Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi has been injured in a car accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Kahalpur.
Raigad Police: Actor Shabana Azmi&her driver got injured in accident near Kahalpur on Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Javed Akhtar was also present in the car, but he is safe. Their vehicle was hit by a truck while they were travelling from Pune to Mumbai. Injured shifted to MGM Hospital https://t.co/bezuNWvUTapic.twitter.com/8YWtZoEUSF
Azmi and her car driver both got severely injured when their car was hit by a truck when they were on their way from Pune to Mumbai. Her husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar, was also in the car with them and he is safe. The injured are shifted to MGM Hospital.
Pakistan-born Neeta Kanwar, who had been granted Indian Citizenship in September 2019, has been elected the village head (Sarpanch) of Natwada, Tonk. She recently made headlines after she decided to contest the polls held on Friday. The results were declared the same day.
Tonk: Neeta Sodha, an immigrant from Pakistan who was recently given Indian citizenship is contesting panchayat elections in Natwara, says,”I came to India 18 yrs back but I was given nationality just 4 months ago. My father-in-law guides me in my political journey.” #Rajasthanpic.twitter.com/BUGeZmrixq
A report by Hindustan Times states that Kanwar has defeated her opponent Sonu Devi by 362 votes. A total of 2,494 votes were polled and 1,073 votes were cast in Kanwar’s favour. Following her victory, an elated Kanwar thanked the people and vowed to work with honesty. She is now hailed as ‘Kanwrani Saab’ in her village.
Neeta Kanwar was born in Sindh, Pakistan but later moved to India with her mother and sister to pursue higher education. Her father and brother who are farmers decided to stay back in Pakistan. She graduated with a BA degree in 2005 from Ajmer’s Sophia College. She was married in 2011 and has two kids.
Her father-in-law, Thakur Laxman Singh Karan, had been a three-time Saprach. Soon after the seat was reserved for general category women, he insisted Kanwar contest the polls.
As reported earlier, Neeta Kanwar wants to ensure better healthcare and financial independence for women. This story comes to light at a time when the country is witnessing vicious protests against the Citizenship Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR).
Though Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s proclamation ‘Jail Savarkar opposers’ has been welcomed by Savarkar’s kin Ranjit Savarkar, on Saturday, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, probably anticipating the repercussion this statement might have on the newly formed Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance, has attempted to counterbalance the situation by saying that he was unsure as to in what capacity Raut had said such a comment.
When asked to comment on Raut’s Savarkar remark, senior Sena leader and chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray’s son said: “I have not listened to his statement in what capacity he said this. He has already given justification for his statement. There may be different views but this is democracy. There should not be controversy.”
Attempting to scale down the controversy and nip any reaction from the Congress, Thackeray furthered that there were bound to be ideological differences when parties with different ideologies come together and described this as one of the features of democracy. He said that such issues would not affect the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in any way and that the coalition is stable.
Aaditya Thackeray: Sanjay Raut mentioned in what context he spoke.Shiv Sena-Congress alliance is strong and we came together for development of state.We may have different views on certain issues but this is what democracy is.Instead of history we need to talk of current issues https://t.co/7QL6qsfxZ3pic.twitter.com/GDizfwYPh8
Earlier Shiv Sena’s motormouth leader Sanjay Raut had opened a can of worms by hitting out at its alliance partner in Maharashtra – NCP and the Congress, saying that those who criticise Veer Savarkar will only realise his sacrifice if they spend two days at the cell in Andaman Cellular Jail where Savarkar was imprisoned.
Speaking to the media, Shiv Sena RS member Sanjay Raut launched an attack on the Congress party, especially Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi for ridiculing nationalist hero Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
“Those who oppose Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar, whoever they may be, they may belong to any party, they may have a different ideology, all such people should spend two days in the same cell in Andaman jail where Savarkar was lodged. Then they will understand the importance of his struggle and sacrifice made for the nation. It is our constant demand that Veer Savarkar be awarded Bharat Ratna – it is up to Home Ministry,” said Raut.
Batting for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, the Sena MP said that his party is unmoved on the demand. He said that people speaking against Savarkar will understand his role in nation-building only when they are put in the same prison in Andaman where the British had lodged Savarkar.
