परेशान देश और रोता प्रधानमंत्री

November 23, 2016

भारत के ही किसी एक शहर में एक परिवार रहता है जिसका एक बच्चा बहुत ही ज़िद्दी और अख्खड़ , मुहल्ले में जब वह खेलते समय बच्चों से हार या पिट जाता तो अपने घर में जाकर रोता और सफाईयाँ देता कि "मैंने कुछ नहीं किया , वो लोग झूठ बोल रहे हैं ,और रोते हुए कहता कि मैंने ऐसे किया , मैंने वैसे किया, सारी गलती उन लोगों की है , बूहूहूहू । और फिर उसके घर वाले "लठैत" घर से बाहर आकर उन लोगों को चार बातें सुनाते जिनके साथ बच्चा खेल रहा था।

यह उदाहरण हमारे और आपके मुहल्ले या कालोनी में बच्चों की लड़ाईयों में अक्सर ही सबके सामने आया होगा , कल प्रधानमंत्री जी ने भी उसी बच्चे की तरह व्यवहार किया , और जब सारा विपक्ष उनके संसद में होने की माँग कर रहा है तो वह भाजपा संसदीय दल की बैठक में उसी बच्चे की तरह रोकर सफाईयाँ दे रहे थे कि "विपक्ष गलत जानकारी फैला रहा है" "मेरा मकसद यह था" , "आप लोग जनता को समझाईये" , " इस नोटबंदी को सर्जिकल स्ट्राईक मत कहिए" इत्यादि इत्यादि।

जैसे अपने घर में जाकर रोने वाला ज़िद्दी लड़का अक्सर गलत होता है वैसे ही यहाँ प्रधानमंत्री भी गलत हैं, क्युँकि नोटबंदी को एक और सर्जिकल स्ट्राईक उन्होंने खुद 22 अक्टूबर 2016 को वड़ोदरा की अपनी पिछली ही मीटिंग में कहा था और उनके तब के भाषण से प्रेरित होकर ही उनके परिवार वालों ने नोटबंदी को सर्जिकल स्ट्राईक कहना प्रारंभ किया , आज प्रधानमंत्री दूसरे को "सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक" कहने से मना कर रहे हैं तो मान लीजिए कि वह अपने निर्णय में फँस चुके हैं और पूरे देश को फँसा चुके हैं जिसपर लीपापोती करने के लिए वह अपनी "भाँड मीडिया" और खुद की अभिनय क्षमता का प्रयोग कर रहे हैं, प्रधानमंत्री जी आने वाले दिनों में भारतीय राजनीति के "ट्रेजडी किंग" होने जा रहे हैं।

ध्यान दीजिए कि 8 नवम्बर के बाद प्रधानमंत्री जी ताबड़तोड़ सभाएँ कर रहे हैं , जापान में एक , महाराष्ट्र और गोवा में 3 , गाज़ीपुर में 1 , आगरा में 1 , पत्रकारिता से संबंधित एक कार्यक्रम में एक और कल भी किसी प्रोग्राम में एक , अर्थात 13 दिन में 8 प्रवचन और हो सकता है कि दो एक दिन में दो एक और प्रवचन देकर रविवार को "मन की बात" करें तो कुल 12 भाषण, और सब जगह देश को समझाने का प्रयास , तो आप खुद समझ सकते हैं कि एक तो प्रधानमंत्री को भी देश की नाराजगी का एहसास है और दूसरा यह कि "नोटबंदी" के लिए पूरी स्क्रिप्ट लिखी गयी , प्रधानमंत्री के भाषणबाजी के प्रोग्राम तय किए गये , बस तैयारी इस बात की नहीं की गयी कि इस नोटबंदी के कारण बर्बाद होने वाली जनता को और क्या विकल्प दिए जाएँ जिससे देश में अव्यवस्था ना फैले।

दरअसल संघ की ट्रेनिंग से इन नागपुरियों के पास गजब की थेथरई होती है , शब्दों को चबा चबा कर आक्रामक रुप से बोलने की कला होती है और प्रधानमंत्री इस कला के सबसे बड़े उदाहरण हैं , उनको लगता है कि उनके भाषण देने , चीख चीख कर समझाने , हाथ उठवा देने से गरीब जनता अपनी भूख और पैसे की ज़रूरत भूल जाएगी तो यह उनकी मुर्खता ही है।

कल राज्यसभा में ये बोल रहे थे कि यह विषय वित्तमंत्री के स्तर का है तो प्रधानमंत्री को सदन में बुलाने की ज़िद क्युँ ? तो सवाल उठेगा ही कि यह विषय वित्तमंत्री के स्तर के विषय को प्रधानमंत्री ने 8 नवंबर को खुद घोषणा क्युँ की ? जब खुद घोषणा की तो वित्तमंत्री से जवाब क्यूँ ?

देश फँस चुका है और प्रधानमंत्री समझ चुके हैं कि वह देश को फँसा चुके हैं , उदाहरण देखिए कि नोटबंदी की घोषणा के अगले ही दिन प्रधानमंत्री जापान निकल गये और वहाँ उचक उचक कर , मटक मटक कर , ताली बजा बजा कर अपने निर्णय पर खुद की पीठ ठोक रहे थे और अब वह सुबक सुबक कर रो रहे हैं।

गलती मानकर उसमें सुधार करने की बजाए रोना और उलहना देना कायरता की निशानी है और देश का प्रधानमंत्री बार बार खुद के कायर होने का उदाहरण दे रहा है , पूरा देश परेशान है और प्रधानमंत्री खुद देश को संसद में जवाब देने की बजाए संसदीय दल के पल्लू में बैठ कर सुबक रहे हैं तो माफ कीजिएगा उनके पास 56" की छाती नहीं कुछ और ही है।

संसद का सामना ना करना और वहाँ के सवाल जवाब से भागना वैसे ही है जैसे मुहल्ले का वह ज़िद्दी बच्चा अपने स्कूल की कक्षा से भागता है , निश्चित रूप से देश और प्रधानमंत्री फँस चुके हैं ।

क्या टीपू सुल्तान स्वाधीनता संग्राम सैनानी थे?

