Minding the Mindset

The people who are feeling that Nirbhaya was insulted by the documentary must be actually feeling insulted for themselves and are reluctant to accept that such kind of mindset is not uncommon in our over-glorified country. This whole episode of outrage over the making of the documentary — even before watching it — itself proves that those, who want this documentary off the lime light are wrong, as it has clearly brought back the issue into the public debate actually. Can any one deny that?

There are two separate things that are being questioned now: one is the need to interview criminals behind bars, which has so much to do with the mindsets of people in our country - especially in cases like Nirabhaya - which has to be checked; and the second is on whether the documentary can effectively convey the message for the betterment of our society or not, for which one has to see it first.

Now, the only criticism that can be attributed to the media that has aired part of the interview or at least tried to do so yesterday, is the usual sensationalization that can be found in everyday news. It did piss me off when they were putting each ugly remark that the culprit had made as a headline one after the other. But, I think our anger against the media or the foreign film maker is either misplaced or is a sign of our insecurity, as a society.

What can one say, when our Union Home Minister, seconds after telling that he was hurt watching those comments made by the culprit, questions the need to make such a documentary that has compelled him to make a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the issue in one way or the other. Some of our honorable intellectual members of 'House of elders' also took the same route, with few acknowledging the need for change of mindset.

And for those, who say and believe that the documentary is defaming us as it is only one rapist's mindset that can't be generalized, the documentary also includes the interviews of culprit's lawyers, who are as defying as the culprit in saying that the victim should be on road at that time and that she should have pleaded him for mercy or whatever. And above all, we have our own parliamentarians and leaders, who make almost similar comments frequently. Do we need more proof than that?

The government has just acted like a traditional Indian family, which wants to keep the secrets inside, regardless of how worse the situation is for half of the people in it.

Anyway, as most of us will gradually start paying lesser and lesser attention to the issue, hell with it, lets just block and ban everything that tries to make us think, and lets live in ignorance…

Cultivation of another kind…

Leaked internal mails allegedly reveal favors by Corporate groups to people in places of power

Another whistle was blown on Friday, just a day before Union budget gets placed in the parliament and grabs the lime light, revealing several internal mails of a corporate group, ESSAR, which has allegedly engaged in unethical practices of appeasing a number of politicians, bureaucrats and journalists by offering smart phones, jobs to recommended candidates, free rides and even (as small as) top ups.The mails also mention other corporate groups which have mastered the art according to them.

However, all the mainstream channels on Friday were selective in targeting the Union Minister Nithin Gadkari, keeping the corporate entity and the other beneficiaries out of the debate mostly. Almost all the channels spent their air time in questioning the Union Minister Nithin Gadkari's propriety (moral or otherwise) in taking a two night trip with his family to a french cruise ship, which belongs to a subsidiary of ESSAR corporate group, during one of their foreign tours in July, 2013. The Minister's family has also allegedly used the company's chopper for their travel to the yacht.

Mr. Gadkari was reportedly not in any official position at that time in the government or in BJP, but his influence over his party Chief Ministers at that time and his current portfolio as a Union Minister, are well with in the bounds of taking important decisions, which might have or may favor the ESSAR group. But the "quid pro quo" is not established by any party just yet. On the other side, Mr. Gadkari and his defenders inside and outside BJP say that he had only visited a friend during his personal tour with his family and that it doesn't amount to propriety. But, none of these people were asked what they think about the corporate groups internal mails in which company officials discuss about cultivating influential personalities, which clearly shows their intentions. Some mails also seem to have mentioned similar practices by other big corporates like Reliance and Airtel.

Some other conspicuous issues that came out of the mails are the proposals to offer smart phones and job opportunities to the candidates recommended by these personalities that include prominent politicians like Digvijay Singh, who when approached by media said that they have only recommended eligible candidates and apparently felt nothing wrong in doing so. Hail the impartial partiality of our Netas.

