Showing posts with label rss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rss. Show all posts

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Howdy Modi: A Circus for the NRI’s with Dead Souls!


There is a famous Roman saying, ‘If you can’t give them bread, give them circuses” fits more on Modi than any other leader in the democratic world.

Howdy Modi in Houston (USA) was another circus like on going circuses in India since 2014; Ram Mandir, Cow Protection, Namami Gange, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Yoga Day, abolition of Article 370, etc.  by PM Modi to divert attention from the rapidly sinking India; financially, industrially, militarily, morally and ethically.

Modi has become master in the art of organizing multi million dollar extravaganza circuses as a political leader. The 2 year long circus (Presidential style campaign) prior to his becoming PM of India in 2014 costing over Rs. 30,000 crore called “Achey Din Aaney Wale Hai” "Abki Baar Modi Sarkar"  (Good Days are coming because Modi government is coming!) With 185 shows in 295 constituencies; Modi promises “Sabka Saath Sabhka Vikas”  (Collective Efforts, inclusive Growth). In reality under Modi, the share of the wealth of the richest 1% has increased to 73% in 2018, from 49% in 2014 and now they owns 85% of the nation’s wealth. In the name of “Achey Din Aaney Wale Hai” India now stands 103rd from 55th in 2014 on the Global Hunger Index along with Nigeria and has been categorized as a country with ‘serious’ levels of hunger.

Again this Circus was revived prior to 2019 elections under the banner of unfulfilled promises “Sabka Saath Sabhka Vikas” made in 2014 with a very heavy dash of Hindutva because of the massive job losses, hunger, poverty, massive non performing loans with banks & closures of numerous businesses under Modi’s 5 years of rule. All the government machinery, corporate money, massive cash from dubious sources and 95% media were at Modi’s disposal. Modi was instrumental in giving party ticket to known communal, criminals, rapist, bomb makers and terrorist accused. Modi won the elections with a bigger margin than 2014! According to ADR, Modi inducted 22 criminals in his new cabinet of Ministers.

After winning again in 2019; Howdy Modi is Modi’s first circus in a foreign country and 4th in USA since 2014. Modi the star campaigner for himself & those who support him had a shock of his life when he got a hard slap from US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indirectly rejecting his style of functioning and his vision for India. Modi who is used to of bashing rather abusing Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru in his all political rallies; was forced to learn history of India and how the foreigners look at India.   Steny Hoyer said, “India, like America, is proud of its ancient traditions to secure a future according to Gandhi’s teaching and Nehru’s vision of India as a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual.” He also recalled that Nehru on the eve of Independence had spoken of Gandhi’s ambition “to wipe every tear from every eye” and that “as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.” "In that sense, the work of our countries is not over."

A shameless and self praising Modi after that spoke in 8-10 Indian languages, “All is well in India”. He is Promoting Transparency, Public Participation & anti corruption by Gutting the Right To Information, turning the CBI & ED into agencies that gives Free Ride to the politicians & corporates that are on his side of the political divide!

As per the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The Worker Population Ratio in India from 49.9% in 2014 stands at a record low of  46.8%. Employment Rate of 50.80% in 2012 and is now at a record low of 46.80% in 2018. The unemployment is 6.1% with 31 million unemployed is highest in  45 years.

Recent Gallup survey revealed a big decline in the percentage of Indians who rate their lives positively enough to rate it as "thriving" since Modi assumed office. “Beginning in 2015, rural Indians began reporting increased difficulty paying for food.” More than one in four rural Indians (28%) reported not having enough money to pay for food at some point that year (compared with 18% of urban Indians who reported the same hardship).”

India Tops the Global Charts in;  Malnourishment, Blindness, Diabetes, Leprosy, Environmental Pollution, Traffic Accidents and Suicides by Farmers. Lags behind; Bangladesh in Human Development Index, Nigeria in Global Hunger Index, Sudan in Human Capital Score, & Pakistan in GDP Growth Rate.

GDP from over 8% in 2014 has fallen to below 5% in real terms. According to RBI, GNPAs of banks (bad loans) have gone up from Rs 2.63 lakh crore  in March 31, 2014 to Rs 10.39 lakh crore as of March 31, 2018. A nearly four-fold increase under Modi regime.

According to Modi, Still “All is well in India”!

Modi all these years as PM of 1.35 Billion Indians has miserably failed to understand that “Leaders are defined by what they do, not how much they talk and how well they dress up”. After the euphoria, showmanship, theatrics and symbolism at Howdy Modi; when Modi landed in New York for country’s business, despite calling Trump his close buddy and acting like his campaign manager with Indian’s money at Howdy Modi failed to get the Indo-US bilateral Trade deal signed. India had been expecting reinstatement to the Generalized System of Preferences, under which it gets better access to the US market, which was revoked in June this year. This also never materialized, This means that nearly 2,000 products, including auto products and textiles, and up to $5.6 billion in Indian exports can no longer enter the United States duty-free. As a consolation prize; Trump crowned Modi as Elvis Presley and Father of India knowing it too well that Mahatama Gandhi is the Father of the Indian Nation since its birth. Pathetically Modi accepted both the Titles awarded to him by his close buddy Trump without raising any objections.

