Latest news with #Ahimsa
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Bawankule real mastermind of attack on me': Pravin Gaikwad targets BJP again
Speaking at a press conference where he once again targeted the BJP and its minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, social wing chief of Sambhaji Brigade Pravin Gaikwad on Wednesday said his dream was to save democracy, save the Constitution and that he was ready to die for it. He held the BJP and Bawankule responsible for the 'murderous attack' on him in Akkalkot on Sunday. Gaikwad said he is a follower of Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi. 'I believe in the philosophy Ahimsa… I follow the the teachings of Buddha in letter and spirit which has brought peace in my life. I follow the ideology of and Gandhi have taught us to remain calm even in adversity,Z' he said. At the press conference held at Patrakar Bhavan, Gaikwad expanded on what he has been alleging since the 'black oil' attack on him by Deepak Kate, a BJP worker and his associates in Akkalkot. 'The attack on me was a murderous one. They wanted to kill me and crush my ideology… An agency appointed by the BJP video-recorded the attack on me and made it go viral, which reveals it was all well-planned,' he said. Gaikwad once again reiterated that the attack on him was sponsored by the state government. 'The BJP-led government has planned to finish off activists who do not follow its ideology, it wants to finish off organisations like BAMCEF, Sambhaji Brigade, Maratha Seva Sangh and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi who they consider as hurdles for remaining in power… They call themselves party with a difference. The same party has planned to do away with social activists who do not follow their ideology and do not want any posts. Even Mahatma Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, Shahu Maharaj and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar were attacked by such ideologies,' he said. Gaikwad said from 2014 to 2019, the likes of Dabholkar, Pansare, Lankesh and Kalburgi have been murdered. 'Those who killed Dabholkar were also criminals. Similarly, the activists were also killed by people who had criminal background,' he said. Gaikwad alleged that Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who belongs to BJP was the real mastermind of the attack on him. At the press conference, he played two videos to prove the close relations with Bawankule and Kate. Gaikwad said,'In one of the videos, it emerges that Bawankule is the godfather of Kate. He is backing and supporting criminals. Bawankule says he is proud of Deepak Kate. In another video, Bawankule is heard clearly saying that the previous government had filed cases against Kate, but he and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis fully supports him (Kate).' Gaikwad said videos are not the only proof of the BJP being behind the attack. 'There is no doubt that Bawankule and the accused are closely related. Bawankule openly said Kate is a BJP worker. It was Bawankule who was behind Kate getting bail for illegally possessing arms. He was arrested at Lohegaon airport with two pistols and 28 cartridges. The BJP managed to secure bail for Kate so that he could carry out their plans. Under Section 3 of The Arms Act, it is difficult to get bail in such cases. The prosecution in this argued that there was no criminal record though he had undergone jail term in a heinous crimes and several other crimes in his name registered with the police.' Gaikwad said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holds the charge of Home Ministry as well. He said, 'Now that it is proved who is the mastermind of the attack on me… Will the Chief Minister take action again Bawankule?' Both BJP and Bawankule had earlier refused the allegations that they have any connection with the attack on Gaikwad. Gaikwad said BJP considers his ideology an impediment for coming to power. 'I have a progressive mindset but BJP's is not… I believe in equality… BJP is against equality. BJP wants one party rule, BJP wants dictatorship to thrive, it wants its anti-progressive mindset to hold upper hand. We believe in Constitution, we believe in democracy,' he said. Gaikwad said he suspects the entire event was managed by the BJP. 'I have a strongly feeling that the organisers of the event are hand in glove with the BJP. They invited me under the guise of a felicitation function. But when the attack on me happened, no one came forward, the organisers did not even file a police complaint. Several BJP leaders were present at the occasion. In the police station, my associates told me that some ministers called up and told the police not to charge Kate and his associates under stringent law,' he said. Gaikwad said the Maratha community leaders have planned a bandh in Akkalkot on July 18. 'The Maratha community will protest the attack on me by observing a bandh on July 18,' he said.
Deccan Herald
07-07-2025
- General
- Deccan Herald
Slaughter ban for 9-days during Jain festival may lead to similar demands from others: Bombay HC
The trust highlighted various aspects of Jain belief, including Ahimsa (non-violence) and said if animal slaughter takes place during Paryushan Parv then it would be detrimental to the cause of Jainism.
