क्या तेरा है, क्या मेरा है?

An attempt to present a poem through an audio-visual medium.

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Various sources. Kindly bring any copyright violations to notice.

A political victory or a lost Cause?

The result of Hisar by-election is being read in many ways by the political pundits. The event kick-started the anti-Congress campaign of Team Anna. It seems as if Team Anna has taken it to itself to be the panacea of all ills in Indian political landscape. Its first detour from the basic objective of getting the Jan Lokpal Bill legislated came when it called for electoral reforms. It included introduction of negative voting and the recalling of sitting legislators. In this context, campaigning in Hisar should have been about making the voters aware about the credentials of all the candidates. The choice of candidate should have been left to the ‘informed’ citizenry.

Fight against corruption should not be limited to the political party in power at the centre. It is endemic to the whole political system. It is questionable if Team Anna’s intervention had any role to play in the defeat of Congress candidate and the forfeiture of his security deposit. However, the way Team Anna is meddling in the actual political process puts a big question mark on its often claimed apolitical overtures. With the eyes now set on the UP assembly elections, it may do further disservice to its own cause. Anna, himself has been vacillating between the stands of giving Congress a breather till the Winter session of Parliament on one hand and personally entering the anti-Congress campaign in UP on the other. Focus needs to be shifted back to the Jan Lokpal Bill. The support that Team Anna garnered was for this basic agenda. It cannot keep stacking newer agendas on it, hoping that all its wishes will be fulfilled within the ambit of this single movement.

It is true that Congress has been making many political manoeuvrings inside and outside the Parliament to stall the passing of a meaningful Jan Lokpal Bill. However, Anna should continue using the civil society route to bring to light such practices. He might have testified it many a times that he is having no political ambitions. But this might not be true for his foot-soldiers. It is a known fact that one of the Team Anna members resigned from the police services on being bypassed for a coveted office. So to claim that the people behind this movement are above such power motives will be naïve. In this context, taking the fight to political arena will only make things more complex. Moreover, the movement may also lose a considerable chunk of sympathisers if it gets reduced to anti-Congress from anti-Corruption.

The movement is already being negatively affected by the incoherent statements coming out of the Team Anna camp. While Anna and other members have distanced themselves from Prashant Bhushan’s statement on Kashmir, Santosh Hegde has openly shown his displeasure over Kejriwal’s move to meddle in the Hisar by-elections. As Anna sits on a week-long vow of silence for ‘peace of soul’, two prominent activists P V Rajagopal and 'Waterman' Rajinder Singh quit its core committee over the latter issue of ‘political turn’ of movement. Democracy within the movement should definitely be appreciated. All the members should have a right to voice their personal opinions on different issues. However, for the sake of Jan Lokpal Bill, some coherence is needed. Any such incoherent statements and infighting give the detractors an opportunity to make a mountain out of a molehill. Therefore, it is important for Anna to bring together his foot-soldiers and unify the camp. This is a prerequisite to sustain the battle against the indifference of the political honchos towards an effective Jan Lokpal Bill.

P.S. This is the first draft of my editorial for our Lab Journal in ACJ to be published this Saturday

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Designed by me

The Face Off

Flaunting the newly learnt Photoshop skills.

And now a GIF image. Click on it to enlarge and see it in action.

For a change, I do not want to comment about the developments around this movement. However, you may read my Op-Ed in The Tribune which got published during the first wave of the movement.

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Various sources

Wither Hindi? Part-II

This series of posts got selected for BlogAdda's Spicy Saturday Picks. Click here to read a mini-review of this series by the BlogAdda team.

This is the second part of a two part series. The first part was published on the occasion of the Hindi Diwas three days ago. Click here to read it before proceeding.

Before, I take up the main theme of this post, I must share an important piece of information that I inadvertently missed in the previous one. Talking of Constitutional or legal categories of Indian languages, beyond the Official and the Scheduled languages, The Government of India declared a new category - Classical Languages - in 2004. Since then, Tamil(2004), Sanskrit(2005), Telugu and Kannada(2008) have joined the elite group.

The eligibility criteria pertains to the antiquity and originality of the language and a rich body of ancient texts, amongst others. However, inclusion of Telugu and Kannada in 2008 started a new political row epicentred in Kerala, upon Malayalam's exclusion. In short, such irrational categorisation has done nothing good for the languages but only given a chance to political parties to rake up the sentiments of the general public, reminding us the Anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960's.

Such problems stem from the fact that despite initial rejection by the Dhar Commission (1948) and JVP Committee (Nehru, Patel and Sitaramayya, 1949); Government of India was forced to follow the linguistic reorganisation of states after the popular agitation and the death of Potti Sriramulu, for carving out Andhra Pradesh out of Tamil Nadu in 1953. Following this development, States Reorganisation Commission was appointed which upheld the language as the basis of reorganisation of states in 1955. Rest is history.

Hence, somehow other socio-economic or political grievances of the states also get mixed up with the language as well as ethnicity issues, creating an unhealthy concoction for the appetite of the Indian federal structure.

