Vote for democracy = Reverse Polarisation?

Jammu and Kashmir has seen unprecedented high voter turnout in the five phased Assembly elections giving way to the public discourse with a view to regard the same as a change of heart on the part of the political milieu of the State. 

Numerous factors have played their part in the high voter turnout in J&K, more specifically the Kashmir province. A lot is to be attributed to the anti incumbency and the inefficiency of the State Government in the calamitous floods that hit the region in September this year. However the biggest underlying factor seems to the prominent foray of BJP stemming from its success in the General Elections. The BJP has never been able to gain a foot-hold ever since it has run for elections in the State but, the changing landscape in the country has materialized in the form of palpable fillip in J&K for the BJP.

The BJP has been criticized for polarizing the electorate in the state on communal lines to secure the votes in the Hindu majority areas of Jammu province which constitutes of half of the seats in the 87 seat Assembly. Hindutva has been the poll plank for BJP since its inception, but  it has gone under a makeover of sorts to shift its emphasis to development and progress to digress the voters from its Pro-Hindutva image. This agenda has been pervasively seen in the run up to the elections in J&K with many of the national leaders and the Prime Minister actively taking part in the poll campaigning. 
However, despite its best efforts to divert the attention of the electorate from envisaging the BJP in the state as a communal based party, the fine-print was more conspicuous by its absence.

In scenes of unprecedented voter turnout in the Valley, it was deemed to be the vote for democracy and need for good governance. With due deference to that view, it cannot be denied that this trend of high voter turnout can be a counter measure undertaken by the people, in of communal forces taking over the helm of affairs of the State. In the most ironic terms, it was the use of the exercise of power of suffrage exercised by the people of the state to put forth their mandate. Speculation that it maybe, only the results on 23rd December will reveal the veracity of these allusions.
apprehension 
  
With the final ballot cast on the 20th, the fate of the State and its people will be sealed and what the moot point will remain is as to "who will form the Governement?" If it happens to be BJP then all the abovesaid allusions shall be discarded and the verdict shall be accepted as the mandate for BJP of the people, for the people and by the people. On the contrary, if the opposite happens, the contention of reverse polarisation in wake of polarising tactics cannot be ruled out.

  

Pushing Muslims Back

              

‘Jo Dalit Musalmaan Arakshan ki baat karega, woh Bharat pe Raj karega’ – (the Muslim Dalit who seeks Reservation will rule India); This was a graffiti inscribed on a wall, right outside the famous Himayun’s Tomb. At first this came across to me as nothing but a political gimmick, rather a pipeline dream being sold to the deprived and the desperate. But on further contemplation and by looking at the despicable economic and political status of Muslims in India, the aforesaid Political Slogan may not be as misplaced as I may have taken it to be in the first place.

The downtrodden state and depravity in which the current Muslim population finds itself has it genesis with the inception of Partition of India of the yester years. The division of the British state of India on communal lines saw mass exodus of communities from each side migrating to one which was deemed by their Political Masters as the land to which they belong, or rather should belong. Needless to say, the state of Pakistan was born with Jinnah as its ‘Father’. With that the seeds for the precarious future of Muslims in India were thus sown by such a rendition.

The most debilitating effect of the Partition was that the intelligentsia and the political cream of Muslims migrated to the newly born Muslim state of Pakistan, thus rendering those Muslims who cannot afford such a migration due to financial latches, without any patronage or effective leadership to represent them and their aspirations and views.

Now, post Partition, having being left without any effective leadership and living as a religious minority in a nation where politics revolves around vote banks and communal appeasement, the Partition caused insecurity among the economically backward and educationally obsolete Muslims in India. The backlash of Partition ensued ‘Ghettoisation’ of the already insecure community, hence dwarfing and stunting its economic and social and to some extent also its political growth.

