Pakistan's view on Kashmir

                       At the time of independence, there was a princely state called 'Junagadh' in Gujarat. Junagadh province lies on the coast of Arabian Sea, and used to be the gateway for Haj travelers. Junagadh has easy accessibility to Karachi via sea route. There were 565 princely states in India which were given an option to either join Indian Union or Pakistan based on their geographical location.

Statistics of Junagadh:

• Junagadh is in Indian mainland, but is easily accessible to Pakistan via sea route.
• Junagadh is ruled by a Muslim Nawab.
• 99% of population of Junagadh is Hindu.

                        The Nawab of Junagadh, Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III, decided that Junagadh should become part of Pakistan. He acceded Junagadh to Pakistan on 15 September 1947, against the advice of Lord Mountbatten. After one month, Pakistan accepted the Nawab's Instrument of Accession on 16 September, 1947.

                         Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go to Pakistan, it would result in the communal tensions in Gujarat. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel asked Pakistan to reverse its acceptance of the accession and to hold a plebiscite in Junagadh. Patel ordered the forcible annexation of Junagadh. Junagadh's state government, lacking army forces to resist the Indian force, invited the Government of India to take control.

                      A plebiscite was held on 20 February 1948, in which only 91 out of 190,870 voted against the Indian union, ie. 99% of the population voted to join India.

Statistics of Kashmir:

• Kashmir is also in Indian mainland, and has accessibility to Pakistan.
• Kashmir is ruled by a Hindu Raja.
• 90% of population of Kashmir is Muslim.

The Raja of Kashmir has given a letter for accession with Indian Union after independence.

Pakistan argument:

                    When a Hindu-majority territory , acceded to Pakistan by a Muslim ruler,CAN be forcefully integrated into Indian Union, why a Muslim-majority territory, acceded to India by a Hindu ruler CANNOT be given back to Pakistan. Pakistan demanded for a similar type of plebiscite in Kashmir area.

                    When Pakistani troops invaded the Kashmir territory, Raja of Kashmir took Nehru's help. Patel was not allowed to deal with this issue as Kashmir is Nehru's native place. Instead of forcefully integrating Kashmir, Nehru took the issue to UNO, making it an international dispute. UN has asked both the nations to maintain a 'status quo' i.e., asking both the nations to continue the same state till the issue is resolved.

Thus, the Kashmir issue is still an issue for both the nations.

Partition of Bengal.. What did we lose?

                        Bengal, known as the Vanga rajya in our puranas, was very big region, full of fertile land and was an important province of British India. It included the current region of West Bengal, Bangladesh, Parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.

                        It was too large to be administered by a single governor and therefore a proposal to partition it on administrative grounds was made. It is even believed that, the partition was proposed as a part of 'Divide and Rule' policy with majority Muslim population being in East Bengal and Hindu population in West Bengal. This divide was supposed to weaken the Bengal dominance in Indian independence struggle.

                       This move was however, opposed by the Bengali population and it led to various agitations. Rabindranath Tagore wrote a song 'Amar Sonar Bangla' for regional integration that had later become the National Anthem of Bangladesh. After many such protests, Bengal continued to be a single region till 1947. However, in 1947, East Bengal was made East Pakistan and was given to Pakistan.

                   Due to the separation of East Bengal from Indian mainland, both the nations had to face many problems:

