India, the world’s most populous country, is a major economic and political power in South Asia. Known for its vast linguistic, cultural, and geographic diversity, India has a rich history that spans thousands of years, with deep-rooted traditions in philosophy, science, art, and religion. Its large population and vast history mark its economic and cultural importance.
While India’s civilization can be traced to the Harrapan era, that is, 1400 BCE, its modern political boundaries were established in 1947 when it gained independence from British rule. It is now a federal parliamentary democracy with 28 states and 8 union territories, with New Delhi as its capital. India has a democratic system with a multiparty political landscape, with the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party being the two dominant national parties.
As one of the fastest-growing major economies, India is a global hub for technology, manufacturing, and services, while also being an agrarian powerhouse. It is a nuclear-armed state and plays a key role in regional and global geopolitics, maintaining strategic partnerships with various nations.
India is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse countries in the world, home to multiple religions, sects, castes, and tribes. It has more than ten-thousand languages and hundreds of regional dialects, with Hindi and English serving as the two of the 22 official languages. Despite economic progress, India faces challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and environmental concerns, alongside managing its complex social fabric and regional disparities.
Mr Akash: Outstanding repartees and knock-out punches to our resident bigot-in-chief and armchair gaurakshak Harry.
It is simply mind boggling to see how Harry – presumably an educated man – ditches his education and talks the very same language of the lumpen gaurakshaks who terrorise Muslims in BIMARU states. Admittedly, he does not wield a lathi and thrash innocent Muslims or go about raping Muslim women. But the fact that he sees nothing wrong in others committing these heinous crimes is truly cringeworthy. Harry, like his mentors in the RSS and the BJP does not like to get his hands dirty – he merely defends violence against Muslims when the likes of yourself, Mr Tog and myself criticise his fascist idols. In Harry’s worldview, smashing 3 year old Saleha’s head and killing her in front of her mother Ms Bilkis Bano is perfectly OK in the Vishwaguru. Likewise, a gang of Hindutva thugs raping the pregnant Ms Bano and making her to lose her unborn child is not only OK but the right medicine for jihadis. For, according to Harry, that will bring the “fear of god in the minds of diabolical jihadis”.
Hindutva ideology is slowly deploying a tactic that resembles what International law calls “collective punishment”. Collective punishment entails killing or punishing an entire community when one member of that community commits an offence. The Nazis – the original source of inspiration for the RSS – were notorious for their use of collective punishment. Today, Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions explicitly bars collective punishment during conflicts.
But what makes the Hindutva take on collective punishment much worse than its Nazi version is the fact that today, Muslims in India do not have to commit any crime to get brutally lynched, raped or killed. Imagined past crimes by Muslims as determined by WhatsApp history professors are more than enough to justify violence on today’s Indian citizens who happen to be Muslims. Including on a 3 year girl called Saleha in Gujarat or an 8 year old girl called Asifa Bano.
Of course, for the 2 most powerful Gujaratis who run the Vishwaguru, there are 2 less termites to be thrown into the Bay of Bengal.
To cite Voltaire again:
“History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes”
I hope future historians will document the crimes and misfortunes of the Vishwaguru under Hindutva.
PS: Do write more Mr Akash – you produce some of the most well-thought out and well-written comments here. And I learn from them. Merci.
Kili
Tasleema Narsin had said that if situation of Muslims in India is bad like that of Hindus in Pakistan, they will leave India. The fact that they have not left India show you are talking bull.
Only in India a minority can drive out a foreigner, of same faith as they themselves are, for fighting for the rights of minority in her home country.
Harry: Well, African Americans face immense discrimination in the USA. But using your pathetic logic, since they have not left the USA, things are hunky dory for them in the US.
Why don’t you write when your gomutra beer induced hangover is gone ?
We are talking about acid test in third world. . You are talking nonsense. You want to compare treatment in your Heaven to Hell. You better see movie Beverly Hills Cops starring Eddy Murphy, so that reality sinks into your empty upstairs.
India is part of South Asia and third world not West. Even in third world India is nearly at the bottom. Since 1950s, until recently, India had ranked worse than Pakistan in HUNGER INDEX and worse than Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of ACUTE HUNGER, as per UN reports. So India can only be COMPARED with Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of human rights. Human rights follow development, not other way around.
People like you have hidden agenda of keeping third world in chaos, by insisting that they put cart before horse, so they remain poor and weak perpetually and pose no threat to rich nations, economically or militarily.
Harry, I refer to your whataboutery of the Moplah rebellion.
[‘ARE YOU SAYING ANNE BEASANT & SIR C SHANKARAN , the president of Indian National Congress at that time, WERE LYING?
If not then aren’t you. Kili etc. are either Noseless [ Shamless] like dog, who even when kicked wags tail to his master, or are you so traumatized by that experience that you don’t want to acknowledge it?
I can understand Muslims behaving like Holocaust denier.
But if you are Hindu then develop courage or keep your mouth shut or say that you are not Hindu.’]
First of all, I explained you are indulging whataboutery. When Kili refers to the murderous regime of Modi in Gujarat, you start countering with Moplah rebellion. You think Kili is Keralan and also yourfrustration has made your whataboutery diverge into branches about his blackness and Goebbelism !
Secondly, I mentioned to you the Moplah rebellion was related to British rule, agrarian policies and landlordism. The British govt. was ruling and their reaction was worse than at Jallianwallah. Keralan and Indian historians either regard it as an agrarian revolt or a peculiar episode of the Indian freedom movement. The RSS-BJP has created a fabricated history – like they have been doing in other instances – and you want to impose their Hindu-Muslim interpretation of Moplah rebellion on us and ask us to comment on it. It like the RSS-BJP trying to paint the current farmer’s revolt as a Khalistani movement or Hindu-Sikh issue.
To show you the Moplah rebellion was not communal as the RSS makes out, you should know the commanders of the rebellion were Muslims and Hindus. The Muslims were also the most executed because the British regarded them as fierce fighters (they called them jungle moplahs). Most of the landlords squeezing the peasants happened to be Hindus – like Adani and Ambani. Some of them would have been killed in the rebellion.
Leaders of the Moplah Rebellion
Ali Musliyar Executed
Variankunnath Kunjahammad Haji Executed
Sithi Koya Thangal
M. P. Narayana Menon
Chembrasery Thangal Executed
K. Moiteenkutti Haji Executed
Kappad Krishnan Nair
Konnara Thangal Executed
Pandiyatt Narayanan Nambeesan
Mozhikunnath Brahmadathan Nambudiripad
The Moplahs earlier had fought the Portuguese for 500 years. They were the brave sailors who captained the Hindu maharajahs’ navies and kept the Portuguese at bay at great cost of life to themselves. If they had not done that, the Portuguese would have captured the whole of India and converted all to Christianity, and India would have been like Brazil.
Annie Besant was British and she cannot be totally trusted. The British played both communities against each other. You can always find an Englishman who wrote that Jinnah was more reasonable than the Congress.
Finally, I would like to address your classless comments against Hindus.
‘If not then aren’t you. Kili etc. are either Noseless [ Shamless] like dog, who even when kicked wags tail to his master, or are you so traumatized by that experience that you don’t want to acknowledge it? ‘ [My comment : The answer is Keralans evidently are not so traumatised as Sanghis like you. They are not rioting about it, and they don’t believe Moplah rebellion was Muslims subjecting Hindus to a holocaust. You read that in some RSS pamphlet. Keralans are educated and they have higher IQ to be suckers].
I can understand Muslims behaving like Holocaust denier. [ My comment : There was only one Holocaust – Jews by German Nazis. Holocaust deniers are ex Nazi Germans – and the RSS Goebbels was part of it. Golwalkar wrote praise for it]
But if you are Hindu then develop courage or keep your mouth shut or say that you are not Hindu.’ {My comments : Hindus should develop courage for what ? For mob lynching ? Raping an 8 year old Muslim girl in a temple ? You want Kili and all of us to agree to that . The only choice you give is not to disagree with you, or say we are not Hindus. Which is not a choice at all. It is a choice only to the fascist mind.
On the subject of Hindus developing courage, I would say you need to overcome your inferiority complex regarding Muslims, Christians, west, liberals and intellectuals. There is an interview by Karan Thapar of Tavleen Singh. She had believed and hoped Modi would bring development and focus on the economy. But she gradually realised there was no substance in Modi and the tipping point was the mob lynching of Pehlu Khan. She said that she had interviewed RSS leaders and she knew their feeling about ‘getting back at the Muslims’. For them, even raping a poor nomadic 8 year old Muslim girl in a temple is ‘getting back at Muslims’, an act of great Hindu valour, for which they train daily. Tavleen Singh said she came from a warrior community, and a mob lynching a solo man and is son is not bravery, it would be seen as cowardice. That reminded me of you. You have the same rage as the RSS coward and mob lyncher, and you want Kili and all of us to appreciate your notions of ‘Hindu valour’.
In the final analysis, you are a coward, with a deep inferiority complex with such a low intellectual ability that you cannot pull yourself out of the mire that you are in. I suggest you apply your mind like Tavleen Singh and realise Modi is just taking Hindu society and India down]
Annie Besant was British and she cannot be totally trusted and SIR C SHANKARAN is Keralite Congressman so that he can not be trusted. That is summary of your logic,. Critics of your idea can not be trusted, but your supporters can be trusted.
Is that all his your logic? A TYPICAL GOEBBELS LOGIC
For all our claim of not trusting Brits you guy are more willing to take British Astrozenica than India’s home made Covaxin.
I would trust British historians like James Todd more than people like Romila Thappar, Ifran Habbib etc.
Shame on you guys.
Tavleen Singh was girl friend of former Pakistani Minister. She might have jumped on BJP bandwagon like Yashwant Sinha, Jasvant Singh, Kulkarni etc forbenefits in past.
Akash
Tell us the story of Ghazwa-e-Hind believed by followers your of religion of peace?
Or are you going to keep like silence or deny it, as Goebbels used to do about German crimes?
After reading all these do you thinks Hindus are stupid enough to believe your whitewashing Moplass?
The fact is fact, it does not change what Brits did or wrote or Mopla leader employed Hindus, one can always find scums from any community. Even Mohammed Ghazni employed a Hindu commander named Tilak.
The fact of Hindus murdered, forcibly converted and women raped by Moplas is historical facts, which fake nationalists i.e secularists are trying to hide. Secularists are as align to Indian people as Kaffirs are to Muslims.
Such people don’t have an inferiority complex. They actually have a supremacist complex. They are basically Vedic supremacists, and their goal is to influence lower caste Hindus like OBC, dalit and tribals to vote for them. Most lower caste Hindus can’t see through their game.
So to Vilas I have supremist complex, while to Akash I have inferiority complex. averaging is good technique in data analysis. So averaging the opinion of you two , it is clear I neither have inferiority complex nor superiority complex., while you two samples are off mainstream.
Excellent response Mr Vilas !
The problem though is that like the QAnon cult that sucked in many gullible Americans, the Prophet Modi cult has its own adherents – Harry saab being one such case. And his addiction to gomutra beer does not help either …
Indian equivalent of QAnon cult is secularist cult. Bulk of Indians have rejected it.
Looks like Nehru secularism is past it’s Shelf life. it is only mental Dinosaurs from Hindu community like you and people living in bygone ages like Indian minorities want it.
Harry: Utterly unfathomable that you would justify the horrendous of your mass-murderer friend Babu Bajrangi as his violence was retribution for Muslim crimes – real and imagined centuries ago. I refer to your snort:
“.. Muslims are getting paid in their own coin, for centuries of wrongdoings period. So if Babu Bajarangi and other brought the fear of god in the minds of diabolical jihadis .. than it is good for them ..”
Well Harry, have you heard of what your your friend Babu Bajrangi’s buddies did to Bilkis Bano the young Muslim lady with a 3 year old child Saleha and pregnant with her second child?
– Ms Bilkis Bano’s daughter’s head was smashed on a rock in front of her eyes
– Ms Bano was gang raped by your friends and she lost her child
– Her mother and the 8 women in her entourage were all raped and killed
– Her cousin who had delivered a baby the day before was raped and her 1 day old infant was killed
– She was threatened at the police station and attempts were made to make her retract her statement
In a chilling video, you can hear your friend Babu Bajrangi narrate how he threw diesel on Muslims and burnt them to death. And how he did not spare anybody – men, women and even children. As he says:
“kisiko nahin choda … ladies bhi ho, bachche bhi ho – Maaro, kaato sabko jalao ..”
(Don’t spare anyone .. whoever they are women or children – beat, cut and burn them)
Ref: bit.ly/3tX27qR)
And educated people like you rationalise the behaviour of bloodthirsty beasts like Babu Bajrangi because such behaviour, in your equally diabolical worldview is:
“.. Muslims are getting paid in their own coin .. Babu Bajarangi and other brought the fear of god in the minds of diabolical jihadis ..”
Essentially, you not only justify but also approve of the murder of 3 year old Saleha, her unborn sibling and the rape of Bilkis Bano even though these people are utterly innocent of any crime.
You and Babu Bajrangi would even make Josef Mengele cringe.
