Politics

Politics / Thoughts — 5 Comments
15
Aug 10

Yes, I am proud of my country, but….

It’s 15th of August, it’s India’s Independence day. Exactly 63 years back British left the country and our country got independence. From that date, till today we have a lot of achievements. (Check #63ReasonsToBeProud on twitter for listening to people)

Let’s s look at the other face of our 63 years of Independence. Should we use this day to only celebrate our achievements or also to look at the areas where we have failed? Looks like the former is what everyone agrees to. No one cares about the latter. Don’t you learn from your mistakes?

Let me showcase a few areas where we have failed miserably and tend to avoid. I am not against my country, but please don’t turn a blind eye to the problems. If I was not passionate about my country, I would never spend so much time thinking about the problems too

Poverty

Looks like we are better in campaigning than actually acting. All “Garibi Hatao” did was getting a seat secured for Indira Gandhi. It’s  39 years since that campaign and we still have the more poor people in 8 states combined than 26 poorest African nations. Poor are dying, food grains prices are rising and guess what? Food grains are rotting in open.

Illiteracy

The literacy rate in India is only at 66%. No! 66% is not a decent figure! Look from the other angle — One-third of the population is not educated. The people who can actually exploit this 1/3rd is politicians.

It’s easier to sway illiterate people by emotions. I started believing more in this theory when some 10 years back, Lalu used to command a great section of illiterates in Bihar. Any rally used to pull a huge amount of crowd and people from my city used to  fill trains heading to Patna. At stations I have heard them saying(in local dialect) that “Lalu is our saviour. I am feeling excited since he might announce something for us to end my family’s poverty“. Poor brainwashed people! Probably they never knew that Lalu wants to keep them poor and illiterate so that they can keep on believing in him. Bonus points for guessing why Literacy rate in Bihar took a dip when Lalu took over the CM post.

Caste

I don’t get the much difference between Religion politics and Caste politics. At the lower level, they must be different, but from upper view, it does the same thing - Divide people. Only India can have hypocrites like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mayawati who call themselves secular and play caste politics. It’s like one hand doesn’t know about the other.

Now forget the politicians. Lets look amongst ourselves. Do you ask other’s caste? Why? Is that necessary? I am not looking at the Internet savvy crowd, but everyone in general. Goto towns, villages, many places caste-spirit runs in the blood of people. Have a look at some

Probably the list wont end and I can jot down one incidence of violence in every state.

Do you know that Hindu temples are dominated by priests who think that by worshiping god they are bringing peace all over the society. Ironically, the word “all” should be changed to “a restricted section”. It is a known fact that temples are pretty much conservative when it comes to let people enter. I always find Gurudwaras to be more open and tolerant. My experience says that people from all castes are allowed to enter and you will be treated same everywhere.

Do you know about these events?

I have given temple examples, since it represents a classic case of how a small section of people have hijacked religion and faith.

Reservations

Finally we are onto the most controversial topic and so called magical-solution to the downtrodden sections of the society. Proponents think that reservation is the only way to bring up the oppressed people. Let’s now look at the outcome of reservations

There are a few families who are taking advantage of quota for their generation and people in genuine need for it are getting starved. There should be a rule that only a person and their next generation can take the advantage of reservation. If they need the help of reservation for generations and generation then either “The quota system in broken” or “They are incompetent”. In both cases they should be starved of the benefit.

It has been half a century years since reservation was introduced and the society still needs it. Either we are useless or the Quota system is broken.

Another thing which irks me is that the quota system in caste based instead of financial status based. Quota system are meant for oppressed section of the society. Even forward caste people can be poor and lower caste people can be pretty rich. Still, the current system fails to address this problem. Politicians are more interested in caste based politics.

Conclusion

I have stopped only on 4 topics. This doesn’t mean we have only four problems in India. Look around and you will get a more like rising crime rate, corruption etc.

Disclaimer

I don’t care if something in this article hurts you. Getting offended is the easiest thing to do and requires no thinking. If you get offended by this article, I will get offended that you got offended by my article.

