HEURISTICS IN DECISION-MAKING

In his book, “Look into the Stillness: A Spiritual Journey through Inspirational Quotes”, Donald L. Hicks argues, “It’s often been said that seeing is believing, but in many cases, the reverse is also true. Believing results in seeing.” Beyond doubt, all that is seen is not true — many times we are deceived by our preconceived thoughts too.

The television media plays a central role in informing the public about what happens around us — particularly in those areas in which audiences do not hold direct information or involvement. However, many of the contemporary television news channels have taken a specific orientation, thus promoting predisposed views. In this era of Satmass Media, these channels act prominently in the decision-making process as a medium of heuristics.

In general, the simple and efficient rules that people often use to form judgments and make decisions are called heuristics. They are perceptual shortcuts that usually involve congregating on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others. In most of the situations, the exertion of these rules goes very well. Nonetheless, they can lead to systematic deviations from logic, probability or a framework for understanding and formally modelling social and economic behaviour. This results in a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment known as cognitive biases. Such errors have been shown to affect people’s choices in the state of affairs involving decision-making. Heuristics usually govern automatic, intuitive judgments but can also be used as deliberate mental strategies when working from limited information such as getting exposed to a particular television news channel that takes a sanitary lean towards a particular viewpoint.

Heuristics in Decision-Making

In the expanse of public affairs, the more accessible information is the information that is more recently or more frequently conveyed by the mass media. All such effects of news coverage as the effects of news coverage on issue salience, evaluations of important news, and attributions of issue responsibility could be attributed to the accessibility bias in public opinion.

There are numerous perspectives on heuristics. According to one particular perspective, without being too hard on the brain’s capitals, heuristics are adequate to achieve most purposes. Another conjectural standpoint sees heuristics as fully rational — they are quick and almost as accurate as more complicated procedures, despite their lack of complete information.

Palpably, every leadership do regularly receive so much information. There has been a debate on the issue concerning the behavioural attitudes of the leading front — if they use the information they receive to arrive at a comprehensively rational decision or just like any common individual they resort to cognitive heuristics in their judgment and decision-making. However, these people both follow and unfollow the heuristics in their decision-making processes. It is due to the experience, and the selection processes preceding their appointment, that the information processing, which is undertaken by them, is more rational than that of a common man. Even so, it is a proven fact that these elites also use heuristics in their judgment and decision-making.

Repeated Exposure to Television News

Through the recurrence and reinforcement of particular messages, especially through the television medium, a strong influence could be exerted in the negotiations of beliefs and associated behaviours. A case study undertaken by the author found that a relationship between the prior exposures to information has a major impact — often related to the strength of attitude, on the subject and the degree to which the information wedged on beliefs and opinions.

The masses who had been least exposed to the repeated television news analysis were most open to adjusting their views and conversely, those who arrived at the groups with the most exposure were least likely to have their opinions changed by the new information.

Indubitably, television news channels have also transformed the way any sensational news is wrapped up. Unlike the traditional entertainment channels that have a stipulated time slot for news presentations, the round-the-clock news channels have ample time for the news being telecasted. With large amounts of time to fill, these channels have introduced analyses by spin doctors and talking heads to fill their schedules. Spin doctors are usually paid professionals working to promote something; they try to spin the news in favour of their point of view. On the other hand, the talking heads, the experts independent of someone’s control, typically take a particular side and offer their take on recent developments.

The admiration of these analyses has become very popular among the masses. The approval of the masses has forced much of the actual news, like speeches or news conferences with celebrities, to be reduced to mere sound bites. In addition, the approval of news analyses has also forced the news channels to develop some simple and efficient rules to form judgments and make decisions for the audience. Thus, the news and news analyses being aired on television have turned into typical heuristics. More so, as these audio-visual analyses have a hidden purpose; the panel members being invited for the discussions as well as the time being allocated to some particular panel members has become more impervious than normal — the entire background setup of news analyses is no more transparent.

Looking at inclinations like the aforementioned trends, many media analysts have criticised television media for muting down the dogmatic discourse. Also, in recent years, savvy advisers have taken advantage of the power of television; spin doctors and the talking heads to get their inclined messages across — thus designing suitable heuristics.

In conclusion, the information that people are prearranged in media channels can legitimise powerful actions and ease changes at the collective level. However, they can also edge and shape the behaviours of individuals which are central to extensive social change — one such important fact is television news acting as heuristics. Whether it is for the good or bad, heuristics are being guided through the mere remote control of a television set.

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से शांति

समकालीन समाज ने सोशल मीडिया का बोलबाला देखा है, जो उन सभी लोगों का मुखपत्र है जो अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता की वकालत करते हैं। एक ओर, मुक्त भाषण ने सोशल मीडिया पर हानिकारक सामग्री और दुष्प्रचार को बढ़ावा दिया है, जिसके परिणामस्वरूप साइबरनेटिक संघर्ष हुए हैं – जो आभासी बातचीत से परे लोगों के जीवन पर गहरा प्रभाव डाल रहे हैं। दूसरी ओर, उसी सोशल मीडिया ने शांति के प्रचार-प्रसार का मार्ग प्रशस्त किया है। सोशल मीडिया ने समाज के हर वर्ग के लिए विभिन्न अनुप्रयोगों को प्रस्तुत किया है – जो संघर्ष दस्तों और शांतिदूतों दोनों के लिए समान रूप से सुलभ है, अर्थात, संपूर्ण समुदाय शांति और युद्ध दोनों प्रयासों में संलग्न है। दूसरी ओर, यह हितधारकों को जोखिम में डालता है क्योंकि संघर्ष अधिक लंबे हो गए हैं और उन्हें हल करना या समाप्त करना कठिन हो गया है।

सूचना और संचार प्रौद्योगिकी (आईसीटी) का हिस्सा सोशल मीडिया ने नई जटिलताएं पेश की हैं और नए मानदंडों के उद्भव की सुविधा प्रदान की है, विशेष रूप से असमान इंटरनेट पहुंच, घृणास्पद भाषण और प्रचार जैसे मुद्दों के जवाब में। रूस-यूक्रेन युद्ध भले ही सैद्धांतिक रूप से हर देश अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता के महत्व को मानता है, लेकिन जब व्यवहार की बात आती है, तो कई अपवाद होते हैं क्योंकि सरकारों को राष्ट्र के समग्र हित की रक्षा करनी होती है। ऐसी स्थिति में, सरकारें शत्रुतापूर्ण विचारों या खतरनाक आवाज़ों को कैसे सहन करती हैं, यह उनके मानवाधिकारों के प्रति उनके दृष्टिकोण को दर्शाता है।

रूस-यूक्रेन युद्ध यह समझने के लिए एक अच्छा उदाहरण है कि सरकारों द्वारा सोशल मीडिया पर अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता पर लगाए गए प्रतिबंध कोई सार्थक समाधान लाते हैं या नहीं। यूक्रेन पर रूसी आक्रमण शुरू होने के बाद से सोशल मीडिया ने निर्णायक भूमिका निभाई है। सोशल नेटवर्किंग साइटें लड़ाई और बम विस्फोटों के वीडियो, मीम्स और संघर्ष के बारे में संदेशों के अलावा युद्ध पीड़ितों और शरणार्थियों के वसीयतनामा से भर गई हैं।

