INCLUSIVE VISION OF THE RSS VERSUS

HATE POLITICS OF DRAVIDIANISTS

Man On A Mission
Annamalai is increasing BJP’s visibility in the Dravidian
stronghold in time for crucial polls.
PUNJAB SLIPPING INTO A BJP SWEEP ON
ITS PAINFUL PAST THE CARDS DECEMBER 2022
LETTERS

Address The Root Cause, First

The root of all this is in the madrassas. No amount of winnowing and

weaving will have an effect (The Battle Is Far From Over, November 2022)
unless the root of it is addressed. Radical Islam is propagated from
mosques and madrassas, and groups such as PFI are merely outcomes
of that. Cure the disease not the symptom.

— Krishnan Unni
Helo Hopes
A fascinating look behind
the defence-machine
curtain (High-Altitude Fire
Power, November 2022).
Twenty-three years to
respond to a military
need via home-grown
design and manufacture
seems too long to an
ordinary civilian, but, like
the delay-plagued Tejas
fighter jet, hopefully the
newly-deployed light
Clean-Up Crucial attack helicopter will be
My memory of Kshipra from two decades ago is nothing
besides monumental corruption. And if India had built world class. And having
border infra 2004-2014 (mundu-wearing Antony was just
but the river being Ujjain’s septic tank — like what 99 sleeping for 10 years) India would still be in control of given birth to the neces-
per cent of our rivers have become (Gomti in Lucknow, Depsang and Demchok.
Yamuna in Delhi — the list is endless). I hope this means — Prasana Venkatesh sary manufacturing eco-
(Securing Sacred Spaces, November 2022) that the Kshipra
river would also have received some attention in terms of Infrastructure Anomaly
system, further develop-
less sewage being released into the river (if that’s at all
possible) and some well-deserved clean-up.
ment, deployment and
Anand, as of now, my experience has been that there is a
— Mohan Santhanam
wide variation in the availability of high-speed broadband export should happen in
across Indian geography and between networks. This is
India Needs To Be Watchful
because of shortage of tower infrastructure. For 5G (The
double-quick time.
Magic Of 5G, November 2022) to really work across the
Spot on Mr Jagannathan (Uncle Sam — Friend Or Foe?, No-
vember 2022). India has to — using a cricket analogy —
hinterland, should not this infrastructure anomaly be first — Jay Malhotra
tackled by the network companies?
keep an eye on the field (ie, on the global actors) and their
— N N Schitanand
moves including that of their off-field captain, the US (in
American sports all decisions are made by off-field skip-
Movie Deserves National Award
per/manager/coach), while being focused on not getting
out (its self interest) and accumulating runs (its economic
growth). Accurate narration (Gods Of Great Things, November 2022)
— Raghuveer Sharma of the experience of watching the movie. You get a feel-
ing of participation while watching the movie. A movie
The Biggest Sin made as experienced not as a story telling. A departure
from traditional techniques derived from Western media.
Debt-fuelled growth was encouraged by UPA leading to It deserves the National Award for best movie and acting.
NPAs which cost us dearly resulting in slow growth (The — Jagjeevandas Shetty
Lost Decade, November 2022). This is their biggest sin

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 3
IN THIS ISSUE

JUDICIARY
04

VOL 66 ISSUE 11

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

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Mehrishi, Swati Goel Sharma
CJI CHANDRACHUD HAS TOO MUCH JUDICIAL POWER AS HE WILL PROBABLY BE APPOINTING JUDGES WHO WILL LAST
SENIOR SUB EDITORS TILL EARLY OR MID-2030.
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COVER STORY
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RATTLED BY ANNAMALAI’S METEORIC RISE.

4 D E CE M B ER 2022
 POLITICS
69
BOOK REVIEW
40

A COMIC COMPARISON DECOLONISING MINDS

IT’S HIGH TIME THE LEFT-LIBERALS GIVE UP ON DRAWING FALSE EQUIVALENCES THIS IS A MUST-HAVE BOOK FOR EVERY LOVER OF INDIAN CIVILISATION
TO JUSTIFY HIJAB DEMANDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. — STUDENT AND SCHOLAR, COMMONER AND ACADEMIC.

51
T E C H N O L O G Y A N D

TEMPLE THRUST 08

FALL OF THE ‘RED’ BASTION 29

POWERING GOODWILL 34

THE RISE OF ALLIES 37

PERILOUS PENSION POLITICS 44

AGE OF SPOILS IS OVER 48

GREAT FISCAL EXPECTATIONS 55

THE AHOM BRAVEHEART 65

ZOOMING AHEAD INDIA’S IT ITIHAASA 74

WHILE MAKING ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGIES AFFORDABLE FOR THE WORLD, ZOHO
IS BECOMING AN INDIAN TECH GIANT. ARCHIVE 80

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 5
JUDICIARY

ON ‘WOKE’ WATCH
CJI Chandrachud will probably be appointing judges who will last till the early or mid-2030.
That is simply too much judicial power to be given to one man for such a long time.

T
rue lovers of democracy and di- to ensure fairness and secure the rule of R JAGANNATHAN
versity will need to scrutinise the law. The system ensures independence
two-year tenure of Chief Justice of the judiciary by ensuring that recom-
of India D Y Chandrachud with a mendations for appointments are free of
beady eye. external influence.”
This is largely because he stands for a He also warned politicians to “avoid
particular type of political ideology that grandstanding”.
goes beyond mere interpretations of the Before we get into analysing his state-
Constitution. ment, let us understand one simple fact:
Among Supreme Court judges, Chandra- Chandrachud will be Chief Justice for two
chud can be listed as being more activist whole years, upto 10 November 2024, and
and “woke” than some others. in the current roster of 27 sitting Supreme
It is, therefore, worrisome that in his Court judges, just under half — 12 of the
very first interview to the media, he has remaining 26, including the four who
stoutly defended that self-serving institu- currently are part of his collegium — will
tion called the collegium, which selects all retire before Chandrachud does.
judges of the higher judiciary. This means, even as the collegium
The Times of India quotes CJI Chandra- membership keeps changing, Chandrachud
chud as saying: “Appointment of judges will be the strongest and longest-serving
through the collegium system is intended member of this self-created institution that

6 D E CE M B ER 2022
 has no basis in the Constitution. the states as the President may deem neces-
Among Supreme CJI Chandrachud will be substantially sary for the purpose and shall hold office
deciding who will run the constitutional until he attains the age of sixty-five years:
Court judges,
courts practically till the mid-2030s, since “Provided that in the case of appoint-
Chandrachud can be Justice J B Pardiwala, No 27 on the cur- ment of a judge other than the Chief Jus-
listed as being more rent Supreme Court judges’ list in terms tice, the Chief Justice of India shall always
activist and “woke” of seniority, is scheduled to retire only by be consulted”.
than some others. 11 August 2030 — almost eight years from
It is, therefore, now. A plain and simple reading of this
CJI Chandrachud will probably be ap- article nowhere suggests that five senior
worrisome that he
pointing judges who will last till the early sitting judges will appoint future judges
has stoutly defended or mid-2030s. That is simply too much through the collegium, or that the govern-
that self-serving judicial power to be given to one man for ment has no role to play in these choices.
institution called the such a long time. Since the President acts only on the
collegium. While CJI Chandrachud cannot be advice of the cabinet, it follows that the ex-
faulted for having such a long tenure, he ecutive plays a key role in choosing higher
can be questioned on his views, especially judiciary judges, and the only requirement
since he claims to be a votary of social is that there is effective consultation with
justice and diversity. other sitting judges in making appoint-
But first, the collegium. ments.
Article 124 (2) of the Constitution has Put more clearly, it implies that the
this to say on how judges are to be chosen: CJI or senior judges can object, even veto,
the choices of the executive, not that the
“(2) Every judge of the Supreme Court government has no role in the shortlisting
shall be appointed by the President by or appointment of judges.
warrant under his hand and seal after As for independence, that can be short-
consultation with such of the judges of the circuited by giving sitting judges post-
Supreme Court and of the High Courts in retirement sinecures. The collegium choos-

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 7
 ing judges is no guarantee of independence. in November 2024, father and son would
In fact, it could be a facilitator of selectivity have headed the bench for nine years, that CJI Chandrachud
and nepotism. is nearly 12 per cent of the years since sends shivers down
In short, CJI Chandrachud should not independence. the spines of those
be defending the collegium system, a sys- Also, as part of the Sabarimala judge-
who would like
tem that no other country in the world has. ment which outlawed entry restrictions
Next, he claims to be believer in diver- on women in the reproductive age, the CJI
justice to be based
sity on the bench. In his Times of India effectively ensured that there will be no more on common
interview, he said: diversity in religious practice. sense than ideology.
“I do wish to prioritise a move towards The two questions on diversity that CJI He should rethink
having a more diverse bench that is closer Chandrachud must hold himself account- his role as head of
to representing the diversity of the coun- able for are the following:
India’s judiciary over
try.” If diversity is good, why rule against
His statement will have to be weighed the different practice of just one Swami
the next two years.
against what he does in his own appoint- Ayyappa temple, when no other temple
ments, but let us make a simple point: it is dedicated to the same deity has the same
politicians, who are accountable to the peo- restrictions? Is he promoting diversity or
ple, who have, in fact, been at the forefront uniformity in the name of equality?
of increasing diversity in political life, and Secondly, if diversity is indeed good,
not the judiciary. we need that in the judiciary too. We
Quotas and elevations to the highest must watch if the judicial appointments
offices of the land have happened through he makes include judges not only from
the political process, not judicial interven- diverse backgrounds, but judges whose
tions. ideological orientations differ from those of
On the other hand, the judiciary is the Chandrachud.
least diverse among constitutional institu- The next issue one should take umbrage
tions, as the elevation of Chandrachud to is his reference to “grandstanding”.
himself as CJI shows; his father was CJI Presumably, this is a reference to politi-
for seven years from 1978 to 1985. cians who either oppose the collegium sys-
So, by the time the current CJI retires tem or attack the judiciary for its decisions

8 D E CE M B ER 2022
 on various grounds. Covid started peaking and all states started
Even as the One does not have to defend politicians demanding vaccines for all, Chandrachud,
collegium who “grandstand”, for they can always be who was hearing those cases, had this to
membership removed from office in the next election. say about the Centre’s dual pricing policy
But the judiciary can repeatedly make on vaccines, which was anyway only a
keeps changing,
bombastic and grandstanding statements temporary move to deal with shortages:
Chandrachud will and never be hauled up for it. “We are not framing policy. There’s an
be the strongest Take just two instances, including one order of 30th April that these are the prob-
and longest-serving involving CJI Chandrachud himself, when lems. You will be flexible. You can’t just
member of this self- he was hearing the vaccine policy case in say that you’re the Centre and you know
created institution May last year. what’s right. We have a strong arm to come
In July this year, a two-judge bench down on this.”
that has no basis in
headed by Justice Surya Kant, which was Why should any judge be threatening
the Constitution. hearing Nupur Sharma’s plea to club all the executive? This is quite apart from the
the blasphemy cases against her together, fact that the judiciary must let a govern-
had these remarks attributed to him: “The ment function and not interfere in policy
way she (ie, Nupur Sharma) has ignited decisions, unless they are prima facie
emotions across the country. This lady iniquitous.
is singlehandedly responsible for what Chandrachud goes on to make gratui-
is happening in the country. We saw the tous and judgemental remarks, even ask-
debate on how she was incited... She should ing the government “to wake up and smell
apologise to the whole country.” the coffee”. And this from a CJI who in his
If this is not ranting, or judicial grand- Times of India Q&A says “A judge must not
standing to show how the court itself ab- become judgmental”.
horred her alleged blasphemous remarks CJI Chandrachud sends shivers down
against the Prophet, what is? In fact, many the spines of those who would like justice
ex-judges and officials were appalled with to be based more on common sense than
this kind of playing to the minorities gal- ideological. He should rethink his role as
R Jagannathan is Editorial lery. head of India’s judiciary over the next two
Director, Swarajya. In May 2021, when the Delta wave of years.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 9
CULTURE

TEMPLE THRUST
As the Prime Minister oversees a rejuvenation of temples, he is also giving a reality-check to
those who believed progress and urban life to be an irreligious activity.

T
his year’s Diwali witnessed a cel- a performative strategy to reiterate India’s
JYOTIRMAYA TRIPATHY
ebration at Ayodhya like never civilisational foundation and to catalyse a
before, with the Prime Minister cultural renaissance.
of the world’s largest democracy While engineering this, Modi is also of-
participating in the aarti on Sarayu river. fering a counter narrative to conventional
A few weeks back, Prime Minister Naren- secularist urban planning while prodding
dra Modi had inaugurated the re-developed us to reimagine the city as a sacred space.
Mahakaleswara temple complex in Ujjain.
Earlier, he had presided over the trans- Modi, The Moderniser
formation of Kashi dham from a medieval Even then, Modi as a moderniser and avid
neighbourhood with its dirty and narrow market advocate is much more complex
lanes to an ideal temple town with ameni- than simply a cultural consciousness
ties and conveniences that is already the raiser. Seeing him as a revivalist does not
envy of any planned city. have much merit beyond rhetoric.
An unthinking mind would take the Even as he converts urban space to sa-
easy path of dismissing this inauguration cred geographies, he converts these spaces
spree as perpetual electioneering and as to public spaces, thus going beyond the
part of Modi’s endless campaigns aiming at binaries of market and religion, or moder-
Hindu consolidation. A more nuanced way nity and faith. The dingy alleys of Varanasi
would perhaps be to see in this investment with its unredeemable traffic may invoke

10 D E CE M B ER 2022
 some nostalgia among sections of intel- religious and tourism centre.
Even as the Prime ligentsia, but one of the holiest shrines of This may sound bourgeoisation, but
Minster converts India deserved better. actually refers to the Hindu philosophy of
urban space to Now that the electric cables are no purushartha where dharma is not in an
longer hanging like a Damocles sword, antagonistic relation with artha. Not only
sacred geographies,
roads are wider than they ever were and that; a religion with designated gods and
he converts these the ghats are spanking clean, pilgrims are goddesses for wealth, Hinduism is always
spaces to public happy and so are the residents. The Kashi tolerant of material practices and does not
spaces, thus Vishwanath corridor boasts of wide roads, privilege one over the other.
going beyond the LED lights and multi-level parking spaces Temples at the heart of city planning
binaries of market along with sidewalks. There are passen- bring that multidimensional character of
ger service centres, shopping complexes, Hindu life.
and religion, or
galleries and auditoriums, a Vedic kendra, These exercises have the public at the
modernity and faith. museum, art gallery and food court. heart of the design that can have spaces
More examples galore: the Kedarnath and activities for a larger public.
project is progressing fast and is now part Some may argue that such a project cre-
of Char Dham corridor; the restoration of ates a consumerist and indulgent pilgrim,
Somnath temple is being carried out under but as we know, temples have always been
the aegis of Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and spaces of transaction including divine com-
Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive munication.
(PRASAD). Modi is not only redefining public
The latter boasts of a seaside prome- space, so far confined to their secularist
nade, exhibition centres, a plaza for tourist character as in squares or parks, but also
facilities, covered walk-track, musical transforming the idea of public itself, usu-
fountain, theatre, etc. ally seen as bound by situation, interest,
The town of Ayodhya is being developed awareness etc, to an organic sense of collec-
like Kashi Vishawnath Corridor and is tive where national, economic and cultural
projected to be a global city as well as a interact and converse.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 11
 Temples as public places are not a new forced amnesia who grew up internalising
concept, but never before this idea has the reality of their cultural erasure that Whether people
been operationalised with such zeal in believed progress and urban life to be an
come to temples
recent times. irreligious or even anti-religious (read
Even as it offers conveniences to the anti-Hindu) activity.
for entertainment
modern pilgrim, the modern temple today Modi thus is rewriting development the- and leisure, or for
is a contemplative and reflective space ory that believed in linearity and forward spiritual experience
that transforms the city and establishes movement. The hubris of secularism and is an open-
its aiswarya. It is not gentrification, it is the Nehruvian project of secular moderni- ended question.
bringing people to the heart of planning. sation were a subtle way of deracination
Modernisation
Today, temples are becoming central to and de-culturalisation of India’s develop-
the modern urban imaginary, the reason ment as a post-colonial nation.
projects built around
many gated communities have their own The sectorisation of a new city like temples as in
temple and every household its own shrine. Chandigarh or the conversion of an old city Varanasi or Ayodhya
Whether people come to temples for like Delhi to a non-aligned fantasy world offer a new kind of
entertainment and leisure, or for spiritual (by naming city roads after Third World organic and rooted
experience is an open-ended question. We leaders) created the template for post-colo-
citizenship.
have no evidence to suggest that visiting nial city planning.
temples in a clean and convenient environ- Many such vanity projects were in-
ment impedes divine experience. Moderni- tended to erase the place’s political as well
sation projects built around temples as in as sacred history. This sacred dimension
Varanasi or Ayodhya offer a new kind of was unconscious of Indian city planning
organic and rooted citizenship. and remained buried under the weight of
The restoration and rejuvenation of administrative and secularist labels.
these temples are moments of recognition Thus renaming of cities (such as Praya-
for millions of Indians after decades of graj) wrests history from externally im-

