Latest news with #Chanakya
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Not ready to 'tremble and obey'
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of .) The Chinese emperor had a seal whose vermillion imprint said, 'Tremble and Obey'. This imperial tone continues even if China today is a Communist state, run by the People's Party . Like its medieval Great Wall meant to keep out nomads, it still has a firewall to filter out foreign ideas. China was always centralised with the Dragon throne in Forbidden City seeking tributes from the rest of the world. India , by contrast, is based on the Mandala model , first described by Chanakya, a set of intersecting spheres of power that are endlessly pulsating, contracting and expanding over time. No came into contact with China around 2,200 years ago. This happened because the Chinese emperor was looking westwards, towards Central Asia, for fabulous horses. These horse-breeders of Central Asia loved Chinese silk. This enabled the creation of the silk road . Central Asia became the common link between India and China. From here came the horses for both ancient civilisations. From India went cotton, sugarcane and Buddhism Around the 6th century, Buddhism was seen as a refreshing new idea that shook up the old Chinese way. Chinese monks came to India to learn from original Buddhist texts. But then, Buddhism took a very Chinese form. Giant images of the Buddha appeared in China, as imperious as the emperor. By the 10th century, the Chinese stopped seeing Buddha as originating from India. They had adapted Buddhism to suit their needs. The texts spoke of different Buddhas and different Buddha realms. And some belonged exclusively to Chinese thus have always opened up temporarily to outsiders for new ideas-horses and Buddhism being cases in point. But eventually the gates are closed, and dependence is replaced by independence, even domination. In the Chinese way, domination is an important idea. In any space, the juniors bow to the seniors, the women to the men, the students to the teacher, the young to the old, the children to the parents. There is no room for ambiguity. It is the language of the alpha. It was the Confucian to prevent exploitation, there was always a counterforce. This was the Daoist idea of yin-yang. Any idea taken to an extreme would create natural opposition, expressed visually by Taiji diagrams. If balance and harmony was not maintained the 'Mandate of Heaven' would be taken away from the emperor and given to another, maybe even foreigners. Foreign rule happened twice, once during Mongol times (Yuan dynasty century around 1300 AD) and then the Manchus (post 1600 AD). These foreign dynasties integrated Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Uyghurs into the Chinese Chinese have always been suspicious of radically different ideas. The Han way, a relatively homogenous cultural concept that evolved around 2,000 years ago, was the ideal way to keep people together. This involved common logographic script, common Confucian court culture, common Taoist metaphysics in matters of food and design, and alignment to dynastic chronology. Even Mongol and Manchu elites are now part of the Han fold. It is not genetic. Very different from the caste-based model of India, where access is blocked not by a physical wall but by creating a relationship wall: by prohibiting marriage with like India, was hit hard by industrialisation. The Europeans conquered the Mandala states of India realising that the Indian way (even after 600 years of Muslim rulers) involved endless negotiation and not compliance. Conquering China was tougher. They had walls to keep out foreigners. So the British flooded the markets with Indian-grown opium and took away their vast stocks of silver. China has never forgiven the world for the resulting 'century of shame'. It reimagined itself with Communism, then with Capitalism, determined to get the world to tremble and obey once idea of domination is alien to the dharmic way, the arguments about Brahmanism notwithstanding made by generations of Marxist and westernised academicians. They miss the point. The Dharmic way is about collaborating with different communities in different ecosystems, keeping Brahmins on top. It is what led to creation of circular Mandala states in the river valleys from South Asia to Southeast Asia. These states were eternally fragmented and competitive and collaborative, bound by a common story of solar and lunar kings. When Islam came it introduced a new way of thinking based on one god, and one king. But it soon succumbed to the Mandala model with multiple sultanates constantly negotiating with has never been an Indian idea. Mauryas never controlled the river basins of Godavari or Kaveri. Mughals controlled only North India. Half of British India was made up of princely states. Any attempt to standardise and centralise India is like trying to use chopsticks on a thali.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Time of India
Chanakya Niti: Golden rules to follow before sleeping for good luck
Chanakya was one of the wisest men of ancient India. He created life rules known as Chanakya Neeti, which guide people on how to live a successful and wealthy life.
