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October 2018

P o l i t i c i aIssue# X

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An Informed Student Is A Sound Citizen

Welham Boys’ School October 2018Welham Boys’ School Social Science Department

Published By | Dr (Ms). Gunmeet Bindra, Principal, Welham Boys’ School

In The Name Of Politics…

Theresa May @theresa_may

We will make a success of Brexit whatever the outcome of the negotiations. Labour should stop playing politics with Brexit and work in the national interest.#Marrshow

Imran Khan @ImranKhanPTI

Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have a vision to see the larger picture.

Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi

For Congress Aadhar was an instrument of empowerment

For BJP, Aadhar is a toll for oppression and surveillance.

Thank you Supreme Court for supporting the Congress vision and protection.

A thousand words…

The views in the magazine are of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the magazine and the school. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.

Copyright: Politicia 2018 All Rights Reserved

Editorial Board Editor-in-chief: Suyash Dev Gupta Senior Editor: Mukund Kedia Creative Editor: Ujjwal Goenka

Co-Editors: Shaurya Poddar, Naman Kapoor Editorial Team: Khatwang Gupta, Aarav Upadhya, Mrinank Chander, Samanyu Raj Malik, Kartik Tripathi Teacher-in-charge: Ms Kiran Tripathi Special Thanks: Mr Abhik Bhattacharjee, Mr Saurav Sinha

Printed By: Mr Prashant Arora, Mr Girish Prasad

Like every editorial I am again clueless about what to write. Is it the making of this edition should I write about, or the long way we have come, or perhaps this event itself? Well, it will be injustice to write about just one of them.

When the armed forces give away so much selflessly, it becomes the responsibility of each one of us to acknowledge it. It’s through events like these that we come together and pay homage to the brave, and it’s our pleasure to host the second edition of the Military History Seminar.

Half of the academic session is over. The metaphorical Welhamite has had his share of drama and fun. Satisfied with his own performance or not, this can prove to be a new beginning for him, but only if he chooses it to be. He can either continue walking down the same path, that he has been, or can make a new one for himself. Another crucial decision for him to make is, whether or not to join the bandwagon. Deciding not to, he can step out of the blue and display his true potential.

Lately, there has been so much happening around the world. The subtle Whitehouse resistance movement, the coming in of the verdicts on the Ram Mandir, and India steadily building its foreign relations. Also, much awaited are elections in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Napoleon Hill once said, “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way”. Keeping in mind this thought, we are moving ahead, taking baby steps, aiming straight for

our final goal. In every single edition we put in our best efforts.

With every edition of Politicia, comes a pack of food for thought. This time much to your content, and of course ours, we have a whole set of phenomenal articles lined up for you. We have tried to cover as much as current affairs we could, but at the same time focusing on contemporary pieces to capture your interest and exhilarate you. In this issue, we have included articles on the Ram Mandir issue, the String of Pearls and the relations with China.

O u r b r a v e e f f o r t s o n l y a w a i t y o u r appreciation. Your opinions matter gravely to us, and once again I welcome them. I urge y o u a l l t o w r i t e t o u s a t [email protected] .

So, for now, sit back and enjoy the Politicia!

Suyash Dev Gupta Editor-in-Chief

Politicia | 19Politicia | 2

October 2018 Welham Boys’ School October 2018Welham Boys’ School

The Aggressive Neighbour!Relations' between India and China in the early 1950s were based on peaceful co-existence. But these declined and faded in mutual hostility following the 1962 war between the two countries. A new phase of improved ties began in December 1988, resulting in the setting up of a Joint Working Group to defuse tension and ensure peace and tranquility on the borders. Since the end of the Cold War, India–China relations have steadily improved, and have gained strength in diverse fields of mutual interest, both countries have enormous potential and opportunities to expand and deepen their economic and trade ties. Emerging trends indicate that both India and China would remain highly competitive in the global and regional trade and economic domain, and would continue to compete for status and influence the Asian region in general, and South Asia in particular. India-China relations have steadily improved and gained strength, however, there exists high military competition between both. Both countries are not showing much progress to peacefully settle the differences. Many Indian strategists believe China is trying to militarily dominate disputed border areas. Similarly, many Chinese analysts think that India has a bolder military posture to a seek a great power status, rather than defensive responses to perceived Chinese aggression. Indian militarily has an advantage as once its conventional force modernisation is complete, India will be able to position far more troops near border areas than China, whose forces are mostly located deeper inland. With the 2+2 dialogue and our relations with the U.S., U.S. intelligence-sharing will likely enable India to d e t e c t a n d c o u n t e r a c t a n y C h i n e s e mobilisations in case of a major attack. These factors grant India key convent ional advantages over China, despite the latter's superior mobilisation logistics. Views on India's nuclear deterrence are quite different as New Delhi assesses that Beijing will only view India's nuclear deterrent as credible once India can deploy missiles, such as the Agni-V, that can reach Beijing and Shanghai. Chinese strategists assert that such Indian targeting goals are unnecessary for stable bilateral deterrence, despite China's larger,

