Movie: Black Friday

I watched Black Friday recently. This post is only about story; movie no doublt is excellent, from all angles of movie making. It is based on a novel by the same name, and claims to tell the shocking truth behind the Mumbai bomb blasts. I have changed the sequence of the events, as the movie is based on the flash back mode. The only question remained is that the time line for the movie starts from the Karsevaks breaking the old mosque structure, and not from Babar's controversial destruction of Hindu and other temples. 

(From the movie…)

Volunteers from across the India, called Karsevaks, reached Ayodhya in thousands of numbers despite government's attempts to block their way. They broke the structure of the old mosque with their hands and hammers and constructed a small temple there. Country erupted in flames. There were religious riots, between Hindus and Muslims in many parts of India.

There were two major riots in Mumbai, one in December and other in January. The first one was natural, but the second one seemed to be propelled by politicians, a party to be precise. The casualties were majority amongst the minorities, of course in proportion with their population. But, what was shameful was that the police and the administration helped the majorities. Police were seen even shooting the minorities, who fled the city in large numbers in whatever train they could catch.

After the riots, a powerful group of mafia, and rich people funding them, belonging to the Muslim faith, met in Dubai, and discussed how their religion was "insulted". How it was now very difficult for the Muslims to live in India. They felt the need to "do something", something that can "terrorise" the majority Hindus, in their words, something because of whose terror, whenever a Hindu saw a Muslim, he won't dare to look into his eyes, and will wet his pants. Tiger proposed that Mumbai being the financial capital of India, would be targeted, and a serial blast across the prime locations will tell the whole world that the Muslims have taken revenge against the atrocities they suffered in the riots. Barriers of the Islamic flag, in the richness of Dubai, sealed the fate of India, and agreed to support and fund.

Tiger Memon was the individual with a large following in the city, plus he had the support of Dawood Ibrahim. His office was burnt in the last riots, and he wanted revenge. He formed his team. They brought in suppliers of RDX (called black soap, or kala sabun) and AK-56s to India by bribing custom officials and police. Selected persons were sent to Pakistan, where they received training under the personnel of Pakistani Army. They were brain washed by numerous stories of how Hindus raped their wives and daughters. The team waited to take their revenge, to teach lessons to the Hindus. They returned back, and according to the plans of Tiger Memon, they planted RDX across prime locations including Air India building, BSE stock exchange building, inside a bus, near a petrol pump and Dadar railway station. The bombs blasted at timed intervals. More than 300 innocent Indians were killed, and thousands injured.

The team went underground. Tiger Memon and his entire family had already shifted to Dubai a day before the proposed blasts. Mumbai police started enquiry under experienced and honest personnel. Police was ruthless; they got the suspects behind the bars, and in series of arrests got hold of some of the team members. They got their mouth opened. One after the other, police made headway, as their accumulated information about the blasts increased. The team members ran from Delhi to Jaipur to some towns in UP, to Kolkata and so on. But in the end, they were tracked and caught. Human rights activists protested, and the police's reply was: "What about the human rights of the 300 people who are dead in the blasts?" Most of the team members got caught. Tiger Memon remained out of sight. Several years after the blasts, court announced verdicts to the convicts.

The message from the movie: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind: Mahatma Gandhi"

Why I like Narendra Modi

Whatever be the respective ideologies, I like the men who are men: those who stand by whatever they believe in and take on the whole world if needed. My earliest memory of Narendra Modi is in a discussion hosted on a television channel. Mr. Modi was then the BJP spokesperson, I guess. There was a Congress leader besides him and the host was throwing questions at them, more often they passed comments on each other's party. What I liked about Mr. Modi was his clear, precise, direct, and disciplined use of words. And above all: his honest belief in whatever he said. It was around 10 years back, and much water has flown in Narmada since then. Modi got more than his share for whatever happened in Gujarat. But he never bent; never released is vent on other leaders, or never complained in frustration. You need real guts to be a Narendra Modi!

Mr. Modi spoke at the recently concluded HT Leadership Summit. In his speech, he declared: "I am obsessed with my state's welfare. And then, they did the question and answer session on him. Here are the left over:

Do you fear your past? Do you regret the riots?

The truth will finally dawn on the people. Its the people who will decide my fate and I am answerable to none but them.

On the fate of Muslims under your regime, what percentage of people backs you?

See for yourself: When the Narmada waters reached Sabarmati, the whole city benefited. But you ask what percentage got the benefit. You see a division. You have to change your mindset.

Whether Hindutva would take a back seat to development this poll season?

Gandhiji's Ram Rajya and issues like Hindutva are also relevant.

Define Ram Rajya.

Ram Rajya to me is nothing but the concept of a welfare state.

Why did you take five days to compliment Irfan Pathan on his performance in the T20 final?

I wanted the people to debate why no one had bothered to reward the policemen who gave up their lives thwarting Pakistan-backed terrorists in Ayodhya.

Reference 

Silence of the lambs

We Indians have learnt to forget real miseries in our lives but are over reactive on hypothetical issues. Remember some of the recent controversies. Be it the debate over existence of Rama, debate over 123 nuclear deal, rocketing share market, or some older issues like Adavani's remarks over Jinnah, Shankaracharya's prosecution, etc, all are the controversies made out from trivial issues; mundane issues blown out of proportion. While the real issues are hardly discussed; e.g. farmer suicides, rapes in Delhi, mob justice, corruption in judiciary, perils of political alliances and misuse of governors by centre. In fact, there are some journo who have made a brand of themselves by highlighting such issues which are left in the dark by the mainline media; but they are few. The lures of coming back in the main stream are strong; justifications of being politically correct are many.

Everyone loves conspiracies. So came the scoops and "caught on camera" scandals. Each TV news channel was put on the field with hidden cameras and team of sacrifices; casting couch was the buzz word then. We laughed at Shakti Kapoor's perversions; some felt sorry for him, some enjoyed. Everyone was happy, the viewers, the journo, the TV anchors, the editors; except the humans inside the celebrities. We also witnessed the (self proclaimed) breaking news oftener than ever! Even the terrorists became media savvy and started bringing themselves to news studios to surrender, with clean suits and just-made beards.

