India Insight

Join Sunny Sharma with his elder, insightful, and informative cousins in a discussion around some of the themes highlighted by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's most famous piece of writing from 1963 called Letter from a Birmingham Jail. We discuss such ideas as the need to break unjust laws in a society, moral authority to confront societal despotism, and most importantly whether there is a place for organized religion in the world today when so many young people are leaving religious institutions. Is the modern day world organized in a way to no longer need saints or social reformers?Do the church and other religious institutions only get involved in politics when there are not enough saints?Tune in to hear us engage with these questions.

Whether it was on the Selma bridge, in Cairo, the stadiums of South Africa, the legislative chambers of England and India, or the executive halls of America, President Obama strove to reshape the mores of a globalized society away from separation, extremism, oppression, and bigotry towards a politic that stood for not only human rights, but also an understanding that rights can only be fostered through a sort of collective understanding of agency and responsibility that opened the door to future possibilities. Most importantly, President Obama not only acted as Uniter in Chief during a time of social unrest, racial tension, and turmoil, he also was the main leader for tumultuous social reform that brought the United States of America out of the worst recession from 2008-2011 since the Great Depression. Additionally, President Obama acted not only as a social reformer, but also as an advocate for political and social democracy through the period of the Arab Spring. Through his reform efforts and advocacy, he provided an inherent meaning to millions in the Arab world with aspirations towards self-determination for democratic governance while also navigating and espousing equality for millions in America on the question of economic inequality through the Occupy Wall Street Movement that started in 2011 as well as highlighting racial inequality that was brought to the forefront of American political reality through the Black Lives Matter Movement that was founded during his presidency in 2013.  

Malcolm X not only reimagined the place of black people in America and around the globe, but he also told the truth about the political mechanisms and techniques in society that denigrated the poor and working class. 

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, born in 1891 and died in 1956, was indeed a unique visionary who combined practical advocacy with his education as a Ph.D. in economics and his training as a lawyer. He tested his principals in the fiery chasm of social and political liberty in India through the development of political parties and the testing of his academic scholarship. We have his principals in the Constitution of India and his legacy and experience of starting political parties for the subaltern (underclass) because he chose to try hard and fail hard rather than to not try at all. 

Quotation Themes:  Primary themes: Truth, risk, liberty and justice, morality, personal responsibility, conscience. Secondary themes: Fragility of democracy, reputation/legacy, service, demanding rights, tyranny, duty and patriotism, societal and common welfare, fundamental rights, legality, reform, individual and collective agency or action, and constitutional liberties.In this 11-minute podcast, I highlight informative and insightful quotes by Enlightenment men as well as from Great men who inherit the spirit of Enlightenment values. Some of the men of which I highlight either 1-2 quotes include the Buddha who was born in India, Cyrus the Great of Persia, Frederick II of Prussia, Baruch Spinoza of the Netherlands, Immanuel Kant of Germany, Benjamin Franklin of the United States of America, Samuel Adams of the United States of America, Edmund Burke of Ireland, Thomas Jefferson of the United States of America, Benjamin Rush of the United States of America, and Georges Bernanos of France. Additionally, I highlight multiple quotes by three icons of human rights and constitutional liberty of whom are the 2nd president of the United States of America John Adams, the first law minister of India and creator of its constitution Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and the 44th president of the United States who established universal health care reform for the first time in American history, ended the War in Iraq, and killed the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks Osama Bin Laden, President Barack Obama. The figures of President John Adams, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and President Barack Obama are not only a few of my most admired advocates of liberty, justice, and human rights, but they are also all constitutional experts and proponents of constitutional principles: President John Adams wrote the first constitution for a representative republic in modern history for the Massachusetts government in 1780 setting the precedent for all constitutions in the modern era; Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the first law minister of India and thus was the primary drafter of India’s first constitution allowing for the establishment of parliamentary democracy and India’s code of ethics for all Indians especially through the institutions of quotas and reservations for the underclass; President Barack Obama not only shaped political democracy, but also American mores, values, and ethics, channeling his experience as a young community organizer in Chicago, Illinois and his expertise as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago for 10 years into the American presidency where he fostered a new dialogue on race relations by establishing the Brother Keeper’s foundation to provide mentorship to young men across the United States of America while also setting the precedent for equality through the implementation of the Fair Pay Act for women and proliferating liberty and justice around the world by fostering future leaders through his Obama foundation. As illustrated by the men who I have chosen to quote, there is a thread in history that binds us all together and a tradition of freedom that we all share. More importantly, as these men have demonstrated, it is only through an understanding of history, political precedents, and cultural norms, that we can even begin to reform the social fabric of society which is predicated on social democracy.  