12 D E CE M B ER 2022
 posed labels and integrates it with India’s Varanasi from the crushing burden of his-
If Mark Twain past as a livable present. Modi is not only tory and giving it a pride of place outside
believed that providing people what they need materi- of culture-denying effort known as history
Varanasi is older ally in terms of welfare measures or other writing.
developmental interventions, but also what Modi’s modernisation-cum-tradition-
than history, Modi
they have missed so far culturally. He is alisation may look like commodification
is freeing Varanasi helping that unconscious assert itself, so for some, but it is actually a sacralisation
from the crushing far buried under the burden of ‘secular’ of the commodity where everything that
burden of history history. is consumed has an association with the
and giving it a pride placeness of the place.
of place outside A New Urban Experience Nehru was doing what prophets of ur-
Cultural authenticity and placeness are im- ban sociology have been arguing all along,
of culture-denying
portant for urban planners and both can be and in the name of understanding Western
effort known as brought about by policy intervention. But society were creating templates for post-
history writing. what we are witnessing here is not crass colonial leaders like Nehru.
commercialisation of heritage projects, but For Max Weber, Oriental cities were
a rejuvenation that liberates a place from beset with tribal and sectarian identities
the shackles of modernist historiography. which will not allow the urban residents
It may be said that by making temples form citizenship.
the locus of urban planning, Modi is mak- Anthropologist Robert Redfield, while
ing Indian unconscious assert itself. not sounding prescriptive, also imagined
This is not the same like invented tradi- the urban as an impersonal and secular
tions that many postmodern scholars have space. He had contrasted this image of the
the habit of using for anything they do not city with an image of the folk community
like. If Mark Twain believed that Vara- which he characterised as small, sacred,
nasi is older than history, Modi is freeing highly personalistic, and homogeneous.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 13
 This meant as the folk community moved Urban Agenda. Modi understood
to the city, there would be a fragmentation Modi understood that city planning can- that city planning
in cultural traditions. not simply be confined to heritage manage-
cannot simply be
Elsewhere, Redfield with Milton Singer ment which is another name of desacralisa-
distinguished between cities that are char- tion. He made a conscious effort to convert
confined to heritage
acterised by orthogenetic and heteroge- these cities to what they have always been, management which
netic functions, the former performing and but were not often celebrated. He made is another name of
conserving the society’s traditions and the these centres tirtha kshetras carrying puri- desacralisation. He
latter promoting technology and economic fying power and mahatmya. made a conscious
change. In most such articulations, cities Is Modi trying to yoke two contradictory
effort to convert
were expected to move from tradition to ideas by violence by bringing a sacred city
surplus generation; such a movement converse with a modern city? Not really.
these cities to what
was not only seen as inevitable, but also Such thinking may have a Western bias they have always
healthy and progressive. that believes in linearity, something even been, but were not
The placeness of most Indian cities the West no longer believes in. often celebrated.
remained divorced from that buried past. Modi is bringing a sense of aucitya to
Well, until the correction of history started our city imaginary, which means propriety
in earnest, courtesy Modi. or appropriateness or proportion, some-
Before Modi embarked on blurring the thing that had lost out to infrastructure
culture/economy binary and making cities development and economic surplus genera-
sites of the sacred, UNESCO’s Interna- tion.
tional Conference on “Culture for Sustain- This new thinking is concerned with
able Cities” and the resulting Hangzhou beauty in an organic fashion where each
Outcomes (December 2015) had aimed at part coheres with the whole. The city must
identifying the key role of culture and cul- evoke senses of fulfillment or siddhi.
tural heritage in contributing to the New For Bharata muni, there are two types

14 D E CE M B ER 2022
 of siddhi — manusi and daiviki; the first is visual experience — vismaya or wonder at
concerned with ordinary reactions which best and bhaya or fear at worst.
the spectators exhibit as per their like or Its massive infrastructure and soul
dislike. Daiviki siddhi has two varieties: destroying lifestyle may engender rati and
when there is emotional exuberance and utsaha for some and soka and krodha for
overflow of feelings, and two, when the some others.
spectator is in a state of calm, completely Modi is trying to add an alaukika or
silent, absorbed in himself and not show- non-worldly dimension leading to a con-
ing any agitation. temporary version of ananda.
Like art creation and appreciation, He is recreating urban space as an affec-
urban experience cannot do away with tive space with conditions for transcend-
alaukika happiness — a deeper sense of ence.
happiness that is not dualistic in nature. Indian cities have history, with religion
Conventionally, appreciation of a at its core. Aesthetics is about sensitiv-
modern city and its conveniences and ity to the city’s cultural core and guiding
infrastructure has been a one-dimensional people to experience the same. That makes
Jyotirmaya Tripathy is a experience. More often than not, this expe- the experience more intimate, humane and
Chennai-based commentator rience is laukika or worldly. The bhavas personal. Varanasi and Ayodhya are lead-
and cultural critic. that urban planners have emphasised is ing the way.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 15
PUNJAB

SLIPPING INTO A PAINFUL PAST

A chief minister missing in action; murders; gangs running amok — Punjab appears to be
sliding back to a time that brought the state and the country a lot of pain.

Y
et another day, yet another high congratulating the killers, or Gurpatwant
ROHIT PATHANIA
profile murder. This has seemed Pannu promising cash for legal defence of
to become the trend in Punjab in the killers, the trail is rather evident.
the recent past. Add to that the link of Dubai-based
Last month, Sudhir Suri, of one of the businessman-turned-radical-Khalistani-
various Shiv Sena factions and a locally preacher, Amritpal Sandhu and the killer
prominent Hindu activist in Amritsar was having met some time before the murder,
shot dead. and the cocktail seems perfect.
What was particularly shocking was the This murder took things to another
rather professional manner in which the level though.
murder was committed, and that too when One of the accused in the Bargari
a police security cordon stood around Suri. sacrilege case and a follower of the con-
The incident left the police looking abso- troversial Dera Saccha Sauda, Pradeep
lutely clueless. Singh, was shot dead in broad daylight by
The murderers were seen by several unknown assailants.
witnesses, and the links to Khalistani ter- The fires have definitely been simmer-
rorists are difficult to deny. ing, given how Pradeep is one of the seven
Be it Gopal Singh Chawla, Pakistan- accused shot dead in the past six years.
based Khalistani terrorist and ISI asset What, however, it once again proved was

16 D E CE M B ER 2022
 the total absence of even a semblance of a batch of some farm union faction or the
law and order in Punjab. other, causing massive inconvenience
The Chief Minister Knowing fully-well the need to fast track within the state and earning the ire of the
has started to the cases and also provide security, the im- common people.
look more and portance of the case was not hidden from Inaction on stubble burning, salaries
anyone. Even then, that a murder like this not being paid for months on a stretch,
more like a ‘lame
could take place raises questions on the state economy in shambles, and a bureau-
duck’. No amount intelligence failure of the Punjab Police. cracy in boycott mode — there is no end in
of ridicule for This reactive approach of the police has sight to a dark tunnel into which Punjab is
dancing in Gujarat been going on for a while. being hurtled.
or being deplaned The administration, however, has re- But for the alertness of Delhi and Hary-
in Germany after acted in a manner that has left many disap- ana Police, many instances would have
pointed to say the least. Issuing advisories also happened in the neighbouring regions,
repeated fiascos
to prominent Hindu activists in the state spreading the menace wide.
seemed to have to not step out of their houses in Ludhiana People like Amritpal Sandhu have a free
made any difference. has perhaps not been seen since the hey- hand in provoking sentiments through in-
days of Khalistan terror of the 1980s. flammatory speeches. Even in the Patiala
This speaks volumes on the inability temple attack case from earlier this year,
of the Punjab Police to be able to detain not much action has happened in terms of
suspects preemptively. What is ironic is investigation and prosecution.
that so many Sikhs are also being issued Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has
threats by people like Gopal Singh Chawla, started to look more and more like a ‘lame
and yet the police force seems to be in deep duck’. No amount of ridicule for dancing
slumber on the question. in Gujarat or being deplaned in Germany
The lack of interest of the administra- after repeated fiascos seemed to have made
tion in addressing any issue is more than any difference.
visible. Every day, there is some or the Even on the issue of stubble burning,
other road in the state that is blocked by the Aam Aadmi Party’s U-turn and rheto-

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 17
 ric have been caught out repeatedly. This The central government has to move
has raised more questions than answers forward. However, given the federal struc-
about what the government of Punjab even ture, there are limits to what action it can
wants to achieve. undertake.
History may not repeat, but it certainly Rest assured, every effort is being made
rhymes. These incidents are increasingly right now to ensure that the communal poi-
reminding the people of Punjab of the dark son does not spread beyond Punjab. Efforts
days of the 1980s. have been made to track Khalistanis in and
A popularly elected government miss- outside India and get them to justice.
ing in action with a chief minister known What is worrying though is that the
more for his shenanigans; random calls narrative war is definitely not being fought
for killings being followed by executions by the intelligence agencies in a concerted
to ‘avenge’ the panth; gangs running amok fashion.
claiming to be freedom fighters and being Social media content is awash with
armed to the teeth; people related to deras inflammatory material, but there is action
and spiritual groups being targeted; and in a reactive manner. Several Khalistani
a radical preacher touring and provok- sympathisers based abroad and fake han-
ing sentiments of the ordinary people and dles running from Pakistan are trying to
radicalising at large — the signs are all stoke flames. It is on this front that much
over there. more is left to be desired.
Forces trying to foment trouble are re- Incidents are more and more starting to
ceiving funding and support from elements remind the well-wishers of Punjab about
in the diaspora, with drug trafficking the return of those days that everyone else Rohit Pathania works in the
forming a significant source of such funds. wants to forget and move on from. space of renewable energy and
Pakistan’s involvement has also come One can only hope that this is addressed environment. Other interests
back, given how drones are being deployed fast, before it is too late. No more blood- include politics and the
to deliver weapons, explosives and drugs. shed can be afforded by Punjab. economy.

18 D E CE M B ER 2022
COVER STORY

BUILDING BJP BRICK BY BRICK

The Dravidian establishment, a major section of Tamil media, and some detractors within his
party are rattled by Annamalai’s meteoric rise.

B
haratiya Janata Party (BJP) last few months that BJP has indisputably
MOHAN IDICULLA
Tamil Nadu chief and former IPS emerged as the second ideological pole in
officer K Annamalai is a man the Tamil political landscape, challenging
on a mission. Ever since he took the dominant Dravidian narrative.
charge of the state unit of the BJP, he has The sign of the shift is visible through
managed to hog the headlines and catapult the enthusiastic crowds that the young
the party to the centre stage of political leader is attracting as he crisscrosses
discourse in the state. the state for various party programmes
Whether the party under Annamalai’s and protests he has launched. His media
leadership has gained electoral traction re- interactions, often combative, have gained
mains to be seen. While the 2024 Lok Sabha phenomenal coverage, some argue even
polls will provide early signals if BJP has disproportionate to the party’s current
achieved the momentum to be electorally relevance.
impactful, the real litmus test will be the In a recent YouTube interview, a lead-
state assembly election scheduled in 2026. ing journalist and political observer sym-
But it is increasingly evident in the pathetic to the ruling Dravida Munnetra

20 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Kazhagam (DMK) bemoaned that while An- and YouTube channels to give interviews
namalai is getting coverage on page one in in which they peddle conspiracy theories
Annamalai’s ability
newspapers, the events featuring the state like Annamalai is on the way out and the
to attract crowds, chief minister are relegated to page four. national leadership is unhappy with him.
build a coherent Annamalai’s ability to attract crowds, Speculations are rife that most of these
narrative and build a coherent narrative and garner sig- YouTube channels, which constantly
garner significant nificant media space since his takeover of churn out falsehoods, and anti-Modi nar-
media space since the state unit has undoubtedly rattled the ratives, are funded by ideological and reli-
present regime, though they don’t acknowl- gious forces that stand to benefit, tangibly
his takeover of
edge it openly. and intangibly, from the ruling DMK.
the state unit has While the Dravidian movement van-
undoubtedly rattled A Section Of Tamil Media Versus An- guard and propagandists pose themselves
the present regime, namalai as champions of ‘social justice’, they see
though they don’t Given that a significant section of media in no irony in invoking Annamalai’s modest
acknowledge it the state fashion themselves as ideological background from an agro-farming family
foot-soldiers of the Dravidian movement in a derogatory manner. It may be tough
openly.
and, worse, subservient to the present to believe, but several senior journalists
ruling DMK government, they have taken of Tamil media actively participate in
it upon themselves to play agent pro- mainstreaming abuses hurled against An-
vocateurs in a bid to derail and defame namalai.
Annamalai. With the blessings and support of the
Almost every other day, we witness ruling DMK, a section of journalists and
the spectacle of many journalists, often political observers appear to be openly car-
indistinguishable from DMK functionar- rying out an agenda to undermine Anna-
ies, making a beeline to a dime a dozen TV malai’s growing stature in the state polity.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 21
 While the DMK and its famed social ers of the state BJP unit. Since Annamalai has
media team rubbish and even constantly In the aftermath of the scandal, which taken over, there
mock Annamalai, the Dravidianist party is brought in enough bad press for the party,
have also been
rattled by the rise of the young former IPS Annamalai acted quickly and suspended
officer. both K T Raghavan and Madhan from the
speculations that a
party’s membership. section of the party’s
Trouble For Annamalai From Within A whisper campaign was launched (and ‘old guard’ is running
The Party? duly amplified by Tamil media), insinuat- a whisper campaign
The virulent opposition from the deeply ing that Annamalai is targeting prominent to undermine him.
entrenched Dravidian ecosystem is only Brahmin leaders of the party. Ridiculous
part of Annamalai’s challenge. as it may sound, the campaign keeps resur-
Right from the time he took over, facing periodically.
Annamalai has faced a slew of internal “Since DMK’s return to power, it has
challenges, with attempts to cast the party ratcheted up its usual hate-filled anti-Brah-
in a bad light, especially on its treatment min rhetoric. So it is likely that a section of
of women. Brahmins is feeling under siege. A section
Just days after Annamalai took over of the old party guard from the community
as the president, a sleazy private video of (which ironically is cosy with DMK) may
K T Raghavan, a senior office-bearer of be using this to their advantage to paint
the party, surfaced in social media and our leader and party as against them,” a
was ‘outed’ by a Madhan Ravichandran, a senior functionary from Chennai said.
YouTuber, who was also a part of the state Recently, another internal strife in the
unit then. Tamil Nadu BJP erupted after some office-
Madhan also sparked further controver- bearers indulged in mudslinging on social
sy by claiming that he possessed a handful media.
of such videos which involved office-bear- Gayathri Raghuram, a little-known

22 D E CE M B ER 2022
 It is common actress and party functionary, sly-tweeted, “Annamalai is acutely aware of the
expressing displeasure at not being invited vested interests within the party. Few top
knowledge that
to Varanasi’s Kasi Tamil Sangamam. She leaders enjoy proximity with the ruling
Annamalai has alleged that the new leadership has ren- DMK. A quid-pro-quo certainly exists to
been handpicked dered the ‘old guard’ redundant. The state safeguard their business interests across
for the role of state leadership did not take kindly to her open the state. Annamalai is determined to
president by B L expression of dissent lightly and has since break any such nexus to emerge as a
Santhosh, with the suspended her from the party. credible alternative,” says a senior RSS
Following her suspension from the par- functionary.
consent of none
ty, the local media and DMK propaganda “A handful of these ‘old guard’ often
other than Home army began the “Annamalai vs Brahmins indulge in praises of the former chief
Minister Amit Shah in BJP” chorus. minister M Karunanidhi and the present
and Prime Minister In yet another embarrassment to the DMK leader and Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Modi. party, a clip of an audio conversation be- While some of it may be an act of political
tween Suriya Siva (a son of an influential courtesy, it is also an attempt to embarrass
DMK leader and veteran parliamentarian Annamalai,” said another party leader.
Tiruchi Siva), and Dr Daisy, both office- During the recent visit to Gandhigram
bearers of the party, was leaked. In the to attend a university convocation cer-
clip, Siva is heard unleashing a barrage of emony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
obscenities at Daisy. The leaked audio led said to have spent an hour with Annamalai
to a huge media backlash. Both have since (en route to the Madurai airport) to get a
been suspended from the party. briefing on the political developments in
Since Annamalai has taken over, there the state. This also led to angst among the
have also been speculations that a section ‘old guards’ section over the proximity the
of the party’s ‘old guard’ is running a whis- state leader enjoys with PM Modi.
per campaign to undermine him. The general feeling among the major-

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 23
 ity of party cadres is that if the ‘old guard’ Most who have followed Annamalai
of the party is conspiring to bring down through his career and well-planned politi-
Annamalai, it would be complete naivete on cal plunge feel that recent happenings are Most who have
their part if they think that the national unlikely to ruffle him. followed Annamalai
leadership of the party will tolerate this. “Even when he took over as head of through his career
“Leaders in Delhi have always taken the state BJP, he was aware that what he and well-planned
cognisance of the fact that Tamil Nadu is has chosen is running a tough marathon,
political plunge
one of the very few states where the erst- not a sprint. So, he is fully aware of every
while local unit not only could not leverage possible way his marathon run might be
feel that recent
the Modi brand but also did nothing to thwarted by the so-called Dravidian ecosys- happenings are
counter the vile attacks coming from DMK tem. But he is not someone who is going to unlikely to ruffle
in the past many years,” a district unit rest, until he sees the last rope in this run,” him.
secretary said. was what a seasoned political observer in
Delhi had to say.
The Road Ahead For Annamalai There has been no precedent in the
It is common knowledge that Annamalai state for the kind of leader Annamalai is,
has been handpicked for the role of state political observers say — an unblemished
president by B L Santhosh, with the career IPS officer, known for his integrity,
consent of none other than Home Minister and chosen by the party to head a state unit
Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi. where the party has been in doldrums for
The party’s central leadership is con- aeons. They are quick to add that given
vinced that Tamil Nadu is a crucial ideo- that Annamalai is making good inroads for
logical battleground state for the party. the party in Tamil Nadu, one can expect a
The party is broadly confident that the slew of hit-jobs aimed at the party’s second
way ahead in Tamil Nadu is by combining line to bring disrepute to the state leader.
a localised Hindutva push, highlighting the That itself is a loud and clear message.
‘infrastructure meets welfarism’ model of Annamalai, only 38 years old, is here to
the party, promoting its brand of ‘positive’ build the party as long as it takes. And
social justice and exposing the ‘misdeeds’ that’s a message for those in the opposition
and ‘nepotism’ of what appears to be an camp in Tamil Nadu and many within the
already listless and distracted DMK gov- BJP. Mohan Idiculla is a freelance
ernment. writer and student of politics.

