Today, 24th December, is the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary Indian singer Mohammed Rafi, whom I regard as the greatest Hindi film playback singer of all times.
There have been many great singers in Hindi films e.g. KL Saigal, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, etc., but I regard Mohammed Rafi as a shade above all, just as there have been many great Urdu poets, but Mirza Ghalib is a shade above everyone else.
I had written an article calling former Chief Justice of India Chandrachud a rank careerist, who was unwilling to give an honest judgment where he felt his chances of becoming the CJI may be jeopardized, and perfectly willing to give a dishonest judgment to ensure his chances.
I particularly mentioned his observation in the Gyanvapi mosque case, which has opened up a Pandora’s Box, and increased communalism exponentially in India, benefiting the BJP, which thrives on it.
Indian hockey’s day of glory was 15th August 1936, when our hockey team defeated Germany in the Berlin Olympics finals 8-1. The team was captained by the hockey wizard Dhyan Chand.
Soon after our hockey team landed in Germany, and before the regular Olympic tournament began, our team played a friendly match against Germany. The field was wet that day as it had rained earlier, and our players were not accustomed to playing on a wet field, and often slipped. They were beaten by the Germans 4-1 in that friendly match.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own) A 31 year old lady doctor was raped and killed in RG Kar Hospital, Kolkata, consequent to which the doctors and nurses of the hospital, and […]
By Justice Katju (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own) I am totally opposed to the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu, or anywhere else for that matter. In a function at Anna University in Chennai, where […]
In a few days from now, Pakistan will have its Independence Day on 14th August, and India on 15th August. In my opinion there was no genuine Independence on those days, but instead a colossal and monstrous hoax and swindle by our British rulers, so I appeal to Indians and Pakistanis not to celebrate them. Let me explain.
Firstly, real independence is freedom from poverty, unemployment, hunger, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, lack of healthcare and good education, oppression of minorities, etc. Without these freedoms, the formal civil rights e.g. liberty, freedom of speech and expression, equality, freedom of religion, etc. are illusory and meaningless. Does a poor, unemployed or hungry man want freedom of speech and liberty, or food and a job?
There is a Sanskrit shloka which says :
“जानामि नागेश तव प्रभावम्
कण्ठस्थितः गर्जसि शंकरस्य
स्थानम् प्रधानम् न च बलम प्रधानम्
द्वारस्थितः कोअपि न सिंघः
“Jaanami Nagesh tava prabhaavam
Kanthasthitah garjasi Shankarasya
Sthaanam pradhanam na cha balam pradhanam
Dwarasthitah ko api na Singhah?”
Translation:
“O King of the Serpents, I know your powers
You are hissing at me because you are on the neck of Lord Shiva
The position one occupies is important, not one’s own strength
At one’s own door, who is not a Lion?”
Many years back in 2016, I wrote this article, which was published on my FB page, and widely in the social media:
”Who are the real Indians?
In the 21st July print issue of The Week, there is an article by Santosh Pai titled ‘Neighbours with benefits’, below which is written ”There has never been a better time to pursue a trade deal with China”.
Mr Pai says that ”There is growing recognition that selective Chinese investments can help India achieve multiple objectives”.
With great respect to Mr Pai, I submit that he has no understanding of economic and political realities.
“It is surely contrary to the laws of nature, however defined, that a handful of people should gorge themselves with superfluities, while the starving multitudes are deprived of the necessities of life “
Rousseau: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
The present chaotic, messy, confusing and muddled political situation in India, with political parties squabbling, bickering and skirmishing with each other, and a weak central government dependent on crutches provided by its NDA allies, compels us to take a broader look to understand the times which are coming in India.
The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution had drafted our Constitution on Western models. They borrowed the concepts of parliamentary system of democracy and an independent judiciary from England, the fundamental rights and the federal structure from the US Constitution, the directive principles from Ireland, Article 301 (which provides for free trade and commerce throughout the country, thereby ensuring the economic unity of India) from Article 92 of the Australian Constitution, among others.
