May 2011 - RH

Spiritual Materialism – A case for Atheism

Is the Effect in Causation Intrinsic or Extrinsic?

Ideology and Dehumanization

Ramaswami Tripuraneni: Iconoclast Social Revolutionary

Righteous People in Governance can eradicate Corruption

Editorial Comment: Anna Hazarre:

The Litmus Test of Indian Democracy

Book Reviews:

Prithwindranath Mukherjee’s

Roopa Pai’s

Bjørn Lomborg’s

—Laxmanshastri Joshi

— N.V. Brahmam

—Jayanti Patel

—N. Innaiah

— J.S. Chandra Rao

— Rekha Saraswat

Bagha Jatin

—Amitabha Chakrabarty

Chanakya The Master Statesman

—Dipavali Sen

Verdens sande tilstand

—Subhankar Ray

Founder Editor: M.N. Roy

494

THE RADICAL HUMANISTMAY 2011

(Since April 1949)Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)

Rs. 20 / monthVol. 75 No 2

THE RADICAL HUMANIST MAY 2011

The Radical Humanist

Monthly journal of the Indian Renaissance

Institute

Devoted to the development of the Renaissance

Movement; and for promotion of human rights,

scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist

view of life.

Founder Editor:

M.N. Roy

Editor:

Dr. Rekha Saraswat

Contributory Editors:

Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal, Professor

Rama Kundu

Publisher:

Mr. N.D. Pancholi

Printer:

Mr. N.D. Pancholi

Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence

Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India, Ph.

91-121-2620690, 09719333011,

E-mail articles at: [email protected]

Send Subscription / Donation Cheques in favour of

‘The Radical Humanist’to:

Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number

111 (Near Post Office), Supreme Court of India, New

Delhi, 110001, India [email protected]

Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600

Please Note: Authors will bear sole accountability

for corroborating the facts that they give in their

write-ups. Neither IRI / the Publisher nor the Editor

of this journal will be responsible for testing the

validity and authenticity of statements &

information cited by the authors. Also, sometimes

some articles published in this journal may carry

opinions not similar to the Radical Humanist

philosophy; but they would be entertained here if the

need is felt to debate and discuss upon them.

Rekha Saraswat

Vol. 75 Number 2 May 2011

Download and read the journal at

www.theradicalhumanist.com

- Contents -1. From the Editor’s Desk:

Anna Hazarre: Litmus Test of Indian Democracy

—Rekha Saraswat 1

2. Remembering Justice R.A. Jahagirdar

—Arvind V. Savant 2

3. From the Writings of Laxmanshastri Joshi:

Spiritual Materialism: A case for Atheism 3

4. Guests’ Section:

A Travesty Of Election Law (Contd.)

—S.N. Shukla 6

5. Current Affairs:

Righteous People in Governance can eradicate

Corruption

— J.S. Chandra Rao 9

People and the Polity

—Ajit Bhattacharyya 11

6. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:

RT: Iconoclast Social Revolutionary

—N. Innaiah 12

Ideology And Dehumanization

—Jayanti Patel 14

Is The Effect In Causation Intrinsic Or Extrinsic?

—N.V. Brahmam 18

7. Teachers’ & Research Scholars’ Section:

The Lokpal Bill

—Rajni V. Aithal 21

Verdict on Godhara – A Mockery of Justice?

—Manzoor Ali 24

8. Book Review Section:

Impending Destruction of Environment: A Myth?

—Subhankar Ray 26

Chanakya: The Masterman —Dipavali Sen 29

Bagha Jatin: Life and times of Jatin da

—Amitabh Chakrabarty 31

Humanist News 35

From The Editor’s Desk: Anna

Hazarre—The Litmus

Test of Indian Democracy

Why has a personcalled Anna

Hazarre become so popular inIndia?

—Because others in theParliament failed to serve thepurpose!

Why did every one begin toequate him with Gandhi?

—Because the common man believes in miraclesand expected Anna to wipe out the vice in politicssame as he expected from Gandhi!

Why did Anna Hazarre feel the need to sit on fast atJantar Mantar?

—Because his experience in Maharashtra taughthim the way to activate the media-sensitivepoliticians!

Why did the ruling- party-combine immediatelyrespond to Anna’s fast?

—Because it found in it a good chance to improveits immensely tarnished image!

Why was the opposition so vociferous in its supportto him?

—Because it found in it the best opportunity tosubstantiate its blame-game on the ruling party!

Why were some party leaders not allowed to enterthe fasting site of Anna?

—Because people wanted the new charismaticgroup to deliver without their support-drama!

Why are civil societies gradually gaining so muchimportance?

—Because the middle-class now wants them toimprove the society without itself coming forwardto make efforts!

Why are people coming out in large numbers tosupport them?

—Because they want to hang on to any support thatcomes their way to make their lives better!

Was the show of solidarity for the festivity or forthe cause?

—Basically, the festive-crazy crowd wants to revelon each occasion!

(One wonders, was it the euphoria of thesimultaneous two wins in the Cricket World Cupthat gave the Indian people the confidence toenvisage a change in the functioning of the Indianpolitical system also)

Let us now come to ourselves!!

Let us simply marvel at the blank ennui in each oneof us……..

Some one else will play the match for us and wewill clap!

Some one else will win the elections for us and wewill vote!

Some one else will run the government for us butwe will complain!

Some one else will cleanse the system for us but wewill bribe!

Some one else will catch the corrupt but we willplay safe!

We will vote in selfish interests and then willdemand for the right to recall the M.P. / M.L.A.!

We will not perform our duties in applying the rulesof democracy in our personal, professional andsocial lives but will cry hoarse for our right to

initiative in forming the laws of our nation!

We will ignore all such undemocratic governmentdecisions which directly or indirectly profit us butwill talk of our right to referendum the moment ourpersonal benefit is at stake.

We will become arrogantly impatient andautocratic in our behaviour when our judgments aredenied and our expectations are belied in ourpersonal and public relations but we will leave noopportunity to equate the Annas with Talibanees ifthey show the slightest signs of impatience with thedelays in the delivery-system of justice for all! Ourvirtues of impassive apathy and self-centeredempathy have rendered the dream of a clean andhonest democracy into no more than a utopia!

1


Rekha Saraswat


2

Remembering Justice R.A. Jahagirdar

Dear Rekha,

I read your tribute to late Shri. Justice R.A. Jahagirdar, who was my esteemed colleague in the Mumbai

High Court, both at the Bar and on the Bench. I am deeply touched by the glowing tributes paid to Shri.

Justice Jahagirdar. Let me add a few words about his role as a lawyer and a judge.

As a lawyer, Shri. Jahagirdar was of the firm belief that law was a science of social engineering and that

one of the effective ways of serving the society was to practice law with a view to helping the common

man to get his dues. As a lawyer, he never confined his interests to the four corners of the Court room.

He always looked upon law as means of social service and not as means of livelihood. He was a

straightforward lawyer who used to study his brief meticulously, both on facts and law, and put it fairly

to the Court irrespective of the consequences. Akin to the philosophy of Bhagvat Geeta he believed in

doing his job faithfully and to the best of his ability, without bothering about the results.

As a Judge, Justice Jahagirdar was a totally ‘no nonsense’ Judge. He was known for his transparent

honesty and shining integrity. He did his homework well and expected the members of the Bar to be

thoroughly prepared, both on facts and on law. He maintained his own case law diary and was always

willing to help a junior member of the Bar by informing him of the relevant case law. In the social

gatherings of Judges and lawyers, Justice Jahagirdar maintained a respectable distance from the

members of the Bar. He believed that, even in his personal life, a Judge had to observe certain standards

and constraints.

I would be failing in my duty if I do not mention the active support of Dr. (Smt.) Sharad Jahagirdar in the

success achieved by Justice Jahagirdar in his personal and professional career. Dr. (Smt.) Jahagirdar

was always keen to help every needy patient, for whatever help one needed, in the Bombay Hospital,

where she occupied a position of distinction by sheer dint of her merit and reputation. Whether it was a

Judge or a peon, whether in service or retired, Dr. (Smt.) Jahagirdar would ensure that the patient got the

right treatment at the right time.

In the death of Shri. Justice Jahagirdar, the fraternity has lost a role model whom Judges and lawyers

could look up to and draw inspiration. I join the family of Radical Humanists in paying my humble

tribute to the departed soul.

Arvind V. Savant

(Former Advocate General of Maharashtra, Chief Justice, Kerala High Court, Chairman-Maharashtra

State Human Rights Commission)

From The Writings of Laxmanshastri Joshi:

SpiritualMaterialism – Acase for Atheism

Translated by

—Arundhati Khandkar

[The book Spiritual Materialism – A case for

Atheism, A New Interpretation of the

Philosophy of Materialism written by

Tarkateertha Laxmanshastri Joshi has been

translated by his daughter, Arundhati

Khandkar, who was formerly Professor of

Philosophy at S.I.E.S. College, University of

Mumbai, India. He passed away many decades

ago but his contribution in building up the

philosophical base of Radical Humanism has

been no less. Roy acknowledged it in his life time

and the followers of the philosophy continue to do

so. I had requested Ms. Khandkar to translate her

father’s major works from to Marathi to English

for the benefit of the contemporary readers of RH.

And to our pleasant surprise she informed that

there is already the above mentioned book in

English done by her. It is being serialised in The

Radical Humanist June 2010 onwards. She has

also promised to send us in English, gradually,

more of his Marathi literature.

Laxmanshastri wrote this essay with the title

Materialism or Atheism in 1941. How

meaningful and necessary it is, even now, 70

years later, can be understood by the following

paragraph given on the cover page of the book.

—Rekha Saraswat]

“That religion more often than not tends toperpetuate the existing social structure rather thanbeing reformist and that it benefits the upperclasses. They perpetrate the illusions and are usedfor impressing the weaker sections of the society.

Many taboos which might have had somebeneficial effects are given a permanent sanctionand these put a fetter on further progress. Theargument that religion promotes social stability andsocial harmony is examined and rejected. Withoutthe dubious benefit of religion various secularworldly values have been developed and they havebenefited mankind more than the vaunted religiousvalues. With no sops of religion men have labouredhard and the finest admirable qualities of men’sspirit have been developed inspite of religiousinfluence – the scientists and the reformers areexamples. The humility that should force itself inthe presence of the infinite and the unknown ismore to be seen with the scientist, the philosopherthan the religious leaders and often this drives themto fathom the depths of thought in the quest fortruth. Rarely does religion explain the how andwhy. These have become the preoccupations ofpeople in secular fields. With a sense ofself-reliance and self-confidence guiding him, manhas dropped the earlier props of religion. In Indiatoo, the social order was seen as embodying moralvalues.”

Contd. from the previous issue............

Meaning of the word material (Jada)—

The word ‘Material’ in English is synonymous withthe word ‘Jada’ in Sanskrit. It is an object which isdevoid of knowledge-attribute or has neithersensation nor perception. The antonym for the wordJada is animate or sentient or chetana in Sanskrit.In Indian Philosophy, this term chetana also standsfor Knower or Gyata, an object which possesseseither knowledge or perception or exists as anembodiment of knowledge. An inanimate orAchetan thing is a Jada thing. An object called‘Jada’ has the following characteristics: 1) It existsindependently, in the absence of any consciousnessof any knower, 2) It does not have its ownawareness, 3) It, by itself is either devoid ofknowledge-form or consciousness-form. Forinstance, a diamond lies in a natural state in a mine.It is inanimate or Jada material for the following


3

Laxman S. Joshi

reasons. A) It is lying there unknown to anyone formillions of years, B) It is, by itself devoid ofawareness, and C) It, by itself, is not in any form ofknowledge. The revolutionary particle physicsmeaning quantum mechanics (qm) gave birth toQuantum quandaries such as reality created byobserver or by consciousness, after the death ofNewtonian classical physics in the first quarter ofthe twentieth century. Resolution of the qmquandaries continues to be a philosophical quest forthe philosopher-physicists in the 21st century. Intheir world, God comes and goes. No singlegenuine research in physics, in this matter has yetmaterialised. The Berkeley philosophy, ‘Esse estpercipi’= “To be is to be perceived”, however, hasnot ceased to stretch their imagination.

Central Paradigm of Materialism—

Three stages of substance:—Matter, Life and

Consciousness: Prior to the appearance of ananimate thing or a living organism in the world,nature existed non-conscious and non-life.Conscious and live objects are a part of naturewhich have arisen inside nature at a specific time ina specific situation. Life and consciousnessconstitute a special event in nature. This event hasemerged from the very nature, unconscious andinanimate. The central paradigm of materialism is‘Substance inanimate and unconscious before,becomes live and conscious.’ What is Jada,

unconscious and lifeless in the first stage, that onlyin the second stage becomes conscious and live.Live and conscious is the evolutionarydevelopment of only Jada, or inanimate substance.Originally what is material, becomes non-material,later. Vegetation, the Floras, and animal life, theFaunas constitute live nature. Insects, reptiles,mammals, birds, humans and other creaturesconstitute the sentient nature. Sentient means asubstance possessing consciousness or knowledge.Man occupies the supreme position inside theknowledgeable sentient nature. Knowledgeable orintelligent object, such as man, who thinks about allobjects, has not been existing in nature frometernity in antiquity. Intelligent object is not

universal, and is not the root cause of all otherobjects. It is on the contrary, an object which isimpermanent, functionally formulated. It is createdcausally as a distinct object in space-time and isunique. The durable anthropological paradigm inthis context is worth remembering. Africa is theoriginal home of the Homo sapiens.

Physical Transforms into Metaphysical: Whatexists at first is material, insentient and inanimate.Heat, electricity, the gaseous; liquid as well as solidforms of matter existed before live and consciousforms of nature came into existence. From the earlyinanimate stage, substances belonging to quasi-lifeforms developed. A living organism means anobject which is an automaton, which lives bydigesting food, voiding excreta and reproducing itsown kind. Nature of plant is exactly similar. Thenext stage higher in the living nature is theconscious world. Conscious means the objectwhich inheres intelligence or awareness. Ananimal, a bird, a man and so on is such a thing.Inanimate, animate, and conscious are the stagesthat lie one above another, on the evolutionaryscale of quasi-life form substances. Lifeless andunconscious matter finds itself endowed withexceptionally effective high level design and thesame assumes forms— live and conscious. Withinmatter only, attributes of life appear and qualities ofmind evolve. That which exists as physical,metamorphoses into metaphysical. Spiritual state isthe transformation of only the physical state. Jada

finally becomes life, the Jeeva. (18)

Body or Soul: Difference is Point of View: If oneexamines closely any life form or sentient form,one will discover that it is a group of inanimatesubstances made up of various, different andsub-microscopic structures. Inside thesesubstances, one finds principally, chemicalelements and compounds. Biological cellscomposed of these elements and compounds areobserved conjoining in specific patterns. Onedetects also systems, formed by collectives ofcellular designs, performing various differentfunctions. Among these systems, one also comes


4

across a system made up of networks of nervefibres. This system that assumes the conscious orthe mental form is called the nervous system. Thesame system is called the body. It is in itself the soulor the mind. Body or the soul has one identicalform. Power of life or power of soul is not differentand separate. Animate or conscious are adjectivalaspects of the body, the substance. From one pointof view that which looks like the body, appearsfrom another point of view, the soul or the mind.(19) To experience reality, to think and feel, toimagine and resolve, to doubt and desire, to hateand be angry, to love and remember, are all thecharacteristic states of the mind or soul. They are, atthe same time, also bodily states. Body is the sameas the mind. The mind or the soul does not existoutside the body.

