CONTAINING THE DRAGON

 

 CHINA is a half-masked nation with a secretive society and ruled by the Communist party that has proclaimed President XI Jinping as president for life vesting in him absolute powers to control the destiny of the Chinese people. One cannot express his opinion freely and, if one dares, it is dealt with brutal force as was seen in the army crackdown at the Tiananmen Square in 1989. Scores were murdered mercilessly, and lots are still loitering in jails. It is in this perspective that we should view every action of Beijing.

China wants to dominate the world; that is in a nutshell. The end of the cold war and the consequent break -up of the Soviet Union paved the way for this. They built up their economy, subsidized production clandestinely and sent their products at throw away prices pushing behind all other economies. If you travel to the USA or Europe and visit any large store, you will find Chinese products occupying more than 75% of the shelf space, that is pushing their product that kills the local industry. That is one side of the story,

Now comes their global vision. First, they gobbled up Tibet. The world nations looked the other way as they had no interest in the region. Then they provided soft loans and financial aid to Pakistan and Sri Lanka under the pretext of assisting in development. They assisted Sri Lanka in eliminating LTTE and thought it would provoke India. They failed. Then they succeeded in getting Tamil fishermen arrested Sri Lankan navy citing that they crossed into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka. This is not a military issue, but just a test to see Indian reaction. It is important to note that not a single Kerala fisherman was ,arrested. Their aim was to provoke Indian Tamils who will persuade Indian government to take some action. Again, it did not bring the desired results.

Now the Doklam stand off! The Chinese army objected to the construction of the access road by the Indian army on the Indian side of the border. And now, the Galvan valley in Ladakh, where they ambushed Indian soldiers, inflicting unwanted casualties on both sides. China has also been financing terror activities by Pakistan hoping to destabilise India. They will not come in the front line but use proxies to achieve their goal. In their latest move, they successfully persuaded Nepal to alter their national borders to include portions of Indian territory thus opening one more front against India. Why do they do all these?

They have enough trouble with Hong Kong who does not want Chinese rule and lose their individual freedom though the commercially successful island was handed over by Britain in 1997. And Taiwan, whom China considers a breakaway province, recently held elections as an sovereign independent nation. They cannot risk a direct confrontation with Taiwan because of the strong backing of the USA and their allies.

Then comes the story of Wuhan and the Coronavirus. Though under Geneva convention, the use of chemical weapons like nerve gas was banned in a conventional war, but we have seen countries like Syria using it against the civilians. China, being a permanent member of the UN security council, may not have wanted to go against the convention, but took an alternative route to destroy other nations and their economies by spreading the virus across the world nations. If they succeeded, they could use this opportunity to tame the protestors of Hong Kong and Taiwan, while other countries fight the virus. Unfortunately, this strategy misfired and the virus stuck its own backyard. The doctor who leaked this information to the outside world died under suspicious ciecumstances.

There are unconfirmed reports that they are covering up the actual fatalities which could run into millions, but Beijing has deliberately not disclosed. This  is based upon the number of cell phone connections surrendered since the outbreak of the Corona virus. May be we can rely on these reports to a great extent. What started in the small town of Wuhan has become global issue. The world nations have to come together to isolate China and make them pay reparations to all countries for the damage they have done.

Further to this, they are now using state backed hackers to the power distribution systems of other countries including India because you don’t have to use the military power. As of today, they have border dispute with about 18 countries. Countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka fall a prey for this cunning strategy who are fed with free funds and then coerced and made to dance to their tune. The world nations have to come together and isolate China before they cause irreversible damage to this planet.

JAI HO REPUBLIC TV

The past few days have witnessed so much police action in bringing to books the chief editor of Republic TV net work under deliberately fabricated false cases even under the outdated laws in force since the  colonial days. What is the Maharashtra government doing? Muzzling the electronic media so that the channel will shut its mouth. Arnab Goswami, the chief editor of Republic TV, has been shouting at the top of his voice to bring the truth out in Palghar , SSR  murder case which, the police have conveniently closed as suicide, the drug peddlers of Bollywood and similar cases not to the liking of vested interests?

