Tag: humra quraishi

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Enough said

Still waiting for ‘achche din’

It is now 39 years since the 1975 Emergency, but how different is life today than in those strife-ridden times?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

39 whole years have passed by since India declared an Emergency. But till date, June 25-26 stand out as the darkest day in our country’s democracy, in our recent history.

Just like every year, several groups such as the PUCL, CFD, Janhastakshep, the AMIYA and BG Rao Foundation, are observing the Anti Emergency Day in the country. They do this to “remember those dark days when internal Emergency was imposed in the country on the midnight of 25th/25th June 1975, which continued for 19 months. Fundamental rights were suspended, the Press was gagged, voices of dissent were throttled and more than one lakh opposition leaders and critics were detained without trial.”

Today, several activists comment that though the present day situation is not Emergency-like, the ground realities in the country are Sanctions on the Pressstill horrifying, with signs of dictatorship very much alive. Midnight knocks on the door and encounter killings are still a big reality. Innocents are thrown into jail. Non-violent protests are crushed. People’s anger over Government apathy is throttled. Watchdog groups and NGOs are slowly coming under State scrutiny. There seems to be a definite trend to crush critics and their criticism, to silence any rebellious voice.

With these human rights violations are other confusing matters. Currently, Delhi University cannot decide on whether there should be a three or four year course. How can it, when there seems to be little coordinator between the HRD Ministry and the UGC?

This confusion also seems to stretch into foreign policy decisions. Though Right Wing politicians have always been against Bangladeshi refugees in the country, Sushma Swaraj is now taking her first trip to Bangladesh, as Minister for External Affairs. We’re waiting to see what she will have to say in Dhaka vis-à-vis Bangla refugees.

But before this trip, shouldn’t she have flown East, towards Iraq, and seen what is really happening there? After all, hundreds of Indians are stranded in and around Iraq and they need immediate help. Are press briefings on this state of affairs enough? Will they substitute for firm ministerial-level intervention?

Perhaps the only area where there is absolutely no confusion is the area of price rise. Apart from the prices of everyday food items zooming upwards almost daily, there is now a price rise expected in gas, oil and electricity. In the coming months, it is going to difficult to sleep and commute.

Happy days or the supposed ‘achche din’ seem like a distant dream at this point. Frankly, how can we expect achche din when high costs of living come in the way of everyday survival?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy theviewspaper.net, www.mtholyoke.edu)

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Enough said

Time to pack a Punch?

Is it time to go back to the Avadh Punch days, when natives used ‘safe’ ways to lampoon British rulers?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Today, June 21, is World Humanist Day, and I am tempted to deliberate on the recent trend of arresting young students and others for their comments or posts on prominent personalities in India.

Lawyer and activist ND Pancholi says that according to the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), World Humanist Day is a day of spreading awareness of Humanism as a philosophical life stance and means to effect change in the world. It is also seen as a time for Humanists to gather socially and promote the positive values of Humanism.”

So back to where I started this column from – should our young college students be arrested for their posts or comments or other writings?

A simple way out could be to rebuke or counsel these youngsters if they post or write something crude or obscene about somebody. But arresting them? Isn’t that taking things a bit too far?

Even as I write this column, I am reminded of Professor Mushirul Hasan’s volume, The Avadh Punch: Wit and Humour In Colonial Avadh PunchIndia, where he writes of the days of the Raj and how we hapless Indians could criticise the British only through the most discreet ways – mostly through cartoons and verse. The idea was to lampoon the British through safe ways.

The idea of the Avadh Punch caught on fairly quickly – in a short span, over 70 such Punches were established in several cities of the country.

It might seem a bit far-fetched to believe that in this day and age, our youngsters might have to resort to following the Avadh Punch days. There could be a Kerala Punch, a Bangalore Punch, a Maharashtra Punch and certainly a Delhi Punch!

That is not to say that angry or upset citizens must use third class language or obscenity in illustrations to voice their disgust or anger. Free speech does not entail vulgarity. Anger should always be vented in a civilized manner. And if anybody is angry enough to resort to obscenity or inflammatory language, he or she should be counseled and talked to. A healthy discussion would contain the anger and maybe even help to dissipate it.

Needless to say, arresting such persons only helps to compound their anger and disgust. Arrests are to be reserved as the last resort of punishment, not the first. In many cases, arresting before doing anything else to prevent the crime from recurring will only ensure that the crime occurs again, and in a more severe format.

Humra Quraishi is a senior journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kasmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.tribuneindia.com, wodumedia.com)

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Enough said

When protectors turn rapists

Where are we supposed to go for help, if cops themselves are involved in rapes, or in covering up crimes?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Rapes and gang rapes. Sexual maniacs on the prowl. Perversion from all quarters.