November 23, 2016

कर्नाटक सरकार द्वारा गत 10 नवंबर, 2016 को टीपू सुल्तान की जयंती मनाए जाने के मुद्दे पर जमकर विवाद और हंगामा हुआ। पिछले वर्ष, इसी कार्यक्रम का विरोध करते हुए तीन लोग मारे गए थे। टीपू सुल्तान की जयंती मनाए जाने का विरोध मुख्यतः आरएसएस-भाजपा और कुछ अन्य संगठनों द्वारा किया जा रहा है। इनका कहना है कि टीपू एक तानाशाह था, जिसने कोडवाओं का कत्लेआम किया, कैथोलिक ईसाईयों का धर्मपरिवर्तन करवाया और उनकी हत्याएं कीं, कई ब्राह्मणों को जबरदस्ती मुसलमान बनाया और अनेक मंदिरों को तोड़ा। यह भी कहा जाता है कि उन्होंने कन्नड़ की बजाए फारसी भाषा को प्रोत्साहन दिया। दूसरी ओर, कुछ अन्य लोगों का कहना है कि टीपू एक अत्यंत लोकप्रिय राजा थे और उनकी वीरता के किस्से अब भी नाटकों और लोकगीतों का विषय हैं। वे एकमात्र ऐसे भारतीय राजा थे जो ब्रिटिश शासकों से लड़ते हुए मारे गए। प्रसिद्ध रंगकर्मी गिरीश कर्नाड ने तो यहां तक मांग की है कि बैंगलोर के नए हवाईअड्डे का नाम टीपू सुल्तान के नाम पर रखा जाना चाहिए। कर्नाड ने यह भी कहा है कि अगर टीपू हिन्दू होते तो उन्हें कर्नाटक में उतने ही सम्मान की दृष्टि से देखा जाता, जितने सम्मान से महाराष्ट्र में शिवाजी को देखा जाता है।

यह दिलचस्प है कि कर्नाटक भाजपा के अध्यक्ष बीएस येदियुरप्पा ने जब 2010 में भाजपा को छोड़कर अपनी पार्टी बनाई थी, तब उन्होंने मुस्लिम मतदाताओं को आकर्षित करने के लिए टीपू सुल्तान जैसी टोपी पहनी थी और तलवार हाथ में उठाई थी। आज वे ही टीपू सुल्तान का जन्मदिन मनाए जाने के विरोध का नेतृत्व कर रहे हैं। यह भी दिलचस्प है कि आरएसएस द्वारा 1970 के दशक में प्रकाशित भारत-भारती पुस्तक श्रृंखला में टीपू को एक देशभक्त नायक के रूप में प्रस्तुत किया गया था। आज वे ही लोग टीपू सुल्तान को एक धर्मांध शासक बता रहे हैं। संघ परिवार द्वारा एक ट्रेन का नाम टीपू पर रखे जाने का भी विरोध किया गया था। ऐसा आरोप लगाया जा रहा है कि टीपू सुल्तान ने अपने सेनापतियों को पत्र लिखकर यह कहा था कि काफिरों का सफाया कर दिया जाना चाहिए। यह कहा जाता है कि ये पत्र अब ब्रिटिश सरकार के कब्ज़े में हैं। जब विजय माल्या ने लंदन में आयोजित एक नीलामी में टीपू की 42 इंच लंबी तलवार खरीदी थी तब भी बहुत बवाल मचा था। टीपू को लेकर समय-समय पर विवाद होते रहे हैं।

टीपू सुल्तान कौन थे? उनका स्वाधीनता संग्राम में क्या योगदान था? टीपू ने अपना राज्य अपने पिता हैदर अली से उत्तराधिकार में पाया था। युद्ध लड़ने की तकनीकी के विकास में हैदर और टीपू का योगदान सर्वज्ञात है। उन्होंने अंग्रेज़ों के विरूद्ध अपने युद्धों में मिसाइलों का इस्तेमाल किया था। अंग्रेज़ों के साथ हुए उनके युद्ध बहुत प्रसिद्ध हैं। हैदर और टीपू ने ब्रिटिश साम्राज्य के भारत में विस्तार को रोकने में महती भूमिका अदा की थी। टीपू की राजनीति, धर्म पर आधारित नहीं थी। उलटे इतिहास में यह दर्ज है कि उन्होंने हिन्दू मठों को दान दिया था, यद्यपि इसके पीछे भी हिन्दुओं का समर्थन हासिल करने की राजनैतिक मंशा थी। सच यह है कि चूंकि टीपू ने अंग्रेज़ों के खिलाफ लंबी लड़ाई लड़ी थी इसलिए उन्होंने उसका दानवीकरण किया।

टीपू ने मराठाओं और हैदराबाद के निज़ाम से पत्रव्यवहार कर उनसे यह अनुरोध किया था कि वे अंग्रेज़ों का साथ न दें क्योंकि अंग्रेज़, उस क्षेत्र के अन्य राजाओं से बिलकुल भिन्न हैं और यदि उनका राज कायम होता है तो यह पूरे क्षेत्र के लिए एक बड़ी आपदा होगी। उनकी इसी सोच ने उन्हें अंग्रेज़ों के खिलाफ अनवरत युद्ध करने की प्रेरणा दी। ऐसे ही एक युद्ध में उन्हें अपने जीवन से हाथ धोना पड़ा। परंतु वे आज भी कर्नाटक के लोगों की स्मृतियों में जिंदा हैं। उन पर केन्द्रित कई नाटक और गीत (लावणी) हैं। जनता के बीच उनकी लोकप्रियता के कारण ही वे आज भी कर्नाटक के एक महत्वपूर्ण ऐतिहासिक व्यक्तित्व बने हुए हैं।