superior nuclear arsenal. Yet some indications suggest that Agni-III missiles already have been deployed in northeastern India, which would mean these Chinese targets are already within range. Establishing stability with China is imperative for India in doing is it has taken certain steps. It has enhanced military-to-military contact with China, India has proposed the establishment of a hotline between Indian Army Headquarters and PLA Army Headquarters to allow the two sides to immediately clarify security concerns at a more senior directive level, as a complement to existing tactical-level contact. India has also promoted a comprehensive strategic and nuclear dialogue where China and India should establish processes to explain their respective nuclear and conventional doctrinal policies, describe their force posturing intentions, and discuss potential procedures for pre-notification of missile tests and major military exercises. China should make unilateral gestures, as the stronger power, China should recognise how its far-reaching border spreads and construction programs in disputed areas raise Indian threat perceptions. Beijing should unilaterally cease such activities to help lower bilateral tensions. In conclusion, the risk of open military conflict between China and India is growing. The potential introduction of a nuclear dimension to the Doklam episode, by way of Indian policymakers’ discussion of the availability of the Arihant nuclear-armed submarine, emphasises the urgent stakes associated with the task of managing tensions responsibly. Any military conflict between the top two rising powers of Asia would be catastrophic not just for their mutual interest in generating domestic economic prosperity but also for global security. Beijing and New Delhi should initiate confidence-bui lding and transparency measures to prevent the further deterioration of their strategic relationship and correct current and future misperceptions about their respective strategic intentions.

-Shubhankar Dhulia Grade VIII

EDITORIAL



It’s not unusual for a young lad to take the law into his own hands, thus ending up in a police station. “Chacha Vidhayak hain,” he says, to show his political influence and to deter the Station House Officer (SHO), a.k.a the Thanedaar, from performing his duty. It is an open secret that political affiliations play a large role in departmental inquiries and punishment proceedings of officials. People openly approach the MLA or a politician, especially from the ruling party, to get transfers or postings. According to locals of numerous constituencies in Punjab, if an officer doesn’t bend according to the politician’s whims and fancies the latter ensures that he is sent to an inconvenient place or position. B u t i f y o u g e t t r a n s f e r re d o n t h e recommendation of a politician, you will end up obeying him till the end of your term. Several times, the orders from senior officers and the orders from the politician can be entirely different. This hinders the officer’s ability to discern and make decisions for the welfare of the area. The Supreme Court judgment in the Prakash Singh v/s Union of India case was a big milestone in this regard but even that has failed to make an impact on a politician’s eagerness to rub their noses into the police administration. The judgment, which was based on the principle of separation of powers envisioned in the Constitution, clearly states that all decisions on transfer of officers and personnel should be devoid of political interference. The court's directive has been followed only on paper as RTI data has shown that high-level politicians have

rejected the recommendations in numerous officer's transfer cases. The same RTI data further suggest that the CM transferred 47 IPS officers between January 1, 2016, and August 31, 2017, without the PEB recommendation. Due to such circumstances, officers tend to be as politicized as professional politicians. There does not remain much difference between the two, neither in the way the two would function. Even the district boards headed by senior officers of Police of various ranks are not free from political interference. A meeting of the board happens just before general transfers every year. The only thing that is discussed in t h e s e m e e t i n g s i s w h i c h l e a d e r i s r e c o m m e n d i n g w h o m a n d w h o s e recommendation letters are to be taken seriously. The merit of officials or their suitability for posts are seldom discussed. “Sometimes officers approach the PEB for revising their recommended posting. This is acceptable in cases where the reasons are valid” a home department official said. In Bathinda for example, aspirants to the posts o f a r o u n d 8 0 j o b s h a v e b r o u g h t recommendations from numerous leaders during major transfer and off-season post transfers. This has been the trend since long and there are only a few who differ and apply solely on their merits. Even few are the ones brave enough and with the mettle to stand against the tide and oppose it in their own big or small ways.

-Abhay Singh Dhillon

Grade XII

Selective Catching The Politics of Policing in India

Rory starts off with an example of a little girl Bitty whose father is actually ashamed of telling her 8-year daughter that he is a politician. This shows how the politicians have a tarnished image. This is something that sets a deep sense of disappointment, mainly because even after years of budding democracy, the politicians involved are considered corrupt. In the latter part of the speech, he does agree that there are corrupt politicians, but he believes that because of them the whole concept of democracy should not be judged. He goes on to say that the very fundamental principle of democracy is the fact that it respects its own citizens and neighbours. He then gives the example of Afghanistan, a failed democracy.