SHAME ON YOU HARRY. YOU ARE EVEN LESS OF A HUMAN BEING THAN I THOUGHT.
I see Goebbels in action, Just like Goebbels repeating time and again Russian atrocity in East Prussia, but ignoring German genocidal actions. This Black Keralite Goebbels, Kili Jolsiyar, repeating Babu Bajarangi but avoiding word Mopla.
Kili Mopla, if you are to be considered human then sure I am divine.
‘This Black Keralite Goebbels, Kili Jolsiyar, repeating Babu Bajarangi but avoiding word Mopla.’
That statement shows the racism in you.
How did you assume Kili is Keralan ? Is it because he is a rational person and you know a northerner cannot be that ? In other words, you yourself assume an intellectual person must be Keralan – although you hate them for it !
‘Black Keralite Goebbels’. There is no way for a reader to know whether Kili is black or fair relative to you. Anyhow, what is the significance other than it being a weak attempt to say Kili is inferior to you by colour ? It comes out that black is evil for you – because you link it with Keralans whom you hate and Goebbels who you pretend to hate !
I have explained Moplah is just whataboutery, because you cannot answer the catalogue of mob violence under the Modi govt. which Kili documented and which is seen by the outside world – causing India’s downgrading. Moplah was during British rule, the British are responsible as they were the government. Just as Modi is responsible for Gujarat 2002 as he was the presiding CM, who mobilised violent kar sevak mobs and sent them on trains. Vajpayee and Advani abetted Modi. You cannot explain to the outside world that Hindu mobs are rioting in 2020 due to Moplahs in 1920 ! Keralans don’t seem to be fighting about Moplah rebellion like you. They have progressed because they are looking to the future. If you want to say you do not care about US’s Freedom report, fine. Then there is no need for whataboutery about Moplahs.
Your immature response to Kili, and your rage and whataboutery, suggest to an observer that you are burning from an inner cowardice and lack of intellectual capability.
He called himself Aryan in one of his comments. That is probably why he unconsciously used the epithet Black. With supremacists like him aplenty , we are not going to become anywhere like a China, let alone a Japan or Korea. To become a progressive country we need to let go of notions of purity and holiness and accept that all humans are created equal.
They have progressed because they are looking to the future.
Start eating meat when people western countries are trying to move away from eating meat is not progress. Kerala really have no industries, unlike Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat or Haryana. Only thing that is keeping it afloat is remittance from exported unskilled workers in middle east. But that source is soon drying up and Keralites will face the music.
Your Divine Holiness Harry !
I am not the one approving violence here am I ? After all, you are the one applauding, approving and even supporting the Hindutva inspired violence of your bloodthirsty friends like Baju Bajrangi aren’t you ?
I have a few hundred posts in The Print and in none of them do I ever advocate violence by any party and for any cause – religious, political or ethnic. Indeed, I come down hard upon violence, especially the state sanctioned violence that is the hallmark of the BJP and its violent, racist, Mussolini and Hitler inspired ideology called Hindutva.
But I note that such violence in the name of Hinduism is perfectly OK with you. And, in your divine opinion, even necessary. To cite Your Divine Holiness again:
“.. Muslims are getting paid in their own coin .. Babu Bajarangi and other brought the fear of god in the minds of diabolical jihadis ..”
Truly mind boggling that educated people like you would fall lock, stock and barrel for this vile, absurd and dangerous ideology called Hindutva. A nativist ideology with the potential to split India violently just as Serb nationalism smashed Yugoslavia into smithereens.
As French writer and historian François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire (1694-1778) said:
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”
Babu Bajrangi and you and the atrocities that follow in the wake of your ideologies prove Voltaire right.
The govt. has set up a cell to monitor journalists, and identify the 50 most positive writers and the 50 most negative. In the first category will come the likes of Arnob, they will be rewarded. In the second, will be the ‘negativists’, Vinod Dua, Raveesh Kumar, Nidhi Razdan etc. who will be harassed and maybe gaoled for anti-national activities.
Then, there is the in-between category. These are the Jyoti Malhotras, Ninans, Shekhar Guptas and other regular writers, who have adapted to the eco system. They are intelligent enough to know Modi is a failure and is dragging India down. Their solution is to write 4 articles of pure sycophancy, and 1 article with the actual situation. Or else, they will beat about the bush and write sycophantic praise of the Supreme Leader, and then just add two paragraphs at the end, of apologetic reservations ! The net result is they will be in the positive list.
This is the only explanation for this article by Jyoti Malhotra, which is supposed to show the govt.’s strong line to emulate and go with China – to dismiss the two western reports of declining in democracy in India due to Modi. There is earlier fanciful article by her admiring Modi’s genius (‘India is re-engaging with China and Pakistan — it’s another pre-emptive Modi strike’). It is like Modi’s bhakths think Balkot was a surgical strike showing his genius. The tally on the Indian side shows 49 soldiers killed, a helicopter crash with 8 killed, 1 plane lost, and a pilot captured versus some unknown damage in Balakot. Failure is dressed up as success and anyone who disagrees is anti-national and has to go to Pakistan. While with China, they can take land, and Modi cannot open his mouth, and in fact Jyoti Malhotra thinks it is a brilliant strategy to get investment from anywhere including China, so that will send the message to the west of India’s power !
For those who think India can become like China due to Modi and Jaishankar and be strong enough to tell the west off for critcising India’s democratic credentials, read the following on the attracting foreign students to India for higher education by the people who claim they have made India the Vishwa Guru.
Last year, the government launched ‘Destination India’, which seeks to project the country as a hub of education. 43,000 foreign students come to India annually and the government wants to increase the intake of foreign students to 2 lakh by 2022. This is while the RSS-BJP is destroying the independence and credibility of all universities. It will be like the 5 trillion economy ! The contradiction between delusion and actual is stark.
Read the following article in The Print
‘Crime, pollution, difficult application process — Why India isn’t a top pick of ASEAN students.’
At an event in Vietnam embassy, representatives of ASEAN nations highlighted the reasons why foreign students from developing countries like Vietnam do not want to study in India.
“There are several factors that prohibit Vietnamese students from coming to India. The biggest fear in their minds is the issue of safety since rape crimes in the country are often heard of. Other factors are pollution and availability of food.
…..as of now there are less than 200 Vietnamese students in India. “Their most preferred destinations are the US, Australia, Singapore and the European countries.”
The Indonesian representative said Indian degrees are not valued in all developed countries, which becomes problematic for their students.
If Vietnamese come, they are likely to be beaten up for looking Chinese. If Indonesians and Malaysians come, they will assaulted for being Muslims, under the current climate.
Under the BJP, India’s brand value and the quality of Indian educational institutes have gone down. Rapes, mob violence and vigilantism, student unrest have risen under the BJP. To those who think by awarding a certificate of excellence to Jio University (even before its start) will fool the rest of the world, are mistaken.
What is the solution ? Will Modi and Jaishankar curb their vigilantes and rapists, or boycott ASEAN in a fit of rage, due to this feedback ?
If the above negative image created by the aggressive ‘Hindu nationalists’ puts off foreign students, the same will apply to investors.
Mr Akash: You hit the nail on the head on another aspect of the Indian character – this abject intolerance of people who are different, all this “Atithi Devo Bhava” talk notwithstanding. To the excellent list of facts from ASEAN countries that you have compiled in your post on why India is not an attractive place for foreign students to come, let me add one more – the deep-seated racism against dark-skinned people, particularly Africans. African students in India have been at the receiving end of brutal, uncalled for violence in India. I have included references to a sample of such episodes and a documentary at the bottom of this comment.
Racism against Africans in India goes a long way back. Indeed, even Indian cricket players have indulged in racist tweeting and abuse against black cricketers. Remember Harbhajan Singh racially abusing Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds (who is biracial) in the infamous “Monkeygate” episode?
But racism and intolerance have now been inculcated in the school curricula these days. RSS ideologue Dina Nath Batra is the architect of the new curricula where you have nuggets like:
On the perfect colour of Indians:
“Friends, one day God felt like making rotis. When he was cooking the rotis, the first one was cooked less and the English were born. The second one stayed longer on the fire and the Negroes were born. Alert after His first two mistakes, when God went on to cook the third roti, it came out just right and as a result Indians were born.”
On how brave Indians thrash Africans on flights:
“The pilot and the Indian together thrashed the negro and tied him up with rope. Like a tied buffalo, he frantically tried to escape but could not. The plane landed safely in Chicago. The negro was a serious criminal…and this brave Indian was an employee of Air India”
On a personal note, I have had difficulties getting my staff to travel to India for various assignments. One of my reports, a Polish lady refused to travel to India as she was scared for her physical safety. I tried to replace her with a French employee who turned out to be even more frightened. Monsieur P was afraid that he would be attacked in India for being a beefeater, as the French press has highlighted the lynchings of Muslims by gaurakshaks or “sauveteurs de vache” as the French term goes ! I did convince the chap that he would be safe as long as he did not eat beef and did persuade him to travel to India. Monsieur P did enjoy the trip and informed me that the staff in a hotel in Madras were actually willing to get him beef dishes should he need them ! Clearly, when there is demand, supply will arise !
My final link is to an article in the French media about the infamous Kamdhenu Gau-Vigyan Prachar-Prasar Exam. A quick translation reads “Government to organise a big examination on the theme of cows”. I guess after Rajnath Singh’s visit to the Dassault factory to view the Rafales and tie lemons on them so on, the French are puzzled as to how cow science tamasha also fits into the Vishwaguru’s 5 Trillion dollar economy push.
REFERENCES:
1: Congolese youth killed in Delhi after row over hiring auto; The Hindu, May 21, 2016, ref: bit.ly/3vPWhsO
2: Comatose African student Yannick, who was brutally attacked in Punjab, dies; Hindustan Times, Juky 5, 2014; ref: bit.ly/3lzH3DQ
3: Africans being attacked by roaming mobs in India; Independent; March 30, 2017; ref: bit.ly/3r24YNi
4: Racism against Africans in India
How can they feel safe amid racially motivated attacks? Ref: bit.ly/3cYv1Qi
5: Cricketer Daren Sammy says he faced racism during India IPL stint
Ex-West Indies captain says Hyderabad Sunrisers team-mates called him ‘kaalu’, but he didn’t know what the word meant; ref: bit.ly/3s505UW
6: Batra-isms of the New Education Order where “Negroes’ were Fit to be Thrashed and the British “Uncooked Roti’s”ref: bit.ly/3r9aSMG
7: Le gouvernement indien organise un quiz géant sur le thème de la vache; ref: bit.ly/3tGFVB5
Dear Kili, I have observed Indian immigration officials being exceptionally rude to African arrivals in Bombay airport. India has a long way to go to address these. The caste system is in fact racism.
The reason I was motivated to put up the article from The Print on ASEAN students being afraid to come to India is to explain the fear about India is created by Modi’s bhakts, and the refusal of BJP supporters to accept they are damaging India allows it to get worse.
This fellow Harry who contests you (with whataboutery on moplahs) wrote that liberals and seculars like Harsh Mander are to blame for damaging India’s image and we need to learn from China how to deal with them. So he knows that India’s image is damaged and is not so glorious as bhakths pretend about Modi. It does not occur to Harry that it is not Harsh Mander who fostered the culture of rape and vigilantism, it is the RSS-BJP.
You have other BJP supporters who think everything is fine in India and negative things are only a perception created by the media . If not liberals or seculars, media is creating negative perception.
Your personal experience of Polish and French ladies being afraid to come to India is understandable. Of all the rapes, Unnao, Hathras etc., the one that disgusted the world the most was the gang rape of a 8 year old in a temple in Kashmir – by the priest, his son, nephew, and the police. And then BJP MLAs marching to support the rapists. And RSS spokesmen were indulging in whataboutery on NDTV; they demanded the case be transferred to CBI which is under their control, so the rapists could be acquitted. I felt disgusted and embarrased about India, so I don’t blame outsiders if they are afraid to come to India.
The problem is once you embrace wickedness, murder and rape, you will support anything. You cannot come out of it. To shut out the conscience, you rage at others. That is why every RSS-BJP spokesman rages and shouts in a TV debate. It is not to shut out others, it is to shut out his own self.
I saw this NDTV interview with Sreedharan (of Delhi and Cochin metro fame). He has been inducted to contest for BJP in Kerala. He has acquired already the fanatical rage and intolerance of the BJP apparatchik . When the interviewer raised the topic of intolerance and how it will be seen in a beef eating state like Kerala, he exploded and accused media of intolerance to Modi, and negativism. He intimidated the lady interviewer and said he wants positivism. He said all the development in India has occurred in 7 years, and J & K would have gone out of India’s hand had it not been for Modi. Sreedharan cannot speak calmly like Tharoor, he already speaks like a violent shakha vigilante.
Mr Akash: Thanks for the response.
Actually, of the two who I had to send to India, the French national was a man. He was mortally scared that he would be attacked as a beef consuming person. Indeed, Hindutva types have popped here in France and threatened Indian restaurants for serving beef. And you have surely heard of the brawl at the Indian Foodfest in Frankfurt in 2019 when the Kerala pavilion served beef and North Indian Hindutva types objected to it. The police had to be called and the police had to emphasise that it was perfectly legal to eat beef in Germany.