Also came the highly self-celebrated attempt of media to show off themselves as saviour of civil rights. Everything was fine, but one incident shook my faith. Somewhere in Punjab, women activists were carrying out protests. The police came to disperse them. And police are generally male, we all know. Four policemen reached out to two girls and in the name of escorting them out, one policeman inserted his hand inside the shirt of one of the girl. The two girls cried and wept. Now, the TOI cameraman snapped a great picture; the next day paper came out with the picture and a great story. The irony; the picture clearly showed the faces of the two horrified girls, but the turban-sporting policeman's face was hidden. TOI followed up the case for some days, and informed that a case has been registered against the molesting policemen. And then, everything became normal. The paper had hotter issues to discuss. I kept waiting for a follow-up, but the day never came. Every time I remember that incident, and I feel the same anger and hatred equally at the corrupt police and the corrupt media men.

Our media keeps discovering that Indians adore celebrities. See the manner in which Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's visit to India, or the marriage of Abhishek and Aishwarya was covered by the media. It also brings some glamour back to the media men; they get to discuss Angelina's T-shirts and AB's sideburns.

Now we are witnessing a new trend: media won't cover unattractive news, no matter how grave are the consequences. And government makes sure that it makes its wrong doings unattractive enough; let the conspirators starve… The term "murder of democracy" has lost its charm a long ago. When governors act as puppets and everything starts being dictated by "the" family, no one raises a brow. Our media hardly debated, forget protesting, the way Goa state government was thrown out. Many issues are branded humdrums and reduced to three liners on the 28th page.

But one clan seem to enjoy it all: the advocates and the judiciary. Public hate politicians like plague, and the administrative machinery have long ago lost trust. Therefore, all eyes look up to the judiciary  only hope of justice! And they seem to enjoy the limelight. I hope you read about the manner in which the Mid Day journo was punished. And the way SC still doesn't agree to bring in checks and balances within the judiciary. An overall fallout, finally.

Another trend: virtual world is becoming a reality. There is a completely new world out there. They challenge the unchallenged. They are over reactive on the issues which deserve the treatment. They prosecute the culpable everyday, in their writings. They debate, argue, throw out, tell stories, sing, groan, console, boost, or spread the word. They are "Citizen Journalists". And hence I say:

Silence of the lambs is challenged

on the

blogosphere.

What to preserve

To preserve or not to preserve: that is the question in Mumbai?

Of late there is a large hue and cry in the media, mainly among a section of elite journo, to protest the redevelopment of Crawford Market in Mumbai. The sprawling building of the market got its name from the then Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, Arthur Crawford, and was built in the 1860s. It is said that the markets were the best designed in Asia at that time. It is situated very near to CST, and is counted among the famous heritage structures in the area. The market may be the best architectural design of the gone time, but the fact that it is still operating on a currently inefficient layout, and is located on prime land, makes it a target of the redevelopment wave. Today, authorities want to redevelop the land, and build multi storey market complexes in its place, with a FSI (Floor Space Index) of 4.0. Conservation activists demand no one to touch the buildings, as long as they begin to resemble ruined Coliseum, I guess.

The initial decision to redevelop the building was rather controversial. It allowed the redeveloper to demolish existing structures measuring around 17,000 sq m out of the 22,471 sq m market and with the new FSI of 4, the new area available would be around 65,000 sq m. [ExpressIndia] But one Shailesh Gandhi investigated and did some estimation after obtaining information through RTI. He concludes that the proposed redevelopment would mean that the tenants and developers would make Rs 770 Crores and public losses from this project is around Rs 500 Crore.[Case] That is because of the unfair or lacklustre bids selection process.

According to the new proposal under consideration, only three colourful fountains will go. Quoting the Express India:

But as part of the proposed re-development, the fountains, which are not part of the main heritage wings, will have to go along with some other small articles of heritage value like the cast iron pillars and gas lamps.

The conservation activists are not allowing even to touch the buildings. So the question arises: Should we Indians of 21st century remain prisoners of the fancy of the British, and preserve their hobbies and crafts at the cost of our interests and convenience? And for how long?

I believe the markets should be redeveloped even at the cost of the present building. Because:

The markets and buildings don't affect the daily life of the people of Mumbai.

The markets are not related to any sentimental, religious, or social aspects of the junta, this sole fact should guide what to conserve and what not to.

There may be greater malaise behind the demand to conserve the markets. May be there are vested interests for some builders, or competition among them.

Redevelopment, with a high FSI of 4 will accommodate a lot more traders, and the vertical development will help remove the congestion from the area. Imagine, the new space available would be 65,000 sq m, while the existing one is around 22,500 sq m only!

The three fountains and some other articles can't be of enough historical value, to justify cancelling the project.

What concerns me is that the controversies regarding the integrity of the plan, and the fair process in selecting the right developer. There is a need to ensure that the redevelopment is done properly, with an eye of the public interest. And BMC has the resources to ensure that.

Ref: A walk through the old Crawford market, Abha Narain Lambah (Conservation Architect), HT, 24 Sep 07, Heritage committee defers decision on Crawford Market , Crawford market makeover still on , Crawford Market – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , Heritage lovers frown at Crawford Market redevelopment plan

Celebrations?

A small news item in size, but big one in content:

The UP government on Sunday said it would not allow the group of Britons who plan to celebrate their forefathers' victory in the 1857 Sepoy Munity to hold any function. The BJP and Muslim organisations demanded an immediate ban on the entry of the group in Lucknow. PTI

The question is, what did those Britons think of the Indians before they flew down to India?

Ref: HT, 24 Sep 07, P8

Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad: Conventional methods of Charity: helping or harming vanvasis?

The volunteers of late Shri J.P. Narayan's Sarvoday movement used to regularly clean a particular slum area. One day when due to some unavoidable circumstances they were not able to do so, the slum dwellers were angry with them and started blaming them.

This is what happens with the conventional methods of charity like distributing food, clothes, blankets. We make the person in need permanently dependent on us for his basic needs. He does not try to work hard and be independent. Instead he expects us to provide him his basic needs. We always remain in the position of daata or giver and he remains in the position of the paata or receiver. Being the givers we always get the upper hand and the relationship of bhrata or brotherhood where both the parties are equal never develops. Though we get tremendous satisfaction that we helped an unprivileged, the fact is that we have harmed him.