संघर्ष ने संगठित प्रचार अभियानों को भी जन्म दिया है जो दुनिया भर में तेजी से फैल गए, मुख्य रूप से सोशल मीडिया नकली कठपुतलियों के माध्यम से – चर्चाओं या विचारों में हेरफेर करने के लिए नकली ऑनलाइन पहचान। पूरी स्थिति ने एक और समवर्ती अध्ययन की नींव रखी है कि सोशल मीडिया सॉक कठपुतलियाँ सूचना युद्ध में कैसे भूमिका निभाती हैं। बहरहाल, रूस-यूक्रेन संघर्ष में, सूचना युद्ध पारंपरिक प्रचार तक सीमित नहीं रहा है। इसमें डिप्लेटफॉर्माइजेशन को शामिल किया गया है, जिसका अर्थ है सोशल मीडिया नेटवर्क सहित डिलीवरी चैनलों तक पहुंच से इनकार करना।

शांति के लिए उपकरण इस तथ्य से इनकार नहीं किया जा सकता कि सोशल मीडिया अभी भी अपने प्रारंभिक चरण में है, जब इसे शांति का एक साधन माना जाता है। हालाँकि, यह भी उतना ही महत्वपूर्ण तथ्य है कि सोशल मीडिया पहले से ही विभिन्न अन्य क्षेत्रों में एक शक्तिशाली उपकरण के रूप में स्थापित हो चुका है। इस प्रकार, सोशल मीडिया उपयोगकर्ताओं और मध्यस्थों सहित सभी हितधारकों के माध्यम से शांति स्थापित करने के लिए सोशल मीडिया अनुप्रयोगों का विस्तार, प्रभावशाली संवाद और मध्यस्थता प्रक्रियाओं को स्थापित करेगा। जैसा कि पहले उल्लेख किया गया है, मीडिया परिदृश्य मौलिक रूप से बदल रहा है और अधिक से अधिक लोग वेब चैनलों के माध्यम से जानकारी प्राप्त कर रहे हैं, जो मुख्यधारा मीडिया के लिए एक बड़ी चुनौती है। आख़िरकार, साइबरस्पेस के अपने नियम और मानदंड हैं। हर घर में मौजूद शक्तिशाली स्मार्टफोन और उनके सोशल मीडिया एप्लिकेशन ने हर किसी को ऑनलाइन सामग्री का उपभोक्ता बना दिया है। सर्वव्यापकता और अन्तरक्रियाशीलता सोशल मीडिया की दो महत्वपूर्ण विशेषताएं हैं जो आभासी प्रभावशाली लोगों को ऑनलाइन प्लेटफ़ॉर्म पर एक बड़ी चीज़ बनाती हैं जो सहकर्मी नेताओं की भूमिका निभाते हैं। सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से शांति को बढ़ावा देने के लिए, संघर्ष के आभासी माहौल को समझना महत्वपूर्ण है और यह लोगों को कैसे प्रभावित करता है। इसके अलावा, व्हाट्सएप, फेसबुक और एक्स (तत्कालीन ट्विटर) जैसे प्लेटफार्मों की जांच करने की आवश्यकता है, क्योंकि ये प्लेटफॉर्म सार्वजनिक कूटनीति के महत्वपूर्ण उपकरण बन गए हैं, जिससे शांतिदूतों के लिए इन अनुप्रयोगों का उपयोग करना चुनौतीपूर्ण हो गया है। निस्संदेह, सोशल मीडिया बहस, सामाजिक आंदोलनों और राजनीतिक परिवर्तन को आगे बढ़ाने में एक महत्वपूर्ण प्रेरक शक्ति बन गया है। हालाँकि, दूसरे छोर से, उनका उपयोग हिंसा भड़काने, समाज को विभाजित करने और सशस्त्र समूहों में भर्ती के लिए प्रचारक के रूप में कार्य करने के लिए भी किया जाता है। विविध आवाजें संघर्ष-प्रभावित समूहों और शांतिरक्षकों को दुनिया भर के लोगों को प्रभावित करने के लिए संघर्ष और शांति प्रयासों के बारे में अपनी विशिष्ट बातें प्रस्तुत करने के लिए सोशल मीडिया तक पहुंच प्राप्त हो सकती है। इसके विपरीत, पूर्ण डीप्लेटफ़ॉर्माइज़ेशन, यानी, किसी व्यक्ति, समूह या संगठन को सोशल मीडिया से पूरी तरह से हटाना या प्रतिबंधित करना, ऐसी स्वतंत्रता में बाधा उत्पन्न करेगा। निर्बाध सूचना साझा करने के अपने फायदे भी हैं और नुकसान भी। सोशल मीडिया पारंपरिक मीडिया की तुलना में विविध आवाज़ों को अधिक सुनने की अनुमति देता है। इससे खेल का मैदान समतल करने में मदद मिलती है. इस तरह, सोशल मीडिया दुनिया भर के लोगों को अपने कथन और दृष्टिकोण साझा करने की अनुमति देता है, और संवाद को बढ़ावा देने का एक साधन प्रदान करता है। यह डेटा संग्रह और संघर्ष विश्लेषण को भी बढ़ाता है। एक शांति निर्माता उपकरण के रूप में, सोशल मीडिया प्रतिभागियों के बीच संचार और संवाद के प्रत्यक्ष और समावेशी चैनल बनाकर विश्वास और विश्वास बनाने में मदद कर सकता है, खासकर संघर्ष के शुरुआती चरणों में। यह ई शांति वाहिनी को दर्शकों की एक विस्तृत श्रृंखला तक पहुंचने और संघर्ष स्थितियों की बेहतर समझ प्राप्त करने में सक्षम बनाता है, जिससे शांतिदूतों को गलत सूचना और दुष्प्रचार दोनों का मुकाबला करने में सुविधा मिलती है। संक्षेप में, सोशल मीडिया शांति को बढ़ावा देने के लिए दूर-दराज के इलाकों तक भी पहुंच सकता है। कई शांतिदूत शांतिपूर्ण विरोध प्रदर्शनों का समर्थन करने और लोकतंत्र की रक्षा के लिए सोशल मीडिया चैनलों का प्रभावी ढंग से उपयोग कर रहे हैं। इस ऑनलाइन फ्रंटलाइन में ‘शांति की नसें’ स्थापित करने की अपार क्षमता है।

By Dr Suman Kumar Kasturi

Originally published by Jantaserishta and available at URL: https://jantaserishta.com/editorial/peace-through-social-media-3173736

पांच दिवसीय बैंकिंग एक आवश्यकता

इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि बैंक किसी भी देश के विकास का सूत्रपात करते हैं। भारतीय परिवेश में, बैंकिंग देश के समग्र आर्थिक विकास की नींव है। प्रौद्योगिकी में प्रगति के साथ पिछले कुछ वर्षों में बैंकिंग प्रणाली में बड़े बदलाव आए हैं – बेशक, यह समय की मांग भी है। यदि हम बैंकिंग क्षेत्र के विकास का गहराई से विश्लेषण करें तो इसे मुख्य रूप से तीन चरणों में विभाजित किया जा सकता है – प्रारंभिक चरण जो 1969 तक चला, राष्ट्रीयकरण चरण जो 1969 से 1991 तक जारी रहा और उदारीकरण चरण जो 1991 में शुरू हुआ और आज तक जारी है।