24 D E CE M B ER 2022
 GUJARAT 2022
A BJP SWEEP ON THE CARDS
A revitalised BJP is striving to make up for their minor hiccup in 2017, and is probably headed
for an unprecedented sweep in Gujarat this December.

O
VENU GOPAL NARAYANAN nce in a rare while, the Bharati- Why do we say this?
ya Janata Party (BJP) pulls out In 2017, the BJP was surprised by a tri-
all the stops to show the opposi- ple caste card which the Congress played.
tion just how overwhelming its This was the infamous ploy to split the
electoral machinery can be. Patidar, Other Backward Class (OBC) and
We saw this in the Madhya Pradesh Dalit votes using Hardik Patel, Alpesh Tha-
Assembly elections of 1990; Gujarat, 2002; kor and Jignesh Mewani respectively.
Rajasthan, 2013; Uttar Pradesh, in the 2014 As a result, although the BJP retained
parliamentary elections; Karnataka, in the popular mandate, and even improved
2019; and then in the Uttar Pradesh Assem- its vote share from 2012, it lost 33 hard-won
bly elections of March 2022. seats to the Congress, mainly in Saurash-
On such occasions, three factors come tra, north Gujarat, and the tribal belt.
together to create a multiplier effect — a But since then, the BJP has steadfastly
groundswell, their organisational struc- striven to undo those reverses, and the
ture on the ground, and a few star cam- results are clearly showing. This strategy
paigners. has three parts.
It appears that the BJP is gearing up In the first instance, Alpesh Thakor
for precisely such a showing in Gujarat was enticed to resign as an MLA to join the
this year. The relentless, unsparing way in BJP, and promptly side-lined after he lost
which the BJP has reversed the gains the his by-election.
Congress made in the 2017 assembly elec- Jignesh Mewani was exposed as a radi-
tions augurs well for a possible, unprec- cal with Marxist, Ambedkarite inclina-
edented sweep by the BJP this month. tions following his involvement in the 2018

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 25
 Bhima-Koregaon case in Maharashtra, its losses by 2021 already.
Bhupendra Patel was
where violence led to the death of a young- In addition to this, the Congress has suf-
ster. fered 20 defections to the BJP since the last
made Chief Minister,
That labelling as an ‘Urban Naxal’ left assembly elections. Many were in 2020, and Hardik Patel was
Mewani with little choice but to join the the rest, during the course of this year. inveigled into joining
Congress (not least because there is no The BJP has also wrested a tribal seat the BJP in June
communism in Gujarat); and that, in turn, from an independent after he was disquali- 2022, and Deputy
led to the loss of his distinct identity. fied (125-Morva Hadaf).
Chief Minister Nitin
Next, a series of defections from the Pertinently, seven of these seats are
Congress were engineered in 2020. The BJP reserved for tribals. Of the 27 tribal seats
Patel chose to retire
won most of the by-elections. This was a in the state, the Congress won 16 in 2012, from active politics.
smart move, since the targets were mainly the BJP 10, and ‘Others’ one. With this, the Patel
in Saurashtra and the tribal belt. In 2017, the BJP’s tally went down to community is once
And finally, Bhupendra Patel was made nine (in spite of two gains), the Congress again united behind
Chief Minister, Hardik Patel was inveigled held at 15 (two gains), and the ‘Others’
the BJP.
into joining the BJP in June 2022, and went up to three (two gains).
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel chose to That is why these defections become
retire from active politics. important in the current context, because
This took the wind out of the Patidar it is quite possible now, that the BJP may
agitation’s sails, and the Patel community register its best ever showing in the tribal
is once again united behind the BJP. belt this month.
Along with this, the BJP has also The BJP is adopting a similar approach
recently contrived a fresh spate of defec- in the 13 seats reserved for Scheduled
tions from the Congress — again, mainly in Castes. In 2012, it won 10, with the Con-
Saurashtra and the tribal belt. gress bagging the balance three.
Importantly, many of these seats were In 2017, the Jignesh Mewani fac-
Congress holds in 2017, meaning that they tor (along with other factors) brought
won these in 2012 as well, in the face of yet the BJP’s tally down to seven, with the
another Modi wave. So, it is evident that Congress winning six (four gains, one of
the BJP is seeking to reverse Congress which was Mewani, who contested as an
gains made in 2017, while expanding into independent).
Congress strongholds. As on date, the BJP has already won
How does this strategy translate into back one of these (106-Gadhada), and is on
seats, and on the ground? track to win back more.
A table of seats (Page 25) in the legisla- (Note: the number of defections from the
ture shows that the BJP had recouped half Congress to the BJP will not tally with the

26 D E CE M B ER 2022
 number of ad- On the other hand, the Congress can be
ditional seats heard, and seen. Party workers have been
gained by the spotted occasionally, milling near public
BJP between parks or polling booths, as they go about
2017 and 2021, their work.
nor with those Consequently, a qualitative, representa-
lost by the tive assessment is that the Congress will
Congress in not do as badly as surveys predict (at least
this period, be- on vote shares, because if the AAP cuts
cause some Congress defectors (like Alpesh their votes, the Congress seat tally will
Thakor) lost their by-elections.) drop like a stone); and the AAP will not
The BJP has also For their part, the BJP has suffered only do as well as the surveys would have us
recently engineered one defection as on date: the sitting MLA believe.
a fresh spate of for Matar seat resigned to join the Aam It is in this backdrop that Narendra
defections from the Aadmi Party (AAP) after he was denied Modi embarks on a hectic campaign across
Congress — again, a ticket. He will lose. And that is pretty the state. He is scheduled to conduct a
much the case for the bulk of the AAP number of rallies, where he will also speak
mainly in Saurashtra
candidates as well. in Gujarati.
and the tribal belt. While the party created a flutter in the This is important because thus far
media during September and October, it during the campaign, he has restricted
has no extensive organisational structure his communication to Hindi; and for those
on the ground, there are no solid indica- who don’t know the state, locals only cheer
tions that it has replaced the Congress in when the Prime Minister speaks in Hindi,
rural areas, and its campaign machinery is but when he addresses them in Gujarati,
not visible on the ground in the cities. they roar.
This writer is yet to spot a single AAP These are the three factors at work — a
worker in western Ahmedabad, standing revitalised BJP striving to make up for
at street corners handing out flyers. Their their minor hiccup in 2017, a groundswell
candidates have yet to conduct road shows, of fresh support, and a star campaigner
and no candidate has turned up for door-to- who can pull the vote like no one else.
Venu Gopal Narayanan is door campaigning. And it is for these reasons that one
an independent upstream That is incongruous, since the party is could say, that the BJP already won the
petroleum consultant who usually ‘in-your-face’ during election time. 2022 elections in 2021. What happens next
focuses on energy, geopolitics, This lack of a visible presence thus puts will most probably be an unprecedented
current affairs and electoral pre-poll surveys giving the AAP over 20 sweep.
arithmetic. per cent of the vote share in strong doubt.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 27
GUJARAT 2022

TRIBALS FAVOUR BJP

BJP could register its best-ever showing in both the tribal belt and the state of Gujarat in the
assembly election results early this month.

T
he tribal belt of Gujarat stretches state from 1985 to 1989. VENU GOPAL NARAYANAN
along the eastern boundary of This belt had traditionally remained
the state, from the end of the Ara- a Congress preserve until the Bharatiya
valli Range, skirting the Malwa Janata Party (BJP) finally started making
plateau, down to where the Western Ghats inroads into it in the 1990s.
begin, near the Maharashtra border. This shift is shown in a table (Page 28).
It accounts for 27 of the state’s 182 as- Between 1990 and 2007, the BJP began to
sembly seats. Roughly, half belong to the consolidate its position in the tribal belt.
Bhil tribe, and a sizeable concentration It even trumped the Congress twice in 1995
of the Vasava tribe is located in south and 2002.
Gujarat. But then the delimitation of 2009 halted
The tribal community is a politically the BJP’s momentum to hand the advan-
influential one in Gujarat. tage back to the Congress.
The ‘A’ in Congress leader Madhav This trend change is clearly visible in
Singh Solanki’s ‘KHAM’ caste equations the chart (Page 28). The number of tribal
stood for ‘Adivasi’. Amarsinh Chaudhary, seats also went up from 26 to 27.
also of the Congress, is the only tribal Indeed, the new delimitation worked
leader to have become chief minister of the such that the BJP got even the 10 tribal

28 D E CE M B ER 2022
 seats it did in 2012 (including the politi- And all the while, the BJP is aggres-
cally significant seat of Dediapada in south sively targeting the tribal belt with a
Between 1990 and
Gujarat, the bastion of tribal leader Chotu vengeance.
2007, the BJP began Vasava and his Bharatiya Tribal Party, or Their strategy has three parts.
to consolidate its BTP, which won two seats in 2017), only First, the BJP engineered a spate of
position in the tribal because of Narendra Modi’s widespread ap- defections by tribal leaders from the Con-
belt. It even trumped peal as chief minister, and for the develop- gress in 2020. This included the two sitting
the Congress twice, ment BJP governments had brought to the MLAs from Dangs and Kaprada seats in the
region. south.
in 1995 and 2002.
In 2017, the Congress actually gained Both seats were solid Congress holds
three of these seats, while Vasava took (meaning the party won in 2017 and 2012),
back Dediapada. The situation in 2022, yet both defectors were re-elected on a BJP
though, is fairly different. ticket. The BJP also won Morva Hadaf seat
The Congress’s standing in tribal areas in central Gujarat, when the sitting inde-
has taken a pounding. Its tacit alliance pendent tribal MLA was disqualified.
with Chotu Vasava in the two south Guja- Second, the BJP has instigated a fresh
rat seats of Dediapada and Jhagadia is in wave of tribal defections from the Con-
question. gress this year. These include the sitting
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying MLAs for Khedbrahma, Jhalod and Chhota
to capitalise on this confusion in these two Udepur — all Congress holds. The biggest
seats, even though an alliance with Vasava prize is 10-time Chhota Udepur Congress
failed to materialise. The AAP’s Arvind MLA Mohansinh Rathwa.
Kejriwal even referred to his own caste In addition, Anil Joshiyara, a veteran
equation for Gujarat: OTP, spanning Other Congress tribal MLA who represented
Backward Castes, Tribals and Patidars. Bhiloda, another Congress hold, passed

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 29
 away earlier this year. His son has joined on 20 November. He launched a scathing
the BJP. attack on the Congress there, saying that The BJP has
Therefore, as things stand, the Con- the party has done nothing but exploit trib- instigated a fresh
gress’s 2017 tally of 15 tribal seats has als for votes.
wave of tribal
reduced to eight at present, with seven “Congress says “Kaam bole chhe” (it is
joining the BJP. And the BTP is so wor- work that speaks). It has not been in power
defections from the
ried they might lose Dediapada, that the since the last 32 years. When the people Congress this year.
sitting MLA, Chotu Vasava’s son, Mahesh, of Gujarat did not vote it to power for 32 These include the
has shifted to his father’s constituency of years, it says its work speaks for it. You did sitting MLAs for
Jhagadia. nothing other than increasing poverty,” Khedbrahma, Jhalod
Third, the BJP’s heavyweights are he said.
and Chhota Udepur
campaigning strongly in the tribal belt. The reference to 32 years is important,
The Prime Minister has been setting the because the BJP too, acknowledges that
— all Congress
stage for some months now, with repeated its sustained electoral preponderance in holds.
visits to the region, inaugurating develop- Gujarat since 1990 has also been because of
ment projects, and showcasing the patent its rising popularity in tribal areas — set-
economic boom around the Sardar Patel backs following the electoral delimitation
Statue of Unity as an excellent template for of 2009 notwithstanding.
sustainable progress in ecologically fragile This approach adopted by the BJP, ties
areas. organically into its strategy for the rest of
Union Home Minister Amit Shah the state.
addressed two large rallies in the south Gu- And it is for these reasons that this
jarat tribal seats of Nizar and Dediapada writer predicts, that the BJP could register
its best ever showing
in both the tribal belt,
and the state of Guja- Venu Gopal Narayanan is
rat, in the assembly an independent upstream
elections early this petroleum consultant who
month. focuses on energy, geopolitics,
current affairs and electoral
arithmetic.

30 D E CE M B ER 2022
 POLITICS
FALL OF THE ‘RED’ BASTION
The last traces of red terror were uprooted from the smashed ‘red bastions’. Here’s an
account of how the Home Ministry under Amit Shah went after the Maoists.

F
or 32 years, a 55-square-kilometre direct supervision of Amit Shah.
JAIDEEP MAZUMDAR
area, with a hill called Budha Pa- A director in the MHA’s crucial Left
har as its most prominent feature, Wing Extremism (LWE) division, who did
had remained an impregnable not want to be named, spoke to Swarajya
fortress of Maoists. on the strategy adopted to defeat the Mao-
This Maoist bastion straddling the Late- ists under Shah’s leadership.
har and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand The broad outlines of the multi-pronged
and Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh strategy were:
defied multiple attempts by security forces
to breach it. Strengthening And Upgrading Security
This bastion ultimately fell in end-Sep- Forces
tember this year. And last month, security The MHA increased allocation to LWE-
forces cleared the last landmine planted by affected states, especially Jharkhand and
the red terrorists there. Chhattisgarh, under the Special Infrastruc-
The fall of Budha Pahar, and also Mao- ture Scheme to modernise their police
ist bastions in Chakrabandha and Bhima- forces, including their training.
bandha forests in Bihar, was the outcome The police forces of these states were
of meticulous planning and a multi- equipped with modern weapons and
pronged strategy adopted by the Union provided the infrastructure and facilities
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the so they can be empowered to take on the

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 31
 Maoists. states, he repeatedly stressed on strength-
Special attention was paid to retraining ening the intelligence gathering mecha- The fall of Budha
and equipping the Central Reserve Police nism,” said the senior MHA officer. Pahar, and also
Force’s (CRPF)’s Commando Battalion for “He underlined the need to win over lo- Maoist bastions
Resolute Action (COBRA). cals, especially the tribals who inhabit the
in Chakrabandha
The help of counter-insurgency, LWE-affected belts and are worst-affected
guerilla, and jungle warfare experts from by Maoist depredations.
and Bhimabandha
the army and special forces was taken “That is why allocation to various forests in Bihar,
to retrain COBRA troopers and officers, schemes under civic action programmes, was the outcome of
and they were armed with modern lethal providing healthcare and education facili- meticulous planning
weapons. ties to tribals, boosting road and mobile and a multi-pronged
Similarly, attention was devoted to mak- connectivity and financial inclusion,” said
strategy adopted by
ing the Jharkhand Jaguars (a specialised the senior MHA officer.
unit of Jharkhand Police raised to fight The outreach to tribals and people
the MHA under the
Maoists) fighting fit. living in Maoist-infested areas resulted in supervision of Amit
Special attention was given to boosting winning them over and helping the police Shah.
the morale and confidence of the police and and central forces gather vital information
CRPF units. about Maoist activities.
Further, joint drills were held between
the COBRA and Jharkhand Jaguar troop- Cutting Off Funds For Maoists
ers to strengthen operational compatibility Extortions from mining companies and
and coordination between them. business establishments, and even wealthy
The MHA organised regular interac- professionals like doctors and senior
tions between police officers at the ground executives of companies, were the main
level of the three states in order to enhance source of funds for the Maoists.
cooperation, coordination, and intelli- Strengthening of the local intelligence
gence-sharing between them. network helped the forces and central
agencies tighten vigil and crack down on
Strengthening Intelligence Gathering Maoist agents, who were tasked with col-
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah put a lecting ‘protection money’ from companies,
premium on this (aspect), and at all review business establishments and individuals.
meetings on LWE held with the affected The victims of Maoist extortion were

