Singur issue - The big picture

What is happening in Singur is the left getting a taste of their own medicine. It was a kind of project that the left would have opposed any time. The whole Singur issue has given me a new found respect for the left. Its well known that the left often holds various issues for ransom(they hold the country at ransom), but they wind up their agitation in a decent way. Either they would have gone for a compromise formula or they would have got a promise of a compromise formula. Either way the damage they cause compared to what Mamatha Banerjee has caused is insignificant. What she has done in Singur is illogical. If she had done the whole agitation in a proper way, she would have got maximum political mileage from it. Unfortunately for her she overdid it big time. Rite now a part of West Bengal and India is very angry with her. This was a golden opportunity for her to get maximum seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections and other future elections and she blew it in the sense, the kind of advantage she had a couple of months back has reduced. Holding a state for ransom and not even thinking about the notion of a compromise is socially, politically and economically unacceptable. I do agree that the farmers should get a fair deal but what she has done is quite insane. 

Apart form the politicians there are a bunch of environmentalist and social workers who are against this project. I am a person who is deeply concerned with global warming, soil erosion and other environmental issues. But nation has to progress and its far more better economically and environmentally to give farm land instead of forest land for setting up industries. Comparatively a large area in our country consists of farm land and it’s high time that we focused more of intensive agriculture. The environmentalist will always have a rigid stand and they have valid reasons for it, even if some of it is paranoia, we need such people so that we are reminded about the hazards of irresponsible industrialization. I believe any more deforestation is unacceptable and the only way out her is to give farm land.

Now coming to the bigger issue. The seizure of land by the government for development is something that will happen. The entire land belongs to the state and the state has the right to take the land for its citizens for the greater good of the society. The state is expected to pay compensation to the citizens but to expect "fair" compensation is unrealistic simply because the state doesn’t have enough money. "Reasonable" compensation is what should be expected. I agree that when it happens to you one would find it really unfair. Unfortunately for the development of the state such things are required. Without such seizers there wouldn’t be national highways, rail roads, airports etc.  For the greater good of the society such things are bound to happen in the future. To keep on agitating and causing violence each and every time this happens is ridiculous. The only solution to this problem is all political parties coming to a consensus which is something very unrealistic. Hence my only hope is, even if there are agitations it would not be taken as far as what Mamtha Banarjee did. 

PS: When Mamatha Banarjee was the railways minister she has misplaced many people and the kind of compensation that they got was equivalent to pocket change compared to what people in Singur are getting. This incident again proves to us all that politicians are hypocrites

Where are we heading to

Yet another bomb blast in India, that too in the national capital. Is our national security that hopeless that no Indian can feel safe in their own home? For a country which is as big and great as India is the security situation here is pathetic. We compare our selves with China and in this front we lagging far behind. Instead of concentrating on state specific anti terror laws we should spend a major share of resources in counter terrorist units, terrorism prevention etc. As we are facing terror attacks after terror attacks and most of them are not being solved, the terrorist have an invincible feeling and for good reason. I am fed up of hearing politicians condemning these acts. It’s time for action. 

We can solve this problem in two ways. Do the unthinkable, bring in the military into the country and destroy all the naxals, terrorist and various antisocial, anti national pieces of crap. Bringing the army into various parts of the country will have its side effects. The army will be ruthless and the normal life will be affected for sure. This will be very fast and will have political, economic and social fallouts (consider the example of Indira Gandhi and the Sikh issue). This will be a very effective method of solving this problem but is unlikely to be implemented. Military is only called upon if every single possible alternative has been thought about, implemented and failed. 

The second way is a long and permanent way to solve the problem. We got to improve our intelligence system(even though we get intelligence on various bomb threats, we need to have more specific intelligence reports as where the bombs will be detonated), have a system through which each and every person in the country can be identified (some kind of ID card), much more security in our borders and various such steps should be taken. A central agency like the FBI should be there to prevent and investigate such attacks. We need to have experts in this field to ensure that our country becomes much safer. We need to improve our cyber crime prevention unit. There are so many hackers/crackers in this country and the government needs to utilize them in the most productive way possible. We need to intercept various communications so that we can prevent such acts of terror. Unfortunately to implement anything we need funds, which is something we lack.

