Rajesh Ranjan's Weblog

Very often we come across phrases like “Toppers don’t do different things rather they do things differently”. In this age of contradictions, it is of concern as to how do we approach toward certain issues. We cry in certain situations and celebrate some. We have intelligentsia and illiterates, rich and poor, happy and poignant, urban and rural and many more similar dichotomies existing in our societies simultaneously; sometimes they quarrel, too. Then, there are developed and underdeveloped countries and societies with intermediaries.

There are people who would follow rules and regulations religiously and there do exist people who would flounder them at will. We have people who would die for others and there are others who would kill others for nothing and some due to fanatical-mistaken beliefs. There is absolutely no reason, whatsoever, to believe in the myths of superiority or inferiority of human beings on any ground. Obviously then, it puzzles why certain things happen in some and not in other societies. The reason could well be the different sets of principles of working, may be called as “institutions” comprising of many tangibles and intangibles components. The institutions have to evolve for the existence of the civilization.

Society develops and maintains the institutions needed for its forward movement. Societies have been evolving by adapting to the different set of requirements with time and place.

In the light of the above discussion, I would now like to focus on the state of Bihar. (The same may also be applicable for other not-so-developed states of the Indian union) All the ingredients necessary and arguably sufficient are available to make it a better province in the country and a nice place to stay for everyone. Question is why we are not what we could and should have been! Answer lies in the way we have built and nurtured our institutions vis-à-vis other societies.

Bihar had as many as seven governments between 1967 and 1970. The degeneration of the institutions (responsible for progress) started probably thence and no corrective measures were taken because of the absence of strong civil society (comments invited).

When Punjab was riding the wave of Green revolution, we were devising ways of indulging in caste-wars. When Karnataka was experiencing Knowledge boom with IT and ITES industry, we were the largest chunk of illiterates. Similarly, when Tamilnadu was urbanizing, we were forced to move to other areas for earning breads. The agriculture collapsed, industry did not arrive and the economy collapsed. Education could not keep pace with the changing knowledge requirements and politics was as usual unsympathetic to the development.

The real concern is that we may be return of lawlessness once again as was witnessed in the nineties. The new-found bonhomie between the two friends turned foes turned friends has to find acceptance by the common Biharis which does not seem to be working well on the ground. This can be safely concluded by the low attendance seen in the joint rallies conducted so far. Bihar has to find resonance for the all-round development and not regressive politics dominated by caste and its conflicts. Only then, the state of Bihar can emerge as a winner. 2014 is not the year for starting a journey backward to darkness but for marching ahead with hope and commitment to prosperity.

We have to balance our task and take the initiatives urgently required in the direction of excellence. Short little steps can make a big difference, if pursued with the needed zeal and vigour. Impossible exists only in the imagination of the unwilling!

More than a billion heads thought and delivered the verdict…decisively…the effect is before us: ”Narendra Modi (NaMo) hoisted the tricolour at the Red Fort on August 15.” We had a summer full of electoral noises, campaigns, colours and most important of all, ideologies from either side of the divide displaying their vigour and making their presence felt. Eventually, the NaMo chant mesmerized the general electorates and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerges at the centre-stage of Indian politics. What satisfies us, as a citizen of this country, is that there had been very good voter turnout, more by around 10% when compared to last election.

However, the result is clear and the BJP along with its NDA partners got an unprecedented response (with tremendous expectations) from the people of Bihar & Uttar Pradesh (UP), specially mentioned here as these two are the most backward states in India, too.

The task is gigantic for NaMo. Sliding economy, shrinking jobs, increasing religious intolerance intertwined with international scenario, weaning hope in the political system: just imagine and the problem is here. He has been bestowed with faith by the people for the development.

The speech of the newly elected Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi inspires millions though opposition has usual criticisms to make. Nevertheless, there is everything to gain and the leader (though he calls himself “Pradhan Sevak” i.e., Prime Servant) has to prove that he deserves it and can deliver on the promises made during election campaigning. This forum is not to praise or demean anybody but only to give voice to the silent majority who wish their country moves in the right direction.

The democracy is maturing and we need more and more ‘political’ masses. Being ‘political’, it is not meant only participating in the elections or casting votes but questioning whatever is happening around us and be critical, if not cynical. On the occasion of the sixty-eighth anniversary of our independence, let us remind ourselves the vision with which we started our journey. The all-round development is the aim and education is the first step in this direction. The yearning is to have a 100% literate India by 2019. This is the quintessential need of hour. Human resources are vital to the development of any society. And it requires lot of investment: both financial and humans themselves. The government may not be able to do it alone.

