A Rude Awakening

On the night of July 1st, seven gunmen entered famous Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka  and carried out one of the deadliest carnages that  Bangladesh has seen in recent years. 

20 people, mostly foreigners  were mercilessly killed in the 13-hour siege that ended when over 100 Commandos killed six of the terrorists and captured one alive.

Two days after the attack as the world mourns the victims and horrific details of the attack are out, the question that arises is whether the attack was inevitable? 

The Friday attack, which the Islamic State has taken responsibility of,  cannot be seen in an isolation. Since late 2014 to early 2015, Bangladesh has been witnessing various incidents of intolerance. Secular bloggers, writers and even their publishers have been brutally hacked to death. Even the minority communities and foreigners have been the victims of this growing intolerance. Many of these attacks have been claimed by the Islamic state. 

But despite the claims, the government had time and again ignored and denied its presence in the nation. And have blamed the homegrown militant organisations like Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh or the JMB for these attacks.

The Sheikh Hasina government has played politics over these individuals’ deaths. Her government has blamed the opposition Bangladesh National Party and the Jamaat –e-Islami for conspiring against the secularism of the Muslim majority nation. And even if the government is to be believed steps which the government took didn't help to prevent such attacks on free thinkers and minorities

The government have again blamed homegrown militants for the Dhaka attack  despite IS releasing photographs of five of them. The preliminary investigation states that three of the gunmen belonged to affluent families and were well educated. 

The Sheikh Hasina government has to understand that the nationality of these gunmen doesn't matter  but the ideology they subscribed to, that's what important. 

The extremist ideology of IS is a major concern across the globe. Many well-educated individuals from Europe, United State and south Asian nations have been brainwashed by online IS handlers or local recruiters of the World terror group. And the possibility of this cannot be denied in this case too.

Bangladesh is geographically and strategically an important nation. With it being a link to both South Asia and south-east Asia, if Islamic extremism constantly grows here then it can be a major concern for its neighbours especially India, with which it shares a boundary of over 4000 Km, mostly porous.

Bangladesh since its liberation from Pakistan in 1971 has been proudly a secular state which may have experienced its share of extremism in past but not in this manner.

The situation is quite grave now in the South Asian country. It's not just a terrorist attack but an attack on its liberal and secular ideology. The sheikh Hasina government has to take stringent steps to curb the extremism, whatever name it presents itself in.

BMC Bans Meats Due To Jain fasting

Succumbing to demands of BJP and Jain Community, Mumbai Municipal Corporation has banned slaughter and sale of meat for four days during Paryushan, a Jain Community's festival. This diktat has come few months after Maharashtra government passed the amendment in Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, banning slaughter, sale and import of Beef. Even the consumption of beef is a criminal offense in the state.

The ban is to be imposed on 10th,13th,17th and 18th of this month in Mumbai. In Paryushan, eight days period of fasting and abstinence is kept by the Jain Community. A letter by the Ahinsa Sangh, Vishwamaitri Trust to the Corporation has said, Jainism is based on the principle of non-violence. There is not only a lot of Jains in Mumbai, but many Jain Monks will be visiting the city during the period. We request you to corporate the rituals. Their request got support from BJP state unit.

The ban on meat does not come as a surprise as every year BMC does close down abattoirs for the festival every year for two days. The ban is only on the sale of meat. Seafood and Chicken sale are allowed. This decision is taken on the basis of corporation resolutions of 1964, 1994 and resolution of state government in 2004. Even the Supreme Court of India in its 2008 judgment by Justice M. Kathua and H.K. Sena grants the power to the municipal corporations the power to impose on meat slaughter during Paryushan.

This year, the BJP has decided to take a step forward. In Mumbai, state BJP unit wanted to impose the ban for all eight days but was rejected by BMC Commissioner. It was now for four days. Their demand came just days after Thane's Mira Road-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation, which is headed by BJP, ban meat for eight days.

For four and eight days respectively, the corporations will not only put a pause on many peoples' freedom to eat whatever their want. But also will shut down business of many. This is effect many poor people, who work hard daily in these slaughter houses and earn few hundreds to thousand to feed their family. Won't the ban affect their livelihood Has government or the corporation thought or taken any step about compensating these workers?
If the corporation can work for sentiments of few then they should also not forget the problems of others

OROP Announced But Veterans' Struggle Still On

It's a battle half won. On 5th Sept 2015, 43 years after it was first demanded, Narendra Modi led NDA government announced the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP). It is a new system of determining pension of Armed Forces in which two military persons who retired after equal service in the same rank, get an equal pension, irrespective of time span separating their retirement day.

But, what could have been an end of 83 days battle for the veterans in Jantar Mantar, seems to be a start of a fresh struggle. Even though the ex-servicemen have welcomed and  thanked the government for principally accepting and implementing OROP. They have openly rejected most points of the proposal.

