Get set go ..... 2024.... :: Modi plans well in advance to 'trump' OBC Caste card of Opposition ::: "Studies revealed in 2014, BJP gained more Muslim votes than Congress "

 (get set go .... 2024....)

"For me, the biggest caste is the poor. For me, the biggest caste is the youth. The biggest caste for me is women, the biggest caste for me is farmers. Only the upliftment of these four castes will make India developed......Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai garib. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai yuva". -- PM Narendra Modi 

The 2024 elections are not far off, and hence the saffron camp has started preparing things well in advance. Amit Shah made it clear in Kolkata that corruption will be a chief electoral plank, and now no less than the Prime Minister has decided to focus more on poor, youths and women power. 

Modi’s remarks at a video interaction with welfare beneficiaries — "labharthis, considered a loyal support base of the Lotus party" had key political messages. The party strategists say the focus will be on poverty alleviation and something more catchy as a slogan 'Modi's Guarantee'. 

2019: BJP had Muslim nominee in Jangipur, Bengal

They also feel, while ensuring general 'Hindu unity' vis-a-vis the OBC-survey card pushed by JD(U) and Congress; the pro-Hindutva and 'right wing' party will reach out to the minorities especially Muslims.  

Of course, the BJP is hardly known for fielding Muslim candidates in Lok Sabha as well as state elections; but it is also a fact that "studies reveal" that in 2014, the saffron party gained more Muslim votes than the Congress 

In the 16th Lok Sabha post-2019 polls, the BJP has no Muslim MP despite being the largest party with above 300 mark; and in 2014 the party had fielded seven Muslims of its 482 candidates and none could win.  

About Christian voters, it is felt the party has always a mixed acceptability. In north east, Christian voters have voted for the BJP in Nagaland 'electing' 12 MLAs in two subsequent polls of 2018 and 2023 from the 20 candidates the party fielded. It shares power with a regional party for last five years and more now.

In Kerala, which also has substantial Christian voters, in 2021, Modi had met India's most senior Catholic leaders — Cardinal Oswald Gracias of the Latin-rite Church, Cardinal George Alencherry, major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Cardinal Baselios Cleemis of the Syro-Malankara Church.

This certainly denoted BJP trying to establishing strong links with the Christians.

On Nov 30 as the state of Telangana (with sizable Muslim voters) went to polls, the ruling party organised a video conference as part of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

This incidentally came two days after the Union Cabinet approved the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for five years. The scheme aims to provide free foodgrains to 81.35 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).  

The Prime Minister made it clear that uplifting farmers along with youth and women -- that is the poor - can only ensure making the country developed. He may not be there in politics or power then; but the PM has set 2047 as the year when India, that is Bharat, should emerge as a 'developed' nation.  

The party insiders say the “Modi guarantee” will be also in focus. 

“Mere liye desh ki sabse badi chaar jatiyan hain. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai garib. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai yuva, mere liye sabse badi jaati hai mahilayen. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai kisan. In char jatiyon ka utthan hi Bharat ko viksit banayega. Agar chaar ka ho jayega to iska matlab sabka ho jayega (For me, there are four biggest castes in the country .... poor, youth, women and farmers). 

     

File snap: Sept 13, 2013 - the day BJP named Namo as PM candidate

In his address, the Prime Minister was also categorical. "....if it happens to four social groups, it means it will happen to everyone,” Modi said in reference to government's welfare schemes and uplift of these needy sections. Of course, in all that he is saying and promising yet again to deliver -- there is one important message -- the BJP knows the 2024 battle will be tough and more challenging then the past battles of 2014 and 2019 have been.  

The opposition leaders say "Hindus also need jobs" and in that sense, Modi has not delivered.  

“Garib ka bachha bhooka na jaye, kisi garib ke ghar ka choola na bujhe (no child from a poor family should sleep hungry and the stove in any house of the poor should not go out). So, our Cabinet has approved the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for five years,” Modi said. 

Aware of what his detractors are planning,  PM also has pitched 'Modi ka guarantee' versus other guarantees of the Congress and other parties. 

“Jahan doosron se ummeed kam ho jati hai, wahi se Modi ki guarantees shuru hoti hai. (Where hope from other parties will not be there; Modi’s guarantees will begin. This is why Modi’s guarantees are popular).”

 

The PM also launched an initiative to increase the number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras, which sell medicines at subsidised rates, from 10,000 to 25,000 and the Drone Didi Yojana to provide drones to 15,000 women self-help groups from 2024 to 2026 for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purposes.

"It will be Modi guarantee versus other guarantees," remarked a BJP leader.

                                        

Muslim voters and 2014 polls:

Despite not fielding many Muslim candidates and widespread criticism of its prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as a communal leader, the BJP managed to attract double the number of Muslim voters it did in 2009.

