The ridiculing of the witnesses in the court by honible Mr. Kazmi was
a slap on the face of every citizen who has the slightest feeling for
the nation. The way in which witnesses were manipulated in the court
was clearly pathetic. Cant we see the obvious, a person with his
accomplices walks into your nation kills around 200 of your citizens
and in return our people, if they can be called so, try their heart
and sole to defend him. In the process the witnesses are manipulated
with useless details like if he knows the difference between AK-46/47,
or whether he knows what a panchnama is. Isn't it shameful. The law
should take its course but not in such shameful and disgraceful
manner. Is it not a waste of time of courts, already suffering from
huge backlogs, and public money. Wasnt this a time to send out a
strong and clear message to the terrorists in waiting that moment you
mess with the nation you would be shown no mercy. What is left right
now is a sympathy campaign by the media for the accused, showing his
son to become a doctor or the dreams of his father-sounds familiar
doesn't it-. Incident like these and people like MR. Kazmi are laying
the foundation for a society in which anyone would just walk in, kill
citizens and then be acquitted because no citizen would like to take
such a humiliation.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The "terror plot" that wasn't
The arrest of the Muslim students in England was sad but was it
totally incorrect. I don't think so. The police were just doing their
job. Can they afford another Glasgow. This primarily is the difference
between the west and India. They can not compromise national security
and the life of hundreds who would have lost their "human rights" in
case there was a real plot, however for the sake of human rights of a
few we surely can. It better to be safe than sorry. Had their been a
plot,which still could be, would the human right activists and the
media come forward and defend the policemen of U.K. , drawing
attention to the fact that they were preventing the marginalization of
a few Muslims in the country, of course in the process that had to
sacrifice our own people. We still care for appeasement more than our
security. Just as a matter of fact the media who are calling the UK
police biased, are they themselves not prejudiced in calling it a
"terror plot that wasn't" with investigation still on the way. Coming
to the Muslim population, why is it that they time and again brazenly
create a clamor that they are being discriminated against. If they
really are citizens of the countries in which they are living is it
not their duty to cooperate with the law and order authorities for the
good of hundreds of citizens of their country. Why cant they see
themselves as Indians or English before Muslims. Are they too naive to
see the fact that it is natural for them to be the prime suspect since
almost all of the terror attacks are caused by people of their
community. How can they be oblivious to it. How are they any different
from main stream terrorists if they are also contributing to the
weakening of law and order situation. It is fact that you cant please
all the people all the time which I thnk our media needs to
understand.
totally incorrect. I don't think so. The police were just doing their
job. Can they afford another Glasgow. This primarily is the difference
between the west and India. They can not compromise national security
and the life of hundreds who would have lost their "human rights" in
case there was a real plot, however for the sake of human rights of a
few we surely can. It better to be safe than sorry. Had their been a
plot,which still could be, would the human right activists and the
media come forward and defend the policemen of U.K. , drawing
attention to the fact that they were preventing the marginalization of
a few Muslims in the country, of course in the process that had to
sacrifice our own people. We still care for appeasement more than our
security. Just as a matter of fact the media who are calling the UK
police biased, are they themselves not prejudiced in calling it a
"terror plot that wasn't" with investigation still on the way. Coming
to the Muslim population, why is it that they time and again brazenly
create a clamor that they are being discriminated against. If they
really are citizens of the countries in which they are living is it
not their duty to cooperate with the law and order authorities for the
good of hundreds of citizens of their country. Why cant they see
themselves as Indians or English before Muslims. Are they too naive to
see the fact that it is natural for them to be the prime suspect since
almost all of the terror attacks are caused by people of their
community. How can they be oblivious to it. How are they any different
from main stream terrorists if they are also contributing to the
weakening of law and order situation. It is fact that you cant please
all the people all the time which I thnk our media needs to
understand.
