by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Amulya Ganguli,
An indication as to how difficult it is going to be for the opposition at the national level to get its act together was available after K. Chandrashekar Rao met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata to lay the foundation for a federal front.
However, even before the proposed alliance could get off the ground, the differences about its framework were visible. While the Telangana Chief Minister wanted it to be a non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), non-Congress group, his West Bengal counterpart kept her options open about including the Congress.
A feature of these alliances is that each of their constituents is guided by the ground realities in their own states which may be at variance with the political condition in some other state. For instance, the Congress may be a more formidable adversary for Chandrashekhar Rao in his state, but it isn’t so for Mamata Banerjee. So, while the Telangana Chief Minister wants to keep the 133-year-old Grand Old Party at arm’s length, Mamata Banerjee, a former Congress person, is more accommodative.
Similar conflicting perceptions are known even within one party such as the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) where the Kerala comrades are against any proximity to the Congress, obviously because the latter is a force to reckon with in the southern state, but the Marxists in West Bengal are keen on a tie-up with the Congress against the BJP since they no longer face any major threat from their old opponent in the state. Rahul Gandhi’s hope, therefore, of forming a “workable” anti-BJP alliance with other parties faces considerable roadblocks.
Yet, the BJP’s current vulnerability is obvious to its political enemies. At the same time, the non-BJP parties know that none of them is capable on its own of offering a serious challenge to the ruling party at the Centre. Banding them together is the only alternative. The egos of individual leaders are also a problem, for none of them will be willing to concede the role of a leader to another.
Difficulties of this nature have plagued earlier such formations. In the Janata Party (1977-80), the duel was between Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram. In the Janata Dal (1989-91), it was between V.P. Singh, Devi Lal and Chandrashekhar.
It was to overcome similar confrontations in the confused post-1996 scene that the name of then West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, was proposed by United Front leaders like H.D. Deve Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav and others, but was rejected by the CPI-M. The BJP, on the other hand, has been fortunate in having an unchallenged leader like Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996 and in Narendra Modi now.
Who can be the unchallenged leader in the non-BJP camp at present? Although the leaders in a federal front are highly influential in their home provinces, none of them measures up to the popular image of a Prime Minister who is a sober, sophisticated, well-educated, widely respected, trustworthy and unbiased person with a clearly identifiable vision.
To start with Sharad Pawar, who is among those who have shown an interest in leading the charge against the BJP, there has been a question mark over his reliability ever since his party was seemingly regarded by the BJP as a prop against the Shiv Sena’s machinations in Maharashtra. He is generally seen as too clever by half and too much of a deal-maker to be trusted as the guiding light for the nation.
His age — Pawar is 78 — is also against him. India appears to be coming around to accepting Modi’s view, as articulated by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, that a politician is “brain dead” after 75.
Rahul Gandhi at 48 is safe in this regard as is Mamata Banerjee (63), whose case is being energetically pushed by one of her lieutenants in Delhi. But while the Congress president is still considered not “grown-up” enough, the West Bengal Chief Minister is too immersed in her own province to be seen as a national leader.
Akhilesh Yadav (45) and Mayawati (62) have the same disadvantage of being rooted in the Hindi belt with its concomitant of casteism. Though also from the same region, 67-year-old Nitish Kumar was once considered a possible Prime Minister “material” before he shot himself in the foot with his politics of perambulation, forever looking for green pastures.
The bare cupboard of PM hopefuls leaves only 72-year-old Sonia Gandhi, who has been engaged in dinner diplomacy to cobble together an anti-BJP formation, as a possible candidate. But her minus points are obvious.
For one, she does not appear to be in the pink of health. For another, any whiff about her aspirations will make the Hindu Right revive the “foreigner” debate with great gusto with Sushma Swaraj perhaps once again threatening to shave her head as in 2004. For a third, she may not be interested as she is seemingly intent on paving the way for her son’s elevation.
Yet, the former Congress president is possibly the only one with a much wider acceptability in the non-BJP camp than anyone else and also among the Dalits, backward castes and minorities as well as a section of the traditional Congress supporters in the upper caste though not among the middle class. In a way, she offers the best of a bad bargain with the resultant turmoil proving to be one of the worst in recent years.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Modi government had for years lied about the fate of 39 Indians killed in Iraq and was now diverting public attention from it by alleging that his party had links with a firm accused of misusing personal data of Facebook users.
“Problem: 39 Indians dead; Government on the mat, caught lying. Solution: Invent story on Congress and data theft. Result: Media networks bite bait; 39 Indians vanish from radar. Problem solved,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
Gandhi’s remarks came a day after Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of compromising national security by roping in political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to run its 2019 election campaign.
