Monday, December 30, 2013

सर्दी

सर्दियों से न जाने क्यूँ 
याद आता है ज़ुकाम,
ठहरा हुआ, रुका हुआ, सारा काम.
दादी का कफ़ से खरखराता गला, 
पिता का धोबियों से 
पटके गए कपड़ों कि तरह छींकना,
दादा जी के गळगळाते गरारे,
बहती नाक से परेशान
कपड़े के बाजू,
आँखों में खीझ सम्भाले
बिना बताये सरक आयी शाम,
ठहरा हुआ, रुका हुआ, सारा काम.

खेतों पर सहम कर फैली
गाँव के चूल्हों से बही
धुएँ की ओढ़नी,
मुँह पर पड़ने से
खाँस-खाँस हलकान
खेत अगोरता, मँगरू पहलवान
खुजला रहा,
ऊब से चिनकती अपनी चाम,
ठहरा हुआ, रुका हुआ, सारा काम.

रज़ाई की गठरी से झाँकती
नानी की आँखें
टोह रही,
ठंढ के सिकुड़ने का
बाट जोह रही.
प्रातः की गायी जाने वाली पराती
ऐसे ही नहीं छोड़ी जाती;
कँपकँपाते अन्तर में
थरथराता राम का नाम,
ठहरा हुआ, रुका हुआ, सारा काम.

(mrityunjay)

ये मेरा प्रेम है! (Love taught me to lie)

Love taught me to lie.....



ये मेरा प्रेम है!
मुझसे झूठ बुलवाता है 
बातें छुपाता है,
हर दिन नयी जुगत भिड़ाता
मेरे सत्य को 
पाखण्ड से पिटवाता है,
ये मेरा प्रेम है!

कभी परिवार, कभी संसार
कभी समाज, कभी देश
के नाम पर
त्याग की भावना जगा
यह केवल समझौता करवाता है
प्रवंचना का
बहुरूपिया मुखौटा लगाता है.
ये मेरा प्रेम है!

उन्माद की प्रजातियों के
बिरवे कि तरह
चढ़ जाता है
किसी भी मोह के वृक्ष पर
बढ़ जाता है;
शोषण को पोषण समझ

प्रतिकार के स्वर को भी
रह-रह दबाता है.
ये मेरा प्रेम है!

Friday, November 29, 2013

ले, मेरी साँसों की अंतिम भेंट ले!

धुँध से मैं आ गया हूँ मुक्त होकर 
ले प्रिये तू गोद में समेट ले!
छोड़ आया हूँ जगत का द्वंद्व सारा 
ले मेरी साँसों की अंतिम भेंट ले!

साक्षी हैं तेरे-मेरे बीच पलते
यातना में भी निरंतर भाव फलते,
फूट बिखरे सपनों में प्रेम को लपेट ले,
ले, मेरी साँसों की अंतिम भेंट ले!


(Mrityunjay)

কি যে আমার পরিনতি


পুর দিন বামাক্ষেপার গান শুনে
কি ভাল লাগে?
কিংবারবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত
শুনে কি পথ হারার ভাগ জাগে?
চেয়ে-চেয়ে আকাশ দিকে
পাই শুধু শূন্য,
নাই বুঝি পাপের গতি
নাই করি কোন পুণ্য
ভাল-মন্দ -
যেন দাদুর যুগের গল্প,
পুজো-তীর্থ -
যেন আকর্মন্নের প্রকল্প;
আমি যে আছি
তাতে  বা কার উপকার
আমি যে চলে যাব
ক্ষতি  বা হবে কত কার?
দগ্ধ বৃদ্ধের মতুন
খাঁ - খাঁ করে দিন
আর চলন্ত খালি ট্রামের মতুন
রাত করে চিত্কার
ভিক্ষের পাত্র নিয়ে
জ্যোত্সনা নামে শহরে
ছাদ থেকে পড়ে
নালার আবর্জনার হাথ ধরে
ডুবে যায়ে সাগরের গভীরে
আমি ছুটে-ছুটে
ধরি শুধু ছায়া,
দুই ফোটা জলে ভিজিয়ে
রাখি তার ধবল স্মৃতি,
জানি না
কি যে আমার পরিনতি।