March 31 theme: Social Democracy (Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity)I have released five podcasts on March 31. The primary theme of these podcasts are the legacy of the French Revolution, and more specifically, the Buddha. Whether it was the first law minister of India Babasaheb Ambedkar, France grassroots reform from the left Jacobins, President John Adams, President Barack Obama, or Malcolm X, all these individuals, through constitutional precedent and social reform sought to make society fall more in line with he principles of social democracy.French Revolution’s relevance to India The impact of the French Revolution was a culmination of scientific skepticism, reason, individual liberty, and rejection of the authority of the church and nobility that forever altered the fabric of European society through the abolition of the feudal system by the legislation of Article 1. Although it is uncertain what the ultimate impact of the French Revolution is as it is still characterized by the long chain of events since the storming of the Bastille and the ousting of the “right” Girondis or noble from the assembly, the changes instituted by the French Revolution mean that there is no turning back for European society. As the podcast I conduct is principally centered upon India, it is important to give an accounting of how the French Revolution is linked to Indian society. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the illustrious first law minister of India, imbued in the Indian constitution the principles of the French Revolution and Buddha, that is, social democracy. This was done through the establishment of the reservation and quota system for the underclass and untouchables or Dalits as well as an abolishment of untouchability. However, the reality is that without public pressure, constitutional decisions don’t have the effective force or agency to put an end to a system of discrimination imbedded in the social and cultural norms of Indian society which has lasted the past 2000 years. 

Reform precedes revolution and in the words of John Adams the only true revolution is that which occurs in the minds of the people. Similarly in the words of the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, just as revolution occurs in the mind so does peace as demonstrated by his declaration that, “Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.” In the words of the Buddha our own internal state reflects the external world: “The mind is everything.” Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar relates this principal as the basis for transforming the world through social democracy when he declared in reference to the constitution that, “However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good.” Progress only happens when we recognize we can only transform the world not only through an understanding of history, but also by the awareness of the mutual struggle we all undergo that happens not only through the struggle to reinvent individual liberty through every generation, but also by the notion that the arbiters of justice in every era are responsible for upholding constitutional liberties. It is through the individual agency of ordinary citizens who understand that responsibility means in the words of the 44th president of the United States of America Barack Obama, “Justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other… that my liberty depends on you being free, too… that history can't be a sword to justify injustice or a shield against progress… but must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.”            There are several key truths to recognize for the preservation of any democratic society: Democracy is reborn in every generation, and this has yet to happen in India, the key to social reform, which leads to revolution, is radical social democracy as described by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, there must be human rights literature to educate people so they are “people alert enough not to constitute masses,” and finally social democracy transcends political parties as my cousins describe in this podcast.Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the chairman of the constitution’s drafting committee. At this position, he had argued for safeguards for Dalits in the constitution. Consequently, article 14 (equality), article 15 (non-discrimination), article 17 (no untouchability) were included in the constitution of India. He has supported the uniform civil code which was included in the Directive Principles of State Policy.Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and President Barack Obama, through both their advocacy for theoretical education for the upliftment of the normally marginalized as well as practical advocacy, stands as a testament to the lesson that judicial oversight must be accompanied by public pressure to truly force vested political interests, tied to money in politics, to implement social democratic reform. Though they were at odds, Dr. Ambedkar must have observed this principle both through his political organizing of both the labor class and Dalits, as seen through his development of two political parties for these groups, but also his close observation of Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience or active nonviolent movement. President Obama not only learned this principle from the Civil Rights Movement through such figures as Bayard Rustin, who was the principal organizer and active nonviolent strategist for the 1963 March on Washington, but he also applied this principle through the first truly organized social media Presidential campaign in history in 2008 that eventually led to the establishment of Universal health care reform.

