As the freedom- founding

document Magna Carta,signed at Runnymede on

June 15, 1215, turns 800

years, I wonder if I should

celebrate this occasion .

The legendary American President

Thomas Jefferson ( 1801 – 1809 ) said

once , “We hold these truths to be self-

evident… all men are created equal…

they are endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable Rights.” One

of his finest successors in the White

House Abraham Lincoln (1861 –

1865) referenced in his Civil War

Gettysburg Address the historic

document’s dedication to a “new

nation, conceived in liberty.”

American civil rights activist Rev.

Martin Luther King ( 1929 – 1968) had

his heart in the Carta in his 1963 “I

Have a Dream” speech .

I find the realities of the world are

still too ugly to celebrate. The world

we live in is far is from its dream of

freedom. The affluence of the few

knows no bounds herein . Few states

and rulers care for the rights of the

common person . A majority of them

perpetuate the suppression of their

vast sections of humanity, women and

minorities, in particular . Fascists Adolf

Hitler and Benito Mussolini are long

dead but there have been too many of

their ideological descendants around

to torment the humanity under one

or the other pretext . Freedom is

in peril .

I find the so-called enlightened

international community cares a fig

even today if Sudanese President

Omar al-Bashir, a wanted man by the

International Criminal Court, visits

South Africa and is not arrested . Nor

does the international community

seem to care if an Egyptian activist

Hend Nafea, involved in the 2011

protests against the authoritarian

Mubarak regime ,is sentenced to life

in prison for ‘sabotage and terrorism’

after she shares her story with The

New York Times . Nor does the

community care if Egypt imprisons it

poets like Omar Hazek for ‘violating’ its

protest law.

I take a mental leave also when a

ruling Indian politician or his/her

bureaucratic- intellectual accomplice

brags ours is a great democracy. A

genuine democracy is supposed to

foster the multi-faced development of

all its citizens. I am afraid this is hardly

the reality of India even today .

According to the 2015 Food and

Agricultural Organization report, “ The

State of Food Insecurity in the World,”

our country tops the world’s hunger

list of nations with its 194 million

citizens denied of food. There have

been reports of the minorities--

Hindus or Muslims depending on

where they reside--- being victimized

with the state virtually looking the

other way.

Recently, some newspapers have

reported how Muslim citizens of India

have been denied accommodation in

certain Hindu majority areas. In its

recommendations in 2005 the

Rajinder Sachar Committee sought

the setting up of an Equal Opportunity

Commission to provide a legal

mechanism to address complaints

related to discrimination against

Muslims in matters such as housing .

But nothing meaningful has

happened so far. (“Endemic

discrimination,” The Hindu, May 29,

2015).

In her introduction to the legendary

B R Ambedkar’s work, “ Annihilation of

Caste” ( an annotated critical edition,

2014), the world famous writer

Arundhati Roy confirms the practice of

caste still continues much to the

detriment of a vast segment of our

Dalit population. This caste system

derives its sustenance from

Missing links in rise of Dalits

A democracy is supposed to foster the multi-faced development of all its

citizens. India’s record is hardly shining in the matter. Our country tops the

world’s hunger list of nations with its 194 million citizens denied of food.

The heinous practice of caste still continues much to the detriment of a vast

segment of our Dalit population, observes Jagdish N Singh .

July 2015 Power Politics 27

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Martin Luther King

B R Amedkar

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varnashram dharm . There are about

four thousand endogamous castes

and sub-castes(jatis ) divided into four

varnas --- Brahmin ( priets), Kshatriya

(warriors ), Vaishya ( traders ) and

Shudra ( servants)--- in Hindu society.

Outside these varnas are avarna or

ati-Shudra—divided into the

untouchables, the unseeables and the

unapproachable. Then in some castes

there are also exogamous groups

(gotras) to prevent any

in-breeding within.

The Buddhists , the 14 th century

Bhakti poet saints--- Cokhmala,

Ravidas, Kabir, Tukaram, Mira, Janabai,

the 19-20th centuries reformers ---

Jyotiba Phule, Pandita Ramabai, Swami

Achhutanand Harihar, Avyankali and

Sree Narayab Guru, Jyothee Thass and

his Sakya Buddhists, E V Ramasamy ‘

Periyar’, Jogendranath Mandal and

Babu Mangoo Ram all challenged the

system.

