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Scroll.in
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Meeting diaspora, watching garba, speaking to ANI: What anti-terror MP delegations are doing abroad
Seven delegations comprising retired Indian diplomats and MPs from all major political parties are travelling around the world to deliver India's message of zero tolerance for cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. According to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the reason for picking members from parties across the political spectrum was to 'project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism' on the world stage. But many MPs appear to be treating this as an opportunity to project themselves to their voters back home too. The public engagements of prominent politicians participating in this exercise show that the challenge of Pakistan-backed terrorism is not the only one taking up all their time. The netas are paying special attention to the Indian diaspora, attending cultural functions and speaking to the Indian media. Domestic politics first For example, Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, visited the memorial of Bengali freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose in Tokyo on May 23. There, he complained about the rundown condition of the structure dedicated to this 'great son of Bengal' and asked the Indian ambassador in Japan to take it up with the local authorities. Banerjee also offered prayers at the Ramakrishna Mission in Singapore. This sect of Hinduism, which originated in nineteenth-century Kolkata and spread across the world, continues to wield a powerful influence in West Bengal. During his official visit to Japan, Shri @abhishekaitc took time from his demanding schedule to visit the Tama Cemetery in Tokyo, where he paid solemn tribute to freedom fighter, national hero, and one of Bengal's most revered son — Shri Rash Behari Bose. — All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) May 23, 2025 The Bengal leader was by no means the only one playing to his gallery at home on this global sojourn. Ideological opponents both to his Left and Right did not lose sight of their domestic audiences either. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who is part of the Indian contingent touring Bahrain and Kuwait, spoke to journalists there about subjects like India's foreign policy and Pakistan-linked terrorism. Except that the interviews were for Indian news wire agencies, such as Asian News International and Press Trust of India. John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in Seoul meeting South Korean ministers and dignitaries. But he still found the time to write a long response to his Kerala rival Shashi Tharoor, who had criticised the CPI(M)-led Kerala government for providing aid to Turkey after an earthquake in February 2023. Photo ops and desi meetups Tharoor, himself an expert on international relations, is leading a delegation too. His group has so far visited the United States, Guyana and Panama. All three countries are members of the United Nations Security Council at present. Soon after the group arrived in New York City on May 24, they paid their respects at the 9/11 memorial and museum. It was a gesture intended to resonate with America's own experience with terrorism. However, there were no American elected representatives around to witness it or meet the Indians because the US Congress is currently in recess. The visit did receive substantial media coverage – but only in India. American papers and television channels did not consider it newsworthy. After this Tharoor's delegation headed to Guyana first and then Panama. On Thursday, the Congress MP shared pictures from his visit to the Panama Canal, which he called an 'engineering marvel'. The group in Kuwait, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, also went to sites of cultural significance, such as the Grand Mosque. In the National Library, they studied 'rare manuscripts, ancient books, historical coins' displayed as part of an exhibition to commemorate 250 years of friendship between India and Kuwait. Besides such efforts, most delegations are devoting a lot of time to meeting the Indian diaspora. Tharoor's group, for example, spoke to members of the Indian community everywhere it went. The Congress leader even posted pictures from a garba performance at one such event in Panama supposedly attended by 300 Gujaratis and Sindhis. In Qatar, Manish Tewari, another Congress MP, spoke in Hindi while talking to expat Indians about Pakistan's involvement in terrorism against India. When Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi met with Indians in Kuwait , he described Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir as 'stupid jokers'. Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar also put up social media posts about their meetings with meetings the Indian diaspora. Chaturvedi was in France, while Sule was in South Africa. Our conversation with the Indian diaspora based in Paris was heartening and heartfelt. They continue to be the best brand ambassadors of India. 3/ — Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) May 27, 2025 The diplomatic grind The aim of this diplomatic exercise was to convince the world that India had no option but to respond firmly to the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead and that its military action against Pakistan was 'focused, measured and non-escalatory' in nature. But public documents released by the Ministry of External Affairs suggest that most foreign governments hosting the Indian delegations are yet to be convinced. While ministers and dignitaries in these countries have extended solidarity and support to India in its fight against terrorism, they are stopping short of ascribing the responsibility for Pahalgam to Pakistan. The responses received by the Indian contingent travelling through East Asia illustrate this. That group managed to get an audience with the foreign minister of Japan, who expressed his 'heartfelt condolences' to the victims of the terror attack. They also met the junior foreign minister of Singapore. 'Singapore strongly condemns all acts of terrorism and stands with India against terrorism,' she told them. However, neither of these officials made any mention of Pakistan. There were cultural performances (the garba stood out), a lively q&A… — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 28, 2025 The vice foreign minister of South Korea also 'condemned the [Pahalgam] attack and expressed understanding of India's position' during his meeting with the delegation. But he did not offer explicit support for India's actions during Operation Sindoor. Harsh Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation and a professor of international relations at King's College London contended that in spite of this lack of visible impact at the moment, the delegations were a good idea. 'The world has a lot of things to worry about at the moment and the India-Pakistan issue is not a top priority,' Pant explained. 'But India is doing well to ensure that its message about how it wants to deal with the issue of terrorism is conveyed to its partners and allies. The move to send all-party delegations is a good, sound one. We will find out its effectiveness as time goes by.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
First work as worship and commitment to fundamental duties; only then academics and Human Rights!
