यानि कि जुलाई २५ को पता चल जायेगा कि नीतिश जित रहे हैं या हार रहे हैं

यानि कि जुलाई २५ को पता चल जायेगा कि नीतिश जित रहे हैं या हार रहे हैं। उसी दिन बीजेपी बिहार को give up करने को तैयार? पार्टी के भितर morale तो बिलकुल गिर जाएगी।

Why a forthcoming rally in Bihar is so crucial for NaMo and SuMo

The saffron party is considering announcing a chief ministerial candidate in Bihar if a Narendra Modi rally in Muzaffarpur doesn't draw enough crowds. ..... July 25 rally at Muzaffarpur. ... if enough people don’t turn up at the event, the party should declare a chief ministerial candidate to insulate Modi from any possible debacle. ...... reminiscent of the strategy the BJP adopted in the midst of the Delhi assembly election campaign earlier this year. Initially, the party’s position was clear – there will be no chief ministerial candidate, and the Modi card will be used just as it was in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Labor Mobility In India

Narendra Modi struggles to overhaul India's labour laws

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is again facing dissent from members of his own camp who oppose proposals that would make it easier for companies to do business. .... The country's top 11 unions -- the biggest of which is linked to Modi's ruling party -- have called for a nationwide strike on Sept. 2. They are resisting his plan to merge 44 labor laws into four, a move that would simplify some of the world's most rigid rules for hiring and firing workers. ......... "If there's no satisfactory reply from the prime minister, the strike will continue," Baij Nath Rai, president of the Modi-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, said ..... The union will oppose "tooth and nail" any policies by any government that go against the interests of workers, he said. ..... One of the most controversial provisions is allowing companies with as many as 300 workers to lay them off without government approval. The cap is currently at 100, while existing retrenchment compensation is three times lower than proposed. Another is an attempt to make it tougher to form unions. ...... The government and unions failed to reach consensus on key issues such as retrenchment, closure of factories, formation of unions and minimum wages at a meeting on Sunday ..... The country's biggest union is linked to the ideological parent of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. While it differs from unions connected to the main opposition Congress party and Communist groups, they all see eye to eye in opposing Modi's overhaul of India's labor laws. ....... Successive Indian governments have failed to change the laws, fearing a backlash from unions and working-class voters. ..... Modi is treading carefully ahead of an election later this year in Bihar, one of India's poorest states and home to about 100 million people. He's already facing opposition from farmers over a bill to make it easier for companies to acquire land, opening him up to criticism that he cares more about big business than about the poor. ...... "Modi has been caught between a rock and a hard place" ..... "If he moves ahead he will lose votes. If he doesn't then investors will lose faith in him." ..... Economists and business groups say existing laws incentivize firms to stay small, hurting productivity and preventing the majority of workers from accessing legal safety nets.

About 81 percent of Indian laborers were "vulnerable" in 2010 because they didn't get regular wages

, the second-worst ratio among 81 countries tracked by the World Bank.

कुछ रास्ते हैं

• एक रास्ता है confrontation का जो मार्गरेट थैचर ने अख्तियार किया, कि जाओ बंद हड़ताल करना है तो करो, खुद भी थक जाओगे, लोग भी तुम से थक जायेंगे, और मजबुरन खुद ब खुद काम पर वापस आओगे। शायद ये मोदी और भारत के लिए ठीक नहीं होगा 
• दुसरा रास्ता है education का ------- labor law reforms देश और खुद मजदुर के हित में क्यों है इस बात पर व्यापक स्तर पर तर्क वितर्क हो। शायद ये रास्ता ज्यादा अच्छा है। लेकिन मुश्किल ये है कि टाइम प्रेशर है। 
• तीसरा रास्ता है इसको पहले स्टेट लेवल पर अमल करो। लेकिन ऐसा करने से एक पीढ़ी चली जाएगी। धीमी गति विकास क्या खाक विकास। 

रास्ता नंबर दो: Build A Strong Case, and market it hard. Be willing to compromise a little.

ये तो Land Bill के जैसा हो गया। भारत को double digit growth rate के रास्ते पर ले जाने के लिए दोनों की जरुरत है, Land Bill और Labor Bill दोनों की।

• जिस job guarantee को आप ढूँढ रहे हो वो job create कौन करता है? Entrepreneur . तो उस बन्दे का हाथ पाऊँ बाँध के रखे रहो तो वो अपना काम नहीं कर पाएगा, तो फिर वो job creation का काम कैसे करेगा? 
• इंडिया में labor mobility नहीं है इस लिए बड़ी तादात में foreign investment नहीं आ रही है। देश आगे नहीं बढ़ रहा है। 
• अगले जेनेरेशन की सोंचो। जो नौकरी आप कर रहे क्या ये चाहते हैं कि आपकी संतान भी वही करे कि उससे अच्छा करे? 

Land Bill stuck in the Parliament: PM Modi may have to rethink Jaitley as FM
Arun Shourie's critique is simple: Modi does not need a Palaniappan Jaitley as FM

The NDA government has some – and not inconsiderable - achievements to its credit. Among them: the passage of the insurance, coal and minerals bills, the small factories bill that will end inspector raj for small units, the successful holding of the coal and spectrum auctions, the NJAC bill, the rollout of the Jan Dhan Yojana, the decontrol of diesel pricing, and building further on the UPA’s Aadhaar-based and direct cash transfers scheme. The PM’s own contributions to foreign policy and efforts to highlight cleanliness through Swachch Bharat are surely commendable. ...... Even outside areas that need legislation, the Modi government has been simply too timid in deregulation and administrative reform - two areas that don’t require parliamentary numbers and are perfectly amenable to Modi’s decisive actions. ......... Jaitley's strengths are articulation, a good understanding of the art of political repartee, and a sound legal mind, as befits a lawyer. But his inadequacies are blighting the possibility of success. He does not seem to have an eye for detail, as a result of which his babus are leading him by the nose (consider the disastrous Rs 40,000 crore MAT demand on foreign investors and the complicated ITR form dished out by his taxman that would have taken tax terrorism to every home). His stringent black money bill will, if passed, make corruption worse, as mistrust rises to new levels in tax administration. ......... Jaitley’s political judgment can also be questioned. Not only did he misjudge his own chances of being elected MP by deciding to fight from Amritsar (where he lost, when he could have easily won from Delhi, his home base), he also led his party to defeat (along with Amit Shah) in the Delhi assembly polls. Worse, he completely misjudged the political opposition to the land acquisition law by provoking a counter-consolidation through the second-time issue of the ordinance. Bills are not passed by riding roughshod over opposition sentiment, but by smartly finessing their ability to do damage. ...... Jaitley's real problem is that he is a Delhi insider and hence less suitable to lead a revolutionary change in economic thinking under the Modi government. He would have been very good in I&B, Defence or External Affairs or Law, even education, but is probably the wrong man for the crucial finance ministry. ......... shifting Jaitley now would be a political blunder, but Modi clearly needs to give him three effective junior ministers who are all about execution and delivery. ...... Shah’s handling of allies has also been poor, if not disastrous. He has alienated the Shiv Sena by humiliating it after the BJP emerged as the biggest party in Maharashtra in the October assembly elections. He may be doing the same in Punjab, where the Akali Dal is trying to distance itself from the BJP. The party is losing allies in Tamil Nadu, which may not matter, but even parties who were not anti-Modi (BJD and AIADMK) are now playing hard-to-get. Only N Chandrababu Naidu and Ram Vilas Paswan remain strongly in the NDA camp, but they too cannot be taken for granted. ....... Maybe, just maybe, it is the Peter Principle at work: he may have been promoted to a level of his incompetence.

