P liticia - ABKI BAAR KIS KI SARKAR? - Welham Boys' School
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
P liticia ABKI BAAR KIS KI SARKAR?
Welham Boys’ School April 2019
Issue I
Editorial Board
CONTENTS
Editor-in-Chief Editorial.................................................................................3
Naman Kapoor The Plane that Refuses to Land..........................................4
Senior Editors Gender Wage Gap..............................................................5
Shaurya Poddar Scions of Political Dynasties...............................................6
Devraj Singhania Chess with Corruption........................................................7
The Line of No Control: Pulwama...................................8-9
Designer Is Priyanka Gandhi the Game Changer?....................10-11
Khatwang Gupta Bhakts, Bugles and Ballots...........................................12-13
Illiberal Secularists............................................................14
Editors
The American Beef Ban....................................................15
Ujjwal Goenka
Trump-Kim Summit-...........................................................16
Rajesh Bhandari
A Word From The Right-....................................................17
Aarav Upadhayaya
Talk on Antarctica..............................................................18
Kartik Tripathi
Movie Review.....................................................................19
Editorial Team This Day That Year........................................................20-21
Mrinank Bhartari The Russian Reminder.................................................20-21
Samanyu Raj Malik In the Name of Politics......................................................22
Ishman Kohli The Party Stories.................................................................22
Shubhanker Dhulia Simultaneous Elections....................................................23
Staff Editor
SIGNING OFF...
Ms. Kiran Tripathi
Special Thanks
Mr. Andrew Teron The New Beginning…
Mr. Abhik Bhattacharji Another academic year begins, bringing us bags full of op-
Printed By portunities. This being the election year will have even more
Mr. Prashant Arora ups and downs. Leaving our readers with more content to
Mr. Rahul Sridhar read, than ever. The magazine’s current high was its last edi-
Mr. Girish Prasad tion; whichm with great positivity and hope, I say won’t be
true now. With every new edition there will be old standards
Write to Us at surpassed and new higher ones created. As I had mentioned
politicia@welhamboys.org it in my last editorial, the magazine wouldn’t be what it is to-
day. It will change, change only for good. But while it’s the
Published By
magazine’s responsibility to publish content rich in quality, it
Dr.(Ms.) Gunmeet Bindra,
becomes the readers responsibility by virtue to consume that
Principal, Welham Boys’ School
content.
The views in the Magazine are of
My hearty congratulations go to the new Editor-in-Chief,
the contributors and do not nec- Naman Kapoor and his fabulous team, on their first edition.
essarily represent the views of the The whole team already has its shoulders heavy from respon-
magazine and the School sibility and expectations. May they set the bar even higher
than what is expected of them. We have worked very hard
Reproduction in whole or in part to reach where we are today. Your support will only take us
without permission is strictly pro-
forward. It has only been a couple of weeks, but I already feel
hibited
it has created vaccumin my life. This is our labour of love. This
Copyright: Politicia 2018 is the Politicia.
All Right Reserved
Signing off,
Suyash Dev Gupta
2 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
EDITORIAL
It has become the general mindset of our
`Rajneeti ke politicians that their followers will believe
vachan samay ki whatever they hear, which in turn gives
zaroorat dekhkar them the license to ‘Fake in India’. Politi-
diye jaate hai ... cal parties across the length and breadth
aur ussi tarah sa- of the nation have and are twisting facts,
may ki zaroorat figures and even photos to lure voters to
dekhkar todh their fold.
diye jaate hai’.
There has been a rise in the commercial-
(The promises in politics are given ac- isation of the elections since 2014 where
cording to the needs of time ... and just T-shirts, cups and even sarees with sym-
like that they are broken according to the bols and pictures of the leaders printed
needs of time). on them flooded markets. They put up mo-
Haku (Yeh Gulistan Hamara) tifs of the leaders, some promising ‘NYAY’
while others were called ‘vanquisher of
It is that time of the year when promises the enemy’ or ‘the saviour of our country’.
are made or broken but seldom delivered. While both the sides use the same recip-
The open polling booths mark the begin- rocatory tactics but end up with different
ning of the Lok Sabha elections, 2019. results.
Our very own modern Chanakyas had be- Our cover story, put together by Aarav
gun the war of who sits on the Iron Throne Upadhaya, looks at Saffron, Blue and ev-
long before we even started thinking erything in between to promulgate infor-
about the 2019 elections. Every single one mation that will help you make the right
of them, from advisors to backroom boys choice. You as voters must think deeply
started campaigning for their favoured about who your vote should go to, as the
candidate everywhere from family events future of this great nation is in your hands,
to local tea stalls. We watch it in the news its success and failure lies in your fingers,
and read about it in the newspapers, look- only if you choose to exercise your demo-
ing for what the public sentiment is, and cratic right to vote
where to place our bets.
Now, that winter is over and unlike Game
Personally, I rely on where the punter gath- of Thrones, we can be optimistic and hope
erers go to get the most credible data; ‘The for a cheerful spring to greet us.
Satta Bazaar’, or the illegal betting mar-
ket, is perhaps a more honest barometer Jai Hind!
of public expectations than opinion polls Signing In
filled with political and statistical jargon.
Currently, most bets are swaying towards
the BJP scoring 250+ and NDA surpass-
ing 300 seats. The odds of the Congress
crossing 200 are slim, almost 10:1, per-
haps even dissuading the loyalists to bet
on them. The ‘Modi Wave’ proved to be Naman Kapoor
a tsunami in 2014 and the BJP is praying Editor-in Chief
that history repeats itself.