Please post polite comments. Any rude/harsh or personally insulting comments will be deleted ASAP.  Please don’t bring emotions in the picture, but counter the claims by facts and proof. Emotions is a sure-shot way to kill logic.

Politics / Thoughts — 6 Comments
28
May 09

Free Electricity is Evil

All of you must be agreeing that India still has lots of problems including security, food, corruption and hell lots of others. Nearly everytime you can see that people propose some or the other solution to different problems. Here is my take on “Free Electricity”.

Keep a watch on various poll promises during election campaigning. I am sure one or the other time you would hear many of them promising Free Electricity. Are you amused? Better be not. Free Electricity is evil! Electricity being such an important resource should be available in such a way. We usually pay such less for the electricity we consume and then complain that we have so many power outages. Let’s have a look at a case study.

Case Study: Negative

In Ranchi (my hometown), there is a Govt. Corporation called HEC which provided nearly free electricity to its employee and used to collect the nominal charge itself and pay the electricity board. Looks like the electricity board is relived of all its duties. It is NOT! People started misusing this privilege and started using the free electricity for every god-damn thing they needed. Most of them returned their LPG connections and started using electric stove for cooking. Every sane person knows how much power these electricity-hungry appliance suck while operating. This power which was meant to light up their houses, watch TV, operate computers etc was being used for things which can be done using LPG. The electricity load on the whole township grew immensely. They people were so much dependent on electricity that they can go hungry, but need electricity for cooking. What happened later was that due to huge dues, the electricity board places HEC under heavy power cuts for nearly months/years that too with >Rs5/unit the last days. The problem solved when HC directed JSEB to take over distribution in the township

Same thing happens in BCCL, Dhanbad. People wont cook food if there is no electricity. BCCL usually shuts down supply in the morning to prevent the misuse. The people get up early or  so late, that they can cook food on already costly electricity.

Case Study: Positive

My relative and a few friend live in Ahmedabad. Power is some Rs6-7/unit. Costly isn’t it? Still, no one complains since the supply is perfect. The only people who cry are the one who think government is fooling people. They forget that people want proper supply and price doesn’t matter if the quality of supply is as per standards. What is the use of cheap electricity when supply is nearly useless. The people know the value and take special pains for power savings. They never keep even a bulb/tube on if it is not required. There might be exceptions, but exceptions are everywhere and it cannot be used to disagree on the correct fact!

One more relative of mine lives in Mumbai. She has power supplied by Reliance and it costs some Rs5/unit for home and Rs 8/unit for commercial use. She is satisfied as electricity is available when required the most. She also takes care that no-one wasts this resource which is already in short-supply.

Opportunistic Use

If you keep a track on politics, once a party in Punjab promised free power to farmers to win the votes. I won’t name the party as it hardly matters here. What happens when you give free power to farmers. They use water pumps to suck groundwater as there is no tomorrow. Yes! This is what happened. So can’t you conclude that free electricity is also responsible a lot for ever dropping water table in Punjab?

Conclusion

Till now you must have started thinking that I am capitalist. I am just being practical.!The biggest reason of the weak electricity infrastructure is actually due to we Indian Citizens. State governments want to cash on such measures to win cheap votes. Do we have free petrol/diesel? Free LPG? This is because petroleum sector is with Central Government and power is with state and most state level leaders are idiots or opportunists.

When petrol and Electricity are compared , a normal person feels like electricity is quite cheap. Actually it is NOT. The cost of resources is not determined by their end price, but how much stock we have, how much foreign exchange we have to shell out and and how much does it cost the environment to bring it to our use. Even though producing electricity is cheap, it should not be sold cheap since that reduces the value and people start looking down on it even though its such an important resource.

Next time before saying anything to government that electricity is not regular and the infrastructure is weak, think again how much you have contributed to the cause of saving electricity. Secondly never lap up the free-electricity promise of the leaders.

Lastly remember that electricity isn’t free at any costs. Government adjusts that money from the tax we pay. That money can be better used for building of roads, providing sanitation and a ton of other social work which we usually forget while dreaming of free electricity!

