By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Raham Ali is a farmer in one of the most backward areas of Assam in South Salamara of Dhubri district. But recently, his act of generosity and kindness has left the entire village appreciating him for his efforts.

Ali, who is in his 50s, never got the opportunity to go to school, but what pained him more was that a generation later, the area still did not have a good quality school. So, Ali decided to donate a half a bigha of his land to set up the first English medium school in his area. This, despite Ali having only 3 bighas of land to do a bit of cultivation to make ends meet.

Raham Ali

“Even though I never had the chance to be in school, I desperately want the kids of my locality to have good quality education. So, I donated my land. I know this is little but I don’t have much to give. I hope our locality will have a better school to make better human beings,” Ali told TwoCircles.net.

Ali has two sons; with the elder one having completed his class 12 and now helps his father in the field. His second son could not continue his studies beyond class VIII due to poverty.

With 59.36 percent rate literacy, Dhubri district is placed at the lowest in the state. And this area is even worst with mostly affected by flood and erosions besides numerous other problems.

The plot of land donated by Raham Ali

“I, being from that locality, always felt bad about the situation back home. And at a point of time I realised that only quality education can solve the problem of social backwardness,” said Ashiq Zaman, a deputy commissioner with the Indian Revenue Service currently based in Mumbai.
Thus, Zaman along with some of his like-minded friends started the initiative to set up the first English medium school and discussed the issue with the villagers. And the kind of response they got from the villagers especially from Raham Ali is immensely encouraging.

“Only English medium and central board will also allow them to avail all the opportunities available in the country. Because, when a poor boy or girl from that backward region will be educated under CBSE course and through English medium they will be ready to compete with any children in any part of the country,” added Zaman.

Now, Zaman’s friend Mehedi Hassan is looking after works to construct the building and other issues. “Saurav Zaman, a university assistant professor and Mokibur Rahman, an engineer based in Guwahati are looking after the academic aspects of the school. I want to establish it as a good business model so that it can be replicated by other educated entrepreneurs in their areas and slowly the entire region will have good English medium schools providing quality education,” Zaman said.

They are expecting to start the school from the January next year with at least 50 students. The school will have classes from Nursery to V.

Mehedi Hassan said that they will hire quality teachers for the students. “We want to start with less students but would try to provide them quality education. We have hired two teachers from South India and the other two will be from northeast. Then gradually we will expand,” Hassan said.

They are also planning for hostel facilities to cater the need of the poor students who are from river rine areas.

“According to our planning we will need around 6 bighas of land but as of now we are starting with one bigha,” Hassan added.

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By Sanu George

Thiruvananthapuram: With assembly elections round the corner, small political parties in Kerala have begun scrambling for their place in the sun. During elections, they punch much beyond their weight, though remaining irrelevant most of the other times.

Those that would see a rejuvenation in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), at least in their efforts to attract attention, include the Janathiyapathiya Samreskhena Samithi (JSS) and the Communist Marxist Party (CMP), both of which have split vertically in the last one year, with rival factions of each moving towards the CPI-M led Left Democratic Front( LDF).

But the going is not likely to be easy. Niether of these parties have any representation in the assembly, even after the JSS contested four seats and the CMP three in the 2011 assembly polls.

K.K. Shaju, who is in the JSS faction in the ruling UDF, said that he had been told by the coalition that it would be difficult to give JSS seats.

"They have said that a seat for me could be considered, but the catch is that I have to join the Congress," Shaju, who won twice earlier but had lost in the 2011 polls, told IANS.

The CMP, floated by former veteran CPI-M leader M.V.Raghavan, a state minister in the earlier UDF cabinet, saw a split in the party after Raghavan passed away in 2014.

In 2011, the CMP was given three seats but lost all of them, including Raghavan's. The party now is led by State Planning Board member C.P.John, who too lost in the 2011 polls.

Another party -- Kerala Congress (Pillai) -- led by R.Balakrishna Pillai -- a former minister and one of the founders of the UDF in the early eighties, was given two seats to contest in 2011. It won one. Early this year, following difference with the UDF, the party moved out. But it has not been taken in by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the other major alliance in the state.

Six-time legislator P.C. George, who lost his legislatorship last month for defying a directive of his party (Kerala Congress-Mani, an ally of the UDF), has revived his Kerala Congress (Secular). But it is doubtful if he would be accommodated as an ally in the LDF.

"To win in my Poonjar constituency, I do not need the support of anyone, but since I will remain only a legislator, I may not contest this time," remarked George, who recently met CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan but did not get any assurance.

In the LDF, the smaller parties also include the Indian National League which was given three seats to contest last time and the Congress-S that got one seat. Neither of them could win.

Fearing what they perceive would be shoddy treatment by the Congress party leadership in Kerala, the allies of the UDF had expressed their fears to party president Sonia Gandhi earlier this week when she was on a one-day visit to the state. They said they should be "treated with respect" when seat distribution talks begin.

"We told her that there should be a fair distribution of seats," said former legislator and Kerala Congress (Jacob) party leader Johnny Nellore, who last won the polls in 2001.

The lone legislator of his party, Anup Jacob, is the State Minister for Food and Civil Supplies.

A senior leader, who did not want to be named summed up the dilemma: "The small parties are the bane of the fronts. They dominate when the margin between the rival fronts are close. Even a single party legislator has to be made a minister.They win with the votes of the majority party, but run their portfolio as their personal fiefdom."

There are eight parties in the UDF while the LDF has six with George's and Pillai's parties in neither of the fronts.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will lead a reception here for Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali on January 14 ahead of his performance.

Ali will perform at two places in Kerala, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.A. Baby said on Sunday.

Ali's earlier planned programmes in Mumbai and Pune were called off after protests by the Shiv Sena.

"Ali will perform on January 15 in the capital city and in Kozhikode on January 17," said Baby.

The programmes are being organised by cultural organisation Swaralaya.

Chandy will host the reception here for Ali on January 14 ahead of his performances.

By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai : Renowned academic and Marathi litterateur Shripal Sabnis, who had criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lahore trip, says he lives in the shadow of fear over "intolerance" to what he claims were "unbiased, objective observations".

Some right-wing activists have threatened to "break his limbs" and "kill him" for daring to speak against Modi.

"Intolerance? I know what it is. My family and I are cowering in it. We live in sheer fear with death staring at us. There is no help from the police or government - barring an assurance by (Minister of State for Home) Ram Shinde. The family members are weeping," Sabnis told IANS over phone, practically under a self-imposed exile in Pune.

Noted for his bold views, Sabnis, 64, lives in Pune with wife and two children even as the family comes under increasing siege from right-wing elements. They hae sought his resignation, burnt his effigies and issued threats.

Sabnis reportedly said at a college event last Thursday in Pune that "had Modi had been attacked in Pakistan, we would have been compelled to pay tributes to him before (eminent Marathi poet) Mangesh Padgaonkar (who died on Dec. 30)." He also said that "Modi is tainted by Godhra".

Later, while on a lecture tour in Marathwada on Saturday, enraged BJP activists protested against him forcing him to rush to Osmanabad's Umarga Police Station and lodge a complaint against two persons before returning to Pune.

"My comments have been selectively twisted and highlighted out of context by some vested elements within the BJP-RSS, without going into their totality," Sabnis said in his interview.

According to the writer -- now elected president of the prestigious four-day 89th All India Marathi Literary Conference (AIMLC) scheduled to open in Pimpri-Chinchwad on January 15 -- he had lavished "conditional praise" on Modi, which was not appreciated by the hardliners in the BJP-RSS.

"I had expressed pride that our prime minister had showed the courage to go to Pakistan with his heart in his hands, since there could be treachery and his life could be at risk. What is wrong with that statement?" he said.

Talking about the Godhra incident, which was the starting point of 2002 riots in Gujarat, Sabnis said that "the whole country knows what is the truth about Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat."

"I have actually praised the prime minister for his good work. However, if Modi feels I have said something objectionable, let him say so and I shall immediately apologise to the entire nation," Sabnis declared.

He said it was regretful how certain elements in the BJP and the RSS selectively used his statement to attack him (verbally) and issue death threats, asking for an unconditional apology. However, he said he was in no mood to oblige "the goons" who failed to understand his statements.

Dwelling on the freedom of speech enshrined in the Indian constitution, Sabnis asserted out that "nobody has the right to take it away from me".

He said he would speak against "what is wrong and in favour of what is right. That's what I have done all these years even through my books and articles," he pointed out.

Nevertheless, adopting a conciliatory tone, he said there are many good and sane elements within the BJP-RSS and he was ready to hammer out any differences with them.

"Let these good people in the BJP-RSS call me for a debate or discussion and the matter can be sorted out in a 'chai pe charcha' amicably and peacefully without resorting to threats or violence," Sabnis said, hoping to reach out.

Defending his statements, the author of 29 Marathi books - including "Sanskruti Samikshechi - Tisri Bhoomika", "Secularism Prabhodhanacha Mandand" and "Bharatiya Prabhodhan Ani Nav Ambedkar-vad" - said he is not connected with any political party in the country and merely spoke from his heart.

"In the current atmosphere, some people don't want a balanced viewpoint on any issue - they want you to view and speak as they see everything. Otherwise, after (slain rationalists) Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi, they will lay down Shripal Sabnis' (dead) body," he said in a pained voice.

Sabnis appealed for adequate security for himself and his family - a demand supported by the ruling BJP-ally Shiv Sena on Monday - so that he could get down to preparing for the mega-literary event that is expected to attract over 25,000 delegates from all over the country.

By Prashant Sood

New Delhi : The new year promises to be politically significant with elections in four major states, Rahul Gandhi's possible elevation as Congress president and would see political fallouts from legal cases involving some top leaders.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will seek to regain its political momentum after setbacks it suffered last year in the Delhi and Bihar assembly polls. The year is crucial for the Congress as two of the four major states going to the polls are ruled by the party.

New political alignments are expected to emerge as both national and state parties will maximise their electoral prospects in the assembly polls in Assam, Kerala (both ruled by the Congress), Tamil Nadu (AIADMK) and West Bengal (Trinamool Congress), as also the union territory of Puducherry (AIADMK). The polls, which would be held in the first half of the year, will have national ramifications.

The tussle between the Narendra Modi government and the Congress, which last year blocked some key legislation, including the Goods and Services Tax bill, has not thawed and is expected to continue in the coming months.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are likely to keep exerting pressure on the government over the alleged irregularities in DDCA. The Congress is also expected to keep up its attack on the government over "vendetta politics".

Both the BJP and the Congress will go through the process of electing their new presidents. While Amit Shah is set to continue at the helm in the BJP, there is a strong possibility of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi taking over the reins of the party from his mother Sonia Gandhi.

While the Congress had debated the issue of Rahul Gandhi's elevation last year also, there appears greater convergence now on the view that he should take over the leadership mantle. Rahul Gandhi's articulation of issues against the government since his return from over two months' sabbatical last year has enthused the party workers. Party sources said he could be elevated as the culmination of the organisational election process in the party or during a proposed meeting of the All India Congress Committee. The party is also likely to see an organisational reshuffle.

Though the Congress tasted success in Bihar as a junior ally to the Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the challenges for the party are momentous. It has finished third or fourth in all the assembly polls held since its debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

It faces tough challenge in all four major states going to the polls this year. In Assam, the Congress faces a challenge from growing BJP and has left the decision on alliances to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who has led the party to three successive victories in the assembly polls. There is speculation about the Bodoland People's Front, an erstwhile Congress ally, tying up with the BJP.

The Congress is likely to go in for alliances in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where it is not among the leading players. In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front has to tackle anti-incumbency, contain the growth of the BJP and contend with the Left Democratic Front, its main rival.

The assembly polls are crucial for the Communist Party of India-Marxist and other Left parties which are now out of power in their erstwhile strongholds of Kerala and West Bengal.

For West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa, the assembly polls will be as much a test of their strategy as of their personal popularity. There is speculation about some new alliances or tactical understanding among parties in the poll-bound states.

The BJP is likely to give more space to the state leaders in its campaign for the assembly polls after its defeats in Delhi and Bihar despite an aggressive campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Modi government will complete half its term in 2016 and is expected to lay greater focus on implementation of its schemes on the ground and on creation of job opportunities. The coming months will also set the stage for the crucial assembly polls in early 2017 in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Efforts are under way to forge alliances in Uttar Pradesh on the pattern of Bihar to stop the BJP from coming to power in the state. A clear picture on alliances is expected to emerge by the end of the year.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would appear before a trial court in connection with the National Herald case filed on a complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. The top two leaders of Congress were granted bail in December after they appeared in the court.

The party has alleged political vendetta on part of the Modi government and claimed that Swamy had been given the specific task of targeting the Congress.

The court proceedings would also move ahead in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and some other Aam Aadmi Party leaders following allegations against him over alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have been demanding Jaitley's resignation and are likely to continue pressing for it. Opposition parties are also expected to continue raising controversies including those related to former IPL chief Lalit Modi and the Vyapam scam.

By Sheikh Qayoom

Jammu/Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who died in a Delhi hospital on Thursday morning just four days shy of his 80th birthday, was a shrewd negotiator and undoubtedly one of the last mainstream leaders in Kashmir.

Belonging to the old guard of Indian politics, Mufti was a rationalist who never lost sight of the past as well as the future.

However, at a personal level, he was a generous friend who liked a game of bridge with his friends.

One of the best dressed politicians in Jammu and Kashmir, his respect and reach was beyond political affiliations.

Those close to him often said one never knew what was going on in his mind as he spoke.

He often praised late Sheikh Abdullah - whose political supremacy he sought to challenge at the beginning of his political career - and credited 'Sher-e-Kashmir' for creating political awakening among the Kashmiris.

"He was a friend you could always depend on. He would ask me to visit an ailing friend of his not keeping good health. He never used people and later dumped them," said Dr. Sushil Razdan, a renowned neurologist, of the state.

One thing Sayeed never allowed was somebody taking him for granted.

That perhaps was the reason he decided to tour Srinagar in sub-zero temperature on December 23 to attend official functions at 14 venues.

Nobody could tell him that it was something a 79-year-old man with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary distress shouldn't be doing.

He caught pneumonia the same evening and had to be airlifted to New Delhi in the state-owned plane for treatment.

A chain smoker since his early days, he quit smoking after doctors put a pacemaker three years ago.

He is survived by his wife Gulshan Ara, son Mufti Tasaduq Sayeed, three daughters - Mehbooba Mufti, Mehmooda Mufti and Rubiaya Sayeed - and two granddaughters Illtija Iqbal and Irtika Iqbal.

Born on January 12, 1936, to a family of 'Peers' who earn their livelihood by preaching and teaching religious practices and attending prayer meetings organised by locals to seek penance or as thanksgiving, Sayeed began his political career with the Congress from his south Kashmir's Bijbehara town in Anantnag district.

"I wanted to become the district president of the Congress after joining it, but the post was given to a party colleague senior to me," he once he once told IANS.

Those were the times when the Kashmiris were in awe of the legendary Kashmiri leader and founder of the regional National Conference (NC), late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah.

Sayeed took upon himself the Herculean task of challenging the political writ of Sheikh.

"It was something you didn't do because Sheikh was much more than a political leader for the Kashmiris. There was an aura around the NC founder. Anybody trying to challenge his supremacy did so at his own peril," said a friend of Mufti Sayeed.

Sayeed however toiled like a foot soldier to create the ground-level cadre that made it possible for the Congress to challenge the writ and command of the NC.

Unfortunately, Sayeed's loyalty to the Congress was finally interpreted as a personal rivalry between the Muftis and the Abdullahs by political pundits.

His daughter and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti told IANS in an interview in 2014: "We were a humble rural family and there was no question of harbouring a personal ambition for power that would push us to challenge the Abdullahs.

"Mufti Sahib always wanted a better deal for his people and that is what he has been doing during his entire political career."

A graduate from a Srinagar college and postgraduate in Arabic from Aligarh Muslim University, Sayeed became a junior minister in the G.M. Sadiq-led Congress government in 1964. He also became the president of Congress state unit later.

It was during this period that the Congress began to emerge as a potential threat to the NC.

Sayeed must be credited for the courage to stand up to the might of a party (NC) that had ruled the hearts and minds of the Kashmiris for decades.

He became the first - and so far the only Muslim union home minister - in 1989 in the V.P. Singh-led government at the Centre.

It was during this period that Sayeed's daughter, Dr. Rubaiya Sayeed, was kidnapped. Rubaiya was released by her kidnappers belonging to the pro-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front after seven of their arrested militants were released by the state government.

Sayeed was instrumental in sending Jagmohan as the J&K governor in early 1990 when terrorist violence took centre stage in the state.

Jagmohan was considered by Sayeed to be the right choice due to his previous tenure as the state governor. Sayeed believed Jagmohan had a developmental vision and an administrative acumen to match.

Sayeed formed the Peoples Democratic Party in 1999. The party fielded candidates in the 2002 assembly elections, winning 17 seats in the 87-member assembly.

Sayeed was sworn in as the chief minister of the PDP-Congress alliance in December 2002 and remained in office till November 2005.

In the 2014 assembly elections, the PDP won 28 seats and after hectic parleys formed the alliance government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Whatever his political adversaries may say, nobody can take away the credit from Sayeed - a young man hailing from a lower middle class family in south Kashmir - for standing up to challenge the otherwise unassailable political foes who hated and loved him at the same time.

By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net

Srinagar: On Thursday morning, people of Jammu and Kashmir woke up to the news of the demise of its Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the PDP patron who took oath as chief minister on March 1 last year.

Sayeed, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, had remained in its intensive care unit since December 24. He was detected with sepsis, decreased blood count and pneumonia, with complaints of neck pain and fever and breathed his last around 7:30 on Thursday morning.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is the second J&K CM to die in office, the first one being Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who died on September 8, 1982. Sayeed was part of the Congress for many years before he broke away in 1999 to launch his party (PDP) along with his daughter. He has served as the India’s first Muslim home minister from December 1989 to November 1990.

