The article by Arundhati Roy was extremely thought provoking as always. Her view points are always different from the common folk and one which look at the inner depth of any topic. But this time I beg to differ from her on many issues. The essence of her topic was Azadi for Kashmir.
I will first like to ask a simple question what is Azadi or freedom? Is it about calling a country yours? In that case ndians are free and happy, but we know majority of them are not. Is it about the freedom that your religion is proclaimed as the state religion? In that case all Pakistanis should be free and happy. But we know that it is one of the most disturbed countries in the world. Then what is freedom? Before answering this question let us look at the problems in Kashmir today.
I feel the earlier problems of Kashmir before 1990s were same as of entire India.But with a difference that India was never able to convince the people of Kashmir that they are a part of India. And rightly so, just because a king signs a piece of paper against people’s wishes doesn’t change their nationality. Kashmiri’s neither wanted to join India nor Pakistan and it was the influence of moderate Sufi culture of Kashmir which kept them away from communalism.
But like many of India’s provinces, after Independence Kashmir was also marginalized in cases of development and growth. While rest of the India just cursed its politician for their sorry states of affair Kasmiris had a different opinion. Their shrewd politicians capitalized on their belief and convinced them that the only solution to their problems is independence from Indian state. After strong pubic processions this was followed by armed militancy, logistically well supported by Pakistan. It helped Pakistan in Two ways- a revenge of what happened in 1971 as well as a distraction from its internal affairs. It helped even Indian state to divert public attention from issues of poverty and development to false nationalism. Instead of finding the root causes of the problem, they easily deployed the Army.
One cannot solely blame the Army for whatever atrocities were carried out by them. Military solution to freedom movements is never viable. The Indian army which suppressed the armed militancy itself got frustrated and took out this frustration on Kashmiri awam. To make the matters worse, successive Kasmiri government did nothing to improve the situation. They satisfied their appetite through corruption and never carried out, again, any serious development. Sick of their state governments policies
And frustrated with militancy and its aftereffects, Kashmir was like a bomb waiting to explode, The spark was provided again by our cheap politicians. While it was PDP minister only, who signed the land transfer it played full role in igniting the passions and making a issue out of nothing. Similarly Hindutava fascist forces brought element of national and religious pride to gain political mileage. But they have never perceived that people’s emotions will erupt like this! Now even the leaders are following the public and freedom is the buzzword.
But freedom against whom, and what type of freedom. Independent Kashmir? India also became independent 60 years back and still majority of us are suffering? And then it is going to increase the suffering for Kashmiri pundits, suffering since decades already. And what if Pakistan attacks an independent Kashmir, whom will they turn to then, back to India? The worst thing in her article was when she talks about people speaking publicly in favour of Pakistan. There is not an iota of doubt that even if Kashmir joins Pakistan; the suffering of its people is going to increase only! But still how can Indian citizens speak in favour of joining Pakistan and how can Indian people take it? Our state puts a pro poor person like Dr Binayak Sen in prison for conspiring against state when he just brought out the sufferings of Indian tribes at the hand of government. And what are they doing now, listening to pro Pakistani slogans. I cannot take it any cost, they all should be imprisoned!
Thirdly though I also favour, like her, pro people movements, but can India take the risk of free Kashmir? An independent Kashmir can bring a new wave of jehadis, due to their hatred against India. It can become an ally of USA. Many countries will try to woo it, considering its strategic location next to two emerging world powers. Then if we free Kashmir today, tomorrow any politician of any non Hindi state can woo its people with anti India slogan, for his personal gains! We cannot afford an independent Kashmir!
Then what is the solution? The most feasible solution is division of Jammu and Kashmir as the people of both parts have lost trust in each other. Second, giving something like Dominion status to Kashmir, their government, economy and culture but India’s defence. But before all this the urgent requirement is the end of selfish politics, restoration of faith In Kashmiri people about India and a true dream of development and upliftment of people
But i don't see any of our politicians interested in doing anything like that. What they will do is to maintain the status quo. This will frustrate the Kashmiri people again. And frustrated with no action, we can witness a new wave of terrorism. The final result being more deaths and more misery as there is no military solution to this problem. But who cares? No Kashmiri politician’s son becomes a militant and no Indian politician’s son joins the army. Finally it’s just the innocent public who will die again on both he sides.
