Musings from todays

(observations from a video Dr. Federer)

Islam is the only religion which assumed 3 dimensions which are - Religious, Political and Military within the lifetime of its founder with the founder going through the transformative experience himself. The video also mentioned that how the early converts who were driven out of Mecca and found refuge in Medina which also had Jewish tribes. Eventually the Jews would be driven out and one of the tribes massacred. This was mentioned as a classic case of immigrate, start conversation and then eliminate the non-believers if they don't convert. And this is where the seeds of Islams imperialistic design were sown and it truly went as mass conversion brigade at the hands of the sword. So, whenever a Muslim prays today revering the Kaaba - he or she is also actually praying to its political and military tenets. And hence it becomes antithesis to the nation states where lot of Muslims maybe residing. For them the case becomes more of spreading the religion, implicitly by religious means, political participation or eventually military conquest. This thought needs lot of introspection by purveyors of democracy both in west and the east, and along with Moderate Muslims bring this to the fore that democracy or rule of constitutional law should hold topmost ground wherever the demography is in favor of Islam.

Freedom of Expression comparison with West

People in India often tend to compare with West about freedom of expression and freedom to question religion. One tends to forget that western countries not only have high literacy but also have developed scientific temperament at an aggregate social level. Even if unemployment is high, nobody spends time there in talking about religion and defending it. As the unemployed there has been through a cycle of observation where he or she has witnessed society doing marvels on sheer strength of scientific temperament and technology. The hinterland of Indian society is growing up to it but still carry the religious undertone as an answer of salvation when suffering eventually hits. 

Bizzare Leftist

I was left befuddled after seeing a recent discussion on right wing pressure groups in a News laundry video. The lady Manisha Pande was trying to state that the RW individuals like Ajeet Bharti , Anand Ranganathan and J Sai Deepak , who don't wink even once before criticizing BJPs policies and are ironically on the same side of ideological divide, don't represent the same pressure groups like that of IAC led by Kejriwal and Anna Hazare , who were the pressure group on Congress at that time.

The comparison itself is bizarre. First the RW names listed and Hazare/Kejriwal is not the right comparison. The RW names are more columnist, influencers, panelist who are using the medium of social media, tv debates and speeches to create an impact. They are not activist in the same milieu as Anna Hazare and Kejriwal (who was one before 2014).

Also, it is important to note that IAC which did apply pressure on the incumbent during 2011-2013 was a result rather a creation. The rampant corruption in UPA was already in the then social media discourse primarily Facebook which was then a go to medium for common folks. There were already small demonstrations and court cases which had started to light the spark. When Anna assumed leadership, it provided a vital fuel for the conflagration which Kejriwal also bandwagon to light his yet to be unraveled political ambitions. 

It's also important to note that there have been no major corruption scandals, if at all any in the current NDA disposition which matched the scale of CWG and 2G which wrecked UPAs ambitions for a 3rd term. The RW group do criticize BP, but mostly for policy failures. It's an interesting pattern to see in social media that BJP also gets critiqued by its own supporters or co-idealogues which is not the case in Congress or SP or TMC followers who fawn for the party unabashedly. 

It's pretty evident that the left ecosystem has a lost semblance of rationality which forces them to create bizarre hypothesis to disparage the ruling party and got to ridiculous limit to draw equivalence with irrelevant examples from the past. Left has no love lost for BJP but manufacturing avenues of hate and belittling is a path which won't help them either.

Why Quality of Life matters - A cricket analogy

In a recent interview, the belligerent opener Abhishek Sharma spoke about his equivalent belligerent partner Travis Head and the Australian attitude. Whereas he would always face scrutiny by his father after every performance as was the case with his other Indian colleagues in the IPL team who would always introspect and worry about match performances, he found the Aussie pretty relaxed and minding his own.

