Author: SAQIB SHAFI

Former Supreme Court Judge Urges Speaker Om Birla for Mercy on Youth Involved in Lok Sabha Incident

To Hon’ble Om Birla
Speaker, Lok Sabha
New Delhi
Respected Om Birla Ji,
I am writing to you with a plea for mercy to the young folks ( probably all students or unemployed youth ) who entered the Lok Sabha yesterday ( 13 December ) and created a pandemonium.

I learnt from the internet that 4 of them have been arrested and charged under the stringent UAPA ( Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ) which carries a punishment of upto 7 years imprisonment, vide section 13.
On interrogation by the police they said they were protesting against unemployment, Manipur incidents, farmers’ distress, etc

They did not have any weapons on them, and the gas they used was not harmful. Thus it is evident that they were not terrorists or ordinary criminals, but were only protesting for social causes ( though their manner of protest was certainly not correct ).
In this connection I may narrate to you an incident which happened in England, and has been referred to by Lord Denning, the celebrated BritishJudge, in his book ‘The Due Process of Law’.
It appears that some students of Wales were very enthusiastic about the Welsh language and they were upset because the radio programmes were being broadcast to Wales in the English language and not in Welsh. Then came up to London and invaded the High Court. They were found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to prison for three months by the High Court Judge. They filed an appeal before the Court of Appeals.
Allowing the appeal, Lord Denning observed :-
“I come now to Mr. Watkin Powell’s third point. He says that the sentences were excessive. I do not think they were excessive at the time they were given and in the circumstances then existing. Here was a deliberate interference with the course of justice in a case which was no concern of theirs. It was necessary for the judge to show – and to show to all students everywhere – that this kind of thing cannot be tolerated.
Let students demonstrate, if they please, for the causes in which they believe. Let them make their protests as they will. But they must do it by lawful means and not by unlawful. If they strike at the course of justice in this land – and I speak both for England and Wales – they strike at the roots of society itself, and they bring down that which protects them. It is only by the maintenance of law and order that they are privileged to be students and to study and live in peace. So let them support the law and not strike it down.
But now what is to be done? The law has been vindicated by the sentences which the judge passed on Wednesday of last week. He has shown that law and order must be maintained, and will be maintained. But on this appeal, things are changed. These students here no longer defy the law. They have appealed to this court and shown respect for it. They have already served a week in prison. I do not think it necessary to keep them inside it any longer. These young people are no ordinary criminals. There is no violence, dishonesty or vice in them. On the contrary, there was much that we should applaud. They wish to do all they can to preserve the Welsh language. Well may they be proud of it. It is the language of the bards – of the poets and the singers – more melodious by far than our rough English tongue. On high authority, it should be equal in Wales with English.
They have done wrong, very wrong, in going to the extreme they did. But, that having been shown, I think we can, and should, show mercy on them. We should permit them to go back to their studies, to their parents and continue the good course which they have so wrongly disturbed.”
[ Vide : Morris Vs. Crown Office, (1970) 2 Q.B.
In my opinion, Mr Speaker, you should display the same wisdom as displayed by Lord Denning. Youth sometimes commit indiscretions, which are often condoned by elders. After all, youth will be youth. What these youth did was not such a serious offence like murder, dacoity or rape, and hence a lenient view should be taken by you in the matter.
These youth have been charged under the harsh UAPA which carries a punishment of upto 7 years jail for unlawful activities, vide section 13.
Section 2(o) of the UAPA defines an ‘unlawful activity’ as follows :
“unlawful activity, in relation to an individual or association, means any action taken by such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise),— (i) which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession; or (ii) which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; or (iii) which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India ”.
These youth have clearly not committed any ‘unlawful activity’ as defined in the UAPA. They have not done anything to bring about cession of any part of the territory of India, or done anything to disrupt the territorial integrity of India. or cause disaffection for India. They have only advocated some social causes, for which in fact they may be applauded.
I therefore respectfully submit that you should call them to your office, offer them a cup of tea and some snacks, and tell them that while one can understand their motivation, their method of expressing it was not acceptable.
You should then let them off, withdraw the charges against them, but with a stern warning that while they can hold lawful protests, a repetition of what they did will not be condoned.
Justice Markandey Katju
Former Judge, Supreme Court of India
Noida, UP
14.12.2023
91-9821181334

