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Thursday 29 May 2014

IMPLICATIONS ARTICLE 370

Implication of article 370 Article 370 is the procedural mechanism of extending Indian Constitution in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. But under the cover of article 370 hurdles created in implementation of important articles of Constitution of India and various welfare laws in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 was abused and more than 130 laws are not implemented in the State. RTI, RTE, Prevention of corruption act, and laws related to STs, OBC etc are not implemented in the State. By misusing the article 370, A presidential orders was passed in 1954. The order clearly says “ in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 370 of the Constitution , the President , with the concurrence of the Government of State of Jammu and Kashmir , is pleased to make the following order…..This order further says “ after article 35, the following new article shall be added, namely”:- Article 35A. Saving of laws with respect to permanent residents and their rights. - Notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution, no existing law in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and no law hereinafter enacted by the Legislature of the State: (a) Defining the classes of persons who are, or shall be, permanent residents of the State of Jammu and Kashmir; (b) Conferring on such permanent residents any special rights and privileges, or imposing upon other persons any restrictions, as respects:- (i) Employment under the State Government; (ii) Acquisition of immovable property in the State; (iii) settlement in the State; or (iv) right to scholarships and such other forms of aid as the State Government may provide, shall be void on the ground that it is inconsistent with or takes away or abridges any rights conferred on the other citizens of India by any provisions of this Part. Comment- Under the rights and privileged conferred by article 35A of our constitution Jammu Kashmir assembly defined Permanent Resident Ship section in their constitution. 2. Artcile 35A was extended through The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) order, 1954. C.O 48 3. The order clearly says “in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 370 of the Constitution, the President, with the concurrence of the Government of State of Jammu and Kashmir 4. By doing so they restricted the rights of people of the country in the State. It is clear violation of article 14, 16 and 19 of Union Constitution. . Section -6 Permanent residents:-{1) Every person who is, or is deemed to be, a citizen of India under the provisions of the Constitution of India shall be a permanent resident of the State, if on the fourteenth day of May, 1954- (a) he was a State Subject of Class I or of Class II; or (b) having lawfully acquired immovable property in the State, he has been ordinarily resident in the State for not less than ten years prior to that date. (2) Any person who, before the fourteenth day of May, 1954, was a State Subject of Class I or of Class II and who having migrated after the first day of March, 1947, to the territory now included in Pakistan, returns to the State under a permit for resettlement in the State or for permanent return issued by or under the authority of any law made by the State Legislature shall on such return be a permanent resident of the State. Comment- Jammu Kashmir State Constituent Assembly autocratically defined State Subject law and even saved the rights for the people had gone to Pakistan while on the Other around 300000 West Pakistani Refugees living in Jammu still do not have citizen ship rights of Jammu and Kashmir Implications of article 370 A). 73rd and 74th amendment to Constitution of India. SCongress says Panchayati Raj Act was the dream of Late Rajiv Gandhi and talks of the common man of India but failed to strengthen the Panchayati Raj in J&K. Rahul Gandhi visited Jammu recently and said “Empowering Panchayats won't happen overnight,” For the last 10 Years Congress is in the power in the State as well as in Center. Rahul Says. This is a biggiest Joke to people of the State and Panch Sarpanches who are in continuous struggle for their rights. B). Prevention of corruption act, 1989. C). Reservation for OBC'S. D.No political reservation to ST's of the State. E). Fundamental Duties not applicable in J & K:- The constitutional amendment introducing “fundamental duties” is not applicable for J & K. This defeats the very purpose of including “fundamental duties” in the Constitution of India. F). As the Representation of People Act, 1951 and De-limitation Act,2002 and various amendments therein are not applicable to J & K, there is injustice to a large number of population in Jammu and Ladakh which is getting lesser representation in Parliament when compared to Kashmir valley. Distant Backward Remote areas of Kathua.. Udhampur…Bhaderwah… Doda…. Rajouri.. Poonch… Rajouri… Kupwara… Kargil.. Ladakh not given their due representation in the in Legislative Assembly ( MLAs) G). No financial accountability is being maintained in the State. CAG reports again and again pointed that “The financial management in State was poor. The contributory factors attributable to failure of the schemes include lack of proper planning, non-release of funds, non-adherence of eligibility criteria and lack of supervision and monitoring." The latest report (2010-2011) from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) points to a systematic pattern of institutional misgovernance in J&K. This systematic and institutionalized mis-governance is not new to the state. From the very beginning transparency and accountability was given a goodbye and free for all system of loot of public money was encouraged by responsible people. Height of insensitivity lies in the fact that deprived sections of the society are denied their due even after garnering huge funds from the centre in the name of their welfare. H). Discrimination with women, who are married out of State. Once she got married with a person who does not have State. Her children can’t get admission in State colleges or universities, can’t be employed in the State. . Stand of Omar and his s Party on Women rights 1. In 2002 a verdict came in the case that women marrying with a non State Subject wont loose her State Subject Rights. The three judges on the Bench were Acting Chief Justice Vijay Kumar Jhanji, Justice T S Doabia and Justice Muzaffar Jan. On October 7, 2002, the Bench headed by Justice Jhanji announced that the ``daughter of a permanent resident of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will not lose status as a permanent resident of the State of Jammu and Kashmir on her marriage with a person, who is not a permanent resident of the State of Jammu and Kashmir’. 2. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s government tried to overturn the verdict of High Court of Jammu in March 2004 when it brought it in the infamous Bill named ``The Jammu and Kashmir Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill 2004’’ 3. The preamble of Bill says ““A Bill to provide for disqualification from being a permanent resident of the State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident”. 4. Omar’s Party supported the Bill in Assembly. 5. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly unanimously within six minutes of being moved by Law Minister Muzaffar Hussein Beigh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 6. But, the Bill got defeated in the Legislative Council and did not become a law. This was achieved as Chairman of the Legislative Council Abdul Rashid Dar, of the National Conference (NC), adjourned the House sine die. 7. Omar was so furious that he held Abdul Rashid Dar responsible for not passing the bill and expelled him from the party on 12th march.(News Published in The Tribune of 12th March is attached). I). Implementation of RTI is also very poor. Jammu and Kashmir is the only State which has three versions of RTI law. Three Chief Minister and three RTIs. Every Chief Minister tried to mould it for their benefits. None of them think of people. Getting information in the State is 5 times costlier in comparison to Delhi. J). J & K is also lagging behind in rights of children and other progressive laws- Even the “Right to Education Act” is not applicable for J & K thereby denying the rights of children and exposing them to the vagaries of uncertainties of life. Statements of various activists from Women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Published in the news paper URL- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131203/j&k.htm#14 Article 370 biggest hurdle in extending Central schemes to weaker sections Tribune News Service Jammu, December 2 The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate’s, Narendra Modi, challenge on debate on the Article 370 has surcharged the political atmosphere in the winter capital of the state as propagators of this Article exchanged barbed with the BJP for raking up this issue. Women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) activists have opposed this Article, arguing that it is the biggest obstacle in extending various schemes formulated for their betterment in Jammu and Kashmir. 'Abrogation will help STs get benefits of schemes' Choudhary Anwar Hussain, advocate and leader, Gujjar United Front “The Article 370 is the biggest hurdle in extending various welfare schemes in the state. Abrogation of this Article will help the STs to get direct benefits of various schemes meant for them.” He pointed out that the successive state governments had been brazenly taking excuse of this Article to deny reservation rights to the STs in the state. “Abolition of this Article will help the weaker sections to avail benefits of schemes meant for them,” he said. 'Ruling elites abusing the Article' Tulsi Dass Langeh, president, state BSP unit “Ruling elites of the state have been abusing this Article to deprive the weaker sections of their constitutional rights. Unlike other parts of the country, OBCs are being denied of their reservation rights in the state.” He said SCs and STs were also victims of this Article. “The ruling class in the state is taking shield of the Article to deny constitutional rights to the OBCs here,” he said. 'We are not against the Article but it is against us' Dr Javed Rahi, scholar and researcher on tribal “We are not against the Article 370 but this Article is against us,” said Dr Javed Rahi. “Many constitutional guarantees for the STs are not directly implemented in the state due to this Article,” he said and added that the Forest Right Act, 2001, and the SC/ST Atrocities Act were yet to be implement in the state as approval of the state Assembly was must to extend these Acts in the state. OBCs bear maximum brunt Deepak Kumar, social activist working for OBCs in J&K “Although most of the weaker sections are victims of the Article 370, OBCs are bearing the maximum brunt of this Article,” he said and pointed out that the OBCs in other parts of the country were getting 27 per cent reservations as per the recommendations of the Mandal Commission but in Jammu and Kashmir, they were not even identified. “The Article 370 has been used as a shield by the ruling class to create hurdles in implementing the Mandal Commission recommendations in the state,” he said and supported the demand of having a debate on this Article. 'Special status abused by ruling class' RK Kalsotra, state convener, Confederation of SC,-ST-OBCs organization “The questions raised by BJP leader Narendra Modi are not new,” he said, and added: “It’s a fact that special status has been abused by the ruling class of the state to deny constitutional rights to the weaker sections.” “I don’t want to indulge into this debate but the state government has to reply the questions raised by Modi on the impact of the Article 370 on the weaker sections.” 'The Article is irrevocable, permanent' Saifuddin Soz, JKPCC chief “Narendra Modi is factually wrong. He is not aware of the history of the state,” he said and accepted the challenge of Modi to have an open debate on the Article 370, which according to Soz is irrevocable. “Article 370 is permanent and even Parliament of India cannot change this Article,” he said and added that the Article was a bridge between Jammu and Kashmir and rest of the country. He said it was all due to the efforts of the Congress leadership that the Women Disqualification Bill was defeated in the Assembly. “Women married outside the state have the constitutional rights like other women of the state,” he said. 'Omar distorting facts to mislead masses' Jugal Kishore Sharma, state BJP president Accusing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of distorting facts to mislead the general masses, Sharma today accepted his challenge to hold a debate on the Article 370 and the results that followed on the implementation of this Article. “He must come forward to hold a debate on the Article with any BJP leader,” he said, and added that both the Congress and the NC had consistently misused the Article 370 to deprive the people of the state of their fundamental rights and promote communalism, separatism and politics of regional discrimination. “It is because of this Article that the refugees from the West Pakistan could not obtain citizenship rights and the Supreme Court in 1980s regretted that it is because of the state’s special status that it could not dispose of writ petition in their favour,” he said. Issue related to State Assembly report 6 year term of the Assembly is a grim reminder of the authoritarian Emergency period from 1975 to 1977 which has gone down as the darkest phase in the history of independent India and a blotch on democracy. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with the help of the then President, Fakr-ud-din Ali Ahmed,managed the infamous 42nd Amendment (1976) of the Indian constitution simply to defer elections to Parliament as well as State legislatures and thus facilitate uninterrupted continuance of the autocratic rule unleashed by her but the Amendment was promptly reversed when the Janata Party Government took over under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani as senior cabinet Ministers. Ironically, the then J&K Government headed by Sheikh Abdullah was quick to adopt the Center's Amendment extending Assembly's term from 5 to 6 years,it conveniently turned a blind eye to the Center's legislation (44th Amendment) reversing the Amendment to restore the term back to 5 years. As a result, the J&K Assembly term continues to be 6 years ever since the 1977 elections. The fact that Article 370 has been selectively used,or misused, to suit the convenience of a small coterie of ruling polity in the State with no concern for the welfare of people. NC Government should explain , what "advantage" it saw in adopting 6 year term notwithstanding Article 370 and what "disadvantage" it now sees in reverting to 5 year term citing the constraints of Article 370 ? Some Points on non implementation of Panchayti Raj 1. There are over 33,000 elected panches and sarpanches in the state. 2. A total of 10 village council members, including panches and sarpanches, have been killed by militants since the May-June 2011 panchayat polls till March 2013. Government is failed to provide them Security 3. For the Last 10 Years Congress is in Power in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, several promises have been made but nothing has been done. 4. A group representing Panch Sarpanches met Rahul Gnadhi on 27 Sep. 2012 to secure working conditions, apart from greater devolution of powers. "Gandhi promised to look into their demand including for a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the dependents of the three sarpanches who were killed by the militants," Since this meeting nothing has been done. Congress is totally under pressure of Omar and NC and not interested in devolution of Power. 5. Congress always made a Statement that Panchayati Raj Act is the dream of Rajiv Gandhi but same is not implemented in J&K. 6. Recently Rahul Gandhi Visited Jammu and said “Empowering panchayats won't happen overnight,” For the last 10 Years Congress is in the power in the State as well as in Center. 7. The question of empowerment of panchayats is included in the manifestoes the Congress issued prior to the 2002 Legislative Assembly elections as also the 2008 Legislative Assembly elections. On both occasion, the Congress pledged before the masses that if voted to power, the party will empower panchayats in J&K through implementation of 73rd Amendment. Right to education denied in the name of Art 370 On the occasion of Children's Day, Congress Member of Parliament Madan Lal Sharma demanded that Right to Education (RTE) Act should also be implemented in Jammu & Kashmir. He said that if state govt can adopt PNDT, PC and many other central acts, there should not be any delay in immediate adoption of this act as it is in best interest of children of this state. Right to Education Act was passed by parliament in 2009 as fundamental right of every child between the age group of 6-14 years to get compulsory and free education. The act has to be effective in whole of the country by 31st March 2013. Under this act, the govt has to provide not only free and compulsory education to each and every child between this age group but has to arrange for other facilities such as trained teachers with a teacher student ratio of not more than 1:40, schools with class rooms and boundary wall, safe drinking water, separate toilets for boys and girl students, ramps for disabled students, playing ground, library etc. The time up to 31st March was given to state governments for making necessary arrangements under the act. This act, benefitting all the children, has been denied to the children of Jammu & Kashmir in the name of special status of the state. The children of the state are being denied of their fundamental right to free and compulsory education which other children in the country are going to enjoy after few months under the Article 370 as act has to be passed by state assembly before being effective in this state. As in the case of extending 73rd amendment of Indian constitution to the Jammu & Kashmir, the state govt is hiding itself under the plea of already having such provisions. In case of education, state has a provision of free education to all students up to 8th class but does it know that there is a vast difference between fundamental right of a child to free and compulsory education and just a provision of free and Compulsory education. When it is a fundamental right it is govt's responsibility to provide and a child can claim for its right. What state govt has done to this demand of extending RTE to the state, as in most of the cases of public concern, in the beginning of this year, state govt has constituted a committee to have a study of RTE and JK School Education Act. This committee, after examining both the acts would send its recommendations to law department on whether to adopt RTE or make necessary amendments to school education act to bring it par with central RTE act but see the seriousness of the govt this committee has not met once during the year not to speak of recommending the amendments to school education act and it is the condition when school education ministry is headed by chief minister himself. The govt has just no intention to bring in RTE in the state. The reason is simple, when it comes of any responsibility whether it may be RTE or devolution of powers to panchayats, govt runs away under the cover of 370 but these very politicians can surrender every thing if it comes with power or money from the central govt. They can adopt Sarva Siksha Abhiyan from the center as it comes with crores of rupees of aid with this scheme. They held Panchayat elections in the state because in the absence of these elections, hundreds crores of aid from the centre was blocked. After formality of these elections and release of the aid, further powers were denied to these Panchayats as it will encroach upon the powers of the present rulers. The other main reason of govt 's running away from RTE is poor condition of school education sector in the state. Majority of schools don't have basic infrastructure required for imparting quality education to the students. The CAG in his report has nailed state govt for its failure to provide basic minimum amenities to the students at primary as well as high school level. It observed that despite an increase in the number of govt schools the enrolment has decreased due to coming up of many private schools and preference being given to them by the parents and lack of infrastructure facilities is stated to be the main reason for the sharp decline in enrolment in govt schools. Out of 14,453 govt schools in state 7,903 lacks basic facilities, 3,200 schools are being run in rented houses or shops. 1,865 primary schools were upgraded as middle schools in last three years but govt forgot to upgrade their facilities accordingly. 12,000 posts, of teachers, masters, lecturers and non-teaching staff, are lying vacant in the education department. When it is the condition how this state government can dare to extend right to education as fundamental right to children of the state?

