India Against Corruption (IAC) Vs Aam Aadmi's Party (AAP)

Finally, Arvind Kejriwal and team have thought of a name to their political outfit. It has been named "Aam Aadmi Party" (or Common Man's Party). Here are my thoughts on this development:

In a way I am happy that we did not repeat a historical event (mistake in the opinion of many). Indian National Congress (INC) was by and large a political organization to unite and channelize nationalists efforts to ensure freedom of India from the British. When India achieved independence in 1947, many proposed that this party should be dissolved and a new party with a new name may be floated which can take part in the democratic process of a living democracy of post-independent Bharat. But somehow this did not happen and we still have a political party in the same name of Indian National Congress (INC) whose several members have been accused of numerous large scale corruption charges and scandals. In a way it pains us to see the name of Congress party which is inseparable from our freedom struggle and with Mahatma Gandhi, to be regressed and defamed in this manner. The good thing with Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement called India Against Corruption is that it has not allowed its name being used to start a political party separate from its own agenda.

India Against Corruption (IAC) was by and large an organization identified with two things: (1) To demand Jan Lokpal Bill from the government, (2) A social movement against corruption in government and government organizations. Also, IAC has been identified with social activist Anna Hazare and other leaders like Kiran Bedi also played important part in it. By the time it accepted failure in securing Jan Lokpal Bill, Arvind Kejriwal almost individually eclipsed it. The IAC Brand was gradually shifting from being identified by hugely popular, and "saint like" Anna Hazare, towards sharp, retorting, reactive and "aggressive" Arvind Kejriwal. The brand transition happened with every passing day and increased at mammoth pace ever since Arvind Kejriwal started his own political party. Some even felt that whole people's movement started by IAC has been "abducted" by him. I salute Anna Hazare's leadership, clear vision and boldness to demand that Kejriwal should stop using IAC's name and brand, given that their ways have gone the separate ways. Therefore, it is satisfying for people like me to see that Arvind Kejriwal has announced a new name for the political party - Aam Aadmi Party. (Though I still see much harm and dilution done to IAC's brand due to being used by Kejriwal's political outfit so far.)

I was surprised at this name "Aam Aadmi Party" and initially I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw news about it on TV. The term "Aam Aadmi" has been used extensively by INC (Congress Party) during all these years and it looked like it was an attempt by Kejriwal & team to make a dig at it while using the term for their own political party's name. Now every time Congress leaders will call us "Aam aadmi", they will in a way take their rival's name. But I was in a way disappointed by Kejriwal & team. Choosing this name indicates their lack of vision and imagination. Could not they have named their party more 'appropriately' for better presentation and matching its vision? In a way, this over-zealousness to "steal" Congress party of its oft used term "Aam aadmi", Kejriwal & team became victims themselves of their negative politics. If you keep thinking about your rival or keep hating someone, gradually you become used by your own hatred. It appears to be a huge opportunity lost by Kejriwal & team to not being able to show some courage and imagination in naming their political party. If IAC and Anna Hazare's successes were also marketing case studies, then this name 'Aam Aadmi Party' comes as their poor cousin. 

The name "Aam Aadmi Party" is 2/3 Hindi and 1/3 English; perhaps ironically just like Kejriwal's politics is 2/3 "anti" things and only 1/3 as "pro" other things. It is typical of upstarts lacking vision in basing politics on the "anti" or the negative plank - it takes you only to an extent. I was also surprised how Kejriwal had the courage to accept this negative politics in naming his party openly in front of us. He made the following comment as published in today's TOI:

"Cong could never hijack the aam admi despite using the term 'aam admi'. Now they have lost the word too." - Arvind Kejriwal.

First, if his "hijacking" means making people of this country believe in the party and its vision, then Congress party did it successfully! The party is still in power and has enjoyed power for all these years. If Kejriwal thinks that the party "could never hijack" aam admi, then why did the aam admi elected Congress to remain in power for all these years? Obviously, Kejrwal sees things differently, which can be called hallucinating perhaps at times. 