 Just like America served as an example to the world in 1776, America again must be a beacon of hope showing their ability to reform themselves in line with the greater visions of their society.More importantly, we need an antiwar grassroots party and movement to counteract an ever increasingly dangerous world where war becomes more hazardous every day as nations are positioning themselves for a potential global conflict in line with what could only be characterized as a World War III. In all conflicts, it is the people especially the poor who are scapegoated and suffer. We must bear the torch to light the inner conscience of all Americans that says devastating conflicts that lead to massive destruction and death have no place in a progressive society. We have every means to debase all forms of tyranny whether they be totalitarian or that of a majority upon minority populations be they specific or religiously oriented. An globalized world requires an globalized conscious so Americans can understand in the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, "A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice here." I urge American citizens, as well as people around the world, to surge forth with an antiwar campaign, to break them out of the complacency that says we must merely drift along with the tides of conflict until they reach our shores. We can't afford to wait for the escalation of conflict to the point of no return. If I may quote one of the luminaries of the 21st century that have lighted the way for political responsibility for millions across the globe, "We are the change we seek."

In this podcast, we discuss what Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Dalit (untouchable), illustrious writer of the India Constitution in 1950, lawyer, anthropologist, economist, and political human rights defender, meant by radical social democracy which has its origins from first and foremost Buddhism and secondarily from the Enlightenment era specifically the French revolution (liberty, equality, and fraternity). Moreover, we highlight the institutional barriers to social democracy, progress, and liberation for all people in India especially the underclass.

Mahatma Gandhi was not just a peacemaker, he was a trouble maker. Initially, it was his talents as a social reformer through community organizing and law, not his occupation as a saint that built his career as one of the pillars of the Indian community in Natal, South Africa. He fought a paper war through petitions and new correspondence to highlight the inequities of Indians with the majority white South Africans. Gandhi was pivotal in reshaping the viewpoints and imagination of whites towards Indians concerning their place in the British Empire. In this podcast, I highlight the rise of Mahatma Gandhi along with some of the political, economic, social, and cultural tensions that arose on the side of white South Africans who wanted not only to segregate themselves from Indians and other groups , but also didn't want to compete with them economically or on the business front.

In this video I expound upon some insights and quotes from the book Gandhi before India by Ramachandra Guha from Chapter 2: Among the Vegetarians. I discuss why Gandhi carried the ethos of India, was so radical even in his twenties, and was such a radically intelligent social reformer as seen through his early community organizing, job as lawyer, and being a dedicated student of principles of world religion and compassion in London, South Africa, and subsequently India.

John Stuart Mill had a mental crisis in his 20s in which he began to question his lifestyle and unique utilitarian education that was predicated on his father's teachings. The ideas of Reason, logic, and efficiency divorced him from the ideas of beauty, aesthetics, and poetry. He came to the conclusion that the pleasure pain principle of utilitarianism had to be subjugated under the principle of individuality, society must foster free thinking persons and individualism.In this podcast, I describe my change in thinking during my 20s and draw parallels with John Stuart Mill's transformation. We must end the careless corrupt conformity of student debt and much of our education system in order to allow students to be exceptional, in the words of President Barack Obama, to internalize excellence. We must give students a way to contextualize their education with self exploration on topics they relate too while also pushing students out of their comfort zone.  All together, I wished I took calculated risk out of a quantitative education into a liberal arts education earlier in my life. I certainly had wonderful teachers throughout my life, but it wasn't until I stepped in the direction of my choice hat I began to see the flourishing of my creative output. Moreover, to save students from debt, we must create a Economic Bill of Rights, inject our politics with morality in the process, and imbue students with the values John Stuart Mill wanted to foster for individuality including freedom of thought, conscience, and assembly. In order to reevaluate our education system, we must bring the margins to the center so that our education system better reflects the diversity of our society and doesn't merely reflect a Eurocentric model of education. We must form better narratives in line with the globalized world in which we live in so students of all backgrounds feel empowered. So much of our education system is built off of conformity that breaking down the conditioning of children could take years. One example is that our notion of rights have made many people forget agency and responsibility in society to the point of mass scale complacency in our political process. A capitalist society is predicated on having choices, yet we see the opposite in our political process. James Madison, the 4th president of the United States, understood that differing factions would cancel each other out. In the two party system we have today, both parties are corrupt and don't reflect the diversity of opinions, perspectives, ideas, and choices that is the US today. That is the primary reason, along with general disillusionment towards our leadership, that so few people are involved in our political process today. 