जहां तक कन्नड़ और मराठी के साथ-साथ फारसी भाषा का इस्तेमाल करने की उनकी नीति का प्रश्न है, हमें यह समझना होगा कि उस समय भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप में फारसी ही राजदरबारों की भाषा थी। टीपू कतई धर्मांध नहीं थे। कांची कामकोटि पीठम के शंकराचार्य को लिखे एक पत्र में उन्होंने शंकराचार्य को ‘जगतगुरू’ (विश्व का शिक्षक) कहकर संबोधित किया और उनके मठ को बड़ी राशि दान के रूप में दी। इसके विपरीत, रघुनाथ राव पटवर्धन की मराठा सेना ने मैसूर के बेदानूर पर हमला कर श्रंगेरी मठ में लूटपाट की। मराठा सेना ने मठ को अपवित्र किया। शंकराचार्य ने इस बारे में टीपू को लिखा। टीपू ने पूरे सम्मान के साथ मठ की पुनर्प्रतिष्ठा की। उन्होंने श्रीरंगपट्नम के मंदिर को दान भी दिया। उनके राज में मैसूर में दस दिन तक दशहरा बड़े जोरशोर से मनाया जाता था और वाडियार परिवार का कोई सदस्य इस आयोजन का नेतृत्व करता था। ऐसा कहा जाता है कि उनके पिता, मध्य कर्नाटक के चित्रदुर्गा के एक सूफी संत थिप्पेरूद्रस्वामी के अनन्य भक्त थे।
टीपू के महामंत्री एक ब्राह्मण थे जिनका नाम पुरनैया था। उनके कई मंत्री भी ब्राह्मण थे। उन्होंने जो भी गठबंधन किए उसके पीछे धर्म नहीं बल्कि अपनी ताकत में इज़ाफा करने का प्रयास था। अपनी पुस्तक ‘सुल्तान-ए-खुदाद’ में सरफराज़ शैख ने ‘टीपू सुल्तान का घोषणापत्र’ प्रकाशित किया है, जिसमें उन्होंने स्पष्ट शब्दों में यह घोषणा की है कि वे धर्म के आधार पर किसी के साथ भेदभाव नहीं करेंगे, अपनी आखिरी सांस तक अपने साम्राज्य की रक्षा करेंगे और ब्रिटिश शासन को उखाड़ फेकेंगे। यह सही है कि कुछ विशिष्ट समुदाय उनके निशाने पर थे। इस संबंध में टिप्पणी करते हुए इतिहासविद केट ब्रिटलबैंक लिखती हैं कि ‘‘उन्होंने ऐसा धार्मिक कारणों से नहीं बल्कि उन समुदायों को सज़ा देने के लिए किया था’’। उन्होंने जिन समुदायों को निशाना बनाया, वे वह थे जो उनकी दृष्टि में साम्राज्य के प्रति वफादार नहीं थे। तथ्य यह है कि उन्होंने माहदेवी जैसे कई मुस्लिम समुदायों को भी निशाना बनाया। ये समुदाय वे थे जो अंग्रेज़ों के साथ थे और ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी की सेना के घुड़सवार दस्ते के सदस्य थे। एक अन्य इतिहासविद सूसान बैले लिखती हैं कि अगर टीपू ने अपने राज्य के बाहर हिन्दुओं और ईसाईयों पर हमले किए तो यह भी ध्यान में रखा जाना चाहिए कि अपने राज्य में रहने वाले इन्हीं समुदायों के सदस्यों के साथ उनके मधुर रिश्ते थे।

टीपू को मुस्लिम कट्टरपंथी के रूप में प्रस्तुत करना अंग्रेज़ों के हित में था। उन्होंने यह प्रचार किया कि वे टीपू की तानाशाही से त्रस्त गैर-मुसलमानों की रक्षा के लिए टीपू के खिलाफ युद्ध कर रहे हैं। यह मात्र एक बहाना था। कहने की आवश्यकता नहीं कि आज के ज़माने में हम राजाओं और नवाबों का महिमामंडन नहीं कर सकते। वे हमारे राष्ट्रीय नायक नहीं हो सकते। परंतु इसके बाद भी, टीपू, भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप के विभिन्न हिस्सों में तत्समय राज कर रहे भारतीय राजाओं से इस अर्थ में भिन्न थे कि वे अंग्रेज़ों के भारत में अपना राज कायम करने के खतरों को पहले से भांप सके। वे अंग्रेज़ों के खिलाफ युद्ध में सबसे पहले अपनी जान न्यौछावर करने वालों में से थे। भारत में स्वाधीनता आंदोलन, टीपू के बहुत बाद पनपना शुरू हुआ और इसमें आमजनों की भागीदारी थी। टीपू के बलिदान को मान्यता दी जाना ज़रूरी है। आज साम्प्रदायिक विचारधारा के बोलबाले के चलते टीपू जैसे नायकों का दानवीकरण किया जा रहा है। अंग्रेज़ों के खिलाफ युद्ध में टीपू की भूमिका को नज़रअंदाज नहीं किया जा सकता।

(मूल अंग्रेजी से हिन्दी रूपांतरण अमरीश हरदेनिया)

Against the Cult of Fear & Silence: Resistance Meet in Goa

November 23, 2016

SILENCED: Rationalists Dr Narendra Dabolkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi were murdered in cold blood by fascist elements Dakshinayan Abhiyan, an initiative taken by Padma Shri Dr Ganesh Devy, is organising a convention to bring rationalist and liberals together to preserve the freedom of speech and thought guaranteed by the constitution. The convenor of the three-day convention starting Friday, November 18 is social activist Datta Nayak

On November 19, the inaugural session at Ravindra Bhavan saw Dr Ganesh Devy, Leela Samson, Berzwada Wilson speaking, and there were also discussions (Yogendra Yadav on “India at Crossroads” and one with Raosaheb Kasbe), cultural evenings of poetry reading, singing, and much else. There will be a media session on “Media: Freedom & Promiscuity” with familiar communications and media stalwarts – Amol Palekar, Rajdeep Sardessai, Nikhil Wagle and others.

