EDITORIAL
Friends,
We are into the traditional month of Budget, so also the month of financial closures. Thus for all intents and purposes, it is the year end. Hope it helps the new year in April to usher with realistic hopes and pragmatic promises.
As usual, the happening place that India is, continue to hog the global limelight, not necessarily for all right reasons, some of which could be stupid and bizarre.
Month began with activists making a pulp of Bt. Brinjal. "I am with those against Bt. Brinjal. Let us not underestimate our farmer, who has his own knowledge" said Jnanpeeth awardee U.R.Ananthamurthy. "It is up to farmers to opt or desist from cultivating Bt. Brinjal. Let the farmer decide" Stated Biotechie Kiran Mazumdar. Thus, there was a quantum support for the farmers' opposition for the Bt. Brinjal, from across the intellectual divide. Of course there were many supporters for the introduction of the gene modified egg plant.
It was not very clear where our suave Jairam Ramesh (JR), the minister concerned, belonged. Understandably there was melee. An unnamed doctor, reportedly accused the minister as Monsanto Agent. A clearly charged Jairam Ramesh erupted. Saying "You must have lost your mental balance to make these accusations". According to the report, when a scientist wondered why farmers were opposing Bt. Brinjal, the minister interrupted to say "I am sorry that a scientist has spoken like this. Science should teach us humility, not arrogance. Its unfortunate that while NGOs continue their anti-democratic behaviour, scientist are making political statements without scientific veracity. I am trying to find a middle path between the two". That he took the middle path is very much evident by withholding the ministerial clearance for some time to come. Yes, indeed we as a matured society must always try to take a measured response to a course of least resistance. Jairam Jai Ho!
The ‘Marathi Manoos’ breast beating by Shiv Sena biggies has indeed left a bad taste in the mouth. That, both Nikhil Wagle of Lokmath and Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar have roundly ridiculed Sena fraternity is not the point. Both these intellectuals represent a cross section of Maharashtrians, with middle of the road approach, have a significant and probably more following than these MNS/SS followers. Of the two, Nikhil Wagle was far more daring and hard hitting with his boss Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN/IBN making a mince meat of Uddav Thackeray. While love of the language and love of the state is absolutely nobody’s case, prevalent in all human habitations, the means adopted to promote them has to be absolutely above board. There is nothing wrong in promoting parochial sentiments, but the means should be absolutely civil and without any rancour. But Thackrays used to the logic of bad blood approach has clearly over stepped and have lost their case even among their own people. Decreasing vote share is only a tip of the ice berg but even socially both MNS and SS shall stand to lose in days to come. Days of parochial politics is over. Gainful engagement including self employment and housing is a pan Indian issue and hence should not be embroiled in regional politicking. All of us should realise that all Indians have contributed their blood and sweat, may be in different degrees, for the development of all states of India. Period. The recent killing of an RTI activist Sathish Shetty in Talegoan-Poona, is a case in point. He was a Kannadiga from Karnataka, worked for Marathi Manoos and died for Marathi Manoos, and ironically killed by Marathi Manoos. Are you listening Mr Bal Thakray? However, per se, extreme care should be taken to protect the local interest and there need not be any debate about it. Thus far and no farther.
As usual Pakistan is stuck in their Kashmir centric mindset. Their whole outlook is so narrow that they can never separate their bias from the logic. Yes, rightly or wrongly, the UPA govt. at Delhi has initiated a talk between two governments at Islamabad and New Delhi. The Indian side said focus shall be on cross border terrorism, but Pakistan is harping on inclusion of Kashmir as the core issue. Here what is important for the global community to see is that, while Pakistan sees Kashmir as a Muslim issue, India sees it as an issue of secularism. The very identity of India is under scrutiny. It is true that constitutional provision of 370 has only worsened the situation. Kashmir has implication on the larger issue of the ‘Idea of India’. This has to be recognised, especially by the Christian west which sees it as an issue of self-determination. Problem is basically because India is Hindu majority. If India was Muslim majority, then Pakistan and those jokers like Hafiz Saeed and others shall have no case. Hope the west and the Amnesty International and those sold out media men and women in India, like that Jyoti Thottam, who writes for the 'TIMES’ and her ilk, realise this aspect.
There was this print media news "Bruised maid dies at 12, Pak seethes". The news was about a 12 year old girl child working in the house of a former Lahore Bar Association president. She died of unexplained injuries. Writer Sabrina Tavernise from Pakistan laments "the case has served as a vivid reminder of the powerlessness of the poor in Pakistan". While human rights activists have cried hoarse about the tragic death of the child domestic helper, how this child was employed at all, despite provisions to the contrary, in a lawyers house-hold, is a replica of the sub-continental mindset. From police to the authorities to the middlemen supplying domestics, all played villain to the promotion of rich and powerful to the utter helplessness of the poor and powerless. But the only difference was, the media did not play up the identity of the child domestic worker who died. She was not a Muslim, in the Muslim majority country. Her name was Shazia Masih and she was Christian. Shouldn’t our media men and women take a leaf out of it?
