Short stories, Videos by Zeenat Hussain (JR 179 MH 09)

Short stories, Videos by  Zeenat Hussain (JR179MH09)

https://youtu.be/sCz2zSNPQao  An ungrateful person is never happy.

https://youtu.be/qjR-090dxjI , the evil Spirit

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1kac03_rescue-on-the-sea_lifestyle, Rescue on the Sea

RESCUE ON THE SEA

                                                                                                                                                         

Very little has been written about the ancient coastal people of Lyari – the irrepressible Makranis – who take their name from the Makran coast of Sindh and, Balochistan, which also indicates a common history of the two provinces; the Makran coast constitutes the South-East of Iran and the South-West of Pakistan; a 1,000 km stretch along the Gulf of Oman from RA’s (cape) Al-Kuh, Iran (West of Jask), to the Lasbela District of Pakistan (near Karachi). The Makran coast is on the Arabian Sea, to the North-West of Quetta in Balochistan.

The following is a story of one such coastal village:

Children on   bare - back camels, watch   the   sea, its   vastness spanning even beyond the grasp of their eyes. Fishermen on the beach watch the sky, like the city dwellers read their newspapers first thing in the morning. Through the knots of their nets hanging on the line, they seem to predict the weather. This exercise determines whether they should take a boat out or not on the deep sea, for their daily expedition to catch fish. The air is filled with the smell of rancid water that is due to the deposits of oil, resulting in decayed and dead sea-life. Music, which is a part of their lives, plays in the background. The sounds are a fusion of musical cultures from the Middle East, Indo-Pakistan and Africa.

            The shells on the beach look like the abandoned toenails of the old fishermen, and they are more beautiful there, than on the foot. The broken wings, the sand-logged crabs, a woman’s lonely shoe, a rusty toy damaged beyond recognition, the plank or sail from a doomed boat, all lay sprawled on the beach, each with a story behind it, cleansed and sterilized by the salt and iodine in the great hospital of the sea. In the night, the light from the tower was but a spot against the background of the sky and spectacular cliffs.

            The weather beaten villager’s munched dates from the interior while watching holidaymakers trying to teach their children to swim, like fish to water, amidst the shouts and screams of the children who are already submerged in the waters. The steps of the ladies faltered as they approached the sea, clad in shalwar kameezes filled with the wind, the Shalwar Kameez itself a deterrent for swimming.

            The story told here is that of a villager who because of his sharp sense of hearing helped in the rescue of a drowning man. The villager was alone and as he had no family to fend for, hence he had no responsibilities to drain his energy. Somehow he had also preserved his youth, which he owed to mother nature. Religion that usually comes into the house with the presence of a woman was lacking in his and he was quite oblivious of it.

            One evening when it was well after ten and the moon was full with black clouds scudding in ordered masses across the sky, he was still sitting on his wall, all alone. A cool wind suddenly sighed from an unexpected quarter and in its wake was a noise like that from a distant cavalry charge. His razor sharp ears picked up the sound. His brow creased up as his eyes searched the distance. He hobbled to his neighbours house and banged on the door of his traditional mud-hut – the two men, though natural life-guards, knew thoroughly all that was written in the books about rescue on the seas. The coastal blacks were descendants of imported slaves – the fishermen being known as the Meds and the seamen as the Koras – when there was no response; he banged on the door again. A groggy fellow soon appeared. He pointed towards the horizon and mumbled something in the Makranic dialect. The man’s eyes tried to see beyond the direction of the location being pointed at. A boat in trouble, he thought aloud. Without wasting any time they woke the other men.

            A rule of the sea states, that half the purchase price of the vessel of the sea is given to the rescue party. This prize money was quite a temptation, but since it was always dangerous the case required to be argued, all hands knew that the proposed journey was perilous.