The stagnation of the Congress's Muslim vote was due to fragmentation. According to a Lokniti-CSDS analysis, "...in states where the Congress was in direct competition with the BJP, it got nearly three-fourths of the Muslim vote overall. On the other hand, in states with strong regional parties (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam, the Muslm support for Congress had declined to about one-third as the minority community also had voted for other regional parties. 

According to a Lokniti-CSDS survey of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP doubled its Muslim vote share while the Congress vote share remained stagnant. The BJP bagged 9% pf Muslim votes, more than double in the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2009 when it got 4% of Muslim votes. 

The Congress got 38% of Muslim votes in 2009 and the number remained the same in 2014.  

Interestingly, an international agency Pew survey in 2021 claimed that in 2019 parliamentary polls in India, One out of five Muslims in India voted for the BJP in the 2019 general elections. 

This works out to about 19 per cent, a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre on religion, caste, nationalism and attitudes in India has found. 

Nearly half of the Hindu voters (49 per cent) say they voted for the BJP, compared with significantly fewer people among minority religious groups.

But in 2023, there was a key message. The consolidation of Muslim votes ensured big win for Congress in Karnataka. 

Nine Muslims, all from Congress, were elected to the 224-member assembly, up from seven in 2018. The consolidation of Muslim votes, nearly 13% of the electorate, was apparent this time in favour of Congress. 

Now if Congress wins Telengana upsetting BRS of K Chandrasekhar Rao, this message would be further strengthened that the Muslims are gradually shifting towards the grand old party and this will not augur well for parties such as Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress.

ends 

Not debating Exit Polls, but can Five state polls .... be called -- : A turning point in India's political history

Of course there are certain things about Indian politics; and they go without stating. 

Since the British left, politics in India has mainly centered around the Congress party, which ruled the country for a total 52 years with the odd interval. 

It was a dominance that waned in 2014 and the 2019 results perhaps nearly ended it, placing BJP at the center as the new national party. But five years since 2019, the Congress is hoping to bounce back.

At the centre of Indian politics in December 2023 stands the BJP and in the centre of the saffron outfit stands Narendra Modi. 

While Rahul Gandhi is the mascot for the Congress, for the Lotus party, its Modi - the man who made a perfect synthesis of Hindu ideology and development.

“People were content with what they got — the gas cylinders, rural houses and toilets and hence we won 2019 polls and we will again 2024 under the leadership of Narendra Modi," says a BJP poll strategist. 

Five states those went to polls are Mizoram, where Congress has lost ground and BJP is finding it tough to bloom 'lotus' in the hard rocks. There are two Congress-ruled states Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan has a reputation of changing government every five years. 

In 2018, BJP lost power in these two states and hopes to regain hold in Rajasthan notwithstanding disunity in the camp. The saffron party had lost Madhya Pradesh but could wrest power after ensuring defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia. But the BJP has gambled with the same Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the apprehension is he has been overused. In the fifth state of Telangana, the BJP is not a major force to reckon and if Muslim voters decide, the Congress could make a comeback.  

A few questions those need to be looked into. Whether the voters are still ready to endorsed Modi’s style of governance ?

How effective can be the Congress’ attempts to project PM Modi as a failure and with nexus with capitalists especially Gujarati industrialist Gautam Adani? Whether, voters are still falling for freebies? 

In the last nine years since 2019, Modi and the BJP have repeatedly shown how they abhor 'Nehruvian politics' or what the BJP calls the 'dynasty rule Nehru-Gandhi family'. 

Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi together headed the government in New Delhi for as many as 37 years. Congressman Manmohan Singh was in power for 10 years between 2004 and 2014; and between 1991 and 1996 - there was another Congress veteran in power - P V Narasimha Rao.

In other words, we may easily conclude that the Indian political history has shed its 'status quo' tag. 

Can the Hindutva politics symbolised by Modi and BJP and punctuated with 'Bharat-nationalism' is now securely affirmed ?  

PM Narendra Modi-Bhakts take selfies with a cardboard cut-out of Modi at Kumbh festival in Allahabad in Dec. 2018.

Between 2014 and November 2023, besides the two parliamentary polls - which Modi won for his party convincingly, the BJP has won many crucial battles. The saffron party's electoral success has many tales from states like Tripura where communists have been ousted in two consecutive polls. In another one-time Left bastion too, the BJP today is a force and the principal opposition party. 

It has won difficult states such as Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and 2022 and of course lost Karnataka miserably in May 2023. Even in May 2018, BJP's performance in Karnataka was not all that good. 

In other words,  Modi's magic could be waning. But it may be still little early to herald real joy for the Congress because landscape shifting for India's biggest parties also mean some regional parties hold their sway in key states such as West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar and also Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.  

Will Modi address again here - Aug 15, 2024 ??

