Whitewashing India's Religious Freedom

 Whitewashing India's Religious Freedom

India has an impeccable history of welcoming the stranger and giving refuge to the oppressed, rejected and the evicted. She has welcomed Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and the Baha’is. Indeed the very first mosque built outside of Arabia was in India by a Hindu King in the state of Malabar. The Tibetan Buddhist refugees found a home in India; the Ahmadiyya Muslims felt secure, so were the displaced Bangladeshi and Afghan refugees.

This beautiful pluralistic 5000-year-old tradition of India is in peril now. BJP and its affiliates (The Sangh Parivar) that govern India "currently" are hell-bent on destroying that heritage. They want to force non-Hindus into obedience and tell them what they can eat or believe, and whom they can marry or live as 2nd class citizens. They want to free India from Christians and Muslims, and plan to convert them by 2025 to Hinduism.  Indeed, the ISIS had given similar options to the Christians and Yazidis. 

Make no mistake about it; Hinduism is a religion of peace like all other religions. The problem is not between people of faith, but the radicals.

A few Indian American organizations linked to the Sangh Parivar want to whitewash the situation. They want to portray that everything is hunky dory in India.  

Hunky dory it is not, the  Congressmen and Senators are fully conversant of the harassment, lynching, raping and killing of Christians, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, Atheists and others in India. 

It is time for the Indian Americans to save the honor of India and restore her pluralistic heritage that got derailed in the last four years. 

The prosperity of a nation stands on her two firm legs; economic growth and social cohesion, one will not sustain without the other.   

 If the minorities continue to live in apprehension and fear, the whole nation gets engaged in useless battles and the prosperity will come to a grinding halt, and the country will limp until it reaches a new life or loses all that was achieved.  

The confidence of foreign investments in a nation spurs the growth, India’s IT industry,  call centers, and businesses have raised the standard of living for many. As long as the investors feel secure about their investments they will pump in more funds. However, when they see chaos emerging with the nations discriminative practices, harassment, lynching, rapes and killing of the minorities, they will pull out and everyone stands to lose.

It was embarrassing to note the missing presence of India at the religious freedom conference held by the Department of State in July 2018. If the violations continue, India may get stamped as a "Country of Particular Concern” for violations of religious freedom. It will hurt India, particularly the business community and the information technology sector. 

The whitewash report produced by the Hindu America Foundation is understandable. No Indian wants India to lose, but neither should we compromise on the truth to look good. We hope to produce an accurate state of the union; after all, India's emblem includes the phrase, Satyameva Jayate - Truth triumphs.

The majority of Indians of all faiths believe in Pluralism, i.e., respecting the otherness of other.  It is not Hindus either,  but the radicals among Hindus that are causing the problems with the subtle encouragement from the BJP government.

Quotes from the HAF, reported by Jha;

"The Indian government provides "unprecedented" religious accommodations to its religious minority population, says a report by a US-based Hindu advocacy group." 

The truth is far from it. It sounds like the majority is doing a favor to the minorities in 'accommodating' them.  It is like saying "we give equal rights to women" who the hell are we to give them their rights, to begin with, the rights were theirs.  Indeed, every Indian is guaranteed those rights; we are all equal citizens. No one has more privileges than the other. 

"To bring greater stability to the region and prevent the growth of radical Islamist and Communist/Maoist terrorism." This statement is too hypocritical and divisive to exclude radical Hindutva terrorism from the list.  The issue is not with Hindus or Muslims; it is with radicals among them. 

"Overall, it seeks to show the broader story of religious freedom and pluralism in India, which is often not, reflected in the media or US policy circles." Indeed, India was a pluralist nation until the Hindutva brigade took over the country four years ago.  

We need to come together and appeal to the Government of India, to issue visas to the commissioners of the USCIRF to investigate the Sikh Genocide, Massacre of Muslims in Gujarat, killing of Christians, Rapes, and lynching of Dalits, and harassment of Sikhs. If the commission gives a clean certificate, it will help boost the investor confidence in India; on the other hand, if India's record is of particular concern, then it is time to fix it than pretending to be holier than thou.  

I would appeal to the Hindu America Foundation to issue press releases condemning the lynching of Muslims, killing of Christians, harassment of Dalits, and Atheists, by condemning each event, it will give them the credibility to be a legitimate pluralist organization for Human rights. 