Following the exposes, some of the journalists, who allegedly received cab services among others, have faced the wrath from their managements, which in the case of Hindustan Times seems to have opened more such allegations as per this report. More detailed report about the expose in Indian express can be found here.

Renowned Supreme court lawyer and a crusader of corruption, Prashanth Bhushan has filed people interest litigation on the issue, while the ESSAR group has released a statement saying that leaking of their private mails amounts to theft and that they will take legal steps. They have also stated that some of the mails are 'apparently' fabricated.

Caravan's latest report with proofs on Gadkari's report can be found here. 

Additions:

Fresh detailed report in NewsLaundry explains how Essar officials have allegedly tried to persuade journalists to alter articles in their favor. The report also mentions some articles which might or might not have influenced by the group. One particular article mentioned among them, about the group's involvement in the 2G scam, was reported by Ashish Khetan, who was with Tehalka then, and is currently a prominent member of Aam Aadmi Party. However, there is no mention of any favors to him in the mails that do mention some other journalists from some prominent media organizations.

How the State is destroying small farmers

85% of farmers in AP and Telangana are in debt against 45% all over the nation

The farmers of Andhra Pradesh(and Telangana), known as the ‘Rice bowl of India’, are at cross roads, not for the first time. They are forced to be there, year after year, one season after another, barely surviving the times that are becoming harder and harder for small farming. Some of them thought they had enough of feeding the nation, which couldn’t feed them. The ever-growing debts made them choose death over life. And a substantial amount of them have migrated to near by or even far bound cities to work as daily wager labourers.

 

In India, small farmers (owning less than 5 acres) constitute around 85% of farming households holding a land of about 35.5% of the total land. 11.24% of them(85%) are not landowners, they depend on farming by borrowing land or by working in fields.

According to NSSO(National Sample Survey Organization) 2011 statistics(latest in this regard), 82% farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are in debt where as 45% all over India share the same fate. Andhra Pradesh(united) tops this list and that clearly is an indication the plights of farming community in our state(s). 

The national Crime Record Bureau(NCRB) records show that 2.8 lakh farmers all over India and around 36,000 in Andhra Pradesh(united) committed suicides, during the period 1995-2012...read full story@telugoos

 

The tragedy and the larger turmoil

Can we see this incident separately, unconnected to all other horrendous incidents that are happening all over India? No, not really, if we see the circumstances that lead to this tragedy: the alarms that don’t alarm, the tourist spot that wasn’t a tourist spot, the unharmed sand mafia which allegedly was the reason for the location to become a dangerous attraction for tourists, all the government authorities including tourism department which had no idea about the dangers awaiting, and the list just won’t stop. What all these show is just a common denominator among all of us: negligence, ‘gross collective negligence’.

Over the years, callousness has crept into our minds. Decades after the collective struggle for freedom, self-interests have overshadowed national interests. An Indian citizen now rarely feels that the common interests of the nation are his/her own interest too. And the government institutions are full of such selfish people(both political and bureaucratic), nowadays. That is why they are rarely proactive, usually reactive, but are always ‘reluctantly reactive,’ to the issues of ‘public importance’. They always seem to be too late and too hesitant to do the work for which they had enthusiastically taken the oath. An example is the Uttarakhand disaster, where, after one year...contd@Telugoos

Tale of 'Two States'

'Two States' has been in public terminology recently on two separate issues. One, regarding the division of Andhra Pradesh, which has been made into a 'hate affair' between two regions of people(speaking the same language), and on the other hand, a movie on Chetan Bhagat's book '2 states', an inter-state 'love affair,' which has got movie viewers' attention. I am not going into the latter one, except that it has all makings of an entertainer, nonetheless.

It's not the first time in India, a reorganization of states taking place. But, this part of the country has been struggling with the geographical borders, with one or the other region of people, always demanding some kind of reorganization, time and again. Even though, they speak same language, it is not going to address their political, economical and educational problems which are contrasting, go way back into the history, and were left unanswered mostly by leaders for far too long.