Where are the opposition parties who normally jump at the drop of a pin? Why are the Bollywood idols like Amita  Bachan, Anupam Khmer and Sharuk Khan not uttering a word on the arrest of Arnab Goswami? Do  they fear a back lash? It seems there are issues more than what meets the eye and I have no doubt that the bigwigs are being protected by diverting the public attention. I lend my unflinching support to Goswami and the Republic Media.

 Bring  the Police force under  Central command

AG’ s arrest has baffled the whole country as well as International community and has defied all the logic. The unholy alliance of Shiv sena, Sonia sena ( I don’t call them Congress anymore) and the so called NCP has brought unspeakable damage to the image of the country and it’s democracy.

This is not the first time a state government is using the police force to settle scores with an individual. It is no secret that Lalu Prasad, the former CM of Bihar and Jayalalitha, the former CM of Tamil Nadu, used the police force to their advantage and even treated them as domestic servants.

Mind you, the cream of the force are from IPS ( Indian Police Service, not Indian Personal Service) and it is so painful to see that these well trained personnel are misused by the state governments. 

We cannot blame the police alone for this. They have to follow the instructions from their political masters. To avoid this, we need to amend the constitution further to bring the police department under an independent authority answerable directly to the parliament so that they can discharge their duty without any political interference. The amendment should also enable an honest police officer to refuse  an order from a superior officer which , he can prove, is unlawful.

A free press is fundamental for the success of democracy and the role of the opposition is to keep a check on the elected government. Unfortunately, in our democracy, instead of playing the role of a watch dog, the opposition parties focus more on bringing down the elected governments and to settle scores.

THE DRAGON: IT’S CUNNING STRATEGY

CHINA is a half-masked nation with a secretive society and ruled by the Communist party that has proclaimed President XI Jinping as president for life vesting in him absolute powers to control the destiny of the Chinese people. One cannot express his opinion freely and, if one dares, it is dealt with brutal force as was seen in the army crackdown at the Tiananmen Square in 1989. Scores were murdered mercilessly, and lots are still loitering in jails. It is in this perspective that we should view every action of Beijing.

China wants to dominate the world; that is in a nutshell. The end of the cold war and the consequent break -up of the Soviet Union paved the way for this. They built up their economy, subsidised production clandestinely and sent their products at throw away prices pushing behind all other economies. If you travel to the USA or Europe you will find Chinese products occupying more than 75% of the space. That is one side of the story, pushing their product that kills the local industry.

Now comes their global vision. First, they gobbled up Tibet. The world nations looked the other way as they had no interest in the region. Then they provided soft loans and financial aid to Pakistan and Sri Lanka under the pretext of assisting in development. They assisted Sri Lanka in eliminating LTTE and thought it would provoke India. They failed. Then they succeeded in getting Tamil fishermen arrested Sri Lankan navy citing that they crossed into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka. This is not a military issue, but just a test to see Indian reaction. It is important to note that not a single Kerala fisherman was arrested. Their aim was to provoke Indian Tamils who will persuade Indian government to take some action. Again, it did not bring the desired results.

Now the Doklam stand off! The Chinese army objected to the construction of the access road by the Indian army on the Indian side of the border. And now, the Galvan valley in Ladakh, where they ambushed Indian soldiers, inflicting unwanted casualties on both sides. China has also been financing terror activities by Pakistan hoping to destabilise India. They will not come in the front line but use proxies to achieve their goal. In their latest move, they successfully persuaded Nepal to alter their national borders to include portions of Indian territory thus opening one more front against India. Why do they do all these?

They have enough trouble with Hong Kong who does not want Chinese rule and lose their individual freedom though the commercially successful island was handed over by Britain in 1997. And Taiwan, whom China considers a breakaway province, recently held elections as an sovereign independent nation. They cannot risk a direct confrontation with Taiwan because of the strong backing of the USA and their allies.

Then comes the story of Wuhan and the Coronavirus. Though under Geneva convention, the use of chemical weapons like nerve gas was banned in a conventional war, we have seen countries like Syria using it against the civilians. China, being a permanent member of the UN security council, may not have wanted to go against the convention, but took an alternative route to destroy other nations and their economies by spreading the virus across the world nations. If they succeeded, they could use this opportunity to tame the protestor of Hong Kong and Taiwan, while other countries fight the virus. Unfortunately, this strategy misfired and the virus stuck its own backyard.