We will also write a letter urging Prime Minister Modi to speak out forcefully against harassment of any Indian and pledge that no Indian has more privileges than the other. Ambassador Sam Brownback says, if evil acts get condemned as they occur, they will be choked and will not see the light of the day. 

Finding solutions video in Hindi-Urdu Language
https://www.facebook.com/100001262335435/posts/1998170193568372/

Mike Ghouse, is president of the Center for Pluralism and is committed to fostering cohesive societies where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. His India Blog is http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com 

Published in the following News agencies:

https://www.theindianpanorama.news/featured/whitewashing-indias-religious-freedom/


https://www.4conservative.com/countercurrents.org/whitewashing-indias-religious-freedom/

http://muslimmirror.com/eng/whitewashing-indias-religious-freedom/

https://countercurrents.org/2018/08/10/whitewashing-indias-religious-freedom/

https://www.thekashmirmonitor.net/whitewashing-religious-freedom/


Whitewash pieces

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-provides-unprecedented-accommodation-to-its-religious-minority-population-report/articleshow/65182770.cms

https://www.lalitkjha.com/apex/f?p=24257:170:::NO:170:P170_ARTICLE_NUM:30416

http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/hindu-american-foundation-holds-briefing-highlighting-india-s-democracy-in/article_d15dfba6-9a8b-11e8-9a64-93691e1ac7da.html

Modi teams up with Twitter to launch new service

This is good, however we have to remain focused on building a cohesive India, where no Indian has to live in apprehension or fear of the other.

Mike Ghouse
http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

Modi teams up with Twitter to launch new service
Ansuya Harjani | @Ansuya_H |  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102532443

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has teamed up with Twitter to launch a new service that allows government officials to send tweets via SMS in a move to boost e-governance in the world's largest democracy.

The service called Twitter Samvad – which means dialogue in Hindi – was unveiled by CEO Dick Costolo and Modi late Tuesday in New Delhi and is part of the government's Digital India program to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society.

A social media aficionado, Modi is known for his active presence on Twitter, amassing 10.9 million followers since joining the microblogging site in 2009. He is the second most followed politician behind U.S. President Barack Obama.

By enabling tweets to be sent out as an SMS, any Indian with a mobile device, with or without a data plan, is able to receive messages from political leaders and government bodies. Mobile users can activate the service through a missed call to an assigned phone number.

"People who sign up will receive a set of curated Tweets based on the highest engagement throughout the day to stay up-to-date with real-time information about government-related news, policies and activities," Twitter said.

Read MoreCramer: Twitter flies higher for the long haul

"And you can use Twitter Samvad during emergency situations to receive live updates from government bodies, such as time-sensitive information and details about rescue efforts," it said.
So far, a total of 16 political leaders and ministries are linked up to Twitter Samvad. Modi was the first leader to kick off the service.

Twitter Samvad is built on the technology of ZipDial, a Bangalore-based mobile marketing and analytics company that Twitter acquired in January.

Political parties including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and theIndian National Congress partnered with Twitter and ZipDial to offer a similar service during 2014's general election to make their Twitter accounts accessible to all mobile users in India.

More recently, some local news outlets offered SMS tweets during the presentation of the government's annual budget on February 28.

Twitter's service of SMS tweets activated by a missed call is currently only available in India although the company is looking to roll out the service in other emerging markets.

Indian Movie on Pluralism - Dekh Tamasha Dekh

INDIAN MOVIE ON PLURALISM - DEKH TAMASHA DEKH
url- http://foundationforpluralism.blogspot.com/2014/04/indian-movie-on-pluralism-dekh-tamasha.html

It is a dream come true movie for me.

I hope the following piece on the movie reflects the actual movie, if it does, I am happy to see a movie which will develop understanding between the two people of the subcontinent in conflict; Hindus, Muslims and Christians.  All of them have been played around by the damned politicians to their advantage.

 We all need to face things squarely in the movie format and understand it, we all have to live with each other, and if we do, then  why not make the life less tensionous?

Most of the conflicts,  if not all are due to misunderstanding about each other, we must remember knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view.

If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

We need to create societies where no one has to live in fear of the other.

God willing, I am set to make a similar film in the American Context and shooting begins in June or July depending on funding, it will be a 60 Minutes movie and will be shot in Mulberry, Florida.