I have read a lot about the horrendous rape case of the 8 year old girl in Kathua. The BJP and the RSS as well as the local Hindu community came out in defence of the rapists. The victim’s lawyer, a lady was also threatened physically. But what is worse, the Congress, judging the mood of the locals and desperate for votes, chose to side with the rapists. Indeed, neither PM Modi, nor Rahul GAndhi criticised this terrible event See the article in Scroll: “In the Kathua quest for justice, neither BJP nor Congress are credible voices”, ref: bit.ly/31gSmaM
Rule of law, democracy and human rights have evaporated in India.
WELCOME TO INCREDIBLE INDIA !
Here is more on Incredible India !
Please read : UP’s Hindutva goons harass Catholic nuns, teens on Delhi-Orissa train | SabrangIndia, 23 Mar 2021.
Bajrang Dal vigilantes assumed two girls accompanying two nuns on a train were being taken for forcible conversion. The girls said they were born Christians and were going to the convent. The Bajrang Dal vigilantes did not believe, and they demanded their Aaadhar cards, and since these did not state their religion, they ‘arrested’ the nuns and the girls, and took them to the police station, where they were assumed guilty and harassed further. At least they were not raped and beaten to death.
This latest story will be documented and reported abroad. Hence, India’s downwards slide in the democracy index is the correct evaluation.
There have been many violent mob attacks since the BJP came to power – starting with the lynching of Akhlaq and the minister Sharma explaining the crowd got excited. For Tavleen Singh, the last straw was the lynching of Pehlu Khan – see her interview with Karan Thapar. She has conversed with RSS leaders and knows their thinking. She said they have been brought up with a desire to ‘get even with Muslims’. But she says a mob beating Pehlu Khan to death is hardly bravery, it is cowardice. You have the rapes in Unnao and Hathras – and cremating the girl at midnight without parents. Harry will tell us the Dalits are Hindus, but when this happens, he will keep quiet, there is no rage. You have the Delhi riots with BBC showing policemen throwing stones.
In this ugly catalogue, in my view, the most ghastly was the rape of a 8 year old in a temple by the priest, son, nephew, and policemen. It is reported the priest came back to have one last go before the girl finally expired. This perverted mentality was noted in Yogi’s speech where he urged his followers to go to graveyards and dig up Muslim women’s remains and rape them. If you pump this into the head of the youth, then raping a 8 year old will be normal. As Tavleen Singh says, for RSS, this is getting even, and a matter of pride; but gang raping an 8 year old is the height of cowardliness. And as you know, BJP MLAs marched in support of the rapists, and RSS fellows did their whataboutery and demanded the case be transferred to the CBI and centre to assure impartiality.
India has serious problems. It is not just the minorities who are suffering. The RSS’s culture is destroying the moral compass of Hindus. ABVP types harassed Hindu girls in BHU and Gargi College.
Quite a few comments bemoan India’s attempts to take a strong stand and stand up for itself in the world stage. It is best way to survive and be heard. After six and a half decades of trying to be the conscience keeper of the world as Nehru had planned for us and her interests be ignored, this change makes an eminent sense. There is a slightly crude saying in UP – ‘Garib ki Joru, sabki Bhaujai’ roughly translated as – a poor man’s wife is butt of every passerby’s jokes. It is about time, we Indians stand up and be counted.
We need to understand that Indian diaspora in west has no place for India’s domestic interests-look the way they lapped up Biden and Kamla Harris for fresh HB-1 quota nd Green Cards without realising that Dem Presidents have never supported India. Demonstrated again in the Covishield episode. US was the first country to callout against our vaccine and EU joing in just to protect expensive Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. US is now blocking export of critical components to derail Covishield production.
It is best to disregard these bitching and follow the motto, I saw in Secunderabad Cantt. – :Bash on Regardless”
What are India’s attempts to take a strong stand and stand up for itself in the world stage ?
Modi surrendered Indian land meekly, he does not say a word against China, and China has become India’s largest trading partner with a balance in their favour. I see abject cowardice. Modi’s followers may be capable cow vigilantes and mob fighters against minorities, but we do not see the same resoluteness on the world stage. Would you like to explain ?
Akash you must be a Goebbels assistant in your previous life. You are trying to implement Goebbels idea that if you repeat lies hundred times it will become truth.
“Modi surrendered Indian land meekly”
he has not surrendered any land. China took some land and India retaliated with seizing better position. In terms of square miles it is nothing compared to loss during Congress rule.
Starting with a personal attack is the sign you have nothing to follow. Thereafter, you have presented rambling contradictions which prove you have a confused mind. It comes from habitual lying. See what you wrote line by line.
‘he has not surrendered any land’ (Q : indeed Modi said he had not surrendered any land, but why did his face look like he had got a beating ? Why is The Print and Indian papers saying India lost land, and why do we have articles advising India how to respond, and why are we running to Quad ?).
‘China took some land and India retaliated with seizing better position’. (Q : So China did take land ! Did India sieze Chinese land to or just occupied a vantage point that was already in Indian possession ?)
‘In terms of square miles it is nothing compared to loss during Congress rule’ [Q : that means India did lose some square miles, so how can it be nothing (zero ) ? ! You want to say Modi lost land but he did not lose as much as Nehru. You elected a chowkdar with a 56 inch chest, he lost land and lied, and your defence of his failure is he lost less land ! How do you know he will not lose land little by little ?].
It is like Modi saying he is going to go for retaliatory economic boycotts, and 2 months later, we learn China is the biggest trading partner. Now you tell us we shall be emulating China who has taken our land which in terms of square miles is nothing, to build our strength so we can show to the west we don’t care for their remarks on Indian democracy !
You are like all Sanghi fellows. Unqualified, irrational incompetents with low intellect, trying to punch above your weight category.
You are no match for Kili !
Harry: Responding to Mr Akash in your characteristic fact-free style and Hindutva fuelled hubris you snort:
“.. he has not surrendered any land. China took some land and India retaliated with seizing better position .. “
Wrong again ! India needlessly lost 20 brave soldiers due to precisely this Hindutva fuelled cockiness and the Akhand Bharath delusions generated in shakas such as yours. And then some territory. But the fact that you do not even deign to mention the loss of Indian lives is unforgivable, unpardonable and unethical.
In any case, here are the facts:
On 6th Aug 2019, Amit Shah made a bellicose and utterly ir-responsible speech in Parliament about seizing all of PoK and Aksai Chin, the latter currently in Chinese hands. Despite External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s attempts to mollify the Chinese, the crisis escalated, culminating in the June 2020 clashes in Galwan and loss of life and limb.
The outcome of this skirmish has not been in India’s favour in any way. Soldiers were killed, territory was lost and India’s forces do not have a “better position” as you claim. Of course, getting intoxicated on Hindutva ideology often makes its adherents such as the Gujarathis and people like you forget that India is a puny pygmy and cannot stand up to the economic and military might of China. Or as Mr Akash points out, it is a lot easier to lynch hapless Muslim men in India and shriek with joy from rooftops but it is a totally different ball game with China.
The Göbbels epithet you try to attach to Mr Akash above does not stick. We all know who has become a victim of the Hindutva propaganda that was disseminated using Göbbelsian methods. The problem though is that you fail to realise that you have been manipulated into believing a cock-and-bull story of the Vishwaguru’s prowesses in just about every field.
As Josef Göbbels himself said:
“Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will”
One of Goebbels technique was to highlight flaw of others and ignore the flaws of his own group. That is what you are doing. You are highlighting Babu Bajarangi but deliberately ignoring deeds of your Moplas.
Shame on you Kili.
Main technique of Goebbels was to highlight wrong doings by others, while ignoring far worse wrong doings by his own group. Kili ,this is what you are doing ignoring Mopla & highlighting Babu Bajarangi. One key ingredient that make one Noble or Arya is honesty, which you obviously lack.
Shame on you kili.
Harry: It is about time you make up your mind on whether it is Mr Akash or whether it is me who is the Göbbels guy here ! In any case, your spirited, nearly fanatical defence of all things Modi and Babu Bajrangi reveals that after all, you may the Göbbels clone in the equation !
There is no question you guys are kindred spirit of Goebbels & Nazis.
1.Both you guys and Nazis are/were/ Pro-Muslim & Anti-Jews. Hitler had said they he wished Muslims had conquered Europe, so German would have been Muslims. Same things you guys want for India i.e Muslim takeover.
2. There is no difference between yours & Goebbels selective outrage e.g. your dingo like silence about Mopla killing, but your junkyard dog type fierce barking regarding Babu Bajarangi.
Interesting, the Sanghis now use Goebbels who shared their vicious ideology and methods, to attack democrats and liberals ! Nazi lovers want to punish democrats for Goebbelism, which is their preserve.
It is like when Facebook and Twitter started curbing Trump’s account after he staged a mob riot at the Capitol, BJP MPs and ministers expressed outrage on the curb on democracy and free speech in the US ! Obviously, they feared the media companies might apply curbs to them in India. The BJP has been misusing social media and it has been a key tool in their hate mongering, they don’t want that taken away, so they shouted others are being Nazi – just like Harry !
Well, Goebbels was the one who said Germany did not need Jewish intellectualism. Harry is on record here asking for punishment and re-educations camps for Harsh Mander, Ram Puniyani etc. for holding anti-positive outlook and criticising the Fuhrer. He wants them incarcerated in the interest of maintaining the good image of the country !
There is a satirical article in today’s The Wire called ‘The Fuehrer and the University of the Jews’. There is a Gestapo agent who pulls out a rabbit that claps wildly whatever the Fuehrer says. Reminded me of Harry !
This author seems to be caught in the “Aryan Invasion Theory” Trap. Which essentially means that the indigenous Bhartiya were essentially savages and the Aryans came and civilised us and gave us the vedas and so forth. This was a deliberate narrative put forward the Colonial masters and unfortunately many Bhatiya including this author is set in this way of thinking.
The author forgets that Modi was a bold and strong leader when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, who many a time took innovative, independent and bold decisions for his state and party. Modi has continued that style as Prime Minister and most of the nation applauds him for that. He has rolled out some of the boldest initiatives both on the economic and foreign policy front. He did that because that is what he sincerely believes in and not because he got inspired by China.
Bharat is right to show the middle finger to these mostly western hypocrites who bring up human rights or other things when it suits them and mind you, all this news about these 2 organisations downgrading Bharat on various scales hasn’t made any news in any International papers or media. Only the Bhartiya Media for some strange reason seems hellbent on covering it.
So Jyotiji, please grow out of this Slavish mentality. You are from that era when it was fashionable to do so but modern Bharat doesn’t believe in this.
Why did your bold and strong leader keep quiet when China took land ? In fact, he said nothing happened, but his body language suggested otherwise. He has not dared open his mouth against China, like he does against Nehru, Congress and Pakistan. The Chinese know he is a paper tiger and they play accordingly.
Why is it you are so eager to defend failure ? Is it because you sunk all your hopes in this loser and you have no way of accepting reality ?
Hard-hitting repartee Mr Akash !
In fact, Messiah Modi goes out of his way to not ruffle any Chinese feathers knowing fully well that the Vishwaguru lacks the wherewithal to go head to head with China. India might flex muscles by banning frivolous things like TikTok, a few apps here and there or stop issuing state and central government contracts to China. But the fact remains that China is India’s second most important trading partner. And Chinese exports to India are a miniscule 3% of its overall export, ref: bbc.in/38UVCfR. PM Modi knows better than to stir a hornet’s nest.
Indeed, in Aug 2019, when Amit Shah thundered in Parliament that India would recover all of Kashmir that was controlled by Pakistan as well as the Aksai Chin region which Pakistan had ceded to China, well, all hell broke loose. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar had to fly to Beijing to throw oil on troubled waters and assuage the Chinese that Shah was not being serious. Indeed, US International Affairs experts such as Tom Fravel point out that the Chinese response in Galwan was a direct response to Arun Shah’s loose lips, see ref: bit.ly/30ZH0Yq
As you rightly point out Mr Akash, Messiah Modi and his man Friday Amit Shah are all gung-ho and bellicose when it comes to Nehru bashing, denigrating opposition parties, weak nations like Pakistan etc. etc. But they are spectacularly tongue-tied when it comes to China ! And the RSS kids are being outwitted by the professional and disciplined political, diplomatic and military leadership in China.
But then for bhakths and Modi cult members like Mr Arjun Mehta, facts do not matter. In their make believe world, Messiah Modi can do no wrong and everything is hunky-dory in Modistan. Western reports decrying the slide in democracy in India is something Mr Mehta doesn’t care because he truly believes that India is now the all powerful Vishwaguru and economic powerhouse.
Bhakths like Mr Mehta remind of a quote from the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55):
“ There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true”.
‘But the fact remains that China is India’s second most important trading partner.’
Actually, recently China overtook the US and became India’s largest trading partner – so much for the tall talk about Modi taking stern steps to curb China ! I read it in the The Print.
