Change Agent

I was reading an article titled “Prithviraj beat the Ghorids, but they later took revenge” by Akhilesh Mithal, in a series called “Forgotten Delhi” (Published in The Sunday Guardian 20; New Delhi; 18.Apr.2010; Page 24). The article was about the shrine of Devi Yogmaya in Mehrauli and it went into the historical episode of battles of Tarain. Goddess Yogmaya was the deity of Chauhan Rajputs including Prithviraj Chauhan. . It was a part of the article which made me stop in the state of awe. . “No trace remains of the original Yogmaya structure except the inscription on the first Ja’ama Masjid (congregational mosque) which claims that the building materials from 27 Jaina and Hindu temples, each of which had been built at great cost (20000 Delhiwaals) were used in its construction.” . The fact coming out evident here should not have been a shock to me. Breaking Hindu temples and using their construction material in building up of Islamic mosques in their exact place is nothing unique about ...

Recent news says Muslim bodies are supporting the UPA Govt’s plans (however genuine) to cut the annual Rs 900 Crores Haj Subsidy. And they have come up with some very interesting theories and reasons. . Muslim leaders back cutting Haj subsidy . The UPA government’s plan to gradually stop financing the Haj pilgrimage is a step in the right direction, several Muslim leaders have said. . Their backing is crucial for a clean pullout, without rubbing the community the wrong way. . From the Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind to the Milli Council, influential Muslim lobbies on Saturday said it was time the government pulled out of the Haj business. “The subsidy has been inconsequential,“ Rajya Sabha MP and Jamiat leader, Mahmood Madni told Hindustan Times. . About 1,50,000 Indian Muslims flock to Mecca each year for Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam. The government bankrolls the pilgrimage by partly paying the airfare. . Madni said the subsidy actually went in bailing out ...

In the wake of worst ever Naxal attack in Chattisgarh on April 6th, I think it is time our Home Minister should realise that his so called hard talk would only result in more such retaliations from the Naxal terrorists. The average Naxal militant is not literate enough to read P. Chidambaram in newspapers when he challenges Naxals calling them cowards. The average Naxal cares for the food, money and power that comes to one through him/her remaining part of the ‘revolution’. GOI should rather do something to cut supplies to Naxal’s food, money and arms rather than our Home Minister keep visiting affected villages and the Naxals killing other innocent men in frustration. . The recent attack on April 6th should be taken as a verdict that our Home Minister’s art of passing the buck to the state governments and going the populist way to newsprints to challenge the Naxals won’t work. The moral responsibility of the deaths is on his chair. I think its time when GOI should seriously rethink i...

Recent news space has been buzzing with the wedding announcement of Indian tennis queen Sania Mirza and one Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. It’s true that marriage between two persons is a personal affair, but if the person has enjoyed boundless love, affection, accolades and fan-following from the Indian masses for years, it is natural for the masses to have an opinion about his or her decision. Sania Mirza has not been like any other tennis player – she was awarded Padma Shree by the President of India – Padma Shree being one of the highest civilian awards in our country. Before that, she was awarded Arjuna Award by the government of India. She has worn our Tricolor for so many years and all of we Indians have showered our support and love every time she went out to play for us. The whole nation supported her against the Islamic Mullahs who objected her skirts and short tennis clothes. The national media supported her when she was charged with showing disrespect to our national fla...

The manner in which the government of India is officially and unofficially harassing the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan is a very sad face of our so called great Indian democracy. (I find anything written by me on this topic as fruitless; because I fear those would neither change nor console anyone: decades of such deeds have been tolerated by our masses and the same culprits are elected back to power term after term.) Yes, I am definitely talking about Nehru/Gandhi dynasty. Any individual or family which challenges or harms the interests of this dynasty is doomed. The harassment may start from the levels of slandering (accusing AB of supporting so called mass murders in Gujarat) and reach allegedly to the limitlessness of being sent to the gallows (so many stories on the round about politicians eliminated for challenging one Mrs or Mr Gandhi – who knows how many of them are true). If there is a permanent enemy (anyone who challenges the dynasty is seen as an enemy) like one CM of Gu...

Today is Gudi Padva. There was a special program in our society. All of us, means kids, were asked to dress up like our parents. I was very happy. Mommy Papa had purchased a green saree for me. There was a blouse too. Mommy too had a green saree. Secretly, we two had tried our sarees on us yesterday and we kept on laughing. Mother said I was looking just like her when she was small. Today when we reached the venue, we saw many other couples – mother-daughter or father-son, all in matching dresses. Boys had a clear disadvantage. Since their fathers would not wear half-pants and half-shirts, the boys had dressed in full pants and full shirts and were looking like chubby old men. One of them had come in traditional attire – but the boy’s dhoti was getting stuck in his feet and he was irritated and troubled. He was removing his topi and was envyingly looking at other boys who were in much comfortable clothes. Anyways, there I was along with my mother – both of us in green sarees. We had al...

It was amusing to see our national media singing a political raga and standing behind the bill reserving 33% of parliament seats for females. When Rajya Sabha passed it yesterday (attempt to pass it on world women’s day was a political gimmick), the media and the government celebrated the move as if some great contribution has been made towards women’s rights and cause. If we think about it, there is hardly anything done yet. Democracy can’t work with symbolism and political gimmicks. Given what the women politicians have done so far – be it Sonia Gandhi who used her status as a widow as an entry pass in politics, or Mayawati and Jayalalita whose are names synonym with corruption, or Uma and Mamta as political hysterics, or Sheila Dixit who sits on chair while her state makes worse records of crime against women everyday, women politicians have proven remarkably nothing of note. If we go back in time then we had Indira Gandhi as our first elected dictator. I believe we have seen enoug...