Pre-partition; Muslims thrived in India as a politically progressive community with scholars like Maulana Azad, Dr. Zakir Hussain and Sir Syed Ahmad to represent them. Many reform and revivalist movements undertaken by Muslims also gave an impetus to the Indian movement for Independence. But there is a stark contrast with respect to the present situation where the literacy rate of Muslims in India is the lowest among all the religious communities. Only 67.6% of Muslims are literate as opposed to the National average of 74%. Also, the growth of literacy among Muslim OBCs has been recorded at a negative 2%.The Muslim community is under-represented in all fields and fora as compared to its numbers in the country, be it the most sought after and coveted Civil Services, Government and Public Sector Undertakings or be it the Private Sector. The Sachar Committee report also pegged the representation of Muslims in the aforementioned sectors at a measly 2.5% in a nation with almost 14% Muslim population. Though 14% is a  small comparative percentage, but in a nation of 1.25 Billion people the same 14% corresponds to almost 17 Crore Muslims. Similarly, the representation of Muslims in the Judiciary in India is at a dismal 7.8%, 1.8% in Foreign Services and only 4% in Indian Police Services which is appalling to say the least. Also, the largest employer of the country, the Indian Railways constitutes of only 4.5% Muslim employees. Among other things, the obsolete education system of Muslims is also a reason for its sorry state of affairs; with no reforms taking place to substitute the old system of Madrassa system of education which form the fundamental source of literacy among a large chunk of Muslims, it has ensued lack of instilment of western education and modern ethos among the same. Further, being brought up in a vacuum like environ­­­­­­­­­ment and being subjected to continual isolation by international leadership and media, the Muslim community has been sub-consciously profiled against.   

At a time and place where the only logical solution for the upliftment of Muslims in India would be political reservation by means of guaranteed representation for economically backward Muslims in all Government of India undertakings, many sabotaging elements have made sure that such an idea does not see the light of the day. By using platitudes of secularism and unconstitutionality, politicians have also made sure that such a reform does not take place. However, it may not be farfetched to contemplate the amendment of the Constitution of India to accommodate a provision which would ensure reservation for economically backward religious minorities, but such a thought seems to have eluded our ‘Statesmen’.

The whole idea of positive discrimination towards downtrodden and oppressed classes by way of reservation was to level the playing field for them so that they would be able to compete with their comparatively progressive compatriots. Therefore, today when we find that Muslims in India are grossly backward in terms of economics and education, it would not be an exaggeration to say that reservation is one of, if not the only logical measure that would help towards the cause of Muslims in the country. Given that such an idea was to be a time bound solution at first but Dalit appeasement and vote-bank politics has ensured it being perpetuated ever since. Despite all that, the concept of Muslim reservation has evaded the imaginations of our Leaders. Not only that, the ironic part of it is that during elections, Muslims votes are most sought after and a linchpin for any party to gain a majority, for which promises of all sorts are made.

After all being said and done, Muslims in India are still a community which is economically and socially backward. What can change the vicissitudes of Muslims in this country is that reformative measure including reservation be taken. Reforms always take years to fructify but one should always keep in mind that such reforms are there to right the wrongs of decades. In the end, it would be expedient to say that the only way to redress this daunting and formidable issue is by addressing the root cause of the same by understanding this misunderstood community and giving it a chance to revive its present and rewrite its future. What Muslims in India need right now is a Maulana Azad or a Sir Syed to pilot them.

My culture shock

If loosely explained the rubric of this blog maybe defined as a feeling of disorientation and awkwardness experienced in a different social or economic environ rising from the ingrained departure of one’s familiarization or rather un-familiarisation with the aforementioned  surroundings. It may seem very rudimentary and very basic to one who has been detached from any of the social or cultural conservativeness which I regard as the basic cause of my “Culture shock”, but more than it being a state it mind it is an indicator of one’s own ethos and at the same time his pathos towards any of the two comparative culture ; that being the adopted and the native culture.

Culture shock is said to have four phases: 1. Honeymoon,2.Negotiation,3. Adjustment and 4.Mastery. I don’t relate to any of the above “phases” per-se as such a psychological disorder, dare I say is unique and is discrete in all form and its generalization seems redundant to me. It may seem a very Freudian idea but who has a proven it to being a uniform and non-amorphous in the first place. As extravagant as the word “shock” may seem but when you come to terms with it, at first it seems as if you were blind-sighted and sandbagged,; hence the word “shock” seems apt.

