A rare but beautiful example of human-animal coexistence was witnessed in a village of Chhattisgarh where the villagers mourned the death of a crocodile. In Bawa Mohtara village in Bemetara district, a 130 year-old crocodile died in the village pond on Tuesday. After the reptile died, the villagers took out a funeral procession of the crocodile. The mournful people of the village did not even cook food on the of the crocodile’s death.
The 3.4 metre-long crocodile was found dead on 8th January in the village pond, after which the villagers had informed the forest department and the carcass was taken out of the water. The animal died of natural causes, which weighed around 250 kg. More than 500 villagers took part in the funeral procession.
Funeral procession of Gangaram the crocodile
The villagers had named the crocodile as ‘Gangaram’ and used to worship him as a deity. According to the village Sarpanch, the villagers are considering to build a temple in the memory of the crocodile. A memorial is also decided to be erected on the bank of the pond where the crocodile was buried. The villagers also performed the last rites of the crocodile whom they considered their protector.
“The villagers had so much affection for the reptile that many of them did not even cook food the day it died. Locals had long back named it ‘Gangaram’. They used to worship it as a deity and the protector of the village,” told village Sarpanch Mohan Sahu. He said that crocodile had been living in the village pond for more than 100 years and had never harmed the villagers including children who used to bathe in the pond. “In the past, the crocodile had crawled over to some nearby villages couple of times and we had to bring it back to the pond,” Sahu said.
R K Sinha, Sub-divisional officer of forest Bemetara appreciated the love of villagers for the crocodile. He said that the villagers have set a good example of human-animal coexistence. “After getting information about its death, the forest personnel went there and a post-mortem was conducted by veterinarians. After the autopsy, the carcass was handed over to the villagers as they wanted to perform it final rites,” he added.
Bhubaneswar is soon going to be labelled a Sanghi, communal city full of Hindu terrorists. Not that Odisha does not receive its share of ‘secular, liberal’ flak, but its citizens have just given a hearty, full-throttled answer to the looming question in the minds of ‘non-pliant’ media.
In an event titled ‘Mindrocks Bhubaneswar’, organised by the India Today group, the anchor, displaying the Gandhi family’s version of ‘fierce journalism’ in a debate between Congress’ Sushmita Dev, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey and BJD’s Kalikesh Sighdeo, asked the audience “Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister? He even emphasized, “Yes first”.
But the young crowd did not wait long before roaring a reverberating “NO”.
The crowd sternly ignored his nudgings to say ‘yes’.
As if to drive the ‘NO’ home, the young students gathered started a loud sloganeering chorus of “Pappu, Pappu, Pappu”.
The resounding “NO” which followed his question seemed to have rattled him, as he proceeded nervously to say, “No, no that was not the question, first say YES,”
He asked again, “Will he make a good Prime Minister”?
But the crowd was too smart to fall for the trick. A smirky silence followed the anchor’s question.
When the anchor proceeded to ask finally, “Now, who says no, he will not make a good Prime Minister?”, there followed such a loud “NO” that filled the venue from all directions.
The anchor was not done yet though. He furthered, “Now who says yes, he will make a good Prime Minister?”
As the camera spanned the venue, two persons on the front row were saying yes, but they soon laughed themselves, then came a loud roar of laughter that must have made Odisha’s thoughts of Rahul Gandhi pretty clear to the anchor and the politicians present there.
Don’t try hard @IndiaToday .. we can understand that you cannot digest the fact that Congress and Pappu is out of power.. But trust the Indians, this time they are not gonna give ‘Pappu’ any chance to reach to the seat of PM. Because everybody wants #ModiOnceMorehttps://t.co/DG6nnzwo5J
.India’s youth Slames bootlickers of Dynasty. What a Shame @aroonpurie that your Media had to stoop to such level to prove the loyalty to @RahulGandhi, but no matter what you #Pidis do India will never ever elect the Liability RaGa as PM. This is Pliable Media Mr Gandhy#Pathetichttps://t.co/wD1A1Korh4
India Today anchor’s constant attempts to steer, even trick a positive reaction from the crowd was not missed by anyone. We do feel for the journalist, but sadly, Odisha has been in a different league altogether as far as politics is concerned. The state had rejected Congress a long time back and has been virtual ‘Congress Mukt’ since almost two decades. Just yesterday, CM Naveen Patnaik even announced that the ruling BJD will not support the proposed Mahagathbandhan.
