Creating Wealth

History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. ---B. R. Ambedkar

1% has been hoovering up an ever greater share of the nation's wealth. Why ?

The “seeds of decay” lay in the “disparity between rich and poor” that is growing fast in the country until middle class redefine it's role. Which is much what Chomsky states : Modern "democratic" governments exist to protect their sponsors not their people.

Is it really true that media has become the agency of politicians and burglars ? News channel works as ferocious disinformation machine aimed at convincing people to vote against their financial interests. James, Dresden has quoted : When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.

There seems to be a disconnect between our professed love of democracy. There is no outrage or even movement to oppose a dictatorship at work place. Until things get so bad that people can do nothing but protest, and then those are called revolutions. Democracy? Freedom? What the hell are you talking about? You can't have either when you have fractional economics in a society run on debt!

People have to fight for the most basic things in the life. When intelligent people cheat the masses by complex arrangements and shady deals, the masses will move towards a propaganda and slogan politician.

Redistribution is a stupid way to reduce inequality. Robbing A to pay B makes inequality persist. The correct  way to reduce inequality is to create jobs that allow B to earn his income. Do easy consumer credit and a belief in social mobility have reduced the clamor for wealth redistribution ?

Currently, there is no visible alternative economic system that beats capitalism for delivering the most wealth, happiness and fulfillment to the most people. The mechanisms whereby power is thwarted from a centralized system and redistributed, is a necessary component of a fair and representative political system.

Globalization – essentially embracing the opening of all frontiers to the free movement of capital and merchandise, but not labour. The moral undesirability of state interference in any way, and the political incapacity of the states to interfere in business will led to the free market where big players will dominate the scene. The road to free market will fail this country. Capitalism has failed just as spectacularly as Communism. There is a genuine need for a real Third Way.

“Men are born entrepreneurs not job seekers. By seeking job he is giving chance to a system to make him poor.” ‎-Muhammad Yunus

The Road to Democracy - 2

People around the world are blogging, podcasting, and uploading photos, videos, and information across the globe, but unless in this ocean of data you know where to look, it can be difficult to find respected and credible voices. Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world.

The idea that is lost for most mainstream media and press is that their views must reflect public demand for reform and enforces government for the correction measure. Reality must not be dictated by the state censors or corporate media but by the people who are the lowest racks of power structure.

With the release of more than thousand cables so far, no nation is immune to the WikiLeaks phenomenon. There is a WikiLeaks now, that sort of journalism and institution we should built on. It has given an insight into the world politics and the interplay of power between different states.Most of these secrecy laws are being used to keep the public ignorant of gross dishonesty practised by their own government. When the risks of embarrassment and discovery increase, the tables are turned against conspiracy, corruption, exploitation and oppression. As Saul Bellow says at the opening of Augie March: "Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppression; if you hold down one thing you hold down the adjoining."

In a democracy the functioning of a country should not be a mystery to its citizens; the government, indeed, answers directly to the people to whom it serves and owes its powers. Publishing document for public improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society where people can demand accountability from the power holders. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. Open government is bounded to answers injustice rather than causing it.

Reason appears to keep order in control when public is well informed about the developments and various acts of government. Practice of the reason and debate is cultivated by years of practice in the civil society through . Without substantial free discourse in the public, the state loses its trust of the people. A strong hold on reality is necessary for the society to come to a meaningful democratic norms. History of revolutions shows their birth is due to rage. Reason and peace comes quite later.

Censoring the voice of the people and killing opposition voice leads to suppression where only probability of violence and revolution grows is self defeating for the whole society itself. Blasphemy, Sedition, Honour Killing, Vigilante Justice, Caste Panchayats, Book Burning, Culture Policing, Moral Police and all such tendencies are tools to crush the democratic aspirations of different sections of people. As Orwell wrote in his essay "The prevention of literature": "Even a single taboo can have an all-round crippling effect upon the mind, because there is always the danger that any thought which is freely followed up may lead to the forbidden thought."

Education System and Media

The real apathy and indifference lies in the awareness of the complexity of the problem. Slogans and emotions can never replace facts. The clearer awareness that the world is more than mere a construction of words is lacking all around.

The education model needs to be transformed from teacher-centric to a learning-centric. The student navigates through a process in learning model that recognizes these two basic truths: the universe is connected, and every student is unique. The dire need of texts that make children excited about the social and cultural diversity that they encounter in their ethos gives an idea of monumental crisis. The education that fails to impart the urge to read as a matter of habit leads to the irrational reasoning in public debate and abysmal government policies.

The good thing about a democracy is that you avoid major disasters since every issue is discussed and debated quite a lot. But, an uninformed public, press and their representatives may fall in the trenches due to ignorance even if every issue is discussed and debated quite a lot. If hooliganism and slogan is what it takes to run government, the administration will move slowly onto the hired hardened criminals and not mere qualifiers as custodians of law, justice and order. Only Press and colleges have the ability to encourage people to discuss deep-seated problems and then analyze the problems logically.

Education :
Presently, elite schools mostly focus and prepare managers for work rather than giving training to entrepreneurs. There is a great danger lurking with the thinking of well intentioned and close brain persons without humility to accept their ignorance in their specialized areas. Even great intellectuals act by falling in the trap of the belief that they possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to their liking.

The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought indeed to teach the student of society a lesson of humility against complexity. This will guard an individual against becoming an accomplice in human's fatal striving to control society.

