India: A Nation of Billon plus Idiots

The December 8^th edition of TOI carried a headline “Ninety percent of Indians are ‘Idiots’ ”, a bold and factual statement made by PCI chairman Justice Markandey Katju. Surprisingly the article received some two thousand odd comments which endorsed his views and a legal notice demanding a public apology.

The honorable Justice further says, Indians don’t have Brains in their heads, it is easy to take them for a ride, Indians can be easily led by mischievous elements in the name of religion, and any provocateur agent can incite a communal violence for a meager amount of Rs 2000 in a place like Delhi.  

Undeniably hundred percent true, no one can argue against his statements, “Eighty percent of Hindus and Muslims are communal”. Identity politics is the rule of electoral game, both the voter and the candidate covertly agree upon this. Society and the State identify us on the basis of Language, religion, caste, and sex; it’s the Indian state that divides us not the extinct British Empire.   

The judge goes a little further and claims before 1857 there was no communalism in India, true, there were no communal clashes in Srilanka either. Independence, democracy and vote power changed the status quo. In British India the Natives had lost all their power, speed of the bullet, Range of the Artillery and fierceness of the sword ruled the nation, the British mastered the art of Governance and Administration.

The Indian society was and still is caste based, the warrior class failed to protect India from foreign Invasion. The ruling castes always did compromises with Mugals by getting into different kind of alliances including matrimonial. Col. Malleson, who chronicled the British version of 1857 states, the Mugals from the days of Akbar to 1857 never, disturbed the caste or Land Administration/ regulation of the Hindus. A sought of non-interference formula always existed between the foreign ruler and the local subjects.

Even in the midst of the great mutiny; when the Mugals were issuing proclamations requesting a joint Hindu, Muslim rebellion against the British; Indian Historian Gautam Gupta’s version of 1857 war records, ‘fatwa was passed at Jama Majid on May 19 1857, by Maulavi Muhammad Sayyid for a holy war against the Hindus as well’.

The Hindus and Muslims may have lived a peaceful life as we live today. Century old Perception difference of each other still remains; the Muslims considered the divided Hindu society as a single entity of kaffirs or Non believers. The Hindus always considered Muslims foreigners or of Low caste.

Religion defined the culture and Administration of this country since the ancient time. Mahatmas and Reformers brought in various rational thoughts to Indian Society. What Justice Katju must understand is India and Indian society is still communal, as it was for past thousands of years. Secular Laws were written just yesterday. One would not need Rs 2000 for a communal violence,one SMS, facebook update or a Love marriage is more than enough for a national catastrophe. To be fair to all Indians, one who takes pride in calling himself a Saraswat Brahmin with his surname also belongs to ninety percent group.

Water Pricing and its Regulation by the State

The oft-repeated cliché of an Indian Politician would be ‘Roti, Kapda aur Makkan’. The quintessential slogan with its Rhythmic phonetics unmistakably describes the basic needs of the aam admi. The aam admi, self-reliant and Independent, often never looks forward to the Politician for his basic needs, needs which are fast becoming a Luxury, needs for which one has to toil hard. Of late the society has realized its individual and the state’s responsibility, the slogan of food, clothing and shelter has changed. In Tamil Nadu’s context, the society’s expectation from the state has moved from freebies, to better services. Freebies no longer satiate people’s aspirations, its Power, Roads and Health-Care that the society demands over any other material comforts.

The Governments of the day on the other hand had kept itself busy with its own Business. The minister’s kept themselves busy with their Private and Personal Business, manipulated and bent the system to the advantage of their business. The state resources were legally plundered by the corporate mafia for its own benefits and the excuse offered was ‘in the larger interest of public benefit’.

The natural resources like Spectrum and Coal were almost gifted to the corporate entities at throwaway prices. In the name of development Forest and Agri-lands were snatched from Tribals and farmers and were sold off at market rates to MNC’s. Granite Mining leveled many mountains and sand quarrying caused irreparable environment damages. Power shortages and unimpeded transformation of Ponds and water reservoirs has made Agriculture a non-profitable venture. Many farmers prefer to sell the land to real estate mafia than tilling the soil.    

The record of the state is no better in delivery of other essential services like PDS, water, road, electricity, and Healthcare. Invariably, no province of the Indian state can claim any exemption from these citizen grievances.

Capitalism being the adhoc mantra of the Indian Union, the imported western moles in the Union finance department is busy, tightening the noose around the common man. One such ingenious move is water regulation by the state; a draft of this Policy could be found at the websites of the Union Water Resource Ministry, christened as National Water Policy-2012.

The Bill deals with every aspect of water related issues like, existing resources, use and Misuse of water, demand, depletion, existing and proposed water policy. Two dangerous ideas proposed in the bill are water regulation and pricing by the state.

Why the bill warrants our attention is for the simple fact that it intends to punish the society for the failure of the political class. Successive state and Central Government have failed in many facets, which have led us to the present scenario of Urban and Rural water scarcity.

The unrestrained growth of Population, unplanned urbanization, dense-habitation by flat systems and Housing Board colonies, Non-Nationalization of rivers and non-regulation of hazardous Industrial effluents have made the supply of drinking water a scarce resource. The salinity penetration in water has increased unabatedly. Polices were never implemented to check these banes on time.

Water regulation by the state; first it would come with dual pricing one with subsidized domestic and another for commercial purposes. Over time, Domestic one would be smuggled for commercial purposes; water subsidies would be limited and ultimately eliminated. Finally, Water bill equals or exceeds electricity bill.

Imagine a world where water is regulated by Politicians. FDI would be welcomed for drinking water distribution and irrigation, MNC’s would get gallons of water at subsided rates, water supply agency would be a Investment Portfolio item for the politician’s Business, Gardens and Horticulture would become commercial ventures, Botany would become a chapter of History Books, rural areas would get water supply for twelve hours and metro cities would have water supply cutoff for hours.

Water and air are the two commodities which are a part of Human Rights, if the state is allowed to regulate it; it would be a transgression into our Human Rights. Decades before Sir Winston Churchill once predicted about India ‘a day would come when even air and water would be taxed’; our politicians have proved him right.