Seeing the way the crowd in Bhubaneswar responded with ‘NO’s and an even more assertive laughter at the mere suggestion of Rahul Gandhi as the PM of the country, here are some honest suggestions by this Odia author for future journalists to better ‘trick’ and confuse the crowd into saying ‘Yes’ to the suggestion of Rahul as the PM.
If Rahul declares to proclaim Rasagola as an Odiya sweet which the Bengalis have stolen, will you accept him as your Prime Minister?
Between Lingaraj Lassi and Alu ki factory, will you still prefer the lassi if Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister?
Rahul Gandhi thinks ‘Pakhala’ with fish fry is much better than cold drinks in summer, will he make a good Prime Minister?
Rahul Gandhi claims he can pronounce ‘Bhubaneswar’ correctly fifteen times in under a minute, will he make a good Prime Minister?
When Queen Elizabeth digs into a nice prawn dish, Rahul Gandhi wants her to see ‘Made In Chilika’ written on the prawn’s fried belly. Will he make a good Prime Minister?
We wish the free, fearless and ‘non-pliant’ journalists better luck the next time.
After facing severe criticism for failing to stop farmer suicides in the state, the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka seems to be heading south as Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has complained to his party that he is functioning not as a CM but as a clerk due to Congress interference, reported News18.
According to the reports, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy while addressing JDS MLAs and MLCs meeting became emotional and said to the party colleagues that he was functioning like a clerk and not like a chief minister because of Congress’ interference in the functioning of the government. Kumaraswamy was also reportedly heard complaining that he is working under “tremendous pressure”.
“He is sad. He almost cried. Told us that the Congress was behaving like a big brother. Forcing him to sign all kinds of orders. They forced him to expand the Cabinet and even appointed chairpersons to government-run boards and corporations without his approval. He feels that it is getting tougher with each passing day,” an MLA present in the meeting was quoted as saying.
The rift between Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) has been widening recently as both parties have tried to outdo each other to grapple as much as power in the coalition government. The recent cabinet expansion has further widened the rift, with leaders from both the parties are openly conspiring against each other.
However, JDS supremo and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda seem to be tolerating the Congress assertion as a compromise for a better seat share in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The opportunistic alliance of Congress-JDS are planning to contest as a coalition against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and most of the senior leaders of the JDS including HD Revanna has been reportedly advised not to comment against the Congress party.
The JDS has been demanding 12 seats out of the 28 seats in the state, while Congress is reportedly not willing to give that many numbers of seats to its coalition partner, as JDS is still considered to be their principal rival in most of the seats of old Mysore region. The Congress leadership thinks that offering 12 seats would weaken their own organisational structure in many influential regions.
The JDS may strike a deal with the Congress as a compromise and contest 6 to 8 seats as a part of the coalition leaving the rest to the Congress party. The JDS is expecting to contest more seats from Old Mysore region, where it anticipates to perform well. It is reportedly eyeing Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chickballapur, Bengaluru North, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Raichur, Vijayapura and Bidar.
This is not the first time Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has lamented over his discomfort to work with the Congress party. Earlier in July, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government Kumaraswamy had cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.
Today prime minister Narendra Modi addressed Bhartiya Janta Party workers in by video conferencing. In the Program called ‘Meera Booth Sabze majbooth‘, PM Modi interacted with party Karyakartas of different constituencies and addressed their questions.
PM Modi addressed workers from Arahkonam, Krishnagiri, Cuddalore and Dharmapuri constituencies. He extended his wishes for Pongal to workers and asked them to dispense information related to good governance of Central Government among the people of Tamil Nadu.
A worker from Arahkolam constituency asked PM Modi about the rumour going around that whether BJP will ally with AIADMK, DMK or Rajnikanth’s party. Addressing the question, PM Modi recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s words and asserted that BJP always welcomes its old friends, even though we have a clear-cut majority.
PM on rumour that BJP may ally with AIADMK/Rajinikanth/DMK:Even when BJP won majority on its own, we preferred to run govt with our allies. We cherish our old friends & our doors are always open for parties. But more than political issues, winning alliance is alliance with people pic.twitter.com/HlzjXp2krj
“Even when BJP won the majority on its own, we preferred to run the government with our allies. We cherish old friends, and our doors are always open for parties. It is more important to deal with an alliance with people than parties.” PM Modi answered the question. He also added that strong NDA is an article of faith and not a compulsion.