This politics of "hijack" has weird dimensions. Hindustan Times has this article titled "Arvind Kejriwal ‘hijacks’ Cong’s aam aadmi". It is widely seem that Kejriwal "hijacked" the term "aam aadmi" from Congress party either to enjoy making fun of them (as can be seen in the comments from Digvijay Singh and Manish Tewari), or it was named like this because Kejriwal and team could not think of any better name. On any account, it looks like a huge opportunity loss. 

For the man who was accused of "hijacking" Anna Hazare's social movement for his own political agenda to hijack IAC to start a political party, it is ironical to see him boasting that he has "hijacked" the term Congress party used so many times. 

Anyways, I am happy that finally India Against Corruption (IAC) brand is free from being used by Kejriwal and his team for their political party. We had lost the moment once when we allowed Indian National Congress (INC) brand being used in the post-independence era, and glad that this time there was a man who did not allow history to be repeated for the wrong - Anna Hazare. 

- Rahul

Note: Views are personal and do not represent views of any organization associated with the author. [Detailed disclaimer]

What India thinks of Kejriwal

Ever since Arvind Kejriwal took the controversial decision to turn into a politician and start a new political party (which will subsequently fight all Lok Sabha seats after making a beginning with Delhi Assembly elections), he seems to have lost much of his fan base. Though it is also controversial to say that even before joining politics he enjoyed so much fan following personally, because most of his fans of today are basically followers and admirers of Anna Hazare who had to stop his non-political social movement against corruption because of unknown reasons. Many people blame Mr. Kejriwal's political ambitions for breaking up and failure of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement also. No matter what, it is certain that after joining politics, Kejriwal has lost many admirers. 

Let us see what India's best achievers, leaders of their fields who are looked up to by young Indians, are speaking about M. Kejriwal and his "brand" of politics: 

Deepak Parikh, Chairman of HDFC Bank

Deepak Parikh said, "I think the manner in which he (Kejriwal) is going about is not right. When asked whether he would help Kejriwal if he seeks his advice on economic policy matters, Parekh said he will never do so and would never vote for his candidates as he does not approve of the way he is going about with his plans. Parekh also slammed the media for incessant coverage of Kejriwal & Co. and asked it to report other important issues. "I would like to blame you, the media...you have nothing else to report other than Kejriwal. Why do you give so much of importance to all this? Give us some news, don't tell us what Kejriwal said," Parekh said. [Ref1], [Ref2], [Ref3]

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and former CEO and MD of Infosys

Nandan Nilekani said that he does not believe Arvind Kejriwal‘s style of fighting against corruption is good for India and especially slammed Kejriwal for focusing his campaign on grabbing TV talktime and eyeballs. He said, “The notion (that) you can bring corruption by having bunch of OB vans, I think that’s not going to solve the problem.”There is a lack of appreciation of the long term institutional and systematic changes required to get to the desired goals, he added. “I’m as much for fighting corruption as the next guy. But, I certainly don’t believe that by passing a law or putting more penalties on bureaucrats or creating more inspectors is going to solve the corruption problem. That’s absolutely the wrong prescription,” he said. [Ref1], [Ref2]

NR Narayana Murthy, founder and ex-CEO of Infosys

NR Narayana Murthy has revealed that he had spurned a request last month from Arvind Kejriwal, the activist-turned-politician, to fund his political activities. "Mr Kejriwal approached me in September 2012 asking for financial assistance, I declined. I have not financially supported Mr Kejriwal's political activities," Murthy said. "Mr Arvind Kejriwal approached me in 2008 to donate money to raise awareness about the RTI Act by instituting awards to recognise the contribution of public information officers, public information commissioners, NGOs and citizens. I agreed to give Rs 25 lakh a year for five years and requested Tatas to contribute an equal sum, which Tata Social Welfare Trust was kind enough to agree," the statement said. In all, the Infosys founder contributed over Rs 1 crore between 2008 and 2011 for RTI related work. [Ref1], [Ref2], [Ref3]