(মৃত্যুঞ্জয়)
কলকাতা
২৫.১১.২০১৩

मेरी छाती पर उगी फसल



अच्छा हुआ
मेरी छाती पर उगी फसल
तुम काट ले गए!
अब वो
ऊँचे दाम पर
किसी मंडी में बिकें 
या
साहित्य में पिरोये जाएँ,
किसी नाले से बीनकर
कोई पेट पाले
या
हो जाएँ
गोदामों में पलते
चूहों के हवाले,
कोई फ़र्क नहीं पड़ता।
पर इन खूँटियों का
मैं क्या करूँ दोस्त?
जो ना तो
मुझे
बंजर रहने देती हैं
और ना ही
देती हैं
किसी नई फसल का आभास?
खूँटियों से पटी
मेरी छाती
जैसे ठूँठे वृक्ष
की जड़ों में
दीमकों की बामी,
सबको पता है
क्या होने वाला है
दृश्य आगामी।

(मृत्युंजय)
२४.११.२०१३

Saturday, October 26, 2013

प्रश्न (Question)


परिस्थिति, स्थिति, नियति,
क्या एक ही प्रारब्ध की कड़ी हैं?

जीवन, जिज्ञासा, जिजीविषा,
हर एक, क्या दूसरे से बड़ी हैं?


परिस्थिति,
बन आती है बिना बताए।
स्थिति,
बिगड़ जाती है बिना बताए।
नियति,
टल जाती है बिना बताए।


जीवन,
ढल जाता है बिना किसी कारण।
जिज्ञासा,
चुक जाती है बन के उदाहरण।
                                                                           जिजीविषा,
                                                                           कर लेती है भिन्न रूप धारण।

                                                                           मनुष्य, क्या केवल
                                                                          अनासक्त आत्मा का
                                                                          आसक्त एक चारण?

(Mrityunjay)
26.10.2013

Friday, October 25, 2013

तक्षक

विचित्र एक धुंध में सनी है ये रात 
जैसे अधरों पर अँटकी हुई कोई बात।
वनस्पति सब सर उठाये 
किन्तु अपने शरीर की 
शाख, पत्ते झुकाए,
सड़क पर मुंह फाड़ रोता कुत्ता,
कल ही उगा विषैला
एक कुकुरमुत्ता,
अशुभ के रेंगने से
चमक कर
हिनहिनाते सत्ता के घोड़े
अस्तबल में बँधे,
भाग नहीं सकते
कौन किसका मुंह किधर मोड़े !
कुंहरते, करवट बदलते पक्षी
किसी षड़यंत्र के साक्षी
गुमसुम कंठ से कह रहे हैं
(ये रो रहे हैं?)
सब ठीक है, सब ठीक है!
शायद आगे कोई टूटी लीक है!
टाइम-बम है कोई,
या लैंड-माईन,
बन्दूक लिए एक क्रांतिकारी पट्ठा
प्रतीक्षा में है हिंसा का एक जत्था !
कि तभी केंचुल
छोड़कर एक तक्षक 

चमकता लिजलिजे मुँह वाला,
रक्षक 
बन निकल आया है सड़कों पर।
वह अर्जुनों को काट नहीं पायेगा 
किन्तु मरेंगे परीक्षित सब।




ये रात कदाचित जानती है
तभी मुँह से वाष्प उड़ा
हवाओं में उड़ते
विषैले खनिज का टोकरा
उलट दिया है इसने
चाँद से विसरित भुसभुसे उजाले पर -
कटे घाव पर जैसे नमक।
तन्द्रा में लीन
बेहोशी की बीन
पर नाच रहा नाहक, मानव
न घाव की पीड़ा समझता है
ना ही नमक से जनित परपराहट,
हर आगत से उदासीन
सुनता नहीं कोई आहट।
विचित्र एक धुंध में सनी है ये रात!!

(मृत्युंजय)
२७.९.२०१३








Qasme, waade, pyaar, wafa sab..... RIP Manna De!