Recently, Union Human Resources and Development Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal started a new debate by calling for compulsory teaching of Hindi in all the Indian schools and hence, create it as the link language between the different linguistic regions of the country.

As such there is nothing new about it as it is in consonance with the provisions under Article 351 of the Indian Constitution discussed in the previous post. You may recall that according to this article, it is the duty of the Union Government to develop Hindi as the medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India, i.e. develop it as a pan-Indian language or a link language in other words.

Moreover, Hindi has been an integral part of the Three language formula evolved by the Union Government in consultations with the states and enunciated in the National Policy Resolution of 1968 and National Policy on Education of 1986, though implemented variedly by the state governments.

According to Mr. Sibal,

Now the lingua franca is English for professionals. When we become producers of knowledge then we can set our language as the lingua franca.

Mr. Sibal is the alumni (infact, belonged to the very first batch) of my school, a prestigious Christian missionary school of this region. He studied in that school when my father used to attend a government school. So, in short, he is generationally one step ahead of my family. It is not difficult to guess what kind of education he must have provided to his children and how proficient they must be in the language that Mr. Sibal desires to make the link language. I might be totally wrong in my assertion about the proficiency of his children but the question I am asking here is, why such hypocrisy?

Secondly, why do we want Hindi to be the link language at the first place? Moreover, will it be fruitful to make such a try?

According to Mr. Sibal,

We should ensure greater emphasis on Hindi. All children are not fluent in Hindi as they are in their mother tongues. Hindi is necessary for students to integrate with the rest of the country. The same students integrate with the rest of world through English.

Well, today I find myself highly integrated with the people around the country. My blog survives thanks to the visitors from places like Madras, Calcutta, Bangalore and Bombay (sorry, Chennai, Kolkatta, Bengaluru and Mumbai, it should read!) and I am sure many of them do not understand Hindi properly. It is English that is binding us. So why should we reserve English for only global integration? Why cannot it be a source of national integration as well?

What is the point in denying our history? British ruled us and gave us English. We cannot deny that it is this English which has made us globally competitive.

English is accused of being elitist. Yes, it is. Who is stopping the Government to make it reach all the sections of Indian society. Mr. Sibal plans to teach Hindi in every school. Is it feasible? Efforts required for making a good Hindi teacher available in a primary school of rural Tamil Nadu or Kerala will be more tedious than making a good English teacher available there. Kindly correct me if I am wrong in this assertion.

Further, talking of the integration with the different regions of the country, the specific region which is having the maximum need for it is the North East. States like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have stuck to English as their only official language. So why not promote English as the medium for both official and cultural exchanges with such regions?

English education will have the added advantage of making the students more competitive in this era of globalisation. In this respect, idea of English as a pan-Indian language though revolutionary, holds more logic than Hindi.

But is this suggestion really revolutionary? On the ground level, it is English that is being used for communication between a Hindi and a non-Hindi speaking population during cultural exchanges. This is not just limited to the so-called educated elites like us but even to the non-English as well as lesser educated sections who use simple broken English when it comes to crossing the language barrier in a foreign state. Why not promote and improve the standards of English in the Indian schools of all hues and colours rather than aspiring to do the same with Hindi?

Moreover, constitutionally too, English is the official medium of communication between the Union (or Hindi speaking states) and the non-Hindi speaking states under the provisions of the Article 346. English is also the language used in the Supreme Courts, High Courts and for Acts and Bills under the provisions of the Article 348. So why should we emphasise on Hindi as the link language when it comes to the Article 351?

For that matter, coming back to a question raised earlier, that what is the logic behind developing Hindi as the pan-Indian language? As has been elaborated in the previous post, such an idea has failed miserably all these years thanks to the disinterest (rather protest) shown by the various linguistic regions and the importance of English as the global language.

Does Hindi qualify to be the link language because it is spoken by the majority of Indian population (41% according to the 2001 census)? As already elaborated, the actual pure form of Hindi is only spoken in certain areas of the Hindi belt. Infact, the official Hindi used by the Government and taught in the schools, better known as Khari boli (or Khari dialect) is limited to the Western Uttar Pradesh region, originally a rural language, developed only after 18^th century.

Within UP itself, there are various dialects of Hindi other than Khariboli which include Brajbhasa, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bahgeli and Bundeli. Infact, a person like me cannot understand Bhojpuri or other dialects which are part of Hindi as per the 41% figure mentioned above.

When, there is so much variation within just one state, you may figure out the variations in the complete Hindi Belt including regions like Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and New Delhi. This will also open the eyes of those non-Hindi speaking Indians who see the complete Hindi belt as a single unit bounded by a single language.

Moreover, asserting a majority language (Hindi) upon others is against the basic tenets of democracy. Some may call it as the false pride of the minorities but then that doesn't change the ground reality that there is resentment against it (valid in some cases, politically motivated in others) and hence, problems in its acceptance.

