Where India is Going? ......................... on Budaun(UP) rape case .............

A group of men including atleast two police officers raped ,strangled to death and hanged two teenage girls (aged 14 ,15) to a tree in katra village in uttar Pradesh.

         Official reports say a rape happens every 22 mins in our country with a population of 1.25 billion, Activist  say that this number is even low because of entrenched culture of tolerance to sexual violence.women are often pressed by family or police to stay quiet regarding sexual assault. Even some times women are afraid of public ridicule and social stigma.

            

 “ Boys will be boys”  Mulayam singh says “they make mistakes.

              Asaram bapu calls the “victim of brutal sexual assault in Delhi is equally responsible for the crime and she must have begged her assailants brother and asked to stop”

Where the India is going  ?

The man whose is supposed to take responsibility Chief Minister of Uttarpradesh Akilesh yadav questions “are women not safe?”…. perfectly safe Mr.Chief Minister  in hands of brutal murders.also he went on to say “will arrest will solve the matter”, absolutely not if the brutal rapist roam across village and city roads its will solve the matter so that no one dares to complain.

           When comes to privileges issue  backward  communities are not even touched or not entitled to enter temples , some functions, not allowed to marry high caste people , but the so called high class people are ready to commit brutal rapes over them.Also some where in west Bengal  khap panchayats  order group of high caste villagers to rape a girl one by one.  How come backward caste in one situation are not eligible to touch and in other situation  suits  to satisfy physical desire .

                       

      One Gandhi ji said when women can roam freely at midnight then India is free. But situation now  is that women of our country now able to roam freely  at day time also and by circumstances India will not be free in near future

  

      Making mere laws only doesn’t help making it safe for them . but it’s the persons those who implement the law in a strict manner that will make India safe for women.in other words its not the Government but Governance that  make it safe to live .So I wish  near future Governance will take giant leap on Government  and make India safe

                                                                             ----- Sekhar -----

The Largest Election in the History of the Largest Democracy in the World

The longest and most expensive election in India's history began April 7th and will conclude May 12th at a cost of more than $5 billion.  To manage the large electorate -- estimated at 815 million -- and address security concerns in the world's largest democracy, the election to seat 543 members of the 16th Lok Sabha, or lower house of the Parliament, is running in nine segments over five weeks.  The results will also determine who will rule the world’s largest democracy as prime minister. The victor will ultimately be the party winning the most Lok Sabha seats, a minimum of 272.

Top issues in India’s elections are perennial -- government corruption, nepotism and economic growth -- but also playing a major factor is the burgeoning Islamization of the country.  The bulk of India's population, around 80% Hindu, is concerned about past government policies that appear to have favored Muslims.  The most popular candidate for prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been painted for years as virulently anti-Muslim in an effort to undermine his political power during years of dedicated government service as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat.  He has been the subject of eight-years of rigorous investigations and most recently by India’s Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), which found no wrong doing on his part, and he has been legally exonerated of all framed charges in 2010. Yet, he has been denied a U.S. visa, despite this lack of proof.  The outcome of the elections in India will help determine if the country will slide further under Muslim influence or pursue a path toward democracy and away from preferential laws for Muslims.

Those preferential laws were created under the rule of the Indian National Congress (INC), or “the Congress.”  Formed in 1885, the party played a major role in freeing the country from British colonial rule in 1947.  But, in more modern times, the pro-Muslim Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, has lost support.  As the economic growth of India has slowed significantly, government corruption has become rampant and infrastructure deficiencies abound.  Modi, a statesman of the country’s other major political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has pledged to institute good governance, end corruption, boost economic growth, and adopt a uniform civil code to foster equal gender justice and equality for Indian Muslim women who are currently governed by Sharia law

Where are the Gods of Biggest Religion (Cricket ) doing in much needed Election time ???

         In our country if census is made on who play ,watch or like cricket,this sect will be well above any religion ,caste etc.also whole country unite at the time of cricket matches irrespective of their differences and cheer for India.so invariably cricket is religion and cricketers are role models for millions of fans in India.

