Love and Liberation Or Hate and Repression?

Liberation or repression? Love or hate? Which is the better political strategy if the goal of a certain individual’s life is only acquiring power? Pure, sheer and naked power? In other words, the individual wants to become an all-powerful being. Something we associate in common parlance with ‘God’. The Almighty, The All-Powerful. So, if an individual’s sole purpose in life is to acquire power akin to God, can that individual be convinced that love and liberation are better strategies towards meeting these goals than hatred and repression? Are they really? If so, why?

Through the history of the human civilization, the concept of ‘God’ has been the most sustained one. Yet, suppose that I am an atheist and vehemently deny the existence of ‘God’. Now suppose I come across a news report about a brutal rape and murder of a 2-year old child. This incident further strengthens my atheistic beliefs as I am convinced that in a world where such an incident could occur, there is not even a remote possibility of there being an All-Powerful entity termed as ‘God’. Since ‘God’ has not been able to provide me the answer to my question of why this had to happen to a 2-year old child, I turn to reason. But again, I draw a blank. I am unable to attribute any reason for the occurrence of this ghastly act to a 2-year old child. Then, what do I have left? Where is the explanation? I next come to the theory of karma. This must have happened to this child as a consequence of the actions of her previous birth. Does this thought explain the inexplicable? Does it comfort me? I have conveniently turned the victim into the criminal. I have even more conveniently and easily explained away and justified every wrong that happens in this world. So, whatever I do from now on or whatever happens to me is my own responsibility. I have obviated the need of a Supreme Being. I don’t require an All-Powerful ‘God’. I am myself the one.

Is this theory enough to explain away all the questions that I may have about existence? What happens after countless such cycles of births and rebirths, actions and their consequences? Where and how does it all begin? Where and how does it all end? I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. But the question troubles me. I am not comfortable with turning the victim into the criminal. I am not comfortable with justifying all the wrongs in this world. Yet, I am also not comfortable with the existence of a ‘God’ who allows injustice and unfairness to prevail and thrive. Then what do I do? What do I believe in? How do I reason?

As I have concluded that I am neither sure of ‘God’s existence, nor its non-existence, I then choose to believe in none of these. I don’t have the means to prove either of it to be true. This is because I am limited by my birth and death. I am limited with this life which I have been given, that exists between my birth and my death. I don’t have the wherewithal to know anything beyond these, so I will now function within these boundaries. Operating within these boundaries, I know for certain that whatever happened with the 2-year old girl was wrong and not her fault. Suppose, the perpetrator of the crime in this case has stated that the only reason he targeted this girl was because she belonged to a religion other than his own. This crime is thus born out of a hatred of all human beings that belong to some other religion. This is a crime born out of a triumph of hate over love. This is a crime born out of a need to repress the other in order to liberate one’s own.

Now suppose the individual we discussed earlier, whose sole purpose in life was to acquire insurmountable power believes in the above strategy of hatred and repression. He strongly believes that hatred and repression are much better strategies towards achieving his goal rather than love and liberation. So, the individual continues to propagate hatred and brutally represses anything to the contrary. He chooses religion as his tool in this game of thrones. He chooses to side with the majority as the minority don’t matter if he has the support of the majority. And then he embarks on his mission of spreading hatred and inducing repression. The majority are led on the path of hatred by a combination of various strategies. They truly and deeply start believing in this hatred of the other. They are convinced that this is the ultimate truth. Through the twin strategies of hatred and repression, a totalitarian state of all people following a single religion is created. The individual now has become the All-Powerful ruler of the state. Now since this individual firmly believes in the strategy of repression, he continues to follow the same in this new-formed state. Every thought or action by any individual that differ from his own thoughts and perceptions is repressed. This continues unabated and with much success for some time but slowly and gradually some cracks start to appear. It becomes impossible for every individual to think and act like that individual all the time. They start getting tired of the repression when they are personally affected by it. And there comes a day when each one is personally affected. That day, it becomes impossible for the individual to survive. He is overthrown, and people trump liberation over repression. They also now start having second-thoughts on the strategy of hatred that they had followed till now. What would have happened had they followed the strategy of love? They would still have been living in a state that belonged to people from various religions, in a rich and diverse culture, celebrating that richness and diversity in every moment. Had the expulsion of these extra number of people led to any substantial difference in their lives that was for their betterment? They were still struggling with the same problems they were struggling before. Many of them were still poor, they didn’t have jobs. They had developed their abilities to hate to such an extent that they had completely lost the ability to love. So, now they were incapable of loving even those they thought as their own. Devoid of love, they had become mere zombies breathing their lives away as they were incapable of doing any better.

They now realized how utterly wrong they were. They now realized how love was always a much better strategy than hate. The most surprising thing was however that the individual who had strategically chosen the strategies of hate and repression over love and liberation, now realized his folly. He still dreamt the same dream – of becoming the All Powerful. But this time, he swore to choose the strategies of Love and Liberation.

Crisis of public education and scarcity of jobs in the government sector in the light of the new reservation bill

The Constitution (103^rd Amendment) Act, 2019 has been notified in the gazette on January 14, 2019, having been passed by both the houses of Parliament and after receiving Presidential assent. The Act seeks to grant 10% quota to economically weaker sections of the general category population in government jobs and education. The Act also amends Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, by adding a clause which allows states to make “special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens.” (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms). It has been further clarified that this reservation would be “in addition to the existing reservations and subject to a maximum of 10 percent of the total seats in each category.” (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms).