Politics / Thoughts — 2 Comments
17
May 09

The truth of “For the Poor”

For the poor?

For the Poor? The harsh fact of the "Red Movement"

Courtsey: Save Kerala

Politics — No Comments
15
Apr 09

India Votes | Cleanliness Drive needed

Have you ever seen Congress(UPA) and BJP(NDA) hurling abusive statement at each other. Now when its high election time, their brains work even fast and allegations is something which is delievered like compliments.

If you see deeply, you won’t find much difference between the two, since they are two sides of the same coin. This is not an effort to promote one party or the other, but to show BJP and Congress supporters that most of their logic is flawed. These are all random, let’s start comparing:

Congress: BJP is responsible for Gujrat riots!

So 1984 Sikh riots were god-made?

BJP: We will build a Ram Temple at Ayodhya?

Not again! Not the same promise again this time! Even the fools understand this false promise.

Congress: BJP says “Every action has equal and opposite reaction” for Gujrat Riots.

Rajeev Gadhi said “When a big tree falls, the ground shakes” after Sikh Riots.

Congress: “We have distanced ourselves from Sikh Riots, it was a shame”.

Nice! First you go on a killing spree, then say ” sorry, it was a shame, we distance ourselves”.

BJP: Congress is a 125 old women.

Arn’t you a pampered energetic youth brigade?

Congress: Modi should not  contest elections…

Why did Tytler contest elections in 2004? This applies even on him.

Congress: We have removed Jagdish Tytler from the poll fray.

So it took you (2009-1984) = 25 years to understand this? Why was he made a minister in this present government?

BJP:  Our PM is very weak.

Don’t act like you don’t know the reality. He is not weak, he just needs more power to exercise his intelligence. The major decisions are still taken at 10 Janpath not at PMO.

More to come up.

Politics — No Comments
6
Apr 09

India Votes | Rabri stoops too low

No fancy introductory paragraphs this time. Straight to the point. Read the below sentences in the quote

Have you seen how close both Nitish and Lallan sit in every meeting. Under the table they are holding hands because Nitish is the ’sala’ of Lallan Singh and Lallan Singh is the ’sala’ (brother-in-law) of Nitish Kumar

These lines are said by no other than Rabri Devi, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Bihar who (mis)ruled the state for around seven years. It is said that facing to the real world everyone becomes wise, even illiterates. It is also said that exceptions are proof of the rule. Rabri Devi is a classic example of such an exception. She is not just illiterate but even dumb, has no wisdom for judging between right and wrong.

Politics in India is really very bad, still it has never gone so low, that a politicians may say anything just for the sake of few votes. I am a native of the earlier undivided Bihar which is now in Jharkhand. I still remember the dark days of Lalu Raj, everything was in bad situation. Corruption and lawlessness were part of the life. Lalu and his close ally Jannanath Mishra are responsible for the present situation of the state. They tried their best to ruin the education system of Bihar so that people may remain uneducated. It’s a fact that educated people are aware(atleast a bit) more than those who have no kind interaction with education. These people are swayed by emotions and not by facts. They believe in iconic figure and Lalu took complete advantage by showcasing himself as the messiah of the poor and downtrodden.

It is said that a baked pot doesn’t accept more clay. Same happened of late. Lalu and Co got kicked out of power and Nitish Kumar adorned the throne. I think he is the most beloved leader of Bihar who has support from Muslims, Hindus, Educated, Uneducated and all type of casts. He is the real leader of Bihar.

It looks as if Rabri Devi is frustrated with her defeats and gone to this level of getting personal with the new iconic figure of their state. Her hubby used to be a charismatic leader of the masses and hated to the core by the educated people. She should be banned from contesting elections and should retire to take care of her kids.

Politics / Thoughts — 3 Comments
26
Feb 09

Indian Justice System

Maybe you have read about this awesome news.

Kasab booked for entering CST without ticket

What you expect from a terrorist? To buy platform tickets, talk softly to people? They are not humans, but butchers who don’t even know the H of humanity.