        Also in our country we elect honorable members for our parliament who govern us for a span of five years .Election in our country is by far largest and holding the is a mammoth exercise.on other hand motivating and mobilizing voters to vote is herculean task .

         Most of the famous personalities took part in encouraging people to vote in various ways through commercials or by posing for pictures after casting their vote etc.but what our gods of cricket religion doing ? where are they ?when country needed them.

        Oh ! to the surprise they are enjoying in Dubai playing IPL7 and not even a single cricketer who are ubiquitous on tv screens all time in commercials bothered to vote or to motivate the millions of young for whom they are role models.

       Is it not the moral responsibility as citizens of India to motivate millions around who by a single word from their role models or a picture of them showing ink mark on finger tips will move out of their medial stupors and come out to vote.also to utilize their basic right i.e right to vote.

Happy news is that voting percentage is by far better than previous elections,it would have been even better if big guns of our country mainly our cricketers campaigned or at least posed for a picture for publicity.worst part is that organizers of IPL shifted the venue to Dubai rather than delaying it .OK taken for granted postponing is a problem then why cant the BCCI or franchises which are drowned in  money send their players on election day to vote or why not the cricketers themselves take initiation for that.

     

             One must take it as their moral and personal responsibility to develop the country. One must not forget what is the core all these riches they are enjoying today.


                                                        -----Sekhar-----

Why should governments invest in Public Health ?

Here in this column we will discuss about why should government spend or invest on public health,first lets begins with definition of health.

According to world health organisation “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

We will discuss why  Government of any country and in particular under developed and developing countries should spend on public health in following views

·        Economic

·        Social

·        Moral

    Economic view

In economic view even when capital flows in to the country through some fdi ,fii when they open up economy or finding natural resources in country itself ,it will not kick start the economy without the man power in good health condition(able bodies in economic terms).any company will invest in a particular country only if they find adequate power and labour resource beside natural resources. So even though a country have adequate power and natural resources with out man power it will boom the economy.

Also when malnourishment is rampant in a country which is also a health issue they are jeopardising the next generation economic growth now itself.thus by neglecting  health will effect this generation and next generation economic development.

Social view

Poor health reduces the productivity of individual, leads to higher number of  absent days at work ,both working to reduce the lifetime savings of the individual and the family as whole. Also if public health system is not provided one has to bear the health expenditure, which will act as double edged sword on the impoverished. Once the condition degrades civil uprisings will take place in country and instability is created.

Moral view

According to Article 21 of constitution of India and Article 3 of Universal declaration of human rights everyone is entitled   the right to life and liberty. Indian Supreme court using judicial activism it concluded that right life means not mere physical existence but life with dignity .and it’s the moral responsibility of the government to provide so in which health is a major concern along side with diet and all.Also cost of treatment of some diseases are out of range for poor and deprived ,in those cases government should take active participation and  provide treatment for them .

Thus to conclude its government economic requisite , social necessity , moral responsibility  to invest on public health.

                                                                         ----- Sekhar-----

10 Fundamental Problems with Education System in India

1. Education System Promotes Rat Race

Our education system basically promotes rat race among our children. They have to read and mug-up entire text book without any understanding of it.

So a student who scores 90 out of 100 and comes first actually remains a rat. I mean to say he or she does not have any analytical skills that a child must have.

It is time to change our education system.

2. Education Does Not Builds Persona of a Child

Unfortunately our education system is not helping to develop persona of a child. Remember, it is personality that is more important than academic qualification.

As I said earlier, our system demands good numbers from a child in an exam not to show his personality. Hence a child is not well exposed to outer world and he or she might not be able to develop a personality.

So this is another flaw in our education system.

3. No Critical Analysis, only Following the Establishment

Our children are not able to do critical analysis of anything, for example our history, culture and religion. They take the line of establishment or the views of predominant majority.

They are simply not able to look things from their own perspective. If you want a society should become a lot better than we must develop a culture of looking at things critically.

