Life Term: A Ploy to Defeat the System

Two verdicts, that attracted a lot of public interest, have come out within the span of one week related to cases of rape and murder. One, the Priyadarshini Mattoo’s case, where the apex court has commuted the death sentence pronounced by the lower court to life term, after a prolonged legal battle that took 15 years. The second, the Pratiba Moorthy’s case, where the fast track court, which took five years to complete, also pronounced a lifer to the taxi driver in a similar case.

The court ruling has given a rude shock to the public. Judiciary, the last remaining ray of hope for the common man, has begun to prove time and again that it is also slowly becoming part of the grand nexus between the rich and influential groups and that the common man has to fend for himself. If you can visualize what kind of agony and trauma these young girls would have undergone during the crime and their families thereafter, even the capital punishment is too little. I do not know if the judge would have taken a different stand if the victims were his own daughters.

Life term is nothing, but a ploy to defeat the system. The media has been playing a crucial role in unearthing cases which would, otherwise, have been buried by the system, but their role is limited to seeing that the law enforcing agencies are pressurized into action. Public memories are short and the whole episode will be consigned to history as time passes.

After waiting for a few years, the cases are either reopened for dubious reasons or, on occasion like Gandhi Jayandhi or a minister’s birthday, when clemency is granted to a few prisoners, these anti-social elements serving life term find their way out citing good behavior, etc. as reason for their release. Then they are free for the rest of their life. What more can we expect from the legal system in this country where even convicted terrorists like Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab enjoys a wonderful life.

Singapore is an example to follow. The crime rate is almost zero there because all citizens are equal in the eyes of law regardless of how powerful or influential you are. The time we take for each case, the minimal punishment with which the criminals are let off the hook, easy availability of bail for any crime and inability to carry out the court order is making a mockery of our law and order system. The citizens have to unite and initiate a mass movement against such judgments to secure the life of young girls.

India: The Epicenter of World Corruption

If Pakistan is infamous as the epicenter of world terrorism, India is fast acquiring the notorious name as the epicenter of world corruption. Thanks to Indian media, in that, it has resorted to wonderful investigative journalism blowing whistle at regular intervals and conducting sting operations with clinical precision.

The latest in the fray is the CWG after the IPL saga. News channels are not irresponsible entities to publish any material without thorough research and investigation. There has been considerable cost overrun apart from complaints of delay and poor quality workmanship in all CWG related projects. AM Films, a relatively unknown firm, is a one man show which, according to press reports, recently applied for liquidation. Whenever a politician gets involved with any sport or game, be it cricket, football, hockey or athletics, one can smell the rat and CWG is no exception.

India has now successfully showcased itself as the epicenter of world corruption. The startling disclosures by TV channels have shown the world community the bottomless fathom to which the Indian politicians can stoop. It has not only made the life of the law abiding citizen miserable, but has penetrated all the way into the defense forces where inferior equipments are procured a t the cost of the soldier who is guarding the frontiers of the nation. Corruption has even infected the judiciary where judgments are influenced by the power of money and muscle.

This is nothing, but oligarchy in full swing. The ruling UPA has no guts to take action against coalition partners and look the other way whenever they are drawn into controversy. The intelligencia have become silent spectators totally disempowered by the powerful lobby of the rich and influential. The future of the nation is in deep trouble.

DO WE NEED ANOTHER EMERGENCY

When the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi declared emergency in 1973, the whole world condemned her autocratic way of functioning and called her the biggest threat to the Indian Democracy. But, almost forty years down the line, we seem to be reaching another stalemate where the govt. may have to resort to declaring another emergency to safeguard the interests of the nation.

Kashmir valley is burning. Stone pelting, curfews, demonstrations, police excesses, etc. have become the order of the day. The separatists and their Pakistani handlers are having a field day and neither the home ministry nor the foreign ministry has been able to find a solution. The terrorists are striking at will because we are too soft a state to punish the guilty. We are not hanging Afzal Guru or Ajmal Kasab because the govt. may lose Muslim votes in the next election.