Towards the end, he sums up by saying how democracy is not only dependent on its politicians but also on the people, on how people actually see democracy and its only after the collaboration of all the sectors of the nation that a successful democracy is produced where the country prospers and so does its people.

-Shaurya Poddar Grade XI

Scan to watch the video



History of the Indian military

men's mindset. According to it, the mastermind behind the rape and murder is a retired revenue official of the government of India. Name? Sanji Ram who was amongst the eight arrested along with his son and nephew, believed to be a juvenile (there was one in Nirbhaya's case too, juveniles are making our country proud these days) the crime branch also arrested special police officers and other members of the police force on charges of attempting to destroy evidence. What are corrupt police officers than undercover criminals?

We honestly assumed that nothing more horrific can ever happen after we heard what happened to Nirbhaya, but the entire episode has shaken the country to its roots. Even in terms of the grossness of the charge sheet where an eight-year-old girl was raped with such brutality brings our country to shame. You know what? The ironical fact about the whole case is that these rapists will survive the verdict and nothing is going to happen to them. The rapists of Nirbhaya could have saved themselves the same way, but they didn't have contacts. The first reason this will happen is that the police are involved and the whole police force tries to clear their name. These rapists were lucky, which obviously the rapists of Nirbhaya weren't, and a Hindu outfit is involved (just chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai' a few times and

unleash the ‘Tiranga', now see if anybody can even question you). We have come to a point where our national flag is being used by these guys to defend such criminals. Now the cherry on top is the support these rapists are getting by politicians. Lal Singh and Chander Parkash Ganga ministers in the J&K government supported these rapists and the police officers. It was never about you and me, it is about Asifa, Nirbhaya and all the nameless girls, women, children, who I could not name because they were not popular enough for the media or those who simply go unreported. I write, in order to put on paper the gravity of what the horrors of rapes and the stories that unfold because of choices made by some men. I write because I am tired, I am exhausted of stories like these, emerging almost daily from all parts of urban and rural India. We as a society still continue to struggle with the poisonous and violent reality of rape, the gravity of sexual assault, the complexity of misogyny and the patriarchal weight that continues to minimize the role of rapists and blame women whose body was scratched and snatched from within her own skin.

And I ask you, what will you do about this?

-Naman Kapoor Grade XI

Third Indo-Pak War (1971) – This war is considered to be a unique one as it did not involve the issue of Kashmir, but was triggered by the crisis of the political battle between the then leader of East Pakistan (Bangladesh). When the hostilities turned extreme, Pakistan started Operation Searchlight to curb elements of the separatist Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan.

Second Indo-Pak War (1965)- The war started after Pakistan decided to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir. India retaliated by launching a military attack on West Pakistan. The war lasted seventeen days and caused a large number of casualties and the use of tanks to inflict the highest possible damage. The hostilities ended by the diplomatic intervention of the Soviet Union and The United States of America.

Siachen Conflict (1984) – During this time period, Pakistan began organizing tourist expeditions to the Siachen Glacier, which was India’s territory. Seeing this the Indian army initiated Operation Meghdoot, and this resulted in India gaining more than a 1000 sq. miles of territory. The Indian army still maintains a military base on the Siachen glacier. Since then Pakistan has tried to take the territory twice, in 1987 and 1989, which were unsuccessful.

Uri Attacks and the Surgical Strikes (2016)-The Uri attacks are referred to the attacks by four militants in Uri that resulted in the deaths of about 17 Indian soldiers. After a gun battle that lasted nearly six hours, the four militants were finally defeated. The Indian army achieved redemption by conducting surgical strikes beyond the LOC to destroy militant outposts with accurate precision. These missions were highly successful. Although Pakistan denied the occurrence of the surgical strikes and questioned their legitimacy, they were highly effective.



It was a week ago that I started writing a piece on "how we should get men to understand consent and stop being creeps." This was when I realized that it is all a joke, we spend most of our time and energy discussing rape, focusing on the potential rape victims' actions (mostly girls/women, because boys/men getting raped is a bigger joke), instead of on the perpetrator's actions. All of us have heard (too many times), the standard "how not to get yourself raped" advice: do not dress in a manner which the other person may find "inappropriate," do not leave your drink unattended, do not go anywhere isolated where a stranger could confront you, and so on. While almost everyone who proffers this advice, vaguely oversimplifies the situation by not mentioning the rapist and their responsibility for their actions. No one asks or deserves to be raped, while a critical skill for a healthy adult life is learning to carefully live in this world, is it too much to expect men to learn how to not behave themselves? The fact that being drunk may increase your chances of getting raped, has not once been seriously defended. They just point out a correlation between the two.

