Image Courtesy: PTI

In the 46th session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was invited and despite Pakistan’s protest and boycott, the invitation was not retracted. The speech on ‘pluralism’ by Sushma Swaraj was published and BJP’s ministers were quick to jump that this was a big turn around and a successful foreign policy initiative by the Prime Minister. They gave example that never in the history of Independent India, did we get an invitation from the OIC to speak. In fact, Mr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad’s invitation was withdrawn at the last moment in 1969 at the insistence of Pakistan, thus creating an embarrassing condition for the host country that had invited him and then told him not to attend the summit.
 
Since then, India has not accorded OIC any importance but with the Modi government’s overdrive to score political points, India decided to send Ms Sushma Swaraj while Pakistan boycotted the preliminary session. Now, OIC has passed a resolution presented by Pakistan criticizing India. While it does not matter much, as OIC has been speaking this language for long, but the Indian position was always about ignoring it. Ironically, Pakistan has also been made the permanent member of OIC’s human rights body. The fact of the matter is that pluralism has never been the strength of OIC member countries, neither are they devoted to democracy and human rights. India’s strength was its strong secular credentials despite all its weaknesses of prejudices and biases. As constitutionally, we are not a theocratic country.
 
Today, India has power and the world listens to it and wants to embrace it. All this is not a single day’s work but the result of India’s growth story and the success of its institutions, which are now respected the world over. Globally, the Indian model of coexistence has been appreciated but today there is a worry about India and its secular character.
 
We always believed that political power is based on electoral calculations and institutions are there to balance things and implement rule of law to save us from collapse. These institutions are under tremendous strain at the moment. If we see how our External Affairs Ministry and Defense spokespersons are under tremendous pressure then we have to realise a fact that the Electronic media in India has become the biggest curse to our democracy and a powerful threat to our national integration. It has put enormous pressure on our armed forces and displayed all their actions for the public gaze. All their movements are being reported and discussed from dawn to dusk.
 
It refuses to accept that our ‘Faujis’ too are human beings who have family and children. In the din of their ‘bravery’, it creates an unimaginable strain to ‘succeed’ without understanding the dynamics of regions and tough on ground situations. While all those who join armed forces serve the nation with their head held high, as it is their job profile, they also have a human wish to live and love.
 
In the last few days, we have got a number of messages from the family members, particularly the wives of those who died on duty whether in war or handling local crisis. It is a well-known fact, given the nature of our society, that the biggest victims of war are children and women. Once the ‘josh’ has cooled and calmed, the bitter realities of lives take centre stage. We already know how after the Kargil war, a number of young women lost their husbands. Though the government tried to compensate for it through money to hide its own failure, the family crisis deepened. The crisis of losing a husband and losing a son. Now, it was women who were actually fighting each other. One seeking compensation for her son, while other for her husband. In many places, these issues came to the court.
 
This society is brutal. It does not allow a woman to grieve as the media is present all the time. If she remarries after some days, media jumps on the story and spins it to say that she married and left her ‘parents in law’ in the lurch. If she does not, life is still difficult for her. Many of the parents in law, want her to marry the younger son against her will and we all know keeping the compensation money in the family becomes a big issue.
 
As I said, Indian foreign policy is coming under tremendous strain. So is our social structure, unity and integrity in the country. Not many feel that Imran Khan has become a ‘peacenik’ because the power is still in the hands of the army and the agenda to make India bleed from many cuts remains the top of Pakistan’s military leadership. That is the historical crisis of the Pakistan elite. Though there was a time when many in India felt that military leadership was useful for negotiations with Pakistan and General Parvez Musharraf was the prime example for it, but the Agra summit between him and Vajpayee was foiled by Advani and hawks like him. Otherwise, we would have progressed more, particularly on Kashmir.
 
In the last four and a half years, this government did not act on the ground but through propaganda. It allowed the creation of extremely poor and divisive narratives related to Pakistan which focused on catering the Hindutva constituency and made little impact on Pakistan. The attacks on our security forces increased manifold during these years but the government and BJP leaders focused not on governance but on TV channels, resulting in us became a global laughing stock.
 
More than the government, it is these channels who have become a huge embarrassment for our security as well as foreign policy establishment. They feel that they are glorifying our forces but in fact, they are putting immense mental pressure through this warmongering. Pakistan actually won the perceptional war where hawks there felt that the Modi government was more suitable for their propaganda.
 
