Protest leading to human life is bad, but in case the protesters are considered, it's beneficial, undoubtedly as the views would normally be contradictory, both cannot be implemented.
Pradipta Debnath wrote - as part of Jadavpur University protest
My city Kolkata today 💙
A parade so historic, it scared the fascists.
People so united, it broke the partitionists.
No sticks, no stones, no breaking any bones,
No cartridges, no blood, only songs atone.
The sky, a touch of red,
Underneath her stood, no fear, no dread,
The children of Jadavpur, the voices that rage,
Protecting the glory of her profound tutelage.
A resistance against fascism, the resistance against RSS-BJP-ABVP!! This was in India.
2 power-soaked megalomaniacs met each other's match on 22nd September at Houstan while 50k cheered on and 20 k protested outside. This clearly tells us a good bit about the power of critical thinking and how each think the other to be bigots and hypocrites. Many stood with pride out in the sun, drenched in honest sweat, outside the NRG stadium, in Houston, with prefabricated posters, T-shirts, flags, etc. which they belived to be the moral side of history, while the evil danced to the tunes of the devil inside the opulence of the NRG stadium. The presence of Khalistanis (Sikh separatists) soured the tenor of the protests, involving people of many country and religion. People used the hashtag #AdiosModi to ask Modi to go back and serve up; "Stop Hindutva Fasciscm" “the butcher of humanity”, ‘Real Hindus don’t lynch’and ‘Hinduism is real, hindutva is fake’, “Modi, Modi you can’t hide, you committed genocide”. Some posters compared Modi to Hitler and some slogans compared RSS to the Ku Klux Klan. They thought after being bitten by the Texas bug, tourist PM from India might never again want to step outside of India!!
Narendra Modi on 22 September did address "Shared Dreams, Bright Futures", Texas India Forum. The event seemed to be a PR dream with Modi seeking a standing ovation for the abrogation of Article 370 and asking people to vote for Trump again using his own campaign slogan — ‘Abki baar, Trump Sarkar’. That the bhakts were a wealthy and zealous lot was more than apparent, after the event attendees were gleefully talking about the “josh” of the event, one of the main man behind the 'Modi Howdy' mega event was said to be Shri Soumitra Gokhale, RSS Vishva Vibhag Pramukh, Sangha Pracharak for the last 20 years; who did his MS from US and is a bachelor. The resisters were flabbergasted, and wondered how smoothly he lied about the economy. Nothing he said could have been farther from the truth! For Modi moments from Houston would always remain a part of memory. (Which moment's, I wonder?) He thanked all those who came for the #HowdyModi programme. The event was lively, showcasing the special features of Indian culture and accomplishments of the Indian diaspora. There was also the 'Making of Father 2.0' for our Nation/India.
(Picture Courtesy - FB)
Story do not end here.
Gates Foundation staffer Sabah Hamid resigned from the foundation after realising it was willing to award Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi annual Global Goalkeeper award despite his increasing authoritarian grip on power, infliction of state violence and communication shutdown in Kashmir. Asian performers are organised “Fuck Modi: Noise for Kashmir”, a benefit held in Brooklyn, New York, that brings together artists, protestors and activists, aiming to give the Prime Minister what they call “a true New York welcome filled with opposition demonstrations”. There has been created a FB page - Coalition Against Fascism in India.
Narendra Modi on 25th September addressed Gates Foundation Award and Business Forum in New York and on 27 September in his United Nations address; he mentioned on behalf of 130 crore Indians celebrating 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday; how with majority, he was re-elected in a developing nation, who believed in inclusiveness and consider all as one and have always wanted the welfare of the world, which align with UN Peace keeping mission, we are the residents of that country which has given the world not yudh (war) but buddh, and message of peace. We are against violence, which is the biggest challenge that humanity face today. Vivekananda in World Parliment of Religion requested for - Harmony and Peace, and he too prayed for the same.
Of many two important incidents in the backdrop:
For 10 years the USA & UK had banned Modi for his complicity in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. The Godhra Train Burning was an incident that occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, in which 59 people including 27 women and 10 children were burnt to death, and 48 others were injured in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express train near the Godhra railway station. The victims were Hindu pilgrims who were returning from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the disputed Babri Masjid site. The train was attacked by a mob of around 2,000 people. After some stone-pelting, four coaches of the train were set alight, trapping many people inside. It was found that the fire was arson committed by a mob of 1,000 to 2,000 people while some claimed that the fire had been an accident. A court convicted 31 Muslims for the incident and the conspiracy for the crime. The event is widely perceived as the trigger for the Gujarat riots that followed, which resulted in widespread loss of life, destruction of property and homelessness. Estimates of casualties range from the official figures of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus, to upwards of 2,000 casualties. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat then. The moment he ascended to power in India and became the Prime Minister the ban was lifted. Have pondered on this often.