“Only the working masses can change society; but they will not do that spontaneously, on their own. They can rock capitalism back onto its heels but they will only knock it out if they have the organisation, the socialist party, which can show the way to a new, socialist order of society. Such a party does not just emerge. It can only be built out of the day-to-day struggles of working people.” –Why you should be a socialist (1977). Paul Foot

Press and Media:
Most of our  leaders even highly educated ones are not thinkers but only holders of power, not its critics; Hence, our mainstream journalist and public looks like unaware of the different aspects of problem. This power centered model of education changes the relationship between authority and the press that must necessarily be adversarial if the latter is to fulfill its professional and moral obligation to the public.

"I see the journalist's role as both reporter and crusader. In a civilization that seems to be regressing into new holocausts, we must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of voiceless millions. Having chosen this profession, we cannot be afraid to speak the truth no matter what the cost. And by speaking, I personally believe we can change the world." - Razia Bhatti (IWMF Courage in Journalism award ceremony, 1994)

WTF in India ?

I will reproduce here Statement and opinion of Justice Ms. Sheela Khanna, the Chairperson of Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, made to the AHRC staff members during a visit to the Commission in October 2010). ---- “It is true that too many children die from malnutrition each year in this country. Some of their parents also die from starvation and hunger. But the children are more vulnerable … one of the reasons is the widespread ‘irregularity’ in the state and central government services … the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh state is a very kind person … the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres is not a solution for the millions of malnourished children. These centres are not cost effective. But now that the centres are there we must effectively use them. My suggestion is to appoint a Brahmin priest in each of these centres and require the priest to verify the horoscope of every child brought to the centre. After studying a child’s horoscope if the priest is of the opinion that the child will grow into a good citizen of this country, it must be provided treatment at the centre. For the rest, I would say, let us just leave them to their fate …if not where do we stop? … We cannot spend government money like this…

Understanding Islamic Culture -4

Continuing from 1, 2 ,3 -

The people's uprising in Tunisia, Egypt or Yemen is not just about the state of the economy, but also about civil rights and dignity. The Arab regimes have exploited 'threat of terrorism' fears and blew them out of all proportion in order to justify its repressive policies and garner support for them. The revolt is an expression of the frustration at social injustice.

Currently, There is no organised political opposition except Islamic movement. The regime has systematically destroyed all peaceful alternatives, from the democratic parties to the political Islamists. All of this has happened over the course of time when manipulative world power were busy in supporting dummy dictators.

I am proceeding on 4th part of essay series to understand the reason behind such events with these articles explaining background and reason for this sudden arrival of wind of change;

1- Predicting a "de-Islamicised Muslim World" : Alphabetisation and a decline in the birth-rate. Courbage and Todd believe these two factors will lead the Islamic world into modernity – and away from religion. With their analyses the two French demographers add a new dimension to the ongoing debate over the clash of civilisations. Maik Meuser reports.

2- "Modernity, Democracy Are Only for the Privileged": The Egyptian scholar Hamid Abu Zayd criticizes the age-old border between the wealthy North and the impoverished South. It still exists, despite globalisation. Universal human values, however, cannot be a privilege restricted to the West

3- Recurring Revolts: In his essay, the renowned Moroccan philosopher Mohamed Sabila describes the generation gap in the three Maghreb states and the social plight of young people, who have turned away in disappointment from the political dogmatism of their parent's generation.

4- Acts of self-immolation have set off waves of protest across Tunisia and Egypt. Amira Muhammad spoke to Ahmed Okasha, president of the "Arab Federation of Psychiatrists" about how Arab psychologists are interpreting this protest phenomenon.

5- The Syrian philosopher Sadiq Al-Azm is one of the highest-profile and most strident critics of the Arab world. To this day, his ideas are between all fronts, making him enemies of both Islamist and secular dogmatists. Sadiq Al-Azm is soon to celebrate his 75th birthday. A portrait by Kersten Knipp

The Road to Democracy

The political institutions and economic structures in the Middle East haven't changed much since they were put in place. They worked well from the 60s through the 1980s and the state was basically redistributing wealth buoyed by oil. Democracy was dismissed as an invitation to chaos by the dictators. Economic reasons are never immediate reasons but skewed distribution of wealth among peoples form a strong pillar for this democratic movement.

The Pan Arab liberation movement ended in the years following the defeat of 1967 (The Six-Day War) – and even more so after the war of 1973. The Islamic movement has filled political and cultural he vacuum. In the following thirty years, Islamic movements have moved Arab societies into a more conservative and traditional Islamic direction. They are now in a position to exert control over cultural, intellectual and political issues. In the past, the public discourse in the Arab world were dominated by the political left, by pan-Arabists and by the secular parties. Now, however, Islamic movement/ Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as leading voice. The Muslim Brotherhood: Who Are They? : The Muslim Brotherhood is currently playing an active role in the unrest in several Arab countries.
The Americans have been paying Hosni Mubarak $2 billion a year to support Israel. The successors to the Mubarak could take a different view of this support. EU and most of the pro western mind now fears from Muslim Brotherhood or any Islamic party coming to the power. I think there is a strong likelihood that Tunisia and any other Arab country that changes it's government will end up with Sharia Law. Whilst the middle class might have started this revolution, the majority population is typically ignorant and religious and the US supported despots that rule them have ensured hatred of the West, compounded by the blind US support of Israel. This is not time to observe idly the development. Once monetary help from Saudi arrived, it will gulp all the social development happened throughout the years.

Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, one of the most prominent Arab intellectuals makes a valid point about democracy in the Arab world : The battle for democracy and human rights values does not merely take the shape of a conflict between East and West and between Islam and Europe. It is an internal battle in every country. Every country that has developed certain civilization standards goes through that battle – whether we talk about Germany, China, India, Syria or Egypt. Each of those countries has reached a particular level in achieving these standards, strengthening them and implementing them. It is therefore necessary to remember that the battle is not only a battle between East and West, between the Middle East and Islam on the one hand and liberalism on the other.

