APR-22 BOUDHIK YOJANA

 3rd April Samachar Sameeksha: What is it between Russia and Ukraine ?

Since Russia launched a full-scale military invasion into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, fighting has caused over nine hundred civilian deaths and pushed millions of Ukrainians to flee to neighboring countries—the majority of whom have arrived in Poland, a NATO country where U.S. troops are preparing to offer assistance to refugees.

Beginning

Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first full fledged war in recent times. It began in February 2014 following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, and initially focused on the status of Crimea and parts of the Donbas, internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. The first eight years of the conflict included the Russian annexation of Crimea (2014) and the war in Donbas (2014–present) between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists, as well as naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and political tensions.

Following the Euromaidan protests and a revolution resulting in the removal of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, pro-Russian unrest erupted in parts of Ukraine. Russian soldiers without insignia took control of strategic positions and infrastructure in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and seized the Crimean Parliament. Russia organized a widely-criticized referendum, whose outcome was for Crimea to join Russia.

Recent deployments

In October 2021, Russia began moving troops and military equipment near its border with Ukraine, reigniting concerns over a potential invasion. Commercial satellite imagery, social media posts, and publicly released intelligence from November and December 2021 showed armor, missiles, and other heavy weaponry moving toward Ukraine with no official explanation. By December, more than one hundred thousand Russian troops were in place near the Russia-Ukraine border and U.S. intelligence officials warned that Russia may be planning an invasion for early 2022.

In mid-December 2021, Russia’s foreign ministry issued a set of demands calling for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to cease any military activity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to commit against further NATO expansion toward Russia, and to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in the future.  The United States and other NATO allies rejected these demands and warned Russia they would impose severe economic sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.

In early February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered around three thousand U.S. troops to deploy to Poland and Romania—NATO countries that border Ukraine—to counter Russian troops stationed near its border with Ukraine and reassure NATO allies.

NATO expansion contention

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states, 28 of which are in Europe and the other 2 being part of North America. Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020. NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine as aspiring members.

Russia continues to politically oppose further expansion, seeing it as inconsistent with informal understandings between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and European and US negotiators that allowed for a peaceful German reunification. NATO's expansion efforts are often seen by Moscow leaders as a continuation of a Cold War attempt to surround and isolate Russia, though they have also been criticized in the West. A June 2016 Levada poll found that 68 per cent of Russians think that deploying NATO troops in the Baltic states and Poland – former Eastern bloc countries bordering Russia – is a threat to Russia.

Gas pipelines and Geography

Ukraine remains the main transit route for Russian natural gas sold to Europe, which earns Ukraine about $3 billion a year in transit fees, making it the country's most lucrative export service. Following Russia's launch of the Nord Stream pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine, gas transit volumes have been steadily decreasing. During the Ukrainian crisis, starting in February 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea, severe tensions extended to the gas sector.

Russia planned to completely abandon gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine after 2018. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom has already substantially reduced the volumes of gas it transits across Ukraine, and expressed its intention of reducing the level further by means of transit diversification pipelines (Turkish Stream, Nord Stream, etc.).

Russia also needs access to warm water ports throughout the year which is not possible for ports near to Arctic circle. Ukraine/Crimea has access to Black Sea which connects to Mediterranean through Turkey and can solve the connectivity issue for Russia.

Reference: 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War

2) https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine

3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO

 

13^th March Boudhik: Ugadi Utsav

 

Ugadi is the beginning of a new year so it will be interesting to see how our we view time and it’s eventual psychological impact on us. With this in  view, following is the excerpt of Shri Dharamapalji’s essay “Bhartiya Chitta Manas aur Kaal”

Establishment of Dharma

To solve the problems of life on this earth, and to restore the balance, the divine incarnates, again
and again, at different times in different forms. This is the promise that Sri Krishna explicitly makes in the Srimad Bhagavadgita.

But though Mahatma Gandhi awakened the Indian mind from its state of stupor, he was not able to put this awakening on a permanent footing. He was not able to establish a new equilibrium and a secure basis for the re-awakened Indian civilisation. The search for such a secure basis for the resurgence of Indian civilisation in the modern times would have probably required fresh initiatives and a fresh struggle to be waged following the elimination of political enslavement.

It seems that the spirit that Gandhiji had awakened in the people of India was exhausted with the
achievement of Independence. Or perhaps those who came to power in independent India had no use for the spirit and determination of an awakened people, and they found such awakening to be a great nuisance. As a result the people began to revert to their earlier state of stupor.