Politicia | 3Welham Boys’ School April 2019
The Plane that Refuses to Land
With the Criticism of the Rafale deal made by a solitary month will be all that is saved. The
the new government, many more voices have removal of the anti-corruption clause is also
come to the limelight for criticizing the many deeply criticized, with Rahul Gandhi attacking
populistic and unconstitutional aspects of the the PM on Twitter, claiming that it would allow
Modi government. The uber efficient adver- Anil Ambani to steal another 30,000 crores
tisement agency that rocked the party fund- from the IAF (Indian Air Force).
ing of the BJP to the highest in India, has seen
However, while facts remain, the populistic
success in sidelining the various failures of the
manoeuvres of the Modi government have
RSS breakaway, and glorified achievements
been successful in maintaining the support
that it had no role in realising.
of a lot of citizens. With the introduction of an
The latest scandal (that has failed to rock) the
intern budget that was famously described as
Modi government is Rafael. While the Comp-
‘rated 9 on 10 by a politician, but only 4 or 5 by
troller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) report
an economist’ the partial unconstitutionality of
has trashed the rubbish claims of the govern-
forcing so many promises into the next regime
ment that their deal was 9% cheaper than the
has been frowned upon by many, and the in-
UPA deal. Instead, the increase was a meagre
terference of the politicians in bodies like the
two per cent and came at the cost of almost a
CBI and the RBI has shown just how long the
100 Jets that would have soon been a part of
nose of these saffron administrators are.
the increasingly desperate Indian Air force.
All in all, the Air Force still remains in radical
With a detailed analysis of the information need of new jets, for Soviet-made planes can’t
available exclusively to Hindu, N. Ram has de- actually outlive the USSR by that long, and
picted how the reduction of the provision of even though it seems that Modi has done for
126 bare bones aircraft that would receive In- the military things that the Poet Prime minister
dia specific enhancements was cheaper than could not even imagine, it is imperative that
the 36 fully fitted, combat-ready jets. Thus, the the facts remain constant. For one thing that
deal has succeeded in increasing the price our populist PM seems to have forgotten is
of each aircraft by 41 per cent. The truth is, that facts do not cease to exist if they are ig-
the only place where Mr Modi’s government nored.
seems to be successful is India TV or Zee news.
-Steffi
Moreover, this new deal has failed to push the
agenda of the internal production of these
jets, which would have furthered the
self-reliance of the Indian army at a
time when international relations are
pretty unstable. The private dealer that
is now providing the 36 jets, Dassault,
has admitted how such a small number
of jets will be insufficient for the trans-
fer of technology to India. Also, the in-
volvement of Reliance in the deal has
instigated another spark of Criticism
concerning the regime (not so well
hidden) cases of collision. Hence, the
‘make in India’ propaganda seems to
be another lie. Talking about lies, the
government claims that we would get
the jets five months earlier. The CAG
demolishes this claim, stating that
4 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
g ender
We still are not paid equally. And ifw age
tive to men. However, g ap
in a study done
you believe that it's a myth, do the in 2017, it has been found that those
math. Unequal pay hurts women. It hurts their are no longer the big- gest factors in
families and it hurts us all. You and I have to continue why women are paid less than men. In fact – those
fighting for equal pay for equal work. I get up each traditional reasons play a very small role, just around
day with that on my mind, because I need to make a 20 per cent. It is the people’s psyche which needs an
difference.” – Lilly Ledbetter, Equal Pay Activist overhauling, it is the bias against women, both on
It's been quite some time now, since we celebrated the conscious and the unconscious level. It’s about
woman’s day on March 8th and despite all the cele- the attitudes and assumptions of women in the
bratory talks on woman’s equality, we are still grap- workplace, it’s about employing people whom we
pling with issues regarding the gender biased pay think will fit in – and when you have a workforce of
gap. So, dear reader, you might question me, as to men, particularly in senior roles, it seems likely for us
why I am writing such an economic-based article in to stick to the status quo – whether they do that inten-
the political journal. But the reality is, that the issue/ tionally or just because “like attracts like”. It’s because
question here is not an economic one but rather one there is still a belief that women will accept less pay
of equality, which stands to be highly political in na- than men – they don’t know their worth and aren’t as
ture. Well, let me first give you a brief introduction to good at negotiating as men.
the topic: The gender pay gap is the gap between Dear reader, by now I’ve introduced the entire issue
what men and women earn. Most commonly, it re- of the gender wage gap, looked back through histo-
fers to the median annual pay of all women who ry and conferred the very cause of this problem, de-
work full time all year-round, compared to the pay of liberated upon the mindsets of people. But is there
a similar cohort of men. something we can do?
If one remembers correctly, it has been over three Yes, foremost is recognizing that there is a problem.
years since Patricia Arquette’s 2015 Oscars speech, Organizations don’t set out to create a pay gap, they
when she addressed the wage gap on live TV, in never do. A gender pay audit might be a good way
front of the entire industry. “To every woman who to find out if a problem prevails. Having a Check on
gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, the recruitment processes, offering equal opportuni-
we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights,” ties. Check and control on whether women are be-
Arquette said in her speech. “It’s our time to have ing promoted to higher positions that they deserve.
wage equality once and for all and equal rights for More often than not, women are recruited but not re-
women in the United States of America.” Since that tained or promoted to senior management, making
seminal moment, the issue has gained momentum it a merit-based system seems to be a viable option.
across the globe. Women have continued to speak A few countries have taken cognizance of this issue
out about pay inequality in all forums, to draw atten- and made efforts to bridge the gap. In Iceland, it is
tion to the pay gaps that affect women everywhere. illegal to pay a man more than a woman for an equal
Even in a developed countries like America, this gap job.
is significant. The Global Wage Report 2016-17 pub- Gender inequality is a malaise that can cost the glob-
lished by the International Labour Organisation in al economy $160 trillion, according to the World
2016 had raised an alarming insight with the revela- Economic Forum.
tion that the gender pay gap in India being 30%, was In the end, I’d just like to quote Justin Trudeau, Prime
among the highest in the world. This in itself reflects Minister of Canada-
the social inequality that prevails in our country. “As a father, I want to know my daughter will have
Let’s take a look back at history, we observe that there the same opportunities as my sons... [we need to be]
are certain factors that lead to the pay gap between committed... to ensure that women receive equal
men and women, these factors are traditional ones pay for equal work.”
that we all know about. They include the differences It is high time we buckle up and close this pay gap!
in occupation and industry of employment, differ-
ences in the amount of work experience between -Shubhanker Dhulia
women and men, and women’s qualifications rela-
Politicia | 5Welham Boys’ School April 2019
Scions of Political Dynasties
In India, families in politics and politics in families have a long standing relation.
