by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Amulya Ganguli,
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) owes much of its woes to the reluctance of its core constituency of urban, upper caste, conservative, anti-minority, middle class supporters to accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikas” mantra of development for all.
They may have no objections to “vikas”, but the idea of including everyone in its fold is anathema to them. So, if they see a Dalit having fared well enough in life to own a horse and ride it, he has to be killed as in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district. Or, if a Dalit groom wants to take out a “baraat” (marriage procession) through his village in Uttar Pradesh, the upper caste residents will not allow it.
Killing is the usual option for the saffron rank and file to eliminate those whose conduct violates the Hindutva fads and fetishes.
Hence, anyone suspected of eating beef or who believes in inter-faith romance is either beaten up or done away with. Moreover, the Hindutva storm-troopers are so sure of the righteousness of their cause that they are not deterred by the presence of video cameras when they engage in their lawless acts.
In the 93 years since the formation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and 67 years of the Jan Sangh-BJP, Muslims were their sole targets. The Dalits were largely ignored because, till recently, they were not assertive enough to annoy the saffron brigade.
The BJP even toys with the idea of winning them over for use as vote banks. It is trying to do so by occasionally paying obeisance to the Dalit icon, B.R. Ambedkar, and choosing a Dalit as the President.
But much of this placatory signalling is probably regarded as tokenism by the Dalits while for the members of the Brahmin-Bania party, these gestures mean nothing where their caste bias is concerned.
Hence, the flogging of four Dalit youths by “gau rakshaks” (cow protectors) in Una, Gujarat, the hounding to death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad and the prolonged incarceration of the firebrand Dalit youth leader, Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan”, by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
It is not surprising that against the background of the saffron targeting of Dalits, the recent Supreme Court judgment purportedly diluting the act relating to Atrocities against the Dalits and Adivasis acted as the spark that lit the fires of mob violence during a bandh called by Dalit outfits.
What is odd, however, is that the BJP (and the RSS) hadn’t kept this possibility of a sudden outburst in mind. It is no secret that these Hindutva organisations care little about the Muslims being alienated because they are aware that the minorities, whether Muslims or Christians, will not vote for the BJP except in very small numbers or when there is some kind of a wave as in 2014.
But antagonising the Dalits, who constitute 16.6 per cent of the population, is a politically self-defeating exercise, not least because if this percentage is added to 14.2 per cent of the Muslims, it will mean that the BJP is risking losing the support of nearly a third of the country’s population.
Taken together with the Christians (2.3 per cent) and the liberal Hindus as well as those who have been disenchanted by Modi’s inability to keep his promise on job creation, the number of those who are opposed to the BJP has to be substantial. The portents, therefore, for the party’s prospects in 2019 cannot be very bright.
The scene is made more complicated for the BJP by the occasional criticism of the policy of reservations by the RSS. The Brahminical motive for opposing the quota system is driven not so much by an urge for placing merit above caste as by the sense of outrage in Hindutva circles at the possibility of Dalits rising to high places in educational and bureaucratic institutions at the expense of the upper castes.
It is obvious that Modi had taken on a near-impossible task of selling his plan for all-round development irrespective of caste and creed to his party’s core elements, although as a former RSS “pracharak” (preacher), he must have been acutely aware of the resistance which they were likely to offer.
He probably hoped that success in his efforts will boost the economy and create enough euphoria among all sections to stymie any serious opposition. But the failure to usher in the promised “achhey din” (good days) has been his bane not only because it has emboldened the opposition, but even more so because a stagnating economy is ideal breeding ground for disaffection even among friends like the saffron activists.
Not surprisingly, the Hindutva militants lost no time to take revenge for the Dalit-sponsored bandh to burn down the houses of a Dalit MLA of the BJP and a former Congress MLA who is a Dalit in Rajasthan.
(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 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Emerging Businesses, News, Politics
New Delhi : After months of stress in ties, India and Nepal on Saturday agreed to crank-up cooperation in connectivity, trade, agriculture and border security as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an assurance that New Delhi remains committed to strengthening the partnership as per Nepal’s priorities.
Seeking to readjust the ties, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, on a three-day visit to India, held wide-ranging talks with Modi, who also assured the visiting leader that India would always back Nepal in its quest for development.
A joint statement issued after the talks said Prime Minister Oli stated that his government attaches high importance to further strengthening friendly relations with India. He expressed the desire of the Government of Nepal to develop bilateral relations in a way so as to benefit from India’s progress and prosperity for economic transformation and development.
“Prime Minister Modi assured Prime Minister Oli that India remains committed to strengthening its partnership with Nepal as per the priorities of the Government of Nepal,” the statement said.
Oli, who has developed closer ties with China with a known pro-Beijing stance, said he has come to India “with a mission” to take bilateral ties based on “principles of equality and justice” to newer heights but “commensurate with the realities of the 21st Century”.