Arun Shourie critique offers pointers on what Modi must fix in his remaining 4 years

Arun Shourie, Disinvestment Minister and later Communications Minister in Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet, has offered a devastating critique of the Modi government's performance so far . While he has noted Modi's achievements in diplomacy and other areas, but his criticism of the Modi-Arun Jaitley-Amit Shah power troika is ultimately a critique of Modi's own style of functioning. .......... Modi has to understand the importance of compromise to get the opposition to pass important legislation. The fact is the Land Bill and GST cannot pass without opposition support. This means accepting delay as part of the process and working with the Congress and other parties to get a reasonable bill through. Here again, Jaitley has been a problem. The current GST bill is a moth-eaten one, and delay cannot make it worse, but possibly make it better. A moth-eaten GST bill may be better than no GST at all, but for a bill that has been more than 10 years in the making, surely another couple of months can’t do it harm?

Shourie slams Narendra Modi: 10 things he said

There is a big gap between perception and promise, and projection and performance. ...... Investment has not picked up. The government can't ignore India inc warnings. The government needs to wake up. Investors still have hope but the industrial sector is waiting for concrete moves. The growth claims are only to make headlines and the government only wants to manage headlines. ....... India needs labour reforms. There was no need for land bill controversy. Ordinances were ill-advised. They led to disruptions. BJP supported the previous Land Bill. Allies were not taken into confidence. Modi must embrace the opposition. No reform can take place without the oppositions' support. The opposition is ganging up against Modi and the BJP is frightening others. ....... The monogrammed suit was inexplicable, a critical mistake. Don't understand why he wore it.

Modi's California Tour in September; First PM to Visit Silicon Valley in 66 Years

Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had visited San Francisco in 1949. ..... 15% start-up companies in Silicon Valley have Indians as founders or co-founders. ...... ''I hope his time is not monopolised by billionaires and big companies. Silicon Valley is so much more than that. It is the culture of start-ups and the enabling ecosystem that makes it what it is,'' said Vinod Dham, a former Intel vice-president. Dham is also known as the Father of the Pentium chip. .... His Nepal visit was the first bilateral trip by an Indian Prime Minister in the last 17 years. .... And with his upcoming trip to Israel later this year, Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country.

Bihar Asssembly polls: RJD plans tonga poll campaign



Why a forthcoming rally in Bihar is so crucial for NaMo and SuMo

The saffron party is considering announcing a chief ministerial candidate in Bihar if a Narendra Modi rally in Muzaffarpur doesn't draw enough crowds. ..... July 25 rally at Muzaffarpur. ... if enough people don’t turn up at the event, the party should declare a chief ministerial candidate to insulate Modi from any possible debacle. ...... reminiscent of the strategy the BJP adopted in the midst of the Delhi assembly election campaign earlier this year. Initially, the party’s position was clear – there will be no chief ministerial candidate, and the Modi card will be used just as it was in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Bihar Is Rolling Along

Lalu Prasad, sons hold lessons in politics ahead of Bihar polls

“Go and tell people about the findings of this census. Every third family in the country is landless. 13% of households live in single rooms. Socho, agar chaar beta hai aur unki shaadi ho gayi, to kya hoga (Think, if there are four sons and they get married, what will happen)?” he says. ...... Early on Saturday, Lalu was back in his lawn. A visitor from Chhapra timidly announces his offering of fish and sattoo. Gesturing to leave the bag in a corner, Lalu snaps: “Machhi laata hai, ghoos deta hai ticket ke liye (A fish bribe for a poll ticket)!” Then he asks an aide to show him the fish and hollers: “Feko, feko. Sada hua hai (Throw it out, it’s stale)!” ..... A commotion at the gate stops him. “Aaj koi Muslim ko nahin rokega. Eid hai, sabko andar aane do,” he shouts.

Nitish cautious as BJP reworks Bihar’s caste labyrinth

in the end, much will depend on how the JD(U) and the RJD collaborate on the ground. The JD(U) wants the 2010 Assembly poll results to determine the sharing of seats. In that election, the JD(U) won 115 seats with 22.6 per cent, the RJD just 22 seats, though it polled 18.84 per cent. That happened, of course, because the JD(U) was in alliance with the BJP. Now the RJD wants the 2014 general election results to be factored in as it won four Lok Sabha seats against the JD(U)’s two. ....... It is for this reason that the JD(U) is keen on postponing the announcement of its candidates till a very late stage in the campaign, top sources told The Hindu, hoping that by then, Mr. Kumar’s charisma will have done the trick.

Nitish does a Modi, sets up ‘war room’ ahead of polls



Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Purchases 'Luxury' Bus for Campaigning in Assembly Polls

‘luxury’ and ‘ultramodern’ which could be turned into office at any moment. ...... “Inside the bus, there are four collapsible seats, which can provide more space as per the requirements. There was a bedroom behind the seats complete with a bedside phone. I guess it was a satellite phone. There was TV and refrigerator too,” the source said. ...... “The interior is divided into four areas, driver’s cabin, lounge area, bedroom area and a washroom at the back. The lounge section has 40 inch TV, 32 inch TV, DVD player, speakers (two sets), intercom, 60 litre fridge and electric kettle.”

Why Jitan Ram Manjhi is crucial for BJP in Bihar

But Manjhi's inclusion has now caused serious heartburn for the other two BJP allies, causing new problems for its plan Patliputra. ...... Feeling their space squeezed after Manjhi's inclusion in the NDA, RLSP boss Upendra Kushwaha has also unilaterally proposed its own seat distribution formula by asking BJP to contest 102 seats-which is also the number of seats that the saffron party had contested in 2010 in alliance with Nitish Kumar-and leave 74 seats to the LJP and the remaining 67 seats to his party. Clearly, Manjhi did not find any seat in Kushwaha's scheme of things. ....... Manjhi, who had been in a non-confrontational mode since meeting Amit Shah on June 12, is now showing his belligerent bones. "Everyone has a right to respect. If I do not get a respectable offer from NDA, I will have my options open," he said. The former Bihar Chief Minister is believed to have asked for 40 Assembly seats. ...... The BJP cannot afford to let Manjhi go and fight independently. The BJP party knows that the goodwill it enjoyed last year has vanished into thin air, and the electoral opponent it faced last year has become stronger than earlier, it has its task cut out. The party think tank is also apprehensive that while BJP may find it difficult to further raise their 2014 vote share, the partners, Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP that won six of the seven seats it contested and Upendra Kushwaha RLSP that won three out of three in the Lok Sabha polls, may not be able to repeat their performance in the Assembly polls. So, adding Manjhi to NDA is crucial, as of the 16 per cent Dalits, Manjhi is said to have considerable sway over 5-6 per cent Mushars.

