Diwali Ayodhya

A Hope From Ram Mandir

Whether Ram Mandir should have been built or not is an irrelevant debate now. The important brick has been laid. The Mandir will be built. The debate should be what significance will Ram and Ram Mandir have on the future of India? Potentially, the Mandir can have a powerful and positive influence on the ethics and values of the country. It will depend on whether the BJP sees the Mandir as a tribute and commitment to the virtues of Lord Ram or whether the party is still fixated with Chanakya niti.

The BJP is intending Ram Mandir to become a significant reference pivot in the future character, nation building and identity of India. It is to consolidate BJP’s political philosophy of Hindutva. Indians and the world are waiting to see how the Mandir shapes the ethical concepts of Indian government under BJP. Will India be more Ram or more Chanakya? Ram and Chanakya are two different perspectives on life and values.

It does not make sense to consider Chanakya’s work as part of Hinduism’s corpus of religious texts any more than Niccolo Machiavelli, who is considered to be later day Chanakya, be considered as part of Christian theology or Christiandom.

There are substantive different approaches to ethics and value systems between Ram Niti expressed in Ram Rajya and Chanakya Niti expressed in Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti Shastra. Chanakya takes a temporal and instrumentalist perspective on life and values whereas Ram takes a godly and Dharmic approach to life and everyday ethics.

Lord Rama’s reverence has survived through the ages as the perfect human being, or a god that inspires awe and respect. Ram is about virtue, highest values, honesty, integrity, promises kept and godliness. Ram is what people, poor and rich, slaves and kings, Shudras or Brahmin, visualise God to be. Ram signifies the one focal hope of truth in everybody’s life in a world of intrigues, deceptions and inequalities. Ram is the paragon of that truth, the light that everyone seeks.

Chanakya on the other hand is all about intrigue, scheming, deception, force, subjugation and political survival as well as of course how to run economics, law and State effectively. Chanakya tells us how to overthrow neighbours and destroy adversaries who could become enemies while Ram tells us how to embrace humanity and its diversity.

Take the most dramatic event in Lord Rama’s life. When his father King Dasharath was to announce crowning Ram as the next King, one of his wives, Ram’s stepmother, Kaikei intervened. She reminded Dashrath of his promise of two wishes he had granted her to make. She asked for Ram to be banished for 14 years and her son Bharata to be crowned King.

The Ramayana revolves around this. King Dashrath, a virtuous King felt obliged to keep his word. That was the essence of pre-Chanakya Dharma. He didn’t want to send Ram to the forest for 14 years. He looked to Ram to rebel or find an excuse. But Ram, even more stoical about agreements and promises, calmly accepted it and talked to his father about virtues and values. He kept his father’s honour and went to the Jungle for 14 years. His life in the forest and after his return are all about virtues and values, about integrity, about honesty, about compassions and duties. It is not surprising that Ram is admired and revered in all the Indian faith and belief systems.

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It is not known whether anyone has ever done a “what if” Chanakya had been present at the court. Would he have found a ‘clever’ argument to give the appearance of keeping Dashrath’s promise to Kaikei but not actually banishing Ram to the Jungle? Would he have found a way to put Ram on the throne while acceding to Kaikei’s demand that her son be crowned King? Of course he would have. He was the clever political intriguing advisor.

Let us for instance break down Kaikei’s request. She in fact makes three requests. To send Ram to the Jungle for 14 years. To put Bharata on the throne. And the third demand that has never been ‘discovered’ is timing. That it be done ‘now’. Chanakya might have declared that to be the third demand.

So Chanakya niti would have reminded her that she was entitled to two demands, not three. He would have suggested that the timing be taken out, Ram be crowned King or even Prince Regent but to promise to go to the forest at some stage in his life, perhaps when he becomes too old and then to crown Bharata to the crown when he does. A clever scheming Chanakya would think that Baharata would die before Ram went to the jungle and the crown would go to Ram’s son while Ram could become a sanyasi in his last days as many old people did at the time. A clever Chanakya may even have made Bharata’s life so miserable that he may have died or taken his own life. A perfect solution to Dashrath’s dilemma. Promises kept in word, not in spirit. That is pure Chanakya.

