Do Indians understand what secularism Means; Congress and Pampering of Muslims

I think the title of this post should have been "Does the Congress party Understand what secularism" means". I have used the word Indians only because the Congress helped shaped India's  policies  for almost 6 decades after India became free. In that respect it represented India and thrust its brand of secularism all over India.

Pandit Nehru for reasons best known to him was always to sympathetic to the Muslims . I again use the word sympathetic , well the actual word is appeasement as he seemed to hold the Muslims in awe for whatever reason we do not know. One man in a light hearted meander once expressed to me that  Pandit Nehru had close affinity and blood relations with Muslims and Sheik Abdullah was his half brother. This can all be treated as drivel and perhaps not true, but the fact is that Nehru went out of his way to accommodate the Muslims.

There is no doubt that the Muslims ruled India for 900 years and this does prey on the mind of Hindus in a sub conscious manner. The Hindu psyche cannot rid itself of it and the result is a desire not to antagonize the  Muslim community and gave them a greater rope than is warranted. This has also led to twisted interpretation of the word secularism

Secularism is something good , but it does not mean a deprivation of the majority community and pampering of any community or religion. Unfortunately Gandhi followed by Nehru believed in pampering the Muslims and this was in fact a doubled sword. The pampered Muslims failed to integrate with the nation and remained backward, wedded to obscurantism and old fashioned ideas. Education failed to seep through to them and the community remained backward. By giving a warped sense of secularism the Congress failed to integrate Muslims with India  and in a way harmed the Muslims themselves.

Things like personal law and Sharia continued in the 21st century and even though Muslim nations like Turkey discarded them, but not the India led by the congress. This is the bane of India that once the Hindus came to power albeit by default and without a fight, they have squandered a united India by allowing the Congress to rule and thus India is riven by casteism and religion and the so called secularism in real terms an anchor around its neck.

Narendra Modi First Prime Minister to Acknowledge Indian Military Contribution

The Indian army right from the days of Nehru was given short shrift by Nehru and other Congress politicians. these politicians not only denigrated the Indian armed forces but never acknowledged that the Indian army was a factor in Indian polity. Nehru required a kick from the Chinese to realize that he was wrong and by that time the sands of time had run out for him and he died a broken man in body and spirit. His reputation was in tatters as he realized that he was at best a loser.

However the neglect of the armed forces continued and right up to the time of the stooge ManMohan Singh, their was no change in thinking. Indian leaders going abroad studiously avoided visiting any memorial to the Indian army outside and even at home they never wanted a war memorial. Manmohan Singh will go down in history as one of the most incompetent prime ministers, a man who behaved as if he was Man Friday of the Gandhi family. His character can be gauged from the fact that he joined the very party that had engineered the massacre of Sikhs in delhi in 1984 and he was a Sikh himself.

The record of 67 years was set right by narendra Modi. This man is the first Indian who acknowledged the army as a national institution. His visit to teh war graves memorial at Nouveau Chateau in France , the first by an Indian Prime Minister is something to be cherished. Here is a acknowledgment that the army is part of the Indian nation, something the Congress leaders never did.

Modi has also formulated plans for a war memorial and his approval of One Rank One Pension is a feather in his cap. He is the one leader who has given respect to the man in uniform. Its sad that Nehru and his ilk thought otherwise. History will dam them, but 67 years of neglect is something that cannot be forgotten. 

Rapes and India

Not a day passes when the national press and TV tell us that a rape has taken place. the sad part is that anybody from the age of 3 to 75 is the victim of rape, with the latest being a 72 year old nun being gangraped by  some thugs in West Bengal. Reading all this one may conclude that india is a land of rapists. The Western press  likes nothing better than to portray that India is a country where every woman gets raped.

I have to read all this with a touch of regret, for the facts speak otherwise.The incidence of reported rapes in India are among the lowest in the world. Compared to other developed and developing countries, reported rapes per 100,000 people are quite low in India. India has been characterized as one of the "countries with the lowest per capita rates of rape".If figures have a meaning than here they are

One can see that countries that have 'free sex' are more prone to rape like Sweden which heads the table.
The fact is that is girl in the UK or USa has much greater chance of getting raped than in India. The only country with a lower rape rate than India is Japan. So friends let's not go overboard about rape in India. Rape is a heinous crime, but India is not the home of all rapists.

Lynching of a Rapist in Imphal and the "Movie Daughters of India"

Two incidents have shaken India as never before  and both incidents concern crime against women. Firstly, one can remember the ghastly  gang rape and murder of a a 23 year old girl in a moving bus in Delhi on 16 december 2 years back. The rapists have still not been  executed despite the high court and trial court having awarded the death sentence.  The Supreme Court has no time to decide their appeal which is pending for over a year. This is the state of justice in india
On top of this a film 'daughters of India " has been made by a British national with interviews the rapists murderers  now in Tihar jail. Now Tihar jail is a high security central prison and this lady producer was allowed to make a film by the then Congress government. Necessary permissions were accorded , why ? I cannot fathom.
In connection with this is a incident in Dimapur a fairly large city in Nagaland. Here a rapist was pulled out from the jail  by a large crowd of some 2000 persons and lynched to death. Perhaps exasperated with the law, the crowd took this step. It did not help that the accused was a Assamese Muslim and the girl a Naga tribal.
Both incidents are interlinked and the Supreme Court and government must awaken. There is a lurking undercurrent of exasperation and despair bordering on cynicism in the Indian masses. Firstly the rapists are not punished as in the December rape  case and secondly a rape accused is lynched to death. One must see that both incidents are interlinked. Such incidents also give anti -social elements a chance to exploit public anger. I wonder if the venerable Supreme Court is listening. It has no time to hear the december rapists case. Where is India heading ? I am afraid such inaction can only lead to more people taking the law in their hand. Delay also gives anti social elements a handle to exploit the people.  All I can say is 'beware'. the bell tolls for all.

