RSS THINK TANK MEETS IN VARANASI

A three day meeting of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) is being held in Varanasi from February the 15^th. Top RSS functionaries are expected to be present in the meeting. The agenda is to steamline the coordination between the state BJP and the RSS. BJP party president Amit Shah, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, and his two deputy chief ministers are expected to be present in the meeting.

The meet will also give thought to the 2019 election strategy and on ways to bolster the image of Modi government.

The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will also address 21 thousand swamsevaks.

Mohan Bhagwat is being housed in Deen Dayal Upadhaya Trade Facilitation Centre, a building officialy being used for the promotion of interests of artisans.

This is being objected by the state Congress. The party is opposing the use of state institution building for political ends.

Clearly, RSS is putting its might behind the BJP to give it a push before the 2019 hustings.

With a  strong think tank and an army of dedicated workers RSS will give the necessary political push, and this is creating jitters in the opposition.

THEATRICS OF NARESH AGARWAL

The Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Aggarwal has stirred a hornet's nest by targetting prime minister Narender Modi by a casteist comment. In a function organized by The Vaishya Samaj in Lucknow the Samajwadi Party leader called Modi by his Teli caste. 

The mention of Modi by his caste name created a furore in the congregation. People hooted Aggarwal and asked to tender apology. However, Naresh Aggarwal was adamant, and held that caste is a reality in India and one can't avoid it.

Obviously, Aggarwal's comment is going to provide grist to the political wheel, and BJP is not going to waste any time in cashing in on the comment to rake up caste sentiments and make Modi a scapegoat.

Earlier during the Gujarat elections  Mani Shankar Aiyyer's comment on Modi had changed the discourse of the election campaigning. Aiyyer had referred to Modi as 'neech jati ka aadmi' and 'neech aadmi'. 

BJP then had gone full throttle to get as much miieage from the comment. It had put Congress in the dock, so much so, that Congress had to suspend Aiyyer from the party. 

It is strange that politicians are wont to issue such comments, knowing fully that it is going to be reaped politically by the other party. It is such apprehensions that is putting a question mark on the theatrics of such politicians.

MODI ON MISSION TRIPURA

Prime Minister Modi is on an election campaigning tour of Tripura. The north east state is going to polls on 18 th of February, and BJP has sets its sight on capturing this one more citadel. Modi will be addressing two rallies over here. In the district adjoining the Dhanpur constituency of four time chief minister Manik Sarkar, Modi will raise the campaign decibel.

So far the Modi juggernaut has been going all well in the north eastern region. The party has taken control of three states; namely Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. Now its sight are set on Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

Of the three,  the battle of Tripura has already begun. The state has been under the  Communist rule since the last 25 years, and the austere chief minister Manik Sarkar has been the favourite of masses for the last two decades. No doubt, dislodging such a well entrenched party will be some task. Anti incumbency doesn't seems to be a factor here.

Congress jitters has also come to the fore. Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has said that that the  Congress’ chances of winning Tripura polls are bleak. The Congress leader claimed that the BJP is using black money to fund the election campaign.

On the other hand, the Sangh Parivar has already begun on its job of mobilizing the masses. A door to door campaign has been initiated. The focus is more on educating people about issues, than insisting on voter turnout. The voter turnout percentage is well around 90 percent.

As compared to other north east states the population is predominantly Hindu. The tribal populace is also Hindu, and the reach and penetration of Sangh is fairly good. Around 200 shakhas operate in the state with an attendance of around 10 people in each shakha.

BJP is aiming not at Hindutva issues, but development concerns will be highlighted.

Since coming to power the Modi government has aggresively pushed and pursued a look 'north-east' policy, which included infrastructural development and fund allocation for overall growth.  

Few days back, inaugurating the two-day ‘Global Investors Summit’ hosted by Assam, Modi had asserted that  India’s growth story will further pick up speed when there is an all-round development of the north-east.

Clearly, BJP will be going at the hustings with development as a plank.

The opinion polls have also been merciful to the saffron party.

Recent polls indicate that BJP and its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura will corner 31 to 37 seats while CPI (M) will  win 23 to 29 seats.

In the coming days BJP is going to step up the campaigning. Fourty senior BJP leaders', including Home Minister Rajnath Singh,  Defense Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath will be pushed in action.