Mayhap it has to do with the country they come from. Australians playing in IPL have nothing to lose. Whereas the Indians playing in the same tourney have everything to lose. An Aussie may have a one or to bad seasons after which he may be dropped. So, what he does even if he is not playing an IPL or similar other tournaments? He goes back to Australia, plays local cricket, spends time in his farm or goes fishing in the seas, ends weekends with a visit to the pub guzzles down few pints if not gallons of beer, goes home and spends good time with his family, even if he is not wearing much. He doesn't have to but "Quality of Life" it is assured for him.

For a Tier-B or Tier-C Indian cricketer, one season of IPL is gold even if he goes for few lakhs only. A good season with 10 lakhs means it earns him 20 if not fifty lakhs in the next season. And that is serious money for a Tier B Tier C cricketer who has tries to play every tournament from a corporate, local, club and domestic to earn a respectable living which can help him earn a decent quality of life. In India earning money is very important, as "Quality of Life" has a very heavy price tag.

Self Loathing

Time and again the General caste find themselves in the firing line and are always cast upon with aspersions primarily in politico-socio discourse. None so more than the Tamil Brahmins of the South. They are time again blamed for their historical antecedents of alienating or being disrespectful to lower caste. But what has happened over the years. They have turned to Self-Loathing - I mean Hindus can go to such extent to Self-Loath themselves, alter their identify and their own culture to accommodate another culture or gaining equivalence in front of the other eyes. Can the same be expected from other religions?

There may be some bad apples in the community as it is true for all communities, but to paint one community as the perpetrator was truly a result of a targeted strategy. No wonder we have likes of Kamal Hassan turning into an atheist, Ramchandra Guha taking a left slant, likes of Mani Shankar Aiyar turning out into absolute abomination for the community. Not even a moment is spent in understanding that how one minority community which has population share in single digits can be sole responsible. 

Tamil Brahmins always found a favor with the ruling class be it pre-British during British rule or even after the colonial times, which many attribute to the mastery of scriptures and being close to the political-economic matters of the rulers. The founders of progressive movement in Madras state which openly derided Tamil Brahmins, where themselves found out of favor from the British in matters of state and had to assert themselves on a political plank more so with India's independence looking imminent. And hence started the vilification on whom them could pin all the blame supported by the caste-based domination and exploitation angle theory which had already become strong in the social ecosystem.

What is Hindutva

As per Supreme court judgement of 1995 , Hinduism or Hindutva is same and defined as a way of life and associated with India's cultural ethos and not a narrow religious phenomena. Hence the use of Hindutva or Hinduism in election speeches does not construe any mal intent. On the country no one can call one as a Hindu state e.g. in Manohar Joshincase of 1995

The China Taiwan Conundrum

Again, one has to go back to the great LKY to understand the Chinese promised dream of unifying Taiwan.  LKY states that it was clear in the Tehran conference of 1943 when Kuomintang supreme Chiang Kai Shek had shown his intent to eventually take back Formosa into China in the post war era firmly enshrining China and Taiwan's shared destiny under the Republic of China. However, it was the difference in the political thought and the Cold War dynamics which led to the present resentment in Taiwan and with the US against Chinese overtures.

China is destined and will eventually unify Taiwan with it. The time period can't be stated as China does not seem to be in mood for an aggressive operation. China Taiwan have a thriving trade relation and people movement which still connects them culturally. As long as Taiwan has the principle of no-independence (alongside no-reunification, no-surrender) it can be rest assured that China will stay put. If tomorrow a regime comes and declared independence, then it be said definitely that the status quo will change and China will be compelled to take forceful action. This leads to the second point, that will China be ready to take a forceful action against 95 % Han populated state, its own. In the past it quelled rebellion in Han mainland and used action on Han people as well, but a heavy military action in Taiwan with a modern - developed - world class modern outlook society which is interlinked with the world in material and culture may not bode well with Han majority in Mainland China. In this scenario even if US will come into action, it has to adopt kinetic force without any land-based operation. And here again it will be thrust against Chinese warfare prowess. And this is where LKY states that even if China has setbacks in initial wave of attacks from US, it will respond harder in the subsequent waves and will be more resolute in taking Taiwan by full force even with a hard land-based action.

So, it's a long wait for China which it will be willing to sit out!

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