The drama played out by Pakistan with the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan was actually to preempt things and not allow the Indian side to score any points. It would still be appreciated if the armed forces dealt with the issue with sobriety and without giving the media much of a chance to convert it into a tamasha. I think it was a good strategy to not allow media access and platform to create another crisis. Since Pulwama, these fake warriors have been trying to create division and crisis for the benefit of their political patrons and TRPs. Like their patrons, they too want to go for a war without thinking of its consequences, as well as without letting our forces take their own decisions. This is dangerous and has to stop. India cannot afford to lose even the perceptional war.
 
Today, you need diplomacy to put pressure on countries which do not follow basic principles. A country like North Korea is now realizing the cost of international isolation and coming to the discussion table. There are numerous other ways. No country would survive if it remains isolated. Further, for India, it would be better to strengthen political movements in Pakistan as well as strengthen its secular constitutional values. If people of India face discrimination on the basis of their religion, caste identities or due to their regional identity, how are we going to counter the propaganda by others? It is a serious concern. If you exclude people and communities from the power structure and political process, you give potential ammunition to your opponents.
 
War takes you nowhere. It only brings destruction and no solution. We had so many of them and we are still fighting. We need to seriously engage with people in the political process and develop a culturally inclusive society.
 
You cannot keep the Kashmiri people out of the process to bring peace in South Asia or between India and Pakistan. Kashmir for Pakistan is its Islamic agenda and Indians want to prove their ‘secular’ and ‘democratic’ credentials. It is important to first bring normalcy in the valley by strengthening institutions of governance and involving political parties and civil society organizations. There is no other way than talks, talks and talks. These are political issues which can be resolved through negotiations and an open heart. Once we have done so, it would be easier to convince the world that Pakistan needs to act against the Islamic terror organizations.
 
It will be equally important for the Indian government to act against the venom spewing channels as well as the organizations campaigning against minorities in general and Muslims in particular. You cannot win the war by deliberately excluding and marginalizing nearly 15% of your population. It is time to put this to an end to this and strengthen the idea of an inclusive India which alone can and will defeat all those forces trying to destabilize us.
 

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We would like to say here that we are disgusted with such PR exercises by both the governments in this case which has now grabbed international headlines without really making any headway in the right direction. Pakistani authorities were using their ‘faithful’ media to look more liberal in allowing the mother and wife duo to meet a convict who has allegedly accepted committing crime according to Pakistani law. The matter is also in the International Court of Justice but more than that it has become a kind of war of words and perception between the two nations.
 
The media on both sides of the border has become absolutely farcical and a complete joke, playing with sentiments of their respective countrymen and cooking up stories. Both India and Pakistan have engaged in this perception building exercise for years. As far as India is concerned, it is a complete failure of foreign policy and requires serious introspection. We would definitely like both India and Pakistan to allow their prisoners to meet their families as well as provide them full legal aid. There are hundreds of innocent citizens languishing in the jails of both the countries and a special court should be formed in both the countries to look after the cases and their nature. Except for the very serious crimes, all other people should be released as good will gesture.
 
Both India and Pakistan need to live accepting the realities of time. India and Pakistan will never grow and will allow the western powers to manoeuvre in the subcontinent if they continue to fight. There is no need to dig up history now. Pakistan is a reality and so is India and the blame game must stop. Supporting terrorism of any kind on Indian soil must be stopped. Pakistan must rein in on the Islamic Jehadis who give open call of violence against India and its vast population. Kashmir and Islam are the pet projects in Pakistan to instigate people and their Sanghi counterparts in India are only engaged in similar exercise which is unable to counter Pakistan diplomatically. They are only using it to clampdown on activists, writers, dissenters and peaceniks to strengthen their poll prospects by polarizing people, a move which threatens the very integrity and communal harmony of the country.
 
How Kulbhushan Jadhav is being treated is a matter of concern in exactly the way in which we treat many Pakistani prisoners. We can only suggest to the government that they should make every effort to get Kulbhushan released but that would only be possible when the government allow the diplomacy to do its task independently and not use the material to appease their domestic constituency. Diplomacy is not the street tu tu main main that we have most of the time but a serious issue to protect our national interests. So nothing wrong for the government to do its best to get Kulbhushan out. But so far it has failed miserably. 
 
