This is hypocrisy, my lord!

Just days after directing the whole nation to paly and respect our dear national anthem, the  Supreme Court has rejected the idea of following the same course. The learned and honorable SC has  refused to entertain a plea that asked  playing of national anthem in all courts before the start of proceedings. This is a classic case of "do what I say and not what I do".

 The plea was made by a probably overenthusiastic BJP leader who happens to be a lawyer also. He had asked directions from the apex court to play the national anthem in all courts before the start of proceedings.The bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy thought otherwise. In their order,  they said the SC's order on national anthem should not be overstretched. The court also sought Attorney General's response on the plea.Just a couple days ago, the Supreme Court had on November 30 directed that the national anthem be played in cinema halls across the country before the screening of a movie. The same court had issued guidelines on the national anthem and people in cinema halls to stand up when the anthem is played and the National Flag be shown on the screen at the time. The SC has, with respect to the order on national anthem in theatres, directed the Centre that its order should be implemented within a week.

 This is an evident hypocrisy. On the hand, you are ordering millions of people to express their respects to the national emblems at a place that has neither sanctity nor the constitutional validity. On the other hand, you are showing aversion to the same principle where the Constitution reigns supreme. Won't people think that they were forced to do something which the authorities are unwilling to do? Are the laws, regulations and procedures meant only for commoners, who have no access to the power and authority? This is not the first time that the court has come up with such double standards.

In the past, Justice Markandeya Katju had adopted similar approach while excusing the justice fraternity from the misuse of the beacons. Why does the judiciary always puts itself a notch above other and admonishes others? One cannot but think the courts have taken a liking to take advantage of people's disliking the politicians and disregarding the system.If the honorable SC is sincere that the playing and singing of national anthem nurtures patriotism and discipline, it cannot recuse itself of having the same in its premise.

 Actually, it is the perfect place for doing so as courts are where people should have their faith and commitment manifested. If it doesn't, it should stop preaching to others what it cannot do itself.

 Else, people will say, "This is hypocrisy, my lord!"

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Afzal Guru is a pretext, Nargota was to happen

The media has widely reported that the terror attack on an army camp in Nagrota on November 29 was meant to be a vengeance for the hanging of Afzal Guru. The attack left seven officers and jawans dead. Two of these martyrs were from Maharashtra.
The media speculation, corroborated by the intelligence sources, stems from the recovery of a note written in Urdu from three slain terrorists. The note had the name of JeM's Afzal Guru Squad (AGS) in Urdu.
According to PTI report, a note, along with three AK-47 rifles, magazines and UBGL grenades, was recovered from the site of attack, points to the involvement of JeM's Afzal Guru Squad. The note, written in Urdu with name bearing at the end of AGS of JeM, says that they have avenged the death of Guru.
Guru's name also cropped up in Pathankot when Rajesh Verma, who was abducted along with Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police told reporters that the militants had told him that they wanted to avenge the death of 2001 Parliament attack convict.
The question is, would the terrorists have spared us all if Afzal Guru was not hanged? Were there no attacks before Guru, the convict in the Parliament attack case in 2001, was sent to gallows?
One thing we have to remember, the terrorists want us to bleed. And as is famous, bleed in thousand ways, as the Pakistan has planned it. They will inflict wounds on us - Afzal Guru or not. They want to hang on to a pretext and create havoc in India. Afzal Guru only serves them to give a sense of satisfaction to themselves. Thus, Nargota was an eventuality that was to happen. It cannot be rationalized by providing revenge angle to it.
Therefore, it is best if don't dwell on this issue and focus on destroying them. If at all, the vengeance should be ours. It is we who should take revenge for our slain martyrs who have laid their lives for us.

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MAEER’s MIT School of Government declares Arya Chanakya Maharashtra Rajya Awards

MAEER’s MIT School of Government, Pune declaring Arya Chanakya Maharashtra Rajya Award in cooperation with DD Sahyadri, UNESCO Chair, World Peace Center (Alandi), MAEER’s MIT, Pune  and with the support of Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad Foundation and National Teachers Congress. The awardees are Adv. Ujjwal Nikam, Eminent Lawer, Shri. Deokisan Sarda, Eminent Journalist, Founder Deshdoot, Shri Kapil Harishchandra Patil, MLC, Mumbai Teachers Constituency, Shri. Nitin Karir, IAS & Pramod Chaudhari, Industrialist.  Citation, Memento, Mahavastra & Shreephal are the contents of the awards.

          The Arya Chanakya Maharashtra Rajya Award  conferring ceremony will be celebrated on Saturday, 3rd Dec. 2016 at 11-00 a.m. in Swami Vivekananda Auditorium, MIT Campus, Kothrud, Pune.

          Hon. Shri. Ramraje Naik –Nimbalkar,  Chairman, Legislative Council of Maharashtra & Hon.Dr. Kodela Shivprasad Rao, President, Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh will be present as honorable guests of the function.