Recent History:

The Andhra and Rayalaseema regions collectively called as Seemandhra, were part of Madras Presidency and under the British rule for 200 years and continued to be so for few years after independence too till 1953, when it was divided from 'Madras State' to form a separate 'Andhra State'. All this time(Till 1948 to be exact), the Telangana region(as Hyderabad State) was under the rule of Nizam, during which it hadn't seen much development on both economical and educational fronts, of the general public, that is. But, on the contrary, The Seemandhra region, even under the british rule, got benefited from their pro-reforms policy(for their own benefits of trade, of course) that made the people there both economically and educationally better equipped for employment and industry, compared to those in Telangana region, by the time the 'two states' were combined to form 'Andhra Pradesh State' in 1956, on linguistic basis as recommended by the first State Reorganization Committee(SRC).

Is Bifurcation, the real Remedy?

As so many intellectuals and other apolitical leaders in both regions had already opined, a state division itself can never be an ultimate solution, a Zinda Tilismath, a remedy for all problems. But, it can pave ways towards a situation, where the backward regions(again in both states), which were badly ignored for years now, may get some kind of focus of the state and also public, in general. But again, that needs a political will, whose absence was the reason for the present situation, in first place.

What the 'Two States' are in for:

The two states are going into all kind of elections(Local bodies, Assembly and Lok Sabha) right away, and they are going into them unitedly, which is again a political mind game of the highest order. And as soon as the results of General Elections, 2014 gets declared on May 16, with in 15 days, on June 2, both states get separate assemblies on the basis of elections held in a combined state.

There is no doubt that the local body elections may have some affect on the comparably bigger elections of Assembly and LS. At the same time, the effects of sentiments and anti-sentiments over division, also may effect local body elections. But, the parties like Congress and TDP, who have been maintaining organized cadre deep into the roots, are expected to gain somewhat from the local body elections, and thus increasing their prospects in Assembly and LS elections, but mostly limiting to one region(former in Telangana region & latter in Seemandhra region).

Catching up:

But, in both regions, the popular vote is going to YSRC(in Seem-andhra) and TRS(in Telangana) parties respectively, as per current equations, for voicing their regions' concerns supposedly. Also, a recent Opinion Poll by CSDS(which wasn't degraded by the recent sting on opinion polls) for CNN-IBN, clearly shows that both TDP and Congress are catching up YSRC and TRS, in Seemandhra and Telangana regions, respectively (assuming Congress and TRS don't ally with each other). But, there is still lots of time left, two months almost, which is enough to win or loose an election. 

And it still gets more interesting with the popular Super star of Tollywood, especially in the recent times, Mr.Pawan Kalyan(younger brother of Mr.Chiranjeevi, Union Minister) and the ex and last CM of the united Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Kumar Reddy, launching their own parties to come into the fray of the General Elections, 2014.

Unfortunately, even after all this drama over bifurcation, which could have been clearly handled better, most of the leaders and parties that are going to take the reigns of the new states are going to be the same persons, that were largely responsible for all the misgovernance, that had happened over the years, but in new avatars of changed colors, flags, symbols, etc.

Parliament 'united' in ditching common man's interests

The 15th Loksabha gets dissolved in a few weeks and along with it , a number of bills too bite the dust, some of which were very important under present circumstances and which had wide consensus on several fronts including major political parties. But, somehow they couldn't see the light of the day, thanks to the union cabinet's decision not to pursue the ordinance route. And that makes for the least productive Loksabha ever with most ever number of lapsing bills(68, to be exact) while 2200 crores were spent on it for the 5 years of its time.