With politics becoming ‘modern’, the political families field their manor-born, for-
eign university graduate scions to political battlegrounds. Here’s a look at some
Parth Pawar
Grand-nephew of Sharad Pawar, nephew of Supriya Sule & son of
Ajit Pawar, Parth will contest from Maval, an industrial and farming
region in western Maharashtra. This london-educated Pawaraian is of-
ten criticized and trolled for “speak- ing Marathi like an English-man” &
is still find hiss vibe in the mofussils of Indian Politics.
Aditya Thackeray
Deepender Singh
Grandson of the
Hooda
legendary Bal Tha-
Deepender is the
keray and son of
whip of the INC in
Uddav Thakeray.
the parliment. He
Aditya has
is a three
time MP
been active in
from Rohtak in
politics for over
Haryana. He is the
son of the former a decade. Initially
he was with Yuva
CM Bhupinder Sigh
Sena & is now being
Hooda and his grandfa-
insisted for joining ac-
ther Ranbir Singh Hooda
tive politics. He invites
was a freedom fighter and
mixed reactions and con-
a minister in Punjab
troversies for his insistence
for an open nightlife cul-
ture in Mumbai and foot
path gym.
Gaurav Gagoi
This Congress leader is the son of former CM of Assam, Tarun Gagoi. He
won his first election from Kalibor in 2014. The 36 year old will defend
his Kalibor seat in 2019.
-Aarav Upadhyaya
6 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
Chess with Corruption
India’s anti-corruption drive led to ly after all the Lokpal is only human.
appointment of the Lokpal. Some- The Lokpal has been appointed with
thing which was heavily bargained the hope that the body will be incor-
for, by social activists like Anna Haz- ruptible otherwise, there is no hope
are to set up an anti-corruption body for corruption to die. For the Lokpal
were proposed in over the course of to blow the whistle on deceitful pub-
44 years(1968-2011). However, the lic servants he needs to be resistant
most recent Lokpal and Lokayuk- to viles of corruption and material
tas Bill, 2011 stands to be the base gain. That is almost impossible for all
of the Lokpal bill. The final bill, THe humans as nobody is perfect and for
Lokpal Act, was passed by the par- a Lokpal to be completely successful
liament in 2013 with the support of the committee requires a very high
all major political parties except the strength of character, which is a very
Samajwadi Party. Finally, in 2019 the rare sight in a country like India.
first Lokpal of India, former Justice
of the Supreme Court Pinaki Chandra Though the country has very high
Ghose, has been appointed. He used hopes when it comes to the appoint-
to work in the National Human Rights ment of Former Justice Pinaki Chan-
Council before taking over the office. dra Ghose, as this is the first time the
country has moved to take a strong
Former Chief Justices Dilip B. Bho- stance against corruption. Due to
sale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhila- the appointment being very recent
sha Kumari besides sitting Chief Jus- we have not seen the body achieve
tice of Chhattisgarh high court Ajay something quite big to actually put
Kumar Tripathi have been appointed them on the map. But this action has
to serve in the anti-corruption body, great symbolic importance, it instils
the communique issued by Rashtra- hope in the hearts of people that bet-
pati Bhavan said. They were select- ter days will come. Some also see it
ed by a committee led by PM Naren- as one of the many moves made by
dra Modi and approved by President the Modi government, in the light
Ram Nath Kovind. The Lokpal bill has of the general elections. The gov-
been very promising, signing over ernment had over five years to get
various powers to the Lokpal. The the ball rolling, but why now when
body has power over all public ser- elections are just round the corner?
vants even the Prime Minister, bar- However, I hope, the citizens emerge
ring the armed forces, the Lokpal can victorious against corruption in this
summon or question any public ser- game of chess.
vant if there are any prima facie cases
against the person, even of the CBI -Viraj Lohia
has not begun a probe. Moreover,
the ombudsman can seize land or
revenue obtained by illegal means.
With such promises on the table, the
first thought in any common person’s
head will be that corruption is going
to face its doom, but I feel different-
Politicia | 7Welham Boys’ School April 2019
the line of NO control:
PULWAMA
lives with avarice and anger
Denying space and stock to the brother
That together held flag and candle.
The flare at Pulwama on the day of love
Shattered many a budding life
As Pulwama fades over time
Youthful hopes shaken and broken
Blood and gore lost to memory,
And painfully shocked all to the core.
We are well and truly back to old ways
Appalled greatly at the loss Of animosity and malevolence.
We joined other bleeding hearts
With tearful eyes and sad faces Immersed in our pathetic centered life
To protest and show solidarity. Of seeking all for self, denying the other;
Most donned whites and walked the dis- Our promise of brotherhood forgotten.
tance; Death of soldiers brushed off.
Lighted Candles and shouted hoarse for the Sadly it will be time once more for a night of
Flag. candles
Many selfies we made of our great march; Flags and flowers to hold aloft.
To wear on our sleeves; to show and flaunt. As once again blood and torn flesh wet the
Now we feel true patriots; earth
Saved our God and Country Pretended brotherhood on display as of
From its enemies yore;
Malicious and cunning.
For the enemy knows truly
Home and hosed, we sit back That a nation divided will
To gloat on a patriotic evening out; Light candles and show flags
And pacify our collective conscience of Yet fail to merge as one;
Having done our bit for the land.
To atone for the blood Neither able nor willing to
And torn flesh at the carnage. Avenge its lost sons
Of lives lost and families torn asunder Or redeem their blood
Forever ending hopes and youth. Selfish as ever in grabbing and hoarding;
Now a new day awakens, fresh and beckon- Rest well dear Soldiers
ing You played your part, peace or war
Yesterday’s moist flag droops; spent candles Be not reborn here
look lost; We are a land that ignores history.
Withered flowers flutter in the cold breeze
The rapture of last evening stifled. -Steffi
Once again the labour of daily life and
The lure of Mammon beckons us;
As lust and violence goad us to set on
Brothers joined afore in fake solidarity.