उपरोक्त बैंकिंग विकास के प्रत्येक चरण ने बैंकिंग क्षेत्र की समग्र कार्यक्षमता में समान रूप से कुछ चुनौतियाँ पेश की हैं, अर्थात् नई तकनीकों को अपनाने से लेकर बाहरी और आंतरिक दोनों तरह की विभिन्न नीतियों के कार्यान्वयन तक। सफल काम बैंकिंग उद्योग, जैसा पहले कभी नहीं था, कई प्रकार की चुनौतियों का सामना कर रहा है – नियामक परिवर्तनों से लेकर विभिन्न डिजिटल खिलाड़ियों से बढ़ती प्रतिस्पर्धा तक। संक्षेप में, बैंकिंग उद्योग को आर्थिक अनिश्चितता, नियामक परिवर्तन, साइबर सुरक्षा जोखिम, बढ़ती प्रतिस्पर्धा, फिनटेक व्यवधान, ग्राहकों की अपेक्षाएं, जनशक्ति की कमी और प्रतिभा प्रबंधन जैसी कई चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। इन चुनौतियों से निपटने के लिए बैंकों के पास अंतिम समाधान प्रौद्योगिकी में निवेश करना, फिनटेक के साथ साझेदारी करना और नए बिजनेस मॉडल तलाशना है।

दूसरी ओर, बैंक आमतौर पर बैंक स्ट्रेस टेस्ट नामक एक तंत्र का पालन करते हैं, यह विश्लेषण और निर्धारित करने की एक विधि है कि किसी बैंक के पास आर्थिक या वित्तीय संकट का सामना करने के लिए पर्याप्त पूंजी है या नहीं। बहरहाल, कई बैंकरों की राय में, एक समान परीक्षण होना चाहिए जिसे बैंकर्स स्ट्रेस टेस्ट कहा जा सकता है, ताकि यह विश्लेषण और निर्धारित किया जा सके कि किसी बैंकर के पास तनाव झेलने के लिए पर्याप्त ताकत है या नहीं।

दरअसल, बैंकिंग बाजार में किसी भी अन्य नौकरी की तुलना में अधिक तनावपूर्ण नौकरी बन गई है। इस तर्क की पुष्टि एक लेख से की जा सकती है, जिसका शीर्षक है, “जब कोई पदोन्नति नहीं चाहता: सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र के बैंकों में मूल्यांकन प्रणाली में सुधार की आवश्यकता है।” लेखक, श्यामल मजूमदार, बैंकों की वर्तमान स्थिति को स्पष्ट रूप से समझाते हैं जिसके कारण कोई भी पदोन्नति का विकल्प नहीं चुनना चाहेगा। कर्मचारी की थकान

भले ही कागज पर बैंकिंग घंटे लगभग आठ घंटे तक सीमित हैं, बैंकर आम तौर पर दिन में लगभग 12 घंटे काम करते हैं – एक ऐसा तथ्य जो अधिकांश आम जनता को नहीं पता है। काम के बढ़े हुए घंटे, निश्चित रूप से, कार्य-जीवन संतुलन को बिगाड़ देते हैं, जो व्यक्ति की समग्र कार्यक्षमता को नुकसान पहुँचाता है। इसके अलावा, बैंकर दिन-प्रतिदिन अपने कार्यस्थलों पर आते-जाते हैं। इसलिए, यात्रा का समय तनाव बढ़ाता है। परंपरागत रूप से, एक हानिकारक कार्य-जीवन संतुलन तब होता है जब काम अप्रतिरोध्य हो जाता है और व्यक्तिगत जीवन पर प्राथमिकता लेता है, जिससे किसी व्यक्ति की भलाई पर नकारात्मक प्रभाव पड़ता है। अधिकांश बैंकरों के अनुसार, वे लगातार अधिक काम करने, व्यक्तिगत जीवन की उपेक्षा, थकावट, आत्म-देखभाल की कमी और तनावपूर्ण रिश्तों के कारण नकारात्मक परिणामों का अनुभव कर रहे हैं। एक कहावत है, “काम आवंटित समय को पूरा करने के लिए फैलता है,” जिसका अर्थ है कि काम व्यक्तिगत समय में फैल जाता है, अगर इसे नियंत्रित नहीं किया जाता है – तो कर्मचारी थकान की ओर अग्रसर होता है। उच्च थकान और अस्वास्थ्यकर कार्य-जीवन संतुलन को दूर करने के लिए, बैंकरों को एक लंबे ब्रेक की आवश्यकता होती है, अर्थात, निरंतरता में रुकावट, काम में एक ठहराव – क्योंकि यह उन्हें रुकने और आराम करने की अनुमति देता है ताकि वे नई ऊर्जा के साथ जो कुछ भी कर रहे हैं उसे फिर से शुरू कर सकें। . लेकिन फिर भी, दुर्भाग्य से, ब्रेक को अक्सर अपराधबोध से जोड़ा जाता है, और ऐसा इसलिए होता है क्योंकि ब्रेक के दौरान, एक व्यक्ति अक्सर शांत रहता है और जाहिरा तौर पर कुछ भी नहीं कर रहा होता है, और यह साबित करने का कोई साधन नहीं है कि यह ‘कुछ नहीं करने’ से किसी व्यक्ति को कुछ करने में मदद मिलेगी , महसूस करें और आने वाले समय में बेहतर प्रदर्शन करें। वैध मांग उपरोक्त चर्चा बैंकरों की पांच दिवसीय बैंकिंग मांग के लिए बिल्कुल उपयुक्त है। हालिया घटनाक्रम में जब से सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र के बैंकों की पांच दिवसीय बैंकिंग की मांग को लेकर खबरें आने लगीं, तब से इस पर तरह-तरह की राय सामने आने लगी है। अब लाख टके का सवाल यह उठता है कि क्या पांच दिवसीय बैंकिंग एक आवश्यकता है या नहीं। निश्चित रूप से, यह मांग बैंकरों की गलती नहीं है, बल्कि यह उनकी वैध मांग है कि वे अपने परिवार के सदस्यों के साथ कुछ गुणवत्तापूर्ण समय बिता सकें, अपने माता-पिता और बुजुर्गों की वृद्धावस्था संबंधी जरूरतों को पूरा कर सकें, और कई अन्य चीजें जो केवल समय की गारंटी देती हैं और कुछ नहीं। अन्य!

हां, बदलता समय कार्य संस्कृति में भी बदलाव की मांग करता है। यह स्वीकार करने का समय आ गया है कि ब्रेक हमारे मानसिक और शारीरिक स्वास्थ्य के लिए कितने आवश्यक हैं। ब्रेक बहुत महत्वपूर्ण हैं, क्योंकि उचित आराम के बिना लगातार काम करने से न केवल उत्पादकता बल्कि मानसिक और शारीरिक स्वास्थ्य और इस प्रकार एक कर्मचारी की समग्र भलाई को नुकसान पहुंचता है। यह आश्चर्य की बात है कि कुछ लोग बैंकरों की इस वैध मांग को लेकर संशय में क्यों हैं। कई संगठनों ने पांच दिवसीय कार्य संस्कृति को अपनाया है और परिणाम के रूप में अधिक उत्पादकता के साथ फलदायी साबित हुए हैं। उत्पादकता को प्रभावित करने वाले कई कारकों में से, किसी के शारीरिक और मानसिक स्वास्थ्य का ख्याल रखना इसका एक बड़ा हिस्सा है। संवाददाता अंततः, थकान जोखिम प्रबंधन प्रणाली, जो एक व्यापक दृष्टिकोण है जो कर्मचारियों की थकान को प्रबंधित करने के लिए वैज्ञानिक साक्ष्य लागू करने पर आधारित है, स्पष्ट रूप से इसका समर्थन करती है। संक्षेप में, बैंकर अपनी भूमिकाओं को निष्पादित करने के लिए हर तरफ से भारी मानसिक दबाव का सामना करते हैं, यहां तक कि कोविड-19 लॉकडाउन अवधि जैसी आपात स्थिति के दौरान भी। चुस्त रहकर और बदलती बाजार स्थितियों के अनुरूप ढलकर, बैंक प्रतिस्पर्धी बने हुए हैं और अपने ग्राहकों की जरूरतों को पूरा करना जारी रखते हैं। बहरहाल, यह प्रत्येक बैंकर के उच्च-तनाव स्तर की कीमत पर नहीं होना चाहिए। चिंताजनक क्षण के इस मोड़ पर, यदि पांच-दिवसीय बैंकिंग लागू की जाए, तो यह एक वरदान साबित हो सकती है।