Of late, Shiv Sena has inadvertently rubbed its alliance partner Congress on several occasions. Though Congress is yet to comment on Raut’s indirect assault, the latter’s statement has definitely pleased Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s grand-nephew Ranjit Savarkar. Welcoming Raut’s statement Ranjit Savarkar said that Sena must keep in mind that the Congress is not protesting against Savarkar but also maligning him. He reminded Sena of its strong opposition against Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyyar. He said that he expects Sena to play a similar role.
Raut’s delayed reaction comes after a huge controversy that had erupted across the country following Rahul Gandhi’s cheap dig at Veer Savarkar. The controversy began first after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi refused to withdraw his December 2019 “rape in India” remark claiming that his surname was Gandhi, not Savarkar.
Congress, Shiv Sena’s new alliance partner, has on several occasions attempted to malign Veer Savarkar’s contributions to India’s freedom by branding him as a “loyal colonialist”.
As Deepika Padukone’s new movie Chhapaak gets doomed at the box office despite all the PR stunt she had pulled including a cameo in JNU controversy to express her ‘solidarity’ with students who allegedly took over server room in JNU to stop registration process before perpetrating violence, she has come up with another insensitive PR stunt.
This time, she took to TikTok to ‘challenge’ a TikTok influencer to copy her looks from her three different films.
And just when we thought that @deepikapadukone couldn’t mock Lakshmi anymore through her PR stunts in JNU she comes up with tick tok challenge on acid attack victims. Gross. pic.twitter.com/077Uz7hcEg
In the above video, it can be seen that a lady, who seems to be a TikTok influencer, dressing up to impersonate various characters that Deepika Padukone has played in the last few years. Deepika asks the TikTok influencer to copy her look from three of her movies, Om Shanti Om, Piku and Chhapaak. In the video, it can be seen that the influencer puts on lots of makeup to look like an acid attack victim, which many people on the Internet found insensitive.
Social media users slammed Deepika Padukone for treating acid attack victims as her movie promotions.
Dear @deepikapadukone are you mad or out of your mind?? When cheap publicity stunts like JNU visit did not work to promote the film, you fell so low that you brought ‛Acid Attacked Face Challenge’ on Tik Tok. Disgusting! pic.twitter.com/S9nDUkJu0F
Another social media user expressed that Deepika Padukone despite claiming to have experienced mental breakdowns in the past should have been more sensitive towards the acid victims.
Honestly expected @deepikapadukone who has been through her own mental breakdowns to be more sensitive. But clearly..no.
You do a movie on a acid attack victim, cry in every other promotional event n now this below the belt challenge where a acid attack face is her fav! https://t.co/dwqqwDuD2q
Chhapaak is a movie based on the real-life story of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor whose character is played by Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone. However, despite being such a sensitive issue with profound social importance, the movie failed miserably in dazzling the viewers, leaving them with a feeling of betrayal, which was reflected in the negative reviews and poor box office collections.
Following Deepika Padukone’s failed PR stunt at JNU, certain brands have reportedly reduced the visibility of ads featuring Deepika Padukone. Reportedly, brands are also expected to insert clauses in future endorsement deals to factor in risks associated with such political PR stunts.
Even as PM Modi-led BJP government at the centre has proceeded on its endeavour of setting the historic blunders regarding Jammu and Kashmir right, some of the media channels are undermining the efforts by concurring with the Pakistani worldview of Jammu and Kashmir.
The London feed of AajTak has displayed a distorted version of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In a travel advertisement aired on the IndiaToday group channel, the region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir was conspicuously absent from the map of India, thereby legitimising Pakistan’s claim on the forcibly acquired territory of Kashmir.
As can be seen in the video, Aajtak televised a marketing commercial about a travel company-TicketstoIndia.co.uk, ostensibly registered and operated from the Great Britain. The advertisement showed India with the parts of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir missing from its map.
This is not the first time that an Indian media house has portrayed Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a legitimate part of Pakistan. In the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, the Wire had released a video seeking to explain ‘the security, political and diplomatic fallout’ of the decision that brought the Himalayan state at par with the other Indian states.
In the video, The Wire displayed the map of Kashmir that included the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir including areas like Srinagar etc labelled as “Indian Occupied Part”. A large part of Kashmir, that Indians refer to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir since it has been under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, was labelled as ‘Azad Kashmir’.
In July 2018, while gushing over the elections in Pakistan, Indian Express news daily also erred in showing the correct map of Jammu and Kashmir. In a tweet to explain about the elections in Pakistan, Indian Express had showed Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a Pakistani territory.