Javed Akhtar, veteran poet, lyricist and scriptwriter

Javed Akhtar hit out Kejriwal hard during the event Agenda Aaj Tak 2012, accusing him of being like a journalist, pointing out problems but with no solutions. [Ref1], [Ref2]. Javed Akhtar wondered if Arvind Kejriwal's dislike and non-belief was in a particular set of politicians or all politicians and accused him of not believing in the system including India's constitution and the parliament. He said that he would believe what BJP or Congress leaders say because they have been elected by the people of India, but Arvind Kejriwal has self proclaimed to be people's voice and uses undemocratic means to demand what he believes is good for India. At the near end of his speech, Javed Akhtar challenged Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to visit Pakistan once and when he would return to India, he would love our nation. 

Note: Views are personal and do not reflect views of any person or organization associated with the author. 

Origin of Urdu Language

Here is a learned article on the subject which sums up the origin and evolution of Urdu very well.

Ameera Kamal is a research writer based in Islamabad. She holds a Masters degree in Anthropology from Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan.

Urdu – The Origin and History of the Language

By Ameera Kamal

http://ezinearticles.com/?Urdu—The…age&id=2181915

I am writing a summary of the article, in my own words, but definitely taking facts from her article:

The article stars with defining the term “Urdu” – it derives from a Turkish word “ordu” meaning camp or army. Urdu developed amongst Muslim soldiers of the Mughals (Mughal Empire was established by Muhammad Babur who invaded India (Hindustan) because of its riches and wealth). Mughal armies belonged to various ethnicities, e.g. Turks, Arabs, Persians, Pathans, Balochis, Rajputs, Afghans, etc. Present day Urdu evolved with the different dialects these soldiers used to communicate with each other. Because of this reason Urdu is also called “Lashkari Zaban” or “language of the army”.

The author says that during its development Urdu language also assumed various names like “Urdu-e-Maullah” (the exalted army) and the term “Rekhta” (scattered (with Persian words)).

The article says that the history of a language is definitely linked to the history of the people speaking it. Urdu emerged as a “distinct language” after the year 1193 – the time of Muslims conquest. When the Muslims conquered these lands, they made Persian the official and “cultural language” of India. Ameera Kamal writes:

“as a result of the amalgamation of local dialects and the language of the invaders – which was either Persian, Arabic and Turkish, a new language evolved which later became Urdu.”

In the later part, the article says that “with the coming of the British, new English words also became part of the Urdu language. Many English words were accepted in their real form while others were accepted after some modifications. Currently, the Urdu vocabulary contains approximately 70% of Persian words and the rest are a mixture of Arabic and Turkish words.”

Do read her full article. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2181915

Some more expert opinion on this issue for everyone’s reference:

“The birth of Urdu language was the direct result of the synthesis between the invading armies of Mahmud of Ghazni with the civilian population of the Indian cities. The word Urdu itself means Lashkar, derived from the Turkish language meaning armies.”

The Essentials of Indian Culture by K.K.Khullar, Employment News, New Delhi, 21-27 Jan. 1995, p.1

“Urdu was thus self-evidently the language of the soldiers of the armies of Mahmud-e-Ghazni, the only militarist sovereign of the era who maintained a large enough army for a considerable period to provide sufficient time for a new language to develop. It is for this same reason that the earliest surviving Urdu literature is that of Sufi saints who accompanied the Ghaznavids during their expeditions.”

Language of the armies, Urdu, by Dr. Samar Abbas, June 11, 2002 http://www.iranchamber.com/literatur…_of_armies.php

“The old Urdu was a mixture of Turkish, Persian and Arabic and was the language of the most powerful warrior tribes of Central Asia. These tribes would invade, conquer and occupy areas within easy reach for their wealth, gold, silver and precious stones. Wherever these tribes went, they took their language which had an amazing mingling and absorbing local words and proverbs.“

A Brief History of Urdu; http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other…/history.shtml

“the impact of Islām created a new language, Urdu (from Persian: Camp), based on Hindi; Urdu was the lingua franca of the army. Urdu was used later for literature and at present is the mother tongue of most Indian Muslims and their brethren”

Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/…ture#ref532147

Arvind Kejriwal's Contribution to India

My original comment/post (13 Oct 2012):

Arvind Kejriwal is the Julian Assange of India. IAC is now Indian WikiLeaks. Perhaps the only difference between the two is that while Julian Assange worked on all days of the week, Arvind ji works only over the weekends :)

Friend: What we see over the weekend, is the result of what he does over the week. I am big fan of his, I think he is exactly what India needs now.