Not averse to defy order or
authority
To fill ourWelham Boys’ School April 2019
Pakistan’s long tryst with terror proxies and The vacuum left by the Indian presence would
their usage as a tool not only jeopardizes re- be immediately filled by Pakistan in the form
gional stability but also speaks volumes about of humanitarian and monetary aid and its only
how Pakistan has failed in its international obli- about time that the entire region is amputat-
gation of eliminating outfits that operate from ed out of India. Henceforth, the public hostility
its soil. The latest example being a suicide at- towards Kashmiris has grave implications. Sec-
tack on a CRPF convoy moving through Pulwa- ondly, we are so aligned to our political parties
ma, that killed 40 CRPF jawans and sent shock that we are often unable to see when they fail
waves throughout the country and beyond the us. We are so attached to certain individuals or
borders. Adil Ahmad Dar, a local, was the sui- certain ideals that we are willing to bend any
cide bomber and Pakistan based Islamist outfit moral boundaries for them or are even toler-
Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed the responsibili- able with being duped by them, even if those
ty for the attack. In formulating the retaliatory individuals are unprincipled and the ideals id-
response, deliberations began on choosing iotic. The politicization of issues like these is a
a target so that no Pakistani soldiers or mili- bigger problem than the attacks themselves.
tary installations or economic infrastructure Because every political party now wishes to
were hit— which could potentially escalate the channel this public angst towards their po-
stand-off. And thus, Balakot, a massive train- litical advancement. So the national political
ing camp of Jaish in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was stage, which has a crucial role to play in such
zeroed upon. And the ensuing strike resulted situations by say, formulating comprehensive
in “a very large number” of terrorists getting policies or questioning the centre on the safe-
killed. The strike was lauded as a counter-ter- ty of people in the affected region, gets filled
ror operation and not a military operation. As with leaders blaming each other and showing
citizens, there are some things that we tend to each other to be bigger patriots. Now every
do after every terrorist attack. Here are some decision that the Centre takes is looked upon
things that we should and should not do. from a political angle. So instead of finding
out actual facts and working out solutions,
Firstly, the notion that everything associated
our news coverages are filled with dogfights
with Kashmir is responsible for the attack is
between politicians and overly heated, rheto-
poison for our country. Venting out our anger
ric-heavy primetime debates which only cre-
on Kashmiris and Kashmiri vehicles and shops
ate an atmosphere of fear and panic.
is not a solution. It is exactly what terrorists
and actors that are backed by Pakistan want, Therefore, we should look for more compre-
to create infights and disunity. This public out- hensive and elaborate solutions to give a be-
rage against Kashmiris and open hostility will fitting reply to Pakistan and not let public spirit
only alienate them from us. And this will cause be led astray.
them to eventually start losing trust from Indi-
-Aarav Upadhayaya
an support systems and start getting detached
from the Indian mainland. Since there are so
many Pakistan-supported separatists there
already, the people who
felt a sense of belonging
to India would also feel
betrayed.Welham Boys’ School April 2019
IS PRIYANKA GANDHI
The Congress has certainly been losing pop- which are the two biggest strongholds of the
ularity in the recent years. Gone are the years Congress in UP. Some of the credit in estab-
when the Nehru- Gandhi family used to be the lishing both of them as strongholds certainly
face of Indian politics; now the family has been has to be given to Priyanka Gandhi for she
largely sidelined. The party desperately needs undertook all the groundwork and worked di-
a miracle, a game- changer, and that will inev- rectly with the people.
itably be Priyanka Gandhi. Thirdly, her appeal to women and the poor
With the 2019 General Elections close, every populace deserves recognition. Indira Gandhi
single decision made by the two major parties, was India’s first female prime minister. She is
i.e. the BJP and the INC cannot be overlooked. a feminist icon in the Indian political scenario
Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into politics is no ex- and also appeals to the poor. With NYAY being
emption. For various rea- the leading narrative for the Congress in the
sons, she is a boon to upcoming elections, she will play a big part in
the Congress because convincing the poor of the scheme.
of the decreasing pop- Lastly, Priyanka Gandhi is the best bet for the
ularity that the party Congress considering their current circum-
was facing. She is ulti- stances. She is considered to be one of the
mately going to be the best campaigners of the Congress, proving
Congress’s trump card in herself to be even better than Rahul Gandhi.
the upcom- She has also not let go of the soft Hindutva
ing elec- narrative that the Congress has been passively
tions. using, which can be seen when some of its top
leaders visit temples while on their campaigns.
The very Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the last resort for the
first rea- Congress which can potentially save it.
son that
her entry -Samanyu Raj Malik
into pol-
itics is sig-
nificant is her
re l a t i o n s h i p
to the Gandhi
family and the way she resem-
bles her grandmother, Indira Gandhi. Indira
Gandhi is regarded as a very charismatic and
strong-hearted leader. The people see a re-
flection of Indira Gandhi in the image of Pri-
yanka Gandhi. The way she speaks and the
way she interacts with the people unquestion-
ably resembles the ways of Indira Gandhi. The
way she visited the Bade Hanuman temple in
Prayagraj and how she talked to the people in
the Awadhi dialect speaks for itself.
Secondly, her skills in handling field work and
her efficiency cannot be neglected. She used
to handle field work in Amethi and Rae Bareli
10 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
A GAME CHANGER?
In recent times, ‘there has been a huge of this fact. So my simple request is that
hue and cry in the political circles over please get out of this mindset or else you
the entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into are surely headed towards destruction.
electoral politics. Some people even To the Congress cadre who hail their
tend to believe that she will change the new monarch as the “Doosri Indira Gand-
dynamics of 2019. My simple question to hi” the “Trump Card” I simply ask what
such an environment is why? For those Paresh Rawat, BJP M.P from Gujarat had
who do not understand politics or do not asked: If Priyanka is the Congress trump
follow it, here’s the truth: Priyanka Gand- card then do they mind telling the coun-
hi is in politics since long, she even cam- try why they were playing with the joker
paigns regularly in Uttar Pradesh then till now?
why is the election cycle any different? India needs
to rise
Many people even tell me that she is a above dy-
women and female leaders like her are n a s t i c
in the need of the hour but again what I politics.
fail to understand is on what basis as we Despite
judge her as a phenomenal politician. having
Just being born in the Nehru Gandhi well-ed-
Parivar has directly parachuted her into ucated
the post of National General. Now com- l e a d -
pare that with women politician of the ers like
BJP: Sushma Swaraj, worked from the Shashi
booth level, to reach such heights, Sm- Tharoor or Jaiveer
riti Irani who comes from humble back- Shergill, The Con-
ground and today is as fiery nature can gress directly
be, Nirmala Sitharaman who rose to be- chose her as as
come the current defence minister from the national gen-
her gender to hold that post individually, eral-secretary.
or Sumitra Mahajan an eight times M.P Now if you ask them
.from Indore who rose to such heights on what basis you
despite not belonging to “royal family”. yourselves will understand that the fam-
Does India have to decide what kind of ily comes first and competence later. So
women leaders they want? please let’s just spare the rhetoric of the
game changers, it really isn’t real.
