Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharathβs religious tolerance can be a role model for the rest of the world Triple Gem Study Circle
Political and religious leaders from all countries must unite. They must start propagating non-violence. Preach peace within onself and harmony with others.
Major religions of the world like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath and it provided shelter to followers of religions like Zoroastrianism. These can be a model for the rest of the world.
The Top Religious and Political Leaders of Zoroastrianism,Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism from USA,Pakistan, Afganistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran,Indonesia, Maldives, Jordan, Libya, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan must conduct all religious meet to propagate non-violence for peace within oneself and harmony with others for the welfare and happiness of all sentient beings.
Such conferences must unanimously adopt resolutions after deliberations for utilisation of non-violent methods for attaining peace within onself and harmony with others for the welfare and happiness of all sentient beings.
BSP will form the next government at the Centre
The BSP has smelt the scent of power. The party leaders are already believing that Ms Mayawati is the next Prime Minister and there are talks as to which leader would get the particular portfolio.
One can’t fault the BSP leaders. The thumping victory in UP that has come as a major boost and the BJPs’ & Congress’ magic seems on the wane despite Rahul’s efforts to capture the lost votebank and the BJP just getting less than 2 percent votes in the last by elections.
For the BSP the next elections are a great opportunity to pursue its agenda of its successful Social Engineering. It hopes to get much more seats alone than it got in the past.
Inflation is one issue that can take Ms Mayawati to the ramparts of Red Fort in August 2009. Fuel hike and unchecked price rise will surely work to the advantage of BSP that hopes to gain from anti-incumbency at the centre and the States ruled by both BJP and the Congress.
BSP will play its cards well and hopes to get, more than 270 seats.
The BSP is now planning to seriously approach not only all sections of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath, but also Muslims and Christians and forward communities for the total success of Social Engineering.
What works for the BSP is that it has an ideology of Social Engineering with Indian Constitution as its manefesto unlike BJP and Congress that now seems bereft of any ideology. It doesn’t allow state leaders to grow. And Congress is not going to get rid of its culture of sycophancy and Gandhi family’s dynasy rule in near future.
For the BSP, it is important to win as it still has Ms Mayawati as the pan-Indian leader around and she can seek votes.
Arun Jaitleys, Rajnath Singhs, Sushma Swarajs and Ravishankar Prasads may talk well on TV but have hardly any following. The era when hardworking RSS activists worked for the party is also gone. Now its no longer frugal lifestyle, rather flashy cars for even organisation leaders, who just join the Sangh to get to the party positions.
BJP is trying to woo all sections. but it has messed up Rajasthan, a problem without ‘niyat’.
It doesn’t like Muslims much and in states where it has been at the helm, its regional leaders have taken extra care to ensure that Muslim institutions get damaged, which doesn’t behove a national party.
In states, the local leaders still retain the old anti-Muslim bias inherited from the days of Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the Rath Yatra. Their friendly cadres of VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena remain wary of Muslims.
Though there is still sometime before the elections, one thing is most certain. BSP is going to gain, just the question is ‘how much’. If they succeed in making price rise a national issue, they will strike chord with common man. Once price rise becomes the issue, everything else takes the backseat.
Inflation is hurting the Indians. And if ‘mahangai’ becomes the ‘mudda’ and the BSP gets to the power without allies, it will have to thank P Chidambaram. Does the Fin Min ever go out buying vegetables or grocery? There is a rage, which Congress doesn’t seem to either read or it doesn’t know how to tackle the situation.
Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Mayawati launches housing scheme for urban poor
Special Correspondent
Chief Minister Mayawati
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday launched a new housing scheme for the urban poor named after the founder of Bahujan Samaj Party and her mentor, Kanshi Ram. The launch coincides with the formation of the first BSP-led Government in Uttar Pradesh on June 3, 1995.
The scheme replaces the Kanshi Ram Urban Integrated Development Scheme, which was launched by the Chief Minister on June 3, 2007. Ms. Mayawati said the decision to recast the old scheme was taken following its tardy progress on account of political interference and non-cooperation of some local bodies.
The Chief Minister said the funds allotted for the old scheme in the 2007-08 financial year would be transferred to the housing scheme for the urban poor.
Releasing the details of the new housing project at a press conference here, the Chief Minister said one lakh houses of two-rooms would be built in the next four years with construction of houses at the 71 district headquarters being taken up in the first phase. Town areas β Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Panchayats β would be covered in the second and third phases of the scheme.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be accorded priority in allotment with a special provision also being made for the poor belonging to the Upper castes, the shelter-less widows, handicapped and families living below the poverty line.