If you go to any trade exhibition, you will will find Indians, mostly Gujaratis milling around Chinese booths. They want to do trade deals with the Chinese – mostly to have distributorships for Chinese products. No great desire for ‘Make in India’.
I know one businessman who was building a chemical plant. Due to the restrictions announced on Chinese technology, I asked him if he was going to get it from Europe. He said he was going to get it from China. But I said how ? He said there are no restrictions. That is what Jyoti Malhotra is also saying – but she now makes a virtue out of necessity and attributes it to Modi’s sagacity to make India strong so it can rebuff the west. Losing land to China and allowing them to make inroads into the Indian economy is no problem, but criticism of degradation of democracy and rights of Indian citizens is intolerable. They are a pile of contradictions.
The BJP supporters have frustrations. Modi has told them that in the last 70 years, there was no development. Actually, Javed Akthar in his farewell speech from the Rajya Sabha expressed India’s situation more objectively : he said one cannot say nothing was achieved by Congress and others in the 70 years, but one can say more could have been done. Nehru built the IITs, he initiated the space and nuclear programmes straight away, and Indira Gandhi the Green Revolution. The IT boom was due to Rajiv Gandhi. This is why Indians could go to Silicon Valley. MMS and Chidambaram created the 300 million middle class – who today hate them. Since Modi had said during the election ‘Just give me 60 months, I shall give 60 years of Congress development’, it is natural to probe what he has achieved. What we see is an economic slump and social distress.
Mr Akash:Thanks for the response and the clarifications on China’s ever increasing commercial importance and clout in the Indian economy – aided and abetted in no small measure by Gujarathis.
It proves a central tenet of economics and finance – economic incentives are far more powerful than any nationalistic forces. Capital and investments flow to places where the return on Investment (ROI) is highest and are unmoved by Make in India type slogans and websites. Thus, the NRI might participate in garish and tasteless Howdy Modi style displays of nationalism in places like Houston but he will neither invest in India nor for that matter move to India for career reasons. And those who do move, do so after acquiring a Western passport.
Likewise, empty talk of boycotting Chinese wares and some symbolic smashing of defective Chinese smartphones are just that – symbolic and shambolic. Most Indians use Chinese made smartphones and given the fact that the average Indian needs to be on Whatsapp to get his daily dose of gyaan, it is utterly unlikely that he is going to smash his phone because Modi tells him to. Indeed, even in the US, when Trump made a huge song and dance about boycotting Chinese products, the average American consumer continued to shop at Walmart, the outlet that sold cheap Chinese products. Boycotts don’t work when doing so means that the poor have to pay more.
You touch upon the actual progress made by the Modi government. Confining myself to economics, the answer is: abysmal. Indeed, the worst period of Dr ManMohan Singh’s tenure was actually better than the best period of Modi’s reign. A study of 15 indicators shows that on 11 of them, MMS did a better job than Modi, see ref: bit.ly/3tP36cj.
There are 2 other issues with the Modi growth mirage that the Indian middle class has fallen for lock, stock and barrel.
India’s GDP figures are not trustworthy following a change in 2015;
Demonetisation – another hare-brained Modi scheme – delivered a nasty kick to the solar plexus of the informal sector where 82% of Indians toil. And this sector is yet to recover from that blow.
Sadly, these dismal economic indicators are all drowned in the din of Hindutva and jingoism that the BJP IT cell mass produces and the average Indian seems to lap up with glee. Meanwhile, smart Gujarathis are quietly moving their money out of the country and capital flight from India has accelerated.
And in a nod to our Göbbels obsessed Babu Bajrangi defender Harry, I will again quote Göbbels:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State”
leftist jnu views by a lutyen journalist which majority of Indians do not care and have zero trust. Lutyen is living in old Nehru family india
It always makes sense to side with your regional countries than some nation 12000 miles away The respective priorities between the two are bound to vastly different on a last resort basis.
Well making the country more like an autocracy is really going to make a strong nation where you can’t criticise the government even if it does massacre.
Mr Dipanshu Singh: Superb comment indeed !
The massive problem with autocratic governments in states such as Myanmar, the former Soviet Union, modern day Russia, Turkey, Egypt, North Korea etc. is that not only do they engage in repression, massive human rights violations and pogroms, they also fail to deliver economic growth. And these autocratic regimes are not answerable to the people for both these crimes. Indeed, Stalin’s purges and gulags killed between 6 to 9 million people and neither Stalin nor anybody in his cabinet was charged with these crimes. North Korea’s famine from 1994-98 resulted in the deaths of between 250,000 to 3.5 million people. None of these places have any strong, sustainable economic development trajectories. But then, nobody is held responsible for the mass murders and genocides that took place in these countries. Nobody criticises the government.
That may well be India’s future under Modi.
Kili Mopla,
How about your Khilafat [Caliphate] in Kerala? Was it paradigm of human rights?
When cornered in TV debates, I have seen RSS fellows engage in whataboutery.
But even when indulging in whataboutery, at least come up with reality. But you come with fabrications and ask us to justify.
What Khilafat in Kerala? It is the most progressive state in India.
Intellectually, the far right is retarded. You have some emotional response, but no analytical or reasoning ability.
Until now I thought you knew history. Looks like you are totally ignorant. You are intellectually no better than a farm laborer. So here is information for you for short lived Khilafat in Kerala, THE PARADIGM OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
This description is from person like Anne Beasant. It is from book by by Sir C Shankaran Nair the president of Indian National Congress in the year 1897. In the addendum section of the book, the revolutionary freedom fighter Anne Besant penned down her experience as one of the spectators of the gruesome massacre, ‘Malabar’s Agony’.
The harrowing depiction of the massacre put forward by Besant will shake you from inside. In every paragraph she made responsible the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi for such gruesome annihilation of the Hindus.
In one such instance she wrote ” How does Mr. Gandhi like the Mopla spirit, as shown by one of the prisoners in the Hospital, who was dying from the results of asphyxiation? He asked the surgeon, if he were going to die, and surgeon answered that he feared he would not recover, ” Well, I’m glad I killed fourteen infidels,” said the’ Brave, God-fearing Mopla, Mr. Gandhi so much admires, who “are fighting for what they consider as religion, and in a manner, they consider as religious.” Men who consider it “religious” to murder, rape, loot, to kill women and little children, cutting down whole families, have to be put under restraint in any civilised society. ”
Apparently, she was dejected with Gandhi being the upholder of such heinous atrocities done against the Hindus by the Moplas in the name of ‘khilafat’ and Painting this unrest as an insurrection against the British Government.
In one more instance she wrote ” Can you conceive of a more gusty and inhuman crime than the murders of babies and pregnant women? Two days back I had occasion to read a report given by a refugee in Calicut. A pregnant woman carrying 7 months was cut through the abdomen by a rebel and she was seen lying dead on the way with the dead child projecting out of the womb. How horrible! Another, a baby of six months was snatched away from the breast of his own mother and cut into two pieces. How heart-rending Are these rebels’ human beings or monsters? From the same quarters numerous forcible conversions are also reported, has given statement that he had seen with his own eyes that the heads of a dozen people were being shaved by the rebels and afterwards they were asked to recite some passages from the Quran. This he witnessed from a tree. I wonder what the authority of some people is who contradict the news of murders, and forcible conversions of Hindus. Let them come here and test the veracity of these statements for themselves.”
She rebuked people who tried to whitewash the brutal killings of Hindus during the Khilafat movement. And everyone knows who these people were, of course the Gandhi and his supporters who supported the jihadi Khilafat movement in the name of freedom struggle.
This is what your types are either cowards or beasts. It is only Gorkha troops in British army that put fear of god in Moplas.
Your Kili MOPLA Jolsiyar is keeping quiet about this like a dingo, but he barks like junk yard dog about babu Bajarangi.
Better than a weak country where anyone from any where can come and kill the citizens as they please.
Mr Amit: Why should foreigners have to come to India for doing massacres? No need to outsource such violence Mr Amit. In keeping with the “atmanirbhar” spirit that PM Modi has deployed, Indians are more than capable of massacring each other and conducting pogroms. Just ask Dalits, Muslims …
Just ask Dalits, Muslims …
Just ask Keralites about rape & massacre by Moplas.
I love it when Kili, you put on your Niqab.
If you ask Dalits, they do not blame Moplas, they blame caste Hindus like you for their misery ! You are being Goebellian !
The Dalits celebrated defeating the Peshwa Brahmins. It was an annual event till the BJP arrested them.
In Unnao and Hathras, who committed the gruesome rapes ? Moplahs ? In Hathras, the police cremated the victim without parents in the middle of the night. No moplas in sight.
You are trying weak whataboutery to deflect about Babu Bajrangi. There is no relevance of moplahs under British rule and mobs led by BJP in Gujarat.
You are saying no need for Hindus to obey any laws today, as they are only making up for the past, which in your case is fabricated as per convenience.
History is a minefield.
History is always written by the conquerors or dominating social groups. So those who dominate can always sit in judgement over those who lost or are down the social ladder. You cherry picked from the Wiki those parts that obviously suit your version of history. Needless to say the British exploited the Hindu-Muslim divide for sure.
Chandrashekhar,
ARE YOU SAYING ANNE BEASANT & SIR C SHANKARAN , the president of Indian National Congress at that time, WERE LYING?
If not then aren’t you. Kili etc. are either Noseless [ Shamless] like dog, who even when kicked wags tail to his master, or are you so traumatized by that experience that you don’t want to acknowledge it?
I can understand Muslims behaving like Holocaust denier.
But if you are Hindu then develop courage or keep your mouth shut or say that you are not Hindu.
Akash,
Dalits, Tribal, OBC see Muslims as competitors for jobs in present. In past they were victims of Muslim raid for slaves, concubines etc. compared to better protected upper class. The reason BJP is choice for Dalit, Tribal, OBC is for that reason, as other parties cater to Muslims and even talking about putting Muslims reservation category thereby endangering their interests.
Indian journalists have this slavish mentality of looking up to the West for approval. In being or becoming strong, is it necessary to look up to any other country, including China? Where do you get such Ideas?
Jaishankar is right when he questions “who are these self-appointed custodians of democracy?”. Just as China is not a copy of West though it is modern, India too need not be a carbon copy of the West in developing its own version of democracy. I think the westerners are still under the spell of Rudyard Kipling’s “White man’s burden” of civlizing us, and telling us “you are wrong”. India should ignore them and march on. The unsympathetic western critics don’t even deserve an answer from India.
Mr Gururaj: I think the very premise of your comment
“.. Indian journalists have this slavish mentality of looking up to the West for approval ..”
is questionable.
Clearly, journalists are not the only ones reacting to this slide into authoritarianism under Modi that these think tanks have pointed out in their reports. Indeed, even the Modi regime itself has had to issue rebuttals and present the record as the GOI sees it. Whether that sets the record straight and convinces investors and enhances India’s standing in the comity of nations or others with an interest in India is an entirely different matter.
Nonetheless, it is fairly standard procedure for:
A: States to rebut and reject any negative press about themselves in international fora;
B: Journalists in democracies to hold their states accountable for their shortcomings, regardless of whether such shortcomings emanate from foreign sources (e.g. think tanks) or from domestic sources.
In mature democracies, the Fourth Estate has a valuable role to play. After all, it was the domestic media that exposed and held the government of the day accountable the many violations of human rights under PM Indira Gandhi’s Emergency; the Nellie massacres of 1983; the Sikh pogroms of 1984; the Bofors scandals under Rajiv Gandhi; the Godhra pogroms of 2002; the lynchings of innocent Muslim men in BJP’s India; the CAA legislation and many others.
Hence Mr Gururaj, it is not approval from the West that drives serious journalism but the desire to present events on the ground and mobilise people against government excesses. Indeed, had the BJP given the press freer conditions to operate under, one could have pre-empted much of the negative press that emanates from outside the country. But then in a prickly form of jingoism, well-founded criticism of the Modi government is conflated with sedition and dissent is stifled. Predictably, that boomerangs.
As the famous American lawyer and civil rights activist Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) said:
“True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else”
Though India is poorer than China, the people are still better off because they have some basic freedoms and rights. If India tries to become authoritarian like China, it is likely to become more like Pakistan..
i.e a communal government with no money, no rights and almost no democracy.
India must write its own story that it has written for 70+ years.. That of a healthy vibrant nation on a strong growth trajectory. We have gone off course in the last few years, its important to get back on course.
Exactly what I wrote – India will not become rich by giving up democracy for dictatorship. Modi supporters imagine just by becoming a dictatorship, India will become rich like China. It will not – because these people want to run the country with Manusmriti, and have perpetual warfare with Muslims.
My comparison was India becoming like Mynamar. Your comparison with Pakistan is also apt and correct. I chose Mynamar because many of their supporters cite it as a model, whereas Pakistan causes rage.
Mr Ashwin Sasidharan: Wise words Sir !
There is this false notion that autocracies and dictatorships can bring about economic development. China and sometimes even Singapore are touted as examples of this theory. But empirical evidence shows that the bulk of dictatorships do not deliver economic development but worsen the situation by also destroying democracy and eliminating basic freedoms and rights.