Me: Or the result of what others choose to send him... of course he doesn't go visit all govt offices to collect evidences... he himself says, "logon ne bheja hai"... anyways, I like him and most of his exposures but what I don;t like about him is his dramatics - he acts as if sky is going to fall down if we don't come out on the streets to support him... and he will decide what is right and what is wrong for us... he fails to see good things in our democracy.. I don't remember hearing anything "positive" from his mouth in the recent years... also, he doesn't have a sense of humor; does he ever smile? He acts like a "heart broken" jilted lover. Anyways, I am not judging him but only sharing observations... for what he will turn out to be, we can only wait and watch...

Friend: No you should see Hum log's last edition on NDTV, I really loved his simplistic charms , he smiles all the time even when people are asking him tough questions. I loved the way he responded to all those questions. Every politician/activist exhorts to enrage public, Jai Prakash Narayan used Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's poem to exhort people. See he has to rabble rouse or we the middle class of India, who suffer from amnesia so frequently, would forget him. I think if you think deeply he is trying to present a practical use case of the anti graft law he has been fighting for. Look at the present situation, Do you think Salman Khurisd, who presides over the CBI's prosecution wing would allow a fair investigation against himself? Isn't it a farce? So clearly by raising all these issues, he is making mango people like me and you, discuss on these things, and question the black box of governance. I really love the way Yogendra Yadav puts it in his article, winning is never in garnering votes, but actually changing the rules of the game , and Arvind Kejriwal has done that with his plain speak and by calling a spade a spade.

Me: ok.. Whereever i watched and heard him, he was in a monotone.. in india today conclave from the podium, he spoke in the same tone... i dislike the way he accuses media, saying, "aap media wale..." he speaks the language of politicians when it comes to matters involving IAC.. i had read yogendra yadav's article but he is inside arvind's political party... also i think we cant say yet that they have changed the rules of the game, have they? What they are doing, exactly that was done by Tahelka many years back... I would support Tahelka more than IAC because those guys didn’t want power and didnt have political agenda... I think arvind ji is doing nothing new, and so far he is surviving by sheer guts... politics is not about winning a bravery award...

Friend: I keep highest regards for the likes of people like Tarun Tejpal, Shoma Chaudhary and Ashish Khetan, the person who nailed Babu Bajrangi and the Naroda Patia bast**ds I absolutely love them, they have actually done a great disservice to this nation by not joining politics, and as far as being brave is concerned, its important to fight first, and that's what Arvind is doing. I also did not like his speech in India Today conclave, but still it was many times better than the politically correct Sandeep Dixits's hogwash who spoke next. If you remeber there was a question in the end, by a reporter ki Arvind Kejriwal ko itna gussa kyuan aata hai, and he simply said ki mujhe itna gussa nahin aata hai. Media has been more interested in Arvind, Anna, Kiran, and never chases their ideas, the discussion are more on their antics than what they want, he is surviving because he enjoys tacit support among the thinking middle class. They have ofcourse changed things with common man getting more vociferous in his demands for probity, Will their ideas see light of the day is yet to be seen, but still they are promising a better tomorrow aint?

Me: yes, i agree with you in general on this.. just one advice - love their work but not the doers... similar to what gandhiji said, hate the wrong deeds not the doers... in this world we never know how people and things will change... only thing constant should be our faith in good and honest work... those who are good and honest today, may change colors tomorrow.. so we should like their work but not become fans of them personally...