Clearly, BJP is going to strain its might to seize the Red Fort of Tripura.

MALDIVES MALADY

In crisis ridden Maldives the unfolding political drama took yet another twist late Wednesday night. The Maldives Supreme court revoked its own order to release nine high profile political prisoners . This came hours after the former president Md. Nasheed made a plea to India for  military intervention.

In a late night development three judges of the Supreme Court passed an order quashing the terrorism charges against the nine main opposition leaders.

Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, were arrested after President Yameen declared a state of emergency  on Monday.

“On behalf of Maldivian people we humbly request India to send envoy, backed by its military, to release judges and political  detainees. We request a physical presence,” Nasheed, who is currently in Colombo, said in a Twitter post. He also urged the US to block financial transactions of Yameen’s government.

Reacting to these developments, the United States said it was troubled and disappointed by the declaration of a state of emergency by Yameen and asked him to comply with the rule of law and implement the Supreme Court ruling.

The Ministry of External Affairs showed its concern . In a statement in New Delhi the Government said : "We are disturbed by the declaration of a State of Emergency in the Maldives following the refusal of the government to abide by the unanimous ruling of the full bench of the Supreme Court on February 1, and also by the suspension of constitutional rights of the people of Maldives,"

However, Indian stand was non committal over the plea for military intervention in the trouble torn nation.

GAMEPLAN PAKISTAN

Intransigence from across the border has reached a new high. Pakistan is showing no signs of mending its ways. Attacks and cross border firing has been continuing unabated since the last one month.

On Monday an army camp in south Kashmir’s Kakapora area was attacked by militants. The militants lobbed grenades towards the army  camp. Though there has been no casualities the district administration has closed down all the 84 schools in the area. The army is on alert.

The attack on the army camp comes a day after four soldiers were killed in a cross-border firing by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tarkundi and Sunderbani areas of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Sarath Chand said that the Army will give a befitting reply to Pakistan’s actions.

Pakistan has seemed to stepped up its attack from across the border. In the past 35 days, there were 240 incidents on the LoC and the International Boundary together, higher than the 228 for the entire 2016.

Apparently there is a strategic shift in Pakistan’s strategy. Till some time back the cross border firing were resorted to in an  intermittent manner. More stress was on low-key attacks by terrorist outfits and stand alone desperadoes. In this low intensity warfare, guerrilla tactics were employed and damage to strategic areas and unto the armed personnel were aimed at.

A case in the point is the way in October 2016  militants had attacked an Indian army camp in Baramulla , Kashmir with gunfire and grenades, killing one border guard and wounding another.

Such attacks kept happening at regular intervals. This served the Pakistani strategy of low intensity warfare well. The cross border attacks made heavy force deployment by the Indian Army alongside  the border a necessity.

However, Pakistan could well spread its army thin across the border and use the additional manpower in troubled areas alongside the Afghan border and in interior hotspots.

However, with India resorting to surgical strikes into the Pakistani side the war strategy got changed. First it was denial of any such surgical attacks by Pakistan. But when confronted by regular surgical attacks by India which were then buttressed by video and other proofs, Pakistan had to change it’s strategy.

It  went into a more manifest attacking mode, and the frequency of attack has  kept on increasing.

Furthermore, in a deliberate attempt to malign India it has stepped up its anti –India propaganda.

Recently ,  Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has informed Gilgit-Baltistan  government in the disputed PoK territory that India has made a plan to attack the installations of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to sabotage the multi-billion project.

This  is an clear attempt to raise the India bogey in Pakistan.

The Pakistani establishment, especially the Army, is under pressure from the United States to mend its ways in its policy of nurturing terror groups. There has been a fund squeeze from the side of America. Trump had tweeted his displeasure against Pakistan providing safe haven to terrorists,and  of foolishly providing  $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years.

Trump didn’t stop here. On January 24, this year he ordered a drone attack on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and wiped out two Haqqani network commanders and two terrorists.

Clearly it was revist of the Osama Bin Laden type of attack where the territorial sovereignity of Pakistan was compromised, leaving it humiliated.

The surgical strikes by India and direct intervention by the United States had left Pakistan with no option but to go on an offensive against India. If for nothing else, then to salvage its pride.

