Television tells you many things even in an era of untruth, if you know what to look for. As a practised viewer and reporter, I’m lucky. I know to look past the text of Modi’s speech at the U.S. Congress and listen to the applause.The first thing that struck me is how the claps kept coming at regular intervals in exactly the same strength, as if exactly the same number of hands were clapping at the same intensity to the ministering of an invisible conductor. The sound came from the upper section of the hall in the Senate, where an occasional camera positioned at a wide angle threw a glance at pliant Indians in raptures as their leader spoke.Modi was rolling out a speech with trademark Indianisms, which is a polite way of saying that it was replete with stock phrases and homilies that brought on one round of applause after another.“Standing here, seven Junes ago…” said Modi with a dramatic flourish, “…the hesitations of history were behind us.” Whatever that’s supposed to mean, you or I may ask, not the professional clappers.Encouraged by the sounds from above to say more, Modi kept the gems flowing.“Through the long and winding road we have travelled, we have met the test of friendship.” You could almost hear the heaving Indians ushered in to the top benches of the Senate shouting ‘sixer, maar diya!’<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_5_2_fab04cdd5b.jpeg" alt="images-5 (2).jpeg"> Narendra Modi is US CongressThen, an extraordinary thing happened. Modi quoted from the Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit, as he is given to doing.“Ekam Satta, Vipra Bahudha Vadannti.”This was followed by the same ecstatic applause before he read the translation in English. It was amazing that an entire section of the U.S. Senate could now understand Sanskrit.The translation was read while the claps were in progress.“The truth is one but the wise express it in different ways,” Modi explained.Could I be imagining this? Was I a hyperactive viewer? But it happened again.<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“<a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-indian-pm-modi-s-full-address-to-congress-184163909824">Our vision is, sabka saath, sabka vikaas, sabka vishwaas, sabka prayaas</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">” (See 20:36 mins)This time, our multilingual Senate understood Hindi before Modi could follow through with the English version.There were other observations I made, less about the semantics, more about the troubling substance of Modi’s speech. There was the spinning of the usual Hindu nationalist yarn that India has overthrown a thousand years of slavery, implying that India was unfree under Mughal and pre-Mughal medieval rulers.There was the blatant and cruel joke of the Prime Minister talking of cooperative federalism at a time when back at home, Manipur burned because of the lack of precisely the kind of federalism Modi was pontificating about and the Delhi government was protesting against the constant attempt by the Centre to snatch away autonomy from a government by an opposition party.This made me raise bigger questions of the farcical performance at hand. Where is the word democracy in this show, if a Senate in search of money and an Indian market has to kowtow to a visiting dignitary in this way. The upper stalls were reverberating with war-cry like gasping chants of `Modi-Modi’ peppered with whistles.If America calls itself the world’s oldest democracy, where does it hide itself after such a display? On the one hand, America is replete with government-funded think tanks acting as self-appointed arbiters of democracy. It creates storied telling the world where it stand on the democracy index.On the other hand, Americans are well aware of how capital can twist and distort democracy into an ugly mobocracy that can literally rip the insides of their White House to shreds. They are barely back from precisely such a precipice so they know what a megalomaniac who likes to preen in public can do. They’ve seen it. The Senate that clapped and allowed clapping has seen it.But all of us glued to our television screens watching the speech could also see Vice President Kamala Harris keep a steely stoicism as she sat directly behind the Hindu dictator, her Indian roots called into play as part of the programme.We ought to know how to read the signs. The same tropes play out whether it is the pre or post-Trump regime. Biden, Obama, Trump are all conflatable into one big business ball prepared to pay the price, any price, any act to run their local markets and keep local voters happy.While this show runs to full house, let us now call into play the last such choreographed act when Obama was at the helm. Circa 2016, Modi’s rock-star type show at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Cameras hovering over the audience rows showed people in skullcaps all sitting together. That must have taken some doing. It was another level of absurdist theatre where you would need to imagine what would have had to play out if indeed all Muslims entered Madison Square at the same time and booked seats next to one another.Google the video. Then let’s imagine what we are supposed to.Says one Muslim to another in this imaginarium: “Hey, do you know Modi is coming to town? Let’s book tickets together and oh don’t forget your skullcap. And listen, let’s get all our friends to come watch how much we love Modi and let’s show him we care by entering the hall together sitting in one place.”“Yes, let’s all do that, what a good idea.”If world politics is about which leaders are shunned and who is feted, if America sits in judgement on who is democratic and who should be in a G 8 group or the United Nations Security Council, then it has a lot to answer for. And we, the enraptured viewers have even more to think about, as we sit eyeballs and ears peeled for this display.Should we stop looking in the official places for holding up the image of liberty equality, fraternity? Where should we turn to instead to understand the true value of freedom and dissent? If the 99 percent matters, if Black Lives and Dalit Lives Matter, can we stop using vacuous references to the democracies like world’s largest and world’s oldest? Also, should we turn our gaze elsewhere for a freedom index?Can we look at how Taiwan is fighting the monolith that is China? Can we look at aboriginal movements in Australia and New Zealand? Can we ask the LGBTQi in Brazil how they bent the votes against Bolsanaro? Can we look at a post-apartheid South Africa? And the next time when someone uses hyperboles such as ‘the world’s biggest’, ‘the world’s oldest’, greatest’, ‘fastest’, and ‘fattest’, can we collectively agree that these are salesman-politicians in Teflon democracies and look away?This article was first published in The Wire. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The article can be read <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thewire.in/politics/us-senate-modi-applaud-sanskrit">here</a><a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">.</a>

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Television tells you many things even in an era of untruth, if you know what to look for. As a practised viewer and reporter, I’m lucky. I know to look past the text of Modi’s speech at the U.S. Congress and listen to the applause.