 

FDI in Multi-Brand Retail: Part III

The Multinationals may view us huge market with enough purchasing potentials, but with all their experiences India may offer different lessons to them. They may come with deep pockets, offer heavy discounts and choke competition, but remains to be seen is whether the Multinationals can sustain Indian thriftiness? The purchasing pattern of an average Indian is Unique, a judicious mix of cost, quality and quantity. If Population is an advantage to them, sometimes, it could turn otherwise.  Petty or Hefty entrepreneurs can walk it any time, choking competition may not be an easy option here.   

Let’s believe they can better negotiate than us for better Public services from the Government. Better roads could become an essential item rather than a luxuries one. Our votes can always tame the politician to our advantage.  

Unlike the US farming is not an ultra large scale business, it’s a cottage Industry. Indian farmers, who prefer to sell the lands than cultivating, may go back to farming. Modernization of farm procurement may break the caste hierarchy of the villages. The predictable Multinational employee pattern may attract the House wives and less educated youths of this country. Customer focus of these companies may bring in new skill sets to their employees; these skill sets may empower their future, entrepreneurially.  

Boon or a bane, the John Company is to be credited for all what we have today. A country called India was created first by an English company centuries before Vallab Bhai Patel. Hope the Sam companies create a better country out of the existing one.      

 

FDI in Multi-Brand Retail: Part II

The potential social impact of these policies warrants a sneak into the annals of wrong side of our history. A foreign trading company was responsible our enslavement for over two centuries. The various media houses often portray FDI as a panacea for all evils of this country. The retailers like Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco have earned enough publicity without spending a single Penny.

All the arguments cited here against FDI in Multi-brand retail are based on a reference called Wall-Mart’s Economic foot print; a literature survey prepared by a US based institution, the Hunter College. According to survey the formula for financial success includes low labor costs with limited employee benefits and leveraging of Governmental subsidies.

The capital requirement of the country is huge, which can be satiated only by foreign dollars. The current regulations permits only 53 cities to entertain Multi-Brand FDI, can 53 cities solve the capital requirements for 1.2 billion people? The incoming capital are not charity dollars, they come here in search of profits, profits which are going to sail offshore some day.

The proposed development in cold storage and Logistic is already open for FDI; the foreigners don’t want to play a secondary role to the Indian retailers. All these infrastructures will bear fruits only if we have proper Road infrastructure in India. Do you have one in your neighborhood? Do you believe the politicians are going to use the tax money for your benefits? The extra money earned by the ‘Inglish Raj’ is going to make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

The APMC brokers may be replaced more educated and certified brokers. Farmers may be forced to produce what the MNCs want the most and this may wipe out the food security of the farmers. Let’s not forget the forced Indigo Plantation of our history. Most of purchases could be made in futures market by these MNCs. As far Jobs, the hunter report says ‘ more than two third of wall-mart employees don’t try to support a family’. The consumers get benefits only when they buy everything in bulk.

After Imperialism and colonialism, it’s the turn of capitalism. In a nation where any foreign practice was once considered as evil, the devil has come to stay. Only time would answer, whether he is a devil or an angel?  

   

 

FDI in Multi-Brand Retail: Part I

The commerce Ministries’ Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion bypassed the parliament and issued an executive press release on FDI in Single and Multi Brand retailing. A hasty political move bunched with a host of many other tough anti-people decisions. The congress which in the past, swore on its charka, Panchyat and Gram rajya changed its skin and exposed its true colors.

The congress ministers, in particular the HRD minister in an article on Times of India offered a new perspective to view FDI in retail, a context of capital Inflows, Job creation, Industrial and Infrastructure growth.

The conventional marketing option available to the Indian farmer is through the APMC, Agricultural Produce Marketing Council. Traditionally a farmer’s choice of food or cash crop depends upon in basic needs. The choice of cash crop depends on the season, measure of land available and risk appetite of the farmer. A farmer primarily cultivates, for the food security of his family and his local economy, the leftovers if any end up at the local APMC. A farmer cannot sell outside the committee’s ambit.    

Supporters of FDI in retail often sight many opinions; all of them could be classified under two factors, Capital creation and Individual (Human) development.  

The prime requirement for a wholesome development of the economy is capital. The capital requirement for us to graduate to a Developed Nation is huge, which cannot be satisfied by local resourses. So the country needs more of the white man’s dollars for more development. Dollars would fetch us good quality roads, schools, Hospitals and better grocery services. More and more of the entrepreneurs would join the organized sector, hence more sales and Income taxes. Competition would bring good storage Infrastructure. It is believed that these storage facilities can reduce the food wastage and bring down food Inflation.

As for the Human development, FDI in retail can eradicate child labor, prevent exploitation of labor, and bring mass employment opportunities. ‘Annachi’ stores or what’s called as Kiranas in the north may upgrade their services. Consumers may get high quality products at discounted prices. Farmers may get professional advices for their ventures and good prices for their harvest.

Passing the baton of power and responsibility is an accepted norm of day; it’s sweetly defined as Liberalization. Liberals proffer many promises, and if you have trust in these promises; you are on the right side of Kapil Sibal’s History.

 

Patriots-Patronized and Unsung

It’s the Second day of October, a festive and auspicious day, Jayanthi of the father of our Motherland. A day free of all rituals and religious duties, but still the day is filled with a festive environment on our TVs and Newspapers. The portrait of a half naked fakir dots all the spot where your eyes lay on. Peace becomes, the motto of the day; Raj Ghat, the Video of the day; Ishwar-Allah song of the day; Khadhi, the dress of the day; and Gandhi, the movie of the day.

Almost six decades have passed; Historians of the sub-continent were kept busy, writing the official and politically acceptable version of history.

The Pak academia invested all its time in proving that Muslims were different from Hindus who cannot coexist with each other and therefore Partition of India was correct. If Partition was correct so was their Quiad-e-Azam, M A Jinnan. Jinnah and Liaquat were the hero of the Pak Story , the Hindus solely represented by Congress, solely mentored by Nehru-Gandhi duo were the bad guys.  