The essence of freedom is freedom from poverty, hunger, illiteracy, unemployment and backwardness. And it is not the question of just Kashmir’s Azadi; it is the freedom that entire India is seeking!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
WHEN SAVIOUR TURNS MONSTER
i had this ache , this frustration once in childhood , the loss of faith in the system, when i heard about Matto case. a cute young girl was raped and murdered everyone knew the culprit but he was left free due to lack of evidence as his father was IG of some place. second time i had this feeling was during Tsunami , every day those ghostly pics made me restless . i was not able to go that place but by making some contributions i calmed down finally.
but this time it was different becoz it was neither a natural disaster nor some passionate crime done by an individual . it was not done for political mileage as in gujrat.
it was a well planned state sponsored terrorism to rape and kill people just to establish power , raw power by some political big weights - yes i m talking about Nandigram. An open misuse of power in the name of development and even after justified by none other then the chief minister of that state that"they have paid in their own coin".
it all started with SEZ the symbol of development in which poor are forced to leave their land at throw away prices(if any) rendered without any home , any livelihood or any life.but how many of ur really believe that a capitalist and a state government officials will pay poor illiterate farmers due price for their lands or do they even damn ca re what happens to those poor people. and then started a first firm opposition and even if it used some armed resistance i feel its firmly justified . iask u if if someone throws u out of your house in the name of development and u oppose it, is it not justified?? and then mr buddhadeb bhattachrya used his first tool th state police , innocent people killed and told to evacuate. the move was widely condemned and finally the proposal for SEZ was dropped.
but then came the ego of our great bengal leaders , the so called Marxist who actually kill innocent people to help capitalist. (Karl Marx must have committed suicide had he seen such people use his name). it was the question of absolute power of a party ruling for over 30 years . and it was challenged by the common people. so they had a simple solution establishment of fear and terror among people even if it means some death rape burnt houses etc etc..
the plan was so well executed in full totality with CPI-M supporters well armed , from all over the places came and attacked few villages. the army was unstoppable as the police was a mere spectator under orders from his highness the chief minister . the operation was well executed with some brutal murdrers , rapes and all houses burnt and even dead bodies burnt so that no body can establish whether it was the work of Maoists or CPI-M .press was not allowed , Medha Patekar was beaten and anyone or everyone who raised his voice was dealt properly. the situation was so horrific that governor has to speak in press and mockingly he was condemned for that for going beyond his powers. intelligentsia riased their voice but no use. central govt moving on the crutches of CPI-M finally decided to send some CRPF men. but even they were stopped till the operation ws over and area "freed" by "freedom fighters" of CPI-M. even left parties RSP , forward block opposed the govt leave apart NHRC and common people.
but alas in our country things are very easily forgotten. i am upset a bit right now as i am unable to do anything in this situation. but i know with time all of us will forget this. except those whose home are burnt, who lost their livelihood , whose near dear were killed and who were raped . isint India progressing by leaps and bounds.
but this time it was different becoz it was neither a natural disaster nor some passionate crime done by an individual . it was not done for political mileage as in gujrat.
it was a well planned state sponsored terrorism to rape and kill people just to establish power , raw power by some political big weights - yes i m talking about Nandigram. An open misuse of power in the name of development and even after justified by none other then the chief minister of that state that"they have paid in their own coin".
it all started with SEZ the symbol of development in which poor are forced to leave their land at throw away prices(if any) rendered without any home , any livelihood or any life.but how many of ur really believe that a capitalist and a state government officials will pay poor illiterate farmers due price for their lands or do they even damn ca re what happens to those poor people. and then started a first firm opposition and even if it used some armed resistance i feel its firmly justified . iask u if if someone throws u out of your house in the name of development and u oppose it, is it not justified?? and then mr buddhadeb bhattachrya used his first tool th state police , innocent people killed and told to evacuate. the move was widely condemned and finally the proposal for SEZ was dropped.
but then came the ego of our great bengal leaders , the so called Marxist who actually kill innocent people to help capitalist. (Karl Marx must have committed suicide had he seen such people use his name). it was the question of absolute power of a party ruling for over 30 years . and it was challenged by the common people. so they had a simple solution establishment of fear and terror among people even if it means some death rape burnt houses etc etc..
the plan was so well executed in full totality with CPI-M supporters well armed , from all over the places came and attacked few villages. the army was unstoppable as the police was a mere spectator under orders from his highness the chief minister . the operation was well executed with some brutal murdrers , rapes and all houses burnt and even dead bodies burnt so that no body can establish whether it was the work of Maoists or CPI-M .press was not allowed , Medha Patekar was beaten and anyone or everyone who raised his voice was dealt properly. the situation was so horrific that governor has to speak in press and mockingly he was condemned for that for going beyond his powers. intelligentsia riased their voice but no use. central govt moving on the crutches of CPI-M finally decided to send some CRPF men. but even they were stopped till the operation ws over and area "freed" by "freedom fighters" of CPI-M. even left parties RSP , forward block opposed the govt leave apart NHRC and common people.
but alas in our country things are very easily forgotten. i am upset a bit right now as i am unable to do anything in this situation. but i know with time all of us will forget this. except those whose home are burnt, who lost their livelihood , whose near dear were killed and who were raped . isint India progressing by leaps and bounds.
India developing: an emerging global power or euphoria??
India developing: an emerging global power or euphoria??