Immediately after his death, the J&K government has declared seven-day mourning while the Union government declared a day of “national mourning”.

The University of Kashmir called for closing its operations on Thursday while the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) and the Central University of Kashmir (CUK) too postponed all examinations scheduled for Thursday.

The mortal remains of CM reached the Srinagar airport in the afternoon and was later driven to his Fairview residence on Gupkar road, near TRC, Srinagar where hundreds of people, bureaucrats besides leaders from different political parties had already gathered to pay their homage.

Braving the chill, thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of Syeed, which were held at the Sher-i-Kashmir cricket stadium.
Later, his body was taken to his ancestral graveyard in Bijbehara, 45 kms from Srinagar, where he was laid to rest.

The PDP MP and 56-year-old daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti, is supposed to take over as the first woman chief minister of J&K after BJP and PDP unanimously extended their support for her.

Here are the pictures showing how the events unfolded during the day:

By Brajendra Nath Singh

New Delhi: Demanding that the files on the mysterious death of Lal Bahadur Shastri be de-classifed on the lines of those relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the family of the India's second prime minister, widely admired as a "son of the soil", says it been treated in a step-motherly manner by successive governments at the centre.

"The de-classification of files pertaining to the fate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose after a plane crash has begun but there is no indication from the government on the files related to Shastriji's death. This is injustice to him. Why this step-motherly treatment of Shastriji," his eldest son, Anil Shastri, asked while speaking to IANS.

The demand came on Shastri's 50th death anniversary on Monday.

"Before becoming the prime minister, Narendra Modi used to say at his election rallies that successive Congress governments did Shastriji injustice, but what now? Even he has done nothing for Shastriji," the Anil Shastri, 67, lamented.

The ruling BJP had long been demanding that the air be cleared over Shastri's death in Tashkent, hours after sighing on Jan 10, 1966 the historic Tashkent Agreement with Pakistani president Field Marshal Ayub Khan restoring the status quo as it existed before the start of the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

"Now that they are in power, they should come forward and do everything needed," Anil Shastri maintained.

"Forget about declassification of files. Even this government did not start a single scheme in him name. Neither a building nor a university and not even a road was named in his memory. At least they could have started something new like a coin or award on his famous 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogn, he added.

(For the record, the National Academy of Administration in Musoorie, now in Uttarakhand, which trains rookies for a career in the civil services, was named after Lal Bahadur Shastri after his demise.)

The junior Shastri also said that it was due to government's cold approach that the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Museum in central Delhi - the house the late prime minister occupied - is not in a "good" condition as are the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

(Ironically, this house shares a boundary wall with 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress presidnet Sonia Gandhi.)

"Our step-motherly treatment by successive governments is continuing. I have have been demanding a parking place around the museum but government never allows this citing security reasons, Anil Shastri said.

"There is parking place in front of memorials of Gandhiji, Nehruji and Indiraji. But why this treatment with Shastriji only? I have written more than three letters to (Home Minister) Rajnath Singh but he too could not find a solution," he added.

The former union minister and a member of Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, said not only the family, but the entire country wants to know the truth behind Shastri's death.

"My mother always believed that Shastriji was murdered. When his body came, she was not in a mental condition to say anything. The government also did not demand a post-mortem of his body. This raised our doubts. These doubts must be cleared. The country wants to know the truth," he said.

Echoing this was Sidharth Nath Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson.

"The Congress never gave due respect to the leaders who were from outside the Gandhi-Nehru family. They didn't even gave the due respect to Sardar Patel and Shastriji. It's very unfortunate. We have lots of hope from Modi government. This government will certainly do something to declassify the files pertianing to Shastriji's death," Singh told IANS.

"We, the family members, will soon sit together and try to find out how to proceed further on this matter," Singh, a BJP leader added.

शारिक़ अंसर,

मौजूदा केंद्र सरकार ने सत्ता में आने से पहले शिक्षा जैसे ज़रूरी मुद्दे पर कई सारे वादे किए थे. सत्ता में आने के बाद यह सारे वादे उदासीनता के पिटारे में बंद रहे. देश के एक अहम मंत्रालय की मुखिया स्मृति ईरानी खुद अपनी फर्जी डिग्री विवाद के चलते हमेशा सुर्ख़ियों में रहीं. सरकार पर शिक्षा बजट में कटौती, उच्च शिक्षा का बाज़ारीकरण, संस्थानों में दखलंदाजी, शोध छात्रों की स्कालरशिप और एक ही विचारधारा के लोगों के प्रभाव में काम करने और उनके अनुकूल फैसले लेने का आरोप लगते रहे.

दरअसल मोदी सरकार के कार्यकाल में शिक्षा के अहम सवाल या तो गायब हो गए या तो उन पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया. शिक्षा बजट में ज़बरदस्त कटौती की गई जिससे प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक शिक्षा से लेकर उच्च शिक्षा पर भी प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ा. नरेंद्र मोदी ने छात्रों के बीच अपने 'मन की बात'तो की लेकिन वे उनके बुनियादी प्रश्नों पर चुप्पी साध गए. कुल मिलाकर अभी तक शिक्षित और साक्षर भारत के स्वप्न को फलीभूत करने के लिए कोई भी ठोस कदम उठते हुए नहीं दिखे.

बिखरता बजट शिक्षा का
सत्र 2014-15 में शिक्षा का कुल बजट 82,771 करोड़ रूपए का था जिसे अगले सत्र 2015-16 में घटाकर 69,707 करोड़ कर दिया गया. यानी एक वित्तीय वर्ष में शिक्षा बजट में 13,064 करोड़ की कटौती कर दी गयी. यानी कुल बजट का क़रीब 16.5 प्रतिशत. करोड़ों छात्रों को देश की बुनियादी शिक्षा उपलब्ध कराने वाले सर्वशिक्षा अभियान में 2375 करोड़ की कटौती की गई. मिड डे मील योजना में भी करीब 4000 करोड़ की कटौती की गई. माध्यमिक शिक्षा में भी 85 करोड़ की कटौती की गई.देश की शिक्षा व्यवस्था की बुनियाद इन्ही प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक शिक्षा के कन्धों पर टिकी हुई है लेकिन मोदी सरकार ने इस ढांचे को कमज़ोर करने में कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ी. आज़ादी के 67 साल बाद भी आज 60 लाख से ज़्यादा बच्चे स्कूल से वंचित हैं. हज़ारों की संख्या में शिक्षकों की कमी है. स्कूलों में बुनियादी चीज़ों का अभाव है.

शौचालय,पक्की छत, डेस्क बेंच, लैब और किताबों के बगैर हम गुणवत्तापूर्ण शिक्षा की उम्मीद नहीं कर सकते. शिक्षा अधिकार अधिनियम - 2009 को लागू हुए 6 साल से अधिक हो चुके हैं लेकिन अब भी स्थिति में कोई बदलाव नहीं आया है. सरकारी स्कूलों में करीब 6 लाख शिक्षकों के पद अब भी रिक्त हैं. उत्तर प्रदेश, बिहार, झारखण्ड, उड़ीसा, राजस्थान, मध्य प्रदेश आदि राज्यों की स्थिति अब भी दयनीय है लेकिन सरकारों के बदलने के बाद भी कोई बदलाव की उम्मीद करना बेमानी लगता है.

उच्च शिक्षा की गिरावट
मेक इन इंडिया, स्किल इंडिया, स्टार्टअप इंडिया जैसी लुभावनी योजनाओं के बीच उच्च शिक्षा की हालत पर भी उदासीनता की झलक साफ़ दिखती है. उच्च शिक्षा में सरकार की असहयोगात्मक रवैया और व्यवसायीकरण की नीति का खामियाज़ा छात्रों को उठाना पड़ रहा है. पहले तो उच्च शिक्षा के बजट में 400 करोड़ रूपए की कमी की गई और फिर नॉननेट छात्रों की फेलोशिप को ही ख़त्म कर दिया गया. 20 अक्टूबर 2015 को जब UGC ने नॉननेट फेलोशिप को लेकर फैसला लिया था तो पैसों की कमी का ही रोना रोया गया था. आज तक़रीबन 35 हज़ार छात्र इस निर्णय से प्रभावित है, जिनके लिए आगे पढ़ाई जारी रखना बहुत मुश्किल हो गया है. आज हज़ारों छात्र इस निर्णय के खिलाफ आंदोलन कर रहे हैं. कॉलेज और लाइब्रेरियों में रहने की जगह छात्र अपनी मांगों को लेकर यूजीसी मुख्यालय के सामने सरकार के खिलाफ विरोध प्रदर्शन कर रहे हैं. पिछले 70 दिनों से लगातार चल रहे #OccupyUGC आंदोलन के बाद शिक्षामंत्री स्मृति ईरानी ने एक कमिटी का गठन किया है लेकिन अब भी नॉननेट फेलोशिप की राशि में कटौती के निर्णय से हज़ारों छात्रों को काफी परेशानियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है. सरकार के इस उदासीन रवैये से इसका अंदाज़ लग जाता है कि वह उच्च शिक्षा को लेकर कितनी गंभीर है?