Rahul Gandhi's 'mighty source of inspirations' 

On the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a Bharat Jodo Yatra recently. For many Congress supporters, the victory in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh -- though they forget the dismal performance in Gujarat - suggests the party, which has ruled India for the longest time since it gained independence, is finding its feet again.  

The Congress is confidence of Muslim support base and is hoping to regain its lost base among Hindu voters by running the extra mile to woo OBC voters. 

The Congress Party's victories/good shows in the three Hindu-heartland states - Madhya Pradesh (that is under BJP now), Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh would augur well for its chances of success in the 2024  general elections.

Together, the three states make up 65 of the 543 elected seats in India's parliament.  In 2014 when the BJP and its allies swept the national polls, they won over 315 of the 543 seats. 

In 2014, the BJP claimed 61 of the 65 seats in these key states. In 2019, Chhattisgarh has 11 seats in total and out of these BJP has 9. 

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP won 28 and Congress only one. In Rajasthan, it was clean sweep with 24 seats for the saffron party and one seat (out of 25) had gone to its ally RLP. Thus three states had given BJP -- 62. 

In 2019 at the national level, the BJP seats jumped from 282 to 303. The so-called opposition unity could not help the Modi detractors. In 2014, the Index of Opposition Unity was around 65 percent - and still Modi had ousted the UPA. In 2019, the Index of Opposition Unity was around 85 percent but it also resulted

in reverse swing and 'polarisation' in favour of Namo. 

Thus the seats tally increased and vote share also jumped from 31 percent to 37 percent.

From the nine states in eastern and southern India, the BJP has 67 and its alliance partners have only 8 making it 75 for NDA.

In total, from BJP's perspective, that means 154 seats are with other parties and this is where the saffron party strategies will have to chalk out innovative

plans to turn the table on their opponents.

"To bring back Narendra Modi as India's Prime Minister for the third time, we have to make a dent in states such as West Bengal and Telangana. Some work is already on and we have to rework strategies in seven other states," a party leader said

But pundits are already predicting that the total number in 2024 will drop for the BJP for sure by perhaps 30 to 40 seats at least. 

Communists have lost popular base 

 Some analysts say the Congress's fortunes could be due for a reversal as the public have grown increasingly 'tired' of Modi's rhetoric, machinations and manipulations.

The BJP's winning spree in several states has been 'allegedly' attributed to political manipulation, smart electoral management, including the use of "money power" to engineer the defections of MPs from other parties.

The Congress camp admits about 'Modi's popularity' but says much of which is built on hyperbole. Modi is in competition against his own image, is a refrain.

But that is now could be jeopardy as opposition have formed an alliance and trying to rail against the BJP-led regime for a host of social ills, with farmers still mired in dire straits, unemployment continuing to rise, and the economy not showing any sign of a turnaround. 

"India is suffering from a choked cash flow," says a BJP critic. 

True, Modi won the elections on the plank of building a Hindu-dominant society. As such, it came as little surprise he won the Hindu vote. He will be trying the same again in 2024.

But the opposition leaders say "Hindus also need jobs" and in that sense, Modi has not delivered.  However, many in the BJP say the NDA  regime has deleivered on toilets, good roads and drastic drop in corruption.

ends 

 

  

Henry Kissenger: A predicament personality --- On the right, he was seen as a brilliant statesman, a master diplomat, but on the Left, hostility burns over his record on Chile, he and Nixon turned a blind eye to the slaughter of thousands by Pakistan

On hearing that Kissinger had been awarded the Nobel Prize, the comedian Tom Lehrer famously declared that "political satire is obsolete".

A formidable academic before he worked for the government, Kissinger reached greater heights of political influence than any previous immigrant to the US. His nasal German accent never left him, an eternal reminder to his adopted countrymen that he was a European by origin. 

To Kissinger himself, the fact that a man born outside the US, and a Jew to boot, could become its secretary of state was a never-ending source of pride, says 'The Guardian'. 

On the left, hostility burns over his record on Chile, where the CIA instigated the overthrow of Salvatore Allende; on Pakistan, where he and Nixon turned a blind eye to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands...ultimately leading to India's intervention and creation of Bangladesh.

On the right, he is seen as a brilliant statesman, a master diplomat, an exponent of power politics deployed to the benefit of America, the country to which his family fled on leaving Germany in 1938.

BBC says, Henry Kissinger was a "Divisive diplomat who shaped world affairs" 

A committed practitioner of "realism" in foreign relations, he was both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and roundly condemned as a war criminal. As US National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, he energetically pursued the policy of détente - which thawed relations with the Soviet Union and China.

His shuttle diplomacy helped end the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict; and the negotiation of the Paris Peace Accords pulled America out of its long nightmare in Vietnam.

But what his supporters described as "Realpolitik" his critics condemned as immoral.   