December 15, 2023
Rajput’s and Yadav’s

I worship all Rajputs and Yadavas in India, because I regard all Rajputs as descendants of Lord Ram, just as I regard all Yadavas as descendants of Lord Krishna.
So I was very happy when a Rajput, Yogi Adityanth, became Chief Minister of UP ( my home state ).
And now I am very happy because a Yadav, Mahant Balaknath, is likely to be Chief Minister of my ‘nanihal’ Rajasthan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3MCUOb99nc&pp=ygUVeW9naSAyLjAgcmFqYXN0aGFuIGNt

My mother was from Alwar in Rajasthan ( Mahant Balaknath’s constituency ), and I have many maternal relatives in Jaipur, and other cities of Rajasthan.
I think this idea of having sadhus or mahants as Chief Minister of states is a great idea. Such a Chief Minister will ensure that the people remain on the righteous path, and not go astray. If they do go astray, a bulldozer or two will soon set them right. And if even that doesn’t work, an encounter will surely solve the problem, once and for all.
So one by one in all states we must install as CM some descendant of some god ( or if a descendant is not traceable, a sadhu or mahant will do ).
The first thing such a CM should do would be to paint all cities and villages in his state in saffron or bhagwa ( the beginning can be made with the ‘Pink City’, Jaipur, which can be renamed as ‘Gerua City’ ). This will keep the minds of the residents permanently fixed on higher, spiritual, matters, thus ensuring moksha for them, instead of wasting time focusing on useless, mundane matters like poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, price rise, etc.
Thereafter, the next step should be to build in every town, mohalla, village etc in India a ‘bhavya mandir’ ( like the Ram Mandir being built in Ayodhya ) for whichever god or goddess the local people have faith in, whether Ram, Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva, Parvati, Sita, Ganesh, Murugan, Kali, Durga etc. This will ensure work for everyone in the country, thus wiping out unemployment.

Thereafter, to check population growth, bhajan kirtan sammelans, akhand hawans, and melas should be organised everywhere, and these should continue all night, so that the minds of men and women are diverted from carnal desires to higher spheres. The virtues of ‘brahmacharya’ can also be propagated.
‘Ghar waapasi’ and ‘shuddhikaran’ squads should be organised and set up everywhere to bring back to the fold those whose forefathers went astray. In this connection help can be taken from experts like Yati Narsinghanand of Dasna temple, Ghaziabad, who converted Wasim Rizvi ( now Jeetendra Narain Singh Tyagi )
The Muslim names of all cities, roads, villages, etc in India should be changed to Hindu names ( as was done to my home town Allahabad )
And lastly, demolition and restoration drives should be started on a massive scale everywhere to demolish Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Shahi Masjid in Mathura, Jama Masjid and Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in Delhi, Taj Mahal in Agra, Teele Waali Masjid in Lucknow, Atala Devi mosque in Jaunpur, and the 50,000 or more other former Hindu temples which were forcibly converted, and restore these sites as Hindu temples ( preferably by using the Babri Masjid modus operandi ).
Once we have done all this, India will truly become free

December 5, 2023
A Tale of Two World’s

Before the Industrial Revolution which starting from England in the 18th century spread to many parts of the world, there were feudal societies everywhere. The means of production in feudal society were so primitive and backward that little wealth could be generated by them, and so only a handful of people ( kings and aristocrats ) could be rich, while the rest had to be mostly poor.
Global Unity
In sharp contrast to this situation, after the Industrial Revolution modern industry has become so big and powerful that enough wealth can be generated by it, and now no one on earth need be poor, and everyone can have a decent life.
Yet the situation in the world today is that there are actually two worlds
(1) the world of the developed countries i.e. North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and now China, where most people are relatively rich, and
(2) the world of the underdeveloped countries, which comprise the majority of the world’s population, where the vast majority of the people are poor.
I have explained in the articles and video below that there is a secret, unwritten, and unspoken rule in the developed countries that underdeveloped countries must not be allowed to become developed, for if they do, the industries of the developed countries, which have expensive labour, will not be able to withstand the competition from those of the underdeveloped countries, which have cheap labour, and then the former will have to close down, throwing millions of workers out of employment.
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-on-dr-pervez-hoodbhoys-superficial-understanding/
Dr Faizi’s fatuity

The developed countries no doubt have disputes amongst themselves, such as the present one between USA and Europe on the one hand, and China and Russia on the other. But when it comes to the underdeveloped countries they gang up, to prevent these countries becoming developed, for the reason abovementioned.
And how do they prevent it ?
They prevent it by making the people of these countries fight each other in the name of religion, caste, race or language, using their local agents e.g. the political leaders in these countries, who polarise society and incite hatred between local communities.