The immigration system has become so entangled with the criminal justice justice system to the point that detainment of families is leading to separation of children from parents. We have a long legacy of our systems of legality and enforcement evolving into greater and more extensive systems of control that no single individual could have predicted. Today that system is the Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency, an organization that has introduced wide scale electronic surveillance to accompany the incarceration and legal system. We must ask ourselves, do we want to live in a system of fear or hope. Enlightenment men such as William Penn of Pennsylvania and James Oglethorpe of Georgia, sought to create ideal societies where people no matter their status and ethnic background could leave freely and prosper. Unfortunately, greed, war, and propaganda led to the failure of these experiments in egalitarian liberty. We must reimagine our immigration system to match our ideals as a nation.

Plea for Liberty was published in 1944 during World War II. In this book, Bernanos makes a scathing criticism of the French bourgeoisie and hopes that free man and women will save Europe and open the door to childhood as he had done throughout his life. Bernanos famously said, "The modern state only recognizes rights, it no longer recognizes duty." Bernanos felt in his heart that the power of heroism, faith, and childhood once consecrated by the church would once again come about and defeat the evils of materialism and profit that so many citizens, writers, and social reformers rallied against in history and the 20th century. He also believed the elites failed the French people as they disguised themselves as men of wisdom and doctors of Christian ethics. Bernanos never loses faith that the people would smash the pedestal on which profit lays and would find real principles to stand upon which most people fake. What does it really mean to give power to the people? How have the elites failed Europe and how can this be remedied?Which country will become the inheritor of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality?Bernanos always believed that spiritual forces would take precedent to social, political, and cultural ones. So, as a monarchist, he envisioned a spirited young prince and king reviving the spiritual principles of Europe and bringing about a restoration of the honor of honor.Final ideas on the saints and heroes in Letter to the Europeans:1. "We must become unconditioned by materiality to recognize our true divinity as free men, of men of love."2. "We must also understand the legitimacy on which our rights are based."

Georges Bernanos voice represented the conscience and spirit of France's coinciding spirit of liberty. As demonstrated by his Christian fiction and political thoughts, Bernanos is certainly one of the greatest writers in human history. He was not just a man of rights, but more importantly was a man of responsibility, duty, and love. Bernanos questioned all complacent ways of thinking making one to questions whether he fits anywhere ideologically. Truly he was a Catholic man against all systems and blind reliance on constitutions and laws. He was first and foremost a man of the people who through his own individual agency and voice rallied against the evils which were all too apparent to a handful of people which few people could articulate. He was one of those chosen few individuals of the 20th century who could articulate the despotism of our society. 