Mike Ghouse
Foundation for Pluralism

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Dekh Tamasha Dekh
Cast: Vinay Jain, Satish Kaushik and Tanvi Azmi
Director: Feroz Abbas Khan
Rating: ****
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/reviews/movie-review-dekh-tamasha-dekh-is-an-honest-take-on-hindu-muslim-relations/article1-1209906.aspx#sthash.qBuJDFcn.dpuf

Dekh Tamasha Dekh
Cast: Vinay Jain, Satish Kaushik and Tanvi Azmi
Director: Feroz Abbas Khan
Rating: ****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPlgyRzE3Ug

Routinely, we love to sweep the truth about Hindu-Muslim relations under the carpet. Or simply sugar-coat it to make the actual volume of mutual distrust and animosity palatable to a nation steeped in escapism and self-delusion.

A still from the film Dekh Tamasha Dekh.

Dekh Tamasha Dekh (DTD), directed by theatre legend Feroz Abbas Khan (of Tumhari Amrita fame) is a jolting wake-up call for a nation swept into a slumberous silence by the status quo. Put simply, we don't want to face the reality about the friction that simmers just under the surface among the two communities.


DTD is perhaps the first Hindi film which ventures into the vista of vitriolic without the fear of offending the more refined sections of the audience who may not be comfortable watching the vanguards and trouble-makers of the two communities addressing each other with the harshest of epithets.

This is not a film about niceties. The director doesn't allow the narrative to nibble daintily at corrosive socio-political matters. Rather, the narrative chews industriously on the political issues. By using the twin missiles of satire and irony, he brings into a play a kind of pinned-down provocativeness into the plot whereby the characters become real and representational simultaneously.

Miraculously, the film is both a parable and a topical comment on communal relations. This is a film that takes burning headlines and converts them into slices of incriminating illustration on man and the beast within. The smell of authenticity pervades the destiny of the political-driven nefariously motivated characters.

This is literary cinema. The characters and their situations unfold like chapters from an epic novel. This is Govind Nihalani's "Tamas" without the recognisable punctuation marks. The director authors the characters' destiny in scenes that are written like chapters. Amazingly, the context of the scenes are explained to the audience without the crutches of a voice-over.

Take that lengthy but hilarious sequence where the newspaper editor Mutha Seth (Satish Kaushik, slimy and Machiavellian as can be) summons the newspaper editor and treats him like a pet dog - literally barking orders to both the canine and the editor at the same time. Elsewhere, a wife (Tanvi Azmi, eloquence personified) grieve for her dead husband while women of the neighbourhood join in to while away their time while waiting for the taps to supply water.

A mother-daughter sequence towards the end featuring the lyrical Tanvi Azmi and her on-screen daughter (Apoorva Arora) reminds us that political cinema need not be dry and emotionless. As the characters shed their humanism, the plot gathers a sense of tragic redemption that we sense waiting around the corner.

It's the kingdom of the quirky and the tragic. Khan portrays a world that is both bizarre and poignant.

Images of violence and retribution coalesce in Khan's world, which is replete with stark visuals of the town-people bickering bitterly over a non-issue that's been blown out of all proportions by trouble-makers.

DTD is a work of many contradictory forces pulling and tugging at the plot as it stretches out in a saga of valour and vitality, caprice and cowardice. Remarkably, the narrative makes no use of extraneous artificial sounds to create a heightened drama.

The natural sounds that pervade the soundtrack add to an eerie sense of a world of fearsome anxieties. Indeed, sound designer Baylon Fonseca is one of the heroes of this film. Sreekar Prasad edits the material to retain the rawness of mood without sacrificing the smoothness of narration. Hemant Chaturvedi's cinematography sweeps across the town prowling to peep into homes and hearts that are a flame with an anxious identity crisis.

Rarely does cinema take us so deep into the socio-political dynamics of communal disharmony. Honest to the core, brutal, ironical and disturbing, the director's world of Hindu-Muslim strife is cluttered with a compelling tension that erupts into welters of well-aimed social comment.

What we come away with is a film committed to mirroring the murk and mirth of organized religion and a disorganized system of governance which plays a game of appeasement with religious communities, setting off one group of people against another.

Stark, real, disturbing, ironical, funny and gripping, Dekh Tamasha Dekh is the film Govind Nihalani would have made if only he had the freedom to call a spade a spade. Not all the truth of Khan's cinema is palatable or even fully intelligible. But there is little here that doesn't provide food for thought.