The Home minister and the government have to take certain portion of the blame for such terror attacks. It seems that every state in India is a soft target. The problem that I have is that the government is not taking any concert steps. Even though I do not think BJP or any other party would have done anything better as the congress is ruling they should take responsibility for these attacks. I remember when I was small my parents used to tell me do not take anything kept on the road (like plastic covers or anything) as they could be bombs. There were various movies which showed various ways in which terrorist plant bombs. When ever we saw a cover or anything a bomb alert would automatically go in our minds. I believe its time that the present generation children got such training. 

Can anything be done to monitor such a vast and diverse country like India? I don’t know the answer. But what the government can do is show the people what it is doing to prevent such acts. Give the people as sense that the government is doing what ever it can to ensure the safety of its citizens. The government needs to prove to the people of the nation that it cares.  Every other week we see news reporters taking bombs into various sensitive areas and exposing the vulnerability of our system, which is very unsettling. 

Another main issue which the government have to watch as a by product of these attacks is communal violence. The terrorist are not doing the Muslims in the country any good by these attacks. All attacks are done in the name of Allah. If the attacks keep on continuing the chances of communal violence in India is really high. Naxal attacks are a totally different issue all together. 

Where do we go from here? I don’t know. What I want is very simple, strong and concrete action from the government. Instead of saying sorry (as the Home minister has just said) I want to know what the government is doing so that terrorist cannot plant bombs as easily as a child plants trees. I agree that all terror attacks cannot be prevented but the frequency with which these attacks are happening in India is alarmingly high. This is a time when the people of the nation are feeling unsafe. In a way these terror attacks are a way through which a nation which is deeply divided can find a common ground through which it can unite. The government, law enforcement agencies and the people of India should unite and tackle this problem together. Mutual cooperation is the only way through which India can get this messes of terrorism under control and move forward

The Nuclear drama

Why on earth is every one in this country concerned over a letter that was circulated in the US rather than the actual 123 agreement which is legally binding internationally. The whole racket made by the opposition is on the issue of our right to test. They are still hung over by their "India Shining" campaign. They see India 10 notches above from what it actually is. Now about the issue, what will happen if we test? There will be sanctions; US might stop supplying after a year of negotiations. Is this something new? 123 agreement or not, if we test there will be serious consequences. Why on earth would the US want to keep on supplying to a country nuclear material to a country which tests nuclear weapons, it goes against the principle of nonproliferation. 

 

At this point of time we are in nuclear isolation. The chances of us moving forward without the deal (wrt nuclear technology) is next to nil. The text of the 123 agreement has been made public and that’s what all of us should be concerned about. India has the right to test and the US has the right to withdraw supplies. I don’t see what is so dastardly about this. I still cant understand (other than simple politics) why the BJP is opposing this deal. It was during their regime that Indo-US relations started to improve. 

 

I really do not believe that India should be concerned by a leaked letter. What is legal between India and the US i the 123 agreement. What happens inside US should not affect India and vice versa. In both countries the deal will be presented in a way which is politically right. There has been a lot of noise made over the nuclear deal by various sections the whole nuclear deal has been blow out of proportion. Majority of the noises about the nuclear deal is very vague. Without a proper understanding of the text, using certain words and phrases certain sections are tiring to make this into a larger issue. The text of the deal is public, stop worrying about some letter which is being circulated in some other country. If you look at it in a purely innocent way, Manmohan Singh is for the deal, APJ Abdul Kalam is for the deal. I would trust these people over Prakash Karat and Yashwant Sinha any day. 

Another reason why there should be no more "left" in India

After the trust vote as the left kind of went into political hibernation, I was getting used to not hearing outrageous/ridiculous statements(from the left). Unfortunately that was to last till today morning. In an interview to a Malayalam news channel, the Industries minister of Kerala was saying that if the industrialist had a realistic approach, no one will encounter any losses as a result of the hartals that prevail in Kerala. They should take into account the possible no of hartals that might occur every year and set targets accordingly. He even enlightened the viewers with an example of KSRTC's profit making mantra:|:|.

It is because of such ridiculous thinking, I feel that for the sake of the nation, the left should never have any say in politics. The left wont do anything for the development of the state and they wont let others do anything either. For the sake of a few the fundamental rights of the majority are violated. Hartals should represent the unity among people not fear. The most ridiculous part of a hartal is that it never produces any outcome. The reason for that is the people who call them have a different agenda. They do not want to find a solution but what they want is popularity. If a hartal is aimed at solving a problem, then instead of working on the fear of people the organizers would try and get the support of the masses. What we see today is disrespectful to the law and the people of the land. The only outcome of a hartal today is the disruption of normal life and loss of millions of rupees.