Another worker asked PM Modi how his government is managing to work free from corruption, while our Former PM Rajiv Gandhi, in his popular statement had said that for every rupee sent from Central Govemnrmt, only 15 paise reach the people.
PM Modi while answering the question said that in the previous Congress-led governments, the corruption was institutionalised. Benefits meant for the poor were transferred to middlemen, which created a great divide between poor and rich. He talked about his government’s emphasize on Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, which transfers money to recipients of welfare schemes directly, eliminating any need for a middleman in between.
PM Modi also slammed the Congress party for its compromise with the national security of India. He alleged UPA of making defence sector a den of middleman and brokers. He also mentioned the investigation going on in the AgustaWestland scam, in which more truth was unearthed after the extradition of middleman Christian Michel to India. PM Modi said that citizens of the country should know that why the deal of Rafale was delayed by 10 years. He hinted that Michel was privy of the official documents related to deal, including its status.
PM: People of country deserve to know how did middleman Michel know about the time of a meeting of cabinet on security, about status of a govt file, what role he played in delaying procurement of Rafale for 10 long yrs, what role he played in putting national security in danger” pic.twitter.com/yjpLDoum8E
We have reported earlier that, Christian Michel with another middleman Guido Haschke had worked on a plan to lobby for Eurofighter against Rafale in order to win the deal in its favour. A “strategy paper” which was seized during the raids had revealed that Christian Michel and Guido Haschke had planned to make Eurofighter secure the deal against the French Rafale in the MMRCA bid.
PM Modi said that Michel shared a bonhomie with ‘First Family’ of Congress party. He said that middleman of the country, who has been completely sidelined by his government, is trying hard to malign his and government’s image. He said that they are openly opposing his efforts, even using legal means. He said that, so far 90 thousand crores have been saved by implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer. PM Modi also said that some elements want to peddle a narrative that his government has failed people of Tamil Nadu. However, he stated that facts speak otherwise.
He mentioned that on 29th of this month, he will be interacting with children, parents and teachers in Townhall, and discuss the upcoming board exams of children.
So both houses of Indian Parliament have now passed the 124th Constitutional Amendment Bill, clearing the decks for 10% reservation to Economically Weaker Sections on top of the existing 50% quota.
While the Congress did “support” the Bill, you wouldn’t think that was the case from the manner in which they behaved over the last two days. They fought and argued and quibbled over every possible little detail.
The lowest point was when the Congress (along with many other opposition parties) protested against the extension of the Rajya Sabha session in order to debate and vote on the all-important Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Now, this can only be seen as an insult to Mahatma Gandhi and the people of India. We have here representatives of the people protesting because they have been asked to work for ONE extra day! That too, members of the Rajya Sabha!
Presumably, the Congress realized soon enough that it would be hard to get the public to feel bad for poor Rajya Sabha MPs having to work for one extra day! And that Rajya Sabha wasn’t going to be adjourned without debate and voting on the bill. So they finally came back into the house, where they kicked and screamed till the very last moment.
From the conduct of the Congress on the floor of the House yesterday, you would never guess that PM Narendra Modi was merely fulfilling a promise/demand that the Congress had been making for years now. Please take a look at this, right below the “detailed action plan” proposed by Congress in its manifesto for the 2014 General Election.
There you have it:
“The Indian National Congress is committed to finding a way forward for introducing reservation in education and employment for economically weaker sections of all communities without in any way affecting existing reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.”
As clear as could be. Yet, we did not see very much of this “commitment” on the floor of the House yesterday.
The interesting thing is that the exact same promise appears in the manifesto of the Congress Party for the 2009 General Elections as well. Here it is:
The exact same promise in almost the exact same language! The issue of providing quota benefits to economically weaker sections must have been very close to the heart of Madam Sonia Gandhi, don’t you think?
Now, this raises all manner of interesting questions. The first is why the Congress played such a negative role yesterday when Narendra Modi actually moved ahead and did something the Congress itself had been trying to do for at least 10 years now.
Another question that must be asked is why members of the liberal intellectual ecosystem, who double up as unofficial Congress spokespersons on mainstream and social media, had no problem with the idea back when Congress proposed it? For the last two days, these people have been whining openly about the concept of reservation for Economically Weaker Sections. Some have gone to the extent of saying that it undermines the spirit of the Constitution. But why did these people not express such fears when Congress Party included this in its manifesto? Did they say at the time in 2009 and 2014 that the Congress Party under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi might be trying to undermine the Constitution of India?