This is a film that addresses itself to ideas and thoughts buried away from human consideration. We don't want to consider to what depth human nature can fall if pushed against a dirty wall. To record the dirt on the wall and the blood on the floor with such clarity and honesty is not within the creative powers of every filmmaker.

This is an important treatise of our times, and it should not be missed by any Indian.
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/reviews/movie-review-dekh-tamasha-dekh-is-an-honest-take-on-hindu-muslim-relations/article1-1209906.aspx

India is the 3rd largest Facebook user.

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/06/india-is-3rd-largest-facebook-user.html

India has become the the 3rd largest  Facebook user with 46 Million active participants. Ahead of us is Brazil with 48 Million and of course United States with 156 Million subscribers. Can we edge up to be #2? Yes, we can.

Face book is the best thing that has happened to the civilized world. If you are a facebook member, you may want to see the slide show about facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=851280248&aid=426528

There are several of us who have been blessed with 5000 friendship on the Facebook in the first year. When I wrote about the essence of Janmashtami, nearly 100 Hindus became friends immediately, when I addressed the Immigration rally down town, about 200 Mexicans became friends, and when I wrote about Israel and Palestine dialogue, 100 Jews and Palestinians joined in….

As a Pluralist, I speak, write and blog about Pluralism, Politics and Foreign affairs. I am blessed to connect with all of God’s creation- Thanks to the face book.

Please join me at www.facebook.com/speakermikeghouse and put this Indian among the top speakers on Pluralism….

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America; if you are an Indian American and want to serve America, you can also join me at facebook at www.facebook.com/AmericansTogether

The Future of Facebook Is in India

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-31/the-future-of-facebook-is-in-india

By 2015, India will have more Facebook (FB) users than any other country on Earth—tilting the social networking action away from the West and toward one of the fastest-growing emerging markets on the planet.

As of right now, India has close to 46,307,580 Facebook users, according to Social bakers, a social media analytics firm in London. This makes India the third-biggest Facebook market, behind the U.S., now at 156,830,580 users, and Brazil, with 48,041,640.

According to Eleanor Armitage, a Socialbakers spokeswoman, the number of Indian Facebook users is growing 22 percent every six months, meaning that India will edge out the U.S. toward the end of 2014, when both countries are expected to have 170 million to 175 million members.

Prasant Naidu, who blogs about social networking in India at LighthouseInsights, attributes Facebook’s explosive growth in the subcontinent to its huge, mostly untapped market. (India has more than 1.2 billion people, and Facebook users constitute less than 4 percent of the population, compared with 51 percent in the U.S.)

Also, Facebook has aggressively targeted younger people. Says Cara Pring, a social media blogger in Sydney: “While it’s common to see a slight overrepresentation of younger age groups (i.e., 18 to 34) on social media channels, in India this group represents a huge 76 percent of all Facebook users. It’s clear that this age group is driving the social media revolution within the country.”

In 2010, Facebook opened an office in Hyderabad, India’s high-tech hub. Naidu says this has helped the company market to advertisers and forge agreements with cell-phone service providers—important in a country where most Facebook users log on via hand-held devices. (Facebook India did not reply to several messages.)

Pring adds that Indians view social networking differently than Americans do. Indians, she says, “want to use social networking in the real, true sense of the term—to grow their network in a social manner using whatever platforms are available to them. That doesn’t mean just the people they know. They are eager to connect with anyone they find interesting or that has something in common anywhere around the world. This is also why Twitter has exploded in India, because approval isn’t required to follow someone on the network.”

Of course, it’s unclear how long Facebook will remain the dominant social networking site on the planet—or if something newer, faster, better than social networking will replace social networking altogether. Facebook’s unimpressive IPO earlier this month has raised questions about its long-term marketability. And in many countries where Facebook’s penetration rate is at or above the 50 percent mark—the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, among others—Facebook is growing very slowly and, in some cases, shedding users.

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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly 

The Future of Facebook Is in India

Page got messed up, please click here, thanks
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/06/india-is-3rd-largest-facebook-user.html  

Indian Heritage by Mike Ghouse India Speaker

We are proud of our heritage - a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-regional and multi-linguistic society, where we have come to accept and respect every which way people have lived their lives. For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

India led the way to the freedom movement, since 1947 every country has been liberated from colonialism. Indian democracy is a shining example to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers. Indians are inherently secular and economically capitalistic. They believe in "live-and-let-live" life style, which is the essence of capitalism.

Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility.

I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American. Please join me in the discovery of India on a daily basis, as time permits and share the wealth of knowledge you have on this forum.

Mike Ghouse
Speaker on India
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Model of Democracy, the Indian Idol

Democracy means different things to different people. I will present a few different aspects of democracy in the coming weeks as the events unfold in the Arab World.

Democracy is about choices and the freedom to choose what one eats, wears, believes and seeks in the pursuit of happiness without being harassed or humiliated.  It is the unhindered choice available to every citizen equally.

The Asia Bibi incident in Pakistan took me right into my own childhood where the Dalits were treated inhumanly even in the cosmopolitan Bangalore in the early sixties, it must have been humiliating to them the way Brahmins washed the public tap after the Dalits collected the water, I had never liked those attitudes when I was in the line I felt their anguish.  But that was in America too where the African Americans could not drink from the same fountain. 

Thank God, my Dad broke all the traditions and had the Dalits sit in our house and drink the tea with us in the same cups we used; I clearly remember Mara, Naga, Muniyamma, Venkat and others.  My Dad was harassed by a few for giving space to “them” and I am sure many of you had similar parents.

India has come a long way, just as America has.  Out of nowhere the picture of 2007 Indian Idol popped on my facebook screen. There it was a non-mainstream Indian making to the top. This was unimaginable fifty years ago.

It is this model of democracy I want to rave about and thank the Bollywood industry for it, they set the trends of inclusivism, pluralism and secularism in India, just at the Hollywood does. It has broken the class, caste and religious barriers – and offers equal opportunity to all.  Problems are not gone completely, but the progress is significant.

In the two seasons of Indian Idol I have watched, I have witnessed with delight the “slum dogs” moving up, the women folks, the illiterate with no exposure to music and the well trained ones; they were all on the level playing field.  I have admired the comments made by hosts particularly Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar and Sonu Nigam.  No one had an upper hand; it is what they can strive for to be the best and they came from every segment of the Indian society. 

I would suggest similar programs to pop in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and else where, where they can shape the future leaders of their nations by offering opportunities to every one and let every one learn to compete in serving their nations.

We all have the responsibility to share and explore avenues in shaping the future of each nation and the family of nations. We are all in this together and I salute the Indian Idol for shaping the future of India. It gives hopes to every citizen and that is one beautiful aspect of democracy.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day – www.MikeGhouse.ne

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Indian Idol 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3828885197123734159

Asia Bibi Petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/Asiabibi/petition.html

Who wants to be the President of Pakistan

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-wants-to-be-president-of-pakistan.html

Why do our faiths shape some political views, but not others?

Why do our faiths shape some political views, but not others?
10 Members of the Texas Faith Panel respond to the question.

"An element of hypocrisy is embedded in what is conveyed from the pulpit. An excessive emphasis is placed on homosexuality which the scriptures do not "appear" to favor, but that is not the only item that is disfavored. An equally strong punishment is prescribed for adultery and incest which are down played by the clergy as though they don't exist." Mike Ghouse, Foundation for Pluralism.

Full Story at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/texas-faith-why-do-our-faiths.html 

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam and Civil Societies. He heads the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress and offers Pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day.  Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Indian Muslims - The Lamb's share

Muslims
The Lamb’s Share
There’s funds, schemes aplenty, but the Muslim lot is no better. Why?
Abusaleh Shariff

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266661

It is essential to begin this essay by emphasising that minorities, including the Muslims, maintain aspirations and seek opportunities for development like any other community in India. Yet an empirical review suggests that Muslims are lagging practically in all spheres of development, including education, employment, income, assets and so on. There have been efforts by both the Centre and state governments to overcome deprivation amongst the Muslims across India, but a quick review of outcomes suggest little improvement. There is a need for durable changes, a recognition that deprivation amongst the minorities/Muslims exists due to systemic causes which can be set right only through broad-based public policy initiatives, not just through special purpose vehicles such as the minority/Muslim-oriented programmes; in fact, it would be best to assist them to strive to access their share within the mainstream line of ministries, departments and programmes.

