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 ups 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.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Match fixing and cricket
Over a decade ago the match fixing scandal in cricket almost destroyed the game. A lot of prominent cricketers like Azharuddin, Jadeja, Manoj prabhakar, Salim malik, Hansie Cronje to name a few saw an abrupt end to their careers. Since then slowly the scar seemed to have faded and the game of cricket seemed to have come out of its worst ever crisis. The ICC formed an anti corruption unit and these retired law enforcement officials appointed by the ICC seemed to keep a close watch on all matches and players, and have things under control.
Yet every now and again murmurs were being heard and fingers were being pointed mostly at the Pakistan players and at times others like the West Indians. Various investigations have being held now and then, the most serious being the one after the death of Bob woolmer, when a section of the world press said that he was done away with since he knew too much. The Pakistani board more than once conducted investigations of their own, suspended many a player , only to bring them back a few months later citing lack of evidence or misunderstanding or language problems.
But over the past week the scandal seems to have returned with a vengeance like the plague of ancient times. Nobody now knows where all this will lead to. To cricket lovers like me the whole thing brings a very bad taste in the mouth. I don’t know which one of the matches that I have passionately watched over the years sometime losing sleep, sometimes missing work, sometimes missing holidays are real and which ones are fixed. If all the matches that I have watched have been fixed then I would be better off switching to watching WWF wrestling on TV from now on. It also builds a rage within that me and I am sure with all the other cricket lovers across the world that we have been taken for a royal ride by these fake stars, who in my opinion will not hesitate to sell their own mothers for a few additional pennies.
Look at the wages and the endorsements that each one of them are getting these days, look at the life style of these cricketers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West indies where the majority of the population lives below poverty line.They live in lavish bungalows, drive about in the latest cars and yet they have to sell their own souls for a few additional bucks. In my rage sometimes, I seem to blame the whole lot of players, but deep within I would still like to believe that the Gavaskars, Tendulakars and Dravids whom I have worshipped all these years are beyond this. But again if there are one or two worms in a team of 11, it will reflect on the entire team and taint the country.
The Aussies today are sympathizing with some of these crooks and passing statements like their culture has driven them to do it. Is it not shameful to come upon such comments? A country that came into existence just around 200 years ago, pointing at our culture which began with the Indus valley civilization. We who first civilized the world now have to listen to lectures on culture and upbringing from these upstarts and descendants of re settled convicts.
I fully endorse the summons issued by the Lahore High court and filing cases of treason against these tainted players. Their act is nothing less than treason and should be dealt with severely. However, going by previous instances one does not see anything positive coming out of it. Some of the ministers in Pakistan have already begun working on conspiracy theories to ward of public opinion and anger. This as always is the most convenient excuse. Whenever there is an internal problem, blame it on external conspiracies and hide the dirt under the carpet. Unfortunately for Pakistan the dirt has become a mound and may soon grow into a mountain. Don’t be surprised if you see these players suspended for a few months and then brought back next year for the world cup to play more havoc in the cricketing world. In a land of adjustments and percentages anything can happen. Not so long ago the current president himself had a nickname of Mr. 10 percent.
Yet every now and again murmurs were being heard and fingers were being pointed mostly at the Pakistan players and at times others like the West Indians. Various investigations have being held now and then, the most serious being the one after the death of Bob woolmer, when a section of the world press said that he was done away with since he knew too much. The Pakistani board more than once conducted investigations of their own, suspended many a player , only to bring them back a few months later citing lack of evidence or misunderstanding or language problems.
But over the past week the scandal seems to have returned with a vengeance like the plague of ancient times. Nobody now knows where all this will lead to. To cricket lovers like me the whole thing brings a very bad taste in the mouth. I don’t know which one of the matches that I have passionately watched over the years sometime losing sleep, sometimes missing work, sometimes missing holidays are real and which ones are fixed. If all the matches that I have watched have been fixed then I would be better off switching to watching WWF wrestling on TV from now on. It also builds a rage within that me and I am sure with all the other cricket lovers across the world that we have been taken for a royal ride by these fake stars, who in my opinion will not hesitate to sell their own mothers for a few additional pennies.