• East Bengal had the most-fertile land due to the Ganga -Brahmaputra Basin. West Bengal is the most industrialized region and it used to get raw material from the East. The products manufactured in west bengal were consumed by the east. Due to the partition, the trade and commerce was very much affected. 
• West Bengal suffered from a great food shortage as the rice producing districts went to the eastern half. The shortage continued throughout 1950s and 1960s. Bengal used to be the most prosperous region till 1947. But after partition, Bengal lost its top place and lagged behind other Indian states in development. Political unrest, strikes and violence crippled the state machinery throughout the next three decade after partition. This is one of the reason why left is (used to be) strong in Bengal.
• Jute was the largest industry in Bengal at the time of partition. Every single jute mill went to West Bengal but 4/5th of the jute producing land is in East Bengal. India and Pakistan initially went into a trade agreement to import raw jute from East Bengal for West Bengal's mills. Pakistan had  set up its own mills and put restrictions on raw jute export to India.  Thus, West Bengal's mills faced severe shortage.
• Jute farmers in East Bengal had no market to sell  the jute. Jute export to West Bengal suddenly became an anti-national act for Pakistan during the 1950s. West Bengal rapidly increased jute production and by mid to late fifties became largely self sufficient in jute. West Bengal's mills became less dependent on East Bengal for raw material. So, the jute in East Pakistan had no market.
• East Bengal was also famous for Bamboo production which is an important raw material for Paper Industry. Even this had to suffer a lot. Refugees across the border increased a lot due to these conditions that prevailed for over 15-20 years of partition.
• Next important problem is, the Assam railway, whose major portion went to East Pakistan. Due to this, the Indian Railways faced a great crisis. We need to get bamboo, jute etc from the North-East and the connection to NE states from Bengal is only through Siliguri since the Assam railway system is totally disrupted.
• The export of NE India's products, Assam Tea and the import of raw materials for the industry such as coal used to happen through Chittagong Port, which is very near to NE states and is easily accessible. This port used to be the major port in Bay of Bengal and is considered to be larger than Madras/Tuticorin Ports. After partition, Chittagong went to East Pakistan, and hence the total NE states trade relied on Kolkata Port which is really very very far.Exporting tea via the nearby Chittagong port was an option but after 1965's war, this was switched off by Pakistan.
• The whole of north eastern states of India suffer a lot due to this partition. Even today, if we need to go to Kohima or Imphal, we need to travel for atleast 16-20 hours from Kolkata across the perimeter of Bangladesh.

                     Kolkata was the center of Bengal's economic and social development, where industries, government offices, military bases etc were situated. East Pakistan lost Kolkata and it had to begin everything from nothing. Dhaka at that time was just a district headquarter.

                     Dhaka faced a severe shortage of human resources. The majority of high ranking officers in British Indian administration of Bengal province were Hindu and they migrated to West Bengal. These posts had to be filled up by West Pakistani officers. East Pakistan, which was already poor, without proper education, coupled up with partition aftermath impacts soon became politically dominated by West Pakistan. Urdu was imposed upon the whole country. Economic disparities eventually led to struggle for separation. And even today, it continues to struggle a lot in-spite of having proper resources.

Illicit Arm Manufacturing in India

                    Just 200 KMs from Patna in Bihar, there is a town known as Munger. This town is historically known for its manufacturing of iron articles such as firearms and swords. Oriental Arms Co., leader in manufacturing weapons, was established in 1953 at Munger. It manufactured single and double barrel guns which are not in great demand these days. When the production dropped, it lead to 'illicit arms manufacturing'.

                    An account at the SBI, Munger branch alerted the police. One account number got regular cash deposits from Delhi, Sonepat, Berhampur, Manawar, Kapurthala and from places in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The account had more than Rs 15 lakh. This was found to be unusual. These cash deposits were payments from buyers of arms. In-order to avoid providing PAN details, they always deposited less than Rs 50,000.

When police traced this, they have found few interesting things:

•  The skilled workers (retired) from Oriental Arms company have started this illegal business and this has become a minor scale industry over the last decade.
• Whenever panchayat, assembly elections happen in Bihar, West Bengal or UP, there will be a sudden increase in demand for these arms.
• These arms will have a label - 'Made in Italy' and they will be of world class quality.
• Munger is famous for its SLRs, pistols, revolvers. There are wide variety of options available. A pistol costs Rs 8000 to 10,000 only. Country-made pistols cost Rs 2500-5000 which are very popular in the rural part of North. These are made up of iron rods of bicycles and other easily available materials.
• A country-made AK47 can be procured for Rs 50,000/- and a SLR for Rs. 20,000/-
• These arms are made by women and are transported by their Children. Transportation cost would be ranging from Rs.500 to 2000 depending on the distance.
• About 25% of Munger's population is into this kind of arms manufacturing. There are about 500 arms manufacturing units in and around Munger.
• As per Amnesty International, 50% of the total number of illicit arms worldwide come from India.
• These weapons have huge demand among the maoists, north east militants and the under-world.