The worst is Modi failed to get Trump’s statement that “Kashmir is India’s internal matter”. Rather Trump made a statement that India and Pakistan should sought out Kashmir issue amicably. Also he again retreated his past statement that if both leaders of India and Pakistan agrees, “he is willing to mediate on the issue of Kashmir.” That makes “Kashmir” bilateral issue rather than internal issue of India. Saudi Arabia that was supporting India till Feb. 2019 on Kashmir, supported the resolution of OIC that represent 57 states on 9-25-19 calling on India to “rescind” its actions revoking Article 370 in criticizing the government’s actions there. In 2017 Saudi’s conferred the highest Civilian Award to Modi during his Riyadh visit. In early 2019 Saudi Prince MSB called Modi his elder brother during his visit to India!   It’s the biggest Diplomatic failure for Modi in the international arena.  

Modi must stop doing circuses in foreign countries; a new rather vulgar trend he started in 2014 is hurting India & NRI’s image in the world. Many Indian PM have visited USA many times in the history, yet they keep expenditures in mind. After all the Indians pay taxes for their expenditures. PM Nehru’s visit to the US in Nov. 1949: without any special PR campaign, NRI crowd management or hyped-up media publicity a large crowd of Americans not Indians  only gathers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to listen to his speech. Now, 50,000 Indian / Indian origin dead souls gathered to hear Narendra Modi’s blatant lies in a multi million dollar circus  sponsored by Modi’s Indian corporate friends & NRI rich supporters and Indian taxpayers in Houston. Entire mainstream Indian media & blind followers of Modi are calling it as a huge success and Modi’s greatest accomplishment. Modi & his supporters can not change the history that Jawaharlal Nehru remains the only Indian Prime Minister to be greeted on arrival at the airport by a US President —and it happened twice: President Harry S Truman in 1949 & President John F Kennedy in 1961 both received him off the plane.

Howdy Modi rather “Rowdy Modi” was not even Howdy India. Modi has impaired vision of secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights for every individual is safe guarded by the state. He has failed miserably on this account. Even his vision of Hinduism is impaired because Religious texts and History can not be read and understood in dreams.  By hosting Modi in Houston; the Indian-American organizers have insulted Houston; an inclusive city where every 4th person is an immigrant, with 145 languages, 70 countries menus & people from more than 100 countries are living in peace and harmony. Majority of these financially successful NRI’s still feel as they are 2nd grade citizens of America. The only way they can have lime light to boost their ego is by posing with corrupt leaders of India in USA and getting garbage civilian awards from India. The same type of politicians in the first place forced them to leave India because of their impaired vision of Democracy, Freedom and corruption free governance.

Dave Makkar
Social & Political Activist

THE INDIAN PANORAMA NEWS
Sep. 27, 2019
New York, USA


Saturday, August 19, 2017

The Pathetic & dangerous transformation of India to Crony Capitalism in last 70 years

India never had a good ruler since independence except for a very brief period Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai. All of them including the current PM/Ruler Modi has proved to be the facilitators of crony capitalism. Modi has gone one step further by becoming the first & the last PM of India that put his hand in the mouth of poor to take out what they were eating and took away their professions and openly allowing mob lynching of people. They all have lived/living to the apprehensions of Mahatama Gandhi that he feared India will have English Rule without the Englishmen! India is in the top ten nations with the widest socio-economic gap. It is an economically, socially and politically failed state for majority of its 1.3 billion citizens; who can not solve its socio-economic, religious and political problems including its Land dispute with Pakistan since 1948 over Kashmir. 

India’s elite world famous Billionaires part of the 56 million filthy rich Indians are living side by side with almost a billion poor and treat them as sub humans who are burden for the country. It looks like Indian Leadership political, religious and business rather than being ashamed of this, are proud to have more than 800 million Indians living under extreme poverty & inhuman conditions. They have the insanity to say “India is shining”. A  former diplomat, politician, author and thinker Pavan Varma wrote in his book “Being Indian” that in the Indian elite “there is a remarkable tolerance for inequality, filth and human suffering”. He adds that “concern for the deprived and the suffering is not a prominent feature of the Indian personality. The rich in India have always lived a life quite oblivious to the ocean of poverty around them”. Less than 10-15 minutes from every slum in any major city of India there are very expansive heavily guarded residential areas with houses rather mini palaces costing few million dollars to $1 Billion Mukesh Ambani’s Palace. One city: two universes.

Out of the total budget, 74% is used to run the system/government and 38% in debt servicing after adding new borrowing. In real terms the cost to run the system is 115% and 60% in debt servicing. The non-plan expenditure i.e. just to run the “System” or the government that includes Police, Military, Judiciary, Postal Services, President, Vice President, Prime Minister, 30 Governors (political appointees of the ruling party), 53 Ministries with numerous departments, 1 Department of Atomic Energy, various Commissions/ Committees to accommodate failed politicians, friends & relatives, 543 MP’s, millions of government employees as well as so called Z category security services for rulers, their families & friends practically at all levels.  The new additions under Modi very soon will be Cow Ministry, Ministry to advise people what to eat, what to wear, whom they can marry & how many kids Hindu couples should produce and Ministry of Nationalism; what is national & what is anti national !

If Modi had even an iota of Nationalism/Patriotism towards India and love for the less fortunate Indians; he would have cut down the cost of governance of India. He could have announced some measures to at least re-structure the 53 Ministries to cut down their excessive numbers & massive size, Complete ban on Official Functions in 5 Star Hotels & Resorts, Abolish Pension for MP’s, Ban on allocation of properties for Political Party Offices, end to VVIP & VIP culture of providing security & subsidized housing, cap on telephone bills, air travel, foreign trips, rail travel of elected & appointed officials and un-necessary appointment of officials under Ministers and various departments, commissions and committees. Can Modi explain how come a law maker is entitled to Pension and princely perks after winning one election only even if he never get elected again; where as a government servant is entitled to a pension only after 20-25 years of service. Modi could have proposed a road map to cut down the non-plan expenditure from present 74% to at least 60% in next 4 years.