Friend: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/D4kKOlMO0rNimKhUFNqWIJ/Choosing-targets-Kejriwal-has-great-taste.html

Me: Well, all said and done, Jan Lokpal Bill failed, didn't it? Despite all his brilliance and all his supporters! So when he couldn't destroy system, he has started to destroy people now... When this will fail, I don't know what will be his target and ever-changing course of action... At least with Jan Lokpal, his demand was "for" something... Now his demands are "against" some people... Anyways, let us wait and watch...

Friend: Was getting jan lokpal bill passed only his duty? We are seeing an ideal case of conflict of interest here, when Salman Khurisd has to sit over an enquiry against himself. Which system is he destroying, he is just destroying notions? Do you think the current parliament represents India, which should have been a microcosm of the Indian society? What kind of people is he targeting? He did not target any one of very high integrity; he has targeted some people who no body had dared to touch. As Obama some time back if you cant stand heat, get out of kitchen. I am just waiting when he will fire his salvo on Gadkari, the man who destroyed BJP as a credible alternative.

Me: Jan Lokpal was his and his team's baby and hence of course it was his team's failure that it couldn't get it passed by creating pressure on govt through public protests. Secondly, now something very interesting comes to my mind. Even Lokpal was not truly his idea. Lokpal bill is pending for many decades as we know. Here enters Arvind Kejriwal and Team Anna, they do re-branding of Lokpal as Jan-Lokpal and declare themselves as visionaries! Does Arvind ji has even a single genuine idea of his own? After copying Lokpal into Jan Lokpal which failed, he has copied the Tahelka now (or WikiLeaks as I said) and has become the revelation man... I got his book "Swaraj" whose title is copied from Gandhi ji's "Hind Swaraj". Even his trademark Topi is basically Gandhi Topi but rebranded by writing something over it. Have you ever thought about it? The man looks like a "swing master"... I have not fallen in his trap..

Friend: (comment missing - perhaps he deleted afterwards - but here he accepts that even Arvind ji didn't do pioneer work in RTI yet he took some credit and cited many other cases where Arvind Kejriwal didn't start the concept but only took someone else's work forward. But Friend justifies that copying doesn't matter.)

If you say no one has a new idea, in order to justify Arvind copying things, using them after rebranding, for his own political agenda, then it is jot right.. Nothing wrong in being copy cats, but we should know that he has "nothing new to offer", that was my point... you agreed with it, that is good.. so he is trying what has been tried, tested and failed before... how is he "game changer" then? by shouting loudest?

Friend: (comment missing - perhaps he deleted afterwards - but pointed out how Kejriwal exposed Vadra)

Me: Everyone knew Pulkit, that Vadra was not honest. Even now after all the allegations he will never go to jail. So ultimately the scandal and all the proofs won't mean anything in hard factual terms, or may be will be like a whiff of wind for the Family. Compare that with Bofors, or with Tahelka and you will realize the difference in scale and impact. Also, debating over TV is one thing, and going to the court to make "a difference" is something other. In this area, compare his approach with that of Subramanyam Swami, and then you will realize the difference in real terms on the ground. For using social media, even Mamata Banerjee uses it; Sashi Tharoor used it; and who doesn't use it tell me. If you believe no party will field corrupt candidates, then you should refresh with the fact that Kalmadi and Raja have been restored with VIP status - are back on parliamentary boards! What does all this mean?

---

Afterthoughts: Despite all the verbal allegations and hype generated by Arvind Kejriwal and his team, the fact of the matter is that he will only help INC (Cong.) win the elections. Because no matter what he tries, Kejriwal and team will end up dividing the opposition votes, thereby helping none other than the current govt. against which he campaigns.

Recently a lot of allegations of corruptions have been made on Kejriwal's team members; some of those are of serious financial frauds. But they have chosen to say "no answers" to those. In politics, as in real life, there are no good and bad people. There are good and bad actions, decisions and attitudes. If either of Digvijay Singh or Kejriwal or even our PM choose to counter allegations made on them with "silence" or plain faced "denial", I count all of their actions as an "equalizer". With recent allegations against Kejriwal's team, and their attempts to run away from those, media has already exposed them. It is good for our nation that unqualified juvenile upstarts are differentiated. It will allow genuine and serious civil protests, true agitations, social reformers without political agenda and even serious political parties to remain in the fray and get our attention they deserve. Ultimately, our Nation matters to us more than any Surname or Banner.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not represent those of any organization associated with the author. You are welcome to share your opinion in the comment section. 

