Tag: Markandey Katju

Communalism and politics

A procession of Hindus took out a procession for immersion of the Durga idol after Durga puja on 13th October. When this procession was passing through a locality having many Muslims, some of the processionists reportedly shouted provocative statements like ”  Jab katwe maare jaayenge, Ram Ram chillaayenge ” or ” Hindustan mein agar rehna hai, Jai Shri Ram kehna hai ” etc.

Long live Salman Akram Raja !

The Constitutional amendments aim at ending the independence of the Pakistan judiciary, which was perceived by the Pakistan Establishment as an obstacle to giving it a free hand in crushing opposition in Pakistan, though the judiciary was only doing its duty of protecting and upholding the fundamental rights of the people mentioned in Articles 8 to 28 of Pakistan’s Constitution. Pakistan’s judiciary, despite its several defects, was the last bastion and bulwark standing against the forces of fascism and dictatorship in Pakistan, all other institutions having collapsed. It had therefore to be removed, just as Hitler removed all obstacles to his autocratic and dictatorial fascist rule.

Pakistan’s Enabling Act

This reminds one of the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag on  23rd March 1933, which enabled Hitler, who had become Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933, to pass decrees inconsistent with the Weimar Constitution, and this was used by Hitler to impose a fascist dictatorship in Germany.

Nawaz Sharif’s empty rhetoric

Maybe my thinking is different from others, but I believe we are a potential market for each other. Why should Indian and Pakistani farmers and manufacturers go outside to sell their products? Goods now go from Amritsar to Lahore via Dubai – what are we doing, who is benefiting from this? What should take two hours now takes two weeks

Indo-Canadian dispute

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian authorities had credible information of the involvement of Indian government officials in the murder of Nijjar, but the Indian government dismissed the allegation as absurd and preposterous, and motivated by the desire of Trudeau to get the Sikh vote in the forthcoming Canadian Parliamentary elections.

Why I prefer Imran Khan to Nawaz Sharif

In reply, I would like to say that Imran Khan has not criticised India but its Prime Minister Modi, whose politics consists of inciting and spreading hatred against Indian Muslims, a policy which has resulted in lynching of Indian Muslims, beating them brutally for not saying Jai Shri Ram, bulldozing their houses, and arresting and jailing scores of innocent Muslims for long periods ( e.g. Umar Khalid ). What is wrong in such criticism ? All right minded persons in India and Pakistan should do the same.

What is happening in Pakistan ?

However, the situation has changed with the emergence of China as a super power in the world. Now China has penetrated deeply into the Pakistan economy, and the US government must be very worried that the Chinese may soon penetrate into the political echelons of power in Pakistan too, which though still under US grip till today, may not so remain if the Chinese presence in Pakistan keeps expanding. 

Moeed Pirzada obfuscates

After the events of 9h May, 2023 ( which many say were stage managed ) the Pakistan army unleashed a fascist reign of terror in Pakistan, suppressing all civil liberties and human rights in Pakistan, like Gen Pinochet in Chile, or Gen Franco in Spain. About 14,000 innocent persons were arrested on trumped up charges, many beaten and tortured, and then incarcerated in jail, where they are still languishing in inhuman conditions for over an year. The judiciary, whose solemn duty is to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights and liberties of the people ( as contained in Articles 8 to 28 of the Pakistan Constitution ), has turned a Nelson’s eye to these atrocities, and become servile to the executive and its toady. The media has been largely silenced.

Communalism in India

When a Muslim is lynched in India, most Hindus are indifferent, and some even happy ( one terrorist less ! ). The same happens when a Muslim is beaten up for not saying ” Jai Shri Ram ” or his house is bulldozed. How many Hindus have raised their voice against Umar Khalid”s incarceration in jail on a trumped up charge for 4 years, and of scores of other Muslims, whose only fault was that they had Muslim names ?.

Current Punjab agitation

This reminds one of the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carroll’s famous book  ‘Alice in Wonderland’ who would shout ” Off with his head ” when anyone was brought before her. When people asked what about holding a trial before cutting off a man’s head, she would say ” Trial later, first off with his head “

Revocation of President’s rule in J&K

He then said “ Ever since President’s rule was imposed there was no corruption in J&K. Our children could go to school and come home safely. The tourism industry revived. There were no incidents of stone pelting etc. We were mostly happy. Now all this may change.