Modi in his political carrier as Gujarat CM has been a known destroyer of any opposition in his own party as well as leaders of other political parties. He is also known to have least respect for democratic norms and judiciary. Since 2014 Modi is ruling India with the same undemocratic philosophy and destroying all the democratic institutions, judiciary as well as any opposition all over India to make India, “Opposition Free”.

Congress also tried to destroy opposition parties  to make it one party rather one family rule in India and they succeeded to a certain extent only. Recently a writer Apoorvanand wrote about the reaction of Munshi Premchand  that “Elimination of Opposition is a Threat to Democracy.”

Premchand recorded this apprehension in a brief commentary titled ‘Germany Ka Bhavishya’ (The Future of Germany) right after the victory of the Nazi Party in Germany in 1933. “After the landslide victory of the Nazi Party in Germany, the question that arises is will Germany really turn into a fascist regime and will the Nazis be able to hold and consolidate power for at least five years? If it happens and the Nazis get an opportunity to establish themselves, they will suck the democratic life and vision out of Germany through its political and military strength in such a way that not a single opponent of the Nazi Party would be left in Germany for 25 years.”

It is not necessary to view Premchand’s observation in the context of the present times but the focus of his comment is the forced elimination of opposition before the victory of the Nazi Party. He does not censure the German opposition parties for their inability to protect themselves. He clearly states that the crime was Hitler’s who was phasing out the opposition through undemocratic means. The Nazis had a private army which none of the other political parties in Germany possessed. Premchand unequivocally states that the elimination of opposition should be a cause for worry and one who carries it out must be held responsible for it and must be questioned.

The process of selling India to Corporate houses started by Congress has been expedited under Modi aka BJP. Modi regime is ignoring the extreme poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and inequality due to the fact that 56 families own 75% of India! Modi was created and installed in a Rs 32,000 crore marketing scam by these very corrupt business houses of India and marketed by Washington based APCO that is PR company of practically all the dictators around the world including all the Muslim Dictators of Middle East. Modi is catering to the elite, establishment & his handlers only with no emotions and responsibility towards the general public especially the farmers and extreme poor of India. Modi is presiding over the half burnt Funeral Pyre of Indian Democracy started by Congress. BJP’s Modi is making sure that it is fully burnt and ashes are immersed in Holy Ganga by sacrificing the left over Democratic norms in this ongoing burning Funeral Pyre of Indian Democracy.  


Even being 3rd gen RSS/Jansangh/BJP supporter and victim of Indra’s emergency I can not support the present leaders like Modi, Jaitley, Shah, Samriti, Uma, Adityanath working as facilitators for the New East India Company owned by Adani, Ambani, Tata, Jindal, Ruia’s etc.

All these corporations unlike East India Company do not have their private army but soon will be making all kinds of war heads, missiles, helicopters, air planes, ammunition and other sophisticated military gadgets because Jaitley has increased the FDI limit to 49% from 26% for this Industry. Just few days before the 2015 budget Middleman/Lobbyist has been legalized in India for deals with the government including defense deals. Now there won’t be any shortage of Radia’s openly operating in the corridors of power to influence law makers for favors for their corporate clients.

Dave Makkar
davemakkar@yahoo.com

THE INDIAN PANORAMA NEWS, Friday August 18, 2017
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Friday, July 21, 2017

Why Hinduwadi’s are Obsessed with Cow? 

Cow is not Sacred and Beef is not Forbidden to Hindus, according to Vedas
The current atmosphere  in India on the issue of cow defies all sane logics, Hindu religious Texts, thousands of years old sacred history, historians and scholars.  On one hand the current Modi government talks of making India the biggest economic power in the world surpassing America and China. On the other hand his own party and his Hindu affiliate’s members talk of what people can eat or can not eat, how many children the Hindu couples should produce, what the women should wear, adult girls can not be seen in the company of opposite sex friends, Hindu girl can not marry a non-Hindu and any criticism of government policies make you anti-national that includes refusing to say Bharat Mata ki Jai or Cow is our mother.

Modi himself and his team members are biggest hypocrites on the issue of cow or meat. As CM of Gujarat under Modi meat production 10,600 tons in 2001-2 went up to 35,286 tons in 2011-12. Still Modi accused UPA government for cow slaughter for their support to meat exporters “Pink Revolution” during the run up to the 2014 elections that brought him to power. Ironically under Modi’s watch bovine/cow meat export has gone up by 70% according to the Commerce Ministry website. Now India is number 1 exporter of bovine/cow meat in the world.

Modi’s confidante Amit Shah during the 2014  campaign made several speeches that cow slaughter will not be banned in north eastern states of India. As BJP’s party president on May 28, 2015 in Goa; Amit Shah ruled out a nation-wide beef-ban or cow slaughter.  Union Government and Goa Government both under BJP are jointly running a slaughterhouse in Goa.

Sangeet Som, the Hindutva poster boy & one of the main accused in 2013 Muzzafarnagar communal riots, UP Assembly Member and now Minister in Adityanath Yogi’s government; had been personally associated with two meat processing and export companies, Al-Dua and Al-Anam. Al-Dua is one of the India's leading halal meat export companies which exports meat to Arab countries.

