tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48976546649735979232024-03-05T20:35:11.830-08:00Frederick Dsilva ( Journalist )Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-48274411965148111062015-06-29T03:43:00.003-07:002018-04-14T04:14:41.164-07:00Was Dr.Manmohan Singh tenure as PM a failure?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why is Dr. Manmohan Singh respected and rated as
the highest qualified Prime Minister in the World? Whereas we Indians criticize
him as a failure and the reason for Congress debacle in elections. Well! there
are various factors into play and a lengthy debate. As my personal view I will
analyse a few in short. Firstly, I believe an intellect is always an intellect.
Similarly, Dr. Manmohan Singh's intellect cannot be questioned or disputed.
Secondly, many question him as not a capable leader. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">India does not need a good
leader because all the inputs provided to the PM are from the bureaucrats. He
only should have the capabilities of implementing the inputs. Dr. Manmohan
Singh is a scholar who is recognised the world over. We know how Dr. Manmohan
Singh saved India from the brink of bankruptcy in 1991 when India had hardly a
little over two week surplus for imports, that compelled us to pledge gold.
With his policies and reforms we are today more that self sufficient in foreign
reserves. India reached the status as a world economic power house and the
third largest economy in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;">Even during the world economic recession and global meltdown where most
of the world's top economies were shattered, Manmohan Singh held the
distinction of keeping India's economy intact. So, what changed his intellect
suddenly, that he is now labelled not a good leader? As a PM during 2004-2009
UPA rule, Manmohan Singh raised India's average growth rate to around 9% which
is credible. It was only during the past 5 years after BJP could not digest
their second term Lok sabha loss, they hatched a conspiracy to dethrone the UPA
Government. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333;">All the reforms or policies brought out by the UPA were opposed by
the BJP with no logic or a will to compromise or resole for an agreement.
Hence, the BJP stalled every policy of the UPA during the past 5 years by
frequently disrupting Parliament. In fact, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok
Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that it is the BJP which would decide “on a daily
basis” whether Parliament would be allowed to function that day. The PM was not
allowed to speak or implement his reforms and policies. He was on a daily basis
accused of scams and forced to resign at least 100 times. So, how can one
expect Manmohan Singh to be efficient if not allowed to perform? </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;">Also, the
other reason was that the PM was running a coalition government and was
handicapped with coalition compulsions. Thirdly, he was running a minority
government and had to depend on the support of other parties and opposition to
push through reforms. If not, we know how Mamta Banerjee of TMC withdrew
support from the government, making the PM task all the more difficult. And
lastly, we had a non co-operative opposition whose only job was to oppose every
policy or reform at the cost of the nation economy.</span></div>
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Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-78148787510310567772015-06-28T15:11:00.000-07:002018-04-14T03:08:43.710-07:00Why has Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' failed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In the last few days I see this photo ‘Swachh
Rajasthan’ go viral on Social Media. This is not the situation only in
Rajasthan but all across India. I had earlier too emphasized that holding a
broom for a photo shoot for a day is not going to ‘clean India. What are
required are commitment, dedication and honest officers. Why has Modi’s
"Swachh Bharat" movement not taken off? Because, by merely cleaning a
clean place with a broom in hand for a day, get clicked in a few photogr</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">aphs, post them on social
media, nominate 5 people who follow the trend without much dedication, will not
bring the results. Yes! Its good spreading awareness but we need to step on
ground-zero</span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cleanliness
is not a small problem that can be solved overnight. First, government needs to
change their policy and reforms. We are living in a country, where we are
forced to throw garbage on roads or street corners for lack of bins. And
expecting from us, to make our India clean is asking too much. Lack of bins,
overflowing bins, underpaid and understaffed department, no accountability etc
are the bottlenecks. So! How’s that justified for a clean India? According to a
census, about half of India's population lives without a toilet. It may seem
that the government has failed in its part to provide the basic amenities every
human being must have. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyjhzFIrjJFOn5ro1ILw9bwxL2CDhtz6ex3B7h1TZDfQX-8ZjpasyjSoageICDG_KQHkO85Zdye-n_P3p-a76S1aWyAL8SKda0JO7WmQ7Q3Cuv3HyHOVB4Vi-D9E4IPeA-TwUfztSRM4/s1600/dirt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyjhzFIrjJFOn5ro1ILw9bwxL2CDhtz6ex3B7h1TZDfQX-8ZjpasyjSoageICDG_KQHkO85Zdye-n_P3p-a76S1aWyAL8SKda0JO7WmQ7Q3Cuv3HyHOVB4Vi-D9E4IPeA-TwUfztSRM4/s640/dirt2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Morals splashed on TV, newspaper advertisement
don't hold a value unless brought into practice. As they say practice what you
preach. ‘Swachh Bharat’ is just a joke nowadays because of this reason. Every
major city has acres of garbage which are dumped in landfills. Those cannot be
possibly cleaned. It is impossible to 'clean' India. Remember, we can act only
if provided with the infrastructure and calling for a ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’
revolution with no infrastructure and basic facilities cannot clean India as
being dreamt by our PM. It's like treating a disease without dealing with the
symptoms. Definitely! People need education and awareness. But, unless they are
provided with the basic amenities that change will not happen. </span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-82036819893005725372011-08-03T04:27:00.000-07:002018-04-14T03:45:34.818-07:00Mr. Yeshwant Sinha! Please practice before you preach...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYylIsIJYdu3FohAdXnTKvXfBDwJ1_Voik2zO4NQwm0nriuYt129uqnGI6XpVhP5K3M6Wwc0vZFb7S240_zD-3E1hFuxQ-AlyaVVHepk5BQAxokfDYBZdoBzzzuxVcOkN-3gq9l2zksxU/s1600/p280220012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYylIsIJYdu3FohAdXnTKvXfBDwJ1_Voik2zO4NQwm0nriuYt129uqnGI6XpVhP5K3M6Wwc0vZFb7S240_zD-3E1hFuxQ-AlyaVVHepk5BQAxokfDYBZdoBzzzuxVcOkN-3gq9l2zksxU/s640/p280220012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">The BJP when it is out of power resorts to tactics of ransom and preaching. They wisely forget their past. Yeshwant Sinha, the Finance Minister during the NDA regime could do nothing better on the financial front and is now advising the ruling government that he will help in controlling price rise within two months. Is he going to spray a magical trick or resort to tricks of ‘Babas’? Yeshwant Sinha, please recollect what good have you done during your tenure as Finance Minister for the common man in regards to policies, corruption and food grains. Here is a gist…In its drive for all-out globalisation and liberalisation, the NDA government even surpassed the Rao-Manmohan duo of the Congress. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Under the NDA government the GDP growth rate came down from 6.2% in 1996-97 to an average of around 5% in 1999-2003. The industrial growth rate came down from 11.7% in 1996-97 to 5% in 2000-01. Under the NDA government the public investment came down from 11.7% in 1985-86 to 6.3% in 2002-03.</span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The industrial growth rate came down from 11.7% in 1996-97 to 5% in 2000-01. Under the NDA government the public investment came down from 11.7% in 1985-86 to 6.3% in 2002-03.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The NDA government completely liberalised the import of consumer goods over the three import-export policies it presented from 1998-99 onwards, Unemployment tremendously increased during the NDA period. Growth rate of employment in the country fell drastically during the NDA government period. Employment in the organised sector fell from 28.11 million in 1999 to 27.96 million in 2000. The number of unemployed persons had gone up from about 75 lakh in 1993-94 to 90 lakh in 1999-2000. As per the information collected through Employment Market Information Programme of Directorate General of Employment & Training, the average growth rate of employment in public sector had come down to around 0.15% per annum during 1991-2000 from 2.08% per annum during 1983-89.</span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">According to Economic
Survey 2001-02, 5192 sick industrial units were registered under BIFR including
4930 private sector units and 95 Central PSUs and 167 State PSUs. Data from the
National Sample Survey (NSS) of households suggest that the proportion of
people below the poverty line has remained more or less unchanged around 36 per
cent in the 1990s. The NDA government meekly surrendered to the demands of
developed imperialist countries at the WTO and signed the treaty. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The NDA government had
proposed labour law changes against the interests of the working class. The NDA
government appointed a Second Labour Commission without proper workers’
representatives on that and with anti-worker terms of reference to amend labour
laws according to the needs of globalisation. It accepted the anti-labour
recommendations of the Second Labour Commission. The Vajpayee government
declared a war against the workers in its 2001-02 budget proposing amendment to
Section V-B of the Industrial Disputes Act to allow industrial units with up to
1000 workers to close down without government permission and to Section 10 of
the Contract Labour Act to legalise the contract labour system. The government
also amended the Trade Union Act of 1926.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The Centre
deployed the army against the striking power sector workers on the request of
the UP government. The Centre deployed navy personnel against the striking port
and dock. Workers. The NDA government proposed to restructure ESI and Pension
schemes. The number of man days lost due to lockouts was almost four times than
the number of man days lost due to strikes in 2001. The Union budget 2001-02
announced the decision to cut government staff strength by 10% in five years.