32 D E CE M B ER 2022
 also assured of protection and warned needed oxygen of publicity in the media
When the security against succumbing to threats by the red and sympathy from leftist intellectuals
forces cordoned terrorists. who became wary of coming under the
off Budha Pahar, MHA’s radar and exposing themselves to
Cracking Down On Overground Sym- coercive action if they extended any sort
the Maoists were
pathisers And Workers, And ‘Urban of direct or indirect assistance and even
pinned down to their Naxals’ publicity or sympathy to the red terrorists.
hideouts. Denied Over the past few years, under the direct “This was a paradigm change from the
arms, finances, supervision of Shah, a nationwide opera- past when these ‘urban Naxals’ and leftist
and even food and tion was launched against overground ‘intellectuals’ (Maoist sympathisers) would
water, the embattled sympathisers and workers of the Maoists. openly flaunt their support for the red
Many ‘urban Naxals’ were jailed, and terrorists and extend all sorts of support to
Maoists suffered
many overground Maoist workers were them,” he said.
a breakdown in neutralised.
morale. This resulted in the Maoists living in Confined To And Cornered In The
jungles being totally cut off from their sup- Jungle
port and sustenance bases in urban areas. The Maoists were thus confined to and cor-
Many of these overground workers and nered in the jungles of Jharkhand, Bihar
‘urban Naxals’ were conduits for arms and Chhattisgarh. Denied funds, publicity,
and finances, and the crackdown on them medical attention, arms, and the crucial
resulted in Maoists being denied funds and lifeline of help from the ‘urban Naxals’,
arms. they fell on the defensive.
Snapping the nexus between the Many of them became disillusioned and
Maoists and their sympathisers and surrendered, while others lost the will to
overground workers also resulted in the fight and were killed in encounters.
denial of ideological sustenance to the red “The battle (against the Maoists) was
terrorists. more than half won even before security
It also became virtually impossible for forces launched operations against them.
Maoists to access their urban bases for get- They (the Maoists) were put on the back-
ting medical attention and for their crucial foot, and lost the support of the local popu-
rest and recuperation. lation due to the aggressive and proactive
Maoists were also denied their much- strategy adopted by the MHA under Amit

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 33
 Shah,” the officer admitted. That is when the highly motivated, well-
trained, and lethally armed troopers of the The police forces of
The All-Out Assault COBRA and Jharkhand Jaguars, as well
these states were
In April this year, security forces — the po- as some specialised units of Chhattisgarh
lice forces of Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhat- Police, moved in for the final assault on 4
equipped with
tisgarh, and the central forces (CRPF) September. modern weapons
— launched all-out operations codenamed “By that time, the besieged Maoists had and provided the
‘Operation Octopus’ (for regaining control lost the will to fight. Many of them aban- infrastructure and
of Budha Pahar), ‘Operation Double Bull’ doned their hideouts and ran away, while facilities so they can
(for driving away Maoists from Bhima- many others surrendered. Only a few put
be empowered to
bandha forests spread over Bihar’s Gaya up a meek fight and were easily neutral-
and Aurangabad districts), and ‘Opera- ised,” said the MHA officer.
take on the Maoists.
tion Chakrabandha’ to take control of the
Chakrabandha forest in Bihar’s Munger Success Of The Three Operations
district. By mid-September, security forces had
Unlike the earlier half-hearted and regained control of Budha Pahar and the
uncoordinated anti-Maoist operations dur- two Maoist-infested forests in Bihar.
ing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Seven Maoists were killed in opera-
regime, this time the three operations were tions on the Chhattisgarh side of Budha
well-coordinated and planned to the minut- Pahar area, while 436 surrendered or were
est detail. arrested.
The regular police forces of Jharkhand, Four Maoists were killed in Jharkhand
Chhattisgarh and Bihar, as well as troopers and 120 surrendered or were arrested. In
from the CRPF, were deployed to cordon off Bihar, 36 Maoists surrendered or were
Budha Pahar and the two forests in Bihar. arrested.
This cordon was tight and pinned down Some of the Maoists killed had huge
the Maoists to their hideouts. Ultimately, bounties on their heads.
denied arms, finances, and even food and Huge cache of arms and ammunition,
water, the embattled Maoists suffered a Chinese-made grenades, and various types
breakdown in morale. of IEDs (improvised explosive devices)

34 D E CE M B ER 2022
 were seized from Maoist dens in the three dealt a huge psychological blow to the Mao-
areas that were known in security parlance ist leadership which used to gather there
Huge cache of arms as the ‘terror axis region’. for strategy sessions and even rest and
and ammunition, Budha Pahar was declared a ‘Maoist- recuperation.
free zone’ on 21 September, and this was Budha Pahar was their safe haven and
Chinese-made
marked by the landing of a CRPF chopper its fall has debilitated them in spirit, mind,
grenades, and on top of Budha Pahar. and in strength and resolve.
various types of The Maoists had rigged all roads and The success of the operations has also
IEDs were seized the jungles with IEDs, and over the past instilled a huge dollop of confidence among
from Maoist dens month, the security forces and their spe- the police forces of the three states as well
in the three areas cialised units, armed with mine-sweepers as the CRPF, including their COBRA units.
as well as bomb disposal squads, had
that were known
been combing the former Maoist bastions Success, In Statistics
in security parlance intensively. In 2010, under prime minister Manmohan
as the ‘terror axis Last week, the last IED was unearthed Singh, nearly 100 districts in the country
region’. and Budha Pahar and the two forests in were under total domination of Maoists.
Bihar were declared free of IEDs. With Today, only 39 districts have a presence of
that, the last traces of the red terror were Maoists, and they are nowhere as powerful
uprooted from the smashed ‘red bastions’. in their areas as even eight years ago.
Incidents of violence involving Maoists
Significance Of The Success are down from 2,258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021.
Shah termed the success of the three coor- Death rate is down by 85 per cent: the
dinated operations as a “decisive victory”. death toll in Maoist-related violence was
The complete success of the three opera- 1,005 in 2010; it was down to 147 in 2021.
tions, and the wiping out of all Maoists Of 32 Maoist-linked incidents in 2022,
from the ‘terror axis region’, has dealt a two were incidents of killing, which
body blow to the Maoists in other pockets resulted in four fatalities, all Maoists (data
Jaideep Mazumdar is and demoralised them. until 25 September 2022).
Contributing Editor, Swarajya. The fall of Budha Pahar especially has

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 35
WORLD

POWERING GOODWILL
The export of power to India, and the consequent boost in the Himalayan nation’s export
earnings, has triggered an uptick in bilateral ties.

N
epal has exported power worth SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy
JAIDEEP MAZUMDAR
10 billion Nepali Rupees (INR Cooperation was signed by all member
625.6 crore) to India in the past states at the SAARC Summit held in Kath-
one year and this has proved to mandu.
be a life-saver for the Himalayan nation’s But various issues, primarily political
Covid-19 pandemic-hit economy. turmoil and developments in Nepal that led
This export, Nepal’s fourth largest in to some irritants developing in Indo-Nepa-
terms of value, has also emerged as the lat- lese ties, prevented the implementation of
est driving force behind Indo-Nepalese ties. the agreements and power trade between
Soon after coming to power in May the two countries from becoming a reality.
2014, and part of his Neighbourhood First The two-year-long Covid-induced
Policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got pandemic also became a major stumbling
moving to sign an agreement between the block in the commencement of power trade
two countries to facilitate power trade, between India and Nepal.
cross-border transmission, interconnec- But after the second wave of Covid
tion and grid connectivity between the two abated last year, a growing convergence on
south Asian neighbours. the need to expand cooperation in power
That agreement was signed in October trade emerged between the BBIN (Bangla-
2014, and next month (November 2014) the desh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) nations.

36 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Nepal turned into On 2 November last year, New Delhi since June when power export to India was
a power surplus agreed to persistent requests from Kath- enhanced.
mandu and opened the door for Nepal to Power (electricity) has thus become the
country in August
sell 39 MW of electricity produced by the fourth largest item in terms of value for
last year with the 24MW Trishuli Hydropower Project and Nepal. The top three export items are soy-
commissioning the 15MW Devighat Hydropower Project in bean oil (NPR 48.12 billion), palm oil (NPR
of the 456MW the India Energy Exchange Limited (IEX). 41.06 billion) and yarns (NPR 11 billion).
Upper Tamakoshi Both these power projects in Nepal were Woollen carpets (NPR 9.56 billion) comes a
Hydropower Project. developed with India’s assistance. close fifth to power.
Nepal, which was a power-deficit coun- But with Nepal increasing its hydro-
It produces more
try, turned into a power surplus one in electric power generation, a lot of it from
than 2,000 MW of August last year with the commissioning projects set up with India’s financial and
electricity while its of the 456MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydro- technical assistance and cooperation, the
peak hour demand power Project. Nepal produces more than value of its power export will go up further.
stands at 1,500 MW. 2,000 MW of electricity while its peak hour NEA spokesperson Suresh Bhattarai
demand stands at 1,500 MW. Kathmandu told Swarajya over phone from Kathmandu
has been keen to sell excess power to India. that earnings from export of electricity
Since June this year, the export of will help reduce Nepal’s trade deficit with
power from Nepal to India increased to 364 India.
MW from six more hydropower projects. According to Nepal’s Trade & Export
This dramatically increased Nepal’s export Promotion Centre, Nepal’s exports to India
earnings. stood at NPR 155 billion in the last finan-
A senior executive of Nepal Electricity cial year while its imports from India were
Authority (NEA) told Swarajya from Kath- valued at NPR 1.2 trillion.
mandu that Nepal earned over 10 billion NEA managing director Kul Man Ghis-
Nepali rupees (NPR) by exporting power to ing says that Nepal hopes to earn NPR 16
India. Of that, NPR 8.5 billion was earned billion by exporting power to India in the

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 37
 current fiscal and NPR 30 billion in the with capacities ranging from 33kV, 132
next fiscal (2023-2024). “Electricity will kV and 400kV. But only one cross-border India has offered to
become a foremost export earner for Nepal transmission line — the Dhalkebar-Mu- upgrade these lines
within the next few years,” said Ghising. zaffarpur line — is of 400kV capacity and and an agreement
The NEA chief said that the joint vision can export 1,000 MW of power. Between 5 on this is on the
statement on power sector cooperation MW and 12 MW of power can be transmit-
cards. The two
announced during Nepal Prime Minister ted through the remaining 11 low-capacity
Sher Bahadur Deuba’s visit to India in lines.
countries have
April this year will lay the ground for en- India has offered to upgrade these lines already agreed to
hanced electricity export to India and even and an agreement on this is on the cards. jointly build a new
to Bangladesh and Bhutan. The two countries have already agreed to 400 kV transmission
Nepal’s Power Minister Pampha Bhusal jointly build a new 400 kV transmission line from Butwal
has set an ambitious target of exporting line from Butwal (in Nepal) to Gorakhpur.
(in Nepal) to
power worth NPR 70 billion to India and The Arun 3 Hydropower Project being
Bangladesh in the next five years. built by an Indian company will have its
Gorakhpur.
“We shall sign power purchase agree- dedicated high-power transmission line
ments (PPAs) with developers of run-of- to export electricity generated from the
the-river hydropower generating projects project to India.
soon to increase the availability of power What will be heartening for India is
for export to India. We will also lay high- that Nepal’s target to boost power exports
capacity cross-border transmission lines to India enjoys the support of opposition
for electricity exports,” said Bhusal. parties, including the Communist Party of
The export of power to India and the Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) chief K P
consequent boost in the Himalayan na- Sharma Oli.
tion’s export earnings have triggered an Oli has often been a strong opponent of
uptick in bilateral ties. India. His support will ensure insulation
“The earnings from power export to of the power export project from Nepal’s
India have considerably improved our fractious politics.
foreign exchange reserves which had “While export of power to India is a
decreased by 18.2 per cent during the one- highly positive development, what makes
year period between April 2021 and April us very happy is India’s offer to help us
2022,” said Bhusal. enhance our export of power by helping us
India’s offer to help Nepal install high- upgrade the required infrastructure. That
capacity cross-border transmission lines will provide a big boost to our ties with
has generated a lot of goodwill in Nepal. India,” said Oli.
Along with the United States, India has Nepali politicians across the spectrum
also offered to help Nepal upgrade its do- speak on the same lines. Encouraged by
mestic transmission lines. this, India has started publicising this
There are a dozen cross-border trans- development in a bid to create a positive Jaideep Mazumdar is
mission lines between India and Nepal impact on Nepal’s polity and civil society. Contributing Editor, Swarajya.

38 D E CE M B ER 2022
 WORLD
THE RISE OF ALLIES
The surge of the Euro-sceptic right is a signal that India has potential options and allies for
spreading its influence globally and mitigating the toxic levels of Hinduphobia.

F
R JAGANNATHAN ormer US president Donald stream academics and Islamists.
Trump’s endorsement of the idea When it comes to taking on woke liber-
of building a Hindu holocaust als, India’s political interests are closer
museum in Washington DC may aligned with the Right than the Left.
not be the kind of support Hindus may be Trump is quoted as saying: “We had
waiting for. support from the Hindu population, the
As someone who is in the doghouse of great Hindu people, both times (2016 and
‘woke liberals’, it may even be seen as one 2020) and great support from India, people
more reason for taking Hinduphobia and from India. I fully endorsed the idea of
Hindumisia in the US to the next level. building a Hindu Holocaust memorial in
However, the statement, no doubt in- (Washington) DC.”
tended to entice the Hindu vote for Trump Narendra Modi’s slogan, ‘Abki Baar
supporters, is a nudge to the Bharatiya Trump Sarkar’, at the Howdy Modi event
Janata Party (BJP) that it can and should in Texas in 2019, may not have helped
court political allies in the West to counter Trump win in 2020, but he clearly sees mer-
the anti-India, anti-Hindu biases of main- it in weaning US Hindus away from their

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 39
 traditional support for the Democrats, who ties with Right-wing democratic parties in
In countries
are leaning farther and farther Left, and the US (Republican), United Kingdom (the
becoming Hinduphobic to boot. Conservatives), Austria, the Netherlands,
like France and
The simple point is that when it comes Sweden or Italy, where Giorgia Meloni’s Germany, where
to defending national interests, and par- Band of Brothers party won the last elec- there is not much
ticularly the interests of India’s Hindus, tions and rules as head of a Right-wing of an anti-India
where the support is coming from is less coalition. feeling, the BJP
important than whether there is support In large parts of Eastern Europe, Right-
should focus on the
at all. wing parties are either gaining ground
If the US can claim to be an ally of Paki- or have begun to dominate, especially in
parties in power
stan, the nursery of global terrorism, and Hungary. Armenia and Greece are two rather than throw in
find in Russia — a manifestly Christian other potential allies for India. its lot entirely with
country — a sworn enemy, there is no rea- A Pew Research analysis suggests that Right-wing or even
son why anti-woke political forces in the populist parties from the Right have been neo-Nazi parties.
US or elsewhere need not be our allies. gaining ground in Europe, especially in
At the very least, the BJP, as a political terms of vote shares.
party, should seek out such allies to miti- Even France and Germany saw this
gate pressure from Left-wing and Islamist trend, even though the Right did not gain
forces from forcing their own agendas power. That’s partly because in France Em-
down our throats. manuel Macron is himself a centrist, and
If the Congress party can seek out in Germany, all political parties tend to be
party-to-party relations with the authori- Conservative economically.
tarian Chinese Communist Party (they As the world slides towards de-globali-
signed an MoU in 2008), one wonders why sation, nationalist and/or Right-wing po-
the BJP should not develop party-to-party litical forces may continue to gain ground,

40 D E CE M B ER 2022
 making it easier for the BJP to develop Germany, where there is not much of an
France-Germany party-to-party relations with at least some anti-India feeling (except in the context
saw that the Right of them. of the Ukraine war), the BJP should focus
have been gaining The BJP first showed signs of using the on the parties in power rather than throw
ground in Europe, European Right for its own purposes when, in its lot entirely with Right-wing or even
in 2019, it invited non-Left European Union neo-Nazi parties.
even though they
parliament members to visit Jammu and It is only in countries which have
did not gain power, Kashmir after the nullification of article parties with a pronounced anti-India bias
as in France Macron 370. (Labour in Britain, Democrats in the US)
is himself a centrist, Once it develops ties with many more that the Right-wing alliances need to be
and in Germany, all European parties, it can widen its options strengthened.
political parties tend in influencing European and American Otherwise, equidistance from the two
public opinion. main political formations would be useful.
to be Conservative
Two caveats are in order. The rise of the Euro-sceptic right,
economically. One, since many of the Right-wing Rishi Sunak in the UK and the continued
parties tend to be strongly Christian in ori- relevance of Donald Trump in the US, even
entation, the BJP will have to ensure that if only for the short-term, are signals that
there is no counter pressure on it to allow India has potential options and allies for
the rapid evangelisation of India. spreading its influence globally.
It has to draw a firm line in sand on this At the very least, it can reduce or miti-
issue. The alliance should be against Islam- gate the toxic levels of Hinduphobia seen
R Jagannathan is Editorial ism and wokeism only. recently in Western academia and politics.
Director, Swarajya. Two, in countries like France and

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 41
POLITICS

A COMIC COMPARISON
It’s high time the left-liberals give up on drawing false equivalences to justify hijab demands
in public schools, and generalising women’s struggle against all “religious orthodoxies”.

