इसलिए मोदी

16 May 1996. I was just a small kid who had no interest in politics. An event, which took place that day, changed it. That day, I saw a certain pride and hope in my father's eyes as an old man said "Main, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, ...". At that time, I didn't know why my father felt that way, but it meant that I supported Atalji during his tenure as PM. It also started my interest in politics which has only increased with time.

By the time, 2004 came, I had been following politics for 8 years, and in my limited understanding, thought that NDA government had done a decent job. Also, I was in awe of Atalji due to his oratory. I was upset that I was not eligible to vote. I wanted to vote for Atalji as PM. Needless to say, I was sad when results came. The biggest disappointment was the fact that I would never get to vote for that visionary man. 

Over the years, as my understanding has increased (mainly thanks to social media and friends), my compatibility with BJP has increased. It is now not merely because my dad supported it. I support BJP on all three of the core issues (Ram Janmabhoomi, removal of Article 370 and implementation of Uniform Civil Code). I am appalled at the 'secularism' in which "tilak bhi lagana padega aur topi bhi pehenni padegi". I am ashamed at the 'preparedness' of our defence forces. I am angry at the way our economic progress of NDA years has been withered away. For me, these are the three main issues in these elections: Secularism, Security and Economy.

Let us start with the pet topic of so many who oppose Modi: Gujarat 2002. If BJP is communal because of Gujarat 2002, then what about Bhagalpur, Nellie, Hashimpura, Moradabad, Bombay, Muzzafarnagar? Even for 2002, what about Congress leader Haji Bilal, the chief conspirator of Godhra massacre? What about Meghsingh Chaudhary, another Congress leader, who led the mob at Gulbarga society and killed Ehsan Jaffri? Let me put it bluntly: India in general and Gujarat in particular has a history of communal violence. If we disqualified every party in whose tenure riots took place, we would be left with none. Moreover, 2002 riots are not a one-off incident for Gujarat. We used to have curfews every year. There was not a single Rath Yatra which would pass off peacefully. So, why this insistence that all others were spontaneous and only 2002 was state sponsored? In India, we follow the dictum of "Innocent until proven Guilty" but why in 2002 is it "Guilty even after proven Innocent"?

The past decade has been the only decade in Gujarat for a long time without a major riot. Does that count for nothing? Gujarat has the highest conviction rate, by a fair margin, among all the riots which have taken place in India. Does that count for nothing? Maya Kodnani is the only high profile politician to be sentenced in a rioting case. Does that count for nothing? Supreme Court appointed SIT has exonerated Modi of any wrongdoing. Does that count for nothing? Even after a decade of witch-hunting by Central government, media and 'NGOs', there is not even an iota of evidence against Modi. Does that count for nothing? 

There is a general perception that there is only one communal party in India and that is BJP. A party which watched silently when Kashmir was purged of Pandits is not. A party which rewarded (and continues to reward) people involved in killing of Sikhs in 1984 is not. A party which opposes Uniform Civil Code is not. A party which passed a legislation to deny Shah Bano a princely sum of Rs. 500, as maintenance, to pacify the Maulvis is not. A party whose Prime Minister started his re-election campaign by doing Shilanyas at Ram Janmabhoomi is not. A party whose allies include Muslim League and Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (of Owaisi fame) is not. A party which encourages illegal immigrants of a certain community is not. A party whose Prime Minister tells that minorities have first right on national resources is not. A party whose Home Minister asks states to go easy on Muslim suspects is not. A party whose ministers claim that the party president cried when she heard of Batla encounter is not. A party whose ex-CM and senior leader releases a book claiming that 26/11 was an RSS conspiracy is not. A party which promises reservations for minorities (even implemented in Andhra Pradesh only to be squashed by courts) is not.  A party whose president approaches Shahi Imam and gives a clarion call to Muslims to vote for it is not. A party whose minister even questions the existence of Indian Mujahideen is not. A party which gives student scholarships based on student's religion is not. A party which brings a bill which has separate laws for majority and minority communities in case of communal violence, irrespective of who initiated the violence, is not.

I dont know about others but atleast I have a problem with this definition of secularism. It is nothing but minority appeasement. It is this appeasement, which has widened the trust deficit between communities. It is high time, this pseudo-secularism ends. Terrorists need to be eliminated irrespective of their religion. Students need to be promoted irrespective of their religion. Law should be same for all irrespective of their religion. According to me, until Uniform Civil Code is implemented, we cannot achieve secularism in the real sense. At present, there is only one party which supports that demand: BJP. इसलिए मोदी

 

Now lets talk about security. China and Pakistan both are our enemies. They dont want India to progress. They both want Indian territories. This is a harsh reality, which we all should embrace. The present UPA government over the past decade has compromised our position greatly. To just give a small example of this, we dont even have a Navy chief for over a month now. Mr. Clean, St. Antony, has sat on files for so long that our armed forces dont even have enough ammunition. There has been no push for modernisation of forces. We still lack infrastructure in forward areas. Maoists are increasing their presence and striking capabilities at an alarming rate. The present government has even allowed Balochistan to be equated with Kashmir. The constant flip-flops on talks with Pakistan is nauseating. At times, it feels as if our foreign policy is: not to antagonise any one. At other times, it feels we dont have a foreign policy. Whatever the minister or the bureaucrats feel like, they do. There is simply no pattern to it. Is this the sign of a country which wants to be seen as a world power? (For a more detailed read on the problems faced by India in defence and foreign policy, please go through Jaideep Prabhu's articles)