By Dr Suman Kumar Kasturi

originally published by Jantaserishta and available at URL: https://jantaserishta.com/article/high-blood-pressure-potassium-rich-salt-n ew-south-wales-1155735

The Sinews of Peace through Social Media

Contemporary society has seen the sway of social media, the mouthpiece of everybody who advocates free speech. Free speech, from one end, has led to harmful content and disinformation over social media, resulting in cybernetic conflicts — profoundly impacting people’s lives beyond virtual interactions. On the other hand, the same social media has paved the way for the brawns of peace. Thus, social media has become pervasive in the digital realm.

Social media has set forth various applications to every section of society — equally accessible to both conflict squads and peacemakers i.e. the community as a whole to engage in both peace and combat exertions. Social media have fashioned prospects in the early phases of peace development to succour with data collection and analysis, reinforcing peace messaging and promulgating dialogue. On the flip side, social media equally risks the stakeholders for the reason that violent conflicts have become progressively more prolonged, and harder to resolve or cease. Social media, the constituents of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), have added to this multifariousness in innovative ways and made a provision for new orders due to inconsistencies in internet access or hate speech and exaggerated propaganda.

Free Speech over Social Media and Russo-Ukraine War

Even though every country in principle accepts the value of free speech, when it comes to practice, there are many exceptions as governments have to safeguard the overall interest of the nation. In this locale, how governments tolerate hostile views or perilous voices is often an upright sign of how they treat human rights on the whole.

The Russo-Ukraine war scenario is a good example to answer whether or not the restrictions imposed by governments bring about a meaningful solution by suppressing free speech over social media. If the overall picture of the Russo-Ukraine conflict is taken into account, social media have played a decisive role since the commencement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All the social networking sites have been flooded with testaments of war victims and refugees. Long over time, ever since the war began, the dying embers of the Russo-Ukrainian war still cast a shadow. Further, videos of battles and bombings, memes and messages about the conflict flooded the social media webspace.

The Russo-Ukraine conflict has led to organised propaganda campaigns that were diffused rapidly around the globe, mainly through social media sock puppets — the entire situation has laid the foundation for another concurrent study of how social media sock puppets play a role in information warfare. Nonetheless, in the Russo-Ukraine conflict, information warfare has not been limited to conventional propaganda. It correspondingly arrayed on deplatformization, meaning the denial of access to delivery channels including social media networks.

Social Media as a Powerful Tool for Peace

There is no denying the fact that social media is still in its embryonic phase when considered as a tool for peace. However, it is an equally significant fact that already social media has been established as a powerful tool in various other fields; and extending social media applications to peacemaking, through all stakeholders including the social media users and mediators would persuasively establish a fruitful dialogue and mediation processes.

As mentioned beforehand, the media landscape is radically changing with more and more people receiving information through web channels and has been challenging the role of mainstream media — after all, cyberspace has its own rules and norms. The powerful smartphones present in every household and their social media applications have turned everyone into a consumer of online content. Ubiquity and interactivity are the two significant characteristics of social media that make this new media populated by virtual influencers who play the role of peer leaders.

To establish the sinews of peace through social media, understanding the virtual environment of a conflict and its impact needs a critical analysis of various social media infrastructures. Also, a clear examination of the social media consumers on such platforms as WhatsApp, Facebook, and X (erstwhile Twitter), is of substantial importance, for these platforms have become important tools of public diplomacy that left peacemakers stressed to catch up on how to use social media applications. Indubitably, social media have become an important mobilising force in driving debates, social movements and political change. However, from the other end, social media are also used to incite violence, divide societies, and as a campaigner for recruitment to armed groups.

Conflict-affected groups and peacekeepers can have access to social media to present their distinct narratives of conflict and peace efforts to influence people across the world. Conversely, the complete deplatformization of social media channels alone would hamper such liberty. Having no barriers to information sharing is an advantage as well as a disadvantage to social media. Taking advantage of this factor, social media provides space to hear more diverse voices than conventional media outlets to play an important role in levelling the playing field. This way,  social media allows people across the world, both affected and non-affected, to share their narratives and perspectives — and provides a means for fostering dialogue. Also, it enhances data collection and conflict analysis.

As a peacemaker tool, social media can help build trust and confidence by creating direct and inclusive channels of communication and dialogue among the participants, especially in the initial stages of a conflict. Social media enable the Peace Corps to directly address a wide range of audiences to gather a broad understanding of diverse conflict plots and potential entry points for peacemaking. Besides, social media platforms facilitate peacemakers to counter both misinformation as well as disinformation.

In sum, social media has the advantage of reaching even the far-flung areas to advocate peace. Many peacemakers have been using social media channels effectively to embrace peaceful protests and defend democracy for quite some time. This online frontline has an enormous potential to institute the sinews of peace through social media.

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

(An Air Veteran turned Independent Researcher — Author of above 20 Mass Media Books)  

This article has been published by Telangana Today, DailyExcelsior and Koshursamachar and available at following URLs:

Opinion: Peace through social media

The Sinews of Peace through Social Media

The Sinews of Peace through Social Media

SIGNIFICANCE OF DIVERSITY IN COMMUNICATION VIS-À-VIS POLITICS

Human rights are inherent in nature and can be freely enjoyed by all human beings without any sort of discrimination, for the sheer reason of one’s birth as human. This way, the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that came into force on December 10, 1948, meanderingly brings out the very concept of diversity.

Nevertheless, diversity in various fields is considered a new phenomenon across the world — the applied meaning behind it is more than just publicity for equality and social movement. When speaking about diversity and inclusion, the most probable and common understanding to many people is movements such as #MeToo.

On the other hand, when it comes to politics, diversity is not only about having diversified team members in a political party or government but also about how we synergize with various stakeholders of a government and address issues of common interest.

Our basic understanding of politics is — it is an activity of making agreements between people so that they can live together in groups. In larger groups like countries, many people are engaged in making such agreements while investing a lot of time in it. Hence, forward-looking in communications, as well as diversity, is critical to all political units. Any political party that does not prioritize diversity is likely to lose its voters and treasured affiliations. For this binding reason, diversity needs to be part of any political party. To be more precise in this context, diversity in communication is vital for any political party.

Yes, we are living in the digitalized era, wherein diversity in communication is substantial for increased collaboration, problem-solving, innovation, clarity, and understanding; and of course, for higher engagement and satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Diversity in communication is nothing but an approach that contemplates diverse audiences when developing any form of communication — both verbal and non-verbal. The very purpose of it is to effectively engage and connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, identities and perspectives, which is achieved by adapting and designing various communication methods, approaches and content that is deemed fit to the situation.

