Tag: Articles-Opinions

By Garga Chatterjee

In the recently concluded elections of Bihar, many propaganda jingles were produced and played by political parties. Many of them were in Bhojpuri, Magahi and other languages of Bihar. These were played in areas where nearly every voter is counted in the Indian Union`™s official census numbers as `Hindi`™ speakers. But strangely, in this officially Hindi-land, Hindi was not enough as the medium of political communication. A gigantic fraud is committed on the people of Bihar every 10 years by counting almost all of them as `Hindi`™ speakers as per census, even when they mention their own non-Hindi languages as their mother-tongue. This is something that is exposed when political propaganda is done using people`™s own non-Hindi mother-tongues. Frauds are good for census purposes, but in elections, mostly real people with real non-Hindi mother-tongues vote. Thus, in areas where there are no Bhojpuri medium schools but plenty of Hindi medium schools and almost every citizen is registered as a `Hindi`™ speaker, Bhojpuri was widely used for political purposes. So politicians know what this `Hindi`™ is, just like the priests at the temple of Delphi must have known that there was no real oracle.

Languages are not intrinsically `funny`™ – promoting them as such is an old conspiracy by dominant groups and their languages of hegemony. Hegemonic languages are never `funny`™.They are `neutral`™. When Lalu Prasad`™s language is made `fun`™ of and his `funny`™ videos go viral, what is at display is nothing short of linguistic racism. Millions of mostly lower caste people don`™t think its `funny`™. They hear the language and its content. They speak it, make love in it, swear in it, cry in it. That`™s a world beyond Lalu Prasad`™s `funny`™ speeches going viral. There is a caste difference those who make love in Lalu`™s language and those to `love`™ his `funny`™ videos.

The Union government at New Delhi refuses to publish the socio-economic caste census (SECC) data. What truth in those numbers does it fear? Lalu Prasad Yadav drove that point home, by quoting some shocking data ( that 51% people are manual casual labourers, 14% families living in one-room kuchcha house, 14% are landless households, etc) and rhetorically asked the people whether people with such pathetic condition were brahmins, thakurs or bhumihars or from the lower castes? His audience knew the answer. Everyone knows. Like caste and class, language, in the Indian Union, unfortunately, is another axis of exclusion, that is intimately tied to caste and class. Hence, like Lalu Prasad Yadav, one can ask, who are the people who know only Bhojpuri or Angika or Magahi and no Hindi. Are they brahmins? Are they thakurs? Or are they overwhelmingly from the lower castes? The forced uniform Hindu-ness is not unrelated to forced uniform Hindi-ness. Bihar voted against uniformity forced by erstwhile dominant groups. Bihar voted for itself.

Hindi-ization of public sphere and political idiom excludes the majority. This Hindi-ization in the context of Bihar is led by upper-castes (except with the marginal exception of Maithili speakers, where upper-castes along with others are trying hard to fight for their language). The dominant group, due to their links to the West and especially to the Hindi circles to the West (including, most crucially, Hindi literature and media circles) have also made Hindi an aspirational language. This works to the advantage of these already dominant groups, as the other castes lose the less unequal playing field they might have had, when it comes to Bhojpuri or Angika. The ultimate aim of this design is to rob the majority of their Angika, Bhojpuri or Maithili agency and being converted into mere appendages of a Savarna-Hindi leadership. Everyone knows what kind of political forces benefit from this trend. This forced minoritization of the majority was only partially broken in 1990 with the ascendency of Lalu Prasad Yadav to Bihar`™s Chief Ministership. The displaced elites, especially those hegemonic caste-groups whose strangehold on politics was partially broken in the 1990-1995 period, have been trying to claw back to power ever since. Hence, when Nitish Kumar was making the case for the Bihari vis-a-vis the Bahari, that statement can be read in multiple ways. Every text has a sub-text. Every speech, even when made in Hindi, may have a non-Hindi sub-speech within it. Not everything can be heard clearly from Anglo-Hindi perches of Delhi. Certain readings require compassion, humility and taking-off Delhi-mark imperial blinders. One such reading (or one may call it a `spin`™) is that RJD-JD(U) called for unity among the Angika, Bajjika, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili speaking peoples against the forces of Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan. The result is clear.

Looking into the future, if people-centric empowerment is part of the RJD-JD(U) agenda, then that process cannot happenusing Hindi as the unform medium of communication from the government to the people and vice-versa. Bihar`™s own languages desperately needs basic infrastructure and recognition that can come from funds that were historically looted and monopolized by upper-caste Hindi-wallahs to extend their sphere of hegemony. People should be able to study at least in primary school, speak in the Bihar assembly, have forms and signs in Angika, Bajjika, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili. This much dignity they deserve and has to be a part of any future social-justice agenda.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/11/hindi-fraud-on-biharis-exposed-by-nonhindi-canvassing-during-elections/

By Haseen Chishti

This write up is referred to Pakistan Today`™s sub-editor Annam Lodhi`™s article `Set aside your differences and have a happy meal`™. The writer cossets India and Pakistan not to be the puppet of Super Power instead trashcan the absurdly gone sixty eight years in disruption, be rational and let Indo-pak public live together happily. In fact this thought should be stored as `media`™s excellent coverage`™ because media plays a very important role for setting right or polluting the psychology of the mass by the ways it casts news/thoughts/ideas/ and country matters.So if every media personality of indo-pak writes public`™s bare truth with positive notion then it may steadfastly and concretely heal the Indo-Pak wounded relation.

At this point I must remind the readers that during British India the patriotic songs written by the great poets, coveraged by media had brought patriotic awareness among Indian public who could drove out the British from their land.

Here,I would like to brief the history and reasons of Ind-Pak panoramic bitter relation. In the early 1600s during Mughal`™s rule over Muslim Hindustan the British started entering here as traders for her rich raw material and established East India Company which started its rule over here in 1757 and increasingly took on governmental powers with its own judiciary and carried till 1858. Internal wars among the Dominions of Muslim Hindustan encouraged the British policy of `Break and Rule`™ and made the British Crown successful to have started their rule over Muslim Hindustan in 1858. As these Intruders were Britishers so their international media splashed cooked stories against Hindu Muslims and made their relation an international scenario.

During the British colonial rule over Indian subcontinent they victimized Indian citizens in their own country, injected Polarization between Hindu Muslim brotherhood, plundered their country by exporting unlimited raw material including the `Koh-e-Noor`™ diamond to their country and labeled themselves as `Victorians of British India`™. When Indians got awareness of their policy of `Break and Rule`™ then British sowed the seed of Conception of a separate country for Muslims by injecting Communal conflicts and religious differences in-between Hindus and Muslims who suffered Lunacy. The increasing polarity made Hindu Muslims strong enemy of each other, in consequence their hostility exacerbated the conflict and met bloody massacre with high number of casualties and fatalities,at last the violent partition of British India gave Birth to Pakistan in 1947.

But now with the passage of time, the advancement of science & technology, has refined the psychology of today`™s Indo-Pak public of high pressured Society who is cognizant enough to understand the involvement of national and international political leaders to keep Indo-Pak in the record list of complex relation. But the public of both sides does not have any bitterness as some of the grandparents are still breathing at Trans-border, their uncles,aunts,cousins,grand children of one blood stream, friends, from both sides love each other kicking the issue of Border Line aside.

Some examples of today`™s Indo-Pak youth are as the media personality AnnamLodhi, the Marriage of Indian Lawn Tenis Player Sania Mirza with Pakistani Cricket player Shoeb Malik, frequently coming of Adana Sami in Indian T.V programes, Indo-Pak Fans of the T.V serials of both countries, singers, actors, artists. This increasing awareness among Indo-Pak public and positive writings of media, film script writers, producers show that by the next decade the End of 68 years old Indo-Pak separation would be just like the last scene of Indian Salman Khan`™s film `Bajrangi Bhaijan`™ in which the policies of political agents had been unveiled and failed by the strength of love of Indo-Pak public who broke the Border`™s Line laid in-between them and gathered as `one`™. (lets see,hope so).