In these difficult times, I want a hawkish government, which gives security the importance it deserves. I want a government, which, as Shourie says in his book "We Must Have No Price", can do a Kashmir on Pakistan in Pakistan, which does not believe in a tooth for a tooth but in full jaw for a tooth. George Fernandes was an excellent Defence Minister. Morale of the armed forces was high in his tenure. Not only was armed forces being modernised, we even conducted nuclear tests. In Shourie, Gen. V K Singh, Gen. Khanduri, Ajit Doval, BJP has persons who have the experience, knowledge and resolve to make the situation better. To ensure that our borders are safe. To ensure that Maoists are pushed back. To ensure that Pakistan know that if it continues to meddle with our lives, it will also have to pay a price. इसलिए मोदी 

I belong to a family of businessmen. In the end, money matters a lot to me. I dont want India to go back to the socialist era where the peak tax rate was as high as 97%. I dont want India to go back to the license/permit raj. I dont want India to go back to the Nehru growth rate of 2-3%. I dont want India to go back to the time when all banks were nationalised. I want more MNCs to come to India. I want Indian companies to compete with those MNCs. I want India to grow at 8-10%. For that to happen, we have to liberalise our markets even more. There has to be a massive disinvestment drive. Why should Government of India be running an airline? or a telephone company? or hotels? or give film awards? As many have said, Government has no business being in business. 

Atalji's government was the most reform minded government, we have seen. The reforms in NDA were not forced by impending crisis but were because of conviction in them. There was real divestment and not the type we have seen in the past decade, where PSUs buy government stake in other PSUs. There was a major boost to creation of infrastructure. Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana, Golden Quadrilateral, North-South and East-West corridors doubled our road network. There was also a large drive to achieve electrification of villages. Present BJP governments in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Goa and Rajasthan have taken forward the good work done by NDA. Madhya Pradesh is no more a Bimaru state. Agricultural growth seen there is heart warming. PDS system in Chattisgarh has improved a lot.

A lot has been written about Gujarat development. I dont know the GDP figures or Infant Mortality Rate or the number of malnourished kids. I know that there is no power cut. I know that almost all villages are connected by road. I know that villages have broadband connectivity. I know that now Gujarati women dont have to travel kilometers in scorching heat to get water. I know that recently Government of Gujarat has started creating toilets in rural households. I know that GoG has undertaken a special programme to reduce the prevalence of Sickle Cell Anaemia in Dangs area. I know that BRTS is running smoothly in Ahmedabad. I know that Gujarat is at present leader in both Solar energy and Drip Irrigation in India. I know that Sanand has developed as an auto-hub. I know that we Gujaratis are happy with the work done by the Government.

In short, BJP is the party which is most likely to bring in much needed reforms. BJP is the party which has done development in the states which it is governing. Modi has a proven record of doing things. Of delivering on promises. इसलिए मोदी 

To summarise, I am voting for Modi on the basis of the good work done by him and other BJP CMs in their respective states. I am voting for Modi on the basis of the good work done by Atalji's government. I am voting for Modi in the hope of a stable government. A government which will not compromise on national security. A government which believes in Development of all, Appeasement of none. Which believes in Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. Which believes in the following Idea of India:

I hope this May 16, 18 years later, कमल फिर खिलेगा, अँधेरा फिर छटेगा. I hope I would have pride in my eyes as I see the next Prime Minister of India take oath as "Main, Narendra Damodardas Modi, ...."

समर शेष हैं नहीं पाप का भागी केवल व्याध 

जो तटस्थ हैं समय लिखेगा उनके भी अपराध 

-- रामधारी सिंह दिनकर 

जय हिन्द

Goonda Raj - Part 2

WE, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

Justice, social, economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

This is the preamble of Indian constitution. It forms the basis of the the concept of social equality. No citizen can be discriminated against on the basis of his/her race, religion, region, language, caste, creed or gender. Time and again this principle has been violated. The latest violation (or rather series of violations) have been committed by Raj and MNS.

They have objection to anything and everything that is not Marathi. They object to poor migrant workers from UP/Bihar, they object to use of Hindi in posters and in shops, they object to use of word Bombay for Amchi Mumbai. Everybody have right to protest and object but it should be done in the limits of civil society and law of the land. One's right should not be used in such a way that it infringes on the right of others. I have no problem with Raj if he protests peacefully. But, the manner in which he does this is simply unpardonable. You cannot rough up a elected MLA in assembly because he is taking oath in Hindi. You cannot force a hawker to close his stall because he was not born in Maharashtra. You cannot vandalize theaters just because the movie refers to Mumbai as Bombay.