Activists lash out at Sangh Parivar, Sanatan Sanstha

Setting the tone for the three-day national conference of the Dakshinayan Abhiyan that got underway at Margao on Friday, literary scholar and cultural activist Ganesh Devy urged all progressive minds to come together and join “the struggle for the freedom of creative expression that is rooted in tolerance and diversity.”Speaking at a public meeting at Lohia maidan here, Devy hoped that Goa’s immense cultural diversity and its multilingual nature would help realise the objectives of the Abhiyan.Many of the speakers, who addressed the meeting, lashed out at the Sanatan Sanstha and Sangh Parivar for their attempts at disrupting communal harmony in the state in the name of Hindutva. Hameed Dabholkar , son of slain anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, said that killings of Dabholkar , besides two other rationalists, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi , could have been avoided if the investigating agencies were able to arrest the masterminds of the Margao bomb blast in 2009.

While local social activist Prashant Naik demanded that Sanatan Sanstha be banned, Uttam Parwar from Gujarat said the “the country’s biggest threat came from the Sangh Parivar.”A procession ‘Sankalp Yatra,’ was also held from the Ravindra Bhavan to Lohia Maidan.About 1,000 delegates are participating in the event. Setting the tone for the three-day national conference of the Dakshinayan Abhiyan that got underway at Margao on Friday, literary scholar and cultural activist Ganesh Devy urged all progressive minds to come together and join “the struggle for the freedom of creative expression that is rooted in tolerance and diversity.”Speaking at a public meeting at Lohia maidan here, Devy hoped that Goa’s immense cultural diversity and its multilingual nature would help realise the objectives of the Abhiyan.Many of the speakers, who addressed the meeting, lashed out at the Sanatan Sanstha and Sangh Parivar for their attempts at disrupting communal harmony in the state in the name of Hindutva.

Setting the tone for the three-day national conference of the Dakshinayan Abhiyan that got underway at Margao on Friday, literary scholar and cultural activist Ganesh Devy urged all progressive minds to come together and join “the struggle for the freedom of creative expression that is rooted in tolerance and diversity.”Speaking at a public meeting at Lohia maidan here, Devy hoped that Goa’s immense cultural diversity and its multilingual nature would help realise the objectives of the Abhiyan.Many of the speakers, who addressed the meeting, lashed out at the Sanatan Sanstha and Sangh Parivar for their attempts at disrupting communal harmony in the state in the name of Hindutva. Hameed Dabholkar , son of slain anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar , said that killings of Dabholkar , besides two other rationalists, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi , could have been avoided if the investigating agencies were able to arrest the masterminds of the Margao bomb blast in 2009.While local social activist Prashant Naik demanded that Sanatan Sanstha be banned, Uttam Parwar from Gujarat said the “the country’s biggest threat came from the Sangh Parivar.”A procession ‘Sankalp Yatra,’ was also held from the Ravindra Bhavan to Lohia Maidan.About 1,000 delegates are participating in the event. A formal inauguration of the event will be held on Saturday..

Dakshinayan Abhiyan, an initiative taken by Dr Ganesh Devy, is organising a convention to bring rationalist and liberals together to preserve the freedom of speech and thought guaranteed by the constitution. The convenor of the three-day convention starting in Margao, Goa on Friday, November 18 is social activist Datta Nayak. Among the eminent delegates will be the family members of the three rationalists murdered by fundamentalist elements and noted RTI activist Prashant Bushan

ALL is not lost – yet. There are enough people at the top, middle and bottom echelons of our multiracial, multi-religious, multicultural society to warm the heart and keep the flame of democracy alive. Enough regrettable things have happened in recent years to make smart people pause in disquietude, memories of the lessons of history abroad and at home flooding the mind. One stout defender of freedom of speech and equality in pursuit of happiness for all is quiet author and linguistics professor Dr Ganesh Devy.

Dr Devy was in Panjim to contribute towards the final touches of the forthcoming mega conference – Abhivyakti: Dakshinayan Rasthriya Parishad scheduled at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao from November 18-20. It will witness a host of literary and intellectual personalities speaking on coming together in solidarity in the face of political tyranny. Dakshinayan Abhiyan has been formed by various authors and like-minded people in Goa supporting the cause of right to freedom of speech.

Dr Devy, now based in Dharwad, has seen life and times in Gujarat as a professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University. Apart being a linguistics scholar with several books to his credit, he is a critic and activist and founder-director of Bhasha Research & Publications Center, Vadodara. Along with many others, he returned his Sahitya Academy Award last year to protest the cold-blooded killing of intellectuals and rationalists in India.

At a media meet in Panjim recently, Dr Ganesh Devy said that the climate in India has become such that people are living in fear. This does not auger well for the country. Perhaps if like-minded people come together to express their feelings and thoughts it could be a catalyst, a positive force. He rued the fact that those who speak in the late Mahatma Gandhi’s name have actually turned Gujarat into the very antithesis of what Gandhiji valued the most. In his opinion, “Gujarat is no longer Mahatma Gandhi’s Gujarat.” Today’s Gujarat is a ghetto state with large sections living fearfully in “allotted” areas. It is not in the interests of the rest of India to become like Gujarat!

