Reflections on Republic Day

As India celebrated its 60th year of the inception of Constitution on 26th January this year, my thoughts turn to the splendid hour when in 1950, on the same day, the Constitution of Indian Republic came into force and we moved from a British dominion to a sovereign republic. In an exquisite balance of various streams of ideas and in language that is poetical, the Preamble to the Constitution pledged to secure for our people "justice, social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and opportunity, and to promote among them all fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation."
Dr B R Ambedkar, presenting the Draft Constitution, professed political freedom but questioned the social and financial freedom of a common Indian man in his famous words "On 26th January, we are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life we shall by reasons of our social and economic structure continue to deny one man one value". And he then asked: "How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we deny equality in our social and economic life?"
These questions raised by the chief architect of the Indian Constitution then are still valid 60 years later. Republic Day is an appropriate occasion for us to evaluate the facts of our society and our economy, and to examine our hearts to find out how far we have succeeded in overcoming these contradictions in our minds and in the objective conditions of the life of the common man in India.
In retrospection, we have achieved political stability with strong roots of democracy. Financially, India is the second fastest growing economy even in this year of credit crunch. While politicians in general have been criticised, the Prime ministers and Presidents that India got, were educated visionaries right from Pandit Nehru, S Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Hussain to Dr Manmohan Singh. They have led our country to an era where India is indispensible in the world politics and financial considerations.
On the other hand, still, there is corruption, molestation and suppression of women, terrorism, inter religion and inter caste divides which makes us hang our head down in shame. The education levels are still amongst the lowest in the world. The issues of child labour and child abuse have just begun to be addressed.
It is not important here to repeat the public expressions of politicians but time to take action. It is a time for us to assume responsibility; responsibility in thoughts, actions and deeds. As Dr S Radhakrishnan said, “Be ever alert, be ever on the move, go forward, work for a free, flexible, compassionate, decent democratic society in which Christians, Sikhs, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, will all find a safe shelter." It is important for us, as Indians, to realise that Republic Day is not only for us to celebrate what was achieved 60 years ago, but also to find a direction of shaping the future of India.
We need to make sure that our children get the best education, which provides them with a stimulus to think about ourselves as a nation rather than as individuals. It is paramount to ensure promotion of self esteem of women to enable their equal participation in the development of modern India. Our armed forces, which sacrifice their lives for our safety, need to be felicitated for their contributions in maintaining peace in India, in adverse conditions. The farmers and the menial workers who work tirelessly to feed the whole of India need to be provided with facilities to ensure a comfortable and meaningful existence for them. Our concerns should not just be limited to multi national companies that bring in the revenues, but also to the village dwellers as that is where the heart of India lies.
We as Indians must once again take a pledge to re-dedicate ourselves to our beloved motherland to make our country excel in every field from education to development, science and technology and wipe out all obstacles that forbid our nation's progress.
Jai Hind

Post By Devdeep Ahuja

The Secular Patriotic Hindu After 26/11

The newspapers would have us believe that if you were a Hindu you should be wanting a war, and if you were a Muslim you should be condemning the incident to prove your patriotism. I wanted to show the confused middle ground!

"THE SECULAR PATRITOTIC HINDU AFTER 26/11

In this the festival of crimes,
Where darkness feasts on
Grey areas of the mind,
We turned up uninvited,
Like pictures without a past,
Like clones, donors lost,
The bunting hung down dripping blood,
Of nights in Mumbai, Malegaon, Godhra
And the long forgotten ghosts of Noakhali
And Chauri Chaura.
Our hostess, gracious lady, pushing sixty
Looking younger than an evening with a rock star
Made us at home right away,
Amidst the larger than life posters of atrocities
Apparitions, finger food and burnt out cities
And horrifying portraits of the ubiquitous “Other”,
While her roving eyes tried to fix our pedigree,
Lineage, and exact place in the scheme of things,
Formulating us like phrases in a pretty speech.
We discussed poignant nothings
Pregnant with our own importance
And with relief at not having been found out.
And there, between the watered whisky
And slowly warming white wine
(Of some forgettable Indian vintage
Made up to look “foreign” and vaguely French)
The musk of promises made and unmade
Or barely kept,
Shoulders flashing white and talcum
The right and the wrong fusing into an amalgam
(The rot gut whisky helped)
I promised that never again,
Never again would we be taken unawares.
The morning came, red eyed, head vised
And creaking with accustomed pain,
And we woke up side by side,
In a bed that had seen better times,
And the headlines screamed that
A Ghost that had burnt 30 years back at the hustings
Was back again, this time as a savior,
Not risen after three days,
Not at one with God,
Not flesh of my flesh,
Not blood of my blood,
Just a casual, sly insertion, a commando action,
Infiltration, exfiltration, like a virgin conned
By the fall of gold dust or a white goose,
Just the All father in His All Fathering mood.
In the name of the father,
In the name of the nation,
In the name of the people
In the name of alienation
We have the dracula back again
We have the teeth of dragon
Democracy, soiled grimy golden fleece,
We need dragon’s teeth to guard
You
Again.
The war to end all wars,
The peace that passeth
Understanding.
We thought of going back to sleep
And found out, to our great surprise,
That we had never woken up.
We had never dreamt.
“And in the room, the women come and go
Talking of Michaelangelo”.