That meant a loss of 66,000 jobs per year. The Vajpayee government started
privatisation of even profit-making PSUs. Despite a powerful resistance by
BALCO workers the company was handed over to Sterlite Industries for a song.</span><br />
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The NDA government
refused to fix mandatory floor-level minimum wage at the Centre. The rate of
unemployment increased from about 6 per cent in 1993-94 to 7.3 per cent in
1999-2000.<br />
The NDA government
did not pass a comprehensive legislation for agricultural labourers but clubbed
agricultural labour within the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill. Under objection
from the Finance Ministry, the Unorganised Labour Bill was also shelved. Labour
Minister Sahib Singh Verma announced on November 7, 2003, a five-year waiver
for units in special economic zones from contribution to the Employees
Provident Fund and the Employees State Insurance Scheme. Verma also said the
government had also decided in principle to allow fixed-term labour contracts
in other areas of the economy. This led to pushing farmers to commit suicide
and poor peasants, plantation and urban labourers to die of starvation. The policies
of the NDA government under the garb of so-called "second generation
reforms" had led to an acute rural crisis in India resulting in the twin
tragedies of farmers’ suicides and starvation deaths.</div>
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The NDA government
attempted to disband state procurement of food grains. The food grains in the
FCI godowns were rotting but it was neither being distributed through PDS nor
given to the poor through food for work schemes. PDS prices of food grains were
repeatedly increased by the Vajpayee government. The prices of PDS food grains,
fertilisers, kerosene and LPG had also been increased by the Vajpayee
government. The governemnt has cut subsidies on fertilisers, pesticides,
irrigation, power and all other inputs making agrarian production costlier.<br />
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Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-35197057522638645742011-08-02T03:21:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:42:22.913-08:00BJP, to be different, it has to shun the love of power<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The parliamentarians seem to be shameless and spineless creatures. Even Kindergarten children seem to have more discipline than these scoundrels. Why do they frequently stall the parliament and hold the nation to ransom? Why not debate and work out solutions in a disciplined and dignified manner instead of only playing the blame game and tricks of toppling the government? In this game nothing will materialize, as both will stick to their guns and the ultimate loser is the ‘aam admi’. The washed out winter session of parliament, stalled daily for 22 consecutive days due to opposition protests and adjournments, had translated into a loss of a staggering over Rs.171 crore to the nation. The amount if worked out with the expenditure for each day of a session calculates at an astronomical Rs.7.8 crore. Never before in the history of the Indian Parliament has a complete session been washed out without transacting any business. This is violative of all rules of business and ethics, it is rather criminal. Even question hour and private members’ business have been made a casualty. Shame on our democracy!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">Regarding, BJP’s stand of stalling Parliament on the issue of price rise, it is an accepted fact that this phenomenon is a global issue. The global economy is in a crisis. And things are only going to get worse. Inflation is one of the manifestations of the global crisis, and arises from changes in the relationship between the volume of commodities and of money in the economy. A characteristic feature of international inflation is its global character. It affects all countries to one extent or another, lowering the buying power of all monetary units to varying degrees. At present, the fastest price rises are for goods of primary necessity that are constantly consumed - food and fuel. Presently, world economic crisis is at a precarious stage, manifesting itself primarily in the area of finance (destabilisation of stock markets, bank losses, growing inflation, and rising interest rates); the crisis will affect all countries that are part of the world economy, and will usher in a prolonged depression. The global economic de-stabilisation will have enormously destructive consequences. The crisis has seen a recession in the US and the beginning of an industrial downturn in other countries. Instead of BJP holding the nation to hostage, why they not give any suggestions to curb or control price rise? It is a constitutional duty of the opposition to play a helping hand in the progress of the nation instead of destabilizing the functioning of government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">On the second issue where the BJP has been training its guns on government, is their theory on intelligence failure of terror strike on Mumbai. However, it is strange for BJP to attack the government on terrorism and government failure. In fact, they should not forget that BJP during its rule had brought the terrorists right inside the Parliament. Further terrorism took its roots in the country only after L.K.Advani rath yatra and demolition of Babri Masjid. Thereafter, terrorist attacks on the country have been at regular intervals. All this goes on while recorded evidence shows that Advani led the symbolic religious caravan (rath yatra) across the country, which left behind a trail of anti-Muslims riots killing over 3000 Muslims and burning and looting their properties in many states. The BJP people have grossly misused their platform to air their biases, misinformation and lies. In government they have tried to change the secular outlook of the State. Of course, Advani and others who cons pirated the demolition are both criminals and mass murderers on a colossal scale. While Advani masterminded the Babri Masjid demolition and arranged for the subsequent mass murder of thousands of Muslims across the country he himself played a major role.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">Later, the decision of the Vajpayee government to release three dreaded terrorists including Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar in December, 1999 received a lot of flak from various political parties, more so because the then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh accompanied them (terrorists) to Kandahar. Azhar’s name had subsequently figured in the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament and the attack outside Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in Srinagar in the same month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a nation we do not have the guts to stand up to terrorism. We cannot take hits and suffer casualties. We start counting our dead even before a battle has been won or lost. We make a great show of honouring those who die on the battlefield and lionise brave hearts of history. We are, if truth be told, a nation of cowards who don’t have the courage to admit one’s weakness but are happy to blame others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nearly, after a decade after the incident, many people still hold the BJP-led NDA Government responsible for the ‘shameful’ denouement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">Lastly, just 24 hours after 3 blasts ripped through Mumbai, Congress and BJP had locked horns. With the BJP blaming the government policy on terror, saying vote bank politics had weakened the fight against terror, the government asked the Opposition to stop the petty politics. The BJP besides playing the blame game and accusing has nothing fruitful to offer to the nation. Terrorists strikes have been a regular affair and BJP-NDA during their rule had done nothing to stop them and now they are proudly preaching. It is not that we have not witnessed the acts of terror before. Starting from attack on Parliament, Ansal Plaza, Akshrdham temple, Raghunath Temple in Jammu; during NDA regime to blasts in Malegaon, Samjhauta express, Nanded, Jalna , Parbhani, attack on RSS headquarters in Nagpur and Chennai, killing of two Bajrang Dal workers in Nanded while making bombs, Hyderabad blasts and Jaipur one's the country has suffered enormously during the past decade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Finally, the BJP always claimed itself to be a party with a difference but in practice it appears no different. Now, it’s high time it shuns its gimmicks and goes on the job of constitutional politics and shy aside the blame game. To be different, it has to shun the love of power. And to project itself as ‘a party with a difference’, it will have to put certain ideals ahead of power.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-75916297632937183132011-06-01T17:11:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:43:37.020-08:00Should the success of Anna Hazares fast be interpreted as the Rise of Fascism in India and Ring alarm bells for Democracy?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">What Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are trying to achieve with their protest is, in the long run, very harmful for the country. Protesting against corruption in itself is, of course, not wrong and should even be encouraged, but what they are trying to do is influence the working of a democratically-elected government and the due process of law-making by what is essentially blackmail. The constitution of this country clearly lays down a number of safeguards, processes and institutions that are designed to deal with all these issues. If someone has a problem with corruption, there is process to report to the police or file a PIL. Or better still, don’t elect them! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Violating the due process to achieve a goal — and this is admittedly a noble goal — is adding to the problem. It sows the seeds of anarchy. This is trial by the media and trial by a kangaroo court. Who are Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev or his followers to decide what should or should not be included in the Lokpal Bill? Leave it to Parliament. That’s what you elected them for. Our government is our government. We put them there, and often enough have booted them out every five years if we don’t like them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Allowing extra-constitutional measures to be used to influence the process of lawmaking sets a dangerous precedent. Today, it’s taking on corruption. How do we know that tomorrow it won’t be used to push some other majority agenda like a fast for constructing Ram temple at Ayodhya; pressurising government to wage a war against Pakistan to resolve Kashmir issue and many more.If the whole bunch of Hindu wings - Shiv Sena, RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal etc throw their weight behind them. Then what?