Robert Vadra Jeejaji Scam

While it is difficult to say for sure if Jeejaji Scam is true or not and perhaps no one will come to know because the govt will perhaps never do an honest probe in the scam, some facts speak for them. What is mentioned below came in yesterday’s Times of India on the front page:
 

The allegations in the Robert Vadra Scam:
 

1. 5 companies owned by Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra bought 31 properties in 2007-10 (during the Congress led UPA rule).
 

2. These include 50% share in Hilton Hotel in Saket, Delhi for Rs 31.7 Crore (current price = Rs 150 crore or more), 10000 Sq. Ft flat in DLF Aralias, Gurgaon, for Rs 89 lakh (current price = Rs 25 Crores), 7 flats in DLF Magnolia, Gurgaon, for Rs 5.2 Crores (current price Rs 100 Crores).
 

3. Balance sheets show these 5 firms had a total share capital of Rs 50 Lakh. Value of these properties on books was Rs 69.64 Crores. Firms had no obvious revenue stream. Seed money for acquisition came from unsecured, interest-free loan of over Rs 65 Crores from DLF.
 

4. Kejriwal and Bhushan claim that the worth of the properties when bought was Rs 300 Crores; now over Rs 500 Crores.
 

Source: The Times of India, October 6, 2012
 

The newspaper also mentions one quotation from Mr. Vadra:
 

“I have known the DLF people for a long time and they are friends of mine. I wanted to invest in real estate and one thing led to another.” – Robert Vadra, to Economic Times, March 14, 2011

How Nitish Kumar plays no better politics than Raj Thackeray

If you open any TV news channel these days, you are bound to be aware of one particular issue being discussed in full spirits. The same topic is also a matter of heated debate in the print media. Despite serious national issues like Coalgate scandal and regional issues like Assam riots being the prime focus, the Raj Thackeray Vs one and all issue has become a big hit. Currently, the national media and the nationalist Indians are cornering Raj Thackeray for his ‘anti-Bihari’ and ‘anti-migrant’ comments. Here are some of my observations on this issue:
 .

The root of this mess lies in the Azad Maidan riots in Mumbai when Muslim protesters carried out mass destruction of public property, publicly beat policemen and even desecrated Amar Jawan Memoial. Soon after, Raj Thackeray organized a big protest against the vandalism and tried to awaken the Maharashtrian voters against the “ineffectiveness” of state govt. Huge media outcry followed and the destruction of Amar Jawan memorial in particular touched a sensitive cord of public memory. The state govt, which is headed by Congress party, and the local police which take orders from them came into action and filed cases against dozens of accused of the riots and vandalism (this also seems to be a political gimmick of Congress to first appease Muslims by allowing them to have their showdown and then to appease Maharashtrian Hindus by trying to catch the culprits). One of these accused was a Muslim guy, a native of Mumbai, who happened to be caught in Bihar where he was staying for a few days before trying to escape outside the borders into Nepal. Soon after Mumbai police made the arrest in Bihar, Bihar govt wrote a letter to Maharashtra police reminding them about the protocol of informing the local (Bihar) police in case of such arrests. Raj Thackeray who had already championed this particular issue, reacted sharply asking why is it that all criminals run to Bihar after doing crime in Mumbai? Now the main point which media and political analysts are missing, I am not sure if by chance or deliberately, is that why Nitish Kumar and his govt had to object to a criminal accused being arrested in Bihar?

