JUNGLE BOOK-- VANAR RAJ

WITH SINCERE APOLOGIES TO RUDYARD KIPLING.

We pick up the story some years later from where Rudyard Kipling left it. Mowgli had come back to the forest, unable to adjust in the maddening world outside the jungle. At least the 'law of the Jungle' prevailed inside the jungle, while outside, well.....

Since humans had ensured that massive encroachment had been undertaken on forest land leading to deforestation,there were only patches of forest land (vanas) available in the country. After the demise of Sher Khan in the struggle with Mowgli, the central authority which kept everybody in check had fallen away leading to a virtual free for all. Finally the monkeys prevailed, and now lorded over all the vanas. Balloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, the faithful companions and guide of Mowgli, had retreated into the background and were leading the life of a recluse. Kaa the snake had been skinned alive by some humans because its skin made good purses for the ladies in Europe (PETA had not been born and Maneka Gandhi was still a model).

The anarchy in the vanas had reached such a stage that the monkeys of one vana were completely opposed to the monkeys of another one, and continued in their diatribe against each other. Each monkey leader claimed to be the real protector of the rights of the animals, but in reality cared two hoots for them. Not a cry was raised in protest when monkeys from the vanas of neighbouring countries raided the vanas of Bharat, and caused indescribable mayhem, for example these 'atanki' vanaras as they were called, set termites on tree branches which would break off at the slightest weight causing loss of life and property. No monkey clan was confident as to whether it could sleep peacefully on the same tree after return from their daily activity of harassing other animals. But no monkey talked about this 'atankawad' ,as they were too busy fighting amongst themselves.

At this very time in the vana of Rashtra Maha (remember we are talking of the sub divisions of Bharat Vanas) lived an upstart monkey by the name of VANAR RAJ. Vanar Raj incidentally belonged to the clan of another ferocious monkey BAL BAL BACH GAYE (Saved by the skin of the teeth), who was famous for his imitation of the voice of the roaring Lion. Well actually the roar was more of a purring of a cat, but as who is to bell a cat, who could dare to say the truth in front of B.B.B.Gaye .But the animals had a good laugh behind his back.

Vanar Raj always had dreams of emulating Bal Bal in scaring animals and causing havoc in the forest, but since primates are the predecessors of human beings, there are certain qualities in common, like filial affection overpowering bhai bhatijawad. So in this case, the claim of Vanar Raj in leading the hordes in causing destruction in Vana Rashtra Maha was superseded by the son of Bal, which led to resentment in the mind (or whatever he had) of Vanar Raj. He shrieked,bit,attacked but to no avail. Bal would not give way.

Seeing the wisdom of Bal in sidelining this upstart who in order to please Bal had started imitating the roar of Lion (the animals would have died of laughing at two cats,instead of one ), the animals gave a sigh of relief and said 'bal bal bach gaye' (saved by the skin of the teeth).

But Vanar Raj bided his time.

In the meanwhile Mowgli had fallen onto bad times. In the vanas of Vihara and Uttam Pradesh where he divided his time, monkeys of equal ferocious nature ruled. These monkeys were even worse than the monkeys of Rashtra Maha as they did nothing for the animals inhabiting these vanas. Vihar Vana was ruled by a very shrewd monkey Balloo bandar and Uttam Pradesh was ruled by a female monkey Khayawati who was legendary for her elephant like memory. Khayawati spent all her time in trying to hunt down her adversaries, the Siamese twin monkeys Motu and Chotu, her populace be damned.

Balloo bandar had become the darling of all the vanas because of his antics, which in reality was a cover up for his failure to perform his duties as the ruler of the vanas. He had even devoured the fodder meant for the horses and cows. But very shrewdly covered it up with his buffoonery. Mowgli loved Balloo for his antics,inspite of Bagheera warning him against falling for this theatrics."A leader should be known for his vision and care for his praja, rather than his jokes" Bagheera would say whenever Mowgli went to see him, " a leader fooling his people with jokes, is a dangerous leader", Bagheera would say drawing on his huge experience coupled with his love for the vanas. Mowgli, who was enamoured by the wit of Balloo the bandar,thought of Bagheera as a cantankerous old animal,whenever he said so. "Maybe he is jealous of Balloo the bandar", Mowgli would say to himself.

Animals in these vanas had been divided into sects based on their colour,teeth and other such outward manifestations. For example a tiger with 10 stripes was categorised as a different sect from the one with 9 stripes, a brown coloured wolf was informed about him being different from a light brown coloured one. These monkeys did not care about deforestation, encroachment and stuff. Neither did they care to appreciate the merit of the brave animals who thought about the betterment of the vanas.