That is also the difference between Ram and Chanakya. Chanakya would have found a clever solution. People would have scratched their heads and said, ‘very clever, got us out of that dilemma’, but be aware that it is not virtuous, not laden with values of dharma nor gives confidence in the integrity and honesty of either Dashrath or Ram. But Ram was the paragon of virtue. He rather keeps the word and the spirit of the word. He wanted people to have faith in him and deliver on a promise however awkward that would be. He wasn’t into political mirage.

So far the BJP has been more Chanakya than Ram. Its intrigues, its word sorcery, its use of imagery, of infiltrating the opposition and breaking it, of bringing down competing parties, of playing on words on agreements are classic methodology from the two books of Chanakya, the Arthasashtra and Chanakya Niti Shastra. BJP has been more attached to Chanakya’s secular nationalism than Ram’s Sanatan Dharma.

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When Modi stood at the Ram Mandir and laid that brick, did it suddenly awaken the Ram in him and the party or will the Ram Mandir become a part of the Chanakya niti of divisive and intrigue laden politics?

If the BJP really wants to honour Ram, the Ram that abides in the minds, hearts, hopes and prayers of every Hindu, of a god who reincarnates as the ultimate human being of virtue, honour and value, perhaps BJP can first recreate in current context that epic episode of Dashrath being approached by Kaikei and Ram telling his father, that a promise is a promise and has to be kept in word and spirit.

In the run up to 1947 and period after that, the leaders of Indian Independence movement had made various promises to the Sikhs, the Muslims, the Kashmiris etc. Almost all have been broken through clever Chanakya niti by both Congress and BJP.

The BJP cannot use a get-out clause by saying they were by Congress and not by it. In the realm of States and Kingdoms, the ruler, that is the King, has no family or favourites. The King has a private family but Rajdharma requires that a real King of virtue sees all subjects, whether his children or other subjects as the same. The law is applied uniformly and agreements are honoured without anyone being more equal than others.

Hence Dashrath did not favour his son with a different interpretation of his duty as King. Ram did not say the promise was by the outgoing King and not by him as the new ruler.

The Ram Mandir is being built. The brick has been placed by the current ruler of India. India’s minorities wait to see if the BJP will now also revere Ram the legendry god who has lived in every Hindu and in fact many non-Hindu Indians’ hearts. Will BJP tread the path of Ram Rajya, of virtue, of values, of honouring promises or will it be inspired by Chanakya and see Ram Mandir as a religious icon in the scheme of instrumentalist Politics? The BJP has to choose between Chanakya and Ram now as the Mandir rises from the ashes.

Jaya Prada Says Bachchan Politicising B’wood Drug Abuse

Veteran actress and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaya Prada on Wednesday lent support to BJP Lok Sabha MP Ravi Kishan over his remarks about drug use in Bollywood and said Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan was politicizing the issue.

“I support Ravi Kishan’s statement as a matter of protecting the youth from drugs is important to me. We need to raise our voice against the use of drugs and must save our youth. I respect Jaya ji’s sentiment in this regard but this is not a topic that should be politicized. She did not have the right to make such statements,” Prada told ANI.

She further said, “Why is Jaya ji taking this issue so personally? She should be speaking about saving the youth so that another case like Sushant’s does not take place. He has left us and the whole country wants justice for him.”

This comes after Samajwadi Party MP on Tuesday gave a zero hour notice in the Upper House over an alleged conspiracy to defame the film industry.

Without directly naming Ravi Kishan, Jaya Bachchan had stated that she was “ashamed that yesterday one of our members in the Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it.”

Several personalities from the Bollywood film industry including Shabana Azmi, Taapsee Pannu, Dia Mirza, Genelia Deshmukh, Sonam Kapoor, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, and others have supported Bachchan’s statement. (ANI)

TMC MP Nusrat Jahan Seeks Central Aid For Film Industry

Actor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Nusrat Jahan on Wednesday urged the government to sanction relief packages for the entertainment industry stating that it has borne the brunt of measures triggered by the novel coronavirus.

