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Ask Dr. Faizal 1 – The Classical and Quantum Understandings of the World

Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Ask Dr. Faizal 1 – The Classical and Quantum Understandings of the World

By Dr. Mir Faizal and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Dr. Mir Faizal is an Adjunct Professor in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Lethbridge and a Visiting Professor in Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan.

Here we start the cosmology educational series on the differences between the classical and the quantum worlds.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We have heard terms like classical physics and quantum physics. What do these terms mean in simple words, and what is the difference between them?

Dr. Mir Faizal: We have evolved at a certain scale, and our intuitive understanding of the world is also limited to that scale. Now common sense is the expression of this intuitive understanding of the world in languages like English or French. If this intuitive understanding of the world is expressed in mathematics, we naturally will obtain a mathematical description of common sense. This mathematical description of our intuitive understanding is called classical physics. However, there is no fundamental reason why such a description will hold at a different scale. In fact, now we have known that the classical description does not hold at very small scales, and common sense seems also to break at such a scale. It is hard to accurately describe the world at such a small scale using languages like English or French, as these languages have not been evolved to describe the world at such a scale. However, it is still possible to mathematically describe the world at such a small scale, and this mathematical description of a small scale is called quantum physics. Even though it is not possible to describe the world at such a small scale in common language, it is possible to use analogies to understand physics at such small scales.

Jacobsen: We see the world around us, and know how it behaves, and this forms a basis for our common sense. You mentioned that our common sense breaks in quantum mechanical. Can you give some examples of such a breaking of common sense in quantum mechanics? 

Faizal: Let us start by a simple example, to understand how the common sense breaks in the quantum mechanism. If there are two paths between your home and your office, and you are travelling between them, you can take any one of these two path at one time. However, you will infer that it is impossible to take both these paths at the same time. Even if you are really tiny, you cannot take two paths at the same time. The main reason for this is that it is impossible for you to be present at two different places at the same time. This seems to be something that you know from common sense. However, this description of the world does not hold at much smaller scales. In quantum mechanics, you go to your office from both those paths. In fact, you will take all the possible paths between your home and office, and we have to mathematically sum these path to describe your behaviour of going between your home and office. This is actually how things are calculated for quantum mechanical particles. This description of quantum mechanics (where a particle takes all possible path between two points) is called the Feynman path integral approach.

Jacobsen: We have seen people commute between their home and office. In fact, as more simple system, we have seen a stone fall down, and it does not appear to take many paths between two points. We have also never seen a particle present at two places at the same time. How does the quantum mechanical fit with these observations? 

Faizal: In quantum mechanics, as soon as someone makes a measurement on some object, it instantaneously collapses to just one of those paths. Now it is possible to calculate the chance of an object to be collapse to a certain path in quantum mechanics. For large enough objects, this almost coincides with the path that the object is expected to take based on classical mechanics. However, as the objects gets smaller, the deviations between the two paths becomes significant. It may be noted to calculate the position of an object at any point in future, you need to know about two things. You need to know where that object is present at a given time, and you need to know how fast it is travelling in a certain direction. If you know both these things, then you can know where that object will be present in future. However, in quantum mechanics, it is impossible to measure both the position of a particle and how fast it is travelling, at the same time. Thus, in quantum mechanics it is not possible to accurately measure the position of a particle in future. What we can measure is the chance for a particle to be present at a certain point in time. So, in quantum mechanics causality is also only probabilistically true. As it is impossible to obtain certain knowledge of cause, the effects can be only probabilistically predicted. 

Jacobsen: It is possible to exactly predict the future position of a particle by improving our technology and inventing better devices?

Faizal: Technological development cannot be used to predict the future position of a particle beyond what is allowed by quantum mechanics. This is because for such quantum system certain knowledge is actually not present in nature, and so we can only get probabilistic knowledge of such system. This is the main difference between the classical and quantum description of the world. In classical mechanics, at least in principle, it is possible to know the behaviour of a particle with certainty. In other world, the world is totally deterministic in classical mechanics. It might be difficult to exactly calculate such a behaviour, but such a knowledge exists in nature. In fact, even in classical mechanics, we usually use probability to describe the world. This is the basis of statistical mechanics. However, such a use of probability is epistemological as certain knowledge exists at an ontological level in classical physics. It is just very difficult for us to obtain such knowledge accurately for many systems. However, in quantum mechanics there is an ontological use probability as certain knowledge is absent at an ontological level from nature.

Jacobsen: Can you give a simple analogy of this difference to make it easy to understand? 

Faizal: Let us again use a simple example to understand this difference. Someone is going to a coffee shop, and he usually likes to drink coffee but sometime orders tea. As it is a coffee shop they keep running out of tea. Now if it is known that he takes tea about twenty times in hundred days, then you can calculate the chance of him drinking tea of coffee. You cannot predict accurately what he will take on a given day, as such a knowledge is not present in this system. However, knowing what he is more likely to order, you can predict his behaviour over a large number of visits. So, for the next ten days you can save two tea bag for him. This is an example of an ontological absence of knowledge, and this is how probabilities work in quantum mechanics. Now consider another example, in a group of ten people, two of them like tea and the rest like coffee. Also they have a rule that they will not visit the coffee shop more than once in ten days. Now if you do not bother to ask them who like tea and who likes coffee, and just know how they behave in a group, you can again predict the probability of them drinking tea. However, in this case, the knowledge exists in form a hidden variable, which you did not bother to measure. This is an example of an epistemological absence of knowledge, and this is how probabilities work in statistical mechanics.

Jacobsen: I can understand that certain knowledge of the particle is not present, but where is the particle actually present. 

