मोदी जी को पत्र

दिनांक: 15 फेबरअरी 2015

आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री महोदय श्री मान नरेन्द्रा मोदी जी,

सर्व प्रथम मैं आपको नमस्कार करता हूँ और प्रार्थना करता हूँ कि आप सकुशल हैं| यह पत्र, वैसे तो मैं सोशल मीडिया पे लिख रहा हूँ, पर मुझे आशा है कि यह आप तक भी पहुच जायगा| इस पत्र मे मैं आपसे कुछ निवेदन करना चाहता हूँ जिन्हे करने कि आवश्यकता इसलिए उत्पन्न हुई है क्योंकि भ.ज.पा. लोक सभा में विजय के बाद से ही थोड़ी दिशाहीन जान पड़ी है और दिल्ली में मिली शर्मनाक हर के बाद भ.ज.पा. समर्थकों के मन का तनाव अपनी चरंसीमा पे पहुच गया है| हम सारे, जो भ.ज.पा को अपनी स्वाभाविक पार्टी मानते हैं और राष्ट्र हित की सोते-जागते कामना करते हैं, इस विषय पे चर्चा करते रहते हैं| इस पत्र को आप ऐसी सभी चर्चाओं का सार समझिए, यही इस पत्र का उद्देश्या है|

गणतंत्र में हार जीत जनता कि कसौटी का ही मापदंड है, इसकी अनदेखी करना बहुत ही हानिकारक हो सकता है| इसीलिए सबसे पहले हमे दिल्ली कि हार को सही से समझने का प्रयत्न करना चाहिए| इस हार के दो पहलू हैं: भ.ज.पा. की अंतरीय दुर्बलता (दिल्ली यूनिट में) और आम आदमी पार्टी तथा अरविंद केजरीवाल कि शक्ति का आकलन| वोटेरों के धरातल से लेकर पार्टी के आलाकमान तक की राह में सत्य अक्सर भटक जाता है| मैं धरातल से आपको सूचित करना चाहूँगा कि दिल्ली के चुनावों में भ.ज.पा. पूर्ण रूप से हताश, छन्दित और सत्ता की लोभी जान पड़ी| साथ हि, केजरीवाल पर किए गये कटाक्ष अशिष्टता की मिसाल जान पड़ते थे और जिसे अँग्रेज़ी में हेलधी कॉंपिटेशन कहते हैं उसकी कमी साफ दिख रही थी| आपके समर्थकों कि ओर से एक प्रश्न यह उठता है कि क्या पार्टी को अपने उपर इतना आत्म-विश्वास न था कि उसे किरण बेदी को अंतिम घड़ी में मुख्‍य मंत्री उम्मीदवार घोषित करना पड़ा? या फिर शाज़िया इलमी जैसे नेताओं को अपनी टीम में लेने की आवशयक्ता पड़ी जिनका इतिहास बेहद संप्रदायिक और मौक़ापरस्त राजनीति रहा है? क्या पार्टी यह आशा करती है कि चुनाव के दिन स्त्रियों से छेड़ छाड़ के आरोपों को जनता सच मानेगी (मैं आरोप कि सत्यता पे नही अपितु आरोप के 'रिआक्शन' पे प्रश्न कर रहा हूँ)? ऐसे अनेक सवाल थे जिनके उत्तर भ.ज.पा. से ना मिलने के कारण वोटेरो ने अपना वोट आम आदमी पार्टी को समर्पित कर दिया| कुछ प्रश्न ऐसे भी हैं जिनके उत्तर दिल्ली की जनता हि नही अपितु पूरे देश कि जनता माँग रही है| उन्हे मैं पत्र के अंतिम हिस्से में संबोधित करूँगा| पर यहाँ पर मैं आपसे अपना पहला निवेदन करना चाहूँगा: भ.ज.पा. कि शक्ति है कि इसे 'पार्टी विद ए डिफरेन्स' माना जाता रहा है| यह छवि बनी रहे इसकेलिए यह आवश्यक है कि पार्टी में शाज़िया इलमी जैसे तत्त्वो को जगह न दी जाए, पार्टी अपनी शक्ति का उपयोग जनता की सेवा में करे न कि प्रतिद्वंदी के उपहास में और पार्टी में कभी भी नेताओं की कमी न हो| अगर पार्टी को लगता था कि दिल्ली में उन्हे एक ताकतवर नेता की ज़रूरत है और यह भार किरण बेदी ही संभाल सकती हैं तो उन्हे पार्टी मे ले आने का कार्य बहुत पहले ही कर ना चाहिए था| आपके समर्थक यह आशा करते हैं कि आने वाले दिनों में पार्टी शाज़िया इलमी कि सदस्यता रद्द करेगी और केजरीवाल सरकार को समर्थन देगी दिल्ली के आर्थिक विकास में| साथ हि पार्टी पूर्ण रूप से चौकन्नी रहे क्यूंकी अब जब केजरीवाल मुख्यमंत्री होंगे तो अलगाववादी, जिहादी और माओइस्ट संगठनों और उनसे हमदर्दी रखने वाले नेताओं और बाबुओं को अपनी देश द्रोही गतिविधियों को अंजाम देने की अधिक छूट मिलने की पूरी पूरी संभावना है| अगर दिल्ली की सुरक्षा आतंकी हमलों के खिलाफ और पुख़्ता कर दी जाए तो कोई हानि नही होगी| नारी सुरक्षा तो पहले से ही अक बड़ा मुद्दा रहा है, समाज और राष्ट्र विरोधी शक्तियों के और ताकतवर हो जाने से इस पर बहुत तीव्रता से काम करने की आवश्यकता है|