A society cannot be democratized by outside powers. The development towards democracy is the result of the internal dynamic of a society, which can take years to produce a civil society. Contrary to the European experience, secularization in the Islamic world preceded a religious reformation – with profound negative consequences for political development in Muslim societies. To remake state-building and democracy-promotion in the Muslim world as an international responsibility, rather than a messianic American ideal.

Point of Views---

Revolutionary Change In Egypt: Internal or Made in USA? Stephen Lendman points out American foreign policy that democracy is messy and unreliable. Dictatorships are much easier to control, and when one despots proves unreliable or outlives his usefulness, replace him with another, perhaps smoothed by transitional authority.

It's not radical Islam that worries the US – it's independence : The nature of any regime it backs in the Arab world is secondary to control. Subjects are ignored until they break their chains writes Noam Chomsky.

The Arab crisis: food, energy, water, justice : Tunisia’s popular uprising is reverberating across the Arab world. But such movements face problems that go far wider than dictatorship to encompass the whole range of human security, says Vicken Cheterian.

State Violence

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty. It is a privilege that must be earned before it can be enjoyed. It's a quote by a 19th century English cleric and writer, Charles Caleb Colton, which can be found in his 1820 publication "Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words, addressed to those who think".

When a state become involved in any cultural or physical warfare, the identities of people began to change in the public. New symbols have to be waved loud and pertaining to exhibitionism. There is always persecution of people with different opinion that party high command found is seen in every communist nation. Ethnically targeted state repression in Balkan countries where Slovak, Czech, Muslims, Serbs Croats and Roma people are targeting each other based on demographic strength. While the worse form comes in the military dictatorship where authority exploit the majority for their like in Burma and North Korea.

There is nothing to compare with the courage of ordinary people whose names are unknown and sacrifices pass un noticed. The courage that dares without recognition, without protection of media attention is a courage that humbles, inspires and re affirms our faith in humanity. They are the carriers of endurance and struggle against unjust system.

There is an intimate and indissoluble link between intellectual and political freedom. There will be no security for dissidents and their families as long as freedom of thought and freedom of political action are guaranteed by the law of the land. We want to have public policies with a view to promoting an open, secure political system based on confidence and credibility. Those believed in intellectual freedom and justice should be vanguard of democratic movement.

What about democratic Indian state in violence against minority ? Let us take the case of state of Gujarat . Majority of voters are Hindus and they have chosen Narendra Modi due to his efficient application of administrative policies and communal polarization of votes. Despite all his baggage and hate agenda, Narendra Modi may have been the first politician to demonstrate his voters how market works better than any corrupt subsidy system. But what is the choice of minority, either to die in hunger like BIMARU states or with communal hatred in the most prosperous state ?

Richard Holbrooke said with reference to the Yugoslavia of the 1990s: Suppose elections are free and fair and those elected are racists, fascists, separatists — that is the dilemma. Nationalism on the wave of such parties need to be resisted, for they promote daydreaming and they blur our idea of justice, equality and fraternity.

If bad people with the state power hurt someone I love, how far would I go to punish criminals back? I assume that I will go for non violent path through judicial courts initially. If I will have no option left, surely will take arms against repression. And thus will betray my own stand in the power of non violent means, this is mine personal dilemma.

Questions of Identity & Caste

Questions of Identity, Caste & State has bothered me from long time. This article is mine stand at present moment on these issues. I will start this article on the caste matters with the opinion of two prominent bloggers.

1- My friend Apocryphal pointed correctly about mentality of upper caste Hindus: For them, Caste is passe. That is no longer a problem, the problem of course is ‘reservation’. All problems radiate from ‘reservation’ playing it out through ‘vote bank politics’.

2- Namit Sir on famous Shunya blog was telling his experience on this issue : An upper caste friend recently complained that reservations are socially divisive and instigate disharmony. I had to laugh. Isn't the caste hierarchy all about social division? Caste identities have been strong for ages, since folks marry within their own. If caste now also shapes political consciousness, it is because, in part, its members share a common experience of discrimination and inherited disadvantage. If the db level in society has gone up, it's because the lower castes are unwilling to put up with the "harmonious" arrangements of the past. They want a greater share of the opportunities and resources they think is their due, and the primary tactic open to them is via political alliances and lobbying for favorable government policies. So it's easy to understand why caste politics has gained prominence in India.

Dignity comes from choice and recognition in the society. It is the reason of emergence of caste identities and their relation with honour. Every leader of independence has been reduced into mere representative of their caste group - ex Sardar Patel or B R Ambedkar. A breaking away from the past in the search of new identity had began and now, each caste based community is outraged by any reference to the downtrodden past. Shyam Benegal pointed out this phenomena very poignantly:

In the process of dismantling caste equations, some of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Dalit communities give themselves identities that no longer associate them with their traditional professions. The new identity requires a reworking of community histories and mythology. Any reference to the old identity can only seem offensive. As part of the mainstream, they are likely to lose their special identity.

It is largely for this reason that it becomes important for them to adopt dominant forms of expression so that others may hear or understand their points of view. Even more important for them is to establish their view as the last word. Any expression that they perceive as an attack on their identity is responded to with considerable vehemence.