Faizal: The particle is present at every possible point it can occupy, till it is measured. However, when it is measured, it instantaneously collapses to a single point, and we can measure the chance of it collapsing to a certain point. This is an important feature of quantum mechanics. In classical mechanics, two different contradictions cannot be simultaneously existing. In quantum mechanics, all possibilities simultaneously exist, till they are measured. However, when they are measured, only one of them is instantaneously observed, and the system ceases to exist in the other possibilities. This principle has been illustrated by the famous thought experiment of Schrodinger’s cat, in which a cat is killed by a quantum mechanical process. There are two possibilities, as the cat can be dead and alive. Now if the system is not observed, then the cat can exist in a state being dead and alive at the same time. As soon as an observation is made, the system instantaneously collapses to one of the two possibilities, so the cat is actually observed to be dead or alive. However, if no observation is made, the cat is in a state of being dead and alive at the same time. 

Jacobsen: Can these quantum effects be observed in our daily life?

Faizal: A important requirement of quantum mechanics is that it should coincide with the classical physics at our scale, for all the system that have been described using classical mechanics. This means these quantum effects become so small at our scale that they can be neglected, and cannot be observed. There are few phenomena like superconductivity and superfluidity where quantum effects can change the behaviour of certain system at large scale. However, most quantum mechanical effect, which break common sense, can be neglected at our scale, and the world at our scale can described by classical mechanics. It is possible that there are some systems, where other quantum effects become important even at large scale, and their behaviour is very different from the behaviour predicted from classical mechanics. 

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Faizal.Faizal: My pleasure. 

Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash

When Human Rights Activists lose their voice in Kashmir

Nilesh Kunwar
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When Human Rights Activists lose their voice in Kashmir

There’s certainly much more to this rather strange behaviour of our Human Rights Activists than what meets the eye.

The good thing about India is that it has an abundance of activists who appear to be an extremely committed lot. But the bad thing is that many of these self-anointed champions of human rights often lose their voice when it comes to condemning violence; and this inexplicable phenomenon is more pronounced when it concerns incidents of violence perpetuated by terrorist groups against innocent civilians as recent events have proved once again. Even though restrictions on movement and communications were imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 as a precautionary measure for maintaining law and order, our indefatigable activists were up in arms against the government decision and they had a point because these restrictions did impinge upon the rights of people guaranteed to them by the Constitution.  

Just three weeks after Article 370 was abrogated, the government’s decision to impose restrictions as a pre-emptive measure to prevent violence was vindicated when a violent mob pelted stones at a truck in Bijbehara town of South Kashmir killing its driver Noor Mohammad Dar on the spot. His only fault was that in order to earn money for feeding his family, Dar drove a truck, thereby violating the parallel restrictions on movement imposed by separatists. But the human right activists who were angrily clamouring against restrictions imposed in J&K, suddenly appeared to have lost their voice (or nerve) because none of them dared to condemn the restrictions imposed by separatists and ruthlessly enforced by stone pelting mobs!

Leave alone condemnation, not a word of condolence was forthcoming from these so-called “crusaders” for human rights on a human being stoned to death!

On August 30, a 65-year-old shopkeeper named Ghulam Mohammad Mir was shot dead by terrorists in Parimpora area at the outskirts of Srinagar. Just like Dar, Mir too paid with his life for the mistake of disobeying the shutdown call of separatists and opening his shop. But once again, while our celebrated human rights activists continued to castigate the government for its curbs, yet not one of them uttered a single word of condemnation or offer any condolence on the cold-blooded murder of a sexagenarian who was only trying to make an honest living. The blow-hot blow-cold attitude displayed by human rights groups and activists is evident from the massive hue and cry they are raising over government restrictions and their complete silence on similar restraints being enforced ruthlessly by the pro-Pakistan lobby comprising separatists, terrorists and vigilante mobs, but in India this has always been the case.

We’ve always venerated our human rights activists as a result of which, their avowed commitment towards ensuring human rights for all is never questioned. But there comes a time when someone has to stand up and ask these ‘holy cows’ to come out clear on their perceptible duplicity on human rights issue and the reasons for their silence when an innocent Kashmiri is killed by an irate mob while another is shot dead by terrorists. But most of all, they need to explain their stoic silence on another horrific incident that occurred on September 7 in the Dangerpora area of Sopore district in Kashmir. On this day, terrorists barged into the house of Haji Hamidullah Rather, an apple grower and following their typical way of warning ‘transgressors’, the terrorist shot him, his son and another apple grower in the leg for having “disobeyed” their orders not to carry out apple trade. What’s even more heart wrenching is that though the terrorists didn’t even spare Rather’s three-year-old grand-daughter and shot her in the leg as well, it didn’t evoke any condemnation from human rights activists!

Or are the human rights activists convinced that shooting a poor three-year-old girl shot in the leg and maiming her for life justified by the greater interest and noble cause of ‘azadi’ (freedom)?

While this medieval practice of terrorising the public by maiming those whom terrorists consider to be ‘wrongdoers’ would have traumatised even the most barbaric mind, but it seems that this horrific incident didn’t stir the conscience or move the heart of our elite human rights activists since they have remained absolutely silent on this issue. The irony here is that even though we boast of a proactive civil society and a discerning public, no one has ever sought an explanation from these activists for being so insensitive to human suffering at the hands of terrorists!

Resultantly, since it’s considered uncouth to doubt the commitment of those who have voluntarily taken the onerous responsibility of ensuring human rights for all upon their shoulders and questioning the motivation behind their selective silence on terrorist perpetuated human rights violations amounts to sacrilege, these defenders of human rights are the lucky ones who can have the cake as well as eat it too! (pun intended)

Tailpiece: More than 50 innocent civilians (including women and children) have been injured in grenade attacks by terrorists in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 but no human rights organisation or activist has condemned the same even though this has now become a trend in Kashmir. Silence of human rights groups and activists on grenade attacks by terrorists in busy places teeming with people is inexplicable. The only logical reason which comes to mind is that this may be intentional because by condemning terrorist perpetuated violence against civilians, human right activists will only end up sabotaging their own anti-Article 370 abrogation campaign!

India, its big diamond trade

Vivek Sinha
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India, its big diamond trade

Shantanu Guha Ray, seasoned journalist and writer, has hit the markets with his latest tome, The Diamond Trail: How India Rose To Global Domination.