We at Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad do not believe in the conventional methods of charity which make the vanvasis dependant on others for their basic needs. We believe that development comes with self-reliance. We ensure that the measures we take for the vanvasi help him become self-reliant and do not hurt his self-respect. We ensure that our measures have the desired effect of development and are not restricted to selfish motive of self-satisfaction. We strive for a brotherly relation with the vanvasis where both the sides are at par.

Thought provoking article on the ‘Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad’ website

http://vanvasikalyanparishad.org/q3.htm

Tamil Nadu: Karunanidhi's Anti-Hindu Rant

In our childhood, I got curious when I first learned the Hindi phrase, "Chand ke upar thookna". What is the meaning of that? The teacher said, "If you spit at the moon, looking above, the spit will fall onto you only". Yeah, I understood. But how come the Chief Minister of TN doesn't understand that? Which school has he attended?

Once in the classroom, teacher was talking about the false confidence level of different people. I said what about politicians? She brushed it off, and said she won't talk about the politicians; they are hardly humans. Her face expressed all.

What Karunanidhi said (quoting):

“Ram is as big a lie as the Himalayas and the Ganga are true.”

"Valmiki has called Rama a drunkard, who regularly used to drink intoxicants”

“Let Advani read Valmiki and come. I am prepared for a debate with him on this"

“Ramayana is just a fictitious story like the many I myself have written and Ram is purely a fictional character.”

After all my learning, of phrases in the school and faces in the college, if I take the trouble of writing about this, I would be naive. But one thing: those who feared that the changing demography and rampant religious conversions will corrupt India one day, are having the last laugh. And those who know the internal politics of TN, who understood the real intentions why Shankaracharya was tortured in the state on murder charges, who know the politics of reservations in the state from before the independence days, who know about the caste based riots that happened in the state, will not comment either. After all, they had warned us a long time before. Wait a minute, that Dilip Kumar also warned us once, "Ram Chandra kah gaye Siya se, aisa Kaliyug aayega".

News reference: War of words between Karunanidhi and BJP , Congress, BJP take on Karunanidhi over Ram row , It’s a “civil war” over Ram in UPA , BJP threatens legal action over Ram Setu affidavit

Divine Interventions

That day, I came to a conclusion: men look ugly when they cry. This has got nothing to do with male chauvinism. I was watching TV, a news channel to be precise. A man was shown weeping. He was claiming injustice, in between, when he was not weeping. But his expectation for justice was strange: "Give me one opportunity to talk to Sonia Ji, I know I will get justice". Under such circumstances, if I noticed just his weeping and came to that humble conclusion, then I would really be naive. There was much in between the lines… Who is the centre of ultimate power in India? Where do all bucks stop? Which is the embodiment of final verdict? Supreme Court? Parliament? Prime Minister? I won't say President. Any answers? I think you guessed it right; and another conclusion: Even crying men have stuff in their head.

I have read Godfather and also watched its bollywood version Sarkar. In the perfect mafia state, nothing is as it looks on the surface. Government runs, parliament debates and makes laws, courts give verdict, but the one who "takes decisions" is the Godfather! Are not we close to this situation?

Remember who one fine morning decided to reduce the petrol prices by 2 rupees last year? That is a very small example. Today, from the making travel plans of PM, to evaluating CMs, everything is decided by one person. What ever the decision the Governors take in their respective states are guided by one person. Examples: governments formation/debacles in Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. Now, no one wonders when that Quattrochi moves out free and CBI can't find proof against the likes of Sibu Soren and Lalu Yadav. It is more than visible that the power centre doesn't lie either in the Prime Minister's house, or around the Rastrapati Bhawan. It lies at the whims and fancy of only one person and the point is: that person was never authorized to take decisions by the citizens of India!

Within the party, those who have her blessings, will continue to ruin the nation by sleeping on their ministerial seats till they get a nature's call (heaven's call.. oops, it should be hell's call to be honest). The loyal guards of the family may do a thousand mistakes, but will continue to call the shots. And those who don't obey will go into oblivion.

Within the nation, whatever happens is with permission of one person. And you can bend a mountain but can't make that one person agree. People blame a week opposition for the present state of affairs; but as a matter of fact, the power centre is so meanly hard-headed that it is nearly impossible to get your point across. At the beginning of UPA's term, the NDA was, most of the time, boycotting the parliament sessions. There was hardly any other way! They won't listen! You keep shouting for hours, and the ministers will wake up at the end of the session and say "thank you" and go away! It has never been an equal game for ruling party and the opposition in India. This may not be dictatorship; this may not be mafia raaz, but I am sure about one thing: this is not the Indian democracy.

When those representing government made a mistake of blaspheming, everyone looked at one person. Tomorrow, if PM is to announce a relief package, the media persons will flock around her house, to confirm the figures. The day after, if there will be any matter of national importance, "she" will be the decision maker. She is the ultimate power: the divine intervener. Even the TIME magazine knows this, which is why they put her among world's most powerful women. How long will we take to realise this? But one thing, if we realise our true and unfortunate condition, men, please don't cry

India – Ram Bharose?

Nervous Govt now chants ‘Ram naam’ [Link]

A deeply embarrassed government has decided to withdraw from its affidavit in the Ram Setu case the portion which said there is no historical and scientific evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or other characters of the Ramayana. The government will file a supplementary affidavit in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The top Congress leadership has also sought details on the movement of the file. It ostensibly emanated from the ASI and traveled via the ministry of culture, where it should have been studied by minister Ambika Soni (currently in Japan). Then it went to the law ministry headed by HR Bhardwaj. “Somebody has played mischief or has been grossly derelict,” said a source.

On Thursday, Bhardwaj told reporters, “Ram is an integral part of our history and culture. Ram ki vajah se saari duniya exist karti hai. It is an article of faith and cannot be made a matter of litigation.”

Bhardwaj quoted liberally from scriptures to negate the impression that his party is anti-Hindu as its adversaries would make it out to be.

But the minister sidestepped the twin questions of fixing responsibility for the mishap and whether Ram Setu was or wasn’t, as claimed by the original affidavit-a man-made structure. “I am not authorised to take action,” he said to the first query. As for the second, he said that it was for the Court to go into the merits of the case.