Resultantly, the humans started encroaching into the vanas, and fruits and other products in the food chain started declining rather appreciably in the vanas of Vihara and Uttam Pradesh. The animals per force started to migrate towards the vanas of Rashtra Maha where things were relatively better, in spite of Vanar Raj and his cohorts.

But these migrant animals met with stiff resistance in the Vanas of Rashtra Maha. "You will take away our food", "you will spoil the environment in our vana",was some of the responses they faced. " Our Vana Manoos will be deprived of their due", shrieked Vanar Raj.

Mowgli was respected by the animals (apart from the monkeys, who looked at him as a threat) , and it is to him they turned towards in this hour of threat. " Do not worry,they are our brothers,they will not harm us", Mowgli would console them as well as himself.

Bagheera and Balloo (the bear,not the bandar) begged to differ. "Mowgli, you have the brains as well as the brawns to resist this injustice, if you do not rise now, it will be too late",they would advice.

But Mowgli paid no heed. He was busy enjoying the laughter challenge of Balloo the bandar and the vendetta saga of Khayawati, which was propagated to far corners of the vana through the medium of the speaking parrots,the Cockatoos.

Nature has the strange habit of getting even with people who do not pay attention to their environment, and so it happened to Mowgli. Things which were bad to start with started getting worse. The antics of Balloo the bandar and Khayawati along with the massive helping hand of Chotu and Motu ensured that the food chain was massively disrupted in Vihar and Uttam Pradesh vanas. Even ripe fruits were in scarcity,and whatever was available was devoured by followers of the leaders,leaving the other animals in the lurch.

The news soon reached these Vanas about some ripe fruits which were on offer in Rashtra Maha vana. Mowgli made up his mind about trying to get some ripe fruits on offer along with other timid animals who were however apprehensive of Vanar Raj and his aptly named Vanar Sena.

But hunger does strange things to even the most scared of animals. So the animals made up their mind to try their luck. Bagheera and Balloo the bear came to see off Mowgli and the other animals before they proceeded. There was no sign of Balloo the bandar, who as the Cockatoos informed was busy challenging Vanar Raj to a verbal duel. Mowgli felt the pangs of guilt about his previous inference about Bagheera when he had warned him about Balloo the bandar. He hugged Bagheera and wept openly. But being a human he was still ashamed of accepting his mistake openly.

Bagheera, however understood.

" Go my son and may the almighty be with you", Bagheera said," and remember the simple fact that Bharat vana is one and belongs to all of us, so do not be scared of anybody."

Mowgli and the other animals reached Rashtra Maha vana with trepidation. Expectedly, an extremely hostile reception awaited them.

" Go back you hungry animals", the members of Vanar Sena shrieked,"why don't you eat fruits in your vana rather than take away fruits from our Vana Manoos?" they continued.

The trembling animals of Vihar Vana and Uttam Pradesh vana looked towards Mowgli in askance. After all being human he was expected to face these tricky situations with his intellect and courage.

For the first time in his life Mowgli felt helpless. He had refused to listen to Bagheera when he spoke of the dangers of accepting charlatans as leaders, and now the chickens had come home to roost. Mowgli had made the policy of silence into a virtue and only laughed at Balloo the bandar's antics and discussed Khayawati's revenge. He had never given thought for the betterment of his vana. Now he realized that animals like Balloo the bandar laughed at animals like him rather than with them . But it was too late now. He and his friends were hungry.

Mowgli mustered courage and spoke, " we are hungry and there are no fruits in our vanas,not even ripe ones. And we will not eat all the ripe fruits in your vana, as there is plenty for everybody. For the sake of uniformity, we can have a competition where everybody gets an equal opportunity to eat these ripe fruits. If your animals can eat more ripe fruits,we will not protest and go back"

It sounded like a sane solution. The animals looked in awe towards Mowgli.

The Vanar sena was nonplussed.They had not expected any resistance from these weaklings. They looked towards each other. Bullies really do not know how to react in case of resistance. They are mighty only when not opposed.

" So competition is what you want, eh?" a voice rang out !!

The vanar sena suddenly parted and gave way, VANAR RAJ had arrived.

Surprisingly, Mowgli felt no fear. He had expected Vanar Raj to be a mighty warrior from the description of the Cockatoos, but he seemed like any other monkey.

" Why do you come so afar to eat fruits meant for our vana manoos ?" Vanar Raj's tone was threatening ," why don't you stay in your vanas and eat the fruits available there", Vanar Raj continued.

"Because there is nothing available there, and isn't Rashtra Maha vana part of Bharat vanas, so why this discrimination?" Mowgli countered.