Cycle of Rebirth: Body being the soul, there is nosoul, which lives beyond its annihilation or beforeits coming into existence. Simultaneously with thedestruction of body, consciousness and life alsocomes to an end. As the mind or the soul ceases tofollow the decimation of a body, the concept of thesoul, as the retainer of the prior birth or the adopterof the future birth or the traveller through countlessYoni, the uteri, loses credibility. The very conceptof the soul which resides in a body, who after itsdeath is reborn successively in various differentwombs according to his Karma, and goes either toheaven due to deeds virtuous or to perdition due todeeds vicious, is false. There is no such soul in aliving body having separate existence whatsoever.

Soul and Hindu Scriptures: Various Hinduscriptures have described in different ways, travelsof the souls in many worlds. They refer to anearthling who travels very many heavens and hells,an itinerant bound by the chain of destiny facingrecurring birth and deaths, who passes through 84million wombs, the Yoni, as a result of his living anignorant life! They describe an individual whofrees himself through knowledge. Therein we alsofind a forgetful family man who has experienced ineach and every previous birth, very many strangeand baffling heavens, hells and countless births, theYoni. With the exception of imaginary and baselessstories from mythology and theology andbewildering justification concocted by people whodeceive themselves and others, there is no otherevidence whatsoever for the proposition that thesoul is separate from the body. Quite a fewphilosophers formulate clever arguments as prooffor the existence of an independent soul on the basisof logic. Those arguments however are flawed bycausal fallacies. Justification of the traditional andpopular but erroneous beliefs is the only purpose.

References:

18- Julian Huxley, The Stream of Life p.36; 19-

H.G. Wells, Huxley, The Science of Life. p. 761:Perhaps we treat body and mind as opposites inkind, when in fact it is one face of a singletwo-faced reality.

Contd. in the next issue.............................


5

Meeting Announcement:

There will be a Public Meeting on “Banning Organizations and Freedom of Expression” at 5 p.m.(Thursday) on 28th April, 2011 at Plenary Hall, Indian Law Institute, (In front of Supreme Court),Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi-110001.

The main speakers will be Nandita Haksar (Writer and Human Rights Activist), Kamal Farooqui

(Ex-Chairman, Delhi Minority Commission) and Javed Anand (Secretary, Muslims For SecularDemocracy).

N.D. Pancholi, Secretary, IRI and President, PUCL, Delhi unit will preside.

Information sent by: Shivakant Gorakhpuri, Secretary, PUCL, Delhi unit

Guests’ Section:

[Mr. S.N. Shukla belonged to 1967 batch of IAS

and retired as Chairman State Vigilance

Commission, U.P., after serving as Industrial

Development Commissioner and Administrative

Member Board of Revenue. Topper of the 1964

L.L.B. Exam of undivided Agra University, he has

taken to legal profession after his retirement from

service in February 2003 basically to take up

public issues and to procure justice for the poor.

As ‘General Secretary of ‘Lok Prahri’, he has been

conducting several PILs in Lucknow Bench of

Allahabad High Court and also in the Supreme

Court.]

A Travesty Of Election Law

Contd. from the last issue................

III Denial of Right of Statutory Appeal

A perusal of the judgment dated 22.1.2010dismissing the election petition shows that such animportant matter was disposed of in a rather casualand cursory manner as is evident from following-

i. Sarva Shri O.P. Srivastava and P.D. Gupta wereNOT the petitioner’s counsel and Madan Mohanwas the petitioner himself and NOT his counsel aswrongly shown in the impugned judgment.

ii.The judgment did not even mention thepreliminary issues for decision; leave alone the 33issues framed by the Court on 21.3.2006.

iii. The election petition was dismissed consequentto the applications listed in the judgment havingbeen allowed without even discussing andrecording any finding on the issues framed on thebasis of applications no. 1517, 1518 under Order 6Rules 16 and 1527 and 1528 Order 7 Rule 11.

iv. The judgment made no mention of applicationsof respondents no. 5 and 11 under section 86(1) andof respondents no. 2, 8 and 9 under Section 83(1) ofthe Act.

A conjoint reading of the judgment and the writtenreply of the petitioner’s counsel would show thatthe judgment was clearly one sided, laboured, anddisjointed to somehow justify unwarranted highlybelated dismissal of this very strong case involvingfraud upon the Constitution and the electoralsystem. The apparent bias of the learned Judge infavour of the respondents is evident from the factthat despite the orders of the Hon’ble Chief Justiceon the expedite applications of the petitioner andthe repeated written and oral requests of thepetitioner for day to day hearing in terms of Section86(6) of the RP Act 1951, and the decision in AIR2004 SC 1975, hearing on preliminary issuescontinued for more than 15 months and thejudgment was given 6 months after submission ofthe written reply by the petitioner’s counsel to thewritten arguments of the respondents’ counsel.Thus, the petitioner was left with practically notime to approach the Apex Court to seek redressalagainst the patently wrong and unjustifieddismissal of the election petition almost 4 yearsafter the framing of the issues on the prima facieuntenable ground of non-maintainability.

On the other hand, the apparent bias in favour of therespondents is reflected in the judgment from thefollowing-

i. The discussion in the judgment, like the writtensubmissions of the learned counsel for respondentno. 3, 5, and 8, is neither application wise nor issuewise.

ii.There is repetition of the same point in severalparas and several unrelated points concerning


6

S.N. Shukla

different preliminary issues have been jumbled inone para.

iii. The factual matrix is not confined to undisputedfacts but is mainly based on the unsubstantiatedsubmissions of the counsel of the respondents’ no.3, 5 and 8. Even while discussing various issues,the judgment either completely omits to take noticeof the petitioner’s reply (as in the case requirementof affidavit in Form 25) or does not state it fully onthe various points.

iv. While the rulings relied upon by therespondents’ counsel are quoted extensively,without even mentioning petitioner’s reply as towhy they are not applicable, those cited in by thepetitioner’s written reply are either not referred toat all or mentioned in the passing and brushed asideeven though they were directly applicable on allfours to the present case.

v.No adverse comment on the counsel for therespondent no. 3, 5 and 8, leave alone imposingcost, while rejecting his frivolous and maliciousapplication against the petitioner’s counsel videorder dated 9.7.2009.

vi. While upholding rejection of petitioner’snomination (even without entering into the meritsof the election petition) on the ground ofinconsequential omission in para 2 of the Form 26,the impugned judgment took no notice of avermentin the amended para 32 of the election petition thatthe affidavit in Form 26 of respondent no. 11 was

no affidavit at all since it did not say that itsdeponent was making the statement on oath or evensolemnly affirmed it.

vii. Not summoning Dr. Ashok Nigam and PrabhatTripathi to clarify the position regarding markingson the certified copy of Form 26 and the pagenumbering of the documents despite thepetitioner’s application dated 2.4.2006 forsummoning them.

As a result of causal approach and apparent bias thejudgment suffers from following grave factualerrors are apparent on the face of the record-

i. The observation in para 32 of the judgment that“it appears that the petitioner had not served thecopy of amended election petition” is against theplea of the respondents in para 16 of the applicationno. 1579 and para 17 of the application no. 309 thatthey were supplied copy of the amended petitionand NOT the petition as originally filed.

ii. The observation in para 71 of the judgment ispatently contradicted by para 9 of the electionpetition reproduced in para 63 of the judgmentitself.

iii. The observation in para 74 of the judgment thatthis Hon’ble Court in the cases of PUCL and ADRhad ruled for introduction of Form 26 is patentlywrong.

iv. Also the observation in para 74 that nothing hasbeen brought on record to indicate as to howrejection of the petitioner’s nomination shall not belawful is also against the record as para 30 of theelection petition had detailed 12 valid reasons inthis regard.

v.The observations in para 81 of the judgment thatthe list of documents and the documents do notcontain the signatures of the petitioner is alsoagainst the record. A perusal of Annexure 1 to thisappeal would show that the list of documents filedwith the election petition was duly verified andeach and every page of all those documents wasduly attested under the signatures of the petitioner.

The judgment was erroneous and bad not only onfacts but also runs in the face of the law laid downby this Hon’ble Court. The petitioner accordinglyfiled the civil appeal D No. 6025 of 2010.

The questions of law requiring consideration in theappeal were as follows-

i. In view of the decisions in the cases of PratapSingh6, Ch. Subbarao7, Smt. Indira Nehru Gandhi8,Ram Prasad Sharma9, Anil Baluni10, Should anelection petition be dismissed at the ‘threshold’nearly 4 years after the framing of issues withouteven stating, leave alone adjudicating, thepreliminary issues framed on the basis of


7

applications against the maintainability of theelection petition?

ii.Could the presumption about the compliance ofsections 81, 82 and 117 of the Act on the basis ofRules 3 and 5 of Order XV-A of the High CourtRules be rebutted without respondents adducingany evidence to controvert the evidence producedby the petitioner to meet their objection?

iii. Could the applications under Order 6 Rules 16be allowed without even referring to the avermentstherein, leave alone recording any finding thereon,especially when no issue was framed on the basis ofthese applications?

iv. Could the applications under Order 7 Rule 11 beallowed without recording a finding on issue no. 9relating to compliance of Rule 11(e) and withoutindicating as to which other requirement of Rule 11was not complied with and why?

v. Whether in view of the law laid down in the caseof Murarka11, Prabhu Narain12, Manohar Joshi13,H.D. Revanna14, T.M. Jacob15, Bidesh Singh16, andHarcharan Singh Barar17 election petition could bedismissed for non-compliance of Section 83 of theAct?

vi. Was there any non-compliance of Sections 81,82 or 117 of the Act to warrant dismissal of the

election petition under Section 86(1)?

vii. Whether the High Court was right in treatingthe election petition as based on allegations ofcorrupt practice when in fact the challenge in theelection petition was on the ground of wrongrejection of the petitioner’s nomination andimproper acceptance of the nomination papers ofrespondents no. 4 and 11?

viii. Whether the High Court was right in decidingthe applications of the respondents challenging themaintainability even when the official records weresealed in the Court and also even when theappellant had filed an application for summoningwitnesses to prove his version against therespondents’ objections about maintainability?

ix. Whether in view of the law laid down in thecases of Narendra Singh18, Anil Balu1ni19, VirendraNath Gautam20, Harcharan Singh Barar21 thejudgment, placing reliance on inapplicable rulingsof smaller Benches, is sustainable in the face of thelaw laid down in the directly applicable rulings oflarger and Constitutional Benches cited in thewritten submissions of the petitioner’s counsel?

x.Whether in the facts and circumstances of thecase imposition of costs on the petitioner wasjustified?

To be concluded in the next issue.....................


8

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Current Affairs’ Section:

[Mr. J. Sharath Chandra Rao has been

contributing articles to Newspaper like

“Vaartha” and “Andhra Jyothi” and other

periodicals on Environment, economics and

other social issues. He may be contacted

at 1-2-593/40, Gaganmahal Colony, Hyderabad

– 500 029, A.P. Phone: 040-27638039]

Righteous People in Governancecan eradicate Corruption

There is a general feeling of anger amongall sections of people in our country

against rampant corruption. Naked abuse of powerwith several corrupt practices taking place with thecorrupt amassing thousands of crores in thequickest possible time by dubious means in an eraof receding values and morality has created aserious frustrating crisis in the society. It has alsosimultaneously unleashed many adverse effects onthe economy. Social activist Anna Hazare’smovement for a stronger, stricter Lok Pal Bill,fighting for effective impartial enquiries againstcorruption has generated an extraordinarygroundswell of public support. His indefinite fastbased on Gandhian principles of protest forced thepolitical class to respond positively to address thecorruption malady being so rampant in our country.Several top officials and political leaders are beingtainted frequently with corruption charges andgross irregularities. To eradicate this, sweeping

actions are needed to investigate honestly andobjectively prosecuting the guilty and punishingthem at the earliest. People are aware that merehallow declarations of bringing the corrupt to bookdevoid of active honest monitoring and supervisionof investigations will not serve any purpose. It iscommon knowledge that many persons beingcharged are either free or no action is taken due topolitical interference whenever they are beingcaught neither any action is taken against those whocommitted the crime. What is needed is an honest,political and administrative iniiative in taking stepsin checking corruption. Only hard and ruthlessdecisions are required against all corrupt activitieswhich will lead to restoring public confidence inthe people enhancing in the process the prestige ofthe Government. All such strong actions will alsowean away people from earning money by dubiousmeans and also from the primitive approach ofexpressing all values by money alone. Also talkingendlessly against the malice of corruption withoutpracticing what we speak will not lead to cleaningthe system. A permanent watch dog against allfuture misdemeanors is needed to keep up thecrusade against corruption.

Regrettably very little has been done so far to checkincreasing corruption, frequent violation ofestablished rules and regulations and also failing tocheck increasing injustices. All these failures havecreated a serious unrest and a feeling ofpowerlessness among the people. This is largelydue to the political and bureaucratic laws beingdevoid of an interactive economic, political andsocial relationship requiring a sense of obligationand motivations in serving the people and thesociety beyond self interests. Also lack oftransparency in governance leads to breedingcorruption at all levels. A powerful meaningfulLokpall Bill being proposed should beaccompanied by other reforms in several othersectors. We also need electoral reforms, policereforms and judicial reforms. Also laws may bechanged to put the onus on the accused to prove thatwhatever he possessed has been acquired honestly

9


J.S. Chandra Rao

which in turn will lead to speedier disposal of casessaving time and money. Further Anna Hazare’s fastis a lesson to all parties and organizations that go onthe rampage blocking rail, road and other means ofpublic transport, damaging in the processproperties and bullying people. Present nationwideresponse and support has been largely due to thevitality of the issue that was disturbing citizens forso long which led to a ten member committee beingcreated to draft an effective, transparent, legalLokpal Bill. The very fact that thousands of peoplecoming on to the streets to support the movementagainst corruption without a single incident ofviolence and without causing production lossesshould be an eye-opener to all the political partieswho hold bandhs and protests inconveniencingpeople. Also this movement against corruption willonly be complete when people succeed in installinggood and righteous people in governance toimplement all justifiable policies.

Rising GDP without the majority of people beinginvolved giving many opportunities for fraud andcorruption with little regard for human welfare ledto frustration, lawlessness, crime and violence.Growth at any cost has provided the impetus forcorruption. The exponential growth in the amountof money involved in scams with corporates andpoliticians indulging in greater manipulationscommitting frequent irregularities are now verymuch in the open. Today’s economic model ofgrowth expropriating natural resources sellingthem cheaply to corporates and individualsenabling them to earn huge illegal profits throughnefarious means has further boosted corruption. Ithas also led to people’s verdict and trust being oftentreated as a license for asset accumulation ratherthan effective governance. The frequent questionbeing asked everywhere is for whom is the so calleddevelopmental model? Present day policies are notbeing oriented towards a commitment to fairness,justice and objective truth focusing on the genuineinterests of human needs. Economic disparitiesaccentuated by lack of proper education, health,food and security effected large number of people.

A state or a nation’s development is not judgedmerely by the GDP growth rate but is judged onhow its people are living. People’s lives arepresently subjected to several uncertainties withmany living in fear and in turmoil. Growth has notseen the parallel development of social andeconomic institutions to ensure balanced, inclusiveand sustainable growth. In our search for morewealth, we have created several social conflicts ofsevere injustices, severe political uncertaintiescropping up effecting the sound functioning of thehuman society. What is needed is a balanceddevelopmental model restoring values addressinggenuine grievances in a justifiable manner. Fightagainst corruption is one such right step in thisdirection.

