Indian Opinion

  Mukesh Devrari Democracy means the opposition will be allowed to express dissent against the ruling regime. Unfortunately, during the tenure of the ruling BJP government, the space is constantly shrinking for opposition parties to launch a concerted movement to highlight the failures of the ruling regime, including police atrocities on farmer groups. First, BJP leaders need to understand now that the debate is not always about right and wrong. Having a majority in parliament does not mean the laws can be pushed down the throats of the masses. Secondly, the debate is also not about the merit of farm laws now. It is quite possible that the corporate world would welcome all economic reforms. Still, however appropriate they might appear, their argument cannot be the sole basis of creating the farm laws.   Prime Minister Modi’s tendency to push the laws despite widespread opposition by farmer groups shows his authoritarian tendencies. After killing eight farmers, it would be ...

Mukesh Chandra Devrari Book Review: Title - Vajpayee: The Years that changed India, Author - Shakti Sinha, Publisher - Penguin Random House India Private Limited, Kindle price – 387 Rupees Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee enjoys a mythical status in the history of non-Congress politicians who could reach the zenith of political power in India despite his humble origins. His mesmerizing poetry, powerful speeches, commitment to constitutional morality and devotion to the centre to right ideology was remarkably down to earth. He was a diamond in a coal mine. Due to his humility and demeanour, he was described a s  the right man in the wrong party by liberals in India.     Former private secretary of Prime Minister Vajpayee Shakti Sinha recently published a book titled, ‘Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India’. It is difficult to say what was his purpose of writing the book. If the purpose of the author was to establish his illustrious former boss as larger th...

Mukesh Devrari Arab backlash cannot be ignored as Pakistani or Muslim propaganda against India. It can be described as a genuine reaction against the rising hatred in India. First of all, unlike Pakistanis, Arabs are not negatively disposed towards India or Hindus. They have no reason to hate India. Neither Indians know much about Arabs, except the ones who have travelled to the Middle East for work. PM Narendra Modi and his party failed in governing the country. Rather than focusing on economic development in the last six years, BJP made the country hotbed for religious unrest and chaos. BJP leaders focused more on divisive issues than on development. It was one of their ploy to hide their failures, critics argue. In the latest development, Arabs public intellectuals have started outlining how Indians are criticizing Islam and Muslims while living in Arab countries. Although there is nothing wrong in criticizing the religion and religious practices but intent must not...

Mukesh Devrari It is difficult to draw an exact line between free and hate speech. The Absence of hate speech is also marked by political correctness. It is a difficult ethical problem to solve, but this question needs an urgent answer. Hate speech can be divided into three categories in terms of its impact and scope. First is regional hate speech, second is national hate speech and third is international hate speech. The most dangerous aspect of hate speech is its ability to entice fellow citizens to indulge in violence against the targeted group. It also puts pressure on elected governments to take adverse actions against a particular group or consider their genuine aspirations as an abuse of democratic structure available to all citizens. It makes perfect sense to view the instances of hate speech internationally as a threat to global peace. US President Donald Trump called Syrian President Basher-al-Asad an animal in one of its tweet. It is important to understand that...

Mukesh Devrari Jinnah is a controversial man. He is controversial because he used controversial ideas to advance controversial and communal interests of the Muslim community in India at the cost of multiculturalism and secular fabric of the nation. It is madness to claim that people of two religions cannot stay together in a British style parliamentary democracy. Jinnah claimed that Muslim minority consisting of tens of million did not trust the intent of leadership of religious majority.  Keeping religion at the centre of identity above everything else for political goals proved dangerous of South Asia. Not only Indians lost a strategic part of their country to Islamists of northern India, but it also paved the seeds of trouble in the future.  Many left-leaning scholars in Pakistan today feel that even if the creation of Pakistan did not have politically correct reasons, it still has a rightful claim to exist as a normal nation without sticking to any ideology. I...

Mukesh Devrari A former civil servant Khalid Bashir Ahmad recently published a book ‘Kashmir: Exposing the Myth, Behind the Narrative’. Respected Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari who has the expertise to write on the edges of varying narratives emerging from Kashmir wrote a review of the book for the Frontline Magazine. The book is an ambitious attempt by the author to replace the recorded history of Kashmir by the Islamic version. There were certain things in the review which were suggesting how majority Muslims view Kashmiri Hindus in the valley. After a long time, this author came across such an article which puts forward almost all politically incorrect arguments against the minority community in the garb of larger notions of Islamic victimhood. It is just amazing how Kashmiri Hindus have been described as enemies of pious, gullible and innocent Kashmiri Muslims. The first argument, the reviewer claims that scientific methods have been used to correct the Kashmiri...