BJP candidate Sreeprakash on April 2, 2017 in the run up to the Mallapuram Lok Sabha by election in Kerala said, “I will ensure quality beef and standard abattoirs in my constituency.”

Modi’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in Aizwal on May 27, 2017 said that, “I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh and can any body stop  me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices. This is a Democratic country. Sometime some statements are made which are not palatable.” Kiren Rijiju also described as “unpalatable” his colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s remarks that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan, and questioned whether anyone could stop him from eating beef. The BJP leaders in Arunachal, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland have been making statements to their constituents, sale of beef at subsidized rates is their commitment to them. After the new Cattle Trade Rules announced by the Modi government they went to the extent of saying “No Beef No Support to BJP”

BJP’s Karnataka spokesperson Vaman Acharya on May 28, 2017 while participating in a panel discussion on Suvarna News opposed the beef ban. He said that people from all communities including the Brahmin community, consumed beef. Before India became an agrarian nation, beef had been a staple diet. Even today, several people, including indigenous tribes in the North Eastern States consumed beef as a staple. Acharya had also said that as chairman of the Karnataka Pollution Control Board, he gave permission for the setting up of 16 abattoirs in the State.  Lastly, he had said that he didn’t subscribe to the religious sentimentality attached to the cattle. He retracted his statements on June 6, 2017 under party pressure.

Modi’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Aizwal on June 12, 2017, said that people are free to choose what they want to eat.  When asked about protests against the government’s ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, Singh clarified that the Centre will not impose any restrictions on one’s choice of food. However, even as Singh spoke, scores of people in the Mizoram capital participated in a “beef ban bashing banquet” organized by a local organization. ( PTI

Kerala BJP and RSS have joined hands to start a co-operative society to sell meat which includes bovine meat as well as fish, a Malayalam daily Deshabhimani reported on July 5, 2017.

July 17, 2017 Goa’s BJP CM Manohar Parikar who also holds the animal husbandry portfolio in the assembly session replied to BJP assembly members concern over the poor quality of Beef imported from Congress ruled neighboring state Karnataka; "Approximately 2,000 kgs beef is produced per day at the state abattoir of the Goa Meat Complex Limited, while rest of beef is brought in from Karnataka. Parrikar said he would issue directions to the department concerned to carry proper inspection of beef imported from Karnataka. Parrikar further added that "The Goa Meat Complex Ltd has no problem in slaughtering more animals if they are brought there by traders,"
Modi’s New Cattle Trade Rules that has been stayed by the SC on July 12, 2017 violates Right of a Person to Freedom of Choice regarding Food as enshrined in Indian Constitution and it is also violating the rights of the farmers to trade. Under this law farmers cannot sell the cattle in the market for slaughter but slaughter houses can come to the farmer and buy cattle for slaughter. Then majority of the farmers are not educated how they can comply with filling out numerous forms about the origin & ownership of the animal in question? First the farmers/dairy operators will be exploited by the bureaucracy and than by Slaughterhouses that can make a cartel to give them less price for their cattle.

Modi aka BJP is paving the way for its handlers like Adani, Ambani, Tata and other foreign MNC’s to control the meat and animal hide trade that is worth Billions of Dollars. UP slaughterhouses alone employs 25 lacs people with a turnover of Rs. 15,000.00 crore is the highest producer of meat in India. The meat industry is likely to grow at a compound growth rate of 8.4% over the next five years. The processed meat industry is growing even much faster, at about 20%. The meat export from India is about $4.5 billion and raw hide to leather goods is another $5.5 billion. About 22 mil people are in the workforce and the meat export industry is expected to grow 50% in 5 years. Beside that 70% of Indians are non-vegetarians. Domestic per capita meat consumption in India is very low -- around 5 kg as compared to the world average of 47 kg. With rising incomes  between 2003 and 2012, their meat consumption rose by 6.3% a year. It is expected to rise by another 3.5% a year between 2013 and 2022. 
2
Apart from 73.7 lakh tons of meat in 2016-17, India also produced 108 lakh tons of fisheries in 2015-16 ranking 2nd after China. India is the number 1 and largest exporter of shrimp fish in the world. This industry is growing at a robust pace of 8% per annum. The business is valued at Rs. 1 Lakh Crores and employees about 150 lakh people. Andhra Pradesh occupying the first place, West Bengal 2nd and Modi’s Gujarat at 3rd place in fish production in India.                     

The demonetization was also done for these very influential people so that they can control food business worth billions that is traditionally run on cash basis by the informal sector. On top of that to pave the way for billions of dollars that can be made in transaction fees in the guise of digital money from the less fortunate and financially most vulnerable people of Indian society. Rich have credit cards they don’t pay any fees to use it rather they are rewarded with points and cash back for its use; it is the merchant that pays the fees for accepting it. The poor has to get a “Pre Paid Debit Card” for a fee with a monthly maintenance fee and fee for loading money; a biggest ponzy scheme ever invented by the American Financial Industry to loot the poor.

Coming to Team Modi & Hinduwadi’s understanding of Hinduism, its history, its writing on eating meat and views of various learned scholars; All of them are a very big disappointment. Team Modi should do some soul searching why Atal Bihari Bajpai avoided the trap of cow laid by the bogus Hindutva supporters that has no love for their own 50 crore (500 million) extremely poor Hindus living a miserable life.                                                                                                 

According to Sanskrit Scholar Rajani K Dixit, “there is no such thing as Holy Cow in the Vedas”. The Vedas consider bovines important for milk, beef, agriculture and transport but not divine or holy. The word ‘Aghnyaa’ applies only to a milch cow because it is not economical to kill it. A Vaisha cow is meant for beef, and especially reserved to an extent for Brahmins only. Atharva 12.4(13) tells us that in case a Brahmin begs for a cow from a non-Brahmin, “even if that person has a beef-dinner at his house, he has to select another cow to slaughter for his own dinner, than the one that is asked for”. The word ‘Aghnyaa’ (not to be killed) coined by Rigveda for young milch cows was the main cause of the Hindu misunderstanding that cows or bovines are not to be slaughtered. 

