July 24: Day 1 of my fast, day 516 of our chain.

आधुनिक या वर्तमान राजनीति क्या है?

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.

– Ernest Benn

समस्याओं को ढूँढ‑ढूँढ कर लाना, ये पता लगाना कि वे सच में हैं या नहीं, उसका गलत ढंग से निरीक्षण करना और फिर गलत उपचार करना ही राजनीति है.

#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 25: Day 2 of my fast, day 517 of our chain.

जब बड़ी लड़ाई सामने हो, तब छोटी मोटी लड़ाइयों की हार-जीत कोई मायने नहीं रखतीं। जब लक्ष्य और उद्देश्य बड़े हों, तब छोटे मोटे उद्देश्य और लक्ष्यों के लिए ऊर्जा नष्ट करना मूर्खता है।और कूटनीति कहती है कि अपने उद्देश्यों और लक्ष्यों की चर्चाएं केवल विश्वस्तों व समर्पित सहयोगियों से ही करनी चाहिए। और तभी करनी चाहिए जब आगे बढ़ने के लिए पूरी तरह तैयार हो।

~विशुद्ध चैतन्य

#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 26: Day 3 of my fast, day 518 of our chain.

चीन ने अपने यहां प्रॉफिट स्कूलिंग पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया है। इसका मतलब यह हुआ कि वहां अब कोचिंग और ट्यूशन उद्योग नहीं चल सकेगा।ऐसा इसलिए किया गया क्योंकि वहां का मध्यम वर्ग इन महंगे कोचिंग के बोझ से दबा जा रहा था और छात्र भयावह मानसिक और सामाजिक दबाव में जी रहे थे।

इसकी तुलना में भारत के प्राइवेट स्कूल मुनाफे के सबसे बड़े उद्योग के रूप में विकसित हुए हैं, अब यही पैटर्न अमिटी, लवली जैसे विश्वविद्यालय ने भी अपनाया है। रिलायंस का जियो विश्वविद्यालय तो बिना खुले ही सरकार से अनुदान पाने में कामयाब है।

कोटा, पुणे, बेंगलुरु, दिल्ली, पटना, इलाहाबाद, लखनऊ, अपने कोचिंग सेंटर्स के बदौलत ही शिक्षा केंद्र के रूप में उभर चुके हैं। आकाश, एलन, बंसल, सरदाना, जेआरएस, रिजोनेंस जैसी कोचिंग का सालान मुनाफा अरबों रुपए में है। बैजूज, वेदांतू, अगोरा, अनएकेडमी, उत्कर्ष जैसे प्लेटफार्म भी लाखों रूपए वसूल रहे हैं।

चीन की प्रगति का बड़ा रहस्य सामाजिक विषमता को कम करना और सभी नागरिकों को बुनियादी सुविधाएं सहज रूप से उपलब्ध कराने में छुपी है। भारत का सत्ता प्रतिष्ठान सरकारी सेवा को ध्वस्त करने और सार्वजनिक संपत्तियों को बेचने को अपनी सफलता के रूप में प्रचारित कर रहा है। भारत की इस भयानक गलती का खामियाजा वर्तमान पीढ़ी भुगत रही है तथा पिछले 70 सालों में अर्जित सफलता के लाभांश को हम अगले कुछ दशकों में गरीबी और अमीरों के महाखड्ड में खो देंगे।

काश हम कुछ सीख पाते…

kumar santan

#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 27: Day 4 of my fast, day 519 of our chain.

Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if we would simply take the time to ask, “what is our standing and value?”

Watch this Video till end.

#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 28: Day 5 of my fast, day 520 of our chain.

