Recommended weekend reading
On the demoralising effect of the Sixth Pay Commission on the Armed Forces: A General’s letter in anguish to the PM
On the cheerleaders controversy: A Culture of Tolerance�
On the developments in Nepal: India gifts Nepal to China�
On how some Koranic schools in Africa are forcing children into beggary: Islamic Islamic schools turn African kids into beggars�
On Flat World Hindutva – A Moral Compass to guide on Contemporary Issues�
Excerpts below
A General’s letter in anguish to the PM�(by Sheela Bhatt)�
I found the conclusion worth reproducing:
�The service conditions have become even tougher and more risk prone today than what they were when we joined the service in 1962, because of the pressures of ‘insurgency’.� Insurgency poses nearly as much physical danger as a war. A soldier is thus exposed to constant risks and yet he retains the motivation to build a ‘fence of 650 km length at varying altitudes upto 14000 ft’ in six to nine months flat, to successfully defeat the infiltration.
In the Indian Armed Forces, a jawan/officer serves almost every alternate tenure of three years in the insurgency environment, whereas all other armies in the world are not being able to sustain even one ‘nine months’ tenure. Officers and their jawans do it for the izzat (honour) but this raison d’etre is now getting deflated with such Pay Commission reports, and all their expectations are being shattered.
�The armed forces cannot sustain any continuation of poor intake of officers and also current wave of resignation requests. Already, the Indian Military Academy and OTA, Chennai are reporting a drop in the intake by over 70 per cent. In case of jawans, this recruitment trend will continue yet for a few more years, but their level of motivation will drop. The country cannot afford either of these situations.
Related Post: Of Stars and Martyrs, Munnabhai vs. Manish�Pitambare�
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A Culture of Tolerance: A great post on Retributions re. the cheerleaders controversy (excerpts, emphasis mine):
“Commenting on the controversy over cheerleaders in the Indian Premier League, Peter Foster argues that the Indian society is not ready to for cheerleaders. He further opines that White cheerleaders in skimpy outfits merely reinforces the belief that all white women are easily available.
There are many errors in Foster�s arguments. Sexual harassment in India is hardly restricted to White women; Indian women are as likely to be harassed as anyone else. Foster also displays biases of the worst kind when he argues that White women are considered fair game because they allegedly wear revealing clothes. Ask any Indian women and she will tell you that sexual harassment has nothing to do with the kind of clothes one might wear. In fact, Foster�s argument is not only disappointing but dangerous because it assumes that women can prevent harassment merely by being conservatively dressed. �
Foster then offers a daughter�s test: Would you be comfortable with your daughter cavorting around in Eden Garden with millions of ogling fans?
The concept of ��shame� must always be an individuals� judgement; when it is defined by the larger society and individuals are expected to adhere to it, then, coercion and conflicts are almost guaranteed. Let the cheerleaders decide if performing before a large crowd is acceptable or not. Why should Mr Foster or for that matter the society make their decision?
More broadly, an individual�s discomfiture over his own daughter�s actions hardly gives him the right to make that decision for every one else. Indeed, a culture of tolerance rests on the bedrock of the acceptance of the unpalatable; the maverick; and the deviant.
�India has already seen the farce of competitive intolerance. Every time the state concedes the right of a group to define the limits of acceptability, it encourages other groups to demand the same right over individual choice.
Related Posts: Please cover yourself, I am feeling�awkward�and On Jeans, Indian Men and �Indecent�Behaviour��
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India gifts Nepal to China: A timely article on the developments in Nepal by Balbir Punj�(excerpts, emphasis mine).
“The UPA Government can now flaunt one more �achievement� along with inflation, deceleration in rate of growth and industrial production, and minority appeasement. The latest addition to this list is the gift of Nepal on a platter to China.
…Due to the UPA�s dalliance with the Communists for retaining power � and before that with Maoists during the 2004 elections to gain power � Maoists have gained influence over the last four years. This finds expression in periodic attacks on security forces at key points along the �Red Corridor� the Maoists have set up through the forested areas of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar up to India�s border with Nepal. The attack on Jhajhar railway junction on the Patna-Howrah mainline is not the first such incident.
The path the Nepal Maoists, once they are in power, will follow is already well-known. The monarchy, which has served as an anchor for Nepali society, will be dismantled. Instead of being a Hindu kingdom, which gave that country its unique identity, Nepal will be made a �secular republic�.