This has been the story of our country for a good while now.

But what shocks one is this truth: in the Badaun gang rape and murder of two minor girls, cops were involved. There are increasing cases of protectors turning rapists, or helping to shield the accused. To top it all, ugly politics enters into an ugly situation.

And to all those who are currently claiming that women outside UP are safer, let me say this: stop deluding yourself. Even when we were recovering from the Badaun news, came the news of a young female bus conductor in Mumbai who was beaten up and her clothesBadaun rapes torn by an irate commuter. There have been a few other rapes in other parts of the country too.

While we try to grapple with these facts, with the almost illogical desire of rapists to hurt, to wrest power over a woman by any means possible, it is becoming clear once again, that it is not about being a young woman or old, or being scantily dressed or covered from head to toe. It is not about her perceived ‘boldness’ or demureness, about her social standing or her education. Perverts and rapists don’t see all these factors.

I suppose some strict rule of law will be brought into place only when the powers that be are directly impacted in some way. Let any of our women ministers or top women cops walk alone, unescorted on the country’s streets, especially after dark, and let’s see how many make their way back home unmolested and left in one piece. And with riots breaking out sporadically in the country, the security of women and children is further jeopardised, because these two groups are targeted first.

And why won’t this perversion go unchecked, and indeed, permitted to rise? Our cops are busy shielding most of the accused, especially if they are influential persons. If not cops, some accused are shielded by politicians, who may even reward them in the future with positions of power.

And yet, our ideas of ‘progress’ and ‘development’ continue to be confined by our notions of how many skyscrapers our cities build or how many highways. Is there any sense in talking about development when our police force is so desensitised to the needs of the people it is meant to serve? Can we speak of progress when children are subjected to sexual assaults, and there’s no avenue of help for them? What gives us the right to look optimistically at our future when we pretend we can’t see beggars on the street, or hear the cries of a woman beaten on the road?

When are we going to stand up and demand that our cops protect the innocent?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy centreright.in, www.deccanchronicle.com)

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Trends

Mumbai slum dwellers against ban on plastic bags?

World Environment Day: Findings from a survey by TERI show Mumbai in poor light, while revealing other expected and grim truths.
by Humra Quraishi

On the occasion of World Environment Day today, June 5, there are several events, book releases and talks lined up all over the country to mark the day. Yesterday, however, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) released the findings of its Environmental Survey 2014.

The findings of the Survey don’t come as a shock, though that doesn’t take away from their grimness. This time, TERI has widened its survey area and brought within its fold several smaller cities as well. The Survey comprised a sample of 11,234 citizens spread over eight urban agglomerates across the geographical span of India – Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Pune, and of course, the country’s most populated metros, Mumbai and Delhi. In general, the survey focussed on the environment, and in particular, on water and health.

World Environment DaySaid a spokesperson for the event, “The survey also attempted to gauge the awareness levels and opinion of the people on Government policies in different environmental domains, the role of various actors in environment protection and their opinion in development versus environment debate.”

It turns out that most respondents were aware of the deterioration in air quality, the state of the green cover, that diversity of birds had reduced in all cities (except Coimbatore and Pune, where it was perceived to have improved), that poor environmental quality adversely affected health, that global warming was a reality, and of the hazards of e-waste.

An interesting finding was that there was an “overwhelming” response to the ban on polythene bags in all cities by all income groups, except in Mumbai, where slum dwellers were not in favour of the ban.

The survey also tried to “understand people’s opinion on the global debate on whether the environment hindered development.” A majority of respondents felt that the two went hand in hand, as seen in Pune, Coimbatore and Coimbatore, and felt that environment should be prioritised over development.

However, about 25 per cent respondents in Mumbai and Delhi and a higher share in others, like Pune and Jamshedpur, felt that development should be prioritised over environment.

(Pictures courtesy ibnlive.in.com, www.eea.europa.eu)

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Wellness

Heal yourself with mudras

Your hands have the capacity to heal most disorders – each finger connects to a specific organ in the body.
by Humra Quraishi

Last month, I attended a workshop on mudras, also known as ‘yoga for the fingers’.

I confess I was going through an extremely low emotional phase at the time, and what prompted me to try the therapy out at Zorba The Buddha, the MG Road-situated retreat, was Mudrasthe simplicity of it all – I was very intrigued by the thought of one’s fingers being equipped with the power to heal the entire system.

During the day-long interaction with the Santa Barbara, California based yoga guru Siddhi Ellinghoven, who travels to India twice a year, she explained the significance of nerves embedded in each finger and how each finger reaches out to particular organs of the body.