According to the proposal announced by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the commencement of OROP will be from 1st July 2014 with 2013 as the base year. The veterans want it to be April 2014 as announced by previous UPA government. But, the government has taken July as the month of commencement because it took the oath in May.
Another announcement with which veterans are unhappy is that the gap between the rate of current pensioners and past pensioners all be equalized in every 5 years. What veterans demanded was revision should be done in every two years. OROP loses it relevance and then it will be considered as One Rank Five Pensions. Understanding the reason behind government step, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar told Indian Express, "it is financially prudent to first observe pension cost movement for few years before commitment to normalize more is implemented frequently." 

But, the difference that has grabbed the major attention was a new bone of contention of Premature retirement. Manohar Parrikar in his press conference mentioned that personnel who have taken premature retirement are not entitled to OROP. The exclusion of PMR astonished veterans as it was never a part of the discussion between government and ex-servicemen. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rally in Faridabad, said "those injured, those who had to compulsorily leave, they will get OROP. But there is a bit of confusion over the implementation of OROP for those who took early retirement for benefits. Veterans have showed their disagreement and have called it 'last-minute mischief' by the government. According to the veterans, 46% of ex-servicemen PMR. If this clause excluded, the OROP budget will be slashed by 50% - about Rs 4000 crore of the estimated Rs 8000-10000 crore.This issue of PMR is, of course, a major reason for veterans to continue the relay hunger strike. Though, the infinite hunger strike of eight ex-servicemen has been called off.

The struggle is on, even though the implementation is a big win for the veterans. What other governments couldn't do for 43 years, Modi-led NDA government did in 15 months. But it  can gain total success and appreciation only when these issues will be resolved soon.

Mulayam Exits Grand Alliance; Dent to repair for Nitish and Lalu

It's a major setback to the newly formed 'secular' front Janata Parivar as the Samajwadi Party walks out of the grand alliance. Mulayam Singh's party has announced to fight Bihar alone, the first major test for the alliance which is said to be held by November. The announcement came just a few days after alliance's first major event in Patna- Swabhiman rally in Pragati Maidan. In spite Nitish, Sonia and Lalu sharing the dais, Mulayam gave it a miss.

Samajwadi Chief Mulayam Singh, who was also the President of the Janata Parivar, was upset over the seat sharing before the election. During the first announcement of seat sharing, SP received zero seats. But, later it was increased to five when Lalu Yadav' RJD gave them seats out their 100 seats share. A move to placate Mulayam Singh. But, the dissent continued as Mulayam was keen for 12 seats. Both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav couldn't afford to give 10+ seats as Samajwadi Party has no presence in the state. This treatment was not accepted by the party state unit.

As SP has no legislator or Parliamentarian from Bihar, its exit doesn't affect the election in terms of seats. But SP exit will definitely hit the Parivar psychologically. This is not the first party that has left the alliance, NCP also left due to unsatisfactory seat sharing. SP's exit once again questions the stability of the alliance.
Since its inception, many experts have been critical about all alliance parties' commitment towards it. Nitish Kumar JD(U), Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, Congress Party, Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi and others 'secular' parties had joined hands to stop Modi wave across India. It made decades old enemies Nitish and Lalu come together to stop so-called communal ideology from spreading. BJP and other NDA parties, since the beginning, called it a 'failed alliance.'

There are still few months before the Bihar election. Will Nitish and Lalu, the heavyweights of Bihar, be able to keep the alliance together in spite of fiction between them. Only time to tell. 

AAP At Degree Dock AGAIN

Even before the storm could calm down over the arrest of former Law Minister of Delhi  Jitendra Singh Tomar for allegedly producing fake educational degree, the Aam Aadmi party is in the dock again. Another Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Palam Constituency Bhavna Gaur is been accused of similar charges.

 

A Metropolitan Magistrate of Dwarka Court has taken the cognisance of a complaint against Ms Gaur for allegedly misinterpretating her education qualification in her election affidavits. The complaint Samarendra N. Verma has alleged that two time Aap Mla has furnished different information about her eduction qualifications in her election affidavits in 2013 and 2015. The lawyer has alleged that in 2013 election affidavit, Ms Gaur has studied upto Class 12 as her higher qualification  . Whereas in her 2015, she has mentioned that she is a Delhi University Graduate and have a B.Ed degree  from Meerut's Maharshi Dayanand University. The question now arises that in span of 14 months, how can she complete her graduation degree and B.Ed degree, which in total takes 5 years minimum (3 years in graduation and 2 years in B.Ed).

 

The Court has now admitted the cases and has fixed the matter for next hearing on 25th July. If the charges  are proven to be true then Ms Gaur will be booked under Section 125A representation of People Act of 1951 and could serve six months of Imprisonment or fine or both. This will also create a major embarrassment for the Government. 