Without going into the constitutional validity of the Act, and whether it will stand judicial scrutiny, let us have a look at a few statistics:

• It is interesting to note that the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has discontinued the annual surveys that were conducted to find out the actual data of employment in the country. The Labour Bureau had conducted six such surveys from 2010 till 2016 and reports of five rounds have been released till date (https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-survey-discontinued-centre-clueless-about-unemployment-2591121).  According to the Report on Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), “At the All India level, 46.6 percent of the workers were found to be self-employed under the Usual Principal Status Approach followed by 32.8 percent as casual labour. Only 17 percent of the employed persons were wage/salary earners and the rest 3.7 percent were contract workers.” (http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf).
• It is also estimated that over 94% of India’s working population is part of the unorganized sector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_in_India). Further, of the organized sector, it is estimated that 2.7% to 3.7% of the population is employed in the government sector (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-percentage-of-government-jobs-and-private-jobs-in-India-in-2018).
• According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) data, the GDP growth estimates are at odds with employment estimates. According to CMIE, India’s real GDP grew by an impressive 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018-19. However, so did the unemployment rate, which rose to 6.4% in August 2018, which was higher than 5.6 percent in July (https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=2018-09-04%2009:50:22&msec=020).
• According to LB-EUS 2015, the rate of unemployment among youth and higher educated has reached 16% (https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Executive_Summary.pdf).
• According to the Report on Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), at All-India levels, about 40.4% of the households belong to Other Backward Classes category followed by 29.9% under the others category, 20.3% under the Scheduled Castes category and the rest 9.4% households belong to the Schedules Tribes category (http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf).

In view of the above-mentioned statistics, in tandem with the fact of the enactment of another reservation policy, a few salient observations can be immediately made:

• First and foremost, it is not understandable why official data collection regarding unemployment needed to be stopped in a country like India, where unemployment is one of the major issues facing the nation.
• Secondly, it is also beyond explanation that there is no official government data available on job creation in the nation. Various people or organizations who try and work out approximations thus arrive at highly varying numbers as they do it based on various assumptions. As a result, these reports can never be completely reliable.
• Thirdly, from whatever data that is available and some relevant portion of it that is stated above, it is clear that the reservation benefit that has been announced, shall cater to only 2.7-3.7% of the total working population of the nation that is employed in the government sector, as of now.
• Further, it has been announced by Union Minister for Human Resource Development that a 25% increase will be effected in higher educational institutions to ensure that 10% reservation recently given to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) does not disturb existing quotas for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes (https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/25-hike-in-college-varsity-seats-to-allow-centres-weaker-section-quota-1978175). Coupled with the increasing rate of unemployment especially among youth and higher educated where the rate has reached 16%, according to the above-mentioned statistics, the reservation provision seems to be nothing more than a recipe for disaster.

It is distressing that in a nation with a substantial youth population, where education and employment should be the most pressing and important issues, such cavalier measures are being taken, only with an eye on immediate political gains.

The provision for Reservations was introduced in the Constitution of India, in view of the socio-cultural context of the newly independent nation. With rampant caste prejudices resulting in centuries of discrimination against certain sections of the society, it was felt that a special impetus was essential to be able to bring these sections on par with the rest of the society. With this rationale in mind, the necessary provisions were introduced, at the same time, envisioning that these special provisions should no longer be necessary after a period of 10 years, if suitable policy measures were taken, and hence that outer time limit was prescribed in the Constitution. However, unfortunately, since then, this time limit has been repeatedly renewed by the Parliament. at the end of every decade, for yet another decade.

Somehow any serious and in-depth discussion on the complex and nuanced issues of education and employment has not really been allowed to be taken-off or sustained for long in our nation. The Reservation gimmick, in various forms and flavors, has been the standard response of the political class to these issues. The Courts have been kept busy by having to then rule on the constitutional validity of such political promises.

Multifarious trends are today visible in the domains of education and employment. The present dispensation has made unrelenting efforts towards propagating their own world-view through the education system. All scientific temper and rigor has been completely thwarted. Education has either become a means of instilling ‘patriotic fervor’ (which was somehow felt to be seriously lacking in all of us till date), or a feeding ground for the industrial-capitalist societal structure of today. The nature of jobs, on the other hand, has shifted more towards ad-hoc, temporary and contractual. The ‘State of Working India, 2018’ has highlighted certain other discernible trends, some of which are (http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/State_of_Working_India_2018.pdf ):

• A 10% increase in GDP now results in less than 1% increase in employment, whereas in 1970s and 1980s, when GDP growth was 3-4%, employment growth was around 2% per annum.
• 82% of male and 92% of female workers earn less than Rs. 10,000 per month.
• Contract workers are nearly 30% of all workers in organized manufacturing.
• Labor productivity in organized manufacturing increased by six times over the past three decades but wages increased by only 1.5 times.
• More than 50% of service sector employment is still made up of petty trade, domestic services and other types of small-scale and informal employment.
• Women are 16% of all service sector workers but 60% of domestic workers. Moreover, overall, women earn 65% of men’s earnings.