There are unconfirmed reports that they are covering up the actual fatalities which could run into millions, but Beijing has deliberately not disclosed. This  is based upon the number of cell phone connections surrendered since the outbreak of the Corona virus. May be we can rely on these reports to a great extent. What started in the small town of Wuhan has become global issue. The world nations have to come together to isolate China and make them pay reparations to all countries for the damage they have done.

MIGRATION: THE CAUSE AND EFFECTS

 Migration is not something new, which existed from time immemorial among all civilizations. Early man led a nomadic life moving the whole community from one place to another depending on the need. He looked for fertile land for farming, easy access to water resources and food, and protection from wild animals. Basically, his requirement was limited and he lived happily.

As civilizations grew and prospered, the concepts changed and the community was divided into units of joint families consisting of parents, grandparents, the siblings and their children living under one roof, often managed by the senior most member of the family. As the community population increased as also the education levels, the jobs available locally became scarce, and forced the younger and educated to move into the cities where they could find jobs easily. This further reduced the family size. Moreover, with the globalization of economies, people started moving to overseas destinations and many of them settled there. Many got permanent jobs and settled in their new found host countries, while others took up contract jobs for specific period of time.

But today’s scenario faced by the country is a case of reverse migration forced by the circumstances. The COVID -19 has done unspeakable damage to world economy and no country has been spared. The Europe and Americas are reeling under pressure and no one has found an answer so far. Indian Diaspora has their prominence all over the world, especially in the Gulf region where plenty of contract workers are employed in construction and other business. They include masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. whose jobs are contract to contract and they will come back to India on the expiry of their VISAs unless they find some other employer who will take them over. The bulk of them are from Kerala, followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In our culture, we always care for the loved ones. Most of the migrants have their families deep rooted in their village and would like to be with them whether they have anything to eat or not, especially when a catastrophe like Corona strikes. Look at the root cause for the migration. An average Malayali is a communist by default and his primary job is to hoist a red flag before every business unit and, as a result, no one is willing to invest in Kerala for fear of getting into labor disputes. This leaves him to look for opportunities elsewhere. The opening up of Gulf market in the 60s and 70s was a boon and that found a huge traffic of semi-skilled labour landing there with several jobs. After the expiry of their VISAs, normally they found another employer to hang around who was only happy to pick them up. These resulted in huge remittance of foreign exchange by the Diaspora and, in turn, it helped to boost India’s foreign exchange reserves.

This brought a unique opportunity to the jobless labourers in West Bengal, U.P., Bihar and other North Eastern states to fill up the vacuum created by the labourers of Southern States who moved outside India. The successive governments in these states had wilfully ignored the development of the region and hence those states could not provide enough jobs to the young. For example, Mayavathi, who was the Chief Minister of U.P. earlier, spent Crores of Rupees in building statues of elephants all over the state instead of addressing the situation of jobless youth in her state. If you visit any Southern state for that matter today, you will find plenty of migrants who have moved from North to South working in hotels, hospitals and other establishment.

Now, here comes the great Corona virus also known as COVID-19 from a research laboratory situated in Wuhan, a town in China. The international travellers carried the infection further and the virus spread like wildfire killing thousands all over the world. Many countries declared total lock down in several towns that forcibly closed restaurants, cinema halls, malls and grocery shops making people remain at home. Thousands of jobs were lost. Being summer, the hospitality industry was the maximum affected. The main sufferers were migrant workers who were living on rented accommodation and without an income, they suffered silently.

Look at the scenario here. He cannot pay for his accommodation and food if he continues to live in the cities, and if he goes to his native village, the case will be the same with only difference that he will be with his loved ones. So, the majority of them decided to go back to the village. All the regular trains and other means of transport had been cancelled during the lockdown and the migrants were left with neither money nor transport to go to their villages. The central and state governments mobilized all the resources at their disposal to provide a comfortable transport to the migrants, but the demand was too high to match the reality.

But what does the future hold out for us? Who is going to replace the skilled labour that went back to their villages? When the Corona virus subsides, are they going to come back to their former employers?  I have a strong feeling that most of the migrants who returned to the villages are going to come back to the cities for jobs because the village does not offer a job for them. The employers will also be big losers because the trained work force has left them and it will take a long time to train a NEW work force.