उच्च शिक्षा के केन्द्रीयकरण की नीति के तहत 'कॉमन यूनिवर्सिटी बिल'को जिस तेज़ी में सरकार लाने का प्रयास कर रही है, उससे शिक्षा जगत चिंतित है.

‘रंगदार’ शिक्षा नीतियां
नई शिक्षा नीति 2015 को लेकर किए जा रहे प्रयासों के बीच यह सवाल भी उभर रहे हैं कि इस शिक्षा नीति के बहाने मोदी सरकार शिक्षा का भगवाकरण का प्रयास तो नहीं करने वाली है? यह सवाल इसलिए भी उभर रहे हैं क्योंकि इससे पहले भी एनडीए सरकार के समय भी शिक्षा मंत्री रहे मुरली मनोहर जोशी ने शिक्षा के भगवाकरण का प्रयास किये थे लेकिन गठबंधन सरकार और लोगों के विरोध के कारण उनकी नीतियां ज्यादा सफल नहीं हो पायीं. दरअसल मोदी सरकार के अब तक के कार्यकाल का अगर विश्लेषण किया जाये तो इसमें कहीं 'सबका साथ सबका विकास'वाली बात नहीं दिखती बल्कि कारपोरेट घरानों और राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ की नीतियों का अनुसरण ही दिखता है. शिक्षा नीतियों पर भाजपाशासित राज्यों का जो मनमाना रवैया रहा है, उससे नीतियों पर एक संदेहास्पद प्रश्न उठते हैं.

पिछले साल केंद्र सरकार ने शिक्षा नीति का फ्रेमवर्क तैयार करने के लिए बनारस में एक बैठक आयोजित की थी जिसमे संघ के शैक्षणिक विंग विद्या भारती, अखिल भारतीय शिक्षा संस्थान जैसे संस्थान के 170 से ज़्यादा लोगों ने हिस्सा लिया था जिसमे नई शिक्षा नीति को लेकर विस्तृत चर्चा की गई थी. शिक्षा पर लम्बे समय से काम कर रहे संघ से जुड़े दीनानाथ बत्रा जैसे लोग अब नई शिक्षा नीति को लेकर सरकार पर दबाव बना रहे हैं. हालांकि मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय हर क़दम बहुत फूंक-फूंक कर रख रही है ताकि कोई विवाद न हो सके और सरकार पर कोई उंगली न उठा सके. इसलिए इसको लेकर आम लोगों, संस्थानों, बुद्धिजीवी, स्कूल आदि से बड़े पैमाने में सुझाव मांगे जा रहे हैं. वेबसाइट से प्राप्त आंकड़ों के अनुसार 31 अक्टूबर तक मंत्रालय को 29,109 सुझाव मिल चुके हैं साथ ही ग्राम स्तर, प्रखंड, जिला स्तर पर भी सैकड़ों बैठको का आयोजन किया जा चुका है.

स्वायत्ता का सवाल और संघ का एजेंडा
कयासों के मुताबिक़ आज मंत्रालय में संघ का हस्तक्षेप काफी बढ़ गया है. मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय में संघ और अनुसांगिक इकाईयों की मैराथन बैठकों पर सब चिंतित हैं. शिक्षक संस्थानों में नियुक्ति से लेकर, पाठ्यक्रम और अन्य मुद्दों पर शिक्षा मंत्रालय केवल रबर स्टाम्प की तरह काम कर रहा है. आज अकादमिक स्वायत्ता और स्वतंत्रता खतरे में दिखाई पड़ रही है. सरकार और संघ मानो पूरक की तरह काम कर रहे हैं.

बीते साल जनवरी में व्यापक रूप से प्रतिष्ठित भौतिक वैज्ञानिक डॉ. संदीप त्रिवेदी को टाटा इंस्टिट्यूट ऑफ़ फंडामेंटल रिसर्च का निदेशक नियुक्त किया गया. प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय से त्यागपत्र का दबाव आने के कारण उन्हें पद छोड़ना पड़ा. आईआईटी दिल्ली के निदेशक रघुनाथ शिव गांवकर ने सरकार की बेवजह दखलंदाजी के कारण त्यागपत्र दे दिया. मार्च में भारत के शीर्षस्थ परमाणु वैज्ञानिक डॉ. अनिल काकोदर को आईआईटी मुंबई की गवर्निंग बॉडी से त्यागपत्र देना पड़ा. फ़रवरी में सरकार ने प्रख्यात लेखक सेतु माधवन को नेशनल बुक ट्रस्ट के अध्यक्ष पद से त्यागपत्र देने को कहा. उनकी जगह 'पाञ्चजन्य'के पूर्व सम्पादक बलदेव शर्मा को लाया गया. भारतीय इतिहास शोध परिषद में निदेशक के रूप में संघ के चहेते सुदर्शन राव की नियुक्ति संभवतः उनके हिन्दुत्ववादी नज़रिये की वजह से किया गया है. फिल्म एंड टेलीविज़न इंस्टिट्यूट में गजेन्द्र चौहान की नियुक्ति उनकी भाजपा से नज़दीकी के कारण की गयी जिसको लेकर छात्रों ने लम्बा विरोध प्रदर्शन किया.

न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स रिव्यू में छपे एक लेख में अमर्त्य सेन ने वर्तमान मोदी सरकार के शिक्षा और शैक्षणिक संस्थानों के स्वायत्ता को लेकर कई गंभीर सवाल खड़े किये. उन्हें नालंदा अंतर्राष्ट्रीय विश्वविद्यालय के कुलाधिपति पद से हटने पर मज़बूर कर दिया गया क्योंकि उन्होंने मोदी की साम्प्रदायिक राजनीतिक नेतृत्व, उनके एजेंडे और गुजरात में उनकी भूमिका आदि पर सवाल खड़े किये थे.

यदि बीता साल खराब बीता तो यह नहीं कह सकते कि मौजूदा साल कुछ कुछ अच्छा होगा. इस साल की शुरुआत भी ऐसी ही गतिविधियों से हुई है. ताज़ा मामला है मैग्सेसे पुरस्कार प्राप्त संदीप पाण्डेय का, जिन्हें सरकार और संस्थानविरोधी गतिविधियों के आरोप में आईआईटी बीएचयू से निष्कासित कर दिया गया है.

ऐसा पहली बार नहीं हो रहा है कि सत्ताधारी सरकार देश की शिक्षा और शिक्षण संस्थानों में सरकार की अकादमिक मामलों में दखल दे रही है. दखलंदाज़ी के मामले में पिछली कांग्रेस सरकार का रिकॉर्ड भी कोई खास अच्छा नहीं रहा है. मगर मौजूदा सरकार ने तो हस्तक्षेप को अभूतपूर्व ऊंचाइयों और राजनीतिक अतिरेक तक पहुंचा दिया है.

[शारिक़ नई दिल्ली में रहते हैं. पत्रकार हैं. उनसे shariqansar2@gmail.comपर संपर्क किया जा सकता है.]

By Twocircles Staff Reporter,

Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian Muslim League has said that it will extend all possible support to the Aligarh Muslim University over the Minority status issue, which is up for hearing on April 4.

Talking to Twocircle.net, IUML national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP E T Mohammed Basheer said that the party was planning to effective steps to oppose the Union Government’s stand.

“The significance of AMU is its minority character and status. The Muslim community in the country, which is backward in terms of education, owes much to AMU for whatever it acquired in educational sector. No moves to remove its minority will be tolerated. We will fight in court,” the IUML national secretary said.

The MP added, “The Union Government had passed the AMU (Amendment Act) in 1981 saying it was established by the Muslims in India. The act also granted permission to establish a court with full powers. The law still exists and the government has changed its stand,” he said.

The IUML MP said that the issue will be raised in Parliament. Besides, according to him, the Prime Minister will be conveyed the concern of Muslims in India.

Development Woes of AMU Malappuram Centre

A delegation, which included Chief Minister Ommen Chandy, Minister for Education P K Abdur Rabb, and Minister for Minority Welfare Manjalamkuzhy Ali, MPs E T Mohammed Basheeer and P V Abdul Vahab on Thursday, asked the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani to allocate more funds for development. “The centre has only three departments instead of 13 departments. And there are only around 300 students studying there, though the Ministry had said that 1,300 students would be studying in the centre by the end of 2015,” said Basheer.

The team also asked the Minister to immediately disburse a sum of Rs. 60 crore, which is an arrear of a fund of Rs 75 crore announced earlier.

By Nigar Ataullah for Twocircles.net

Bengaluru: When you walk into the premises of the Banjara Academy, a counselling centre, you could be forgiven into believing that you have been tricked into a pleasant surprise: it feels more like an old friend’s home, complete with the informal and humble company of Ali Khwaja, a sexagenarian with an amazing zeal for life who has helped transform thousands of lives by providing them valuable counselling.

The walls of Khwaja’s room are covered with little motivational notes about life and a pretty chart depicting caricatures of facial expressions with the question: “How do you feel today?” A counsellor often needs to put on a thinking cap, which explains why the shelves are full of headgear of different shapes…a cowboy hat, a Himachali cap and many others.