दिल्ली की हार का दूसरा पहलू है केजरीवाल की शक्ति का सही आकलन न कर पाना| कई बार हम परीक्षा मे प्रश्न पत्र से नही डरते, हम अनुत्तीर्ण होने से डरते हैं| इस परीक्षा के प्रश्न पत्र केजरीवाल हैं| यदि हमारी रणनीति उनसे निपटने कि होती तो हम कभी भी अनुत्तीरण न होते| अगर हम देखें, तो लोक सभा में केजरीवाल एक भी सीट नही निकाल पाए थे दिल्ली से| उसका कारण था की भ्रष्टाचार, यद्यपि एक बड़ा मुद्दा है, पर कोई प्रधानमंत्री बनने पर सिर्फ़ भ्रष्टाचार को हि अपने राज की नीव बना दे ऐसे जनता को सही नही जान पड़ा| परंतु विधान सभा चुनावों में भ्रष्टाचार एक बहुत बड़ा मुद्दा है और एक ऐसा मुद्दा है जिसपर मुख्यमंत्री अपना अधिकतम समय लगा सकता है| साथ हि केजरीवाल ने अपनी पुरानी ग़लतियों से सीख ली और अपने वादों में ऐसी चीज़ें भी शामिल करी जिनसे उनका कुछ 'विशन' जान पड़ा| अर्थात उन्होने अपने ईमानदार और भ्रष्टाचार विरोधी छवि को विकास का सहारा देके और पुख़्ता किया| ना भ.ज.पा. ने इस प्रकार का कोई भी अभ्यास किया और ना ही केजरीवाल के वादों को चुनौती दी| अगर हम ध्यान से देखे तो हमे पता लगेगा की केजरीवाल में एक शक्ति बहुत ही विकसित है और उनका अधिकतर 'स्टाइल' उस एक शक्ति के आगे पीछे टीका हुआ है: वह है अपने आपको कमज़ोर दिखा के जनता कि सहानुभूति बटोर लेना| जब वे अन्ना हज़ारे के साथ थे तब भी वह हमेशा अपना 'विकतिमैइसेशन' बड़े पैमाने पे जताते थे| उनतालीस दिन के उनके पहले कार्यकाल में उनकी रहस्यमयी खाँसी तो सभी को याद होगी| वह खाँसी भी नतीजों के एक या दो दिन बाद ही शुरू हो गयी थी जब, मुझे याद है, एक डाक्टर ने जनता तो समझने कि कोशिश की थी के वे बीमार है पर फिर भी काम कर  रहे हैं| उसके बाद वो ख़ासी उनके त्यागपत्र तक ठीक नही हुई| पिछले एक वर्ष में दिल्ली की राजनीति का सबसे अधिक प्रयोग होने वाला पैंतरा था आ.आ.प. कि किसी फंक्शन में दुराचार| मैं मात्र यह प्रमुख बनाना चाहता हूँ कि केजरीवाल जनता का मनोभाव हमेशा अपनी ओर सहानुभूति वाला रखते हैं| वैसे तो यह जनता के साथ धोखाधड़ी ही है पर जबतक हम इसका सही तोड़ नही निकाल लेते तब तक जनता का वोट इन को ही मिलेगा| इस सहानुभूति के साथ ही इनकी रणनीति का दूसरा अभिन्न अंग है भ.ज.पा. और कॉंग्रेस को एक सा बताना| सत्य तो यह है कि खुद इनकी पार्टी और कॉंग्रेस, समाजवादी पार्टी, बहुजन समाज पार्टी, तृणमूल कॉंग्रेस, जनता दल युनाइटेड आदि सभी पार्टियाँ एक सी ही है| भ.ज.पा., जनता को विचारधारा का यह अंतर समझाने में नाकाम रही है| कई बार परिवर्तन होता नही है, लाना पड़ता है| आज से पहले कोई भी पार्टी अपने वोटेरों से रोटी, कपड़ा, मकान से अधिक बात नही करती थी| पर अब वोटर बदल रहे हैं और सब्सिडी और फ्री सुविधाओं से बढ़कर सोचने लगे हैं| ऐसे में बेहतर होगा अगर पार्टी अपने वोटेरों को लेफ्ट और राइट विंग का अंतर बताए| ना सही बड़ी रैलीयों में तो कम से कम कार्यकर्ता द्वारा छोटे मेल मिलाप के अवसरों मे ही सही| अगर ऐसा नही किया गया तो केजरीवाल अपनी कला से यह असत्य की भ.ज.पा. और कॉंग्रेस एक हैं, को सबके मान में भर देंगे और पिछले पच्चास सालों से जो लड़ाई हम वाम पंथियों से लड़ रहे हैं अपने देश को जीवित रखने के लिए उसका कोई भी श्रेय हमे नही मिलेगा और साथ ही यह लड़ाई और भी लंबी हो जाएगी| यहाँ मेरा यही सुझाव है की केजरीवाल को हम विचारधारा और काम में मात दें न कि भाषणों और न्यूज़ चैनेलों पे| अगर अब भ.ज.पा. को कहीं ध्यान देना चाहिए तो वो है हरियाणा और महाराष्ट्रा में है| दोनो ही राज्यों में हमारी सरकार कुछ ही समय पूर्व बनी है और इन सरकारों का प्रदर्शन केजरीवाल को अगली बार हराने में कारगर सिद्ध होगा| इसका कारण है की हरियाणा दिल्ली के बहुत निकट है और महाराष्ट्रा में मुंबई और पुणे जैसे शाहर स्थित हैं जहाँ समस्याओं का परिमाण दिल्ली जितना ही है भले ही समस्याएँ अलग हों| जहाँ तक रही बात केजरीवाल के व्यक्तित्व की तो हमे उनपर व्यक्तिगत आक्रमण ना करके उन्हे अकेला छोड़ देना चाहिए| उनके व्यक्तित्व की एक कमज़ोरी है जो अकेले छोड़े जाने पर उनसे ग़लती करा हि देगी और तब उसका राजनैतिक लाभ उठाया जा सकता है| दिल्ली मे मिली हार कोई ऐसी नही है जिससे पार्टी का अस्तित्व ख़तरे में पड़ गया हो| हाँ, कार्यकर्ता अवश्य थोड़े निराश होंगे पर उनका मनोबल आप बढ़ा सकते हैं (शायद आपको सबसे पहले यही करना चाहिए)| ज़्यादा बड़ी बात है कि हम इससे क्या सीखते हैं क्योंकि उसी के आधार पे ये निर्धारित होगा कि भारत का भविष्य क्या है|