Inclusive communication is one of the effective methods for diversity of communication in politics. Insofar as inclusive communication is taken into account, it deliberates and compliments the diversity of individuals by removing barriers that might arise from dissimilarities in backgrounds, languages, cultures, abilities and perspectives. Inclusive communication is very effective — because — together with various other advantages like being mindful of cultural sensitivity, it also uses a clear and plain language called inclusive language that avoids stereotypes. Inclusive language is nothing but the process of communication that makes audiences feel represented, rather than excluded. The significance of inclusive language lies in the fact that it identifies the diverse characteristics and involvements of people and communicates in a way that does not relegate or discriminate against any group.

In politics, diversity in communication offers many benefits. For any political party, an inclusive approach to communication can be the difference between pulling voters in or pushing them away. Political communication that does not consider diversity can easily turn off individual voters in general, and communities as a whole. Diversity in communication leads to more trust in political leadership, increased feelings of voter satisfaction and belonging, better decision-making and innovativeness, improved voter acquisition and retention, and higher political party reputation.

Inclusive communication matters to every political party as well as voters. Political parties that prioritize diversity and inclusion are seen as socially responsible and are more likely to gain a positive reputation, especially with post-millennials. As of now, the future of any political party will rest in the hands of Generation Z; and according to a study, 70% of them are more trusting of brands that represent diversity in ads. Here in our case, a brand can be considered as a political party while ads could be the communication methods.

It is a fact that for any organisation including political parties where public opinion matters much, understanding and valuing all stakeholders is a precondition to any successful and widespread campaign. Diversity plays a significant role in all such campaigns. Having diverse stakeholders not only increases the vision of any organisation but also helps to establish a more varied client base; and cater for campaigns for more clients without being categorically obtuse.

It should be borne in mind that public opinions are not unidirectional but multi-directional. When the whole world is looking in the same direction, no one will look at other ways. By doing so, they can overlook or compromise on circumventing meagre problems that have the prospective to intensify into a catastrophe in the future. However, by having diversified views, political units can be confident that they are looking at the problem from various angles to come up with a sustainable solution for every client.

To attain such a sustainable solution, political parties need to create an inclusive atmosphere to ensure that every individual within the sphere is treated equally and respectfully regardless of their differences. Communication teams need to take a mindful approach to the language, visuals and even their channels of communication for the audience they are targeting by acclimating such vital issues as considering different perspectives before making any changes and avoiding propaganda.

It is confirmatory that political parties will indeed lose voters due to a lack of diversity. In politics, a lack of diversity creates an echo chamber where ideas become uninspired and lead to alternate trials. Palpably, the aforementioned discussion indicates the significance of diversity of communication in politics. Hence, there is a dire need for any political party to improve the diversity of communication, because, in politics, it is all about creating an environment of inclusiveness where every voter feels like they are welcomed, valued and empowered to be their true self.

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

(An Air Veteran turned Independent Researcher — An author of more than 20 Mass Media Books)  

E-Mail: suman@sumankasturi.com   

THE SINE QUA NON OF FIVE-DAY BANKING

Beyond doubt, banks herald any nation’s growth. In Indian settings, banking is the foundation for the overall economic development of the country. The banking system has undergone major changes over the years with the advancement in technology — of course, it’s a need of the hour too. If we deeply analyse the development of the banking sector, mainly it can be divided into three phases —the early phase which lasted till 1969, the nationalization phase which continued from 1969 to 1991 and the liberalization phase which began in 1991 and remains to exist to date.

Each phase of the aforesaid banking development has equally imposed a few challenges to the overall functionality of the banking sector i.e. from adopting new technologies to implementation of various policies, both external and internal.

At this moment in time, the banking industry, as never before, has been facing a wide range of challenges — from regulatory changes to increasing competition from various digital players. In a nutshell, the banking industry has been facing many such challenges as economic uncertainty, regulatory changes, cybersecurity risks, increasing competition, fintech disruption, customer expectations, manpower shortage, and talent management. The ultimate solution banks have to address these challenges is to invest in technology solutions, partner with fintech startups, and explore new business models.

On the other hand, usually, banks follow a mechanism called a bank stress test, a method to analyse and determine whether a bank has enough capital to withstand an economic or financial crisis. Nonetheless, in the opinion of many bankers, there should be a similar test which might be termed a Bankers Stress Test, to analyse and determine whether a banker has enough strength to withstand the stress. 

Indeed, banking has become a more stressful job than any other job in the market. A validation of this argument can be extracted from an article titled, “When No One Wants a Promotion: The Appraisal System in Public Sector Banks Needs to Improve.” The author, Shyamal Majumdar, clearly explains the present-day situation of the banks due to which no one would like to opt for a promotion.

Even though banking hours on paper are limited to some eight hours, bankers typically work nearly twelve hours a day — a fact that is not known to most of the general public. The extended hours of working, for sure, shatter the work-life balance, which harms the overall functionality of the individual. Furthermore, bankers commute to their workplaces on a day-to-day basis. So, the travel time is an add-on windfall.

Customarily, a harmful work-life balance occurs when work becomes irresistible and takes precedence over personal life, leading to negative magnitudes for an individual’s well-being. According to most bankers, they have been experiencing such negative consequences as constant overwork, neglected personal life, burnout, lack of self-care, and strained relationships.

There’s a saying, “Work expands to fill the time allotted,” meaning work spills over into personal time, if not restrained — leading towards employee fatigue. To overcome high fatigue and an unhealthy work-life balance, bankers need a long break i.e. an interruption in continuity, a pause in work — for it allows them to pause and rest so that they can resume whatever they have been doing with new energy. But then again, unfortunately, breaks are often associated with guilt, and this is because while on a break, an individual is often tranquil and ostensibly doing nothing and there is no means to prove that this ‘doing nothing’ will help an individual do, feel and perform better in the impending time.

The aforementioned discussion is precisely suitable for the five-day banking demand of bankers. In a recent development, ever since the news started making rounds about the demand for five-day banking of Public Sector Banks, assorted opinions have also been fashioning their manifestation in the news. Now, the million-dollar question which arises is — whether or not five-day banking is a necessity. Certainly, the demand is not the bankers’ culpability, but it is their legitimate demand to have some quality time to spend with their family members, to address the geriatric needs of their parents and elders in the home, and many other things which warrant just time and nothing else!

Yes, changing times demand changes in work culture too. It’s time to concede how imperative breaks are for our mental and physical health. Breaks are very significant — because — continuously working without taking proper rest harms not just productivity but also mental and physical health and thus an employee’s overall well-being.

It’s a wonder why some people are looking at this valid demand of bankers as a degeneracy. Many organisations have adopted the five-day working culture and have proven to be fruitful with more productivity as the outcome. Of the many factors that affect productivity, taking care of one’s physical and mental health is a big part of it. Correspondingly, the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), which is a comprehensive approach that is based on applying scientific evidence to manage employees’ fatigue, evidently supports the same.

In concluding words… bankers take delivery of heavy mental pressure from all ends to execute their roles, even during such emergencies as the Covid-19 lockdown period. By staying agile and adapting to changing market conditions, banks have remained competitive and continue to meet the needs of their customers. Nonetheless, it should not be at the cost of every banker’s high stress levels. At this juncture of an alarming moment, the five-day banking, if implemented, may be proven a blessing in disguise!

