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Is India blessed or cursed?

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Despite a massive Rs 36000 crore farm loan waiver the farmers in UP are not happy it seems...Every one wants to get a share in so called Governments munificence to help marginal farmers..But it seems large farmers are taking small loans in names of his family members and availing the loan waiver..What a tragedy of sorts? Can India come out of this debauchery ever?


Is India a cursed or a blessed nation?

An exploration through India’s high and lows from Indus valley civilization to present day.
By Arvind Lavakare -
June 17, 2017




IS-INDIA-A-CURSED-OR-A-BLESSED-NATION--696x456.jpg


India's highs and lows

The curse first came when the pride of India, the Indus Valley Civilisation, 3300–1300 BCE, vanished mysteriously. The cause, allegedly, was the sudden acidification of the waters in the Indus basin, leaving behind a legacy of unbelievable structures, systems, coins, pots et al and, alas, an undeciphered script. To rub salt (and pepper) in the great tragedy, all we can boast of is the fact that 44 of the listed 65 modern sites of that vanished civilization — extending from northwest India to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the Indus River basin–are in India!
Then came hundreds of years of internal fiefdoms, serfdoms, individual empires, sultanates and interline wars in what was a vast land composite in the geographical territory but not in governance. Then came the Turco-Mongols, the Moghuls, and finally, the British traders with military officials — each group with the objective of milking and subjugating a country which was not a country on its own.

Fourty four of the listed 65 modern sites of the vanished civilization in the Indus River basin are in India!
Then, in 1784, even as the Moghul Empire began declining, we had the cruelest possible irony of the local Marathas officially becoming the protectors of the invading emperor in Delhi. It was just a matter of time before British trading skills, political cunning, and military skills combined with local naïve and treacherous entities.
By 1857 a considerable part of former Mughal India was under the East India Company’s control. After a crushing defeat in the war of 1857–1858 which he nominally led, the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the British East India Company and exiled in 1858. Through the Government of India Act 1858, the British Crown assumed direct control of the territories held in our country by East India Company in the form of the new British Raj. In 1876 the British Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India.
Came the blessing— in the form of many successive freedom fighters of India who were willing to sacrifice life for liberty. After nearly a century of violence and non-violence, often interspersed, India was blessed with freedom attained on August 15, 1947.
Had it not been for Sardar Patel’s foresight and forceful persuasion, India would have become a balkanized State, and an anarchic amalgamation of parallel lines.
But the curse soon came back. India was partitioned on the basis of the religious majority in British India provinces and on the individual preference of 562 Princely States which had long ruled over their royal States, small and big, by paying obeisance and “security insurance premiums” to their British masters. The first create permanent hostility between our two predominant religious communities. The second British “googly” has left our very own land of paradise in suspended animation and terrorism for most of the 70 years since freedom was attained by India the country. And had it not been for Sardar Patel’s foresight and forceful persuasion, India would have become a balkanized State, and an anarchic amalgamation of parallel lines.
But despite securing for ourselves a strenuously debated Constitution, its over-emphasis on human rights, almost unrestricted fundamental rights and freedom of speech and expression in a lazy and cumbersome legal-cum-judicial system, the country’s governance system has made us the victims of the devil’s curse once again.
A conspicuous failure has been the absence of every Union Government to legislate on every element of our Constitution’s Article 51A which goes a follows:
“51A. Fundamental duties. — It shall be the duty of every citizen of India (a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India;
(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures;
(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement
(k) who is parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.”(Added by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002.)
As a result of the above failure, we have lots of politicians and their student uttering ugly filth about our Army Chief and the Prime Minister also. In fact, our previous Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, had the guttural gumption to describe the demonetization of November 2016 as an “organized loot and legal plunder” without evoking any sort of anger and disgust among fellow Indian citizens. Worse, if possible, was the Vice President of the Congress Party describing our Army’s surgical strike on Pakistan in September 2016 as khoon ki dalali (trading in blood). Pray what kind of a nation are we living in? Are we then truly cursed or should we consider ourselves as blessed to have such frank top political leaders?
Yes, the political parties can be held as guilty for leading us to a cursed situation. And there are just too many of them. Wikipedia says that “As of September 2016, the total number of parties registered was 1761, with seven national, 48 state and 1706 unrecognized parties.” And among the 50 recognized State Parties as on 5th May 2017, there were All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Indian Union Muslim League — bearing blatantly communal names in what is ad nauseam called by the Congress and several parties as a “secular” country. Did Indira Gandhi (dubbed the greatest and most popular leader by President Mukherjee) have that in mind when she introduced the word “secular” in our Constitution’s Preamble through the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976?
With one or two exceptions, all our political parties hold their own self-interest above national interest. That’s why, for instance, the only thing they have rebelled to do for the farmers of the country this year is to waive off their loans — of all of them at one go; and never mind the financial burden it will cause the state. That is why they do so many other acts without applying their mind — whatever they have — to national issues. They must be dubbed as a curse on our nation even as the people follow them with eyes and minds and ears closed.
As a result, we continue to have to deal with an unsustainable population growth, a large poverty-stricken population, a complex and inadequate education system which is a bizarre mix of foreign standards and illiteracy, and among other issues, a cumbersome, lengthy legal-cum-judicial system which is horribly outdated.
We have an economy spoilt by looters, cheaters, and defaulters. Apart from the likes of Vijay Mallya, even our farmers have been found to be cheating. They have been found depositing their zero-interest crop loans in Fixed Deposits of public sector banks and then claiming loan waivers from the government. And worse, we have politicians supporting their cause! In fact, they stop at nothing to get into the news and, if possible, into power.
But it must be admitted that there are pockets in our country who are blessed enough to think differently.
In the end, really, it’s a war between the good and the bad, between the blessed versus the cursed.


