HEY RAM

It was prayer time.  Gandhiji was on his way to address the prayer meeting.  It was on this day in 1948, in the evening, 3 bullets stopped Bapu from reaching the prayer hall. Nathuram Godse fired three bullets into the chest of Bapu at point-blank range.  Bapu’s last words were ‘Hey Ram’.  When Jesus Christ was nailed on cross, his last words were “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing”.  Bapu became a martyr.  Why does man kill great souls?  Can’t these insane persons realise that bullets or nails cannot stop noble principles “truth & service” these two noble souls stood for.

Bapu’s death was mourned nationwide.  Over two million people joined the five mile long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach RajGhat from  Birla House where Bapu was assassinated.  While India mourned, communal violence escalated.  There were calls for retaliation.  Nehru and Patel two strongest figures in the Government tried to calm the hysteria.  They called on Indians to honour Bapu’s memory and his ideals.  Government made sure that citizens of India realised that  the guilty person was not a Muslim. Government banned RSS.

“Truth and non-violence are as old as hills” said Bapu.  ‘I have nothing new to teach the world.  I have simply tried in my own way to apply the eternal truths in my daily life and problems.  There is no such thing as Gandhism’, Bapu concluded.

“God is Truth.  The way to truth lies through Ahimsa (non-violence)”.   Bapu believed this and adopted these principles in his life.  Bapu dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth.  Learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself, he tried to discover truth and non-violence.  He called his autobiography  as “The Story of My Experiments WithTruth”.

Civil disobedience and non-cooperation as practiced under Satyagraha are based on “the law of suffering”.  Bapu’s major strategies were to unite Muslims and Hindus to work together in opposition to British imperialism  first in South Africa and then in India. Bapu used fasting as a political device.  This generated wide spread sympathy.

In the year 2007 United Nation General Assembly declared Bapu’s birthday,  2^nd October as the International day of non-violence.  It is not just the responsibility of the government, even society has responsibilities.  What ails our Society that cannot protect it’s Nobel Souls?

Hey Ram

Baba Saheb: Architect of The Indian Constitution

The Indian constitution drafted by Ambedkar (popularly known as Baba Saheb) is a social document aimed at social justice for all the Indians.  While India won freedom, Dalits (untouchables) were still unable to fulfil their dream of freedom in free India. Baba Saheb fought at two battle grounds simultaneously.  One for India’s freedom and another for the Dalits’ freedom.

Without economic freedom, political freedom has no meaning, said Gandhiji. Without social justice for all the Indians political freedom has no meaning opined Baba Saheb.  We have failed these two great minds. In the present day scenario, Gandhiji has almost become irrelevant.  The name Baba Saheb has become a tool for the present day politicians to garner votes of Dalits and other backward caste people in the elections.

Baba Saheb served as a free India’s first law minister. He was appointed as chairman of the constitution drafting committee.  The text prepared by Baba Saheb provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual citizens including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and outlaws of all forms of discrimination.  He provided reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes. This was meant to eradicate socio-economic inequalities for India’s depressed classes.

Baba Saheb studied Buddhism and travelled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to attend the meeting of the world fellowship of Buddhists. He organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters for conversion to Buddhism. Baba Saheb suffered from diabetes and was bed ridden for a long period and died in his sleep on 6^th December 1956 at his home in Delhi.

India achieved independence on 15^th August 1947.  Lord Mountbatten was the last British governor general of India. On 26^th January 1950, the constitution prepared by Bab Saheb was adopted and India became an independent republic.

An Open Letter to Modi, Sir.

“Catch every raindrop wherever it falls” said the then Prime Minster Vajpayee in 2002, but his poetic exertion fell on deaf ears of ‘National Water Development Agency (NWDA)’.  To solve India’s recurrent flood and draught NWDA was established in 1982 and to study basin-wide water surpluses and deficits and explore the possibilities for storage, links and mass transfer of water from flood affected north to draught hit south. Unfortunately for one reason or the other this project didn’t take off.