T
he ongoing mass protest in the beaten up, leading to her death a few days
SWATI GOEL SHARMA
Islamic Republic of Iran against later.
the death of Mahsa Amini has With what face do left-liberals now back
evidently left the hijab-support- the demand to allow hijab in public schools
ing ‘left-liberals’ in India flustered. of secular India in the name of Sharia laws
Iranian women are throwing away laid out by Islamic texts?
their hijab, cutting off their hair in public To save themselves the embarrassment,
and raising slogans against their Supreme they are trying to twist the debate into a
Leader and ‘mullahs’. generalised one about women’s struggle
Under the Iranian laws, if women are against all “religious orthodoxies”.
seen in public without hijab, which com- To place this generalisation in the hijab
prises a hair and neck-covering cloth and debate in India, they, predictably, are rais-
body figure-hiding cloak, ‘Morality Police’ ing alarm over ‘Hindu fundamentalism’,
have powers to take them to the police sta- warning women of Iran-like consequences
tion and fine them or put them in jail. while describing the hijab demand in India
Amini, a 22-year-old resident of Iran, as one of ‘choice’.
was picked up from the street for inade- Take the column that appeared recently
quate hijab by Morality Police and taken to on the Edit page of The Times of India
the police station, where she was allegedly by former news anchor and journalist

42 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Sagarika Ghose, where she equates the The law applies to all women regardless
Women were “theocratic regime” in Iran with “some of their religion, and at all public places.
Hindu shrines” barring menstruating In India
allowed in the
women from entering their premises. Women enter and worship in temples free-
temple, which is Do they really compare? We take a ly, whether those managed by government
accessible after a closer look at what Ghose is suggesting or private bodies. The “barring of women”
trek, but barred here, and begin with some facts about hijab that Ghose referred to in her column, is
from inner sanctum in Iran and Sabarimala in India. about a specific temple in Kerala’s Sabari-
by its management mala hill town. The temple houses murti of
In Iran a deity named Ayyappan who is believed to
— the Travancore
Compulsory hijab was introduced in 1979 have been a celibate (brahmachari).
Devaswom Board — shortly after a secular monarchy was re- Women were allowed in the temple,
citing “tradition” and placed by a pro-Ulema Ruhollah Khomeini, which is accessible after a trek, but barred
“beliefs”. who led the ‘Islamic Revolution’. from inner sanctum by its management
To the Western media, he explained the — the Travancore Devaswom Board that
law by saying that women without hijab functions under the state government —
are “useless, distracting and naked”. citing “tradition” and “beliefs”.
To his supporters in Iran, he said, “We When some women from a group named
[clergy] forcefully affirm that refusal to Indian Young Lawyers’ Association peti-
wear the veil is against the law of Allah tioned in the Supreme Court to lift the bar
and the Prophet, and a material and moral on entry of women of ‘reproductive age’ in
affront to the entire country”. Sabarimala, they did not cite a Hindu reli-
Initially, the hijab was enforced through gious text but the Constitution of India and
lashes in public and later, through mon- non-prohibitive rules of the Kerala Hindu
etary fines and jail term. Some years later, Places of Public Worship Rules Act of 1965.
‘Morality Police’ was formed. When the Supreme Court lifted the bar

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 43
 on entry citing Constitution, the board and secular government to establish their rule
the state government accepted the judge- and enforce laws based on the same Hindu The “barring of
ment and said they would not challenge it. text that they cite to bar entry of women in
women” that Ghose
As is evident, Sabarimala women Sabarimala.
entry episode is not a case of a “theocratic Severe punishment meted out to those
referred to in her
regime” pushing religious orthodoxy down who refuse the diktats on temple entry, evi- column, is about a
the throats of women and controlling them dence of murders happening for violating specific temple in
or, as Ghose thoughtlessly writes, “treating the rules and proof of any political party Kerala’s Sabarimala
modern women as Enemy No. 1”. or regime trying to defend such murder of hill town. The temple
For entry in Sabarimala in India to be women, if any.
houses Ayyappan
equated with hijab in Iran, these condi- It is necessary for these conditions to be
tions must be met: met for an alarm to be raised about “a theo-
who is believed to
The Travancore Devaswom Board that cratic Hindu regime” taking over India have been a celibate
manages Sabarimala campaigning in the and treating modern women as Enemy No (brahmachari).
entire country to bar the entry of women in 1. But there is evidently not even a remote
all temples by citing a Hindu text. sign of such a movement happening.
While running such a campaign, the On the contrary, likes of Ghose have
board is also trying to overthrow the remained tactically or strategically silent

44 D E CE M B ER 2022
 on unequal rights of Muslim women in run by an Islamic organisation were group-
After her frivolous India or, for that matter, the sorry state of singing “main Muslim qaum ki ladki hun
women in Afghanistan. They have lent no main parda karti hun” while covered from
comparison of
real support to the Iranian women beyond head to toe in a black headscarf, face-cover,
Sabarimala and hijab using them to blame Hindus, either. cloak, gloves and socks.
laws in Iran, Ghose This implies, the real threat that they Such arguments are merely desper-
moves on to her next are mentioning in their tweet is not from ate attempts to rationalise the demand
absurd argument any Hindu regime but from these Ghoses for hijab in India by washing the Islamic
— calling the hijab themselves. fundamentalist taint off it by somehow
After her frivolous comparison of Sa- bringing in universal patriarchy or choice
debate in India a
barimala and hijab laws in Iran, Ghose, in or the delicious Hindu angle.
debate on women’s her column, moves on to her next absurd What sign have the so-called ‘Hindu-
choice versus “a argument — calling the hijab debate in tva government’ at the Centre and their
state forcing a India a debate on women’s choice versus supporters shown of forcing any dress or
woman not to wear “a state forcing a woman not to wear a moral code on women?
a headscarf”. headscarf”. Last we saw, the government was
A state forcing a woman not to wear a raising the minimum age of marriage
headscarf, really? for women and introducing non-coercive
This statement suggests that the state schemes to eradicate the practice of
introduced uniform in public schools ghoonghat among women which, by all
to prevent Muslim girls from wearing a credible accounts, crept into the Hindu
headscarf. While such an assertion itself society through Islamic invasions.
is ludicrous, how does the author explain It’s high time the left-liberals give up on
public schools prohibiting Hindu boys and drawing false equivalences to justify hijab
girls wearing saffron shawls? demands in public schools of India, and ac-
Or, for that matter, public schools cept what the source and intention behind
prohibiting all students from wearing the demands are.
colourful fashionable clothes during school In their mindless agenda to somehow
hours? prove existence of a ‘global Hindutva’
Is the state forcing Muslim girls to at- threat, they are pulling the wool over eyes
tend public schools and thereby forcibly of pro-hijab protesters.
making them wear hijab-less uniform?
Swati Goel Sharma is Senior Does the state penalise those girls who
Editor, Swarajya. only attend private Islamic schools
or madrassas or get home-
schooled?
Last
seen, girls
in a Kar-
nataka
school

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 45
ECONOMICS

PERILOUS PENSION POLITICS

Never before has a two-decade-old critical reform suffered such a setback. If this goes
unchecked, a whole floodgate of anti-reform politics will open.

C
ompetition is good but only if The need of the hour is to impose con- PRATIM RANJAN BOSE
regulated. Laissez-faire leads to stitutional restrictions or responsibilities
undercutting and destruction of on registered political parties and state
market forces which do not help governments, limiting the scope of such
anyone. It is time India’s lawmakers pay outrageous moves which can set the coun-
attention to this proven economic principle try’s reform clock back and increase the
that holds good for democracy. fiscal vulnerability of the nation.
The increasing competition by Oppo- Apparently, the overwhelming electoral
sition-ruled states to revert to the old, dominance of Bharatiya Janata Party
defined-benefit pension scheme (linked (BJP) vis-a-vis a weak and splintered op-
to pay commission awards and dearness position, which is desperate for success, is
allowances) for government employees the cornerstone of this trouble.
and, the growing popularity of the issue The first salvo was fired by Congress
as an election poll plank highlight serious which is trying to shore up its declining
inadequacies in India’s federal and politi- popularity at any cost.
cal systems.

46 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Suicidal Move It is noteworthy that NPS requires
It was the Congress- The Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhat- contributions from both employees (10 per
led Manmohan tisgarh pioneered the switch from a cent) and employers (14 per cent). Partici-
Singh government defined-contribution-based, market-linked pating states provided for the employees’
that had taken the National Pension System (NPS), with a contribution by enhancing salaries.
retrospective effect from 2004 (when they The reversal to the old scheme, there-
reform nationwide
adopted NPS), earlier this year. Both states fore, unduly benefits employees as they
and opened it will go to the polls in 2023. will enjoy higher salaries without any pay-
to private sector NPS was introduced in 2004 by the Atal ment obligation. Removal of fiscal commit-
participation. It is a Bihari Vajpayee government (1998-2004) ment to NPS will improve state finances
pity that the same to check the financial outgo of the govern- in the short term. In the longer term, their
Congress is now ment and widen the social security net as outgo will increase by leaps and bounds.
well. Theoretically, it offers higher returns All those who joined the Rajasthan
working against it.
than the old pension scheme. government in the last 18 years will retire
Owing to the federal structure, the in the next 15 years. If Rajasthan stuck to
scheme was not obligatory on states. Only NPS, its financial commitment would have
three states — Tamil Nadu, Punjab and declined thereafter. Now, Rajasthan will
Rajasthan — joined NPS during Vajpayee’s have to provide a way fatter pension bill
tenure. than perceived.
It was the Congress-led Manmohan Sin- However, the Ashok Gehlot government
gh government that had taken the reform seems least bothered about that. They
nationwide (except West Bengal, Kerala gambled with the state’s weak finances to
and Tripura) and opened it to private sec- tide over unpopularity and try to secure a
tor participation. It is a pity that the same second term in office. The nation will be
Congress is now working against it. the final sufferer.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 47
 Dangerous Trend have the highest debt burden. Two (Bengal,
The agenda is now taken over by smaller Kerala) didn’t reform and three (Rajasthan, Arvind Kejriwal’s
parties. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Par- Punjab, Jharkhand) rolled back. Aam Aadmi Party
ty (AAP) thrives on political opportunism. The demand for the rollback of NPS is
thrives on political
They introduced damaging competition audible in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh
to waive electricity bills. The old pension where the assembly elections are due in
opportunism. They
scheme became their latest weapon. 2024. However, the ruling BJP (Haryana) introduced damaging
AAP won the Punjab election in Febru- and YSR Congress (Andhra Pradesh) are competition to waive
ary. Over the last six months, they first opposing the demand. electricity bills. The
offered 300 units of free electricity a month. BJP governments in states are so far old pension scheme
That’s nearly enough for a small, middle- backing the NPS. However, it is questiona-
became their latest
class family with one air-conditioner. Last ble how long they can remain an exception.
week, they reverted to the old pension With opposition batting for a rollback
weapon.
scheme. There is no new tax proposal in of reforms in the poll-bound Himachal
the state budget. Pradesh and Gujarat, pressure is mounting
Punjab and Rajasthan are among the on BJP leadership to join the trend.
five top indebted states in India. In a bulle- And if they do, pension reforms will be
tin issued on 16 June this year, in the wake history. The fiscal reforms clock will be set
of the Sri Lankan debt crisis, the Reserve two decades back.
Bank of India (RBI) said both the states For the central government alone,
“appear to be most vulnerable to fiscal salaries and pensions now account for over
shocks”. 16 per cent of the total expenditure. Many
According to the RBI, 10 states — Pun- states pay even higher amounts. As the
jab, Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, fiscal space will squeeze, governments will
Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya have less money to finance development
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana — projects.

48 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Studies by Carnegie and Tata Trusts in- decade-old critical reform suffered such a
dicate that Indian bureaucracy and police setback. The politics of the pension scheme
are seriously understaffed compared to G20 has ushered the Brexit moment in India. If
and BRICS. Resource crunch will come in this goes unchecked, a whole floodgate of
the way of increasing the capacity, thereby anti-reform politics will open.
impacting the delivery of government In a recent report, Ecowrap, the State
services which in turn will impact private Bank of India sought judicial intervention
sector efficiency. in capping the growing tendency in states
The dream of building a ‘New India’ will to introduce welfare schemes ignoring
suffer a premature death. fiscal stability. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi referred to it as ‘rewari culture’ but is
Time To Act yet to initiate any action.
That India was slow in reforming its econ- The nation wants to see the Prime
omy was known. Electricity sector reforms Minister doing an ‘Article 370’ act on the
have been facing political resistance for the economy. Political freedom is essential
Pratim Ranjan Bose is a last two decades. There were also incidents but it cannot supersede fiscal viability. It’s
commentator and researcher. like the recent rollback of the farm sector time to put states and politics on a leash.
He held senior positions in reform initiative in the face of protests.
national financial media. However, never before has a two-

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 49
TECHNOLOGY

THE AGE OF SPOILS IS OVER

Across the technology sector, the hiring spree has slowed down, indicating that the age of
spoils is behind us.

R
evenue corrections, faltering ent company) reported an unexpected TUSHAR GUPTA
profits, and massive layoffs. slowdown in the ad business, their core
For the FAANG (Facebook, offering. Hours later, Microsoft dropped a
Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) bombshell, stating a slowdown was inevita-
stocks, the age of spoils is over. Meta (pre- ble in its cloud computing business.
viously Facebook) was in the news for do- Apple, last month, reported that due to
ing away with 13 per cent of its workforce; the Covid-zero restrictions in China, its
almost 11,000 employees. assembly facility in Zhengzhou was operat-
The layoffs are not restricted to Meta ing at a reduced capacity, thus impacting
however, for in 2022 alone, more than the supply of its latest iPhone 14 models.
118,000 employees have been forced to a While stating that the demand was
farewell in the tech sector. robust, Apple highlighted the possibility of
The companies that have not been in longer waiting periods for consumers.
the news for the layoffs, have had other The stock prices reflect the intensity of
problems. the hammering. From their high of 2021,
In October, Alphabet (Google’s par- Meta has come down by 76 per cent, Apple

50 D E CE M B ER 2022
 by 24 per cent, Amazon by 52 per cent, and employees each. Other notable startups
Byju’s, one of the Alphabet by 43 per cent. reporting layoffs include Oyo, Cars24,
biggest names in Netflix, before its surprising turna- MakeMyTrip, CarDekho and Zomato.
the Indian startup round in Q3 2022, was staring at the pos- Across the tech sector, the hiring spree
space, sacked over sibility of trading below $100 in 2022. has slowed down, indicating that the age of
In the final week of October, almost $1 spoils is behind us.
2,500 employees.
trillion worth of market capitalisation, Perhaps, nothing else explains the age
Airbnb let go of within the tech sector, evaporated. of spoils, characterised by free money
1,900 employees at a In the last one month, Amazon’s share through loose interest rates, overly op-
time when the global price has dropped by 24 per cent, Alpha- timistic investors, and the incapacity to
hospitality industry bet by 10 per cent, Meta by 24.16 per cent, separate practical businesses from theo-
was regaining Apple by 4 per cent, and Microsoft by 2 per retical ideations like cryptocurrency.
cent. The only outlier is Netflix, up by 10 Earlier this week, Binance, world’s
momentum.
per cent in the last month, but 58 per cent biggest crypto exchange came close to
down (YTD). bailing out FTX, before walking away due
The startups have been hammered as to irregularities. Investors in FTX have
well. Uber and Twitter bid goodbye to given up on their investments in the crypto
around 3,700 employees. exchange, seeing the $8 billion-hole.
Byju’s, one of the biggest names in the Bitcoin, exactly a year ago, was trading
Indian startup space, sacked over 2,500 em- at more than $64,000. Today, it has lost
ployees. Airbnb let go of 1,900 employees at three-fourth of its value. In this year alone,
a time when the global hospitality industry bitcoin lost 65 per cent of its market value.
was regaining momentum. The list goes on. Beyond the inevitable government
In India, Ola, Swiggy and Unacademy regulations, environmental concerns, the
have sacked more than a thousand of their impossibility of bitcoin serving as routine

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 51
 legal tender has finally dawned upon the erating profit has increased by 50 per cent
most bullish of enthusiasts. in the region, beating Huawei, Tencent
The investors would
The decade of loose monetary policy and Alibaba. Revenue has seen an uptick
is over. Given the inflation that is now as well.
want to look for
extending to the non-food and non-energy Netflix has begun a turnaround too. Go- returns before
items in the West, the cost of credit is only ing for an ad-version and looking to invest presentations about
going to get higher. in sporting leagues now like its counter- building a better
The investors would also want to look parts, the platform added 2.4 million sub- world, evident by the
for returns before presentations about scribers in the third quarter of 2022, giving
WeWork episode,
building a better world, evident by the it a much-needed market thrust.
WeWork episode, and more recently, the Amazon will be hit by a weak holiday
and more recently,
Twitter-Elon Musk saga. season in the West, but the long-term fun- the Twitter-Elon
However, it is not about the money damentals look strong, nevertheless. Musk saga.
alone, but also about diversification. The age of spoils, for the FAANG and
Meta, even though currently bleeding, the tech sector at large, will make way for
has all the right reasons to be bullish about the age of fundamentals.
the metaverse, a phenomenon that has Businesses, given the macro conditions,
worked in the gaming sector. will struggle, and some will perish, but it
Microsoft, which acquired Activision will have more to do with their inability to
Blizzard for $69 billion, the biggest deal generate profits and scalable business mod-
in the gaming industry ever, affirms the els, as evident by the imminent collapse of
potential of the sector. FTX and the cleanup at Twitter.
Apple, even with its supply chain is- The age of spoils for FAANG is over, but
sues, is playing its cards well, at least from the era of FAANG and tech sector is going
the long-term perspective. nowhere.
While diversifying its production to The stock highs will come back, but
India and Vietnam, Tim Cook’s successful with more realism this time. Tushar Gupta is Senior Sub-
tryst with China continues as Apple’s op- Editor, Swarajya.

52 D E CE M B ER 2022
 TECHNOLOGY
ZOOMING AHEAD
Zoho is committed to making enterprise technologies affordable for the world, and is
becoming an Indian tech giant that is giving global competitors a run for their money.