Sunil Kumar is currently member, managing committee, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. An engineer and project manager trained at Vickers Armstrong Engineers and Babcox & Wilcox, UK, he is a former general manager of The Projects and Equipment Corporation of India, Ministry of Commerce and Consultant, NIDC, Ministry of Industry. Sunil has been member of a high-power government committee for value orientation in Planning Commission and In-charge of Value Education Programmes of Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. He has written books on Vedanta, managerial effectiveness – Indian Insights, human values, etc. His passion lies in applying Indian wisdom & Vivekananda's principles to managerial situations. His vision and managerial expertise led to the setting up of a unique PGDBM Management Institute in Delhi, called SriSIM, of which he was a Founder Trustee and Professor and which offered education in Indian ethos based Management. He is currently taking the message of Vedanta-centric human development to public servants through programs on 'Ethics in Governance. LESS ... MORE A stone falls and we ask why: This question is possible only on the supposition that in this world, nothing happens without a cause. Let's reflect on the learnings from Vivekananda's talks on practical Vedanta and Karma Yoga. The foundation of Indian 'composite culture', is based on the scientific reality that in this vast universe of 'space-time-causality', we're prisoners of the unforgiving law of 'karma', of cause and effect', i.e. 'every action, work, karma (choices-motives-thoughts-actions) has equal and opposite effect, result (also 'karma' or karma-phala). Thus, in this world, we're all slaves to our respective 'karma' and its fruits; as we sow, good or bad', we shall reap 'happiness or miseries'. How to escape to Freedom from this cycle of slavery to 'karma'? God resides in every being; learn to see and serve God in every being; … this is the core of our civilizational work culture and essence of all education and religions. If we practice this attitude of work as worship of God in man, we will purify our mind and 'know' the truth of truth, ourselves. 2. The basic human problem: – As we're, we somehow never feel adequate, complete, fulfilled! Of course, in many moments we certainly do feel content, satisfied, not needing anything else (and 'sleep' is one such state) but the very next moment, we feel incomplete and once again willy nilly have to 'work' to re-gain (religion) and re-unite (yoga) with a state of 'Completeness! And by work, karma, we mean our actions and its fruits externally and as karma-phala, as impressed in our mind, which then gives rise to all our sukha-dukkha, joys-miseries. During growing up we must learn, reflect and recognize that all 'work' in life is a struggle to re-gain and re-unite, i.e. be 'Complete', fulfilled, blissful. And, work, when done as 'yoga', (union, re-unite, re-gain, as worship) can lead to being complete, fulfilled. 3. Ideal attitude towards work: Yudhishthira tells his wife, in the epic Mahabharat, which depicts the historical background of ancient India: Behold, my queen, the Himalayas, how grand and beautiful they are; I love them. They do not give me anything, but my nature is to love the grand, the beautiful, therefore I love them. Similarly, I love the Lord. He is the source of all beauty, of all sublimity. He is the only object to be loved; my nature is to love Him, and therefore I love. I do not pray for anything; I do not ask for anything. Let Him place me wherever He likes. I must love Him for love's sake. I cannot trade in love. And what is his nature? He is everywhere, the pure and formless One, the Almighty and the All merciful. And how to worship, reach out, attain Him? Through love. 'He is to be worshiped as the One beloved, dearer than everything in this and the next life.' A man ought to live in the world — his heart to God and his hands to work – work as a karma yogi, fulfil your duties, work for good of society – work selflessly for love's sake. 4. Unless we are first taught and learn to fulfil our duties, can we expect Fundamental Human Rights in society. Academia must teach, inculcate, evaluate based on both 'Knowledge' and 'Application of Knowledge in Work', i.e. commitment to Fundamental Duties, righteous conduct etc. We are all aware that there is a wide-spread crisis of character, inefficiencies, corruption and selfishness in Work. Who all are responsible for failure? 