The Hindu
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bombay High Court asks BMC to reconsider nine-day closure of slaughterhouses during Jain festival
The Bombay High Court on Monday (July 7, 2025) asked civic bodies to reconsider the ban on slaughterhouses during the nine-day Parv Paryushan, a festival of the Jain community, citing this could open the floodgates for other communities to seek similar bans during their festivals. The High Court asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to decide to close the slaughterhouses for a day instead of all nine days. 'Mumbai holds a diverse population, banning slaughterhouses for nine days during Parv Paryushan means allowing other communities to come to court seeking a similar ban during Ganesh Chaturthi or Navratri,' it said. 'Under what statutory obligation can the civic bodies prohibit for nine days?' asked Chief Justice Alok Aradhe. During the hearing on a petition filed by a Jain community trust, a Division Bench led by the Chief Justice and Justice Sandeep Marne asked the trust to resubmit its representation to municipal corporations of Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik and directed the civic bodies to decide on the temporary ban latest by August 18. The petition seeking a ban on slaughter for the nine-day period, starting August 21, was filed after the Jain community trust challenged the BMC, Nashik and Pune municipal corporations' 2024 decision to observe a one-day ban during Parv Paryushan last year. The Bench noted that Maharashtra already has 15 days in a year, where slaughter is prohibited. Besides, the exact percentages of vegetarian and non-vegetarian populations are unknown. Many other municipal corporations rely on the Mumbai's Deonar slaughterhouse. Given the scenario, the court wondered whether it could intervene in a policy decision. The trust argued principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) is a crucial part of their festival, and allowing the slaughter will be detrimental to the tenets of Jainism. Representing the trust, senior counsel Darius Khambata said, 'The BMC justified a one-day ban on slaughter, citing Mumbai's diverse population, but Nashik and Pune civic bodies did not give any reason for their decision. So they must provide the reason. Besides, the BMC failed to consider that the demographic as Jain population in Maharashtra (1.24%) is higher than in Gujarat (0.95%).'
Fast Company
10-06-2025
- Health
- Fast Company
This pediatrician developed cafeteria dishware that won't leach hormone-disrupters into schoolkids
In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement warning that plastic foodware could potentially leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into children's food. Seven years later, millions of children across the U.S. are still eating hot cafeteria lunches off plastic dishware. Manasa Mantravadi and her startup, Ahimsa, are working to change that. A board-certified pediatrician and mother of three, Mantravadi was spurred by the AAP's findings to launch Ahimsa in 2019 to make steel dishware for children. Having gained traction with direct-to-consumer sales to thousands of families, Ahimsa is now aiming to get into schools across the U.S. Through a partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, the company launched a national pilot in 2024 called the Conscious Cafeteria Project, which saw 15 elementary schools (in California, Minnesota, Indiana, and New York) swap their plastic trays and utensils for reusable stainless steel over the course of a school year. The nonprofit Upstream claims that permanently eliminating plastics from these cafeterias can reduce their average annual CO2 emissions by 83%. The project displaced more than 1 million single-use items in total and decreased water usage by 78% (the difference between water used during production for single-use plastic and production for reusable steel). And, by making the swap, each school saved nearly $4,000 per year. One major challenge Mantravadi continues to face is that many school administrators are unaware of plastic dishware's risks. She shares educational content and research on Ahimsa's Instagram account, and the company's website includes additional resources. 'Children can't advocate for themselves—they don't have voting power, they don't make purchasing decisions,' Mantravadi says. 'It's my job as a pediatrician, it's parents' jobs, it's legislators' jobs, it's teachers' jobs. We're the adults in the room, and we've got to make better choices to invest in the health of our children.'