Just today, I read that he has threatened to disrupt SBI recruitment process if non-Marathis were selected. He should remember that it is State Bank of INDIA. The Govt. of India is there to look out for the needs of all Indians. By disrupting these exams and creating a law and order problem he is not helping the poor Marathis. If he is so concerned about the welfare of Marathis then he should open up his own bank and hire only Marathis, go and work in Vidharbha were poor farmers are committing suicides. At a time when thousands of persons are in such poor conditions, he is more concerned about language used in assembly. And he calls himself savior of Marathi culture.

The way he is going forward, I don't think that day is quite far when he will deem even Jana Gana Mana as hurting the sentiments of Marathi Manoos. He would demand that the Indian Army be named Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sena and that the woman wing be named Veermata Jijabai Sena. He would demand that Mumbai be declared the capital of India. Mumbai HC (with Raj as the only Chief Justice) be a authority even higher than SC. All the non-Marathis pay a tax for the welfare of Marathis. All seats in colleges and schools should be first filled by Marathis and the remaining seats be given to whatever useless scums are left. Marathis have first right of use of all resources.

We need to stop him. If we don't then we are going towards the Balkanisation of India. A country as diverse as India cant survive Balkanisation. What is the guarantee that he won't demand complete independence of Maharashtra from India? Hate and violence have domino effect. If this lawlesness continues in Maharashtra then it is quite possible that we may see attacks on Marathis in other parts of India. We can't afford another faultline through our social fabric.

There is no harm in promoting Marathi but there is no need to use force to do so. Marathi culture and language is quite rich. It does not need the clutches of violence and hatred to survive or prosper. Mumbai is what it is due to the hardwork of all Mumbaikars, be it Gujarati or Marwari businessmen, Filmstars from all over India, migrant workers from UP/Bihar, local population, South Indian academicians, Bengali artists, everyone. I cannot imagine Mumbai without Bollywood (Bachchans, Khans, Kapoors, Burmans, Kumars, Rahman, Gulzar, Mani Ratnam, Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sonu Nigam, Mannadey, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Bengali Babes, etc. ), Tatas, Ambanis, Bajajs, Parekhs, Birlas, Godrej, Wadias, Mehtas, Patels and Shahs of BSE, Udupi restaurants and nariyal-paniwallahs at Chowpatty, IIT-B (with many prominent non-Marathi faculty), panwallahs and grocery stores of persons from UP/Bihar. It is not a question of whether Mumbai can survive without them or not, its a question whether Mumbai wants to survive without them or not.

Its high time govt. showed Raj his place. He should be sent to jail and this policy of dividing India should be stopped at the earliest. We can not allow politicians to break up India for petty political gains. There should be no place for such persons in a civil society leave aside in politics.

Jai Hind!!!

Every dark cloud has a silver lining

Last week, we saw several incidences that were really disturbing. The culprits were spread evenly across India and political spectrum. West Bengal to Karnataka, Maharashtra to Jharkhand. BJP to Congress, Independents to Smaller Parties, Left to Trinamool. Newly elected legislators fighting in assembly, legislators holidaying in resorts while their constituencies are groping with flood relief, a CM accusing Union Minister of conniving with Maoists, an all out inquiry in the assets of an ex-CM. Just when we thought we had seen everything, Ashok Chavan led government in Maharashtra sprang another surprise. R R Patil was back as home minister just before the anniversary of Mumbai attacks.

Corruption cases are not new to Indian politics. We have had Bofors and Coffingate, Chara and Hawala. So, why this hue and cry over Madhu Koda? The reasons are quite simple. He is the first independent to become Chief Minister. This means that there is very high probability that the parties who were supporting him were at least aware of his dealings if not involved in. This puts Congress in the dockyard. Also, if he assembled millions during his two year tenure as CM of a poverty ridden state Jharkhand, then how much would have other politicians, who have been ruling (or atleast been MPs) for decades.

The work of legislators whether independent or belonging to any party is to work for the people in the constituency they represent. Just as Madhu Koda was guilty of siphoning off public funds for his personal use and hence neglecting the needs of the people, Karnataka BJP MLAs were also guilty of neglecting the people in their hour of need. North Karnataka recently faced a very severe flood. What is needed now is strong leadership and efficient governance. But Reddy brothers think that their quest for power is more important. They bought the government to a standstill. MLAs were holidaying in Goa and Hyderabad when they should have been working in their constituencies. And to top it, Reddy brothers are also facing corruption charges in AP. BJP High Command, instead of punishing them for indiscipline and corruption, rewarded them by accepting their demands and transferring out of Bellary and Gadag honest officials who were helping Lokayukta in unearthing the nexus between miners, politicians and officials. Yeddyurappa even shunted his principal secretary to placate them. In normal circumstances I would have scoffed at this opportunism, but I think BJP and Yeddyurappa took a decision which, would harm them but is good for Karnataka. Karnataka can not afford elections at this time. Yeddyurappa is very popular in Karnataka and if elections are held now, then BJP would emerge as a strong contender even without Reddy brothers, but he did not choose this path. Now, I have sincere hope that once the state recovers substantially from flood situations, then some action will be taken against the MLAs, who deserted the people in their hour of need.

