Author: Brown Pundits Archive

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A lot of truth and wisdom in the above quotation…except for one thing. What would the future hold for Islam and muslims (especially those in South Asia), which in those glorious post-partition days held the promise to sweep out capitalism, communism, “materialistic atheism,” racialism and nationalism?  

An honest analysis would point out that Maududi had the right instincts (partition will divide and weaken muslims) but the wrong principles (unite muslims by killing other muslims).
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Maududi was born in 1903 in Aurangabad, a city named after Aurangzeb, who was famous for his not-so-soft heart towards the majority of his citizens. Indeed, when the two nation theory talks eloquently about their villains being our heroes, Aurangzeb is Exhibit (A).

Hindus (left-liberals) hate the Last of the Great Badshahs and would like to believe that his actions destroyed the “secular” Mughal Empire. Hindus (conservatives) hate him and would like to dial back the clock to the Arab invasion of Sindh.

Muslims OTOH venerate Sultan Alamgir for having (violently) corrected the apostasies of his ancestors. They would like to believe that the green flag was planted across al-Hind for good, only to be undone by the treachery of a single (bengali) muslim: Mir Jafar.

Maududi opposed the formation of Pakistan because he instinctively understood that the power base for muslims in South Asia would be divided. However he was an exception. Muslims were a minority and out of power for 200 years, but they sincerely believed (and so did everybody else) in the one Muslim = 10 Hindus equation (Sikhs were a different story).
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The magic lines floated in the air: “Sylhet nilam vote-er jorey, Cachar nebo lathir jorey” – we muslims have won Sylhet district (Bangladesh), through elections and we will win Cachar district (Asom) using force. When the partition was formalized the confident leaders of Pakistan reassured the troops noting that muslims will be kings in Pakistan and king-makers in India. The confidence that comes from a hard battle won through a mix of votes and force seemed to settle all doubts.

Still Maududi worried about the division. One possible reason: his beloved home-land, Hyderabad (a princely state ruled by the Nizam) was unlikely to be a part of Pakistan and would be surrounded by the enemy on all sides. He may have worried about the unreliability of “impure” bengalis, of the possibility of millions of Mirjafars. He certainly worried about the un-islamic character (as he saw it) of  the man leading the charge for partition.  

Nevertheless Maududi had a change of heart and was confident enough to launch the first muslim-on-muslim riots in Pakistan in 1953. He was sentenced to death for his role in killing Ahmadis but the order was reversed. When this happened, the fate of Pakistan as a homeland for all muslims in South Asia was doomed.

If Muslims were out of power for 200 years, Hindus were under the colonial boot for a 1000 years. Plus there was the primacy of caste, there was really never one Hindu nation, just a thousand squabbling tribes. The only way to unite them was through careful inculcation of hate against muslims (not a difficult job, muslims helped out as well) and to create a fear factor around mad, bad Pakistan (not a difficult job, Pakistan helped out as well).

And so it is that finally in 2014, the nightmare that Maududi had envisioned, finally came into existence. The second republic is now born, there will be no muslim armies marching to take over the Red Fort.
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These are early days but there are a few emerging clues as to the how the born-again nation will react (and reach out) to the world. Indeed the alarm bells have started ringing in unexpected places, while sworn enemies have remained quiet. What to make of all this?

What is quite clear is that the Hindu Desh wants to be friends with the family (Nepal, Bhutan, and…Sri Lanka…very tricky that one). They would even not mind breaking bread with the enemy (the Islamic nations in South Asia). We are talking of sincere, we do not want to be big brother, courteous hand of friendship, not the contemptuous, we are way bigger than you aloof attitude of the Congress wallahs. How can this be possible?

Well it is certainly not an unprecedented thing to have happened. Indo-Pak relations for example, have been generally more cordial when (on rare occasions) the Hindu Brotherhood has been at the high table. Thus Atal Bihari Vajpayee is rated highly by Pakistanis. The fire-breathing LK Advani went on a praise Jinnah tour, while Jaswat Singh came out with a Nehru villain book. Due to the curious nature of the politics of the sub-continent, Nehru the secularist is a villain for both conservative Hindus and Muslims – TNT version 2.0!!! The last screw in the coffin will be turned when Gujaratis of today will bow before Sardar Patel and say bye to Gandhi.