Such resentment is not just limited to the overt manifestations like the Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu, back in 1950-60's which actually played an important role in bringing DMK to power; but also in the recent times can be seen in the form of Maharashtra Governments decision to extend Marathi as a compulsory subject in all the schools of the state, including the ones affiliated to ICSE and CBSE from 2007-08, basically expressing disapproval to the imposition of Hindi on its natives.

However, as shown above, the official Hindi (khariboli) is infact a minority language like all the other languages and dialects; so the resentment is bound to increase.

However, there is no denying the fact that we do need a pan-Indian language. As already elaborated above, English seems a better option for the same. There is no need for making any official pronouncement for the same as it is infact developing as a link language on its own. Yes, officially the stand on Hindi can be given up and in fact it should be allowed to get 'adulterated' in the different regions.

There is no point in making Mumbai out of Bombay or Kolkatta out of Calcutta as you may try to run away from the British legacy but it will keep haunting you. Its better to accept the truth and in this particular case of languages, the truth comes with the added advantage that

• it will have higher acceptance by the various linguistic groups, and
• it will make us globally more competitive.

Lastly, Mr. Kapil Sibal should concentrate on some concrete educational reforms at the basic primary level rather than taking the easier route of superficial reforms in the form of doing away with the Board exams (read Mou's brilliant post with regards to it) or proposing Hindi as the link language just like the Reservation policy (read my take on Reservations) of his predecessor.

The Right to Education though getting the status of a fundamental right under Aricle 21A, back in 2002 by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act and finally, after intense debate and opposition, its provisions (for free and compulsory education to all the children of the age of 6 to 14 years) being passed by the Parliament and getting the Presidential assent a couple of weeks back on Sep 3, 2009; will face a lot of hurdles when it comes to the implementation stage. The energies of Union HRD Ministry should be concentrated here. Moreover, talking of higher education, even the proposed Bill for the opening of our frontiers for the Foreign Universities, may look promising but has a lot of scope for going wrong. Let us keep all these issues for some other day.

P.S.
This is to clarify my stand on a particular aspect about which I have received a couple of comments - I have no where claimed that English should be our National Language. Infact, I have specifically mentioned - There is no need for making any official pronouncement. There is difference between pan-Indian language and National language; former is by the virtue of its feasibility and convenience while latter is by virtue of its declaration by the Government. India should have no National language.

This was the concluding part of the series 'Wither Hindi?'. I must thank Pra, Roshmi and others whose comments to my previous post helped me in developing this post further. Leave your honest opinions on the same in the comments section.

Off-the-topic Reflections

• Do not miss my latest movie review and recommendation of Resurrecting the Champ on the adjoining side bar under The recent Movie I Liked upon Reflecting widget
  
• Also, I must thank my blog buddies Shankar, Shruti, Vineeta and Bharathi for the recent Blogging awards. I have displayed them neatly on the adjoining sidebar under the Fellow Bloggers' Affection Reflected widget.
  
• You can now star-rate my posts by the new rating widget that is visible at the end of each post.
  

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http://thumbs.dreamstime.com (edited)

The Congress Raaj

Continues...

Today, with swearing in of 59 more ministers into the Union Council of Ministers, its total strength reached 78. This gigantic number which has seen one in every four UPA M.P.'s getting the ministerial berth, is still lower than the constitutional ceiling of 15% of the total Lok Sabha membership(presently 543), set by 91st Constitutional Amendment.
In the era of downsizing of governments such a political maneuvering seems too luxurious but this happens to be a part and a parcel of the representative democracy, we all are fondly proud of.
Since casting my vote on 13th, I've not commented on election results nor have I revealed my choice of candidate. Well, my posts were becoming too politics oriented that I decided to write on some other topics before I return to politics. Hereby, I declare that the candidate I voted for and the party he belonged to, both got vanquished at the constituency level and the national level respectively, by the Congress+. So which party I voted for is not that difficult to guess if you have read my previous post on Elections 2009.
However, in the victory of Congress, I don't see any personal loss as more than grieving over the loss of the party of my choice, I am celebrating the loss of the opportunist regional parties(like RJD, LJP, SP, BSP, TDP, JD(S), AIADMK among others) and more importantly the Left parties. In the above mentioned previous post of mine, I had emphatically favoured a national party's coalition coming to power and that's what has happened thankfully.
Moreover, the number of seats Congress has amassed independently this Lok Sabha election, has given it a chance to form a very strong and decisive Government, relatively less hassled by the pushes and pulls of coalition politics which has effected the Central Governments for quite some time now. With the stability of Government, strength will follow as a necessary corollary and that's what India requires at this hour. However, Congress should handle this positive mandate responsibly and refrain from despotic practices that were so common during the life and times of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.

