India Against Corruption

The atmosphere is electric. It has to be. After all this is our war cry against corruption, the first Satyagraha movement since Independence. We owe this to Anna Hazare, the man who has made us believe that change is possible. Or atleast is worth fighting for. “Why does he have to go through this at the age of 70? Why doesn’t he just sit at home ?” is what the cynics said. We say “When he can go through all the pain at that age, shouldn’t we atleast support him ?”. This fight against corruption is certainly going to be a long drawn battle and we understand it. We are not asking for immediate action. All we are asking for is freedom to voice our opinion and fight this battle through peaceful means. That Anna Hazare was pulled out of his house even before he started his fast and was sent to the same prison where the 2G scam accused are housed shows that anyone voicing for the Jan Lokpal will be crushed by the government and branded anti-government or anti-parliment.

This brings me to the next point. The government is framing this as a battle between the civil society and the constitution. This is pure mischief. The Jan Lokpal team has only voiced its opinion against corruption inflicted upon the government machinery and the constitution by corrupt officials and politicians. Not once have they brought disrepute to the constitution framed by our founding fathers or broken the rules of peaceful protest or disrupted public life. Neither did Baba Ramdev. The government succeeded in branding his protest as illegal and convinced the people of Delhi that his protest would disrupt public life. This time around the tactic has backfired on the government, after all we realize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight against corruption. This is not a media sponsored debate against corruption where 3 of the 4 honourable guests themselves lack credibility to speak on the subject.

This brings me to my final point about the Indian media. Sections of the Indian media (NDTV and CNN-IBN) are calling Anna’s movement a blackmail. I am not surprised one bit. After all, if the government is drunk with power so is the media. These media moguls considered themselves the torchbearers of modern India; the Harvard, Oxford graduates who would report fearlessly and bring about change. But power corrupts the minds of those who posses it. They eventually became power brokers. When election results were announced, they called on their preferred party spokespersons to the same show and helped them find a common ground. They are running a parallel government. Now that they see a crusader, an honest man capturing the soul of the nation, they are alarmed. Their only option is to discredit Anna and his movement. It is also disgusting that in the midst of this crisis, they report about Rahul Gandhi being the reason for Anna Hazare’s release. It seems as if the media has taken it upon itself to report about him favourably and strengthen his position as the PM in waiting. I would have been happy if Rahul himself made a statement about the crisis to the nation. After all, politics is not just about garnering votes but about being an able administrator.

This is a landmark movement for India. I am not sure what this would led to. I hope this leads to a corruption free India and a bright future for my countrymen. Hope as Andy Duffresne says,"is a good thing probably the best of things. And no go thing ever dies".

The Idea Of Small States

This is one of my recent posts for "Youth Ki Awaaz". It is available here

Over the last few months we have seen the demand for new states to be carved out of existing states. Telengana , Vidharba and Bodoland are a few examples. Carving out new states requires the creation of a new state machinery . This is a cumbersome task, one that can however be overcome over a period of time. What is however a matter of concern is the stability of governments that are instilled in these states. The state of Jharkhand perfectly demonstrates this issue. Because smaller states carry a fewer number of seats in the legislative assembly, even political parties that win very few seats have a say in government formation.

Large political parties have some sort of an inter party democracy that becomes important while electing good and capable leaders. However smaller parties are akin to independents. Corrupt leaders thrive as independents or in small political parties. Only regional parties such the DMK are capable of having the tainted A.Raja and Madhu Koda could never survive in any political parties. Since any of the new states that would be created are more likely to have such smaller parties in the government, I see that they are more likely to be exploited by leaders who know that they have a small shelf life.

National parties such as the BJP and the Congress need to act more responsibly in this regard. The behavior of the BJP in the current Jhakhand crisis is shameful. What makes matter more complicated is the lobbying by members of the state unit to choose a particular leader. Jharkhand, one of the most backward states in terms of literacy rate and healthcare standards has not had a CM for 20 days. The people who have voted for the BJP deserve better. Similarly, a few years ago the Congress with the help of a couple of independent MLAs was involved in bringing down the BJP government in Goa. Such incidents do not bode well for the idea of small, well administered states.

The committees that are created for carving out new states need to keep in mind the lessons learnt from the crises that have erupted in Jharkhand and Goa. Strict rules need to be imposed to ensure stability for elected governments. Parties/independents that pull out of the government need to provide a valid, justifiable reason for their decision. A trivial reason such as “not voting with the ally in the Lok Sabha” is not acceptable. This would ensure political stability for the newly formed state and the society that fought for this change would have their faith reposed in the Indian democracy. Certainly, a student who is fighting for Telengana would not be pleased to see 4 chief ministers in 4 years.

