2021 Strategic and Political Analysis-1

[Sachin]

Hijab row: Dharwad proves a beacon of peace as trouble brews elsewhere. "He {Prateek Mali, ABVP} said students are being told to shun the idea of wearing either hijab or saffron stole and adhere to the uniform prescribed by their respective institutions." Nice to know that in Dharwad district at least the students have a common understanding, and it is not one sided adjustment and they all plan to follow the educational establishment's uniform codes.

Hijab Row Live: Appeal filed in SC against Karnataka High Court's interim order on hijab ban
And now looks like the Congress machinery has picked up the issue. There are lots of tweets/social media posts which states that this Hijab row was started by Campus Front of India, the student (!?) out fit of Popular Front of India (PFI). Popular Front of India (PFI) has been in the forefront of all coordinated hits on GoI (be it Anti-CAA, anti-NRC etc. etc.). It is a surprize why the outfit has not been banned yet.

[SRajesh]

Sachinji
I want to ask a question
And I know I am stretching my neck too far to be 'Guillotined'
Either in the Preamble to Constitution or in the Constitution is there a clause or was it ever discussed that
1. in future if any of the Princely states decide to withdraw their instrument of ascesion or want to regain independence from the Union
2. Any ethic or religious minority ever given the right to ask for another referrndum
3. Did Sikkim ascension have any escape clause ?? that could used by the other states
Sorry the reason I am asking is because:
a. Sudden upsurge in Muslim identity activities (elections not withstanding)
b. BIF activities supporting beak of union construed as seditious activities
c. Hair-Apparent of INC making claims of Federal Union
d. Southern Luminaries like Stalin , TRS, Vijayan and Jagan openly supporting Mino-Majors!!!

[Sachin]

Hon. SC has declined to hear the petitions on the Hijab. Will interfere at appropriate time: Supreme Court on plea against Karnataka High Court's interim order on hijab row. The Supreme Court on Friday declined to intervene into ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, saying it should not be brought to the national level and if there is constitutional rights violation of anyone, the top court would intervene at the appropriate time.

Looks the judidical establishment has understood the far reaching implications, and thus perhaps thinking through in detail before making any hasty conclusions. The petitioners are also now under pressure as the practical exams for this academic year in KA, would commence on 15th February, 2022.

Hijab Row Live: Uniform Civil Code need of the hour, says Giriraj Singh. My gut feeling is that such belligerant attitude from one religion/community is only going to make lots of fence sitters now start supporting UCC.

[Aditya_V]

Hon. SC has declined to hear the petitions on the Hijab. Will interfere at appropriate time: Supreme Court on plea against Karnataka High Court's interim order on hijab row. The Supreme Court on Friday declined to intervene into ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, saying it should not be brought to the national level and if there is constitutional rights violation of anyone, the top court would intervene at the appropriate time.

Looks the judidical establishment has understood the far reaching implications, and thus perhaps thinking through in detail before making any hasty conclusions. The petitioners are also now under pressure as the practical exams for this academic year in KA, would commence on 15th February, 2022.

Hijab Row Live: Uniform Civil Code need of the hour, says Giriraj Singh. My gut feeling is that such belligerant attitude from one religion/community is only going to make lots of fence sitters now start supporting UCC.

This is how district by district how large parts of the Subcontinent had become 1 Religion 1 view rule. It is better they make the charge when the numbers are such changes can be made unlike many Sindhi, Punjabi, Bengali Hindus who followed Jogendra lal Modal and had to face the music, similarly Christian Punjabis voted for Pakistan and then had to face the music.

Ultimately their goal is simple, many of their travelers need to realize that there aim is simple and they do not want any kind of freedom or peace. Many have fallen to Western dictats who look at Pakistan like its non development.

But one thing these folks don't have too much loyalty to the land and very folks who support them will soon see their countries flooded with immigrants.

[Sachin]

Mean while.. Karnataka High Court bars students from wearing saffron shawls, hijabs in classroom till further orders Report reads.."Whether wearing of hijab in the classroom is a part of essential religious practice of Islam in the light of constitutional guarantees, needs deeper examination,” the court said.

The next hearing is on 14th Feb. It would be a miracle if the hearing gets completed in a day and a final verdict is given the same day. KA state should also be ready to file revisions petitions and appeals at Supreme Court as well.

[Aditya_V]

Mean while.. Karnataka High Court bars students from wearing saffron shawls, hijabs in classroom till further orders Report reads.."Whether wearing of hijab in the classroom is a part of essential religious practice of Islam in the light of constitutional guarantees, needs deeper examination,” the court said.