 .
Over the last many years, Nitish Kumar has been shrewdly playing minority politics in Bihar and trying to build Muslim vote banks. It was a political compulsion as such, because he had to grab Muslim vote banks from Lalu Prasad who had his legendary ‘MY’ formula to ensure a sure sort electoral victory. It seems to me that Nitish Kumar felt that the Bihari Muslim community would feel insulted that Mahrashtra police came to Bihar to arrest “one of them” and hence it sent that letter as a “proof” that Nitish Kumar will leave no stones unturned to protect the “interests” of the Muslim community. The same strategy clearly has been making Nitish Kumar to get into spontaneous and unsolicited attacks on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi because he believes that Muslims all over India would love anyone who hurts Mr. Modi. And not the least, who knows in these times of coalition politics where smaller parties have luxury of switching sides, creating such a “pro-Muslim” impression may help Mr. Kumar someday get his dream Prime Minister’s chair!

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Now Raj Thackeray’s response on the other hand has been most natural. At least after watching and hearing him (and Shiv Sena) for many years now I can say that his stand is totally understandable and predictable. Some people ransacked his motherland Mumbai and here is one guy who is objecting to Mumbai police from arresting the accused! How could he tolerate such an act? Of course Raj has a very strong opinion on things and lacks “politician like” diplomacy. So he ended up making more allegations on Biharis “in general”. His statements where he accuses Biharis and UP wallahs for flooding Mumbai and doing most crimes happening here are examples of such statements. Such allegations are factually incorrect (more migrants in Mumbai are from Karnataka/Gujarat/other Southern states than from Bihar; also all big mafia and underworld dons in the state are from the local population or at least not from Bihar). His allegations should be taken in the right spirits and should be seen in the perspective of the kind of political standing he has in the state. He was only “provoked” and “angry” at the prospect of being challenged by Nitish Kumar and some secondary leaders of JDU and made a lot of charged statements.

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I think therefore, Nitish Kumar is more to be blamed on this fiasco than Raj Thackeray. Nitish knew what he was getting into, but still “played it” in order to appease his Muslim vote banks. But if the fight goes on for extended time, this episode will come back to bite him. Here is how:

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Until last (most recent) such “regional wars” in Maharashtra, it was always “Marathi Vs North Indians”. The term “North Indian” was used both by Shiv Sena and MNS to target “migrants” from other states. But this time around we have got only “Biharis” on the spotlight. Till last time, the targets were of the likes of Congressi Kripa Shankar Singh (who hailed from UP and settled in Mumbai), but this time around, the targets are “Biharis” as a whole. No matter how Nitish Kumar hails his initiatives and developments in Bihar which have indeed reduced migrants going out of the state, for many years to come migration won’t be going to stop totally. People from Bihar have to go out of their state looking for better education and employment and this is not a choice for most but a kind of compulsion. If situation in Maharashtra worsens, especially because of the impending elections due to which all politicians won’t let such opportunities go, Biharis will know whom to blame. For Nitish Kumar, it will be a zero sum game.

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While the need of the hour is a more sensible approach by both parties, the onus lies more on Nitish Kumar. A new trend is that increasingly more JDU leaders are going to the media and speaking their hearts out while “representing” Nitish or Bihar in general. He needs to have better control and appoint some competent party spokesperson. Also, building minority vote bank may be a strategic need but getting into frequent verbal duals with counterparts from other states is not going to help him in the long run. Therefore, he should contain negative tactics in his politics and should feel more confident in the positive methods. The kind of good work he is doing in Bihar will win him many elections to come, unless he become so much  paranoid and insecure that he makes relationships with BJP and NDA partners sour on every appearing moment of truth. In the end, I won’t object to the sensationalism of such issues by media because no matter what they are not going to stop their TRP wars.

Now Petrol also has a Caste in India

It is often said that castes are a reality in India. These are not some virtual tags or surnames which impact nothing but only the way you write names. Your caste (mostly, if you are a Hindu) may affect the way you will be treated by others. Your caste may decide whether you are eligible to marry a girl of your choice or not. By and large and socially, this happened to be the limit castes would have impacted you – to gain you first cut acceptance or respect by your fellow caste-members, or to decide your eligibility criteria during prospective marriages. But when politics entered it, it has spiraled into many more spheres. Today, governments in India give entries into schools and colleges; give jobs, promotions, bank loans, ration, and a hell lot of other things, depending on your caste. Though most political parties have employed this ‘divide and rule’ strategy, if there is one party which has been pioneer in inventing more ways to ‘legalize’ casteism (caste based discrimination), it is the Indian National Congress (INC).