पिछले कुछ महीनों में हिंदुत्व कि परिभाषा को अनेक नेताओं नो अपने भाषणों में बुरी तरह से चोटिल किया है| यह रूढ़िवादिता जो कभी भी हमारे धर्म का हिस्सा ना थी वही अब सबसे अधिक मुखर है| 'हिंदू परिवारों को चार-पाँच बच्चे करने चाहिए', 'लड़कियों को जीन्स नही पहननी चाहिए' आदि ऐसे बयान है जिनको सुन के हमारे और जिनको हम पराजित करना चाहते है उनके बीच का अंतर ख़त्म सा हो जाता है| मुझे यह कहने में कोई झिझक नही की जिहाद देश के लिए बड़ा ख़तरा है, पर अगर जिहाद को हराते हराते सम खुद ही जेहादी बन गये तो जेहाद जीत जाएगा| मेरा यह निवेदन है कि पार्टी में यह भावना उत्पन्न कर दें कि हिन्दुत्व और जेहाद में बहुत अंतर है और जो लोग इसे नहीं समझ पा रहे उन्हे कृपा करके पार्टी से बाहर का रास्ता दिखाएँ| नारी सुरक्षा के विषय में हिंदुत्ववादी अधिक परेशान हैं और यह चिंता बेबुनियाद भी नही है| लव जिहाद एक सच्चाई है जिसे निकट से ही समझा जा सकता है, दूर से तस्वीर धुंधली हो जाती है| परंतु इसका यह अर्थ नही की औरतों को घूँघट में ढक दिया जाए और उनकी व्यक्तिगत स्वतंत्रता छीन ली जाए| यह तो कयर्ता मात्र है| क्या हिंदू अब इतने निर्बल हो गये हैं कि स्त्री रक्षा ना करके स्त्री दमन उन्हे भाने लगा है? अपनी स्त्री को उपर से नीचे तक तो कोई भी ढक सकता है और अधिकतर पुरुष इतने बलशाली भी होते हैं की भय का प्रयोग करके वे अपने घर की स्त्रियों से यह मनवा भी सकते हैं| पर असली वीरता तो इसमे है की वह अपने जीवन में आई हर नारी का आदर करें चाहे वह कैसी भी हो और उसका अपमान करने वाले को सही सबक सीखा दें चाहे ऐसा करने में उनकी जान ही क्यूँ ना चली जाए| अगर आप इस तर्क में यकीन रखते है कि देश के प्रधानमंत्री होने के नाते आप देश बदल सकते हैं तो आप को यह भी स्वीकारना पड़ेगा कि यह छोटे-मोटे नेताओं के भाषण भी समाज पर अपनी छाप छोड़ते हैं| निवेदन है कि इन्हे हिन्दुत्व और उसके अर्थ को इतनी बड़ी क्षति पहुचाने से रोका जाए| इसी विषय में ढोंगी बाबओं की भी चर्चा करना ज़रूरी है| इनके कारण समाज को बहुत अधिक हानि हो रही है और दुर्बलता का विस्तार हो रहा है| धर्म के नाम पर होने वाली सारी छोटी-बड़ी अंधविश्वासी गतिविधियों पर रोक लगानी होगी तब ही हिंदू धर्म अपने भय से मुक्त हो सकेगा| इसी प्रकार से हम हिन्दुत्व की विजय कर सकते हैं| इसके साथ मैं यह भी कहना चाहूँगा की यद्यपि भ.ज.पा. हमारी स्वाभाविक पार्टी है क्यूंकी हम हिंदुत्ववादी हैं पर इसका यह अर्थ नही की हम हमेशा भ.ज.पा. का ही समर्थन करेंगे चाहे वह ग़लत काम ही क्यूँ ना कर रही हो| लोक सभा चुनावों के कुछ दिन पहेल एक मित्र ने मुझसे प्रश्न किया था कि अगर मोदी भी ग़लत कम करने लगे तो तुम कहाँ जाओगे? मैने उत्तर यही दिया था कि रहूँगा तो मैं भारत में ही पर विरोध अवश्य करूँगा| मुझे खेद है की चुनाव जीतने की इतने कम समय के पश्चात ही मुझे पार्टी कि गतिविधियों के विरोध में लिखना पढ़ रहा है|

मोदिजि, आपसे बहुत आशाएँ हैं| ऐसा कहकर मैं आपको 'इमोशनल ब्लेकमेल' नही कर रहा| मैं आपको यह भर बताना चाहता हूँ की हम आपके साथ हैं| जब दो प्रतिद्वंदी पार्टी के समर्थकों में बहस होती है तो हम यह नही देखते की सही क्या है और ग़लत क्या, हम आपका समर्थन करते हैं| पर बहस समाप्त होने पर हमे अपराध बोध होता है कि एक ग़लत बात का समर्थन कर आए| मनुष्य का अंतर्मन भी कितना सहेगा? मैं आपसे सच सच कहता हूँ कि व्यक्तिगत तौर पे मैं स्त्री पोशाक पर दिए गये कायरतापूर्ण बयान और शाज़िया इलमी को पार्टी में सदस्यता, इन दोनो ही बातों से मैं काफ़ी आहत था| अनेक लोगों से बात करके मालूम पड़ा कि वे भी आहत हैं| आज से कुछ वर्षों के बाद यह बात आपको चौका ना दे इसीलिए मैने यह पत्र लिखा है| मैं आशा करता हूँ कि आप इसे पढ़ेंगे और अपने राजनीतिक कौशल का प्रयोग करके हम सबके चिंता का समाधान करेंगे|

ईश्वर आपको लंबी आयु दे तथा हर व्यथा और दर्द से दूर रखे|

-मयंक पांडे
-भारतवर्ष का एक युवा नागरिक

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Uttar Pradesh: Strategic Political Dynamics

This piece focuses on the political dynamics of Uttar Pradesh. It will attempt to understand the various caste and religious considerations and their influence on party politics. It is more of a strategic piece than a tactical piece and as such will not focus on speeches or everyday activities of leaders and parties; rather it will highlight the major movements and their impact on today's political status quo.

Understanding Vote Banks of Uttar Pradesh

1. Backward Caste Vote Bank: This vote bank forms approximately 45% of the total population of Uttar Pradesh. The prominent castes within the backward castes are:

• Yadavas: 9% (of total population)
• Kurmi: 3.4%
• Lodh: 2.2%
• Mallah: 2%
• Teli: 2%
• Gadaria: 2%
• Jat: 1.7%
• Kumhar: 1.6%
• Kahar: 1.5%
• Kachi: 1.4%
• Nai: 1.3%
• Gujjar: 0.8%

Prominent leaders from this community include:

• Yadava: Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party)
• Kurmi: Late Dr. Sone Lal Patel (Apna Dal, founder of), Beni Prasad Verma (currently with Congress, earlier with SP), Vinay Katiyar (BJP)
• Lodh: Kalyan Singh (former CM of UP with BJP, short association with SP, founder of Jan Kranti Party that was later merged with BJP, currently Governor of Rajasthan), Uma Bharti (currently with BJP, originally a leader of Madhya Pradesh and former CM of MP on BJP ticket)
• Jats: Satyapal Singh (fmr Commissioner of Mumbai Police, BJP), Chaudhary Ajit Singh (founder of Rashtriya Lok Dal, son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh)

2. Scheduled Caste Vote Bank: This vote bank forms almost 21% of the total population. It is constituted by a total of 66 castes, the prominent ones of which are listed below:

• Jatav/Chamar: 12%
• Pasi: 3.4%
• Dhobi: 1.4
• Kori: 1.1
• Balmiki: 0.6
• Khatik: 0.3

Prominent leaders from this community include:

• Jatav/Chamar: Mayawati (Bahujan Samaj Party, former CM of UP)

3. Muslim Vote Bank: Muslims form approximately 18.5% of total population of Uttar Pradesh. This vote-bank functions differently than the other caste-based vote-banks in terms of voting decisions. Known faces from this community that have entered politics are:

• Azam Khan (SP)
• Salmaan Khursheed (Congress)

The Muslim vote-bank has a split along Shia-Sunni lines. Most of the minority vote-bank is courted by policies of minority appeasement by majority leaders and parties.