Ironically, a day after Bangladesh was liberated, Kissinger had told Nixon that he had managed to "save West Pakistan," according to documents declassified later.

Despite US attempts to "scare off" Indians, to the extent of chalking out a plan with China and deploying an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean, India routed Pakistan in the 1971 war and Bangladesh was born. To counter the US move, India had asked Soviet Russia to activate a provision of the Indo-Soviet Security Agreement, according to which an attack on India would be considered an attack on Russia. 

Accordingly, Russia had sent one of its fleets to the Bay of Bengal.

Responding to the US citing its pacts with Pakistan, Indira Gandhi had then said the treaties were intended to "contain Communism... not to fight democracy, or to suppress justice or the voice of the oppressed".

Tributes for Kissinger poured in from prominent US officials after the news of his death. George W Bush said the US “lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs”, while Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, said Kissinger was “endlessly generous with the wisdom gained over the course of an extraordinary life”. Some on social media celebrated his death, referencing the victims of his bombing campaigns. (The Guardian)  

Kissinger's power grew during the turmoil of Watergate, when the politically attuned diplomat assumed a role akin to co-president to the weakened Nixon. 

He turned up in President Donald Trump's White House on multiple occasions. But Nixon-era documents and tapes, as they trickled out over the years, brought revelations — many in Kissinger's own words — that sometimes cast him in a harsh light.

Never without his detractors, Kissinger after he left government was dogged by critics who argued that he should be called to account for his policies on Southeast Asia and support of repressive regimes in Latin America. - The AP reports

Kissinger's efforts led directly to Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972, when he met both Zhou and Mao Zedong - and ended 23 years of diplomatic isolation and hostility.

But Nixon and Kissinger set out to reduce the tension with the Soviet Union, reviving talks to scale down the size of their respective nuclear arsenals.

Simultaneously, a dialogue was opened with the Chinese government, through Premier Zhou Enlai. This improved Sino-US relations, and put diplomatic pressure on the Soviet leadership, who feared their huge neighbour.

Modi Diplomacy faces 'test' :::: Govt reacts to US accusing Indian in foiled plot to kill Khalistan separatist Pannun

‘Matter of concern’: India reacts to US accusing Indian in foiled plot to kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

US federal prosecutors have accused an Indian intelligence official of ‘recruiting’ a man to ‘orchestrate the assassination’ of Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.  

The alleged assassination plot allegedly involved an Indian 'official' and another Indian citizen (a businessman) and two individuals, a source and a hitman, who turned out to be 'undercover' US officers. 

The allegations are in an indictment filed by the US Department of Justice in a federal court in Manhattan. The Indian official, according to the indictment, was working with a 52-year-old Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta, also known as Nick, who was arrested by Czech authorities on June 30 this year.

Gupta has been charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison.

The indictment alleged that the official, who has not been named and is referred to as CC-1, is an Indian government agency employee who has described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence.” 

He has also been referred to as previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.”  

India said on Thursday that it was a “matter of concern” and it is “contrary to Indian government’s policy”.

“As regards the case against an individual has been filed in the US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concern…this is also contrary to government policy. The nexus between organized crime, trafficking, gunrunning and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for law enforcement, agencies and organisations to consider," Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said. 

He also said, "It is precisely for that reason that a high level inquiry committee has been constituted. We will obviously be guided by its results,” said Bagchi while responding to questions during a media briefing on Prime Minister’ Narendra Modi's visit to Dubai for the COP-28 summit.  

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged an Indian national for his involvement in a plot to murder a US-based Khalistani leader, an official press release on Wednesday (November 29) stated. “Today in the Southern District of New York, a superseding indictment was unsealed alleging murder-for-hire charges against Indian national Nikhil Gupta, aka Nick, 52, in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen in New York City,” the statement said.

According to the DoJ release, “Earlier this year, an Indian government employee, working together with others, including Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on US soil an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City.”

'someone responsible for unapologetic promotion of raw American power' .....Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State under Nixon, expires :::: He was 100

Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state under Richard Nixon who became one of the most prominent and controversial figures of US foreign policy in the 20th century, has died. He was 100.  

With his gruff yet commanding presence and behind-the-scenes manipulation of power, Kissinger exerted uncommon influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. No wonder he was honoured with Nobel Peace Prize and also vilification. 

No wonder yet again, he had famously said:  “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”.  and ... “Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.”  

'The Washington Post' wrote in 1985 -- "Henry Kissinger's contribution to the current flood tide of remembrance of the Vietnam War would be noteworthy simply because no other policymaker (presidents included) had more influence on the outcome over a longer span." 

The paper also stated: "Leave aside his analysis of how the war itself went wrong: a flawed strategy of attrition and gradual escalation unsuited to guerrilla warfare; a traditional American inability to understand why you can't bomb and talk at the same time; a collapse of public support beginning with "fringe" groups seeking "radical transformations of society"; a divisive Congress carrying dissent to excess; the ravages of Watergate; and, of course, the media."  