(The author is Director, Falcon British Academy, Rahmania Building, Thangal Bazar, Imphal)

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/11/young-generations-dream-for-indopak-relations/

By RK Lakhi Kant

Fifteen years back when I left New Delhi for Manipur the Sai Baba group was not so visible in New Delhi. But as I see it now the problem to be discussed here was about to sprout then. And again, years later, when I was planning to move down to New Delhi as I was getting fed up with the terrorism in Manipur, I noticed around that time the Sai Baba group was spreading it’s influence considerably in Manipur, which is quite a remote place with a small community.That led me to believe that conditions would not be good in New Delhi either. Why I was thinking in these terms was because I had heard and read from authoritative sources that the Sai Baba is quite a crook. New Delhi I found was in a very bad shape with Delhites deifying the Sai Baba in all temples in the city. And also there was hardly any shop in Delhi which did not have a picture or two of the Sai Baba displayed prominently or sharing the worship area with other gods in small altars, in the shops. And the consequences are there for all to see although the people seem not to see or refuse to address the cause because of mass delusion created by easy money. And as I had mentioned in a article in the Imphal Free Press on February 6, 2014 skin diseases like vitiligo/leucoderma is rampant, there is an unusually high occurrence of baldness apart from gastric illnesses, infertility and mental behavioral problems in New Delhi.

At least leucoderma and baldness, because of their easy visibility, are diseases which can be physically counted at random in the streets and markets of New Delhi – first hand proof if anyone wants to know more about these diseases and their spread in New Delhi. In Delhi, one can see many men and women every day who are affected by leucoderma. While leucoderma was a very rare ailment noticed only once in a long while, nowadays leucoderma affected persons are seen daily in New Delhi. There are others also whose bodily and facial skins are as if bleached repeatedly with large doses of bleaching agents. This is apart from the full blown cases of vitiligo/leucoderma where the whole body is affected by white patches. Some internet sites I visited pointed out that forget about there being a cure for leucoderma, one does not even know what causes this disease. Diseases without cure are commonly attributed to the realm of god and supernatural elements in which the patients find solace. And the Sai Baba is claiming to be precisely this element. Whenever there is lying and cheating against the scriptural truths enunciated by God, the masses get affected adversely in some way or the other, as is evident in this case of unethical holding of high stakes in political, economic and religious affairs by the Sai Baba group in cahoots with their political and business connections. God in other words means morality, ethics, spirituality, truth and such similar synonyms and whenever self proclaimed godmen like the Sai Baba try to represent these superior qualities in men everyone falls sick. In the case of these diseases too we are far from being presumptuous when we lay the blame on detractors of god like Sai Baba.

Like in the instance of leucoderma, the same goes for baldness too. In previous times children used to snicker behind the backs of bald men whenever they came across one. But today the disease is widespread and one can only wonder at the lack of awareness even among those affected by the disease mentioned here. Anywhere in the city I go, in every group of about 20 or so men, I have physically counted on any day four to five men in various stages of diseased baldness. In buses, metro rails, markets etc., wherever people gather in good numbers, the problem of abnormal balding and graying of hair can be seen plainly. The balding is in most cases around the sensitive top part of the head called the cranium. And in the Delhi buses one can find it very funny and also tragic at the same time that we have been unable to notice this illness which is very obvious when we are standing or seated in the rear portion of the buses and see these bald heads bobbing up and down and sideways. Citing Indian trichologists and foreign experts Anand Holla of the Mumbai Mirror informs in a Times of India article in March, 2014 titled “Why men are balding in their 20s” that “premature balding is turning out to be more of a trend than rarity. And the way we live our lives has more to do with it than genes or plain bad luck.”

The instance of the diseases mentioned here spreading and the instance of the foolish, but lucrative, mass worship of Sai Baba in New Delhi has happened simultaneously. This is not just another coincidence but a confirmation of the way the Sai Baba group has caused permanent damage in most cases to the health of ordinary Delhites who have no way to confirm the cause of illness spreading in New Delhi, except by a psychologically painful personal experience which the patients find difficult to explain. Yes, I am putting the blame for the increasing number of those affected by the diseases mentioned here on the Sai Baba group. I had reported on the same lines in these columns in Feb, 2014 also. Statistical reports also show that New Delhi had the highest percentage of leucoderma patients at one time in the Indian sub-continent. Practical observation also shows that during these times New Delhi accepted the Sai Baba as the most worshipable popular figure and display of such sentiments is one reason for the Sai Baba empire being worth Rs. 40,000 crores at the time the Sai Baba died in 2011.

Also, the last decade or so of Congress rule in the country, just before the government changed, was also the bountiful years for business, but disastrous as far as health is concerned in New Delhi. And it is not just a coincidence that Sai Baba thrived under Congress years. This trend started when people like Narasimha Rao, the then Indian Prime Minister and leader of millions of men in the Congress party did not find anything wrong in announcing publically that he is a devotee of the Sai Baba. In the same manner Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were also not discreet in attending the funeral of the trickster in 2011.

Not many may be aware but even a casual look at the heels of men and women wearing chapals or barefeet shows discoloration and depigmentation in the soles and the doctors are clueless about the cause. The diseases as far as I have observed in the streets, markets, holy places, while travelling and while shopping is quite similar in proportion to what an epidemic scale might be. Gastric problems are also linked to skin problems like leucoderma and also falling hair. All the diseases which we have discussed in this write-up seem to be interconnected in some way in a subtle manner. Is it once more a mere coincidence that gastric outbreaks have occurred in parts of New Delhi in the past 10-15 years, and even before that, when it was a stronghold of the Congress. Dr. Brett King in a report in the Hindu newspaper “Breakthrough in treating leucoderma” has mentioned that a drug used in curing arthritis has been effective in curing a case of virtiligo/leucoderma and further has been successful in treating hair loss too. I feel it would be one coincidence too many in the way the leucoderma cure and the hair loss cure were carried out using the same medicine. Another research by a European hair specialist and scientist duo names stress, vices, pollution and poor nutrition as four enemies of hair growth. This couldn’t be more nearer to the truth. All four causes named by them are symptomatic of immoral behavior, spiritual negligence and poor nutrition. Food alone is one foremost cause for diseases mentioned here. Food is today neatly packed, easily handled and cooked, and sold hygienically. But the seeds are bad (genetically changed) producing tasty but under-nutritious or falsely nutrition balanced foodstuff. The seeds are altered under laboratory conditions to cater more to business considerations than the ordinary palate. The biggest threat is the effort to industrially replicate the process of a tree or a plant in producing it’s fruits or vegetables – a most foolish effort. The sickly diseases mentioned here is a commentary on the socio-religious and socio-medical conditions available in the city as of now. Three years on in New Delhi even a short walk in the neighborhoods produce all the proofs required about the practical occurrence of these diseases. And through these years there is no sign of the diseases subsiding or abating and this shows that any medical treatment the patients may be getting is hardly making any difference. It is sad to know that falling standards of business ethics has created fear and intense insecurity in the lives of Delhites. Also because of this psychological anomaly caused by mistrust of god and trust in the opposing false elements people cannot trust other people causing straining of relations on the mental and emotional platform. This too results in behavioral damage to the mind and the society in New Delhi is a example today of mass psychological crisis. Statistical data also show that infertility too has risen to more than 50 percent in both males and females.

