Home Blog Page 7417

Leftist organizations push for draconian bill that may kill Karnataka’s healthcare sector

amitsurg
-
0
Leftist organizations push for draconian bill that may kill Karnataka’s healthcare sector

The Karnataka government has tabled a draconian bill titled “Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (Amendment) Act” to regulate private healthcare in the state. The amendments to the existing KPME Act provide for government to fix prices of tests, charges, services and surgeries being performed in private hospitals and jail sentences and fines running into lakhs of rupees for negligence and for violations of the act. The act excludes government hospitals from its provisions – ironic considering an overwhelming majority of population goes to private hospitals simply because the government healthcare system is in shambles and has proven its inadequacy in handling the country’s healthcare needs.

Shockingly, the Siddaramaiah government did not hold discussions with any of the concerned stakeholders before bringing in these amendments to the act. Doctors are up in arms across the state and have declared an indefinite strike in protest against these draconian provisions. They rightly point out that the private sector is being penalized for the utter failure of public hospitals and the solution lies in more and better run public hospitals and not in driving the private sector into the ground by over-regulation and price control.

Meanwhile, a group of NGOs is pushing the Siddaramaiah government to implement the bill at the earliest and regulate prices of private hospitals and doctors.

I did a quick study of these NGOs and pieced together what seems to be a well-organized attempt to kill the private healthcare sector that services upto 70% of the total number of population, in the name of getting cheaper healthcare for the people. It seems that FCRA NGOs, leftist political outfits and communist-linked unions are working together on bringing an act into being promises to dwarf the KPME in its potentially terrifying outcome – collapse of the entire healthcare system of the state.

A total of 16 NGOs are pushing for the KPME Act, of which 15 have been named in a New Indian Express article. They are as follows:

  1. Karnataka Janaandolana Chaluvali : This is the India chapter of People’s Health Movement, a global movement for economical healthcare. The PHM is a loose conglomeration of local NGOs of each country. The India coordinator of PHM is Sarojini NB of Sama Women’s Health – an FCRA funded NGO working in the fields of womens’ health. Curiously, Sama received funds from Ford Foundation in the first quarter of this year. Sarojini NB has also authored and published an article in 2002 titled “Gujarat Carnage and the health services: a public health disaster” in which she alleges that over 2000 people were killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and that riot victims were denied healthcare – outrageous claims that fly in the face of facts. 
  2. Alternative Law Forum: This is another FCRA funded NGO that has also received funds from the powerful global organization Human Rights Watch to fight against sedition laws in India. One may recollect that India became the first country in the world in 2007 to be reviewed for human rights violations on intervention of Human Rights Watch and other NGOs such as the church-funded International Dalit Solidarity Network. The South Asia Director of HRW also wrote in The Wire against the Modi government’s attempts to curtail FCRA funding of anti-national NGOs and action taken against Teesta Setalvad’s trust for frauds committed by it. The Alternative Law Forum has taken part in several political and social agitations, from protesting against the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar to politicizing the Gauri Lankesh murder and Rohit Vemula suicide. It is also part of the network of organizations affiliated to Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), an organization originally formed under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan but that has been hijacked by leftist elements since the past few decades. In the past few years, PUCL has condemned the execution of terrorist Afzal Guru and even that of Ajmal Kasab, justified militancy in Kashmir and demanded that UNHRC be allowed to visit the state. 
  3. Slum Janaandolana Karnataka – this organization works for rights of slum dwellers. It is also part of PUCL, and its official Isaac Arul Selva holds a PUCL post.
  4. Swaraj Abhiyan: This is a political front started by Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan after their expulsion from AAP.
  5. Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union: This union is affiliated to New Trade Union of India (NTUI), a trade union formed by hardcore communists such as Ashim Roy but claims to be apolitical. 
  6. Swaraj Sanghatane: This NGO is run by one Neeliah, who is also associated with Right To Food Campaign and is another PUCL associate.
  7. Sangama: This NGO works in the field of LGBT rights. Its trustee Manohar Elavarthi is the state coordination committee member of Yogendra Yadav’s Swaraj Abhiyan.
  8. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha: This is a farmer’s body in the state of Karnataka that actively participates in local state politics. In November 2016, K.S. Puttannaiah, Sarvodaya Karnataka Party MLA, who is also a senior KRRS leader, announced that KRRS plans to contest the 2018 elections in the state in alliance with Swaraj Abhiyan. 
  9. Lancha Mukta Karnataka: This organization is run by Ravikrishna Reddy, former spokesperson – AAP Karnataka. An associate of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Reddy contested from Bangalore on an AAP ticket. He fell out with AAP in July 2016 when Yadav and Bhushan were expelled, and is currently planning to contest 2019 elections on an independent ticket.
  10. Janandolanagala Maha Maitri: This is a conglomeration of smaller NGOs run by awarded anti-corruption crusader S R Hiremath, who is also a Prashant Bhushan associate and was responsible for pursuing corruption cases against BS Yeddyurappa the Reddy brothers and SM Krishna. He is planning to contest 2019 elections along with Swaraj, AAP, CPI and CPM.
  11. Jana Sangram Parishat: also run by S R Hiremath.
  12. Safai Karmachari Kaavalu Samiti: This samiti is also a part of the PUCL network.
  13. Samaana Shikshanakkagi Janandolana: This is a body comprising of a few smaller NGOs including Karnataka Janashakti and Mahila Munnade.
  14. Karnataka Janashakti: Founded by one Syed Khalid Koppal, this NGO is part of the AAP – CPI (ML) network.
  15. Mahila Munnade: This NGO is also a part of Karnataka Janashakti – SSJ network.