It started with India shining program of BJP govt some years back. There were big claims about India’s development by leaps and bounds. But BJP lost and so did Chandra Babu Naidu the man behind making Hyderabad one of the most “progressive” cities of our country. Why?
Soon the picture of India emerging as the next global power is heard everywhere. However I was always apprehensive of this picture. I had an argument with one of my friends from Chaatisgarh who said people from his small city are now rich. I had an argument with one more of my friends who asked me to give my view and prove it.
Finally I saw a wonderful program on BBC world with people debating on this topic. The speakers included Sunil Mittal from Corporate world, Dr Ahullwalia from Executive and Ramchand as the journalist. A good debate indeed, which prompted me to finally write this article.
With the change of our economic system from 1990 we changed the way we live the path and destiny of our country. And the picture has changed a lot now with those “reforms.” Meanwhile I got an opportunity to visit some of the richest places in India as Mumbai, Bangalore as well as a glimpse of poor India. I will not be taking particular topics within this issue such as SEZ, status of women and all though everything what’s happening in our or any other country is due to its economic policies.
India is developing. Any time u open any news channel we are talking about India going to surpass china and USA as the biggest power. Our sensex as reached from 3000 in 1990s to above 20000 now. Corporate world is booming like anything. Indian firms are taking over International companies. The growth of billionaires in India is topmost and our GDP increase is second only to china. Mumbai is soon going to compete with Shanghai. The real estate market is super hot with prices booming everywhere. The standard of living has increased manifold. to own a car and ac now is a necessity not a luxury. The IT and Telecom boom has made India one of the leading players in world trade. Bangalore is the IT capital of the world. More then 1 lakh Indians are going abroad every year to study and work. People are getting more and more pay and perks there is boom and progress everywhere. What more proof do you want yar??
But something is wrong somewhere. No I am not a pessimistic whatever I will say is facts and figures and then an analysis. Just open your eyes little bit and you will find a large group of poor people. We “see” them but never able to “look” at them. Mumbai has Dharavi and Delhi its own slum areas some of the largest in world. Every time I go somewhere there are a large chunk of people with very little clothing and toiling their hearts out. Who are they why are they not at least “ok”. 77% of our population learns below Rs 20 everyday. And government itself puts 45% below poverty level those who can’t earn this much also. Farmers suicide rate has increases 3 times after 1990s. While overall growth rate is 10% , for agriculture its only 2%.we have 40 million population between 15 to 25 years the future of our country . Of this 32 million will never go to any college. U can see poor kids wandering on the streets, railway stations. Who are they what will happen to them will our economic reforms change their fate also???
Lets us see some contrasts in this economic development called globalization. While some of our kids get laptops and still don’t study thousands don’t even see primary schools. While the no of billionaires has increased many times the no of poor has increased many times more.. While Indians are giving outstanding performance in America our own research institutes like DRDO and ISRO are having talent crunch. While SEZ have become the symbol of economic prosperity crores are homeless. Why does between skyscrapers of Mumbai people live in slums worse then a place for animals. Why and is there going to be any change?
Let’s now focus on what is developing India and what is driving us behind. In no way do I favour the economic system adopted by our country after independence. As predicted by Bhagat Singh the fair British were simply replaced by black capitalist. It was doomed to fail and it happened. It happened by 1990s and when we had to mortgage our gold there was no way left but to open our economy for foreign investment and privatization. To cut a long story short we started developing but who all. We have a 20% middle class population which can become a big consumer if developed. Based on this we adopted a path of consumerism and neo capitalism. In 19th century also British used to trade in our country and the picture is going to be same in 21st century though this time there is no need for political takeover as our corrupt government is too happy to deal with them and develop its Swiss accounts. India is a land of big population which provides cheap labour and untapped natural resources. Definitely every capitalist will like to tap these two resources and earn as much profit as possible his prime motive. It’s but natural that he will not be interested in the development of our society. The present economic state of Latin American countries is a clear proof that globalization is not the key to remove poverty and disparity where years of “economic reforms” served only the interests of foreign capitalist and corrupt politicians. Another clear example is Nigeria where a simple peace living population is now on the brink of civil war brought by the discovery of oil. The investment by giant multinational companies filled the swiss accounts of tribal leaders and military generals the common public was deprived of its daily livelihood : fishery and agriculture.
The big no of poor and unorganized labour in a developing country is just his dream come true. And this is the reason why our agriculture is going down and down. Not there are not ways and means to develop it, but a poor agriculture growth means more and more farmers give up agriculture to rush to city. These will keep labour costs low and thus maximum profit for capitalists. One may argue no our growth in IT and Telecom sector is a proof of our wide scale development. But to remind u only 3% of our population is linked with IT. Again it just helps a lower middle class to become upper middle class. Moreover with foreign dependence it may suffer with economic slowdown in US. Hope u remember 1990s when Asian Tiger economies crashed due to American economic slowdown. Other field includes services, construction, consumer goods all proof of the economic development of our 15 % middle class.