The Rigveda has never used the word ‘mother’ for a cow. There is no punishment recommended for a cow slaughterer even if some one kills a young milch cow. Beef-eating is also not taboo. Beef parties are not only allowed but highly appreciated, and a person who cooks beef for his guests is praised by the term ‘Atithi-gva’ ‘one who offers beef to guests’.           3

Ritual sacrifice of a bull is a must in worship to the God Indra. Beef parties also seem a regular affair in weddings (RV 10.85). Cows are not sacred and beef is not forbidden to Hindus. Here is a line from a verse ascribed to the god Savita, the presiding deity of the Gayatri Mantra, describing a dinner party he is hosting: “At night we are going to kill cows” (RV.10.85(19). RV 10.89 (14) mentions “cows for food, laying scattered on the grounds of a slaughter house”. Mark that the author does not use the word ‘animals’ but ‘cows’, showing that beef was the most popular item, and the cow the most slaughtered animal. RV 10.95(6) says that “old cows which do not give milk” are “only fit to be cooked”. It further states that “useless cows ….are taken to be cooked, but never milch cows”. It is clear that slaughter houses are not banned, beef is allowed and useless bovines are allowed to be slaughtered in Hinduism.

Aadi shankaraachaarya born in 788 CE in Kerala: in his commentary on Brahadaranyako Upanishad 6/4/18 says:’Odaan’ rice mixed with meat is called ‘maansodan’ on being asked whose meat it should be, he answers ‘Uksha’ is used for an ox, which is capable to produce semen. Currently 72 communities including some upper caste Hindus in Kerala prefer beef to the mutton and some prefer it because it is cheaper than mutton.

Hinduisms great propagator Swami Vivekaanand said: "You will be surprised to know that according to ancient Hindu rite and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef ". (The complete works of Swami Vivekanand vol :3/5/36)                                                    

VD Savarkar the Hindutva Icon and Icon of Hindu religious & political parties including BJP; espoused his views in Vidnyan Nishta Nibandh, that the cow, like the peepal tree, should be cared for, as something useful to humans, which meant eating it as well if need be. He insisted that a superstitious mindset towards cows would ruin India's intellect and that cows should be protected for their economic use to man, and not because of their ‘divinity’. Attributing religious qualities to it gives it a godly status. Such a superstitious mindset destroys the nation’s intellect. “When humanitarian interests are not served and in fact harmed by the cow and when humanism is shamed, self-defeating extreme cow protection should be rejected.”              

Every now and then, an admirer of Savarkar raises the topic. “Can anyone imagine that the ‘Father of Hindutva’ advocated beef-eating (in special circumstances), rejected the divinity of the Vedas, denounced the sanctity of the caste system and launched a virulent attack on the hypocrisy of the priests?” wrote Ved Pratap Vaidik, a journalist close to several Hindutva figures. “Incidentally, Savarkar was a beef-eater,” wrote Varsha Bhonsle on Savarkar’s birth anniversary, February 26, in 1998. “For he was, above all else, a rationalist – a true Hindu – and eons ahead of contemporary Hindutvawadis.” (“Why is the Cow a Political Animal?” S. Joshi)

Mahatama Gandhi was approached for total ban on Cow Slaughter in India. His reply was, “I have been long pledged to serve the cow but how can my religion also be the religion of the rest of the Indians? It will mean coercion against those Indians who are not Hindus. The assumption of the Hindus that India now has become the land of the Hindus is erroneous. India belongs to all who live here. Earlier on 25th July 1947 he also said that "The Hindu religion prohibited cow slaughter for the Hindus, not for the world. The religious prohibition came from within. Any imposition from without meant compulsion. Such compulsion was repugnant to religion."                                                                                                               4

A Brahmin’s Cow Tales by D. N. Jha a high cast Brahmin himself. The cow as a sacred animal, Jha believes, did not really gain currency until Dayanand Saraswati's cow protection movement in the 19th century". The cow became a tool of mass political mobilization with the organized cow-protection movement," the historian points out. "The killing of cows stopped gradually with the agrarian society and caste rigidity. The Brahmins found it convenient to say that those who ate beef were untouchable. But they themselves continued to consume it, recommending it for occasions such as shraadh. The beef-eating habits of Indians which existed in Rig Vedic times and continued till the 19th century and after, despite repeated Brahminical injunctions against cow-killing. That ancient Hindus, including Brahmins, were beef-eaters, willing to incur the minor penalty that an agrarian society began imposing on cow-killers, and that this fondness for cattle meat had nothing to do with Islam or Christianity.       