All excuses of technicalities, complexities, apprehensions, differences and disruptions which never arose while passing the bills that were benefiting political interests or politicians's personal interests, came in the way of passing anti graft bills(grievance redressals bill ,etc.), women reservations bill, judicial accountability bill ,etc(detailed report here and archive of 15th loksabha here). How come? Did all parties which publicly supported all these bills really committed to their word? Or did they just said it for face value and are letting them lapse, while blaming each other on camera and shaking hands behind?

It was said that the Union Government rejected to go with the ordinance route on anti graft bills as the President let his displeasure known about the same. But, however they did approve the ordinance on an amendment regarding the recently passed AP Reorganization Bill. Obviously, they want us to believe that they are two different issues.How different are they really? Similar to the Telangana issue, there was consensus on the other bills too. With this decision, all the effort, time and money that was spent on these bills for the last 5 years gets trashed along with the hope to fight against corruption.

And at last, the view that passing an ordinance now would be subverting the democratic system as General Elections are near, seems to be just a rhetoric that suits the detractors when there is no other way of opposing a move that is clearly pro-people. When whole nation is crying foul on corruption and women's issues, aren't lapsing anti graft bills and women's reservations bill, etc., eligible for ordinance route? Especially when it ultimately needs the approval of the new Parliament, during which the bill can be amended/disapproved?

But, the parties play tricks around these lines, Rahul claims the credit for trying to bring in those ordinances, BJP claims Congress is trying to do all things in a hurry at the last minute and they can play this ball back and forth, long, while the real issues take back seat, as they did for years now. After all, what purpose does the constitution, laws, and technicalities serve, when they are ultimately doing disservice to people.

Unfortunately, it still takes time for a majority of us to see through these multiple disguises that parties and politicians wear, at times, and rise above petty issues of region, religion, caste, sops, liquor and money while voting. Voting for common good, not just for oneself or one group is unlike us for now. Hope we get through this phase soon enough.

For a 'change', Politics for good?

The Kejriwal's exit from governance had been a predicted one, as he was hinting at it every now and then. But, he did it almost perfectly it seems, even though there are some apprehensions from a minority of observers.

This exit may also answer, why Mr.Kejriwal took his time(48 days, to be exact) in bringing Jan Lokpal Bill(New Lokayuktha Bill for Delhi), on which he and his team were working over years even before the AAP(Aam Aadmi Party) was launched. Instead of trying to pass it as early as possible, Mr.Kejriwal concentrated more on some of the other core issues of their manifesto and ensured that at least some part of them got executed. 

He knew that he didn't had enough time to fulfill all the promises in the manifesto, since his main aim, rightly, is whole nation, not just Delhi. And he doesn't want to wait till 2019, as it is difficult to sustain the fire in the hearts of  the people against corruption till then. So, he gave a glimpse of uncompromising governance to reassure the Delhi-ites(Which seems to have worked acc. to some surveys after AAP's exit), before taking up the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly, which was the main reason for his existence itself in the politics. He did say that they were working on the bill from time to time, though.

He also knew that a strong Jan Lokpal Bill providing independent investigating powers to an autonomous body may not get the approval of both the major national parties in the Assembly. But to ensure that they do reject it in someway, a day before the assembly, he showed that he is going to pursue the corruption cases by launching a FIR(First Information Report) against the biggest name and highest authorities in the country. He acted upon the complaints made to him by TSR Subramaniam, a former Cabinet Secretary and co., by using the CrPC's principal of territorial Jurisdiction, which seems to allow ACB, along with the CBI to exercise concurrent jurisdiction over corruption crimes committed by Central public servants in Delhi. And The technicality that both Congress and BJP argued missing(which wasn't a problem for them in earlier assembly bills) couldn't really be the reason for their rejection to the bill. And thus Kejriwal not only achieved his safe exit but also succeeded in demonstrating that both Congress and BJP do come together when it comes to,a strong law against corruption or big corporates.