It was a hot & sultry summer day in 1968,69 or 70...I really can't remember! What I remember, and still have visuals of the moment frozen in my memories, is that my non-music, non-literature type father was resting on the bed and was singing 'phool gendawa na maaro, lagat karejawa mein chot' tapping his bulged tummy for a rhythm back-up. I am sure, to me it was all a very jarring site which had more humour and comedy than any musical sense. However, it was hilarious and amusing to see my father singing something and that too with so much of dedication. I couldn't abstain from asking details of the piece. he got up and sat attentively to explain as if it was going to be a lesson on some Vedic mantras or a Buddhist sermon. Actually, it was not; it was his love for this singer whom he considered way above his contemporaries in skill and calibre of singing. I heard about Manna Dey and his singing for the first time on a serious note from my father that day. it's not amusing that I immediately cycled to one of my friends' house who had a Garrard Radiogram and a good collection of LP records - thanks to his family being in love with music & art. Courtesy my friend, I heard this song of a comic lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi (sounded so weird for this gifted poet who wrote pieces of very high class poetry and lyrics), so skillfully yet effortlessly, sung by Manna Dey! Soon, I fell for this voice and gave up on listening to Mukesh (my favourite those days) and Md. Rafi for quite sometime. Manna Dey's singing had made such a deep impact on me!

I remember him lending his voice to the versatile,  villain Pran making his maiden tryst with a character role in 'Upkaar'....and the song "qasame, waade, pyaar, wafa sab, baatein hain baaton ka kya, koyi kisi ka nahin ye jhute naate hain naaton ka kya" fills the character with heavenly presence. Is it a coincidence that Pran preceded him in Heaven (I don't know if there's any other option in the ethereal cosmos)?
I remember Manna Dey reminiscing on behalf of all those who miss the 'Coffee house' and its energizing 'adda'(coffee houser oi adda ta aar aaj nei) in the same spirit as I die to copy him as a bathroom singer singing Kaifi Azmi's golden words "har taraf ab yahi afsane hain, hum teri aankhon ke diwaane hain". Yes, actually true Manna Dey!....hum to sahi mein aapki aawaz ke deewane hain!
Being the voice of Mehmood (the unmatched hero of comedy & comic elements of Bollywood), it was only perhaps Manna Dey who could match the energetic Kishor Kumar in 'Padosan', competing with more complicated classical pieces with same comic mood (try listening the full song -'ek chatur naar...'). Be it the master showman of bollywood Raj Kapoor, stars like Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra, Raj Kumar or music composers of myriad genres,  Manna Dey fitted like a well tailored ready made suit, but never could become a costume of ceremonies.  Recipient of Padma Shree, Padma Bhusan and even most prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, Manna Dey ruled hearts of all age and group, but could not become the number one singer, for, he was never allowed to become a voice of a star; not that he hankered for it or missed it ever. We surely miss him though!...and feel as lost as he sounded in his rendition of the song 'sur na sadhe kya gaun main...'

May you be the envy of heavenly gandharvas & Kinnaris!...RIP!


गणतंत्र की कुर्सी

October 25, 2013 at 11:48am
मन मसोस कर रहना पड़े कुछ दिन
तो रह लो,
कुछ और दर्द सह लो!
तुम्हें मालूम नहीं
कई सदियों से इसी आस में बैठे हैं लोग
कि ज़ुल्म और ज़ुल्मत के अँधेरे
अब बस मिटने वाले हैं।
इसी उम्मीद में बढ़ता गया है रोग,
दवाएँ सारी हुईं बे-असर
दुआएँ सारी हुईं खाकसर,
हर दिन, जल्लाद सा खड़ा
कभी शाम से लड़ता है
कभी सुबह को घुड़कता है,
आँख मींचकती है तो बाजू फड़कता है,
ना जाने कौन किसकी हौसला-अफज़ाई में लगा है।
मेरा तो हर रोज़ जैसे बोझिल-सा रतजगा है।

