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

Thank You Sachin but Sorry Dhyanchand

Thank You Sachin for 100 hundreds. Thank You for close to 35,000 runs. Thank You for all the wins. Thank You for that six off Shoaib Akhtar. Thank You for Desert Storm. Thank You for lifting the spirit of nation at Chennai after 26/11. Thank You for that century against Kenya you made just days after your father's death. Thank You for 2003 and 2011 World Cups. Thank You for demolishing one the best bowlers of our times: Shane Warne. Thank You for all those timely wickets you took. Thank You for Cape Town, Sydney and Leeds. Thank You for Gwalior and Hyderabad. Thank You for giving us hope that till you are there no match is lost. Thank You for everything. You are a role model for so many persons. But, sadly, according to me, you dont deserve to be the First sportsperson to be given Bharat Ratna.


Does Sachin deserve Bharat Ratna? Yes. No doubts about that. But, does he deserve it more than Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Bhabha, Satyendranath Bose, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Verghese Kurien, Norman Borlaug, M S Swaminathan, Sam Manekhsaw, K M Cariappa, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan? Even if we restrict our criteria to only sportspersons is his contribution and achievements more than those of Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, Leslie Claudius, Uddham Singh, Milkha Singh? Even if we restrict criteria further to only modern sportspersons what about PT Usha, Vishwanathan Anand, Leander Paes, Dhanraj Pillay, and Mary Kom?

 Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, Leslie Claudius and Uddham Singh represent the only era when we were truly world champions in an Olympic sport. It was the era when we were Olympic champions for 32 straight years, won 8 Olympic Golds, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze. Our only other Olympic medal till 1996 was K D Jadhav's bronze in Wrestling in 1952 (not counting Norman Pritchard's 2 Silvers). At a time, when India was seen as a land of snake charmers and rope climbers, these players broke the stereotypes and showed the world what India is capable of. They are legends of not just India but of the sport itself. Before 2012 Olympics, when London tube stations were named after great Olympians, 6 were chosen from Hockey and 3 of them were Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Leslie Claudius. The reasons given for not awarding them Bharat Ratna are they are from a distant past, Nobody remembers them, Such awards should not be given posthomously. The very fact that they are forgotten makes the award necessary. Also, many persons have been given awards posthomously. Sardar Patel, Ambedkar, Maualan Azad had also passed away years before they were honoured. We could also give it to Dhanraj Pillay (according to me, the last of the long list of Indian hockey wizards) partly for his excellent play and partly in memory of those players, like Nobel committee did when they acknowledged their mistake in not giving it to Gandhiji while awarding Peace prize to Dalai Lama.

If we consider only the athletic career of P T Usha, then also she has achieved enough to deserve Bharat Ratna. She was the best Indian athlete for a decade. She won medals at international level and dominated proceedings at Asian level. If this was not enough, after retirement, she has been running a very successful academy. Her academy has already produced talents like Tintu Luka and Dutee Chand. Her exemplary contribution to the sport not only spans over 3 decades but is also an integral part of a better future for Indian athletics.

Vishwanathan Anand became India's first Grand Master in 1988. Today, when he is playing for his sixth world title match, we have 34 GMs and are ranked 8th by FIDE in country rating. Instead of repeating why I feel he is the best in world, I would just like to share what I wrote when he defeated Kramnik for his third Championship and first in Classical Matchplay. Since then, he has won two more Championships and inspired even more people.

Leander Paes is another player who is much underrated. Agreed he is not a great Singles player, not even the best Indian Singles player. But, he is the only Indian tennis player with Olympic medal, India's only second Olympic individual medal winner and that too after a gap of 44 years, and he did it in Singles. Along with Mahesh Bhupathi, he has been among the World's best in Doubles for close to 15 years. He has won a Grand Slam in three different decades. He has won a total of 14 Grand Slam titles. While playing for India in Davis Cup, he has given scare (Jonas Bjorkman, Petr Korda, Marcelo Rios, Greg Rusedski)  and even defeated players (Wayne Ferreira, Henri Leconte, Goran Ivanisevic, Jiri Novak) ranked much higher than him  in Singles, which is not his strong point. He (along with Bhupathi) have inspired the next generation of Indian tennis players, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambhri, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna, Vishnu Vardhan, Raja Purav, Dvij Sharan and worked towards ensuring our future in tennis is in safe hands.

Mary Kom has won the World Championships 5 times. Last year when Women's Boxing was being introduced in Olympics, AIBA chose her as the ambassador for the sport. Such is her standing at World level. She won Bronze even though she moved up a weight class to compete in Olympics. It is mainly due to her, that India is considered a powerhouse in Women's boxing. We are 3rd in consolidate medal table for World Championships since 2001. And she did all this without any media attention or much support from Government or association.