The Minister alleged that the firm had been found involved in data manipulation and warned that any attempt to misuse social media to influence India’s electoral process would not be tolerated.
Congress Communications Incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala also attacked the government, accusing it of deceiving the families of those dead in Iraq and the nation.
“Another lie, another spin exposed as truth unravels. All 39 Indians had died years ago as the evidence and witnesses suggested and corroborated now by Martyrs Foundation. Yet Modi government lied, duped and deceived the families and the Nation,” Surjewala tweeted.
He accused the government of not paying compensation to the families of those killed.
“Families ask questions – 1. Why did Modi government and Sushmaji mislead them for 4 years? 2. Why does the government not reveal the date of death? 3. What evidence did the EAM have of them being alive for all these years? 4. Why is government not agreeable to compensating the families?” he asked.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Events, Social Round-up, Success Stories
MP Alok Sanjar being presented his name written Sallgraphic Urdu
BJP MP mesmerized by Islamic Calligraphy
By Pervez Bari, Maeeshat.in,
Bhopal: The 3-day National Exhibition & Shopping Carnival christened as “Jazba” left the people of Bhopal, the city of lakes, hills, mosques and mandirs too, fascinated and having a memory long to cherish with. The carnival won the hearts of the citizens.
The main highlight of the Carnival was the stall of Siasat Indian Art & Calligraphy Gallery put up by Siasat, the leading newspaper of South India published from Hyderabad and Bangalore. It was the star attraction of the carnival. Entrepreneurs from all over the country participated in the carnival.
The carnival was organised by women here in Bhopal from March 16-18, 2018 in Hindi Bhavan under the aegis of an NGO called IIWA, (Iqra International Women’s Alliance), which concluded on Sunday. The “Jazba” was held under able supervision of internationally acclaimed social activist Mrs. Uzma Naheed, president of IIWA, of Mumbai.
The IIWA is an NGO working for Socio-Economic Empowerment, (SEE), of the underprivileged women. With constant hard work IIWA has successfully involved 3000 underprivileged women across the country producing more than150 items.
Alok Sanjar, Member of Parliament from Bhopal Constituency, who visited the exhibition on the last day was mesmerized and overwhelmed at the collection of rare art work in the Siasat’s Indian Art & Calligraphy Gallery. “I would leave everything and learn Calligraphy while getting fully involved in it”, he exclaimed!
Sanjar was so enthusiastic about the Calligraphy that he tried his hand at it on the spot and later requested for “Qalam” (pen) prepared from bamboo shoot which artist Mohammed Amir readily obliged and he carried away with him. Artist Mohammad Amir wrote Alok Sanjar’s name in Calligraphic Urdu which was presented to him by Nabeel Bari. Later, Sanjar distributed certificates to the participants of the exhibition.
He also appreciated the efforts of Mrs. Uzma Naheed for empowering women of underprivileged class under the banner of her NGO IIWA. He assured her all help from his side to establish IIWA outlet in Bhopal.
Apart from this a number of interested ladies expressed their intense desire to learn the At of Calligraphy and inquired about its intricacies and the time required for it from the Hyderabad-based Siasat’s artists. The artists Mohammed Amir and Mohammad Mazharuddin briefed the ladies about the facilities available in Hyderabad provided by Siasat to the students who are keen to learn the Art and promote it.
Aimed to cultivate interest
The Art and Calligraphy stall in the “Jazba” exhibition was aimed to cultivate an interest in learning about the Indo-Islamic calligraphy tradition in the people of Bhopal who at present have lost connect with it following the onslaught of Hindi. The art of calligraphy is among the trough struck arts dying out at double the pace of evolution of multi-media. The idea is to bring calligraphy back to life and simultaneously generate employment. It may be noted here that the Islamic calligraphy and related art work is in great demand in the international market.
Meanwhile, the exhibition showcased hundreds of artifacts which included the artwork of renowned artists Nayeem Saberi, Faheem Saberi, Mohammed Hakeem, Mohammed Amir, canvas paintings of Abdul Lateef Farooqui, Wooden art of Mohammad Mazharuddin.
Calligraphy is an art
The Art & Calligraphy is an exhibition depicting the evolution of Urdu calligraphy – one of the most ornate alphabet writings – from the confines of fine print into a high art form. Urdu calligraphy flourished as the sole printed medium painstakingly crafted by calligraphers before the arrival of the computer. The publishing industry depended on the services of the calligraphers to copy out books, documents and newspapers to print. But the arrivals of computers and customized alphabets have elevated calligraphy to a fine art – kept alive by the traditional writer.
Calligraphy is an art which involves the coordination of the brain, eyes and hands. It combines knowledge with skill. Calligraphy is flourishing not only in Islamic nations, but also in Western and European countries. Islamic calligraphy is a symbol of representing unity, beauty and power. It has been an integral part of India’s Islamic traditions. Calligraphy in India has evolved over centuries to acquire its own unique characteristics.