One aspect about which I had commented in the previous post and which still disturbs me is with regards to dynastic politics. The Congressmen have the tendency of attributing all their successes to the wisdom and leadership of Sonia'ji' and Rahul 'baba' (Dr.Manmohan Singh hardly finds a mention) while finding scapegoats within the party cadre whenever things go wrong. Such a sycophancy and dynastic politics is not just limited to this party but is deep rooted in the Indian political landscape across the parties of all hues and colours(DMK presenting the best or rather, the worst example of the same in the present context).
One of my fellow blogger as many others, has praised the junta's mandate for electing the youngsters like Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora and Jyotiraditiya Scindia in addition to the 'prince' Rahul Gandhi. In this mandate, they find the victory of youngistan. This is what I had to comment on this particular post of her.

"Queen, prince...????? Are we living in a Democracy or a Kingdom? Indian masses have given Congress the mandate, so I have no right to question it. However, the likes of Rahul Gandhi, Deora, Pilot and Scindia whom you have so emphatically mentioned as future of India are there not just because of their personal 'qualifications' but because of their surnames. These princes may be good at their work, however there are many others who might be better but don't get a chance because they are 'lesser born'. True victory of 'Youngistan' will take place when just any youngster can dream of making it big in politics without the backing of their family names."

Today, India got it's youngest minister in Agatha who is just 28 and was sworn in as a Minister of Sate. However, wait for her surname before rejoicing; its Sangma. Yes, she happens to be the daughter of veteran parliamentarian and former Speaker, P.A. Sangma. Along with her many sons, daughters, wives, nephews and grandchildren of politicians took the oath of secrecy today.
I hope with a maturing democracy, this dynastic politics withers away with time. However, looking at one of the oldest democracy in the world, things don't look like moving in that direction. In U.S.A., if Hillary Clinton had managed to get the Democratic ticket and defeated John McCain in the presidential race, that country would have seen two families holding the Presidential post between them for 24(or maybe 28) years. That didn't happen but could happen. So, no one's immune to 'Dynastic Democracy' you see.

Images Courtesy:
1. http://im.rediff.com (original)
2. http://ajexpress.blogspot.com (original)

Empowered!!!

Are you?

Today at quarter past four in the evening, when I perched out of my home, I was amongst the last few Indians who were going to use their right to vote in this month long election saga.

It was my first time. Pressing that button and hearing the beep of conformance ended the game for me but the real political game starts now.

Lets see what happens!!!

Image Courtesy
Self-Photographed (edited)

Dilemma of a first time voter-II

The Left, Right and Centre

In a month's time, I would have exercised my voting right for the first time in my life. At an age of 23 years, 9 months and 26 days(as on May 13, 2009 when polling takes place in Chandigarh), I could have exercised it in the last General Elections too. However, I missed it, thanks to my own and my dad's laziness in getting my Voter ID card made in time. Being a resident of a Union Territory, I don't get to vote in any Assembly Election and I happened to skip the Municipal Corporation elections due to the ignorance(I came to know about it when the results came out).
This post is a more practical take on the question I raised some months back that is the Right to Vote really empowering? Here, I don't comprehend, why to vote, rather whom to vote for?
With just a month to go, I am still undecided. It wasn't so a few months back. Since NDA came to power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the first time about one and a half decade back, I had been a BJP supporter or you may say my family had been so, as i was quite young at that time to make up my own mind. However, one thing for sure, I was a big fan of Vajpayeeji and his long pauses. Undoubtedly, BJP(as a part of NDA) is the only viable alternative to Congress led Government even today. No Third Front can be in the combined interest of the nation.
For that matter, a Third Front supported by Left is a recipe for disaster. Left has always preferred to just give an outside support for the simple reason that they know, once they are in the Government, they'll have to make compromises keeping in mind the real politik. Hence, its better to stay out, threaten the government and claim to take the higher moral ground when they aren't heard. Running the whole country is a totally different ball game than running individual states.
The above statement also stands true for all other regional parties. However, by saying this, I don't put a question mark on coalition politics. Coalitions are here to stay and the Indian political system has shown resilience in the past decade to make it work twice in a row. However, any Government in the centre must be formed by either a Congress led alliance or a BJP one for in the present scenario, no other national party(BSP, NCP, RJD in addition to leftist CPI and CPI(M)) looks truly national.
However, we may be in for such a situation as most of the strong allies of BJP and Congress(I) have either parted ways or threatening to do so. With a dozen senior politicians across the political spectrum aspiring for the PM post, the alliances can take any shape.
Now coming back to where I started. Why am I undecided? Well, the way BJP has behaved when in the opposition, doesn't really inspire me to vote for them. As it is so common, they were there to just oppose. Opposition to Nuclear Deal with U.S.A. came as the biggest surprise.
Moreover, Godhra and its aftermath which did not have any profound impact on me at the time it took place as I was more concerned about my Engineering Entrance Examinations back then, was revived when Christians were at the receiving end recently in BJP(or it's alliance) led states of Orissa and Karnataka. Gujarat may have developed at an unabated pace in recent years under Narendra Modi but the ghost of pogrom cannot go away.
Till now, I regarded communalism as just a tactic employed by BJP to come to power as opposed to minority appeasement employed by the pseudo-secular parties like Congress(I). However, the above mentioned incidents have made me to rethink as it seems, its becoming impossible for BJP to disassociate with this tactic post-election too. The way they have supported Varun Gandhi and his comments is condemnable.
Now coming from the right to the centre, we have the Grand Old Party of India, Congress(I) recently called 'Budia'(an old lady) by Narendra Modi. I may hate Modi for his communal politics but he is a real entertainer when he starts the Congress bashing. My biggest opposition to this party is that how can we give the reigns of the biggest democracy in the world in the hands of such an undemocratic party. I'll hate to vote for Congress if my vote helps Rahul Gandhi become the PM. What is his credibility?
The present PM, Manmohan Singh may be called a weak PM. The strings may be pulled by Sonia Gandhi and he may be regarded as just doing the ground work for the arrival of the prince Rahul Gandhi. However, this cannot deny the fact that he worked his way up to this coveted post. He spent about half a century working as a university teacher in India and England, RBI Governor, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Finance Minister and the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Moreover, as the FM, he was the one who heralded the nation in the new direction of liberalisation and globalisation.
Here, I am not starting a young 'vs' old debate as presently no one inspires me more than Obama. The only thing Rahul can brag about is his lineage. There is every possibility that if Congress(I) led alliance comes to power, in a couple of years, Manmohan Singh may 'develop' some serious medical ailment and the reigns are handed over to another undeserving Gandhi.
In this post, I have only discussed those major issues which are hindering me from voting to power the specific parties. I haven't discussed the positives and the smaller negatives as these big negatives mask every other thing for me. I hope in the coming month, along with the preparations for my upcoming Civil Services Preliminary Examination, I am also able to comprehend the positives to make my final decision. After all, the first time is always special and I must consider my single vote can make the difference.