https://indicanews.com/the-puppeteer-and-the-puppets/
The basic struggle in the 21st century will therefore be the struggle between the underdeveloped countries to rapidly industrialise and modernise, for only then can they hope to escape from grinding and massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare, etc, and the developed countries which will oppose this transformation tooth and nail.
India is the most developed of the underdeveloped countries. It will therefore have to give leadership to the underdeveloped countries in this historical struggle.
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-india-will-provide-leadership-to-the-world-in-21st-century/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/indian-century-markandey-katju?trk=portfolio_article-card_title
But for doing that Indians must unite, rising above casteism and communalism
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-why-indians-need-to-remain-united/
Indians Must Unite
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-on-bastille-day/
Also, the whole system in India has to be changed
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/satyam-bruyat/a-french-revolution-is-approaching/
https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/09/04/opinion-india-edges-closer-to-its-own-french-revolution.html
https://nayadaur.tv/15-Nov-2019/a-french-revolution-is-coming-to-india
For this, an ideological revolution is required
My tryst with Journalist Moeed Pirzada
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ideological-struggle-launched-by-voltaire-rousseau-needed-markandey-katju-2112351
Indians must therefore do their duty to the rest of the underdeveloped countries, and prepare for a long, arduous struggle, in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made
https://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-moment-of-turbulent-revolution-has-arrived-and-it-is-going-to-be-a-long-and-bloody-one-writes-justice-markandey-katju-7891541.html

December 1, 2023
Justice Katju’s Wake-Up Call to Indian Muslims: For Progressive Social Reform

In view of the recent political developments in India, bad days seem to be ahead for Indian Muslims.
Indian Muslim Community
Indian Muslims, who are about 213 million or 15% of India’s population of about 1400 million ( according to Pew Research Centre ) are today totally confused and perplexed about what they should do. After 2014 they have been politically totally sidelined in India, and atrocities and discrimination against some of them have increased.
Justice Katju Urges Progressive Reform for Indian Muslim Community
https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/fatimakhan
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/07/india-surge-summary-punishments-muslims
The problem for Indian Muslims pic.twitter.com/NSDK8Sl1uP
— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) May 12, 2017

Some feel that their problems will end once the BJP is ousted from power, which can be done by forming an anti-BJP alliance of Opposition secular parties and defeating the BJP in the forthcoming 2024 Indian parliamentary elections. I have expressed my view on this idea in my articles, in which I have pointed out that it is superficial and will solve nothing.

https://indicanews.com/2023/06/06/justice-markandey-katju-on-rahul-gandhis-visit-to-the-united-states/
The basic problems of Indian Muslims are the same as that of most Hindus viz massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, etc.
Indian Muslims must now also look within themselves, instead of just blaming the BJP for their plight.

A large part of the blame for their plight rests on most Muslim political leaders and most maulanas/muftis in India, who for their own vested interests have been, like leeches, sucking the blood of the innocent but gullible Muslim masses for a long time.
Consider just one example. In 1985 the Indian Supreme Court gave the Shahbano judgment that a Muslim man must give maintenance to his divorced wife. One would have expected every reasonable person to have supported this progressive, humanitarian judgment. In almost every country in the world a husband has to give maintenance to his divorced wife if she is unable to maintain herself and her children. But no, almost all maulanas and Muslim political leaders raised a hue and cry, and vehemently denounced the judgment as being in conflict with sharia law, and ultimately Rajiv Gandhi got the judgment legislatively nullified, as he was told that otherwise Congress would lose its Muslim vote bank.
Take another example, the practice of triple talaq is clearly inhuman and retrograde, because by triple talaq a Sunni Muslim husband can simply throw out his wife ( with her children, if any ) for no rhyme or reason, and without going to Court. Yet the All India Muslim Personal Board, which includes many arch reactionary Maulanas and other like minded arch reactionaries, in its affidavit before the Supreme Court, strongly opposed its abolition.
In fact the entire sharia law is outdated, and needs to be abolished. After all, a law is usually a reflection of existing social customs in a society at a particular stage of its historical development, and so when society changes, the law too must change. How can a law made in the 7th or 8th century in Arabia be relevant or applicable in India in the 21st century ? It is like applying Manusmriti to Hindus today. And to say that if sharia is abolished Islam will be abolished is nonsense. Almost the entire old ( uncodified ) Hindu law was abolished in 1955 and 1956 by the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, etc but Hinduism was not thereby abolished.
In fact a uniform civil code would benefit Muslims by putting an end to the feudal, outdated sharia law, but the reactionary leeches, viz. most of the Indian Muslim political leaders and maulanas will not permit this.
The practice of wearing burqa too must be banned, as it is a feudal, barbaric custom degrading to women, and it has been banned in many countries ( including some Muslim majority countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan and Chad, and partially in Turkey and Tunisia ).
The Quran only says women should be modestly dressed, but nowhere requires them to wear burqa.
It is now high time for Muslim society, particularly the Muslim youth, to get rid of these leeches, who for their own vested interests, have kept the Muslims backward and have been sucking their blood. Muslims should now demand abolition of sharia, burqa, and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and suppression of maulanas. Failure to do so will only give a handle to the reactionaries among the majority Hindu community, and be disastrous for Indian Muslims.
Indian Muslims, wake up