�Not only will Nepal�s links with Indian society, culture and history be snapped, the Maoists will demand the scrapping of existing treaties with India. They will try to force India into giving more concessions � for instance, unrestricted transit of goods.
At the same time, we can expect the Maoists to cry on China�s shoulders and accuse India of denying Nepal its basic needs. China has already built a highway up to Kathmandu. We have to view the Maoist political programme in Nepal in the context of China�s own strengthening of its strategic capabilities in Tibet, the ethnic cleansing it has achieved in Lhasa and the claims Beijing has been making on Indian territories all along the Himalayas.
This will provide us with an idea of the serious situation that will now arise for the security of the country in the wake of the Maoist triumph at the political level and the withering of the Nepali state as we have known it for centuries.
Apologists of the UPA are now saying that the rout of the Nepali Congress was unexpected and that Government was all along strengthening its clout in Nepal � by persuading King Gyanendra and the Maoists to end their confrontation and revive the political process. This may be true. But New Delhi�s fatal mistake was to accept the Maoist demand to end the monarchy.
India could have helped the non-Communist political forces in Nepal to convert the absolute monarchy into constitutional monarchy. The demand of the Maoists to scrap Nepal�s Hindu identity had shocked even their allies in the interim Government.
For a long time our security agencies have suspected that the flow of arms to Maoists in India had a Nepal link. Now the collaboration between Maoists in India and Nepal will become an open affair.
…Some people in India are now hopeful that once in power, the Maoist leadership will appreciate the reality of Nepal�s geographical and cultural links with India and the depth of its economy�s dependence on this country. They forget that Nepal�s politicians have mastered the art of playing the victim of �Big Brother� India every time their unreasonable demands are rejected by New Delhi.
With Beijing finding an ideological brother in power in Kathmandu, what is needed in New Delhi is a Government that can be firm when required while being flexible to Nepal�s reasonable demands. But what we have is a Government that is dictated to by India�s Communists. These very Communists are also playing China�s game as is witnessed in their reaction to what is happening in Tibet.
Related Posts: As the Government sleeps, dark clouds gather on the�horizon�,� Sign of times to�come�?�and Tibet Railway to extend to�Nepal�
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And finally, Islamic Islamic schools turn African kids into beggars� (excerpts, emphasis mine)
“On the day he decided to run away, 9-year-old Coli awoke on a filthy mat. Like a pup, he lay curled against the cold, pressed between dozens of other children sleeping head-to-toe on the concrete floor. His T-shirt was damp with the dew that seeped through the thin walls. The older boys had yanked away the square of cloth he used to protect himself from the draft. He shivered.It was still dark as he set out for the mouth of a freeway with the other boys, a tribe of 7-, 8- and 9-year-old beggars.
There are 1.2 million Colis in the world today, children trafficked to work for the benefit of others. Those who lure them into servitude make $15 billion annually, according to the International Labour Organization.
It’s big business in Senegal. In the capital of Dakar alone, at least there are 7,600 child beggars, according to a recent study by the ILO, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Bank. The children collect an average of 300 African francs a day, just 72 cents, reaping their keepers $2 million a year.
About 90% of the boys, the study found, are sent out to beg under the cover of Islam, placing the problem at the complicated intersection of greed and tradition.� For among the most cruel facts of Coli’s life is that he was not stolen from his family. He was brought to Dakar with their blessing to learn Islam’s holy book. In the name of religion, Coli spent two hours a day memorizing verses from the Koran and over nine hours begging to pad the pockets of the man he called his teacher.
�Since the 11th century, boys have been sent to study at Koranic schools that flourished on Africa’s western seaboard with the rise of Islam. Not all Koranic boarding schools force their students to beg. But what was once an esteemed form of education has degenerated into child trafficking.�
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Find of the week: Flat World Hindutva – A moral compass to guide contemporary issues��
Related Posts: A �nationalism� rooted in Sanatan�Dharma,�� Of Turkey, Secular States and�Religion,�� �Hindutva Explained� -�excerpts, �� �Secular Fundamentalism��alive & kicking in�India� Hinduism as a secular�concept�
If you have the time (and patience), you will find some gems within the comments section of this post as well: Join the discussion on Islam, Hindutva, Dr Zakir Naik,�Godhra
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