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Jan 18 min read

The Tussles of David and Goliath: Crony Oligarch vs Financially Abused

Posted on 01/01/2024 (GMT 18:15 hrs)

I. David vs Goliath: The Background

Let us start with a story from the Old Testament (Book of Samuel):

Once there were two tribes of people, known as the Israelites and the Philistines. Due to being enemies, they planned a large battle against each other and assembled their armies.

The Philistines had an enormous army, including a giant called Goliath. It is thought that he was at least nine feet tall! He wore a huge helmet and armour all over his body. It was made of bronze and weighed 125 pounds. That’s heavier than a small child! On his legs, Goliath also wore bronze greaves and had a sharp javelin on his back. He was holding a sharp spear shaft too with an iron point. All in all, he was fit for battle and a terrifying threat to the Israelites. On the battlefield, Goliath said, Why do you come out and line up for battle? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. Give me a man and let us fight each other.”

For 40 days, Goliath went towards the Israelites to ask for a battle. A small shepherd boy heard this and decided he would be the one to fight Goliath. His name was David and he was one of the Israelites. He asked his leader, King Saul about this. Saul agreed that David would be the one to fight Goliath, and said: “Go, and the Lord be with you”.

King Saul dressed David in his very own tunic. Armour was put on his body for protection and a large helmet was put on his head. But David the shepherd boy was not used to this. “I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them,” said David and he removed the heavy armour.

He then walked towards a nearby stream and put five smooth stones into the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. He then walked towards Goliath, the giant Philistine. When seeing David approach him, Goliath said, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? Come here and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”.

David replied, “you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I have the Lord on my side!”

And all at once, he put one of the five stones into the sling, swung it around his head, and let the stone go. It hit Goliath’s skull and he fell face-down to the ground. Not even with a sword or armour, David had killed Goliath and saved the Israelites from becoming slaves to the Philistines.

SOURCE: VIEW HERE ⤡



II. What to do with the Story?

Well, without delving into the politically nuanced aspect of the above narrative at the time of the frightening Israel-Palestine Conflict, let us concentrate on the metaphorical use of the characters of David and Goliath to stand for the figurative representations of “Small” and “Big” respectively.

Now, what can we, the OBMA online activists, derive from such a Biblical story? Let us think of Goliath as that corporate giant, who receives all the help from the ruling party (the shields and armours: political protection, asylum, hastened justice etc.) and possesses a filthy/giant amount of money for running a lavish business empire. Particularly in the case of DHFL scam, this Goliath is Mr. Ajay Piramal, the secondary kin of BJP’s favoured tycoon, Mr. Mukesh Ambani. This Goliath works in unholy nexus with the shadow-economy terrorists, religious gurus and political leaders in power.

Now, it would be far more easier to understand who the David is. It is each of the financially abused victims of a politically manufactured DHFL scam. They do not have Goliath Piramal’s amount of money or political aid that makes him a giant. They only have the desire to enforce a crack in Goliath’s business conglomerate.

With the intended background of this comparison, the OBMA founder-members, since the very beginning, i.e., February 2021, has remained committed to the view that a small, insignificant David can shake the empire of the paper tiger Goliath with a single stroke of a pebble.

Now, in what means did the OBMA activists find their metaphorical pebble/stone?

The web-based, non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement embodying an all-out attack, following the methods used in Total Football as well as the karate technique of destroying the image of the attested opponent.



ATTACK ALL-OUT BY MAINTAINING अहिंसा

OCCUPY INTERNET TO RESIST PIRAMAL’S ADVERSE POSSESSION OF DHFL

OBMA’s Web-Based Civil Disobedience Movement: An Open Letter to Mr. Ajay Piramal

THE ART OF RESISTANCE

As part of our all-out attack, we have also criticized the BJP’s inherent ideological uncontradictory contradictions, so as to further weaken the attested opponent. The product of this was an e-book:

Let us see how far we were successful in bringing down Goliath’s unwarranted pride or how far we have failed in that attempt.

III. The Successes of the OBMA David against the Goliath Piramal-Ambani-BJP

i. The Goliath Piramal has filed Defamation and contempt of court cases against some of the OBMA activist Davids whereby they acknowledge the all-pervasive nature of OBMA’s attack on the points of inconsistencies, self-contradictions, blunders, gaps etc., in Piramal’s transactions in the DHFL scam under a broader spectrum. They have admitted that the OBMA has not left even one stone unturned. Despite such threats/intimidation, we have not stopped our tiresome research-work (we have published almost 300 posts along with posters, videos, podcasts, live-streams— without taking a penny from anyone) with determination to find out the loopholes of the whole DHFL Scam.


Dear Mr. Ajay Piramal, I Wanna Be Arrested!

ii. We initiated an online mass petition⤡ addressed to five dignitaries with the appeal of taking up “suo moto cognizance” in relation to the DHFL Scam as a case of financial abuse, curtailing the business-related human rights guaranteed under the United Nations’ framework. The petition currently has 2,796 signatures, which are more than we could have ever thought. We appreciate those 30 persons, who have contributed monetarily (a sum of ₹18,325!) to the progression of the online petition. This amount of support cannot be ignored.

It is to be noted that though the said petition, as said previously, was addressed to five office-holders, it was focused on the Honourable Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court of India, to whom we have parallelly sent mass appeals in both electronic and snail mail (speed post) formats.


Mass Appeals To The Hon’ble CJI Through Snail Mail and Email

In relation to the petition as well as the submitted appeals, one of the OBMA activists filed an RTI asking about the status of the case. It was addressed to the Department of Justice, Government of India.

Within 72 hours of the application, the Department of Justice took up the initiative to transfer this collective appeal to the concerned authority of the Supreme Court of India. The speed of action denotes an open recognition on their part about the urgency of the matter in question. We are optimistic about the further developments of this case at the apex court.


An RTI to the Supreme Court of India on Behalf of DHFL Victims for Resolving the Pending Cases

ADDITIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: It is to be noted that OBMA has filed more than 10 RTIs to various organs/pillars of democracy as well as financial institutes/surveillance agencies, to reveal the truth of DHFL scam in all its dimensions. The answers we have got to most of those RTIs expose the hesitation of the ruling party and its associates to confess its sinful role in the said scam.

iii. Our OBMA’s activities have gathered international attention with more than 50k views, cutting across the globe, attracting more than 25,000 viewers within just 35 months, (given the fact that the OBMA has no sponsor (even there is no crowd funding). All this quantitative achievement is a result of manual tech-work of “viralizing” by burning the night oil, as OBMA cannot afford the expensive SEO software that automatically contribute to global outreach. It is also to be mentioned that almost 20+ handles/websites are utilized to spread the news of this biggest scam. Given below are the proofs of such extension of OBMA in the globalized cyber-space:

IV. The Shortcomings of the OBMA David against the Goliath Piramal-Ambani-BJP

As we need self-criticism and also welcome constructive criticism from the other viewers/participants etc., we hereby attempt an account of our shortcomings in these 3 long years:

i. Though the followers/supporters of OBMA are not more than around 50, the active members hardly cross 10 people. Is it because of the fact that our representations are written in tough Babu’s English that can never reach to or communicate effectively with the common mass.

ii. As we are politically burdened, many people condemned us for “politicizing” the DHFL affair. This has led to an alienation on the part of those DHFL victims, who are still the supporters of the current ruling party. However, it can hardly be denied that the ruling party is the sole responsible factor in the occurrence of the DHFL scam in the first place.


“Depoliticization” of the DHFL Scam (?!) or a politically appropriated matter of fact (?!)

Legitimizing Bribery: Electoral Bonds and the Fall of Economic Justice

iii. Usually, when a movement is going on, the opponent Goliath installs certain black-sheep/adversaries/agents within the resisting group to sabotage the movement from within. In fact, this has been a recursive occurrence in OBMA’s efforts, thus delaying many of our planned activities. Three such black-sheep in the case of OBMA’s web-based movement deserve special mention: One self-proclaimed “national convener” (a pathological liar) of the DHFL FD Holders, one financial advisor/agent and one aspiring real-estate developer.


Be Aware of Divisive Forces: UNITY IS STRENGTH

Black Sheep: The Adversaries of the DHFL Victims’ Movement

iv. As we have decided to save the money of the victims of DHFL scam, we have emphasized on the necessity for mass mobilization, which is very much required in any democratic setup (in the Press Freedom Index, India ranks 161 out of 180 countries). For this reason, ex-CJI of India. Justice N. V. Ramana said that without discussion and mass mobilization, it is very difficult to run a democratic polity.


Pleading for the DHFL Victims’ assertion of agency- marginalization due to financial abuse: A Letter to the Hon’ble CJI Chandrachud

Logistics of Logic: (non-)argumentative Indians

v. When we have repeatedly mentioned Dawood Ibrahim, Late Iqbal Mirchi and Chhota Shakeel’s role in the DHFL Scam along with the BJP, some OBMA activists were thrown out of/ostracized various social media groups of DHFL victims. This has hampered the fluidity of communication amidst the various sections of DHFL victims.


V. Conclusion

Thus, despite all odds and possible points of criticism, the David OBMA’s efforts have not been unfruitful. Instead, the few points of achievements far overweigh the considerations of shortcomings. OBMA is committed to the view that the Corporate Goliath, equipped with such supportive political machinery, could be finally subverted or toppled down only by means of the perseverance of a few dedicated persons.

This reminds us of Gandhiji’s notable indictments in this regard:

“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it: always.“

“A small group of determined and like-minded people can change the course of history.”

It makes us rethink the fact that irrespective of the size of the resistant voice, the apparent giantness can well be turned upside down:


Yes. We could be the hummingbird to contribute our rightful due! We could be whistle blowers, who are remembered in history, instead of being apathetic indifferent people who perpetuate the exploitative order of things in the contemporary India⤡:

“I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.”

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