It should be the broadest, most open, most compassionate kind of Hindu unity. So inveterate is the antagonism displayed by this faction that sometimes it resembles visceral hatred, while at other pathetic self-delusion. So much so that it seems as if there is a combined opposition media party, utterly hell-bent on demonising Hindu India and its protagonists. And its varieties—Hinduism, Hindutva, Hindu nationalism, Hindu majoritariansim, and so on. If we are unprejudiced, fair-minded, and truly liberal, we should be willing to give the other side, especially when it is elected by an overwhelming majority, a fair chance rather than excoriating it before its commencement so as never to let it come into being. That a religious element, mostly Christian in the case of Europe, North America, and the Antipodes, endorses the national consensus is almost a given. Perhaps, they are right.In other words, the problem with India at present is a life-and-death struggle between two elites, the erstwhile dominant secularist and the emergent Hindutva brigade. Then why shouldn’t the Hindu cultural bedrock that informs the Indian consensus work as well as the Confucian or Shinto accord in modern China or Japan?True, this Hindu element should not thrust itself in everyone’s face or enforce its norms coercively. The prospect of this new Hindu majoritarian India, has got a terribly hostile press. Even in the latter, one element dominates, whether in the metaphor of melting pot, salad bowl, or mosaic. The modern sector is, perforce, doomed to express its outrage in a modern idiom.What is more debatable is what its exact ingredients or outlines might be.

When they resort to tradition they end up making fools of themselves, wearing their janeu on their sleeve, so to speak. Or, at any rate, the emergence of another India is not at all unlikely; in fact, there are signs aplenty of its advent. We Hindus follow multiple calendars, perhaps using each to our advantage. In the end, like all tussles for power, this one too may be more inconclusive than what appears right now.Funnily, this lot might never use such a Hindu metaphor in the first place.Another India? The simple answer is, yes.For that to happen, however, we must all join hands to contribute our mite rather than being cynical nay-sayers and Hindu-haters.For many, especially those who were perpetrators of the older dominant, “secularist” plot, the rise of this new India spells doom, the end of the project that Gandhi-Nehru lead, and the Congress headed mostly by Nehru’s heirs brought to the present pass.But all that is politics. Let’s leave it behind as we approach the end of year, even if by the Gregorian calendar. It is the end of that kind of India, and of that kind of elite. Even those who are supposedly in charge of the new narrative aren’t sure.The cultural rule of the interpenetration of opposites predicts that the new order may not be radically different from the old.But we must examine the situation on its merits. At the crux of all these debates is one word: Hindu. Who will win remains uncertain, though as of now, the latter seems ascendant.

Why should we give up this opportunity to introspect, even meditate, over the future of our beloved country?The fact is that a Hindu majoritarian India may not be as bad as it is made out to be by its detractors. Of course, it would be rather disappointing if it were not at least slightly better — more confident, CNC Universal Cylindrical Grinding Machine capable, competent, prosperous, creative, and egalitarian. Not from other religious or ethnic minorities, but from the Hindu secularist elite, which does not wish to yield power.Clutching at straws, seizing upon a Kanhaiya Kumar, Hardik Patel, or Jignesh Mevani as the youth icon, even avatar, to stop the BJP juggernaut in its tracks, this decimated opposition seems to be praying for nothing short of a miraculous slaying, metaphorically speaking, of the rakshasa called Narendra Modi. In fact, it may actually be a better, more wholesome, integrated, and compassionate India than the present state, that is so riven by uncivil strife. At the same time we must recognize where its most virulent opposition comes from.. In liberal Western democracies, the dominant element is a combination of modernity and democracy, underwritten not only be science and technology, but by the culture of capitalism and consumerism.But in doing so, we shall fall prey to many fallacies, including considering a majoritarian nation and polity as the inherent opposite of liberalism and multiculturalism. Hinduism, or dharma nationalism, may actually be a better guarantor of Indian pluralism than pseudo-secularism. Naturally, such people are unhappy; displaced privilege usually produces outrage if not predictions of doomsday