4. Upper Caste Vote Bank: This vote bank forms another 20% of the total population of Uttar Pradesh. This vote bank is highly fractured and votes mostly on a candidate basis rather than party basis although traditionally the Brahmins and Trader class have been sympathetic to the BJP which has several prominent Upper Caste leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Vajpayee (now retired), Rajnath Singh (fmr CM), Lalji Tandon etc. It is not, tecnically speaking, correct to consider this group as a vote bank since it does not vote en masse to any party; instead votes on a case by case basis. 

Data courtesy: Caste and religion wise Percentage share in Population in Uttar Pradesh (2001 census).

Understanding some voting concepts of Vote Bank Politics:

1. Tactical Voting: Tactical voting is voting in which a vote bank votes for the party/candidate that is most likely to defeat the least favored party/candidate of the vote bank. 

Example: The BJP is the least favored party of the Muslims. BSP, SP and Congress all stand in almost equal favor. So depending on the situation the Muslim vote bank will vote tactically to the party that is most likely to defeat the BJP. 

2. Vote Transfer: Though not a common concept in UP, it is significant in states like Bihar where cross-caste alliances occur. In this if two parties representing two different castes ally before elections then the voters transfer vote to the alliance instead of voting on caste lines or candidate lines. 

This happened in Bihar where an alliance between BJP and Ram Vila Paswan reuslted in vote transfer of Paswan's traditional vote to the BJP since the voter understood that it meant the victory of the alliance as a whole.

3. Multi-Level Identification (this is a term that I have invented for a concept that I observed): In this, a party uses multiple level of identifications to court seemingly hostile vote banks and unite them under one banner. The party image, the party candidate running for elections, the party history, the party founder etc can all be used to woo multiple vote banks.

Mayawati employs this formula to field Brahmin candidates in constituencies where they can give strategic edge. Her own image and party identification means that the traditional Dalit vote will not shift away from her. Ordinarily this is a fault line but BSP's image and the candidate's caste become two separate identification points to unite two seemingly hostile castes. Such methods are employed by the SP (Yadav and Muslim) and the Congress (Dalits and Muslims) also. The Congress formula has shattered which is the reason for its decline.

Major Ideologies and Events of Uttar Pradesh politics and their impact:

1. Mandal Commission: The Mandal commission was a political move by one of the most inept Prime Ministers India ever had, Morarji Desai. The Commission under B.P. Mandal was set up to identify 'Other Backward Castes' as we know them today and provide them reservations in education and jobs. Although the report was published in 1980, it was sought to be implemented in 1989 by VP Singh the Prime Minister at that time. This led to widespread protests by the youth and several cases of self-immolation occurred. VP Singh implemented the report not because he was committed to any social justice, but because he was hard pressed to save his Government from the trouble being caused by Devi Lal and other rebels within.

The impact of the Mandal Commission on UP politics was far-reaching and permanent. The politics crystallized heavily around caste lines and the traditional dominance of the Upper Castes was challenged. Leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav (in UP) and Lalu Prasad Yadav (in Bihar) benefited massively from this. It was here that the Backward Caste votes became vote banks.

In UP, the Mandal commission allowed Mulayam Singh Yadav to claim the Other Backward Caste votes.

2. Kamandal Politics and Babri Masjid Demolition: Kamandal is a Hindi word that refers to a pot traditionally carried by Hindu ascetics and used for storing water. It was an iconography that was invoked by the BJP and Lal Krishna Advani to unite the Hindus, warning them to not fall prey to the divisive caste politics of the Mandal. Mandal and Kamandal have since become anti-thesis of each other in political ideology. 

To consolidate the people under Kamandal, Advani took out the Rath Yatra and invoked the Ram Janmbhoomi issue, an issue that had been simmering for quite some time but was now, for the first time, thrown face forward into electoral politics. The results were rich for the BJP as it quickly rose to popularity and increased it seats tally in the Lok Sabha. Kalyan Singh too formed government in Uttar Pradesh for the BJP.

The Kamandal politics, while it did lead to a temporary unison of the Hindus as one significant voter group rejecting exploitation on caste lines and minority appeasement, soon spiralled out of control when it resulted in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. This led to, in UP, the collapse of Kalyan Singh's government and the BJP was prevented from returning to power by an alliance of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party. It was during this time that SP perfected the MY formula (Muslim-Yadav).

One part of the BJP's claims to the OBC votes lies on the Kamandal politics. Most contemporary analysts, politicians and journalists have repeatedly sought to downplay or vilify the sentiment behind the Babri Masjid demolition. The truth is however that the sentiment is still both very real and very genuine.

3. Dalit Mobilization: The Dalit Mobilization movement was led by Kanshi Ram and his protege Mayawati. Initially the stance was of an acerbic movement against upper castes particularly the Brahmins. In its earlier days it employed hate-mongering  and demeaning slogans like 'Tilak Taraju Talwar, Inpe maaro Joote Chaar', targeting the brahmins of the state. The Bahujan Samaj Party had hijacked the entire Dalit vote from the monopoly of the Congress Party and this has led to a decline of the Congress in UP. Over the years the vitriolic anti-Brahmin rhetoric of the BSP has undergone one of the most hypocritical transformations in the sense that the BSP now aims to unite the Scheduled Castes and the Upper Castes (especially the Brahmins) into is vote banks. 

The BSP claims the bulk of the Scheduled Caste vote bank because of this Dalit Mobilization and Self-Resepct movement.

4. The Ati-factor, a Quota within Quota: The BJP had started, during the tenure of Rajnath Singh, a new social engineering that aimed to limit the outreach of heavily casteist leaders like Mulayam and Mayawati. Their aim was to identify the Most Backward of the Backward. The social implications of this meant a shift in voting patterns as Mulayam would then become limited to the Yadavas while the rest of the Backward Castes would move towards the BJP; likewise Mayawati would become limited to the Jatavs/Chamars while the rest of the Schedued Castes woud move towards the BJP. It is worthwhile to note that both these castes, the Yadavas and the Jatavs are perceived as supremacists and oppressors within their own groups, i.e the OBC and the SC/ST respectively.

While the efforts were initiated they never reached fruition as the Mayawati government after Rajnath Singh put a stop to all such study and necessary data collection, effectively halting the project. However, this factor gave the BJP the necessary sway in voters in the 2014 elections.

The second part of BJP's claim to the Backward Caste votes comes from this factor. The BJP will also seek to unite and strengthen its appeal in the OBC vote bank by playing the caste of Modi who has risen to be the PM.

Below is a diagram to understand the caste and religion dynamics of UP.

The Future 

We have all the data and a cursory understanding of UP politics. Of course there are a lot of complexities that have not been covered in this explanation but they are at best micro-level effects. The macro-politics of UP has been, in my opinion, adequately covered.