" So why don't you tell your leaders there to make fruits available in your vanas also, but you will not do that, will you? You will simply come to our vanas and eat whatever is available here. I will not let that happen anymore!" Vanar Raj was emphatic in his statement.

Mowgli could sense that Vanar Raj had a point, for monkeys like Balloo, Khayawati, Chotu, Motu and their ilk had simply exploited the resources available in their vanas and done absolutely nothing for their improvement. The fruit crop had simply dwindled without any body giving a damn. But Mowgli also realized that it was no use blaming these selfish individuals for it was humans like him and other mute animals who had given them a free run. nobody had dared to question their actions in time and now .........

But there was no way back, " I know that we have not stood up to our leaders, but fact also remains that you too do not have the interests of the common animal at your heart when you stop us from eating fruits, for all these vanas belong to all of us, and you have no business to stop us from eating fruits available here. What happens if tomorrow we stop animals from your vanas entering our vanas on any filmsy context. I request you to desist from dividing animals. The Bharat vanas are under threat from humans, vanas of neighbouring countries. Let us stay united rather than fight amongst ourselves", Mowgli said.

" How dare you, you impudent human! Now even you have started speaking like a leader. And I cannot have two leaders in the same vana. This vana is for our vana manoos. Be prepared to face the consequences if you don't vacate our vana immediately," Vanar Raj showed all his teeth in anger. His cohorts started shrieking in unison. The atmosphere was very scary.

The animals of Vihar vana and Uttam Pradesh vana were scared. After all no Balloo the bandar or Khayawati would come to save them, neither would they give them fruits if they went back.The choice was between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Mowgli knew that the moment of truth had arrived. Regrettably, he realized that things would have been different, if he had paid heed to the advice of Bagheera and acted accordingly. Monkeys of the sort of Vanar Raj , Balloo, Khayawati etc.cannot be allowed to control the destiny of the vanas, for they have no thing except their own interests to serve.

Then the Vanar Sena attacked. The rest of the animals of Vihar Vana and Uttam Pradesh ran helter skelter. The attack was most severe on Mowgli, for Vanar Raj knew where the real danger emanated from. They tried to tear off the chaddi (loin cloth) of Mowgli for it was the only possession he had. The chaddi covered his modesty, self esteem, self respect. Vanar raj knew that a self respecting individual who had loads of confidence and self esteem was dangerous.

Mowgli fought with all his courage and strength.He was surprised to discover the strength he never realized he had. Maybe a cause gives you the power to fight back. But it was difficult to fight such monsters all alone, for his friends had abandoned him.

But true friend don't abandon you, do they? Just as Mowgli felt that he was going to be overpowered, help arrived in the form of Bagheera and Balloo the bear. United they fought back the attack of the Vanar Sena and retreated gracefully. In the heat of the battle, Mowgli thought that he saw Balloo the bandar, Khayawati, Chotu and Motu arrive on the scene and join hands with Vanar Raj. Mowgli thought that he was hallucinating due to fatigue and consoled himself.......Was he ??????

Mowgli is now recovering his strength and learning the nuances of vanahood under the able guidance of Bagheera and Balloo the bear.

Vanar Raj, Balloo the bandar, Khayawati, Chotu and Motu are getting sleepless nights over the comeback of Mowgli.

A man awake is a man dangerous.

EK APRINDA HAI SHARMINDA, THA WO NANGA ! AJI IS SE TO ANDE KE ANDAR THA WO CHANGA ! SOCH RAHA HAI BAHAR AAKHIR KYON NIKLA HAI!! ARRE CHADDI PAHAN KE PHOOL KHILA HAI .............

Disclaimer : This is a work of fiction. However my apologies to sentiments of the monkeys hurt unintentionally.

THE WAIVER

NEWS REPORT: CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER PRAFFUL PATEL MIFFED AT CABINET COLLEAGUES

Excerpts from an interview given by the civil aviation minister Shri Prafful Patel to a newspaper, "I am very disappointed with some central ministries and state governments for not lowering tax rates and jet fuel prices. Tomorrow if planes stop flying, who will be responsible?"

Cut to a scene in front of the residence of the minister, two days later.

There is a chaotic situation in front of the residence with a group of farmers trying to enter the residence and the entry to the residence of the 'People's Representative' being barred by extremely hostile security personnel, as usual. The news reaches the Head Quarters of a 24 hours news channel and immediately a posse of electronic media personnel reach the residence of the Hon'ble. Sensing that this could provide sufficient material for the news channels to broadcast throughout the day, and furthermore with the Lok Sabha elections around the corner,the support staff of the minister relents and permits the group of farmers to enter the residence. Apparently, facing the group of 50 farmers is easier than managing the negative fallout of the media coverage, or so the staff presume.

