Change

I'm at it again. Those of you who still check to see if I have come up with some crap again would have been disappointed over the last few months. So this post is to all (if any) of those, who still visit this forgotten(yeah even i had forgotten it exists!) page.

I won't make any excuses for not writing. It's not that I don't like to write. Believe me, I do. I admit I am no natural like some of my friends, but I can string a few words together which sometimes actually make sense. And it's not like that I haven't had anything to write about. In fact there's been a plenty of stuff. A new city, new friends and of course the first job. With all this come new adventures. Add to that family functions, which seem to be the flavour of the season, I have had enough on my palette. In fact if you need any convincing, all you need to do is to have a look at my itinerary beginning last week November: Mumbai, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur!

But right now I am not going to write about any of these. I am living a very satisfying life, trying to maintain a balance between work, pleasure and working for social causes. Amongst all this, I have somehow not been able to process the state of things as they stand around me. Let's look at it this way. Congress-NCP have been just voted back to power for the 3rd straight time. And just a day after the first news story i read in the morning reeks of government apathy. As two departments were busy playing turf wars and writing each other letters for the past 2years, a highly avoidable mishap claimed the lives of 2 and injured 11 others.

The rule of majority that our forefathers had envisioned has clearly failed. There are candidates in the newly elected Maharashtra Assembly who polled as few as 11% of the votes in their constituency. Couple this with the abysmal record of governance over the last 10 years and I am forced to wonder as to where are we headed? From where I see it, the pathetic rule is going to continue for the next 5 years. There will more accidents, possible even another 26/11. But nothing would really change, for in our country there is no way voters can call back the elected representatives.

A trend, that is disturbing to say the least, has emerged from these latest elections. It's the growth of MNS's influence. Shiv Sena had needed 6 years to get its first MLA. MNS has 12 after just 3 years of its inception. With Bal Thackeray's health declining steadily it would come as no surprise as MNS establishes a hold over the Marathi vote. Unless Uddhav improves dramatically, it seriously is a question of 'when' and not 'if'.

More than the apathy of the political class or for that matter the rise of another extremist outfit, it's the feeling of indifference that I sense in myself and indeed many like myself that discomforts me the most. Something would have to change. Otherwise all the promise of this century being India's century would remain just that; a dream. Gandhi had said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. I guess it's time we took notice.

Being Indian: A matter of Pride or Disgust?

In Memoriam

NSG

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Havildar Gajendra Singh

Mumbai Police

Jt. Commissioner (ATS) Hemant Karkare

Ad. Commissioner Ashoke Kamte

Inspector Vijay Salaskar

Sub-Inspector Bapusaheb Durgude

Sub-Inspector Prakash More

ASI Balasaheb Bhonsle

ASI tukaram Gopal Omble

Constable Ambadas Pawar

Constable Arun Chitte

Constable Jayawant Patil

Constable Vijay Khandekar

Constable Yogesh Patil

Other Security Personnel

Inspector Shashank Shinde

Head Constable M.C. Chowdhary

Home Guard Constable Mukesh Jadhav

Constable Rahul Shinde

Are you proud to be an Indian, posed with this question almost each and everyone of us is going to answer in the affirmative. After all don't we possess a rich cultural heritage, hail from a land that gave the world zero and the decimal point, are an emerging superpower with some of the best brains in the world? Indeed what all I said till now is true. But now I would urge you to stop for a moment and reflect. Reflect upon the fact that we hail from a country that has had it's Parliament attacked, doesn't care a bit about meritocracy, whose politicians are hell bent on deepening and indeed creating communal divides just so that they can retain their power, and to top it all, we hail from a country that was besieged by a handful of terrorists for 60 hours on 26/11. Feel disgusted yet? At least I do.

And this is not all. What disgusts me most is that we have come to such a situation that the politicians and the bureucracy of the country no longer care for the life of the citizens of this country. For them one more terrorist attack, more civilian casualties are just mere statistics. All goes as long as they can retain their vote banks.