कल ही तो वो मज़दूर
ढोता हुआ राजा की कुर्सी
गिरा, गों-गों करता ढेर हुआ,
साथी मजदूरों की टोली
के लिए जैसे हो ठिठोली,
घेर कर चिल्लाते, करते मिजाज़पुरसी
कहने लगे -"खाता कम है, बचाता ज़्यादा,
एक दिन यूँ ही मरेगा
ये कंजूस हरामज़ादा!"
दौड़ता हुआ मेठ ललकारता -
"अरे सालों, अपने को सम्भालो
यदि कुर्सी को कुछ हुआ तो चमड़ी नुच जाएगी!
गणतंत्र का यह अकेला पीस है,
नुमाईश तो इसी की होनी है
तुम जैसे तो दस-बीस हैं!"
मेरी बात मानो!
इसकी टाँग पकड़ कर टानो,
दूर करो, दूर करो!
साला,सारी योजना खा गया
फिर भी 'फ़ूड सिक्यूरिटी' चाहिए,
अपना गाँव तो संभलता नहीं
रहने को सिटी चाहिए!
बिजली-बत्ती, पानी कहाँ से आएगा?
गुसल के लिए जगह
रहने को खोली
फटेहाल लोगों की कभी भरी है झोली?
ये साली जनता, हो गई है बड़ी बड़बोली।
हटाओ, हटाओ
इसे मरता हुआ न देखने पाए कोई!
बाद में अर्थी के पीछे
फेंक आयेंगे कुछ खोइ¹,
कुछ पैसा,
इनका तो भाग्य ही होता है ऐसा!

हटाओ, हटाओ!
साहब-हुक्काम सब आ पहुँचे
कुर्सी का स्थान, दिशा समझाने,
काँधे पर ही रखना
जब तक ज्योतिष ठीक न कर दे
ग्रह-नक्षत्रों के ठिकाने!
अरे, आभार कैसा
ले लेना जास्ती दो-चार आने!
गणतंत्र की कुर्सी है, कोई हँसी-खेल है क्या?
क्या कहा, भारी है?
भारी तो होगी।
करोड़ों जन-गण की उम्मीदें हैं
मासूम-मरहूम के आँसू की बूँदें हैं,
बलवों में मरे लोगों की लाश
बलात्कार और हत्या की शिकार
औरतों से फूटती बास,
रुपयों की गँध, गंधाती धोती,
घर-घर की उछलती पगड़ी,
वो सारी इज्ज़त
जो रोज़ जा रही रगड़ी,
युगों से भरी चापलूसी
ढुलमुल नीतियों की कानाफूसी,
सचमुच बहुत भारी है?
भारी तो होगी!
गणतंत्र की कुर्सी है
कोई हँसी-खेल है क्या?

(मृत्युंजय)

1. खोइ: पूर्व-भारत में मृतदेह की अंतिम यात्रा या विभिन्न पूजा आदि में प्रयुक्त धान की सफ़ेद फड़ही/भूँजा.

Monday, June 24, 2013

PRISM - Is The Internet a Safe Place? >>By Ishaan Singh, St. Stephens College, New Delhi

PRISM – Is The Internet a Safe Place?

PRISM, a term that has shaken the very foundations of trust which people have in their electronic devices and  has  caused multibillion dollar companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft, Inc to lose their aura of reliability. The notion of it being for America’s national interest and the safety of its citizens is being debated. However, the PRISM programme’s data has helped avert dangerous situations and if extended to other countries and their citizens, the programme can possibly provide a great boost in the battle against terrorism.  

In today’s world 1.08 billion people use smartphones to either access the internet, browse or other app related activities. Each of these applications stores their personal data such as email ids, passwords and date of birth. The operating systems even track your location for your convenience through applications which provide you real time updates for transport and movie timings. All of which have allegedly released their records to the National Security Agency (NSA).. However, behind this veneer of convenience lies PRISM, a surveillance programme which records data from all of the aforementioned platforms. It is operated under the supervision of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court; pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The programme was set up by the Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) act established right after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and The Protect America Act established in 2007. The lay man was oblivious to the programme until 6th June 2013, when Edward Snowden an ex CIA employee and NSA contractor exposed some classified documents. Snowden revealed multiple PowerPoint slides which provided an explanation as to what extent the programme monitored communication and data. The documents identified several technology companies as participants in the PRISM Programme, including: Microsoft, Inc, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, Youtube, Skype, AOL and Apple as companies involved in the programme. The speaker's notes in the briefing document reviewed by The Washington Post indicated that "98 percent of PRISM production is based on Yahoo, Google and Microsoft."
Much of the world's electronic communications pass through the United States, because electronic communications data tend to follow the least expensive route rather than the most physically direct route and the bulk of the world's internet infrastructure is based in the United States. Hence, these lines provide United States intelligence analysts with opportunities for intercepting the communications of foreign targets as their electronic data pass into or through the United States.