India’s domination in the world of diamonds is known to many but no one has penned the story of the brilliant merchants from Gujarat. And now they are worried because Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Jatin Mehta – once considered as top diamond merchants – are now triggering breaking headlines for all the wrong reasons. But does that put the Indian market in a crisis of sorts, no I do not think so. The diamond market across the world is growing, it is also growing in India and neighbouring China. And what is important is that these two countries will now be shaping the world diamond markets, unlike the big, long domination of the West (read the US and Europe). 

The Diamond Trail tells me everything Indians have done to reach the pinnacle of glory and how they worked overtime in far flung Africa – home to the world’s biggest diamond mines – and also in Antwerp, Dubai, and Surat to shape careers for millions. I still do not understand why the first chapter, actually the preface talks about Nirav and Mehul, but then I think it was imperative. You cannot cut out these two if you are writing a book on diamonds, like you cannot drop the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi if you are writing a book on Indian freedom struggle. 

So let’s check out the diamonds markets first. At a recent forum in New York City, De Beers executives talked about their vision for the diamond industry and explained why they think the industry was now becoming more and more responsive to changing societal mores and consumer desires. The executives said more and more young consumers – mostly from Asia (read India and China) – were looking at marriage differently than in the past and seeing it not as a start of the relationship but another step in it. So what is changing? The Diamond Trail says exactly what De Beers is saying: Once, bulk of the marriages would take place within two months of engagement but now it takes a little over a year. At the forefront of this new change are Indians and Chinese, who are increasingly looking at diamonds and not expensive, gaudy gold ornaments. They are actually cohabitating couples who can even have children before marriage. These young couples are now accounting for a little over 10% of the world diamond sales. And it has happened because Indians have worked overtime to take the trade way beyond the great De Beers tagline, Diamonds Are Forever. Now, claims the author, Indians have rewritten the world rules in diamonds and make it look like Diamonds Will Now Be Forever.

Diamond mine in Africa

In Antwerp, home to the world diamond trade, Indians are changing trends and helping people to enrich the tradition of weddings, offering them edgy, even creative brands. The fact that Indians are increasingly seeking products to be in line with their values is only because they are being told by Indian diamond merchants in Antwerp that diamonds are no longer the domain of the rich, now it has various sizes and comes in affordable prices. It did not happen overnight, Indians from Palanpur and Kathiawad who travelled in ships to Antwerp learnt the trade from both Israeli and Belgian merchants and started working first on small diamonds. And then, claims the author, slowly the rise of Indians was felt all over the sleepy Belgian town. And now, it’s a foregone conclusion. Indians have virtually taken over Antwerp, top Indian companies like Rosy Blue are shaping the world trade.

The book narrates the interesting life and times of the families in Palanpur and Kathiawad and how they kept their focus on diamonds and kept on travelling in batches to Africa and Europe to shape their careers in diamonds. Today’s success is the hard work of those who worked tirelessly in small shops in Antwerp at lowly salaries, and of those who worked closely with mine owners across Africa to get great bargains to bring the diamonds home. Some of the diamonds came through Dubai – now an important hub – and some took the direct route. Those were challenging times, troubled times and disturbing times for the Indian diamond merchants and Indian diamond cutters.

Mining the Diamonds in Africa

But the global diamond trade was not without the dangers of mining, the book recounts tales of blood diamonds – now just one percent of the global diamond trade – and how some African nations like Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Congo and Angola got into this dirty trade and paid price through blood and lives. The timing of the book is equally important because this year, 2019, India has been offered the chair of the Kimberly Process, which is also known as KP and meant to altogether eradicate blood diamonds from the market.

Published by Harper Collins, The Diamond Trail is a brilliant read, almost like a book of history many would like to keep to read and understand the business of diamonds. And how and why Indians became an integral part of this big, global business and turned it into more transparent, more authentic. Thanks to Indians, the diamond industry has improved its image and ethics, including programmes which tracks diamonds through the value chain, and makes mines carbon-neutral by using the carbon-storing properties of kimberlite.

Justice for 1984 Sikh Genocide Victims would be biggest tribute to Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Jaibans Singh
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Justice for 1984 Sikh Genocide Victims would be biggest tribute to Guru Nanak Dev Ji

On 31st October 1984, the then Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi was assassinated at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh who belonged to the Sikh community. The killing was in reaction to Operation Blue Star that was ordered by the Prime Minister and in which Sri Harmandir Sahib, the most sacred shrine of the Sikhs was attacked by government forces to flush out Sikh militants. The operation badly damaged the shrine and caused terrible hurt to Sikh sentiments, which served as a trigger for the assassination of the prime minister by her Sikh bodyguards.

Post-assassination, as the nation struggled to come to terms with this unfortunate tragedy a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions started building up. The very next day, on November 1st there were widespread attacks on the members of Sikh community across the country. The numbers killed have never been clearly recorded or made public, but various estimates put them much above 10,000. According to official records 2,733 Sikhs were killed in cold blood in Delhi alone, though human rights organisations place the number nearer to 4,000. The numbers in the remainder parts of India continue to defy documentation. This apart, Gurdwaras (Sikh Temples) were damaged; shops and other businesses run by Sikhs were destroyed, their houses looted and women raped.

The killing was carried out in the most barbaric manner by use of weapons like swords and daggers, beating the victims to death and burning them alive. The most inhumane method used was enclosing a Sikh within a vehicle tyre and then setting it on slow fire. The madness went on for a number of days as the law enforcing machinery refused to intervene.

There have been attempts to pass on this genocide as a spontaneous reaction of the people distraught at the killing of their prime minister. A closer scrutiny however point towards a very well conceived and coordinated plan to “teach the Sikhs a lesson.”

The assassination of the prime minister took place at 0920 hours on October 31st and the sad news was broadcast by All India Radio at 1100 hours after she was declared dead by the doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi’s son who was later on sworn as India’s prime minister arrived in New Delhi at 1600 hours. Till then there was no killing, even as isolated incidents of violent demonstration in the national capital were reported. The first indication of something bigger brewing in came when the cavalcade of President of India, Giani Zail Singh—a Sikh, was attacked by stone throwers.