“Relate to your fingers as your best friends. There is the highest concentration of nerves in your hands. And each finger has a special and a very significant connect with a particular organ – like the thumb with the lungs, the index finger with the large intestine, the middle finger with the heart membrane, the ring finger with the colon and spleen, the little finger with the small intestine and heart,” Siddhi explained.

There are some astonishing facts about the instant connect of the fingers with the brain – such as, you eat 30 per cent less if you eat using your fingers, than with a spoon and fork

How the mudras work

Mudras “The human body is built and is dependent on the five elements: fire, air, ether, earth and water. If there is an imbalance in one of these elements, it will create a disturbance in the physical body. All imbalances can be balanced through the use of our five fingers,” Siddhi explains.

“Healing through mudras is a science that changes the elements within us. Every area of your hand is associated with a reflex zone for a specific part of the body and brain. With mudras we can access our entire nervous system, engage certain areas of the brain and exercise a corresponding influence on them. Scientific research shows that we can effectively engage and influence our body and mind by bending, crossing, extending, or touching the fingers with other fingers. In these mudras, intuition and inspiration form a close unity,” she adds.

Through the various mudras – which finger to place atop which finger and the evolving combinations of the fingers and the thumb – one could sense the energy flowing into one’s palm. Meanwhile, Siddhi related some astonishing facts about the instant connect of the fingers with the brain – such as, you eat 30 per cent less if you eat using your fingers, than with a spoon and fork. Or that you feel less hungry if you have served food or cooked it through the day.

“The fingers instantly relay information to the brain, pass impulses to the brain, such as how much you have eaten and you can still eat or not at all,” she explains. So powerful are these mudras, she says, that she does not let pregnant women perform mudras that remove blockages from the body, for fear of them suffering a miscarriage.

Self-experience helps

Siddhi says she was cured after a back injury left her bedridden for six months. “Almost 20 years ago I suffered a back injury after an accident. I was advised surgery but I refused it. Only mudras cured me totally. Through these 20 years, I have not been to a doctor or taken allopathic medicine. I start each day with yoga and pop some turmeric and neem leaves that I carry back from India,” she says.

(Pictures courtesy Siddhi Ellinghoven)

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Enough said

Remembering Nehru after all this time

What was the mood of the nation when Jawaharlal Nehru passed away? Humra Quraishi remembers the man in today’s times.

Humra QuraishiI was about eight years old when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru passed away, but to this day, I remember the gloom and sorrow that spread in and around my home.

My maternal grandmother, Amna Rahman, sobbed and cried as the news was announced on radio. Nehru was not related to our clan in any way, but he was still seen as a ‘protector’ or ‘saviour’ of the minorities of the land. He was truly secular in his views and active about implementing them.

Naturally, his passing away was a blow to all segments of society, more so because he was above religious or regional politics and was determined to save this land from communal outfits.

Today, more than 50 years after Nehru’s demise, the very fabric of secularism he stood for is challenged with the rise of the new Government at the Centre. The outfit that Nehru had then banned – the RSS – will slowly and surely rule this land. The bigger irony is that riot accused have been sworn in as Ministers in the Union Cabinet. It took me a while to digest the news that Muzaffarnagar MP, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, one of the accused in the area’s riots of 2013, is a Minister today.

Then there is Uma Bharati, one of the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition, also with a Ministerial berth now. The list is long.

And just when you thought there would be some noise from the Opposition, the Congress and the Left have adopted an ‘All quiet’ stance. Why? To add to the situation, there are provocative statements being made – MoS in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh statement that this Government could repeal Article 370 can be termed not just mischievous but a means to deflect attention away from the ground realities in the Valley.

It remains to be seen if the new Government would impose any curbs on freedom of expression. The arrests of two young men from Goa and Karnataka for their anti-Modi comments on networking sites, however, do not fill me with optimism on this front.

There is an interesting ‘battle’ raging in the corridors of the New Delhi-situated India Islamic Cultural Centre, where Chairperson Sirajuddin Qureishi (in pic on right, one of the Sirajudding Qureshibiggest meat exporters in North India) is set to host a reception for PM Narendra Modi. Members of the Centre are furious with this move – many have been openly revolting against Qureishi and voicing the opinion that he is doing this just to promote his business interests, and using the Centre as his personal space for the same.

Who will host a reception for the six innocent men who were wrongly implicated in the terror attack on the Akshardham Temple in Gujarat? These men have accused the Gujarat Government and then CM Narendra Modi (who headed the Home Department) and demanded that they be adequately compensated for the long periods of incarceration that they have wrongly suffered. They are consulting lawyers to file cases in the Gujarat courts seeking compensation as well as punishment for all the cops who not only slapped false cases on them, but also tortured them in jail.

More on this as it pans out.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.livemint.com, aijamiatulquresh.org)

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