As far as I can tell, this is supposed to be a conversation amongst thoughtful, concerned, and well-informed adults who care about individuals not getting raped. We repeatedly assume that women are too dumb to grasp the fact that they are to blame for their assaults, but that some precautionary measures can work in preventing some rapes? What is insulting is that we conveniently put the blame on the victim. Is an education about consent and how to “stop being creeps" is all that is required to prevent men from

c o m m i t t i n g r a p e ? A n o t h e r g l a r i n g oversimplification in the anti-How to Not Get Raped message. Not most, not many, but some rapists know that what they're doing is wrong, and they want to do it anyway (don’t shy away now, you educated ‘dude’, who we assumed, we could trust). Al l the "Understanding Sexual Consent" educational seminars in the world won't prevent them. The action is ours to take, a little more caution is needed and so is a little more courage. In these times, we have excuses for everything, even for the rape of an 8-year old.

Rapists of Nirbhaya were extremely foolish, their case in the supreme court was processed quickly and they were hanged. Had they put a little more effort, they could have saved themselves. On the other hand, the rapists of Asifa, sorry the ‘alleged' rapists of Asifa are smart, clever and have been taking cautious steps all this while. That is why nothing is going to happen to them. This is an excerpt from the charge sheet which states some glaring details - "An eight-year-old was gang-raped thrice in the Devasthan or prayer hall of a temple. The master had performed rituals (the fact that puja has been added to it prohibits interference, "baki sab rape-vape chalta hai'). One of the rapists was called from Meerut to satisfy his lust. The girl was confined using sedatives, then strangled and hit on the head twice with a stone, to make sure that she is dead, but not before another accused, some police personnel asked the others to wait because he wanted to rape the girl one more time before killing her." The charge sheet itself is a testament to the depravity of Indian

No Country for Women

The First Indo-Pak War (1947) - The war started in October 1947 when Pakistan feared that the Maharajah of Kashmir and Jammu would accede to India. Jammu and Kashmir, had a predominantly Muslim population ruled by the Hindu king. Tribal forces with support from the army of Pakistan attacked and occupied parts of the princely state forcing the Maharajah to sign the Agreement to the accession of the princely state to the Dominion of India to get Indian military’s aid. A formal cease-fire was declared at 23:59 on the night of 1 January 1949 India gained control of about two-thirds of the state.

Sino-Indian War (1962)- This border war was fought for only a month. Neither naval nor air resources were deployed during the war. China ended the war by declaring a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew their forces.

The Mizo National Front (1966) – The Mizo rebels res iding in Assam declared themselves independent and attacked government offices. The conflict was ceased a few weeks later and Mizoram was made into a separate state.

Indo-Sino Conflict (1967) – This conflict was fought when Chinese forces Sikkim on October 1, 1967. The forces were defeated and sent back by the Indian army by October 10. The number of casualties suffered by the Chinese surpassed the casualties suffered by the Indians hugely. Operation Blue-Star (1984)- Indira Gandhi,

the then Prime Minister of India initiated an attack on Sikh separatists who had holed up in the Golden Temple. The conflict resulted in around 1000 casualties of civilians.

The Kargil War (1999) – This conflict arose when Pakistani forces infiltrated the LOC and occupied the Kargil district. The Indian forces took nearly 70-80 per cent of the territory back within the first two months. Since there was a possibility of an escalation in the hosti l i t ies, international communities increased diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to withdraw its forces.

-Tushar Gupta Grade XI

As Chi Haotin, general of the People's Republic of China stated, "The Indian Ocean isn't India's Ocean". India says, "South China sea isn't China's sea". Seeing Chinese expanding their exercises in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, India found a way to irk China by expanding its movement in the South China Sea. India realises that it will be unable to contain China alone, so India collectively with Japan, Russia and the US stands against China.

India and Vietnam have consented to a few resistance arrangements which incorporate offering of cutting-edge, world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos. Vietnam has additionally given constructing rights to Indian Navy on its port of Nha Trang on a western shore of the South China Sea. Russia, which has been as of late cooperating with China in all the worldwide occasions astounded China with its turn to give six Varshavyanka-class  submarines to Vietnam which has improved enemy of a ship and hostile to submarine fighting capacities to perform in shallow waters, an ideal card to play in the South China ocean. Russia whose superpower state o f mind has been on the decrease since 1991 is hoping to enter South China ocean struggle in its own specific manner when individuals have begun investigating that Russia has lost to China in its race to end up the following superpower.

In 2011, India's state-run pilgrim, OVL marked a three-year manage PetroVietnam for growing long-haul participation in the oil division, tolerating Vietnam's offer of investigation in the South China Sea making China challenge this move.