Judgement by Justice Katju
It might have been restricted to a small column but the judgment by
Justice Katju really exposes a reality that has been discomforting to
many of the citizens. His rejection of the plea of a muslim youth who
wanted the right to wear a beard in a catholic school where it was
barred, stating that secularism can not be stretched beyond a limit
should probe some important questions. I am and shall continue to wait
for publicity frenzy media and Human Rights Activists to storm or burn
the office of the reverent judge for discriminating, subjugating the
right and oppressing a minority. Well probably it wont happen since
the issue involves a Supreme Court Judge had it been a sessions court
it would have been fully inflated and would by now have become an
issue where mobs would have been ready to prevent the minority from
being discriminated by the tyrants of this country who do nothing but
kill the minorities, deny them houses, do not offer them jobs etc. I
am no communal extremist, I just happen to be an ordinary engineering
student but how long would the "fighters of justice " of this country
let me remain that is doubtful. I have seen and have been seeing that
every time a policy of appeasement and vote bank is followed I feel
discriminated. Every time the entire minority population is made to
believe by the media that they are being discriminated against I feel
oppressed. The more they make people feel that when they are
victimized they are a Muslim, I feel more like a Hindu. This I know
for sure is not restricted to just me. We Indians have a culture
where self incrimination. Self criticism has always been treated
Godly,"Nindak neere Rakhiye", well I really want to say that I am a
human being If someone hurts me repeatedly I get hurt I want to hurt
back and not continue in misery for the fear of being called an
oppressor. It is wrong to discriminate against someone but it is
equally wrong to discriminate against the other for the fear of
discriminating against the former. I know this wont go to the regular
but at least the people at "The Hindu" would read it.
Justice Katju really exposes a reality that has been discomforting to
many of the citizens. His rejection of the plea of a muslim youth who
wanted the right to wear a beard in a catholic school where it was
barred, stating that secularism can not be stretched beyond a limit
should probe some important questions. I am and shall continue to wait
for publicity frenzy media and Human Rights Activists to storm or burn
the office of the reverent judge for discriminating, subjugating the
right and oppressing a minority. Well probably it wont happen since
the issue involves a Supreme Court Judge had it been a sessions court
it would have been fully inflated and would by now have become an
issue where mobs would have been ready to prevent the minority from
being discriminated by the tyrants of this country who do nothing but
kill the minorities, deny them houses, do not offer them jobs etc. I
am no communal extremist, I just happen to be an ordinary engineering
student but how long would the "fighters of justice " of this country
let me remain that is doubtful. I have seen and have been seeing that
every time a policy of appeasement and vote bank is followed I feel
discriminated. Every time the entire minority population is made to
believe by the media that they are being discriminated against I feel
oppressed. The more they make people feel that when they are
victimized they are a Muslim, I feel more like a Hindu. This I know
for sure is not restricted to just me. We Indians have a culture
where self incrimination. Self criticism has always been treated
Godly,"Nindak neere Rakhiye", well I really want to say that I am a
human being If someone hurts me repeatedly I get hurt I want to hurt
back and not continue in misery for the fear of being called an
oppressor. It is wrong to discriminate against someone but it is
equally wrong to discriminate against the other for the fear of
discriminating against the former. I know this wont go to the regular
but at least the people at "The Hindu" would read it.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Nirvachan Sadan
The article "Restoring the order at Nirvachan Sadan" was a sensible
and comprehensive piece. However are we omitting something in the
whole process? All these times we have been debating whether the CEC
was empowered enough to recommend the removal of Mr. chawla suo moto.
Has there been even the slightest murmur about the validity/invalidity
of the charges alleged by Mr. Gopalaswamy. He may be wrong in
transgressing the boundaries of his "constitutional powers" but what
about the constraints imposed by his moral authority. Incase there was
some flaw in the conduct of Mr. Chawla had it been okay for him to
keep mum. Suddenly in a day a person who was commended, epitomized for
his conducting of free and fair elections becomes partisan. Suddenly
his integrity is put in doubt and his objections to the conduct of an
EC lack credibility. Mr. Chawla should not be removed from his office,
he should be appointed the new CEC but should the entire issue be left
as just a mistake on the part of the CEC making him the scape goat of
the entire issue. The media has been hounding him incessantly for "How
could he do it" without even thinking ,unbiasedly, "Why he did it". I
think this is another brazen example of the bias of out not so
politically disoriented media.
and comprehensive piece. However are we omitting something in the
whole process? All these times we have been debating whether the CEC
was empowered enough to recommend the removal of Mr. chawla suo moto.
