Hinduism does not need the protection of numbers

Sakshi Maharaj

No matter how hard it tries, like a boat caught in a whirlpool, the Narendra Modi government is being pulled from one controversy to another. As if there wasn't enough on the government's plate, a recent statement by Sakshi Maharaj, the BJP MP from Unnao, that every Hindu woman must produce at least four children, has brought unwarranted attention on the BJP, and by extension on the government.

Sakshi Maharaj's statement has been justifiably panned for its anti-women views. It is also problematic on other counts. The first aspect is that it disregards issues relating to women's health. It's a no-brainer--family planning and women's health (and empowerment) are interconnected. India's public health centres, where they are functional, are testaments to the crippling public healthcare system in India. The sterilisation deaths in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district in November, where more than 12 women died, are a peek into the larger horror spectacle that public health in India is.

His call for more children per family comes at a time when India has failed to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. India's maternal mortality rate, according to at least two reports that were published last year, is among the highest in the world. At 178 deaths per 100,000 live births, it misses the fifth Millennium Development Goal by a mile (India had to reduce it to 109 per 100,000 by 2015). India has the highest number of neonatal deaths in the world--one in three of the babies who die on the first day is in India. Even if the health system was at its best, shouldn't the woman have the power to decide on when and how many children--and not a religious leader?

The second aspect is religious discourse. Of late there has been an increase in statements by leaders aimed at polarising society on the lines of religion. This has led to a sort of competitive communalism. From time-to-time, leaders, across the religious spectrum, urge believers to procreate and increase the fold. In Kerala, Christian priests are known to chastise believers for stopping at one or two children. In Tamil Nadu, during a NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) project in 2006, Muslim women spoke about how clerics asked them to show their love for the religion by having many children.

Thus, the swami's is not a lone voice. But being a part of the ruling party, he has the added responsibility to make intelligent statements. His clarification later that it was made at a religious, and not political, gathering doesn't fool anyone.

The third aspect is that such statements yet again shift the focus away from the BJP-led NDA government's development agenda. Sakshi Maharaj's comment comes at a time when there has been a torrential flow of mindless statements and inflammatory campaigns--from Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's appalling statement in December to ghar wapsi to love jihad. Such statements and campaigns derail the efforts of any government that wants to work for the people. The BJP may disassociate itself from such statements but it is easier said than done.

And this perhaps is the greatest threat to the BJP faces today. At a time when the Congress is lost in a maze of electoral defeats, and other opposition parties are trying and testing new permutations and combinations, the BJP has an opportunity to prove that it is indeed the party with a difference.

These statements have forced many to ask if the government really wants to go ahead with its development agenda. Or rather, the question is: Will the Right allow Modi to go about with his development agenda?

The government's reiterating that it is focused on development and the nauseatingly frequent polarising statements by the Right is taking farcical dimensions. Even so, the relation between the government and the Right-wing has parallels with the Elizabethan theatre. To break the tension during a tragedy, Elizabethan playwrights were forced to include comic scenes--and the audience loved it. However, the frequent interludes by the Right hampering the smooth functioning of the Modi government are not applauded. The aam aadmi wants development and communal polarisation is not the best stimulus for growth. The likes of Sakshi Maharaj are not helping the government.

Hinduism is not under threat and it does not need the protection of numbers. The best way, perhaps, to serve Hinduism and to propagate it as a wonderful way of life is if the so-called protectors of Hinduism, for a change, try to understand it.

(This appeared in the Hindustan Times on January9)