The consequence(s) of all this will be clear in due time, but some fictions have become facts on the ground. India is now officially declared to be a Hindu-first and Hindi-first nation. The only feeble resistance to this will come from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengal (which form part of the un-India in this model) and the Kashmir valley and a few North-Eastern states. Asom, Punjab and Telengana- deeply disturbed spots all at some time or other- are now very much part of the national narrative.
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India already has open borders with Nepal and Bhutan, what is a (still remote) possibility now is an open border with Bangladesh. Only Modi can achieve this miracle. It is already the case that 10 million Bangla migrants are settled in India, and cattle-beef and food stuff goes the other way. The Hindus will at some point of time completely migrate out of Bangla, this will in turn help reduce tensions. Now the only people who will get killed are bengali muslims….in India (by Hindus, Sikhs, Tribals,…) and in Bangla (by other muslims).

The road to peace with Pakistan goes through Kashmir. The indications are that the original package will be revived: self-rule (but not independence) and a new twist: Union Territory for Pandits. Pakistan may agree to this, even if Kashmiris see a future Israel-Palestine play (they would be correct). But given the realities, Kashmiris may have no choice but to obey. A deciding factor will be China, it is doubtful that Pakistan Army will not raise objections if Beijing advises to the contrary. China is seriously bothered by the insurgencies in Xinjiang and will like to shut down all islamist adventures in the neighborhood.
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What about the USA and the West? Well….they are the last in the queue and they are very upset indeed. Modi will drive a hard bargain in the political sphere. He is a serious student of history and will not be caught sleeping while the opposition gets to champion the cause of the “little farmer.” He will use the carrot of defense sector privatization (49% FDI) and the opening of the insurance market (if he can get the Congress to go along in the Rajya Sabha). Before any Indian markets are opened, he will insist on a generous visa regime from USA and Europe. That may be a non-starter due to domestic complusions in those countries (excepting Germany).  

The expectation is that among the big powers Germany, China, France, Russia and Japan will be the new close friends….just because they can give India what she wants…energy, technology, and soft loans. 

It is unclear what is that special trick that will click it for India-USA (and India-UK). American technology is considered high cost and Americans do not like to share (unlike Russia and France). More H1-Bs may be the answer, but it is easier perhaps to persuade Google and IBM to move more of  their operations to India (shocking if true: one third of Apple techies are Indian).
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Should America care? India has little or nothing to contribute to American
efforts to tackle the crises in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, and Iraq. It is a reluctant
partner, at best, in Washington’s efforts to rein in Iran and will have no
truck with the West in any showdown with Vladimir Putin and Russia. Its incessant push for permanent membership of the United
Nations Security Council, while understandable for a country that is the
world’s second-most populous, isn’t exactly in America’s interests: New Delhi
and Washington frequently find themselves on different sides of votes on U.N.
resolutions.

….
The two countries converge in their legitimate fears of Chinese aggression
and expansion in Asia, but even here, India has been loath to embrace any
formal alliance that would act as a check on Beijing, for fear of provoking the
Chinese into military incursions into Indian territory that New Delhi is
shamefully unprepared to counter. Besides, in recent weeks, India has been
party to the setting up of a BRICS Bank, with Brazil, Russia, China, and South
Africa. 
….
This institution was conceived as a way to break America’s global
financial hegemony—a word beloved in bureaucratic Delhi, where America is still
regarded with a suspicion that is as potent as it is irrational.  
….
The BRICS Bank
looks, for all its founding rhetoric, like a platform for Chinese hegemony
instead. Once more, China appears to have taken India for a ride. But that is
another story.

….
India offers America nothing of concrete strategic value that Washington
cannot, currently, live without. Not only does it balk at an alliance of any
kind, its political and intellectual elites are wedded still to nonalignment,
that antediluvian credo from the years of the Cold War. 
…..
Intellectual worthies
in New Delhi have cooked up something called “Non-alignment 2.0,” by which
“India must remain true to its aspiration of creating a new and alternative
universality.” For those masochists who want to acquaint themselves better with
this Cold War mummy come to life, I suggest a visit to this website. It will swiftly become clear
that there is no room in this starry-eyed arrangement for a compact with
Washington.

….
Forget matters strategic, you may say; banish from your head all thoughts of
a military or security handshake. What about economics? Doesn’t India matter to
America as a market, a place for wise and profitable investment? Here again,
Americans must resign themselves, for the moment, to disappointment.

….
For all Narendra Modi’s free-market rhetoric in the run-up to the
elections, for all the assurances given to investors in back rooms, he has
offered scant evidence, in his two months in power, of being the man who will
shake up the Indian economy and make his country a more rational place in which
to do business. His national budget was only marginally less squishy and Fabian
than other, recent Indian budgets, and Thursday’s capricious scuttling by India
of a World Trade Organization deal that would have vastly streamlined the global
trade system calls into question Modi’s professed ardor for free trade.