One of the first things you notice about Khwaja is that his positivity is mind-blowing. He attributes two years studying in a Montessori school in Mumbai in 1958 and 1959 as the reason behind this.“There, I learnt how important it is to have a mind of your own, rather than blindly following what people tell you to do or want you to become,” says Khwaja. “I am the youngest, with three older siblings, a brother and two sisters. My father was in the civil services and my entire family, down through seven generations, served the government. But I turned out to be the baa-baa black sheep in the family!” he says, laughingly.

When his father was posted in Osmanabad (Maharashtra), Khwaja, who was then around 9 years old, spent his time wandering around villages. After completing his pre-university studies in Hyderabad, he enrolled at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Povai, to become a metallurgical engineer. Khwaja confesses that he did not wish to become an engineer and if anything, those five years of B. Tech. taught him why.

Engineering was followed by a two-year stint working with a friend, who had set up a fertilizer factory in Hyderabad. This was followed by a foray into the world of publishing: he bought a printing press and began a paper in Hyderabad. “It was a 16-page tabloid. “I really enjoyed writing stories about people, their lives and about the city. The tabloid was called “Hyderabad – the city,” says Khwaja. However, the honeymoon period was over soon, and it was shut down due to lack of finances.

But destiny had something else in store for Khwaja, who was actually destined to become one of India’s most popular counsellors. “I have been a good listener since I was a teenager, when my sisters began confiding with me about their little secrets. Many of my sister’s friends would come to me with their worries or problems and I would listen to them. While this was a small beginning for me as a novice counsellor at home for my sisters and their friends, the real professional ‘break’ as I call it, came when Dr. Lakshmi from Sneha Counselling Centre in Madras came to Hyderabad for a workshop to train volunteers in 1989. Though it was just a 3-day course, it gave me valuable skills in counselling,” Khwaja recalls.

Shifting to Bangalore in 1990, Khwaja was fortunate to meet Alice Saldanha (who passed away two years ago), who had initiated ‘Helping Hand’ as a free counselling centre. It was an informal set up, with 12 people, mostly Alice’s friends, working as volunteers. As Alice was getting old, she handed over the baton of ‘Helping Hand’ to Khwaja in1992, who was then managing a construction company under the name of ‘Banjara’.

After many people told him that they wanted to be equipped with counselling skills, Khwaja and some friends began a counselling training course at Banjara. It began first as a three-day course. Later, Banjara went on to offer a range of counselling courses, of varying duration, and, recently, even an online training course.

To focus completely on this mission, Khwaja wound up the constructions business in1995 and focused on the counselling courses. The 2015 batch of counselling skills students are the 17thbatch from the Banjara Academy. So far, several hundred people have trained as counsellors through the Academy, which is an autonomous institution.

With a small team of committed individuals who are regular staff members, the Banjara Academy today is a sought after place for people of all age groups who wish to do the one year course. Many go on to become professional counsellors, including in schools and offices. Others use the skills they receive here in their day-to-day lives, helping transform many lives, their own and that of others.

Says Khwaja, “We may not be able to solve everyone’s issues or problems, but they may want someone to just listen to their woes and worries. People walk into Banjara for counselling for every issue under the sun—from emotional troubles to career choices. Our counsellors who are all volunteers give people who come to us unconditional attention.”

“Life as a counsellor may not bring ‘big’ awards,” Khwaja says, “But that does not matter to us at all. In school or college we are never taught how to handle issues of life—a hurt, a heartbreak, a downslide of self-esteem or fears. As we grow up, we face all these issues at some point of time and then we breakdown. Some take the extreme step of ending their lives, yet others wallow in self-pity and depression. Our mission through Banjara is to let them know that we are here to listen to you. We may not rescue you from your problems, but we try to give you a direction and help you to take life’s decisions on your own and have your own mind.”

Khwaja’s love and compassion for his fellow beings was the driving force behind the setting up of the Banjara Academy, which is now the sole mission of his life. Most of Khwaja’s work is in Bangalore, where he is invited by schools, organizations, colleges and corporates to present talks on various issues in life. Occasionally, on invitation, he also travels for short trips to other places.

The writer is based in Bangalore and is Associate Editor, Islamic Voice English Monthly. Nigar also likes to write on nature, environment and animals.

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By Pushkar Raj

The Bombay high court judgment cancelling Prof. Sai Baba’s bail and initiating contempt proceedings against the writer Arundhati Roy is a major blow to the human rights defenders in the country.

Dr. Sai Baba was arrested by the police in 2014 for allegedly indulging in maoist activities. He was charged under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and later denied bail. In an article in a magazine Arundhati Roy had questioned the manner of arrest of the professor and grounds on which he was denied bail. She had criticized the courts in the country for following different set of rules while granting bail depending on person’s ideology and proximity with the government of the day.

Dr. Sai Baba organized and participated in the meetings in the capital that highlighted the misery of the indigenous population who face displacement and crisis of survival in light of the governments’ big project centric development agenda. Arundhati Roy stressed that Dr. Sai Baba is primarily a human rights defender who should be treated humanely in light of his 90 per cent disability and the jurisprudence principle of presumption of innocence till proven guilty.

Ideally the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should have come out in support of activists like Dr. Sai Baba. However, its record for defending the HRDs, despite having a dedicated cell for this purpose, has been dismal for various reasons. Therefore, the burden of speaking on the behalf of people like Dr. Sai Baba has fallen on the shoulders of the civil society in the country.

However, the civil society organizations too require support of the writers, artists and intellectuals to lend weight to their voice, especially when the present government, erroneously, treats the rights based human rights activities in the country as an anathema to its development and ideological agenda.

As a writer, one would assume, Arundhati Roy may feel that branding people naxalites and then treating them inhumanely before their guilt is proven is an outrageous practice in a constitutional democracy. In the outlook article which is the subject of ‘interference in administration of justice’ charge against her, the writer puts her perspective with her own set of arguments. These arguments may be right or wrong. The judgment of the court castigates the writer’s right to hold that perspective or opinion which is a disturbing trend.

It is a matter of concern that the contempt proceedings against Arundhati Roy, might serve as a warning to the writers and thinkers of the country to stay away from the public issues. Already, a section of the government has vilified a large number of writers because they dared to voice against encouraging and growing intolerance in the Indian society.

Any kind of threatening message coming from any branch of the government on thought and its expression is an erosion of our constitutional values and detrimental to the interest of our society. The writer, as Chinua Achebe, doyen of African literature, argued, creates the values of a society. When we silence the writer, we create a value vacuum in the society, i.e., a breeding ground for the mob driven justice and fascism.

The Bombay high court judgment is regrettable that it has come from an institution- the judiciary- that the writers and HRDs of the country look up for protection of their life and civil liberties. Several of courts’ landmark judgments preserved and expanded the rights of the individual rather than shrinking them. In that light, the Bombay high court bench judgment is an exception.

The present case is sure to go to the Supreme Court. One hopes that it will be reviewed and nullified in the interest of civil liberties and constitutional values of the country.

Pushkar Raj is an independent writer based in Melbourne (Australia). Earlier, he taught political science in Delhi University and was the National General Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), India.

This article was first published in Samaj Weekly

By Anurag Dey

Kolkata: With the West Bengal assembly elections around three months away, a majority of state Congress leaders have been harping on the need for an electoral alliance with the Left Front to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

State Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra, who has done a detailed analysis of the vote and seat projections for the 2016 assembly polls, asserts that only a Congress-Left combine can defeat the Trinamool.

However, a section of the state Congress leadership, including leaders like Manas Bhunia, point out that party workers had repeatedly come under attack from Communist cadres during the 34 years of Left Front rule from 1977 to 2011. They fear that a majority of the Congressmen could switch allegiance to the Trinamool or sit idle in case of a tie-up with the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and it would be "next to impossible" to transfer the party's votes to the Marxists.

Beyond the boundaries of Bengal, the Congress and the Left are political foes in Kerala and Tripura, and a tie-up in the eastern state could "dilute" their rivalry in the two other states, argue critics. In such a scenario, the BJP - which has been trying to make inroads in Kerala and Tripura - would stand to gain.

But Mishra is dismissive of such arguments.

"Electorally, we have competed against each other for over 60 years in Bengal and will continue to do so. But at the same time, we are on the same page in opposing the Trinamool's misrule.

"We cannot allow the Trinamool another reign of terror and, as opposition parties, it is our duty to provide the people a better alternative. So it is necessary for the Congress and the Left Front to come together," Mishra told IANS.

Contending that 40 percent of votes which the BJP polled in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections would come to the Left-Congress combine, Mishra has twice written to party president Sonia Gandhi calling for seizing the political opportunity and tying up with the Left.

"No rational mind will bet on the BJP getting more than five percent votes, the civic polls last year are an indicator of that. In 2014, BJP got nearly 17 percent of the votes at the cost of both the Congress and the Left.