The Current Situation:

                           All these years, even though the police knew about these illicit arms factories, they were able to do nothing since these manufacturers had a huge support from the local leaders. They used to have a wonderful market.

                           But things have changed after Nitish Kumar became the CM of Bihar (especially during his third term).  Nitish Kumar government has jailed over 56,000 criminals till date and due to this, the production could not meet the demand.

                           The customers are currently looking options out of Bihar. However, arms manufactured in UP(Azamgarh, Muzaffarnagar) , Rajasthan and MP do not match the quality of Munger weapons.
There is a necessity to uproot the illicit weapon business in India as soon as possible.

Flag code of India

       There are many things that I have found recently which must be followed while using the Indian Flag.

Can we wear the flag as a part of stage show?

                             No, Indian Flag should never be used for wearing. Like, during any stage shows, if any one wears a flag as a shirt, it is a serious violation.

Can we keep the Indian Flag on our cars?

                             No, Only the President of India, PM, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Justice, Ambassadors in other countries, state CMs, cabinet ministers have such a privilege. Not even normal members of Parliament and legislative assemblies have the privilege of flying the National flag on motor car.

What to do with a damaged flag?

                            When the flag is in a damaged or soiled condition,it should be destroyed as a whole in private, preferably by burning or by any other method consistent with the dignity of the flag.

Can the flag be hoisted  on a private building?

                             Till 2002, private institutions were never allowed to hoist the flag. A FIR was lodged against Naveen Jindal for hoisting flag over a private building. He moved a  PIL in supreme court and won it. Since then, private citizens are allowed to fly India's flag inside and atop their buildings and institutions.

What are the common rules to be followed by private citizens?

• Indian Flag should be higher than all other flags.
• It should be lowered at night.
• Even in-case of heavy rain, storm or wind, the hoisted flag must not be lowered during day time.
• The flag can only be half masted in the event of the death of the important dignitaries. The following rules must be followed while doing the same as a part of observing state-mourning:

1. If the President or Vice-President or Prime Minister of India passes away, flag must be half-masted all over the Nation.
2. In the event of other cabinet ministers, speaker, Chief Justice passing away, it must be done all over New Delhi.
3. If the CM, state ministers, speakers of Legislative assembly etc pass away, it must be done in the respective state capital only.
4. What if, the death happens on a national holiday? (Independence day, republic holiday etc). If that is the situation, it must be half-mast only on the building where the body is kept.

•   The flag should never touch the ground, whatever may be the situation.
•   Nothing should be written on the flag, should not be a spoiled one and should not be a half-burnt one.

Some interesting situations w.r.t. Indian Flag, anthem and Map:

1. In 2007, Indian Cricket team has cut a cake that has Indian Flag made of cream on it. Indian players later apologized.
2. Indian cricket team used to have BCCI emblem over the Indian Flag. This lead to a big controversy.
3. In a Telugu movie 'Chathrapathi', the hero asks for one leg space in Vishakapatnam (okka adugu) by keeping his leg on the Indian Map placed against a wall. This was the main scene of the movie. A PIL was filed against this scene and the director had to apologize.
4. In the movie Kabhi kushi, Kabhi Gam there is a scene where people sing the national anthem in London. A PIL was filed in the high court to remove the scene.
5. Plastic Indian Flags are now banned as a part of go-green initiative.
6. When a President travels in an Indian Train, the Indian flag must be placed at the engine driver's cabin to the side of platform. The flag must be placed only when the train is stationary and must not be flying when the train is moving.
7. When the President or PM is on official visit to a nation, he must carry the flags of those nations along with him and they must be kept at the same level. Suppose if he is traveling from India to US via UK, he must keep both the flags alongside the National flag as a gesture of courtesy and goodwill.
8. When representative of other nation travels in same vehicle along with Indian head, the Indian Flag must be placed to the right while the other flag must be placed at the left.

 Any violation to above will be considered to be insult to the nation and it will lead to severe punishment. So, let us be extremely careful while using the Indian Flag.