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">India’s main strength lies in its ability to have maintained democracy for 63 years while all others who became independent around the same time have failed. The wellspring of the Indian democracy has been the strength of its Constitution and institutions. These are above all issues and above all people. They’re not perfect by any means but need to be upheld to ensure that every issue goes through the same due process. That is democracy. If Anna Hazare or Ramdev have a problem, and do not want to use the courts, then let them deal with them in the ultimate manifestation of public opinion — the ballot box. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Sometimes a sense of unbridled virtue can also subvert democracy. The agitation by civil society activists over the Jan Lokpal Bill is a reminder of this uncomfortable truth. There is a great deal of justified consternation over corruption. The obduracy of the political leadership is testing the patience of citizens. But the movement behind the Jan Lokpal Bill is crossing the lines of reasonableness. It is premised on an institutional imagination that is at best naïve; at worst subversive of representative democracy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The morality of fasting unto death for a political cause in a constitutional democracy has always been a tricky issue. There is something deeply coercive about fasting unto death. When it is tied to an unparalleled moral eminence, as it is in the case of Anna Hazare or Ramdev, it amounts to blackmail. There may be circumstances, where the tyranny of government is so oppressive, or the moral cause at stake so vital that some such method of protest is called for. But in a functioning constitutional democracy, not having one’s preferred institutional solution to a problem accepted, does not constitute a sufficient reason for the exercise of such coercive moral power. This is not the place to debate when a fast-unto-death is appropriate. But B.R. Ambedkar was surely right, in one of his greatest speeches, to warn that recourse to such methods was opening up a democracy to the “grammar of anarchy”. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">If you don’t trust Parliamentary democracy and do not want to participate in the processes, it has in place for people’s participation or even think through ways to reform the system to make it more responsive, what exactly is your alternative? Even with all the corruption within the present system, I would take it over a coercive and totalitarian movement such as Anna Hazare’s where he and his bunch of civil society activists are trying to thrust their version of a Bill down people’s throat through blackmail. The movement is spurious because it misleads people into thinking that it is a fight against corruption when it is basically only a fight to get 5 people’s version of a Bill enacted through coercion. If it was actually a fight against corruption, then where is their blueprint to reform other laws related to corruption, bring in more economic reforms that would take away the government’s discretionary powers and such other matters. It’s clear that this is nothing but a power trip for the activists who do not represent anybody but themselves, but want the power of a elected representative without ever winning or having the capability to win an election. If it were not so, there would have been other civil society activists on the Joint Committee who may not necessarily be supporters of Anna Hazare’s bill but have other ideas of their own.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">There is more harm done by so-called “morally upright” people than the ones who do not claim moral uprightness! I have not voted for Anna Hazare or Ramdev, so I do not view him as my representative by any standards. I do not believe in his ideology nor do I support his blackmailing tactics. If he wants to represent people, he better do it through legitimate means ie election. In a democracy, that is the only legitimate means of deciding who is a people’s representative. If he thinks he cannot win an election (as he has said), but wants to enforce his point of view by force, then he wants to wield power to which he is not entitled! It is not the task of a civil society actitvist to draft a Bill. Drafting and debating bills is the primary task of an MP (that’s why he is called a legislator). Civil society can legitimately give its opinions through various points of engagement such as when standing committees invite comments or ministries invite comments for draft bills.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Corruption is a challenge. And public agitation is required to shame government. But it is possible to maintain, in reasonable good faith, that the Jan Lokpal Bill is not necessarily the best, or the only solution to the corruption challenge. The various drafts of the Jan Lokpal Bill are, very frankly, an institutional nightmare. They amount to an unparalleled concentration of power in one institution that will literally be able to summon any institution and command any kind of police, judicial and investigative power. Power, divided in a democracy, can often be alibi for evading responsibility. But it is also a guarantee that the system is not at the mercy of a few good men. Having concentrated immense power, it then displays extraordinary faith in the virtue of those who will wield this power. Why do we think this institution will be incorruptible?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">But the demand is premised on an idea that non-elected institutions that do not involve politicians are somehow the only ones that can be trusted. This assumption is false. Institutions of all kinds have succeeded and failed. But the premise of so much accountability discourse is not just contempt of politicians, but contempt of representative democracy. This contempt is reflected in two ways. There are several mechanisms of accountability in place. They have not worked as well as they should; vested interests have subverted them. But interestingly, despite those interests, governments are being called to account. Most of us are as aghast as any of the agitators about the evasions of government. But it does not follow that creating a draconian new institution that diminishes everything from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Supreme Court is a solution. The net result of a “Lokpal” will be to weaken the authority of even other well-functioning institutions. No agitation focuses on sensible, manageable reform of representative institutions; all agitative energies are premised on bypassing them. Perhaps some version of a Lokpal is desirable but deferring to new institutions at the top of the food chain without attending to basics amounts to trying ‘B’ if ‘A’ does not work, is absurd. We should, as citizens, not be subject to the moral coercion of a fast-unto-death on this issue. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">But the claim that the “people” are not represented by elected representatives, but are represented by their self-appointed guardians is disturbing. In a democracy, one ought to freely express views. But anyone who claims to be the “authentic” voice of the people is treading on very thin ice indeed. It is a form of Jacobinism that is intoxicated with its own certainties about the people. It is not willing to subject itself to an accountability, least of all to the only mechanism we know of designating representatives: elections. The demand that a Jan Lokpal Bill be drafted jointly by the government and a self-appointed committee of public virtue is absurd. Most of us sharply disagree with elected government on matters even more important than corruption. But no matter how cogent our arguments, it does not give us the right to say that our virtue entitles us to dictate policy to a representative process. In an age of cynicism, Anna Hazare is a colossus of idealism. It is a dangerous illusion to pedal that badly designed new institutions will be a magic wand to remove corruption. All they will do is promote wishful thinking and distract from the myriads of prosaic decisions that will be required to get a better politics. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The nation is energized about Anna Hazare’s fast and Ramdev’s following. But no party is raising a fundamental question. What is the necessity of post or institution called Lokpal? The question can be debated on two levels. First, there is no guarantee that corruption at the top echelons of government will decrease by the appointment of Lokpal. The appointment of Lokayuktas at state levels indicates to the same. But this is minor or superficial level. The main question lies much deeper. Why should there be any need of institutions like Lokayuktas or Lokpals? Whosoever is corrupt should be punished legally. There are laws to prevent corruption. The laws should be applied properly. The responsibility for judging corruption lies with the judicial system. The administration’s responsibility is to investigate and collect necessary evidence for the trial. If the administration doesn’t perform its duty properly, then the judicial system takes the responsibility to get the task done properly. But the crux is-everyone performs the duty which is delegated to him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Herein lays the logical and fundamental irrelevance of posts like Lokpal or Lokayukta. Why should any other institution carry out the duty of the court? The court itself should get active to implement the prevailing anti-corruption laws to prevent corruption at the top levels of government. The judiciary can recommend creation of stringent laws if necessary. But it is meaningless to create a parallel judicial system for that purpose. That is why in matured democracies of developed countries this kind of parallel institution is a rarity. Two different judicial systems create unnecessary confusion, which can invite major complications in the judicial process. Simultaneously, it is harmful to the dignity of the court. In our country the tendency to create multiple posts or institutions for a single purpose is ancient, well-known, and practically omnipresent. This is a bad habit of Indian society and government. This habit leads to obesity of the government. Accumulation of excess fat is not an indicator of good health. Neither for a person, nor for a country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">But this is just one side of the story. The other side is also important. The presence of a separate judicial system for trial of corruption of high-ranking government officials violates one of the major fundamental rights of democracy. The right that all citizens are equal in eyes of law. If everyone is equal in the eyes of law, then why the corruption cases of government officials can’t be tried in the court where the ‘aam aadmi’ is being tried? Those involved in the movement for methodology for appointment of Lokpal and its legal complexities are not even raising this fundamental question. This indicates, this society is still incapable of understanding the nature of government of a mature, modern democracy. Indian democracy has a long way to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Corruption like many other problems is a symptom of poor governance. However as history shows us, in a democracy , these symptoms remain short lived in the long run. The indian republic was founded as a constitutional representative democracy. This is the very basis of India as a nation state , and this basis will never disappear in the long run. A social activist no matter how famous, is undermining the democratically elected government. This creates a precedent that self appointed guardians of our society have the right to browbeat our representative government. While their goal is laudable, their methods call in to question the very legitimacy of our constitution , and the precedent their fasts have set is very dangerous. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Also, the demand that an equal number of civil society activists be involved in the drafting of the Lok pal bill is again unacceptable. The fact is that self appointed citizens cannot hijack the constitutional process of legislation. No man, no matter how noble, can undermine an institution on which our country is democratized, in this case, parliament. The effect of Hazare’s demand is that he implies that he is superior to the institution of parliament. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">As a country we need to realize , that corruption is a symptom of ineffective governance. The only way we can eradicate corruption is by concentrating on building our capacities at the rural level. Corruption has only one cure, and that is the principle of democratic accountability which is based on a premise that the voting public shall exercise a rational choice. As long as large swathes of our country are faced with the blight of illiteracy and poverty, voters will never exercise a rational choice. And the elite or the politicians of this country will know that irrespective of the number of scams or scandals they are implicated in, in the end, they only need to trick voters into electing them. If political parties can still hope to get votes by promising a populist handout of a color television, corruption will never leave this country. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Finally, Shouldn’t we stop and ask ourselves why it is that the government was so eager to accede to their hunger strikes, while there have been much more strident efforts for more horrifyingly basic issues of life, homestead and livelihood (I’m thinking of the hunger strikes by the NBA as well as of Irom Sharmila, but there are numerous other examples). Why is a government that has repeatedly proved its ability to simply force feed individuals and therefore stave off the unbearable result of a hunger strike, acceding to this fast even before it has rightly begun? Is it possible that the movement has been so extraordinarily successful because what it does is to reaffirm the current loci of power in its very attempt to counter them? Is this just that literal an example of what Walter Benjamin called law-making violence?</span><br />
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Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-50142541728134501842010-11-23T08:15:00.000-08:002016-11-11T01:50:39.906-08:00Stalling of Parliament, a shame on democracy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Indian parliaments, both at the center and in the states, are characterised by repeated disruptions that appear </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">to interfere with their ability to serve as forums for the translation of public sentiment into public policy. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The question asked is “How can <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> be considered ‘the world’s largest democracy’ when parliamentary </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Institutions appear dysfunctional?” If the legislatures of a country do not function properly, then that country is not a democracy. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s legislatures do not function properly. Therefore, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is not a democracy. This conclusion, though, contradicts the widely held belief that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is the world’s largest democracy. Parliament is the highest forum the people have chosen for voicing their views, and if they are silenced their democracy is silenced as much as it may be by a dictator. The virus of the discord which breaks out in that ‘well’ so often is spreading throughout the polity. It is depriving Indian democracy of its </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">life-saving quality, that it has hitherto been consensual by nature.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In most countries where democracy has been smothered, only military dictators have dissolved and locked up Parliaments. Is the world’s largest democracy going to have the ignominy of its Parliament being shut down by veteran parliamentarians themselves? Paralysing House proceedings does not solve any problem. In the long run, it will only affect the credibility of Parliament as an institution. It is a disservice to democratic governance to bring Parliament to a grinding halt, paralyse its working and hold it to ransom unless demands, however justified, are met. If the institutions of democracy fail, democracy itself will fail.</span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The tactic of the BJP along with other Opposition parties in obstructing and stalling the Parliament proceedings is only a foul means adopted to achieve what they cannot achieve by fair means, apart from being a grossly undemocratic way of rendering a duly-elected and constituted Parliament dysfunctional.</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> The second is to demonstrate power, by the ability to act forcefully. It seems to be an attempt to use the issue for a purpose other than its advancement. In this case, the stimulus is a pretext for the demonstration of power. Very few of the disruptions seem spontaneous, though some cases are more obviously carefully planned than others.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Constitution secures to a Member of Parliament unfettered right to speak and vote but this is not a licence to interrupt or frustrate the proceedings of the institution rendering it powerless. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The disruption of legislative bodies in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has changed the status of legislators and the popular view of legislative bodies. Today, Parliament and Legislatures create a new breed of heroes—the Well-rushing heroes, who hope to be elevated to instant national fame, straight from the Well of the House. The image which Parliament and the State Legislatures have projected on the public mind is one of disruption, indecorum, and shouting matches.” Democracy is the single most important achievement of independent <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, a political miracle. We are among the few countries who have translated independence for our country into freedom for our people. Parliament is the symbol of that miracle. Parliament is the ultimate guarantor of the continuation and strengthening of our democracy. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> does not have one authorized meaning of democracy, nor does it have any single set of practices that constitute ‘democracy’. Instead, democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> involves numerous claims and counterclaims, a bewildering web of contestations. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Ever since the United Progressive Alliance formed the government at the centre, the NDA is not able to get over its defeat and in the process has been acting like childish urchins and holding the nation to ransom. Defeat should be accepted in dignity and glory. Stalling the normal functioning of the House and abusive of the chair is nothing but a blatant subversion of democracy. In democracy, the opposition by passing the Finance Bill without any debate or discussion amounts to a constitutional impropriety and a shame on Indian democracy.</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> The most critical legislation, such as the budgets, gets passed, but often without debate. For example, a report on the 2001 Lok Sabha noted and opined that “The continued stand-off between the government and the opposition benches led to the travesty of parliamentary practice - the Railway budget was passed by a hurried voice vote – which was seen by many as a mockery of the Parliament, its main aims and procedures. Then was passed the Finance bill in the same way as the railway budget.” These are simply examples of a trend. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Regardless of whether it is or isn’t justified there is little doubt that such stalling of Parliament amounts to a grave abuse of the concept of democracy as Mahatma Gandhi had propounded it – a day of penance, self-introspection and soul-cleansing. The Gandhi premise was that acts of self-abnegation and renunciation in the face of others’ wrong doings would surely shame the errant side into reconsidering its decisions.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, denunciatory thoughts are furthest from the minds of the propents of the present boycott. Quite the contrary, the acquisitive instinct at its basest is at work here. It is of course, unexceptionable for citizens to harbour political ambitions. Opinions may differ, however, on the best to go about fulfilling such ambitions. The least one can expect is that the respective contenders clearly enunciate their political philosophies and take definite stands on points of principle. But in the confused milieu, clouded as it is by pernickety personality problems, principle has been relegated to the backseat. True the main debate centers on ‘tainted ministers’. But since there are no two opinions that crime and corruption are bad, there is no issue of principle here, which warrants a debate. Instead, the focus has been moved to debating whether specific individuals are guilty of crime or corruption. And in an impious situation where proof is as scarce as rhetoric is profuse, and biblical injunctions on casting stones stand brusquely ignored, tenets of morality, ethics and principle are natural causalities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;">It must be made clear, of course, that all the players in the arena are equally guilty of gross malfeasance. Sobriety has been thrown to the winds. Dialogues are conducted through carp and bark instead of conversation. Standards of public conduct have truly reached their post-independence nadir. Nevertheless, all hope for propriety in public life is not yet lost. The recent sacking of Ashok Chavan, Raja and the likely arrest of Suresh Kalmadi is an eye-opener. But, the blackmailing of tainted Karnataka Chief Minister B.S Yeddyurappa, should make the opposition realize that they are no better. Earlier when in power BJP leaders L.K.Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi held crucial portfolios in the NDA government despite charge sheets against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case. It’s high time the opposition realises that one living in glass houses should not throw stones at others and instead respect the verdict of the people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What we are seeing…is the biggest crime against democracy since Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975. Democracy is the lifeline of the whole system. Snap it, and the entire system will collapse, and that will hurt no one more than it will hurt the very people who need the system most. For them this is the only place where they can plead their case, lacking as they do the many other levers which others can use to bend Governments to their wishes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">People outside the Houses of Parliament actually ridicule the institution that it has become today. Is this the legacy that this current House wishes to leave behind? A legacy of indecency, of indecision and of inexcusable behaviour. One in which the focus is more on exchanging angry words rather than debating legislation? The general public at one time looked up to Parliament. It had what one would term social sanction. Today it suffers from social ostracisation. And that is something that will destroy this institution as time goes by, and this is what perhaps you need to stem. The consequence has been that the leaders have lost credibility. That a great deal of disruption arises from the reluctance and procrastination of the leaders to face the House on controversial matters. Growing criminalization of politics, corruption at all levels, absence of inner party democracy, the declining status and stature of members in public life, the growing cost of the electoral process, the ascendancy of party leaders are some other factors that have contributed to the decline of Parliament</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Concluding, as noted, the skills required in a parliament where the ability to disrupt is highly valued are not the same as the skills required in a parliament where such an ability is not highly valued. An author rightly opined, “Our legislatures have ceased to be forums of the best and the brightest in the land. Instead, they have become the first refuge of scoundrels.” He cynically contended that “Before <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Independence</st1:place></st1:city> we had great parliamentarians, but no Parliament. Today we have a grand Parliament House with grand allowances, but no parliamentarians. There is the story of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Independence</st1:place></st1:city> in two sentences.”</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-59634878568362928202010-07-03T21:26:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:47:03.218-08:00Criticism is a must, but it must be sane and sensible<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiQVltr05XuFyyctulUJQ5lNonEso-Ph1bUopLTuP1GdLShPN55t_cngGET-LKc7y6hyphenhyphenPS4PD0kWXGzR1qMgpo9A_OVLjrsRyp-v6IltJTyHClLaYTkuP-xkyFlD_4IgyDCl4_OPxFco/s1600/karkate3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="401" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489903442533146226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiQVltr05XuFyyctulUJQ5lNonEso-Ph1bUopLTuP1GdLShPN55t_cngGET-LKc7y6hyphenhyphenPS4PD0kWXGzR1qMgpo9A_OVLjrsRyp-v6IltJTyHClLaYTkuP-xkyFlD_4IgyDCl4_OPxFco/s640/karkate3.jpg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The body of Hemant Karkera, ATS Chief passing through Dadar for the last rites. Karkare was gunned down while fighting the terrorist attack in Mumbai</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The recent arrests of several senior police officials and the gruesome grueling of one of the highest police officer in false case registered against a Mumbai builder, besides the recent multiple crime cases and the death of honest police officers while fighting terrorists have demoralized the spirits of the police department. Never, in Indian history have the police department been as badly demoralized as it is today. Otherwise too, the police force is a demoralized lot. The police are best summed up by the ‘lathi’, or ‘danda’ as we know it. The police force is nothing but a lathi in uniform and is transparently inept when it comes to solving crimes. Of and on there are demoralized acts reported in the media on police- a policeman killing his superior because he was denied leave? Another policeman shot dead his wife and kids because he was plagued by depression. A third committed suicide by shooting himself with his revolver. So, why do our policemen behave abnormally?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">We are often reminded of the negatives of the policemen and are looked upon as corrupt and inefficient. The misconceptions are- they arrive on the scene late, after the incident is over or the culprit has fled. They are also believed to be the protectors of the mafia or makers of terrorists. It is believed that the third-degree torture and punishment given to criminals or innocents leads them to frustration whereby they take to terrorism. How far it is true, the future will tell. In Gulzar's film 'Maachis', the society is made to believe that policemen are the fountains of all evil. Our criticism of police often degenerates into outright abuse and even vilification. As a nation we have yet to learn the art of proportionate criticism and balanced appreciation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Let's consider the goods and the evils, criticism and appreciation. Let's start with criticism. Yes, as a democratic society, we have a right to question and criticize police. It's an old institution that is starved of resources and its personnel have very little modern training. It is often the most de-motivated band of state employees and has little incentive for good work. And above all the police are extremely poorly paid. They policemen take bribe, therefore they are not entitled to good wages is an irrational argument. A more sensitive argument will be that they take bribe because they do not have decent wages.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Think of those who are decently paid and still take huge bribes and there is no dearth of such parasites in our society. Look at our top politicians. They enjoy free luxuries from bungalows to air tickets-everything free-and still take huge bribes and yet we throng to their rallies in millions, shout slogans in their praise and shower flowers on their path. Some are worshipped as gods. Corrupt politicians are honoured and corrupt police are cursed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Consider the positives – the risks they are taking while performing their duties and that too on meager wages. Whilst, the corrupt politician who enjoys all the luxuries in life is offered the highest security while on duty and off duty, the dutiful policeman with his ancient 303s has to counteract the bullets of terrorists or underworld goondas armed with sophisticated AK-47s and have in the bargain sacrificed their lives. Are the lives of policemen not dear to their families? The names here are insignificant as many of them have lost their lives as martyrs fighting to save lives of civilians on their line of duty.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today the terrorist are the protected lot in the country and the police are the most abused. I recollect a statement of a senior police officer that once said,” The policemen who risked their lives to protect innocent civilians and faced terrorist bullets were to be punished for unsubstantial charges of human rights abuses while the killers of innocent children and women were rehabilitated and rewarded. You must be stupid to fight for such a country.” Corruption, crass careerism and political meddling have hollowed out the Mumbai Police, once a premier force in India. “Even the legendary bonding amongst IPS officers is gone,” said a policeman ruefully. “When officers meet today, the talk is more often about who made how much money in what deal.” This is an all-India problem. But it’s acute in Mumbai as the city sits on piles of cash. The underworld, real estate developers, crooked politicians and big business all combine to warp the system. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">In the 26/11 attack by terrorists on Mumbai, two of Mumbai’s honest police officers, both Kamte and Karkare were “outsiders” in this system. When circumstance brought them together that fateful night, both knew they had to pursue the terrorists as their fellow IPS officer was injured and under fire inside Cama Hospital. As traditions of the service demanded they go to his aid, they had to face the ultimate challenge in life, while working in a professional milieu marked by so much cynicism, greed and crookery?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">It is important to vent our anger, to reject those who preened while our men died. Why are we so defenceless against these repeated outrages, who is responsible for them and who is responsible for stopping them? These are all unanswered life and death questions. Thus when terror strikes and police casualties are huge - the oft spoken words are ‘brave deaths in the line of duty’ and the life chakra starts again. The so-called policymakers at the helm of affairs hide behind the veil of anonymity. Why is the seamless bureaucracy so insensitive to human apathy? Lack of political will has led to complete impotency of the system. Public anger against the frequent terrorist attacks has exposed the inept, inefficient and callous administrators who have failed in their duty. The security agencies in the country need repairing and overhaul. That is long overdue.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Bomb blasts and killings are the order of life now. Terror prospers because the security agencies are constantly distracted by political diversion. The police are the most harassed lot in this as most of them are utilized for VIP duties, for our MPs and MLAs. With each terror strike, some of our outstanding officers fall prey to bullets, but the system still perpetrates. This time it is these brave martyrs who gave their lives for Mumbai to live on. This can happen to any one of us, BUT WHY?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">It is in every police personnel mind…the power to serve people; ‘Service before Self’ stands so self defeating by itself. Are they waiting for more deaths? But, as duty demands they have taken a pledge to protect law and order in this country. I beseech the system to wake up and protect these men who dedicate their lives to this nation. Otherwise what can destroy India is a change in the spirit of its people away from secularism and peaceful coexistence that have been our greatest strength. I as a father pray for those children and wife's who will have to grow up without their fathers and life partner. They will know that their dad's were out th...ere serving the public. God Bless those families.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Also policemen live in pathetic conditions. As a result police in India is underfunded, understaffed, underpaid, undertrained and under armed. And, there is only one thing it Criticism is a must for any accountable public servant, including the police, but it must be sane and sensible receives in abundance-that is the universal abuse. Criticism is a must for any accountable public servant, including the police, but it must be sane and sensible. Abuse undermines legitimate criticism.