Amit Shah vs Prashant Kishor: Who will be the wizard of Bihar election?

The forthcoming assembly election in Bihar is arguably the most important state election during Narendra Modi’s tenure as prime minister. Bihar’s result will have an impact on the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017. If the BJP is unable to fly its flag in Patna and Lucknow, it will have frittered away the chance to reap long-term benefits from the Modi wave of 2014. ...... While Twitter and Facebook are the faces of social media campaigning, most of its social media focus was Whatsapp. Technology entrepreneur Rajesh Jain’s collection of phone numbers of people sympathetic to the Modi campaign (through those missed calls) was used to bombard those numbers with daily visual messages via Whatsapp. Modi’s speeches across the country had talking points from the CAG, based on feedback from where he was going to address the rally. The Statue of Unity project, which collected iron from people across the country to build a Sardar Patel statue, was the CAG’s idea. Modi sat through many of these strategy meetings of the CAG for hours, and was particularly impressed by the hologram idea. ...... The CAG’s core group of members kept expanding throughout the election. By the end of the election they numbered were 672, apart from the thousands of their volunteers spread across the states. ....... Former associates of Kishor, who worked with the CAG, say Kishor felt he didn’t getting his due in Modi government. He declined a post in the Prime Minister’s office as he felt he deserved better. Kishor and his Citizens for Accountable Governance had hoped to be given a high-profile role in policymaking and implementation in the new government. ......... (Despite this falling out with the party, Kishor is said to maintain regular contact with the prime minister.) ........... Kishor was so close to the Gujarat chief minister that he lived with Modi in his official residence in Gandhinagar . His body, the CAG, made decisions small and big that BJP leaders and workers had to follow. ...... The division of labour between the BJP and CAG was clear. The BJP, led by Amit Shah, worked on electoral strategies down to the booth level, doing much of the traditional work that it takes to win an election. Behind the scenes however, Kishor and his team were acting as force multipliers, packaging and branding Modi in a presidential style election. ......... BJP President Amit Shah owes his elevation as BJP president to the credit accorded to him for the election win, and Shah’s camp seemed to feel threatened by Kishor. ............ The battle between Shah and Kishor playing out in Bihar is about more than just personal rivalry. This is a clash of two different models of electioneering: The old-fashioned party loyalist and the professional campaign manager. ...... As he did for Modi, Prashant Kishor has set up a body for the Nitish campaign, called I-PAC, the India Political Action Committee. It has hundreds of members, divided across several teams, working like a corporate machine. I-PAC members dress in black, a move darker from the blue kurtas CAG members wore......... The singularly important factor in winning an election in India is building the “hawa” – the popular perception that this party is likely to win. Prashant Kishor’s method uses data, technology, branding and marketing techniques for hawa-building. Already for the Nitish campaign, there’s “parcha pe charcha” (discussion over pamphlets), 400 trucks with LED monitors and other gizmos are organizing 40,000 village meetings across Bihar. Nitish has launched a “Badh Chala Bihar – 2025” campaign, the subtle message of which is that he has a long-term vision for Bihar’s development....... Kishor is a former United Nations official who wants to work with politicians on policy issues and is ideologically agnostic. He began working with Modi on policy, but soon got drafted into the task of winning the 2012 Gujarat assembly election, and then 2014. Now he has been recruited to work that same magic for Nitish Kumar in Bihar, but the outcome, even if Nitish wins, may not be all that different for Kishor. ........ “Kishor and his team are keeping tabs on all of Kumar’s ministers to make sure they are actually hitting the campaign trail. Kishor’s army of youth dressed in black keeps checking on the locations of senior JD(U) leaders through mobile phone.” This is bound to make party leaders unhappy in the long run.

Lalu Prasad Yadav , Nitish Kumar to be hit hardest if caste data released: Ram Vilas Paswan

the caste-based data in the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), the first in eight decades since 1912.

Ahead of Bihar elections, Nitish Kumar understands growing importance of women voters



Bihar Assembly elections: Amit Shah pits Nitish Kumar against Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi versus Nitish Kumar, incumbent Prime Minister versus incumbent chief minister..... If the NDA is not voted to power I can assure you there will be no electricity, no roads, no employment, no schools, no industry. Only Narendra Modi can get you all of that."

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आजादी के बाद के ४० साल

भारत की गुलामी मुग़ल बादशाहों ने शुरू नहीं की। उससे पहले हिन्दु समाज को जातपात का आविष्कार कर के तोडा गया। ब्रिटिश क्या खाक डिवाइड एंड रूल करेंगे, उनके आने के ४-५ सौ साल पहले ही हिन्दु समाज आतंरिक रूप से टुट गयी थी। खुद हिन्दु लोगों ने तोड़ा। अभी भी टुटा हुवा है।

आजादी के बाद के  ४० साल के दौरान जनसंख्या वृद्धि दर भी २-३% और आर्थिक वृद्धि दर भी २-३% ---- तो देश जहिं का तहिं रह गया। सत्यजित रे के फिल्मों में जो गाओं दिखता है अभी भी वही गाओं दिखता है।

ये बात संजय गांधी को अखड़ गयी। तो उन्होंने सोंचा, आर्थिक वृद्धि दर तो खुद बेलायत, अमरिका ४% करते हैं। हम २-३% कर लेते हैं वही काफी है, तो देश का प्रगति हो तो आखिर हो कैसे? चीन में One Child Policy था, तो उन्होंने ने सोंचा, हम किसी से कम नहीं, और ला डाली Zero Child Policy. जबरजस्ती लोगों का नसबंदी करबाने लगे। उसी के लिए देश में इमरजेंसी भी लागु कर दिया, जिस बात का गुस्सा लालु को अभी तक है।

Amit Shah Is Right About Bihar 2015

At 11, Akbar Road, Amit Shah, the BJP's army commander, frequently refers to the great Battle of Buxar in 1764 AD while charting the party's strategy for Bihar. The BJP president believes that the course of Indian politics over the next 15 years will be decided in the battle of Bihar circa 2015.

