The God, the Bad and the Greedy

Indian Polity Today began as a comment on India’s politics and society. For a while, I have focused on the politics and written very little about social issues. I read a very interesting article written this week by a very close friend of mine, Ipshita Adhyapak, about the role of God in our lives and how human greed has trumped everything else.

Full disclosure: I am an atheist. But as a majority populace of this country has faith in the Almighty, this article is relevant in today’s times. 

It all started a couple of days ago,when my grandparents decided they wanted to go to the Siddhivinayak temple. Dad and I decided to accompany them, and we set off early in the morning.By mid-day, we not only went to Siddhivinayak, but also to two other temples and the Haji Ali masjid. I couldn’t help but wonder, what was the purpose behind doing so much – offering flowers, sweets, incensed sticks besides offering money? Every time we visit such famous temples, I see people offering ridiculously high amounts of money!

I don’t doubt anybody’s devotion and faith in god, butaren’t such offerings insignificant? It all finally goes to the trash bin!Its bizarre that we offer pure ghee,gold ornaments and even sacrifice animals to these deities. Why would they possibly need such things-supposedly their own creations?

There are millions of people who aren’t privileged enough like us to get a decent meal into their bellies. Anyone wants to give them a thought? How about offering that 500 rupee note to a beggar,at leas they’ll have some use for it!

I’m a student of science and my mind is supposed to work in the most logical way,but I still believe in god because I have been raised to do so. Much as I hate to admit it,my faith in god is fast eroding. I have witnessed too much of bad in the recent few years. Our country is probably in its worst state possible since independence.Politicians can’t get enough of filling their own coffers;scams after scams are exposed on national TV but the only thing you can expect from the political class (most of whom are a bunch of uneducated, uncivilised, irresponsible’leaders’) is the blame game. And still we can only blame ourselves for voting the same old gone-cases to power each time.

We can’t expect much from the people we elected and our solution to all public problems is blaming the government. Guess what, that’s not providing any solution! On taking a closer look, I found the culprit to be GREED.

Greed is the root cause of most of our problems and this brings me back to my original topic, which is our belief in the existence of a higher power-God. If god were really existed, would he not have realized what I did? Would he not see that millions are suffering unimaginable torture? Would he not see that we really aren’t capable of managing our lives? That our greed has gotten the better of us and the only future now is downhill? That there is nothing like punishment  for our previous life’s sins? If karma existed, the corrupt should not have lasted this long right? Does God not see that the sincere people rarely get anywhere in life? That on their way to success humans usually Have to give up on their values?

Where is the universe’s ‘balance of good and evil’ that we have all heard about since childhood?

These thoughts provoke me into doubting the existence of God. I’m 18, appearing for various entrance exams, going through one of the most crucial periods of my life. I would love to believe in God, but I can not, simply cannot turn a blind eye towards the most obvious facts thrown at me every morning via the newspaper. Take for example the severe drought that has hit Maharashtra and the southern states since last year. The fields have lost all its plantations, cattle are being sent to slaughter houses, farmers are committing suicide or are looking for labour. They are the source of our basic requirement-food, yet no relief is provided to them.

So what exactly is happening? I’m as clueless as you are. I know one thing for sure, our world lacks balance. Our greed has overcome every emotion and we have turned a blind eye to our fellow beings When the Mayans predicted 2012 to be the end of mankind, they probably meant the end of humanity.

Isn’t this where our ‘God’ should have stepped in and done something? Restore some sort of balance or justice in our world? Or does He still think we are capable of saving ourselves from this mess. If that’s the case then I’m sure we still have some goodness in us.

I can’t talk much about Gods existence, but I firmly believe that -we homo sapiens,are the most successful story of evolution; that we, have been gifted with this most powerful tool-intelligence; that if God exists, He didn’t make us humans just to provide for ourselves, but  to work for others.

We are all always complaining about not having enough. Take a look round, you might just thank your God for being this kind to you. We think too much about ourselves. I wrote this piece with a simple and earnest request to all of you to take a minute out of your hectic lives and just contribute towards the betterment of our cracked and decaying society. Be it in the form of a donation, social service or just using your resources responsibly. Every bit counts. Your God doesn’t need your money or offerings as much as that old lady you ignore on your way to the temple does.

We all have our own beliefs, but the need of the hour is what holds utmost importance. I think we’ll earn more blessings from God if we do for others rather than mindlessly wasting precious resources. As I type, my extremely god-fearing,god-adoring grandparents are making yet another plan of visiting a famous temple. Had they known that they have earned enough blessings and goodwill by doing for others to last them more then a lifetime of happiness, we would save a few litres of fuel. Shouldn’t we convey this more effectively to our countrymen that ‘Service to mankind is service to God’? Food for thought. 

-Ipshita.