But even this middle class is caught in this materialism. In this system there is nothing enough .so keep trying for more and more as consumer goods are essential to maintain some status in this society and in this bargain our rich become super rich. While in every lecture and every program we are shown dreams of becoming rich what has been ignored are some basic fields like health, education and agriculture. Health and education are two fields which will soon be away from the reach of even middle class. With government colleges and hospitals in pathetic condition and private being too costly people will die without treatment. And I have seen it happening. The maid in my house was detected with cancer, and during next leave I came to know she is dead and she could not afford the treatment.
So what why should I be worried. I am getting a good pay and having a cool life. It’s the paradox of our country we only know how to criticize without contributing anything from our side. We will criticize the police for its inaction and corruption but forget that being a part of this system even he has dreams that he should have all consumer goods his child should get best, and thus costly, education. The growing left wing extremism (Naxalism) is another proof of the prevailing dissatisfaction is our masses due to economic disparity. With development of SEZ there will be centralized development leaving large parts untouched and this leads to regional extremism as seen in north east. Even Islamic extremism is mainly due to the dissatisfaction among the Muslims as they feel left behind in development. Corruption, extremism, Naxalism are all symptoms, the root of the disease is our economic system.
So what’s the future of our country- emerging global power? I don’t think so, its an euphoria created to keep the middle class in a spin, in a dream world where they keep thinking of getting rich, earn some money spend it on house, education and health and then die. While Ambanis start competing with Bill Gates, a vast majority will not have the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. And when they see people enjoying their lives around, when they are dying do you think they will keep quiet? The example of Nandigram has proved that government is on the side of capitalists and so there is not going to be any treatment of this disease in near future and it will spread more and more till it becomes incurable. And since we are the part of the system the fire will engulf us also sooner or later.
some proofs;
No Minister came forward to calm the nation when India hit the 94th rank in the Global Hunger Index. That’s out of 118 countries. The daily, DNA, though, did capture the essence of the story with its report: “Ethiopians manage hunger better than us.” For indeed, they do these days. At least by the measure of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index. Ethiopia ranks a notch above us at 93. Draw the baseline anywhere in the 1990s, and you’ll find Ethiopia worked better at reducing hunger than we did. Pakistan ranks ahead of us, too, at 88. China logs in at 47. All our South Asian neighbours do better than us on this index, except Bangladesh. And who knows when it will overtake us? None of the countries boasts an economy growing at 9 per cent a year.
You’d think it was an issue worth some attention. But it was hard to find panels debating this on television. Or any editorials in the newspapers doing the same. No Ministers or top babus soothing the nerves of the hungry. No experts with furrowed brows warning that the trends could continue, even worsen. "
P.Sainath
It started with India shining program of BJP govt some years back. There were big claims about India’s development by leaps and bounds. But BJP lost and so did Chandra Babu Naidu the man behind making Hyderabad one of the most “progressive” cities of our country. Why?
Soon the picture of India emerging as the next global power is heard everywhere. However I was always apprehensive of this picture. I had an argument with one of my friends from Chaatisgarh who said people from his small city are now rich. I had an argument with one more of my friends who asked me to give my view and prove it.
Finally I saw a wonderful program on BBC world with people debating on this topic. The speakers included Sunil Mittal from Corporate world, Dr Ahullwalia from Executive and Ramchand as the journalist. A good debate indeed, which prompted me to finally write this article.
With the change of our economic system from 1990 we changed the way we live the path and destiny of our country. And the picture has changed a lot now with those “reforms.” Meanwhile I got an opportunity to visit some of the richest places in India as Mumbai, Bangalore as well as a glimpse of poor India. I will not be taking particular topics within this issue such as SEZ, status of women and all though everything what’s happening in our or any other country is due to its economic policies.
India is developing. Any time u open any news channel we are talking about India going to surpass china and USA as the biggest power. Our sensex as reached from 3000 in 1990s to above 20000 now. Corporate world is booming like anything. Indian firms are taking over International companies. The growth of billionaires in India is topmost and our GDP increase is second only to china. Mumbai is soon going to compete with Shanghai. The real estate market is super hot with prices booming everywhere. The standard of living has increased manifold. to own a car and ac now is a necessity not a luxury. The IT and Telecom boom has made India one of the leading players in world trade. Bangalore is the IT capital of the world. More then 1 lakh Indians are going abroad every year to study and work. People are getting more and more pay and perks there is boom and progress everywhere. What more proof do you want yar??
