishing areas and subsequently snatch their<br />
livelihood.<br />
But this is not the case, as the Maharshtra government<br />
has clearly stated that there will be no roads<br />
built to the Shivaji Memorial. This means the<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong><br />
39
HONORING NATIONAL ICONS<br />
The Monetary Aspect<br />
The project includes not just the statue of a historical ruler but it also includes other facilities<br />
such as an amphitheatre.<br />
Once the statue is complete, and open to the public, Rs 100 is incurred to reach the island by<br />
boat, and Rs 50 spent on entry fee, and, if on an average a 1,000 people visit in a day, it would<br />
yield nearly Rs 5.5 crore a year.<br />
While this is a small figure, it merely gives us a glimpse of the revenue potential. Further, with<br />
an amphitheatre also being proposed, more revenue can be netted by renting out the<br />
premises to major events and even performances.<br />
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) currently acts as an aggregator<br />
for ferries and catamarans connecting the Gateway of India to Gharapuri Island, where the<br />
Elephanta Caves are located with a fare of Rs 160 for a return trip. The same model can be<br />
applied for the Shiv Smarak, thereby giving the water transport industry a boost.<br />
Mumbai's much talked about Water Transport programme, has not taken off, despite a<br />
massive push from Nitin Gadkari for shipping, inland waterways and ship-building.<br />
While many have argued that the money can be “better spent” on social welfare, or<br />
education, feeding people, or irrigation, what one must remember is that the government<br />
spending is never a zero-sum game. When the government spends on a statue of Shivaji as<br />
an investment in tourism, it doesn't mean there is a compromise on other important sectors.<br />
visitors will have to get there by boat, which will in<br />
turn help boatmen earn livelihood by ferrying<br />
people between the statue and the coastline.<br />
It is estimated that 5–6 million cubic meter of hard<br />
rock will be received from the tunnel activity and<br />
building stations. When this would be crushed, it<br />
will provide 10–12 million cubic meter of sand.<br />
There will be two points from where visitors would<br />
take a boat to the Shivaji memorial. These points<br />
are Nariman point and Gateway of India. BMC will<br />
build multilevel car parks where the visitors can<br />
park their cars. This will generate revenue for the<br />
BMC, which can be used for productive work like<br />
good maintenance of the drainage system of the<br />
city.<br />
In Indian context, Rs. 3600 crore project would be a<br />
huge cost even for the government. Many protestors<br />
are claiming that such huge cost could have<br />
been used to fund numerous developmental works,<br />
which the country badly needs. Going by that logic,<br />
various other entertainment options like cricket<br />
matches and malls in the country should be banned<br />
because they use too much electricity and cricket<br />
brings whole nation to a standstill for several hours.<br />
The electricity spent in day-and-night cricket<br />
matches and malls and other places of entertainment<br />
like cinema theatres could light up homes of<br />
millions of poor families for free.<br />
Not everything can be measured in cost-profit ratio.<br />
Shivaji Memorial is definitely a pride of the nation,<br />
and being the tallest statue in the world, it will bring<br />
in lots of visitors and create earning opportunities<br />
for the people around the area.<br />
40<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
TACKLING TERRORIST<br />
Countering Fidayeen Attacks<br />
• Vivek Chadha<br />
There has been an upsurge in violence in Jammu<br />
and Kashmir (J&K) in recent years. This has been<br />
accompanied by increasing cross-border<br />
violations by Pakistan and heavy retaliation by<br />
India. The Uri terrorist attack on September 18,<br />
2016 — directed, equipped and supported by<br />
Pakistan, led to the surgical strike by India across<br />
the Line of Control (LoC), which caught Pakistan<br />
off-guard. These were followed by repeated<br />
attempts by Islamabad to disrupt the 2003<br />
ceasefire along the LoC and hit at targets inside<br />
J&K through orchestrated terrorist strikes. The<br />
brief analyses fidayeen attacks that have taken<br />
place during the last three years by Pakistan<br />
sponsored terrorist groups. It then delineates<br />
steps the security forces could take to counter<br />
such attacks effectively.<br />
Understanding the Numbers<br />
According to a portal that tracks terrorism-related<br />
violence in South Asia, 2016 has witnessed the<br />
highest number of security forces casualties<br />
during the last eight years in J&K.'1 The data<br />
suggests that 77 security personnel have lost their<br />
lives, even as 153 terrorists were eliminated until<br />
November 27, 2016. It also indicates that civilian<br />
casualties have come down to the least number<br />
since the beginning of insurgency. However, it<br />
would be useful to view these numbers in the right<br />
context, as the security situation in Kashmir<br />