As far as our History goes, the congress awakened India, the congress Liberated India, it stood (as still is) for secularism but the League played spoilsport, congress wrote the constitution, congress developed India and Congress Liberalized India.  

Congress History is Indian History and the History was written by descendants Nehru-Gandhi family.

The Central Cabinet Ministers by their nepotism have reduced the honor of India to that of a Jagir and Nehru-Gandhi family it’s Jagirdars. Consistently the tax payer’s money is used to promote the congress mascot Sonia Gandhi in all of the Governmental advertisement as UPA Chairperson. Rahul flies of IAF planes, so does Sonia.

As for the Prime Minister money does not grow on trees therefore we should learn to live with 32 Rs for a day but god know where on earth he gets the money to feed 350 guests at a fair price of Rs7000/ per meal. The luncheon was arranged to commemorate her majesties eighth anniversary of coronation.

On the Last week of September, the print media carried a full page advertisement by the ministry of culture commemorating an event celebrating 150^th birth anniversary of Motilal Nehru.

Motilal Nehru was a freedom fighter and deserves our gratitude, but what business does the ministry of culture has with the birth anniversary of a freedom fighter? If the Government has a new protocol, does it apply to all Freedom fighters?  . Wikipedia introduction says he was born on 6^th May 1861 and not on 25^th September 1862. The event saw the release of a stamp and a coin of MLN.

Buy any Postage stamp in your neighborhood Nehru, Gandhi, Indira and Rajeev would be the prominent faces. J Nehru himself probably missed his father’s centenary 1961; Sonia has reminded us of MLNs.

The Congress Government has used and abused the contributions of freedom fighters and social reformers for its parochial political needs. The contributions of many a selfless leader has often been conveniently overlooked, if it is politically unrewarding.

28^th September was the 105^th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh; the event went unnoticed in India. Commemorative coins issued on his birth centenary in 2007 saw its light only in 2010. The popularity of Bhagat Singh even forced the Pakistan Government to rename a street in west Punjab.

The list is endless; three other prominent leaders conspicuously overlooked by congress include Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, Subhas Chabdra Bose and Vallabhai Patel.

Ambedkar’s role in constitutional drafting is a well documented history; still congress insists Nehru’s whip speeded up the process. The constitution was completed on 26^th November 1949 but for pure sentimental reasons it was pushed to 26^th January 1950. April 14^th may be national holiday on account of his Jayanthi, but Doordharshan is yet to screen the Mamooty stared movie Ambedkar.

Subhas Chandra Bose broke away from congress, raised an Indian army and forced many mutinies in British Indian army. A recent Pakistani blog on Dawn opined, it was Bose who frustrated the British to leave not Gandhi or Jinnah. The British gifted Independence to Ceylon without any popular demands from the natives.

Vallabhai created a united India out of some Five Hundred odd countries. Countries were made to fall in line either by diplomacy or use of force. He wielded a strong conviction not to give to any Muslim demands (After Partition) for separate electorates. The country’s Integrity was his priority, post partition.

Bhagat Singh remains only in Punjabi folk and pop songs; Ambedkar is still a depressed class leader; some Bengalis remember Bose and the congress Leader Vallab bhai Patel is a role model of the BJP.

By clever use of the public money, a single family has created a TINA factor. The public must be made Aware of the politician’s lavishness. The CAG must not question the Government’s policies but also its excesses.

British Raj to Inglish Raj

In an unprecedented move the central government embroiled in myriad allegations of scandals; displayed its gimmickry with its set of cards. The trump card being a suicidal move; a move intended not to kill thyself, but the voters who foolishly voted them to power.

The tricks include, inviting the white man’s descendants to invest not in one but many John companies, selling the properties of our grandchildren’s, taxing the common man Inglish style .The English firangi taxed our forefather’s salt, but our desi ‘Inglish Raj’ taxed our chulas.

These anti-people measures were further substantiated by a 13 point quarter page reasoning by the petroleum ministry in various national and vernacular dailies. (If the first move hasn’t cut a deep wound, then take the salt. Of course you paid for the salt from your taxes.) The taxpayer paid advertisement solicited alternatives to meet the crisis. We explore a few missed alternatives here.

The excuse, 74% of our crude oil is imported at international rates. May be true, but who refines them? When PSU’s OMC’s are making losses, why is Ambani Sr the richest man in India? How many of remaining 26% of oil rigs are under the control of GOI?

Indian rupee sharply depreciated against the rupee. Had we had honest ministers, we could have mopped up windfall revenues on spectrum and our coal reserves. The money earned could have been transformed into gold by RBI, rupee could have appreciated and net importing country like India would have reaped enormous benefits.

The state Governments charge more taxes than the central Government, Classic case of- Passing the buck. Why double tax a single commodity? When the petroleum products are taxed at the source, why other taxes of different names? Why not a single tax by a single statutory department?

44 % of LPG consumers consume only 6 cylinders per annum. How many of them consume less than 9 cylinders? Austerity should start from the palace. Why not cancel the cylinder and petroleum bunk licenses cornered by politicians? Why the Fuel/ Transport perk of the politician is never disturbed?

If revenue increase by increase in taxation is only way out, one wonders why do we need a hoard of imported NRI ‘western moles’ as economists in various advisory panels and even at RBI boards?

 Decades ago when Prime Ministers of India lived on their salaries they bought their cars using car loans; our present day municipal councilors buy their cars with hot cash. God knows what their salaries and perks are? One simple suggestion that can stabilize the price is, ‘let the politician pay the state for all his private travel expenses’. Why should the IAF ferry Rahul Gandhi? Let him pay and many others like him pay the state for their extra constitutional and private visits. It is not Indian society that must realize the PNG burden but the Inglish Neta should.

 

 

 

 

 

Information Technology: another weapon for a low intensity war.

Over the last few weeks Social media servers virtually tore the fabric of Indian Integration and held our sovereignty at ransom through its venomous morphed inflammatory Information. The viral spread of misinformation led to a large scale migration of our citizens from one region to other on a large scale comparable to migration of the partition days. Callousness of Assam and Maharashtra administrations or delay in deployment of central forces in Assam or destructive intensions of a ‘wounded’ Pakistan: galore reasons may be attributed for the wild Jolt that the nation experienced, but one important lesson that the avoidable situation has thought us is “Power of Information and of propaganda”.     