Speaking in the Lower House, she said that the industry is facing a huge financial crisis and people associated with it have become jobless.

“The government of various states announced a complete lockdown of public places like theatres in March 2020. This was followed by a social distancing advisory issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (MoHFW) on March 16, 2020. These measures have led, not only shutdown of several theatres countrywide but also indefinite halt in production of several films, television, and other entertainment mediums,” Jahan said.

“Due to this, the entire industry has been suffering. Lakhs of people have been losing their job. The condition of the Bengal film industry is also terrible. Thousands of people working in this film industry directly or indirectly like actors, singers, technicians, makeup artists etc are jobless,” she said.

Speaking further, the Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Basirhat said: “The industry is facing a huge financial crisis… I would request the government to kindly look into the matter and sanction relief packages for the entertainment industry and its people.”

The monsoon session of the Parliament, which kicked off on Monday with several precautionary measures in the view of COVID-19 is slated to conclude on October 1.

Proceedings in Rajya Sabha are being held from 9 am till 1 pm while Lok Sabha sittings are from 3 pm to 7 pm. (ANI)

10m Views For Trump Campaign Clip Aimed At Indians In US

US President Donald Trump campaign commercial titled ‘4 more years’ aimed at winning support from the country’s Indian American voters has hit the 10 million views.

Trump senior adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle took to Twitter during the Republican convention last month and posted the commercial. The Trump supporter tweeted “America enjoys a great relationship with India and our campaign enjoys great support from Indian Americans.”

The video features footage of Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking hand in hand and quick clips of each speaking.

A prominent Trump supporter, Al Mason, who conceptualised the video told ANI that The “4 More Years” video has been viewed more than 3,00,000 times on Twitter alone. It has been viewed several hundred thousand times more on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Mason further added if Trump gets another four years at the White House it will massively boost the India-US partnership.

“With the re-election of Trump – these two larger than life personalities (President Trump and Prime Minister Modi) will take their true friendship to the next level,” said Mason, the co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee.

Indian-Americans have emerged as a significant political force in the US. They exert influence in US politics through campaign donations and fund-raising.

Indian-Americans are the wealthiest ethnic group in the US in terms of per capita income. With the November 3 election day closing in, the Republicans and Democrats, sensing a close contest, are leaving no stone unturned to woo Indian-American voters while holding on to their hardcore bases of support. 1.3 million Indian-American votes in the eight swing states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, are being considered as decisive. (ANI)

Yoshihide Suga Is New Japanese Prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga, the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, was elected Japan’s prime minister by the powerful House of Representatives on Wednesday.

According to Kyodo News, his immediate focus would be on reviving the battered economy while keeping the novel coronavirus under control.

Suga pledged to push forward with former prime minister Shinzo Abe policies such “Abenomics,” a mix of measures aimed at beating deflation and spurring growth in the world’s third-largest economy.

The 71-year-old farmer’s son, who unlike Abe and many other lawmakers in Japan is not the scion of a political dynasty, has hinted at the possibility of additional steps to shore up the economy, Kyodo News reported.

Suga will be the oldest prime minister to take office since Kiichi Miyazawa in 1991.

Many cabinet members such as Finance Minister Taro Aso and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi are expected to be retained in Suga’s cabinet.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato is expected to succeed Suga as chief Cabinet secretary, a key post whose holder serves as both policy coordinator and the government’s top spokesman.

Defense Minister Taro Kono is slated to be named minister in charge of administrative reform, an area Suga has promised to focus on to reduce bureaucratic sectionalism.

Earlier in the day, the entire Cabinet of former Shinzo Abe submitted their resignation on Wednesday.(ANI)

Pakistan Prime Minister

Pak Racing Against Time To Avoid Blacklisting By FATF

Pakistan’s efforts to escape from getting blacklisted by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is facing another daunting challenge as the opposition-dominated upper house is obstructing two related bills tabled by the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).

Islamabad is racing against time to escape the FATF’s blacklist and clearing its name from the grey list. Pakistan is in the grey list since June 2018 and the government was given a final warning in February to complete the remaining action points by June 2020. The FATF extended the June deadline to September due to the spread of coronavirus that disrupted the FATF plenary meetings.