Real democracy demands consulting citizens andgathering their inputs while drafting billsconcerning them. Such a norm will provide citizenswith more power and responsibilities making themin the process, better and more responsible citizens.The creation of space for civil society participationin formulating policy matters augers well for afunctioning democracy. Further, the argument thatthe constitutional propriety of trying to hijacklegislative powers that rests solely with parliamentand that of dictating terms to an elected governmentby the civil society and that of the political classloosing their relevance in the process weakeningthe parliamentary system is not a proper argument.The joint drafting of the Lokpal bill by the civilsociety and the UPA will not lead to bypassing theparliament. The bill whatever shape it takes will beplaced before the parliament for its approval. Itwould have to be approved by members of theparliament before it becomes the law. A properlegally drafted Lokpal Bill will not give any scopeto bypass parliament and the constitution.However, the ultimate aim of the movement shouldbe towards effective, political and administrativegovernance capable of rooting out corruptionrestoring values and working towards a justifiableorder in the society.


10

People and the Polity

[Mr. Ajit Bhattacharyya is a history scholar and writer.

He is a trustee in the executive body of Indian

Renainssance Institute. He is also a veteran member of

the Indian Radical Humanist Association.]

Anna Hazare called off his 98 hours’hunger strike on 9.4.11.,after the Central

Government issued a gazette notification forformation of a joint 10 member committee ofcentral minters and civil society activists to draft aneffective Lok Pal Bill.

The Anna flash up has raised many questions. Annais charged with “utter disdain” and “contempt ofParliamentary Democracy”. Political parties arefinding fault with his uninterrupted criticism ofpoliticians. He vows never to seek to contest anelection because the “ordinary voter” according tohim , “does not have awareness; they vote under theinfluence of Rupees 100 and a bottle of liquor.They do not understand the value of their votes.”Such comments smack of Anna’s innocence andlack of understating. Politics is a complex game.

Engaged in a game one must play it according to therules, Hazare may be reminded, “The fault ofpoliticians”, as M.N. Roy asserted, “is the failure torealise that, so long as power remains the object ofpolitical practice, it cannot be handicapped byirrelevant scruples...even the best of men are boundto be pulled down to the lowest depth”. Annaavoids to be pulled down to the lowest depth byavoiding the election fray. But his sudden sniping

success is not going to put a stop to theunscrupulous scramble for political power and lustfor loot in the public life.

The crisis is deeper and it stretches wider to theprivate domain. The venom has so blunted ourunderstanding that we fail to realise that weourselves tend to be corrupt most of the times. Thatis the real danger. Is not it that many a 2-G scamswill be dwarfed if one is able to add up the privateloot. The three noble professions, we may take asexample, are highly polluted now. The lawyers,medical practitioners and teachers giving privatetuition seldom give money receipt against theirfees. Would some one calculate how much blackmoney is thus yearly generated? Are “the HasimShakhs” and Rama Kaibartas (the rural poor), toborrow from the Bengali Novelist BankimChatterjee, free from corruption and loot of statemoney? A scheme to provide free electricity to therural poor in West Bengal was undertaken by theState Government a few years ago. By the scheme,each household is to get 40 watt free electricity atnight. But many are reported to run heaters andother gadgets with impunity.

The organised sector is extracting huge salarybenefits from the authority. Are they givingproportionate service? Very recently the AirportAuthority in Kolkata had to engage a privateagency for sweeping the Airport area. Thesweepers on the Authority’s pay roll are not doingtheir job as they have started earning a high salaryof rupees 40 thousand per month. Retired Armypersonnels are demanding rank based pension.Cataloguing is endless!

Now Bill Gates and Warren Buffe are sermoningthat Indian rich men should make good donationsfor social uplift. They do not know that notphilanthropy but financially and culturallyself-sufficient individuals only can make the Good

Earth possible. But the system is making itimpossible for an average individual to remaincorruption free at all point of time.


11

Ajit Bhattacharyya

“Corruption is authority plus monopoly minus transparency.”—Anonymous

IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:

[Dr. N. Innaiah, former Director, Centre for Inquiry

(CFI), India, did his Ph.D on Philosophy of Modern

Science. He is a veteran Radical Humanist who has

translated maximum books written by M.N Roy as well

as other books on humanism in Telugu.]

Ramaswami Tripuraneni:

Iconoclast Social Revolutionary

While Britishers were ruling IndiaNational Congress party emerged to

fight for our country’s independence. In thoseformation days were born M.N. Roy in Bengal andRamaswami Tripuraneni in Andhra. They both, bycoincidence, were born in the same year (1887). Inthis essay Ramaswami Tripuraneni will be called asRT hereafter.

Tripuraneni Ramamamba-Chalamaiah couple gavebirth to five children and RT was fifth and last. MrGopalakrishnaiah, Narasaiah, Sriramulu andSubrahmanyam were educated. The fifth one RTwas born on 15th Jan 1887 in Angalur village,(Krishna district, Andhra, India). RT had hisprimary education in his native village andcontinued his middle school in Gudivada, nearbytown. Then he joined in 4th form in Bandar (nowcalled Masulipatam) the head quarters of Krishnadistrict and cultural, literary center. RT wasinterested to learn Sanskrit language but thetraditional Brahmin scholars refused to give himinstruction since it was taboo for non-Brahmins tolearn the holy Hindu language!

But RT was adamant and learnt Sanskrit languageunder the guidance of Asuri Kantaiah (districtregistrar). A famous poet was living in those daysin Bandar and RT had the great opportunity to learnpoetry under his guidance which inspired him alsoto write poetry.

Just as M.K. Gandhi married Kasturba at the age of11, so as RT also married Nagamamba (daughter ofAtluri Nagamma, Amaraiah) at the age of 11. Inthose days child marriages were not yet prohibitedand legal Acts were not yet passed.

RT passed matriculation examination in 1910, atthe age of 23. He wanted to study F.A. which wasequivalent to Intermediate. F.A. is Fellow of arts.But RT could not get through since he was engagedotherwise like sports and poetry writing. He went toMumbai (called Bombay) to study law but did notcontinue.

During his school and intermediate studies RT hadalready produced literary pieces. One such writingwas Rana Pratap, a play about a ruler who inspiredhim. But the British rulers banned that script beforeit was printed. The other two writings of RT wereKarempudi Kadanam (War in Karempudi),Kondaveeti Patanam (Fall of KondaveeduKingdom). In 1912 RT wrote Kurukshetra

Sangramam (Battle at Kurukshetra, near Delhi).All this literary adventure was done during earlyeducation days. He also wrote poems entitled:Naadu-Nedu (Then and Now) in which one poemwas about Kamma caste to which he belonged.Later he discarded the caste prejudice and emergedas a secularist.

Just at the beginning of First World War, RT wentto Dublin, Ireland via England to study Law. Hestarted from India on September 18, 1914 andreached the destination by 23 November. Whilestudying law RT continued his interest in literarywritings and contributed articles to Krishna Patrika

edited by Mutnuru Krishnarao and published fromBandar. His correspondence from Ireland indicatedthat he had no belief in supernatural powers,superstitions and demons. He returned from Ireland


12

Innaiah Narisetti

after completing his Law course by 1917 andreached India on 11 November 1917. During hisstay in Ireland RT wrote one revolutionary playentitled Sambuka Vadha (Killing of Sambuka). RTpracticed law in Bandar courts from 1917 onwardsand also actively participated in the non-Brahminmovement in Andhra. He attended couple ofconferences and was an invited speaker.

After practicing law for four years in Bandar, RTwas offered editorship of a journal Raitu.

Pamulapati Krishnaiah and JagarlamudiKuppuswami Choudary wished to establish thatmagazine. RT accepted the offer and moved toTenali. But the magazine never took off. However,RT remained in Tenali and again engaged in legalpractice there. He was also active in politics. Whenmajor towns and cities were authorized by theBritish to have limited local rule he becamechairman of Tenali municipality. He served in thiscapacity for over a dozen years, from 1925 to 1938.A public debate was arranged in Kollur village, inGuntur district between Pushpagiri SankaraPeetham and non Brahmin movement leaders. RTpresided over it in 1924 which had become an eyeopener to all sane thinkers in Andhra.

During his tenure as Chairman of the TenaliMunicipality RT abolished the sacrifice of animalsin temples in Tenali.

He established Sutasram Ashram at his residencewhich has become a pilgrim place, center ofcongregation for poets, artists, and social reformers(activists).

His first wife gave birth to the famous writerTripuraneni Gopichand and Sarojini. Gopichand,later became Secretary of Andhra RadicalDemocratic party.

She died on 15 Jan 1920. Then he married again,but had no children. She also died and then RTmarried third one who gave birth to the famouswriter Gokulchand and Choudarani.

RT was very active in social reform as well as inliterary activities during the days when he wasMunicipal Chairman of Tenali. In 1929 RT was

honored in Gudivada, and taken in procession onelephant where he was given the title Kaviraju

(king among poets) by Andhra Mahasabha, aliterary forum. Bezwada Ramachandra Reddi fromNellore presided over the function. Along withChallapalli Zamindar several other literarypersonalities and social activists attended thefunction.

RT wrote Vivaha Vidhi (Marriage Oath) in Teluguduring 1929. That revolutionized the communityand several persons came forward to get marriedwith Telugu Oath which was an eye opener. Theorthodox-Hindus, who were using Sanskritchanting as marriage oaths, were furious and calledit blasphemy. Hitherto only Brahmins served asmarriage priests where as RT’s book and the callfor social revolution enthused several non-brahminpersons to perform marriage using his marriageoaths in Telugu.

During this period Arya Samaj, which consideredall Puranas and Vedic claims as mere myths,became widely recognized in Tenali region and RTalso came under its influence.

RT contributed major writings called Khooni

(Assasin). Sutapuranam (Poetry in 4 parts)Kuppuswamy Satakam, Dhoorta Maanavaa,poems.

Towards the end of his life RT wrote arevolutionary book reinterpreting the sacred Hindutext Bhagavadgita.

One notable feature of his plays and writings was togive lengthy prefaces which reminds us of BernardShaw.

During early 1940 a meeting was arranged betweenM.N. Roy and Tripuraneni Ramaswamy in Tenali.They met and discussed their views on socialreform, concepts of secular humanism in thepresence of Tripuraneni Gopichand and AvulaGopalakrishna Murthy. But the meeting was sobrief that they could not go into any details on anyspecific modes of action.

To be concluded in the next issue.....................


13

[Prof. Jayanti Patel. is Retd. Prof. Political Science.

His special interests are Political Thought, African

Studies and Political Violence. He has been the

Vice-President of African Studies Society, India,

President Gujarat Rajyashastra Mandal, Founder

Secretary Gujarat Univesity Area Teachers

Association and Gujarat Rationalist Association,

President IRHA and Editor Vaishvik Manavvad

(Monthly). He has written scores of books and scores

of research articles and contributed number of articles

on current topics in various magazines.]

Ideology and Dehumanization

Generally, a living being responds orreacts to its environment. With the

development of reasoning power in human beings,by the use of his thinking ability and farsightedness, they shape their behaviour-responsedifferently. Hence, if we ask a person, why hebehaved in a particular way? He can give us areason for his action. In this sense, we find a chainof causal relationship (cause-action) behind thebehaviour of human beings. Similarly, if weconvince a person that, for certain reasons heshould act in a particular way, then he isencouraged to act in that way. Albeit, it is necessarythat, these ideas and the reasons provided by them,is acceptable to him. He considers that it is properaccording to his values and cultural upbringing andalso, profitable.

Ideological Justification:

It is necessary that these ideas are logically

coalesced and the person feels that the reasonprovided by them is beneficial for him. In addition,he must know that in the situation created due to hisbehaviour according to these ideas he shall havemore advantages then disadvantages. With such anunderstanding, a person or a group of personsacquires justification for their actions. Further,these ideas perform the function of combiningpeople in a group and create a sense of unityamongst them. From ancient times, human beingshave been provided with such an ideological crutchor rationale for their behaviour. Motivated by suchideas men have shown readiness to give or take thelives in the name of loyalty to the tribe, the king, thestate, a religion, a sect and/or the nation. Of course,it is more appealing to take lives then give it.

Nature of Ideology:

Ideology is the logical and well knit form of suchideas. Ideologies aiming to shape or restructure thepolitical, social, and/or economic system, likeLiberalism, Socialism, Nazism, Communism,Humanism belong to a special category. Theseideologies analyze the existing situation, identifythe causes responsible for the prevailing evils andsuggest an action program for the change. They,also, depict an attractive picture – utopia of thefuture society. It promises superior purpose, highergoals and greater good. This increases theirmotivation power immensely. It serves as anintoxicant which allows a person to compromisewith his sense of justice.

Injurious Elements:

Some of these ideologies have scant regard forhuman dignity and human life; they considerhuman being as a means. They disregard the valuesof freedom equality and brotherhood. These typesof anti-human ideologies promote ferociousnessand ruthlessness in a person. He develops a sense ofself-righteousness. His moral standards ofevaluating his own actions get distorted. A personmotivated by such ideologies becomes inhuman.He not only commits robbery, atrocities, torture,mayhem, killings, genocide unhesitatingly but also


14

Jayanti Patel

believes that it is a part of his duty and obligation.He does not suffer from any guilt complex whileperforming such evil acts. Such an ideologyabolishes his sense of guilt. It provides justificationfor his evil deeds.

Erosion of sense of Guilt:

Usually there exists a sense of guilt in an evildoer.When Duryodhan Says ‘Janami Dharmam (in thesense of moral behavior) Na Che Me Pravrutti’ andthe villain Iago’s repentance (in Shakespeare’sdrama Othello) they express such sense of guilt.While Arjuna haunted by the spectra of internecinewar is not prepared to fight, Krishna provides himan ideology and Arjuna, by saying ‘Nashto MohSmrutir Labdha’ gets ready for war and loses hissense of guilt. Similarly, by labeling opponents asrakshasa, demon, shaitan, kafir, blasphemer,atheist, traitor, goonda, a feeling of hatred isfomented against them, a palatable rationale isprovided for their slaughter as well as removal ofthe sense of guilt.

Historical Continuum:

This practice of carnage, without a sense of guilt, isevidenced through out the history of mankind. Asuccession of continuous slaughter, atrocities, andpersecution is carried out with the purpose ofextending domination or power. In the earliertimes, for the betterment of the tribe, king, state orthe nation, to attack other tribe, state or nation, killits people, burn their houses and crop, add poison inthe water, slaughter innocent citizens or make themslaves, abduct or rape women, were consideredproper. In present times, indiscriminate bombing orraining of lethal chemicals or virus is added to thelist. The blood soaked history of imperialism andcolonialism is still fresh. Even today, wars arewaged for the protection of the interests of thenation or for some groups’ economic benefits.