Information Technology has narrowed the Digital gap between the developed and developing world. Mass access to the info world took its own time; nevertheless it served as a weapon of mass destruction of many a dictatorial regime. Dictators hitherto loved, worshiped, and respected were made to eat dust, decades old unchallenged dictatorial Arab countries embraced western democracy. Countries like Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt succeeded in establishing a Government of the people. It was the social media that gave the world a Jasmine Revolution or Arab spring.   

The rise and fall of Great Mutiny or the Indian Independence movement, flow of information across the country played an immense role. The native press of different colonies of the English empire exposed the exploiting attributes of Imperialism and colonialism. If media activism could be acknowledged for the fall of British Empire, media is to be faulted for the absolute surrender German faculty to Adolf Hitler.

Given the numerals of our population and the fragile affiliations of its Citizens to the state on many counts like race, religion, ethnicity, and Language; security of the state’s Integrity is always a challenging task.

Home affairs, is a Joint responsibility in the concurrent list of the Indian constitution. The central and many a state Governments failed to stop the exodus.

Pakistan has always been a convenient excuse, our leaders and babus have popularized ISI and accepted the successes their strategy more than the Pakistani’s. One wonders whether the Paki’s are influenced by the weaknesses of Indian System of Governance. Even if one agrees to the mala fide intention of Pakistan, the reality is we lost and they won. 

Morphed pictures or malicious propaganda would not have hit the bull’s eye without the willful participation of Indian nationals. Innocent victims of the campaign or religious fundamentalists were certainly involved in the viral broadcasting of hate messages.

An intelligence failure or was it a real external cyber attack, Indian democracy was stripped open and its inherent weakness was exposed to the world. Our enemies would have had some merry making days at the time of our misery but one is reminded of an old adage “what does not kill you, makes you stronger”.

Indians echoed their protests in various forums and Medias. The Muslim intelligentsia realized their vulnerabilities and evil designs of Manipulative right wing and religious fundamentalists. Divisive agenda like Mumbai blasts and other events have always strengthened our bonds.

Incidences like these, gives the Politicians forever prepared for censorships and eternally awaiting for opportunities to impose their whims, get some fodder to chew. IT has facilitated the transformation of news paper readers to broadcasters, not many in world have the infrastructure or freedom to exploit this engineering wonder. As Elbert Hubbard once said “Responsibility is the price of Freedom”, responsible utilization of Information Technology would further strengthen our freedom.

    

    

 

The Myth of National Integration

The Home Ministry has imposed a ban on Bulk SMSes and Multimedia messages for 15 days. Messages with attachments more than 25 kilobytes have also been banned. The security reason cited by the union Government for ban comes at a time when all the damages have already been done. The half-hearted decisions and the delay caused has not instilled as iota of confidence amongst the North-Easterners, who are fleeing from different parts of the country.

The violence that started as local issues between the Bodo’s and Economic migrants from Bangladesh has spread all over the country. The violence has not only affected the Bodo’s, but also the entire North East and other major cities of India.

 The chronicles of Indian History records that the entire province of East Bengal and Sylhet district of Assam opted to join the British dominion of Pakistan. Thousands entered India in 1971 as refugees due to the persecution of Pakistan army. The creation of Bangladesh absorbed the refugees back to their homeland.  Inference could be drawn from census records that the influx of Economic migrants has continued unabated for decades.

There could be case for genuine Bengali Indians settled in Bodo Area’s ; but the irony is that majority of the foreigners easily melt with them with the patronage of Union Government of India.

The Pseudo-Secularism and vote bank policies of the Indian Politicians have played havoc with the Human Geography of India. Secularism implies non-attachment of the state to any religion. Our politicians always had their own interpretation.

The reasons for mass exodus of North-Easterners are diverse; the primary among them being their mangolid race, which makes them vulnerable and easy to spot in a group of Dravidians or Aryans. Rumor mongers might have succeeded in creating hysteria but the fears are not unfounded. What was a local issue between a native and foreigner was allowed to take religious colors. Sporadic incidences of racial violence across the country proved the rumors to be true.

A society armed with a Non/statutory Intelligence of retaliatory attacks after Ramadan; a society which has seen Anti-Sikh, Anti-Christian and Anti-Muslim violence’s under various Governments cannot afford to take any chances with their own lives.

One positive facet of this episode is that the country has been informed about the contribution of NE- Indians to Indian economy. Construction, Hospitality and other service oriented business has been hit by their absence. Business has suffered in many parts of India.

Persistent exodus means lack of trust, especially with the Indian Republic. Propaganda requires no cell phones, trust requires sincerity; in the interest of National Integration the central Government must realize this and save its sinking ship.

                                                                                                                                           

                 

La Regina senza corona di India-Sonia Gandhi

The anxiety of the electioneering process is over; the certainty of the outcome is official, Pranab ’da’ Mukerjee has won the election. The victory as such may be a non-event, considering the limitation of office of the President of India and numbers behind the congress.

 Given the political scenario of India, a congress or UPA’s victory in 2014 seems to be an uncertain dream. The office of the President and Vice-President becomes crucial at times; as the chairman of the Upper House the Vice –President is indispensable and as the head of state, who administers the oath of office to the Chief Justice of India and the Prime Minister of India; the ‘Rubber Stamp’ Rashtrapathi is equally crucial to the congress party.

The Bengalis may be in a celebratory mood, for they are moving towards prosperity; but the actual winner in the whole episode is not Pranab da , it’s the victory of Antoia Albaina Maino aka Sonia Gandhi. The sweet victory she had over the other three powerful ladies- Jayalalitha, Mayawathi, Mamtha and other off board political parties is highly admirable.

Sonia Gandhi has displayed a great political acumen at many an important occasions and events in the past. She offered us a historical wrench, when she wished for a woman as President of India. Eventually one of her corrupt, loyalist occupied the highest office of the country amid allegations galore against the contestant- Prathiba Patil. Controversial was the President in2007; controversial she remained even at the time of her retirement, with her travel bills, Pardons and Encroachment of Military lands.