In a joint address to the media with Oli, Modi hailed the Nepal Prime Minister’s “vision for a prosperous Nepal” that is in sync with his vision of “sabka sath, sabka vikas” (development for all).
“India stands ready to expand cooperation with Nepal as per Nepal’s priorities. We believe that enhanced connectivity between our countries will boost our economic growth and benefit our citizens.”
Modi hailed successful conduct of polls in Nepal and congratulated both the people of Nepal and the government for entering into “a new era of political history”.
He said the two countries agreed to put on faster tracks all connectivity projects, announcing that a new railway line will be built “with India’s financial support” to connect the border city of Raxaul in India to Kathmandu in Nepal.
The objective, according to a joint statement, is to expand “connectivity” between the two neighbours and “enhance people-to-people linkages and promote economic growth and development”.
Prime Ministers Modi and Oli also recognised the untapped potential of inland waterways between the countries that can contribute in an overall economic development of the Himalayan region.
Towards that, the statement said, they took a “landmark decision” to develop the inland waterways for the movement of cargo, within the framework of trade and transit arrangements, providing additional access to sea for Nepal.
This will enable cost effective and efficient movement of cargo and greatly impact the growth of business and economy of Nepal.
The connectivity proposals are significant and come nearly two years after China in March 2016 agreed to construct a strategic railway link with Nepal through Tibet to reduce the Kathmandu’s total dependence on India.
That year China also signed a transit trade treaty with Nepal that completely depends on Indian sea ports for third-country trade. Apart from this, China is also building three highways connecting Nepal and these roads are expected to be ready by 2020.
The Nepal-China agreements came at a time when Kathmandu-New Delhi ties started soaring after a border blockade in 2015-16. Many in Kathmandu blamed India for the 135-day blockade from September, 2015 to February, 2016 that crippled Nepal’s economy.
China expanding its strategic base in Nepal sparked concerns in India that it was losing its foothold in its immediate backyard despite its “neighbourhood first” policy.
But Oli’s April 6-8 visit indicated a new India-Nepal bonhomie during which he and Modi announced enhanced security ties, particularly on borders to curb curb misuse of open boundaries between the two countries.
“We have strong relations when it comes to the aspect of security and are committed towards stopping misuse of our open borders,” said Modi, with Oli by his side.
Oli said his government accorded a priority to friends like India that has helped his landlocked nation in fighting poverty.
“Friendship is very important. We have developed our friendship according to time with a purpose to eradicate poverty, improve life standards. Our friendship is historical, renewed, developed and is very fruitful. Looking ahead and not looking back”
He said his country always accorded “great importance” to its ties with India as the two neighbours have many “things to offer each other”.
“Inter-dependence takes many forms between our countries. Relations between neighbours are different than others. They rest on principles of equality and justice.
“I have come to India with a mission to enhance our relations to newer heights commensurate with the realities of the 21st Century. We want to create a model relationship. A relationship that is cherished forever,” he said, renewing his invitation to Modi to pay a visit to Nepal at the earliest.
Boosting their ties further, India also agreed to conduct a pilot project on organic farming and soil health monitoring in Nepal to help the natural resource-rich neighbour in developing agriculture and allied sectors.
Oli and his wife Radika Shakya, who arrived here on Friday, earlier paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, before driving to the President’s house for a ceremonial welcome.
Viewed as an important visit, Oli has flew in a 54-member high-level delegation to India, seeking more investment from India’s public as well as private sector.
This is Oli’s first foriegn trip after returning to power for the second term in February.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of each of 39 Indians who were killed at Mosul in Iraq, an official release said.
The mortal remains of 38 Indians, killed by the Islamic State terror group in Iraq’s Mosul in 2014, were brought to Amritsar in a special IAF aircraft on Monday.
Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh accompanied the mortal remains to Amritsar from Mosul.
Although 39 Indians were killed as the Islamic State took over Mosul, the mortal remains of only 38 of them could be brought back as identification of one body is still pending.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Markets, Networking, Social Media, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : It was the perfect photo-op when Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a town-hall meeting at the social media giant’s sprawling headquarters at Menlo Park, California, in September 2015.
With Facebook now embroiled in a massive data breach controversy, the bonhomie appears to be over, with India warning Zuckerberg of “stringent action”, including summoning him over the “misuse” of data to allegedly influence the country’s electoral process.
Zuckerberg has recently said Facebook will ensure that its platform is not misused to influence elections in India and elsewhere, but after witnessing how social media platforms were infiltrated during the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit vote in the UK, nothing can be predicted at this point of time.
While governments the world over are fast formulating new laws that deal with users’ data security and privacy, and the spread of false news, India lags far behind on this front.
