When state fails, vigilante rises

"Law and order exists for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress."

Martin Luther King 

Much has been the public outrage across the country in general, and the national capital in particular, after the Delhi bus rape incident. The focus has mostly been on safety of women and the flaws in the system that is supposed to protect them.
However, little has been said about the rising danger of vigilante justice — which will find many takers as the ‘system’ continues to fail them.

One such example is an incident that took place in Jharkhand recently when a village meticulously planned and executed the lynching of five men who were constantly molesting women in the locality. After the murders, a mob went to the local police station to take responsibility. 

While this can be considered as an isolated incident, one cannot ignore the rising public discontent when the justice delivery system fails their expectations.

There are tens of thousands of cases every year when people are forced to suffer heavy-handed measures of the state that is supposed to protect them from oppressors. Many ‘development’ projects that are launched with fanfare involve land acquisitions and rarely is this done ensuring adequate compensation to the landowners.

Since many contracts are ‘won’ by benamis of politicians, their methods of coaxing the landowners through threat of violence and, of course, real violence, are invisible to the guardians of law. Considering  there is little difference between the treatment meted out to them by the goons and the police, it is only natural that organisations such as the Maoists are never short of fresh blood.

While the salaried class is squeezed dry through every possible tax and surcharges, the corrupt officials and politicians are having a field day. The rags-to-riches success story of the Indian political class who turn rupee billionaires after spending barely a decade in modestly-paid public offices should put financial moghuls to shame.

The Central government cites constraints of international agreements and refuses to divulge the names of those who have bled the country white and stashed their illicit wealth abroad.

So, while a clerk caught taking a Rs 500-bribe loses his job and spends time in jail, those who siphoned off enough money to feed an entire generation continue to rub shoulders with national leaders and star as outspoken stalwarts of industry.

Even in cases communal violence, response of the state machinery has always been late and on many occasions — complicit. The best example would be 2002 Gujarat riots. While small-fry and thugs have been convicted, the masterminds of the mass murders — executed with meticulous planning and clinical precision — remain untouched. When caste kangaroo courts make a mockery of judiciary and police and continue their reign of unfettered bloodshed, the victims have nowhere to run.

With all institutional mechanism failing to provide justice or protect from injustice and oppression, majority of our population (without the ‘protection’ of a politician or a criminal – now don’t ask me what’s the difference) has been rendered helpless, hopeless, powerless and cornered.

Great minds have made observations such ‘man is a political animal’ and ‘man is a social animal’ — basically an animal with many intellectual facets. And guess what happens when an animal is cornered without any possibility of escape...

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on December 26, 2012.)

We have built a rapist’s paradise

A journalist friend’s social network post on the Delhi bus rape made some scathing observations, and correctly so, about how the nation is truly ‘outraged’ only when sexual violence occurs in the heart of political and economic powerhouses. 

Society and what we call “the system” are equally responsible for the state of sexual siege the women of this country are forced to live under.

Newspapers come up with illustrations of statistics and news channels line up ‘experts’ from different walks of life to hold prime time panel discussions on the deteriorating social conditions.

There is a lot of drama and rage before cameras and mikes for a few days, then all is gradually forgotten — till another mauled female form is discovered abandoned and battling for life.

Though psychologists may line up a host of reasons to explain the behaviour of perpetrators of sexual violence, it boils down to few basic reasons.

• Societal endorsement of masculine aggression
• Lack of airtight case-building that will lead to conviction
• Flawed portrayal of women in popular culture
• Outdated patriarchal social system that tends to punish the victim than the violator
• An ultra-slow legal system that can be exploited to delay justice to the effect of denying it

As long as we have ludicrous ‘out-of-court settlements’ for rape such as rapist agreeing to marry the victim, the justice system is taking a beating. This is an endorsement that the rape victim is in some way ‘contaminated’ and ‘unfit’ for leading a normal life. 

It also puts the victim at the mercy of the violator, who has already destroyed every minute element of self-respect she possessed. Every act of sexual intercourse after such a wedding is nothing short of socially-endorsed rape.

The absence of quick legal redress ensures that the victim is forced to put up with inordinate delays as case hearings are postponed and mental wounds stay raw and open. And thanks to the media attention (which usually goes overboard), every last bit of privacy of the victim goes for a toss — making a return to normal life even more difficult.

From policemen, politicians and social workers, we need to go miles in terms of treating cases of sexual violence with sensitivity. There is no dearth of top cops and politicians who shift the blame on victims’ tight clothes and loose morals.

Above all, the lack of a punishment that serves as a deterrent to rapists is the biggest inducement for the perpetrators to continue their brutal hobby with impunity. I reiterate my call, from an earlier column, for surgical castration of rapists. 

