Showing reverence to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

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January 24, 2020

I am disheartened seeing the preparations of celebrating the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.

The birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who served both as the president and prime minister of Bangladesh will be celebrated in the country on March 17, 2020.

On the occasion Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, the editor of the Bangladeshi tabloid Weekly Blitz penned in a few lines.

Excerpts:

Personally, I am disheartened at the visible preparations of celebrating the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was born on March 17, 1920 for various reasons.

The first reason behind all this is the making of a biopic of Bangabandhu. According to media reports, prominent Indian film director Shyam Benegal has been assigned as the director of the biopic and he has very recently interviewed several possible actors and actresses in Bangladesh and India to play various roles. In 1980, when the Indian government decided to make a biopic on Mahatma Gandhi, they did not even consider any of the domestic filmmakers. The film was a British-Indian joint production and the screenplay was written by John Briley and produced and directed by Richard Attenborough. Award-winning celebrated actor Ben Kingsley played the title role of Gandhi in this film.
Gandhi was released in India on November 30, 1982 while it was released in the United Kingdom on December 3 and in the United States on December 10. It was nominated for prestigious Academy Awards in eleven categories of which it won eight including Best Picture and Best Director for Briley. The film was screened retrospectively on August 12, 2016 as the opening film at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defence that were commemorating the 70^th Indian Independence Day. The screenplay of Gandhi is available as a published book.

Some more highlights on the film, Gandhi:

Incidentally, the film was Attenborough’s dream project although two previous attempts of filming the biopic had failed. In 1952, Gabriel Pascal secured an agreement with the Prime Minister of India (Jawaharlal Nehru) to produce a film about Gandhi’s life. However, Pascal died in 1954 before preparations were completed.

In 1962 Attenborough came into contact with Motilal Kothari, an Indian-born civil servant who was working with the Indian High Commission in London and a devout follower of Gandhi. Kothari insisted that Attenborough meet him to discuss a film about Gandhi. Attenborough agreed and after reading Louis Fischer’s biography of Gandhi and spent the next 18 years attempting to get the film made. He was able to meet Prime Minister Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi through a connection with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. Nehru approved of the film and promised to help support its production but his death in 1964 was one of the film’s many setbacks. Attenborough would dedicate the film to the memory of Kothari, Mountbatten and Nehru.

Next, David Lean and Sam Spiegel had planned to make a film about Gandhi after completing The Bridge on the River Kwai, reportedly with Alec Guinness as Gandhi. Ultimately, the project was abandoned in favor of Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Attenborough reluctantly approached Lean with his own Gandhi project in the late 1960s and Lean agreed to direct the film and offered Attenborough the lead role. Instead, Lean began filming Ryan’s Daughter during which time Motilai Kothari had expired and the project fell flat.

Again, Attenborough attempted to resurrect the project in 1976 with backing from Warner Brothers. Then prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India and shooting would be impossible. Co-producer Rani Dube persuaded the Prime Minister to provide the first $10 million from the National Film Development Corporation of India chaired by D. V. S. Raju at that time on the back of which the remainder of the funding was finally raised. Finally, in 1980 Attenborough was able to secure the remainder of the funding needed to make the film. Screenwriter John Briley had introduced him to Jake Eberts, the chief executive at the new Goldcrest production company that raised approximately two-thirds of the film’s budget.

Shooting began on 26 November 1980 and ended on 10 May 1981. Some scenes were shot near Koilwar Bridge, in Bihar. Over 300,000 extras were used in the funeral scene, the most for any film according to the Guinness World Records.

With due respect, I would like to ask: Can Shyam Benegal attain even a small fraction of such achievement? Never! He has no face value in the global cine-circuit. Still we have assigned him to direct the biopic of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Why? Don’t we have any access in the Hollywood and English film industry? Or someone on purpose has chosen Mr. Benegal to direct the film with the ulterior agenda of undermining Bangabandhu? In my personal opinion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should immediately intervene in this matter and assign her people to find a befitting and internationally-acclaimed director for the biopic of Bangabandhu.

The media coverage

After 49 years of the independence of Bangladesh, we still are unable in projecting Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman properly to the international community. I would like to share a very recent shocking experience.