Wednesday 28 May 2014

NARENDRA MODI ASSESSMENT FROM PAKISTAN

The writer is a Retied Air Vice Marshall of Pak Air Force. His analysis about Modi is very reasonable: Two glass ceilings got broken in the first two decades of this century: a black man’s son became the president of the United States – the oldest democracy in the world and a chaiwala’s son was elected in a sweeping victory as the prime minister of India – the largest democracy of the world. A third such occasion is likely in 2016 when a woman just might become the first ever female president of the US. This is paradigms being shattered. If you want to really celebrate democracy as some in this country are prone to do simply by seeing one civilian government transition to another, note the speed at which from mid-1960s both the ‘coloured’ and the women, and the weak, have been able to find their place in the real democracies of the world on their merit alone. No dynasties, no historical reference of a father or a grandfather having once been at a position of entitlement – simply the capacity and the ability of a person (men, women, ‘coloured’) to prove his credentials in a field of play that is cut-throat competitive and where only the best will survive. There are only two references in a competitive electoral play; the person: his charisma, charm and magical spell over the people – think Jinnah, Gandhi, Mandela, and Bhutto; and the performance – think Manmohan Singh when he got his country some exceptional growth figures under Narasimha Rao, and more recently, Narendra Modi with his outstanding developmental record in Gujarat. Modi romped home with a strength that was surprising even to him though pundits had already predicted a wave of change. But what a performance. Kudos to India for such an election; not a murmur of rigging or absence of fair-play. To win in such an election and with the margin that Modi has, is simply too big a landmark in contemporary political history. It was a ‘wow’ moment for India and the country needs to be applauded for it. Modi is a rare combination of the two. He has his spell and a sterling record of development, aided without doubt by an enabling environment where the electorate could only rest their hopes on him after others had betrayed it with dismal performance. He seems a man who can easily connect with the people. An effective orator, he outshined Rahul Gandhi who appeared unenthused and listless in comparison. To the dismay of many in Pakistan, let me suggest that if Modi gets his act together, he will take India places. India will change, perhaps finally realising its dream and potential, as will its polity. India will never be the same again; this remains my considered opinion. He is that kind of fellow. Many in Pakistan wondered if this was an election lost or an election won. If there was one factor that played in wooing the voters, it was leadership, or the lack of it when they disavowed the Congress. That did it for Modi. Modi appeared resolute, clear headed, focused and decisive; all that Manmohan or Rahul were not. Is there a lesson out there for us and our political class? Especially in our current situation where not only are institutions entangled with each other, they are also breaking up within. What is needed for Pakistan too is a no-nonsense style of leadership that is upfront, owns the problems, and seems willing and active in doing something about it. Not the kind of absent leadership that sleeps by the side as the state and the nation unravel before it. Statesmanship has been wrongly understood by this clan. They think sleeping through, or remaining detached and above the fray is how statesmen are made. There cannot be another as fallacious a conception. Statesmen are leaders, and leaders work with their hands. Will Modi spur Nawaz to do better? I feel the simple relativity of how India propels, and how Pakistan nosedives under listless, lackadaisical leadership, will be enough factors to force a change. Of what kind will remain to be seen. Manmohan’s listlessness was too contagious. Modi, however is no goody-two-shoes. He is also characterised as the ‘butcher of Gujarat’. That will change. He is someone who reads his role well. What was needed then to appease some at the RSS was then and that helped him establish his position within the party; but now there is a different role for him. The weight of his victory will help Modi establish his influence not only within the BJP, but also within the RSS. He is likely to have much greater freedom of action, as he now goes about establishing himself as a man of substance in the international arena. He will not be the gung-ho Modi that we assume, instead he will be deliberate, firm and unyielding in the way that he charts his and India’s future. How might then Pakistan manage him? The first apprehension is will he war with Pakistan. Here is how it will go. He will begin with an immediate assessment of what his armed forces will need to gain an assured level of readiness – armed forces are always short of what they assume is absolute readiness; remember the nine months that Manekshaw needed before the 1971 war, or how the Indian army dithered after Mumbai from a reprisal action. Modi’s aim will not be to seek a war. But come another situation like Mumbai 2008, he would like his military to respond with effect; of that there should be little confusion. Pakistan will then need to evolve its own plan to first deter and then respond to such a reprisal. That will put them both on a slippery slope of escalation dominance. What both sides will need instead are measures and processes that will control and manage escalation, not dominate it. Failing these the spiral down the stability regime will be rather rapid; consequences untold and horrendous. It will also help if another Mumbai does not occur. We can be assured of Modi working hard to find space for an armed retribution if he was tested with something as horrible as that. It is better to be prepared than be surprised. And how do you manage him? By simply being better at what he does. With our current pack, forget it. Tailpiece: In a master stroke Modi has invited Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration. That is enough to test the mettle of Pakistan’s leadership. If Nawaz goes he will need the acumen to dominate his first interaction with Modi. Otherwise he is coming back with a clearer enunciation of how Modi would like Nawaz to respond to his concerns. Devil and the deep blue sea, is it? The writer is a retired air-vice marshal of the Pakistan Air Force and served as its deputy chief of staff.

कलम-३७० आणि त्याचा जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरच्या विकासावर होणारा परिणामआव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे

आव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे कलम-३७० आणि त्याचा जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरच्या विकासावर होणारा परिणाम भारत स्वतंत्र झाल्यानंतर आणि जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर राज्याचे भारतात विलिनीकरण झाल्यानंतर लगेचच, ३७०-कलम हे स्पष्टपणे तात्पुरते म्हणूनच, अवघड काळातल्या विशिष्ट अडचणी सोडवण्याकरता, संविधानात समाविष्ट करण्यात आलेले होते. राज्यातील घटकांच्या प्रतिनिधीसभेच्या अस्तित्वकाळातच ते अस्तित्वात राहणे अपेक्षित होते. काळासोबतच जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरमध्ये गुंतलेले हितसंबंध आणि राज्याबाहेरील निरनिराळ्या राजकीय पक्षांच्या, आपापल्या मतदात्यांच्या तुष्टीकरणाबाबतची अपरिहार्यताच, त्या ३७०-कलमाचे अस्तित्व राखून ठेवत असतात. ’३७०-कलमाचे अस्तित्व राखून ठेवावे’ ह्या मताच्या लोकांनी, देशाच्या एकता आणि अखंडतेवर विघातक परिणाम करण्याच्या, ३७०-कलमाच्या अपार सामर्थ्याचा कुठलाही विचार केला नाही. भारतातले हे एकमेव असे राज्य आहे ज्याचे स्वतःचे स्वतंत्र संविधान आहे. बाहेरचा कुणीही, राज्यात स्थायिक होऊ शकत नाही, कुठलीही मालमत्ता बाळगू शकत नसल्याने, राजकीयदृष्ट्या चांगल्या प्रकारे जोडले गेलेले लोक प्रचंड लाभ मिळवू शकतात. हेच प्रभावशाली लोक नियम घडवतात, किंमती निर्धारित करतात आणि ग्राहकही निर्धारित करतात; कारण बाहेरून कुठलीही स्पर्धा होण्याची अजिबात शक्यता नसते. यामुळे ५ लाखात बनू शकणार्यार शाळेचे काम ५० लाखाला दिले जाते. म्हणजे राजकारण्यांचा ४५ लाखांचा फायदा आणि सरकारचे आणि सामान्य माणसांचे ४५ लाखाचे नुकसान. कलम ३७० ने, काश्मीरचे लोक आणि उर्वरित भारतातले लोक ह्यांच्यात, भावनिक आणि मानसशास्त्रीय अडथळे उभारलेले आहेत, ज्यामुळे फुटीरतेच्या मनोभूमिकेस बळ मिळते. ह्या कलमाच्या अस्तित्वाचा उपयोग करून, पाकिस्तान आणि खोर्या त असलेल्या त्याचे खरेखोटे प्रतिनिधित्व करणार्याउ शक्ती, भारत हा ’काश्मीरपासून कन्याकुमारीपर्यंत एक आहे’ ह्या संकल्पनेचीच खिल्ली उडवत असतात. ह्या कलमामुळेच द्विराष्ट्रवाद जिवंत राहिला आहे. यथावकाश राज्यातील फुटीर लोकांनी शत्रुत्वाची मनोवृत्ती तयार करण्यासाठी, ह्या अडथळ्याचा उपयोग करून घेतलेलाच आहे. १७-ऑक्टोंबर-१९४९ रोजी भारताच्या संविधान सभेत बोलत असता, तिचे एक विख्यात सदस्य हसरत मोहानी असे म्हणाले होते की, “विशेष दर्जा दिल्याने काश्मीरला पुढे जाऊन स्वातंत्र्य प्राप्त करणे शक्य होईल”. काश्मिरातील गुंतलेले हितसंबंध, मग ते राजकीय असोत, नोकरशहांचे असोत, व्यापार्यांणचे असोत, न्यायव्यवस्थेतील लोकांचे असोत; त्यांनी त्यांच्या त्यांच्या दुष्ट उद्दिष्टांकरता, राज्यातील गरीब आणि पददलितांचे शोषण करून ३७० कलमाचा दुरुपयोग करून घेतलेलाच आहे. राज्य अधिकोषाची (ट्रेझरी) लूट करण्याची जबाबदारी त्यांच्यावर निश्चित करता येऊ नये ह्याकरता, श्रीमंतांनी ३७० कलमाचा उपयोग राज्यात कुठलेही आर्थिक कायदे होऊच नयेत ह्याकरता करून घेतलेला आहे. ह्यात भेट-कर, शहरी-जमीन-धारणा कायदा, संपत्ती कर इत्यादींचा समावेश होतो. ह्यामुळे श्रीमंत श्रीमंतच होत राहिले आणि जनसामान्यांना त्यांचा वाजवी आर्थिक लाभही नाकारण्यात आला. कलम-३७० ने सत्तेत उच्चभ्रू लोक निर्माण केले. जनसामान्यांच्या खर्याणखुर्याा मागण्यांना पायदळी तुडवण्याकरता ह्या उच्चभ्रूंनी, ह्या प्रचंड सत्तेचा उपयोग करून घेतला. जमिनीबाबतची संसाधने श्रीमंतांनी आणि शक्तीशाली लोकांनी बळकावलेली आहेत. ह्यामुळे राज्यास मोठे महसुली नुकसान होत असते. भारताकडून ह्या हितसंबंधियांना खूप आर्थिक मदत मिळत राहिली, जिचा उपयोग त्यांनी फुटीर मनोवृत्ती विकसित करण्यासाठी आणि फुटिरतावादी मत निर्माण करण्यासाठी केला, ज्याचा उपयोग करून ते भारतास धमक्या देऊन संसाधने उकळण्याकरता (ब्लॅक मेल) करून घेत असतात. सहज फसविल्या जाऊ शकणार्या काश्मिरी लोकांना, कलम ३७० काढून टाकणे म्हणजे आकाशच कोसळण्यासारखे वाटते. अशा प्रकारे हे दलाल आपली जहागिरदारी विस्तारत राहतात, राजकीय आणि आर्थिक सत्ता बळकट करत राहतात, एक जातीय आणि अगम्य (ऑब्स्कुरान्टिस्ट) मनोभूमिका निर्माण करत राहतात, ज्यामुळे यथावकाश फुटिरता विकसित होण्यास पार्श्वभूमी मिळते. कलम-३७० काढून टाकल्यास, काश्मिरींची ओळखच नाहीशी होऊ शकेल ही भीती, नेत्यांच्या राजकीय महत्त्वाकांक्षांवर पांघरूण घालणारी केवळ एक सोय आहे. प्रत्यक्षात हेच लोक काश्मिरी संस्कृतीस हानी पोहोचवत असतात कारण बाहेरच्या संपर्कापासूनच्या उत्तेजनांविना आणि परस्पर-पोषणाच्या संधीविना कुठलीही संस्कृती जगू शकत नाही. ज्यामुळे अंतिमतः काश्मिरी पंडितांचा लोंढा राज्याबाहेर निघून गेला त्या, १९८९ मधील हिंसक जातीय उद्रेकास ही फुटीर वृत्तीच जबाबदार आहे. १९८८-९० दरम्यान पुरेशी सुरक्षा पुरविण्याबाबतच्या काश्मिरी पंडितांच्या आक्रोशास प्रतिसाद देण्यात राज्य प्रशासनास आलेल्या अपयशाचे एक मुख्य कारण हे होते की; दीर्घ कालावधीत प्रणालीत शिरलेल्या मूलतत्त्ववादी, राष्ट्रविरोधी घटकांनी राज्य प्रशासन आतून पूर्णपणे पोखरलेले होते. हा शिरकाव, कलम-३७० च्या अस्तित्वामुळेच शक्य झाला. फाळणीच्या वेळी किंवा त्यानंतर भारत व पाकिस्तान यांमधील युद्धाच्या परिणामस्वरूप, पाकिस्तानातून राज्यात आलेल्या सुमारे १७,००,००० निर्वासितांना, त्यांचे मूलभूत लोकशाहीचे आणि नागरिक म्हणून प्राप्य असणारे हक्क नाकारणे; ही राज्यातील सर्वात वाईट मानवी शोकांतिका आहे. गेली सहा दशके ह्या निर्वासितांनी राज्यासच आपले घर मानले आहे. तरीही ते किंवा त्यांच्या मुलाबाळांना, ३७०-कलमाच्या अंमलाचा परिणाम म्हणून, राज्यात नागरिकत्वाचे अधिकार मिळू शकत नाहीत. ते मतदानही करू शकत नाहीत किंवा उमेदवारीही करू शकत नाहीत. राज्याकडून त्यांना कर्ज मिळू शकत नाही किंवा ते राज्यातील निरनिराळ्या व्यावसायिक महाविद्यालयांत प्रवेशही मिळवू शकत नाहीत. ३७०-कलम नागरिकत्वाचे अधिकार राज्यातील इतर प्रदेशातील लोकांना मिळू न देण्याकरता, तिचा दुरूपयोग करत आहेत.राज्यास निरनिराळे लोकशाही कायदे लागू होण्यापासून रोखून, राजकारणी लोकांनीही सत्तेत टिकून राहण्याकरता ३७०-कलमाचा दुरूपयोग करून घेतलेला आहेच. ’पक्षांतरविरोधी कायद्या’चेच प्रकरण घ्या. पक्षांतरे रोखण्याकरता तो कायदा ही एक उपयुक्त तरतूद आहे. सदस्याने पक्षांतर केले आहे किंवा नाही हे ठरविण्याचा अधिकार हे विधेयक सभापतीस देत असतो. मात्र जम्मू-आणि-काश्मिरात हा अधिकार पक्ष प्रमुखालाच देण्यात आलेला आहे, ज्यामुळे पक्षनेता जणूकाय हुकूमशहाच ठरत आहे. लडाख आणि जम्मू प्रदेशांना अर्थसंसाधनांत त्यांचा वाजवी वाटा नाकारण्याकरताही कलम-३७० चा उपयोग करण्यात आलेला आहे. जुलै-सप्टेंबर १९८९ दरम्यान ज्या हिंसक चळवळींनी लडाखला घुसळून टाकले त्या चळवळी, राज्यातील राजकीय सत्तेवर उत्तम पकड असलेल्या काश्मिरी लोकांनी त्यांना अवाजवी पद्धतीने वागविल्याखातरच्या, लडाखी लोकांच्या नाराजीच्या प्रतिक्रियेचा भाग होत्या. जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरचे नागरिक आपोआपच भारताचे नागरिक ठरतात, मात्र भारताच्या नागरिकांना आपोआपच जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर राज्याचे नागरिक होण्याचा अधिकार नाही. परिणामी, जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरचे नागरिक भारतात कुठेही मालमत्ता बाळगू शकतात आणि स्थायिकही होऊ शकतात. मात्र कलम-३७० कुठल्याही भारतीयास असा हक्क मिळण्यापासून वंचितच ठेवते. डॉ.बी.आर.आंबेडकरांनी देशास ह्याबाबत आधीच सावध केलेले होते. ते म्हणाले होते की, “जर तुम्हाला भारताने काश्मीरचे संरक्षण करावे असे वाटत असेल तर, काश्मीरला भारताइतकेच हक्क द्या, पण तुम्ही भारतास आणि भारतीयांस काश्मीरात सर्वच हक्क नाकारत आहात. मी भारताचा कायदामंत्री आहे, मी राष्ट्राच्या हिताबाबतच्या अशा विश्वासघाताचा भागीदार होऊ शकत नाही.” काश्मीरच्या रहिवाशांनी हे जाणून घेतले पाहिजे की, ते सर्वप्रथम भारताचे नागरिक आहेत आणि त्यानंतर राज्याचे रहिवासी. काश्मिरींकरता ३७०-कलमाचे संरक्षण आहे. ह्या कलमांतर्गत, कुठलाही काश्मिरी, एखाद्या काश्मिरी नसलेल्या व्यक्तीशी लग्न करू शकत नाही. असे लग्न झाल्यास तो काश्मिरी आपले संपत्ती आणि मतदान इत्यादींचे अधिकार गमावेल. राज्य प्रशासन आधीच इस्लामिक झालेले आहे. दहशतवाद्यांना तर रविवार ऐवजी शुक्रवार हा सुटीचा वार घोषित होणे हवे आहे. काश्मिरी नसलेली व्यक्ती संपत्ती खरेदी करू शकत नाही, राजकारणात भाग घेऊ शकत नाही, निवडणुकांत मतदान करू शकत नाही आणि कायद्याअंतर्गत त्याला नागरिकत्वाचे सर्व अधिकार नाकारले गेलेले आहेत. अगदी, फाळणीच्या वेळी सीमेपलीकडून आलेल्या हिंदू स्थलांतरितांनाही अजून काश्मिरात नागरिकत्व दिले गेलेले नाही. गेल्या सहा दशकांत ते त्यांच्या लोकशाही हक्कांखातर लढत आहेत. हे पुस्तक माधवी-प्रकाशन-पुणे येथे, खालील पत्त्यावर विक्रीस उपलब्ध आहे. किंमत रु.२२५/-. चंद्रशेखर जोशी,दत्तकुटी, १४१६ सदाशिवपेठ, पुणे ४११०३०,दूरध्वनीः २४४७४७६२, २४४७५३७२, भ्रमणध्वनीः ९३२५०९७८९४,ई-मेलः madhavipublisher@gmail.com

Monday 26 May 2014

BRIG MAHAJAN ON ZEE 24 TAS 27 MAY

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BRIG HEMANT MAHAJAN KASHMIR BOOK IN INDIAN EXPRESS 25 MAY

http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/2895866

Friday 23 May 2014

NARENDRA MODI & INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY

'Both nations have a common problem: A rampaging, jingoistic and hostile China which is making substantial territorial claims. In the long run, Japan and India are going to be the victims of Chinese aggression -- so they might as well hang together to contain China,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan. There is a general dictum that when there is a change in government, foreign policy continues much as before. In the United States, even though the two parties fight like cats and dogs over domestic policies, all that stops at the water's edge, and the two parties are as one in the pursuit of the national interest. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan put forth this perspective in a recent discussion I had with him. However, it is not clear that this applies to the case of India. This is partly because it is hard to believe that the outgoing United Progressive Alliance government truly had India's interests at heart in its foreign dealings. The result of their ad hoc, unthought-through policies has been that India has shrunk as a relevant power, even in its own neighbourhood. The only parties that seem to have done well are quasi-friends like the US which has sold India much military hardware, up from zero in the old Soviet days. Other than this, India is universally considered a bully by its subcontinental neighbours, it has been kept at arms length by Southeast Asia; the US, Europe, Russia and China treat it as a minor, unimportant regional power. Its energy diplomacy has been pathetic; its erstwhile markets in Africa and Europe are now under threat from the Chinese. The Indian Ocean Rim initiative is going nowhere. That Nehruvian shibboleth, the Non-Aligned Movement, has been consigned to the trash-can of history. India's brand has been diminished by the 'South Asia' moniker. The erstwhile 'Greater India' is only a memory. In large measure, India's shrinking stature is a result of its pathetic economic growth. It has been left in the dust by all of Southeast Asia and East Asia, all of which have managed to uplift their poor. Today India is the biggest repository of misery in the world, with half the world's malnourished, half the world's blind, half the world's illiterate. There is no choice but for India to grow at near-Chinese rates, and commerce should be one of the principal pillars of its foreign policy. But a more important issue for India is the wimp factor. Nobody takes India seriously: It comes across as a weak, gullible, impotent power whose major strength is in lecturing. Nobody likes a moraliser, and India has had many of them, for instance, Krishna Menon. It is rumoured that Chou en-Lai of China considered his interlocutor Jawaharlal Nehru a 'useful idiot'. Similarly, every time there is a major terror attack supported by Pakistan, some minister threatens dire consequences 'the next time there is a major terror attack'. Therefore Pakistanis attack, again and again, with impunity. There is no pain applied to Pakistani bottoms for perfidy. The US is facing something along the same lines. Barack Obama is seen as someone whose threats have no teeth. Thus, his promise to act in Syria if chemical weapons were used was shown to be just hot air. He did not act in Ukraine; he is unlikely to step in if the Chinese, emboldened by all this, grab the Senkakus from Japan as they have the Paracels from Vietnam. There is a credibility deficit, as the Financial Times says in 'Barack Obama's cautious foreign policy comes home to roost,' May 14. This is what makes me suggest a discontinuity in Indian foreign policy, which has always centered on the Anglophone world, and on Pakistan and China. It is time to make a radical shift to an Asia-centric perspective, with Japan as the centrepiece. After Asia, it is important to work with Africa, and then with Europe, specifically Germany, as there is much to be gained from the European Union's leader. There is little that traditional partner Britain can do for us. Finally, there is the US. Given that Democrats are extremely hostile (this is generally true, although Indians labour under the delusion that Republicans are worse), it is always a bad time for India when they are in power. In particular, this time Barack Obama, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton have gone out of their way to humiliate Modi over the silly visa issue, egged on by Indian-origin leftists/Islamists and conversion-seeking Christian fundamentalists. Modi is not one to bear grudges, but it is incumbent upon the US to make conciliatory moves. Until that happens, it is going to be a holding pattern in Indo-US relations, detente but no cordiality. The contrast with the warmth with Japan could not be more dramatic. Why Japan as priority nation? Because it appears to be the most appropriate civilisational/cultural partner. There is more to international relations than transactions. It is important to have alliances with those who have similar affinities, both at the individual level and at the national level. Japan, along with Bali and Thailand, are the only parts of Asia in which Indians are held in some respect -- the Japanese, for example, see India as their Holy Land. (Unfortunately, elsewhere, it is India's failures, dirt, poverty and squalour that are its calling card.) Besides, both nations have a common problem: A rampaging, jingoistic and hostile China which is making substantial territorial claims. In the long run, Japan and India, along with Vietnam, the Philippines, and others in Southeast Asia, are going to be the victims of Chinese aggression -- so they might as well hang together to, with Russia and the US, create a reverse 'string of pearls' to contain China. There are also nice symmetries. Japan has an ageing population; India has one of the world's youngest populations. Japan has plenty of capital; India is hungry for capital. Japan is worried about the security of its investments in China; India is eager to bring in foreign direct investment. Japan has outstanding quality and processes; India needs these if it is to ever become a manufacturing power. In Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi we have two nationalists. Furthermore, the Japanese have now realised that they would benefit from an alliance with India. They made an extremely rare gesture: The Japanese Emperor visited India. In addition there were two visits by Shinzo Abe, who has said that he expects the Indo-Japanese relationship to be as significant over time as the US-Japanese alliance. Unfortunately, the Manmohan Singh government did not go out of its way to show its appreciation: Instead of breaking protocol by sending the PM to welcome Abe at the airport, it sent a junior minister, Rajiv Shukla. I am sure the Japanese noticed. But anyway, it is Modi that Abe has an affinity for. Geostrategist Brahma Chellaney suggests in Prosyn the duo will work towards 'promoting regional stability and blocking the rise of a Sino-Centric Asia'. That is precisely the point. And that brings us to China. As that nation pursues a highly aggressive policy with almost all of its neighbours, bullying, grabbing land and sea, and using gunboat diplomacy, India has to be wary about the long Indo-Tibet border as well as China's oft-repeated claims to Arunachal Pradesh. The recent leak of the Henderson-Brooks/Bhagat report on the 1962 war suggests that India could have done better because its military capability was adequate. But that is not the case today, 50 years later. China has systematically built up its logistics (rail and road) and military capability in occupied Tibet. India has lagged behind, even though a few mountain divisions are sought to be raised. The military has struggled greatly in UPA1 and especially UPA2. A damning report by Ajai Shukla in Business Standard suggests that India's armed forces modernization is based on a delusion as there is no budget for it. Given Chinese aggression in the South China Sea (the latest being their drilling for oil in what would be Vietnamese territorial waters under international law) and the expansion of its blue-water navy, India's badly-delayed naval modernisation needs to be accelerated, if we are to defend our interests in the Indian Ocean, all the way from the Straits of Hormuz to the Straits of Malacca, which carries about 80 per cent of the world's oil shipments. Modi has had cordial relations with China, and that should continue. But the terms of any agreements should be based on mutual respect, not imposed on India under duress, as is likely to be the case now. For instance, most of India's exports to China have been raw materials like iron ore, while they send back manufactured goods, in some cases destroying Indian manufacturers. I have heard anecdotal evidence about this: How the manufacture of kites for Uttarayanam in Gujarat was decimated by Chinese imports, until the local makers replicated a cluster and supply chain as efficient as that in China. Along with China, the other party where India needs to have a muscular foreign policy is Pakistan, China's ally. Without going to war, it is possible to tell the Pakistanis in no uncertain terms that their adventurism will have consequences, and to back this up by carefully monitoring their infiltrators into India. It is also possible to increase -- rather than reverse, as Inder Kumar Gujral did Research and Analysis Wing's intelligence efforts and special operations in Baluchistan and other restive parts of Pak. The situation in Afghanistan is another area in which India needs to ensure that we do not screw up. As the Americans depart, the vacuum there will be filled quite eagerly by strategic-depth-seeking Pakistanis, and if the new Afghan government is in the least bit pro-Taliban, India will be shut out, its commercial interests and consulates endangered, and its huge investment in relief including roads etc will be wasted. On the other hand, there is no point in, as Americans sometimes demand, India taking on a military role there either. Afghanistan will be a headache. Repairing ties with the Near Abroad, that is the subcontinental nations such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan should be pursued in parallel with a reinvigorated Indian Ocean Rim initiative, that will reach out to both ASEAN and Africa, especially South Africa. Thus, the Modi government has its work cut out for itself. To begin with, it might enter the Asian arena with a response to the current crisis in Vietnamese waters where the Chinese are drilling. Modi can arrive on the world scene by loudly advocating a peaceful settlement, and even offering to mediate, as a neutral third party. It can draft the UN-honed political skills of Shashi Tharoor, even though he is an Opposition member of Parliament; and it can send a subtle message to China wrapped in bonhomie: you too are just another Asian power.