https://www.pgurus.com/india-cursed-blessed-nation/
 
India is an inherently spiritual land. Great souls keep cropping up with regularity and will keep the flag flying.
 
No nation is blessed or cursed.
A nation represents the aspiration of its people. Sometimes only a handful of them controls the destiny of the nation.

The author must be in a La-La land to ignore the sacrifices of thousands of the leaders in the independence movement to just praise and ascribe all to Patel.

It would be better to read a little broader set of facts.
 
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No nation is blessed or cursed.
A nation represents the aspiration of its people. Sometimes only a handful of them controls the destiny of the nation.

The author must be in a La-La land to ignore the sacrifices of thousands of the leaders in the independence movement to just praise and ascribe all to Patel.

It would be better to read a little broader set of facts.

This appears to be harsh judgment of Patel's contribution.

Patel had the foresightof the need to keep the free India consolidated integrated and united. If he had not been there in the position in which he was, India might have been balkanised immediately after independence. We might be having countries like Hyderabad, Mysore, Junagadh, Avadh, and umpteen other kingdoms declaring independence to contend with after the Britishers left. We owe it to Patel that we are at least just one country now whatever be our political differences may be. And that is a big strength.

Patel's statesmanship has nothing against the glory of other freedom fighters. They fought for freedom while Patel did something unique and great to preserve that freedom for ever.

Reading a broader set of facts should have a purpose and that purpose should be to reach a conclusion which is evidenced by those facts.

Let us go for a vote on this if Prasadji wants to know the view of readers/members here.
 
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I have nothing against Sardar Patel, on the contrary, I am an admirer of Patel.

The victor always writes the history, the historians have their biases.

to I do not want to judge any freedom fighter, their sacrifice is greater than any member (Except one who thinks he alone can judge and Trump).

BJP and Sangh Parivar at first lacked mainstream political icons, instead drawing marg-darshaks from religion and mythology. But now that BJP straddles the political centre stage it seeks to capture Congress’s ‘neglected icons’ to confer on itself the moral and ethical legitimacy of the founding fathers. A reinvented identity has created an ancestral longing for a political heritage more immediate than the Ramayana. Thus BJP and Sangh have hit upon Patel as their messiah of the moment, given that RSS sarsangh-chalaks Golwalkar and Hegdewar are not known to have played a stellar role in the national movement.

Bahujan Samaj Party has attempted a similar monopoly over Ambedkar. Ambedkar’s highly modernist vision has been entirely buried by the usurpation of the entire Ambedkarite lexicon by BSP. Ambedkar detested idolatry and hero-worship. Yet BSP has made Ambedkar into a demigod, dotting the UP landscape with his statues.

But history is now competitive politics. So harnessed is history to party politics that any complex understanding of the past is attacked as vociferously as a political opponent. James Laine’s book on Shivaji is not seen as book of history but as an anti-NCP-Shiv Sena document; Romila Thapar is not a doyenne of history, she becomes a political ‘enemy’ of the Hindu rashtra; A K Ramanujan’s essay Three Hundred Ramayanas cannot be studied in Delhi University because it conflicts with ABVP’s notion of the Ramayana. In the process, future citizens are not allowed to access varied readings of the past because the history class is turning them into political activists.