Express Tribune
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Chanakya to Modi
Listen to article Chanakya Kautilya was a 300 BCE alumnus of the Takshashila (university) at Taxila. He is known for his epic Sanskrit exposition Arthashastra, an empire-running guidebook. In 1532, Niccolo Machiavelli authored his epic political treatise The Prince. Emanating from it, the term 'Machiavellian' remains synonymous with double-dealing, treachery and deceit. Noted German philosopher and jurist Max Weber asserts in his famous essay 'Politics as a Vocation': "Truly radical Machiavellianism in the popular sense of that word is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthashastra of Kautilya; compared to it, Machiavelli's The Prince is harmless". Written 1800 years before Machiavelli was born, Chanakya propagated the 'Raj Mandala' as a governing model. Based on collusion, spies, assassinations and destruction through misinformation, it also advocated the necessity of murdering family members to gain or retain power. One of Chanakya's favorite maxim was: "Your neighbor is your natural enemy and the neighbor's neighbor is your friend". Tellingly, Delhi's diplomatic enclave was named Chanakyapuri a few years after independence. Since independence, Pakistan has borne the brunt of India's Chanakyan machinations. India still gloats about dismembering Pakistan. It has, apart from fomenting terrorism, also undertaken a spate of killings targeting Sikh and Kashmiri leaders here. Pakistan stood vindicated when Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer, was arrested in Balochistan and admitted to acts of terrorism. Based on reports from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau held India responsible for Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder. The US charged a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, for attempting to have Sikh dissident Gurpatwant Singh Pannun assassinated on its soil. India is also blamed for the murder of Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda in Britain. India has been dubbed the disinformation capital of the world. The World Economic Forum's 2024 Global Risk Report ranks India as the number one purveyor of disinformation. India Hate Lab, a Washington-based research group, describes Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as the most frequent purveyors of hate speech. Muslims are the main target with 98.5% of recorded instances of hate speech directed against them. In December 2020, EU DisinfoLab unearthed India's 15-year-long subterfuge operation of undermining Pakistan through 500 fake media outlets operating in 95 countries. This audacious campaign saw forged EU documents fed to the UN and global news outlets. Amplifying this fake barrage, ANI, India's largest news agency, created reports based on this feed and disseminated it to a global audience. Despite these incriminating revelations by the Brussels based organisation, bizarrely, Pakistan was subjected to punitive measures like placement on the FATF's grey list. Modi reveled in his unbridled Chanakyan power. In his memoir A life in the shadows, former Indian spymaster AS Dulat describes Modi and India's NSA Ajit Doval, as being "made for each other; a match made in heaven". Doval crafted a ruthless operational and disinformation policy under the tutelage of Modi, his "heaven mate". The tragic loss of innocent lives at Pahalgam is incriminatingly similar to the sinister false-flag operations of Pulwama, Pathankot and Uri. The eerie pattern sees the same ease of attack in a fortressed Kashmir, the immediate post-attack charge-sheet alleging Pakistan as the mastermind and the ever-belligerent Indian media's frenzied war-mongering. A Pakistan-centric India refuses to let go of this RAW-drafted hackneyed script to maliciously malign and (unsuccessfully) browbeat Pakistan. It took minutes after the Pahalgam incident for the Indian media to unleash a ferocious barrage targeting Pakistan. Instead of much-needed consolation to the traumatised families, this vitriol spread like an all-enveloping fire. Many social media handles urged the "Israel way" in Occupied Kashmir, a genocide that has seen the horrific murder of over 50,700 in Gaza, 17,000 of them children. Satya Pal Malik was the Modi-installed governor of Occupied Kashmir at the time of the Pulwama attack. The resulting death of 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. In a damning revelation Malik later said that he had called Prime Minister Modi immediately after the attack and told him that "it happened due to our lapses". Malik also told Modi that the CRPF had asked for aircraft because such a large military convoy had never gone by road. India's Home Ministry refused the same. Malik revealed that he was told by Modi and Ajit Doval, the NSA, to remain quiet so that the government could blame Pakistan for political gains. Chanakya to Modi, the Raj Mandala remains the same. In an interview with Karan Thapar, Malik said that "the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were fought on the bodies of our soldiers. I fear these people can do anything (to win the next election). They can orchestrate an attack on Ram Temple. They can plot to kill a BJP leader. If they can do Pulwama, they can do anything." He further said Modi is "ill-informed and ignorant about Kashmir". The world remains mute to India's atrocities in Occupied Kashmir, its sponsoring terror in Balochistan, which Doval described as Pakistan's soft underbelly, and its hegemonic designs. "Non vedo, non sento, non parlo" - I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing, is not a motto espousing serenity; it is Omerta, the code of silence enforced by the Mafia. The West's Omerta is India's carte blanche that has seen its unbridled and unfixed obsession with Pakistan morphing into a nuclear flashpoint. Persistent misadventures and false-flag operations by the Hindutva-driven Modi dispensation can prove to be a nightmare for the whole region and beyond. Conversely, guaranteeing the people of Occupied Kashmir their inherent right of self-determination may well be the key to peace, amity and prosperity. Not exactly a Rubik's Cube, the choice is elementary and in the best interest of nearly 2 billion people. That is, only if sanity prevails in the Hindutva zealots' minds.
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- The Hindu
Provisions of Goondas Act invoked against two more in murder case
Two persons involved in the murder of Salem-based history-sheeter John, alias Chanakya (35), near Nasiyanur on the Salem–Coimbatore National Highway on March 19, were detained under the Goondas Act here on Monday. John was hacked to death in broad daylight by a four-member gang, while he and his wife were travelling by car from Salem to Tiruppur. All four accused sustained injuries in police firing, received treatment, and were later arrested and lodged in Tiruppur prison. So far, 13 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. Last week, one of the accused, Karthikeyan, was detained under the Act. Based on the recommendation of Superintendent of Police A. Sujatha, Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara also ordered the detention of two other accused, Satheesh and Boopalan, under the Act. Both were served detention notices at Tiruppur prison.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Brahmins have played pivotal role in nation- building: U.P. dy CM Pathak
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak on Sunday said being a Brahmin is not just about caste but about embracing a set of values and culture. Pathak expressed these views in Panchkula, Haryana, at the birth anniversary celebrations of Lord Parshuram. He highlighted the contributions of illustrious figures like Chanakya, Aryabhata, Kautilya and Rishi Dadhichi, whose work continues to inspire people across various fields. Pathak stressed that Brahmins have played a pivotal role in nation-building, working towards the welfare of society, and contributing significantly to various spheres, including politics, religion, education and social welfare. The deputy CM mentioned Chanakya's expertise in politics and economics, highlighting the relevance of his ideas even in modern times. He said Aryabhata's contribution to mathematics, particularly the concept of zero, was cited as an example of the profound impact of ancient Indian thinkers on the world. Pathak expressed confidence that Brahmins will play a significant role in realising the vision of a developed India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He acknowledged the contribution of Brahmins in giving India a global identity and their role in various fields, including politics, education and social service. Prominent among those present on the occasion included Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb among others.