If there is anything that can deter the rapist, it is the permanent destruction of the supply chain that powers the macabre hunt.

I know this is not a permanent solution. However, with predators reduced to paper tigers, forced to live in self-loathing for the rest of their lives, the world becomes a better place for the fairer sex.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on December 19, 2012.)

Israel vs Palestine: There will be blood

Disproportionate response has always been the cornerstone of Israeli policy towards Palestine and this time too it has been no different. The decision of the Jewish state to allow massive levels of settlements (considered illegal by friend and foe alike) on Palestinian land has only added fuel to the fire.

The knee-jerk reaction to Palestine gaining observer status at UN (just nine opposing votes shows where the world opinion stands), the hawks in Israeli government had to prove that any line other than the Israeli line will bring about only suffering for Palestinians and their cause.

The settlements will further corral Palestinians into a smaller piece of land, which is being continually encroached by Israel on every possible pretext, forcing into their lives an artificial scarcity for resources and related suffering.

The icing on the Israeli policy cake is further financial and material restrictions that will cripple Palestine administration. As hundreds of millions of dollars in legitimate taxes and aid is denied to the Palestine government, it is only natural that the current human catastrophe in the occupied territories will worsen. This will weaken the government’s ability to govern and, more importantly, rein in the activities of militant groups that target Israeli territory with crude rockets.

The recent cross-border military operations by Israel in Gaza clearly demonstrates that the Jewish state has no qualms in killing civilians, though its propaganda machinery goes to great lengths to say how it  ‘minimises collateral damage’.

In a report by an international news agency, a Gaza resident recalls how he got a warning call from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) at 3am that the building was about to be bombed in five minutes and the family had to evacuate immediately. He and his family were lucky enough to make it out alive before Israeli jets reduced the building to rubble — not everyone was that lucky.

Say an average family has five to seven members, including children and elderly, how many can get out of a multi-storey building if roused at the dead of the night and given a five-minute window? So even as its operations are guaranteed to massacre innocent civilians, Israelis can hide behind their lip-service to ‘adequate warning’ — and have their US-led backers endorsing the slaughter.

However, the Western champions of ‘peace and stability in the region’ have no difficulty in ignoring Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons and its continuing occupation of other countries’ territories — if only one were to forget that it is actually an occupied Palestine that is today’s Israel.

Israeli policies are also ensuring that the oppression and injustice faced by the Palestinians are increasing by the day, and in turn transforming into a rallying point for terrorist organisations. Recruitment videos of jihadi groups showing mothers wailing over bloodied, limp bodies of little children killed in Israeli raids have been quite effective in serving their purpose.

When the financial and military might of Israel and its half-a-dozen backers are able to subvert the functioning of an international body like the United Nations and reduce it to a scarecrow, it is only natural that any action that will hurt Israel and its citizens will find takers and supporters.

Palestinians are being killed slowly and painfully by Israel’s sheer brutality and equally effective stranglehold of blockades. The blood and tears of Palestinians will ensure that Israel will never sleep in peace till it mends its ways.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on December 5, 2012.)

Don’t canonise Bal Thackeray

Death has strange effects on people. Look at what it has done for late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

Eleven days have passed since the demise of the man who was a power to reckon with in Maharashtra politics, and every passing day is seeing more praises being sung for him — an outstanding posthumous
achi­eve­ment for a man who demonstrated to the country, with ruthless efficiency, how to perfect the politics of hate.

From mid-1960s, when a nascent Shiv Sena began its vitriolic campaign against non-Maharashtrians, the outfit grew in strength. With the brutal crushing of Leftist trade unions, allegedly with money and muscle backing of industrialists, the Sena assumed the monopoly of violent enforcement — and Bal Thackeray was the guiding light and ideologue.

The violent ‘lungi bhagao’ campaign of Shiv Sena targeting South Indians and their establishments unleashed a reign of terror, with the law and order establishment looking the other way.

Political leaders have been trying to outdo each other in showering praises on a man who has made no bones about his admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ‘for his talent as an artist, orator and a man who was the master of the mob’. He found a lot of aspects common between himself and the German dictator – who, with his lebensraum (living space) call, might have inspired Thackeray’s Marathi manoos war cry.

For a man, whose organisation literally rewrote workers’ rights and fought tooth and nail to destroy the cosmopolitan nature of Bombay (oops... Mumbai), the eulogies reflect the insensitivity of the political class in the name of political correctness and social niceties.

There isn’t a major incident of communal trouble in Mumbai that doesn’t have Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray written all over it. Thackeray’s skill in discovering a communal angle to every incident of consequence was unparalleled. The party mouthpiece Saamana, with regular inputs from Thackeray, made sure that there was never any dearth of venom for public consumption.