The thirteenth President is no different, a congress loyalist, senior citizen, protector of the congress corruption and well drowned in the black money cover up scandal. Had the game been a fair one, the going wouldn’t have so easy for Pranab da. Money pleased those who bargained for and CBI chocked those who dared for. Sonia Gandhi used the Government Machinery very discreetly and had her way in ‘appointing’ the President of India.  

Another fact worth mentioning is the compassion she and her family members showered on Rajeev Gandhi’s assassin Nalini and her family. That was an overt preview, the climax was quite different. One of Indira Gandhi’s creation, the LTTE and its army of Terrorists were wiped out from the face of earth without a trace. Exceptional military strategy, Sinhalese soldiers, Indian cash and ammunitions, no blood on Indian hands, Lankan Victory, Indian aid to Tamils and Sonia’s sweet revenge.

Public sentiments may elude her Prime Minister or President’s post, but for her, the all important position is just like any other chair; a chair under her command. Like it or not she truly remains the Kingmaker of this country and she remains la Regina senza corona di India (The uncrowned queen of India).

LTTE, Lanka and the Legitimacy of their wars

At last Government of India walked through the uncharted territory, it enthused against own policy of non-interference in country specific referendums and voted in favor of US backed resolution against the Ceylonese Government for its ‘genocide of Tamils’ at UNHRC in Geneva. A half hearted measure though; king Singh was quick enough to write a letter and explain the balance of his stand, even when he no such compulsions to so. The only real compulsion India really had was from the eighteen DMK MPs, a mere eighteen vote favored the Indian stand for the US resolution, which again won by a single vote. Democracy had its sweet victory.

Democracy is a game of numbers. One of the first persons to feel the pinch of this game in the Indian sub-continent was Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He clearly envisioned the disadvantages of a minority, which would be at the mercy of hostile majority. Had India remained a single Entity after 1947, the word secularism would have had a different interpretation and probably by this time we would have seen many a civil wars in this country. What we call as Indo-Pak wars would have been called as Hindu-Muslim wars; this scenario is analogous to what ails Ceylon now. A minority Hindu-Tamil population, at the mercy of hostile chauvinist-Sinhala majority; the Sinhalese follow a form of Buddhism which is void of philosophy of Dharma.

Imperialism and colonialism of the west created many an independent countries, which never existed in the past. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ceylon, never existed as a single unit as it exists today. India of the present day is more a creation of a Lord Dalhousie or of a Queen Victoria than of a Sardar Patel or a Pandit Nehru. Ceylon which was traditionally ruled by native Tamil and Sinhalese kings for centuries was transformed into a single country by the British; the British tea plantation brought a new horde of Tamil speaking Indian laborers to the island country. Ceylon is a Bi-Linguist country, but religiously there are four groups; a majority Sinhalese many of them pseudo-Buddhist, a small minority Tamil/Sinhala Christians, Muslim Tamils, and Hindu Tamils. The Hindu Tamils are of two origins; natives and Indians. As a race though all them look like dark skinned Dravidians, the Sinhalese consider themselves as Aryans of Indians origin and the Tamils, Dravidians of Indian origin; neither of them are original settlers of the island. The Tamils are religiously guided by the ancient Hindu constitution the Manushastra, and the Sinhalese by their own Buddhist Mahavamsa. Mahavamsa represents the Sinhalese-Buddhist agenda for Ceylon.

Years of subjugation to a foreign crown made the Ceylonese, citizens of a vast empire; newfound freedom suddenly shriveled their world. The search for a new national identity and exclusivity rattled the minds of the ruling class of many nations, some like the Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Indians decided to cohabitate and some like the Chinese, Pakistanis and Ceylonese decided to dominate. The numbers always did the trick, the largest faction always benefited from the game. The Sinhalese majority also ensured reservation for itself in state universities and Governmental Jobs. Democracy and positive affirmation further alienated the downtrodden minority Tamils.

The Sinhalese atrocities started with the disenfranchising of Indian Tamils most of whom were the backbone the Ceylonese Plantation Economy. However unlike Uganda or Burma these Indians were never deported, it took a forty years struggle for the settlers to earn their citizenship. The state of Ceylon often indulged in terrorism against the Tamils, colonization and ethnic cleansing. Prominent among the various atrocities include-the 1974 World Tamil Conference attack in Jaffna, burning down of Jaffna public Library in 1981 , the 1983 anti-Tamil riots called as Black July and the recent 2009 genocide of Tamils by the Sinhalese army.

As far as the 1974 attack is concerned, comparisons could be made to Jalianwala Bag massacre, the similarities being police firing on unarmed and peaceful gathering and seven innocent deaths by a native police force being the difference. The incident gave a fertile ground for the formation a separatist armed struggle against the state of Ceylon and resulted in the formation of LTTE by V.Prabakaran; a terrorist under Indian Law, but as the saying goes ‘one man’s terrorists in another man’s freedom fighter’. The conference attack was avenged by the Murder of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah by Prabakaran in 1975(Opposition to Simon Commission lead to the death of Punjab kesari Lala Lajpat Rai, whose death was avenged by a freedom fighter Chandrasekhar Azad, recognized as a terrorist by the British).

The Jaffna Public Library was the pride of Tamil Diaspora, it consisted a repository of ancient Tamil Palm leaf manuscripts and nearly 97 thousand books. The Library was considered as one of the richest collection of Tamil Knowledge and learning, it had no equals in the entire world. On the night of May 31 of 1981, the Sinhalese authorities burned the Library and muddled up centuries of Tamil Knowledge in Jaffna’s fertile loam.

An ambush of 13 army soldiers formed the backdrop of 1983 riots; nearly 3000 Tamils were killed as 25,000 Tamils were injured (Similar to Direct action of Calcutta 1946). The last and most gruesome of all the other atrocities, the reader is referred to the channel-4 documentary on YouTube titles ‘Lanka’s Killing Field’.