One of the main reasons that is given for not awarding Bharat Ratna to Anand (Mary Kom and Paes are not even being considered by many) is that Anand is still playing. Fair point. But, if active players can be given other state awards (Padma Awards), if active players can be given Rajya Sabha seats (Sachin Tendulkar), if active players can contest elections (Krishna Poonia), then why draw the line at Bharat Ratna. This demand of retirement is not there for Bharat Ratna in other categories. If being active sportsperson is a strict no-no for Bharat Ratna, then will Sachin's Bharat Ratna be suspended, if he decides to make a comeback like Jordan or Schumacher?

When Sachin started playing cricket, it was already well established in India. We had won a World Cup. He had the guidance of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Amarnath, Pataudi, Vishwanath, among others when he started. He had the company of Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble while playing. He had a fairly decent board to take care of the small things. He didn't had to go looking for sponsors to participate in tournaments. Agreed that because of his popularity, he was also the only one who carried the hope of the entire nation when he played but he also had good help to cope with it.

There is a feeling among majority of the sports fans and non-cricket players, that in India, sports = cricket. This award sadly reinforces the same. And then we wonder, why we don't win Olympic medals. 

Sorry Dhyan Chand. 

Jai Hind

A case for small government

Today, Andhra Pradesh Governor accepted the resignation of two ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao and Sabita Indra Reddy. Dharmana Prasada Rao was Minister for Roads & Buildings while Sabita Indra Reddy was Minister for Home, Jails, Fire Services, Sainik Welfare, Printing & Stationary. A couple of weeks back Siddaramaiah alloted portfolios to his minister, Satish Jarkiholi got the Ministry of Excise. So, AP Govt. has a Ministry of Printing & Stationary and Karnataka Govt. has a ministry of Excise (in addition to Finance, Revenue and Ports & Inland Transport). If we go through the lists in detail, we would find a lot more ministries which make no sense. So, let us try and analyze the list of such useless Ministries of the Central Government. 

1. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,

          

It seems this ministry was created so that Farooq Abdullah could enjoy being a Cabinet Minister while doing nothing. What are the New and Renwable Energy sources that we are looking at? Tidal? Geothermal? As far as I know, we don't have a central government policy on either of these. We do have solar/wind policies, but do we need a full separate ministry with a dedicated minister just for that? Hydroelectricity is also a renewable source of energy but it comes under Ministry of Power, which has a Minister of State with Independent Charge. There is also a Department of Atomic Energy, which PM is holding.

2.  Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

According to their website, "The Ministry focuses on developing networks with and amongst Overseas Indians with the intent of building partnership with the Diaspora. Besides dealing with all matters relating to Overseas Indians, the Ministry is engaged in several initiatives with OIs for the promotion of trade and investment, emigration, education, culture, health and science & technology." 

For promotion of trade and investment, we have Ministry of Finance, Commerce & Industry, Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Corporate Affairs, FICCI, CII and various trade forums. Similarly, for education, culture, health and science & technology, we have specific ministries. Also, all these services to Overseas Indians can only be provided with the help of Indian High Commissions and Consulates. So, why have this separate ministry? Shouldn't it be just a department in Ministry of External Affairs?

3. Ministry of Civil Aviation

The primary job of this ministry is to monitor the functioning of Air India, an entity that should have been closed years ago. It is a loss making enterprise that serves no purpose except as a source of corruption and misuse by politicians and bureaucrats. Apart from Air India, MoCA, also oversees the functioning of Airport Authority of India (which should be an autonomous body ensuring safety standards are met at airports and not running them) and Director General of Civil Aviation (also an autonomous body). Now, if these bodies are autonomous, why do we need a minister to oversee their work? 

4.Ministry of Shipping

The Ministry of Shipping encompasses within its fold shipping and ports sectors which include shipbuilding and ship-repair, major ports, national waterways, and inland water transport. In India, inland water transport is almost negligible. There are a total of 6 national waterways. Environmental and Labor concerns in ship building, repairs and breaking are taken care of by respective ministries. There is no need for government to be running shipping services and ports should be administered by an autonomous body like AAI. So, what exactly is this ministry doing?

5. Ministry of Coal, Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers, Textiles, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Public Enterprises

Each of these ministries are there just to oversee the functioning of a PSU. What exactly does a Textile Minister do? If not for Coal Scam, how many of us would have even known that there is a separate ministry for coal? What policy decisions have to be taken in Steel Ministry? There is a separate Ministry of Mines, which should take care of utilization/allocation/auction of coal/iron ore mines. It should be converted into Ministry of Natural Resources and incorporate even Natural Gas blocks. Ideally, I would like government to divest their stake in majority of these PSUs but even if they want to continue doing business, then also we have a separate Ministry of Public Enterprises which should monitor these PSUs (having full autonomy).

6. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Minority Affairs, Tribal Affairs, Women & Child Development, Youth Affairs & Sports, Development of North Eastern Region

This is a classic example of duplicating work. If Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment does it work efficiently, we don't need ministries dedicated to specific groups. If government wants to launch a scheme targeted at women of North East, which should be the nodal ministry? Tribal women belonging to minority community should be covered by which ministry? Why is there a need for separate youth affairs ministry? 

What exactly does the Sports ministry do? Each sport has their individual sports bodies. In multi-sports events we are represented by IOA. Why do we need Sports Authority of India which hires and pays coaches, maintains many stadiums and takes care of training facilities. Why shouldn't that money be given directly to the respective sports federations? All these ministries can be clubbed together as a single department under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (which could be separate from Ministry of Education).

7. Ministry of Tourism, Culture

Most of our biggest tourist attractions are historical sites which are maintained by ASI which comes under Ministry of Culture. Also, majority of the work of Tourism Ministry is done through India Tourism Development Corporation. Why can't ITDC be shifted to Ministry of Culture? As far as remaining works of Tourism Ministry are concerned (running hotels and restaurants), there is no need for government to do that. 

8. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

There is no need for government to run television/radio channels, give film awards or administer film institutes. Censor boards should be made autonomous. Press releases can be handled by respective departments.

8. Ministry of Finance, Commerce & Industry, Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Corporate Affairs, Consumer Affairs, Statistics & Program Implementation, Planning

Till now, I have not been able to understand what is the role of each of these ministries. Why cant they all be merged into a single or maybe two ministries? Having these many different ministries results in overlaps which results in delays. 

So, in essence, half of the ministries are there just to duplicate the work of another ministry or monitor the work of numerous PSUs, autonomous bodies and corporations. Since, for any work one has to deal with more than one ministry this results in delays and inefficiencies. Taking into consideration the various perks each minister gets, I think we would be much better off with a much smaller cabinet and giving real autonomy to corporations. 

Also, this problem is more severe at state level. Courts have reduced the problem somewhat by limiting the number of ministers but even the present figure seems to be bloated and there is score for further downsizing. 

Jai Hind

Rahul Gandhi: The ideal PM candidate of UPA

Recently, there was an article in Niti Central by Kiran Kumar assessing the performance of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. The gist of the article was that Rahul Gandhi has failed miserably in his duties as MP. This was due to the fact that his attendance in Parliament was low, he didnt ask too many questions or participated in debates. Also, his constituency of Amethi has very low human development index measures. After this the author goes on to ask if we would "dare to promote him to a higher responsibility role?" The response to the article in the comments section was overwhelming. But, I feel that the author and others have either not heard or have forgotten Dilbert Principle.

 

 Scott Adams himself explained Dilbert Principle as

That in many cases the least competent, least smart people are promoted, simply because they’re the ones you don’t want doing actual work. You want them ordering the doughnuts and yelling at people for not doing their assignments—you know, the easy work.

The present UPA government has been following the Dilbert Principle for almost all major promotions. Nobody is sidelined for incompetence, corruption or any misdemeanors. They are simply removed from the productive flow by promoting them. There are lot of examples regarding this. Lets look at some of them

Example 1: Pranab Mukherjee (Hon. President of India)

Previous  Job: Pranab held portfolios of Finance, Defence and External Affairs in UPA-1 and UPA-2. He also was the leader of LS from 2004-2012. 

Assessment of previous jobs: 

When his candidature was declared, Ram Jethmalani came up with two articles listing out why he didnt deem Pranab to be the President of India. (Link 1 2) The charges levelled by Ram Jethmalani vary from Emergency time acts to shielding Hasan Ali and others having black money. Even if we dismiss these claims as political in nature and without proof (which I think we should not), there is no escaping the fact that Pranab's tenure as Finance Minister has been disastrous for Indian economy. Levying of retrospective taxes, huge spending on doles, no action taken on black money issue, lack of vision while planning for the future, policy paralysis, etc. are some of the examples of the unsatisfactory performance of Pranab Mukherjee as Senior Minister and virtual number 2 in the Government. Also, there is the case of the controversial confidence vote of UPA-1. Pranab Mukherjee as the leader of the house is accountable for Cash for Vote as well. His conduct in that confidence vote shows how much respect he has for democratic institutions.

Reward: So, what was the punishment for making so many mistakes and failing as Leader of House and Finance Minister and tanking one of the fastest growing economies of the world? Promotion to President.

Example 2:  P. Chidambaram (Minister of Finance)

Previous Job: Minister of Home Affairs. Minster of Finance (2004-2008)

Assessment of previous jobs:

His first tenure as FM coincided with 2G Scam, Coal Scam and a host of other scams which were directly linked to Finance Ministry and government policy. Also, the burden on the Indian treasury due to populist schemes like NREGA and Farm loan waiver happened under his watch. (For those interested in how NREGA is damaging the food security of India, please read this article on Centre Right India). So, to punish him for all this, he was made the Home Minister. His work as HM was as worse as his work as FM. 

