SacredspaceYour Destiny

What could contribute to themaking of one’s destiny? The

following is one possible answer:‘Thoughts lead on to purposes;

purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits

decide character; and characterfixes our destiny’.

Tryon Edwards

Pakistan releasing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeedfrom house arrest on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the26/11 terror attack is a cruel joke on its victims. Saeed is a UN

designated terrorist, with the US offering a $10 million reward forinformation bringing him to justice. His release flies in the face ofall such proscriptions with Pakistan essentially thumbing its noseat international security concerns.

Recently US Congress passed a defence bill that requires Pakistan to disrupt the Haqqani network. Islamabad appears to have misread this as a signal to reprieve LeT. To correct thatmisreading, the US has now called on Pakistan to re-arrest Saeedand ensure he is charged for his crimes. Islamabad ought to do so inits own interest, quite apart from major repercussions it is likely toface from the US for sheltering terror groups.

For one Saeed now wants to main-stream his terror group as a politicalparty, which will have significant con-sequences for the Pakistani polity andeconomy. A foretaste of what to expectcan already be seen with supporters ofradical cleric Khadim Hussain Rizviparalysing Islamabad and governancefor weeks; attempts to disperse themhave led to violent clashes across Pakistani cities. If this is Pakistan’s

future it can expect no investment for its economy and the country’sChinese mentors may well abandon it. An even more dire possibilityis if Saeed gets through with another 26/11, which amounted to amini-invasion of India. That will almost certainly mean war betweenIndia and Pakistan, with most of the world siding with India.

From an Indian point of view, that Saeed fashions himself as acrusader for Kashmir utterly delegitimises Pakistan’s position onthe issue in a world that has grown tired of terrorism. Nevertheless,the threat of another 26/11is real and India must not grow complacentbecause nine years have passed. It must not dither on the necessarysecurity reforms which includes police reform, networking of policestations and modernisation of security forces, perhaps moving lawand order from the state list to the concurrent list. New Delhi mustalso promote communal harmony and hold its own right wing radicals in check. RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat raking up RamMandir at this point is precisely the wrong thing to do.

Remain Alert Hafiz Saeed’s release is

bad news, he must be re-arrested

American media is overflowing with headlines about predatory sexual behavior from the country’s male celebritiesand power brokers, broadly justifying the diva Mae West’s quip that if you “give a man a free hand, he’ll try to put it allover you.” Going by the rash of recollections, disclosures andmea culpas, aggressive sexual behaviour from the male of

the species has been happening for a long time, and the female of the species, said to be deadlier than the male only in certain contexts and categories, hasbeen passive about it for equally long.

Those days may now be mercifully drawing to a close. Senators and Congressmen, entertainers and sportsmen, media anchors and market mavens, are all being brought to their knees by long-suffering women, many ofwhom have now found their voice, their courage, and the forums to express their anger. There isn’t a day or a place in this world where patronising

patrimony isn’t on display, exemplified recently by the alarm in Japan from male politicians when their female colleague brought hernew-born son to work. The dice is loaded against women.

While a few women made light of male advances – “If you wear ashort enough skirt, the party will come to you,” said Dorothy Parker, after bemoaning that “men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” – the majority were subjected to the unwanted and loathsome burden of masculineconcupiscence, not male sense. On their part, many men comfort themselvesthat they are good for war, not love, an emotion that requires both sense and sensibilities. “God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately notenough blood supply to run both at the same time,” explained Robin Williams.

Love and sex ought to be a two-way treat. Men tend to read too much into awoman’s language – body language, bawdy language, and indeed any language– including when they are tongue-tied, which they often are when faced withgross male behaviour. Most notably this includes the self-deceptive assumptionthat no means yes, a trope that has been milked to death in Bollywood movies.No means no. As the comedian Chris Rock once said “There are only threethings women need in life: food, water and compliments.” If they want anything else, they’ll let the men know.

Sex And The Seedy

Chidanand.Rajghatta@timesgroup.com

Masculine concupiscence isfinally meeting its come uppance

Chief minister YogiAdityanath’s plan to build a Ram statue comes from the partywhich for 30 years hashammered us with the

“pseudo-secularism” of other parties.There was a time when we thought

BJP knew the meaning of secularism.When it said that the Haj subsidy amounts to appeasement, we agreed. In2012, even the Supreme Court set in placea process to dismantle the subsidy.