The above-mentioned issues are only indicative of various other such complex issues that still effect our education and employment sectors. The complexity of the issues at hand and the nuances involved deserve an in-depth discussion among various intellectuals, experts, policymakers and the society in general. There needs to be a long-term vision based on which focused work needs to be done in order to address the challenges of education and employment facing our nation. Unfortunately, what we get instead is yet another election gimmick. And not just this once, but time and time again. It is high time we sit up and not only take notice but also make efforts, in whatever possible manner, towards developing and ensuring the propagation of the ‘scientific temper’ that our Fundamental Duties direct us to develop and propagate, as a responsible citizen of the nation. This essentially means developing a spirit of enquiry, a rational outlook towards life, having a vision and goal, an inclination to discuss, give and accept ideas, and a willingness to deconstruct situations in order to analyze them and work towards resolving them. Our battered education system and the unemployment situation in the nation, deserve this approach rather than empty promises that may be detrimental to the long-term well-being of the entire society.

The Charter of Fundamental Duties and Nationalism

I am a citizen of India of India. I consider it my duty to abide by the 11 Fundamental Duties that are laid down in Part IV-A, Article 51-A of the Constitution of India, because India is a constitutional democracy, where the Constitution of our nation is the supreme authority and we, the people of India, have given to ourselves this Constitution, thereby agreeing to abide by it. Let us go through this list of Fundamental Duties one by one:

1. Abide by the Constitution and respect National Flag and National Anthem: I consider myself as a Constitution abiding citizen and have utmost respect for the National Flag and the National Anthem. I may staunchly believe that every time I go out to watch a movie in a cinema hall, it is not required that I be forced to display my respect for the National Anthem, yet I do it every time. This use of force and fear to put my love and respect for my nation on display, does-not in any manner impact the inherent feeling of respect or love I have for my nation, yet the use of force and fear continues.
2. Follow ideals of the freedom struggle: The foremost ideal of the freedom struggle, to my mind would be to cherish and guard the freedom that the freedom fighters vehemently fought for. They had fought for the freedom from oppression, tyranny, poverty, greed, divisiveness and the ignorance that allowed a fistful of people to rule over such huge masses for almost 200 years. I realize how invaluable this freedom is. I cherish it with every breath that I take and consider it my utmost duty to fiercely guard it from all kinds of external and internal oppression and divisive attitudes. I consider it my constitutional duty to remain mindful of any overt and covert attempts that may be made by divisive forces to threaten this freedom.
3. Protect sovereignty and integrity of India: I consider it my duty to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India - the land and its people. I consider it my duty to stand up for the dignity and honor of each and every Indian, to protect the wholeness and unity of this nation.
4. Defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so: I consider it my duty to defend this nation from all divisive forces – external or internal. I consider it a service to my nation, and thus my foremost duty, to speak against injustice, inequality, oppression and attempts at creating and perpetrating divisiveness and ignorance.
5. Promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women: I consider it my foremost duty to promote peace and harmony among all, irrespective of any kind of diversity in any form whatsoever.
6. Value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture: The rich heritage of our composite culture has guided me to value the spirit of humanity above all else. I thus consider it my foremost duty to follow the ideal of humanity and make every attempt possible towards preserving this rich heritage of our composite culture.
7. Protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures: Not only do I consider it my fundamental duty to my nation, to try and safeguard the environment to the best of my abilities, but also to the world community and the future generations whom we are responsible to.
8. Develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of enquiry and reform: As a proud citizen of this nation, I consider it my first and foremost duty to never let my spirit of enquiry die. I consider it my duty to always be informed in my demeanor and make a conscious effort in developing my critical thinking and questioning abilities. I consider that it is my utmost duty to be able to think, analyze and question so that I can contribute towards the progress of this nation and its people. I also consider it as my duty to never forget the ideal of humanity and humanism towards not only the citizens of this nation, but also the world community.
9. Safeguard public property and abjure violence: I consider it as my duty to never turn towards violence, be it physical, mental, emotional, or in any other form, as a solution to any situation, whatever be the provocation. I consider it my duty to never forget that violence can only beget violence and lead to nothing but destruction.
10. Strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement: I consider it my duty to strive daily towards becoming a better version of myself, so that I am able to give my best to this nation.
11. Who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years: As a parent, I consider it my utmost duty to ensure a good education for my child so that he turns out to be a responsible and humane individual.

As a responsible citizen of this nation, I strive daily to fulfil the constitutionally mandated fundamental duties towards my nation. This is what nationalism means to me – to love, to live, to unite, to spread peace and harmony, to empathize, to abjure violence, to enquire, to reform and to strive to become a better human being with every breath. Any other definition of nationalism is not only misleading but against the very fabric of the nation that it purports to define.

Poverty estimation: A mockery of the unprivileged

As reported by The Times of India, according to a study published in the ‘Future Development’ blog of Brookings, Nigeria has overtaken India in terms of the highest number of extremely poor people (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-no-of-poor-study/articleshow/64754988.cms). The study estimates that at the end of May, 2018, Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty compared to India’s 73 million. The poverty line in the estimations is defined at $1.9 per person per day. So, a time to gloat and celebrate? Far from it I think.