 

Though, Ms Gaur has denied the allegations and calls this as a conspiracy to malign her and her party. She, while talking to media also showed her graduation and B.Ed degree and said that she will answer all the questions in court. Kind of the same rhetoric which Tomar gave when the controversy first broke out.

 

One bitten twice shy, AAP is staying as far as it could from the controversy. If AAP leaders comes out in her support then it will definitely show their double standard. They have  been demanding resignation of NDA HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who have a similar case in a Delhi Court. The court have taken cognisance of a complaint filed against Ms Irani for furnishing "false information" about her eduction qualifications in affidavits filed to Election Commission. The matter is due for hearing next month. But Since the matter is been taken up by the court, the AAP members have been demonstrating against  her and demanded her resignation.

The ball is in its court. Now is the chance for the AAP to prove to be a party with difference which vouch for clean politics. Through party Lokayukta, it could investigate such matters against its MLAs including others who are allegedly accused of similar wrongdoing. For instance, Aap Delhi Cantt MLA Surendra Singh's educational qualification is also under scanner. Such steps could also help them to avoid future  embarrassment. But whether the party take cognisance or remain silent is the big question.

ALL THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE ARE GATHER FROM MANY NEWSPAPERS.

Paying Lip Service

   Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has ruled out recruiting women for combat operations in the armed forces fearing about their safety. "Think what can happen if a woman is taken as a prisoner in Combat operation." he said while implying the atrocities they might suffer by the enemies.

His statement came just few months after India showcased 'Nari Shakti' while celebrating its 66th Republic Day with Wing Commander Pooja Thakur, the first lady officer to lead guard of honour for Chief Guest and U.S. President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan and with women contingent from all 3 armed forces march down the Rajpath during the parade. But then one why not use the women power during war or any other combat situation? 

"By the end of the day, we were just a show dolls for the U.S President." said a serving Lady officer who participated in the Parade. 

Protecting women from Enemy's atrocities is just a tip of the iceberg. Manohar Parrikar was just uttering the old and constant stand of armed forces.  

According to the a news report, Women have been serving the armed forces from last 88 years but unfortunately make up only 5% of military officers. Most of the women are in the medical field as compared of the other branches. Other than medical and education branch, women serving in the non-technical branch are recruited under short service commission. The situation, with Parrikar statement, won't change in near future also.

An affidavit filed by a JCO on  behalf of the Army Headquarters in 2012 before the Supreme Court, stated that many army's junior commissioned officers and other ranks, who hails from rural india, are not yet ready to accept women as their leaders. 

'The interface between the leaders and the led must be without any reserve or preconceived notions especially in battle conditions where jawans repose full faith in decision." stated the affidavit. 

But, the female counterparts denies the awkwardness between Jawans and the lady officers and states that reality is something else. "In reality, it's the officers who are not able to deal with the female counterparts. To tell you... most of the misbehaviour cases have male officers involved rather than the jawans." said the serving officer. 

The affidavit went a step further and stressed that the experience with Short Service Commission (SSC) woman officers has not been encouraging. It said that the response of woman officers when detailed on various courses which are crucial for career progression 'is far from encouraging.

'In most cases, woman officers have declined to go on courses of instructions due to various reasons ranging from family commitment to personal problems,' it added.  

'There is an ever growing demand for spouse/choice postings which is adversely impacting the management of officers to the detriment of male officers,' the affidavit pointed out.

The mentality has not change yet. How will it if we don't take steps to bring the difference? No one expect the Ministry to immediately send woman officers in sensitive area but at least give them opportunity to prove their strength and worth to fight for our country. The country can only celebrate Nari shakti when we remove all the barriers to help them rise. 

ALL THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE ARE GATHER FROM MANY NEWSPAPERS.

WRECKING TRUTH

 The french Investigators have called off the search of evidence at the site of Crash Of Germanwings. Precisely all the evidence including the two flight’s black boxes have pointed out that the plane was deliberated crashed by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. He  locked out the pilot Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer and methodically descended the plane until it crashed in the French Alps, killing himself and 149 people on board.

The incident took place on 24th March, 2015. The Germanwings flight 9525 bound for Dusseldorf took off from Barcelona. According to the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder: after the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet at 10:27 am (local time), the Pilot Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer excuse himself and  leaves the cockpit for nature’s call. It was then, Lubitz has full control over the cockpit. He manipulates the Flight Monitoring Controls to descent the aircraft. Around 10:29, Air traffic radar tries to contact the cockpit  as the plane descent unexpectedly. But there were no reply. The plane descent at the speed of 3400 feet/ min, which is twice than the typical descent. The captain desperately demands Lubitz to let him in the cockpit.  Till 10:41, as the pilot struggled to come inside the cockpit, the plain continued to descent steadily. And then, it crashed into French Alps.

