“Some people no matter how old they get, never loose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces to their heart.”
Martin Buxbom
“कुछ लोग, चाहे जितने बूढ़े हो जाएं, उनकी सुंदरता नहीं मिटती - वह बस उनके चेहरों से उतर कर उनके दिलों में आ बसती है।”
मार्टिन बक्सबाम
On January 9, 2022, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that December 26 would be celebrated as “Veer Baal Diwas”. The day will be celebrated to pay tribute to Sahibzades, that is, the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh.
It was on the same day Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh attained martyrdom. They were sealed alive in wall. They preferred death rather than following a non – dharmic path. The four Sahibzades never bowed to injustice. They wanted to create a harmonious world.
Sahibzade in Punjabi means sons. The term is usually used to refer to the four sons of the Sikh guru Guru Gobind Singh. He was the tenth Guru of the Sikhs. His birth anniversary is celebrated on January 9 every year. His four sons were Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh.
The younger pair of the sons were called the Chotta Sahibzade. They were martyred by the Mughals together. Sahibzada Fateh Singh was less than six years old. Shahibzada Zorawar Singh was eight years old. They were bricked alive by the Mughals. Even at such tender age they refused to bow down to the Mughals. The Gurudwara Fatehgarh Sahib marks the execution of the Sahibzades. It is located in Sirhind.
The older sons of Guru Gobind Singh are called Vaada Sahibzade. Baba Arjit Singh and Jujhar Singh died in the second Battle of Chamkaur. They died in the age of 18 and 14 respectively. The battle was fought between the Khalsa army led by Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughal Army on the order of Aurangazeb. The battle was fought in December 1704. Guru Gobind Singh refers to the battle as Zafarnamah.
The Sahibzades died between December 21 and December 26. Every year, the Sikhs observe Sangat during this period. Sangat in Punjabi means company or association. During this time, the Sikhs chant hymns and perform kirtans.
Urbanisation and the growth of cities in India have been accompanied by pressure on basic infrastructure and services like housing, sanitation and health. The 2011 Census of India reveals that the urban population of the country stood at 31.16 per cent. It indicates that there are about 4.5 lakh houseless families, a total population of 17.73 lakh living without any roof over their heads. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are the two states with an acute housing crisis.
Though shelter is a basic human need, migrant workers live in extremely precarious conditions. Most of the migrants are employed in construction, small industries, hotels, casual work, domestic work and other informal activities. In the case of migrants working in small units, hotels and homes, their workplace is their place of lodging too. Often such places are unhygienic and poorly ventilated. Most construction workers stay in makeshift arrangements. Casual workers sleep under bridges and on pavements, often living as a group in unhygienic surroundings.
How has the pandemic affected the housing of migrant workers? Firstly, when the pandemic struck and the national lockdown was announced, most workers rushed back home on foot, leaving behind their temporary abodes. Those who were left behind lost their shelter because workplaces were shut. Migrants living in rented apartments could not maintain social distancing. In suburban regions with a sizeable number of migrants, the local population wanted them to vacate houses as soon as the pandemic began, citing the lack of hygienic conditions in these dwellings. Even though most state governments appealed to house owners to waive two months’ rent, they began mounting pressure soon after. Up to 88 per cent of migrants reported that they could not pay the rent for the next month, according to a survey conducted by Azim Premji University of 5,000 self-employed, casual, and regular wage workers across 12 states of India in April and May 2020.
According to a 2020 ILO report on internal labour migrants, the absence of dignified housing is further aggravated by a lack of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Even though there has been an installation of public toilets through Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, their availability may not be adequate in migrant-dense clusters. Migrant workers find housing in slums, which is often subject to a sudden increase in rent, and have access only to the poorest infrastructure and services.
There can be various strategic responses of stakeholders (owners and migrant tenants) in the context of existing housing conditions. The first is when the owner provides a house and the migrant stays. This is an optimal condition, where rent could evolve for a competitive market for houses. On the other hand, an extreme condition is that neither does the owner provide the houses nor are the migrants willing to stay. This is the stage where the state might be forced to get involved in the housing market to explore and ease conditions. In addition, more transparency in the case of contracts may also be necessitated. The other possibilities are — either the migrant is not willing to stay in rented housing or the owner is not ready to provide housing to migrants.
In the context of Covid-19, either the migrant was not willing to stay in rented housing or the owner was not willing to provide housing. These possible scenarios also indicate the necessity of coordinated efforts of the state and the contractors to address housing issues. It also calls for long-term policymaking and analysis of the housing sector.