But the act of MNS MLAs belittles even the shameless Reddy brothers. Its high time Raj and his cronies are brought to book. They need to know that all Indians are equal and any attack on them on the basis of their place of origin is an attack on the constitution of India, on the very concept of India. Shiv Sena started it with attacks on South Indians in 60s and 70s, Raj revived it with attack on North Indians and topped it with attack on Hindi, our lingua franca. He objects to MLA taking oath in Hindi, next what? Object to singing Jana Gana Mana, because it is not in Marathi? Object to Sachin sharing dressing room with Suresh Raina? Object to Ambani brothers fighting in SC instead of Bombay HC (ohhh and object to it still being Bombay HC)? Issue ultimatum to Mani Ratnam to retrospectively change name of his movie Bombay to Mumbai? He needs to be shown his place. There should be no place for useless, good-for-nothing, publicity seeking, warmongers.

And how can we expect Maharashtra Govt. to straighten him? R R Patil, the new home minister, thinks that incidents like Mumbai attacks of 26/11 happen in a big city like Mumbai. Compared to those, incidents in assembly are really nothing. So, no need to worry. Be like an ostrich. Forget everything. It is really sad that a home minister who had to be removed after huge public opinion against him has not only been rehabilitated but also been given the exact same position as before. What effect will this have on the morals of police forces?

Lastly, we all know that at present we are facing serious challenges from within in the form of Maoists. Finally, government has waken up and has started some offensive. But a lot has to be done. Still Maoists hold a large sway in many districts. The very fact that they could hold a Rajadhani express hostage for hours tells about their power. Also, during the hostage drama, CM of WB, Buddha babu, expressed concerns over the link of Maoists and Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee. If this is true, then it means that Maoists already have a knowledge about the movement of troops and their deployments. This poses a very serious security threat. Mamata is all set to grab power in WB assembly elections next year, so this would mean that Maoists would have a free hand in WB after that. On the other hand, if false, it means, that Left has fallen so much in their hunger to cling on to power that they are leveling baseless and serious charges. Either way, it means that either present CM or the next CM is not fit to be CM.

The way I see it is these instances have brought to front the degradation of Indian politics. But these instances have also given me hope. I hope that quick and swift inquiry in Koda's assets would deter other politicians from doing something of his scale. It should also serve a reminder to the people that by not giving a proper mandate we are allowing ourselves to be exploited. Yeddyurappa has shown quite maturity in choosing the interests of Karnataka over his own interests. He should back these with good handling of flood relief activities. The shameless act of MNS MLAs may force the govt. to finally take some action against him. The central govt. (especially PM Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Chidambram) have shown a genuine interest in solving the Maoist problem.

When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.

JAI HIND!!!

Jinnah and Partition

Partition is a dark chapter in the history of India and Pakistan. Our independence came at a great loss. There was so much bloodshed that some think more blood was spilled during communal violence related to partition than in the freedom struggle itself. Women were raped, children were maimed, even old were not spared. There was chaos everywhere. The situation was so grim that everybody was fearing that this will result in civil war in both India and Pakistan and international community may have to enter to defuse the situation. Both the countries have evolved from that situation but even now the very mention of independence brings along with it the gory images of violence of partition. And ironically, it is one topic where both India and Pakistan seem to share same thought that Jinnah is responsible for it.

(Before writing any further, I would like to clarify that in this post, the terms Hindus and Muslims dont represent the whole of the community but those persons who are fanatics and though small in number, claim to be the voice of the community. They are the group of persons who are responsible for stereotyping of the respective communities.)

Firstly, I don't agree with this thought. Jinnah was a powerful Muslim League leader but he was not so powerful that he could have carved Pakistan on his own. Too much credit is given to him. Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu, Rajendra Prasad and many more were equal to him in stature (if not higher). They all may have made efforts to stop him but the fact remains they all failed. Was Jinnah stronger than the British Empire? We could force Churchill to accept giving independence to India but not convince Jinnah to leave the idea of Pakistan? Couldn't we have given him (or Maulana Azad or any other Muslim) the post of PM to dispel his doubts of India turning into a Hindu state? Was the idea of a federal republic with less powers at centre even worse than partition?

