Mohan Bhagwat: War Within; Age of Machine; Hail Hockey
Opinion Watch
Mohan Bhagwat: War Within
Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat occasionally gives out the thoughts of his organization on issues central to the Indian democracy. He may be India’s most avid travellers, speaking his mind to audiences. Mostly, he’s repetitive and his world view can be summarized in a few words, which according to him define the Hindu way of life.
The Indian Express in an Editorial has sought dissect the meaning of the words of Bhagwat, spoken in an exclusive interview to in-house journals ‘Panchjanya and Organiser’. The Noida-based daily has drawn grim conclusions to some of Bhagwat’s remarks such as “1000-year-old war”, “enemy within”, “Muslims should abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy”. The daily also pulled out M. S. Golwalkar ‘Guruji’ who in ‘Bunch of Thought’ had described Muslims as enemies. “If his war-like comments now are seen in the context of next year’s general election, the augury of polarization seems clear – and disquieting,” added the daily.
Before one begins frowning, it must be known that the problem lies not with Bhagwat but the media who goes overboard with some of his statements and outreach to the Muslims. Bhagwat has always been consistent about his idea of Hindutva and his espousal of the Indian ways of living for the Muslims, calling them also Hindus, by referring to the historical context. Bhagwat has been attending regular close-door meetings with Muslim scholars for several years to build bridges with them. But that shouldn’t be seen as hints of the RSS becoming secular like Congress! Under the watch of Bhagwat, the RSS has neither abandoned Golwalkar nor Savarkar. The mainstream media should get their memory right, and also know that the RSS is incrementalist in accepting the social changes such as gay rights.
Age of Machine
A few weeks ago, one programmer stunned media fraternity by releasing a business news copy, written in the style of The New York Times. The copy was written by a machine with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Now, Microsoft has brought $10 billion on the table for OpenAI that developed ChatGPT, which is being banned in schools and colleges in the US. Should the world rejoice or dread?
The Asian Age in an Editorial wrote: “In 1872, the British author Samuel Butler wrote ‘Erewhon’ …ernowhines, unlike ‘mindless luddites’, are wary of intelligent machines, which they argue could be the next in step of evolution on earth…” The daily also recalled the words of Elon Musk wherein he has described AI as “scariest problem mankind had – way over nuclear war, cloning or global warming – saying AI as an invention poses an unexpected existential risk for humanity”.
To dead over the prospect would be waste of time, and the humankind should rather take it a challenge, for the last few decades has seen the people world over in indulging in the gains of science and resting their creative instincts. Let the humans too chase their best in further evolutions!
Hail Hockey
Under the watch of Chief Minister Navin Patnaik, Odisha is now one of the finest laboratory of Hockey. The World Cup Hockey has kicked off in Odisha’s Rourkela, which is a joint host along with Bhubaneswar. Patnaik’s love for Hockey is well-known.
The Hindu in an Editorial has lauded the event being taken to the tribal dominated Sundargearh district. The Chennai-based daily also heaped praise on Patnaik for building a new stadium at a cost of Rs 260 crores. The daily also mentioned a rich galaxy of the hockey players produced by the tribal regions of Odisha.
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