But something is wrong somewhere. No I am not a pessimistic whatever I will say is facts and figures and then an analysis. Just open your eyes little bit and you will find a large group of poor people. We “see” them but never able to “look” at them. Mumbai has Dharavi and Delhi its own slum areas some of the largest in world. Every time I go somewhere there are a large chunk of people with very little clothing and toiling their hearts out. Who are they why are they not at least “ok”. 77% of our population learns below Rs 20 everyday. And government itself puts 45% below poverty level those who can’t earn this much also. Farmers suicide rate has increases 3 times after 1990s. While overall growth rate is 10% , for agriculture its only 2%.we have 40 million population between 15 to 25 years the future of our country . Of this 32 million will never go to any college. U can see poor kids wandering on the streets, railway stations. Who are they what will happen to them will our economic reforms change their fate also???
Lets us see some contrasts in this economic development called globalization. While some of our kids get laptops and still don’t study thousands don’t even see primary schools. While the no of billionaires has increased many times the no of poor has increased many times more.. While Indians are giving outstanding performance in America our own research institutes like DRDO and ISRO are having talent crunch. While SEZ have become the symbol of economic prosperity crores are homeless. Why does between skyscrapers of Mumbai people live in slums worse then a place for animals. Why and is there going to be any change?
Let’s now focus on what is developing India and what is driving us behind. In no way do I favour the economic system adopted by our country after independence. As predicted by Bhagat Singh the fair British were simply replaced by black capitalist. It was doomed to fail and it happened. It happened by 1990s and when we had to mortgage our gold there was no way left but to open our economy for foreign investment and privatization. To cut a long story short we started developing but who all. We have a 20% middle class population which can become a big consumer if developed. Based on this we adopted a path of consumerism and neo capitalism. In 19th century also British used to trade in our country and the picture is going to be same in 21st century though this time there is no need for political takeover as our corrupt government is too happy to deal with them and develop its Swiss accounts. India is a land of big population which provides cheap labour and untapped natural resources. Definitely every capitalist will like to tap these two resources and earn as much profit as possible his prime motive. It’s but natural that he will not be interested in the development of our society. The present economic state of Latin American countries is a clear proof that globalization is not the key to remove poverty and disparity where years of “economic reforms” served only the interests of foreign capitalist and corrupt politicians. Another clear example is Nigeria where a simple peace living population is now on the brink of civil war brought by the discovery of oil. The investment by giant multinational companies filled the swiss accounts of tribal leaders and military generals the common public was deprived of its daily livelihood : fishery and agriculture.
The big no of poor and unorganized labour in a developing country is just his dream come true. And this is the reason why our agriculture is going down and down. Not there are not ways and means to develop it, but a poor agriculture growth means more and more farmers give up agriculture to rush to city. These will keep labour costs low and thus maximum profit for capitalists. One may argue no our growth in IT and Telecom sector is a proof of our wide scale development. But to remind u only 3% of our population is linked with IT. Again it just helps a lower middle class to become upper middle class. Moreover with foreign dependence it may suffer with economic slowdown in US. Hope u remember 1990s when Asian Tiger economies crashed due to American economic slowdown. Other field includes services, construction, consumer goods all proof of the economic development of our 15 % middle class.
But even this middle class is caught in this materialism. In this system there is nothing enough .so keep trying for more and more as consumer goods are essential to maintain some status in this society and in this bargain our rich become super rich. While in every lecture and every program we are shown dreams of becoming rich what has been ignored are some basic fields like health, education and agriculture. Health and education are two fields which will soon be away from the reach of even middle class. With government colleges and hospitals in pathetic condition and private being too costly people will die without treatment. And I have seen it happening. The maid in my house was detected with cancer, and during next leave I came to know she is dead and she could not afford the treatment.
So what why should I be worried. I am getting a good pay and having a cool life. It’s the paradox of our country we only know how to criticize without contributing anything from our side. We will criticize the police for its inaction and corruption but forget that being a part of this system even he has dreams that he should have all consumer goods his child should get best, and thus costly, education. The growing left wing extremism (Naxalism) is another proof of the prevailing dissatisfaction is our masses due to economic disparity. With development of SEZ there will be centralized development leaving large parts untouched and this leads to regional extremism as seen in north east. Even Islamic extremism is mainly due to the dissatisfaction among the Muslims as they feel left behind in development. Corruption, extremism, Naxalism are all symptoms, the root of the disease is our economic system.
So what’s the future of our country- emerging global power? I don’t think so, its an euphoria created to keep the middle class in a spin, in a dream world where they keep thinking of getting rich, earn some money spend it on house, education and health and then die. While Ambanis start competing with Bill Gates, a vast majority will not have the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. And when they see people enjoying their lives around, when they are dying do you think they will keep quiet? The example of Nandigram has proved that government is on the side of capitalists and so there is not going to be any treatment of this disease in near future and it will spread more and more till it becomes incurable. And since we are the part of the system the fire will engulf us also sooner or later.
some proofs;
No Minister came forward to calm the nation when India hit the 94th rank in the Global Hunger Index. That’s out of 118 countries. The daily, DNA, though, did capture the essence of the story with its report: “Ethiopians manage hunger better than us.” For indeed, they do these days. At least by the measure of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index. Ethiopia ranks a notch above us at 93. Draw the baseline anywhere in the 1990s, and you’ll find Ethiopia worked better at reducing hunger than we did. Pakistan ranks ahead of us, too, at 88. China logs in at 47. All our South Asian neighbours do better than us on this index, except Bangladesh. And who knows when it will overtake us? None of the countries boasts an economy growing at 9 per cent a year.