The battle in UP is turning towards a tri-angular contest now. 

The Congress Party appears to have lost all sense of direction and will be a non-factor for the foreseeable future, unless of course something drastic happens. It has lost both its traditional vote banks, the Dalits and the Muslims, to regional players and is unlikely to regain them. It is, thus, the party that I feel needs to be removed from the previous quadrangular UP battle-ground. 

The Samajwadi Party, is in disarray. Its poor governance will not go unnoticed or unforgiven by the people of Uttar Pradesh. In any case, its traditional MY formula will be under stress too. The Muslims are disenchanted with the Party owing to the mismanagement of the Muzzafarnagar riots and the Yadavas are also slowly being inclined towards the BJP. Of course only time will tell as to how much these two factors work to erode the party's base. If things go well, then it is possible that SP may too become redundant in UP just like the Congress but that will require spirited campaigning by the BJP (for the Yadavas) and BSP (for the Muslims) and perhaps, some behind the scenes collaboration too.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, in spite of its humilitaing performance in the Lok Sabha elections seems to me, to be the party with the most stable vote bank. The Dalits are not going to desert the party in favor of either a decaying Congress or a perceived upper caste party like the BJP. Of course the BJP's Ati-Dalit card may well be a threat but there really is no Dalit icon equal to Mayawati to precipitate a mass-desertion of this vote bank.

The BJP, riding on its stellar Lok Sabha Performance, aims to secure its resurgence in the Hindi heartland and secure the strategic advantage that it had lost long ago. Many factors seem to be working in its favor. The blatant appeasement of the minorities by the ruling SP government in the face of shocking human rights violations give strength to Hindutva and the Kamandal sentiments. The MBC and the Ati-Dalit cards seems to be the BJP's share in the 'Social Justice via Reservations' pie. Above all charismatic leadership at the centre and brilliant strategists and orators at the state level may well ensure that the BJP is able to turn around the fortunes of UP.

The battle will be, in all likelihood, BJP vs BSP.

Interestingly, the BSP had refused alliance with the SP; it can be read in two ways. That the BSP is confident of weaning the Muslim votes away and does not want to associate with the ailing SP or that it wants to keep its options open for a possible alliance with the BJP later on. I favor the first explanation.

The question for the BJP will be: Who should be projected as a Chief Ministerial Candidate?

Keep your fingers crossed!

Arjuna vs Karna

Mahabharata, the great epic of India and one of the finest literary contributions of the Hindus to the world is a treasure trove of wisdom. The many characters, their histories, personalities, ambitions and motivations all combined and interacting with each other serve to provide lessons into Humanity and Morality like no other tale. It is in this story that a most gripping and fascinating contest takes place between two mighty warriors who are essentially the anti-thesis of each other in terms of circumstances that befall them: Arjuna and Karna.

Arjuna won because he was on the right side, Karna lost because he was on the wrong side and that is the supposed summary of the entire contest. Naturally, for such a complex duel such a simplistic summary is insufficient and given to misinterpretations. It is not uncommon for people living in tough times to sympathize with the loser, especially if that loser lost to circumstances that people themselves rebel against. Same is the story of Karna. He is perhaps the most revered warrior of the Mahabharata, simply because he lost to the same set of circumstances that the people today face and fight against. Is it true however? Who defeated Karna? I firmly believe that it was neither Arjuna, nor Krishna, nor circumstance, nor Adharma. The defeat of Karna was ensured by Karna himself. As long as Karna would battle an opponent of weaker skill, he would win. However, were he to be matched with an opponent of equal skill then the divine consciousness would pitch in and the odds would favor the warrior with more righteous Karma. This is exactly what happened with Karna when he fought with Arjuna on each occasion; his Karma became his undoing.

But wasn't Karna very generous? Without a doubt he was. However the war of the Mahabharata wasn't fought for the protection of generosity alone; had that been the case then Karna would have been the warrior that would have commanded the same respect as Arjuna did, on the battlefield or off it. The Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas was fought for the protection of Dharma and generosity is but a small part of it. It wasn't that the Pandavas weren't generous or that they were parsimonious, only that they weren't as famous as Karna in terms of giving away things to the needy. Mind the word famous for it is the one word that people often use, and wrongly so, to distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy. On the other hand, Karna had proved himself to be incapable in the defense of Dharma, the central point of all conflict.

How had he proved himself incapable? Must all his capabilities be judged from the one incident where he insulted Draupadi? Is it not possible that it were an isolated incident, an error of judgement of an otherwise great man? It is the most common viewpoint of those that today look upto Karna as being the light of inspiration in their endeavours against oppressive institutions and circumstances. True that the mistreatment of Draupadi was an unforgivable mistake, however it has never been the cornerstone of Karna's story. The entire definition of Karna has always been his lineage, his upbringing and the social complications arising out of that odd history. He was talented beyond measure and possessed all qualities that pointed to a royal descent and yet was never accepted in the royal circles, always treated a lesser man, forever forced to obey the social rules of that time. He rebelled, was chastised and he rebelled again. It was natural for him to hope to measure his skill against the mighty Arjuna, a man who had by then acquired a name beyond the confines of the Kingdom of Hastinapura for his prodigious talent. If only Karna could prove his skill in comparison to Arjuna, he might be recognized for what he was and reclaim the nobility of his descent which was lost because of circumstances over which he had no control. When he challenged Arjuna in the Royal Games, he was rebuked for wanting to compete in a Royal event with a Prince. Karna hit a wall, a wall which he felt his talent and skill could not have scaled over, for there was no way that he could prove his royalty without demonstrating his skill and he could not demonstrate his skill without being royal, or so he felt, for his entire life. This was why he so gladly accepted when Duryodhana offered him the Kingdom of Anga, without pausing to think that it was a gift which he could never hope to repay, not even with his life. Had Duryodhana won the war, would Karna be free of his moral obligation to aid his friend? The answer is no. Did Karna's death repay the debt of that gift? Again the answer is no, for after all Duryodhana had hoped that Karna would counter Arjuna in the event of an all-out war with the Pandavas. By dying at the hands of Arjuna, he failed to fulfill his friend's hope. Like I said, Karna had, of his own volition, taken a debt that he could never repay. That, and nothing else, is the whole story of Karna. The reasons for his Dharma and Adharma can be traced back to this occurrence in his life. He insulted Draupadi not just because his friend was insulting her, but because he cherished having her in his power and wished to extract revenge for being insulted during her Swayamvar. He attacked the defenseless Kingdom of Virat and participated in the cowardly massacre of Abhimanyu.