Political Untouchability

At a time when the Indian society is slowly overcoming the problem of social untouchability, a new form of untouchability - political untouchability is emerging. Yes. You read it right. Amitabh Bachchan, India’s biggest movie star was recently snubbed by the Maharashtra government during the inauguration of the Mumbai-Worli sea link. This treatment was meted out to him because Mr Bachchan recently became Gujarat’s brand ambassador. Everyone knows that Gujarat’s chief minister Mr Modi has been considered a political untouchable by the Congress party. Post Godhra, they would not associate themselves with him at any event. And since Mr Bachchan promotes Gujarat tourism, the Congress party believes that he is associated with Brand Modi and hence deserves the same treatment. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi says that since Mr Bachchan has associated himself with the Gujarat government, the congress party has every right to not invite him at a government function/event. It is after all the discretion of the state government to choose their invitees. I would like to remind Mr Singhvi that the people of Gujarat have a similar discretion to stay away from the Congress party. That does not augur well for his party and for our democracy.

Mr Bachchan’s role
The Congress party says that since Mr Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Gujarat, he must clarify his position on Mr Modi’s role in the Godhra riots. I didn’t know that a brand ambassador of a state had to have clear cut political views and state them when asked. As a brand ambassador, Mr Bachchan does not charge any money for his work in promoting Gujarat. Isn’t that in itself an excellent gesture ? I am sure he could have used that time to make movies and earn money but he instead chose to use his brand to promote Indian tourism. If Gujarat tourism improves, the ultimate beneficiaries would be the people of the state.

Is the Congress’ reasoning flawed ?
According to the Congress’ logic, Mr Bachchan should be condemned if he endorses Mr Modi. In that case what about the people of Gujarat who have elected Mr Modi as their chief minister ? If we apply the Congress’ logic, they must also be condemned/dammed/sidelined ? This is not a valid reasoning and in fact makes a mockery of the people who go out to vote and choose their representatives.

What about others who are investing their time/resources in Gujarat ?
Several activists believe that industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani , Ratan Tata etc who are investing in Gujarat need to take a clear stand on Mr Modi’s role in the Godhra riots. They believe that such eminent personalities need to voice their opinion because of the influence they have on the young minds of this country. This argument is flawed. I believe that Industrialists who prefer to not be dragged into the petty politics of this country should be left alone. They are doing their job of creating jobs for the people of this country and of contributing to our exchequer. Similarly it would be great if our activists do not base their arguments on false ideologies.


Where are the thinkers ?
Isn’t it possible for a person to praise Mr Modi for his brilliant economic politics and at the same time criticize him for poor governance during the riots ? Or should he be criticized all the time without any reason or logic ? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the congress party praised Mr Modi for his economic policies and infact replicated them in congress ruling states but continued to pressurize the Gujarat government on the probe. Similarly wouldn’t it be great if the BJP praised the UPA for the nuclear bill while criticized them for inflation. The women’s reservation bill was a landmark bill because our two national parties came togther on the issue. It would be great if they could find more common ground. To conclude, I think our country would be much stronger if we agree to disagree on issues and maintain our ethics/decorum while standing firm on our beliefs. I am sure Mr Bachchan would have received better treatment if we followed this.

Microfinance and RangDe

This post is about “Microfinance” and my association with RangDe.org(www.rangde.org), a non-profit microfinance organization in India. I am a volunteer with the organization. The views presented in this article are entirely mine and do not represent the views of the organization or of its members.

What is Microfinance ?
Microfinance is the practice of providing loans to microentrepreneurs(owners of small time business) to help them setup/run their business. These entrepreneurs typically find it difficult to obtain the same loans from big financial institutions such as banks. This is because banks typically require a collateral or surety on which the loan is provided. This becomes a bottleneck for the microentrepreneurs who then go to the local money lenders(who charge exorbitant rates) to borrow loans. Another factor to be considered here is that since these are very small loan amounts banks find the overhead very high for a very small transaction. This is where microfinance helps provide low cost loans to entrepreneurs who need not shell out a major portion of their earnings as interest for the loans. I believe the average loan amount in India ranges between 5000 and 7000. You can read more about microfinance at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance .

Are all microfinance institutions non-profit institutions ?
No.I volunteer for RangDe.org , a non-profit institution. The whole objective of microfinance is to provide low cost loans to borrowers. An organization that doesn’t seek to gain profit from the venture can provide loans to borrowers at a much lesser rate.