Speaking on the eve of the meet, Devy hoped that the forthcoming Abhivyakti: Dakshinayan Rashtriya Parishad will prove to be an initiative in the right direction, and inculcate genuinely progressive thinking among the young generation. Interestingly, Dr Devy quipped, “We should not want any ‘terrible beauty’ in India,” referring to the infamous Easter 1916 Irish freedom uprising against English tyranny in which millions of young people lost their lives in a civil war of sorts, and inspired William Butler Yeats to write his famous poem Easter, 1916: beginning “I have met them at close of day…” and concluding “A terrible beauty is born.”

Endorsing his sentiments was Goa Dakshinayan Abhiyan convenor Datta Naik. He said the gathering of almost 1,000 people sprang up almost spontaneously. He added, “It is a collective desire to forge a new solidarity between all progressive forces. It is a struggle for the freedom of creative expression that foregrounds tolerance and dialogue. It is an attempt to deepen rational thinking as being pivotal to society that is genuinely equal, just and respectful of diversity.” The event has logged 300 delegates from Goa and other parts of India. It will begin with a sankalp yatra to Lohia Maidan where a public meeting will be addressed by Hameed Dabholkar, Medha Pansare, Vijay Kalburgi, Prashant Naik, Atamjit Singh, K Satchidanandan, Dhanaji Gurav, Uttam Parmar, K Neela, Manan Kumar Mandal and others.

The concluding session will be based on an action plan to fight communalism presided over by Prabhakar Timble with Annad Karandikar, Harsha Badkar and Prashant Bhushan as participants. Entry fee for delegates is `1,000 while students may participate freely on presentation of ID cards. Needless to say, this multidimensional event promises to be the most exciting ever to sow the seeds of new, more progressive ways of thinking, to eventually bear sweeter fruit in a long-term perspective. Anybody who wants to belong and be counted as a progressive force must make time for it!

The Truth About Dr. Abdus Slam A Documentary by Pervez HoodBhoy

November 23, 2016

Mohammad Abdus Salam ( 29 January 1926 – 21 November 1996),was a Pakistani theoretical physicist. A major figure in 20th century theoretical physics, he shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. He was the first Pakistani and first Muslim to receive a Nobel Prize in science and the second from an Islamic country to receive any Nobel Prize (after Anwar Sadat of Egypt).

Salam was a top level science advisor to the Government of Pakistan from 1960 to 1974, a position from which he played a major and influential role in the development of the country's science infrastructure.Salam was responsible not only for contributing to major developments in theoretical and particle physics, but also for promoting the broadening and deepening of high calibre scientific research in his country.He was the founding director of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and responsible for the establishment of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG) in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). As Science Advisor, Salam played an integral role in Pakistan's development of the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and may have contributed as well to development of atomic bomb project of Pakistan in 1972; for this, he is viewed as the "scientific father" of this programme. In 1974, Abdus Salam departed from his country, in protest, after the Pakistan Parliament passed a controversial parliamentary bill declaring the Ahmadiyya movement, to which Salam belonged, as not-Islamic. In 1998, following the country's nuclear tests, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp, as a part of "Scientists of Pakistan", to honour the services of Salam.

Video Courtesy: GICK Education

Free Software Movement of India Demands Apology for Banning Social Media Criticism

November 23, 2016

Government resorting to such draconian measures to stifle all legitimate criticism

The District Magistrate of Indore has issued an order – Order/2956/RADM/2016, Indore/Date 14/11/2016 under Section 144 – banning any criticism on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc., on exchange of old currency that is “objectionable” or can “cause incitement”. The order is attached here. This, in effect, is a blanket ban on any criticism of the Government on its failure to provide sufficient new notes for the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes that it has demonetised. Clearly, having failed to remonetise the economy and putting the common man to immense hardship, the government now wants to clamp down on all criticism on its failures.

The use of Section 144 for censorship of social media also goes far beyond what the Supreme Court has held in its various judgements. The Supreme Court, in Madhu Limaye and Anr v. Ved Murti and Ors. ((1970) 3 SCC 746), held that the use of Section 144 is justified only for prevention of public disturbance or violence, and urgency as the only ground for using this section.

The state and central governments have been using Section 144 arbitrarily in shutting down the internet and going far beyond what its powers are under Section 144. It has now extended such powers, earlier used only for banning public assembly, to now attacking peoples rights of Freedom of Speech, guaranteed under the Section 19. It shows the desperation of the Central and the Madhya Pradesh governments that having failed in the elementary task of providing money to the people for conducting their day to day lives, they are resorting to such draconian measures to stifle all legitimate criticism.

The Free Software Movement of India demands that this Order of the District Magistrate be immediately withdrawn and the Madhya Pradesh government issue an apology to the people for this action.

Y.Kiran Chandra #kiran@fsmi.in
General Secretary
Prabir Purkayastha
Vice President
The order of the DM can be read below:

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

Poem on Demonetisation: What Colour, Money? Ballad of the Commoners

November 23, 2016

R. Umamaheshwari (Veena)

(Of real people, real narratives and real lives. In my neighbourhood and city, Hyderabad.)

Bajji seller Hanumanthu
Mestri Yadgiri
Bangle seller Mohammad Laeeq
Earth-worker, brick layer, matti pani Ramachander
Footwear seller Lakshmamma
Shaadi-khana labour Najeeb
Coolie, cook, etc Jahangir
Miscellaneous labour: Suryanarayana, Baburao, Nagaraju…
Srikakulam, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Hyderabad, Kurnul
North Andhra, Telangana, Rayalaseema
(Region / State)
India
SC, BC, Muslim.
Illiterates; school drop-outs.
Dalit Bahujan, the "Common" Ones
Delinked from banking systems,
Yet, struck by it, in one blow
Delinked from the Nation’s economy
Yet, paying the price for it