Wednesday 21 May 2014

आव्हान जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे-ब्रिगेडिअर हेमंत महाजन युद्ध-सेवा-मेडल भारताची अंतर्गत सुरक्षेची अवस्था – भारतास भेडसावणारे पाच धोके काश्मीरचा वापर भारतप्रवेशाचे महाद्वार म्हणून करून घेण्याचा निर्धार इस्लामाबादने केलेला आहे. भारतास भेडसावत असणारे पाच मुख्य धोके पुढीलप्रमाणे आहेत. १. माओवाद/ नक्षलवाद/ डावा दहशतवाद २. ईशान्येचे बांगलादेशीकरण ३. किनारी प्रदेशातील दहशतवाद ४. काश्मीरमधील छुपे युद्ध ५. समाजाचे मूलतत्त्वीकरण/ जातीय दंगे जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरमधील छुपे युद्ध सुरक्षादले, प्राथमिकतः भारतीय भूदलाने स्वातंत्र्यप्राप्तीपासून जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीरचा प्रत्यक्ष ताबा राखलेला आहे. राज्यातून जर भूदलास काढून घेतले तर, कितीही पोलीस, निमलष्करी दले दिली तरी ती राज्य सांभाळू शकणार नाहीत. राजकारणी आणि नोकरशहा ह्यांनी परिस्थितीवर तोडगा काढण्याकरता काहीही केलेले नाही. त्यामुळे धोका अनेक पटींनी वाढलेला आहे. काश्मीर खोर्यादतील निरनिराळ्या हुरियत कॉन्फरन्सच्या मोर्चांतून आणि दगडफेकी आंदोलनांतून, हजारोंच्या संख्येने येणार्या्, लष्कर-ए-तय्यबा, हिज्बुल-मुजाहिद्दीन, ऑल-पार्टीज-हुरियत-कॉन्फरन्स ह्यांच्या समर्थकांद्वारे फडकविल्या जाणार्या झेंड्यांनीच हा धोका प्रदर्शित होत असतो. शांतता प्रयत्नांच्या बुरख्याआड, पाकिस्तानच्या साहाय्याने, लष्करी-गुप्तवार्ता-आस्थापने शस्त्रास्त्रसज्ज घुसखोरांना काश्मिरात घुसवतच आहेत. सध्या ते दबा धरून आहेत, भारतीय संघराज्यावर अनेक आघाड्यांवर क्रूर-हिंसक-हल्ले करण्याच्या सुयोग्य संधीची वाट पाहत आहेत. हुरियत कॉन्फरन्सने आयोजित केलेल्या मोर्चांमधून अशा सूप्त शक्तींनी डोके वर काढले होते. पिपल्स-डेमॉक्रॅटिक-पार्टी आणि नॅशनल-कॉन्फरन्स ह्यांमधील राष्ट्रविरोधी राजकारण्यांकडून अशा शक्तींना सशक्त समर्थन मिळत असते. त्याचवेळी, इस्लामाबादेच्या मार्गदर्शनाखाली खेळल्या जात असलेल्या मनोवैज्ञानिक युद्धप्रयासांचा एक भाग म्हणून, ह्या वा त्या मुद्द्यावरून, भारतीय भूदलाची प्रतिमा मलीन करण्याची एक मोहीमही सुरू आहे. एवढी युद्धे आणि दहशतवादाची निर्यात करूनही इस्लामाबादला काश्मीर जिंकून घेता आलेले नाही, ह्याचे कारण भारतीय भूदलच आहे. त्यामुळेच, काश्मीर मधून निर्लष्करीकरणाबाबतची बोलणी आणि भूदल-विशेषाधिकार-कायदा रद्द करण्याची मोहीम, काश्मीरबाबतची त्यांची उद्दिष्टे साध्य करण्याचे केवळ बहाणे आहेत. काश्मीरमधील स्वातंत्र्य-लढ्याच्या बुरख्याआडचा इस्लामिक दहशतवाद हा, म्हणूनच संपूर्ण देशास अस्थिर करणारा आहे. काश्मीरचा उपयोग उर्वरित भारताकरताचे प्रवेशद्वार म्हणून करून घेण्याचा इस्लामाबादचा निर्धार आहे. हे पुस्तक, काश्मिरातील छुप्या युद्धावरील सम्यक समाधान शोधून काढण्याबाबतचे आहे. भारतासमोरील इतर सुरक्षा-आव्हाने १. पंथीय आणि जातीय हिंसाचार २. संघटित गुन्हेगारीः चित्रपट, बांधकाम उद्योग, इतर, आंतरराष्ट्रीय संबंध ३. अवनती: आजवर २०० आय.एस.आय.गटांचा शोध घेऊन त्यांचा नायनाट केला गेलेला आहे. अवनतीप्रत पोहोचलेले राजकारणी, नोकरशाही, पोलीस हेही आहेत ४. अति-महत्त्वाच्या-व्यक्तींना दिल्या जाणार्याह सुरक्षेस दिले जाणारे अतिरेकी महत्त्व. ५० ते ६०% पोलीसबळ ह्याकरता वापरले जाते, ज्यामुळे सामान्य माणसांच्या सुरक्षिततेस दहशतवादी, नक्षलवादी आणि गुन्हेगारांवर सोडून दिले जात असते. दहशतवादाची नवीन स्वरूपे १. सायबर दहशतवाद २. प्रारणशास्त्रीय-प्रसार-साधने (रेडिओलॉजिकल-डिस्पर्सल-डिव्हायसेस - आर.डी.डी.एस.) ३. भारतीय आण्विक आस्थापनांना असलेला धोका ४. भारताच्या किनारी संपत्तीस (किनार्याेवरील तेलफलाट, व्ही.एल.सी.सी.सारखी प्रचंड तेलवाहू जहाजे, आकर्षक व्यापारी लक्ष्ये) असलेला धोका ५. जैव आणि आण्विक दहशतवाद ६. दहशतवादी ई-मेल्स, एस.एम.एस. भारतीय सुरक्षेस असलेले गैर-लष्करी धोके १. शासनविहीनता २. मूलतत्त्ववाद ३. अन्न-सुरक्षा ४. ऊर्जा-सुरक्षा ५. पाणी-सुरक्षा ६. अंमली पदार्थांची युद्धे ७. तंत्रज्ञान नियंत्रक राजवटी ८. भ्रष्टाचार ९. अपयशी ठरणार्यां संस्था, नोकरशाही, न्यायव्यवस्था, पोलीस उपाय सर्व राजकीय पक्षांचा सुरक्षिततेकरताचा सामायिक किमान कार्यक्रम असणे आवश्यक आहे. हे पुस्तक माधवी-प्रकाशन-पुणे येथे, खालील पत्त्यावर विक्रीस उपलब्ध आहे. किंमत रु.२२५/-. चंद्रशेखर जोशी,दत्तकुटी, १४१६ सदाशिवपेठ, पुणे ४११०३०,दूरध्वनीः २४४७४७६२, २४४७५३७२, भ्रमणध्वनीः ९३२५०९७८९४,ई-मेलः madhavipublisher@gmail.com

Saturday 17 May 2014

GEN HASNAIN ON NARENDRA MODI

Ata Hasnain I have taken it upon myself to spread a positive word about today's electoral results among the minorities who may be apprehensive. I expected someone else to do it but then realized that no one like's sticking one's neck out and I have been one with neck stretched to the limit. I tested it by placing a message on Moderate Voice of Kashmir page and found some excellent responses. What people have to realize is that there is a lot of difference between a campaign and subsequent governance. Every one tends to take utterances and gestures of a campaign quite literally. Many from the minority communities, especially the youth, have voted for Narender Modi. They too were apprehensive because for them it was all about testing the waters. I think this election is going to bring about a historic change in India. It may still take a little time for the minorities to come out of their mistrust and self doubts. For some one like me and many others who have had a cosmopolitan upbringing and exposure to a profession such as the Army there is never any apprehension. I always believe and say it aloud that the one thing a Pakistani citizen misses most is the opportunity to have friends and associates from different faiths. In India we take it for granted. We eat in each other's houses, see movies together and play games through childhood unmindful of the great education one is receiving in the process; the education of Tolerance and Acceptance. That needs to be taken into real life too. But there are many others who never get that chance and are brought up on a diet of exclusion; you cannot blame them; they have not been so fortunate. It is for society to infuse that confidence in them so that they too start believing in the delights of pluralism. In my perception a new chapter has opened in India's history. It will be a a great chapter if the minorities shed their fears and participate whole heartedly in this fresh and very passionate turn towards nation building in which all of us have a role to play. Nation building does not mean building up a community or a segment; it is every one at the wheel. The benefits of progress everyone is looking to are bound to flow if a disciplined, stable and committed government comes at the Centre. In many years we at last have it. Let us not allow this opportunity to pass with mutual suspicions and lack of confidence. If you are a true and well meaning Indian shed the inhibitions you may have had during the election campaign and look forward to the positives of growth. Somehow India has forgotten the meaning of stability; with its return it will take a little time getting used to it. But I think we are in for an El Dorado. So be it. Like ·