Secondly, I do not oppose her entry
into politics for she should indulge in it -Mukund Kedia
and become a great leader, but what I Batch of 2018-2019
completely fail to understand is why is
there such rampant over glorification of
somebody who still has to prove herself.
To me, the answer is simple. All people
hailing her entry as a game changer have
slowly developed a mindset of slavery to
the family that has destroyed India and
Priyanka Gandhi is the shining example
Politicia | 11COVER STORY
Welham Boys’ School
Bhakts, Bugles
and Ballots
As the world’s largest democracy gears up to Interestingly, these states boast
vote in the biggest political exercise, the front the unswayable vote bank of Nar-
runners NaMo and RaGa push boundaries and endra Modi the urban Hindu vote
scream on top of each other to ensure that they which is smitten by his nationalism
are heard. narrative. Also, demonetization
choked Modi’s loyalists and his
It’s that time again. Mega rallies are being ad- popularity was badly hit. The oppo-
dressed in every city, the promise of free li- sition should’ve had capitalized on
quor and cash are at the tip of the tongues of this anti-Modi sentiment and created a wave
the ‘karyakartas’, politicians are slinging mud at of anti-incumbency. But Modi’s on-stage charis-
each other like four-year-olds after a rainy day. ma and his recent bait to young voters when he
Journalists are on an override mode, WhatsApp took cognizance of the sensational game PUBG
fake news forwards is going berserk and amidst when a parent expressed her concerns over her
all this clamour sits the Indian, bewildered and son’s constant engagement with his phone, the
overwhelmed. After all, its that time for Indians, PM answered with, “ Yeh PUBG wala hai kya?”.
again. This issue of Politicia covers the Indian Also, Modi might have a problem in these
Elections in its truest form, unabashed and un- elections. In western Uttar Pradesh, he has suc-
cut, to tell you everything that you need to know cessfully managed to play the nationalism and
about the largest festival of democracy, the Indi- Hindu narrative as the population is the literate,
an general elections. ‘vaishya’ urban Hindu voter, but the Eastern Ut-
tar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand region, which
Saffron v/s Blue amasses to nearly 100 seats won’t give into this
PM Narendra Modi, leads the charge for the narrative. This region has a very different demo-
Bharatiya Janata Party and wishes graphic than Western UP. the population is terri-
to recreate the magic of the 2014 bly on casteist lines, but small in number, these
elections when he swept the par- casts are concentrated in a single constituency.
liament with a supermajori- So they basically decide the fate of an MP. these
ty. Opposing
his clout is the
dynastical Rahul
Gandhi, whose
party has experi-
enced an adren-
aline shot in the
form of victory
in three states
of the Hindi
heartland, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan,
and Chattisgarh.
12 | PoliticiaCOVER STORY
April 2019
cats have historically persecut- verdict hangs.
ed castes, backward castes. So
their attention will always be The strange case of Sa-
on the voters that will have im- haranpur and what it
mediate implications on their symbolises
lines, like health centres, en- Nationally lauded as a ‘Hin-
gineering colleges, roads etc. du’ leader Narendra Modi
Therefore, this region doesn’t has a banished reputation
buy into the Hindu narrative. because of his Pro-Hindu
In 2014 Amit Shah travelled politics. Muslims feel stifled
to many of these small con- under his party’s fervent Hin-
stituencies and promised du glamour, but in the bad-
the status of Scheduled lands of Saharanpur in western
castes and that resulted in Uttar Pradesh, Muslims are fed very
BJP winning nearly all the differently. In Deoband, home to
seats in this area. But this time Islam’s one of the most renewed
the case is very different as the seminaries: the Darul Uloom, the
promise has not been fulfilled. PM’s Awaas Yojna has helped
the resistance get pukka houses,
The Regional Satraps many residents have Ayushman Bharat cards
YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and country the Ujjawala scheme nearly 3000
President of the YSR Congress Party, families in Deoband have LPG cylinders, and
Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha and all of these are Muslim families being talked
the leader of the Biju Janata Dal, and K Chan- about. The sentiments here leans towards Modi,
drashekhar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana and evidently, but Deoband also has its fair share
president of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti might of votes some are decided. This Case of Saha-
hold the key to these elections as they are neither ranpur is a reflection of what happens in nation-
with NDA nor with any anti-BJP front. So, in the al microcosmic.
case of a hung verdict, they could switch off the
lights of the BJP or could pull off the carpet for Politics as well. Modi in 2019 not only had a story
Congress. Jaganmohan Reddy is on an uprising, Hindu vote base, but he benefited from a chunk
his party managed out of 25 seats in the Andhra of Muslims voting for him added to the Muslim
Pradesh as- vote being split, but it would be naive to think
sembly that NaMo has it out all laid for him. His party’s
elections leaders, like Yogi Adityanath, often speak about
and has Hindu superiority and about the unbowing
an impressive ar- power of the Indian Hindus.
ray over his people.
Naveen Patnaik, All said and done, Narendra Modi looks like a
a maverick, se- favourable candidate and it seems like he is go-
cured 117 out of 147 ing to return to power in 2019. Not with a su-
seats in Odisha assembly permajority but with just enough to form the
elections,is facing a chal- government with around 222-232 seats. While
lenge by the BJP as the Congress and its allies will scourge only 74-84
PM while addressing a seats, and the SP-BSP-RLD Mahahaghatbhand-
rally in Odisha a point- han is expected to rake up 35-45 seats.
ed out slow develop-
ment in Odisha under
‘Naveen Babu’. So this -Naman Kapoor
status won’t shy away from -Aarav Upadhayaya
the limelight in case the
Politicia | 13Welham Boys’ School April 2019
Illiberal Secularists
Rightism and the philosophy of Hindutva have arts, and culture in nature in general. It works
been termed as the ideologies of bullies. They on the principle that the human mind is just a
have often been regarded as authoritarian mass of brain cells and has to shaped by the
doctrines by people who claim to be ‘liberals’. government and fed government propaganda.