Similarity between reservation and Separate state demands

Here is the population distribution in India with respect to castes:

What can we infer from the above statistics?

• The forward caste population of 'All India' is 35%. It must be noted that in India 19% of population comes under Minorities and they fall under general category. So, the General, non-minority population in India is somewhere near to 20%
• The states which are mentioned in 'green' are those states where the general population is near or less than the National average and whose total population is considerably high when compared to other states. It means that only 1/3rd of the population in those states are general. And 1/5th of population is non-minority general class.

                      
                        Many say that, this 20% of the population who are well educated, have been rich for many generations and who fall under the forward caste category have all the eligibility to get about 90% of the government jobs and college seats. And this population feels that it is only due to reservation system, they are missing great opportunities.

                        The rest of population say that .. If this 20% population makes law / controls the government, where is the social equality for rest of 80% population?

                        The answer from that 20% population would be - "We studied hard, worked hard to secure a good job and even at work, we have performed very well so we have come to this position. How can one stop us and blame the forward caste for not letting others to develop?"

                        The counter for this question by the remaining population would be - "We were deprived of opportunities to study. At work, we were not given prefernces since we did not have suitable qualification. We are oppressed for  many decades.. etc".

                        When I think about this situation I see a small similarity between reservations and separate-state demands.

Here is the reason for a demand of separate state:

                         If a state comprises of two or three regions,
                                         - one being extremely developed and
                                         - other being extremely backward,
                         it is true that people from highly developed part will dominate the latter. It must be accepted that people from backward region did not get chance to develop due to socio-economic reasons.

This problem is still active in these regions of the following states:

1. Telangana region of AP state when compared to coastal Andhra.
2. Vidarbha region and Marathwada region of Maharastra when comapred to Pune-Mumbai belt.
3. Dharwada-Hubli and other North K'taka when compared to people from M'lore-B'lore
4. The Ladhakh region when compared to Jammu.

                           So, people from a backward region always point it out that " We were deprived of opportunities to study. At work, we were not given preferences since we did not have suitable qualification. (And here, the people from other region would be given this chance if they had the qualification at that time - Eg. A super-in-tendent can never become an Officer if he did not have a graduation degree). We are oppressed for  many decades.. etc".

                            And the people from developed region say " We did not do any unlawful things in rising to higher positions. We studied hard, cleared group exams and we are here."

It is true that both the arguments are correct.

What can we imply from this?

                           The way we see a situation matters a lot. If we support a separate state, we should support the reservation system and apply the reservation system in all fields including politics, cabinet and also at work. Similarly, If we do not support a separate state, we should not support the reservation system too.

So, nothing is good or bad. Let us think laterally and stick to our opinions.

Sarada Bill of 1929

                      Child marriage is considered to be a violation of human rights by the Human Rights Commission and is prohibited. Let us see what all efforts were made by the British India government in early 1900s to eradicate child marriages.

                       In order to curb the child marriages in India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Bombay and  Madras, British-India government has passed a resolution known as 'Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929'. This Bill was presented by Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda of Ajmer Presidency in 1927 to the Imperial Legislature in India. Hence, this act got the name as 'Sarada Bill'. As per this act, the husband of the under-aged girl, people who compel her to get married and parents / guardians of both the parties will be punished.

                      This bill was very famous in those days. It was the first social reform issue that was taken up in India for the benefit of women. Now, let us see how clever our (Great) Grand parents were in obeying the law...

                       My Grandmother got married at the age of 9 before this act was passed in Guntur which comes under Madras State of British India. So, at that point of time, her parents had no problem. She had a younger cousin.. and it was decided that she would get married to my grand father's brother. This marriage got fixed after the bill was passed.

Now... did they postpone the marriage to another five years..?

                      Answer is a big 'No'. They simply went to Yanam, about 150 KMs from Guntur to complete all the marriage rituals., and then came back to Guntur silently.

What is so special about Yanam... 

                       This was a small French Territory located on the Coromandel Coast about 9KMs from Bay of Bengal. It is surrounded on all sides by the Madras State (currently surrounded by East-Godavari District of AP).  It being a French- Indian colony, British Law had no value and thus there is no Sharadha bill.