Take the case of caste census. There is huge uproar in liberal minded higher caste Indians to ignore census based on caste and put their identity as Indians only. They are already privileged part of society and don't need caste labels for their growth in any field. I feel data is needed to see through caste based system arrangement in vast country like India. The national census is the only source of primary and credible data in India and is used not just to formulate government policies but also by private sectors. Groups will always raise their voice for the sake of stake in the reservation and trail towards more caste based society. There is dire need of the restructuring of society and informed stats will be more helpful in the era of vote bank politics and social engineering. We need to count caste in this census to annihilate it.
 
Prof. Kancha Ilaiah has explained this in his article: Who’s afraid of caste census?
 
"Caste culture is all around us. In the dalit-bahujan discourse, the upper castes are being shown as constituting less than 15 per cent. This could be totally wrong. Even within the lower castes there are several false claims about numbers. Every caste claims that it is numerically the strongest and keeps asking for its “rightful” share. How to tell them that their claims are wrong? When caste has become such an important category of day-to-day reckoning it is important to have proper data at hand to tell communities that they constitute this much and cannot ask for more than their share.

It is true that we cannot distribute everything based on caste. But caste census is the right basis for statistics such as literacy rate and issues like the proportion of representation. Once we cite the Census data there cannot be any authentic opposition to that evidence. The upper caste intelligentsia is afraid that once detailed data on number of people in lower castes is available it would become a major ground for asking for accurate proportional representation in certain sectors, such as education and employment. "
 
George Orwell's warning that a corrupt system will if unchanged, stay corrupt even if power shifts hands from its tryants to its past victims - and soon enough, as he wrote, ' it's impossible to tell which is which ' ; When a long abuse of power is corrected, it is generally replaced by an opposite violence. In the new dispensations, all that was good in what went before is tarred indiscriminately with the bad. Those who have to face political or social persecution become highly polarized.

Power shifted from the hands of the Brahmins to low caste will have bad affects till few decades. It is bound to happen and politics of revenge than cooperation will prevail for few decades. Slowly, caste will take back seat and new identites based on new parameters will emerge in the society. This help me to understand importance of democratic & political model in this upheaval of Hindu society. Democracy was never meant for electoral representation of all, it was there to annihilate the destructive and violent outbursts of groups against each other through people consensus. It's about the common weakness that makes us susceptible not just to any bigotry but to political polarization: our propensity to see one another as members of groups rather than as individuals.

Dictatorship and Democracy -1

It's a great myth that democratic nations support democracy in other parts of the world. China and India are on the same page in the case of maintaining relationship with Burma's dictatorship government. Both of these developing nation will eevntually walk on the same path of USA i.e. supporting puppet dictators for its own development. There is no doubt on the rise of US economy after 2nd world war. Let's have close look on foreign policy of American government in last 60 years.

Pakistan prominent newspaper, Dawn covered a pin pointing editorial on relationship of America and Dictators : Would Pakistan in the 21st century be wracked by militancy and terrorism if the US hadn’t supported Gen Zia and pumped millions into the Afghan ‘jihad’?

The point here is that America has long been hand in glove with military dictators and varied despots, not just in Pakistan but across the globe. In Central and South America it has even engineered coups to oust democratically elected administrations. Bloodbaths followed but that did not deter the US from throwing its full weight behind regimes that were answerable to no one but Washington. US foreign policy inflicted grievous harm on countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile and Nicaragua in the Americas and Indonesia and the Philippines in the east.

Then there was the generous support for the likes of Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran and of course every single Pakistani dictator dating back to Gen Ayub Khan. A lot of this had to do with the exigencies of the Cold War. But the fact remains that the US itself has derailed democracy throughout the world.

I am not asiding the era of cold war in dealing with the issue of American interference. Yet, the moral policing of American government has not stopped post soviet era.

The Southasian Idea commented long back on the backdrop of USA in Iraninan youths protest against forged elections: This is not the first time that an election is being stolen in Iran. Only American citizens remain uninformed of what happened in 1953. [There was a 1953 CIA coup against Iran's democratically elected prime minister.] And that was not an aberration: leave aside Chile (known in Latin America as the first 9/11) and the banana republics of Central America, the US government has even intervened in elections in Greece and Italy during the 1960s. There is need to ask the question: Why? Why has even the American government been so scared of democracy? And why does it desire democracy in Iraq but not in Saudi Arabia?

In the coming blog post, we will discuss that there is huge relation between development and mode of governance in the state. Till now, the readers would have easily guessed the answer of question : Why does USA desire democracy in Iraq but not in Saudi Arabia? Oil.

Ten Issues - 6

1- Transparency and Poverty in India:  It is interview of Aruna Roy a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement and and Nikhil Dey.

2- Indian Culture: How does one define “Indian Culture”? And more importantly, why is “Indian Culture” always defined in terms of what women should and should not do?

3-A World Split Apart by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Commencement Address Delivered At Harvard University published June 1978. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a writer and Through his writings he helped to make the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, two of his best-known works.

4- Food security - of APL, BPL and IPL : The official line is simple. Since we cannot afford to feed all the hungry, there must only be as many hungry as we can afford to feed. The truth is the government seeks ways to spend less and less on the very food security it talks about, writes P Sainath.

5- The Longest Take of Their Lives: This is related to much talked movie Peepli Live making news due to Amir Khan marketing skill. This article is about director Anusha Rizvi and her casting and co-director husband Mahmood Farooqui. Their families wounded each other from opposite sides of the literary wars. Now with their debut film Peepli Live, Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui are ready to take the fight to low culture.

6- Central Bureau of Investigation : It is Central Bureau of Investigation in JK, Elsewhere, Congress Bureau of Investigation. Hard question asked by Reporter on the credibility of CBI.

