I AND MY WORDS

Once again, the bogey of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has come to the forefront of political deliberations. UCC is being seen as some kind of panacea for a variety of problems that the Hindus face in India. The worst part is that many right minded Hindus seriously believe that UCC will be some kind of game changer in this country. This, when fact remains that UCC does nothing to solve the challenges of Hindus and their second class status in India. Nevertheless, one must realise that UCC does more harm to Hindus than good, and a few good and solid reasons exist for this.  For this, let us have a look at what is being pushed for in the Uttarakhand draft of the UCC bill. As per twitter discussions, these are the thirteen key features of the bill: 1: Polygamy will be banned. 2: The age of marriage of girls will be increased so that they can graduate before marriage. 3: Declaration of live in relationship will be necessary. Parents will be informed. 4: In succession, girls will get an equal sh

As the brouhaha on the rightful restoration of the Dharma Danda or Sengol handed over in 1947 by the Adheenams of Tamil Nadu continues, one cannot help but wistfully remember a man whose civilisational roots held up and influenced this nation underneath the currents in ways we can only appreciate today. C Rajagopalachari, or Rajaji as he was known, was the brain behind the Sengol , thanks to his vast expanse of knowledge that was able to recall the traditions of the Chola empire of yore. This very Chola empire had deep connections with Ganga, Aryavarta, Jambudvipa and the pancha tattva of the cosmos among other innumerable Dharmic concepts. Even though he was called the Southern General of Mahatma Gandhi, the outlooks on Hinduism, Dharma, and its role in society were vastly different. Be it in the recensions on Mahabharata and Ramayana or his thoughts on the Upanishads, one senses this deeply. A lecture delivered in Patna in 1953 on the relevance of Hinduism as a religion for modern

Kanta Devi, an erstwhile VDC Head in village Choura Kot, district Reasi (courtesy: Daily Excelsio r) The recent outrage and noise following the Dangri massacre of Hindus by terrorists brought to focus a rather interesting feature of the security apparatus in Jammu's hilly region of Rajouri and other such regions in and around the Chenab region. A major question asked in the entire debate was the conspicuous absence of the Village Defense Committees (VDCs) and their inability to fight off terrorists. Of course, people have at best only heard about VDCs, and there is little by way of popular writings till very recently that I have come across on this subject, so I am going to attempt to capture some critical moments of the emergence of VDCs, their role in fighting off militancy, some attempt at explaining their success, and how since 2010 there have been attempts to actually de-arm these groups, one way or the other. Tracing the Origins After the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits

Map of Delhi-NCR (source: NCR Planning Board) The problem of Delhi in Independent India has perhaps been a puzzle since its inception.  Until 1901, Delhi was one of the five administrative units of Punjab province, comprising the five districts of Karnal, Ambala, Rohtak, Hissar and Gurgaon . However, as Delhi became the capital of British India in 1911, these districts were reconfigured and placed under its own local government as a separate province. Later, some areas of Meerut District (Shahdara) of the then United Provinces (today's Uttar Pradesh) was merged into Delhi. Eventually, the British government classified as a Chief Commissioner's Province under the Government of India Act, 1919 and 1935, equivalent to a present-day Union Territory.  Post independence, Delhi was a Category C state at the time of Independence, with Chaudhary Brahm Prakash being its first Chief Minister. A Nairobi returnee, the man had despite being a Congressman faced significant problems with Anand

Durga Fighting Mahishasura, Nurpur Shaili ca 1760 (courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum )   Ever so often there is so much noise about the power of the Divine Feminine, the Mother Goddess. Some generated veneration, while others generated debate and controversy. In the midst of all this has been lost the celebration of the Shakti, the Cosmic Force that drives the entire cosmos. That she is the progenitor of everything is perhaps why Shakti was visualised as The Mother, the Jagat Janani, the Jagat Amba among the Hindus. As the great revolutionary and thinker Sri Aurobindo had written in his pamphlet Bhawani Mandir : The Shakti of war, the Shakti of wealth, the Shakti of Science are tenfold more mighty and colossal, a hundredfold more fierce, rapid and busy in their activity, a thousandfold more prolific in resources, weapons and instruments than ever before in recorded history. Everywhere the Mother is at work; from Her mighty and shaping hands enormous forms of Rakshasas, Asuras, Devas

Three disparate events have occurred that seem disconnected on the surface but should worry us all. Arshdeep Singh , the left arm bowler representing India in the Asia Cup cricket tournament, was subject to information and psychological warfare of the worst kind. A vilification campaign was run from across the border, positing him as a Khalistani cricketer. Unfortunately, in the current simmering environment, there were quite a few people who walked right into the trap set. What was absolutely appalling was also the fact that popular reference intermediaries like Wikipedia were caught flashing such narratives.  Questions on accountability apart, the narrative setting effort was considerable, with known anti-India baiters inside India also trying to talk the same language as these elements of anarchy, clearly betraying signs of a well orchestrated intelligence operation. There has been a desperate effort for a while across the section to show all Sikhs as enemies of the state, which is

  Sri Aurobindo at the Bengal National College in 1907 (courtesy Sri Aurobindo Institute ) 15th August is celebrated as India’s Independence Day. It is also the birth date on the Gregorian calendar of one of India’s most celebrated children, a man who left an imprint in the temporal and spiritual worlds in a way few have. That child of Bharat Mata, of Shakti, was Aurobindo Ghosh. Dr. Karan Singh, a scholar on Indian philosophy, had written an interesting book about Aurobindo Ghosh many moons ago, calling him the ‘Prophet’ of Indian Nationalism. The choice of terminology seems rather problematic to this day, but perhaps one can forgive it for the intent it wishes to highlight - that the sleeping spirit of the nation, when it needed a jolt, a thousand watt powerful lightning strike, had the opportune man to do it in the form of Aurobindo Ghosh.  For a man who had grown up in England, Sri Aurobindo’s fierce spirit of nationalism had a remarkable quality to it. While Dr. Karan Singh attrib