You’d think it was an issue worth some attention. But it was hard to find panels debating this on television. Or any editorials in the newspapers doing the same. No Ministers or top babus soothing the nerves of the hungry. No experts with furrowed brows warning that the trends could continue, even worsen. "
P.Sainath
DEMOCRACY
In childhood I learnt the definition of Democracy by Abhraham Lincoln as "of the people, by the people, for the people."And i always felt it as something born for the development of human kind, for the upliftment of humans and as a solution to all our problems. I beleived Democracy as the angel who will take my country away from all evils.
But at this jucture i realize i was completely wrong! Like all the things of my world even this defintion of democracy was nothing but some fancy words to tell people"Dont give up your patience! have Faith , somehting will come someday and we all will be free from all miseries."But now I know that what feeds a hungry is food and not hope and false dreams.
Yesterday we witnessed a mockery of our system in our own Parliament. MPs, our "leaders" flashing notes given to them as bribery to bail out our government.What sort of democracy is this and whose mistake is that? Our country is considered to be the world's largest democracy but our figures in all humanitarian fields are miserable, in some cases even worse then sub Saharan war torned countries. So what about democracy? is there something worng in the system or in the individuals?
Lets look at our defintion again and the hypocricy behind it:
BY THE PEOPLE: Myth : How many among us go and vote to select our government. Dont we all enjoy polling day as a holiday? Then how is our government "by the people"? after all somebody is selecting it , there are elections in which crores are spent.we have heated discussions on Tv channels. Now these channels even pay you for predicting whether government will survive a trust vote or not. WOW! even here we can make money ! what a great nation we have, it gives us chance to make money at every step of our life.But the question is after all our people are electing our "leaders"
But then none ( or very few) among us, the elite educated urban population , go out and vote, and even those who vote , vote for which reasons? when some party tells us it will remove poverty , bring development we all laugh and know they are lying. Then on what issues are they given vote? My cousin brother and my Tauji vote for BJP beacuse they feel atleast it will do something for the 'Hindus". But every time it had come to power it worked for its relative hindus only. the Hidus which are some 85% of our countrys populatiin are still in same miserable state . They don't make any temple (even if they make it will make no differnce to our life). My other Tauji votes for Congress because he is a congressman from his "heart" and an anti jan Sanghi. It makes a liitle difference to him that even Congress follows the same policy as BJP. No wonder none of his kids vote. Now my dad doesnt vote , he say
s all are dogs and all MPs should be killed. what a great solution!
Reality:But the reality is none among us elects the government. Nearly 56 % of our population can sign its name. Out of these some 34% can actually read and understand what they are reading. And this is after 60 years of our Independence. But there is a pupose to keep of our folk illeterate. Because only than political parties can milk the cow of vote bank on issues which are not at all related to the majority of our population. Only than BJP can ask them for their votes to make " their" Ram temple or to protect "their" Ram Setu. Only than COngress can fool them with promises of RS 2 kg a rice and free power , and stabbing their backs with their non liberal policies.Because only then Mayawati can emerge as "Messiah" of Dalits without doing a single action for their upliftment. The only thing she does is to earn crores and keep erecting the statues of Bhimrao Amedkar and herself throughout the UP. I wonder how it helps the Dalits? May be the same way as Ram madir helps all Hindus.This illiteracy helps CPI(M) to project themselves as communists while following a caplitalist agenda.And thus these pseudo communists remain in power for 27 years non stop through false dreams and muscle power.The ignorance of majority is a bliss for our political parties through which they get elected by doing nothing for the people and earning crores in parliament by cross voting .Poverty is the juicer through which they take out the jusice of votes. Just by distributing little money and liquor they can ask for votes.through corporate funding they can advertise as kings.thus the issues of poverty eradication, development and healthcare are replcaed by religion, caste and false dreams.So, is our government really by the people?
Of the people:Myth: Our leaders are people from someone among us. They are worried about us and work for us. Since we have selected them so they will go all out and fullfilling their proomises.
Reality: Most of the members of todays party are selected not based on their merit, knowledge or education but based on their money power and muscle power. Thus we have parliamentarians who have no knowledge about anything about our country. they are slected based upon on their religion, caste and creed. Earlier they used to be supoorted by a criminal now criminals themselves are politicians . the line is very blurred now and in coming times we all know it is going to be worse.
