India’s failed democracy
by Mel Gurtov
788 words
Citizenship Denied
India is often billed as the world’s biggest democracy. But that title has worn thin: Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is becoming a nationalist state home to Hindus and closed to Muslims. A new citizenship law is exclusionist: It provides a path to citizenship for every religion save Islam, which is practiced by roughly 16 percent of India’s population, or nearly 200 million people. Modi proclaims the law part of the “New India.”
Besides being inhumane, the new law is clearly unconstitutional. According to India’s constitution, any “person who has his domicile in the territory of India and—(a) who was born in the territory of India; or (b) either of whose parents was born in the territory of India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding such commencement, shall be a citizen of India.” Among the “fundamental rights” granted under the constitution are: (1) “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” (2) “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition . . . ”
Those citizenship and human rights are now being actively undermined. In Modi we have India’s Trump, a man engaged in the pretense of making India great while suborning its democratic institutions. Under Modi’s ruling party, the BJP, which won a second term in May 2019, secularism is out and Muslims, to quote the novelist Arundhati Roy (writing in The Nation, January 13/20, 2020), “are cast as permanent, treacherous outsiders . . . [that] finds utterance in chilling slogans by rampaging mobs.” The BJP’s origins lie in the RSS, founded in 1925 and today claiming a following of hundreds of thousands organized in numerous interest groups (students, trade unionists, farmers, etc.) and movement branches. The RSS claims Modi as a member since childhood, and its enormous political power makes it the main far-right force in India.
Unlike Kashmir, where millions of people are fighting for the right not to be Indian citizens, in the east India state of Assam, about 2 million Muslims now find themselves effectively made into non-citizens by virtue of the National Register of Citizens. Other religious groups—such as Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians—are considered “persecuted minorities,” having emigrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. By act of parliament those groups are entitled to asylum. But Muslims in Assam, and by extension Muslims everywhere else in India if Modi has his way, must produce “legacy” papers that prove their uninterrupted presence in India for the last 50 years in order to be allowed to remain. Otherwise, as Modi’s home minister said last December, the national register will be used to “flush out the infiltrators from our country.”
Worrisome Messages from Kashmir and Xinjiang
The citizenship trap may be only the beginning of the Muslims’ ordeal. Kashmir, whose autonomy was suspended by Modi last summer as Indian troops moved in and an Internet blackout was imposed, provides a mirror to the future for Muslims. So may India’s defense minister, who has spoken about setting up “deradicalization camps” for Kashmiris—an idea that may well have emerged out of watching China’s massive reeducation camps for Muslims in Xinjiang province. Arundhati Roy reports that three Indian state governments have already begun work on establishing Foreigners Tribunals and detention centers, which would be the insidious follow-up to dealing with de-citizenized Muslims. Modi denies there are detention centers in India, but the Washington Post report cited above notes that in Assam a huge one is under construction.
Modi has joined the list of major autocrats, showing anew that the trappings of a democratic government are no barrier to authoritarianism. As we found in eastern and central Europe after the downfall of the Soviet Union, one form of dictatorship can give way to another. Now, under new international conditions—the reassertion of illiberal nationalism, the influence of Trumpism, the global immigration crisis, and financial hardships—autocratic leadership is in vogue in several countries where democratic hopes once ran high, often with popular support. Modi’s BJP is popular despite its corruption, media censorship aggressive assertion of Hindu nationalism, and defiance of constitutional norms. But protests are now occurring in response to his citizenship law, which is so contrary to the Nehru’s dream of a secular state. The more Modi presses his far-right agenda, the more sectarian violence his regime is likely to face.
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Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Portland State University.
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Is Your Aging Body Sending Distress Signals?
Save It From A Diabolical Enemy – You
If we neglect our bodies, misuse them, or otherwise fail to treat them with proper respect, they have an effective means of expressing their dissatisfaction.
We feel pain – in our joints, in our muscles, in our backs; pretty much any place where there exists a nerve that can fire off an urgent distress signal to the brain.
And as we age, those distress signals seem to become more frequent, with the simplest of movements, such as bending over to pick up a fallen object, creating anguish and instant regret.
“Unfortunately, pain and aging are facts of life,” says Nicky Snazell (www.painreliefclinic.co.uk), a physiotherapist, expert in pain management, and author of The 4 Keys to Health and other books.