Thus with building up of pressure from the United States on both the strategic and diplomatic level, it is wont that the Pakistani Army is going for diversionary tactics, and indulging in India baiting.

The time tested tactics of anti-India tirade will make the Pakistani Army and the Establishment buy time, before new game plans are devised.

MAYAN CITY DISCOVERED

It's a discovery on which science fiction  and Hollywood movies thrive. 

The dense jungles of Guatemala has finally revealed its innermost secrets to the nosy and arrogant mankind. 

Beneath the thick,impenetrable canopy of lush green trees ruins of an intricately build Mayan urban civilization has been revealed.

A cluster of cities, fortifications, farms and highways have been laid bare. The ruins clearly show that a highly developed society flourished some 1200 years ago. A mysterious Mayan dynasty named Snake Kings ruled the community.

Some 60,000 previously unknown structures, including a seven-story pyramid has been uncovered by the laser technology.

Using a technology called LiDAR, scientists were able to strip away the tree canopy from aerial images and reveal the ancient civilisation underneath.

The technique uses pulses of laser light to create 3D representations of targets.

Historically, archaeologists have assumed that Maya cities were isolated and self-sufficient, but this discovery provides evidence for a complex, interconnected society flourishing deep in the jungle.

The population estimate of the community have been upgraded from 2 million to 20 million.

The team mapped a 810sq-mile area around the ancient city of Tikal, a popular tourist destination located in the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest.

The civilization flourished in cities and was connected by a network of highways. The site was four times larger than previously assumed.

There was also irrigation and terracing systems suggesting farming and food production systems to feed its millions. 

So far, the scientists have only mapped a fraction of the archaeological area and they think there is a lot more to be discovered. 

Scientists had used a similar scans to unearth a network of ancient cities in Angkor, in Cambodia that includes the famed Angkor Wat.

DGP COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET

What colour is Khaki ? This question inadvertently got raised in Uttar Pradesh when an Indian Police Service officer of the rank of Director General of Police openly championed the cause of Ram Mandir construction in Ayodhya. Surya Kumar Shukla is posted as a DG , homeguard in the state. 

In a event organized on Ram Mandir at the Lucknow University the DG took a pledge to get the Ram Mandir constructed at the earliest. The video of this pledge has gone viral ever since.

Many people took the oath alongside him and riased the slogan of Jai Shri Ram . 

The viral video shows the 1982 batch IPS officer taking the pledge. 

Shukla, however, has stuck to his guns and has maintained that his comment were edited off and shown in bits that were out of context. 

The DG  held that his comment was more related to creating an conducive environment for the construction of Ram Temple, rather than building the temple itself.

He also hinted that he was being targetted and people were creating a controversy where there is non.

Espousal of a religious cause and display of partisan stand by a serving officer is a clear violation of service rules. It goes against the grain of impartiality and neutrality which is binded as a norm for a officer of the government. 

The DG's stand, his clarification, notwithstanding, has brought him in the direct line of fire of the opposition parties. 

Shukla is due to retire in August. Opposition is insinuating that he is working towards making his post-retirement period rosy by cosying up with the state's BJP government. 

This is not the first time in recent times that bureaucray has worn its leaning and political colours on its sleeve.

Recently, on the eve of violence in Kasgang, the district magistrate of Barielly  Raghvender Vikram Singh, had made headlines by posting religiously loaded comment on his facebook.

The Yogi government has now asked the DG to explain his stand. However, it remains to be seen what action will follow. If tackled leniently, this trend can make more bureaucrats come out the closet and show their political colours 

SURAIYA - SINGING SENSATION

She enthralled thousands by her honey-voice. Millions swooned over her beauty. She was anointed by fans as  'Malika-e-Husn' (queen of beauty), and 'Malika-e-Tarannum' (queen of melody). She was Suraiya. The sovereign actress-singer of yesteryears.

Suraiya was born at Gujranwala ( Pakistan) on 15 June 1929. She came to Bombay along with her mother, maternal uncles and grandparents. Here she studied and entered the filmdom as child artiste in 1937 film Usne Kya Socha.

Thereafter in 1941 she bagged a role as a heroine in filmTaj Mahal. At the tender age of 13 Suraiya made foray into playback singing. Her first song was for film Sharda. She didn’t had any formal training in singing.