During the Gulf war a lot of Indians returned to India, and when the war was over, most of them went back. This leaves some questions unanswered. When a person takes up a job overseas on his own, is it the responsibility of the government to bring him back? On a general note, I would say NO. But when a catastrophe like Covid strikes, the repatriation of its citizens becomes a government duty.

What can we do when thousands want to go back to their villages where they will have nothing to do? An ideal option would be for the employers to meet their accommodation costs and also advance them salaries for a period of at least 3 months to start with (the employers can be reimbursed such expenses by the government) and this would avoid peoples’ rushing back to their villages in panic and also help the employers to retain an already trained work force to run their plants. The pandemonium we have been seeing in the inadequately sanitized trains and the crowd on the roads is terrible and this is going to result in the migrants infecting more people in the villages helping the spread of the virus. We can only hope that the think tanks in the government will take appropriate steps in the right direction. It is sad to see that some politicians from the opposition parties trying to capitalise from this situation instead of standing with the government in this hour of crisis.

A CASE FOR IMPROVING THE SOUTH ASIAN ECONOMIES

We have all along been following blindly the concept of measuring the economic growth based on the GDP of the nation. This is just based on the production of goods and services that varies from time to time. You put more money in the hands of the people so that they will buy more goods and services and this increase in demand will act as a catalyst for increase in production and create more jobs. The Central Bank keeps cutting bank rates hoping that the banks’ increased liquidity will help them to lend more.

Conceptually it looks good. But in their haste to find a genuine business, the banks often end up playing into the hands of Mallyas and Chokshis who, in the end, flee the country leaving behind a sizable amount of their borrowings as Non Performing Assets in the Balance Sheet of the lending institutions. These guys go unpunished because of the tremendous political clouts they wield, leave aside the length of time the courts take to dispose of their cases.

 In addition, there is this credit card business which simply increases the purchasing power in our hands and, as a result, we end up buying things which we don’t need. America lives on credit. Many of them live a life of pay check to pay check which means, if they don’t get paid by the 15th of the month, their life would come to a standstill. The credit cards are extensively used in every transaction which, in fact, means buying in the present against a future income. The accumulated balances on credit cards have always been a problem, especially during a global catastrophe, like Corona Virus, ultimately ending up bankruptcy of the card holder and making domestic life miserable often leading to violence.

When the recession towards the end of the last decade made the world economies to run for cover, India survived because of the saving habits of the people. In the recent past, a lot of noise was made in India about the affordable prices of onion. There was a lot of panic around. The simple solution would have been to reduce your consumption and look for alternative food. You are not going to die if you don’t eat onion for a while. When the demand goes down, the prices will come down. Again look at the crude prices today. It has gone to sub zero levels. The national lockdown declared by most of the countries has pushed the vehicles off the road resulting in a drop demand. The end result: The oil companies operate at lower capacity and so many jobs are lost. All these are vicious circles.

In any assessment of economic performance of a country, the happiness of the population is another factor to be considered. If you look back, a few decades ago, before the technology brought us television, computers, cell phones, internet, etc., were people not happy living?  While technology helped in connecting the global population, it had its own disadvantages in that cyber crimes increased, countries started spending more on military and other allied services regardless of whether they could afford the spending or not. The newly acquired technology is being used more for the improvisation of the military capability than to quench the hunger of the masses and treating millions of sick all over the world.

Recently, India placed an order for 36 Raffle jet fighters from France at a whooping cost of 35 billion to counter the challenge from F-16 fighter aircraft that Pakistan acquired from the USA. While this puts the two nuclear neighbors in a balanced position, the people who really gained are the business entities who supply the warplanes.  That means the governments equip themselves to guard against a possible threat from the neighbor which is just notional and if there are no wars in the near future, the investment in the technology becomes not only a waste but, over a period of time, it becomes obsolete and you start investing again to replace the old machines with newer one, of course at the tax payers cost. Imagine, if all these resources are deployed for the development of the economy, to what extent we can improve life quality of the poor and downtrodden. The USA, China and India put together have an estimated annual budget of 1064 billion US Dollars for their military, and even a reduction b y 50% will make available plenty of resources for development. The economists never link the happiness of the masses when they put the figures together.