Now let me go look up the "Battle of Buxar in 1764 AD." जो मालुम नहीं सो मालुम नहीं।



Battle of Buxar

The battle fought at Buxar, then within the territory of Bengal, a town located on the bank of the Ganges river about 130 km west of Patna, was a decisive victory for the British East India Company. ..... the combined army of the Mughals, Awadh and Mir Qasim consisting of 40,000 men were defeated by British army consisting 10,000 men. ..... The lack of basic co-ordination among the three desperate allies was responsible for their decisive debacle. ..... British losses are said to have been 1,847 killed and wounded, while the three Indian allies accounted for 2,000 dead ...... Immediately after the battle Hector Munro decided to greatly assist the Marathas, who were described as a "warlike race", well known for their relentless and unwavering hatred towards the Mughal Empire and its Nawabs and the Sultanate of Mysore. ...... The prime victim, Shah Alam II, signed the Treaty of Allahabad that secured Diwani Rights for the Company to collect and manage the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) of real estate, which form parts of the modern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, as es. Mir Qasim, who was not a general, was quietly replaced. He also received a small share of the total land revenue, initially fixed at 2 million rupees. ....... The Treaty of Allahabad heralded the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in one-eighth of India proper with a single stroke. The battles of Plassey and Buxar secured a permanent foothold for the British East India Company in the rich province of Bengal, and secured its political ascendancy in the entire region. Buxar should be seen in conjunction with the third battle of Panipat in January 1761 in terms of its impact on consolidating British presence in north-east India. By the treaty of 1752, the Marathas had essentially taken over administration of all the subahs of the Mughal empire, and had established their right to collect Chauth across these subahs. In return, they would protect the north-west frontier of the Mughal empire from Afghan invasion. This resulted in nine years of Maratha-Afghan struggle to establish control over the empire, and the subah of Punjab, which was claimed by both. However, due to the Marathas' defeat at the third battle of Panipat, and their subsequent ten-year hiatus from North Indian affairs, the British were able to establish a foothold in North Indian affairs. Buxar was an important step in that direction. ....... It should also be noted that when the Marathas finally did send a large force back into North India in 1771, they were able to persuade Shah Alam II to leave British protection and enter Maratha protection. They then established Maratha regency over Delhi, which they essentially held till their defeat in the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803.

Essay on the The Battle of Buxar (1764 AD)

The Battle of Buxar was significant event in the rise of British rule in India. The foundation of the British Empire in India which was led by Clive at Plassey was strengthened at Buxar. The Battle of Buxar was the outcome of the clash between the British and Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Bengal. ...... Mir Kasim was the most efficient of all Nawabs of Bengal from 1756 onwards. He suppressed the rebellious zamindars of Bengal and Bihar, who had challenged the authority of the Nawab. Unlike his predecessor Mir Jafar, he always tried to maintain his position and dignity by keeping himself away from the British influence. For that purpose he transferred his capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr. ....... To strengthen his power he organized his army in the same way as the Europeans did. He made arrangements for the manufacture of fire arms at Monghyr with a view to equipping his army adequately. He wanted to remain at a safe distance from Calcutta so that there would be less of supervision and interference from the British authority. He wanted to develop an army with a view to overthrowing the power of British. This attitude of Mir Kasim incurred displeasure of the British. ....... To avenge this defeat Mir Kasim ordered a general massacre of all the English prisoners of Patna. There after he fled to Oudh to make a common cause with Shuja-ud-daula, the Nawab of Oudh, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam. These three people formed a confederacy against the British. After the flight of Mir Kasim that English immediately placed the aged Mir Jafar on the throne of Bengal.

What was the reason for the Battle of Buxar?

Mir Qasim was an independent ruler and was the strongest and ablest of all Nawabs. ..... Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II joined hands to fight against the English to establish their sovereignty over the whole of Bengal and reduce the power of the British.

इनका तैयारी देखो:

"......

the election strategy for Bihar is more micro-detailed than any attempted in an Indian election so far

. "I have a plan for every ward in the 243 seats of the state. For the last six months, my panna pramukhs have been going door to door in each village and mobilising support," he says of the party workers who identify and canvass among the electorate as per the voter's list. "In every village we know the houses that are likely to support us, who is undecided, and who is opposed to us." ....... He then shows an Excel spreadsheet with detailed break-up of the caste composition of voters in every assembly seat. Next to each village is a list of local and central leaders being sent to canvass there. Leaders are picked on the basis of their caste, and their likely appeal among the dominant caste of that particular seat. Shah claims he has a plan for every seat for every day of the next two months. Every evening, his office receives an update on the day's activities and the response among the voters. ....... In Patna, local leaders say the party has, on average, reached a strength of nearly 27,000 members in each constituency. The strategy now is simple, they say: make each of these members, along with their families, vote. The BJP is also welcoming the modern while retaining its grip on the traditional. Seen conventionally as a party of traders, the urban middle class, and upper castes, this time it is also flaunting OBC partners such as Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party as well as Dalit leaders such as Jitan Ram Manjhi and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party. Bowing to the caste considerations of Bihar politics, it is projecting Narendra Modi, the "development man", as a backward caste leader. ...... To keep up with the times, the party has categorised 6 million mobile phone owners in the state as active BJP supporters. These, says a state BJP leader, are people who sent an SMS to the BJP call centre when asked to respond-"Those who have sent us an SMS will surely vote." ......... As the countdown draws near, Shah's team has divided Bihar's 243 assembly seats into three categories, and earmarked specific campaign strategies. The first are the seats that the BJP traditionally dominates. Here the strategy is to spend minimal time and effort and ensure that the morale of the cadre stays high and local leaders maintain a constant connect with the voters. The second, and the most important, category is the seats where the party expects to face pitched battles. The NDA and the Janata alliance are equally strong on paper in these constituencies, and the battle can go either way. Shah has rolled out the heavy artillery of senior BJP leaders for these seats. Special emphasis is being given to candidate selection for these seats. The NDA, to give one instance, plans to put up mostly non-Yadav candidates in case the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) fields a strong Yadav candidate for a seat. Conversely, the party plans to field Yadav candidates for seats where the Janata Dal (United) has a non-Yadav or Kurmi candidate. In a caste cauldron like Bihar, the idea is to ensure that the BJP fields candidates whose caste unites the voters of castes opposed to that of the candidate put up by the Janata alliance. The third category comprises seats which the BJP has little chance of winning. For these, the party is working on a strategy to split the ranks of its opponents by propping up rebel candidates, and by allying with frenemies such as Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party....... Like Major Hector Munro of the East India Company in the Battle of Buxar, Amit Shah too realises that he is up against a numerically superior force."

मेरा reading है अभी: 60-40. Advantage BJP. How many election rallies Narendra Modi addresses will be a major factor in if the gulf is further widened. 

Land Bill पर लफड़ा क्यों हो रहा है?