Image Courtesy
Self-Sketched and Photographed (edited)

Going back to the masses

A new democratic experiment in U.K.

It was Mahatma Gandhi who realized the importance of masses and engaged them in the fight against discrimination in South Africa. On returning to his homeland, he successfully replicated the model on a much larger scale, which played a decisive role in helping India attain freedom. However, once the job was done, the masses chose to disengage with the politics and allow their representatives do the dirty work. It was quarter a century hence, when Jayaprakash Narayan decided to bring the masses back to the center stage from the wilderness. JP must have succeeded for that made those in power act irresponsibly and plunge the country into the darkest years of Indian democracy, the Emergency.
The politicians still need the masses to get into power but they have learnt all the tricks to deceive and exploit them for their own good. So while the poorer lot still oblige these men by attending their rallies and turning up at the polling booths to vote for them, the not-so-poorer lot prefer voting for reality shows and television surveys, rather than at the general, assembly or local elections.
A new model of engaging the masses has been developed in U.S. by Barack Obama. He made the best use of information technology and communication to form a decisive democratic force of masses which heralded him to the post of the most powerful man in the world.
Taking a cue from all this, a new democratic exercise is being experimented in U.K. I read about it just now in an article by Hasan Suroor in 'The Hindu' and I could not wait but share it with others. If you remember the recent 'Lead India' Campaign of Times of India, then this new experiment in U.K. is just taking such an initiative to its logical conclusion.
A campaign has been launched in the name of 'The Jury Team', which according to its website is a political movement created with the goal of making politics more accessible, politicians more accountable and political institutions more transparent. According to their mission statement, this campaign is against the current political parties that have turned the Government into an Oligarchic institution, a small and increasingly distant group.
This is how the campaign operates- Anyone interested in a political career can put themselves forward through The Jury Team’s website but they must agree not to support any policies that discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, disability or religious or other belief. The general public will be able to vote for their favourite candidate by texting the code of that person to a “unique” text number. The selected candidates will then be fielded as Independents. Moreover, these candidates once elected, would be free of the party whip, i.e., they won't be obliged to follow the dictats of their party but will be independent to vote for the proposals for legislations as they wish to.
This campaign has been launched and funded by millionaire Sir Paul Judge, however as mentioned on their website, they rely on donations to keep running.
The question is for how long can such a non-party party, a term devised by Sir Paul, can remain a non-party. Isn't there every chance of egoism of such people coming in way of high principles set initially. On the first thought, such an experiment will have a chance to survive only if such an individual distants himself from it with time, to allow the masses take it forward, but on a second thought, wont this campaign just wither away if it doesnt get the support and direction of a strong personality.
Moreover, in a country like India which finds itself divided on the lines of religion, caste, region and ethnicity, where the so-called National Parties are being dictated terms by the regional ones, where still the majority doesnt vote for an ideology but for a bottle of country made liquor, where still only a small minority find access to modern technologies, can such an experiment even survive one election. These are the questions that spring once the reality dawns. However, they can be answered only when the experiment has been conducted.
As for the initiative, the best source seems the Indian media. They were so active post-Mumbai carnage, driving their individual campaigns against politicians. It will be interesting to see if they have it in them to do what they preach. As for the initial funding, the media houses can oblige their 'high class' chatterati to donate some bucks, who love to come on the discussion shows and spank the Indian politics and the politicians and then share a glass of wine with the same politicos at their evening parties.
Recently, in India new initiatives are being taken as we see a number of unconventional political parties springing up. There was a technocrats based Lok Paritran and recently an IIM-IIT graduates based political outfit. In a Punjab district recently, the members of the Market Association decided to field their own candidates as they felt, the political parties always forget them after taking donations for their election campaigns. However, rather than coming together to obtain a critical mass, such parties prefer to do it alone. Maybe, with time they realize the importance of united action.
India which has adopted the parliamentary democracy and many of its conventions from U.K. might also give a try to this latest experiment though its still to be seen if it makes any mark in the country of its origin itself being in nascent stages there too.