Look at the wages and the endorsements that each one of them are getting these days, look at the life style of these cricketers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West indies where the majority of the population lives below poverty line.They live in lavish bungalows, drive about in the latest cars and yet they have to sell their own souls for a few additional bucks. In my rage sometimes, I seem to blame the whole lot of players, but deep within I would still like to believe that the Gavaskars, Tendulakars and Dravids whom I have worshipped all these years are beyond this. But again if there are one or two worms in a team of 11, it will reflect on the entire team and taint the country.
The Aussies today are sympathizing with some of these crooks and passing statements like their culture has driven them to do it. Is it not shameful to come upon such comments? A country that came into existence just around 200 years ago, pointing at our culture which began with the Indus valley civilization. We who first civilized the world now have to listen to lectures on culture and upbringing from these upstarts and descendants of re settled convicts.
I fully endorse the summons issued by the Lahore High court and filing cases of treason against these tainted players. Their act is nothing less than treason and should be dealt with severely. However, going by previous instances one does not see anything positive coming out of it. Some of the ministers in Pakistan have already begun working on conspiracy theories to ward of public opinion and anger. This as always is the most convenient excuse. Whenever there is an internal problem, blame it on external conspiracies and hide the dirt under the carpet. Unfortunately for Pakistan the dirt has become a mound and may soon grow into a mountain. Don’t be surprised if you see these players suspended for a few months and then brought back next year for the world cup to play more havoc in the cricketing world. In a land of adjustments and percentages anything can happen. Not so long ago the current president himself had a nickname of Mr. 10 percent.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The story goes on
Back in January 2010 about 8 months ago, I had written on the pathetic state of Indian sport. Looking at the situation with the CWG today my posting came in 8 months too early.
Since January things have not improved one bit, instead have deteriorated further. We have an 80 plus lady heading Hockey India, simply because the controlling mafia does not want to see change and bring in a new person who could expose the skeletons in the cupboard. The Hockey coach has put up his hands in surrender saying that he has lost and our corrupt system has won. Suresh Kalmadi the chief destroyer of Indian sport shamelessly continues in his post and also keep interfering in every other sport. The country has been put to shame by the actions of Kalmadi and his chelas and internationally we have become laughing stocks. He will never quit his post until he physically dragged and thrown out.
Anyway why should he?. As a businessman he combines his personal foreign business trips along with those of the Olympic association and puts to use the money supposed to be spent on the welfare of sport for his personal needs. Expensive wine flows at the sports annual meets in five star hotels while at the same time the athletes do not get paid their wages and allowances. They do not get proper diet in camps. Millions of dollars have been siphoned off during the past few years which were meant for infrastructure development for the CWG. Everybody in Kalamdi’s group has made money and are sitting cosy.
Last year our minister of sports proposed limited tenures for heads of sports bodies. This was a right proposal and everyone should have supported it. Kalmadi started screaming and crying then, but no other MP came forward in support of the sports minister, because lots of politicians cutting across party lines are heading various sports bodies and they too did not want to lose their positions. Even though I am not a great fan of Mani Shankar Aiyar, I must agree that what he says about the CWG and Indian sport is true. Be very clear that these games will in no way help improve Indian sport. They will only succeed in making Kalmadi and his chamchas richer. In the end we will be left with sub standard infrastructure which will eventually rot and wither. Kalmadi and his chelas will continue ruling Indian sport and taking it further and further down.................what a waste.
Since January things have not improved one bit, instead have deteriorated further. We have an 80 plus lady heading Hockey India, simply because the controlling mafia does not want to see change and bring in a new person who could expose the skeletons in the cupboard. The Hockey coach has put up his hands in surrender saying that he has lost and our corrupt system has won. Suresh Kalmadi the chief destroyer of Indian sport shamelessly continues in his post and also keep interfering in every other sport. The country has been put to shame by the actions of Kalmadi and his chelas and internationally we have become laughing stocks. He will never quit his post until he physically dragged and thrown out.
Anyway why should he?. As a businessman he combines his personal foreign business trips along with those of the Olympic association and puts to use the money supposed to be spent on the welfare of sport for his personal needs. Expensive wine flows at the sports annual meets in five star hotels while at the same time the athletes do not get paid their wages and allowances. They do not get proper diet in camps. Millions of dollars have been siphoned off during the past few years which were meant for infrastructure development for the CWG. Everybody in Kalamdi’s group has made money and are sitting cosy.