The cause of LTTE was a noble one and had the blessings of Indira Gandhi and India in the initial stages of its formation. The LTTE cadres were trained by Indians in India, Armed by Indian weapons and Financed by Indian Tax payer’s money. India trained LTTE on the lines of Mukthi Vahini of Bangladesh. Indira Gandhi had a clear pro-Tamil foreign policy for Ceylon.

The Sinhala only policy of the Government made the life of Tamil youths a living hell, who found it difficult either to enter Universities or Government Jobs. The opposition to official policies did start with a lot of peaceful protests, but Gandhigiri failed to cut any ice with a hostile Sinhalese Ethnic group. Tamil leaders considered M K Gandhi and J N Nehru as their role models; their demands were pressed through sathyagraha, even the sathyagrahis were violently attacked by organized Sinhalese mobs, which finally lead to riots in 1958. A demand for separate state resolution was passed by Tamil parties in 1976 in a small town of vadukkodai (Purna Swaraj Resolution of Congress at Lahore session in 1929). The in same year the LTTE was formed (Indian National Army by Gen.Mohan Singh 1942) with an objective of creating a Tamil Homeland called as ‘Tamil Ealem’.

The LTTE though had the support of Indian Government and sympathy of the Indian Tamils failed to capitalize any political mileage of it. It failed to portray itself as a Mukti-Vahini, or an IRA or as PLO; rather it projected itself more of a ruthless terrorist organization than as a Liberation Army. The going was well for LTTE until the ‘the twentieth century fox’ J Jayewardene convinced Rajeev Gandhi on IPKF mission. The IPKF ventured to disarm the LTTE of its weapons supplied to it by Government of India. This policy marked a conflicting shift in Indian Foreign affairs from Pro-Tamil to an Anti-Tamil stand. In the later phases the LTTE and the Ceylonese forces joint their hands against IPKF.

Much has been written against the IPKF, but the cruel fact was India blood was shed for the thankless Sinhalese, by weapons manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factory Board and paid by Indian taxpayers Rupees. A total of 1200 soldiers (Kargil war 527 Martyrs) lost their lives defending a foreign and a racist country. The wounded faced severe hardships; for the war injured ones in Jaffna the nearest Military base hospital was situated in Chennai. The entire operation cost the Indian Exchequer over 10000 crores in 1989.

The LTTE on its part Killed many Tamil leaders and failed to convince the world for its action. The Lankans were always projected as victims and not as a racist nation. The country was oblivious of its own official racial policies. Even after the IPKF war the LTTE had enormous sympathy even among the ruling class of Tamil Nadu, the IPKF was unpopular among Tamils and even in Tamil Nadu. The LTTE signed its own death warrant when it waged war against India by assassinating Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi. The assignation was carried allegedly by an Indian trained Lankan terrorist Dhanu; the cruelty of the assassination wiped all the sympathy India had for LTTE. The second opinion of Indian Tamil changed the personification of LTTE within the Tamil World. The LTTE was a terrorist organization and was not expected to follow any International rules or treaties.

The civil war with LTTE ended in 2009, with the Lankan Army accused of violating various UN and other international treaties. As a national force the Lankan Defense Force was bound by International rules and regulations, which it failed to honor. It evidently imitated the LTTE tactics while executing combatants but crossed all the limits of decency while dealing with women, children and unarmed civilians. The accusation was not about plundering, cross firing or sporadic rapes but about colonization, ethnic cleansing, Genocide and Government organized mass rape and murders. The Lankan forces known for its notorious indiscipline (The Naval Guard of Honor given to PM Rajeev Gandhi) should be punished for its atrocities by the UNHRC.

As a long term vision India must have a hawks’ eye on that cursed Island, which has tons of Buddhists statues, literature and legends but still annulled of Peace and Prosperity. Inspirations must be drawn from Lord Dalhousie’s doctrine of Lapse; India must annex the whole of Island. The Tamil territories of Ealem must be attached to the State of Tamil Nadu and remaining portion Sinhala Pradesh or SinhlaLand must be acceded to Indian Union. Imposition of Indian constitution would provide a lasting solution to the ethnic problem of Ceylon.

The 2012 State Elections, Predictions, Exit Polls and the verdict.

The Assembly election of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur almost had the magnitude of Mini-General Election.  The stakes were high not only for the parties involved, but also for many a great leaders. The caste equations and formulae of Mayavathi, the organization and cadre loyalty of Mulayam, the piousness and oratory of Uma, the leadership ability of not one but two princes; Rahul and Akilesh, and  the silhouette and charisma of the late Indira Gandhi in priyanka’s avatar, were some of the best gimmicks in the fray.

Democracy is game of numbers, though elections were held in four states the star attraction was the largest state Uttar Pradesh. The smaller states like Goa and Manipur almost went unnoticed. The smallest of these states Goa, because of its proximity to Maharashtra and its mineral resources got some media attention. Manipur, a mystery state to most of us, perhaps the only state in where a few Individuals can isolate the state from Republic of India for months and still no one would challenge them; and the only election news from manipur, the congress won.

The blue eyed state in the whole episode was Uttar Pradesh, tricks galore were used to wrest control of the largest state of India. The State reorganization of BSP, the Religious card of BJP and Congress all failed to impress the voter of UP.

Soon after the elections, the media gets into the business of exit polls. The days between the polls and the V day belongs to a group of professionals called psephologist, these professionals predict the winners and losers based on their political, social and geographical knowledge. Another scientific way to predict is sampling method, samples of poll outcomes is collected from various areas in small number and extrapolation of the data gives winner. However thought a scientific method, the extrapolation method has failed many a times. A new model professed by the veteran economist Swaminathan Aiyar is GDP growth model. The Economics Times model has a success rate of 63% with riders like corruption, Inflation, caste and religion.     

The verdict was loud and clear, neither caste nor religion played the trick here.The voter, literate or illiterate proved his shrewdness and Judgment to the political class. The voter proved that he knows what is good for him and his society.

Off all the exit polls, Aiyar’s prediction retained its successes rate of sixty percent. One conclusion that could be drawn from the 2012 elections is, the GDP model holds well with the spoiler being the economic issues like Corruption and Inflation. Caste, Religion, and opportunistic promises cut no ice with the electorates. Political parties must introspect and refine their social policies according to the societies needs and aspirations.