मोदी का Land Acquisition
Indian Farmers And The Land Bill
Biju Janata Dal And The Land Bill
Land Acquisition Bill: The Details

मोदी इतना अच्छा काम कर रहे हैं। मैने अपने लाइफ में ऐसा इंडियन PM नहीं देखा। अभी दुनिया का सबसे पॉपुलर पॉलिटिशियन मोदी है। सबसे आगे। नंबर एक। थोड़ा तो गर्व करो विपक्ष वालो। विपक्ष के हैं लेकिन हैं तो भारतीय। मैं तो कहता जमीन मांग रहे हैं तो दे दो। Trust के आधार पर। ये मोदी Deng Xiaoping और Lee Kuan Yew टु इन वन हैं। ऐसा दिख रहा है। And neither of them had to deal with the enormous messiness that is the Indian democracy. चीन में कभी कोई Land Bill पास करने की जरुरत पड़ी ही नहीं। वहाँ तो आंय टांय बोलो तो गोली से उड़ा देते हैं।

आजादी के बाद ४० साल जनसंख्या वृद्धि दर भी २-३% और आर्थिक वृद्धि दर भी २-३% ---- तो देश जहिं का तहिं रह गया। वो तो फैक्ट बात है। आंकड़ा है ओपिनियन नहीं। ये बन्दा जो जनसंख्या वृद्धि दर को १% से कम और आर्थिक वृद्धि दर को १०% से उपर का रास्ता दिखा रहे हैं, तो थोड़ा cooperate करो, और नहीं तो अमित शाह गिद्ध दृष्टि डाले बैठा हुवा है, एक एक स्टेट लेता चला जाएगा वो। बोलता कम है वो।

इसी तरह लैंड बिल का विरोध होता रहा तो अमित शाह बिहार और उत्तर प्रदेश दोनों ले लेंगे ---- ऐसा लगता है। अगर ऐसा हुवा तो राज्य सभा में तख्तापलट।



Bihar CM Nitish Kumar opposes land bill at NITI Aayog meet

Kumar said "substitution of term 'private company' by term 'private entity', removal of the consent clause, exemption from social impact assessment and special provisions for safeguarding food security in the process of land acquisition and relaxation in the time limit for return of the unutilised acquired land are not in public interest." ...... Modi today reached out to parties appealing them not to come in the way of prosperity of farmers, saying the deadlock over the land acquisition Bill is seriously impacting rural development. ...... Modi said, "The political deadlock over land acquisition (law) is seriously impacting rural development, including the creation of schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation projects." ...... Meanwhile, Kumar requested Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to honour the commitment made by him in his budget speech when he proposed special assistance to Bihar as given to Andhra Pradesh.

If Land Bill blocked, states to seek own

The second governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held mainly to discuss the pending Land Bill, turned out to be a chastising experience for the government as all the nine Congress-ruled states boycotted it, while Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Delhi voiced objections to several clauses of the legislation....... Chief ministers J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Akhilesh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, N. Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Naveen Patnaik of Orissa also did not attend the meeting. ...... They opposed the “dilution” of provisions of the original Land Acquisition Act of 2013 regarding the consent of farmers and exemption from social impact assessment. ....... Notable among those present were Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Even Punjab, ruled by NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal, cautioned that farmers’ and landowners’ consent should be taken while acquiring land. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal said that the social impact assessment clause should apply to all acquisitions. ....... The chief ministers present at the meeting raised the issue of allowing them the freedom of amending state laws on land acquisition in their respective Assemblies, which could be later cleared by the Centre. The main basis of the states’ argument was that due to the delay in acquiring land, the development process had been severely affected. ...... though the CMs present at the meeting were all for arriving at a consensus on clearing the bill, at the same time they said that the wait for a consensus could not be an endless one, and therefore if there was a roadblock then the states should be allowed to make amendments in their respective state laws.

'Bring Your Land Bill, Or Let Us Pass Our Own,' States Say at PM's Meet

PM Modi has spent significant political capital trying to push the land law through Parliament, and Mr Jaitley's comments raised the possibility that if he is unsuccessful again in the coming Monsoon Session, he might devolve the issue to states. ..... PM Modi has made the reform a central plank of his economic agenda, and told the meeting that a lack of land for roads, housing and industry was crimping economic growth. ...... In his first year in office, PM Modi has made life easier for Indian businesses by cutting red tape, but Opposition protests have slowed his efforts at structural economic reforms he says are needed to make India a leading global economy. ...... "If they give up on this, it will be a huge setback for industrialisation, and for planned urbanisation," said Mohan Guruswamy, president of Centre for Policy Alternatives, a think tank. ..... In the Parliament session due to begin on Monday, July 21, the government also plans to pass the GST Bill, the biggest tax overhaul since Independence, and may introduce labour bills aimed at job creation.

Acquiring land is must for development, says Arun Jaitley on Land Bill

“Land is required for every developmental activity, there are no two views about it,” Jaitley said. ..... “Some states have demanded 2013 law to be implemented rigorously before switching to the new act, while others suggested to offer alternative source of income along with compensation for the land,” he added. ...... Jaitley said, “The chief minister of Maharashtra has decided to include the the opition of profit sharing, job guarantee and partnership in developmental projects along with compensation in return for the acquired lands.The states shall be offered flexibility to introduce such amendments suitable to their state in their respective assemblies.” Jaitley also mentioned Punjab chief minister Praskash Singh Badal for offering a suggestion in the NITI Aayog meeting to offer alternative sources of income along with compensation to the farmers whose lands are acquired. ........... Jaitley assured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi who chaired the meet would consider each and every suggestion offered by the states. “PM’s concluding thought was that concerns of all state shopuld be kept in mind,” he added.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposes Land Bill at NITI Aayog meet

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das supported the new land bill and termed those opposing it as "obstructionists" to rural development. ...... In the second meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, Das said that if necessary, powers under the act can be delegated to the state governments so that they can acquire land as per their necessity. .... He said the new Act is essential and "very essential and important" in the context of Jharkhand. ..... Strongly backing the new bill, he said it was the right of those living in villages to get uninterrupted, 24/7 transportation link, electricity, water, hospitals and educational institutions and "all this is only possible when the process of acquisition is easy". ..... Das said the new LARR Act is in the interest of the farmers and people living in rural areas as 70 per cent of the state's population resides in villages. ...... He, however, stressed that displacement of farmers or common persons whose land is being acquired should not take place without their rehabilitation..... As per the Act, the state government has framed the rules and also notified them. It has been decided that if land is acquired in rural areas, compensation rate to be provided will be four times more than the market price while in urban areas, it will be two times more than the market price

Land Acquisition Bill not a matter of life or death for me: Modi

People of this country have suffered and remained poor due to shortsighted policies of the Congress," he told ANI.

