Category: Columns

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Enough said

Of flying chariots and other ‘scientific’ claims

If the claims in the recent Indian Science Congress were to be believed, ancient India had invented and discovered everything.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I don’t understand this. If India was really as evolved as all that, where did all the knowledge go? Worse still, why are we such an unevolved species now, when we have technology at our fingertips?

I have been following news reports about the Indian Science Congress held recently in Mumbai, and I am amused and bewildered by turns. The scientists attending this Congress must have been even more bewildered by the goings-on.

Here’s why. If the claims made during this event are anything to go by, the India of yore achieved the unimaginable. Take flying, for starters. As per one claim, Indians had flying devices that not just roamed the skies from one end of the universe to the other, they also hopped planets and were able to fly sideways and backwards. And here we are in present-day India, our flights stalled for hours and passengers stranded when their standard issue plane is able to fly in no direction, including flying forward.

Then somebody else spoke with authority of ancient Indian doctors performing miracle cures and conducting the most advanced surgeries with basic tools.

A Lucknow-based scientist said India knew about America years before Columbus supposedly discovered it in the 15th Century. According to the scientist, not just India, but all of Asia was aware of America long before Columbus. (I wonder who will break the news to US President Barack Obama when he arrives here for the R-Day celebrations).

And then I began to wonder, if we were all that wonderful in the ancient years, at what point did we start losing this information? How is it possible that entire generations became slowly ignorant of their predecessors’ great discoveries and inventions? Surely there must be some record in existence somewhere that documents all these ‘facts’ that were laid out at the Congress? Where is the proof that all this happened?

And assuming that all of this was true, it is a shameful state of affairs that today, we are unable to solve murders that are years old. We cannot contain our pollution levels and we have no concept of population control. We don’t know how to treat our old parents and we are shamelessly sycophantic of moneyed people. Despite so many different industries opening up today, we still push our children into studying either medicine or engineering.

So what is the truth? Were we really such an astonishingly intelligent civilisation? So why are we such buffoons now?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.niticentral.com)

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Enough said

As the New Year begins…

We bid adieu to a horrifying year of hate and violence, and say a fond farewell to two trailblazing Indians.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I bid adieu to 2014 with a shudder and a prayer on my lips. The year started well enough, but soon spiralled out of control, with killings and violence in India and all over the world.

I am also saddened by the loss of two prominent personalities in Delhi who recently passed away. One was Saiyad Hamid, a retired civil servant of the UP cadre, and the other was journalist and writer BG Verghese.

Speaking of Saiyad – he was unlike other sarkari Mussalmaans. He will always be remembered for his extensive work and the effort he took for the betterment of minority communities, conducting exhaustive surveys and research on the reasons for the decline of the Muslim community in education and economic spheres.

I had interviewed him on several occasions, and also met him when he wrote a detailed volume on the dismal educational framework in Bihar’s Muslim mohallas. He had detailed a basic observation – in a majority of these mohallas, police thanas and chowkies had be set up in the very plots of land allotted for schools. “So where could the Muslim children study? And why did these mohallas need extra policing?” he had asked.

Another person to remember is BG Verghese, especially for the several important books that he authored. I had attended the launch of his last book, Post Haste: Quintessential India, which was released the last summer and was a truly offbeat book.

In the book, he narrated Indian history in the rather unusual technique of using postage stamps to take the narrative forward. These stamps added essential inputs and acted like ‘fragments of history’ to the book. When asked why he had written the book, Verghese simply said, “Today there is a sort of ‘intellectual illiteracy’ about our country’s history and geography. I worry about the fact that even the political leaders of the day mix up vital historical facts.”

To  the  why   to  this  book  ,  Verghese  had   quite   simply   put  across that today  there  seems to  be  some  sort of  a  “intellectual  illiteracy”     about  our  country’s  geography and   history  ,  and   he  worries  about  this    trend when  even the   political  leaders of   day    mix  up     vital    historical  facts  .

Verghese’s book can do a great service to the young, as it talks about India’s diversity in a very interactive way, and delves into details of the country’s tribes and their traditions. It also addresses little-known figments of history and clears religious misconceptions – books like this one lessen the divide among men and help shrink regional and religious gaps. More importantly, this book reflects the very idea and true spirit of India.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Featured image courtesy www.bbc.com)

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Enough said

As Christmas nears…

Why are Christians in several parts of the country being persecuted? Is this trend a coincidence or a systematic design?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Recently, I got in touch with a prominent Christian leader, John Dayal, for his reaction on the destruction of St. Sebastian’s Church in East Delhi. He was very upset by the manner in which the Church was found burnt and destroyed.