Murders and suicides: for Education.

The second Sunday of February, newspapers of any tongue and label carried of the tragic news of murders and suicides all centered on the compounds of a school. A 15 year old student Stabs a teacher to death; another 15 year commits suicide by hanging; two classmates jumped off a four storey building; a 17 year boy found dead in Rabindra sarovar.

All these incidents had quite a few common features even though all these mishaps were registered in different parts of the country. The students in all these misfortune incidents were Metro based, all were admitted to reputed institutes of Teaching, and all had Parental pressure to perform way beyond their league. Numerous motives were offered, by many an experienced and knowledgeable professionals for the irrational behavior of Juveniles at their most depressed moments, especially at a phase that could turn the course of their career paths. The rational reasoning grounds were multifaceted and blamed every institution of society involved in an Individuals grooming; the parents and their personal ambitions, the Individual and his ability, the administrators and teachers of schools.

All are born equals, that’s factual in the eyes of the Indian law and some of the greatest religions of the worlds, but when it comes to the faculties of an individual some are more blessed than others. Some may excel in mathematics, some in science or Literature or fine arts, it all depends on an individual’s interest. Focus in any area against one’s own inclination either through emotional pressure or by compulsion of the society’s establishments is an indiscernible form of cruelty. When heart and mind work together, expect a miracle; but that’s just an old English quote for many of the parents. The most popular school, the most popular course, placement assuring colleges, good salary package, these are the things that bother the parents most than the child’s proclivity.

It’s the individual upon whom the burden of fine performance is placed for eternity by the distressed parents, who rather believe in their own ill advised judgment than the desires of their wards. Parents are to be blamed for enforcing their own ambitions, whims and fancies as destiny on the young and hapless souls. Fair and foul means are often adopted by parents to achieve their ‘own’ dreams for their children. Aren’t the problematic students to be blamed at least in some of the cases, no, as the problematic student most often turns out to be a victim of bad parenting; it’s always the pampered single child or the only daughter/son or single parent child, adjusting to the strict environment of a classroom is almost a hell for them. The eastern policy of cohabiting with children until any one of them goes to the grave needs an overhaul. A Teen, with all the responsibilities of an adult and mollycoddled, how can anyone endure such a misery?    

Teachers- in a private management setup are mere pawns and scapegoats in this vicious environment. Professional Ethics, service compulsions, or the customer’s needs, demands a golden egg out of every students. Mature teachers accept diversity among students, some don’t, but still only parents are to be blamed for enforcing their own will on their children’s.  

Robert kiyosaki is a stranger to most of us, not all parents can think like him or believe in his theories.      

               

             

Is corruption a Political or Social issue?

The electioneering phase is filled with a lot of bizarre concerns for our political establishment. Issues, great and diminutive, current and history, factual and fictional, all gets muddle up and comes to fore from the high podiums of the political theater. The real bolt from the blue is the fact; the political class impulsively gets transformed to a congregation of saints out there to defend the moral and the virtuous. The vocabulary of each leader, irrespective of their color of party affiliations could be summarized in one line, ‘they are the corrupt and we are the saints, vote for us’ or could be rephrased as ‘They failed you and we won’t, vote or us’.

The regional social consciousness of the political class  certainly reaches the sky, the aspirations, hopes, disappointments and despairs of the masses converges with the long and often uninspiring political discourses. The accusations and counteraccusations leveled by political parties against each other have now become a routine hear, but the issues raised or promises made seldom has any element of surprise.

In case of Tamil Nadu it’s always the freebies and new services offered. Social aspirations of Tamil Nadu has now become more of good Governance than any other petty issues, things have reached a saturated level here. Whereas in other large and northern states along with the ‘polls’ the citizens have to countenance myriad problems especially made-up for their votes. The promises of Religious reservations, State reorganizations have stirred up a hornet’s nest; the concerns raised have become a topic of national importance. Each party may subscribe to an exclusive cause but the common cause of all the political teams happens to be- ‘elimination of corruption’.

The indictment of corruption is a vicious circle; all our options are corrupt to the core, the only choice is who is the ‘least corrupt’ in the entire assortment.  Like our power projects corruption has many levels, ultra mega, mega, medium and small, every level has attained a degree of acceptability in our culture. Bofors, union carbide, fodder, coffin, Tansi, Telecom, 2G, NRHM, MGREGA, illegal mining…etc the list is endless and they made some loud noise once, then faded in to the oblivion of history over a period of time. 

Public memory is too short but that’s not the case here; as a larger line drawn next a line makes it look smaller, a new and a larger allegation of corruption makes the former one smaller and a gets a bit of tolerability. Are we so much concerned about the ultra mega corruption? Yes or a No, the answer depends on its repercussions, a pinch or a fatal incise. Though a tragedy like Bhopal would be never acceptable to us, but we did pay our homage to Rajeev Gandhi for Bofors that saved us a Kargil and in future somebody would appreciate A.Raja for a steep reduction in call and Trunk call charges.

The group C and D corruption thrives by the grace of the middle class. In our ever busy calendar, we don’t mind paying for a service or a concession offered to us. In an age where time is money, a small amount could be spared to save time. Is bribery glorified here? Certainly not, the elemental observation made here is factual and what some may call it as practical.

If public corruption is such a menace as it is portrayed sometimes, how should we eliminate it from our system? Drink a cup of Tata tea, join the Jagore campaign and refuse to pay a bribe; who asked for it in the first case, aren’t we guilty of zealously offering one before being asked. Or listen to the old and wise, a simple and a forceful slap. Oops, can a law abiding citizen slap a policeman?

Except for a serious overhaul of our Governance system, corruption would remain an inseparable part. Computerization or online services may provide some succor. So much social concern for corruption, when the normal voter is not much concerned about it, why the political parties make an issue out of it? From now on, whenever you listen to a politician’s speech, read between the lines, ‘they have earned enough and give us our turn’. God bless India.   

     

The Myopic vision of Prof.P.V.Indiresan’s- vision 2020.