On December 5, 2019, Ms. Dolly Joshi, a senior correspondent of India’s leading TV channel Republic TV contacted me for some information and video footage on our war of independence. At one point, when I requested her to include a segment on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to my utter surprise she asked “Who is he?”

Joshi’s question not only gave me a huge shock, but I was also able to realize that we have miserably failed to introduce our Father of the Nation even to the people in our neighboring nation. Isn’t it a matter of great shame?

I am almost certain that those pundits occupying cozy chairs in the inner circle of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will once again fail in adopting effective policies in letting the world know about the auspicious birth centennial of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They will even most definitely fail in getting a proper coverage in the international media on 17^th March 2020, the birthday of Bangabandhu.

Bangabandhu’s birth centennial should be observed with huge enthusiasm and festivity in Bangladesh and around the world. We need to immediately mobilise our total efforts in ensuring this important day is not missed by the international media.

Above all, we need to let the people of Bangladesh know as to how much important Bangabandhu is to us in encouraging everyone in taking full preparations for celebrating March 17 with utmost enthusiasm.

I do sincerely hope, it will happen.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Was exclusion of MS Dhoni from central contract awardees list right?

By

C K Subramaniam

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January 24, 2020

MS Dhoni has been excluded by the BCCI from a 27-member list of central contract awardees for the 2019-20 season. The ex-captain’s omission is a possible indicator that the legendary World Cup-winning captain’s days as India cricketer are numbered. The 38-year-old former Indian captain who hasn’t played competitive cricket since India’s World Cup semifinal exit to New Zealand at Old Trafford had held an ‘A’ category contract in the previous cycle viz. 2018-19. The keeper-batsman took a sabbatical in the immediate aftermath of India’s World Cup exit but hasn’t been considered for selection thereafter with Chief Selector MSK Prasad stating that the team was “moving on” from Dhoni. Thus Dhoni dhamaka is as good as over.

Knives were already being sharpened when Dhoni stayed away from playing for India after the World Cup 2019 match against New Zealand in July. Some former cricketers held that he would have lost his sharpness by not playing since then while some others stated that he should not be given the privilege to pick and choose matches. Could the BCCI have shown some leniency to Dhoni? After all, how many cricketers, past and present can claim to have led India to two World Cup title wins? Only Dhoni enjoys that matchless record. Add to it is his roster of 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20Is you have someone who did India proud and served it with distinction for long.

Even otherwise, his replacement in the shortest form of the game, Rishabh Pant has not exactly covered himself with glory. Dhoni is still the better wicket-keeper and more valuable to the side in other aspects too. May be the BCCI could have been a lot more sensitive to his case. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a most prominent omission from BCCI’s central contracts list for 2019-2020 released recently. His exclusion from the list of cricketers with an annual retainer is yet another indication that perhaps the three-time ICC trophy-winning captain may not don the India Blues again. The contracts for the October-September cycle are awarded by a three-member committee consisting of the BCCI president, secretary and chief selector based on the performance during the last cycle. Dhoni hasn’t played competitive cricket since India’s World Cup semifinal exit. The graded players are:-

Grade A+ (₹7 crore): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
Grade A (₹5 crore): Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant.
Grade B (₹3 crore): Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal.
Grade C (₹1 crore): Kedar Jadhav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar.

It is better to quit the game when people ask why? Instead of dragging so long he ought to have announced his retirement after the World Cup. BCCI is not a place for parking players and hoping for the best in the future.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 24 January, 2020

By

Web Team

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January 24, 2020

1Row over birthplace of Sai Baba

Currently, India is now seized with so many religious conflicts, courtesy pseudo-secular policies of the long Congress regime for decades. The government is not in a position to bear more such controversies like the now developed in Maharashtra Chief Minister announcing rupees 100-crore package for developing village Pathri as birthplace of Sai Baba that too when there have been too many theories about parents and birthplace of Sai Baba. Such an unthoughtful announcement made by the Maharashtra Chief Minister to take a U-turn on the issue because of protests of the people of Shirdi.