Religion:

Religions profess certain belief structure, idealsand norms of social behaviour. Hence, it can also becategorized as an ideology. In past and present,much more butchery, atrocities and inhuman acts

are perpetuated for the propagation of religion andprotection of various religious beliefs. Innumerablewars were waged in the name of religion. In India,slaughter of Charvaks and Buddhists, the perpetualrelegation of Dalits into most awful life then slaves,through the theory of Karma and the caste system,in medieval Europe, burning and tormentingheretics or those who challenged church’sauthority, by Christian Inquisition, in Islam Fatwasand their execution of death penalty for Kafirs andblasphemers; are only some of the examplesthereof. Communal riots, terrorist attacks on peoplebelonging to other religions are the products of thesame category.In the name of Ideals:

Incidents of inhuman behaviour in the name ofsuperior ideals are also, not less. Conflicts foreradication of exploitation or deprivation, civilwars or battles for capturing power for reforms,revolutions for abolishing feudal or capitalistsystems (e.g. French and Russian), have notremained free from such inhuman acts.Indiscriminate use of guillotine during the Frenchrevolution, in the name of annihilating reactionaryelements after the Russian revolution (whereinmany leaders and supporters of the revolutionswere slaughtered) are the evidences thereof.Similar pattern is visible in the violent struggles forthe national freedom from colonialism. In thesestruggles the natives were also victims of terrorismalong with the colonial rulers. Terror perpetuatedthrough parochialism or aggressive nationalism isof the same genre.

Nazism – Communism:

The milieu of slaughter, torment and terror reachedto an apex in the regimes under the Nazi, Fascistand totalitarian Communist systems. These ruleswere based on ideologies opposed to democracy. Acalculated and systemic reign of terror wasestablished on a large scale. Further, the personswho carried out this policy of terror wereindoctrinated in such a fashion that they actedwithout any sense of guilt. They believed that they


15

were performing a commendable duty for a goodcause. Solzhenitsyn’s comments in this regards inGulag Archipelago is significant. “Ideology is—that what gives evildoing its long-soughtjustification and gives the evildoer the necessarysteadfastness and determination. That is the socialtheory which helps to make his acts seen goodinstead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so thathe won’t hear reproaches and curses but willreceive praise and honors. That was how the agentsof the Inquisition fortified their wills: by invokingChristianity; the conquerors of foreign lands, byextolling the grandeur of their Motherland; thecolonizers, by civilization; the Nazis, by race; andthe Jacobins (early and later) by equality,brotherhood and happiness of future generations.Thanks to ideology, the twentieth century was fatedto experience evildoing on a scale calculated in themillions. This cannot be denied, nor passed over,nor suppressed. How, than, do we dare insist thatevildoers do not exist? And who was it thatdestroyed these millions? Without evildoers therewould have been no Archipelago.” (orconcentration camps) (P. 174. Translator; ThomasP. Whitney, Collins and Harvill press, London.1974.) And we can add: Nazi concentration camps,butchery in Africa, Cultural Revolution of China,Saddam’s attack on Kurds and other Iraqi people,incidents in Kashmir and Purvanchal, communalriots, terrorist attacks and ....., we can go onextending this list.

Ideology plus Society:

But, man and society require ideology. We can notdo away with ideology. All ideologies are notharmful. Ideologies have motivated human beingsto strive for just a society and a better future.However, some of them have proved harmful dueto its specific elements. We have to identify thoseelements or characteristics of an ideology andremove them or avoid that ideology. Theaccusation placed on ideologies as a dehumanizingfactor requires examination. It is not proper to labelall ideologies as the source of justification formayhems or ruthless behaviour. It would be

advisable to find out those particular elements thatare present in that ideology which providejustification for the evildoings.

First, over and above ideology, the social andpolitical milieu and systems as well as theconscience, awareness and the ability of the peopleof that region to resist, are also significant factors.They are also the products of some ideology andthey play a significant role in resisting andcontrolling tyranny. For example, millions ofsupporters of democracy, socialists and six millionJews were persecuted, robbed, thrown inconcentration camps or killed during the Nazi reignin Germany. For this oppression, after the defeat ofthe Nazi Germany, Nazi oppressors were tried fortheir crimes and eighty thousand of them wereindicted and sentenced. Also, the post war Germangovernment and the German people felt andexpressed their sense of guilt, repentance and paidcompensation.On the other hand, in Russia, during Lenin andStalin’s rule, more then three crore people whereimprisoned, tortured and exiled to concentrationcamps or killed. But for these misdeeds only eightpersons were sentenced and nobody has expressedrepentance or sense of guilt. (Solzhenitsyn; ibid) Itis heartening that in India during emergency,communal riots, oppression in various part, groupsof people have showed the courage to raise theirvoice against the atrocities perpetuated bygovernment, military or police personnel or rulers.

Craving for Power:

In addition to social ethos, another important factoris the craving for power – absolute power.Ideologies championing fundamental change,advocating restructuring or rebuilding a societyhave their own logical dynamics. Advocates ofsuch changes demand absolute, unfettered power.Further, to maintain their power, for their ownsafety, to eliminate opponents; the persons inpower go on demanding and extending their scopeof power. In this case the values like human life,human dignity, freedom, justice are sacrificed or


16

marginalized. A number of people either attractedby the ideology or fear or personal benefits or suchother reasons, support the scheme of the persons inpower or turn a blind eye.

Values and Ideology:

The third consideration is, which and what valuesare cherished by a particular ideology? Eachideology champions and upholds certain values.Religious ideologies go on praising the importanceof religious beliefs and mores, incomprehensibleand mysterious transcendental power, religiousteachers, religious commandments and religiousrituals. Nationalists (and parochialists) extol theirspecial culture and abstract concept of Nation.Totalitarians give precedence to a person, a party oran institution. These types of ideologies giveprecedence to divine or earthly person,organization, group, faith or an abstract concept,instead of the ‘human being’. Instead of accepting aperson as an independent, living being theyconsider him as a means or subservient to them.

Search for the New Paradigm:

In the light of these experiences we require to find anew paradigm for the ideology. Roy came to asimilar conclusion from a different angle. Headvocated politics without power and a culturalrevolution to imbibe democratic and human valuesin the society. Human and democratic values getpriority over power. Further, it is necessary tocreate barriers against centralization andconcentration of power at the apex. To achieve thisgoal, ideological absolutism, accumulation ofpolitical and economic power in few hands shouldbe opposed; freedom of thought and expression,and right to disagree, should be protected.

Decentralization of power, separation of judicial,executive and legislative powers or checks andbalances, as well as equitable distribution of wealth(wealth is also power) is necessary. In this context,ideologies like, materialism, rationalism,secularism, liberalism, humanism give priority toman and advocate democracy. These ideologiesrespect life, dignity and freedom of each and everyindividual; they profess equality and brotherhoodof man. They are not prepared to compromise,abandon or mortgage these values. Liberal andhumanist ideologies championing these values, andsociety’s willingness and capability to protect thesevalues, could prevent the inhuman acts.

The Challenge:

It is true that we cannot totally eradicate theaggressive trait from human nature. Aggression forself defense and survival is part of biologicalexistence. We may consider it as benignaggression. (See; Eric Fromm, Anatomy of HumanDestructiveness). The other type is malignaggression, motivated and encouraged by anideology that removes the guilt complex, sense ofjustice and human values. To save humanity fromdevastation of dehumanizing ideologies it isnecessary to promote ideologies which negate thepernicious elements of those ideologies. Ideologiesand ethos which champion and cherish democraticvalues, uphold importance of human life, dignity,freedom (of speech, expression and thought) andequality should be supported and promoted. Weshould strive to create an atmosphere in the societywherein these values are maintained and endeavorto develop the individual and social ability andcapacity to resist any encroachment on them.


17

Dear Rékhâ,

The issue with the tributes to Justice Jahagirdar has just reached me. I join you in my silent

homage to his great example.

Life continues.....

Warm regards.

Prithwindra-dâ

[MR N.V. Brahmam is a well known propagator

of humanism in Andhra Pradesh Region. He

attended the second Dehradun Study Camp in

May 1946, and some Radical Humanist Camps

and the Re-unions. Thereupon he became a

spirited Royist. He likes to call himself a

non-conformist Royist. Having been a teacher for

many years he influenced a generation of students

to adopt rationalistic thinking. Many, in humanist

circles, consider him to be an original thinker.

Brahmam’s controversial book Bible Bandaram

(Hollowness of Bible) won him many accolades.

His many essays in Telugu reflect a fine

philosophical mind at work.]

Is the Effect in CausationIntrinsic or Extrinsic?

Whatever is patent in this phenomenalworld at present has hitherto been

latent. This is one view. There is another viewdiametrically opposite to it, according to whichwhatever is patent is a new emergence. Which ofthese two is commendable? This question arose inmy mind more than six decades back.

The terms, ‘latency’ and ‘patency’ represent theformer and the later stages in the process ofevolution, and also the cause and the effect in theconcept of causation respectively. This applies towhatever comes to be perceived as an inevitableoutcome of what has until then remainedunperceived. Of the above two views, the first oneappeared to me plausible.

After I came into the fold of M.N. Roy, Iunderstood that I was not in a wrong route. Roy, thepropounder of Radical Humanism, stressed the ideathat the material cause which is the main cause incausation is always intrinsic. The efficient causeand the instrumental causes which are extrinsic justcontribute for the transformation of material causeinto effect. For example, Roy says, a man diesbecause he is mortal by nature; mortality which isthe main cause for death is intrinsic within man.Either disease or injury or snake-bite or any othersuch fatal incident which is extrinsic serves ascontributory cause for the metamorphosis ofmortality to death. In the same way, if a glassbreaks, the main cause for the breaking is itsintrinsic brittleness. Any other contributory causeis extrinsic. The above cited two intrinsic causes,mortality and brittleness, which are latent in manand glass become patent as death and breakagerespectively.

Some time after, I came to know that nearly threethousand years ago, there arose a seriouscontroversy among Daarshanic thinkers in Indiaregarding causation. Among the Darshanas, theSaankhya of Kapila and the Yoga of Patanjalisupported Satkaarya Vaada meaning that the effectalready exists hidden in the material cause. But theVaiseshika of Kanaada and the Nyaaya of Gautamasupported Asatkaarya Vaada meaning that theeffect does not exist in the cause as it is a newemergence. Thus I, unknowingly, fell in the path ofSatkaarya Vaada as I had come to the conclusionthat only what has been latent becomes patent. Thisconcept of mine was condemned by somerationalist friends, but I was glad to know that I wasstrongly backed by some noted ancient sages. Doesthe effect exist intrinsic with the main cause asSatkaarya Vaada pleads? Or does it not existanywhere before its emergence as Asatkaarya

Vaada argues? Which of these two contentions iscorrect? Each of them has its own standpoint; theAsatkaarya Vaada hurled critical remarks againstthe Satkaarya Vaada, to which the latter retaliatedaptly. Let us cite below their mutual arguments.


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N.V. Brahmam

If the effect is already latent in the plurality ofcauses before it becomes patent, then …

Asatkaarya Vaada: The effect must have closerelation with causative factors without differingfrom them.

Satkaarya Vaada: Without giving causative factorsand their specific combination, there will be noeffect at all. Therefore, it is meaningless to say thatthe effect which is a new emergence has no closerelationship with the causative factors.

Asat.: There must be possibility of the effectappearing to us before its emergence.

Sat.: If the effect is possible to appear in its matureform in any one causative factor before itsemergence, where then does the need of othercausative factors arise? Effect is that monistic formassumed by the plurality of the causative factorscombined in a particular model. Therefore, it iswrong to think that, as the effect does not appear inany one causative factor, it is a new emergencebeing separate from, and not closely, related to, thecauses.

Asat.: Production of the effect must take place evenwithout the subject, i.e. the efficient cause.

Sat.: The subject is after all one among thecausative factors. If the material cause is to changeinto the effect, the subject and the instrumentalcauses do come to help the process of this change asthe efficient cause and the instrumental causesrespectively. It is not at all commendable to speakabout the production of the effect by discarding thesubject which is one of the pluralities of causes thatcombine for forming the monistic effect.

Asat.: There should not be any difference in thecausation both before and after the production ofeffect.

Sat.: As the effect is the result of a specialcombination of the causative factors, difference inthe condition of causes is inevitable both before andafter the production of the effect.

Asat.: The difference between existence andemergence must disappear.

Sat.: In fact, existence is real, and emergence is notreal. When the various causative factors that hadexisted separately in their mixture state combineand come into existence as monistic form in theircompound state, it is called effect. The effect is thesame causative factors existing in certain patterncombine and come into existence in some otherpattern. Therefore, the effect, in fact, is a differentmode of existence of the same causative factorsonly. It is not a thing that has been produced. If weconsider it still deeply, therefore, the expression‘Production of effect’ is itself erroneous andmeaningless. Cause and effect are not two and thesame (Adwaita). Effect is not newly emerging,non-dualistic, principle of non-emergence(Ajaatavaada). When it is said that emergence is amyth and that whatever appears is nothing butexistence, it is sheer senseless to state that ‘thedifference between existence and emergence mustdisappear’.

Asat.: Effect does not take shape without subject(the efficient cause). If the intrinsic material causeis to take the shape of the effect, the interference ofthe extrinsic efficient cause is essential. How canthe effect take place without subject, the efficientcause? Where does such subject dwell in the effect?

Sat.: The process of evolution in nature is properlygoing on. New forms are emerging in the place ofold ones. The efficient cause does not specificallyappear in these transformations. When the efficientcause is not particularly needed in the process ofevolution, why should it be required in the relationof cause and effect?

As the existing cause is internal in the case ofevolution or mutation, why should it be essentiallyexternal in the emergence of the effect?Sankaraachaarya who enriched the philosophy ofnon-dualism (Adwaita) thought of removing thisdualistic element of causation from orthodoxHinduism and attached inseparable oneness of thematerial cause and the efficient cause to theimpersonal Brahman, which was to him nothingbut some substantial principle and not the


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conventional concept of God; man’s self is theindividual life force comparable to the limitedspace in a pot (Ghataakaasa) and Brahman is theuniversal life force comparable to the unlimitedspace of the sky (Mahaakaasa). Thus he visualizedoneness between individual man and universalBrahman. He also defined Brahman as‘undistinguished efficient and material cause’(Abhinna Nimittopaadaana Kaaranam Brahman).

This monistic causation is compatible with thespirit of humanism which is anthropocentric, i.e.considering man as the central figure of all humanthought and activity. In Humanism, both cause andeffect in man’s world is man. The 18th century, theAge of Enlightenment, which followed theRenaissance movement in Europe, was thebreeding ground for modern scientific mode ofthinking with humanist bearing.


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Rejoinder by Jawaharlal Jasthi on N.V. Brahmam’s article ‘Free Will and Determinism’ published

in the April 2011 issue of RH.

I am surprised and also disappointed at the writings of our friend Mr. N.V. Brahmam. I agree in full withhis conclusions that actions are willful. But my difference is with the way he led the argument to thatconclusion.

Because all the living beings have come out of the law-governed universe, they too must be rational iflaw-governedness is the cause of rationalism. It is agreed if you add “at their own level”. “Thisexpression leaves no speciality to man and goes against the spirit of humanism itself”. This is the firstdangerous step. We are humanists because we “make man the archetype of society, the measure of allthings and the maker of his own destiny”. It is not because we claim any speciality against other livingbeings regarding origins. This claim of some speciality for man is the starting point for spiritualism. Weaccept there are some special characters that distinguish man from other living beings. Otherwise there isno basis to recognize man as a separate being.