 Her untrained voice had a peculiar charisma which caught the fancy of music director Naushad. Bollywood legend has it that Nuashad saw her in Kardar Studio where she had gone to watch film shooting and recommended her for playback. As Baby Suraiya her first song was for Kardar's Nai Duniya ( 1942). She ostensibily used to stand on a stool in order to reach the mike for singing.

After her initial phase Suraiya made her debut as a leading lady in Nanubhai Vakil’s 'Taj Mahal' .
In the early part of her career Suraiya got the support of Naushad. Under his tutelage she blossomed as a singer. Under the baton of Naushad Suraiya delivered some of her biggest hits in the early part of her career.

In Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi Naushad gave Suraiya three solo songs to sing. In the movie Suraiya was pitted against the colossal of her times, Noorjehan. During the making of the film Noorjehan gave a hard time to Suraiya. But Suraiya proved her mettle by her voice, and Naushad stood by her strongly. The film completed silver jubilee in Mumbai. Anmol Ghadi paved the way for Suraiya to become a singing superstar.

Hoever, Suraiya came to her own after Noorjehan married and migrated to Pakistan during Partition.
Suraiya was at the height of her popularity between 1947 and 1950.

This was the phase when Suraiya co-starred with Dev Anand in several block busters. Their proximity brought them emotionally close and they became romantically involved. However, their affair wasn't destined to see the light of the day. Suraiya's grandmother opposed the match and that was the end of the story. Suraiya was heartbroken and she never married. Dev kept Suraiya's love aflame in his heart till his last days. Thus tragically ended  Bollywood's one of the most popular love stories.

In the 1950s, Suraiya faced competition from Lata Mangeshkar. However, sadly, her career was on the decline.  The phase of actor-singer was on the wane. Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum had also joined the bandwagon. Suraiya sang her last song “Yeh kaesii ajab daastaan” in the  Rustom-e-Sohrab ( 1953)  At the age of 34 she said adieu to the film industry. She breathed her last on  31 January 2004 after a long battle with cancer.

THE 'LOIN'OF BOLLYWOOD

His tone was soft, tenor sweet but undercurrent was undecidedly menancing. He spoke with  firm persuasiveness, and the threatening message was not lost to whom it was intended. 

In the firmament of thundering,threatening and terrorizing villains of Bollywood there will always be a safe and special niche for the Ajit. The quintessential villain of Hindi films. 

Ajit, born Hamid Ali Khan, celebrates his birthday on 27 January. His dialogue delivery was his raison d'être. Long before Prem Chopra made the genteel dialogue delivery his trademark, Ajit spewed menace on silver screen by his studied nonchalance and pseudo sweetness. 

When he spoke it was always with a deadpan face. His double meaning quips made him all the more famous. 

Remember the Loin of Kalicharan, where he famously quipped

'Saara Saher Mujhe Loin ke Naam Se Jaanta Hai'

( 'Whole town knows me as Loin')

Mona Darling was his ever loyal sidekick to whom he purred his lines aside. Years after his passing Ajit jokes are still a favourite. People love to emulate his speaking style and his ribaldness. His character is a font of double meaning jokes. 

Ajit's den was set designer's dream. Menacing hoodlums hanged around , secret doors slid open and closed and multi coloured lights blinked to create an aura of the underworld. 

In a career spanning nearly four decades Ajit acted in over 200 films

Ajit was born in 1922  near Golconda in Andhra Pradesh. Attraction of films drew him to Mumbai. He started his film career in 1946 with Shahe Misr. 

1946 to 1956 was a period of struggle for Ajit where he tried to make his place in the industry. Around this time he acted in Patanga, Zidd, Sarkar, Taranag , Mahal and some other films. But none of these fared well at the box office. 

To break the jinx he was advised to shorten his name. So he changed his name from Hamid Ali to Ajit. The move proved auspicious and he bagged the film Bekasur as a hero. 

 In K Asif's 1960 magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam Ajit played a supporting role, sharing screen with thespian Dilip Kumar. 

 Then followed a spew of films like Shikari, Prince, Aadmi Aur Insaan where his villany got finally recognized. 