          The function will be presided by Prof. Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad, Founder Director, MAAER’s MIT, Pune.

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Nikhat Zareen claims Bronze at Senior Nationals

JSW-supported boxer Nikhat Zareen bowed out of the 1stElite Women's Senior Nationals in the semifinal stage, in Haridwar. The 20-year-old had previously beaten Assam's Manju Basumatary with a 5-0 victory in the third round but a superior boxer in Haryana's Neeraja meant a 4-1 loss for Nikhat, who settled for Bronze in the 51-kg fly-weight category.

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Who rule Maharashtra - Babus or Ministers?

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has complained that many bureaucrats in his administration moved slowly and were not cooperating with his government's initiatives which ultimately hampered the people's works. He made the grievance publicly during a program in Nagpur and his comments attracted intense displeasure from the bureaucracy.  

Even political analysts and opposition leaders saw this complaint as a lame excuse by Fadnavis for many of the failures of his government. However, he could be forgiven for putting up a strong sentiment among the public on a public forum. Just a little more than a year, people watched him launch one after another attack on the ruling parties, when he was leader of opposition and state president of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Fadnavis is a very youthful CM and the citizens expected him to lead an enthusiastic and active government. However, ever since he sworn in on October 31 last year, his government was perceived going slow and having a staggered journey.  One reason for this laggardness was the constant opposition by the 'ally' Shiv Sena and another was the non-cooperation from babus.

After decades of Congress rule, these babus became very cosy with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. Except for four and half years’ rule of SS-BJP during intervening years, the officers enjoyed patronage and company of Congress leaders. Even today, they are uneasy to work with any other dispensation and many of them are said to be taking orders from former rulers. The people having their ears to the state secretariat in Mumbai even vouch that many of the bureaucrats routinely jest on their new masters.

Not that the mandarins in Mantralaya were quite competent during Congress rule or moved in haste during those years. Even when Congress was in power, the bureaucracy, in true Indian fashion and largely following the British tradition, worked at an excruciating pace. Some CMs tried to change this situation and were successful to an extent after acquiring stern postures over the years.

A. R. Antulay was one of such ruler who tried to rein in the babus and left his stamp on the administration. Antulay was known as a dynamic politician and attracted fame for his prompt and efficient decision-making. Not only he decided on matters instantly, he looked to it that they were implemented to the core. Shankarrao Chavan and Sharad Pawar came to be known as good administrators during their tenures as CMs. In fact, Chavan was so demanding in his functioning that he came to be called as Head Master.

Sadly, the latter CMs could not keep up the tempo and secretary-level officials got hold on the functioning of the government. Matters only got worsened during last two decades. 

The matters were confounded by the fact that most members of the BJP-SS cabinet, which is in place at the moment, are first-timers. CM Fadnavis himself leads the charge in this regard also. Eknath Khadse, the lone BJP minister in his cabinet who held the post during the saffron alliance’s last government from 1995-99, has not helped the matter in any way as he has not recovered yet from his fretting for not being made CM in Fadnavis’ place.

Thus, babus take advantage of their increase and they have the field left open for them as they claim more experience than the elected representatives who are technically their superiors. This has led to wrangling between two these arms of the government. It manifested some months ago when Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam kept thousands of files in limbo and refused to sign on them as secretary of his ministry wanted powers to sign on them. 

It took CM Fadnavis himself to intervene in favor of his cabinet colleague. However, the episode only reinforced the theory that the political and administrative branches of the government do not share bonhomie. No surprise then that governance has taken a beating in the Maharashtra and people are openly asking – who rules the state?

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Where was your dharma then?

It is a common practice during the hunt that some men are used to create noise and push the prey towards a specific direction. The animal is taken towards a spot where it can be hunted be easily. The tamasha of returning awards, which the recipients got during earlier regimes, brings to memory the same practice. The self-styled authors and artists are crying hoarse in unison so that noise is created, government is forced to go in a particular direction and then it would be easier to hunt it down.

Those who are taking out their awards from the cupboards so that they could be returned claim that the freedom of expression is been curtailed in the country and the Fascist ideology is on the rise. Had they any iota of truth in their claim, one would have heed them seriously. However, the truth is otherwise. The questions are being raised on the hypocrisy of those who are shouting from their rooftops and these questions are being raised by none others than the one-time victims of their six-decade long hegemony.

“The same people who are raising voice for freedom of expression today controlled the fields of intellectual discussion and education. They had the monopoly. They made it their mission to trample any other thought than theirs. Where was their concern for the freedom of expression then,” asked noted Kannada writer S. L. Bhayrappa in Pune recently. Do the champions of free speech have any answer to this question?

Bhayrappa is not just another writer. He is among the pinnacles of the modern Kannada literature. His novels have established records in terms of popularity, sale and the appreciation of the critics, not only in Kannada but also in Indian literature. Every type of dirty trick was used to keep any government recognition or award from him.