‘Journalist’ Siddharth Varadarajan’s leftist propaganda website “The Wire”, has carried several articles pushing for the KPME Act amendment, written by activists from the above organizations. NDTV has also carried stories hailing the Act as “aimed at bettering healthcare”. Email trails reveal the coordination between these organizations and in fact it is eye-opening to note how the number of NGOs pushing for the implementation of an even more stringent act has been inflated by adding on organizations from the PUCL network that do not have anything to do with healthcare.

However, one cannot help but feel that this is all friendly fire from a government that has already decided to regulate the private healthcare sector to death without so much as holding discussions with any of the concerned stakeholders while drafting the act. Moreover, the pressure may be a cover-up for the underlying purpose sneaked in through the fine print: exemption to “certain” charitable hospitals altogether from the provisions of the act.

On the night of 17th November 2017, CM Siddaramaiah finally met agitating doctors and has agreed to drop a contentious clause of jail term for negligence. The proposal for 30% discount for APL patients and fixing of tariff for treatment of BPL patients by government stays. This means that healthcare providers will have to provide a 30% discount to virtually all the patients who can afford treatment, and this discount will allegedly be reimbursed by the government. Additionally, healthcare providers will have to treat BPL patients at government – fixed rates which, going by the tariffs offered to hospitals under CGHS rates, are likely to be well below cost.

With the failure of governments across India to reimburse the dues of schools under Right To Education Act, this hardly seems like a solution and most likely, the doctors and hospitals will never get this reimbursement. One can imagine the disastrous consequences for the healthcare industry if 30% of their entire sales lie with the government for reimbursement at an indefinite date. Also, with a backdoor provision for providing exemption to “certain charitable institutions” put in the minutes, another Pandora’s box similar to that under the RTE is sure to open up: where some institutions are provided exemption from this 30% discount provision while others have to pay up and be at a disadvantage. Enough has been written on such laws to understand the implications and I will avoid going into it in detail in this article to maintain brevity. The hallmark of UPA-style “Idea of India” legislation is creating discriminatory laws that apply to one section of the society while giving exemption to the other. In this aspect, a provision for exemption of “some charitable institutions” under the Act should not come as any surprise.

With the High Court ordering doctors to stop their agitation, the situation has received a temporary respite and the crisis has been averted for the time being. But a question must certainly be asked: whether leftist NGOs funded and backed by international agencies should be allowed to press for policy decisions in the country and push for decisions that can destabilize local economies and health systems, and push governments into creating discriminatory laws. It is also high time that the government takes the necessary steps to ban all foreign funding for advocacy that can potentially undermine the security and stability of the nation.