                      In a similar way, people went to surrounding French (Mahe, Karaikal, Pondicherry, Yanam) and Portuguese (Daman, Diu, DNH, etc) territories in India to complete their marriage rituals. How clever they were!!!

So, I can say that my Grand Mother's cousin got married in a Foreign country.

What is 'Nirmohi Akhara' ?

Ayodhya Verdict got pronounced....
                     
                        As per the judgment, we all understood that the land will now be divided into three parts...

• One for Ram janmabhoomi.. 
• Second for the Wakf board and
• The third part is for Nirmohi Akhara. 

                       Almost everyone thought that the dispute is between two boards. But many of us came to know about the third part, only after the verdict.

What is this 'Nirmohi Akhara'?

                         Akhara is a Sanskrit word which means an organization of Sadhus and Yogis. Adi Shankaracharya started such organizations in 2500BC. Nir'mohi means without 'moha' i.e., without desires and pleasures.. so this Nirmohi Akhara can be considered as those sadhus who have left materialistic pleasures in search of 'moksha'.

                       It is believed that, when Babar invaded Ayodhya, the sadhus of this organization have strongly opposed construction of the disputed structure and since that time they have been worshiping the idols.

                       In 1885, they have filed a suit, seeking consent from British India to construct a temple for Ram in the area which adjacent to the Babri. This was however, not accepted by the British as it would be a Law and Order problem if they both co-exist. So, in 1989, they have again filed a lawsuit against the UP State government claiming that they had been worshiping the deities installed at a temple at the disputed site should be handed over to them.

                       Finally, in 2010, 1/3rd of the disputed land is now given to them as per the judgment.

Beauty Contests - Why India is not getting any title these days?

                      The year 1994, there was an announcement declaring the Miss India(Universe) Susmitha Sen as the Miss Universe 1994. Almost 95% of Indians never knew about those beauty contests by that time. We started discussing a lot about this in buses, schools, at home. Before forgetting this, there was a new announcement making the Miss India (World) as the Miss World 1994. This time, we had a discussion about the difference between Miss World and Miss Universe and in fact, there was a strong debate among our friends group on - "Who looks best ... Aishwarya or Susmitha?". I am sure that many of us had such discussions in those days. Later we got such pageants in 1997, 2000 and 2001. By the year 2001, it became a common thing all over the nation.

                       But, after 2001, we did not win any beauty contest. Many argue that it is due to the public poll which was introduced after 2001 all over the world and Indians never took such polls so seriously.

But, I don't feel that might be the reason.
 

Let us see a few things here:

• Till 1991, we used all Indian Brands of cosmetics, jewelery, apparels etc. We never knew foreign brands. But, in 1991 we opened up our market for foreign brands as a part of Globalization.

• Various foreign face creams, shampoos etc were nascent to the Indian Market and there was very very less awareness about such brands among Indians especially among the Indian women / teenagers. Indian women under 35 years of age in those years accounted for almost 25% of population. This is a huge market for many companies, provided that, they went deep into the hearts of people.

          So, when all at a sudden two beauty titles were won by Indians, our attention got shifted on beauty and many teenagers have started becoming beauty conscious. Many brands have stared expanding their base in Indian Market, many beauty clinics were established all over the nation. In addition to that, the title winners were appointed as brand ambassadors for such products. This trend continued till 2001 and by that time many brands have acquired the necessary base in the market and we have become a stable market. Indian fashion industry has now become the most happening industry in par with international standards.

           It would be interesting to see that, these days people from Africa, China and Latin America are among the top five contestants (India is also among those top 5, just to ensure that the continuity of market).

            May be, in the coming years we may have a series of Miss World and Miss Universe titles being given to China and Africa... Let us wait and see...

National Emergency - Why it was imposed in 1975?

                       Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in 1975. In case of emergency, all the fundamental rights of citizens, freedom of press, media and opposition will be suspended. President, as the supreme commander, will discharge his duties in consultation with the Prime Minister.

What made Indira to impose emergency?