House arrest and possible court martialling of Sanath Fonseka, the defeated Sri Lankan Presidential candidate by the Sri Lankan government clearly borders on political witch hunting. This is vengeance in the most despicable form. Political differences are part of any democratic government, and there are ways to deal with it. But the actions of Rajapaksa government by taking Fonseka by force, reportedly in the presence of opposition members, from his office, into army custody and to move him into some unknown place within military barracks, amounts to complete denial of former Army general’s civil rights. That Rajapaksa is intolerant of dissent is well known. Even during the final stages of military conflict with LTTE a Sri Lankan journalist had mysteriously died just after publishing articles on the human rights violation by Sri Lankan army on POWs and surrendering LTTE cadres. To be vengeful in victory is a worst form of tyranny. In a democracy this is simply not done. Surely Sri Lankan liberals would and should take up the issue of Fonseka’s illegal and high handed detention or else its image as a peace loving country shall take serious beating.
Reservation politics or politics of reservation has always been the bane of Indian politics for all the 62 years. Latest one to hit the headline is the striking down of reservation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. And close on its heals is the reservation for Muslims by the West Bengal government. It makes mockery of the entire exercise of social empowerment. Reservation was enshrined in the constitution for only 10 years for SC and ST communities for their unfortunate socio-economic condition. But successive governments, both in centre and states looked at reservation as a state largess to serve its vote bank politics. It is true that reservation did help SC & ST communities in the short run, but in the long run it has only made them dependent. Development per se should lead to economically independent society and in India that has not happened. Besides reservations have been mostly misused by the haves among those in these reserved sections leaving the have-nots to remain have-nots. Thus, reservation based on caste has failed. It has to be made applicable on economic backwardness. Then there is no question of caste or religion, only economic criteria, in which case it will cut across the entire divide. But the vote bank politics has put paid to this rational approach to the issue of reservation. Hope someday, things could change for the better of all concerned.
Hassan Ali of Pune who was arrested in 2008 on charges of money laundering was released on bail by the session Judge at Sewree, Mumbai, allowed to remain on bail by the Bombay High Court. The state government had sought the cancel
lation of the bail on the ground that the accused had many passports, and this is good enough reason that he may escape using one or the other passport. State government had also informed the High Court regarding his possible connection with notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. While it is true that many a time, investigation agency is so slow that it fails to gather and present the required evidence diligently and in time, or present it to the court in an ineffective manner, leading to the release of the accused, the present case of fake passport appear to be genuine. It is strange that High Court refused to take congnisance of the possibility of the accused escaping the country with fake passport, especially when international and hawala transactions are funding terrorism.
The infamous Batala House (BH) encounter of Sept. 2008 is in the news again for all wrong reasons. This was a place where a police officer had died and two terrorists were dead. Although soon after that, it was variously described, including as ‘fake encounter’. However, both Prime Minister Singh and the then NSA, so also NHRC had clearly described the encounter as genuine. The Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Shahzad Alam who was caught recently but had earlier escaped from BH has reportedly confessed to some chilling details involving politicians including a former MLA and a local councillor. But the ruling party at cenre has sent an emissary on a fact finding mission, making it obvious that there is more to it than what is officially stated. This is despite the fact that UPA government had repeatedly asserted that BH encounter was not stage managed. So, what is the present emissary Digvijay Singh, the Congress Gen-Secretary’s mission? At least one news paper has stated "The Congress Party cannot seem to rise above its own partisan concerns. Its obsession to woo the community voter, even if that weakens national unity and instigates further social divide, is so over-powering, that it does not mind undermining its own govt." So what is the agenda of India’s biggest political party? Is it something to do with the electoral compulsions at the cost of national integrity? Or is there another dimension to it? But IM is not being considered for banning despite loaded evidence against it!
In India, drunken driving has become a menace. Every time, a driver, drunken and wealthy, driving some super speed imported car, managed to hit and cause accident, he or she made it to the headlines. It was always mayhem. In the latest addition to the growing list of these wealthy lumpens, the lady in question, Nuriya Haweliwala, has managed to kill by ‘accident’ a traffic sub-inspector, a biker and injured some half a dozen. She was reportedly found with 457 mg alcohol count as against permitted 30 mg. The police have reportedly charged, her with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. But the lawyer of the accused has reportedly argued that she should be charged with causing death by negligence and not culpable homicide. It always happened that police went to the court every time such accidents take place, with their submission of homicide charge, and the defence lawyers, as is their wont, pleaded for leniency, since at s
take was huge legal fees involved. Damn the persons died! they are mostly poor, footpath sleepers, homeless, moneyless and powerless. In this case, a mere sub-inspector and a faceless biker. Throw some money at them and buy their silence. Of course our lawyer friends would arrange them too. And what happens in the court! Isn’t public memory still fresh with the memory of Admiral Nanda’s grandson mauling some 6 persons in Delhi under his wheels and got away with a mere rap on his knuckles. And the honourable judge was too concerned about the future of the youngman in letting him go, with hardly any punishment. And we have this Alistar D’Souza’s case in Bandra in Mumbai, who too killed some ½ a dozen in an inebriated state. And everybody who mattered, helped him get only 2 years as imprisonment. In this rotten system, money buys every thing. There is no value left for either the humans or human values. Is it a travesty of justice or a tragedy? Yes, as long as these miscarriage of justice remains, drunken drivers shall continue to crush under their relentless wheels, the hapless victims of time and all powerful money shall carry out the post mortem to pass the verdict of not guilty of culpable homicide, while in fact it is a plain and simple case of murder.
