I am not a politician or even a writer. However, I am concerned with what I am seeing in India. There are couple of aspects that really worry me about the country. One is when politicians try to brand themselves as secular/non-communal and others who subscribe to another ideological theory.
I have seen the Congress party claim that BJP is communal. Why? Because it has affiliations with RSS, who in turn has affiliations with VHP? However, if you look at the dictionary, ‘communalism’ is defined as follows:
Main Entry: com•mu•nal•ism
Pronunciation: -n&l-"i-z&m
Function: noun
1 : social organization on a communal basis
2 : loyalty to a sociopolitical grouping based on religious or ethnic affiliation
- com•mu•nal•ist /-n&l-ist/ noun or adjective
If you read the above dictionary meaning of communalism carefully, then Congress itself is guilty of being communal, as they so frequently like to label their opposition. Congress has been in power for greater part since India's independence from the British Raj. Right from Shahbano case to appeasing the minorities to reservations, they have shown partiality to one religious entity or grouping. This is communal. Regardless of whether BJP or other opposition parties are communal, the fact remains that being communal seems to apply to all the political parties combined.
To get this, I want equal rights for all the citizens on India. I have good reasons for that. In the past 50+ years, we have provided minorities and majority religious groups alike with several provisions such as reservation of up to 30-60% in government and PSUs for minorities depending on where you work, and what state you work in. Similarly, majority Hindus are provided provisions for HUF for tax relief purposes. What has this got us? The net result has been that more and more groups, caste based communities etc. are vying for spots on the valuable backward class lists. You cannot tell me this can be considered a country moving in the right direction. In a minority religious Muslim community, a man can have up to 4 wives, can say talaq 3 times and divorce his wife without any government interference. Is this right? Why should Muslim Law Board decide the laws of marriage for Muslims? There should be same laws for all the citizens of the country.
I am not an anti-muslim but I also do not believe that this is the way to bring a community to mainstream and if the people do not want to come to mainstream then this is a huge government problem. I would like to make it clear that I do not believe in preventing anyone from practicing their religious beliefs however, I do believe in every community encouraging their members to diversify, learning science, mathematics, some INDIAN history etc. besides their own religious studies as well.
Students from minority communities could be encouraged by giving scholarships/low interest loans if they join college. If PSUs or Private sector companies hire employees of minority community, they could be given some tax benefit. This is one way to encourage minority community to enter the mainstream, to explore new opportunities and as a result be helpful in taking India forward to a better future.
I am dead set against minority commissions which damage their communities even more by keeping them from joining the mainstream with their policies. Bringing in equal rights will eliminate that aspect and possibly herald a new future for the minority and some of the less fortunate folks from SC/ST groups.
I want to see India grow and her talents not get wasted by useless divisions and wedges that our political parties (Esp. Congress) have created. Remember, I am being so severely harsh on Congress because they have ruled for majority of years in the post-Independence era. Look, giving 5% electricity to farmers, reservations in private sectors, and special rules for religious communities etc will not help this country move forward. For us to achieve this, equal rights or common civil code is an absolute must.
I have seen the Congress party claim that BJP is communal. Why? Because it has affiliations with RSS, who in turn has affiliations with VHP? However, if you look at the dictionary, ‘communalism’ is defined as follows:
Main Entry: com•mu•nal•ism
Pronunciation: -n&l-"i-z&m
Function: noun
1 : social organization on a communal basis
2 : loyalty to a sociopolitical grouping based on religious or ethnic affiliation
- com•mu•nal•ist /-n&l-ist/ noun or adjective
If you read the above dictionary meaning of communalism carefully, then Congress itself is guilty of being communal, as they so frequently like to label their opposition. Congress has been in power for greater part since India's independence from the British Raj. Right from Shahbano case to appeasing the minorities to reservations, they have shown partiality to one religious entity or grouping. This is communal. Regardless of whether BJP or other opposition parties are communal, the fact remains that being communal seems to apply to all the political parties combined.
To get this, I want equal rights for all the citizens on India. I have good reasons for that. In the past 50+ years, we have provided minorities and majority religious groups alike with several provisions such as reservation of up to 30-60% in government and PSUs for minorities depending on where you work, and what state you work in. Similarly, majority Hindus are provided provisions for HUF for tax relief purposes. What has this got us? The net result has been that more and more groups, caste based communities etc. are vying for spots on the valuable backward class lists. You cannot tell me this can be considered a country moving in the right direction. In a minority religious Muslim community, a man can have up to 4 wives, can say talaq 3 times and divorce his wife without any government interference. Is this right? Why should Muslim Law Board decide the laws of marriage for Muslims? There should be same laws for all the citizens of the country.
I am not an anti-muslim but I also do not believe that this is the way to bring a community to mainstream and if the people do not want to come to mainstream then this is a huge government problem. I would like to make it clear that I do not believe in preventing anyone from practicing their religious beliefs however, I do believe in every community encouraging their members to diversify, learning science, mathematics, some INDIAN history etc. besides their own religious studies as well.
Students from minority communities could be encouraged by giving scholarships/low interest loans if they join college. If PSUs or Private sector companies hire employees of minority community, they could be given some tax benefit. This is one way to encourage minority community to enter the mainstream, to explore new opportunities and as a result be helpful in taking India forward to a better future.
I am dead set against minority commissions which damage their communities even more by keeping them from joining the mainstream with their policies. Bringing in equal rights will eliminate that aspect and possibly herald a new future for the minority and some of the less fortunate folks from SC/ST groups.
I want to see India grow and her talents not get wasted by useless divisions and wedges that our political parties (Esp. Congress) have created. Remember, I am being so severely harsh on Congress because they have ruled for majority of years in the post-Independence era. Look, giving 5% electricity to farmers, reservations in private sectors, and special rules for religious communities etc will not help this country move forward. For us to achieve this, equal rights or common civil code is an absolute must.
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