In the USA, government officials including President Barack Obama have supported the programme, claiming that it has helped avert numerous terrorist attacks on US soil. They have cited examples of Najibullah Zazi and David Headley. Senator John McCain is of the view that “We passed the Patriot Act. We passed specific provisions of the act that allowed for this program to take place, to be enacted in operation."
Senator Mark Udall said "I don't think the American public knows the extent or knew the extent to which they were being surveilled and their data was being collected." "I think we ought to reopen the Patriot Act and put some limits on the amount of data that the National Security (Agency) is collecting," "It ought to remain sacred, and there's got to be a balance here. That is what I'm aiming for. Let's have the debate, let's be transparent and let's open this up."
The New York Times laments that "for years, members of Congress ignored evidence that domestic intelligence-gathering had grown beyond their control, and, even now, few seem disturbed to learn that every detail about the public's calling and texting habits now reside in a N.S.A. database." According to The Washington Post, the intelligence analysts search PRISM data using terms intended to identify suspicious communications of targets whom the analysts suspect with at least 51 percent confidence to not be United States citizens, but in the process, communication data of some United States citizens are also collected unintentionally. Training materials for analysts tell them that while they should periodically report such accidental collection of non-foreign United States data, "it's nothing to worry about."
The PRISM programme has provided the US with the tools to carry out these attacks. It has provided them with a map of the cyber infrastructure of the world which entails vulnerabilities of other countries. In a day and age where the internet dominates all sectors, cyber attacks can be both immediate and devastating.  They can disrupt communication systems, disable national infrastructure, or, as in the case of the Stuxnet virus – disrupt and sabotage nuclear reactors. Hence, the threat of cyber warfare is one that is real and lethal. All of this mapping of vulnerabilities and keeping them secret for an offensive and these pre-targeted, ready to unleash cyber weapons are a worrisome prospect for the world. Therefore, the conception of PRISM in the world is quite contrary to the general “it’s nothing to worry about” idea in the US.  .  
Arguably, the United States of America is pursuing Cyber Espionage. The PRISM programme was set up BY the US Government FOR American national interests. Therefore, the programme spies on and gains potentially dangerous data of other countries while providing zero protection for their citizens. However, if the data was to be shared between the participating countries, perhaps then, the PRISM programme would not be seen as a bane but a boon for the world against terrorism as it would benefit a larger population. After all, the programme was established to fight it and the USA is by far the most popular face of anti-terrorism worldwide. Countries such as India have borrowed from it and are in the process of setting up their own cyber surveillance system – CMS (Central Monitoring System).
The PRISM programme has spied on and collected data from all parts of the world including America. It has provided them with the vulnerabilities of other countries and the tools to exploit those vulnerabilities. However, the PRISM programme has been instrumental in averting terrorist attacks on US soil and can be used as a strong weapon in the battle against terrorism being waged by the United States and its allies. Although, that is only possible if the data is shared amongst the participating countries. The programme has changed the perception of the internet and has shaken the very foundations of trust which people have in the internet and their electronic devices.


Saturday, June 22, 2013

Kedaarnath: a poem on the Uttarakhand colossal Tragedy


असंख्य घरों को उजाड़ 
बेवाओं की गोद में डालकर 
बच्चे अनाथ 
तुम अभी भी खड़े हो केदारनाथ !
हमारे सरकार की तरह
बेबस, असहाय, निरुपाय!!
लेकिन हमारी भक्ति देखो
मलबों में अँटकी साँस,
कटे पाँव-हाथ, कोई न बची आस,
हर प्राण पर झूलती हताशा की हाय
फिर भी जारी है महोच्चार -
'ॐ नमः शिवाय, ॐ नमः शिवाय!'