This is not the first time that the government has messed up things. It did so when it did not advise Sonia Gandhi on the office of profit issue when she became the National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson.

It happened again when George Fernandes was given a clean chit on the defence deals scam. At that time, the Law Ministry claimed that it was not consulted when, sources said, it had in fact been consulted on the matter. An angry Pranab Mukherjee, then defence minister, reportedly even threatened to quit at the time.

Congress Govt's Blasphemy related to Sethusamudram project

The controversy:

Quoting TOI: "In the midst of a political controversy over the Sethusamudram project, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana."

Opposition BJP blasted the Congress-led UPA government, accusing it of “blasphemy”. They mentioned that even Constitution of India contained images of Rama, Sita and Hanuman.

What is Blasphemy?

Blasphemy is the defamation of the name of one or more Gods. In a broader sense, blasphemy is irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable.

Many cultures disapprove of speech or writing which defames the deity or deities of their established religions and these restrictions have the force of law in some countries.

Blasphemy laws – nowadays often altered to include blasphemy regardless of religion – exist in several countries, such as in:

�        Austria (Articles 188, 189 of the penal code)

�        Denmark (Paragraph 140 of the penal code).

�        Finland (Section 10 of chapter 17 of the penal code)

�        Germany (Article 166 of the penal code, see also the Manfred van H. case)

�        Greece

�        Islamic Republic of Iran

�        Ireland

�        Iceland

�        Italy

�        The Netherlands (Article 147 of the penal code)

�        New Zealand (Section 123 of the Crimes Act 1961)

�        Norway (section 142 of the Norwegian Penal Code never applied).

�        Spain (Article 525 of the penal code)

�        Switzerland (Article 261 of the penal code)

�        The United Kingdom

In the third book of the Old Testament, Leviticus 24:16 states that those who speak blasphemy “shall surely be put to death”. Blasphemy in Islam constitutes speaking ill of any other prophet mentioned in the Quran. The Quran also states that it is blasphemy to claim that there is more than one God or that Jesus Christ (the son of Mary) is the son of God (5.017). Speaking ill of God is also blasphemy. In Islam, blasphemy is considered a sin.

What to infer from this case?

The point is, in order to prove that the Rama Setu had nothing to do with Rama, why did the government comment on Rama Himself? As a matter of fact, this government affidavit actually declares that:

- Sacred Hindu books like Ramayana have nothing in real, Hindu Gods are not real, and Hinduism is based on false stories. 

- All religions being practiced in India should request GOI and ASI to Certify themselves, whether they are based on historical proofs or not.

Why couldn't the government say, for example, "ASI is not able to find any proof", that the Rama Setu or Adam's Bridge "is connected to" Rama? Government it seems has not chosen the right words to say (or it has!).

The believers will say that the fact that ASI or any other organization has not been able to find a scientific proof behind something, doesn't make it "false". Plus, any government in a democratic country should respect the matters of faith.

Three Legislators and a System

The beauty of our Indian democratic system is: the moment you feel proud of it, you will see a thousand reasons to be ashamed of. And if you are ever ashamed of it, you will have another ten thousand reasons to be proud of the system! Today, when I went through the 18 pages of HT, I got three interesting news to prove this:

Incident 1:

In Yavatmal, Maharastra, the district police has been allegedly harassing a taxi driver and had filed a few false cases against him. The taxi driver was in a helpless situation. He came to know that a state minister, who hailed from his district, was coming to hoist the national flag on 15th of August at Yavatmal. The taxi driver reached the venue. This was full and final attempt from his part. He was so serious about his plans and future, that he took a bottle of poison with him. But the police prevented him from meeting the minister. Seeing his efforts to meet the minister turning futile, he consumed poison in front of the minister. He was rushed to the district hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Incident 2:

A state minister's car ran over a 60 years old lady who was crossing the road. She died on the spot. After the accident, the minister left the accident site on another car! Later, villagers blocked the traffic on Nagpur - Umrer road. The police arrested the minister's driver.

Incident 3:

At a legislator's residence, his supporters were bursting crackers on the eve of his birthday. It was already midnight. A police patrol party arrived and asked the legislator and his supporters not to burst crackers at this time of night. The supporters misbehaved with the police party. Then the police commissioner arrived, and arrested the legislator. The MLA tried to resist his arrest violently. Then, the commissioner allegedly shoved a revolver in the legislator's mouth and beat him up before arresting him. The legislator spent his night in the intensive care unit of a hospital! Next morning, he was produced before a court, and was released on bail.

The third incident makes things even for an optimist, and proves the assertions at the beginning of this article. Here are some conclusions:

Many a time, even life saving drugs are sold fake in India, but the poisons are always genuine!

It is easiest for the aam-aadami to protest violently on the roads, and vandalize public property, because they are rarely honoured and graced with the opportunity to see and talk to their own representatives.

There is still some amount of Bollywood remaining inside the Police Inspectors.

If you thought such incidents happened in Bihar and UP alone, get your facts right. All these three incidents have happened in Maharastra.

To: *@hindustantimes.com, *@hindustantimes.com

CC: *@hindustantimes.com

Sub: Letter to Editor

Dear Sir,

This is with reference to the report in HT (Cabbie kills self in front of minister, by Pradip Maitra, Page 7, 17 Aug, 2007). It was so sad that the cabbie had to resort to such extreme step in frustration of not being able to meet the minister. Indian democracy is so screwed up that the aam aadami has to resort to threats and vandalism just in order to see his representatives! Or should I say mai-baap?

Yours truly,

Happy Independence Day – 15th of August

My message for Independence Day, 2007: 

Integration: Let us see each other as fellow Indians and not through the glasses of religion, caste, or region hood. Government's attempts of integration have failed; only citizens can make it a success.

Responsibility of media: Soon after judgments in Bombay Blasts cases are finished, media has started demanding implementation of Srikrishna commission report. And very insensitively they are publishing pictures of riots, charred bodies, and burning houses on the front pages. Demanding justice is fair, but to make people recall all the pains and trauma from the forgotten past is insensitive; inflammable if I inflate. The tendency to use some newsmakers, like Budhia form Orissa has done more harm than benefits.

Equality: Any attempt to force caste or religion based reservations in private sector is condemnable. This is classic example of "divide and rule" policy.

