For the Sake of True Vision

Let me suggest another way of distinguishing education from indoctrination, a theme I often return to. Education enables individuals to see reality as it is; indoctrination trains them to see doctrine as reality. The former cultivates the capacity to question, investigate, and revise one's beliefs in light of evidence. The latter demands conformity to predetermined truths and discourages independent judgment.

Many twentieth-century communist regimes resorted to what theocratic regimes have long attempted: a comprehensive capture of the human mind or the generation of a cognitive fog that obscures independent judgment. The aim was to absorb individuals into a grand order, subsuming their individuality while elevating a select few to a status approaching reverence or unquestionable authority.
What I have written is an abstraction—a pure type. Reality is rarely so neat. Even the most liberal order may carry traces of the same affliction; it is often a matter of extent rather than kind.

Let me reiterate here the Gayatri Mantra, an eternal prayer for true knowledge and the illumination of the human intellect:

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः ।
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

"We meditate upon the adorable radiance of the divine Source. May that divine light illuminate and inspire our intellects."

The prayer does not ask for conformity, certainty, or submission. It asks for enlightened judgment. In that sense, it captures the spirit of education at its highest: not the acceptance of doctrine as reality, but the cultivation of the intellectual and moral faculties necessary to perceive reality with clarity.

Niraj Kumar Jha

On Realism and Idealism

Realism and idealism are often seen as binaries. The fact is that neither is sufficient on its own, and both can become counterproductive when pursued in isolation. The practical and the possible must inform those seeking to realise idealistic aspirations. Such judgment emerges from careful historical and comparative study, from observing realities and mending one's ways accordingly; it does not arise from forcing historical events into preconceived imaginative constructs, reducing history to neat patterns, or adhering rigidly to predetermined outcomes and methods. Equally, crass realism erodes the trust, solidarity, and shared meaning that make collective life possible, culminating in a desolation that negates the very purpose it sought to serve.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Responsibility as Power

There is a famous Hollywood movie line: "With great power comes great responsibility." As it is often delivered, it appears to be a law of life, but it is, in fact, a moral dictum. Let me place it in proper perspective. Power is about owning responsibility; otherwise, it becomes merely a position of domination for personal aggrandisement.

Similarly, any privilege enjoyed at public cost must be justified by a commensurate contribution to the public good. Amidst general deprivation and squalor, any privilege derived from public resources or based on public property is an abominably undeserved entitlement. The passage of time often corrects such excesses.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Neo-imperialism

Let me clarify at the outset that what I am noting here about neo-imperialism is only my impression. I studied neo-imperialism as a Political Science student at a leading university in our country. The lessons on the subject were overwhelming to me at the time, but later I realised that the entire exercise was teleological. The most bizarre aspect was that Vladimir Lenin’s theory of imperialism, adapted from John A. Hobson, was taught almost as an axiomatic framework for understanding international affairs, even though it explained a pre-existing phenomenon as the outcome of a later-occurring development. Secondly, what it offered as a way out was the advocacy of an order that was feudal at its core, rooted in patronage and clientelism, though presented under the garb of modernity and in the name of liberation. Those who understood the rules of the game eventually defeated the erstwhile bosses of the world at their own game, and now those very bosses appear to be entreating the emergent powers for favour and accommodation. The lingering folly once again leaves us, if not at the receiving end, certainly not at the winning end.

Niraj Kumar Jha

साम्राज्य और एम्पाइअर

अनुवाद प्रायः भाषाओं के समांतर शब्दों के माध्यम से किया जाता है, किंतु ऐसे समांतर शब्द अनेक बार सभ्यताओं के मौलिक अंतर को ढक देते हैं। उदाहरण के लिए भारत में अब यह समझ एक सीमा तक विकसित हुई है कि ‘रीलिजन’ और ‘धर्म’ में मौलिक भेद है। इसी प्रकार ‘साम्राज्य’ और ‘एम्पाइअर’ (अथवा अन्य सभ्यताओं के समांतर शब्दों) के बीच भी मौलिक अंतर है, जिसे मेरी जानकारी के अनुसार अभी तक सामान्य बोध के क्षेत्र में पर्याप्त रूप से दृष्टिगत नहीं किया गया है।

भारतीय परिप्रेक्ष्य में साम्राज्य का मूल उद्देश्य धर्म का विस्तार, न्याय की स्थापना, शांति और संपर्क को निर्बाध बनाना तथा सामान्य समृद्धि के मार्गों को निष्कंटक करना था। यह व्यापक सामूहिक शक्ति का लोककल्याण और विपत्तियों के निवारण हेतु व्यवस्थित उपयोग था। चक्रवर्ती का ध्येय आदर्श और न्यायप्रिय धर्मराज के रूप में शस्त्र और शास्त्र, दोनों के माध्यम से संसार में धर्मचक्र की स्थापना करना था।

इसके विपरीत, एम्पाइअर प्रायः किसी व्यक्ति अथवा संगठित समूह की सर्वोच्चता और लिप्सा-पूर्ति के उद्देश्य से व्यापक स्तर पर लोगों के दमन और दोहन की व्यवस्था रहा है। निश्चय ही दोनों ही स्थितियों में अपवादों की बहुलता मिलती है, किंतु रामराज्य का आदर्श तथा अशोक और चंद्रगुप्त द्वितीय के साम्राज्य जैसे उदाहरण भारतीय अवधारणा की विशिष्टता को स्पष्ट करते हैं।

पुनश्च : उक्त संदर्भ में मेरा आग्रह है कि हिंदी में सम्प्रेषण के लिए ‘एम्पाइअर’ तथा ‘इम्पीरियलिज़्म’ शब्दों का यथावत प्रयोग किया जाए। उदाहरणार्थ, ‘ब्रिटिश एम्पाइअर’ और ‘ब्रिटिश एम्पाइअरवाद’ कहा जाए, न कि ‘ब्रिटिश साम्राज्य’ और ‘साम्राज्यवाद’।

नीरज कुमार झा 

Of Imperialism Without Garb

This is the failure of our times: naked imperialism has returned with vehemence. That it scarcely cares anymore for moral or ideological garb only deepens the irony and the misery of the age. Such phenomena are not natural calamities like outbreaks of viral disease, but consequences of human folly. At its first level, domination succeeds through the effective use of intellect without regard for those who bear the cost of its exercise. The deeper question, however, is why the rest fail to apply their minds to the affairs of the world and to their own lot. Human folly becomes more dangerous when the wicked command greater strategic intellect than the good command civic courage or moral clarity. The task, then, is not merely to condemn tyranny, but to overcome the mental and physical weaknesses among us commoners who seek neither unearned gain nor prosperity built upon the suffering of others.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Of Tyranny

 If a single person can disrupt and destabilise the whole world, it speaks not of the person but of the world.

Niraj Kumar Jha