But BJP’s intent was different – to impose Hindutva, a collectivist politicalideology derived from a distorted understanding of Hinduism. Instead ofseparating the state from religion, BJPhas been stoking the Ram temple issueand imposing bans on cow slaughter.Even if it were true that Hindus don’t eat beef, BJP’s imposition of its beliefsthrough the machinery of governmentwouldn’t pass muster as an example of‘genuine’ secularism.

So, while we can agree that Congressis pseudo-secular, BJP is no role modelin this regard. We need to go back to the basics.

The idea of divine right of kingsended in England with the 1688 GloriousRevolution. As a corollary, in 1689, JohnLocke set out the principle of separationof state and religion – that God “prescribedunto His followers no new and peculiarform of government, nor put He thesword into any magistrate’s hand.”

This separation of two key juris-dictions in our life: religion and state, hasthereafter been a foundational principleof Western civilisation. Without it, theChurch may well have vetoed scientificprogress and the West would haveremained poor. Jefferson and Madisonincorporated this principle into the firstamendment to the American Constitutionthat “Congress shall make no law respect-ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

And India? It is true that kings in ancient India were tolerant and hostedmultiple religions (including multiple

sects of Hinduism) but this can’t qualifyas genuine secularism since the kings also claimed a divine lineage – and thusdivine rights.

Upon gaining independence ourfounding fathers tried to graft the Westernconcept of secularism into our Constitu-tion,but mangled it up. Thus, our directiveprinciples include a policy that, in the weirdest guise – of scientific animal husbandry – seeks to impose a set of reli-gious beliefs on the people; and the Consti-tution refers to minorities and castes. Ourgovernments continued to enact religiouslaws, manage religious bodies and spendtaxpayer funds on religious events.

Today, the UP government has takena huge step backward. It wants to build astatue of Ram, a Hindu god. Some intellectuals are saying that the statue is justified as it will increase state revenues through “religious tourism”.

But we must note that at least some ofthe taxes used in this statue would amount to forcible extraction from those

who do not believe in Ram. It is hard towork out the difference between suchtaxes and the much hated jizya thatBJP’s founders railed against.

Genuine Hindus should be alarmed:wouldn’t the Ram statue be polluted bysuch plunder from non-believers? Infact, this situation is similar to what theSupreme Court said in 2012 in relation tothe Haj subsidy, that “if all the facts aremade known, a good many of the pilgrims would not be very comfortablein the knowledge that their Haj is fundedto a substantial extent by the govern-

ment.” As a result, processes are in place to abolish the Haj subsidy by 2022.The Supreme Court should now comeout firmly against the use of taxes tosupport any religious activity.

Parliament must also clarify thismatter, preferably through a constitu-tional amendment. Swarna Bharat Partyis committed to such a clarification, including the abolition of directive principles and all religious Acts.

A government exists solely to provideus with public goods – things that we cannot produce or maintain on our own.The government is best visualised as astreet sweeper, security guard and umpire– all rolled into one. Good governancefocusses on these core functions. Thestate has no business to dabble with the multiplicity of ever-changing beliefsof the people. Citizens are competentenough to pay for their own gods.

Adityanath has full rights to his faithin his private capacity even as he servesas chief minister. All our party is sayingis that he can’t use the machine ofgovernment to promote his faith. He canbuild a huge Ram statue if he likes, but athis own expense on his own private land.

Our party objects not just to BJP’s andCongress’s attacks on secularism. ThePresident of India is also implicatedwhenever he hosts a religious event. He iswelcome to host Iftar or any other event –but at his own expense. And wouldn’t itsend the right signal if he chooses insteadto attend, uninvited, the Iftar meal ofthe poorest Muslim he can find? Don’t religious leaders tell us that the way toGod is through serving the poor?

One last related matter: What aboutthe thousands of non-religious statuesbuilt by governments? We believe thatstatues of important historical figurescan legitimately be built by the state, butonly in extremely exceptional circum-stances. If built, such statues should be modest and serve an educational purpose,such as in a museum or in Parliament. Building extravagant statues of Shivaji,even of Sardar Patel or Gandhi, while millions of poor remain hungry, is notconsistent with the role of government.The writer is a leader of Swarna Bharat Party

Who’s Pseudo-Secular Now?Sure, Yogi Adityanath, do build a Ram statue – but with your own money

Sanjeev Sabhlok

Processes are in place toabolish the Haj subsidy by2022. The Supreme Courtshould now come out firmlyagainst the use of taxes tosupport any religious activity

There is no reason for India to be influenced by US FederalCommunications Commission chairman Ajit Pai’s proposalto repeal net neutrality, the principle of a free and open internet

that treats all data packets, content and applications alike, in deferenceto constant pestering by broadband companies. Net neutrality isanathema to telecom service providers, preventing them from choosingwho to speed up and, by implication, slow down, or charge a premiumfrom content providers for preferential treatment. Borrowing ananalogy from power sector where customers pay for each unit of

electricity consumed irrespective of appliance,the same principle should apply to internet data. Prioritising big company data at the expense of startups kills competition, stifles innovation and creates monopolies.