Vietnam, which had an intense history with the United States has welcomed US nearness in the locale giving the flag that for local peace and steadiness Vietnam wouldn't fret investment of non-local countries. To cement its relations assist with the United States,

Vietnam is required to ask for the US government for the offer of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion oceanic watch airship, a senior organization official disclosed to IHS Jane's. This clarifies Vietnam is attempting India's for quite some time confided in the strategy of framing great relations with both the United States and Russia. Vietnam's disposition demonstrates the potential, which it has, to wind up the local intensity of south-east Asia.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has guaranteed Asian countries that notwithstanding their sharp cuts in protection spending plans, the Pentagon will keep on moving its military concentration to the Asia Pacific locale. In 2009, India contributed $1.2 million and progressed $774,000 to the TTEG (Tripartite Technical Experts Group). India volunteered to study wrecks in the Malacca Straits which endorsed by the TTEG, additionally chafing the Chinese. Reacting to the ongoing visit of Indian Prime Minis ter Manmohan Singh to Japan examining oceanic security participation, Chinese media has raised worries that Japan is endeavouring to encompass China with the ass i s tance o f mi l i ta ry and financ ia l collaboration with India.

While India effortlessly bows down to China making bargains without anyone else domains, India is seen exceptionally confident and forceful in its arrangement of containing China in the global soil and waters. Authority of both the countries regularly meet with shaking hands and grins all over consenting to more exchange arrangements and contracts and seeking after better collaboration later on, yet behind their smi ley conf ront both the count r ies comprehend what they are doing and what it should have been finished.

-Aarav Upadhya Grade IX

Conway. The terror of all interviewers. If there was a demon for interviewers, in mind, it would be Kellyanne Conway. Her skills at answering questions about her questionable boss are unparalleled. If you haven't figured it out yet, yes, the Boss in question is the POTUS himself, a man who gives an entirely new meaning to the word boss baby. Donald Trump has given national and international news a lot of ripe material, and all his objectionable remarks, tweets and speeches have been a great subject for debate on the Television.

Kellyanne Conway is the person who the answer all these questions. But how does she do it? How does she defend one of the most notorious and hypocritical presidents in the history of the United States? This, dear readers, is the art of manipulation.

When an interviewer asks Conway a question she is always looking for an opening. An opening via which she can redirect the flow of conversation and the attention of the audience. An opening in which she can put the Trump administration as the victim. When she is being asked a question, she is looking for any concepts or words she can latch on to. Here are a few tricks out of a bag, so to speak.

One of the key features of Kellyanne Conway's answers is t h e w a y s h e d e fl e c t s a question. Her aim is to identify t h e k e y w o r d , t h e n s h e p r o c e e d s t o r e p e a t t h e keyword in her answer. This repetition makes the answer sound more like an answer

rather a than an unreliable tangent.

Kellyanne Conway is always ready to exploit the inherent politeness of interviewers. She knows that interviewers are trained to move on to the next question rather than keep arguing about an unanswered query, one of the best ways to lose the interest of the audience. Once she had effectively deflected a question, all she has to do is wait for the interview to move on to the next question. This method almost always works, here is how she deals with the exceptions.

When Conway has been backed into a corner by her interviewer and has no viable method of escape she just passes the buck. It has no predominant part in policy making, she can simply fan ignorance on policy matters, thus avo id ing what would have been an embarrassing failure for a person in her position.

Elastic is very much common to her boss himself. When there is no option and even feigning ignorance seems dangerous she does not do what Trump does best. She makes



THE StRIng of pearlsThe Art of ‘manipulation’



up some new stuff. This post-modern quality allows her the ability to interpret Trump's embarrassing statements with the different meaning altogether. When does president Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that he lost the popular vote because of voter fraud she avoided the embarrassment price simply stating that he was talking about voter registration fraud, and not voter fraud.

This brings into question the fundamental aim of an administration official’s interview. The administration is interviewed to was the president's actions and beliefs throw some light on what is good and what is bad. The latter obviously prospers under the Trump administration.

Traditional methods are no match for Kellyanne Conway, all we can do is great the failures of various interviewers in the past few years. The audience supposes the most, instead of the administration and its views being explicitly clarified to the public, a common man who watches a Kellyanne Conway interview ends up frustrated, and become even more confused about Donald J Trump than when he was before he sat down before the TV. The sad thing is, that no one yet has the skill to stop this. The blame, however, falls entirely on the shoulders of media as they are the ones who constantly keep inviting Kellyanne Conway to give even more interviews on national television.

-Mrinank Chander Grade IX

7th October 6th OctoberYear Event

1929

Ramsay MacDonald is first British Prime Minister to address US Congress

1942

US & UK government announce establishment of United Nations

1950US forces invade North Korea by crossing 38th parallel

1951David Ben-Gurion forms 3rd Israeli government

1960 2nd JFK & Richard Nixon debate

1963JFK signs ratification for nuclear test ban treaty

1982 Olof Palme forms Swedish government

1988Latvian flag raised in Riga for first time since annexation by USSR

1994Faud Guliyev appointed premier of Azerbijan

2004King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates

2016

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos wins the Nobel Peace Prize for attempts to end conflict with FARC

1 Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859) was a French philosopher and statesman. Belonging to a Norman aristocratic family that traced its origins to the Battle of Hastings (1066), Tocqueville’s parents barely escaped the guillotine in the terror of the French Revolution.