The Amazing Grace of the US Senate That Clapped When Modi Spoke in Sanskrit

Professor Imtiaz Ahmad, renowned social scientist, passed away on June 19, 2023. He taught at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi from 1972 to 2002. As a political sociologist, he was well-known for his work on caste among Muslims in India. Among his notable works is the book Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India (1973) which he edited.
A lot will be written on Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad and his work by domain experts and his close associates. Here, I’d like to share a fond memory of his magnificent response he gave at an event.
I joined JNU as a student years after Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad retired; nevertheless I had the fortune of listening to a few speeches that he gave in the post-dinner public meetings, an attractive, regular feature of life in JNU, which are organised in hostel mess halls by various student organisations, used to be a regular and attractive feature of life in JNU. There is one particularly unforgettable meeting in which he was the main protagonist. That meeting was organised by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in the mess hall of Kaveri Hostel, at a time when the country was debating the Sachar Committee report on the social, educational, and economic status of Muslims in India. There were three speakers: Prabhat Patnaik, Imtiaz Ahmad, and one more speaker whose name I fail to recollect.
Prabhat Patnaik spoke brilliantly, discussing the political economy of the backward conditions faced by Muslims in India, with the historical background of Partition which led to the migration of a major section of well-to-do Muslims to Pakistan (West and East).
<img alt="74a9aac7-02a6-4747-8135-f5964e1d635f.jpg" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/74a9aac7_02a6_4747_8135_f5964e1d635f_f7de066f8f.jpg" />
Imtiaz Ahmad
Imtiaz Ahmad gave an illuminating speech on the condition of Muslims in the country. Among the many things he said, he mentioned the prevalence of caste discrimination among Muslims in India. This caused a furore.
As soon as the three speakers were done with their speeches and the floor was opened for questions, something unusual happened, that is, the speakers themselves raising questions. The third speaker stood up to pose a question to Imtiaz Ahmad challenging his arguments. Similar questions were asked by several students. Their core argument was: there is no caste in Islam and hence it is not possible for caste discrimination to exist among Muslims. It was the most vehement verbal attack on a speaker that I had ever seen in a public meeting.
The speakers began to give their answers, one by one. Imtiaz Ahmad was the last one to respond. He looked almost crestfallen, reluctant to answer, as if he had been shaken by the barrage of questions and comments directed against him. Prabhat Patnaik smiled and prodded Imtiaz Ahmad to get up and speak.
And then Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad rose, to give a majestic response. He took on the questions one by one. There is no caste in Islam, true, but the caste system does exist among Muslims, he said. He then gave the names of some Muslim castes in India which are considered untouchables by the “upper” castes among Muslims. He also talked about some practices prevalent among Muslims in some parts of India – for example, during major festivals, upper class Muslims would throw feasts for the entire community, but “lower” caste Muslims would be given food on the other side of the road, and not be allowed to enter the host’s house. Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad’s response, rich in detail and based on long years of in-depth research and experience, was so powerful that it softened the attitude of those who attacked him ferociously.
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He also said that scriptures should be considered social texts that emerged in certain historical contexts and which can be critiqued. That caused another uproar. Scripture is God-given, some argued. But he insisted that as a social scientist, scriptures were social texts. (Unsurprisingly, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad was hated by the reactionary sections among Muslims, and also by the peddlers of Hindutva.)
The discussion continued even after the public meeting had formally ended. People surrounded him and accompanied him to his car, with questions and answers flying back and forth.
That was an era when there was no practice of recording the speeches at public meetings, forget live-streaming the even. So many brilliant speeches and Q&amp;A sessions have, therefore, remained unrecorded. I don’t think anybody even has an audio recording of the speeches, questions and answers at this marvelous public meeting at Kaveri mess hall that night. 
Farewell, sir! You would be sorely missed. People will continue to learn and get inspiration from your work and life.

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Professor Imtiaz Ahmad, renowned social scientist, passed away on June 19, 2023. He taught at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi from 1972 to 2002. As a political sociologist, he was well-known for his work on caste among Muslims in India. Among his notable works is the book Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India (1973) which he edited.

Farewell, Professor Imtiaz Ahmad!

We all have different influences on our daily life, but as a rule the impact of politics would be the most predominant. It overrides most other aspects of life. Bernard Crick, in his In Defence of Politics says: “Politics affects everyday life. The decisions made by politicians affect us all, from cradle to grave.” But do people in India or other parts of the world understand the concept of politics clearly and correctly? That moot question was taken up by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), a renowned social studies Institute in Stockholm. The institution, supported by many democratic countries, conducted a multi-country survey to measure people’s interest in and understanding of politics. The finding across the countries is that a large number of people do not like politics and do not trust politicians as a class.If you are looking for a rented place in Delhi, the national capital of India, the common experience is that the landlords do not like to give it to lawyers and politicians. What could be the reason? There is certainly a trust deficit. However, lawyers could manipulate with legal ‘antics’ their way to a rented accommodation and politicians could use their clout with power centres to achieve the same.Yet, the contradiction is that people are also mad about politics, especially in the developing countries, as obviously they have a stake in it. They talk animatedly about politics. Jonathan Swift, in his ‘Thoughts on Various Subjects” had said: “Democracy (party) is madness of many for the benefit of the few.” To sample a few more interpretations of politics, Otto von Bismarck said: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable—the art of the next best. “It is Lord Acton, the British historian, who said: “All power tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” George Bernard Shaw commented: “Politics is the last resort of scoundrels.” Since such commentaries on politics abound even in our curriculum, it is natural for people to be cynical. Cynicism is detrimental to democracy, if not to all forms of politics. It will be better for people and politics, if the people had a correct understanding of politics and had an informed engagement with it.Many historians