Did you hear, Quattrocchi is back in business in India? Surprised! After fleecing the country of millions of $, with the active help of those in power, especially the Congress party and its senior functionaries, and having remained a fugitive from the wrath of Indian laws, how dare he could make a come back? Yes, you guessed it right, it is his son the Massimo Quattrocchi who is angling for his millions from his Indian contacts. Q junior has reportedly offered his services to fix things for a price in this country. In his website, Massimo has claimed that he can play, a ‘key role’ in helping companies set up commercial or productive arrangement with leading Indian companies. Surely, given his fathers contact in the corridor’s of power and connection with the first political family of the country, it would be fairly easy for the youngster to harvest his easy millions.
Some time ago Agricultural Minister and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had publicly stated that genetically modified food is the only way of ensuring food security. But the minister Jairam has agreed, although for the present, not to give green signal to the regular cultivation of Bt. Brinjal. Thus giving Sharad Pawar, a kind of thumbs down. And comes the news from Aurangabad "Farmers condemn Govt-stand on Bt. Brinjal". Marathwada is a Pawar turf. Is somebody orchestrating the move? Marathwada unit president of the farmers Association Kailash Tawar (or is it Pawar! pun intended) has reportedly stated in a press statement that technological farming is the only way for improved cultivation. According to the press release "The association has always been in favour of free market economy and modern technology". The association also pressurised the union government to introduce Bt. Cotton in the country, the release informs. It is obvious from the press release, that the association represents market economy supporters who are, truly speaking, high-end businessmen. Sharad Pawar always had friends in places of power and money. He represents rich farmers who cannot represent the interest of the country. Only issue of worry is how much does he, as a minister, and therefore a public servant, truly represents the welfare of his countrymen and the country?
Although most Indians, who are privy to news medium whether print or electronic, do know that CBI could also mean Convenient Bureau of Investigation, besides its usual inference. In a Mumbai based English news paper there were three reports relating to CBI, all in one page (page 2). Tittles were, "CBI did not seek sanction to prosecute judge: CJI", "CBI FORMS TEAM TO PROBE SOHRABUDDIN’S ENCOUNTER" (all in capital letters), and third one was "CBI defends clean chit to Tytler in 1984 riots case".
Of the above three, the 2nd one relates to Gujarath Government’s alleged fake encounter case. Here CBI wants to, if possible, fix Narendra Modi and his government. In the 3rd instance, Tylter is a Congress man, and his candidature for the last Loksabha election had to be withdrawn in a jiffy in the aftermath of ‘Chidambaram Shoe Gate’. Whether CBI gave a clean chit or not, the affected people had their say heard, which makes both CBI clearance and CBI itself irrelevant. Coming to Nirmal Yadav of ‘Cash-at Judge’s-door’, who is the subject of the 1st title in the page, was involved in the Rs.15 Lakh cash wrongly delivered at the house of another lady judge Nirmaljit Kaur. They were both from Punjab and Haryana High Court. Yadav had pulled all strings including some from Delhi, which made the CBI to soft peddle the case, and not to seek sanction from Chief Justice of India to go ahead with the prosecution despite there being a strong case against Nirmal Yadav instead they applied for closure of the case. CBI Court in Chandigarh had expressed its dissatisfaction with the investigating agency’s report for the closure of the case. So, just in one page report of this Mumbai news paper CBI stands exposed of its irrelevence and partisan approach. One does not have to go through the Bofor’s paper to really understand how CBI successfully managed to keep the Italian fugitive out of India, to prove its antecedents. "Sow mein ninyanave be-iman, phir bhi mera bharat mahan".
That brings us to CBI connection to Padma Awards! How’s that? One could ask. All news buffs are privy to the names of Padma Awardees, some known and some unknown faces. Some of them deserved and got, some of them deserved but did not get. Some got early, some got late and some never got. But some special ones got without being deserved. But some were bestowed with the highest civilian award despite having criminal cases pending against them. Atleast one high profile recipient, a hotelier in the U.S. got it to the dismay of those who filed cases against him. Under pressure Home Ministry has ordered an investigation. According to a news report, there are 7 cases pending against the hotelier. All filed in 2009. Home Ministry had cleared his name based on CBI report. As usual CBI had given the rich hotelier 'Clean Chit' probably freshly laundered!
There was this small news item "Mukesh offers Rs 5cores To Tirumala Temple." It reminded me of a poem of my 5th std Kannada test book-‘Deenaginta Deva Badava,’ which translates to mean ‘God is poorer than the poor". How can a sane person do such a thing. Yes, he has given it in cheque, the report informs, unlike some business and underground sharks make cash donations in crores incognito. Mother Theresa was publicly questioned for receiving donations from drug lords of South America. But here there is no mechanism, neither to monitor nor to know the source, if donations are received through the ‘hundi’ or the boxes kept in the temple premises. Surely, through his wife’s involvement Mukesh Ambani may be reaching out to some socially relevant activities, but a donation to the richest t
emple of India of 5 crores of rupees, will surely make even the Tirupathi of Tirumala squirm in disapproval. Besides, come to think of it that this 5 crores shall go to fund the 100 crore gold plating project of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, is to make a cruel joke of Indians, 1/3 of whom, go to bed with little or nothing. So how do we react to this,Yeh Mera India.?