The truth about Ratan Tata

But seeing on the media an avalanche of accolades, encomiums, eulogies, panegyrics and plaudits pouring in that day and the next, as if an Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill or Lenin had died, I could not stand this nonsense, claptrap, bunkum, gobbledygook, and blah blah any longer, and was constrained to write and get published an article titled ‘Ratan Tata was only a bania’ on 10th October, which I posted on facebook and twitter

In the name of God, go !

Ever since he became the CJP on 17th September 2023, Qazi Faez Isa, instead of behaving in an impartial and independent manner, as an upright judge is expected to do, shamelessly surrendered before, and did the bidding of, the Pakistan Establishment, in a servile manner, as detailed in the links below

Is India a nation ?

In my article ‘Sanskrit as a language of science’ I have said that there is a misconception that Sanskrit was only a language for chanting mantras in temples and ceremonies. In fact Sanskrit was the language of free thinkers, who questioned everything, and expressed the widest spectrum of thoughts on various subjects e.g. philosophy, science, art, law, grammar, etc. In particular, Sanskrit was the language of our scientists in ancient India.

The curse on Pakistanis for their nonstop lying

Why can Pakistanis not speak the truth that Partition was a British fraud, and that Pakistan is a fake, artificial country which will one day surely reunite with India ? That is because in Pakistan speaking against Partition carries a 10 year jail sentence, vide section 123A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which states

The purpose of making the Indian Constitution

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

Sana Nemat

I first contacted my friend Irfan Ali, who hails from Meerut, India, and lives in Princeton New Jersey, USA. Irfan has lived in America for about 20 years. He is an IT expert, and is head of a big company. But he is also very fond of music ( he is himself a good singer ), and holds online music programmes regularly, in which he invites famous singers of Mumbai etc to perform.

Compelling non veg people to become vegetarian

It was a sitting dinner, with judges sitting in a circle. Before it was held, many vegetarian judges said they would not sit next to a judge eating non veg food, and they threatened to boycott the dinner if they were made to sit next to such a judge.

Urdu poetry, the greatest poetry in the world

I have read the poetry of many foreign countries in the world, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Latin American, etc, as well as the poetry in many Indian languages e.g. Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Kashmiri, etc. I can venture to say that no poetry in the world expresses the voice of the human heart so powerfully, and with such sophistication ( andaaz-e-bayaan ) as Urdu poetry does. In that sense I regard Urdu poetry as the greatest poetry in the world. What a tragedy that there were, and still are, some bigoted, inane people in India who sought to suppress this great language Urdu in the land of its own birth.

Why I am an optimist about the situation in Pakistan

In Pakistan the real rulers are the army. After the events of 9th May, 2023 ( which many people say were stage managed ), a fascist reign of terror was unleashed by the Pakistan army, and about 14,000 people arrested on trumped up and concocted charges, many beaten and tortured, and then incarcerated in jail where they are still living in inhuman conditions. Some have even ‘disappeared’. The judiciary, headed by that shameless, sold out, toady of the Pakistan Establishment, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, has become totally servile, and does nothing to protect the liberties of the people, which was its solemn Constitutional duty, and the media has been largely silenced.

Great injustice to Urdu in India

Later, agents of our British rulers, who were pursuing the divide and rule policy, e.g. Bhartendu Harishchandra, falsely propagated that Urdu was the language of Muslims, while Hindi was the language of Hindus. They also propagated that Urdu was a foreign language, which was false

Long live the lawyers of Pakistan ! By Justice Katju

Being basically a lawyer myself ( I became a Judge much later, and have at heart always remained a lawyer ), I was heartened to see on youtube my Pakistani professional colleagues rise to the occasion, and challenge that sold out, shameless, unabashed and unprincipled toady of the Pakistan Establishment, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, whom I have compared to the ‘hanging judge’ Judge Jeffreys of England, who was a henchman of the tyrant King James II, and the Nazi Judge Roland Freisler who got opponents of Hitler hanged on a piano wire.

Standing at the crossroads By Justice Katju

The Indian people chose the latter, thinking that thereby they will avoid the huge amount of bloodshed which the path of armed struggle necessarily entails. But as a consequence, they condemned several succeeding generations of their descendants to continuing massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second child in India is malnourished, and the situation is getting worse, according to Global Hunger Index ), lack of proper healthcare, good education, and proper housing for the masses, etc.