According to Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Managing Editor of Siasat, said Siasat Gallery is ready to provide training to the students, adding housewives are being guided and given opportunities of coming up with innovative ideas of calligraphy with their wit and will and thus the skill has made the Art take a fresh gasp. He said their skill has allowed the art form to take a fresh turn. He informed that in Hyderabad there are three thousand masterpieces of Islamic Calligraphy and Painting. He added that India has the potential to emerge as an international hub of Islamic art and calligraphy.
The Siasat Indian Art & Calligraphy Gallery exhibition has showcased hundreds of its artifacts nationally and internationally in the past. These artifacts have been exhibited in the US, Saudi Arabia, Dubai while in India in Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Kareem Nagar, Bangalore, Bidar etc.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Qaiser Zaman, secretary Kurwai Education Society, and Manoj Shrivastava, Principal Secretary in the Department of Commercial Tax, Culture and Religious Trusts and Endowments to the Govt. of MP, were chief guests at the inaugural function of “Jazba”, the National Exhibition & Shopping Carnival, on March 16th. Mrs. Ghazala Faisal, Director in the Union Ministry of Communications, Mrs. Nusrat Mehndi,Secretary M.P. Urdu Academy, and Mrs. Razia Hamid, eminent Urdu writer, were guests of honour on the occasion.
‘Potentiality of Iqra not utilised fully’
Speaking on the occasion Manoj Shrivastava stressed that the potentiality of “Iqra”, the first word of Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), calling upon Muslims to read, has not been utilised fully in making the community literate and in skill acquisition.
Shrivastava lamented that in this machine age of mass industrialisation/production the tradition of honouring the hand which is instrumental in making beautiful handicrafts items has been vanishing. However, while eulogising Mrs. Uzma Naheed for promoting handicrafts, he said the services IIWA will go a long way to re-establish the importance of hand once more in making the home made hand goods much sought after. He assured to find space for outlets where the artists’ goods can be displayed depicting their originality and creativity in good measure.
Educationist Mrs. Qaiser Zaman in her speech while admiring Mrs. Uzma’s efforts for a noble cause said: “In India we let our laziness rule over us and thereby do not set our priorities right. The result of which most of the time we end up at the receiving end. The financial empowerment is one thing that will cement all our efforts which will give us energy and the will to help others including have-nots and our less fortunate colleagues”.
Women as managers & entrepreneurs better than men
Mrs. Ghazala Faisal, Director in the Union Ministry of Communications, who was Guest of Honour speaking on the occasion, said that real empowerment is that when one is able to take one’s own decision be it man or woman. For decision making knowledge is necessary. Knowledge not put in action is wastefulness while action without knowledge is foolishness. As such acquiring knowledge is a necessity for leading a respectable life, she added.
Mrs. Faisal said that surveys and researches have proved that women as managers and entrepreneurs, if they are capable enough, are better than men. This is because women have unique inbuilt qualities or traits of having more emotional quotient and patience. The women should realise their potential by harnessing their qualities, she said.
Empowering poor women
Mrs. Uzma Naheed, who is very much active in empowering women of underprivileged class, while speaking in the inaugural function, informed that IIWA encourages them by nurturing the creativity of the women’s inherent natural talents in production of various handicraft items which have ready market. IIWA uses its creativity in modifying the existing arts and crafts of each state of India as per the latest trend. IIWA believes in forming an alliance with NGOs, Media and Corporate sector; this concept was highly appreciated by the United Nations in the International Conference in Turkey.
Mrs. Naheed said that IIWA also promotes women to develop new skills or modify their products to suit current trend with continuous training and workshops. In short IIWA is a platform where talents meet opportunities to womenfolk so that they manufacture any product without disturbing their family lives. Their main concern is 1. What to make? & 2. Where to sell? IIWA helped thousands of women in establishing their own business and improve their earnings. The economic uplift of women is the main agenda of IIWA, she declared.
Mrs. Nusrat Mehndi and Mrs. Razia Hamid also spoke on the occasion.
Earlier, Kalim Akhtar, president of A. U. Education Society, welcomed the guests while A.U. School, Bhopal students presented the Tarana (song) “Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara…….”.
At the outset the inaugural programme started with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Mushaira, Mehndi and painting competitions, Hijab show were organized during the carnival. While A. U. School, Cares Welfare Society and Tea Ville supported the three-day event.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Mohit Dubey,
Lucknow : As the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government completed one year in power in India’s most populous state, the jury is still out on its performance.
While the party stormed back to power with a brute majority after 14 years in power, its loss in the recent bypolls to seats earlier held by the Chief Minister and his deputy have taken off some sheen from their celebration.
