Saturday, June 8, 2019

Buddhist teachings that molded Madame Aung Suu Kyi’s thought & conduct-JR 177













Buddhist teachings that molded Madame Aung Suu Kyi’s thought & conduct-JR 177
Aung Suu Kyi Letter to Dawn
Mdame Kyi’s article, “How I learned from the monks, is presented below. This was posted on the Daily “DAWN”, many many years ago. Some extracts that may be of interest are also presented below:

1.       One should follow the example of the Lord Buddha, who only spoke words that were trustworthy and beneficial, even if at times such speech was not always pleasing.
2.       Hsaysdaw also urged me to cultivate ‘sati” mindfulness of the five spiritual faculties, “sadha” (faith) , :”viriya” (energy), “sati”, “Samadhi”(concentration), and panna (wisdom). It is only sati that can never be in excess. Excessive faith without sufficient wisdom leads to blind faith, while excessive wisdom without sufficient energy leads to undesirable cunning.
3.       Too much energy combined with weak concentration leads to indolence.
4.       The hermit Sumedha , who sacrificed the possibility of early liberation for himself alone and underwent many lives of striving that he might save others from suffering .
5.       Four causes of decline and decay: failure to recover that which has been lost ; omission to repair that which has been damaged ; disregard of the need for the elevation to leadership of those without morality and learning .
6.       You must lay down an investment in “dukkha” (suffering)  and you will gain “sukha” (bliss)

Religious belief
Aung San Suu Kyi’s main principle in life is to constantly strive for self-improvement. Suu kyi has a drive for perfection and wholeness and was taught from a young age to be honest with herself and that “wrongdoing never pays.” She is very against the idea of people being hypocritical or unjust and believes very strongly in the importance of compassion in our world. Aung San Suu Kyi believes that as humans the spiritual dimension of our lives cannot be neglected.

Suu Kyi also has a strong belief in equality and human rights and along with this a strong belief in freedom. She longed for a demcracy in her community to make some of her beliefs prevalent in Burma. "My attitude to peace is rather based of the Burmese definition of peace - it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not just mean putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty." This quote highlights Suu Kyi's cogent belief in the need for peace and lack of need for violence.

Being a Theravada Buddhist, Suu Kyi abides by Buddhist principles. Buddhists base their beliefs off the teachings of Buddha. Buddha's teachings were all based from the framework of the Four Noble Truths:

1. Dukkha: Discontent, stress, suffering, un-satisfactoriness;
2. The Cause of Duukkha: the cause of this dissatisfaction is the craving for sensuality, for states of coming, and states of no becoming;
3. The cessation of Dukkha: The relinquishment of that craving;
4. The path of practice leading to the cessation of Dukkha: The noble eight-fold path of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

The ultimate goal of the Theravada is to escape samsara (the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth) and to enter nirvana (freedom from the cycle of reincarnation). To escape the samsara the first noble truth must be comprehended, the second noble truth abandoned, the third realised and the fourth noble truth is to be developed. It only through assigning to the noble truths these specific tasks, that you can gain release from samsara.
One of the main tools by which Theravada Buddhists transform themselves is meditation. Suu Kyi meditates every day, claiming it is a form of spiritual cultivation through which humans learn awareness. Following the beliefs of Theravada Buddhists, she emphasises, through one’s own efforts, attaining self liberation.




Brief biography
Aung San Suu Kyi   (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991). She is the leader of the National League for Democracy and the first and incumbent State Counselor, a position akin to a prime minister. She is also the first woman to serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs, for the President's Office, for Electric Power and Energy, and for Education. From 2012 to 2016 she was an MP for Kawhmu Township to the House of Representatives.

Career
The youngest daughter of Aung San, Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar, and Khin Kyi, Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon, British Burma. After graduating from the University of Delhi in 1964 and the University of Oxford in 1968, she worked at the United Nations for three years. She married Michael Aris in 1972, with whom she had two children. Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence in the 1988 Uprisings, and became the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which she had newly formed with the help of several retired army officials who criticized the military junta. In the 1990 elections, NLD won 81% of the seats in Parliament, but the results were nullified, as the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, becoming one of the world's most prominent political prisoners.