Has there been even the slightest murmur about the validity/invalidity
of the charges alleged by Mr. Gopalaswamy. He may be wrong in
transgressing the boundaries of his "constitutional powers" but what
about the constraints imposed by his moral authority. Incase there was
some flaw in the conduct of Mr. Chawla had it been okay for him to
keep mum. Suddenly in a day a person who was commended, epitomized for
his conducting of free and fair elections becomes partisan. Suddenly
his integrity is put in doubt and his objections to the conduct of an
EC lack credibility. Mr. Chawla should not be removed from his office,
he should be appointed the new CEC but should the entire issue be left
as just a mistake on the part of the CEC making him the scape goat of
the entire issue. The media has been hounding him incessantly for "How
could he do it" without even thinking ,unbiasedly, "Why he did it". I
think this is another brazen example of the bias of out not so
politically disoriented media.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Skepticism about the national movement
I was talking to a friend and was surprised to see his attitude
towards our national leaders and kind of realized that such was the
outlook that most of the young men today carry in their minds. Call it
their colonial legacy or the regular skeptical culture that has been
evolving over the decades, thanks to the inadequate teaching
methodologies of the primary schools where history and the national
movement is taught as a "rote learning" memorizing exercise. This sort
of skepticism is found in particularly those who tend to take up
Science subjects (engineering etc.) after their school education. I
myself am a final year computer science student at IIT Bombay and have
seen widespread negligence over here with regards to our own history.
Its not possible to justify and clarify each and every act of the
national movement here but there are a few issues I would like to
consider. First would be why was our national movement such
non-violent, why could not we revolt like France or US and achieve our
independence in a shorter span of time ? To find an answer to this
question we first need to examine the religious baggage that most of
the population carried. We Hindus (Referring to Hindustan and not the
religion) have been stern followers of our faiths particularly the
peasants and the village dwellers which formed the bulk of the
population and whose cooperation was a must for the movement to
succeed. All the religions condemn violence. Its a "paap" or a sin to
kill thy fellowmen, and the major oppressors or the agents of the
British, the Zamindars were considered to be brethren. The people of
our country would have preferred to bear the "economic hardships"
imposed by the British rather than taking up arms. Hence we can in a
nutshell say that "Ours being a deeply religious country, the
inhabitants would have been much more comfortable with a non violent
movement rather than fighting with guns and swords". Hence Gandhiji
was in all aspects correct to choose the path of non-violence while
launching the national movement. The second question that I would like
answer, that is sometimes assumed to be obvious is that did the
National Movement had any role at all in securing the independence for
our nation? Many theorists usually European claim that "It was
entirely the brunt of Hitler's attack and the subsequent bankruptcy of
the British,disabling them from maintaining an army so huge in this
land" that they hand no option but to leave India. Well there are two
major points here. First the entire concept of a nation state emerged
due to the nationalistic movement. It was the British educated
intelligentsia that was able to explain people that how they were
being exploited. Colonization is always the colonization of the mind
where the colonized is somehow made to believe that the colonizer is
superior and its for their own good that they are being ruled by a
foreign superior nation. No nation can colonize another just by mere
arms and force, it has to rule their minds. This veil that had been
very strategically imposed upon the minds of the Indians was removed
by the nationalists through their writings, they were successful in
exposing the true character of the British Raj. The whole mass of the
movement which included the armed forces of the likes of Subhash
Chandra Bose were a major reason for overthrowing the British rule, a
proof of this is the example of the British colonies in Africa like
Congo, Zimbabwe etc. which had to carry the yoke of the British rule
till the 60s/70s. In a nutshell we can state that the nationalists
played the pivotal role in securing India's freedom using the most
appropriate weapon of non-violence.