However the minister acquiesces to meet only the leader of the group. Eknath, the leader of the group is ushered into the study of the minister. The minister enters the room accompanied by his O.S.D (Officer on special duty) who is an IAS officer, on deputation to work with the minister.

After the initial exchange of pleasantries, the minister who does not appear very pleased at the sight of Eknath, who is wearing a simple shirt and trouser to go along with his down town sandals, asks "Yes Eknath, tell me about the purpose of your visit. But please tell me about yourself before you begin."

" I am the Pradhan of the village Dhulepur in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, which is in the Vidarbha region of the state", Eknath who looked no more than 30-35 years of age, began speaking.

The O.S.D was startled at the mention of the name of the village and whispered something into the ear of the minister, who looked keenly at Eknath.

"Accha, the same village which was put up for sale by its inhabitants and where farmers organised a protest by offering their kidneys for sale", The minister enquired.

"Yes sir", Eknath replied.

"Strange people, OK tell me, what brings you people to meet me?" the minister was curious.

" Because you are the last remaining hope we have", Ekanth replied.

"Come again! Hope !! My dear friend, I am the Civil aviation minister, not the Agriculture minister. It appears that you have come to the wrong address," the minister sounded pleased for getting free from these villagers so soon.

" No sir, I have come to the right place. It is you who we wanted to meet. And before you feel puzzled, let me tell you that we were impressed by the concern you showed for the well being of the aviation sector. Not many ministers are going to risk a confrontation with their colleagues in the manner you did, through your interview", Eknath clarified.

The minister as is their wont, was pleased at this appreciation, "Yes, yes, I said what I felt. After all Jet Airways had laid off 1900 employees in one day due to losses caused by faulty practices by the govt. towards this fledgling sector. I had to intervene on behalf of these people and get them reinstated. The aviation industry is being bled to death. They have sought for a bailout plan of Rs. 4700 crores and the govt. is dithering over this proposal. The aviation sector is like the new born baby which needs caring and caressing by its mother," the minister was emphatic in his statement.

The OSD as is their wont, nodded in deep appreciation. Eknath felt that he saw tears in the eye of the OSD after the minister finished speaking.

"Baby indeed, Mr. Minister, but what about the elders in the family? I want you to speak about the elders in the family too," Eknath spoke respectfully.

"Elders? What elders?", the minister was confused, "Arre, I was giving an example. You see this is how economists speak. They make you understand economics through lucid examples".

"I know sir, I am a post graduate in Economics from Delhi School of Economics. Incidentally my Ph.D is on 'Rural economics in Independent India', so I know a bit of economics," Eknath was one confident individual.

The O.S.D nearly fell from the chair on hearing Eknath's credentials.

The minister was also mighty impressed.

" So what are you doing there in the village ? " the minister enquired.

" Well, doing my bit for the country!" Eknath was quite clear about his priorities, "anyway sir, as you wanted to know about the elders in the family whom I want you to stand up for, let me tell you that I was referring to the Agriculture sector. I think you would agree that if Civil aviation is the baby then agriculture is the elder in the family. Isn't it your responsibility to protect the elders along with the babies ? Agreed that we should be worried about 1900 employees losing their jobs, but shouldn't we also be worried about more than 1100 farmers committing suicide in the Vidarbha region, this year alone? Aren't lives equally important?"

"But the Finance Minister has provide waivers for the agriculture sector in this years budget. The govt. is equally concerned about the farming sector, my friend. You needn't worry!" the O.S.D put in his bit.

"Needn't worry!!! Sir do you realize that thousands of farmers are taking their own lives not only in Vidarbha, but places like Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh and many other parts of the country", Eknath countered.

" But the Finance minister has provided waivers, hasn't he?", the O.S.D countered.

"The loan waivers offered by the Finance Minister were a sham !" Eknath retaliated.

" Sham! You know what you are talking about, young man?" The minister retorted.

" I do Sir, and I will tell you how", Eknath continued, "the Finance minister sanctioned loan waivers for the farmers who had taken loan from banks and who were having a land holding of more than two hectares ."

" So what else do you want? You want the govt. to write off all the loans taken by farmers irrespective of their assets . Why do farmers only whine and make no efforts to improve their lot?", the O.S.D was being cheeky.

This infuriated Eknath, but years spent in the rural country side had taught him to patient with this govt.machinery. Their indifference and apathy towards the agriculture sector had led it to ruin. After all hadn't the C.M of Maharashtra, Vilas Rao Deshmukh at a public meeting in Vidarbha called the farmers 'lazy', thereby insinuating that they were to themselves to be blamed for their misfortune. So Eknath understood that this 'farmers not working' bit was a bureaucratic mindset. These bureaucrats after their initial 'training' schedule in the villages, which was compulsory, abhorred the sight of the villages.