7-For the Children : For a parent, there is a lot to learn too – understanding the underpinnings of Hindu mythology and more importantly how to introduce children to it. Dr. Pattanaik gives a elegant answers to all.

8- India Today: Cultural Intolerance among Fundamentalist Hindus.

9- Why Adding Followers Alone Won’t Build Your Community : Understanding about social media following where the evidence is clear: the quality of the communities you build is much more important than the size of your following.

10- Knowledge is not a shovel: The primary aim of education, however one understands it, must be to nurture the ability to reflect, to develop new ideas, and to implement these collectively, writes Gesine Schwan. Cognitive multilingualism is the only way to prevent the specialization of knowledge narrowing our horizons to an extent that results in structural irresponsibility.

Quote of the Day: Bush's foreign policy was very simple: fuck the world. Obama's is very simple, too: talk pretty and do nothing. -by Evert Cilliers (aka Adam Ash)

Understanding Islamic Culture -2

Continued from the Part 1,

When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's why I believe that the intellectual life of the Islamic republic has virtually ground to a halt. The fear of causing offence has helped undermine progressive trends in Islam and strengthened the hand of religious bigots. Secular Muslims have come to be regarded as betraying their culture, while radical Islam has become not just more acceptable but, to many, more authentic. There is less need to quote Quran and Hadith again and again for better understanding of Islamic doctrines. This trend has led to cherry-picking whichever paraphrase or translation supports whatever point one attempts to convey through holy book.

Here, we have to understand the relationship between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world. The idea of two separate worlds divided from one another is wrong and violent repression is the seed of terror and militant Islamism in the Islamic world. Let us continue with more practical deabtes happening about Islam in different part of the world.

1- Understanding Islamic Feminism: Interview with Ziba Mir-Hosseini. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she talks about the origins and prospects of Islamic feminism as an emancipatory project for Muslim women and as a new, contextually-relevant way of understanding Islam.

2- Has Islam a Place in a Modern World? : Bettina Robotka  discuss about the question of whether there is any positive role for Islam or for religion as such in a modern world is gaining urgency in the light of an ongoing “War against (Islamic) terror” and the spread of militant and conservative interpretations of Islam.

3- Democratic Change Must Come from Within: The prominent political scientist Amr Hamzawy tells Bassam Rizk why democratic change and the strengthening of civil society in the Arab world can only come from within. Interview by Bassam Rizk.

4- The Acceleration of History: Contrary to the European experience, secularization in the Islamic world preceded a religious reformation – with profound negative consequences for political development in Muslim societies. An essay by Nader Hashemi on Islam and democracy.

5- Re-Inventing the Taliban: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a young director originally from Pakistan, traveled back to her country to document the growth of Islamic fundamentalism there. Silke Kettelhake reports.

6- Mr. Tarek Fatah joined Globe and Mail opinion piece to take questions about Islamic radicalism, the doctrine of jihad, Pakistan and the global tide of extremism.

7- Full Equality before the Law for All Religions: French political scientist Olivier Roy is one of the foremost European experts on Islam. Eren Güvercin spoke with Roy about the current Islam debate in Europe;

Ten Issues - 5

1- Who pays the price for paid news? : In mid-June, the Election Commission of India directed Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories to enforce the law against "paid news" during elections. The institutionalised racket has been running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Ammu Joseph brings you up to speed.

2- Lokayukta stand on illegal Bellary mining has put Government of Karnataka in trouble. Santosh Hegde, the Lokayukta (ombudsman) for Karnataka gives first hand account to Tehelka Magazine.

3- Why you must read this censored chapter: Raman Kirpal reports, When the truth about the flouting of tribal rights in the Red Corridor struck home, the government dropped a whole chunk of damning material from a report it had itself commissioned.

4- Living with the Enemy: Applying the ideas of Holocaust survivor Jean Améry to present day Rwanda, our author argues that reconciliation after genocide is just another form of torture.

5- How Goldman gambled on starvation: Speculators set up a casino where the chips were the stomachs of millions. What does it say about our system that we can so casually inflict so much pain?

6- Why You Shouldn’t Leave the Web to the Web Guys : Here are a few simple rules that will help you get the most out of your web development and digital strategy.

7- “10 Ways to Run a Banana State” ; Kopach, a columnist for the independent portal Okno.mk, published a list translated at Global Voice Online.

8- Size of the Public Domain : The basic take away from the analysis was the finding that, based on library catalogue data. A take on copyright issues.

9- Narayana Hrudayalaya: A Model for Accessible, Affordable Health Care.

10- The Narcissism of the Small Difference: In ethno-national conflicts, it really is the little things that tick people off. Check conclusion of article here only :

One of the great advantages possessed by Homo sapiens is the amazing lack of variation between its different "branches." Since we left Africa, we have diverged as a species hardly at all. If we were dogs, we would all be the same breed. We do not suffer from the enormous differences that separate other primates, let alone other mammals. As if to spite this huge natural gift, and to disfigure what could be our overwhelming solidarity, we manage to find excuses for chauvinism and racism on the most minor of occasions and then to make the most of them. This is why condemnation of bigotry and superstition is not just a moral question but a matter of survival.

Thought of Day : When an ordinary farmer unable to feed his family commits suicide, it is not even a footnote. When a model, no matter how faded, kills herself, it is in headlines on all television channels. That is corporate media for us.

Idea of Justice

This article give my crude ideas on justice at this point of time. For clarity, I have neither read the book "The Idea of Justice" by Amartya Sen nor "A Theory of Justice" by John Rawls.