For those who blame Muslims for the practice of Cow slaughter in India: Babar’s first act after conquering Delhi was to forbid the killing of cows. They must read Babar’s Directives (Wasiyyat namd-i-majchfi) a secret testament to his son Humayun and his future generations. For the stability of the Empire, O my son!, “The realm of Hindustan is full of diverse creeds. Praise be to God, the Righteous, the Glorious, the Highest, that He hath granted unto thee the Empire of it. It is but proper that thou, with heart cleansed of all religious bigotry, should dispense justice according to the tenets of each community.’ “And in particular refrain from the sacrifice of cow, for that way lies the conquest of the hearts of the people of Hindustan; and the subjects of the realm will, through royal favour, be devoted to thee. And the temples and abodes of worship of every community under Imperial sway, you should not damage. Dispense justice so that the sovereign may be happy with the subjects and likewise the subjects with their sovereign. The progress of Islam is better by the sword of kindness, not by the sword of oppression.” (Abstracted from the 1936 book The Mughal Empire From Babar To Aurangzeb, by SM Jaffar of Peshawar. It mentions that “the original document is in Persian and is treasured in the Hamida Library at Bhopal as one of its heirlooms.”)                                    
                                   
The British Origin of Cow-Slaughter in India (published 2002) by Gandhian historian Dharampal. His book draws from official documents to show that the riots of 1880-1894 were not the obvious Hindu-Muslim conflagration they were made out to be. The book cites accounts of how “many prominent Muslims as well as the Parsis and Sikhs actively participated in the (cow protection) movement.” Dharampal wrote that large-scale cow slaughter was not the handiwork of Muslims who came to India from central and western Asia. “The question of the sacrifice of a cow did not arise as the land where Islam arose did not have many cows.”           

Mughals were habituated to the meat of goats and mutton, sacrificing camels on the occasion of festivals like Eid or for large feasts, the book says. Dharampal rues the lack of research on cow killing between 1200 and 1700, when a series of Muslim kings ruled over a large part of India. But he goes on to show that systematic slaughter of cattle began in India with the East India Company establishing itself. The British, unlike the central and west Asians, were habituated to beef.  The first slaughterhouse in India was built in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1760 by Robert Clive, then Governor of Bengal. It could kill 30,000 animals per day. Several more slaughterhouses were set up in various parts of the country by the Commissariat Wing of the three British armies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay Presidencies. A total of 350 slaughterhouses were constructed by 1910.

Nitya Sambamurti Ghotge, a veterinary surgeon who heads Anthra, a group in Pune that has worked with rural livestock rearers since 1992. Laws against cow slaughter and Trade Rules will only criminalize the livestock trade, not protect the animals, said Ghotge. Only the smugglers and the law enforcement officials will benefit from the ban on cow slaughter, not the poor farmers or the livestock. Like the agriculture scientist Ramanjaneyulu, Ghotge holds that the cow protection laws are unjust; it is about powerful urban people outsourcing the burden of cow protection on the rural poor, she said.
5
As for the BJP’s claim that “cow is the only divine animal that exhales oxygen”, no living being other than plants exhale oxygen is also a myth. Animals, however, exhale unused oxygen, as lungs cannot process all the oxygen that is inhaled. According to the 2006 FAO report, the livestock sector accounts for 9 per cent of carbon dioxide derived from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases.                                

Team Modi is least concerned about the millions of Indians; Hindus as well as non-Hindus employed directly and indirectly in the cattle trade. The millions especially children and elderly that depend on bovine meat as the cheapest source of protein. In the name of misguided Hindutva they are imposing their personal believes on the cattle breeders, traders, farmers and bovine meat eaters without considering the economic realities. There was a time when the owner could get Rs 12,000.00 to Rs. 15,000.00 for the unproductive animal from a slaughterhouse, now that has been reduced to Zero by the Gou Rakshaks/cow vigilantes. Rs 2,500.00-3,000.0 per month is the cost just to keep the animal alive for 8-10 years after the end of its economic utility. If the 10 million or so cattle that possibly end up at the abattoir every year are not culled, farmers will simply stop caring for them and let them loose in towns and cities. It will cost upward of Rs 22,000 crore to take care of them. And since the 10 million-plus will keep adding each year, till they die in their natural course, these costs would only keep on mounting up every year.  Just in the 4th year the cost could be more than Rs. 88,000.00 crore. In  BJP ruled state Rajasthan the state government is providing Rs 70.00/day for cow and Rs 35/day for calf and at the same time it is providing Rs. 25.63/person on welfare schemes in the state. Under Modi India has become an international joke that cow is more valuable than human beings!


Modi government has badly failed practically on all fronts; employment, economy, education, healthcare, international diplomacy and failed to contain insurgency in Kashmir and unrest in Bihar, Chattisgarh, Orrisa, Assam etc. because of rising poverty and inequality.             Rather Modi has become instrumental in breaking up the social brotherhood among the majority Hindus with Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist & Christians created in 70 years of independence. In 2019 Indians have to decide, “Do they want to vote again for Modi’s exclusive promise of development that has turned out to be another election rhetoric/Jumla? The reason being even after 3 years of Modi rule development is as elusive as Hinduwadi’s dream of Bharat Rashtra by putting the entire country on ethnic clashes fire.”