argue that the French Revolution would not have occurred without the powerful political ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity propounded by the French Enlightenment philosophers — Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. So, a correct understanding and interpretation of ideas are important. An incorrect understanding or an inappropriate application creates unfavourable and unhealthy attitudes to politics, which are not good for a democracy. What do the three major stakeholders _ state (read politicians), business, and civil society _ in a country think of politics? Our reference point of course is India.Let us look at the meaning and operational definition of politics, as it is commonly understood. Some common definitions of politics are: politics is the exercise of power; politics is the public allocation of values; politics is the resolution of conflict; politics is the competition among individuals, groups, or states pursuing their interests. There are many other definitions, but all of them include power, and authority. In India, politics is commonly understood as ‘Rajniti’ meaning policies of the king (in the past) or the state. Such understanding of politics has made it the game of royals, feudal lords, elites, and so on, whereas the meaning of a Minister is people’s servant. Ministering means serving. We tend to change the meaning of words in India and Indianise their practice.Let me proffer two new meanings to politics—Rajniti can be understood as ‘king of policies’ instead of king’s policy; second, it should be Sevaniti (policy of service) instead of Rajniti. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while assuming office in 2014, said, “I am the chief servant” (pradhan sevak) of the people”. Operational implications of these meanings should make a profound impact on politics and will make it more acceptable. People will treat politics with respect and engage with it when the interests of individual leaders and parties are taken away. Sevaniti will make politicians service-oriented, not power-mongering, influence-peddling, profit- seeking, and so on. If the top civil services occupations are titled Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and Indian Economic Service, why not we call Parliament and Legislative careers as political service?But what do politicians themselves think of politics? Politics for many is a profession and a career. They are into it full time and do nothing else. So, whether they are in power or out of it, they live off politics. Many get into it as their families have made it and they must inherit that legacy. Others enter politics as they cannot do anything else, and they could make a good living by squatting in the corridors of power. Yet some join politics to represent the people and alleviate their conditions, but this lot, sooner than later, gets caught in the vicious circle triggered by “power- influence-survival-revival”. Whatever be their original motivation in joining, a majority of politicians gets stuck in their struggle for survival. They make compromises in the name of compulsions and lose their way toward their original mission.People in business see politics as a tool for developing their business. Ideology is immaterial for them. They would support any party which helps them build their business. It is true that business houses do philanthropic activities, but by and large, the motivation to do so is not political or social, but religious or spiritual, or based on a quid pro quo made with their benefactors. This is sometimes called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) too. We are not running down ethical business practices which stay clear of political patronage or influences.What is society’s understanding of politics? There are many societal actors having diverse perceptions of politics. Civil society organisations like community-based ones use politics to campaign for their interests; others issue-based ones protest or advocate the causes they believe in, and there are protest movements, pressure groups and lobbies like trade unions and so on.And there are peoples’ movements and social movements (interchangeably used) which influence politics by creating new institutions or causing regime-change. Movements are an essential part of politics as they emerge in response to peoples’ needs; that are not met by powers-that-be or for the sake of justice, fairness and right to self-determination (freedom movements). On the other hand, there are movements that capture power with illegitimate use of force. So, movements can be seen as creative attempts to initiate change – social, political, economic or others and there are other movements which are pathological.Qualifying adjectives to refer to movements could be too varied – ‘radical’, ‘messianic’, ‘nativistic’, ‘nationalistic’, ‘fascist’, ‘non-violent’, ‘religious’, ‘secular’, ‘revolutionary’, ‘reformist’, ‘socialist,’ ‘labour’, ‘caste’ (emancipator) and so on. The first textbook on modern social movement to be published in America (J. Davis, Contemporary Social Movement, New York and London, 1930) had a multitude of topics: Plato’s Republic, Thomas Moore’s Utopia, Marx’s Socialism, Mussolini’s Fascism, Gandhi’s Non-Violence, The Cooperative Movement, The Labour Movement, The Peace Movement and so on. The list includes not only collective actions (movements), but the idea systems too. We refer to those movements which translate theories into praxis and contribute to institutional changes that impact the nature of politics.However, there is also a section of civil society organisations that stay away from politics, as they think politics is corrupt, manipulative, and therefore, and it is not meant for ‘good people’. Such people should remember Abraham Lincoln who had reprimanded his fellow-citizens uninterested in politics, “bad politicians are elected by good citizens who do not vote”.Media is deeply connected with politics. It collects news from politicians and feeds it to the people. Media personnel frequent the political corridors sniffing for news, especially breaking news, snatching sound bites and flashing them in TVs, YouTube channels, websites and papers. But the media does not subscribe to any particular politics, nor has any core political beliefs barring some who may have ideological or political affiliation. The situation seems to have changed as the media is largely in cahoots with ruling parties.To sum up, politics is understood and used according to the people’s own interest. That is a normal trend. Such interest can be selfish or selfless, intellectual, or spiritual, ideological or tribal, communal etc. What one is arguing here is, politics is a collective act. Aristotle said, Man by nature is a social animal, in a democracy, wo(man) is a political being as people are sovereign in a democracy and are supposed to be makers of their political destinies. People have to take a collective view of politics and should have collective responsibilities and accountabilities. That is, politics is also a service, helping each other, looking after the common men and women, not making space for ex-royals, feudals, rich and the elite. To actualise such understanding of politics, it has to be made simpler, easier for common people to play it. The role of power, money and mafia have to diminish, instead, ideas, commitment and sacrifice have to come into play. Politics then will be king of policies, and real lokniti, not rajniti.<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">For past releases of Words and Concepts, <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/tag/words-and-concepts/">Click Here</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">.