About RangDe
Loan collection and Disbursal
As I mentioned previously, RangDe is a non-profit organization. It is an online platform to connect investors (you and me) with borrowers. Investors have an option of choosing the borrower at the time of investment. Typically more than one investor loans to a borrower. Say, I see that a milk businessman wants Rs 5000 to buy a cow, I would loan say Rs300 and another investor would loan some more and so on till the entire amount is collected. The total loan is then provided to field partners (NGOs) who provide the loans to borrowers. Borrowers use the money to establish/grow their business. It is important to remember that this would be unsecured loan.


Repayment
Borrowers repay the loan in parts over a period of time. The exact details are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RangDe.Org . So eventually the investor receives the entire loan amount with 2% interest.

Operating Principle
RangDe provides ensures that loans are provided to groups of borrowers. The advantage of this approach is that this ensures collective responsibility. Even if one member of the group defaults on the repayment , the others in the group would pitch in to ensure that the credibility of the group is not lost. This approach also fosters a spirit of competition among borrowers who would with all sincerity use their business acumen to grow their business.

Microfinance has the power to transfer rural India and would ensure the much talked about inclusive growth. People who can run a good business in villages and towns would no longer have to travel to cities for a livelihood. This in turn would help reduce the overcrowding in cities.

Another important factor to note is that microfinance has greatly helped women lead better lives. Most microfinance institutions would admit that women dominate their borrower base and women are also less likely to default in their repayment. While a man might spend his money in a village liquor store, a woman would save money to send her child to the village school.


You can learn more about RangDe by visiting the Official RangDe blog at http://blog.rangde.org/

Controversy surrounding the BSP rally.

Most of us are aware of the controversy surrounding BSP leader Mayawati’s public display of wealth during the recent BSP rally in Uttar Pradesh. For those of you who don’t know, the BSP members recently celebrated the 25 year anniversary of the founding of their party and the birthday of founder Kanshi Ram. Roughly 200 Crore was spent for the event. During the event , UP chief minister and BSP’s tallest leader Mayawati was presented with a garland of 1000 Rupee notes. The value of the garland is estimated at 21 Lakhs. The question on everyone’s mind is – “Was this required and was it appropriate at a time when the Stage government citing paucity of funds even refused to compensate the families of those who died in a recent stampede”

Most political parties have condemned the incident and some have even gone to the extent of seeking a CBI enquiry to investigate the source of funding for the garland and for the event. All these parties have placed themselves on a moral high ground and members seem to indicate that they have a clean slate. I don’t buy the argument that only people who display their wealth have looted the country and the others haven’t. Everyone(well almost) is corrupt. Mayawati’s supporters were quick to retort that at least their leader does not hide her wealth unlike others who rob the country after dusk.

My argument is that at a time when the participation of the people in our democracy is at an all time low and when people have begun to give up on politicians because of the amount of corruption, Mayawati’s brazen display of wealth further strengthens their belief that Indian polity cannot improve. We need people to believe that our political system can improve. Such incidents undo any progress made by citizen groups to get people to vote. We must remember that corrupt politicians are elected by good citizens who choose not to vote. If we want our system to improve, we must make sure that participation in the electoral process improves. An argument that such a display of wealth by Mayawati inspires members of her community is flawed and mocks the intelligence of our people.

The irony is that Mayawati has done a fabulous job of improving the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. She has an amazing political acumen and as woman belonging to a community that has been oppressed for ages, has fought against all odds to reach her current position. She must not squander it all away. Uttar Pradesh is certainly the most important state for political parties in India. The state has given us the maximum number of prime ministers and it is very likely that UP’s current political leaders would in the near future play a greater role in Delhi. If Mayawati plans to play an important role at the center, she cannot afford to indulge in petty politics such as asking the police force to see if the beehive at the rally was part of a political conspiracy against her party!

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings – III – The Finale..

This is my final post on this splendid book. It is a culmination of what would first come to my mind when I think of it.

In one of the first few chapters of the book ,Mr Tharoor speaks about the “soft power” of a nation. For the uninitiated, this means the bargaining or influencing power that a country has earned through its actions. For Eg :- India ,Mr Tharoor says has lost its soft power in speaking about the minorites in Pakistan or Sri Lanka because of Kandhamal , Babri Masjid, Godhra etc etc. Similarly he says that movies play a big role in influencing international perception. He gives the example of one of the Indiana Jones movies in which India is shown as a land where children are mercilessly killed to satisfy a deity and as a land of monkey brain eaters. Mr Tharoor says that this movie did considerable damage to India’s soft power in the eyes of the Westerners, who simply believed what they saw. I am eager to know what Mr Tharoor thinks of Slumdog Millionaire and all its worldwide glory. After all, the movie portrays several gory aspects of India.