(This article was written with inputs from @by2kaafi)

Patron saint of hypocrisy Mamata bats for Padmavati, we walk her down memory lane

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Patron saint of hypocrisy Mamata bats for Padmavati, we walk her down memory lane

While most politicians, cutting across political lines, are trying to take a ‘balanced’ view on controversy ridden film Padmavati, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today tweeted in support of the movie raking ’emergency’:


She said that the film controversy is a ‘calculated plan of a political party’ to ‘destroy the freedom to express ourselves’. Coming from her it was ‘brave’ not because even Congress leaders such as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh took a rather anti-Padmavati movie stand, but because Mamata and freedom of speech don’t go hand in hand.

Brace yourself as we list down the non-exhaustive list of the times Mamata Banerjee and her government was not happy with others exercising their right of freedom of expression.

We would like to take this opportunity to walk Mamata down her memory lane when she and her West Bengal government had clamped down on “Teen Kanya” a Bengali film based on the controversial Park Street rape incident and her close aide had refused certificate to another Bengali film “Kangal Malsat” which was critical of the incumbent Mamata government.

Mamata forgot to tweet when a revising committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had refused to clear Kangal Malsat for screening, after claiming it “insulted” Mamata Banerjee. The censor had cited ‘controversial’ portrayal of facts surrounding the Singur movement and her swearing in ceremony.

Following protests led by Mamata Banerjee, the Tata Motors plant in Singur had to be shifted to Sanand in Gujarat in 2008. In the film, a character is shown watching Mamata’s 2011 swearing in ceremony with disdain which did not go down too well with Banerjee. Similarly, Teen Kanya’s screening was stopped by Mamata since it resembled the Park Street rape case of 2012.

However, Didi’s brush with free speech and freedom of expression goes beyond movies. That is why as soon as she tweeted her support for the film, Twitter users showed her the mirror exposing her hypocrisy:


As per reports, one Arunachal Dutta Choudhary, an employee of West Bengal Health Service was suspended over a Facebook post, which described the adverse condition in his hospital which has been facing a wave of dengue patients over the past few weeks. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds the health portfolio in the state government.

These are not the only times Mamata has tried to suppress dissenting voice, exposing her hypocrisy. Mamata had also banned books by 1981 batch IPS officer Nazrul Islam which were critical of Mamata government not delivering what was promised. It has been almost 4 months since West Bengal government banned ABN News Network, the only Nepali language satellite channel in India, alleging that telecasting footage of Darjeeling unrest fanned hatred in the hills.


The footage was part of a news report that covered the 21st July pro-Gorkhaland khukhri-rally. Khukhri is a traditional Nepali knife and one of the symbols used by protestors demanding a separate state since early this June.

Earlier, the state police had preferred arresting a minor for an allegedly provocative post on Facebook to taking action against rioters inuldge in arson. Last year, an FIR was filed against Zee News reporters for covering Dhulagarh riots. Things were taken to an absurd level in July when a photograph of someone praying in a temple posted on Twitter was allegedly seen as a threat to peace in Bengal. Professor Mahapatra of Jadavpur University, in Kolkata was arrested for allegedly spreading anti-Mamata cartoons in 2012. It seems being critical of the government is not considered freedom of expression by Mamata Banerjee, the patron saint of hypocrisy.

The list of bans is long but perhaps the most absurd was the incident where Mamata’s police arrested a businessman for ranting about traffic conditions on Facebook and not apologizing about it.

All hail free speech fighter Didi.

Check out the number of times media has claimed Rahul Gandhi is set to become the Congress President

Hemant Bijapurkar
-
0
Check out the number of times media has claimed Rahul Gandhi is set to become the Congress President

Some time back we had reported how the Indian media regularly goes into a frenzy to speculate as to whether Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has come of age.

“Coming of age” colloquially means that a person has transcended from childhood to adulthood, which sounds a bit odd when used in the context of a 47 year old man. This though hasn’t stopped the media, and from 2009 to 2015 it has used this phrase several times to describe Rahul Gandhi.

Now it seems that the media is going on the same route to dish out speculations about the imminent elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress President, a post which is currently held by his mother Sonia Gandhi.

In the year 2014, the Congress party registered an abysmal Lok Sabha performance by winning just 44 seats, which led many to speculate whether the party was soon going to face an existential crisis.