As you brilliantly point out, if India tries to copy China, it would end up like Pakistan – no democracy and no development and Hindu Ayothollahs like Adithyanath running the show.
Do write more often Sir. Barring a few erudite people like Messrs. Tog & Akash, the comments column of The Print has been overrun by emissaries of the BJP IT Cell. Always a pleasure to read such sober comments as the ones you write Mr Ashwin Sasidharan.
On Ayothollah Adithyanath, I was watching an interview of Tavleen Singh by Karan Thapar on The Wire. She said she was horrified when Modi selected Adithyanath. She decided to go to Gorakhpur to see how what this man had done to get elected 5 times. She said she saw in Gorakhpur the worst slum hole in UP and India – it was dirty and squalid with no development. She interviewed the Hindu Vahini supporters of the Ayothollah in Gorakhpur, and asked what they saw in him. They said they joined because the Ayothollah had told them that Muslim men were out to kidnap Hindu women.
Our country is nowhere near the industrialisation levels of China. Neither are we an all round technological power. With such a large population burden and many young people unemployed, why are we even thinking of “containing” China in the Pacific? We need to spend less time talking and more on working quiet and hard to ensure better living conditions of our own people.Better to work out a good relationship with your neighbour and win the peace rather than make friends with your neighbour’s enemies. Otherwise more soldiers will be sacrificed in the future just like in Galwan.
Very well written !
Very narrow minded, self contradictory and isolationist assessment – that can be expected only from supporters of this government.
Poor or superficial understanding of India’s socio political matters. MEAs response to Rihanna was immature n stupid. It was best avoided. A hegemonistic government with communal ideology can never strengthen the plural n democratic fibre of India. We can keep bragging till then!
I AM AMAZED AT YOUR LACK OF INDIAN HISTORY AND HINDU DHARMA WHOSE FOUNDATION IS NIRBHAY, NIRBAIR KARM. THEY ARE NOT EMULATING CHINA. FOR THE FIRST TIME INDIA IS BEING ITSELF.
Hope you wake up to it.
Jyoti,
I AM AMAZED AT YOUR LACK OF INDIAN HISTORY AND HINDU DHARMA WHOSE FOUNDATION IS NIRBHAY, NIRBAIR KARM. THEY ARE NOT EMULATING CHINA. FOR THE FIRST TIME INDIA IS BEING ITSELF.
Hope you wake up to it.
If giving up hard won personal freedom and liberties and trying to emulate an authoritarian state like China is progress, we are living in a fool’s paradise. Modi’s ignorance can be excused – he is hardly known to be an intellectual, having been brought up in the RSS ecosystem. But Jaishankar with his JNU education and widely traveled background acting as an enabler of this stuff is truly disappointing. If this is India’s best, is it any wonder that we continue to languish at the bottom of most of the modern scientific, social and economic parameters of growth.
Who says india has given up, liberty. &Freedom of speech.Do you have freedom of speech?
A well-thought out, well written article. In my opinion, this is exactly needed for India IF we need to be a responsible & growth oriented country. We are a nation far behind in many areas including PROPER & STRUCTURED infrastructure. That is due to violations at ALL levels. Corruption is the root-cause. We do NOT deserve freedom and this is misused. Congenial living, humility & responsibility are a far cry. On the connivance of freedom in everything, we misuse the same to individual’s selfish agenda than living a common and patriotic standard of putting the nation first. This can only change with One party rule. BJP in my view is gunning for that. Let the good happen !
I think in a mature democracy the people are far more important than concrete structures. The primary purpose of laws in such democracy is to protect the individual from those who abuse their power.
Corruption happens because of abuse of power by the powerful , not because of too much freedom for the common man.
such a strange article fulll of contradictions and fallacies
Cannot believe that this article is from Jyoti! It’s a big change if heart! Well well continue to find good with the government…..you may find many more articles to write;
Certainly it’s a big surprise
The authors forget the limits of realpolitik in international relations.
Realpolitik considerations such as the need to contain the then USSR, obtain access to the mineral riches of Apartheid South Africa, quasi-apartheid Rhodesia, kleptocracies such as Nigeria, Congo etc. meant that the West sided with the very repressive, violent regimes in these countries. But the benefits were pretty short-lived. Influential boycott movements soon sprung up in the West and the ancien regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia collapsed; the execution of Nigerian author Ken Saro-Wiwa and oil giant Shell’s reluctance to stop it tarnished Shell for ever; the brutal torture and execution of former Congolese President Patrice Lumumba at the hands of the CIA and Belgium trained soldiers has forever made Belgium a byword for brutality in the Congo and so on.
Civil society in the West is usually not as supine and kowtowing to self-appointed führers – unlike India’s Modi bhakths. Besides, many Indian minorities in the West such as Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits, Christians and many South Indians are apprehensive of the rapid march of the fascist ideology called Hindutva. While Jaishankar and his Gujarati masters might think that the world buys India’s fascism without a whimper, it is foolish to assume that the West does not plan for an end to Moditva.
“Besides, many Indian minorities in the West such as Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits, Christians and many South Indians are apprehensive of the rapid march of the fascist ideology called Hindutva.”
So what? Minorities are not happy anywhere in the world. That is why they need Chinese medicine. It is time India court the people that matter and not useless people. Of course we should create our own moral judges for the rest of the world. So it can provide good cover to change policy., in the same way west does. If these think tank work against their interests, it is ignored, when it work for their national interest it is given high profile.
It is difficult lungiwale like yourself to understand subtlety of GENTLEMAN.
Harry: Didn’t you make a song and dance of not responding to my comments, cf. your post:
“.. I am not going to read any of your comments until you address the question I am asking ..”
made on 9th March and available here: bit.ly/3lxiaZu ?
So why this change of mind Harry saab? Did your paymasters in your local RSS shaka ask you to respond since you must surely be a towering intellectual among those BIMARU pygmies ? Or was it the shaka of the Bajrang Dal that you belonged to along with your friend and mentor Babu Bajrangi ?
In any case, when reading the comments of Modi bhakths and armchair Babu Bajrangis such as yourself, one is reminded of a quote from H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) the American writer, satirist, critic. Mencken had this to say about men like you who fall for the ludicrous ideas and ideologies of demagogues like Modi:
“The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots”.
The demagogue in this case is Modi.
But I have noticed you have not talked about Mopla vs. Babu Bajarangi. Your pay masters would not allow you to open that can of worms for them.
Harry, your response is whataboutery – a typical, weak Sanghi response.
When you are not able to answer or deny the pogrom Modi organised in 2002 that Kili refers to, you ask ‘what about Moplah’ ? What about it ? That was done in British India. You will have to investigate British rule, and the Hindus and Muslims of the period, to understand it.
The pogrom of 2002 was organised by RSS-VHP and Modi, and the RSS leader Sudarshan boasted Gujarat was the laboratory of Hindutva and it will be repeated elsewhere. After 1947, it is Indian majority rule, so you have to answer for that, and not try to obfuscate with British rule.
You RSS fellows are devious. I saw an NDTV debate when a 8 year old Kashmiri girl was raped and murdered by a priest, his son, nephew and policemen. Besides the question of what kind of mentality the RSS-BJP has created to rape a small child, the tangible and undeniable fact is BJP MLAs marched in support of the rapists. The RSS fellow on the NDTV panel was squirming. He could not say simply the BJP MLAS were condemnable. He tried what aboutery – he asked ‘what about rape of Hindu in Bangladesh’ ? No one knew what he was referring to. It was made up.
Like that, your response to Kili on Gujarat, Bajrangi Babu, and rape and murder by Hindutva gangs, with a question about Moplah, is a weak effort at whataboutery. You need to answer why BJP rule has brought about pogroms, violence against women and minorities.
In The Print, there was one article stating how India is trying to raise the number of foreign students from ASEAN. At a road show, the Vietnamese ambassador said Vietnamese students are afraid to come to India due to incidents of rape. Now what will you reply to him ? Will you ask what about Moplah ? Or say that Harsh Mander and liberals should be shot for giving a bad image of India ? Or will you say that BJP’s mob violence has brought India down with rape and killing, and the problem to be tackled is the RSS ?
You are not in a position to to argue with rational people like Kili, and your whatboutery is proof of that.
Killing by Mopla is historic fact. It is not your jihadi whataboutery.
Muslims are getting paid in their own coin, for centuries of wrongdoings period. So if Babu Bajarangi and other brought the fear of god in the minds of diabolical jihadis like you or Saed Naqvi of DAWN, who use liberal mask to provide support to jihadis suppress or eliminate kufrs, than it is good for them. There is proverb: if you fool me once shame on you. If you fool me twice then shame is on me.
To you jihadis & their Taqiyya supporters like Kili TOO BAD SO SAD. Your bad Karma is finally catching up on you.
This is nothing compared to what you will get when you and Kili get the fruits of Halal killing of animals. As Buddhist Jataka tells the story. Hopefully in you and Kili case, like in Jataka, you would be able to tell you butcher when you are about to be slaughtered in HALAL method, that in your previous life you were one of supporter halal killings. If you don’t know the story find it out, Buddhism may enlighten you guys from cesspool
So what do you wear? Chaddis ? So basically you are a chaddiwala.
Kuli, I can understand your angst.
You are pissed off with Modi’s Hindutva and I fully concur that it is driving a wedge deeper by the passing day into the social fabric of India.
The division creates weaknesses which can and will have long term impact.
However, your pointing out that Quad is not NATO is not a relevant point and lacks perspective.
The technological, economic and political support that the Quad is generating and will generate is probably not being comprehended by you.
Further, as I have replied to Akash, it is Israel that India is emulating, not China.
Mr Atul Chandra: Thanks for the reply. Always a pleasure to read a sober analysis.
I agree with what you say about Hindutva and the instability and violence its engenders. Modi’s relentless pursuit of Hindutva tarnishes India’s image abroad, squanders the enormous soft power resources the country has acquired and more importantly, goes against the very teachings of Hinduism.
However, I disagree with you with regard to the potency and utility of the QUAD, at least as far as India’s defence is concerned. Let me explain Sir.
Foreign Policy & International Relations scholars point out 3 main issues with the QUAD:
1: INTEROPEARBILITY : India’s woefully equipped and tremendously underfed forces operating with a motley of weapons systems and
2: INDIA’S DEMOCRACY DEFICIT: Democracy deficit under Modi and concerns among Australia, US & Japan about backing yet another illiberal regime.
3: LACK OF A DEFENCE PACT: Unlike NATO countries which have an Article* in the agreement that attack on one could result in the mobilisation of others in the pact, the QUAD lacks one.
These holes may get plugged somewhere down the line if QUAD members want them plugged. But the bigger question is whether QUAD members will lose enthusiasm and QUAD will be a talking shop at best where photos are taken, vacuous joint declarations are issued and little else happens to make a tangible reduction in China’s hegemonic actions.
That said, I think QUAD is the world’s best bet to contain the fire breathing Chinese dragon. And I hope it evolves to become a NATO and not a useless talk shop like BRICS.
And finally Mr Atul Chandra: Thanks for maintaining a civil tone in your post. You show that it is fully possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
*Article 5 of NATO states:
“.. Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area .. “
To be a force to recon with in the world we have the numbers in population, whatever else we do not have can’t be achieved by following the US or Russian or Chinese model. These models do not suit India for many many reasons. We will have come up with our own model for which we need a visionary leadership.
People who have been travelling abroad have experienced the phases of “Bloody Indians (with $22 in the pocket while travelling out of India), to “Hmm Indian” to “Oh Indian”
Indian media giving so much importance to Rihanna with Ganesh locket on bare chest and Mia Khalifa with nothing on shows where the priorities are.
We need to take pride in our non-thieving leader, despite his ideologies which are surely not like Iran, or Pakistan or China or North Korea. The fear that that he will become like China is akin to the KHAP logic on farm bills.
Mr Vijay Galande: You pontificate:
“.. We need to take pride in our non-thieving leader ..”
Do you think Bilkis Bano, who in 2002 was 19 years old, pregnant and had a young daughter Saleha would take “pride in the non-thieving leader”? Let me describe to you want happened to Ms Bano in 2002.
Bilkis Bano, her child and the female members of her family fled their houses fearing the wrath of the marauding mobs of the RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP and so on. They were stopped by a mob and this is what happened.
– Her daughter Saleha was snatched from her and her head was smashed on a rock, instantly killing the toddler;
– Bano was gang raped and lost the child she was carrying;
– Bano’s mother was gang raped and killed;
– Bano’s cousin who had delivered a baby was gang raped and her 1 day old child was killed;
– All the female members of her family were killed, and their bodies were decapitated to prevent identification;
– When she sought justice, Bano was threatened and the case was moved out of Gujarat, where the CM was the “non-thieving leader”
She managed to get a semblance of justice in 2019. But there too, the Supreme Court had to order the Gujarat government twice to pay her compensation, see ref: bit.ly/3qX1qvC
So let me ask you something Mr Galande: Did your “non-thieving leader” show any compassion to this Indian citizen who not only was a resident of his state but someone he had an obligation to protect? A tiny gesture of sympathy? After all, if the “non-thieving leader” can award the massive Rafale maintanance contract to an unqualified crony capitalist called Anil Ambani, he is surely capable of helping this woman and her family back on their feet isn’t he?