Patil Puttappa is a noted Kannada writer and journalist. When Bhayrappa was sidelined and Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar was awarded the Jnanpith Award four years ago, he openly said that a “big lobby was behind the selection of the awardee”.

Another noted writer Girish Karnad had come to Pune three years ago when he was asked a question about Bhayrappa. At that time, he had said, “Bhayrappa writes well, but he was swayed by Hindutva”. Thus, it doesn't matter what or how the author has wRritten, the only important point was that which ideology he followed.

This is why it assumes extra edge when Bhayrappa says that he was the victim of the suppression of free speech by the Leftists and they had no right to speak about of the freedom of expression. No more elaboration is needed about the inherent motives of the pre-planned outrage of the Leftists.

This was not the first sledgehammering on the one-sided love for freedom of expression of the Leftists. One such voice had come forward last month even before this bout of coordinated campaign of returning the awards started.

That was the voice of Prof. Sheshrao More. Prof. More is known for his extraordinary research on contemporary issues and mainly for his books on Veer Sawarkar which seek to change established conventions of the great freedom fighter and thinker. Besides them, he has written books on Kashmir, revolt of 1857 (which he says was a jihad and corroborates it with proofs) and the partition of India. Such is his exquisite detailing and solid writing, that a challenge was put at the time of third book that if anybody comes forward to refute claims in this book, another book on it would be published.

But alas, Prof. More refuses to portray Nehru as hero and Leftists as prophets of progressive thoughts, hence he was almost ostracized by the intellectuals in Maharashtra. However, last month, he was the President of the Vishwa Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Andaman and he fired first salvo on the hypocrisy of the seculars.

While attacking the self-styled progressives, he coined a term the Terrorism of Progressives which created a flutter in the progressive camp. Then either Prog. More was overlooked or he was termed a Hinduist. However, Prof. More was saying the same thing what Bhayrappa said recently and that many in the past said - the Leftists' love for freedom of expression was not absolute. It comes to fore only when their voice becomes feeble.

As for Maharashtra, there is another famous example in the form of late P. B. Bhave. Considered one of the four pioneers of the new age short story in Marathi, Bhave never received the acclaim he deserved mainly because he was a Hinduist writer, proud follower of Veer Sawarkar. What is more, when he was the president of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1977, the literary meet itself was thwarted. None of the artist or author fel free speech having been curtailed then. It was only since last year, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, that they felt country was filled with the atmosphere of hatred.

This is very reminiscient of the Karna, who invoked the Dharma, when the wheel of his chariot got damaged. The question which Krishna and Arjun put before him then can be put today to the Leftists, Socialists and the self-styled intellectuals - Where was your dharma then?

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Allies Keep Their Honor Intact

It was no less than a clash of titans and the whole of Maharashtra, at least the Maharashtra that takes interest in politics, was looking at it anxiously. The Kalyan Dombiwali Municipal Corporation's election promised a close, almost bloody fight and it turned out to be so. However, in the end, both the two parties could claim final victory but managed to keep their honor intact.

Even though Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party share the power in the state and the center, neither of the parties shares cordial relations. Not that they had sweet memories of their co-habitation for the last 25 years, but their relations have touched ridiculously low during last one year. Ever since severing ties in last October, none of the saffron party has made any sincere attempt of reconciliation. Even after seating side by side in the state cabinet, they have not really accepted each other. Therefore, when these two allies faced each other in KDMC election, all eyes were set on what ensured to be the fireworks.

The campaigning for the election lived up to that promise. Both Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis left no stone unturned and indulged in freestyle wrestling with their verbal attacks. Cases of attacks, on the workers from and by both parties, were reported and registered. Even bullets were fired before ballots and the politics in this neighboring city of Mumbai turned bloody.

In the final phase of the campaigning, the fight became even murkier as Thackeray and Fadnavis dropped all pretentions and indulged in mud slinging. The verbal duel led to some uncharacteristic remarks as well by Fadnavis.

However, as results rolled out from the electronic voting machines on Monday, Shiv Sena seemed to edge past winning post during the early rounds and BJP managing to post honorable tally. However, the dance of democracy could be seen in full vigor by late afternoon, as Shiv Sena remained 10 seats away from the majority and BJP almost running neck to neck to it. It is clear that Shiv Sena will be able to muster majority, with the help from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and independents, while BJP can boast of increased strength - its tally having gone up to 42 from the 9.

Neither Shiv Sena lost its hold on the backyard of Mumbai, its strong bastion literally, nor BJP was wiped out before the former's blitzkrieg. All other parties, including Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, MNS and others just drifted away in the barrage of these two parties; and meanwhile, Majlis-E-Ittehad-ul-Musalmin got away with two seats in its first ever test of strength. That was the real danger bell for the self-proclaimed 'secular' parties! 

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