Our internal security apparatus is a mess. And if we hadn't realized this till now, 26/11 proved it beyond any doubt. Critical intelligence had been ignored in the midst of the inter-agency squabbles. The RAW and the IB blamed the agencies such as the Coast Guard and the Navy for ignoring the intelligence provided while the latter said that intelligence was not actionable. Not actionable? Yeah right. As has been credibly proven, specific intelligence of an imminent attack on the 5 star hotels of the city via the sea route had been passed to the agencies. Intelligence becomes actionable by the ingenuity and the innovative attitude with which it is analyzed. We can't expect the terrorists to send us an invitation letter and requesting us to RSVP to the attack.

Moreover we have been guilty of pushing intelligence reports through just as if they were routine files, not beothering to follow up whether the intelligence has been processed and acted upon or not.

If anything, 26/11 also exposed our utter lack of preparedness to deal with an attack on our nation. With so many agencies around, there was bound to be confusion and it turned into chaos for nobody knew who was in charge! What we needed a cetral authority figure to coordinate our efforts against the terrorists but none was to be found. Our disaster management strategies showed up for what they were: crap.

Our Prime Minister, Dr. Singh, had stated just before 26/11 that we can not afford to be hit again. But we were. What we need now is to wake up from the slumber and realize the mess that we are in. We can't get into any more trouble because we already are in a big one! We need a well equipped and trained police force under the leadership of independent and visionary officers who realize and understand the gravity of the problem that confronts us. And we need to usher in meritocracy. At once! For as an individual who cherishes his life, I want to be sure that it's the best who's working to ensure my safety. I cretainly don't want any dimwit analyzing crucial intelligence just because he happened to be born in a certain family, with a certain lineage. If the powers that be are so concerned about social equlity and undoings the wrongs of the past, let them take a personal initiative. Let their security teams be manned and indeed led by those who ahve been wronged, let their attending doctors be the ones whose forefathers had been oppressed.

India has tremendous potential and the ability to be a world leader. But it remains just that: potential. To harness the potential we need to make certain choices. And it would be these choices that would determine our fate. For didn't Dumbledore, that old wise fellow, said, It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. We can choose to reform our system now, or wait till we are hit again and again, till we collapse. The choice, as I said, is ours. And ours only.

When you want to write on too many things...

Islamic Terrorism and Indian Muslims

Muslims the world over celebrated Eid a couple of days back. It was heartening to see that the Indian ones were quite subdued in their celebrations and that Imams of leading mosques around the country spoke against what is being done in the name of their religion.

India has the largest number of Muslims in any country after Indonesia; yes, even more than Pakistan, the supposed homeland of the Muslims. Indian Muslims are really unique. In any other country, except China, a number of 130 odd million would make them the majority, in India they constitute the minority.

Indian Muslims are also in a position to counter the extremist ideology that forms the foundation of the Islamic terrorism. For quite sometime there has been search for an ideology to counter the extremist one being preached by the Taliban and its likes. The more tolerant, sectarian-violence free Indian Muslim way might just be the answer that we have been looking for.

Of Chief Ministers

I had been following the news about Congress victory in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. It didn't come as a surprise as in the recent past the trend has been to oust the incumbent whenever the opportunity arises. Three days have passed and still there's no consensus on the Chief-Ministerial candidate. Ex-CM Ashok Geholt, the person who led the victorious campaign is the firm favourite. Though he is being opposed by the likes of Sheesh Raam Ola, on the grounds that Gehlot ain't a Jaat. Well now, I don't have any problems as to whether a Jaat becomes the CM or a non-Jaat becomes the CM. The only thing that I got problems with is that the Congress is considering to appoint a Jaat as a deputy CM. Pray tell me, why as the tax payer should I fund the cost of this political gimmick? As if we don't have too many ministers already! The 15% limit that has been put on the size of the Cabinet is being seriously abused. It's high time we brought some structure to our executive.

Another thing which I find ridiculous is Sheesh Raam Ola contesting for the CMship. An 82 year old guy as a first time CM? For Christ's sake, gimme a break! If 60 is deemed old enough for our public servants, shouldn't there be an age bar on the politicians as well? Hon'ble Supreme Court, are we listening?