"This is anyaayam amma", says Hanumanthu
Wondering, what happened to all his giraaki, to whom he served
Hot, delicious mirchi bajjis and vadas, with a benign smile, writ large on his face
His oil-pan now gone cold for days now
The TRS party guy came by, the other day, telling him not to worry
And gave him a 500 rupee note, as a gesture of protection
Another guy on a bike stopped by, ate bajjis, gave another 500
Adding, "Keep the change" (while a third wasn’t that generous and demanded change!)
Hanumanthu was 1000-rupee rich, suddenly!
Yet 1000-rupee poor, and in a dilemma
Should he take the money,
That might buy him nothing today?
Or, should he refuse, and go home, empty-handed?
He kept it — a paper without value, begging for change from any kind soul
Hanumanthu has no bank account
He asks, how do people like me use cards, amma?
Hanumanthu never stepped into an ATM in his 70-year-old life
Banks don’t exist in Hanumanthu’s world,
Just as Hanumanthu doesn’t, in the Nation’s GDP
Hanumanthu didn’t know (since he watches no TV)
That the Finance Minister promises a "cashless" economy
Hanumanthu only understands "cash"; the few hundreds he earns each day,
Cash that he can hold in his hands, coming from a livelihood, honest, simple, pure
Not enough. Hardly so. But pure.
Not bloodied with farmers’ dislocations, displacements, deaths and impoverishment.
What colour, money?
Blood and Sweat and Tears of Hanumanthu, and his Benign Smile, Now Stolen.

Mestri Yadagiri, by the Gandhi Statue, Sitaphalmandi, says —
"More than a week now; no work, no money; we spend hours here
Waiting; we drink tea and leave. Where do we go? What do we eat?
Sometimes a contractor arrives, and, handing us a 500 note, demands 50, or 100, back.
The note buys us nothing; not food, not milk.
Why did he do this? He says it will benefit our desam, amma
But I don’t know those big things; we have no food, no work, no money."
But, in his amazing honesty, Yadagiri adds, "At least my wife works in people’s homes; I am managing
What about the rest of us? There are hundreds of us here."
What colour, money?
Yadagiri’s honesty, in face of hunger, desperation, and loss of a million workers.
By the Subhas Bose statue, Jahangir (not the king), part-time auto driver, labourer, cleaner, cook asks —
"Will he just close it all down all at once, this man? Just like that (aiseheech?)
How do we live? My children need milk in the morning. How do I buy it?
They dump 500 notes on us poor people
They have black money; we don’t!
He is the central government guy; happy. What about us?
Do I have a tree growing 100 rupee notes?
Money can come back, madam, not a human being.
Do you remember the old man who died in a bank queue the other day?
And the old woman who committed suicide after selling the only land she had?
What was their crime?’
What colour, money?
Jahangir (not the king)’s question, and anger, and pain.

Coolie pani Ramachandar, by the Bose statue, cries out,
"We are poor people; we will all slowly just die
This is a wound they inflicted on us poor.
By chance if we get a 500 note, seeking change, they give us 300
And take 200 as their share. We shall go hungry, were we to lose that money…"
What colour, money?
Ramachandar’s cry
"Upavasam has been forced on me since a week now", says Lakshmamma
Selling footwear since last thirty years by the street junction at Sultan Bazar, once the shopping paradise (for cheaper things, of course!)
Once busy, now pining for busy-ness
Shunned and stumped by the Metro-rail, yet-to-realise.
"People give me a 500 note for a slipper costing 100.
Is there a solution to all this?
Why did they do this to the poor?
How do I pay my rent?
Nobody cares for us", says she.
What colour, money?
A Table and cardboard panel of shiny, snazzy footwear, gathering street dust; a lone woman waiting they would be picked up, but not for 500.

By the historic Charminar, Najeeb — with a pretty little daughter with a broken toy,
Hungry, and a bewitching, momentary, smile — says, "We have no work."
They used to call him for work, any work, in normal times, in the shaadi khana (wedding hall).
Now "sab kaamaan cancil hain" (all works have stopped)
"It's been a week", says he.
"I have no work, no money; we just sit here, sleep on the streets."
"Don’t talk much’, friends tell him; they are scared
Of the media, perhaps, or of the government, or both (remember, they are Muslims)?
Says Najeeb, "What will they do? What can a poor man do to them?"
What colour, money?
Silent whispers, muted cries by Charminar
Suryanarayana, landless, mestri (mason), by the Skandagiri temple, says,
"Had no work, no land; had a house, but do I eat it? I came here
Why would I, if I had work in the village?
Now there is no work here either."
Colour of money? A blank look, a bleak future in a hyper city.
Koti, daily wage earner (painter),
Tells me, "I saved every penny; not a single day I miss at work
For a whole year,
To bring in our second child into the world,
The TV shook me up, one day,
Scared, I put all my money in the bank.
What do I do now, amma? The baby is due, anytime now.
The hospital demands advance."
What colour, money?
The future, of an unborn child.
What colour, money?
Senior citizens’ deaths in bank queues
What of the Constitution? Who knows?
Right to Livelihood? What’s that?
Right to Life? Who cares?
Who cares, for the right of the people to their money?
For those that pay taxes, without question?
And stand in long queues, without question, like puppets in a puppetry show?
Who do not question; who believe, almost always; who pay bills on time
Who do not assert for their "hard-earned" money to come by with human dignity
Who do not question the inking of their fingers
Nor the general distrust that governments in power always have, for their ilk (except once in five years)?

Meanwhile, Simhachalam (doesn’t tell me his true name, others call him Reddy), the contractor, shows me a thick bundle of 500 notes
Says he is "managing" it; paying the labourers this money or putting them into "zero accounts". "It is now allowed", he quips.
(I forget to ask, though, what does zero account really mean?)
The construction of the city must go on
For the nation’s good.
The daily wagers stare in silence, as he talks,
Pain in their eyes, stomachs rumbling from a few days’ hunger.
Another builder, elsewhere, someone tells me, has deposited money
Into accounts newly created, of daily wage labourers,
To make the "black" legally "white".
They feel rich for a while, the daily wagers; the "ommoners"
"Notionally", at least,
But, of course, he tells them, he will take the cash back
And he gives them a couple of 1000 notes, in return for a vow of silence!
What colour, money?