The saddest part of the government’s policy failure was to make this issue look similar as the Pakistani did as a PR exercise for their domestic constituency. Government of India might have realized it later that Pakistanis are equally expert in these theatrics as we are… after all we hail from the same family not more than 70 years ago. They shamelessly asked the mother and wife of Kulbhushan to put off their religious signs of bindi, chappals and mangalsutra in the name of ‘security concern’. I am not sure how wearing bindi or mangalsutra become a security threat for the Pakistanis. Unfortunately, the way Sushma Swaraj referred to the issue in Parliament made it more theatrical… just like the Pakistanis.
 
“It is sad that the Pakistan authorities forced the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav to appear before him as widow,” she said. Now this is a serious and very disturbing statement by a Minister who is known for being articulate. How does not wearing a mangalsutra and bindi make a woman a widow or look like one? What does Sushama ji want widows to look like? Wear white, don’t do any make up, don’t smile, don’t look happy?
 
It is sad that Sushma Swaraj has lifelong promoted those filthy Brahmanical ideals against which all Indians should struggle and fight. Do widows have right to life and live with dignity or not? But then those who know Sushma Swaraj and her antics would remember what she threatened to do when UPA-1 came to power in 2004 and Sonia Gandhi, in all, likelihood was to become the Prime Minister of India. Sushma threatened to tonsure her head and live ‘like’ a widow. In fact, I wrote an article that time too castigating Sushma. I have seen my mother living a life of a widow for long. Smile from her face had gone off and she lived an extraordinarily simple life. She would sit on the floor even if young boys of our age would come to home. She tried to be away from all the make-up products and other things. We know and have seen in many parts of Poorvanchal that widows can’t even perform Kanyadaan of her daughter in the marriage ceremony and are kept away from all the auspicious occasions. ‘Widowhood’ according to Brahmanical traditions is a curse and Sushma ji must have known it. Such codes of conduct that Gita Press Gorakhpur made so popular that the life of a widow in a traditional Hindu society became curse. It is that curse and miseries attached to the lives of widows that forced people to commit Sati or murder their widows for the fear of living a life of misery.
 
We know these are the times when Sushma ji’s atrocious statement would not attract any criticism by media or even the feminists and human rights defenders. We have not seen any statement so far on their part as to why Sushma Swaraj brings these issues into picture and why she thinks widows should look recluse, dejected and totally isolated. The fact and dirty reality is that what Sushma Swaraj said was a reality of our lives.
 
Thousands of widows are forced to live in horrific conditions in many of the ‘holy’ places including Brindavan and Varansi. I have seen them from close quarters. These days, Brahmanical ideologues are providing them ‘freedom’ such as ‘allowing’ them to play holy and put colour on each other’s face while the other one want them to put sindoor over their head in the name of looking good.
 
Looking good and attractive is no issue for any one as it is individual choice. Sindoor and mangalsutra never protected women and are actually symbol of their slavery. Why should a woman’s life be guided by those symbols which take her right to choice particularly in relation to food habits, clothes and even opting for a partner or remarriage? Years ago Jyoti Ba Phule, Savitri Bai Phule, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Periyar and Ram Mohan Roy actually supported, encouraged and promoted these reforms as well as education for all women. If sindoor and mangalsutra are sign of married women then why are they taken away from them if their husbands pass away? 
 
It indicate that Sushma ji, wants a woman to be happy only when their husband is around and then lead a life of recluse and dejection once he is no more. Is this the idea where the Hindu right make marriage laws so rigid that no woman would ever dare to go for a remarriage even if she wishes to, because ‘widowhood’ can’t be a permanent condition in which to live? 
 
The condition of widows all over the country is terrible because of various taboos attached to them. Social environment need to be developed where remarriages must be encouraged and even if they don’t wish to enter into marital relationship, they must be allowed to live in happiness on their own. But if a Minister and that too a woman minister fancy widow living with tonsure head, sleeping on floor, eating spice less food and wearing colorless clothes lifelong, then she need to change her attitude. She could become a big ambassador towards the rights of widows when on the Teej day she can make a beginning by asking women who have lost their husbands to be part of the celebrations. 
 
The violence against women and girls does not happen all of a sudden. It is because of the social environment that has been created by the feudal Brahmanical order which is being glorified day and night by the Sangh Parivar and its ideologues. They are worried about Muslim women and want to fill the Indian jails with more Muslim men now in the name of triple talaq but there is no interest, no demand by these champions of Hinduism to make their atrocious value system more equitable towards women where they can live with dignity.
 
