Will RSS consider Pranab Da’s Inclusive Indian Nationalism?

I am pleased to share the following article from Ram Punyani, one of the pluralists that I respect.

Excellent piece indeed. Mother Teresa had said, if you want to make peace with your enemy (or perceived enemy), go talk with them. Talking among friends will not change anything.

I have chosen this formula, and have gone and dealt with extreme right-wingers, and have been able to receive concessions on their extreme rhetoric.

I agree with your last paragraph and what his daughter has said. Now the burden is on Congress to highlight the pluralism aspect of his speech, flood the internet to counter-narratives that you have rightly predicted will float.

With your permission, I will publish this piece at www.CenterforPluralims.com and http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

Thank you

What do we do at the Center for Pluralism

http://centerforpluralism.com/what-do-we-do-at-center-for-pluralism/ ;

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
Washington, DC
(214) 325-1916
Mike@CenterforPluralism.com
www.CenterforPluralism.com

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Will RSS consider Pranab Da’s Inclusive Indian Nationalism?

Ram Puniyani

Dialogue is the core part of democratic process. The question comes; can there be dialogue between two opposite ideologies on Indian horizon, the one of Indian nationalism and the other of Hindu nationalism? We witnessed a strange spectacle when the Pranab Mukherjee, the lifelong congressman and believer in plural, inclusive Indian nationalism accepted to speak on the platform of RSS, the apex organization promoting narrow, divisive, exclusive Hindu nationalism. The visit of Ex-President to address RSS event was strongly opposed by large section of Congress leaders and many others, on the ground that RSS is adept at gaining legitimacy from such visits while at the same time working at cross purpose to the message of the invited guests.

Mahatma Gandhi was one such visitor to RSS, who was killed due to the ideology of hate propagated by RSS “All their (RSS) leaders’ speeches were full of communal poison.  As a final result the poisonous atmosphere was created in which such a ghastly tragedy (Gandhi’s murder) became possible. RSS men expressed their joy and distributed sweets after Gandhi’s death.” (Sardar Patel’s letter). Whether there can be a dialogue with RSS has been a question on the minds of many.

What happened in Nagpur event when Pranab Mukherjee paid visit to Nagpur (June 7^th 2108)? To begin with Mukherjee visited RSS founder K B Hedgewar’s birth place and wrote, “Today I came here to pay my respects & homage to a great son of Mother India KB Hedgewar ji.” Whether out of courtesy for the host one should write in such a manner is a matter of debate again as Hedgewar guided by his Hindu nationalism called Muslims a Yavan snakes. Hedgewar-RSS also kept aloof from the freedom movement, which gave us Independence and later Indian Constitution.

Mukherjee to his credit did talk of pluralism and inclusive nature of Indian Constitution, India being a meeting ground of different people, “It is our composite culture which makes us into a nation. India’s nationhood is not one language, one religion, one entity.” He advised the RSS swayamsevaks, “You are young, disciplined, well trained and athletic. Please wish for peace, harmony and happiness. Our motherland is asking for that, our motherland deserves that”, and also that “any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms of dogmas and identities of religion, region, hatred and intolerance will only lead to dilution of our national identity.” The highlight of his speech was his recalling Surendranath Bannerjee for his phrase “Nation in the making” as this phrase aptly defines the emergence of Indian nationalism during freedom movement, in contrast to RSS assertion that we are a Hindu nation from times immemorial.

He also remembered the values of Gandhi and Nehru in trying to understand India’s past and Sardar Patel’s contribution in merging the princely states into India. Mukherjee toed the line of Indian culture as a synthesis of different streams, “It is our composite culture which makes us into a nation. India’s nationhood is not one language, one religion, one entity.” And more significantly he pointed out that secularism and pluralism are the soul of India which is constituted by "It is Perennial Universalism of 1.3 billion people who use more than 122 languages and 1600 dialects, practice seven major religions and belong to three major ethnic groups, who live under one system, one flag and one identity of being Bharatiya,” He proceeded to reflect on the vast pluralism enshrined in the Indian society. “India's nationhood is not one language, one enemy and one religion,”