And for those who may not like to accept this line of explanation finding it a rather queer mixing of religious philosophy, spirituality and modern medicine, they still have to accept at least the fact that many Delhites’ lives have been badly disrupted by these diseases which in any case are affecting thousands of New Delhi residents. These diseases have become so commonplace and routine in New Delhi today that most people have become negligent and careless toward it; which is a rather strange posture taken in the face of an evident threat to a mass of people from disease. Behavioural illness is increasing as people refuse, or do not even have the mental capacity, to see good as good and bad as bad. I always had a great deal of respect for Delhites and never thought they could be fooled so cheaply. But that’s the way it is. In any case it cannot be denied that New Delhi is sick today – whatever the cause might be.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/11/new-delhi-is-sick-and-without-clues/

By Urmila Chanam

When I was carrying my daughter, my parents use to run a school those days. Around the month of February and March when the school was preparing for new admissions, it was decided that the nursery be painted afresh with cartoon characters in bright colors to make it child-friendly. I was living in my parental house as per our tradition of spending the last trimester and first few months after child birth in mother`™s house. Lethargy was setting in with progressing pregnancy so the tubes of paint and crayons lured me to volunteer to make a set of charts carrying nursery rhymes for the class. I had something fun to do!

My project paint began with great enthusiasm. My mom helped me get the materials on the large desk that was shifted to my bedroom. I also got hold of a rhyme book from the school library and in that winter morning, I flipped through its worn out pages to enter another world- a sweet and innocent world of rhymes and childhood.

I chose Chubby Cheeks poem for the adorable girl in the picture. I started sketching it on the big white blank sheet and in no time, began painting the small and cute face. It was a challenge to then write the poem in the space that remained after the sketch. Once I completed, I felt that the face of the little girl occupied more space in the chart than the written words.

Was that the reason that I spent a lot of time looking at the chart which hung on the wall opposite my bed? I slept to a peaceful slumber. In my dream, a small girl, about 3-years in age woke me up saying `Mama, mama!`™ I woke up with a start in the morning and rushed to the kitchen to find my mother. I excitedly told her, `I am going to have a daughter. I saw her in my dream`™.

My mother smiled and fed me some cookies with morning tea. She did not give it a second thought.

The girl in the chart I made for my mother`™s nursery class had a rounded forehead, very large almond shaped eyes, thick and curling eyelashes, pink chubby cheeks, a small button nose and a small mouth. Her chin looked like a mango tip and she had an appearance close to how Casper looks in the Hollywood movie.

In the next few months, the chart was forgotten and life took another turn. Pregnancy is such a difficult time. No preparation for it prepares you for what lies ahead. No advice and no regime can make you escape any of the challenges of labor and child birth.

In the Operation Theatre (I had a caesarean section), the lady doctor lifted my newborn out of my womb into this world on 13th June 2004, Sunday. In the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) there might have been many deliveries that day, but I am sure none was as unique as mine. `It`™s a girl!`™, the doctor had announced with a broad and happy smile. I would like to thank the doctor for her joy that day if she happens to read this story.

The nurse wiped and cleaned my baby and she was wrapped in a polka dot baby blanket and brought to me. Under sedation, I was very weak and my senses were fading but I could see the small face peeping out of the blanket. What did I find? My daughter looked identical to the girl I painted just three months ago! She had a round forehead, very large eyes and my god, no one in our family has that thick, long and curling eyelashes.

Who would believe that I saw my daughter before she was born? Who would believe I had several signs in my pregnancy that told me I would have a daughter?

Ismiled atmy daughter and I cried at her simultaneously and before fading out in sleep I told myself ` I will call you Tamanna(in Hindi it means my desire, my dream)`™.

Today Tamanna is an 11 year old girl who is interested in academics, singing, music, writing and crafts. Besides being my best friend, she is also a reminder that it`™s not just marriages that are made in heaven, the relationship between a mother and her child/ren are made in heaven too!

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/chubby-cheeks/

By Shamshad Akhtar

Nothing erases development as suddenly and severely as natural disasters. When earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones strike, they wreak destruction not only across borders but across generations – reversing the hard-won progress of many years in poverty reduction, essential services, small businesses and economic opportunity. Disaster resilience in Asia and the Pacific is mission critical for the success of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Between 2005 and 2014 there were 1,625 natural disasters reported across the region – with more than half a million deaths, 1.4 billion people affected and more than half a trillion dollars in damages. According to the new Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015, produced by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Asia-Pacific disaster losses by 2030 could total $160 billion every year.  This will take away much needed resources for the implementation of the sustainable development goals which the UN membership adopted in September 2015.

The growing frequency of large and more intense disasters will have the gravest risks for people living in “extreme” and “high” risk areas. Across Asia and the Pacific, the 772 million people who still live under the $1.25 a day poverty line are those most vulnerable to disasters. Close to 1 billion city dwellers, in multi-hazard hotspots, living mostly in concentrated low income areas are predicted to be impacted by disasters by 2030, and degradation of ecosystems, already under stress, will reduce the natural defenses against these hazards.

Accompanying these concerns are the implications of the transboundary nature of disasters in Asia and the Pacific. Most of the active seismic fault lines lie across the region, with the Pacific Ring of Fire which accounts for over 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes, putting at risk Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Pacific small islands. Similarly the Alpine-Himalayan belt that spreads across China, Nepal and adjoining countries make it the second seismically active region in the world. Around 60 to 70 per cent of all tropical cyclones every year occur in three Asia Pacific ocean basins – the Bay of Bengal, South-West Pacific Ocean and Western North Pacific Ocean and South China Sea.  Transboundary floods are predicted to cause the worst disasters on large river basins, including Amu Darya, Amur, Brahmaputra, Indus, and Mekong. Monsoon variability, El Nino and reduced snowfall in some subregions all exacerbate drought conditions, and have impacted 1.6 billion people since 1970s.

Only by working together, in the spirit of regional cooperation and collaboration, can the countries of Asia and the Pacific become disaster resilient.  This is why the very first element of the post-2015 development agenda, agreed in March, was the new Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It sets four priorities: understanding disaster risk, strengthening governance, investing in resilience and enhancing preparedness.

The intensity of disasters and their transboundary implications have prompted ESCAP – the UN regional commission of Asia and the Pacific, with 62 member States – to develop a comprehensive platform and response framework for most types of natural disasters.  A strategic approach to natural disasters has been to acquire expertise and technology and share on-time information to allow early warning of tropical cyclones.  Our region’s spacefaring countries are now sharing their innovative technology applications with those countries that do not yet have these capabilities through the ESCAP intergovernmental platform. Investing in regional cooperation to address gaps in the regional data, knowledge base, institutions, policies and capacities has been identified as critical.  But much more remains to be done.

Meeting this week in Bangkok, Asia Pacific senior policymakers have reflected on how to address these gaps and develop new regional strategies – especially to address transboundary floods and landslides. They have also resolved to work more closely on the ‘often forgotten’ aspects of disasters, such as drought, last-mile early warning systems, and getting the right information to the right people at the right time.

Efforts to strengthen resilience are only effective when they are integrated into wider strategies for sustainable development, and adopted as cross-cutting priorities for governments and the private sector. Every part of an economy suffers from the impacts of disaster, so each sector needs to consider how best to make its activities more disaster resilient.

Greater political commitment to disaster risk reduction, through global agreements and regional deliberations, has however not yet been matched by corresponding action and financing. Many countries still follow a fragmented and crisis management approach to addressing disasters – with a focus on response and less attention paid to adaptation, prevention, mitigation and preparedness. International assistance is also skewed towards emergency relief and rehabilitation.

In Asia and the Pacific, we can no longer afford this approach. Reducing disaster risk requires concerted local and national action, combined with effective regional coordination and cooperation. Existing disaster risks are being exacerbated, and new risks being created by our region’s rapid economic growth, rising populations, burgeoning cities, and the damage these trends inflict on the environment. Climate change has added further layers of risk and uncertainty.

Our most urgent shared task is to translate the global and regional commitments on disaster risk reduction into action across Asia and the Pacific – anchoring disaster risk reduction at the heart of our sustainable development implementation.

