Monthly Archives: August 2011

Thank god, the citizens of India have finally come together to combat Corruption– the “C” that has been draining this great country of its potential to reach the very top. India is the 11th largest economy in the world and the 4th largest by purchasing power parity . If we can sustain the current growth of 9%, average income is expected to double in a few years and we are stated to be the 3rd largest economy very soon. However latest statistics show that the total money scrupulous elements have made through corruption over the years is USD 20.23 trillion. With this amount, we could have defeated most of our social problems like unemployment and poverty and we would have occupied our destined position in the international community much sooner.

Hope the current enthusiasm and excitement doesn’t die down and hope it will lead to some stringent and effective regulations that will help us eradicate this malaise, once and for all.

This said, we also urgently need a movement to combat the other “C” which also has the potential to put brakes on our ascent towards success. This is the “C” that can undo all the progress that we made till date and push us back into a un mountable death spiral of mayhem and chaos.

This “C” stands for Communalism…..

Steven Wilkinson, a US based Scholar who has been studying communal violence in India has concluded that since independence, the casualties in communal riots in India is as huge as 40,000. Bring the partition into this equation and the figure stands at 1.5 million – We have managed to kill many more of our own than what our enemies have. And by doing so, We have been doing a huge favor to all the ones who are desperate to destabilize us and see our doom.

The sad fact is that our Police force is fully equipped and capable of brining any riot under control within 24 hours. The major communal riots that cause higher casualties are pre-planned for days if not months and there are always early warnings of such a planning which the police and intelligence can easily know if they care. Hence it is obvious that all these riots that destroy our valuable human resources, our brand image and the precious climate of peace and co operation are successful only due to the nexus between riot entrepreneurs, politicians, enforcement agencies and the media.

About 31 Inquiry Commissions were appointed after various communal riots. These Inquiry Commissions have pointed out that riots take place as administration is complicit and fail to perform their duties on all three fronts – in taking preventive steps before riots, controlling the mobs during the riots and finally bringing the culprits to book.

Hatred, fear and communalism will not help our country. Neither numbers or mob strength will help any particular community. At the ease at which bombs can be made and explosions can be triggered, one single fanatic can kill hundreds. See what is happening to our neighbors. Their economy is in shambles. No one wants to invest there and the whole nation is staring at a bleak future. Let us not allow anyone to lead us to the same state. And let us hope that our neighbors also get cured at the earliest.

How can we, commoners come together to defeat this nexus ?

How can we coerce ourselves to forget the wounds of the past?

How can we refrain from spreading doubt, fear and hatred?

How can we stop ourselves from being infuriated by the riot mongers?

How can we remind ourselves that our future is more important than our past?

How can we together create an atmosphere conducive for growth and development?

How can we combat the second “C”?

Any ideas?, Any Anna’s ?

Back home, the dreaded police department has a simple and straight forward way of solving even the toughest of crimes. They maintain a database of citizens picked up earlier for petty offenses. Whenever law breaking happens, they scout around for some time. If the offenders evade them, VOILA! Out comes the list and some hapless soul is dragged to jail. One more case is solved and the stakeholders bask in the glory of received accolades. And of course, the police have some very creative ways to make these “convicts” confess to these crimes… local imitations of water boarding, electrocution and flogging…. to name a few. I still smile when I think of a old joke which had a couple of police men torturing a bear, trying to make it confess- that it was the infamous tiger that had been venturing on manhunts.

It’s very much like the drunk who was found searching desperately under a lamp post. When enquired, he said that he was searching for his lost bunch of keys. Upon asked whether he had lost the keys at that exact spot, he replied “I lost them somewhere else, but its dark there and well lit here”. One cant but envy those desperadoes who can merrily go scot free after each crime, since the blame will invariably fall on someone else by default. Do anything wicked and forget about it. Someone somewhere will pay for their sins…perfect arrangement.

After the recent bombings in Norway, all the news channels and newspapers were quoting police and intelligence sources unanimously and unequivocally stating that the perpetrators had to be Islamic fundamentalists. They were at the verge of cracking the case and the media was indulging in bouts of verbal diarrhea, explaining Islam’s inclination towards violence and the sinister cold bloodedness of Muslims. Finally it turned out that the man accused of the killing spree was an Islamophobe, deeply influenced by a group of American bloggers and writers who over the years have been desperately trying to “defend the west from Islamic domination”. He was one of the most vociferous supporters of the “Grave danger posed by Muslim immigrants to Western culture” cause.

Thank god Justice prevailed in Norway. And hope it will be repeated in the case of thousands of innocents languishing in jail for crimes they have never committed.
Hope our law enforcers will reexamine and change their paradigms and refrain from jumping into pre conceived conclusions. Hope the Muslim community will work proactively to cleanse itself of the stigma attached to it. Hope it will locate and alienate the few black sheep who believe that killing of innocents will emancipate their brethren from injustice. Those wayward ones who try to serve almighty god by spilling guiltless blood.

And most importantly may the sinister plots of all those ominous invisible hands that are waiting to exploit this situations fail.
May true justice prevail……