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived." - Vivian Eney</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-49651787438153721262010-06-28T04:54:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:49:15.642-08:00We want an Indian Prime Minister !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw62w6V6FRGplAvyMaCAONk3f0jpEEWWmg5gLA5Q2r7Jf-QEOzKahX3VHPwTTJcEnFh5yUI1Sik6I_BDwZH5D428Y2JZUSv6LKH43AAmIDFdzunxz4W0mca8SjEefuBEhVgo1gy01Jo14/s1600/chair_pm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="636" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487792672985992274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw62w6V6FRGplAvyMaCAONk3f0jpEEWWmg5gLA5Q2r7Jf-QEOzKahX3VHPwTTJcEnFh5yUI1Sik6I_BDwZH5D428Y2JZUSv6LKH43AAmIDFdzunxz4W0mca8SjEefuBEhVgo1gy01Jo14/s640/chair_pm.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">About two decades ago and earlier an Indian could raise his head in pride but today if looking at the political drama being played by our politicians, there is substantial documentation to highlight the nexus between politicians and some of the most lumpen of criminals, men of straw squabble for the opportunity to occupy ministerial berths which were once graced by statesmen of vision and dignity. Today, in the name of religion and divisive politics, our country is faced with the grave threat of terrorists not from outside but from within our country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, the country is faced with the gravest moral and ethical crisis in history. Yet, the blame for this state of affair is sought to be placed on the shoulders of the people. Thus has every Prime Minister who succeeded Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru used every occasion to mouth lofty ideals and motivate the people to greater degrees of nationalism and patriotism? In other words, it was always the fault of the people, never that of the leaders.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, India if it has to march ahead has to achieve a lot. The way the country is moving there are fears that India will become a land of bribery, corruption, nepotism and other such evils which can ruin a country's financial, administrative and social fabric. These problems have only one cause. It is not our over-population, corruption or even lack of education. It is attitude. To change and improve a country, the people must change, and people change if their attitudes change: attitudes to work, the country, the man next door, the sleazy bureaucrats, politicians, the west and life in general. To achieve something we must have a fixed objective and we must set our sights firmly on our goal and strive towards it, because the following years ahead can make or break India.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">India is not a land of super trains; it is a land of more than 1,150,000,000 (1.15 billion) people. India is currently the world's second largest country. Demographers expect India's population to surpass the population of China, currently the most populous country in the world, by 2030. We are our biggest resource. A resource which has long been wasting, a resource which has been neglected and been regarded as a liability, and a resource which will lead the way for us into the next decade. But, politics will play a large role in how our nation will shape up. We live in a time when a politician can say, “I came, I saw and I conquered power be it by hook or by crook.” And get away with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Indian politics should undergo a sea change to meet the challenges and demands of modern India. What naughty, dirty politics required is a whack in the right place and a good clean system where corrupt politicians are thrown out of power. And that can be done only by us, we citizens. We require a new breed of leaders with new thoughts and ideas to grease the wheels and not the palms, of this nation. However, our purpose would be better served if we honestly fulfilled our duties and exercised our rights, and if we made ourselves aware of the factors and faces which will effect our country, so that when election time comes along every five years, when the politicians are brought back down to earth, when power is snatched from their hands and is thrust into ours, then we can ensure a future we do not regret living in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">If we do not act now, we will repent later. Today 'patriotism' which our leaders sacrificed their lives for is no more in the hearts of our politicians. In the name of religion and caste these leaders are trying to divide our nation and if we do not nip this in the bud, it wouldn't be far away when India will be a nation of bits and tatters. Today, we have more leaders aspiring to be Prime Minister than a patriotic leader. They had ambitions and strived only to occupy the highest chair of this country. Sharad Pawar, looked upon himself as a 'Maharasthrian PM'; Mayawati as a 'Dalit PM'; L.K.Advani as a 'Hindutva PM'. Balasaheb Thackeray, too keeps shouting aloud of supporting a Marathi 'manoos' as the country’s Prime Minister. But none of them have a feeling of patriotism for the country and say, we want an Indian Prime Minister. But, as citizens of this glorious nation, we can proudly say “We want an Indian Prime Minister who will strive for the welfare of the people instead of only striving for power.” We have to make this day happen. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">When will this day come? When will it transpire into a reality? When will we see this day when food is not a luxury, liquor is not a necessity and peace is not a rare and expensive commodity. A day when travel is not a torture, bribery is not a part of administrative procedure and poverty is not a prerequisite for Indian citizenship.</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-22465362906646906742010-06-25T13:31:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:52:07.394-08:00Is BJP on the verge of a coma?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Nitin Gadkari addresing a meeting after taking charge as BJP President. Other prominent BJP leaders attended the meeting</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The ‘Bhartiya Janata Party’(BJP) or described by many as ‘Bhartiya Junglee Party’ is steeped in crisis such as it has never known before. Vacillating from an identity crisis to a leadership crisis, the party is on the verge of being wiped off from the national scene. It may sound an exaggeration but the reality is - the BJP faced upsets in the last two Lok Sabha elections and is in danger of losing power in majority of states it has been ruling. The possibility is still that - simply a 'possibility', many feel. But talk to any BJP worker and your worst fears are bound to get confirmed. Most are not sure of getting into the Lok Sabha again in the immediate future. What the future will bring no one knows. The unfortunate part of the whole story is that the top leadership is oblivious of the writing on the wall. Perhaps they feel that the old style of manipulating issues, splitting parties, bribing the elected members and strengthening the vote bank will yield results and will retain the party's position in power. While all this has worked in the past, it may not now.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The problem with the BJP is that it has been in power since Independence for a short period of six years, in a coalition government (NDA) in the past 62 years-barring two brief spells of the Atal Vajpayee's rule. Any political party, which sees power for a short period of time, is bound to develop inherent structural abrasions and contradictions. Similarly, the Congress developed several but they managed to keep their house in order. The BJP assigned to neither itself the image of 'Hindutva' but it was neither Hindutva, nor secular nor socialist in action. It disillusioned the majority as well as the minority, labour as well as the entrepreneurial class. While promising to remove corruption in public life, each successive BJP and its allies led government in states as well as the centre, became more and more corrupt. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, every BJP or its allies worker believes that only 'he' has the right to rule the country and therefore justifies every means to remain in power. The first principle of power which the BJP leaders have to learn is that power is transitory. The more you try and adhere to it, the more unpopular you are likely to be. It is sad fact that in India, politics and corruption have almost become synonymous. The drama created by BJP on the vote of confidence cannot be forgotten. The world watching cannot forget how some MPs took out bundles of currency. It shows the sorry state of politics of the BJP, where the power-hungry party is willing to stoop to any level. What had happened in Parliament is nothing short of prostitution! The only difference is: it was not the body but the nation's very soul that was being offered to the highest bidder! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The BJP has been moving away from the people gradually. Today, the party is totally alienated from the people and its leaders. The reason being the link between the people and the leader has disappeared. In the past, evolution of leadership was a gradual process. The most damaging fact is that the BJP has not been able to communicate a cogent politics to anyone, not even erstwhile fellow- travelers and supporters. And this new paranoid, inward-looking avatar is certainly unlikely to win it any more political ground. After, the party’s debacle in 2009 their leaders went into a ‘Chintan Baithak’ at Shimla as a bunch of losers trying to clean up their act. They re-emerged in the form of a bunch of self-destructive lunatics. BJP, in practice is frequently being revealed to be a party of people who have no idea what they are doing or where they want to go. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The BJP's brittleness is evident in the way it had disregarded institutional proprietary from Jaswant Singh's expulsion. Further, Arun Shourie's remark of BJP's leadership as 'Alice in blunder land', turmoil in Rajasthan and now Bihar and outburst of other leaders like Nitish Kumar, Jaswant Singh, Brajesh Mishra and Sudheendra Kulkarni, Uma Bharati have hit a nail in the coffin for the BJP. The moves made by the BJP leadership proved to be blunderous. And these moves are not carried out with a view to improve the administration in the leadership but to regain power. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">With a weakening BJP, the Congress seems to be set to consolidate its position at the Centre and majority of states. Unless and until the mess created by the BJP is cleaned and the confidence of the masses is again re-stored, the BJP party appears to be slipping into coma. What happens in the next Lok Sabha and many State Assembly elections would be interesting to watch. If the writing on the wall was clear after the parliamentary elections this year, it became pronounced that the Congress continues on its revival path and the BJP which tasted power from the Hindutva belt- Uttar Pradesh, is nowhere in the recognition and continues its journey downhill. The Left is shrinking and the right is going nowhere. But the BJP is definitely slipping into a coma. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Bharatiya Junglee Party (BJP) or the National Disaster Alliance (NDA), if, it ever has to come to power needs to wallow in the mire of astrology, palmistry, karmakand, abracadabra, Vedic slaughter, and shamanism. These induce them to keep looking for answers to their problems in the mist-enveloped regions of the occult and the obscure. That is the only way these usurpers can ensure their safety from the fury of the people. The degeneration of the BJP from the vibrant Hindu movement that it was in the 1990s, as a party with a vision and an agenda, to what it has become today – a vehicle for individual ambitions - can be best gauged by those whom the BJP has chosen as its face and voice, as its power-brokers, as its point-persons, and as its strategists. But in a society like India, these are viruses that poison the system and the ultimate result is a state of coma.</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-13627338788303359472010-06-03T19:15:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:52:36.394-08:00Rape, Can a dream of crime free society be possible?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFQWyRMp36xCgOxM3ACiunyZzBJIsOgbkVQDTCX2q8qqrQgO_Ydo7QPb86gI2y95pr9ZsA0Itnm3Wuwd_Wt8I8ajHnjXQ40K3TyMLhOneKLKdkSjaoOE6099GYiOKbLgt2cot9Ew7HfY/s1600/rape(3).jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478737097184545986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFQWyRMp36xCgOxM3ACiunyZzBJIsOgbkVQDTCX2q8qqrQgO_Ydo7QPb86gI2y95pr9ZsA0Itnm3Wuwd_Wt8I8ajHnjXQ40K3TyMLhOneKLKdkSjaoOE6099GYiOKbLgt2cot9Ew7HfY/s1600/rape(3).jpg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Rapist belongs to all parties, castes and creed. It is not written on anyone’s forehead. In spite of the prosperity, globalization and education, we have failed to eliminate the violence against women. We worship woman as a Goddess, regard her as a mother, love her as a wife and she is most affectionate to us as a daughter but still we commit violence against her. As per the statistics available, every 3rd minute a case of violence against woman is registered in India. Every day 50 cases of dowry related violence are reported and every 29th minute a woman is raped. All rape cases are not reported to police but if you consider all rape cases, then probably a woman is raped in India every 15th minute. This shows the gravity of the problem. Laws are not very strict for such type of violence against woman. Sad part of the story is that in most of the cases culprits are either close relatives, friends or known persons. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Although these cases are seldom reported, it is a known fact that women are exploited at their work place, girls suffer as a student in their school, maid servant exploited by the house keeper, disable and handicap girls sexually used in the orphanages. Women are suffering in agony but in peace as there is nobody to complain to.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The rape of a maid servant by actor Shiney Ahuja had taken the country by shock and particularly the safety of women in the city of Mumbai which was once regarded a safe haven for women. In another shocking incident it took the country's legal system nearly 20 years to put behind bars the man former Haryana police Chief S.P.S. Rathore, who had molested budding teenaged tennis player Ruchika Girhotra in August 1990. She committed suicide three years later. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Despite women personalities like Pratibha Patil, Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamta Banerjee, Girija Vyas, Sushma Swaraj, Kiran Bedi and Ex-Mumbai police Addl. Commissioner like Archana Tyagi, being at the helm of affairs and a lot of NGOs fighting for women causes, the atrocities on women does not seem to stop and continues to be on the rise. Practically, every day we come across an incident of rape or atrocities on women in the media. When will the day come when women feel safe in our country?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">There is an urgent need to clear the society from crime and criminals. The atrocities and rape on women is increasing at an alarming pace. Every woman is feeling insecure in herself. The nature of crime on women has touched various heights and newer methods are evolved day in and day out to save oneself from the clutches of law after committing the crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The alarming situation is that even children of low age have not been spared being raped by these bloody savages. The procedure of law and order are absurd and justice gets delayed which gives frustration to justice seekers. The cost of seeking justice is alarming. Rape is one of the least reported and least prosecuted of all-violent crimes. Yet it's after effects can be devastating for the victims. Rape is the most heinous in that it violates the women's dignity, body and mind, and ravages her psyche. Yet most rapes go unreported. There are many reasons why women suffer in silence. Fear, embarrassment, shame, stigma, the fear of not being guilt, the guilt of being typecast by the society as 'that type of woman who invited the rape' etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">These misconceptions are further fuelled by society's unsympathetic attitude towards the victim, and the abrasive and brusque manner in which the crime is investigated by the authorities. It is a great shame that more than 15,000 women are raped every year in India. The present law in respect of rape cases is considered to be extremely antiquated and culprits use loopholes to go scot-free.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">This heinous crime completely disorients the victim and changes their lives forever. The immediate aftermath of a rape for most victims is a feeling of being in a state of extreme shock and trauma. It is a complete fracturing of the victim's personality and psyche. Even survivors of trauma who reconstruct new lives and who have achieved a degree of normality will find that new life events will trigger memories and reactions of the trauma. Such is the gruesome effect of this offence on its victims. The total scenario of crime leaves no ray of hope, intelligentsia is helpless. The right citizen dares not come forward. In such a situation is there a ray of hope? Can justice sustain the hope of the victim? Can a dream of crime free society be possible? Can it be made a reality? What can and should be done? Will it succeed or the efforts go waste? What can I do? I am alone. My voice will be unheard. These are the most common questions been raised by the public and nobody dares to come forward to stop these heinous crimes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">This clearly gives the indication that unless like-minded people join hands, think, ponder and plan their schemes and strategies and monitor their implementation, all efforts are going to be ineffective. A concentrated concrete proposal needs to be formed with all loopholes plugged; otherwise all efforts will be wasted. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"SEXUAL ASSAULT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE AT ANYTIME." Rapists look for someone who is vulnerable"...and available. RAPE IS A CRIME OF VIOLENCE AND CONTROL NOT PASSION."</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-23872267367971064542010-05-28T02:13:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:35:24.248-08:00This is my India.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sri Ram Sene goons attacking innocent youth after they barged into a disco in Bangalore</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVbyp6qeRB4u6r5n-EwGAc0-6I91HewzX2gy6QLhcWwjlxiOP0mrNRi8SDkGz9pLlSZLVkR3ehAxE-_OUtV5Vpv-SIFxOpg6mAhBa0pwQi7PFEGjO8umG8y2jWZqi_zS44f7LMJTEkOA/s1600/chattisgarh_tribals_killed_TPE_20070115.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476247517737494066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVbyp6qeRB4u6r5n-EwGAc0-6I91HewzX2gy6QLhcWwjlxiOP0mrNRi8SDkGz9pLlSZLVkR3ehAxE-_OUtV5Vpv-SIFxOpg6mAhBa0pwQi7PFEGjO8umG8y2jWZqi_zS44f7LMJTEkOA/s1600/chattisgarh_tribals_killed_TPE_20070115.jpg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The ghastly attack by Maoists killing innocents</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The recent ghastly attacks by Maoists, the tragedy of air crash at Mangalore, unwarranted strike by AI union leaving 30,000 passengers stranded, prevailing political turmoil in the country, religious fanaticism, terrorism, crimes et al shows that India is a bruised and bleeding nation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Brutal India, bleeding India, burning India, battered India, beleaguered India, bewildered India, faltering India, dropping India, disintegrating India, starving India and dying India.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">India today is a battered nation with religion and casteism leading to blood stains all over the place. Bomb blasts have become a child’s toy in the hands of terrorists with our politicians enjoying the game at the altar of the innocent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">India in which forces of chauvinism and fascism have besieged the polity, in which corruption has become a way of life, in which politics has turned into a trade, violence has become the ultimate arbiter of social conflict, law and order has crumbled and the people feel insecure. Today, places of worship are vandalized and public places blasted in broad daylight, in which various religions have turned into battle-fields whose inhabitants are treated as aliens by their own protectors, in which wheels of justice move at snail pace, if at all, in which culture has become the preserve of a few.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Society ignores the basic needs of man in which half the nation sleep with an empty stomach and thousands of villages and millions of people thirst for potable water. Poverty has led to millions of children grow into illiterate, stunned, deformed adults, in which the higher strata form a separate nation, in which sky-scrapers have slums in their shadow, in which religion reduced to rituals known no love or compassion, in which hatred and hostility poison human mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, equality, justice, solidarity and fraternity exist but in name, in which million of citizens cannot walk with their heads held high, because by accident of birth, in which Presidents and Prime Ministers prostate before living god men, in which science and technology pay tribute to superstition and obscurantism, in which a dream has turned into a nightmare.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A free society has retreated into isolated shells and broken up into mutually hostile groups, where each lives in fear of the other. This is India, today, dominated by hereditary groups in every walk of life, unable to break through the shackles of caste and social disabilities, of religion and religious hostility, of race and racial antagonism of regions and regional disparity. Yet, this is my India, the India of Rama and Buddha, of Guru Nanak and Jesus Christ, of Akbar, Ashoka and Chatrapati Shivaji, of Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, of Jawaharlal Nehru and Jaiprakash Narayan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">My India, whose ideals are peace and non-violence, love and compassion, equality and justice and fraternity, which set out on 15th August 1947, to provide a model for mankind.