Her party boycotted the 2010 elections, resulting in a decisive victory for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. Aung San Suu Kyi became a Pyithu Hluttaw MP while her party won 43 of the 45 vacant seats in the 2012 by-elections. In the 2015 elections, her party won a landslide victory, taking 86% of the seats in the Assembly of the Union– well more than the 67% supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates were elected President and Second Vice President in the Presidential Electoral College. Although she was prohibited from becoming the President due to a clause in the constitution – her late husband and children are foreign citizens – she assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role akin to a Prime Minister or a head of government. Aung San Suu Kyi's honours include the Nobel Peace Prize, which she won in 1991. Time Magazine named her one of the "Children of Gandhi" and his spiritual heir to nonviolence.

Since ascending to the office of State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi has drawn criticism from several countries, organizations and figures over her alleged inaction to the persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakhine State and refusal to accept that Myanmar's military has committed massacres. Under her leadership, Myanmar has also drawn criticism for prosecutions of journalists. . She has written Freedom from Fear (1991) and Letters from Burma (1991)

Friday, May 31, 2019

Dangers of Modi’s ‘Meta-Nationalism’ for India By Sajjad Shaukat JR 176 SS 60










Dangers of Modi’s ‘Meta-Nationalism’ for India By Sajjad Shaukat JR176SS50

Indian Prime Minister Nerendar Modi’s extremist party-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had got a land sliding triumph in the Indian elections 2014 on the basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans. Therefore, since the Prime Minister Modi came to power, he has been implementing anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan agenda with the support of fanatic coalition outfits.

General elections 2019, which started in India on April 11 are being held in 7 phases and will continue till May.

It is notable that the Constitution declares India to be a secular state, granting equal rights to the religious minorities, but in practice, ideology of Hindutva prevails. Hindu politics and culture, dominated by the fundamentalists parties such as BJP, RSS, VHP, Shiv Sena and other similar groups have been propagating Hindutva agenda. Under Modi rule, Muslim anxiety in India is multiplying due the fact that during the election campaign, Hindu majority was mobilized on ‘hate Muslim’ slogans. 
In fact, Modi’s “New India” is transforming into a “fascist and extremist India” which is intolerant and inflexible to any kind of opposition and criticism. As per reports, in the backdrop of recent Indo-Pak escalation, a professor of civil engineering department in Karnataka namely Wathar, attempted to vent out his frustration on social media. In a Facebook post, he had used expletives to refer to India’s ruling party and said it had endangered millions of lives. Two days later, right-wing Hindu group students/activist gathered outside his office, and forced him to apologize for his “anti-national” comments. He was even forced to beg for forgiveness. In a related activity, Sathiyaraj Balu, a member of a local pro-Tamil party, who posted a picture of Modi with a begging bowl on Facebook, was arrested in Tamil Nadu in January 2019.

Waves of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’ (Bhagva or Hindutva plus) have engulfed India more pronouncedly in the backdrop of Pulwama incident starting with Television anchors “calling for revenge” and even not hesitated to portray any questioning of the Indian government or armed forces as equivalent to helping Pakistan.
Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of military command centers, while anchors were assessing military technology/strategy. Speculation and conjectures were repeated and several journalists even took to Twitter to encourage the Indian Army. Reportedly, one particularly strident channel recently pushed the hashtag #Expose Pak Lovers.

Leading columnist and former editor of the Tribune Harish Khare said that “the recent climate marks a new turn for India. The government had stampeded the country into a volatile, edgy, anxious nationalism.” Reportedly, Mrs Mita Santra whose husband was amongst the persons, killed in the false flag terror attack at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had dared to comment that “war should be the last option”, but, she was roundly criticized on social media.

Regrettably, Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’ in the aftermath of Pulwama incident generated so much pressure on the Indian political parties that initially, they also ascribed to “soft” Hindutva themes and accepted Pakistan’s direct culpability in the attack. However, after the Pakistan’s robust reply, arrest and return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinanadan and exposure of the false story and exaggerations of the Modi BJP leaders—blatant lies about casualties in Balakot, some elements of India have started daring to raise questions about New Dehi’s falsehood. In this regard, besides other internal entities, Indian National Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s recent remarks igniting Modi and BJP might be cited as instance.
It is mentionable that that various moves and developments in India are part of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’. In this connection, since 2014, Modi government has been constantly attempting to weaken and tame institutions for political influences and benefits. In the same regard, he fiddled with judiciary resultantly, four Indian Supreme Court judges held a press conference in January 2018 to raise alarm bells regarding the independence of the judiciary.  In 2017, India fell three spots to 136th on the World Press Freedom Index, amid fears of the government strong-arming the media. Resignation of governor Reserve Bank of India Urjit Patel also cast aspersions on the RBI’s autonomy. Modi also fiddled with Central Bureau of Investigation and “Removal of ex-director of CBI Alok Verma episode” has topped the media headlines.    