reflects a change in strategy on part of Pakistan,<br />
which must be discerned with care.<br />
The high numbers indicated by the media in the<br />
recent past do not take into account certain<br />
variables that impact the increasing violence in<br />
the recent past. As an illustration, it has been<br />
stated that the army's combat death toll in J&K is<br />
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41
NATIONAL SECURITY<br />
the highest this year. The figures are indeed high<br />
in comparison with previous years. The reasons<br />
accounting for the high figures are delineated<br />
below. First, cross-LoC violations have been<br />
unusually high this year and have led to a large<br />
number of casualties, especially of the Pakistani<br />
regular forces.2 These figures do not reflect<br />
Pakistan Army casualties, which when included,<br />
could take the ratio of casualties to similar levels<br />
as previous years. Second, the increase in<br />
casualties also indicates an upswing in the<br />
number of violent incidents and the corresponding<br />
increase in the intensity of security forces<br />
operations. As compared to 208 incidents in<br />
2015, 283 incidents have already taken place till<br />
November 6, 2016 in J&K.3 This is a reflection of<br />
Pakistan's desperate attempt at ensuring continued<br />
instability in the region. The decision of<br />
terrorist handlers to resort to fidayeen attacks<br />
illustrates this change in strategy and therefore<br />
calls for reflection by security forces in India as<br />
well. Third, the low figures of civilian casualties<br />
are indicative of the nature of operations being<br />
conducted in Kashmir. In the recent months,<br />
despite grave provocation, security forces have<br />
ensured minimal collateral damage, often at the<br />
cost of suffering higher casualties themselves.<br />
The Fidayeen Phenomenon<br />
There has been a clear shift on the part of<br />
Pakistani handlers from preserving terrorists<br />
within J&K by avoiding encounters to fidayeen<br />
attacks. The very nature of these attacks — if<br />
successful in their initial attempt to close in with a<br />
42<br />
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TACKLING TERRORIST<br />
target — can potentially give results far beyond<br />
the number of suicide attackers sacrificed.<br />
Kashmir is not the first or only instance where<br />
such attempts have come to light. The institutionalised<br />
expertise of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil<br />
Eelam (LTTE), followed by those witnessed in<br />
Lebanon, Iraq and closer home in Pakistan and<br />
Afghanistan are telling examples of the efficacy<br />
of these tactics. While even one loss is a loss too<br />
many, yet an objective assessment suggests that<br />
with the exception of the Uri attack on September<br />
18, 2016, security forces have been able to<br />
contain the damage, despite the shift in strategy<br />
as indicated by the series of such attacks. Even as<br />
some of these attacks are contained, fidayeen<br />
attempts, which include surprise and shock as<br />
essential elements, are bound to cause greater<br />
damage when compared to hit and run or standoff<br />
fire assaults. This clearly reflects in the casualty<br />
figures of 2016.<br />
There has also been a carefully calibrated shift in<br />
terms of the nature of the targetsat the receiving<br />
end of fidayeen attacks. Amongst the ten major<br />
attacks that have taken place in the last three years<br />
in the hinterland (refer Table 1 and Sketch 1),<br />
terrorists have struck an active battalion headquarter<br />
in an operational area, police stations,<br />
formation headquarters, peacetime military units<br />
and security establishments. These attacks seem<br />
to have been equally spaced between areas north<br />
and south of the Pir Panjal. However, they were<br />
relatively more successful in areas closer to the<br />
border or the LoC and along major arteries. The<br />
failures have taken place in areas further from the<br />
borders. This may have been due to the inability<br />
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43
NATIONAL SECURITY<br />
of terrorists to maintain their momentum,<br />
motivation and logistical support system. This<br />
can be seen in case of attacks repulsed in Janglot<br />
and Langate.<br />
More importantly, it is also a reflection of the<br />
security forces leadership which ensured a high<br />
degree of preparedness despite the monotony<br />
associated with guard duties at military installations.<br />
The wide spread nature of targets across the<br />
border also indicates a careful selection procedure<br />
possibly based on the need to retain surprise<br />
as well as the potential vulnerability of the chosen<br />
target. This is quite obviously beyond the ability<br />
of terrorists and reflects the expertise of a military<br />
establishment behind it. It also shows careful<br />
planning in each case, wherein, the orchestration<br />
of the operation was undertaken with due<br />
preparation. This included digging of long<br />
tunnels across the border, procuring and wearing<br />
of army fatigues or police uniforms to deflect<br />