On the night of October 31st / November 1st, organised and equipped gangs dominated the streets of Delhi and were involved in acts of violence and destruction of property. Sane voices within the city urged the government to intervene but the response was merely cosmetic. The first murder took place the next morning at about 0900 hours and then the floodgates opened. The madness perpetuated in Delhi found resonance in other parts of the country. On the face of it, restrictive actions like curfew were announced but they were not implemented on ground.

In this environment of utter depravity the only saving factor was that some people came out to help the Sikhs despite the grave dangers involved. They gave shelter in their houses and later provided assistance in the refugee camps opened for those people who had lost everything in the genocide.

The complicity of the political party in power became more visible when its leader, Rajiv Gandhi, failed to condemn the wanton killing of Sikhs. He, on the other hand, attempted to justify the same.  “We must remember Indira ji. We must remember why she was assassinated. We must remember who could be the people behind it. When Indira ji was assassinated, some riots took place in our country. We know the hearts of Indians were filled with anger, and for some days, people felt that India was shaking. But when a big tree falls, then the earth does shake a little,” he said in a condolence rally organised in commemoration of his mother, the demised prime minister.

It becomes quite apparent that the plan for attack was carefully laid out by certain perpetrators and meticulously carried out for a specified period of time. It was only when the desired impact was achieved, the “lesson taught” and when international pressure started mounting that it was stopped. Surprisingly, it stopped as quickly as it started which again points towards its micro-management by certain powerful forces.

The sequence of events nullifies the argument of “grave and sudden provocation” which is being used by legal elements to lower the gravity of the criminal and barbaric genocide committed.

No First Information Report (FIR) was filed in the immediate aftermath or cases registered in court, nor did any court call for action as is the trend now. In the last 35 years since perpetration of the genocide, four commissions, nine committees have looked into the carnage. In recent times, since 2015, two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been constituted to carry out investigation.

Going back to 1984, when international pressure became too much, the government constituted a committee under Ved Marwah, Additional Commissioner of Police. It was constituted in November 1984 and dissolved in 1985. The proceedings of the Marwah Committee were handed over to the Misra Commission whose findings were made public in February 1987. The commission stated that its term of reference was to determine “whether the violence had happened”, and not “identify any person” or their role. It further recommended that three more committees be set up, (1) to look into the role of the Police, (2) for registration of cases and, (3) to determine the total number of killings.

This sham enacted over three years was followed by a series of committees – Kapur-Mittal Committee, 1987; Jain-Banerjee Committee, 1987; Ahuja Committee, 1987; Poti-Rosha Committee, 1990; Jain-Aggarwal Committee, 1990 and Narula Committee, 1993. 

The tryst for justice gained momentum once more in the year 2000, when the NDA government, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was in power. A unanimous resolution was passed in the Rajya Sabha, resulting in the formation of a new commission under retired Supreme Court Judge G.T. Nanavati. The commission issued notices to HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler among others, all Congress leaders known to be close to Rajiv Gandhi. It also added the name of Kamal Nath in the list. Shamefully, Kamal Nath is now Congress Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

The report submitted by the Nanavati Commission in May, 2005, was damning in its observations. “The systematic manner in which the Sikhs were thus killed indicate(s) that the attacks on them were organised,” it said. “Large number of affidavits indicate that local Congress (I) leaders and workers had either incited or helped the mobs in attacking the Sikhs… There is enough material on record to show that at many places the police had taken away their arms or other articles with which they could have defended themselves against the attacks by mobs,” it added.

According to open source media reports of the 587 original FIRs registered as per the Nanavati Commission, only 25 cases have so far resulted in conviction, of which only 12 are murder cases.

Recent times have witnessed the constitution of the Mathur Committee followed by the Central government SIT in 2015. At present matters are in the hands of an SIT constituted by the Supreme Court in 2018 that is re-investigating 186 closed cases.

In the last 35 years, justice for hapless Sikh victims of the genocide has not been forthcoming in the national capital, New Delhi, what to speak of the other states where even the process has not taken off. Every year on 1st November, media shakes out the cases from its files, a few victims whose addresses are available are approached to give statements. In their hand they hold photographs of their kin who were mercilessly killed and maimed and cry their heart out. This sentimental copy, good for TRP is played out over the day and stories are carried in Op-Ed pages of newspapers. After that, it’s back to business as usual.

This year, as the world gears up to celebrate the 550th Birth Anniversary of the First Guru of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, it would be only appropriate for the nation, its government and most importantly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to ensure dispensation of justice to the faithful followers on the great Guru Nanak Dev ji who have being wronged in the most brutal, sadistic and inhumane manner for no fault of theirs. No bigger tribute than this can be paid to Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Bhagwan Ram’s birth place is venerable for Hindus, says Ayodhya verdict

Vivek Sinha
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Bhagwan Ram’s birth place is venerable for Hindus, says Ayodhya verdict

Unanimous Judgement on Ayodhya by the five-judge bench of Supreme Court corrects a historical wrong. Even as majority of Hindus and Muslims have accepted the apex court’s verdict with grace, the Left-leaning coterie is out with its dirty game to create a fear psychosis among Muslims.

The ninth day of November 2019 will be etched in the history of Indian subcontinent forever. Future generations across the subcontinent will remember this date as the day when balm was applied to a wound that had been festering for centuries.

Yes, I am talking about the unanimous verdict of a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court that ruled in favour of the Hindu community and handed them the entire Ram Janmabhoomi sthan (Ram’s birth place) at Ayodhya. The apex court in its 1045-page judgement accepted the evidence that Hindus had been worshiping the Janmasthan ever since Bhagwan Ram was born and that this 2.77 acre land is as venerable and sacrosanct as the Ram idol and his temple.

It’s after a long fight which lasted 491 years that Hindus can now dream of getting unfettered access to the Ram Janmabhoomi sthan at Ayodhya.