Kiss Day: Kerala's not ready for this

'We have the freedom to kiss' - from the Kiss of Love Facebook page

Protesting against an attack on a café in Kozhikode (in north Kerala), a group of youngsters has pledged to assemble at the Marine Drive in Kochi on Sunday (November 2) to celebrate ‘Kiss Day’. The Facebook page of the group, Kiss of Love, has got more than 20,000 likes but that’s about it. It would be tricky to read too much into this. Social media responses are seldom a barometer for change. A one-line description on the page reads: Moral Policing is a criminal activity. Most of political parties and religious organizations tries [sic] to do that.
So come Sunday evening, will Kochi witness a desi version of a kiss-a-thon of sorts? Probably not. The group has its heart at the right place but not its head (or in this case its lips). And that’s because Kerala is not ready for such a change. For all its high rates of literacy and health indices, the social Kerala is still conservative, highly patriarchal and stuck in an era where women are not considered equals and are not respected. Religious institutions will not be comfortable with such a move and are likely to oppose such a public display of affection.
Irrespective of whether Kerala will muah-muah on November 2 or not, one thing is certain — this is not going to change the social and cultural fabric of God’s Own Country. For so deep are the roots of patriarchy in Kerala. A good reflection of this is Kerala’s attitude towards women, especially the way it treats its women celebrities. As long a woman celebrity works within the defined boundaries of ‘culture’ she is seen as an embodiment of virtue. The moment she breaks from that norm, she is ridiculed and her fall from grace is accompanied by aspersions on her moral character. The average Malayalees change in attitude towards Ranjini Haridas, a famous stage-show host, is a case in point.
However, the protest will have political repercussions. The ‘Kiss Day’ gives political parties with a religious leaning an opportunity to further their role as protectors of ‘Indian culture’.
Generally women who speak their mind in Kerala are seen as outspoken — and that’s no pat on the shoulder. The Malayalam term used to describe ‘such’ women is 'ahangaari' — when translated it means arrogant and carries a lot of spite and venom.
Kerala, just like many other states in India, needs to fight against the growing menace of moral policing, but this Sunday is unlikely to start that much-needed revolution. Kerala will not kiss and tell — at least not this Sunday.
(This appeared in the Hindustan Times on October 29)

Is there a NaMo wave south of the Vindhyas?

Till now the BJP has not been able to make considerable gains south of the Vindhyas, except in Karnataka. In 2009, from the four southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which together have 129 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP won only 19 seats, all from Karnataka. The BJP-led NDA marked its presence in 1999 in other southern states through regional parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. The South has been a blind spot for the party for quite some time but this time round, the BJP is focusing extensively on these states and hopes to do much better. BJP president Rajnath Singh has said that the party’s performance in Tamil Nadu will surprise poll pundits and some senior leaders even claim that the BJP will win 50 seats from the South alone. Many top BJP leaders, including its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, and senior leaders like LK Advani have toured the South to boost the party’s electoral prospects.

In Karnataka, the return of BS Yeddyurappa and B Sriramulu to the BJP fold is a shot in the arm for the party, which lost the 2013 assembly election to the Congress. The BJP hopes to win more than half of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. In Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has got into an alliance with five regional parties, the saffron party might upset the poll equation. The AIADMK, with which, it is likely to enter into a post-poll alliance, is expected to win a majority of the 39 seats in the state. However, the BJP may eat into the AIADMK’s upper caste vote share and this will help the DMK. In Kerala, the BJP has an outside chance of winning in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has pinned its hopes on N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP. There is anger against the Congress for its mishandling of the bifurcation of the state and that might help the BJP-TDP alliance.
The BJP has big expectations from these four states. There is a ‘Modi Wave’ in the South, where many people are aware of the Gujarat chief minister and his development agenda. This might increase the BJP’s vote share but it is to be seen if this will result in an increase in the number of seats the party will win. However, for a party that has not seen an active presence in the South, this is in itself an achievement.

Enrica Lexie case: Italy's got a point as India mismanages the marines' case

Chief Master Sergeant Massimiliano Latorre (centre) and Sergeant Salvatore Girone (right)

The Enrica Lexie incident, in which two Italian marines on-board the Italian oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie fired and killed two fishermen from Kerala in the Indian contiguous zone in 2012 is a text-book example of how not to handle a case. The case has seen far too many twists and turns for comfort: The marines going home twice, once for Christmas and once to cast their vote in the elections; Italy showing great reluctance to send them back, and; finally the Italian foreign minister talking about urging the Nato allies, the European Union and even the Commonwealth to press New Delhi into action. Rome has recalled its ambassador to India protesting the “unacceptable, deliberate delay” by the court in coming to a decision in the case. There is little doubt that the Centre has fumbled in handling this case. India has given Italy an assurance that the marines would not face the death penalty but if the anti-piracy law is slapped on them, it is for the court to decide whether or not to award the maximum punishment. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to make up its mind as to which law would it want to try the marines under and reply by today.
The case highlights the larger issue of guarding merchant vessels on our high seas. India has refused the idea of armed personnel aboard ships stating that ‘floating armies’ in the seas around India can pose an immense security threat. While this fear is not entirely unfounded, New Delhi cannot ignore the reality: Sea piracy — though it has come down recently — has not been wiped out and it is still probably the greatest threat ships face today. With almost 50% of the world’s container traffic and 66% of the world’s oil trade through the seas passing through the Indian Ocean, and with a majority of trade in India, especially oil imports, through sea routes, maritime disputes are expected to rise and there should be mechanisms in place to fast-track such cases.
The indecisiveness of the government has led to a diplomatic standoff with even the EU raising concerns. Nothing but an expeditious trial is what all the people involved in this case want. But for the moment, India seems to be completely at sea on this issue.