The army which is ‘nuclear capable’ and other border security forces like CRPF and BSF have become a regular fodder for ULFA and Naxals operating in the north-east. You find police informers among the Naxals and Naxal informers among the police. It all looks like Asterisk comics and the ultimate sufferers are the families of poor soldiers.

When it comes to opposing the government all the parties join together and call for national ‘Bandh’. Their main agenda, destruction of public property, is religiously carried out by party workers and paid goons with clinical precision who don’t realize that their bosses are the real gainers at the cost of their personal lives.

Now, let us examine the scenario in south. Maharashtra wants Belgaum to be annexed to the state because it has more Marathi speaking people. Whether the Maharstrians residing in Belgaum wants it or not is irrelevant. The politicians want it. Again let’s burn buses and destroy public property so that we can have an amicable solution. This is a priority issue and let’s shift issues like terrorism to the back burner. Did the common man gain anything by changing the name from Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkatta or Madras to Chennai? Nothing, but political gimmicks.

Karnataka govt. is rampant with corruption. The MLAs have converted the state assembly into a hostel as part of their protest against the illegal mining lobby which enjoys state protection. Added to this, a senior minister in the UPA govt. and a key ally in the coalition, has requested the Prime Minister to dilute his national responsibilities as he is unable to cope up with work due to his new found lucrative position as ICC president.

Mr. Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi are really in hot soup. I strongly recommend the declaration of a second emergency. Our politicians have made the UPA govt. ineffective and unfunctional.

Bhopal Disaster: Leave Anderson Alone

Twenty six long years have passed since the Bhopal tragedy that killed thousands of people and permanently disabled many more in greater number and, now, the very same authorities that ensured a smooth passage for Warren Anderson, the chief culprit, want him back in the country to be tried for the crime.

There cannot be a greater political joke. After having successfully distributed the remains of the Four hundred and Seventy million US Dollars received as compensation after the babu’s had their share, now the government wants to constitute a Group of Ministers to look into the issue. Bureaucracy over bureaucracy and additional cost over already incurred costs. The government has the resources when it comes to expenditure on probe committees, but their pockets go empty when it comes to the issue of assisting the hapless victims.

Sometime back we ran after Quottrochi, the Italian businessman, wanted in connection with Bofor pay offs and the outcome is known to all. We are on the same trail and the investigation will have a natural death and forgotten in due course. If, in twenty six years, we have not succeeded in booking those responsible for the tragedy, the scenario cannot be different after hundred years.

Why flog the dead horse? Forget the past and concentrate on positive steps like rehabilitating those who still need help. No resources! I have the answer. Seventy lakh Crores of Rupees are lying in Swiss Banks belonging to Indians. Bring back those funds, tax them at a flat rate of 30% and declare amenity to the account holders. You can build a new Bhopal from the scratch.

RESERVATION: THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL EVILS

At the outset, let me be clear on one thing. I am not against or referring to the reservation of seats for women in the parliament and I have nothing against women. What I am up is against making constitutional changes, be it in the name of women, dalits or minority communities, focusing on the vote bank politics with an evil eye on the impending elections, which has become the mainstay in the agenda of every party whether it is in the seat of power or in the opposition.

Reservation policy has dominated the political scene of this country since independence and successive governments have effected constitutional changes in this regard, keeping in mind, not the benefit of the masses but their personal gain. If sixty years of reservation has failed to bring the “so called backward communities” to the forefront, another hundred years of reservation will not do any good either.

Yes, we need reservation, but for whom? We need to identify that section of the masses whose I.Q. levels are adequate enough and trainable to be converted into great achievers by education and training, but who, unfortunately, are born into poor families and cannot afford the luxury of education. Just by providing good education you cannot convert a section of the society into achievers en masse.

