The ‘abrogation’ of Article 370 is difficult to digest for many in India, who have grown so used to the status quo that a change of this magnitude challenges our intellectual faculties.

Why was Article 370 inserted in the Constitution in the first place? Poet and politician Hasrat Mohini, in fact, had asked in the Constituent Assembly in 1949, ‘Why this discrimination, please?’ As the involvement of the UN brought an international dimension to the war with Pakistan over J&K at that time, N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, a former diwan to Maharaja Hari Singh of J&K, and the principal drafter of Article 370, argued that for a variety of reasons, Kashmir, unlike other princely states, was not yet ripe for integration. Ayyangar argued that “the will of the people through the instrument of the [J&K] Constituent Assembly will determine the Constitution of the state“.

Interestingly there is a Section 3 in that Article 370 that empowers the President to declare the special status inoperative anytime. With the state assembly being dissolved, its powers have been passed to parliament, which, acting as the state assembly, can approve the bifurcation of the state. But this could be subject to a judicial review, which may find this clause to be a basic feature of the relationship between the state and the Centre, and cannot, therefore, be amended.

Article 370 was about providing space — in governance, and to the people who felt vulnerable about their identity and insecure about the future. Has it done any good to those people in the valley in the last seven decades? No, on the contrary it did create a network of patronage and power gamed by friends and adversaries alike. It sustained a politics of entitlement among politicians, media persons and bureaucrats. Alienation from the mainstream stunted the tourism, the major livelihood of the alley. Younger generation turned to stone pelting for sustenance, and not before some of them would end up into taking arms! The present model had only incentivised bad politics, rent-seeking and corruption.

The Modi government’s latest move underlines that it is not only serious about consolidating India’s frayed peripheries, but it is also cognisant of aspirations of a ‘state’, which, despite its resources, has become a cesspool of violence and degenerative politics. For that, doing away with the shibboleths of the past was a necessary first step. 

We have to now see whether doing away Article 370 will actually institutionalise good governance and create new opportunities and peace for J&K’s and Ladakh’s people.

Credits:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/article-370-will-revoking-special-status-be-good-for-kashmir-india/articleshow/70543207.cms

An unwarranted controversy has been stoked recently in Tamilnadu on which is the older language: Tamil or Sanskrit? But the fact is, both these are very very old and are rich in literature, that should make an Indian be proud of the heritage. The two languages, evolved at least before the 8th century BC, have overlaps of words indicating the knowledge interplay between the two cultures. Both have lost precious early literature without the aid of inscriptions. The minuscules, that fortunately survived, are only because of the ‘Gurukul’s word of mouth culture’. There are many facets of these languages to be proud off and definitely not to be envious. After all, Learning of one is not at the ‘expense’ of the other, isn’t it? in fact they have benefitted mutually: கம்பர் could not have rendered his wonderful work ‘கம்பராமாயணம்’ without studying the original works of Valmiki! Such is the case with வில்லிபுத்தூராரின் பாரதம் as well. Even கண்ணதாசன் rendered good poetries taking cue from the Sanskrit literature such as Adhi Sankarar’s ‘Bhajagovindam’. That too by self reading! Similarly Valmiki refers to Hanuman talking to Sitha in ‘Madhura Bhasha‘ in lanka which could be a reference to Tamil!

Why not enjoy the beauty of both the languages with the study of their literary works? You would not unlearn one by learning the other!

There seems to have been no enmity between the learned of the two languages for ages; but Why now? Any hidden agenda by the vested interests?

By making sacrilegious statements on Sanskrit, would Tamil become more popular? It would be a yeoman service to Tamil, if many of the Dravidian leaders, who do not even pronounce ‘ழ’ in that language properly, first learn to do so!

credits:

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/chennai/sanskrit-is-a-dead-language-says-vaiko/articleshow/70421864.cms

Some of the ardent Indians adore the British and salute them even today for their having educated us, gave us civilised life, democracy, and above all taught English apart from bestowing the pride of wearing the suit-boot attire to imitate their cultured life (inspite of our temperate climate). But the gospel truth is that the Britain stole $45 trillion from India during their occupation, based on the latest revelation.

New research by the renowned economist Utsa Patnaik – just published by Columbia University Press – establishes the truth in this narrative. Drawing on nearly two centuries of detailed data on tax and trade, Patnaik calculated that Britain drained a total of nearly $45 trillion from India during the period 1765 to 1938.

In the first part, from 1765 to 1858, the loot happened through the trade system. Britain, which bought goods like textiles and rice from Indian producers and paid for them mostly with silver, changed tactics. East India Company, the trading arm of the Royal British, began collecting taxes in India, and then cleverly used a portion of those revenues (about a third) to fund the purchase of Indian goods for British use. In other words, instead of paying for Indian goods out of their own pocket, British traders acquired them for free, “buying” from peasants and weavers using money that had just been taken from them.

In the second part of the episode, after the British Raj took over the reigns of the country in 1858, the loot added another dimension: importers who wanted to buy goods from India would do so using special Council Bills – a unique paper currency issued only by the British Crown, with gold or silver. When the Indian exporters cashed the bills in at the local colonial office, they were “paid” in rupees out of tax revenues – money that had just been collected from them. So, once again, they were not in fact paid at all; they were defrauded! Meanwhile, London ended up with all of the gold and silver that should have gone directly to the Indians in exchange for their exports.

This corrupt system meant that even while India was running an impressive trade surplus with the rest of the world – a surplus that lasted for three decades in the early 20th century – it showed up as a deficit in the national accounts because the real income from India’s exports was appropriated in its entirety by Britain.

Britain used the windfall from this fraudulent system to fuel the engines of imperial violence – funding the invasion of China in the 1840s and the suppression of the Indian Rebellion in 1857. And this was on top of what the Crown took directly from Indian taxpayers to pay for its wars. As Patnaik points out, “the cost of all Britain’s wars of conquest outside Indian borders were charged always wholly or mainly to Indian revenues.”

This is the sad history of India loosing its glorious shine, not only its wealth but the pride of its heritage, in the two hundred years of plunder by the British Raj! Having thrived on the Indian loot all along, British have no reason to be envious of India’s GDP, now having set to overtake theirs, in the not too distant a future!!

Credits:

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/britain-stole-45-trillion-india-181206124830851.html

Last night I got a breaking news in Whatsapp:

“Nine NZ players resigned and Joined Indian team! Amit Shah says…India will play final.”

Yes! The frustration of loosing a berth in the coveted World Cup final could push the cricket crazy Indians to do anything imaginable. In the context of present political turmoil in many states, one might even believe this news could be true (ICC rules permitting) with the mighty ‘Bahadur Shah’ holding the fort of ‘Indian prestige’ in the modern ‘Indraprastha’.

The recent outbursts of episodes of en masse defections by the honourable (?) elected representatives of Goa, karnataka, West Bengal, and so on, have shamed the ethical Indians. The intermittently humorous karnataka theatre is currently active with a full display of ‘comedians’.

Slew of legislations to prevent this mockery horse trading has not brought any fruition to the world’s largest seven decade old democracy that seems to be still ‘evolving’.

Only thing what we, the citizens who elect these morons can do is, sit back and enjoy the video clipping of the famous (late) Jaspal Bhatti’s comedy show on this topic of ‘MLA market’!

Moral: Men may come and men may go but ‘ayarams and gayarams’ are ever here to stay fooling around…..