Delete All Blue Ticks On Twitter

November 2019 saw a new uprising on the social media especially on the Twitter. The protesters were the people who either believed in the idea of equality and justice for all or they were the once who had been victims of the class (Read Caste) system in India for thousands of years. The instigating points to such a social media movement were many. For instance, the issue of verified accounts with blue ticks on Twitter. Twitter have been saying for many months that they have stopped their verified account program and are not issuing any blue ticks to anyone in India. Just during the same time, Twitter handles like that of Jay Shah, son of Amit Shah with just about twenty three followers was verified.

One fine day, Professor Dilip Mandal, an activist, journalist and an academician of repute suddenly saw his Twitter account blocked. This was a trigger for a movement on and against Twitter. The young brigade of Bhim Army locked the Twitter India office in Mumbai against such a treatment. A meeting between the Bhim Army representatives and Twitter in the presence of administration was held and issues were brought to a resolution table. Mandal's account was not only unblocked but also given a verified status. Professor Dilip Mandal and others had accused Twitter for being casteist by verifying accounts of the so called high castes in Indian society, on the other hand ignoring people of SC, ST, OBC & other minorities. After having a verified status on Twitter, Prof Mandal has been demanding to know the basis on which his account has been verified. He says, he never demanded a blue tick for himself.

This gave birth to trending hashtags on a daily basis like #SackManishMaheshwari, #deleteallblueticks, etc. Prof Mandal is usually the one who gives a hashtag for trending and others follow. In fact, he has himself requested his blue tick be taken back. His protest is for equality, either give blue ticks to all or delete all blue ticks. Let there be a level playing field for all with parity in rules. During the same time a video of Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev surfaced in the media where he was found to be using foul language against Dalit icons Periyar and B R Ambedkar. This irked their followers even more and lots of people joined in to trend #MaafiMangoRamdev, #PatanjaliKaBahishkar and #RamdevBharatChoodo. Ramdev issued a statement but hasn't apologised for his words against Periyar and Ambedkar till the time of typing of this article. The Dalit activists at places have peacefully protested at Patanjali Stores at locations like Patna, Bhopal and Delhi. 

Periyar was not a known name in North India but these trends and the material on tweets and other media have made sure that Periyar is a name that North Indians know about.

During the same time, there were many new accounts of boys and girls that came up. These were the ones who had either been suppressed or had heard the stories of caste suppression from their elders. Even the ones who shied away from revealing their castes were coming on Twitter in a big way and announcing their caste identity with pride. There was a stream of follow me, follow back tweets & in many cases, people followed back genuinely.

How would it be that an uprising of the SC, ST, OBC, Minorities not have an opposition from the so called Manuvadis? They tried with a few trends but they were out numbered. Such a movement in 2019 shows that even after seventy two years of an independent democracy, discrimination still exists but such movements on and off social media show the rise of a generation that is educated, aware of rights and is always ready to fight for their rights.

Jai Bhim, Jai Bharat    

       

Punjab – The real story of drugs

There's a lot of buzz regarding the drug menace in Punjab. Many friends have asked me the first hand information regarding the drug abuse, for different versions are coming out in media. Needless to mention most media channels & newspapers are biased and are inclined to subscribe to the lines given to them by their political masters. I'm unsure if I am biased towards any section but it would help the readers if I say I'm sharing what I saw on my visits to Punjab villages over the last two years.

The gravity of the drug situation in Punjab can be gauged by the fact that a father writes a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India on the coffin of his young lad who has died of drug overdose. This is not just a one off incident but a common sight in Punjab. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister hasn't acted on any such memorandums and doesn't even deem it important to be mentioned in his 'Mann ki baat' programmes. Even his Punjab party colleagues have been critical of their coalition partner SAD for the rampant drug abuse but the BJP-SAD coalition is still intact.

At the entrance of most villages you see the boards written in Punjabi, 'Akali aur Congressi leadera da Pind vich aana sakht mana hai' basically boycotting and banning the entrance of politicians because of the mess they have put the public into. During 2014 LS elections, a ruling party sitting MLA fighting parliamentary elections was literally dragged from the stage by village women accusing him for the drug menace. The said gentleman had to leave the spot unceremoniously and ultimately lost the election.

