Yesterday, I was watching our Republic Day proceedings on the TV and when it was the turn of our President to give away the Ashok Chakra awards, the highest recognition to our nation's heroes during peacetime, a few thoughts struck me:
1. All the awards were being accepted by the widows of the heroes.
2. Why is it being given to the 3 police-men who got ambushed and killed? How come they are placed on the same pedestal as those who valiantly fought the enemies before laying down their lives?
3. If the 3 policemen who were ambushed to death deserved the award, why don't all the policemen who lost their lives in the 26/11 attacks too deserve the awards? Were the lives of the policemen of lower grade not worth the lives of these policemen?
4. Was it because these 3 men were in media's glare and were painted as heroes by the media that they ended up with the awards?
I think that our government has bungled badly in this case. It still can make amends by granting the awards to the rest of the policemen who laid down their lives in the attack.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Moral policing, a growing menace
Q: What's the difference between Karnataka and Maharashtra?
A: They have a spanking new set of CM and deputy-CM.
And I think it's time we had a new one. Rest, I see only similarities between KN and MH. They have regionalism against north-indians. Here, in karnataka there is regionalism against tamils and north-indians, for now. They have moral-policing where they go around chasing paki nationals back home or changing sweet shop names. Here we have moral-policing goons chasing and molesting girls who visit pubs.
When terrorists struck Mumbai on 26/11 there was a huge hue and cry that we are so angry with our government, our neighbors, etc. And we did do something about it. We held vigils and vented our anger. And our anger was seen and was acted upon.
I appreciated media then and I appreciate media now for taking up the cause for the girls in Mangalore who got molested by moral-police. But why must it always be the media who tries to bring justice by their own means. Why don't we take out vigils to show our strenght and displeasure at all such acts? I am sure all those who came out for vigil after mumbai attacks would be of the opinion that this act must be condemned and protested against. But what makes them come out for one issue and not the other? Well, I guess somebody needs to mobilize them out of their houses. It would be a nice idea to have a portal where people can register to be told when a peaceful protest is being planned. Then they can come to that location with their posters and markers and what not. Maybe, the media can also be part of the list of members who will be tuned into the happenings of that site. Wonder what people think of this idea!
A: They have a spanking new set of CM and deputy-CM.
And I think it's time we had a new one. Rest, I see only similarities between KN and MH. They have regionalism against north-indians. Here, in karnataka there is regionalism against tamils and north-indians, for now. They have moral-policing where they go around chasing paki nationals back home or changing sweet shop names. Here we have moral-policing goons chasing and molesting girls who visit pubs.
When terrorists struck Mumbai on 26/11 there was a huge hue and cry that we are so angry with our government, our neighbors, etc. And we did do something about it. We held vigils and vented our anger. And our anger was seen and was acted upon.
I appreciated media then and I appreciate media now for taking up the cause for the girls in Mangalore who got molested by moral-police. But why must it always be the media who tries to bring justice by their own means. Why don't we take out vigils to show our strenght and displeasure at all such acts? I am sure all those who came out for vigil after mumbai attacks would be of the opinion that this act must be condemned and protested against. But what makes them come out for one issue and not the other? Well, I guess somebody needs to mobilize them out of their houses. It would be a nice idea to have a portal where people can register to be told when a peaceful protest is being planned. Then they can come to that location with their posters and markers and what not. Maybe, the media can also be part of the list of members who will be tuned into the happenings of that site. Wonder what people think of this idea!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year Resolutions. For India..
It is 1st of Jan. That time of the year when you make resolutions for the new year. I have never made resolutions because I always thought that they were made to be broken. But this year I feel like making some hard resolutions. I am in the process of making a few of them for myself. But this post is about resolutions, according to me, that must be the resolutions of India for the new year. The following are the resolutions India is making for itself:
Terrorism: I have had enough of it. This time I will not let up the pressure on Pakistan until it comes out of it's self-denial mode. I will not let up the pressure until Pakistan takes concrete steps to curbing the menace, until pakistan hands over the responsible terrorists to India. I will not let Politicians spoil my resolve, this time. I will secure my borders in such a way that outsiders shudder at the thought of illegally crossing over into our border. I will strengthen my law and order in such a way that vote-bank politics doesn't affect the resolve with which I deal with terrorists in my custody.