"So, with the BJP losing all its popularity and becoming insignificant, the opposition votes itself would consolidate when the Congress and the CPI-M combine," argued Mishra, claiming that the alliance could win around 170 of Bengal's 294 seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while the Trinamool secured 39.3 percent of the votes, the Left Front and the Congress had 29.5 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.

In the last assembly elections in 2011, the Trinamool, then part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), had won 184 seats, the Left Front 62 seats, and the Congress 42 seats. The BJP did not win a single seat.

Mishra, a Jadavpur University professor, worked for over two months preparing the assembly segment-wise vote projections and claims an electoral arrangement with the Marxists will not impact his party's opposition to the Left in Kerala, where elections will be held at the same time.

"The political dimensions vary from state to state. In Kerala we will compete, in Bengal we will cooperate. The Congress-left contest in Kerala or Tripura will not reflect in our combined effort to dismantle the Mamata government," he said.

The possibility of a Left-Congress alliance has gained ground with Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and state CPI-M secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra and Marxist Politburo member Mohammad Salim publicly advocating such a coalition.

Chowdhury, who had been earlier insisting on the Congress going it alone, is now pitching for an alliance and has flown to New Delhi to discuss the issue with the party's central leadership.

Mishra insists the combine would sweep the Muslim-dominated Malda, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur districts - considered Congress strongholds.

"All six Lok Sabha seats in these three districts went to the Congress (four) and the CPI-M (two). If we combine, we can very well win all the 43 assembly seats in these three districts," said Mishra, claiming Trinamool's hobnobbing with the BJP has only furthered the disenchantment of the minorities against it.

"The disillusionment among minority voters has only been compounded with as many as four central ministers giving certificates of appreciation to the Mamata government," said Mishra, referring to the recently-held Bengal Global Business Summit where union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, showered praise on the Banerjee administration.

"Both the Congress and the Left are well-regarded by the minorities anywhere in the country and when both these forces unite, the minorities are bound to root for them," he said. Muslims comprise 27.1 percent of Bengal's population, according to the 2011 census.

The Congress has also been making efforts to reach out to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) to forge a grand alliance a la the Bihar polls where old foes Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad joined hands to inflict a crushing defeat on the BJP.

Mishra said the effort will be to forge a formal alliance with a declared common minimum programme, a chief ministerial candidate as well as a deputy chief ministerial nominee.

By Masood Raja

Khan, Nyla Ali. The Life of a Kashmiri Woman: Dialectic of Resistance and Accommodation. New York: Palgrave Pivot.

Many of us in the Sub-continent who grew up with an awareness of the history of Kashmir do not usually realize that the histories we receive are highly motivated and are presented to us with the traces of the preferences and prejudices of the historians and their respective governments and nations. History is never unmotivated, but it offers itself as fact and truth. We on the Pakistani side grew up with a certain view of shaikh Abdullah and his family. In our distorted narratives he is the great “traitor” who sold Kashmir to the Indians for personal gain. But even those of us who know this distorted history of Shaikh Abdullah will have no clue as to who Akbar Jehan was.

Not a female figure in the shadows working behind a patriarchal barrier: she was rather at the center of the Kashmiri struggle and remained its driving force even after her husband had passed away. This brief volume is, thus, an act of retrieval as well as abrogation: it retrieves the silenced history of Akbar Jehan not as a supporting wife but a s a leader in her own right and it also abrogates the patriarchal male-centered history of Kashmir and the Kashmiri struggle. For Pakistani readers, the book also provides a rare glimpse into the life and struggles of Kashmiris on the Indian side of the line of control and the importance of Akbar Jehan to the rise of the National Conference as a viable and pragmatic Kashmiri political party.

Stylistically, this is not just a simple memoir. The book, instead, weaves through the personal and the political without ever hegemonzing or homogenizing a universal Kashmiri identity. The author announces this complex nature of the text, this interplay of the personal and political, particular and universal in the introduction:

Although the weaving of my personal voice into the narrative makes this work auto/biographical . . . my memory and historical interpretation aid theact of writing political events and crises in the life of Akbar Jehan, which is very much the story of modern Kashmir. (3)

This, I must admit, is a very instructive passage as it guides us not only about the authorial intention but also about a plausible way of understanding the book. In simple words: this is not just a memoir written by a privileged author about her privileged grandmother, even though that is how the less generous and more cynical amongst us would like to read it. The passage enlightens us that even though this text is part biographical and that while access to Akbar Jehan’s life was given to the author simply through an accident of birth, the authorial figure inscribing this text is also a historically constituted subject who is also engaged in a complex historiography in the process of composing the text. Thus, in other words, while the access to Akbar Jehan—the subject of this text—was a given in the life of the author, what the author does with this access is deeply discursive and made possible only through the author’s scholarly training and her grasp of history as well as historiography. What comes out at the end is not simply a nostalgic engagement with childhood memories of the author about this larger-than-life female subject, but a deep understanding of Akbar Jehan and her accomplishments as a living breathing human subject of a particular spatial and temporal politics. Thus, the narrative, despite being biographical, becomes an act of historical retrieval because the author performs her authorial identity as a scholar and not just, as some would have us believe, as the privileged granddaughter of an illustrious Kashmiri woman.

For the Pakistani readers, the text can be extremely useful in complicating the received, and prejudiced, knowledge about the Jammu and Kashmir history. Not only would the text introduce them to this hitherto unknown figure of Kashmiri history (I am pretty sure that not many Pakistanis are aware of Akbar Jehan’s role in Kashmiri struggle) but also the struggles and trials of the National Conference and its leadership in the post 1947 era. As I mentioned earlier, In Pakistani popular circles Shaikh Abdullah and his family is often remembered as the sell-outs who harmed the cause of an independent Kashmir. This brief book, in a way, tells us a story of their struggle on the other side, a narrative not dependent upon Kashmir’s connection with Pakistan or India but rather of Kashmir’s struggle and survival and fight toward self-determination as an autonomous place inhabited by an autonomous group of diverse human subjectivities. Furthermore, we learn that in this entire struggle Akbar Jehan played a central role! Thus, in the end, this is not just a story of how Akbar Jehan impacted the life world of the private sphere but rather a narrative of her role as a subject of politics whose actions impacted the possibilities and future of the Kashmiri people and the nation!

Just as Akbar Jehan needs to be read and remembered as an individual subject in her own right, so does her grand daughter. Nyla Ali Khan is a scholar of immense depth and profound grace. In this lyrical, poetic, and incisive account of Akbar Jehan as a political figure, Khan has given us a gift, an offering into the very soul of the Kashmiri struggle. While it would be absurd for her to excise the privilege of being born into the family, it would be equally inane on our part to read her as an extension of her illustrious family. Khan is an autonomous, as autonomous one can be in this postmodern world, enunciating subject: Her work is informed by a deep understanding of history, philosophy, and philosophies of subject-formation. We should, therefore, read her as the formidable scholar that she is and value her work accordingly!

By Anurag Dey

Kolkata : With the West Bengal assembly elections around three months away, a majority of state Congress leaders have been harping on the need for an electoral alliance with the Left Front to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

State Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra, who has done a detailed analysis of the vote and seat projections for the 2016 assembly polls, asserts that only a Congress-Left combine can defeat the Trinamool.

However, a section of the state Congress leadership, including leaders like Manas Bhunia, point out that party workers had repeatedly come under attack from Communist cadres during the 34 years of Left Front rule from 1977 to 2011. They fear that a majority of the Congressmen could switch allegiance to the Trinamool or sit idle in case of a tie-up with the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and it would be "next to impossible" to transfer the party's votes to the Marxists.

Beyond the boundaries of Bengal, the Congress and the Left are political foes in Kerala and Tripura, and a tie-up in the eastern state could "dilute" their rivalry in the two other states, argue critics. In such a scenario, the BJP - which has been trying to make inroads in Kerala and Tripura - would stand to gain.

But Mishra is dismissive of such arguments.

"Electorally, we have competed against each other for over 60 years in Bengal and will continue to do so. But at the same time, we are on the same page in opposing the Trinamool's misrule.

"We cannot allow the Trinamool another reign of terror and, as opposition parties, it is our duty to provide the people a better alternative. So it is necessary for the Congress and the Left Front to come together," Mishra told IANS.

Contending that 40 percent of votes which the BJP polled in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections would come to the Left-Congress combine, Mishra has twice written to party president Sonia Gandhi calling for seizing the political opportunity and tying up with the Left.

"No rational mind will bet on the BJP getting more than five percent votes, the civic polls last year are an indicator of that. In 2014, BJP got nearly 17 percent of the votes at the cost of both the Congress and the Left.

"So, with the BJP losing all its popularity and becoming insignificant, the opposition votes itself would consolidate when the Congress and the CPI-M combine," argued Mishra, claiming that the alliance could win around 170 of Bengal's 294 seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while the Trinamool secured 39.3 percent of the votes, the Left Front and the Congress had 29.5 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.

In the last assembly elections in 2011, the Trinamool, then part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), had won 184 seats, the Left Front 62 seats, and the Congress 42 seats. The BJP did not win a single seat.