The next hearing is on 14th Feb. It would be a miracle if the hearing gets completed in a day and a final verdict is given the same day. KA state should also be ready to file revisions petitions and appeals at Supreme Court as well.

Court will give its verdict after UP elections after seeing which way the wind is blowing. No point putting themselves in the firing line

[chetak]

I don't think it's going to die down so soon, Thry haven't extracted enough mileage in the form of nyt WaPo headlines, uk protests etc from this row yet...
Toolkits have hardly come out.

this is toolkit territory and malala has already pitched in, the forked tongued hypocrite that she is.

but then again, can anyone expect better from a $h@r!@ social ju$tice "warrior"

expect more onlee from the burk@ brig@de....


Image 1 : A quote from @Malala 's autobiography.

Image 2 : Malala's tweet on Karnataka Hijab issue.

now, with the taliban pitching in from afghanistan and the khalistanis also muscling into the act the toolkit is gaining
purchase.

the taliban has poked its nose into India's internal affairs.

The govt should now gratefully increase the quantity of food aid being sent to them.






Khalistani organisation Sikhs For Justice supports burqa girls, demands new Muslim country called ‘Urduistan’: Details

niazi has already summoned the Indian high commission guys in pukestan and abjected to the hijab harassment.

So everyone wants Indian land to form their own countries, except for the slumbering Hindus

some woke french footballer has also tweeted supporting the hijabis

[Sachin]

Court will give its verdict after UP elections after seeing which way the wind is blowing. No point putting themselves in the firing line

There is a catch here. Practical exams in KA for this academic year would start from Feb 15th. So if the colleges stick to their guns, then the hijabis will only have a choice to skip the exam, or get into uniform and appear for the exams.

[chetak]

And this is why acts like RTE must be revoked immediately.

Why BJP does not do this is unfathomable

The easiest thing is to extend all minority priveleges to Hindu school too. Nobody will mind. Why BJP is not doing this shows mental blindness.

There are indications that some heavy lifting is already going on to address the RTE and related issues.

Maybe something big will come to fruition some months from now

[Yagnasri]

Now onus is on Indian muslims to oppose paki statements. But I am sure none of the so called muslim leaders will open their mouth.

I expect the KA HC to hear the matter very fast and even given judgement. Case will not go to SC for sure. As it stands I do not see the hijab side winning in the end.

[chetak]

Now onus is on Indian muslims to oppose paki statements. But I am sure none of the so called muslim leaders will open their mouth.

I expect the KA HC to hear the matter very fast and even given judgement. Case will not go to SC for sure. As it stands I do not see the hijab side winning in the end.

Sirji,

owaisi has basically told them to bugger off in no uncertain terms.

I saw the video, will try and dig it up again

[hanumadu]

Posting here for more visibility. There are quite a few Indian ex muslim channels on youtube now putting out content on a daily basis. Usually they are long and some times for several hours and likely not worth your time. But this one is about one hour and I think worth your time. It also shows why education, later marriage (>21) and self sufficiency is important to girls, especially muslim girls. They will lead the revolution against islam in India because they are the most to lose in islam. If anyone talks about how good islam is for women, show them this video.

[Cyrano]

Owaisi has told Pakis to bugger off in the past as well. Opposition parties are now thinking Modi actually is using a willing Owaisi as a foil. Before anyone from the muslim community can attack Modi, Owaisi does it in a controlled predictable way. Thats why he is being offered Z catg protection etc.

[chetak]

Congress Vs Congress in #PunjabElections

shameless $idhu is into guerilla tactics

Channi is Not Poor. Open his bank account, you will find more than ₹133 cr: Rabia Sidhu, daughter of Navjot Singh Sidhu

No one can cast an evil eye on christianity, till I am alive: Navjot Singh Sidhu

[Sachin]

..

I am not a legal practitioner, so TIFIW .

1. in future if any of the Princely states decide to withdraw their instrument of accesion or want to regain independence from the Union

The accession of princely states was primarily done using a "Instrument of Accession", which was legal document build upon the provisions of Government of India Act 1935. At least this template does NOT have a provision of revoking the accession once it has been signed. Secondly; many of the princely states have also been merged or split to existing states in India. Example; Travancore & Cochin kingdoms are now part of a larger state - Kerala. Parts of Hyderabad Deccan princely state is now in Telengana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Princely states like Nabha, Patiala etc are now part of Punjab state.