First and foremost, I have serious problems with this entire business of poverty estimation, and the way it is done. There exist a plethora of methodologies to arrive at a poverty line, which, according to Cambridge Dictionary is defined as, “the official level of income that is needed to achieve a basic living standard with enough money for things such as food, clothing and a place to live” (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poverty-line). If we consider the global standard as stated above, i.e., $1.9 per person per day, it can be roughly translated to about Rs. 130 per person per day, which would mean about Rs. 4000 per person per month. Within the definition of poverty stated above, I am at a loss to understand the kind of ‘basic living standard’ that this amount will be able to provide to any individual. How ‘basic living standard’ is even defined here? Is this money even enough to fulfil the daily calorific and nutritional requirements of an individual, leave alone clothing and shelter? If it is, do these calorific requirements take into account the kind of lifestyle of the people that are involved? The diet charts that are prepared by nutritionists provide minimum quantities of fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins etc. that an individual should consume in a day. Will it be possible for an individual to consume the same, day after day, with this meagre amount? Or are such diet charts not relevant for the so called ‘poor’?

Coming to clothing, what is the definition of ‘basic’ in terms of clothing? When does one feel that certain amount of clothes are now sufficient for a decent standard of living? Certain individuals have the means that they can wear even five different outfits in a single day (and they will never repeat these again in their lifetime) whereas for certain others five outfits may be deemed to be enough for five years, at the rate of one new outfit a year, and they may still qualify in terms of meeting the requirement of ‘basic’. Why so?

Lastly, coming to the shelter part of it or a ‘place to live’. What is a decent enough ‘place to live’ for an individual? For some people a ‘place to live’ may consist of a multistoried mansion for a family of four to five individuals, whereas for some others one small room for a family (that may or may not be ‘pucca’) of ten may be deemed to be fulfilling the requirement of ‘basic’.

What happens when the number of people below this ‘basic standard of living’, as explained above, declines? It is deemed as a great achievement for the nation. It is worn as a badge of honor, used in speeches after speeches to garner votes from the electorate. It is considered as the final proof of the success of the policies that the nation has been following. Why is this so? Because it has been drilled into you that the first goal has to be to move maximum number of people above that sacrosanct line and only then should we talk about anything else. No one stops even for a second to wonder what is so sacrosanct about that line? What difference will crossing that line make for those whose lives are being discussed here? What is anyone going to achieve even if the entire population is officially declared to be above this line? What are the goals that we would have then fulfilled as a society?

At this juncture, I would like to also share some other data, which I think should be considered as extremely relevant by all. Following data has been thrown up by the World Inequality Report, 2018 (https://thewire.in/business/rising-inequality-india-insight-world-inequality-report-2018).

The total cumulative real income growth per adult from 1980-2016 for India is as follows:

Income group	Value in percentage
Full population	223
Bottom 50%	107
Middle 40% (between top 10% and bottom 50%)	112
Top 10%	469
Top 1%	857
Top 0.1%	1295
Top 0.01%	2078
Top 0.001%	3083

 

Further, share of national income growth captured by income groups from 1980-2016 is as follows:

Income group	Value in percentage
Full population	100
Bottom 50%	11
Middle 40% (between top 10% and bottom 50%)	23
Top 10%	66
Top 1%	28
Top 0.1%	12
Top 0.01%	5
Top 0.001%	3

 

After going through the above tables, it is amply clear who is actually gaining from the so-called miraculous growth story of India. Whereas the accumulation of wealth at the top is growing at an exponential rate, the bottom-most are just being handed down a change in their status and nomenclature. The ones earlier counted as extremely poor below the poverty line are now poor above the poverty line. What this actually means for them is anybody’s guess. But it does mean a lot for the policy makers and their apologists. It means that they can add another feather to their cap, howsoever meaningless it actually may be. However, any amount of self-congratulation will not be able to suffice in answer to some ‘basic’ questions: What differentiates those at the top from those at the bottom? Have all those at the top earned their right to be there? Does the accident of their birth does-not have anything to do with it? Have they not been treated favorably at the expense of others at every step of the way that is in case they have not inherited their wealth and status? Should the so-called ‘poor’ feel gratified, obliged and thankful if they succeed in crossing a line which they might not be even aware, exists? Do they not have any right to have a life beyond the ‘basic’ needs of food, clothing and shelter? Why are they more unequal than the others? Why should they not feel mocked if their entire lives are reduced to just numbers and statistics?

If we are to ever consider ourselves a ‘civil’ society, we will have to answer these questions. Otherwise, let us just simply forget about all of the above and join in the celebrations of losing our number one spot in terms of the numbers of ‘extremely poor’. Let us be proud that we have been displaced by some other unfortunate nation who has now acquired this coveted spot. Because again, as far as the modern philosophy of nation-states goes, it should not be our concern if the hungry belong to some other nation, even if such extreme hunger, poverty and deprivation is a consequence of the very policies that the world has decided to openly embrace.

Regulation at the cost of human lives?

A life-saving medicine for pediatric heart patients, namely, Furoped, or Furosemide, more commonly known as Lasix (a diuretic that is prescribed in babies with heart ailments to drain the body of fluids, to reduce the load on heart), has recently gone out of market (https://indianexpress.com/article/india/price-cap-squeezes-out-key-drug-for-children-with-heart-ailment-5229669/). This is after The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) set the ceiling selling price for the drug at Rs. 10 in the month of November. The manufacturer of the drug, Samarth Pharmaceuticals, has stated that the price was reduced by 92% since the drug was brought under price control and they were being forced to sell at less than the cost price. They have stated that they were still trying to maintain supplies, but were unable to do so in large quantities.