Prof P.V.Indiresan, a retired director of IITM and a columnist of “The Hindu Business Line’s-vision 2020”. A prolific writer writes on all topics of under the sun; but when it comes to the subject of his expertise, Higher Education, he is too predictable and bit prejudiced.

In his 320^th article of vision-2020 series published on Jan-14 in Business Line, the learned professor expressed his reservations on “The prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities, Bill, 2010”. The professor with decades of distinguished experience in sarkari Technical Institutes like IITM is oblivious of Establishments outside the IIT Act. The IIT Act provides their constituent institutions enormous freedom with no accountability; they are neither bound by AICTE nor UGC, but still can offer technical courses in India. The funds allotted would undeniably invite the envy any Indian vice chancellor, but still the professor has a lot of ideas for IIT.

We consider the following counter arguments to his point of view and the objectives of the bill:

Why no Institution in independent India had produced a Nobel Price? The Nobel Price as such is not a Nobel award like our own Bharath Rathnas, but still there a status attached to it. To expect a Nobel Price from a Law of the parliament or a University Endowment Fund is a farcical idea. The faculty members of premier Institutes belong to a Homogenous group, the hegemony continues for centuries .If Harvard can accept International professors, Why not the IITs? A diverse Indian or International faculty would bring more transparency and democracy in the functioning of IITs. This would not only increase the Quality and Quantity of research but would also save the lives of many Innocents from the racist Indian Faculty.

Prohibitions of accepting any fees other than those declared in the prospectus of admission. Well, this may not apply to any State or central University, but would certainly apply the Mushrooming private Deemed Universities known to milk their students. Development fee, Training fee, Placement Fees, Industrial Visits fee, Computer training fee, Breakage fee, Sports Fee, Medical fess, Mess fee, the list is endless; these are some of the innovative fees collected by some Universities from time to time. The University bill 2010 seeks to regulate these fees.

Prohibition of admission without admission tests of a statutory authority. The professor is highly discernable here; he detests affirmative action but advocates the dilution of merit by money. He may not be convinced by my statements but I wish he listens to the Harvard Prof.Lani Guinier on Youtube. Prof.Guiner has some interesting views on these issues; Talent is equally distributed among each races and ethnic groups. Except for the IITs, a relaxed admission criterion elsewhere has helped the society in many unknown ways; the civil war of Sri Lanka is a right citation here. An affirmative action based on religious lines would further benefit the Indian Society as it would, in the words of Prof.Guinier would uplift the bottom of the society, help in the discovery of raw talent that is going undiscovered. Further, Prof.Guinier states that, tests, scores and percentiles are instruments of modern scientific racism; these tests makes racisms invisible and if we humans were created as equals, talent is equally distributed among us and if some entrance tests proves that if one group is superior than the other, then something is wrong with the tests not with the group that looks inferior. An American mode of admission will not work in India, where the faculty is of a Homogenous group, prejudiced and has a hidden agenda of its own.

Prohibition of demanding or charging, capitation fees or by donation, by way of consideration for admissions to any seat, by the Institutions. Comparisons are often made to the Endowment Funds of foreign Universities, where the money paid and received is white. In India, especially in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, professional Institutes have grown exponentially by the grace of these capitation fees. All of the black money of this country is not deposited in any low interest paying Swiss bank, but its here, right in front of our eyes, in the assets of public charitable trusts. Unlike IITs, most of the leading American Universities are private universities and have no social responsibilities. Education is more of an individual’s responsibility than of a parent or of the state in America, but in India, for the larger good, the state is equally responsible as the parent. An Endowment system should not make IIT, a BCCI, not accountable even to RTI. An Endowment fund with HRD ministry would be a good idea.

With contributions from- Anu Radha Poojar.

  

  

Dr.Killer gets killed for killing a Killer’s wife.

The first week of January of 2012 started with a horrific and violent Incident, with the murder a medic by a disgruntled spouse of a deceased patient. The murdered doctor was hacked to death by an auto rickshaw driver Mahesh. Dr T Sethulakshmi, a chief medical officer with ESI Tuticorin and a private practitioner was accused of wrong diagnosis and treatment, which lead to the death of the murderer’s wife Nithya.

Shocked by the gruesome incident, the Tamil Nadu wing of Indian Medical Association called for a strike for two days. The professional Association went a step further and asked all its members to cancel out patient appointments and boycott elective surgeries. The fear psychosis among the doctors is understandable, when such an untoward incidence occurs to a fellow colleague. Such mass protests by Doctors were recently observed in the state of West Bengal also. All the Government Hospitals remained passive to the patients needs; the outpatient visit rate decreased substantially, the Medical service of the Government came to a standstill.

Whether the striking Doctors are fighting for a right cause? Whether the boycott call of IMA is justified? Should we empathize on the murdered doctor? Was there, even as iota of Injustice in the killer’s rage? As members of a civilized society, whether these doctors deserve our consideration and support?

 The answer for all the aforesaid questions should be an unambiguous, no. The Government employed doctors do have a unique privilege of- private consultation, which many of the employees of the private sector don’t have. Employees, whether of Public or Private sector, do have a written or an unwritten service rule, which forbids them from self or second employment. TN Government Doctors don’t have any rules. The doctor’s surgery failed, as her private clinic attached to her house was ill-equipped for complex surgeries. The doctor was neither an Obstetrician nor a Gynecologist nor a surgeon; she was a qualified Anesthetist who normally is required for all kinds of Surgeries. A pre-natal surgery by an Anesthetist in an ill-equipped clinic is gross case of professional Misconduct. It never occurred to the IMA to condemn the delinquencies of its own members. The Doctors boycotted their public duty for which they were paid for in the mornings and attended to their private practice in the evenings. None of the private clinics closed in protest. The doctors often cheat the Public; Private Misconduct are never Governed by service rules. Patients approaching Public Hospitals are often routed to private clinics, no conflict of interest there. A private clinic was the cause of the tragedy, yet no private doctors obliged to IMA’s call to boycott, but the public Hospitals suffered.

It’s the right time; the private practice of the Government Doctors must be curbed. The petty shop surgery clinics must be tightly monitored by strict regulations. IMA must strictly adhere to its own professional code of conduct and must stop its political antics.