 

 

Personality over Ideology

Tags

aiadmk, bal thackeray, congress, dmk, intra-party democracy, j jayalalithaa, m karunanidhi, mg ramachandran, mns, ncp, raj thackeray, sharad pawar, shiv sena, Sonia Gandhi, strong state, uddhav thackeray, weak centre

The Parliamentary system of India allows for multiple political parties, catering to multiple aspirations, to take part in any election and represent varying ideologies and beliefs. Indian politicians and political analysts as well, often celebrate the vibrancy of India’s multiple party politics. Various parties have been formed out of and merged with existing ones, for reasons ranging from personal rivalries, factionalism and ideology. 

Ideally, a multi-party system is democracy in its true form, as it means that every sizeable voter group’s aspirations can be represented. One or two parties can never do justice to the needs and wants of all sections of society, especially in a country as diverse as India. Let’s take a look at a few parties that launched after Independence to cater to specific sections of voters who needed some kind of representation or voice at the time. 

Party	Purpose
Shiv Sena	To fight for the pride of Mumbai’s Marathi population and ensure employment for locals
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)	To stand for Tamil pride and fuel secessionist demands for a South Indian Nation
Bhartiya Jan Sangh (now Bhartiya Janata Party)	To promote Hindu nationalism and oppose minority appeasement politics of the Congress

 
The parties mentioned above are few political outfits which actually started out with a mission in mind. This is not to justify their ideologies, but to point out that they were indeed committed to their beliefs. Now lets have a look at other parties that launched after Independence because of personal rivalries and factionalism, sometimes under the garb of ideology. 

1. Shiv Sena was split by Raj Thackeray to form a new party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, because Bal Thackeray chose his son Uddhav, over Raj to lead the party. 

2. Indian National Congress was split by Sharad Pawar to form the Nationalist Congress Party, under the pretext of not allowing a foreign born (Sonia Gandhi) to lead the INC. Clearly Mr Pawar wanted more importance in the party which was denied to him by the elevation of Sonia Gandhi as party President. 

3. M.G. Ramachandran split the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam because of his differences with M Karunanidhi, then CM of Tamil Nadu and leader of the DMK., to form the All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. 

The Shiv Sena & MNS have the same ideology , the same voter base and a similar party structure. The same goes for DMK & AIADMK and INC & NCP. 

This shows that many of the multiple parties are products of inflated egos of disgruntled party leaders who had ambitions which could not be satisfied inside the parent parties. This splitting business has only resulted in a fractured mandate in elections and increasingly difficult-to-handle coalition governments, without any real representation of the people. What is worse about these personality-based splitting factions is that because the background of their formation, the leader can make the new party his or her family business.  

As a result of this mess, the multi-party system has turned on India’s democracy and made it a Quasi-monarchy, with each political family running its own fiefdom. These parties use their goons to solve petty, local problems and buy the loyalty of the poor voter using either money or muscle power. They win regional elections and also Lok Sabha seats which arms them with a bargaining power over the Central Government. They become what I call small scale Kingmakers. In a Federal Union, there is nothing wrong with having a weak centre and strong state units. The problem arises when these states begin to lose sight of national interests and the greater good.  

To my mind, there is no doubt that a multi-party system is the true form of democracy. However, when we allow personality-centric parties to flourish, rather than ideology-based, true representation of the people goes for a toss. The leader is portrayed as the solution to people’s problems, rather than policies.  

One way to ensure that parties are not split by disgruntled leaders is to make sure that every political party has a functioning intra-party democracy and intra-party anti-corruption mechanisms. To some extent, this will prevent elected representatives from being bought over by a rebelling leader and also allow him a democratic way of expressing his discomfort within the party. Presently, these measures can only be written about in articles like these as the political class is happy with the way things are run in this country. As they are the ones who have the power to change the system, it would be foolish to expect them to destroy their own comfort zones. 

Modi growth story – Fact or Fiction? (Part 1 of 3)

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2002 riots, arvind kejriwal, bjp, gujarat government, gujarat riots, mayank gandhi, narendra modi, narmada river, raj dharma, rajdharma, sardar sarovar dam

by Akshay Marathe and Mayank Gandhi

The Gujarat growth model, being marketed by Narendra Modi is being seen by the middle class as a solution to all the problems of the nation. We intend to understand its strengths and weaknesses and indicate a constructive alternative model of growth. This article is Part 1 of a three part series on Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model. While it cannot be denied that Gujarat has seen growth in terms of water, electricity and good roads, there are some aspects of growth that need to be analysed.

One of the argument for the Modi growth model is the legitimacy it gets due to 3 consecutive electoral victories. Congress has been ruling India for 60 years, CPM had been ruling WB for over 30 years, Lalu had won 3 terms. We do not subscribe to electoral success begetting good governance.

 

Historical perspective

 

Gujarat has seen high growth rates for the last 20 years, even before Modi came into the picture. So the high growth in recent years is a continuation of the sound growth in the past. The Chimanbhai Patel era (1990 to 1995) was one of extremely high investments. Owing to these and subsequent investments, growth rates for the period 1995-2000, were around 8.01 per cent. From 2001 to 2010, that is, under Modi’s leadership, this number has risen to 8.68 – a marginal increase of 0.67 per cent.