The NPPA has, in turn, stated that the matter had been brought to their notice and they were looking into it. They also said that they had called for certain information from the manufacturer which has now been received and the issue will be taken up in the next meeting of the authority to be held on June 28.

Hapless parents are meanwhile, and as usual, struggling with the situation to their best possible individual means and capacities.

Situations like the above have become so common in the Indian scenario that they fail to attract much attention, other than passing references and a few concerned voices that may be raised. The acceptance of administrative apathy and incompetence, and the devaluation of a human life has become so complete and systemically entrenched that coming across such situations and incidents fails to elicit even a minor reaction from the majority of the population. They seem to be routine, run-of-the-mill matters which do not deserve any special attention.

However, such a situation is neither routine nor run-of-the-mill for the parents who are daily watching their children suffer and at the same time struggling to arrange for the medicine they know can save or at least prolong the precious lives of their kids. The reason for this struggle, however, may not be understandable to these parents. It is not clear, for instance, what data was collected and analyzed by the Pricing Authority before bringing the drug into price control. What was the basis of taking the decision? Was the shortage of the drug apprehended? What were the measures that were taken to avoid or tackle such a situation, if it occurred? When was the information that the Authority says it has now received from the drug manufacturer, called for? If this information was essential for arriving at the decision to control the prices of the drug, then how was the decision taken in the absence of such information? If the Authority now realizes the gravity of the situation, why is it important to wait for the next regular meeting scheduled for June 28, to discuss the situation? Are there no contingency plans on the table? Is the situation not serious enough to warrant the implementation of such contingency measures, if at all they are in place? What is the wait for?

Questions galore, but alas, no answers! May be the situation is dire for only a few members of the society as of now. May be it is not happening to us to be overly concerned with it. But till when will be able to sustain such kind of an apathetic attitude? Till when will we able to survive in such a callous world? In fact till when will a world which harbors such an apathetic society be itself able to survive? Not very long, I think.

The curious workings of the Sedition Law in India

Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code states the following:

“Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

Explanation 1 – The expression “disaffection” includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity.

Explanation 2 – Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

Explanation 3 – Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.”

 

The Indian Express has recently reported that sedition charges were imposed on five minors for dancing to ‘anti-India’ song. The FIR has been registered at the Nisarganj police station in Rohtas district of western Bihar (https://indianexpress.com/article/india/five-minors-face-sedition-charge-for-dancing-to-anti-india-song-5224928/). As reported, the incident occurred when about 150 people aged between 10 and 22 years took out a “channd julus (moon procession)” a day before Eid, after hiring a DJ, named Ashish Kumar, a local resident. The FIR was registered against eight people – the event’s organizer, DJ, his driver and five minors who were found dancing to the song – this is apart from 20 other unidentified people. According to the FIR, a person named Chandan Thathera shot the video and later handed it to a local Bajrang Dal leader, Manoj Bajrangi, who gave the video clip to the police.

The lyrics of the contentious song, which was played in between other songs being played, if roughly translated, go as follows – “We are Pakistani mujahids, protectors of Earth; if you challenge us even by mistake, we will cut you up.”

Without going into the legitimacy of invoking Section 124-A in this case in general, it is pertinent to examine the same at least with respect to its invocation against the minors, who danced to the song. It will be interesting to see how these charges against the minors are sustained and substantiated, in view of what Section 124A defines as sedition, which is stated above. First and foremost, these individuals were not the ones who played the song. Secondly, it was one among the many songs to be played and the accused happened to dance to the song in the flow of things. If such is not the case, then it needs to be proved that the steps that were used by the accused while dancing to this song were different from the ones they were using while dancing to the other songs and that these specific steps were such that they could fall into the category of ‘attempting to bring into hatred or contempt, or exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India’. If such is not the case then all those who happened to listen to the song may be held equally responsible for sedition, which sounds laughable.

The above conjectures sound completely implausible, far-fetched and imaginary. However, the truth is that the invocation of this law has more often than not been done on such flimsy grounds. As much as the presence of the law in the Penal Code of an independent and democratic India itself, has been questioned and condemned vociferously, its casual invocation, in almost all the cases, has been repeatedly brought to light. Yet, no government of independent India has ever attempted to scrap this contentious law, although it is nothing more than a relic of a colonial past. Rather, this law has often been clandestinely used to impose the authority of the state or may be to settle scores on some other front.

Incidentally, in this case, it will be useful and interesting to go through some of the statements of the relatives of the arrested minors. The elder brother of one accused, who studies in class VI, said, “The children were dancing in joy. Most of them realized that some objectionable and controversial song had been played only after the ruckus following police intervention.” Father of another boy said, “Sedition charges against these little boys have hurt us badly. There has never been any communal riot in Nisarganj’s history. In this town you can still hear azaan (call of prayer from a mosque) and Ram dhun (Hindu devotional song), going on simultaneously.”

Food for thought. Isn’t it?