Ms. Mayawati also announced that her government would provide legal assistance for securing the release of sick, old and infirm and women jail inmates on the basis of their good conduct
Officials warned
The Chief Minister has warned officials that strict action would be taken if they fail to remove the shortcomings in the development projects.
The Chief Minister has derided attempts of the Opposition parties to malign the image of the Bahujan Samaj Party Government here over the transfer of police officers associated with the probe into the Noida double murder case.
She accused them of hatching a political conspiracy even as the CBI had started its probe in the murder case.
Without naming any political person or party, Ms. Mayawati ruled out any action against the officers till the CBI probe is over.
http://srinivasanvr.blogspot.com/2008/06/deepening-social-divide.html
A New Praxis in a changed world
Hardly did the trauma of the tragic blasts in Jaipur abate when Rajasthan was up in flames following militant protests by the gurjars being put down with a heavy hand by resort to largely unwarranted and excessive police firing, leading to a death toll higher than during a similar agitation a year ago. There is a clear lack of will on the part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led state government, despite the partyβs election promise in 2003, to recommend the provision of scheduled tribe (ST) status to the community. Police firing against agitators have killed 39 people (as we go to press) and injured many more, provoking an escalation of the agitation and its spread to the national capital region and other parts of north India. The agitators are now demanding nothing less than the immediate implementation of their demand for the state government to recommend the bestowal of ST status to the gurjars.
Last year, the Rajasthan government led by chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia had found a way to mitigate the crisis by constituting a committee to address the issue. The justice Chopra committee recommended an economic package worth Rs 280 crore to address the question of the backwardness of the gurjars, but their leaders (representing organisations such as the Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, led by Kirori Singh Bainsla) have rejected the same and have reiterated their demand for the declaration of ST status for the community in Rajasthan. Currently Gurjars are categorised as other backward classes (OBCs) in the state. They justify their demand to be provided reservations as a ST owing to associations of sections of the community (βvan gurjarsβ) with pastoral work and as semi-nomadic cattle herders. Another reason is the fact that gurjars in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are already categorised under the ST category. However, the inclusion of gurjars in Rajasthan as scheduled tribes is problematic as the ST category as mentioned in the Constitution’s fifth schedule is defined by certain specific and identifiable characteristics such as lifestyle, culture, inaccessibility and backwardness, and not just economic underdevelopment.
Another motivation for their demand has been the fact that the BJP led National Democratic Alliance government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had deemed the jat community in Rajasthan as OBCs. Inclusion of jats in the OBC category crowded out representation for the gurjars from the reservation pie. As mentioned, the BJP had also promised ST status for the gurjars before the Rajasthan assembly elections in 2003, but its subsequent lack of will to implement this electoral promise has fuelled militant protests by the community. The protests last year were muddied when the party diabolically provoked the meena community (who were provided ST status in 1954) to fight the gurjars. Given this background, the Rajasthan governmentβs conciliatory proposition to provide 4 to 6 percent reservations by classifying the gurjars as denotified tribes has predictably been rejected by the gurjar leadership.
The high death toll in police firing has only aggravated the problem, and has induced the gurjar leadership to adopt a maximalist position. Offers of talks by the chief minister have been rebuffed, but latest indications are that the gurjar leaders will come to the table. The offer of an economic package can be a starting point but the state government must take pro-active measures in addressing the problems of people traditionally relying on occupations such as pastoral work and dairy farming (many of whom belong to the gurjar community).
Obviously, use of the policy of reservations as a tool for alleviating economic backwardness as well as enhancing representation has proven to be difficult in states like Rajasthan. The garnering of support across various castes by political parties such as the BJP in Rajasthan whch has promised reservations for the poor from the upper castes too, has created conditions for competitive caste politics fanning inter-caste clashes and demands for further reservation for other caste groups. It is incumbent upon political party to reverse this dangerous trend by revisiting the basis on which reservations were formalised as a policy. Reservations cannot be on the basis of the criterion of economic backwardness alone. The policy has to be targeted towards gradually rendering the caste hierarchy redundant. At the same time, states need to formulate and work upon welfare measures for socio-economic development through policies that are for the betterment of sections across castes so that the incentives for specific groups to make claims for exceptional treatment through reservation do not exist. But where is the progressive democratic movement to bring this about? The BJPβs discordant and opportunistic politics is only deepening the social divide in Rajasthan.