It is a safe exit for Mr.Kejriwal and AAP on two counts. One, because he can't tour the country, campaigning for Loksabha elections, without getting slammed for leaving the governance of Delhi after mere two months, unlike Mr.Modi, who has the luxury of having governed Gujarat for 2+ terms. There could have been a divided opinion inside and outside, on whether he should stay in Delhi and govern or should he go for campaign. Two, now,they can go to the masses without the unconditional support of congress to their government in Delhi, which was considered as a compromise between AAP and Congress by a sizable citizens of India. Also, not being power hungry tag can be used when there is a need.

There is no doubt that all AAP trying to do is expose that Congress, BJP and other parties are not serious when it comes to eradicating corruption. And they are in a hurry to change it quickly, as agreed by their leaders on various occasions. As several analysts, intellectuals always say, it takes time to bring out a sustainable change. But, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to do it as fast as you could. AAP is a young party, and synonymous with the current youth, they want to do it quick. They should target for a sustainable change, but not a change that can be changed back.

After all this Drama or Dharna(protest) or whatever one can assume it, all AAP may get is a single digit in General Elections, 2014. But, surely the 16th Loksabha is going to have a far less number of criminals in attendance than the last 2 or may be 3 Loksabhas, thanks to AAP!!

A for Apathy, B for Business

It is testing time for an average parent in our country, as basic quality education is fast becoming the norm of private institutions only. The minimum economics involved in studying a child from KG to PG is going well out of bounds for an average indian citizen.

This heavy burden not only limits the parents' own dreams in life, but also makes them, set or even dictate the goals for their children. In some cases, It is also constraining their vision in making a career choice by opting only for the popular streams like engineering, medicine which can ensure quick job opportunities  rather than the relatively more passionate streams like arts, literature, etc.

The government's apathy towards the Gen-Next's education is highly condemnable. There has been a systematic ignorance towards government schools making the student enrollments tilt towards the private institutions. The underprepared teachers, infrastructural problems are almost part of any government school these days. There are also serious concerns over the existing underdeveloped teaching methodologies and curriculum.

Exactly This apathy is what raising doubts over a possible nexus between the political and bureaucratic heads and big corporate owners(sometimes themselves politicians) of educational institutions calling themselves as educationalists, making way for more privatization of education, which is happening all over the country at all levels from Kinder Garden to Management Schools, quietly under the mat.

It is bizarre to see the different public persons in high posts from The President of India to CMs of states among others, mentioning Takshasila's, Nalanda's and Vikramsila's, as great educational fronts and none of the contemporary institutes, which only making it clear, where our current educational system is at.

All developed nations have already learnt that it is in education that they need to focus more and spend more on. Most vibrant, creative and intellectual young minds are the real assets and engines for any nation that can help its progress. India needs to follow the suit.

The gloriously named Right-To-Education Act must be implemented in its true spirit not only by providing free education to all in government schools, but also by providing an education on par with the international standards of quality education. 

It is very important to a parent, to see his/her child get quality education. And if the state takes that burden off him/her by providing proper schooling in government institutions, (s)he can concentrate more on her/his own ambitions, building a rather vibrant and passionate indian society.

Let them fly!

Do you know how people manage to make pets out of birds like doves, parrots, etc., without keeping them inside a cage? They clip the wings of the birds to keep them on ground. When they think that the birds are accustomed to them, they let them fly and the birds mostly do come back to them, keeping their faith. Well, it has been the same case with the children in our (largely middle-class) society who are blindfolded till they land in an engineering or medicine college. Their wings of freedom to think on their own to choose a course are clipped early in the current education system.

An education system is intended to guide the constantly evolving new breed of children. But I am afraid, all the education in current form doing is narrowing down their thinking abilities. There is no imagination going into the aspect of teaching. The skills of teachers as well as the practicality of the curriculum had been constantly under scrutiny. No emphasis has been made on moral, democratic values or gender-sensitization. Various committee reports on the reforms that are needed in the same are yet to see the light of the day.  Surely, why should the children need, what we ourselves know nothing of! 

