Wednesday 29 August 2018

Post-Truth Vedic Mathematics: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam = (Whole World – UAE).K




Post-Truth Vedic Mathematics:
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam = (Whole World – UAE).K

Key: K signifies in relation to Kerala 

 by
Dr. P.S. Sahni

The incumbent occupying the seat of the Prime Minister of India may live under the delusion that the aforementioned equation – a product of his politics – is at par with Einstein’s E mc2 and which lets him erroneously experience a eureka moment in the Archimedean spirit. Nevertheless Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is a Sanskrit phrase found in Hindu texts such as the Maha-Upanishad which means the world is one family. This verse is engraved in the entrance hall of the Parliament of India and is said to be the “loftiest Vedantic thought”.

Ever since he has come to power, the Prime Minister of India has invoked the term Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VK) umpteen times. On 27 September, 2014 while addressing the 69th U.N. General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, he referred to the term as India’s philosophy. This was his maiden speech at the U.N. Next on 24 November, 2015 in Singapore he reminded the audience that Indians believe in VK. He again invoked VK on 9 July, 2016 in South Africa. Once more on 23 November, 2017 while inaugurating the two day Global Conference on Cyberspace in Delhi he said that technology breaks barriers and it validates the Indian philosophy of world is one family. As recently as 23 January, 2018 he stressed on VK at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in solving the global problems … to bridge the existing gap in humanity.

When ‘Operation Maitri’ was launched as a rescue and relief operation in Nepal – with a predominantly Hindu population – by the Government of India in the aftermath of April, 2015 earthquake, around Rs. 7000/- crores were given in aid. India pledged this amount for the reconstruction efforts. (This is ten times the amount which the UAE government is said to have offered presently for the Kerala flood victims). The Indian aid was duly accepted by Nepal during its hour of need.

Now the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam by no stretch of imagination can be seen to be only emanating from India in a centrifugal direction towards the rest of the world. It could be that due to the constant invocation of the philosophy by the Prime Minister of India, the head of the UAE is convinced of its universality. It is in this spirit that the UAE aid should be seen. Only this time around the philosophy is gravitating towards India in a centripetal direction. In physics, as in life, action and reaction are equal and opposite.

The interconnectedness of the world cannot be denied. The whole world is a global village. Those in power who have been chanting the mantra of VK would do well to remember Krishna’s discourse in Bhagwad Gita:

“There are some people who do not see whether or not the world is connected. For them it is meaningless, because they always live in a self-created darkness, devoid of knowledge. These are tamasik people who are lazy, slothful, inert and blind to reason and truth.”

The powers that be cannot wish UAE out of the global village.

The real issue which is getting obfuscated is the hatred which the present rulers in India based in New Delhi have towards Muslim people and Muslim majority countries; the latter gets seen as enemies in relation to the ideology which permeates the Sangh Parivar. No doubt since 1992 the invocation of Ram and Ram temple at Ayodhya has thrown up at least two prime ministers from within the BJP fold. The right wing forces would do well to remember that when Sita was abducted, Ram had no hesitation in accepting aid and help from birds and animals in locating her whereabouts. Ram even enlisted the help of Vibhishana, younger brother of Ravana, the latter being perceived as the enemy of Ram.

The legend in Ramayana where the then Prince Dashratha unleashed an arrow on a boy Shravan Kumar who had come to a lake to collect water for his sick and aged parents, who were both blind and whom he had been carrying on a sling, needs to be remembered by those ruling India. When Dashratha went to tell about Shravan’s death to his parents, the latter cursed Prince Dashratha who later suffered in life. Dashtratha’s kingdom too suffered.

By killing the foreign aid the puffed up bullies in Delhi have done ‘a Dashratha’ act on the needy, hungry and thirsty people of Kerala devastated by the recent floods. Keralites would never forgive the rulers of India for their betrayal.

[Dr. P.S. Sahni is a member of PIL Watch Group and can be contacted at: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com]

  
Also At: https://countercurrents.org/2018/08/30/post-truth-vedic-mathematics-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-whole-world-uae-k/

Monday 20 August 2018

Kerala Floods: Operation Chlorine Tablet, Operation Bleaching Powder Needed

I am making a few suggestions in the wake of monumental tragedy caused by floods in Kerala. Apart from whatever the administration is doing to contain epidemic of water borne diseases, stress should be on two very simple steps:
  1. The Kerala government could announce and initiate on a war footing ‘Operation Chlorine Tablet’
  2. The Kerala government could announce and initiate on a war footing ‘Operation Bleaching Powder’
These should be distributed at the relief camps/medical centers so that it reaches every household. If implemented these two steps alone could save thousands of lives in Kerala. The chlorine tablet would take care of the water being made drinkable; the bleaching powder would ensure that the surroundings are disinfected. These two steps are very cost effective & could be done even by financially strained municipalities.
Of course the services of WHO, UNICEF and NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi) could be availed of, but their advice should be questioned on scientific grounds before their prescription is implemented on the masses.
These suggestions emanate through work in areas/situations where water borne diseases become imminent. I was a member of one of the first medical team which reached Indo-Bangla border in 1971 where almost ten million refugees had landed. The camp where I worked had housed twenty-five thousand refugees. The stress was on vaccination against cholera and typhoid, use of bleaching powder as a disinfectant and distribution of Sulfaguanidine tablets at our makeshift clinic. Those in severe dehydration were given intravenous glucose saline solution – which was always a scarce commodity. Since we worked during the months of June, July and August the monsoon rains as also the overflowing small nearby rivers played havoc in the spread of epidemic diseases.
During the 1988 cholera epidemic in Delhi half the citizens were vaccinated by the Rajiv Gandhi government even though WHO had concluded by then that vaccination is both useless as well as dangerous once the epidemic has started. Over 1500 people had died in this epidemic. It is well known that governments resort to mass vaccination since those in power want to appear to be doing something during the crises – and vaccination offers the best mask as if something effective is being done for the masses. Majority of the deaths had occurred because people were being shifted to infectious diseases hospitals whereas they should have been treated right at the local treatment centers at the relief camps.
(In recent years the WHO has again changed its stance and is now seen to be advocating cholera vaccination even when there is a full blown epidemic; perhaps the WHO, too, wants to be seen to be doing something just as politicians in power do worldwide.)
I had a chance to work among the tribals in Nilgiris in 1973 where Dr. Narasimhan Rao had devoted his whole life for the cause of the tribals. He impressed upon us through experience that where intravenous glucose saline solution is not available, one could directly inject green coconut water; all one needs is the intravenous tubing set. In fact this method is of use in remote areas of some countries along coastal areas. But its use is limited to severe dehydration cases.
Dr. P.S. Sahni is a member of PIL Watch Group Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com