The author is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She is also the UN’s Sherpa for the G20 and previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan and Vice President of the MENA Region of the World Bank.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/disasters-beyond-borders-asia-pacific-resilience-critical-for-sustainable-development/

It is unlikely the multidimensional conflicts in Manipur would go away immediately. This is in spite of the fact that so many other conflict-ridden places in its neighbourhood are going through a healing process. Sad as the case may be, it is essential the people assert their will to keep the place afloat and away from insanity. This will entail keeping all the essential survival qualities of a society intact. Above all, it will be an absolute necessity for the place to continue honing its competitive skills and spirit keeping in pace with developments outside. This is not an easy job even in normal times, and will definitely be uphill for a place immersed in such a complex conflict situation. But, there is no other way than to do it, if survival as a society is important. Surely, none of us want the state to be reduced to the condition of any one of the sub-Saharan countries, impoverished beyond recovery and with not even enough money or resources to keep the semblance of an administration. The apprehension that such a scenario may become a reality in our state is very immediate, considering it is slipping in most spheres of activities needed to keep an economy going. Its education was for such a long time in the pit, though now there seems signs of recovery, thanks largely to private initiatives in the field and the government`™s acknowledgment that most of its schools are beyond redemption and a radical remake was necessary. We do hope such a change in approach also comes about in its college sector as well. As of today, most of the thousands of graduates churned out by our colleges and universities are employable only by the government, hence the steady rise in the names listed in the employment exchange. Only a small section of them have landed quality jobs in any white collared private sector enterprise of worth. Those who have would in all probability turn out to be professionals trained outside the state. Unimaginative government policies coupled with the general insecurity of insurgency and counterinsurgency have made sure that the state`™s fledgling enterprises, including private educational institutes, remain much below what they could have achieved and contributed to the state`™s economy. The number of work days these enterprises have been forced to lose in utter despair and helplessness on account of bandhs and blockades is nothing to trifle. The revenue losses for many of these small enterprises amounted to threats to their very continuance. In the absence of a government with substance, or more importantly moral authority, policy matters continues to be decided from the streets. All these say very little for the shape of Manipur`™s not so distant future. The vision of a weak and vulnerable people left to fend for themselves amidst the blinding rush of the competitive world, cannot fail to eerily haunt anybody what Manipur`™s destiny might ultimately be.

There is no doubt the place has done well in sports and performing arts. But these may actually be a direct consequence of the violence and conflicts that have enveloped our society. In fact, to use a Freudian interpretation, they may actually be the manifestation of the same violence, but in a sublimated way. The angst within the soul of the place that has been the driving force behind all of the violence may actually also be the materials that form the building blocks of our sports and arts. But in enumerating and evaluating the achievements of a society, there are things that go far beyond. The erstwhile East Germany and the Soviet Union were sporting powerhouses and havens for the arts. Their failure to survive should be evidence enough these are essential but hardly enough.

One needs only to look around to discover how many people are actually absolutely incomeless even in the state capital. The traditional family structure has been providing the cushion to absorb the devastation this could have caused. The welfare state that our polity is by definition, even if it is a begging one, has also helped. If not anything else, it has been providing 90,000 direct government jobs, justifiably or not, with handsome salaries, which together have been managing to keep the fluidity of our markets, artificially or otherwise. The question is, how much can the family system and the welfare government buffers keep the place from imploding under the mounting pressures? At this moment, if these buffers were to be removed, the economy will virtually have no legs with which to stand. Insurrection and the political uncertainty as an excuse for the chaos must end. Whatever the outcome of the conflicts, at the end of it, the people must still have the legs to stand on, and this can happen only if they make the extra effort to prevent the economy from grinding to a halt in the meantime.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/surviving-slow-strangulation/

Dr Laifungbam Debabrata Roy

In Manipur, the for profit healthcare industry and public academic medicine have become closely intertwined. The financial relationship between industry and academia and the risks of conflict of interest are coming under increasing scrutiny. This kind of dual practice, where the professional is in a financial arrangement with both public healthcare services and private healthcare industry has colloquially become known as `private practice`. Physicians and the media, as well as civil society bodies, have expressed concerns that secondary financial interests of individuals and private healthcare companies are creating an undue influence on primary patient care, research and educational goals. Government bodies as well as professional societies have focussed attention on illuminating financial ties between industry and physicians in an effort to differentiate collaborative partnerships that create benefits for patients and society from those that bias judgement in clinical and administrative decision making.

`Private practice` is quite a strange term because medical practitioners, including those in the non-clinical disciplines and other new quasi-clinical disciplines such as biochemistry and bio-engineering, are entitled and licensed to practice their professions. The question arises where the public sees an obvious irregularity in this practice.

Earlier this month, I wrote an article, `Proposed law to shield doctors from patients is against medical ethics and a frontal attack upon access to justice` that raise what I think are issues of very deep concern for the future of healthcare and physicians in Manipur. There is a crisis in the healthcare sector in Manipur. But this is not, as I had mentioned earlier, confined to Manipur.

The prestigious British Medical Journal (BMJ) recently this year published a study on this issue of increasing concern. The study (BMJ 2015; 351:h4826 | doi: 10:1136/bmj.h4826) was done in response to a rising concern about dual obligations of physicians in the USA, especially those engaged full time in non-profit academic institutions, to for profit companies and non-profit academic institutions which create diverse individual and institutional conflicts that vary in gravity and reconcilability depending on the academic and clinical roles. The study concludes that such conflicts have not been fully addressed by previous guidelines and warrant additional review, regulation, and, in some cases, outright prohibition when conflicts can be reconciled.
A substantial number and diversity of academic leaders, professors and other healthcare professionals hold consultant and management level position such as directorships at profit-motive healthcare centres, often masquerading as research centres, with compensation often approaching or surpassing common academic clinical salaries. Dual obligations to for profit private clinical and educational institutions pose considerable personal, financial, and institutional conflicts of interest beyond that of simple consulting relationships.

Such conflicts of interest are often translated in practice into a fuzzy world of professional and ethical conduct. The common users of the services rendered in both private and public healthcare institutions, as well as the media, are increasingly becoming aware of the impacts of such dual obligations on quality of care and costs of services. Similar to individuals engaging in consulting relationships, individuals on a managerial position or board enter a formal contract with the private company and receive financial payment for services. However, they are subject to important differences.

Firstly, unlike consultants who are compensated to provide services on a specific issue, management level position holders are subject to a fiduciary responsibility to the private company or institution shareholders to advance the general interests of the company and increase profits. Secondly, such individuals serving as directors or high-level managers are reimbursed both through larger cash fees than typical consulting contracts and through stock options, the value of which is directly tied to the success of the company. Such competing or diverging interests often lead to a conduct conflict for the individual.

It is clear that physicians, medical researchers, or medical leaders develop a conflict of interest between their primary professional obligations and their fiduciary responsibility to private institutions. Though the missions of academia and for profit institutions can overlap, they may also diverge especially when the profit mission competes with non-profit tax-payer funded clinical and research missions of academic medical and research institutions. The problem needs a careful examination of the various relationships and their effects on conflict of interest. The institutional conflicts of interest arise when secondary interests influence or risk influencing institutional processes such as quality of care maintenance, staff selection for hiring or promotion, decisions on purchasing and formulary, setting institutional research agendas, and setting educational goals.

Academic medical and/or research institutions affiliations are a formal position in a government medical institution, affiliating to a teaching hospital, or health system; overseeing research university or medical research institute with medical school partnership. Individuals with academic affiliations as leaders and professors (including assistant and associate professors) as a group hold a different set of responsibilities to their academic institutions that poses unique conflicts with their obligations as for profit services. Leaders are individuals holding positions that involve oversight of the clinical activities of their institution (hospital and health system executive officers and clinical departmental heads) or educational and research activities (university related roles, deans and departmental heads of health sciences including medicine, pharmacy, nursing and public health including heads of interdisciplinary translational research institutions and departments).