"&China cylindrical grinder Manufacturers39;Better educated, less employed, underpaid'Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform plan for a post-oil era seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce, up from about 22 per cent now.When Bukhari, 43 and a mother of four, was promoted as supervisor of a gas station in eastern Khobar city in October 2017, insults began pouring in on social media with the hashtag "Saudi women don't work at gas stations".Bukhari, previously employed in a junior role by the same parent company, was forced to go on the defensive, telling critics she was in a managerial position and not physically handling fuel nozzles."It's a rite of passage for women.Khobar (Saudi Arabia): Mervat Bukhari, a force of nature draped head-to-toe in Islamic niqab, braved insults and taunts to become the first Saudi woman to work at a gas station, something unimaginable not long ago.Horror stories have regularly surfaced."The well-known expression: 'You are a woman, cover your face' seems to be disappearing from our society," human rights lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahim wrote recently in the pro-government Okaz newspaper.Saudi Arabia also recently annulled the "house of obedience" article in the marriage law, which grants a husband the right to summon his wife to his home against her will.But women face sobering realities -- despite often being better qualified than men.

The reforms have seen the Saudi labour market slowly open up to women, introducing them to jobs that were once firmly the preserve of men."If I could choose between the right to drive or the right to end guardianship, I would choose the latter," a women's activist said on the condition of anonymity.But the backlash faced by women like Bukhari illustrates how newfound empowerment is a potential social lightning rod in a country unaccustomed to such visibility for women."I am a supervisor.But the 16-year-old prefers to hide his mother's job from his peers, hoping to protect her from even more insults.'Not revolution, but evolution'Authorities appear to be slowly dismantling the many injustices against women ingrained in the law.The decision to allow women to drive after a decades-long ban could give women the much-needed mobility to join the workforce. The kingdom, where conservatives once bridled at even limited freedoms for women, is in the midst of reforms that mark the biggest cultural shake-up in its modern history."Maybe five years from now it will be normal to see women at gas stations," he said, kissing his mother's hand.Saudi women now no longer need male permission to start business."Back at Bukhari's home in neighbouring Dammam city, she embraced her youngest son Mohammed -- who stood by her even as her brothers decried her gas station job as a shocking breach of tradition.Eye on guardianshipThe reforms have had an unwitting consequence, observers note -- competition with arch-nemesis Iran to be more liberal over women's rights. I don't fill gas myself," she reasoned, seeking to win a modicum of respectability for a job that class-conscious Saudi men disdain."Women today # have the right to do any work.Tehran recently relaxed its crackdown on women failing to wear the compulsory headscarf.Government statistics also put more than one million Saudi women as currently looking to enter the workforce.Kickstarted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the reforms include the historic decision allowing women to drive from June, attend soccer games and take on jobs that once fell outside the narrow confines of traditional gender roles.The reform introduces a novel concept in married life: mutual consent.

Saudi media has championed in recent months the first woman restaurant chef, first woman veterinarian and even the first woman tour guide."Saudi women are better educated, but less mobile, less employed and vastly underpaid," Karen Young, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told AFP.But Saudi activists say social change will only be cosmetic without dismantling the kingdom's rigid guardianship system, which requires that women seek permission from a male relative to study, travel and other activities."This is not a revolution, this is evolution," Hoda al-Helaissi, a member of the advisory Shura Council, told AFP, referring to newfound social liberties.Women inmates are often reported to be stuck in prisons after completing their terms because they were not claimed by their guardians.That leaves many vulnerable to the whims of a controlling father, a violent husband or a vengeful son.One Saudi woman told AFP how she was stuck in limbo, unable to even renew her passport, when her father, her only male guardian, slipped into a coma after an accident.Average monthly salaries in the private sector are close to 8,000 Saudi riyals (USD 2,134, 1,748 euros) for men, and only 5,000 riyals for women, according to research firm Jadwa.But Riyadh is seeking to change that through what appears to be social engineering.For the first time, women are seen alongside men in jazz music concerts and in mixed-gender restaurants, as the influence of the once-feared religious police -- notorious for enforcing gender segregation -- appears to be waning.Saudi Arabia ranked a low of 138 out of 144 countries in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum on gender parity.The social change, catalysed in large measure by what experts characterise as economic pain owing to a protracted oil slump, has introduced a series of firsts