I am fed up... Part 2

To continue from where I left, I am fed up of so called champions of the downtrodden: Mulayam, Lalu, Mayawati, Paswan, to name a few. I am fed up of reservations. If a policy has been followed for 60 years and has not resulted in any progress, then we need to have an overview of the same. I am not against Dalits. I am not one of those who believe that untouchability has ended. But i believe the system of reservation as practiced in India does more harm than good.

The main problem with reservations is that they just keep on increasing. A reservation once introduced is going to be there for eternity. Any talk about removing them and you are insensitive to the suffering of the poor Dalits. We are told about the way they had to suffer for thousands of years. But let me tell you one thing very clearly this system of reservation is the biggest bane for the Dalits/SCs/STs/OBCs only. Why? because the persons taking the maximum advantage of reservations are not the persons who need it. I believe that a person should be able to take the advantage of reservation only once in life. If he has got through an IIT on the basis of reservation, then why should he get the benefit of reservation at the time of post-graduation? Doesn't it imply that the professors at IITs are also partial and were discriminating against him because of his caste? If that were not the case then he would have received the same education as others and so the difference between him and a person of upper caste is because of each's intelligence and hardwork. I am not saying that all lower caste people are fools or all upper caste people are intelligent. But the incentive to work hard is not there for those who get reservation because they know they will get good sarkari jobs even if they get half the marks scored by the topper. Majority of them are not able to realize their full potential. Tell me honestly, if you can get a job by getting 50% why would you work to get 90%? And this does not stop after getting job, they also get preferential treatment at time of promotions. To expect people to give up this benefit on their own is too much to ask. Humans are selfish by nature. Hence, we need better regulations to ensure that same person does not keep on taking benefit of reservations. Also, tell me how is the child of an MP/MLA, Judge, Police Inspector, high ranked bureaucrat or Class A or B govt. employees unprivileged?

But persons like Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati, Paswan just keep on raising these issues for their own benefits. They don't want these group of people to really advance and come out of poverty and ignorance, they only want them to remain as their vote banks. If you teach a person how to fish, he won't go hungry for the rest of his life but if you prmoise him a free fish everyday, he would become a beggar for his life. And these champions of the backward classes are trying to make more and more people in India beggars for life. Mayawati blames everything that is against her on Manuwadi Soch. According to her all the corruption cases against her are there because the upper classes are not able to digest the fact that a "Dalit ki Beti" is CM. Raja and Kanimozhi also say they are being targeted for being Dalit. Madhu Koda did the same. Mayawati also asks why can't she become PM. I have no problem in having a Dalit PM or a SC PM or a ST PM or a Muslim PM. But I believe that person should not be PM just because he is Dalit, SC, ST or Muslim. If the person is capable, then you make him PM not because he is from a certain caste. I have great reverence for Dr. B R Ambedkar. He was a visionary who played a major role in the framing of our great constitution. But I respect him for his works not because he was Dalit. It is sad that a person of his stature has been stolen from the majority of Indians. Also, Dr. Ambedkar was against permanent reservations, he believed that after some time if we don't remove reservations then Dalits would get used to them and continue to suffer, but these leaders are not interested in welfare of Dalits or other backward classes, they are only interested in getting power so that they can loot the nation. Lalu, Mulayam, Paswan and Mayawati are also sullying the name of great visionaries like JP and Ram Manohra Lohia. For them socialism only means vote-bank politics. The latest example of this was Rahul Baba telling a gathering how their fellow OBC Sam Pitroda was responsible for telecom revolution in India. What does Sam Pitroda's caste has got to do with the work he did or did not do in telecom revolution?

Now, CONgress is planning to give reservation to Muslims as well. This reservation is both unconstitutional and bad for the social fabric of the country. It will only increase the trust deficit between the two communities. So why is CONgress doing it? Because sadly majority of Indians (irrespective of caste, religion, gender, age, educational qualifications, region etc) are ignorant fools. To not talk about politics is fashionable among educated youths. You ask them 'why didn't you vote', you get the standard replies "ek vote se kya hota hain", "arrey all these politicians are bad", "politics in India is very dirty, don't want to get involved with that", "kuch nahi badlega" etc. Those who can make a difference are indifferent. While those who vote are ignorant. These politicians ask for your vote on the basis of caste, religion or dynasty. And the worst part is they get votes on these issues as well.