Meeting new people who seem very normal to you in the sense that they appear to be the same people whom you see back home is kind of a deception and this is the greatest folly that a Culture “Shockee” may commit. But the only party at fault here is the shockee itself as expecting the same behavior from people living hundreds and thousands of mile away is like being gullible and brain dead at the same time. This rather exacerbates the condition. In my case the people I met would easily pass as the most lively and vivacious motley group of people but that is not unusual as every place has such kind of people in abundance but then the question arises that why does one feel so awkward. I can safely say that the group made every effort to dissect the figurative shield of defense that I had by making me feeling comfortable and at the same time a part of the group, but you tend not to join the madness (that it seems to you) as one would prefer to be a spectator of it. I would like to draw a comparison here for the shockee and the shockers with that of an anthropologist studying the aspects and ethos of a group of people. You notice them and find nothing odd or out of the ordinary but you still feel flabbergasted and jaded even though every thing which is being done is highly expected.

What I feel is that the problem is with the shockee as he is not able to accept the evident social order rather he thinks of it as the indictment of the same and has an illusion of the exalted status of his morals and moral fiber. If a shockee were to be seen through the prism of a shocker , the exact opposite may happen as the shockee would be regarded as a socially unenvolved, morally pugnacious and intolerant which I feel keeps it on an even keel.

In my experience and my case there only seems to be a difference of social façade as I fail to see any distinction be it economic, intellectual or spiritual. What we perceive of others doesnot set the perception of others towards us and neither does it set the perception of that culture in any realistic sense. As convoluted as it may sound to many of the readers but that is what culture shock does to you. It changes your pre-set perception and fiddles with your judgment of people . By all means I feel that there is discord of sorts between not only me but also between other cultures among themselves, but that is the only great thing about cultures , either you shun and write it off in your mind or you accept it and embibe what is right about it. Unity lies in diversty , as paradoxical as it may sound, the veracity of it is as formidable any anything.

            Great Allama Iqbal said and I quote “Magas ko bagh mein jaane na dena ki na-haq qatl parwane ka hoga”…. Sacrificing one social/moral idea gives rise to another which is refined in every sense, but is this adulteration of moral perceptions desirable….Will let you know as soon as I go beyond the four “phases” and indulge into mastery of it….

Omar:The last Abdullah?

                                                          Omar : The last Abdullah?
It would be a cliche’ to say that history repeats itself and the cliche’ seems to be spot on so as to speak for the iron fist rule of the Abdullah dynasty in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Every ruling giant has one time or the another seem to crumble and crash with a magnificent bang in the recent past, be it the Soviet Union which took with itself many other nations under its own rubble of great promises of a great future which was not to be or be it the Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq which came down as we saw it happening  or to speak in recent terms the extermination of Hosni Mubarak’s political rule from the face of Egyptian soil. The aforementioned ominous signs seem to have been haunting the Abdullahs for the past twenty years of turmoil but fate or clever politics has made sure that the Abdullahs remain in affixed in the political scenario.
If we talk about the happenings in J&K for the past three years, everything has not been “hunky-dory” for the Omar Abdullah government .The first false step dates back  to the double rape in Shopian which caused a domino-effect of many such gruesome events which happen to have transpired  of which the yearlong unrest and killings will stand out as a testament. But the fray didn’t end there, the current National Conference-Congress coalition has been in the hot water all year long: the controversial MLC elections in which cross voting took place, Afzal Guru’s mercy petition , Legislative Assembly ruckus and the latest occurrence of similar nature is the mysterious death of NC worker Mohammad Yusuf Shah and his proximity to the Abdullahs upon which Omar has been accused of murder and a judicial probe will be under way. It would not be far-fetched to say the Omar may also hand over his resignation due to imminently growing pressure by the opposition of a fair judicial trial.
Fate may also be not on the side of Abdullahs as it is known the before the birth of Omar Abdullah, his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah had asked  Moulana Masoodi ,a prominent priest/politician to foretell the length of the reign of his family and interestingly the answer by Moulana Masoodi was “umar tak(meaning till a lifetime)” but the clairvoyant’s message maybe indicating towards Omar being the anchorman of the Abdullahs political relay. Furthermore, the current ruling party is more in trouble for corruption charges and human rights violations than for the clairvoyance of a priest.
India in its history has seen the rise and fall of many larger than life rulers and leader but the inadvertent truth of abdication is ever present and maybe lurking near the corner for NC and more importantly the Abdullah dynasty.
                                 