Last year our minister of sports proposed limited tenures for heads of sports bodies. This was a right proposal and everyone should have supported it. Kalmadi started screaming and crying then, but no other MP came forward in support of the sports minister, because lots of politicians cutting across party lines are heading various sports bodies and they too did not want to lose their positions. Even though I am not a great fan of Mani Shankar Aiyar, I must agree that what he says about the CWG and Indian sport is true. Be very clear that these games will in no way help improve Indian sport. They will only succeed in making Kalmadi and his chamchas richer. In the end we will be left with sub standard infrastructure which will eventually rot and wither. Kalmadi and his chelas will continue ruling Indian sport and taking it further and further down.................what a waste.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The pathetic state of indian sport
We have just now witnessed the war between the Indian hockey players and the association, wherein the players finally won. They won not because of the magnanimity of the association, but due to the huge public outcry and the contributions made by some business houses to pay the players dues. If not for the public outcry the association would have continued to bully the players and then chosen a Z grade to represent India at the world cup. Who in the association cares as long as he / she gets his airlines tickets, 5 star hotel stay and daily parties wherever the association meetings are held. They have money for all this, but have nothing to pay the players.
What the players did this time was perfectly right and perfectly timed. Crudely we can say that the players had the association by the balls. It is also highly commendable that the media and the public stood behind the players and put and end to this nonsense quickly.
This particular situation is not restricted only to Hockey. All Indian sports including athletics, wrestling, archery, boxing, football suffer from the same. A few years ago when Mr Shahnawaz Hussain was the sports minister glimpses of a party of the athletic association of India in a five star hotel were shown on TV. Most of the attendees were having a gala time drinking expensive liquor and posing blatantly in front of cameras. Yet this same association said that they did not have the money to pay for the athletes food and milk while they were undergoing training in camps. There are no modern stadia anywhere in the country, no infrastructure, and not even the basic needs of the players and athletes and sportsmen are met. Nobody is able to answer as to where the millions of rupees sanctioned in the annual budget towards national sports go. And nobody cares to find out.
Most of the heads and administrators of these sports bodies have had nothing to do with sport in their lives. They are politicians who have somehow sneaked their way into these bodies and hijacked them, to gain status, free foreign trips with families, eat, drink and make merry in 5 star hotels all the while when Indian sport has been dying a slow and painful death.
Even though the cricket board is rich with tonnes of money, its board members do all kinds of nonsense except promoting the game of cricket. They have turned the sport into business as the Income Tax commissioner has herself pointed out in today’s newspapers. Where is the effort by the board to promote test cricket which is the purest form of cricket. In fact if they have their way, no test cricket will be played in 5 years time. Our heroes in the board will see to it.
A wrong perception has been spread around by vested interests saying that former sportspersons cannot run the game because they lack administrative and management skills, but the state of Indian sport clearly shows as to how the so called people with administrative and management skills have destroyed all sport in the country over 60 years. Yet they don’t want to give up.
However all is not lost yet and we can change this negative situation into a positive one. We have a media today which is alert and active and this hockey episode conveys a very positive message that the general public along with media support can change things. We must somehow all join together and with the help of the media sweep away all these parasites that are running Indian sport today. They simply are not fit to occupy these positions. It should be seen that senior sports men from the past who have represented the country occupy all important positions in all sports bodies. They can hire professionals to manage money and administration. This will bring back passion and interest. Strong sports bodies who have sport at heart will surely encourage young people to take up sport seriously. With proper management and accountability industrial houses will surely come forward and contribute towards the betterment of Indian sport. Today they are discouraged in doing so because they see their money going down the drain, as it is being swallowed by corrupt officials. If all this happens we will surely see a positive change happening in Indian sport is less than 5 years. I for one am 100% sure.
What the players did this time was perfectly right and perfectly timed. Crudely we can say that the players had the association by the balls. It is also highly commendable that the media and the public stood behind the players and put and end to this nonsense quickly.
