The Good Word

THE GOOD WORD Nov 29, 2021 - Week 50

Volume 7S-29| Pages 2

BJP secures a landslide victory in Tripura

assembly elections winning 329 out of 334 seats

Bharat First

Nov 27, at the Constitution

Day celebrations hosted by

the Supreme Court,

president Ram Nath Kovind

suggested changes to the

Indian judicial system to

clear the rising backlog of

pending cases. Maintaining

that independence of

judiciary is non-negotiable

he asked if a better way to

select judges for the higher

judiciary, could be found.

He recommended the set

up of an all-India Judicial

Service to strengthen the

justice delivery

mechanism. He

emphasized that all

stakeholders must keep

national interest above all

while cautioning judges

against ‘indiscreet

remarks’.

Earlier prime minister Modi

had said that the

government and judiciary

must strive with common

goals and common mind to

meet the aspirations of the

people through collective

responsibility while

keeping a separation of

powers.

At – OpIndia

Visit IndiaWiki.org

expenditure, to give

directions for the safe

custody, prevention and

management of funds,

valuable securities,

jewelry and properties of

the temples.

Priests of the ‘char

dhams’ and other

stakeholders resorted to

protests to disband the

board and Act.

Controversially, only

Hindu temples are so

brought under

government control,

where as places of

religious worship of

other communities like

Christians, Muslims,

Sikhs are not. With

control moving out of

government hands it will

need to be ensured that

temple trustees are

transparently and fairly

elected. At: MSN, Federal

World Soil Day, 5th December and Hannukah, Nov 28 – images courtesy DreamsTime 1-2

COVID-19 variant

Omicron rocks oil

markets

Nov 29, global oil prices

fell by more than 10%

after the World Health

Organization declared

the COVID-19 Omicron

a ‘variant of concern’.

The dip marked the

biggest single-day crash

since the early days of

the pandemic. Concern

over transmissibility and

potential ability to

evade protections has

had governments

around the world taking

preventative measures.

Shutting down travel

would translate to less

demand for oil, which

could cause prices to

plummet. Earlier, the

USA in tandem with

China, India, Japan, the

UK and South Koreas

had also agreed to

release part of their

strategic oil reserves to

rein in soaring energy

prices. Monday the oil

prices rallied back 4 to

5% from the $10 per

barrel plunge on Friday

as markets continue to

remain watchful.

At: Gizmodo, Hindu, BusinessTimes

Nov 23, the Turkish lira

crashed to a historic low

of a little over 13 liras to

a US dollar before

recovering slightly. This

year alone it has fallen

40% against the US

currency. It plunged

nearly 15% on Tuesday

after president Erdogan

declared his support for

the central bank’s

interest rates cut. Egged

on by Erdogan, who has

sacked three of its

governors in under three

years, the central bank

has slashed interest

rates by a cumulative 4%

since September, to

15%, despite an official

inflation rate of nearly

20%. Economists warn

that rate cuts would

stoke up inflation,

however, Erdogan

argues that high interest

rates cause inflation.

Image: Economist At: Stuff

Turkish lira falls 40%

this year as Erdogan

firm on experiment

Nov 25, Prime minister

(PM) Narendra Modi

laid the foundation

stone for the Noida

International Airport at

Jewar in Uttar Pradesh

(UP). It is set to be the

largest airport in India

and the fourth largest in

the world.

Being developed in

collaboration with Zurich

Airport International it

will be strategically

located to serve Delhi,

Noida, Ghaziabad,

Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad

and neighbouring areas.

It is expected to be

operational by Sep 2024.

Nov 30, Uttarakhand chief

minister (CM) Pushkar

Singh Dhami announced

that the BJP government in

Uttarakhand has decided

to repeal the Char Dham

Devasthanam Board

Management Act.

The Act had sought to bring

the ‘char dhams’ of

Badrinath, Kedarnath,

Gangotri and Yamunotri

and 49 other temples

under the purview of

shrine board. The CM was

the chairman of the board

while the minister for

religious affairs and 2 MLAs

of Gangotri and Yamunotri

constituencies were

members. A senior IAS

officer was its CEO. The

board had the powers to

frame policies, make

decisions with regards to

the budget and

Nov 23, India and

Russia have signed a

deal to manufacture

about 6 lac AK-203

assault rifles at a

factory near Uttar

Pradesh's Amethi. The

Kalashnikovs will

replace the INSAS rifles

as the standard-issue

for Indian troops. The

Indian Army's Rashtriya

Rifles (RR) units and

infantry regiments are

some of the largest

users of Kalashnikovs.