The New Yorker' magazine wrote the following in 2020 under the mystical title- 

'The Myth of Henry Kissinger' ::::

"For Cold War liberals, who saw the stirrings of fascism in everything from McCarthyism to the rise of mass culture, Weimar was a cautionary tale, conferring a certain authority on those who had survived. Kissinger cultivated the Weimar intellectuals, but he was not impressed by their prospects for influence. 

Although he later invoked the memory of Nazism to justify all manner of power plays, at this stage he was building a reputation as an all-American maverick. He appalled the émigrés by running an article in Confluence by Ernst von Salomon, a far-rightist who had hired a getaway driver for the men who assassinated the Weimar Republic’s foreign minister. 

“I have now joined you as a cardinal villain in the liberal demonology,” Kissinger told a friend afterward, joking that the piece was being taken as “a symptom of my totalitarian and even Nazi sympathies.”

Kissinger will be also remembered as someone responsible for an unapologetic promotion of 'raw American power' that helped shape the post-World War II world. 

The celebrity diplomat, as he would be always remembered, has advised a dozen presidents over his long career, including Joe Biden, and won a shared Nobel prize for negotiating the end to the Vietnam war.

But his legacy was also defined by his contempt for human rights and efforts to protect US corporate interests at all costs, with opponents across the world casting him as a war criminal. He supported Indonesia’s military dictator in the invasion of East Timor, backed the invasion of Angola by the apartheid regime in South Africa and worked with the CIA to overthrow the democratically-elected president of Chile. 

"He also authorized wiretaps of reporters and his own staff," - says The Guardian.

In 2019, PM Narendra Modi tweeted about his meetings with the visiting leaders including former US secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice and former US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. 

"Moments with Kissinger, former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Howard, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates. Excellent discussions with these global thought leaders," he wrote said adding,  "Great discussions with former British PM Tony Blair. He has made a long-lasting contribution to his nation and has insightful views on a wide range of global issues. 

Glad to have met Dr Henry Kissinger. He has made pioneering contributions to international politics and diplomacy".  

In July 2005, the US Department of State declassified taped conversations between former US President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shortly before the India-Pakistan war in 1971 war that would lead to the birth of Bangladesh.

In the tapes, the two are heard talking about former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi shortly after a meeting with her. During the heated conversation, Nixon refers to Mrs Gandhi as an "old witch". Kissinger calls her a "b***c" and says the "Indians are bastards anyway". The tapes also brought to light Nixon's derogatory remarks against Indian women and his description of Indians as "most sexless" and "pathetic".

Soon after the remarks became public, Kissinger said he regretted his remarks and that he respected Mrs Gandhi. "[The foul language has] to be seen in the context of a cold war atmosphere 35 years ago, when I had paid a secret visit to China when President Nixon had not yet been there and India had made a kind of an alliance with the Soviet Union," he then told NDTV in an interview.

Azad Bharat's 'first village' in Nagaland writes a unique chapter in brotherhood and integration

 Azad Bharat's 'first village' in Nagaland writes a unique chapter in brotherhood and integration

New Delhi 

The strategic and security scenarios are changing fast in the northeast region. Military officers these days believe true and long lasting peace is more attainable today than ever before in history. There are reasons more than one.  

The men and women in camouflage also tell themselves -- the human mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open. And the Assam Rifles, affectionately called 'friends of the hill people', have given unto themselves a job -- help all stakeholders open up, open their minds and ensure an effective dosage of unity of purpose.

The far-flung Ruzhazo village in the Phek district of Nagaland has a unique history of its own.It had become the 'first Indian village' to have been liberated from British control.

way back in 1944 by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj, also called the Indian National Army. It is said the village was subsequently administered by the Azad Hind government. 

In November 2023, the hamlet wrote another important milestone; thanks to the National Integration Tour (NIT)conducted by Assam Rifles. The oldest paramilitary force and the officers and personnel are enthusiastic playing the roles of the harbingers of peace. Here the combative guns are kept away and soldiers and officers operate with what are called their 'hearts'.

Under its latest NIT programme, a group of 24 villagers from Ruzazho - including a few on the wrong side of 50s and 60s - were taken for an 11-day tour of the national capital New Delhi and Amritsar in Punjab. In the words of GoC, Nagaland, Maj Gen Vikas Lakhera, "The strength of our great nation lies in our diversity and this tour symbolises our collective commitment to understand, respect and celebrate that diversity".

During the tour, the participants were able to interact with President Droupadi Murmu and also Vice Chief of Indian Army, Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar 

The visiting group comprised 15 men and nine women between the age group of 24 years to 60 years.