The Sri Krishna Commission too pointed fingers at Thackeray and his outfit for inciting the pogrom against Muslims in the aftermath of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.

For unemployed and frustrated Marathi youths who were looking for a punching bag, Bal Thackeray and Shiv Sena provided a platform for unfettered thuggery in the name of a ‘glorious cause’ — not to mention the massive cash inflow through extortion from businesses that weren’t deferential enough.

With no arm of the government being able to challenge the might of Shiv Sena in Mumbai-Thane belt, the outfit assumed the extra-constitutional power of censorship. From literature, art, sports and cinema, there is no area untouched by Sena diktats — forcibly enforced in most cases.

For a political career spanning more than four decades, Bal Thackeray has left behind nothing but a bitter aftertaste — let us not even talk about Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray. The toxic politics that divides people and fills their minds with hatred has done tremendous damage to the social and political fabric of Maharashtra in general and Mumbai in particular. With son and nephew jostling to bear the torch, Mumbai has more pain in store.

Let us not allow death to be the pretext for granting sainthood to Bal Thackeray.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on November 28, 2012)

Stabbing the cause from the front

Closely after the Raising Day of the National Security Guard (NSG), several national dailies reported a rather disturbing story of discrimination of women. No. This time it’s not the male chauvinists, but the women leaders who have done their bit.

The NSG has raised a women’s division, given the same training as its men. However, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and BSP supremo Mayawati have reportedly refused to be protected by these women commandos.

Ironically, both are often cited as examples of women power triumphing in a male-dominated society. Both had towering male mentors and overcame challenges to their authority and consolidated power. As party bosses whose MPs’ support decides the fate of the government, they are also symbols of well-earned power that inspires thousands of women across the country.

However, their refusal to trust the security cover provided by women commandos has damaged the very foundation of the call for equality of women in all professions. Mayawati and Jayalalithaa have indirectly hinted that they don’t consider women commandos as competent as their male counterparts.

Not only have these politicians insulted these brave soldiers, but also they have undermined their own competence to be in positions of power.

Now how can one say Jayalalithaa is as capable as the No 2 in the party or the ministry? How can she be trusted to handle the political and administrative leadership of a crucial southern state?

For Mayawati, the questions would be even more difficult. She is not just a political leader. She is also considered by many as a symbol of empowerment for Dalits (though her biggest project was self-glorification through statues, parks and memorials). How can the Dalit community put its trust in a party and its leader, whose competence is in question because of her gender?

Even worse is the predicament of the premier security agency, whose ‘black cats’ are the most reassuring sight for the VIPs. They have put together a squad of talented, committed and well-trained women. With the VIPs refusing their services and the government policy not permitting their deployment in counter-terrorism operations, they will be reduced to mere showpieces.

Any professional who has spent substantial time ‘on the bench’ will vouch for the crushing feeling of boredom and self-doubt. So, imagine the plight of these brilliant women who have been trained for the most risky field operations, but forced to stay put at their base.

We hear ridiculous comments that degrade women from obsolete institutions like khaps and fringe groups that call themselves moral police. And we attribute little significance to their takes due to their dubious backgrounds and illegal activities.

However, what Mayawati and Jayalalithaa have done is not something that can be ignored that easily. Both must apologise, and accept protection from women commandos.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 17, 2012)

Khaps are our Taliban, crush them before it is too late

After decades of deafening silence or being hand-in-glove with caste councils (khaps), the politicos seem to muster courage to speak out against these kangaroo courts, if Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s forays can be considered as an indicator.

Political parties have banked on caste votes to fuel their journeys to power and therefore it is natural that they don’t tread on the turf of their benefactors. This is not purely an India-exclusive phenomenon. At the zenith of Nazi power, the Catholic Church maintained silence on German atrocities in return for sparing the interests of the Church. Spain’s brutal dictator Franco too enjoyed similar privileges.

Haryana is not the nucleus of the menace of khaps — its tentacles reach the nook and corner of the country. Even while public outrage against khap-ordered atrocities, especially against women, are on the rise, political leaders are very measured in their response — Sonia too is no exception to this unspoken rule. Though she condemned the rise in crimes against women and called for the severest punishment for rapists, her response to a question regarding the ‘authority’ of khaps was surprisingly mild. She said only the government and courts have the authority to prosecute people. The statesman-like statement did not directly attack khaps nor did it say the kangaroo courts need to be done away with.

Khaps are nothing but an Indian version of Taliban, which has been instrumental in crushing the lives of millions of women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The colour of the flags may differ, but the obsolete and suppressive ideologies are same.

The khap advisory to get girls married off at the age of 16 to curb rapes is not much different from the logic of proponents of female genital mutilation that physically and mentally scars millions of women across the world.