Friday 16 May 2014

जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे

पुस्तक परिचय- आव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे हे पुस्तक माधवी-प्रकाशन-पुणे येथे, खालील पत्त्यावर विक्रीस उपलब्ध आहे. किंमत रु.२२५/-. चंद्रशेखर जोशी,दत्तकुटी, १४१६ सदाशिवपेठ, पुणे ४११०३०,दूरध्वनीः २४४७४७६२, २४४७५३७२, भ्रमणध्वनीः ९३२५०९७८९४,ई-मेलः madhavipublisher@gmail.com कोणकोणते धोके ह्या काळाच्या उदरात दडलेले आहेत? ते प्रत्येक सुजाण नागरिकाने समजून घेण्याची आवश्यकता आहे. मात्र ती माहिती सहजी उपलब्ध असणारी नाही. ब्रिगेडिअर हेमंत महाजन ह्यांनी ह्या पुस्तकाच्या रूपाने ती समोर आणली आहे.काश्मीरची समस्या काय आहे? हे जाणून घेण्याचा सोपा सोपान म्हणजेच, ’आव्हान जम्मू आणि काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे’ हे पुस्तक आहे. ह्याकरता ह्या पुस्तकातील काश्मीरच्या साद्यंत इतिहासावे विवेचन वाचणे जरूर आहे. जम्मू आणि काश्मीर राज्याच्या इतिहासाचे अनोखे तपशील देणारा मजकूर, राज्याच्या भौगोलिक सीमांचे यथार्थ दर्शन करविणारे सुरेख मुखपृष्ठ आणि राज्याच्या वर्तमान परिस्थितीचा जणू भावार्थप्रदीप शोभेल असा आढावा, ह्यांनी हे पुस्तक सजलेले आहे. भारत स्वतंत्र झाला तेव्हा जम्मू आणि काश्मीर हे एक स्वतंत्र राष्ट्र होते. इंग्रजांनी त्यास स्वतःचा मार्ग निवडण्याचे स्वातंत्र्य दिले होते. मुस्लिमबहुल लोकसंख्येचे आधारे, पाकिस्तान त्याचेवर पाकिस्तानात विलीन होण्याकरता दबाव टाकत होता. भारत नेहमीप्रमाणे तटस्थ होता. जम्मू आणि काश्मीरचे महाराजा हरिसिंह स्वतंत्र राहू चाहत होते. पाकिस्तानने त्या राज्यावर हल्ला चढविला. काही कळायच्या आतच, राज्याच्या मोठ्याशा भूभागावर पाकिस्तानने आपली सत्ता प्रस्थापित केली. महाराजा हरिसिंह ह्यांना भारताची मदत घेण्यावाचून पर्याय नव्हता. त्याकरता, नेहरूंनी जम्मू आणि काश्मीर भारतात विलीन करावे अशी अट घातली. महाराजा हरिसिंह ह्यांनी हा निर्णय घेण्यास लावलेल्या अक्षम्य विलंबाचे पर्यवसान, आपण आज पाकव्याप्त काश्मीरच्या स्वरूपात पाहतो आहोत. हा सर्व उत्कंठावर्धक इतिहास ह्या पुस्तकात तपशीलाने दिलेला आहे. जम्मू आणि काश्मीर राज्याचे भारतात झालेले विलीनीकरण, सोबत अनेक समस्या घेऊनच झाले. घटनेचे ३७० कलम, पाकव्याप्त काश्मीर, पाकिस्तानने चीनला दिलेला भारतीय भूभाग आणि चीनच्या ताब्यात असणारा आकाशी चीन, मुस्लिमबहुल प्रांतातील हिंदू अल्पसंख्यांकांचे प्रश्न, घूसखोर-निर्वासित आणि विस्थापितांच्या समस्या, ह्या त्या समस्यांपैकीच काही आहेत. ह्या समस्यांच्या निरसनार्थ भारतीय संघराज्याची संसाधने मग सततच खर्च होत राहिली. काश्मीरातील लोकांच्या समस्यांकरता भारतीय संघराज्याचा पैसा प्रमाणाबाहेर खर्च होऊ लागला. उत्तरप्रदेश, बिहारसारख्या बिमारू राज्यांनाही कधी मिळाली नाहीत, एवढी संसाधने काश्मीरावर खर्ची पडू लागली. जिथे जाऊन राहू शकत नाही, जिथली जमीन खरीदू शकत नाही, त्या राज्यास, इतर राज्यांनी मदत तरी किती करायची! हा आर्थिक असमतोलाचा प्रश्न मग उपस्थित झाला. ह्या आर्थिक प्रश्नाची सम्यक ओळख ब्रिगेडिअरसाहेबांनी ह्या पुस्तकात व्यवस्थित करून दिलेली आहे. त्याकरताही हे पुस्तक वाचनीय आहे. अशीच समाज-प्रबोधक आणि शासनास ज्ञानदीप ठरावीत अशी, निरनिराळ्या विषयांवरची पुस्तके निरंतर लिहिली जावीत, अशी सदिच्छा मी ह्या निमित्ताने व्यक्त करतो. दहशतवाद हा लघुउद्योग झाला असून मोठय़ा प्रमाणावर तरुणांना याकडे खेचले जाते. या चक्रव्यूहातून त्यांना बाहेर काढणे गरजेचे आहे. काश्मीरप्रश्नी इतिहासात अनेक चुका झाल्या आहेत. राजकारण्यांच्या चुकीच्या धोरणामुळे आपल्या सहनशक्तीला दुर्बलता समजली जात आहे. काश्मीरला भारतापासून वेगळी करेल अशी कोणतीही ताकद जगात नाही. परंतु, ते आपल्याकडे ठेवण्यासाठी किती बळी जाणार हा प्रश्न आहे. एखाद्या राष्ट्रापासून वेगळे होणे ही तेथील लोकांची मानसिक युती आहे. त्यामुळे तेथील लोकांमध्ये जोपर्यंत ही भावना निर्माण होणार नाही तोपर्यंत काश्मीर हा भारताचा अविभाज्य भाग आहे, असेही ते म्हणाले. काश्मीर हे भारताचे डोके आहे. त्याचा एक लचका चीन तोडत आहे आणि दुसरा लचका हा पाकिस्तान तोडत आहे. हल्ले होतात तेव्हाच आम्ही एकत्र येतो. बांग्लादेश स्वतंत्र झाले त्यावेळेसच काश्मीरचा प्रश्न निकाली लागला असता. चुका लष्कराकडून घडत नसून, राजकारण्यांकडून घडत आहेत. भारतीय सैन्यामुळे आज देश एकसंध आहे. काश्मीरमधून आज ज्या नद्या वाहत आहेत त्या पाकिस्तानला सुजलाम-सुफलाम बनवत आहेत. काश्मीर स्वतंत्र देश व्हावा, ही अमेरिकेची कुटनिती आहे. सक्षम नेतृत्वाची गरज सीमेपलीकडून होणारी घुसखोरी थांबवायला आणि दहशतवाद नष्ट करण्यासाठी सामर्थ्यवान शासन आणि सक्षम नेतृत्व हवे. जम्मू काश्मीरमधील तरुण सीआरपीएफ, सैन्याच्या जवानांवर दगडफेक करतात. अफवा पसरवून बंद पुकारतात. जिहादी कारखाने युवकांना पैसा पुरवितात. पाकिस्तान येथे दहशतवादाची शाळा चालविते. मात्र तिथले राज्यकर्ते या कारवायाविरोधात कारवाई न करता समर्थनच करतात. हे थांबविण्याची आज गरज आहे. 1980 पासून काश्मीरमध्ये छुप्या युद्धरचनेला सुरुवात झाली. ते आजही सुरु आहे. जम्मू काश्मीर समस्येचे मूळ हे च्या काश्मीरखोऱयात आहे. या खोऱयामध्ये राहणारे लोक हे पाकधार्जिणे आहेत. येथील लोकांना भारताशी जोडून घेण्याची गरज आहे. जिहादच्या यंत्रणा सज्ज असून कोणत्याही क्षणी दगडफेकीच्या घटना, अफवा पसरविण्यामध्ये आयएसआय त्यांना मदत करते. येथील 80 टक्के नागरिकांना भारतापासून वेगळे होण्याची इच्छा नाही. काश्मीरमध्ये कुशासन आणि भ्रष्टाचार प्रचंड आहे.

WHY MAETYARS ARE NOT HONOURED IN INDIA

Why Martyrs are not Honoured in India? An article by Capt SB Tyagi (Retd) No Comments Major Mukund Varadarajan and Sepoy Vikram Singh, brave hearts of the Army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles deployed at Shopian, South Kashmir achieved martyrdom battling Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in a fierce encounter. But for a few sound bites and grainy pictures in media and some visuals of wreath lying, their sacrifice was largely ignored and soon forgotten. My salute to Maj Mukund Vardarajan for the valour and supreme sacrifice made for the country and may his soul rest in peace! During the cremations of these valiant souls, no wreath was placed on behalf of the President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister and there was no representative the state chief minister, not even representative of the District Magistrate! So what if the elections were on, model code of conduct places no restrictions on such activities? But there have been streams of coffins unloaded regularly at Delhi Airport bringing bodies of warriors which have never been shown minimum respect and courtesies by the Nation’s leadership. Col R V Varada Rajalu’s response to this tragic incident sums-up the anger of the fraternity, “I am feeling ashamed of the fact that the so called Supreme Commander – The President of India and the other political leaders who want all the benefits including name and fame have not even bothered to come and respect the bodies when they were flown from Delhi. I don’t understand what stopped Antony, the so called saint to come to Chennai and convey the government’s condolences to the family. The so called political class is enjoying all the benefits saying that their family has given their life for the country (you know who!).” We probably treat security and armed forces personnel as merely chaukidars (watchmen)! One politician in fact has brazenly stated that armed forces personnel join the forces to die only and he found nothing great about it! The poisonous attitude that ‘soldiers are meant to die’ needs to be condemned in strongest possible terms. Soon after the tragic martyrdom of Major Mukund Varadarajan and Sepoy Vikram Singh, Col Narindra Bhatia, Veteran has started a petition at change.org which can be signed – by clicking here. There were some sombre responses and some very caustic criticism – all compelled me to analyse the reasons why we do not honour our martyrs? Shri Vijayvir Mangla commented while signing the petition – “In present day scenario politicians have become so important that they are only considered martyr. Rajiv Gandhi died while canvassing for his political end, he is Shahid? Real people who risk their life for security of our country and give their life in this cause are forgotten.” Brigadier (Retd) VAM Hussain of Prasar Bharati, while signing the petition has written, “People of India; fill your eyes up with drops of tears. Let us ignore hypocrites who shed crocodile tears for publicity. Let us join Maj Mukund’s family to share their grief and reduce the pain that God has caused to Mukund’s young child and widow. Let us pray for the well-being of Indian soldiers – the pride of the Nation!” A responsible country, a responsible government and a mature press always need to recognise the sacrifice of the soldiers. A failure to do so may lead to adversities in future. We need to recognise and understand the sacrifice of defence service personnel for the Nation. If we cannot look after the family of those who died for this Nation, we do not have any right to seek a safe Nation. A country that forgets shamelessly its soldiers can never attain glory. India needs to see how other Nations showcase their military and learn from them. In today’s world no one appears to have value for the time one served with armed forces. The sad part and shame for this country is that they ex-serviceman are treated like beggars and considered as liability by our corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, who are more dangerous than real enemy. Historically no Nation has survived as a great Nation without recognising the sacrifices of its soldiers. The Nation has to be reminded of the covenant All Civilized Societies have towards their Warriors! Politicians and bureaucrats have demoralised and demotivated our armed forces so badly, that pre-maturely they are shedding their uniform in large numbers and quality youths are not coming forward to join armed forces. There are no proper and respectful resettlements for retired well disciplined and intelligent soldiers, who retire at early age. It is sad to see our retired jawans working as security guards / peons / chaukidars in banks, offices, apartments etc after serving this country in inhospitable and difficult areas. Like many of my course-mates who had only son and joined army, I see to it that my only son too joins army. Yet I will not accept a situation where ungrateful leaders of the Nation forget or ignore their duties and respect towards our soldiers. In army we are taught and trained to serve with ‘chin-up and chest-out’. Yet when political leadership is immersed so much in self-glorification, someone has to get-up and get counted! I have met few war-widows who are yet to get their dues after Kargil War! Their unimaginable miseries and lust and demands of the ‘babudome’ are beyond imagination and comprehension of common people. Who will fight for them since they are too weak or without resources to fight for themselves? Have read the words of Barack Obama … ​“So long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us – because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the care that they need when they come home.” ​Is there such statement ever made by Indian leadership? ​What happened to the statement of our PM on OROP? The PM of the Nation cannot honour his own promise and cannot get his orders implemented! I am of the opinion that if soldiers do not stand-up for justice to themselves, their fight for justice for others is fundamentally weak and misplaced. I recall that in 1978 at Agra, there was one officer (Para commando), whose wife was teased by some goons at a cinema hall and he thrashed three of them black-n-blue single-handedly. In his Summery of Evidence he stated that, “If I cannot use my training to defend the dignity of my wife, Nation will expect me to fail to defend its dignity