All of you must be knowing that chargesheet has been prepared against Kasab, its a novel in itself. 5000 pages, which might be containing complex legal teminology. He has been booked for 7 charges one of them is on the second line of this article.

You must be knowing that Justice system in India is quite bad, or wait, we can call it horrible. It takes ages for a person to get dates for hearing, leave the verdict alone. The problem is with the shortage of staff in the judiciary which is overloaded with work. In such a case, why does Police file cases for such petty charges which hardly concern anyone? This time can be used by general public for their hearings.

Who cares whether they came with a platform ticket or not. If they bought a platform ticket, then would have less people lost their lives? We have so many cases of women abuse, dowry related disputes which carry more sense. Justice delayed is Justice denied.

Book Kasab under the stringest terms of the law and don’t make a mockery of the judicial system by such useless charges which just eat up the precious time of the already overloaded judiciary.

Blogs / Politics — 2 Comments
30
Nov 08

In-Sensitive Media and Politicians

Finally the Mumbai encounter is over, after claiming more than 200 lives in this incident of blasts and shootouts. Terrorists are targeting important locations one after the other. The valour showed by the NSG and maritime commandos is commendable. They deserve their appreciations except that our country lost encounter specialists and one NSG commando while clearing the hotels.

After each such attack, its the politicians who are criticized for their acts. Contrary to the past records, this time the Electronic Media has surpassed the politicians for gathering their share of criticisms.

Maharashtra’s Home Minister RR Patil has dubbed this great incident as small incidents which happen in big cities like Mumbai. Means the life of people is worthless? They get tight Z-cover security, due to which they don’t know the plight of common man! Shameless creatures who don’t deserve to be holding any government servant post.

News channels like IBNLive went as low as no can even dream of. They were in mad rush of Live telecast of such sensitive information. At that situation even those sitting in front of TV screen were busy criticising them. They set up a new standard of Desperate Journalism.

Our own Kargil ki Rani and Padma Shree award winner “Barkha Dutt” was no behind and was seen moving along with those cheap journalist who were there just for covering some sensation. She disappointed a lot of her fans, whom she made for her braveness in Kargil War. Just imagined that you have been rescued by forces and your husband/wife is still stuck up in hostel. Then suddenly Barkha Dutt arrives from nowhere and asks since your better half is still stuck inside, so “How are you feeling?” What would you reply? Speechless? I was once a fan of her long ago, but slowly I have lost confidence even in Media after losing confidence in Politicians. Now its only the judiciary on which I put my faith.

What more stupid questions can the media frame? They can ask Ratan Tata by calling him over. How many terrorists do you think are there inside? What is the damage to the structure? Any estimates? I think a small workaround may be to ban Live Reporting, but that’s impractical seeing how desperate and strong media is in our country.

The media was in forefront to disclose any commando action for cheap publicity. They were showing commandos land on hotel rooftop, what is the positioning of troops around the hotel. How many troops have been dispatched. What ammos they are carrying. They were also desperate to show how people were stuck up and calling for help at windows. They used all operations like focussing and zooming to pile up as much of sensation as they can on the already worse situation. When pushed aside by forces for getting more room, they were even quick to report “So you can see the police doesn’t want us to cover this event, you may miss this sensual and important event due to them”. I am really sick of these cheap activities. The only news channel which I like now is “DD News”, straight and to the point, no sensation, hype and all those crap.

Media is hyping this as India’s 9/11. Sorry! Its not India’s 9/11 since after that event US dared to attack Afganistan to show its might, even though it may be wrong. Our politicians would just condemn this attack and its all over. No one has the guts and most of the ministers in our present government are cowards. The situation of Kashmir is worse than what happened in Mumbai, the North-East is not better. Media - please think before you say. You caused more fear in people that the terrorist can themselves. Why show dead bodies on the first page? Why on newspapers itself? No one wants to start their day after having even a glance on it.

I just hope that Indian Media grows up on time, and we people stop watching their 3rd class reporting methods. If we stop watching, they would stop showing, just a hope. The chances are bleak, but still it is there.

Politics — 1 Comment
14
Aug 08

We should have two party system!