The final essay in the book is about Mr Tharoor’s visit to the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Here he writes elaborately on the beauty of ancient Indian monuments. However he also  takes us through the most common scenes in such tourist spots – young children trying to sell Camera film rolls , people providing palanquin service for elders and tourist guides providing great guided tours.

One of the highlights of the book is about the emphasis that Mr Tharoor has given to ancient Indian science. Essay after essay he reminds us that several concepts such as gravity ,  planetary motion etc were known to early Indians centuries before the apple fell on Newton’s head or Copernicus got a telescope in his hand. Although I remember reading this in my school, I never appreciated it much or gave much thought to it, because year after year, syllabus after syllabus we were reading the same thing and it seemed pretty normal. However at this point in my life, I am really beginning to appreciate the richness of Indian civilization; Maybe more so because I don’t have to worry about remembering these for an exam.

People who attacked Mr Tharoor for his cattle class comment should have read this book and the chapter on Political humour. It is clear that Mr Tharoor loves humour (of course those that are in good taste). While most of India would remember Sarojini Naidu as the nightingale of India, I remember her for her famous comment on Gandhiji’s austerity – “if only he knew how much it costs us to keep him in poverty”

I am pasting the link to one of ST’s article in Hindu where he speaks about Indians’ sense of humour and the lack of it.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/22/stories/13220466.htm

To summarize, I’ve had a great time reading this book. I am eager to follow up by reading several of his other books. I end this article with one of the best phrases I came across in the book – “India is not a developing country. It is a developed country in an advanced state of decay”.

 

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings - II The two sides of the Vindhyas..

I’ll continue with opinions on ST’s “the elephant , the tiger and the cellphone”. Mr Tharoor several times in his book states that he sees only South India making economic progress. He feels that it is South India that is India’s economic engine and is carrying the baggage of the rest of the country! Mr Tharoor , being in the government must surely have his facts right when he says this but somehow my opinion on this issue differs from his.
North India has produced some of India’s finest businessmen. These business leaders have generated wealth and employment for Indians. This fact certainly cannot be ignored. It is widely accepted that Gujarat has contributed more to the country’s economy than any other state could even imagine. Gujarati’s have gone on to assume important positions in several countries. Gujarat contributes to a major share of India’s diamond exports. The Gujarati and Punjabi Community in the USA have contributed a great deal in improving ties between the US and India. That is one of the reasons we are seeing so many NRI’s being awarded by the Padma Bushan. The current government’s mantra is simple – Anyone who helps improve India’s standing in the world would be awarded. The Sikh community has a significant presence in the UK and have generated ample employment and revenue. It is after looking at these facts that I am surprised with the stand taken by Mr Tharoor.

Another fact that cannot be ignored is that people from the north of the Vidhyas assume significant positions in the government machinery. The enthusiasm to join the IAS is greater among the youth in Bihar than in any other state. So it is important that Mr Tharoor clearly defines a metric with which he measures a state’s contribution to a country. In my opinion, it cannot be simply measured by the number of jobs generated by the Information Technology Sector, something that Mr Tharoor does. After all , the IT sector only caters to a million jobs in a country of 1.3 billion.

Another fact that cannot be ignored is that India allows the free movement of people. Hence it is impossible to state that South India’s progress or North India’s progress is only fuelled by people of that region. The Reliance and the Tata empires are run by some of the brightest minds from South India while some of the brightest engineers from north India contribute to the IT sector growth in Bangalore.
If you have read thus far, you would assume that I am a person from North India and hence my opinions. No I am what most people would call a “Madarasi” and I call myself a “Bangalorean”.

It would have been very glad if the whole concept of North Indians and South Indians and their respective contributions to the country would not have featured in the book. After all we are all Indians first.

Our Republic Day Gift- Phir Mile Sur...

In my previous post , I had mentioned that I would write a few more posts on ST’s book but I am going to break the continuity and instead write on the recent gift i.e “Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” that we have received on our Republic Day ! What a shame that this song is a pathetic sequel to the fantastic “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara”.

One set of people are fuming that megastars such as Rajinikant are missing from the video. I understand that the makers did not want to have the same cast as the original because this video also symbolizes the previous generation passing the baton to the current generation. But then the casting for the video is deplorable. Industrialists such as Narayan Murthy and Ratan Tata have been left out. So are the Ambani Brothers. If they don’t represent India then who does ? In sports how could they ignore Vishwanathan Anand, Rahul Dravid , Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly ! Instead of them we have folks from the film industry who haven’t even fully made their mark !