Integrity: It pains me that our political system doesn't protect the few men with integrity. We lost APJ Abdul Kalam as our next president and got some well-groomed, perfect-fits, gentlemen on the top posts. 

Bottom line: Let us remember our golden past and work responsibly in the present to create a safe, secure and prosperous future.

Power Struck in Goa

What do you think about the recent happenings in Goa assembly? Saying that "all parties are same" or "everyone does that", can't be an excuse. I congratulate the Hindustan Times for writing such a brilliant piece. Please go through this.

Hindustan Times

July 31, 2007

First Published: 23:25 IST(31/7/2007)

Last Updated: 23:26 IST(31/7/2007)

Going through [Link]

One would have thought that in a 40-seat assembly like Goa's, the temptation and the opportunities  to conduct democratic hanky-panky would be limited. After Monday's action in Panaji, one has to perish that thought. Goa Speaker Pratapsinh Rane's decision to disallow three MLAs from participating in the confidence vote was far too obviously a move to ensure that the incumbent Congress-led government survived. After the withdrawal of support for the Digambar Kamat government by the two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) legislators, Sudhin and Pandurang Dhavlikar, and the subsequent resignation of Congress MLA Victoria Fernandes over internal matters, Governor S.C. Jamir had directed the government to undertake a confidence motion.

Coming as the trust vote did 52 days after the last assembly elections, it seemed that Goa was on the brink of coming up with its 14th Chief Minister since 1990. But the tottering government was propped up by a six-time Congress Chief Minister of Goa and current Speaker. Without blinking an eyelid, Mr Rane put his party credentials out in the open and his job as an objective referee inside a closet by casting his, by-now crucial, vote in favour of the government. Mr Kamat could not have found a better saviour.

The truth is that there is no provision in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with anti-defection, that applies to restraining legislators from voting before ordering their disqualification according to the due legal process. And that due legal process had not been carried out on Monday. It was the two MGP and single Congress legislators shifting their loyalties to the Opposition that made Mr Kamat leave nothing to chance and democracy and made him carry out a travesty. To stay in power is an integral part of the political game. But to stay in power by throwing the rulebook into the Arabian Sea is something that will not reflect well on the Goa Congress. We have witnessed something disquieting in the state of Goa. It is up to Governor Jamir to contain the damage.

[Link]

Goa Crisis - Timeline

Goa crisis: GDA to file petition in SC

August 1, 2007

Goa CM wins floor test; Oppn cries foul

July 30, 2007

GDA to challenge vote of confidence in Supreme Court

July 30, 2007

BJP accuses PM, Sonia behind failed floor test

July 30, 2007

Goa CM Kamat remains confident in House

30 Jul 2007

BJP-led GDA leaders meet Goa Governor

30 Jul 2007

Goa crisis reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan

28 Jul 2007

Goa crisis: Rajnath to parade MLAs before Prez

July 28

Kamat asked to prove majority in Goa Assembly

28 Jul 2007

BJP-led alliance stakes claim to form govt in Goa

27 Jul 2007

Manohar Parrikar likely to be next Goa CM

26 Jul 2007

BJP to stake claim for govt in Goa

26 Jul 2007

Cong-led Goa govt reduces to minority

26 Jul 2007

Amarnath Yatra: A Holy Journey marred with Terror

Amarnath Yatra is one of the most sacred pilgrimages among Hindus. This year also, the Yatra has started. And so have started the attacks on the devotees. I am not sure, when we mention Amarnath, what comes to our minds first: Lord Shiva or the terror attacks?

Amarnath Yatra 2007: Attacks update:

Yatra Begins:           July 1, 2007.                                      [Link]

Attack # 1:                17 July, 2007. I dead, 19 injured     [Link1] [Link2]

Attach # 2:                21 July, 2007. 10 injured                 [Link1] [Link2]

Government Protects

The Amarnath Yatra has been a constant target for Pakistan sponsored militants. Every year, devotees wait for the Yatra to begin so that they could see the living God Amarnath. And every year, the trained militants wait, so that they could strike and kill the maximum possible. The areas which the Yatra touches are in control of the Indian Army; even then the strikes happen.

I won't compare the Amarnath Yatra with the Haj Pilgrimage, where our secular government subsidizes the travel and facilitates the journey, even to the extent of arranging special flights. On the other hand, the fate of Amarnath pilgrims seems to be in the hands of terrorists. In the year 2000, 30 devotees were brutally killed and many others injured. It seems the devotees to the Amarnath Yatra must pass the test of remaining devoted throughout the attacks and obstacles, and then only they will be blessed!

Enigma

Every year, around 4 lakh devotees reach the Amarnath temple which is reported to be 5000 years old. This is held during 45 day season around the festival of Shravani Mela in July-August, coinciding with the Hindu holy month of Shravan.

The mythology is that this is the cave where Lord Shiva told about the secret of life and eternity to His divine consort Parvati. This place holds a very important value to Hindus.

The cave is situated at a height of 4175 m, about 141 km from Srinagar. Devotees generally take the 45 km pilgrimage on foot from town of Pahalgam onwards and cover the journey in 4 to 5 days. Devotees worship the naturally formed (ice) Shiva lingam. They also get to worship the naturally formed representations of Ganesha and Parvati. The Amarnath cave is high and shallow, and extended up to 40 m.

Putting a Full Stop

A poet named Nikhil Parekh has written "Love versus Terrorism", a collection of anti terror poems. [Link]. Anti terrorism books are also finding good market [Link].  

I haven't heard of any book in our religion, dealing in anti-terrorism. Have you? It proves that terrorism needs to be tackled in any other way than writing about it. Therefore, I stop.

PS: Let us hope and pray that remaining Amarnath Yatra concludes without any trouble.

My views on Presidential Elections – 2007

In a nutshell, my views on presidential elections 2007 are like this:

Ms. Pratibha Patil may be an intellectual and a very mature lady, or may be Shree Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have more experience of handling high and delicate posts. But the first thing that strikes me when I think of these presidential elections is Why election? Why are the elections being held?