PSA: Goebbels of Kashmir....

                   Goebbels of Kashmir

 Double standards  and human-right violations
P.S.A:Public Scrutiny Act

Joseph Goebbels was the right hand man of Adolf Hitler during the WWII and was seen as the silver tongue and an expert in preaching propaganda and lies to the people to serve the interests of the Third Reich..Similar are the scenes of Kashmir these days but with not one but scores of such Goebbels...
 

Height of vindictive attitude was crossed by the current J&k government under the vanguard of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah when Faizan Hakeem, a 14 year old boy of Islamabad was booked under the draconian act of PSA on the 22^nd of the past month for his alleged participation in the unrest in the summer of 2010 where the legal age for booking anyone under this infamous act is at least 18...But this mêlée of vindictiveness didn’t end here,; when the parents tried to clarify the age  of the booked Faizan by showing his school record which articulates him being a part of the school for the past 8 years and his age as mere 14 years; our very capable Chief Minister rubbished the proof of infancy as forged , fake and doctored..But when the issue started gathering much attention of the media and people started asking question directly to the authorities and also the Chief Minister on the micro-blogging site TWITTER, the CM rebutted by saying the he has seen many fake certificates and the only way of finding any substantial grounds of infancy of the booked persons is a medical test......JOKE!

But I at some level of appreciation I concur with Chief Minister on the grounds of fake D.O.b. because if a prominent figure of I.G of Kashmir (Farooq Ahmad) can tweak and fiddle with his age under the vigil of the government then why can’t Faizan? But the authorities at that time didn’t propose a medical test for the I.G. Kashmir ... Maybe ‘Yeh andar ki baat hai’....

It is one thing arresting somebody under PSA for injecting troubles but it is a whole differet when you arrest a 14 yr old minor , lock him up with hardened criminals and deny his right of freedom on grounds of denial and vague reasoning...It is a shame that a child is locked up in a jail when he is supposed to join his schools tomorrow and the icing on the cake is that the authorities and saviours of  law and order are the ones who made sure that there was no way out for Faizan Hakeem ....

Similar cases of people being detained under the act have been observed where the alleged perpetrator has been acquitted on the gist of false/vague grounds, fraudulent dossiers , infancy or simply ‘INNOCENCE’....A prominent news-paper GREATER-KASHMIR quoted one of the cause of such fraudulent cases given by Advocate Mir Shafaqat Hasnanin as “non application of mind by the detaining authorities......”By this it is made completely clear that one day or the other justice will be served to Faizam Hakeem...But the real question which remains there is what does the Government gain by performing this feat of brainlessness ...It has further reduced their long lost credibility and added fuel to the already raging inferno of anger and hatred among the people...Such acts of ‘non-application of mind’ makes the policy makers and leaders look like hypocrites who boast and tout claims of reducing alienation and hatred from the hearts of people, such stunts by the Government makes their claims otiose , superficial , superfluous and redundant....

Many after reading this blog may get the idea of how the PSA is being handled in the Valley and what its repercussions and ramifications could be ...How would the life of Faizan be after having a taste of the harshest realities on planet ...May God grant him the strength to fight this..

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Valentines day facade

                                         VALENTINES-DAY FACADE

Every year on the 14 of February I witness people of all ages ranging from young teenagers in their extreme youth who have just come out of childhood to the old people who want the new spice in their life fidgeting and stuttering their way from one florist to another and at the same time making sure that the chocolate cake which was ordered in advance doesn’t get mixed up and last but not the least  they make sure that they have some-body to give all this to in the first place....The scene is funnier than the fat guy in  the movie Hangover...

 I am not able to comprehend what in the sweet Lord’s name does this particular date viz. 14 FEB do to all those people that they start behaving as if this date has been pre-programmed day of utter buffoonery and most importantly trying to make a complete arse out of them ....I cant stand to bear the scene of a sane being getting on his knees in front of a make-up clad girl an saying ‘WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE’.... These five words are enough to make anybody cringe into their skins...And this doesn’t end here; picture scarlet, heart shaped balloons and squiggly-curly ribbons all around where-ever you try to put your eyes.... BRRRRRRRRRR........