Justice is both personal and social in every aspect. Both of aspects are interdependent and produce effects that change the path of society and individual respectively. The rule of law is directly taken by man from nature. Hence, it always go in hierarchical structure rather than equality for all. Hence, providing justice to all is a complex phenomenon.

We have to know the difference of revenge and justice. People want a scape goat as the front face to accuse swiftly and get a justice. One can certainly defend domination in the name of freedom, but those oppressed by such a view or practice of freedom would say that not all freedoms are equal or equally worth defending. Oppressed has more sense of justice than oppressor, hence concept of justice should be studied always from the victim and the neutral point of view.

Social justice needs to be fought against and an absolute value needs to be accorded to human dignity the realisation that my own dignity cannot exist without the dignity of others. The struggle for social justice is against those that produce resentful domination in power distribution in society. Moderation and tolerance are essential prerequisites of development of the just society.

Nasir Aslam Zahid, the former judge in Pakistan said that the common citizen’s view of justice was not formed by the superior judiciary’s decisions in constitutional cases as much as it was based on an innocent man’s failure to obtain bail from a magistrate, or another innocent person’s inability to escape illegal detention for his failure to bribe an SHO, or when he sees a privileged person enjoying a facility that is denied to all others.

So even steps done in the name of development can lead to the violence. That is better discussed Development and Violence: Some Clues? by SouthAsianIdea.

The usurpers and dictators don't like any form of justice. They view justice in the terms of and judge persons or ideas on the basis of loyalty. The contents of which the authorities are totally ignorant of, is terned as treasonable.

Christopher Hitchens summarises dictatorship governance as : The true essence of a dictatorship is in fact not its regularity but its unpredictability and caprice; those who live under it must never be able to relax, must never be quite sure if they have followed the rules correctly or not. (The only rule of thumb was: whatever is not compulsory is forbidden.) Thus, the ruled can always be found to be in the wrong. The ability to run such a "system" is among the greatest pleasures of arbitrary authority,

I had already given my points on the concept of justice in the democratic system long ago : Justice and Democracy. The religious and cultural background of the country affects the lawmaking and judicial process. With the migration and increasing diversity, the idea of justice changes drastically. Today, I have not clue what will be the idea of justice in a future pluralistic society.

Partly, I assume to conclusion that Justice can be easily achieved in democratic form of governance than a dictatorship. Yet, there is no sense in retaining a regime that had lost a democratic legitimacy and operated based solely on violence and deception. The social norms will be violated and evolve gradually.

Law and order forms the backbone of the Justice in the society. Prevailing justice through laws is essential part to maintain justice in the society. How worse may be the order, prohibition laws doesn't solve problem in any field, be it literally, religious, political or economic sanction. So justice done in the name of prohibition will give rise to perpetual cycle of violence and injustice.

The core value of the liberal society to get an idea of justice is free speech, critical thought and tolerance. It will enable an individual to stand up to the dictates of power and to the embrace of wealth, even to the seduction of popular prejudice. And, then the society cope with its problems and rule of the wild is tamed by the civilized world. In any time, I am only asking you to be critical of authoritarian power to get an idea of justice.

Ten Issues - 3

1- The Dance of Indian Democracy covers about a democratic form of governance, a liberal constitution, and secular public institutions in India since 1947.

2- The email Interview with Anupama Rao is largely about her new book, The Caste Question: Dalits and The Politics of Modern India. Anupama Rao is an Associate Professor of South Asian History at Barnard College, New York.

3-The Southasian Idea debates intensly on Development and Violence: Some Clues? : How does one characterize the Indian state and understand its actions on the issues of development.

4- Over at An Academic View of India, Vikram highlights key differences between the US and India in the way their higher ed institutions interact with the community at large . Extending the discussion with more opinions by Prof. Abi at nanopolitan and Rahul Siddharthan at Universities and cities ;

5-Contract Workers at IITK: A Response to Commonly Held Misconceptions : Rahul Verman is attempting to understand various aspects of the problem about Contract Workers at IITK and what can be the possible ways of addressing them as have understood personally with all its biases and limitations.

6-One Country, many Worlds..and a forgotten Manipur: There is a state in India that is hit by 60 days blockade and government is unable to do anything. And our fellow patriotic countrymen haven't even noticed this issue seriously. Also check Living in a Blockade: A first-hand account from Manipur for getting a non political view on the problem faced by Manipuri people. Added Late: Economic Blockade In Manipur State.

7- Sick Man Walking: Satyam’s Raju has been in hospital for nine months, evading trial even via video conferencing. Pushp Sharma got himself admitted into the same hospital and found the former IT czar ill, but fit for trial.

8- David Brooks voices his opinion in History for Dollars on the positive side of study of humanities. Studying the humanities will give us a wealth of analogies....

9- Britain: The Disgrace of the Universities: Author has an argument that Slow scholarship—like Slow Food—is deeper and richer and more nourishing than the fast stuff. But it takes longer to make, and to do it properly, you have to employ eccentric people who insist on doing things their way.

10- The Global University in Crisis-I: Knowledge Struggles in Europe and USA : This is the first part of on the politics of global higher education today. In the first part, it is a discussion of the Euro-US movements against the University.

What does social democracy mean?

It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. These principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, equality cannot be divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many.

The constitution drafted under the chairmanship of Dr. Ambedkar allows equality, liberity, fraternity and justice to every Indian citizen but the law enforcing agencies are in the hands of the elite class. Some part of the Indian bureaucracy and English speaking media is possibly made up of RNIs (Resident Non-Indians), whose children and future, they have ’secured’ in the West – much like the indifferent westener. And this may be the one quality, that possibly is the one thing, that the RNIs and foreigners share – indifference to the fate of the country.