2. Any ethic or religious minority ever given the right to ask for another referrndum

Did a cursory check on the Constituition (book) I have. Could not find any reference to referendum, or minority rights to ask for a referendum. Article 370 was the temporary provision which allowed J&K state to have too many privileges. The point on referendum, most likely would have been a clause on the Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja of Kashmir state. I remember reading the book exclusively dealing with Nehru's blunders; which mentioned that it was Mountbatten who reviewed the Instrument of Accession prepared for Kashmir state.

Did Sikkim ascension have any escape clause ?? that could used by the other states

Sikkim joined India by signing the India - Sikkim Peace Treaty in 1950. And it was that state's people who came up with the idea of referendum to join India (with off course India's intelligence agencies giving them moral support ). Article 2A in Constituition supported this move.

The Articles 1,2,2A,3 and 4 are the ones which define the Indian Union and the States. I did not see any provision for a state to demand seccession from the Indian Union. There are provisions for adding states to Indian Union, but never give up control over them.

Hair-Apparent of INC making claims of Federal Union

Article 1 of Constiution explains about Indian Union. It states - "Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States". The book which I have also has a note on this. It reads - "The Union of India is a fedral union, with a distribution of powers, of which the judiciary is the interpreter. Although there has been a considerable controversy whether India is or is not a federation, and although some writers have called it 'quasi federal', it would seem that essentially the Indian Constituition is a federal one; Special Reference of 1956, AIR 1965 SC 745, 762."

So heir apparent has just proven that he has managed to read up the very first article of the Indian Constituition. All federation means is about distributing powers and here again the judidicary takes the final call. So there is nothing new for the states to learn here. Union List, State List, Concurrent List; all three remain paramount and nothing gets changed. So far what ever actions GoI has taken is based on its powers coming via Union or Concurrent Lists.

So Stalin, TRS, Vijayan etc who have pipe dreams of having their own 'princely states' cannot rely on Pappu's interpretation of "Union of States". Off course they can trigger riots etc in their respective states, but none have rights to wage war against the Union Govt. Folks like Vijayan (of KL) are just getting worked up due to the Arab money to get such grandoise ideas of independence etc. A few "frogs in the well" in the state also get similar feelings, mainly due to reading vernacular news papers.

Sudden upsurge in Muslim identity activities (elections not withstanding)

I feel it is just a case of acute depression from a community who got every thing handed over in a plate under the excuse of secularism & minority rights. They also see a lot of gung-ho in the majority community these days, they also see erst-while secular parties also now become janeu dhari Brahmins etc. So the urge to rebel and show that they also matter, they are different from rest of India etc.

[Prem Kumar]

From CBSE 10th Standard Civics book: there are 2 types of federalisms:

1) Coming Together states: like USA
2) Holding Together states: like India

In USA, the states have large autonomy & have decided to "come together" to form a union
In India, the country's unity & integrity comes first and the central authority reigns supreme. Some powers are delegated to the States in the form of State List & Concurrent List

The question of referendum, secession, separatism doesn't arise in the case of India. These are not constitutionally tenable.

Stalin, Pannirayi, Meth-addict can wet dream all they want

[S_Madhukar]

These days all C grade students are “secularists” . I distinctly remember India being quasi-federal as per the Civics textbooks never unitary or federal.
Anyway looking at Turkey if their own Kemal Ataturk could not knock sense into them and their close proximity to Europe and good wages and gora skin then problem is in the books that leads to such Zombification. And as my horror movie stories tell me you have to rid of such literature otherwise you can not stop zombies ever. And that I hope is gharwapasi for good. Till then zombies will be born as soon as someone reads those words

[vijayk]

Where are Arun Shourie and Yeashwant Sinha now a days? Looks like they are discarded like diapers by BIF

[vera_k]

c. Hair-Apparent of INC making claims of Federal Union

I read that as part of the wet dream arising out of UK universities of forming a South Asian union. Remember, RG was educated in the UK and would have been exposed to the professors promoting this theory.

[vijayk]

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/this-i ... -the-girls
This Is Not About The Hijab, This Is An Attempt To Gain Political Mileage By Creating Non-Existent Fissures: Muslim Leader Rahim Uchil Who Spoke To The Girls

[chetak]

Per a very recent RTI reply


SONIA GANDHI LIVES IN A BUNGALOW, THE RENT OF WHICH IS ONLY 4610/-

Why the hell are politicians given such lavish perks. I am talking about ALL.

If they're paying rents for sprawling bungalows what maids are paying for shanties. WHY?