This particular situation is not restricted only to Hockey. All Indian sports including athletics, wrestling, archery, boxing, football suffer from the same. A few years ago when Mr Shahnawaz Hussain was the sports minister glimpses of a party of the athletic association of India in a five star hotel were shown on TV. Most of the attendees were having a gala time drinking expensive liquor and posing blatantly in front of cameras. Yet this same association said that they did not have the money to pay for the athletes food and milk while they were undergoing training in camps. There are no modern stadia anywhere in the country, no infrastructure, and not even the basic needs of the players and athletes and sportsmen are met. Nobody is able to answer as to where the millions of rupees sanctioned in the annual budget towards national sports go. And nobody cares to find out.
Most of the heads and administrators of these sports bodies have had nothing to do with sport in their lives. They are politicians who have somehow sneaked their way into these bodies and hijacked them, to gain status, free foreign trips with families, eat, drink and make merry in 5 star hotels all the while when Indian sport has been dying a slow and painful death.
Even though the cricket board is rich with tonnes of money, its board members do all kinds of nonsense except promoting the game of cricket. They have turned the sport into business as the Income Tax commissioner has herself pointed out in today’s newspapers. Where is the effort by the board to promote test cricket which is the purest form of cricket. In fact if they have their way, no test cricket will be played in 5 years time. Our heroes in the board will see to it.
A wrong perception has been spread around by vested interests saying that former sportspersons cannot run the game because they lack administrative and management skills, but the state of Indian sport clearly shows as to how the so called people with administrative and management skills have destroyed all sport in the country over 60 years. Yet they don’t want to give up.
However all is not lost yet and we can change this negative situation into a positive one. We have a media today which is alert and active and this hockey episode conveys a very positive message that the general public along with media support can change things. We must somehow all join together and with the help of the media sweep away all these parasites that are running Indian sport today. They simply are not fit to occupy these positions. It should be seen that senior sports men from the past who have represented the country occupy all important positions in all sports bodies. They can hire professionals to manage money and administration. This will bring back passion and interest. Strong sports bodies who have sport at heart will surely encourage young people to take up sport seriously. With proper management and accountability industrial houses will surely come forward and contribute towards the betterment of Indian sport. Today they are discouraged in doing so because they see their money going down the drain, as it is being swallowed by corrupt officials. If all this happens we will surely see a positive change happening in Indian sport is less than 5 years. I for one am 100% sure.
Monday, January 11, 2010
I sympathize with Mr Devegowda & family
The recent outburst by Mr Devegowda against Mr Yeddi the Chief Minister of Karnataka is understandable and one ought to sympathize with him.
A man who held power for long either directly or through proxy is somehow not able to digest the fact that he is no longer in power and not able to influence anyone either in the state or at the national level.
Even though he and his family have accumulated enough wealth over the years both through fair and foul means, these days the money making machines have run dry and without money the Gowda family does not know how to run the party ar create trouble in the state.
He had banked hopes first and was very confident on being a king maker at the national level with his single digit number of MP's and was making loud noises at the time of the general elections. He was very confident that the congress would come to him with a begging bowl for support. In the end all his plans bit the dust. His son was seen sneaking into Mrs Sonia Gandhi's house covering his face, the purpose of which was to beg for a ministerial berth. The congress plainly said NOTHING DOING.
The next plan was to bring down the Yeddi government through some crooked means and with the congress support. But this venture too seems to have failed after how the Gowda gang backstabbed both the congress and the BJP the last time. The congress is in no mood to extend any support to the Gowda clan as they have seen enough of this family in the past.
Today this family has become untouchable and a laughing stock in the state. Added to this is the likelihood of losing large chunks of illgotten land along the Bangalore Mysore corridor if the project goes ahead, has simply driven the senior Gowda out of control and he does not seem to have control over his senses.
Therefore i fully understand his outbursts and what is going on within him. After decades in politics failure stares at him during his final years, and he is simply not able to digest this fact. The ghost of Ramakrishna Hegde seems to be haunting him now.
It is therefore time for him to quit politics and retire and also for his sons and family to follow him. There are many other business opportunities available in today's progressive India and they should choose some other option for themselves and not politics. Their presence in politics has only brought misery upon themselves and the citizens of Karnataka.
