Does BJP really care about Anti-corruption?

Past

I still vividly remember the political environment from 2011 onwards when Congress was facing heat due to various corruption cases. During that time, many UPA scams erupted like a wild volcano. There was 2G scam, Coalgate, Agusta Westland chopper deal, CWG scam, Irrigation scam, Aircel-Maxis scam and many others. Congress was just not able to handle the heat generated due to these cases. 

Those days, Dr Swamy's legal activism created a pressure cooker situation for Congress. Apart from court activism, Dr Swamy's barbs at Congress worsened the situation for dynasts. His witty comments and cryptic messages created furore amongst nationalists. Dr Swamy actually dug out the entire history of Sonia Gandhi and placed it in public domain. Dr Swamy’s brutal exposure of Rahul Gandhi’s debilitated political acumen caused irreversible damage to his career. The blow was so lethal that the last scion of dynasty became a subject of mockery in India's political environment.

Especially from 2011 to 2013, Dr Swamy was all over the Indian political space. His interviews, public speeches, court battles, TV debates and Twitter interactions became a rage among the youth of India. The masses were waking up to a new reality as Dr Swamy’s ideas received grand reception. During the same time period, the leader of opposition from BJP was virtually sleeping over Congress scams. For all practical purposes, Congress didn't face meaningful criticism from BJP leaders like Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Advani. As a result, Congress could easily introduce many anti-Hindu acts during its tenure.

Dr Swamy's activism precipitated public anger to reach disproportionate levels. As a result, the public started baying for the end of Congress through slogans such as ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’. This sentiment manifested in the 2014 LS elections when Congress was comprehensively defeated by BJP. 

BJPs LS victory in 2014 was climactic because for the first time, Congress had bitten dust so badly. The expectations were high that Modi will usher in a golden era for India. His power-packed speeches exposing Congress (using Dr Swamy's anti-corruption fight) and 15 year track record as Gujarat CM made him look promising. However, this victory turned out to be anti-climax.

Present

After six years, BJP government has failed to deliver justice in corruption cases. Honest officers are shunted out or given non-serious responsibilities. For example, Mr Ashok Khemka, who exposed Vadra's land dealings in Haryana, is consistently transferred from one place to another. ED officer Rajeshwar Singh was hounded on fictitious grounds because he was seriously investigating Chidambaram's role in the Aircel-Maxis scam. Instead of promoting these officers, the govt suppressed their nationalistic endeavors. 

Moreover, crooked officers were promoted because of their affinity with a system that thrives on corruption. These pliable officers are like a double edged sword because their loyalty shifts according to the party in power. They are efficient agents of match fixing among political opponents.  

BJP effectively used investigating agencies prior to state elections and indulged in sporadic investigations just to gain electoral advantage over other parties. On the other hand, non-election time has been relatively peaceful for BJP's opponents. This is a happy agreement between BJP and Congress.

The party with a difference has adopted Congress template of governance to consolidate its hold across the country. Horse-trading, political blackmail, importing Congressmen and usurping control of state governments through unethical means have become common action points for BJP.

Amidst all this, the goal of ‘Corruption free India’ is dumped into the store room of BJP office. The rot continues to spread with the tacit support of political leaders having no desire to contain and reverse the alarming trend.

It is a misfortune of the country that nationalist agenda, so vigorously built by Dr Swamy, was first hijacked and then willfully diluted by opportunists. 

- Gaurav Bhatia

Emotions and Political Atyachaar!!

In a nation battered with lost pride due to 1,000 year of invasions and loot, being emotional is normal. However, emotions shall not camouflage logic and reality in a manner that distorts vision. Emotional Indians who perceived Congress to be largely responsible for the freedom movement, gave thumping victories to the party till 1990. However, our country suffered a great deal due to 55 years of Congress rule. Only after significant miseries, our electorate realised about Congress misdeeds.

Unfortunately, political narrative even today is dependent on emotions instead of governance & performance. Citizens are mere tools for electoral victories as they can be triggered with sentiments. This may be ideal for politicians, however, it doesn’t augur well for our nation. 

Politicians love to dramatize situations and tragedies. Exploiting mass feelings for personal benefits is a common phenomenon. In the face of negative public sentiment, unfortunate incidents become an opportunity for building a positive sentiment. Every crisis or tragedy is an image building exercise, while planning, detailing, objectives and strategies take a backseat. Rhetoric takes precedence over ground realities because winning elections is the only motive.

