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

Parasitic Politics of Polarization

"A polarized city isn't necessarily a bad thing for a politician. Black or White."

These words are spoken by Marty Kaufman¹, a character in Barack Obama's 'Dreams from my Father' (the book I am reading these days), in context of Chicago of early 1980's.
However, isn't this statement true for the socio-political nexus of any place at any given time? Lets take a proximate example, that of India. Here the 'Black or White' can be substituted by 'Hindu or Muslim', 'Upper Caste or Lower Caste', 'Outsiders or Native' or by any such polarization and we are instantly reminded of the politicians and parties which made the best out of it.
Its not necessary that in a society polarized into two groups A and B, the politician has to be the member of the group A to win its loyalty. Even a pseudo-support can do. However, even if the support is genuine, it cannot be denied that the polarization helps him to create a vote-bank.
It is hard to find a much needed polarization along the lines of political ideology and we end up having elections fought on the platforms of Hindu Rashtra and Marathi Manoos among others.
Moving back to U.S.A., they have elections fought between the Democrats and the Republicans on the broad issues like 'for/against gay rights', 'pro-choice/pro-life abortion laws', 'progressive/regressive taxation', 'diplomatic/belligerent foreign policy' and 'gun-control/gun-rights' respectively. However, these issues remain epidermal and on seeing beneath, one can notice clear polarization based on socio-economic conditions.
So, while Democrats have a huge support of Black and Hispanic populations; the main-stay of Republicans are Whites. However, within Whites too, while religiously orthodox and the richer sections stick to Republicans, the educated liberals and lower-income voters converge towards Democrats.

***

However, who is to be blamed for this polarization, Politics or the Society?
It is like asking, "Who came first, the hen or an egg?"
Polarization has always been there, thanks to 'God' and 'Men' alike. So while God² decided to send his creations to the Earth in all sizes and colours, susceptible to polarization; His creation, the Men decided to compartmentalise themselves further on the basis of their belief system, occupation, birthplace, etc. This polarization is itself an act of Politics³, i.e. the competition between individuals or groups for power and leadership.
With time, Politics, i.e. the art and science of winning and holding control over a Government, was born and it very conveniently clung to this already polarized society like a parasite⁴. So while it fed upon it to prosper, it used all the resources available to aggravate the polarization and hence kept feeding itself and prospering in turn.
However, why couldn't the Society remove this parasite and throw it away? It was because the various sub-systems of the Social System like religious factions, economic groupings etc. benefited from this politics of polarization while the overall Social System degraded.
This is an ideal antithesis to the principle of Synergy⁵ where 2+2 becomes -5 instead of 5.
So Society at large allowed the Parasitic Politics of Polarization (the 3-P's) to prosper while some concerned individuals and groups sulked.
Continuing with this symbiotic⁶ analogy, we have an ideal example of Mutualism⁷ in politics of polarization too. It is the recent election drama enacted in Pilibhit constituency of Uttar Pradesh. While Varun Gandhi, the BJP candidate tried to garner Hindu support through his shameful vitriolic against Muslim brethren, the BSP government under Mayawati went overboard and booked him under N.S.A. to gain the appreciation and votes of Muslims. However, this turned out to be an antithesis to mutualism as Congress, another pesudo-secular party turned out to be a net-gainer in U.P.
Sadly, the distasteful concoction of these 3-P's seem perpetual. However, education can act as a great tool to erase polarization from an individual's mind and hence check the further degradation of Society at large. One hopes that a day comes when the reverse process of depolarization begins. However, to hope that this polarization will ultimately end one day is nothing but wishful thinking. Nonetheless, a dose of Empathic Libertarianism will definitely help.

Footnotes:

1. Marty Kaufman was the man who hired Obama to come to Chicago to work as an organiser in 1980's. In 2004, Obama revealed his true identity as Gerald Kellman.
2. By God, I mean the Source of Origin without any religious connotations.
   
3. The word politics can have two interpretations as already elaborated in the post. Firstly, in general terms, it stands for the competition between individuals or groups for power and leadership, without any specific relation to governance and public policy. Secondly, it stands for the art and science of government, of guiding or influencing governmental policy, or winning and holding control over a government.
4. Parasitism is a form of symbiotic relationship where one member of the association benefits while the other, known as host is harmed.
   
5. Synergy is a term used to define a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of individual parts.
6. Symbiosis describes a close and often a long-term relationship between different biological species.
   
7. Mutualism is another form of symbiotic relationship where both the members of the association derive benefit out of it.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.wvwnews.net/ (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)