In India, Jinnah is seen as a demon, who single handedly divided the country, who sowed the seeds of mistrust between Hindus and Muslims, who is responsible for all the ills being faced by us. This is one of the few topics wherein all the parties are united. (The only other topics I can think of are criminalisation of politics and perks enjoyed by politicians) The reason for this unison is very simple. Congress has to demonise him, otherwise it will have to accept that it, and more importantly Nehru, is also responsible for the biggest massacare in Indian history. Also, it would have proved quite troublesome to court Muslim vote bank. Hence, they blame Jinnah. It would seem that BJP should have taken this opportunity and tried to embarass Congress on this issue. But, even it chose to side with Congress on this topic. This dilemma of the right wing can be traced back to the time of Godse, when some RSS leaders helped him privately while disowning him publicly. The reason for this is that they sensed a chance to use this to polarise Hindus against Jinnah (read Muslims). They chose Communalism over Nationalism.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, the very thought that India's esteemed leaders are also responsible for their existence as independent state is close to blasphemy. After partition, Pakistan was having problems in trying to unite itself. Its leaders chose hatred towards India as the binding material. In these circumstances, they could not place Nehru, Patel and Gandhi on the same level as the martyr Jinnah, who fought for Pakistan till end. Also, we need to understand that the very existence of India as a secular nation is a slap to the two nation theory. If Pakistan accepts that even Indian leaders are responsible for its independence, only than can they break free from the shackles of partition. Only then can they think about future. At present, Pakistan is united only while opposing someone, be it India, US or Musharraf. This negative approach towards nation building must end. And what better way to end it than to undo the first step of this approach.

I have read many articles and blogs wherein the question being asked is how does it matter now? The man died 60 years ago. Whether he was saint or satan doesn't change the things now. But I beg to defer. Partition resulted in not just massive loss of life but also the social fabric of the subcontinent was changed forever. There is still distrust between Hindus and Muslims. Both blame each other for violence. Muslims still consider that they are treated as second rate citizens of India. Hindus think that Muslims should go to Pakistan. This mistrust can only be reduced if both the sides accept that what happened was not because of any one party. They themselves are also responsible. I am not saying that if we accept that other leaders were also responsible for partition than there will be no more communal violence but atleast the general level of trust between the two communities will increase. Hindus need to accept that Jinnah is not the only one who divided our motherland. (Honestly, I don't get this concept of Akhand Bharat because never in our history where we united from Baluchistan to Assam, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari under a single ruler except when under the Britishers, at which time even Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Myanmar were part of British empire, so where exactly does this concept of Akhand Bharat come from?) Muslims need to accept that the fact that their parents didnt leave India even in those turbulent times shows how much they trusted their Hindu neighbours.

The main problem is that we as a nation shy away from debate. This topic is so important that we should have debates about this. But those debates will only benefit if we enter these debates with an open mind. Banning books, raising slogans or staging demonstrations does no good, it only raises the suspicions of the fence-sitters. If the leaders are so sure that Nehru or Patel had no role in the partition, then they should be open to debate.

I may be wrong. My ideas may be flawed. But I am certain about one thing, unless one heals the wounds of the past, one cannot progress to the future.

JAI HIND!!!

Hai Hai ye Strikes!!!

Last weekend all the hapless Oil Sector Employees had to report to work. POUR SOULS!!! Office on saturday and sunday in PSU and that too after shouting slogans week-long... And to top it the govt. along with the horrible, good-for-nothing media was blaming them all week for paralysing the whole country....Nobody was ready to listen to them, and to make things worse they actually terminated some officers....for what??? for not attending office??? is that such a serious offence??? I am sorry if i am offending anyone (specially some of my friends who are in these PSUs) but i personally dont believe there was anything wrong in what govt. did.

Firstly, let us see what exactly were the grievances of the oil sector workers that led them to go on strike. I have heard some different versions regarding this but the main reason it seems was some part of Justice Rao Committee's suggestion regarding pay scale revision. I dont know whether they are earning enough of not, but the thing is if you are not satisfied by the package provided by the current employer, you are free to join any other company who you think can provide you better opportunities.

I may be wrong but i think OIL PSUs are one of the best providers of facilities to their employees, on par with many MNCs (which the employees deserve given the fact that they are generating so much revenue). But they should also know that they are working in a critical sector which affects the whole economy of the country. In the absence of supply of petrol, diesel there was shortage of these fuels everywhere (whether natural or artificial is debatable). Buses had to be taken off the road, petrol pumps were shut down, some industries also faced shortage and had to scale down their production. The situation didnt' become much grim because of another strike, transporters. But the fact is the twin strike of transporters and OIL PSUs meant that the whole economy was brought to a standstill. Each day that the OIL PSUs didnt function resulted in losses to the tune of crores of rupees. Who is responsible for this loss?

OSOA (OIL Sector Officers Association) also says that the govt. is indulging in blame game and is trying to malign them with the help of media, who wont listen to them. Again I may be wrong, but the way i see the media it is not in much control of the govt. and it wont leave even one chance of some sensational news item. In these times when there are so many news channels, couldn't they find even one news channel who were ready to show the truth?

Another major complaint of OSOA is the termination of some of the employees. I believe that if the employees have the right to strike, in order to press their demands then even the employer has the right to terminate their services. The employees are not doing a favor to govt. by working for them and the govt. is also not doing a favor by giving them salary and perks. It is a professional setup where each should respect the other and understand the other's situation. If the strike was just then so was the termination. What is wrong in kicking an employee who doesn't want to work. And, since the employee was not happy with the current package being offered and was not ready to work unless his demands were met and govt. was adamant it wont be increasing the package, the only option was either the employee leave the company or the company sack the employee. In either case the other party should not feel agrieved because they are also responsible for the consequences. I can agree to the fact that those who were terminated were a small fraction of the total public which went on strike and they may feel bad, but they bought it upon themselves. If they would have reported to work, there was no chance of them being terminated. And if they were prevented from going to work against their wishes, then that should be probed and the persons responsible for that should be punished.