Georges Bernanos, like President Barack Obama, has helped me to understand my responsibility, place as a citizen in America and the power of individual agency to transforming our society. Yet, if I strive to be a social reformer, I can indeed heed the words of Bernanos's writing, but I must understand that Bernanos in no way lays out the blue print for change in society. Yet he knew the next generations, through creativity and imagination would organize a political and spiritual front to combat very real social evils in society.Bernanos knew that even after political independence is achieved rights have to be declared to protect citizens from organized power and tyranny of the majority. Moreover, the power of money and political party dominance corrupts real agency and ideas of everyday citizens who strive to reform society through public policy. Bernanos uses his literary imagination to understand the inherent despotism of the future as well as possibilities of a past not predicated on machine civilization, something he believed would lead to a loss of liberty in society. July 10, 2018Plea for Liberty: I’ll share a few ideas from the only two pages that really matter for Americans pg 188-189. In these pages, Bernanos asks Roosevelt to address the leaders of Christian opinion in Europe by saying:“Gentlemen, we are going to establish a Christian society, that is, a society based upon the ideas of Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity.These three qualities are the legacy of the French Revolution and Age of Enlightenment. Even the human rights advocate and writer of the Indian constitution Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar believed society should be made along the lines of this phrase if not stated as Christian per say. This quote I shared is important because it is the meeting of the minds between a man who was the voice of the French resistance and the conscious of the French Declaration of Rights with the mind of the leader of the New Deal and proponent of the Second Bill of Rights. Most importantly, this plea was an imposition of the view that America’s destiny was to be the leader in human rights of the entire globe. One can only imagine that Roosevelt read the words of this awkward idealist and that it touched his heart and also coincided with the spirit of the Economic Bill of Rights which was Roosevelt’s legacy and dream for the American people at the end of his tenure. We have certainly come a far way from Roosevelt with the passing of Universal Health Care by President Obama and other social programs which contribute to the American Dream of meritocracy, but we still have not fulfilled the ‘Plea for Liberty’ by Bernanos to create a society that doesn’t just adopt the vocabulary of human rights, but places the notion of human dignity on a pedestal so it may act upon the consciousness of the globe. So Bernanos has one request, that American leaders and politicians say to their public in times of struggle:“We do not ask them to line up respectively behind us; we implore them to go before us, to show us the road.”Bernanos always believed the day would come.In a similar fashion President Barack Obama echoes the same spirit, as a man of change, hope, and responsibility, of this kindred soul:"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

Lived from 1888-1948 Christian Writer, Political Agitator, Whistleblower, WWI Soldier, and Human rights defenderThe French Catholic Novelist and Thinker Georges Bernanos was not just a free man, but he was indeed a man of the people, the greatest representation of France's coinciding spirit of liberty. For Bernanos, writing was indeed a transformative process for him and was emblematic of "individualism without selfishness," a value he wanted to proliferate among his entire audience so people do not merely settle to work out their own salvation without helping others. He was certainly a man with one foot in the past and another in the future, represented by his place as a man of the "Declaration of Rights" a true explosion of hope as well as being a prophetic visionary of the crisis of conscience and civilization that was occurring and just what it was ultimately going to become. Bernanos knew that there was a conspiracy against the inner life of man, on conscience. Moreover, Bernanos knew all too well that to combat the negatives of legality, obedience, and conformity, man needed to take risks in the name of hope and freedom throughout history. Similar to Indian spiritualist Osho, Bernanos echoed the notion that in the Age of Aquarius saints are meant first and foremost to be our friends, something he articulated in one of his last essays. As a man of common sense and reason, Bernanos was not only against systems and placing a constitution on his conscience, but he also understood the importance of the Bill of Rights to protecting individual liberty. Moreover, Bernanos, like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, knew that constitutions can only truly function with the spirit of man and spirit of liberty (when there are enough free thinking persons in society willing to live up to the aspirations of liberty). 