…..
American private enterprise has always tread cautiously in India, and there
is every indication that it will have to continue to tiptoe its way through,
around, and over the cactus grove of Indian regulations. 
…..
The job of the Obama
administration (and that of a likely Hillary administration) will be to
persuade India to change its ways. That will be immensely difficult if Mr. Modi
continues to backtrack on economic reform. (Why is he doing so? Is it his
belief that, having won an emphatic but contentious election, he needs to
“buy” social harmony by embracing the sops and subsidies he inherited from the
previous quasi-socialist government of Manmohan Singh?)

….
So, as things stand, America gets neither strategic comfort nor a fair
economic opportunity from India. Perhaps it’s time for Washington to shrug its
shoulders and move on, leaving a warmer relationship with India to a time when
Indians have made up their muddled minds about the kind of country theirs is—or
ought to be.

……
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Nepal, which
commenced yesterday, highlights yet again his government’s focus on
India’s immediate neighbourhood. Having made Bhutan his maiden foreign
port of call after assuming office, Modi is the first Indian PM to
undertake a bilateral Nepal visit since I K Gujral in 1997. 
….
Despite deep cultural bonds, over the years suspicion and distrust have
come to tarnish the bilateral relationship. Modi would do well to
address the criticism that New Delhi’s engagement with Kathmandu has
been marked by inequality and interference.


….
Generosity ought to be the pillar of India’s
outreach to Nepal and other Saarc neighbours. This would help dispel the
perception among the latter that New Delhi harbours a big-brotherly
attitude when it comes to dealing them. A vibrant Saarc combined with
the gains made at the recent Brics summit will hold India in good stead
in an increasingly multi-polar world defined by dynamic geopolitics.


….
Having said that, it would be imprudent for New Delhi to focus solely
on relations with its neighbours or other emerging economies at the
cost of ties with the West. India needs technology and investments from
the EU and US to kick-start its economy and tackle unemployment.
Moreover, terrorism is an international scourge New Delhi can’t tackle
alone. Hence, it simply can’t burn bridges with the West. 
……
In this
regard, the collapse of WTO discussions last week hurts India’s
reputation. India has been identified as the country that undermined a
settled deal — which it had committed to support last December in Bali.


………
A perception that India is an unreliable partner can make potential
western allies hesitant to commit political and financial capital to
nurture a strategic relationship. This is the last thing Modi needs as
he attempts to revamp India-US ties at his meeting with President Obama
later this year. New Delhi must strive for a golden mean and maintain a
balance between its relationship with the West and greater South-South
cooperation. This will raise India’s profile at the international high
table.
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Link(1):  john-kerry-just-visited-but-should-we-just-forget-about-india

Link(2): modis-focus-on-indias-neighbours-is-welcome-but-he-must-not-ignore-the-west/

Link (3): modi-may-be-inaugurating-india-s-second-republic
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regards

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It is only in recent times (and even then only amongst a few Chinese and Western academics and opinion makers) that the complete monstrosity of Mao’s actions have been discussed and appreciated. We would speculate that a majority of the academic left world-wide would still back Mao, if a bit less enthusiastically than in the past. The logic is presumably that as a Great Nation builder he had to do what he had to do. 

Arundhati Roy is quite the patron saint on the left (against evil american domination) and in the ummah (against evil Hindu domination) and can be used as a benchmark. She has published several articles deploring the fact that China has deviated from the true path as promised by the People’s Party and is now capitalist in all but name. But as far as the “excesses” or “mistakes” committed during the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward is concerned, she is curiously (and unusually) silent.

To the best of our knowledge AR reserves none of the vitriol for Mao and his merry band of followers, that she habitually displays towards Gandhi and Gandhians. To take one memorable and recent example, AR wants all the institutions (and roads, ships, bridges,…) named after Gandhi to be erased (metaphorically) because Gandhi was casteist. We have never heard any appeal from her that Mao’s names also similarly be deleted from (Indian) history books. And given her deep admiration for Mao wannabe and genocide loving Charu Majumdar, we doubt any such appeal will be forthcoming.

Then there is the middle-class, right of center population in India (and we expect in other post-colonial nations). On many occasions, we have been taken aback by the full-on admiration of Mao and his methods.
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India, in the opinion of such elites, would have already been a great country (like China) if we just had the fortitude to eliminate a few hundred millions of the (undeserving) poor. In contrast, Mao killed only 45 million. As they say of true believers, if you gave these people a free hand, they would out-Mao the Great Man himself.