Let us see how policy has responded to the needs of the urban poor, especially marginalised migrant workers. The smart cities initiative was launched in June 2015. A smart city is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of urban infrastructure, sustainable real estate, high density of communication network and a wider market. The Smart Cities Mission identified 100 cities, covering 21 per cent of India’s urban population, for a transformation in four rounds starting January 2016. Some of the core infrastructure elements in a smart city include proper water supply, assured electricity supply, sanitation, and affordable housing especially for the poor. Government data shows that 49 per cent of 5,196 projects for which work orders were issued across 100 smart cities in India remain unfinished. This lag in implementation often raises questions about the efficacy of innovative policy prescriptions. Efforts like the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) launched in 2005 intended to make the process of urbanisation smooth; it has now entered its second phase to make cities water-secure and provide better amenities for the marginalised.
The Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package announced by the government in May 2020 included the provision of affordable rental housing complexes (ARHC) for migrant workers/urban poor. The plan was to convert government-funded housing in the cities into ARHCs through PPPs, and provide incentives to various stakeholders to develop ARHCs on their private land and operate them.
While developing social rental housing, the state should ensure that the location has proper access to transport networks seducation and healthcare. The working group by NITI Aayog constituted to study internal labour has recommended that rental housing in the public sector could be expanded through the provision of dormitory accommodation. This would make public housing affordable and reduce the conflict between owners and tenants. Action-oriented policies alone can improve the lives of labouring migrants.
Written by Sumeetha M , S Irudaya Rajan , Rahul V Kumar
Source: Indian Express, 10/01/22
Speaking at an event in Hyderabad recently, Supreme Court Justice S Abdul Nazeer lamented that despite India having a tradition of jurisprudence that can be traced to great sages like Manu, Kautilya and Brihaspati, a British-induced “colonial psyche” persists in the legal system today.
“In England, Western Europe and the US, judges and lawyers receive an education based on their civilisations. Russia’s judicial values stem from their Marxist past, but the Indian judge or lawyer learns about Roman law and the theories of Western jurists,” said Justice Nazeer, adding, “They learn nothing about the evolution of the law in their own land.” Ascribing the weaknesses in the judiciary to a lack of historical perspective, Justice Nazeer stressed that Indian jurisprudence must be included as a compulsory subject in law degree courses.
Currently, Indian society is divided into those who feel that an insidious Western influence has turned us into stunted copycats and that we should carefully reexamine our glorious past to appreciate our uniqueness. The others, a far smaller number, fear that a self-congratulatory ethnocentrism prevails, closing our minds to established facts from around the world. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. Even in India, the winds of change are impossible to miss. The stories we have been told about ourselves, family diktats on how we should live, seem unconvincing, at odds with a global reality. Laws support LGBTQ rights, single working women are a potent force and you get the sense that the youth are impatiently shedding all inhibition. The ‘wise elder’ of Indian households commands respect but has lost the control he once exerted.
At the same time, if not in legal circles, modern interpretations of Kautilya’s 2,000-year-old Arthashastra are thriving. There are over 25 books by management gurus available on Amazon who have distilled Chanakya’s realist approach, applying age-old principles to everyday conundrums. At some point in our lives, we all seek to know thyself better, to cope. Indeed, there is great value in the ancient texts, expanding our views on existence, and nudging us to discover that whether B.C. or A.D, mankind’s travails remains the same: our goals, peace and prosperity, our frustrations, troubled relationships and financial insecurity. Within these broad truths, Justice Nazeer’s call that each society differs fundamentally and must be evaluated in terms of its own structures is crucial not just for courts to deliver justice but for people to escape the limitations of their environment, which colour their perceptions of the world.
Cultural relativism can best be understood by example, like noting specifically, how differently Indians and Westerners view marriage. A top US newspaper is carrying a piece that has gained a lot of traction online, ‘How I Demolished my Life’. The writer proudly asserts that she walked out of a marriage with three children because her “husband was blocking her view of the world”. Even the most urbane and emancipated Indian would baulk in alarm at such self-indulgence, perhaps because in India, we feel duty-bound to power through situations, disregarding personal costs. Self-absorption versus sacrifice, who is to say what’s the better method to finding one’s way to that ever-so-elusive happiness? It seems both sides have considerable pitfalls; one would benefit by toning down the impulsiveness, the other by occasionally upsetting the status quo.
It was news to me that the word adhikar, my right, does not occur even once in the Arthashastra. However, the word dharma, the obligation to one’s duty, is central to the text, as it is to the Bhagavad Gita. The opinions and ideas of scholars passed down over generations have profound effect on society, so the subconscious baggage of duty is hard to shake off. Perhaps, we need to philosophically agree that our choices are dictated by factors larger than ourselves. Maturity isn’t just taking responsibility for our actions but critically assessing the history that placed us there. The ultimate freedom is having the power to change it.
Written by Leher Kala
Source: Indian Express, 9/01/22