Besides, the disregard of the state towards the education in government schools has forced the parents to move to private organizations, which do demand hefty sums of money. When there are hefty sums involved, everything comes down to demand and supply. These hefty sums put a lot of pressure on the teachers, who will apply the same on to the children in order to supply the demanded marks and ranks. And generally, It doesn't matter what genuine skill a particular kid, possesses or is passionate about.

The anxiety of parents in making sure that their child is in a trusted path, which assures a settled job and career, has also become an obstacle in producing honest and sensuous citizens. The parents(most probably the father) set the goal for the young one, as early as (s)he borns. Any deviation from that goal gets discouraged at the faintest hint of it. Most of the children's dreams remain as dreams under the safeguard of their parents until its too late.

Also today's schools, colleges and universities have limited the education to a small group of popular courses with little or no real research, producing politically immature and only-job oriented professionals. The quality of education in highest institutions like IITs is also getting diluted due to various reasons. A lot of graduates have been switching over to careers that are irrelevant to the course that they actually graduated in.

Its already time for the Indian State to seriously consider a revamp of education policies in order to ensure that every child gets quality education in government institutions at each level along with an exposure to various fields of arts and sciences early in their life. And its high time the parents stop rubbing their dreams on to the children and start helping them chase their own dreams. Let them fly, I say...

Honesty: the new 'cool'

The amalgamation of corruption, favoritism, misgovernance, especially in the recent years has resulted in a plague that is spreading to various organs of our nation. This plague is spreading fast, transforming into a vicious cycle of dis-functioning systems that compliment each other resulting in the shrinking of basic human values of our society. It has already consumed most of the systems in place: political, police, bureaucratic, business, broadcasting, publishing and judicial systems.

According to some of these reports, the corruption in judiciary is not a new phenomena. But, the practice of judiciary saving its own is certainly on the rise with the recent developments of not one case, but number of cases. This is a dangerous phenomena as it effects number of other judgements by those involved in such cases. Even the post of Attorney General of India(AGI) seems to have compromised. Certainly the current AGI proved it more than once. And all other highest government offices and organizations like CBI, CAG , etc., are following the suit like mad.

As there wasn't any credible alternative political establishment, the people had been effectively left out of the Cycle of Democracy, turning it into the above mentioned vicious cycle. This cycle formed out of the corrupt systems has already started kicking(or killing) out the honest(who don't keep their silence about the fraudulent deals), and rewarding the corrupt and bystanders(who keep their silence on the deals). 

When one of their corrupt collaborators gets into trouble(latest example), all other mates in different systems of this unscrupulous cycle collude and try to bail him out at different levels starting from registering  of a complaint and through various levels like FIR registration, Investigation, formation of charges, court trial, re-trials, appeals, etc. In case if he somehow crosses all these barricades and gets a jail sentence(after 20-30 years), even then, there are processes that makes him feel like at home with special cells in the jail and with paroles almost whenever he wants.

Its very hard to break this cycle now, which seems to have reached its full spin. The key to break this cycle, lies with the political system, which is the at the core of this cycle, and in the hands of voters when an honest alternative do present. To stop this cycle, there's the need for a constant force to act against the spin, involving both honest political leaders and honest voters. This combination is the basic working principle for a democracy to progress, which can even make the existing corrupt political outfits gets renovated or replaced to good enough proportions for the cycle of democracy to start functioning again.

The recent Delhi elections prove that the people are ready to back a credible alternative at least for once. But, can this trigger a national political revolution that we are desperately in need of? There is no doubt that, to an extent, the political awareness among the general public is gradually increasing, especially among the young citizens, most of whom had been keeping their distance from politics and there by from voting. Some heated debates among the youth is always promising, but honest, unselfish, sensitive and dynamic youth represent the real progress of a nation.

As Chetan Bhagat said in a recent animated discussion on NDTV, goodness, or rather Integrity, must become the new cool (style statement).