Adityanath and his team say that the government has done what was never even conceived of in the last decade and a half of the rule of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which according to him bequeathed “empty coffers, a state where criminals were having a free run and the bureaucracy was non-performing”.
The saffron-clad monk-politician stresses he has been working 18 hours a day to bring back on track the state, which he says, had been turned ‘bimaru’ by political powers who “never looked beyond gains for self, the party and their own families”.
The 45-year-old, who was picked to head the government by his Bharatiya Janata Party’s national leadership despite his hardcore Hindutva credentials, is still caustic in his public speeches against his rivals and openly brandishes his Hindu image that has won him support from many in the community in and outside the state but who raises suspicion in the minds of the minority.
Soon after taking over the reins of the state on March 19, 2017, Aditynanath, who is the sitting priest of the Gorakshnath Peeth in Gorakhpur, ordered a crackdown on the “illegal slaughterhouses in the state”, triggering a tizzy in the butcher community among the Muslims.
Hundreds of slaughter houses were closed down within days as raids were conducted by municipal bodies, who had incidentally certified their operations earlier.
Adityanath is unapologetic about his pro-Hindu image and has, apart from his public speeches and media interactions, brandished it on the floor of the UP assembly, saying he is proud to be a Hindu and will never celebrate Eid.
“I will however allow every community to celebrate their festivals if they want to do so peacefully,” he told the assembly, to the criticism from the opposition benches.
Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhary, of the Samajwadi Party, accuses Adityanath of behaving as if the opposition were terrorists.
Other than his tough language and image, the Chief Minister has also been the target of opposition attack for his frequent visits (almost weekly) to his temple in Gorakhpur with many of them alleging that his interest still seems to be propitiating gods than serving the people.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati who vanquished the BJP candidates in Phulpur and Gorakhpur by tactically and smartly extending her party’s vote to arch rival Samajwadi Party, says there is no reason for the BJP to celebrate its one-year rule as in the period, it had destroyed the social and communal fabric of the state.
“How can they celebrate when they have not achieved anything. The by polls results have emphatically shown that the people have given them a big zero for the one year report card,” she said in a statement. She further accuses Adityanath of being only busy with “puja-paath” whereas the biggest dharma was serving people.
Akhilesh Yadav too gives a thumbs down to the BJP government. “The only thing the Chief Minister and his government have done in the past one year is to remove names of the Samajwadi Party from government schemes”. He also slams the language used by Adityanath.
Aam Aadmi party (SSP) spokesman Vaibhav Maheshwari slams the Adityanath government by saying that “it still has not got out of the ‘jumlebaazi’ mode propounded by BJP chief Amit Shah”.
Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’, leader of the Congress legislature party in the assembly, termed it a “failed and eye wash government” which is trying to mislead people by tall promises to hide their failures. “The farmers are on the brink, youth yet to get employment, power tariffs are up drastically…what have they done except fish out new tricks to befool people” he said.
State Health Minister and government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh, however trashed the allegations of the opposition and told IANS that they were shaken with the “path-breaking work” down by the government”. “We have constructed 37 lakh toilets for the poor, waived off loans worth Rs 36,000 crore of 86 lakh farmers, hounded out criminals. brought the health and education sector back on tracks, investors are making beeline to invest in the state…if this is not progress, what is?” he asks.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Making yet another U-turn, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday apologized to BJP leader Nitin Gadkari for making unverified allegations of corruption against him after which the Union Minister withdrew his defamation case.
The development came days after the AAP leader regretted having accused Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia of drug trade without evidence.
In a letter to Gadkari, Kejriwal said he was feeling sorry for making “certain statements, without regard to its verifiability, which seem to have hurt you…
“I have nothing personal against you. I regret the same. Let us put the incident behind us and bring the court proceedings to a closure.”
He also suggested to the Union Shipping and Transport Minister that “we should put our energy to serve the people of this country in the spirit of mutual respect”.
Consequent to the regret, Gadkari and Kejriwal later filed a joint application in the Patiala House Court, seeking withdrawal of the defamation case.
“Kejriwal has acknowledged that (the) complainant (Gadkari) was hurt on account of unverified allegations and expressed regret, in the larger public interest” and that “the complainant does not wish to pursue the defamation case”, read the application.
In 2014, Gadkari had filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal after he named him in a list of “corrupt politicians”.
Kejriwal has been dragged to courts in several defamation cases by various political leaders, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Last week, the AAP leader wrote to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia for accusing his of involvement in drug trade without any proof to back the allegations..
The apology triggered a virtual rebellion in the AAP Punjab unit, leaing to the resignation of Bhagwant Mann as its Punjab Unit chief.
—IANS