Mishra, a Jadavpur University professor, worked for over two months preparing the assembly segment-wise vote projections and claims an electoral arrangement with the Marxists will not impact his party's opposition to the Left in Kerala, where elections will be held at the same time.

"The political dimensions vary from state to state. In Kerala we will compete, in Bengal we will cooperate. The Congress-left contest in Kerala or Tripura will not reflect in our combined effort to dismantle the Mamata government," he said.

The possibility of a Left-Congress alliance has gained ground with Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and state CPI-M secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra and Marxist Politburo member Mohammad Salim publicly advocating such a coalition.

Chowdhury, who had been earlier insisting on the Congress going it alone, is now pitching for an alliance and has flown to New Delhi to discuss the issue with the party's central leadership.

Mishra insists the combine would sweep the Muslim-dominated Malda, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur districts - considered Congress strongholds.

"All six Lok Sabha seats in these three districts went to the Congress (four) and the CPI-M (two). If we combine, we can very well win all the 43 assembly seats in these three districts," said Mishra, claiming Trinamool's hobnobbing with the BJP has only furthered the disenchantment of the minorities against it.

"The disillusionment among minority voters has only been compounded with as many as four central ministers giving certificates of appreciation to the Mamata government," said Mishra, referring to the recently-held Bengal Global Business Summit where union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, showered praise on the Banerjee administration.

"Both the Congress and the Left are well-regarded by the minorities anywhere in the country and when both these forces unite, the minorities are bound to root for them," he said. Muslims comprise 27.1 percent of Bengal's population, according to the 2011 census.

The Congress has also been making efforts to reach out to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) to forge a grand alliance a la the Bihar polls where old foes Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad joined hands to inflict a crushing defeat on the BJP.

Mishra said the effort will be to forge a formal alliance with a declared common minimum programme, a chief ministerial candidate as well as a deputy chief ministerial nominee.

By Somrita Ghosh

New Delhi : Is it taboo for women to talk about sex, their hidden desires or having extra-marital affairs? No! It is their liberal attitude towards life, their choice of heart over head and breaking social norms and fulfilling their forbidden desires, says a new book on the subject.

Madhuri Banerjee's "Forbidden Desires" (Rupa, pp 168, Rs.295) takes readers to the world of four female protagonists - Naina, Ayesha, Kavita and Kaajal - who are made to face the shocking truths they never imagined. Their desires haunt them, provoke them and make them fight to choose a new path in their lives.

"It's about love and duty, desire and demands, heart vs head. It's the story of four dynamic women who make certain choices in their lives to hold on to their beliefs until one day their forbidden desires make their life crash and collide their destinies into each other," Banerjee, 40, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Mumbai about her latest book.

It presents the protagonists breaking boundaries in pursuit of their happiness. But do Indian women in reality have the courage to do so?

"I hope women find courage through my books. My aim is to give them a new way of thinking or at least start a dialogue that allows them to be more than roles in a family. Be the queen of your own chess board. Not the pawn of someone else," said Banerjee, a single mother with a seven-and-a-half-year-old daughter and executive producer of the Zoom entertainment channel.

Banerjee's books have been mostly female-oriented and her writing is inclined towards the emancipation of women. However, that does not define her as a feminist.

"A friend finally defined me - A Feminist Writer. And I said 'Probably!' But I empathise a lot with men as well. That's why I wrote 'My Clingy Girlfriend.' I'm not just for emancipation of women, I'm for the emancipation of all human beings who feel they're stuck doing the same thing every day because that's what is expected of them," the 40-year-old explained.

Like her characters, the author strongly believes that contemporary women need to be vocal about their desires and need to break social barriers because that will liberate society in the true sense.

"As a society, women have been repressed for so long that they have never been allowed to voice what they want from our partners. And even when they say things in the bedroom, the man feels shy or angry. We're judged and so we keep quiet. But it is important to be vocal about our feminine desires," Banerjee said.

"It will also help with the rising depression and stress in women which come from curbing your desires and supressing your needs. There's nothing unhealthy about it. Understand it. Accept it. Make the other person get it," the author asserted.

It's not just Banerjee, but Indian literature is now witnessing a wave amongst writers who are openly talking about sex and feminine desires. Her first book, "Loosing My Virginity And Other Dumb Ideas" was a one of its kind in the erotic chick lit genre.

"I am glad there are more writers on women's needs. I would like to think I'm the first in this generation who started a trend in talking about sex openly through my novel Losing My Virginity And Other Dumb Ideas," said Banerjee.

Talking about readers accepting writings on extra-marital affairs and sexual preferences of women, Banerjee said that a large part of the Indian audience has accepted the way she writes because it is sensuous and not vulgar or gross.

"My book talks about relationship issues that could help a man or a woman through a story about real people," commented Banerjee, who believes in writing to break the existing taboos in society.

Not just books, Banerjee has stretched her hand into Bollywood scriptwriting with "Hate Story 2".

Talking about Indian audiences accepting the liberal attitude of women on screen, Banerjee said: "I think Indian cinema is changing. With great women-centric films like 'Mary Kom', 'NH10', 'Dirty Picture' and 'Queen' doing well, people are opening up to women in a new way. But it is a long road and we women need to stand together to show them that we can't be labelled one way."

Quite appropriately, Banerjee's next book, due in May and co-authored with Rohini Tiwari, is titled "The Flaky Mummy" - a cocktail guide to surviving motherhood. It's sure to be a "must read"!

By R Ravi Kumar for Twocircles.net

By the time you read this article, most of you would have come to know about the death of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit student who was one among five Dalit scholars expelled by the administration of the University of Hyderabad.

We shall not see this incident in isolation. Let me explain, in brief, what triggered the series of events in HCU.

The Ambedkar Students Association started their agitation against the capital punishment still in existence in IPC. As followers of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s ideology and sensitive human rights defenders they started the protest well within the Constitutional framework about six months back. The right-wing ABVP members, who were against the agitation to scrap capital punishment, were very angry with the ASA and started mudslinging on ASA.

Having gathered their strength on the campus with the appointment of Dr. P. Apparao as VC and their BJP /RSS members outside the campus, ABVP resorted for direct attack on the leadership of ASA. ASA members also protested the proposal of Apparao to make students wear vetti or lungi for all students in the recently-held convocation. Finally, the VC had to go back on his proposal leaving the choice of wearing a vetti or lungi on the students.

These two incidents angered the ABVP leaders, who subsequently wrote inflicting and character-assassinating comments on Face book about the ASA leaders.

Seeing this, the ASA members dragged the ABVP leaders to the security officer and got them deleted. Further the ABVP person apologised for the same.

ASA thought it was all over. But the ABVP members lodged a complaint both with the local police and University authorities that one of their members was physically attacked by ASA.

The University constituted a proctoral Committee to look into the matter, and the committee came out with a report denying all the charges.

But this did not detere the ABVP, who made BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya and the BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao to write letters to the Minister for Human Resources and the VC.

The VC then extended the proctoral Committee and got a report just against what the earlier Committee said and suspended five very promising scholars of ASA.

Also, the ABVP filed a private complaint against the University seeking action taken report on ASA members.

The University, with the help of police and security forces on the campus, disturbed the ASA agitation. At this juncture Rohit gave up his life….

Why are we saying that this as a mere HCU campus issue? The recent attacks on Dalit students of EFLU, Hyderabad, attacks on Dalit students of Madras Law College students demanding the naming of their auditorium after Dr B R Ambedkar, all have similarities. In all these agitations, our youth were agitating well within the Constitutional framework. All their demands were concerned to the entire Indian community. They are, at the very basic, human rights issues and show a concern for justice and identity in a democratic country in order to uphold the dignity of the community.

But in all these issues, the modus operandi of the aggressive authorities is similar: as if they had word of exchange.

They have implicated our youth in police cases, so that their careers are doomed. They have been rusticated so that our youth will be disqualified to get any academic jobs. One very important and common to all our youth is they are the best students of their institutions.

In HCU especially, it is not the first time. Fifteen years ago, the same Apparao was the Chief Warden when 11 scholars were rusticated for three years. Out of them only some students could revive their studies. Though they have done their Ph. Ds, they continue to face the restrictions wherever they go to apply for a job.

Don’t consider this as a mere campus issue of HCU. This is a well-planned clandestine coup against upcoming future Dalit intelligentsia.

Let’s join to attack the caste Hindu Monster, before we lose any more of our future generation’s leaders and intellectuals.

The author is Secretary, National Dalit Forum. This piece is taken, with approval, from https://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/

Hyderabad: TRS MP K. Kavitha on Monday said the pressure by two union ministers on University of Hyderabad vice chancellor led to suspension of five Dalit research scholars and one of them committed suicide.

Terming the suicide of Rohith Vemula as "unfortunate', she said union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattetreya should not have intervened into the campus politics.

"He wrote to (union minister for human resources development) Smriti Irani in support of ABVP students and this brought pressure on the university vice chancellor and he suspended five students of Ambedkar Students Union," she said.

Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said for many days the suspended students had been staging protest in the open but neither the central ministers nor the university authorities came to their rescue.

The MP, who also heads a cultural organization Telangana Jagruti, said though the suspension had come to their knowledge, they did not want to interfere in student politics.