The participants displayed enthusiasm and interest of high order to get the first hand knowledge of the life and history of sacrifices in states such as Punjab.

Such tours are now being conducted from time to time focusing on multiple social groups. In October this year, a group of 16 'elderly women of mothers and widows' visited New Delhi and Agra. The women told this journalist on completion of the tour that their experiences were "eye opener" as many of them ventured out of the northeast and also had traveled on the train for the first time.

"The Naga mothers symbolise strengths and love..we took this out of box initiative to take elderly mothers for the exposure at the suggestion of some of my young women soldiers and officers. Earlier we have taken young school children for the exposures a number of times. We want the narrative to be changed and take out people from the legacy of the past", General Lakhera told me. 

Earlier also such trips were undertaken. In 2022, under the ’10-Days National Integration Tour’ to Gujarat for the students of Dimapur and Chumukedima districts in Nagaland, the youngsters were given a glimpse of lifestyles, good governance and development models in the western state.

"A total of 16 students, nine girls and seven boys, and two teachers from Tetso College and St Joseph University participated in the tour. The team visited IIM Ahmedabad, Statue of Unity, NIFT Gandhinagar, Reliance Refinery, Ahmedabad Science City, Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition Centre, Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and in Delhi the students also visited India Gate and National War Memorial," said Brig Sachinder Tiwari, who served in 2022 as the Commander 6 Sector of Assam Rifles. 

"Taking different social groups including students and mothers help reap rich dividends because the message of unity of purpose and to look at positive things of life are ingrained at different levels," says General Lakhera. 

During my recent trip to Nagaland, one Assam Rifles soldier shared his state of mind vis-a-vis the scenic natural beauty of the state.

"The best thing of nature in the hills is that a flower doesn't think of competing with the flower next.It just blooms and both shine bright".

Human bonds and brotherhood are no exception perhaps.

A flower's analogy applies best when it comes to the relationship between a security personnel and a civilian in a state like Nagaland. These conducted tours and their achievements are true testimonies to this theory.

ends 

( Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views expressed are personal)

Meitei Militant body UNLF inks pact with Govt of India and Govt of Manipur ::: " ....It is a landmark achievement," says Amit Shah

 The peace agreement signed today with the UNLF by the Government of India and the Government of Manipur marks the end of a six-decade-long armed movement. ....It is a landmark achievement in realising PM @narendramodi Ji's vision of all-inclusive development and providing a better future to the youths in Northeast India. - Amit Shah

After United National Liberation Front (UNLF) signed a peace agreement with the Government of India, Manipur CM N Biren Singh says, "Opposition can say anything, they are in the Opposition for the same. We work and we are working. What magic did PM Modi weave after 70 years, I want to appreciate."

(The agreement was signed in New Delhi by senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Government of Manipur and representatives of United National Liberation Front.)

In a historic development, the Government of India and Government of Manipur signed a Peace Agreement with United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the oldest valley-based armed group of Manipur in New Delhi on Nov 29, 2023.

The UNLF was formed in 1964 and has been operating both within and outside Indian Territory. 

"The agreement is poised to give a fillip to usher in a new era of peace in the North East in general and Manipur in particular", the central government said. 

While political settlements have been finalised with several ethnic armed groups of the North East as part of conflict resolution initiatives of Government of India, it is for the first time a valley-based Manipuri armed group has agreed to return to mainstream by abjuring violence and agreeing to honour the Constitution of India and laws of the land. 

"The agreement will not only bring an end to hostilities between UNLF and security forces which have claimed precious lives on both sides over the last more than half a century but also provide an opportunity to address the longstanding concerns of the community," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

It is hoped that the return of UNLF to the mainstream will also encourage other valley-based armed groups to participate in the peace process in due course. 

A Peace Monitoring Committee (PMC) will be constituted to oversee enforcement of the agreed ground rules. The development is likely to be a significant step in restoring peace and normalcy in the state of Manipur, the MHA has announced. 

Informal/back channel talks had started in 2022; long before the ethnic strife in the state that broke out on May 3.

The breakthrough is significant because until now, no valley-based Meitei insurgent group had ever come to an agreement with the Centre or even participated in peace talks. 

At a Constitution Day event in Imphal on Nov 26, Chief Minister N Biren Singh  had said peace talks were at an advanced stage.  

"A historic milestone achieved!!! .....

"UNLF, the oldest valley-based armed group of Manipur has agreed to renounce violence and join the mainstream. I welcome them to the democratic processes and wish them all the best in their journey on the path of peace and progress." - Shah 

UNLF was founded on 24th November, 1964, by Arambam Samendra.

Rajkumar Meghen alias Sana Yaima has been a key leader and chairman of United National Liberation Front. He became chairman of UNLF in 1998.

In 2010, he was arrested at Bangladesh and soon, handed over to India.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged him along with 18 other leaders for waging a war on India and raising funds by extorting the state government and private bodies.