But the biggest question is why the Congress itself did nothing about this promise after it won the General Elections in 2009. This was a manifesto promise, made in writing, wasn’t it?
Was it supposed to be just another of the Congress promises that are meant to merely string people along, preferably for decades? Something on the lines of Gareebi Hatao, made in 1971. A promise that was supposed to remain permanently in future, for the purpose of harvesting votes in the present?
Recently, we have seen the Congress ecosystem, overtly or covertly, put its hand into the cookie jar of all sorts of reservation lollipops for all sorts of people. Be it in Gujarat with Patidar agitation or in Haryana with Maratha agitation. The Congress ecosystem and the various quota agitation leaders knew full well that nothing could really be done about the 50% cap unless the Constitution is amended.
And so PM Modi did go ahead and amend the Constitution. Why all the complaints now? It has now become clear that these movements had the sole objective of harassing BJP governments in various states and little more.
Economic backwardness can exist within every community. And thus, the BJP government has actually gone ahead and done something concrete that will help deserving people from every community. The only losers here are those who were planning to slowly milk this issue by keeping it going for decades. Hence the heartburn.
Addressing the annual press briefing in New Delhi, Arm Chief General Bipin Rawat spoke on a legion of issues concerning the Army. General Rawat said that the Army worked as a facilitator of peace and is committed to bringing normalcy in the Kashmir valley while pinning the blame of increasing violence in Jammu and Kashmir to a section of its own population.
#NewsAlert | We are facilitators of peace. Violence is being done by J&K’s own people: Army (@ADGPI) Chief General Bipin Rawat at annual media briefing. pic.twitter.com/eN9P3DZ9cn
In addition, General Rawat also expressed the need to have better control of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that though they have adopted the hard and soft power approach to deal with the situation, the offer to terrorists to come over and surrender is always there. Answering a question regarding talks with Hurriyat, General Rawat asserted that the talks can happen only if they shun violence and stop seeking support from Pakistan. He further emphasised that J&K is a bilateral issue and there is no scope for 3rd party intervention. “The discussion will happen as per our terms and conditions,” he said.
Army Chief Bipin Rawat on talks with Hurriyat: Our position is very clear that shun the gun and stop taking support from the western neighbour. Talks can happen only if they shun violence. pic.twitter.com/aRYhADFV0U
Refuting the allegations that the Indian Army targets civilians across the border, General Rawat said, “Indian Army is a professional unit and it doesn’t target civilians intentionally. When there are terrorists operating on the other side who attempt to cross LoC, it becomes difficult to identify between a terrorist and a civilian. There are about 300 terrorists lurking around on the other side of the border, waiting to infiltrate.”
General Rawat also outlined the Army’s approach vis-a-vis Afghanistan and defended his proposition of having talks with the Taliban. He contended when a majority of countries involved in Afghanistan peace talks consider Taliban as a stakeholder, we should also join the bandwagon.
General Rawat also described the procurement of advanced missiles and rockets from the DRDO. He revealed that the tests carried out by DRDO were fairly successful, though certain objectives are yet to be fulfilled, once DRDO achieves them, missiles and rockets will be inducted in the Army. “There are definite timelines given to DRDO, if they fail to deliver them within those timelines, we will go in for import mechanism,” he added.
Senior leader of the Congress party and former Union Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram, took a dig at the NDA government over the resignation of Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal.
Chidambaram saluted Faesal and dubbed his resignation an “indictment of the BJP government.” He said in a tweet, “Though sad, I salute Mr @shahfaesal IAS (now resigned). Every word of his statement is true and is an indictment of the BJP government. The world will take note of his cry of anguish and defiance.”
Though sad, I salute Mr @shahfaesal IAS (now resigned). Every word of his statement is true and is an indictment of the BJP government. The world will take note of his cry of anguish and defiance.
Referring to the statements that Faesal had made, Chidambaram stated, “Not long ago, Ribeiro, the legendary police officer, said the same thing, but there was not a word of reassurance from the rulers. Such statements from our fellow citizens must make us hang our heads in regret and shame.”
It is of great concern that such a senior of the biggest Opposition party has chosen to side with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ merely to oppose Narendra Modi. In fact, a departmental inquiry was initiated against Faesal for his remark. It was said that the ‘officer has failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in discharging his duties’.
In his post on social media where he announced his resignation, Faesal alleged that his decision to quit the services has been provoked by the “unabated” killings of Muslims in Kashmir and mainland India at the hands of “Hindutva” forces. Faesal contended that the absence of any political initiative to restore normalcy back to Kashmir valley had motivated him to leave the administrative services.
Faesal has also alluded that the democracy in the country is in danger as ‘subversive’ forces are presiding over the democratic institutions and are bent on altering their nature and functioning. He has also mentioned that he will be revealing about his future plans at a press conference this Friday.
It is rather disheartening to see that senior politicians in the country are choosing to side with people of questionable character to merely score political brownies. Chidambaram himself is going through a rather torrid time. On the 7th of January, he was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case.
Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media was later known as NewsX, it was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. ED had initiated a probe on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.
Meanwhile, the CBI and other agencies are also probing a similar case involving Chidambaram and his son, the Aircel-Maxis scam. The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in grant of FIPB approval in Aircel-Maxis deal, while the ED is probing alleged money-laundering related to the deal.
In retrospect, a politician under investigation for his alleged involvement in scams siding with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ does not come across as all that shocking after all.
Congress supporter Flynn Remedios, who runs the fake news website IndiaScoops.com which gets regularly shared by Congress leaders and Senior Supreme Court lawyers like Prashant Bhushan, is now charge sheeted by Mumbai Police for criminal defamation and for publishing defamatory material.
As per a report in Mumbai Mirror, Flynn Remedios allegedly lured a model by telling her she is auditioning for the reality show Bigg Boss, gave her a script to read which contained sexual harassment charges against BJP leader Vinod Shelar. This video had then gone viral and Shelar had filed a complaint with the Malad Police Station.
Turns out, the video was made by Flynn Remedios on directions of Brijesh Keshav Prasad Singh, a former BJP leader and Vinod Shelar’s rival. Remedios, Singh and another of Singh’s associate Rahul Singh are now charged with criminal defamation and for publishing defamatory material.
The model, who is now a witness in the case, has alleged that she did not even know who Vinod Shelar was. She had simply recorded the ‘script’ provided to her for what she believed was an audition for Bigg Boss. She says that Remedios had promised her a ‘wild card’ entry in the show hosted by Salman Khan. Her statement is recorded in presence of a magistrate and the same is admissible in court as evidence.
As per the report, the ‘news’ of molestation was first shared on scoops.indiascoops.com, a forum on the dubious website which spreads fake news by using soft-porn articles to draw traffic. While there was no video attached to the story, the report said that the model tried to file a case, but since Police refused to, she was moving court. However, when Shelar said that no such incident took place and that Malad Police could corroborate that no woman had approached them, Remedios panicked and record the video.
Remedios was reportedly paid Rs 17,500 in three instalments and was promised more if more media outlets pick up the story. As per the charge sheet, the call records and chat conversations between the woman and Remedios suggest that the woman was indeed tricked into believing that she was recording for an audition. “The technical evidence gathered points to Brijesh Singh and Rahul Singh’s involvement in this,” the charge sheet reads.
While Brijesh Singh as denied his involvement, Remedios has been unreachable.
This is not the first time Remedios has used his soft-porn website to spread fake news. In fact, Remedios even seems to be creating ‘fictional’ people to create fake sleazy stories on rapes and molestation. We had exposed earlier how the website indiascoops.com had four stories of ‘leaking nude images’ of models and starlets by an obscure Tamil film director who exists only on his website.
In fact, in one of his articles, he had also claimed another aspiring model of accusing an unnamed ‘UP BJP Neta’ with ‘links to CM Yogi Adityanath and PMO’ of blackmail, molestation and sexual harassment. So clearly, Flynn Remedios fabricating false stories against BJP leaders, perhaps in an attempt to later blackmail them or for his own political gain, is not a new thing.
What is more shocking is Congress and Aam Aadmi Party leaders as well as various media persons sharing such fake stories by Flynn Remedios to further their agenda.
The Supreme Court has declined an urgent hearing of a petition against the promo of the movie “The Accidental Prime Minister”. The movie is a biopic on Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister. As per reports, CJI stated that there will be no urgent hearing and the matter will be listed in due course.
The movie featuring Anupam Kher in the lead has ruffled a lot of feathers. There have been numerous petitions filed in the Courts against the movie.
A Congress leader from Punjab had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court to stall the release of the movie. On January 3, a lawyer named Sudhir Kumar Ojha filed a case against the actors of the movie for ‘damaging the image of some top people’. The case was filed in Muzaffarpur’s Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on January 3. Acting on which, the court had asked the police to launch FIR against Anupam Kher (portraying Manmohan Singh) and Akshay Khanna(portraying author of the book, Sanjaya Baru), along with 13 others.
A similar plea was also filed at Delhi High court by a fashion designer, Pooja Mahajan through lawyer Arun Mattri. The high court had rejected the plea and asked the petitioner to convert her plea into a PIL. Following which on 8 January a PIL was filed in the court, which was to be heard on January 9. However, the PIL also couldn’t make an effect and was rejected by the Delhi HC again. The court also questioned the locus of the petitioner. After that, the petitioner had moved to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has adopted a stricter stance against PILs. In October 2018, a bench that included CJI Gogoi dismissed Prashant Bhushan’s petition seeking a stay on the deportation of Rohingyas. The same month, the Court had dismissed a petition by senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot seeking orders to the Election Commission to provide the draft voter list in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in text format. In December, the Court had imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the petitioner for a frivolous PIL against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
For the prosperity of any country, there is a need for its people to be united under a single banner. We have our national symbols like our Flags, Anthems, Emblems and so on and so forth. However, there is a need for an abstract ideal, a vision of a future, towards which a country’s people can aspire for.
The United States of America has American Exceptionalism etched into its national character. The Chinese have ‘Tianxia’ or ‘All Under Heaven’ which defines their purpose in this world. For the Japanese, it’s the Royal Line of Amaterasu which provides them with the grand narrative of their country. The British have their Monarchy and their strength derived from it.
Indians have been deprived of a grand narrative for as long as we have been independent. We have been independent for over 70 years and yet, we haven’t really defined our purpose in this world. Why does India exist? What is India’s place in this world? What is the great purpose that India is meant to serve? These are questions the answers to which we have to discover for ourselves if we are to become a dominant political force in the world.
In this article, I shall make an attempt to answer some of these existential questions. Surely, there are others far more intellectually superior than I am who are more suited to provide answers to such queries. With my limited knowledge and utmost humility, I make this attempt in the hope that it may inspire, by some stroke of great fortune, other great minds to delve upon such matters.
A Grand Narrative, by its very definition, must clearly explain the purpose of a nation’s existence. It must encompass, or at least strive to, the story of a nation from ancient history, or at least since the conception of nation-states, to a time in the great unforeseeable future.
This poses a certain challenge for India because if we are to endorse the liberal perception of the Indian state, then we are merely seventy-odd years old and a nation that is merely seventy years old has no history. It’s not unsurprising then that India hasn’t been able to come up with its own Grand Narrative as the intellectual corridors of the country continue to be dominated by people of a liberal or Marxist bent. Thus, if we are to formulate a Grand Narrative for our country, then we ought to reject outright the liberal perception of the Indian state.
Fortunately for us, there is an alternative that is readily available to us. It is the Hindutva perception of India. According to Hindutva ideologues, the Indian state is a political union of Hindus under a single nation-state. The Indian state, they say, is the custodian of the Hindu Civilization and its foremost duty is to ensure the continued existence of Hinduism. It does provide the foundation for a vision worthy of being a Grand Narrative.
Let us first evaluate the circumstances of our times. Our world is dominated by two Abrahamic religions: Christianity and Islam. There is another Abrahamic religion which is another potent regional force: Israel. They are all essentially different versions of a single memeplex: Monotheism. Our world currently is dominated by monotheism. Apart from Japan and China and India and a few other small countries, there are hardly countries today where Polytheism exerts any significant influence. Even China, it’s officially a Communist state but it has invariably displayed a tendency over the years to preserve its traditional heritage. And Japan, apart from the Grand Narrative, its people are also united by a shared race.
Thus, we arrive at a simple conclusion. India is the only heterogeneous country in the world today where the multiplicity of the Divine is not merely a stated proposition but a living reality for over a billion people. Where else would we find such a diverse community of people who worship a multitude of Gods with equal fervour? Where else would we find such a vibrant community of people for whom a multiplicity of the Divine is the normal order of the Universe? Quite unfortunately and it is with great grief that I say, there is no country which embodies such values today. India stands alone. This fact is important and I believe it would be part of our Grand Narrative.
Source: @OGSaffron (Twitter)
There is another concept that has captured the Indian imagination for a long time. It is believed that there was a time, in stark contrast to the times we are living in, where Bharata was a beacon of wisdom for the whole world. Our ancestors spurned a tale of unfathomable prosperity, our land teemed with exquisite works of Art and Architecture, our Bards and Poets and Authors composed works of Literature which were unparalleled in their magnificence. Our land was home to a great many wise men who embarked upon foreign shores and spread our ideas to the world. A great many wise men borne across the world traversed great stretches of land to set their foot upon the sacred soil of Bharata and taste the fountain of wisdom that flows from its sacred rivers. We were ‘VishvaGuru’ and there is an emotional sentiment attached to that word that has not yet escaped our consciousness.
There is one question that needs to be addressed at this juncture. If we did manage to become ‘VishvaGuru’ again at any certain point of time in future, what is it that we will teach the world? What are the things that we can teach the world that it is so lacking? Historically, we have inspired the world through our philosophy. Therefore, as ‘VishavaGuru’, what is the one great philosophy that we can teach the rest of the world? As we have discussed previously, there is something extremely exclusive that we can teach the world, something our people experience every day as the routine state of affairs: The Multiplicity of the Divine. In simple words, Polytheism.
These are abstract concepts that we have discussed thus far. There is an urgent need to address a very pressing query. Who are we? And when did we come to exist as a nation? There are very complicated questions but fortunately for me, these questions have already been answered by intellectual stalwarts much before I was even born. It is on the path they forged that I now humbly tread, the path illuminated by the wisdom that was bestowed on those great men by the Devas themselves.
Without digressing any further, I put my faith in the shining wisdom of the great Hindutva stalwarts before me and say proudly that I am a Hindu. That we are Hindus and that is our identity. But again, the word Hindu is a headlight, we need a flashlight. That predicament has also been solved for me, fortunately. We are Hindus and we are descendants of the great Monarch Bharata after whom our nation is so fondly named. We are the descendants of Bharata and His subjects. Now that, dear readers, is a flashlight.
Thus, in my imagination, there are three essential components of our Grand Narrative as Indians. Firstly, India is the last bastion of Polytheism. Secondly, As VishvaGuru, we must teach the people of the world about the multiplicity of the Divine. Thirdly, we are the descendants of the Great Monarch Bharata and his subjects.
Therefore, in a synthesis of these three distinct components, I conclude that the Grand Narrative of our nation should be described thus: We are the descendants of Bharata and his subjects upon whose shoulders rests the destiny of Polytheism. And the knowledge of the multiplicity of the Divine is the greatest gift that we could offer to the world.
The ancient Romans are gone and the great Roman Gods haven’t been worshipped for many centuries. The ancient Greeks are gone and hardly remain to offer sacrifices to the Gods. Similar has been the fate of the ancient Egyptians. But we, the Hindus, are still right here. Our Gods haven’t abandoned us. And we haven’t abandoned Them.
Dedication made by a priest of Jupiter Dolichenus on behalf of the well-being (salus) of the emperors, to Sol Invictus and the Genius of the military unit equites singulares Augusti Source: Wikipedia
Thus, I have finished the elaboration of my perception on what should be the Grand Narrative for India. But we need a simple word to describe our Grand Narrative. We cannot use a couple of sentences every time someone wishes to gain knowledge of our Grand Narrative. And there is only one word that I believe which could perfectly encapsulate our Grand Narrative. It is a description of our culture and Sanskriti. And it appears to me that it only fitting that our Grand Narrative be called by that name.
We are all familiar with the word. The word represents the order that we see in nature. The word represents the cosmos and everything that lies beyond. The word explains the nature of our Sanskriti. The words explain our love, devotion and dedication towards our Gods. The word denotes the sacrifices that parents make for the welfare our his children. The word explains the valour of our ancestors on the face of great adversity. It is the one word that encapsulates the entirety of our philosophy over the course of thousands and thousands of years. The word is Dharma.
It is India’s Dharma to ensure that the knowledge of the multiplicity of the Divine is not lost to the fanaticism of monotheistic religions. It is the sacred duty that we have been entrusted with. And it is this sacred duty that defines the great purpose that we must serve in the world.