How can we solve this riddle? If you stop for a moment to think on the following proposal, the economies of South Asian nations will grow rapidly, and with their brainpower and skilled lab our force, can compete with the best in the world.  Full openness and trust between the nations is a must to achieve this. The nations with a common borders  like India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar an Sri Lanka have to come together and  sign a NO WAR PACT FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS, leaving the border disputes where they are. This will ensure peace and tranquility in the region and there being no fear of war, all the partied concerned can concentrate on the development of their respective countries. This will become all the more relevant now, when the world nations are trying to recover from the onslaught of the deadly Corona virus. This idea, to be successful, the concerned nations have to come to the negotiating table throwing out of the window, the attitude of suspicion they had for each other. If we come to a common understanding and start working towards this achievable goal, I am sure this planet will become a beautiful place for human in-habitation. Remember the old adage, “there is no winner in a war”. But all we need the political will.

CORONA VIRUS- HOW THE CHINESE STRATEGY MISFIRED

The law of unintended consequences can, sometimes, play havoc in the society. The empowerment of Mr. Xi Jinping by the communist party of China as President for life gave him added ammunition to tighten his grip on the global affairs.

It is no secret that Communist China has always nurtured its territorial ambitions. When it gobbled up Tibet, the world nations looked the other way, including United Nations. India may be an exception, but the voice of India won’t count at that time for obvious reasons. Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, has always been a thorn in the flesh, and has positioned itself in such a way that China cannot militarily intervene because of the strong backing of America and its western allies it has  enjoyed over the years.  Moreover, the presence of American carriers in the vicinity will act as a deterrent and it will be in its own interest to avoid a military conflict.

To add to this, Hong Kong, since its handover to China by the British in 1997, has been creating new problems over the governance of the island as we saw in the recent apprising against trying the residents in the courts of Mainland which are run by the communist party. The people of Hong Kong are used to living in a democratic set up and will not accept any authoritarian rule.

This puts President Xi Jinping in an awkward position.  How does he tackle this? China, in the past, has been secretly developing biological weapons, as an alternative to military option, to use against revolutionaries and dissidents who resisted every movement by the communist party to control their future. In the event of a full scale military conflict, China cannot hold out against the fire power of the US and its allies and, if a conflict starts and the use of a nuclear option becomes inevitable, the first person who exercises that option will have serious consequences and may be even isolated by the world nations at large to their national detriment.

Under the circumstances, biological weapons becomes more effective in that it can destroy other nations without resorting to a military conflict, just by infiltrating a virus among the population that can help in the mass killing of the people enemas and can wreck their economies. This is what was being planned and quietly executed in the laboratories in Wuhan from where it was, unfortunately, it leaked out and spread into its own society. The doctor who blew the first whistle also died of the same virus, the COVID – 19, under suspicious circumstances

China never thought it will have such a wide repercussions, but it misfired and global travelling further aggravated the situation. What was intended for Taiwan and Hong Kong hit their own backyard and spread to nations across the world. The very fact that China refused the WHO team to visit Wuhan lends more credibility to this theory. The law of unintended consequences in operation.

TROUBLED NORTH-EAST: THE CHINESE ANGLE

Whenever there is ethnic violence somewhere in the country, our short sighted politicians start the blame game without bothering to dig deeper to analyze the root cause. The current disturbances in the north-east province followed by the attacks on the same community in different parts of India, according to my analysis, are part of a grand game plan carefully hatched by the Chinese authorities.

I am a nationalist Indian and I have no political affiliations. However, I like to analyse each situation from a different angle and apprise the concerned so that they may see things in the right perspective and find appropriate solution. The following links, if you put together, will lend credibility to my China theory.

If you are regular China watcher, I am sure you would have observed the growing Chinese interest in establishing their military presence both in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. It all started in Sri Lanka with port building support, then military aid followed by full backing in the war against LTTE. Even after the rebel leaders surrendered and laid down the arms, they were slaughtered mercilessly and displayed in public which was totally against Geneva Convention. Obviously, they had the full support of China who was using the island nation in a proxy war to intimidate India by hurting the feelings of Indian Tamil community. When this ploy failed to bring a military response, China began using Sri Lankan navy to abduct Indian fishermen, especially Tamil, to provoke Indian government and this also failed to produce the desired results.