On one hand, the BJP government is taking progressive steps towards full assimilation of Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian union. However, some news organisations, on the other hand, are toeing Pakistani line regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir and thereby weakening the Government of India’s stand vis-a-vis Kashmir.
Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister, NCP’s Nawab Malik today launched a fresh salvo against RSS chief Mohan Bhagat on his statement on ‘two-child policy’. Taking a dig at the RSS supremo, Malik said that if Mohan Bhagwat wants to “forcefully” enforce vasectomy then PM Modi should enact a law for the same.
“Mohan Bhagwat ji wants a two-child law. He maybe doesn’t know that Maharashtra already has several laws on this and many other states also. Still if Bhagwat ji wants to forcefully do vasectomies then let Modiji make such a law. We saw in past what happened with this,” Malik said while speaking to news agency ANI.
Nawab Malik,NCP: Mohan Bhagwat ji wants a two child law.He maybe doesn’t know that Maharashtra already has several laws on this and many other states also.Still if Bhagwat ji wants to forcefully do vasectomies then let Modiji make such a law.We saw in past what happened with this pic.twitter.com/essbHYnyCj
The NCP leader further added that there is a law in Maharashtra which states that no one having more than two children can contest the local government elections. They cannot get any recruitment in the government and they are not eligible for many government policies, said Malik.
While cautioning about the consequences of having such a law, the NCP leader, shockingly, delved into Congress’ dark history of state-sponsored population control, when it had coerced more than 60 lakh men into sterilization. He said: “We saw in the past what happened when vasectomy was implemented,” leaving one to wonder how Congress, who is now NCP’s alliance partner in Maharashtra, will react to this statement coming from a senior NCP leader.
For the uninitiated, during the 1975 Emergency – when civil liberties were suspended – Sanjay Gandhi, son of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, began what was described by many as a “gruesome campaign” to sterilise poor men. There were reports of police cordoning off villages and virtually dragging the men to surgery. An astonishing 6.2 million Indian men were forcefully sterilised in just a year.
Nawab Malik’s statement was in retaliation to Mohan Bhagwat’s opinions on the issue of population control. Addressing a closed-door meeting with the senior volunteers of the organization at Moradabad Institute of Technology (MIT) on Friday, Bhagat spoke on a range of issues including the amended Citizenship Law and abrogation of Article 370.
While speaking on the adversities of the growing population in the country, the RSS chief had opined: ”We have been advocating this for quite some time now and want that the country should have a policy on the number of children a couple can have. But then it is for the Centre to take a call and decide whether it wants to enact a law on the issue”.
Several states in India, including Maharashtra, have two-child policy, which bars anyone with more than two children from contesting municipal and panchayat elections, getting government jobs and other benefits. The two-child policy is often seen in India through the prism of religion. Clerics of all hues and organizations claiming to represent specific religious communities have opposed the two-child policy.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary marking the unfortunate expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir, scores of Kashmiri Pandits took to Twitter to intone a poignant couplet from the upcoming movie Shikara asserting that they will one day return to their homeland.
#HumWapasAayenge started trending on Twitter as members of Kashmiri Pandit community joined in to pledge their return to their homes in valley by narrating the dialogue-“Hum Ayenge Apne Watan” from the movie Shikara, a yet-to-be-released film produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and based on the book written by author Rahul Pandita ‘Our Moon Has Clots’.
The movie which is slated to be released on February 7, chronicles the harrowing tale of Kashmiri Pandit exodus which took place on January 19, 1990 when lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee their homes following threats of genocidal persecution issues by the Islamic terrorists in the Valley.
Eminent political commentator and a foremost champion of the cause of Kashmiri Pandits, Sunanda Vashisht shared her childhood image with #HumWapasAayenge, stating that her resolve to go back to home has only strengthened.
I don’t have many pictures left of my childhood. Choosing between life and family albums is really no choice at all. When lives were rescued, family albums got left behind. 30 years have passed. Resolve to go back home has only strengthened. #HumWapasAayengepic.twitter.com/mZr14n95a8
Journalist Rahul Pandita also took to Twitter, exhorting Kashmiri Pandits to tweet with the video of #HumWapasAayenge and express their desire to return back to Kashmir.