In a way, despite slipping on the point of praising Hedgewar, he did speak about the values enshrined in Indian constitution. Mostly what one does not speak on such occasions also matters a lot. The present scenario created due to RSS Hindu nationalism, where hate has been created around emotive issues like Ram Temple, Cow-beef, love jihad needed to be underlined. The direct connection of the present atmosphere of narrowness and intolerance needed to be drawn out. He did not mention the important fact that the current intimidating, sectarian atmosphere which is building up in the country is due to Hindu nationalist agenda. While he correctly articulated the pluralism and diversity of the country, he failed to mention the political fallout of RSS agenda and left an open space where vague homilies, ‘we respect different opinions’ are put forward by the RSS ideologues without at all registering the differences which are too deep for such ‘respecting others opinions’. The contrast between agenda of two nationalisms, Hindu nationalism and Indian nationalism needed to be drawn out.

True, RSS has grown into huge organizations, and the discourse emanating from its stable is dominating the social scene. Today undoubtedly values of pluralism, which Mukherjee talked about, need to be underlined more than before. In the aftermath his speech what is more likely to happen is the attempt to show that what RSS says and what Mukherjee said are complimentary. It will be an exercise in creating further legitimacy for RSS. For RSS, building Ram Temple (demolishing Babri mosque) is part of nation building, for RSS taking up the issue of cow-beef is nation building. While for the stream of Gandhi-Nehru-Patel-Indian nationalism such issues have no place on political horizon. What matters for this stream is what Mukherjee pointed out apty “People are at the centre of all activities of the State and nothing should be done to divide them. The aim of the State should be to galvanize them to fight a concerted war against poverty, disease and deprivation. Only then can we create a nation where Nationalism flows automatically,”

Surely despite good articulation of Indian nationalism by ex-President, the likely outcome of the visit has been well described by his daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee, who said, ‘the speech will be forgotten and pictures will remain’. The pictures will be circulated with different content, enhancing legitimacy to the divisive agenda of RSS.   

Bihar Elections: Modi stoking communalism

There was no need for Modi to stoop so low to say this, '...that the Grand Alliance is plotting to deprive SCs, STs and OBCs of their job quota and give it to ‘a particular community’. I can understand him using Amit Shah to do the dirty work, but this is beneath the office of the Prime Minister. Amit Shah said, that Pakistan will celebrate if BJP loses, how divisive can one get?   He has a hell of a nerve to ax mother India, these guys will sell their mother if there is gain for them. Can Modi and his men ever take a pledge that they will stand by "One nation under the Tiranga, indivisible with liberty and justice to all."

There are some Indian Americans who need to learn about Democracy, they want to have all the rights here, but deny  the same to the others in India.

Mike Ghouse
http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com 

  
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Muslims in Bihar Elections 2015

By Naushad Ansari 

After two phases of Bihar voting, the NDA is finding itself in choppy waters.  The Hindustan Times, a leading English daily of Patna, reports that an internal assessment by the BJP has the party worried about its prospects in the crucial Bihar election with two phases of polling out of the way. (H.T., Oct. 18)  In phase – 1, the BJP was expecting a difficult battle in JD (U) strongholds.  But a seat-by-seat analysis suggests the party fared worse than expected with the Grand Alliance firmly in the lead.  The phase – 2 was considered Majhi’s stronghold, but report suggests that the BJP faces a tight race even there.  Alarmed by this report the BJP has completely changed its strategy, starting with replacing hoardings and banners with the pictures of the PM and Amit Shah with local leaders.

Using a different card the PM, at a public meeting in Buxar on October 26, alleged that the Grand Alliance is plotting to deprive SCs, STs and OBCs of their job quota and give it to ‘a particular community’. Unveiling a new strategy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi further stated that ‘this son (himself) of a poor EBC tea-seller will put his life on the line to protect your job quota’.  Rebutting this Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused Prime Minister of changing his caste profile to suit BJP’s electoral needs. “From a development driver, he became OBC and now he is calling himself an EBC.  We don’t know if Gujarat has EBCs.  Don’t be surprised if he becomes a Dalit also in course of polls,” Kumar added.