Indeed, given the undiluted admiration that both the Indian Left and the Right feel for Mao (and their mutual disdain for Gandhi), we feel it would be appropriate to re-badge all the Gandhi-shrines as Mao-memorials. If nothing else this would privilege honesty over humbug (as AR would say).

The question that remains unresolved in our mind is this: was Mao really such an unique monster, or is the Han Chinese gene predisposed towards genocide (so to speak). Is it the case that they would willfully use genocide as part of state-craft (and war-craft)? If this is true, it would be very bad news for the Uighurs and the Tibetans today. They may as well go out and commit mass suicide tomorrow (the Chinese authorities would be glad to pay for all expenses).

To be sure, many generals would not think much about sacrificing a few thousand villages in order to get a decisive advantage in a war against a dreaded enemy. But, even while following a scorched-earth strategy we doubt that they would kill off all the villagers as well. And this is not just a one-off case. This strategy has been supposedly acted upon many times going back a thousand years. Perhaps the well informed military historians on this forum can point to other nations who have carried forward this glorious tradition of care-free elimination of millions of their own people.
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The Huang He (Yellow River) has been called “China’s Sorrow.” The
name pays tribute to the millions killed by the river’s churning, muddy
waters in a long history of dramatic diversions and massive floods. 
….
One
of the most notable recent events in the river’s troubled history
occurred in June 1938, when the Nationalist Chinese Army diverted the
river to block invading Japanese troops. In both number of deaths and
geographic scale, this event was the largest act of environmental
warfare in modern history.

 ….
The story of the diversion begins with the railroads, says Steven
Dutch, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. In July
1937, Japan moved troops into China and began seizing power in the
northern territories, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War. 
…..
By June of
the next year, Japanese troops had moved inland from occupied Shanghai
to Nanjing, Xuzhou and Kaifeng. Though many maps of the invasion show
Japanese control was widespread across these regions, Dutch says that
Japanese effective control was mostly along the rail corridor. In other
areas, Japanese power was less homogenous, interrupted by large areas
controlled by Chinese troops, guerilla groups or bandits.

….
After Kaifeng, the next stop along the railroad was Zhengzhou, Dutch
says. This was the last major rail station before the Japanese could
move south and attack Wuhan — the most important city politically and
militarily in central China. Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek desperately
needed to end Japan’s deadly march inland. And so the Chinese military
turned to the deadliest force within reach — the Huang He.

……….
The Huang He flows east out of the Chinese highlands across a plateau
of loess, or fine sediment, just northwest of Kaifeng. From this point,
the river meanders across a huge, flat alluvial fan. To the north and
south of the current channel stretch the long fingers of older abandoned
river channels, now empty or filled with smaller rivers. 
…
The Huang He
has flowed in at least nine different channels in the last 2,000 years,
on both sides of the Shandong Peninsula. For scale, Dutch says, imagine
the Mississippi River shifting back and forth between western Texas and
the Florida panhandle.

………
The enormous annual sediment load of the Huang He (providing the
characteristic yellow color of the Yellow River) has complicated human
efforts to control the river’s course through levees. These structures
have been raised higher and higher to keep pace with the bottom of the
river as it rises from sediment fill. 
…..
As a result, by the summer of
1938, the river reach between Kaifeng and Zhengzhou flowed significantly
above the surrounding land. This, combined with its position at the top
of the alluvial fan, made the river here extremely favorable for
diversion.

……..
General Chiang Kai-shek knew that by breaking the levees and
diverting the river south into an older channel, he could effectively
cut off the Japanese rail route to Zhengzhou, Dutch says. This strategy
was not entirely new. Previous military destruction of the levees had
helped armies in the area in A.D. 1129 and 1642. The Chinese hoped that a
similar strategy would turn the military conflict in their favor and
protect the heartland of China from the Japanese.

……..
Unfortunately, the decision took a great civilian toll and had only
moderate military success. Official Chinese estimates suggest that
nearly 800,000 Chinese civilians died. Even more were forced to flee
from their homes. Militarily, the Japanese suffered only minor losses of
troops and materials. 
……..
Although the Chinese did gain time to relocate
their wartime capital — which had been moved to Wuhan after the fall of
Nanjing earlier in the invasion — within three months, Wuhan fell under
Japanese control.

