Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Thursday, August 16, 2007

India Ahead - The Roadmap for the next 60 years

Continuing with the Independence Day fervor, my good friend Maverick has an interesting list of things that will make India an icon in the next 60 years. Click here to read the article. While I agree on all of those, I also have a few other points that I think are equally, if not more, important in curing India of its ills.

1. Ban Caste/Religion based politics and policy making

This has been the bane of our system ever since independence. The country has not been able to overcome the strong caste/religion divide, and politicians, in their vote-bank appeasement policies, have exploited this to the hilt. Minority appeasement, for example, has reached such sick proportions that one wonders if it is a crime to be born in the majority community. Further, the lack of a uniform civil code has reduced our secular credentials to a farce. The so-called intelligentsia has always turned a blind eye to such critical issues as these, but pounces upon irrelevant issues to garner press and mileage rather than for any genuine concern for the nation.

2. Mandate based politics, and a move-away from nepotism and dynastic rule

For years, we have been ruled by dynastic leaders who, despite not having done anything to prove their mettle, are allowed to “inherit” power. In a democratic set-up, this is not just an insult to the system, but also a reflection of the lack of political awareness among the voting public. Although we are no longer a kingdom, we still have several fiefdoms thriving in our system. Unless, politics is fought based on progress-oriented mandates, along with a certain minimum accountability to this mandate, India will continue to degenerate in the hands of nepotism and corruption.

3. An honest attempt to weed out corruption

Corruption in public life is no longer scorned at anymore in India because we have grown so used to it. The public has now resigned to the fact that every politician is corrupt and ends up amassing huge wealth for himself/herself. The only expectation from these politicians is that, amidst their personal wealth-amassing spree, they should also ensure some minimum development for the constituencies that they represent. It is sad to see how our expectations of morality and ethics from our leaders have deteriorated. It is sadder to see that our leaders do not meet even these low expectations. In order for a better country, an honest attempt has to be made to eliminate corruption. Corrupt officers and politicians should be punished so severely that it should set an example for others. Yes, it might seem cruel and draw a lot of criticism from our intelligentsia but in the interest of the country, some compromises have to be made. Further, our education system needs to be revamped to instill the right moral and ethical values in our future generations to ensure that our future leaders are governed by a strong sense of ethics.

4. Revamp the Education System in the country

This might seem trivial and out of context, but a country which has such low standards of morality and ethics should start rebuilding from the roots. As a rule, the NCERT has been told not to depict the medieval periods of Indian history as a period of conflict between Hindus and Muslims. Further, the directive also mandates that our history books depict all our leaders/politicians as honest and noble people. In the process, our education system completely defaces our history. And it is a proven fact that nations learn from their history. Evidence of this is in the fact that Germany mandates that its Nazi history must be taught to all its students so that they know about the mistakes that were committed in the past. As a result, future generations can learn from their past, and also develop a sense of moral and ethical righteousness. Unfortunately, our education system has been built on denial, and as a result, our kids are denied the precious opportunity of learning from our past mistakes. A total revamp of the History textbooks is required, and for a change, let the communists and pseudo-secularists not write it this time around.

5. Check the Population menace

As a country, we do not have unlimited resources, and therefore, scarcity is an inevitable truth. The only way to ensure we optimally utilize the scarce resources available is by checking our population growth, both organic and inorganic. Organic growth should be controlled by a combination of education and incentive/disincentive based policies. Education on birth-control and the need for it is critical. The disincentive based population control policies have not been very successful the world over, but China has been fairly successful, and therefore, India should look at some similar policy to curb the population growth. But the key here is that a disincentive based policy will fall flat on its face if it is not complimented by a strong emphasis on education. Inorganic population growth in India is largely due to the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet etc. A citizen identification number/ social security number system may have to be introduced in India to enable tracing and identifying illegal immigrants.

