Cartoons & Freedom of Expression

On Sunday our parliament celebrated 60 years of parliamentary democracy and many lofty speeches were made by our politicians about democracy and how we have matured over these six decades. However if one tried to do a reality check he will find that we have only gone regressive, and with each passing day we are going even more backwards. Have we failed Democracy or has democracy failed us? I don’t know, but both seem to hold true.

Before this day, on Saturday and on Monday we saw our parliament debate on a 63 year old cartoon of Dr. B R Ambedkar claiming that its inclusion in school textbooks degrades the dalit icon. If Dr. Ambedkar were alive today he would have shamed this entire bunch who are trying to make political gain by using his name. This issue was raised first by Mayavati who is still licking her wounds from the drubbing she got in the recent elections and is now desperately looking at some short cuts to regain her vote bank and this issue proved to be a handy one. Then everyone else jumped the bandwagon, making merry while the sun shines and thus make a mockery of the parliament. Precious time was wasted time on a frivolous issue when the nation is facing so many difficulties like inflation, poor health care, farmer suicides, corruption etc.

I saw the cartoon myself and found nothing objectionable in it. None of the senior learned men and experts who were called up for discussions on Television found anything objectionable. Only a small bunch of misled fools were making noise and trying to drown every voice of reason. Had Dr. Ambedkar been around he would have used a whip against them. The students who were interviewed were seen laughing more and ridiculing the politicians for wasting precious parliament time on such a frivolous issue. A small 12 year old child seems to be more mature than our stupid politicians.

A leader like Yashwant Sinha is worried that such cartoons degrading politicians, and showing them in poor light will affect children and the children will grow up to hate politicians. Has Mr. Yeshwant Sinha ever cared to sit down and introspect as to why politicians are looked upon this way and have become a laughing stock today. Nobody talks bad about Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr. Radhakrishnan, La Bahadur Sashtri and politicians of that generation, the way today’s politicians are talked about. If fact every one revers them. Why then so much change has come about in the last 60 years in people’s perception of politicians. People from every walk of like agree that they are the root cause for all the nation’s ills. Almost half of our MP’s have criminal records. Each one of our MP’s or MLA’s, since getting elected has increased his/her bank balances a thousand fold. Nobody has answered from where the windfall came from. They are involved in crimes like extortion, land grabbing, corruption, blatant misuse of power to suppress those who are weak. None of them seems to be interested in the country and its welfare and progress.

How then can one have any respect or sympathy for these politicians? If the common man was given an opportunity to have his way each one of them would have been lynched. When asked some of the heads of political parties say that criminals are given tickets because they win elections for the parties concerned and therefore cannot be ignored. Thus the poor voter from rural areas is blamed because he is uneducated and sells his vote and therefore these criminals enter parliament. If that is the case why does nobody blame our so called intellectuals and well educated people who still vote for a corrupt Kalmadi to the post of Olympic committee president. The same Kalmadi who is undergoing so many enquires, is named by the CBI and has spent time in prison is still being voted, not by poor uneducated rural voters but by well educated and learned people from across cities serving in various sports and games committees. Are they also not falling prey to Kalmadi’s lavish parties in five star hotels where expensive liquor flows when our sportsmen do not get facilities to train and a healthy diet during camps. Why is nobody questioned when such a thing happens?

I must say that our politicians are themselves responsible for the plight they are in, however they are too shameless to accept this fact. Everyone is to be blamed except themselves. Redemption however is not so easy because the rot runs too deep. They need to take that long and painful walk backwards from the cesspool of corruption and everything that is evil that they have walked into so far. I do not think that any politician of my generation will even try to do this. Power has corrupted each one of them so much that life without power simply terrifies them. Therefore they will only try to save their skins by blaming others and in this instance the cartoons, and maybe tomorrow something else. Encroaching upon our freedoms that are guaranteed by our constitution seems to be one easy way. They find objection in an innocent cartoon on Dr. Ambedkar, yet find nothing unusual in trampling upon the very constitution that Dr. Ambedkar gave us. What Irony?. Today it is cartoons in text books and tomorrow it could be cartoons in newspapers and magazines and then newspapers themselves, something Mamata Banerjee has started in Bengal by banning all newspapers that are critical of her in government libraries.

One ray of hope however, during the debate in parliament was the voice of Jaswant Singh who went against his colleagues and others as the only voice of dissent. He spoke as to how hilarious he found the cartoons and he had a large collection of them. He said these cartoons helped him realize whenever he had made mistakes in his political life. He said that his eleven year old grandson had so many other things that could influence his mind rather than some innocent and funny cartoon. All other politicians too should follow his example. First correct yourself and reform. Jaswant Singh needs to be applauded here for his stand.