“Order is observed both in nature and in man. They are to be studied and understood separately”. Why?How can any body separate them and understand when they are continuous and integral parts of the samenature? “The non-living things possess inseparable qualities. But the living beings can have actions inaddition to qualities”. There appears to be an undue stress to distinguish qualities from actions. It has tobe accepted that actions are determined by qualities as he understands them. Even if you want to do something, you cannot do because it is impossible. You do not have the qualities necessary to do it. If I find amango on the tree, I cannot jump like a monkey and grab it because my ‘qualities’ do not permit it. Thatis determinism by nature. It does not mean I don’t have free will. I have it. But it is tempered with reason.That is rationalism. If you agree that there is determinism, it does not mean that you deny rationalism andfree will. Determinism is a restrictive quality, not prescriptive. In fact rationalism is itself a restriction onfree will. What Roy said is that this rationalism has its origins in the law-governedness of the universeitself. In the course of evolution, there is manifest a tendency to get free from this restrictive forces ofnature. That leads to innovation and expansion of man’s capacity beyond what is possible as a product ofevolution. That is possible because of the brain which itself is a product of evolution. In order tounderstand this we have necessarily to proceed “from physical nature to man, but not from man tonature”. That is, naturalism in the sense that we depend on nature to understand man and it does not ceaseto be humanism because of it.

It is not possible to disconnect rationality from law-governed universe. Free will without rationality isjust madness. That is why we seek rational thinking.

[email protected]

Teacher’s & Research Scholar’s Section:

The Lokpal Bill

After Independence India has beenwitness to a lot of corruptions in the last

60 years. The reasons for this were many. From theyear 1950’s till late 1980’s the economy of Indiawas under socialist-inspired policies such asextensive regulation, protectionism and publicownership, which led to the slow growth of theIndian economy. Then there was also a “LicenceRaj” a constant corruption occurring in the form ofbureaucratic controls. During the Licence Rajsystem all kinds of free market mechanisms werethwarted, and corruption emerged as an illegitimateprice mechanism which was created by thepolitico-economic regime.

To solve this problem the Government hadappointed a committee under the chairmanship thethen Indian Union Home Secretary N.N. Vohrawho studied the problem and stated in his reportthat there is criminalization of politics and of thenexus between criminals, politicians andbureaucrats in India. It also contained severalobservations made by official agencies on thecriminal network which was virtually running aparallel government. This report discussed criminalgangs who enjoyed the patronage of politicians – ofall political parties – and the protection ofgovernment functionaries. It also revealed thatpolitical leaders had become the leaders of gangs.They were also connected to the military. Over theyears criminals had been elected to local bodies,State Assemblies, and even the Parliament. It

seems that there were certain annexure whichremained unpublished as it contained highlyexplosive material.

India Against Corruption Movement: But in theyear 2010-2011 corruption had reached to greatheights. It witnessed various scandals being blownapart by the media, whistle-blowers, civil societyactivists and government investigation agenciesalike. Scams like 2G spectrum scam, AdarshHousing Society Scam, Commonwealth Gamesscam and many more brought about name ofvarious Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers andeven members of the Armed Forces. This has led toa more expansive civil society movement thatwishes to graft the strictest of laws and penalties.India Against Corruption is a body created byvarious prominent activists and the citizens ofIndia. It has no political affiliations and only wishesto bring about drastic changes in the governancesystem of India so as to tackle corruptioneffectively.

Indian anti-corruption movement: The 2011Indian anti-corruption movement is the result of thevarious protests for the Jan Lokpal Bill (CitizenOmbudsman Bill) which emerged all over Indiaespecially after April 5th 2011. The basic agenda ofthese protestors was that the Government of Indiashould draft a strong anti-graft Lokpal bill whichfollows the originally drafted bill and not thechanges the government plans to bring in, whichwill make the Lokayukta just another advisorybody with no actual power in the vast Indianbureaucracy. Following continuous calls in vain tothe government to work effectively towardspassing the bill, a renowned civil society activistand Gandhian, Anna Hazare, went on an indefinitehunger strike unto death until his demands insupport of the bill were met. Anna demanded a jointcommittee of Civil Society members andgovernment representatives to draft a stronganti-graft bill. The main idea behind the formationof Jan Lokpal Bill is to have an independent bodywhich would investigate cases of corruption withina year and ensure speedy trial within the next year.


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Rajani.V. Aithal

India Against Corruption has made it its primeobjective to bring about the passing in parliamentand subsequent effective enforcement of the JanLokpal Bill. It has also become a force organizingprotests in support of the bill. Various kinds ofprotests were organized in various cities and townsof India. These protests included fasts, candlelightvigils and rallies. The protests are especially one oftheir kinds in India as they have no politicalaffiliation towards any party and neither theprotestors allowed any political party to takeadvantage of these activists so that they couldachieve and meet their own political goals.

Jan Lokpal Bill: Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizens’Ombudsman Bill) is an Indian draft anti-corruptionbill that would create the Jan Lokpal, anindependent body similar to the ElectionCommission with the power to prosecutepoliticians and bureaucrats without priorgovernment permission. An ombudsman is aperson who acts as a trusted intermediary betweenan organization and some internal or externalconstituency while representing not only butmostly the broad scope of constituent interests.This bill proposes the institution of the office ofLokpal (Ombudsman) at the center and localLokayukta at the state level. The bill is designed tocreate an effective anti-corruption and grievanceredress system that effectively deters corruptionwhile providing effective protection towhistleblowers. Several eminent personalitiesincluding religious leaders, Right to InformationActivists, social reformers and bureaucrats havesupported this movement. It has also got supportfrom Swami Ramdev who also publicly raised theissue of Indian money stashed away illegally inSwiss bank which is estimated to be between 1-1.5trillion USD. He says that the government musttake concrete action and bring back the money as itbelongs to the people of India and has been takenout of the country illegally. The bill is a first steptowards anti-corruption measures and will not becomplete without addressing certain majorreformations like bringing back black money.

Non-Seriousness of the implementation of the

Bill: For 42 years, the government-drafted bill hasfailed to pass through the Rajya Sabha, the upperhouse of the Parliament of India. The first LokpalBill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969 butstalled in the Rajya Sabha. Subsequent Lokpal billswere introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996,1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008 but all failed to pass.When Anna Hazare started his four day longstruggle of fasting Prime Minister ManmohanSingh stated that the Lokpal Bill would beintroduced in the 2011 monsoon session ofparliament.

Main Features of the proposed Bill: To establisha central government anti-corruption institutioncalled Lokpal, supported by Lokayukta at the statelevel. As in the case of the Supreme Court andCabinet Secretariat, the Lokpal will be supervisedby the Cabinet Secretary and the ElectionCommission. As a result, it will be completelyindependent of the government and free fromministerial influence in its investigations. Memberswill be appointed by judges, Indian AdministrativeService officers with a clean record, private citizensand constitutional authorities through a transparentand participatory process. A selection committeewill invite short listed candidates for interviews,video recordings of which will thereafter be madepublic. Every month on its website, the Lokayukta

will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details ofeach, their outcome and any action taken orproposed. It will also publish lists of all casesreceived by the Lokayukta during the previousmonth, cases dealt with and those which arepending. Investigations of each case must becompleted in one year. Any resulting trials shouldbe concluded in the following year, giving a totalmaximum process time of two years. Losses causedto the government by a corrupt individual will berecovered at the time of conviction. Governmentofficework required by a citizen that is notcompleted within a prescribed time period willresult in Lokpal imposing financial penalties onthose responsible, which will then be given as


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compensation to the complainant. Complaintsagainst any officer of Lokpal will be investigatedand completed within a month and, if found to besubstantive, will result in the officer beingdismissed within two months. The existinganti-corruption agencies (CVC, departmentalvigilance and the anti-corruption branch of theCBI) will be merged into Lokpal which will havecomplete power and authority to independentlyinvestigate and prosecute any officer, judge orpolitician. Whistleblowers who alert the agency topotential corruption cases will also be providedwith protection by it.

Difference between Draft Lokpal Bill (2010) and

Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizens Ombudsman Bill):

Draft Lokpal Bill (2010): Lokpal will have nopower to initiate suo moto action or receivecomplaints of corruption from the general public. Itcan only probe complaints forwarded by theSpeaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of theRajya Sabha. Lokpal will only be an AdvisoryBody with a role limited to forwarding reports to a“Competent Authority”. Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizens

Ombudsman Bill). Lokpal will have powers toinitiate suo moto action or receive complaints ofcorruption from the general public. Lokpal willhave no police powers and no ability to register aFirst Information Report or proceed with criminalinvestigations. The CBI and Lokpal will beunconnected. Punishment for corruption will be aminimum of 6 months and a maximum of up-to 7years.

Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizens Ombudsman Bill):Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Bodyand have the power to initiate prosecution ofanyone found guilty. Lokpal will have policepowers as well as the ability to register First

Information Reports. Lokpal and the anticorruption wing of the CBI will be one independentbody. Punishments will be a minimum of 5 yearsand a maximum of upto life imprisonment. Lokpal

will not monopolize a particular area.

Allegations against panel members: But as soonas the drafting committee was set up allegationshad come up against the panel members of the newcommittee formed as a result of Anna Hazare’srecent hunger strike to draft a law on corruption,especially the candidature of Shanti Bhushan,veteran lawyer, former union law minister andco-chairman of the new committee. To this ShantiBhushan said that “it certainly appears to be amotivated, malicious campaign to derail the draft ofthe Lokpal bill.”

First Lokpal Bill draft meeting: First Lokpal Billdraft meeting was held on 16 April 2011, Eightdays after Gandhian Anna Hazare called off his fastdemanding a stronger Lokpal law. The governmenthas agreed to audio-recording of all meetings of theLokpal Bill panel and to holding of publicconsultations before a final draft of the anti-graftlaw is prepared. Next meeting will be held on 2May 2011. Anna Hazare insisted to telecast the liveproceedings video, but government denied statingcertain “drawbacks” of doing so and so the firstmeeting was held recording the audio for futurereferences.

But the question is how far both the governmentrepresentatives and the civil society representativesare successful in drafting the bill and in getting itpassed in parliament and how seriously this bill willbe implemented.

[Ms. Rajani D. Aithal is a freelance journalist andan independent Researcher who conducts researchrelated to communalism and its various aspects.]


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“An Ombudsman has an obligation when it spots trouble, when it spots patterns,

basically to speak truth to power.”

Neal Milner

Verdict on Godhara – AMockery of Justice?

In February, 2011, consecutively the twoHigh Courts of India have delivered

verdict on two very important cases. One on 21stFebruary, which is related to the terrorists attack inMumbai on 26 November 2008 in whichMaharashtra’s High Court upholds the deathsentence to Azmal Kasab – lone survived terrorist.Second on 22nd February, Gujarat High Courtupheld the ‘conspiracy theory’ against those whotorched a coach of Sabarmati Express rioters basedon the Nanavati committee set up by the stategovernment (The credibility of the report placed byNanavati-Shah Commission itself came underscanner after the Tehelka scoop). The verdictconvicted 31 people and acquitted 63 including themain accused Maulvi Umar ji.

If one recalls the tense atmosphere aftermath of theMumbai attack right wing propagandists werevehemently argueing that “it (attack) could nothave been possible without internal help”. Theywere pointing towards a particular community whocould hatch conspiracy against the state driven by areligious ideology and hatred toward the majoritycommunity. They could have provided bothmaterial and moral support to the anti-nationalelements, which qualified them as renegade. TheHigh Court verdict in Godhara incident does findout those ‘conspiring’ elements within the nation.

Spurious base of Verdict:

The evidence that led to the conviction of 31

persons in connection with the Godhra trainburning case came from Gandhinagar’s ForensicScience Laboratory (FSL), eyewitnesses andcircumstantial evidence. It is feared that theeyewitnesses and other evidence might have beenmorphed and coerced to suit the official line.Tehelka through its undercover reporter broughtthe shocking story out to public. In a disturbingstatement, the Gujarat Government’s SpecialProsecutor, Arvind Pandya, told reporters thatJustice Shah was ‘the BJP government’s man’ andthat Justice Nanavati ‘was only after money’. Apartfrom this the Commission suffered from manyloopholes. For instances, the commissionexamined several eyewitnesses from among thoseaboard coach S-6. None among the non-karsevak

passengers claimed to have seen a mob carryingcarboys filled with inflammable liquid. Only thekarsevaks who had been involved in a scuffle withMuslim tea vendors at Godhra station claimed thatthe Muslim mob was carrying carboys filled withpetrol. The Nanavati Commission enjoyablyignored the U.C. Banerjee Commission, set up byCentral government in 2004, report. Hence, thevery base of current verdict appears to be spuriousand moot.

Fallout:

The Godhara verdict seems to give a boost toanti-minority forces and an opportunity to vilifythem at the national level. It also, thus, happens tojustify the Modi ‘action-reaction’ based riotsaftermath of Godhara as ‘natural’. So the killing ofmore than 3000 Muslims, rape of women,displacement and economic destruction becomes‘natural’ in one stroke. However, some scholarslike Mukul Dube argued that what followed afterGodhara was not a riot. It should be classified as agenocide. “So unusual were those events that manyhave been led to ask for a law specifically to dealwith genocide, as that form and degree of murdercannot be taken care of by the existing laws, whichapply only to the normal run of violence andkillings”.


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Manzoor Ali

The verdict may add armour to the reactionarygroups who were questioning the efforts of civilsociety fighting for justice to the riots’ victim. TheMuslim community who has not shown its anger inpublic may feel cheated again. They have alreadybeen burdened to respect the judiciary as done inBabri Masjid-Ayodhya verdict. What option does adisempowered minority has?

The question that is it possible to deliver freedomand fairness to minorities in the majoritarian politybecomes more pertinent in the present context. Therecent public hearing organised by Centre forSocial Justice finds no respite to the sufferingMuslims of Gujarat. In the hearing over 50 riot

victims expressed their views on the lives of theminority community in Gujarat after Godhra riots.Their story is actually a great story of failure ofprinciples of democracy and state. But who cares!!.

[Mr. Manzoor Ali, a Ph.D. scholar at the Centrefor Political Studies, SSS, JNU, New Delhi, iscurrently working as a ‘Research Assistant’ on aUGC Project entitled “Political Opportunism &Economic Performance in Major Indian States1967-2007”, Indian Statistical Institute, NewDelhi. He has also worked as a ‘ResearchAssistant’ under Mr. Kuldip Nayar and as a‘Research Associate’ under Prof. Zoya Hasan.]


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Letter to the Editor:

The fuss against nuclear powerThe recent tsunami and subsequent severe damage of a nuclear power plant in Japan and spillage of

radioactivity appear to be a windfall for the environmentalists, social activists, members of the so-calledvoluntary organizations and the like. They have spared no time to organize protest meetings, dharna andsimilar activities to re-aware the people of the severe dangers of nuclear power and to raise strong voicesagainst the installation and utilization of these power plants. Not only any new nuclear plant should beinstalled but also the existing plants should immediately be dismantled. In this frenzied backdrop somevoice of reason should be raised however feeble it might be.

In the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan no-one has died from radiation exposure.Although it is difficult to measure the aftermath of radiation it is quite likely that the spillage of radiationthat had occurred will be diluted in the vast water of the oceans and will be below the threshold for anyimpending danger. At the same time of this accident an explosion in another energy sector causedimmense destruction, costing the lives of more than 40 people, but most of us barely noticed it. Thedeaths of the coal miners, in western Pakistan, were eclipsed by the international attention given to thecrisis of the aftermath of tsunami. Accidents at nuclear power plants are rare. In contrast, coal-miningdisasters are too frequent to merit much attention — more than 6,000 coal miners died in 2004 in Chinaalone. But there is apparently no major agitation to shut down coal mines. There are many advantages ofnuclear plant. Nuclear power plants are in use for many years but how many serious accidents didhappen? It is very difficult to mention any except Chernobyl.