These persons talking on the behalf of Muslims and other downtroddens are really insulting the intellect and loyalty of the very group of persons they are representing. To think that Indian Muslim would feel pained when Afzal Guru or Kasab is hanged is a tight slap on the face of majority of Muslims, whose allegiance is with India. Let me make it clear just as terrorism has no religion, the religion of terrorist shouldn't make a difference to the execution of the punishment. It is good that Kasab is getting a fair trial but now that the trial is over and he has been given death sentence the government should execute the order soon. We are wasting valuable resources in keeping these persons alive and we leave ourselves open to the possibility that there might be another hostage crisis and we may have to trade them.

Another thing that pains me is these liberals, intellectuals, mediapersons, socialist politicians have a problem when Islam is associated with terrorism but have no qualms in using the term Hindu Terrorists or Saffron Terrorism. Just as Osama bin Laden is not speaking on behalf of all the Muslims, Sadhvi Pragya or any other terror suspects was not acting on behalf of all Hindus. I have not attended a single session of RSS but I still respect them because I have seen the good work done by them at the time of Gujarat earthquake and many other calamities. To accuse such an organization of being a terrorist organization is sad. To accuse anyone remotely associated with a terrorist is simply insane. But such is the secularism followed in India.

“We have become, perhaps, the only nation in the world where people fight to be called backward rather than forward.“  - N R Narayana Murthy

 Jai Hind

I am fed up...

I am fed up of this government. I am fed up of this paid media. I am fed up of being a second grade citizen in India. I am fed up of all the reservations.I am fed up of a lame duck PM. I am fed up of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. I am fed up of Kapil Sibbal, Chiddu and Pigvijay Singh. I am fed up of Mulayam, Laloo and Mayawati. I am fed up of Anna. I am fed up of "Chalta Hai". I am fed up of "Ek vote se kya hoga". I am fed up of Kasab and Afzal Guru.

And unlike these persons or institutions I will tell you exactly why I am fed up of them. Lets start with Anna Hazare and his coterie. Firstly, I am not a Gandhian (who is still confused about whether Nathuram Godse did the right thing or not) but even I am pained by the fact that Anna calls himself a Gandhian. I appreciate the fact that Lokpal was lying in cold storage for a long time and you were successful in making it fashionable to support it. But what you are practicing is not the correct method. I smell a rat in the whole protest. The way you are insisting on my way or the highway is wrong. A strong Lokpal, though nice, is not the only solution to the problem. See Karnataka for example. Here Lokayukta has been there since 80's but has that stopped corruption? Also, Mr Hegde please show some spine. You went ballistic against Yeddyurappa but are silent on Krishna, Kumaraswamy and Dharam Singh. You can not have different yardsticks for different persons. So, Annaji what is the guarantee that Lokpal wouldn't do the same? When we have corruption in judiciary as well who will ensure that Lokpal is not compromised? When government appoints a tainted babu as CVC inspite of protest from LOP, what is the guarantee that govt. will appoint an honest Lokpal? What are your views on the Gujarat Lokayukta fiasco? What is the guarantee that just as central govt. has been using the office of Governor for political means, they won't use Lokpal or Lokayukta? Also, if you are a true leader of honest intentions then why did you ditch the persons who helped you to get the media attention? It was not Arving Kejriwal or Kiran Bedi who got masses for your initial programmes. It was Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Sri (pardon me if I have put more or less Sris) Ravishankar and RSS. You used them for your benefit and then once you got media attention, you chucked them out. What is wrong in shouting Bharat Mata ki Jai or Vande Matram? Why were you silent when Baba Ramdev was attacked by Delhi Police? Why did you go back on your praise of Narendra Modi? If you can not even stay loyal to your friends and your own words then I am sorry I cannot trust you. 

Next up on my hate list is the so-called liberals and intellectuals in general and Arundhati Roy in particular. Of lately, they have found a new address NAC, which is hell bent on dividing and ruining India. In India, all the intellectual space has been captured by the leftists. And the double standards that they practice is amazing. Whatever India does is wrong. Whatever Indian Army does is wrong. Whatever Hindus do is wrong. Let me give you a suggestion: if you think India is so bad then pack your bags and leave us. You are shouting at the top of your voice whenever there is an encounter in which some Maoists are killed but are silent when the same Maoists blow up some school or road. You all rushed to pay obituary to Kishenji, the same person who was the mastermind for Dantewada ambushing of CRPF, after which all of you were silent. You have tears for Ishrat Jahan and Sohrabbudin's family but not for the families of honest and brave Police and Army personnel who die serving the country. You don't judge a person by his deeds but by whether he agrees with your so called liberal thoughts or not.  