By pursuing an illogical reservation policy, you cannot produce greats like Dr.Abdul Kalam, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Amitah Bachhan or Dirubhai Ambani. You cannot make out of Abdul Kalam or Manmohan Singh, a Sachin Tendulkar or vice versa, or Amitah Bachhan a Dirubhai Ambani or vice versa. They are all born greats and right kind of education helped them to mould and strengthen their inner character which was genetically present. The point I stress here is that education and training can help mould a person within his inherent character, but cannot create a character by itself.

It was on this basis that ancient Indians classified the population into four categories, i.e., Brahmin (the Intellectual), Khatriya (the Warrior), Vaisya (the Businessman) and Sudra (the Support). The character in an individual can be broadly classified on these lines, he be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh. If everyone in the society gets an occupation based on the character present in him, the functioning of the society will be smooth. The last section was classified as Sudra or supportive class because he doesn’t fall under the first three categories, but whose contribution is essential for their success. Can a factory function with only general manager without workers? Look at your hand. The fingers cannot perform individually, but collectively, they become a force to be reckoned with.

But our learned politicians have successfully misinterpreted a great concept to suit their personal agenda. What we need to see is not whether we have a dalit president or woman prime minister, but a capable president or prime minister, whether it is a dalit, a woman or a man, regardless of the faith, caste, color or gender. That is the only way we can ensure a secured future for the generations to come.

THANK YOU PAKISTHAN FOR NOT HANDING OVER HAFIZ SAEED

Intentionally or not, Pakistan continues to do a lot of good things for India, the latest being the refusal to hand over the JUD chief Hafiz Mohamed Saeed and others, in all about 30 in number. In the recently concluded talks at the Foreign Secretary level between the two countries in New Delhi, Mr. Bashir, while dismissing the dossiers submitted by India as mere lectures, flatly refused India’s request to hand over the fugitives wanted in the 26/11 terror strike.

I look at it as a great diplomatic gain for India. Do you have any idea of what would have happened if all the 30 wanted men were deported to India? First, we will need more high security prisons for their accommodation. Needless to say, along with, we will also need highly trained crack commando units with sophisticated weapons to guard them. Thus we will divert our terror fighting resources for the protection of hardcore terrorists making it easy for other terror outfits to strike at our vital installations.

This is not the end of the story. Then all these ‘wanted’ men will be produced in the court of law. Next, it will be the turn of our ‘very efficient’ legal and judicial system to battle it out between themselves looking at all the evidences produced to see if they were really involved. The very courts that will try them will offer them legal assistance for their self defense if they cannot find their own lawyers (who may, in the process, be shot by a patriotic citizen). The case will drag on. In the end, after an unpredictable period of time, even if they are found guilty and convicted for the gallows, they will access the benevolent constitutional provision of ‘Presidential Clemency’ and can hang on without being hanged indefinitely with the help of the ‘Great Indian Presidents’.

We are still collecting evidence against Kasab to establish if he is guilty in spite of his mowing down innocent civilians in front of everyone. Do you have any idea about the crores of rupees we are spending to maintain Afzal Guru, Kasab and the likes? Add another 30 to the list and the Union budget deficit will shoot up. What has happened to Abu Salem? If the Union Government is worth it salt, it will ensure that the President rejects the mercy petition on all terror related cases with immediate effect and uphold the court verdicts.
No doubt, we all need to thank Pakistan for at least saving tax-payer’s money. May I request the readers to start a campaign to persuade the President of India to reject pending mercy petitions submitted by convicted terrorists by forwarding this write up to all? At least, we can make an attempt to honor those who sacrificed their life for the nation.

MIGRATION TO MUMBAI: A PRACTICAL SOLUTION

Increase in the migration to Mumbai is a concern for all. While the commercial capital of the country may be able to provide a job for all seekers at least to make both ends meet, it certainly won’t be able to provide the housing and other civic amenities. The solution does not lie in intimidating the new immigrants, but in analyzing the root cause.

Maharsahtra has reasonably good governance, especially Mumbai, and it has developed excellent infrastructure to support commercial activities over the years. Other states like UP and Bihar are so badly governed that investment in the state is a nightmare to any entrepreneur. This jobless state of affairs makes locals to migrate to other places and, Mumbai being an attractive destination, the inflow to the city is more than other cities.