towards our national leaders and kind of realized that such was the
outlook that most of the young men today carry in their minds. Call it
their colonial legacy or the regular skeptical culture that has been
evolving over the decades, thanks to the inadequate teaching
methodologies of the primary schools where history and the national
movement is taught as a "rote learning" memorizing exercise. This sort
of skepticism is found in particularly those who tend to take up
Science subjects (engineering etc.) after their school education. I
myself am a final year computer science student at IIT Bombay and have
seen widespread negligence over here with regards to our own history.
Its not possible to justify and clarify each and every act of the
national movement here but there are a few issues I would like to
consider. First would be why was our national movement such
non-violent, why could not we revolt like France or US and achieve our
independence in a shorter span of time ? To find an answer to this
question we first need to examine the religious baggage that most of
the population carried. We Hindus (Referring to Hindustan and not the
religion) have been stern followers of our faiths particularly the
peasants and the village dwellers which formed the bulk of the
population and whose cooperation was a must for the movement to
succeed. All the religions condemn violence. Its a "paap" or a sin to
kill thy fellowmen, and the major oppressors or the agents of the
British, the Zamindars were considered to be brethren. The people of
our country would have preferred to bear the "economic hardships"
imposed by the British rather than taking up arms. Hence we can in a
nutshell say that "Ours being a deeply religious country, the
inhabitants would have been much more comfortable with a non violent
movement rather than fighting with guns and swords". Hence Gandhiji
was in all aspects correct to choose the path of non-violence while
launching the national movement. The second question that I would like
answer, that is sometimes assumed to be obvious is that did the
National Movement had any role at all in securing the independence for
our nation? Many theorists usually European claim that "It was
entirely the brunt of Hitler's attack and the subsequent bankruptcy of
the British,disabling them from maintaining an army so huge in this
land" that they hand no option but to leave India. Well there are two
major points here. First the entire concept of a nation state emerged
due to the nationalistic movement. It was the British educated
intelligentsia that was able to explain people that how they were
being exploited. Colonization is always the colonization of the mind
where the colonized is somehow made to believe that the colonizer is
superior and its for their own good that they are being ruled by a
foreign superior nation. No nation can colonize another just by mere
arms and force, it has to rule their minds. This veil that had been
very strategically imposed upon the minds of the Indians was removed
by the nationalists through their writings, they were successful in
exposing the true character of the British Raj. The whole mass of the
movement which included the armed forces of the likes of Subhash
Chandra Bose were a major reason for overthrowing the British rule, a
proof of this is the example of the British colonies in Africa like
Congo, Zimbabwe etc. which had to carry the yoke of the British rule
till the 60s/70s. In a nutshell we can state that the nationalists
played the pivotal role in securing India's freedom using the most
appropriate weapon of non-violence.
Remembering Mr. Venkataraman
The article highlighting the contributions of Mr. Venkataraman was
heartening. His role in ensuring a smooth transition from the era of
congress hegemony to that of intertwined coalitions can never be
forgotten. His denial of Mr. Vajpayees offer to lead a national
government after the fall of VP Singh government-a proposal too
lucrative for any person earlier involved in active politics and
having served in the capacity of a cabinet minister a number of times
to deny- in order to not set a bad precedent for the forthcoming
presidents shows the pristine nature of his commitment to the cause of
the nation. Mr. R. Venkataraman will always be remembered as a
political stalwart who served the to cause of the nation in every
possible way right from as a member of the constituent assembly which
drafted the constitution-the bedrock of our democracy- to his
magnificent work as the deputy chairman of the planning commission and
defense and finance minister. His sincere efforts will continue to
inspire millions in the coming generations. His death is a great loss
to the country which in today's time is struggling for model
politicians.