These responsibilities have often led to a serious problem of compromises. Clinical professionals, by far the majority, face individual conflicts of interest when their primary duties as clinicians, educators or researchers risk undue influence from the profit oriented goals of private health and research centres. New models of healthcare and new technologies are often diverted away from public academic and research institutes to private companies, thereby depleting their technical competence. Time allotted to primary government or public obligations and duties get whittled down, as clinicians allot increasingly more professional time to profit making. Users are consistently being encouraged or coerced to turn to private hospitals at increasingly higher costs for services. This has led to a denial of cost-effective high quality services subsidised by the tax-payer to the poor and rural masses.

The loss of confidence in the government healthcare services and increasing availability of out-of-reach private services at inflated costs have naturally led to a growing hostility and suspicion towards physicians and their commitment to their primary duties and obligations. The medical fraternity has gradually acquired the distasteful character of a commercial, profit seeking group offering their best services to only those who can pay higher prices for more expensive facilities and technologies. Due to this mounting distance between the doctors and their patients, this stereotyping has also entered the domains of private hospitals too. The conflict of interest has often become transformed in the wards and waiting areas of hospitals into open and violent conflicts between healthcare providers and the users of their services. A legislative `shield` for physicians from patients and `patient parties` is clearly not the answer. Drastic measures to review, regulate, and, effectively prohibit conflicts of interests is the only way forward to replace this loss of trust in humanity`™s most noble profession.

The author is a public health physician engaged in humanitarian health services. He may be contacted at laifungbam@coremanipur.org

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/from-conflict-of-interest-to-conflict-between-doctors-and-patients/

By Garga Chatterjee

We, the citizens of the Indian Union, cannot afford to forget the year 1965. The world we live in was shaped in no small way by events of that year, though not necessarily by the events that the Government of the Indian Union would want us to remember but by those events that it wants us to forget. The Government of the Indian Union is celebrating the 1965 war with pomp and grandeur. While celebrating a war that noone claims was fought for national liberation, human rights or any positive human value, funds have already been pumped in for commemoration.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the war of 1965, where the primary combatants were the Indian Union`s Army and Pakistan`s Army. According to sources that don`t owe explicit affiliation to the propaganda machines of Pakistan or the Indian Union, about 7800 army men were killed in the war. Of this number, about 3000 were from the Indian Union`s Army and the rest from Pakistan Army. Given that there was no `crowning` event like surrender and that both groups of combatants inflicted somewhat similar amount of damage to each other and also gained large swathes of each other`s territories, the answer to the question `who won?` was up for grabs. That opportunity was grabbed with a lot of zeal by the respective governments to tutor their citizens and especially the yeet-to-be-born citizen about their version of who were the good guys, who were the bad guys, who won, who lost and how in all of this we must never ask questions like the difference in caste-class composition of those the jawans and the officers, how many lives of these poor regions of the world could be protected from death by disease and malnutrition compared to the number of lives that were purportedly protected by the war using the same amount of money that was spent in the war and most importantly, did the likelihood of being killed, tortured, assaulted, mistreated or raped by one`s `own` army personnel compared to alien army personnel decrease after this war. It remains an undeniable truth that a citizen of Pakistan is much more likely to be killed, tortured, assaulted, mistreated, subjected to forced laour, kidnapped, `disappeared`, looted or raped in his or her lifetime by the Pakistan Army than the Indian Union Army. This was true then and this is true now. Whether the reverse holds true for a citizen of the Indian Union is something I don`t have the courage to comment upon. I am not a very courageous man. I am a fat, short, rice-eating Bengali after all.

Another spate of killings also happened in 1965. And it was one-sided murder of the unarmed. Hundreds of Tamil young men were killed brutally by Khaki armed forces in what is now called Tamil Nadu. This was no minor affair and was reported extensively for many days across the world, in the NewYork Times, Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and elsewhere. The Indian Union government rushed in its Khaki forces to suppress the unprecedented mass movement of Tamil youths against the planned imposition of Hindi as the Indian Union`s sole official language. The martyred youth of 1965 represent another narrative of glory and bravery, that is drowned down by tricolour drumbeats. But those who remember can never forget. While the Indian Union government today is making the push for Hindi as UN language, it dare not mention these language martyrs on the 50th anniversary of their martyrdom. There cause lingers through the recent Chennai declaration of language rights that asks for linguistic equality for all our mother-tongues `“ a call that is slowly gathering steam. At a solemn event held in Chennai, representatives from Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala paid homage to these martyrs as their own, to the 1965 Tamil cause as their own. The 1965 language movement of Tamils stopped the advancing battle-tank of Hindi imposition. The momentum of Hindi imposition was broken by the Tamil speed-breaker, if only temporarily. The tank that was stopped in its track is restarting its engine with renewed vigour. After the 1965 language movement, the Congress, which had ruled Tamil Nadu till then was defeated for good – never to return again. That should give us an idea what those events and killings meant and their continued reverberations in people`s memory. Its due to these events that complete Hindi imposition on non-Hindi people remains only a partially succesful project. Whether that can be compared to the relevance of 1965 war in people`s lives is something I leave the readers to judge.

50 years after 1965, we must probe why does Delhi want us to celebrate one 1965 and forget another? All nation-state narratives, curated by the government, to create `truth` and `common-sense`, remembers and celebrates certain things and forgets others. It underlines certain things and deletes other things. A comparison of the highlighted with the deleted gives us an idea of who the nation-state is for and who it is not for, who is boss and who is servant. This government narrative gains currency through dominant film-industry, media academia and textbooks and can be be called the autobiography of a nation-state. But no nation-state in the world is one people. All people must write their own autobiographies. They owe it to their martyrs and their children. They owe it to smoke rising from burned wigwams of the native Americans, the smoke that was seen by the people made alien in their own homeland by other people by superiority of arms and numbers, the smoke that rose above disinformation and indoctrination to spread on the wide canvas of the unconquerred starry sky and broke into words that could be seen from far-far-away, words that solemnly whisper in every mother-tongue of this earth that `We shall not forget`. We cannot forget 1965.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/remembering-1965-forgetting-1965-celebrating-1965/

By Shamshad Akhtar

On this day, 70 years ago, the Charter of the United Nations came into force – hope,rising from the ashes of World War II. For seven decades the UN has driven multilateralism for peace, security, development and human dignity – in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Although far from perfect, no other organisation has done more to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to promote social progress and better standards of life for all.

Conflicts have been averted. Human rights have been enshrined in international law. Hundreds of millions have been lifted out of poverty. Primary education has become near-universal. Smallpox and polio have been largely eradicated, and fewer women, men and children die now from preventable causes than at any point in human history.

Many of the greatest impacts of 70 years of UN work remain often unseen, but are at least as important in our daily lives. UN-driven regulations and frameworks facilitate trade and commerce, as well as air and maritime safety. UN-sponsored treaties help ensure the worldwide flow of mail, telecommunications and data. Progress is measured against UN-derived benchmarks. Global energy, food security, and even the acceptable use of our oceans and outer space are all governed by agreements reached under the auspices of the United Nations.

The most important contribution of the UN however has been to prove the power of a single ideal, that no nation can succeed alone. Through its institutional architecture, especially the five UN regional commissions, the organization has fostered regional development and shared prosperity as a way to reinforce multilateralism, demonstrating time and again that cross-border challenges, which continue to grow, require collaboration, integration, coordinationand an unwavering commitment to the wider common good.

No region provides better proof of these efforts than Asia and the Pacific. When the UN was created just four of the 51 founding Member States were from this region – China, India, Iran and the Philippines. Much of the continent was under colonial rule. Standards of living were falling, and post-war infrastructure in many countries was nearly non-existent.

To address these challenges, the United Nations created the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) – the forerunner of the present Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Over the next seven decades these institutions, supported by the whole of the UN system, have assisted Member States in creating the most economically dynamic and diverse region on Earth.

This growth has come, however, at great cost to our people and planet – with growing resource constraints and social inequalities, which threaten both our social fabric and environmental health. We are – once again – in a time of great turbulence, transition and opportunity, which is why the United Nations remains more relevant today than it has ever been.

The newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – anchored in 17 universal Sustainable Development Goals – embodies this renewed multilateral clarity of purpose. Ending poverty and hunger; ensuring education, equality and inclusive growth; acting on climate change and delivering lasting peace and justice – these are the cornerstones of the regional and global future we want.

Key to success in these new Goals will be mobilizing the resources necessary for implementation – innovative finance mechanisms and new approaches to development driven by science, technology and innovation.

ESCAP is also promoting policies that foster regional economic cooperation and integration through closer trade and financial activities; connections that open transportation corridors, link countries digitally and enable access to affordable and sustainable energy; and the ability to build back better from man-made and natural disasters and shocks.

Through the ESCAP intergovernmental platform, we not only engage our member governments but are also working to better harness the power of partnerships, increasing engagement with the private sector, civil society organizations, and growing citizen movements. Bringing this all together will be a system of follow-up and review that strengthens accountability for the well-being of the peoples of Asia and the Pacific.

Seventy years ago Asian leaders had a vision to shape the future of this region. Their focus was on building nations with the support of the United Nations. That same spirit still resonates today. In the words of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “Alongside despair in many corners, there remains great hope in the power of working together. That is the founding spirit of the United Nations – and in this 70th anniversary year, in the face of grave and global challenges, it is the spirit we must summon today.”

The author is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She is also the UN’s Sherpa for the G20 and previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan and Vice President of the MENA Region of the World Bank.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/un70-celebrating-seven-decades-of-asia-pacific-growth-development-and-security/

By Jinine Lai

The current air in Manipur breaths like tensed and toxic after its Legislative Assembly passed the three bills considered to be safeguard for indigenous peoples on 31 August this year. In this light, a couple of delusions come in my mind;`delusion of grandeur` from the valley and `persecutory delusion” from the hills.Perhaps it is rather of the delusions because the both stakeholders are not able to see real things with them, and both ignore easily their immediate common destabilizer, the governments, and more importantly their ultimate challenge which coming along with mammoth force of globalization.

First,the continuous kinship-narrative from the valley towards the hills fails to upload the positive attitude. The superior complex of the Meeteis makes themselves hardly know what they mean in the mind when they are articulating in the lips. Always they feel and make themselves more Manipur(is)than the hills.

It is very doubtful that the valley has acknowledged socio-cultural humiliation done by them upon the hills, except a kind of a blanket excuse of `“ `such are the part of every history happen everywhere in the world, and we all were the victims had received the discriminatory treatment of the kings of those days`.

Sustained superiority in the valley is reflected routinely. The abundant attempts are made to display the harmonious coexistence through various media. So the Meeteis make movies and plays; girls from the hills are married to the valley-boys, not the valley-girls to the hill-boys. If the boy happens to be from the hills, it is interesting melodrama, the father of the boy comes out to be a Meetei.

The U-Morok, the big chilly, Meeteis`™ favorite which cultivated by hills communities; Meeteis consume it and hills produce it. Yet former feels,the chilly belongs to them.

In the valley, the village population is still undergoing discriminatory attitude of `Lawai Macha` (derogatory address to the villagers) from the Imphal/urban population. Those putting up in the rented houses of various areas of Imphal undergo this humiliation. The bitter experience is of the people from the hills. Usually Hindu-Mayang tenants enjoy good attitude from the house owners and elderly locals vis-a-vis tenants from the hills.

Second, unfounded propaganda are being floated by the hills that enforced upon themselves to be believed.

In fact, the valley is supposed to receive arguments on the socio-cultural discrimination from the hills. Even it will be good device to juxtapose and justify hills`™ demands to get separated themselves. Interestingly the later have reserved and ignored this side of advocacy. Why?

Recently NSCN-IM and its frontal groups have stopped such advocacy against the Meeteis. Maybe because they think the argument of the socio-cultural humiliation by the valley upon them is mere a complex pattern wherein they are inferior to the valley`™s delusive superiority. Such things may appear embarrassing for them in the eyes of the other. Thus they have endeavored to discover new arguments, something of the economic, political against the Meeteis. So is doing Churachandpur now.

Protest against the three bills in Churachandpuris blowing out the same gusting smokes of free float arguments that some Nagas have been doing. Their delusion is `“ the Meeteis are blamed for almost everything they suffer. For instance, for economic and other welfare shortcomings; but the fact is the longest chief minister of Manipur was Rishang Keishing, a Naga and besides there have been plenty of Members of Legislative Assembly with key incumbency and bureaucrats who deal the tribal affairs. The tribal welfare administration, its financial execution is done themselves not by the Meeteis `“ no question about it. No doubt `“ the roads, schools, health centers, water and power supplies and public distribution systems are of the worse in the valley though they are a bit different from the hills`™.

Anti-valley groups sometimes lose confidence and confused themselves to use the term Manipur Government or Meetei Government though they prefer the later. Some Nagas already began to use the former though they use both interchangeably.

Third, if we can look at the well-being, progress and security of all aspects under the both governments of the state and center, what we are undergoing is a prolong absence of governance and rule of law. General population both in the hills an valley are reeling under the same intensity and amount of smelly system. Only handful of social smugglers and political prostitutes are profiting out of the situation. How many of us both in hills and valley are free from panoply of problems ranging from conflict to corruption, human rights violation to HIV/AIDS, ignored economy to unproductive education?

More dangerously the so called globalization is engulfing us all with the cruel hands of bankers and corporates. New slavery system of development paradigm is hypnotizing us all and make us paralyzed readily. The state government and New Delhi remain incapable and compromised in the process. All our resources, lands which we are fighting for, all our culture and identity which we romanticize will be perished so easily under such giant stump of globalization and privatization.
(Author is Assistant Professor of International Education Dep,University of Suwon)

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/dual-delusions/

By Anil Bhat

This is the story of Hodson`™s Horse, also known as 4 Horse, in the second war India-Pakistan war perpetrated by Pakistan, in 1965. Hodson`™s Horse is also the regiment in which Pakistan`™s first dictator president, self-promoted Field Marshal Ayub Khan`™s father, Risaldar Major Mir Dad Khan served, way back during its horse cavalry days.

In the 1965 war, Hodsons Horse, equipped with World War II vintage Centurian tanks, destroyed the maximum number of enemy tanks `“79- most of which were newly acquired and technologically superior Patton tanks from the US) and 17 recoilless (RCL) guns. It is also the only regiment in which the commanding officer`™s (CO) tank destroyed four enemy tanks despite being hit four times and after having to bail out when the tank caught fire, the CO and his crew fought dismounted with small arms and evaded capture.

Even though Hodson`™s Horse was pitched into the 1965 war almost four and a half decades after World War I, it retained and displayed its typical fierce fighting spirit. Reacting swiftly to fast changing situations, the regiment was also a classic example of armour turning the flank and destroying supe­rior forces by skilful manoeuvre and surprise. Despite great odds on ground like enemy`™s superior/newer tanks and lack of maps and other equipment, moved to all required locations and fulfilled all tasks beyond higher commanders`™ expectations. Outstanding bravery was displayed all ranks, some of who died, some got severely wounded and some were disabled.

An excerpt from the comprehensive personal account of Hodsons Horse in that war, written by its then CO, Lt Col (Later Brig) MMS Bakshi, MVC, about the Battle of Phillora is indeed relevant. For the first time since WW II, there were such intense tank to tank engagements at Asal Uttar and Phillora, which demolished a huge chunk of Pak army`™s inventory of tanks and plummeted their men`™s morale.
By 11 September Hodsons` Horse had put a tight squeeze on Phillora. We were not only keeping the enemy`™s Phillora defences fully engaged but also destroying everything falling back from the Gadgor defences. Meanwhile, 17 Horse had also fetched up from the direction of Libbe and made contact with Phillora from the South and South West. Thus, our armour had virtually put a ring around Phillora, and threatened its life line to Chawinda. Just after midday, we intercepted an enemy wireless message. “We are pulling out from Chobara, Gadgor and Phillora. One of our units has been overrun at Gadgor, we are pulling back to Fatehpur”.