4.1 Religions and Preachers, for dividing people into 'my religion' versus 'your religion', focusing on rituals etc. that divide, but failing to unite and work together with other religions and academia to produce the 'good' who strive to become good and better towards 'best', working for good of society as a whole. 4.2 Teachers and Academia, for failing to understand that mere Knowing theory isn't good enough without learning how apply it in work. Academia has failed to focus on training, disciplining, and building powers of mind thru' Self-development processes available as Life-skills to be committed to selfless duties and quality and excellence in work. 4.3 Politics and governance, for not creating systems for ensuring that citizens are committed to the Fundamental Duties and to working together for good of society. Instead, they are dividing people into 'my party, my vote-bank' versus 'your party, your vote-bank' and not focusing on bringing people together as parties of 'Cooperation', not parties of 'Opposition'. We have allowed people to rise to their levels of incompetence. We have failed to create systems where the 'Result-producers' have total responsibility for results and payments are linked to results. As education and governance, we've curbed the entrepreneurship spirit of our karma-yogi Result-producers and skilled workforce, who had once made India the sone-ki-chidiya. 5. We must understand that Work can never make us 'Complete': Now that we're talking of public servants as karma yogis, it is necessary that academia must plan how we may ensure that every citizen is educated, preached, taught the idea that as Self, we're all One and only by selflessly working for good of all, can we expand our mind from selfishness to feel one with more and more to experience the truth that as Spirit, Self, we're all One; there's no other! Governance must ensure that we recruit those for professional and leadership positions who have a proven record of commitment and ability to selflessly work for the long-term good of all. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘Religions & Education' and ‘Preachers & Teachers' must together plan how to BE & MAKE the ‘GOOD'
Sunil Kumar is currently member, managing committee, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. An engineer and project manager trained at Vickers Armstrong Engineers and Babcox & Wilcox, UK, he is a former general manager of The Projects and Equipment Corporation of India, Ministry of Commerce and Consultant, NIDC, Ministry of Industry. Sunil has been member of a high-power government committee for value orientation in Planning Commission and In-charge of Value Education Programmes of Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. He has written books on Vedanta, managerial effectiveness – Indian Insights, human values, etc. His passion lies in applying Indian wisdom & Vivekananda's principles to managerial situations. His vision and managerial expertise led to the setting up of a unique PGDBM Management Institute in Delhi, called SriSIM, of which he was a Founder Trustee and Professor and which offered education in Indian ethos based Management. He is currently taking the message of Vedanta-centric human development to public servants through programs on 'Ethics in Governance. LESS ... MORE 1. Modern global societies have failed to define, identify, select, nurture, and place 'good' men in leadership positions in governance to lead us; and failed to give us teachers, professionals, businessmen and workers to educate us to be 'good'. We can attempt to define the good, as those who are Committed to knowing and fulfilling their duties to society, organization, family, Self; Committed to striving for quality and excellence in work and relationships; Committed to striving to develop feelings of love, care and concern for all, etc., which have now been expressed by GOI as be a 'Karma Yogi'; 'treat work as worship of God in man and in all creation'. To imbibe such spirit of selfless Committed to Duties, religion and education must together inspire us to the necessity of daily self-development practices to learn how to strive to build powers of mind to know and be convinced to walk-the-talk. 2. Our time-tested civilizational culture of Sanatana dharma recognizes that the masses will always need symbols, images, god-men and their life and teachings