The second flaw with the video is that, there is no focus on the “national integration concept”. Why is each film star given separate screen time. It would have been much better if Shahrukh , Aamir and Salman all came and sang together. This is what the song would have represented, people coming together inspite of their differences. Imagine having Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi coming together in the video. The whole of India has lamented that their differences have cost India several Olympic medals. They could have atleast been cast together in this video. Or we could have had warring politicians come together to share screen space. All this to the common man symbolizes people coming together for the cause of our great nation. Instead we have an “Aamir Khan” singing in that horrible “Aati Ka Khandala tune” and Shahrukh doing his trade mark “Streched Hands”. All these stars have had their own solo screen time shifting the focus from the actual purpose of the song. Sportspersons have been pushed to the very end and have very little presence in the video. This reminds me of the time when all the bollywood stars were invited to Delhi to carry the Beijing Olympics torch and P.T Usha and several other eminent sportspersons were ignored !

The third flaw in the video is the lack of emotion in several of the actors. Ash with her trademark plastic smile is just one example. I appreciate these actors spending time for this video but the effort simply wasn’t good enough. I don’t think actresses need a 2 inch makeup all the time. Ash and Shilpa are you guys listening ?

After the Aman Ki Asha blunder on New Years day , TOI has successfully spoilt a legendary song on the eve of Republic Day. I shudder to even think of what they are planning for the next big event. The makes of the video should understand that “India is not just about Bollywood”.

Several years down the line I would be ashamed to show my children this Phir Mile Sur video and hence would instead show them the original.

To end the post on a positive note I would say that A.R Rahman starting the song is really nice. Our Oscar winner deserves all the accolades that he gets.

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings - 1

I am reading Shashi Tharoor’s “the elephant , the tiger and the cellphone”. The book is all about India, Indians and Mr. Tharoor’s experiences in India. I am not attempting a book review, for I know I would fail miserably. Just a few ramblings about some ideas expressed in the book.


Mr Tharoor speaks several times about India’s pluralism and Indians’ acceptance of this idea. He gives several crisp examples to prove this. I am arguing against one of them in this post. Mr Tharoor says that when Mr Deve Gowda, the “mannina maga” of Karnataka became India’s PM, his Independence day speech was in Hindi and this is an example of India’s pluralism. He goes on to explain that since Mr Gowda , who at that time couldn’t speak or read Hindi , achieved the feat by writing the Hindi script in Kannada , it showcases India’s pluralism ! I certainly don’t agree with this reasoning. I am proud that a person from modest beginnings worked hard to climb India’s political ladder and being a farmer, represented the whole of rural India. But I don’t agree with Mr Tharoor’s reasoning.

Now tomorrow if I read out a French speech in Paris by reading out from an English or Tamil script , am I showcasing my pluralist mind? We are forcing our PM to read something he does not totally understand. Just try writing a Chinese language script in English and reading the script in a public function in Beijing . Would you be comfortable with it? I am not a language chaunavist and I don’t believe in the superiority of one language over another. Neither am I propagating jingoism. Just trying to reason out. I would be glad if proved wrong.

Pluralism is all about allowing a wide range of thoughts, beliefs, languages ,customs, religions etc to flourish freely in a land and allowing a person to practice them freely. Had we appreciated our PM ‘s speech and his emotions whilst he delivered his Independence Day speech in his mother tongue , it would have showcased our pluralism.

For people who say that the rest of India wouldn’t understand , “ we could have always allowed a translator” or any other senior member of the cabinet could have re-delivered the speech in Hindi. Anyways most of the people don’t watch the Live telecast on TV. For rural India that still listens to the speech on the “All India Radio”, the AIR could have been provided the copy of the script and the speech can be delivered in the language of the land .

I am glad that Mr Tharoor’s book has provided food for thought. I am thoroughly enjoying the book. Several of my further posts would be my musings on this wonderful book.

My response to Chetan Bhagat’s article on "Fighting for a Common Cause”

The original article can be found in the following link
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Ask-whats-our-cause-not-whats-mine/articleshow/5429006.cms#write

Chetan Bhagat in this article beautifully articulates that we have not been successful in introspecting about the targets we had set for ourselves a few decades ago. A very valid point and this is something we need to introspect on. After all, we cannot keep pushing the timeline by which we must achieve a measurable , sustainable growth.

The second part of the article speaks about what we must do in future to achieve the desired growth. Mr Bhagat speaks about voicing our opinions for a collective common cause to achieve a desired result. To a lay man this means that we need to voice our demands and opinions through a single channel or in another sense , vote on common grounds. Although this is a great idea ,this seems impractical in a country such as India. The reasons are mentioned below

- India’s economic growth has resulted in a skewed growth for certain sections. Now these sections that have already made some progress cannot blend their thought process with people from other sections of the society. For Eg : A man who has children studying in school and who has runs a successful business would be impressed by the thoughts and ideas of Kapil Sibal who wants to rope in Harvard and Stanford into India and might want him. Whereas I would rather want the government to provide goof healthcare insurance options to me and my family and might lean towards more of the leftist policies. The servant maid in my apartment would want a government that would provide better rice or what flour in the ration. She would be impressed with the policies of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. Now , how on earth would we get all of them on the same platform to speak , debate and conclude on a common cause ? An anology to this is what Mr Bhagat specifically mentions about various NGO’s targeting different causes and the need for them to unite together !