We are simply failing at this because of our education system. Children must learn to criticize our own culture and other established narratives.

4. Too Much Parochialism Rather Global Outlook

Our education teaches too much of nationalism and it could create a negative mindset in our younger generation. Loving your country is good thing but just blind love is dangerous.

In our schools children are not able to get a global outlook. It means how to see yourself that you are actually a global citizen rather confined to a place or a country.

I myself was not able to feel that I am a cosmopolitan rather I was thought to become a jingoistic.

5. Teachers Themselves are Not Trained and Efficient

To make things worse, our teachers themselves are not sufficiently trained to teach kids. They do not have proper training that how they are going to impart values in children that are going to change the future of the country.

If they can teach properly then the government does not have enough salary to pay. Hence, to improve our education system teachers should be better trained and more importantly better paid.

You cannot imagine a country without respecting teachers.

6. Medium of Language of our Education System

This is also a big problem that needs to be addressed. We are not able to decide on the medium of language of our education system.

Still emphasize is given on English where majority of children cannot understand the language. So how does they are going to understand what teachers are teaching.

Moreover, subjects like mathematics, physics and arts have nothing to do with the medium of communication. Hence, over-emphasis on English could be wrong.

7. Education Given is Irrelevant to Job-Market

This is perhaps the most apparent failure of our education system that after completing graduation in any discipline students are not able to get jobs.

It is simply because skills that are required in a job market are simply not present in a fresh graduate. All that a student is taught in his entire school and college life is almost redundant for job markets.

Skill that is required by them is not taught in schools and colleges. Hence our education system is needed to be revamped and must be designed according to our economic policies.

8. Missing Innovation & Creation because Only Aping West

If we talk about the privileged children in India then even they are not able to innovate and create new things. Although they have everything that a child need but still they lack something in them.

What they are doing is only aping western culture and not being able to do something new. On the one hand children are not able to go to schools and on other hand, if they are going then are not able to innovate or solve the problems that the country is facing.

Hence, this is yet another fundamental problem with our education system.

9. Students Happy in Getting a Highly Paid Salary Job but Lacks Ambition to Become Entrepreneur

Now, in college campuses it has become a common thing that every young student is interested in a getting a job that pays them well. However, they would never like to become an entrepreneur.

This lack of ambition does not allow our country to excel in any field. This attitude of our children making them slaves of few multinational companies.

Therefore our education system should be designed to make our children a successful entrepreneurs rather going for a salaried job.

10. Gross Failure of Our Education System to End Social Disparity

The last but not the least failure of our education system is after so many years it has not being able to reduce social disparity in our country. In fact, social disparity has gone up.

It is such a shame that education itself has become a tool for creating divisions. A child of a rich parent would get good education and a child of poor parent cannot afford even a basic education.

Government should intervene and make education its prime responsibility.

Conclusion

Finally, I would say we spend only few percent of our GDP on education, so our government should make education its first priority and try to address issues.

Tribal Economy in India

The sources of subsistence and livelihood are varied so far the Indian tribals are concerned. Starting from the pure and simple parasitic habit of the nomadic hunters and food-gatherers who depend mostly on nature for the sources of subsistence to the settled agriculturists and the group of industrial laborers, we have the views of different economic set-up the Indian tribals. From this view point, we can classify the Indian tribals into six broad economic clusters:

1. Food-gatherers and hunters: The nomadic primitive tribes like the An­damanese, Onge, Jarwa, Kadar, Kharia, Lodha, etc. are included in this category so far their subsistence economy is concerned. They usually live far away from rural-urban way of life and possess a simple type of social organization.
2. Permanent Settled Cultivators: Like the cultivators of the advanced societies, some of the tribals in India are taking resort to permanent settled agriculture. The Oraon, Munda, Gond, Bhumij, Ho, Santal, are efficient cultivators at present. They practice wet cultivation by transplanting method. Artificial irrigation and application of compost manure are not unknown to them. Rotation of crops is within the knowledge of these cultivators. They work in their owned fields as well as in the fields of others as share-croppers (Bhag-Chasi). The major bulk of the tribal population work as agricultural laborers. In search of jobs, these landless agricultural laborers participate in seasonal migration to the neighboring states. The social and religious organizations of these settled agriculturist tribals are much developed and highly complex. The traditional council of elders (panchayet) has to perform significant role in maintaining societal norms.
3. Pastoral people: The Bhotia of Almora and the Toda of the Nilgiri hills of South India live on pastoral economy. They do not practice agriculture, hunting, fishing, etc. They also live far away from the sophisticated modern world and possess a slightly developed but non-complicated social structure. Both of them, practice polyandrous marriage system. They rear buffaloes and cows, the milk-products are being exchanged to procure the commodities of day-to-day use.
4. Shifting Hill cultivators: A section of the Gond, Naga, Kharia, Juang, Riang, Khasi, Garo, Savara practice such type of primitive cultivation by “slash and burn” method. It is known by different names in different areas. The Assam tribes call it Jhum, the Gond as Podu, etc. A hilly forested tract is selected for this purpose may have to be abandoned after three successive cultivating seasons as this soil likely to lose fertility. The plants, shrubs, and undergrowth’s are cut down and left for drying for a month or so. Then, they set fire to them. The ashes serve as auto-manure to the soil. On the onset of monsoon, the soil is slightly loosened by a simple digging stick or hoe. Seeds of different Kharif crops, millet’s like Bajra, Jowar, Kurthi, pulses, potato, tobacco, and sugar-cane are grown in this type of cultivation. It could support them partially but not wholly. They have to find out some other vocations as supporting source of subsistence.
5. Manual laboring group: A substantial portion of the tribals has become landless laboring class owing to the economic hardship which they are facing at present. They earn their livelihood by selling their manual labor in different vocations.
6. Craftsmen: Some of the tribals are still retaining their traditional crafts along with the principle sources of subsistence. The Naga and the Khasi are experts in coloured hand-loom products and the Lohar are traditional black smiths. With the marginal profit in their traditional specialized crafts, these tribals are at present, taking resort to other types of jobs. Their mixed pattern of economy reflects back adversely upon their social system.

The Hegemony Of The Khap Panchayats: A Case Of Culture And Tradition In Its Extreme

What does the word ‘culture’  or say ‘tradition’ brings to our mind? For some it would be the picture of their God placed under the sanctum sanctorum and yet others may think of their rituals or festivals. Quite different from this, for an artist or a writer tradition would be a style, or a genre of articulating his thoughts. Whatever the case might be, each person will have a different perception of the word ‘tradition’. To generalize the term and yet not circumscribing it within a finite arena for interpretation, tradition basically means a set pattern of beliefs, values and the code of ethics a person inherits by the virtue of his ascribed identity of religion, caste, creed etc.

What do you think?

Elevating the term to its allegorical level, leaving behind all kinds of superficial division and related problems it brings about, the word ‘tradition’ in its pristine form is truly beautiful and intriguing at the same time. But we human beings, rational as we are by our very genetic configuration are known to have a kind of aversion to beautiful things. And so the ramifications of our apathy towards all good things have left no area untouched be it tradition or culture. Extreme form of anything is lethal and so is the case with tradition. One of the cases of the manifestation of culture and tradition in its extreme form is the clout enjoyed by the barbaricKhap Panchayats.

Khap is a term for a social, political grouping; it is used in a geographical sense. A khap comprises of village elders grouped along caste or community lines and motivated by the need to perpetuate a feudal and patriarchal order. They are powerful enough to issue fatwas, and declaring marriages void without due legal process or the sanction of law. History tells us that khaps are as old as the 14th century, started by upper caste Jats to consolidate their power and position. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. The khap panchayats do not have any legal sanction. However, they being powerful, the government has in the past failed to invalidate their rulings and actions. Also their position is further consolidated by some political parties to attain their ulterior motives.