The organization, however, had expressed solidarity with the students fighting a legal battle against suspension.

Kavitha said Telangana Jagruti would extend all possible assistance to the family of Rohith, who hailed from Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh.

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed

Since the government has done away with the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), a debate has set in for and against the minority character and reservations.

Recently, at a conference at Delhi's Constitution Club, one heard several so-called Muslim leaders very generously voicing their lip-service concerning the minority character of AMU. It reminded one of the saying that way to hell is paved with good intentions.

The fact remains, and history has proved this, that the minority character and reservations on communal lines are not in the interest of national unity and integrity as it starts a chain reaction of demands amongst religious groups, within and without. The ostrich mentality of reservations or minority status of some universities will not help Muslims. But it will open up a Pandora's box. They either have to perform or perish on their own.

Those vying for the minority status of AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia should remember what India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, a Congressman and not a lesser lover of minorities, had stated while speaking on democratisation during an important session of the Constituent Assembly on May 26, 1949: "If you seek to give safeguards to a minority, you isolate it... Maybe, you protect it to a slight extent but at what cost -- at the cost of isolating and keeping it away from the main current."

Dr. Zakir Hussain founded Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920. He could have made it a minority institution if he had wanted to. But he did not want the institution to be linked with any one community.

It would be worth examining what the other founding fathers say about minority character and reservations. While a vote was sought for the charter of providing political safeguards to the minorities according to articles 292 and 294 of the 1949 draft constitution, five leaders (all Muslims) out of seven, namely Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Hifzur Rehman, Begum Aizaz Rasul, Hussainbhoy Laljee and Tajammul Hussain had voted against it. Interestingly, Sardar Patel strongly supported the charter.

K.R. Malkani, a former RSS think tank member, wrote in his treatise on Indian Muslims, The Politics Of Ayodhya And Hindu-Muslim Relations, that according to the United Nations, the group that's identified as a minority is one that by religion, language, ethnicity or culture constitutes less than 10 percent of the population of a state. As per this statute, the Muslims were a minority decades ago but now they are not, he wrote.

Malkani also states that nowhere in the 52-odd Muslim countries or, for that matter, anywhere in the world where Muslims are a majority, do non-Muslims have the privileges, protection and rights that India offers to the minorities. As a matter of fact, Maulana Azad did not like the majority-minority syndrome and hence called Muslims as the second majority.

Be it Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Muslim Dalits or other so-called minorities, reservations are a menace for the entire system. On the otherwise secular and composite fabric of India, reservations are a thorn in its neck.

Rather than extending the begging bowl for quotas, Muslims must tell the government to open more schools and a system for general uplift in their areas rather than police stations. Instead of fighting over smaller slices of a small pie of national income, what is needed is the expansion of the national pie which would help everyone to get their rightful and bigger share. The oppressed and the marginalised people need expansion of opportunities rather than favours from the state.

Words such as reservation, minority, majority should be deleted from the Indian Constitution in the context of quotas based on caste or religion. Umpteen reservations including the minorities, SC/ST, Kashmiri migrants and army personnel have already skewed the scales of merit.

The problem with this kind of lop-sided minority character and reservations is that the real beneficiaries may be the economically well-off "backward community" members who generation after generation reap the benefits at the expense of the real needy from the general sections who, actually, are becoming the "minority" as has been seen in the case of the 22.5 percent quotas in the institutions of higher education like the IIMs and IITs etc. The government needs to put a stop to such abuses. So many reserved places lie unfilled and the ineligible poor general category suffers.

The minorities should have an honourable place by having to stop looking at charity in the form of quota and accept the challenge of a competitive life. So far as the Muslim community is concerned, the reservations' process will be wrought with imperfections as the community is divided into umpteen castes and sub-castes, a system that has percolated in them through their Hindu neighbourhoods.

Instead, financial aid should be granted on the basis of performance. If Muslims compete, participate and become go-getters, India will prosper.

Battered by the populist rhetoric and provocative militancy of its myopic, ill-educated clerics, the nation's cultured and high potential minority stands at cross roads. Afflicted by utter educational backwardness, administrative apathy and political expediency, the Muslim community in India is caught in the asphyxiating tweezers-grip, owing to their opportunistic leaders, both inside the Parliament and outside, who are crying hoarse and indulging in pernicious vote-bank manipulation and who, finally, leave the poor Muslims to the mercy of God.

These so-called Muslim representatives have outrightly ruined their followers emotionally, economically, socially and educationally. Such leaders are not seriously interested in dealing with the main problems of the community. Muslim leaders and petty politicians are becoming richer day by day, while the people they represent, are going down the poverty line.

It is time that we Indians give up this ghettoized minority-majority mindset. Voices of reason demand that educational standards and qualifications should be uniform, whatever the language, religion or region

By Suraj Yengde for Twocircles.net

Cambridge: Mid-January in the New England area is infamous for the unfriendly cold shivers. Stepping out on a weekend after a cold week in the central quarters of Cambridge area is unlikely. People passing through the Harvard Square witnessed an unusual form of social gathering by south Asians holding placards that read: ‘Down with the Casteism in Indian Universities,’ ‘#CasteMustFall,’ ‘#DalitLivesMatter,’ ‘Stop Caste Based Discrimination’

Ambedkarite groups in Boston under the banner of Ambedkar International Centre gathered in the busy space of Harvard square to protest against the caste bias that denigrates students coming from marginalised caste groups in India. It was an occasion to protest against the University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) arbitrary decision to expel the students overriding the results of the fact finding committee, and to call attention to the existing realities of caste discrimination in Indian society.

Protesters geared in three layers and warm hats highlighted the plight of Dalit students in educational institutes in India that repress the dignity of life to Dalit and Tribal students. UoH is a significant event for smartphone-era Indians in the metros to ponder over heinous forms of exclusion and discrimination taking place in the elite institutes. If this is what happens in a globally recognised institute, then it is worrisome to think about educational condition of Dalit students in semi-urban and rural areas.

Dalit students who enter (higher) educational institutes continue to be excluded and ostracized by the student community and teaching faculty to the worst degree. Reported deaths of Dalit students pose questions about responsibilities of institutes. A rebuttal to the Dalit students’ death is framed as a non-talented student who entered the school on a quota based system without having enough credence. Thus owing to the pressure of studies student committed a suicide is unashamedly reiterated across media spaces. Similar syntax is rarely placed among the privileged caste case(s). If discrimination of minority is to be taken as a scalar misrepresentation of democratic university spaces, then the scenario resonates to the educational institutes across United States where African American students feel vulnerable and discriminated. Protests by Yale University students, the University of Missouri students, Princeton, Harvard among the African American student groups continue to occur.

“I’ve been personally witnessing these gruesome incidents since my college days, and in this case the government has intentionally interfered owing to the right-wing pressure,” said co-organiser Venkat Maroju of Ambedkar International Center, Washington DC. Umang Kumar highlighted the synopsis of the student expulsion claiming it to be an internalised form of communalism. The protest gathered momentum among the secular and democratic individuals who foresaw the protest as a significant gesture to demonstrate unity among the Dalit diaspora. Protestors reaffirmed their commitment to be vigilant over caste discrimination.
“This is on-going plight of the Dalit student community, who, at the level of doctoral studies, are conscious enough of their sociality and continue to demand for equal rights. These students who would be awarded doctorate in a few months or years’ time are internationally targeted. The level of plight is inexcusable,” appraised Boston Study Group co-organiser Sanjay Bhagat.

Kashif-ul-Huda, editor, TwoCircle.net, presented the original reason for such an incident to occur. He argued that it was originally in opposition to the Dalit groups expressing solidarity with the aggrieved Muslim community who had been victim of communal violence in India. Hence, after arranging a documentary viewing of ‘Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hain,’ ABVP activists took an otherwise view. The reason of increased altercation was about Dalit-Muslim solidarity which is rancor for the fringe elements of the right wing Hindu outfits.

Education is the fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and it is an international human rights concern. Banishing students coming from vulnerable sections of societies only dehumanizes the face of so called egalitarian educational spaces. Dalit students studying in Brandies University, North Eastern University and Harvard University too joined the protest expressing serious concerns over such incident that only hampers the development of student groups. Jaspreet Mahal, a Brandies University grad student referred to the offshore unity among Dalit groups as a significant progress among diaspora groups in the US.

In witnessing the gathering of speeches and recital of poems, Harvard Square community took note of the protest by taking videos and photos. As much this protest endeavored to work with the affected Dalit and Tribal groups. It will start coordinating with the civil society groups in Boston and in the New England area declared co-organisers.

We may be few but that's enough for you.
We may be scattered we are sun's rays.
We may be invisible that's our strength
We dare you because we care you.
If you let go with your prejudice
You will have time to recognise us
Ours is a fight for reclaiming human dignity said Baba
We reiterate for us thee children of Baba.
Do not undermine us, we warn you
For the after is your fault.

The beauty about us is we are WE and me.
Our identity is a plural logic.
For our identity is your existence.
We may be few but that's enough for you.

The author is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is finishing his PhD at the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.