- The second reason is India’s land size and the sheer impossibility to get everyone on a common platform. Let us consider the decision to vote to achieve results as a linear equation with a certain number of variables- now the greater the number of variables (causes we fight for) ,more difficult and time consuming it is to solve the problem(achieving atleast something if not everything).

I would like to quote several other reasons but would stop at this point. I am thrilled that intellectuals like Chetan Bhagat and Shashi Tharoor are thinking really hard to solve our problems and I hope they do succeed. This article is not to condemn Mr Bhagat’s line of thought. It is merely a counter argument. I strongly believe that arguing and debating would make us more intelligent individuals. I am also not sure if this article would reach all the people I intend it to reach. I certainly hope it does.

My Solution to the Problem

The problems faced by an area (typically a legislative assembly )can be addressed by forming an Area Association comprising of really smart and hardworking people located in the area. They can understand the needs of the people. The landscape of the area would be uniform and the professions of the people would not be very diverse. For Eg : In an urban area we can elect a person who is ready to solve issues of sanitation and roads . Similarly in a village , a person who understands the minimum support price concept for crops and issues of fertilizer prize can be elected.

So the real solution is to group people by area or locality rather than by their demands. Why should a farmer in Maharashtra who is fighting (for or )against BT cotton lose his sleep over the issue of farm land flooding near the Cauvery Delta ?

I hope I am atleast partially correct :-)

Glimpses of India’s politics – 2000 to 2009

It’s a brand new year and also a brand new decade. This post is a compilation of what I felt were the most important events of Indian politics and matters that affected Indian politics in the previous decade.

- Flight IC814 Hijack
Certainly the most difficult time for the BJP led NDA govt. I still can’t understand how the flight was allowed to fuel up and leave Indian soil. Released terrorists have since then planned and executed major terror attacks against India. The incident came back to haunt L.K Advani in the 2009 general election.

- The Godhra Riots
I won’t take sides on a sensitive issue as this. But this certainly changed NDA’s composition. A lot of BJP’s allies deserted them citing this as the cause resulting in a very weak NDA fighting a strong opposition in the 2004 election. The riots also set the Indian media against the BJP. The BJP is certainly paying a price for this.

- The rise of the 24 Hour News Channels
I still remember the days when NDTV news was aired between 9 and 10 PM on Star Plus. I watched it regularly. The 24 hour news channels have ushered in a new style of news reporting. They added to the existing chaos of the 26/11 attacks ! We saw news reporters (famous ones !) troubling already grieving families , distracting the police with incessant queries etc etc . But at the same time , Ruchika’s family could have never got our support without the help of the media! Great job guys. We also see news channels favouring certain political parties ! So what has all this led to ? An overdose of information from which we need to intelligently select valuable and right information.

- Sonia and Rahul Gandhi revive the Congress party
The congress fought and won the 2004 election thanks to a super human effort from these individuals. Smart choice of alliance partners also helped. Can never forget 13 May 2004, the day when the result was announced and I was stunned to see the NDA lose. The media was harping on the loss and since I have been a big fan of Vajpayee never accepted the defeat.

- Pramod Mahajan Dies
The untimely death of Pramod Mahajan left a big void in the BJP. He was the man touted to be PM in waiting. The man who changed the shape of the telecom sector in India , forged a great alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra was no more. We certainly lost a great leader.

- Nitish Takes Over Bihar and Modi drives Gujarat
JD(U) and BJP rode to power in Bihar ending the Lalu Prasad era ! Nitish revived a state which was known for lawlessness. Kudos to the JD(U)-BJP government for having done a great job in Bihar. 11% growth is commendable. At the same time Narendra Modi rode BJP to a second victory in Gujarat. He was helped on the way by Sonia Gandhi’s “Maut Ke Saudagar” speech and by some excellent development measures that he implemented. I would certainly rate him as one of the most intelligent and hardworking chief ministers.

- PM Manmohan Singh drives the Indo US Nuclear deal
PM Manmohan Singh risked the life of his government to ensure the success of a deal that he believed was needed for the country. The country stood behind him and watched with awe a very intelligent man negotiate with his allies , convince his party members and wrestle his opponents to finally taste success.