attention, carrying of operation specific weapons,<br />
equipment and stores.'''''4<br />
The raising casualties of the Pakistani Army, both<br />
in men and material, could not have remained a<br />
one-sided phenomenon, with an expected<br />
backlash on the Indian side in terms of casualties.<br />
A look at the incidents post Uri clearly reflects<br />
this reality. Even as India extracted a heavy cost<br />
on Pakistan in terms of fatalities, morale and loss<br />
of face, the targeting of two military establishments<br />
by fidayeens in quick succession thereafter<br />
could have been the only low cost option available<br />
to Pakistan as a face saving measure. Given<br />
this desperation, fidayeen attacks can be reduced<br />
over a period of time with better procedures and<br />
preparedness. However, these cannot be eliminated<br />
completely and that is a reality that security<br />
planners and the population at large must<br />
acknowledge.<br />
This analysis clearly establishes that Pakistan<br />
stung by the humiliating cross-LoC surgical<br />
strike will continue to focus its attention on<br />
military, police and central armed police establishments<br />
which are seen as vulnerable targets for<br />
fidayeen attacks. This leads to the operative part<br />
of the policy brief, which attempts to concentrate<br />
attention on requisite means to reduce casualties<br />
in this regard.<br />
Countering the Fidayeen<br />
It is important to outline that suicide attacks are<br />
possibly the most difficult and challenging form<br />
of terrorist strikes for security agencies attempting<br />
to neutralise them. These attacks, despite their<br />
tactical nature of conduct, have the potential of<br />
giving strategic gains if the targets are carefully<br />
chosen and the attack is executed with impeccable<br />
precision, as seen in case of LTTE in the past<br />
and terrorist strikes targeting the Pakistan Navy<br />
establishment in 2011 which led to the destruction<br />
of three P 3C Orion surveillance aircraft.''5<br />
Stopping terrorists infiltrating from Pakistan into<br />
India remains the best way of avoiding and<br />
neutralising a fidayeen attack. This effort<br />
involving a section of about 10 soldiers on the<br />
LoC/International Border (IB) at the point of<br />
insertion saves the future effort of a division in an<br />
attempt to locate and neutralise the same terrorists<br />
at a later date and often at a heavy cost of own<br />
casualties. The dynamic nature of the deployment<br />
along the LoC, including the efficacy added<br />
by the fence, must be built upon and potential<br />
gaps plugged through multiple layers of deployment.<br />
The lower threshold of violence in the<br />
hinterland does open the possibility of redeploying<br />
Rashtriya Rifles in vicinity of the LoC for<br />
such a task. The situation is more complex along<br />
the IB sector. Here the limited numbers of the<br />
BSF do not allow a multi-tiered deployment like<br />
the LoC sector. This relatively low density<br />
deployment, despite the advantage of terrain<br />
when compared to the LoC, has led to infiltration<br />
in the past.<br />
44<br />
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TACKLING TERRORIST<br />
The second criticality for avoiding casualties<br />
relates to enhancing the intelligence network and<br />
capacity that feeds into the security apparatus.<br />
Almost every terrorist strike is immediately<br />
followed by a report that suggests the dissemination<br />
of suitable warnings. Having served in J&K<br />
on more occasions than one and being in receipt<br />
on similar warnings, one observes that prudence<br />
lies in differentiating between generic warnings<br />
that cover most days of an year and ones that are<br />
target-specific, which are bound to be more<br />
useful for a military commander. In fact, one<br />
reason for complacency to set in is the very nature<br />
of these 'cry wolf' warnings which make it<br />
difficult to differentiate between routine<br />
cautionary indicators and the more serious ones.<br />
A third factor relates to measures required to<br />
strengthen protective measures in respect of<br />
potential targets. A comprehensive study of the<br />
same has been done in the past by a high-level<br />
committee headed by former Vice Chief of Army<br />
Staff Lt. Gen. Philip Campose. The study<br />
illustrates that the challenge is not related as<br />
much to understanding the nature of the threat<br />
existing at the target end, resources needed to<br />
safeguard it, or the procedures that require to be<br />
adopted to safeguard against fidayeen attacks.<br />
Rather, the challenge lies in implementing its<br />
recommendations. From the perspective of this<br />
brief, there is a clear indicator of the kind of<br />
targets that seem to repeatedly figure on the<br />
crosshairs of terrorist handlers. This raises the<br />
obvious question. Why have terrorists succeeded<br />
in causing severe casualties at some establishments,<br />
even as they have been stopped in their<br />
tracks elsewhere?<br />
Units and formations have succeeded or failed<br />
irrespective of their nature and composition.<br />