Lastly, i dont know wheter the strike was just or not, whether the govt. was right or wrong but i know that the common man has to suffer whenever such strikes take place.

I, strongly believe that employees have the right to stall work if they feel they are being negelected or are not getting what they deserve. But once they are refraining from work, they should also be ready to be sacked because the employer also has a business to run.

The big leap towards moon

October 22 2008....a red letter day for India...we will join an elite league of nations (USA and Russia) who have presence on moon....our indigenous PSLV will launch a remote sensing satellite which will orbit in lunar orbit and which will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. It is the day when Chandrayaan-1, the first step in India's latest foray into space takes place.

Firstly, I would like to discuss India's extra-ordinary success in space field. The main credit of Indian space program goes to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Bhabha. These two legends saw the need of space research very early. They knew that if India has to become self-reliant and a superpower in future then we have to give proper attention to space research. At that time, when we were just independent and even food was a concern then talking about stars and moon would have sounded nonsense. But credit must be given to them and even to politicians (yes, credit should be given where it is due) for being fore-sighted and continuing with continuous progress in space research. And thus, India entered the space with Aryabhatta in 1975 and has continued to make steady progress since then.

India's beginning was modest. We had to face many disappointments but still we continued making steady progress. Our INSAT series of satellites made us self-reliant in the field of communication. We did most of these launches without the help of any external agency or country. India was facing sanctions from all the major nations and hence leave aside newest technology, our scientist had no access to even the latest equipments and gadgets. But their dedication resulted in one giant stride after another. Initially, world ridiculed our small achievements but they had to eat their words when we were successful in developing PSLV and GSLV.

And now the time has come for India to take the next big step in space research. Till now, our research was for us, to make us self-reliant in fields of communication and defence. But now for the first time the world is also eagerly watching an Indian space programme. This is a field which has been dormant for past many years and which has immense scope. India is doing research in this field not only to study about moon but using it as a precursor to future manned space missions and Mars mission. The success of this mission will put India in the higher echelons of space research.

It also provides a great opportunity to India to make the research really profitable. Chandrayaan is going to take off with payload from NASA and ESA as well. For the past some time we have been getting requests from various countries for the use of our PSLV and GSLV launchers to launch their satellites. This showcases not only the great stride made by India but also provides a good business proposition.

Another reason why i think that Chandrayaan was needed was to tell the world about our might. In order to be a superpower we need to act like one. Our scientist have already shown their might by building indigenous PSLV, GSLV, Tejas and our missile system. At present we are capable of nuclear strikes. And still the world has agreed to give us nuclear fuel and technology without us signing CTBT or NPT is really credible. It says a lot about the world's faith in us and also their hope that we can refine the existing knowledge.

I am not an expert on this topic but i know for certain that India needed something of the scale of Chandrayaan to take Indian space programme to the next level.It makes me real proud to see us making so much progress, to see NASA ask ISRO if they could use our facilities, to see scientists worldwide looking forward to our mission. It is a tribute to all the scientists who have toiled hard for this. Research is a continuous thing and whatever we are today is because of the initial hardships faced by and resolved by scientists from times of Sarabhai and Bhabha.

We owe this success to the hard work of numerous scientists of ISRO, DRDO and various other institutes. It is really makes me proud to see one of them, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as our President when we announced and started this mission.

JAI HIND!!!

Isn't INDIA A Sovereign Country?

As far as i remember India is a sovereign country....and a sovereign nation is independent in making its decision....no other country has any right in its internal matters as long as it doesn't affect that country....India has respected the sovereignty of other countries, big or small, and its high time other countries also did same...and if they don't do that there is nothing wrong in telling them their mistake...

Recently after Orissa violence when our respected Prime Minister visited Europe, he was reminded by many of their leaders about this crime and violence taking place....agreed, the violence should be condemned but what right do they have to criticize India....did we interfere when racial violence gripped Paris and its sub-urbs....did India ask USA to clean its house when there was repeated reports of violence against Muslims and Sikhs after 9/11....no....because India believes these are internal matters of those countries...

Similarly what is happening in Orissa, Karnataka is also internal matter of India and so is the Post-Godhra riots....what happened in Gujarat was really unfortunate but that doesn't mean other nations can insult us by not providing visa to one of the elected CMs of an Indian State...whatever may be the role of Narendra Modi in the riots is an internal matter of India that will be dealt with by Indian judiciary and Indian electorate.....if they have a problem with that then they are free to stop relations with India...many countries had reservations about China's human rights record but will any government dare to refuse visa to leave aside Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao, even to a normal diplomat???