Nitish favours original land Act of 2013

Nitish Kumar said he was opposing the amendments to the bill because these were "pro-corporate and anti-farmers"....... He said that land acquisition was not merely a matter of compensation but a purely emotional issue for landowners, mostly farmers, in the country

Dangerous gamble over Land Bill

Before the government brings the already twice renewed ordinance on the controversial land acquisition legislation before Parliament to have it converted into a proper law, in case it can muster the courage to do so, it got a taste of the mood of the non-BJP state governments in the country at the NITI Aayog consultation on Wednesday. Chief ministers of the nine Congress-ruled states didn’t bother attending, making their opposition known loud and clear. For those tempted to see political partisanship in the Congress chief ministers keeping away, the leaders of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu also apparently saw little merit in discussing the issue at the Niti Aayog since they have expressed their unease with the changes to the 2013 land acquisition law of the UPA vintage. They, too, stayed away.But what about the chief ministers present as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to hammer a consensus into shape on the contentious subject? Bihar leader Nitish Kumar and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal opposed any dilution of the 2013 law. But even BJP allies like Akali Dal — part of the ruling NDA alliance — and the PDP of J&K advised caution. “Land Bill 2015 has triggered concerns within the farming community” in Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal noted. Some voices said the states should just go ahead with their own land acquisition laws (since land is a state subject) if a consensus at the Parliament-level proved elusive. Possibly, this is the compromise that the Prime Minister could be looking at as he seems to have been pushed into a tight corner. His plight seems unenviable. It is not just leaders of Opposition parties and some friendly parties, but also leading front organisations of the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, that have publicly come out in denunciation of the changes to the 2013 law that the Modi government has sought to push through the ordinance route. It is far from clear if the Monsoon Session of Parliament, to commence next Tuesday, will yield productive discussions in any field given the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue of corruption in high places under the BJP dispensation and the sullen mood of the Opposition on account of this. If the land ordinance can’t be brought to Parliament for ratification, then Mr Modi’s high-stakes gamble would backfire, costing him political capital. In hindsight, it may have been better if he had held consultations with the states before seeking to amend the 2013 law. Many have noted the irony that a piece of legislation passed with unanimity in Parliament after intensive and lengthy consultations wasn’t permitted a chance to be implemented before the Modi government tried to torpedo its key provisions through amendments.

Opposition's monsoon wading

The Congress looks certain to be a lonely warrior in the monsoon session. It will attack a suddenly scandal-jittery BJP but the main opposition party seems to be running out of partners even before the game has begun. ........ The cynosure of all eyes is Congress party President Sonia Gandhi. It's not unexpected, for the event is the iftar she is hosting. The man getting almost as much attention is sitting to her left-Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. ........ What came as unexpected, at least for the party's senior leaders and managers, was the dearth of other non-Congress leaders of significance. Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, J. Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee were all conspicuous by their absence. ...... The Lalit Modi scandal, the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, the PDS scam in Chhattisgarh, allegations of a Rs 200-crore scam against Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde-they all seem to be stumbling out of the cupboard. ...... Outside the Congress, the only leader of note who has gone hammer and tongs against Modi on corruption charges is Nitish Kumar. ...... The party is thus zooming in on just two pieces of legislation: the land acquisition and GST bills. ...... All's not lost for the Congress though. Most regional parties share its views about the land bill, which will make it near impossible for the government to pass it in Rajya Sabha, where NDA has only 61 members. Even BJP allies such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena have expressed reservations against the bill in its current form, while in a significant U-turn AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa had written to Modi on July 15 requesting him not to go ahead with amendments to the bill. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Lok Sabha leader Bhartruhari Mahtab says his party will extend support if the government agrees to its suggestions. The party has moved five amendments, including one to make people whose land will be acquired partners in enterprises built on those stretches. ......... "The Opposition will not allow the land bill to be either passed or defeated, giving no chance to the government to convene a joint session," says Yechury. ...... On GST, however, the TMC and the BJD stand by the government. According to BJD's Mahtab, the party is not opposed to the GST bill but wants mineral-rich states such as Odisha to be also allowed to impose a 1 per cent cess, a benefit extended to manufacturing states. The bill is likely to be endorsed by the 21-member Rajya Sabha select committee, as the Congress and SP are the only ones opposing it with any might.

Bihar to oppose land Bill at Niti Aayog meet tomorrow

Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya ..... "We can understand the PM wants to help the corporate houses by introducing anti-farmer amendments but

when a renowned economist like Panagariya openly supports the Bill, it creates doubts about his intentions

as well," said a Nitish aide. Panagariya, in his blog posted on the Aayog's website on Monday, has urged the states to

liberalize their land use policy to facilitate industrialization

, a move that he feels would create a win-win situation for landowners as well as tenants. ........ "We agree industrialization is necessary for fast development, but it should not be at the cost of agriculture and poor farmers. What is the need to set up industry on fertile lands? We will not allow use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes unless the project is of high national importance."

Race

President Obama Takes On the Prison Crisis

for the first time in American history, a president walked into a federal prison. President Obama was there to see for himself a small piece of the damage that the nation’s decades-long binge of mass incarceration has wrought. ...... a week in which he spoke powerfully about the failings of a criminal justice system that has damaged an entire generation of Americans, locking up millions — disproportionately men of color — at a crippling cost to them, their families and communities, as well as to the taxpayers and society as a whole. ..... “These are young people who made mistakes that aren’t that different than the mistakes that I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made. The difference is they did not have the kinds of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes.” ...... people who commit violent crimes are not the reason for the exploding federal prison population over the last few decades. Most of the growth has come instead from nonviolent, low-level drug offenders caught up in absurdly harsh mandatory minimum sentences that bear no relation to the seriousness of their offense or to the maintenance of public safety. ...... “If you’re a low-level drug dealer, or you violate your parole, you owe some debt to society,” Mr. Obama said. “You have to be held accountable and make amends. But you don’t owe 20 years. You don’t owe a life sentence.” ...... Mandatory minimums like these should be reduced or eliminated completely, he said. Judges should have more discretion to shape sentences and to use alternatives to prison, like drug courts or community programs, that are cheaper and can be more effective at keeping people from returning to crime. ...... overuse of solitary confinement in which more than 80,000 inmates nationwide are held on any given day. Many are being punished for minor infractions or are suffering from mental illness...... the importance of removing barriers to employment, housing and voting for former prisoners. “Justice is not only the absence of oppression,” Mr. Obama said, “it is the presence of opportunity.” ..... Any comprehensive solution to this criminal justice catastrophe must come from Congress and the state legislatures which for decades enacted severe sentencing laws and countless other harmful measures. In recent years, the opposite trend has taken hold as lawmakers in both conservative and liberal states have reduced populations in state prisons — where the vast majority of inmates are held — as well as crime rates. ...... eliminate mandatory minimums for many low-level drug crimes and create educational and other programs in prison that have been shown to reduce recidivism. ..... One sign of how far the politics of criminal justice has shifted was a remark by former president Bill Clinton, who signed a 1994 law that played a key role in the soaring growth of America’s prison system. On Wednesday, Mr. Clinton said, “I signed a bill that made the problem worse. And I want to admit it.”

