India Shining and CWG!

All of us remember the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee with various feelings. Some of us appreciate that government, some of us like its decisions, some of us miss the quality of ministry it had, and I think most of us miss the sheer charisma of Atal Ji. But if “all is well that ends well” goes true, then most of us also remember NDA/BJP government with the curious slogan of “India Shining”. Some of us ridicule it (mostly because our media ridiculed it after NDA/BJP lost elections); some of us think it was a bad idea; some of us remember it as most massive PR campaign we ever had, and then some of us have also learnt a lot from it. One lesson that came out of it was, as per a popular view, that most Indians get a ‘nationalistic feeling’ only when either there is a war or there is a victory on Cricket grounds. Otherwise, our nationalism is a sleepy and stumpy creature. This explains why we got so very agitated when 26/11 happened, but soon after, we gave back power to the same guys who had created it. So much blood, tears, candles and TRP, went for nothing. Our public memory is so short that it takes only a cracker or a Saina Nehwal to forget all. This is why I suspect if we would still feel a need for a proper investigation of CWG corruption, after we witnessed such a grand inauguration and closing ceremony for the games.
 

Anyways, let me get back to the theme I started with. The NDA/BJP government had inherited a weak national economy. Our forex reserves were not good enough; our share markets were not hot. Loss making and bleeding public sector companies were a burden on the tax payers who were subsidizing them. Our private sector was craving for FDI and had a glass ceiling to break in the international space. Then came the NDA government which had the brightest non-political set of ministers India ever had in my opinion. These ministers had a lot to prove and a less incentive to care for their own political dynasties. The result was a complete turnaround. Our forex reserves touched new heights, share markets became hot-bed for investors, golden-quadrilateral roads were built, sick PSUs were divested with, and salaried class Indians had more money in their hands to spend. In those days, to whichever country our PM went, the Premiers broke protocols to welcome him warmly. Indian businesses became behemoths with less red-tape and NRIs started looking back to India because it had now prospects for them. In those times, somewhere around 2003, the government of A.B. Vajpayee also won the bid to organize Common Wealth Games after much effort. The Games were to showcase what we had achieved; the Games were to be a Gateway to the New Resurgent India! But as we realize some times now, such highly patriotic show-offs and our nationalistic feelings slip away even from the word go. So I guess we would just enjoy the opening/closing ceremonies of these games, would hail our sportsmen and would get back to our individual personal lives, completely forgetting that these games were also the most Shameful Games for India. Would we care to remember the mess that our corrupt government officials had thrown at us in terms of lousy preparations, the roads dug and covered, the shameful media reports which tore down our international image, the apathetic response of corrupt politicians at the helm of affairs and the crores of tax payers money which were siphoned off by corruption in the contracts and organization.

As a nation, we love entertainment. These Games have provided us with more entertainment than any other. Now I guess it’s time to go back to our collective numbness. Until, perhaps, the next time when we are again in similar mess. Then we would again curse the politicians, light some candles, watch TV news and then go back in our cozy couches. After all, this life is a game. But if we don’t play it, they will. If we don’t reject those corrupt ones in power, they will keep doing this again and again to us. Dozing, already?

Jai Shri Ram!

igh Court verdict on the controversial Ram Janmabhumi – Babri case is out. The court has established that the land on which the disputed structure and mosque stood, was the actual land on which Lord of Ayodhya, Raja Ram was born. First of all it’s a relief that the court verdict has finally come out. And I also believe that if the court verdict had come a bit sooner, there won’t have been any blot on the Hindu population with reference to the Babri demolition.
 

I have a few observations to make, which I think are far-reaching in consequences.
 

After Babri-demolition, the Hindu pride suffered hugely. For the secular Hindus who had never attacked or harmed people from other faiths in their history spanning ages, the blame of destroying a mosque, even if abandoned, was a shame. In fact the Hindus had even never attacked their violators by virtue of their faith; and their toleration and peaceful co-existence over a thousand year of atrocious rule by foreign faiths is a shining example for the world at large. Today’s court verdict, which establishes the fact that the disputed land was the place where Shri Ram was born, and the mosque which was built by invading fighters stood on the ruins of a Hindu temple, turns those painful accusations down. How would you feel if an invader demolishes your home and builds own, in its place? Attacking for self-defense is not totally wrong! Though I still believe demolition of Babri structure was not right, I hope from today, people would take the whole dispute in perspective instead of plainly blaming one side and turning away. Hindu pride is resurrected once again, in a way.
 

I also appreciate the mature and unprovocative manner in which the Hindu organizations have went about in the days before the verdict. I also note that the BJP’s take on it was very responsible, and Congress too acted just. I heard advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad speaking to media persons outside the HC sometime back and his appeal to the Indian Muslims to reinstate brotherhood was very apt.
 

We should also understand that had it not been the Hindu Organizations who relentlessly fought the case in the court, this decisive verdict won’t have happened. Many congratulations to them!
 

I guess another far reaching effect of this outcome would be that Hindus would start thinking fairly and highly of the Hindu social organizations. Even the skeptic of the lot would now wake up and realize that they were unintelligently believing in all the so called secular views aired for political convenience in our polity which is based on minority-appeasement at its core. The Muslim invaders did destroy Hindu temples, and we have to learn to accept our past history even if it is disgraceful. And the most important lesson: we can still get justice for us in our secular democracy, by fully democratic and non-violent means.
 

On a lighter note, I think it is not unfashionable to be a ‘Ram-Bhakt’ now :) It’s because the truth is on your side. Or should I say, better, you are on the side of the Truth…

Dilli aur Dil

Recently I was in Delhi. The amount of construction work half-completed for Commonwealth Games is startling. The whole of Connaught Place is dug up and gives the image of a war-wrecked area. Given the pace, it will take more than two months to paint the under constructed buildings, leave alone finishing them. And then we have heard enough of corruption and misappropriation in the finances meant for the games.
 

Another side of the same sad story is the outbreak of Dengu. Dengu in Delhi doesn’t only happen in slums or shady areas but also in posh areas and government hospitals! Tells much of government’s claims of Delhi being clean and beautiful! 
 

During the last state assembly elections, I had talked to some Dilli-wallas who were happy that a lot of works were being done. The fact that the work was being done for the games and not for the people’s convenience, didn’t matter to them. That is why they elected the previous Congressi government back to power, despite its dismal performance in issues like power, housing, or women’s safety. But now, after all this, will the public see, listen and speak out?
 

In matters like democratic elections, we should decide more by the head than by the heart. If Delhi has given its heart to non-performing Congressi governments due to some infatuation, it is time to evaluate the repercussions. There is no glory in getting exploited even by infatuating faces.

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