………
Though little detailed information on the effects of the flooding is
available, similar events suggest the kind of destruction the people
living near the Huang He probably experienced in 1938, Dutch says. As
the enormous volume of the Huang He rushed down into one of the smaller,
quieter rivers occupying the old channel, the riverbanks could do
little to hold the waters from spilling out into the broad floodplain,
destroying crops and killing thousands in its path. Once the worst of
the flooding subsided, waterborne diseases likely added more fatalities.

……….
Dutch suggests that one way to put the number of deaths in
perspective is population density. The fatalities were significant, but
this is understandable considering the huge number of people living in
areas impacted by the flood. Even though China had four times fewer
people in 1938 than live there today, the at-risk population was still
huge — nearly 15 million.

………
“Big floods are a fact of life in China,” Dutch notes, and
considering that there are now more people than ever in the region, it’s
easy to wonder whether a similar disaster awaits them today. But an
event such as the 1938 flood is less likely today, he says. Twenty-first
century geologists and disaster management officials in China have a
much better understanding of river dynamics and the impact of floods.
China also has a better infrastructure for issuing warnings, initiating
rescue operations and supporting relief efforts. Additionally, the
fatalities in 1938 were higher because the disaster occurred during war,
when the country’s infrastructure was already unstable.

……………
One thing is certain: Human intervention cannot forever halt the
natural cycle of river change on the Huang He. Dutch says that although
the Chinese system of levees may work fine for the near future, “no
levee will hold the river in one place indefinitely.”

…..

Link: http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/benchmarks-diverting-huang-he-river

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regards 

….
This is two months since the last disaster. One year after disaster struck at (near) the same spot. Three quick thoughts that we deem to be fit for sharing.
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1) In Bangladesh, waterways are basically roadways. Thus one can rationalize the ferry deaths as just the same as horrific road accident deaths in other countries (including India). But the sinking reports always look very similar: boat was overcrowded, river was rough..etc.

Bangla should be heavily investing in “water traffic control”- sensor networks, for example, which provide early warning to boats to pull over if travel conditions are poor. Sensor networks have been used extensively on Indian railways (for landslide monitoring for example in the Western Ghats- Konkan Railway) and we can point to the many advantages of such installations (low cost, reliable).

As far as overcrowding goes this must be regulated. All it requires (we imagine) are surprise inspections by traffic inspectors and immediate impounding of the vehicle (and fixed jail terms) if there is evidence of overcrowding.
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2) Where is the outrage? Every few months go by and one more ferry sinks, are human beings counted so cheaply? Bangla politics is really screwed up because of the bitter, battling Begums  but surely some disasters should lead  to a national unity moment? There would be some one, one would imagine, in a nation brimming with 160 million proud people (and millions in diaspora), who would put their hands up and say “never again.”

3) We often wonder what is the motivation for (religious minded) terrorists to kill us? As it is in South Asia countless people die enough un-planned deaths through acts of God, is there really any room for additional planned deaths delivered by HIS agents?

Such a state of affairs should evoke deep compassion (and self-reflection). Focus (if you must) on why God chooses to punish us with these terrible thunder-bolts.  

But it seems people would rather prefer violence as the path to un-settle “settled facts.” The numerous partitions stand testimony to our resolve to solve problems to which there are no permanent solutions excepting mass genocide or ethnic cleansing.

We really should learn to say “never again”….if we were smart enough that is…or if our leadership had any foresight. Too bad, WE are not smart enough, and THEY are as blind, willfully so.
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A ferry with
about 200 passengers aboard capsized on Monday in the river Padma
southwest of Dhaka and rescue teams took about half of them to safety,
the chief of the district administration said.

Mohammad Saiful Hasan
Badal, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj district, said about 100
passengers had been rescued from the vessel, identified as the MV
Pinak-6. No deaths had yet been reported.

Teams
from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, fire brigade and
the army were engaged in the rescue operation about 30 km (18 miles)
southwest of Dhaka.

“Most
of the passengers were coming back to the city from home after
celebrating Eid-al Fitr,” Saiful told Reuters, referring to the festival
marking the end of the Ramadan fasting month.

A
similar capsize occurred in May, when 54 bodies were recovered from a
vessel that went down with around 200 people on board. Low-lying
Bangladesh, with extensive inland waterways and slack safety standards,
has an appalling record of ferry accidents, with casualties sometimes
running into the hundreds.

Overcrowding is a common factor in many of the accidents and each time the government vows to toughen regulations.

In March 2012, a ferry sank near the same spot, killing at least 145 people.
…..