“Hum Aayenge Apne Watan Haji Sahab, aur yahin dil lagaege, yahi pe marenge aur yahi ke paani me hamari rakh bahayi jaegi,” Rahul said.
30 years of exile from Kashmir. Let us now pledge that we will return home.
Heeding Pandita’s call, several Kashmiri Pandits followed the suit, uploading their videos of the dialogue and enunciating their will to return to the Valley.
We dont live in Kashmir any more but Kashmir lives in us. We left Kashmir with our body but left our soul there which is still wandering in the meadows, mountains, lakes and streams. One day we will return and reunite our body with our soul. #HumWapasAayenge#KashmiriPanditspic.twitter.com/Yimo8o8yZU
The campaign has garnered support from several quarters, with netizens actively supporting the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits back in the Valley. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in July 2019 declared that the central government is committed to bringing Kashmiri Pandits and Sufis back to the Valley saying a time will come when they will offer prayers at the famous Kheer Bhawani temple.
PM Modi too had acknowledged the travails endured by the dispossessed Kashmiri Pandits community while meeting their delegation in Houston. “You have suffered a lot and it is time to move towards building a new Kashmir,” PM Modi had said.
Russia is a country with population of slightly over 144 million. With the total number of Indians inhabiting this snowy wonderland amounting to 10,000 it’s clearly visible that Russia is not the best bet for Indians who want to settle abroad. In comparison to these tiny numbers the staggering 3.2 million Indians that reside in the United States is an unimaginable quantity. The reason for such a dull picture in Russia is the fact that the country is still on the path of opening up to the world and embracing people from the far off lands wholeheartedly.
Things become even more interesting when we talk about religion. It is an irony that the number of Hindus in Russia is 14 times more than the number of Indian citizens in Russia. It is indeed some really impressive statistics. We see this picture because 92 percent of these Hindus are citizens of Russia. Almost 140,000 Russians call themselves Hindus. It would be a grave mistake if the governments of both Russia, as well as India ignore these people. Incidents of the year 2018 that were highlighted in the international journals and happened around the figure of the leader of hinduism in Russia, Prakash, exist as the most abominable proof of the above stated lines.
The article above speaks of a very aggressive group of radical christians with the notorious Alexander Dvorkin at their head. Dvorkin is a Russian anti-cult activist who labels everything except Orthodox Christianity as sects and cults. He is infamous for slandering and attacking everything that is Hindu and even in the ball park of Hinduism. In the year 2011 he was the one to initiate the ban on the holy book of Bhagavad Gita. More recently in the beginning of the year 2017 Dvorkin’s effigy was burnt in front of the Russian Embassy in Delhi for attacking the family of Prakash. The matter was also discussed in the walls of the UN and the OSCE.
The more recent case of a Russian busenessman by the name Denis Stepanov illustrates an althogether different and very unsettling aspect of Dvorkin and his organisation. Denis was born in Russia, Moscow and now at the age of 35 years old is a young, energetic and promising enterpreneur. He owns a medical firm that works on the lines of improving trade relations between India and Russia. Success came to him at a very young age until it all changed 4 years ago. Denis officially became a Hindu and things went from excellent to horrible in no time. For Denis it all began with a clear interest towards Indian culture and Hinduism.
In the year 2016 he came in close contact with the Hindu scriptures that are available in Russian. After that in the end of the same year he decided to take on the life and path of a devoted Hindu. “It was the most beautiful moment of my life. At the same time I knew that this might effect my work and my business, knowing the harsh reality of minority religions in Russia”, mentions Denis. Business boomed for Denis in the beginning of the next year. The bad news for him though was going to come very soon. Dvorkin and his people had him on his radar for 4 months before showing their fangs and claws dipped in religious hatred and communal violence. “They started stalking me beginning from the February of the year 2017. It continued for about 3-4 months before one day they came to me while I was entering my house and threatened me to change my religion”, says Denis.
It did not stop there. The nightmare for Denis had just begun. In the month of November Denis had visitors wearing masks and carrying guns. These were not regular Russian goons or hooligans and they presented themselves as police officials. In addition to that they told Denis about their association with an organisation named RATSIRS and if he does not abdicate his rights of practicing Hinduism they will tell the government structures dealing with businesses to snatch away from him his wealth and the cumulative amount of his material investments. Goons dressed in police uniform created havoc in his office and even physically assaulted Denis. They ordered him to transfer money to RATSIRS’s accounts. Denis refused and they reiterated further threats to his life and health.