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

(An Air Veteran turned Independent Researcher — An author of more than 20 Mass Media Books)  E-Mail: suman@sumankasturi.com   

The Triumph Undertones of the Kargil War

Complacently India is celebrating the Silver Jubilee Day of Kargil Vijay Diwas today — to streak the victory of Operation Vijay; to celebrate the occasion, a year-long programme has been planned to originate today. At the opening, I would like to express my nostalgia that as a young Air Warrior, I was a partaker, full of zip, in the Kargil War that came to blows for more than two months. It was on July 26, 1999, India efficaciously took command of the high outposts that were otherwise lost to Pakistani intruders.

It has been customary that every year this day is celebrated in the national capital as well as in the Kargil–Drass sector. For this occasion, several programmes are prearranged all over the country — to venerate the contributions of the armed forces. As well, the Prime Minister pays homage to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate. For many people, these celebrations are sheer get-togethers. Nonetheless, the fundamental objective of these carousing through nationwide campaigns is meant to arouse a feeling of nationalism and patriotism, particularly amongst youth.  

Insofar as Kargil War is concerned, indubitably, Pakistan had much of the circumstantial preparation that took account of the building of logistical supply routes. The war occurred due to the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers into locations on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) that functions as the de facto border between India and Pakistan. It is worth mentioning here that the Pakistani soldiers infiltrated in the guise of Kashmiri Militants — documents left behind by casualties are evidence of this fact.

According to me, it was a war between two sides — having Pakistan on one side with a concrete plan, and India on another side to face an unanticipated contingency. Even though India was not fully ready to face the situation, the Indian Army, which was supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a mainstream of the intruded areas on the Indian side of the LOC. Far along, bowing to the international diplomatic antagonism, the Pakistani forces were pulled out from the residual Indian settings along the Line of Control.

The interesting points of observation that I have drawn from the epic confrontation as the success connotations of the Kargil War are territorial imperative battered with the Game Theory and Minimax approach. Beforehand, I would like to make acquainted with the concepts of territorial imperative, game theory and the minimax principle, while extenuating my arguments.

Territorial Imperative

In effect, usually, the term Territorial Imperative is used in the milieu of ‘total war.’ The Kargil War which was fought for more than sixty days resulting in India’s victory can be considered a mini ‘total war.’ The territorial imperative is the need to claim and defend a territory. It could be well-thought-out as the way the fighting forces use space, weaponry and strategies. The entire thing booms territorial imperative.

The initial situation in Kargil War was to confront a condition wherein the Pakistani infiltrators occupied such a sporadically inhabited region as Kargil, which is located in isolated valleys disjointed by some of the world’s uppermost mountains. To encounter such a situation, there was certainly a demand from the top brass of the Indian Army to execute great forward-thinking on top of numerous administrative and wartime strategies. There is no doubt that the Indian Armed Forces were effective in taking up such a challenge and defending our territories. 

Game Theory

On the other hand, game theory is the study of scientific models of strategic communication between balanced decision-makers. It has solicitations in all fields of social science. In the beginning, game theory spindles zero-sum games, in which one person’s gains result in losses for the other participants. As far as a zero-sum game is concerned, there is always a calculated demonstration of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss of function is precisely well-adjusted by the losses or gains of the function of the other participants.

Going back to our context of the discussion i.e. India’s triumph in the Kargil War, our side has achieved what a zero-sum game in game theory intends to. In my viewpoint, the peace-time training of the Indian Armed Forces has achieved a very objective. Palpably, what Indian Armed Forces have gained through their immaculate peace-time training has resulted in the loss of the opposition. Also, sensible strategic communication has played a key role in India’s triumph.

Minimax Approach

The third connotation for the victory of the Kargil War that I would like to imply here is the Minimax principle. The minimax approach is an administrative principle by which when offered with two conflicting strategies, by the use of logic, one should determine and use the strategy that will minimise the maximum losses that could occur.

Again, turning back to the success of India in the Kargil War and applying the minimax principle, it is substantial that Indian Armed Forces, by restraining themselves from making the situation more offensive, have minimised the maximum losses that could have otherwise occurred. It was a strategic move that concerned India because the Kargil War was purely a startling upshot in India’s war history. While confronting a situation that was not estimated, if the more offensive strategies were embraced, unquestionably it would have ensued in a great loss rather than paybacks. Indian Armed Forces have adopted a self-induced war strategy of restraint in keeping the war limited to the Kargil sector.

India’s conquest in envisaging such an unforeseen eventuality and win over the well-equipped opponent in the Kargil War has spotlighted India’s preeminent vigilance to encounter such situations. The Kargil War is a saga of resilient political, military and diplomatic engagements; and it will always be conjured for the strategic and tactical surprises. In concluding words…India’s victory in the Kargil War modestly reverberates, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war!”

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

(An Air Veteran turned Mass Communicator, and Independent Researcher, having authored 20 books)

E-Mail: suman@sumankasturi.com

Ilaiyaraaja: The octogenarian who mastered Ragastras to give eternal music

जयन्ति ते सुकृतिनो  रससिद्धाः कवीश्वराः| नास्ति येषां यशः काये जरामरणजं भयम्|| (Jayanti te sukrutino rasasiddhaah kaveeshvaraah. Naasti yeshaam yashh kaaye  jaramaranajam bhayam). When deciphered, the aforementioned subhashitani means — righteous persons, well competent in poetry and aristocrat among poets, who are unconcerned about their fame and upkeep of their body and are also not afraid of old age and death, are the real winners in their life. Taking into consideration of the music genius Ilaiyaraaja, there can be an extension of the aforesaid to the music itself to celebrate him as the real winner.

Ilaiyaraaja is one of the few virtuous personalities that can be correlated to the above expression of fullness. Such a great melody maestro needs no special primer. Even though he was born on June 3, 1943, Ilaiyaraaja celebrates his birthday a day before i.e. on June 2, every year, out of respect to M. Karunanidhi, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu who called Ilaiyaraaja, Isaignani, meaning the musical genius.

Born as R. Gnanathesikan in a Tamil Dalit family, Ilaiyaraaja’s name took various transformations. Before his schooling started, his father renamed him Rajaiya. On the other end, people started calling him Raasayya. Later, when he joined Dhanraj Master as a student to learn musical instruments, his name was changed to Raaja. However, in 1976, while working on his first film Annakili, Panchu Arunachalam, a Tamil film producer, added the prefix Ilaiya to the name Raaja, and renamed him Ilaiyaraaja — to shatter the probable confusion with another popular music director with the same name, namely A. M. Rajah, into pieces. Ilaiya means younger in the Tamil language. Thus, R. Gnanathesikan finally transformed out to be Ilaiyaraaja — a renowned music composer of all times in the history of Indian music.

In his formative years, Ilaiyaraaja grew up in a rural area and was exposed to a range of Tamil folk music. Ilaiyaraaja’s journey passed through various stages from being a member of a travelling musical troupe named Pavalar Brothers, headed by his elder brother Pavalar Varadharajan to a renowned music composer of contemporary times.

Notably, Ilaiyaraaja’s career took a major change as he joined a music course with Professor Dhanraj in Madras. The curriculum included an outline of Western classical music, compositional training in techniques such as counterpoint, and study in instrumental performance. To complement this further, Ilaiyaraaja was a gold medalist in classical guitar after completing the course through a distance learning channel from Trinity College of Music, London. Besides, he learnt Carnatic music from T. V. Gopalakrishnan.

Advanced, during the 1970s in Madras, for his livelihood, Ilaiyaraaja played the guitar in a band-for-hire and worked as a session guitarist, keyboardist, and organist for film music composers and directors such as Salil Chowdhury from West Bengal. In the journey, Ilaiyaraaja was employed as the musical assistant to Kannada film composer G. K. Venkatesh, which could be said as the most central career milestone of Ilaiyaraaja.