How ‘Privilege’ Became a Provocation

by the age of 10, white children don’t believe that black children feel the same amount of pain as they do, the first stage of dehumanization....... the grotesque contrast between the brutal police killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice and the treatment extended to Dylann Roof, charged with murdering nine black people last month in a church in Charleston, S.C. — captured alive, treated to a meal by the arresting officers, assigned a judge who expressed concern for his family. ..... the kinds of pressures we put on language, our stubborn belief that the right word can be both diagnosis and cure.

I, Racist

I had great reservations talking about the one topic that I think about every single day. ..... "The only difference between people in The North and people in The South is that down here, at least people are honest about being racist." ..... New York State is one of the most segregated states in the country. Buffalo, New York where my aunt lives is one of the 10 most segregated school systems in the country. ..... She doesn't need to realize that "better schools" exclusively means "whiter schools." ..... I don't talk about race with White people because I have so often seen it go nowhere. When I was younger, I thought it was because all white people are racist. Recently, I've begun to understand that it's more nuanced than that. ....... They have no need, nor often any real desire, to think in terms of a group. They are supported by the system, and so are mostly unaffected by it........ an incessantly repeating argument where a Black person says "Racism still exists. It is real," and a white person argues "You're wrong, I'm not racist at all. I don't even see any racism." My aunt's immediate response is not "that is wrong, we should do better." No, her response is self-protection: "That's not my fault, I didn't do anything. You are wrong." ......

Martin Luther King did not end racism.

......... Racism is the fact that "White" means "normal" and that anything else is different. ...... Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan in Star Trek. Khan, who is from India. Is there anyone Whiter than Benedict fucking Cumberbatch? What? They needed a "less racial" cast because they already had the Black Uhura character? That is racism. Once you let yourself see it, it's there all the time......... The system was made for White people, so White people don't have to think about living in it....... Living every single day with institutionalized racism and then having to argue its very existence, is tiring, and saddening, and angering. Yet if we express any emotion while talking about it, we're tone policed, told we're being angry. In fact, a key element in any racial argument in America is the Angry Black person, and racial discussions shut down when that person speaks. The Angry Black person invalidates any arguments about racism because they are "just being overly sensitive," or "too emotional," or- playing the race card. Or even worse, we're told that we are being racist (Does any intelligent person actually believe a systematically oppressed demographic has the ability to oppress those in power?) ...........

The entire discussion of race in America centers around the protection of White feelings.

........ The reality of thousands of innocent people raped, shot, imprisoned, and systematically disenfranchised are less important than the suggestion that a single White person might be complicit in a racist system. ... This is the country we live in. Millions of Black lives are valued less than a single White person's hurt feelings.......... White people and Black people are not having a discussion about race. Black people, thinking as a group, are talking about living in a racist system. White people, thinking as individuals, refuse to talk about "I, racist" and instead protect their own individual and personal goodness. In doing so, they reject the existence of racism. ......... It's evident in the school to prison pipeline and the fact that there are close to 20 people of color in prison for every white person. ....... "Charleston shooting: Black and Muslim killers are 'terrorists' and 'thugs'. Why are white shooters called 'mentally ill'?" ....... America has a growing number of violent hate groups, populated mostly by white men, and that nearly *all* serial killers are white men can not shadow the fundamental truth of white male goodness. In fact, we like White serial killers so much, we make mini-series about them. .......... White people are good as a whole, and only act badly as individuals. .......... Racism is so deeply embedded in this country not because of the racist right-wing radicals who practice it openly, it exists because of the silence and hurt feelings of liberal America. ........ Racism exists because I, not you, am silent. .......... White people are in a position of power in this country because of racism.

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person

I came from the kind of poor that people don't want to believe still exists in this country. Have you ever spent a frigid northern-Illinois winter without heat or running water? I have. At 12 years old were you making ramen noodles in a coffee maker with water you fetched from a public bathroom? I was. Have you ever lived in a camper year-round and used a random relative's apartment as your mailing address? We did. Did you attend so many different elementary schools that you can only remember a quarter of their names? Welcome to my childhood. ....... Poverty colors nearly everything about your perspective on opportunities for advancement in life. Middle-class, educated people assume that anyone can achieve their goals if they work hard enough. Folks steeped in poverty rarely see a life past working at the gas station, making the rent on their trailer, and self-medicating with cigarettes and prescription drugs until they die of a heart attack. (I've just described one whole side of my family and the life I assumed I'd be living before I lucked out of it.) ....... As a child I was constantly discriminated against because of my poverty, and those wounds still run very deep. ..... being a straight, white, middle-class, able-bodied male, can be like winning a lottery you didn't even know you were playing.

Why We Left

Everyone said, “I need a break,” but the subtext from my Black friends was screaming, “I needed to get out of the United States because I can not breathe.” ..... Most Black Americans, when shit starts hitting the fan, the walls, etc. — they can’t leave. ......... “Why are we even staying in a country that hates us?” someone asked me on Twitter. ..... racism in Paris can be acute, if not for African-Americans, most surely for the North Africans, whom I have been mistaken for on occasion. ..... Living while Black in America requires an intellectual and mental athleticism and finesse that has few peers. It is the startup of all startups. It is the ultimate marathon. Blackness demands from its cognizant participant a rigor and focus that can only produce majesty and mania. It is both heaven and hell. It is mercilessly reviled and hopelessly imitated. It is in short, a spiritual experience.

White Fragility

White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race

The journey towards understanding structural racism still requires people of colour to prioritise white feelings. Their eyes glaze over in boredom or widen in indignation. Their mouths start twitching as they get defensive. Their throats open up as they try to interrupt, itching to talk over you but not really listen, because they need to let you know that you’ve got it wrong. ...... they’ve never known what it means to embrace a person of colour as a true equal, with thoughts and feeling that are as valid as their own. ..... As the heckles rise and the defiance grows, I have to tread incredibly carefully, because if I express frustration, anger, or exasperation at their refusal to understand, they will tap into their pre-subscribed racist tropes about angry black people who are a threat to them and their safety. It’s very likely that they’ll then paint me as a bully or an abuser. It’s also likely that their white friends will rally round them, rewrite history and make the lies the truth. Trying to engage with them and navigate their racism is not worth that. ........ Amidst every conversation about Nice White People feeling silenced by conversations about race, there is a sort of ironic and glaring lack of understanding or empathy for those of us who have been visibly marked out as different for our entire lives, and live the consequences. It’s truly a lifetime of self-censorship that people of colour have to live. The options are: speak your truth and face the reprisal, or bite your tongue and get ahead in life. It must be a strange life, always having permission to speak and feeling indignant when you’re finally asked to listen. It stems from white people’s never questioned entitlement ...... I cannot continue to emotionally exhaust myself trying to get this message across, whilst also toeing a very precarious line that tries not to implicate any one white person in their role of perpetuating structural racism, lest they character assassinate me. ......... I don’t have a huge amount of power to change the way the world works, but I can set boundaries. I can halt the entitlement they feel towards me and I’ll start that by stopping the conversation. ..... Their intent is often not to listen or learn, but to exert their power, to prove me wrong, to emotionally drain me, and to rebalance the status quo.