No Mention of OROP by Finance Minister Jaitley

As expected the union budget has been presented. Generally the pundits are feeling it’s a good budget, but that is not what will interest the ex-serviceman who has slogged for the Indian nation.  The budget is silent on One Rank One Pension and as reported by Indian express all the FM said is that he is "committed" to sanction OROP once the dispute on interpretation of OROP is sorted out between the forces and the Ministry of Defense.

This is very sad as it skirts the issue completely. The interpretation of OROP is accepted by 2 parliaments and yet the Finance Minister talks of ‘dispute" and "interpretation". Obviously he is skirting the issue and taking refuge in some bland statements which are in fact tantamount to lies. It is so sad that a BJP government that came to power under Modi on a plank of One Rank One Pension is now talking of "resolving” some issue between the MOD and the forces. Frankly this is a ploy to bypass the sanction of OROP and shows that the BJP is not to be trusted. I wonder what happened to the promise by the Defense Minister Mr. Parrikar that OROP would be considered as Military pay and sanctioned immediately.

The Indian state has scant respect for men who wear the uniform. As things stand the government will allow this year to pass and I don't think any good will come in the coming years. The government is testing the patience of the soldier and hoping that as many as possible old pensioners die so the liability is reduced. This shows the warped mind of this government and it seems despite the slap in the Delhi election, the BJP has leant nothing.

Hemingway wrote " For whom the Bell Tolls". Has the BJP considered this? Frankly one cannot blame the BJP alone as all other party's on the political spectrum are equally responsible. After all the Congress and the UPA sat on this demand for 10 years. Maybe the NDA and BJP will sit on it for another 5 years at least.

A major lacuna is the complete abdication of responsibility by the General Staff\. The COAS is unable to exert himself, which is hard to reconcile as the army is the biggest stake holder in the unity of India.

Muslims, Girls, Pakistan and the Bikin . 63

Background

The Logo

I will start this short post with a personal incident. More than 2 decades back I was friendly with a Muslim dentist girl in Mumbai. We moved all over Mumbai on my Royal Enfield and she once remarked that it was a pity that there was no outlet for a Muslim girl to express herself in the fashion and beauty world.
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Much later I came to know that a lady from Pakistan who was resident of Canada had concieved and launched a Miss World Pakistan beauty contst especially for Muslim girls from Pakistan. She is Sonia Ahmed who launched the contest in 2002 in Canada. The contest was a hit and Muslim girls flew in from Pakistan to take part. Many of the girls were reimbursed air fare from Pakistan to Canada. The first Miss World Pakistan winner was Zehra Sheerazi who went on to represent Pakistan in internatational World Miss University.

The Contest Firms Up

Contestent in Bikini

The contest has been held every year and there is no shortage of sponsors. Obviously this contest has irritated the Pakistan government and the Mullah lobby, but Sonia has continued unfazed. The popularity of the contest has gone up and girls who have won this contest have all eschewed the Burkha and carried themselevs withaplomb. The contest cannot be held in Pakistan and hence it is held out of Pakistan.
The 2014 contest is being shifted to New York.

The 2013 Winner

Miss Pakistan 2013

The 2013 contest was a great hit and the winner was Shanzay Hayat who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. from the restive North West frontier region of Pakistan. Shanzay was educated in Islamabad and represnted Pakistan in international pageants. Hayat was the first Pakistani beauty queen to take Pakistan to the top 15 round and win subtitles for Pakistan.

she is latest Ms Feroz miss Pakistan 2015

Last Word

The contestents

The contest is a tremendous outlet for Pakistani girls who are hemmed in by a repressive society dominated by dogma. It is clear that given the opportunity Pakistani Muslim girls are second to none. One can see that many girls are trying to break into mainstream Hindi cinema as well as Pakistan is a closed society. Pakistan will move forward.

Kejriwal has Brought a Whiff of Fresh Air

Kejriwal has won the Delhi election, winning 67 of the 70 seats at stake. This win has jolted the BJP and more particularly Narendra Modi. Though a victory in Delhi does not mean a victory in India, yet Kejriwal's win is creditable. He has shown that people want progress, change,development and a corruption free environment.

The BJP and other parties lost heavily as they banked on the status quo.The BJP never fulfilled its poll promises and thus alienated voters. For heavens I could not understand why the One Rank One Pension was not fulfilled. This alienated ex servicemen who form a large voting constituency.

Kejriwal needs to be complimented in bringing a breath of fresh air in a moribund world. Its almost like the tale of Jack the Giant killer. Best of luck to Kejriwal