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/04/bangladesh-ferry-capsizes-250-passengers

……

regards

………..
Well….how about Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa? They are so good (also admittedly film-star looks)…they must be scaring the heck out of their opponents…and themselves. They just created history by winning a gold medal in squash doubles in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Unfortunately the mixed doubles pair of Dipika and Saurav Ghoshal did not make it to the podium.
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[ref. Wiki] Dipika Rebecca Pallikal (born 1991) in a Malayali Syrian Christian family to Sanjiv and Susan Pallikal from Kerala,
India. She played her first international tournament in London when she
was in her sixth grade, and to date, she has won the German Open, Dutch
Open, French Open, Australian Open, Scottish Open on the European
Junior Squash Circuit.

[ref. Wiki] Joshna Chinappa (born 1986) is a squash player based in India. Joshna was the first Indian to win the British
Squash Championship title in 2003 in the under 19 category and was also
the youngest Indian women’s national champion. Joshna Chinappa is the
first beneficiary of Mittal Champions Trust. A trainee of the Indian Squash Academy (erstwhile ICL academy), Chennai, Joshna was ranked 19th in the world in March 2014.

Speaking of film-star looks we have this quotation from the lady
…….
Squash star Dipika
Pallikal has received offers for acting in Bollywood films, but she’s
not interested.

Soon after she and Joshna Chinappa won their
doubles match against Nicol David and Wee Wern of Malaysia on Wednesday,
the 22-year-old former model made it clear that she is not keen on
acting.
“No, not at all,” she said on the possibility of appearing in Bollywood films. 

“Obviously I have got offers and stuff but I don’t think my fiance will allow me.”

Dipika got engaged to cricketer Dinesh Karthik last year. 
……………………..

We are (slightly) conflicted about this. The first thought is Bollywood…yeww!! Then again, fellow Malayali Vidya Balan (did we say we are a fan?) has shown the pathway for successful women-centric films.

But this thing about “dont think my fiance will allow me”…..obviously marriage involves compromise and Syrian Christians are known to be rather conservative as a community (there is nothing wrong with being conservative).

In an ideal world – there should be no boundaries for girls. We are (obviously) very far away from that point. These girls are the leaders of the next generation. They are fearless and they inspire us with their attitude towards life. They should be a bit more conscious about the sister-hood that still needs support from society in order to keep breaking those boundaries. Just saying.
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regards

Why is Taslima Nasreen universally referred to as a “controversial author” by the Main Stream Media ? Answers on a Meghdoot Post-card please (yes you are permitted to write below the line).
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As we see it, secularism is a much abused concept in India, even if we take it in the sense of equal opportunity for all religions in the public square. Thus as a secularist it is not enough that we are opposed to BJP, we must support a secular Congress which is allied with anti-secular Muslim League (Kerala). This is presumably because….why (certainly not the lesser of two evils)?
….

… 
Thus in its Indian avatar, secularism is a sword to keep the Hindu Brotherhood away from power. If the H-B wins, the fear is that it will take control of official levers to build an alternate power base which will then attempt to exclude the left-liberal opinion-makers from the public square. By manipulating public opinion in this manner H-B will (in the long run) replace the secular Congress as the natural ruling party of India…we mean Hindustan…..erm…Bharat-Varsha.

…..

…
We agree that parties/leaders who take advantage of communal politics should be banned from participating in politics, we disagree that a one-sided approach be termed secular. Neither do we agree that such an approach has served India well and is presently fit for purpose.
…..

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Indeed to the extent this strategy boosts conservative muslim power and suppresses muslim womens’ rights (by taking active measures such as over-turning Supreme Court judgements) it can even be termed as a “war on women” (H-B is unable to claim high moral ground because its constituent members feel that rape accusations are made because they are “fashionable”).
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… 
We also feel that “secular politics” is a cynical attempt to foist dynastic politics on India by people who are staunch believers in caste-ist politics. Ideally we would like to see a left-centered and right-centered cadre based (not caste based) party. We believe India is (ever so slightly) headed in this direction at the federal level, due to the subtle workings of the first past the post system.

To give an example of how ugly is secular politics, just one name will suffice: Taslima Nasreen. It is passing strange that our left-liberal journalists and thinkers (many of them women, bongs, and bong women) have no time for her. We would say that TN is the Ayan Hirsi Ali of South Asia, except that Taslima really does not even have any friends in India. Not even the Hindu Brotherhood would protect her from Muslim thugs.