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This column will deal with words and concepts and their changing and nuanced meanings. Indeed , many more interpretations and value additions are possible on the words and descriptions that figure in this series. The AIDEM invites further discussions on these words and concepts from readers.

Words and Concepts- 4: Politics

This column will deal with words and concepts and their changing and nuanced meanings. Indeed , many more interpretations and value additions are possible on the words and descriptions that figure in this series. The AIDEM invites further discussions on these words and concepts from readers.A Pakistani Christian once asked me how India could call itself a secular country when its people are deeply religious. “What an unworkable concept you have adopted!”, he said. In the November 29, 2013 edition of The Hindu, historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam, who has a prestigious chair in France, said Indian secularism meant the state mediating between religions. Between a common man’s perception and a scholarly interpretation, where do we locate the meaning and practice of secularism in India? Admittedly, secularism is misunderstood by both citizens and leadership.According to the Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Religions, secularism is an attitude or a political ideology aiming to eradicate religion from public and social life, or at least regulate and control religion, or limit its influence on state politics. Further, it is a condition where religion is absent from specific areas of society, that is, state and public sphere, and/or the minds and practices of people. Thus, secularism means reducing the overarching and, as it often seems, the transcendent religious systems to a subsystem or a marginal dimension of cultural identity.The Origin and MeaningThe concept of secularism was created by the British writer George Jacob Holyoake in 1846. He used the term to describe a social order that is separate from religion, without actively dismissing religious beliefs. In Europe, ‘secular’ meant non-religious, and ‘secular work’ meant anything not related to church activities. Once my English friend who met me at my residence in Hull, United Kingdom; apologetically said, “I did not go to the church today”. I asked him, “why not!” He said he had to do some secular work. In a bit of confusion, I exclaimed, “What were you doing?” He answered, “I did some gardening and cleaned my car”.His reply implied the dominant understanding of secularism in Europe. Anything unrelated to church meant secular work. Unlike in India, secularism did not become an ethical principle or a code of conduct. Thus, a cluttered definition of secularism which is a fundamental principle of the state makes life difficult.In France, secularism is explained by a concept called laicite. This means even a stronger separation between the state and religion; in fact, pushing the latter into the private realm. The strong state in France attempts to privatise religion. The essence of laicism is to create a neutral public space in which religious beliefs, practices and instincts have lost their political significance and have been pushed to the private sphere. Mixing politics and religion is regarded as irrational and dangerous. With such an understanding, the French government prohibits outwardly religious practices like Muslims wearing burkha or Sikhs sporting turbans and even Christian wearing a cross too visibly. Consequently, France gets embroiled continually in religious tensions.In the United States, religion has been separated from the state from the day of founding of the Constitution. The first amendment to the Constitution expressly prohibits Congress from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. In other words, the government is barred from preferring one religion over another, and from preferring religion over non-religion.European countries like England, Finland and Denmark recognise an official church. In Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, the state and church take up common tasks. The government in those countries even fund church organisations. Therefore, secularist division between religion and politics is not fixed, but rather historically and socially constructed.Indian SecularismIndian secularism has been interpreted in various ways. The literal meaning of secularism in the Constitution, looking at the Hindi translation of the word as mentioned in the Amendment, is dhramanirpekhsata. This means the state-neutrality. There are also many religious scholars who would not equate dharma with religion. Dharma means the principle or law that orders the universe, an individual conduct in conformity with this principle and the essential function or nature of a thing. Furthermore, in Hinduism, dharma is an individual obligation with respect to caste, social custom, civil law, and sacred law etc.The other interpretation of secularism (considered a bit Nehruvian) is “sarvadharma sambhava”, meaning all religions should be equal. Commentators have questioned the practicality of this interpretation, how unequal religions, (Hindus are 83 per cent or more, Buddhists are 0.9 per cent, Christians are 2.3 per cent, Jews are too small in number) can be possibly treated equally? Consequent to this interpretation, the small religious groups are allegedly crowded out of public space by big religious groups namely, Hindus and Muslims. One more distinct interpretation is by the Communists, who equate secularism in public life with atheism, or agnosticism. Karl Marx, the Guru of Communists, had famously said, “Religion is the opium of the people”. Marxism has declined, so has the indifference if not the opposition to religion. Besides, in India, the vast majority of people are religious, atheists are few.It is clear that there is no standard definition of secularism in Indian politics.What should Secularism mean in India?Secularism should be seen as an ethical principle by itself in regard to religion, not a negation of the latter. It should be seen as doing at least three things. One, it should maintain harmony in a pluralist society. When people call themselves secular, they respect all other identities in a society, be it religious, linguistic, ethnic, or regional. That is how people should respect and learn from one another. The beauty of life lies in “unity in diversity”.A society is not monolithic. If it is, it will not be viable because many interdependent units would not come together to make it work. Secondly, secularism leads to growth of modern knowledge systems, and concepts such a rationality. Problems like poverty, malnutrition, hunger and disease that cannot be handled by religion. They can be tackled only by science, technology, medicines, and so on. That is why secular institutions like laboratories, hospitals, banks, and universities exist. Thirdly, secularism should balance the twin spheres of life- religion and politics.According to believers, religion, whatever be its interpretation, is needed in life; the essence of any religion is anchored in humanism. Any project of modernity or rationality cannot explain existential questions such as the pain and pleasure and life and death. Therefore, religion and politics will have to work in a multi-religious, pluralist format. They could be separated contextually and be mixed constructively. Different interpretations of religions could be mediated by constitutional principles enshrining human rights, civil liberties, equality etc.That said, even non-believers are covered in an Indian secular format described above. The Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) has been guaranteed as a human right under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since 1966. So, our discussion goes beyond secularism vs religion to secularism and multiple beliefs outside the domain of religion. What is important in this concept is that it includes freedom to ‘to leave or abandon religions and hold non-religious beliefs. No one should be discriminated against, coerced or persecuted for their beliefs.Also, like all human rights, FoRB belongs to people, whether individual or a collective, and it lends freedom to their beliefs whatever they may be – religious, non-religious, agnostic atheism, animism, paganism and so on. The only rider is that, as said before, those beliefs should not run counter to the constitutional rights and duties of a country.<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">For past releases of Words and Concepts, <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/tag/words-and-concepts/">Click Here</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">.