Trump backs down on one of the most inhumane policies

The world has, of late, been grappling with the worst kind of humanitarian crisis. As a part of its ‘zero tolerance’ approach to illegal immigration, the United States of America, had, in May, allowed the filing of criminal charges against undocumented immigrants. This led to separation of nearly 2000 children of these immigrants from their parents in a matter of just six weeks. (https://scroll.in/latest/883477/united-states-president-donald-trump-signs-executive-order-to-keep-migrant-families-together).

Horrified by the implementation of these completely inhumane orders, there has been a wave of protests throughout the world. The protests intensified further after an investigative news website, ProPublica, released an audio recording on Monday, of the separated immigrant children crying inconsolably for their parents, at a detention centre on the US-Mexico border. President Trump’s wife and daughter joined in the protests to end this humanitarian crisis. President Trump has now signed an executive order to not separate the detained immigrant families. Although this comes as a major immediate relief in the present circumstances, however it still leaves many questions unanswered. The status of the children who have already been separated is still unclear. Further, it is still not known that for how long these immigrants can be held up and detained pending the ongoing proceedings against them.

The United States has recently also withdrawn from the United Nations Human Rights Council charging the organization of hypocrisy, since it had condemned the abovementioned US policy and charged it of gross human rights abuses because of this policy of separating the children of immigrant parents from them. As ludicrous as this denunciation of the UN Human Rights Council sounds, coming from the United States, whose human rights records have never been a matter of pride, it remains to be seen how the accountability of the human rights excesses that have already been committed in this matter, will be fixed and by whom.

However, looking at the macro issue of illegal immigrants throughout the world, it will be beneficial to all if a framework is arrived at through mutual discussions and negotiations among the world community on how to approach this issue in a humanistic manner. Illegal immigration is not a country specific problem and cannot be seen in isolation, by removing it from its context and completely overlooking the reasons for it. The root cause here is again the growing inequalities in the world which lead to such dire living conditions for substantial population of the world that they resort to any and every means possible to simply be able to continue to survive. This issue is not simply a mathematical issue of numbers, wherein nations start to drive out excess number of people from their soils without paying any heed to the social realities that force these people to resort to such practices in the first place.

Illegal immigration is a systemic as also a system and policy driven issue. The victims of the system are portrayed as criminals and punished harshly for their alleged crimes. Such harsh measures as adopted by the United States of America may appear to be a solution in the short term but are completely unsustainable on a long-term basis in view of the humanitarian concerns. Whenever one faces a dilemma of a choice between humanity and maintenance of the boundaries of the nation-state, or in other words, a dilemma between what the choice should be – humanity or patriotism (one’s commitment towards maintenance of the sacrosanct nature of one’s nation), it will not be difficult to arrive at the right decision if Rabindranath Tagore’s words are kept in mind:

“Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.”

However, this is an adage which has been long forgotten. In today’s world, patriotism trumps humanity by a huge margin.

The Scourge of Manual Scavenging – Unacknowledged and Perpetuating

A recent inter-ministerial task force has estimated the number of manual scavengers as 53,000. This survey includes data from 121 districts (spread over 12 states) out of more than 600 districts in the country. This number, though is a four-fold increase from 13,000 odd workers recorded in 2017, it is also pertinent to note that following surveys that outlawed manual scavenging in 1993, the central government had counted 7 lakh manual scavengers by 2004.

 

Another significant aspect of the latest survey is the very definition of manual scavenging. The abovementioned estimated number does-not include those involved in cleaning sewers and septic tanks, and also does-not include the data from the Railways, the largest employer of manual scavengers. It also does-not include data from urban areas. Sewer and septic tank cleaning has also not been included, as according to an official of the Ministry of Social Justice, “it can’t be completely done away with but can only be regulated with the use of protective gear, which is allowed under the law”.

 

It is not very difficult to draw certain common-sense conclusions from the above description of the state of affairs. Firstly, the evident reluctance of the states to participate in the exercise of collecting data on the number of manual scavengers present in the states displays the amount of concern they have towards the plight of these workers. Since manual scavenging was outlawed in the year 1993 itself, the states have devised innovative ways of staying at the right side of the law. These include refusal to participate in the enumeration exercise itself, refusal to officially verify figures and so on and so forth. Similarly, central ministries like the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Urban Affairs do-not think it significant enough to part with the numbers, or for that matter, arrive at them in the first place.

 

Further, the central government and the states have very strategically and conveniently redefined the scope of what constitutes manual scavenging itself. So sewer and septic tank cleaning does-not even form a part of manual scavenging for the superb reason that ‘it cannot be done without’. As a result, sewer and septic tank cleaning is very much lawful, albeit if carried out with ‘full protective gear’. It is not of much significance however that such protective gear, which includes 43 kinds of protective equipment and 11 mechanical equipment, is seldom if ever made available. This farcical situation would have been quite hilarious had it not been so unbelievable, unfortunate, dangerous, sad and disgusting. The excuse of protective gear is conveniently use to keep a certain activity out of the purview of law and at the same time no-one bothers to actually provide that gear. So, in the end, these helpless workers, continue to indulge in a lawfully prohibited activity, working with their bare hands and bodies, drinking heavily to be able to tolerate the stench and many a times losing their very lives in the process. On top of that, they are not even counted as manual scavengers because, on paper, cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is allowed because it is supposed to be done with full protective gear (so what if it actually never is). Unbelievable, but true!

 

Next, if we look at the practice of manual scavenging in light of the caste hierarchies prevalent in our nation, it will be amply evident that manual scavenging has traditionally and even today been relegated to those present at the bottom-most step of this caste ladder. So, even among the Dalits, manual scavengers are one of the lower-most sub-groups, and are treated as such, even by the Dalits who occupy a higher place than them in the caste hierarchy.

 

Every death of a manual scavenger momentarily succeeds to find a place in the news of the day. It results in some token gestures, some intellectual analysis, some laments, recommendations etc. Then something more pressing like may be the death of a celebrity, or some unpatriotic act by some citizen, comes to the fore and these deaths are very easily forgotten. With the strengthening of the caste hierarchies in the present day scenario, and gradual dilution of Dalit rights, it is not very difficult to forget those who are at the lowest rung of the hierarchy as they are neither a significant part of the vote bank, nor a part of a powerful lobby. In fact had they not been essential for doing all the dirty and menial work, they would have been quite dispensable. When such are the sensibilities of the nation that we together form, then is there something better that can be expected?

The field of Education: Political Playground

The NCERT curriculum and textbooks were revised following the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework, 2005. Additionally, National Focus Groups were formed, which presented Position Papers on the teaching-learning of specific subjects in schools. This entire exercise was a very comprehensive one. The experts in the field of education and policy-making were involved who undertook wide consultations with various stakeholders in the field of education, like teachers etc., and came out with impressive and path-breaking recommendations and Position Papers. These recommendations were duly incorporated in the NCERT textbooks that were formulated post NCF-2005. Even a cursory look at these textbooks is enough to understand the massive difference between these revised textbooks and their previous versions.

 

Although theories based on research in the field of education have repeatedly advocated for textbooks to be considered as only one among many resources in teaching-learning, yet in the Indian education scenario, these continue to be the primary and only resources that are used in the classrooms. In such a situation, their importance and significance increases all the more.

 

As much as the above is true, it is equally true that education has also always been a battlefield on which ideological battles have been fought. It is well understood and internalized by the political community that control over what is taught to students in schools is akin to ideological control over mass-level thought process and is essential for long-term political viability. The political right and the organizations affiliated to it have been in the forefront when it comes to the use of this ideological tool of control over educational content imparted in schools. The vast network of RSS schools throughout the nation, propounding its ideology on a mass scale, is ample testimony to this. The coming into power of a government affiliated to a politically right-wing ideology has invariably been accompanied with a tinkering with the NCERT textbooks prescribed in the schools, especially those dealing with social science subjects, like History. The same is being witnessed now, over the last two-three years. However, there is a definite difference in the approach towards implementation of the same. In line with the way the present political dispensation has been functioning, the latest series of revisions, big and small, that have been implemented and are scheduled for implementation, have been carried out single-handedly by the political dispensation, without even a semblance of consultation with experts or institutions who have been established for this very purpose. The trend of undermining of institutional autonomy, thus, continues unabated.

 

As also expected, the revisions that have been undertaken, aim at providing a much larger space and one-sided depiction of personalities considered to be icons of ‘Hinduism’, like Shivaji, Maharana Pratap etc. At the same time, such changes also aim at delegitimizing the role and contributions of those considered to be ‘outsiders’ like the Mughals. The changes are solely an attempt to portray a non-existent polarized history of the nation, thereby trying to rewrite history in the language of ‘insiders’ vs ‘outsiders’. 

 

The other kind of revisions that are being undertaken are the insertions of all the good work that the present dispensation has been doing, like bringing in demonetization, implementing schemes like Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan etc. These insertions are aimed at blatant eulogization of the present dispensation without paying even the minutest of attention to the realities and the facts of the situations. Such insertions are a testimony to the fact that not only has the spread of ‘fake news’ become the greatest menace to the Indian democracy, the spread of fake propaganda through the blatant misuse of the education system of the nation has become the single-most biggest threat to the existence of our great civilization.

 

The abovementioned falsification of historical truths in the school textbooks and presentation of one-sided story of the tremendous successes and achievements of the present dispensation, without any consultations whatsoever with the institutions that are responsible for the curriculum, not only undermine the strong fabric of institutional autonomy inbuilt in the governance structures of the Indian democracy, but also threaten to destroy the centuries old rich and diverse Indian civilization. Not to mention the false propaganda being spread far and wide, and the complete undermining of the desired scientific and secular nature of the education system. The only thought that can offer any succor in this bleak environment is a flicker of hope for this to be only a temporary phase in the long history of our nation and its education system.

Erring teachers to be penalized

The Gujarat Education Department has decided to take strict action against over 2300 school teachers who were appointed as evaluators for Class X Board exam. (https://indianexpress.com/article/education/higher-fine-gujarat-education-ministers-rebuke-in-store-for-2300-teachers-who-erred-in-giving-marks-5225039/) This is after the Department was appalled by the kind of mistakes the teachers were found to have committed while evaluating the exam papers. Some of these, as stated by the Department, include errors ranging from simple addition, omitting decimal to even awarding marks higher than the total marks for the paper. As reported by Indian Express, apart from a higher than before fine amount, these teachers are also set to be personally reprimanded by the Education Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who shall also, however, grant them a hearing before taking ‘appropriate’ action against them. It is further felt by the Minister and the Department that mere fines are not punishment enough for such egregious errors of commission and omission.