2. There is no aspect of modern Western philosophy that does not bear the influence of Immanuel Kant. Without ever leaving the vicinity of his hometown of Königsberg, the philosopher changed the course of ethics, moral philosophy, metaphysics, and aesthetics.

3. Anarchism- Anarchy stems from the Greek word, anarkos, meaning "without a chief." Its political meaning is a social and political system without a state or more broadly a society that is characterized by a lack of any hierarchical or authoritarian structures.

Fact Bulletin

Year Event

1939

Adolf Hitler denies he intends to go to war against France & Britain

1945

US General Eisenhower welcomed in The Hague (on Hitler's train)

1949

US President Harry Truman signs Mutual Defense Assistance Act (for NATO)

1951

Joseph Stalin proclaims the Soviet Union has the atomic bomb

1981 Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat is assassinated.

1928

Chiang Kai-Shek is made Chairman of the Republic of China.

1987

Military coup leader Maj-Gen Sitiveni Rabuka declares Fiji a republic

Has the BJP Let India Down?



Voting is an expression that involves a lot of brainstorming, and it is a salient responsibility that the citizens of a nation are entrusted with. So, whenever a person casts a vote to a party they have a set of expectations from the party. Now disillusionment sets in, whenever a party fails to deliver on those expectations. This is exactly what happened in 2014, a mistake was made...

'Underperformance' is the word I emphasize on whenever I talk about the BJP, primarily because they had given us towering hopes and made numerous promises. I won't say they failed completely but whether they were able to consummate most of their promises or not, is something you will know through the course of this article.

To start wi th , the BJP government has failed to clinch one of their basic p r o m i s e s , w o r k o n u n e m p l o y m e n t . Unemployment has risen, but BJP is using statistics to create an illusion of economic growth. Modi had promised to create one crore jobs a year which is obviously far from reality. Another issue that the BJP had promised to take down was Black Money which turns out to be another failure and now they are being mocked by their opposition for their promise of transferring 15 Lakhs in every citizen's bank account after they had brought back the black money stashed overseas. The BJP manifesto said its government would make sure that there is a strict check on price rise and would also set-up special courts to stop hoarding and black marketing. However, no such courts have been set up and as far as prices are concerned, and we are suffering from the highest ever petrol and diesel prices. Even the prices of other commodities are soaring. The 'building India' promise that was to ensure shelter equipped with electricity, water and toilets is still a dream, a situation far from the reality in most parts of the country.BJP had also promised to tackle problems like the passing of

The Women's Reservation Bill pending in the Lok Sabha, despite enjoying a majority in the Lok Sabha, the Modi government has not brought the Bill for passage in the lower house. Agriculture was another pertinent problem that they sought to tackle, by ensuring a minimum of 50 per cent profits over the cost of production for the farmers, reforming Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act 2003, implementing and adopting a 'National Land Use Policy'. The APMC Act reforms and 50 per cent profit over production costs is yet to be implemented. There are still tons of problems faced by farmers and suicide amongst them remains common. Agriculture in t h e country has not grown up to the

levels promised by the BJP. Farmer loans still remain a m a j o r c a u s e o f c o n c e r n .

Creating peace was also a false dream irreconcilably there is a constant rise in riots, lynching, attacks on minorities, reinstating the Brahmanical system, and

a t t e m p t s t o d e s t a b i l i z e t h e economic and social structure of our society.

This is a series of failures and ironically the opposition still stands to support them.

Some might contradict me by saying I am ignoring their boons. However, I am not trying to prove that they did nothing, I am

trying to prove that how what they have done stands nowhere close to what they had promised and this is how they have let us down. GST was another act that irrespective of the benefits, the Indian textile industry suffered a big jolt, reported by Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani. The demonetization exercise is believed to have broken the back of India's textile industry, which has been struggling with falling exports, low productivity and rising prices. This led to millions of job losses. Small industries and business were the worst hit. Isn't this enough to prove that the Modi era was more of a bane than a boon? Rather than solving problems, it ended up creating a new share of problems. And it is not me alone, the word on the street is that 'this is the worst position since the time of 1981 emergency.'