Words and Concepts- 3: Secularism

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How many times have you been fixed, I mean put back together again, by a song, a film, a piece of art? As my team and I lurched from crisis to illness to crisis, I took my work-oppressed, battle-weary soul to the Kochi Muziris Biennale in Kerala. 

Au Revoir Biennale – To Be Resurrected By Art

‘The wheels of justice grind slow but grind exceedingly fine’. This oft-quoted proverb is interpreted to mean that even if justice is slow in coming, it will ultimately do justice to the victim.But in real life the slow wheels of justice grind so much that lives are ruined forever. A case in point is what has happened to the a 22-year-old youth named Mohammad Aameen Anjum from Nashik, Maharashtra, who was arrested on August 27, 2020, by the officers of Nizar Police Station, Gujarat on the charge of transporting cows. The driver of the vehicle transporting the cows had escaped under the cover of darkness leaving his companion Anjum to fend for himself. A case was registered against him. According to the prosecution, the cows were being illegally transported from Gujarat to Maharashtra without required certificates issued by competent authorities Based on oral submissions, the court found Aameen Anjum guilty and awarded him life imprisonment.What is more disturbing (and what is highly ridiculous) are the grounds on which Anjum was punished. Samir Vinodchandra Vyas, Principal District and Sessions Judge, had entirely relied on unscientific and highly irrational theories proffered by the self-proclaimed cow protectors of a nation that is sought to be saffronised day in and day by the Sangh Parivar. The verdict, delivered in Gujarati, was roughly translated into English and published in Newclick, an online portal. Holding forth on the importance of protecting the cow, the honourable judge said: “Cow is not only an animal, but a mother. No one is as humble as a cow. A cow is the living planet of 68 crore holy places and three crore gods. The whole universe is indebted with the multiple utilities of the cow which are beyond description…. The day there is no cow slaughter, all problems of the earth will be solved and there will be well being everywhere.”The judge stressed the need to contemplate on the “economic, social and scientific” apart from the religious and spiritual aspects of cow protection as well as slaughter.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/cow_042c9bd3d8.jpg" alt="cow.jpg">Mechanised abattoirs have come up, and holy cow and its progeny are being slaughtered everyday. As a result, the bovines are facing constant threat to their lives. …Seventy-five percent of the livestock has been lost. There will be a time when people will not be able to draw its sketch. The widespread slaughter of the divine animal has caused several problems that exist on earth. It is resulting in the increase in irascibility and loose temper. Therefore, the heinous act cow slaughter must be discouraged,” the court noted.Discussing the religious importance of the animal, the judge noted Tridevis (a trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism) are not separate from cows. The three goddess (Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati/Kali), notes the judgment, have emerged from Adi Gau Surabhi (the cow). The (Hindu) religion, it said, has manifested in the form of Neel Vrushabh — a bull that was born to a cow.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/chandrachud_pti_1154418_1666019834_5bf92d0bfe.jpg" alt="chandrachud-pti-1154418-1666019834.jpg"> SC CJI DY ChandrachudThe cow — according to the court — is the mother of ‘Rudra’ (a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva), daughter of ‘Vasu’ (a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light) sister of ‘Aditi Putras’ (the sons of Aditi — the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos) and a treasure of ‘Dhruv Roop Amrit’ (an ancient formula of pure ingredients that provide intense nourishment to the skin).“Cow and bull have special importance in the agricultural farming. And the food grains produced from natural farming, wherein cow dung is used a fertiliser, protects the human kind from various diseases,” the judge noted, explaining the material and religious importance of the cattle.The judge’s lecture went on and entered the domain of science. He said: “Cow dung will protect everyone; it is anti-radiation… It’s scientifically proven… This is a radiation chip that can be used in mobile phones to reduce radiation. “It’ll be a safeguard against diseases.” And, in support of his theory, he cited several Several shlokas (verses) of Vedas <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Gau_rakshak_cow_protection_PTI_d83469dcfd.jpg" alt="Gau_rakshak_cow_protection-PTI.jpg">Cow vigilantesEven as observers sunk into shock and silence at the irrationality of a judge and the enormity of his punishment to the victim, B.R. Aravanidakshan, an enterprising television journalist in Chennai, took it upon himself to send a petition to the Chief Justice of India drawing his attention to the theatre of the absurd in Gujarat. Offering a ray of hope, the National Human Rights Commission has taken up the case and registered a case against the judicial officer on 20th March 2023. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Aravindakshan_Satyam_TV_49c43b013b.jpeg" alt="Aravindakshan-Satyam-TV.jpeg">B R AravindakshanHerewith, we reproduce the petition filed by Aravindakshan: The AIDEM DESKFromB.R. AravindakshanJournalistNo. 14/69 Arathoon RoadRoyapuramChennai-600013TamilnaduToDr. Justice D.Y. ChandrachudHonorable Chief Justice of IndiaSupreme Court of India,SUBJECT: Petition to inquire whether life sentence has been awarded on the basis of religious beliefGreetings Hon’ble Chief Justice of India.I am a journalist residing at the above-mentioned address. I submit this petition to you regarding the order passed by Mr Samir Vinochandra Vyas , Honourable Sessions Judge, Vyara Court, Tapi District, Gujarat dated November 04, 2022.An FIR (C.R. No. 11824007200327/2020) has been registered at Nizar Police Station regarding the issue of illegal transportation of cows in a vehicle. 2)In that case, a 22-year-old youth named Mohammad Aameen Anjum from Nashik, Maharashtra, was arrested on August 27, 2020, by the officers of Nizar Police Station,Gujarat3) The case was admitted on January 24, 2022, in the Vyara Court of Tabi District, and the case was registered on the same date. The judgement in this case between the Government of Gujarat and 22-year-old Mohammad Aameen was delivered on November 4, 2022, by Hon’ble Justice Samir Vinochandra Vyas. Free legal aid has been provided to Mohammad Aameen Anjum, who was the accused because he was poor and could not afford to hire a lawyer.4) On November 04, 2022 , the judgement delivered by Hon’ble Justice Samir Vinochandra Vyas sentenced the accused Mohammad Aameen to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5 lakh. It has also been said that failure to pay the fine will result in an additional 5 years’ imprisonment. Apart from this, 2 months’ imprisonment twice, 3 months’ imprisonment twice, one year imprisonment alone, and 15 days’ imprisonment have been imposed as additional punishments.(5) Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, from the day of his arrest on 27-08-2020 till the date of judgment on 04-11-22, the accused Mohammad Aameen Anjum has been in jail for 813 days and almost 30 months.6) Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, I request that you read the judgement S.C.NO.02/2022 passed on November 04, 2022, by Hon’ble Justice Sameer Vinochandra Vyas in sentencing accused Mohammad Aameen Anjum.(7) The judgment, delivered in Gujarati, is 24 pages long. Because I don’t know the Gujarati language I read a 28-page English translation of the judgement that was published on Newsclick [an online portal]8) Various verses were quoted by Justice Samir Vinochandra Vyas in that judgment. On the third page, in 12th line, the judge mentioned that science has proved that houses made of cow dung are not affected by atomic radiation.9) Actually, I was very shocked to read those lines. I don’t know on what scientific evidence the judge made that reference in his judgment.10) Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, to protect cows, the Government of India formed the Rashtriya Kamathenu Aayog under the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries on February 21, 2019. One of the functions of the organisation is to research materials like cow dung and urine.(11) Rashtriya Kamathenu Aayog Chairman Dr. Vallabhai Kathiria held an official press conference on October 12, 2020, through the Central Government’s Press Information Bureau. In that press conference, Rashtriya Kamadenu Aayog Chairman Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria said the following: “Cow dung will protect everyone; it is anti-radiation… It’s scientifically proven… This is a radiation chip that can be used in mobile phones to reduce radiation. “It’ll be a safeguard against diseases.”12) The press conference of Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria, Chairman of the Rashtriya Kamadenu Aayog, caused a great stir in India. More than 600 researchers and scientists in India asked for evidence and have called for the public disclosure of data showing that cow dung can prevent radiation. But neither the Government of India nor the Rashtriya Kamdenu Aayog has ever made any data public.13) In this case, on November 24, 2022, I raised some questions through RTI about the activities of Rashtriya Kamadenu Aayog. In the RTI application that I sent, there was also a question about whether the Rashtriya Kamdenu Aayog had conducted any scientific research.14) The Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries has given me a written reply on December 06, 2022 to my question that there is no information regarding the research. Not only that.. Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog has given a clear answer that its two-year period has ended on 20-02-2021.15) The Rashtriya Kamadenu Aayog, an independent high power permanent body set up by the Indian government to protect cows, has been completely shut down after two years. If the situation is like this, Justice Samir Vinodchandra Vyas has mentioned in his judgement that cow dung can prevent atomic radiation16) There is nothing wrong with an individual or any politician saying this. But I would like to humbly state that it is not a healthy practise for a judge to write all his personal beliefs in a judgement.17) Mohammad Aameen , who was arrested in a case registered at Nizar police station, belongs to the Muslim community. A doubt arises as to whether the court, which is supposed to sentence on the basis of witnesses and law, is sentencing the criminal on the basis of beliefs and in the light of scripture.18) I request the Chief Justice of India to look into whether this is legal. According to the testimony of only one head constable, the accused, Mohammad Aameen, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.19) Mohammad Aameen, who has been given a life sentence, seems to have no other criminal record. In this context, I would like to mention that the imposition of life imprisonment on non-scientific grounds is completely contrary to natural justice.The punishment meted out to Mohammad Aameen, who was not given a fair chance to plead his case, is even against human rights. I humbly request the Chief Justice of India to kindly pay attention to this matter, considering the future of the poor 22-year-old youth who does not have the opportunity to have his own lawyer.20) Courts are the last hope of the people. So,I would kindly request the Chief Justice of India to intervene in this matter without any delay, as it would set a wrong precedent for those courts to pass judgments on the basis of religious belief. I request the Chief Justice of this country to ensure that no such religious orders are passed in the High Courts or District Courts of any other state in the future.Yours faithfullyB.R. AravindakshanCopy to:<ol><li>The National Human Rights Commission,</li><li>Honorable Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court of Gujarat</li><li>Gujarat human rights Commission</li><li>District sessions Judge, District &amp; Sessions Court, Tapi at Vyara</li><li>Director General of Police (B.R Aravindakshan, who has been working in the media industry for the past 20 years, is currently working as an editor for Sathyam TV. He also moderates political debates on this Tamil channel.)</li></ol><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM"><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">YouTube</a><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq"><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">WhatsApp</a>

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‘The wheels of justice grind slow but grind exceedingly  fine’. This oft-quoted proverb  is interpreted to mean that even if justice is slow in coming, it will ultimately do justice to the victim.