India, through the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment, has made a strong sociopolitical statement of its arrival as a mature democracy, championing multi-layered decentralised governance, sharing substantial powers and a national pool of resources with the states. Further, the enduring canons of governance and economic development are grounded in the principles of socialism, inclusiveness and secularism and fully conscious of regional imbalance.

Like the other main communities of India, the Muslims should have been able to pursue social, economic and educational aspirations within the framework and support of state-provided infrastructure, opportunities and political awakenings. One expects that the ‘diversity’ natural to our population would be reflected in public spheres such as in educational institutions, public and organised sector employment, political systems and governance structures at all levels. Yet, in spite of the fact that practically all social, educational and economic spheres of living are governed and regulated by the states, one finds substantial differences (often unacceptable levels) between varied social groups and across states. Such differentials are prominent in spite of special constitutional provisions bestowed upon the minorities since Independence.

Maintaining diversity in public spheres is a must. If it does not happen naturally, it has to happen via state intervention.

Over 150 million citizens, just about 14 per cent of all Indians, profess Islam as their religion and reside in all parts of India. Muslims are the largest (80 per cent) of all the identified minorities. They reside in substantial numbers and proportions in states such as Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, UP and Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and so on. There are examples and best practices found within India. Consider the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, all have devised policies favouring Muslims at two levels. Muslims here have relatively better access to quality mass education (both elementary and higher level) and employment; and given the history of relative deprivation of the Muslims, the states have extended the benefit of reservations in a certain measure of fractional-proportions linked to their size and share in the population. Such quotas are enabling Muslim girls and boys to catch up with their peers amongst the Hindus and Christians, both in education and employment. Similar provisions enable Muslims to participate even in the political spaces. AP has made a beginning by promoting a system of ‘co-option’ or ‘nomination’ system to the mandals, zila parishads and municipalities/nagar panchayats (AP Panchayat Act, 2006).

Maintaining diversity in public spheres is essential. When this does not happen naturally, it has to be made to happen through government intervention. Legislation can be one way (the mechanism is to remind the government and the institutions that ensuring diversity is their responsibility). Diversity can also be assured by offering incentives/credits to government departments, institutions, universities and so on. Another means is to provide institutional access to citizen representatives (including those from the minorities) to ensure ‘equity’ in the public sphere. An ‘Equal Opportunities Commission’ will go a long way in both ensuring diversity as a key state objective, and also as an institution to enforce redressal.

The Centre has made some efforts during the past 3-4 years to address various aspects of Muslim deprivation. Under the revised 15-point programme, a special investment programme is on in about 100 minority concentration districts (MCDs); exclusive scholarships have been announced for the first time to cover minorities, both in elementary and at higher levels of education. The RBI is consistently sending memos to public sector banks to increase funding to applicants from the minorities and so on. However, a review of all the above suggest that the MCD programme has not even made a presence in many states like West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat. The overall utilisation is less than 20 per cent of the total funds earmarked for the programme since inception. Similarly, the scholarship programme, although very popular, is able to cover only a fraction of total applicants. And it appears that the public sector banks have not even taken note of the repeated requests by the RBI, a matter of utmost concern.

The larger malice of exclusion has to be fought unitedly by all ‘regular-line departments’ and ministries at the national and state levels. It also needs collaboration and partnership with civil society and private institutional structures. Will a separate ministry ensure the implementation of the over 300 programmes that aim to alleviate poverty and improve human development, promote inclusiveness of the excluded, whether they be SCs, STs or Muslims?

In the absence of any timeline, programme-specific implementative strategy and clarity on monitoring mechanisms, no results will be forthcoming. It is important to mention here that a flat policy of earmarking 15 per cent of budgetary allocations to favour the minorities is not implementable. Rather, the service delivery procedures must use population shares at the “programme-specified operational levels” such as the district, taluka and block levels so as to ensure maximum coverage and provide a sense of equity. The early euphoria and expectations are dying out. UPA-1 took many initiatives to diagnose the problem; now UPA-2 must ensure that inclusive policies are actually implemented before the people at large become disappointed. I only hope that government procrastination on issues related to Muslims does not lead to frustration.

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(The author is an economist who oversaw the writing of the Sachar Commission report.)

July 4th - what does freedom mean to you?