There is no confirmation or firm religious faith about Pathri to be birth place of Sai Baba unlike Ayodhya where there are no two opinions about the city being definitely the birth place of Lord Rama. Script-writers for speeches of President of India should also be careful in the future because the President in September 2017 mentioned Pathri to be birth-place of Sai Baba.

Madhu Agrawal

2Western Railways grandiose venture may turn awry

I was delighted to read the news titled ‘Soon selling good in Western Railway AC local train to be legal’ in your esteemed newspaper. The news detailed how the WR was in plans to sell electronic wares as mobiles, laptops etc. in AC locals. One thing was not clear about the timing the goods would be on sale.

In the morning, people would be in a haste to go to their offices and will have no time to go through the wares and compare the prices. In the evenings commuters will be in haste to go back home to be among his family members. Here in this case also there will be very few people who would be interested to buy such expensive wares. All these things need one to be in a leisure mind.
Now, the question is that when will one get time to buy wares put on display by the WR. The only day left is Sunday.

Sundays also trains are crowded with people coming out to visit places of relatives and friends. But I wonder why people would buy these goods from a local train when they are used to buying such things from shops and galleries.

Would the WR sell these wares at discounted rates? If not, I am certain that selling these wares on board the locals would be a difficult proposition.

Gauri Mitra

3Excellent initiative from ministry of Ayush

Kudos to the Ministry of AYUSH which has come out with an excellent initiative to make people at work to destress and refresh themselves through Y-BREAK or Yoga break — a 5-minute exercise designed to make professionals and the complete staff at workplaces to have a healthy physique and a tension- free mind and help enhance a healthy life besides increasing productivity. This project may soon become part of the schedule at Government institutions and corporate bodies. Developed by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, with inputs from reputed Yoga experts, around 15 institutions including corporate houses like Tata Chemicals, Axis Bank and Ernst & Young Global Consulting Services have volunteered to join the project. Booklets and videos on how to practice yoga will be given to the staff at the work places . Besides , the ministry would be giving all possible help and support to see that this beautiful programme is inculcated among all.

This programme, undoubtedly, will be well received by all as today’s stressed life makes everybody desire for a break and when a break comes with a light but powerful exercise like yoga which can be done so easily and joyfully Y – it is surely going to be a hit among all as it makes them excellently fit. This break should be encouraged and initiated at all workplaces -government and non government.

M Pradyu

4It’s time to make use of Solar power

Of late, geo thermal energy and thermal energy are now being used to produce electricity across the world. The resources and raw materials required for the energy will soon dry out owing to excessive dependability on fossil fuels. Hence government organisations, international institutions and local bodies should now be mandated to use solar energy for its electricity and power consumption. Solar energy is one of the best possible sources of natural and renewable energy. It can be extensively used to produce electricity through its photo voltaic cells and solar thermal power and thus tap energy to a fullest extent.

An innovative strategy is the need of the hour to otherwise incentivise various countries to use solar energy. Public utility buildings such as airports, government offices etc should otherwise make a robust shift to solar powered buildings from traditional coal power. Attractive funding opportunities to harness solar power should be adopted by governments across the globe. International institutions such as International Solar Alliance should extensively focus on exploiting solar energy at least in the sunshine countries and thus help to reduce dependency much on fossil fuels.

Varun Dambal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Maharashtra Bandh: Protesters stone pelt BEST bus in Chembur, many auto rickshaws also off the road

By

Hema Singh

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January 24, 2020

A 53-year-old BEST bus driver sustained injuries after a protest erupted near the Chembur area on Friday during the bandh called by Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). The party is protesting against the controversial acts viz Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC)brought in by the BJP.

According to an official, the bus driver was injured due to stone pelting in which the widescreen of the bus was damaged. However, no passengers were injured.

Reportedly, the incident happened at around 9:15am. near Swastik Park, Chembur when the bus was heading towards Kurla Station (East) on route number 362. That is the time when the bus was stopped by the protesters and soon they pelted stones and smashed its windows. The bus driver Vilas Babasaheb Dabhade, who was seriously injured, was rushed to the Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi.

Meanwhile, many autorickshaws and shops were also shut in the eastern parts of the city. On Thursday, a note issued by the VBA stated that more than 50 organisations in Maharashtra have supported their bandh call.