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">If India has to survive as a civilized society, it has to break out of the stagnant pools of hereditary privilege and nourish itself from the inexhaustible spring of the people. In short, democratise itself, decentralise itself, debrahminise itself and decommunalise itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">We have to cleanse the blood on the streets, extinguish the flames, heal the wounds. We’ll have to vanquish evil, establish peace and justice and embrace all our people irrespective of their caste or creed. Then only we can build a strong India. And loudly claim,” I am proud to be an Indian.”</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-57383229417882315182010-05-14T19:35:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:38:08.444-08:00Sri Ram Sene not only deserves ‘Chaddis’ but also ‘Bangles’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pramod Muthalik of Shri Ram Sena, a right-wing Hindu group addressing a press meet</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Shri Ram Sene , a right-wing Hindu group founded by Pramod Muthalik, a former member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena. The organization was literally unheard a year ago. It suddenly shot into prominence on 24 January 2009, when the group gained notoriety by attacking girls in a pub in Mangalore. A group of 40 activists of the Sri Ram Sena barged into the pub "Amnesia — The Lounge" and beat up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were “violating traditional Indian values”. Now the question is – what are Indian values and who is to decide Indian values? The Sri Ram Sene self-proclaimed themselves as the custodians of Indian culture and termed the attack on women as violation of Indian values. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, women enjoy equal status as men in every field and they cannot be compelled to remain in the dark. And in a democratic society women have equal freedom. Just as men are the builders of the society, women are conservers of the society. When a man get spoiled, it is bad only for himself. But if a woman gets spoiled, it indicates that society is spoiled. There is a very popular saying that "Men get spoiled by staying in, Women get spoiled by moving out". Once a woman comes out of tradition, the whole society seems to get ruined. Hence the beauty of a society or family cannot be estimated just by looking at women dressing sense as proclaimed by the philosophy of the Ram Sene.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">These men in saffron Brigade are nothing but goondas and have taken law in their hands. It’s never about culture or values but it’s only creating trouble and politicizing matters. The attack reminisces a Taliban-type culture by beating women while talking of women’s empowerment. These goondas not only need pink chaddis but they also need bangles to wear. People who beat up girls and women can't be men but frustrated good for nothing henpecked low life on this earth. We have all seen how the Shiv Sena and MNS the two goonda outfits of Mumbai went in hiding during Mumbai 26/11 tragedy. Have we ever seen these goondas offering to going and fighting a real man war? No. They are too busy beating up brothers and sisters and young kids. That is the Indian culture they are talking about and fighting to be the custodians. All these political outfits are a poison for Indians and will destroy India.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">These rightwing hooligans are an insult to our constitutional law. These goons are behaving like extra-constitutional authority through out the country making mockery of the provisions of rules of law. Their divisive agenda have already led the nation to pay heavy price in shape of home grown terrorism. The self styled "moral cops" of this type should be declared as "terrorist" and dealt with heavy hand by the state power, otherwise India would become ungovernable one day due to these fascist forces. Why can’t the government put Muthalik and a hundreds of his associates inside bars? What ever may be the reason; this type of ransom Moral Policing should not be tolerated. Whether or not BJP and its associates are responsible for these acts, their venom like propaganda of ‘Hindutva’ is the main reason for the rise and growth of such organisations. The BJP has to be blamed for bringing about a division in society for which we are paying a heavy price.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The only solution is to ban all those organisations which are in the habit of taking law in to their hands. Such organizations damage our culture more than indiscriminate adoption of western morals by our youth. With hundreds dying in our country of hunger and poverty every year there are bigger issues to be tackled than trying to enforce ones prejudiced version of "Hindu" culture for the sake of publicity. In the country where Gandhiji and the others thought they should give freedom to the citizens, they would have never thought that the country would have advanced to such a level where the police or the military give the powers to such an act of hooliganism. This outraging and the government should interfere and solve this issue. Hinduism doesn't mean that the others who would like to enjoy should not be doing it at their expense. RSS is shedding crocodile tears because they know that there is great indignation in the country on this issue but why do they not condemn similar activities by Shiv Sena, and Bajrang Dal?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">If this continues – it leaves a question unanswered whether women in India have the freedom and right to make choices of their own anymore. How long are the women to bear the brunt of attacks, rape, dowry, assault and female feoticide?</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-9608354471586433252010-05-13T23:15:00.000-07:002016-11-11T01:37:42.217-08:00Women are the ‘Ministry of the interior’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9RCiyZ4skwjsyMhlKi39INKZ0Y3YeWd753LtUxsrJCelzQqrrao_5FyKbiV49W9uwpJ59lX9CFxycuoeD10XiwURRO5-zN9esrYpMYx_2DyqO4l6-KjMzURQ8ACWaRNPx446Z2LxGDY/s1600/mothers+day.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489076856909740946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9RCiyZ4skwjsyMhlKi39INKZ0Y3YeWd753LtUxsrJCelzQqrrao_5FyKbiV49W9uwpJ59lX9CFxycuoeD10XiwURRO5-zN9esrYpMYx_2DyqO4l6-KjMzURQ8ACWaRNPx446Z2LxGDY/s640/mothers+day.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A few days ago, we celebrated Mothers Day. Today, it comes at the back of our mind to honor successful and dynamic women personalities who have made a mark for themselves, despite performing dual roles –one as responsible housewife and other as a dutiful woman at her office. All over the world this day is celebrated for women who have been honored for their contribution towards society. Besides, also the ordinary women attending to household chores or the women on the street should have a feeling of pride on this day. Our Country too has been proud of the women who have contributed to society and the nation. We too salute them and pay respect for their dedication, hard work, courage – which acts as an inspiration.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Women who have succeeded in any field anywhere are controversial figures, and politics too is no exception to this rule. But, here the discussion is perhaps wider and deeper than the other fields with women’s liberation, since the argument ultimately focuses on the core values of a culture in the throes of runaway modernization.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">All the same, the so called ‘Battle of Sexes’ goes beyond question of race, creed and politics. Men and women differ in all areas of their lives. Not only do they think, feel, perceive, react, respond, love, need and appreciate differently. They almost seem to be from different planets. Men are generally better at conceptualizing and getting the ‘big picture’, while women are better at work that requires accuracy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Women have a more dependable ‘gut feeling’ and it helps them handle difficult situations and people in a finer manner. As far as comforting and counseling goes it is usually the females in the household who take care of the sick, and it is from this experience of informal health care that these skills are probably derived. Also, mother’s who have learnt to manage their homes, care for their children and see to their husbands needs have a better ability to handle several tasks at the same time than men.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Women social skills make them better suited to work in service organizations and fields than men. Hence, it is proved that women make better politicians than men as far as service to the masses is concerned. They are more patient and considerate to human feelings and problems. Also, a woman is expected to be kinder, softer and less businesslike. Hence, women politicians are less corrupt than men.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today, with new economic pressures and the availability of education, the trend has been changing. Women have been occupying higher positions in various fields. Besides, traditional methods of upbringing – not just in India, but in many parts of the world – teach that a women place is in the home. But the latest breed of girls goes against these traditions of ‘mother’s place is the home’. If we want women to work and men to facilitate this, we must begin by changing attitudes at the earliest stage of socialization.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The increasing integration of Indian and Western cultures, combined with new economic pressures, has resulted in ever more Indian women entering the work force and climbing the corporate ladder.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The woman is the core of the family. Should the husband die, a family can continue, but it is very hard without the mother. In Arabic it is said that women are the ‘Ministry of the interior’. What it means is that a good mother is as essential to a good nation as she is to a good family. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A last word to women, “If you command respect and show you are just as competent and capable as a man, I don’t think any woman will have any problem in life.”</span></div>
Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4897654664973597923.post-11116400952451154832010-05-12T03:04:00.000-07:002010-05-12T04:14:15.472-07:00Hi...I have today opened by new blogger... Hope to keep posting interesting articles on my Blog.. Keep reading and your valuable feedbacks are most welcome...<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks and enjoy a good day...</div><div><br /></div><div>Regards,</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>FREDERICK D'SILVA</div><div><br /></div><div>JOURNALIST</div>Frederick Dsilvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961335328639247102noreply@blogger.com0