ForThe Political Spectrum

In the contemporary world, which is ever changing and will morph into something horrific or beautiful in a heartbeat, we have come across a plethora of governments, some that are enriching and some that are exploitative. These governments follow some many kinds of political and economic systems. From democracies to dictatorships, from capitalist regimes to socialist ones, we have seen it all. All of these fall somewhere or the other on something called the political spectrum (or the economic spectrum). While I will not get into the concept of the economic spectrum in this article of mine, I will discuss, in depth, the concept of a political spectrum. In order to understand this very confusing (as it may seem right now), you will need to visualize somewhat of a line. On this line is a center and, this line goes endlessly into both the sides. The center divides this line into two parts, namely- the left and the right. A common definition that you would probably hear most of the time is that the left is liberal and the right wing is conservative. This is right only to an extent. Stalin was pretty leftist but he was in no way liberal. Any thinker, can be liberal as long as his ideologies lie somewhere around the center, along with this any thinker whose ideologies lie beyond this region identified as l iberal , would be considered relat ively conservative. To arrive to a definition of both

these wings is pretty hard but I do have one in mind. A leftist regime would be somewhat egalitarian, while a rightist one would be divided into some form of social hierarchy with the government being authoritarian. The question of which one is better is up for a lot of debate. Countries usually have set ideologies which they consider to be somewhat okay, but this window of ideologies can be shifted by a clever politician. Sometimes, movements erupt out in countries to change the very status quo of the country and bring about a radical change in the political system. For example, we have the Communist Party of America, which used to exist in a country which at heart is pretty capitalist. In today’s day and age, many countries are shifting to a rightist form of government, due to a lot of reasons (the fear of automation, maybe?). They feel that a rightist government would get them out of the dark abyss that they have fallen into. After reading this, I hope you have formulated some sort of opinion in your minds about which one is better.

-Samanyu Raj Malik Grade IX

Before I move to the main arguments of the debate, I wish to give you a brief history of the UPA regime. During this time there was policy paralysis with retrospective taxation of Vodafone, withdrawal of cabinet decision on Rahul’s tearing of the ordinance passed by the cabinet, etc. The government lost its credibility. There were as many corruption scandals as the number of INC ministers . The integrity of the government was lost completely, even Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are currently on bail. The ministers were apparently afraid of pursuing any projects for the fear it may end up in a n o t h e r s c a n d a l . T h e inflation was in double digits. The law and order too was hopeless with rape, thug, and communal flare up on flimsy reasons, making life hopeless for common man. The fact that all this has not happened or the conditions have bettered clearly shows that BJP did not let India down. I say this with respect to the main goal of the 2014 elections, which was to get a s t r o n g e r a n d m o r e p o w e r f u l government in the centre, which I can say with pride we got.

From May, 2014 onwards, BJP, is in power. In the last four years the economy has looked up with GDP, growth showing above 7%. The FDI, too is highest for any country. India’s foreign currency reserve has crossed $400 billion. Economically India is in a dominant position. Modi has conducted the hot pursuit of terrorists of terrorists in North east into Myanmar border, neutralising most of them. Now, the people of theNorth east are living in a peaceful life. The Surgical Strike on terror camps in POK, killing 35 terrorists without a single casualty to Indian troops is hailed world o v e r . I m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f G S T a n d demonetisation happened and Modi did not budge an inch. There has been no policy paralysis in this BJP led government.

The foreign policy is one area where Modi has out beaten all his predecessors. Both US and Russia are friendly with India. Also he has established good and cordial relationships

with all major powers. He also established close friendship with Israel without affecting it's relationships with the Muslim world including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, etc. He has maintained and improved good neighbourly relationships and has been able to isolate Pakistan.

The Modi government has initiated major social reform schemes.Major developmental schemes have brought about a paradigm shift in the social landscape of India.Schemes like the Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana to provide low

cost housing for all, Swach Bharat Abhiyaan to bring on the largest sanitation revolution the

world has ever witnessed, Saubhagya Yojana to bring about electrification of the entire nation, fasal beema Yojana to bring about crop insurance, providing

n e e m c o a t e d U r e a t o a l l farmers.also Schemes like beti bachao beti padhao and the jan

than Yojana have got national attention. The government has also brought about the

worlds largest healthcare scheme known as the Aayushman Bharat Yojana also

called Modicare. Smart cities plan and the Adarsh Gram Yojana Yojana have brought about both urban and rural revolution.Digital India and Skill India have also brought about telecommunication revolution and brought about great achievements. The rate of roads and national highways are being built at a unprecedented rate.Technologically India has achieved many fetes. India was able to send its ‘Mangalyaan’ satellite successfully to Mars at a cheaper price than Martian.

Overall , one can only say that the BJP has not only brought about political but effective social change.hence it is not wrong to say that the Modi government has given India enough change that the Congress could not in its over glorified tenure of 70 years. It is with great pride that I say: Fir ek Baar Modi sarkar.