He failed to take any significant steps towards solving the Naxal problem. There has been no respite from bomb blasts which showcases failure of intelligence gathering. There is a clear trust deficit between state governments and central governments on a host of issues like NCTC, GST, etc. Chidamabaram is also responsible for the bad law and order situation in Delhi as Delhi police comes directly under Ministry of Home Affairs. Crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters and arrest of Anna Hazare happened during his tenure as HM. Also, instead of tackling cross border terrorism, he was more interested in trying to find a saffron angle to every bomb blast.

Reward: Continues to be FM. 

Example 3: Kapil Sibal ( MHRD, Communication and IT Minister)

Previous Job: Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences

Assessment of previous jobs: 

In his present term as MHRD, Sibal has made no efforts to tackle the real issues plaguing the system. On the contrary he is destroying the roots of the education system in India. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system in schools and the change in the admission process of IIT-JEE are two prime examples of this. And how was he rewarded for these? By being given the additional charge of Communication and IT. 

As Minister of Communication and IT, he is working on a single point agenda of stifling any opposition voices. To do this, he blocked twitter handles of many users, search queries for Assam on Facebook and Twitter and even Indian Army Fan page on Facebook. He has also talked to ISPs about the feasibility of banning social networking websites in entire states.

And to add to it all, he comes with great theories like the zero loss theory in 2G. 

Reward: Continues to hold two very important portfolio.

Example 4: Sushil Shinde (Home Minister)

Previous Job: Power Minister

Assessment of previous jobs:

Dismal state of power sector. Majority of the states are power deficient. Transmission and Distribution losses are high. Still a large number of villages are not electrified. No onus on non-traditional forms of power.

Reward: Promotion to Home Ministry (Ironically this promotion took place just after the collapse of Northern and Eastern Grid)

Example 5: Vilasrao Deshmukh
Previous Job: Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Assessment of previous jobs:

He was the CM of Maharashtra at the time of 26/11 attacks. He is also one of the accused in Adarsh Scam. Farmer suicides in Vidharbha, increased attacks on North Indians, no improvement in infrastructure of Mumbai and large scale corruption are some other salient features of his tenure as CM.

Reward: Was asked to resign after 26/11 attacks but was reinstated as a Union Cabinet Minister. Held important portfolios like Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Heavy Industries, Science and Technology.

Example 6: Prithviraj Chavan

Previous Job: Minister in PMO, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Department of Atomic Energy, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Science and Techonology

Assessment of previous jobs:

He was minister in charge for the Antrix deal and Thorium Scam. Also, it was during his time in PMO that 2G scam took place in which there have been serious questions raised against PMO.

Reward: Made CM of Mahrashtra

Example 7: Praful Patel (Minister of Heavy Industries)

Previous Job: Civil Aviation Minister (MoS with Independent Charge)

Assessment of previous jobs:

Biggest achievement of Praful Patel as Civil Aviation Minister is the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. According to an Economic Times report before merger, the combined losses of the companies was around 770 crores in 2006-07 which skyrocketed to 7200 crores in March 2009. He presided over the national carrier's decline and benefited from it.

Reward: Promotion to full Cabinet Rank

There are many such examples (Veerbhadra Singh, Shivraj Patil, etc.) wherein incompetent persons have been promoted/rewarded. As a result, there are many who are trying to outshine each other in uselessness. So, if Rahul Gandhi has to become PM candidate he has to beat the incumbent one. So lets review MMS to ascertain if Rahul Gandhi is ready for the top job.

Manmohan Singh (Hon. Prime Minister of India)

So much has been written about Manmohan Singh in the recent past that there is no way I can write something without being accused of plagiarising. But, still there are a lot of persons who swear by his integrity and knowledge of economy. To all of them, I would like to point out that many scams have taken place in his reign. Also, the overall parameters of Indian economy are down. There is policy paralysis. Now, either he knew all this and allowed situation to get so bad or he was ignorant. In either case, he has proved his incompetence.

Beating Manmohan Singh and other cabinet members was not easy. Apart from these, Rahul Gandhi also had to showcase that he is worse than Digvijay Singh, Manish Tewari et al. It took him 8 long years, continued absence from Parliament, silence on each and every issue of national importance, failures in UP and Bihar, many evidences of his low IQ (he once said Gujarat is bigger than UK in size), but I believe he has finally proved that there is no one who is more useless in Indian politics than him. So, in accordance with Dilbert Principle, he has really earned the right to be UPA's PM candidate.

  

Jai Hind

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!!!