" Why do people like Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya whine and not do something about their business ventures? Why does the govt. sneeze when these individuals catch cold?" Ekanath returned the favour.

The O.S.D was flabbergasted. "How dare you! What do you mean? You mean...." the O.S.D was incoherent. He had not expected this riposte from Eknath.

" I mean what I say. You politicians are so worried about the failure of a 'bad' business model that you are willing to invest 'public money' collected in the form of taxes from the common people to bail out industrialists. Just a few months back you were going gaga over the success of the Civil aviation sector. What happened in the interim, sir? And by the way did these Hon'bles share their profits with the public when they were making money?If not, why should the public money be used to bail them out?" Eknath queried.

"But didn't they provide cheap tickets @Rs500, so that the common people could travel by airways?" the minister was back at his populist best.

"That was simply bad policies sir. And by the way did the common man plead before them for air travel. You as well as I know that these measures were taken to entice a new generation of travellers to air travel, so that people could get hooked up and not mind paying up Rs. 10,000 for the next round of travel. Now when the policy has backfired, the Govt wants to bail them out. Will you now bail out the street corner grocer if he starts doling out freebies to his consumer and then his business collapses? For nearly two decades the theory of 'free businees' without any govt. control was flouted, and unbridled consumerism encouraged. Now suddenly we get back to 'Socialism being best for the country', do we? " Eknath was now flowing like the monsoon river in spate, " the Hon'ble Vijay Mallya has brought a Formula 1 Racing team, took over Deccan Airways, is on the verge of buying an English Football club, got into a spree of buying air crafts and what not, but now needs the common man's money to finance his extravagances. Is this not a joke?"

"But haven't the farmers been provided the loan waivers? Shouldn't you be content?" the minister tried to change track.

" So let me now tell you about the sham which I was earlier referring to. The Finance Minister announced farm loan waivers for farmers with land holdings of more than 2 hectares, whereas an average land holding size in Vidarbha is 3.03 acres or 7.5 hectares. 50% of the farmers own land which is larger than which applies for the waiver. There are Adivasis who own around 10 hectares of land. But the ground reality is that most of the land is unproductive and unirrigated. For those with over two hectares, there is the old deal of 'one-time settlement' of their bank loans. In this case, if they repay 75 per cent of the loan, they will be given a rebate of 25 per cent. Only very large farmers will gain from this. If the farmers could pay 75 per cent of their dues, they wouldn't be committing suicide. Furthermore those farmers who fall within the two-hectare limit, only a small group has access to bank credit. Factually the private money lenders rule the roost and there is no respite for the farmers from these blood suckers" Eknath emphasised.

The O.S.D felt a certain dryness in throat. He prayed that the minister would not ask him to counter this heavy duty stuff, for he had no idea as regards to this. This Eknath nuisance had to be gotten rid off, and gotten rid fast.

But there was no way Eknath could be stopped," And Mr.Minister what I am stating is from the govt. records and can be corroborated from there. The waiver will simply benefit farmers in Western Maharashtra i.e the sugarcane belt which belongs to the agriculture minister. So while Vidarbha and Anatpur burn, you send the fire brigade to fill a swimming pool. ingenious isn't it?"

The minister had by now lost patience with this young man," So you want the govt. to pardon all the bad debt of the agriculture sector,don't you. Farmers will take loan and then not pay back, isn't it? And we suppose we close down all other industries?" the minister now resorted to sarcasm.

" Sir how long will you people keep on playing industry against agriculture? Can both of them not be partners in progress? The development of any economy cannot be predicated on any one sector. Both swim or sink together. Let me remind you that the development of the country has its genesis in the First Green revolution. The rural sector gradually developed and subsequently the industry and the manufacturing sector reaped its benefits some time later on. You cannot sell anything if the consumer does not have the power to buy it. Isn't it? And let me remind you that the nationalised banks 'write off'' bad debts to the tune of thousands of crores every year. And incidentally most of this debt is owned by industrialists who are pretty awesome names and a regular on the political circuit. Do I need to remind you that bad debt to the tune of 60 crores was written of for a Ketan Parikh company, sometime in 2004. But when it comes to farmers it becomes 'bad debt'!!"