Civil Services

I had been going through the structure of the Civil Services examination and was surprised by the choice of the optional subjects available. While 23 options to choose from for one optional may sound enough, even a slightly closer look would reveal that they are grossly inadequate. For starters, Computer Science graduates like yours truly are on a disadvantage before we even start the process. Reason: Computer Science is not one of the electives. And neither is EC or IT for that matter. Apparently we don't exist.

Somebody called IAS as the mother of all exams. And indeed it is so. For unlike JEE or CAT, where genius might suffice, IAS examination pattern ensures that you need to have the capacity to carry encyclopedic knowledge in your head if you have to have even the slightest chance of succeding. While it could have been a must-have quality in the earlier days, I don't see any relevance of it now, when all the information is just a click away and when you can generate n number of simulation scenarios as per your requirements. Oh sorry, I forgot, how are the powers to be supposed to know that. After all how can we expect them to know of the internet, when they haven't even heard of Computer Engineers.

Ridiculous

Had been home the past few days and thus had the opportunity to feast upon the newspaper every morning., and that's when I came upon these ridiculously ridiculous statements made by people no less distinguished than the members of the Government of India...

• In the wake of the recent terrorist strikes, our hon'ble Home Minister was in the limelight quite often. And you just couldn't help getting pissed at his comments. Strike after strike he came up with comments like 'we will not tolerate this..' , 'they will be punished' and blah blah blah... Again and again he repeated those statements without ever bothering to back them up with actions. Hail the Home Minister!

• Recently it was in the news that a mob of fired employees atatcked and killed a CEO of an MNC. Guess what one of our Ministers had to say? According to him the CEO had it coming! Oops!!
  

• And yeah this is the biggie! Its not exactly a statement but more of a decision taken by our Telecom ministry. A few months back they sold 2G spectrum licences at the prices determined in 2001. And you don't need to be an Einstein to guess that the private companies who got those licences are not making a killing. Recently a private operator sold its licence at a premium of 600%. Estimated loss to the exchequerer: a whopping 44,000 crores.

Are We Ashamed of Merit???

Every other day, we read accounts praising the Indian brain; we are awed by the pay packages that are being offered to the students of our elite institutes. Yet we also come across stories relating to the so called improvement of our educational system.

Why is it that we are so adamant to change the educational system which has enabled us to emerge as global leaders in the field of education? Recently there was a report that CBSE was going to introduce 20% project work in Mathematics for 10^th standard students. It was aimed at reducing the fear that this subjects induces in the minds of children. Already CBSE has done away with examinations and home assignments in the junior classes. All this is aimed at easing the pressure on the students.

Agreed there is pressure on the students but the educational system is in no way responsible for it. And besides by undertaking such steps we are only encouraging mediocrity. I fear that if we continue such measures that day is not far away when our students would be using a calculator to compute 7+5=12; just like their American counterparts.

Another issue which has been doing the rounds lately has been that of reservation and I am of the opinion that by increasing reservation we are doing nothing except diluting the quality of our premier institutes. It would do more harm than good. Reservation is not the panacea for all the ills that plague those who have not been able to reach the level of merit required for admission in the top notch institutes. Those who have reached the top have not become brilliant overnight; the foundation of the intelligent powers of these students would have been laid right from the primary school stage. Years of sustained effort has alone enabled them to rise to the pinnacles of success.

It’s high time that the politicians stop thinking of pleasing their vote banks and recognize the value of merit. The need of the hour is to preserve merit and not being ashamed of it.

Fanaa Furore

It is universally acknowledged that every development project; be it a hydro-electric project or a steel plant or an atomic power station; is meant for the larger good of people. Independent India has witnessed myriad development projects in different parts of the country, but no project has stirred up such a controversy as the grandiose Sardar Sarovar project on the Narmada River.

There is no doubt that the huge hydro-electric project will benefit the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra but the governments and the community in large, must take due care of those in these four states who will lose their homes and means of livelihood when Narmada submerges their abode.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan led by Ms. Medha Patkar pinpointed that providing alternate means of livelihood along with houses is more than important than doling out money to the bereaved. It also exposed the corruption rampant at different stages of rehabilitation and underlined the rights of the displaced to a decent living.