Apart from such fiddling, Modi government also attempted to manipulate laws; nevertheless, sensing signs of defeat, he opted for early retreat. Following are some episodes of Modi’s retreat which has exposed his real face:-   

In mid-2014, Modi government proposed an amendment to National Rural Employee Guarantee Act (NREGA) aimed at restricting NREGA. Seeing this as a dilution of the Act, 28 leading economists wrote that Modi and the government had to reconsider its ill-advised move with proposed amendments which were quietly withdrawn without even being introduced in parliament.

In December 2014, Modi-led regime promulgated an ordinance amending Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013. LARR (Amendment) Bill 2015 was introduced; however, the bill generated strong protests by Anna Hazare, farmers, civil society groups and a walkout by the Congress. NDA allies Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and Swabhimani Paksha also expressed opposition to the Bill. In August 2015, ahead of elections in BiharModi announced the lapse of the ordinance.

In May 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Forests notified rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act banning sale of cattle in animal markets. The move generated strong resentment and protest from the political parties. West Bengal, Kerala and Meghalaya saw the rules as infringing upon their jurisdiction, while protests in the form of ‘Beef Fests’ were held in Kerala and Karnataka. The ban was deemed to have been imposed on ideological grounds, detrimental to the cattle trade economy and was alleged to be a dog whistle to cow vigilante groups. In July 2017, Indian Supreme Court expanded a stay imposed by the Madras High Court into a nationwide bar on the rules. Following consultation from states, in April 2018, a fresh set of draft rules were brought in to scrap the ban.

In August 2017, Modi government introduced Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill in Lok Sabha. The Bill faced criticism from several opposition parties, and Trinomial Congress held protests outside the parliament. All India Bank Employees’ Union and industry body Assocham also opposed it. Despite vociferous attempts by the government to criticize this opposition, public concerns over security of bank deposits did not die down. The government withdrew the Bill citing need for a comprehensive re-examination.

In early 2018, the government announced its decision to stop printing the last page of the passport, which contains family and address information along with Emigration Check Required (ECR) status. The status was to be signified with an orange-coloured jacket. It was seen as segregating people with low education and economic status. The Congress termed it as equivalent to creating a new caste system. The Kerala high court considered it a violation to the fundamental right to privacy and dignity, issuing a notice to the MEA. In just over two weeks, the MEA announced withdrawal of the proposed changes.

In April 2018, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting put up a ‘Request for Proposal’ to set up a Social Media Communication Hub to monitor online social media data. It proposed a “social media analytical tool” that would deploy 360 degree monitoring to create digital profiles of citizens (bid document said the tool should be able to “listen” to email). The Internet Freedom Foundation sent a legal notice to the ministry asking for withdrawal of the tender. Indian Supreme Court, while hearing a petition also observed that the decision to create the hub will be “like creating a surveillance state”. Following this, the request for proposal was withdrawn.

In April 2018, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced that in an attempt to tackle fake news, it had amended the guidelines on accreditation of journalists. It was told that journalists against whom complaints of fake news had been registered would have their accreditation suspended till the complaint had been heard. The guidelines faced political and media outrage on various grounds such as violation of freedom of press and lack of a clear definition of “fake news”. Overwhelmed by the outrage, the guidelines were withdrawn within 24 hours under orders from the PMO itself

Nevertheless Modi and BJP have been exploiting ‘meta-nationalism’ narrative since last year as a part of “Lok Sabha 2019 preparatory activity.  Reports suggest that BJP General Secretary Amit Shah during (September 18) poll gatherings in North Eastern states, has been openly terming Muslim and other migrants to Assam etc. as ‘Termites’.  Modi-led BJP government also passed controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill to facilitate Hindu migrants only whereas; the Muslim migrants were deliberately ignored. His remarks attracted criticism from the US, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had expressed concern that “even some of our friends, allies, and partners around the world have human rights violations”. The annual assessment by the US state department of human rights concerns across the world-report 2018 also took notice of the Amit Shah’s remarks.

