A Christian group named The Layman’s Evangelical Fellowship International has reportedly been organizing illegal prayer meetings and perfoming funeral rites to dead bodies at a residential locality near Avinashi in Tirupur district.
Locals of Nehru Nagar, a residential area near Avinashi town, note that many outsiders have been coming to their area and organizing ‘Jeba Kootam’ (evangelical prayer meetings) at causing nuisance.
They also note that dead bodies are being brought from outside and funeral rights being performed causing mental agony to the residents.
As a mark of their protest against the Christian group, the residents have tied black flags outside their homes.
They also registered their protest by playing Hindu devotional songs outside the illegal prayer house.
“They’re bringing dead bodies here. Children are getting scared. They also abuse the ladies and our Gods. They are abusing us as stone worshippers. They say those who watch TV are sinners. Children feel scared to even come out. We’ve petitioned different authorities but no one has taken any action. So, we’ve decided to raise black flags and carrying out peaceful protest.”, a resident said addressing reporters.
Another lady noted that they had given a petition to the District Collector. The Tahsildar had asked the Christian group to get the necessary permission to hold these prayer meetings but they’ve continued to act in violation, she said.
The locals have threatened to protest at the main road if no action is taken against the Christian group.
If Indian women are shining in the Olympic arena today, they owe their success streak to one woman – Karnam Malleswari, the First Indian women to win a medal in the Olympics. She inspired many women to follow her success path and to believe in themselves.
Malleswari was born in 1 June 1975 in a family of sportspeople. Her father Karnam Manohar was a college-level football player while her four sisters had taken to weightlifting. She has four sisters and all are married and well settled in life.
It was her mother who encouraged her to pursue the sport, to believe in herself and to prove the sceptics wrong. So Karnam trudged on and started training as early as 12 years and was noticed by SAI in the 90s.
She took upon a sport which was deemed unfit for women and even more unthinkable to take it up to the Olympian level.
She became the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal in the Olympics and in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics, 2000.
In 1994, she received the Arjuna Award and in 1999, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour, and the civilian Padma Shri award.
She went on to win many international tournaments including Asian Games, and World Championships, with gold and silver medals in her kitty.
She has paved the way for athletes like Mirabai Chanu, Kunjurani Devi, Poonam Yadav and many others to dream of an Olympic podium finish.
True to her name Karnam which in Sanskrit means Dignity, Pride and Fame, Malleswari won accolades for herself and for her country – making everyone proud of her achievements.
Malleshwari married fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi. The couple was blessed with a son. She retired after failing to score at the 2004 Olympics. She works at the Food Corporation of India as Chief General Manager. She was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Sports University, established by the government of Delhi in June 2021.
Malleswari remains a path-breaking sportsperson by breaking stereotypes about women in a sport which is often neglected in India apart from being considered as “masculine”.
Karnam Malleswari proved that if a woman desired, she could become physically as strong – or even stronger than men.
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Cauvery Calling, a movement to support farmers to plant 242 crore trees and revitalize Cauvery,
conducted a mega tree-based agriculture seminar in Trichy today.
The seminar was organized on the farm of Dr. Duraisamy, a farmer pioneering tree-based agriculture. He is the owner of the agricultural forest called ‘Little Ooty’, which has more than 1 lakh different types of trees. About 1,500 farmers from all over Tamil Nadu participated in this.
Many other pioneer farmers and agronomists joined the seminar to provide proper guidelines to the farmers introducing them to tree-based agriculture. Mr. Poomalai, a tree-based agriculture farmer from the Cuddalore district, revealed, “Mountain neem can be harvested and sold in a very short time. I recently sold mountain neem grown in my garden on 3 acres for Rs. 12 lakh. Along with trees, I am also cultivating pepper in the plains.”
“The pepper vine starts fruiting from the fourth year. A kilo of pepper is currently selling for Rs.1000. 300 kg to 400 kg of pepper can be grown per acre. In that way, we will get an additional profit of 3 to 4 lakhs per year from pepper alone,” he added. Mr. Mayavel, a scientist at the Institute of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding in Coimbatore said, “The demand for wood in India is 153 million cubic meters per year. Only about 50-60 percent of the demand can be met domestically. For the remaining requirement, we import timber in large quantities from foreign countries. Hence, farmers can definitely see profit from tree farming. Depending on the soil and water quality of the land and the maintenance of the farmers, mountain neem can be harvested and profited in 6-7 years. Currently, a tonne of neem for plywood is being sold at Rs 8,500. About 125 tons can be harvested from one acre.”