for inspiration. Only a few Selfless men of wisdom can draw inspiration from universal principles alone, irrespective of their religious beliefs. As mature citizens we should recognize that Principles and Essence of all Religions are universal and eternal and these can be taught in mainstream systems, to inspire all 'to be and do good'. My religion, my ways of worship, my source of inspiration and ideas of divinity may be different, but 'selflessness' and learning 'to do and be good' is our universal ideal. Commonsense provides the simple fact and obvious principle and worldview that as 'Self, Life, spirit, Atman, Rooha' that makes us 'exist' 'consciously', like it or not, we're all One and shall exist eternally (maybe in different names and forms, e.g. rebirth!) because the law is 'that which exists, can never cease to exist'. Somehow, we've never been made aware of this reality and so, identified with Body-mind we become self-centered. Thru' learning to be Selflessly Committed to our Duties, our Mind expands to grow in feelings of love, care, concern for all equally. Only some very few who grow thru' their respective religions, will understand this and strive sincerely to be and do good. These should be nurtured to be our mentors, teachers and leaders. As you sow so shall you reap is universal law. Our culture shows and believes that we will continue to take rebirth and grow till we finally recognize that as Self we're all One. Schooling and Preaching must work together to inspire us to realize that Goodness can be acquired only through individual self-effort, in and through daily work, dealings and interactions, and the inspiration for it comes through daily self-development practices. Respective religions may inspire us to be and do good thru' their respective religious scriptures etc. and epics like Ramayana, Mahabharat, Puranas, and the many gods and goddesses can also provide the inspiration for the masses. Both the educated and the masses keep forgetting the eternal knowledge 'To be and to do good'! The purpose of all Religions is to give clarity on the aim and purpose of life and create systems to guide people towards it. Essentially all Religions suggest that during Schooling and Growing up we must learn to Imbibe commitment to Righteousness. Righteous conduct implies those virtues or obligatory duties, which lead people on the critical path, to 'Know Thyself'; to know that as body-mind we're separate but as SELF that makes us into Conscious Living-beings (Jiva-atman) we're all One. Each of us has to individually grow towards Oneness through self-effort and selfless work as worship. The parents and elders of society, the teachers, all the educated people, the statesmen, executives and public servants have the responsibility of creating necessary systems to inspire people to walk on the right path; and they can do so only when they themselves strive for the higher and seek guidance of the selfless men of wisdom. Righteous conduct, Dharma, is the Fruit of all Religions; it is the firm foundation upon which the entire universe stands. Thus, all religions and education and Preachers & Teachers must be evaluated and judged by their ability to produce the Good, who have learnt and are committed to both Earning and fulfilling all Desires through legitimate means. Thus, Preaches and Teachers must encourage and inspire people to strive to develop powers of mind – discrimination, 'viveka', and the self-control, will power, powers of concentration to walk the critical path to 'Perfection' through Righteous conduct. It is only daily and life-long continuous practice that can help in developing powers of mind. Continuous practice and self-effort alone can keep people aware of the purpose of life so that they can keep on reviewing and harmonizing their choices, thoughts, words, and goals towards the highest perfection. Conclusions: All work, actions good or bad, are only efforts to seek 'bliss', which always eludes man! Our culture asks us to reflect and realize that I enjoy maximum Bliss, Ananda, only in deep-sleep state, when I am in my own blissful Self, detached from ever-changing body-mind complex. Only thru' selfless work as worship for good of all, i.e. being a Karma Yogi, can we enjoy this Ananda even while working and living. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Shouldn't governance, academia, preachers, be mentors who can inspire society to strive to ‘know thyself'?