With G.K. Venkatesh, Ilaiyaraaja worked on as many as 200 film projects. During the same period, Ilaiyaraaja would orchestrate the melodic outlines industrialized by Venkatesh — to learn composing techniques. Parallelly, Ilaiyaraaja also began writing music scores. To get feedback on his compositions, Ilaiyaraaja used to sway Venkatesh’s session musicians to play extracts from his scores during their leisure time.

Indubitably, at the start of his career, the music responsiveness of Ilaiyaraaja was very different to the film music being composed in those days, so he spent a lot of his time learning but truly wasn’t able to grasp how music was being made for films. Nevertheless, in 1975, film producer Panchu Arunachalam was impressed by a song casually sung by Ilaiyaraaja. It has become another turning point in Ilayaraaja’s career as Arunachalam commissioned him to compose the songs and film score for a Tamil film titled Annakili. For the soundtrack, Ilaiyaraaja applied the techniques of modern popular film music orchestration — to Tamil folk poetry and folk song melodies, which resulted in the creation of a fusion of Western and Tamil idioms.

In the beginning, Ilaiyaraaja was a little anxious about how his work would be received and also thought that musicians in the industry might give him up. Eventually, when Annakili was released in 1976, the music became a sensational hit. For his next, following several films, Ilaiyaraaja established his compositions on the contemporary film music of the time, later when a new wave of films started to come, they opened the space for the kind of music he wanted to explore. The impact his music had on the listeners turned Ilaiyaraaja into an immaculate music director by the beginning of the 1980s — in full swing gained snowballing stature as a composer and music director in the South Indian film industry.

Apart from film music, Ilaiyaraaja’s first two non-film albums, namely How to Name It? and Nothing But Wind, were explorations of the fusion of Indian and Western classical music. More precisely, Nothing But Wind establishes the fact that music is a natural phenomenon akin to various forms of air currents. Ilaiyaraaja’s musical style is characterised by an orchestration which is a synthesis of Indian folk music and Western classical music, with traditional Indian instruments and modes.

Being an ardent votary of Ilaiyaraajs’s music, I momentously believe that the outstanding Ilaiyaraaja’s BGMs add a bright and lapidary message that always fits the situations where dialogues fail. His music is eternal, for it remains in every memory of you, even if everything and everyone leaves you. He is an unsurpassable music composer, whose paintings of composing soothe the serene souls of listeners. Ilaiyaraaja’s music is so close to my heart that I consider it my favourite interlocutor and feel like spending hours conversing virtually with his musical melodies.

Ilaiyaraaja is the rarest gem of the music industry that has established the fact that background scores in a movie plot play a vital role, for which the director and music composer need to work together to coalesce with a befitting score to justify the situation. His BGMs and other compositions can substitute for one’s feelings when words become ineffable. This has established the universal truth that Ilaiyaraaja is a music nonpareil of all genres and times.

According to me, the musical melodies of Ilaiyaraaja give a soporific effect, for every musical plot and path of Ilaiyaraaja’s composition is an anfractuous creation with many twists and turns. His music strongly works on the mental status of humans, because certain musical melodies turn into a paean to privacy, solitude and autonomy. All the musical wonders of Ilaiyaraaja have proven that musical whomp eases every pain.

Ilaiyaraaja received several awards for his work throughout his career. According to me the first award he ever received was the admiration of Salil Chowdhury in the beginning days of his career, that Ilaiyaraaja was going to become the best composer in India. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan; and was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2018. In 2012, for his creative and experimental works in the field of music, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest Indian recognition given to people in the field of performing arts.

In 2013, when CNN-IBN conducted a poll commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema, he secured 49% of the vote and was adjudged as the country’s greatest music composer. In 2014, the American world cinema portal, Taste of Cinema, placed him in 9^th position in its list of 25 greatest film composers in the history of cinema — the only Indian on the list.

Even though Ilaiyaraaja has acclaimed so much fame, he has also been triggered by some controversies. Most recently, in his foreword to the book titled, Ambedkar & Modi — Reformer’s Ideas, his comparison of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with B.R. Ambedkar received some denigration.

After reaching the apex, the focus of everyone will be only at the peak. Nonetheless, the person who reaches that apex alone would remember the grassy hummocks he had traversed to reach the cliff. The path traversed by Ilaiyaraaja in itself is a good example to state the above. Irrefutably, Ilaiyaraaja can be hailed as the octogenarian with an infinitely filled quiver of Ragastras.

Before wrapping up, it should be remembered that you need to face nemesis at every walk of your life if you have fought a war to create your empire. By the same token, every musical plot and path of Ilaiyaraaja’s composition is an anfractuous creation with many twists and turns — his musical melodies inexplicably serve as an anodyne that gives relief from everyday tensions and worries.

—Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

AN EXPEDITION FOR TELANGANA STATE

Beyond doubt, no one in the present day is chastely one thing. Tags like Telanganite, Hindu, Indian, etc, are not over and above starting points, which if followed into an involvement for only an instant are quickly left behind. Imperialism amalgamated the combination of cultures and identities on a global scale. But its worst and most paradoxical flair has been to allow people to believe that one segment of people is only superior. Nonetheless, just as human beings make their history, they also strive to make their cultures and ethnic identities — the stretched movement for Telangana statehood is a good example.

As it is evident through Edward D. Said’s book, “Culture and Imperialism,” no one can deny the persisting continuities of long traditions, sustained habitations, national languages, and cultural geographies, but there seems no reason except fear and prejudice to keep insisting on their separation and distinctiveness as if that was all human life was about. Survival is about the connections between things.

Indubitably, cultural imperialism is one of the dominating factors behind the Telangana Movement among various other significant factors that led to a long struggle for statehood — an expedition for Telangana state. As observed by Michael Bassey Johnson in his book, “Night of a Thousand Thoughts,” one needs to make an expedition to his mind, for it is the most rewarding journey, And here is that rewarding journey!

Erstwhile Hyderabad state made up of 16 districts — 8 Telangana districts, 5 Marathwada districts and 3 districts of Karnataka — had been under the rule of Nizam from 1724 to 1948, accounting for 224 years. While India got its independence on August 15, 1947, the people of Hyderabad state got their independence on September 17, 1948, with the intervention of the then union home minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Subsequently, the 8 districts of Telangana were merged with Andhra State for the formation of a new state of India — Andhra Pradesh.

Paradoxically, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on November 1, 1956, ignoring the wishes of the majority of people from 8 districts of Hyderabad state, against a categorical recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission (SRC) and contrary to the views of the supreme leader of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru. The merger of Telangana districts was rather conditional. An agreement remarkably known as The Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956 was made before the formation of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The ruling governments never bothered to implement the agreement in both letter and spirit. As a result, the people of the Telangana region went on regular agitations, more prominently from 1969 with a pause in between.

More recently, the agitation took its second and strong trample in the year 2009. Owing to the demands of the people of the Telangana region, the Central Government of India announced the statehood of the Telangana region on December 09, 2009. Due to the sudden unforeseen eventualities after the announcement of the formation of the Telangana state, resulting in every political party that supported the Telangana movement taking a U-turn and changing their opinions, the central government of India ordered a commission headed by Justice Srikrishna.