The civil society must come forward. There is no point cursing the administration for all our ills. Initiatives are required in whatever way we feel our contribution can make a difference. An honest effort never fails and all thinking minds have to put their enterprise in the right direction. Let us insist. Mission is to realize our dreams. Motivation or Resistance cannot be taught in any institution. They are the inherent property of a human being. A conducive atmosphere is required wherein everyone can make an impact. A prosperous and harmonious society is not necessarily a utopia.

Success stories are not invented. They are cultivated. We have to work for the economics which delivers for both: the poor and the rich. Agriculture and Industry are not dichotomous and each has its own place in stimulating the growth. At the end of the day, sustaining the growth and ensuring the redistribution of wealth, has to be the mantra of development. A weak Monsoon is a test for the establishment as well as for us, the common citizens. On the other hand, excessive localized rains (cloudbursts) pose different set of concerns. All the embankments and dams on flood-prone rivers need urgent attention. The deluge of earlier years must not be allowed this time.

A lot is desired in less time. There is no limit to success and laxity in our efforts must be shunned. We, hereby, also voice our strong condemnation to excesses on the weaker sections in any part of the word, including that of Iraq.

Wishing fellow Indians, a belated happy independence day!

With the level of increasing awareness we find today, there is a discussion going on over the issues concerning the way women negotiate (most believe, suffer) under the rule and regulations deeply entrenched in our man-dominated society simply known as ‘Patriarchal’ set up. This write-up traverses through with the assumption that we understand what patriarchy is all about and how it operates.

I feel that ‘patriarchy’ is directly related to and responsible for most of the ills of our society such as religious intolerance, ‘bombardist’ nationalism, stereotyping of women/minorities/other weaker sections of the society so on and so forth. Even the patriarchy (what we know) is expressed in its type casted version in almost every walk of life including films and literature. I would like to explore the nuances associated with the male psyche ingrained in the wider patricentric framework.

Before proceeding further, i would like to give a disclaimer to avoid any misconception to the reader: I intend to say-because of being a
heterosexual and not so altruistic male – that patriarchy is not at all good and i am opposed to it for reasons including as well as other than the ones provided by the feminist line of thought. 

Under the patriarchal set of rules, the ‘Masculinity’ is to be asserted and if need be, to be preserved: this is the duty of every male who is living under the umbrella of the patriarchal system. Heterosexuality, division of labour based on sex, upbringing of children according to their biological sexuality and not as per their social ‘sexuality’; taking care of children, old, infirm, ills etc.- are some of the ‘salient’ features of this arrangement of social living. Maintaining racial, religious and caste practices, inheritance of property are imposed on the man.

Man should work and woman would take care of the household. Man toils outside for his love and woman has to sweat within the walls for the same love. If man does not earn, he is taunted and not considered as a strong man and definitely not an ideal one. Poor man spends his entire life traveling on trains, buses, taxis, ships etc. oscillating between home and workplace. Sometimes, he does not go to his home if becomes late to avoid being late the next morning. He does not understand that it is not ‘normal’.

Man must live for father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter, state and nation, education and entertainment, science and literature. It is common sense for him to fight in war, be in army, doing hazardous and menial work, protect his culture from outside attack, save his women from others, physically assault women of others to affirm his imagined superiority, so on and so forth. The irony is that he feels pride and satisfaction in doing all these.

To quote Nancy Friday, “When women can get their emotional needs satisfied elsewhere, don’t they often forget about men? Take the familiar picture of a woman who has found such close-close togetherness with her children that father feels left out. How many men do you know who neglect their wives for their children?

Men are trained to find their security in themselves. Women are their emotional outlet, their main source of love. If, as women believe, men are so lucky, so self-sufficient, so free, dominant, and irresponsible, living in an option-filled man’s world, why do they give it all up for marriage? Men may resist, but in the end most do marry because they want women more than anything else; if responsibilities, mortgages, ulcers, child care, and monogamy are part of the package they must buy to get women, they’ll do it. The thesis of this book (Men in Love) is that men’s love of women is filled with rage. Observation shows that in the end love wins out over rage.” He believes that it is his pious duty to keep his woman happy and work for the survival of his clan. 

Looking at the life expectancy figures of man and woman world over, invariably it is found that the man’s life expectancy is less than that of the woman’s. The reason is sociological (defending patriarchy) and not biological. He still thinks that he is doing fine.

Let us ponder over the issue with respect to a very popular movie “Roja”. The hero Rishi Kumar takes the blame on himself so that Roja’s elder sister, a common girl, could get her desired groom. He is further kidnapped while desperately searching for Roja- his wife. Then, he almost died defending the honour of his (mother) nation. The minister finally melts to the appeal of his ‘daughter-like’ Roja and agrees to release a ‘dreaded criminal’ for a ‘husband’ and not for an engineer serving the army. The astrologer feels it is his divine duty to help Roja –a sister. The case may be not very different in other so-called mainstream cinema!