Compassion is also what makes a leader Mr Vijay Galande. At least in my Hindu worldview. But then, I forget that the “non-thieving leader” adheres to the deadly ideology called Hindutva, a caricature of Hinduism….
madam
you have taken rihanna’s name twice in this article. what does she know about indian farm laws?
No one gives a rats ass about these biased international reports. Do they have a report on RACISM across the world? Where would these free nations rank on that study? Do they have studies on how Cops are racist in these nations? I guess not!!!! So these studies on democracies are convenient in the sense that they do not answer the hard questions about themselves.
That Modi is emulating China in politiking, self -reliance, FDI invesestment to be strong could be disastrous …as China would never like to see a strong India….in a way Modi making Deng a role model for India’s development sounds like ‘China’s chairman is also our Chairman’ of previous years Indian Maoists’ role model in politics…If open flood gates to Chinese investors….as most of company head are CCP member and are guided by CCP/govt….our economy would be made excessively dependent and crippled….it is better to deal with friendly democratic countries to make our economy strong…. PM Modi must not work in haste….
Today’s Edit in IE, about the increasing brutality, repression and loss of life in peaceful protests in Burma, poses the moral dilemma India faces. As the largest democracy in the region, indeed in the world, how does India deal with the prospect of attending a Foreign Ministers’ BIMSTEC meeting in Sri Lanka next month, where the military junta will be represented. Diplomacy is about more than elegant phrases, with a little protocol and pizzazz chucked in. The rules are not in fact all that different for the strong and powerful. Countries must represent certain ideals and live up to them.
More than the ideas …….we must remember that the military junta helped India fight it’s NE rebels, democracy is good, but not essential for relationship with immediate neighborhood. By the way, Junta is very careful with relationship with China, were as the civilian government choose to sit in the Chinese lap. National interests are. Much bigger than…mere slogans
The current Indian govt also has scant belief in democratic values.
It has no issues about Mynamar. In fact. ‘Hindu nationalists’ send videos appreciating Myanamar for their policy with Rohingyas. I have a video expressing their desire for India to emulate Mynamar, to save Hindus from extinction.
This is a weak article full of contradictions and wishful thinking.
On the one hand, India is boasting about joining the Quad to contain China. It is supposed to be an alliance of countries with democratic values, to contain an aggressive totalitarian regime. But in the Quad, India is least committed to democracy, and as the author says, would like to be like China; that is, not care about world opinion about how India treats its own citizens and how it treats neighbouring countries (that is the bit Modi would like to copy from China). India is running with the hares and hunting with the hounds.
We cannot reach western standards of wealth and good governance with rights. So let us be like China, have economic advancement without rights. Apart from the contradiction, it is wishful thinking. India cannot be like China. It is saddled with the caste system that the RSS wants to restore and which China does not have, it is mired in historical revanchism which China does not have, and communalism is needed for electoral victory. he economic mess that Modi has created with autarchy and selective enrichment of cronies is not for the economic benefit of the majority. In China, the govt. still works for the economic benefit of the majority. That is not the case of the BJP.
The article shows lack of understanding of oneself and hopeless craving to be someone else, while despising the outside opinion.
India under Modism will end more like Yugoslavia.
Anti Modi, people. donot care for India.
Mr Krishna: Do you have a substantive point to raise here to counter Mr Akash’s astute observations or are you simply here to defend Modi, the leader of your cult?
Entirely disagree with your model of democracy
Are you paid for writing this?
When China did reforms it didn’t think it would be so successful. The fact is China was willing to take risk. So should India. We should move away from timidity & risk aversion mentality of Kashmiri Pandits, who ruled India for long time.
I have explained China cannot be compared with India. They do not have a caste system, they are not engaged in a religious war, or historical revanchism, or a return to Vedic past, they are not run by monks promoting cow’s urine. They have an imagination for the future – one famous Kashmiri Pandit had that, but you despise him.
I don’t hold China as a model as I condemn human rights violations whether they are rich or powerful. But it is pathetic to imagine just by becoming a dictatorship, you will become rich and powerful like China. It shows a desperate lack of intellect. India can become like Pakistan, Mynamar or Yugoslavia. That was good enough for you earlier, now why have become so enthusiastic about becoming like China ?
Naysayers in China at time when China was opening were also telling such stories that China does not have entrepreneur class because of Communist rule and so would fail in capitalist mode.
What matters is will of leadership & people. India has both. People want to better themselves and don’t want to listen to self serving class of secularists who were taking them to garden path through license raj of socialism, secularism & non-alignment. what is needed is harsh suppression of secularists.
Your wish is being met. Harsh suppression of secularists is taking place, but I do not see any economic boom as a result !
The economy tanked after demonetisation. At least you have to concede Modi’s mismanagement – if not his criminal intent to defraud the public. Modi had said if the economy did not see benefits of demonetisation after 58 days, hang him. So why don’t you ask for harsh measures against him ?
Now, in 2021, growth will be -9% according to World Bank. It is the lowest of any country. Others also have Covid, so it is not just due to the world situation. It is due to mismanagement of Covid and the economy. Secularists are not to blame.
Farmers are out on strike – because they sensed they will lose their lands to Adani. Neither opposition nor secularists brought them on the street. Just watch after the BJP tries to sell banks and PSUs to Ambani; when people lose their jobs, more will come out on the street.
After Article 370, China took land – Modi kept quiet. Are secularists to blame for such incompetence and cowardice ?
You say secularists mismanaged. But the country was not falling apart like now. MMS created the era of growth, which created the well off middle class – that hates him and supports the BJP. And the BJP has destroyed the booming economy, and for the first time since 1990s, people are returning from middle class to the poor – from 50 USD to the class with 2 USD.
Among the secularists, you will find the best professional brains and intellectuals. Amongst the shakha educated, you will find brawn and no brains. It so obvious. To elect an uneducated mobster and expect he will make India great, if only secularists were harshly suppressed, shows the low IQ of BJP supporters.
Mr Akash: A very wise and astute comment Sir !
The Quad is not a military alliance like NATO; it is simply a pie in the sky. And as things stand today, the QUAD is merely a military co-operation arrangement and a talk-shop, not a defence pact. Indeed, the QUAD lacks the equivalent of Article 5 of NATO which specifies:
“..
ARTICLE 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic aree .. “
The Modi government relying on the QUAD to provide deterrence to China through tangible, boots-on-the-ground type co-operation is wishful thinking. Indeed, should India face military aggression, none of the other QUADs will be in the squad to confront China with their own forces. India will be doing battle alone and would depend on its brave but underfed and under-equipped soldiers. Remember BSF Constable Tej Bahadur Yadav whose videos showed the watery dal and burnt chapatis that were served to the soldiers? Clearly, the bureaucrats who work in the Indian Armed Forces have not heard of Napoléon’s famous statement:
“An army marches on its stomach”
But as you point out Mr Akash, many of India’s internal problems are of its own making. Indeed, the Modi regime has not only worsened many domestic problems, but it has also created many new ones. Whilst religious polarisation has always existed in India, the systematic government sanctioning of violence against Muslims and support for such violence has reached new peaks under Modi. Likewise, even before the COVID crisis hit the country, the economy was going downhill under crazy, aided and abetted by hare-brained policies like demonetisation, bans on cow slaughter, GST etc. etc.
If Modi and his sidekick Jaishankar Subramaniam believe that this deeply divided country and economic midget can compete head-to-head with China militarily and economically, they are in for some rude shocks. But that message is hard for the BJP to grasp, steeped as it is in the vile, fascist and intolerant ideology called Hindutva. Indeed, PM Modi’s background in the RSS makes him an ardent and committed votary of Hindutva.
Additionally, the RSS and BJP are also proponents of idiotic economic policies such as economic autarchy a.k.a. “Atmanirbharism”, gangster capitalism, funnelling of funds into “cow sciences”, creation of “cowpreneurs”, building a new Parliament, buying not 1 but 2 expensive Boeing 777 aircraft and so on.
Unless India gets its own house in order and restores democracy, trying to deploy the Chinese model of development will at best lead to a further weakening of the fragile unity in the country. At worst, it could split the country and one could, as you predict, see a Yugoslavia type scenario in the country.
Do write more Mr Akash. Always a pleasure to read your insights and intelligent analyses.
Well Kili, I think what you write is understood by all these fellows, but they cannot admit it, they are clinging to their Great Hope due to false pride.
Quad is a joke. Earlier India joined BRICS – that was essentially middle income or large population countries who thought they should have as much say as western countries. It was there for sometime, but it has fizzled away. Like that, Quad will fizzle away. Doing some naval exercises in the Indian Ocean is not going to help India with its border disputes, and as you say, the US is not going to send people to fight for India, although they will expect the reverse. Any how, the Indian army chief said it is equipped to fight 2 & 1/2 enemies . China and Pakistan are two. Who is the 1/2 ? It is Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Naxalites, anti-nationals, liberals etc. No need for Quad then ! Besides we have the Sanghis drilling daily to defend India. Then why do we need Quad ?
Earlier India wanted to be India – it was non-aligned, and was looked up to by emerging nations. Now India is confused. The RSS wants a defunct Nazi model (abandoned by Germany); for some time, the Hindutva rank and file wanted to be Israel; lately they found Myanamar to be even better; and latest they want to be China ! They are so intellectually bankrupt. The reason they want to be like China now is because of those two western reports that downgraded Indian democracy. They feel if India can be like China, no one will point fingers at human rights degradation in India. Those two reports on democracy bugged them so much they would like to be bedfellows with the ones who marched into Galwan. Basically, they are lost, but cannot admit it.
Jaishankar Subramaniam showed middle finger to your Chennai born Keralite Pramila Jayapal from Washington. Yet US is courting India in spite of leadership change there and President is from Jaypal’s party.
This is is New idea. Old India wagging their tail to such ghastly woman, minorities etc. are gone with the wind.
I don’t know why you insist on showing this exaggerated bravado.
Why are your firing broadsides against Keralites as if the downgrading of Indian democracy was due to them ? The downgrading of Indian democracy was due to Modi and his Gujarati mafia. Logically, you should rage against him and Gujaratis !
[An aside : Kerala is the most advanced state in India in terms of mentality and intellectual development, which is internationally recognised for its work in health care, flood relief etc. They don’t have to build a wall like Gujarat to hide their squalor. It is the only state that looked after the migrant workers during Covid. I see favourable news about Kerala in the BBC and international press – there must be some reason, right ? ].
The New India that you boast about is wagging its tail – to China, to show annoyance against the west. Read the article !
The New India has too many ‘unpad’ and too few to be called vishwa guru. That is why it feels lost.
What I am showing you is world politics is about transactions. If you have thing other want you get respect. If you don’t you get the kick in butt.
Good example is Muslim invaders of India. British& some Indians claim they were fanatics, while Romila Thapar type sycophants claim they are tolerant. neither of these narrative is true. Bulk of Muslims invaders were for material benefits, spreading faith was fringe benefit. They needed tax base Jazia. Therefore they did not forcibly try to convert everybody to Islam, not out of goodness of heart. Bulk of Hindus converted, not because Islam offered equality and other nonsense spread by leftists , but because paying or not Jazia was difference between food on the table or starve.
SO GET REAL and come out of the nonsense. Most of non-establishment secus like you are simply brainwashed or to use milder word indoctrinated. Keralites and Bengalis are most indoctrinated people in India, while Gujarati, Marwaris etc. are least indoctrinated with this Nehruist nonsense. They see the world as it is and don’t see rosy picture through ideological nonsense.
Right now India has what US wants, somebody to do it’s job. What I was showing was Keralite think others are also stupid like them.
Sorry but China you adore has its caste and that is ethnic Han at the top. Today majority is Han and that has been possible with brutal massacres and subjugation of non-Hans right from Imperial China. Han people would be settled in non-Han populated areas as is being done in China. And of course it has always been a strong dictatorship.
But I suppose as long as china gives a bloody nose to Modi that does not matter.
I never adored China. Where did you get that from ?
Jyoti Malhotra says Modi and Jaishankar believe in the ‘strong China model’. They think that if India is rich and powerful, India can be cruel and dictatorial and get away with it – like China.
I only pointed out that it is an assumption that if you are cruel and dictatorial, you will become rich and powerful like China. I said India will end up with the worst of both worlds – poor and cruel like Myanamar.
Akash,your comments are so apt.lts all delusions…Strength manifested by autocracy…No logical reasoning…
Indeed, there is no logical reasoning in their response. However, they understand and know they are incorrect. Their IQ cannot be that low. But having chosen the path of wickedness, it is difficult to admit it. Who likes to admit ‘I made a mistake ?’
As for the strength, they have not made India strong, they have made a select few strong to kick around Indians. If Modi flies in a personal plane, like the US President, India does not become as strong as the US.