The big question is why did it take this long? Archaeological excavations, reams of literature, historical proofs, numerous books and other evidence clearly pointed towards the existence of a magnificent Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at this Janmasthan site in Ayodhya. And yet it took five centuries to reclaim the revered temple land at Ayodhya. Even independent India took seven decades to come to this conclusion.

Commies and their influence in stalling the Ayodhya resolution

Soon after independence British handed over the reins of India to Cambridge-educated Jawaharlal Nehru, who then imported and implemented the Western concepts of a nation state. The anglicized Nehru relegated all indigenous cultural richness of India into the dustbin. At that time the world was vertically split into capitalism and communism blocs and Nehru took a principled stand of not joining either of the two blocs. However, Nehru believed in Fabian Socialism—a form of socialism that relies in propagating socialist and communist thoughts through literature, art and history books. Nehru’s patronage of socialists meant that all forms of creative landscape in the country were occupied by the communists. And this was it. Even as India adopted a secular constitution and donned the secular fabric, the communist forces invaded creative fields and academia.

Creative fields and academia are soft powers that have the potential to influence an individual’s thinking. And this explains the 70-year delay by independent India in resolving the Ayodhya dispute.

A large majority of the Indian society was made to overlook country’s cultural glory, the historical wrongs committed by barbaric invaders were painted as acts of courage. As a nation we forgot to take pride in our glorious past. Simultaneously, alien role models were created and Ram was relegated to being a mythological figure who needed to be forgotten by this modern Indian society.

Yet, thanks to the collective cultural wisdom of Indian society and strong family values where Bhagwan Ram occupies prime importance, Hindus never forget their identity.

Immediately after India’s independence, Hindu society made its first attempt to wrest back Ram Janmabhoomi in December 1949 by placing idols of Ram Lalla inside the Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya. Courts granted permission to the Hindus for puja (worship). Courts also declined to order the removal of Ram Lalla idols and prohibited Muslims within 200 feet of the idols.

In February 1986, courts ordered that locks at Ram Janmabhoomi must be removed. This gave full access to Hindus to worship Ram Lalla. In fact, during the reign of three Prime Ministers –V P Singh, Chandrashekhar, and Narsimha Rao several attempts were made to resolve this contentious issue. During the tenure of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar (November 1990- June 1991) Hindus and Muslims had almost resolved the dispute, when Muslims had agreed to hand over the Ram Janmabhoomi sthan (2.77 acre) to Hindus. But then the vicious Historians (read fiction writers) such as Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, DN Jha and their ilk started a malicious propaganda that flared up the emotions of Muslims and the talks fell apart.

The discontent among Hindus kept simmering and gradually the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement gained momentum. The indiscriminate firing on karsevaks (temple volunteers) on 30th October 1990 and again on 2nd November 1990 in which thousands of innocent karsevaks were killed only strengthened the resolve of Hindus to wrest back Ram Janmabhoomi sthan. The killings and police brutalities fuelled passions and the subsequent mass frenzy led Hindus to demolish that symbol of slavery–Babri Masjid, on 6th December 1992.

Karsevaks (temple volunteers) being fired upon by Police on 2nd November 1990. Thousands of innocent karsevaks were killed in this indiscriminate firing.

It needs to be borne in mind that even at the height of frenzy of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement all other mosques in Ayodhya remained safe, the karsevaks demolished only the Babri Masjid.

This brings to mind the most endearing question, as to what is so special about this Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and the Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya for Hindus? What is it in that 2.77 acre land at Ayodhya which makes Hindus so attached with this land parcel. Well, before answering I pose a counter-question: What is so special about the Mecca and Medina for Muslims? Or, what’s so special for Jews and Christians in Jerusalem? Ayodhya holds such primary importance for Hindus. Not only the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple but even the plot of land where Bhagwan Ram was born—the Ram Janmasthan, is revered by Hindus across the world.

Temple of venerable deities can be built at any place in the world but their place of birth is one such unique location that cannot be transferred. Bhagwan Ram’s birthplace is permanent, irrevocable, immutable, invariable, irreplaceable, incontrovertible, indisputable, undeniable and can never be forfeited.

After marathon arguments during the hearings in Ayodhya case, the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court was convinced about this fact and ruled in favour of the Ram Janmabhoomi sthan.

“…Faith and belief of the Hindus as depicted by the evidence on record clearly establish that the Hindus belief that at the birth place of Lord Ram, the Mosque was constructed and three-dome structure is the birth place of Lord Ram…” read the unanimous judgement of the five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.

Hindus and a large majority of Muslims looked upon Babri Masjid as a symbol of barbarism that was thrust upon the country by Babur and his army of savages. The nation felt, and rightly so, that Babri Masjid was built only with an objective to show and prove to the then Indian society, during sixteenth century, that Mughal invaders have become the new masters who now have control on every aspect of the lives of Indians which included their revered Gods and their temples.

Psychological scar on India

Babur was the victor in 1526 and to assert his victory over the indigenous Hindu population he had to inflict a deep wound on the collective psyche of the nation. And invaders choose local populace’s women and their Gods to assert their superiority. The marauding armies of Babur raped women and his commander Mir Baki demolished the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya. The message from the Mughal invaders was quite clear: ‘We have your women and we have demolished the home of your God. Now subjugate’. A large portion of indigenous population did convert to Islam for fear of their lives, yet a few chose death over conversion and kept up fighting. During the four year of Babur’s rein (1526-1530) Hindus fought 4 battles to regain control of the Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya. They lost these battles. And the Babri Masjid stood majestically reminding them of their defeat and savagery of Mughal invaders. This baton of resistance kept on passing to the subsequent Hindu generations to wrest back control of the Ram Janmbhoomi sthan. Till the year 1934, Hindus had fought 76 battles to regain control of the Janmasthan at Ayodhya.

Dead bodies of innocent karsevaks (temple volunteers) lined up after they were killed in indiscriminate police firing on 2nd November 1990 on orders of the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh.

