Chakravarti Vijayaragavachariar – The Lion from The South!

I have new article in the Spontaneous Order Website of Centre for Civil Society, a classical liberal think tank in India. This is my nineteenth article on forgotten Indian liberal scholars and thinkers whom the left intellectuals were always treated as untouchables for well known reasons. These left leaning thinkers include economists, social scientists, etc. 

I have also published the same article in Tamil Magazine in this month edition here.

Mostly, it is not possible to get publish an article in more than one languages at a time.

"Vijayaraghavachariar supported the non-violent approach publicly. Lord Birkenhead, the Secretary of State of India had once stated that Indians were incapable of drafting their own constitution. Vijayaraghavachariar took up the challenge and prepared the Swaraj Constitution of India (1930). He wanted a strong central government and therefore had proposed a Unitary Constitution."

"To move resolution for removal of ‘socialism’ from Constitution"

This news is really interesting to see through the Upper House of Indian Parliament Member's move "to move resolution for removal of ‘socialism’ from Constitution"

It has been now close to five decades that the word "Socialism" was forcefully inserted in the Indian Constitution and which was not there in the original Constitution approved by founding fathers like BR Ambedkar, Rajaji, etc.

Every time, the issue of removal of the word socialism erupts, almost all kinds of people sites the below para to ponder over how prophetic thinker Ambedkar was.

“Ambedkar had argued that the Constitution is just a mechanism to regulate the work of the various arms of the states, and that the matters like how the policy of the state and the society’s organisation in the social and economic side should be matters which must be decided by people according to the time and circumstances. He argued and won the argument that it should be left to people to decide,”

PS Sivaswamy Aiyer: Forgotten Indian Liberal – Part II

This is my send piece on the great Classical Liberal of India PS Sivasamy Aiyer whose life and works are forgotten in his home country. He had interesting thoughts and views on Nehru and M.K Gandhi.

I conclude the piece with the below para:

"PS Sivaswamy Aiyer had maintained an extraordinary independent thinking and intellectual integrity throughout his public life. He was profound thinker and contributor towards the building of constitutional liberalism conceived in liberal principles. Thus, there is enormous scope to rewrite the history of pre-independent India with recounting the monumental contribution of liberal thinkers like Sivasamy Aiyer who have contributed significantly to the Indian liberalism." 

Some good links

An inconstant Constitution

AAP: "First, many homeless people (174 reported) died in Delhi for lack of night shelters. The government had said it would make 300 shelters for the poor."

Challenges of reforming India's higher education sector

Five stories that have shaped worldview 

What to name this post?

From Shekhar Gupta article:

• "You need the NAC to make sure power does not go even to his head, and also to keep him off-balance by attacking his government and policies, and continuing to throw one idiotic law after another in his court. Why blame Anna Hazare when it is the Congress party itself that outsourced law-making to its darbari jholawallahs? This is not a team of modern-day Ambedkars, but mostly of IAS drop-outs and retirees who approach law-making with the “wisdom” of sincere undergrads. You have any doubts, take a look at the draft of the incredibly stupid Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill 2011 (www.nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb_amended.pdf). A Modi or Togadia can see in a minute the wonderful opportunity it presents them. It is totally violative of the states’ rights, is subversive of the Constitution, and will never pass parliamentary or judicial scrutiny. But it will polarise people on a communal basis just when they seem to be getting over that sad past. This bill will not pass. But if the UPA continues to push it, it is guaranteed to polarise the Hindu vote and give the BJP a shot at power that any appeals to Ram Lalla cannot in 2014. This could indeed become Sonia Gandhi’s Shah Bano moment."

Why don’t you name it “a corporate, Hindu, satellite state”?

In her interview with Mr.Karan Thapar’s Devil's Advocates Ms.Roy reveals her views on The State and the Naxlites movement etc.

One has to read the full interview. Its quite interesting. Some excerpts:

Karan Thapar: That I understand but do you support any attempt to overthrow the Indian state?

Arundhati Roy: Well, I can't say I do because they will lead me from here, in chains.

Karan Thapar: That technicality apart, it sounds as if you do.

Arundhati Roy: However, I believe that the Indian state has abdicated its responsibility to the people. I believe that. I believe that when a state is no longer bound, neither legally nor morally by the Indian Constitution, either we should rephrase the preamble of the Indian Constitution which says...

Karan Thapar: Or?

Arundhati Roy: Which says we are a sovereign, democratic, secular republic. We should rephrase it and say we are a corporate, Hindu, satellite state.

Karan Thapar: Or?

Arundhati Roy: Or we have to have a government which respects the Constitution or we change the Constitution.

Karan Thapar: Let me be blunt. It sounds very much to the audience as if you are trying to find a clever, subtle way of saying that you do support the Maoists commitment to overthrow the state but you are scared to say it upfront because you are scared that you would be whisked away to jail.

Arundhati Roy: If I say that I support the Maoists' desire to overthrow the Indian State, I would be saying that I am a Maoist. But I am not a Maoist.

Karan Thapar: But you sympathise with them.

Arundhati Roy: I do sympathise with all the movements. I am on this side of the line with a group of people who are saying that here is a State that is willing to bring out the Army against the poorest people not just in the country but in the world. I cannot support that.

Karan Thapar: Let me put this to you. You sympathise with the Maoist cause, but what about the tactics that the Maoists use? The problem is that the Maoists want to trade a new democratic order not by persuading people, not by winning legitimate elections but by armed liberation struggle. To many, that is tantamount to civil war. Do you go that far with them?

Arundhati Roy: There is already a civil war. I don't believe that a resistance movement that believes only in violence will lead to a new democracy. I don't believe that. Neither do I believe that if you doctrinally say you must only be non-violent, I believe that is a twisted way of supporting the status quo. I believe that has to be a bandwidth of resistance and I certainly believe that when your village is surrounded by 800 CRPF men who are raping and burning and looting, you can't say I am going on a hunger strike. Then, I support people's right to resist that.

Karan Thapar: But put this to me. If you support, no matter what qualifications you add, the right of the Maoists to resist with violence: whether you call it armed liberation struggle or whatever.

Arundhati Roy: You keep on going to these Maoists.

Karan Thapar: If you support that, no matter with what qualification, how then can you deny the State the right to resort to arms to defend itself?

Arundhati Roy: The State doesn't have to defend itself. The State is supposed to represent the people and defend the people.

Karan Thapar: But if the State is under attack, it is the people that are under attack and...

Arundhati Roy: It is not under attack. The State is perpetrating the attack. That is what I am

trying to say. The State is going in violation of its own Constitution and perpetrating an attack. If you look at the recent report, the censured chapter in a recent report by the Panchayati Raj, it says so clearly: the State is being completely illegal in its actions. What do you suggest people should do when an army, a police, a paramilitary, an air force is going to start making war on the poor? Do you suggest that they should leave and live in camps and allow the rich and the corporates and the mining sector to take over?

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that the Maoists and all the other resistance fighters are left with no option but to fight back?

Arundhati Roy: What I am saying is that if a State respects non-violent resistance as has been the case in years, but if you ignore non-violence, by default you privilege violence.

India's Block Roots

India lacks a high level professional school for political leaders for administrative, visionary and activation knowledge to govern the country as per India’s political roots.