Arjuna, for his part was a character who was been massively underplayed by all. It is not uncommon for people to find legends and stories that will underplay the main protagonist. Since the original Mahabharata was written, there have come to the fore many such characters that may have surpassed Arjuna but never did because circumstances eliminated them, be it Barbarik or Eklavya or others. Was Karna another such character who may have been metamorphosed from one of the leading antagonists to a protagonist in the wrong place at the wrong time? That is a matter of opinion, I suppose. What cannot be denied however by any informed opinion is that there are virtually no characters in the Mahabharata that could have surpassed Arjuna in terms of skill and power with the obvious exception of Krishna himself. In fact, in one story Krishna himself dueled with Arjuna and was forced to use the Narayana Mahaastra while Arjuna deployed the Pashupata Mahastra. The fight was then called off by wise men for the direct deployment of such powerful weapons meant the end of the world. His skill and power apart, what sort of a man was he? The third oldest brother amongst five with virtually no chance of ever ascending to the throne and yet the most powerful and talented of all. The man who won all situations and sacrificed every time for the good of his family. Who won Draupadi? Who went on a pilgrimage for intruding at a moment made possible by him and made unavoidable by circumstance? Who braved the Himalayas so as to secure a strategic advantage for his brothers? Who resisted all temptation of the Apsara of Heaven, Urvashi, got cursed for it and still did not give in to anger or indecency? Who refused to marry Uttara, the daughter of Virat, as a reward for having saved the Kingdom from certain destruction? Who was it that laid down weapons and was willing to sacrifice all the worldly pleasures so that he may be spared the burden of killing near and dear ones? Who did not rely on any of the Divyastras to finish off the Kaurava army, even after the defeat of Bheeshma when the risk of collateral damage was eliminated? Perhaps it was Karma that Arjuna's direct line ruled Hastinapura after the war was over and the Pandavas had left for pilgrimage, I wouldn't know.

I do know one thing however and I believe in it wholly. It is our Heroes that define us; our outlook towards life and the choices that we make and the response we give to various situations that confront us. Of course, it is a matter of opinion, but I would prefer to idolize Arjuna rather than Karna and it always has to be either one of them for it can never be both at the same time. Arjuna always for his commitment to his duty and his Dharma rather than Karna for his lack of self-conviction and thirst for success at any cost, the definition of success being left for the society to work out. Arjuna always for not bothering about the world or opinions in doing what he felt was right rather than Karna for caving into the society's hierarchical mindset. Arjuna always for being the winner in spite of all the odds and not Karna for being the loser because of the odds. I feel this choice between Karna and Arjuna will decide the course our life and our Nation has to take. My choice is Arjuna. Make yours.

The issue of National Language

The issue of National language caught the attention of everyone again and a controversy was brewing around it although it appears that it has been diffused, for now at least. The problem however is one that will not tolerate being ignored and will definitely crop up again, some other day, some other time. So, while there certainly is no need to hurry with regards to solving it, it is definitely important that we bear in mind that this problem too, like all others, needs a solution to quell it permanently and especially because Indian identity and integrity will be affected by it.

India's greatest strength has been without a doubt the variety of its culture and customs. Invaders looking for a homogeneity have been frustrated by the sheer amount of new things one can discover in walking from one village to another, a characteristic that made it particularly difficult to subjugate the whole of the Nation at any point of time in History. Languages have been, one of the foremost indicators of that variety in India. There are 22 official languages in India: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. According to the article 343 (1) of the Constitution of India, "The Official Language of the Union government shall be Hindi in Devanagari script." The individual states can legislate their own official languages, depending on their linguistic demographics [1]. As I have pointed out, it is to India's great merit if the variety, specially in Languages is retained by us. After all India has always been and will continue to be a very lucrative destination for attack and invasion and these are the soft powers that may defend us. To put it in proper perspective allow me to present an analogy: "Scientists believe that if the Earth were to be invaded by Aliens, their path would be barred not by Humans first but by the Planet herself. The atmospheric composition, the atmospheric pressure, the gravity, the microbes, all of these would be foreign to the invading powers and be a roadblock. All in all they should buy us enough  time to rally our forces and mount a credible defense." Similar is the role of languages and cultural variety in the defense of our Nation. So we have, at least found the answer to one part of the problem: the variety in languages needs to be retained and encouraged. Any attempts to steamroll them or impose some sort of homogeneity (a concept very dear to militaristic minds) will be counter-productive.

That being said, we cannot ignore the need for a National Language. Certainly one is required. Why is it required? Simply because we are one entity politically and it will not do if we do not communicate with each other or always have to rely on interpreters to get our messages across. The need is so real and so crucial that already India has, unconsciously, moved towards a National language which is not our own: English. People from different parts of India either are unable to communicate at all or communicate in English. This is, somehow, the most demeaning thing happening to us right now. Let me explain the situation as best as I can: No one is ready to agree to the imposition of a language that is of Indian origin as the National language ( I am not talking about Hindi alone, people wouldn't agree even if the proposal was about Bengali or Tamil or any other Indian language) out of internal rivalry. English, a language that fetches you a job, a language that allows you to easily replace the Firangi Sahibs of the colonial era, a language that allows you to accredit yourself as educated has therefore easily encroached into a domain which we can very easily fill very honorably. Today the Army officer commands the soldiers in English (along with following the colonial systems of the batman and separate Mess for Officers and Jawans), the student submits his/her project report in English, the Researcher writes her/his dissertation in English, the best-paid and the most respected Newspapers and media-persons are associated with the English media and even small-time bloggers like myself have to advocate the cause of an Indian language in English, essentially a language of the invaders and of those who ruled us with a view to make us forever subservient to them and their profits. Therefore we reach to a second very important conclusion: we need a national language for us to remain one Nation and that language should not be English if we nurse hopes of being a prominent world power if not the outright numero uno.

So now to the most important question of all: which Language then? It is my conviction that only and only Sanskrit is the language that can fill this void. Hindi is at best a regional language that cannot be imposed on the culturally advanced South Indians or East Indians. To do so would arouse too much passion and fear, eventually causing a breach of trust, something that needs to be avoided at all costs. Likewise, languages like Bengali or Tamil or Telugu are even more regional in their outreach as compared to Hindi and their imposition as a National Language would create even more number of people crying foul. This is the reason that no statesman has even suggested doing so. This line of reasoning eliminates all Languages that have been recognized as official by the constitution of India but one: Sanskrit. Now, the strange anomaly with Sanskrit is that in terms of outreach it is minuscule when placed against the likes of Hindi, Kannada, Assamese, Oriya, Malyalam etc. Yet, it is my calculation that it is exactly this point that will work to its advantage. It can easily replace English as a language of the literate because of that. Besides no one will feel threatened either because all Indians will have to make a compromise by accepting Sanskrit, a move that will make sure that fears of Hindi Supremacists will be suitably addressed. Then again almost all Indian languages have borrowed to some extent from Sanskrit, an observation that can be made from the vocabulary in use. As a matter of fact, modern studies have debunked the very idea of Indo-European and Dravidian languages and instead propose Indic languages as a separate group all by itself which encompasses all the languages spoken in India [2][3]. In so far as political considerations are concerned Sanskrit will not only be the best compromise candidate but also the best candidate in terms of our primary aim, that of securing growth of Indian languages. To be sure, the system that I propose is: Sanskrit as the National Language and all other languages as the State Languages. Any communication which is between two Central Government institutions is in Sanskrit alone. Any communication between a central and a state institution will be in Sanskrit and State language (of the state in question). Any communication between two institution of different states will be in Sanskrit. Any communication between two institutions of the same state will be in Sanskrit and the state language.