Clean Governance: 2009 is the year of the lok sabha elections. I will rout corrupt government servents with full-resolve. There are corrupt leaders and there are publicly corrupt leaders like Mayawati. I will expose and suspend all corrupt leaders. I will not let the government leaders who have the tax-payer's money at their disposal to spend it on wasteful expenditures like Statues, Monuments, providing Z-security levels to all and sundry leaders and sports people, foriegn tours of large government contingents with no agendas. I will ensure that the tax-payer's money is used for the basic necessities of all people like good roads, water, electricities, affordable medical attention and food.
Young and Literate Leaders: I can't help but notice that the dismal state of affairs that my countrymen are facing everyday is because I am being ruled by leaders who should have retired a good few decades back and who are mostly illiterate. Many have a criminal record too. I will take the opportunity that the lok sabha elections of this year is offerring to cleanup my act and bring in a fresh shot of blood in the way of young, dynamic, educated and criminal-free leaders to lead the way to new me.
Digital India: I have already done a start in many of my government offices in the direction of digitization, with good results. Like, income-tax returns, PAN card issuance, Passport issuance, electricity & telephone bill payments, etc. This has resulted in lesser people and government employees contact resulting in lessening of instances of corruption. This year I will strive to digitize more areas starting with the highly corrupt offices like RTO and Land Registrar offices.
Transport: It is, by now, eminently clear to all people that providing an efficient transport is instrumental in a robust economy. Be it the daily commute of my people to their work-places or the their long-distance travels or the transport of goods all over the country, there is nothing more than a good transport that brings a smile to the traveller. I will strive to provide the best transport experience to my countrymen, be it through good and wide roads or efficient railway system or affordable air-travel. Why must my people cancel their travel plans due to lack of travel options? Why must my people suffer hours of road travel on my pollution-filled roads to get to their work-place when the same distances take no time in other countries? Why must there be so much pollution on my roads? I will strive to address all these questions in this new year.
Consumer Power: With the increased properity my people have increased their consumption of goods. And as an ugly by-product, everyday, thousands of my people are taken for a ride by private(we've already talked about corruption in public business) businesses small, medium and large ones. Airlines cancel flights and don't refund the money that rightfully belongs to the passenger. My people are made to purchase goods on false promises that are not kept. My people put all their life-savings in deals which, later, prove fraudulent. One way or the other all of my people have experienced fraud in big or small way. This year I will strive to strengthen the power in the hands of the consumers. This, I will do by delivering swift justice to consumer complaints and by taking the consumer courts to the doorstep of the consumer and by making it very easy to file such complaints and, finally, by taking severe action on the erring businesses. I intend to strengthen my consumer protection laws to such extent that any business should shudder at the thought of cheating my people.
There are many areas in my body which need improvements. But let me focus on a few and get them right. I think that if the above areas are dealt with rightly it will provide a lot of succour to my people.
Terrorism: I have had enough of it. This time I will not let up the pressure on Pakistan until it comes out of it's self-denial mode. I will not let up the pressure until Pakistan takes concrete steps to curbing the menace, until pakistan hands over the responsible terrorists to India. I will not let Politicians spoil my resolve, this time. I will secure my borders in such a way that outsiders shudder at the thought of illegally crossing over into our border. I will strengthen my law and order in such a way that vote-bank politics doesn't affect the resolve with which I deal with terrorists in my custody.
Clean Governance: 2009 is the year of the lok sabha elections. I will rout corrupt government servents with full-resolve. There are corrupt leaders and there are publicly corrupt leaders like Mayawati. I will expose and suspend all corrupt leaders. I will not let the government leaders who have the tax-payer's money at their disposal to spend it on wasteful expenditures like Statues, Monuments, providing Z-security levels to all and sundry leaders and sports people, foriegn tours of large government contingents with no agendas. I will ensure that the tax-payer's money is used for the basic necessities of all people like good roads, water, electricities, affordable medical attention and food.