- Birth of the MNS .
The birth of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has certainly changed Maharastra’s political scene. The BJP and Shiv Sena have a big chunk of their vote bank to the MNS. This change in dynamic ensured the victory of an underperforming government ! I still cannot believe that the Congress was never punished by the people of Maharashtra for 26/11/ They seem to be very benevolent !

- 2009 Elections and the end of the Advani Era
The BJP lost the 2009 elections and the party was at a crucial juncture. It was imperative that they next generation of BJP leaders took over the reins of the party and drove its growth. The BJP in the 90’s was the party of the Aam Aadmi and somehow they have managed to throw it away. It is important that they revive themselves. A true democracy needs a healthy competition among intelligent politicians with diverse ideologies. I look forward to this in the second decade !

- Shashi Tharoor and the entry of the intelligentsia into Indian politics
Successful and Intelligent men such as Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP and Shashi Tharoor of the Congress have entered politics. We always hoped that we are ruled by really intelligent people. We have made a beginning and I hope the trend continues in this decade.

- Telengana and the division of India
The decade ended with major protests for and against the creation of Telengana. This led to several groups voicing their opinion for the reorganization of several areas into new states. Ghorkhaland , Vidharbha , Coorg are some of the regions I can remember. A Chinese analyst wrote that splitting India into smaller states would ensure its deterioration. He must certainly be smiling !

India’s democracy is past its nascent stage. It is high time our political parties align themselves on an ideology rather than on religion or caste. This is imperative to our success and I hope we succeed.

Yet another loss

Yesterday India lost yet another dutiful son to the guns of the Maoists. This time the killing was extremely brutal. The unarmed policeman was beheaded ! During such times I wonder if compassion and mercy really exists in this world or is it just in the fables. The media stormed the house on hearing the news and captured visuals of the bereaved family. A little kid whose age was probably 7 or 8 was interviewed! The sobbing kid says “When I grow up I am going to be a policeman” and then addressing the killers he says “You guys killed my father and I am going to kill you”. This visual will probably stay in my mind forever.
As I understand, the Maoists believe that the capitalist economy has denied justice to them. They have not been provided land or any means by which they could earn their living. Hence they are fighting for their share in the pie. Does economics drive away the feeling of compassion or mercy or during instances as these “the concept of humanity”. I no longer understand what they are fighting for!
I am also totally appalled by the response of the govt. Platitudes such as “I totally condemn this attack….” no longer make sense. It probably made sense at a time when such attacks were uncommon and the perpetrators of the crime were not known. This is a blatant inhuman act and the perpetrators must be hanged.
Probably the victory of the Maoist movement in Nepal gave their counterparts in India a new confidence. They however fail to understand that while there was popular sentiment against the monarchy in Nepal, we Indians love democracy. After all we can do anything and get away with it scot free! By committing such acts, the Maoists are going against the sentiment of the very people they are supposedly fighting for.
So what next ? Do we continue to mourn? No. All of a sudden we hear about a heroic act by a teenage girl in J&K who single handedly kills 2 terrorists. We forget about the dead policemen and star thinking once again “Life in Beautiful” and “there’s no country like India”. The govt goes back to its old ways, policemen continue to fight with lathis and we live our lives until the next Maoist attack when we mourn yet again.

Bringing back India’s wealth

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K Advani today addressed the media and addressed the issue of Indian’s saving their wealth in foreign banks. Now this issue has 2 aspects, it involves fraudulent money amassed by the people and also the money which people have genuinely saved.

This issue comes in the wake of the recent announcement of the foreign banks such as the Swiss Bank that they are ready to share their investor’s information with the govt if requested. The US government has promptly reacted to this by taking the necessary steps to obtain the required information. This issue becomes even more important in view of the recent economic crisis. Mr. Advani also said that he had written to the prime minister about this but no action was taken. This issue comes in the wake of the G-20 Summit to be held in London in the coming days.

So how important is this issue? There are 2 sides to this issue. First of all, it would bring about a lot of transparency to the political system in India. The wealth amassed by the political class in these tax havens would be out. All of us speak about the wealth amassed by Mr. X or Mrs. Y in these banks. Let us know the truth. It would bring about a political renaissance in India.

The second aspect to this is that the money which people have genuinely saved can be brought back to India and can be invested in the country. The estimated wealth of the Indians in these banks ranges from $500 Billion to $1400 Billion. This is huge money and would greatly strengthen the Indian economy if invested properly.

But is this really implementable? The political babus would never allow anyone to investigate their wealth, let alone passing a bill to legalize this procedure. This is because every political party has to then revealing the skeletons in its cupboard. At the same time, no party can openly oppose this law as it would show the party in bad light.