MNS face-lift: Saffron, Shivaji, Savarkar and Son introduced in politics

By

Vaidehi Taman

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January 23, 2020

It is the story of how two men bound by family ties and political ideology came face-to-face by challenging the ideologies and legacy of the party line. They made entirely different paths. Today, one of them is a chief minister, while the other is finding a path to conquer state politics. After looking at the successful launch of Aaditya Thackeray in active politics, Raj Thackeray’s son Amit was tossed into politics on Thursday. With a new flag and a new leader, Raj Thackeray gave a facelift to his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Amit Thackeray’s short thanksgiving speech was applauded enthusiastically by his immediate family. The new party flag features Chhatrapati Shivaji’s “Raj Mudra” on a saffron base. A “Raj Mudra” was the royal seal used during the time of Shivaji. With the party’s earlier flag having been saffron, blue and green, the switch triggered speculation about a possible consolidation of the Hindutva credentials of the party. Since Shiv Sena has aligned with Congress-NCP, people think that the Hindutva credentials are diluted. BJP has never worked on Hindutva agenda. Moreover, Modi ji clearly announced “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” and it was the Shiv Sena which was widely known as custodians of Hindutva politics in India. Now, with the BJP out of the ruling alliance, the race appears to be on for the saffron-Marathi vote bank. Uddhav Thackeray is expected to visit Ayodhya after he completes 100 days in power. The Shiv Sena leader has also extended an invite to Rahul Gandhi to travel with him to Ayodhya along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

On the other hand, Raj Thackeray who had sided with the opposition and his repeated attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah had been widely circulated on social media. He was also said to be keen on joining the opposition alliance. But the idea was turned down by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in view of the party’s anti-migrant rhetoric. So, now to regain the lost sheen, he had no other option but to adopt the Hindutva ideology shifting from Marathi Manoos. Raj Thackeray had launched the new party in 2006 after his split with the Shiv Sena. The feud started after party patriarch Bal Thackeray chose his son Uddhav Thackeray to lead the party. Since then, the cousins have been chasing the Marathi vote and taking swipes at each other. With Hindutva equations, Raj might split the votes of BJP as well as Sena. BJP is keen on him filing the Hindutva void in the state. The former chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Raj Thackeray two weeks ago while Ashish Shelar, the party’s former Mumbai president had called on the MNS chief in the last week of December. BJP also hopes that Raj will revive his sons-of-the-soil plank as it will help with the implementation of the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC).

As people see Indira in Priyanka Gandhi, Raj is seen as a mirror image of Balasaheb, the way he gives speeches, one can easily relate it with Saheb. He has all those peculiar qualities of Balasaheb and to deal with one Thackeray one needs another Thackeray. Perhaps, this is the reason why BJP in spite of taking all attacks and humiliation from Raj is now seeking his support. Uddhav Thackeray walked away from the 25-year-old Sena-BJP alliance to come together with the NCP and Congress as the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Uddhav held Sonia Gandhi and Pawar to walk his ambition; Raj Thackeray began his mega rally by garlanding the picture of Savarkar along with B R Ambedkar, Prabodhankar Thackeray and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Savarkar on stage, saffron in flag, Raj Thackeray gave new hopes to saffron voters. MNS currently has a single representative in the 289-strong Maharashtra state assembly. For one, the Shiv Sena, under Uddhav Thackeray, is no longer a vehement proponent of Hindutva, an ideology that the senior Thackeray championed. Having formed the government in alliance with the Congress and the NCP, the Shiv Sena has also set aside its shrill sons-of-the-soil rhetoric. The opposition BJP, on the lookout for an alliance partner in the state, appears to now believe that the right person to perpetuate Bal Thackeray’s brand of politics is his nephew, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.