While some had a stronger periphery, others were<br />
protected merely by a strand of barbed wire.<br />
Despite this, they are able to successfully fend off<br />
terrorist strikes. This relates to the larger issue of<br />
how well is the security apparatus galvanized in a<br />
unit when compared to some others. Soldiers are<br />
mentally and operationally a part of a cohesive<br />
sub-unit which operates as a small body on a daily<br />
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45
NATIONAL SECURITY<br />
basis. In an operational deployed unit, soldiers<br />
carry their weapons on person and are attuned to<br />
using them at short notice. A soldier does not have<br />
to run for cover, since the deployment ensures a<br />
degree of defensibility and interlocking supporting<br />
fire. Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) rehearse<br />
their drills as a routine and are trained to move and<br />
deploy in quick time at short notice. Most<br />
importantly, the focus and mental preparation of<br />
each soldier, sub-unit and the leadership remains<br />
on operations and operations alone, without the<br />
blurring of their orientation by more routine and<br />
at times peacetime duties that can potentially take<br />
the attention of a soldier away from possible<br />
threats. There is therefore no excuse for a unit or<br />
formation in active operations to falter on these<br />
issues.<br />
Despite these attributes, in a peace station, a<br />
group of alert sentries, effective passage of early<br />
warning — as witnessed in case of Janglot, can<br />
still provide the necessary deterrence that can<br />
help eliminate the fidayeen. However, this alone<br />
cannot become the basis for preparing against<br />
terrorist strikes. The answer does not lie in<br />
converting these locations into hard field stations.<br />
However, it certainly does call for a two-fold<br />
initiative to enhance preparedness. One, all such<br />
establishments must be provided greater protection<br />
in line with the Campose committee recommendations.<br />
These include enhancing intelligence<br />
capabilities, isolating establishments from<br />
public passage as in the case of Nagrota, strengthening<br />
the physical infrastructure including<br />
perimeter walls, concertina coils, double or triple<br />
entry barricades, and security lighting among<br />
others. Vulnerable areas can be augmented<br />
further through the employment of training<br />
companies oriented towards countering terrorism,<br />
which will serve the dual purpose of keeping<br />
them oriented and buffer the strength of security<br />
forces in threatened areas. However, this must be<br />
undertaken in coordination with local deployment<br />
to ensure that command and control<br />
remains effective.<br />
It is more important to enhance the capacity of<br />
units and establishments to undertake such<br />
challenges within their own capability rather than<br />
merely relying on erecting physical obstacles.<br />
The experience of the cases listed suggests the<br />
need to balance between equipping at least a third<br />
of the unit strength with weapons and ammunition,<br />
despite drills to the contrary in peace<br />
stations. It also calls for ensuring that the Ghatak<br />
Platoon of every unit or an equal strength in a<br />
formation headquarters be trained and equipped<br />
to react to the kind of contingencies that have<br />
emerged in the past.<br />
The task such elite sub-units are required to<br />
perform to counter fidayeen attacks is specialised<br />
in nature which needs excellent situational<br />
awareness. This demands a degree of stability in<br />
their selection, training and continuity. Day-today<br />
changes in this regard cannot provide the<br />
requisite expertise to deal with the nature of<br />
threats that have to be countered. The inspection<br />
of units must focus more on their operational<br />
readiness against such attacks, including the<br />
efficiency of QRTs. These teams need to be<br />
equipped both in operational areas and peace<br />
stations with night vision devices, helmetmounted<br />
communication systems, micro robots<br />
for room intervention to improve efficiency and<br />
reduce casualties. The establishment of a unified<br />
command centre to coordinate responses remains<br />
critical to a successful counter-terror operation.<br />
This has been a limitation in some cases in the<br />
past. In areas which have the presence of multiple<br />
security forces and lie on formation boundaries, it<br />
is all the more critical to ensure the same.<br />
As a guiding rule, a unit must develop the<br />
capability to neutralise the challenge posed by 3-<br />
4 terrorists within its own resources. The repeated<br />
call for Special Forces to undertake a task which<br />
46<br />
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TACKLING TERRORIST<br />
is well within the capability of a unit does not<br />
reflect well on its capacity and training. Two, a<br />
unit can only undertake a challenge of the kind<br />
posed by fidayeen attacks if the psychological<br />
and mental orientation of its men is focused<br />
towards it. Military and police establishments<br />