There are limits to even hypocrisy, and those I know it sounds a lot like George Orwell’s The
have been crossed by the “liberals” of India. 1984, but every single bit of it is true. Such was
There is no dearth of examples when it comes the “liberalism” that Rajiv Gandhi followed.
to exposing these people, ‘illiberal secularists’
Next comes the Trinamool Congress. The TMC
as I like to call them.
firmly opposes the Bhartiya Janata Party, which
First and foremost comes Rajiv Gandhi, who I it terms as being highly illiberal. The TMC op-
see as being the archetype of illiberal secular- erates by strong-arming various bodies and
ists. The Congress, officially, follows a strictly sheer strength. It is run by local “dadas” like
liberal ideology and this is not something new, Anubrata Mondal, who literally sits on a wood-
former Prime Ministers like the late P.V. Narsim- en throne, while all of his subordinates sit on
ha Rao have truly followed the liberal doctrine plastic chairs. the hierarchy is determined by
by not expanding state power and encourag- how far or close you are to “dada”. “Dada” was
ing individual enterprise. Rajiv Gandhi blatantly quoted as saying- “ In my Birbhum ( which is
failed at this and became somewhat of a secret his area ), there will be no election”. 34.2 per-
conservative sympathizer. cent seats in West Bengal went uncontested
and thus it was a default win for the TMC. It is
Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Shah Bano judge- not only the TMC, but my dear readers, various
ment which of course was not a liberal decision. other liberal parties like the RJD, the SP and the
Shah Bano, a woman who asked for alimony BSP have also faced very similar accusations of
after she was divorced from her husband, was street thuggery.
told that she could take some form of money in
the form of alimony by the Supreme Court. Ra- Wanna-be liberals have dominated Indian pol-
jiv Gandhi, when approached by some ortho- itics for time immemorial. Illiberal secularists
dox Muslims, overturned this judgement and have to be exposed and their true colors have
denied justice to Shah Bano only on religious to be shown. Indian liberalism has been failed
grounds. He certainly is no liberal. by its very guardians.
-Samanyu Raj Malik
This was not the only case when he displayed
his true colours. He also banned
the book "The Satanic Verses”
by Salman Rushdie in 1988, and
made India the first country in the
world which enforced this ban.
Not Saudi Arabia, not Pakistan,
but India, which is a liberal, secu-
lar country.
He did not fall short at expanding
state power too. The Ministry of
Human Resource Development
was started by him and is a monu-
ment of illiberal state control. The
ministry vies to push government
control into textbook-writing, the
14 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
2018 was a year of new records. The most drastic changes in the 21st-century economy
prominent of which were, sadly, not the first while fighting, and hopefully defeating, climate
ever tattooed prosthetic gun arm. No, instead, change at the same time. She even likened it
the most important record broken in 2018 was to Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’, a landmark decision
the climate record. We witnessed some of the during the great depression. Her deal hopes
coldest winters ever recorded, a memory that to completely eradicate greenhouse gas
still sometimes haunts the homeless of Chica- emissions and power the country with green
go. But more importantly, the Earth got hot. The energy by 2030. Her agenda has some other
hottest since last year, to be precise, and ap- lofty aims, including rebuilding every building
parently the young seem to have had enough. in the US to be energy efficient, universal ac-
Recently, the world witnessed a huge student cess to higher education and clean water, and
march (that WBS was sadly not a part of… it much, much more. In fact, some even claim it
was a Monday, after all!) against damage to plans to exterminate all cows. Not true, by the
the climate and thus the damage dealt with the way. But like every socialist utopian agenda,
future of the youth by the careless powers that this one has its own problems.
be. Also, in the US, a country that has a presi- While it lays the idea for a utopian future, it
THE American
dent who called for global warming during the deviates from providing actual plans of action
height of the for achiev-
winter, and ing that goal
then got more and the most
than he could important prob-
handle, with the
Beef Ban
lem is money.
top ten natural di- The goals are lofty
sasters accounting at best, and a pro-
for no less than 85 bil- posed 70% tax on the
lion. richest seems unlikely
But why put all that in a in the near future. When
political magazine? Because of one particu- the UN says that the world can reach net zero
lar millennial, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, you agree.
be precise. The new deal she has proposed The processes further burdened by American
permanently shook the political landscape of pseudo capitalist democracy, where the mini-
the United States of America, even though re- mum has not been raised for almost a decade.
ceived 0 “yay's” in Congress. But first, let’s look But still, a variety of democratic presidential
at the facts. candidates support it. Why? Show that young
The US spent 81 billion dollars on natural di- people are extremely open to the idea of a
sasters in 2018 alone. Moreover, scientists green new deal and what better way to con-
have predicted that climate change will return nect with the youth than to be on board with
food safety, medicine and actual land distri- the youngest American female lawmaker in
bution and usage patterns. All these changes history. There is a reason why AOC has been
will happen while income inequality in the US termed the “Cardi B” of American politics.
is at its peak. The job market has grown tre- Hence, to conclude, it seems like the green
mendously, but wages have stagnated. In fact, new deal might not be the solution that Amer-
America's top 1% hasn't controlled such a icans can use, but it's definitely a step towards
large amount of wealth since before the great the solution that they want, and so desperately
depression. need. In its essence, it seems to be one small
step for the Democrats but an enormous step
And this is where the green new deal comes
for America.
into play. A creation of Senator Ed Markey and
-Steffi
representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the
youngest woman to be elected to Congress.
