jabdakhata

The criminal justice system of India is a rotten, outdated judicial system, a legacy of the British raj, subsequently reinforced by political and other biases of the judges themselves. Particularly repugnant is the attitude of the judicial system to the women and children victims of rape, molestation and other atrocities and their extreme reluctance to award death penalty even for the most abhorent crime, in the name of liberalism. They deny justice to the victims who are often maimed for life. A cace in point was the judgement delivered in the case of brutal rape of nurse Aruna where the victim was in a vegetative state for the rest of her life and the the perpetrator was awared only a seven year RI by the esteemed and honourable judge (If I do no use these adjectives I'll be dragged for contempt of court - that's the best the criminal justice system can do for good citizens who question its "dharma"). Unfortunately again, we as a coutry have forgotten our dharma, ou...

Let us suppose that there are two countries in our present times, both very powerful and ruled by autocratic leaders. Both the countries have global designs and aspirations. One is an economic superpower while the other is an aspiring economic superpower. One has a grievance, a grudge that once it controlled half the world and its resources and then it was taken away from it. It still harbours the notion that it can attain glory by reconquering the lost territories and also the resources and thus become an economic superpower and again dominate the world like the cold war era. The other thinks that it is the natural heir to the throne of the world because of its size and capabilities. For a long time the world had ignored it, even oppressed it. It had suffered a lot. It ushered in a cultural revolution to drive away the influence of the foreign devils that had contaminated its soil and culture, in the process killing millions of its own citizens. The other one had been the deathbed f...

Coronavirus epidemic has given us several opportunities. They are - 1) we should be grateful for being alive everyday. Its a fact that we forget that we should be grateful everyday for seeing a new day. Only in times of crisis we remember that we can too die - just as Yudhisthira said - "ahani ahani bhutani gacchanti yamamandiram...sesha sthirantam icchanti kimaschryam mata param" - everyday people die and yet they think that somebody else will die, not me. 2) We should learn to curb our desires and live on what is minimum, essential for our sustenance - Mother earth will be much lighter if we learn to live on less and do not hoard unnecessary staff, try to become less selfish and more concerned with the larger community 3) Lead a peaceful life, not hectic mad rush after money, power, name, fame and recognition 4) Do what is better for us in the long run and not necessarily what seems to be pleasant and entertaining - like meditation in place of movies, prayer and fasting i...

Year 2020 will probably be a turning point in the history of human civilization. There were very few periods in history when an entire human race was held hostage to a morbid fear of sickness and death, across almost all nations and vast geographies. The COVID19 or the Coronavirus or Wuhan Virus, whichever is the name given, is officially a Pandemic and has already affected more than 200,000. The figure is going on increasing. China has apparently now shut it out but no one knows if it won't strike again. America, Britain and continental (Western) Europe are down and out. Italy is the biggest casualty, others are following. Pope's closeness to God has not spared Vatican, apparently God does not believe in nepotism. In the Middle East Allah is not too pleased with Iran, although some ingenious Indian Muslims claim that the very name of Corona is derived from Koran. Now it is apparent that the casulaty figures are going to increase. In India its the sheer stupidity and brazenne...

One man of superior intelligence, military and spiritual genius with incredible foresight and intense love for his country, had predicted in the 60s that India will be rocked by frequent battles between leftists and nationalists. It is to be remembered that BJP was non existent in the 60s. Congress was then a nationalist party but it was leftist as well. There was no issue or contention between Congress and left except for state level battles. Also leftist elites enjoyed the patronage of Congress so there was no award wapsi or intolerance brigade back then. The media was largely pliant except Indian Express during the Bofors days. There were no ideological skirmishes. The real battle between leftists and nationalists began after 2016, when the surgical strikes, Balakot airstrikes and a plethora of issues pertaining to Indian national interest vs. narrow communal interest assumed significant proportion of media and elite leftist attention. The students organizations so far dominated ...

The role of educationists and teachers are to build characters of the students. When we see that in the educational institutions of national prominence, professors are encouraging students to participate in an agitation or protest against Citizenship Amendment Act, we know for sure that the education system of this country is not having a   problem, it is having a crisis. First we need to understand what is the core issue. It would seem that most of the students and the leftist ecosystem that had rendered support to them that includes the so called intellectuals, belonging to both majority and minority sections, have some other agenda. Agenda is to drive home their hatred for a Government and their policies with which they do not gel well. This ecosystem has been developed and brainwashed since time immemorial to hate specific ideologies. And in the true guru sisya parampara they have bred their disciples who can take over and continue with their hate culture. They would dub the...

Another assault on a mother/sister/daughter, some outrage on MSM, major outrage on social media, police inaction, candlelight march, usual outpouring of grief and then all is forgotten until a new incident crops up. We are seeing this pattern all too often. The gruesome atrocity committed on the young veterinary doctor in Hyderabad is beyond condemnation. Its a pity that the Home Minister blamed the victim for her inability to dial 100, or that the police officer in charge refused to take the complaint citing jurisdiction and outrageous explanations for her disappearance that she might have eloped. The politico bureaucratic apathy is not new. They hate to be caught in the wrong foot. They dislike such incidents to become public because their inefficiency and lack of competency are exposed. Most cases of sexual assault goes unreported. People do not trust the police as in many cases the men in uniform are solidly with the perpetrators. The victims are forced to remain quiet and if they...