The first 70,000 rifles

will include Russian-

made components and

subsequent ones will

be more indigenous.

The first 70,000 will be

delivered 32 months

after production

begins. Characterized

by fire accuracy, longer

barrel lifespan, a

folding, adjustable

buttstock, windowed,

rifled magazine and a

pistol grip, it is a

formidable weapon.

At: IndiaToday

Amethi set to

make AK-203

Kalashnikov

peaceful conduct of

polls.

Not a single opposition

candidate could win

from any ward of the

51-member Agartala

Municipal Corporation.

BJP also secured all

seats in Amarpur

Nagar, Belonia,

Dharmanagar, Jirania,

Khowai, Kumarghat,

Melaghar, Sabroom,

Sonamura Nagar and

Teliamura councils and

panchayat.

The CPI-M, which ruled

Tripura with an iron fist

for decades won three

seats and, Mamata

Banerjee's Trinamool

Congress and

Independent won one

each. Chief Minister

Biplab Kumar Deb

dubbed the victory as

‘historic’, a ‘sothik

jawab’ (fitting reply) to

BJP doubters.

Image: KalingaTV,

TaleOf2Backpackers, At:

BusinessStandard

Nov 29, Tripura's ruling

BJP pulverised the

opposition capturing 329

of the 334 seats in the

assembly elections of

the Agartala Municipal

Corporation and 13

other civic bodies, with

surprising ease. The BJP

was contesting its first

civic polls after it had

stormed to power in the

northeastern state in

2018. The saffron party

steamrolled the

opposition after a vitriol-

filled campaign marked

by communal tension,

clashes and court battles

that forced the Supreme

Court to order a

Noida International Airport to be the largest in

India, UP first state with 5 international airports

Nov 25, the fifth

National Family Health

Survey (NFHS) has

reported a India’s total

fertility rate (TFR) is 2

children per woman

and a gender ratio of

1,020 women for every

thousand men in India.

For the first time since

the NFHS began in

1992 the report

suggests India is on its

way to reversing

population growth as

TFR has reached 2. A

TFR of 2.1 or a woman

on average bearing

that many children

over her lifetime,

suggests that an

existing generation of

people will be exactly

replaced. Anything less

than 2.1 suggests an

eventual decline in

population over time.

Six states, Bihar,

Meghalaya, Manipur,

Jharkhand and Uttar

Pradesh have a TFR

above two. A study of

population growth by

religious community

has not been

examined.

A Government report

last year projected that

India would overtake

China as the world’s

most populous country

around 2031.

The NFHS also shows

that proportion of

women exceeded men.

There were 1,020

women for every 1,000

men. In the last edition

of the survey of 2015-

16, there were 991

women for every 1,000

men.

However, the sex ratio

at birth for children

born in the last five

years only improved

from 919 per 1,000

males in 2015-16 to

929 per 1,000,

underscoring that

boys, on average,

continue to have

better survival odds.

While a decadal census

will comprehensively

report about the state

of the demography in

India, findings of

NFHS-5 are indicative

of the trends from a

large sample. NFHS-5

gathered information

from 636,699

households, 724,115

women and 101,839

men. At: AfternoonVoice, IIPS

Kerala: Police arrest PFI office-bearer

in RSS worker Sanjith murder

Presidents highlights

national interest to

the judiciary

National Family Health Survey 2019-

2021 reports a total fertility rate of 2

It will have a capacity of

handling 1.2 crore

passengers per annum.

With six runways that

may be expanded to

eight eventually, the

airport will have a multi-

modal cargo hub with an

initial capacity of

handling 20 lac metric

tonnes per annum which

will be scaled up to 80

lac metric tonnes. It will

create more than one

lac job opportunities and

the first phase will cost

about ₹10,050 crore.

Land acquisition and

rehabilitation of

affected families has

been completed. A high

speed rail will enable

the journey between

Delhi and the airport in

21 minutes.

Its footprint of 58 sq km.

will only be exceeded by

Saudi Arabia’s Fahd

International Airport

with an area of 776 sq

km, USA’s Denver

International Airport at

a size of 137 sq km and

its Dallas Worth

International Airport

with an area of 70 sq

km. On completion UP

will be the only state

with five international

airports.

Image: BusinessUpTurn At: Zee,

News7Noida, Wikipedia

Former Shia Waft board chief

Wasim Rizvi does a gharwapasi

Uttarakhand Char Dham Act repealed,

temple control out of government hands Nov 23, Kerala police

arrested an office-bearer

of the Popular Front of

India (PFI) in connection

to the brutal murder of

RSS worker A Sanjith

at Mambaram, Palakkad.