The enemy had evidently been unnerved. Not much of this force was however allowed to escape to Phillora as `A`™ Squadron was lying in wait for it in area Wachoke-Saboke and decimated the bulk of its mobile elements moving by road. By 1530 hours Phillora was taken by 17 Horse and 43 Lorried Infantry Brigade. Much booty was left behind by the enemy at Phillora. A jeep belonging to GOC 6 Armoured Division complete with his flag and star plates was captured intact. Besides a map lorry with a good stock of maps and the usual paraphernalia of a hurriedly abandoned HQ was found littered all over. Thus, our problem of maps was solved for good.

In this battle 51 enemy tanks were destroyed by 1 Armoured Brigade, of which 4 (Hodon`™s) Horse accounted for 27. Our Brigade had suffered six tanks destroyed and nine damaged. Other than my tank, we had no tank losses in 4 Horse, and none were seriously damaged. This was the first big day for the Regiment and all the squadrons had done their job magnificently.

For the enemy, it was a disaster of the first magnitude. Severely punished in his first big armour clash with us, his morale was so badly shaken that he gave up the fight for Phillora which could otherwise have been a tough nut to crack. It was also a classic example of armour turning the flank and destroying superior forces by skilful manoeuvre and surprise. By delivering this crushing blow, we had established our moral ascendency over the enemy to such an extent that from then on he fought shy of facing us with his armour in a mobile battle. In the days that followed he repeatedly abandoned his tanks as soon as our tanks challenged him to a duel. Many such tanks later fell into our hands intact.

While the regiment got 43 gallantry awards, brief mention about some personnel is relevant. Actions of the tank crews of Lt Col MMS Bakshi, Maj Bhupinder Singh and many others reflect the fearlessness of fighting with cupolas open and not abandoning their tanks despite taking even four hits and bailing out only when the tanks actually caught fire. Pakistani tank crews bailed out on getting hit once, even if their tanks`™ main guns and/or machine `“guns were functional.

Lt Ashok Sodhi, became a victim of Pakistan armour`™s poor gunnery, when an armour-piercing round failed to hit the tank but grazed his skull shattering a 3 inches diameter part of it. He was in coma in Army Hospital Delhi for over 30 days, after which he recovered with a fresh lease of life and a plate covering the shattered part of his skull. Lt Charanjit Singh was killed by being hit in the head during air strafing. Capt Jasbir Singh Hundal, the Recconnaissance Troop Leader had many near misses while operating in an open jeep throughout the duration of the war. Lt SC Mathur, Mentioned in Despatches for bravery, an emergency commissioned officer then, received release orders during the war. On strong recommendations for his valour, he was eventually retained and granted permanent commission. Capt Ravi Malhota, signal cum intelligence officer in Col Bakshi`™s tank, was recommended for Vir Chakra, but got Mentioned in Despatches. The only Vir Chakra for outstanding valour was Lance Dafadar Udham Singh, that too, posthumously. Maj Desraj Urs, C Squadron Commander lost sight of one eye in which he was hit by a shrapnel. Maj KS Dhillon, A Squadron Commander, was severly wounded by shell splinters from a near miss while gallantly directing fire onto an enemy OP (observation post-meant for directing artillery fire). He suffers from a severe permanent limp.

While Maj Bhupinder Singh was admitted to Army Hospital, Delhi Cantt for severe burns, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri came there to meet the war-wounded personnel. When the PM approached his bed, Maj Singh expressed regret at not being able to salute him. Shastri praised his spirit repeatedly after that.

And quite typically again, at the end Hodson`™s Horse was most modest in projecting its achievements.

Finally, also very relevant is an excerpt of Pak army`™s Brigadier Shaukat Qadir (retd), who examined why Pakistan`s Operation Grand Slam failed.

`Operation Grand Slam was one of a number of contingency plans that had been prepared to support Gibraltar`¦ Since Gibraltar`s failure was considered inconceivable, this plan intended to sever the road link between India and Indian held Kashmir once the valley was up in flames. Now that Gibraltar had not just failed but resulted in the loss of some key posts in Kashmir, the operation was undertaken to relieve pressure on the troops defending Kashmir. Operation Grand Slam was four phased; the capture of Chamb, the crossing of river Tawi and consolidation, followed by the capture of Akhnur, and finally severing the Indian lines of communication and capturing Rajauri. Despite the difficulties of terrain, specially entailing a river crossing, the possibility for success lay in the bold audacity of the plan, which necessitated speed in execution, since if there was sufficient time permitted to the Indians, they would reinforce Akhnur and it would be impossible to capture`¦. Perhaps if Akhnur had been captured and the Indian lines of communication severed, the Indian attack on Sialkot could never have occurred! Perhaps. But that we will never know. What we do know is that Akhnur was never captured and this led us into the attack on Lahore and later Sialkot in the wee hours of September 6 1965 `¦.It is a matter of historical record that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, then foreign minister, convinced Ayub Khan, the president, that the Indian response to our incursions in Kashmir would not be across the international boundary and would be confined to Kashmir`¦. Secondly, the undertaking of guerrilla operations necessitate special conditions, not only must the terrain be suitable, which it was, but there must be guaranteed local support, without which guerrilla operations are not sustainable. Preferably there should be a preliminary reconnaissance and liaison which sets the ground for such an operation. For some obscure reason, Pakistan undertook Operation Gibraltar, without preparing the grounds for it, or seeking guarantees of local support, or even attempting to assess the mood of the Kashmiri people. They only relied on the assessment offered by some adventurous element of Kashmiris from Azad Kashmir without verifying this assessment`¦. Far from rising up in arms, the local population denied any support and, in many instances handed over the infiltrators to Indian troops.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/hodsons-horse-the-regiment-ayub-khans-father-served-in-destroyed-maximum-pak-tanks-in-1965/

By Garga Chatterjee

`Cosmopolitans`™ of the Indian Union were united in their righteous anger when the news broke that the Maharashtra government had decided to make knowledge of Marathi language a pre-condition for applying for new auto-rickshaw licenses. People who will never ride an auto-rickshaw in Mumbai, people who will always converse with auto-rickshaw drivers in Hindi when in Delhi and people who never raise any eyebrow with the rule that Central government job applications can be made in Hindi but not in Marathi, have now pounced upon this, waving the banner of `cosmopolitanism`™.

Maharashtra`™s Transport Minister and Shiv Sena MLA Diwakar Raote has announced that from 1st November, permits for new auto rickshaws will only be given to those who can speak Marathi. In the capital of the linguistic state of Maharashtra, where, for centuries, Marathi-speakers have graciously hosted outsiders, Marathi speakers cannot be made into second-class citizens. The stipulation of Marathi knowledge is not on an ethnic basis. We can`™t forget the second condition that Raote announced, which is, licenses will only be given to applicants who have been living in that particular locality for the past 15 years. It is only natural that outsiders who come to another people`™s homeland will indulge in cultural give and take and create their own niche. That has been Mumbai`™s story. However, that does not mean that a Marathi-speaker will be made pariah in his own homeland by outsiders who refuse to indulge in cultural exchange but still would want to benefit from Maharashtra`™s economy. Mumbai attracts Tamil speakers, Hindi speakers, Bhojpuri speakers, Bangla speakers, Gujarati speakers and many, many others who want to build their careers and homes there. The stipulation simply underlines the right of a Marathi-speaker to be serviced in Marathi in Maharashtra and his Marathi words to be comprehensible to the person providing the service. The words `in Maharashtra`™ are very important here.

