Opinion View from the right: Shiva & Shakti
Men need to be awakened and empowered to change the situation and the “power-based understanding of [the] man-woman relationship has to be discarded”.
Women wait in a line to cast their vote outside a polling station in Samastipur district in the eastern state of Bihar, India, October 12, 2015. Voting began on Monday in Bihar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a major electoral test whose outcome is crucial to his efforts to consolidate power and speed economic recovery. About 67 million people are registered to vote in India's third most-populous state over the next month in an election spread over five phases that will test the appeal of Modi's policies aimed at industrialisation and creating jobs. REUTERS/Stringer 
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An editorial in the Organiser notes the incongruity in the discourse on women’s issues in India. “It is unfortunate that the culture in which women are respected as ‘Adishakti’, the government is forced to launch Save Daughters campaign,” it says. It cites research that crimes against women are the most pressing problem. Women are surging ahead in several areas, but “commodification of women for selling products is also on the rise”.
The editorial says that “feminism evolved in the Anglo-Saxon context was deeply rooted in the Christian understanding of gender,” as the “perception of feminine as the inferior gender resulted in discrimination and revolt…” This caused the “disintegration of [the] family institution” in the West, but we are still “blindly emulating the path of Western feminism” and have failed to “develop our own version”. It claims that “no Bharateeya scripture has considered women as intellectually inferior”, and the “degeneration of the society took place due to external aggressions”.
Men need to be awakened and empowered to change the situation and the “power-based understanding of [the] man-woman relationship has to be discarded”. The article advocates for the “Shiva-Shakti approach, which considers man and woman as two constituents of a single whole…”
Bihar Battle
An article in the Organiser explores the electoral scene in Bihar and predicts the NDA’s victory. Noting that “Bihar is poised for a change through the ballot,” it says that “the frustrated pseudo-secular politicians like Lalu, Nitish, Sonia” are “fighting an already lost electoral battle”. It notes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pulling huge crowds compared to the other leaders. While offices of the RJD, JD(U) and Congress are marked by a dullness, the BJP, RLSP, HAM and LJP offices are full of activity and workers. BJP president Amit Shah has inspired party members to work towards achieving a three-fourths majority, but “the Mahagathbandhan leaders are just appealing to their workers to work for their victory”.
The article says that Lalu Prasad “wants to be in the limelight by issuing irrelevant statements”. He “even appealed to the Yaduvanshis to rise against the Kamandal… In another meeting Lalu stated that ‘even the Hindus eat beef’,” it says. The Bihar Congress distanced itself from Lalu’s statement as the “cornered Lalu cursed the Saitan for his slip of tongue on beef eating”. He “tried to retort by labelling Amit Shah as Narbhakshi (maneater) and calling [the] prime minister Dhritrashtra”. However, “Lalu himself has become ‘Dhritrashtra,” and “the five Pandvas of BJP — Nandkishor Yadav, Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, Ramkrupal Yadav, Nityanand Rai, and Omprakash Yadav are ready for the battle”.
Bitter Truth
An article in Panchjanya quotes a TV interview of Pakistani writer and activist Fauzia Syed, saying that “the residents of Pakistan and Bangladesh are essentially Hindus”. She said the people of Pakistan and Bangladesh would find it difficult to accept that “their ancestors were Hindus who were converted through [the] sword”. She said Muslims of Pakistan live with the false belief that they are the descendants of Arab or Turk invaders. Muslims of India and Pakistan were converted by the Sufis. “The ancestors of over 99 per cent residents of Pakistan were Hindus,” she said and added, “Unfortunately, Pakistan is not willing to accept this bitter truth…”
Compiled by Ashutosh Bhardwaj
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