Also, you have no problem when there are protests against Rushdie or Taslima Nasrin but all hell breaks loose when there are protests against M.F. Hussein. Initially I used to think "why these double standards?" but now I see that these are not some sporadic incidents and your nature is very predictable. If the victim is a minority then support them. If victim is majority ignore them. On the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, you always talk about the unmarked graves but never about the plight of Kashmiri Pandits who became refugees in their own countries. You made a hero out of the stone-pelters of Kashmir. Don't the people of Jammu (leave aside rest of India) have any rights over Kashmir valley? Also, why is visiting temple communal while visiting a mosque secular? Why is Hajj subsidy secular but giving donations to temples communal? Why are Kathas and Yagnas communal and Iftaar parties secular? Why is Thackeray, Modi communal while Lalu and Mulayam secular? Why is Bhagwa communal and green secular? Why is Baba Ramdev communal while Maulana Badruddin secular? Why is Bajrang Dal, VHP, RSS communal and Muslim League, MIM secular? Why are there protests when Oxford bans Ramanujan's Ramayana but silence when Harvard removes Subramaniam Swamy?

And you get a brilliant platform to express these thoughts because of our great media. I believe that Times of India, NDTV, CNN-IBN and many others are just having a competition to show who is more loyal to Congress and Gandhi family. The amount of coverage that is given to Rahul Gandhi is nauseating. There is not a single article in your papers which can be considered impartial.Barkha Dutt, an intellectual as well as a senior journalist, has the guts to conduct a debate on morality and corruption even after it has become clear that she was also involved in the lobbying to make Raja the telecom minister. The role of media is supposed to give news and show different perspective. But over here we only see a single perspective that is Gandhi perspective. There is no connection between the news and the headline. If the news is not to your liking you simply kill the news. The debates that you have are one-sided. There is more masala than content. You hold public trials and pronounce guilty anyone not from Congress (eg. Narendra Modi, Baba Ramdev) but no matter how many cases of corruption are proved against Congresswallahs you are silent. Why has there been no demand for resignation of Chidambaram from the media? Why is media silent on Price Rise and Inflation? Why is there only token coverage of Goa mining scam? Why has media never highlighted the fact that Reddy brothers' scam took place in AP with the help of Congress govt.? Why are there no articles about the involvement of Krishna and Dharam Singh in mining scam as well? Why has media never asked Rahul Baba what are his views on the topics that really matter? The answer to all these questions is simple. They are on the payroll of CONgress. At present the media is the prosecutor, investigator, judge and executioner all in one. 

As far as the others are concerned I would like to cover them in another post. 

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.

Jai Hind

Women's journey from home to House

March 9th 2010

A historic bill granting 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was passed by the Rajya Sabha. Women's Rights Groups and NGOs were seen celebrating. Finally, Indian women, who are very badly represented in politics, got a shot in the arm, even though Yadav trio created much noise and even disrespected the Vice-President to prevent the bill from being tabled. Their wait of 14 yrs has finally ended.

In principle, this Bill seems to be great. This will increase the representation of women in Parliament and Assemblies, which is dismal compared to even Islamic countries and war-torn countries of Africa. Reservation to women in Panchayats and Local Self-governing bodies has been comparatively successful. Also, all the sections of the society should have adequate representation in the parliament. But, the problem with this bill is the same as that with having reservation for other sections of society. It does more harm than good.

The biggest problem with this Bill is the same as any other reservation in India, once they are implemented, they are there to stay. Reservation is provided to a weaker section, so that they have a chance against those with better facilities. There is nothing wrong in doing that. But the problem starts when they become dependent on that reservation. For any reservation to succeed in empowering the marginal sections, it must be gradually removed as well, so that they don't get used to it. But in India, even talking about removing reservations would lead to Bandhs, Hartals and riots.

Secondly, reserving 1/3rd of the seats for women is unjust on men. If tomorrow I wish to stand for elections from my home town, I may not be able to because the seat is reserved for women. Similarly, a male MP who may have been nurturing his constituency for many years may have to look for some other constituency because his constituency may become reserved. On the other hand, a female MP can always contest the next election from the same seat even if it has been de-reserved. In general, this will result in a lot of shuffling of MPs across constituencies. At present, none of the major parties have women candidates even remotely close to 33% of the total candidates. Wouldn't it have made more sense if the parties themselves started to have more women candidates? Instead of having a(some) token women minister(s), give 33% representation to women in cabinets as well? And even now, why only LS and Assemblies? Why not even RS and Legislative Councils? Why not in Cabinet? Even some Sarpanch and Mayor terms are reserved for women, why not the same for PM and President?