R. Umamaheshwari, who also uses the pen name Veena, is a well-known social activist.

This article was first published on indianculturalforum.in

Hundreds of Rohingya cross into Bangladesh

November 22, 2016

Members of the muslim Rohingya minority are fleeing Myanmar after government troops poured into their land since a series of attacks on police border posts last month

Rohingya refugees sit as they wait to enter the Kutupalang Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016REUTERS

Hundreds of Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar, refugee camp community leaders said Tuesday, many with horrific tales of troops killing and burning villages.

Bangladesh prevented hundreds more from crossing into the country after up to 30,000 Rohingya were displaced by violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have intensified patrols along the 237-kilometre border, but refugee camp leaders estimate that 1,000 people have still managed to get in over the last week.

Most are hiding out in camps for the 32,000 legally registered already living in Teknaf, fearing repatriation if they are found by authorities.

Mohammad Amin, 17, said he and 15 others fled their homes in Rakhine five days ago and reached Bangladesh by swimming across the Naf river that divides the two countries.

“The (Myanmar) army killed my father and elder brother. I hid on a hill and then walked and swam across the river, and took refuge at a mosque (in Bangladesh),” he told AFP by phone from Cox’s Bazar near the border. “Where I looked I saw only burnt houses. I don’t know what happened to my mother and sister.”

Zohra Khatun, 25, arrived late Monday with her seven children after their village was burned to the ground, and has been helped by a relative already living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. “I waited two days before I had the chance to cross the river to come here,” Khatun told AFP by phone.

The relative, who asked not to be named, said that at least 100 families had arrived at the camp from Myanmar in the last two days. Another refugee said 500 people had taken shelter near two other Rohingya refugee camps in the area.
Border Guard Bangladesh said their troops had blocked nearly 300 Rohingya from crossing the border overnight, the highest number since the crisis began last month. “We’re preventing them on the zero line, especially those who were trying to cross the barbed-wire fences erected by Myanmar,” said Imran Ullah Sarker.

Satellite images show destruction across five villages. HRW

Rohingya Muslim women look outside as many new refugees arrive near the Kutupalang Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

Rohingya refugees approach the Kutupalang Refugee Camp after illegally crossing Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

A Rohingya Muslim woman and her son cry after being caught by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) while illegally crossing at a border check point in Cox’s Bazar , Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

Security personnel check an auto-rickshaw near a check post to identify Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

A security personnel stands guard after catching thirty eight Rohingya Muslims illegally crossing at a border check point in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016 REUTERS

Horrific stories

Myanmar troops have poured into a strip of land that is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority since a series of attacks on police border posts last month. State media reports in Myanmar say security forces have killed almost 70 people and arrested some 400 since the lockdown began six weeks ago, but activists say the number could be far higher.

Witnesses and activists have reported troops killing Rohingya, raping women and looting and burning their houses. “We’re hearing horrific stories from them,” said one international rights worker visiting the area, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

“We’ve heard that they have to bribe some people to enter Bangladeshi territory. The government must open the border and allow access of aid workers,” he said.

The arrival of more has caused tensions with the local community in Teknaf, which border Myanmar’s western Rakhine state and is one of the country’s poorest. “If they (the government) don’t act now, soon there will be a flood of Rohingya entering Bangladesh,” said Teknaf councillor Anwar Hossain. Sarker said many Rohingya were sent back after they managed to sneak across unmanned parts of the border.

Security guards are also patrolling the Naf river, the commanders said, adding that more than a dozen boats packed with Rohingya tried to land at the ghats (stations) in the Bangladeshi parts of the river.
“They told us that their houses were torched and they came here seeking safe shelter,” said one border guard official.

Thiis article was first Published on Dhaka Tribune

Rising Tide of Allegations Suggests ‘Systemic Abuse’ by British Military

November 22, 2016

Rogue military personnel? Or a deliberate policy of abuse? Day 6 of our 7 day openDemocracy's series on alleged abuse by British soldiers in Iraq.

Documents in the military court room in Colchester, Essex, where four soldiers and three ex-soldiers accused of the murder of an Iraqi civilian stood trial back in September 2005. Corporal Scott Evans, 32, Private Billy Nerney, 24, Private Samuel May, 25, Private Morne Vosloo, 26, and former Privates Daniel Harding, 25, Roberto Di-Gregorio, 24 and Scott Jackson, 26, were accused of murder and violent disorder following the death of Nadhem Abdullah on 11 May 2003 in a roadside incident in Al U'Zayra. The case eventually collapsed and the men were cleared. The judge criticised the poor handling of the case by the Royal Military Police's special investigations unit. PA/Chris Rayburn. All rights reserved.By 2010, the number of allegations of unlawful killing and abuse in detention had ballooned. Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) had registered 141 different claimants before the courts and the Ministry of Defence by 21 October of that year. They were gathered as one case, called Ali Zaki Mousa, after the first Iraqi on the list.

PIL argued that the range of ill treatment alleged by these claims suggested “systemic abuse”. In other words, it was not just the result of rogue military personnel but indicated a deliberate policy of abuse to break detainees as part of interrogation — or at best a failure by the military and political establishment to investigate, prevent and punish such practices effectively.

An institutional pattern

All the Five Techniques that appeared in the Baha Mousa case, with religious and sexual humiliation added, were used across 14 military facilities, PIL said. That alone pointed to an institutional pattern which could be rooted out only by an over-arching independent public inquiry.

The Ministry of Defence accepted that the allegations were sufficiently “credible” although it didn’t accept that they were necessarily true. It also acknowledged, following the Al Skeini judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, that it had a duty to investigate both the individual claims and the possibility of military systems contributing to abusive practices. But it did not accept the call for an inquiry. In court, the MoD argued that it would be far too costly.

