ವಿರಾಟ್

Modi really deserves kudos! By Vijay Joshi Finally, it was Narendra Modi who had the last smile of satisfaction after the results of Gujarath assembly elections have been announced and Sonia Gandhi, supremo of the Congress, who called Modi “the merchant of death”, had to swallow her own words. In fact, what made Modi to regain power in Gujarat in spite of vehement election campaign against him and his party by the Congress and other allied political parties is not a mystery at all! Around a month before elections to the Gujarat assembly, I happened to glance at a news magazine that had published an exclusive interview with Modi. It was really wondering for anyone as Modi was staying away from journalists for, I suppose, he was branded by the media world as the propagator of hardcore Hindutva ideology. So, it was natural for anyone to be surprised at the sight of any newsmagazine publishing his interview. In that interview the interviewer had questioned Modi if he had done anything for ...

ಈ ಘಟನೆ ನಡೆದದ್ದು ಜನವರಿ 13, 2007 ರಂದು. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಕನಕಪುರ ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಆರ್ಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಲಿವಿಂಗ್ ಆಶ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದ್ದ ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳ ಥಿಂಕ್ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ಎಂಬ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ. ಇಡೀ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ 'ಆಧ್ಯಾತ್ಮ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರದ ಪ್ರಗತಿ' ಎಂಬ ವಿಶಯದ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರಿತವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಆ ದಿನ ಬೆಳಿಗ್ಗೆ ಕೇರಳದ ವಿಜಯ್ ಮೆನನ್ ಅವರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದರ ಜೀವನ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾದನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಭಾಷಣವನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿದ ಸುಮಾರು ಒಂದು ಸಾವಿರದಷ್ಠಿದ್ದ ಯುವಜನತೆ ರೋಮಾಂಚಿತಗೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಅವರ ಭಾಷಣದಲ್ಲಿನ ಎರಡು ವಿಚಾರಗಳು ಮನಮುಟ್ಟುವಂತಿದ್ದವು: ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದರು ತಮ್ಮ ಚಿಕಾಗೋ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ "ನಾನು ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದ, ನಾನು ಭಾರತದಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ" ಅಂತ ಒಮ್ಮೆಯೂ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಬಡಲಿಗೆ ಅವರು "ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೇ ವಿಶ್ವಭ್ರಾತ್ರ ತ್ವ ಮತ್ತು ವಿಶ್ವಶಾಂತಿಯ ಸಂದೇಶ ನೀಡಿದ ಮಹಾನ್ ಪರಂಪರೆಯ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಯಾಗಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮುಂದೆ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದೇನೆ" ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದರು. ಇದು ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದರ ನಿರಹಂಕಾರ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇವತ್ತು ಬಹುತೇಕ ಭಾಷಣಕಾರರು ತಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷಣವನ್ನು 'ನನ್ನ ಸಹೋದರ ಸಹೋದರಿಯರೇ' ಅಂತಲೇ ಆರಂಭಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅವರುಗಳ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಆರಂಭಕ್ಕೆ ಯಾರೂ ಚಪ್ಪಾಳೆ ತಟ್ಟುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದರು ಚಿಕಾಗೋ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸದ ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ "ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ನನ್ನ ಸಹೋದರ ಸಹೋದರಿಯರೇ" ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದ...

