Monday, July 29, 2024

India holds Kargil Vijay Diwas every year on July 26 to remember the brave soldiers who died in the 1999 Kargil Conflict. On the 25th anniversary in 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Kargil War Memorial in Drass, Ladakh, to pay tribute to the martyrs.

Historical Background

India and Pakistan fought a fierce war called the Kargil War from May 8, 1999, to July 26, 1999. The war was a turning point in India’s military history, and it ended with the successful finishing of Operation Vijay. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in charge of India then, and Nawaz Sharif was in charge of Pakistan.

Cause of the Conflict

In late 1998 and early 1999, Pakistani troops sneaked into India by pretending to be mujahideen. They took over key positions along the Line of Control (LoC), taking advantage of the fact that Indian forces found it hard to keep up high posts in the winter.

Significance of Kargil Vijay Diwas

Kargil Vijay Diwas has been celebrated every year on July 26 since 1999. It is a time to remember and honor the bravery of Indian troops. The holiday boosts national pride and remembers the final sacrifice made by the armed forces.

Post-War Initiatives

After the war, K. Subramanyam led the Kargil Review Committee, which looked into what led to the conflict and suggested ways to stop it from happening again. One important suggestion was to lower the average age of soldiers in the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared for battle and more effective.

About Operation Vijay

Operation Vijay was India’s military operation in 1999 to reclaim the Kargil district from Pakistani soldiers and militants. The conflict was significant for being India’s first high-altitude warfare since WWII. The operation lasted approximately 60 days, from May to July 1999. Approximately 527 Indian soldiers were killed, and over 1,300 were wounded. The operation led to the establishment of the Kargil War Memorial. It also prompted India to improve its military capabilities, particularly in high-altitude warfare and surveillance.

India’s 500th Community Radio Station in Aizawl

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, recently launched India’s 500th community radio station, ‘Apna Radio 90.0 FM’, in Aizawl. At the same time, he announced the winners of the 10th National Community Radio Awards. This event shows that the government is serious about using media to get more people involved in their communities.

Significance of Community Radio

Community radio gives people in the area a chance to be heard and allows people at the local level to communicate. It encourages participation in politics, artistic expression, and social change, which makes it an important part of the media landscape. The launch of Apna Radio is in line with the government’s Act East strategy, which aims to improve community welfare and connectivity, especially in India’s North East. It shows a dedication to making local problems and stories heard.

Awards Overview

The National Community Radio Awards recognize outstanding contributions by stations across various categories, highlighting innovation, cultural promotion, and sustainability.

Award Categories

Thematic Award: Celebrating specific impactful themes.
Most Innovative Community Engagement Award: Creativity in audience participation.
Promoting Local Culture Award: Highlighting local traditions and culture.
Sustainability Model Award: Encouraging sustainable practices in radio operation.

Award Winners

Thematic Award:

1st: Radio Mayur, Bihar (Tech Sakhi)
2nd: Radio Kochi, Kerala (Nirangal)
3rd: Hello Doon, Uttarakhand (Meri Baat)

Most Innovative Community Engagement Award

1st: Yerlawani Sangli, Maharashtra (Kahani Sunandachi)
2nd: Vaylaga Vanoli, Tamil Nadu (Let’s Build a New Norm)
3rd: Salaam Namaste, Uttar Pradesh (Maid Didi)

Promoting Local Culture Award:

1st: Radio Brahmaputra, Assam (Igarekun)
2nd: Radio Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu (En Makkaludan Oru Payanam)
3rd: Radio Active, Bihar (Ang Pradesh ki Adbut Dharohar)

Sustainability Model Award

1st: Radio Benziger, Kerala
2nd: Radio Namaskar, Odisha
3rd: Radio Antarwani, Karnataka

Assam’s Charaideo Moidams Added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The Charaideo Moidams in Assam, which are royal burial grounds from the Ahom dynasty, were recently named UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This gives this nationally important area, which is about 30 km from Sivasagar in eastern Assam, international recognition.

What are Moidams?