I
t’s not very often that we come across skrit as an intermediary language that will
VISHNU ANAND
homegrown technology companies use modern algorithms to translate content
that are diligently rooted to a culture in any Indian language back and forth.
of humility and prudence, and yet The company also plans to add Indian
have achieved global recognition by solv- language support for its artificial intelli-
ing problems using futuristic technologies. gence, and blockchain technology.
Chennai-headquartered Zoho Corp is
one of them, and at its recently concluded The Role Of Human Competency Ver-
‘Zoholics 2022’ event, chief executive offic- sus Technology
er and co-founder Sridhar Vembu provided Vembu also revealed that we often give too
even more impetus for taking technology much importance to technology and forget
to global enterprises while leveraging the the human aspect. Stressing on the urgent
power of Indian innovation. need for humility in tech, he said, “technol-
ogy is an enabler but you still need humans
Leveraging Sanskrit For Language to solve human problems. For instance,
Translation you cannot code food.”
Responding to questions from Swarajya, Explaining where the role of technol-
Vembu explained how Zoho plans to use ogy ends, he said, “the role of IT ends
the Sanskrit language for better language when things transition from bits to atoms.
translation: “The Sanskrit language comes Computing occurs in bits and bytes while
with an innate ability of being the perfect human beings are made of atoms. At some
base for us to take a machine translation point, the bits will give way to atoms, and
approach that uses Sanskrit to toggle be- it is at this point that humans take over.”
tween Indian languages.”
In other words, Zoho plans to use San- Commitment To Rural Skill Creation

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 53
 To this end, Zoho has remained commit- ranging from those that create medical
ted to rural skill creation. After making instrumentation to robotics technologies to
early inroads into places like Tenkasi and 5G chips.
Tirunelveli in interior Tamil Nadu, the Machine Vision is one of the more
company is now focussed on skill creation interesting applications of new-age tech
in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region. that uses advanced cameras to sort fruits
It has also ensured that company-wide, like apples and oranges moving along a
the ratio of investments in R&D against conveyor belt, based on quality in real-
marketing will be 3:1. In the last three time. Zoho continues to invest in many
years, Zoho has obtained 25 patents, mostly such unique applications of people-centric
in the areas of software-driven word pro- technologies.
cessing, compilers etc. On the recent controversies around
Currently, more than 150 customers of moonlighting, he said, “when a company
Zoho serve around 80 million users, using hires you, you are expected to bring with
more than 55 apps. With an employee you one thing — it’s called commonsense.
strength in excess of 11,000, Zoho has expe- If you upload cooking videos on Saturdays,
rienced minimal attrition despite operat- is it moonlighting? Not for me since I’m
ing in a turbulent economic climate, with not in the cooking business. You have
a 77 per cent growth in India in 2021, while brains, and you can decide what’s right
crossing $1 billion in revenues. and wrong.” Vishnu Anand is a writer and
Zoho is committed to making enterprise journalist who dabbles in
Supporting People-Centric Tech Solu- technologies affordable for the world, and technology, sports and lifestyle.
tions while it zooms ahead in achieving this, it His columns have appeared in
Staying true to his farming roots, Vembu is becoming an Indian tech giant that is ‘The Hindu’, ‘Deccan Chronicle’
is hugely committed to unlocking technolo- giving global competitors a run for their and ‘Mid-day’. He is also a
gies for saving water for agriculture, and money. social worker and an evangelist
has invested in a variety of companies of truth.

54 D E CE M B ER 2022
 TECHNOLOGY
A THREE-WAY CONTEST
TSMC has topped the third quarter of 2022. The contest for the full year’s crown will be
interesting too. It is now almost certain that Intel will finish a ‘distant’ third.

B
ack in 2017, Samsung broke second spot in semiconductor revenue.
ARUN MAMPAZHY
Intel’s 24-year-old reign to lead In addition, it was predicted that TSMC
on semiconductor revenue. was likely to overtake even Samsung in
While Intel was able to the third quarter, creating history of a
overtake Samsung in 2019, the Korean gi- pure-play foundry occupying the top spot
ant made a comeback in 2021 to claim the in semiconductor revenue.
crown once again. All this while, Taiwan As predicted, TSMC has topped the
Semiconductor Manufacturing Company third quarter of 2022. The contest for the
(TSMC) stayed in the third spot. full year’s crown will also be interesting. It
An analysis in Swarajya explained the is now almost certain that Intel will finish
difference between a pure-play foundry a ‘distant’ third.
like TSMC and an integrated device manu- Intel recently updated its full year’s
facturer (IDM) like Intel or Samsung. forecast. It expects annual revenue of about
While TSMC’s revenue comes only from $63 billion to $64 billion in 2022.
contract chip manufacturing (foundry), In the first three quarters, Samsung had
Samsung’s revenue is from both its own a revenue of about $60 billion and TSMC
products (mainly memory) and foundry. $55 billion. TSMC is likely to keep the top
Intel, so far, has a tiny revenue from its spot in semiconductor revenue in fourth
foundry services, which may change after quarter this year, but it may not be able to
its acquisition of Tower Semiconductor is score a difference in revenue big enough
complete and its advanced-node foundry to knock off Samsung from the top spot for
takes off. the full year. It is likely to be a close finish.
In that Swarajya analysis, it was also While TSMC “cut its annual investment
highlighted that TSMC surpassed Intel budget by at least 10% for 2022 and struck a
in the second quarter of 2022 to claim the more cautious note than usual on upcom-

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 55
 ing demand, flagging challenges from also clarifies that growth will return in
rising inflationary costs and predicting a 2024 and that the industry will be on its
chip downturn next year”, Samsung defies way to $1 trillion in sales by 2032, a couple
chip downturn with aggressive supply and of years later than predicted earlier.
capex plans. In other words, like many past down
Recently, SemiWiki, a forum for cycles the upcoming negative growth is
semiconductor professionals, presented also likely to be only temporary and cause
a compilation of predictions from vari- a ‘local minimum’ in the annual revenue
ous analyst groups for the semiconductor chart. Arun Mampazhy has a BTech
industry, which was nearly $600 billion in For India, it is important that yes-no de- from IITM and MS from
2021. cisions on approving 50 per cent incentives University of Maryland in
While all of them projected positive from the central government are taken semiconductor fabrication
growth percentage for 2022, some analysts soon on the three proposals for silicon fabs and over a decade of industry
turned a negative projection for 2023, while sitting with India Semiconductor Mission experience. His dreams of
others are yet to give their take possibly since February this year. seeing a commercial fab
due to the current volatility. This is so that foundries on Indian soil takeoff in India has changed
In a prediction from September, Mal- can catch a part of the upcycle expected in from black and white to colour
colm Penn of Future Horizons, however, the middle of this decade. over two decades.

56 D E CE M B ER 2022
 ECONOMY
GREAT FISCAL EXPECTATIONS
On the growth front, India may be the last man standing among major economies. Here’s what
to expect over the rest of 2022-23 and fiscal 2023-24.

T
he key piece of wisdom for eight years in September at 12.6 per cent, a
R JAGANNATHAN
economic policy-makers (or in- 100-month high.
vestors) is that you cannot make A look at the economic rear-view mirror
policy based on data alone — for is comforting, but it would be a mistake to
data is always about what happened a few assume that the four months still ahead of
weeks or months ago, not what may hap- us in fiscal 2022-23 will be nearly as good,
pen in the weeks and months ahead. and that 2023-24 will be a normal year.
To put it simply, the next few months It probably won’t be, though we can’t
may not be as good as the last six. say so now. The markets will probably
One look at the newspapers in early correct after digesting the current exuber-
November provides us with grounds for ance.
optimism. Growth will falter as interest rates con-
The stock markets hit a 10-month high, tinue to be raised to tame inflation. And we
and were barely 1,000-and-odd points below can see no end to the Russia-Ukraine war,
the all-time Sensex peak of 62,245 hit in or the Chinese supply disruptions caused
October 2021 around mid-morning on 2 by its zero-Covid policy.
November. Inflation is probably going to do the
Goods and services tax (GST) collections most damage in the months and years
hit their second highest level of Rs 151,718 ahead.
crore in October, which refers to economic As Niranjan Rajadhyaksha notes in an
activity in September. insightful article in Mint newspaper, the
The S&P Global India purchasing historical evidence is that inflation spikes
managers’ index (PMI) for October was happen fast, but declines take much longer.
higher at 55.3 compared to September’s Quoting from a study by Andres Blanco,
55.1. Bank credit to industry grew fastest in Pablo Ottenello, and Tereza Ranosova

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 57
 (The Dynamics of Inflation Surges, NBER in March (ie, April GST, which refers to
Working Paper 30555), while the inflation March transactions). The rupee may
surge period ranges from 1.1-1.5 years, the Direct tax collections may start weaken- oscillate between
disinflationary phase lasts much longer ing from the next quarter, as inflation eats 82-85 till the US
(3.2-4.4 years) — ie, three times longer. (The into corporate profits, and the festival
dollar peaks out and
upper and lower bands are the result of surge in spending and corporate earnings
using two different methods of defining an wears off.
the economy starts
inflation surge). Two, the rupee may oscillate between slowing or falls into
By implication, it means that even 82-85 till the US dollar peaks out and the recession. The RBI
though headline inflation may have peaked economy starts slowing or falls into reces- should not try to
or may be about to peak in India and pos- sion. The Reserve Bank of India should not defend the rupee
sibly the US, the disinflation phase (which try to defend the rupee too much. It must
too much. It must let
implies higher rates will last longer) will let it slide, and find its own level after the
be stretched out. dollar peaks.
it slide, and find its
India, which actually was on the ball in Three, the stock markets may cool off own level after the
terms of raising interest rates before infla- after hitting the October 2021 peaks, not dollar peaks.
tion went totally out of the park, may suffer least because foreign fund managers tend
less, but the US will take longer to tame to lock in their gains for the calendar year
inflation, for its starting point on inflation well before the Christmas holiday period.
was much lower: it had, says Rajadhyak- Four, politics (the Gujarat elections)
sha, an average inflation of 2.48 per cent and the Union Budget due on 1 February
against the 2022 projection of 8.05 per cent. will set the tone for stocks in the next year,
That is, the inflation surge is up by a but one should bet on some weakness in
factor of three or more for the US, while for 2023 till the next festive season brings the
India it is barely 1 per cent above its own usual buoyancy.
10-year average. Five, bank deposit rates are set to rise
While clearly India has done better than even further (they are already knocking
the US, Europe and Japan, the disinflation- at levels of 7 per cent or more, and may
ary periods in the latter may stretch longer remain there till economic activity starts
and impact our own growth, especially on weakening).
the export front. For ordinary investors, my advice (but
On the growth front, India may be the do consult your own investment advisers)
last man standing among major economies, is simple: don’t get carried away by high
but when all fall down, we lose some of our stock indices and positive economic indica-
strengths too. tors right now. Be prepared for a reverse,
So, here’s what to expect over the rest of and spread your risks among many assets.
2022-23 and fiscal 2023-24. My own preference is not for any sell-
One, revenues should stay buoyant this ing stocks, but to focus fresh investments
quarter, but the same cannot be said for on rising bank deposits, shorter-duration
next year, though inflation will keep the debt funds or fixed maturity plans (which
overall numbers reasonable. are more tax-efficient), tax-free bonds and
GST revenues may peak in Novem- sovereign gold bonds. R Jagannathan is Editorial
ber, and dip after that, rising a bit again Director, Swarajya.

58 D E CE M B ER 2022
 RESERVATION
INCLUSIVE VISION VERSUS HATE POLITICS
While the RSS saw reservation as a tool that removed alienation, Dravidianists viewed it as an
instrument of revenge and hatred against Brahmins.

T
he opposition to the Supreme base of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN
Court’s judgement upholding cadre base of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
quota for the Economically Sangh (RSS), the RSS supported Mandal
Weaker Sections (EWS) by Dra- Commission.
vidianist and other pseudo-Ambedkarite This irritated many ‘upper-castes’.
forces is nothing but hate politics. But Madhukar Dattatreya Deoras, the
This has a precedence too. third all-India head of the RSS, explained
It is similar to the opposition the so- an important aspect of reservation that
called upper castes indulged in when the many, particularly its opponents, have
Mandal Commission recommendations missed.
were implemented.
In the midst of the hysterical opposition The RSS View Of Reservations
though, there was a voice of reason in the Reservation removed the alienation that
contemporary Indian political landscape. was felt by many non-upper-caste com-
Even though at that time the so-called up- munities with respect to India’s modern,
per castes were seen as the natural support national institutions.

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 59
 Most such communities felt that the The Ambedkar View Of Reservations
civil services and central agencies were the Dr Ambedkar saw the problem of majority- Dr Ambedkar
domain of the upper castes. minority categories from a purely secular provides a coda
Deoras believed that such an alienation point of view.
to see beyond
would result in a death blow to national In secular framework, minorities are
institutions of the Indian state. the socially deprived and marginalised
numerical majority-
That would make anti-Indian forces co- ones — in political, economic and cultural minority and asks
opt many communities into their project of power structures. He stressed that the us as a nation to
‘breaking India’. very perpetuation of such minorities is not homogenise —
When political observers and English- healthy. not losing our
speaking intellectuals were seeing a Hence, the minorities should be protect-
individuality but
dichotomy between Mandal and kamandal ed and they should be given extra instru-
(reservation for OBCs and Ram Janmab- ments for integration with the majority.
removing the fault
hoomi movement) Balasaheb Deoras was Here, Dr Ambedkar provides a coda to lines.
convinced that this would help Hindu see beyond numerical majority-minority
consolidation in the long run. and asks us as a nation to homogenise —
The vision and values of Narendra Modi not losing our individuality but removing
come from the same universe as that of the fault lines.
Madhukar Dattatrerya Deoras. And that is
Hindutva. “In this country, both the minority and
At the basis of this is a deeper and the majority have followed a wrong path. It
holistic understanding of Dr Bhimrao is wrong for the majority to deny the exist-
Ambedkar. ence of minorities. It is equally wrong for
the minorities to perpetuate themselves. A

60 D E CE M B ER 2022
 solution must be found which will serve a majority and not a political majority. It is
The vision and double purpose. for the majority to realize its duty not to
values of Narendra “It must recognize the existence of discriminate against minorities. Whether
the minorities to start with. It must also the minorities will continue or will vanish
Modi come from
be such that it will enable majority and must depend upon this habit of the major-
the same universe minorities to merge someday into one. The ity. The moment the majority loses the hab-
as that of Madhukar solution proposed by the Constituent As- it of discriminating against the minority,
Dattatrerya Deoras. sembly is to be welcomed because it is a so- the minorities can have no ground to exist.
And that is Hindutva. lution which serves this two-fold purpose. They will vanish.”
At the basis of this is “To diehards who have developed a kind
of fanaticism against minority protection One should again remember here that
a deeper and holistic
I would like to say two things. One is that Dr Ambedkar is talking about not religious
understanding of Dr minorities are an explosive force which, expansionist forces as minorities but the
Bhimrao Ambedkar. if it erupts, can blow up the whole fabric social minorities.
of the State. ... (Second) They (the minori- In fact, the words “minorities are an
ties) have loyally accepted the rule of the explosive force which, if it erupts, can blow
majority which is basically a communal up the whole fabric of the State” formed the

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 61
 exact argument of Balasaheb Deoras. lines between communities rather than
For EVR (E V
From these, one thing should be clear. harmonising them.
The aim of reservation is to enable the The 10 per cent reservation of EWS is
Ramasamy,
existing social minorities to merge with a step in the right direction. It will make Periyar) and all
the majority and not create new victim reservation again an instrument of social his Dravidianists,
minorities. harmony as well as justice. reservation is not
But reservations alone cannot do that. It will not create another victimised an instrument of
Reservation enables the social minorities minority but will make it possible for the
social justice and
to gather political and economic power. emotional integration of social minority
They are the essential first steps. The final communities.
a mandatory tool
integration is cultural and spiritual. The fanatical anti-reservationists will for social unity. To
That is the integration of social minori- begin to see the importance of reservation them it is the tool
ties through Hindutva. Narendra Modi is now. of hatred against
one political leader who understands this For EVR (E V Ramasamy, Periyar) and Brahmins.
deep mission of reservations. all his Dravidianists, reservation is not an
instrument of social justice and a manda-
Reservations In Independent India tory tool for social unity. To them it is the
Unfortunately, this sacred instrument of tool of hatred against Brahmins.
Hindu integration that is reservation has But for Dr Ambedkar, Sri Deoras and
been misused by Dravidianist forces. They Prime Minister Modi, reservations are a
have used it as an instrument of revenge tool to remove the social fault lines so that
and hatred against Brahmins, whom they social minorities — the creation of dis-
see as the ‘other’ — like the ‘Jew’ of the crimination and marginalisation — would
Nazi worldview. be enabled to merge with the larger Hindu
Identity politics and vote-bank politics society.
of the Nehruvian perversion also fed into So the latter would accept and enable 10
this. The result has been a reservation per cent reservation for EWS of the society Aravindan Neelakandan is
programme that has further deepened fault while the former would oppose it. Contributing Editor, Swarajya.

62 D E CE M B ER 2022
 QUOTA
GOODBYE COMMON SENSE
The SC has reversed itself just three decades later, indicating how durable its verdicts can ever be.
There is now effectively no limit to how far the quota categories can be stretched in future.