AUDF BANGLADESHI PARTY WINS THREE LOKSABHA SEATS IN ASSAM

घुसखोरांचे आव्हान आसाममधील क्रोकोझारमध्ये पुन्हा एकदा हिंसाचाराचे थैमान सुरू झाले आहे. आसाममधील दंगलींचे मूळ हे बांगलादेशींची गेल्या काही वर्षापासून सुरू असलेली प्रचंड मोठय़ा प्रमाणातील घुसखोरी हे आहे; परंतु इतक्या वर्षामध्ये आसाम राज्यात सत्तेत आलेल्या एकाही सरकारने वा केंद्र सरकारने या प्रश्नाकडे गांभीर्याने पाहिले नाही. या उलट या घुसखोरांचे मतदारांमध्ये रूपांतर करून आपली व्होट बँक तयार करून राजकारण खेळण्यात धन्यता मानली. सध्याच्या या आसाम प्रश्नाकडे सरकारने गांभीर्याने लक्ष दिले नाही तर फार मोठे परिणाम भारताला सहन करावे लागतील. भारताचा भूगोल यामुळे कदाचित बदललेला दिसेल. म्हणून सर्व प्रथम सरकारने या घुसखोरांकडे असलेला मतदानाचा अधिकार काढून घेतला पाहिजे आणि संभाव्य संकट रोखले पाहिजे. आसामबरोबर सध्याच्या परिस्थितीत सहा राज्ये आहेत. परंतु १९४७च्या काळादरम्यान आसाम आणि त्रिपुरा ही दोनच राज्ये होती. सध्याची जी सहा राज्ये आहेत ती आसामचाच भाग होती. सध्या तिथे मेघालय, त्रिपुरा, नागालॅण्ड, मणिपूर, मिझोराम आणि सिक्कीम राज्ये तयार झाली आहेत, ही सर्व राज्ये १९७३नंतर तयार झालेली आहेत. थोडक्यात आसामचा अर्थ ईशान्य भारत असा आपण समजला पाहिजे. पाकिस्तानचे पंतप्रधान झुल्फीकार अली भुत्तो यांच्या ‘मिथ ऑफ इंडिपेन्डंस्’ या पुस्तकातही त्यांनी या विषयी लिहिलेले आहे. ते म्हणतात, ‘आसाम हा पाकिस्तानचा भाग व्हायला पाहिजे.’ तसेच लॉर्ड वेव्हेल हे १९४४ साली भारताचे गव्हर्नर होते. त्यांनी आपल्या ‘व्हॉइसराईज जरनल’मध्ये लिहिलेले आहे. ‘आसामचे त्यावेळचे मुख्यमंत्री मोहम्मद सदाउल्ला खान हे मोठय़ा प्रमाणात बांगलादेशीयांची घुसखोरी आसाममध्ये करण्याचा प्रयत्न करत होते आणि पाकिस्तानचा भाग बनवण्याचा प्रयत्न करत होते. कारण १९४७च्या आधी तेथे मुसलमानांची संख्या वाढली असती तर तो भाग पाकिस्तानात गेला असता.’ १९९०मध्ये भारतीय सन्याचे इस्टर्न कमांडचे प्रमुख होते जनरल जमील मेहमूद. त्यांनी पश्चिम बंगालचे त्यावेळचे मुख्यमंत्री ज्योती बसू आणि आसामचे मुख्यमंत्री हितेश्वर सकिया या दोघांना पत्र लिहून सांगितले होते की, बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांना थांबवले नाही तर भारताचा नकाशा बदलेल. अशाच प्रकारचे पत्र त्यांनी आर्मी मुख्यालयालाहीदेखील पाठवले होते. सन्याच्या दृष्टीने भारताचा जो सिलिगुडी कॉरिडॉर आहे हा भाग अतिशय चिंचोळा असून जो ईशान्य भारताला उर्वरीत भारताशी जोडतो. याची रुंदी केवळ २५ ते ३० मैलच आहे. इथे जर बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांचे बहुमत झाले तर हा भाग भारतापासून कायमचा वेगळा होऊ शकतो आणि सध्या प्रत्यक्षात तशीच वस्तुस्थिती आहे. ‘आयएमडीटी’ कायदा घुसखोरांच्याच बाजूने त्यानंतर पुढचा आणखी एक कहर म्हणजे ‘आयएमडीटी (इल्लिगल मायग्रेशन डिटेक्शन ट्रिब्युनल) हा कायदा आणला. ट्रिब्यूनल म्हणजे एक कायदेशीर समिती ज्यांचे काम बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांना शोधणे हे होते. हा कायदा गोगोईंच्या कालावधीत तयार झाला. हा कायदा किंवा हे ट्रिब्युनल इतके उलटे होते की, उर्वरित भारतात एखादा परदेशी नागरिक पकडला गेला तर त्याला सिद्ध करावे लागते की, तो भारतीय नागरिक आहे. मात्र इकडे या उलट परिस्थिती आहे म्हणजे या समितीने सिद्ध करायचे की, पकडलेला घुसखोर हा भारतीय नाही. २००५मध्ये सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने हा कायदा बेकायदेशीर आहे म्हणून यावर बंदी घातली. सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने त्यावेळी म्हटले की, बांगलादेशी घुसखोरी थांबवली पाहिजे आणि हा कायदा पूर्णपणे चुकीचा आहे. २३ जुलै २००८रोजी गुवाहाटी उच्च न्यायालयानेदेखील याबाबतचा निर्णय देताना, बांगलादेशी आता राज्यकत्रे व्हायला लागले आहेत. त्यांना आता इथून हाकलायलाच हवे, असे मत व्यक्त केले होते. पण याबाबतीत तेव्हाही काही झाले नाही. याचे कारण सरकारनेच सांगितले की, इथे कोणीच घुसखोर नाही. घुसखोरांचाही पक्ष आतापर्यंत बांगलादेश घुसखोर हे तेथील सरकारसाठी मतदान करत होते. मात्र त्यांनाही आपली संख्या एवढी प्रचंड आहे तर आपण आपलाच पक्ष का निर्माण करू नये असे जाणवू लागले. म्हणून त्यांनी २००६मध्ये आपला पक्ष निर्माण केला, या पक्षाचे नाव आहे ‘एयूडीएफ’ (ऑल आसाम डेमॉकट्रिक फ्रंट) याच वर्षी त्यांनी पहिल्यांदा निवडणुका लढवल्या. तीन वर्षापूर्वी या पक्षातर्फे अजमल बज्रुद्दीन हे निवडून आले. सध्याच्या परिस्थितीत आसामच्या विधानसभेत १८ आमदार आहेत. तेथील मतदारांनी काँग्रेसला मत न देता स्वत:च्या पक्षालाच मत द्यायला सुरुवात केली आणि मग मात्र तरुण गोगोई घाबरले. त्यांनी २०१३मध्ये आपले वक्तव्य बदलले आणि ते म्हणाले की, बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांना येऊ देण्यासाठी मी येथे बसलेलो नाही. येथील ९५ टक्के घुसखोर हे बांगलादेशी मुसलमान आहेत; तर केवळ पाच टक्के हे बांगलादेशी हिंदू आहेत. मात्र बांगलादेशी हिंदूंना अजूनपर्यंत मतदानाचा हक्क मिळाला नव्हता. आता तरुण गोगई म्हणत आहेत, आम्ही त्यांना मतदानाचा अधिकारही देऊ. चार ते पाच कोटी बांगलादेशी घुसखोर पूर्ण बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांची देशातील संख्या ४ ते ५ कोटी असावी, असा अंदाज आहे. आसाममध्ये ३५ ते ४० टक्के लोकसंख्या ही बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांची आहे. पश्चिम बंगालचीदेखील ४० टक्के लोकसंख्या बांगलादेशी घुसखोर आहे. बांगलादेशाचा नकाशा बघितल्यास जेवढे जिल्हे भारताच्या सीमेवरचे बांगलादेशाला लागून आहेत ते आता ९० ते ९५ टक्के बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांचे अड्डे बनले आहेत. ईशान्य भारतापुरते बोलायचे झाले तर येथून ब्रह्मपुत्रा नदी वाहते. या नदीचा खालचा भाग म्हणजे दक्षिण आसामचा भाग तो आता जवळपास ९० टक्के बांगलादेशी बनला आहे. समस्या अशी आहे की, हे पुढे मागणीही करू शकतात की आमची लोकसंख्या जास्त असल्यामुळे आम्हाला स्वतंत्र करावे किंवा बांगलादेशाशी जोडावे किंवा असेही होऊ शकते की, २०२०मध्ये पश्चिम बंगाल आणि आसामचा मुख्यमंत्री हा बांगलादेशीदेखील असू शकतो. कारण ज्या पद्धतीने बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांची संख्या वाढत आहे त्यावरून अशी शक्यता नाकारता येत नाही. केवळ आसाम, पश्चिम बंगालमध्येच नाही तर उत्तर प्रदेश, बिहार व महाराष्ट्रातही यांची संख्या मोठा प्रमाणात वाढली आहे. हा सर्व इतिहास जाणून घेतल्यानंतरच सध्याच्या हिंसाचाराकडे पाहणे महत्त्वाचे आहे. बोडोलँड हिंसाचार सध्या आसामध्ये झालेल्या हिंसाचारात बोडोलँड भागाचा उल्लेख येतो आहे आणि सध्याचा प्रश्नही तोच आहे. बोडो हे आसाममधील आदिवासी आहेत. मूळ आसामी लोकांमध्ये दोन प्रकारचे लोक दिसतात. यात अध्र्याहून जास्त वेगवेगळ्या जाती-जमातीचे आदिवासी आहेत आणि अध्रे लोक मूळ आसामी भाषा बोलणारे आहेत. बोडोलँडचे चार जिल्हे आहेत. इथेही आता बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांची संख्या प्रचंड वाढली आहे. सध्याचा जो हिसाचार अथवा अशांतता निर्माण झाली आहे ती यामुळे सुरू झाली आहे. कोक्राझार, बक्सा या ठिकाणी हिंसाचारात मारले गेलेले घुसखोरच आहेत. बोडोलँडमध्ये एक दहशतवादी गट आहे, तो नॅशनल डेमॉक्रॉटिक फ्रंट ऑफ बोडोलँड या नावाने ओळखला जातो. सगळीकडून हे घुसखोर बाहेर काढायचे आहेत, हा त्यांचा मुख्य उद्देश आहे आणि त्यांच्याकडे शस्त्रेदेखील आहेत. तेथे आता बोडो प्रादेशिक विकास मंडळ (बीटीसी) स्थापन झालेले आहे. त्यानुसार बोडोंना तेथील अधिकार दिले गेले आहेत. गेल्या ३० वर्षात पंधरा वेळा तरी अशा प्रकारच्या दंगली तेथे उसळल्या आहेत. हिंसाचाराचे प्रमुख कारण म्हणजे बोडोलँडचा बराचसा भाग जंगलाचा आहे. तेथे वस्ती कमी असते. बांगलादेशी घुसखोर तेथे हळूहळू येऊन वस्ती करायला सुरुवात करतात आणि नंतर इतर कारवाया सुरू करतात. त्यामुळे पुन्हा पुन्हा येथे दंगली होतात. प्रत्येक वेळी येथे काही प्रमाणात बोडो तर काही प्रमाणात घुसखोर मारले जातात. आसाममध्ये आलेल्या घुसखोरांकडे मतदानाचे अधिकार आहेत. सर्व सरकारी कागदपत्रे असतात. या घुसखोरांचे तीन प्रकार आहेत. एक म्हणजे येथेच स्थायिक झालेले ज्यांच्याकडे रहिवासी दाखला आहे, दुसरे म्हणजे जे लपून छपून भारतात राहत आहेत आणि तिसरे जे रोज कामासाठी आसाममध्ये येतात आणि रात्री बांगलादेशामध्येपरत जातात. या तिन्ही घुसखोरांचे आव्हान आपल्यापुढे आहे. आसामच्या या प्रश्नाकडे सरकारने आता गांभीर्याने लक्ष दिले नाही तर त्याचे फार मोठे परिणाम भारताला सहन करावे लागतील. भारताचा भूगोल यामुळे कदाचित बदललेला दिसेल. असे होऊ नये म्हणून सर्व प्रथम सरकारने या घुसखोरांकडे असलेला मतदानाचा अधिकार काढून घेतला पाहिजे आणि संभाव्य संकट रोखले पाहिजे

Wednesday 14 May 2014

CAPTAIN VIKRAM BATRA PVC

My brother Vikram - Vishal Batra It's been ten years. A lot has changed. and a lot has remained the same. I have much more grey in my hair. Vikram is as youthful as ever. Time cannot touch him... When I talk about Luv, I don't know where to begin. Capt.Vikram Batra PVC (posthumous) is Luv, and I, Kush. His identical twin. Ours was a childhood spent in the hills of Palampur making the most of our identical looks—playing pranks, filling in for each other and at times even getting punished for one another’s mistakes. The similarity ran deeper than looks. We also had the same interests. Both of us started playing table tennis at the age of ten. It’s another story that Vikram went on to become the school champion for five consecutive years. But I’d like to believe that I had a big hand in that. After all, I chose to lose to him in the semi-finals in the fifth year so that he could make the school record. But deep in my heart, I know that my brother—Shershah of Kargil—was a winner right from the start. Shershah of Kargil. That’s what the enemy too called Vikram. That’s the mark he made on them on those unforgiving mountains of Kargil. I don’t know at what stage Vikram marched on way ahead of all of us. We’d grown up as regular kids, making our choices as we went along. The first different choice that I remember is when our father started giving us Rs 50 a month for the school bus fare. I chose to travel to school by bus. Vikram opted to walk it and instead spend those rupees in the canteen. As we grew up, Vikram opted for the Army, and I, rejected thrice by the Services Selection Board, settled for business administration. How thrilled he was when he made it to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. It was 6 December 1997. Vikram Batra’s dream came true. He took the oath as an Officer of the Indian Army: The Safety, Honour and Welfare of your country comes first, always and every time / The Honour, Welfare and Comfort of the men you command comes next / Your own Ease, Comfort and Safety comes last, always and every time. / Mom and Dad pinned up the stars on his shoulder. He stood there smiling from ear to ear in his crew cut and several kilos thinner after the rigorous training. It was a grand moment. But it wasn’t going to be an easy life and Vikram knew that. When he’d come home on annual leave, we would talk for hours about the challenges he faced in Sopore—the strife-torn town in Jammu & Kashmir’s Baramulla district—which was his first posting. He had been commissioned into 13 JAK Rif. We would dream of the day he would command his regiment and I would get a chance to attend some of the regimental functions with his family and children. That dream is lost now. Never could I have imagined, even in my wildest dreams, that the stories we saw in the famous TV serial, Param Vir Chakra, which we watched at a neighbour’s house in 1985 (we didn’t have a TV at home back then) would one day become so real for me. And Vikram would be the hero. Vikram was awarded the country’s highest gallantry award, posthumously. He was only 24. His famous words from the height of 18,000 feet: “Yeh Dil Maange More,” after victory over the enemy, still ring in my ears. It’s been ten years. A lot has changed. And a lot has remained the same. I have many more grey strands in my hair. Vikram is as youthful as ever. Time cannot touch him. In these last ten years, I have longed to visit those mountains that he conquered. And then suddenly, out of the blue, I got a call to travel to Kargil and Drass. It was as if Vikram was calling me to have a chat with him. I didn’t look back, packed my bags and set out to meet him. I landed in Leh at 10:30 in the morning on 2 July, five days before Vikram’s tenth death anniversary. The valley was more beautiful than it is made out to be in books. From the snow-capped hills surrounding it, I could almost sense Vikram looking at me. I then began the road trip to Drass to meet him. The mountain wind blew faster than the speed of the car and in my mind there was just one picture—of the bearded young man who had become a legend for pushing the enemy back at insurmountable heights where even life does not exist. A little outside Leh, we reached Gurdwara Pathar Sahib. I said a prayer for Vikram and for all those great soldiers guarding those mountains and our motherland. I recalled what Vikram had written in one of his last letters before the attack: ‘Life is at total risk. Anything can happen here. Take care of yourself and Mom and Dad… My picture has appeared in The Times Of India. Keep a copy for me. I want to see it once I’m back.’ The picture had appeared on the front page of The Times of India on 2 July 1999. It showed him standing with an anti-aircraft gun and weapons he had captured from Pakistani soldiers. This was after the first ferocious attack on Peak 5140 launched after they performed pooja at the Ghumri Base Camp with the call of “Durga Mata Ki Jai”. Vikram and his men captured point 5140 on 20 June 1999, and two weeks later, when his company launched the attack on point 4875 on 5 July, Vikram was fatally wounded—hit by sniper fire. The company captured the peak, but after 11 casualties. Vikram was one of them. It was months later, at the Western Command headquarters, when I met the junior commissioned officer (JCO) who was with Vikram the day he was fatally wounded. He was the last man to speak with Vikram. Sub Major Raghunath Singh started wailing when he saw me. He solved the mystery of my twin’s death for me: a young officer, Vikram’s junior, was hit and crying for help. The JCO wanted to go out to help but Vikram stopped him. “The enemy was firing heavily. ‘You have a family and children back home, I will do this,’ saahab said. He stopped me with these words and went out,” Raghunath Singh told me as he wept like a baby, inconsolably. But Vikram was hit by sniper fire. Having realised that, the charged company went berserk, mad with rage at their leader being hit, and killed the enemy soldiers. The tricolour was planted atop point 4875—they call it Batra Top now. Vikram reached Palampur before the sun rose on 11 July 1999. He was wrapped in the tricolour, lying calm almost as if he was trying to catch up on sleep he had lost during these arduous assaults on those treacherous peaks. Was I really so close to those peaks that I could almost see him fighting there? I wanted to reach up there as fast as possible, but the track was treacherous—the rocky mountain on one side and the sheer fall on the other. In some time, we had left the Indus River behind. It was a breathtaking journey. A place so beautiful and yet caught in the crossfire of war a decade ago. Midway, at one of the military posts, we had lunch with the commanding officer of 4 JAK Rif. I also met an officer six months senior to Vikram—now a major—and a JCO, both of whom had fought the war together with Vikram. “You look so much like Vikram Sir,” the JCO said and hugged me. I’ve been told that a billion times in the last ten years. There are people now who know me as Captain Vikram Batra’s brother. Many of them even walk into my office at ICICI Bank in Delhi and stare at me as if they know me. Some of them even say, “We’ve seen you somewhere.” When I tell them I’m Captain Batra’s twin, they say, “Oh, ‘Yeh Dil Mange More,’” and shake my hand. My dream of visiting Vikram as a commanding officer of a regiment couldn’t come true. But Vikram still commands. He’s there in the hearts of the soldiers posted in Kargil and Drass. In that mountain named after him (the Batra Top). And in the transit camp in Drass, called Capt Batra Transit Camp, where weary soldiers break their journey in the call of duty. ‘Call of duty’, the mention of these words takes me back to the days he was to be commissioned as an officer. When he was in the IMA, the footnote of Vikram’s letter pad read, ‘If Death comes to me before I prove my blood, I promise I’ll kill Death.’ You kept your word, Vikram. My Brother, My Twin, I salute you.