The tussle between Nehru and Sardar is now like an electoral contest, complete with competitive advertisements and sloganeering. Yet as Neerja Singh demonstrates in her book Agreement Within Differences, they were lifelong allies who may have had differences in opinion, but they were hardly ‘rivals’.

The Golwalkar-led RSS having been banned by Patel after the Mahatma’s assassination. But historical facts are expendable in the race to capture ancestors.


 
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The Golwalkar-led RSS having been banned by Patel after the Mahatma’s assassination. But historical facts are expendable in the race to capture ancestors.

During the long Congress rule, which was briefly interrupted by rule by coalitions, the eco-system sustained by the Congress regime never allowed anything unfavourable to Congress to come out. Only after 2014 after the present NDA government came into power and with citizens reasonably certain that congress cant grab the power back too soon, that the details are coming out in the open in some detail.

The following is an excerpt from "The Hindu" an avowed left oriented anti-BJP newspaper, which shows additional information in banning of RSS and the lifting of its ban. One can see the thorough politicization of the issue and how the congress tried its best to take full advantage of the situation:

Excerpts :

Patel’s relationship with the RSS was complex. He praised it in some forums and was convinced it was not involved in Gandhiji’s assassination. But Patel was emphatic that the RSS had created a climate in which Gandhiji’s murder became possible.

Patel did want the RSS to join the Congress but that was to subsume and contain its political ambitions within the larger umbrella of the Congress (Patel supporter A.G. Kher said as much at the October 7, 1949 meeting of the Congress working committee).

Full article can be accessed here:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-...-was-indeed-a-precondition/article5237953.ece.

To aver that RSS was involved in Gandhi's murder will tantamount to saying that the Indian Judiciary did not know anything about justice because the RSS conspiracy was thrown out of the argument by the Courts and the prosecuting congress Government failed utterly to sustain it.

What comes out clearly is that Patel and other congress stalwarts wanted RSS to join the Congress party and feather congress's cushion and when it failed, they found it lucrative to keep flogging the RSS bogey to make political gains.
 
Going back to the topic in OP.

Our esteemed member SANGOM used to argue that India is cursed country. His contention was based on some astrological calculation based on Indian independence.
I do not believe in Astrology. I believe in our people (?). I know India will prosper.

The book is interesting to read.

Excerpts from the book.

With one or two exceptions, all our political parties hold their own self-interest above national interest. That’s why, for instance, the only thing they have rebelled to do for the farmers of the country this year is to waive off their loans — of all of them at one go; and never mind the financial burden it will cause the state. That is why they do so many other acts without applying their mind — whatever they have — to national issues. They must be dubbed as a curse on our nation even as the people follow them with eyes and minds and ears closed.

As a result, we continue to have to deal with an unsustainable population growth, a large poverty-stricken population, a complex and inadequate education system which is a bizarre mix of foreign standards and illiteracy, and among other issues, a cumbersome, lengthy legal-cum-judicial system which is horribly outdated.

We have an economy spoilt by looters, cheaters, and defaulters. Apart from the likes of Vijay Mallya, even our farmers have been found to be cheating. They have been found depositing their zero-interest crop loans in Fixed Deposits of public sector banks and then claiming loan waivers from the government. And worse, we have politicians supporting their cause! In fact, they stop at nothing to get into the news and, if possible, into power.


https://www.pgurus.com/india-cursed-blessed-nation/
 
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A country can not be cursed..its only lack of values that make a situation appear cursed.

Poverty can cause a decline is ethics and so can affluence.

Therefore improving the economy alone might not solve the situation.

There is a missing link somewhere.

When I go to Bangalore I usually engage the same auto driver..a person I know for years..even been to his house but yet he tries to rip me off too when he gets the chance.

He does not 100% value his customer..not knowing I already give him more than required.

Deep down inside its about survival..we are still very primal as humans.
 
Frankly, there is no need to be so self critical.

We have democracy.

We have the right to post what all we have posted here.

We have run down our icons -Nehru,Patel and others at the same discussing their follies and positive contributions.

We blame politicians for all our ills.

We think every section -Farmers,industrialists, even auto rickshaw drivers are immoral and lack honesty.

There is no need to be despairing.

We are part of the system.

We also contribute to the malfunctioning of the system and willing parties to corruption and social boycott of the downtrodden.

We will evolve .As a nation we are relatively young.

We will prosper and our next generation will take it to higher heights.

I would prefer india to any other country in the world.