I have no problem in proclaiming love ;no no no no ....please don’t picture me as a cold critic, I am very lively and vivacious  ...ask my mom...No but the thing that repels me about V-day is that why doesn’t the same love , peace and harmony prevail the next day...Is the day for harmony just for 14 FEB , why do the balloons and ribbons come down the next day and why isn’t the same message of love and peace preached the next days?

Plus there is no significance of this day...The Valentines-day is actually the birth-day of Saint Valentinus who was canonized by the Greek Orthodox church but the kicker is that the existence of Saint Valentinus is questionable in history then how come he become a Saint if he didn’t die for he hasn’t been born in the first place...Also the V-day was annulled in the year 1968 by Pope John Paul II , so there is neither proof of the Saint’s existence nor the is it recognized by any religious institution to be sacrosanct.....

The crux is that why do people celebrate it in the first place,......It is not even a holiday....So if it was to be so important then why doesn’t your boss give you a day-off on this very dubious day....Beats me why they don’t.....

Why only V-day is the day to express your make believe love or secret crush? Let me answer this one; because the people want to make an excuse to ask a girl/boy out for just a day....But lucidity begs the explanation why do people do this just for the sake of doing it....Cant they just have a life and move on ?

This day is a great incentive for those desperate guys who have been single all year. This comes to them as a blessing and a way fit into the social sculpture.....

I would like to conclude by saying that why don’t we celebrate V-day with the ones who truly love us and care for us and not to those who you have just seen on the bus-stop, or tuitions or at the SABZIWALA....Go ahead say Happy V-day to your mom, sister, granny, or even your father , brother or friends....I know it sounds a bit gay but the message in it is as pure and serene as anything in the world......Spread love all around and not only just on V-day but all year long...

Binayak's fault

Someone has to in the utter state of insanity to support the draconian and brazen SALWA JUDUM ....And I am not saying merely for the sake of my blog but for the reason that I too have faced the similar if not more brutality by the hands of armed forces in Kashmir as that faced by the brethren in Chattisgarg and the adjoining areas...

What someone often faces is the feeling of being suppressed and weak in front of the swanky AK-47s of the ones in power ....I can say it with authority that in such areas the one with the gun is surely more powerful than that with the throne....Its just on paper where the power of the political and judicial rights of AAM AADMI are practiced which as we all know is as useful as a cat on a rainy day....

When I talk about the life sentence of Binayak Sen; I get appalled by the fact that a doctor by profession who was running health camps and clinics in the RED AREA has been accused of sedition and slapped with the PUA(prevention of unlawful acts) on grounds that nobody can truly prove...This as far as i am concerned it is a gross mockery of the judicial proces. The Indian Constitution is based upon the right of FREE AND FAIR TRIAL but the trial against Binayak Sen maybe FREE but in no ways can it be stated as remotely FAIR...

Being a dissident  is not a crime in India. A person has the fundamental right of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION which forms the basis of the foundation of the  Indian democracy which is regarded as rich, diverse all over the world and is not influenced by any other constitution in the world which gives it its unique persona but when such fundamental rights are overpowered by the secondary acts and laws..........

Now when I come upon the real question i.e. WHAT HAS BINAYAK DONE ?
Even i get puzzled by the question as my mind can't find the ''legitimate grounds'' on which the Chattisgarg High Court Court has levied a life imprisonment verdict for ''sedition''.The word sedition is a very harsh one indeed ; and to use it against such a person who's human side is visible to all is not just an arrow propelled in the dark but also a blot on the credibility of the highly respected judiciary body of INDIA which is an industry in itself....And the kicker is yet to come...The courts have accused Sen of being information porter...Now sanity begs the explanation of this allegation...If Sen has been in jail then how can he be an informer or porter to the Maoists.....Now that is if not the biggest but one of the biggest farces in history of judicial structure then what is ?.....
I am no big fan of the MAOISTS neither of the SALWA JUDUM but if somebody sees atrocities and gross violations of human rights which are not only a birth right in India but all over the world , ones conscience does strife  towards the path of truth and justice ....But alas! in this case the one providing justice was the executioner himself.......