6. Social Security System

A social security system should be introduced in India to administer state-sponsored welfare benefits. Currently, we read about millions of rupees sanctioned as welfare for victims of floods etc, but it is common knowledge that very little of it actually reaches the victims. This is because there is no traceability of these funds to the victims. A SSN system should alleviate these problems. In addition, this will also help in a gradual elimination of the reservation system that is so rampantly abused in India. To move away from a caste-based reservation to an economic status based reservation system, the SSN system would be ideal to trace and administer the benefits to the economically poor sections. Of course, the implementation of such a system would, in itself, pose a huge challenge.

Most of these points might seem far-fetched in the current times, but these are surely achievable over a 60 year window. After all, how many people in 1947 would have believed that impoverished, Socialist India would become the capitalist, market-driven, billionaire-studded India in 2007?

Change, however improbable it might seem now, will happen. After all, change is the only constant!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Jessica Lal Verdict- The Death Of Justice

"Justice Delayed is Justice Denied" is one of the basic tenets of jurisprudence.
In India, we say that with more punch. "Justice Delayed to ensure Justice Denied".
That sums up the Jessica Lal murder trial verdict.

The sheer mockery of the entire justice system in India that this verdict represents has disillusioned the whole nation. A cold-blooded murder, in full view of over 100 people, is finally dismissed for want of eye-witness evidence. And that, after 6 years from the day of the crime.

It is almost customary these days for the rich and powerful to get away with any criminal offence, and the Jessica Lal verdict only adds further proof to the anarchy that has descended on our legal system. The fact that Manu Sharma shot Jessica Lal for refusing him a drink in full view of so many elite people at the party should have made this a prima facie case of murder. An Open and Shut case. However, the rich and powerful very conveniently bought the judicial system, to first delay justice to 6 years giving them enough time to ensure all the witnesses turned "hostile", and then to have a totally incredulous "Not guilty" verdict in their favor.

Some of the key witnesses who turned hostile include famous models and socialites. The cruelest blow was dealt by one spineless rogue called Shayan Munshi. Munshi, an actor in the Bollywood Film Industry, was also serving liquor to the guests, along with Jessica, and was a key eye-witness to the murder. However, he turned hostile and claimed that he was not even at the party on the night of the murder.

When Jessica Lal, herself being a top model, could not get justice, there is little hope for the common man. The incident not only exposes the weak value system in our society where witnesses turn hostile overnight, but also raises some very important questions about our legal system.

The legal system needs to tighten its perjury laws, to ensure witnesses cannot retract their statements with such wanton ease. The current law prohibits the witnesses from signing their statements, and is therefore, an open invitation for witnesses to turn hostile. If the perjury laws were strong enough, witnesses would not find it as convenient to turn hostile due to the repercussions of "lying under oath".

Secondly, verdicts should not rely so heavily on eye-witness evidence, but should also consider circumstantial evidence. In the Jessica Lal murder case, most hostile witnesses either claimed that they were not at the scene of crime, or that they didn’t actually see Manu Sharma fire the bullet at Jessica although they saw him fleeing with his gun. On circumstantial evidence, this would have been enough to nail Manu Sharma, but unfortunately, the system begs for eye-witness.

Further, the great problem for jurisprudence in our country is that although the system is over-reliant on eye-witness evidence, there is no Witness Protection Program to prevent witnesses from being bribed or threatened into turning hostile. In cases when the witness remains defiant, the loopholes in our system makes it fairly easy for the accused to simply eliminate the witness.

The most glaring loophole, however, is the fact that the case dragged on for 6 long years.
When all the eye-witness evidences were available, why wasn’t Manu Sharma tried sooner?
6 years is too long a time for even the bravest of witnesses to stand by his/her statement, in the face of threats and pressure. Add to that the fact that all the accused people were let out on bail, paving way for more foul play. The inability of the police to recover the weapon which was used to fire the mysterious "second" bullet adds more credibility to the conspiracy theory.

The entire country knows Manu Sharma killed Jessica Lal, but yet, the man walks free by law.
This incident could have far more dangerous implications since this might be construed as an assurance that people with financial and political clout can flout the law whenever they please and easily get away with it. For a country that is already simmering with anger and discontentment over the various media exposes, ranging from the "Tehelka expose" to the recent "CNN IBN Sting Operation", the Jessica Lal verdict could just be the "Tipping Point".