No caste system within the Hans. 92% of Chinese are Hans. They intermarry amongst each other so they are genetically one large ethnic group. The non-Hans are ethnic minorities. Similar to India’s Scheduled Tribes. China is serious about uplifting the non-Han ethnic minorities just like India is doing for it’s scheduled Tribes. In fact for non Han minorities, the one child policy rule is relaxed. Unlike India, China has brought fruits of development to non-Han areas but issues of integration of non-Hans into the economic growth opportunities in China remain.
Both countries are having different political and social systems. But the one challenge both countries are doing is to hold the country together without breaking apart. It is very important for majority communities in both countries to make minorities (be it religious or ethnic ) to feel safe and secure.
Mr Papia Mitra: You speculate:
“.. But I suppose as long as china gives a bloody nose to Modi that does not matter ..”
Well hasn’t that already happened ? Amit Shah’s bellicose speech in the Parliament in August 2019 about India recovering the Chinese held Aksai Chin region of Kashmir soon had China on the warpath. Despite his efforts, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar could not defuse the situation with Beijing. China knew that Jaishankar, like his predecessor Ms Susham Swaraj (RIP) was a mere errand boy for the Gujarathis and held little formal power. The Golwan standoff was a direct result of such amateurish, Akhand Bharath ideas that the BJP, steeped as it is RSS ideology propounds – with tragic consequences to the nation.
No, nobody including critics of every government like yours truly would want Modi or any other Indian leader to get their noses bloodied by the Chinese. Or for that matter any other foreign power. But the fundamentalist Hindutva ideology and Akhand Bharath nonsense that PM Modi and his loyal cadre of bhakths believe in gets India into unwanted trouble. Perhaps, the Gujarathis should realise that its is better to let sleeping dogs – err sleeping dragons – lie.
Interesting comment. Good points.
Jyoti’s article is meaningful but misses out when it tries to point out who India is emulating. It is not China, but Israel that BJP and RSS have taken as role model. On everything, including religious, military, foreign policy and nationalism.
Israel’s foreign policy is supposed to be determined by US stance. On the contrary US policy is totally aligned with Israel and it’s interests . And Israel has all through had contradictions inbuilt in everything. It has not at all hesitated to be violent, undemocratic, authoritarian and opportunistic.
It has excellent relations with all world powers.
Not that it does not have its internal problems and continuing external ones, but it has managed to have its say and it is acknowledged as a Democracy.
So Akash put your thinking cap on and think a little more.
At this point of history, it is China which is facing real problems now. Its system of governance is predicated on well fed and well drugged populace for which the alternative is torture, detention camp, overnight anonymity or disappearance.
One crack in the edifice and it will find it hard to prevent cascading impact.
Economically, it is so overstretched that unless it gets overseas projects it’s people will be without work and earning but loaded with mountains of cement and steel.
Its neighbourhood sees it as a vicious bully with Imperialist pretensions.
It is truly friendless, having only clients and vassals whose loyalty and support, frankly, is non existent
So think a little more.
I have stated clearly my stand, some understand, others misinterpret wilfully.
My comment addressed directly the subject of the article : Jyoti Malhotra says Modi and Jaishankar believe in the ‘strong China model’. They think that if India is rich and powerful, India can be cruel and dictatorial and get away with it – like China. Jyoti Malhotra evidently sees in this their genius and deep thinking.
I said that is a delusion. India will end up like Myanamar or Yugoslavia.
You interject and argue that India’s or RSS-BJP’s model is Israel. You are insisting this is apt and will work.
If so, you are replacing a new delusion with an older one. A tiny nation like Israel is not a model for a big nation like India. Israel’s backbone is the unconditional US support – it will not survive one day without it. For that, there are special reasons. Due to the effect of WW2 and the Holocaust, they have a special exemption in western eyes – that would not be the case for India. India is not going to have unconditional support. Besides, Jews own dominant stakes in media, finance and technology. That is not the case with the Indians. Thirdly, there is a convergence between the right wing Christians with the Jews – there is religious overlap. That is not the case with Indians. Hence, it is delusional for Indians to say tiny Israel is the model – in fact, it is pathetic, it shows India is not a power. The reason the RSS and BJP uphold Israel is because it beats up Palestinians, who are mostly Muslim. But India cannot beat up Pakistan today because it is a nuclear power. In fact, in Pulwama and Balakot, India lost more men, planes and pilots than Pakistan, but India quietly de-escalated. So in what way is India under Modi like Israel ? How has Israel helped change the situation with Pakistan ? The opening with Israel occurred under Congress, except they do such things quietly.
The BJP-RSS fellows are delusional and so are you – whether you claim India’s model is China as Malhotra claims and some others recommend here like Harry, or Israel as you claim. In effect, you are saying India has nothing of its own, its desire for imitation ranges wildly from a big powerful country to a tiny country.
As for the RSS-BJP, they have no consistency or direction as they are driven by emotional inadequacies. Their model is Nazi Germany – according to their thinkers, like Golwalkar. In Modi’s first term, much was made of Israel. Modi went to meet Bibi and strolled around the beach, and his supporters were puffed up as they thought Israel will teach India how to deal with Kashmiris and Pakistan. I don’t know what benefit it had because there was Pathankot, Uri, Pulwama etc. No doubt such attacks are continuing, but the news is censored now.
Later in Modi’s second term, bhakts were praising Mynamar because they were tough on the Rohingyas. Amit Shah’s statements against them made them feel good. Hence, Myanamar became a model. Now Mynamar is firing on its citizens and there is fear India will be flooded with refugees. They will be Buddhist, so they should fit in with CAA. Will India accept ? Already, govt. has declared it will not accept them.
Lately, this article says China has become a model for Jaishankar and Modi – because two western NGOs noted India’s sinking democratic credentials. India want to dismiss the west, it thinks it can do so by emulating China ! But at the same time, fellows like you will be feeling proud that the US inducted India into Quad.
Basically, India under the RSS-BJP, is executing Brownian motion, that is randomly directed movement. All directions are equally probable. Both the economy and the position with China and neighbours have gone out of their hands, they don’t know what to do, so they pronounce one nonsense after another and wishful thinkers adjust the story. Meanwhile, they will continue doing what they are good at : temple, Hindu-Muslim nafrath, and enriching Ambani and Adani to finance a sustaining power structure for themselves. To maintain this power structure also needs a good dose of state violence like Mynamar, and that is what we have, and what will continue.
” In effect, you are saying India has nothing of its own”
Yes. That is the reality.
Other than ability to snatching Instability from Jaws of stability India after 1947 has nothing of it’s own. Good example i.e letting Pakistan keep G &B and Azad Kashmir & letting China seize Tibet thereby making India which made secure by British by ensuring weak buffer states surround British India. In less than three years Nehru made India insecure with his monkey like thinking & actions.
You are saying India has nothing of its own after 1947 – due to Muslims, British, Gandhi, Nehru….
So you are left with an inferiority complex and rage.
Now that Muslims, British Nehru have left the scene, do we have stability and something of our own ?
Well, let me see. We have BJP fellows tell us after 2016 we have the first Hindu ruler on the throne of Delhi after 1000 years. How much stability has he brought ? Modi brought financial instability with demonetisation. He brought social instability with CAA-NRC and farm laws – there are large public protests. He made all the neighbours move into China’s orbit. He incited further insurrection in Kashmir. Kashmir had become an internal issue over the years and now has become internationalised. China stepped in after repeal if 370 and took land in Galwan, and Modi meekly accepted. Indians are now insecure about a two front war.
To use your phraseology, I would say Modi has made monkey-like actions and made you so insecure that you write contradiction after contradiction out of desperation.
I said India has things of its own and should follow that. But you want to follow Israel sometimes, then Myanamar, maybe even Pakistan, now even China that took land, and the latest is you want to touch America’s feet, to be inducted in Quad to counter China !
You are hopelessly confused. Delusions have to adjust to reality, so you have to contradict yourself.
“So you are left with an inferiority complex and rage.”
Akash
That is nonsense. But we are not stupid to waste precious time & resources to re-invent the wheel. We should simply copy Chinese models dealing with minorities, secularists and development.
SECULARIST HINDU IS AT TOTAL WAR WITH INDIA.
So strong Chinese medicine is needed to solve problem of at least minority, activists and most important SECULARIST HINDU once & for all and IDEA OF INDIA buried for good then India has all the time to work on solving other problems like poverty and underdevelopment, and nobody there to overthrow the apple cart of development.
You may hate Nehru and keep attributing geographical losses to him and that’s fine.
But overall your messages make me realise at how SERIOUSLY you take yourself because of what you 100% believe is the truth and the only truth. But more important, it makes many Print readers aware how incessant propaganda over decades can make a man believe something to be so true. Propaganda works! It really works!
“But overall your messages make me realise at how SERIOUSLY you take yourself because of what you 100% believe is the truth”
Secularist, unlike you I not only read about India, but most of the major events in world. I am not one with limited knowledge like Akash or Kili brainwashed in their Jihadi or armchair revolutionary ideas. You secualrist have tried to brainwash India by false narratives through paid agents like Romila Thapar or Ifran Habib.
I consider myself supporter of victims or swindled creatures, both man and animals. So I am against cruel people and their supporters. good example is kili he staunchly supports killing animals in torturous ways so he can enjoy meat.
If you are knowledgeable you probably know who Julius Streicher and Rudolf Hoess were. Streicher was one of the propagandists of Nazism at he he trail he showed surprise at the his trail and washed his hand off that was when Hoess said that it is propaganda from People like Streicher convinced him and his men that Jews are subhuman and need to be killed.
Same is case with people like Kili who advocate mistreatment and killing animals. Like Streicher that lack empathy for non-human creatue.
So death of secularism & setting up Hindu state is good idea as it will ultimately lead to spread of Ahinsa world over. The India would have continuity from Purana to Buddha to Mahatma Gandhi and dark period like Islamic rule, British rule & Nehru family rule would be forgotten for good.
So India should not have lose critical areas like Tibet. A few meat eating, meat eater supporters get killed in the process it is just collateral damage. It is just too bad so sad.
in this life there is no free lunch. Only thing is it is better to see primitive rather enlightened get the rough end of stick.
The mystery of China’s growth is that they grew economically despite corruption. In the world Corruption Perception index, they are only slightly ahead of India. One would think in an authoritarian state corruption would be more and corruption would be less in a democracy. One would think that naturally corruption derails growth. There is a lot that we are failing to adequately comprehend in China’s growth story.
On the mystery of China’s growth, I have some thoughts.
On the positive side, communist ideology still demands the creation and distribution of the wealth to the public; hence, healthcare, education and cradle to grave maintenance is given. They have that going for them, so if they are seen as delivering on that, people may put up with it.
One reason for the lower cost of doing business in China is that all the land is government owned – which is the plus point from the communist system. The high cost of land and the extortions of mafias controlling them in India is a reason for the high cost of setting up a plant in India.
Apart from that, there are cultural factors that make the Chinese more successful than Indians. They are more disciplined than Indians. Sub continentals are chaotic by nature. The Chinese have a concept of filial piety, where the younger generation carries the older. It promotes absolute respect to elders. Indians also have that concept – on an individual basis – across all the religions. However, with the Chinese, the concept of filial piety carries into a sense of collective responsibility as well, so the communist party may be seen as looking after the collective good. Indians don’t have collective sense of filial piety. Collectively Indians break down into casteism and communalism. Collectively, we do not mind burning our neighbours house.
The cultural factor is irrespective of the political system. Some nations are more disciplined and ordered. The Germans (after the war) could revive because of their work ethic and discipline – both the capitalist West Germany led in the west, and East German led in the standard of living in the communist bloc. The same with Japan. Both countries had been bombed to rubble. They did not sit around and cry about past invasions. Indians still cannot get over what happened over 1000 years – it is a trait of both Hindus and Muslims.
Still a system based on coercion and force will have weaknesses. That is why the Chinese will not have the same standing as the west. The doctor who identified an epidemic was brewing in Wuhan and raised the flag got ostracised by the party for anti-national activities, he got Covid and died. By not listening and hiding it, China contaminated the world – if they had listened to the doctor, they could have reduced the spread. In Britain, when they discovered a second strain of the virus, they notified the world. However, the Chinese are more capable than Indians of learning from a disaster and improving.
In the case of India, the combination of the lack of voluntary and collective belief in the welfare of society, historical revanchsim, obscurantism, unscientific outlook and inbred lack of belief in equality (caste system), the blind faith in godmen, and the desire to be somebody else (Nazi Germany, Israel, Myanamar, China etc.) contribute to a lack of effectiveness.
Your comments are interesting.
I think your key argument is the cultural factor. Order comes naturally to some cultures easily. So it not political system that determines a nation’s economic future but culture and the values of the people. Tiny countries like Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Japan, etc have shown that progress can happen even without much natural resources. Earlier there was always an excuse that these are tiny nations that is why they grew fast. But now a giant like China (which is geographically 3 times bigger than India) has grown which leaves us with a bigger inferiority complex.