Her deal is optimistic towards a future that has
Politicia | 15Welham Boys’ School April 2019
trump-kim summit
This renowned summit took place between desired and expected. Donald Trump decided
the two powerhouses of the nuclear industry, to end the major military exercises with South
U.S.A and North Korea. To brief you about the Korea and this decision was heavily opposed
summit, the first meeting between the two by North Korea. The situation went from bad to
countries took place in Singapore last year. worse when Reuters confirmed that North Ko-
This summit’s agenda was very clear that both rea had 100 Americans on their target after the
countries wanted to improve their hostile rela- end of the summit. In this meeting, Trump also
tions which worsened during the Korean war in had a refute with the leading officer whether
the 20th century. they had a giv-
en a massive
The primary mo- concession to
tive of the coun- Kim’s govern-
tries being the ment by hav-
denuclearization ing high pro-
of the Korean file summits
peninsula and with them.
the geopolitics
in Northeast In my opinion,
Asia. One very the second
key point in this edition was a
summit was also big failure for
about wheth- both the gov-
er this summit ernments had
would have been nothing major
the same as the Non-proliferation Treaty. The was agreed upon. This was the very chance that
stalwart media house Reuters, has also cov- the U.S could once again strengthen their ties
ered about this issue which in the first edition, with North Korea after the war of 1950-1953
both countries had signed a vague agreement after which this was the first time that the lead-
as the terms have not been taken care of since ers had met on an occasion like this. If the U.S
then. One other reason to call it vague in my would have been successful to win the trust of
opinion is the denuclearization had no obliga- Kim Jong then they would have been able to
tion towards North Korea. Since the first sum- lift the international sanctions restricting trade
mit, North Korea has claimed to shut down and investment between them. In this scenar-
many of their nuclear research labs, sites and io, the U.S lost the very chance for them to get
tests but credible media sources have con- an ally such as North Korea which would have
firmed that the nuclear activity still exists. This had strengthened their position in the North-
is the result of the lack of attention paid by the east Asia and a very valuable trade partner in
international bodies as well as the U.S govern- the field of arms would have strengthened
ment. their economy which had seen a dip last year.
For the past few months, there had been a lot To conclude I’d say that the promises made by
of activity between the officials of both the re- both the countries in the summits have been
spective governments and they managed to the same as the ones made in the Non-prolif-
plan the second edition of the summit. This eration treaty and that’s why I think this summit
edition of the summit was hosted in the city of has failed.
Hanoi in Vietnam. The objective of this sum- -Ishmaan Kohli
mit was to progress on the agreement made
earlier but the outcome of the summit was not
16 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
a word from
the right
Liberalism as a political ideology The people’s sentiments were hurt. Such
emerged during the French Revolution. a rule cannot be called sexist, for there
The ideals of liberty, equality and fra- are temples in this country where men
ternity were ultimately what guided this are not allowed to enter. If we go on and
and many other such revolutions. Every reform the religions of this great nation
nation, from now onwards moving ‘for- and take actions that may be insulting
ward’ towards the promise of a better, to the people of that very religion, then
new world. Ignoring their traditions and i believe that it will morph into the slip-
culture, and sometimes even criticising pery slope which will shatter this nation
their past, the people of these nations into mere bits and pieces.
were attracted to these promises. It is
fundamentally wrong and logically in- When countries like America, which was
correct that a nation like India, which the world’s first truly liberal nation, are
used to stress a lot on local traditions willing to shut down the very govern-
be formed into a republic where all of ment just to build a wall which they think
these rites and rituals have been out- will protect the American dream, then
right ignored and neglected. Neo- lib- i strongly feel that a country like ours
eral ideologues have gone on to vehe- where politicians appease in the name
mently criticise these traditions. People of religion, should take a step back.
say we have moved ‘forward’, but if the
case is such then i feel it would be right Rapid improvement is not going to bet-
to take a step back. ter our nation, it will only cause cracks
in its functioning. What will help us in
Let us take an example. I hope everyone going not metaphorically but practi-
would know by now of what ‘reforms’ cally forward is taking what the people
took place at the hill shrine of Lord have to say into account. liberalism only
Ayyappa at Sabarimala. This particular works when the people want it to work,
temple did not allow women of menstru- if it has succeeded somewhere then it
ating age to enter the temple of prem- not a compulsion that it will not fail else-
ises but our ‘forward- thinking’ Supreme where. If we embrace our identity, then
Court instructed the temple authorities the promise of a better world can be
to grant them entry. translated into real terms.
My dear readers, traditions need to be
respected, at least some amount of rec- -Samanyu Raj Malik
ognition needs to be accorded to what a
culture says. The Hindu religion, for cer-
tain reasons, had such rules in place and
when you try to ‘reform’ the world’s old-
est religion, some harsh consequences
are inevitable. Riots throughout the state
of Kerala were physically unavoidable.
Politicia | 17Welham Boys’ School April 2019
Talk on antarctica
On the morning of the second of April,
the School was greeted by a delightful
sight in the Activity Centre.
by Ms. Madhubala Welham Boys’ School was allowed the
rare honour of hearing Dr Madhubala
Joshi-Chinchalkar speak about her time in Antarctica as a doctor aboard a team of scientists
with the mission of spending their time researching and documenting the conditions of the
continent that challenges Australia in size and the Sahara in population.
On November 2016, she was selected as the only doctor accompanying the 36th Indian Sci-
entific Expedition to the Indian research station Maitri, Antarctica by the Government of India;
Ministry of Earth Sciences, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR). She
was a member of the wintering team, spending a year on the ice. She was based in the Indian
Research Station ‘Maitri’ during this period; along with other Indian scientists. In Antarctica,
summer is for three months, from December to February; when there is midnight Sun. Winter
is from March to November and the most challenging period. The continent gets cut off from
the rest of the world during this period! Polar night is for 3 months where the sun does not
rise!. She also was awarded the prestigious accolade of’ Polar Woman’ for spending the win-
ter in Antarctica. Throughout her talk, Ms. Madhubala spoke of her stay on the ice continent
towards the south. She informed students about the variety of improvisation done (or Jugaad,
as we Indians love to call it), and gave us a fair idea about the difficulties that a person (or a
woman, considering she inaugurated the ladies toilet in the base) can face at the South Pole.
With the help of a variety of images and videos of a stunning landscape that was breathtaking,
Dr Madhubala successfully created immense interest for the South Pole amongst the youth
that form this school, the poof of which lies in the stream of questions that were being asked
by the student body. We sincerely thank her for the immense effort she must have put in get-
ting together a talk that was certainly applause worthy. In the end, the board wishes that the
school continues its policy of bringing such illustrious speakers to the school and give the
students the valuable titbit of information that will nurture more than their minds.