November 30, 2023
Who is anti-national, Tipu Sultan or Veer Savarkar ?

Many Hindus regard Indian Muslims as anti-national. But is that true ?
I have often stated that unity of Indians is vital at this stage of our country’s history, and the real anti-nationals are those who polarise our society, and divide our people.
Indians Must Unite
From that viewpoint, let us consider the cases of Tipu Sultan and Veer Savarkar.
About Tipu Sultan, I have written these articles.
Tipu Sultan is a national hero, not a bigoted villain
Does this show that Tipu hated Hindus, wanted to polarise society, and was therefore anti-national ? On the contrary, he gave annual grants to several Hindu temples in his kingdom, sent help to the Shankaracharya of Sringeri when the latter was in difficulty, his Prime Minister and commander-in-chief of his army were Hindus, etc.
On the other hand, what is the truth about ‘Veer’ Savarkar ? The truth is that except in his early years he was highly communal and anti-Muslim
Savarkar was British agent, used to ‘spew venom’ against Muslims: Justice Katju
So being a nationalist or anti-national has nothing to do with being Hindu or Muslim. It depends on whether one is keeping people united, or is polarising them.

The great Mughal Emperor Akbar, though a Muslim, was a nationalist, as he united the people
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-emperor-akbar-is-the-father-of-the-indian-nation/
But Jinnah, another Muslim ( though non practising ), who was earlier a secular nationalist, later became highly communal and anti-national, serving the British policy of divide and rule, and advocating partition of India on the basis of the bogus two nation theory
Jinnah – What changed his mind?
Maulana Azad, a practising Muslim ( unlike Jinnah who was Muslim only in name, and yet claimed to champion the cause of Muslims ), was a nationalist, as he strongly opposed Partition of India
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-on-the-135th-birth-anniversary-of-maulana-azad/
https://indicanews.com/justice-katju-a-historical-incident-involving-nehru-azad-rajaji-and-my-grandfather/
My journalist friend Sajjad Azhar Pirzada is a nationalist, though a Pakistani
My Pakistani friend Sajjad Azhar Pirzada
Casteist and communal people are the real anti-nationals, and must be exposed as such, and combated.
Today, a true nationalist is one who wants to abolish the massive poverty, unemployment, malnourishment, lack of proper healthcare and good education, etc among our masses, and wishes india to arise as a mighty modern industrial giant, like another China, with our people enjoying a high standard of living and leading decent lives.
This is possible only if our people rise above casteism and communalism, become united, and wage a historical people’s struggle under patriotic, modern minded leaders determined to set up a political and social order under which India rapidly modernises and industrialises, so that our people get prosperous lives.
The Masses Learn Only by Bitter Experience

November 30, 2023
Indian Diaspora Shows Divided Support Over Israel Palestine Conflict

100,000 Indian diaspora marched through central London yesterday in support of Israel in the recent conflict

It is certain that these marchers were all Hindus, and not a single Muslim. They were waving Israeli and Indian flags.
They were condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7th October, but not simultaneouly condemning the horribly disproportionate Israeli response thereafter of bombing building apartments, hospitals, schools etc which left about 15,000 Gazans dead, two third of them women and children.
They were ostensibly anti-semitism, but in reality anti-Muslims.
In Canada there were similar marches by NRIs, obviously all Hindus, in support of Israel

In USA too there were pro-Israeli demonstrations by NRIs ( mostly Hindus )

In India too most Hindus whom I spoke to were Israeli supporters, obviously because they are anti-Muslim, like most Israelis. So the bond between Israel and India is that both have anti-Muslim governments and mostly anti-Muslim people ( India is 80% Hindu ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoGAmk7BMvE&pp=ygUVaGluZHVzIHN1cHBvcnQgaXNyYWVs
On the other hand, most Indian Muslims are supporting the Palestinians

Many Indian politicians of ‘secular’ parties are lukewarm in their condemnation of Israeli atrocities, obviously with an eye on their Muslim vote banks.