Image Courtesy
http://www.trekearth.com by Ramesh Lalwani (edited)

The Hamilton Holi

and a note on Pakistan politics

As we celebrated Holi in India, the Men in (the new shade of) Blue had their own plans for celebrations in Hamilton. While the Rain Gods in New Zealand continued to play Holi on and off, the Delhi-Daredevils drenched the Kiwis with the shower of fours and sixes.
Earlier the Indian bowlers did a good job in restricting the Kiwis just under run a ball but the way Sehwag-Gambhir duo approached the target, it seemed any score would have been indefensible for the black-caps.
Man of the moment, Sehwag's blitzkrieg earned India its first ODI series win in New Zeland and for him in person, the record of the fastest century by any Indian in ODI's. His partner supported him well throughout the innings.
Gautam Gambhir had a humble beginning in the international arena. I remember my cousin from Noida, who had played Inter-College tournaments against his team, telling me about Gambhir's exotic strokeplay and shear power. My cousin, himself a wicket-keeper used to watch Gambhir in awe as he sent the balls hurling out of the stadium. However, having seen his earlier international performances this was difficult to comprehend. But then came IPL. And so came IPL for his opening partner Sehwag, in dire need to resurrect his career. After the tournament there was no looking back. Be it Tests, ODI's, T20's, IPL or Domestic cricket, the two are made for each other.
With due respect to the master-blaster, I believe its time that he recedes to a lower slot in ODI's to allow this dynamic duo play more and more cricket together at the top. It is in the best interest of the Indian cricket team.
_________________________________________________________________

We've heard that history repeats itself but when it comes to Pakistan, it seems to repeat just too frequently. The scenes which were a common place just a year ago are back to haunt democracy in Pakistan.


This cartoon by Keshav in 'The Hindu' portrays it aptly. Ironically, the situation in our neighboring country acts as a balm to heal our woes against our domestic politics. The treacherous credentials of our politicians pale in front of those from Pakistan. It makes us realise how despite its shortcomings, the Indian polity has allowed democracy to survive despite some hiccups in mid-70's.
As for Pakistan, in the words of Nawaz Sharif, within a year, the ghost of Musharraf has resurrected itself in the form of Zardari. Today speaking at a rally, Sharif, in a bid to underscore his concern for constitutional reforms to restore the balance of power back in the favour of Prime Minister as in pre-Musharraf times, did not indulge in any mud-slinging against the present PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, rather supported him, keeping his own political ambitions at bay as of now. As noted by 'Times Now', Prime Minister Gilani too looked defiant later in the evening as he spoke of democracy, 1973 Constitution and early withdrawal of President's rule from Punjab, not in sync with President Zardari's assertions. However, it will be interesting to see if it indeed is defiance to Zardari or just a 'good cop/bad cop' ploy of PPP to soothe the increasing unrest among the masses ignited by PML(N).
My heart goes out to the common man in Pakistan who so emphatically voted for change and democracy last year but got nothing but dirty politics in return. However, in the present context too, I believe, as noted in my previous post, that the polity of any nation is just a reflection of its society. Its high time that Asif Ali 'Bhutto' Zardari backtracks and yields, or his future too seems to be going the same way as that of Musharraf.

Images Courtesy
Cricket- http://im.rediff.com (original)
Cartoon- http://www.hinduonnet.com by Keshav (original)

My 'de-reservations' about the Reservation

An ELian view

The memories of anti-reservation protests haven't faded yet. We might have stopped talking about it as there are other issues to discuss about but to think the matter is over is too naive a view. Say, one fine morning Government decides to introduce reservation for religious minorities or any other disadvantaged group for that matter, the agenda will be back in limelight. There will be angry protests by the sections being negatively affected by this policy of positive discrimination, then there will be protests against the aforesaid protests by the sections being covered in the ambit of the new policy and there will be every possibility of these antagonist protests taking an ugly turn.