Maybe as a possible defence mechanism against this prospect, the media started getting flooded by reports about Rahul Gandhi being imminently elevated as the Congress President. This possibly meant that Rahul Gandhi getting total control was pegged as the solution to all the party’s problems which by all accounts might simply be designed to shield the Congress well-wishers from the harsh reality.

A twitter user named @moronhumor as a result chronicled the number of times the media has claimed the same. Here are a few such instances:

  • Back in January 2014 NDTV had speculated about the options in-front of Rahul Gandhi like becoming the working president or the PM candidate
  • In January 2015 India TV claimed that Rahul Gandhi can become the Congress president by March-April of that month
  • In February 2015 NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan claimed that her channel has learnt that Rahul Gandhi would be taking over form Sonia Gandhi in April
  • APN news in January 2016 decided to continue this tradition by claiming that Rahul Gandhi may be made the Congress President
  • In June 2017 Nidhi Razdan again reported that decks were cleared by the Congress working committee to make Rahul Gandhi to take over.
  • In August Republic TV claimed that Rahul would be elevated to the top job this October.
  • In October India Today came out with a report quoting Sachin Pilot claiming that Rahul would take over the party after Diwali.
  • In November NewsX claimed that Rahul would now become the President in the 1st week of December.

Now latest reports claim that the Congress working committee has passed a resolution to make Rahul Gandhi the party president and in case there is no other candidate, the party would announce his candidature on the last date of scrutiny.

This video by @moronhumor raises questions about the source and accuracy of the news reported by the media. It also might pave the way to an alternative theory that so many reports saying the same thing might mean that there is a concrete effort in the party to make Rahul Gandhi the president but it for some reason hasn’t materialised.

Does it mean that there is a faction within the party which has actively opposed Rahul’s elevation or whether Rahul himself has refused to take over fearing that he may be held accountable for his party’s failures.

Check out the whole video of @moronhumour below:

Modi govt lifts ban on Muslim women traveling without male guardian for Hajj

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Modi govt lifts ban on Muslim women traveling without male guardian for Hajj

In a significant development, 4 Muslim women from the state of Kerala have applied to go to Haj without an accompanying male guardian who is also known as “Mehram”. This was tweeted by Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday:


As stated by Naqvi, earlier Muslim women needed a male guardian to accompany them, only after which did the government give the permission for them to go to Haj. This practice was done away with for women aged above 45 years of age who as per the new Haj policy no longer need a male companion accompanying them.

Such a recommendation made by a 5 member panel was constituted by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, was criticized by a number of Muslim clerics who termed it as “un-Islamic” and “against Sharia”. But it didn’t stop the government from accepting the recommendation.

It remains to be seen if the minority affairs ministry take things a step further and does away with the male guardian practice for all women regardless of their age.

This development coincides with another significant move on the Haj front.

As per other reports, the Haj subsidy which was extended to the pilgrims may be phased out as early as 2018. This may be 4 years earlier than 2022 which was the limit recommended by the Supreme Court in its 2012 order. This decision was taken by a review committee which comprised of senior officials from the Ministries of Minority Affairs, Civil Aviation, External Affairs and Haj Committee of India. The cost to the government to extend this subsidy was reported to be Rs 827 crores in 2008 and is known to vary from Rs 600 to 700 crore annually.

Gujarat Congress collapsing like badly stacked cycles in a cycle stand

Nirwa Mehta
-
0
Gujarat Congress collapsing like badly stacked cycles in a cycle stand

Gujarat Congress started out with all their might to showcase a united opposition against the BJP in poll bound Gujarat. But things took an ugly turn two weeks before the voting as the Paditars and Congress leaders got down and dirty and Congress had to ‘escape’ the wrath of angry PAAS leaders.


Gujarat Congress President Bharat Solanki refused to talk with the PAAS leaders and police was called in to prevent PAAS (Patidar Ananamat Andolan Samiti) workers from entering Solanki’s house. Police had to be deployed outside Congress headquarters and the roads leading to it to avoid any untoward incident.


We had earlier reported how Congress is taking the Patidars for a ride. Now it seems there is a divide between the PAAS leaders themselves as they are not happy with some getting tickets and them being sidelined.