The self-awakening of India is bound to remain similarly elusive and transient till we find a secure
basis for a confident expression of Indian civilization within the modern world and the modern epoch. We must establish a conceptual framework that makes Indian ways and aspirations seem viable in the present, so that we do not feel compelled or tempted to indulge in demeaning imitations of the modern world, and the people of India do not have to suffer the humiliation of seeing their ways and their seekings being despised in their own country.

Because, before beginning even to talk about the future of India we must know what the people of this country want to make of her. How do they understand the present times? What is the future that they aspire for? What are their priorities? What are their seekings and desires? And, in any case, who are these people on whose behalf and on the strength of whose efforts and resources we wish to plan for a new India? How do they perceive them selves? And, what is their perception of the modern
world? What is their perception of the universe? Do they believe in God?

Indian view

But we are also probably aware that the Indian mind is not such a clean slate. In reality it is imbued with
ideas on practically all subjects. Those ideas are not new. They belong to long-standing traditions, some of which may be as old as the Rig Veda. Some other aspects of these traditions may have emerged with
Gautama Buddha, or with Mahavira, or with some other leader of Indian thought of another Indian epoch. But from whatever source and at whatever epoch the various ideas that dominate the minds of the Indian people may have arisen, those ideas are indeed etched very deep.

The people of India, in any case, have little connection with the twentieth or the twenty-first century. If Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is to be believed, they are perhaps still living in the seventeenth or the eighteenth century.

The people of India, in fact, may not be living even in the eighteenth century of the West. They may still be reckoning time in terms of their Pauranic conceptions. They may be living in one of the Pauranic Yugas, and looking at the present from the perspective of that yuga. It is possible, for we know next to nothing about the Chitta and Kala of the Indian people, that they are living in what they call the Kali Yuga, and are waiting for the arrival of an Avatara Purusha to free them from the bondage of Kali.

In any case the twentieth century which is not the century of India. It is the century of the West.

Way to understand Indian Mind

It may be relatively easier to comprehend the Indian mind through the ancient literature of Indian civili-
sation. In fact, the process of understanding the Indian Chitta and Ka-la cannot possibly begin without some understanding of the vast corpus of literature

We have to come to some understanding of what this literature - beginning with the Rig Veda, and
running through the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Bauddha and the Jaina canons - says about the Indian ways and preferences. Indian texts dealing with the problems of mundane living, like those of the Ayurveda, the Silpasastra, and the Jyotishasastra, etc., also have to be similarly understood.

We should probably begin by forming a quick overview of the totality of this literature. Such an
overview should provide us with a preliminary picture of the Indian mind, and its various manifestations in the political, social, economic, and technological domains. This initial picture of Indian-ness shall get
more and more refined, as we continue our explorations into the corpus of Indian literature, and supple-
ment it with observations on the present and investigations into the historical past. In the process of this
refinement we may find that the preliminary picture that we had formed was inadequate and perhaps even erroneous in many respects. But by then that preliminary picture would have served its purpose of setting us on our course in the search for a comprehension of the Indian Chitta and Kala

Need of the Hour

What cannot wait is the task of finding our direction and our way, of forming a quick vision of the Indian Chitta and Kala. This task has to be performed quickly, with whatever competence we have on hand, and with whatever languages we presently know.

We seem to have little comprehension of the Indian Chitta and Kala. And therefore we are
often bewildered by the variety of questions that arise in ordinary social living. What is the relationship
between the individual, the society and the state? Which of them has primacy in which fields? What are
the bases of healthy interaction between individuals? What is civilised behaviour in various situations? What are good manners? What is beautiful and what is ugly? What is education and what is learning?

In societies that retain their connection with their traditions, and which function according to the norms
of their own Chitta and Kala, all such questions are answered in the normal course. Of course the answers change from time to time, and context to context, but that too happens naturally, without conscious effort.

Reference: “Bhartiya Chitta, Manas Aur Kaal” by Acharya Dharampal

http://library.bjp.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/967/1/Bharatiya%20Chitta%20Manas%20and%20Kala.pdf

 

17^th April Charcha: Is Foreign Policy coming of age ?

Foreign policy is least discussed and mostly misunderstood part of government. However it has huge impact through ‘invisible hand’ on life of common man through trade, investment, employment, fuel prices, inflation, tourism and several others.

Nehruvian impact

Foreign policy of Bharat after independence in 1947 has been mainly guided by Nehruvian idealism of democracy and freedom. It always assumed a moral high ground and commented on international relations and also dealt with neighbors or other nations through prism of idealism. It led to major bungling for example in handling China or antagonizing Western powers who were earlier imperialistic.