Elections have their own festival feeling for politicians. Grand rallies in small towns, Large hoardings across cities, Full page advertisements in print media, along with tall promises, 24/7 mud-slinging on TV channels and fallacious predictions of psephologists. People attend large rallies to listen and watch the sheer oratory and theatrics of politicians, hoping and wishing it to be true. Hope pushes people to vote and elect leaders. Hope is an antidote to real problems of citizens and in this sense, it has become a mirage. In reality, people don’t elect leaders, they elect HOPE.

Citizens have developed sharp differences resulting in strong likes and dislikes over crucial matters, which are perceived from a political lens. This results in heated debates, endless discussions and disinformation campaigns on different media platforms. Truth and reasoning has no place among citizens divided by sentiments. As a result, seeking accountability to build pressure and improve performance doesn’t seem to be a concern.

Social media platforms have also played a role in aggravating the sentiments of common citizens. Although SM platforms started out well for raising awareness among citizens, they now seem to be losing neutrality. Censoring and shadow banning of fact based hard-hitting content have become routine matters. On the contrary, these platforms have struggled to put a check on propaganda and fake news which dominate the mind-space of SM users. Increased propensity of users to accept information/news at face value has subdued reality. 

A mature electorate, which doesn’t get swayed by emotions while being focused on facts and performance, will usher a brighter future for the country, else, it will always be 'Emotions and Political Atyachaar'.

India's Awakening

India's Awakening

British empire inflicted irreparable scars on our civilization. The wounds are so deep that even after 71 years of independence, we are struggling to come to terms with our true identity as an Indian. 

The Britishers thrived not only on dividing our society in the name of religion and castes, but also fanning hatred amongst each other. This simplified their governance and helped them appear superior over us (the native Indians).

Besides societal damages, Britishers killed our flourishing agricultural sector and handicrafts industry. They imposed a flawed education system where the medium of instruction was a foreign language. 

Gurukul system of education was banished and made to look unscientific. Indians were forced to opt for British education system and those who could not cope with it, were branded as illiterates (Gawars).

Britishers established an administrative system that suited their financial objectives. It helped them to conduct organised loot of India's financial wealth through exploitation of natural resources and manpower.

A system of control that introduced harsh policies to punish Indians for non-compliance. It eliminated any chance of progress in our society. 

At the time of Independence, the govt adopted the same system. Our so called swadeshi govt allowed it to flourish and spread across the country. 

Even today, Indians are subjugated to the same British legacy that it left in 1947. Barring few exceptional decisions (such as abrogation of Article 370), we are following a defective system, which is unfriendly towards the natives.

It has facilitated organized loot, division of society and fostered inferiority syndrome amongst Indians. A full scale surgery is the need of the hour.

-- Gaurav Bhatia

What caused Shiv Sena to split from BJP

I am not a Shiv Sena empathiser nor do I approve of its recent alignment with NCP-Con to form govt in Maharashtra. In my view, SS-BJP alliance would have been the most fruitful alignment for Maharashtrians.

It is now a thing of past as SS-NCP-Con are set to form govt in the state.  However, this is not an encouraging sign for Hindutva as BJP-SS parted ways in an un-amicable way which has furthered the distrust among them.

If we analyse the root cause of current situation, we will be able to identify the reasons that widened the gap. Was it BJP that forced SS out or was it SS that cut out BJP?

To begin with, after 2014 victory, BJP miscalculated it's existing equation with SS and erred in decision-making that irritated SS leadership. For example, facilitating a secret understanding with NCP in 2014 assembly elections but later allying with SS to retain power in the state. 

BJP appointed Suresh Prabhu as railway minister, which pricked SS. Prior to Nov 2014, Suresh Prabhu was an elite member of Shiv Sena. 

SS minister, Anil Desai, was ridiculed which pushed him to return from airport without attending the swearing in ceremony of third cabinet expansion. Lastly, awarding Padma Vibhushan to Sharad Pawar, a known adversary of SS was like a nail in the coffin. 

Continuous humiliation of Shiv Sena forced it to take a more aggressive stand against BJP, which further soured the relations.

My transformation from a Non-Vegetarian to a Vegetarian

Since I belong to an Army background, eating non-vegetarian came naturally to me. Moreover, Army's culture of parties and intrinsic stress over non-veg eating activated my taste buds quite early in life. I am also from a Punjabi Khatri family where having non-veg is considered a matter of pride. This early conditioning towards non-vegetarianism deeply influenced my psyche which eventually became a strong barrier when I struggled to leave non-veg. I continued to relish non-veg (mainly chicken & goat mutton) till I was 21 years old; however, it was around this time that I seriously began to have second thoughts about it.