Finally, too all politicians of India, I have this humble advice: Be an honest leader who is loved by the masses. Be mature in your thinking and not a fool with little matter in the head like a Mayavati and others like her. Your vote banks should be the masses across all castes, creeds, religions and regions. People will watch and appreciate your honesty, transparency at work and your good deeds and you will be rewarded by their blessings and good wishes. Remember the good wishes and blessings of a destitute and hungry countryman far exceed in value all the money that you have accumulated and all the monetary rewards that you have acquired. Remember that you are elected and sent there not to waste time, agitate and stall parliament, but to legislate, discuss the ills that are plaguing the country and help rectify them. After this see how the perception of the common man towards you changes for the better. Please leave our cartoons alone !!!!!!!!!!!.

Follow up to Terrorism & Maoism

Within a couple of hours after I published my earlier blog came the news that the bullet riddled body of a Sub Inspector of Police kidnapped earlier was found in Odisha. Dear Swami Agnivesh how to you explain now the greatness of your naxal friends? Please remember that this menace can be put down only through brute force. The people who have taken up guns are not marginalised tribals nor the ones who want to fight for their causes. These are plain and simple thughs and murderers. The sooner people like you and Arundathi Roy realise this the better.

Maoism & Terrorism

I read a news article today wherein I found Swami Agnivesh describing Mr. Chidambaram as a terrorist worse than the Maoists. In this article he has gone to discuss the character of the Maoists as great as if they are the embodiment of non violence. In the end I did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Swami Agnivesh must be expressing his frustrations here, as he was a mediator between the government and the Maoists some time ago and failed in bringing about a compromise which would have made him a celebrity across the country. Having failed in this exercise he finds in Mr. Chidambaram an easy scape goat. Was he that stupid to think that he could bring about a change in heart among the Maoists whose only aim is to grab political power by force? The targeting of Mr Chidambaram first started after he began going after what is now described as saffron terror. Since then he has been targeted by the RSS, VHP BJP and the entire right wing politicians as also by unemployed people like Subramaniam Swamy a person with zero relevance in Indian politics. He has been targeted by Naveen Patnaik who calls him a person wanting to destroy the federal structure and Jayalalitha who sees a rival in him in Tamil Nadu politics. Now we see him being targeted by the Swami Agnivesh. Until he began going after saffron terror it is the same BJP and the right wing parties that described him as one of the best Home Ministers of independent India. Coming back to Swami Agnivesh, he talks about how the Maoists in their greatness released all their hostages recently which include the two Italians, the MLA and the District collector. He has however conveniently forgotten the two security guards of the collector who were butchered for simply doing their duty. He has forgotten all the ordinary policemen who have been killed in their hundreds, the local people who have been abducted and killed on suspicion of being government spies. What about them? Don’t they matter to Swami?. Are their lives as citizens of the country less important to him? What about these great maoists who extort money from business houses and then indulge in rape, molestations and even burning down of hospitals and schools. I would have been a little happy if corrupt officials and ministers had been the targets of Maoists. Yet I find only ordinary tribals ( for whom the Maoists claim to be carrying the banner) being butchered and a reign of terror imposed in areas under their control. Also, they only target those young officials who have opted to work in these tribal areas and bring in development in those areas. They very well know that after crying hoarse for years complaining about the neglect and lack of development in tribal areas and creating sympathy for themselves, it is the development measures taken by the government and the people who implement them are their enemies. They know that if schools, hospitals, roads, electricity, water etc. are provided to the tribals, they the Maoists will lose their relevance and their power. Therefore they want to avoid development at any cost. The Maoists have only one interest and that is to grab political power through the barrel of a gun. There is only one solution to this menace. Anyone who questions the might of the state and takes up arms against it needs to be crushed and crushed so badly that they never raise their head again. So far our governments have been very weak and soft towards the Maoists and have sought appeasement. It is now time to crush them with whatever means that are necessary. Be it the para military or the armed forces themselves. Today Naxalism is a greater enemy than the Al Qaida terrorists and it is growing by the day. Mr. Chidambaram is perfectly capable of doing so, but for this he needs support from all sides. Our narrow minded politicians are trying their level best to derail his efforts. Sometimes I even wonder if these might be on the payroll of the Maoists.