Young and Literate Leaders: I can't help but notice that the dismal state of affairs that my countrymen are facing everyday is because I am being ruled by leaders who should have retired a good few decades back and who are mostly illiterate. Many have a criminal record too. I will take the opportunity that the lok sabha elections of this year is offerring to cleanup my act and bring in a fresh shot of blood in the way of young, dynamic, educated and criminal-free leaders to lead the way to new me.
Digital India: I have already done a start in many of my government offices in the direction of digitization, with good results. Like, income-tax returns, PAN card issuance, Passport issuance, electricity & telephone bill payments, etc. This has resulted in lesser people and government employees contact resulting in lessening of instances of corruption. This year I will strive to digitize more areas starting with the highly corrupt offices like RTO and Land Registrar offices.
Transport: It is, by now, eminently clear to all people that providing an efficient transport is instrumental in a robust economy. Be it the daily commute of my people to their work-places or the their long-distance travels or the transport of goods all over the country, there is nothing more than a good transport that brings a smile to the traveller. I will strive to provide the best transport experience to my countrymen, be it through good and wide roads or efficient railway system or affordable air-travel. Why must my people cancel their travel plans due to lack of travel options? Why must my people suffer hours of road travel on my pollution-filled roads to get to their work-place when the same distances take no time in other countries? Why must there be so much pollution on my roads? I will strive to address all these questions in this new year.
Consumer Power: With the increased properity my people have increased their consumption of goods. And as an ugly by-product, everyday, thousands of my people are taken for a ride by private(we've already talked about corruption in public business) businesses small, medium and large ones. Airlines cancel flights and don't refund the money that rightfully belongs to the passenger. My people are made to purchase goods on false promises that are not kept. My people put all their life-savings in deals which, later, prove fraudulent. One way or the other all of my people have experienced fraud in big or small way. This year I will strive to strengthen the power in the hands of the consumers. This, I will do by delivering swift justice to consumer complaints and by taking the consumer courts to the doorstep of the consumer and by making it very easy to file such complaints and, finally, by taking severe action on the erring businesses. I intend to strengthen my consumer protection laws to such extent that any business should shudder at the thought of cheating my people.
There are many areas in my body which need improvements. But let me focus on a few and get them right. I think that if the above areas are dealt with rightly it will provide a lot of succour to my people.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Mumbai terror attacks a.k.a. 26/11 a.k.a. indian 9/11
Finally biting the bullet on writing something on the 26/11 incident. Why so late? Reams and reams has already been written and said about the incidents. How we are all so angry with the government for letting us down, how we are angry with our "terror hub"/"global migraine" neighbor - pakistan.
A lot has been written about the role of our media too! Our media has been accused of reporting which has caused more loss of life by reporting the positions of our security forces. I don't know if the hindi media is more to blame for this or what because I am sure I was following the english channels and they were reporting the incidents at the hotels with a time-lag of 30 minutes. Whatever you blame the media for, I feel proud that we have a free-press like the one our nation has. Every Indian has been raging mad with our government for the intelligence failures which led to this catastrophic event. And everyone of us wanted to be heard in this time of anger. And I am proud that we excercised our democracy through our media. Our media carried our mood exactly the way it was to the corridors of power and things started to happen. If we had waited for democracy to take it's usual course we'd have to wait till the next general election to make public our mood. But due to the pressure that our media created, the by-now famously weak home minister Mr.Shivraj Patil was given the kick in his a$$ that he deserved, the new home minister apologised to the peopl on behalf of the government, the state kicked their CM and dy.CM, the US has exerted pressure on pak to act on their terrorists. Our media has many faults but this time I am happy that they have brought some closure to our anger.
