Justice Markandey Katju writes about the importance of using social media for activism and raising voice for issues that matter. He says that through his Facebook page, he aims to educate the Indian people about the ongoing issues in the country including economic crisis.
Many people, particularly youngsters, have asked me what my aim in putting up Facebook posts is, and my answer has been that I am trying to educate the Indian people.
To this, the response is that nobody is educated by Facebook posts. I am therefore clarifying this in some detail.
Today India is facing the problems of massive poverty, record unemployment, appalling level of child malnourishment, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for our huge population of 1.35 billion people, among other issues.
These problems cannot be resolved within the present constitutional system of parliamentary democracy, for parliamentary democracy in India largely runs on caste and communal vote banks. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them. So it has to be replaced by another political system which enables rapid industrialization of the country, for unless we become a highly industrialised country we can never solve the above-mentioned massive problems, and will remain condemned to poverty. Such alternative system can only emerge after a mighty historical people’s struggle I.e. a revolution.
Historical experience shows that before every actual revolution, in which millions of lives will have to be sacrificed, there is always an intellectual revolution, i.e. a struggle in the field of ideas. For example, before the French Revolution of 1789 there was several decades of intellectual struggle by great thinkers and writers like Voltaire, Rousseau, the French Encyclopedists etc.(who wrote against the feudal system, religious bigotry, etc ). Why is an intellectual revolution required before an actual revolution?
That is because in an actual revolution many people will have to sacrifice their lives, and they will willingly do so only if convinced that they are fighting for a noble cause. So great thinkers and writers have to explain to the people the objectives of their struggles and why it is necessary (as Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Paine, etc did). So before the coming Indian Revolution there has to be an intellectual revolution, i.e, a struggle in the realm of ideas in India, and it is here that I am trying to contribute by my Facebook posts.
The mindsets of most Indians is crammed with casteism, communalism and superstitions, i.e. feudal thinking, which is the greatest obstacle to our country’s progress. For instance, veneration of cows and looking down on dalits as inferiors is widespread among Hindus, while burqas are common among many Muslims, These feudal ideas and practices have to be combated and destroyed if India is to progress, and by my FB posts I aim at precisely that.
Feudal filth (i.e. feudal ideas and practices) which has accumulated over centuries, is India’s greatest enemy, and must be eliminated root and branch for our country to progress.
Also, the false idols like Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jinnah (for the Pakistanis ), Tagore, Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Savarkar, Tilak etc must be smashed and the truth about them revealed to the Indian people.
Indian history, which has been distorted by vested interests, e.g. the real cause for Partition in 1947, must be presented to the people truthfully.
All this I have sought to do on my FB posts and on my blog Satyam Bruyat.
Some people ask as to how FB posts can educate the people. My answer is firstly that I have a huge following on Facebook of about 850,000 followers, so my ideas are widely read (and shared). Secondly, many of my articles are published on well known portals (and sometimes in print as well, though it is true that most well known newspapers do not publish them, probably because of instructions received from some high up).
Victor Hugo said “ There is one thing more powerful than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come “. I present ideas whose time has come. Many of my ideas initially shock people e.g. that Gandhi was objectively a British agent (see my blogs on Gandhi on my blog Satyam Bruyat). But new ideas often shock people and meet with fierce opposition e.g. Copernicus’ idea presented in 1547 that it is the earth which goes around the sun (the heliocentric theory) and not the sun which goes around the earth (the geocentric theory of the Bible and Ptolemy).
In fact for a long time it was dangerous to advocate Copernicus’ theory, as the example of Galileo proves, yet because it represented the truth it ultimately triumphed. Satyamev Jayate.
The principal idea which I have sought to present is this: this world really consists of two worlds, the world of the developed, highly industrialised countries (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and China) and the world of the underdeveloped countries, which include India.