And why are conservative muslims so upset with TN? There are (as usual) some vague accusations of having hurt sentiments and having darkened the name of the Prophet. The “secular” govt in Bangladesh has maintained her state of exile from her homeland. But the main reason why the mullahs are after her is surely this- she exposed how they discriminate against Hindus in Bangladesh.

While we can understand why the Muslim Brotherhood in South Asia would unite in their hatred against this woman, it is less clear why Indian secularists (especially fellow bongs) would not be concerned with what she has to say and the fact that she is being burdened with death threats. 

Unless of course the thinking is that any talk about Hindu discrimination in Bangladesh will boost the case of Hindutva politics in India. Thus the fate of millions of Hindus can be ignored in the name of secularism. While the assault on one individual (Taslima in Hyderabad) and preventing her a livelihood (canceling her TV show in Kolkata) are shameful acts, the other is a much more serious charge.

The moral of  the story: if you are planning to be a secular opinion maker, you need to highlight the anti-secular victimization of Salman Rushdie, MF Husain, Wendy Doniger, and Taslima Nasreen. From where we stand, it is clear that conservatives of all shades are using liberal laws as well as threat of violence to shut down legitimate speech. This must be denounced by left-liberals in an even-handed manner. And if you feel that your hatred of the Hindu Brotherhood (justified) leads you into an alliance (even if de-facto) with the Muslim Brotherhood (justified as a political strategy but not as a moral one in our book) then have the courage to say so openly. And do us all a favor: do not call yourself secular.
………………


Kolkata: Seeking long-term extension of her residence permit,
controversial author Taslima Nasreen Saturday met Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh.

Nasreen had expressed her anguish after the government Wednesday refused
her a one-year visa giving instead a temporary permission to stay in
India for two months.



“I met Singh today (Saturday) and he assured me that my stay in India
will be extended. I gave him my book ‘Wo Andhere Din’ (Those Dark Days)
and in return he said my dark days are over,” Nasreen told IANS.



Following her outburst on a social networking site, support for her
has been pouring from various quarters with Press Council of India
Chairperson and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju demanding
permanent visa for the 52-year-old who has been living in exile since
1994.



Nasreen, however, expressed her surprise over intellectuals from Kolkata – her “home” remaining silent on the issue. “I am surely surprised that people in Kolkata known for their
righteous stand have chosen to remain silent. But at the same time I
must admit I have gotten used to this. There were not many voices to
come out when I was thrown of my home – Kolkata,” she said.

Exiled from Bangladesh in 1994 for “hurting religious sentiments”
with her novel “Lajja”, Nasreen took refuge in the city in 2004. But
after violent protests in the city November 2007, the erstwhile Left
Front government whisked her away to New Delhi where she has been living
since then.

 
Eager to come back to Kolkata, Nasreen said so long as the Mamata
Banerjee government in the state continues to accede to the whims of
religious fanatics, her return to the city is not possible.



“By banning my tele-serial Dusahobas, this government denied me a
slice of livelihood. I have been repeatedly writing to Mamata Banerjee
expressing my wish to come back to Kolkata, but so long as she continues
to listen to the fanatics my return will never be possible, she added.



She said “Dusahobas” a story of three sisters and their triumph over
the injustices meted out by the patriarchal society, would have been a
source of inspiration at a time when crime against women was on the rise
in the state.



Following protests by minority religious groups, the TV serial was refused telecast.
……

Link: https://in.news.yahoo.com/taslima-meets-rajnath-assured-visa-extension-120005201.html

…..

regards 

….
We have taken the top 15 nations (ranking for total users) in 2013 and re-ordered them by dividing through with the population (2014). This data from April 2013 is already old, there is every indication that Facebook use is exploding, especially in the developing world (with exceptions). Also it is clear that on pure per capita terms India would not rank (yet), while Australia (we presume) would.
……..

…. 
Americans – short-hand for free people who are (1) conscious of their
rights, (2) have unreasonable expectations from the government, and (3) unwilling to pay taxes for the same – are dialing 911 to report Facebook outage(s)- note link below. Thus temporary denial of access to social media has been elevated to a life-threatening emergency. A sign of things to come, if one was needed at all.

….
We are not overtly fond of social media tools. In our opinion, it brings the global community to your door-step (good) but equally it drives the person next door far away from you (bad). We observe that children are spending too much time indoors. It appears that people (especially young people) are losing their inclination/ability to make small talk or to prevent their eyes drifting to an electronic screen in a social gathering. Finally, FB culture is a global (american, western) culture. It is another way that the local culture will be driven to extinction.