This water subject was taken to Supreme Court in 2002. Advocate Ranjit Kumar prayed Supreme Court to direct the central government to take up this project in all earnestness. The Apex Court ordered the government to take up and complete the Inter -Linking Rivers (ILR) project and complete it in the shortest possible time. Vajpayee government constituted task force (TF) for ILR in 2002 and set the target date as December 2016.

The task force was however wound up in the year 2004 for various reasons. In 2008 the Apex Court thundered again as to why not even a single link was under way. In 2009 UPA water resource minister PK Bansal told the Lok Sabha that the project’s financial requirement of Rs 5 lakh crore was unaffordable.

This in brief is the history of ILR. If the present NDA government takes up ILR project India would be engaged in an economic activity of the biggest scale so far unheard of anywhere in the world. Lakhs and lakhs of jobs would be created. The cottage, small, medium and big industries would get fresh lease of life and the GDP would shoot up. Simultaneous mitigation of flood and draught would solve increasing conflicts between states on water allocation. The completion of project would take India out of economic mess.

The project might take eight to ten years to complete and require now around eight lakh crores of rupees. After demonetization in November 2016, around five lakh crores of black money is recovered. Little more rigorous effects on the part of central government would surely supply the required funds for the entire project. This is a god sent opportunity. All that is required now is political willpower.

Modi, sir, you are a man with vision and possess abundant political willpower. You have the intention to transform India into a rich and prosperous nation. Not just the Apex Court, the entire country is standing behind you. If the country misses this opportunity we may not get another chance. Modi, sir you are the right man for this job. Please look into the matter and take appropriate action.

With  regards,

Commitment- the life of life

One can find the meaning for the word ‘commitment’ in the dictionary.                unfortunately the word has lost its meaning beyond the dictionary. The word commitment has lost its meaning in life. The Rosenberg story had to happen to reassert commitment’s value and meaning. An American advocate Emanuel Hirsch Bloch displayed an exemplary quality and courage to uphold the meaning and value of ‘commitment in life’.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the USA citizens who spied for the Soviet Union were tried, convicted and executed for conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951. There were other co-conspirators who were also imprisoned. Emanuel Hirsch Bloch defended the couple. There was consensus among the general public that the couple was guilty. The trial was marred by judicial alegal improprieties.

In the trial, the Rosenbergs were convicted and sentenced to death. But the Rosenberg’s remained defiant and during the testimony, the couple used the right under the USA constitution’s Fifth Amendment to not incriminate themselves whenever they were asked about their involvement in the communist party. The Rosenbergs were convicted in March 1951 and were executed in April 1951.

Before the execution, there was a strong campaign for clemency. The formation of the national committee to secure justice for the Rosenbergs ushered. Some Americans believed that the Rosenbergs were innocent. The grassroots level campaign started to stop the execution. Albert Einstein and NobelPrize winner Herald Urey and many other important personalities in America condemned the harsh treatment meted out to the Rosenbergs. Even Pope Paul XII appealed to PresidentEisenhower to spare the couple. All the appeals were unsuccessful.

The advocate for the couple Emanuel Hirsch Bloch was very much disheartened. His failure to get justice for his clients pushed him to extreme edge. The presidential pardon wasn’t coming. He personally wanted to meet the president of US to appeal for clemency for his clients but was denied an audience with the president. There was only one thing in his mind- that was to get the presidential pardon for his clients. This urge grew stronger and stronger. He used to go to the white house every day and request for an audience with the president. But his requests were denied every time, yet he visited the white house everyday and stood at the gate till dusk in the hope that the president might invite him for discussion. In the meanwhile other important things like food, bath and clean dress disappeared from his mind. He displayed this exemplary loyalty and commitment to his clients until the Rosenbergs were executed.

Win or lose, the commitment to the cause is very essential in life. It is these values honesty, truthfulness and commitment that make the life richer. For upholding these values advocate Emanuel Hirsch Bloch deserves a rich and loud applaud from all of us.