AND NOW WE HAVE `BHARATIYATA’ –
By Our Special Correspondent
We Indians respect diversity. This is the essence of Bharatiyata,” observed visiting Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan, while addressing a hall packed with invitees at an event organised by the International Centre Goa in Panaji on Thursday, April 6, 2023. He added, “As a race, we Indians are not uncomfortable with different people and races. This is the essence of Bharatiyata.”
The governor had been specially invited to speak on the topic of “Bharatiyata” (which translates to “Indianness” at best) at the instance of Bika Utsav, a Bikaner-based socio-cultural organisation which sees India emerging as a global power in the years ahead. In his 45-minute impassionate talk Governor Arif Mohamad Khan revealed himself to be a scholar of the ancient Vedas of Sanskrit literature, he interspersed his talk liberally with appropriate shlokas and quotations from various sources.
He observed that despite India’s growing stature in the world order there have been no country or countries feeling threatened by India. “This is because our cultural values prevent us from dominating others. This also is Bharatiyata,” the governor said. According to the governor, India has always been a “knowledge” based place and therefore it is “home of wisdom” even before Christianity came along. He noted that Baghdad was once the headquarters of learning and learned Arabic scholars studied the classics from India and translated them…in today’s times, he said, our knowledge of history is so vast that we should really use all this rich cultural legacy for consolidating our future in the world of tomorrow.
He credited both Swami Vivekananda and Swami Ranganathananda of the Ramakrishna Mission for espousing the values of Bharatiyata, the governor said, “It was Ranganathananda who termed India as the “knowledge civilisation” but also criticised India for not exploiting this advantage by denying knowledge to our masses.” Quoting the swami, the governor said, “Nanda was of the opinion that our Indian civilisation was defined by our collective “atma” (soul). And though people sought truth in different ways, we Indians were not averse in the company of different people. This is the foundation of Bharatiyata.”
Heaping praise on the thought leaders in India at the time of India’s independence in 1947, the governor said, “It was very difficult to integrate such a diverse people, however our thought leaders believed that India was intellectually and spiritually one entity and they created a pluralistic nation.”
He also quoted extensively from Rabindranath Tagore on the subject of what defines Indianness and stressed how diversity is a law of nature and its unity reflected in India’s ancient and modern history over and over again. It is this diversity and unity which is precious for a nation to live in peace and harmony…even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated in one of his addresses that what he would like to do is build the future on the rich inherited legacy of India.
Altogether it was a superlatively insightful talk and while ICG President Yatin Kakodkar gave the welcome address, the closing remarks were by founder of Bika Utsav, Anil Gupta; present amongst the audience were BJP State President Sadanand ShetTanavade, Utpal Parrikar, Chandrakant Kavlekar, former vice-chancellor of Goa University Varun Sahni and Governor Arif Mohamed Khan also could be seen saying hello to several of his friends in Goa.
ONE MORE MARK FOR CLASS 10!
AFTER parents and students pointed out a mistake in the class 10th Konkani examination paper — the SSC and HSSC Board of Education will compensate students answering the Konkani papers with an additional mark — to compensate for printing error!
SENIORS COMPUTER AWARENESS
THE Goa Science Centre Miramar will be organising a computer awareness program for senior citizens. The general public can also attend these classes to be held from 3pm to 5pm on April 8, 2023. Since there are the limited number of seats nominal registration is recommended.
TRUMP ARRESTED
FORMER US President Donald Trump is the first to be arrested on criminal charges. He was produced before a New York court for making illegal payments to a call girl. Though he was exempted from wearing handcuffs his fingerprints were taken. If Trump is convicted he will have to go to jail. If he is acquitted it will boost his chances of becoming the president of USA in the next election.
MUNDKAR CASES
THE Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the government to dispose of all pending tenancy and mundkar cases within six months. The division bench headed by Justice MN Sonak directed the collector to analyse the tenancy and assign cases to revenue officers. It is also directed the collector to designate mamlatdar to hear and decide mundkar and tenancy cases. The primary issue before the courts are a dispute over the implementation of the Mundkar & Tenancy Act.
According to the original act all tenants who cultivate the fields are entitled to purchase the crops at a nominal price from the landlord. In the case of attendants working for the bhatkar’s family the act provides that they should be given 300 sq meters in rural areas and 200 sq meters in urban areas. The total number of mundkar cases pending are 911 in Goa.
DEADLY ROADS
HOW dangerous the roads in Goa can be to commuters is dramatized by the fact that 91 deaths in 86 fatal accidents have occurred between January and March 2023. The trend continues in the month of April when there has been one fatal accident daily. The majority of fatal accidents occur between 11 pm and 5 am in the partying belts of Anjuna and Vagator. The primary cause is rash and negligence driving. There are also cases where parents have permitted their minor sons without a driving license to drive their car.
CHILD PREGNANCIES
SHOCKINGLY, there has been a huge increase in teenage pregnancies in the year 2022. The trend continues in the first two months of 2023. From one or two cases that were witnessed every six months, virtually every day a young teenage pregnancy comes to light. The youngest child brought to the victims association was 10-years-old.
A large number of teenage pregnancies involved older males who were often married with children of their own. Shockingly, in many of the cases, neither parents nor teachers were aware of their student pregnancies.
The criminals are typically in their 30s and are often from a neighbouring family or family friend or an acquaintance from a friends circle. In several cases, the molester turns out to be a paying guest in the house of the victim.
NO IFTARI PARTY IN GOA
IN every part of the country politicians from all parties, including the BJP, are keen to show their solidarity with the Muslim community — by at least holding Iftari parties at the end of day during the month of Ramadan. These Iftari parties are attended by politicians and even chief ministers and senior bureaucrats in every state. This is of course besides industrialist and corporate chiefs.
The Iftari socializing goes beyond vote bank politics and it is an attempt towards maintaining good relationships with Muslim leaders. Strangely, Goa is the only state despite its large Muslim population, which does not see Iftari parties – or do some Goan politicians throw these late-evening parties? Fasting usually comes to a close post-sunset in the normal day of fasting.