I was sad to see on youtube many Pakistani’s celebrating India’s defeat in the World Cup Cricket final by Australia, as if Pakistan had won the World Cup.
Naseem Shah delivering a crucial over in the Pakistan vs. Afghanistan cricket match
Many Pakistanis distributed sweets, danced, and did other foolish things
These silly and misguided people did not realise that it was their own defeat too, since India and Pakistan are really one country, with a common culture, and were one for 500 years ( since the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar ). We were temporarily and artificially divided by that British swindle called Partition in 1947, on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, to keep Hindus and Muslims fighting each other, and thus to keep us weak and backward. But we are sure to reunite one day, like West and East Germany, or North and South Vietnam, under a secular government with modern minded leaders determined to transform our subcontinent into a highly modern, highly industrialised, and highly prosperous region, with its people enjoying a high standard of living, and leading decent lives.
When Pakistan was defeated by England in the T20 World Cup cricket final on 13th November 2022, I called Indians who celebrated it stupid, since it was really India’s defeat too ( since we are one nation )
Babar Azam addresses the Pakistan cricket team – Motivation and unity for success.
Former Supreme Court Justice Katju Advocates for Dignity and Support for India's Sex Workers, Urges Implementation of Vocational Training Programs
Prostitution is a taboo word in India. It is hardly ever mentioned among people, in the public discourse, among politicians, the so called ‘intellectuals’, in the educational institutions, or in the media, as if the unfortunate sex workers do not exist, or live on another planet, to be given a wide berth, like lepers in the past.
And yet the truth is that in 2007 the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development reported that there are over 3 million female sex workers in India, ( unofficial estimates are there are upto 10 million, many of them children ). India has one of the largest sex industries in the world, a 1 billion dollar one, and fast growing. In perhaps all cities in India there are ‘red light areas’, e.g. G.B. Road in Delhi, Sonagachi in Kolkata, Sonapur in Mumbai, and Meerganj in my home town Allahabad.
There is massive poverty in India, and most women and girls enter the flesh trade not because they enjoy it but due to abject poverty, to fill their stomachs, and once in it they are stigmatised forever, and can never get out, and have to live forever beyond the pale of ‘civilised’ society, which shuns them.
They live horrible lives, the brothel owners giving them little to eat or wear, and they are often brutally beaten by the latter or their customers.
In one of his great poems ( called Chakle ) the Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi writes poignantly about their plight :
” Ye Kooche Ye Neelaam-Ghar Dil-Kashi Ke
Ye Lutate Hue Kaarvaan Zindagi Ke Kahaan Hain Kahaan Hain Muhaafiz Khudi Ke Sanaa-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Ye Pur-Pench Galiyaan Ye Be-Khwaab Baazaar Ye Gumnaam Raahi Ye Sikkon Ki Jhankaar Ye Ismat Ke Saude Ye Saudon Pe Takraar Sana- Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Ta’ffun Se Pur Neem-Raushan Ye Galiyaan Ye Masli Hui Adh-Khuli Zard Kaliyaan Ye Bikti Hui Khokhli Rang-Raliyaan Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Wo Ujle Dareechon Mein Paayal Ki Chhan-Chhan Tanaffus Ki Ulajhan Pe Tabale Ki Dhan-Dhan Ye Be-Rooh Kamron Mein Khaansi Ki Dhan-Dhan Sanaa Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Ye Goonje Huwe Qah-Qahe Raaston Par Ye Chaaron Taraf Bheed Si Khidkiyon Par Ye Aawaazen Khinchte Huwe Aanchalon Par Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Ye Phoolon Ke Gajre, Ye Peekon Ke Chheente Ye Be-Baak Nazaren, Ye Gustaakh Fiqre Ye Dhalke Badan Aur Ye Madqooq Chehre Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Ye Bhookhi Nigaahen Haseenon Ki Jaanib Ye Badhte Huwe Haath Seenon Ki Jaanib Lapakte Huwe Paanv Zeenon Ki Jaanib Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Yahaan Peer Bhi Aa Chuke Hain Jawaan Bhi Tano-Mand Bete Bhi, Abbaa Miyaan Bhi Ye Beewi Bhi Hai Aur Bahan Bhi Hai, Maan Bhi Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Madad Chaahti Hai Ye Hawwa Ki Beti Yashodha Ki Ham Jins Raadha Ki Beti Payambar Ki Ummat Zulaikha Ki Beti Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain
Zara Mulk Ke Rah-Baron Ko Bulaao Ye Galiyaan Ye Kooche Ye Manzar Dikhaao Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Ko Laao Sana-Khwaan-E-Taqdees-E-Mashriq Kahaan Hain ”.