Last month, Pakistan’s Senate had rejected two bills related to the tough conditions set by the FATF, jeopardising the government’s efforts to escape from being blacklisted by the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

Opposition political parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have argued that the FATF related legislation aimed more at tightening the screws on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s perceived political opponents than meeting the FATF’s requirements.

“PM Imran Khan’s bid to avoid FATF blacklisting upended by the opposition in an exercise of mutual self-destruction,” Asia Times reported.

In a last-ditch to clear the FATF related legislations that were blocked by the opposition last month, President Arif Alvi summoned a joint sitting of parliament on Wednesday. Dawn reported citing sources.

The country is facing the difficult task of clearing its name from the FATF grey list.

Pakistan is making attempts to avoid a demotion from the FATF grey list to the blacklist during the upcoming October plenary meeting.

While Pakistan tries to showcase its ‘efforts’ in combatting terrorism, there have been reports from Afghanistan giving ample evidence of the presence of Pakistani terrorists on its land.

In recent weeks, Pakistan has been trying to paint a picture that it has started the reforms including the passing of bills in order to prevent blacklisting by the FATF.

In late July, Pakistan Financial Monitoring Unit Director-General Lubna Farooq told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that the country is yet to comply with 13 conditions out of the 27-point Action Plan of the FATF including curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organisations and improving the legal systems. (ANI)

India’s Covid-19 Count Crosses 5-Million Mark

India’s COVID-19 case tally crossed the 50-lakh mark with a spike of 90,123 new cases and 1,290 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

The total case tally in the country stands at 50,20,360 including 9,95,933 active cases, 39,42,361 cured/discharged/migrated and 82,066 deaths, as per the Ministry.

As per the data from the Health Ministry, Maharashtra which is the most affected by the pandemic has 2,92,174 active cases of COVID-19. Karnataka has 98,555 active cases, Andhra Pradesh (92,353), Uttar Pradesh (67,335), and Delhi (29,787).

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 5,94,29,115 samples have been tested up to September 15 for COVID-19. Of these, 11,16,842 samples tested yesterday. (ANI)

Israel, UAE, Bahrain Sign Historic Abraham Accord

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) presided over the signing ceremony at the White House to establish the foundation of the peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

“Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain will establish embassies, exchange ambassadors, and begin to work together as partners. They are friends,” The White House tweeted.

According to the Abraham Accord signed by the two Gulf countries — Bahrain and UAE– they have now joined Egypt and Jordan as the only Arab nations to have full relations with Israel.

After the signing of the Abraham Accord by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE, Trump called on other Arab and Muslim nations to follow the UAE’s lead.

“Now that the ice has been broken, I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates’ lead. And I want to just thank them– it’s not surprising, knowing Mohammed so well. It’s not surprising. They are in that lead position. And normalise relations with Israel. We are already discussing this with other nations — with very powerful, very good nations and people that want to see peace in the Middle East. So you will probably see others of these, but this is the first one in more than 25 years,” Trump said.

He further said, “The countries have committed to the exchange of embassies and ambassadors, and to begin cooperation across a broad range of fields including education, healthcare, trade, and security.This deal is only the beginning of normalised relations between Israel and its neighbours, with many more likely to come.”

“This deal will allow much greater access to Muslims from throughout the world to visit the many historical sites in Israel — which the Muslims want to see very badly and have wanted to see for many, many decades — and to peacefully pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is a very special place for them.”

The three copies of the Abraham Accord were signed by each representative in English, Arabic and Hebrew. (ANI)

India Walks Out Of SCO Meet Over Pak’s ‘Fictitious Map’

Indian on Tuesday walked out in protest from a virtual meeting of the national security advisers of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) after Pakistani representative projected a “fictitious map” that inaccurately depicted the borders of the two countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs said what Pakistan did was in “blatant disregard to host Russia’s advisory”.

“At the meeting of the national security advisers (NSAs) of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), hosted by the chair of the SCO (Russia), the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

“This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting. After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture. As was to be expected, Pakistan then went on to present a misleading view of this meeting,” he said.