He also said that for the last few months (from the summer of 2014, to be precise), there had been systematic attempts to attack the Christian community in the country. “In Madhya Pradesh, on November 30, two house churches in Annupur district were attacked,” he said. “Chhattisgarh has particularly witnessed regular and repeated attacks on the fundamental rights of the minority Christian community.

“Most recently, local politico organisation such as the VHP are pressurizing local Catholic missionaries to put up pictures of Goddess Saraswati in their educational institutions. Catholic schools are under pressure to rename the principals in their schools, as ‘Pracharya’, or ‘Up-pracharya’, instead of the term ‘Father’, which is usually used,” he said.

Dayal added that the entry and propaganda by Christian missionaries is banned in more than 50 villages of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region by the local gram panchayats since late May. Elsewhere, in Odisha’s Deggarh district, several tribal Christian families were excommunicated on April 28 allegedly at the behest of religious extremists. “Three Christian families were excommunicated and deprived from enjoying common facilities of the village road, water and forest land because of their faith in Christ. The well commonly used by the Christians was polluted by adding filth to it. And the Christians have been forbidden to mix or talk to anybody, to take part in any social functions or walk on the main road,” Dayal explained.

Reportedly, extremist elements have also threatened to snatch away the Government land allotted to the Christians, cancel their BPL Cards and demolish their houses if they do not renounce Christ. “In Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur, about 100 Christians who were denied rations for two months for their faith in Christ were beaten up by a mob,” Dayal went on to add.

Madhya Pradesh fares no better, apparently, with reports of local religious political groups threatening to harm Pastor Bhikanlal Dhurvey several times for conducting prayer meetings in Bhopal. However, the pastor continued to conduct worship services and later started to build a prayer hall in his land. Subsequently, the extremists filed a police complaint against the pastor for illegal construction. The construction has since been stopped and prayers are now being conducted in the homes of local Christians.

Two churches in Kundupur, Karnataka and three chapels in Irinjalakuda diocese were also damaged by miscreants.

I can’t help but wonder, coupled with extremely inappropriate utterances by ministers in Modi’s Cabinet, which way will the tide turn for the religious minorities in the country?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.lapidomedia.com. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Enough said

Are we looking at new realities in Kashmir?

An already battered Kashmir Valley is about to set the stage for a political battleground in the days to come.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

How many more will be shot dead in the Kashmir Valley before the powers that be decide to take some firm action? Within two days of the Macchil verdict, where five Army men were sentenced for killing civilians in a fake encounter, comes the news of yet more killings – a teenager in Kulgam and a carpenter in Handwara.

Last fortnight’s killing of two young men by the Army in Chattergam is still haunting the locals. How brute and barbaric one must have to be to open fire on a car full of defenceless youths. I often wonder: would these same Army men kill commuters and car drivers in Mumbai or New Delhi if they didn’t halt or brake when signalled to? How is the administration still allowing these murders done in the name of ‘security’ and upkeep of law and order?

Is this some new form of governance, where you demand subservience by force? After all, it is easy to implement. Plus, you can show your ‘concern’ later by announcing monetary compensations for the victims’ families.

I wonder what lies ahead for Kashmir. In the coming days, the political rulers of the day will descend on the Valley in droves. Naturally, any normalcy in the region will be shattered by endless traffic regulations, more curfews and lockouts, and lengthy speeches that promise a lot but say nothing at all.

The Kashmir Valley was never in the grip of a communally-tainted Government, and there hasn’t been a Hindu-Muslim divide as much as anyone would want us to believe. But with Fascist forces spreading all over the country, it is just a matter of time before such a divide is actively created and deepened.

And all this, while the region still limps back from the brink of hell after being ravaged by floods.

What will happen to Kashmir in the coming days, I wonder…

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesykashmirvoice.org. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Enough said

Why Delhi hasn’t had communal clashes for years

The recent communal tensions came as a shock to one and all, given the illusion about the ‘peaceful’ years in between.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

There have been no incidents of major communal violence in and around Delhi for years now, especially after the Babri Masjid demoltion. After the demolition, several Muslim-dominated areas like Seelampuri and adjoining places were affected, with large numbers of Muslim youth being rounded up by the police.