Instead, it set up a convoluted alternative structure that was eventually approved by the high court. First, the MoD recruited a retired senior civilian police detective, Mark Warwick, to lead a 145-strong team made up of military police personnel, civilian investigators and civil servants. Called the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), the unit was supposed to deal with the investigations of the multiple claims. The priority was what the Court came to call, rather insensitively, the “death cases”.

If IHAT finds sufficient evidence of a serious crime, it refers the case to the military’s Director of Service Prosecutions, who decides if there is a realistic prospect of conviction and if it’s in the public interest to prosecute.
Up until August of this year, IHAT had been referred 1,668 allegations, 325 of unlawful killing, and the rest ill treatment “ranging from serious sexual assault to common assault”.

After six years of operation, it has completed investigations into 176 of these cases. Publicly available information is thin on detail, but of these, two have been referred to the Director of Service Prosecution (who has decided not to prosecute) and one soldier was referred to his Commanding Officer for an unspecified crime and fined £3000. The remaining 1,492 allegations are still under review. IHAT announced that they would be continuing their work until at least 2019.

Sir William Gage, chairman of the Baha Mousa inquiry. Anthony Devlin PA Archive/PA Images.

In case of Baha Mousa, where the circumstances of his death and the perpetrators of assault and ill-treatment are irrefutable following Sir William Gage's detailed public inquiry, IHAT has been unable to complete its investigations. In September 2013, on the 10th Anniversary of the killing, IHAT announced it was pursuing “new lines of inquiry”. Nothing has been heard since.

It’s not the only case left hanging. In 2014 IHAT reported that in one case of alleged unlawful killing, when an Iraqi prisoner died whilst being transported in an RAF helicopter, it had finished its review and referred the matter to the Royal Air Force Provost Marshal “for consideration”. That’s shorthand for saying something suspicious may have occurred. All that has happened since, according to IHAT, is the Provost Marshal has “directed further investigation”. No one is saying what that entails.

Boy, 12, maimed and disappeared

The case of Memmon Al-Maliki has also been left in limbo. Memmon was a 12 year old boy who was severely injured after he picked up a shell that exploded in his hands. He was taken to a British army base for emergency treatment and transferred to the British Field Hospital in Basra. The family never saw him again. The army said they had records of the boy’s transfer to an American hospital in Kuwait. But the US had no such information. IHAT reported that they met with the boy’s father and explained what they had found. There was nothing more they could do, they said, and the case is closed.

Frustrated by the delays in getting to the bottom of these cases, either to dismiss them or take action against possible culprits, Public Interest Lawyers with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights contacted the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague at the beginning of 2014. Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor, announced they would begin a preliminary examination into the matter. Her Office representatives have visited the UK to look at IHAT’s operations. They are keeping a watching brief on what’s happening at this stage, no more. A state is left alone to investigate its own alleged crimes unless its efforts do not appear genuine. That point hasn’t been reached, as the ICC reported on Tuesday this week. They are still examining the evidence.

Solicitor Phil Shiner outside the high court in London ahead of a judicial review on behalf of 180 Iraqi civilians. John Stillwell PA Archive/PA Images.

Another inquiry, no accountability

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team was not the only process of inquiry approved by the court in Ali Zaki Mousa.The Minister of Defence established an Iraq Fatalities body in 2013 that will act as an inquest into only some Iraqi deaths. Where cases of alleged unlawful killing have been inadequately investigated and have led to unsuccessful courts martial (the Minister has estimated there may be 11 of these cases), Iraq Fatalities Investigations (IFI) will publicly examine what happened. The families concerned are consulted, but these are not criminal proceedings. The IFI is precluded from determining any individual or collective liability. Sir George Newman, a retired High Court judge, was appointed as the IFI chair.

So far six killings have been referred to Sir George. He’s reported on four. In the first, Nadhem Abdullah’s case, he found soldiers had used excessive force which led to Abdullah’s death.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon accepted Sir George’s findings in a parliamentary statement. He announced in March 2015 that in “the light of the facts as found by Sir George, and in particular the finding that excessive force was used, I wish to express the Government’s regret at the death of Mr Abdullah”. Appropriate compensation would be paid to the family, he wrote.

In two other cases completed in the past year, Sir George found sufficient evidence to suggest that the soldiers involved had killed in self defence. His conclusions on the drowning of the 15 year old boy Ahmed Ali were released in September.

Evidence of torture, but . . .

So, despite an inquiry finding that Baha Mousa had been unlawfully killed, that the Ministry of Defence had “forgotten” that abusive interrogation techniques should not be used, despite “credible” allegations accumulating from Iraq, despite Camp Breadbasket and the IFI substantiating claims of two needless deaths at the hands of British soldiers, why is it the government and Theresa May have turned on the lawyers acting for the Iraqis? And why does Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, say the legal system has been abused “to falsely accuse our armed forces”?

(Andrew Williams is a law professor at the University of Warwick and Co-Director for the Centre of Human Rights in Practice. His book, A Very British Killing, The Death of Baha Mousa (Vintage 2013), won the 2013 Orwell Prize for Political Writing).

This story was first published on openDemocracy.

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Hundreds of Rohingya cross into Bangladesh

Members of the muslim Rohingya minority are fleeing Myanmar after government troops poured into their land since a series of attacks on police border posts last month

Horrific stories

Rising Tide of Allegations Suggests ‘Systemic Abuse’ by British Military

Rogue military personnel? Or a deliberate policy of abuse? Day 6 of our 7 day openDemocracy's series on alleged abuse by British soldiers in Iraq.

An institutional pattern

Boy, 12, maimed and disappeared

Another inquiry, no accountability

Evidence of torture, but . . .

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