A man who held power for long either directly or through proxy is somehow not able to digest the fact that he is no longer in power and not able to influence anyone either in the state or at the national level.
Even though he and his family have accumulated enough wealth over the years both through fair and foul means, these days the money making machines have run dry and without money the Gowda family does not know how to run the party ar create trouble in the state.
He had banked hopes first and was very confident on being a king maker at the national level with his single digit number of MP's and was making loud noises at the time of the general elections. He was very confident that the congress would come to him with a begging bowl for support. In the end all his plans bit the dust. His son was seen sneaking into Mrs Sonia Gandhi's house covering his face, the purpose of which was to beg for a ministerial berth. The congress plainly said NOTHING DOING.
The next plan was to bring down the Yeddi government through some crooked means and with the congress support. But this venture too seems to have failed after how the Gowda gang backstabbed both the congress and the BJP the last time. The congress is in no mood to extend any support to the Gowda clan as they have seen enough of this family in the past.
Today this family has become untouchable and a laughing stock in the state. Added to this is the likelihood of losing large chunks of illgotten land along the Bangalore Mysore corridor if the project goes ahead, has simply driven the senior Gowda out of control and he does not seem to have control over his senses.
Therefore i fully understand his outbursts and what is going on within him. After decades in politics failure stares at him during his final years, and he is simply not able to digest this fact. The ghost of Ramakrishna Hegde seems to be haunting him now.
It is therefore time for him to quit politics and retire and also for his sons and family to follow him. There are many other business opportunities available in today's progressive India and they should choose some other option for themselves and not politics. Their presence in politics has only brought misery upon themselves and the citizens of Karnataka.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Narendra Modi's proposal
I am not a fan of Narendra Modi, and feel that he should be made answerable for the Gujarat riots where he had direct responsibility. However, I wholly welcome his latest proposal to make voting compulsory for elections to local bodies.
A couple of months ago immediately after the general elections, I had written on my blog on the low voter turnout in major cities in the general elections. Our armchair citizens who find fault with everything and anything related to government affairs and politics, spent the election day holiday in attending picnics and parties instead of going out and voting. Their don’t care attitude is the biggest blot on our democracy.
To put an end to this nonsense what Mr Modi is suggesting should be welcomed by all well meaning citizens of the country. Democracy is not a joke, and the rights and liberties that it gives should be respected and cherished by all. An eligible voter who opts to stay away from voting should be imposed a hefty penalty. There are many types of penalties that can succeed in putting sense into the heads of our non caring citizens and make them responsible for the state of affairs of the country.
Globe trotters could have their passports confiscated for 6 months as punishment. People belonging to the middle income and low income groups who do not exercise their franchise could have their monthly rations cancelled. Non voters should also be prevented from availing any government services for a fixed period as penalty. These are some of my suggestions if Mr Modi is listening.
Political parties who oppose the BJP and what Mr Modi is trying to implement should seriously sit together and see as to how quickly this law could be implemented nationwide and applies to all state and national elections. Today they are simply opposing the idea because it has come from Modi, and this is wrong. Instead of opposing the idea, it should be supported fully.
A person who does not vote is indirectly an enemy of the nation, as he does not participate in nation building by helping elect the right persons to govern the country. A person by not voting is indirectly helping criminals, goons and corrupt individuals to gain power and destroy the nation. Such a person is a turncoat in my eyes and therefore should be penalized. He has therefore no business to find fault or complain. He loses all his rights in the process.
Go on Narendra Modi………….Even though I do not like you personally for your role in the riots, I wholeheartedly support you on this issue
A couple of months ago immediately after the general elections, I had written on my blog on the low voter turnout in major cities in the general elections. Our armchair citizens who find fault with everything and anything related to government affairs and politics, spent the election day holiday in attending picnics and parties instead of going out and voting. Their don’t care attitude is the biggest blot on our democracy.
To put an end to this nonsense what Mr Modi is suggesting should be welcomed by all well meaning citizens of the country. Democracy is not a joke, and the rights and liberties that it gives should be respected and cherished by all. An eligible voter who opts to stay away from voting should be imposed a hefty penalty. There are many types of penalties that can succeed in putting sense into the heads of our non caring citizens and make them responsible for the state of affairs of the country.