Retired Associate Director of Agriculture Dr. Haridas elaborated on the multiple ways of profiting from jackfruit trees. He said, “According to the current estimate, a jackfruit tree can generate revenue of Rs 1 crore from fruit and Rs 1 crore from wood for 50 years. Apart from selling the fruit directly, it can be sold in some other ways like jam, alva, biryani, coffee etc. The jackfruit tree is not only beneficial to the environment but also has medicinal properties to prevent diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity and constipation.”
Speaking at the function, Mr. Tamil Maran, Field Coordinator of the Cauvery Calling Movement, said, “Due to the efforts of Sadhguru and the field work carried out by volunteers of Cauvery Calling Movement, the interest of farmers to switch to tree-based agriculture has increased. As a result, despite the pandemic, we have distributed 2.10 crore saplings to the farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the last 2 years. This year we plan to distribute one crore saplings in Tamil Nadu alone. Based on many years of our direct experience in this field, we have witnessed that farmers who grow in tree based agriculture earn 3-5 times more profit than conventional crops like paddy and sugarcane.
The opening ceremony of the seminar witnessed the participation of Dr. Duraisamy, his daughter Dr. Vinola and many other pioneer farmers including Mr. Thirumalai, Mr. Iraman, Mr. Pakyaraj.
Cauvery Calling is an on-ground demonstration of the river revitalization model proposed by the Rally for Rivers (RFR) campaign that was launched by Sadhguru in 2017. It aims to revitaliz the Cauvery River and the soil in the river basin and improve farmers' economy along with the environment. A total of 242 crore trees will be planted in private farmlands in the Cauvery river basin over the next 12 years to achieve these objectives.
A total of 2.1 crore saplings have been planted so far in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karnataka and 1.25 lakh farmers have adopted the tree-based farming model, promoted by Cauvery Calling. Nearly 70,000 farmers have reported a substantial rise in their income – between 3 and 8 times – since they adopted the tree-based farming model.
(This is an official press release from Isha Foundation. The Commune was not involved in creating this content.)
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Karthigaichelvan, who was formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Tamil mainstream news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai, has been roped in by News 18 Tamil Nadu as its Editor.
Karthigaichelvan is a prominent journalist who is known for anchoring the debate show ‘Nerpada Pesu’ on Puthiya Thalaimurai.
Prior to Puthiya Thalaimurai, Karthigaichelvan had worked with the Times of India as Assistant Editor for 4 years.
In the past, Karthigaichelvan had peddled hatred against Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times.
Back in 2015, he had shared a disparaging cartoon implying that the Union Government under Narendra Modi is being controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Dear @CNNnews18 , your latest selection is a rabid anti Modi and anti RSS person.He is a dmk leaning jurno. Having him as ur editorial head will certainly take away your “neutrality”. Why this choice ? Wondering what is the compulsion! pic.twitter.com/ChfydyFNQi
This tweet has now been deleted by Karthigaichelvan.
In another instance, he shared another cartoon with the caption and the “Oscar goes to Mr. Narendra Modi”. In this cartoon there are two images of PM Modi – one sporting Hindu symbols is shown angry while another image of PM Modi shows him a secular, implying that PM Modi is an ‘actor’.
Against the backdrop of PM Modi paying a courtesy visit to the late DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, Karthigaichelvan shared a cartoon by the same artist in which PM Modi is shown hitch-hiking on Karunanidhi’s wheelchair.
He had also shared a cartoon mocking Digital India with a euphoric “Hahahaha”.
Once he was called out by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for deliberately trying to peddle anti-Modi propaganda saying that the Centre was waiving off loans taken by corporates.
India’s FM Nirmala Sitharaman Ji is confronting the Anti-BJP propaganda of this journalist.