The Turmoil

Our India has changed significantly over the past few months. Every other day a new scam surfaces and each one seems to have originated at the highest levels of the government. Then we have a hyper active media who has become the accuser the prosecutor and the judge. Then we have our so called representatives from civil society trying to hold the government at ransom at every opportunity. We have a judiciary which wants to take over the executive powers from the Executive and legislature and then we have the government which seems to be in shell shock. Ministers are in limbo and because of the turmoil the governance seems to have come to a standstill. On top of all these problems we have the common man’s woes like rising fuel, gas and food prices.

When you sit back and try to analyse each of these events, one is not sure if to derive good or bad from these developments. In the past umpteen scandals have taken place, corruption has been rampant, yet one has not seen any action taken against the offenders. We would hear of a CBI raid or an income tax raid or a Lok Ayukta raid only to later find the concerned official back in business, after a few months once the public memory had faded. However, this time some of the guys (ministers and businessmen) at the top who until recently seemed untouchable and above law are now cooling their heels in jail. Some say they are unfairly detained without bail whereas others insist that they are detained correctly, so that they do not influence the investigations. Once they are prosecuted we will know the truth and the depth of their involvement or innocence in the many scams. It is due to the media which has played a major role in exposing these scams that these individuals are today behind bars. The media did a good job by keeping up the pressure on the government, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to act and also in keeping public memory alive. Many praise the media, yet others are very critical. Some say that the media has overstepped and gone too far.

Coming back to our judiciary, they seem to have taken over the administrative powers from the government. There seems to be a gross interference in administration and they pass everyday orders to the government on what it should do, how it should function and what it should not do. Is this really the role of the judiciary as per the constitution? I would like to believe it is not. Yet sometimes one feels that the government has willingly let the judiciary take up its role for fear of censure from the public and the media. I do not think this is good for our democracy where each institution has its own role cut out and for our democracy to function we need all pillars to work in cohesion, smoothly, independently without encroaching on each others’ powers and responsibilities.

Agitations and fasts by the so called representatives of the civil society seem to be the latest fashion in India. These self appointed representatives take great pleasure in holding the government at ransom. They claim to be representing the whole of civil society, whereas I would like to state categorically that they do not represent me and I do not support many of their demands. There are millions of silent citizens like me who are watching these unfolding events with great disgust. The motto of these leaders is MY WAY IS THE HIGHWAY and anyone who differs from their point of view is looked upon as a lackey of the corrupt government or a person with vested interests. If you look at the background of these leaders, we will find that all of them have an axe to grind with the government. There are bringing forth these prejudices from the past and using the weapon of the common gullible citizen to get even with the government. Their latest demand is for a Lok Pal with extra constitutional authority. They say that the government is corrupt, the Prime Minster is corrupt, the judiciary is corrupt, law enforcement agencies are corrupt and so they want a Lok Pal to sit on top of all these institutions. I would like to ask who this Lop Pal is ?. Is he going to be a super natural being sent from the heavens? I guess not unless these guys have made a deal with God. The Lok Pal will be another person from amongst us and so what guarantee do we have that he will be clean and neutral. What guarantee do we have that he will not come with his private agenda and go about doing a witch hunt?. WHO WILL THEN LOK PAL THE LOK PAL?. What kind of checks and balances will be put in place on this extra constitutional authority. Do our self appointed representatives have an answer?.

We also saw many celebrities jumping the bandwagon and dancing on stage extending their support for this anti corruption drive. Since this is the latest fashion and everyone wants free exposure, so why not?. Unfortunately many of our stars have been raided or sent notices for tax evasion or income tax default in the not so recent past. Is it not easy to preach to others when you do not follow what you preach. You don’t mind paying a bribe to the tax official to reduce your house tax, your land tax, your income tax as long as it benefits you, but then you go out and slam the government, the public officials for practising corruption. Little do you understand that prevention of corruption is a responsibility of each and every citizen and it begins with you and from your home.

Unfortunately due of all these unfolding events governance has taken a back seat. The ministers do not want to take any action as they are scared to act because of the scrutiny from the media and civil society. It is believed that hundreds of files are lying unattended as no official seems to be interested in taking any action as each and every action when taken is deemed suspect and motives are attached to every action. Just look at the PIL filed against the Telcom minister last week. It reeks of vendetta. The litigant is one of the self appointed representatives of civil society and has brought forth his private grudge against the minister in this PIL. That the Supreme court has set it aside is another matter.