"Rang De Basanti", the recent blockbuster that was based on corrupt politics finally leading to a social revolution, may not seem so unreal anymore.

Monday, February 20, 2006

My Hallowed Nation

As a citizen of the world's largest democracy, I should be a proud man.
But alas, I am anything but that!

59 years since India became an Independent country, and there is still no sign of growth and freedom that one would expect in a democratic country. The Constitution of India proudly proclaims the country to be a "Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic republic". However, today, the country is anything but what the constitution proclaims.

With the way India has handled Kashmir, Sovereignty is a complete misnomer, especially when it comes to the Kashmir province. By conceding a part of Kashmir to Pakistan, the Government of India clearly made mockery of the sovereignty of India over the entire Kashmir. What is more appalling than this act of cowardice is the fact that even present day Governments are trying to bargain with the Line of Control as the official India-Pak border. And if that was not insulting enough, our rogue neighbor has rebuked even that offer, and is fighting for complete control of Kashmir.

The myth about Indian Socialism was busted long ago, and the concept is not even relevant in the capitalistic India of today. Distribution of wealth is equal only among corrupt politicians and rich industrialists.

Secularism is the most abused word in Indian politics. A country that boasts of its secular credentials does not even have a uniform civil code. Despite tall claims of "No discrimination based on caste, creed, religion or sex", discrimination is so rampant that it has become a law in itself. How else do you justify the law which allows Muslims to take 4 wives because their religion allows it? Because of the minority appeasement politics that has been India's bane for the past 60 years, Muslim laws have been seamlessly integrated into our social system, thereby making religious discrimination a law in itself. If that isn't enough, the country is plagued by the outrageous concept of reservations based on caste and religion.
How then, can we call ourselves secular when the law of the land itself promotes such rampant religious discrimination?
To allow people to practise their religion is one thing. But to permit the religion to dictate the law is another thing altogether. Shouldn’t a secular government always ensure that the "State" and the "Church" are completely independent of each other?
Going by the current law, tomorrow, if I float a religion which permits rape, murder and other heinous crimes, will the law of the land spare me and my followers from legal persecution, in the name of religious freedom? They should, considering that I am only following my religion, however heinous it may be.

Finally, the Indian Democracy is also a big farce considering the government is not at all for the people. When votes are manipulated through threats and booth capturing, the government may not even be by the people. And with the kind of thugs and gang-lords who run the government, I am would be surprised if these politicians are from among the people. To add further credibility to my suspicions, the fact that our ruling party is headed by a foreigner is a sure indication that the government is not from the people.

With such a farcical system of governance, it should come as no surprise that when a television channel recently conducted a sting operation to catch the corrupt politicians accepting bribes from undercover journalists, the political parties, instead of reprimanding these tainted ministers, started accusing the media of improper and irresponsible journalism. Here is a masterpiece among some of the reactions from the top politicians of this hallowed nation.
"A person who is giving bribe is a bigger criminal than a person who is accepting the bribe. So let us arrest the journalists who offered these bribes".

Hallowed, we certainly are!

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

The Tsunami disaster: A prayer for the deceased

It really must be the beginning of the end!
When nature turns against humanity in a way as cruel as this, humankind are left to wonder, and even more so, to mourn. The magnitude of this tragedy, for us outsiders, is measured only in the number of deaths reported. But to those who have lost their families and homes, the tsunami has left them with an abysmal pit of irreplaceable loss. Unsuspecting people have been washed away to watery graves in a matter of minutes. Thousands of fishermen have lost their lives, and their livelihood. Homes have been destroyed. Villages have been razed. Survivors face the risk of epidemics due to water contamination caused by the dead bodies. Panic has given way to anarchy.
Nothing has remained the way it was. The way it should have been.
In this hour of grief, us lucky ones can only pray for the souls of the departed, and do our best to help save the survivors. By donating clothes, medicines, food, utensils, money. And by spreading the message of compassion. To let them know that "we care".
And pray that it never happens again.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Traffic!

Ever wondered about the state of traffic in Bangalore? I did, and it didnt look good at all. And here's why.