Upon exposing he is diverting it, as a clarification
Many on social media have raised concerns about the News 18 group hiring Karthigaichelvan who is popularly perceived as journalist known for peddling pro-DMK rhetoric.
Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of propaganda website AltNews, has once again gone about peddling half-truths, this time about BJP Tamil Nadu Social Media Wing Head CTR Nirmal Kumar.
Nirmal Kumar had put out a tweet in which he had taken a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is undertaking the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”.
Sharing a picture of Rahul Gandhi in which he is seen with his niece, Nirmal Kumar wrote in Tamil “Pity those 10 people who are going on the yatra along with Pappu (referring to Rahul Gandhi) who is playing with children applying henna.”
There is no mention of the word flirting or any other innuendos in Nirmal Kumar’s tweet.
However, the self-proclaimed fact-checker Zubair added his own meaning to the tweet peddling that the BJP Tamil Nadu SM Wing Head was sharing an old image of Rahul Gandhi with a claim that he was flirting with young children.
Because of Mohammed Zubair’s cyber-bullying, Nirmal Kumar had to take down his tweet. The BJP Tamil Nadu SM Wing head in a later tweet clarified that his intent was just satire comparing Rahul’s maturity with that of a kid.
This is my tweet "Tamil" & "English"
My intent was just a satire by comparing Rahul with kids maturity & i stand with it.
I removed since few fake peddlers like @zoo_bear misleaded my tamil content with false information.
A complaint has been registered against Zubair by one Karthikeyan Selvakumar who is the BJP Vizhupuram District Vice President of the party’s social media wing.
— Karthikeyan Selvakumar (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@skkarthikbjp) September 18, 2022
Self-Proclaimed Fact-Checker’s Tryst With Half Truths And Fake News
This is not the first time that the alleged fact-checker has peddled fake news, lies and half-truths.
Mohammed Zubair had cunningly shared an edited clip of ex-BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks on a TV news debate which saw the issue explode with calls of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’. Zubair had cropped the part when the Maulvi had made objectionable remarks on Siva Linga which was the reason for Nupur Sharma losing her cool.
Earlier in June 2021, he had peddled fake news that an elderly Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh was attacked and his beard forcibly cut for not chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. However, this was found to be fake news as the Ghaziabad Police clarified that there was no communal angle to the incident. He put out a clarification later.
I've deleted the videos that I had posted. The victim's version of him being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" at this point in time do not seem to add up based on my conversations with police authorities and other journalists reporting on this issue. https://t.co/cof5bjv3I4
In December 2020, he peddled fake news that a woman detained under the new anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh suffered miscarriage. The Moradabad district administration had called reports of miscarriage as fake news. A report by The Hindu quoting district probation officer Rajesh Chandra Gupta noted that the woman was in full normal health and that her pregnancy was intact.
After getting called out for the fake news peddled, Mohammad Zubair put out a tweet clarifying it as an ‘update’.
Update : U.P. officials deny woman suffered miscarriage. “On December 13 at 11:05 a.m., she was discharged from hospital. [She is] in full normal health. Her pregnancy is intact,” Mr. Gupta said. All reports of the woman having a miscarriage “are fake”.https://t.co/69xuimst0r
Human Rights activists globally have urged democracies like India to condemn and impose sanctions on Communist China and its leadership for its unabated genocide of and persecution of Uyghurs in East Turkistan, called Xinjiang.
At an online event organised by Delhi-based think-tank Law and Society Alliance, the activists also criticised former High Commissioner of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office Ms Michele Bachelet for protecting Communist China from criticism over the genocide of the Uyghurs during her tenure that ended on August 31.
Germany’s Munich-based World Uyghur Congress president Mr Dolkun Isa, US’ Washington DC-based Center for Uyghur Studies executive director Mr Abdulhakim Idris and Law and Society Alliance chairman N. C. Bipindra agreed with the significant findings of the ‘OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China’.
But they criticised the 48-page report not using the term ‘genocide’ even once, though several nations’ legislatures globally, including the United Kingdom, France, European Union and Canada, have passed resolutions in this regard.
Mr Dolkun Isa, in his address to the audience comprising intellectuals, researchers and activists, said the report by the UN on the atrocities on Uyghurs has come out “very late” and is “very weak” in its language.