The primitive justification of male superiority and importance has over the decades created a demographic disaster across the country with plummeting sex ratios. The result has been an overdose of testosterone in social life. Coupled with the tradition of glorifying suppression of women’s rights, an environment dangerous for the fairer sex has been created.

Though our politicians take umbrage at comments on a wide range of matters and their wisdom spans from personal etiquette to art, philosophy, and literature, no one has the courage to take on the scourge of these extra-constitutional cancers that have been gnawing away at the core of ideals of democracy and liberty — ironically, guaranteed by the Constitution and reinforced by court rulings.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that India lives in its villages. And if the women in our villages are forced to live under the reign of khap terror, what kind of rule of law can we boast of?

Unlike the urban folk, the rural heartland turns out to vote in large numbers. When they exercise their electoral franchise, they hope their representatives will create a better future for them. However, our democratic model has remained a pathetic failure in this department.

When a country cannot protect its women (No, locking them inside houses and teen weddings are NOT solutions); when it cannot ensure freedom of choosing life partners for its youths; when law and order machinery fails to do its duty, we are no different from the failed states that are our neighbours.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 10, 2012)

It’s do-or-die for cornered Kiran

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kumar Reddy’s categorical statement that he won’t be pushed around over Telangana statehood heralds a turning a turning point for the embattled CM and his party in the State — for better or worse.

Ever since he took charge after the exit of K Rosaiah, the former cricketer always confined his game to defensive shots as the party’s national leadership kept dilly-dallying on the statehood issue.

Even wave after wave of agitation causing losses of tens of thousands of crores in terms of production, destruction of public property, security, and not the least, investments that went to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for lack of political stability in the State.

The violent agitations also ensured that the image of the City was sullied. The debris of statues at Tank Bund, barely a kilometre from the Secretariat, is a reminder of the paralysis of the State administration.

Though in power with adequate numbers, the chief minister has been constantly under attack from elements within the party — some blaming his indecisiveness over Telangana, the rest over issues ranging from corruption-tainted ministers to policy blunders.

The constant wrangle for power between the CM and APCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana also undermined Kiran’s ability to command the support of the party’s rank and file. With Botsa and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi being promoted by some factions as possible replacements, the CM’s continuation in the post was always under doubt. To make matters worse, the numerous visits by national leadership’s envoys never made any credible impact in favour of or against the CM.

The divisions in Congress also resulted in the party being humiliated in bypolls, first by the TRS and then by former chief minister YS Rajashekar Reddy’s son and YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Kiran’s inability to stop a scam-tainted political novice from a sizeable chunk of Assembly seats was the ultimate humiliation for the chief minister.

It was at this point that Kiran Kumar Reddy realised that personal political oblivion and decimation of the party was at the doorstep. And ever since, the CM has taken the route of squarely confronting political adversaries.

The CM made it clear that he  will be at the helm till 2014 and rubbished suggestions to the contrary. This was also an open challenge his critics within the Congress to come out and confront him. Kiran’s gamble paid off as, with a series of electoral defeats in the backdrop, no one could muster enough courage to stage a coup and face the prospect of snap elections.

The latest statement of ‘enough is enough’ shows that the party’s national leadership sees Kiran Kumar Reddy as the best bet for the Congress in these testing times.

However, there are more challenges that await the CM. He will have to get the Telangana leaders of the party to either fall in line or keep quiet. With the Telangana agitation going out of KCR’s control, Kiran will have to decide whom he should woo and whom to ignore.

He also needs to get his act together as the head of the Council of Ministers and ensure that the complacence and paralysis that has become the trademark of administration are done away with.

The fate of the government, the Congress and Hyderabad now hinges on the ability of Kiran Kumar Reddy to walk the talk.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 3, 2012)

What makes Zionist occupation of Palestine justifiable?

The self-proclaimed defenders of freedom and liberty in West are blind to the most modern example of colonialism, state-sponsored oppression and systematic ethnic cleansing — yes, even in the 21st Century.

Why aren't the Western democracies arming Palestinians to overthrow the Zionist occupiers? No Arab Spring for these people huh?

Just imagine Winston Churchill (or the new Labour PM) giving a similar presentation at an international conference in 1947.

The continuing occupation of Palestine by invaders from across the world shows what happens when religion, and not reason, decides policies.

Israel (actually its Zionist-occupied territory of Palestine) continues to occupy an entire country and vast swathes of territory of neighbours, has hundreds of nuclear weapons and has an 'impressive history of unilateral military aggression - and everyone is worried about Iranian nuclear weapons, of which there is no proof of!

This UN theatrics reminds me of the Weapons of Mass Destruction presentation before the US invasion of Iraq.

Since the God has already chosen his people [Hey, what are you doubting? The Good Book says so. After the burning bush spoke to Moses, millennia had to pass before God spoke to Bush (George W Bush)], I have only one thing to say to the suffering Palestinians...