18 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
MOVIE REVIEW
Movie: PM Narendra Modi
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Joshi, Boman Irani,
Kishori Shahane Vij
Release Date: 11 April 2019 Still Unkown
Synopsis:
This film is the inspiring saga of a man, a politi-
cian, a leader and a visionary - the Prime Minister
of India, Narendra Damodar Das Modi. It chron-
icles his 64 - year epic journey, from abject pov-
erty, selling tea on a railway station as a chaiwala
(tea seller) to becoming the Leader of the world`s
largest democracy. The film showcases Modi’s
remarkable courage, wisdom, patience, dedi-
cation to his people, his acumen as a political
strategist, his leadership that inspired a thousand
social changes in Gujarat and later India. It trac-
es his childhood in the 1950s to his meteoric rise
in the corridors of politics, as a four-time serving
Chief Minister. The film culminates in Modi’s over-
coming all the obstacles to create and lead one
of the most fascinating and successful election
campaigns in world politics in 2013-14. The film
“PM Narendra Modi” is the shining symbol of the
victory of a common man.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The Election Commission on Wednesday banned the screening of the biopic on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi during the poll period, saying any such film that subserves the pur-
pose of any political entity or individual should not be displayed in the electronic media.
• The Election Commission order came a day before the movie was to be released.
• The SC on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a Congress activist seeking stay on the
release of the biopic and said the EC would be an “appropriate” place to seek the redressal.
• The apex court said it was not entertaining the petition for the stay on the release of the film
as it was “premature” since the movie is yet to be certified by the Censor Board.
• It said even if the film is released on April 11, as claimed by the Congress activist, it will be
appropriate for him to seek redressal from the EC.
• The plea had sought deferment of the biopic’s release till the completion of the coming
Lok Sabha polls, alleging that it was designed to “manipulate, influence and impress viewers
and voters”.
Politicia | 19Welham Boys’ School April 2019
This Day, That Year
12 April
THE RUSSIAN
Battle at Les Saintes:
British fleet under
Admiral George Rod-
REMINDER
1782 ney defeats the French Conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014
and with 100,000 people stationed it is one of
fleet under Comte de
Grasse off Dominica in the most heavily militarized places on the plan-
the West Indies. et. The western part belongs to the Ukrainian
forces and the eastern part is controlled by sep-
aratist Militias backed by Russia. The no man’s
Confederate Gener-
land is one of the most violent places in the
al Nathan Bedford
1864 Forrest captures Fort
country despite a ceasefire being agreed on in
2015 by both the groups. The ceasefire is com-
Pillow, Tennessee
pared daily in the east, putting about 100,000
Kuomintang leader civilians at constant risk. Thousands have died
1927 Chiang Kai-shek begins
counter revolution in
since the conflict began and 1.5 million peo-
ple have been displaced. But how did this for-
Shanghai mer EU ally turn into one of the most conflicted
countries in the world?
US President Frank-
lin D. Roosevelt dies It all began in 2013 when the government re-
1945 in office and Vice jected association with the EU in order to build
President Harry Tru- stronger ties with Russia. This resulted in mas-
man is sworn in as sive protests in the capital Kiev, turning deadly
33rd US President by 2014. Russia craftily took advantage of the
unrest and in March it sent its army to annex
Polio vaccine tested Crimea.
1955 by Dr Jonas Salk an-
Pro Russian separatists, the Donbass, seized Lu-
nounced to be ‘safe
and effective’ hansk and Donetsk, declaring them cities inde-
pendent of Ukraine. The national army moved
Hillary Clinton an- to take the region back, the Russian-backed
rebels resisted, leading to bloodshed for many
2015 nounces she will run
months.
for the Democratic
nominee for US Presi-
dent for the 2nd time A peace agreement was signed in 2015 that
laid down the conditions of a ceasefire. Heavy
Breakthrough Starshot: artillery tanks and mortars were banned in the
Scientists and inter- security zone. The foreign military meant Rus-
net entrepreneurs, sia’s departure from Ukraine. Donetsk People’s
including Yuri Milner, republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic
2016 Stephen Hawking were formally recognised and given ways to be
and Mark Zuckerberg, incorporated back into Ukraine. None of these
announce interstellar actions has taken place on the ground.
project to send robot
spacecraft to Alpha The most important reason for this phenomena
Centauri is that Ukraine was a part of the Russian empire
20 | PoliticiaWelham Boys’ School April 2019
This Day, That Year
13 April
Giovanni, son of Ital-
1560 ian mathematician
Girolamo Cardano is
executed for poisoning
his wife, despite his
father’s efforts to save
him
John Dryden (36)
1668 appointed first En-
glish poet laureate by
Charles II
Battle of Millesimo,
Italy: Napoleon’s
forces defeat allied
1796 armies of Austria
and of the Kingdom
of Sardinia-Pied-
mont.
and later a part of the USSR. When the Soviet
The Roman Catholic
Union dissolved in 1991, the western parts of
Relief Act passed by
its territory were divided into various different 1829 the British Parliament;
states that created a buffer between Western
it was the culmina-
Europe and Russia. Over the course of the lat-
tion of the process of
ter part of the twentieth century and the early
Catholic Emancipation
2000s, these countries started drifting towards
throughout the UK.
the European Union. Putin was able to destabi-
lize Ukraine by invading the country thus pre-
venting it from developing major associations Abyssinian War ends
with western Europe. The continuous fighting as British and Indian
is fuelled by Russia. This has kept its military 1868 troops capture Mag-
readiness. This forced Ukraine’s government to dala and Ethiopian
devote resources to the fighting. Emperor Tewodros II
commits suicide
There is a daily breach of ceasefire as both
sides continue to fire heavy artillery as a show
The Hindustani Lal
of strength. Power water and supplies are com-
mon targets, but the real price of this concept
1909 Sena (Indian Red Army)
is formed and vows
is paid by the hundreds of thousands of civil-
to engage in armed
ians trapped in the conflicted areas.
struggle against the
British.
-Steffi
Politicia | 21You can also read