This time it’s chance of Jharkhand to enjoy the taste of political instability. Multi party system was introduced in India to give the representation of the whole country, since national parties were felt to be inadequate. This could have been a good theme at the time of Independence but not at this time. We have seen so much of unrest in last few years such that it makes me think twice.

Most of the political instability is faced in states which are small in size of have very small seats in Assembly. Since these states have limited Assembly strength, according to an act passed some years ago, these states should not have more than 14 ministers. This is the main cause of unrest in most states though I strongly support that act.

Jharkhand is a state which has made news to some very unexpected developments. Once the Governer called up Shibu Soren to form the government even though it was clear that he didn’t have to majority. Sometime an independent becomes the CM of state. This was the first time in history of India. Shibu Soren has asked Madhu Koda to resign to make way for him. Shibu Soren is facing punishment for massacres, still he wants to become the CM. I can only say WTF!

Years passing and watching all these political drama, I have become more staunch supporter of two-party system. It can stop bribes, cash-for-votes like scams and many more dirt privailing in our current politics. Buying an MLA/MP for cash has become a common news even though anti-defection rules are in place.

I dont have much to say, this post was just to bring my heart out on the feeling which I cant express. Having lived in Jharkhand for so many years, only god can save it one day.

Blogs / News / PHP and MySQL / Politics / Technical / Thoughts — No Comments
24
Dec 07

Magically Modi wins without any emotional issues

This surely reflects the changing scenario of Indian politics. Modi has long been accused of using hatred politics and emotional issues for instigating people to garner votes. This time he had no such issues except developments and progress. People have given their verdict. BJP won by two-third majority alone and Congress with allies got some 65 seats.

I dont want to comment on emotional issues which so called intellectual people always think when the name of Modi crops up. These are those category of people who are equally responsible for instigating such acts. If they surely think that Modi is doing wrong, they should give him less coverage. Instead these people make him so much in lime-light that he has really become a hero.

Not only is Narendra Modi a hero, but he deserves to be. Its not that am his supporter, but am not even completely for him. I greatly cherish his plans for prosperous Gujarat. Those Chief Ministers who criticize him for riots should first look into their states, how people in their states live, such a pathetic situation. I could never believe that Surat- the city completely destroyed by plague once is again shining and is set to give even the metros a tough fight. Gujarat is the best place to start a business. Whatsoever be the situation, the reality is that it is that state which has the least terrorism. All other states are affected by some or the other internal security issues like naxalism, terrorism etc except Gujarat. The situation may become such that one day it can even stand on its own without center’s aid, like a free country.

Becoming a bit technical, I re-installed Ubuntu on my system. The other ext3 partition is remaining useless, unless I go back to pave its way for Fedora 8. My APTonCD backup rescued me a lot. Installed all basic softwares like gstreamer, libxine, abiword, geany, bluefish, bluetooth, gnochm, gparted, apache2, mysql5, php5, mod_fastcgi, audacious and many more thus saving my bandwidth. Three Cheers for the APTonCD project.

News / Politics / Thoughts — No Comments
11
Oct 07

Passport Blues

Getting a passport in “Republic of India” is not so easy,  you have to toil a lot and run desk to desk to get your work done.  Its a natural scenario in all government offices. The passport office is not less. Last week the police officials came to my hostel for the verification. I was very pleased, now i didnt have to ferry witnesses to police station. All work were easy, but suddenly!

One of the officers called me and said lightly-”You have to atleast bear the expenses of the the verification and the transportation costs”. What was this? Clearly-They were asking for bribes. I had to shell out 150 bucks out of my pockets and passed it in the hands of those public servants. Just see the switness after being bribed. My appication moved on so swiftly that I cant even believe myself.

Yesterday I got a call for the photo verification at 8PM. As usual I hurried up to their den in bad weather, it took 15 mins for all the formalities, said “Thanks You!” to the Inspector and its all done. Just observe the swiftness. Bribing is against my belief, but no other option was left, if I had denied I would had to run pillar to pillar for this great document. After all this is India, my Motherland.