“The report has failed to meet the expectations of Uyghurs suffering under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) thumb, but it at least confirms what the Uyghur community has been saying for the past few years about the scale and severity of abuse against it,” Mr Isa said.
He said the UN Report should “have used much stronger language to condemn” Communist China, similar to several legislatures across the world that have already termed the crimes against humanity in East Turkistan as genocide. Even though the UN Report is weak, it is “significant” for recognising the persecution of the Uyghurs, he said.
The World Uyghur Congress has estimated that since 2017, over three million Uyghurs, Kazaks and other ethnic minorities have been detained in concentration camps in East Turkistan, where they are tortured and exposed to violence like systematic rapes and forced sterilisation.
These concentration camps are part of a larger People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) attempt to destroy the unique identities and culture of Uyghurs and Turkic communities. The international community has just begun to realise and take action against PRC’s atrocities, with several parliaments finally imposing targeted sanctions last year against Chinese entities for their complicity in the genocide against Uyghurs. But the ban by these few countries themselves is inadequate to avert this crisis, Mr Isa said.
The PRC is trying to spread fake news and disinformation, as well as use its economic might and diplomatic capacity to bury the truth about its genocide in East Turkistan. “That is why many countries have remained silent about the issue.”
Democracies, like India, must recognize the Uyghur genocide, the continued use of forced labour by Communist China and the reality of Uyghurs being targeted by Chinese transnational suppression, Mr Isa said. “There are many options for countries to act and the time of empty promises is over and actions are what is needed. The UN Human Rights Council must call for an emergency session to discuss and take action against Chinese actions,” he demanded.
Mr Abdulhakim Idris, in his presentation, said the Uyghur genocide has not only been confirmed by the UN, but also brought to light PRC’s documents and the voices of many camp survivors.
“There is ample evidence now of the atrocities committed by the CCP against Uyghurs and no one can deny that now. All religious activities of Uyghurs are banned in East Turkistan. The CCP, for a long time, has strived for the sinicization of all communities practicing Islam to Buddhism,” Mr Idris said.
He said Communist China has tried to use every means and opportunity at its disposal to eliminate the Uyghur people from the Earth, including through COVID infections. “The reality is that Communist China is afraid of the truth and the global media. Hence, the CCP has used all means to influence international institutions, including the UN, where the top leadership is afraid of antagonising the CCP, he added.
Mr Bipindra pointed out that the report concluded that Communist China indeed committed several human rights violations in East Turkistan. The UN Report also described large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in East Turkistan. The report also stated that Beijing’s actions could constitute crimes against humanity.
But, by not using the term ‘genocide’ and using tentative words such as “may” and “could”, the OHCHR, under Ms Bachelet, had missed an opportunity to rein in Communist China from further committing atrocities and torture of Turkic communities in its occupied territory, apart from scoring a self-goal against its stated human rights objectives, he said.
Mr Bipindra said the OHCHR report contained detailed testimonials from former detainees of Uyghur concentration camps, and confirms that those imprisoned were inhumanly tortured.
He also took objection to several international bodies, including the UN, coming under the undue influence of Communist China, and the top brass of many multilateral organisations succumbing to pressure and overtures from the CCP, and indulging in protecting the CCP.
Law and Society Alliance, and the activists, joined in urging India and other democratic nations to condemn Communist China’s genocide of the Uyghurs and to impose strict sanctions against the CCP leadership for the crimes against humanity.
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The MK Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu has appointed alleged scamster Vijay Anand as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of i-Tamil Nadu Technology (iTNT) hub, a government centre that seeks to coordinate use of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning in governance.
Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services Mano Thangaraj took to his social media to announce the appointment of Vijay Anand who according to reports has been accused of being a fraudster with no credentials and credibility.
DMK Minister Mano Thangaraj with alleged scamster Vijay Anand
Who Is Vijay Anand?
Vijay Anand, who identifies himself as “The Startup Guy” claims himself to be a “serial entrepreneur”, “angel investor” and “visionary software engineer” who started and sold several companies since his student days.
His claims have been parroted by several media outlets portraying him as a ‘successful entrepreneur’. As soon as the announcement of Vijay’s appointment came, a journalist from The Hindu noted Vijay as someone who “has been quite active in the startup circles since early 2000 and has hand holded many startups in TN”.