The most famous of the last

category B R Ambedkar argued : “

There will be outcastes as long as there

are castes. Nothing can emancipate

the outcaste except the destruction of

the caste system.” Some social

reformers have opposed the system in

their own ways. Mahatma Gandhi, for

instance, proposed an abolition of the

hierarchy between castes , the merger

of varans with avarnas and the

equality of all castes .

However, the system, Roy laments,

goes on . She says that “caste and

capitalism have blended into a

disquieting, unique alloy” Although

subordinated castes have become a

force to reckon, our “democracy itself

is being undermined in serious and

structural ways.” She says the reforms

introduced in the 1990s have led to “a

spectacular growth rate.” It has at the

same time led to “the concentration of

wealth in fewer hands”

She observes, “ Today India’s one

hundred richest people own assts

equivalent to one fourth of its

celebrated GDP. In a nation of 1.2

billion, more than 800 millions live on

less than Rs 30 a day. Giant

corporation virtually own and run the

country. Politicians and political

parties have begun to function as

subsidiary holdings of big business

houses.

Citing various authentic estimates,

Roy says that Dalits account for 15 per

cent of the national population today .

Vaishaya account for less than 2.7 per

cent . Brahmins account for about 3.5

per cent. But the latter two segments

still dominate the overall system .

Among India’s dollar billionaires,

seven out of ten are Vaishyas. Banias

have a firm hold on small trade in

cities and traditional rural money

lending across the country. Brahmins

hold as much as 70 per cent of

government jobs. All Supreme Court

Chief Justices between 1950 and 2000

were Brahmins. During the same

period 60 per cent of the associated

Jusitces in High Courts and lower

courts were Brahmins. Over 37.17

per cent of the Indian bureaucracy is

made up of Brahmins. Most of them

have occupied top posts.

Almost 90 per cent of the decision

makers in the English language print

media and 79 in television are from

the upper caste. Of them, 49 per cent

are Brahmins. Not one of them is

Dalit or Adivasi. Only four per cent

belong to castes designated as Shudra

and three per cent to Muslims ( 13.4

per cent of population) Of the four

most important English national

dailies, three are owned by Vaishyas

and one by a Brahmin family.

Reservation is the only opportunity

the Scheduled Casts have to break into

the mainstream. This too remains a far

cry . To be eligible for a government

job a Dalit needs to have completed

high school at least. Over 71.3 per cent

of them drop out before matriculation.

As a result In Central public sector

enterprise only 8.4 per cent of the A-

Grade officers belong to the Scheduled

Castes. Seventy per cent of Dalits are

still landless. In states like Punjab,

Bihar, , Haryana and Kerala this figure

is as high as 90 per cent. Over 1.3

million Dalits—mostly women—

continue to earn their living by

carrying baskets of human shits on

their heads. The Indian Railways is

one of the largest employers of

manual scavengers.

What a shame !

Arundhati Roy

E V Ramasamy ‘ Periyar’

Mahatma Gandhi

No client stateRelations between New Delhi

and Washington are on firm

footing today. Knowledgeable

sources say the two nations have a

joint statement on security in the

Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean.

During his recent trip to India ,

American Defense Secretary

Ashton Carter and Minister of

Defence Manohar Parrikar signed

a 10-year agreement to promote

defence cooperation. The two

nations will be developing a mobile

solar energy power source as well

as a lightweight suit to protect

against chemical and biological

weapons. They will build jet

engines and an aircraft carrier for

India.

The sources say Beijing has in

recent months created artificial

islands in the contested waters of

the South China Sea. The islands

house military weapons and a

runway for China’s largest aircraft.

Beijing has also attempted to deny

travel through these waters.

Washington’s new defense

guidelines with Japan, Vietnam and

elsewhere show it is trying to put

together a loose coalition of allies

and security partners ,including

India, Singapore, Philippines,

Indonesia and so on.

India has its own interests in the

South China Sea for navigation and

oil exploration. Beijing does not

want New Delhi to explore for oil

in the disputed areas of the South

China Sea. It has claimed almost

the entire sea. This is a difficult

proposition to accept . The South

China is a major shipping route . It

is having large oil and gas

reserves.

However, India cannot be a

client state to America (any power).

Since Nehru’s time Its strategy has

been to remain independent on

I wonder why the historic

1974 India-Bangladesh Land

Boundary Agreement (LBA)

between the legendary Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi and her

then Bangla counterpart Mujibur

Rahman been gathering dust for

such a long time. Former Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh had

signed the protocol for the LBA in

2011. His government did not

push it through Parliament.