“The good news is that, ultimately, our quality of life doesn’t have to be ruled by age and pain themselves, no matter what we might think. Instead, our quality of life is determined by how we handle age and pain.”
In many ways, we’re our bodies’ own worst enemies. But Snazell says those who want to treat their bodies the right way can accomplish that by making changes in four key areas:
“As we age, we need to put even more care into our diet, our exercise, and our workload,” Snazell says. “It sounds simple, but many of us fail to even acknowledge that we have to change the way we use our bodies as we get older.
“We need to remember that so much of this is a choice. We have the power to change ourselves by transforming the way we think, what we eat, how we move, and what kind of lifestyle we choose to lead.”
About Nicky Snazell
Nicky Snazell (www.painreliefclinic.co.uk), author of The 4 Keys to Health and other books, is director of Nicky Snazell’s Wellness & Physiotherapy in the United Kingdom. She is a physiotherapist and pain specialist. Snazell is the founder of three health companies and still treats patients, embracing holistic physiotherapy, healthy living, and new technology for joint repair. After 30 years of treating patients, including about 14,000 at her clinic’s Midlands location, Snazell has seen a huge success rate. She also makes presentations internationally on health, wellbeing and pain relief.
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Businesses Must Adjust To Climate
Change; 5 Ways Toward Sustainability
As climate change causes worldwide concern and prompts calls for governmental action, consumers are putting the onus on businesses to step up their sustainability standards and practices.
A Nielsen survey, for example, showed that 81 percent of global consumers feel companies should help improve the environment. And with governments across the globe struggling to reach an international consensus on climate change, close observers of business and the environment, along with a high number of CEOs, agree: Private industry should take the lead in driving sustainability.
“Some forward-looking companies are seeing it’s an issue they can no longer ignore, morally and economically, and that you can go green and succeed in business,” says Hitendra Chaturvedi (www.hitendrachaturvedi.com), a professor at the Supply Chain Department of W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and expert on global supply chain sustainability and strategy.
“Business strategies must include sustainability in their core beliefs and practices. Part of the problem is that they are missing the simple, sensible ways that can drive sustainability and bring return on investment at the same time.”
Chaturvedi suggests the following ways businesses can exercise sustainability practices to help fight climate change and connect with consumers:
Find the facts. “When a package gets delivered to you by an online commerce company, most people see the packaging as mainly contributing to the pollution, but that is not the case,” Chaturvedi says. “The packaging contributes less than 5%, but the main culprit is the returned/defective item which accounts for close to 50% of the pollution because it is not properly disposed of. I call it sensible sustainability. Identify and focus on the low-hanging fruits.”
Seek education. “Finding the facts brings an important issue – education of consumers,” Chaturvedi says. “I see too many data points floating around that are put forth to create hysteria and are flat-out wrong, causing well-intentioned people to be waylaid in unproductive directions. Too many times this causes even a well-wisher of the environment to lose interest. We need a proper way to educate consumers about what is real and what is fake news.”
Implement business model changes. “Look at your business model holistically,” Chaturvedi says. “I propose a 5R model that simply, sensibly, and holistically integrates forward and reverses supply chain within any organization to ensure reduction in waste – and without sacrificing profits or competitiveness.”
Embrace technology. “It will lead to quick solutions to many vexing
sustainability problems,” Chaturvedi says. “For example, advancement in technology has given us economically viable micro factories to processing plastic waste, something that was not possible a few years ago. Now we can package it into a business model and scale it. Technologies like blockchain and dendrites will have far-reaching effects on sustainability as they will drive tracking and accountability.”
Find sensible solutions. “Sustainability needs sensible solutions, not panacea, not motherhood and apple pie solutions,” Chaturvedi says. “We need solutions that are practical and profitable. We see many solutions that promise to solve the world’s pollution problem but are either one-off, or do not make money, or both. We need businesses to step in and partner with scientists, universities, and government so a practical/viable perspective can be applied to sustainability solutions. A business will bring that perspective along with what can scale and what can not.”
“Businesses can see significant benefits, both economically and socially, from incorporating sustainable practices,” Chaturvedi says. “Some of the steps you incorporate can seem small at first, but day by day those efforts will produce great results.”