हमारे पुरखों ने
आस्था का कितना वाञ्छित
विकेंद्रीकरण किया,
करोड़ों हम
सबको एक देवता दिया
अब बढ़ कर हो गए हैं हम अरब
जोड़ लिया है मंदिर, दरगाह, मकबरे
और कुछ हज़ार आस्था के नुमाईन्दे भी
लेकिन नहीं मिला फिर भी
सबको अपना एक देवता,
मानव-मन संशय में भोगता;
सो हमने आस्था के
अलग-अलग समुदाय भी बनाए
टूटती नींव पर
कुछ और पलस्तर लगाए।
घरों की नींव ही केवल बच गयी,
दुर्बल थी
चक्रवातों में उड़ गई,
बाढ़ों में बह गई।

अब सोच कर क्या होगा केदारनाथ!
अन्य सम्प्रदाय या आस्थाओं को तो
मैं कुछ कह नहीं सकता
पर तुम तो अपने थे,
तुमसे जुड़े हमारे झोली भर सपने थे.
असहाय तुम दिखे नहीं,
तुम थे!
तभी तो अपनी समाधि में ग़ुम थे।
हम चीख भी नहीं पाए
और क्रुद्ध हिमालय
हमें खींच ले गया पाताल के गर्त में
तुमसे नहीं निभाई गई
वंचना-सी शर्त में।

केदारनाथ,
तुम्हें या तो गिर जाना था
या थोड़ा डर जाना था
जिससे कि हमें याद आता
तुम्हारा भी अब कम ही रहा है
मानवों से नाता।
जैसे जीवन प्रकृति का रूप है
लाशें भी तो उनका ही स्वरुप हैं,
फिर प्रकृति को प्रकृति से क्या बचाना
व्यवहारिक हो,
दर्शन का क्यूँ करो बहाना!
तुमने शायद ठीक ही किया
खड़े-खड़े
मानवों की दुर्दशा देखते रहे
हमारी करनी का फल
भला तू क्यूँ भरे!!

(मृत्युंजय)
२२.०६.२०१३

Thursday, May 16, 2013

ANCIENT INDIAN REPUBLICS (JANAPADAS): TRIBAL CLANS OR A PRECURSOR TO MODERN DEMOCRACY.



SYNOPSIS:
Democracy, both as a value and a system, has remained an amorphous concept for both its seekers and scholars. Though having its accepted origin in ancient Greece (508 BC), it certainly has ingredients rooted in the history of many continents, regions and civilizations even before Greeks patented the nomenclature.
There are signs of self-governance models in the ancient Near East from around the 6th century BC, particularly among the Medes; the ‘Collegia’ of the Roman period having associations of various social, economic, religious, funerary and even sportive nature officers elected every year, often directly modeled on the Senate of Rome; The German tribal system described by Tacitus in Germania and so on.¹
In fact, the list gets longer if we enter in to the medieval ages. However, the spread of democratic ideals and practices to other cultures and even failure thereof have been explained by the Historians on the assumption that Democracy or personal liberty are ideals foreign to the non-Western cultures – an assumption at least as old as Herodotus.²
There are no perfect models of democracy waiting to be discovered, but there seems to be scattered evidences of “government by discussion”, in which groups of people having common interests make decisions that affect their lives through debate, consultation and voting. Majority of these groups or governments have been either called ‘Oligarchies’ or ‘Tribal Clans’, little realizing that even the best form of democracy in the present times had to undergo a process of evolution, well perceived by Emile Durkheim (a French Sociologist & philosopher) when he describes “Democracy is not a discovery or rediscovery of our century, it is the character increasingly assumed by societies……its rise has been continuous from the beginning of history”. ³
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 ¹ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_democracy
² See for example Herodotus, The Histories 7. 135, Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt, rev. ed. – Harmondsworth, 1972 p. 485: the famous reply of the Spartan emissaries to the Persian General Hydarnes
³ Emile Durkheim in ‘Lecons the Sociologie’ quoted by Raymond Aaron in ‘Main Currents of Sociological Thoughts 2’ translated by Richard Howard and Helen Weaver – Penguin Books 1967
Durkheim’s proposed definition of democracy implies that the political order, that is, the order of command and authority, is only a secondary phenomenon in society as a whole, and that democracy itself must be characterized by certain features of the society such as degree of consciousness of the governmental functions, degree of communication between the mass of the population and the government. He takes a dim view of direct universal suffrage.¹
Durkheim’s evolutionist view gets further support by the contemporary explorations of philosophers, most notably John Rawls, who saw ‘the exercise of public reason’ as the central feature of democracy.² Similarly, standard works and authorities of Political Science define ‘Republic’ as a state where the sovereign power vests, not in a single person or monarchy, but in a group or college of persons, more or less numerous. Oligarchies, aristocracies and democracies have all been labeled as republics. Thus Sparta, Athens, Rome, Medieval Venice, the United Netherlands and Poland have all been described as republics, though none possessed universal suffrage as the basis of their respective systems of governance.
Universal suffrage was not available to women in France in the 20th Century. In the republic of ancient Greece and Rome, the franchise was confined to a small minority; in the medieval republic of Venice, the franchise was the right given to a strictly limited aristocracy which itself was dominated by a small oligarchy; the republic of 7 states of Netherlands was undoubtedly governed by an elected stateholder, but he was selected by the votes of burghers who only had the franchise rights. Even in modern times in USA, millions of Negroes were deprived of franchise rights for a long time, and England had similar pocket boroughs till the middle of the 19th century.
Moreover, Franchise can be only one of the ways to effect democracy, but its reach and effectiveness ‘depend critically on the opportunity for open public discussion’, whereas public reasoning includes the opportunity for citizens to participate in political discussion and to influence public choice.  James Buchanan, the founder of the contemporary discipline of ‘public choice theory’ too has argued that the definition of democracy as “government by discussion” implies emphasis on individual values which do affect the forms and nature of governance.
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¹ Raymond Aron in ‘Main Currents in Sociological Thought 2’ translated by Richard Howard and Helen Weaver – Penguin Books, 1967, p. 93
² See his ‘Justice as Fairness: A Restatement’, ed. Erin Kelly (Cambridge, Mass): Harvard University Press, 2001, p. 50