For Hindus, a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi sthan is not an issue of mere bricks and mortar. It is an issue of our cultural resurgence and identity where Shri Rama, as maryada purushottam, has a prime place of importance. The movement is an expression of the collective consciousness of the Hindu ethos.

Unfortunately after India’s independence petty politicians with vested interests, a bunch of Left-leaning historians (read fiction writers) and journalists misguided Muslims into believing that Babri Masjid stood for their Islamic identity. This was utterly false. This Left-leaning coterie never told gullible Muslim masses that Babri Masjid was built against the basic Islamic tenets. Islam mandates that mosques should never be built on a land forcefully taken away or after demolishing religious structures of other faith.

The makeshift Ram Lalla Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi sthan in Ayodhya. This place
where Bhagwan Ram was born and the adjoining land mass in equally sacrosanct and venerable for Hindus as the Ram Temple.

After unanimous verdict of the Supreme Court, learned and level-headed Muslims have said that they want to move ahead. Iqbal Ansari, one of the litigants for Muslims in Ayodhya case, said that he wholeheartedly accepts the Supreme Court verdict. “I respect the judgement of the Supreme Court,” Ansari said soon after the apex court’s unanimous verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. Iqbal Ansari is the son of Hashim Ansari who was one of the original litigants in the Ram Janmabhoomi Ayodhya case. Hashim Ansari died three years ago. “We will not challenge the court verdict. We are very happy with the decision,” Iqbal Ansari said.

Ditto for other Muslim leaders such as Tarek Fatah, eminent Islamic scholar, Syed Waseem Rizvi, chairman Shia Central Waqf Board, Zafar Sareshwala, former chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University and several others who have gracefully accepted the verdict. However, as the nation is rejoicing and there appears to be a bonhomie among Hindus and Muslims this Left coterie has once again begun to raise its ugly head. Rather than accept the Supreme Court verdict with finality they have started nit-picking in the unanimous judgement. This Left cabal is now shouting that the Supreme Court verdict puts faith above facts and that gross injustice has been done to the Muslims!

Generations of Hindus have been defensive about their faith and culture. It’s time to come out of this shell and take these detractors head on with renewed vigour. Muslims need to realize that this opportunist-Leftist cabal is laying a trap for them. Rather than accept the Supreme Court’s unanimous judgement this band of fiction writers are out once again to create a fear psychosis amongst the minds of Indian Muslims. But these fissiparous forces must not succeed this time. We Hindus fought with grit to wrest back Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya, this time we need to stand solidly with our Muslim brethren to brace against this fake communist propaganda.

It’s high time this opportunist coterie is unmasked who have developed a knack of finding problems for every solution.

Iran announces discovery of massive oil field

News Intervention Bureau
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Iran announces discovery of massive oil field

Iran has discovered a massive new oil field, President Hassan Rouhani said ON Sunday, a find that would boost its proven reserves by about a third in a rare piece of “good news” for an economy battered by US sanctions.

In a speech aired on state TV, Rouhani said the country’s economy had stabilised despite punishing US measures against its senior leaders, banking and finance sectors.

The vast field in the southwestern province of Khuzestan holds an estimated 53 billion barrels of crude, he said. The 80-metre deep reservoir stretches nearly 200 kilometres from Khuzestan’s border with Iraq to the city of Omidiyeh.

“This is a small gift by the government to the people of Iran,” he said in a speech from the central city of Yazd.

“We announce to America today that we are a rich nation, and despite your enmity and cruel sanctions, Iranian oil industry workers and engineers discovered this great oil field.” The find would add around 34 percent to the OPEC member’s current proven reserves, estimated by energy giant BP at 155.6 billion barrels.

Iran, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, sits on what were already the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves. The new reserves, if proven, would lift it to third place, just before regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia. But it remains to be seen how much the country can benefit from the new field.

Iran has struggled to sell its oil since US President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposed unilateral sanctions.

Iran has experienced a sharp economic downturn this year, fuelled in part by US sanctions, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing and hiking the prices of imports. The IMF has said Iran’s economy will contract by a massive 9.5 percent this year, its worst performance since 1984 when the Islamic republic was at war with neighbouring Iraq, but notes the growth is expected to stabilise at zero next year.

The verdict of Supreme Court marks the start of a new dawn: PM

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The verdict of Supreme Court marks the start of a new dawn: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya as historic and called it a golden day in the history of India and Indian judiciary. PM urged all citizens to come together to build a New India and work for everyone’s development.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Today, on 9th November, the Kartarpur corridor has begun. In this corridor, there have been efforts from India and efforts from Pakistan. And now, with verdict on Ayodhya, this date- the 9th of November teaches us the power of staying united and growing together. ”

PM said that SC heard everyone with much patience and gave unanimous verdict which has shown its tremendous resolve.

PM further said, “With this verdict, the Honourable Supreme Court has given a message that even the toughest issues can be resolved within the framework of the Constitution and in spirit of the laws.

We should learn from this verdict that even if there is some delay, we should remain patient. This is in everyone’s interest. In every situation, our faith in India’s constitution, India’s judicial system must remain unwavering. This is very important.”

PM said that Supreme Court has given its decision on the construction of Ram Mandir and this decision has made it incumbent upon all us citizens to take our responsibility of nation building even more seriously. PM said that the harmony, brotherhood, friendship, unity and peace amongst us all, is very important for the nation’s development. PM urged all citizens to walk together and work together to achieve our goals and objectives.

Supreme Court gives the disputed Janmabhoomi land at Ayodhya for Ram Temple

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Supreme Court gives the disputed Janmabhoomi land at Ayodhya for Ram Temple

In its much awaited verdict, the Supreme Court Constitution bench today directed that the disputed land in Ayodhya goes to the Hindus in its entirety for the construction of Ram Mandir. The Sunni Waqf Board will get five acres of alternate land, which will be accorded either by the state or the Centre.

The Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer said in its judgement that Centre will hand over the disputed site to the Board of trustees within 3 months and the management of construction of the temple is to be monitored by the trust.