According to Crunch Base, Vijay Anand is the founder of Proto.in which is said to be a start-up event platform that connects start-ups with potential investors, customers and other entrepreneurs.
He has also been mentioned as a “mentor to various early stage companies” and apparently heads the Incubation Centre based out of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras which focuses in businesses for the Emerging and Rural Markets (www.rtbi.in). He is also noted as associated with Ventureast Fund Advisors – an Indian Venture Capital Firm.
However, a report by Inc42 which covers startup-related news has exposed Vijay’s self-proclaimed achievements.
Founded Companies In Thin Air?
Vijay Anand claims to have founded and sold three companies – 2 in India (CompuWorld Software Solutions and NullScape Softwares) and 1 in Canada (LeadStep Technologies).
However, there has been no trace of the company Nullscape Softwares either in the internet or with the Registrar of Companies.
“As far as one can tell, there was never any company with this name that had any sort of formal operations.” the report by Inc42 notes.
The other company Vijay claims to have founded in India is CompuWorld Software Solution which too has no trace in the digital world as well as with the Registrar of Companies. However the report by Inc42 mentions it to be a small Coimbatore-based entity which sells computers but even then Vijay’s name doesn’t feature in any of the pages associated with that company.
The other company that Vijay claims to have founded in Canada is LeadStep Technologies Inc which apparently he sold to Nokia in 2006 before returning to India.
However, this claim has also been disputed as there is no such company listed by Nokia in its acquisitions.
“This supposed company seems to have never had a presence of any kind on the web – no website, no email, no customers, no users, no employees.”, the Inc42 report notes.
But unlike the previous two companies, this LeadStep Technologies Inc exists in the Canada Company Directory (the Canada equivalent of Registrar of Companies). According to the Canada Company Directory, this company in which Vijay Anand has been mentioned as a Director was dissolved under Section 210 of the Canada Business Corporations Act on 11 December 2006.
Filing for dissolution under Section 210 means that it was a company with no property or liabilities or even issued any shares. So, in all proabability this company was a shell company that seems to have existed only on paper and never had any operations as the company never filed any returns.
Angel Investor Or Scamster?
Vijay claims himself to be an ‘angel investor’ but he is reportedly an investor in just one company named ‘Eventifier’ which too is part of his Startup Center, that he currently runs.
According to Zauba Corp, Vijay Anand is the Managing Director of one ‘Startup Centre and Management Private Limited’ which was incorporated in April 2011. The website of The Starup Centre has just one page claiming to mentor entrepreneurs, offer workspaces for a rate, and oganize events/workshops/webinars for entrepreneurs.
There is a link to an inactive Facebook page with no branding created on 23 April 2010 given at the end of this webpage.
According to the Inc42 report, there are at least three cases where startups had approached him for funding and instead of investing money, Vijay ended up taking money from them promising investor and customer connects.
“In one case, he also took equity from the company in the form of sweat for services that he promised to perform. As it turned out, the company found him out and didn’t actually give him any equity. The other companies simply wrote off the money that Vijay took from them”, the report by Inc42 notes.
Also, none of the companies that have gone through his “The Startup Centre” has raised Series A funding, except one company (Eventifier) in which he himself is the investor!
Software Engineer Or Another KRS?
Vijay Anand claims to have completed his Bachelor of Engineering from University of Ottawa. But the truth of the matter is that Vijay never actually graduated from there.
“He flunked out of college and was basically shown the door.”, the report by Inc42 notes.
Vijay Anand basically seems to be following the trope of Kannabiran Ravishankar (KRS) who has been accused of faking his Ph.D credentials from UC Berkeley.
The Charges Against Vijay Anand
From stealing ideas to swindling money, many in the startup circles accuse Vijay Anand of a volley of charges. He reportedly held a job at IIT Madras but was unceremoniously shown the door after the management came to know about his true colours.
Vijay Anand’s oft repeated mantra is “You are the product”. The cover picture on his Facebook page says “You are the product. Every venture, space, experience, is just about adding a feature & making you (hopefully) better. A better you, is the end goal”. He seems to have become precisely that by positioning himself as the product.