Aamir Khan raised the issue just before the release of his movie Fanaa, and there was such a hue and cry. Where is the freedom of speech that the leaders are constantly harping about? Fanna was banned from being screened in Gujarat. And why? Is there anything wrong if a few, fired with the zeal to see that the poor, voiceless multitude should not be taken for a ride and denied justice and human rights, take up cudgels for the victims of the lopsided development? Will the powers that be continue to remain insensitive to the plight of several thousands who are uprooted from their homes? Will you turn a deaf ear to the cries of the dispossessed just because you are not afraid of peaceful agitations?

Sonia Succumbed....really???

Madan Mohan Shukla, till a few days back no one had heard of this politician from Kanpur. And now, suddenly he was on the center stage of Indian politics. When he set out to settle scores, with Samajwadi Party leader, Jaya Bachchan, he had no idea that his action was going to lead to a political imbroglio that would result in his own leader, Sonia Gandhi, resigning from the Lok Sabha.

After his candidature to the Rajya Sabha was cancelled, Madan Mohan Shukla petitioned the President to cancel Jaya's election as she held an office of profit by being a part of the UP Film Development Council. The President referred this application to the EC, which found Jaya guilty and cancelled her appointment.

It's always said that a wounded lion is a dangerous foe, and Samajwadi Party proved it to be true. It wasted no time in moving to the President seeking the disqualification of Sonia Gandhi, on the basis that she was holding an office of profit in her capacity as the Chairman of National Advisory Council. Several other MPs including LS speaker, Somnath Chatterjee were also accused.

Speculations were high when the Parliament was adjourned sine die on 22^nd March. The BJP sprang into action as soon as news broke out that the government was planning an ordinance between two sessions of Parliament, to help more than 40 MPs -- including Mrs. Gandhi and Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The BJP's shrill propaganda reached a climax when former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said if the government came out with such an ordinance, then 'the government will go'.

Without losing a moment, Leader of Opposition L K Advani and other BJP leaders revived fears of the June 1975 Allahabad high court judgment that was the catalyst that led to the imposition of Emergency. The BJP alleged that the government was planning an ordinance to change the law of disqualification, 1959, concerning parliamentarians in order to save Gandhi. Congress spokesman Rajiv Shukla on 22nd March denied the charge but no one believed him, so strong was the belief that the government was up to something.

Naturally, on the morning of March 23, the United Progressive Alliance government looked to be in a total mess. It faced a political fiasco after confidently believing hither-to that the National Advisory Council chairmanship held by Gandhi was not an office of profit.

The stupid thing about the whole episode is that the entire mess was of Congressmen's own making. None of the Congress' brigade of lawyers, H.R. Bharadwaj, Kapil Sibal, Rahul Anand etc. foresaw the consequences.

The result was that Sonia Gandhi had to resign from both the LS and NAC. However the question to be asked is did she lose anything by doing this? Her power and authority are not diminished because she has only resigned from the membership of Parliament (which she will contest again) and from an obscure outfit, the National Advisory Council. She could afford to resign because in the Congress ranks her resignation is immaterial. Resignation or no, her power within the party remains unchallenged, undiminished. She was and continues to be the chairperson of the all-powerful UPA, and that is all that matters.

2nd April 2006

My view: Israel v/s Lebanon

Israel's action against Lebanon is unjustified. Are you also among those that think so? Then stop! And think again after reading the following paragraphs.

On 12th July 2006 Hezbollah initiated a diversionary Katyusha rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and on the towns of Even Menahem and Mattat, injuring 5 civilians. At the same time, a ground contingent of Hezbollah attacked two Israeli armored Humvees along the Israel-Lebanon border with anti-tank rockets, capturing two Israeli soldiers, and killing three. Five others were killed later on the Lebanese side of the border on 12 July during a mission to rescue the two captured soldiers. The Lebanese Police force in a statement said that the soldiers were captured on Lebanese land; however there is no doubt as to what reality is; all major international organizations such as the UN, the EU and the G8 along with the prominent news agencies had an opinion to the contrary.