Hans India
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Despite numerous highs since Independence, many challenges remain
Independence from the colonial British tyrannical rule was still two years in the future when I was born. I was a seven-month pregnancy born premature baby, and there was little hope of my survival in the beginning. There were neither antibiotics nor incubators at that time and even penicillin was rarely in use. But, thanks to the tender care of my mother and her brother, Dr. Gandhi, my maternal uncle and father-in-law to be, a resident in the Madras Medical College at that time, I became a near normal healthy baby by the age of three months. Gandhiji had come to Chennai at that time to lay the foundation stone for Andhra Mahila Sabha, a great welfare institution meant for children, women, and the challenged, and the brainchild of Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh, one of the greatest women India has produced in the previous century. She and my mother, Manikyamba, fondly called Papayamma by friends and family, took me to Gandhiji and requested him to bless me. Thus Mohandas became my name, subsequently changed to Mohan, as I am known today. I have, therefore, no claims to have been a part of the freedom movement. Dr. Gandhi and his father, however, were known for their participation in it. Those were the peak of the freedom movement and Durgabai was just one of the many fiercely patriotic fighters in Gandhi's vast nationwide army. Their valiant efforts soon bore fruit and India became independent from the imperialistic rule. At the stroke of midnight of 14 August 1947, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, stood in Parliament and made his famous speech beginning with the words, 'Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny …', and ended up by asking the people of India, the historic question, '….Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future'? And now, in retrospect, when one looks back over one's shoulder, the question arises, did we prove equal to Nehru's expectations; Or Hamlet's remark in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', 'Ay, there's the rub!' Having become a republic in 1950, India has just celebrated 75 years as an independent nation, a celebration marked with nationwide jubilation and named 'Azadi Ka Amritkal Mahotsav'. This marks for a good time to take stock of the accomplishments and disappointments, the successes and failures, and the state of the balance sheet. On the credit side, the accomplishment with the best claim to a place in it will be the manner in which the country obtained its independence, through a movement informed by the unprecedented spirit of 'Ahimsa', a spirit embraced by the Mahatma, the likes of which have never been seen in the annals of world history from the war of independence in the United States to the recent bifurcation of Sudan. Literally overnight, at the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, many scourges that dogged the Indian psyche, as the practice of Sati, untouchability, the system of zamindaris were banished. And several farsighted and forward-looking reforms came to be, including universal franchise, and work began to frame a Constitution for the new Republic. Another significant development was the achievement of food security, thanks to the historic efforts of those heroes of the childhood of the nascent Republic, such as M.S. Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug, M.V. Rao and Verghese Kurien. Their contributions led to multicoloured revolutions in the agriculture sector, green, white, blue, and yellow to usher in an era of food security. A country barely recovering from the nightmarish memories of a ravaging famine soon became not merely self- reliant, but also acquired the ability to export agricultural goods. Yet another important development was the establishment of constitutional and statutory institutions, such as the Supreme Court of India, the Election Commission of India and the Union Public Service Commission, which acquitted themselves admirably and brought laurels to the nation from the nooks and corners of the world. What further enhances one's pride is the eminence accomplished by the sons and daughters of India in different spheres; from working for world peace, by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Mother Teresa, through literature, by Bhanu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhashti (recently awarded the Booker Prize), culture through the international popularity of matinee idols Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, sports, through the spectacular accomplishments of Sachin Tendulkar in cricket and Koneru Hampi in chess, to scientific research thanks to the path-breaking discoveries of CV Raman and Hargobind Singh Khurana and adventure through the achievements of pioneering mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, and Rakesh Sharma and Kalpana Chawla, in space exploration. The second watershed in the history of modern India was the advent of the forces of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The manner in which the country rode that wave, and emerged, not only unscathed, but refreshed and buoyant, won the admiration of the whole world. In fact, The then Chairman of the Federal Bank of USA, went to the extent of saying that had Dr. Y. Venugopal Reddy, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, been in his place, the international financial meltdown might not have occurred at all! That, however, is only one side of the coin. When one flips the coin, what one sees is a bleak and disappointing picture. India remains home to nearly half of the population living below the poverty line, in countries belonging to the South Asia and Pacific region, which, in turn, represents half of the total number of poor people in the world. Access to good quality education health/medical services remains a distant dream. Children are sold as commodities in our metropolitan cities, women are killed in the name of honour in some parts of the country and farmers continue to commit suicide on account of economic distress. Income and wealth inequalities have reached totally unacceptable levels, despite over 75 years of determined effort, rapid growth and sustainable development, the recently concluded Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations notwithstanding. And, on the external front, the attachment to the so-called policy of non-alignment has left the country friendless, both in the neighbourhood and outside. This is not the time, therefore, either to rest on one's oars, to let one's hair down, or put one's feet up with satisfaction or contentment. Nor, on the other hand, is there any cause for despair. While much has been achieved, a good deal remains to be done. The residual agenda, however, is certainly not beyond the ability of the country, and its people. With a gigantic task beckoning the people, everyone will have a role to play, whether politician, civil servant, doctor, engineer, lawyer, architect, businessman, industrialist, scientist, academician or NGO or community-based organization. A light hearted snippet to end this piece: In the 1960s, tribals in Srikakulam district were given bullocks as part of the activities undertaken by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) of the district. The assistance extended by the government was in the nature of a subsidy covering 25 per cent of the cost of the bullocks and the rest of the money came partly by way of margin money from the ITDA and the rest as a medium term loan from a commercial bank. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, who was visiting various parts of the country, to check the pace and quality of the implementation of various welfare programmes, asked his vehicle to be stopped by the roadside in a village and enquired of a farmer how the bullocks were faring. The innocent farmer beamed and said, 'Very tasty sir, thank you!' As a wise guy said, upon hearing the story, a remarkable case of a long-term loan being used for short-term purposes, instead of, as usual, the other way around! (The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)