The plight of sex workers has been depicted in Indian and world literature, as mentioned below :
In the facebook post below I referred to a case, Buddhadeb Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal, which my bench ( with Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra ) decided in the Supreme Court. The ghastly facts of the case are mentioned in the fb post, hence I am not repeating hem.
In that decision I said that sex workers are also entitled to a life of dignity, in view of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, and directed the central and all state governments to frame schemes to give some vocational training to them, so that they could earn their bread by some vocation instead of by selling their bodies.
I retired from the Supreme Court soon after passing the above order, but another bench of the Court hearing the same case gave further directions in the matter
Things being as they are in India, I doubt my order will be implemented ( except paying some lip service to it ), but at least I have the satisfaction of doing my little bit, and creating some awareness in the public about the plight, tribulations and travails of these unfortunate women and girls
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, that he was resurrected to life after the third day of his death by crucifixion, that he performed miracles, etc, etc.
As an atheist I obviously cannot believe all this. When there is no God, how can there be a son of God ? How can a dead person come alive after being dead for 2 days ? And since I believe in science, how can I believe in miracles ?
What I believe is this : at the time of Jesus, the Jewish priests in Palestine, and particularly in Jerusalem, had become corrupt, and the Jewish religion had become a means of deceiving the gullible Jewish people. Jesus, being a good man, was horrified seeing all this.
Most people who see wrong things going on all around them, remain silent, fearing that if they raise their voice against it, the powerful vested interests profiting from these wrongs will retaliate and do them harm.
However, there are some sensitive and good people who simply cannot tolerate this state of affairs, and become determined to expose and oppose it, whatever the risk. Jesus was one of these. His aim was certainly not to create a new religion, but to reform the Jewish religion and practices, particularly the crooked practices of the Jewish priests. This so infuriated the latter, who fearing that their vested interests would be adversely affected, got him crucified.
Now it seems that when he grew up, Jesus had become some kind of ‘sadhu’ ( like many who abound in India ). He claimed to be getting revelations and messages of God ( like Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H 600 years later ), and had gathered numerous disciples and followers, particularly since he himself set very high personal moral standards of conduct. After his death, Jesus’ message was spread to many parts of the Roman Empire, particularly by Paul of Tarsus, who could do so because the Roman Empire provided security to travellers.
Jesus’ message was, in a nutshell, this : the Kingdom of God is at hand, i.e. it is imminent, and will come into existence very soon, within one’s lifetime, not in the remote future. So people should repent of their sins and become good, turning over a new leaf, and that will thereby send them to paradise when they die, where they will live a comfortable life, otherwise they will be sent to hell fire.
This message may not make sense to us today, but it made a lot of sense to people living 2000 years ago, when most people were superstitious and unscientific. And it made a lot of sense to the slaves, artisans, and poor people of Rome, who together constituted about 90% population of Rome, and who toiled day and night, doing hard, continuous, unending, nerve wracking work of crushing drudgery, which stultified and degraded them. while the rich senators and merchants of Rome lived in great magnificence and luxury.
To escape from their miserable existence, the former readily accepted a religion which gave them a hope and prospect of leading a happy, comfortable afterlife, devoid of their sufferings. The preachers of this new religion were men who led austere, unblemished, very high personal moral lives, which made their words readily acceptable to the populace.
Once Christianity became well established in Rome, it rapidly spread to other parts of the Roman Empire, steadily gaining more and more converts, and this process was greatly accelerated by Constantine the Great, who became Roman Emperor in 306 A.D. and supported Christianity
I respect Christianity because it gave a degree of social emancipation ( even if mostly in imagination ) to the suppressed sections of society, and I respect it for its ethical teachings. But beyond that, being a scientific person, I regard its metaphysics, etc as mostly unscientific nonsense.