And as if PAAS leaders throwing shade at Congress was not enough, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to part ways with Congress and to independently field candidates on all 182 seats in Gujarat Assembly.


Interestingly, NCP had won only 2 seats in 2012 elections.

As if coalition falling apart wasn’t bad enough for Congress, Congress workers themselves are angry with Congress accusing Congress of ‘cheating’ them. Workers from Bharuch, Sonia Gandhi’s advisor Ahmed Patel’s home turf, even accused Congress of doing ‘gaddari‘


Important to note here that Congress had left no stone unturned and gambled away Gujarat to save Ahmed Patel’s Rajya Sabha seat in the Rajya Sabha elections held in August this year.

Meanwhile, Twitter erupted into jokes taking a dig at the soup Gujarat Congress has found itself in.


With new developments every few hours in Gujarat, get your popcorn ready as we give you regular updates of battleground Gujarat.

Dissected: Vinod Dua’s video for TheWire downplaying Moody’s upgrade

Ashutosh Muglikar
-
0
Dissected: Vinod Dua’s video for TheWire downplaying Moody’s upgrade

Media professionals and the opposition had worked overtime to build a narrative that the economy is in the dumps. Hours and hours of screen time, tweets, and columns were written to build this image that Modinomics is a failure. When International agencies came out with their surveys, analysis and reports, all the efforts of the Left leaning media crumbled. This lead to sudden outbursts against the messenger and further meltdown via tweets and videos. Let us look at one such video from Mr Dua, produced by TheWire, which is riddled with inaccuracies, false claims and signs of frustrations:

1. Mr Dua calls Moody’s report a “survey”.

Moody’s report is not a survey, but an analytical report, where professionals and trained experts look at hard data of an economy and come up with reports. A survey is an exercise where the opinion of a sample population is taken. Both, an analytical report and a survey, are far superior to a journalist having no domain knowledge, pontificating sitting in an air-conditioned studio, in front of a camera. For Mr Dua to call Moody’s report as a “survey”, exposes Mr Dua’s own illiteracy.

2. Mr Dua says this rating upgrade was a “Doobte ko tinke ka sahaara” (last straw of hope) for the Centre’s ministers who held press conferences on this report

The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report raised India’s rank by an unprecedented 30 places. A survey by Pew gave highest acceptance to Narendra Modi. And now the ratings upgrade by Moody’s. All these have come in the spate of a few weeks. Consequently, the Indian Government has no shortage of good news, coming from reputed international organisations. In such a situation, how is the Moody’s report the “last straw of hope” for the Government? If anything, there have been too many positives in the past 2-3 weeks. Is Mr Dua living under a rock?

3. Mr Dua claims that while Moody’s ratings upgrade is fine, we are not being told about the position of NPAs. He claims that the then Governor of RBI (alluding to Raghuram Rajan) had forced banks to disclose NPAs.

The ignorance shown here is amazing. Or is it willful deceit? Moody’s report has a separate paragraph on the banking system and the Government’s actions against NPAs:

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT TO PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS MITIGATES BANKING SECTOR RISK, SUPPORTS GROWTH

Recent announcements of a comprehensive recapitalization of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and signs of proactive steps towards a resolution of high NPLs through use of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act 2016 are beginning to address a key weakness in India’s sovereign credit profile.

While the capital injection will modestly increase the government’s debt burden in the near term (by about 0.8% of GDP over two years), it should enable banks to move forward with the resolution of NPLs through comprehensive write-downs of impaired loans and increase lending gradually. Over the medium term, if met by rising demand for investment and loans, the measures will help foster more robust growth, in turn supporting fiscal consolidation.

Thus it is clear that the ratings upgrade has come in spite of the banks’ NPA problems (which are UPA’s gift to this government), and the Government’s “proactive steps” towards a resolution of these issues have been appreciated. Further, the statement saying Rajan was the one who went after NPA’s makes sly hints that the RBI Governor after Rajan, has fallen silent on the same. This is far from the truth since even now, RBI is going after banks to disclose NPA’s correctly. Mr Dua should read up.