For most Hindus, the important thing is that Muslims are getting a bashing at the hands of the Israelis, never mind the horrible atrocities inflicted on the poor Palestinians, who were deprived of water, food, electricity, and medicines.
And as for the Hindus living abroad, it shows that even after living for years in modern countries, their mindsets are still semi-feudal and communal.

November 27, 2023
Gaza and Pakistan: Justice Katju Warns of Impending Chaos

There are today two stormy centres of turbulence, crisis, and confrontation in the world today, Gaza and Pakistan.
As regards Gaza I have already written several articles and posted a video interview on the origin and nature of the events leading upto the events of 7th October, so I am not repeating the same.

In Pakistan, the situation has not yet reached the same level of insurrection as in Gaza, but the situation is potentially explosive, and may soon become a rebellion against the army, which has, after the events of 9th May, ( which many Pakistanis believe were stage managed ) imposed a reign of terror in Pakistan, arresting and imprisoning over 10,000 people, torturing many, and even ‘disappearing’ some, muzzling most of the media, and rendering the judiciary impotent.
The Pakistan army is now trying to foist on the Pakistani people the hated and corrupt former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a Pakistani court for massive corruption, as evidenced by the Panama Papers, but fled to England thereafter.
About 90% people of Pakistan solidly support former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been locked up in jail since early August, along with many of the leaders and supporters of his PTI party.
It is thus a Pakistani army versus the Pakistani people situation.
Presently many Pakistanis are lying low out of fear of being arrested ( though there have been massively attended meetings in KP and elsewhere in Imran Khan’s support ).

But this situation cannot last long. National parliamentary elections are scheduled for 8th February, and the Pakistan army will resort to every means of opposing Imran Khan’s coming to power ( which he certainly will if elections are free and fair, considering his popularity ), so the army will get the PTI banned, or resort to massive rigging.
This will not be tolerated by the Pakistani people, who will then devise means of combating the army, by Guerilla War or other ways.
Pakistan will become another Vietnam or Afghanistan
Terrible times are coming in Pakistan, and it will soon become another Gaza
The shape of things to come in Pakistan: Justice Katju anticipates
The ‘crimes’ of Imran Khan

November 27, 2023
Hamas: Some people’s Terrorists are other people’s Freedom Fighter’s

A four day truce has come into effect in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Some people blame Hamas for starting the recent hostilities. But they need to be reminded of the words of the great Indian freedom fighter, Bal Gangadhar Tilak when India was under British rule.
In 1908, Indian revolutionaries launched a series of bomb attacks on British officials in Bengal, in which several Britishers were killed.
Soon thereafter Tilak, who was critical of the moderate approach to the fight for independence from British rule, wrote in his newspaper ‘Kesari’: “ Violence, however deplorable, becomes inevitable when the rulers, who have converted the entire nation into a prison, begin to overawe the people in an endeavour to create despondency among them by terrible oppression and unduly frightening them. Then the sound of the bomb is spontaneously produced to impart to the authorities the knowledge that the people have reached the limit of their tolerance of oppression ”.
The origin of the ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN dispute since 1948 has been explained by me in the video and articles below :

Israel had conquered and occupied Gaza and the West Bank after the Six Day War in 1967, and thereafter converted them into virtual prison camps. The Palestians there, many of whom were refugees or their descendants after the ‘Nakba’ of 1948, were living in hellish conditions, without proper food, water, electricity etc, and often with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement.

In the West Bank, Jewish settlers were often driving Palestinians from their land, though the UN had declared that illegal.
The PLO ( Palestine Liberation Organisation, which had assumed power in the West Bank, no doubt protested against this, but only in words. Consequently, its leaders, such as Mahmoud Abbas, were perceived by most Palestinians as being covertly hand in glove with Israel and the Western powers.