Moidams are tumuli, which are earth mounds built over the graves of Ahom kings. The moidams of the Ahom royal family are in Charaideo, but you can find other buildings like them all over eastern Assam. Each moidam usually has a vault with rooms inside, a hemispherical mound on top, and a tower called the chow chali that is surrounded by an eight-sided wall. The Ahoms, who were related to the Tai people, chose burial over burning, which is different from Hindu customs. Their unique burial rituals, which were based on old Egyptian practices, meant that these moidams often held more than just the dead. They also held things for the afterlife, servants, animals, and even wives.

The Importance of Charaideo

Charaideo, whose name comes from Tai Ahom words that mean “shining town on a hill,” was the first capital of the Ahom kingdom, which was set up by King Sukaphaa in 1253 AD. It stayed an important power center and is still a place with a lot of historical and cultural value.

Tourism and Preservation

The moidams are popular with tourists today, but many of them are in bad shape. The Archaeological Survey of India only protects 30 of the over 150 moidams. People know that the Charaideo Moidams are important as a whole, especially since they are different from other similar grave sites in terms of size and number of people buried there. Assam’s culture will always be linked to the Ahom kingdom, which ruled for a long time from 1228 to 1826 AD. People praise them for how well they run their government and how strong their military is, especially when fighting off foreign attacks. Celebrating people like Lachit Borphukan at events shows how important they are to modern Indian culture, especially as nationalism grows.

Greater likelihood of major conflicts

A worrying aspect of some extremely costly and threatening conflicts in recent times has been that they seem to be getting prolonged.

worrying aspect of some extremely costly and threatening conflicts in recent times has been that they seem to be getting prolonged. The added risk is that the more prolonged they are, there are increased chances of escalation and a wider conflict which would be even more threatening for world peace. In the case of the Gaza conflict, at least several efforts for achieving ceasefire and peace have been made (all such efforts have also included the release of Israeli hostages) and for a considerable stretch of time there were reports on an almost daily basis regarding the progress (or otherwise) of these efforts.

Qatar and Egypt in particular have been involved in these efforts but they have been seeking the cooperation of others too, particularly the USA, in their efforts. The USA also claimed to have taken the initiative for peace at times. Then, even more significantly, there have been UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire. Despite this nothing has been achieved and the extreme distress of the people of Gaza is nowhere near ending despite increasing worldwide concern. On the contrary, other fronts of this conflict, which have existed from the beginning, appear to show a worsening situation. In this context, there was much concern recently regarding the increased chance of a bigger conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the Lebanon front.

In addition there have been several reports regarding the increasing violence and aggression in the West Bank region also. While in Gaza at least peacemaking efforts have been seen somewhat frequently, even though without raising much hope, in the Russia-Ukraine conflict the visibility of any serious efforts is even less. Of course, a significant peace effort was made at a very early stage of the war which had raised hope of ending this war within two months or so. But this effort was sabotaged by powerful forces. After this, no serious and sincere effort involving both sides has been seen. This is extremely sad and worrying due to the high risks of escalation and widening of this particular war. As it is, it is proving to be the most costly on-going war in terms of loss of human lives. However, the even bigger danger is that this war has the highest chances of leading to a direct confrontation between USA/Nato and Russia.

These two sides have about 11,000 nuclear weapons with them. Any possibility of a direct confrontation is widely seen to be a very serious threat not just to world peace but even to world survival. Keeping in view all these factors, the prolonging of the Palestinian and Ukraine conflicts is deeply worrying. At the same time, several other serious conflicts, like the civil war in Sudan, which are relatively much easier to resolve, have also dragged on for a long time inflicting high costs, particularly in terms of displacement of people. An overview of all the conflicts in the world also reveals that early solutions are getting more elusive. The Global Peace Index (GPI) which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, covering 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, can provide an overview of the existing situation.

Produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the GPI has been frequently mentioned as the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. Its 18th edition in 2024 has presented important data which show the rising incidence and costs of conflicts and wars. One of the most significant findings of the report is that many of the conditions that precede major conflicts are greater now than they have been since the end of the Second World War. This is in line with several warnings voiced by leading commentators regarding the possibilities of the Ukraine war or the Gaza conflict escalating into much wider wars.