Talking about media, I've been following what the paki media has been saying about all this. True to their always-in-self-denial image, they never pick up stories which point towards paki elements being involved in the incident. They would pick up news items which shows how indian people are discontent with their leaders, how indian intelligence failures led to this incident, how their politicians blame indian-bred elements causing all this. Here's the big difference between these two countries: Indian media doesn't spare the indians who caused the malegaon or godhra riots, but paki media would close their eyes to such involvements of their countrymen in the hope that nobody, too, is noticing it. We as a country are much more mature and free than our neighbors. I feel sad for the poor people of that country. I can only think of one way to relieve the poor bastards of their miseries and i.e. if somebody drops a big bomb on that country to wipe it off the world map :)
A lot has been written about the role of our media too! Our media has been accused of reporting which has caused more loss of life by reporting the positions of our security forces. I don't know if the hindi media is more to blame for this or what because I am sure I was following the english channels and they were reporting the incidents at the hotels with a time-lag of 30 minutes. Whatever you blame the media for, I feel proud that we have a free-press like the one our nation has. Every Indian has been raging mad with our government for the intelligence failures which led to this catastrophic event. And everyone of us wanted to be heard in this time of anger. And I am proud that we excercised our democracy through our media. Our media carried our mood exactly the way it was to the corridors of power and things started to happen. If we had waited for democracy to take it's usual course we'd have to wait till the next general election to make public our mood. But due to the pressure that our media created, the by-now famously weak home minister Mr.Shivraj Patil was given the kick in his a$$ that he deserved, the new home minister apologised to the peopl on behalf of the government, the state kicked their CM and dy.CM, the US has exerted pressure on pak to act on their terrorists. Our media has many faults but this time I am happy that they have brought some closure to our anger.
Talking about media, I've been following what the paki media has been saying about all this. True to their always-in-self-denial image, they never pick up stories which point towards paki elements being involved in the incident. They would pick up news items which shows how indian people are discontent with their leaders, how indian intelligence failures led to this incident, how their politicians blame indian-bred elements causing all this. Here's the big difference between these two countries: Indian media doesn't spare the indians who caused the malegaon or godhra riots, but paki media would close their eyes to such involvements of their countrymen in the hope that nobody, too, is noticing it. We as a country are much more mature and free than our neighbors. I feel sad for the poor people of that country. I can only think of one way to relieve the poor bastards of their miseries and i.e. if somebody drops a big bomb on that country to wipe it off the world map :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
A nice, other point-of-view of what's happening about the mumbai terror attack
Army may regain muscle in Pakistan
New Delhi: Why did the Pakistan army do this? First, to deflect attention from the Mumbai attack into which the ISI was being dragged (ISI and the army are very close after Pakistan army chief Kayani hand-picked Lt Gen Pasha as the ISI boss). Second, it was signaling to the world that the civilian government didn’t matter; what mattered was the army.
The third reason is that it saw in the situation an opportunity to recoup the morale of its soldiers. The US-pressed ‘‘war on terror’’ on Pakistan’s western front is believed to have badly sapped the army’s morale. Many of the soldiers don’t believe in it — there were as many as 900 desertions last year. Fourth, it reckons that by playing the India card, it could win back some of its lost credibility and authority among the people. Musharraf ’s last months had badly dented the army’s standing in Pakistani society and the ‘‘war on terror’’ has eroded its popularity. With Zardari & Co seen as soft on India, the army was now sensing an opportunity of staging a comeback.
In fact, one estimate in New Delhi is that the Mumbai carnage, and the expected backlash from India, is aimed at a larger goal — to set the scene for an army coup. Top officials, however, discount the possibility — at least for now, although they don’t discount that the army is pushing to carve out its independent space and a bigger stake.
That’s where India’s dilemma comes in. If it were to flex its muscle, mass its soldiers along the border and tell Islamabad that it means business — as many people, incensed with the repeated terrorist attacks, would like the government to do — it could be playing into the Pakistan army’s hand.
New Delhi knows that the Americans have more levers on Pakistan than it has. But it doesn’t know how much pressure the US was willing to exert on Islamabad. While there is an overlap of interest with India now (six American were, after all, killed in the attack), US’s bigger interest is in forcing Pakistan’s hand in the fight against al Qaida and the Taliban.