The ministry has been reshuffled now and the Prime Minister seems more purposeful now and hopefully governance will once again take predominance. With time I hope that this love for agitations and confrontations will end and both the civil society and the opposition parties will understand their responsibilities. As of the now the opposition has ceded its role to the self appointed civil society leaders. The media too has to be irresponsible sometimes. However, there are several instances of good being done by the media in waking up the dormant public conscience. It has made both the government and judiciary act decisively on many issues. It now needs to step back a bit and restrict itself to its assigned role of creating awareness and not passing judgements and ordering the established institutions on what they should do and what they should not. Each has a role to play and if that is understood then there is nothing to worry about the future.

Bury the scoundrels !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very nice suggestion, in case the CWG games are called off, and that is to fill up the J.N stadium to its capacity and in full view of a packed stadium bury both these scoundrels Kalmadi and Bhanot up to their necks in concrete, and let them rot there. By this noble act the full shame that these two corrupt crooks have brought on our nation will never go away, but at least those of us who are seething inside will find some peace with the sense that at least some justice is being done.

By his stupid remarks on television watched by the whole world, Bhanot has confirmed that he pisses in his own living room and sleeps on beds soiled by dogs. That is his standard and personal life style and he is very smug and happy about it. We the nation of India do not have any objections to his life style and his standard of living, but saying that his standard of hygine is the same as the rest of India is disgusting. He should be hanged for this. He has announced to the world that we proud Indians are filthy and live the way that he does.I don't think anyone of us can ever forget him for this.

The rest of the world has already written of the Commonwealth games and for all of us Indians it is the tragedy of this century, when all of us helplessly watched a small group of men swindling crores and crores of rupees, enhancing their personal wealth and putting all of us to shame.

When Judas' rule the day

Once upon a time in ancient times
Lived a man named Judas
Seemed Humble but was wily,
Was always there ready to please
Joined the Lord and played his wiles
And became one of the chosen twelve.

As one of the chosen twelve
He lived and shared life with the Lord
Always professing love and eternal devotion
He followed him wherever he went
And, to all around there was no one
As devoted and as humble as he.

But, all the while his heart was cold
Scheming and making plans to betray,
His master and Lord, in the most heinous way
For a few pieces of silver
He did it in the end
With just a HUG and a KISS.

Just a hug and a kiss mean so much
To so many in this world today
True love and feelings of loved ones
Who mean and care so much
Are swept aside and forgotten when the Judas’
Encircle you with hugs and kisses.

Oh ! these sweet hugs and kisses of betrayal
Seem to blind so many around us
While true love and feelings from their loved ones
That are so profound and true are ignored.
But true love sustains in the end
From all these assaults of hugs and kisses.

Why do bonds of love and relationships
Have to go through such pain and sufferings?
Why not the victims who are our loved ones ever realise
The existence of so many Judas’
Who lure and blind them today, will tomorrow
Will only betray with a hugs and a kisses.

As he once did our Lord.

Conspiracy theories

The Pakistani match fixing scandal story is running on expected lines. Their High Commissioner based in London is on a fast track mode to destroy whatever little credibility is left. The disease of cover ups, be it in politics, on terrorism and now in sport seems to only spread rather than subside. Every utterance coming out of the mouths of the Pakistani officials only makes the world laugh. Unfortunately sane voices of people like Imran Khan and others who played the game with passion and pride are quashed. I do not think any international side would like to play cricket with Pakistan any longer because the cheats seem to have taken over the game there. With each passing day the number of suspects in the team is rising and the officials instead of addressing the issue are burning the midnight oil to come out with innovative theories of international conspiracies against Pakistan. They don’t realise that these silly cover up stories have gone stale and nobody believes in them any longer. The High Commissioner would have been better off writing suspense thrillers instead of being the country’s diplomat.

As usual the first finger is always pointed at India and in this case also at the ICC, and the rats which had all drowned in the recent floods have re surfaced in the High Commissoner’s closet, as he has stated that he is smelling a rat.........hahahahaha.. He is yet to understand how deep this crisis is for Pakistan cricket is and therefore should be immediately removed from any position involved in conducting enquiries and investigations related to this scandal. Each minute of his continuing will take Pakistan another step downhill. People like Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Abdul Khadir should be immediately brought in with instructions to come down on all those guilty with a iron hand. Never mind if the entire team is sacked. It is no longer a situation of being innocent until proven guilty, but guilty until proven innocent. That is the one and only hope for Pakistan cricket or else it is goodbye. And this would also destroy all sport in Pakistan.