It is important to mention the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church controls and influences the people like Dvorkin directly and even labels them as heroes of the church for doing all the dirty work. Dvorkin has associates in the police departments, ministries and the federal anti monopoly bureau.
“I did my research and it was very much clear to me in a few days what was happening around me”, Denis claims. Dvorkin is the official president of RATSIRS, the organisation that was behind all the harassment mentioned above. Denis knew very well that the first thing he had to do was filing a complaint in the police. The mental torture of Denis continued through the use of gadgets and with the employment of disgusting tricks which cannot be mentioned here due to the extent of vile content which was being sent to Denis via SMS and calls. Dvorkin was now behind enterpreneurs whose only fault was being Hindu and aid they offered to build healthy trade between India and Russia.
Denis is confident that Dvorkin has started this commercial crusade against his group of companies because he does not want Hindus to be financially strong in a country where the majority population observes Orthodox Christianity. The aim of harassing young enterpreneurs like Denis is to extort the cash flow towards the coffers of Russian Orthodox Church. If the Christians see that Hindus can be successful it will send a negative message in terms of the church’s policy. This was made very clear to Denis in the summer of the year 2019.
“Dvorkin paid a bribe recently to the workers of the federal antimonopoly bureaue of Russia to destroy my livelihood completely”, conveys Denis. The situation for Denis is running out of hands but he is still fighting for his rights. The federal anti-monopoly bureau is threatening him to convert to Christianity and if he refuses they will extort money from him. There has been a public outburst with regards to the matter in the social media as another Russian Hindu activist Sergei Kevshin had highlighted the case of Denis in his letters.
Denis has promised to take hard action against Dvorkins organisation. He will write complaint letters and petitions to president Putin of Russia. The court hearing with the bureau is bound to take place on the 21st of January 2020. When Denis adopted Hinduism he also took with it a Hindu name — Hardas. He wants to keep this name. The name that is a symbol for the freedom of choice he is having. The name that is more important to him than anything else giving him never ending hope to continue this struggle
Though the Congress party has been vociferously opposing the amended Citizenship law and NRC, in fact, to the extent of instigating the Islamic mob which created havoc across India, its government in Rajasthan, surprisingly, have been allotting plots at half their market price (50 per cent discount) to Pakistani migrants in the state capital.
According to a report by The New Indian Express, the Jaipur Development Authority has revealed that about a hundred people who had been displaced from Pakistan have been issued allotment letters in the Khushar Extension Housing Scheme by Zonal Office-9.
This initiative, which was a part the public welfare schemes announced by Rajasthan Congress, was executed in accordance with the instructions of the Minister of Urban Development, Shanti Dhariwal. Expressing their happiness, the immigrants said that they’re very happy about it.
In fact, last month also the Congress government led by CM Ashok Gehlot in the state of Rajasthan had provided citizenship to eight such refugees from Sindh in Pakistan who fled fearing religious persecution.
Though CM Ashok Gehlot had refused to implement CAA and NRC in Rajasthan it is being believed that there is immense pressure being put on the Congress government by the Hindu migrants in the state to consider the implementation of the Act.
This double standard displayed by the Congress government in Rajasthan has attracted sharp criticism from the Opposition. BJP said Rajasthan government is standing against the CAA merely to oppose the Modi-led government at the Centre while they themselves are providing land to Pakistani refugees at cheap rates.
State BJP President Satish Poonia said: ‘‘This is another U-turn by the Gehlot Government. The Chief Minister should tell us whether he supports or opposes CAA. Their words and actions contradict each other.’’
The Congress party in the state has, however, been defending its action by maintaining that it is only fulfilling the genuine needs of Pakistani migrants who have already got Indian citizenship. They said that the opposition to the CAA- NRC will continue and they will not be implemented in Rajasthan.
Congress Spokesperson Archana Sharma remarked: ‘‘The identity of India is through its Constitution and we reject the CAA-NRC because those are opposed to our Constitution. Since we respect the Constitution, our government will not implement the divisive CAA-NRC in Rajasthan. But opposing CAA does not mean that we oppose Pakistani migrants who are in our state and have already got citizenship which they deserve.’’
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill became an act after it was passed by the Indian Parliament in December last year.