[srikandan]

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/this-i ... -the-girls

What a guy,this raheem uichchila -- looks like police and security agencies know the extent of PFI's activities. Struck me that maybe PFI is not banned is because they are more dangerous if they go underground. Easier to keep them legal and keep tabs on them, when they advertise their agenda with pride.

Norwegian intelligence released photos of PFI functionaries with Turkish intelligence somewhere in Turkey.

“In the Hijab issue, I had said from day one that it is the PFI that is behind this issue and it was one among the students who had shared it with me personally about the training they had received, where they had been taken, what was the training they received, who trained them. But I chose to not reveal her name but I did ensure the concerned authorities are made aware of what was being planned”.

[chetak]

[hanumadu]

France banned hijab in schools in 2004
France banned hijab for under 18 girls in public places in 2021
France senators vote to ban hijab in sports competitions recently

[Cyrano]

I've been seeing news reports of the hijab demanding girls in KA from the past few days.

Initially, some were wearing black or blue hijab along with school uniform, but later many are wearing not just black hijab but also a black overall ie burqa that covers from neck to ankle. Ex: the girl who parked her scooter and shouted "Alla hoo Akbar" at saffron gamcha boys group. Is she asking to attend class like -that-? Really?

Then there are several instances of a bunch of girls demonstrating with full burqa with only eyes visible, they may be the same girls who were face uncovered before or some others - unless the veil is lifted, impossible to tell. Are all the faceless burqa clad "persons" really those protesting school girls? At this point, no one knows. Media isn't really checking who is agitating in front of them wearing burqa.

In any controversial situation usually girls' parents face the world and shield them. Don't see that happening here. Seems like parents are being restrained at home by SDPI/PFI and brainwashed teenage girls are being sent out in front of the media. They've been brainwashed to repeat "hijab is my right" like robots, which they are. Worst kind of instrumentalisation of underage, minor girls.

[vijayk]

https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/how-the-l ... e-non-left
How The Left-Liberal Intellectual Mafia Is Dealing With New History Written By The Non-Left

Earlier, the Left-secularist elite could simply ignore such serious non-Left scholarship (such as those produced by Arun Shourie, Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swarup, Koenraad Elst, Michel Danino or, Meenakshi Jain, among others), even while rubbishing their predecessors as “communal”, including stalwarts such as Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Nilakanta Sastri, and Jadunath Sarkar.

But the Left is yet to produce a magisterial work equalling Majumdar’s 11-volume History and Culture of The Indian People, Sastri’s A History of South India, or Sarkar’s History of Aurangzib. The Nehru government, with Maulana Azad as education minister, had no use for Majumdar, whose independent streak got him turfed out of the project on writing the history of the freedom movement.

But all this is ancient history. Today, contemporary historians such as Vikram Sampath and Venkat Dhulipala, and writers such as Sanjeev Sanyal (currently Principal Economic Advisor to the government), and J Sai Deepak, lawyer and advocate, are not just being demonised and critiqued, but anyone who endorses them or their writing gets blasted or threatened with “cancellation” by the Left and its army of trolls. By trolls one is not just referring to the denizens of social media, but trolls who are part of the mainstream Left-secular illiberal caucuses of Delhi and various universities. Trolling is not just an online activity when it comes to the Lutyens and international Left-Illiberal elite.

Coming back to the present, what has got the knickers of the Left-secular lobby in a twist is the monumental two-volume biography of Veer Savarkar by Vikram Sampath. Despite his role as a prominent anti-colonial revolutionary and author of a tract on Hindutva, Savarkar had only one biography written by Dhananjay Keer – a biography largely confined to academics and libraries.

But the worst attack on someone who merely contributed a blurb to a book relates to J Sai Deepak’s India That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution. The book, released last August, has run into reprints, which too the Left-secular lobby cannot stomach.

The book has a large endorsement, both in its first inside page and on the back cover, semiotist Walter D Mignolo, William Hane Wannamaker Distinguished Professor of Romance Studies, Duke University. He wrote in the back blurb: “J Sai Deepak builds a strong decolonial argument from modern western orthodoxy of the either/or and proposes instead the decolonial logic of neither/nor. He does it by means of a detailed and careful reconstitution of knowledges, ways of knowing and patterns of sensing that were dismissed and continue to be so in the name of progress, democracy and economic development, all under the mantra that more is better.”