May the Force be with you.

Don’t let virtual lives dictate the real

The number of social networking sites are increasing by the day and most technology literate people, especially the youngsters, are hooked on to one platform or the other. These websites came as a boon to people who are away from their family and friends due to work, studies and other unavoidable commitments.

They provide free means of communication, entertainment and networking facilities for professional and personal purposes. One can keep track of developments in the lives of people connected to them with the least of efforts.

However, in course of time, the tools that were aids became a necessity and eventually an addiction. Mere websites became benchmarks for determining friends and foes, for gauging one’s own acceptability, to judge loyalties, and of course, social standing.

The obsession with impressing others, already fuelled by a culture driven by consumerism, takes uncontrollable proportions. People are devoting time, energy and money into ‘perfecting’ their virtual lives and in the end, lose out in real life.

Though a direct comparison will be an exaggeration, the film Matrix kind of portrays the situation of those who are totally dependent on social networking sites. In the movie, all are plugged into a virtual reality that caters to all needs. People go about their lives full of happiness and all seem perfect. However, the reality is that all are nothing but masses of flesh and bone cocooned in containers, with no connection to real life. For example, a bodybuilding champion in the matrix is in reality as weak as a newborn.

There have been reports of relationships breaking off due to disagreements over what should be its influence on the partners’ online profiles. Wives and husbands dumping partners because they are ‘single’ online!!!

Many confess to using photo editing tools to make themselves look better in their display pictures and admit that one of their biggest worries is about friends tagging them in photographs that would provide a reality contrast to the carefully managed online profiles.

It was barely a year ago when an East Asian couple, obsessed with an online virtual farming game on a top social networking site, kept forgetting to feed their child. Though the farms plants and animals thrived due to constant monitoring, the real child succumbed to a malnutrition-induced ailment. These networking platforms have also emerged as hot spots of e-bullying where people gang up to insult, blackmail and defame others. The number of suicides and violent crimes that is in some way or the other connected to social networking sites are rising at an alarming rate.

However, blaming social networking sites would be akin to blaming liquor for alcoholism. It is our uncontrolled pursuit of limelight that is enabling these platforms to act as force-multipliers for vices and abuse.

Virtual world bonding stops at virtual levels and cannot help with real life issues. If we spend a fraction of our online time in making real friends and socialising, we will be much better off. And you won’t have some friend’s friend’s friend making comments on your looks.

Come on, these are just websites and nothing more. Let us not give them the importance they don’t deserve and allow them to dictate our social life.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on September 26, 2012)

Rushdie’s right: Blasphemy is good

If Salman Rushdie was worried if his brand of defiance was passé, the recent upgrading of the bounty on his head (by $500,000) would come as a great relief. And in a subsequent interview, the author reiterated his belief that blasphemy is necessary to promote modern thinking.

Whether he intended it or not, the Booker-winning author has brought into focus one usually-ignored truth — that blasphemy has brought about progress and development as we see it.

The development of science has always been in the blasphemous path and many men who followed reason gave their lives for it. If they hadn’t challenged the faith-driven interpretations of nature, we would have been still with medieval mindsets.

*Imagine the whole world believing than someone created the first man from dirt and a few days later the dude wakes up with a missing rib and a naked woman at his side. And since this is the original man-woman pair, the entire humanity is a mass of inbreds.

And we would be living on a flat earth and not sailing too far from land for fear of falling off the edge. Not to forget that the universe would be orbiting the Earth.

People with mental illness would be seen as possessed with evil spirits and subjected to brutal treatment (not that this has really changed even now).

It was not long ago when my mother’s colleague died of high blood sugar because his prayer group believed it is against god’s will to take medicine. After prayers failed to keep his soul attached to his body, he left behind an unemployed wife and five little children (yes, the sect also believes that family planning offends god).

If people were to not to allow the ‘mysterious ways’ to decide their behaviour, the world would definitely be a better place. Caste divisions, communal riots, ethnic cleansing, genocides, female genital mutilation and a million other inhuman practices would have no takers.

Think of the absurdness of some random guy in India going around burning government buses in which he travels daily because of some offensive short film made in the United States. How does your thunder and tirade help, buddy?

We wouldn’t have had the misfortune of our greatest contemporary artist, MF Husain, dying in exile if his artistic freedom hadn’t ‘offended religious sensitivities’ and made him a target of legal harassment and vandalism of his works.

Imagine the amount of money you would be saving, or spending on matters of your tastes and choice it wasn’t diverted to people who claim to have a hotline with god or can broker your way to salvation (for a price).

Couples would have been living happily if they weren’t forced apart because a couple planets or stars aren’t favouring their union.