In June 2016, the NIA Court pronounced a guilty verdict on 11 sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; Meghen was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He reportedly declined to appeal for leniency.

In November 2019, his sentence was commuted by about 10 months owing to his contributions to the jail like setting up a library , a music school for jail inmates and construction of a garden inside the Guwahati Central Jail.

He was released from jail — in what was widely perceived to be a governmental strategy during the Naga Peace talks.

However, he was disallowed by the National Investigation Agency to immediately return to Manipur and instead transported to a safe house in Guwahati followed by Delhi.

UNLF is part of a collective of rebel groups called the Coordination Committee, or CorCom, that took shape in 2012, along with the Revolutionary People’s Front and its military arm, the People’s Liberation Army; Kangleipak Communist Party; Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup; People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK); and a faction, PREPAK-Progressive. 

Sources in Delhi say, the CorCom has participated in several attacks against Indian army and paramilitary forces.

Besides fighting Indian agencies, CorCom has also fought Naga rebel group NSCN-IM. 

Indeed, in September 2017, it was stated that NSCN-IM killed five members of two groups allied to CorCom. 

It was also reported that Sana Yaima drew inspiration from the "charged political atmosphere" during the "Naxalbari uprising" and had dropped out of the higher studies at the Jadavpur University in Kolkata. Subsequently, he picked up guns...

As per the vision of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and under the guidance of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, the Government of India has signed agreements with several armed groups of the North East region since 2014 to end militancy and promote development

First time a valley-based Manipuri armed group has agreed to return to mainstream by abjuring violence and agreeing to honour the Constitution of India and laws of the land.

 

The agreement will not only bring an end to hostilities between UNLF and security forces which have claimed precious lives on both sides over the last more than half a century but also provide an opportunity to address the longstanding concerns of the community. 

Say it out aloud, is it possible ...for Mamata and her party to serve Bengal or Bharat: Amit Shah kickstarts BJP's campaign for 2024 ... keeps CORRUPTION as main plank

“Taking gifts, accepting presents, the MP that asks questions and that party… could they ever do any good for Bengal or Bharat?....Say it out aloud, is it possible for them?” Amit Shah in his Esplanade/Dharmatala rally in Kolkata. 

(This is the first time someone from the BJP's top two — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah — had referred to in public the allegations levelled against Mahua Moitra. The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha has recommended expulsion of the lawmaker representing Krishnanagar parliamentary segment.)

"The Left Front and Trinamool Congress destroyed Bengal over the years. Mamata Banerjee came to power by bringing a parivartan (change). But has corruption stopped in Bengal? Has infiltration stopped? Has political violence stopped? Has appeasement stopped? Did real parivartan come?," Amit Shah said in a party rally in Kolkata on Nov 29, 2023  

Shah also alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government is facilitating infiltrators with voter IDs and Aadhaar cards. “In the entire country, most of the political violence takes place in Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee government could not stop infiltration in Bengal. It is the same Mamata Banerjee who used to protest against infiltration in Parliament who is now facilitating infiltrators with voter ids and Aadhaar cards. The people of Bengal are fed up with infiltration and syndicate raj in the state,” he said.

“Today I dare Mamata Banerjee to suspend these leaders from her party. But she cannot do it as she is chanting Durga’s name every day to pray that her nephew’s name does not come up. Those who indulge in corruption cannot make Bengal corruption-free,” said Shah.

“I come from Gujarat and I have never seen in my entire life that bundles of cash are being recovered from the house of a leader. The TMC has damaged the reputation of Bengal in the entire country because of its corruption. Jyotipriya Mallick, Anubrata Mondal and Partha Chatterjee…. from cattle smuggling, coal smuggling cases to requirement scam…. they have looted crores of rupees meant for the people of Bengal,” Shah said. 

In 2019, fiercely contested Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won as many as 18 seats. In 2021 assembly polls, the saffron party emerged as a key challenger. While the communists and Congress scored zero, the Lotus party had arrived and even Mamata Banerjee had lost to BJP nominee Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram. 

In the 2021 battle of Bengal, the Lotus party could rope in support of backward castes - Rajbongshis and Namasudras - despite the Hindutva politics. A political philosophy – ‘Hindu-Hindi-Hindustan’ was made 'acceptable' for the people and thus ‘Jai Shri Ram’ could not be dismissed as a mere slogan of north India and Gujarat.

The BJP also succeeded to make Pishi-Bhaipo (Mamata-Abhishek Banerjee) duo a symbol of corrupt, tyranny and worse dynastic succession, many said during the polls. The saffron outfit's electoral success in West Bengal ought to be seen as a great impact brought in the Bengal socio-political realm by the trio Modi-Amit Shah-Nadda. 