In any venture, or for that matter, even in our everyday life, there is always some amount of riskinvolved. Should we abolish the railways because there are accidents or not step on the roads because acar might dash upon us? We should gauge and compare the risks and benefits as we all do in our day today life. It appears that most of these agitators mentioned above are using all the fruits of moderntechnology and yet at the slightest opportunity make a hue and cry. We should be aware of this

deception. —Subhankar Ray ([email protected])

13 Regent Estate, Kolkata 700 092

Book Review Section:

[BOOK: The Skeptical Environmentalist:

Measuring the Real State of the World (Danish:

Verdens sande tilstand, literal translation: The

Real State of the World) by Danishenvironmentalist author Bjørn Lomborg. It wasfirst published in Danish in 1998, and the Englishedition was published as a work in environmentaleconomics by Cambridge University Press in2001.]

—Reviewed by Subhankar Ray

[Mr. Subhankar Ray is a researcher in

Biochemistry and has been, for a long time,

associated with the Renaissance movement.]

Impending Destruction ofEnvironment: A Myth?

Continued from the previous issue...

Longevity and health:

That the human longevity has increased needs noelaborate discussion. Up to 1900 the average agewas 40 in developed countries; in poor countries itwas much less, similar to that of Stone Age. In Indiait was 25, in China 24 and in Chile 30. Chile wasadvanced among the poor countries. Worldwideaverage was 30, which rose to 43 in 1950 and in1997 it rose to 67. Even in sub-Saharan Africawhere longevity was least the situation improvedconsiderably. The prevention of child death is themajor reason for it. The Author considers this agreat success and we totally agree to this.

A question might arise whether we are sufferingmore from illness due to increase in longevity. TheAuthor’s answer is a clear no. By viewing cinemasmany of us feel that in earlier days people werehealthier and lived harmoniously with nature. Byreferring historical sources he mentions that in olddays people very often suffered gastrointestinaldiseases, malaria, TB etc; skin disease wasrampant. The diseases that used to come fromhorses and other animals were no less than due tothe pollution by motor vehicles of the present. Therich did not take balanced diet; the poor often used

to eat stale and rotten food or remained hungry.

Since the last part of 19th century this problemgradually decreased due to availability of betterfood, clothing and house. Clean water, improvedsanitation, health education and unprecedentedimprovement in medical treatment were also otherimportant reasons. Infectious diseases werevirtually routed out from developed countries andsignificantly reduced in poor countries. Anewcomer is AIDS but comparable syphilis ismuch less. The major problems in developedcountries are now old age-disease, heart problem,cancer etc. Cancer has increased but if we considerage, increase in population and life style then it hasreduced. The main reason for increase in longevityis due to check in child death and infectiousdiseases. This phenomenon has occurred insub-Saharan Africa also although much less ascompared to other poor countries.

Mainly due to the outbreak of AIDS in sub-SaharanAfrica, longevity has increased less, which couldbe checked by increasing knowledge and change insexual habits; there is no need of large monetaryexpenditure.

The question, whether our sickness has increaseddue to increase in longevity is difficult to answer inone or two words. However increase in longevitymeans better health. Surveys of several developedcountries show that we are falling ill lessfrequently. But startling results of these surveys arethat we remain ill for more days in a span. TheAuthor’s explanation is that the conception ofsickness has changed over years. Now-a-days indeveloped countries people remain at home due tosoar-throat, which was not done previously. Largescale introduction of health insurance is oneimportant reason. Health consciousness and feelingsick have increased due to overall developmentspecially economic. Questionnaire survey showsthat more youths in USA consider themselves sickas compared to poor youths of India. As perWHO’s survey, average longevity of people ofsub-Saharan Africa is 50 and they remain disable


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15% of their life due to illness; whereas indeveloped countries average longevity of people is77 and they remain disable 8% of their life.

Another index for health is average height, which isgradually increasing from several centuries past. Ina nutshell the longevity has increased and healthhas also improved considerably.

Hunger and Food:

The Population Bomb, written by the famousscientist and sociologist Paul Erlich was publishedin 1968 and 3 million copies were sold. The bookstarts “The battle to feed humanity is over. TheWorld will experience starvation of tragicproportions—hundreds of millions of people willstarve to death.” Ehrlich stated that professionaloptimists (the term coined by Ehrlich himself)think in coming eight years India could increase heragricultural produce to such an extent that shecould feed an excess population of 120 millionalthough a large population now remaining halffed. He dealt in details how this could not bepossible. In the same vein one time head of theWorld Watch Institute Lester Brown wrote in 1965“The food problem emerging in less developedregion may be one of the most nearly insolubleproblems facing man over the next few decades.”However both of them proved to be wrong. Incomparison to 1961 the population of the Earthincreased twice (2001), but in both developed anddeveloping countries we are receiving more food.

In late eighteenth century Malthus first presentedsuch a well-integrated view. His contention wasthat population grows much faster than foodproduction. So we are gradually moving towards adeeper crisis. But in reality that did not happen. Wehave seen just above that the population does notgrow at the same rate and the production of foodfrequently increases much faster. As per UN ascompared to 1961 in 2001 per head food productionand intake of calories have increased respectively23 and 24 %; the number of half fed people reducedfrom 36% to 18%. In the third World production offood increased three times. From 1800 the price of

wheat began to reduce, which did not happen forthe last five hundred years.

The technologies that were behind thisunprecedented prosperity in agriculture arecollectively termed as Green Revolution. Whathappened was availability of high quality seeds,irrigation and control in water management, use offertilizer and pesticides and dexterity of farmers. Itis useless to elaborate on these issues. Many thinkthat use of fertilizer and pesticides and intensivecultivation are detrimental to agriculture; but howto feed 6 billon people without these? We could tryto increase production by increasing the arableland. But without improved technology this couldnot be possible. Moreover if we increased thearable land it would be harmful in the long run.

But this prosperity was not uniform in all thedeveloping countries. In the beginning of 1960sthis prosperity was more pronounced in manyAsian countries as compared to sub Saharan Africa.However in one or two countries such as BurkinaFaso and Eritrea this prosperity happened. For thismisery of Africa the Author has held responsiblecivil war, corruption and lack of will of theadministrators.

Prosperity:

In the beginning of this Chapter the Author showsthat in the last two thousand years per capita GDPhas increased worldwide. It was stable from 0 to1800 AD at 400 US $, it grew slowly at first andaround 1800 it crossed the 700 mark and thenrapidly increased. In the last two hundred years itincreased 8 times worldwide, in Europe 13 times, inthe surroundings of Europe 9 times, in Asia 8 times,in Latin America 7 times and in Africa 4 times. Hequoted a comment from a report of UN, “Fewpeople realize the great advance already made. Inthe past 50 years poverty has fallen more than in theprevious 500 years. And it has been reduced inalmost all countries”. In developing countries thenumber of poor people remained same but it hasreduced proportionately.


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But has this development increased inequality?Research has shown that in certain cases inequalityincreased during development. However there areexceptions. In many instances inequality is ahindrance for development. In South Koreainequality was less as to that of Philippines. InPhilippines development was lesser.

On the issues of development and inequality hequotes a highly-cited comment of UNDP, “Theglobal chasm between the rich and the poor widensday by day”. But the Author feels that the idea iswrong because UNDP had used the InternationalExchange Rate as a basis to calculate theinequality. But the economists know for quitesometime that when a country becomes rich priceindex also rises there. If we convert Indian Rupee toUSA $ then we understand what could we purchaseand what services we get in USA by this $. But inmany cases this is irrelevant. The real issue is whatwe get in India. For this, UN has introduced a newindex, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), which couldshow it. By citing some sources the Author shows ahuge discrepancy in results of these two differentmethods. If you calculate by Exchange rate anEthiopian earns 100 US $ per year, whereas by PPPhe earns 450. Calculating by UNDP exchange rate,in 1960 the ratio of income of 20% population ofmost reach countries and 20% of most poorcountries was 31:1; in 1991 it increased to 61:1.This estimate is frequently quoted. However byusing PPP World Bank and some other reliablesources show that this gap is not increased at all, butslowly decreasing. On the issue of equality andinequality it is difficult at present to have a clearvision of the future but some reliable sourcessuggest that it will decrease gradually.

It is not that this trend of increased prosperity isuniform in all time and place. For some recent yearsthis trend has been thwarted in erstwhile SovietUnion, in some countries of Latin America and insub Saharan Africa. The main reason of thispolitical instability specially in sub Saharan Africais racial conflict. In early 1990s in several countriesof Southeast Asia some crisis had developed. But

they could overcome the crisis and are again on thepath of progress.

The Author concludes there is significant economicdevelopment region wise as also globally. But wehave to keep in mind that a large percentage ofpopulation is still below the poverty line. For longterm development we need physical capital,investment in machinery and to educate people.More we need free economy, which will easeinternational trade and investment. Political andeconomic stability also contribute significantly.

Overall education has spread. In developingcountries 75% were illiterate in 1950, now it is20%. School, college and university education hasspread. Regarding India he writes that 100% aregetting enrolled for primary education. But there issome doubt how far this is reliable and what is thepercentage of drop outs? Higher education hasspread no doubt, but is there not a decrease instandard? Readers expect a detailed and balancedview in this issue.

Due to dearth in statistics only the situation inwestern countries is discussed on the subject ofleisure. In general leisure has increased. People arespending less time in a lifetime in jobs. Ladies areworking more outside the home and gents areparticipating more in household work. More time isbeing spent in watching TV. The people of richcountries are using gadgets more to ease their lives.

Many feel that past societies were peaceful. But bylooking at anthropological evidence we couldunderstand that in those societies that are now inprehistoric era murder was one of the main reasonsof death. Murder, injury and robbery etc are majorpreoccupations of media because interesting newsstories could be built by those. However the rate ofmurder has reduced significantly in westerncountries although suicide has increased. Deathsdue to pestilence, flood, drought, rain and storm,famine were very much less in 1990 than in 1900.From 1910 to 1940 it was increased to some extentbut then gradually reduced.

............contd. in the next issue


28

[Ms. Dipavali Sen has been a student of Delhi

School of Economics and Gokhale Institute of

Politics and Economics (Pune). She has taught at

Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, and

various colleges of Delhi University. She is, at

present, teaching at Sri Guru Gobind Singh

College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a

prolific writer and has written creative pieces and

articles for children as well as adults, both in

English and Bengali. [email protected]]

Chanakya—The Masterman

[Chanakya The Master Statesman, by Roopa Pai;cover and illustrations by Moonis Ijlal, Charitavaliseries, Rupa & Co, New Delhi;2003; hardcover,6”x6”, half-tone illustrations; pp 72; price Rs 95.]

Chanakya the Master Statesman is a shortbook in the Charitavali series of Rupa&

Co. The series is dedicated to the legendary figuresof ancient and contemporary India, ranging frompoliticians to scientists. Chanakya, Kautilya, orVishnugupta is a phenomenon more than twothousand years old. But even today he is relevant tothe political-administrative scenario and retains acertain enigma. What was he, this book asks.“Ruthless administrator or compassionatehumanitarian? Machiavellian kingmaker orfarsighted philosopher?” (p 5)

The book is in six sections or chapters.

Chapter 1(the Enigma that is Chanakya) points outthat there is “little written material” (p 5) on this

famous character of Indian history. TheArthashastra attributed to Chanakya came to lightonly as recently as 1905. All available accountsagree however that he “was the real power behindthe Mauryan throne” (p 7). Unscrupulous, evenvindictive, he also had an honorable andhumanitarian aspect to him. “ ….he was, for all hisruthlessness, a pioneer of human rights, advocatingthe dignity of women, slaves, and the poor.”(p 8)

Chapter 2(India in Chanakya’s Time) gives ahistorical-cum-geographical account of theMauryan times. One of this chapter’s highlights isthe map on pp 10-11 page 13, showing the variouscoins of that era.

How did Chanakya and Chandragupta cometogether? In what ways did Chanakya helpChandragupta to his throne? These are thequestions that Chapter 3 (Chanakya andChandragupta) discusses. Once Magadha was won,and Chandragupta’s potential threats subdued,Chanakya, as the book confirms, “relinquished hisposition as guru in the Magadha court and wentback to his Spartan life as a teacher” (p32).This ispart of the ‘superstructure’ of the Indian ‘socialformation’ – as reflected two thousand years later,say, by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi andJayprakash Narayan.

Apart from the association with Chandragupta,Chanakya/Kautilya is associated with theArthashastra, an enormously significant documenton statecraft, a treasure house of early Mauryanhistory. Chapter 6 (Chanakya’s Arthashastra)provides us nuggets of information on it. A fewexamples:

Vishnusharma had rated the Arthashastra highwhereas Banabhatta had been critical (p 35).

It is written as addressed to a king who wants toconquer the kingdoms around him. He is called thevijigisu and stands at the centre of a circle ormandala formed by other kings (pp 51-52).

It considered shudras as part and parcel of theAryan society (p 37).


29

Dipavali Sen

It laid heavy emphasis on military expansion andempire-building. War was supposed to keep anation’s blood circulation regular. Weaker andsmaller kingdoms, it argued, should be annexed bystronger and bigger ones (p39).

It assumed all land to be the king’s property, andsupported the payment of rent, land tax as well aswater tax for land irrigated by the state.

According to it, virtually every area of individuallife should be under state control, through anetwork of trained spies (p43). A Big Brother whois Watching is quite in tune with the Arthashastra!

Chanakya is also credited with the formulation ofChanakya-Niti. This is what Chapter 5 (Chanakya’sNiti Shastra) excerpts from. It rightly points outthat while Arthashastra was meant for kings,Chanakya’s Niti Shastra was meant for thehouseholder in his everyday life. Some of theseprecepts are in circulation even today. Examples:

Do not be too upright in your dealings. Straighttrees get cut down while crooked ones are leftstanding.

The elephant is controlled by the ankusha or goad.Yet is the ankusha as large as the elephant?

It is between equals that friendship flourishes.

The book makes an interesting point. Chanakyamasterminded the establishment of the MauryanEmpire. But Chandragupta’s very own grandson,Emperor Ashoka, “rejected” the Arthashastra

(p54). He gave up warfare and espionage in favorof the peace-loving ways of Buddhism. But, as thebook reiterates, Arthashastra did not die out. Itsurvived and, in fact, has regained its relevance.

Chapter 6 ( The Relevance of Chanakya Today)informs us that scientists from the DefenceResearch and Development Organization,Bangalore, along with University of Pune, and theNational Institute of Virology have combined in a

project to study the Arthashastra for ‘effectivestealth warfare techniques that would give Indianmilitary troops an edge over their enemies”( p63).It underscores “the work’s consistently amoral toneand unembarrassed pragmatism”(p65).WhileChanakya argues for warfare as an instrument ofstate policy, he can also look beyond it – at anothersuch instrument – diplomacy. “It is perhaps thisthat makes the Arthashastra enormously relevantin a twenty-first century world reluctant to engagein large-scale conflicts” (p65).

In the current context of Globalization, anotherrecommendation of Chanakya’s deserves mention.When a territory is newly annexed, the conquerormust respect the traditions of the conquered people.In modern times, this can be interpreted as arecommendation to preserve cultural diversity evenin a global world.