So, when Condoleezza Rice came over on Wednesday, she said all the right words but, in concrete terms, promised to press Pakistan on one thing — to ask for a ban on Lashkare-Taiba’s political wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The Dawa is not an underground organization like Lashkar, although it recruits people for terror, as it did with captured Mumbai attacker, Ajmal Amir Kasab. India is also uncertain of the implication of getting the US and others involved in the standoff. It fears that could lead to the internationalizing of the Kashmir dispute.
Everyone loves a good crisis, and all of them were looking to get something out for themselves from it if they could get their finger in the pie. That’s India’s second dilemma — it knows only the US can deliver but it doesn’t know if it’s a good idea to press it for help beyond a point.
Ask any top government official and he or she will say, ‘‘We want outcome, not statements.’’ But they don’t really know how to secure that outcome. Should it turn to the doubtful constable — in this case, the Pakistan army — for help? Not really. Should it insist with the friendly officer — in this case, the US — to make his boss wait and catch the thief first? It’s of no use, he won’t.
So, India waits staring at the various non-options, waiting for a bright idea to strike it. Meanwhile, the thief is at the safe distance, from where he is now thumbing his nose at you.
New Delhi: Why did the Pakistan army do this? First, to deflect attention from the Mumbai attack into which the ISI was being dragged (ISI and the army are very close after Pakistan army chief Kayani hand-picked Lt Gen Pasha as the ISI boss). Second, it was signaling to the world that the civilian government didn’t matter; what mattered was the army.
The third reason is that it saw in the situation an opportunity to recoup the morale of its soldiers. The US-pressed ‘‘war on terror’’ on Pakistan’s western front is believed to have badly sapped the army’s morale. Many of the soldiers don’t believe in it — there were as many as 900 desertions last year. Fourth, it reckons that by playing the India card, it could win back some of its lost credibility and authority among the people. Musharraf ’s last months had badly dented the army’s standing in Pakistani society and the ‘‘war on terror’’ has eroded its popularity. With Zardari & Co seen as soft on India, the army was now sensing an opportunity of staging a comeback.
In fact, one estimate in New Delhi is that the Mumbai carnage, and the expected backlash from India, is aimed at a larger goal — to set the scene for an army coup. Top officials, however, discount the possibility — at least for now, although they don’t discount that the army is pushing to carve out its independent space and a bigger stake.
That’s where India’s dilemma comes in. If it were to flex its muscle, mass its soldiers along the border and tell Islamabad that it means business — as many people, incensed with the repeated terrorist attacks, would like the government to do — it could be playing into the Pakistan army’s hand.
New Delhi knows that the Americans have more levers on Pakistan than it has. But it doesn’t know how much pressure the US was willing to exert on Islamabad. While there is an overlap of interest with India now (six American were, after all, killed in the attack), US’s bigger interest is in forcing Pakistan’s hand in the fight against al Qaida and the Taliban.
So, when Condoleezza Rice came over on Wednesday, she said all the right words but, in concrete terms, promised to press Pakistan on one thing — to ask for a ban on Lashkare-Taiba’s political wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The Dawa is not an underground organization like Lashkar, although it recruits people for terror, as it did with captured Mumbai attacker, Ajmal Amir Kasab. India is also uncertain of the implication of getting the US and others involved in the standoff. It fears that could lead to the internationalizing of the Kashmir dispute.
Everyone loves a good crisis, and all of them were looking to get something out for themselves from it if they could get their finger in the pie. That’s India’s second dilemma — it knows only the US can deliver but it doesn’t know if it’s a good idea to press it for help beyond a point.
Ask any top government official and he or she will say, ‘‘We want outcome, not statements.’’ But they don’t really know how to secure that outcome. Should it turn to the doubtful constable — in this case, the Pakistan army — for help? Not really. Should it insist with the friendly officer — in this case, the US — to make his boss wait and catch the thief first? It’s of no use, he won’t.
So, India waits staring at the various non-options, waiting for a bright idea to strike it. Meanwhile, the thief is at the safe distance, from where he is now thumbing his nose at you.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
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