Sambar to Samba: Karnataka minister go a long way

In January if you were to spot a group of dhoti-clad, middle-aged, potbellied, Ray Ban flashing men speaking in Kanada at the Iguazu Falls at the Brazil-Argentina border or at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro make sure not to disturb them — they are the latest batch of MLAs from Karnataka who are on a ‘study tour’ to various South American destinations. These ‘crusaders’ have set out with the consecrate purpose to imbibe the best Latin America can offer and reproduce it in their respective taluks and panchayats back home in Karnataka. The state legislature’s committee on estimates is planning to send 30 of its MLAs to visit Argentina, Brazil, Peru among other places at a cost of around Rs. 7.5 lakh per MLA.
Such ‘study tours’ to exotic destinations are perhaps as old as the republic and are not unique to MLAs from Karnataka. Last month, the Goa deputy chief minister Francis D'Souza-led 38-member team visited Italy, Germany and Austria to study solid waste management. In 2012 the Kerala sports minister landed in soup when he and the sports secretary planned to enjoy the Olympics on the taxpayers money even when many athletes were not getting paid. What is surprising though is the gumption and alacrity with which public servants choose to go on such trips. Even as this batch of MLAs plans to go to Latin America a group is currently soaking the wonders Down Under. All this at a time when not less than 65 taluks in the state have been declared drought hit.
 The committee head and Congress MLA Mallikaiah V Guttedar justifies the trip by saying “don’t you send school children on vacation….similarly MPs and MLAs are being sent through the legislature committees.” Fellow MLA BC Patil shares Guttedar’s views: “Why shouldn’t we go on a junket? It’s our privilege as legislators” — and it is this false notion that it is the prerogative of a legislator to waste the taxpayer’s money that baffles the common man. The lack of concern shown by the legislators, including chief minister Siddaramaiah who thinks it is not a big issue, at a time when the state’s finances are in the red is alarming even by the low standards set by our leaders — considering this Nero at least played the fiddle.
Many state BJP leaders, perhaps after understanding the public mood, have decided to not go on the ‘study tour’. However the saffron party cannot claim the political moral high ground because when it was in power CM Jagadish Shettar had to recall his legislators who were touring Argentina and other countries. Thanks to an increasing presence of media and social network sites, coupled by a growing demand for transparency and accountability, the ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ arrangement by MLAs across the political divide will not sell anymore.
In this age of Internet where information is just a click away, it is foolish to justify such expensive trips. The MLAs should rather listen to the people who have elected them and search for solution in consultation with them and experts in the field. Expensive trips are not the answer. And this time the people might be gracious to forgive them even if they were to search for such information on their iPads in the assembly while a session is on.
(This appeared in Hindustan Times on December 28)

Global AgeWatch Index: Ageing gracefully is not an option in India

In a country that has more than 50% of its population under the age of 35 years, it is expected that the older people are taken good care of, if not revered. That, sadly, is not the case in India where the older people are often seen as cheap labour or as a liability. Instances of children abandoning their parents by the roadside or at old age homes reflect this. The economic pressure and the breakdown of the joint-family system have adversely affected the dignity of life of older people. This plight is worsened as, unlike many developed Western nations, the safety net of social security is absent. As is always the case, when faced with a crisis, it is the older women who doubly suffer.

Given this, it is not surprising that India is ranked at an unimpressive 73 among the 91 countries surveyed as ideal for older people to live. HelpAge International launched on Tuesday the first-ever Golbal AgeWatch Index ranking ‘countries according to the social and economic well-being of older people’. The parameters for developing the index were: the income status (including the pension coverage, poverty rate in old age), health (including life expectancy at 60, and psychological wellbeing), education and employment (including educational status of old people) and the living environment (including physical safety, civic freedom and access to public transport). Sweden tops the list, followed by Norway and Germany. India can take cold comfort in the fact that Pakistan (ranked 89) and Afghanistan (91) are at the bottom of the table. On the other hand, China (35) and Sri Lanka (36) have fared much better. Colombo’s long-term investments in education and healthcare have paid off providing a better standard of living for its older people, and New Delhi should take note of this achievement. The study dispels the myth that the wellbeing of older people is better in wealthier economics. None of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — that accounted for 40% of the global population and 25% of the world’s GDP based on the purchasing power parity in 2012, figured in the top 20 nations on the index. The high ranking of countries like Bolivia and Mauritius showed that smaller economies could also be good places for the old. The West, especially Scandinavian countries, has done well and this is mainly because the system is geared towards the demographic shifts taking place.