But as soon as the Left saw this endorsement, it began to throw tantrums. Priyamvada Gopal, a professor of Post-Colonial Studies in the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge, went apoplectic on Twitter when she found that Mignolo had endorsed Sai Deepak's book in two places. She ranted: "This is appalling even by Mignolo's standards. A disgraceful act. I repeat. Hindu supremacism is colonial, not anti-colonial. No scholar of any repute should be endorsing cut-price brown chauvinist bollocks passing for 'decolonisation'.”

Poor Mignolo, with his "liberal" reputation at Duke University at stake, recanted. He subsequently requested Sai Deepak to not use his endorsements in reprints of the book, which is selling very well in India. This shows how the global Left-secular intellectual mafia can get even a tenured professor at one of the reputed universities to back off from his original decision to endorse a book after reading it.

Another popular writer whose success has got the Left’s back up is Sanjeev Sanyal, whose books, Land of Seven Rivers and Ocean of Churn, have not only sold well, but made Sanyal a celebrity. The Left can’t stomach this kind of popularity for authors they don’t like, and in a hit-job against Sanyal in The Caravan, Meera Visvanathan, who got her PhD in Ancient History from (you guessed it) JNU, finds lots of methodological unsoundness in his books. But the thing that really gets her goat is his popularity. She writes that soon after she started lecturing at Shiv Nadar University, eager students with books written by Sanyal sought knowledge of true history from her. “Soon I began to see his books everywhere – especially in airport bookstores, propped up beside trinkets and chocolates. Then his videos began to appear in WhatsApp forwards…”.

The Left’s attacks are clearly a sign that non-Left scholarship is coming of age. It is the Left that has fallen behind in scholarship, having done nothing more than regurgitate K Marx’s theology in Indian garb.

[vimal]

Watch this while have a peaceful morning tea on a weekend.

[chetak]

a lesson for the majority onlee and what they have been doing to themselves over the centuries

no unity, onlee diversity

no wonder it was so very easy for the britshits to "divide and rule"

wondering if there were any of their other colonies where this "divide and rule" policy was so easy to apply, a policy that the BIF are using to this very moment

[chetak]

Exactly.....no hijab to be seen




The debate is not about Hijab! #Hijab is just a head scarf. Here the debate is about not wearing burqa/ niqab / chador in schools. The girl students in #Karnataka WERE NOT WEARING HIJAB.

[hanumadu]

The dress code is enforced in the school/classrooms not outside. The students could come to school in burkha or what ever but remove it or change into uniform in a room provided for the purpose. Also, some seem to be wearing a mask which is giving an impression of burkha. I think this is the wrong line of argument to take. Let us not move from not allowing even hijab. It covers burkha too.

[chetak]

The dress code is enforced in the school/classrooms not outside. The students could come to school in burkha or what ever but remove it or change into uniform in a room provided for the purpose. Also, some seem to be wearing a mask which is giving an impression of burkha. I think this is the wrong line of argument to take. Let us not move from not allowing even hijab. It covers burkha too.

just asking onlee

what about keshdhari sikhs

[Aldonkar]

a...........

no wonder it was so very easy for the britshits to "divide and rule"

wondering if there were any of their other colonies where this "divide and rule" policy was so easy to apply, a policy that the BIF are using to this very moment

Chetak,

This was a feature of colonial rule in most of Africa, based not on religion but on tribes. There was an element of race (tribes are sometimes of different racial groups) and religion, some tribes were predominantly one religion.

In Kenya there were two main parties at independence KANU and KADU. Kanu was mainly Bantu tribes led by the largest in Kenya the Kikuyu; KADU were mainly Nilotic tribes (western Kenya) led by the Luo (the second largest tribe). There were another racial group the Hamitic/Cushitic group, mostly Somali who were of the peaceful persuasion but their numbers were not large enough to be significant. They are now more nunerous due to porous borders and influx due to troubles in Somalia.

There were similar tribal divisions in most African countries most significantly Rwanda where it led to bloodshed on a massive scale.

[chetak]

I've been seeing news reports of the hijab demanding girls in KA from the past few days.

Initially, some were wearing black or blue hijab along with school uniform, but later many are wearing not just black hijab but also a black overall ie burqa that covers from neck to ankle. Ex: the girl who parked her scooter and shouted "Alla hoo Akbar" at saffron gamcha boys group. Is she asking to attend class like -that-? Really?

Then there are several instances of a bunch of girls demonstrating with full burqa with only eyes visible, they may be the same girls who were face uncovered before or some others - unless the veil is lifted, impossible to tell. Are all the faceless burqa clad "persons" really those protesting school girls? At this point, no one knows. Media isn't really checking who is agitating in front of them wearing burqa.