आप कितने ही अच्छे इंसान क्यों न हों, किसी न किसी की कहानी में बुरे अवश्य होते हैं। और चाहे कितने ही बुरे इंसान क्यों न हों, किसी न किसी की कहानी में भले अवश्य होंगे। और जो किसी की कहानी में बुरा नहीं, उसने कुछ किया ही नहीं।

इतिहास उठाकर देख लीजिये, इतिहास छोड़िए वर्तमान देख लीजिये। मोदी के कारण भले पूरा देश बर्बाद हो गया हो, भले देश की जनता बंधक बना ली गयी हो, लेकिन कितने लोग ऐसे होंगे, जिनके लिए वे विष्णु के अवतार हैं, खुदा के पैगंबर हैं, मसीहा हैं, पालनहार हैं, भाग्यविधाता हैं। कितने लोग आज भी ऐसा मानते हैं कि यदि मोदी का जन्म नहीं हुआ होता, तो पृथ्वी पलट जाती, सूर्य में अंधेरा छा जाता, आसमान धरती पर आ गिरता।

तो बुरे कहलाने से घबराइए मत, अर्थात हमेशा भला कहलाने के चक्कर में मत रहिए। मोदी की तरह बुरे भी बने रहेंगे, तब भी सुखी रहेंगे। नौलखा सूट मिलेंगे पहनने, दुनिया जय जय करेगी और दुनिया भर के झूठ भी बोलोगे, तब भी बड़े बड़े आईएएस, आईपीएस तालियाँ बजाएंगे, सत्यवादी हरिश्चंद्र की उपाधि देंगे।

और फिर हम ऐसी दुनिया में रहते हैं, जहाँ अधर्मियों का वर्चस्व है, अधर्मियों का ही साम्राज्य है और अधर्मियों को ही वोट देने की परंपरा है। और यहाँ वही पूजनीय माना जाता है, जो अधर्मी हो और माफियाओं, विदेशियों के साथ मिलकर अपने ही देश व जनता को लूटता, खसोटता और बलात्कार करता हो। ऐसी दुनिया में यदि धार्मिक या भला बनने का प्रयास किया, तो ना समाज बर्दाश्त करेगा, और ना ही सरकार।

विशुद्ध चैतन्य

#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 14: Day 1 of my fast, day 506 of our chain.

The custodial death of Father Stan Swamy was, among many things, an assault on all those who dream of freeing the majority of Indians from the greatest source of injustice: poverty. As Nelson Mandela said, poverty is manmade, not natural. It exists to perpetuate an unnatural distribution of privilege. Being born into the caste system, most Indians need a figure like Father Stan Swamy to open their eyes to such the injustice it does, holding us all back collectively.

Why did Modi’s BJP see such an enlightened, saintly person as their enemy? Why are others working selflessly towards the upliftment of our poorest still behind bars under unsubstantiated charges of terrorism?

#ResignModi #VoteOutBJP #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 15: Day 2 of my fast, day 507 of our chain.

I read this article today on how the poorest of India were left to fend for themselves during the pandemic, pushing them to the brink of starvation (https://ruralindiaonline.org/…/eating-less-earning…). It is always a revelation of sorts to see how crippling poverty really is. Having to chase after food and shelter all the time appears so fundamentally depriving, that the poor person is robbed of the freedom to choose the course of their life, and forced to resign themselves to the path of least resistance.

India’s endemic poverty affects us all, even if we may not be poor ourselves. Because misery is infectious. It sets us all back. If we were really committed to Vikaas, poverty should be treated as one of the most pressing problems we need to solve.

I know none of my scientific problems have ever been as complex and multidimensional as poverty. And most politicians should know it too – that even beginning to alleviate endemic poverty is much more difficult than winning elections. Which is why most don’t even try?

Father Stan Swamy and others like him embraced this problem so many of us shrink away from, too fazed by its enormity to even spend any time thinking about it. A committed government would treat such people as heroes, and beg for their advice. Ours sadistically tortures them and kills them without repentance.

#ResignModi #VoteOutBJP #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 16: Day 3 of my fast, day 508 of our chain.

The cost of poverty is tremendous and affects everyone, even if they are not poor themselves. The problem is complex, and because it is difficult to find simple solutions in a country like ours, we adopt varying attitudes of contempt towards the poor – which is neither fair, nor does it alleviate the problem in any way. All it does is rob each and every one of us of our inborn compassion and humanity.

