Celebrating surgical strike, war: India "follows" Mussolini, who said peace is absurd, three cheers for war?

By Sheshu Babu*
"War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it" –Benito Mussolini
There are number of instances when the present ruling party promoted 'nationalism' through various programmes. It is leaving no stone unturned to express its patriotic intent and directing people to follow its footsteps. One of the latest example is Parakram Parv, or celebrating surgical strikes, showcasing the valor of armed forces from September 28 to 30.
According to an Indian Army spokesperson, “On September 29-30, noted singers are scheduled to perform at the venue (India Gate) apart from military band.” A notice sent out by University Grants Commission (UGC) on September 19, 2018 asked student to 'pledge their support to the armed forces' by writing letters or cards. It also encourages students and faculty to visit multimedia exhibition to be organized at India gate.

Dissent expressed

Historian Aditya Mukherjee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, co-author of the book “India's Struggle for Freedom” disagrees. "This is typically the BJP trying to project themselves as the nationalists. They have this great deficit of not being part of the national movement. Now, they are trying to force it on people and militarize campuses. They wanted to install tanks in JNU and if we oppose, it, they will call us anti- national", he said, adding, “This is no way to arouse nationalism.”

Mussolini: Peace is absurd

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students union president Mashkoor Ahmed Usmani said that under previous UPA as well as NDA governments, surgical strikes were carried out across the border but” no attempt has been made to highlight it in this manner.” He added, the government has failed on all fronts like security and curbing incidents like rape and, therefore, it is doing such things by imposing on institutions.

Promoting nationalism

Using attacks on neighbouring army bunkers and soldiers to express patriotism and force people to believe, seems to be the latest agenda for gaining popularity. Pakistan is being used as a synonym to terrorism, India's prime enemy and root of all evils. The present government is showing its act as its own “personal” achievement. As Palapre Balakrishnan, writing in “The Hindu” (September 25, 2018) says:
"...None of India's Prime Ministers had gloated over victory in war. Lal Bahadur Shastri's humility helped him steer clear of this in 1965, and Indira Gandhi, not given to undue modesty, did not make capital out of the India-Pakistan war of 1971, which had left the adversary not just bloodied but halved. It was left to others to liken her to Durga. In their dignified silence, India's former Prime Ministers had followed the practice of great leaders who refuse to glory in aggression. The countries of Europe remember the sacrifices of their soldiers in the two world wars but they do so with restraint. Can it be said that they love their country less for merely wearing a flower for a day, not requiring their great universities to celebrate victory in war?”

Promoting peace

The basic feature of fascism is being given importance by the present regime. "Peace is absurd. Fascism does not believe in it", said Mussolini. "Three cheers for war, noble and beautiful above all", he added. This is trend of 'celebrating' strike is dangerous.
People of both countries do not want war on each other. There are many organisations on both sides that promote friendship. Writers, journalists and civil rights activists in both India and Pakistan work for peace and harmony. The governments supported by some fanatics and military are against peace and use war as a tool to further their own political interests.

Pete Seeger... "We shall live in peace"

India has a great legacy of Ashoka, who was quick to realise the futility of war after the mass killings in the battle of Kalinga. The Chandala kings, after victory in war, built exquisite temples of Khajuraho to be used by people. Even Bhagvat Gita, revered by the Hindutva forces, does not prescribe war as a solution. Teachings of Buddha are replete with non- violent way of living. The people should question such celebrations that spew hatred.
Instead of celebration, peace marches must be held all over India and academicians and students should conduct seminars on peace and how to solve burning issues like rapes, atrocities on women, Dalits, Muslims and differently abled persons etc. They should force governments of both nations to hold peace talks.

Similarly, Pakistanis must also conduct peace marches and urge their rulers to demilitarize borders and reduce tensions so that people living in border areas live in peace and harmony.
---
*The writer from everywhere and anywhere believes like Pete Seeger:
"We shall live in peace
We shall live in peace
We shall live in peace… some day"

Comments

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”

From triple centurion to master coach: Bob Simpson’s enduring legacy

By Harsh Thakor* Former Australia cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died in Sydney aged 89. He leaves behind an indelible legacy, having shaped Australian cricket for more than four decades as a player, captain and coach. Beyond the field, he also served the game as a law-maker, referee and commentator, carving a permanent niche among the all-time greats of Australian cricket.

Counterview

Search This Blog