It all began during a post dinner family conversation over eating habits .. whether one should eat non-veg or not. Ours is a highly religious family too, so these conversations were given equal importance. My father and brother proudly stated that, in Hinduism, Kshatriyas are allowed to eat non-veg as it helps to build aggression among them. However, I countered that many Kshatriyas are not owning up to their Kshatriya Dharma in contemporary times, for example, when a weak person is beaten up or a girl is molested, how many Kshtriyas stand for their help? The answer is ZERO ... yet many of the so-called Kshtriyas rhetorically call themselves WARRIOR CLASS when it comes to non-veg eating. 

Nonetheless, non-veg began to trouble my thought-process and one fateful night I had a dream that completely shook my SOUL. Its been more than 12 years and I still vividly remember that dream ... so I will narrate the sequence to all of you. In my dream, I saw myself sailing on a boat in a rough sea. Due to the storm, my boat sank and I was eventually drowning ... I kept falling until I saw a BIG SHARK charging at me and I was shit scared. I couldn't help saving myself and the SHARK took away my entire lower body. I woke up, suddenly realizing that it was just a dream ... took a sigh of relief feeling that I am still very much alive BUT I was sweating profusely.

This dream was the TIPPING POINT .... the moment that compelled me into turning vegetarian. All other factors such as spiritual enhancement, regulated aggression, reduced lust, and healthier lifestyle had yet not surfaced my mind. Only one thing mattered to me THAT I need to save myself from that SHARK.

Phase - I

Hence began my journey towards vegetarianism. I decided not to have non-veg even if my father will home-cook it OR in case of any special occasion. The real fight began now because many in my family, particularly my father and brother actively resisted my move ... They tried to convince me with number of fallacious reasons from 'enjoying life' to our 'Kshatriya lineage' ... This entire DRAMA continued for another 1.5 years; however, I eventually gave in and started having non-veg food again...

Phase - II

By now, I had picked up a job in an MNC and here too, I met many friends who were fond of Non-veg and did not actually appreciate my viewpoint over vegetarianism. Even though I was having non-veg after 1.5 years, I wasn't relishing it anymore. So after six months, I tried leaving non-veg again ... BUT was unable to keep my promise. I was thoroughly disappointed because of my inability to resist the temptations ...

I was disappointed because even after trying to leave non-veg two times, I fell again for the trap. This repetitive behavior wasn't doing any good and my mind was in complete turmoil. Meanwhile, I wasn't enjoying my MNC job either ... so after having worked for 1.5 years ... I decided to call it quits. By the time I quit my job, I was 24 years old. 

Phase - III

Due to the stress in the job, I now wanted to head towards a HILL station to spend some time alone. This was a good decision because it helped me to improve my resistance towards non-vegetarian food. I zeroed in an isolated village in Himachal Pradesh, where I planned to stay for a period of 15 days. While I dedicated a lot of my time towards trekking and silence, I also occasionally indulged in spiritual discussions with fellow villagers. It was during such discussions that I understood the impact of non-veg diet on person's thinking and behavior. 

Meanwhile, that DREAM kept haunting me and reminding me about the LAW of KARMA. I thought its about time that I seriously give up Non-veg AND hence, began my journey towards Vegetarianism ... However, this time I succeeded in leaving it despite pressures from several quarters. 

Not only did I give up Non-veg BUT I also eventually succeeded in transforming many of my near and dear ones in giving up this kind of eating lifestyle. 

Love Jihad and its implications in the Hindu Society

Love Jihad's growing influence is indicative of a deeper level of cultural contamination that may imbalance the heterogeneous structure of Hindu society.  

Increasing incidences of 'Love jihad' in India reflect a complete lack of understanding among Hindu girls about the tricks and lies leveraged by Muslims to fool them. The fact that Muslims are using 'Love' as a tool to change the demographic equation of India is a sufficient condition for Hindu girls to reject Muslim guys. Even if Hindu girls refuse to see this propaganda, then they must utilize all resources to assess the intent of a Muslim youth. 

For example, instead of falling for the trap of conversion to Islam, they could test such lovers by asking them to convert back to Hinduism. In Muslim world, where polygamy & Talaq is a norm, re-visiting the meaning of love is important. Globally, love has a special place for everyone and is considered stronger if it is perpetual, long-lasting and commitment driven; however, a number of Muslim love stories do not even last a lifetime. For example, multiple marriages or love-affairs of a Muslim do not reflect a stronger bond of everlasting love at all.