Where a Human Life is Cheaper than Cow Dung

Football has always been an arena of superstitions and black magic rituals. Some teams do crystal ball gazing before kicking the football! Most teams, coaches and players believe that superstitions bring success to their teams. Some team officials bury skulls in the ground while some others keep wizards with the team.During the Santhosh Trophy Tournament (Indian domestic football tournament among State teams) in Manjeri in the Northern Kerala district of Malappuram, West Bengal’s coach Ranjan Bhattacharya was seen bringing ‘Kali’s blood’ to the ground on match days. Players and coaches smearing their bodies with the blood of sacrificial animals is common in Africa. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/como_768x458_5c30442104.png" alt="como-768x458.png">Ranjan Bhattacharya applying Kali’s blood onto the ground.In the 1974 World Cup, Zaire (now the Congo) lost to Yugoslavia by nine goals, and the whole country believed that it was because of the failure to bring a female horse with magical powers from Zaire to Berlin, the host city. Coaches and players alike asserted that Kuwait’s defeat in 1982 was due to the lack of opportunity to keep a camel tied in the stadium.When Nigeria plays, magicians bring to the stadium a wild fowl’s feather in a white tampal (a big, round tray with a high rim) and a snake’s sheath anointed with honey. Once the game starts, they start chanting mantras. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/uroiin_768x458_74dc9cbc90.png" alt="uroiin-768x458.png"> An ‘Argentinian Ritual’ of urinating beside the goal post before penalties.Once the current edition of World Cup starts, astrologers will work overtime in Thailand. Once they say who is favored by Jupiter, the betting houses don’t think about any other team.Argentina’s famous goalie Sergio Goycochea used to urinate on the ground before every penalty kick he faced. In the 1990 World Cup semi-final shootout against Italy, the hosts, Goikosia was urinating after every kick.Europe is not far behind Africa, Asia and South America in holding such beliefs. English footballer Gary Lineker would not hit the post during warm-up matches because he believed that that would have been a missed opportunity in the real game. John Terry used to sit in the same seat, listen to the same song, and use the same bathroom during tournaments. &nbsp;<div style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;" dir="auto"><hr><h4 style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Subscribe to our channels on<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(247, 168, 16);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a>&amp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(247, 168, 16);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a></h4></div><div class="mdp-liker-box after-content two-buttons style-border-fill row-right" style="--mdp-liker-bg-color-active:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color-hover:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-border:1px;--mdp-liker-radius:50px;--mdp-liker-text-color-active:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color-hover:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);box-sizing:border-box;font-size:initial;font-weight:initial;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id="mdp-liker-19448" data-memory="on"><div style="align-items:center;box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="mdp-liker-description" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:medium;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;max-width:60%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div></div></div> &nbsp;

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Football has always been an arena of superstitions and black magic rituals. Some teams do crystal ball gazing before kicking the football! Most teams, coaches and players believe that superstitions bring success to their teams. Some team officials bury skulls in the ground while some others keep wizards with the team.



Crystal Ball Before Football 

A game of World Cup Football is never a no-nonsense ordeal. From biting an old Italian to breaking a Brazillian’s back, unnatural incidents ranging from the weirdest and the wildest occur every 4 years, when people put down their guns and go to War.
Perhaps, calling it a Bloodless War would be an overstatement. The emotional mindset of each player resembles that of the vanguard, ready to lay down his life on the front lines. No lives are claimed here and the only gunshots heard are that of the ball hitting the back of the net. It is truly incredible to sit back and watch this spectacle unfold. Reminds me of the opening scene from the Malayalam movie Amen. No one knows what’s happening. But they all know its amazing.
<img alt="Al_Rihla_1648652626315_1648652648472.jpg" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Al_Rihla_1648652626315_1648652648472_228e558fe5.jpg" />
The Worthy
Let me go over the usual drama that happens in the world cup. There are some countries that are just unable to hit top gear when it matters. Their only visible goal is to take a few points off the bigger favourites. There are two reasons why anyone would really watch these games. It’s either because the spectator is from one of those countries, or it’s because their favourite team is playing against one of these so-called Worthy sides. No one in their right mind would watch a boring affair between two small timers. But this is not a plain declaration that these teams are crap. They’ve worked their heads off and gained the honour of representing themselves along with the 32 best footballing nations of the world. I have nothing but respect for them. Perhaps, even if these teams had more capitalist funding or they represent a colonial superpower, they too would have been favourites. Do I expect something special from them? No. Nonetheless, they are and will be titled ‘The Worthy’.
The Confused
Hmm…. should I win it? Or just call it a day because I’ve already made it this far?
Teams of great calibre and talent. Yet, they lack the certain spark that will help them achieve something special. People expect good things from these teams, but they usually end up disappointing the fans. What do they lack that the those in the top tier have? Probably a lack of conviction that they’re here to win it. These are also the teams that pull off the greatest ‘Cupsets’. An occasional win against Belgium, things like that. It’s is also really interesting to see how these teams shape up when they go against a major side knowing that they’re the weaker side. Then it’s a game of wits and tactics, a push till we see who gives in first. Such games often end up as the most exciting ones to watch.
As a bonus to the players, good performers get big scouts on them and can get recruited into top clubs, especially by the likes of the Premier league. Playing for international teams is much more than a show of a player’s talent. It depicts his hunger and drive. It also shows how adaptive the player is, getting along with others who play around the globe. It lets clubs understand whether he can fit well into their side. It reminds us that a person’s true intentions come out when they’re high on passion. Else, Marco Matterazi wouldn’t have had a gaping hole in his chest.
The Real Deal
Sit back and relax. These teams will break into Round-16 no matter what. Very passionate and straightforward, they’re here to win it. But what they will achieve is a question that we can answer only after watching them and their form. They usually shape well and settle into good score lines. One of my favourite examples would be Croatia. They were a ‘Confused’ team before they ascended to the Real Deal with their exciting football in 2018. The games are always exciting to watch, with great team performances rather than individual proficiencies. Most of the individuals are already well established and their next goal is to keep their eyes on the prize.
<img alt="merlin_141311586_1b923af8-25b7-43bb-94e2-13689016ae80-superJumbo-768x512.jpg" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/merlin_141311586_1b923af8_25b7_43bb_94e2_13689016ae80_super_Jumbo_768x512_133a1195fe.jpg" />
2018 world cup final match- France vs Croatia
A massive question mark that arises in this segment would be the peculiar England team. They’ve got the most valuable squad in the world. They’ve got the biggest names on their sheets. The funniest thing about this team is that the players are in form at the club level, but can’t link up at the national level. I recently watched them play Italy in the nations league qualifiers where they were knocked out of the competition by ‘The Weakest Italian squad in History’. England hasn’t scored from open play in 5 games and I can see why. Defensively, even Harry Maguire seemed settled. But in terms of attack, they looked confused. England is incapable of utilising their otherworldly attacking power. Being unable unleash Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, the manager Gareth Southgate is definitely doing something wrong with his 3-4-3. Perhaps I should make another segment called The Disappointment. At this rate, nothing’s ‘Coming Home’.
The Loser
Yes. Its plain.
The fun fact about the World Cup is that there is only one loser. The other 30 teams lose, yes. But there’s only one clear team that will carry home the biggest regret. The other team goes home with all the glory and silverware. You’re stuck with medals smaller than an Oreo with LOSER written on it. Its not just the team that loses; it’s an entire nation that mourns the defeat. All the build-up and effort go to nought. People will say “Well played” but it truly isn’t. To lose in a final is the worst feeling in the world. And to do this in front of more than half the world is even more depressing. No matter which of the discussed segments you fall into, if you’re in the Finals, then you’re equal to whoever you face. There’s no excuse for the loss. I speak about this with great emotion as I too have suffered in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Finals. The emptiness that followed and the effects it had on the club was crippled the fans too. It ends up as a true test of courage and dedication to still keep standing. Alas, all that valour is pointless. By the end of the day, the fact remains the same. You Lost.
The Ruthless
Now, Why would I call the winners Ruthless? I would like to quote Jose Mourinho: “Nice guys never win.” The team which shows no mercy and punishes its opponents for each mistake will undoubtedly be the winner. Towards the finals, its more along the lines of an emotional battle. The team which does not care about the tears of its opponents and are willing to step on them can push on to win. And what have they won? Perhaps that’s something that the reader should ponder on. Is it just some silverware? It’s a moment when history counts for nothing. It’s all about now and what happens then. The winners of this emotional and taxing battle truly deserves the title of World Champions.
Undoubtedly, the FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to be the most exciting thing to come since the breakout of a virus named after a beer. An anxious and nerve wrecking November awaits. Under the desert sun and Arabian skies will a war break out, with the most advanced weapons and smartest commanders. One clear winner will emerge. In four years, this winner will have to do it all again.
This Bloodless War isn’t the first, and neither will it be the last ever. And to be a part of this…. it gives me the chills.