That said, it is a truism that we have to accept change in order to survive. This we believe – access to social media is a new-age freedom that must be protected and even championed. How else will you know what the world is thinking right now and the impact of such thinking? You CAN be brain-washed and become a jihadist, but you will also get disillusioned by jihadist thinking soon enough (we hope). If you have the minimum needs met with respect to roti, kaapda, makaan (as well as bijli, sadak, pani), then the next important thing (we believe) is access to Face Book. Most importantly (for us), without Facebook there would be no Brown Pundits.
……
Did we mention that Jews are very big in the tech-world? Why raise such a controversial issue right in the middle of the Gaza war? Simply to point out that govt will use any reason to deny social media freedoms to their citizens (see below). Ironically, it is social media that is reporting on the excesses committed by the Israeli Defense Forces (with the aid of American ammunition).
…..

First, we consider the first world. The Anglo-Nats really really love FB – penetration is
close to 50%. OTOH, in non-Anglo countries like  France, Italy, and
Germany, the love is a bit tepid.

Now consider India. We expect urban
India (approx 400 mil) to catch up with the rest of the
world at some point in the (not too distant) future. We may also conclude
that social media freedom exists only for a tiny section of rural India
(68.7% of population in 2011 – approx 850 mil – ref. World Bank). With
improvement in internet access and electricity, we expect the rural
population to catch up with their urban cousins as well in the long run (perhaps in a few
decades).

There are problems which need to be sorted out with the Indian IT Act 66(A) as documented by The Center for Internet and Society (CIS – see link below):  
Section 66A which punishes persons for sending offensive messages is
overly broad, and is patently in violation of Art. 19(1)(a) of our
Constitution. The fact that some information is “grossly offensive”
(s.66A(a)) or that it causes “annoyance” or “inconvenience” while being
known to be false (s.66A(c)) cannot be a reason for curbing the freedom
of speech unless it is directly related to decency or morality, public
order, or defamation (or any of the four other grounds listed in Art.
19(2)).

However, it is promising to note that Indian courts have generally taken a dim view of censorship. It is a different matter that in a number of cases, violent elements are unleashed (or cynically speaking, violent behavior is promised or anticipated) in order to suppress lawful behavior. 

The truly interesting countries are the ones which are absent or ranked low on the list…for not so obvious reasons. Why are Philippines (just
turned 100 mil on July 27, 2014- congratulations!!!!), South Korea, and
Thailand- modern countries all – missing? Why is FB
penetration in Japan so pathetic (marginally above India)?

In Latin America, why is Argentina ranked higher than Mexico, which is so much more “American” in its ways. What is the reason for Brazil to fall behind ARG/MEX?

And closer home,
how about Pakistan and Bangladesh? We know of periodic social media bans
in Pak but this is not the case for Bangla.  

Still we feel that (in the long
run), Bangla will look more like Indonesia, while Pak will be aligned
with Turkey and Iran in having restricted access to social media. 

Finally, people argue that Chinese are able to access the internet using digital
subterfuges but in our opinion, it does makes a difference if you have to
watch over your shoulder all the time. 
…..
Iranians are no longer able to use the free text messaging service WhatsApp, JTA reports,
because the app was recently bought by Facebook, which is run by Mark
Zuckerberg, who is Jewish. 
That’s right: Iran banned the app, which
allows users to communicate via text message without having to purchase a
dedicated SMS plan, because it is owned by a company whose CEO is, as
they put it, is an “American Zionist.”


…
“The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by
the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist,” said
Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s secretary of the
Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content, Fox News reported Sunday.

The move would make more sense, though, if Facebook was also banned in Iran.
But since it’s not, this arbitrary ban is largely meaningless, serving
only to prevent the citizens of Iran from saving money while they group
text. 
…
It’s especially nonsensical considering how much of a presence on
social media—Facebook included—Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has built up since taking office in 2013. He tweets regularly,
and updates his Facebook profile with pictures and messages. The ban on
WhatsApp, then, seems wholly inconsistent, and almost entirely random.

…..

……
 
Link (1): http://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/

Link (2): http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/turkey-facebook-youtube-twitter-blocked 

Link (3): http://www.mid-day.com/articles/facebook-users-in-the-us-dial-911-over-outage-cops-frown

Link (4): http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/171601/iran-bans-whatsapp-because-mark-zuckerberg-is-jewish

Link (5): http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/breaking-down-section-66-a-of-the-it-act

…..

regards