Nov 15, the RSS worker

was hacked to death by

assailants in front of

several people including

his wife. At: OpIndia

Nov 21, Wasim Rizvi,

who had challenged 26

‘ayats’ of the Quran in

the Supreme Court

claiming they promote

terrorism, has now

expressed his desire to be

cremated as per Hindu

rituals on his death. He

also said that he holds

national interest above all

else. At: TFIPost

Nov 29, 2021 | Week 50 | Volume 7S-29

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

PAGE 2 THE GOOD WORD

use one individual as

the strawman for the

argument. So it is my

position, and I say this

with all humility, that

with due respect to Shri

Savarkar and his

contributions, because

I've seen the tone and

manner in which you

refer to him, I'm

absolutely sure that it's

not possible for us to

glorify all parts of any

individual. You will

agree with that. Be it

Mahatma Gandhi, (I

refer him as Mohandas

Karamchand Gandhi, I

choose not to refer him

as Mahatma Gandhi)

or for that matter Dr

Ambedkar, I don't think

there's a single

individual, who if you

choose to start

scrutinizing, you would

find yourself agreeing

with in everything that

they said. Be there as

it may, you try and

make do with those

parts which you believe

define them

characterize them.

Therefore for all his

flaws or whatever they

may be, Savarkar was

effectively putting forth

a position which was

already public domain.

He was capturing a

certain spirit. The point

is it is possible, and it

must be so, to look at

this particular concept

of dharmic

civilizationalism

independent of the

European nationalism.

Unfortunately the

moment this discussion

starts people start

cherry-picking certain

facts. They say the

Constitution is

fundamentally

antithetical to or at

loggerheads with the

Hindutva vision of a

Hindu-Rashtra. So you

may want to look at

the draft Constitution

that was presented by

the Hindu Mahasabha

which actually

promised equal rights

to religious minorities.

The reason why this is

important to point out

is because of assuming

for a moment that we

did not have the

concept of

contemporary

constitutionalism

emanating from of

Europe even then

Bharat as a civilization

has always welcomed

those people who are

wiling to live with us.

We did not have a

Constitution when

persecuted Parsis

knocked at the doors

of Bharat. We did not

have one when the

Jews, in your state and

even from the

northeast, knocked on

the doors of Bharat. So

to attribute certain

large-heartedness

entirely to the

Constitution is to

protect the

Constitution at the

expense of the

civilization which is

great injustice. To

assume that the

constitution is

somehow a civilizing

tool which seeks to

educate, civilize and

uplift a regressive

society which is at

loggerheads with the

values of

constitutionalism and

which doesn't know

what democracy is

and doesn't know what

it is to accommodate

minorities is incorrect.

It is a product of the

fundamental spirit of

this particular land and

despite the horrors of

partition which we

must never forget,

despite the reality of

the two nation theory

which was specifically

foisted on us which we

must never forget, I

think this country has

done a vastly superior

job of protecting its

minorities than our

former estranged

cousins. The proof of

that lies in fact. So it

very surprising when

we are constantly told

that this particular

With many significant

political issues

becoming

"judicialised," it

appeared as if the

judges of the Supreme

Court, not the

opposition, were

primarily charged with

dislodging the

government. This was

an impossible ask and

one that the judges

aided by a few public-

country if it becomes a

Hindu Rashtra or if it

becomes a dharmic

civilizational state it is

bound to become what

you refer to in your

book as a ‘Hindu

Pakistan’.

I’m sorry, that's grave

injustice to the people

of this country because

accommodation is

something that has

been the spirit of this

country. Western style

assimilation requires

you to convert to their

way of life in one form

or other either overtly

or covertly in order for

you to be accepted as

part of the society. It is

this country that makes

it possible for people to

keep their culture alive

in the most perhaps

pristine form possible

so long as it does not

come in the way of

others. So I will make

the case that dharmic

civilizationalism is what

is crudely referred to as

Hindu nationalism. As a

student of

constitutional law, not

to claim specific

expertise or drop

names here, I believe

that whenever public

morality has been

referred to in the

Constituent Assembly

debates the reference

has been to the

reservoir of this

country's public

morality drawn from

the vast ocean of

dharma.