The effects were also faced in immediate neighborhood with Myanmar going into Chinese lap due to our pro-democracy stance. Sri Lanka is in news due to Chinese debt but it went out of Bharat’s influence due to brutal war against LTTE. Nepal being another curious case of being tied to use not only by land but by culture also turning to Maoist and eventually China.

In event of Cold War it evolved into NAM (Non-Aligned movement) which did not align with Western or Soviet Bloc. However the communist leanings were also evident due to Pt Nehru’s ideological leanings. Eg: India was critical of UK and France in Suez crisis but turned a blind eye towards USSR invasion of Hungary. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri could have given a real-politic touch to foreign policy but his duration was short lived.

Smt Indira Gandhi closely allied with USSR antagonizing USA further with President Nixon and Kissinger calling her a ‘bitch’ in private conversations. In 1971, US and UK were clearly on Pakistani side which was exactly opposite of 1962 when USA had arranged shipment of arms and ammunition for Indian Army against Chinese.

End of Cold War

Breakup of USSR and eventual end of Cold war led the world towards a sole superpower i.e USA. Shri Narsimha Rao during his tenure tried to develop closer relations with US and EU to drive trade and investments. He also initiated “Look East” policy to develop closer relations with ASEAN countries who had cultural and trade exchanges with Bharat for thousand of years. It was a shift from “Look West” policy which had been the hallmark of Nehruvian policy. However we still could not break the shackles as was reflected in GATT negotiations, Nuclear or Agni missile testing.

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee broke the shackles through Pokhran-II and Bharat standing tall and confident even in face of economic sanctions from major countries. To raise funds, country initiated Resurgent India bonds in dollars which were oversubscribed by NRIs. West eventually turned around and lifted sanctions without any pre-conditions. Closer association with West was evident in visit of US President Clinton in 2000 after a gap of almost 4 decades.

Tenure of Shri Manmohan Singh saw a peak of Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 but it also had several discredits. Belligerent Pakistan did not leave any stone unturned to raise Kashmir issue and our failures like Sharm-El-Sheikh. Multiple bombings, frequent terror attacks like 26/11 targeting foreigners as well but even with international support we could not act decisively and break the terror network in Paksitan. Chinese economy zoomed during this period and our trade imbalance also increased with more aggressiveness on borders and salami slicing.

2014 and after

2014 saw a full majority government taking charge under leadership of Shri Narendra Modi. He invited leaders of all SAARC countries (even Pakistan) to his oath ceremony. He started visits to immediate neighborhood like Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. His visits to foreign countries were closely covered and even mocked severely. The results are for everyone to see after hard work of PM and Foreign ministers like Smt Sushma Swaraj and Sri S Jaishankar.

The highlights are as follows:

Ø  Even with abrogation of Article 370 no Western or even Arab countries censured Bharat except China and Turkey which are hands in glove with Pakistan

Ø  Uri surgical strike and Balakot bombings did not create any international furore which was seen during Kargli war

Ø  Pakistan has been kept in check and all diplomatic talks suspended after Pathankot terror attack

Ø  Chinese were in for a surprise by our strong response in Doklam and now in Ladakh

Ø  Gulf countries are more prune to investments in Bharat and supporting our stance in OIC (Organization of Islamic countries)

Ø  QUAD is active now to counter Chinese hegemony in Asia

Ø  Bharat was accorded a special status in Glasgow Climate Action Summit and was appreciated for it’s aggressive goals

Ø  International Yoga Day is celebrated now in almost 190+ countries

Ø  Assertive diplomacy was in display when USA stopped supplies for vaccine manufacture in Bharat and WHO approval for COVAXIN (developed in Bharat)

Ø  Vaccine supplies by Bharat have created a positive image across countries

Ø  ISA (International Solar Alliance) led by Bharat and France is becoming a major agent to counter climate change

Ø  Pakistan is in grey list of FATF and even after several rounds of review it is not able to clear itself which is impacting it’s economy severely

Ø  Turkey is also into grey list with severe devaluation of ‘Lira’

It is results like this and several others that power blocs like NATO, EU or even Russia are aligning with Bharat for long term interests. It is surely evident in the way everyone is trying to influence our views on Russia-Ukraine conflict but Bharat has maintained it’s independent stance based on our national interests.

It is the harbinger of a new Foreign policy for sure.

 

24^th April Katha: Sant Tukaram

Who was Tukaram?

