Skip to main content

Re-naming India as Bharat? First instill life into the country's body politic, its people!

By Sudhansu R Das 
Slogans, posters and narratives can qualify for patriotism if those audio visuals are backed by concrete actions.  Living patriotism needs sacrifice and without sacrifice patriotism is a loud noise only.  Lord Rama had sacrificed the Bhog Vilas of his palace to establish Ram Rajya; he had set an example of the finest form of patriotism.  What followed after that was the continuation of good governance for several hundred years. The existence of Hindu temples in Asia and in many parts of the world are proof of the outreach of the Ram Rajya. 
Today, keeping national interest above the hidden personal interest is the biggest challenge before the countrymen; this is the only way to make India strong and prosperous. Today, the world has become a place where might becomes right- a kind of jungle raaj announces the advent of the worst form of Kaliyug. The leaders of strong nations without Sanskar or proper religious  training make the leaders of the weak nations look like murgas; they behave as if they are their masters. 
There is one escape route from this embarrassing situation; the weak nations need to unite and develop their core strength; for that they need to focus on dedicated research to build the human resources, economy and weapons. The majority of the Indians are the practitioners of Hinduism which enshrines the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam; unless the people of the nation become strong economically, culturally and intellectually they cannot safeguard their core philosophy of love and peace. GDP growth can build wealth for the big investors but it can’t weave the core strength of the country which is inclusive growth based on education, skills and talents.  True Indian patriots should build the core strength of the country brick by brick.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary, Dattatreya Hosabale wants India to be named as Bharat.  This should have been done long before independence or soon after independence as Bharat is very much associated with the nation’s rich civilization for more than 5000 years. This is not like renaming a country but it is like restoring the original name, Bharat.  Bharat is the most precious social capital of India which instills confidence and self respect among the people.  Debating over Bharat is like doubting the country’s history, culture and civilization. There should not be any attempt to politicize the name Bharat which will be detrimental to the progress of the country. A nation should not be named by foreigners. 
Only restoring the name Bharat will not make the country strong. There is a need to instill life into Bharat. India’s core strength lies in its people who need to be properly educated and be freed from malnutrition, poverty and unemployment.  The biggest task before the country now is to stop population growth which will create unrest and force the government to spend huge expenditures on the social sector. It will never let the country rise from poverty and backwardness. Population growth without capacity building will build vote banks. Rapid population growth will change the entire demographic composition as it happens at an alarming pace in the tribal districts and in the backward districts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh; the cultural landscape of those regions has changed.  More than seven and half decades is too long to educate people about the benefits of family planning. There is a lackluster approach to effectively use deterrence for checking population growth in the interest of the country. 
Massive bank frauds threaten to collapse the financial sector and neutralize the GDP growth gain. It erodes people’s trust and jeopardizes the future of millions of innocent depositors; the old people are hit hard.  There is a need for cyber commandos to deal with this situation as quickly as possible.  The majority of the frauds in its wide diversity germinate in Hyderabad; the city alone is capable of crushing the economy of the country into dust.  True patriotic leaders should put honest and efficient people in the financial sector to take on the menace head on. Lord Rama took the advice of saints and seers who were experts in statecraft; he had learnt governance from the demon king Ravana who had acquired all the knowledge of the Vedas. India has no dearth of intellectuals, saints and seers who can guide the leaders. Bharat is our home and the citizens are like the children of the rulers. True patriotic leaders will strengthen democracy which will breed good and capable leaders to build Bharat.
Lord Rama took Jal Samadhi after grooming Luv and Kush into capable leaders.  Similarly, the septuagenarian leaders should identify really capable leaders with budhi, sidhi, bichar and patriotism; they should hand over power to young leaders.  After that they can take Jal Samadhi or go to the forest ashram or to the caves of Himalaya. But, the greed for power and luxurious life seldom encourage them to walk on the path of Sanyas.  In India the majority of the regional political parties and the centrist Congress party suffered heavy electoral loss due to Santan Moha which blocked the growth of dynamic leaders within the party to take on BJP in the center. Frankly speaking, India is facing a drought in the second generation of quality leaders. This should not turn into a crisis. 

Comments

TRENDING

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

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...

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Licy Bharucha’s pilgrimage into the lives of India’s freedom fighters

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement”, by Dr Licy Bharucha; Pp240; Rs 300; Published by National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular. — Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of the book by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true objective of India’s freedom struggle. It also in essence speaks for the multitudes of brave and courageous individuals who aspired to get themselves jailed for the cause of the country’s freedom. A jail term was a strong testimony and credential of patriotism for them. The book has been written by Dr Licy Bharucha, an academically trained political scientist and a scholar of peace studies and Gandhian studies, who was closely associated throughout her life with those who made the struggle for India’s independence the primar...

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit. 

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By  A  Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.