External Affairs Minister Sushama

Swaraj deserves applause for

getting the Constitution

Amendment Bill on the LBA

unanimously passed in the

Lok Sabha and paving the

way to honour the historic deal .

Knowledgeable sources say

relations between New Delhi and

Dacca have improved a lot over

the last couple of years. Recently,

New Delhi abandoned its claims

on the disputed waters, nearly 80

per cent of which has now gone

to Bangladesh. During Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s Dacca

sojourn last month, he and his

Bangla counterpart Sheikh

Hasina signed the land border

agreement. As per the agreement

there will be an exchange of 162

enclaves — 111 from India and

51 from Bangladesh .

A series of agreements for

road, rail and port connectivity

and energy tie-ups were signed.

New Delhi and Dacca have agreed

to have zero tolerance against

extremism and to discuss the

sharing of waters of 54 common

rivers. A Bangladesh Mission wil

nowl be established in Guwahati

and an Indian Missions in Sylhet

and Khulna.

Indira Gandhi

Sushama Swaraj

American Defense Secretary

Ashton Carter with Defence

Minister Manohar Parrikar

Honouring an historic pact

July 2015 Power Politics 29

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arrived at with their Chinese

counterparts. During Prime

Minister Narendra Modi's recent

Recently , Chinese Foreign

Ministry spokesperson Hua

Chunying said : "The Chinese

side holds a consistent and clear

position on the eastern section of

the China-India boundary…

Arunachal Pradesh is a part of

'Southern Tibet'. The Chinese

government does not recognise

'the McMahon Line', which is

illegal."

Knowledgeable source this is

unlikely to cause any serious

threat to peace in the region.

New Delhi and Beijing are likely

to adhere to the framework

Prime Ministers P V Narsimha

Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Friction unlikely visit to China, New Delhi and

Beijing have reaffirmed their

commitment to a fair, reasonable

and mutually acceptable solution

to the boundary question by

pressing ahead with the process

of the special representatives'

meeting.

The sources say the Chinese

spokesman has also said in the

above statement that Beijing is

always “ready to work with the

Indian side to resolve the

boundary question through

friendly consultation at an early

date and create more favourable

conditions for the development

of the bilateral relations." P V Narsimha Rao

the world stage. New Delhi will

adhere to this . Since Indira Gandhi

New Delhi has diversified its

armament sources. Today it buys

defense equipment from the U.S.,

Russia and others. This is to

prevent the country from

becoming too dependent on any

single partner.

Message of co-existence Come July 6 and the enlightened

international community will be

celebrating one of its special days – the

80 the birthday of His Holiness the

Dalai Lama . As part of this celebration

in New Delhi, the Bureau of His

Holiness the Dalai Lama has organized

at the India International Centre an

exhibition of photography, Thungka

paintings, video viewing on the life of

the Dalai Lama. On July 4 there will be

a panel discussion at the IIC . Director

of Tibet House (New Delhi) Geshe

Dorjee Damdu, India’s former Foreign

Secretary Shyam Saran, , former

Ambassador to the United States Lalit

Mansingh, former National Security

Advisor and Foreign Secretary

Shivshankar Menon and former Union

Minister Arun Shourie will be speaking

on the Dalai's contribution to

humanity .

Those who have followed the

spiritual and political discourse of the

Dalai Lama all these years already

know his is the philosophy of co-

existence based on non-violence,

middle path, secular

ethics and mutual development .

Today he does not seek independence

from China but genuine autonomy. He

thinks it is in the interest of both

Tibetans and the Chinese to live

together in the contemporary world.

I hope this birthday celebration

conveys a right message to this effect

across to Beijing and both Chinese

President Xi Jinping and His Holiness

will sit together to work out a

permanent solution to the long Sino-

Tibetan imbroglio. This is a must for an

atmosphere of peace and prosperity

to flourish in entire China, including

Tibet .

It is high time the two leaders did

not leave it to diplomats or high

officials any more. The go-between

officials have so far failed to solve the

problem. Some ultra-nationalist

communists in the mainland China

and reactionary orthodox Buddhists

and foreign funded pro-independence

activists on the Tibetan side seem to

have a vested interest in perpetuating

the status quo. This vicious

phenomenon has to be transcended

by the Tibetan spiritual-political

leadership and the Chinese

communist one for the sake of the

Tibetan masses at home and

living abroad .

Dalai Lama

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