Seems that, it is natural duty of man to react, protect, love, patronize, act impulsively, and what not- may be very difficult for me to understand. The patriarchy is quite naturally stereotyped in all the above incidents. I would like the readers to enlighten me on this subject for which i shall always be grateful.

Perhaps, we need to create a viable alternative to this menacing patriarchy under which all of us including “woman and man” can live happily thereafter.

Anyways, Happy Rakshabandhan to all!

There is huge uproar in the country over a Hindu girl kidnapped, kept hostage, gang raped and converted to Islam. As per the survivor girl’s account, she was a part time tutor at a local Madarasa in Meerut of Uttar Pradesh (UP). More on the ordeal of the girl and the dysfunctional law and order in UP has been reported in detail at http://www.niticentral.com/2014/08/05/meerut-rape-case-ups-malaise-dysfunctional-governance-lack-of-political-will-235290.html

From the time it came to light, there are strong sentiments being expressed in the social media. The usually vocal media and journalists claim to be ‘secular’ are not convinced with the report and some of them are terming it just rumour and accordingly it is not getting sufficient airtime on national media. However, the voice is getting louder and media cannot shy away for long to report it and put things in perspective. As per the police authorities, the investigation is on and 3 people have been arrested but the main accused is still absconding as on the evening of August 5, 2014.

The attempt here is not to judge the case or pass commentary on the ‘moral compass’ of some of the alleged seculars nor would like to justify some of the extreme reactions from Hindu groups. However, the way things have unfolded and believing the version of the survivor, the role of proselytizing Islamists and human-trafficking must be investigated in its entirety on pan-India basis.

The silence and at best condemnation of ‘rape’ of a 20 year old teacher in a madarsa by intellectual activists and journalists claiming to be secular and objective is widely debated. Even centrist/independent voices are asking questions.

Let me start discussing this matter from the perspective of ‘Left’ activism. The left ideology as practised does not recognize ‘religion’ as an entity to exist and moreover, is inimical to the very idea of religion. Marx’s view on religion is well known. Left also detests any ‘nationalist’ organisation especially the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)  as it considers RSS as a major stumbling block  in the spread of communism. This dislike gets intensified by the fact (or strong perception among leftists) that RSS is a formidable vocal pressure group for Hindu concerns.

The intellectual activists and journalists trained under the influence of Marxian school of thought find majoritarian-ism as danger and consider its bounden duty to protect minority rights especially Muslim interests. It may be also due to the perception that Muslims face greater danger than other minorities. Incident of Saharanpur a few days back where the perpetrators were primarily from Muslims community against Sikhs is just a corroboration of this view.

Coming to the reaction of people on the right side of the ideological divide, it must also be noted that the reaction is vocal primarily due to the fact that the girl is a practising Hindu who was raped, tortured, religiously converted inside a madarsa (a Muslim school). Hindu right believes Islam is a majorly proselytizing religion and is out to convert non-Muslims to its fold. It is a long held belief and gets reassured by the unfortunate partition of India (creation of Pakistan & Bangladesh). Recent occurrence of ISIS, Boko Haram, LeT, IM, JuD, Hamas, Moslem Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Taliban, SIMI so on and so forth have only strengthened this belief among Hindus. The way newly formed Islamic Caliphate (IS) in Iraq has treated non-Sunni minorities (Shias, Christian etc.) is a very much fresh in the psyche of the common people.  This reaction is also due to the relatively excessive (frenzied) coverage ‘force-feed’ of a Muslim caterer during fasting got in the media recently.

The incident of rape and forced conversion is definitely grave and is therefore, getting strong reaction among Hindus not necessarily associated to any groups. This is apart from the horrified story as told by the girl of kidnap, organ smuggling, and human-trafficking to gulf. UP administration has assured to investigate the matter in detail and we hope they are honest in their investigation without fear or favour.

Amidst this entire furore, we must not forget the ordeal the lady has gone through and we have to ensure as a society that she gets the justice. The culprits must be brought to book and adequate punishment be awarded to them for all the crimes they committed be it, rape, forced conversion, kidnap, organ smuggling, and human-trafficking.

For left, I would like to say that shun the baggage and accept the reality of Islamism at least in the view of what is happening in Iraq. For right, they have to reform the Hindu society from the caste-ridden hierarchical structure to more egalitarian and all-encompassing one. The centrists, anyway, will take position they find apt in their own judgement given the fact of the matter.