Will they bring a law where husbands leave their wives without giving them a divorce? Will they bring laws where widows, single women are not harassed because of their status and if they are not positive to someone, do not face character assassination or be accused of being a witch? Most of the charges of witchcraft are levelled against women who are either widows or single and face the wrath of the society. There are no laws for the protection of these women in our society. Manusmriti has been the worst code book as far as women and shudras are concerned. But the Sangh Parivar and its various offshoots glorify it. We don’t know whether they glorify Manu’s law or miseries of women so that their feudal den is safe and protected.
 
We hope Sushma ji and her other colleagues in the Ministry will seriously introspect and not make statements that further isolate women who have lost their husbands. Making widowhood a permanent position is to ensure that women live in desperate and helpless circumstances, blaming themselves for the wrongs that happened to their husbands without ever thinking or even imagining of another person in their lives. We don’t say that they must do it but that option should be with the women and even if you don’t want to suggest such things saying that the woman loved her husband too much, why do such code to live a life of recluse after losing their husbands.
 
Should women not contribute to nation building or do they lose right to citizenship or their capacities to govern or lead once they become widows? I hope she has not forgotten that Indira Gandhi was one of the most powerful prime ministers of the country, a leader which people still remember as Prime Minister even today in Modi era in many parts of India. Hope the intellectuals of Sangh Parivar will look into these aspects and provide ideas to the government. In the meanwhile, we can say no government in the world would be able to serve their citizens if they are guided and surrounded by the religious fanatics whether in India, Pakistan or any other country.
 
Constitutional values must uphold dignity of individuals and equal opportunities to all which the religious laws have never granted. Political governments can’t impose religious values and therefore we expect government to think about these issues. Will Sushma ji ever learn that her theatrics damage the cause of women in India particularly those who lose their husband and want to live life in dignity and contribute towards making our society better and humane. Baba Saheb Ambedkar developed Hindu Code Bill in the greater interest of the Hindu women which gave her right to divorce and right in property too and was thoroughly opposed by the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and the Hindutva ideologues like Shayama Prasad Mukherjee as well as many conservative elements in the Congress party including the then president Dr Rajendra Prasad. Will the government promote widow remarriages and their honorable rehabilitation so that they too can feel part of our life and share their happiness and sorrows like any other citizen so that they are not compelled to live life in dejection in various bhajanashrams of Brindavan and Varanasi? May be, Sushma ji can start the process.
 
December 30th, 2017

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However, she faced allegations from a user, who blamed her for only helping Muslims while Hindus abroad are harassed for Indain visa etc.

Sushma Swaraj responded to the allegation with grace claiming that her motive is to help Indians, and not people of a particular caste or religion.

This response incited furthermore reactions from users. Celebrities like singer Vishal Dadlani too took a stand for Sushma Swaraj, openly expressing his admiration for her with respect to her response.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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On July 30, 2016, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj acknowledged the hunger facing laid-off Indian workers in Saudi Arabia.

   
Swaraj promised, through a series of tweets, “that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food”.
 

 

 
The complaints received from Indian workers include “non-payment/delayed payment or underpayment of salaries, long working hours, inadequate living conditions, physical harassment, non-renewal of visa and labour card on time, refusal to pay for medical treatment, denial of leave and air-ticket to home town on completion of contract period, forcible custody of passport and visa and refusal of leave or exit/re-entry permits”, the ministry said in its reply to the Parliament.
 
No specific complaint of sexual abuse were reported, the ministry added.
 
24% of Indians jailed aboard in Saudi prisons
 
Saudi Arabia has more Indians in prison than any other country: 1,697 of 7,213, according to another Lok Sabha reply on April 27, 2016.
 
Saudi Arabia is followed by United Arab Emirates (1,143). The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain—account for half of all Indians jailed abroad and 87% of mis-treatment complaints received from Indian workers.
 
The Indian mission in Saudi Arabia registered 1,676 complaints during the first half of 2016.

Source: LokSabha; *2016 figures upto June 2016.
 
Poor working conditions put an Indian living in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait at 10 times the risk of death compared to an Indian living in the US, IndiaSpend reported in August 2015.
 
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Kuwait report between 65 and 78 deaths per 100,000 Indian workers.
 
An average of 69 Indians die every year in the six Gulf countries. The corresponding figure for the rest of the world is 26.5, almost 60% lower.
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: IndiaSpend.com

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