heartening. His role in ensuring a smooth transition from the era of
congress hegemony to that of intertwined coalitions can never be
forgotten. His denial of Mr. Vajpayees offer to lead a national
government after the fall of VP Singh government-a proposal too
lucrative for any person earlier involved in active politics and
having served in the capacity of a cabinet minister a number of times
to deny- in order to not set a bad precedent for the forthcoming
presidents shows the pristine nature of his commitment to the cause of
the nation. Mr. R. Venkataraman will always be remembered as a
political stalwart who served the to cause of the nation in every
possible way right from as a member of the constituent assembly which
drafted the constitution-the bedrock of our democracy- to his
magnificent work as the deputy chairman of the planning commission and
defense and finance minister. His sincere efforts will continue to
inspire millions in the coming generations. His death is a great loss
to the country which in today's time is struggling for model
politicians.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Democracy and Violence
In response to ...
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/16/stories/2009011654981100.htm
In the article "Democracy and Violence" the author pointed out the
stark realities of Salwa Judum. However his statements that although
the people's verdict was in the favor of it, it was still amongst the
most draconian and evil provisions challenges the very corner stone of
democracy. Every principle or procedure set up in the governance of a
country has certain associated axioms, these are fundamentals that can
not be proved but are assumed true with a sufficient degree of
confidence upon which the theorems and guiding principles of the
framework get created. "Voters are the best judge to decide what is
good or bad fro them." is one such principle which gives rise to the
entire paradigm of democracy and which separates it from other systems
like communism where we assume that "state is the best judge". What
the honorary author has done is challenged this basic axiom in
questioning the peoples verdict in deciding their own welfare.
Many a times its not possible to judge every situation from the same
perspective (reference to Punjab massacre). The punjab massacre was
massacre in which the pogrom was against the innocent citizens however
the primary targets of Salwa judum happen to be naxalites. It is
totaly agreed that Salwa Judum has been used as an instrument to
exploitation but if we think on a pragmatically we need to understand
that everything comes with an associated cost just to cite an example
we daily hear of human rights violations by the Armed forces, does
that mean that we scrap the institution leaving our country
defenceless; we hear of cases of casting couches in film industry does
that mean we put a ban on the entire film industry. Salwa Judum gave
unarmed helpless people,left totally orphaned by the state security
apparatus, a hope of their defense, which has been clearly manifested
in form of the election verdict. Each of us has his or hers own
biases and so does the author, but events like the chattisgarh
election should prod us to reconsider our viewpoints.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/16/stories/2009011654981100.htm
In the article "Democracy and Violence" the author pointed out the
stark realities of Salwa Judum. However his statements that although
the people's verdict was in the favor of it, it was still amongst the
most draconian and evil provisions challenges the very corner stone of
democracy. Every principle or procedure set up in the governance of a
country has certain associated axioms, these are fundamentals that can
not be proved but are assumed true with a sufficient degree of
confidence upon which the theorems and guiding principles of the
framework get created. "Voters are the best judge to decide what is
good or bad fro them." is one such principle which gives rise to the
entire paradigm of democracy and which separates it from other systems
like communism where we assume that "state is the best judge". What
the honorary author has done is challenged this basic axiom in
questioning the peoples verdict in deciding their own welfare.
Many a times its not possible to judge every situation from the same
perspective (reference to Punjab massacre). The punjab massacre was
massacre in which the pogrom was against the innocent citizens however
the primary targets of Salwa judum happen to be naxalites. It is
totaly agreed that Salwa Judum has been used as an instrument to
exploitation but if we think on a pragmatically we need to understand
that everything comes with an associated cost just to cite an example
we daily hear of human rights violations by the Armed forces, does
that mean that we scrap the institution leaving our country
defenceless; we hear of cases of casting couches in film industry does
that mean we put a ban on the entire film industry. Salwa Judum gave
unarmed helpless people,left totally orphaned by the state security
apparatus, a hope of their defense, which has been clearly manifested
in form of the election verdict. Each of us has his or hers own
biases and so does the author, but events like the chattisgarh
election should prod us to reconsider our viewpoints.
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