In its G20 year, India has declared it will represent the voice of the “Global South” for peace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “This is not the era of war” has won him plaudits from the Western alliance that is backing Ukraine.

It has given rise to expectations in some quarters that India, which often casts itself in the role of “Vishwaguru”, could use its good offices with both Kyiv and Moscow to help bring the war to an end.

It has also rekindled interest in the only other diplomatic intervention by India in a distant war seven decades ago, one that revealed both its international heft as well as exposed its limitations

2. Outbreak

• As the 1950 Korean War pitted Cold War opponents against each other, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a huge diplomatic push to prevent an escalation into another world war, and for the parties to arrive at a quick ceasefire
• The efforts were only partially successful. Even so, India is counted among the countries that contributed to bringing the war to a close.
• New Delhi also discharged an important role in the months after the truce, as chair of a committee to repatriate prisoners of war
• A couple of attempts by India to bring about a ceasefire ended in failure. However, its 1952 proposals for the exchange of prisoners enabled the July 1953 armistice agreement, which marks 70 years this year
• On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The peninsula had been divided at the end of World War II along the 38th Parallel, with Soviet and US forces occupying the North and South respectively
• In 1948, after the two Koreas declared themselves separate countries, and held their own elections, the occupying forces departed
• However, neither the North nor the South accepted the other and to this day, both claim the entire Korean peninsula and the islands on either side

3. India at the UN

• At the time of the invasion, India was among the six non-permanent members of the Security Council, and held its rotating presidency that month. Three resolutions on the war came up in quick succession
• The USSR was boycotting due to the UN’s refusal to replace Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China in the Security Council  and with no threat of a Soviet veto, the US moved the first resolution on the same day as the invasion, calling for a withdrawal of North troops from South territory
• New Delhi voted in favour, pleasantly surprising the US. Barnes wrote that India’s UN representative Benegal Rau and the UK representative persuaded the US to tone down the language of the resolution  calling the North’s action a “breach of peace” rather than an “act of aggression”
• A second US-sponsored resolution on June 27 asked UN members to offer “such assistance as may be necessary” to South Korea to repel the invasion. President Harry S Truman announced he would deploy the Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan strait, and step up assistance to the French in Indo-China
• Rau initially refused to vote, but Nehru eventually accepted the resolution after the British High Commissioner in India conveyed there was “no room for neutrality when it came to aggression”
• India abstained on the third resolution on July 7, which gave US forces command over combined international forces under UN auspices. Not wanting to be seen as shirking an international call to duty by the UN, India sent the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance, which did outstanding work treating wounded soldiers
• Nehru’s view at this time was that giving the People’s Republic of China admission into the Security Council could provide resolution in Korea
• The USSR returned to the Security Council at the end of August, and blocked further US resolutions, including one on sanctioning China
• Due to the Soviet vetoes, the US shifted the action to the UN General Assembly. Here India failed in an effort to block a US-British resolution for UN forces to cross into North Korea. As international troops crossed the 38th Parallel, Chinese forces entered the fray, and it seemed the crisis might spiral out of control
• Nehru’s proposal for a truce, and talks with the communist side on Korea and Taiwan after cessation of hostilities found traction at the UN. Rau was appointed to a three-member committee to come up with ceasefire proposals that were overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly
• But Beijing rejected the proposals, and in February 1951, a US resolution in the General Assembly for sanctioning China was adopted with a decisive majority. Stung by repeated failure, Nehru cooled off

4. India and Prisoners War

• In 1952, when the Panmunjom talks for an armistice between the UN and the communist side (comprising Chinese and North Korean officials) unravelled over the fate of the PoWs, India got into the act again
• The UN negotiators insisted that no PoW would be repatriated against his will  by their count, only 70,000 of 170,000 prisoners in their custody wanted to be sent back. The communists wanted a full exchange
• Nehru put the forceful V K Krishna Menon on the job of finding a way to break the impasse
• Backed by Britain and Canada, Menon proposed a commission of four representatives, two from each bloc  Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and Poland  plus a fifth country as “umpire”, that would take charge of all PoWs at war’s end
• Those willing to be repatriated would be sent home immediately; the fate of the unwilling would be decided over the next six months
• The UNGA adopted the proposal, but with the Soviet bloc opposing and China rejecting, it had to be shelved
• But when armistice negotiations resumed in April 1953, the proposal became the basis for the eventual solution on the PoWs
• A Neutral Nations Repatriation Committee was set up with the same four member countries. India was selected to chair the committee; Nehru sent Lt Gen K S Thimayya for the job, and P N Haksar as his political adviser
• The committee would hold the PoWs for 90 days; the Korean conference would discuss the fate of the unrepatriated for 30 days; after this the prisoners would be either released or handed over to the UN General Assembly
• Maj Gen S S P Thorat was appointed Commander of the Custodian Force India, which would take custody of over 22,000 PoWs who were unwilling to go back
• The Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953

5. Relevance

As the world grapples to find an end to the war in Ukraine, President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy’s invitation to President Xi Jinping to visit his country has led to speculation that Beijing, after stitching up the Saudi-Iran peace deal, might be readying for a more high-profile peacemaking role

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he wants to launch a “peace club” of countries, including China and India, that can work together to find a way out in Ukraine

Any role India might want to play is likely to be informed by its experience in trying to end another war, 70 years ago

Source: indianexpress

CASTELESS SOCIETY

1. Context

2. Background

• The caste system is unique to India. It has been an unfair system of discrimination based on the birth instead of merit or potential that has lasted for more than 3,000 years.
• We need to erode the caste system from our social consciousness.
• After independence in 1947, India introduced laws to make discrimination against underprivileged castes ‘illegal’ and to improve their socio-economic positions.
• Reservation quotas were introduced for disadvantaged castes in schools, college admissions and government jobs in India.

3. Caste: a disintegrating factor

• The discrimination based on the caste system is opposed to the idea of 'dignity of labour' and the rigidity of the caste system is opposed to the concept that we are all 'free and equal'.
• The caste system was historically designed to exploit the underprivileged castes, who were denied learning, social status, share in administration and the material and cultural benefits of advancements in civilisation.
• And today, while we have retained the caste system, to correct the historical wrongs by allocating reservation quotas this builds up economic discontent and social prejudices.
• The caste system has split society into thousands of hereditary castes and sub-castes and thus encouraged a spirit of exclusiveness and class pride.
• In this way, it has stood in the way of national and collective consciousness and proved to be a disintegrating rather than an integrating factor.
• Caste system also influences how people 'vote'. Politicians have won elections purely on the promise of social justice with no need to deliver on governance.

4. How did the caste system originate?

• There are different theories about the establishment of the caste system; religious-mythological, biological as well as socio-historical theories. According to the socio-historical theory, the caste (“jati” or “varna”) system originated around 1200-1500 BC.
• skin colour was perhaps an important factor in the caste system. The meaning of the word "varna" is not class or status but skin colour.
• The fair-skinned Aryans (who migrated from Europe), to secure their status, resolved some social and religious rules which, allowed only them to be the priests, warriors and businessmen of the society.
• The society was organised into four groups of caste/Jati/Varna –Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
• On the top of the hierarchy were the Brahmins; they were teachers and priests. Second, on the hierarchy were the Kshatriyas; they were the Aristocrats (warriors and rulers). Then came the Vaishyas; they were Landlords and Businessmen (Traders and Merchants). The bottom of the hierarchy was Shudras; they were the Working Class (Peasants and Labourers).
• Within these caste groups, there are overall 25,000 sub-castes, each related to a specific occupation.
• The Shudra is the largest Varna and it has the largest number of communities.
• While Dalits (Cleaners, Sweepers) were considered outside the caste system as untouchables.
• Each Varna member has to work in a certain occupation which only that Varna member is allowed.
• The Group is determined by birth and it cannot be changed. In the beginning, the caste system was not a strict system and people could move from one Varna to another.
• Indologists give different dates to this period of change (around 500 BC - 500 AD).

5. The idea of a casteless society

• The word ‘casteless’, simply refers to ‘an individual who does not have a caste or is an outcaste’.
• Yet, its implications and manifestations as a social concept run much deeper. The term ‘casteless’ refers to the ‘absence of caste’ in society.
• It advocates for a society free of caste­based discrimination and oppression. It aims to create an inclusive society that provides equal opportunity for every individual regardless of inheritance and birth.
• In a ‘casteless’ society, people from different backgrounds would be treated with dignity and respect.
• People would interact and work together freely, without caste­based discrimination or prejudices and everyone would have access to quality education, healthcare, and job opportunities irrespective of their caste or social status.
• Here a person’s worth and success would be solely judged based on their abilities, character, and hard work rather than their social position.
• The idea of such a casteless society has been a goal that many, including social reformists, have aspired to achieve.
  
• However, the reality is that the caste system remains deeply ingrained in our society with roots that extend back thousands of years.

6. Is being casteless a myth?

• The term ‘casteless’, as a sociological concept was popularised by M. N. Srinivas, an Indian sociologist who has written immensely about caste, Sanskritisation and social stratification.
• Srinivas in his book Caste in Modern India argues that caste is a complex social structure that has adapted and changed throughout history but remains a powerful force in modern Indian society.
• One of Srinivas’s key arguments is that the notion of being “casteless” is a myth in the Indian context.
• He explains that even though some people may claim to be casteless or advocate for a casteless society, they are often still influenced by caste in various ways.
• For instance, many media houses, universities and corporate organisations are filled with people belonging to upper castes, especially in higher positions.
  
• Despite many claims to be casteless, employers belonging to upper castes tend to prefer hiring people of their own castes than people from the so­called lower castes.

7. The reality of the caste

• The concept of castelessness is a response to the discriminatory practices of the caste system.
•  Indian sociologist Satish Deshpande, in his article “Caste and Castelessness: Towards a Biography of the ‘General Category”, argues that only upper castes are enabled to think of themselves as “casteless,” while the under­privileged lower castes are often restricted to their caste identities.
• The ideology of castelessness has successfully interpellated upper­caste subjects, enabling them to see their caste identities as incidental or irrelevant to their claims.
• However, it is presumptive because, in actuality, they do not have to give up their caste identities.
• They would automatically be presumed to be casteless if they did not explicitly invoke their caste.
• Therefore, they can retain their power and privilege while appearing to be casteless.
• Glimpses of caste pride among upper castes are witnessed in the caste surnames they carry, in their insistence to marry within their castes as well as through the caste associations and clubs they create.
• Caste identity and pride can be so deeply ingrained in an individual’s upbringing and socialisation, that they may not even realize the extent to which it affects their thoughts and actions.
• Upper­caste individuals are often able to attain better education and employment opportunities due to their sociocultural and economic privileges.
• It enables them to be seen as individuals who have achieved success through their hard work and merit while hiding the caste identity that helped them achieve it.
• On the other hand, lower caste individuals often face discrimination and barriers while accessing education and employment opportunities due to their caste identity.
• Claims of castelessness, among the upper castes, thus seem like attempts to resist affirmative action policies that aim to redress historical injustices and promote social and economic equality for lower castes.
• Upper-caste individuals claim the need for a casteless society by superficially arguing against reservation policies on claims that encourage certain castes to identify primarily with their caste identity, rather than as citizens of a unified nation, and that it works against meritocracy.

8. Dr Ambedkar's vision

• Dr Ambedkar acknowledged that caste was deeply entrenched in Indian society and that it would require significant effort to uproot it.
• According to him, Education was key to annihilating caste. Education could empower individuals socially, economically and politically.
• It could help them escape the cycle of poverty and oppression through economic independence.
• It could also help them to be more politically represented, giving them a voice in the democratic process to advocate for their rights.
• Economic and political freedom would help them in challenging the existing social order and breaking down barriers that had been erected to maintain caste­based discrimination.
• According to him, another important step towards creating a casteless society was inter­caste marriages.
• He argued that marriage was a means of reproducing caste privileges and maintaining the existing social order.
• Inter­caste marriage could break down caste barriers, as individuals born through such marriages cannot be associated with a single caste, challenging the traditional notion of caste purity.
• He believed that inter­caste marriages would help to create a sense of unity and shared identity, which would be necessary to achieve a casteless society.

For Mains

Previous year Questions

WORLD BANK REPORT

 

1. Context

New research published by the World Bank, titled “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects”, argues that the current decade (2020-2030) could be a lost decade in the making not just for some countries or regions as has occurred in the past but for the whole world.

2. Key Highlights of the Report

• The report " Falling Long Term Growth Prospects: Trends, Expectations, and Policies is published by the World Bank.
• The report uses a comprehensive database of multiple measures of potential growth.
• It examines trends in potential growth and its drivers, global and regional prospects for potential growth and investment over the 2020s, and a range of policy options to lift potential growth.
• It documents three major findings, First, there has been a protracted, broad-based decline in potential growth and its underlying drivers. Major adverse shocks also reduce potential growth by leaving a lasting impact on these drivers.
• Second, the slowdown in potential growth is expected to persist for the rest of this decade.
• Third, while they are significant challenges confronting emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), they are not insurmountable.
• It is possible to reverse the slowdown in potential growth and chart a sustained, sustainable, and inclusive growth path by implementing ambitious, broad-based, and forceful policies at the national and global levels.

3. What are the reasons for the slowdown?

• The biggest reason for the slowdown is that the EMDEs are in the midst of a prolonged period of weakness.
• Look at the data for actual GDP growth and per capita GDP growth in the two tables (A.1 and A.3) below.

It shows a broad-based decline over the past two decades whether a country belongs to EMDEs or middle-income countries (MICs) or low-income countries (LICs). 

 

Image source: World Bank

• The World Bank has looked at a whole set of fundamental drivers that determine economic growth and found that all of them have been losing power.
• These fundamental drivers include things like capital accumulation (through investment growth), labor force growth, and the growth of the total factor productivity (which is the part of economic growth that results from more efficient use of inputs and which is often the result of technological changes), etc.
• Not surprisingly then, the potential growth rate is expected to decelerate further.

4. What about India?

• Even though India has also lost its growth momentum over the past two decades, it will likely remain a global leader when it comes to growth rates.
• India falls under the South Asia Region (SAR), which is expected to be the fastest-growing among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) for the remainder of this decade.
• To be sure, India accounts for three-fourths of the SAR output.
• SAR includes countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, etc.
• Economic activity in the South Asia region (SAR) rebounded strongly from the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding by 7.9 percent in 2021 after a drop of 4.5 percent in 2020.
• Output in the region is on track to grow by about 6.0 percent a year between 2022 and 2030, faster than the 2010s annual average of 5.5 percent and only moderately slower than growth in the 2000s, states World Bank. 

5. What can be done to boost potential global growth?

According to the World Bank, if all countries make a strong push, potential global GDP growth can be boosted by 0.7 percentage points to an annual average rate of 2.9%; this would be faster than the preceding decade (when the global economy grew by 2.6%) but still slower than the first decade of the 2000s (when the growth clocked 3.5% per annum). 

There are six priority interventions suggested by the report:

• Incentivize investments in the economy,
• Boost labour force participation rates (especially for women),
• Cut trade costs,
• Capitalize on service exports,
• Improve global cooperation, and ensure that fiscal policies and monetary policies don’t run against each other
• For instance, Government expenditures raise deficits at a time when central banks are trying to contain inflation.

For Prelims

For Preims: World Bank, Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects, Emerging markets, and developing economies (EMDEs), Middle-income countries (MICs), or Low-income countries (LICs), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP Growth rate and South Asian Region (SAR).

Previous year Question

1. Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business Index? (UPSC 2019) A. Maintenance of law and order B. Paying taxes C. Registering property D. Dealing with construction permits Answers: A   2. Which one of the following issues the 'Global Economic Prospects report periodically? (UPSC 2015) A. The Asian Development Bank B. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development C. The US Federal Reserve Bank D. The World Bank Answer: D   3. Consider the following statements The price of any currency in the international market is decided by the (UPSC 2012) 1. World Bank 2. demand for good/services provided by the country concerned 3. stability of the government of the concerned country 4. economic potential of the country in question Which of the statements given above is correct? A. 1, 2, 3 and 4 B. 2 and 3 only C. 3 and 4 only D. 1 and4 only Answer: B

 

Source: The Indian Express

TIBETAN BUDDHISM

1. Context 

The Dalai Lama has named a US-born Mongolian boy as the Tenth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa, the head of the Janang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the Buddhist spiritual head of Mongolia.

2. Key Points

• The reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia and 600-odd followers at the unveiling ceremony understood to have taken place in Dharmashala
• The ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa died in 2012 at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Since then, there had been a tense wait for his reincarnation.
• In 2016, during the Dalai Lama's latest visit to Mongolia, he announced that the Jetsun Dhampa had been born in the country and the search was on to find him.
• The ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa died in 2012 at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Since then, there had been a tense wait for his reincarnation.
• In 2016, during the Dalai Lama's latest visit to Mongolia, he announced that the Jetsun Dhampa had been born in the country and the search was on to find him.
• The boy unveiled, reportedly a scion of one of Ulaanbaatar's most prominent business and political families was deemed to be the said reincarnation.
• He is reportedly one of the twins born to Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhansan Narmandakh.
• The latest announcement has brought attention back to the larger question of the 14th Dalai Lama's reincarnation.
• The Dalai Lama is the foremost spiritual and temporal authority of Tibet.
• Over the past 70 years of Chinese occupation, he has been Tibet's loudest, most popular and most outspoken voice, while living in exile in Dharmashala, India.
• This makes the issue of his reincarnation one with deep ramifications on international politics.
• The Dalai Lama's reincarnation is a civilizational struggle between China and Tibetans over who controls Tibetan Buddhism.

3. A brief outline of Tibetan Buddhism

• Buddhism became the predominant religion in Tibet by the 9th century AD. 
• It evolved from the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism, incorporating many tantric and shamanic practices of both post-Gupta period Buddhism in India as well as the Bon religion which was spread across Tibet before Buddhism's arrival.

Tibetan Buddhism has four major schools:

1. Nyingma (8th Century)
2. Kagyu (11th Century)
3. Sakya (1073)
4. Gelug (1409)

• The Janang school (12th century) is one of the smaller schools that grew as an offshoot of the Sakya school.
• Since 1640, the Gelug school has been the predominant school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama belongs to this school.

4. Hierarchy and Reincarnation in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition

• The cycle of birth, death and rebirth is one of Buddhism's key beliefs. "As long as you are a Buddhist, it is necessary to accept past and future rebirth", the Dalai Lama said in a 2011 sermon on the subject.
• However, early Buddhism did not organise itself based on this belief in reincarnation.
• Early Buddhist "orders" were scarcely ordered at all with next to no hierarchy and little organisation.
• "It was merely a brotherhood of monks", LA Waddell wrote in his authoritative The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1895).
• Tibet's hierarchical system seemingly emerged in the 13th century.
• It was also around this time that the first instances of "formally recognizing the reincarnations of lamas" can be found.
• The Dalai Lama traces this tradition to "the recognition of Karmapa Pagshi as the reincarnation of Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa by his disciples by his prediction". Since then, this custom slowly spread to all Tibetan traditions.
• Notably, in 1417, Je Tsongkhapa founded the Gelug School, which developed a strong hierarchy and by 1640 it leapt into the temporal government of Tibet with the assistance of Mongol Prince Gusri Khan.
• The fifth grand lama of the school, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso has been conferred the title of Dalai Lama (Dalai' being the Mongol word for ocean).
• To consolidate his rule, he instituted the tradition of succession through reincarnation in the Gelug school, himself claiming to be the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, one of the most important Bodhisattvas in  Mahayana Traditions.

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