The Pune terrorist attack makes one feel sadly bewildered at the lunacy and inhumanness of the perpetrators of such crimes. The agony and anguish of the parents of a brother and sister duo-in their twenties-died in the blast, should convey the extent of barbarity of such an act. In fact media must take a lead in making a documentary of the tragedy with inputs from the families of those who suffered, their physical and mental agony and tell the world how much pain and suffering such lunatic fringe causes to the world at large. It could be as report informs, targeting foreigners, including a Jewish cultural centre. It could be that perpetrators of this crime are taking the battle between Israel and Palestine to the streets of Mumbai or other Indian cities. Should this mean, if these criminals are of Muslim faith, should the aggrieved affected group go to Bhendi Bazar or Mohd. Ali Road in Mumbai, and start shooting indiscriminately or bomb the place? What could happen if this logic is taken further. Our leaders, both at Centre and State should appear on national TV Channels articulating such feelings, send the message in unambiguous terms. The criminals may never understand the spirit of co-existence but their local supporters, if any, from civil society and others who can influence in some form, of course correction, possibly take some cue from such exercise. There has to be State sponsored media campaign to bring about societal change. Mahatma Gandhi is the only hope for humanity, neither Hitler nor Taimoor would ever be.
There was this IANS reported news some weeks ago, "Was Jesus in India to study Buddhism". This news is many years old. Our media friends, many a time think that they know better. Armando Dentamaro, an Italian national, living in London, was discussing this issue in late 70’s in Muscat, a middle east town, where he was professionally engaged. He was discussing with an Indian, how these 16/17 years, that Jesus spent away from Nazareth, according to him, was spent in Tibet. Most Catholic practitioners of Christian faith have no idea about this missing years. Armando a Christian born, but not a regular practitioner, was telling about the spiritual and physical influences that young Jesus underwent while in Tibet. According to him pork eating that was forbidden in Old Testament, became accepted after the return of Jesus from Tibet. Tibetans are Pork eaters, and Jesus probably got used to eat it. Besides peace loving nature of Tibetans became a gospel for all Christians. According to Armando, since Buddhism was of Indian origin, Indianness, whether you call Vedas or any other text, must have influenced the Buddhist thoughts, which in turn has influenced Jesus and Christianity. Thus the source of all theological base is India averred Armando Dentamaro. And the world is at logger head to prove who is better and who is right. The truth is, all are same, but human beings brought-in non-existent differences to create walls. Certainly Jesus and Armando believed in the essential principles of Vasudaiva Kutumbikam, the Oneness of Mankind. Hope Kent Walwin, the British film producer conveys this gospel truth to the world at large with his forthcoming project "Young Jesus! The missing years"
Socialist icon George Fernandes is in the news for all wrong reasons. He is passing through an extremely bad patch with his health. The firebrand trade unionist is left with no fire at all. It is indeed very sad, so late in the day, (he just crossed his eighty) he is being moved around without him raising his finger, like a play thing, by his wife and son. His wife and son, who were away from him for decades, suddenly appeared to take charge of his life. Or as someone asked, ‘to take charge of George or what is left of George, after his life is over?. It’s a good question, since none of his brothers are interested in his ancestral property share. Of course as outsiders we have to leave this issue to his family members, we can only air our honest apprehensions. Hope he is looked after well and as and when he leaves this world someday, to remember him in a fitting manner. While on the subject, it is interesting to note that a quarterly started by George, "The Otherside" reportedly made some curious and interesting observations. Writing on illegal immigrants, the article, discusses how different countries treat them. Observation on India, lampoons whole sale, the low depth to which vote bank politics has crept to. It says, ‘in North Korea they get 12 years of hard labour, and adds tongue-in-cheek-unless Bill Clinton saves you. In Afghanistan, they are shot. In Iran they are detained for life. In Saudi Arabia they are jailed. In China, they are never seen again. In Venezuela, they are deemed a spy. By now you must be curious to know, what about India? Well! They get a ration card, a driver’s license, voter identification, job reservation, free education, housing subsidy. And then a passport, so that he can avail Haj subsidy. Isn’t it interesting?! Keep smiling. Yeh Mera India.
Appointment of Salil Shetty, an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, and is currently the head of United Nations Millennium Goal Campaign, as the Secretary General of Amnesty International is a welcome development. Surely his work as the points-man at UNMGC has catapulted him to this prestigious position as the head of the world wide human rights watch dog. Expressing happiness on Mr. Shetty joining the human rights body, Peter Pack, the Chairman of the Amnesty International (AI) Executive Committee hoped that the fight to end injustice will have added vigour with this new leadership. Mr. Shetty himself appeared pleasantly surprised and observed it as an ‘amazing opportunity’. India was always at the receiving end of AIs out bursts, rightly or wrongly. There have been instances of truth being the casualty in its dealing with India. Ofcourse, human rights violation is an universal phenomena and India is no exception. But many a time India was poorly portrayed by AI for reasons best known to them, despite there being no cause of concern. Hope the new appointment of an Indian as its head shall, who is known for his fairness, allow even-handedness in its dealings with the comity of nations.
Issue of parochialism has suddenly taken the centre stage by the antics of Shiv Sena. We have discussed it under Focus in a larger and more meaningful context. Hope reader shall find it interesting. Do revert with your valued inputs.