If we take the aforesaid contemporary and more rational view of democracy, we will appreciate the claims of those ancient republics of India who stood test of time in establishing and beholding examples of ‘governments by discussion’ for centuries together. There seems to be a major departure from monarchical form of government from the later vedic period as indicated in the Rig Vedic Brahmana, the Aitareya, and in the Yajur Veda and its Brahmana, the Taittiriya. Megasthenes, the famous Greek writer, records the changes in tradition: ‘Sovereignty (Kingship) was dissolved and democratic governments set up’ in various places.¹
As late as in 1903, T.W. Rhys Davids, the leading Pali scholar, pointed out in his book ‘Buddhist India’ (London, 1903) that the Buddhist Pali Canon (and the Jatakas, a series of Buddhist legends set in the same period but composed much later) depicted a country in which there were many clans, dominating extensive and populous territories, who made their public decisions in assemblies, moots, or parliaments.² Since then classical sources like Vedas, their Brahmanas, Buddhist Pali canons, Buddhist works in Sanskrit, Panini’s grammar in Sanskrit ‘The Ashtadhyayi’, the ‘Mahabharata’, the Jaina canons, works of Greek writers who accompanied  Alexander the Great during his Indian expedition and even Kautilya’s ‘Arthasastra’ have been meticulously ploughed through for evidence and insights. Coins and inscriptions have documented the existence of republics and the working of popular assemblies.
My essay intends to examine one important case of ‘government by discussion’ – the Republics of East and North-west Ancient India of the period before 400 AD, mainly because they deserve a rational place in world historiography and also to dispel the oft held belief that the very concept of democracy is specifically “Western”.
The present essay has following goals:
a)    Summarize the history of ancient Indian Republics taking the help of the various original sources, research works and papers; and
b)    Examine the historiographical evaluation of the Indian republican experience so as to place them with deserved value as precursor to modern democracy.
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¹ Epitome of Megasthenes, Diod. II. 38; Mc Crindle, Megasthenes pp. 38, 40.
²(www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/.../HISTDEM/indiadem.htm) Steve Muhlberger, Associate Professor of History, Nipissing University in his article ‘Democracy in Ancient India”