In the recent parliamentary elections in India, the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the biggest state in India with a population of 257 million, made the major contribution to the big setback to the ruling BJP, reducing its majority in parliament to a minority (though Maharashtra, West Bengal and some other states also contributed).
The BJP, which won 62 out of the total of 80 UP seats in the Lok Sabha in the 2019 parliamentary elections, boasted they will get all 80 seats in the 2024 elections, but got only 33, a massive drop of 25 seats.
Our national aim must be to transform India from a backward country to a modern industrial giant, like USA or China, for only then can we abolish the great curses of massive poverty, unemployment, hunger, lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc., which have plagued us for centuries.
In my opinion, we cannot achieve this goal unless we transform the feudal mindsets of the vast majority of our people, which are full of casteism, communalism, and superstitions, and make them rational and scientific.
I had earlier been a critic of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament (as I am of all political parties in India).
But I was heartened to hear his recent maiden speech in the Indian Parliament.
One of the factors which went against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent parliamentary elections and reduced its seats was the perception that it was against caste reservations.
I am not a supporter of the BJP, but I am totally against caste reservations, and in fact appeal to the SCs (scheduled castes) and OBCs (other backward classes) to demand its end, as it is doing great harm to them, and is only aimed at getting their votes.
To my Brothers and Sisters Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
I respectfully appeal to you to revisit the cases of the people in jail mentioned below whom I believe are innocent and have been wrongly incarcerated due to political vendetta by the Modi Government, quash the bogus charges against them, and free them.
Overseas Pakistanis have been holding rallies and demonstrations in USA and other countries, demanding freeing of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in jail since August last year, but to no avail.
In my opinion, a mistake which these overseas Pakistanis have made is not joining hands with overseas Indians, and not forming a joint Indo-Pak overseas organization to deal with their problems, and unitedly struggling for them.
The Hindu upper castes, i.e. Brahmins, Rajputs, Vaishyas, Bhumihars, Kayasthas, etc are mostly solid supporters of the BJP. The reason for this is because they are proud of being Hindus, and they think the BJP represents Hinduism.
In this article I will seek to demonstrate to them that the BJP does not represent real Hinduism but a phony, fake, spurious, sham and pseudo version of it, and it is high time they know the truth.
The more I follow the bizarre and mind-swirling political developments in India the more I am convinced that a Alice in Wonderland government is going to come into existence in India, like a Ravan with 10 heads.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own) “Yeh do din ka kya maajra ho gaya Ki jangal ka jangal hara ho gaya” The most important outcome of the results of the recent parliamentary election […]
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own) Revolution! The very word sends jitters down the spine of Indian ‘intellectuals’, these ‘heroes’ who strut about our national stage like vainglorious peacocks, and preach homlies to […]
The world is largely ruled by a small group of powerful nations which dominate over others. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 the United Nations was set up, which reflected upon this situation. A Security Council was created making five powerful nations its permanent members with veto powers, relegating other countries to inferior status.
I spoke to a Jat yesterday who came to meet me in my flat in Noida. He belongs to Western UP, and I asked him for whom Jats are likely to vote for in the present parliamentary elections. His reply was simplicity itself. He said, ”We will vote for the Jat candidate, to whichever party he may belong.”
Something happened in Pakistan yesterday which mesmerized the whole country, and was simply unbelievable. A 70 year old man in blue garments was seen on a screen in Court number 1 of Pakistan’s Supreme Court ( the Chief Justice’s Courtroom ), a scene that electrified the whole nation.
One single thought must haunt, obsess, torment, agonise, harrow, harass, and madden the minds of all Indian patriots (as it haunts mine ), day and night, 24×7 (and by Indian I mean Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, for we are really one nation, only temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947, but are sure to reunite one day): how to transform our Indian subcontinent into a modern industrial giant, with our people enjoying a high standard of living ? All other thoughts are irrelevant, superficial, minor or at best trivial or subsidiary issues.