            The village women all having gathered on the beach, saw their men disappear, reappear, disappear, reappear and finally disappear into the darkness. They were now a tiny speck in the vast vista of the sea – the ocean that is open to all and merciful to none, that which threatens even when it seems to yield, pitiless always to weakness.

            Many of the Makrani women now worked as domestic servants in Karachi; they were also experts in the art of massaging any mother and child    after    birth.   Their   traditional   long   dresses with   hand-woven

Embroidery gave them a distinct ‘folk’ touch, separating them from the typical Karachiites. The skirt-like look, with its wide circumference, and the loose shalwar could be compared to the costumes of the pathan and Kabuli women.

            The men in the rescue boat changed sides, so as not to tip the balance of the boat as the surf sprayed them from head to toe. The taste of salt lingered in their mouths during the voyage. They were not bothered by their appearance. On the contrary, they felt no different from when they started out dry.

            Suddenly, a dark object was thrown at them on the crest of a wave. It was a man. They held on to the poor fellow and eventually succeeded in dragging him aboard. Nobody felt sorry that this time, there was no prize. They rowed back to their village.

            Couples fought with each other to offer hospitality to this half dead man; and they almost came to blows in their struggle for this visa to heaven.

            They fetched a doctor from a nearby village, while the women sat all around him wearing their beads. The doctor was a Karachiite who had been sent to the village to serve them. The doctor prompted the man to speak. The man said, “Mahganj” very faintly. Repeated attempts, received the same response. The diagnosis stated that he was a victim of a traumatic shock and was suffering from amnesia, which meant a loss of memory, if only temporarily.    

            The Priest, who was also a member of the village council, was also summoned, as was the case in other similar incidents. “What’s going on here?” he asked one of the ladies. “A miracle” said all the ladies together. The Makrani women are predominantly Muslim.

            The Priest was briefed about the rescue and what followed. Being

 an elderly fellow, he recalled that a girl by the name of ‘Mahganj’ had been registered in the mosque some eighteen years ago.

            Now, it was easy to put two and two together. The man they found was associated with Mahganj and was discovered as belonging to the same village as her’s.  He was also supposed to marry her.

            Mahganj was the granddaughter of the village tailor. Thus it was decided that the man be taken back to the same village that he originated from. Similar surroundings would help to revive his memory, it was hoped.

            A therapist was hired from the city and surely, slowly though, his memory came back in bits and pieces. Mahganj’s presence always evoked a response in the man, so strong was the bond of love. His memory did eventually return, which in turn led to their marriage. They led a happy married life.

 

Revisited the Swat Operation By Sajjad Shaukat (JR 178 SS 51)

Revisited the Swat Operation By Sajjad Shaukat (JR178SS51)

The Swat Operation which started on May 16, 2009 still remains in the mind of every patriot Pakistani. The area occupied by the terrorists was successfully cleared by Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

In this regard, Swat peace accord was signed on February 15, 2009 between the government and the militants led by Sufi Muhammad, head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It was agreed to establish Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand Division and Kohistan District of Hazara in return for Maulvi Fazlullah (Sufi’s son-in-law) led militants, surrendering arms and refraining from all sorts of violent acts. Meanwhile, National Assembly had passed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.

But, by transgressing the peace pack, Taliban re-initiated their previous practice of beheadings, kidnappings, attacks on the check posts of the security forces etc. In Swat, their anti-social, anti-Islam and inhuman tactics such as attacks on government buildings, girls’ school, video shops and police stations, using car suicide bombers had also been destabilizing Pakistan. In some regions, particularly in Swat, Taliban leaders had created states within the state, and had been involved in a number of crimes such as drug-smuggling, forced marriages, hostage-takings for ransom and car-snatching. Moreover, by setting aside the terms of the peace agreement, the Taliban equipped with heavy weapons started making checkpoints, strengthening their position in Swat and Dir. They refused to renounce arms, and even entered Buner.