Power swings 2008

Politics, economics and Cricket

As the year 2008 comes to a close, it is interesting to look back at some of the developments that challenged the existing order and made one ponder if these are indications to an eventful 2009.
The U.S.-Russia tussle saw two major geographical manipulations in the Russian vicinity. The first was triggered by U.S. support for declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo in February, the latest thread in the Balkanisation process. However, the month of August gave Russians a chance to return the favor, thanks to Georgian belligerence in its northern province of South Ossetia. Russians routed the Georgian army and recognized South Ossetia's right to secede along with another Georgian province of Abkhazia. U.S. might have triggered this event too but the Russians had the last laugh while U.S. was left fuming at the sight of its beleaguered ally.
There was more to come at the strategic level. U.S. in its move to bring the NATO forces and artillery closer to the Russian borders; supported the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the cross-Atlantic body, and made known its intentions of installing air defense systems in Poland and Czech Republic, under the garb of Iranian threat. As the year came to an end, Russian fleet too set its sails towards the American seas to hold joint war games with Venezuela. Moreover, Russia too plans to strengthen its defenses (and offenses) in Kaliningrad Oblast bordering U.S. allies, Poland and Lithuania.
On the energy front too, Russia has successfully brought together the Gas exporting countries under an OPEC-like institutional framework which has further added to its clout, much to the dismay of U.S. It will be interesting to see what course this age-old rivalry takes in the coming year.
While the above developments hurt U.S.A.'s international standing badly, its homegrown sub prime and mortgage crisis triggered such events that now threaten its economic hegemony too. World saw the Gulf sovereign funds coming to the rescue of American banks, an unprecedented development indeed. Though the decoupling theory proved wrong, but still India and China seemed better prepared for the crisis than ever before. A couple of weeks back, China, Japan and South Korea summit saw new economic partnerships being forged to work out a coordinated strategy against the global financial meltdown, an indication of countries looking beyond U.S.
Earlier in July this year, Doha rounds, the free-trade negotiations of W.T.O. collapsed in Geneva, as the developing countries led by India and China refused to yield to U.S. terms and conditions. Moreover, the recent revelation of Maddoff Ponzi scheme brought further disrepute to the Wall Street and the U.S. nation as a whole.
Away from all this politics and economics, another superpower is being threatened and the year 2008 has been very tough for it. Australian Cricket can never be the same again. They started the year defeating India in the controversial Sydney Test thanks to the magical over bowled by Michael Clark. However that was the end for them and a beginning for the bruised Indian team. India won the next test and though lost the test series, came back with vengeance in the One-dayers. In the three final matches tri-series, India under Dhoni never needed the third final.
There was more to come in October-November when Australians came to India for the next edition of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They did come with the trophy but could not take it back, being defeated 2-nil by the resurgent Indians. In between India tied a test series with South Africa at home and lost to Sri Lanka at their home but returned the favour in the one-dayers.
Indians brought the year to an end with an inspiring test victory at home against England. In the first test, the Sehwag blitzkrieg left the Englishmen clueless and the cricket lovers bedazzled. However the year ending has proved dismal for the Aussies. Proteas' heroics in the first test at Perth saw South Africa scaling a target of 414 with great agility and confidence. With the Boxing Day Test, the final and the most crucial test match of the year having started just half an hour back (and Hayden continuing with his poor form, already back to the pavilion), one wonders how the Kangaroos will fair this time. Australia might have amassed a lot of points on the test ranking table, thanks to the likes of McGrath, Warne and company but with these stalwarts retiring from the international scene, the going is getting tougher for the Ponting men or rather boys. India and even more strongly, South Africa have started fancying their chances to bring an end to the Australian hegemony in cricket.
In the corporate sphere of cricket, BCCI continues to extend its hegemony. With the successful conduct of PCL, Lalit Modi has become one of the most powerful sports executive in the world. Hence, the year 2009 holds a lot of promises for India in the cricketing arena. One hopes the good performances of 2008, seen in the other sports like shooting and boxing continue the next year too, to give a better platform for the Indian contingent at Commonwealth Games to be held in the National Capital in 2010.
Coming back to politics, U.S. saw a major domestic power swing as Democrats under Obama came back to power. Republicans had their eight years under Bush and they ended up doing all that should not have been done. Bush revealing earlier this month that his biggest regret was the U.S. intelligence failure on Iraq sums it up.
However, back home, power politics kept swinging all through the year. NDA's Karnataka victory earlier this year, saw them gaining a lot of mileage for the coming general elections but the results of recent assembly elections in Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi humbled the saffron brigade to some extent and filled a new zeal and confidence in the Grand Old Party of India, which was fearing for worse.
"We have taken a risk", is what Chief Election Commissioner had to say on announcing the schedule for elections to the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly, back in October. Earlier in the year, the way events had unfolded around the Amarnath shrine board issue, it seemed the separatists will have a field day if and when elections are conducted. Air in the Valley seemed rife with secessionist emotions and no one predicted that democracy could have the last laugh.
However, with all the seven phases of election over in the state, one is amazed at the voter turnout figures, much above than the previous occasions. Hence, the year ending saw the power swinging back in the favour of the democratic process in the northern-most state of India. In another couple of days, we will come to know, who will wear the crown and hopefully, strengthen this process further in 2009.
On the corporate front, Indian companies continued their foreign acquisitions, though at a lesser pace than in 2007, led by Tata's takeover of Land Rover and Jaguar brands from Ford. However, the Japanese firm's takeover of Indian pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy spoilt the party to some extent.
India's successful moon mission, Chandrayaan was another step in the Indian as well as Asian elevation in space technology. With Indian-built European satellite W2M being launched last Sunday from French Guiana, it adds further to ISRO's clout and coffers.
Further on technology and more importantly strategic front, India signed the Nuclear Cooperation Deal with U.S.A. , Russia and France after getting unprecedented go-ahead from NSG and IAEA. By successfully carving out a special place for itself in nuclear arena, India has successfully de-hyphenated itself from Pakistan.
Recent developments post-Mumbai terror attacks are seeing Pakistan being further marginalized. Even its strong ally China has not come out with open support as on previous occasions. Year 2009 is going to be very crucial for India-Pakistan relations and may see major power swings in South Asia with U.S. committed to escalate its war against terror in Afghanistan under Obama.

Image Courtesy
http://www.mcs.alma.edu (original)

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.

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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.

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