There are only five countries in the world that are communist. Communism politically, is an ideology in which all the property is owned by the community and each person contributes. Although, communist governments are not recognized. There are many reasons to this. The communist countries are China, North Korea, Cuba and Laos. In a communist country there are always some key advantages that are provided to the citizen. One of the biggest advantage is it embodies equality. Cuba, one of the smallest countries in the world is known for its highest literacy rate mounting up to 99.8%. These facts are a result of quality education which is very prominent in communist nations around the world; but in these nations economy aren’t to that level of significance as expected. One of the former communist country was U.S.S.R. They were widely criticized for their one-party rule, fixed rights and no financial freedom which ultimately led to the downfall of the U.S.S.R. This problem has also been significant in China but they have been handling it with a more open mindedly, in terms of rights - despite investing heavily in arms and ammunitions. Communism also offers no business monopolies. But in this case the cons have got the better o f p r o s . I n a c o m m u n i s t government the leader dictates his ideals on the people. Laos, a war-struck country has recently dealt with a dam breaking down due to corrupt officials handling the construction and the dam not being given proper labor. Considering this the country should have looked at the casualties that took place, but instead, they are planning to

increase the capacity of the airport. In this case the citizens’ opinions have been overlooked. One more example of Laos suggests the same. Fidel Castro in 1990’s had a very deep economic crisis haunting his country. The U.S. was the first one to offer help and aid but he declined the offer and China came helping months later. Many causalities took place and considering the decline of the offer U.S and Laos do not share a good relationship and Laos sis suffering from this mistake. Communism in this case, goes against the will of the people and seeing today’s scenario keeping the citizens happy is the first and the foremost priority of any government. Communism is also against the ethnic diversity. In these countries the number of immigrants has been very low and have been providing aid and shelter from the humanitarian aspect is a key factor in any prosperous government. cTo end I deliberate that communism is a dream that cannot stand on the grounds of reality.

-Ishman Kohli Grade IX

What is Communism? Against



With the supreme court judgement upholding the Ismail Faruqi judgement of 1994, the path for the construction of the Ram Janmbhoomi temple seems clear. With hearings for the title suit set to begin from the 29th of October, the long wished mandir could soon be a reality.

The Ismail Faruqi judgement says that a mosque is not integral to the religion of Islam. Taking precedent from Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia themselves relocating mosques, the Supreme Court has said while observing that namaz can be offered anywhere, even on streets hence a mosque is not essential for Islam. Also, many scholars have argued in favour of the temple saying that the land on which the mosque is to be built has to be undisputed and obtained through proper payment, hence it further fuels the promotion of a temple at the disputed site.

The Archeological Survey of India had submitted its report in 2003 to the Allahabad High Court stating that there was archeological evidence to prove a structure predating the mosque saying it was either a Hindu, Buddhist or Jain structure. Interestingly, one of the members of the ASI was a follower of Islam and even he concluded that the mosque was constructed after destruction of a previous structure. Five such surveys have been commissioned and all have given the same conclusions. Even the first surveyor general of India, A. Cunningham had concluded that the mosque was built after the demolition of pre- existing structure.

Many leaders of the Islamic community have also come out in support of the temple choosing to ignore the communal politics and restoring the harmonious relations between the conflicting sides. One such is the Shia Waqf board chief of UP and the Muslim ‘Kar Seva Manch’, clearly showing the support of the parts of the minority community for the temple.

Mandir

Wahin

Banayengey!

Also, when people ask why is the site sacred for Hindus? The answer is quite simple as the House of Lords UK held in the 1992 Natraj idol case, because of prana prathishtha puja in the Agama shastra, a temple is always sacred even if in disuse. Hence it is logical for the Hindu community to get the land as ruled by the Allahabad High Court judgement giving majority of the land to the Hindus.

Taking into account the paramount political importance of this issue especially with the approaching state and national elections, the issue is set to rock the basis for which these elections are going to be fought. No party is ready to touch the issue with a 10 ft pole except for the BJP. The Congress leader Kapil Sibbal and the lawyer of the Sunni board while representing them in court had asked for the matter to be delayed for after the 2019 elections. Only this statement was enough to cost them Gujarat. So if the temple does become a reality through the court, there is absolutely no stopping the Modi juggernaut.

However, the possibility of the court ruling in favour of the Muslim community remains a threat. The BJP led NDA had included the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in their manifesto of 2014 and the UP state polls. Which indicates that the government may overturn the ruling in favour of Hindus by parliament, especially because the BJP has this cause to thank for their national existence. The government may also opt for the ordinance way like it did with the triple talaq bill to make the temple a reality. So there is no denying the fact that the RSS, BJP duo will deny their national votebank of their most basic demand.

Concluding, I feel that the court will rule in favour of the Hindus and, the Muslim community will accept the decision to relocate the mosque. Even if it does not there is enough cause to believe that the government will do the right thing. Expressing a lot of hope I say “Ram lala hum aayengey, mandir wahin banayengey.” Jai Hind!

-Mukund Kedia Grade XII

The conflict that shook Indian Politics.

welham boys’ school welham boys’ school social science ...€¦ · madhya pradesh, chhattisgarh...

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