In present state of affairs, the public, specially the younger generation is getting disillusioned from the politics and the politicians. Politics has really become a dirty word. The need of the hour is to keep politics and politicians as distant and separate as possible from the day to day life of Indians. Because of this reason, I think that even the posts like BCCI chief should be occupied by non-political people. The post of President of India has long been occupied by aging politicians, and the present generation thinks that this post should not be for rewards, as the ruling UPA (read Congress) is going about it. Keeping non-political persons on this post will pacify the rage that is running in the countrymen against the lot of the politicians.

Also, there is a bigger evil the tendency of the UPA government of not accepting anything that the previous government did. This happened with Dr. Venugopal of AIIMS earlier and this is happening with APJ Abdul Kalam this time. This tendency is not healthy for our democracy.

In my opinion, present President APJ Abdul Kalam has brought dignity to the post of the president. He has lived his vision, inspired millions of students and made us believe that an honest person can reach the highest post in our country without any unethical means.

I still think that APJ Abdul Kalam is the best candidate for the President of India.

Popular Decision may not be the Right one

One of my friends sent this case to me: 

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other abandoned. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

One train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course towards the abandoned track and save most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let’s take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make…………….

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? However, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how far-sighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, without any concern who was right and who was wrong.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train. We should not sacrifice right at the luring of a popular decision. “What’s right isn’t always popular; and what’s popular isn’t always right.”

After reading this piece about making bold right decisions, I thought about another two real life cases: Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi and Rajiv Goswami killed himself (although he was saved, he died afterwards because of the injuries).

One important question that comes to me is; who should have died, if it was necessary for one of them to die, in order to solve a problem. Nathuram Godse killed Gandhiji, because he thought him responsible for the massacres of Indians during partition riots. If Gandhiji didn't give his consent for partition of India, there won't be any partition on religious lines, and so no communal riots and no molestations of women. But here again we miss to reach the basic question: who was the creator of this partition? Was it Mahatma Gandhi or was it Muhammad Ali Jinnah? For how many years, either within or out of the Indian National Congress, did Jinnah demand the formation of a separate Muslim state [Link1][Link2]? Was not Jinnah fundamentally responsible for the partition? Any attempt by Gandhiji to stop that communal partition would have resulted in communal riots any way, in order to support their demands of a separate state. Therefore, if Nathuram was real patriot, why didn't he kill that root cause in 1946 instead of sacrificing that Mahatma in 1948?

Similarly, there was a single person vastly responsible for implementing the caste based reservation system in the name of Mandal commission report VP Singh. But the over enthusiastic young man, Rajeev Goswami, took the extreme step and burnt himself. He was not a single case, as in the anti-reservation protests, several other young students all over India attempted this extreme step of suicides in order to force the government to stop implementing Mandal commission's caste based reservations. But why did Rajeev sacrifice himself? It goes without saying that a right sacrifice in this condition should have been the person fundamentally responsible for the condition. After all:

“What’s right isn’t always popular; and what’s popular isn’t always right.”

There is another decision which stands apart: the decision by LTTE to kill India‘s former PM Rajiv Gandhi. It is important to note that the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which introduced Indian peacekeeping force in the north Sri Lanka and devastated the LTTE, was signed by Rajiv Gandhi along with Sri Lankan President JR Jayawardene. LTTE incurred huge losses. Whom to blame for this loss? Think from the mind of a terrorist. If they had to kill at least one, whom they would choose to kill? A Sri Lankan President or an Indian former PM? Sri Lankan Presidents may come and go; they will continue fighting the LTTE. But Rajiv Gandhi was more responsible, and killing him would have sent a message to the nearest neighbor India for generations to come. Therefore, while Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, JR Jayawardene died a natural death at the age of 90 [Link]. This decision of the LTTE has gone down well. No subsequent Indian government has been dare-devil enough to get its hands into the Sri Lankan affairs.

Could we think of any more such right decisions? Of course there are many.

Please note that the interpretation of these cases and the manner of comparison with the case of children playing on the track is my personal opinion. There has been no attempt to glorify the act of killings or suicides which are extreme steps and should be avoided at any cost.

Open letter to MF Hussain

You must be feeling bad because you are out of India for a long time. India is as much your motherland as much she is mine. Therefore, you have equal right to represent it, talk and write about it, paint about it, and respect it.

But to be honest, I am not happy with the way you have painted some of your paintings. Please understand that I am not attempting to dictate you what to paint and what not to, I am just telling you how I feel when you paint about a particular set the Hindu Gods. For example, your paintings include these:

Goddess Durga in sexual union with Tiger

Goddess Lakshmi naked on Shree Ganesh’s head

Naked Saraswati

Naked Shri Parvati

Naked Draupadi.

Naked Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita sitting on thigh of Ravana

Full Clad Muslim King and naked Hindu Brahmin.

These pictures are available at this website: [Link]. They have got these pictures from a book by Daniel Alan Herwitz and published by California State University. Now this is bad; this was between you Vs Hindus and you involved those Americans also? I have noted that on many of your nude pictures of Hindu Goddesses, you have written 'Durga', 'Saraswati', i.e. the names of the respective Gods. I wonder, have you done this keeping in mind the real purchasers of these paintings? An English diplomat who will purchase your painting and pay in Euros, will definitely like the name of the Goddess there on the painting, so that he can target collecting the whole set of Hindu Goddesses in his drawing room! Do you feel happy about it?

You have recently been selected for Raja Ravi Varma Award by the Kerala government [Link]. There is a protest letter on this website also, which the public can send to CM, and Cultural Minister, Kerala, with CC to Prime Minister of India and the President of India. [Link]. I have sent a protest letter through this website. But a one-to-one letter is always better. Therefore, I am writing to you here.

Shashi Tharoor has called you the Picasso of India [Link]. I am happy that the artists in India are getting their due respect. But why are you outside India? Shashi Tharoor has also lived outside India for a long time. That helps, in losing our roots and thinking ourselves as intellectuals. And why should an intellectual like Mr. Tharoor think like a common man; particularly on this issue?