Rest of the issues are as usual.
We are into the traditional month of Budget, so also the month of financial closures. Thus for all intents and purposes, it is the year end. Hope it helps the new year in April to usher with realistic hopes and pragmatic promises.
As usual, the happening place that India is, continue to hog the global limelight, not necessarily for all right reasons, some of which could be stupid and bizarre.
Month began with activists making a pulp of Bt. Brinjal. "I am with those against Bt. Brinjal. Let us not underestimate our farmer, who has his own knowledge" said Jnanpeeth awardee U.R.Ananthamurthy. "It is up to farmers to opt or desist from cultivating Bt. Brinjal. Let the farmer decide" Stated Biotechie Kiran Mazumdar. Thus, there was a quantum support for the farmers' opposition for the Bt. Brinjal, from across the intellectual divide. Of course there were many supporters for the introduction of the gene modified egg plant.
It was not very clear where our suave Jairam Ramesh (JR), the minister concerned, belonged. Understandably there was melee. An unnamed doctor, reportedly accused the minister as Monsanto Agent. A clearly charged Jairam Ramesh erupted. Saying "You must have lost your mental balance to make these accusations". According to the report, when a scientist wondered why farmers were opposing Bt. Brinjal, the minister interrupted to say "I am sorry that a scientist has spoken like this. Science should teach us humility, not arrogance. Its unfortunate that while NGOs continue their anti-democratic behaviour, scientist are making political statements without scientific veracity. I am trying to find a middle path between the two". That he took the middle path is very much evident by withholding the ministerial clearance for some time to come. Yes, indeed we as a matured society must always try to take a measured response to a course of least resistance. Jairam Jai Ho!The ‘Marathi Manoos’ breast beating by Shiv Sena biggies has indeed left a bad taste in the mouth. That, both Nikhil Wagle of Lokmath and Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar have roundly ridiculed Sena fraternity is not the point. Both these intellectuals represent a cross section of Maharashtrians, with middle of the road approach, have a significant and probably more following than these MNS/SS followers. Of the two, Nikhil Wagle was far more daring and hard hitting with his boss Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN/IBN making a mince meat of Uddav Thackeray. While love of the language and love of the state is absolutely nobody’s case, prevalent in all human habitations, the means adopted to promote them has to be absolutely above board. There is nothing wrong in promoting parochial sentiments, but the means should be absolutely civil and without any rancour. But Thackrays used to the logic of bad blood approach has clearly over stepped and have lost their case even among their own people. Decreasing vote share is only a tip of the ice berg but even socially both MNS and SS shall stand to lose in days to come. Days of parochial politics is over. Gainful engagement including self employment and housing is a pan Indian issue and hence should not be embroiled in regional politicking. All of us should realise that all Indians have contributed their blood and sweat, may be in different degrees, for the development of all states of India. Period. The recent killing of an RTI activist Sathish Shetty in Talegoan-Poona, is a case in point. He was a Kannadiga from Karnataka, worked for Marathi Manoos and died for Marathi Manoos, and ironically killed by Marathi Manoos. Are you listening Mr Bal Thakray? However, per se, extreme care should be taken to protect the local interest and there need not be any debate about it. Thus far and no farther.
As usual Pakistan is stuck in their Kashmir centric mindset. Their whole outlook is so narrow that they can never separate their bias from the logic. Yes, rightly or wrongly, the UPA govt. at Delhi has initiated a talk between two governments at Islamabad and New Delhi. The Indian side said focus shall be on cross border terrorism, but Pakistan is harping on inclusion of Kashmir as the core issue. Here what is important for the global community to see is that, while Pakistan sees Kashmir as a Muslim issue, India sees it as an issue of secularism. The very identity of India is under scrutiny. It is true that constitutional provision of 370 has only worsened the situation. Kashmir has implication on the larger issue of the ‘Idea of India’. This has to be recognised, especially by the Christian west which sees it as an issue of self-determination. Problem is basically because India is Hindu majority. If India was Muslim majority, then Pakistan and those jokers like Hafiz Saeed and others shall have no case. Hope the west and the Amnesty International and those sold out media men and women in India, like that Jyoti Thottam, who writes for the 'TIMES’ and her ilk, realise this aspect.
There was this print media news "Bruised maid dies at 12, Pak seethes". The news was about a 12 year old girl child working in the house of a former Lahore Bar Association president. She died of unexplained injuries. Writer Sabrina Tavernise from Pakistan laments "the case has served as a vivid reminder of the powerlessness of the poor in Pakistan". While human rights activists have cried hoarse about the tragic death of the child domestic helper, how this child was employed at all, despite provisions to the contrary, in a lawyers house-hold, is a replica of the sub-continental mindset. From police to the authorities to the middlemen supplying domestics, all played villain to the promotion of rich and powerful to the utter helplessness of the poor and powerless. But the only difference was, the media did not play up the identity of the child domestic worker who died. She was not a Muslim, in the Muslim majority country. Her name was Shazia Masih and she was Christian. Shouldn’t our media men and women take a leaf out of it?