 

Gujaratis have been known to be excellent tradesmen and entrepreneurs for centuries. We concede that a business friendly atmosphere has been continued by Modi, which has resulted in this marginal growth. Fortunately for Gujaratis, there has been good rainfall and almost no drought in recent years. What must be noted though is that Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have also experienced growth at comparable rates. In either period, Gujarat was not at the top (as is being made out by Modi supporters). In 1995-2000, it was at second position, and in the 2000-2010 period it was third after Uttarakhand (11.81 per cent) and Haryana (8.95 per cent). Industry has grown in Orissa and Chhattisgarh at 17.5 and 13.3 per cent respectively during 2005-09, higher than Gujarat’s 12.6 per cent. Gujarat ranked sixth among major states in per capita income in 2011, with Rs 63,996, after Haryana (Rs 92,327), Maharashtra (Rs 83,471), Punjab (Rs 67,473), Tamil Nadu (Rs 72,993) and Uttarakhand (Rs 68,292).

 

 

The Sardar Sarovar Dam has been one of the key components of Modi’s growth story. During his tenure, the dam was instrumental is reaching water to distant parts of the state. However, the dam was first proposed during the Janata Party Government and work on it was continued by all subsequent governments, including Congress ones.

 

So, was the slight acceleration in growth due to Modi’s policies as he claims or could it also have been a result of the completion of the Sardar Sarovar project, and an almost drought-free (except for Saurashtra region) ten years?

 

Non-inclusive growth

 

The 2002 riots, which were probably a reaction to the Godhra massacre, have nonetheless put a big blot on Modi’s record. At every opportunity it gets, the Congress uses the riots as its ammunition to label the BJP and Modi as ‘communal.’ The BJP then counters it by telling anyone who would listen that since 2002 there have been no riots in the state. We want to go beyond the communal angle and consider the riots from a purely security-centred perspective. For a moment if we ignore the religion of the Indians who died, a question arises: How can Modi be an ideal leader when he failed so miserably at protecting the lives of over a thousand of his subjects from rogue elements of the society? It is the State’s principal responsibility to ensure peace and protect its citizens – Mr. Modi failed in this Rajdharma (a primary duty of the government to protect all citizens, regardless of their castes or religion).

 

He is alleged to have encouraged, if not engineered the riots, but so far has been cleared by courts and tribunals. Coincidentally, Headlines Today, a television news channel ran a story on the riots this week. The report shows that the Modi administration neglected warnings and refused to impose a curfew in the city – “Despite the flurry of ground reports and advance warnings, no curfew was imposed in Ahmedabad till noon the next day. The BJP government supported the VHP called bandhs that, as events turned out, proved to be the pretext under which violent mobs were mobilized.” By the time curfew was imposed, the damage had been done.

 

The bloodshed has created lots of misgivings about the intention of the government in a significant number of the populace. Today, a large chunk of the national electorate, namely OBC (32%), SC (16.2%), ST (8.2%), Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%) – Total (72.1%) of the people tend to look at him with suspicion and  distrust. They may not be willing participants in Modi’s development model as they feel insecure because of his reputation. The development model heavily favours the urban middle class.

 

 

Urban and industry bias

 

In the last 12 years, there has been a shift from focus on rural development towards an urban and industry bias. Land acquisition is rampant in Gujarat (as is the case in other parts of the country as well). One of the authors (Mayank Gandhi) once led a rally in Surat of over 25000 farmers near the industrialized Surat-Hazira belt.Their land had been taken away by the Government to make way for large industries owned by Reliance, Adani, ONGC, Essar etc. The farmers were given a reasonable price for their lands, but the loss of livelihood was much too severe for them. Their cattle suffered because area of grasslands in that region was reduced to less than one-fifth of the original area! So while industry benefited greatly, locals were displaced and unemployed. The smoke spewing, gas guzzling plants have destroyed the entire ecology permanently. Is this the model of development that the nation needs?

 

Modi has spoken at length about how he convinced the Tatas to open their plant at Sanand in Gujarat, when their West Bengal venture did not work out. He makes a case that the people of Gujarat will benefit by automobile companies setting shop in the state. It is interesting to note that the BJP lost the Sanand seat to the Congress in the 2012 election! Had this industry really benefited locals as Modi claims, would they not have voted in his favour? By providing low interest rates, cheap rentals and waiving stamp duty, the Government did persuade Tata to set up its plant, but was this in the interest of the people? No, it wasn’t. To further add to the problems faced by the locals, the state government policy of ensuring 85 per cent recruitment for locals was also waived for the project. The fact is the citizens of Gujarat were directly or indirectly paying around Rs 60,000 for each Nano sold by the Tatas – this is a criminal misuse of authority by the Government.

 

If one analysed the latest Gujarat election result, one could notice that in the rural areas, BJP and Cong won almost equal seats, while in tribal areas, out of 21 seats, 18 were won by Cong and 3 by Cong.