Sunil Kumar is currently member, managing committee, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. An engineer and project manager trained at Vickers Armstrong Engineers and Babcox & Wilcox, UK, he is a former general manager of The Projects and Equipment Corporation of India, Ministry of Commerce and Consultant, NIDC, Ministry of Industry. Sunil has been member of a high-power government committee for value orientation in Planning Commission and In-charge of Value Education Programmes of Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi. He has written books on Vedanta, managerial effectiveness – Indian Insights, human values, etc. His passion lies in applying Indian wisdom & Vivekananda's principles to managerial situations. His vision and managerial expertise led to the setting up of a unique PGDBM Management Institute in Delhi, called SriSIM, of which he was a Founder Trustee and Professor and which offered education in Indian ethos based Management. He is currently taking the message of Vedanta-centric human development to public servants through programs on 'Ethics in Governance. LESS ... MORE 1) 'Know Thyself': Isn't it surprising that neither scientists nor ourselves have ever tried to study, look within, know ourselves, even though we are also an integral part of nature, the same nature, Jagat, we are ever busy investigating! Who and where are the Mentors who can inspire us to reflect on 'where and what is it within each of us', that always remains as the unchanging 'Subject', that consciousness, which enables us 'perceive' both the ever-changing 'Internal thoughts, feelings within' and 'external changing objects of the world'! 'Know Thyself' is an age-old quest for the West, but the West got busy with industry, technology etc. and the leaders forgot this critical inner quest, allowing the philosophers, societies, preachers, religions, nations, to fight amongst themselves for answers; and aping them our modern permanent govt. machinery and democratic govt. machinery still remain in total ignorance of the age-old question of 'Who I am' and where are we supposed to grow towards as teachers, bureaucrats, preachers, or as individual citizens! Perhaps governance machinery, academia, preachers, could be trained to be mentors and made responsible and accountable to guide all citizens to seek inwards, to 'know the infinite potential already within our Self'. As governance they're in any case entrusted with policy formulation, implementation, etc. And because they are selected from and as the 'best' and are 'permanent', they must be recruited, selected, educated, trained to be Mentors who can make long-term good policies and can learn to work together as Mentors to take us towards the 'best'. 2) The Idea of Karma Yogi, KYi – Syllabus for being a Mentor: Being a KYi in fact is the Critical Path to 'Know Thyself' and be a Mentor! Now that GOI has instructed that all Govt servants must be trained to be KYi & has created an Online platform iGOT Mission KYi for it, it is incumbent on all of us to plan how the spirit of Work as Worship and as Service to God in Man, is brought into mainstream academia and preaching. Instead of keeping Religions away from Academia, it is our duty as Mentors to request various Religious NGOs to plan how we can all focus on providing Daily One-Hour for Self-reflection; self-study; Self-development practices focused on Imbibing the Spirit of Fundamental Duties; Commitment to Kartavya-palan; Spirit of more and more Selflessness, etc. Thankfully in 1985 GOI has nominated Vivekananda as a Youth icon and now GOI brochure on KYi mentions 'atmano moksartham jagada hitaye cha' & 'Yogaha Karmasu Kaushalam'. Vivekananda's talks in inspiring English to Western audiences in USA and UK and his ideas on Practical Vedanta and Karma Yoga, etc. provide us the best contents, based on which academia and preachers can create a Syllabus and action plan to guide each citizen and all students and teachers to build powers of mind to walk-the-talk to 'Know Thyself'. 3) The Problem & Challenge: Globally, no nation today has clarity on what exactly is the aim and purpose of a permanent academia and bureaucracy, and so has the emerged the idea of democracy, where political parties become the bosses and pull societies towards their respective vision and interests, and individuals are left to seek their own path and answers. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the entire Western culture has remained focused on 'Knowing' and 'Enjoying' the ever-changing universe that we can all 'perceive' with our senses. We have Schooling focused on 'knowing-earning-enjoying'. To know my-self, we get Passports with Photo of our body; but the riddle remains! Am I just 'Body' that dies? 4) Fortunately, the right Questions were asked and also Answered by our forefathers and so as Indians we have a choice to choose and harmonize the wisdom of West to excel in 'work' and the wisdom of East, to learn to selflessly work as worship of God in man and in all Creation (KYi). In simple words that even a child can appreciate, Vedanta says that a Jivatma, living-being, is a visible 'body' (which is but inert-matter, as we see in dead-body) somehow enlivened by 'Life' or Consciousness or Spirit or Atman' or something like it! As Body we're separate but as 'Life' we're all One. So, even a Child may question, what is Life? From where does it come, where does it go? Our ancients, whom we think as superstitious, uncivilized, etc. sought to know what 'Life' was all about; whereas today we accept 'Life' as it is without knowing it but instead seek to know Jagat of infinite Variety! Our ancients strove not merely to 'Know' but to instill and imbibe righteousness, selflessness, virtues, character. Then with a mind purified by selflessness, etc. they strove to 'see' and directly realized and experienced the 'Self'… And all Religions, therefore, ask and exhort us to be good and do good; be selfless etc. We say work as worship of God in mana and in all Creation, because the same God exists in Me, You, in all and in everything as Consciousness. And thru' righteousness, self-enquiry, etc. we are meant to realize this truth of Truths. Science is now looking for 'consciousness' but still as an object, not realizing that it isn't an object to be known. I am always that singular Subject, Consciousness and mistakenly I got identified with changing body-mind … and Vedanta discusses and logically explains this mystery in detail! Now it should be the task of us all to consider how we can help 'To Be & Make Mentors' and strive to explore and discover our Un-changing Self, our Swaroopa, 'who I am'. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