On the other hand Muslim named leaders of the BJP are campaigning in Muslim localities on war footing.  They are appealing, through personal contacts and also using Urdu dailies, to come out of the vote bank era and to vote for the BJP.  They are trying to convince that Muslims have equitable share in the development and are quite safe in Gujarat, and that India had thousands of communal riots and why should one remember only 2002 Gujarat riot!

But there are few takers of such statements and appeals and it will hardly affect a single secular-justice-loving voter, Muslim or non-Muslim.  Today the voters know the clear line of demarcation between secularism and communalism, between Hinduism and Hindutva.    They will never betray the country’s ethos of communal harmony.  They are aware that the secular parties are, more or less, governed by the Constitution.  But for the communalists, Gujarat pogrom is what the Muslims deserved; Babri Masjid demolition is moral and a matter of belief; no democratic rights but majoritarianism, law or no law.  The PM’s long time silence on lynching incidents is very fresh in their mind.  They can foresee major changes in the Constitution suiting to the whims of the parivar.

The BJP leadership shed tears on how powerless the Muslims have been treated as mere vote banks by the secular parties.  But the same party opposes implementation of Prime Minister’s 15 points program on the development of Muslims.  Even the government of Gujarat has challenged the legality of ‘Sachar Committee’ report. This confirms that they have no real interest in the welfare of Muslims.  Indeed, the scale of killings, rapes, physical loss and property destruction in Gujarat pogrom was so huge, in terms of time and geographical spread, that this could never have been occurred without the collusion of the Government machinery.

As for the development, the CAG reports and data on economic and social development from various sources make it evident that the much-touted “Gujarat model” of development is non-inclusive, socially divisive and highly ineffective in key areas.

Representations made to Sachar committee reveal what issues the Muslims think are important to them.  For no other state, security was such an important issue as Muslims of Gujarat, they ranked it as their third most important issue while the all India level this issues was placed fifth out of the nine categories.  Again, poverty incidence is 34 for Muslims of Gujarat residing in urban areas, which is better than many states but almost double the state (Gujarat) average of 18.

Unfortunately, by stages, the communal extremist forces have come to challenge the very fabric of secularism.  The Bihar election shall be a test of the political maturity and wisdom of the people of Bihar.

(Author is the President of Peace Foundation, Patna) 
http://beyondheadlines.in/2015/10/muslims-in-bihar-election-2015/
http://muslimmirror.com/eng/muslims-in-bihar-elections-2015/

--

M Naushad Ansari

President (Hon'y),

Peace Foundation,

Patna

If BJP Loses Bihar Elections, Crackers Will Go Off in Pakistan: Amit Shah

Amit Shah is a politician and would say anything to get elected.  He can fool the public once more, what has Pakistan got to gain from this… unless he is communalizing the elections.

The only way to counter Amit Shah is to appeal to the Indians, that Indians across the length and breadth will celebrate if BJP loses.

If BJP loses democracy wins.

When the States reject the Party that runs the Central Government, they are establishing their independence and it brings humility to BJP, and it will make them reflect the mistakes and promises they are yet to fulfill.  A giant loss for BJP will be a wakeup call for them, and that is good for India and India should celebrate it.

Mike

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Addressing a rally in Raxaul, a day after Bihar voted in the third of five phases in the assembly elections now being held, Mr Shah said, "If by any chance the BJP loses this election, while winning and losing will happen in this country, crackers will be burst in celebration in Pakistan. Would you want that to happen?"

"No," roared the crowd.

Rival parties have criticised Mr Shah's comment as an attempt at polarising voters. KC Tyagi of the ruling Janata Dal United said the party would complain to the Election Commission on Friday. "The BJP had started with campaigning with the talk about development. But as the BJP started trailing it has decided to totally communalise the campaign," Mr Tyagi told NDTV.

http://www.ndtv.com/bihar/if-bjp-loses-bihar-elections-crackers-will-off-in-pakistan-amit-shah-1237845

If BJP Loses Bihar Elections, Crackers Will Go Off in Pakistan: Amit Shah

NEW DELHI:  BJP chief Amit Shah has in a controversial comment said that if his party loses in Bihar, "crackers will be burst in Pakistan."