As described by Inc42, Vijay Anand is the “Paris Hilton of Indian Startups” – he is “famous for being famous” who has through a carefully-constructed tissue of lies and half-truths positioned himself as a tour de force in the Indian startup ecosystem.
The Congress party and its leaders have co-opted E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as ‘Periyar’ by his followers) as one of their icons.
However, the Congress party and EVR shared a great deal of animosity during their times.
EVR had once said “The first would be the destruction of the Congress party, the second the destruction of Hindu religion and the third the destruction of the domination of Brahmins. The third would automatically happen when the first two tasks were completed. Gandhi’s response was not to our satisfaction.”
In stark contrast to how the Congress of today is venerating this anti-Hindu bigot, the party under Nehru did not take EVR’s obscenities and absurdities lying down. In fact, Jawaharlal Nehru did not take kind to EVR’s eccentricity when he had given a clarion call for the genocide of Tamil Brahmins.
On 4 November 1957, a ‘caste eradication conference’ was organized in Thanjavur, days before EVR and his comrades burnt the Indian Constitution. Around 2 lakh ‘spears’ (that’s how the Dravidian Stockists identified themselves back then), had attended that meeting during which silver rupees were collected equivalent to EVR’s weight, just like how bundles of cash were collected in the name of ‘subscriptions’ by Dravida Kazhagam members by having their head K. Veeramani sit on one side of the weigh balance.
“Periyar did not get pacified upon seeing the silver coins. This is where he gave a new war cry like a roaring tiger.”, his biography notes.
EVR gave a genocidical call to kill 1000 Tamil Brahmins to ‘eradicate caste’.
He said “If to eradicate caste we need to burn the agraharams (Tamizh Brahmin house colonies) and murder atleast 1000 Tamizh Brahmins then we will do exactly that” declaring the date of genocide as 26th November 1957, the Constitution Day.
Reacting to this genocidical call, Nehru had written a letter to then Chief Minister of Madras K. Kamaraj saying that EVR’s call might lead to strong communal feeling which could even lead to murders. “I do hope that you will take adequate notice of this”, Nehru wrote in his letter to Kamaraj.
Source: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Second Series, Volume 39, Page 383
Anguished by the virulent vitriol spewed by EVR, Nehru shot off another letter to Kamaraj on 5 November 1957 in which he asked EVR to “be put in a lunatic asylum” and let his “perveted mind be treated there”.
Source: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Second Series, Volume 40, Page 387
Madras Legislative Councile Member A. Sreenivasan on 3 December 1957 had once again brought the attention of EVR’s genocide call to Nehru. Acknowledging his letter, he wrote back to him saying “I have seldom come across anything more primitive and barbarous in any country presuming to be civilized” adding that EVR and his group had to be dealt with an iron hand.
Source: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Second Series, Volume 40, Page 388
It was against this backdrop to deal with the menace of EVR that the Madras Legislative Assembly passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Bill, 1957 on 11 November 1957 which sought to prevent insults to national symbols like the Indian Flag, Constitution, etc.
Nehru once again wrote to Kamaraj on 4 December 1957, stating that EVR’s activities was the most barbarous thing that he had come across in a civilized country.
It is this EVR who loathed Congress and was equally loathed by Nehru that the Congress is idolizing today.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 72 today. Though a septuagenarian, he brims with energy. There are several young politicians across parties but none have the command over youth that Prime Minister Modi has. That’s because he is someone who is always thinking ahead and working for an India which will be a better place for future generations. His ideas, thoughts and visions remains youthful and connects with the youth of today. Today being the birthday of PM Modi, I thought I will pen down some life lessons that the youth can take from the life of Narendra Damodardas Modi in order to be really successful. I feel we all can learn, irrespective of our age, really cool things if we just observe the way Modi has operated throughout his life and is still going super strong.
Lesson 1 – Decide On Your Purpose Early In life
“Who you are is not defined by your birth but by your actions”. Modi’s life personifies this statement. At a very young age, he had clearly defined his purpose – he wanted to work for the society. Once you create that clarity in your mind, your path gets clearer. That is what happened with Modi who got himself connected to RSS with his life purpose in mind and from then on he never looked back.