The Supreme Court junked the theory of pre-existence of an Idgah at the disputed site. The SC held that the ASI report that held that there was a structure underneath the Babri Masjid can’t be dismissed as conjecture or just a guess work and junks theory of pre-existence of an Idgah at the disputed site. “Babri mosque wasn’t constructed on a vacant land. An underlying structure did exist.” The SC said that the underlying structure was not of Islamic religion as artefacts, architectural evidence had distinct non Islamic nature. ASI report can be lent credence to the underlying structure was dated 12th century, the SC says. But it adds that the ASI report hasn’t said the underlying structure was a specific temple.

The Supreme Court said that the travellogues also evidenced age-old belief that Lord Ram was born there. “Gazateers can also provide corroborative materials.”

“It is clearly established that while Muslims offered prayers inside the inner courtyard, the same was done by Hindus in the outer court yard. Prior to 1856-57, there was no exclusion of Hindus from praying there. Exodus of Hindus from the inner courtyard remained contentious too. They continued to worship at Ram Chabutara and they worshipped the Garbh GiRja from the railings,” said the SC. For 325 years, from the construction of the mosque till 1857, Muslims have given no evidence of offering prayers at the disputed structure in exclusion of Hindus, it says. Destruction of the mosque in 1992 was in breach of SC order, said CJI-led bench.

The Supreme Court said that the Hindus consider Ayodhya as the birthplace of Lord Ram and the faith of Hindus is undisputed. “Faith is a matter of individual believer. Once the court has the material that the faith is genuine, the court must not interfere and acknowledge it. Value of a secular Constitution lies in mutual deference.”

The Supreme Court judges also unanimously dismissed the Shia Waqf Board’s petition claiming rights on the Babri mosque on the disputed land in Ayodhya.

India’s honour rests in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya

Vivek Sinha
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India’s honour rests in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya

I vividly remember that Sunday afternoon when I was loitering in the neighborhood along with other children. We were school students then and apart from cricket the other topic of our passionate discussion was the ongoing agitation at Ayodhya. A few minutes into our discussion, we saw a hefty man running towards us. He was panting. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he repeatedly yelled “Jai Shri Ram”. Before we could react, several others in our locality had joined in and roared back “Jai Shri Ram”. Within minutes almost everybody, including me and my friends, were chanting “Jai Shri Ram” in unison.

This day was 6th December, 1992.

The Babri Structure (that looked like a Mosque) at Ayodhya had been demolished and news spread like wild fire. Conch shells were blowing, sweets were distributed, diyas and candles were being lighted all around.

This was the scene and extent of celebrations at a small colony in Kanpur an industrial town some 220 kilometers from Ayodhya. Remember this was 1992– a different era with no Facebook, WhatsApp or Twitter. Mobile phones were super luxury and 24×7 television news was nowhere. The only mode of communication was landline phones and word of mouth. Yet, news of the demolition of Babri Structure spread like wild fire and instigated hysterical celebrations all across the country. Post the demolition of Babri Structure a few political commentators and historians began calling this structure a Masjid and said that Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6th , 1992. But this Structure was never a Masjid (Mosque). Islam never permits demolishing one religious structure (be it a temple, church or synagogue) to construct a mosque.  

In fact, many historians and commentators like to describe the history of post-independence India as pre-1992 and post-1992. Such was the impact of Ram Janmabhoomi Movement on the lives of Indians. This impact has only grown over time.  

In recent years during my interaction with journalists and political observers, especially from the West, one question almost recurs: “How could a political party (read BJP) whip up mass frenzy on a scale that remains almost unparalleled in post-independence India”?

Well, first things first. The Ram Janmabhoomi Movement was never the brain child of one political party or any of its offshoot. So neither the BJP nor its ideological mentor RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) or the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) can claim sole ownership rights of the Ayodhya movement. None of the people in my colony who were celebrating the demolition of Babri Structure were members of the BJP or VHP or the RSS. 

Let’s go back in history to put things into a perspective.

Mughal invader Babur’s commander-in-chief Mir Baki demolished the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in 1528. The psyche behind temple’s demolition was to prove to the indigenous Hindu population that world order has changed and Babur is the new ruler who is here to take possession of the country, its people, women and their God. Since Ram is an integral part of India’ psyche so demolition of his temple at his birthplace would send a powerful message to the locals, went the thought in the minds of invading army. Yes, Babur did demolish the temple but faced stiff resistance from the then local population to an extent that he was unable to build a grand mosque in its place. It was a hurriedly built “Structure” that resembled a mosque; the minarets, place for ablutions and other essential structures of a mosque were starkly absent. The Mughal invaders paid no heed to the basic Islamic tenet that a temple cannot be demolished to construct a Mosque. 

During Babur’s short rein of four years the then local people fought four battles to regain control of the Ram Janmabhoomi site. The very fact that Babur was unable to build a grand mosque even after being the victor speaks volumes about the resistance he faced from the then Hindu population. And then these fights never stopped. Till 1934 Hindus fought a total of seventy six battles to regain control of the Ram Janmabhoomi site. Be it the rein of Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan or the brutal Aurangzeb at no time did the Hindu population stop battling to re-gain control of the Ram Janmabhoomi site. Since the year 1934, and thereafter India’s independence in 1947, this fight shifted to the court rooms. So, while earlier the battles were bloody and violent with time it has now become judicial. 

For people of India, a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya is not merely an issue of bricks and mortar. It is an issue of our cultural resurgence and identity, where Lord Ram has a prime place of importance. The movement is an expression of the collective consciousness of the our ethos, our national honor and dignity.

Any interpretation of the Babri Structure, other than that of it being viewed as a monument which celebrates our slavery will clearly indicate that Hindus and all Indians are being asked to live with the feeling of humiliation that Babur wanted to inflict upon us as “conquered people”.