Compiled by
Devendra Makkar
From the writing of scholars, historians & journalist   
davemakkar@yahoo.com

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Wednesday, May 6, 2015

BJP Government’s Budget: a Fraud in the name of Ramrajya



BJP the Party that promised to bring Ramrajya under the leadership of modern Ram PM Narendra Damodardas Modi has defaulted on their promise. It looks like it was another election rhetoric (Chunavi Jumla in the language of BJP President Shah). The truth is the very first full Budget presented by BJP is an insult to the philosophy of Ramrajya and Hinduism. The non-plan expenditure i.e. just to run the “System” or the government that includes Police, Military, Judiciary, Postal Services, President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Governors, 53 Ministries with numerous departments, 1 Department of Atomic Energy, Commissions, Committtes, 543 MP’s , various government employees etc. is Rs 13,12,200 crore out of the total budget of  Rs 17, 77, 477 crore. On top of that total debt servicing accounts for Rs 6,81,719 crore (debt payment Rs 2,25,574 crore plus interest Rs 4,56,145 crore on outstanding debt). The non-plan expenditure is 74% and debt servicing is 38% of the total budget that leaves Rs 4,65,277 crore that too after taking a new loan of Rs 5,55,649 under the plan expenditure for 120 crore population out of that 88 crore are living in acute poverty. If we calculate against the net revenue of Rs 11,41,575 crore, the cost to run the government is 115% and debt servicing is 60% of the revenue.

FM Jaitley has not shown or has even pretended that he is serious to do some thing about the problem or suggested public or political dialogue on the issue of massive spending on government and high debt servicing that is creating a huge deficit. PM Modi aka Modern Ram the Supreme Leader of BJP must understand that 74% to run the system and 38% in debt servicing of the total budget of Rs 17,77,477 against a new borrowing of Rs 5,55,649 and in real terms 115% to run the system and 60% in debt servicing against a revenue of Rs 11,41575 crore is  not permissible under Ramrajya. Neither it qualifies under good governance i.e. small government and more governance his own slogan that brought him and his party BJP to power in Delhi in 2014. The actions of Modi aka Modern Ram aka Jaitley speaks for itself that “Good Governance” was also an election rhetoric. (Chunavi Jumla in the language of BJP President Shah).

Jaitley could have announced some measures to at least re-structure the 53 Ministries to cut down their massive size, Complete ban on Official Functions in 5 Star Hotels & Resorts, Abolish Pension for MP’s, Ban on allocation of properties for Political Party Offices, end to VVIP & VIP culture of providing security & subsidized housing, pension to MP’s, cap on telephone bills, air travel, foreign trips, rail travel of elected & appointed officials and un-necessary appointment of officials under Ministers and various departments, commissions and committees. Can Jaitley explain how come a law maker is entitled to Pension and princely perks after winning one election only even if he never get elected again; where as a government servant is entitled to a pension only after 20-25 years of service. Jaitley could have proposed a road map to cut down the non-plan expenditure from present 74% to at least 60% in next 4 years.

Some of the budget announcements without any significant Expenditure plans for social schemes like Toilets, Nirbhaya Fund, old age pension, Accidental Life Insurance, education loans, Mudra Bank for small business loans, National skill development, Gramin Kaushal yojna (rural skill development)  etc are a step in the right direction. On education loan one has to pay 12.5% interest they do not have the luxury of paying 0.1% interest reserved for poor corporations like TATA or Ambani’s. National skill and Rural skill development for what? When villages after villages are taken up by industrialist, builders and government and practically every thing of daily use in India is made in China that could have used rural or city youth if make in India. MNREGA with Rs 34,699 crore allocation have been retained after PM Modi made fun of it under arrogance and snobbery in Parliament with no significant increase in its funding even to account for inflation. PM Modi also forgot his own party under PM Bajpai never did any thing to re-structure MNREGA. Then on the other hand expenditure on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan has been cut from Rs 28,000 crores to Rs 22,000 crores, the Integrated Child Development Scheme from Rs 16,000 crores to Rs 8,000 crores and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme Rs 13,000 crores to Rs 9,000 crores.  On top of that Scheduled Caste Sub Plan allocation has been cut from Rs 43,208 crore to Rs 30,000 crore and Tribal Sub Plan from Rs 26,714 crore to Rs19,000 crore.

Jaitley has Rs 4,65,277 crore only even after taking Rs 5,55,649 crores in new loans to service his so called growth plans for a population of 120 crore out of that 52% are farmers. He has allocated a princely sum of Rs 25,000 crore in Rural Development Fund for 62 crore farmers. That works out to be Rs 403 per farmer or Rs 2,015 if you take average size of the family 5 members in one year or Rs 167.92 per family per month provided there is no corruption. Out of the 12 crore hectare farming land only 5 crore hectare has irrigation facility rest 7 crore hectare depends on Mother Nature God; if there is timely rain the farmer will have a crop,  if the rain is delayed by a month or no rain whatever input including his labor the farmer has put in will go waste. On irrigation and flood control Jaitley has allocated Rs 5,300 crore that works out to be Rs 757 per hectare per year, provided there is no corruption, It is a shame even after 67 years after independence there is no irrigation facility for the farmer.

The government brags about Rs 70,000 crore subsidy to the farmers where as the fact is it is given to big corporations for the sale of poisonous fertilizer and pesticides to ruin the health of the farmers and consumers as well as to ruin the soil. In 2007 there was 17 crore hectare of farming land vs 12 crore hectare now. The 5 crore hectare land was given to big corporations under Special Economic Zones and other projects. Jaitley has made it very clear that this process will continue and now we have Japanese bullet train project also. It cannot be disputed that infrastructure improvements are vital if growth is to be inclusive. The question is, what types of infrastructure will be developed or investment undertaken, and who will benefit as a result. All indications are Rs 20,000 crore spending on infrastructure will not improve things for ordinary people, but instead may intensify dispossession and displacement as well as theft of resources that has already been occurring in the country under the guise of industrial corridors, Tech Cities, Luxury housing, Office Complex, Malls and SEZs, etc.