How does the BJP work to alleviate poverty? It doesn’t. The Gareeb Kalyan Yojana can’t do much when the economy is in a nosedive, and the rich are parking their money in foreign banks, if not leaving the country in droves. Our government devotes itself to depraved crony capitalists like Ambani and Adani, while keeping everyone else distracted by intense religious polarization and shallow majoritarian appeasement.

No wonder then, that our boldest and most brilliant anti-poverty crusaders languish in jail indefinitely, while our masses are kept preoccupied with concocted issues like love jihad, cow protection, and Hindu Rashtra.

#ResignModi #VoteOutBJP #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 17: Day 4 of my fast, day 509 of our chain.

Ever so often, the greatest obstacle holding India back from a decent, progressive, meaningful future seems to be the bhakts, who seem to be guided by dogma alone – a belief system that they have subscribed to and that they will adhere to without question, regardless of the consequences.

George Orwell wrote:“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”

This is clearly not an option for a prisoner of dogma, leaving the bhakt hungry for power even as they fight the true source of their own empowerment by all means at their disposal. No wonder then, that power, in the eyes of the bhakt, can only be grabbed by force and maintained through tyranny.

#ResignModi #VoteOutBJP #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah

July 18: Day 5 of my fast, day 510 of our chain.

The last few days in India have seen a number of tidal events, starting with the cruel and meaningless custodial death of Father Stan Swamy, the death of India’s Pulitzer prize-winning Danish Siddique while on duty in Afghanistan without a word of condolence from either Modi or the MEA, and recently breaking news in international media of the unsparing use by the Modi government of malicious Pegasus software to frame journalists, opposition leaders, activists, lawyers and judges.

I hope these events, as tragic as they are, will help turn the tide of tyranny in India. But my hope is tempered by the knowledge that we have seen considerably worse in the past 7 years without a lasting dent in public support for Modi. Our relentless facts, feelings and forewarnings keep on getting shattered like ocean waves splashing against the granite wall of the bhakt’s dogma.

I find it informative to look for signs and symptoms of this dogma, what feeds it, what inures the bhakt to sensible, constructive arguments and the teamwork needed for meaningful nation-building. Some signs I have personally experienced (with the acknowledgment that my experiences are likely to be much more sanitized than most thanks to my relatively privileged upbringing) and find striking are:

1. The continued preference for a male child,

2. Becoming a doctor, engineer, or chartered accountant as a defining mark of success,

3. Socialization that is predicated on loyalty to one’s caste-lineage, to the detriment of all morality, logic and individual inclination.

None of the above parameters encourages a status-quo-burdened child growing up in India to see the world in its natural form, to recognize their own innate power to affect change, to think about problems that they could dedicate themselves to to make the world a better place. The “well-adjusted” bhakt, having spent their whole lives conforming to external expectations, spends so much of their energy “fitting in,” that every other stimulus can be afforded only a lowest-common-denominator response.

This cannot be refuted, and reflects itself in our uniformly asocial public conduct, general lack of bureaucratic professionalism, and substandard public hygiene. All our many bhakt doctors, engineers, and chartered accountants don’t know how to think on their own two feet unless controlled by a strict superior. Rudderless in a fast changing world, the bhakt needs their strongman Modi to keep their familiar world intact, the loss of which means an existential threat to them. Hence the sudden longing for a “Hindu Rashtra.”

I wish I had a less despondent note on which to end my fast, but how much degradation will it take for the bhakt to finally wake up and feel some shame? Will they ever? I don’t know. But we have to fight back, we have to resist. Tiny, sparsely populated Afghanistan, in the grip of the Taliban, has brought untold misery and destruction, not only to itself, but has destabilized the whole world. A similar trajectory for India would pose a threat to all of human civilization as we know it.

Defeat the dogma! Choose to choose!

#ResignModi #VoteOutBJP #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah