World Environment Day - What can Each of US do to Save the World

World Environment Day - What can each of us do to save Mother Earth

This Year the Theme is Time for Nature

An academician friend of mine posed the question to one of our industry groups what an individual could do to save the environment.

My first reservation is to Man's arrogance in thinking how he should save the environment or the earth. Quite simply, man will do whatever he does to save his own race. Earth is not threatened. It is not going anywhere for a long time, and it will take considerable cooling down and weight loss for the Sun to finish it. Environment isn't going anywhere either. It just keeps changing according to what happens on earth. For example, a meteor changed it in a way that the dinosaurs perished. Environment is still around. So, come on people, wake up. Let us be honest and admit we need to just save ourselves.

The question is that with all the lip service that is paid to environment, we should ask first and foremost what we, as individuals are doing to change the things for the better. Here are some thoughts;

Let us first understand WHAT pollutes the planet most. What exactly is endangering the most lives and species. If you ask a lay person this question, the reply will come before you finished the question and it will be; Plastics. Most advocates of banning plastics talk about bio-degradability, not about the load on environment, which comprises energy or carbon footprint, water and chemicals. These people will typically suggest you to use paper. The problem is that on all the three counts paper creates a huge environmental load compared to plastics. Paper is also not infinitely recyclable like some commonly used plastics as the fibre length is lost on each recycle. I am not against paper. It should be reserved for the highest of human pursuits, which to my mind is knowledge and education.

Plastics pollution largely happens by littering, mainly because of man’s bad habits, indiscipline and poor civic sense. Stock pictures show a fish entangled in carelessly disposed fishnets, and a few other things. How many animals die annually from plastics? No one really knows. Contrast this with the fact that each degree rise in ocean temperatures destroys several species representing millions of creatures. Those are big numbers. And, that is eroding our bio-diversity much faster.

But plastics in not my subject in this blog. It is environment. The example became necessary because there is a need to have the proper perspective and to have the right understanding of the underlying issues.

The biggest pollutant without doubt is energy, followed by Green House Gases. We spew energy into earth’s atmosphere at unprecedented rates and then even trap the little that could escape by a shroud if GHG over the earth. Sometimes I wonder why a human should have to use an engine of say 350 bhp to carry a person weighing say 50-70 kg. But that’s what happens with motor vehicles. Sometimes I also wonder whether mankind signed its own death warrant when it adopted IC engines for individual transportation. That a question demanding an answer, but there is none. In the meantime, the world economy has become heavily dependent on automotive industry and on consumption.

We can talk about the much lower emissions with Euro 6. We consume electricity also in a big way. We can then talk about LED lighting. Even so, each of consumes much more than we need to live comfortably. Most energy is produced through heat in some form. Even if we talk about the clean energy, say nuclear power with no emissions to talk of. Even brushing aside the concomitant disposal and safety issues, the heat locked up in the fuels, whether fossil or nuclear gets dissipated within the environment and has little chance to escape. How can then we reduce global warming?

GHG’s two major sources are fossil fuels and cattle/ dairy farming for meat. Together they contribute over 35%, perhaps more like 40% GHG to the atmosphere. Let us not cut the figures too fine, but get the general sense of it.

The ONLY safe way is to have no source of electricity other than sun and moon, which means water, wind, photovoltaics, ocean/ tidal etc. Because those are the ONLY energy sources that can keep earth GHG and thermal neutral.

Okay, all those are big things, so what can we do as individuals to make our contribution to reducing the damage, if not really eliminate it? Here are some very simple solutions, which probable all of us know;

Here are some little steps we as individuals can take for reducing our environmental load. You can go on adding all the small steps you can recognise, Remember every small step becomes big when seven billion people adopt it.

Reducing energy consumption;

1. Setting the Air conditioners to the highest acceptable temperatures, or rather adaptable temperatures. How does 25 - 26 degrees Celsius sound? If 27 is good at night, keep that. Each degree reduces the electricity consumption by up to 7%

2. If necessary, use smaller cars for regular commuting. Let the big machines wait for other occasions

3. Use Metro when you can

4. Carpool as far as possible

5. Walk or use bicycles for small errands

6. Reduce energy consumption in cooking

7. Stop central air conditioning. Make it sectional. Stop it when you don’t need it. The room will cool down in a few minutes when you return

8. Reduce overall consumption of energy by avoiding any unnecessary consumption including and all the little things that consume even the tiniest amounts of energy. That little LED on your power switch also consumes power continuously

To reduce the GHGs;

1. Reduce cattle and animal farming by reducing or eliminating meat consumption.

2. Use less paper

3. Reduce wastage of electricity

Reduce wastage and consumption of water;

1. Conserve every drop

2. Use waste water for secondary uses wherever possible

3. Don’t run small laundry and dishwasher loads at home. Full loads save water

4. Install toilets that consume the least water

5. Install water saving devices and drip irrigation in your lawns and gardens as far as possible

Reduce Chemicals that leach into the ground

Cut down as far as possible the waste laundry water, surfactants and any other chemicals you may need to use.

Add your own environment friendly ideas. Follow them.

The BIG question is how many of us will agree to these positive actions, including those who pay lip service to the cause of environment?

It is Time for Nature.

Give it to her! Let nature heal itself. That is what will ensure our own survival,

Demise of Decency

AIB Roast controversy has kicked up once again the issue of where to draw a line in the context of expression of freedom and decency in public discourse. Where does it begin to hurt? Whom, and why, and most of all - who cares! The debate on electronic media on issues has reached nauseating proportions. I happened to see some clips of the AIB Roast where men and women, all adults were sitting and the most disgusting language was being used with often filthy actions frequently accentuated by dirtiest gesticulations. And a lot of these men and women, many of whom are well known celebrities were laughing and 'enjoying' the perversions. It is indeed appalling where the language has gone.

They were using crude words for men's and women's genitals and explicit language describing sexual acts and aberrations alike on the microphones in full public view with no compunctions about the fact that many of these figure were followed and emulated by a large number of impressionable young people.

Cuss words and double meaning words and phrases are becoming the order of the day in the movies and advertisements. Now how does one explain to little children if the ask during an advert or movie dialogue ki kisi ki kya 'Phat Gayi'? I am sure Rani Mukherji will be happy to tell her own children when they are 3/4 or 5 year old what that means and how exactly it happens.

Hindus 'willingly' embracing Islam to avoid discrimination - TOI Headline

The Times of India reported today that Hindus are converting to Islam in Pakistan to protect themselves. This is something that has been happening for a long time in Pakistan, and has already been successfully accomplished in Bangladesh since independence, because someone said it now.

The so called 'Hinduism' is actually Vedism ( The invaders from the North African areas termed all people living to the west of Indus Valley as Hindus), and by this token all people living on this subcontinental land mass were Hindus. They may have had and may have now different religions. This is also demonstrated by the many commonalities in the cultures of people of India as also by the influence the original culture has had on invading religions. Having said that, I must concede that the people who are called Vedists including the major sect of Sanatan Dharmis are converting at a very high rate even in India.

I have said before and it is my firm belief that the the aggressively converting religions today in India are Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, probably in the same order. The only donors are Vedists. The reasons will have to be found by the followers of the numerous sects of Vedic subscription themselves but the result certainly is that in not-too-distant future they may be reduced to a minority. This will change the demography of India once again. 'Again' because Ashoka Changed it before, then Shankaracharya restored Bharatvarsh to Vedism, then the the Muslim rulers changed it again, and now the change is happening again at a rapid pace. After the conversions gain the critical mass, the change will become a tornado.

Mr. Kasuri of Pakistan said in the Newshour debate on Times Now on August 20, 2012 that the Buddhists who claim to be Ahimsak and claim to scorn even hurting someone, and their Bhikshus, are killing Muslims hand in glove with killers in Myanmar. The converse, however, is also true; the Muslim terror has shaken the world whereas Islam itself means 'Peace'.

The point finally is that the demographic changes that will happen in the next 100 years will probably marginalise Hindus completely, if not eliminated them altogether, and the next big wars may be between the Budhists and the Muslims. Interestingly, neither the Hindus (tolerance?) nor the government of India(secular?) seem to want to do anything about it. The government is afraid to raise the issue of Hindus in Pakistan and those displaced from Kashmir due to Votebank politics. The government thus is not secular at all. It is best to stop writing and reading these news.

Has the Indian State Failed?

We always seem to rejoice at the propaganda by the Indian media that Pakistan is a failed country. We Indians also love to read juicy stories of insurgency in Pakistan and how their policy of feeding snakes has rebounded on them, now that the terror groups are biting their keepers. But do we pause to consider where Indian State is standing. Is India a successful state? have we not failed on almost all fronts? let us start with the less discussed issues first. Let us look at the sovereign governments sovereignty on the India land mass. The following headlines in the news from the last about two years will demonstrate that the India government, playing the blame game against states has lost the control of large tracts of land where its writ does not run. we are not sovereign in the true sense in these large tracts of the country. sample these;

How much of India is naxal affected – Mid Day
http://www.mid-day.com/opinion/2011/nov/081111-opinion-How-much-of-India-is-Maoist-affected.htm

Naxal affected area in India – Map – Wikipedia - 2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:India_Naxal_affected_districts_map.svg

List by MHA, Govt. Of India – 37 districts on website

http://tribal.nic.in/index2.asp?sublinkid=480&langid=1

Govt brings four more Naxal-hit districts under IAP, IBN Live News
ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/...naxalhit-districts.../1011795.html

14 Jun 2012 – New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) With the aim to carrying out speedy development, the government today brought four more Naxal-affected districts ...

Madhya Pradesh asks Centre to declare nine more districts as Naxal affected
Joseph John, TNN Jun 5, 2012, 03.45PM IST

Centre grants Rs 120 crore to Naxal-hit states - India Today - InToday
indiatoday.intoday.in/story/naxal-hit-states-centre.../175410.html

26 Feb 2012 – Centre grants Rs 120 crore to Naxal-hit states ... 83 worst Naxal-hit districts to construct or strengthen 400 fortified police stations at a cost of Rs ….

People in Naxal areas not with us, says PC
www.deccanherald.com › National

13 Sep 2011 – Maintaining that the burden of governance in the Naxal-hit districts must rest with the states, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram told a

20 more Naxal-affected districts to be brought under central action plan
Published: Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011, 18:37 IST
Updated: Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011, 18:41 IST
Place: New Delhi
Agency: PTI

Centre to declare more districts Naxal-hit - Indian Express
www.indianexpress.com/news/centre-to...districts-naxalhit/812671/

5 Jul 2011 – Centre to declare more districts Naxal-hit - The Centre is learnt to have decided to clear the request of Naxal-hit states for declaring more ...

Cabinet approves special plan for Naxal-hit districts
NDTV.com
www.ndtv.com › All India

25 Nov 2010 – The Union Cabinet tonight approved a special plan for development of 35 districts affected by Naxalism to address issues like healthcare, ...

So you would easily note the performance of MHA under Mr. Chidambaram. The MHA site shows even today only 37 Naxal affected districts. But after the cabinet approved the special plan in November 2012, by 5 July 2011 Center declared more districts. 20 more districts by Sep.13and totalling even by Government reckoning 83 districts were under Naxals by 26 Feb. 2012. It did not end there. On June 05, 2012 Madhya Pradesh asked for 9 more districts to be declared naxal affected and by mid-June 2012 the government accepted 4 more as naxal affected. So much for PC's action plan!

Interestingly, at some point the central government has accepted that its writ did not run in some areas. Home Minister was reported by Deccan Herald on Sep. 13, 2011 to have said that the people in Naxal areas are not with us.

If you see the following map of 2007 you would find that almost 20 % or more of India was under Naxal domination. So much for our Sovereignty.

Another map from 2009 shows similar occupation and the helplessness of the government of India, or as it says in its defence; the State governments of India.


Add caption



The picture may actually be much worse. A district collector was kidnapped in Dantewada recently. Our police personnel and other operatives in the area regularly suffer loss of life in the naxal areas when the helpless government watches. I have the feeling that we would have lost more personnel to Naxals and insurgents in the country during 'Peacetime' than in all the wars we fought since independence put together. I may be wrong but my hunch is otherwise.

When we look at Kashmir, of course we can not any more discuss the POK because we are having enough problems in the Kashmir that we still have. This is besides the cost at which we have it which is enormous and senseless. A policy of hot pursuit in the days when we had decided military superiority over Pakistan and China was not yet a superpower. There have been times when India's foreign policy has softened on Pakistan and on terrorists due to the 'sentiments' of Indian Muslims. How can a Muslim who would be hurt by our harshness against the enemy be Indian? This is the same as for Hindu or other officers of the navy and other arms of defence who have spied for Pakistan. They are traitors and not 'Indian'.

So Kashmir is an old story. Who is concerned? I like Omar Abdulla. He is gutsy and dynamic. He has taken a lot of positive action. He was the first head of that state who wanted to build bus stands in the areas on Tibetan border. According to newspaper/ TV accounts, the Chinese drove away our workers and contractors. Again according to the same accounts the are commander of the army had asked the state government not to do such civil activity at least up to 50 km inland from the line of control. Well, that is some control! This when the Chinese build roads and try to bring railways next to the LOC. The state however has not been better for decades compared to his rule. He could create the confidence amongst the people to start touring Kashmir again as tourists.

Forget Aksai Chin and the road connecting China to Pakistan there.

Then comes Arunachal. According to numerous TV video reports and newspaper accounts the Chinese are making incursions into Arunachal at an unprecedented frequency, I think now running into tens a month. The depth of these incursions has also been gradually increasing. They have been leaving leaving stones painted with their PLA slogans. We can't stop them. Why? There are even more incriminating accounts whence the Chinese soldiers have taken away women from Arunachal, on pretext of marriage, to an unknown future. sample these;

Secret note to MEA says Chinese troops made 50 incursions into ...indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...to...chinese-incursion.../153086.htmlCached

There has been a sharp rise in the cases of Chinese incursion into the Indian territory even as New Delhi continues to deny the fact.

A secret note to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) reveals that the personnel of People's Liberation Army (PLA) have been violating Indian borders almost at will.

The secret report says that there were as many as 50 incursions by the Chinese troops in the last three months. In some instances, Chinese troops even intruded as much as 7 km inside the Indian territory.

On September 16, 2011, there was a face-off at the Demchok post when the Chinese came close to Indian patrol. The Indians disengaged and performed a banner drill, but the Chinese did not withdraw.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/secret-note-to-mea-corroborates-chinese-incursion-claims/1/153086.html29 Sep 2011 – There has been a sharp rise in the cases of Chinese incursion into the ... 3 km inside the Indian territory in Asaphila area of Arunachal Pradesh

Recently we saw TV reports of the construction of bunkers and even a base hospital just across from Tso mo Riri or Tso Pangyong. We hardly ahve a presence there and the Chinese dragon is breathing fire on  our collars.

Chinese troops enter Leh, dismantle bunkersWednesday, 14 Sep 2011 at 11:20Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services0

Press Trust of India

Leh, Sept 14: Chinese troops are reported to have entered into Indian territory and destroyed some old army bunkers and tents in Chumar division of Nyoma sector, about 300 kilometres from in Leh.

While some reports suggested that the Chinese troops in helicopters entered one-and-a-half kilometres into Indian airspace, other reports said that the helicopters landed in Chinese territory and then the troops marched into the area to dismantle the bunkers, a move aimed at displaying that the area belonged to them.

The Army denied that any such incident had taken place. However, sources said two Chinese helicopters had entered into air space and landed one-and-half kilometres into Chumar in Chingthang area of Tehsil Nyoma.

“The Chinese troops attempted to dismantle an old army bunker, which was not used by the troops for long,” sources said.


What is happening to this nation? Why people do not see this unflattering, painful and dangerous news? Why do we want to live in a fool's paradise? When will we give up our Ostrich approach and think straight? How sovereign are we? How successful a state are we? Why does the parliament not debate theses burning issues instead of quotas, more quotas, more division of society, more scams? What is happening to us, our country?

When I talk to the perfectly suited and booted, educated, well heeled and well travelled English speaking people of the country I find that most of them have no clue to what I am talking about. Some think I am merely and alarmist. Some others reject all this as just 'propaganda' by 'opposition'. Which opposition, nobody knows. Many others wonder what is my concern with theses matters of the state. Some just shrug their shoulders and dismiss me as outdated, maybe unpolished. This all shows the utter disdain we have for the security and sovereignty of the nation as people. And the youth is not interested in anything except finding a job with an IT company or going to the US or Australia. The less educated or the uneducated from poorer sections of the society have neither the awareness nor the time to think about all these 'heavy' matters. For them procuring the daily bread is the the life's main objective when as of today in Ghaziabad the lowly Tinda costs Rs. 100/- per kg and the Torai, a lowly gourd Rs 60/- a kg, Okra/ lady's fingers Rs 40 to 50 a kg. The price of a 380 g bread have gone from Rs. 16 to Rs. 20 within the last two weeks. We have low rates of inflation, after all. The government said that!

Assam Violence

Violence was just waiting to happen in Assam. It happened now; it could be anytime. The violence had its wake that extended to Mumbai and there has been reported exodus of all North-Easterners from Hyderabad which was heretofore a great place for them to work and to integrate into this country where prejudices against them run high. A Tibetan has been stabbed in Mysore which may even be the consequence of the same communal hatred that began to rise from the otherwise quiet Assam.

The country has been divided on religious and caste lines due to its policies of differentiating between them for all discourse in the Parliament, legislatures and public domain, fossilising the division through unending lists, schedule if you like of a great variety. The division is between the followers of different religions such as the Hindus (which is wrongly used by the government to cover many non-Hindus such as Jains), Muslims, Sikhs, Christians etc. Within them they have sectarian divide, not spurred in small measure by the reservation policies and religious bigotry which together form the most lethal social poison. The polls happen on the basis pf caste and religion. Gangs of Wasseypur has shown how even the Muslims known for their solidarity in all matters of state are divided. There are Syeds, julahas, kasais, and I do not how many others. Hindus of course are the most divided of all. The castes were originally defined according to the occupation of different social groups and thus their was division of labour that resulted in ensuring all people could earn their livelihood without encroaching the specific terrain of each other. This became a burden instead of a boon due to the persecution of the weaker by the powerful and the rich of India for generations.

One must stop here and ask whether the mentality of the Indian of exploiting the weak is merely caste based, or is it all pervading. I think the latter is true. The average Indian tends to exploit the weaker and suppress the weak through his economic, political or brute power. burgeoning numbers of rapes are but a small indicator that brings the extreme of this malaise of the Indian on shameful display. But you will see this even starting from a petty Constable to the Minister and their behaviour towards a Rickshaw puller or a beggar to the IAS secretary in the ministry. The streak of this malicious mentality is all pervading and starkly visible at all times. What is happening to our temper? What makes us so impatient and tense? fear of each other? Fear of losing something? Unsafety we feel? Arrogance that is ingrained in us from childhood without any sense of fairness? Perhaps all of it.

But I want to write about the riots. And I have gone to the lengthy explanation and cursory exploration of the divide in Indian society that leads to the riots. the division breeds competitiveness, often unfair, which in turn leads to exploitation and usurpation by the powerful groups whether they are the so called 'minorities' or otherwise, and then finally frustrations, jealousies and lastly the violence encouraged by the desire to grab what one can't get by fair effort. This is also at the root of Assam violence. It will be found at the root of violence almost anywhere. The false sense of usurpation by Jews trumpeted by Hitler led to the WW II and to holocaust. The story is the same everywhere. The migrants from Bangladesh have flooded not only Assam but the entire country. It is believed that around Mrs. Gandhi's declaration of war on East Pakistan there were about 10 million Chakma rebels that crossed into India. Where have they gone? And during all theses years more Bangladeshis have been coming into India and vanishing, working as labour, household help or whatever all across the country using not infrequently Hindu names and claiming to be Bengalis or East Biharis. I suspect that in Ghaziabad there were plenty of them before the UP Police built pressure on them during Mayawati's regime. On one hand it is hard to understand why Indian Muslims do not oppose them and why consecutive governments have done nothing to send them back to Bangladesh. The political parties want their votes, but what about India Muslims? The foreigners come and take their jobs too among those of others. And no Muslim country would allow the refugee Muslims to come and settle in large numbers, not Saudi Arabia even which is the topmost seat of Islam. This means no country brooks any incomers irrespective of their religion. Our boundaries are our boundaries and we have got them to live within and to survive or thrive on what nature gives us within those boundaries and what we can make of it.

Our intolerance is at all time high and it is appalling that today we are discussing cartoons in text books, simple jokes that have been humour without malice, ordinary caste references all inflame us no end. And we have demonstrations, acrimony, violence - anything that is far from civility at the bat of an eyelid.

Assam violence happened because the demography changed there. the infiltrators are usurping the scarce resources of the Bodos and this is not a situation that can be accepted for long by any community that has lived there for ever and has nowhere else to go.

There are rumours that the strife is between the Budhhists and Muslims in that area. I prefer to think it is between the owners of the place and the infiltrators. If we eventually did find that that there were religious undertones to the strife, indeed this will throw open the bigger question for future of the nation. The three aggressively converting religious active in India are Buddhism, Christianity and Islam in the same order. It would seem that Hindus would become a minority ceding a large chunk to these religions, being the sole donors. This major demographic change will bring about unprecedented strife as a failing group will make its last ditch, desperate attempts to survive. Things can not be stopped but we should not underestimate or brush aside the forebodings of utter chaos that may one day grip the country. We must initiate steps now to avoid the possible strife that will inevitably occur if foreigners of any religion, caste, nationality or identity will continue to infest our land.

Where are we going?

India is a democracy wherein a huge number of parliamentarians or legislators are known to have criminal background or connections. One may say that crime is after all their 'private' life. The same can be said of a lot of graft and sleeze that goes on in high places but no one ever wants to investigate and put an end to.

China is our second most important national obsession at the moment, next only to; no not cricket, Pakistan. On the television I believe that the most spoken single word theses days is Pakistan followed by perhaps 'Atank...'.

We hear all the time about the threat from Pakistan and how it is not acting against terrorists working across our borders from its soil. Do we ever ask what WE are doing about the terrorists here and the providers of shelter and the sleeping cells. Digvijay Singh would say that is an atrocity against Muslims. But these are not only Muslims and the law should be equally tough and proactive irrespective of their religious affiliation. Rather, the religious affiliation, minority tag or whatever other badge of Maulana, Sant or Pandit should not provide the subverters of India licence.

The United States has already delivered punishment to Headley for crimes including terrorism (India) and we are still nowhere near doing anything about Kasab, much less hanging Afzal Guru of the parliament attack case. India is indeed Mahaan!

Chinese are making incursions into our terrirtory at will. We are silently bearing it. We have no wherewithal or the will to fight a mighty enemy. Our foreign policy is an abject failure. The country is in disarray which is only thinly camouflaged by the recent economic glitter and deceptive growth rate data. The communal and caste rivalries and the suspicion amongst them are at an unprecedented level, mutual tolerance amongst various parts of society is at an all time low, sense of humour has been replaced by caution even in a joke, honesty has been thrown away for political correctness - we are sitting on a veritable tinder box. In the name of elimination of the caste divide we have widened it to a point where reconnection is now impossible.

Why is the country going where it is? If you see carefully at out parliament and legislatures you would be appalled at the total absence of discussion and healthy argument on any matter of national security, finance, education and allocation of revenue. The discussion and discourse is mainly about caste, reservations, provisions for pilgrimages, minorities, dalits and  so on. Indeed all these need attention but won't for long if the state itself fails, and risks its very existence.

Is India safe?

India is a democracy that is lionised by the whole 'free' world as the largest 'functioning' democracy. There is of course the moot question whether the 'free' world is really free. But that is another topic.

India is being seen as a major emerging market and the interest of the west is very much focused on the possible economic success of this behemoth. The big IF  in 'If India becomes economically powerful' is the problem. We notice that India has failed to sell itself to the west as a strong ally and the military interests of the US continue to weigh heavily in favour of Pakistan. India's economic growth has not yet reached the magic triple point where the interests of the west, India and world peace might converge.

China is far more successful than India on the three fronts; economic, military and world standing. There are no moralities in international politics, only self centered moves. China far outweighs India. Actually even Pakistan is far more successful in selling itself to the world community; first - in the old times as a great miltary ally and base for the US/ Allieds against the Iron and Bamboo curtain nations, second - as the rogue state that MUST be nurtured so it does not fall apart lest any last vestiges of organisation in this part of the world vanish, third - as the merchant of terror playing a hapless victim of it itself and fourth, in the context of South Asia - as the right ally to India's traditional adversary China; following the old maxim of an enemy's enemy being a friend. India has miserably failed to place itself in the position of a good neighbour and influencer. Even Nepal and Bangladesh, India's old military proctorate of the yore and the child of India's toil to help it be born respectively are bitter critics of India and are ever willing to allow anti-Indian activities on their soils. I feel that they are certainly much closer to China than to India.

I think it calls for serious introspection on the part of Indian leadership. Why is it that we always fail to convince others? Are we not seen as sincere by the world? Could it be that our policy interlocuters are unable to call a spade a spade for the sake of political correctness or crass vote bank politics at home? Are we sermonising others to the point of causing an affront? Are we inept in stating our point and inarticulate in convincing the world of our problems? Are we trying to impress the world with our philosophical, large hearted world view instead of beeing seen as winners, driving hard bargains even if they are self-centered? Or, is it all of it?

By what authority can we call Pakistan a failed state when huge tracts of our territory are under the control of Naxals and assorted non-government forces? All the big threats of direct action made by Chidambaram some months ago are still just that - empty threats. We are the proverbial soft state where the killer of Inspector Sharma of Batla House episode admits to have shot him, may be with even a bit of pride, but Digvijay Singh sees every investigation as atrocity on a particular community. Does India have a chance?

Hafiz saeed was shouting hoarse on the streets of Lahore two weeks back exhorting people to invade India and to fight for their 'Brethren' on this side. The question is how come not a single Muslim opinion builder (barring the exceptions like M.J. Akbar and Arif Mohammad Khan) never tells these people that Indian Muslims are not their brethren but enemies if they as much as think of harming India, far from invade it? Why are the likes of Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Nawab of Pataudi and his son, Mohd. Azam Khan and Mahesh Bhatt sitting in mysterious silence while many of them shout at the top of their voices when Pakistani players are not bought in an auction (SRK should have bought but didn't) or Maqbool Fida has to go in self-exile. Why don't the Indian Muslim leaders tell pakistan that it would be punished for casting an evil eye on India? I know why. When the late Firoze Khan spoke for India in Pakistan and risked his life and limb, people like them and their cronies like Rajeev Shukla and Mahesh Bhatt were trying to fault Firoze Khan, or busy distancing themselves from the episode. So a devoted Indian Muslim may be afraid of his Hindu counterparts - citizens like these and Digvijay and a plethora of others.

Time to think for all Indians. Let all of us unite against the enemy. If religion were the reason for this kind of dangerous political correctness, let me remind the pseudos that if it were so the Middle East would be one country.

What Revenge?

The Times of India carried an article by Yamini Lohia expressing unrestrained glee over the Youth Congress smearing Sri Ram Sene head Pramod Muthalik's face in Managalore and going on to say that she would wish she could personally perpetrate this act of violence.


Violence is not only in causing physical hurt. It can be at many levels. Even silence can be a kind of violence. Another issue of TOI carried a story that a High Court held that in a marriage silence could tantamount to cruelty. Ms. Lohia feels that there is a justification for violence by groups with whose ideology she agrees and calls it sweet revenge. There is an unending discussion on the moral policing in the country but the advocates of freedom are always mysteriously silent when there is a fatwa in Kashmir for headscarves or for wearing Burqas. There is no discussion if Katrina Kaif is disallowed entry to a Dargah for being in an inappropriate dress. There is repeated discussion on the practices in Hindu temples including Sabrimala and Puri but nobody dares to speak about the practices and methods of their enforcement in other religions, the way they are practised in India. Is it not a bit strange?


There is no discussion if women are not allowed in certain places of worship belonging to other religions but there is much hue and cry on Sabrimala. Mahesh Bhatt and people of his ilk shout hoarse when somebody vandalises Hussains grotto in Ahmedabad in the name of freedom of art but they have nothing to say about the fatwas routinely issued on the lives of Salman Rushdie or the Danish painter, Taslima Nasreen and others. Is there something amiss? Is there a secret fear amongst the pseudo secularists that there antics won't work with Muslims but they have tested Hindus again and again and they know that in that case they can get away with whatever they like.


Let us look dispassionately at other things. The English speaking media people, editorial contributors, people like Jug Suraiya, Mahesh Bhatt and sundry cranks flaunt Hindu bashing like a medal. But they never fail to swear by Indian culture. I wonder if that is a kind of metaphor for Hindu culture. If Hindu culture is not about modesty (if with much less restrictions than in Islam), if it is not about vegetarianism, if it is not about Vedic religions and their offshoots and sub-cultures, if it is not about a certain code of conduct and set of boundaries in public and private behaviours (Maryadas), what is it about? And if these guardians of secularism and freedom are so worried about saying 'OM' or 'Jai Ram ji' in private being saffron, not withstanding the loudspeakers on mosques broadcasting Azaan, how come they don't realise the hurt the 'Indian Culture' is causing to minorities and to Indian Muslims in particular by singing Ganesh Vandanas, lighting lamps, chanting 'Tam so ma Jyotirgamaya', garlanding and vermilion marking foreheads of visitors and taking their Aratis and all the ceremonies that surround almost any and all Indian functions, most of them functions of a secular government, and the singing of Vande Mataram. Why have they not tried to stop it all? Is it fair? Before the British came Hindus were not ruling this land mass. I have the feeling that a lot of Muslims and especially those associated with Jamiat and other similar organisations, and those that chose to leave India at partition strongly felt betrayed by the British, as in their opinion the British took the rule from them and handed it over to Hindus. They are unable of course, to differentiate between a democracy and a theocracy of Hindus. But on a very real plane, they may not be that wrong, at least as far as the rule having been snatched away from them and handed over to whoever else. From their perspective there is also the downside that if we look at the number of years it took to convert a large part of Hindu population to other religions was not much - just four centuries or so. And the current rate of conversion is also quite high. If the British were not in India, arguably Hindus would have been a small minority in India by the middle of 20th century when the British left, as they became in Kashmir and probably in Kerala, Ladakh region and possibly some north eastern states.


Hindus have bragged about their tolerance for centuries now. I wonder if it is the smokescreen to hide their cowardice. M.J. Akbar is to my mind the most rational and straight thinking political thinker and commentator and he famously lionised Hindu tolerance for peaceful life of Muslims and small minorities in India in a debate I happened to watch on television. It was very charitable of him but I suspect it is probably not true. Hindus were defeated again and again by foreign conquerors and the vanquished may or may not be tolerant - it does not matter.

Religious Symbols, Relics and Statues with Public Funds - Wonders of a Secular State

Mr. Rahul Gandhi said that UP had all the place for statues but none for development and power. Mr. Gandhi is right. Only he somehow sees a difference between what Congress is doing in the whole country and what Mayawati is doing in UP. All new projects, roads, parks, colonies, airports, institutions etc. get only the Gandhi family names. I see no difference. Both Gandhi dynasty and Ms. Mayawati are busy sith self aggrandisement at the cost of the nation and the taxpayer. Mayaji has less time so she has to do it faster and more aggressively. The sycophancy and narcissism are two big gifts to the nation from Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. What is the wonder then if every neta wants something in his or her name at the cost of national exchequer?What Gandhi is missing is that Ms. Mayawati's expenditure is not on just 'Statues' She is building Bauddha Vihars and is promoting a particular religion with Government funds. Maybe he can't see that because his sister is a staunch Budhist as well. So much for secularism! How brazenly public funds are being channelised for promotion of Buddhism is appalling. And, where are the people? What about RSS, VHP, BJP and the so called Sangh parivar? And the Shankaracharyas?
No PILs? No comments in the papers. Nothing on the electronic media?

The Indian 'Pseudo Secularist's' Convenient Hindu Ambiguity

Comment sent to TOI (Unlikely to be printed being politically incorrect) on July 13, 2009 on news item that Salman Khurshid thinks in the absence of a legal framework to force the private sector to give jobs to minorities, they should come forward to do so on their own.

The Government should declare the real figures of the number of Muslim, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Atheists, Agnostics, Parsis and Buddhists.

I estimate that the Buddhists are not less than 12% of the population. The illegal Bangladeshi immigrants that were estimated at 10,000,000 in 1975 should now be around 3 crores by way of natural growth and multiplication. Most unfortunately, lately the Jains have begun to claim that they are not 'Hindus' and this has been recognised by the law. The same applies to 'Sikhs'. So who are the Hindus that are claimed to be 80% of the population? The numbers just don't add up and the non-Muslims, non-Christians and non-Sikhs, Atheists and Agnostics are not the only non-Hindus. If Hindus mean 'Vedists' inclusive of all their sects, sub-sects and affiliations only, they may not be more than 40% of the population. That means they may at best be the largest single religious group but are certainly not a 'majority'. And in any country population groups of say 20 to 25% such as the Muslims and the Jains can't be construed as really a 'Minority'.

On the other hand, the truth is that 'Hindu' is a word that was coined by the people west of the Indus which was 'Sindhu' at that time. As many races from the Middle East pronounced 'Sa' as 'Ha', Sindhu became Hindu. So all people on this land mass were Hindus to the marauding Iranians, Afghans, Turks etc. Actually Hindu is a signifier of a culture that existed then in the northern part of the subcontinent. So it actually is a cultural Umbrella that covered all religious sects in the region. This is further borne out by the great cultural synthesis and consequent similarities amongst all communities from before the invaders, mostly Muslim began to visit here for plunder. It is therefore sad that all the religionists such as Jains, Sikhs etc. are distancing themselves from 'Hindu' whereas they probably only want to differentiate themselves religiously from the Vedists or Sanatan Dharmis or Arya Samajis, rather than to pretend to belong to some alien cultures. This chasm however is set only to grow wider in the future, given the leadership of various clergy and socio-political vested interests of different groups. So be it. But that is then an urgent reason to clarify that all these people are different and are definitely not Hindus. That is mainly because they do not any more wish to identify themselves in this wider cultural manner but in narrower religios groupings, even refusing to accept a common root.

I believe therefore that it is time we lift the shroud of convenient ambiguity from the definition of 'Hindu' before the nation discusses the Hindu and minority issues any further.

Legal Reforms the Country Needs Urgently

India has a pendency of 30 million cases. Everyone talks about it and everyone keeps mouthing the cliché 'Justice delayed is justice denied'. Hardly anyone goes beyond this remark accompanied by some noises that may sound appropriate. Almost no one suggests any remedy. I am not a legal expert. But I suppose the legal experts are the real reason why there can not be any reforms. I would like to touch upon only the concerns of people and what I think might benefit the country and the public, huge amount of national time that eats into our productivity and tons of money that are lost on the non-dispensation of justice.

The country gave up the system of Jury and speedy justice. At one time there were also Honorary Magistrates that no longer exist. I wonder whether the judiciary should think of re-introducing these systems at low cost. I am sure the legal experts have a huge number of reasons to argue against the system that may range from the inexperience in the art or the science of 'Judgement' to the clear possibility of corruption and partisan behaviour. The question is whether is it not an honest truth that these maladies afflict the jurisprudence in the form we practice it now as well. In the present system there is also a great deal of impunity implied in the appointments of theses civil servants which may make them less accountable. In the old system and the American model this impunity may be less. Removal of the honorary judges and Jury may be a lot easier. I am not sure Honour is a highly cherished value in our system.

In the appointment of judges we should institute greater transparency. There should be greater accountability. The performance of the Judges must be assessed by harshest of standards because these men of law wield huge power over the fates of the people. Their ability to take decisions, their analytical capability, honesty, value system etc. must be checked thoroughly before inducting them into judiciary. For this rigorous psychological tests including aptitude and personality tests must be instituted. Only the best of the men should be entrusted with people's fates and often, their careers and even lives. I doubt most judges will pass these tests. Correspondingly the punishments for the erring judges should also be harsher as no one can fathom the damage they may have caused to hundreds of people through their ineptness or sheer malpractice.

For crimes against the nation the legal process should be made faster and straight forward. What proof and evidence does the nation need against say, Afzal Guru or Ajmal Kasab? Hours of television feeds, openly conducted attacks and arrests from the scenes of commitment of these heinous crimes demand further proof? Are we not out of our minds to be wasting the nation's money and time on extended trials that may merely give greater publicity to the criminals and make the state seem soft. The criminals may even become, over time, heroes or role models for many youngsters. What are we hoping to achieve? What justice can we dispense through this waste of time? What will change? What is not known and public knowledge? And, if we must maintain the pretence of a just society is one single hearing and summary trial not enough? Will their repeated exposure not help feed religious fanaticism of weak minded amongst certain communities and create more of the Afzal Gurus and the Kasabs, even from within the country. This is one reform that we need yesterday!

Another reform we need very badly is the system of appeals. I think this would be the most important one and will be the only solution to the ever increasing queue of cases pending in India courts, now exceeding 30 million. My idea is that in the cases decided by the lower courts, conciliation courts etc. the right to appeal should be limited. It should not be that a party loses a case and loses or wins in the next court and loses again and so on and the feuding parties may go on fighting for the whole life and even into next generations.

Their should be fast track courts with the number of dates being given limited to say 5, so that the parties are forced to attend the hearings and not just keep sending their excuses or advocates to ask for fresh dates. The time within which these hearings would be held should also be limited to say six to nine months.

The judges prolonging the decisions and leaving the pendency during their tenure should be assessed for performance on the basis of these failures.

They should not be allowed to forward or recommend the cases to higher courts as far as possible. There should be admitted no representation in a higher court unless there is additional and substantive information or evidence and not just the twists and interpretations of laws. Let us say such a chance should be limited just to one court and the next higher, and then it should end. In the biggest cases where there may be question of life imprisonment, capital punishment or huge sums of money that may impact national interests only a third appeal should be allowed. But in all cases, and in all courts, there should be a limit on the number of hearings with also a limit on the time within which these hearings must be completed. The judges failing to perform should be demoted or punished in some way as the law may allow.

In order that these methods will be extremely effective the judiciary needs to tighten its own system starting from recruitment through to a judge’s rise to the highest position in the judiciary. The selection should, in addition to including personality and aptitude tests, investigate the persons’ background to ensure to the extent possible their being above board. And then, there should be stringent punishments for the erring judges. As stated earlier, in addition, there should be separate and tougher laws to judge the judges.

The lawyers should be investigated for their connections with judges and their methods as it is often suspected that many work as brokers. This may or may not be true so there should be a close watch on the entire legal system so as to ensure that no one misuses powers, connections, graft etc. to scuttle the process of justice and effectively have the justice denied to hapless seekers of it.

The Shape of Things, post Indian Election

Congress is back in power with a bang; if there can be such a thing in the highly fragmented polity of India. This has been widely welcomed. Interestingly no major opposition party has made any adverse comments on the election process, the winners, the electorate and the machinery that conducts the elections, conceding their defeat with a modicum of dignity. The major parties like the BJP and the Communists have chosen to introspect instead of slinging mud. All this augurs well for the floundering democracy of this country. Several good things happened and a lot of doomsayers were proved wrong, thanks to the electorate of India.

First, and probably the most important, is the fact that the regional parties lost heavily reducing their status from being King Makers, never mind if they acted more like Trouble Makers, to nothing. Lalu’s departure to oblivion is about the most desirable outcome of the election. While Rajdeeep Sardesai rated him the most saleable TV personality, and Shekhar Suman spent considerable time making a third rate video news report on Lalu’s daily chores (and poor mannerisms), lionising him for unknown virtues not long ago, today Lalu is singing songs saying ‘Badal gaya Insaan’.

The truth is that the regional satraps have been feudal in their approach with little dignity or respect for law, or even the electorate that made them what they were. Paswan with 3 MPs, Ramdoss, Lalu and many others hardly seemed like the right people in those places. Most of them are more interested in their selves and families and have scant love for their regions, state, the nation and the people. And like Sonia Gandhi said everybody wanted to be Prime Minister in this election. Lalu had actually said several times in one issue of Walk the Talk with Shekhar Gupta with raised finger “I will be Prime Minister one day”. Pawar’s ambitions were going through the sky. Communists who have long been suspected of dubious relationship with the Chinese and divided loyalties have also been put paid. Indeed, the Indian communists are hardly the socialists they claim to be as they are elitist, can be seen in designer clothes and need servants to carry even their cabin bags on domestic flights. Mulayam and Amar Singh have failed to persuade the peoples of the country of their sincerity and are probably seen just as regional satraps, power drunk, power hungry and opportunistic. People rejected them as well as Mayawati who despite being ‘Dalit ki Beti’ acts like a queen and seems to believe that she is above law in some way.

I however suspect that much of this thought process-the tendency to hallucinate as being bigger than the nation, lack of humility and power drunkenness has been inherited from Nehru and Indira Gandhi who was infamously branded as ‘India is Indira and Indira is India’. Nehru seemed to believe that he alone could take the right decisions for the country and bore an aura of arrogance of being indispensable for the nation. No wonder the latter day politicians, whose role models these leaders no doubt must have been at some time or another being so much younger, saw political power as the sole goal and eventual licence.

The second good thing is that we have a stable government at the centre. There is a great opportunity for the Congress to redeem itself of its huge failures in its over 50 years’ rule over the country. The defeat at the hands of China in 1962 is dwarfed by the abject failures at the home front. (Indian state has failed to stop their incursions into Arunachal and their repeated claims to it, and has also failed in delimiting boundaries with China and Pakistan after years off efforts indicating lack of both political élan and competence.) The society is deeply riven on religious and caste lines. Then, there are regional, linguistic and sectarian divisions in the society. This is a potentially explosive situation and can drive the country into a civil strife of unspeakable dimensions. The corruption is endemic and the political system is corrupt to the core. The judiciary, gubernatorial positions and bureaucracy are repeatedly seen as partisan and bureaucracy has been instrumental in giving the country the reputation of being one of the most corrupt on earth. 30 million pending cases in the courts are a mockery of our legal process. Failure to effectively counter and overcome the problems of Kashmir, separatism, Naxal rebellion and its greatly increased power as well as spread, fundamentalism etc are irritants that are not only threatening the nation’s security but also the credibility of the Indian nation, even the idea that is India. This can result in our failure as a nation and loss of our position, both economic and political, in the world. Our failure to get Pakistan out of our system and Kashmir are monumental failures that impinge upon our sovereignty and paint us as a lame duck state. We have failed to secure our borders. An estimated 10 million Chakma rebels and Bangladeshi refugees that entered India in the 70s, and who should now be around 30 million due to proliferation through normal birth rates, are in the country and are eating into our resources but we have failed to do anything about it. No other country in the world would allow that.

Congress has again a chance to show that they can make a difference and really work for the nation’s uplift.

The BJP is vanquished, crestfallen and without any clue how to pull itself together again. This may not be good augury as the democracy can only remain strong and working as long a there is a strong, nationalist and well meaning opposition. Absence of it would soon allow the Congress to degenerate to its old ways and the democratically elected representatives will soon turn into unbridled despots. The RSS has failed to stimulate the electorate and could not convince its constituency of its own honesty and progressiveness. For the first time in its existence, during the time of K. Sudarshan at its helm, its claim of an undivided, disciplined and honest organisation has come under serious doubts. Most people suspect treachery against Modi, Chauhan and many others. The good thing however is that BJP can take a lesson from it and finally understand that if it performs it does not need the crutch of RSS. And, it should be chastening for RSS too but we can still see their belligerence.

BJP can have another chance only if Congress squanders the gains of this election and betrays the trust the Indian electorate has placed in it after a long break. BJP therefore must reinvent itself.

The Communists need to be banished by law, and if that is not possible then by the electorate. They have no function in a democracy. Communism is a farcical system which claims to be by, of and for the proletariate and working classes, but actually is a system that suppresses all dissent and representation. Maoists-Leninists have gone further to propagate the idea of grabbing the political power through the barrel of the gun, taking the world back to barbaric times. Is a sovereign state, democratic or not, going to be held at a barbarian gun point and, maybe finally be defeated by it, as we saw in Nepal not long ago? They will pretend democratic values as long as they are not in power. And when they come to power they will banish all democratic processes without losing any time and will immediately create a dictatorial state. I think not understanding this would only be the worst political naïveté.

The new congress led governments has its task cut out. The priorities are infra-structure (Power, roads, communication in the same order), defence, education and water resources management. I believe everything comes later. By defence I mean the internal homeland defence as well.

True to its confused philosophy rooted in Nehru’s ideas obfuscated by his elite background and socialist leanings, the Congress believes in taxing anyone who can be made to pay somehow. It seems to believe that taking away food from some and distributing it to others is a solution. They do not seem to understand that to help people you need to teach hem fishing rather than give them a fish.
They are likely to increase taxes.
They are likely to hike interest rates making India less competitive.
They are unlikely to make sure that the educational schemes are made functional again right from the village level, where the schools exist but teachers don’t.
They are unlikely to curb corruption. Mrs. Gandhi had already accepted it as a way of life when she said that it was there everywhere in the world.
They are likely to continue policies of appeasement for certain sections of society rather than fair and just action.
They are unlikely to gather the will to take on terrorists in true earnest or to fight Naxals with kind of will recently displayed by Mahinda Rajapakse in Sri lanka.
They are likely to take moral high ground at every opportunity, employing the English media to its fullest without doing much at the ground level.
They are unlikely to work on labour law reforms to reach a just system which recognises inefficiency, incompetence and avoidance of work as criminal waste of national resources and establish the right to hire and fire with the employer.
They are unlikely to take radical steps for legal reforms so that the pendency of cases may be reduced and faster dispensation of justice may be promoted.
They are unlikely to ensure high moral values and transparency at ministerial levels.
They are not serious about water resource management.
They will remain embroiled in casteist politics and will let the country lose its social fabric and its progress. Imagine that in the canopy at India Gate in New Delhi we could not install the statue of Mahatma Gandhi after removal of George V statue due to such sectarian squabbles, what to talk about bigger things.

In the opinion of Congress there have never been any leaders of national stature except Congressmen, mainly Nehru-Gandhis. So they will go on usurping all opportunities of naming new resources such as roads, buildings, monuments, airports etc after only Indira Gandhi and her bloodline. This is an insult to the nation but it will continue.

The country is likely to lose its position in the world which was build by Vajpayee and Bill Clinton. The country may lose its position as a safe and attractive investment destination due to the possible social strife and unsafety in the future. The challenge is to ensure a safe and prosperous future for the one billion that live here and their progeny. Is the current Congress up to the task?

Holier than thou!

That is what congress party tries to be, if in vain. Its power lies in its freindship with and management of media. The media management of the Congress undoubtedly is outstanding. Could it be from the old Russian training? Media, particularly the English media blatantly promotes Congress even in the time of elections and I don't think that all the surrogate advertising through organised blitzkrieg against opponents in the name of debates, commentaries etc. is anything short of breach of law that prohibits canvassing in the constituencies 48 hours before the polling begins. The television keeps blaring and sending open as well as subliminal messages that are motivated. Many people including myself suspect that there is more to media management than meets the eye. The media's honesty and nationalism is always a big question mark. One wonders about the possible corruption in the media and the play of money power or money and power in its management. The 4th estate may well have been the biggest bane of this fledgling democracy. The method is quite well recognised. The TV journos try to put their words in the mouths of opponents and if they fail to do so, they show fragments of sentences spoken by them and then take over with their own cues.

Recently I was watching an interview of Narendra Modi by Rahul of Headlines Today taken in an aircraft. It was probably 27th or 28h of April. Rahul tried all the tricks in the book to get Modi to say what he wanted him to. Modi called his bluff and said that he was not going to get it. Modi also said the media and the interviewer were going to edit the answers and add their own ideas and project them as those of Modi. That is exactly what Rahul did within minutes after the interview was over. It was indeed shameful. I am not for or against BJP. I am for the country so I may not be misunderstood by this example which is fresh in my mind just because I happened to watch the interview and then Rahuls's presentation of the news and a brief debate that followed. (I had to switch off the TV when Manu Singhvi arrived on the scene in the debate to avoid a sick feeling.) Rahul wanted Modi to ask the nation pardon for Post- Godhra. Modi said repeatedly that creating the model of pardon was incorrect and there should be no asking or giving of pardon. Their should be punishment according to law if anyone including Modi himself was found guilty of a crime. Rahul presented it as something that sounded like 'Modi does not repent and is not willing to accept his guilt and ask the nation's pardon'. (This has been the refrain in the entire English media eversince. Is it to help the Congress after canvassing closes?) This was as far away from the truth as is possible. But the public would not know that if they had not seen the whole interview. It was simply appalling. It left me wondering about the irresponsibility and insensitivity with which media was manipulating public opinion and the nation. Rahul and the channel should have been sued by Modi for this gross misrepresentation. The entire English media, especially India Today, Outlook, Headlines Today, Channel 18 group and NDTV are blatantly involved with a party and spread canard with a view to misleading people with an aggressively pro-Congress propaganda. Is the power of media in irresponsible hands fair? Should there not be laws against it? But that brings us to the next problem. They are above law just like the Netas are. They are arrogant and powerful because of the power they wield in terms of their reach and thus their opinion building capability. They are the Gods of politicians and therefore they can get away with anything at all. Is it not diffferent from freedom of expession?

As a thinking person and one who would place the nation above all other considerations, I have developed a healthy respect for M.J. Akbar for his balanced views and incisive analyses. He is the one nationalist journalist I can think of.

I sometimes wonder if there could be Post-Godhra if there were no Godhra? Can there be post-mortem without 'mortem'. (Modi or anyone in the political dispensations can't say that for fear of being politically incorrect. But can't media do that?) This is not to say whether it was right or wrong. That is something the people have decide by voting Modi to power. This is the same as the Congress having been voted to power after 1984 anti-Sikh riots that were much worse than the Gujarat in Godhra. In Delhi alone 3000 people were killed, tortured, shaved, torched! And the Prime Minister of India shamelessly propounded the physics of impact of the fall of a big tree. By contrast, Modi is not known to have ever justified the riots in Godhra. But the media is completely insensitive to this fact. I am from Aligarh, and as aboy I was witness to several riots. In those days also there used to be hushed talks of possible Congress hand behind the riots. RSS had been banned and was not there to do all that. No one has ever asked for an apology.

Even if we do not talk about the policies of appeasement demonstrated in myriad ways, but even in the legal system wherein we have special status of a state, special law for a community, and benefits for pilgrims and many other benefits to a community. I am not against it. I am against discrimination which gives voice to the 'appeasement' theory.

I remember that the lock of the masjid-temple in Ayodhya was ordered open by Rajiv Gandhi. I also remember that the place for Ram Lala the Ram chabutra was built under the personal supervision of Buta Singh who was close to the then prime minister and was a minister himself. The press would surely find the pictures of that momentous time in their archives. What moral high ground can Congress take on the temple matter having, in a way, laid the foundation for it themselves? But people don't remember all that. And media makes sure they never find out nor jolt their memory. Whom does it not suit? What are the allegiances? Is their a meaning to the stoic silence of English media in particular and the media in general? Is their a matter of vested interests? Why the ghost of Godhra keeps haunting the media and all the terrorist attacks, riots in Congress ruled states ever since independence never seems to be a matter of debate? They are holier than thou by all accounts of Congrss spokesmen on the TV. Godhra is new and all else is forgotten? Is this non-partisan? And is it healthy for the democracy? Should the media continue to inflame minority pasions and keep them inflamed day after day, year after year? Do they have the right to divide the nation? When is enough Enough? Have they ever aired or projected the views of Godhra and Gujarat Muslims who want to put it behind and get on with the task of building peace and harmony? Is the media saying there are no such Muslims? Are all Muslims interested in some kind of 'revenge' with possible resultant mayhem? I believe it is a false and very uncharitable view of the community by the media. In fact I know that a great deal of Muslims want peace and progres and are feeling secure enough. These muslims don't find a voice in the media. On the other hand in the present security scnario, no one in the country feels safe any more. Blasts in Guwahati at frighteneing frequency are a sombre reminder of the dangers lurking in 'safe' places of India. Not to mention the blasts that happened in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Malegaon, Hyderabad and many other places where innocent people kept dying when the political Neros were fiddling secure in their Z classs security paid for by us hapless, insecure citizens. And the huge tracts of land under Naxal control - who is answerable for that? Media does not seem to have a problem with the nation's real issues and that lends credence to the idea that they are playing a malicious role to the detriment of the nation and the democracy. I wish to say again that I am not against anyone and owe no allegiance to any party. I am pleading for the 4th estate to play its role that it legitimately must own in a democratic system. Like the Congress, the media is holier than thou! No wonder they are such good freinds.

The political system in the country is no longer conducive to democracy. The politicians keep demonising their opponents. Are thye going to turn it into 'demonocracy' one day? The system itself has become a demon that is cannibalising the democracy and the nation.

Maintain your dignity

I have been amazed at the twist that has been given to the "Congress is a 125 years old woman" and all sorts of insinuations like disgracing womanhood and what not are being invented by the opposition. It is indeed the lowest level of destroying the normal linguistic idiom and is an assault on the language itself by the likes of Congress spokespersons. On the other hand Priyanka has made a fool of herself by asking if she looks old. thank God she did not ask whether she looks 180 years old! She was not at all in the question and there was no need to take the dialogue to that level even if the hint was at he age of some BJP leaders. Not that Congress doesn't have its share of oldies like Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora, Karunakaran to name a few. Sibal, Kamal Nath, Manmohan Singh, Digvijay Singh and many others are also not exactly our idea of youth.
However, the next counteroffensive from Narendra Modi of asking whether he should now call the Congress Guriya was indeed in bad taste and does not behove a leader of his status. He can and should ignore certain things. Also, if we rub something too hard, it loses its charm and effectiveness. I think repeated assertions by Advani regarding his offer to Manmohan for a public debate are also no longer making good hearing. The matter is over and something fresh is required. We can't keep flogging a dead horse. It won't go.
I think BJP brass has to learn to campaign in a better way. Needless to mention that they also need a pack of younger men and women in their teams. After Pramod mahajan's unfortunate and untimely demise BJP has no good propaganda manager. Sushma Swaraj must realise that she is a spent force. Arun Jaitley is the best and most well meaning second line politician but he needs to become more charismatic. But all that is BJP's problem and I am not a BJP person. Nor I belong to any party. I am just a nationalist an I am dismayed at the malfunctioning of our democracy. Nevertheless, on balance I believe that BJP leading NDA did much better than any Congress government ever but they failed to encash their achievements a they are not good at propaganda that the Congress mastered from the time of its close association with Soviets who were masters at the game. It is amazing that Congress could only produce two good prime ministers viz., Narsimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi. It is more amazing that Vajpayee did more to realise Rajiv's dreams of IT revolution, expressway network, transparency in administration and government, reduction in red tape etc. than any Congress government did. What an interesting contradiction! But BJP couldn't make good capital of it too. They failed to show the behaviour of Congress and its basic lack of loyalty to anything except power (Kursi) to the public at large.
India may be good or bad but it never fails to surprise!

Misleading Rhetoric.