Dust and smoke billows out from a residential house which was blown up during a gunfight between militants and Indian soldiers in Durbagh village of Chadoora, 15 km from Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir on March 28, 2017. One militant was killed and an Indian soldier injured during a 10-hour-long gunfight. Three civilians were also killed and at least 15 injured during clashes near the gunfight site. Photo courtesy Agencies SOURCE - NAM NEWS NETWORK Mukesh Devrari First, Young generation of Indians are least bothered about freedom and liberty ensured in this country to each and every citizen. They feel too much of freedom is hampering decision making and implementation of policies. Students, mostly upper caste, who have never seen any hardships in life, have been coaxed to believe that democracy in India is a barrier in our rapid progress and economic development. These emerging militant nationalists are not ready to accept that almost all rich nations o...

Mukesh Devrari  In the literal sense fundamentalism is a form of a religion that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture. It exists in various degrees.  Social media provided impetus to fundamentalist forces around the globe. It is an open allegation against the functioning of social media. It is possible to work anonymously in the public sphere created by social media for social intercourse on a variety of subjects. This luxury of anonymity is not available in traditional media. Even without being anonymous, people can spread filth all around, like people are doing on Twitter, perhaps the most dangerous platform for unregulated hooliganism and right-wing propaganda.  In the physical presence of ‘the other’ social etiquettes remain in existence. This good mannerism must not be underestimated as it is essential for the peaceful existence of society. In real life, people do not use derogatory or outrightly inflammatory remarks against...

Screen shot from the website of The Hindu.  Mukesh Devrari In the morning I came across a column written against uniform civil code in the editorial page of ‘The Hindu’. The essay was written by Nivedita Menon. She is a professor at JNU, New Delhi and describes herself as a feminist scholar. In her column titled ‘It isn’t about the woman’, she gave reasons to support the continuation of Sharia based Muslim personal law in India and argued against prohibiting polygamy and triple talaq. She described the Uniform Civil Code as a Hindu agenda to impose Hindu laws on Muslims. I could resist myself and scribbled a few lines to critique her arguments. It is important to critically examine her grotesque narrative on the issue. She is denying democratic space available to Muslim women in secular democracies like India. According to her even in secular democracies if Muslims women need any right, they should find it within the Islamic faith.  Recently a Muslim w...

Photo Courtesy - Nirmal Poddar  Mukesh Devrari Zakir Naik is an intelligent man. His popularity is not only a result of trickery and propaganda. He is a serious opponent of religious scholars who talk about the equality of religions. The objective of his discourse is to prove that Islam is the supreme religion. It is best among all options. All other religions are inferior to it. He can be described as an Islamic supremacist, who has devoted his life for converting more and more people to Islam and establish the Wahabi version of Islam in South Asia.    Wahabi Islami preaches and propagates 7 th century tribal lifestyle in the name of Islam. Saudi Arabia funds the expansion of Wahabi Islam which poses a grave challenge to the modern world in 21 st century. It wants all Muslims to follow puritanical Islam exactly as practised and propagated by Prophet of Islam Mohammad himself. Zakir Naik runs an Islamic research foundation and peace TV which has more than...

Mukesh Devrari What is communal writing? It includes a style of writing, which tends to create rift among different communities. It also promotes and preaches hatred. It encourages communities to indulge in violence against each other. It draws a picture as if communities are pitted against each other and always vying to establish hegemony over each other. In a country like India, communal writing can lead to rioting, loss of life and property. India has seen many communal conflagrations. In 1984 riots many Sikhs were killed by the supporters of congress party after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her Sikh bodyguards. In the ensuing riots after the demolition of controversial Babri Mosque in 1992thousands of Hindus and Muslims killed each other brutally. In 2002 Gujrat riots many Muslims were killed in Gujrat with the connivance of state government led by Narendra Modi.   Communal writing is an immoral thing, but at times even debate around the so...