                        Indira's government had to face general elections in 1971 after the war against Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh. There was a great opposition against this war and many did not like the idea of war. Moreover, as a result of this war, we were in financial crisis.

                         In spite of all these, Indira and her government won the general elections with huge majority. Many alleged that Indira misused the state machinery for election purposes. Some even alleged that, she used a rare type of Russian ink on the ballot papers. This ink has a chemical property of being invisible till the time it is exposed to open air and light. So, these ballot papers when opened for counting had a vote being cast to the desired candidate. All such allegations were raised by the opposition in those days.

                          Raj Narain, who was defeated in election by Indira Gandhi, lodged cases against her in the Allahabad High Court. On 12 June 1975, Allahabad High Court found the Prime Minister guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign. The court declared her election is not valid and also banned her from contesting any election for an additional six years. Some serious charges such as bribing voters and election malpractices were withdrawn and she was held responsible for

• Misusing the government machinery, 

• Using the state police to build a dais, 

• Availing the services of a government officer and 

• Use of electricity from the state electricity department. 

                         So, strikes swept across the country.And her close associates suggested that it would be better to impose emergency in order to control the situation.Many great leaders (now in BJP) were arrested, no permissions were given for dharnas, hartals etc. This emergency went on till 1977 when she faced defeat and opposition party for the first time rose to power.

                         But, as there is no proper unity in the opposition  it remained in power for just 2 years when again, she became the PM of India until her assassination.

                         Keeping all these things aside, one should admire the boldness of Indira Gandhi. If anyone else were in that place, we could have never seen them again in active politics. Opposition which was successful in rising to power was never successful in retaining that due to lack of proper leadership.

                         She moved from infinity to zero, then to minus infinity and again rose to plus infinity in no time.Even today, every congress leader names new policies on her name. She is/was a leader....

Bhopal Gas tragedy - What should have been done?

                          The Bhopal Gas Tragedy can be seen as the world's worst industrial catastrophe. It occurred on the mid night of December 2-3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal. Somehow water entered a tank containing 42 tons of MIC. The resulting reaction released toxic gases into the atmosphere. The gases were blown all over the city of Bhopal, causing great panic as people woke up with a burning sensation in their eyes and lungs. It is true that sometimes we cannot  avoid such accidents. We can just try to minimize the ill-effects of such accidents. But, this was not at all the case that happened.

The following facts clearly prove that it is totally the administration failure in regulating that impact:

•  There was an alarm which got triggered immediately after the leak started. But no one knew what to do in case of leak. They were very badly educated about that.
• No one were available to announce all over the locality about the leak. When a factory manufactures / deals with such highly toxic chemicals, workers and administration must be fully prepared. A risk management team must be setup. This did not happen here.
• The surrounding township people were not educated about this. No one taught them about the way they should react in case of any leak. When the gas started following them, the started running here and there instead of lying down and covering their face. When they ran like that, they inhaled more and more toxic air and were greatly affected by that.
• This factory is very near to the Bhopal railway station. It is a fact that, a train just then came from some place with full of passengers and passed through the railway station at the same time. This train passed through the station with its regular speed., as a result of which, entire compartments were filled with toxic air. It is a fact that, when the train crossed the railway station, all the passengers were turned into dead bodies. Now, a point to note again.. No railway officials were informed about this. If they had sufficient information about the leak, they would have stopped the train in outskirts and ran out of the station informing everyone on the platforms.

There is a unsung hero...
                         Ghulam Dastagir was the then Deputy Station Superintendent on duty at that time. He suspected that something is going wrong. At that point of time, the Ghorakhpur-Kanpur Express was standing on a platform, full of passengers whose departure time was 20 minutes away. He immediately alerted the officials and made the train to go out of the station. But due to this direct exposure, he had to spend 19 years in hospital and finally passed away.

It is really very unfortunate that almost 20,000 people died and 5.7 Lakh suffered.This is the absolute failure of administration and the government.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/the-unsung-heroes-of-bhopal-gas-tragedy-12299.php?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/the-unsung-heroes-of-bhopal-gas-tragedy-12299.php?cp