Barack Obama Is Biologically Superior

Barack Obama Should Create And Lead A Genuine World Government

It is a known biological fact that hybrid kids are biologically superior. For example, they are more intelligent. They are born that way. I see evidence of that in Barack Obama all the time. In the Bourne movies, the Matt Damon character has also been biologically enhanced. But in that case, that results in superior action sequences. There are some great fight scenes in them Bourne movies.

People say Barack Obama was born with a gift. I say he was born with an advantage.

Barack Obama And Africa
Africa Can Save The World
Africa Deserves To Manufacture

Barack Obama Should Create And Lead A Genuine World Government

The Law Of Political Entropy
A Total Spread Of Democracy And America
Barack Obama Is Biologically Superior

He has been compared to FDR, I am offering him an opportunity to become George Washington!

Terrorism and Climate Change are two intractable problems that no government has an answer to. And Climate Change is a much, much bigger threat. Our very survival as a species is at stake. And a genuine world government is the only solution.

In his person we find the confluence between America's original sin, race, and America's original mission: a total spread of democracy. America's first black president is in a unique position to offer something great in retirement.

A genuine world government is nothing but a global extrapolation of the basic arithmetic of democracy: one person, one vote. Rule of law within nations, rule of law between nations. And as the person holding the most powerful office on the planet, he is best positioned to make the bold moves that are needed. His presidency has been full of bold moves that have cleared up half century old cobwebs. He could do it. He should do it. He is still young.

A Genuine World Government
Climate Change, Terrorism, Poverty, World Government
Does The World Government Have To Await A Total Spread Of Democracy?
World Government And Federal States
Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Global Poverty, World Government, Soft Racism
I Am Also For A World Government

Hillary Clinton And The Global Gender Basics
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How To Make Peace With Pakistan

Normalized relations with Pakistan will add 1% to India's growth rate, and Modi is all about economic growth. But that normalization is no easy task since Pakistan is not exactly a democracy. So one has to be careful. One has to be realistic. One can not close the doors of engagement, but one also has to be tough.

The latest salvo from Nawaz Sharif is that there can be no peace talks unless India is willing to talk about Kashmir. That is posturing. He needs to do that to stay credible inside Pakistan. He can not act too eager for peace and still stay viable inside Pakistani politics. Just like Modi had to act tough for a year. He needed to do that. To send a clear message to Pakistan that he means business, but also to send a message to the home audience, that he is tough with Pakistan.

Peace with Pakistan is hard because Pakistan is not a democracy. The army is not subservient to the Pakistani parliament. The ISI is a three headed hydra. Only one of the heads might be answerable to the parliament. The hardliners inside the ISI and the army need to keep the conflict going. If there is peace, they become irrelevant. And so they seek for opportunities to stoke the fire. When peace attempts are made, they feel the need to scuttle the efforts. Nawaz, frankly, does not have the power to make peace. He can not give you what he does not have.

Any genuine peace effort from India's side has to be multi-dimensional. When Modi meets and talk to Nawaz, high ranked army people on both sides also should meet and talk. The army people should try to set up things like hotlines. Both are nuclear powers after all. Seeking to establish hotlines might be one way to stoke Pakistan's nuclear ego.

Another place where Nawaz is powerless is Pakistan truly has a major domestic terrorism problem. The Pakistani people are at the receiving end of it, the Pakistani army is, the Pakistani establishment is. And it does not help that some elements of both the ISI and the army nurture, aid and abet some or many of those same terrorists. Nawaz could not halt domestic terrorism inside Pakistan even if he wanted to, and he is trying his best, or as much as his limited powers allow. Pakistan can not help India with something it can not help itself with.

There is no state that America can expect will take care of either the ISIS or the Al Qaeda. These are not state actors. And they have to be dealt with directly. Similarly, India has to do the best it can to stay one step ahead of the various terror outfits. You try to prevent attacks, you nab them when you can, you try to infiltrate them, you hit back when you can, you cooperate with powers like America on things like intelligence sharing. Pakistan can not help you with something that it can not help itself with.

Having said that, it is an open secret that the inferior Pakistani army relies on terror groups to make its point when it feels the need. You can not ignore that.

Peace with Pakistan is not like Reagan meeting Gorbachev. Nawaz has parallel power centers all around him, several of whom don't think of him as their superior or boss. India has to move ahead with that knowledge.

• Moving from a position of strength is key. There are elements on the Pakistani side, many of them not in Nawaz' control, that simply do not talk the language of reason. 
• Not engaging is not an option. 
• A multi-pronged approach to peace talks is key. The parallel power centers will only respond to direct engagement, and even then they will play hard to get. Think about it. Why will they negotiate away their central place in Pakistani society? 
• Because there is no immediate solution to terrorism, one has to keep expectations low. Peace with Pakistan will be a slow process. Larger tectonic forces are at play. Think of it as Climate Change. It is complex, and Nawaz can not help you. So suggesting he does not want to is a lame excuse. Maybe so. Maybe he does not want to help. But he can't even if he wants to. 

In the short term I am pessimistic about the prospects. Larger global forces are at play. And those forces will have to align in a certain way for India and Pakistan to see genuine peace. Scapegoating Kashmir is one way to go about it. But it really is about the terrorists. Kashmir is not why they exist. And Modi-Nawaz handshakes will not make them go away. 

A sophisticated engagement where you are plain realistic is perhaps the way to go. Keep expectations low, but stay engaged at multiple levels. And seek small areas of cooperation like, hotlines between the two armies, perhaps even information sharing on terrorists, and there the US might have a role. 

Like Yaser Arafat said about Israelis, "We are practically cousins!" 

India succeeding to make peace with Pakistan is about if Pakistan can become a full democracy where the army and the ISI come completely under the Pakistani parliament, and if the world makes progress with dealing with terrorism, whose only solution I think is a total spread of democracy across the Muslims world, where, ironically, both India and Pakistan are in a very good position to play a decisive role. 

Maybe that higher purpose will bring Modi and Nawaz closer together. 

Curiously India has excellent relations with Afghanistan, Iran and several other states in the region. 

Does it help to realize that the partition was Britain's fault? No?