Addressing a rally in Raxaul, a day after Bihar voted in the third of five phases in the assembly elections now being held, Mr Shah said, "If by any chance the BJP loses this election, while winning and losing will happen in this country, crackers will be burst in celebration in Pakistan. Would you want that to happen?"

"No," roared the crowd.

Rival parties have criticised Mr Shah's comment as an attempt at polarising voters. KC Tyagi of the ruling Janata Dal United said the party would complain to the Election Commission on Friday. "The BJP had started with campaigning with the talk about development. But as the BJP started trailing it has decided to totally communalise the campaign," Mr Tyagi told NDTV.

"This is the old practice of the BJP. They practiced it in Gujarat as well. They always wanted to play this communal card to win elections. Questioning the mandate of elections, they are dividing Bihar," alleged the Congress' Tom Vadakkan.

Amit Shah has, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fronted the BJP's campaign in the Bihar elections, with the party choosing not to project a chief ministerial candidate. The BJP is locked in a very close battle in the state with what is called the "Grand Alliance" made up of the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JDU and Lalu Yadav and the Congress.

Voting has been held for a little over half of Bihar's 243 seats in three phases. The last two phases will be held within the next week and votes will be counted on Sunday, November 8.

Winning Bihar is crucial for the BJP, which needs to boost its numbers in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of Parliament, the members of which are elected by legislators in states. The Narendra Modi government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and has found it tough to push through key reforms.

The BJP, which had won a series of state elections after it came to power at the Centre last year, was crushed by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi this year, the last assembly election it contested. It would like a win in Bihar also to set the tone for important state elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu next year and then the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017. 

Story First Published: October 29, 2015 18:31 IST

Modi’s Bubble and the Chumcha Culture

Prime Minister Modi is making all the classic mistakes of a man sitting inside the bubble, oblivious of the chaos outside the thin veil of the bubble. The men who keep him in euphoric status are called “Chumchas” – the “Yes men” of India who will ultimately let their bosses fall from grace.  

Their usual line is “Yes sir, your programs are working beautifully, there is no need to worry, everything is perfect, my hoon Na! (I am here to take care of you). Mr. Modi is so self absorbed, that he does not even question the veracity of the reports or may not even see the reports. His eerie silence does not bode well for India. 

The Chamchas bring the downfall of the leaders and kingdoms. Way back in 1799 the two chamchas of Tipu Sultan Poornayya and Mir Sadiq were telling him everything is alright, but they weren’t.  Girish Karnad writes in the dreams of Tipu Sultan that Tipu was aware of these men making deals with Lord Cornwallis behind his back, and that he was going to deal with them, alas he had done that.
 

George W Bush had his own reverend chumcha Cheney, who kept telling him, “Sir, everything is alright” and brought destruction to America and the world. Alas, God had gifted a brain to this dolt.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has a much thicker bubble around her, she had no idea what was going on, the chamchas including Siddhartha Shankar Roy  kept saying, “Madam, everything is going good, as you had wanted” and she almost turned India into the dictatorship through her emergency rule, I shudder at the thought of what would have happened to India – it would have spun us off the orbit of democracy. Thanks to the Journalists and the media persons who went to Jail to protect our freedom, and now we have many such heroes amidst us to protect us from Modi going the wrong way.

A powerful leader is the most dangerous person for a democracy, and a powerful media is a blessing to a democracy and guarding the rights of the people.

George Bush was a powerful leader, in the wake of 9/11; he frightened everyone including the gutless Senators, Congress persons and even the Journalists to question him. The destruction he brought upon us and upon Iraq, Afghanistan and the world could have been prevented, had the American Media asked the right questions.

Here comes Modi – a partial replica of George Bush. Bush ruined it by his frightening talk, and Modi is doing it by his silence.  Both leaders were elected with huge mandate.

Shamefully, the Indian Media is flooded with the chumchas, who are ready to praise Lord Modi at every instance.  Here is Jefferson’s wisdom for them, "The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter…."  Thomas Jefferson.