I would like to tell you about a Muslim guy. On Orkut, there was a forum where people discussed whether you are a human being or an anti-national element. The guy wrote this: "Nude paintings of Gods and respected religious figures will definitely attract criticism from the public. And when a Muslim paints a Hindu God in the nude, it is surely going to hurt a lot of people. Even I, a Muslim, don't support Hussain when he paints Hindu Gods in this way". I thanked that guy from my heart for his honest comments. This spirit of the real Indians makes me proud. And your spirit to paint like this makes me sad. A lot of people have asked you to apologize. You know very well that if you apologize and stop painting Hindu Gods in nude (Is any Hindu God remaining, by the way?), you can return back to India. After all, Indians are so kind hearted. But you may be happy there, as a non resident Indian, and may not want to return back. When you die and meet Allah, you will get to see all the Hindu Gods within the very image of Allah, and they will not look exactly as you have painted them in your paintings; I am sure.

My earliest memory

The days were around the end of 80s, or the beginning of 90s. I don't remember the exact year. There were cricket matches taking place in day-and-night format, in which I had found some interest. Of course India was playing; otherwise a novice like me won't have stuck to the TV.

Those were the days when our fathers asked us to go to bed at 9 PM, and we obeyed without resistance. This happened one such night.

I woke up by the sound of crackers after a few hours of sleep. Crackers reminded me of the cricket match that was on.

"Hurrah, we have won!" I exclaimed.

"No, we lost", my father was awake, and came near my bed.

"Then why are they celebrating?"

"Because we lost against Pakistan", father said.

I was confused. No matter against whom we lost, it was an Indian team that lost. How can people celebrate?

"See, the sound is coming from only one side of the town, from the area where Muslims live. They always celebrate when Indian team loses against Pakistan." Father brought me on real ground.

This particular night was not exceptional, it kept repeating itself, and they kept celebrating Indian team's loss to the Pakistani team. I didn't know the definitions of "patriotism" or "anti-nationalists"; but by that time I had invented my own definition: Any Indian, who celebrates the defeat of Indian national team, can't be Indian in real sense.  

Indian Parliament, National Flag, Mr. Ahluwalia and Citizen Journalists

ASA (As soon as) you stop wondering about the title of this article, please get ready for some serious stuff. In the year 2005, two special bills were passed by the parliament of India, their names explains their application:

- The prevention of insults to national honour (Amendment) Bill, 2005

- The state emblem of India (prohibition of improper use) Bill, 2005.

A part of the synopsis to the debate which preceded passing of these two bills is available on the website of the Rajya Sabha [Link]. The debates in the parliament are often of great source of learning not only for the budding politicians, and citizen journalists in the guise of the 'aam adami'. Here is a small account of the same, with my comments in green font, often containing information that we forget to remember.  

[1] SHRI VIJAY J. DARDA:

"It is strange that national symbol was removed from the helmets of Indian Cricketers.  It is not proper.  Some provision should be made in this regard.."

[2] SHRI S.S.CHANDRAN:

(Spoke in Tamil)

[3] SHRIMATI N.P.DURGA:

"There, is a young patriot, Shri Pingali Venkaiah, who prepared our National Flag. The only difference between the Flag prepared by Shri Pingali Venkaiah and the present Flag is that now we have got the 'Dharma Chakra' in place of 'Charkha'. Gandhiji had also appreciated Shri Pingali Venkaiah, in "The Young India". But what honour have we given to  this great patriot? So, I request, the Government to release, at least, a postal stamp and erect a statue of Shri Pingali Venkaiah in the premises of this great democratic institution"..

[4] PROF. RAM DEO BHANDARY:

"General people normally do not disrespect the National Flag, but certain so called high class people often disrespect the National Flag"

[5] MAULANA OBAIDULLAH KHAN AZMI:

"Our National Flag is a proud for every Indian. A large number of people and defence personnel sacrificed their lives for the sake of National Flag. The National Emblem-Ashok Chakra is a symbol of social justice in India"

[6] SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA:

"The emblem formed by the State of Mizoram bears the mark of cross which indicates to a particular religion.  This is a clear violation of the Preamble of the Constitution of India alongwith Article 15 and 51 (A), wherein it is clearly mentioned that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them. I do not know if any one amongst you would come forward to protest this development. But, I shall be the first person to protest it.

14 States have formed their emblems with or without seeking permission from the Central Government. In respect of four States, even the records are not available.  Only three States have sought the permission of the Centre.  The Centre does not know what type of these emblems are and whether they conform to the required norms laid down in this regard.

I was surprised to view a telecast on T.V. in which hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Mr. Kamal Nath was briefing to the media persons before leaving for W.T.O. Summit. Our national flag was overturned there. No regretment has been expressed by the Minister so far in this regard.

These are my observations on the comments made by the honorable MPs here:

[1]

The (UPA) Government, in a letter, had asked the BCCI to restrain cricketers from using the National Flag on their cricketing gear since it amounted to showing disrespect. Before that Naveen Jindal, an industrialist and an MP, had initiated the debate in 1994 over the right of the citizens to fly the national flag in their homes, any day of the year. In the year 2002, Mr. Jindal had won a long-drawn legal battle to be able to fly the National Flag at his factory in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The Union Government amended the flag code to liberalize the use of the National Flag. Yet, the code did not allow the flag to be used as part of a uniform or dress.

The Hindu reports that the most notable cricketer sporting the National Tri-color on the helmet is Sachin Tendulkar, while Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag are among those who have not displayed the National Flag on their gear. Interestingly, Tendulkar has always used the National Flag on the top-inside part of his cricket bag. Sachin says what he shows on his helmet (national flag) is what he keep inside his heart (patriotism). It should be noted that most of the other nations don’t restrict its citizens from displaying the national flag on uniforms or dresses. 

[2]

The member spoke in Tamil, and therefore his speech was not recorded for reference in this document. In my opinion, members should stick to either of the two national languages - Hindi or English, for reaching to the wider audiences.

[3]

Thanks madam, you have made an important point here. But to believe that after releasing a stamp or erecting a statue, the soul of Venkaiyah will "feel good", is hoping for too much. This is a time tested political weapon in the form of public statues: install a statue of a leader, you become a hero for the community to which the leader belonged, then deface it, start a riot in protest, then come down to calm the riots, get 5 lakhs as compensation for the dead, you are again proven yourself a great leader for the communities involved, then do purification of the statue, and then keep repeating the procedure every 5 years.

[4]

'So called' high class people? Does disrespect comes with fat incomes?