I saw Sonia Gandhi on the television shouting at the top of her voice denouncing the NDA government for exchange of the three dreaded terrorists for 200 Indian and foreign passengers on board IC 814 in Kandahar and claiming Manmohan Singh government having cleared the Mumbai terrorist attack in a jiffy (बस यूँ!).
It is pathetic to what extent our leaders including the ones of foreign origin can stoop to conquer. It is a national shame that one is trying to equate the two conditions. First of all let us see the score card of UPA. In the recent January encounters in Kashmir, the public was given various figures of the number of terrorists involved. We were told that the area had been surrounded and no one would be able to escape. Then we were told that the circle is being tightened. After several days of fighting we failed to neutralise 10 terrorists, as at the end only 2 dead from their side were found whereas we suffered serious loss of life. Just imagine nine days of fighting by the army of the emerging world power with these shameful results! And the encounter was in forests, not in a city where they could have the excuse of caution to protect the life and limb of the innocent citizens.
And was the operation completed in Mumbai in a jiffy? the commandos took 14 hous to get there. Three days of fighting compared to, for example, the Entebbe rescue by the Israelis? And nobody has as yet answered the inconvenient questions. How could the terrorist come by the sea route. There are numerous agencies such as Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Intelligence Bureau, RAW and undoubtedly many others that would be covert and lesser known. What has been done to punish them for this serious lapse? What has the Government done to investigate the matter and fix the responsibility for such serious lapses. India is so helpless? What do we need such a big navy for? And how will it help if the threat is from terror groups instead of another navy? We have a major naval base there in Mumbai at a stone's throw from the place they are supposed to have entered Mumbai. Could they blow up some of our facilities instead?
The truth is that the armed forces are in a poor state of preparedness, notwithstanding the grandstanding by Sonia and Chidambaram. India is more and more seen as a lame duck target by terror groups. Mammohan Singh has himself admitted to continuing government failure on the terror fight front and he is the man that Sonia Gandhi does not tire of deifying.
What would UPA have done in the case of hijacking of the plane to Kandahar. Everyone knows that Roopan Katyal had been killed and the enemy was not a government. They were irresponsible terrorists who could blow up the plane with 200 passengers without batting an eyelid and without any moral qualms. Would the UPA have sent the air force there? or the commandos in an Entebbe style operation? The plane was surrounded by gun toting Taliban and armoured vehicles. Is the UPA saying that the lives of 200 passengers dispensable? Is Sonia Gandhi saying that the then government should have withdrawn from the negotiations and the exchange and let the people die? I think it was very brave of Jaswant Singh to go there personally as in any case their could be betrayal and he himself could have been killed or held hostage. There was good diplomacy that this did not happen. One must also reflect on the negative role of the section of media that is loyal to congress and was so at that time too.
Nehru created the Kashmir problem. His descendants should not stand on wrong issues and mislead the nation in these difficult and dangerous times. The whole comparison is atrocious and vulgar.

Who is Congress?

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has lately been in hyper active mode in the political arena. After she was placed on the sidelines in order to allow the Congress Yuvraj to move in, these elections have driven her to public contact again to bolster the flagging fortunes of Congress. Aptly so, as she is far more charismatic than Rahul Gandhi who would stand no chance at all should they ever be on the opposing sides. It is not something impossible. It has happened before in the ruling family of INC. Well known spats between Indira Priyadarshini and her aunt Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, the falling from grace of Maneka, the ongoing war of words launched by Priyanka against Varun are but some samples of what can happen. Nothing is permanent, especially in politics. Besides the utterances of the British foreign Secretary Milliband during his travels in Indian desitutes's homes and the entire circus at discovering by both Rahul and Milliband what everyone with his feet on the Indian soil anyhow knows, nay, grows up knowing, are proof that not only rahul wasted his time with the foreign emissary, he also showed him the soft underbelly of India instead of putting our best foot forward, and failed miserably to influence his anti - India viewpoints. He was so inept that not only he failed in all this, he failed even to restrain Milliband till he left Indian shores. Rahul couldn't muster the courage to even counter Milliband utterances during their travels together. Priyanka decidedly would have done better. interestingly, if India is as it actually is, the rulers must accept the blame for it. Let's not forget that the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has ruled the nation for most of the period after independence, including the rule of Manmohan Sing who is widely understood to be a puppet prime minister with the real strings of power in the hands of Sonia Gandhi. Rahul certainly does not seem to be the material to run the nation. No doubt he may eventually be able to do so what with the number games and rampant horse trading that goes on in Indian Politics. One doesn't have to be popular or elected to Lok Sabha to become a prime minster. One doesn't have to have a mandate in his favour. We have had our share of Charan Singhs, Deve Gowdas et al. Mulayam Singh was once at a hair's breadth from becoming PM through the cunning machinations of the Late Harkishan Singh Surjeet.
These are merely some of the counterpoints that came to my mind while trying to look at what Priyanka is doing. Priyanka's overdrive is without much substance. She recently advised Varun to read Gita. Gita was propounded in the battle field. What does she want him to learn? Various Yogas like Bhakti, Jnana, Sankhya etc.? The sceintific theory of creation proposed by Lord Krishna? The need to destroy the 'adhrma' even if it meant to annihilate the 'adharmis' who could even be the next of kin? I think she has taken some lessons (but none on the underlying philosophy) from it and is out to annihilate Varun politically notwithstanding he is family like Duryodhan was to Yudhishthir. The stark difference however is that this time she is against Dharma and her only Dharma is power to Nehru-Gandhis. Perhaps she needs to also learn the message of love, the permanence of Karma, the true nature of spirit and spirituality from the holy book. But she is a Buddhist according to a recent issue of Outlook. It is not necessary for her to learn it all from Gita. But it is also not necessary for her to preach it to others.
More recently, she retorted Modi's "Congress is an 180 years old woman" by asking if she (Priyanka herself) looks like an old lady. She doesn't! Even when she will look like one she would get the same polite answer if she posed the same question to decent citizens - that she doesn't. But the question it raises is - Is she the Congress?
I am sadly reminded of the arrogance of the dynasty in always believing that they were above the organisation they belonged, and, in fact that they were as big as the nation. It is widely understood that Mr. Nehru felt that he alone could run the country - a very arrogant belief that only he could bask in. We all remember the infamous Congress slogan "Indira is India, India is Indira." This was extreme arrogance for any person of any stature to equate oneself with the Nation. Are we experiencing the same streak of arrogance? Is Priayanka Congress that she asked the question? Or, is the Congress just Priyanka?

Are we making a mockery of democracy?

Mr. Chidambaram heroically said yesterday that we must keep our powder dry. It is amazing that it needed to be stated. The home minister doesn't seem to think that heretofore it was necessary and that it could be dried when needed, especially in this country which is threatened more from internal threats than external ones. The same newspaper carried the news of a successful assault by the Maoists inflicting heavy losses to security forces. Sometime ago Times of India published a map of India showing the areas under Naxal threat or control and that was covering well nigh 1/3rd of the landmass of this country. The successive governments have miserably failed to contain terrorism and insurgency in various parts of the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has admitted this in the same issue of Times of India today. Not that it needed to be said. All these news items make for some interesting reading for one day in the world's largest democracy. The moot question of course remains whether ours is actually any longer a truly functioning democracy at all. I don't think it is. Just because we go through the motions of elections at any odd time under the provisions of a constitution which itself seems outdated, craving large scale review, does not guarantee a popular government to rule the nation. In fact the unholy alliances that are cobbled together by an assortment of dishonest politicians just to grab power, with utter disregard to ideological platforms on which they sought the vote, got it and entered the parliament are an abuse of the constitution, the vote of the electorate and the sytem of democracy itself. It is destroying the very basis of and the ideology behind democracy. To say the least, it is betrayal of the nation. There are no untouchables and any and every dispensation is accepted after the representatives are elected whether or not the populace would have approved of it or not. There is no mechanism to find out the electorate's reaction or opinion, and approval or otherwise of the electors for such collaborations which are even so not stable and are standing on the shifting sands of self-interest of the leaders who are more aptly termed usurpers of power. We have often heard of 'Plum Postings' or plum portfolios. What does this euphemism stand for? A position that offers more power? Or more money? Or both? Does it smack of corruption with the approval of the ruling dispensations? Do they also benefit from all these favours? Why is there a clamour for grabbing certain ministries among the political class? What is on offer there? One can go on and on.
The whole country is facing unprecedented upheavals. Religious divide is deepening, fraying the sensibilities of people of different affiliations to a dangerous level. The mutual tolerance is at its nadir and every small remark, a light statement, anything at all becomes a cause of hurt to the 'feelings' of one or the other group. This was not so before. We have lost the ability to accommodate each other and religious fanaticism and chauvinism is now at its peak in all sections of the society. We are no longer able to laugh together or at each other, and worst of all - at ourselves. We can no more have fun as we have no idea what might become politically incorrect and lead to anything from demands for public apologies to full scale riots. Can anyone rightly believe that we are a nation as a nation should be or is understood to mean? We are probably unwilling to live with each other. This is a dangerous portent reflected in demands of many break away groups such as the Kashmiri Separatist Movements, JKLF, Khalistan Movement, Naxalite Movement, Assom Gana Parishad, in its original avatar, ULFA, Nagaland National Council, NSCN, Gorkhaland activists, Maoists... the list goes on. Even the state governments have demanded special rights from time to time, some of them tantamount to breaking away from the nation, even if they were rejected by public will. Many states are being subdivided not because of administrative reasons but by buckling of the governments under the pressure exerted by regional groups demanding separation on the basis of small populations and contiguity of the regions they inhabit. Is this not the way to eventual Balkanisation of the country?