Lesson 2 – Read A Lot. Travel A Lot.
Reading and travelling helps one build a good perspective and take well informed decisions. Modi read a lot and he was inspired by great personalities like Swami Vivekananda which I believe would have helped him decide on his life goal, the purpose. Reading sharpens your mind and travel gives wider perspectives. Modi also travelled quite a bit at one point in his life, just travelled, went to the Himalayas and returned a much wiser person.
Lesson 3 – Patience Is Key
Have patience – Keep doing the hard work smartly and hone your skills. Opportunities may or may not knock your doors but hard work will definitely open up new avenues for one to emerge successful.
Modi worked his way patiently. He started as a simple swayamsevak. He lived in a small room. His main job at one time was just to clean the RSS office. He still did that with lot of sincerity. He just kept doing the do, absorbing, learning and soaking everything like a sponge by just keenly observing the other leaders and doing all the tasks that were given to him to very diligently. He didn’t expect immediate returns. There is no short cut. Keep sharpening your axe as you go along. That’s the mantra.
Lesson 4 – Dream Big, Be Ambitious And Believe In Yourself
We all have seen how Modi always tells everyone to dream big which he himself did in his life. He is ambitious and sets really high goals for himself and party and works towards it. Our youth of today must dream big. Being ambitious is not wrong but being grounded and taking well thought out decisions takes us to success. Confidence and belief in the self and in one’s own abilities is the secret sauce. All the decisions that Modi has taken for himself and his party has given him a steady growth in his political career and has brought him to where he is today.
Lesson 5 – Embrace Adversity
Adversity strengthens you. Be comfortable taking uncomfortable decisions. Learn quickly. Adapt quickly to change. Have a strategy. Make yourself indispensable in an organization.
Modi has seen great adversities in his political career. The 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2002 Godhra issue are just two examples. Modi had to almost rebuild Kutch and turned it into a flourishing hub of industries, agriculture, tourism, etc. We all know how Modi had to go through so many interrogations and hearings on the Godhra incident. He persevered and came through clean. In both these cases, Modi looked as adversity as a learning experience and came out stronger. After becoming Prime Minister, Modi had to take so many uncomfortable decisions one of them being the reorganization of his team at the cost of disappointing several senior leaders. Modi also had to go through several hurdles before he was made the Chief Minister of Gujarat finally as by then Modi became indispensable for BJP through his sheer political acumen and skills. Learning and adapting quickly, being strategic, taking hard decisions and making yourself indispensable are the takeaways from the youth from Modi’s career.
Lesson 6 – Look At The Bigger Picture
It’s okay to lose some battles to win the war. Take calculated risks, keep your emotions aside, wait for the right time and strike back hard.
Moditva might have had to backtrack in several cases or some of his actions might not have given the results that he would have expected. However, Modi is a person who doesn’t get deterred or disappointed by these and doesn’t quit. He had to take back the Farm Laws that he believed would be good for the nation. He was cornered by the opposition on his demonetization decision and even during the trying times of Covid. Modi nevertheless came out shining eventually and the whole of India rallied behind him. The learning for the youth is losing a few battles is okay, don’t get emotional with a defeat and quit or take hasty decisions, wait for the right time and come back harder, you will win the war.
Lesson 7 – Be Different And Build Your Own Brand
Modi is a 24/7 politician who is very creative and always likes to differentiate himself. His Jhan Dhan yojana, Swatch Bharat Abhiyan, Har Ghar Tiranga are great examples of his creativity and smart thinking. The youth should strive to become great communicators. Being articulate gives you a clear edge and gets people to notice you. If you can carry yourself really well, you can make a statement just through your body language. Position yourself well in whatever you do. Strong strategy powered by a smart, creative mind and excellent articulation, makes you a brand to reckon with.
Modi’s oratory skills, creativity, decisiveness, personality, ambition, hard work, smart thinking, strategic approach to any problem, control over emotions even if others are calling him names, ability to convert adversity to opportunity and all of these traits that I called Moditva have made him one of the world’s most popular leader today. I hope the Indian youth will imbibe these life lessons and go on to achieve great success in life as well as make India a real Vishwaguru!