Eknath could not be stopped. The common man was fighting back," Sir the govt. provides around Rs. 50 worth subsidy on an LPG cylinder and acts as if it is doing the consumers a favour, but then on the other hand you people call for reduction of taxes on ATF without a care in the world. Why are corporate interests flouted as public interests? Yesterday I heard the owner of a travel company on TV referring to the fact that if the airlines stop functioning some body's sick mother will not be able to be taken for treatment of Cancer to the TATA memorial Hospital in Mumbai."

"He was right , wasn't he?" the O.S.D retorted.

"Mr. OSD, if you wish you could accompany me to any primary health centre in the country and locate one doctor who is on duty for more than two days in a week, for a few hours at the most. Do you even know or think of this fact . And how many people in this country can afford air travel, even if for the sake of argument, however flawed, that tickets will be available at Rs. 500 with govt assistance. Get real Sir!" Eknath spoke.

The minister and his lackey were by now exasperated, so what do you want?" the minister said.

" Nothing, now my suspicion is confirmed When you people never felt any pain when we villagers offered our villages or kidenys for sale to highlight our grievances, what can you do anyway? You people cannot or are not willing to do anything for the common masses of the country who toil away honestly, at whatever they do. Expecting you people to show concern and act accordingly, is like asking an Eskimo to sell air conditioners. The only hope is for the people to stand up for themselves. Looking in askance towards the govt.will not suffice. But that will also take some doing since they have been alienated from each other in the name of caste, religion, industry, farmer,rural, urban. But people like me will keep working till that happens and happen it definitely will !!" Eknath was patience personified.

Just then the OSD's cellphone rang, " Ji Mallya sahab, yes we are on the way. I know your personal aircraft is waiting for us. So sorry to keep you waiting. You see, there has been a needless delay......"

Ekanth by then was on his way back, Sprite as ever, head held high.

NIRBAL KI LADAI BALWAN SE, YE KAHANI HAI DIYE KI AUR TOOFAN KI (This is a fight between the weak and the mighty, this is a story of the lamp and the storm)

Disclaimer: This discussion never took place and is a work of fiction . But then again, this discussion is taking place in the hearts of millions of Indians or so I feel.

Note: The post is inspired by the tremendous work of Shri P.Sainath of the newspaper THE HINDU, who is fighting a lonely battle (amongst the media) for the agricultural sector. My salutations.

SECULARISM --INDIAN VERSION

SECULARISM: The belief that consideration of the present well being of Mankind should take precedence over religious considerations in civil affairs or public education. (source : Webster's dictionary)

THE BACKGROUND

The Constitution of India was passed by the Constituent Assembly on November, 1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950. It declared The Union of India to be a sovereign, democratic, republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty; the words "socialist" and "secular" were added to the definition in 1976 by the 42nd constitutional amendment, during the emergency imposed by Smt. Indira Gandhi.

The premise with which we start this discussion leads us to believe that India adopted Secularism as a matter of state policy subsequent to the year 1976, when it was incorporated as a part of our Constitution. The fact that the founding fathers of the Constitution did not find it necessary to introduce this belief as a matter of state policy speaks volumes with regards to the fact of the concept of Secularism being part of the Indian psyche and engrained in our thoughts, and therefore needing no further assertion.

History is witness to the fact that theocracy was never a part of the policy/affairs of the Indian state from times immemorial. Although religion played a very important role in the lives of the citizens, it was kept away from the affairs of the state. The state per se remained completely Secular. Religion remained restricted to the temples and other places designated for it, the Purohit remained separate from the Mantri. India never fought Crusades for the sake of propagating religion.

In fact, the only period of time when the state propagated a particular religion as a matter of state policy was when Ashoka endorsed Buddhism. Ashoka after his experience during the Kalinga war used his army for the propagation of the edicts of Buddhism. One of the major reasons for the decline and fall of the Mauryan empire could be attributed to this intertwining of religion and the state.

In India although the stress was laid on the concept of Dharma, this dharma pertained to duties rather than religion. A king was supposed to adhere to his Rajya dharma, i.e his duties and obligations towards his people and not religion.

THE IMPLEMENTATION

1989 remains a watershed year for the 'Secularism' we witness today. An elderly Muslim lady, Shah Bano sought alimony from her husband. The case had been in the courts for years. In 1989, the Supreme court applying section 125 of the Criminal procedure code, granted her alimony. All hell then broke loose, since there was no common law for personal matters, the Hindu personal act applied for Hindus and the Muslim personal law for the Muslims. Even today, the country does not have a common codified civil law.

The erstwhile Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi initially made a spirited defence of the Court's ruling. Arif Mohd. Khan, a minister in the ruling govt. made an impassionate appeal in the Parliament in support of the Court's decision. But this spirit soon evaporated and life was back to square one. The P.M backed out in the face of resistance from the fundamentalists. That he was under fire politically, because of the Bofors issue did not help matters. The govt. brought in an amendment to annul the court's ruling. Shah Bano was not the only looser in this charade. The fundamentalists had smelt blood. The message that votes matter much more than policy was affirmed.