The RTI was implemented by the UPA amidst great fanfare. It has been implemented in several situations and has brought a positive change. But it is still plagued by the fact that its failures greatly outweigh its success. The Information officers as they call are mainly ex Government Officials. In such a situation we end up in a situation where in one corrupt man is trying to investigate the cases against another corrupt man. In most cases, the person who appeals is framed with criminal charges and the matter is closed.

We certainly hope that the RTI continues to evolve into a much more effective law. We have made a good beginning and we can’t afford to lose steam mid-way. Similarly, we need to make a beginning to get back India’s wealth and invest the money wisely. It will take a lot of political will to do so and it is achievable.

A Victim Of Diversity

India has been the cradle of civilization. Several religions trace their origin to India. We have more than a hundred languages with about 30 of them being recognized as official languages. Great thinkers and philosophers, the several invasions of India and travelers from far off lands have contributed to India’s diverse religious beliefs.

In a land where people of different beliefs live together, there seems to be a fear in the minds of Individuals that their beliefs and customs would not find a place in modern India. There is a fear of isolation , an isolation probably not during their lifetime but during the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. The demography of India is constantly changing. That is because unlike China, India allows the free movement of its people.

The so called original inhabitants of a land , dare I say aborigines , fear a change in the demography of their land. We have seen such behavior in North East India where in there have been clashes between Muslim migrant workers and the native bodo population. We have seen Hindu Muslim clashes in Uttar Pradesh. Even outside India we know of clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The list is endless. It is not only religion. We have seen bihari and U.P workers being targeted in Mumbai, the tamil population being targeted during the Cauvery water crisis of the 1990’s etc etc.

So what we achieved with diversity? I would really want the people who speak so greatly of India’s diversity to answer this question. They might speak greatly about the art and literature in the various cultures. Fine valid point. But is that enough? More importantly has any culture taught people that they need to respect the other cultures equally ? Great thinkers who have started religions probably never felt the need to intellectually argue and amend the flaws of an existing religion instead of starting a new faith. I wish they had!

India has been the biggest victim of diversity in religion and culture. We might have guided the world with principles and religions. Every nation chose to keep one religion and prosper. We chose to prosper with many. Unfortunately we have failed in execution.

The problem is compounded by the fact that, we have a media which is focused only on the TRP’s. It is clear to them that an issue of religion would get them more viewership and they milk this concept. The result is that we end up focusing on personalities rather than real issues which the country faces.

India's failed diplomacy

The NSG and the security agencies played a vital role during operation “Black Tornado” and were successful in saving many lives. This I will call Phase 1 in coming to terms with the Mumbai carnage. Now Phase 2, is to get the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. Outsourcing of terrorist activities seems is very much favored by terrorist organizations. On the one hand, they have with them people who have already been indoctrinated and on the other hand escalates between the victim nation and the country of the perpetrators. Strong diplomacy is needed to handle such situations.


India faces a tough task in deporting the Pakistani nationals involved in the 26/11 carnage. We need intelligent people who can negotiate well with hard bargaining foreign nationals. We have sacked our incompetent home minister and in Chidambaram have a man who isn’t very keen to take this post. The external affairs minister on one day tells a local daily that it would be okay for Pakistan to hold trial for the 26/11 accused, and retracts his statement the very next day when quizzed about his statement.


I strongly believe that India lost the early advantage when Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation post 26/11 said that Pakistan was as much a victim of terror as India is ! Dr Singh might be an intelligent economist but his reactions and actions post 26/11 prove the fact that he is not prime minister material.


The recent visit of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his comments that about Pakistan’s involvement in the 26/11 carnage speaks volumes about the governement’s weak foreign policy . Miliband very clearly said that Pakistan had a very effective judicial system which can try the accused and that there was no need to deport the accused to India. He also went on to say that he did not believe in the involvement of any Pakistani agency in the attack. The government did not do anything to rebuff his statement. Instead, plans were made for Rahul Gandhi to accompany Miliband to visit Congress’s playground (Amethi) and stay in a village overnight. No government in any country would have reacted in such a lackadaisical manner.


Are we missing something here. Yes. Its election time and Congress is starting of its campaign with this political stunt in Amethi. Many a times when I feel helpless reading such news , I comfort myself by dreaming of the day when smart people like Arun Shourie , Arun Jaitley , T Parthasarathy etc play a prominent role in running the day to day affairs of the country.


Also important in the current scenario are the comments made by the new J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah , who feels that the West needs to intervene to solve the Kashmir Issue. The PMO was expected to issue a statement to condemn such remarks from an elective representative of the people. No such thing was seen.


India deserves better.