The system has many advantages, some of which I pointed out. The most important accomplishment however will be that we can throw off the English language and begin to Nationalize ourselves as thoroughly and properly as is important, throw of the last vestiges of foreign domination. Of course, it will not be an easy task since Sanskrit's development has been very much stunted for very long now but definitely nothing that a team of experts and researchers cannot remedy. A language in which so much of our genius lies recorded can most certainly be resurrected and made the life-blood of India and Indian resurgence. 

Even if my proposal is unacceptable then also the search for a National Language must continue. It is time we Indians faced our fears and our challenges, took them head on and emerged from these small brawls with tricky situations as victorious and honorable men. We all can trust each other and cherish the genius of our forefathers, forefathers like Sant Tukaram (Marathi Poet), Kambar (Tamil Poet, composer of Kamba Ramayana), Tagore (one of the most celebrated poets of the Bengali language and modern History) etc. It is not important that we squabble whose language should be National, instead we must find a language that we all can happily call our own and make it the National language so that we can cement our identity and integrity. 

References:

[1] Languages of India[2] The Aryan-Dravidian Controversy

[3] Page on indiaforum.org

Petition: Death Penalty for Rapists, Murderers

 Case after case, shame after shame and we sit as passively as always, reading the newspaper reports, fuming and raging for a while and then going back to our daily business as usual. We are all guilty of negligence, of cowardice and of weakness of resolution. Has our society become so infested with either monsters or cowards that crimes like these go unchallenged, that no justice is done, that no one rises to inflict severe and violent retribution upon these demons, makes them pay and repent for their crimes on this earth and in this life itself instead of waiting for a divine intervention?

I have said time and again, we Indians need to make our own standards and our own laws and make them right instead of copying from societies several times more advanced than ours in terms of literacy and human sensibilities. Believe me Nationalists, these cases are not few, they are the tip of the iceberg. Someone suffers a similar fate everyday and merely swallows the insult and injury because those charged with their defense are utterly impotent, even immune to the human suffering involved. 

The Indian Courts say that Death Penalty needs to be given for rarest of rare cases. The rationale, I am sure was, that since the most heinous crimes are the rarest of rare so should be the most extreme punishment. But what do you do when these things become routine? How long do you hold back worrying about what is acceptable or unacceptable to the world? Do these cases fall out of the rarest of rare categories: Nirbhaya, Aruna Shaunbaug, Shakti Mills, Muzzafarnagar, Badaun? If so then it is a very barbaric society of ours.

There should be death penalty for rapes and murders. They say forgive a murder or rape under the influence of drink; I say no, don't. A drunk man is clever enough to not go and drink poison or sleep on a railway track and get himself killed. When the punishment is capital, a drunk man will know better than to let his animal instincts take control. They say excuse a crime under provocation; I say no, don't. People typically vent their anger on those weaker than them under the smallest provocation and yet will tolerate much more from those who are stronger than them for fear of a harmful reaction. If the Law is meant to empower and protect the weak then its not doing it yet.

Perhaps the greatest fools are those who come up with some pretense of Human Rights and claim that Death Penalty is against the fundamental rights of a Human Being. Is it really? Does walking on two legs, speaking, living in a human society and all other such minor factors classify us as Humans? I think not. Is he a Human who shows little regard to Humanity and gives in to their blood-lust like a rabid dog? Then there are those who say a lot of criminals are criminals because of circumstances. It may be true for those involved in petty thieving to fill their stomachs but there is always a choice when it comes to crimes as heinous as rape and murder. If not then all of India's poor would have become criminals by now. Circumstance does not make you a criminal, choice does, always.

Nationalists, lets come together and make our fight against this barbarity an organized and sustained one instead of a disorganized and sporadic one. India has been, after a long time, blessed with a strong, decisive and nationalist Government. Lets make the most out of this. How long do we intend to sit back with this lethargy? How long should we hope that this will go away automatically? How long do we stick to the Utopian idea that these devils will be changed by goodness? The formula to combat any tyrant in time is relentless aggression, attacking them and eroding their resources and if required even life. These people are tyrants and any mercy shown to them is either plain foolish or just a sympathy for them and their actions.

First goal reached, what next?

The past three days have been a blur of joy, feverish excitement and at times even a sense of achievement. That sense of achievement set me thinking: Why? Why do I feel thus? I am not going to be the PM or a cabinet minister or even a MP. Why should I then feel as if I achieved something. Have I begun to identify myself so strongly with the BJP that I should feel natural joy at their victory and celebrate it as my own? My thoughts caused me to stumble upon a part of my mind that had withdrawn because of the sensational victory but immediately reacquainted with me. A constant companion in days less hectic and more thoughtful, I viewed this forgotten part and now feel duty bound to share thoughts born out of our reunion.

My encounter with my own ideas and thoughts have caused me to once again give up all celebration or arrogance that inevitably crops up if you win a long and difficult battle. I now thankfully remember that what Modi and the BJP meant to me: no more than a medium to realize my dream of a strong and developed India, an India standing tall on Her sacred feet, blessing us with sustenance, prosperity and above all spirituality as a loving mother would and India is a 'mother like no other'. Now that the medium through which we hope to accomplish our goals has been put in place, our priority becomes to ensure its successful working. It wouldn't do well if we were to lose focus; after all we are not a monarchy but a democracy and the successes and failures will both be attributed in part to us, the voters. The failures, perhaps more so.

What should be our goal or goals from now on? We had acquired momentum during the campaign and it would be wise to channel it further rather than allowing it to dissipate. To channel it requires a direction and I will attempt to present one which my mind seems to follow; truly for a group as diverse as ours, one direction, that too proposed by a little known figure like me will hardly suffice. That is not the purpose either. My aim in writing this piece is to merely cause the group into thinking, strategizing and acting, making sure that the issues remain in the limelight and work on them commences and takes form of definitive and visible achievements.