Despite the fact that Raj had been a vehement critic of the BJP and had campaigned against the party in the assembly elections, he had called for a “Modi-Shah-free India” ahead of the Parliamentary elections declaring that the country needed to get rid of the duo. Though his party did not contest, his “Laav re toh video (Show the video)” campaign against the BJP became extremely popular as it sought to expose the failures of the Modi government. Now, a friendless BJP in Maharashtra has knocked on his doors out of compulsions of regional politics though the party has its conditions. But Raj is not an easy leader to accept what they say, but adopt a larger goal. Raj has taken up Hindutva as the MNS ideology. There is a huge vacuum where the Hindutva ideology is concerned. With this, he can get huge support from the people and once again the dead MNS can regain its lost sheen.

Let’s see how does Uddhav’s ‘Secular Turn’ and cousin Raj’s floating Hindutva go with the voters. A transition to soft Hindutva by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena may pave the way for an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party to take on the ruling triumvirate of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. The BJP, despite being the single-largest party in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, has been left licking its wounds after the Shiv Sena broke off to form an alliance with the Congress and NCP.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Thackeray to tackle Thackeray, all about Hindutva politics

By

Afternoon Voice

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January 23, 2020

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is termed as secular after aligning with the Congress-NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Does this mean that the Shiv Sena has abandoned the Hindutva ideology? No, in a smart move Uddhav Thackeray has invited Rahul Gandhi to accompany him to Ayodhya when he visits the temple city in March when his government completes 100 days in office. With this move, Uddhav wants to show people that he has not given up the Hindutva ideology; he is very much with it. Uddhav himself had earlier stated that Shiv Sena would never abandon the ideology of Hindutva.

It looks like the MNS is undergoing a transformation akin to what Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena did by aligning with two parties of different ideologies like the Congress and NCP to anoint party president Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra’s chief minister by turning secular. Raj Thackeray, on the other hand, has taken over the ideology of Hindutva leaving behind the ‘Marathi Manoos’ ideology. The party has changed the colour of its flag to lean more towards the Hindutva ideology.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was founded in 2006 after Raj Thackeray split from the Shiv Sena. Now with Shiv Sena holding the secular flag, MNS thought it was the right time to hold the saffron flag. Raj Thackeray, along with party workers, unveiled the new flag and officially launched his son Amit Thackeray into mainstream politics on Thursday during the party’s Maha Adhiveshan at Nesco ground in Goregaon. It is said that Amit will be the leader of the party but as of now, no decision has been taken on what responsibilities will be given to him.

The MNS old flag, which consists of saffron, green, blue, with strips of white bands and bore the image of an engine whereas the new one is completely saffron. This flag also has the seal of the 17th century warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in it. According to some sources, the party chief wanted to change the flag before the year 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. However, he held it back due to some reason.

With the new saffron flag, MNS is going to bring a new twist in Maharashtra politics with several party members believing that it will boost the morale of party workers. MNS’s transition to Hindutva may pave way for an alliance with the BJP. As few weeks ago Raj Thackeray met former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai hotel.

Raj Thackeray who had quit the Shiv Sena and formed MNS after having a leadership tussle with cousin Uddhav Thackeray over the post of the president. However, for Raj Thackeray this step may be a political opening for an alliance with the BJP.

Now, this is what Raj Thackeray is looking at. He wants his party to be seen as a pan-India party. While the overt shift to Hindutva may alienate sections like the Marathi-speaking Muslims especially those in tier-II cities and rural Maharashtra and also Buddhist Dalits, who, being followers of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar resist political Hindutva. Raj Thackeray is depending on the pull he has as people like him. Whereas BJP when it was having an alliance with Shiv Sena it used to boast about the Hindutva agenda but after Sena parted ways, BJP lacks the political stand on Hindutva.

While the Shiv Sena’s adoption of aggressive Hindutva in the late 1980’s paid electoral dividends in the short-term, it eventually prevented its expansion as a pan-Maharashtra regional and sub-national party like political formations in Southern India.

New Flag, New Face in Maharashtra Navnirman Sena

By

Hema Singh

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January 23, 2020

Amidst the ongoing speculation about Raj Thackeray-led party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) about its new flag and new face, they were finally revealed on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Bal Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena.

The party launched Amit Thackeray into full fledged mainstream politics and also unveiled the new party flag on Thursday morning at NESCO Ground in Goregaon. The flag was unveiled by Raj Thackeray in the presence of thousands of party workers. Senior leader of MNS, Bala Nandgaonkar announced Amit’s entry into mainstream politics.