Monday 12 May 2014

पुस्तक परिचय- आव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे

20140512 पुस्तक परिचय- आव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे मूळ इंग्रजीत प्रकाशित झालेल्या, ब्रिगेडिअर हेमंत महाजन लिखित पुस्तकाचा, श्री.नरेंद्र गोळे ह्यांनी केलेला, ’आव्हानः जम्मू-आणि-काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे’, हा मराठी अनुवाद १०-०५-२०१४ रोजी पुण्यात प्रकाशित झाला. हे पुस्तक माधवी-प्रकाशन-पुणे येथे, खालील पत्त्यावर विक्रीस उपलब्ध आहे. किंमत रु.२२५/- फक्त. चंद्रशेखर जोशीदत्तकुटी, १४१६ सदाशिवपेठ, पुणे ४११०३०दूरध्वनीः २४४७४७६२, २४४७५३७२, भ्रमणध्वनीः ९३२५०९७८९४ ई-मेलः madhavipublisher@gmail.com ’खो रहा चैनो अमन, मुष्किलों में है वतनसरफरोशी की शमा, दिल में जला लो यारोंजिंदगी मौत ना बन जाए, सम्हालो यारों’ ह्या सरफरोश सिनेमातील शीर्षकगीतात व्यक्त केलेल्या परिस्थितीचा हा काळ आहे. देशातील खुशाली आणि शांतता भंग होत असण्याचा हा काळ आहे. कोणकोणते धोके ह्या काळाच्या उदरात दडलेले आहेत? ते प्रत्येक सुजाण नागरिकाने समजून घेण्याची आवश्यकता आहे. मात्र ती माहिती सहजी उपलब्ध असणारी नाही. ब्रिगेडिअर हेमंत महाजन ह्यांनी ह्या पुस्तकाच्या रूपाने ती समोर आणली आहे. दुसर्‍या महायुद्धांतील जेत्यांनी जर्मनीस विभाजित केले. बर्लीन शहरात भिंत बांधून वैमनस्याची बीजे रोविली. पण सुजाण जर्मन नागरिकांनी एकजुटीने जर्मन राष्ट्रास एकसंध केले. बर्लिनची भिंत तर आता केवळ नामशेषच होऊन राहिली आहे. जर्मनीप्रमाणेच भारत-पाकिस्तान विलीनीकरण होऊन काश्मीरबाबतच्या सर्व समस्या समूळ नष्ट होतील तो सुदिन मानावा लागेल! सध्यातरी, १६ मेला उदयमान होणारी नवी राजसत्ता, ’उँची राजनीती’ करून, हे साध्य करेल अशी आपण आशा करू या. मात्र तोपर्यंत, किमान काश्मीरची समस्या काय आहे? हे जाणून घेण्याचा सोपा सोपान म्हणजेच, ’आव्हान जम्मू आणि काश्मीर मधील छुप्या युद्धाचे’ हे पुस्तक आहे. जर्मनीच्या एकीकरणासारखे अद्वितीय उदाहरण जगभरात झालेले नाही असे मानले जाते. मात्र हे खरे नाही. भारतातच असे एक देदिप्यमान उदाहरण विद्यमान आहे. मात्र ते म्हणावे तितक्या ठळकपणे लोकांच्या नजरेसमोर आणले गेलेले नाही. १९७५ पर्यंत सिक्कीम हा एक स्वतंत्र देश होता. तो १९७५ साली भारताचे २८ वे राज्य म्हणून भारतात विलीन झाला. आज त्याबद्दल पूर्वाश्रमीच्या सिक्कीमवासीयांना, भारतवासीयांना, वा जगातील इतर कुणालाही, खंत वाटत नाही. दुधात साखर मिसळून जावी तसे, सिक्कीम भारतात विलीन होऊन गेले आहे. सिक्कीमला पर्यटन करून आपण तिथल्या निसर्गसौंदर्याचा पुरेपूर आस्वादही घेत असतो. उदयमान राजसत्तेने अशाच पद्धतीने, अखंड भारताचे चित्र पुनर्स्थापित करावे अशी आपण आशा करू या. मात्र त्यानंतरच्या भारतीय उपखंडाचे भवितव्य स्थिरपद शांततेचे आणि समृद्धतेचे व्हावे, ह्याकरता ह्या पुस्तकातील काश्मीरच्या साद्यंत इतिहासावे विवेचन वाचणे जरूर आहे. जम्मू आणि काश्मीर राज्याच्या इतिहासाचे अनोखे तपशील देणारा मजकूर, राज्याच्या भौगोलिक सीमांचे यथार्थ दर्शन करविणारे सुरेख मुखपृष्ठ आणि राज्याच्या वर्तमान परिस्थितीचा जणू भावार्थप्रदीप शोभेल असा आढावा, ह्यांनी हे पुस्तक सजलेले आहे. भारत स्वतंत्र झाला तेव्हा जम्मू आणि काश्मीर हे एक स्वतंत्र राष्ट्र होते. इंग्रजांनी त्यास स्वतःचा मार्ग निवडण्याचे स्वातंत्र्य दिले होते. मुस्लिमबहुल लोकसंख्येचे आधारे, पाकिस्तान त्याचेवर पाकिस्तानात विलीन होण्याकरता दबाव टाकत होता. भारत नेहमीप्रमाणे तटस्थ होता. जम्मू आणि काश्मीरचे महाराजा हरिसिंह स्वतंत्र राहू चाहत होते. मात्र अशक्त, दुर्बळ राष्ट्रे दीर्घकाळ स्वतंत्र राहू शकत नाहीत. स्वातंत्र्य मिळवू पाहणार्‍या त्या राज्यांतर्गत शक्तींना हाताशी धरून पाकिस्तानने अप्रत्यक्षरीत्या त्या राज्यावर हल्ला चढविला. काही कळायच्या आतच, राज्याच्या मोठ्याशा भूभागावर पाकिस्तानने आपली सत्ता प्रस्थापित केली. महाराजा हरिसिंह ह्यांना भारताची मदत घेण्यावाचून पर्याय नव्हता. त्याकरता, नेहरूंनी जम्मू आणि काश्मीर भारतात विलीन करावे अशी अट घातली. महाराजा हरिसिंह ह्यांनी हा निर्णय घेण्यास लावलेल्या अक्षम्य विलंबाचे पर्यवसान, आपण आज पाकव्याप्त काश्मीरच्या स्वरूपात पाहतो आहोत. हा सर्व उत्कंठावर्धक इतिहास ह्या पुस्तकात तपशीलाने दिलेला आहे. जम्मू आणि काश्मीर राज्याचे भारतात झालेले विलीनीकरण, सोबत अनेक समस्या घेऊनच झाले. घटनेचे ३७० कलम, पाकव्याप्त काश्मीर, पाकिस्तानने चीनला दिलेला भारतीय भूभाग आणि चीनच्या ताब्यात असणारा आकाशी चीन, मुस्लिमबहुल प्रांतातील हिंदू अल्पसंख्यांकांचे प्रश्न, घूसखोर-निर्वासित आणि विस्थापितांच्या समस्या, ह्या त्या समस्यांपैकीच काही आहेत. ह्या समस्यांच्या निरसनार्थ भारतीय संघराज्याची संसाधने मग सततच खर्च होत राहिली. काश्मीरातील लोकांच्या समस्यांकरता भारतीय संघराज्याचा पैसा प्रमाणाबाहेर खर्च होऊ लागला. उत्तरप्रदेश, बिहारसारख्या बिमारू राज्यांनाही कधी मिळाली नाहीत, एवढी संसाधने काश्मीरावर खर्ची पडू लागली. जिथे जाऊन राहू शकत नाही, जिथली जमीन खरीदू शकत नाही, त्या राज्यास, इतर राज्यांनी मदत तरी किती करायची! हा आर्थिक असमतोलाचा प्रश्न मग उपस्थित झाला. ह्या आर्थिक प्रश्नाची सम्यक ओळख ब्रिगेडिअरसाहेबांनी ह्या पुस्तकात व्यवस्थित करून दिलेली आहे. त्याकरताही हे पुस्तक वाचनीय आहे. अशीच समाज-प्रबोधक आणि शासनास ज्ञानदीप ठरावीत अशी, निरनिराळ्या विषयांवरची पुस्तके निरंतर लिहिली जावीत, अशी सदिच्छा मी ह्या निमित्ताने व्यक्त करतो.

Wednesday 7 May 2014

TRUTH ABOUT BODOLAND KOKRAJAR

सध्या पुन्हा आसाम मध्ये हिसाचाराच्या बातम्या येत आहेत. कोकराझार येथे पुन्हा हिंसेचा आगडोंब उसळेल अशी स्थिती आहे. जरा या मागील पार्श्वभूमी समजून घेतली पाहिजे असे वाटते म्हणून ही माहिती आपल्याशी शेअर करतो आहे. कोकराझार येथे मुळात बांगलादेशी मुसलमानांची संख्या सर्वात ज्यास्त आहे. एकूण मुस्लीमांच्या संख्येपैकी ९९ % मुसलमान बांगलादेशी घुसखोर आहेत. बोडो ही जमात पंचमहाभूतांची उपासना करते. त्यातील एक गट यज्ञ करतो. ते हिंदूच आहेत. पुर्वांचलामधील केवळ बोडो ही एकच भाषा अशी आहे जिला लिपी देवनागरी आहे. त्यांची वेगळी साहित्य सभा आहे. बोडो समाज हा पुर्वांचलामधील सर्वात मोठा व प्रगत समाज आहे. आपले निवडणूक आयुक्त श्री. ब्रम्हा हे पण बोडोच आहेत. कुच बिहार शेजारचे हे खरे तर जुने त्यांचेच राज्य. घुपरी जिल्हा हा खरे तर बोडो बहुल लोकसंख्येचा. पण आता तेथे ८० % बांगलादेशी घुसखोर आहेत. बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांनी तेथील जमिनी बळजबरीने काबीज केल्या. सरकारने आपली व्होट बॅंक तयार करण्यासाठी त्यांना पाठिंबा दिला, अव्याहतपणे तेथे घुसखोरी होत राहिली. बोडो ही लढाऊ जमात आहे. अन्याय सहन करणारे ते नाहीत. अस्मिता जागृत असणारा हा समाज आहे. तेथील जंगले, जमिनी, वनखात्याच्या जागा , सरकारी जागा बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांनी काबीज केल्या आहेत. सरकारने त्या अधिकृत केल्या. गेल्या १५-२० वर्षात बांगलादेशी घुसखोर कोकराझार मध्ये घुसले. मूळ बोडो आंदोलन हे १९८२ मध्ये सुरु झाले. IDMT कायदा स्वर्गीय इंदिरा गांधी यांनी पारित केला. पण या कायद्यातील त्रुटी अशा आहेत की त्यातून बांगलादेशी घुसखोर नीट स्थापित व्हावेत. गेल्या १८ वर्षात फक्त ७०० ते ८०० घुसखोर परत पाठवण्यात आले आहेत. बांगलादेशी घुसखोर असणाऱ्या समाजाचा विकास जाणीवपूर्वक केला गेला परंतु त्या प्रमाणात बोडोंचा विकास मात्र झाला नाही. त्यातूनच Bodo lebaration tigers चा जन्म झाला.सशस्त्र उठाव केला गेला. Bodo Teritorial administrative Dixtrit तयार केले गेले. २००५ पासून बांगलादेशी घुसखोरानच्या विरुध्द भांडण चालू आहे. बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांनी त्यांची रणनीती बदलली. अबोडो हिंदू व मुस्लीम यांना एकत्र करून बोडोंना बाजूला करण्यात आले. अनेक बोडो मुलींवर अत्याचार करण्यात आले. त्याचे चित्रण यु ट्यूब वर उपलब्ध आहे. बोडो चिडणे स्वाभाविक आहे. कोकाराझारच्या ज्या जंगलात हत्या झाल्या त्या ठिकाणी बांगलादेशी घुसखोर बेकायदेशीर पणे राहात होते. त्यांना सरकारने नोटीसा पण दिल्या होत्या सोडून जा म्हणून. त्या गावातून काही बोडो माणसे जात असताना बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांनी त्यांना हटकले व मारून टाकले. ४ जण दगावले. त्याचीच ही प्रतिक्रिया. पण मूळ ४ जण मारल्याची काही बातमी सुद्धा आली नाही. एक अबोडो अतिरेकी, ज्याने काही वर्षांपूर्वी राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघाच्या विभाग कार्यावाहांची हत्या केली होती तो आत्ता निवडणुकीला उभा आहे. कदाचीत निवडून पण येईल. आता तो अतिरेकी निवडून आल्यानंतर कदाचित परत हत्याकांड होऊ शकते. पुन्हा मागील वर्षी ज्याप्रमाणे उर्वरित भारतातील मुस्लिमांनी पूर्वांचलातील नागरिकांना लक्ष्य बनवले तसेच परत होऊ शकते. काळजी घेतली पाहिजे. मी काही बोडो समर्थक नाही, या सर्व हत्यांचा मी तीव्र निषेध करतो. वस्तुस्थिती आपल्याला कळावी म्हणून हे सर्व लिहिले आहे. -- अतुल अग्निहोत्री