Look at Kerala, a state with 100% literacy, but communism has taken deep roots there. A red flag is hoisted there with the foundation stone laid for every factory and the labor unions dictate terms to the managements even before the commencement of production. This unfriendly atmosphere has kept the investors away and neighboring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have taken advantage of the situation where industry is doing well.

But the difference with the Keralites is that, being well educated, they seek opportunities in Gulf and other countries outside India unlike their counterparts in UP and Bihar. What plagues UP and Bihar is that their leaders are not educated and hence importance is not given for education. The administration is corrupt and has misplaced priorities. What else can you say when Mayawati keeps building statues all over UP, and now, is thinking of establishing a special police force for the protection of these white elephants.

Kerala has lead the way showing that good quality education can empower its people to get opportunities globally, if not locally or nationally, and their annual remittance home is over six thousand crores of rupees which has improved their standard of living comparable to North Americans. The UPA government should ensure good governance of the states and that education gets top priority which alone can check the rapid migration to Mumbai. There will be no winners if one pursues the intimidatory politics of to solve the problem.

SENAS: MODERN INDIAN TALIBAN

You call them Shiv Sena, MNS or Ram Sena, they all have one thing in common, i.e., using violence and destroying the property created by others as a means to enforce their ideology on third parties. They have no regard for constitution and what they say is the law. Law enforcing agencies are afraid to book them for any act of vandalism and they are a class by themselves, untouchable. They are the modern Indian Taliban and the only way differ from the original version is that while the Taliban pick target in other countries, their Indian counterparts destroy their own country and their own people. It is something similar to what the elephants do, putting mud on their own head.

If it is Pakistan, we can understand. There, the country is managed by four groups, viz., a weak civil government, the powerful army, the influential ISI and the Taliban. Going by the past experience, any group may get into the driver’s seat and call the shots except the ‘elected’ civil government. The government is just a spokesperson for the rest trying to establish some legitimacy to the elected office.

But, India is not like that. We have constitutionally elected governments both at the centre and states. It will be a dangerous precedence if we allow any extra-constitutional force to dictate terms and disrupt the daily life. Resorting to violence in the pursuit of personal agenda by any political group should not be tolerated, be it a Sena, Telengana group, Naxals or ULFA. Political Parties and other disgruntled elements in the society have always called for Bandh disrupting social life and damaging public property worth crores of rupees. No one should be allowed to take law in hands and politicians who exhort violence should be booked under criminal law.

History has it that it is the infighting between local rulers that lead to the Mugals conquering India followed by the British invasion. By fighting among ourselves, we will be giving easy access to our external enemies, especially Pakistan, who are jealous of our progress. The Senas and other political parties should grind their axes and address more important issues like nation al security, terrorism, corruption, revamping police and judiciary system and so on than fighting over trivial issues.

INSULTING OUR HEROES

In the war of words exchanged between Udhav Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi over the former’s regularly repeated slogan ‘Mumbai for Maharashtrians’, the Sena leader, accused Rahul for insulting the local heroes of 26/11 by saying that it was the Bihar and UP units of NSG that came to the rescue. The ill equipped Mumbai police sacrificed three of their top professionals before the NSG could take over the command.

NSG commandos are drawn from all over India and can be deployed in any part of India regardless of the composition of the unit. During the 26/11, it happened to be the UP and Bihar units that were mobilized, and it is unfortunate that Rahul Gandhi made the statement in the wrong context. Top Mumbai police personnel also sacrificed their lives, with the only difference that they did not die at the hands of terrorists, but at the hands of corrupt bureaucrats who procured faulty armor. That is a different story.

It is not the political parties alone that insult our heroes, but the union governments too, do it with stunning regularity. Did we honor the eight servicemen who laid down their lives to protect our cheap politicians when the parliament was attacked? What did we do? We awarded them vir chakra posthumously, but did not have the guts for carrying out the Supreme Court verdict that decreed capital punishment to Afzal Guru. He is enjoying presidential clemency, and will continue to enjoy the same until the day when someone hijacks an airline and demand his release. Another Kandahar like episode will follow and the terrorists will have their way.