After the short bibliography, the book has fiveruled pages for jotting down any further points onChanakya. A thoughtful addition adding to theproduct-value.

Let me end this review on a personal note. It is along time since I had read Chandragupta, thefamous Bengali play by noted poet and playwrightDwijendralal Roy. Masterly in conception andexecution, the play had forever stamped a certainimage of Chanakya in my brain. The play may havebeen named after Chandragupta, but the real hero,even as a ten-year-old I had realized, wasChanakya. Being a student of Economics, I hadlater fingered translations of the Arthashastra, forexample the one by L.N. Rangarajan (Penguin1992). However I had never really gone into itsdepths.

But this almost pocket-size book has made me feellike doing so. I hope others will have similarfeelings and strongly recommend that they pick itup for a read.


30

Respected Madam, I feel intellectually enriched after perusing Laxman Shastri Josh’s and

Amitabh Chakaravarty’s writings. Amitabh Chakaravarty is my favorite author.

—Bagwat Prasad Rath

[Prof. Amitabha Chakrabarti

is M.Sc. in Applied

Mathematics from Kolkata

University and Doc.ès. Sc. from

Univ. of Paris, France. He first

worked at National Physical

Laboratory, New Delhi and

later entered C.N.R.S. and

joined Centre de Phys.Théor.

(CPHT)of Ecole Polytechnique,

France in 1965. He still

continues to work there. Apart

from a large number of papers

on varied problems of

mathematical physics in various

scientific journals and

conference proceedings he has

published a series of articles

(covering scientific,

philosophic, historical and

other cultural aspects) in

Bengali in ‘Jijnasa’ (edited by

Prof. Sibnarayan Ray). These

have been collected in a

recently published book by

Renaissance Publishers. A few

articles in English have also

appeared in the earlier issues of

The Radical Humanist. He had

reviewed the four volumes of “In

Freedom’s Quest: Life of M.N. Roy”

written by Prof. Sibnarayan Ray on the

latter’s request which was serialised in

the RH.]

“On his recovery, Jatindra hadoffered to Dr. SPS - as a gift of

gratitude – the padded skin mounted with the headin bold relief, along with the dagger.” Such is thefoot note at the end of chapter 3 of PrithwindraMukherjee’s biography of his grandfatherJatindranath. The mounted head was that of a tiger.Reading this I was again a boy listening to my

mother’s voice telling a story: howJatindranath became Bagha Jatin.From Prithwindra’s book emergesthe full story. Who can betterevoke such episodes thanJatindranath’s grandson?

To protect villagers Jatindra,armed only with a Nepali kookri,fought with a tiger and killed it.Jatindra himself was mauled. Aseverely damaged knee was treatedwith skill and care by the leadingsurgeon of Calcutta, Suresh PrasadSarbadhikari (SPS) avoidingamputation. For this Jatindra wasgrateful. For him the tiger was justan episode. Essential for him wasto remain able bodied, fullycapable, after fighting the tiger, offighting the British Lion. He setout to liberate his JanmabhumiIndia from foreign rule.

How was Jatindra’s body andspirit formed? Based on family-documents and stories passed onfrom one generation to anotherPrithwindra’s biography providesa unique and invaluable source.

The major formative influence was that ofhis mother Sharat Shashi.

Sharat Shashi was born in the vastancestral home of the Chatterjee family inwhat is now Bangladesh. Married toUmesh Chandra Mukherjee and widowedprematurely, she brought up her twochildren, the daughter Vinodebala and sonJyoti (Jatindranath) in the Chatterjee

home. The eldest brother Basanta Kumar installedSharat as the head of the household.

The more I read about Sharat Shashi the more I amimpressed. Devoted to social work, cultivated inBengali literature, she tried above all to transmit thedauntless qualities of her spirit to Jyoti. She would


31

Amitabha Ch.

[BOOK: Bagha Jatin - Life and

times of Jatindranath

Mukherjee (1879 –1915) by

Prithwindranath Mukherjee,

(National Book Trust, NewDelhi, 2010)]

Reviewed by Amitabha

Chakrabarty

launch him into the turbulent flow of the nearbyGorai River and then come swimming, cleaving thewater, to bring him back.

Once Jyoti, then hardly four, rushed in, afraid of adog. Sharat just gave the boy a log of firewood andtold him to go back and chase the dog away.Vinodebala wrote in her memoirs that this was thefirst and the last time she saw her brother afraid ofanything. Jatindra was thus already prepared to facea tiger some day.

Along with his school education Jatindra learned towrestle and ride. The day, rushing in throughvillagers stampeding in panic, he mastered arunaway horse his mother congratulated him. Theboy had learnt his lesson. Sharat Shashi’s ultimatelesson was that life is worthwhile if one dies for anideal. Jatindra will do so.

Prithwindra’s family saga is rich with tales. Thereader watches Jatindra growing up strong anddauntless and also reaching out to help thesuffering, the needy, and the deprived. One storytouched me particularly. Before the Durga Puja,Basanta kumar offered huge feasts for all – Hindus,Untouchables and Musalmans. But there was justone discrimination! Jatindra, participating in thecooking and serving, noticed it. There was refinedwhite rice for distinguished guests and coarse redone for the rest.

I quote: “One day, Jatindra sensed that a peasantwas hesitating to ask for something; fully awarethat they had plenty of vegetable, fish and meatitems prepared by the ladies of the family withtheir associates, he discovered that the poor manwanted to taste the white rice. Having promptlyserved it, Jatindra brought this to Basanta Kumar’snotice and, the next day on there was only onevariety of rice for everybody: the white one.”

Following Prithwindra we arrive at a phase ofJatindra’s life, daunting in its complexity andintensity. He has married Indubala, the bridechosen for him by Sharat Shashi. He is working inthe Bengal Secretariat under the FinancialSecretary Henry Wheeler, who appreciates and

admires the young man. But also, as a clandestinerevolutionary, he is organizing the activities of theAnushilan Samiti where young revolutionaries arebeing trained for the final struggle to throw out theforeign rulers and liberate India. The discipline isstrict, the training arduous, secrecy imperative. Hehas met Aurobindo Ghose, an initiator of therevolutionary movement.

He also has an ardent spiritual life and is a discipleof Bholananda Giri of Hardwar. His almostsuperhuman strength is matched by the strength ofhis mind holding all the strands of his life together.

At this stage, only under certain specialcircumstances Jatindra openly defied the English.British soldiers, swaggering about, contemptuousof the natives would sometimes use their boots,canes or gun butts to push them away or just for‘healthy fun’. Jatindra, if present, would take themon. They got thrashed by the single man wading in.I quote: “Some time later in a lighter vein, HenryWheeler enquired of Jatindra: Tell me Mukherjee,how many men can you deal with at a time, ifaggressed? With a smile, Jatindra replied: In thecase of honest fellows, I can’t handle even one. ButI can easily cope with a host of them, if they befoul.”

Jatindra’s aim was to structure Anushilan Samitiinto autonomous, clandestine cells communicatingamong themselves only via the high command.Thus if some members of one cell were betrayedand arrested, even under torture they would not beable to betray any other cell. Revolutionaries, thustrained, would only strike when sufficientlyprepared and wait for the suitable moment.

Such an organization necessitates great disciplineand patience - qualities inherent in Jatindra himselfbut not in everybody. Barin Ghose, brother ofAurobindo, preferred immediate violent actions.This generated tensions and conflicts. But Jatindraalso had disciples of exceptional caliber. One ofthem is indeed well known to all readers of The

Radical Humanist – Naren Bhattacharya, the futureM.N. Roy.


32

In Roy’s Memoirs under a full page photo ofJatindra one reads “Jatin Mukherjee-Jatinda-Roy’srevolutionary Guru - Dada - Commander-in-Chiefof the General Staff of the ‘coming’ revolution of1914.”

In ‘Men I Met’, Roy said about Jatindra that thoughhe had met some great men, he never foundanybody better. Though Roy evolved to become aMarxist and then a Humanist and Jatindra wasintensely religious throughout his short life, theadmiration of the atheist for Jatin never faltered.

As the revolutionaries got organized and trained,they started manufacturing bombs, collecting armsand money executing daring raids. Persistentefforts were made, particularly in Bengal andPunjab, to win over Indian soldiers of the Britisharmy to the cause of India’s freedom. Alarmed, theBritish authority reacted vigorously. Spies triedtenaciously to infiltrate the revolutionary networks.The Police raided and searched systematically.Prithwindra provides detailed accounts (Chapters 4and 5) of what came to be known as the AliporeBomb Case and the Howrah Conspiracy Case.Many leaders were brought to trial.

Aurobindo, after a period in the Andaman jail leftfor Pondicherry and started a very different life.Jatindra was released for lack of direct evidence butwas dismissed from the Secretariat. He started totry to earn a living by taking on constructioncontracts and, undaunted, continued his work as arevolutionary.

This was in 1911. “For the Police the year 1911commenced a period of lull till Jatindra’s resumingthe activities in 1914.” (Chpt. 6)

In 1905 Lord Curzon had tried to partition Bengal.The British Raj had faced a civil disobediencemovement, with Hindus and Muslims united andhad finally drawn back. This time the looming warcreated a quite different context. Jatindra and hisorganization waded in, establishing links withGermany, the enemy’s enemy.

This led to Balasore and Buri Balam. Prithwindrapresents in fascinating details (Chpts. 8,9) the chain

of events that led to the final battle. A site wasselected on a plateau of Dubhigarh hill, not faraway from Balasore, as particularly suited fordefense against advancing forces. A campsite wasconstructed which became almost a hermitagedirected by a sanyasi-like Jatindra. Meanwhile ayoung emissary was sent to Batavia to arrange ashipment of German arms. This emissary wasNaren Bhattacharya (future M.N. Roy), travelingunder the alias C.A. Martin.

Everything was planned with elaborateprecautions. But everything failed. Only thecourage and resolution of Jatindra and his disciplesdid not fail.

Prithwindra follows the chain of events in threesuccessive chapters (7, 8, 9). It starts with a treatywith the Germans concerning arms. A delivery wasarranged. But E.V. Voska, an agent in the UnitedStates of the Czech President Masaryk, interceptedsome crucial documents of the Indo-Germannegotiations. Germany being the enemy of theCzech, Masaryk transmitted the information to theAllies. The shipment of arms from Batavia wasintercepted by a British ship. The Police locatedand raided premises of the revolutionaries inCalcutta. Soon armed contingents started closing intowards Balasore and Dubhigarh commanded byTegart a renowned Chief of the Intelligence Branchand the Magistrate Kilby. Groups of villagers,excited by police propaganda concerning ‘dacoits’and promise of rewards, joined them in the hunt.

Trying to give a brief account of the final phase isfrustrating. I prefer to refer to the absorbing pagesof Prithwindra. After a heroic last stand, armedagainst rifles with only some long range Mauserpistols, the surviving revolutionaries surrendered.Some had died and among the survivors many,including Jatindra, were wounded. Jatindra,assuming all responsibilities, died in the hospital.Thus died Jatindranath to become a legend.

Had there been no Voska, had the arms duly arrivedwhat would have happened? Had Jatindra been ableto train a revolutionary army on the eastern border


33

of British India what might have been the impact onthe outcome of the First World War? Prithwindraconsiders such ‘Ifs’ of history. I certainly do notknow the answers.

A friend who read Bagha Jatin confessed that hefelt more and more lost as he kept encounteringnew names in page after page, some to reappear andsome to disappear entirely. I became conscious ofthis aspect and realized that the relevant number isindeed large. To start with I had not reacted quite asmy friend because many of those names werefamiliar to me practically since my boyhood. Notonly names like Khudiram, Prafulla Chaki andsome others but many more, though I certainly didnot know all the names that Prithwindra mentions.Moreover, I felt that through his pages certainpersons acquired a certain ‘épaisseur’ (thickness inthe sense of more substance) as I read Prithwindra.A good example would be Charles AugustusTegart. My boyhood memories associated to thatname were that of a wickedly efficient BritishOfficer who probably shot Jatindra dead. FromPrithwindra’s pages he finally emerges as indeedan efficient Intelligence Branch Chief workingtirelessly to protect the British Raj in India. But healso admires, in his own fashion, Jatindranath, theman he pursues relentlessly. He thought that hadJatindra been English, there would have been hisstatue in the Trafalgar Square near that of Nelson.

He sent a note to the India Office saying that theBengali terrorists were “the most altruist politicalworkers in India”.

I would have liked to know more about many othersuch altruists risking and sometimes sacrificingtheir lives. But I realize that an encyclopedia wouldhave been necessary for that. As far as the presentvolume is concerned, having gone throughPrithwindra’s manuscript, I regret that thefootnotes leading to the author’s bona fide sourceshave disappeared; the editor could also think of anindex helping the reader to follow the becoming ofeach of the dramatis personae.

Finally, I would like very much to mention thethesis of Prithwindra Mukherjee, presented as aThèse d’Etat at Université Paris IV in 1974 underthe direction of Raymond Aron. It has beenpublished recently (Editions Codex) under the title“Les racines intellectuelles du mouvement

d’indépendance de l’Inde (1893–1918)”.Jatindranath Mukhherjee’s life and times, set in awider context, are a part of it.

Aron considered it as the ‘chainon manquant’(missing chain-link) in the history of India’sstruggle for independence. Jacques Attali writes inthe preface “Personne ne sortira indemne du grand

livre de Prithwindra Mukherjee”. The nuance of‘indemne’ might be paraphrased as – after readingthis no reader will be quite the same as before. Anadequate English version would be an asset.


34

A request to the Contributors of Articles and Research Papers:

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ARTICLES BEYOND 1500-2000 WORDS.

Also, inform me whether they have been published elsewhere.

And, please try to email them at [email protected] instead of sending them by post.

You may post them (only if email is not possible) at C-8 Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P.,

India. Do also email your passport size photographs as separate attachments (in JPG format) as well as

a few lines in your introduction, if you are contributing for the first time. Please feel free to contact me

at 91-9719333011 for any other querry.

Humanist News Section:

I

A Report on Humanist Workshop held in

Ahmedabad, Gujarat:

This workshop was jointly sponsored bythe Gujarat Mumbai Rationalist

Association Ahmedabad and the humanist monthlyVaishivik Manav Vad, Mehmadabad. It is for firsttime that a workshop like this on specific humanistvalues has been organized. It was held inAhmedabad, Gujarat on 29th & 30 of January 2011.We expected about 30 delegates for the same. Butmore than 70 people registered themselves. Thespeakers on humanist values were insisting that weshould educate them with the help of this workshopin such a way that they themselves become theagents of change for spreading humanist values intheir local areas.

Many serious friends who are actively working inthis field at local level since more than a decadewere unable to participate because we could notaccommodate them in our hall and also becausethey failed to register on time. Many sent variousrequests like “we will stand & hear with no lunch orbreakfast facilities” etc. We sincerely apologized tothem and promised to accommodate them in futuredistrict camps or next state level workshop.

This workshop was organized on four topicsnamely, “Freedom, Rationality,

Secular-morality & Materialism.