For the people: Myth : This is the most important question in front of us. Why we have all this system today of executive , legislature and judiciary? To continue with legacy of the British system that is, to make our country a ground for exploiters and to control the masses from revolting. to give them false hopes years after years of a new world which never comes. Or it is for the development of our country? A system which ensures a better future full of concrete development. A much better world where everyone gets its due and there is no suffering and no exploitation.where our "leaders" make policies for our upliftment , to fight for our rights and to guide us for a bright future.
Reality: But is there any one working for this purpose. Earlier atleast they used to act as if they work for India. But now they are in open. they openly declare that it is not the responsibilty of the government to spend on Public healthcare, education and general services, though it had enough to serve the rich capitlaists by giving them new waivers, by selling public industries worth crore of rupees at a give away price to industrialists? So whom are they working for? what is the role of government, to forcibly evacuate poor people so that Tata can make Nano for the middle class and earn billions. To lathicharge against the people who want to protect their land from Posco? To act as agents of rich to remove poor from their lands so that rich can make SEZs , a heaven for the elite where there is no place for poor. To carry out economic "reforms" under the instructions of their masters from IMF and World Bank? To carry out Labour "reforms" so that rich are independent to exploit the poor to the core. To sign the "Nuclear deal" when poor are realing under high inflation and escalating costs? To sign the WTO deal to throw our poor farmers at the mercy of MNCs( which we all know dont have any word other then profit in their dictionary)? To make the country from a land of all to an exploitaiton field for few where caplialsits can come use the natural resources and cheap labour and throw them away after achieveing maximum profits. And not only that the state serves to ensure that it is carried out in a peaceful manner. And thus they use their all resources from media, judiciary, police and even army to shut up any voice which protests against any exploitation, any misery and any evil. No wonder criminals of Godhra case roam freely while social workeres like Bianyak Sen remain behnd bars for raising the rights of poor and crticizing the exploitive policies of Governement.
Thus the defintion of " NEW DEMOCRACY" should be " by the rich, of the rich and for the rich".
But then why should we bother? After all the hard work of corporate media should not fail when it tells us to work hard for them and party harder again for them. It tells us beautifully to live life in the present ( or to stop using your logic) and forget about the past and future (and thus all injustice and evil).But when a stone is thrown in calm water ripples will be produced. When injustice is done in a society , reactions are produced. and when a system is based on evil motives, it is bound to be shaken.
What is the solution then? Should we go and join the politics and clean all the muck which is destroying our beautiful system? But sorry i agree fully with Arundhati Roy when she says , " Personally, I don't believe that entering the electoral fray is a path to alternative politics. Not because of that middle class squeamishness- ' politics is dirty' or ' all polticians are corrupt' - but beacause i believe that strategically all battles must be waged from positions of strenghth , not weakness."
why blame only politicians when we all are taught by this system to be selfish to the core? After all it is the survival of the fittest.It is not the fault of the individuals but the hollowness of the system which is destroying our country today. So i welcom you to join me in finding a soltuion which can bring a system which can really be defined as "of the people, by the people, for the people".
But at this jucture i realize i was completely wrong! Like all the things of my world even this defintion of democracy was nothing but some fancy words to tell people"Dont give up your patience! have Faith , somehting will come someday and we all will be free from all miseries."But now I know that what feeds a hungry is food and not hope and false dreams.
Yesterday we witnessed a mockery of our system in our own Parliament. MPs, our "leaders" flashing notes given to them as bribery to bail out our government.What sort of democracy is this and whose mistake is that? Our country is considered to be the world's largest democracy but our figures in all humanitarian fields are miserable, in some cases even worse then sub Saharan war torned countries. So what about democracy? is there something worng in the system or in the individuals?
Lets look at our defintion again and the hypocricy behind it:
BY THE PEOPLE: Myth : How many among us go and vote to select our government. Dont we all enjoy polling day as a holiday? Then how is our government "by the people"? after all somebody is selecting it , there are elections in which crores are spent.we have heated discussions on Tv channels. Now these channels even pay you for predicting whether government will survive a trust vote or not. WOW! even here we can make money ! what a great nation we have, it gives us chance to make money at every step of our life.But the question is after all our people are electing our "leaders"
But then none ( or very few) among us, the elite educated urban population , go out and vote, and even those who vote , vote for which reasons? when some party tells us it will remove poverty , bring development we all laugh and know they are lying. Then on what issues are they given vote? My cousin brother and my Tauji vote for BJP beacuse they feel atleast it will do something for the 'Hindus". But every time it had come to power it worked for its relative hindus only. the Hidus which are some 85% of our countrys populatiin are still in same miserable state . They don't make any temple (even if they make it will make no differnce to our life). My other Tauji votes for Congress because he is a congressman from his "heart" and an anti jan Sanghi. It makes a liitle difference to him that even Congress follows the same policy as BJP. No wonder none of his kids vote. Now my dad doesnt vote , he say
s all are dogs and all MPs should be killed. what a great solution!