In any controversial situation usually girls' parents face the world and shield them. Don't see that happening here. Seems like parents are being restrained at home by SDPI/PFI and brainwashed teenage girls are being sent out in front of the media. They've been brainwashed to repeat "hijab is my right" like robots, which they are. Worst kind of instrumentalisation of underage, minor girls.

[chetak]

toilet in action

[chetak]

kcr and his son have delusions of grandeur...

[KLNMurthy]

kcr and his son have delusions of grandeur...

What an embarrassment KCR is.

[SriKumar]

Sikh boys wear patka/turbans to school. It is generally color-matched to the uniform of the school. If the case goes to any court, this will be considered relevant. Every state has Sikh students. In the army one sees olive green turbans.

[Atmavik]

Sikh boys wear patka/turbans to school. It is generally color-matched to the uniform of the school. If the case goes to any court, this will be considered relevant. Every state has Sikh students. In the army one sees olive green turbans.

I had couple of Sikh classmates. One of them matched his turban with the uniform even though our school did not mandate it.

[chetak]

Sikh boys wear patka/turbans to school. It is generally color-matched to the uniform of the school. If the case goes to any court, this will be considered relevant. Every state has Sikh students. In the army one sees olive green turbans.

the point is that the turban, patka, and kada are part of their religious mandate.

That is how the jehadi pasandis will play it.

just saying onlee

[chetak]

hypocrites like amartya sen and his gang of wokes, the commie coolies including the mafia famiglia, the al sardar bin raincoat walla and the lootyens criminal gangs.....

this is going to hugely aggravate their piles.



Nalanda University gets a new life as PM Modi restores it to its former glory


Nalanda university may be inaugurated by Modi

Nalanda University plans to invite PM for its campus inauguration, launches MA in Hindu Studies

Nalanda University plans to invite PM for its campus inauguration, launches MA in Hindu Studies

Nalanda University now plans to get its exquisite campus, which blends traditional flavour of the ancient seat of learning with modernity, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice chancellor Sunaina Singh said.


The new campus of Nalanda university. (HT Photo)



Feb 07, 2022
Arun Kumar, Patna

Having shifted to its under-construction campus two years ago, Nalanda University now plans to get its exquisite campus, which blends traditional flavour of the ancient seat of learning with modernity, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice chancellor Sunaina Singh said.

In eight years since it was set up, the varsity has played host to former Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee, and incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind, besides a number of national and foreign dignitaries.

“We will approach the PM soon with a request since 90% of the work on administrative and academic side is complete. It is a Net Zero campus, with water bodies spread across 100 acres in the 455-acre campus. The work started in 2017. It will be good to have the PM here as it gels with his “look east policy,” said vice chancellor Singh, who joined the institution in May 2017 amid complete change of its governing board set-up.

The academic session of NU started on September 1, 2014, from its makeshift venue at the International Convention Centre at the Buddhist pilgrim town of Rajgir, barely 10 kms from the ancient Nalanda. On September 19, the then minister for external affairs late Sushma Swaraj had formally inaugurated it, reiterating Centre’s full ownership of NU.

While the exquisite infrastructure of the university is ready, the VC said its academic performance has also improved and would grow further. “Now we have six schools. For regular courses, the intake is over 250, while overall it remains between 700-1000 due to the certificate and diploma courses we run. We have just launched a global master’s programme in Hindu Studies (Sanātana) and the response has been good not only from India, but also from abroad. In 2014, NU started its academic programmes with two schools and just 12 students and we have covered a lot of distance to reach this far today, but it is just the beginning,” she said.

The two-year full-time residential M.A. programme in Hindu Studies, developed by the VC, captures the “rich spiritual as well as intellectual system of the Hindus — a distinctively interdisciplinary system”, says its synopsis.

“We are the first university to launch it. The admission is still going on. Students from the US, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc.have already got enrolled. It is a global programme,” the VC said, adding another Centre for conflict resolution and peace building under the School of International Studies was also in the pipeline to offer research prospects.

On attrition of faculty members from other countries, Singh said it was important to understand the locational challenges of NU. “Faculty members are appointed in contract for one to three years and depending on the requirement and their availability, it is extended. Some may like to leave after their term and we relieve them. We have faculty strength of 48 at present,” she said.

The Centre for conflict resolution and peace building, which has already got the approval of the governing board, was mooted by Kalam and later Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had also strongly batted for it.

Nalanda University:THEN vs NOW