Secularism could wait, Elections could not !!

Bending down before fundamentalists is a double edged sword, for you cannot be seen to be pandering to one community only, since it is not one community alone which makes the hard walk to the voting booth.

The late Rajiv Gandhi started his election campaign later that year from Ayodhya with a call to usher in 'Ram Rajya', the very idea of which was anathema to his grandfather, Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first P.M of India.

The politics of fatwa made its appearance in force for the first time during the elections in 1989, when V.P Singh obtained the blessings of the Shahi Imam. Fatwas have been integral part of secular Indian polity ever since.

With the passage of time, the word Secularism has lost its meaning completely.

The govt. of India (whichever govt. it may be) pays Haj subsidy to Muslim pilgrims going on their annual Haj pilgrimage, pays subsidy to minority educational institutions whereas the law prohibits any govt. grant to institutions imparting religious education. So a school teaching Hindu scriptures does not get any grant from the govt. whereas a madarasa, teaching we all know what, gets grants from govt., ostensibly on it being a minority educational institution. The policy of Reservation does not apply to minority educational institutions.

Whatever the intention behind introducing Secularism as a part of our constitution, today it has become the last refuge of the politicians, who fall back upon the cliche of 'Secularism' while hiding their misdeeds. Therefore, the Sacchar commission can make recommendations regarding giving reservations to Muslims in govt. jobs, posting Muslim teachers in colleges in Muslim dominated areas. The pretext being that this will ensure greater representation to the minority community in govt. services and bring them into the mainstream.

The moment the idea of dividing people on the basis of religion, by providing jobs based on their religion is challenged, the person is branded as 'Communal' and treated as an outcast. No politician worth his salt is willing to answer the query regarding the necessity of reservations on the basis of religion more than 60 years of Independence. Why has no effort been made to provide quality education by the govt. schools free of cost or at subsidised rates? Quality education to all citizens irrespective of their religion would have negated the very need to reserve post for a Hindu or a Muslim. It might sound simplistic, but education open doors for progress, not Secularism as practiced by the politicians.But then again, an educated citizenry might see through this farce being played out in the name of secularism and stuff, so why educate?

The same logic of equal representation was played out during the Morley Minto reforms of 1909. The British through this reform introduced the concept of separate communal representation in the Legislative assemblies. Therefore a Muslim candidate was to be elected by Muslim voters only. The Congress opposed this move to divide people on the basis of religion, but after the Lucknow pact of 1916, acceded to this idea. The genesis of the division of the country in 1947 can be traced to this pact. But then we don't remember our History very well do we??

Even the war on terror is being seen through the prism of the so called Secularism. Therefore the Shahi Imam can come to Saraymir in Azamgarh to express his solidarity with the family of Bashir, who was arrested for the terror attacks in various parts of the nation. The Shahi Imam can then brazenly claim that Inspector M.C.Sharma who was killed in the Jamia Nagar encounter was killed by the police themselves, in order to frame the Muslims. As far as conspiracy theories go, this statement is at par with the findings of the U.C.Banerjee commission which arrived at the conclusion that the train at Godhra was burnt from the inside by the kar sevaks themselves. But any one opposing the statement of the Shahi Imam or questioning the U.C. Banerjee commission about the reason why hundreds of people surrounded the train while it burnt and not helping the burning passengers is bound to be labelled 'Communal'.

Explosions in various parts of the country have become so routine that any single day which passes of peacefully is treated as an aberration and people are apprehensive about the next day bringing something even more grave. The security agencies who as it is are undermanned, demoralised and lack clear directives, are being made to conform to the Indian standards of 'Secularism'. The National Human Rights Commission has questioned the encounter at Jamia Nagar and openly accuse the police of targeting a 'particular community'. The same people never empathise with the victims of terrorism or the Kashmiri Pandits forcibly driven away from their homes.

The proposition of targeting a particular community would have been laughable, if it was not so dangerous. My request to these Hon'bles is to look around and 'get real'. Even the progenitor of terrorism, Pakistan is feeling the heat from this Frankenstein, and so are countries like Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt. But nowhere does this shrill cry of targeting ' a particular community' while fighting terrorism raised.Bombs do not differentiate while killing innocents, be it the mosque in Hyderabad and Malegaon, or the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, or the Akshardham temple in Gujarat.

At times it appears that the bombs practice more Secularism since it does not differentiate between a Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, whereas our institutions differentiate everything into religious categories.