About Hitendra Chaturvedi
Hitendra Chaturvedi spent over 30 years in progressive technology leadership positions with Microsoft, Newgistics, E&Y e-Business and A.T. Kearney. Chaturvedi also built a $100 million software company in India, GreenDust, where he implemented proprietary reverse logistics software at Amazon, Flipkart (Walmart), Samsung, Panasonic and Whirlpool. A computer engineer with a master’s degree from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, Chaturvedi has been widely covered in the media and is a subject matter expert on global supply chain strategy, sustainability in supply chain, reverse logistics, ecommerce, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Now a professor at Arizona State University, Chaturvedi has been a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University, University of Texas-Dallas, Penn State and Purdue.
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According to a study from SmartAsset, a New York financial technology company, Weber County is one of the top places to save for retirement in Utah. To measure the places that were best prepared to save for retirement, the study weighed four criteria in counties across the country: 401(k) performance, pension performance, local economic conditions and access to financial advisors
Additional details on the study, including the full methodology and infographic, can be found here: https://smartadvisormatch.com/data/best-places-to-save-for-retirement-2019-edition/utah
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The new documentary “Coup 53”
by Winslow Myers
645 words
A historical turning point is a moment, perhaps small, perhaps larger, that becomes uniquely causative of events that follow. Obvious examples might include the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand that set off World War One, the U.S. Supreme Court handing the election to George W. Bush instead of Al Gore, or 9-11.
The enthralling new documentary directed by Iranian film maker Taghi Amirani and edited and co-written by the renowned film editor Walter Murch (“Apocalypse Now”; “English Patient”) is a meticulous backward look at an event that still determines much of the resentment Iran feels toward the government of the United States—and Britain: the 1953 coup which overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh, the democratically elected leader of Iran.
At least the U.S. has admitted its complicity; the British intelligence service, MI6, never has, and thereby arises the thriller aspect of this astonishing film. Combing through reams of old documents, film archives, audio- and videotapes, Amirani and Murch come upon a shocking find that explodes a long and careful cover-up.
Meanwhile, multiple interviews with Iranians and Brits who were present at the time of the coup, some of whom are so old that they have died since the film was finished, illuminate the context and the actual tragic events as they unfolded.
We begin to know Mossadegh himself, a dignified, intellectual, and incorruptible official whose laudable goal was to transform Iran into a modern secular state. For him, that required that Iran nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which had for decades been screwing Iran out of its fair share of oil profits.
Suddenly Mossadegh beat out Eisenhower or Churchill for the choice of Time Magazine’s Man of the Year, not as a hero of reformist government but as a sower of chaos. The U.S. and British powers that be, via their intelligence services, provided the cash—amazingly, it did not take all that much—to buy off Iranian journalists and hire mercenary provocateurs who took to the streets and inspired mobs to rise up against Mossadegh.
We know the rest of the story—or we certainly ought to. The Shah of Iran was installed, with the US. training his notorious secret police, SAVAK, in rituals of torture and surveillance. Eventually there was the inevitable reaction, and the Shah had to go into exile, leaving the ayatollahs to take over, which led to the 1979 taking of 52 American hostages as well as deep Iranian-American mutual resentment and suspicion that has lasted to this day. And the hostage-taking was surely a crucial factor in Reagan’s defeat of Carter.
The American secret establishment drew precisely the wrong lesson from the “success” of the overthrow of Mossadegh, and from thence came a rolling series of perversities such as the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, leader of the Congolese independence movement, the overthrow of Arbenz, another democratically elected leader in Guatemala, the attempt to overthrow Ho Chih Minh in Vietnam, and the Bay of Pigs debacle.
Of course it is impossible to say exactly what might have happened if Mossadegh had been allowed to stay in power, but one possibility, crushingly unrealized today, is that there would be one more modern, thriving democracy in the middle of the Middle East.
One thing is certain: given the low state of American-Iranian relations at the moment, this film, riveting on its own merits, now carries the weight of a profoundly greater relevance than the filmmakers could have possibly expected when they began the project more than a decade ago.
The film - which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2019 - has received audience awards from the Vancouver International Film Festival and has been nominated for the Grierson and BIFA awards. It will be theatrically distributed later in 2020. The trailer is available on YouTube.
Perhaps “Coup 53” itself will become a turning point—toward a warmer relationship between the “West” and Iran.
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Winslow Myers, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of “Living Beyond War: A Citizen’s Guide,” serves on the Advisory Board of the War Prevention Initiative.