Many sickularists (including mainstream media) prefer to paint every affair as pure love, as if every short tale of love is a purification exercise. Nonetheless, the term 'Love Jihad' is self explanatory and does highlight the subtle techniques (evolved form of Al-Taqqiyaa) leveraged by Islam to attack Hinduism. For example, a Muslim may use a Hindu name to establish contact with Hindu girls and will gradually trap multiple girls simultaneously to improve his hit rate. While Muslims deploy such tactics to achieve a higher rate of conversion; they also receive considerable monetary reward for every Hindu girl converting to Islam.

Recent case of Tara Shahdeo, a national shooter, who married to Raqibul Hasan Khan under the impression that he is Ranjit Kumar Kohli is a glaring example of 'Love Jihad'. After her marriage, Tara was brutally tortured by her Muslim husband for one month, only because she refused to convert to Islam. 

Particularly in Kerala, Muslims promise to marry Hindu girls if they agree to convert to Islam. Girls accepting such a preposterous condition are first dropped at a nearby madrassa for conversion but the story doesn't end there. Most of the times, the girl doesn't get married to the Muslim guy but, in fact, she is drugged and shipped to Gulf countries for a price.

Apart from the above examples, some Muslims (typically public figures) tend to fake modernity/secularism to subtly achieve the objective of spreading Islam. They adopt nuanced strategies to dodge public scrutiny, for instance, Aamir Khan & Saif Ali Khan. Both are the best examples of 'Love Jihad', as per which they not only married multiple Hindu girls but also compelled their children to adopt Islam. Aamir Khan, for example, clearly stated that his children will only follow Islam whereas, Saif got Kareena converted to Islam. 

These are not mere conspiracy theories but real time threats that are staring at Hindus. While anti-Hindu elements in Kerala, UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states are using every trick of the trade to trap Hindu girls; Dawood is using his influence in Bollywood to softly execute the agenda of Islam. Therefore, not only Hindu girls need to be alert for their honor but also the Hindu guys need to reform the existing malpractices such as dowry.  

Radical decisions needed to improve India's economic situation

While BJP has just recently come to power on the back of popular mandate, it doesn't have much time to rest on its laurels. This is predominantly due to the extent of damage inflicted by the anti-national UPA regime over the last 10 years. For example, India faces multiple challenges on different fronts such as Economy, Defense & Security and Home & Foreign affairs. 

In case of Defense, the past UPA government has considerably weakened the strength of armed forces primarily on account of lack of modernization and limited stockpile of weapons. Moreover, Congress unleashed more corruption within Army ranks which is evident by the extent of defense scams and penetration of ISI controlled drug mafias. This has led to the creation of a strong defense lobby that operates an anti-India agenda. 

The recent controversy over the affidavit submitted by BJP government has not done any good either to the reputation of Government or its own MoS Gen VK Singh. While Congress drafted affidavit was filed with SC, Mr. Arun Jaitley completely failed to minimize the damage caused by the faux-pas.

From the economy standpoint too, our Finance Minister seems to be clueless about the possible solutions that could bring economy back on track. Simple press statements, that highlight causes of sluggish economic growth and inflation, will not change the status quo. RATHER radical policy level moves can push the economy further.

While Mr. Jaitley likes to send strong messages, his attempts are sickeningly reminiscent of past UPA strategies that stressed on symbolism. Given this attitude, it seems that either Mr. Jaitley doesn't have a competent team under him OR he is completely bereft of any good ideas. Therefore, restoring public confidence will require implementation of concrete steps that steward India's ship in the right direction.

Even if development is a priority, certain decisions can have a far-reaching impact on the health of the economy than by mere manipulation of interest. Moreover, Indian economists, influenced by West, need to understand that the interest rate model has failed to revive economic growth in US. Therefore, radical steps that shake the system will boost the morale of the common citizens. For example, the following are some of the steps that can genuinely rejuvenate Indian economy:

1. Immediate ban on Participatory Notes that are primarily used and abused by anti-India elements;
2. Complete ban of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currencies;
3. Abolition of income tax because it meagerly contributes to Government treasury and unnecessarily complicates the functioning of government machinery;
4. Introduction of banking transaction tax;
5. Focus on the SME and informal sector of Indian economy instead of BIG corporates that contributes only 15% towards India's GDP;
6. Encourage small businesses and entrepreneurship for job creation instead of focusing on FDI. This is because high level of FDI has not been able to motivate corporates to generate more jobs;
7. Repatriate black money.

Although list of suggestions is endless, the above points are sufficient to make a good start for restoring public confidence. India can be an economic powerhouse only if domestic talent is nurtured and encouraged to participate in India's growth story AND not by allowing foreign companies to exploit India's resources.