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Showing posts from February, 2021

The Adi Dharam Movement of Punjab - Exploiting Caste Faultlines

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Wikipedia Photo of a Ravidassia Procession in Italy Of late, a campaign has been going on, somewhat unnoticed , by two factions of a single community — the Ravidassias — in the Doaba region. These groups have been urging the Centre government to provide them recognition as a separate religion, distinct from both Hindu and Sikh faiths. Both factions want a separate religion column for themselves and also a unique code for their respective sects. One sect that is making these demand includes two groups — the All India Adi-Dharam Mission led by Sant Satwinder Heera as well as All Indian Adi-Dharam Sadhu Samaj led by Sant Nirmal Das, and the Dera Sach Khand, Ballan in Jalandhar, Punjab. The Ravidassia movement, primarily based out of Jalandhar, is also incidentally home to the largest Dalit population within Punjab. The controversy, for those who follow Punjab's socio-political fabric, isn't new. The demand for a separate religion status for Ravidass followers first came up in 2010

The Faults in Their Stars – How the Longer Telegram Fails to Read the Chinese Mind

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  A paper by the rather elite foreign policy think-tank Atlantic Council, authored by a person who wishes to remain anonymous, garnered a lot of attention in the American press. Titled The Longer Telegram , It is ironic though that people within India refused to discuss or deliberate the paper barring one odd video deliberating on it in a rather hallowed way.  Given the stark reality of the adversary standing next door, this paper should have certainly received more attention. Instead, what we have seen is a strangely absurd silence on the subject. Be that as it may, it is imperative that a short look at the paper is taken, and lessons are derived from it that need to be considered seriously in the defence and foreign policy circles. The Fait Accompli Approach Has Failed – US’ China Policy Remains Incoherent The paper can be seen as a wakeup call for the American diplomatic circles in all senses. Some of the wooly headed optimism regarding China had been wearing thin over the years

तिरस्कार की माला

 प्रत्येक पल में तिरस्कार छिपा है कुछ भाग्यशाली ही इसके भोगी होते है जीवन यातनाओं के माला पिरोता है जो इनके कण्ठ की शोभा बनते हैं मैं भी संभवतः इसी श्रेणी का हूँ और इस जीवन सत्य से परिचित हूँ ये वेदनाओं के आभूषण मेरे लिए बना काल के द्वारपाल मुझे आकर्षित करते हैं बस टकटकी बाँध बैठा हूँ किवाड़ पे सोचता हूँ, जब स्थितियाँ वश में होती हैं उचित समय पर कर सबसे विछोड़ा हम भी तेरे कटरे की ओर चल देते हैं हाँ, ये कटरा इस आयाम से परे है यह बात सोचता हूँ सब को बता चलते हैं के कल, गलती से किसी विचार में जो मैं दिखूँ तो जान लेना, के हम एक भ्रांति बन रह गए हैं

Budget 2021 Has Dared to Mute Populism

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  It has been a very long time since a budget actually cut short on frills and embellishments and took head on some of India’s bigger challenges. Political messaging in India for long has been couched in the poverty driven, gareeb kalyan , redistributive mindset which while seemingly right has made politicians forsake growth as a political strategy. To that end, the Narendra Modi government’s Budget 2021 with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have displayed a rare step - a break from the voter driven politics of India and actually pushing for growth. For the longest time, India’s political class has been deriving the wrong messages from electoral politics. This misplaced belief that free goodies, subsidies and coverage for all will somehow be able to buy the voter’s support has caused much damage to the economy. What has often been forgotten is that you can only distribute what you earn, and distributing wealth instead of poverty is what the voters would rather prefer. It is rema