Is the country prepared in case a huge data security or privacy breach hits its people?
According to top cyber law experts, India as a nation has missed the broader point in the ever-changing tech landscape.
“The moot point here is: How do we regulate mobile app providers, social media players and intermediaries in terms of handling and processing the users’ data? We don’t have a data protection law in place. We neither have a national law on cyber security nor a national law on privacy,” Pavan Duggal, the nation’s leading cyber law expert, told IANS.
The absence of these critical laws has created a very fertile ground for the misuse and unauthorised access of users’ data by the service providers.
“On top of it, India has not revisited its stand on intermediaries’ liabilities since 2008. Also, the service providers have been given a great fillip by a judgement of the Supreme court, where the service providers are directed not to take any action till such time they get a court or a government agency order,” Duggal informed.
In such a scenario, service providers are using the “Indians’ data with impunity”.
“They are transferring them outside the territorial boundaries of the country because we as a nation are sleeping. Once the data goes outside the country, the government loses all control. This has a detrimental impact on the protection and preservation of people’s data privacy and personal privacy,” Duggal stressed.
India has to learn from the European Union (EU) when it comes to formulating a legal framework to secure data.
The EU has asked businesses and service providers globally to comply with its new privacy law — the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — that comes into force from May 25 this year.
The EU GDPR has been designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe — to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the region approach data privacy.
After four years of debate, the GDPR was finally approved by the EU Parliament on April 14, 2016. Organisations that fail to comply with the new regulation will face hefty fines.
Although a white paper on data security has been published by the Indian government for all the stakeholders to deliberate upon, the country is still working on drafting a data protection bill.
“India is woefully under-prepared to address issues of data protection and cyber-security. We need a data protection law that protects citizens from misuse of data with strict liability and extremely high statutory damages that must be awarded within a strict period of time,” said Mishi Choudhary, President and Legal Director of New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC.in), a not-for-profit organisation.
According to Duggal, also a noted Supreme Court lawyer, India should not cut-paste any other country’s law as it has to deal with a different set of problems.
“India’s social realities are entirely different. The country has to deal with the huge issue of Aadhaar which is reeling under variety of cyber attacks because we have failed to apply cyber security as an integral part of the Aadhaar architecture,” Duggal told IANS.
India’s approach has to be based from its soil and the country must strive for data localisation.
“India should not allow its data to be stored outside its boundaries. Service providers must (be made to pay) high penalty if they are found to be misusing the data of Indians irrespective of if they are physically located in the country or not,” Duggal said.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : NGOs working among the Muslims in India are filling the space left vacant by the state but they remain isolated despite the dream of a new India by 2022 held out by the Narendra Modi government, former Vice President Hamid Ansari said on Tuesday.
“Many NGOs mentioned in the book operate in spaces left vacant by the state and remain isolated despite the dream of a new India by 2022 being promised,” Ansari said in his keynote address as he released the book “Working with Muslims: Beyond Burqa and triple talaq” authored by Farah Naqvi in collaboration with NGO Sadbhavna Trust.
“They often working on small budgets and are playing the role of a functioning state by providing development opportunities focused on health, education and employment,” he said.
Ansari observed that Muslims in India, apart from poverty and deprivation, specifically suffer from identity-based discrimination and sporadic violence.
“India’s Muslim citizens constitute 14.2 per cent of the population, number around 189 million, are geographically dispersed, are not homogeneous, do have castes or caste-like structure among them, and are afflicted like many others in the rest of the citizen body by deprivation and under-development. In addition, they specifically suffer from identity-based discrimination and sporadic violence,” he said.
He pointed out that until the Sachar Committee Report came out in 2006, it was “insufficiently recognised” that many amongst Muslims also suffer from “multiple development deficits” and therefore required empowerment through “focused affirmative action to enable them to join others and take their place at the commencement-point from which aSabka sath, sabka vikas’ becomes meaningful”.
Quoting from the book, he said that there was an urgent need to provide Muslims with developmental opportunities by “embracing the problem, politically, socially and economically”.
“Big segments of the Muslim community are basically poor and powerless, and do not have access to amenities and opportunities. The state and its citizens therefore need to see this development gap and not build sectarian walls around progress,” he said citing the book.
The release was followed by a conversation between noted journalist Siddharth Varadrajan, activist and columnist Harsh Mander, activist Madhavi Kuckreja and researcher Hilal Ahmed.
Giving an introduction of the book, Naqvi said that the book is about the issues which the mainstream politics should be about – but unfortunately is not – that is, health, education, livelihood etc.
She said that the “voluntary sector”, or NGOs could not be a substitute for the state, but still it is crucial.
Noting the activists need to challenge both the politics of communalisation and the Muslim community’s conservatism, she added that the NGOs could not work with just 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the focus but with a broader horizon and long-term goals.
—IANS