In these adverse circumstances, the military operations were re-conducted to restore peace in these affected areas, and to get rid the innocent people of the brutalities of the Taliban. Overwhelming public, belonging to every province of Pakistan and all the segments of society supported the Swat and Malakand military operations, as majority of the people are against the Taliban style of Sharia. An all-parties conference (APC) vowed to unite the nation against insurgency in these regions, pledging to end terror.

In this respect, in May 16, 2009, Pakistan’s Armed Forces started military operation in Swat. And, within less than three months, Pakistan’s forces successfully ejected the well-trained and well-armed Taliban militants out of Buner, Dir, Swat and other adjoining areas. By sacrificing their lives, our forces killed and captured thousands of the militants—breaking their backbone by eliminating their control and command structure. Reports suggested that tens thousands of the Taliban had fled Afghanistan.

It is mentionable that during the Swat Operation, the TTP militants had been supported by some foreign secret agencies, especially Indian RAW. Through their well-established networks in Afghanistan, they were sending arms and weapons to the Swat-based terrorists with a view to weakening Pakistan which is the only nuclear country in the Islamic World.

In fact, the different war between Pakistan’s Armed Forces and the TTP insurgents in Swat was simply a ‘clash of wills’ between two entities. Military thinkers agree that although the physical force will determine the type and scale of war, yet it is the ‘will to fight’ or ‘moral force’ that determines the outcome of war. Clausewitz puts it this way, “One might say that the physical force seems little more than the wooden hilt, while moral factors are the precious metal, the real weapon.”

In his book, “Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945”, Creveld identifies the elements of ‘moral force’, whom he calls “fighting power, the willingness to fight and the readiness, if necessary, to die.” The greater these elements, the less vulnerable an armed force will be to demoralization. ‘Moral force’, then, is the crucial factor in determining the combat power of any belligerent.

During the successful military operation, retreat of the Taliban from Swat has proved that such elements like ‘will to fight’ and ‘moral force’ have been more noted in Pakistan’s Armed Forces who have exerted psychological impact of causing fear and shock, resulting into demoralization among the Taliban militants.

Nevertheless, there are various causes which demoralized the insurgents of Swat. Firstly, high ‘moral force’ and ‘will to fight’ coupled with strong determination and cohesiveness as noted in Pakistan’s Armed Forces played a key role in expelling Taliban out of Swat. In this regard, airstrikes by Pakistan Air Force targeted their strongholds. And during street to street fighting, without bothering for their lives, and by air-dropping commandos at the risky places, our forces made a great headway in disrupting the Taliban supply routes. They besieged them at various hotspots, rendering them unable to send reinforcements to their fighters. Secondly, morale of Pak Army was very high. Thirdly, local people started denying the Taliban sanctuaries, and disrupted their links with each other. Fourthly, general masses of Swat opposed the brutal acts of these terrorists which compelled them to leave their houses. They came to know that under the cover of Islamic laws—terror, not Sharia was militants’ real agenda. Hence, they were misusing Jihad which does not allow suicide attacks in killing their own Muslim brethren.

Although terrorists have again started subversive activities, yet these are on small scale, as compared to the past, because the main networks of various militant outfits have been broken by the ongoing military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad.

As a matter of fact, Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully broken the backbone and organized capability of terrorists to launch well thought-out attacks against the government assets. Terrorism will finally be totally eliminated from Pakistan. It appears, as if the militants have lost major grounds, and in severe frustration, they are trying to create some kind of so-called pressure on the government and the Armed Forces which have castigated them to put up strong resistance.

It is notable that when the heavy-armed Taliban entered Swat, Dir and Buner, on April 23, 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had stated that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. But, when Pakistan’s Armed Forces ejected the Taliban insurgents out of the affected areas, then American high officials including Ms. Clinton had admired the capabilities of Pak Army.

We can conclude that it was because the ‘moral force’ of Pakistan’s Armed Forces, which defeated the insurgents of Swat.

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

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)

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 136^th 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 Bihar, Modi 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