Composed by: Protik Prokash Banerji

Soldier

The Soldier stood and faced his God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.
"Step forward now, you Soldier, How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier replied with his eyes filled with pride,

I have been truthful
Not to the church
But to my heart!

I gave my life
And i gave my best
I always did it with a happy smile

I loved to live the life Hi - Fi
but when it comes for my nation, my heart,
I'm not a coward ; I'm ready to die,
To protect my nation from simple thwarts !!

I kiss my gun and i kiss my memories
I don't fear that i will miss my shot
Cause i am always open with a brave heart
My heart won't crumble and my hands won't tremble
Cause that makes me a soldier
A soldier with a brave heart.
Risking my life is what i do,
Fear is that which my heart, never knows
And hope is that which i never lose

The Soldier squared his shoulders and said,
"No, my Lord, I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

Wounded, battered, hurt and bleeding,
Still not a hope to loose nor a fear to gain ;
Taking out every terrorist's head - bullets feeding..
Struggling for the nation - close to death - yet it doesn't pain!

Now tell me god!
Does it matter being truthful to church?
is that odd?
As am always truthful to my heart and my country

you still test me with questions,but i know why?
To bring out the truth through my words
To bring out the truth to the real world....

Contributors - Sushil, Adithi Nandhu, Dinesh.

Jannat and Jihad

Jihad meaning ‘struggle’ in Arabic has been used frequently in the holy Quran referring to ‘striving in the way of Allah’ or ‘to struggle to improve one's self and/or society’. Within Islamic jurisprudence jihad is the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law, and may be declared against apostates, rebels, highway robbers, violent groups, non-Islamic leaders or non-Muslim combatants, but there are other ways to perform jihad as well, including civil disobedience. The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defence of the Islamic state. The rules associated with Islamic Jurisprudence on Jihad include not killing women, children and non-combatants, as well as not damaging cultivated or residential areas.
Some Muslims believe that Muhammad regarded the inner struggle for faith a greater Jihad than even fighting [by force] in the way of God. Muslim scholar Mahmoud Ayoub states that "The goal of true jihad is to attain a harmony between islam (submission), iman (faith), and ihsan (righteous living)." Jihad is directed against Satan's inducements, aspects of one's own self, or against a visible enemy
Based on these definitions and discussions, it is an understanding that Jihad is the use of holy war as a path towards Allah. But does it include killing of innocent unarmed people including women and children? Does it include destroying nations just to satisfy the whim of the politicians? The war cry of Al- Qaeda, LeT and HuM is that it is a jihad against the ideology of the west, against liberalism and against the policies of the Indian and West governments. The question is that does Islam allow killing the innocent in the name of religion?
Jannat itself is commonly described in the Qu'ran in verse 35 of Surah Al-Ra’d: "The parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised! Beneath it flow rivers. Perpetual is the fruits thereof and the shade therein. Such is the End of the Righteous; and the end of the unbelievers is the Fire."
The Islamic texts describes life for its immortal inhabitants, one that is happy — without hurt, sorrow, fear or shame — where every wish is fulfilled. Traditions relate that inhabitants will be of the same age, and of the same stature. Their life is one of bliss including: wearing costly robes, bracelets, perfumes; partaking in exquisite banquets, served in priceless vessels by immortal youths; reclining on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. Other foods mentioned include meats, scented wine and clear drinks bringing neither drunkenness nor rousing quarreling. Inhabitants will rejoice in the company of their parents, wives, and children (provided they were admitted to paradise) — conversing and recalling the past.
Four categories of Jihad have been defined; Jihad against one's self (Jihad al-Nafs), Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan), Jihad of the hand (Jihad al-yad), and Jihad of the sword (which can involve combat against non-Muslims)(Jihad as-sayf). These define the fight against desires, speaking the truth, doing just and combat injustice and armed fighting respectively. Jannat can be achieved if a true Muslim fulfils all these and moves on the way of Allah. It is the ultimate reunion with Allah. It can simply mean striving to live a moral and virtuous life, spreading and defending Islam as well as fighting injustice and oppression, among other things.
So do the terrorists from the Mumbai attacks or for that matter anywhere in the world fulfil all these criteria to be able to reach Jannat after their suicide bombings and killings? This is a question which I have so long wanted to ask them..............

Submitted by Devdeep Ahuja