Swami Agnivesh: Light without fire
If Swami Vivekananda were to be alive today, he would have been termed as ‘anti-Hindu’, attacked, or simply called ‘urban naxal’ by the government and sent to jail. The Sangha Parivar would not have definitely tolerated Swami Vivekananda who raised his voice against orthodoxies, and upper caste atrocities. When Swami Vivekananda visited Kerala and saw the caste practices of Namboodiris, he had burst out angrily that ‘this is a mental asylum’. When the country was in drought and the priestly class sought funds to protect cows, he rebuked them for doing so. He minced no words in criticizing the discrimination in the name of caste. Today, if saffron robes have got some dignity, it is due to the social reforms of Swami Vivekananda. But unfortunately, groups that use Swami Vivekananda’s photographs as a front but oppose his reforms have emerged. Those who try to implement Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts are labelled as ‘anti-Hindu’ and are beaten down. The same forces mounted an attack on Swami Agnivesh and are now publicly celebrating his death.
It is very easy to abuse religion and beliefs. Religions are born to reform societies but many use religions to exploit people. No religion is free of this, but Hindu religion has been especially abused in this way. Anyone can term himself as a seer. Playing some tricks, one can become a self-proclaimed godman. At one time, several seers had revolted against caste discrimination in Hinduism. If great souls such as Narayana Guru and Swami Vivekananda were not born, the society today would not have been so harmonious. However, several fake seers continue to exploit people. While the priestly class are robbing devotees of property and wealth, political leaders are enjoying power preaching lawlessness.
In the midst of all this, Agnivesh chose to wear saffron robes, identified many problems in the Hindu society, and fought against them by launching agitations. Though he was affiliated with Arya Samaj, he did not identify himself with it fully but remained a wandering monk. He travelled extensively for a progressive Hindu society. For someone clad in saffron, the extent of work he did and the issues he took up is simply mind blowing. Identifying himself as a seer, he responded to political developments in the country boldly. For a short period, he was also part of a political party and became a minister. He launched a major agitation against bonded labor in 1981 and mobilized people against female infanticide, alcohol, sati, and several such social evils. Perhaps, Agnivesh is the lone saffron-clad monk in post-independent India who identified himself actively with social movements. Agnivesh obtained several international awards for his social service. He was attacked several times by miscreants for opposing the politics of conservative, hardline Hindus, and the governments’ anti-people policies.
There are a few instances where Agnivesh faltered as well. Although he was part of the Anna Hazare movement, he distanced himself from it when he realized the political agenda behind the movement. He was mocked at for being seen in ‘Big Boss’ and courted controversy for his phone conversations with Kapil Sibal. Agnivesh’s prejudice against non-vegetarianism was a subject of intense debate. When he was organizing a movement against liquor, he had issued a statement like a Sangh Parivar leader that “gender atrocities increase due to consumption of liquor and non-vegetarian food…and this has been proved by research”. Undoubtedly, liquor harms our mind and sanity, but liquor and meat are not the same. Meat is the food of a majority of people, but liquor is not a type of food. Agnivesh’s statement suggested that all rapes were committed by people who eat meat. But if the country’s history pages are gleaned through, what one sees are instances of atrocities and rapes committed by those who are vegetarians against those who are meat eaters. It is not that Agnivesh was not aware of this but his statement against meat eaters was prejudiced perhaps due to the fact that he was born in a brahmin family. But for this, there is no doubt that Agnivesh had strong commitment to the country’s plurality.
Dayananda Saraswathi who founded the Arya Samaj was poisoned and killed. Similarly, Agnivesh, who associated himself with Arya Samaj was, in a way, killed by the priestly class. Agnivesh took seriously ill after an armed attack on him two years ago. He was battered emotionally and physically. The government did not take any action against the miscreants who attacked him because attacks took place with the covert support of the government. And today, a former official who worked in the top-most investigating agency of the country celebrated his death on Twitter. What then is to expect from the common people? The celebration of the death of a seer who spent his entire life working to realize the dreams of Gandhi and Vivekananda for the Hindu religion is not just the tragedy of the Hindu religion but reflects the extent of decay of the country’s moral compass.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