 

Poverty and malnutrition

 

While poverty has reduced in the state in general, it has done poorly in this respect when compared to other states. According to the Planning Commission, Gujarat’s rank in poverty alleviation is 11th among a list of 20 major states. In fact, the tribal population (17% of the total) in the state has actually seen an increase in poverty in the last decade. What is worrying is that Gujarat’s under-five mortality rate has stagnated and is far behind that of its peers. Child mortality is significantly higher among girls than boys and that difference hasn’t narrowed over the years. Malnutrition is very severe among Gujarat’s children and women, and the only defence that Modi could come up with was an unfortunate diversion of the issue to the dieting habits of Gujarati women. It is no surprise then that in a recent study by UNDP, Gujarat ranked 8^thamong major Indian states in human development and the Planning Commission’s Human Development Index has placed Gujarat as low on the list as 18!

 

One conclusion that can be drawn from these facts is that the high growth has apparently benefited only a select segment of the population. This means that Modi’s Gujarat model is far less effective than it is being made out to be and shows that growth’s implicit ‘trickle down’ effect is absent in the Modi regime.

 

On this note, we end Part 1. Part 2 of the series will include issues of corruption, centralization of decision making and governance problems in the Modi administration. The next installment will be out in about a week.

State of the Nation

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aam aadmi party, aam aadmi party in maharashtra, akhilesh yadav, anjali damania, arvind kejriwal, bal thackeray, bhaskar jadhav, delhi elections, lavish wedding, mamata bannerjee, mayank gandhi, motilal nehru, narendra modi, rahul gandhi, rajnath singh, samajwadi party, shiv sena, Sonia Gandhi

I haven’t written much lately because I have been busy with my ISC 12th Board examinations. I have been meaning to write something for quite a while now. Since my last article, which was on Rahul Gandhi, a lot has changed in Indian politics. The two main political parties saw a few changes in their leadership situations. Rahul Gandhi was finally made the official second-in-command, second after Mrs Gandhi, and BJP elected Rajnath Singh as their National President after a turbulent week of politicking around Nitin Gadkari’s candidature for the post. One politician announced his entry on the national stage by addressing some of India’s brightest students at the Sri Ram College of Commerce. Narendra Modi, fourth time Gujarat Chief Minister, outlined his vision for India through a narration of his work in Gujarat, to much applause from the young men and women.

All those who believe that 2014 will see a Narendra Modi v/s. Rahul Gandhi battle should prepare for some major disappointment. Rahul Gandhi has indeed shown the country that since Motilal Nehru, the Nehru-Gandhi family has exhibited an exponential decline in the capacity of their successive generations to lead a nation. Not unlike his mother, the Gandhi scion has probably realised that it will be more comfortable to run the Government from outside it, than as a part of it. He could lead his mysterious life the way he is leading it right now and allow his mother and the Congress’ sycophants to run the country the way they want to. Of course, any of this will matter only if the Congress is re-elected in the 2014 General elections.

The other major development has been a decline of many regional satraps. Nobody seems to be talking about this decline, possibly because there is a lot more drama in the two main parties to consider the smaller parties. Since Bal Thackeray’s passing away, the Shiv Sena has become weaker, with quite a few leaders defecting to rival parties. The Samajwadi party has gradually been losing popularity since they got elected last year. Mamata Bannerjee is arguably the biggest loser of them all, with a huge population becoming disillusioned with the whimsical leader. The reason this weakening is of significance, is that it makes the 2014 election even more complex than people believe it is going to be. It greatly increases the likelihood of an incredibly fractured mandate, with no political party crossing even 150 Lok Sabha seats.There is another event that took place in the last two months, that few Indians are aware of. People wonder why Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has suddenly become invisible and inactive. They have reason to be curious because ever since Mr Kejriwal’s Swiss bank account expose that involved big names like the Ambanis, he has virtually disappeared off TV screens and newspapers. What people are clueless about, is a legal notice that Mukesh Ambani sent to media houses that ran Mr Kejriwal’s presser threatening them that he would take them to court for playing his expose on Live television, without ‘substantiating his claims’ and as a result defaming Reliance and Mr Ambani. The funny part is that Mr Ambani threatened the people who conveyed the AAP National Convener’s allegations and not Mr Kejriwal himself. The media’s role is to convey what is happening and what significant people are saying, regardless of the veracity of the things spoken. By threatening the media, Mr Ambani has seriously hampered the media’s independence. If his argument is assumed to be correct, the media should never play a clip of politicians denying their roles in corruption scams, because their denials are ‘unsubstantiated.’For well wishers of Mr Kejriwal and the AAP, you will be happy to know that his political revolution is taking place in New Delhi in a big way. Every single day he holds a rally (Jan Sabha) in a different Assembly constituency to create awareness among the people about Congress and BJP’s corruption. He explains what changes he wishes to make, if elected, and runs his campaign on the promise of decentralization of power. His rallies attract huge crowds of genuine supporters (who are not brought to the location by buses from surrounding villages) cheering him throughout his speeches. The Delhi elections in October this year would be very interesting even if the AAP were to win a third of the seats, as Delhi is usually a two-way battle between Congress and BJP. Assuming the rest of the seats are shared by the two national parties, there would be a hung Assembly! This is not to say that the party is active only in Delhi. Local leaders of the party in Maharashtra like Mayank Gandhi and Anjali Damania are raising very important issues and campaigning in the state against massive corruption in the Maharashtra Government, most importantly in the irrigation sector (the irrigation scam has hit the farmers very hard).

Maharashtra’s politics has been disappointing as ever. Bhaskar Jadhav, an NCP Minister from the Konkan region spent crores of rupees on a lavish wedding ceremony for his son’s marriage. He invited over one lakh people for lunch, including hundreds of ‘VIP’s for which he used around 22 helipads to ferry the important men to the location. The fact that he has the money to organise such an event is no longer appalling because everybody has accepted that politicians make big money through corruption and nobody can do anything about it. The appalling part was that this comes at a time when Maharashtra is facing its worst drought in its post-independence history. I am unable to understand how a person who claims to be an elected representative dares to be so insensitive to his people. Having said this, I appeal to my readers to choose their representative wisely and save this democracy from going to the dogs.

2012 Blog Review by WordPress

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Rahul Gandhi: Old Wine, Old Bottle

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arvind kejriwal, changing the system, common man, Madhu Kishwar, rahul gandhi, Rahul gandhi foreign trips, reform measures, RTI Application, Sonia Gandhi, youth leader

In a massive show of strength, the Indian National Congress organised a rally at the Ramlila Grounds of Delhi, where Sonia and Rahul Gandhi defended recent reform measures, rather vehemently. Brought in from various locations in 3000 buses, the crowd was all geared up to draw inspiration from their Great Youth Leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi (the young man is 42 years old; 65% of India’s population is below the age of 35). Forgive the use of sarcasm, but the issue I have chosen for this article deserves nothing less than that.Its one thing to see an Arvind Kejriwal talk about systemic changes and it is completely another to hear a Rahul Gandhi talk about flaws in our ‘system’. In an attempt to cash in on the anti-establishment sentiment that Kejriwal has so deftly promoted in the country, Mr Gandhi decided to play victim. He began a vague tirade against the political system in our country. To quote him, “The biggest problem in our country is the political system. The people who run the system are busy mud-slinging at each other. We have to open our doors – to the common man, to the youth.”

I have three points to rebut his superficial role play of the victimised common man.

First, Mr. Gandhi has been in the Lok Sabha for eight long years now. The system that he rants about is a system in which he has been the second most powerful man for eight years. Had he really wanted to change anything, it was within his power and influence to do what was required. However, Mr. Gandhi is in a very comfortable position to even desire any kind of change. Earlier this year, an RTI application was filed by academician Madhu Purnima Kishwar on the basis of this conversation with a Congress Leader when the leader was asked about Mr. Gandhi’s role in the Government, asking for details of his foreign trips:

“He will have time for the Government or the Party only when he can spare it from his mysterious lifestyle. He is forever running abroad. Everything is shrouded in secrecy. Rahul ji did not even have time to accept birthday greetings from hundreds of Congressmen who were brought to wish him from faraway places on his birthday. He was in all possibility dancing in some Dubai or London discotheque.”

I concede that the authenticity of this information is highly controversial. However, the Government’s refusal to give the information asked for does raise questions. After all, it is now common knowledge that after a routine two day high profile visit to a Dalit’s house, he does disappear for days or weeks on end.

Second, the ‘mud-slinging people-who-run-the-system’ that Mr. Gandhi talks about are his own partymen. Aren’t they the ones running the system? So, ideally, when he is hailed by them as their ‘Great Leader’, shouldn’t he be able to ask them to stop the mud-slinging? The fact is, it is his partymen who are at the receiving end of all the allegations of wrongdoing and corruption.

Third, Mr. Gandhi reiterates the need to involve the common man and the youth into politics. Last week’s Cabinet reshuffle saw a few young leaders being included in the Council of Ministers. Sachin Pilot, who was made Minister of State, Corporate Affairs, is from a powerful political family. Jyotiraditya Scindia, the new MOS Power, is a member of the Royal Family of the Scindias of Gwalior. Where is the common man, Mr. Gandhi?

Mr. Gandhi appears extremely incongruous in his show of false ‘victimhood’ of the system. It is time the people of this country see through the shallowness of such arguments and their proponents. If we continue to put these people in office repeatedly, we might see in another thirty years, the next generation of Gandhis attacking the very same system, just like Rajiv Gandhi did about three decades back!

India @ 65

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anna hazare, independent india, india, india at 65, mahatma gandhi, nation builders, nehru gandhi, pandit nehru, politics, ralegan siddhi, sardar patel

This is an essay I had written in an English paper of my school examination in which the topic was: India @ 65 – Have we lived up to the dreams of our nation builders?

India is like the man who gets into a cab, but is unable to tell the cabbie where he wants to go. It may sound confusing and slightly demeaning as well, but the reality is that India is a rudderless ship . I say this, not because our founding fathers failed to give us a direction. I say this, because we forgot that direction a long time ago. Right up to tenth grade, Indian students are taught how our ‘nation builders’ led a glorious fight for freedom. Who tells them what happened right after that? The country became independent and Pandit Nehru became Prime Minister. What next? Have we ever been told about the dreams Nehru, Gandhi or Patel had for us? No, we do not know what goals they had in mind. By ‘we’, I mean the majority of our population, which survives today in conditions our founding fathers definitely did not dream of!

I happened to read a few books on post-Independence India and I do have a faint idea of how they meant things to be. India was built by thousands of men, but the architects of the entire process were a handful of visionaries, of which Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel were the most popular. It is fitting that all three of them had titles, conferred on them by the people of this country – ‘Mahatma’, ‘Pandit’ and ‘Sardar.’ So, have we lived up to their dreams? To answer this question, it is fundamental to understand their dreams.

Mr. Gandhi used to say, “India lives in her villages.” This line is the embodiment of Gandhi’s dream for India. He envisioned an India, with self-sufficient villages, functioning as independent units. He wanted India to be an agriculture-centric economy, supplemented by small cottage industries which would employ the entire population in some way or the other. Unfortunately, India never considered this path. I doubt anyone but Gandhi and a few of his followers ever gave this a thought. An economy without industry, in our times sounds too idealistic, although, self-reliant villages was an achievable dream. Have we achieved it? Far from it. The village scene in most rural areas is pitiable. After over sixty-five years of Independence, electricity and water supply is still rarely regular. Centralisation of power has prevented villages from becoming self-sustaining units and a majority of villages rely on Government packages. One of the few examples of what we might call ‘Gandhi’s villages’ is Anna Hazare’s Ralegan Siddhi. With enough water to drink, sufficient fuel and electricity and a prosperous population, Ralegan Siddhi is an impressive experiment. 

Pandit Nehru dreamt of a Socialist Republic. He wanted an Indian state along the lines of the erstwhile USSR. The Soviet form of Government had impressed him greatly – Massive factories employing the unskilled labour force, public sector companies having a monopoly in manufacturing everything and subsidies for all, were big attractions for the Pandit. He was most convinced about having a secular state, with religion playing no role in the administration and policy. Nehru did not know it at the time, but Socialism proved to be a failed experiment, with the disintegration of USSR standing testament to it. In 1991, at the time of economic liberalization, we turned upside down, most of Nehru’s ideas by opening up the economy. Notwithstanding Nehru’s extreme socialism, his principles of secularism and democracy were remarkable in an India divided along the lines of religion and caste and we must not waver from that direction he has given us. Our democracy has survived and is maturing. Secularism is being redefined with the peaceful coexistence  of religions. We still have a long way to go in becoming a truly democratic and secular nation, but we must not lose hope as achieving this goal takes decades, if not centuries!

Sardar Patel was rooting for capitalism. Hailing from the business-centric state of Gujarat, Patel wanted to free up the economy, allow free trade and encourage the private sector. An untimely death prevented him from pushing India towards these goals. Since the 1991 liberalization though, we have been moving closer and closer to Patel’s capitalism. Some believe capitalism is not the right way because of the massive corruption in the private sector, and concentration of wealth. However, Sardar Patel was known for his strictness and firmness. He would have expected an India that punishes the corrupt and promotes probity and transparency. In this respect, we have not lived up to his dreams. Cynicism about politicians and business houses’ corruption is at its highest and we need to set up a corrective mechanism at the earliest if we want Patel’s dreams to see the light of day.

We need to keep in mind, that although we, the economically stronger classes of society, live in comparative luxury, we are a very small percentage of India’s population. So, even if we have access to good education, food, water, clothing, cars, television sets and air conditioners, we are only a microscopic part of the entire society that still lives in poverty and suffers from malnutrition and unemployment. Therefore, when we think of whether or not we have lived up to the dreams of our nation builders, regardless of our personal position in society, we need to consider the millions of others suffering in our sixty-five year-old independent India.

The Other World

Tags

introspection, parallel universe, peace, serenity, tanpura, tranquility

The cosmic sound that the Tanpura (a musical instrument, which serves as reference for Indian classical musicians) produces is one of the most unique sounds an instrument can produce. The resonating notes of Sa, Ga, Ma, Pa, and Ni are played in different combinations, which vary with the ‘Raag’ to be sung. Typically, the notes overlap, as the strings of the Tanpura are serially plucked, giving the sound a reverberant touch. I tried and failed to recollect exactly how I felt in the serenity of the tanpura. Perhaps owing to the fickle, unfocused mind of a teenager, I could not revisit those beautiful notes that the instrument generates. I got around this practical obstacle by playing the records of Classical Hindustani music (in which the Tanpura plays continuously) that I have at home and as I write this article, I can feel the vibrations touch my heart.

I do not know how it feels to be intoxicated, but I doubt it could be any different from what I am experiencing at the moment. I could be writing this subconsciously, for all I know! The Raag Nand is taking me to unexplored parts of my thinking space. Words are hard to come by and a decent vocabulary is of little significance when you are being pulled into a trance. I look around but I really cannot register what my surroundings are. The keyboard at my fingertips, the screen facing me and the sound of music are the only things I am aware of. I am trying to type slowly, so the keys I press make the least possible ‘noise’ in the hope that I am not disturbed by them.

As I feel the world around me shutting down or coming to a stop, I feel alone. It is not loneliness – it is the disconnect from the world, by choice, for seeking peace and tranquility. I realize that I have created my own world – a parallel universe, where I can do what I want. I cannot leave the place I am sitting in, so what do I do? I begin to introspect, I talk to myself. I think about all those things I have seen and felt during the day. Today was a particularly philosophical day for me. I remember my time in the bus – Bus No. C-45 – as I was travelling to school from home. The bus was empty and the bus conductor was an irritable old man. Torn Hawaii chappals and an unclean Conductor’s uniform indicated a not-so-fortunate wallet. We are friends, the conductor and I. I travel by the same bus everyday and we exchange smiles as we trade change and a ticket. The bus stopped at the Mulund Checknaka bus stop and one man got into the bus. He was in his mid-40s and wore anachronistic clothes – a bush coat and trousers. I hadn’t seen many people dressed like this man was. He had an identity card clipped to his upper shirt pocket. A ‘helper’ at a certain company. The man was clearly low on self confidence – he couldn’t look higher than the conductor’s purse and spoke only in whispers (which made the conductor shout ‘What?!’ twice). He whipped out his wallet and took out his Smart Card and handed it to a frustrated conductor. The frustration transformed into anger as he told off the ‘helper’ and asked him to get off the bus that very moment. The poor chap had a Bus Pass only for ordinary buses and not for the express buses which halted at fewer stops. The ‘helper’ felt more ashamed than disappointed. He looked as though he was being charged for murder and ran off to the exit, while the conductor asked the driver to stop the bus.

I thought to myself – What would have happened had the conductor allowed the ‘helper’ to travel in the empty ‘express’ bus? Maybe there is a consequence which I am not aware of, but I decided that if ever I became a conductor, I would let poor old ‘helpers’ who have boarded my empty ‘express’ bus with a valid bus pass for ordinary buses to travel to their workplaces. Who knows how much wages are cut for reporting late to work. I told myself to be more empathetic the next time I lived in the other, ‘real’ world. The simple conclusions of this world that serenity built for me may not be appreciated outside of it. I mourn and turn off the music.

Coalgate: Will heads ever roll?

Tags

Coal block allocation scam, Coal blocks allocation, coal gate scam, coalgate scam, corruption, kapil sibal, Manmohan Singh, Manmohan Singh coal scam, P Chidambaram, Prime Minister, prime minister manmohan singh, xero loss, zero loss

The Coal block allocation scam and all events surrounding it bear a strong resemblance to the entire 2G scam drama. A senior Minister formulating or following a policy that resulted in three  unfortunate and unwarranted implications: a massive loss to the exchequer; a windfall gain to private entities; and the plundering of a national resource. Arguably, parallels can be drawn between former Telecom Minister A. Raja and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. While Dr. Singh’s personal integrity has rarely been questioned thus far, the ‘Coalgate’ scam has cast serious aspersions over his honesty. A brief study of the CAG report would convince most readers of the fact that there was something more unnatural than mere ‘unusual’ in the manner in which coal blocks were ‘allocated’ to private entities. Especially, during the period in which Dr. Singh held additional charge of the Coal Ministry.

Here is a summary of the exact allegation on the Prime Minister, (first made by India Against Corruption (Team Anna) during their onslaught against fifteen Cabinet ministers and then followed up by the Opposition since the tabling of the CAG report in the Rajya Sabha.)

Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister since May 2004 and was personally in-charge of the Coal Ministry from November 2006 to May 2009. The average allotment of coal blocks was 3-4 per year until a few years back. But this number shot up drastically to 22-24 during 2006-09 when Dr. Singh was in charge, raising questions about the manner in which these allotments were made. All the allotments were made without protecting the interest of public exchequer, and without following any competitive process.

 

The current Coal Minister was up in arms the day after the CAG report was out and criticised the Auditor stating that it’s methods of loss calculation were flawed. His justification for the sudden increase in allocations was that “Coal India alone could not have met the demand” for coal production which is required in electricity generation. Fair enough, one would say. However, the fact is most of the ‘beneficiary’ companies who were allocated the blocks were ineligible to receive them. Many of them got the allocations based on false representations and claims of tie ups with companies that don’t even exist!