Observing History

Vinaas Kaale Vipareeta Buddhi: Bal Thackeray has pushed himself and Shivsena downward by commenting on Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin's recent comment that “Mumbai belongs to India. I am a Maharashtrian and proud to be a Maharashtrian, but I am also an Indian,” It is necessary for heroes like Sachin to take a stand openly on grave issues like this as an Indian. It is not any celebrity tantrum but comes from the mouth of two stalwarts of Marathi manoos.The Sena supremo signed off with 'a friendly advice, in your own interest' to keep off politics, I hope our people will now keep Bal Thackery on the brinks of politics. All Indians are welcome to visit, live, stay and become Mumbaikars, but big question remains, how long it take for the city to own you?

In Brief about History: Once that was future, now is the past. I like it because, it makes me humble and give feeling my littleness and mortality. History is my favourite subject in reading for pass time from childhood. I read 10th history book at the tender age of 8 just for fun. Primarily, history is like story book interlinked with each other. Great, good and evil all are intermingled with each other with a huge background canvas. I am now trying to read history more as an inquiry of the past. History unlike maths offer personalized conclusion to the same events, that is indeed the beauty of it.

I have now come to half baked conclusion that history is full of wars, genocide and often power games. Migrants (even refugee) are the worst affected in first phase of war but most prosperous after war times. They impact the tradition, trade and even politics in a strong way. History is always written by the conquering forces. Oppressed has more sense of justice than oppressor, hence history should be studied always from the victim point of view to stand on the neutral point of view. History is like flowing in the waves of time. It gives you insight that it is better to die as unknown than to be lived by vanity driven ego. Someday, I hope to learn in the field of anthropology evolution and big bang. For me, they are more historical archives than human history. I read few days ago, a though provoking quote : The world began without the human race and will certainly end without it.—Claude Lévi-Strauss, 1955

Warning from the Past: On 25 November 1949, Dr Ambedkar made speech in constituent Assembly of India. He speak out three warnings for the future [Source]:

1- The first concerned the place of popular protest in a democracy.

"It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and Satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us."

2- The second warning concerned the unthinking submission to charismatic authority. He quoted John Stuart Mill who cautioned citizens not 'to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions. There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness. '

"This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship."

3- Ambedkar's final warning was to urge Indians 'not to be content with mere political democracy and make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. Indian Society is full of inequalities and hierarchy.

"On the social plane, India a society based on the principle of graded inequality which we have a society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty. On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril."

Vichaar Shoonya + 2

On the profound truth which is a hybrid of reality and mythology, There's no one truth & On telling stories ;

What Have We Done to Democracy? - by Arundhati Roy

Does the Internet spread democracy? - by Evgeny Morozov

India’s Maoist dilemma: the case of Lalgarh by Aaradhana Jhunjhunwala

A Former Street Kid Sizes Up 'Slumdog Millionaire'

Rashmi Bansal's Talk at IIT-Kgp covered by a blogger.

Thought of the Day:
“You see with your eyes, you hear with the sense of your hearing, you feel with your sense of touch, and all these senses are nothing but functions of your mind which is nothing but a thought which in turn is just an idea… so if you close your eyes and go to sleep the world ceases to exist and when you wake up it comes back in different shapes and forms to every living being on the earth.” – Arthur Schopenhauer (The World As Will and Idea)

Apne hi pani mein pighal jana barf ka muqaddar hota hai.

I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks. I am doing this job but I am unable to understand if I am really doing the job or it is just for the sake of doing something. Confusion is there and no direction is clear to me. I am unable to decipher to whom I should take advice. This post is gentle expression of my wrath on me and everything.

Currently, I am unable to express myself here. It may sound like some idealistic and impractical but its not road map of utopia, it is mine day dream of the happy world. Read Bhagat Singh's India for more glimpses of true feelings buzzing around my head. It is more review of history of my country, on whose base our future will be written.

Every monumental crisis shakes the people and society of each generation. The art, literature, cinema matures from it. Every unjust decision pushes us in the direction of becoming more fearful, more regressive; and surely there is always enough time for us to undo old injustice. America emerged stronger and richer after the second world war, while Europe lay in ruins, "the great American dream" had no rivals anywhere in the world. Gertrude Stein once said: America was the oldest country in the world since it was the first to be modern. With its wealth, unique inventions and distinctive "way of life", the US had shaped the experience of western modernity.

India is a diverse and dual society with islands of elite affluence amidst vast oceans of poverty of the masses. This poverty is primarily due to inadequate income-generating employment in the rural countryside and employment would not come from capital-intensive industrialization. Indian science and technology has allied itself with the elitist pattern of industrialization from the west. The need of hour is to devote itself to the generation of an alternative pattern of capital-saving labour-intensive technologies of relevance to the rural poor.

Today, India is just copying American lifestyle without seeing its consequences of implication. I am just requesting all of you to change the world by sacrificing your little luxuries for the needs of others. The others are not from the alien lands, they are our brothers and sisters only. You will know my point after going through an old interview of this year Magsaysay Award winner in the field of Community Leadership, Deep Joshi. Worth Reading for all engineering guys as this person is passout of MNNIT, Allahabad & MIT.

Noel Hatch once commented that for people like us only: "So go where the people are - adapt the messengers, not the message. Don't take them for granted, value them as people you can't do without. Expect to be surprised by them, they're the people you've been waiting for. Share your success and they will commit even more. Embrace the mess, you need rules for radicals not robots. Don't just make it blood, sweat & tears, give them leadership and a smile. Don't just get people on your dance floor, get them to run the show and they'll join your revolution. "

As the topic header "Apne hi pani mein pighal jana barf ka muqaddar hota hai " shows that the path of salvation of an individual goes through welfare of his family, community and society. My inspiration is for making India as place free of prejudices and discrimination where everyone can get the chance to raise his voice.