The new Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014. It applies to those who were forced to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion. It aims to protect such people from proceedings of illegal migration. The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31, 2014, which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date. Moreover, those persecuted minorities from these 3 countries who come to India after 2014 using lehal means will be granted citizenship after staying in India for 5 years, instead of normal requirement of 11 years.
The big danger with fake activism is that it buries real activism by people with genuinely good intentions. In India, where people often express cynicism about political parties and the so called system, there is a genuine role for people’s movements. Especially when it comes to issues such as climate change and protecting the environment; where private incentives may often be at odds with the common good.
Late last year, there was a very large mobilization of “activists” who wanted to save a handful of trees in Mumbai’s Aarey colony.
Headlines when trees were cut in Aarey colony for construction of Mumbai metro shed
People putting their bodies on the line. Sobbing protesters being dragged away by police.
What for? Because a few trees have to be cut to make space for Mumbai Metro? Seriously?
We know that building good public transport infrastructure is one of the best ways to reduce carbon footprints and save the environment. That is why the world over, climate activists advocate for more of this.
But our activists continued to militate against Mumbai Metro. All attempts to reason with them failed. Like a man who is pretending to sleep, they could not be woken up. Here are some examples of the kind of rhetoric that accompanied the protests.
Cartoonist Satish Acharya on Aarey tree cuttingCutting of Aarey trees referred to as ‘massacre’
The trees were humanized, the whole exercise described with expressions like “massacre” and often mixed with vicious rumor mongering over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. All sense of reality was lost.
And then came the change of government in Maharashtra. And now this.
Trees being cut for gold course in Navi Mumbai
According to the Hindustan Times, the permission for cutting these trees was given on Dec 11, 2019. By then, I suppose those who cared so much about saving Aarey forest had achieved their real dream.
Now, it is for competent authorities to weigh the environmental impact of any proposed project and give permissions accordingly. It is not for me to comment on that. What stands out however, is the hypocrisy of so called activists.
Were the trees in Navi Mumbai less equal or perhaps less liberal than the trees of Aarey colony?
For what it’s worth, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has found that golf courses consume a lot of resources and pose serious risks to the environment.
UNEP on golf tourism
Now, here is what it all looks like to a common person such as myself.
I see that the Devendra Fadnavis government wanted to cut trees so that there would be a metro for common people. And liberals said NO.
I see that Maharashtra now has a ‘secular’ government, supported by Congress. Now someone wants to cut down hundreds of trees for a golf course. But liberals are saying YES.
The government changed and the priorities of activists changed as well. Just like we suspected, it seems that activists will oppose anything as long as it is done by a BJP government. And they will turn a blind eye to almost anything as long as it is done under one of their favorite ‘secular’ governments.
There is a class war aspect to this which is equally important. Yes, there is a class war, but only the liberal elite is fighting it. Against the common people of the country.
A metro would cater to the daily needs of the common Indian, making their life just a bit easier. A golf course? That’s the leisure of the rich.
This is the most regressive mentality possible. You deprive those at the bottom of the ladder, those with the smallest carbon footprints, of a slight increase in their standard of living. You take those gains and cater to the hobbies of those who consume the most.
Such an attitude of the liberal elite is not new. Read this old India Today article in which filmmaker and environmentalist Pradeep Kishen, who also happens to be Arundhati Roy’s husband, passionately argues against the building of a new hotel somewhere in the Panchmarhi Hills in Madhya Pradesh. The only twist? Pradeep Kishen himself owned a bungalow in the area!
A hotel would probably have brought in middle class people trying to have fun on a budget. Then what would happen to the elite on a vacation retreat?
So here’s what the liberal elite is telling us: The finer things in life are exclusively reserved for their private enjoyment. You can’t have it because you are not elite.
Their private enjoyment is important. Your standard of living is not!
This effort to preserve class privilege is now at the core of liberal politics in India and perhaps all around the world. Have you noticed how Indian liberals have a great eye for the “privilege” of others, including the freshly minted concept of “Hindu privilege?” Even though Hindus have been victims in India for around 800 years.
The only privilege that liberals cannot see is that of one single forward caste family that has run the country for six decades!
One big thing to remember here is that the clock is ticking when it comes to the environment. Unless we are able to identify fake activism, we risk losing valuable time. This time the stakes are really high.