Meanwhile the media will have a field day. Everyone from a rickshaw-wala to a business tycoon will be seen pouring out their staggered and half baked views on the tube. Some looser might decide to light himself on fire to show his devotion to either cause. The scenes will be bad, the time will be bad. However, as it always happens, the present will become the past and the past is best forgotten to prepare for the future. We tend to make this mistake believing that future will bring something new, never realizing that clues of the future lie in the past itself.

I remember taking part in an anti-reservation rally back in 2006. How angry I was, how cheated I felt and now I realise how narrow my view was. It's not that now I am in perfect consonance with this variant of Affirmative Action but certainly now, I am able to see it as an essential tactic in the larger national strategy of achieving redistributive justice. However, the problem arises when it becomes 'an end in itself'. The policy makers at the high echelons forget the other tactical policy initiatives and hence everything gets eclipsed by the reservation policy.

Talking of reservation in educational institutes, it may be a strong pillar of affirmative action but foundation of such an affirmative action lies in universal reach of effective primary and secondary education. However, as the latter reaps fruits only in a long term, its sincere implementation gets neglected by the political class for whom quick returns matter the most to maintain their parliamentary strength. What can be a better option for them than the reservation policy! Hence, 'displacement of goals' takes place as reservation policy becomes a means to satisfy a different end altogether, i.e., amassing votes at the elections. Vote-bank politics leads to innovations to include more and more sections of the society within the reservation ambit rather than clipping down the list.

If we look into our caste history, we witness a phenomena known as Sanskritization wherein the so called lower castes strive to move up the caste hierarchy by adopting 'cleaner' habits, to achieve a higher status in the society. However, in present scenario, we see people fighting to move down the hierarchy, the recent Gujjar agitation its apt example. So some sort of 'de-sanskritization' is taking place in contemporary Hindu society. The reason behind it is not far-fetched. With lower status comes better reservation provisions. Better the provisions, better the chance to rise the class and political hierarchy. The money and power provide a parallel means to attain a higher status in the society. Hence, diminution in the import of the caste based hierarchy as a means to attain the same takes place.

With this background to ponder over, I'll now be addressing those anti-reservationists who discard this policy in totality, i.e., in both letter and spirit. I must say they are making a grave mistake. By doing so, they are alienating the marginal sections of the society. The need is to accept the reservation policy in principle but oppose its misuse vehemently. India has a long history of caste system. To uproot all the associated ills, affirmative action is a must. As mentioned earlier, reservation is a strong pillar of the same. However, it should only be used if its right implementation is guaranteed or at least sincere efforts are made by the administration for the same.

Those opposing the misuse, should foremost take the marginal sections into confidence. These sections must be shown, how those in power want to keep them marginal to reap their votes by making false promises year after year. In a number of cases, the real enemies of the marginalized sections tend to be those from amongst their own ranks only, who have successfully attained power over the years. Till yesterday the two were equals but today one is the 'mai-baap' of the other. Hence, they will try their best to keep this equation in their own favour by perpetuating the miseries of their brethren. They'll make promises but tactfully keep them unfulfilled and put the blame on the 'others'.

Hence, the breed of anti-reservationists, I am addressing here, help such manipulators by distinguishing themselves as a pool of 'others' against whom the wrath of the marginal sections can be directed by the dominant ones amongst them.

Things are not always black or white. Its important to identify the different shades of grey that lie within. Think about it.

Image Courtesy
Not traceable. Kindly Intimate me for due credits.