Now lets move on to the question of whether the Israeli action against Lebanon was justified or not. Quoting the Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, 'The war started not only by killing eight Israeli soldiers and abducting two but by shooting Katyusha and other rockets on the northern cities of Israel on that same morning. Indiscriminately." I am of the opinion that each and every nation has the right to protect its citizens against any sort of threat. And even more so when an organization, which the UN has asked to be disarmed in a resolution adopted by its Security Council launches an offensive.

When the USA and England can attack Iraq on the false pretext of Iraq being a threat to the world then why cannot Israel respond to an attack against its citizens? Or is it that only the superpower has the right to protect its citizens. Oh just a minute'. against what? The false threat of weapons of mass destruction?

Many who are of a different view would say that Israel should not have retaliated in the way that it did. They would say that all disputes should have been resolved by talks and negotiations. I would like to point out to them the failure and futility of such acts. Let me quote the example of our own country, India. We have been trying to resolve our disputes through dialogue for the past half century, and what has been the result? Nothing!

I will also remind those of you who continue to bring up the fact that Israel is occupying Arab land that had Israel's Arab neighbours not continually invaded them, threatened to invade them and incited war, that land would never have been taken in the first place and held as a buffer for future attacks. It's hypocritical whining about Israel illegally hanging on to Arab land and holding terrorists in detention when organizations like Hezbollah have as a stated aim the destruction of Israel, and even before this war started have been firing rockets and sending suicide bombers into Israel to kill civilians.

Also one should not forget that it was not the Jews themselves who decided to leave their homes and migrate to the Middle East. It was not of their own choosing; rather it had been forced upon them by the circumstances, which I'm sure everyone is well aware of. And sooner or later the Arabs would have to learn to coexist with people following religions other than Islam. Where in the Islamic teachings is it said that Muslims cant live together with people following other religions. Hating Israel simply fore the fact that its non-Islamic is not justified at all. The sooner the Arab states learn, like Egypt and Jordan did, it would be better for them.

Israel is far from perfect and has done many reprehensible acts, but it would be fair to say that their neighbours, including organizations such as Hezbollah have done the same, if not much worse. Until their soldiers were taken Israel did not indiscriminately bomb civilian areas in Syria, Iran and Lebanon the way that these terrorist organizations indiscriminately kill civilians, be that Jewish, Arab or otherwise.

Besides, Israel LEFT Lebanon in 2000 after an agreement with the Lebanese government that Hezbollah would be disarmed and Israel's northern border would be safe. Six years later and Hezbollah is even better equipped than the Lebanese army itself. And now there are cries of merging Hezbollah with the Lebanese army. Under such circumstances only a fool could hope that Israel would give up the buffer zone.

The way many of us think it seems as if the Hezbollah and the Arabs and Muslims are totally innocent victims when we all know that this is not the case. Israel has inflicted a lot of collateral damage on Lebanese civilians which is unacceptable. But Hezbollah indiscriminately fires Katyusha rockets into Israel, and sends suicide bombers deliberately to kill civilians. Is this any more acceptable? And then several of us have the audacity to point out the sufferings of Lebanese people. Agreed they are suffering, but what else would you expect if you go on supporting Hezbollah; chocolates?

Most of us would not know that apart from in our own country, where the Muslims are fighting for Kashmir, there are several other regions where they are fighting for autonomy. For instance:

a) South of Thailand - Muslims living there want their own land carved out.

b) South of Philippines - Muslims fighting for a separate state in Mindanao.

c) West of China (Xingjian) - Muslims fighting for autonomy.

d) North of Spain - Muslims fighting for autonomy.


The point I'm trying to make is; if Muslims want people off their land, then they must be prepared to get rid of this mentality of " we're a majority in this city, so let's ask ( or not even ask - create terror ) so that the government of that country gives us autonomy'.


If the Muslims want the world to think that they are a peaceful community, then they should stop terror attacks in places that don't belong to them. The recent attacks in India highlight this point. What did India have to do with the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the current crisis in Lebanon? Nothing! But yet Muslims keep up their terror tactics. The above shows that even Muslims have a greed for land. And land that is not even theirs.

Again, I reiterate - if Muslims want Israelis off their soil - they have to be prepared to let their people in the world know that they cannot indiscriminately go around calling other people's land as their own.