As Malcolm X evolved throughout his entire life, he stood for self reliance, black nationalism, dignity, and equality for all human beings. Malcolm X knew the power of solidarity through an international coalition to defeat the evils of imperialism which underlined racist institutions throughout the world. He sought to bridge the psychological gap that the underclass, especially black people, needed to overcome to take ownership of their future and transcend their second class status in America. If indeed the union won the civil war, why hasn't there been an end to white supremacy and a proliferation of equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the south? Malcolm X was aware of the power of the people to redefine the inequities in every generation because as a self made man who knew all too well the history of political revolution and independence from the Enlightenment era all the way up to the 20th century. Was the constitution and bill of rights only meant to really apply to rich white landowning protestant men? How has Malcolm X redefined this notion to include blacks and other citizens normally relegated to lower status? How must we learn from Malcolm X to redefine who we are in every generation inline with the aspirations of what America was meant to become, a land of immigrants?Malcolm X understood the power of education too 'free people's mind' from mental poverty and mental colonialism, to finally put an end to the heavy conditioning of poor people throughout the world. Like other luminaries and social reformers of the 20th century, Malcolm X didn't merely study the literature and history, he also put the theory into practice to enlighten the public to the schemes and evil machinations of 'the powers that be' and empower the people to stand up for their rights through active agency to awake people from their complacency like few other men could do. Malcolm X recognized that throughout America there are poor communities that no politicians are accountable too. This results in the creation of voiceless poor communities throughout America that are disenfranchised in a never ending cycle of poverty and neglect. Throughout the world, there are contingencies of disillusioned people yearning for social development and political empowerment to awake them from their complacencies. Malcolm X was on the verge of doing just that in much of North Africa and the Middle East. It's our duty to finish the job. Are we better off today than in the past? Are our politicians accountable to us today or are we accountable to them? What would Dr. King and Malcolm X says about the state of politics in today's society? How can Liberty, Fraternity, Equality, and Justice apply to all people today, not just white landowning men as was the original drafting? 

In this podcast, Sunny and Tinku discuss the impact and legacy of one of the greatest intellectuals of common sense, self determination, equality, dignity, and self respect in the 20th century Malcolm X.Malcolm X through the power of persuasion and oratory built the nation of Islam and was at the pinnacle of forming an international coalition of African and Middle Eastern nations to transform the issue of civil rights into human rights by bringing the issue of segregation/second class citizenship to the United Nations. Being a self made man, Malcolm was an icon representing the tidal wave of political independence and revolution occurring in the global south as well as the aspirations of Afro Americans in America seeking a better life than their forefathers who were condemned to a life of obscurity, disempowerment, and discrimination normally relegated to the underclass of any society. Malcolm X miraculous rise to stardom in the Nation Islam was met with both praise and approbation by those in his community as well as outside forces hell bent on seeing his platform smashed to pieces. He excited millions of black and brown people across the world to strive for political freedom, social cohesion, economic independence, cultural reform, and justice. Along with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he gave an inherent meaning of egalitarianism to the Civil rights struggle, but in many ways he transcended the normal perspective of what it meant to be black in America. If as one of the greatest writers of the Civil rights era James Baldwin said, "There is no system of reality for black people in America," Malcolm X may very well have transformed this notion into one of cultural achievement in outlook that even though may not be triumphant is forever imbedded in the collective conscious of blacks and all oppressed people around the globe. For as Malcolm X says "Truth is on the side of the oppressed."

I continue my discussion with my cousin Tinku on the need for Awareness of Rights,  Accountability, Transparency, and Basic necessities for the common man in India. We also discuss the problem of rampant inequality in India and continue our discussion on the need for a new generation of social reformers in our society like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Vinobe Bhave. Moreover we discuss the need for trust among Indians of different class, caste, religions, language, and gender in order for the economic welfare state to function so the underclass is empowered during times of crises and money comes into the hands of the common man as my cousin Tinku relates.We need Indians and people around the world to transform themselves into saints so they can transform the world through social reform. Political independence is not enough if there is no social democracy and thus no egalitarianism.It is the job of the citizen constituent base to keep politicians accountable by prioritizing their needs to politicians rather than merely feeding the profit margins of the powerful.As my cousin relates, we must educate the public so they know how to think and thus can discern proper news from political and news type propaganda. An educated public can organize and galvanize not only the spirit of the good but also ignite the conscience of the indifferent and apathetic towards social justice. That may make all the difference on the road to rekindling or preserving democracy, which in a country as large and complex as India, is a very fragile thing. India needs it today now more than ever.