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A game of World Cup Football is never a no-nonsense ordeal. From biting an old Italian to breaking a Brazillian’s back, unnatural incidents ranging from the weirdest and the wildest occur every 4 years, when people put down their guns and go to War.

A Bloodless War Under the Desert Sun

<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Recently, news reports came in about the killing of Dalit students in classrooms by their teachers, allegedly for horrifyingly trivial reasons such as touching a pot of water meant for upper castes and for making a spelling mistake in the class test. The ugly and violent face of caste violence still overshadows humanity in Indian society.

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Recently, news reports came in about the killing of Dalit students in classrooms by their teachers, allegedly for horrifyingly trivial reasons such as touching a pot of water meant for upper castes and for making a spelling mistake in the class test.

Caste In Class: Now, Teachers Target Dalit Students

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The three major bills introduced by Union Home Minister to replace Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act have generated intense debate. The big question is whether it enhances inclusiveness in the judicial system or just makes it more punitive.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The claims of removing colonial legacy and clearing the backlog of cases do not seem to be convincing at this point. The government has also chosen to bypass the democratic procedures that need to be observed while bringing such a major policy reform.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The AIDEM discusses different aspects of this contentious move of the Narendra Modi government with Kalanidhi Veerasamy, DMK member of the Lok Sabha, Ravinder Kumar, Lawyer, Supreme Court and President of Rashtriya Mukti Morcha and Thulasi K Raj, lawyer at Supreme Court. Senior media person Anand Haridas anchors the discussion.<figure class="image"><img alt="600x600-1-1024x1024.jpg" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/600x600_1_1024x1024_e81898957f.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_600x600_1_1024x1024_e81898957f.jpg 156w, https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_600x600_1_1024x1024_e81898957f.jpg 500w, https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_600x600_1_1024x1024_e81898957f.jpg 750w, https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_600x600_1_1024x1024_e81898957f.jpg 1000w" sizes="100vw" width="1000"></figure>

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The three major bills introduced by Union Home Minister to replace Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act have generated intense debate.

Judicial Reform Or Paving the Way for a Police State?

Malayalam (ml)

Tamil (ta)

English (en)

Hindi (hi)

Telugu (te)

Kannada (kn)

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg" alt="images-9.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">The following article is part of the Trailblazing Women of India series. A series presented by The AIDEM, exploring the lives and ideas of women who played a decisive role in shaping India’s social, political, and intellectual history.The AIDEM underscores the enduring contemporary relevance of revisiting the lives of these women leaders and the ideas they championed. Click <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/G_sxvcXO0tg">here</a> to watch the video.<hr>Picture this: It’s 1930. A 27-year-old woman stands before Mahatma Gandhi, telling him he’s making a historic mistake.Gandhi is planning the Salt March. His vision? Men march and women stand on street corners selling salt and singing songs.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay says: No.“Women have stood shoulder to shoulder with men, building the Congress party. They deserve to march,” she insists.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:654px;" id="attachment_42087" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42087"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyaya-Leading-a-Congress-march-in-the-early-1930s.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 491w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42087">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading a Congress march in the early 1930s</figcaption></figure>Gandhi concedes. But she’s not finished. “Issue a formal call to action.”“Why?” Gandhi asks. “Don’t you know your sisters?”Her response? Pure political genius: “Because history will record that YOU called them to participate.”&nbsp;History did record it. Women marched beside Gandhi, breaking salt laws. Kamaladevi became one of the first women arrested for civil disobedience. She auctioned “freedom salt” at the Bombay Stock Exchange for Rs. 501. On January 26, 1930, she clung to the Indian tricolour during a scuffle with authorities, refusing to let go.Who was this woman bold enough to challenge Gandhi?Born in 1903 in Mangalore, married at fourteen, widowed at sixteen. She remarried—scandalous. She divorced—one of India’s first civil divorces. In 1926, encouraged by Margaret Cousins, she became the first woman to contest a legislative office, losing by just 55 votes. In 1927, she founded the All India Women’s Conference as its organizing secretary.In 1936, she became a founding member of the Congress Socialist Party, working alongside Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. Yet when we celebrate Indian socialism, we remember only the men.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_42084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyay.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg 113w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42084">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay</figcaption></figure>Her ideas were revolutionary. She connected capitalism, imperialism, and women’s subjection: “This imperial capitalist system encourages endless wars and expects women to produce children who become soldiers.” She challenged glorified motherhood itself.In the 1930s—decades before global women’s liberation—she championed bodily autonomy and birth control. Not for population control, but for women’s choice. She traveled to America, worked with Margaret Sanger, and in 1951 established India’s first family planning commission centered on women’s autonomy.She championed what we now refer as feminist economics, preceding the Feminist Care Ethics Debate by decades. She documented sexual division of labor, wage discrimination, and systematic underpayment of women workers in industrial and agricultural sectors—when labor movements barely acknowledged women as workers.Interestingly, she refused the label “feminist,” understanding that in her hostile patriarchal environment, strategic pragmatism mattered. But her ideas? Profoundly feminist.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-4.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">After Partition, heartbroken, she resettled 50,000 refugees from the North-West Frontier Province, helping create Faridabad—independent India’s crucial early industrial township. In 1948, she founded and led the Indian Cooperative Union for the rehabilitation of the refugees.Her greatest legacy? Reviving India’s dying crafts as economic empowerment. As chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board for twenty years, she understood that handicrafts meant livelihoods for millions, grassroots democratic participation, and India’s answer to exploitative industrialization.Her institutions still stand: Indian National Theatre established in 1944, which later became National School of Drama, All India Handicrafts Board established in 1952, Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1953, Crafts Council of India in 1964, and Delhi’s Crafts Museum in 1967. She made Indian handicrafts a major export, serving as an Advisor to the World Craft Council and first President for the Asia-Pacific Region.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:555px;" id="attachment_42085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42085"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg" alt="Leading-Their-Imperial-Highnesses-to-the-dias.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42085">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading their Imperial Highnesses to the dias</figcaption></figure>From UNESCO Awards to the Padma Vibhushan, her legacy endures in every artisan earning a dignified living today.Kamaladevi died in 1988, but her question echoes: What does freedom mean without bodily autonomy, economic independence, and cultural sovereignty?As you explore her work—and I hope you will—ask yourself: What would Kamaladevi be fighting for today?<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_sxvcXO0tg" title="Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Idea of Cultural Sovereignty by Priyanka Jha | New Series | EP 02 " frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>