On the other hand, Hamas, which assumed power in Gaza, resorted to armed struggle against the Israeli oppression, launching two ‘intifadas‘.
But this resulted in no basic change of the situation. Matters came to a head, however, on October 7th 2023 when Hamas launched an attack, and its soldiers entered southern Israel, killing many Israelis and taking many hostages.
No doubt the Hamas soldiers committed some atrocities ( though the exact amount is unknown, since in war truth is the first casualty ), but the Israeli response was totally disproportionate. Its air force destroyed many apartment buildings and hospitals, and together with its army killed about 15,000 civilians, two third being women and children
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15503.doc.htm
The Israeli authorities ordered residents of northern Gaza to move to the south, and the Israeli army entered Gaza, a tiny strip of coastal land 25 miles long and 7 mile wide, with only about 2.2 million people, thus starting a Second Nakba
Despite the onslaught of the well armed Israeli armed forces, and despite suffering heavy casualties, Hamas has bravely continued fighting, thus making their soldiers heroes in the eyes of the Palestinians, as well as of many people in the world. The people of Gaza are overwhelmingly supporting Hamas, and most Palestinians in the West Bank, Jordan, etc have switched their loyalties from the PLO to Hamas.
Under the four day truce Hamas has last night released 24 hostages, and Israel has released 39 Palestinians
More are set to be released on both sides in the next 3 days. of the truce.
Whether the truce will hold beyond 4 days is uncertain. But one thing is clear. It is a significant victory for Hamas, as it bravely fought the powerful Israeli forces, armed by modern Western weapons ( including aircraft ), and has compelled it to declare a truce, however temporary. It has also bargained with Israel on equal terms for release of prisoners.
USA and the European Union have no doubt declared Hamas a terrorist organisation.
But in the eyes of the Palestinians, and many people throughout the world, they are freedom fighters and heroes

November 25, 2023
All Our Politicians are Panautis

Rahul Gandhi has called Prime Minister Modi a ‘panauti’ ( ill omen, inauspicious, or ‘ashubh’ ) and a pickpocket.
Rahul Gandhi
But I would expand that statement.
All Indian politicians are panautis and pickpockets. They only seek power and pelf, and have no genuine love for the people’s welfare. They are mostly selfish rogues, rascals, looters, deceivers, and mafia type bandits, who have taken India to the verge of ruin.
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-the-truth-behind-indias-explosive-gdp-growth/
In fact the worst panauti in our country is our parliamentary democracy and electoral politics, which runs largely on the basis of caste and religious vote banks ( as everyone knows ). Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which have to be destroyed if India is to progress, but Parliamentary Democracy further entrenches them, as it largely runs on that basis.
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-the-superficiality-and-inanity-of-prof-tarunabh-khaitan/
Is Rahul Gandhi any less a panauti, a man who has only his arrogance of belonging to India’s ‘royal family’, but has nothing in his head about how to solve India’s huge problems of massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnourishment ( every second child in the country is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), and almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses ? And are any other of our politicians, who only have expertise in polarising the people, and spreading caste and communal hatred, any different ? They no doubt make a lot of tall promises to the people before elections, only to be forgotten once the elections are over.
https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/global-hunger-index/

Parliamentary elections of 2024 are fast approaching, and the BJP will no doubt step up religious polarisation. But our ‘secular’ parties will not be left far behind.
Nitish Kumar, who like the French politician Talleyrand kept changing sides, depending on which way the political wind was blowing, has played his gambit of the caste census, with an eye on the backward votes, and many of the other ‘secular’ parties have supported the move.
Bihar caste census

Owaisi is just the counterpart of the BJP, playing the Muslim card.
So what is the way out of this predicament for the Indian people ? I have explained in the articles below that the only way out is by waging a mighty, historical, united people’s struggle, rising above caste and religion, led by modern minded leaders, who are determined to create an alternative political and social system under which there is rapid industrialisation and modernisation, and all Indians get a high standard of living and decent lives.
Indians Must Unite
The Masses Learn Only by Bitter Experience
https://indicanews.com/justice-katju-indian-subcontinents-current-historical-situation/