And when you want to do something you can do it at a time of your own choosing and not wait for some board-reader to tell you the ‘auspicious’ time for it.

Colour of the flag or name of the sect doesn’t manner, religious bigots have been there all throughout human history. They thrive on ignorance, blind faith, complacence, nepotism and the desire for status quo by the privileged. The lines are redrawn and rules are bent to suit their material gains and controlling power.

Life is short, let us use our brains (unless already muddled by religions) to be better human beings to our brothers than be dictated by criteria to avoid the purgatory.

*Removed from the printed version

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on September 19, 2012)

Mumbai isn’t a tale of three Thackerays

Not long after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray termed migrants ‘infiltrators’, his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena heir apparent Uddhav Thackeray, not wanting to be outdone in vitriolic diatribe, has said that migration from Bihar must be kept under check through permit system.

It was barely 80 years ago that a short young politician popularised the concept of lebensraum (roughly translates as ‘living space’) to ascend to power in Germany. Yes, your guess is right, we are talking about Adolf Hitler, who considered anyone non-German sub-human. People of Slavic origin, Gypsies and Jews were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, deported — and in the case of Jews, massacred to the best of his ability.

The more the Thackerays (including Shiv Sena satrap, the ageing but definitely not mellowing, Bal Thackeray) unleash their polarising venom, the more it sounds like a desi version of Mein Kampf. And if one were to analyse their organisations’ agenda, it is only the lack of unchecked power that is preventing them from carrying out similar pogroms.

To understand Raj’s tirades and Uddhav’s attempt to whip up ‘sons of soil’ passions, we should go back to Bombay (wasn’t Mumbai then) of the 1970s. Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena was carrying out a vitriolic (and violent) campaign against South Indians, who, according to him, were taking away the jobs and opportunities of Marathi manoos.

It was under the wing of Bal Thackeray that nephew Raj and son Uddhav cut their teeth in the toxic politics of regionalism. Raj, a firebrand orator, always had more visibility in Shiv Sena and many thought he would take over from Bal Thackeray. However, it was not to be.

As the worried uncle started relegating him to the margins to give more space and visibility for Uddhav, the cousins drifted apart and two factions emerged. And finally in 2006, with no more maneuvering space left within the fold of the same party, Raj walked out and formed the MNS.

Ever since, Raj and his followers embarked on a Marathi chauvinism campaign; shriller, more poisonous, more violent and better organised — designed to outdo his uncle’s outfit in the same department, on his home turf. And it is working.

The audacity with which the MNS is able to continue with its politics of thuggery is an insult to our democracy and the rights guaranteed to all citizens under the Constitution.

Despite its violent campaigns targeting migrant workers, especially autorickshaw and taxi drivers, the MNS boss is a free man and continues his trade with impunity.

While several cases have been registered against the MNS chief and his outfit, thanks to our legal system, the bigot has never had a reason to worry or curtail his activities.

Mumbai is what it is today because it has attracted and made maximum out of the best talents from across the country. It is the migrants who form the fabric of cheap essential services that keep the city running. If people from other states were to be taken out of India’s financial capital, it would be reduced to an empty shell.

South Indian, North Indian, Bihari or Bengali... anyone who is a citizen of this country has the right to travel, live and ply his trade and maintain his identity anywhere in the country.

Organisations like Shiv Sena and MNS are a blot on our culture and have little difference from the Third Reich. They must be crushed before these cancer cells inspire more of their kind elsewhere and become malignant to our civilisation.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on September 5, 2012)

Superpower status a distant dream

As the 16th summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) kicks off in Tehran today, the world watches with keen eyes the position India will take in the global stage.

The NAM took birth due to the Cold War when a host of countries, then newly-independent or in dire poverty, decided they could not afford to offend either blocs. Though the NAM claimed moral high ground, it was primarily the desperation for aid from both the blocs that necessitated the movement.

The NAM had strength in numbers, but its role was inconsequential in international politics as all international bodies, including the United Nations, were structured to allow control by superpowers. The group of developing countries were reduced to fence-sitters and in course of time many drifted to either of the blocs and reduced their non-alignment to lip service.

India too could not escape this as the 1962 war with China made it realise that applause from its NAM friends do not translate into political and military power. Realpolitik considerations drove India into an all-weather friendship with Soviet Union and those bonds strengthened our position.

With the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a new world order, the relevance of NAM has come under question. Erstwhile Soviet satellite states are now Nato members and China has emerged as the uncrowned superpower.

However, Indian foreign policy continues to have one foot in the bygone era and is hindering our transition from a reg­i­onal player to a global power. From gas exploration deals in disputed waters off Vietnam to safeguarding our territory abutting the Line of Actual Control (LAC) — which Chinese patrols violate with impunity — we are being cowed down by our giant neighbour.