Now some facts : 1)There are not many women politicians. 2) Dynastic politics are nurtured across all parties. Result: We will see that wives, mothers and daughters of male politicians would simply become MPs from seats reserved for women and their husbands, fathers and sons would continue to be de-facto MPs (like Rabri Devi). Even now, whenever a popular leader dies, what happens to his seat? His son or wife gets the seat. So, yes, this rule will see a rise in number of women MPs but I am not sure about how many women politicians will increase because of this Bill.

The second class of women who will benefit from this Bill are celebrities. Now, be prepared to see more Jaya Pradas and Hema Malinis in the Parliament. Political parties would prefer to give nominations to even second-rung celebrities like Smriti Irani or Nagma then honest women politicians. I am not against celebrities joining politics, provided they are dedicated to it.

Also, isn't this reservation degrading women by claiming that they can't compete with men? On one hand they want equality and on the other reservation. Indira Gandhi didn't need reservation to become PM. We have lots of women at powerful positions in India. Pres. Pratibha Patil, Sonia Gandhi, Meira Kumar, Sushma Swaraj, Mayawati, Sheila Dixit, Mamata Bannerjee, Jayalalitha, Ambika Soni, Renuka Choudhary, Brinda Karat, etc.

Lastly there is nothing wrong in having more women in politics, but the problem is this Bill will result in more Rabri Devis and Jaya Pradas than Sheila Dixits...

The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.

JAI HIND!!!

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!!!

Dance of Democracy

On Monday, Election Commission set the ball rolling for election to the 15th Lok Sabha. This election will be the biggest in terms of no. of voters participating. It is also expected to be the most expensive ever. But most important, this will be (or at least should be) a big test of Indian youth's faith in democracy.

At present, we are facing a long range of problems. Terrorism, Global recession, Unrest in neighbouring countries, Mistrust among various groups on basis of religion, region, language, etc. , Global Warming and Pollution, and many more. In these times, we (the common people) have the important task of choosing the persons who we think are capable of leading us. We have to make the elections a success, if we want to see India as a success story.

Firstly, we have to understand that voting is not a right but a duty. Unless and untill, we participate in this process, we can't expect that the leaders will change themselves. We have to be the change we want to see. In the past 1 year, i have come across three movies telling us the same thing, Mumbai Meri Jaan, A Wednesday, Delhi 6. Naseerudin Shah in A Wednesday rightly said that it is our house and we have to clean it. The question is how to do it??? One of the easiest way is use your power to vote. Mumbai Meri Jaan showed us the spirit which we need to maintain in these times. And when we think of all the shortcomings that India is having, we need to first look into ourselves to get rid of our own kaala bandar before pointing fingers at others.

It is true that we can't change the situation in one elections but we need to make a start. The cynics always say all are bad, there is no use using article 49-O, because those votes don't count for anything. But we need to see the broader picture. If in a constituency, the number of votes in Form 17-A is significant, then won't the parties try to capture those votes??? The parties will listen to only those who can vote for them. If u want to be listened then do the needful.

Also, we need to make sure that we don't vote on the basis of caste, creed, region, religion, etc. If you believe in a party's idealogy, vote for it. If you think a particular person is best suited to lead us, then vote accordingly. But make sure, you factor in everything while doing so. It should not be that in wanting a good person as PM (or CM, Mayor), you are choosing a bad person as your MP, MLA or corporator. The first priority shall be to get rid of all these criminals in the politics.

The other big set of lousy politicians are the celebrities. Govinda, Dharmendra, etc.have been doing nothing during their tenures and we still keep on electing them again because we like them. There is nothing wrong in filmstars joining politics. But the problem lies when they just become MPs but don't even attend Parliament (which as such has so less meetings). We have examples of Sunil Dutt, Jayalalitha, N T Rama Rao, etc. who have converted completely from being cinestars to politicians. Being an MP should not be seen as a part time job of filmstars and businessman.

Lastly, let all of us join hands to make India a superpower. Lets be the light of hope for democracy in our volatile neighbourhood. Let us make sure that we all vote and vote against all that is wrong. Lets swear to stand up for a better India. Swear to weed out corruption, religion, criminals, and good for nothing celebrities from politics.

JAI HIND!!!