Out national aim must be to transform and uplift India from the ranks of the underdeveloped countries, and bring it into the ranks of the developed and highly industrialised countries, for without it we will remain condemned to massive and appalling poverty, unemployment, child malnourishment etc. All patriots must contribute in this historical struggle in their own way
Many people, particularly youngsters, have asked me what my aim in putting up Facebook posts is, and my answer has been that I am trying to educate the Indian people.
To this, the response is that nobody is educated by Facebook posts. I am therefore clarifying this in some detail.
Today India is facing the problems of massive poverty, record unemployment, appalling level of child malnourishment, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for our huge population of 1.35 billion people, among other issues.
These problems cannot be resolved within the present constitutional system of parliamentary democracy, for parliamentary democracy in India largely runs on caste and communal vote banks. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them. So it has to be replaced by another political system which enables rapid industrialization of the country, for unless we become a highly industrialised country we can never solve the above-mentioned massive problems, and will remain condemned to poverty. Such alternative system can only emerge after a mighty historical people’s struggle I.e. a revolution.
Historical experience shows that before every actual revolution, in which millions of lives will have to be sacrificed, there is always an intellectual revolution, i.e. a struggle in the field of ideas. For example, before the French Revolution of 1789 there was several decades of intellectual struggle by great thinkers and writers like Voltaire, Rousseau, the French Encyclopedists etc.(who wrote against the feudal system, religious bigotry, etc ). Why is an intellectual revolution required before an actual revolution?
That is because in an actual revolution many people will have to sacrifice their lives, and they will willingly do so only if convinced that they are fighting for a noble cause. So great thinkers and writers have to explain to the people the objectives of their struggles and why it is necessary (as Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Paine, etc did). So before the coming Indian Revolution there has to be an intellectual revolution, i.e, a struggle in the realm of ideas in India, and it is here that I am trying to contribute by my Facebook posts.
The mindsets of most Indians is crammed with casteism, communalism and superstitions, i.e. feudal thinking, which is the greatest obstacle to our country’s progress. For instance, veneration of cows and looking down on dalits as inferiors is widespread among Hindus, while burqas are common among many Muslims, These feudal ideas and practices have to be combated and destroyed if India is to progress, and by my FB posts I aim at precisely that.
Feudal filth (i.e. feudal ideas and practices) which has accumulated over centuries, is India’s greatest enemy, and must be eliminated root and branch for our country to progress.
Also, the false idols like Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jinnah (for the Pakistanis ), Tagore, Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Savarkar, Tilak etc must be smashed and the truth about them revealed to the Indian people.
Indian history, which has been distorted by vested interests, e.g. the real cause for Partition in 1947, must be presented to the people truthfully.
All this I have sought to do on my FB posts and on my blog Satyam Bruyat.
Some people ask as to how FB posts can educate the people. My answer is firstly that I have a huge following on Facebook of about 850,000 followers, so my ideas are widely read (and shared). Secondly, many of my articles are published on well known portals (and sometimes in print as well, though it is true that most well known newspapers do not publish them, probably because of instructions received from some high up).
Victor Hugo said “ There is one thing more powerful than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come “. I present ideas whose time has come. Many of my ideas initially shock people e.g. that Gandhi was objectively a British agent (see my blogs on Gandhi on my blog Satyam Bruyat). But new ideas often shock people and meet with fierce opposition e.g. Copernicus’ idea presented in 1547 that it is the earth which goes around the sun (the heliocentric theory) and not the sun which goes around the earth (the geocentric theory of the Bible and Ptolemy).
In fact for a long time it was dangerous to advocate Copernicus’ theory, as the example of Galileo proves, yet because it represented the truth it ultimately triumphed. Satyamev Jayate.
The principal idea which I have sought to present is this: this world really consists of two worlds, the world of the developed, highly industrialised countries (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and China) and the world of the underdeveloped countries, which include India.
Out national aim must be to transform and uplift India from the ranks of the underdeveloped countries, and bring it into the ranks of the developed and highly industrialised countries, for without it we will remain condemned to massive and appalling poverty, unemployment, child malnourishment etc. All patriots must contribute in this historical struggle in their own way