A well trained Kasab slaughtered unsuspecting travelers at the VT station, and the court wasted plenty of time establishing his age for, if he is a minor, he could be considered for juvenile crime. Had he been tried under Islamic laws, he would not have survived till today.

It is a pity that we treat our real heroes with scant respect and honor the terrorists. I am ashamed to be part of this system.

BAR CRIMINALS FROM CONTESTING ELECTIONS

Sonia Gandhi said it. Speaking at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the UPA, called for barring candidates with criminal records from contesting in elections. The call has come a bit late, but what is more important is that the call has finally come, and that too, from a very responsible person holding a very high office. Given legal effect, this will greatly improve the quality of governance at all levels.

In the sixty years of post republic era, India has successfully emerged as a global player in the world economic scene by adopting a series of effective economic reforms and the credit goes to different parties that came to power at the centre, in that, no government at the centre tried to undo the achievements of the previous government.

But what was, unfortunately, overlooked was the simple truth that political reforms too have to be put in place from time to time if the economic reforms have to achieve the desired results. The replacement of British rule by Babu’s rule brought in rampant corruption, nepotism, use of money power and muscle power, criminalization of politics and, finally, the creation of an unbreakable nexus between the underworld, police, politicians and babus that left the common man a silent sufferer with no constitutional means to address his grievance. The track record of our honorable MPs will testify to this.

Today, after sixty years, Indian democracy remains a democracy of the powerful, by the powerful and for the powerful. The police don’t register cases if it involves powerful people, the victims are threatened, the lawyers use their skills to protect the law breaker than the law abiding and the judiciary is influenced, all to protect the big guns.

It is indeed a great call from no less a person than Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to stop criminals from contesting elections. American constitution has a provision barring criminals from holding public office for life. We just need a single constitutional amendment which will not only improve the quality of governance, but make India an enviable place to live.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE WILL LEAD TO GROWTH

In his award winning publication “The World is Flat”, New York Times journalist Mr. Thomas Friedman narrates a beautiful story of an Indian Muslim family based in Mumbai half of which migrated to Pakistan on partition of the country. Fifty years down the line, the part of the family that chose to stay back in India did exceedingly well in all fields while, unfortunately, the part that opted for Pakistan did not progress at all. A young boy from the Indian side of the family asked his father “Dad, we have done well in our life. Why is that our Pakistani counterparts are not doing so well?” Answering this the father replied, “Son, when an Indian Muslim boy looks at a rich man standing on top of his mansion, he will tell his father, “Dad, one day I will become that man, where as the Pakistani Muslim boy will tell his father, “Dad, one day I will kill that man.” You got it.

That makes the difference. One is positive in his approach and the other negative. For decades, successive governments in Pakistan, both civil and military, had ‘India Bashing’ as their main agenda and key issues like economic development and education were shifted to the back burner. Supported by the powerful military establishment, the Pakistani media also thought its moral duty was to feed the public on a regular diet of hatred towards India. This negative strategy might have helped few to hold on to the power, but certainly, it has not done any good to the people.

In strange contrast, neither the Indian leadership nor the media nurtured a similar attitude towards Pakistan or its people. Though a creation of political divide at the time of independence, both the countries share a common culture and language, and there is no logical reason for a fall out between the people of both nations. In fact, Indians would cherish a politically stable Pakistan, in that it would help the inflow of foreign capital resulting in the growth of the economy and improve the quality of life. The growth of Indian economy during the last decade is a glaring example. Today, any Indian Muslim will vouch for the fact that he enjoys more privileges than his counterpart in Pakistan.

What Pakistan needs today is a stable civil government and a hassle free bureaucracy for its growth. Harping on the Kashmir issue or terrorizing innocent civilians is not going help neither the people of Kashmir or Pakistan. The leaders need to adopt a positive attitude and they will be amazed at the results.