You ask any villager in Punjab about the upcoming Assembly elections and the vital poll issues. Two issues that crop up during every discussion are drugs & unemployment. One common feature of all the discussion is a State Minister called Bikram Majithia who also happens to be the brother in law of Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. From the drug addicts to the village women to even a ten year old, Majithia is being accused/seen as a druglord of Punjab by everyone. It is a known fact that an accused in NDPS act Bhola had named the same Minister during interrogation & even during his talk with media. The opposition has since then been demanding Majithia's resignation. An old Taksali whom I happened to meet recently had this to say, 'Majithia, Badal Sarkar de tabut vich aakhri kil hai' Translated as 'Majithia is the last nail in Badal government's coffin'.

In the time of home delivery, you can be assured of any drug being delivered at your convenient time & place for a cost. Drugs are readily delivered at even inaccessible places. A young boy joked, 'Saade pind Domino wale Pizza ni deliver karde par chitta de delivery di 30 minutes vich guarantee hai'. There are rehabilitation centers for addicts but the parking lots at such centers & hospitals serve as a place for transacting drug business. You demand it and you have it whether it's an educational institution, medical center, restaurant or a road side dhaba. Not only this but even the Police stations & prisons are not away from drugs. This has given rise to petty crimes like chain snatching, mobile snatching & other thefts. I witnessed a case of three batteries being removed from tractors at night by addicts in a village.

The mothers, sisters, fathers & brothers of Punjab are in tears of blood because of the chitta, heroine & other drugs today. Will we ever have our same old Punjab back that boasted of giving the best boys to the Indian Army? Will we be the witness of something like a green revolution or a white revolution that Punjab has had the honour of spearheading? Let's rise to the occasion & challenge ourselves to win the war against drugs.

The case of 'Radhe Maa'

Over the past few days, there is a lot of media buzz over ‘Radhe Maa’.  Like in most cases, the media has already given their verdict on the fifty year old sanyasin called ‘Radhe Maa’ by her devotees. It all started with a thirty two year lady accusing her husband & in-laws of mistreating her with the accusation that Radhe Maa was behind all her physical & mental sufferings. The matter is still under Police investigation but media is what the people have made it to be. They have already pronounced Radhe Maa ‘GUILTY’.

Television channels are discussing everything from Radhe Maa’s past, her dressing sense, her cars to her Bollywood bhakts but the particular case of harassment & dowry. Every now & then, the channels run a story about her and try to show her in a negative light. Media must understand that:

1.       The case of mental & physical harassment for dowry is still under investigation & no charges have been framed against Radhe Maa.

2.       Wearing a mini skirt doesn’t amount to obscenity. Radhe Maa has every right to wear what she likes. It’s not the woman wearing mini who is obscene but obscenity is in the minds of people. The pictures doing rounds in the media are nothing but private moments of the lady. A female lawyer has filed a case against 'Radhe Maa' but do we not know the outcome of such cases.

3.       Why is the media concerned if Radhe Maa is followed by Bollywood actors, actresses & politicians? She doesn’t go to them asking for anything but it’s the vice-versa.

4.       If people get inner satisfaction by visiting Radhe Maa, what is wrong in it? There is no dearth of so called saints & fakirs visited by masses for the relief to their worldly problems.

5.       By all means, the negative media hype is only going to add up the number of devotees of Radhe Maa. After all Publicity, positive or negative is a boon.

* The author has given an independent opinion & has no connection to 'Radhe Maa'. 