House arrest and possible court martialling of Sanath Fonseka, the defeated Sri Lankan Presidential candidate by the Sri Lankan government clearly borders on political witch hunting. This is vengeance in the most despicable form. Political differences are part of any democratic government, and there are ways to deal with it. But the actions of Rajapaksa government by taking Fonseka by force, reportedly in the presence of opposition members, from his office, into army custody and to move him into some unknown place within military barracks, amounts to complete denial of former Army general’s civil rights. That Rajapaksa is intolerant of dissent is well known. Even during the final stages of military conflict with LTTE a Sri Lankan journalist had mysteriously died just after publishing articles on the human rights violation by Sri Lankan army on POWs and surrendering LTTE cadres. To be vengeful in victory is a worst form of tyranny. In a democracy this is simply not done. Surely Sri Lankan liberals would and should take up the issue of Fonseka’s illegal and high handed detention or else its image as a peace loving country shall take serious beating.
Reservation politics or politics of reservation has always been the bane of Indian politics for all the 62 years. Latest one to hit the headline is the striking down of reservation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. And close on its heals is the reservation for Muslims by the West Bengal government. It makes mockery of the entire exercise of social empowerment. Reservation was enshrined in the constitution for only 10 years for SC and ST communities for their unfortunate socio-economic condition. But successive governments, both in centre and states looked at reservation as a state largess to serve its vote bank politics. It is true that reservation did help SC & ST communities in the short run, but in the long run it has only made them dependent. Development per se should lead to economically independent society and in India that has not happened. Besides reservations have been mostly misused by the haves among those in these reserved sections leaving the have-nots to remain have-nots. Thus, reservation based on caste has failed. It has to be made applicable on economic backwardness. Then there is no question of caste or religion, only economic criteria, in which case it will cut across the entire divide. But the vote bank politics has put paid to this rational approach to the issue of reservation. Hope someday, things could change for the better of all concerned.
Hassan Ali of Pune who was arrested in 2008 on charges of money laundering was released on bail by the session Judge at Sewree, Mumbai, allowed to remain on bail by the Bombay High Court. The state government had sought the cancel
lation of the bail on the ground that the accused had many passports, and this is good enough reason that he may escape using one or the other passport. State government had also informed the High Court regarding his possible connection with notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. While it is true that many a time, investigation agency is so slow that it fails to gather and present the required evidence diligently and in time, or present it to the court in an ineffective manner, leading to the release of the accused, the present case of fake passport appear to be genuine. It is strange that High Court refused to take congnisance of the possibility of the accused escaping the country with fake passport, especially when international and hawala transactions are funding terrorism.The infamous Batala House (BH) encounter of Sept. 2008 is in the news again for all wrong reasons. This was a place where a police officer had died and two terrorists were dead. Although soon after that, it was variously described, including as ‘fake encounter’. However, both Prime Minister Singh and the then NSA, so also NHRC had clearly described the encounter as genuine. The Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Shahzad Alam who was caught recently but had earlier escaped from BH has reportedly confessed to some chilling details involving politicians including a former MLA and a local councillor. But the ruling party at cenre has sent an emissary on a fact finding mission, making it obvious that there is more to it than what is officially stated. This is despite the fact that UPA government had repeatedly asserted that BH encounter was not stage managed. So, what is the present emissary Digvijay Singh, the Congress Gen-Secretary’s mission? At least one news paper has stated "The Congress Party cannot seem to rise above its own partisan concerns. Its obsession to woo the community voter, even if that weakens national unity and instigates further social divide, is so over-powering, that it does not mind undermining its own govt." So what is the agenda of India’s biggest political party? Is it something to do with the electoral compulsions at the cost of national integrity? Or is there another dimension to it? But IM is not being considered for banning despite loaded evidence against it!
In India, drunken driving has become a menace. Every time, a driver, drunken and wealthy, driving some super speed imported car, managed to hit and cause accident, he or she made it to the headlines. It was always mayhem. In the latest addition to the growing list of these wealthy lumpens, the lady in question, Nuriya Haweliwala, has managed to kill by ‘accident’ a traffic sub-inspector, a biker and injured some half a dozen. She was reportedly found with 457 mg alcohol count as against permitted 30 mg. The police have reportedly charged, her with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. But the lawyer of the accused has reportedly argued that she should be charged with causing death by negligence and not culpable homicide. It always happened that police went to the court every time such accidents take place, with their submission of homicide charge, and the defence lawyers, as is their wont, pleaded for leniency, since at s
take was huge legal fees involved. Damn the persons died! they are mostly poor, footpath sleepers, homeless, moneyless and powerless. In this case, a mere sub-inspector and a faceless biker. Throw some money at them and buy their silence. Of course our lawyer friends would arrange them too. And what happens in the court! Isn’t public memory still fresh with the memory of Admiral Nanda’s grandson mauling some 6 persons in Delhi under his wheels and got away with a mere rap on his knuckles. And the honourable judge was too concerned about the future of the youngman in letting him go, with hardly any punishment. And we have this Alistar D’Souza’s case in Bandra in Mumbai, who too killed some ½ a dozen in an inebriated state. And everybody who mattered, helped him get only 2 years as imprisonment. In this rotten system, money buys every thing. There is no value left for either the humans or human values. Is it a travesty of justice or a tragedy? Yes, as long as these miscarriage of justice remains, drunken drivers shall continue to crush under their relentless wheels, the hapless victims of time and all powerful money shall carry out the post mortem to pass the verdict of not guilty of culpable homicide, while in fact it is a plain and simple case of murder.Did you hear, Quattrocchi is back in business in India? Surprised! After fleecing the country of millions of $, with the active help of those in power, especially the Congress party and its senior functionaries, and having remained a fugitive from the wrath of Indian laws, how dare he could make a come back? Yes, you guessed it right, it is his son the Massimo Quattrocchi who is angling for his millions from his Indian contacts. Q junior has reportedly offered his services to fix things for a price in this country. In his website, Massimo has claimed that he can play, a ‘key role’ in helping companies set up commercial or productive arrangement with leading Indian companies. Surely, given his fathers contact in the corridor’s of power and connection with the first political family of the country, it would be fairly easy for the youngster to harvest his easy millions.