4. Mr. Dua claims that banks have already lost the money against loans which are NPA (“karze jo doob chhuke hain, wapas nahi aayenge”

Perhaps this is most unimaginative and brazen lie by a journalist. NPA does not mean money wont be recovered. Write off doesn’t mean waiver. When an account is declared NPA, banks take action under Debt Recovery Tribunal, Insolvency Code, SARFEASI Act and even CBI and ED proceedings are conducted. All secured assets are auctioned and funds recovered. In fact, this “fire sale of corporate assets” has been documented in media as well. If Mr Dua somehow knows for a fact, that the money will not come back at all, he should immediately head to the RBI, and reveal his source of information.

5. Mr Dua says: “Moody’s ratings upgrade, is directly linked to the health of our banks, and it should not be construed that this upgrade has come due to decisions which were taken (by the Government)”

Again, its obvious that Mr Dua has not read the Moody’s report at all. In the report, Moody’s gives multiple reasons for India’s ratings upgrades (emphasis added):

Key elements of the reform program include the recently introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will, among other things, promote productivity by removing barriers to interstate trade; improvements to the monetary policy framework; measures to address the overhang of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system; and measures such as demonetization, the Aadhaar system of biometric accounts and targeted delivery of benefits through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system intended to reduce informality in the economy. Other important measures which have yet to reach fruition include planned land and labor market reforms, which rely to a great extent on cooperation with and between the States.

The above paragraph from the Moody’s report shows that there were various factors which they considered, and the measures to address the NPA problems and banks’ health, were just one of the considerations. Why would Mr Dua feel compelled to lie is conundrum. Is it because he has previously regularly said that measures like Demonetisation were failures, yet real experts are hailing the same measures as reforms?

6. Mr. Dua says in the video “Last year, in 2016, Moody’s had reduced India’s ratings”

Before we come to debunking this, lets explore how financially illiterate Shri Dua is. See the screen grab from the video, when he says this:

While the screen grab says “Moody’s lowers India’s growth forecast”, Mr Dua claims Moody’s had reduced India’s ratings. Forecast vs Ratings. Mr Dua either does not know the difference between the two, or he knows and is deliberately conflating the two. Either way he is wrong. A ratings upgrade for India from Moody’s has happened for the first time in 14 years. Forecast modifications happen every quarter and are done by any number of agencies or organisations. On a side note, while Mr Dua claims this happened in 2016, this report which was used by Mr Dua, was published in August 2015.

7. Mr. Dua says for the Pew survey, sample size was of 2464 odd, and was done from January to February 2017 when the PM asked for 50 days to sort out demonetisation

The jibe about sample size has been comprehensively rebutted here. It is sad that a journalist has no idea how surveys are conducted. Secondly, the PM had asked for 50 days for demonetization to play out in November 2016. The period got over in the first week of January. January and February 2017 were months when cash supply was still constrained, and the media was crediting all sorts of deaths to Demonetisation. In all of this, during a cash crisis, 9 out of 10 Indians backed the PM. It would seem like Mr Dua could not digest this and is deliberately spreading canards out of undiluted hatred.

7 factual issues in one video. Once can be coincidence, twice happenstance, but seven times? Mr Dua, needs to do dua that nobody with half a mind starts watching his other videos, else he might regularly feature in such columns.

Mumbai guy finds an abandoned infant, Mumbai Police saves the day

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mumbai guy finds an abandoned infant, Mumbai Police saves the day

Mumbai based Twitter user who goes by the handle @jugadu_banda tweeted an SOS tweet about finding an abandoned infant in an empty rickshaw in Mumbai. He said he found the baby and did not know what to do with the baby.


The baby was found wrapped in a blanket and was shivering due to the cold, but was fine after a while, said Aman, who posted a picture with the baby.


Soon, Mumbai Police came to rescue. They tweeted to Aman asking him further details about the baby.


In about an hour of Aman finding the abandoned baby, Mumbai Police had taken the child in their custody for further procedure.


Aman has said that the baby is now in safe hands with Mumbai Police and he is also keeping in touch with the authorities to see if he could help in any way.


At time when we wake up to heart-wrenching news of little boys and girls getting raped, this news of the baby getting rescued with a hope for a better life is indeed a good news. Restores our faith in dwindling humanity. Some heroes don’t wear capes.