Thereafter, there haven’t been any riots in Delhi, and there are some significant reasons for this. For one, a large percentage of the Muslim populations resides in its own mohallas and bastis – these include Old Delhi, Okhla, Jamia Nagar, Zakir Bagh, and West Nizamuddin. Also, they do not have the grit to speak out if any wrongdoing does take place, given the fact that they are systematically, increasingly sidelined on the political, business and education fronts. They must think it is just safer, for survival, to adopt a second-class positioning. After all, who really got punished after the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar? The victims actually lost their homes and everything else dear to them, but the culprits were later ‘honoured’ by the establishment.

Another disturbing truth to emerge in recent months is that several Muslim families have been made to ‘exit’ their ancestral villages, in several villages in and around the national capital, and in particular where there have been only a dozen or so Muslim families – which have then been persuaded to ‘leave peacefully’.

Despite knowing about these undercurrents, last week’s communal clashes in Delhi’s Trilokpuri came as a big shock. Thinking about it later, I wondered why I was so stunned – going by how the BJP and the RSS normally stress their dominance by manufacturing riots and then pretending to control them, it was an incident that would have come sooner or later, especially with the Right Wing becoming stronger by the day. Who will the affected people complain to?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy firstpost.com)

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Overdose

What lurks behind child labour

It seems like an easy fix to rescue children from their workplaces. But who will put food on their plates?
Jatin Sharmaby Jatin Sharma | @jatiin_sharma on Twitter

The sheer size of this country never ceases to amaze me. No, I am more amazed at how ignorant we all are.

Call it a problem of numbers. After all, there are too many people to take note of, right? explains how we realise about one Indian among so many others only when that Indian’s face is splashed all over the news. Ask Kailash Satyarthi or anyone. I mean, the guy was doing his good work against child labour way before the Nobel Prize came knocking at his door, but had any of us heard of him? Nope. Now, of course, we’re so proud of him, we’re going on Liking and Sharing any and every news story that details his achievements.

Naturally, we’re now talking about child labour like never before. Suddenly, the little boy who brings us our post-lunch cup of tea grabs our attention. The little girl selling hair clips and other odds and ends on a Mumbai local becomes the cynosure of all eyes. The five-year-old leading his three-year-old sibling across the road in his torn rag of a shirt arouses sympathy from us. We stop to stare in sympathy at the little shoeshine boy on the footpath. ‘What will their future be?’ we ask ourselves before we get on with our lives. Some of us go a step further and rain abuses on the restaurant owner that hires children to wipe the tables or get glasses of water for customers.

But will merely rescuing children from their workplace solve a problem as big and as grave as child labour? Child labour doesn’t begin because people Child labour in Indiawant young children to work – though there are cads who hire children especially for their young age, in firecracker factories and sweatshops. Mostly, child labour is born when families have too many mouths to feed and too few hands to bring money home.

So while we’re busy taking selfies and tagging each other for ridiculous challenges, there are children watching us from afar, wondering if there will be food in their bellies that night.

We are only scraping the surface of the child labour menace in our country. Sure, it’s easy to get up and yell at the chaiwala who hires a chhotu to clean the glasses. We fail to understand the puzzled look in chhotu‘s eyes, who is probably thinking, “What’s his problem? Why is he making sahab fire me?”

So no matter how far our GDP grows or how many more people in the country learn to speak the English language, the fact remains that we are a country focussing on the lives of a privileged few while ignoring the cries of the distressed majority. When we bring economic reform, it cannot only be about bringing more money for businesses, but about putting some money in the pockets of the poor. It pains us when railway ticket prices are raised dramatically after 20 years, but when was the last time we stopped to think the effects of rising inflation on the homes of the poor?

I’m sure there’s no easy solution to the problem, but I believe the solution isn’t so difficult to come to terms with. Instead of stopping children from earning, we need a framework that invests in skill building and skills management, so that the chhotu cleaning glasses at a chaiwala‘s today can tomorrow get the chance to make something of himself.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else. ‘Overdose’ is Jatin’s take on Mumbai’s quirks and quibbles.

(Pictures courtesy business.rediff.com, mief.in. Images are used for representational purpose only)

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