A
five-judge bench of the Su- rate quotas.
R JAGANNATHAN
preme Court on 7 November The immediate implications of this
upheld the constitutional valid- judgement are the following:
ity of the 10 per cent quota for One, upholding the EWS quota implies
the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) that the bench has breached the court’s
in a split 3-2 verdict. own previously instituted limit of 50 per
The EWS quota was the result of the cent on reservations in the Indra Sawhney
103rd constitutional amendment passed by etc, etc, Vs Union of India and Others ver-
Parliament during the dying days of the dict of November 1992.
Narendra Modi government’s first term in The Supreme Court has reversed itself
2019. just three decades later, indicating how
The amendment was broadly supported durable its verdicts can ever be.
by most parties, with some parties demur- Two, apparently a judgement by a nine-
ring only because the new quota excluded judge bench in Indra Sawhney case can be
SCs/STs and Other Backward Classes overturned by a five-judge bench, implying
(OBCs) for whom there were anyway sepa- that the size of the bench no longer matters

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 63
 for the Supreme Court to change its mind. can be stretched in future. Quotas will
The Indra Sawhney judgement went 6-3 now be determined by political and voter Aspiring OBC
in favour of extending quota benefits to demographics, not any real logic of social
classes can also
OBCs, with some riders, including limiting or economic backwardness.
the total reservations to 50 per cent and The EWS verdict can, in the short term,
take advantage,
excluding the ‘creamy layer’. The current be used to deflect the growing demands as Maharashtra
judgement went 3-2 in favour of breaching from Pasmanda Muslims and Dalits who Deputy Chief
the limit. converted to Christianity to be brought Minister Devendra
Three, the general assumption that the under quotas. They can now be asked to Fadnavis has already
EWS quota is largely intended to benefit apply under the EWS quota.
indicated. Soon after
the upper castes/classes is not quite cor- But it is far from certain that they will
rect, for it can now accept anyone who not demand to be included in the SC/ST
the verdict, Fadnavis
earns less than Rs 8 lakh, which includes quotas, which in turn, implies that politi- asked Marathas to
Muslims and Christians who do not get cal demands for expanding this overall register for quota
separate quotas. SC/ST/OBC quota limit will increase. The benefits under EWS.
Aspiring OBC classes can also take 60 per cent limit post EWS is no longer
advantage, as Maharashtra Deputy Chief sacrosanct.
Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already The Karnataka government has already
indicated. Soon after the verdict, Fadnavis announced an intent to raise SC/ST quotas
asked Marathas to register for quota ben- in the state. Tamil Nadu already has a 69
efits under EWS. per cent quota limit.
Four, despite the existence of a new In the next five years, one should as-
EWS quota over and above the Indra Sawh- sume that quota backers will set 69 per cent
ney judgement limit, there is now effective- as the immediate target, and 75 per cent as
ly no limit to how far the quota categories a future limit.

64 D E CE M B ER 2022
 While justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela tend to take note of popular sentiment and
Is it unfair to say M Trivedi and J B Pardiwala wrote the ma- support.
that no one should jority verdict, Chief Justice U U Lalit, who The nationwide riots and agitations for
get more than his retired now, and Justice Ravindra Bhat, an OBC quota in the 1980s could not but
wrote the dissent notes. have impacted the Indra Sawhney judge-
fair share of state
Here is what the five-judge bench said ment that upheld 27 per cent quotas for
support and quotas? in its individual voices (all quotes taken OBCs.
The CJI (retired) has from The Times of India), and the questions Bela M Trivedi: Treating EWS as a
not crowned his that arise from their views. separate class would be a reasonable clas-
departing judgement sification. Just as equals cannot be treated
with the injection of Dinesh Maheshwari: Reservation for the unequally, unequals cannot be treated
EWS does not violate basic structure (of equally. Treating unequals equally violates
common sense.
the Constitution) on account of 50 per cent equality under the Constitution.
ceiling because ceiling limit is not inflex- Comment: Justice Trivedi’s trite state-
ible. ment about not treating unequals equally
Comment: If every limit is flexible, Indra sounds fine, but there is no real objective
Sawhney is effectively junked. Also, to say criterion for deciding what constitutes
that the basic structure is not violated is ‘equal’ or ‘unequal’, and when someone
just blah. who is today considered socially or eco-
The notion of the Constitution having nomically handicapped can be taken out of
any basic structure is just a moving target, the quota bucket after achieving equality.
based on what any bench decides to do in Seven decades after the Constitution
any particular verdict. And these verdicts mandated 10 years of reservations, there is

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 65
 not a snowball’s chance in hell that these U U Lalit and Ravindra Bhat: By exclud-
The EWS verdict can,
will ever be eliminated. ing the poor among SC/ST/OBC… the
So, yes, the EWS quota too could remain amendment practices constitutionally
in the short term, be
forever, as new reasons will be invented prohibited forms of discrimination… our used to deflect the
to help every caste or group that does not Constitution does not permit exclusion and growing demands
benefit from SC/ST reservations. this amendment undermines the fabric of from Pasmanda
social justice and thereby the basic struc- Muslims and Dalits
J B Pardiwala: It’s necessary to take into ture… the othering of socially and educa-
who converted
review the manner of identification and tionally disadvantaged classes… is to heap
ways of determining backward classes and fresh injustice based on past disability.
to Christianity to
also ascertain whether the criteria adopted Comment: This is the most bogus state- be brought under
is relevant to today’s conditions. Though B ment of them all. If the only way to be fair quotas.
R Ambedkar wanted it (quotas) for only 10 to the SC/ST/OBC groups is to give them a
years, it has continued for seven decades. share of every additional quota, then it is
Comment: Quite, right. However, there is an obtuse understanding of social justice. If
little chance of any government, which is somebody already has a quota dedicated to
elected by a coalition of various religious him or her, what is the logic of extending
groups and castes, can get rid of any quota yet another quota benefit to him or her?
even based on objective criteria. Is it unfair to say that no one should get
So, no, even if objective criteria are more than his fair share of state support
evolved, the chances of any quota being and quotas?
reduced or junked will depend on politics The CJI (retired) has not crowned his
and electoral logic, not common sense. departing judgement with the injection of R Jagannathan is Editorial
common sense. Director, Swarajya.

66 D E CE M B ER 2022
 WAR HERO
THE AHOM BRAVEHEART
General Lachit Barphukan, who changed the course of history with his tactical acumen and
personal bravery, is one of the greatest heroes of India.

T
he Mughal war machine never of Borphukan by Raja Chakradhwaj Singha
MAJ MANIK M JOLLY
stopped. Over the centuries, their of the Ahom dynasty.
expansion plans continued to His father was Momai Tamuli Borba-
absorb more and more territory, rua, a bonded labourer for a debt of four
turning it into a vast empire. rupees, but he later rose to become one
However, they did come across some of the most prominent ministers of Raja
very defiant and brilliant kings and gener- Prataap Singh’s court and made massive
als, who not only stopped the Mughal jug- and progressive changes in the administra-
gernaut in its tracks but are also respon- tive system of Ahom rule.
sible for shaping the country and region, It was he who was crucial in creating
as we know it today. Among those heroes, the appointment of Borphukan (one of the
one of the brightest stars is General Lachit five councillors of the king) under Raja
Barphukan of the Ahom dynasty of Assam. Prataap Singh, giving the appointment
Born on 24 November 1622, Lachit rose both executive and judicial powers. How
to become the Commander-in-Chief of the could he have guessed that one day his
Ahom Army and was awarded the position youngest son would be the Borphukan of

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 67
 the Ahom Kingdom and shape the borders, because of brewing wars of succession,
culture, and history of not only Assam? drove the Mughals out.
The Mughal-Ahom wars had been go- This did not go unnoticed by Aurang- On the orders of
ing on since 1615-16, with the first attack zeb, and when he took the throne, he Aurangazeb, Mir
on Assam aimed at capturing the region. immediately ordered Mir Jumla to annex Jumla marched on
Since the first attack on Ahoms ended in a Assam again. Mir Jumla marched on As- Assam in early 1662,
humiliating defeat for Abu Bakr and Raja sam in early 1662 and on 17 March 1662, he
and on 17 March
Satrajit of Bhusna, the leaders of Mughal entered the city of Gargaon, the capital of
forces decided to take a more calculated the Ahom empire.
1662, he entered the
approach towards capturing Assam. Raja Jayadhwaj had to flee and take city of Gargaon, the
Till 1639, many battles would be shelter in the hills. capital of the Ahom
fought between the two and territories However, when the monsoons came, empire. However,
exchanged hands. Tired of war, both sides the Mughal troops could not cope with the when the monsoons
agreed to sign a treaty after the Mughals fury of floods and rains and started to lose
came, the Mughal
had advanced into Assam and captured morale.
Kamrup. As a result, the Treaty of Asurar Health-related issues arose and Mir
troops could not
Ali was signed in February 1639, declar- Jumla fell ill in December 1662. The Ahom cope with the fury
ing that western Assam, beginning with king was keen for peace and to gain control of floods and rains
Guwahati, had passed into the hands of of his kingdom, and on the other hand, and started to lose
the Mughals. The Ahoms finally acknowl- Mughal troops were also unwilling to con- morale.
edged the Mughal control of Kamrup, and tinue fighting there.
the Mughals acknowledged the rule of the This led to a treaty in January 1663, in
Ahoms. which the control of western Assam was
The period between 1639 and 1648 was given to the Mughals and a war indemnity
tumultuous for the region as clashes and of 3 lakh rupees and 90 elephants were
skirmishes kept happening, and finally, in promised. If this was not enough, the king
1648, Ahom King Jayadhwaj Singha, realis- was made to give up his only child and
ing the confusion in the Mughal dynasty daughter, Ramani Gabharau, and his niece

68 D E CE M B ER 2022
 for the emperor’s harem.
His daughter was converted,
The Ahom were named Rahmat Banu Be-
significantly fewer gum, and sent to the Mughal
in number and harem.
lacked the necessary In 1663, Raja Chakrad-
hwaja Singha took over
equipment and
the empire, and he had not
firepower to forgotten the humiliation.
compete with He decided to stop paying
the Mughals. But the fine and swore to drive
they had Lachit the invaders out of Assam.
Barphukan as their In August 1667, the Ahom
Army started its decisive
leader.
march, and within a short
span of two months, it not
only drove out the Mughals,
captured the new faujdar of
Guwahati, Syed Firoz Khan,
but also claimed their lost
glory and prestige.
Aurangzeb received this
news and decided to send a
large army under Raja Ram
Singh of Amber, son of Raja
Jai Singh, accompanied
by Rashid Khan, ex-
faujdar of Guwahati. lacked the necessary equipment and fire-
The Mughal forces were nearly power to compete with the Mughals. But
4,000 troopers under Ram Singh, 21 they had Lachit Barphukan as their leader.
Rajput chiefs along with The Mughals asked for the payment
their contingents, 1,500 of 3 lakh rupees and the reinstatement of
imperial Ahadis (the borders as per the treaty of 1639. A number
emperor’s recruits), of battles were fought from 1669 to 1671, in
500 pieces of artillery, which both sides got some wins and some
30,000 infantry, 18,000 losses.
Turkish cavalry, 2,000 The culmination of this campaign for
horsemen supplied the Mughals would happen at the famous
by the Bengal battle of Saraighat, where Lachit proved
viceroy, 15,000 his mettle beyond any doubt. The Ahoms
Koch archers, 40 wanted to throw the invaders out. Lachit
war vessels manned understood that in a head-on confronta-
by Europeans, and tion, his armies stood no chance against
additional troops the Mughals.
from Koch Bi- So he first started to buy time to prepare
har (vassals of his defences. To gain more time, he started
the Mughals). negotiations with Raja Ram Singh, using
The Ahom his prisoner Syed Firoz Khan, as the mes-
were sig- senger. He impressed upon the Mughal
nificantly forces that they were very keen to negoti-
fewer in ate. But having gained some time to build
number his embankments and fortifications, he
and suddenly changed his stance to “not even
an inch of our motherland will be given”.
It is said that during the time of build-
ing these embankments on Brahmaputra,

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 69
 he found the work at a site unsatisfac- stopped his troops and ordered them not to
tory. To show how serious he was about chase and kill fleeing enemies. Brahmaputra
these defences, he killed his own uncle as Guwahati would be taken once again was narrowest at
a punishment for slackness in work and by treachery in 1679 by Mughals and held Saraighat, making
famously said, “my uncle is not more im- its control till 1672, when it was retaken by it an ideal naval
portant than my country”. Needless to say, Gadhadhar Singha for Ahoms. Never again
blockade location for
within days, his defences were ready. did Mughals ever venture into Assam.
Brahmaputra was narrowest at Lachit Barphukan died of illness one
Ahoms. This smart
Saraighat, making it an ideal naval block- year after Saraighat. His defiant stand use of terrain for
ade location for Ahoms. This smart use of and masterful defence of Assam, against limiting the enemy’s
terrain for limiting the enemy’s movement the full might of Mughal empire, are what movement via land
via land and making him fight at a place of saved Ahom dynasty and Assam. and making him
your choosing would prove to be one of the It is believed by many old and contem-
fight at a place of
best decisions Lachit took. porary historians that if it was not for La-
He commanded the troops on the south- chit, expansion of the Mughal empire into
your choosing would
ern bank of the river. By this time, naval entire North East India and even further prove to be one of
reinforcements and land troops had also into South East Asia was a sure possibility. the best decisions
reached the area as reinforcements for the One general, who changed the course Lachit took.
Mughals. When the day came for the final of history with his tactical acumen and
battle, Lachit fell seriously ill and was personal bravery, is one of the greatest
bedridden. heroes of India.
Finally, in March 1671, Raja Ram It is time that we reclaimed our real
Singh started his march to Guwahati. The heroes, introduced them in a more detailed
Mughals gained an advantage by breaking manner in our academic curricula, and
the naval blockade and moving up north of celebrated them across the nation. On
Saraighat. The Ahom land forces, fearing his 400th birthday, the country extends
encirclement, started to retreat. its gratitude to this brave son of Assam.
Lachit was watching all this from the Lachit Barphukan will always be the bea- Maj Manik M Jolly, SM (Retd) is
sick bay of his fort at Itakhuli. At this con that will continue to motivate future an alumni of NDA and served
point, he summoned a flotilla of six ships generations of Indians. with Gurkha Rifles and MI. He
and charged them directly into Mughal is a defence and geopolitics
warships. analyst, and writes for various
Grievously ill, he led the charge, and national and international
his entry into the battlefield turned Ahom publications.
soldiers into fighting machines.
Soon, his six boats turned into a small
flotilla, and Ahoms were everywhere,
attacking and killing Mughals.
The admiral of Mughal naval
forces, Munnawar Khan,
was killed while smoking a
hukkah, and that was the
last straw for Mughal forces.
Lachit chased them until they
reached Ahom’s western
bounda-
ries,
then

70 D E CE M B ER 2022
 BOOK REVIEW
DECOLONISING MINDS
This is a must-have book for every lover of Indian civilisation, student and scholar, commoner
and academic.

E
ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN knath Ranade was the principal able development and journalism, Vive-
force behind the mid-sea rock kananda Kendra has made impressive
memorial for Swami Vivekanan- contributions.
INDIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO da in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. In 1970, even as the Vivekananda Rock
WORLD THOUGHT AND When he was working for the rock me- Memorial was taking shape and hectic
CULTURE, ABRIDGED AND morial, fighting all odds, a vision started work was underway to complete it, Ranade
REVISED EDITION. taking shape: this should not be just a with superhuman energy resolved to sup-
VIVEKANANDA memorial for Swami Vivekananda but a plement the work with another equally
INTERNATIONAL nation-building movement, and that alone arduous work — a Swami Vivekananda
FOUNDATION AND ARYAN could be a fitting memorial for Swami commemoration volume.
BOOKS INTERNATIONAL. Vivekananda. This volume brought out in a rigorous,
2022. PAGES 484. RS 995. Vivekananda Kendra is the living move- scholarly way the contribution of India to
ment of a memorial he created. the world thought and culture.
This is a unique organisation in the The editor-in-chief was Prof Lokesh
sense that it is an order of non-sanyassin Chandra. The contributors were histori-
workers dedicatedly contributing to all ans, Prof Devendra Swarup and Sitaram
spheres of national life. Goel and eminent archaeologist Dr S P
In culture, spirituality, rural develop- Gupta.
ment, tribal development, yoga, sustain- At a size of a standard Encyclopaedia