Email: IndiaWiki2020@gmail.com Website: http://TheGoodWord.IndiaWiki.Org

framework of European

nationalism on Bharati

consciousness. Every

mistake and folly, every

massacre, every

genocide which is

perpetrated in the

name of European

nationalism is somehow

consciously and

unconsciously sought to

be transposed onto

Bharatiya reawakening.

I do not wish to call it

Hindutva. I do not wish

to call it any ‘twa’. I will

simply call it Bhartiya

dharmic civilizational

reawakening.

Unfortunatly whenever

this discussion starts we

seem to be fixated with

certain personalities

like Savarkar and so

forth. I am happy to

completely discard

Savarkar, and I am sure

this is going to get me a

lot of hate mail, to build

a case for Hindu

civilizationalism or

dharmic

civilizationalism

because it is possible to

do so. The concept of

dharmic

civilizationalism is much

larger than any single

individual and to box it

and lay it at the door

entirely of one

particular person simply

because he comes from

an inconvenient political

camp or espouses a

certain cause that may

not be politically

correct, would be to do

grave injustice to the

society. It is to use

In reading the

Bhagavad-Gita, many

of you in Western

countries may have

felt astonished at the

second chapter,

wherein Shri Krishna

calls Arjuna a

hypocrite and a

coward because of his

refusal to fight, or

offer resistance, on

account of his

adversaries being his

friends and relatives,

making the plea that

non-resistance was the

highest ideal of love.

This is a great lesson

for us all to learn, that

in all matters the two

extremes are alike.

The extreme positive

and the extreme

negative are always

similar. When the

vibrations of light are

too slow, we do not

see them, nor do we

see them when they

are too rapid. So with

sound; when very low

in pitch, we do not

hear it; when very

high, we do not hear it

either. Of like nature is

the difference

between resistance

and non-resistance.

One man does not

resist because he is

weak, lazy, and

cannot, not because

he will not; the other

man knows that he can

strike an irresistible

blow if he likes; yet he

not only does not

strike, but blesses his

enemies. The one who

from weakness resists

not commits a sin, and

as such cannot receive

any benefit from the

non-resistance; while

the other would

commit a sin by

offering resistance.

Buddha gave up his

throne and renounced

his position, that was

true renunciation; but

there cannot be any

question of

renunciation in the

case of a beggar who

has nothing to

renounce. So we must

always be careful

about what we really

mean when we speak

of this non-resistance

and ideal love.

Swami Vivekananda

Karma Yoga

a series of extracts

Swami Vivekananda Image courtesy Newsgram.com;

It is this country

that makes it

possible for people

to keep their

culture alive in the

most perhaps

pristine form

possible so long as

it does not come in

the way of others.

to re-access their past.

It is not to recreate

their past but to re-

inscribe certain values

of the past in the

institutions of the

present and hopefully

chart a more

indigenous future. But

it's not possible to

completely create the

indigenous future

simply because it

happens to be an

integrated world. and

that's a reality that you

have to deal with

actively. So the idea is

to create a hybrid

future which has a

greater quotient of

indigeneity as opposed

to coloniality.

Let me say this with as

much humility as I can

marshall, that perhaps

your previous book on

the British colonial

period as well as this

one completely missed

the scholarship of

decoloniality.

Unfortunately Bharat's

experience with

colonialism is being

approached with a

blinkered vision. I'm

making a reference to a

general school of

thought and not

making this personal at

all. The idea that Hindu

nationalism is the

fundamentally

exclusive and comes to

the detriment of and

peril of religious

minorities in this

country is to impose

the guilt as well as a

Source - YouTube

Speaker – Sai Deepak

Image – YouTube

Sai Deepak: Hindutva

was not coined by

Savarkar. Hindutva was

coined by Chandranath

Basu in 1892 in his

essay on Hindutva. Long

before Savarkar wrote

on the subject someone

had already thought of

it and had fleshed it out.

So Hindutva,

unfortunately or

fortunately is attributed

to the mind of Savarkar

when in fact it's not so.

That's the first factual

correction.

Second, I wouldn't dare

use the world criticism

because it would be

stepping into too large a

shoe, but my own

impression of your book

is that perhaps it takes

a truncated view of

what people crudely

dubbed as Hindu

nationalism. I have

addressed certain parts

of that in my book. The

idea is to place the

current movement and

awakening of this

particular society within

the larger canvas of

what global scholarship

refers to as

decoloniality. It is to

say that post-

colonial societies are

trying to shed the

baggage of the post-

colonialism and wear

the lens of de-

coloniality to be able

Sai Deepak on Hindu nationalism at a book launch