Without net neutrality, the next big internetidea incubating in a garage or university dormcould start with a fundamental disadvantage

that Facebook and YouTube did not encounter at birth. India, like the US under Barack Obama, had sealed the debate after telecom regu-lator TRAI ruled in February 2016 that differentiation of data on thebasis of content was discriminatory. But India’s prospects certainlylook brighter now going by Union telecom minister Ravi ShankarPrasad’s statement that “walled gardens cannot be allowed”.

Those opposing net neutrality in India have a deceptively simplepitch: that providing a few applications free of charge can promoteinternet penetration. But why not provide free access to the entireinternet as Indian telecom companies have already done throughincentives like limited data packs? Pai claims disingenuously that“FCC will no longer be in the business of micromanaging businessmodels and preemptively prohibiting services and applications andproducts that could be pro-competitive.” However, leaving it to bigbusiness to decide what is pro-competitive is a bit like asking the foxto guard the hen coop.

No To VIP DataNet neutrality enables competition and

innovation, India must not change its posture

THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAIMONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 201712 AN EPIPHANY OF IDEAS

No one and nothing, gets left out.This is because inclusiveness isthe essence of Indic philosophy.

Not only every object and every living being; all attributes are beingconsidered. So, the concept of inclusive-ness applies to the physical and mentalplanes and much beyond, that may yet beinconceivable to the human mind. Evenwhen it comes to rituals, this concept ismade functional.

For example, the Sanskrit term‘svaha’ is used for offering or dedicating aparticular item to a specific deity who isbeing invoked during the ritual. But theinteresting part is that, the attribute ofdedication itself is worshipped, too. Andin that context, when an item is dedicatedto ‘dedication’, the chanting is ‘svahayaisvaha’. When the mother of the universeis conceptualised as being surrounded by64 yoginis, ‘svaha’ is considered to be one

of them. What is Kali? As Ramakrishna and

Vivekananda explained, she is the symbol of creative destruction. What isunique in Indic philosophy, as EM Forster pointed out, is that the creator isalso the destroyer. In the words of TSEliot, “What we call the be-ginning is often the end and tomake an end, is to make a beginning.” This concept ofcreative destruction encompa-sses anger, aggression and forceon the one hand and mercy,kindness and love on the other.When the destructive part isdormant, latent aggressionturns to a constructive directionas generosity and large heartedness – thus, the feet ofKali is placed on the chest of Shiva.Destruction then turns into freshcreation. Realising this, a true devoteemay become indifferent to life and death.

that we try to avoid, we overcome all ourinhibitions. For impurity, too, has a placein the vast framework of inclusiveness.

The one who ceases to see distinctionbetween purity and impurity, benefit andloss, and life and death – among otherdualities – is said to have realised theultimate truth. Ramakrishna refers toan example of a realised soul eatingalong with dogs from a dustbin. One isimmersed in the ocean of Brahmn; so forhim, equality exists everywhere. There isso much diversity, seemingly unrelatedphenomena, but somewhere, they are all connected and they are all one andthe same.

If a sizeable percentage of the popula-tion in the world would believe in equality,then poverty, crime and selfish deeds willnot be able to survive. As a visitor to theworld, we can give what we can; in return,life offers us the opportunity to realise theprinciple of ultimate equality.

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

Chinnamasta, who is also Buddhistgoddess Vajrabarahi, represents immortality and the truth that evenwhen the head is detached from the body,life exists. Beneath her feet are a couplein union, Madan and Rati, symbolisingthat the immortality she represents is

beyond procreation, which, to acommon man, appears likeimmortality, and thus he engages himself in leavingbehind his impression when heis gone. An enlightened person’sobjective is to enter that eternalconsciousness which thegoddess symbolises.