South Asia itself has a problem – it does not matter what religion people follow – order does not come naturally to South Asian societies. Be it Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, India or Pakistan we are more or less on equal footing as far as pulling people out of poverty is concerned.
It’s clear that cultures in this region need to adapt if they want to develop. They will have to give up some steadfastly held beliefs and ideas and focus on productive work. Just by admiring Chinese “methods” or Israeli “methods” will not do.
I agree, South Asians are generally chaotic.
And citing Israel or China cannot change the character. They cite them out of frustration with failure.
“Collectively we do not mind burning our neighbours house”.
The foundations on which our collectivism stand seem weak because our own house itself seems divided, socially speaking.
Collective anger is less in other societies towards their own – it is very rare to have heard of rioting towards fellow citizens in Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc. Even Hong Kong (a culturally diverse society) had no riots until recently but their collectivism was against losing their fundamental rights under CCP rule.
” it is very rare to have heard of rioting towards fellow citizens in Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc”
These societies don’t have minorities who refuse to assimilate. They don’t have politicians who claim minority has first rights on country’s resources. These societies have not suffered partition and gave away 1/4 of country and still stuck with large number of people from that groups.
Basically you are talking nonsense.
There is a lot that we are failing to adequately comprehend in China’s growth story.
We fail to understand negative impact of activists, People like Harsh mander, Ram Puniyani, Tarun Tejpal etc..These activists give bad image to country. If they were in China, they would have been picked up by police, shot and thrown into Yangtze river or send to re-education camps to make them productive members of society .
Is your point that eliminating some activists will help India grow economically?
I wish the reasons for our lack of economic development were that simple. That way maybe about 50 people could be thrown into some river in India and we would automatically grow. But we will only be kidding ourselves with such ideas.
You tell us ‘We fail to understand negative impact of activists, People like Harsh mander, Ram Puniyani, Tarun Tejpal etc..These activists give bad image to country. ‘
Well, that means you know the country has a bad image. So you are not that dumb as to think India is shining during Modi’s rule. Your problem is that you don’t want anyone to say India is not shining due to Modi.
The Print reports that last year, the government launched ‘Destination India’, which seeks to project the country as a hub of education. The govt. held some meetings with ASEAN countries to find out how to attract more international degree students. The Vietnamese ambassador said in his country, students are scared to come to India because they have read about rape and lack of safety for women.
The image of raping and mob lynching was created during Modi’s rule by his followers and the state showed a permissive, laissez faire attitude. A minister garlanded rape accused. In Kashmir, BJP MLAs marched to demand the release of a priest and his son and nephew who raped and killed a 8 year old in a temple.
Is the solution then to punish Harsh Mander, Ram Puniyani, Tarun Tejpal for the bad image of the country, or to punish the rapists ?
You compare with China. Whatever their other shortcomings, China does not allow mob rule. Foreigners are not afraid to go there fearing rape. This is the rotten image that the BJP has created. And from what you have written, you also know it. But you do not want to fix it.
Foreigners are not afraid to go there fearing rape.
Neither are they in places like Gujarat. They are afraid only in places like Delhi, West Bengal, UP, Bihar & Kerala. Where Secutva has created a culture of rapists and going out of way to cover it up. Ask kili about Mopla rape & murder.
H.A. Rami comment
The author should try bowling ..given the amount of spin she is able to generate from facts … government having no option but to sell assets the country has taken decades to generate is being marketed as making the system lean … disengagement in Ladakh is almost complete she says when truth is disengagement has only occured in one place and in a place where india had a tactical advantage …india being forced to give FDI to an aggressor is being marketed as some kind of foreign policy success …kuch bhi
Time that India stops getting into a twist either due to praise or criticism by the self appointed moral guardians of this world. The West and it’s institutions have so many skeletons in their cupboards they hardly have any standing to lecture anyone else in the world. Unfortunately the MEA still seems to be affected by Western nobodies who are best ignored. There is neither a need to respond nor to take foreign dignitaries on paid trips into Kashmir. Also if the MEA is truly confident of India’s stand, there is no need to restrict visas to journalists. Let everyone form their own opinions. No need to be thin skinned about it. Criticism and praise must both be met with equanimity. There is no reason to imitate the Chinese model of issuing shrill repartees. No insecurities please.
There is no reason to imitate the Chinese model of issuing shrill repartees. No insecurities please.
China is successful. India since 1947 have been bumbling misfit and lost G &B ,Tibet, brought article 370 etc.. because of stupidity. If a guy is stupid, that is the case with most secularist Hindus, better accept it.. It become worse when a stupid guy think is smartest.
Current leadership of India is realizing that former Indian leaders were not just dumb, they were were plainly stupid. So it is good that Modi & Jaishankar want to emulate successful.
A well-articulated piece. What we require as a Nation is to play to our strengths. Power hitting may not be always required. We can score runs by playing proper cricketing strokes.
May I submit that it does not matter whether Mr. Jaishankar is smart or who Modi is emulating. These are totally irrelevant remarks in the context of what is discussed which I believe is “emulating strong China model and trashing Western reports”.
Issues of indigenous people, racism, illegal immigrants, protest, riots etc… exist in all Nations, more so in Western countries.
Tailpiece: When we have publications like The Print here in India, why do we have to look at Western Media and reports to know where we are. Right?
Well said sir!
Love the call out to the print. They are doing a kick ass job. Much needed.
“emulating strong China model and trashing Western reports”.
May I ask then what was all the show about Mr. Modi taking stern measures, banning TikTok and curtailing Chinese investments ? That was not so long ago.
Now The Print reports China has displaced the US as India’s largest trade partner. At the same time, China is grabbing India’s land and forcing India into an arms race it cannot afford.
Then, what is the point of joining Quad to contain China when you wish to emulate them ? It seems the govt. is proud that India is accepted by the west as having a pivotal role in Quad, to contain China ! That is a contradiction.
Modi has placed India in a directionless situation. It goes in one direction blowing the trumpet about the advance of the vishwa guru, then it finds a roadblock, and then it runs in the direction of the people it had declared as enemy. A directionless army that runs helter-skelter hurriedly and in an unplanned way, would surely be beaten – as you would know ! If China gives a beating, you run to the US and look to join Quad. Then just two think-tanks in the US and Sweden criticise India’s decline in democracy and then you are angry with them, so you resolve to be strong like China so that you can tell the west ‘go to hell’ !
The ‘Hindu nationalists ‘ are confused people, trapped by their own rhetoric and unrealistic ambitions, trying to present a positive direction for each of their gaffes. I get videos from ‘Hindu nationalists’ urging India to emulate not China – but Israel and Mynamar. I am waiting to receive a video asking us to emulate China !
India will never have the economic strength of China. India is trapped by its caste system, its Hindu-Muslim communalism and internal warfare, and the lack of universal education (a caste based system of graded inferiority would not want that). India cannot reach western levels of economic prosperity and since it wants to abandon democratic norms, it will not have human rights either. The western countries are starting to see India as a liability, and why would anyone invest ? You will find that India will not be able to dismiss western opinion, and if India degenerates further, there will be movements asking for sanctions. Realistically, India can be something like Myanamar or Yugoslavia, but not China or the west.
Then, what is the point of joining Quad to contain China when you wish to emulate them ?
Your argument is funny.
Logically what it means that if a tribal with bow and arrow has to face enemy with gun, you want him to refuse to emulate enemy and not get gun to fight. You want him to fight instead with bow and arrow and be willing to die as result. What you want to see is that the tribal should have faith in his bow & arrow as superior to gun and sacrifice his life for that wrong belief..
Bulk of Hindus are not suicidal or have death wish exception of secularists Hindus or people like Nehru, Akash or Kili Jolsiyar.
You want Hindus to do proverbial Chadha Ja Beta Suli per Allah tera Bhala Kare.[ Hang yourself Allah will bless you]
Chinese methods have proved superior to Indian methods in getting results like guns have proven superior to bow and arrow.
You are trying to put on a brave face defending losers like Modi. Look at the contradiction in yourself.
You want to emulate China. How ? China took land and Modi kept quiet. After showing some vain bravado of banning TikTok, he has returned to Chinese FDI – so allow China to have more economic control over India. Then India cannot take any measures over loss of land because we become more economically dependent on China than they on us. And yet you believe that by emulating China, we become strong to ignore the west. At the same time, you want to touch America’s feet and join Quad to contain the country you want to emulate !
You want to lecture that a tribal with bow and arrow should get gun. The fact is China will ensure you do not have the money to get the gun to fight them – they will run an arms race which India cannot afford, and they will control the economy.
That is how dumb you RSS-BJP types are. They are the ones who collaborated with the British. They are happy being plaything of China or America, or whoever offers them money.
That is how dumb you RSS-BJP types are.
LOL.
Our ” SMART & INTELLIGENT SECUS” lost far more land and never dare to take it back even when China was weak and India had strong ally like USSR. You claim India lost land to China during BJP time? give us comparative numbers how many square miles India lost to China from 1947 to 2014 compared to 2014- 2021?
Seems like your problem is you yet think you are smart, when in reality you are not just dumb, but plainly stupid and live in imaginary world with your 72 virgins and seeing RSS as Satan [Saitan]’s army.
Who would not wish to be strong. In Quad, the average household in the other three members earns as much in a fortnight as ours does in a year. Idle to believe it can genuinely be a club of equals. The first summit proclaimed it is anchored in democracy. Condemned the military takeover in Burma. The media is free and fair in A / J / A. I am not sure many Indians see China as a role model, for anything other than its stunning economic growth, which we are in no danger of overtaking, but even those who do would not trade in our precious freedoms. One always expected the diplomatic corps to understand more deeply than the rest of us how recent changes / developments are impacting India’s place in the world, how much harm consistently critical global media coverage is causing. To also tender sound advice in a forthright manner. How many buyers there are abroad for this new Doctrine is hard to judge.
Good article, the clear direction towards an authoritarian state like Russia, Turkey and most definitely China is clear to a lot of people. Most of them don’t care about the erosion of freedom or rights as it doesn’t affect them personally. All the Government cares about is their image – so disinvestment, FDI, the vaccines is not for the future of the country but for them to look good and stay in power. They have only begun and India will no longer be a democracy in a decades time.
The views expressed by Jyoti Malhotra are untrue. Who cares for a strong and bully China. The author is joining together disjointed statements of the leaders.
But India holds free elections all the time, people demonstrate, they and the press say what they want. What else is freedom?
Give credit where it is due. Are not Indians capable of making their own decisions? Why should they learn from China? Don’t we have out own longest history, diverse stories and multiple epics to learn from? Do no under-estimate the Indians being an Indian.
Jyoti, you are a perfect match for our most eligible bachelor in Universe – Rahul Gandhi. You two would make a perfect pair.. a match ‘made in heaven’. You both share hatred for Modi, Lilliputian intellectual capacity, etc.
Dumb and the Dumbelle !! 🙂
Are not Indians capable of making their own decisions?
Nehru family did exactly that in process India stayed behind with anemic growth and still unable to be self-sufficient in manufacturing latest armaments.
. Being capable does not mean India has to reinvent wheels. India should copy successful policies of other countries.
This nonsense of secularism, socialism and non-alignment is another example of CAPABLE INDIANS achieved ” SUCCESS”. making their own decision, while Pakistan laughed. Some of your capable Indians like Mukul Keshvan claimed that Indian secularism pose biggest challenge to Pakistan.
You seem to have a sneaking admiration for Pakistan. Is that so ?
Pakistan has solved minority problem. Pakistani minority members have never burned alive majority people. There in no reason why India has more Muslims % wise in 2021 compared to what it had in 1947, when % of non-Muslim from Pakistan reduced from 30% to less than 3%.
30% to 3% drop? These are not facts. This data has been debunked. Use your God given critical thinking faculties to evaluate whatever you hear, from wherever you hear. There is lot of propaganda out there in this world and one should cultivate the ability to differentiate propaganda from real information.
Vasanth, Learn history first than argue. Comeback with figure. Don’t promote Keralite nonsense. Tell us how many Hindus were killed, forcibly converted or women raped in your Keralite Khalifat ?
Lahore, Karachi & Hyderabad had either non-Muslim majority or near majority. Today one has to send a search party to find a Hindu or Sikh. Christians are largest minority in Pakistan. In 1947 non-Muslims were 30% or more in Pakistan.
Very well written. Hopefully the govt. will be able to bring in the necessary economic growth, which should also be inclusive.
Good , strength always pays , US invaded Afghanistan and middle east, No Muslim country got the guts to oppose, sane with China Muslims policies, No Muslim country criticize China.
Hehehehe, your coward Modi doesn’t have balls to take the name of china.your coward Modi is bowing down in front of china.he doesn’t have balls to take on China
Thank god…After a long time our strategic community has learnt the right lesson. And also that our journalists have learnt it to.
When Chin falls, it will fall hard. When USSR fell, it broke into pieces. Unless Modi and Jaishankar are just thinking of the glory in their lifetimes only.
Ha!! Ha!! When Biden, the so called liberal democrat, US president can excuse Muslim genocide & ethnic cleansing in China as a cultural issue, what are you expecting from any other democracy??