The new flag that is saffron in colour has ‘Raj Mudra’ that was used during Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s rule. The flag of the party is completely different from the old one as the same had blue, green and saffron bands and bore the image of an engine. And with the change in the party flag, it seems that the party is drifting towards the Hindutva ideology.

On the occasion, a statue of Shivaji was displayed at an MNS state executive meeting and also one of the images displayed next to it was of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar along with the photographs of B.R. Ambedkar, Savitribai Phule and Prabodhankar Thackeray.

Earlier, there have been speculations of an alliance between MNS and Bharatiya Janata Party as the former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met MNS chief in a Mumbai hotel. However, later both the parties denied about the same.

“Chhapaak”: A true story of Laxmi an acid attack survivor

By

Vinod Dixit

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January 23, 2020

India has made international headlines for horrific rape cases in recent years, but acid attacks are common, too, although they receive less attention. Laxmi Agarwal India’s best-known acid attack survivor life’s story has now been depicted in the Bollywood movie ‘Chhapaak’ starring Deepika Padukone, who has worn prosthetics to replicate the damage to Agarwal’s skin. Laxmi’s struggle and come back from a life-threatening attack is a message for many such victims that acid attack isn’t end of anyone’s life or dream and one should never give up. The Chhapaak movie is not only about Laxmi but about acid attack survivors’ cause, as each one has her own story of pain and struggles in life. Chhapaak’ is the story of Laxmi who fights society and rises above her battles. Based on real-life incidents, the movie is about the act of violence, which destroys the life of victims, both physically and mentally and takes away their right to life. Today, Laxmi has led the cause of acid attacks on women and has become a role model for other survivors.

She was only 15-years-old when a man had thrown acid on her face in 2005. Laxmi was on her way from her music class when a man who was twice of her age threw acid on her for rejecting his advances. The incident led her face and other body parts disfigured. Although she received treatment on time, in a span of 10 years, she went through many surgeries, which almost affected her mental health. But with her courage and determination, Laxmi took up life’s challenge and managed to stand back on her feet. Laxmi deserves kudos for receiving International Woman of Courage award from Michelle Obama, US in 2014. She is the first lady to have named NDTV Indian of the Year. She also has founded an NGO, Chhanv Foundation, which aims to help the survivors of acid attacks.

Acid attack is not something unheard of in India. Acid is still sold openly in some parts of India, and it is easily available to the offenders and the victims like Laxmi Agarwal are to fight the assaults. There are 250 to 300 acid attacks reported in India every year, despite laws restricting the sale of acid or other deadly chemicals, according to Stop Acid Attacks, a non-profit group. It has shocked the conscience of our nation again and again – with mutilated faces, unbeaten survivors coming to the frontlines to share their horrific stories, and families driven to bankruptcy supporting recovery costs.

Because acid attack is possibly the worst infliction on another human – leading to complete debilitation, loss of income and opportunity, and even social sequestration- and it can happen to anyone, at any time. The means to this evil remain quite accessible to most and the causes provoking such malice can be unimaginably trivial. Acid attacks destroy a family completely, and the victim has to undergo at least 80 reconstruction operations.

The rising number of acid attack cases clearly shows India’s inability to grapple with this heinous crime. Cases continue unabated in various parts of the country, showing the pan-Indian character of this form of assault. India has the highest number of acid attacks in the world, but the worst conviction rates. Women have had acid thrown at them for not bringing enough dowry, for bearing a female child and for not cooking a good enough meal. One thing is clear that acid attacks will continue if the country does not treat the attackers more harshly and the victims more generously.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 23 January, 2020

By

Web Team

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January 23, 2020

1Row over birth place of Sai Baba

India now already seized with so many religious conflicts, courtesy pseudo-secular policies of long Congress regime for decades, is not in a position to bear more such controversies like now developed in Maharashtra Chief Minister announcing rupees 100-crore package for developing village Pathri as birth-place of Sai Baba that too when there have been too many theories about parents and birth-place of Sai Baba. Such unthoughtful announcement made Maharashtra Chief Minister to take a U-turn on the issue because of protests of Shirdi people.