There are elite special interests groups who want to underline the `special nature`™ of Mumbai. By talking about the `special nature`™, what they really want to do is to create some sort of a separation between Mumbai and Maharashtra. These are the types whose ideological and genetic ancestors tried to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra during the formation of the Maharashtra state. The mass struggle of the Marathi people destroyed that conspiracy by a few. However, since then, the defeated elites have tried every nasty trick in the book to carve out their Bombay out of Maharashtra, if not territorially, then economically and culturally. When the Marathis have protested these moves, they have been called `parochial`™. If it is parochialism to protest one`™s becoming a second-class citizen in one`™s ethno-linguistic homeland, then so be it. And the people have spoken, time after time. `Bombay`™ doesnt win the BMC elections. Mumbai does.

Beyond hand wringing by urban elites who are as comfortable in Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru, has there been any major protest by those on whose behalf this local-hating charade in the name of cosmopolitanism is being done? Have Bhojpuri people (themselves a victim of Hindi imposition and assimilation) taken out processions saying that they don`™t know Marathi and refuse to know it in Maharashtra? Mumbai has been built on the hard labour of locals and the poor/ lower-middle class migrants who assimilate well into the rich cultural milieu of Maharashtra. Almost all of them slowly come to learn Marathi. However, this is not the group who laments the `passing away`™ of Bombay. The non-local face of Mumbai are part of the elite `only Indian`™ gang who dominate the Mumbai story as beamed elsewhere by being articulate in English and being connected to similar such `only Indian`™ types in other metros, especially Delhi. By stressing on the identity of being a Bombayite as opposed to being a Maharashtrian (a resident of Maharashtra, which all residents of Mumbai are), they undervalue the legacy of the Samyukta Maharastra Andolan. Those shot down in 1960 by Congress Chief Minister Morarji Desai`™s police at today`™s Hutatma Chowk were proud Maharashtrians and not `only Indian`™ cosmopolitan Bombayites. Mumbai must be a rare place where rich parasites look at hosts with such contempt. Ashis Nandy says that all great cities have multiple names. Those who insist on Bombay have a certain politics. Those who insist on Mumbai also have a certain politics but at least they have the numbers. What does Bombay have, when you take away English language education, Bollywood and the rich? The `I prefer to call it Bombay`™ crowd gets their comeuppance only where their false-representation game is replaced by numerical representation contests at the BMC elections. As I said earlier, here Mumbai rules. The contempt of Bombay for Mumbai gets a regular reality check.

It is clear to any observer that this auto permit declaration and its opposition and embedded in politics. The declaration wants to underline the right of Marathi language in its homeland while the opposition wants to be able to play in any ethno-linguistic homeland by their own rules. From the latter group, now ideas of `smart city`™ and `city government`™ spring out, which are nothing but renewed attempts to detach the city from those of the hinterland on whose toil such `cosmopolitan`™ cities are built – here and everywhere. This sentiment of wanting to detach from the hinterland, from the host culture, is a common characteristic of the `cosmopolitan`™ class who in their South-Asian avatar are deeply alienated from anything that is not Anglo-Hindi. Which is why this class never says that `cosmopolitanism`™ is in danger, when a city like Delhi, which also hosts many people from many parts of the Indian Union, do not complain at the near complete dominance of Hindi at most levels, from auto-rickshaws to public services. The rootless elite always want an excuse to act parasitically when hosted by the sons and daughters of the soil. The nature reaction to this parasitism and the contempt that this class has for the people of the soil triggers certain resentments, which is utilized by some to create a politics of violent jingoism. In that cowardly politics of violent jingoism, the non-local working class becomes a soft target. Maharashtra deserves nothing less than an inclusive pro-Maharashtra politics, bereft of anti-Muslim, anti-Dravidian, labour-union busting strains of goondaism. One must remember the old Marmik slogan `” `Khicho na kaman, na talwar nikalo/ Jab tope ho muqabil to akhbar nikalo`™. Maharashtra`™s future is best secured by Maharashtrian youth and not by the descendants of Krishna Desai`™s murderers who want to attach themselves to the club of elite Indian babalogs privately and by dressing up as 17th century caricatures publicly.

Who is likely to be affected by this new auto rickshaw permit rule? It is a person who either has come to Maharashtra very recently or has lived in an urban area of Maharashtra for 15 years and has not learned Marathi in those 15 years. The Maharashtra government`™s primary responsibility is to Maharashtrians, including migrants who have settled for a longtime and only secondarily to non-Maharashtrians and recently arrived outsiders. Hence, it has laid down guidelines that put those people first who are Maharashtrians or have been there for a long time (and hence are Maharashtrians, which is not an ethnic category). In standing up for the Marathi speaker, Maharashtra government has done in Maharashtra, albeit in a very small way, what the Government of India has been doing for Hindi speakers by imposing Hindi on citizens of the Indian Union in a much wider range of things. But there is a difference. Maharashtra and many other states were created on a linguistic basis. The Indian Union was not.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/nothing-wrong-in-marathi-speakers-wanting-to-be-serviced-in-marathi-in-mumbai/

Do you have a killer business idea or concept but don’t know how to start your business? You have the business idea but reluctant to take the risks? You want to start the business but don’t have the fund?

If your answer is YES and you have the conviction that becoming an Entrepreneur is the ultimate goal of your life, then this event, Dynamic Startup 1.0, is for YOU.

Startup – is a buzzword today in every corner of the world. Startup Events turn out to be the most catalytic platform and launch pad for Aspiring Entrepreneurs across the world to realize their dream of becoming a successful Entrepreneur. Startup Weekends, Startup Bootcamp, Bootcamp I/O, Lean Startup Machine are some of the globally recognized Startup Events happening in major cities of the world including Metro cities of India.

Realizing the need of creating such a platform for the aspiring Manipuripreneurs, Dynamic Manipur, one of the most responsible social organizations has created a localized version of Startup Event by terming it “Dynamic Startup”. The event is being organized by the Dynamic Manipur in association with MIMS – Manipur University, Gobizs Web Solutions Pvt Ltd & WOL Media, along with a few dozen of other sponsoring partner organizations.

This year, Dynamic Startup 1.0, is going to be happened on Oct 10 & 11 as a two days event at Auditorium of MIMS, MU. The event is based on the Lean Startup Methodology which is a globally accepted scientific approach for validating a business idea by using the scientific tools like Business Canvas, Lean Canvas, Javelin Board etc. Such an event simulate the real life experience of being an entrepreneur and its business process so that the entrepreneurs can gain  maximum learning about his or her business idea. The overall objective of such an event is to reduce the risk of business failure, shorten the timeline of idea to market, scale up the business through private funding.

In the first day of the event, the entrepreneurs will get in depth knowledge about how to apply Lean Startup Methodology in their business ideas. The knowledge will be imparted by those entrepreneurs who already had been practicing Lean Startup. The entrepreneurs will get mentorship from the coaches and they will need to get out of the room to interact with their prospected customers to get the first hand information of the market and their idea. The business idea will be pivoted and iterated by consulting with their mentors till the profitable business idea is found. In the second day, the entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to showcase their business ideas and plan to a panel of juries who are usually highly successful entrepreneurs. The top three best business ideas will get cash award as well as other recognitions. And the top 10 business ideas will get six months of mentoring program at Startup Incubation program run by Globizs Web Solutions & WOL Media. Incubation program is a follow up to the Dynamic Startup event to handhold the entrepreneur until they succeed by providing the mentoring, technical support and financial support through private investors. And also the winners get Advertising Credit from Manipur Times for showcasing their ads to the 1,35,000 online user base of ManipurTimes.com.

Recently, there was the “Startup India, Stand up India” initiative by the India Government as a part of the “Make In India” programme. Already there was the 10000 Startups programme of India Government implemented by NASSCOM. All these initiatives show that India is entering into a new era of Entrepreneurial age. Hence, so I would like to bring the attention of our youths to take this opportunity of riding the wave of entrepreneurship which can bring economy self reliant and social peace to our society. Get up and join the event by writing to dynamic.manipur@gmail.com or visit the facebook event page for Dynamic Startup 1.

Be an Entrepreneur, Serve the Society!!!

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/dynamic-startup-1-0-launchpad-of-aspiring-entrepreneurs/