Globe trotters could have their passports confiscated for 6 months as punishment. People belonging to the middle income and low income groups who do not exercise their franchise could have their monthly rations cancelled. Non voters should also be prevented from availing any government services for a fixed period as penalty. These are some of my suggestions if Mr Modi is listening.
Political parties who oppose the BJP and what Mr Modi is trying to implement should seriously sit together and see as to how quickly this law could be implemented nationwide and applies to all state and national elections. Today they are simply opposing the idea because it has come from Modi, and this is wrong. Instead of opposing the idea, it should be supported fully.
A person who does not vote is indirectly an enemy of the nation, as he does not participate in nation building by helping elect the right persons to govern the country. A person by not voting is indirectly helping criminals, goons and corrupt individuals to gain power and destroy the nation. Such a person is a turncoat in my eyes and therefore should be penalized. He has therefore no business to find fault or complain. He loses all his rights in the process.
Go on Narendra Modi………….Even though I do not like you personally for your role in the riots, I wholeheartedly support you on this issue
Monday, November 16, 2009
National unity A gift from the British
The language issue is again being raised in Maharastra. Vande Mataram is again a subject of debate. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh first says that Biharis and UP citizens are not welcome in Madhya Pradesh and then retracts his statement under pressure. We then talk of national unity, patriotism, communal harmony, and yet religion, caste, languages and social status continue to divide us. Some groups keep harping about Hindutva and each rightist organization depending on the level of extremism it practices gives a different meaning to Hindutva. A moderate has his view and an extremist his. Nobody has yet been able to give a unanimous view or opinion on this subject.
History being my favourite subject since school days, an interesting thought crossed my mind a few days ago. Having read Indian history from ancient times, I realised that India had never been united from the times of the Indus valley civilization until the British arrived at our shores. We have had dynasties ruling the sub continent like the Mauryas, Kushans, Guptas followed by the Khiljis, Tughlaq’s and the Moghuls, just to name a few. But at no time in history was our country one in terms of territory. Even rulers like Shivaji whom many look as the symbol of unity ruled a small portion of the subcontinent. The entire subcontinent consisted of various kingdoms ruled by different rulers who spent most of their time fighting against each other in trying their increase their land area, and no dynasty however powerful lasted more than a couple of hundred years.
Things only changed since the British arrived at our shores. It is they who began annexing territory after territory vanquishing the local kings and lords and uniting the entire land mass from Afghanistan to Burma and beyond and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, except for a few enclaves that were held by the French and the Portuguese. They streamlined the administrative and the taxation system, built roads and railways, improved connectivity and thereby united the entire sub continent into one India.
I definitely will not say that this unity was brought about by the British out of love for India. They did it out of their own self interests and for better administrative purposes. Yet this arrangement sowed the seeds of unity and helped our leaders of the freedom movement take forward their resistance towards foreign rule. It united the people of the entire sub continent as one to fight for independence. The very instruments of state which were created by the British helped our leaders intensify and finally win the struggle for independence. The British who were always known for their policy of divide and rule, unwittingly unified a nation and invited defeat upon themselves in the end. Just imagine what it would have been today, had the British sat back as overseers, just collecting dues and royalties and had left the administration and rule to the hundreds of Kings and Nawabs in the subcontinent. Some of us would still have been under british rule and others would have been part of a nation called a Tamil Nadu, a Bengal, a Mysore, a Maharastra, a Punjab and so on. Would that have been better? Would we still have our communal divisions? Would we be having frequent wars with each other?. Very difficult to say, but very easy to assume, with our inborn skills of fighting with each other for no rhyme nor reason at times.