Going back into history, the erstwhile Hyderabad state got its independence on September 17, 1947, thirteen months after India got its independence; and the oppressed people of this region started feeling a sigh of relief. Even though Hyderabad state got its independence and joined the Indian Union, there was no separate government for the people of this region till state assembly elections were conducted in India, in 1952. In these elections, the Indian National Congress emerged as the winning party with 93 seats in Hyderabad state. Dr Burgula Ramakrishna Rao got elected as the first chief minister of Hyderabad state. 

Till that time i.e. from 1948 to 1952, the state of Hyderabad was under the military rule. On the other side, the people from the Andhra region, part of the erstwhile Madras state started agitating for a separate state. From October 19, 1952, Potti Sriramulu went on indefinite strike seeking a separate state for Andhra people with a share in Madras City, present-day Chennai. The union government of India accepted a separate state for Andhra but denied a share in erstwhile Madras City. After 56 days of the indefinite strike, Potti Sriramulu passed away on December 15, 1952. Due to this, the Andhra movement reached its height. Consequently, on October 1, 1953, Andhra State emerged as a new state of India with Kurnool as its capital.

The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) set up by the government of India in the early 50s to examine the issue of reorganization of states of India was not in favour of merging the Telangana region (8 districts of erstwhile Hyderabad state) with the erstwhile Andhra state. Even the Prime Minister of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, was also not in favour of merging Telangana districts with the Andhra state. He ridiculed the demand for Visalandhra as an idea bearing a tint of expansionist imperialism. Yet, paradoxically, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on November 1, 1956.

The merger of Telangana with Andhra was bound to many conditions. As a sort of protection against the possible exploitation by the people of the Andhra region over the Telangana region in the enlarged state, the merger was facilitated by several solemn promises with constitutional safeguards. These promises were made repeatedly, every time the violation of rights took place and the people of Telangana agitated for their rights. Rather these rules were made to be broken umpteen times. Including the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, nobody ever thought the merger of Telangana with Andhra to be eternal. Jawaharlal Nehru compared the merger to a matrimonial alliance having provision for divorce if the partners in the alliance cannot get on well. As feared, nothing could prevent the successive governments from exploiting the Telangana region in every aspect varying from economic to political and from administrative to cultural.

The Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956 was scuttled in various means and forms beginning from the very same day on which the state was born. This resulted in a massive revolt of the people of the region in 1968-69 demanding the separation of Telangana from the state of Andhra Pradesh. This was more significantly known as Jai Telangana Movement. It was then realized by the state and central governments and started an attempt to undo the damage already done to the Telangana region. Towards this, the first initiative taken was the All Party Accord of January 1969 — a significant meeting of the leaders of all political parties in the state convened by the then chief minister Kasu Brahmananda Reddy.

However, as envisaged, it was shelved in less than six months. Thereafter, a couple of packages were announced by the prime minister of the time, Indira Gandhi, known as the Eight Point Formula and Five Point Formula. In this context only, when the modalities of giving effect to these packages were being worked out, the supreme court of India gave a historic judgment validating, what has been known as Mulki Rules. This judgment dated October 3, 1972, upheld the rule of reserving employment and educational opportunities available in the Telangana region exclusively for the residents of this region. But the political elite of the Andhra region could not swig these corrective measures given by the Supreme Court of India. The result was another agitation for a separate state — this time — from the people and politicians of the Andhra region. During that period, it was prominent with the name Jai Andhra Movement. The demands of the Jai Andhra Movement were either to scrap all the safeguards given to the people of Telangana including the judgment of the Supreme Court of India on the validity of Mulki Rules or to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into Andhra and Telangana states. As a result of the Jai Andhra Movement, as an alternative solution, the popular Six Point Formula, a diluted form of safeguards of Telangana interests, was finagled on the people of Andhra Pradesh. Even this formula has never been implemented both in letter and spirit. Thus, it was a continuation of the exploitation of the people.

All these exercises ultimately turned out to be futile. Also, the people of Telangana have been deprived of their legitimate share in the fruits of development, and marginalized in the political process and administrative setup. The people of the Telangana region have been belittled on the cultural and linguistic fronts and have been virtually reduced to the status of second-rate citizens in their homeland, igniting the demand for a separate state.

K Chandrasekhar Rao, the president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the first chief minister of Telangana state, began a hunger strike on November 29, 2009, demanding a separate Telangana state. On the eleventh day of K Chandrasekhar Rao’s indefinite fast for Telangana, on December 09, 2009, the union government emerging after a late-night meeting at Prime Minister’s residence announced that the process of formation of a separate state of Telangana was being set into motion.

From December 2009 till the formation of the Telangana state, many developments took place in the Telangana movement. On July 30, 2013, The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance took its final decision on bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and creating a separate Telangana state.

The final chapter started on that day and amidst so many commotions and other happenings in the state as well as in the Centre, it was on Feb 20, 2014, the Andhra Pradesh reorganization bill was passed in either house of the Parliament. Following the official announcement of statehood for Telangana, the announcement of General Elections was also made.

At last on June 2, 2014, Telangana emerged as the 29^th state of India. Yes, this is a very long expedition that has taken its journey on the cadavers of the martyrs of statehood. The journey concluded on June 1, 2014, to begin a new era on June 2, 2014.

-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

Can Indians Do Justice to Electoral Reforms of TN Seshan?

Can Indians do justice to electoral reforms of TN Seshan? Dr. Suman K Kasturi 9 Jan 2014 9:31 PM IST x

While the General elections of 2014 in India are nearing, for sundry reasons, I suddenly remembered the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India and retired Indian Administrative Service Officer, Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan, more aptly known as TN Seshan.

Seshan is known for the electoral reforms in India. He has been fundamentally successful in ending electoral malpractices in India. He did justice to each and every responsibility bestowed upon him, while he occupied various coveted positions like Director, Department of Atomic Energy; Joint secretary, Department of Space;Secretary, Department of Agricultures, Government of Tamil Nadu;Member (Personnel), Oil & Natural Gas Commission;Additional Secretary, Department of Space;Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Defence; Secretary, Internal Security etc.

Ignoring threats and unshakable interests, the admired and controversial T N Seshan helped clean up India’s elections. Almost eighteen years after he left the Election Commission in 1996, I wondered what he might be doing after the futile attempt of becoming the president of India. I posed a question to self why don’t people like Seshan get their dues?

While the entire nation is praising the victory of Kejriwal, I remembered TN Seshan and thought him to be the person, who is virtually responsible for Kejriwal’s success. I don’t see any possibility of a person like Kejriwal occupying the chair of Chief Minister of Delhi, if electoral reforms were not brought into force by TN Seshan? Hopefully you second my opinion.

A famous verse from Bhagavad Gita, when literally translated states: “Man is of the nature of his faith; what his faith is that verily he is”. Only visionary people like TN Seshan can bring changes as the same needs many inherent qualities, which are possessed by only a few. Seshan brought changes in the vital area, which can ultimately bring changes in various other sectors. That change is required to be better utilized by the citizens. Also Read – What went right with World Bank? A common man is not aware of the power of vote. Mere possession of the superior weapons will not fetch the victory; we need to have a strong force of warriors. In a similar vein, electoral reforms alone will not bring changes.

The electorates need to be changed. Who should change electorates? It is not the responsibility of the few educated people. In this era of Satmass media, the masses are very much influenced by the media content; especially the electronic media has a strong impact on its audience. This fact can be better utilized to bring awareness among the electorates. The responsible media channels should come out and educate the electorates. As an individual, educated elites should come out and do their best… may it be in a very small domain. After all “Rome is not built in a day”.