But, Prime Minister Modi and leadership of the extremist ruling party BJP continue with tirades against the opposition with ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign. RSS and Modi financed media outlets continue to hound against any dissenting voice, while terming them as “internal enemies”. The political intent behind this ultra-nationalist frenzy is patently clear under which every effort is being made to get the voter to think that the nation needs to unite behind one man – a decisive leader who can give a befitting reply to those who threaten the country. It has been a gen feeling in the Indian secular and liberal classes that by making everyone a chowkidar (guard), Modi has issued a national call to citizen vigilantism.

In this respect, Christophe Jaffrelot’s recent book “Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India” has amply exposed the surge of Hindutva (or meta-nationalism). It is statistically analyzed that Muslims participation in Indian politics is shrinking to alarming levels. The author proves that in the period of 1980-2014, the number of Muslim MPs in the lower house of the Indian parliament have shrunk in comparison to the Muslim population in India.  In another recent book of famous author A G Noorani titled “The RSS: A Menace of India”, examines and exposes the rise of RSS and Hindu fascism.
However, by inducing the Indian public with Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’, Indian prime minister has been able to make a significant part of the population of the country to forget the collapse of the economy—the crisis in agriculture, the stagnation of industry—11 million jobs lost by it over the past five years, and the hollowness of the grandiose promises, he made to them when he came to power. It is now up to Indian people, if they are allowing ‘meta-nationalism’ to prevail in the country or they opt for respecting the secular and simple Indian nationalism, as inside India and abroad, dangers of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’ has been accelerated

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

May 28: Pakistan Became 7th Nuclear Power in the World By Sajjad Shaukat JR 175 SS 49










May 28: Pakistan Became 7th Nuclear Power in the World By Sajjad Shaukat JR175SS49

While showing aggressive designs, on May 11, 1998, the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee surprised the international community by announcing that India has conducted three nuclear tests earlier that day. On May 13, 1998, India conducted two more nuclear tests.

In order to create balance of power in South Asia, Pakistan successfully conducted five nuclear tests on May 28, 1998.

Therefore, with national zeal and fervour in different parts of the country, Youm-e-Takbeer (The day of greatness) is celebrated every year on May 28 as the national day to mark the conduction of nuclear tests, as Pakistan became the first Muslim and the 7th nuclear power in the world.

While, both the neighboring countries have waged three wars, especially on the issue of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), so Pakistan’s arch rival compelled Islamabad to follow the suit. In this regard, it took only 17 days for Pakistan to successfully carry out its five nuclear tests which were done on May 28 and the sixth one on May 1998, at Chaghi in Balochistan in response to five nuclear explosions detonated by India. For the purpose, about five thousands scientists including Dr Samarmand Mubarik and particularly Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan had worked day and night and made the defence of the country impregnable.

As regards Pakistan’s atomic experiments, renowned journalist, Majid Nizami said, “Pakistan faced tremendous pressure from India after it detonated five nuclear devices and America in this scenario also did not want Pakistan to become a nuclear power. US President Clinton telephoned the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif five times besides offering him billions of dollars to refrain him from nuclear tests. In this perspective, he further stated, Nawaz was receiving opinion from different sections of society, and in the same connection, he also convened a meeting of the editors wherein he (Majid Nizami) also gave the input.

New Delhi’s war-mongering strategy against Pakistan could be judged from the fact that in 1974 India conducted first nuclear test at Pokhran Range in Rajhistan so as to pressurize Islamabad.

It is mentionable that when ZulfikarAli Bhutto, (The late) came to power, he paid much attention to the nuclear programme of Pakistan, as he knew that India would apply its coercive diplomacy on Islamabad or could attack our country. In this context, while talking on a TV channel on May 28, 2012, Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan appreciated the efforts of former Prime Minister Shaheed ZulfikarAli Bhutto for providing the opportunity to make the nuclear programme of Pakistan successful. He also made it clear that Pakistan’s nuclear programme was totally indigenous, but acquired materials from some western countries.

During many crises such as Kargil issue of 1999 and attack on the Indian parliament by the militants in 2001, New Delhi concentrated its troops across the Pakistan’s border, with the intention to attack Pakistan, while raising a series of false allegations against Islamabad. Pakistan was also compelled to deploy its Army along the Pak-India border. But, India did not dare to initiate a war because of Pakistan’s ‘Nukes.’ Similarly, in the past, Indian rulers had intended to implement their doctrine of limited war in Kashmir, but they could not do so owing to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

Particularly, in the aftermath of false flag Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, India accused Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of supporting the militants. Although Pak diplomats denied Indian self-fabricated story regarding Mumbai catastrophe, but New Delhi adopted a threatening posture against Islamabad. It once again deployed its troops across the Pakistani border. Again, Pakistan also concentrated its military in order to give a matching response to India.