The present scenario too does not give out any positive vibes. Each day we hear stories of more divisions. None of us think about the nation, nor do we care. We follow our respective religions like fanatics, trying to impose our wills on the next person and branding any person who does not follow our practices as a fanatic and an enemy and not as a fellow Indian. Each of us thinks of our own local language is superior than that of others, and beat up the guy next to us if he happens to speak in another language. We equate patriotism and nationalism simply to singing a song and call a few others who don’t happen to like that song as traitors. Some of our elected leaders who happened to be children of sweepers just five years ago, seem to possess wealth worth Millions of Dollars in foreign banks today. Nothing wrong in being a sweeper’s son, nor in becoming rich, but it is the way in which this wealth has been acquired We do not ask them from where all of it came from. Just a few people with political connections loot our mineral and forest resources with blanket permissions from our governments. We do nothing, but simply sit back and watch all this happen. For politicians or a party, only the number of votes they can secure in the next elections matters and towards this end religion, caste, languages etc are used as weapons to divide and polarize people. Our enemies from across our borders need to hardly invest any time or money is destroying us. We ourselves are very busy doing that.
For how long will our nation be united? It is very difficult to say, but our collective and over zealous efforts seem to be hastening that possibility. But there is no need to worry. The British or the Americans can once again be called back to re-unite us. Has not history proved that?
History being my favourite subject since school days, an interesting thought crossed my mind a few days ago. Having read Indian history from ancient times, I realised that India had never been united from the times of the Indus valley civilization until the British arrived at our shores. We have had dynasties ruling the sub continent like the Mauryas, Kushans, Guptas followed by the Khiljis, Tughlaq’s and the Moghuls, just to name a few. But at no time in history was our country one in terms of territory. Even rulers like Shivaji whom many look as the symbol of unity ruled a small portion of the subcontinent. The entire subcontinent consisted of various kingdoms ruled by different rulers who spent most of their time fighting against each other in trying their increase their land area, and no dynasty however powerful lasted more than a couple of hundred years.
Things only changed since the British arrived at our shores. It is they who began annexing territory after territory vanquishing the local kings and lords and uniting the entire land mass from Afghanistan to Burma and beyond and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, except for a few enclaves that were held by the French and the Portuguese. They streamlined the administrative and the taxation system, built roads and railways, improved connectivity and thereby united the entire sub continent into one India.
I definitely will not say that this unity was brought about by the British out of love for India. They did it out of their own self interests and for better administrative purposes. Yet this arrangement sowed the seeds of unity and helped our leaders of the freedom movement take forward their resistance towards foreign rule. It united the people of the entire sub continent as one to fight for independence. The very instruments of state which were created by the British helped our leaders intensify and finally win the struggle for independence. The British who were always known for their policy of divide and rule, unwittingly unified a nation and invited defeat upon themselves in the end. Just imagine what it would have been today, had the British sat back as overseers, just collecting dues and royalties and had left the administration and rule to the hundreds of Kings and Nawabs in the subcontinent. Some of us would still have been under british rule and others would have been part of a nation called a Tamil Nadu, a Bengal, a Mysore, a Maharastra, a Punjab and so on. Would that have been better? Would we still have our communal divisions? Would we be having frequent wars with each other?. Very difficult to say, but very easy to assume, with our inborn skills of fighting with each other for no rhyme nor reason at times.
The present scenario too does not give out any positive vibes. Each day we hear stories of more divisions. None of us think about the nation, nor do we care. We follow our respective religions like fanatics, trying to impose our wills on the next person and branding any person who does not follow our practices as a fanatic and an enemy and not as a fellow Indian. Each of us thinks of our own local language is superior than that of others, and beat up the guy next to us if he happens to speak in another language. We equate patriotism and nationalism simply to singing a song and call a few others who don’t happen to like that song as traitors. Some of our elected leaders who happened to be children of sweepers just five years ago, seem to possess wealth worth Millions of Dollars in foreign banks today. Nothing wrong in being a sweeper’s son, nor in becoming rich, but it is the way in which this wealth has been acquired We do not ask them from where all of it came from. Just a few people with political connections loot our mineral and forest resources with blanket permissions from our governments. We do nothing, but simply sit back and watch all this happen. For politicians or a party, only the number of votes they can secure in the next elections matters and towards this end religion, caste, languages etc are used as weapons to divide and polarize people. Our enemies from across our borders need to hardly invest any time or money is destroying us. We ourselves are very busy doing that.
For how long will our nation be united? It is very difficult to say, but our collective and over zealous efforts seem to be hastening that possibility. But there is no need to worry. The British or the Americans can once again be called back to re-unite us. Has not history proved that?
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