1973 was a watershed year for Ajit. With blockbusters like Zanjeer, Yadoon Ki Baraat, Kahanai Kismet Ki and Jugnu, Ajit tasted unprecedented success as a villain. 

In 1976 Subhash Ghai cast him in the role of the formidable Don Lion. They way he twisted his name to Loin in a sarcastic drawl became his hallmark. 

After Kaalicharan Ajit never really looked back and scaled new heights in villany. 

Ajit stopped acting in the early 1980s after heart surgery and moved back home to Hyderabad.

But Bollywood couldn't have enough of Ajit and again he was offered films. In 1985 he made a comeback with Police Officer. His last film was Ganster after that he returned to Hyderabad where he breathed his last on 22 October 1998

NATION BOILS OVER PADMAVAT

The storm over Padmavat has brought to the fore faultlines in the community. Unbridled rampage by hitherto unknown Karni Sena has again underlined the fragile times in which we live.
But more importantly, violent protests over the film despite the stern ruling of the apex court has omnious omen . The constitution itself has been challenged. Freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the constitution and ensured by the Supreme Court rulings have been encroached upon. The defiant stand of the four Indian states is also worrisome.
The violence on Padmavat began on 14th April in Jaipur when Karni Sena members rampaged the sets of Padmavat and slapped the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.  As the film got ready for release spordiac violent protests became a permanent fixture and finally the effigy burning and hooligansim left a trail of unrestrained parochial frenzy over the film.
As Karni Sena made headlines by wanton violence and protest, and state after state writhed and broiled in the fires of violence, the central government maintained  a stoic silence. The government held that policing is a state subject and unless the violence striken states ask for help the Centre can do nothing.
As protestors indulged in mindless violence and broke law with impunity, people squirmed and suffered. Gurugram saw a brutish display of terror. Protestors jammed the streets and highway, and wrecked havoc. Even school bus carrying children were not spared. Other states  were also no stranger to hoodlumism.

Government of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana played shy of getting the film a safe release in their respective states. All this despite the fact that the Supreme Court has directed the state governments to ensure a safe and secure release of the film.
In Gujarat the multiplex owners out of sheer fear and retaliation have publicly announced that they wont screen the film. Still the vandals played havoc with multiplexes and tore into malls and smashed shops. The government was found wanting in preventing the lunacy.
The Supreme Court had cleared the release of Padmavat and overturned the decision of four states to ban its screening.

The film was given a screening certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification ( CBFC) but was oppeosed by Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh’s law officer had argued that his government has the right to invoke Section 6 of the MP Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1952, to suspend the exhibition of any film to maintain law and order.
Other three states have also, in their own way, cocked a snook at the apex court. This amounts to contempt of court. Petitions have already been filed at the court to take cognizance of the offence.

But the matter is serious. The way the Court's order has been publicy flouted by a show of unbridled  defiance can set dangerous precedent. More so because the state and its elected representatives have chosen to challenge the law of the land. This is a clear case of institutional anarchy and can cleave the nation.
 Moreover,  fringe groups can take the cue and confront and disregard the rule of law . This can lead to anarchy and breakdown of administrative machinery. 

YOGI IN A HARDSELL MODE

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath is in a hardsell mode. The product is his state, and he is wooing investors and tourist with a vengeance. Treading the Modi path, Yogi in his marketing man avatar is organizing meetings and symposiums for investors and asking for their munificence. With proposal over 2.7 lakh crore Yogi government is all set to initiate a new timeline for development.

Yogi has met investors in five cities of India. Of these the Mumbai meet was most fruitful. It yielded proposals worth around 1.25 lakh crore.

Now government has changed its gears and is promoting Uttar Pradesh as a brand. In these days of marketing when everything is being passed off as a product, it is no wonder that to promote a state it is being positioned as a lucrative product.

Theme song has been crafted and launched and for the first time foundation day of Uttar Pradesh is being celebrated.

Districts are being identified with a traditional saleable commodity. Marketing strategies are being finetuned .

The industry on the other hand is placing its own demands on the table. It is demanding responsive administration, cheaper electricity and better sops.

Law and order is a major problem in the state. Rise of Hindu brigade is also being seen as a disruptive force. The ball, then, is in Yogi’s court. He has to set his house in order before investment starts rolling in .