An article appeared in Times of India by a certain Mr. Verma on the distinction between Nationalism and Patriotism. Thankfully, unlike other "liberals", the author has not used the term jingoism to denote the Nationalistic fervours. One of course cannot accuse ToI to be either a Nationalistic or a Patriotic Newspaper. It just wants to position itself as a "secular", "liberal" paper and therefore happy to give opportunity to like minded secular and liberals to express their view points, however fallacious they may be. First, on the point of Nationalism. There is a misguided perception prevalent that supporting the country's rights to defend itself from the inimical interests and protecting its interests by raising a pitch against the arch enemies is "Nationalism". Earlier they used to call it jingoism, now mercifully they have toned down the rhetoric as it finds no takers. The author carefully pins the blame on the present Government to ...

Is calling for war justified? In the past few weeks the events that unfolded almost resulted in a skirmish between the two bitter enemies. There have been a lot of fights over it in the social media, and in political circles. The peaceniks had started a hashtag #saynotowar. Now is that a good or a bad move? What does dharma say? Of course waging war is abominable. Any person in his or her same mind would be averse to war. However does that apply to the right to defend oneself? One's own territory? When dharma is being brutalized everyday, when one's people are killed everyday by a devious, cunning and ruthless enemy who has anyway waged a third grade proxy war for decades now? What about fights with the evil forces who kills, tortures, and subjugates, spread lies and hatred? Is war an option or should we still aim for peace? Mahabharata is clear, peace is preferable over war only when we are able to achieve a solution to our problem, i.e when we are able to turn the tides...

What characterizes Narendra Modi is that he is a master politician, far above his counterparts in shrewdness, in audacity and in boldness, something his opponents and haters would never be able to fathom, nor emulate. Compared to him, Rahul Gandhi who is trying hard to position himself as his main opponent is a child, nay, a baby perhaps. Rahul's job is made harder by the fact that he is lifted up by a gang of sycophants and a herd of leftists, many of whom have little or no connect with grassroots, and of course even less concern for the national interests. Others who are actively positioning themselves as champions of secularism and also supporting him are one whose interests have been most affected by Modi's transparent policies - notably the corrupt politicians many of whom are busy sewing what they call as "Mahagathbandhan". TV channels and other sections of media are busy writing Modi off based on some flimsy pre election surveys or some by election results. B...

One of the key trends that we see today in social media are that people are easily outraged by any incident that they associate with, in terms of their own beliefs, values and core ideologies, but remain mute, try to trivialize or just ignore when a similar incident happens with a segment or sub segment or individual that do not conform to their beliefs and values. This is also evident in case of mainstream media where stories are often described, blogs are written and editorials are posted on horrendous and nefarious crimes against humanity when that crime is committed to a selective group, while completely ignoring or downplaying possibly similar or more horrendous atrocities against other groups. There are actions and reactions. When atrocities evoke outrage from a group, the opposite  group tries to divert attention to a more vicious atrocity or similar incident, completely ignoring or forgetting the fact that by the very act they are acting in the same manner as they are acc...

Terror activities are a global phenomenon. Gone are those days when a few countries including India were victims of terrorism from across borders and everybody else would sit in their comfort zones and either empathize with or ridicule their claims. 9/11 in 2001 changed all that. Now every country on this earth is vulnerable from terror attacks and hence cannot sit comfortably. Everytime there is a terror attack in one part of the world its a grim reminder to others that their turn will also come. Nobody can now ignore the fact that terrorists are emboldened further and further by the success of their attacks to carry out another attack elsewhere. More innocent blood will spill and the usual reactions will come from all quarters - politicians, human rights activists, ordinary people. Some are angry reactions demanding the heads of all terrorists and finding who are behind all these, some will merely say terrorists have no religions, some will hold candle light vigils, some will appea...

A lot of people on internet claims themselves to be liberal and yet I find that they are for or against some opinion or the other. That let me to think, what does the term liberal truly mean? Are all these folks “liberal” as the publicly claim themselves to be? Can we be liberal and yet unwilling to accept something? It does sound like an oxymoron. Liberalism by it very definition should mean respect for all, even hostile opinions and ideologies. The term Liberal is used in a very liberal sense. It should ideally mean an all-encompassing, all subscribing ideology that excludes none, has contempt for none and that is vast enough to assimilate and absorb even the meanest and vilest into its fold. That definition would certainly not fit our armchair liberals who are fighting a perceived battle with so called “intolerants”, “jingoist”, “nationalists” and others who do not share their opinion. It certainly does not mean those who use different yardsticks for judging one set of people ...

The prevailing situation of disharmony and dissension seems to be one created by vested interests of all hues. Before India got independence British policy of divide and rule had firmly taken roots among political classes and the new leadership who saw its vast potential in furthering their own design. The divide and rule was exploited by opportunists who sought power over anything else. Policies were partisan, favoring one group over other, further creating chasm. Of late that division seems to have increased multi fold. Its not at all coincidence that more India is trying to shed its baggage of the past, more it is being highlighted as to how nefarious its record is in maintaining harmony. In fact India is being portrayed by media in the same league or perhaps worse than Pakistan, Russia, China, and Sub Saharan Africa in ethnic cleansing and human rights violation. Terrorists who are on the verge of hanging for their crimes or who are killed on the battlefield in a legitimate encou...

There is a vehement opposition in some quarters whenever there is a proposal to introduce or teach sanskrit at a school level. Some say its a dead language and there is no point in pursuing it further, others view it as a sinister attempt to impose upon non Hindus a legacy that is rooted in Hinduism. Still others say that it is too difficult for modern students. Others say that it has no practical value. And there are some who would interprete this as a political gameplan to deliberately make minorities feel unsafe and alienated. The question is, is it such a bad idea to revive a language which was long noted for its beauty and in which every other important language of the world finds some distant echo? Also from a pure utilitarian perspective, isn't it worth an attempt to see what jewels are there in store in our ancient and medieval literature most of which are infact written in sanskrit, rather than reading the vastly changed and often wrong English translations and therefo...