Sources said India issued its strong objection to the use of this illegal map by Pakistan and Russian side, as the Chair, tried very hard to persuade Pakistan not to do so.

Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the National Security Council of Russian Federation has conveyed that he was personally very grateful to NSA for attending the SCO Summit, they said.

According to sources, Russia does not support what Pakistan has done and hopes that Pakistan’s provocative act will not affect India’s participation in SCO and definitely not cast any shadow on Patrushev’s warm personal relationship for NSA for whom he has the highest regard.

Patrushev also said he hoped to see NSA at forthcoming events, they said. (ANI)

‘Wolf Warrior Policy Ruined China Image As Trade Partner’

The wolf warriors have irretrievably trashed whatever trust Beijing may have had as trading, investment and research partner around the world, says Peter Jennings, the executive director of Australian Strategic Partnership Institute (ASPI).

Hitting out at Chinese President Xi Jinping for his authoritarian style of functioning, Jennings in a write-up in The Strategist, said: “China has never had many, or indeed any, close friends internationally, but in less than a year the wolf warriors have irretrievably trashed whatever trust Beijing may have had as a trading, investment and research partner around the world.”

Jennings described it as “a remarkable achievement”, pointing out how even in a divided America, opposition to China is the one policy uniting Republicans and Democrats.

“Beijing’s bad behaviour has produced a consensus in the European Union and Britain to push back, has given ASEAN a stronger common purpose and has ignited in Australia a determination to ‘step up’ in the Pacific and spend more on defence,” the write-up said.

The Chinese “wolf-warrior diplomacy” or aggressive posturing has come under criticism for fuelling tensions around the globe.

Mentioning how China-Australia ties have increasingly come under strain, Jennings said: “Had China continued down the Deng Xiaoping-mandated path of ‘Hide your capacities, bide your time’, I’m no longer sure that Australia would have been able to muster the collective willpower to prevent the wholesale compromising of our economy, political system, critical infrastructure, universities and business community–such was the attraction of Chinese money.”

Jennings suggested three factors that are shaping Xi Jinping’s strategic thinking.

“The first factor is that CCP policymaking is increasingly centred on one person–Xi Jinping. Through regular purges of the party and the People’s Liberation Army since 2012, Xi has removed political opponents, made himself the commander-in-chief of the military and the central driver of policy in every area from the South China Sea to the Belt and Road Initiative to the pandemic response,” Jennings said in the write-up.

Xi Jinping has consolidated power and purged the rivals in the party so as to blunt any opposition to him.

It is tempting to think that Xi’s authoritarian style is partly motivated by a determination not to be purged like his father. “His leadership is also informed by deep ideological schooling in Marxist-Leninist ideology–a reality too easily dismissed in the West.”

Jennings said Xi has brought Leninist authoritarianism to into the 21st-century world of artificial intelligence and all-seeing surveillance. “Having embarked on a path to consolidate all power to himself, it is difficult to see how Xi can break from his current course of action. In effect, that means China’s more assertive and uncompromising approach in the world will be here for as long as Xi remains in power,” the write-up said.

According to Jennings, the second factor shaping Xi’s approach is that, overwhelmingly, what matters to him is strengthening the position of the CCP inside China. “How the wider world reacts to Beijing’s actions is vastly less important.”

The write up said Beijing’s increasingly inflammatory rhetoric about defeating ‘separatism’ in Taiwan, by use of military force if necessary, may be seen by the wider world to be destabilising Asian security, but inside China it rallies popular support around the party.

According to Jennings, the third factor shaping China’s switch to the wolf-warrior approach is that Xi has concluded that coercion works.

“The lesson for Australia and all democracies is that making concessions to Beijing’s wolf-warrior behaviours will only encourage more coercion,” the write-up said.

“Based on this assessment of Chinese strategic motivations, it is highly likely that Beijing’s more assertive approach will continue if Xi stays in office. That is going to hurt Australia, but the only mitigation is to reduce our economic dependence on China,” Jennings concluded. (ANI)