Some time ago Agricultural Minister and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had publicly stated that genetically modified food is the only way of ensuring food security. But the minister Jairam has agreed, although for the present, not to give green signal to the regular cultivation of Bt. Brinjal. Thus giving Sharad Pawar, a kind of thumbs down. And comes the news from Aurangabad "Farmers condemn Govt-stand on Bt. Brinjal". Marathwada is a Pawar turf. Is somebody orchestrating the move? Marathwada unit president of the farmers Association Kailash Tawar (or is it Pawar! pun intended) has reportedly stated in a press statement that technological farming is the only way for improved cultivation. According to the press release "The association has always been in favour of free market economy and modern technology". The association also pressurised the union government to introduce Bt. Cotton in the country, the release informs. It is obvious from the press release, that the association represents market economy supporters who are, truly speaking, high-end businessmen. Sharad Pawar always had friends in places of power and money. He represents rich farmers who cannot represent the interest of the country. Only issue of worry is how much does he, as a minister, and therefore a public servant, truly represents the welfare of his countrymen and the country?
Although most Indians, who are privy to news medium whether print or electronic, do know that CBI could also mean Convenient Bureau of Investigation, besides its usual inference. In a Mumbai based English news paper there were three reports relating to CBI, all in one page (page 2). Tittles were, "CBI did not seek sanction to prosecute judge: CJI", "CBI FORMS TEAM TO PROBE SOHRABUDDIN’S ENCOUNTER" (all in capital letters), and third one was "CBI defends clean chit to Tytler in 1984 riots case".
Of the above three, the 2nd one relates to Gujarath Government’s alleged fake encounter case. Here CBI wants to, if possible, fix Narendra Modi and his government. In the 3rd instance, Tylter is a Congress man, and his candidature for the last Loksabha election had to be withdrawn in a jiffy in the aftermath of ‘Chidambaram Shoe Gate’. Whether CBI gave a clean chit or not, the affected people had their say heard, which makes both CBI clearance and CBI itself irrelevant. Coming to Nirmal Yadav of ‘Cash-at Judge’s-door’, who is the subject of the 1st title in the page, was involved in the Rs.15 Lakh cash wrongly delivered at the house of another lady judge Nirmaljit Kaur. They were both from Punjab and Haryana High Court. Yadav had pulled all strings including some from Delhi, which made the CBI to soft peddle the case, and not to seek sanction from Chief Justice of India to go ahead with the prosecution despite there being a strong case against Nirmal Yadav instead they applied for closure of the case. CBI Court in Chandigarh had expressed its dissatisfaction with the investigating agency’s report for the closure of the case. So, just in one page report of this Mumbai news paper CBI stands exposed of its irrelevence and partisan approach. One does not have to go through the Bofor’s paper to really understand how CBI successfully managed to keep the Italian fugitive out of India, to prove its antecedents. "Sow mein ninyanave be-iman, phir bhi mera bharat mahan".
That brings us to CBI connection to Padma Awards! How’s that? One could ask. All news buffs are privy to the names of Padma Awardees, some known and some unknown faces. Some of them deserved and got, some of them deserved but did not get. Some got early, some got late and some never got. But some special ones got without being deserved. But some were bestowed with the highest civilian award despite having criminal cases pending against them. Atleast one high profile recipient, a hotelier in the U.S. got it to the dismay of those who filed cases against him. Under pressure Home Ministry has ordered an investigation. According to a news report, there are 7 cases pending against the hotelier. All filed in 2009. Home Ministry had cleared his name based on CBI report. As usual CBI had given the rich hotelier 'Clean Chit' probably freshly laundered!