After the 9/11 twin towers attack, the cockpit mechanism was changed completely. To avoid any hijack, the entry in the cockpit was only allowed by the pilots. Unfortunately, in this case death was sitting inside the-cockpit. This incident raises the question on the mechanism of the cockpit door. though, experts have to make sure that there is no easy trespass of an outsider in the cockpit. But they have make sure that no one pilot have the full power on the controls. Some suggests that in such situation, when one of the pilot have to leave the cockpit because of some reason, one crew member should be present till the time he returns. This is to  make sure that someone will be able to open the cockpit door manually, if required. But more than this issue, the world aviation industry has to face the harsh reality. Pilots’ mental fitness.

As the investigation proceeded, his hidden mental health came out in open. Andreas Lubitz was in depression. He was being treated by a psychotherapist for depression and suicidal tendencies. Evidence found by the German investigators, at his home, suggested that in past few months he frequently visited doctors. What seemed to have been an eye check revealed his mental state. He had complaint that ‘he was not seeing as he should’, to which his doctor concluded that his condition was psychosomatic. (A physical illness or condition which was cause or aggravated by internal conflict or mental stress). He in one of his report, was also declared unfit to fly.

 Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr’s statement that Lubitz was 100% fit, during the early phase of revelation, shows the ignorance towards mental health of the employees in any workplace. Because later when Lufthansa dug its own records, they found a mail by Lubitz which mentioned his previous episode of severe depression.
It was in 2008, when Lubitz was training under Lufthansa academies. He had interrupted his training for a period of time. While he was seeking to rejoin its training programme, he informed the academy about his illness. He had also submitted his detailed medicals reports.


This incident has raised an Important question: How should world aviation deal with its crews' Mental Illness? How to really curb the Taboo of Mental Illness in the industry? Andreas Lubitz hid his illness to his company. No one knows since when he had been suffering from depression. According to a news report, When Lubitz cleared from his training, his medical certification had notation about his earlier depression and a warning that if his symptoms return his license would have been terminated. Was it because of the fear of loosing his dream and passion to fly, he didn’t tell his company about his illness. A major question now comes to mind. WHY TERMINATION OF LICENCE? IF THE MEDICAL PROBLEM WOULD HAVE BEEN CANCER INSTEAD OF DEPRESSION, THEN ALSO THE LICENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN CANCELLED? Why can’t we take Mental Illness  as any other physical illness?

Stress and Depression have become a common issue in many society. According the World Health Organisation Report of 2012, an estimate of 350 Million people are effected by depression worldwide. In which many can be pilots. According to CareerCast, career as aircraft pilot come in the fourth most stressful jobs. Thus, why steps are not taken to address psychological health by aviation industry. There should be periodic psychological test of crews   especially pilots as our lives totally depends on them during the journey. It is shocking to know that last time Andreas went through a psychological test was on Sept 2013, when he was hired by German-wings. They did check his physical fitness in summer 2014 in annual pilot recertification medical routine. But no test were taken to check his mental fitness. Even when his earlier medical certificate mentioned his previous illness, why no steps were taken by the company to check his state of mind.

 Another issue that the incident raise is Patient confidentiality. As mentioned earlier, his doctor had considered him unfit to fly. I know patient confidentiality is important as it is patient’s personal issue. But, doesn’t one should considered to have a such rule, where in extreme cases, doctors could inform the company about the patient illness. If Andreas’s doctor could have told  the company, he could have been denied from flying that day. This rule could have drawbacks too as mental illness is considered to be a taboo.

This ain’t the first time that pilot have intentionally crashed the plane. Since 1982, aircraft assisted suicides by commercial airlines pilots have killed 421 people. And if the final reports confirms that Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane the death toll will increase to 571. In 1997, Silk Air Boeing 737-300 crashed in Palembang, Indonesia killing 104 people on board.  The plane descended from 35000 feet into a river in minute. A dive so fast that it reached supersonic speed. According the investigation, cockpit voice recorder which had been cut off, was willingly disabled. Egypt Air 990 crashed in 1999 killing people on board. According to the US led NTBS investigation, the pilot Gamal-al- Batouti had intentionally crashed the plane.  had muttered  several times an arabic phase translated as 'I rely on God' before the crash. The Egypt never accepted it though. In 2013, Pilot of Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470, crashed in Namibia killing 33 people on board. According to the investigation, the Pilot crashed the plane when co-pilot had gone to the bathroom.

With stress becoming a part of our modern lives, it is necessary that we as a society need to address this problem both individually and as a community. Andreas Lubitz might be considered as a mass murder by many right now. But, he was just ill. Instead of blaming sick people and trying to understand their motives, we should concentrate on changing the system. We need to start treating mental illnesses with the same seriousness as physical ones early on, instead of judging and shaming the patient.

ALL THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE ARE GATHER FROM MANY NEWSPAPERS.