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Every year on September 17, the Congress party heaps praises on E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as Periyar by his followers) on the occassion of his birth anniversary.
This year too they’ve followed suit exalting him as “one of the strongest proponents against discrimination”.
On his birth anniversary, we pay tributes to one of the strongest proponents against discrimination, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. Regarded as the father of the Dravidian Movement & founder of the self-respect movement, the iconoclast will be remembered for his profound contributions. pic.twitter.com/xpt1v8W6sx
Earlier, the Congress had glorified him as a ‘beacon of rationalism and self-respect’.
Founder of Self-Respect Movement & the Father of the Dravidian Movement, #Periyar was one of the strongest proponents against caste & gender inequality & discrimination. A beacon of rationalism & self-respect, he inspires countless struggles against marginalisation even today. pic.twitter.com/THmiifTJkJ
In 2020, Senior Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor even took a cheap jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharing a picture of Naicker that said “Celebrate the beard that stood for social justice”.
However, the irony is that the Congress, in its attempt to placate the DMK for a few seats, now finds itself adoring the very same man who had called for its annhilation including that of Mahatma Gandhi.
Unlike the Congress party whose leaders are now idolizing the vile iconoclastic demagogue, E.V. Ramasamy was not kind to them.
There has not been a single leader who has criticized Gandhi as rabidly and unjustly as EVR did. He had even called for the ‘annihilation of Gandhi’ and ‘annihilation of Congress’ along with the ‘annihilation of Brahmins’.
EVR in 1927 had said “My friend Ramanathan and I told the Mahatma (when we met him) that three tasks had to be completed for India attaining independence and self-respect. The first would be the destruction of the Congress party, the second the destruction of Hindu religion and the third the destruction of the domination of Brahmins. The third would automatically happen when the first two tasks were completed. Gandhi’s response was not to our satisfaction.”
EVR was someone who opposed the very idea of India and was dead against Mahatma Gandhi. He had called for a Dravidistan along the lines of Pakistan and also tried to collude with Muhammad Ali Jinnah for the same. However, Jinnah saw him as a threat to his own plans and showed EVR the finger.
In 1957, he had called for the burning of pictures of Mahatma Gandhi. He said
We were cheated by Gandhi. Our land (the Tamil land) has been enslaved to the Northerners and Brahmins by Gandhi. It is because of Gandhi that people lost all great qualities they had…(and) it is now impossible to live without being immoral, dishonest, deceitful and traitorous
This is what he had to say about Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. In a speech made in December 1973, he said
These are our five principles—annihilation of God, annihilation of religion, annihilation of Gandhi, annihilation of Congress and annihilation of Brahmins…Before we could annihilate Gandhi, the Brahmins did the task for us”
Though he expressed his condolences when Mahatma Gandhi died, he resorted to calling Gandhi names again.
Watch out for the people who are saying ‘Jai congress’&’Jai Gandhi’ they are implicitly accepting they are bastard sons of paarpans (brahmins). They are accepting that they are lowborn.
EVR’s hatred for the Scheduled Caste community is well known. He had remarked that the prices of cloth had increased because Dalit women started wearing jackets. When 44 Dalit labourers were burnt alive by Zamindars in the horrific Keezhvenmani massacre, EVR refused to condemn the incident and instead justified the crime saying, “Labourers should simply accept the wages offered to them by the land-owners instead of demanding more than what they deserve”. This was because the perpetrator of the crime who had instigated the zamindars to torch the huts was Gopalakrishna Naidu, a person of EVR’s caste.
His hatred for Dalits even spilled onto Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. In 1968 while addressing on the occasion of Pongal, EVR accused Ambedkar of accepting “bribe from Brahmins in the form of reservation for his people (SC)”.
He even spearheaded a movement to burn the Indian Constitution, drafted under the auspices of Dr. Ambedkar. On the Constitution Day of 1957, EVR along with his comrades burnt the Constitution, a document which alleged ‘rationalists’, ‘secularists’ and other self-proclaimed champions of democracy swear by today.
So, whenever the Congress and its leaders venerate this rabid demagogue as a ‘beacon of self-respect’, they’re losing the last ounce of self-respect that remains in them.
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