Speakers were as follows:

On Freedom- Bipin Shroff (Editor Vaishvik

ManavVad Gujarati Monthly), & Manishi Jani(Social Activist)

On Rationalism – Prof Aswin Karia (PresidentGujarat Mumbai Rationalist Association) &Uarvish Kothari (Freelance Journalist)

On Secular Morality – (Prof Dinesh ShuklaPolitical Scientist & Journalist) & Dilip Chandulal(Social Activist)

On Materialism – (Prof Dhawal Mehta (VeteranRadical Humanist) & Kiran Trivedi (SecretaryGMRA)

On Freedom:

The first speaker Bipin Shroff explained howamong the three humanist values freedom wasprimary or rather a value of all other values. Itsimply means that all other values can be derivedfrom it. Human freedom has its origin & root in thebiological evolution of all living organisms.Initially for all living species as they have theprimary urge to exist, there was a brutal struggle forexistence against nature and among themselves.These primary & basic urges for existence in allliving species developed certain organs in theirbodies with the help of which they succeeded toexist, survive, develop & procreate. The earlyhumans were also part of this biological strugglefor existence. But they developed a brain-organwhich was superior-most in comparison with otherliving beings. Thus the human being like otherliving species is not the creation of any supernatural agency like God or any super human entity.All humans are the product of biological evolutionlike all other living species. The physical urge inman to exist is converted into the urge for freedom.It means that like all living creatures man’s urge toexist is a fact as well as a value. It is a fact becausehe wants to exist and that he wants to exist as thehuman being superior to all living species is avalue. When the human being tries to liveaccording to his basic urge & value, namelyfreedom, he comes across many obstacles whichare of two types: ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom for’.As a human being he faces many family, social,religious, political, economic forces which putrestrictions on his behaviour. They decideindividually or, and collectively what is good orbad for the individual member of their unit. Theclutches of their influence are so powerful that itbecomes difficult for him to come out of them as anindividual. We do not deny their positiveco-operation from early childhood to survive anddevelop. But barring their parental and elderly


35

obligation, the role of thesesocio-political-religious authorities is inimical inthe process of the individual’s development. Theseforces which hinder the progress of his potentialdevelopment are authoritarian, sadist and static. Inshort, their attitudes are resistant to change. Theywould not like to budge in their fixed set of normsand outlook. The individual as well as the societyhave to pay a very heavy price to escape from theirclutches. But as human beings we have to struggleagainst them individually as well as collectivelywith cooperation of other like minded people.Historically we had evidences where & wheninstead of enjoying the fruits of their freedom theywere afraid of freedom itself. And they surrenderedtheir personal freedom to the religious, military ordictatorial authorities to obtain physical orpsychological security. But, we cannot mortgageour freedom in the custody of others and still expectto remain free. Generally authorities, to whom wesurrender our freedom, have used it to strengthentheir own power instead of making us, who haveforgone our freedom, powerful. The secondimportant part of freedom is ‘Freedom For’.Biologically & genetically each human being hasdifferent potentialities for his or her development.The role of all human institutions is to createnecessary conditions under which they provide allopportunities, facilities & infrastructures todevelop potentialities of all its members. The resultof such endeavor would be the total good ofindividual as well as the society. Freedom thus canbe enjoyed only by individual. Man getssatisfaction in his struggle to achieve freedom frominimical forces which restrain his freedom as wellas to unfold his potentialities with the co-operationof other human beings. Animals decide to satisfytheir urge on the basis of their instincts whilehuman being finds truth to exist on the basis of hissense perceptions and observations; in short, by hisreasoning faculty. Thus with the help of knowledgeacquired through this said reasoning-faculty hedoes not simply survive but also develops hisdifferent abilities. The man as well as his society

become richer by his efforts.

The second speaker on the same subject Manishi

Jani said, “I will try to explain how our existingsocio-political-economic order is against theenhancement of freedom as a value. According tomy observation there are 8 stages in one’s humanlife. They are: birth, childhood, adolescence, love,reproduction, marriage, old age & death. In allthese stages, the elderly people decide what is goodand bad for their offspring, either physically orsocially. They have set codes of conduct underwhich they try to impose their value system & theso called virtues of behaviour on the youngerpeople. Their behaviour is mostly based on theirpre-set religious mode of thought. Mr. Jani said thatman does not take birth as a human being but as aHindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian; or as arepresentative of the caste and religion of hisfamily. The child derives his social identity andreligion on the basis of the family he is born in.Instead of giving his birth a biological status he iscaught in the socio-religious background of hisfamily. Children are treated as the dreamers of theirelders. They are indoctrinated in such a way thatthey become conditioned. They live & develop likethey are in water tight compartments. By and large,they lose their independent capacity to think. Ourmost difficult task as humanists is to bring out thesepeople from their present mode of thought. But,how to go about it has to be planned.”

On rationality:

Prof Aswin Karia (President, GMRA) said: “Thesimple meaning of the term ‘Rationality’ is to relyon the reasoning capacity of the human being.Reason leads us to decide what is true and what isfalse. The human being has survived with the helpof this reasoning capacity in his biological struggleof existence. He learned and understood the laws ofnature with the help of this faculty. We should notforget that this endowed capacity to think in termsof cause and effect is also the gift of laws of nature.The reasoning capacity of any living organism isdeveloped according to its evolutionary stage. Man


36

as homosapien has developed the highest reasoningcapacity in comparison to other biological units intheir struggle of existence. He learned from thisstruggle of existence what is good or bad for hissurvival. In other words, his struggle was to find thetruth for his survival. He gained this truth byacquiring more and more physical knowledgeabout nature and its laws. To know nature it meansto free oneself from the negative effects of itsforces. It is also true that by knowing the laws ofnature man can change natural objects to serve himbetter. His rationality gives him the power to freehimself mentally from blind faith on one side and torely on his reasoning faculty to become self reliant,on the other. Man becomes moral according thedegree of his rationality. Rationality is a humanvalue because it has its origin in his biologicalevolution. There are lower animals that have arational capacity but it is not as fully developed as itis in the human beings. Yet, it gives us the clue thatthe concept of rationality has no super naturaltenets. It is not a gift of god. The man has aninherent capacity to be rational. It is also true thathis judgment of deciding truth depends upon hisdeveloped capacity to be rational. It may not bewrong to say that even religion had its origin in thereasoning capacity of the human being.”

Uarvish Kothari, speaking on the same subjectexplained that the role of science has a positiverelation with the concept of rationality. Sciencehelps to remove many blind faiths and irrationalbehaviour of the masses. Instead of waging waragainst the concept of existence of God and supernatural forces and challenging miracle performingpeople, our institution and we, individually shouldmake efforts to spread scientific knowledge andapproach amongst the people. Another importantthing in our movement is that we believe in havingrole models in our movement. They are to becreated within each one of us. Let our message ofHumanism and Rationalism be spread by those ofus who have devoted their lives for this cause.

On Secular Morality:

Dinesh Shukla said, “Is it possible to havemorality independent of religion? What is thesource of morality? There are two points of view onthis subject. One, that man can only be moral ifthere is constant fear or reward for his action. Andreligion guides man’s action on the basis of aboveunderstanding. Second is the humanist thoughtwhich explains that man is moral because he has thepotential to take moral action on the basis of hisrational behaviour. Man’s existence is prior to allreligions like Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Helearned how to be moral in his biological struggleof evolution. He received co-operation of otherhuman beings in this struggle. He acquiredknowledge about the laws of nature with theco-operation of others. His moral actions createdthe society, state and other collective institutions tounfold his potentialities and to protect himself andhis family. Thus moral action is the result of hisown choice and not of any temporal (this worldly)or spiritual coercion. We have a different meaningto the term secular morality in India. During theindependence struggle Gandhi coined the wordSarva Dharma Sambhav. He gave equalimportance to believers of all religions in thenational independent struggle. But now, we are anindependent nation which has to solve the worldlyproblems of its citizens. In addition to that it isdeclared in the Constitution of our nation that it is asecular state. That is, the state has no religion of itsown. So there has to be a complete separationbetween the state and religion. Religion is a privateand individual matter. One is free to decide his ownreligion the state has nothing to do with it.

The second speaker Dilip Chandulal tried toexplain how people and particularly our electedrepresentatives and those who are serving in thegovernment sector as its employees behavecontrary to the spirit of secularism of the IndianConstitution. He gave innumerable examples. Thisviolation of secular values had begun with our firstPresident of the country namely Rajendra Prasadwhen he visited the renovated Somanath temple inGujarat against the written advice of the then Prime


37

Minister J. Nehru. Now nobody has any respect forthis valuable humanist concept. By and large, thereis gross violation of secularism by politicians andadministrators of the state in all aspects of publiclife in the country. Our task has become so difficultthat it is not easy to spread this concept among thepeople of India.

On Materialism:

Prof. Dhawal Mehta called it Materialism notHedonism. According to the philosophical conceptof materialism matter is the primary and onlysource in this universe. Matter is a physical reality.Even human consciousness is the result of matter.Idealism is also a part of materialism. We canexplain all physical phenomena on the basis ofmaterialistic philosophy. In Hinduism there werecertain philosophical schools of thought whichconsidered physical realities as illusion. They didnot want to understand the physical realities of theworld. Actually they preached escapism from thereal world. They concluded that real knowledge canonly be achieved by self-introspection. Karl Marxwas the first philosopher who scientificallyexplained the laws of physical realities. And hecame to the conclusion that the social structure ofany society is the outcome of the conflictinginterests of classes. All the property owners havevested interests in maintaining the existingstructure of the society. But according to Marx thisman-made social order can be changed in the largerinterest of the people. He also said that religion isan opium for the masses because it keeps them in aperpetual stage of delusion. Scientificachievements and discoveries are the results ofunderstanding the laws of physical realities. Thereis nothing spiritual or other worldly in scientificdiscoveries. All the physical events can beexplained with the theory of causation. Every thinghas a cause. Nothing can happen without cause.Materialists explain all worldly things with the helpof scientific theories and principles. Science is selfcorrecting. It learns from its own mistakes. This isnot the case with believers and spiritualists. Theirconcept of truth is absolute and not negotiable.

Darwin’s theory of evolution has given a deathblow to all the religions of the world that life is notthe creation of any godly affairs. Religion has itsbasis in superstition while materialism has its basisin science based evidences. One must alsoremember that there is a primary differencebetween materialism and hedonism. They are notsame at all. Materialists do not want to encouragerampant consumerism. But they are for pursuit ofhappiness. They achieve happiness by unfoldingtheir abilities and potentialities. Thus the individualas well as society benefit from human efforts inpursuing happiness. Materialists do not practiceany self-sacrifice, penance and celibacy. They areneither masochist nor sadist. They prefer andencourage balanced material life.

Kiran Trivedi spoke on the same subject and saidthat the present modern world is an outcome of thematerialist efforts of countless human beings. Wecannot dream of the world in their absence. Thematerial developments in various sectors ofeconomy like industry, agriculture, biology, health,astronomy, space-science etc. are its glaringachievements which has made human life worthliving against all odds of natural forces. Theprimary physical atmosphere of Earth was sounbearable to any living organism that there was nolife on it for thousands of year. It took millions ofyears for the living organism (one cell) to take itsplace on this earth and that also in sea water.Materialist thoughts indicate that knowledge isonly possible with the help of sense perception andreasoning faculty of the living humans. Theideation process of getting ideas is also broughtabout through the materialistic activities of thebrain power. Thus there is no dichotomy betweenbrain and body. The religious mode of thought ofHinduism considers this physical world as illusionand spiritual world as the reality. So for centuriestogether there was no material progress in oursociety. Most of the people lived hand to mouthbecause whatever surplus was generated in thesociety by the masses were expropriated by thenon-productive classes like religious monks,


38

priests and maharajas. We do not encouragerampant use of material things on this planet earth.We are against mad consumerism. I agree with therevolutionary philosopher M.N. Roy that there isno grand design of creator in our birth. It is just abiological reality. In short, any living organism onthis planet has no divine purpose. The humanistphilosophy has a very distinct place in comparisonwith other philosophical schools of thought. It hasempowered the man. It is open, and based on selfcorrecting scientific systems.”

Brain storming session: (after the speeches):

This was a workshop for the participants. Thepurpose of the organizers was to know what thedelegates remembered and learned from what thespeakers said. Also to know whether they agreedwith the speakers’ views. This is the first time whensuch type of workshop was organized in Gujarat.They were writing on black board with chalk and aregular class-room atmosphere was created. Morethan 15 delegates participated on each subject. Ourinstitution received invitation from seven districtsof Gujarat to organize such workshops. We willplan accordingly so we may have a decentralizedmovement in various parts of the state.

—Report sent by Bipin Shroff

II

Indian Radical Humanist Association,

Gujarat organised a Convention on demand

for Identity Cards for Unorganized Labour:

A convention of leaders of differentunorganized sectors and representatives

of workers of various sectors of Gujarat, includingthose from construction industry to farm labour,from diamond industries to power looms, fromfisheries to chemical industries was held on 9th

April 2011 at Gujarat Vidhyapeeth, Ahmedabad.To commemorate Dashrathlal Thaker BirthCentenary celebrations, this “Movement For thecause of Unorganized workers’” was addressed bythe stalwart labour leader and former Minister,Sanatbhai Mehta and leading advocate Girishbhai

Patel. This convention, had 150 representativesfrom different parts of Gujarat like Jamnagar,Junagadh, Dholaka, Dahod, Himatnagar, Kheda,Rajkot etc. who voiced the demand that Govt.should compel owners of different industries toimmediately issue Identity Cards to Unorganizedand Migrant Workers.

The first session of this convention was chaired byrenowned Journalist Prakash N. Shah. In thissession, Shri Gautam Thaker gave details about theformat and content of the convention. In respect ofthe workers of diamond and power looms,Dwarikanath Rath (SUCI) and Amar Barot(Majoor Mahajan Sangh), in respect ofconstruction, migrant and bonded labour, VipulPandya (Construction Workers’ Union) and inrespect of farm workers and adivasi labours,Indukumar Jani (Gujarat Khet Vikas Parishad)expressed their views. Whereas in the secondsession, Jagdish Patel presented a paper onWorkers’ safety and Environment and Ramilaben(SEWA) and Sejal Joshi (AWAG) presentedpapers on the working women. The second sessionwas chaired by Indukumar Jani.

While expressing their views in the convention,Sanat Mehta, Girishbhai Patel, Indukumar Jani,Vidhyutbhai Joshi, Prakash N. Shah, GautamThaker, D. N. Rath etc. informed that to-day about87-90 % of the workers are unorganized. There is adire need to support them. Contribution of thissector in the nation’s G.D.P. is quite large.Contribution of the service sector in the G.D.P. isabout 63%. If the workers in this sector areeducated and awakened then it can result in tohugely powerful force. Over the many years, it hasbeen our experience that we persistently foughtt forenactment of laws for giving protection to them butthe question still remains how to implement suchlaws. We should unite the workers from organizedand unorganized sectors in one common demand.Through this, there is need to give rise to acombined force. Problems of the workers are ofsocial and cultural dimension and it also needssupport of the civic society. Civil society will have


39

to understand the culture of unorganized workers,their aspirations, their woes, their environment andto find and suggest solutions.

In this Unorganized Workers convention, advasiand construction sector union leaders andrepresentatives of various labour organizations ofGujarat including from SEWA, AWAG, MajoorMahajan Sangh, Gujarat Khet Vikas Parishad,

PUCL, Indian Radical Humanists Association(Gujarat) were present. Vipul Pandya was selectedConvener of the Committee for mobilizing civicsupport in favor of the Unorganized Workers.

—Gautam Thaker,

Secretary, IRHA (Gujarat)

Note: Pictures of both the above programmes willbe published in the June 2011 issue of RH.


40

The four characteristics of humanism are

curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race.

—E.M. Forster


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