Kashmir entered its 48th day of blockade by the Indian government, on abolishing article 370 giving special status to a state in India. In the year 1846, Kashmir was sold along with its people in a very humiliating deal, known as the Treaty of Amritsar. The East India Company sold Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh for a sum of Rs 75 lakhs (approximately $104,167 in 2019) as one-time payment as well as some goats of ‘approved breed’ and a few Pashmina shawls that were to be presented to the British Government annually. In the postcolonial period, there was imprisonment of Sheikh Abdullah in 1953, gradual dilution of autonomy over many decades, and rigging of elections in 1987, and now this. How it plays, and pays is a scary thought, Many across is encouraging the lifting of the remaining restrictions temporarily imposed and to maintain the rights and fundamental freedoms of the affected population.
Need of the hour is a peaceful solution, in full respect of their international Human rights obligations. In a moment of rising tensions in different regions around the world, no one could afford another escalation in Kashmir. Regional cooperation in South Asia is now more essential than ever, and peaceful solutions is the need of the hour.
When soldiers climb to up Siachen glacier, evey soldier, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, bows his head and prays towards a solitary igloo as he trudges past, asking God to keep him safe. Inside the igloo, is a Geeta, a Koran, a Bible and the Granth Saab. But a reminder that man is one, and as they say in the Vedas, ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam', the whole world is one family. Incongruous.
Evangelists, Islamists, Communists, some hindus and Sikhs from across the world is on one side and RSS/BJP supporters, and those who are Pro-Modi- As they keep fighting and protesting, against each other - There are also the third kind, who do see the good as well as bad in both the groups and wish and pray for world peace and harmony - Genuinely. Not a disguise.
We keep focusing on external enemies. But the dreadful enemy is within. Once upon a time, then Father of the nation was shot by an extremist by name Nathuram Godse, an advocate of Hindu nationalism, the editor of a daily, Hindu Rashtra; who believed Gandhi to have favored the political demands of India's Muslims during the partition of India, it is believed that he plotted the assassination with Narayan Apte and six others. From https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/why-exactly-did-godse-kill-gandhi/293200 - below paragraphs:
" Devdas replies: "Then why did you do it?"
Nathuram says "the reason is purely political and political alone!" He asks for time to explain his case but the police do not allow this. In court, Nathuram explained himself in a statement, but the court banned it. Gopal Godse reprints Nathuran's will in an annexure to his book. The last line reads: "If and when the government lifts the ban on my statement made in the court, I authorise you to publish it."
So what is in that statement? In it Godse makes the following points:
That he respected Gandhi and "above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done."
Godse felt about Gandhi that "the accumulating provocation of thirty–two years, culminating in his last pro–Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well–being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way."
This led to thought of action against Gandhi because, in Nathuram's view, "against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him."
The other charge is that Gandhi helped create Pakistan: "When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country – which we consider a deity of worship – my mind was filled with direful anger. I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi."
There is a problem with Godse's argument and it is this. He thinks Gandhi was enthusiastic about dividing India when everything in history tells us the case was the opposite. He says Gandhi was a tyrant in Congress but also says Gandhi fasted to get the Congress to see his point of view. Why would a tyrant need to do anything other than just command? Nathuram objects to Gandhi's final fast (against India's refusal to release funds to Pakistan), but that was after India went back on its promise. It was Gandhi who made India act correctly and decently in that instance.
Little of what Nathuram says makes sense by way of logic. It is, contrary to his statement to Devdas, not politics that shaped his actions. It was his hatred of the secular ideology of Gandhi, the true Hindu spirit, that he is finally opposed to, having been brainwashed thoroughly by the RSS."
Godse believed in Akhand Bharat (entirety of pre-Independence India being one country). Modi absolutely does not, and it shows. He is more in tune with the majority of modern-day Indians who are really glad that partition happened. If you recall, Godse was the opposite. After Gandhi died, his ashes were immersed in every river of India, except the Indus. Godse died asking that his ashes be kept until reunification of India happened, after which he wanted them to be immersed in any Pakistani river. According to him these were the only Indian rivers left uncontaminated by Gandhi’s ashes. Modi is very much the opposite of all this.
Godse was a total Swadeshi-booster. In fact, he had a commercial establishment called “Swadeshi Stationery Shop.” In this, he and Gandhi were similar. Modi is different from both. He is very much someone that wants to trade with the world.
The reality is that Godse-Gandhi-Modi are all very different from one another
Like minded people are all bound by a sacred thread of solidarity for resistance. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
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