Describing the role of the press, George A. Krimsky, the former head of news for the Associated Press’ and co-author of Hold the Press, writes, “In the wake of America’s successful revolution, it was decided there should indeed be government, but only if it were accountable to the people. The people, in turn, could only hold the government accountable if they knew what it was doing and could intercede as necessary, using their ballot, for example. This role of public ‘watchdog’ was thus assumed by a citizen press, and as a consequence, the government in the United States has been kept out of the news business.”   Indeed, a true journalist is someone who is not a chumcha of the government, and we the people should be skeptical of all the journalists who praise the government.

Modi lives in a bubble, there was a time he cried and was true to himself, shame on his chumchas, and he is not true to himself any more. His bubble is becoming translucent; he cannot see what is going on outside of it.

President Reagan advise to Modi would be, “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.” And he would add, “Trust but verify”. Ronald Reagan.

Indeed, his dream is being jeopardized by his own chumchas and may bring his downfall, if he skip the verify part.

 Sab ka saath sab ka vikas – that is, working together brings prosperity to all. His administration is doing everything to compel people not to work together and ripping their liberties and hell bent on dividing India. They are telling what an Indian can eat or not eat, believe or not believe.  The process of blatant discriminating against Muslims in employment and housing has begun, and on and on and on. Modi’s eerie silence on the issue is chilling, he is being told, and everything is alright sir. My hoon na!

Modi’s slogan, “We will build toilets and not temples” brought a lot of joy to the Indians. He is the first leader of independent India to even think and do something about it.  But his men and women are hell bent on forcing religious conversions, vandalizing churches and pushing a pluralistic Hindu faith into becoming a violent religion.

Does he want this or is he being bullied into silence? Whatever it is, he needs to tear the bubble and reconnect with people and speak up.  Indians are gutsy people and will bring him down as they did with the Almighty Indira Gandhi.

Skepticism is good and without which nothing good can come, and I understand the concerns people have.  In 2014,  I wrote, “I do connect with him now, and I will stick my neck out and say, things will get better under Modi Sarkar, good days are coming for every Indian regardless of his or her affiliation. “  I am withdrawing my neck now, until he comes out of the bubble and restores sanity and cohesiveness of India.

I thank Dr. Thomas A. Kodenkandath/Thommy, a Scientist by profession, and a cartoonist by hobby for drawing the Modi in Bubble cartoon precisely depicting the status of Mr. Modi. He is a graduate of  Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) and is a recipient of several awards, including the Kerala State Lalithakala Academy Award for editorial cartooning 

 Thank you

mike
Mike Ghouse, Speaker
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
........................................................................................................
Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism,Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film " Sacred" to be released on 9/11 and a documentary "Americans together" for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day

Indian Democracy Elections and a Qawwali

MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

As an Indian deeply committed to democracy in India, not the theocracy that will sink every one of us in the end, I hope and pray that the people of Delhi have voted for AAP.  We will wait for the results. Whatever the outcome of Delhi Elections, we have to live with it.

We need a strong opposition to keep the government on its toes, and at least somewhat accountable. Fascism takes root when the government has huge majority and huge mandate; it is the most dangerous thing for a nation to give full powers to a single party.

Radicals no matter where they raise their ugly heads simply destroy the nations – it’s happening in Iraq, and Syria, and gaining ground in Pakistan. None of us want India to become a theocracy like theirs, we want to be a nation of free people and not to be ruled by a bunch of idiots who who tell us what we can drink, eat, wear or believe.

Those radicals who think Hindutva *** Government is the way to go, will severely regret a few years down the road, and will say;

First they came for Muslims,
we didn’t care, we were not Muslims;

Then they came for Christians,
we rejoiced, we were not Christians;

Then they came for Sikhs,
we did not care, they were not Hindus;

And finally they turned it on us,

They wanted us to be obedient dogs,

and there was no one left to defend us.

The only reason I wish AAP wins is not because I like them, but I like our democracy to win and India to win.  The vote would be a reminder to Modi to bring humility in governance and let the ahankar go.

*** Hindutva is a political ideology similar to Islamists. It is neither Hindu nor Hinduism in character, just as Islamist are neither Islam nor Muslim. 

Enjoy the following political video featuring Modi, Kejriwal, Bedi and Shah.

Video link - https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153285734992580

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net