November 25, 2023
North Indian (Hindustani) Classical Music

This brief note is to acquaint the uninitiated about North Indian (Hindustani) Classical music ( there is also a south Indian classical music called Carnatac music ).
https://m.facebook.com/justicekatju/posts/787202724653609/
The main form of Hindustani Classical music upto about 250 years ago was dhrupad, whereas the main form thereafter has been khyaal. About the middle of the 18th century khyaal gradually replaced dhrupad as the main form of Hindustani classical music, and now dhrupad is largely out of vogue, though it still has some exponents e.g. the Dagar brothers. Tansen, the famous court singer in Emperor Akbar’s court, mainly sang dhrupad.
Khyaal is regarded more melodious than dhrupad. It permits greater improvization, and is freer and more flexible than dhrupad. It has greater variety of embellishment and ornamentation than dhrupad, which was relatively much more rigid.
Khyaal is modal, each mode being called a raag. It is the most popular genre of Hindustani classical music today, though there are other forms like thumri, tappa, taraana, ghazal, qawwali, bhajan, etc.
The shift from dhrupad to khyaal is often attributed to Niamat Khan ( also known as Sadarang), the court singer in the court of the Mughal Emperor, Mohammed Shah Rangila, who ruled from 1719 to 1749. Even now many of the bandishes (songs) in khyaal music mention the names of Mohammed Saheb ( this is Mohammed Shah Rangila and not Prophet Mohammed) and Sadarang.
Hindustani classical music had several gharanas (literally ‘households’), e.g. Gwalior gharana (regarded by some as the parent of all gharanas), the Jaipur gharana, Kirana gharana, Agra gharana, etc. These gharanas had slight differences in their mode of presentation of music. The cause of the growth of these gharanas was that in the old days there was not much interaction between musicians in different parts of the country, because in those days there were no aeroplanes, trains and motor cars. Musicians were isolated from each other, and so could not create a mode common to everyone. Musicians usually taught their sons or close relatives only, and were patronized by feudal princes.
The two persons who made the greatest contribution to the development of Hindustani classical music towards the end of the 19th century were Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the former’s contribution being in the realm of theory, while the latter’s being in the practical field.
Bhatkhande travelled extensively in India to visit singers of the various gharanas. He carefully studied their methods, and found slight defects (ashuddhis) in many gharanas. In the old days the disciple had to copy his master exactly, and hence if there was some ashuddhi in the master’s style, it was repeated by the disciple, and then his disciple in turn replicated the same. This way many defects were perpetuated.

Bhatkhande studied all this and then wrote books explaining and removing these defects. He also sought to create a coherent theory of Hindustani classical music.
Paluskar’s contribution, as mentioned before, was in the practical realm. Upto the 19th century singing was not regarded a respectable occupation by the genteel society. Paluskar made it respectable. He opened up music schools in various parts of India, often sending his disciples to head the new school., He set up the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901 in Lahore (later transferred to Bombay), for teaching Hindustani classical music. He organized music conferences in various places for popularizing Hindustani classical music.
Great names in Hindustani classical music are D. V. Paluskar, Faiyyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Malikarjun Mansur, Bhimsen Joshi, Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Jasraj, Rashid Khan, Girja Devi, etc. Of the singers in recent times Malikarjun Mansur, was regarded by some as a shade above others.
The communities which have made the greatest contribution in Hindustani classical music are Maharashtrians and Pathans ( the Khans).
Hindustani classical music is often close to nature. For example, the malhar raag ( there are many forms of malhars, each having slight differences from the others e.g. mian ka malhar, megh malhar, sur malhar, gaud malhar, ramdasi malhar, shudh malhar, nat malhar, etc) is a raag of the monsoon season. On hearing it one feels that the clouds are coming, the lightning is flashing, and then it is raining.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7R4kdCi1zY…
Some raags are sung in the morning, and gently wake one up, e.g. jaunpuri, bhairav, etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU98N_4ESIw…
Others are night raags and they gently put one to sleep, e.g. malkauns, darbari, etc,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPE-bypfdiU…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sDi69WRBgA…

Others are sung in the afternoon e.g. bhimpalasi, vrindavani saarang, etc, and some in the evening e.g. yaman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR9DwGir4YM…
There are also seasonal raags e.g. raag bahaar, which creates the ambience of spring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtiQxUnSFRE…
Raag malhaar creates the ambience of the rainy season ( as explained above ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nriYn6EAq3U…
Some raags like bhairavi can be sung at any time.

In the morning please hear raag jaunpuri, and enjoy the ambience of the early morning, and at night please hear raags malkauns or darbari.
I have deliberately not gone into greater detail on the subject as I thought the uninitiated should first be presented a broad outline. Later when he develops more interest in Hindustani classical music he can go into further details.

November 23, 2023