India has at present about 8% of its total population above the age of 60 and in the coming decades this is set to increase. The index shows that India’s rank in health is low. This is mainly attributed to the lack of availability of good healthcare facilities in rural India where most of the country’s ageing population resides. Some states, like Kerala, already have a significant number of older people and in the coming decades, unless farsighted policies are implemented, the quality of life for older people will not improve.

Ente: Human Trafficking Comes to Celluloid

Every second movie that comes out on any given Friday is based on a ‘real story’. It is a tag line that has been done to death and is passed off along with the disclaimer. So when social activist Sunita Krishnan, Founder General Secretary of Prajwala, dons the hat of a film producer and when her movie has a tag line ‘a never before told true story’, eyebrows are bound to rise. “I am aware that there is a chance for a prejudice that, since I am a social activist and Rajesh Touchriver is a filmmaker whose documentary films are famous, the film is also on those lines. However, Ente is far from that. Rajesh (Touchriver), while ensuring that the scenes are true to the real events, has made sure that its entertainment quotient is not lost. The promos for Ente are slick and it’s an edge-of-the-seat thriller.”
Ente produced by M S Rajesh and Sunita Krishnan and directed by Rajesh Touchriver is a story about human trafficking and stars veteran Malayalam actor Siddique and NSD product Anjali Patil (in pic above). Ente is a movie about human trafficking. “I’ve conducted many talks and done short films to get across the message of human trafficking. I have personally rescued more than 1,500 girls and each one is a story in itself. However, there was this one incident that really shook me. It had to be told.”
Sunita Krishnan, who is also the concept adviser for the film, calls Ente a ‘family thriller’. “Ente is not your usual masala thriller with stunts by the hero and item numbers at the silliest of pretext. It’s a movie you can go and watch with your family. In fact that is how one should go and watch this film. It deals with a story that can happen to anyone; to anyone’s sister, daughter or friend. Every man watching the movie could be the father, brother, husband or friend caught in such a situation. I want the movie to linger in the minds of the audience and slowly sink into each person long after they have left the theatre. They should realise that human trafficking is an evil that is prevalent in their midst. It is not this distant vice that until recently was considered to not happen in ‘our society’.”
Ente is slated for a December 21 release and is pitted against at least four other movies that release at the same time. “The number of screens in Kerala is coming down over the years while the number of movies releasing each year is on the rise. We’ve had a lot of difficulty in going about with the release and are still on it. So it’s a great thing that we are able to release the film during the Christmas holidays. It has all the elements of a mainstream thriller and with the brilliant performances of Siddique and Anjali Patil it can’t go wrong,” says a confident Sunita. It’s the same confidence that comes across when Siddique says, “These days it’s hard to judge any movie before it hits the theatres. Gone are those days when the outcome of a movie could be predicted. The audience are changing and Ente is a good and different movie. It is something that the Malayalam industry and audience have not seen till date.”
Ente, is a bilingual (in Telugu as Na Bangarru Talli) has music by Bollywood composer Shantanu Moitra (of Parineeta fame) and features a song by Shreya Ghosal, which by now is a hit in the social networking circuit.

'I have no Image'

Among the kaleidoscope of roles he has portrayed, we’ve seen Siddique as a comedian and we’ve seen him as a menacing villain. However, to quote the actor, in Ente he is doing a “life changing role”. “As an actor every role is challenging and different…but what stood out in Ente is a story. It’s the story of a father and daughter; a very caring father who in a moments time loses his daughter.”
A highlight of the movie is that scenes have been shot in locations where the real incident took place. “We went to real locations for shooting this film. There is a scene in a brothel and a lot of women there hurl abuses at the protagonist. Rajesh (Touchriver) has focused on small things and has shown them as real as possible. It was an entirely different experience.”

Sunita Krishnan, while agreeing that the role of the protagonist was initially offered to a senior actor, has no regrets now. “Things happen for a purpose. While the actor we approached was concerned about his ‘image’, I now can’t think of anyone other than Siddique for the role of the father. He has done a brilliant job and has done absolute justice to the character.”
When asked if he had apprehensions about the role and whether it would affect his image, Siddique was quick to reply: “I don’t have an image. I do all kinds of roles — both negative and positive. It’s superstars who are worried about their ‘image’.”
(An edited version of this appeared in The New Indian Express on December 12)

Reforms at the cost of education

Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, probably is all pepped about warming a Cabinet seat and wants to have an impressive progress report at the end of 100 days while Manmohan Singh examines it. Heeding the suggestions from ‘a group of experts’ the minister has proposed for a unified system of evaluation for the Board examinations. The minister might have been referring to the Yashpal report titled The Committee to Advice on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education which was submitted to the government in March earlier this year. The Left has seen red over Sibal’s remarks and it is not without reason. While the report has taken objection to the unaccounted growth of private educational institutions and deemed universities and suggested a halt in further allotment of such institutions until proper guidelines are set, its suggestion for private sector involvement in primary education is a step if not taken cautiously would lead to irreversible damage.

It is a fact that the present system of evaluation with focus on two board exams, one in tenth and the other in twelfth standard, is a burden on students for the shear amount of pressure it exerts on them, not to mention the family.

The tremendous pressure, an alibi used by naysayers criticising the education pattern, is not a product of the system, but our creation. It is the taunting and torture primarily from parents, teachers and peer groups, and secondarily from the society and media that push students to extremes.
A unified system of evaluation is not the answer to rectify the existing malice in a system that has been applauded by many developed countries. Ask any child who has had part of his/her education in India before moving to the US, UK or Australia, and they would sing paeans of the system back home.

The proposal for a grading system is a road that leads to nowhere. An example for this could be Kerala which has only recently shifted to it. This year the state has recorded a phenomenal pass percentage of 91.2 or for every 100 students who gave the exam, only nine failed. Even is we were to momentarily blink at this ‘great feat’ and attribute no political undercurrent to the ‘achievement’, do we have the required higher education infrastructure to meet the demand? And in cases where they are present, does it meet the required criterion?

It is a fact that primary and secondary education is on a strong footing when compared to the quality, and availability, of higher education in India. It is only good sense to disturb the strong foot once the other is firmly placed. Change, on the other hand, is always welcome, unless it is for the sake of it.

Tharoor is looking Parliament, talking Knesset

Shashi Tharoor, when declared as the UDF candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram, appeared too polished to be a politician and had a panache that was the much-hooted sign of the middle class professional entering politics. But that was just a resounding loud false alarm. No sooner was his candidature announced than skeletons started to tumble; and tumble they did from everywhere imaginable.
Though Tharoor tried to lure the netizen youth and NRKs (Non Resident Keralites) through his website explaining his candidature, he has been criticised in many Internet forums. Right from his being a member of the advisory committee of the Coca-Cola India Foundation to the legal tangle for allegedly disrupting the National Anthem; to his 1992 comments on Sonia Gandhi’s inability to lead the party, to recently the KPCC youth burning his effigy at the state capital.
These allegation standing, what should be of concern to the diverse electorate of Thiruvananthapuram are Tharoor’s views on Israel and his admiration for its military offensive in Gaza that left the strip in tatters earlier this year. In an article titled India’s Israel envy (Haaretz, January 23, 2009) Tharoor, contrary to India’s stand on the Palestine conflict (which incidentally is also Congress’ view), expresses his sympathies for Israel that is “a small country living in a permanent state of siege… surrounded by forces that are hostile to it”. Tharoor, displaying his pro-Western ideology, might overlook the fact that the “forces” (read Hamas) is a democratically elected government the people of Palestine have chosen, but he cannot or rather should not gloss over the human right violations that the Israel army has done in Gaza for which it is drawing flak from the UN Human Rights Council, a subsidiary of the UN that he aspired to head only a few years ago.
While sticking out his neck for the Israelis, Tharoor does not miss to take a dig at the Congress-led UPA and the sorry state of India’s national borders in, “… unlike Israel, India has seemed unable to do anything about it (terrorist attacks)” and “India is a giant country whose borders are notoriously permeable, an open society known for its lax and easygoing ways”. Tharoor’s “lax and easygoing” comment reminds one of an oriental view of a Westerner who sees Indians as a group of people who ‘need to be governed’. This is a view of a person sitting in Park Avenue or cooling off at Burj Dubai, not that of a peoples representative who has sweated it out in front of the secretariat or the streets of Thiruvananthapuram.It will be interesting to see if Thiruvananthapuram, which last favoured a LDF candidate, oblige Tharoor. Tharoor claims to know the state capital. The question is: Does the state capital know him? For a man who until 2007 was “living in and out of a suitcase” while in the city, Thiruvananthapuram must be more than a handful. When Tharoor says that the time he has spent in the city is enough to represent it, it reflects poor of the electorate he aspires to represent. Come May 16 and we would know if Thiruvananthapuram will have a parliamentarian who is an Israel-sympathising NRK.