Shashi Tharoor gets slammed for his ‘wordplay’ on Miss World Manushi Chhillar

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Shashi Tharoor gets slammed for his ‘wordplay’ on Miss World Manushi Chhillar

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who was recently slammed for playing vote bank politics on Twitter, today made a ‘joke’ on Manushi Chhillar, the Haryanvi girl who won the Miss World beauty pageant title yesterday, while trying to take a dig on Indian economy by mocking demonetisation move by Modi government.


Rating agency Moody’s which recently upgraded India’s rating, has been a talk of the town. So much that the communists from his home state Kerala, which boasts of highest literacy rate, could not differentiate between Moody’s, the agency and Tom Moody, the cricketer, and started abusing the latter.

But people were not impressed with the lame, misogynist wordplay and called him out on the same.

Some were brutal,


While others expressed their views that mocking a private individual like this is quite unbecoming of an MP.


And some mocked Tharoor.


Ouch! Social media is unforgiving. Perhaps a good time for Tharoor to learn the difference between चिल्लर and छिल्लर from Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s Hindi tutor.

Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik, Rani Padmini did not choose death, she chose immortality

Sanghamitra
-
0
Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik, Rani Padmini did not choose death, she chose immortality

Mr. Pattnaik, let me begin by admitting that I am not a reader of your numerous books. So I will refrain from commenting on them. I have however, read your tweets and the recent ones about Rani Padmini of Chittorgarh have compelled me to write this letter to you.

You seem to be disgusted by the fact that the people of Mewar and a large population of india regards Rani Padmini as a brave woman worthy of immense respect because she chose self immolation over dishonour. This kind of reverence to a queen who lived 700 years ago for an allegedly “regressive and patriarchal” decision and “celebration” of her sacrifice seems to have outraged your liberal, progressive ideology. Mr. Pattnaik, please allow me to demystify some myths (pun intended ) for you.

Rani Padmini was the wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh who was the ruler of Mewar when Alauddin Khilji decided to conquer the Chittorgarh fort. Now, romanticism and popular culture has made us believe that Khilji attacked Chittorgarh because be wanted to “have” Rani Padmini. This is where all the confusion originates. Because your disillusionment about why Rani Padmini didn’t “choose life” also roots from this confusion. Because this idea that Khilji wanted to “have” Rani Padmini gives rise to the notions that why then she didn’t just let him “have” her and then continued to “Survive and thrive” (your words, not mine)?

Unfortunately Mr. Pattnaik, medieval warfare was a little more complicated than that.

Chittorgarh is not a mere fort. It’s a massive 700 acres of fortified city. Formidably built on a 180 metres high mountain top. That’s huge even by medieval standards. The citadel was the seat of power in the region since 7th century and reasonably so. The citadel is massive, difficult to access and most importantly it’s designed to be self sustainable when faced with prolonged siege. The water reservoirs and lands within could sustain an army of 50,000 for almost a year. Considering the dry, sandy landmasses of north western India, you can imagine why the citadel was so coveted. Yes, Chittorgarh means power. Whoever held the fort, held absolute power in the region. It should now be evident why Alauddin Khilji was so interested .

Mr. Bhansali seems to have tried his best to picture Khilji as a roughed, beareded romantic but as any true historian worth his salt would tell you he was no such thing. He was a barbarian who liked killing infants over the heads of their mothers and used to boast about making towers of 60,000 ‘kaafir‘ skulls. As far as sexual orientation goes he was a known homosexual and paedophile. Now if this all powerful sultan had coveted only Rani Padmini don’t you think he would have tried to have her kidnapped and smuggled out? But medieval warfare was more complicated than Bollywood’s twisted romanticism.

The war between Maharawal Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji resulted in a 8 month long siege of Chittorgarh. When finally they fought full frontal battle, the Maharawal died fighting. Now, what do you think would have happened then? Let me clarify further. When an invader intent on destroying another kingdom attacks, he does much more than just killing the ruler. Wars are fought more on psychological level than by swords and shields. Why do you think Mr. Pattnaik that even modern nations fiercely protect the family members of their heads of states?