Death, ugliness and in-auspiciousness are some thingswe would like to avoid – butwhen we talk about all-inclusive-

ness, nothing can be left out. Hence,Dhumavati, ‘The Inauspicious One’,appears as one of the 10 manifestations ofthe goddess. By venerating something

Celebrate The Auspicious And The InauspiciousArup Mitra

thespeaking

tree

dilbert

BILL KRISTOL

If terror groups are to be defeated, in a nation likePakistan, the government will have to be persuaded to

deal with those in their midst who are complicit

A thought for today

On the heels of a fierce debate, UnionCabinet on Friday announced the datesfor the winter session. It will start on December 15, a day after polling ends inGujarat, and have 14 sittings over 22 days. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union minister for minority affairs, explains the government’s version for the delay in commencing the winter session ofParliament to Pratigyan Das:

■ What was the controversyregarding winter session ofParliament all about?

Well, there is no controversy atall. And those who are trying to create aconfusion about it are either clueless about the history of parliamentary demo-cracy and election or are just trying tocreate a hue and cry over nothing. It isunfortunate that Congress is making anon-issue a big issue. A democratic set uphas a specific process, and in fact if anelection coincides with the sessions,political parties request to defer the datesof Parliament session so that politicalleaders can give time to campaigning. Itbecomes difficult for parliamentarians toconcentrate both on campaigning and attending session at the same time. How-ever, surprisingly, this is for the first timethat Congress and some others were demanding the session to go along withthe elections. Besides, it’s not unusual todefer or shorten Parliament sessions. Inthe past, even Budget sessions have beenshortened during general elections.■ But why were dates not recommen-ded by Cabinet till Friday?

We need to understand that electionsand Parliament sessions can’t and shouldn’t overlap with each other. Bothare part of our constitutional commit-ment and if they overlap, we will fail to dojustice to our voters and the august house.Moreover, dates of elections are not decided by the government. The ElectionCommission decides it taking various factors into consideration. In the winter

session of Parliament, oppositionwill get a befitting reply to every question they pose in the House.■ Opposition alleged thatgovernment was postponing

the session as it fears a backlash on GST and demonetisation. What isyour take?

Well, let me put facts in place. On GST,we have had over six discussions on thefloor of the House. So is the case withAadhaar. Besides, there have beendiscussions in the Parliament and selectcommittee as well. We have discussedother issues as well. But still if oppo-sition wants to raise any issue, weare open to discuss and reply asper the rules of the House. Hav-ing said that I feel Congress isdemanding a session not forthe sake of discussion but toinfluence Gujarat electionthrough speeches in theParliament. ■ TMC says thereshould be a fixed calendar for the ses-sions of Parliament.What is your view?

Fixed calendar can be possible if wego ahead with simultaneous election –one nation, one election. With differentstates going for polls on different dates, itis impractical to fix dates for sessions.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has beentalking about simultaneous election and it’s an ideal deal as well but there hasto be a consensus among the politicalparties to get a nod on it. ■ There are also reports that your government plans to introduce Triple Talaq Bill in this session.

Triple Talaq is a social evil and it has nothing to do with

religion. The apexcourt has already called it unconstitu-tional and illegal. So,there have been

demands from several quarters to makea law to abolish it. In the light of the Supreme Court verdict, we are sincerelymulling over it. ■ Is it a step forward towards uniform civil code?

Well as far as UCC is concerned, theSupreme Court has directed everygovernment to create a consensus on itby discussing with all stakeholders. Thelaw commission has been working on itand it will be introduced if there is aconsensus among all. But then we alsoneed to understand that UCC doesn’t mean it will curtail the freedom andpractices of any religion. ■ But will it be a reality in this government?

This is a government of reform. Our government is bringing reforms,performing and transforming. We havebrought in big reforms. But it’s too earlyto say about UCC. ■ What are your views on RahulGandhi’s elevation?

At present, Congress is on a ventilatorand Rahul Gandhi is on an elevator. Theparty that is surviving on ventilatorcan’t be expected to revive despite theelevation of Rahul Gandhi. ■ Nitish Kumar has called for reser-vations in private sector. Your views?

On reservation, opinions vary frompeople to people. But it is also a fact that asection of the society is still backwardand requires opportunity to come to themainstream. We are committed towardsequal opportunity to all sections of thesociety.

‘Congress wants winter session to influence Gujarat polls... fixed calendar possible with simultaneous elections’

CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOIMumbaiBS PubDate: 27-11-2017 Zone: MumbaiCity Edition: 1 Page: TOIMEDIT User: kanakkottu.narayanan Time: 11-26-2017 22:24 Color: CMYK

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