Legend is that in villages you have caste based sources of drinking water. Depending on your caste, you may or may not be allowed to drink water at a particular pond. This has been the tradition, started decades or centuries ago, and now defunct in most villages by and large. But now our government headed by the Congress party has come up with inventing almost the same process by replicating it in the area of fuel refilling at gas stations (called ‘Petrol Pumps’ in India). Govt has decided to allocate petrol pumps based on castes of the applicants. And hence, for the first time in modern history, you will have choice to refill your vehicle at the castes you like. You can decide to boycott the petrol pumps with owners of some particular castes and may choose only your own co-caste owners’ pumps. Loving it?

You can read more about this news here:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/27-pc-quota-in-petrol-pump-allocation-for-obcs-reddy/977397/

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article3695129.ece

Without doubt, such decisions and schemes are taken in order to build and please caste-based vote banks. I strongly oppose all such ‘caste-based’ schemes existing and being introduced. Castes and religion can’t be the criteria based on which an allocation can be done. Poverty alleviation is a completely different agenda and not related to castes. If we make laws and boost our economy to grow at a high ratem poor and downtrodden people from all castes will be benefited. But obviously politicians don’t see it the same way and they have their vote banks and elections in mind while they take any decision. Hence national interests take a back-seat.

Now that petrol also has a ‘caste’ in India, aap kaun se caste ka petrol bharwate hain? Which caste does your petrol belong to?

Disclaimer: Views are personal and do not represent views of any person or organization associated with the author. This is a personal blog. Purpose of write-ups is not to hurt anyone’s sentiments.

OBC Quota in Higher Education increased by Delhi Govt

The way Indian politicians are using caste as a vote bank politics is really shameful. Instead of reducing caste-quota gradually, they are increasing it for political vote bank politics. Congress govts have been leaders in such divide-and-rule politics.

Now a new decision has been made in Delhi (where Congress party rules), to increase the caste quota limits:

Delhi government increases OBC quota for higher education to 27 per cent

27 Feb, 2012, 01.29PM IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Monday increased the reservation in higher education for OBCs to 27 per cent from the present 21 per cent. With this increase, the total reservation in higher education institutions for SCs, STs and OBCs will go up to 49.5 per cent. The decision to increase the OBC quota was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. News [Ref]

What bewilders me is that there is no proper study, no public debate, no time taken to understand the issue, but pure political opportunism. Whichever group of people (caste creates a group, giving them distinct identity) demands caste based reservations and does protests, will get it.

Also note that this increase in OBC quota has been done in “higher education”, while there has been no focus on primary education… Such caste-quota in higher education helps only rich and powerful OBC candidates get easy admissions in best colleges and universities. Our politicians will let the people below poverty line remain poor but will pamper the politically powerful richer classes within the communities, for political vote bank purpose…

Stop Minority (non-Hindu) Quota

This is a very good decision which has exposed Congress for it was indulging in such vote bank politics.

Next, we should repeal Minority Quota in all states, forever, because it is against the spirits of our constitution.

EC halts minorities sub-quota in five poll-bound States

The Election Commission on Wednesday ordered the Union Ministry of Personnel not to give effect to the December 22, 2011 office memorandum, providing a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities within the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes in Central government jobs and educational institutions, in the five poll-bound States.

The direction will be applicable until after the completion of the Assembly election process in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

The EC took into account the fact that the decision on sub-quota was announced by the Centre on December 22, before the model code came into force, i.e. on December 24, when the poll schedule was announced.

The EC said it was brought to its notice that the order had been issued in violation of the model code, and that it took the decision to ensure a free and fair poll.

Sources in the EC drew attention to the Sections in the model code relating to parties, candidates and the State/Central governments. Para 1(3): There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

Many parties, particularly the BJP, had strongly opposed the Cabinet decision and said the announcement was made as an inducement to Muslims, who are in sizable numbers in Uttar Pradesh.