Article 370 & special status to Kashmir

Article 370 of the Indian Constitution gives special autonomous status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Article 370 is a temporary, transitional & a special provision. It restricts the Indian Parliament to enact laws for J&K except in matters of defence, communication, external affairs & ancillary matters (as mentioned in the Accession document). This came into the picture in the year 1948 when Maharaja Hari Singh decided to sign treaty with and annex to India. Article 370 gives Jammu & Kashmir, an autonomous status. J&K has its own constitution; the people in J&K have dual citizenship of J&K as well as India which also entails them the right to property in their own state as well in India but not vice versa. A female who marries outside state automatically loses her right to any property (even paternal) in J&K. One can burn tricolor in the state without getting prosecuted. The state doesn’t have any job reservations as per the orders of Union government. A citizen of J&K can apply, compete, join & work for the central government jobs but the state govt jobs are only open for the citizen of J&K. People outside the state can’t participate/apply for the jobs.

Sheikh Abdullah, the former Prime Minister of J&K wasn’t happy with the words temporary & transitional hence he demanded iron clad guarantees from the Government of India. There was an accord signed between Sheikh Abdullah & the then Indian PM Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1974.

Over the time, there has been a demand to abrogate Article 370. As per the experts, It can be only abrogated by majority vote of the constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. At present there is no constituent assembly in Jammu & Kashmir. Some analysts feel Article 370 to be one of the biggest mistake of Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru. Some suggest the State government can form a new constituent assembly to decide the fate of Article 370. Others argue in the absence of no constituent assembly in J&K, the President of India can issue a notification abrogating Article 370. 

India’s Foreign Policy

India’s Foreign Policy

In the Modern world of fast moving economies, no nation can undermine its economic & strategic interests. The relationships today are determined more on economic values. India, the largest democracy in the world has always been pragmatic with her relationships with the other nations. Our foreign policy has always been appreciated by the leaders of the world. With a strong government in Delhi, the focus on foreign relations especially with our neighbors has increased manifold. PM Modi has been clear on India’s foreign policy emphasizing we won’t let anyone dictate us terms & vice versa which has been applauded by one and all.

Relations with SAARC countries

India is almost 80% of all the SAARC nations. For the very first time in history, PM took the initiative to invite the heads of all SAARC nations for his swearing in ceremony indicating that the foremost thing is to have better relations with our next door neighbors as no country can progress without the progress of its neighbors. The first official visit of the PM was to Bhutan and then to Nepal where he was welcomed with open hands by the two neighboring nations & people.

Relations with other countries

The western world sees a lot of business opportunity in India as not many markets have the same population size. With the government bringing in increase in FDI limits in sectors like Insurance, things look the positive way. The FIIs, the foreign investors have a positive mind frame towards India. All this is going to generate a lot of opportunities for youngsters, new jobs, entrepreneurial initiatives which will help the economy a lot. The best thing about our nation is the young youth who have good command over language and cheap labor. With favorable policies for investment & ending policy paralysis, the Indian diplomats can surely encourage foreign investment. The vote in UN against Israel also shows a pragmatic approach of the nation where India has put the human values above anything else. At WTO also, India expressed it can’t toe under pressure from anyone but would care for her people’s food security and interests. The visits of Chinese foreign minister & US Secretary of State have surely kept the External Affairs Minister Mrs Sushma Swaraj very busy. Modi will be visiting the United States in the month of September. Optimism.

The Palestine issue

Since ages, the Arabs and the Jews have been stating their claims on Palestine citing different reasons. Jews for that matter cite Hebrew Bible which mentions the said land to be promised to Jews. On the other hand, the Arabs have always proved their majority for centuries. The Arabs also have two mosques here that are considered to be sacred pilgrimage sites for the followers of Islam. After World War I, the Europeans gave the British the right to determine the fate of Palestine. The British decided on a two state theory which was resisted by the Arabs. During Holocaust, the Jews from all over Europe poured in at Palestine in large numbers.

In 1948, the UN vote declared Israel as a new nation. The Jewish nation is today one of the most developed economies in the world. Since Israel’s independence, there has been deep unrest in the region especially the West Bank & Gaza Strip.