I am a proud indian.
 
It is in human nature to promise the moon to ourselves and others. When it does not go that way, we feel disappointed or let down. We blame our present environment, ourselves and people around us for it. That's called lamenting. Sometimes that lamenting even makes us heap insult on our opposition or perceived enemies.

From Rama to Ravana to Yudhistra to Duryodhana everyone lamented when their time is down. This is an evolutionary need. When we lament, we try to tell ourselves and others who believe in us that it is tough and we are fighting hard. That makes our supporters to understand that we are in tough times and fighting hard. This will help us secure their support further (if true supporters).

It is ok as long as we use that lamenting as a support mechanism, while we course correct. If we start believing in that lamenting fully, then it is disaster.

Every problem looks insurmountable. Hiranyakasipu or Hitler when they ruled appeared invincible. But Hiranyakasipu's actions caused NrSimha. Ravana's actions caused Rama. Shakuni's actions caused Krishna. Hitler's actions caused Churchill (who decided to align with Stalin).

In every force there is a seed of its opposition.

When purna swaraj was declared as the goal first, it would have been a laughable goal as it was simply impossible. When we got freedom, it appeared that India may not exist as a country for long. In fifties it appeared that India cannot come out of famines. In eighties it appeared that there is no sector that can provide jobs for the growing young population. In 2009, post BJP's defeat, it appeared that the party is going down with no young leaders in the future and Congress with younger leaders going to remain for ever.

All these got reversed.

Currently it is true that we are similar to the situation in fifties and eighties. There is no sector in the horizon that can provide jobs. If more and more growth can spread prosperity, as we have thought for decades, is in question.

The famines of fifties was followed by five-year plans, green/white revolutions, public sector driven industrial growth, in the sixties. The challenges of eighties was followed by Private sector, FDI liberalisation and exports led growth in the nineties. These responses were triggered by the challenges themselves.

Now what is it, is the question. Either the current political regimes will find solutions for these problems or whoever finds such solutions will come to power.

The land of Bharata has been the land of sattviks. Hence it is ever evolving. As long as we keep the sattvik way, we will continue to evolve solving our challenges.

-TBT
 
It is in human nature to promise the moon to ourselves and others. When it does not go that way, we feel disappointed or let down. We blame our present environment, ourselves and people around us for it. That's called lamenting. Sometimes that lamenting even makes us heap insult on our opposition or perceived enemies.

From Rama to Ravana to Yudhistra to Duryodhana everyone lamented when their time is down. This is an evolutionary need. When we lament, we try to tell ourselves and others who believe in us that it is tough and we are fighting hard. That makes our supporters to understand that we are in tough times and fighting hard. This will help us secure their support further (if true supporters).

It is ok as long as we use that lamenting as a support mechanism, while we course correct. If we start believing in that lamenting fully, then it is disaster.

Every problem looks insurmountable. Hiranyakasipu or Hitler when they ruled appeared invincible. But Hiranyakasipu's actions caused NrSimha. Ravana's actions caused Rama. Shakuni's actions caused Krishna. Hitler's actions caused Churchill (who decided to align with Stalin).

In every force there is a seed of its opposition.

When purna swaraj was declared as the goal first, it would have been a laughable goal as it was simply impossible. When we got freedom, it appeared that India may not exist as a country for long. In fifties it appeared that India cannot come out of famines. In eighties it appeared that there is no sector that can provide jobs for the growing young population. In 2009, post BJP's defeat, it appeared that the party is going down with no young leaders in the future and Congress with younger leaders going to remain for ever.

All these got reversed.

Currently it is true that we are similar to the situation in fifties and eighties. There is no sector in the horizon that can provide jobs. If more and more growth can spread prosperity, as we have thought for decades, is in question.

The famines of fifties was followed by five-year plans, green/white revolutions, public sector driven industrial growth, in the sixties. The challenges of eighties was followed by Private sector, FDI liberalisation and exports led growth in the nineties. These responses were triggered by the challenges themselves.

Now what is it, is the question. Either the current political regimes will find solutions for these problems or whoever finds such solutions will come to power.

The land of Bharata has been the land of sattviks. Hence it is ever evolving. As long as we keep the sattvik way, we will continue to evolve solving our challenges.

-TBT

Well said.
 
100% true, Sir!

I stopped giving thumbs down and give ONLY up votes; this enlightenment is because of you. :)

I can do neither. For moths on now, this is the message I get:

You do not have permission to perform this action. Please refresh the page and login before trying again.
 
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