These countries are showing great hypocrisy...on one hand they don't mind praising Musharraf or for that matter even Bush(isn't he responsible for the un-ending war in Afghanistan and Iraq) but not allowing Modi to visit.....they are investing in Gujarat but not ready to talk to its elected governement....they want to do business with Gujaratis but not listen to them....and our leaders, instead of supporting him to showcase Indian unity are making ridicule of him....i am not asking them to forgive him...they may continue boycotting him....but when it comes to a matter of national pride they should leave behind their petty politics.....

Also, recently one Indian Diplomat was refused visa to visit China because he belonged to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its own....result: our Govt. sent the delegation minus that official....by doing that hasn't India accepted that it considers the state as a disputed territory.....there have been various instances of China doing it....but we go out of our way to ensure that no untoward incident or even protests during Beijing torch rally....

I have taken only three recent examples of India allowing others to compromise on Indian soverignty but there are numerous more examples like continuous questions about Kashmir, North-east, even some laws, financial policies....

If India wants to become a superpower (which we are capable of) then we need to act like one....everybody pushes a push-over....it is high time we stopped being bullied by other nations...we are more than capable of making our own decisions and ruling our country....

JAI HIND!!!

Why is religion being treated as a business??

Continuing with the violence in Orissa over conversions and re-conversions, i don't understand what exactly are the holy men of both the religion doing there....

The people there are really backward and whatever developmental work that is done for them is commendable....but over here we have two sets of "holy men" who are exploiting them....Hinduism doesn't believe in conversions and even Christianity doesn't believe in forced conversion....the work being done by missionaries all over India is really great but it is also true that many of them do indulge in forceful conversions in remote places...Jesus didn't force his followers to be with him....He did not give them allurements and freebies....a person who claims to work for the downtrodden should not ask for any favour in return...by asking the poor and ignorant tribals to convert, they are exploiting them...here we have a large population of tribal christians who don't even know much about Christianity and who still continue to worship their nature Gods.....Jesus wanted his message to spread not a mere increase in number of his followers.....

Also, i don't understand the term re-conversion....it is the same as conversion....whether the person was born as christian or converted to Chritianity doesn't make a difference....if u are asking him to convert to Hinduism it is conversion and nothing else.....you may call it fancy names like re-conversion or home-coming....but that will not change the truth.....every person has a right to choose his religion.....all must respect it......

I also believe that all religions have the right to be preached...but it should only be preached not forced to anybody....also if you are giving allurements or using force to convert people to your religion then you are insulting your religion by accepting the fact that your religion is not good enough to survive without these tactics......every religion is the same because it shows the path of salvation....there is one God who is called different names by different people....just as there are multiple paths to reach a place, there are multiple paths of religion to attain salvation....

Also, i strongly believe that religion is a personal matter and hence there should be a ban on mass conversions.......if a person identifies with another religion then only ahould he be allowed to convert but what happens in case of mass conversions is many just join the bandwagon and convert without even knowing much about it....see the classical case of dalits converting to Buddhism just because Ambedkar did it....and then the self-proclaimed leaders of these groups showcase the converts as trophies....humans are much more then trophies.....

In the end i just hope that the religious men continue to do the thing God has chosen them to do and that is preaching virtues and serving the needed self-lessly and leave the business to businessmen....religion should not be treated as a commodity which has to be sold...

Violence Vs Religion

For the past many weeks we are facing violence in many parts of India in the name of religion. Some fanatics are burning Christians in the name of Ram....i don't consider those perpetrators of violence as Hindus because any person who claims to follow in the ideals of Ram can not do so....those persons are insulting Hinduism.....

Firstly i challenge all the fanatics to show me even one Veda, Upanishad, Purana, etc. where god has asked us to convert others....it is because Hinduism doesn't believe in conversion....in Hinduism u practice or not u r Hindu.....Valmiki was Hindu even wen he was a bandit...even ravana was attacked because he was cruel not because he belonged to raksha kula ( who also were considered Hindus only).....so what is this all talk about conversion to Hinduism all about????I being a Hindu by birth cant myself pin point a special day or event wherein i can claim that that day onwards i became hindu then what conversion ceremony are they following???

And violence in the name of religion is the worst....tolerance is the most important virtue....see the efforts made by Krishna to prevent mahabharata....see the chances given by Ram to ravana....these chances were given in spite of injustice being done, cruelty being committed.....and here violence is done because some persons decided to take another road to salvation....even in Hinduism we have so many gods and goddesses...so shouldn't tomorrow Maheshwaris (followers of Shiv) get up and kill Vaishnavs (followers of Vishnu)....

If burning churches and killing humans was not a lesser crime they even indulge in rape....the followers of Krishna, the one who helped Draupadi in her chir-haran, becoming dushashan.....the worshippers of Durga and Kali taking advantage of hapless girls.....and the biggest irony is they call themselves Bajrang Dal after baal brahmachari Hanuman.....Hinduism teaches us that women are to be respected.... revere her as mother, love her as sister and take care of her as daughter.....so this act is totally against Hinduism...