Gaza Strip is a densely populated small place which can be best explained by the facts that it has a length of forty one kilometers with a width of six to twelve Kilometers surrounded by an eleven kilometer fortified border on the Egyptian side and a fifty one Kilometers border to Israel. The Israelis have been bombing this place since July 8^th, 2014 on the pretext that the Hamas which has been ruling Palestine since 2007 has launched rockets to attack Israeli establishment and killed four Israelis. In the last three weeks or so, more than 1600 Palestinians (most of them civilians) have been declared casualties and about sixty Israelis have lost their lives in the ongoing truce. Egypt that has been trying to mediate hasn’t been much successful except issuing ceasefire requests. The International community sympathetic towards Palestinians hasn’t shown any resolve to stop this bloodshed. Palestine this time hasn’t even found much support from the leaders of the Arab world.

The international community including the United Nations needs to act fast to resolve the mayhem in Palestine & find an amicable and a long lasting solution to the issue.

My opinion on Shashi Tharoor’s opinion

Shashi Tharoor, a two time Member for Parliament and an author of fourteen books, a former diplomat who has never shied away from independent opinion seems to have gone into a shell like his other party colleagues in his pre-launch review of ‘One Life is Not Enough’ very unlike of him.

Natwar Singh, no doubt has been an intellectual and one of the most respected diplomat and politician on foreign affairs & politics. Shashi not just having met him, worked with him & appreciatively reviewed his earlier books knows him in many ways than most of us. Natwar Singh has earlier written books which according to Mr Tharoor were ‘marvelously written, with an indiscreet revelation or two, but nothing to rock any boats in the world.’ His autobiography doesn’t seem to be in vein similar to his earlier works. No doubt, every book is different, every subject is different, even the thought process changes with time. Is Shashi conceding to the fact that this book will still reveal much more than the known and the expected.   

There have been a few revelations reported about the book. One of them apparently suggesting Rahul Gandhi persuaded Mrs Sonia Gandhi to sacrifice the Prime ministry. Undoubtedly, Sonia should have sought the views of her near & dear ones on the issue but then why would Dr Manmohan Singh announce that Sonia Gandhi has agreed to become the nation’s PM & would go to meet the Rashtrapati, the next day, just a day before the big drama where the stalwarts like Renuka Chaudhary, Kapil Sibal and the list goes on had tears in their eyes appealing to Madam to accept PM ship of the nation. The other supposedly damning nugget of Rajiv Gandhi not consulting the cabinet before sending IPKF, to government files being carried to Sonia saddens Shashi as he feels that Natwar has descended to that level. It signifies that Shashi agrees to what is written in ‘One Life is Not Enough’ about the files being taken to Sonia. I am sure Shashi would give Natwar the benefit on his other revelation regarding Rajiv’s blunderous decision to send IPKF to Sri Lanka. Shashi is doing the same service that Natwar was doing for years. Yet, Natwar is being accused of settling scores. Who knows in the times to come we have another book penned by Dr Shashi Tharoor giving even more startling facts.

The aristocratic Natwar still seems to be a gentleman, a well bred, well educated person. Shashi has probably not seen his interviews on television where he acknowledges the fact that in the last fifteen years, Sonia Gandhi has been successful in keeping the Congress Party in one fold. Not everything is done for credits Mr Tharoor, Natwar might have been harsh on using adjectives to describe Sonia’s style of working but the whole nation knows the truth even before the so called revelations in this book. More than anything else, an eminent economist & a former Prime Minister who is known for his silence cuttingly remarked that private conversations should not be made public for capital gains. The background that he comes from, Natwar doesn’t need any fame or capital gains at least at this age. It would have been prudent if Shashi had mentioned that during the times Natwar needed the Gandhi family support, he was shown the door. What private conversations is the former PM talking about? Why does Shashi want Natwar to feel ashamed of turning down Priyanka & Sonia Gandhi’s requests? After all, it is Natwar Singh’s Autobiography and he should be given the privilege to write about things from his own perspective.

Mani Shankar Aiyar relishes telling and creating stories. Just like Mr Tharoor today, Aiyar is a perfect case of sycophancy. Mr Tharoor, you are one of the most respected politicians in India. It is fine to be a party man but that shouldn’t mar your independent opinion. 

A few years later, if & when Shashi Tharoor writes his autobiography, will he owe it all to the Gandhis for what he has achieved in life or will he credit & thank god, his family & his own hard work?