To the middle class Jaitley has told them that they are on their own by raising indirect taxes on them while not raising the exemption limit of Rs 2,50,000. This is the same Jaitley as Lok Sabha candidate from Amritsar on April 20, 2014   demanded a raise in the Income Tax ceiling from Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000. Advocating low tax structure, he said,"Direct Tax should be reduced. If the Income Tax limit is raised from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs, 3 crore people will save Rs 24 crore which will lead to a small impact of 1 to 1.5 per cent of National Tax Fund." Now he has raised service tax from 12.36% to 14%, increased the price of petrol by Rs 3.18 and diesel by Rs 3.09 per liter. On top of that increased the basic custom duty on Metallergical coke from 2.5 % to 5%, on iron and steel and articles of iron and steel increased from 10% to 15% and on commercial vehicle increased from 10 % to 40%. Few days before the budget his counterpart Railway Minister Prabhu raised the passenger and freight rates by 14%. Even a high school economics student will tell them that it will bring cost push inflation and affect the very basic commodities and services needed to live by poor as well as middle class.

Now the Corporate sector, the Darling and massive financial donors of BJP: Jaitley in a interview to Head Lines Today said he has given Rs 2,00,000 crore to this sector. They will get Rs 20,000 crore in first year, Rs 40,000 crore in second year, Rs 60,000 crore in third year and Rs 80,000 crore in fourth year. Estimated revenue forgone due to corporate concessions for 2013-2014 is Rs. 76,116 crore or 19% of collected corporate tax revenue. By way of comparison this corporate subsidy is 82% of the food subsidy of Rs 92,318 crore for the same year. Corporations are celebrating the Jailey’s intent to bring down the Corporate Tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in the next four years. In USA where the corporate Tax is 35% according to CAG ; US Corporation’s effective rate of tax was 12.1% in 2011 that is 40 years low. On top of that the bigger the US Corporation the less or no tax they pay. U.S. corporations actually pay incredibly low taxes due to the ever-proliferating loopholes, credits, and deductions in the tax code and the use of overseas tax havens. If the effective rate in USA is 12.1% in India it has to be under 10% or in some cases 0 because Indian Corporations are more innovative; they get subsidized loans, land, electricity, break on all kinds of taxes including custom & excise and can book their profits in foreign countries by over invoicing or under invoicing and route it back through Mauritius. Besides plethora of credits and deductions in tax code they buy super luxury cars, luxury homes & farm houses, air planes and yachts in their corporation’s name for their personal, family, executive and for the use of politicians and top bureaucrats.

Laws to curb Black Money is nothing but another rhetoric similar to the one made by Modi during campaigning of bringing back Black Money and after election labeled by BJP Party President as Chunavi Jumla (Election Rhetoric). Unless the route of Mauritius that accounts for 40% FDI to India is closed how one can stop the generation of black money? Arun Jaitley as Union Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs opened the Mauritius route in 2001 for official money laundering by big corporations. There are unconfirmed reports now as Finance Minister he wants to give same status to Singapore since Ambani's are involved in a scandal for routing their black money via Singapore . People are living in fools paradise if they think Jaitley aka Modi are serious about curbing black money generation or bringing back black money stashed abroad. All the laws to curb black money are for those who do not know or do not have the means to use Mauritius route.

Even after Congress party’s catastrophic defeat in 2014 due to rampant corruption and massive scams the country’s crony capitalists are unlikely to suffer as a result. The nexus between business and politics is as tight as it has ever been. BJP spent Rs 32,000 crore to bring Narendra Modi to power with massive corporate donations. BJP is estimated to have spent at least Rs 6,200 crore on print and broadcast advertising alone. Of these donations, around 90% comes from unlisted corporate sources who will be rewarded when the times comes. Reliance is now India ’s biggest media company, as well as its biggest conglomerate. Reliance, Adani, Tata, Jindal, Ruia’s etc has unprecedented political access and power. All these corporations unlike East India Company do not have their private army but soon will be making all kinds of war heads, missiles, helicopters, air planes, ammunition and other sophisticated military gadgets because Jaitley has increased the FDI limit to 49% from 26% for this Industry. Just few days before the budget Middleman/Lobbyist has been legalized in India for deals with the government including defense deals. Now there won’t be any shortage of Radia’s openly operating in the corridors of power to influence law makers for favors for their corporate clients.

No where in his budget Jaitley has acknowledged rising economic inequality and shown any intentions to come up with a plan to stop it. It looks like for FM Jaitley who’s net worth is more than Rs 1000 crore, 88 crore poor especially agricultural labor, casual Labor, self employed the name sake business owners, unemployed youth, schedule castes, schedule tribes and minorities are invisible. Because they are not organized like big corporations with lobbyist that can plead their case to the law makers. They do not have means to have a voice to make complaints or demand social justice because the Forth Pillar of Democracy “The Media” is also owned by Industrial houses and in some cases the law makers themselves through their spouses or relatives. Above all they are the slaves of an elite class behaving like British Rulers of the past.

PM Modi aka modern Ram of BJP has said that this budget is Progressive, Positive, Practical, Pragmetic, Prudent, Pro Poor and Pro Growth. Can PM Modi explains on what page or paragraph the rising economic inequalities has been addressed by this budget? On what page or paragraph high cost of governance, British style perks for Politicians, nexus between politicians and corporations, undue economic favors to corporations etc has been addressed? It looks like Modi and BJP that worship Shahid Bhagat Singh has no respect for his ideals. Bhagat Singh said, "There can be no equality, not even in politics and before the law, so long as there is glaring inequality in economic power."

Devendra Makkar
davemakkar@yahoo.com