THE CONSEQUENCES

The Secularism being practiced in the country has resulted in dividing everything into a Hindu-Muslim issue. The vacillation by the Govt. in tackling terrorism for the sake of a vote bank has resulted in a situation wherein every Muslim is being treated as a suspect, because the common people have no faith in the determination of the political parties. A feeling has gained ground that the politicians will deal everything with their plea of 'secularism'.

It is an extremely unfortunate situation because as all Hindus cannot be categorised as nationalists, so all the Muslims cannot be categorised as terrorists. It is extremely unfair for a complete class of people to be treated as something which they definitely are not. Or maybe this is what our politicians desire. Labelling Muslims as terrorist will only consolidate the feeling of alienation and increase the ghettoisation, resulting in more votes in their favour. This marriage of convenience between Democracy and Secularism bodes ill for the future of our nation.

This hype over secularism diverts the attention of the common people from the issues at hand. Horrible roads, pathetic condition of electricity throughout the country,non existent primary health care and govt. schooling, an obsolete drainage system which results in rain water stagnating for days. The civic amneties in the country are the pits,and more so in the Muslim dominated areas. Has any custodian of Secularism ever bothered to look into this?

The idea evidently is to confuse the people over this debate and hide the inadequacy and corruption in the system. Why let people think over issues which directly affect them, clean water,health care, roads, education and stuff. Let them remain enmeshed in something which removes their focus from the issues at hand, seems to be the motto.

The other fall out of this flawed practice of Secularism has been the suppression of the moderate Muslim voices, who have retreated into the background, while the extremists take centre stage. Shah Bano was the starting point and the govt. action ( or inaction) yielded complete space to these fundamentalists. The question as to why the extremist voices are said to represent Secularism, begs an answer. The moderates are convinced that the govt. will side with the extremists when push comes to shove, so why compromise one's life and honour? An informal discussion with the editor of a leading Hyderabad Urdu daily, Siyasat Times, revealed that he had faced threats to his life while opening a call centre training centre for Muslim girls, in order to uplift their stature, not from the Hindu fundamentalists but from local Muslim fundamentalists. So much so for secularism, Indian style.

The act of the Jamia Milia University Vice Chancellor Mushirul Hasan, in deciding to fight the legal battle for the students arrested for their complicity in the terror attacks in the country is a link in the same perverted chain of 'secularism'. Agreed that everyone is innocent till proven guilty, it is still not understood that how a centrally funded University can take the onus of fighting a legal battle on behalf of these students. The money being provided to these Universities is Public Money, isn't it? We do not pay our taxes for them to be utilised in this ungainly manner, do we? Even the statement of the Vice Chancellor that they will be utilising money generated from their own resources, cuts no ice. Students getting admitted into the University are paying a subsidised fees on account of it being a Central University, and the fee is being submitted on account of them obtaining the services of a central University, nothing less and nothing more. What makes this money the private property of Jamia Milia University, Mr.Vice Chancellor? And furthermore, what message is sent to the misguided youth at large? That they are being persecuted by the state and only their fellow religionists will come for their help!

Recently an IPS officer was penalised for pointing out the anomalies of the sixth pay commission unduly in favour of the IAS officers, on the pretext of violating the Conduct rules. I wonder whether the same conduct rules apply for the Vice Chancellor, Jamia Milia University, since he for all practical purposes is a central govt. employee. But our esteemed HRD minister has publicly supported the stand of the Vice Chancellor. So much so for secularism.

The security agencies are demoralised to start of with, and such 'Secular' acts further enhances their insecurity. Why not let the law take its own course,instead of vitiating the already poor atmosphere!! Why does this country not care more for people who give up their lives at the call of their duty? How can people like the Shahi Imam raise questions, which only exacerbate the morale of the security forces, and get away without any legal or constitutional remedy for the officers? How can Ram Bilas Paswan roam around with an Osama bin Laden lookalike seeking Muslim votes, without the law taking its course? Is the minister not aware of the avowed pronouncement of this terrorist rgarding India being enemy no.1 along with U.S.A, Israel and Russia? All for the sake of 'Secularism' of course.

By the way, maybe the Vice Chancellor of the Jamia Milia University would enlighten us with the amount contributed by them for the recent horrible floods in Bihar. Or their 'Secular' hearts bleed only for a certain cause.

These so called 'Secular' acts also gives credence to the assertion of the lumpen elements on the other side of the fence, regarding the govt. taking sides. The only looser in this battle is the common law abiding citizen of the country, who only desires basic amneties, equality before law, equal opportunites irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

A truly secular concept, isn't it, but something which the politicians cannot provide, since it will eradicate the very need for their existence.