Now where does this leave the country’s Muslim population? Since it was never a mosque the Babri Structure was never a holy place for Muslims and there is absolutely no need for them to own up the barbarism of Babur and others like him. A little bit of historical research proves that present day Indian Muslims are converts from Hinduism and it is their forefathers who died fighting the marauding army of the likes of Babur. Later on, their families were forced to convert to Islam by the invading Mughal army. The right way for Indian Muslims is to distance themselves from such acts of vandalism and barbarism of the past.

In 1857, the year when India fought its first war of independence against British colonialism, Amir Ali the local Muslim leader from Ayodhya announced that Muslims must hand over the Babri Structure to their Hindu brethren. Unfortunately, rebels lost the 1857 war and British army hanged Amir Ali and his associate leader Ramcharan Das from a tamarind tree on March 18, 1858. For several years this tamarind tree was worshiped by both Hindus and the Muslims. The developing camaraderie between Hindus and Muslims worried British colonial rulers. Soon they uprooted the tamarind tree that was turning into a rallying point for the indigenous population. Sadly, this portion of history is skipped in present day narrative.

Elsewhere also there has been several precedents of such acts. When the Germans are asked to apologize for the crimes of Hitler, they never hesitate to do so, clearly indicating that they do not own Nazism.

In 1918 in Warsaw, at the end of first Russian occupation of Poland, one of the first things that Polish people did was to bring down the Russian Orthodox Christian Cathedral that was built by Russians in the center of the town. This was done despite the fact that Poles are Christians and Jesus Christ was worshiped in that Cathedral. The Poles demolished the Cathedral built by Russians only because they viewed the Cathedral not as a place of worship, rather as a structure that reminded them of their slavery.

The Babri Structure was a similar construction that reminded India of the savagery and so its demolition was celebrated all across the country. A grand temple at the birth place of Lord Ram will instill a sense of pride for Indians in their rich cultural heritage and correct the historical wrong.

Pak Army’s barbaric violence continues in Balochistan: Dil Murad Baloch

News Intervention Bureau
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Pak Army’s barbaric violence continues in Balochistan: Dil Murad Baloch

Baloch National Movement (BNM) Central Information Secretary Dil Murad Baloch issued the monthly report of October 2019 in which he stated that Pakistani forces continue to commit atrocities in occupied Balochistan. The state-sponsored death squads are inflicting innumerable atrocities under the umbrella of the Pakistan Army. The situation of Balochistan is in the worst condition and the Baloch nation is looking towards the international community for help.

The report states that the Pakistani Army conducted 28 military operations in the month of October and 30 people “disappeared”. Also, 25 dead bodies were discovered during this month, of which 8 were killed by Pakistani security forces and one person was killed by the death squads. Two elderly persons and two women were killed in Ormara. The women were killed in front of their children, whereas the two elderly men were shifted into the military camps, where they were tortured to death. Later, their dead bodies were dumped in Ormara. One person was killed by security forces who was previously released from the torture cell. The exact causes of the death of other 16 people remains unknown. The security forces also looted more than 100 houses during military operations in different areas of Balochistan.

Further, around 17 people were released from the torture cells of security forces. Among them one person was abducted in 2015, two went missing from 2016, three more people had gone missing in 2017, one was missing from 2018 and the other ten people were whisked away in 2019 by the security forces.

The Information Secretary of Baloch National Movement also mentioned the scandal of the University of Balochistan where university authorities in league with the Frontier Corps (FC) installed surveillance and hidden cameras and recorded candid videos of students to blackmail them. It was a well-organized plan by authorities of Pakistan government. These videos were used to blackmail hundreds of Baloch female students.

Khalil Baloch, the Chairman of Baloch National Movement has already expressed his worries about this incident, saying that it was an attack on our national dignity and honor which wounded our collective soul. Baloch nation will remember this for centuries to come and will take historical revenge for it from the state of Pakistan.

Dil Murad Baloch stated that in October, Panjgur, Awaran, and few other areas were under the constant attack of Pakistani security forces. Pakistan has turned Balochistan into an altar. Due to these atrocities by Pakistani security forces a humanitarian crisis has evolved in Balochistan.

He states that a few months ago the video of an elderly person Hassan son of Shay Sheru of Rach, Ormara turned viral on the internet. In that video, the man can be seen complaining about the death squads of Pakistan Army which have turned life unbearable and he appeals for help. As a result of this viral video Pakistani Army abducted Hassan Sheru and another old man Lal Mohammad Razai and killed them. Pakistani forces took them to the army camp where they were inhumanly tortured and killed. Among the dead women, one was also pregnant and the other had a three-month-old baby. Despite this tragic event, no one raised voice to condemn this hapless incident. This event is not a single event. It reflects the entire picture of Balochistan and the humanitarian situation over here.

Dil Murad Baloch stated that the incident at the University of Balochistan, the tragedy of Ormara, the long-standing naked military aggression across Balochistan are sufficient to prove that Pakistan has crossed all limits of atrocities and are committing genocide across the Baloch nation. In order to maintain its hegemonic control on Balochistan, Pakistan keeps on increasing the frequency and intensity of such incidents. But the historical facts tell otherwise, that the nations cannot be defeated and held slaves forever. Baloch nation is ready for sacrifices in all shapes and forms. Similarly, these atrocities of Pakistan will further motivate the Baloch nation to gain their national freedom by setting a new example of sacrifices.

He added that the silence of the international community is enough to teach us that the Baloch nation has to single-handedly fight their own war and secure freedom on their own abilities. “We have no complaint against Pakistani civil society and human rights organizations but the silence of international bodies and humanitarian organizations raises several questions. They have been tight-lipped on the humanitarian crisis in Balochistan and had refused to condemn the atrocities, due to which Pakistan has been exacerbating its war crimes across the length and width of Balochistan,” added Dil Murad Baloch.

He further added that the Baloch National Movement has been publishing and making public the documented reports and bringing them before the international organizations, but till date, no cemented action has taken against Pakistani atrocities. The time is ripe that the United Nations and International Human rights organizations should send their fact-finding mission in Balochistan to analyse the ground realities.

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