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Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The Woman who taught Gandhi a Lesson

<div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Shuruart Foundation has been using art to make education more joyful and effective since 2017. Does your child often draw the same thing again and again? Should parents be worried if this happens? In this episode of Child and Art: Myths &amp; Facts, we talk about why children repeat drawings and what it really tells us about their confidence and emotional growth. Learn how your positive feedback and encouragement can help your child express freely, think creatively, and build genuine self-confidence. Watch the video to learn more.</div></div>

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Same drawing again? Is that good or bad for your child’s growth?

<div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png" alt="Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As advocates, our lives are consumed by briefs and arguments, leaving little room for leisure. For me, the finest pastime is research and writing, a legacy I proudly inherit from my late grandfather, Shri S.A.A. Rizvi, IAS (Retd.). He was a gold medallist and a remarkable scholar of his times. His example instilled in me the conviction that the pursuit of knowledge is not merely an adornment, but a discipline that enriches both profession and personality.</div><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">It was in this spirit that a casual exchange with my colleague Nadeem Murtaza at the High Court rekindled this passion. His query, whether I had ever heard of “Douglas” or “Kinnaird Hospital” of Lucknow was not a passing remark, but a spark that illuminated a forgotten chapter of Lucknow’s medical heritage. His mother, Zahida Auntie, had often spoken of it, pointing to the site near today’s Lari Cardiology Centre, where the geriatric and mental health departments of KGMU (King George Medical University) now stand. That conversation became the bridge between my inherited love for inquiry and the living memory of our city, compelling me to delve into archives and dissertations, and to uncover the remarkable story of a hospital that once stood shoulder to shoulder with Queen Mary and Lady Dufferin Hospitals in Lucknow.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:426px;" id="attachment_41918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41918"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png" alt="Kinnaird-Memorial-Hospital-1-1-1024x666.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 240w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41918">Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital</figcaption></figure>The story begins in 1875, when Elizabeth Bielby, a nurse sent by the Zenana Mission Society, began her medical mission near Lucknow. Though beset by tragedy, her sister Alice died soon after arrival, and Bielby herself fell gravely ill, the mission still endured. By 1891, through the efforts of Dr. Grace Mackinnon, the Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital was established on government-granted land, named after Lady Kinnaird. She was a devout Presbyterian philanthropist remembered for founding the YWCA.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:416px;" id="attachment_41915" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41915"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg" alt="CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007-cropped1.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg 244w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41915">England Zenana Missionary Society</figcaption></figure>In 1910, Dr. Ethel Douglas took charge, and for the next 36 years she transformed the institution, expanding facilities, raising standards, and establishing training protocols that led to the North India Board of Examiners and State Registration Councils. Her dedication earned her the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal in Gold in 1927, and government grants that enabled new wards and modern equipment. As Beth Bullock Spencer’s dissertation records, Douglas’s “extraordinary influence” kept the Lucknow hospital “overflowing,” even as she grappled with challenges ranging from reluctant purdah patients to the infamous monkey menace.“Even the veteran doctor Ethel Douglas struggled to find a solution to the monkey problem, for some of the local people regarded the monkeys as sacred; harming the monkeys was out of question. Douglas resorted to shouting and shaking her rifle at the monkeys, but with little effect.”Snakes, too, were a recurring hazard, and cultural beliefs often complicated medical practice. Patients observing purdah resisted operations, some postponed surgeries at the last minute deeming the hour “inauspicious,” while others consulted village elders who determinedhe hospital became a sanctuary for women’s health, normalizing dental extractions, eye surgeries, and maternity care in a city where traditional practices often prevailed.The British contribution to Lucknow’s health system was profound. Alongside Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital, the Lady Dufferin Hospital was established in 1889 under the Countess of Dufferin Fund to provide safe maternity care. Later, the Queen Mary’s Hospital arose in the early 20th century as a centre for women’s medical education. Together, these institutions marked the colonial effort to embed Western medicine into the city’s fabric, particularly for women and children. They were not merely hospitals but symbols of reform, philanthropy, and the gradual acceptance of modern medical practices in a society negotiating tradition and change.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:396px;" id="attachment_41916" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41916"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg" alt="Lady_Dufferin_Hospital-_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing-768x432.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41916">Lady Dufferin Hospital, Lucknow</figcaption></figure>By 1965, however, Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital succumbed to financial constraints and closed its doors. In 1971, the site was absorbed into King George Medical College, now popularly known as KGMU, housing its neurosurgical and mental health departments. Today, its memory lingers only in archives and recollections, overshadowed by its contemporaries. Yet, its legacy remains unique – a Christian missionary hospital that combined philanthropy, medical progress, and social reform. A place where doctors braved not only disease but monkeys, snakes, and cultural resistance to bring care to the women of Lucknow. An institution that has produced some of the world’s finest medical professionals, researchers and administrators. The pictures of these alumni are featured below.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:276px;" id="attachment_41910" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41910"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_4_26ce212e58.png" alt="download-4.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_4_26ce212e58.png 235w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41910">Dr. BM Hedge – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:293px;" id="attachment_41911" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41911"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_5_c239ac1c62.png" alt="download-5.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_5_c239ac1c62.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41911">Dr. Sanduk Ruit – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_41912" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41912"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_d076bb83d3.png" alt="images-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_d076bb83d3.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41912">Dr. Naresh Trehan – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure><figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:211px;" id="attachment_41913" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41913"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png" alt="images-1-1-300x300.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png 156w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41913">Dr. Anil Kohli – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>As I reflect upon this heritage, I am convinced that Lucknow’s medical history is incomplete without acknowledging the forgotten jewel that was Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital. Its story is not merely of bricks and mortar, but of pioneering women doctors, missionary zeal, and the evolution of healthcare in colonial and post-colonial India. Remembering it is essential to preserving the dignity of our city’s cultural and medical legacy.</div></div>

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