All of this sounds very reasonable. The kind of errors mentioned above seem to be too basic to have been committed by school teachers and thus an initial opinion about the utmost lack of responsibility, or ability, or the sheer carelessness and casual attitude on part of the teachers may well be formed. The proposal of the government to hand out strict punishments to such errant teachers may also not seem unreasonable.

However, when such incidents come to light, it is also essential to look past the immediate issue and follow it with a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, it is necessary to try and arrive at the underlying reasons and the long-term remedial measures so that such incidents can be altogether avoided in the future. On the surface, such incidents, may seem to be a result of a lack of commitment on the part of the teachers and hence an attitudinal problem with them. But if we will try and look even a bit deeper, we will ourselves realize the flaws in the above argument.

The number of teachers who have been identified to have made these errors is around 2300, which is by no means a small number. And this excludes the teachers who have made minor errors. I think it will be agreeable to all that such type of errors cannot be attributed to a lack of ability on the part of teachers. If that is ruled out, then next comes the question of their attitude towards work. I believe that 2300 is again a huge number to attribute the errors to the general careless attitude of the teachers. There is no reason to believe that such huge number of teachers would not take the work assigned to them seriously and hence end up committing such basic errors. What can then explain the situation?

It might be pertinent here to go to the root cause of the problem. Such an analysis will lead us to the long-present structural problems in our education system and the role of teachers within it. Time and again it has been highlighted that for the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process, it is essential that teachers are accorded their rightful place in the education system. Henry Giroux has very rightly advocated for teachers to be considered as ‘transformative intellectuals’. Yet, our education system treats them in the shabbiest of manners possible. They are considered as lowermost wrung of administrators whose job is to impart the prescribed curriculum, along with discharging the multifarious other administrative responsibilities thrust upon them. The trainings, if any, provided to them are abysmal. In such a scenario, the general motivation levels and a sense of pride in work cannot be expected to be particularly high.

In the abovementioned scenario, although one may agree that committing of the kind of errors that have been listed is not acceptable by qualified school teachers, however, the resolution of the problem, should avoid yielding to knee-jerk reactions and piece-meal solutions. Instead, attention needs to be focused on addressing the structural issues inherent in our education system. As much as it is the responsibility of teachers to perform their duties diligently, it as an equal responsibility of the system to ensure that they are able to do so, to the best of their abilities, by creating enabling conditions and infrastructure for them to do so. Anything short of this, is not going to yield any result.

Trans genders – The stigmatized gender

Suchitra Dey, formerly known as Hiranmey Dey, underwent a sex-reassignment surgery last year. She has an MA degree in Geography as well as in English and has also done her B.Ed. She teaches in a private school in Kolkata. In a recent interview, she talked to The Indian Express about her job interview experiences with some schools around Kolkata. Recounting her shocking experiences, she stated, “One of the interviewers at a well-known Kolkata school asked me to wear male outfits because all my mark sheets and certificates say that I am a man. In each of these interviews, I faced the worst kind of humiliation. The male principal of one of these schools asked me whether I can bear a child. He also asked me if my breasts are real. Would these questions be asked if I wasn’t a transgender woman?”

With a series of such harrowing experiences and no answers to her questions in sight, she filed a complaint with the West Bengal Human Rights Commission on June 11. In her written complaint, she wrote: “I couldn’t handle the humiliation anymore. The things I have been asked by authorities at “reputed” schools of Kolkata shows the kind of mindset people still hold about our community. If someone like me, who is educated and experienced, has to face this then imagine the plight of those who don’t have the opportunity to go to school, or the ones who have been ostracized.”

Just as a reminder to the readers here: the Supreme Court has, in 2014, lawfully recognized trans-genders as the third gender. However, we are sufficiently aware that such minor legalities do-not make a difference. No matter what the law says on paper, practically the realities of the lives of every Indian citizen are defined by the socio-economic milieu one is born in. Context, most often, determines the content of an individual’s life. It is an open secret that even after the abolition of untouchability with the enactment of the Constitution, the ground realities for the people belonging to the lowermost castes, who are also devoid of any political and economic clout, has hardly taken a turn for the better. Similarly, although recognition in law of the transgender community is itself a big step, however it is far too insufficient. If the promise of a dignified life for the transgender community has to be fulfilled, it requires massive transformation of the societal mindset.

Commonly, education is associated with bringing about positive changes in mindsets and in steering the society in a progressive direction. However, ironically, our education system either exists in isolation of the society or alternately is used as a political mouthpiece to steer the society in a direction that the political dispensation of the day desires. Apart from the above, the aims of education have been completely reduced to just instrumental and material aims. The meaning of education, as commonly understood today, is something that is required for getting a decent job and nothing more than that. The essential aims of education - to help an individual develop a sense of right and wrong, to enable and strengthen the faculties of critical thinking, introspection, decision-making, feelings of humaneness, empathy and a sense of responsibility towards one’s own actions and towards the world – have been diluted to such an extent that they have become non-existent.

In such a scenario, it is but apt that even those who claim to be well educated, and not only that, have been further endowed with the massive responsibility of educating others; should have such mindsets. The most unfortunate part, though, is that this repulsive state of affairs does-not bother enough members of the society, so that a societal change could be brought about.