Persons living in a khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village. If one of them lives in another village yet is of the same sub-caste, they are prohibited from marrying each other. Perplexing? Maybe for a modern, liberal individual who believes in the democratic principles as advocated by our founding fathers. But for those who do not even think before killing their own people in the name of hollow principles of ‘honour’ and ‘pride’ of the family, all this seems very normal. These unscrupulous and heinous demons do not even hesitate to use ‘culture’ as a tool to justify or condone their act of brutality. The rationale behind this, they argue is that people belonging to the same gotra are believed to be from the same clan or family lineage and thus are brothers and sisters. Not only are they carrying out these inhuman activities with impunity, but are also blatantly demanding an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to prohibit marriage in the same gotra. All this speaks volumes about the inefficiency and lacunas that cripple the criminal justice system in our country.

It may bamboozle some of us, but there is a great paradox involved here. A recent study commissioned by NCW, which was conducted by NGO Shakti Vahini revealed that 72% of the 326 cases of honor crimes were in fact inter-caste marriages, while same gotra marriages were only 3 per cent. Marriages within the caste were 15 per cent and only 1 per cent were inter-religious marriages. In the experience of struggles by AIDWA in Haryana, only one case over the last one decade involved a same gotra marriage.

Jagmati Sangwan, AIDWA State President of Haryana explains the hypocrisy of Khap dictates in her article ‘Khap Panchayat: Signs of Desperation’ (The Hindu, 7.5.2010):

By creating the false impression that all marriages of choice between young couples are incestuous, what the khaps are actually opposing is the right to choose a marriage partner. Among the several instances ofkhaps issuing fatwas in Jaundhi, Asanda, Dharana, Singhwal, Hadaudi, Maham-kheri, Ludana and other villages, not a single one was an intra-gotra marriage, yet the married couples were declared siblings, and families made to suffer boycotts and excommunication from their villages…. As couples are selectively targeted, it is clear the real motive is to control women’s sexuality to ensure that property remains within the patriarchal caste domain (mainly Jats in Haryana).

This deterrence to the possibility of own choice marriages can be further understood in the context of rights for women in land and other parental property in these areas. If a woman is married several villages away the possibility of her exercising inheritance rights over parental property in her natal home also becomes comparatively remote.

Economist, Bina Agarwal, writes about the link between property rights and marital practices in Are We Not Peasants Too: Land Rights and Women’s Claims in India, (‘Seeds’, Population Council, New York, 2002):

Traditionally among matrilineal communities where daughters had strong claims in land (as in Kerala and Meghalaya), postmarital residence was in or near the natal home. This kept the land under the overall purview of the natal family, as did close-kin marriage. In contrast, in traditionally patrilineal communities, post-marital residence was patrilocal (the woman joined her husband in his natal home) and often in another village. In addition, in northern India close-kin marriage was forbidden among most communities…. South India has the fewest obstacles. Here legal rights are relatively more equal, in-village and close-kin marriage is allowed.

Explaining this further in the same article, Bina Agarwal writes:

“…marriages in distant villages make direct cultivation by women difficult. In many areas this is compounded by illiteracy, high fertility, and social restrictions on women’s mobility and public interaction.”

I believe this is enough to unveil the hidden motive behind the spate of ‘honor killings’ that have haunted recently. This should be a clarion call for the government to look into the matter and take stringent actions against these demons, these perpetrators of violence.

Unfazed by any criticism, the Khap Panchayats still indulge in these crimes which are off late assuming monstrous proportions. Is this the code of ethics their tradition or culture espouses? Which tradition under the blue sky advocates killing of people who exercise their democratic right of marrying the person of his/her own choice? Well, none in my knowledge. In fact the cardinal rule of the canons of morality any culture upholds says that humanity is above anything else. So, well established is the fact that the killings of innocent people cannot be justified on flimsy grounds of ‘tradition’, the use of which can only be considered to be an eye-wash or a deception to cover the sinister deeds of the Khap Panchayats.

                                                                      By Sakshi Abrol