Justice and Democracy

The seed of post was sown when Joie de vivre commented in mine recent post that we live in the country where Logon ko democracy ka D bhi nai pata. She was absolutely right that Indians have a long way to go to understand the values of rights and duties of citizen. Personally, I don't have very strong belief in democracy but have a faith in swift and vigilant justice. Yet democracy seems to me as best way of giving voices to myself and the people. This is my naive attempt to understand the complex relationship of justice and democracy.

Democracy is ethically right but intellectually void.-- Max Kislanski

I once asked my father why people rate parliament above supreme court running on constitution. He replied me that constitution is made for serving the people not the vice-versa. When representative of people at Parliament veto supreme court verdict, they are abiding the rule of people only. I was silenced then. After many years, this memory resurfaces in studying Shahbano Case. I got my reply that while voting in Parliament just supports majority, it may or may not be the right voice. A wrong decision by majority may lead to injustice and may provoke decay of values and law in the society.

Justice is wisdom on merit and democracy is the choice to take different opinion. Too much democracy is like free market without any control. This is what Fareed Zakaria (former editor Newsweek) calls the tyranny of the majority. He argues that democracy, overwhelmingly, has had wonderful consequences. But the construction of a rich, diverse and complex social order needs a multitude of ideas to flourish. Democracy as a single ideology across politics, society, arts and business is akin to religious dogmatism where faith dictates every aspect of life. This is a very important argument. Democracy has proven itself to be the most acceptable form of political governance where the will of majority forms the basis for legislature. Still mindless ‘majorityism’ is dangerous. A journalist and novelist Pankaj Mishra points out this flaw of democracy ---

"When last week in Ha'aretz the Israeli historian Tom Segev judged Israeli "apathy" towards the massacre in Gaza as "chilling and shameful", he brought on deja vu among Indians. In 2002 the Hindu nationalist government of Gujarat supervised the killing of more than two thousand Muslims. The state's chief minister, Narendra Modi, who green-lighted the mass murder, seemed a monstrous figure to many Indians; they then watched aghast as the citizens of Gujarat - better-educated and more prosperous than most Indians - re-elected Modi by a landslide after the pogrom. In 2007, a few months after the magazine Tehelka taped Hindu nationalists in Gujarat boasting how they raped and dismembered Muslims, Modi again won elections with contemptuous ease. Though prohibited from entering the US, Modi is now courted by corporate groups, including Tata, and frequently hailed as India's next prime minister. As the Israeli right looks likely to be the latest electoral beneficiary of state terror, it is time to ask: can the institutions of electoral democracy, liberal capitalism and the nation-state be relied upon to do our moral thinking for us? "Trust in the majority," they seem to say, but more often than not the majority proves itself incapable of even common sense. " [Origin]

Our society is driving towards consumer culture and lack of awareness about ground realities is hurting our chance of progress. People aren't dumb but they take time to retrospect its decision. Impact of popularism is like mob madness. Each person involved in the mob takes his own time to return from the state of hysteria. People deserve better but they don't know about other options. A balancing act is done by media by providing voice to the lost causes and people living on periphery of society.

A sense of power to control is what the media is in turn giving to public in reality shows. It’s the manipulation and unreliability of methods media use to determine what people want. What media should fix is error in the systems, not the society. A democracy should encourage a person to tell the truth as it is, the truth about the truth. The freedom and liberty are more greater than the idea of democracy or theocracy or dictatorship.

So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable. --- Aldous Huxley

Vichaar Shoonya -3

Nothing personal and original from my side. Weblinks of adapted material will be given in few days. Enjoy this compiled series.

1-Beauty is a mood of your mind that is experienced if you care to notice. Appreciate the difference because beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Are you a beautiful mind? Do you seek beauty?

2-India, democracy has not allowed the rule of the majority. issue after issue, state after state is that powerful minorities landed interests have been able to capture the political system and extract government benefits for themselves. Most people, I suspect, just want to get on with life, raising their families, doing their work, enjoying some good times between the cradle and the grave.

3- Guru, is one of the most important works of Indian cinema to emerge post economic liberalization that gives Indian entrepreneurs their due representation. In a resounding voice it proclaims a paradigm shift in the middle class morality that has made being money-minded and profit-oriented acceptable today. A well deserved farewell to left-leaning portrayal of industry and capitalism. A salute to the proletarian capitalist.

4.In Indian films the alienation of the rural poor from the urban way of life has become cliched. What we require is some kind of synthesis of the two with our past and heritage. They are, I feel working with a totally Western idiom (cinema). Using the same techniques and the same chemistry, can we evolve a new form, a new sensibility? Dance song is part of our folk culture. We blame that our society is not conductive to promote creative films. People and society were just as bad in other times also. The genuine creative people make a way around to make their point and entertain the society as well. Either in cinema or any other field, the great ones always face a hostile social order. Still they don't get in general populace and make safe and ordinary creation.

5-Let me become little autobiographic. I want to reach such stage where remains no hard feelings for anyone .Wanna be writer as Karl Marx. Marx early formative years through school were full of influence by Immanuel Kant and Voltaire. They were some of his favorite authors; a characteristic blend of German profundity and French subversive wit. No nation has produced better essayists than France, none has produced better composers than the Germans, better painters than the Italians, nor better novelists than the Russians. And the English? The English do poetry.