While driving to office this morning, through the numerous traffic congestions , I ended up stopping at most signals, like always. Blame it on my habit of seeing red at everyone and everything. Gimme red anyday! Anyways, at one of these many signals, I had, like a law abiding citizen, stopped due to the signal being red.

As soon as the traffic on the perpendicular direction subsided a bit, the man on the scooter right next to me with a 10 year old son riding pillion, vroomed out of the blocks, through the red signal, and sped away, safely from the traffic and the lazy traffic constable monitoring the signal. The sight of his son, triumphantly waving at us foolish people who were still waiting for the signal to turn green while his dad had so easily sped out of it was a revelation. His joy knew no bounds!

With fathers like that setting such wrong examples to their impressionable kids about the futility of adhering to traffic rules, no wonder the kids these days dont really care much about jumping a signal.
Wanna be cool? Break a traffic rule!

What is the use improving roads, if people just dont want to follow rules? The traffic conditions in our city is only going to get worse when these inspired kids follow in their illustrous parents' footsteps. I shudder to think of even venturing onto these roads.
Anyone knows how much a helicopter's gonna cost?

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Filmy chakkar: Ban - galore

Its a boring Thursday morning here at work, and sipping coffee and thinking about a plan for the weekend. I dont usually have to plan for weekends, cos I am either hanging out with friends, or chilling at Javacity, or getting cosy at home with my PS2. But as good fortune would have it, I met this amazing woman who , in a fit of absent mindedness, agreed to tolerate me for a whole lifetime (and another 6 lifetimes as well, if the elders are to be believed), and so I cant afford to not romance her during the weekends.

Now, as any Bangalore dude with a life would tell you, movies are really where it's at if you are looking for some clean romance, which brings me to the real point of writing this blog.
What is it with Kannada film makers and good movies? Why do they always run parallel without ever meeting? Why is it that every other language can churn out atleast some decent stuff once in a bluemoon, but Kannada films never manage to get out of the rut?

Well, I dont intend to evoke any fanatical sentiments because I myself am a Kannadiga, and have enjoyed several good Kannada movies in the days of yore when movies were made with a brain, heart and soul.While I would like to remind everyone that there have been some very good Kannada movies in the recent past, they form a very miniscule minority of the total lot.

In general, Kannada movies suffer from poor production values, bad direction sense, unattractive packaging (read as "heroes that would put villains to shame in terms of their appearance"), bad publicity, negative image, and bad music. As an upmarket viewer of movies, I also despise the mass adulation that is reserved for some totally uncharismatic non-actors who make larger than life movies that demand audiences to leave their brains home while all the time advertising "For intelligent people only". For this, I blame the audience for not knowing what good cinema is about.

In short, Kannada movies are in total chaos. But sadly, the Kannada movie audience deserve the kind of movies they are given. That brings me to another point I am trying to highlight.

The Kannada movie audience is mostly the lower middle class suburbans, or the highly conservative, and non-cosmopolitan upper class.These are the people who , more often than not, do not speak or comprehend any other language and therefore, are resigned to watch Kannada movies alone, and as the saying goes " Beggars cant be chosers". And so you have the coin throwing, catcalling, whistle blowing Kannada audiences enjoying the disgustingly insipid and absolutely senseless movies that are doled out to them.
Point to be driven home: Kannada movies have their audience, and the audience have their Kannada movies.

Now, if the producers of these movies cannot reach out to a larger audience by making better movies, they cannot and should not hope to cut into the audiences for movies made in other languages. And they certainly have no right to demand that theatres dont screen any non-Kannada movie till they are atleast 7 weeks old ( and viewed on TV, thanks to the booming piracy business). If you cant win a race, you shouldnt try to get everyone else to lose. It just means you wont have any winner at all. And thats exactly the case here. People who watch Kannada movies continue to watch them. People who watch non-Kannada movies will just not watch any movie at all.
Will someone tell me how it helps improve the Kannada film industry in any way?

Last heard, all the theatres have stopped screening Kannada movies as well.

Conclusion: My weekend movie date just went outta the window. Any multiplex screening secret cinema? Puhleeeze....