Most of the communist leaders in kerala are uneducated, unintelligent and more or less useless. Most of them are thugs. Instead of trying to bring peace and normalcy to the state they are trying to ensure that a state whose financial situation is one of the worst in the country becomes even worse. Hartals may or many not be right but for the minister of industries to give such an idiotic solution/explanation is unacceptable. I am not completely against the communist ideology as such, but with the kind of misguided leaders that the left has, who have no clue about what communism is and the party as a whole banking on power and fear to get more supporters it just a matter of time before my sweetest dream come true, THE END OF THE LEFT IN INDIA.

Ashamed of being an Indian?

This is in reference to two major incidents that is taking place in our country. First is the insanity that is going on in Maharashtra. Even though the municipal corporation ( Maharashtra) had decided to make it mandatory for all shows to have sign boards in Marathi, Raj Thackery and his party works decides that its his moral responsibility to forcible, by causing a lot of destruction, instill fear in the minds of people and make them change their sign boards. I am fed up blaming Raj Thackery so I am not going to do that now, instead I blame the police for its failure to do its duty. If the police cant protect citizens, the god help us all. No wonder why terrorists target our country so often. If people can get away with various crimes in broad daylight then there is no chance in hell that any one will be caught if things are done in a planned fashion. I can understand a riot happening once in a while or disruption of peace occasionally, but the MNS is a party that is causing harm to the citizens of India time after time. Its a shame that neither the election commission nor the law enforcement agencies nor the judiciary has done anything to stop this madness. The situation is setting a wrong precedent. Every single organization would think that to achieve its goals violence is the best way forward. Its a shame that the citizens of India have no guarantee of their security. This issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible before it gets out of hand.

The second issue is the communal violence that is happening in Orrisa. The VHP leader was killed and I dont know who killed him. But the killings done by the VHP is absolutely dis speakable. If they are so damn sure that some christian works killed them, why couldn't they have killed the works who committed the crime instead of going after innocent people. Burning a nun alive! what kind of country do we live in. After committing the crime VHP leaders are defending what they did. I would have had no problems with them had they killed the people responsible for the murder of their leader. This is just plane insane. One of the problems that lead to all this is the religious conversion which take place in Orrisa. The people who get converted are the poor and the downtrodden. Why are the Hindu organizations getting anxious about them only when they get converted not when they are need of help. The BJP is a party which if affiliated to the VHP and many of its top leaders are active members of the VHP. If the VHP justifies the killings then so does each of its members. Defending a crime and provoking people to commit crimes should be punished.

All these communal riots shows the weakness of our society. People don't even have the slightest of fear in taking the law in their own hands. There is no use talking sense with these law breakers because they have a very different agenda from what they preach. We should have stricter laws. The problem with our democracy is that too much power is there in the hands of the people, at least people with political backing. A serious introspection is needed and a solution needs to be found or else the whole nation will be burn in no time

War should be in the mind

When i was in school my history teacher was telling about the wars India had with Pakistan and the blunder which he thought Nehru had committed when he didn't capture Islamabad. At that time and even till few months back i did believe that what Nehru did was stupid. Recently I had a change of heart. If Nehru had captured Islamabad then India would have been bombarded with unprecedented acts of terrors. I am not talking about the Pakistani army getting resurrected and fighting wars against India, I am talking about rouge elements in Pakistan trying to get revenge by various acts of terror on civilians. Even though at this point of time India is facing lots of acts of terror, this would be nothing compared to what would have happened if we had captured Pakistan. Right now only a small minority in Pakistan have hatred towards India. The situation would have been much different hadn't Nehru done what he had done. There would have been a huge anti India sentiment and it would have been extremely easy for the extremist and the fundamentalist to exploit this feeling and plot against India. War by rouge elements in a country is much dangerous than a war by military forces. In a military war civilians are generally not targeted where as terrorist would not refrain from doing anything. Hence I believe what Nehru did was in the interest of the country.