The Communist state has beaten India in most commercial undertakings across the world, especially in Africa, where the states were once India’s strongest allies. Sheer economic might and a ‘no-strings attached’ policy in regional politics have given the dragon a big edge.

Though nuclear-armed Ind­ia is considered a force to reckon with and its growing economy is emerging as a big draw for investors, there are policy flaws that undermine our credibility.

Pakistan continues to bleed India through a thousand wounds, terrorism being the primary weapon. From circulating counterfeit currency to the recent SMS/MMS campaign that triggered the exodus of people of North East from South India, our estranged sibling’s unabated attacks reduce our economic and military might to mere paper tigers.

Our deafening silence on decades of dictatorship across in West Asia and feeble support for Palestine shows that we are still incapable of pushing our agenda in the global arena. We were forced to scale down our support to Aung San Suu Kyi after the Burmese junta began harbouring and arming anti-India militants.

In the last few years, India has allowed the US to arm-twist it in several matters, including doing business with Iran. The nuclear liability Bill has been watered down to appease possible partners. Though they voice protest about its ‘stringent clauses’, Indian follow-up of Bhopal Gas Tragedy has demonstrated amply that the rules would be more of an irritant than measures that would enforce liability or accountability.

With government after government at the Centre crippled by alliance compulsions and giving in to populist (and incredibly stupid) measures, we have little offer to the rest of the world as a power that has the will to get its way — and unwilling to go all the way.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on August 29, 2012)

Divided we stand as Pakistan's puppets

Assam riots and its ripple effect have come as a disgrace to India and its leaders who love to flaunt the 'unity in diversity' tag.

While the violence displaced close to 4.5 lakh people in Assam, at least 50,000 people from North East fled from other parts of the country to their homes as random targeted attacks and hate campaigns via SMS, MMS and social networking sites created a fear psychosis.

Some media reports claim that the sheer magnitude of the displacement is the biggest that has been triggered in the history of the country since the post-partition bloodbaths.

While the violence in Assam has behind it complex and intertwined factors such as illegal migration, ethnic identity, vote bank politics, militancy, unemployment and lack of development, its 'fallout' across the rest of the country defies all logic.

One cannot fathom why lives and property of people of North East, very much the citizens of this country, must be held to ransom by elements who support Bangladeshi immigrants (according to government statistics, there are at least 3 crore of them). Can someone who threaten his countrymen on behalf of protecting illegal aliens be called a patriot? Their actions are nothing short of treason.

Now more evidence is emerging about Pakistan being the epicentre of the mobile and internet hate campaign (like most of terrorism directed at India). Indian intelligence agencies have said that it is a psychological warfare that has full support from Pakistani intelligence agencies.

Therefore, any act of violence that would hurt Indians and undermine our national security security will be the moral equivalent of being on the payroll of Pakistan.

What difference does it make if someone in Bangalore or Mumbai attacks people with oriental features? Will it solve the problems of Assam? Can even one among these brainwashed mobs differentiate between an Assamese from a Naga, or a Manipuri from a Mizo? Do they know anything about the unique culture and heritage of the North East?

India has been battling militancy in the North East for decades. The continuing conflicts and the resultant military presence have already made the people of the region wary of the designs of those in the 'mainland'. Even without the racially-targeted violence, they face enough humiliation, harassment and discrimination across the country. Reservations, economic packages and inspiring speeches on 'our India' will not work when our citizens are made refugees in our own country.

An anti-Assam-violence protest in Mumbai on August 11 turned violent, killing two people and injuring over 50 — most of them policemen. The thick-skulled mob did not even spare the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial (for martyred Indian soldiers).

The exodus of North East people from 'mainland' cities have given a major boost to Sangh Parivar organisations. The likes of Raj Thackeray and his vitriolic MNS are hogging the limelight and whipping up communal passion. The way of life India adopted after partition has ensured that we did not end up a failed, savage, theocratic dump like Pakistan, and it is only natural that our western neighbour wants some parity in the department.

It will be an acid test for us as a nation to uphold the values enshrined in our culture and the Constitution so that we do not end up like our estranged (and deranged) sibling.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on August 22, 2012)

India’s independent, but Bharat’s still a mess

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

— Robert Frost

Another Inde­pendence Day has come, actually the 65th one, and as usual the nation has been served its regular dose of an inspiring speech by its prime minister. However, the questions remain about what it has done for the countrymen.

At least Manmohan Singh has shown enough sense in not bragging about 'India Shining' like his NDA predecessors and has been realistic in saying that true independence will come only when we “banish poverty, illiteracy, hunger and backwardness”.

I wouldn't show the audacity to advise the economist on how to steer the economy through these turbulent times of Eurozone crisis, but I definitely know his team should do more to keep my food and fuel bills down.