In addition, the number of conflicts is also increasing in various parts of the world. As the GPI tells us, there are currently 56 active conflicts, the most since the end of World War II, with fewer conflicts being resolved, either militarily or through peace agreements. This is deeply worrying, as this means that wars now tend to drag on for longer periods and the capacity of the international community or the United Nations to end them soon has decreased. This also means that the distress suffered by people due to conflicts and wars has increased. The GPI tells us further that the number of conflicts that ended in a decisive victory fell from 49 per cent in the 1970s to nine per cent in the 2010s, while conflicts that ended through peace agreements fell from 23 per cent to four per cent over the same period. If only four per cent of the conflicts are now ending with peace agreements, this is surely bad news for the forces of peace.

What has gone wrong? This question should be discussed very widely and seriously by all those who are committed to world peace. The latest GPI tells us that conflicts are also becoming more internationalised, with as many as 92 countries now engaged in conflicts beyond their borders, the most since the inception of the GPI in 2008, complicating negotiation processes for a lasting peace and prolonging conflicts.

Trying to explain this worrying phenomenon, the GPI argues that the “internationalisation of conflict is driven by increased great power competition and the rise of middle level powers, who are becoming more active in their regions.” Further, GPI 2024 tells us that although the measures of militarisation had been improving for the first 16 years of the GPI, the trend has now reversed and in 2024, militarisation deteriorated in 108 countries. The combination of these factors, GPI argues, means that the likelihood of another major conflict is higher than at any time since the inception of the GPI.

This should be a wake-up call as this finding is based on a lot of data and information. While the GPI indicates disturbing trends at several levels, its findings relating to increased possibilities of a bigger conflict and the decreasing possibilities of peace agreements contributing to the end of conflicts are the most worrying. Clearly there is much greater urgency for strengthening all forces of peace. The peace movements all over the world should be stronger and there should be much greater continuity of many-sided activities with the aim of strengthening peace.

BHARAT DOGRA

Source: The Statesman, 24/07/24

Caste heat: Editorial on how SC/STs and OBCs face higher levels of work-time heat exposure

Climate change is warming the planet at an alarming pace but not everyone, research has found out, is feeling the heat equally. A study that combined data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey and weather reports found that people belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes face much higher levels of work-time heat exposure than others. Between 2019 and 2022, in at least 65 districts across India, 75% of SC and ST workers spent 75% of their working hours outdoors. This is because marginalised communities continue to dominate occupations that rely on outdoor physical labour, such as agriculture, construction, mining or municipal work. These, in turn, come with an enhanced risk of exposure to extreme heat and related illnesses, including heat stroke that is life-threatening. Significantly, the ‘thermal injustice’ is not limited to the outdoors: several National Family Health Surveys have shown that marginalised caste groups have lower access to fans, coolers and air conditioners at home. The situation is worse for women. They not only face extreme heat outside but also bear an excess burden of household air pollution on account of cooking with polluting fuels. A 2015 study also found that more women walk to work than men, especially in the mornings, leaving them vulnerable to smog and air pollution. Yet another survey revealed that Dalit and Adivasi communities have fewer adaptation resources to combat the damage from events related to climate change since they continue to be deprived of socio-economic and political rights and face systemic discrimination.

India has a National Action Plan on Climate Change; states have individual climate action policies as well. But the vulnerabilities of caste-oppressed communities seldom form a part of these plans. There is thus a case for policy mediation to be sensitised to the intersections between caste and climate. For instance, data on heat and pollution deaths and ailments could be parsed by caste and gender to monitor the efficacy of policy changes. Affirmative action must also target the chokehold that caste has over labour, the choice of professions, as well as education and employment. Dismantling ancient prejudices will take time. What can begin immediately though are interventions such as making breaks during peak hours of heat mandatory. Regular health check-ups of workers along with simple infrastructural modifications — the construction of shaded resting spots and public water dispensers — can be effective ways of making the respite from heat more democratic.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Quote of the Day July 23, 2024

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”
William Blake (1757-1827), British Poet and Artist

“अपने डैनों के ही बल उड़ने वाला कोई भी परिंदा बहुत ऊंचा नहीं उड़ता।”
विलियम ब्लेक (१७५७-१८२७), अंग्रेज़ कवि व कलाकार

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