ಈ ವಿರೋಧ ಯಾವ ಪುರುಷಾರ್ಥದ ಸಾಧನೆಗಾಗಿ? ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ! ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಪಡಬೇಕಾದ ಕಾರಣವೂ ಇದೆ. ೧೯೬೨ರಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತದ ಮೇಲೆ ಚೀನಾ ಮೋಸದಿಂದ ದಾಳಿ ಮಾಡಿದಾಗ, ಭಾರತದ ಅಖಂಡತೆ ಆಪತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತಕ್ಕೆ ಜೋತುಬಿದ್ದು ಚೀನಾದ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಮಾತನಾಡದೆ ತೆಪ್ಪಗಿದ್ದ ಕಮ್ಯುನಿಸ್ಟರು ಭಾರತ ಮತ್ತು ಅಮೆರಿಕಾ ನಡುವೆ ಏರ್ಪಟ್ಟಿರುವ ನಾಗರಿಕ ಅಣು ಒಪ್ಪಂದದ ನಂತರ "ಭಾರತದ ಸಾರ್ವಭೌಮತೆ ಅಪಾಯದಲ್ಲಿದೆ" ಎಂದು ಕೂಗೆಬ್ಬಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಎಂಥವರಿಗೂ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಗದೆ ಇರದು. ೨೦೦೫ರಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತ ಮತ್ತು ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ನಡುವೆ ಏರ್ಪಟ್ಟ ನಾಗರಿಕ ಅಣುಶಕ್ತಿ ಒಪ್ಪಂದದ ನಂತರ ಎಡಪಂಥೀಯರು ಮತ್ತು ವಿರೋಧಪಕ್ಷಗಳ ದೇಶದ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಕಾಳಜಿ ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾದ ಹಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಮೆರಿಕ ತಾನು ಅಣ್ವಸ್ತ್ರಶಕ್ತ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರವಾದಾಗಿನಿಂದ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಈಗ ಕೊಡಲು ಯೋಚಿಸಿರುವ ಅಣುಶಕ್ತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವನ್ನು ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಬೇರಾವ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕ್ಕೂ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಉದಾಹರಣೆ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಕಳೆದ ವರ್ಷ ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ತನ್ನ ನಿಲುವನ್ನು ಸಡಿಲಿಸಿ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಅಣುಶಕ್ತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವನ್ನು ಪಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಅವಕಾಶ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಕಾರಣಗಳೂ ಇವೆ. ಅಮೆರಿಕದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾದ ನಾಗರಿಕ ಅಣುಶಕ್ತಿ ಒಪ್ಪಂದವು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬಂದರೆ ಭಾರತ ಮತ್ತು ಅಮೆರಿಕ ನಡುವಿನ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಇನ್ನೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಈ ಒಪ್ಪಂದವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿವರ್ಷ ನವೀಕರ...

A day with him… It happened in the month of July, 2006… One evening in the month of July, I went to our Journalism Department and kept some of my completed assignments on the table. I was about to come back to the hostel. At that time ma’am called me and said, “Vijay, a media person is coming to our department from Bangalore. If you want to meet him just wait for a while.” As a student of journalism I was very eager to meet him. Just after 5-10 minutes he arrived and I welcomed him at the door. “I wanted to meet you since many days” he said as though he knew me since many years. I was happy for a moment for being recognized by an elderly and well-read person. Our friendship turned out to be a ‘close friendship’ in the later days. I used to meet him whenever he visited coastal towns like Kundapur, Udupi, Karkala etc. We used to discuss many issues of social relevance. Once I met him in Karkala. He was on an official visit to Karkala. As usual we discussed many issues. Since my childhood...

By Vijay Joshi What do you think is the responsibility of a Journalist? Do you think that Journalist's work is simply to report that what has happened; its time, place and the reason? If so, then, what is the need for a Journalist to have his own, self-defined, social concern? Why should he study the history, as well as literature, of his nation and the world? What is, then, the objective of these three year bachelors program, continued by two years post graduation, in Journalism? Isn't it then fair enough for him to have a reasonably good hold on language and ability to report events, and/or development, as and when they occur? It's not that I don't have respect for university qualified journalists or their work. But, honestly, I have a doubt that is going unanswered for a long time now. A Journalist, in the name of freedom of speech, questions almost every act of politicians, celebrities and society as a whole. He tends to criticize, and give suggestion, whenever the...

Do you think that whatever the Indian government and its ministers do are according to the secular principle? If your answer is ‘YES’, then you need not read this article! You might be well aware of the case of S.S.Sandhu, Superintendent of Police, Taran Taaran, who himself protected the people of Panjab from the brutal hands of terrorists in the 80s decade. He and his fellowmen had conducted many military operations against Sikh terrorists throughout Panjab and had strived hard to restore normalcy in the Panjab state. Later the National Human Right Commission of India filed many cases against him for he had, allegedly, violated the ‘human rights’ of terrorists! At that time no secularists, no human rights activists were present to advocate on behalf of Sandhu. Later Sandhu surrendered to death as he was unable to prove that he had not violated the ‘human rights’ of terrorists! It is strange but true that many a times Indian ‘secularists’ and ‘human right’ activists advocate on behalf ...