Not long ago, Mamata Banerjee had screamed, "Who is Amit Shah?". 

The Home Minister also made it clear that corruption will be chief electoral tool of the BJP to take on Mamata. 

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested minister former minister Mallick in connection with alleged irregularities in ration distribution in the state in October. 

Last year, central agencies had arrested minister Partha Chatterjee and TMC MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam. Another heavyweight TMC leader Anubrata Mondal is currently in Tihar jail for his alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling case.

Notably for Bengal politics and so-called mass-based leader Mamata Banerjee; in the poll season of circa 2021, she had developed nervousness, claimed leg-fracture and was compelled to vaunt her ‘Shandilya gotra’ indicating her lineage to the 'highest clan' among the Brahmins.

The 'Bhadralok' are mainly concentrated in and around Kolkata and in southern parts of urban hubs. Subalterns are prominently represented by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and they stuck to BJP since 2018 Lok Sabha polls.

Mamata knew her Muslim-appeasing 'sister' image was not enough. She also had to play out other games - the local versus outsiders card urging the voters to not allow leaders from Gujarat dictate political terms in the state.

It's altogether a different chapter that today, she is busy or gives an impression of her busy engagement in a state like Goa. 

The impact, however, came in the form of a rebuke from her one-time admirer Arvind Kejriwal when the AAP leader taunted, 'aise nahi chalti democracy'. 

The BJP trio's biggest achievement was not the number of seats. But rather they achieved ‘something’ which was not possible in Bengal without ‘Bhadralok intelligentsia’. 

Never in state’s history, were the upper castes and Kolkata-based intellectuals and their Left-liberalism -- more often anti-Hindu - got so much marginalised.

Frustration still speaks. The Bengal media simply ignored the gruesome post-violence in 2021 meted out to poor people.

Mamata's and earlier the Leftists' appeasement made Muslims aggressive and the brunt of that was faced by rural Bengal Hindus - SCs, STs and OBCs.

"In Bengal, the upper caste trio belonging to Brahmin,Kayastha and Baidya who together constitute less than a fifth of the population in the state, yet, they have been dominating in every walk of life," says the prestigious news magazine

'Mainstream' once edited by illustrious Nikhil Chalravarty.

Thus, the Matuas, Koch-Rabongshis, smaller Adivasi groups even Christians, Gorkhas in hills and rural poor in Bankura, Purilia, Birbhum and Jhargram became strong BJP supporters.

There was another reason. Muslims in rural Bengal also walked away with all OBC quota benefits. It is also true that the ‘Partition’ created on communal lines had resulted in an "unprecedented suffering for the less privileged section of people".

On slamming leaders from Gujarat, 'Mainstream' said acidly - "Nevertheless, by toeing such a narrow regional line, no leader can build a Pan-India image. The TMC leaders must have realised that...".

Another take away from Bengal politics has been the exposure of sheer shambles in Bengal's administration and the running of its highly politically opportunists Babudom. 

Even the word 'babudom' making it akin to bureaucracy in India is also a gift from the state only as hundreds of 'Bengali clerks' working under British colonial masters posed themselves as doing something extra ordinary preferred to be addressed as 'Babus' and some as 'bara Babus'.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, West Bengal chief secretary, making news rather for wrong reasons and 'avoiding' a meeting even with Prime Minister of India on cyclone just to please his political boss in Kolkata's power centre shows

things are rotten at the roots.

The 'Mahua Moitra episode' is a major issue played up by the BJP leaders in West Bengal as well.

No less than Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, leads the charge and also asserting that it should also be ensured that Moitra is unable to contest any election for at least five years.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had in October submitted a complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of having accepted expensive gifts for posing questions in the House for industrialist Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani group and Prime Minister Modi. 

The complaint was based on allegations levelled by Moitra’s former partner, Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. The Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, which looked into the allegations, recommended Moitra’s expulsion from the House and an investigation against her.

Trinamul’s top leadership — Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee — had remained silent for weeks in the initial stages of the controversy, with party spokespersons saying it was up to the MP herself to contest the charges.

This had triggered speculation whether Moitra enjoyed the backing of the party brass and prompted CPI-M and Congress leaders to ask tauntingly whether Trinamul planned to sacrifice the MP as part of a deal with Modi and Adani.

However, on November 10 when Abhishek questioned the ethics panel’s rationale in recommending Moitra’s expulsion. Within four days, Moitra received a further shot in the arm when she was appointed Trinamul district president for Krishnagar as part of an organisational reshuffle.

Now lately, even Mamata Banerjee seemed backing her MP and broke silence on the controversy with a statement. 

At a party meeting, the chief minister said: “Their plan now is to also throw Mahua out. That will make her more popular….”

“What she used to say inside, she will say outside. She will hold media conferences daily and say the same things outside Parliament. Done. How does it matter?” 

ends