Reality:But the reality is none among us elects the government. Nearly 56 % of our population can sign its name. Out of these some 34% can actually read and understand what they are reading. And this is after 60 years of our Independence. But there is a pupose to keep of our folk illeterate. Because only than political parties can milk the cow of vote bank on issues which are not at all related to the majority of our population. Only than BJP can ask them for their votes to make " their" Ram temple or to protect "their" Ram Setu. Only than COngress can fool them with promises of RS 2 kg a rice and free power , and stabbing their backs with their non liberal policies.Because only then Mayawati can emerge as "Messiah" of Dalits without doing a single action for their upliftment. The only thing she does is to earn crores and keep erecting the statues of Bhimrao Amedkar and herself throughout the UP. I wonder how it helps the Dalits? May be the same way as Ram madir helps all Hindus.This illiteracy helps CPI(M) to project themselves as communists while following a caplitalist agenda.And thus these pseudo communists remain in power for 27 years non stop through false dreams and muscle power.The ignorance of majority is a bliss for our political parties through which they get elected by doing nothing for the people and earning crores in parliament by cross voting .Poverty is the juicer through which they take out the jusice of votes. Just by distributing little money and liquor they can ask for votes.through corporate funding they can advertise as kings.thus the issues of poverty eradication, development and healthcare are replcaed by religion, caste and false dreams.So, is our government really by the people?
Of the people:Myth: Our leaders are people from someone among us. They are worried about us and work for us. Since we have selected them so they will go all out and fullfilling their proomises.
Reality: Most of the members of todays party are selected not based on their merit, knowledge or education but based on their money power and muscle power. Thus we have parliamentarians who have no knowledge about anything about our country. they are slected based upon on their religion, caste and creed. Earlier they used to be supoorted by a criminal now criminals themselves are politicians . the line is very blurred now and in coming times we all know it is going to be worse.
For the people: Myth : This is the most important question in front of us. Why we have all this system today of executive , legislature and judiciary? To continue with legacy of the British system that is, to make our country a ground for exploiters and to control the masses from revolting. to give them false hopes years after years of a new world which never comes. Or it is for the development of our country? A system which ensures a better future full of concrete development. A much better world where everyone gets its due and there is no suffering and no exploitation.where our "leaders" make policies for our upliftment , to fight for our rights and to guide us for a bright future.
Reality: But is there any one working for this purpose. Earlier atleast they used to act as if they work for India. But now they are in open. they openly declare that it is not the responsibilty of the government to spend on Public healthcare, education and general services, though it had enough to serve the rich capitlaists by giving them new waivers, by selling public industries worth crore of rupees at a give away price to industrialists? So whom are they working for? what is the role of government, to forcibly evacuate poor people so that Tata can make Nano for the middle class and earn billions. To lathicharge against the people who want to protect their land from Posco? To act as agents of rich to remove poor from their lands so that rich can make SEZs , a heaven for the elite where there is no place for poor. To carry out economic "reforms" under the instructions of their masters from IMF and World Bank? To carry out Labour "reforms" so that rich are independent to exploit the poor to the core. To sign the "Nuclear deal" when poor are realing under high inflation and escalating costs? To sign the WTO deal to throw our poor farmers at the mercy of MNCs( which we all know dont have any word other then profit in their dictionary)? To make the country from a land of all to an exploitaiton field for few where caplialsits can come use the natural resources and cheap labour and throw them away after achieveing maximum profits. And not only that the state serves to ensure that it is carried out in a peaceful manner. And thus they use their all resources from media, judiciary, police and even army to shut up any voice which protests against any exploitation, any misery and any evil. No wonder criminals of Godhra case roam freely while social workeres like Bianyak Sen remain behnd bars for raising the rights of poor and crticizing the exploitive policies of Governement.
Thus the defintion of " NEW DEMOCRACY" should be " by the rich, of the rich and for the rich".
But then why should we bother? After all the hard work of corporate media should not fail when it tells us to work hard for them and party harder again for them. It tells us beautifully to live life in the present ( or to stop using your logic) and forget about the past and future (and thus all injustice and evil).But when a stone is thrown in calm water ripples will be produced. When injustice is done in a society , reactions are produced. and when a system is based on evil motives, it is bound to be shaken.
What is the solution then? Should we go and join the politics and clean all the muck which is destroying our beautiful system? But sorry i agree fully with Arundhati Roy when she says , " Personally, I don't believe that entering the electoral fray is a path to alternative politics. Not because of that middle class squeamishness- ' politics is dirty' or ' all polticians are corrupt' - but beacause i believe that strategically all battles must be waged from positions of strenghth , not weakness."
why blame only politicians when we all are taught by this system to be selfish to the core? After all it is the survival of the fittest.It is not the fault of the individuals but the hollowness of the system which is destroying our country today. So i welcom you to join me in finding a soltuion which can bring a system which can really be defined as "of the people, by the people, for the people".
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