Tukaram, also known as Sant Tukaram, was as an Indian poet and saint in the 17th century. He was one of the saints of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra who composed the devotional poetry, Abhanga. His kirtans aka spiritual songs were devoted to Vithoba or Vitthala, an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu. He was born as the second of three brothers in the village of Dehu in Maharashtra. His family owned a money-lending and retailing business and was also engaged in trade and agriculture. As a young man, he lost both his parents. The tragedies in his personal life continued as his first wife and son also died. Although Tukaram married for the second time, he didn’t find solace in worldly pleasures for long and eventually renounced everything. He spent his later years in devotional worship, and composing kirtans and poetry. He also studied the works of other saints, including Namdev, Ekanath, Jnanadev, etc.

 

Early Life & Marriages

Tukaram was born in 1598 or 1608, in a village named Dehu in Maharashtra, India, to Kanakar nd Bolhoba More, as one of their three sons. In 1625, he lost his parents. During this time, his elder brother left for Varanasi, seeking spiritual salvation. His sister-in-law also died during this period. His first wife was Rakhama Bai, who, alongside their son Santu, died in the famine of 1630–1632. Tukaram then married Jijabai who helped him set up a small shop in his village.

Life After Family Deaths

After the deaths of his parents, Tukaram’s financial condition worsened so badly that his lands yielded no revenue. His debtors also refused to pay. He became disillusioned with life, left his village, and disappeared into the nearby Bhamnath forest. There, he stayed for 15 days without water and food. It was during this time that he understood the meaning of self-realization. Although Tukaram returned his house after his second wife found him and pressed him to come along with her, he now had developed ‘vairagya’. After the incident, he reconstructed a temple that was in ruins and began to spend his days and nights performing bhajans and kirtans. He studied the devotional works of popular saints like Jnanadev, Ekanath, Namdev, etc. and eventually began to compose poems.

 

Guru Upadesh aka Spiritual Guidance by the Guru

As a result of his whole-hearted devotion, Tukaram was rewarded with Guru Upadesh. According to him, he had a vision in which The Guru visited him and blessed him. His guru took the names of two of his predecessors, Keshava and Raghava Chaitanya, and advised him to remember Ramakrishna Hari always. Tukaram once also had a dream in which the famous saint Namdev appeared and advised him to compose devotional songs. He told him to complete the remainder of the five crores and sixty lakhs poems out of the one hundred crores which he had intended to create.

 

Literary Works

Sant Tukaram composed a Marathi genre of literature called Abhanga poetry which fused folk stories with spiritual themes. Between 1632 and 1650, he composed ‘Tukaram Gatha,’ a Marathi language compilation of his works. Also popular as ‘Abhanga Gatha,’ it is said to include about 4,500 abhangas. In his gatha, he had compared the Pravritti aka the passion for life, business, and family with Nivritti aka the desire to leave the worldly honors and practice self-realization to attain individual liberation or moksha.

 

Widespread Fame

Many miraculous events occurred during Tukaram's life. Once, he was performing bhajans in the village of Lohagaon when a Brahmin named Joshi came to him. His only child died back home. The child was brought back to life by the saint after he prayed to Lord Pandarinath. His fame spread throughout the village and neighboring areas. He, however, remained unaffected by that. Tukaram advocated Saguna Bhakti, a practice of devotion in which God’s praises are sung. He encouraged bhajans and kirtans in which he asked people to sing praises of the almighty. As he lay dying, he advised his followers to always meditate on Lord Narayana and Ramakrishna Hari. He also told them the importance of Harikatha. He considered Harikatha as the union of God, the disciple and His Name. According to him, all sins are burnt and souls are purified by just listening to it.

 

Social Reforms & Followers

Tukaram accepted devotees and disciples without discriminating on the basis of gender. One of his female devotees was Bahina Bai, a victim of domestic violence who had left her husband’s home. He believed that when it comes to serving God, caste does not matter. According to him, “pride of caste never made any man holy”. Shivaji, the great Maharashtrian warrior king, was a great admirer of the saint. He used to send him costly gifts and even invited him to his court. After Tukaram refused them, the king himself visited the saint and stayed with him. According to historic texts, Shivaji wanted to give up his kingdom at one point. However, Tukaram reminded him of his duty and advised him to remember God while enjoying worldly pleasures.

Death

It was on Phalgun Krishna Dwitiya, Sant Tukaram left for heavenly abode i.e Vaikuntha. It is celebrated as Tukaram Beej. His disappearance bores similarity with Sant Kabir who also vanished without leaving any trails.

Legacy

Tukaram, who was a devotee of Vithoba or Vitthala, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, composed literary works that helped extend the Varkari tradition to pan-Indian Bhakti literature. The famous poet Dilip Chitre summarizes the legacy of the saint between 14th century and 17th century as transforming "language of shared religion, and religion a shared language”. He believed that it was saints like him who brought the Marathas under one roof and enabled them to stand against the Mughals.