Now how do you think Khilji would have proceeded after he had killed the Maharawal and most of his generals and lead warriors? Yes he would capture the fort. How do you think he would have awarded his battle worn, travel worn and hungry foot-soldiers? He would have ordered them to go berserk on the citadel’s residents. Rape any woman they find, loot anything they can lay their hands on. Mr. Pattnaik, medieval armies where known to even rape and defile corpses.

Now how would he ensure that not a single living soul would dare to resist him further? The answer is obvious. He would hold the royal women and children captive. How he would ensure that the morales of the people of Mewar is broken to such extent that no one would dare an attack on him while he stays there? He would torture his captives and set examples.

Rani Padmini was the queen of a fierce warrior clan. Don’t let the Romanticism and cheap popularization of Bollywood’s film makers fool you into painting Rani Padmini as the naive, demure, fancy doll. Rani Padmini knew what is going to be the fate of herself and hundreds of other women inside the citadel. They would have been raped, brutalised in every way possible, first by the sultan and his chief generals then gradually in decreasing order of military ranking. They would have been flogged, stripped naked and paraded around. Any infants and children would have been killed before their mothers’s eyes and this would go on endlessly till the sultan had absolutely made sure not a single male rajput is left alive and motivated enough to start an uprising. The women who survived would then had been transported to his harems to be sold and resold as sex slaves as long as they live. Think Mr. Pattnaik, what would it have done to the morales of the vanquished people of Mewar who have lost family members in the long war to see their queen and her royal companions flogged through the streets and raped everyday?

Rani Padmini knew better. She made sure that the Rajput flame for vengeance had to be kept burning. She knew she and her companions would have nothing but misery, torture and diseases if they are captured alive. She knew the brutes storming their walls do not even spare corpses in their desparate lust and bid to humiliate. She knew she can’t have her people see her defiled dead body. So she made a choice.

Yes Mr. Pattnaik, a choice. The choice of a queen who deserves every bit of the goddess like reverence she commands amongst her people till date. She decided that the brutes who have killed her husband and his gallant warriors will have nothing but a pile of ashes when then breach the walls of her citadel.  She decided that she will not allow herself to be defiled and insulted. She decided that she will not let her people down. She knew that her life was not merely her own but belonged to the people of Mewar who would one day rise again to avenge their beloved queen.

She could not have been more right Mr. Pattnaik, because Chittorgarh did not perish after Khilji captured it. Rani Padmini had kept the flame burning, merely a decade or so after that, Rajput Sisodiyas regained control of the citadel. Chittorgarh saw lionhearts like Rana Sangram Singh, Rana Udai Singh, Rana Kumbha and many other great Hindu rulers who kept on the glory of Mewar touching unfathomable heights.

Mr. Pattnaik, Rani Padmini did not choose death. She chose immortality.

A proud Indian.

‘Ugly and Stupid’ is how Vijayalakshmi Pandit described Indira Gandhi

Nirwa Mehta
-
0
‘Ugly and Stupid’ is how Vijayalakshmi Pandit described Indira Gandhi

Being daughter of independent India’s first Prime Minister comes with a lot of pressure. Especially when you are conditioned from your childhood that democracy is an idea and she should respect it till it comes in way of her hunger for power. If biographers are to be believed, Nehru’s sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit ‘ill-treated’ Kamala Nehru, Indira’s mother who was unwell.

An adolescent Indira reportedly overheard her aunt describe her as ‘ugly and stupid’, which she never forgot. Since the ‘Gandhi’ family is considered the ‘first family’ of India, this sort of insubordination was never forgotten or forgiven. What Indira showed in her political life, she reflected the same in her personal life.

Excerpt from “From Bharata to India: The Rape of Chrysee” by M K Agarwal

So much that when Nehru turned over their ancestral home Anand Bhavan to Pandit, his sister, Indira was appalled. She never forgot the ‘ugly and stupid’ comment. Her resentment for something said decades ago was so strong that she denied her aunt to stay one last time at Anand Bhavan, her ancestral home too, before Indira, as the Prime Minister of India, handed over the property to Government of India to be turned into a memorial.

Excerpt from “Indira Gandhi: A Biography” by Papul Jayakar

It was this sort of vengeance that perhaps dictated Indira Gandhi’s political and personal life, however unfortunate.

1...7,4167,4177,418...7,677Page 7,417 of 7,677