There is no confirmation or firm religious faith about Pathri to be birth-place of Sai Baba unlike Ayodhya where there are no two opinions about the city being definitely birth-place of Lord Rama. Script-writers for speeches of President of India should also be careful in future because President in September 2017 mentioned Pathri to be birth-place of Sai Baba.

Madhu Agrawal

2Reading preamble in schools creates a sense of unity

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray making it mandatory for every school to begin the day by reading the Preamble to the constitution as well as singing the National Anthem should not be politicized but taken positively as it creates an sense of unity as well as nationality. Some may argue that it is to woo the supporters of Ambedkar who is the father of the Constitution or pleasing the Congress as the Preamble was penned by Jawaharlal Nehru who was the first Prime Minister of the country but we must look at the bigger picture of nationalism and unity which we must introduce to our children from an young age.

India has a rich history and culture that must be respected. Politicians will come and go and ruling parties at Centre will change but the communal fabric of our country should never be torn and we must be united come what may. Politicians sadly play dirty politics for votes but citizens should be united and be the judge for what is good for the country. Anything that unites the citizen of the country should be appreciated be it the singing of the National Anthem in cinema halls and school or reading the Preamble in school when the classes starts.

S.N.Kabra

3MK Gandhi was not the only personality much higher than Bharat Ratna

It refers to Public Interest Litigation demanding Bharat Ratna for MK Gandhi wherein a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India commented that MK Gandhi was a personality much higher than Bharat Ratna. Such comments can be personal views of any member of public including judges of Supreme Court. But such comments should have been avoided being part of judicial proceedings because there are two schools of thoughts in this regard. While one school of thought recognises MK Gandhi as hero for independence of India through non-violence. But there is another school of thought which considers Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as the terror-force compelling Britishers to leave India through his Azad Hind Fauj. It is noteworthy that no Congress leader including MK Gandhi ever provided any legal help to great selfless Indian martyrs for freedom like including Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru etc to save them from being hanged by the then British rulers.

MK Gandhi misused his veto-power to undemocratically crown Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as first Prime Minister of the country, snatching the right of well-deserving Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for the post. Future happenings prove that policies of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru especially on Kashmir were disastrous costing nation heavily on defence of the country.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

4EC should accept online nomination process

The Election Commission of India is accepting physical submission of nomination papers and withdrawal applications for both Assembly and General Elections. As technology now has outpaced the need for many paper based formalities, it is ironical that the ECI still adopts archaic paper-trail based system to accept nomination papers from the candidates. Hence even the candidates find it frustrating to file nomination papers physically while an online process will otherwise make it easy for them.

The process of submitting nomination papers under the physical presence of a returning officer may thus be replaced by a simple online nomination paper submission and further due verification/scrutinizing of online forms. The move helps to avoid the needless pomp and splendor of a candidate’s charisma displayed prior to filing a nomination and much before the polls itself. The voters on the other hand will be relived of the unnecessary hassles one has to face owing to such a grandeur including frustrating traffic chaos.

Varun Dambal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

No more 45 rides restriction: Unlimited metro rides on monthly pass from today

By

Hema Singh

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January 23, 2020

In a good news for commuters of Mumbai Metro, the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) has declared that by upgrading their monthly 45-trip passes by spending more Rs 25 from January 23, commuters can enjoy unlimited travel. Reportedly, a monthly pass that costs Rs 1,375 for a journey between Versova-Andheri will have to pay Rs 1,400. Earlier, there used to be a 45-ride restriction on monthly passes but now that has been taken off.

This scheme of the metro will benefit those who make multiple trips that involve breaking their journey. Regarding this an MMOPL official said, “We will launch a new product in the form of monthly pass from January 23 which will allow commuters to take unlimited rides during the validity period of the pass. However, the pass will not be transferable.”

Earlier from Andheri to Saki Naka that accounted for 45 trips a a monthly pass used to cost Rs 775 but the unlimited trip will cost 800 whereas a pass between Ghatkopar to Andheri that used to cost Rs. 1100 will now cost Rs. 1125.