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 71
 Britannica and with 700 pages, it was After 52 years, these historical facts still
priced at Rs 150. The book is a collector’s remain ‘news to many’. Such is the stran- In his foreword,
item and a must-read for every student of glehold of the colonial narrative. Majumdar had
Indian culture and history. The new abridged edition carries a
pointed to the
Now, the Vivekananda International foreword by Arvind Gupta and an intro-
Foundation (VIF) and Aryan Books duction by renowned archaeologist Dilip
destruction of Hindu
International (ABI) have brought out an Chakrabarti. temples in Central
abridged and revised edition of the book. The introduction itself is a veritable Asia by Christian
Distilled from 70 scholarly papers (some scholarly treat and quite a comprehensive zealots. He brings
of them dated) this abridged edition has 27 guide to navigate through the vast sea of out details which are
papers. Each is a treasure trove of knowl- knowledge that the papers subsequently
seldom talked in our
edge. offer the reader.
The book carries the original foreword It is one of the best holistic summaries
textbooks regarding
written by that doyen of historians — R C of India’s cultural heritage that brings the spread of ancient
Majumdar. It sets the context to the book. out both its para and apara knowledge Hindu culture.
While historians of colonial and even heritages while maintaining their organic
post-colonial period have tended to portray integrity.
Buddhism as a missionary religion, Hindu- The papers have been selected with care
ism has been shown as a non-missionary and relevance. While in the original the
religion. relevant picture plates were mostly given
Hindu Dharma did not and cannot separately, here they are provided in-text
proselytise but it definitely spread in an which makes the reader relate in a better
organic way, interacting with other spir- way.
itual and cultural traditions, enriching and Starting with India’s contribution to the
getting enriched by these interactions. history of science and ending with Swami
So Hindu Dharma is in its own way a Ranganathananda’s paper on Swami Vive-
non-proselytising missionary religion. kananda as India’s emissary to the West,
In his foreword, Majumdar had pointed the selection of papers remains relevant
to the destruction of Hindu temples in to the spirit of the makers of the original
Central Asia by Christian zealots. Right in volume.
the foreword he brings out details which The students of Indian civilisation as
are seldom spoken about in our textbooks well as scholars will learn a lot from this
regarding the spread of ancient Hindu present volume that can challenge the
culture: preconceived concepts which have become
part of the indoctrination of colonial/colo-
The story of the spread of Buddhism nised historians.
since the time of Asoka, about the middle For example, it
of the third century BC, is well known. Far is often said that
less known is the fact that Hinduism i.e. Buddhism was
the Puranic form of Brahmanical religion, anti-Vedic. Many
was already spread in parts of Asia, and ‘scholars’, politi-
abundant traces of Hinduism and other cians and writers
aspects of Indian culture associated with to this day aggres-
it still remain in various regions of the sively promote the
continent. It would perhaps be news to unsubstantiated
many that there was an Indian colony in claim that later
the region of the Upper Euphrates river, ‘Brahminical’ reli-
to the west of Lake Van, as early as the gion appropriated
second century BC… and the temples of Buddhism making
Hindu gods, like Krishna, erected there Buddha an avatar
were destroyed by the Christian monk St. of Vishnu.
Gregory early in the fourth century AD, This is often
after defeating Indians who stoutly resisted axiomatically ac-
the iconoclastic fury of Christians. cepted.
R C Majumdar, Foreword, 14-4-1970 In this book
there are two pa-

72 D E CE M B ER 2022
 Dr Chakrabarti had pers. One by an Indologist from erstwhile Saka documents in Eastern Turkistan and
as early as 1968 USSR — B A Litvinsky — “India and Soviet Narayana, the deva occurs in the Buddhist-
pointed out to the Central Asia”. Another by Indologist and Soghdian documents. On a Tun-huang
art historian P Banerjee: “Hindu Deities in painting representing a thousand-handed,
possibility of the
Central Asia”. thousand-eyed Avalokitesvara, occurs an
obsessive association In both papers a specific inscription is attendant figure, Narayana on Garuda. In
of PGW with Aryan discussed among others. all these contexts ‘Narayana’ seems to oc-
movement leading Discovered in 1956 by Russian scholar cur in its Buddhist association, though it is
archaeologists to A N Berushtam in Tajikistan, this Kha- quite possible that his Hindu features were
neglect the context rosthi inscription identified by linguist J not completely unknown in Central Asia.
Harmatta as the oldest Kharosthi inscrip- Page 179
of localised cultural
tion in inner Asia reads ‘Narayana Jaya
dynamics. Ho’. This is considered Buddhist. Because? What is to be seen here is that both the
Litvinsky explains: authors point to the fact that Narayana is
the name associated with Buddha as his
Narayana, the Buddha is encountered name travelled West from India.
in the Khotanese-Saka documents from At the same time coinciding with this
Eastern Turkistan, and “Narayana, the westward advancement of Buddha, was the
deva” occurs in the Buddhist Soghdian Greco-Bactrian or Indo-Greek king Agatho-
documents. cles of Bactria who circa 150 BCE issued
Page 165 the now famous Sri Krishna coins.
The geographical and chronological af-
In the subsequent paper on the same finities strongly suggest that Buddhist tra-
subject, when dealing with the same in- dition also used the popularity of Krishna-
scription, P Banerjee points out even more Narayana tradition in these regions for its
interesting facts: own spread.
So it may not be that Vedic Dharma
It may be noted here that Narayana the appropriated Buddha, but Buddha Dharma
Buddha is mentioned in the Khotanesa- ‘appropriated’ (and that is not the right

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 73
 term) the Krishna-Narayana tradition. The paper is not included in the
The book does not spell it out but it abridged edition. Because here, the paper
Discovered in 1956
provides a holistic picture that removes by S R Rao on “Shipping in Ancient India”
the implanted prejudices. has been included, which is also a very
by Russian scholar
Recently, in Tamil Nadu certain politi- elaborate and detailed paper. It also con- A N Berushtam
cians made a statement that Vaishnavism tains very important insights into Harap- in Tajikistan, the
and Saivism were separate religions and pan marine ventures. Even after more than Kharosthi inscription
their unity was because of the British. half a century the paper scintillates with identified by
However, if a student of politics goes fresh insights.
linguist J Harmatta
through this book, he or she would find This reviewer has a request. In his
that it is the composite divine form uniting introduction, Dr Chakrabarti makes an
as the oldest such
Vishnu and Shiva — popularly known in important point about this volume: inscription in inner
southern India as Sankara Narayana — Asia reads ‘Narayana
existed as early as the fifth century even in Each of its articles covers, so as to Jaya Ho’.
the central Asian region. speak, the tip of an iceberg and brings to
Such a comprehensive scholarly volume light the importance of further research
should now become the source material on each of these research areas from the
for writing our textbooks. That is another Indian side.
important possible benefit we can derive
from such books. This is very much true. For example,
In the original edition, the paper by his- in the unabridged volume there is a paper
torian K S Ramachandran, “Ancient Indian “The Aryans: A Reappraisal of the Prob-
Maritime Venture”, highlighted the Chola lem” by the renowned archaeologist B K
contribution to the spread of Hindu culture Thapar of ASI.
and traditions to South East Asia: At that time it was almost universally
concluded that the painted grey ware was
But by far the most important evidence the archaeological correlate of ‘Aryan’
of naval expedition and conquest pertains migratory movements. In the conclusion of
to the Imperial Cholas. In A.D. 983 Raja the paper, Thapar raised some doubts:
Raja I led a successful naval expedition
against the Ceylon ruler Mahinda V. To which wave of the movement of Indo-
Again, his illustrious son Rajendra invad- Aryans does the Painted Grey Ware belong,
ed this island during the reign of the same if at all it belongs to one, still remains to
ruler. Raja Raja also led a naval expedition be established. ... Lest the conclusions be
and conquered the old islands of the sea bedevilled by extrapolations and surmises,
numbering 12000, perhaps the Maldives. ... it must be re-affirmed that the available
The most outstanding achievement of the objective evidence for the movement of
Cholas was the conquest of Kadaram (Ke- Aryans into India is still inconclusive. In
dah in the Malay Peninsula) by Rajendra. the present state of our knowledge or, for
Page 80 [unabridged original edition] that matter of our ignorance, which is not
as despairing as it was two decades ago,

74 D E CE M B ER 2022
 calls for a sustained work
on the problem, including
the ancestry of the
Painted Grey Ware
if it was at all there
outside India.
Page 161 (empha-
sis in the original)

The reader should

remember again that
this was written in
1970 — half a century and
two years ago. Now, it is
as universally accepted as
before that the association
of painted grey ware (PGW)
pottery with ‘Aryan move- for decolonising our minds.
ment from steppe’ was hasty and wrong. The selection of the papers from the
The publication For example, Harappan archaeologists original has been done with diligence and
of this attractive, Jean-François Jarrige and Usman Hassan having the modern reader in mind. The
opine that the “grey ware could very well reproduction of the images is done profes-
timely and inspiring
be explained within its local context”. sionally and is pleasing to the eyes of the
abridged edition is Here it should be pointed out again that reader. The book will definitely ignite in
not a culmination Dr Chakrabarti who wrote the introduc- the minds of the readers an urge to own the
of the great work tion to the present volume had as early as original monumental work.
that the visionary Sri 1968 pointed out to the possibility of the The current generation is indebted to
Eknath Ramakrishna obsessive association of PGW with Aryan both VIF and ABI for bringing out this
movement leading archaeologists to ne- classic in an adorable and affordable form.
Ranade started
glect the context of localised
but a wider and cultural dynamics.
more challenging The original volume thus
beginning. contains many invaluable
gems of insights.
That is the reason why one
expects from Vivekananda
Kendra, Vivekananda In-
ternational Foundation and
Aryan Books International
an annotated, enlarged and
updated version of the origi-
nal volume — perhaps even a
couple of volumes.
The publication of this
attractive, timely and inspir-
ing abridged edition is not a
culmination of the great work
that the visionary Eknath
Ramakrishna Ranade started
but a wider and more chal-
lenging beginning.
This abridged edition is a
very important reading mate-
Aravindan Neelakandan is rial for students and scholars
Contributing Editor, Swarajya. alike. It is an essential book

D EC EMB ER 2 0 2 2 75
BOOK REVIEW

INDIA’S IT ITIHAASA
The book knits together the 60-year story of domestic IT developments based on transcripts of
reminiscences by leading players in the Indian IT industry, past and present.

S
ix years ago, Infosys co-founder edit many of the recordings in Itihaasa,
ANAND PARTHASARATHY
‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan spear- adding bridging material to create a useful
headed a non-profit entity named and somewhat offbeat history of the growth
“Itihaasa” to study and document and development of IT in India over six
the evolution of technology and business decades. AGAINST ALL ODDS:
domains in India. In a useful introduction, Gurcharan THE IT STORY OF INDIA.
Its anchor project was to record an oral Das, former CEO of Procter and Gamble KRIS GOPALAKRISHNAN,
history of information technology (IT) in (India), who subsequently reinvented him- N DAYASINDHU, AND
India through the words of its pioneers and self as a business chronicler, lays out the KRISHNAN NARAYANAN.
leading practitioners. key signposts on India’s infotech roadmap PENGUIN BUSINESS. 2022.
The archive grew to over 600 videos (infotech is short for information technol- PAGES 322. RS 799.
and interviews and some 40 hours of video ogy).
recordings, as well as hundreds of images He begins with the landing of the coun-
and articles. try’s first computer, the United-Kingdom-
Along with Gopalakrishnan, the project made HEC-2M, at the Indian Statistical
was steered by two former Infosys profes- Institute, Kolkata, in 1955, where Professor
sionals — N Dayasindhu, the chief execu- P C Mahalanobis harnessed it to process
tive officer (CEO) of Itihaasa Research data that went to shape India’s Second Five
and Digital, and Krishnan Narayanan, Year Plan.
Itihaasa’s president. The computer cost Rs 2 lakh and had all
The three have now come together to of 1 kilobyte, or 1024 bytes, of memory.

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 Das points to Das points to the irony that Mahalano- in the country, imposing duties of 140 per
bis (and the Nehruvian government of the cent and more on imported computers. In
the irony that
day) belonged to the classical school of all of India, there were just 1,000 computers
Mahalanobis (and socialism, which rooted for public-sector in 1978.
the Nehruvian enterprise and a controlled private sector However, individual entrepreneurs
government of the and had little use for the proliferation of overcame systemic roadblocks, creating
day) belonged to computing devices outside of the govern- companies like HCL (formerly Hindustan
the classical school ment. Computers Limited) and TCS (Tata Consul-
This set back technological develop- tancy Services).
of socialism that
ments by almost a decade until visionaries TCS, led by its charismatic general man-
had little use for in two institutions changed things: ager, the late F C Kohli, tweaked its role
the proliferation of – Professors P V S Rao and R Narasim- from mere consulting to active computeri-
computing devices han at the Tata Institute of Fundamental sation.
outside of the Research (TIFR), Mumbai — encouraged It took the arrival of Rajiv Gandhi on
government. by Dr Homi Bhabha — fabricated the first the political scene and his then-derided
made-in-India computer called TIFRAC “computer cowboys” to unshackle the In-
around 1962. It was among the first in the dian industry, a movement led by bureau-
world to use a cathode-ray tube as a visual crats like N Seshagiri and N Vittal.
display. The 1980s saw the nascent Indian
– A year later, in 1963, the Indian Insti- software industry organise itself, with
tute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, acquired its poster boy, the flamboyant Dewang
an imported mainframe computer, the Mehta leading the National Association of
IBM 1620. Teachers like H N Mahabala (he Software and Service Companies, or NASS-
passed away on 27 June this year, aged 87) COM, in its formative years.
and V Rajaraman harnessed the machine The Software Technology Parks of India
and structured India’s first hardware and (STPI) were in place, providing a valuable
programming courses around it, creating infrastructure backbone to an industry
the first generation of Indian computer that was champing at the bit — till the era
engineers. of liberalisation finally dawned with the
The so-called licence permit raj contin- Manmohan Singh budget of 1991.
ued to throttle all IT-driven development Empowered to re-fashion a moribund

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 telecommunications infrastructure, Sam into the text of this book to lend a smack of
Pitroda helmed the Centre for Development authenticity to what is essentially a history
It took the arrival of
of Telematics (C-DOT) and helped craft of technology. Rajiv Gandhi on the
an indigenous telephone exchange, suited Serial author, Professor Rajaraman ex- political scene and
for her rural hinterland, and launched the plains why his first book on programming his then-derided
era of “STD booths”, providing subscriber was a somewhat shabby production: He in- “computer cowboys”
trunk dialling across the nation. sisted to his publishers, Prentice-Hall, that
to unshackle the
In retrospect, it is as significant a turn- the cover price had to be no higher than Rs
ing point as the universal identification 15. The only way they could achieve this
Indian industry, a
system Aadhaar, skillfully led by Nandan was by using cheap paper and reproduc- movement led by
Nilekani, was to become a decade later. ing the electric-typewritten manuscript bureaucrats like
Before that, India suddenly found itself without new typesetting. N Seshagiri and N
billed as the world’s back office, thanks to The professor confirms what was for Vittal.
the windfall business of updating every- long an apocryphal story — that IIT Kan-
one’s business software at “Y2K” or Year pur’s first IBM computer made the journey
2000. from airport to campus in a bullock cart.
In recent years, the challenge of Cov- The reason was not that there were no
id-19 was overcome to create an opportu- motor cars in 1962, but that a cart with
nity for a truly national software platform rubber tyres was the best way to ensure
called Arogya Setu, with 176 million users, that the computer arrived undamaged after
many of whom graduated to the Co-WIN traversing a very bad and untarred road.
app. This makes for a second instance when
a vital piece of computer hardware made
First-Person Narratives its Indian journey under animal power.
The Itihaasa project has been fortunate to In an earlier book, similarly based on
hear the story of these 60 years of an India first-person recollections of India’s unsung
IT brand from many of those who made technology pioneers (Icons of Indian IT,
it happen. It transforms what could have 2018), Professor S Sadagopan (founder-
been a dry narrative into an always-reveal- director of IIIT Bangalore) and I had de-
ing, sometimes-hilarious, never-boring scribed how the first satellite dish antenna
collection of anecdotes. that Texas Instruments (TI) used to con-
The authors have skillfully woven ex- nect with its United States headquarters
tracts from their audio and video archives made the journey from Bangalore airport

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 to its Millers Road office in a bullock cart. of mini computers and desktop personal
The combo of I understood from some TI staffers of computers (PCs).
insightful narrative the time that this was for different reasons One HCL executive, Rajendra Pawar, in
and revealing — only the government was allowed to own turn left to start NIIT (National Institute
personal anecdotes and operate dish antennas for communica- of Information Technology) in 1991 — a
helps justify the tion and the transit from the airport had pioneer in computer education.
to be slow enough for it to be tracked at all The authors fill in the gaps where they
book’s title. The
times. don’t have first-person narrative to tap
Indian IT story was Srini Rajam, the India head of TI in the into — this ensures that achievements like
indeed a success 1990s, went on to set up his own company, India’s indigenous supercomputing initia-
story that prevailed Ittiam, that put India on the global map as tives like the Param series, helmed by Dr
against all odds to a source of digital signal processing solu- Vijay Bhatkar at the Centre for Develop-
create a globally tions. ment of Advanced Computing (C-DAC),
Many of the turning points in the India Pune, are not overlooked.
respected brand.
IT story came as a result of fortuitous hap- They also recognise the contribution of
penstance: Azim Premji explains why his Indian entrepreneurs like Sridhar Vembu,
decision to diversify from the family busi- whose company Zoho has made Chennai a
ness of selling vanaspati led to his turning de facto capital for business software-as-a-
Wipro into a bellwether technology player. service and has broken the urban fixa-
Infosys co-founders speak of the early tion to take development centres to rural
challenges they faced before the company reaches in Tamil Nadu, like Tenkasi and
earned credibility as a technology services Renigunta.
powerhouse. The notes and references are exhaus-
And when his father gifted Bharat Goen- tive and useful, but the lack of an index for
ka a computer for his birthday, it inspired what will be for many a book of reference
him to start a company — Peutronics — seems an unfortunate lacuna.
Anand Parthasarathy is that was to create India’s most successful The combo of insightful narrative and
managing director at Online financial accounting software, Tally. revealing personal anecdotes helps justify
India Tech Pvt Ltd and a Bored with selling desk calculators the book’s title. The Indian IT story was in-
veteran IT journalist who for DCM Data Products, Shiv Nadar and deed a success story that prevailed against
has written about the Indian five colleagues left to start what became all odds to create a globally respected
technology landscape for more Hindustan Computers Limited (now HCL), brand.
than 15 years for The Hindu. a pioneer in the indigenous manufacture

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