Tuesday 6 May 2014

BRIG MAHAJAN BOOK ON KASHMIR PUBLICATION CEREMONY IN PUNE 10 MAY 0630 PM

VOTEBANK POLITICS MAMTA BANARJJEE & ASSAM GOVERNMENT

बोडालॅन्ड वाचवा: देश वाचवा! आसाम हिंसाचाराचे राजकारण बोडो बंडखोरांचा अलीकडेच आसामच्या कोक्राझार आणि बक्सा जिल्ह्यांत हिंसाचार या पार्श्वडभूमीवर राज्य सरकारने बांगलादेशीना स्वरक्षणासाठी शस्त्र उपलब्ध करून देण्याचा अफलातून निर्णय घेतला.बोडो बंडखोरांचे प्राबल्य असलेल्या भागांमधील बांगलादेशीनी स्वरक्षणाकरिता शस्त्र परवाना प्राप्त करण्यासाठी अर्ज करावेत’, असे सरकारतर्फे जाहीर करण्यात आले .भविष्यात अशा हल्ल्यांपासून बांगलादेशीना स्वत:चे रक्षण करणे शक्य व्हावे यासाठी त्यांना शस्त्र उपलब्ध करून देणे आवश्यक आहे, असे राज्य सरकारचे मत आहे. मुस्लिमांनी शस्त्र परवान्यांसाठी शक्य तितक्या लवकर अर्ज करावे, असे राज्याचे वनमंत्री रकीबुल हुसेन यांनी सांगितले.आज आसाममध्ये ४०-४५ % मतदार बांगलादेशी आहेत.बांगलादेशी नागरिकांना स्वसुरक्षेची हमी देण्यासाठी थेट त्यांच्या हातात शस्त्र सोपविण्याची नामी शक्कल हुशार नेत्यांनी शोधून काढली आहे. नेमक्या बांगलादेशी घुसखोरांच्या रक्षणार्थ ही शक्कल लढवायला अन् ती अमलात आणायला कसे सरसावले हुशार राजकारणी? काश्मीरच्या बाबतीत कधीच कुणाला का नाही आठवला हा उपाय?उलटे किश्तवार दंग्यानंतर व्हिलेज डिफ़ेंन्स कमिटीची शस्त्रे काढून घेण्यात आली. केंद्रात सत्तेवर आल्यानंतर देशात बेकायदेशीरपणे वास्तव्यास असलेल्या बांगलादेशी नागरिकांना हाकलून लावू, अशी भूमिका नरेंद्र मोदी यांनी घेतल्यानंतर पश्चिलम बंगालच्या मुख्यमंत्री ममता बॅनर्जी यांनी ‘बांगलादेशी नागरिकांना हात लावूनच दाखवा,’ असे आव्हान मोदी यांना दिले.असा इशारा ममता बॅनर्जींनी देऊन बांगलादेशी मतदारांच्याप्रति सहानुभूतीची लाट निर्माण केली.कारण साफ़ आहे पश्चिनम बंगालमध्ये सध्या ४०% मतदार बांगलादेशी आहेत.हा हिंसाचार म्हणजे व्होटबँकेच्या राजकारणाची फलश्रुती आहे. घुसखोर,भूमिपुत्र बोडो यांच्यातील संघर्ष

Saturday 3 May 2014

Veer Savarkar: The misrepresented Hindutva ideologue

Veer Savarkar: The misrepresented Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar: The misrepresented Hindutva ideologue History often becomes captive in the hands of ideological zealots and hero worshippers. The ideological campaigners distort history as much as the hero worshippers. Both of them don't want to tolerate an opposing view, howsoever, truthful that might be. In the process the distortions that creep into history lead to tensions and imbalances, thus disturbing social harmony. In fact that has been story of Indian history so far. A classic case in modern times is of the great revolutionary and Hindutva icon, Swatantra Veer Savarkar, who spent as many as 37 years in jail and under prison restrictions from 1910 to 1937 for his legendry revolutionary activities against the British rulers. In 1923 while undergoing his jail term in Andaman Nicobar or Kalapani he coined and defined the term 'Hindutva'. And after his release in 1937 he led an unsuccessful political movement to preventpartition of India as president of Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar baiters have often accused him of contributing to India’s partition by what they see as his 'divisive ideology' that sought to create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. In the process they have gone to the extent of almost absolving the main architect of India's partition along religious lines - Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Savarkar's legitimate grievances against a section of Muslims have been sought to be twisted to depict him as a non-practical, insensitive, anti-Muslim zealot. Facts, which in Savarkar's case are the biggest casualty, depict a different picture of him, however. In fact there isn't a greater example of distortion of history by ideological zealots than in the case of this famous revolutionary. The manifesto of Savarkar's Hindu Rashtra as mentioned in the well-written work on Savarkar by biographer Dhananjay Keer puts the record straight. According to the book, Savarkar's Hindu Rashtra manifesto not only allowed full freedom to the religious minorities to practice their religion but called for the intervention of the State with all its force in case the right to practice religion of a religious minority was being hindered in any way. However, according to the manifesto, “ Hindu Rashtra won’t allow creation of a nation within a nation in the name of religious minoritism “ . Seen in the backdrop of the political atmosphere of minority appeasement that is sapping the energy of our nation today one can say that Savarkar had seen through this danger nine decades in advance. Keer’s book gives another example of Savarkar's balanced stance on the Muslim issue. In the early 1940s a group of Lucknow-based Muslims were so impressed by the Congress's efforts to forge Hindu Muslim unity in the national struggle that they passed a resolution declaring that any Muslim slaughtering a cow would be considered an enemy of Hindu-Muslim unity and socially boycotted. When Savarkar read about it in a Mumbai newspaper he immediately issued a statement appreciating the Muslim gesture. He said: "If such gestures keep on coming from Muslims than Hindu-Muslim unity is possible." In 1938 when press reporters started comparing him with Jinnah during his visit to Lahore Savarkar himself put the record straight: "Myself and Jinnah are not the birds of the same feather because I stand for equality and no concessions while Jinnah is for more and more concessions for Muslims and doesn't stand for equality." This statement of Savarkar's virtually demolishes the smear campaign against him. While addressing a group of Indian students on the Dassera day in London in 1909 Savarkar had said "Hindus were the heart of Hindustan but just as the beauty of the rainbow is not impaired but enhanced by its varied hues, Hindus will look more beautiful across the sky by assimilating all the best from the Muslims, Jews and Parsi and other civilisations." The great revolutionary Asaf Ali was present at this meet and so was Gandhiji . Significantly, Asaf Ali later said that it was one of the finest speeches he had ever come across. But in 1923 Savarkar came out with his epic work 'Hindutva' warning about the dangers to Hindus from members of proselytising religions. The book is today a Bible of Hindu nationalists. After giving a precise definition of Hindutva it lays down a set of guidelines for protecting Hindus and Hindu religion from the aggressive designs on the part of the campaigners of converting religions. But it doesn't advocate second grade status to religious minorities and in fact supports equal treatment for all religions unlike many Muslim countries where Hindus can’t build a temple or cremate their dead even today. So the question is what forced Savarkar to come up with his Hindutva theory with in just 14 years of his 1909 speech? The answer lies in his study of the behaviour of the members of other religions that he did during his incarceration in Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar. He found that some of the Jail staff comprising Muslims along with Muslim prisoners were neck-deep into converting some of the gullible Hindu prisoners into Islam. Plus he had gained deeper knowledge of history now. He had read how in the 16th , 17th and 18th centuries the Portuguese rulers converted Hindu population to Christianity on the pain of torture and death in Goa and Konkan and how even a ruler like Mughal emperor Shahjahan, sold as a liberal by modern historians, had converted the entire family of the Bundela ruler of Orchha, Jhunjhar Singh, to Islam and forced his women relatives into his own harem as a mark of punishment for his rebellion. In fact there is unimpeachable evidence now to show as to how the builder of Taj Mahal used to devise strategies to convert Hindus into Islam through inducements and other means. After having read this medieval history what came as a last straw for Savarkar was the Congress's trade off with a section of Pan-Islamic Muslims in 1920 on the issue of Khilafat. While seeking the support of Indian Muslims for the independence struggle the Congress did a trade off and announced support to the Indian Muslims' Pan-Islamic movement seeking reinstatement of the Sultan of Turkey by the Britishers (who had unseated him ) on the ground that "he was the Khalifa of the Islamic world". This move by Congress ignoring that it would sow the seeds ofreligious appeasement and strengthen pan-Islamism played a major role in pushing Savarkar towards the Hindutva theory. So what is seen as Savarkar's Hindu supremacist view is actually a Hindu protective view based on organic thinking by a man who had seen the danger to Hindus in the face of threats from proselytising religions but still advocated equal treatment for all religions in his "Hindu Rashtra". In other words Savarkar’s efforts to protect Hindu culture and religion from the designs of the proselytisers have been given the colour of Hindu aggression which is a travesty of truth. The concluding paragraph of his book ‘ Hindutva ‘ nails the lies of his detractors: “ When Hindus come to hold a position when they could dictate terms to the whole world, those terms cannot be different from which Gita dictates or the Buddha lays down . A Hindu is most intensely so when he ceases to be a Hindu. “ Time has vindicated Savarkar in many ways. About Pakistan Savarkar had said, "Till a state based on a intolerant religious foundation was India's neighbour she would never be able to live in peace". The repeated aggressions of Pakistan on India from 1947-48 to Kargil , the latest being the 2008 Mumbai attack and now the merciless beheading of Indian soldiers, has proved Savarkar’s prediction correct time and again. Savarkar was always for strong military response to any kind of foreign aggression. When Pandit Nehru gave a knee jerk response to Chinese aggression in Tibet in 1950 and then came up with the Hindu-Chini Bhai-Bhai theory in the 1950s Savarkar issued a stern warning in 1954 saying that such kowtowing to China after its aggression in Tibet would whet its appetite and he won’t be surprised if China felt encouraged to attack India and swallow its land in the time to come. He was proved correct eight years later when China attacked India in 1962 and swallowed a large chunk of its land. There are other interesting facts about him, largely unknown. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev had met Savarkar in Ratnagiri in late 1920s and drew inspiration from him before embarking on their revolutionary activity. Even Subhaschandra Bose’s decision to leave India and join Japan-Germany axis in World War II was based on Savarkar’s advice that in international politics enemy’s enemy should be seen as a friend and befriended. The only leader who has lived up to an extent to Savarkar’s vision on foreign policy and national security so far is Mrs Indira Gandhi. And the only leader who can live up to it in future is perhaps Narendra Modi, of course, when he becomes Prime Minister. About the religious minorities Savarkar had said that they should get equal treatment but they shouldn’t be appeased as their appeasement would encourage them to come up with more and more unjust demands in the name of selective justice and at the cost of majority rights. Time has vindicated Savarkar even on this. The demands of at least a section of Indian Muslim leadership , which wants to encroach upon the rights of the majority thus causing social disharmony, are unending even after six decades of independence. A recent statement of Maulana Ahmed Bukhari of Delhi said it all. He said, "Only a weak Government is in benefit of Muslims in India as a strong Government invariably ignores Muslim’s demands and problems." The statement indicated the insatiable nature of demands of a section of Muslims in a country where the Haj pilgrimage is subsidised but not so much the pilgrimage of members of other religions. More, the Bukhari view is the very antithesis of a strong and united India as envisioned by all patriotic Indians, moderate Muslims included. On the flip side let us let us examine in what shape India would have been today had Savarkar's maxim of equal treatment for all - read Hindus, Muslims and Christians - would have been followed? Most would agree India would have been largely free from the religious rancour that has hindered its progress in many ways. Even the rise of organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad lies in the appeasement of religious minorities by political parties. The greatest proof of this is the fact that VHP became an aggressive organisation only in mid-eighties after appeasement of religious minorities had crossed all limits in the country. Unfortunately, Savarkar's supporters have always taken a Hindu apologist view while defending him, praising him for his revolutionary activities but remaining silent on his views on religious minorities as well as complete nonviolence on which he held a completely different view from that of Gandhiji. While Gandhiji was for complete non-violence Savarkar was for non-violence and not complete-nonviolence. Savarkar advocated that an aggressor should be paid back in the same coin. So, in nutshell Savarkar’s supporters take an utterly defensive stance while defending him against onslaughts from his ideological rivals thus leaving him virtually defenceless on issues that concern the future of the nation and to which Savarkar’s thoughts provide a solution. Significantly, while under prison restrictions in Ratnagiri town from 1924 to 37 Savarkar led the most powerful movement against untouchability in Indian history apart from Gandhiji’s. But there are a few uncomfortable facts about Savarkar which his die-hard followers try to brush under the carpet. For example when Sardar Patel was trying to merge the Princely states into the Indian Union a virulently anti-Congress Savarkar , who had been wrongly implicated by the then Congress Government in the murder of Gandhiji ( before being acquitted ) and as a result was in bad mental shape, supported the movement of the Travancore Princely State not to merge with India. This move went against his own advocacy of a strong and united India. Clearly, the path to a bright future, whether in case of a nation or an individual, is embedded in drawing lessons from undistorted history. And that is the reason why removing distortions from history is the need of the hour. http://blogs.intoday.in/headlinestoday/Veer-Savarkar-The-misrepresented-patriot-62989.html