Obama Coming

A month left for the inauguration

November 4, 2008 was a historic day. A lot has been said, written and discussed about it by commentators around the globe. As it became clear that Barack Hussein Obama will emerge as the 44th American President, people from lands far far away rejoiced and marveled the American Dream. Even I was one among those who saluted the audacity of hope shown by Americans in electing their first black President.
Slavery might have been abolished in mid-19th century by Lincoln but half a century back the blacks were still fighting for basic civil rights and unconditional enfranchisement. Who could have imagined back then, that the very first decade of 21st century will see such an epoch setting development in the United States of America.
Indian media and political establishment have been analysing pros and cons of Obama's accession, to India. While his views on Kashmir issue and his commitment against unabated outsourcing and nuclear testing have put the Indian polity in a tizzy, his anti-Pakistan stand has given them a sigh of relief.
I'll refrain from any such analysis and let time reveal the facts. This post is only dedicated to the man who campaigned for change and those who imbibed his mantra and proved 'yes, we can!'
Obama's coming to power has ignited a hope that he will herald the world into a new era. A month from now, when he takes his seat in the Oval Office, he will become the most powerful person in the world. However, with power and authority comes responsibility. His predecessor shirked this very responsibility when he adopted a belligerent foreign policy. His domestic policies too, sent the country and along with it the whole world into a deep economic mess. So before Obama can 'do' anything, he has to 'undo' a lot of things.
Obama's life story until now holds a lot of promises. Obama was born to a Kenyan father of Muslim lineage and an American White Christian mother, in Hawaii. He spent his early life in Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian step father and returned to his maternal grandparents in Hawaii at the age of 10. So this man truly has an international upbringing and it is expected of him to be more sensitive while dealing with other nations. Obama went on to take up a teaching job in Chicago and was also a very active community organizer before that. Moreover, having a colored lineage, it is expected of him to be sensitive to the inequities in the American society and work for bridging the gaps. So, Obama enters the White House with such a baggage of expectations. However, he can not complain as he is the one who told his people 'yes, we can!'
However, for those who expect just too much out of Obama, the following words of Samir Amin, a noted Egyptian economist explain my point of view precisely. In a recent interview to Frontline, he says,"For sure, Barack Obama is better than a John McCain. Also, from the point of view of the evolution of U.S. society, it is something positive for an African American to be elected President. But from the point of view of policies and politics of the U.S. vis-a-vis the rest of the world, little will change. Perhaps the tonality, the language will change but the targets will be the same."
Obama might have made history but the true protagonists in this scheme of events are those who enabled him to do so. They are the Americans - white, black, Hispanic, college-goers, senior citizens, blue-collared, executives or paupers. All came together to throw away their biases and show the world that democracy is based on the principle of merit more than anything else and even a common man has the requisite intelligence to judge this merit.
Obama's victory is the America's victory. The Americans have earned back the respect they lost thanks to Bush's myopic world view. Time will tell if Obama actually delivers but there is no doubt that Americans have delivered and shown the world the meaning and the power of democracy. They have justified the government by the people(masses) component of the Lincoln's claim. Now it's up to Obama to justify the remaining part, i.e., government of the people (not just elite) and government for the people.
Can we Indians also be proud of our democracy which has allowed a dalit woman to dream of becoming the Prime Minister in the coming elections. I don't believe it's right to draw such a similarity. Isn't such a dream based more on the numbers and loyalty of one's community members rather than merit. U.S. elections also hold lessons for the Indian politicians to stop designing their campaigns, catering to a particular section of society but to generate such an enthusiasm among the people from all the sections that their election campaign itself becomes a mass movement.
India is a young democracy and here the politics has mostly prospered on the basis of divisions in the society. Its time that we, the Indian masses too, take a cue from the U.S. elections and see beyond our caste, religion, region or ethnicity to choose our representatives. That's my audacity of hope.

Image Courtesy
Self-Sketched and Photographed (edited)

Dilemma of a first time voter

Is the Right to Vote really empowering?

As May, 2009 approaches, the suspense with regards to “who’ll be the next?” must be killing those who are fighting it out. But there is another suspense which is intriguing me these days. I am about to exercise my franchise for the first time in my life. The question is not ‘who should I choose’ but rather ‘why should I choose anyone’! Is this Right to Vote really empowering for me or my compatriots. My heart wants to reply in affirmative but my mind stops me from doing it.
The ‘Right to Vote’ will become an empowering notion-cum-action for us, the masses, when we can see that by exercising it, we are not making or breaking the fortune of any political elite but rather we are making or breaking the fortune of our society at large and within it, ofcourse our own.
Political parties may lie on the left, right or at the center of the political spectrum but when they come to power; all those divergences tend to converge into a similar course of action as was being followed by their predecessors. There might be some modifications in the means employed, for in words of Pareto some tend to be ‘lions’ using coercion while others tend to be ‘foxes’ using their wiliness; but they all tend to move towards a common end, hence offering us more or less the same.
So when by exercising our franchise- the coveted privilege for the attainment of which thousands had to sacrifice- we bring a certain lot to power, we are actually just handing over to them the golden key to their personal fortunes. Those who loose, wait for the next time, doing nothing constructive but just hatching one plot after the other, of how to reduce their wait. Meanwhile, those in power carry on those same developmental and ‘non-developmental’ works, albeit changing the names of all the projects to honor their respective leaders, dead or alive. Everything else is the same, just the new packaging!
The ‘Right to Vote’ can become empowering only when we have a genuine pluralistic polity, plural, not in terms of quantity, as everyday with intrigues and splits occurring within the political set-up many new parties are coming up. Some may call this plurality as the sign of maturing of our democracy but of what use is it to an ordinary man. Plurality is needed in terms of quality. Only when there exist qualitative differences within the polity, which we can measure objectively, we will also start taking qualitative interest in choosing one over the other, for we will know that by making the wrong choice, we ourselves will end up on the loosing side.
It may seem to some that with such qualitative differences, political bickering will tend to increase. To the contrary, I believe an opposite phenomena will occur. When the parties are similar, they fight more to prove to their vote banks that they are different. With no such point to prove, they will find it easier to carry out bipartisan actions- denoting joint action of all the parties across the line, grouped broadly under conservative and liberal ideology, hence bipartisan and not 'multipartisan'- for the welfare of the masses.
Only when our polity evolves to such a state and is able to ‘brittle’ the ‘Iron Law of Oligarchy’ of Robert Michels, the ‘Right to Vote’ will become empowering and all my apprehensions will vanish away.

Image Courtesy
http://lh3.ggpht.com (original)