that fall within the vulnerable zone of such<br />
attacks must retain this very orientation and<br />
continue to prepare for such an eventuality. It<br />
requires giving higher priority to training,<br />
enhancing operational drills and procedures,<br />
cutting down on peacetime spit and polish,<br />
especially if it competes for a soldier's time and<br />
professionalism. The principle of 'back to basics'<br />
in terms of basic drills and procedures that are the<br />
strength of a regimental system need to be<br />
strengthened further.<br />
Three, the operational vulnerability witnessed in<br />
formation headquarters and logistics establishments<br />
must be addressed by assessing their<br />
operational role on the basis of counter terrorism<br />
drills and procedures. Lastly, such attacks cannot<br />
and should not create paranoia, especially in the<br />
hinterland. However, creating awareness about<br />
the potential for such attacks as well as ensuring<br />
basic defensibility of units and families is<br />
important. The antidote to fidayeen attacks is a<br />
well-trained and informed soldier, who is clinical<br />
in his task of neutralizing the threat as and when it<br />
arises.<br />
(This article was first published on idsa.in to<br />
whom it belongs)<br />
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47
48
49
Massive cleanup of the corrupt NGOs as<br />
Home Ministry cancels FCRA licence of 20,000 NGOs<br />
The Ministry of Home Affairs has cancelled<br />
the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act<br />
(FCRA) licence of 20,000 NGOs. Currently<br />
there are about 33,000 NGOs operating with a<br />
valid FCRA licence, which can accept funding<br />
from any foreign source. After the cancellation<br />
of FCRA license, a total of 13,000 NGOs will be<br />
allowed to operate with the license. Earlier in<br />
December, the licenses of these 13,000 NGOs<br />
were renewed through an online system. The<br />
non-renewal of FCRA license to about 20,000<br />
NGOs is a historic step towards a massive<br />
cleanup of the system as a huge number of<br />
NGOs were functioning with foreign funds and<br />
were involved in activities against the interest of<br />
the nation.<br />
In 2014, an Intelligence Bureau report had<br />
suggested that the negative impact of these<br />
NGOs on Indian economy is around 2-3 % of the<br />
GDP.<br />
FCRA act was amended in 2011 and the new law<br />
put a restriction of 50 percent on the amount of<br />
foreign funds that any NGO could use for<br />
administrative expenses. This was a major step<br />
to monitor and regulate the expenses of NGOs<br />
which are receiving funds from foreign sources.<br />
Soon after Narendra Modi became the Prime<br />
Minister, he openly declared a war on the errant<br />
and corrupt NGOs which are in forefront of<br />
activities detrimental to the nation. These NGOs<br />
are involved in derailing infrastructure projects,<br />
sabotaging projects related to electricity &<br />
power generation, construction of dams &<br />
canals for benefits of rural areas and working<br />
against various aspects of development. A large<br />
number of NGOs are also involved in religious<br />
conversion – either by enticement or by force.<br />
Most of the NGOs involved in religious<br />
conversions get their funds from US or Europe<br />
based missionary organizations, or Gulf based<br />
Islamic organizations. Some of the NGOs are<br />
involved in funding terrorism, insurgency and<br />
Maoists in various states of India to achieve<br />
their nefarious aims.<br />
The Home Ministry had already asked the NGOs<br />
to submit their sources of funding, the details<br />
and expenses incurred. Those NGOs which<br />
failed to clear the test and have suspicious<br />
transactions and are involved in activities which<br />
are against the “national interest” and<br />
“economic interests” of the country have been<br />
denied the renewal of licenses under FCRA.<br />
Many NGOs receive hundreds of crores of<br />
foreign funds to derail various infrastructure<br />
projects, encourage religious conversions and<br />
damage the social fabric by indulging in various<br />
unlawful activities. In November, the license of<br />
ZakirNaik's foundation was cancelled. However,<br />
in December, an online error led to renewal of<br />
the organization'slicense. As on now, the FCRA<br />
license of Naik's foundation remains cancelled.<br />
This historic step of cleaning India by getting rid<br />
of the NGOs which are one of the key<br />
perpetrators of anti-India activities, at both<br />
social and economic levels, will definitely lead to<br />
the rise of “intolerance brigade” which are<br />
handsomely paid through the foreign funding of<br />
these NGOs. The attack on the foreign funding<br />
of NGOs is an attack on the soul of all the anti-<br />
India activities going on in the country and will<br />
take the nation to a greater heights.<br />
50<br />
www.aseema.net.in | aseema | <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2017</strong>
RNI KARENG/2000/2368 <strong>Aseema</strong> English Monthly. Postal Reg. MNG/504/2015-<strong>2017</strong><br />
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