There was this small news item "Mukesh offers Rs 5cores To Tirumala Temple." It reminded me of a poem of my 5th std Kannada test book-‘Deenaginta Deva Badava,’ which translates to mean ‘God is poorer than the poor". How can a sane person do such a thing. Yes, he has given it in cheque, the report informs, unlike some business and underground sharks make cash donations in crores incognito. Mother Theresa was publicly questioned for receiving donations from drug lords of South America. But here there is no mechanism, neither to monitor nor to know the source, if donations are received through the ‘hundi’ or the boxes kept in the temple premises. Surely, through his wife’s involvement Mukesh Ambani may be reaching out to some socially relevant activities, but a donation to the richest t
emple of India of 5 crores of rupees, will surely make even the Tirupathi of Tirumala squirm in disapproval. Besides, come to think of it that this 5 crores shall go to fund the 100 crore gold plating project of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, is to make a cruel joke of Indians, 1/3 of whom, go to bed with little or nothing. So how do we react to this,Yeh Mera India.?The Pune terrorist attack makes one feel sadly bewildered at the lunacy and inhumanness of the perpetrators of such crimes. The agony and anguish of the parents of a brother and sister duo-in their twenties-died in the blast, should convey the extent of barbarity of such an act. In fact media must take a lead in making a documentary of the tragedy with inputs from the families of those who suffered, their physical and mental agony and tell the world how much pain and suffering such lunatic fringe causes to the world at large. It could be as report informs, targeting foreigners, including a Jewish cultural centre. It could be that perpetrators of this crime are taking the battle between Israel and Palestine to the streets of Mumbai or other Indian cities. Should this mean, if these criminals are of Muslim faith, should the aggrieved affected group go to Bhendi Bazar or Mohd. Ali Road in Mumbai, and start shooting indiscriminately or bomb the place? What could happen if this logic is taken further. Our leaders, both at Centre and State should appear on national TV Channels articulating such feelings, send the message in unambiguous terms. The criminals may never understand the spirit of co-existence but their local supporters, if any, from civil society and others who can influence in some form, of course correction, possibly take some cue from such exercise. There has to be State sponsored media campaign to bring about societal change. Mahatma Gandhi is the only hope for humanity, neither Hitler nor Taimoor would ever be.
There was this IANS reported news some weeks ago, "Was Jesus in India to study Buddhism". This news is many years old. Our media friends, many a time think that they know better. Armando Dentamaro, an Italian national, living in London, was discussing this issue in late 70’s in Muscat, a middle east town, where he was professionally engaged. He was discussing with an Indian, how these 16/17 years, that Jesus spent away from Nazareth, according to him, was spent in Tibet. Most Catholic practitioners of Christian faith have no idea about this missing years. Armando a Christian born, but not a regular practitioner, was telling about the spiritual and physical influences that young Jesus underwent while in Tibet. According to him pork eating that was forbidden in Old Testament, became accepted after the return of Jesus from Tibet. Tibetans are Pork eaters, and Jesus probably got used to eat it. Besides peace loving nature of Tibetans became a gospel for all Christians. According to Armando, since Buddhism was of Indian origin, Indianness, whether you call Vedas or any other text, must have influenced the Buddhist thoughts, which in turn has influenced Jesus and Christianity. Thus the source of all theological base is India averred Armando Dentamaro. And the world is at logger head to prove who is better and who is right. The truth is, all are same, but human beings brought-in non-existent differences to create walls. Certainly Jesus and Armando believed in the essential principles of Vasudaiva Kutumbikam, the Oneness of Mankind. Hope Kent Walwin, the British film producer conveys this gospel truth to the world at large with his forthcoming project "Young Jesus! The missing years"
Socialist icon George Fernandes is in the news for all wrong reasons. He is passing through an extremely bad patch with his health. The firebrand trade unionist is left with no fire at all. It is indeed very sad, so late in the day, (he just crossed his eighty) he is being moved around without him raising his finger, like a play thing, by his wife and son. His wife and son, who were away from him for decades, suddenly appeared to take charge of his life. Or as someone asked, ‘to take charge of George or what is left of George, after his life is over?. It’s a good question, since none of his brothers are interested in his ancestral property share. Of course as outsiders we have to leave this issue to his family members, we can only air our honest apprehensions. Hope he is looked after well and as and when he leaves this world someday, to remember him in a fitting manner. While on the subject, it is interesting to note that a quarterly started by George, "The Otherside" reportedly made some curious and interesting observations. Writing on illegal immigrants, the article, discusses how different countries treat them. Observation on India, lampoons whole sale, the low depth to which vote bank politics has crept to. It says, ‘in North Korea they get 12 years of hard labour, and adds tongue-in-cheek-unless Bill Clinton saves you. In Afghanistan, they are shot. In Iran they are detained for life. In Saudi Arabia they are jailed. In China, they are never seen again. In Venezuela, they are deemed a spy. By now you must be curious to know, what about India? Well! They get a ration card, a driver’s license, voter identification, job reservation, free education, housing subsidy. And then a passport, so that he can avail Haj subsidy. Isn’t it interesting?! Keep smiling. Yeh Mera India.
Appointment of Salil Shetty, an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, and is currently the head of United Nations Millennium Goal Campaign, as the Secretary General of Amnesty International is a welcome development. Surely his work as the points-man at UNMGC has catapulted him to this prestigious position as the head of the world wide human rights watch dog. Expressing happiness on Mr. Shetty joining the human rights body, Peter Pack, the Chairman of the Amnesty International (AI) Executive Committee hoped that the fight to end injustice will have added vigour with this new leadership. Mr. Shetty himself appeared pleasantly surprised and observed it as an ‘amazing opportunity’. India was always at the receiving end of AIs out bursts, rightly or wrongly. There have been instances of truth being the casualty in its dealing with India. Ofcourse, human rights violation is an universal phenomena and India is no exception. But many a time India was poorly portrayed by AI for reasons best known to them, despite there being no cause of concern. Hope the new appointment of an Indian as its head shall, who is known for his fairness, allow even-handedness in its dealings with the comity of nations.
Issue of parochialism has suddenly taken the centre stage by the antics of Shiv Sena. We have discussed it under Focus in a larger and more meaningful context. Hope reader shall find it interesting. Do revert with your valued inputs.
Rest of the issues are as usual.
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