Then came the Chinese protests over the oil drilling activities in South China Sea where ONGC was exploring the possibility of tapping oil resources within the legitimate Indian territorial waters. China’s objection to Indian road building in Arunachal Pradesh and terrorizing the local population is part of a wider plan the Dragon has been designing. The recent ethnical violence in Assam and targeting the NE people in different parts of India should be seen as off shoots of a wider conspiracy to destabilize the region. The only difference here is that instead of Sri Lanka, it is Pakistan that is playing the role of proxy. China’s offer of military assistance to Bangladesh and Myanmar adds credibility to this theory. Who knows China will not try to annex the tiny North Eastern states that will give them complete control of the Bay of Bengal. Remember, when China gobbled up Tibet, the whole world watched and remained spectators. But, this will be a different ball game. Politicians, please watch out.

The destruction of twin towers in 2001, the worst terror strike in human history, strained the US relations with its hitherto trusted ally, and it sunk further with the unauthorized killing of Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden. The retaliation by the terror groups who regularly target the NATO convoys and other American interests is making the US dilute its relation with their troubled partner in the war against terrorism. With the military colluding with terrorist outfits and calling shots for an elected but weak civilian government, the US interest in its former ally has been diminishing. This is where Pakistan started to lean towards China for assistance and the latter wasted no time in grabbing the opportunity.

The recent attacks on the Hindu community in Pakistan and their consequent exodus to India, the pre-planned publicity of letters from Sabarjit Singh, who has been languishing in jail for years (we will all be stupid to believe that the letter can be easily smuggled out bypassing the security), the resumption of firing along the LOC and the recent mass SMS to derail the North-East region (it is more clear now that the source of this SMS has been traced to Pakistan) cannot be viewed as isolated incidents, but as part of a wider conspiracy employed by Beijing aimed at creating commotion and arresting its economic growth.

In the Indian Ocean, if the proxy is Sri Lanka, in the eastern front, it is Pakistan. In both cases, the politicians can be either bought or coerced into submission. The UPA government, neck deep in trouble with corruption and other charges, appears unable to see things in the right perspective. It is high time they set aside petty issues and focus on national security.

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.

EMPLOYABILITY: THE KEY TO SURVIVAL

In a recent address to the nation, the US president Mr. Barack Obama, while referring to the rising unemployment, called upon young Americans to take on folks in Bangalore and Beijing, meaning that they should work harder to challenge the competition brought forth by the fast developing Asian economic giants. He did not mean to take on the challengers physically, but to improve ones own educational and performance levels to make Americans more competitive.

The secret behind America’s growth as a global economic and military power is that it brought into the country the best brains and talents from all over the world, regardless of the race, color or religious faith and provided them opportunity in excel in their own field. Today, you find more immigrant settlers contributing to the national development than Native Americans.

What caused the current recession in the US was that it was caught napping while developing Asian economies were preparing to capitalize on the opportunities that came along with globalization. In the past, the US has remained an imposing global power unchallenged almost for half a century since the end of the Second World War, and this resulted in complacency in every walk of life with the assumption that all good things will always remain for ever. The collapse of Berlin wall and the break up of the former Soviet Union that followed re-doubled the belief that they were untouchable.

However, the arrival of fiber optic cable changed the scenario and enabled high speed communication between countries resulting in thousands of jobs being outsourced to developing nations that helped to cut down costs considerably. The Americans were caught off guard when companies started shifting their backroom jobs to Asian destinations where cheap, but highly skilled labor force was available. India, China and other South Asian countries were quick to encash the opportunity.

Mumbai has a similar status like the US in that what made it the commercial capital of the country is the contribution from people all over the country. If TATAs, Birlas, Ambanis, Hindujas and Ruias invested in manufacturing, the Kapoors, Khans and Bachans contributed to the film industry. Mumbai could not have built so many high rise buildings without Andra workers and the middle class would have starved without Udupi restaurants. Other people played supportive roles in making the Mumbai of today.

The local Mumbaikar, unfortunately, was not fast enough to adapt to the changing situation and outsiders who were more adaptable grabbed the opportunity. Politicians have been demanding jobs for local people and earn cheap popularity, even resorting to violent means, but, surely, this is not a winning strategy in the long run. Intimidating potential employers in the name of regional politics will only result in the flight of jobs out of the state. Empowering the local people by creating more opportunities to horn their skills will be the only viable solution in this era of globalization.