Nobody has the right to commit crime in name of god....be it Ram or Allah or Jesus....

I will continue about conversions and re-conversions in my next post.

JAAGO RE!!!!

we, the people.....this is how preamble to our constitution starts....it is like dat bcoz the founding fathers wanted the common citizen to be as much responsible towards INDIA as our leaders.....and the biggest tool dat was given in his hands was dat of vote....a power which is misused the most.

but how many of us actually use dis power???voting percentages in India has hovered around 60% from the beginning.....dat means more then half of India (also taking into account the large number of people not registered as voters and bogus voting) dont actually decide who is going to take life changing decisions for him/her. The biggest culprit in this is the urban youth, who wud rather hang out with frends, sip coffee, watch english movies or even politically sensitive movies den discuss actual politics or vote....

dey give various reasons like all r same and corrupt, none are gud, wat diff can one person make, system itself is corrupt, m not bothered as long as it doesnt bother me, who will stand in long lines to vote for a corrupt neta who wont even bother abt him........but the real thing is the person who dont vote are actually afraid of taking responsibility....

once dey vote dey become part of system....i voted for Gujarat Assembly elections, now i feel am also responsible for watever actions taken by the govt, feel dat my MLA and govt. are answerable to me.....but one who doesnt vote can blame the govt., netas and even dose who vote for all the miseries......but dey dont understand dey r a much bigger problem den criminal netas or corrupt bureaucrats.....if we all vote sensibly den can dese corrupt politicians survive???

the reasons given are so flimsy dat i dont even want to rebuke dem.....any sane person will know dat dey r just shirking der duties.....and yes i used it correctly.....i dont consider voting as my right i consider it as my duty....a duty dat every concerned citizen shud fulfill.....

today India has the largest youth population in world but still we have old leaders....WHY???bcoz we r not politically literate.....netas dont see us potential votes and dont think of schemes which will benefit us....dey dont care for our opinions.....dey know wen it comes to voting majority of India dont vote....and dose who vote maximum do it on grounds of religion,caste,creed or region but not on issues.....we see identity politics which shud be replaced by issue based politics....

parties will have to give wat the electorate wants...if we ask dem questions abt roads, electricity, nuclear deal, world relations any damn issue dat is related to our development as a nation den dey will have to deliver.....but dey know dat dose who think dont vote and majority of dose who think dont vote...den y wud dey bother to listen to us......

recently a campaign has started "JAAGO RE!!" which is directed at increasing voting awareness....this campaign brings to me a sense of shame to me....the fact tht we have to run such a campaign is a shame....but it is a hard fact tht we not only not vote we r so vocal abt it, we have no shame abt it.....is standing in line for max 1 hr every 5 years to decide ur govt dat tedious a work????

i hope dat this campaign will achieve its goal and we will see 1 billion votes being cast in the next elections.

JAI HIND!!!

WHEN WILL SERIAL BLASTS END??

i m writing this blog on the day on which yet another serial blast rocked india...this time it was delhi....our capital....now we will find the usual rhetoric from one section blaming certain elements of society for it.....some will do the usual pakistan bashing.....some will blame the other section of indulging in just hate talk and communalising everything.....media will do its bit in terrorising people....politicians and celebrities will condemn the attacks.....but this is the time to really think what shud we, the common man, do??

in view of the latest movie " A Wednesday" some might suggest that we shud also do the same....dat is kill the bloody bastards who are languishing in our jails.....using indian resources.....and waiting for another "rubaiya sayeed" or " IC 814".....wen der "frends" will kidnap some politician's family member or celebrity or something like dat....and india will release dem to resume der activites against india....

wat is stopping india from hanging afzal guru??....he has been proven to be guilty by not one not two but three courts..but still his clemency plea is pending....and political parties and social activists are supporting his plea...my question to these so called intelectuals is what next? give indian citizenship to maulana masood....make musharaff indian president...give osama bharat ratna...

these tough times call for tough measures....we are facing trouble from militants fighting for kashmiri cause, north east separatists, naxals....but still we are more concerned abt the lyrics of songs which are deemed derogatory to a section of society...concerned abt the menu at some busineesman's son or daughter's wedding....or the number of girl friends or boy friends the latest star has...we blame the media for all these...but the real thing is media shows what public wants to see...if we want real news den the media will have to give it...but we look for entartainment in news so it is provided to us....

now the time has come for us to do something....dat something can be nething and everything....for starters we need to show dat we care....unless we vote we can not ensure dat politicians listen to us....vote for those leaders,parties,candiates who talk development not just caste or mud slinging.....stop bribes.....educate people around you....most of india is literate but very few are educated...

the steps shown in RDB or A Wednesday are extreme but we r deaf ppl who listen only blasts....dese movies showed us the power of common man. what can be achieved if we r determined....see these movies in dis perspective and show our might

if we make a strong public response in favor of a policy den politicians will be forced to accept it...use the RTI act to get information....use social networking sites,blogs to publicise and discuss issues and most importantly do smthing.....wen we all will stand and deliever only den can we expect these blasts to end...