For a moment, let us assume that the Prime Minister or the Congress did not receive any monetary gain for committing this ‘lapse in governance.’ If the CEO of a company commits such a mistake and his company faces a presumptive loss to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees, he has no option but to resign! All his defence and explanation has to wait. So, why should there be different standards for the Prime Minister of a country? We are the shareholders or stakeholders of this country and we deserve accountability. If we have lost so much money, and Dr. Singh is responsible for it – it is only fair that he must go.

This entire week, the Parliament was not allowed to function as the BJP-led Opposition continued to disallow business in the House to demand Dr. Singh’s resignation. Whether or not the obstructionism is justified is in a grey area. On the one hand, the country has lost far more money through the Coalgate scam, than it would lose because of the Parliament not functioning. On the other hand, there are a number of Bills pending which need to be discussed soon. In another attempt to defend the Government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram repeated the notorious ‘zero loss’ claim made to protect A. Raja during the 2G scam issue by Kapil Sibal. He said, “I deeply regret the presumptive loss concept as it is totally flawed. If coal is not mined, where is the loss? The loss will only occur if coal is sold at a certain price or under valued.” If I have understood the Finance Minister correctly, a car thief who does not use or sell the stolen vehicles has not caused any loss to the owner of the cars! Assuming the people to be so naive, is an insult to his fellow Indians’ sensibilities.

 

I think the key takeaway from all of this is that we need to caution ourselves against an attitude that has gradually seeped into our society : The constant bombardment of reports of corruption scams has made us ‘accustomed’ to hearing about them. The outburst after the 2G scam was much larger than after the Coalgate scam, even though the latter was on a larger scale. This shows that we are now ‘getting used’ to those in power making mistakes and money. We are learning to accept it as a reality – a part of our life. If we want to be able to fight corruption, we cannot let this attitude take over.

Baba Ramdev: An analysis

Tags

agitation, baba ramdev, black money, corruption, movement, team anna

Team Anna and Ramdev are like two sides of the same coin. Different physical appearances distinguish the two superficially, but each one complements the other to make an effective whole. The Lokpal Bill, if and when it becomes a reality, will only help in tackling future corruption cases and thus prevent plunder that might happen in future. It will not be able to recover all the money that has already been siphoned off. Baba Ramdev’s demand of bringing back black money and declaring it as national wealth also has a drawback. Suppose the money is brought back and does become part of the country’s treasury, and there is no mechanism for preventing and punishing corruption by then, the money retrieved could well return to the Swiss accounts – where it came from in the first place! This makes it important for both movements to survive and grow together. Both Team Anna and Ramdev have political ambitions and together they could be very effective in fighting corruption.

Having said that, I want to touch upon the controversial nature of Ramdev’s public image. There are three different aspects in which he manages to court controversy – 1. Some of his views are seen as anti-liberal. 2. There have been allegations of corruption against him. 3. His antics on stage, and eccentric behaviour are frowned upon by a section of the population.

I want to present my analysis of all these controversies through this piece.

1. Ramdev is known to be a hater of homosexuals and calls homosexuality a disease which can be cured. While this belief of his is looked down upon by liberal Indians (I count myself among them), it remains his personal view which is in no way connected to his anti-corruption campaign. Moreover, his views on such subjects might well be representative of a large part of our population – he cannot be written off in the fight against corruption, simply because he happens to be one among millions of conservative Indians.

2. Since the Ramlila Maidan episode that took place last year, the Government has been alleging irregularities in the functioning of Ramdev’s organisations. He has been continually accused of tax evasion and forex frauds. In fact, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a case against him for foreign exchange violations of around Rs. 7-8 crore under the Fema Act. For almost a year, the ED has been investigating the case and has found nothing on Ramdev yet. The combination of the Government’s hatred for Ramdev and his supposed frauds should have easily put Ramdev behind bars by now. The fact that heavy Government machinery like the Enforcement Directorate hasn’t found enough to take action against him, despite him being a foe of the ruling party is unlikely, unless of course, Ramdev is actually innocent. The most they have been able to achieve has been the arrest of Ramdev’s aide Balkrishna, on the eve of Ramdev’s August agitation (pun not intended) for forging educational certificates in order to obtain a passport.

3. Ramdev was born and brought up in the Hindi heartland (which is – UP, MP, Bihar and Uttarakhand). My father, who has lived in UP for ten years remembers to have seen Babas like him who behaved exactly like Ramdev. It is possible that his behaviour on stage and his style of speech is completely normal for people in his region. After all, local culture plays a large role in building a personality and for a foreign culture, the actions of another will obviously seem unusual. He should not be judged for acting the way he does. Instead, what he says should be given an unbiased ear because, more often than not, he does talk a lot of sense.

The country needs someone right now who can sort out the systems and correct them. We live in desperate times and a person’s personal views and behaviour should be the last things that should worry us.