Now the bigger issue," the war on terror". I got this point of view from a RC passage in some AIMCAT. Even if the US destroys Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and various other countries, they(or the world community) would never win the war on terror. When there is a war and innocent people die, the hatred towards the nation causing all the damage would sky rocket. Hence even if all the terrorist camps are destroyed its just a matter of time before new ones crop up. As people would lose what ever they have and are left with nothing to live for, naturally their only aim would be to make the country who caused them all the pain pay big time.(there are lots of examples, on of the most damaging on is the military action that Russia conducted on Chechnya, and the innumerable instances of innocent civilians killed by Chechnian terrorist as their response to Russia's military action) A terrorist to cause damage does not have to destroy an entire nation, all he/she has to do is target key locations and any nation would bleed. Even if no acts of terror are conducted, the mass hysteria that terrorist creates is even more dangerous than the terror acts. People feeling unsafe, various propaganda being circulated, the panic and fear the stays in peoples mind are various examples.

The only way to win the war against terror is in the mind. Only if we change the mind set of people can the war against terror be won. When people are reformed the chances of them turning back is very less. The only thing which any war can achieve is an exponential increase in hatred. Governments should take steps towards changing the mind sets of people. They should ensure that people are not lured by the terrorists. The various conditions such as poverty, illiteracy, hunger, which are the main cause for people to turn into extremist should be addressed by governments. No community should feel left out or discriminated against. Only when such a state is attained we can win the war against terrorism. Simply bombing and destroying countries wont do the trick.

Helpless!

These are times in which one feel absolutely helpless and hopeless as an Indian. It makes one give up the hope of seeing a developed and prosperous India. I am talking about the absolutely unnecessary events that are taking place in Jammu and Kashmir and the even more unnecessary events that are taking place at various other parts of India as a result of the violence in J&K.

Mahatma Gandhi would be banging his head on the walls in heaven on seeing the consequence of his idea of "peaceful" protests\agitations taken to a all new level. What Gandhi did was necessary for getting India's freedom. Unfortunately total people are misusing the idea of satayagrah for their selfish needs. Right now in India the answer to any problem is to block roads, damage public\private property and injure civilians. I do not know what term can be used to describe the recent events in J&K. The protests and violence is no more about the Amarnath Land deal. It has become personal. It has become a fight between Jammu and Kashmir. The worst part is that people are falling for the separatist and other anti social groups in the region and causing violence.

The situation in Jammu is very volatile and communal. The thing that makes me so fucking angry is that when a region is divided and when the division is communal, the way parties and organizations such as the BJP, VHP, Shiva Sena behave. For getting a few votes/supporters they are willing to risk the national unity. In politics people will have different ideologies but its really sad to see that there are political parties in India which justify violence and are even willing to kill for getting more supporters. I remember L K Advani in an interview saying that, rules which are broken in political agitations cannot be considered criminal. This was his reaction when asked about the various deaths that occurred as a direct result of the various communal agitations that BJP and its affiliated groups have caused.

Today one person died as a result of the strike called by the VHP. This person was ill and was being taken to the hospital. His vehicle was not allowed to go by the VHP protesters. There are plenty of times when i feel patriotic and want to do something for the development of the nation, but at times like this I feel its much better if i migrate to some other country. In India violent protests occur for no reason at all and the more often than not the aim of the protest and destruction is to let people know about the party conduction the protest. Violence in Mumbai because at places they use the word "Bombay" or because of English sign boards at shops.

The recent so called agitations by the VHP and various Hindu hardliner groups is something which is to be condemned using the hardest possible words. The sad part is many people join these groups and believe what they are doing is right. The BJP is dilly dallying with being secular and communal. According to its convince it chose to be secular or communal. 61 years ago when the freedom fighters fought for India's independence they had one thing in their mind. An united India, an India where all its citizens are given equal rights, an India where people can follow any religion that they choose and have the freedom to express themselves. The problem with India is that we don't give enough importance to the constitution. Each and every individual should be made aware of his/her constitutional rights and then the situation here will change. The only difference between the Muslim extremist and Hindu extremist is that, Muslim extremist kill through out the world and the Hindu extremist kill just in India.

Protest are good and is essential for a democracy. But what is happening in India is not good, its an exploitation of the constitution. Citizens of India should do what ever it takes to ensure that its constitution is not violated. We should fight against all the groups which try to divide this nation on the basis of religion. India wont be India if its constitution is violated this often.