China moving ahead, talking about temples & mosques will waste our time: Ex-Navy Chief Arun Prakash
New Delhi, Aug 11: China is moving ahead in areas like artificial intelligence and robotics and it would be a waste of time if India distracts itself by talking about temples and mosques, former Navy Chief Arun Prakash said on Sunday.
However, he expressed hope that the abrogation provision of Article 370 and the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development in the region.
"For our whole existence as an independent nation, we have seen and suffered from these fissures - linguistic, religious, caste etc. These conflicts have continued throughout our independent existence," said Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd.) while delivering Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture here.
"What we need to do is to try and tamp them rather than to exploit them...China is talking about artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning and all that. And if we are going to talk about temples and mosques and so on, then obviously we are going to waste time," he added.
Curious to know whether anyone from the 'Raghuvansha' (descendants of Lord Ram) was still residing in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court on Friday had put this query to 'Ram Lalla Virajman', the deity and one of the parties in the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.
Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
Prakash, who served as the chief of Naval staff from July 2004 to October 2006, said on Sunday, "It is in key interest of national security to ensure peace and tranquillity domestically before even looking outside."
"So to take away the half front, which the Army Chief mentions, we need to ensure domestic peace, harmony etc. Therefore, the issues that are of a divisive nature need to be minimized rather than exploited," he added.
In June this year, Army Chief Bipin Rawat said that Indian armed forces are ready for a "two-and-a-half-front war". Rawat was referring to Pakistan and China as two fronts and internal security threats as the half front.
Prakash said Sunday, "Our actual preparation should have been to ward off Chinese pressure. They don't have to fire a bullet. There are many other ways of pushing India. And if we prepare to counter China, then Pakistan would automatically be taken care of."
Talking about recent situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "One hopes that the recent abrogation of Article 370 and the changes in the status of erstwhile J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development."
Earlier this wee, the government revoked provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, withdrawing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and split the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
"If we are to debunk Jinnah's two-nation theory and convince the Muslim majority Union Territory (UT) of J&K that they made the right choice in 1947, then we need to reflect seriously on some larger issues," he said.
"One, whether the pursuit of majoritarianism of any kind is a good idea for a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multilingual country like India. Two, whether in generating insecurity amongst any section of our people will enhance India's security or undermine it."
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Opposition urges Govt not to privatise railways, restore senior citizen concession
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition members on Wednesday said the government should not privatise Indian Railways as it will hurt the interest of poor people and demanded that concession for senior citizens be restored.
Participating in the debate on the Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the Lok Sabha, Neeraj Maurya (SP) said the government should have sent this bill to an all-party committee for deliberation.
Maurya also said the government should look at ways to monitor the functioning of Railway Board. "Railways is the lifeline of crores of people. Do not take the privatisation route for railways."
Manoj Kumar (INC) claimed that after the passage of the Bill, the government would look for scope to privatise railways.
Bapi Haldar (TMC) demanded that rail ticket concessions to senior citizens, which was withdrawn during Covid, be restored.
Moving the Bill for discussion, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the efficiency of Indian Railways will improve with the passage of the Bill.
Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 bill proposes to simplify the legal framework by incorporating the proposals of the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 in the Railways Act, 1989. This will reduce the need to refer to two laws.
Vaishnaw said the number of rail accidents has come down from 171 during UPA regime to 40 in 2023-24. In the current fiscal, 29 rail accidents have taken place so far.
Also, the Rail Budget has been hiked in 10 years from Rs 29,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 2.52 lakh crore.