Our foremost aim is the establishment of Indian identity. Truly, India is a great nation and yet we are, even now, no better than slaves. It will put off many when they see that a piece about the direction a group of dedicated nationalists should take begins with an issue as controversial as identity. National identity is, today, a taboo topic, kept taboo by a group of academicians and media-persons who have a vested interest in preventing any resurgence of Nationalism. Many dismiss the notion of a group of educated and literate people suppressing nationalism deliberately to benefit a foreign nation. However think again as to what Nationalism leads to? What is it that we call as nationalism? There must be better definitions I am sure, but I give one of my own: Nationalism is an emotion, a sentiment that creates a feeling of belongingness to a nation and binds you to help, assist, defend, work or care in any other way for the well-being of the nation in the face of a threat. Obviously outsiders would prefer that our response to an attack (whether militaristic or ideological) be divided, uncoordinated and overall weak. It is strange that India which boasts of almost 22 official languages besides many others that have not been included in the eighth schedule, decides the educational and social status based on fluency in English, the language of the erstwhile colonialists. People often say that all lands and cultures evolve and Indian culture needs to evolve too to meet the requirement of modern times. It is an ignorant view. True all cultures evolve, but those that ape others soon lose themselves to antiquity and the dusty pages of History books. In any case most such people believe that Indian culture was inferior and therefore the British or the Mughals conquered it. The classic case of lack of national identity and the absence of cultural security. I must make an observation here: A culture dies out when its constituents shift to another that appeals more to them. Superiority and inferiority are terms that are used by historians to categorize. It has no bearing on the real value. If Indians desert their culture to adopt a foreign one then the Indian culture will be judged weak; if we retain it and continue to add to its vast and rich heritage it will be judged strong. So truly speaking Indian culture is not weak. I, in fact consider it very strong, because it has survived so long and my belief is firm that it will survive into the future as well.

Indian Nationalism can be born out of its culture only which is unique in many aspects. India is the simultaneous name for a region, a group of religions, a culture and a way of life. To establish it and secure it should be our prime aim. How to do it? The first steps are very simple indeed: throw off the vestiges of foreign rule and develop ourselves. I do not advocate drastic or hasty steps. It has taken India almost 1200 years to fall, so no matter what Modi says all the damage cannot be reversed in sixty months. A start can be made with an objective in mind and that is what we require now. The first steps are thus: Bring in uniform civil code, re-write the Indian Penal Code according to Indian sensibilities and not western ones, start research and studies for the revitalization of the Sanskrit Language to enable it to replace English as the language of the elite and Hindi as the language of the masses, make Hindi and its various dialects a regional language at par with the languages of the South like Tamil or Malyalam, start awareness programmes on a massive scale to cure social evils, prepare plans to phase out reservations and all manner of special privileges based on status by birth provided by Governments, present History in its true form to restore Indian self-esteem and overall promote intellectuals with a pro-India attitude. The above steps are crucial for restoration of Indian pride and a sense of national discipline the like of which is displayed by nations like Japan or perhaps Germany in the days of Bismarck.

What is to be our role? Further campaign and above all fearless campaign. I can say from experience, for I am supporter of Modi's governance and administration from as far back as 2009 and of his candidature for Prime Minister from the day the SIT failed to prove charges on him, that no matter how controversial or taboo an idea is it always has power if it is logically just. All ideas above are logically just and therefore like Modi their time will come. Again, like Modi, what they require is that we spread them far and wide and bring them in focus. Let me enumerate why we need all of these things:

• Uniform Civil Code: So that all people are ruled by the same law and fanatical and radical elements are not appeased at the cost of the precious plural fabric of the Nation. Practices like polygamy or marriage with minors are not part of Indian sensibilities, neither of antiquity nor modern, and need to be dealt with harshly.
• Re-writing the Indian Penal Code as per Indian sensibilities: So that the outdated laws and the new illogical ones are replaced by laws that Indian administration can actually implement and that Indians find easy to accept. I advocate death penalty for rapists and murderers and withdrawal of Human Rights for terrorists.
• Re-introduction of Sanskrit as the major language: English is a foreign language and our acceptance of it as a language of the elite is our acceptance of the superiority of the British. For Australians or Americans such status being accorded to English is natural as they are descendants of the British directly and recently. Even so there are differences in dialect and accent; Australian English and American English are not the same as British English. In fact some differences are absurd and appear a deliberate attempt to make a distinction. Why should we, when we have a treasure trove of languages to chose from, accept a language taught to us by a tyrant of older days? Much of our ancient literature is in Sanskrit and we remain cut-off from it because of our lack of learning. True genius of our fore-fathers wasted because we do not stand up and accept them as our own.
• Start awareness programmes to end social evils: By far the most important measure that needs to be taken to address India's problems. We need to resurrect our cultural conflicts from the vagaries of Western funded materialism which many mistake to be Western Culture. Western Culture in itself is quite vast and rich and perhaps on par with our own; this materialism is neither a part of it nor does it in any way add to it. Additionally some social evils like caste cannot be combated by reservations or doles which only highlight the fractures. People need to be reminded that the practice of caste by birth is actually against Vedas which are the basis of Hinduism. Others such as veiling of women and preventing their education need to be fought by reminding people that they were knee-jerk responses to guard women from the corrupt and lecherous Islamic invaders of medieval India.
• Phasing out of special privileges by the Government to people based on birth: Such schemes need to be phased out slowly. For instance it is time that the BJP and Modi kept their word that reservations will go for the third generation. Such plans ensure a slow and steady evolution of the society as a whole and prevents their misuse for vote-bank purposes.
• Presenting History correctly: Our History is full of glorification of the wrong and ridicule of the right. That to maintain the image of Gandhi, Ashoka had to be glorified. That too keep the minorities happy the boorish Mughals and the cruel Delhi Sultanates had to be glorified, that to sanctify the Congress the Partition and the riots surrounding it had to be downplayed. The fact of the matter is the academicians actually know and accept the excesses done in history. Why not tell it all to us? They say that it will promote communalism; in reality it keeps us blissfully unaware of a past that repeats itself every few months in the form of bombs and massacres. 

I am certain that I am part of a larger group that thinks on the same lines as me and it is my intention to make whatever contribution I can to that group for I also believe myself and this group to be truly nationalist. Indians must unite for the common aim; the survival and glorious resurgence of the original India. Does the group have any membership criteria? Only undying nationalism. Hindus and Muslims, Brahmins and Harijans, Women and Men, Tall and Short, Fair and Dark and anyone else can be and is a part. The only thing that remains is that the group becomes focused on its aims and carries the momentum of Mr. Modi's victory forward to translate it into some tangible achievements. We should become coordinated and campaign for the Nation's cause. You might wonder why I have not included any industrial or defense related issues. Simply because the Government will gain itself when it focuses on them and therefore there is enough incentive for them to do so. The issues that are vital and yet not an incentive to the Government are the ones that we need to take up. So to all Nationalists, just like buying a new book is never an objective but reading it is, so is Mr. Modi's victory not our real objective but ensuring that it lives upto its promises and our expectations is. It is our next goal after the first has been achieved. Good luck to you all and some to myself and Jai Hind.