[5]

We can notice his explanation of Ashok Chakra as a symbol of 'social justice'! The Dharma Chakra is wheel of life conveys the importance of karma; we have to keep progressing, keep growing, as a nation. And its 24 spokes portray the prevalence of righteousness all 24 hours a day.

[6]

One can't remain without some respect towards the righteousness shown by Mr. Ahluwalia here. He has spoken his mind and heart in a manner which reflects strength of character. Kudos to him. He highlights the misdeeds of ruling politicians in Mizoram, points out to the disregards from states with respect to the present bill, and even targets a minister for negligence. We need more parliamentarians like him.

Indian Parliament, National Flag, Mr. Ahluwalia and Citizen Journalists

As soon as you stop wondering about the title of this article, please get ready for some serious stuff. In the year 2005, two special bills were passed by the parliament of India, their names explains their application:

 

�     The prevention of insults to national honour (Amendment) Bill, 2005

�     The state emblem of India (prohibition of improper use) Bill, 2005.

 

A part of the synopsis to the debate which preceded passing of these two bills is available on the website of the Rajya Sabha [Link]. The debates in the parliament are often of great source of learning not only for the budding politicians, and citizen journalists in the guise of the aam adami. Here is a small account of the same, with my comments in green font, often containing information that we forget to remember.  

 

[1] SHRI VIJAY J. DARDA:

 

It is strange that national symbol was removed from the helmets of Indian Cricketers.  It is not proper.  Some provision should be made in this regard..

 

[2] SHRI S.S.CHANDRAN:

 

(Spoke in Tamil)

 

[3] SHRIMATI N.P.DURGA:

 

There, is a young patriot, Shri Pingali Venkaiah, who prepared our National Flag. The only difference between the Flag prepared by Shri Pingali Venkaiah and the present Flag is that now we have got the Dharma Chakra in place of Charkha.  Gandhiji had also appreciated Shri Pingali Venkaiah, in The Young India. But what honour have we given to  this great patriot?  So, I request, the Government to release, at least, a postal stamp and erect a statue of Shri Pingali Venkaiah in the premises of this great democratic institution..

 

[4] PROF. RAM DEO BHANDARY:

 

General people normally do not disrespect the National Flag, but certain so called high class people often disrespect the National Flag

 

[5] MAULANA OBAIDULLAH KHAN AZMI:

 

Our National Flag is a proud for every Indian. A large number of people and defence personnel sacrificed their lives for the sake of National Flag. The National Emblem-Ashok Chakra is a symbol of social justice in India

 

[6] SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA:

 

The emblem formed by the State of Mizoram bears the mark of cross which indicates to a particular religion.  This is a clear violation of the Preamble of the Constitution of India alongwith Article 15 and 51 (A), wherein it is clearly mentioned that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them. I do not know if any one amongst you would come forward to protest this development. But, I shall be the first person to protest it.

 

14 States have formed their emblems with or without seeking permission from the Central Government. In respect of four States, even the records are not available.  Only three States have sought the permission of the Centre.  The Centre does not know what type of these emblems are and whether they conform to the required norms laid down in this regard.

 

I was surprised to view a telecast on T.V. in which hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Mr. Kamal Nath was briefing to the media persons before leaving for W.T.O. Summit. Our national flag was overturned there. No regretment has been expressed by the Minister so far in this regard.

 

These are my observations on the comments made by the honorable MPs here:

 

[1]

 

The (UPA) Government, in a letter, had asked the BCCI to restrain cricketers from using the National Flag on their cricketing gear since it amounted to showing disrespect. Before that Naveen Jindal, an industrialist and an MP, had initiated the debate in 1994 over the right of the citizens to fly the national flag in their homes, any day of the year. In the year 2002, Mr. Jindal had won a long-drawn legal battle to be able to fly the National Flag at his factory in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The Union Government amended the flag code to liberalize the use of the National Flag. Yet, the code did not allow the flag to be used as part of a uniform or dress.

 

The Hindu reports that the most notable cricketer sporting the National Tri-color on the helmet is Sachin Tendulkar, while Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag are among those who have not displayed the National Flag on their gear. Interestingly, Tendulkar has always used the National Flag on the top-inside part of his cricket bag. Sachin says what he shows on his helmet (national flag) is what he keep inside his heart (patriotism). It should be noted that most of the other nations don’t restrict its citizens from displaying the national flag on uniforms or dresses.

 

[2]

 

The member spoke in Tamil, and therefore his speech was not recorded for reference in this document. In my opinion, members should stick to either of the two national languages Hindi or English, for reaching to the wider audiences.

 

[3]

 

Thanks madam, you have made an important point here. But to believe that after releasing a stamp or erecting a statue, the soul of Venkaiyah will feel good, is hoping for too much. This is a time tested political weapon in the form of public statues: install a statue of a leader, you become a hero for the community to which the leader belonged, then deface it, start a riot in protest, then come down to calm the riots, get 5 lakhs as compensation for the dead, you are again proven yourself a great leader for the communities involved, then do purification of the statue, and then keep repeating the procedure every 5 years.

 

[4]

 

So called high class people? Does disrespect comes with fat incomes?

 

[5]

 

We can notice his explanation of Ashok Chakra as a symbol of social justice! The Dharma Chakra is wheel of life conveys the importance of karma; we have to keep progressing, keep growing, as a nation. And its 24 spokes portray the prevalence of righteousness all 24 hours a day.

 

[6]

 

One can't remain without some respect towards the righteousness shown by Mr. Ahluwalia here. He has spoken his mind and heart in a manner which reflects strength of character. Kudos to him. He highlights the misdeeds of ruling politicians in Mizoram, points out to the disregards from states with respect to the present bill, and even targets a minister for negligence. We need more parliamentarians like him.

 

(I have edited this piece since I posted for the first time. This is because some of my statements were too pinching and I thought some of them were disrespectful towards the parliament also.) I am not sure whether this article of mine conforms to the conventional forms of writing an article. This is neither an interview, nor a plain news article. You must have noted that with the advent of the internet, and the popularity of the blogs, people have re-discovered the delights of writing. And the conventional forms of writing, the standards, the tricks of the trade, are all gone. I was reading my text book for a course of journalism last night. It teaches how we should start an article and how should we develop the story. But the conventions get outdated these days by the time they reach the printer! Welcome the millennium Citizen Journalists.