It is notable that in the aftermath of the false flag terror of Pulwama, very tension escalated rapidly between India and Pakistan when on February 27, this year, in response to the Indian so-called pre-emptive air strike near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets and launched aerial strikes at six targets in the (IOK).  One of the two Indian air force pilots was taken into custody.

Truth about India’s surgical strikes unmasked, when Indian top civil and military leaders failed in providing any evidence in this respect.

Nevertheless, the myth of Indian so-called surgical strike was further exposed, when Director General of Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen. Asif Ghafoor, while referring to the statement of Indian India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who admitted on April 18, 2019 that no Pakistani soldier or citizen died in the air strike carried out by IAF across the border in Balakot, stated on April 19, 2019: “After India finally admitted that their so-called air strike carried on February 26 in Balakot caused no deaths and casualties…Hopefully, so will be about other false Indian claims [such as] surgical strike of 2016, denial of shooting down of two Indian Air Force [IAF] jets by Pakistan Air Force and claims about F16…Better late than never.”

Nonetheless, in the aftermath of Pulwama assault, India left no stone upturned in frightening Pakistan through a prospective invasion, while Islamabad had also taken defensive steps in response to meet any aggression of New Delhi. But, India failed in implementing its plans to wage a conventional war with Pakistan due to the fact that the latter also possesses nuclear arsenal which could destroy.

It is noteworthy that the US dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as Tokyo had no such devices to retaliate. After the World War 11, nuclear weapons were never used. These were only employed as a strategic threat. During the heightened days of the Cold War, many crises arose in Suez Canal, Korea, Cuba and Vietnam when America and the former Soviet Union were willing to use atomic weapons, but they stopped because of the fear of nuclear war which could culminate in the elimination of both the super powers. It was due to the concept of ‘mutually assured destruction’ that the two rivals preferred to resolve their differences through diplomacy.
Political strategists agree that deterrence is a psychological concept that aims to affect an opponent’s perceptions. In nuclear deterrence weapons are less usable as their threat is enough in deterring an enemy that intends to use its armed might.

While both the neighbouring adversaries are nuclear powers, Indians should not ignore the principles of deterrence, popularly known as balance of terror.In these terms, India is badly mistaken, if it overestimates its own power and underestimates Pakistan’s power. As Islamabad lacks conventional weapons vis-à-vis India, so it will have to use atomic devices during a prolonged conflict which would result into national suicide of India.

Moreover, it is owing to atomic bombs that Pakistan can talk to India with honour and dignity, discouraging India from casting an evil eye on our motherland.

Furthermore, as Pakistan is the only declared nuclear country in the Islamic World, hence, it has become special target of some western top officials and media persons who continue their propaganda against Pakistan’s nuclear programme. They have been creating doubts about the safety and security of Pakistan’s atomic weapons and nuclear plants. Especially, in 2009 when the heavily-armed Taliban entered Swat, Dir and Buner, US high officials and their media had exaggerated the ‘Talibinisation’ of whole Pakistan, while showing concerns about Pakistan’s atomic arms. In that regard, the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. But, when Pakistan’s armed forces ejected the Taliban insurgents out of these areas by breaking their backbone, she started appreciating the capabilities of Pakistan’s armed forces.

Likewise, when terrorists had attacked on Pakistan’s Naval Airbase in Karachi on May 23, 2011, US-led some western countries, including India and Israel exploited the situation through disinformation about the security of Pak nukes. And, terrorists’ assault on Kamra Base was successfully foiled by the personnel of Pakistan Air Force, but, a baseless report, published in the New York Times had indicated that suspected militants attacked a major Pakistani Air Force base where some of the country’s nuclear weapons were considered to be stored in the early hours of the militants’ attack. The ex-US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also stated day, “There is a danger of nuclear weapons of Pakistan, falling into hands of terrorists.”

Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in safe hands-well-protected and are under tight security arrangements, having the best command and control system.

However, May 28 is celebrated as Youm-e-Takbeer by various political parties and social organizations, including general masses with a pledge to make Pakistan a stronger country, militarily and economically, among the comity of nations. No doubt, on this very day of May 1998, Pakistan became the 7th nuclear power in the world.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com