May you feel blessed and free, happy July 4th!What does July 4th mean to you?July 4th means freedom to me and I continue to debate with myself which one of the two is most important to value to me, Freedom or Justice?Thank God for America, where we the people cherish and value the freedom endowed to us by the creator. I chose to be an American and I am blessed to be one in my heart and spirit. I have come to revere our constitution for the value it places on equality...

Now a few tid-bits about July 4th followed by the list of events that led to American independence, the declaration of independence, Bill of rights and the link to our national Anthem sourced form Library of Congress and Wikipedia.

continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-4th-what-does-freedom-mean-to-you.html

MF Hussain, final thoughts

MF Hussain

The real issue is, how do we deal with things we don't like?

I am proud of our democracy; we are willing to debate the issue in a civil manner. Even those who have the tendency to shut others up, do indeed see the value in a dialogue. We are not Talibans, we are a civil society.

Purely from an Indian context; from a Hindu Point of view as well as the Muslim point of view the paintings are offensive. Given that I would suggest that those painting be put out of circulation and let Hussain live his life freely again, and take up on his own, the challenge of painting something that would create harmony in the society.

Now the other items for us to ponder.

Hussain’s paintings are not acceptable to Muslims. We abhor those paintings. Islam prohibits him from painting any picture, let alone nude pictures. Islam also forbids one to make mockery of other faiths. Hussain has violated both. I am not defending Hussain at all.

If he were to be in Afghanistan, Iran or Saudi Arabia, he would have been killed. As a nation, do we want us to be like Afghanistan?

Most Muslims including me were against banning Rushdie's book, we wrote against it and spoke against it. I appealed to the fanatic binge among Muslims to ignore the cartoons, instead I had asked them to pray that goodwill prevails, and several mosques have done that. We severely criticized those few Muslims who harassed Taslima Nasreen, and urged them to have an intellectual debate with her, we not only condemned those guys in Hyderabad who mauled her, but asked the Government of Andhra to file charges against them.

Why does he not paint Maryam and Fatima? Because that is not the tradition, one visit to Khajuraho and other places you’ll figure out our tradtions real quick. Artists choose their own subjects, no one is going to tell them what to paint, then he would not be an artist, artists and ego go together and we have to value that if we want art to survive.

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Those paintings were offensive and need to be dealt with in a civil manner to the good of the society at large. We have to respect the laws we have on the books, they are made with a purpose of good for the society at large.

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GIVEN THE INDIAN CONTEXT, DO WE UNDERSTAND THAT;

1. Those paintings are offensive in our contemporary culture
2. Regardless of our religions, those paintings are distasteful
3. Freedom comes with responsibility to society at large
4. Artists do not select their subjects to hate any one
5. The artist did not have mal-intention when he painted it
6. The artists* to abstain from painting what offends society
7. That the artist has the freedom to apologize or not.
8. That the artist has the right to live safely in India
9. That the painting be ignored and not published

THE LARGER QUESTIONS:
1. Regulate freedom of expression, all expression?
2. Should we regulate what artists cannot do?
3. Should we regulate what films cannot be produced?
4. Should we regulate what speeches cannot be made?
5. Should we regulate what cannot be published?
6. Should we have democracy as our system of governance?
7. Should we agree that we should have differing opinions?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Freedom should be our ultimate goal; the market will work itself out.

On the one hand, let them paint cartoons, nude pictures, or whatever they wish, and let’s not ban them, instead grade them like we do with the movies. Had those Muslims not made a fuss with the cartoons, the issue would have died down. There was a thrill seeking by the painters and those agitators both in that instance, however in the case of Hussain, he has been painting these pictures for a long time and was not doing to hurt anyone, he was just doing what was appreciated by his clientele, mainly people of Hindu faith. Unless someone can prove that he was doing to hurt anyone he remains an artist with his own passion.

I do not like those paintings, they are offensive to me. My reverence for Mother Sita does not allow me to see those paintings. It is not Islamic either, and Muslims did not ask him to paint his subjects. He is an artist, and as a society, we need to determine what kind of society we want to be and we need to address the question of freedom.

From a Hindu Point of view as well as the Muslim point of view the paintings are offensive and for the time being need to be kept out of circulation. The more fuss is made, the greater the offense. Given that I would suggest that those painting be put out of circulation and let Hussain live his life freely again, and take up the challenge of painting something that would create harmony in the society.

Mike Ghouse