True that poor monsoons have played truant so far and it will impact the food stocks. But that doesn't justify close to 40 per cent of foodgrains rotting away due to lack of storage infrastructure. Unless this massive hole is plugged, the effect of all subsidies and special packages will be negated.

While rapid economic growth is being encouraged, little is being done to check the irreversible damage it is doing to the ecology and the people. Special Economic Zones on farmland; hydel projects drowning swathes of forest; toxic emissions that pollute and the millions who are displaced, deprived of dignity and condemned to lives of penury. Those who champion people's causes and come to power turn even worse oppressors and exploiters.

Corruption is endemic. Central ministers to office attendants in villages; Generals to traffic cops; judiciary, bureaucrats, doctors and scientists... there is no end to the list. And, of course, the 'enterprising' politicians who turn multi-billionaires in few years by 'serving the people'. Anti-corruption crusaders have fallen to the lure of political power and a 'guru' with dubious credentials is hogging the limelight.

Society is in tatters. Caste system continues to condemn hundreds of millions to sub-human conditions. Caste kangaroo courts run their writ of murders, gangrapes and ostracism campaigns, and the official machinery only pays lip service to protection of human rights. Reservations that were instituted to promote integration have turned into a major divisive factor. Sex crimes against women and minors are skyrocketing while thousands of female foetuses are killed through selective abortion. Manual scavenging continues and a majority of villages still don't have toilets. Unless these fundamental issues are resolved, whatever progress we claim to make will remain tall claims.

The GDP share for healthcare remains dismal and social security a distant dream. Dozens of key legislations including Women's Reservation Bill, Lokpal Bill and Whistleblowers Bill have not been passed as politicians continue to squabble and waste the time of Parliament.

Security remains a major concern. A substantial part of the country is literally under Maoist control and separatist insurgencies continue to take toll on lives in several states. The latest spell of violence in Assam shows fundamental flaws are yet to be rectified. Terrorist attacks continue across the country even as plan after plan and agency after agency are announced to tackle the menace.

All we ask of the leaders of this country is to show some real commitment to the original purpose for which the people put their faith in them and the institution of democracy.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on August 15, 2012)

Racism is no match for our caste system

From prime minister to panwallah, all were ‘shocked’ at the gory incident in which a white supremacist gunned down six people at a Wisconsin gurdwara. The widespread anger was reflected in Hyderabad too where ‘peaceful’ protestors scuffled with policemen at the US Consulate (as if the US State Department provided the gunman weapons and ammunition).

While we are outraged at the racial discrimination faced by people of Indian origin across the world, there is hardly any enthusiasm in fighting the caste system that continues to rob hundreds of millions in this country of their life, liberty and dignity — ironically, guaranteed as Fundamental Rights by the Constitution.

Hundreds of young men and women fall victim to ‘honour killings’ every year (thousands go unreported or are hushed up by the well-connected families) because they dare to defy primitive caste kangaroo courts called khasi and choose their life partner. It was barely three months ago that an Uttar Pradesh DIG, Satish Kumar Mathur, was caught on camera asking a villager to kill the latter’s daughter if she was found to have eloped. And these are the men in uniform the judiciary expects to protect inter-caste and inter-faith couples from persecution and harm.

Then comes the inhuman practice of condemning hundreds of thousands of Dalits to the dignity-stripping job of manual scavenging. According to a 2011 ministry of social justice report, only 1,18,474 out of about 7.7 lakh (official figures) manual scavengers were given alternative professions under government schemes. Apart from social stigma, meagre wages, they fall victim to most virulent diseases and at times meet their ends in the ‘line of duty’.

Across the country millions are discriminated against in social life due to their caste. Entire communities are forced to live outside villages but are expected to serve the upper castes at their beck and call without questioning. Those who resist are suppressed with most brutal measures including murder and gang-rape of women of their families. Even if the victim/s mange to file a police complaint overcoming their fear, little chance do they have against the money, influence and top lawyers that their oppressors have. Eventually, destruction of lives and families is reduced to just another number in the ever-growing statistics.

In the land of modern social reformer ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, two-tumbler system is still widely practiced. There are villages divided by ‘caste walls’ topped by barbed wire and lower caste people are not allowed to use public facilities and denied entry to temples.

Politicians support caste divisions to preserve their vote banks and fatten their wallets. Dalit ‘icon’ Mayawati’s opulent lifestyle and splurge of thousands of crores on statues and parks while people starved and farmers committed suicide would be a good example.

If the situation of Dalits can be termed bad, it is worse for the tribals. They are the first casualties when ‘development for greater common good’ takes place. Projects such as dams, power plants and Special Economic Zones that bring prosperity to the country are their worst enemies. Dispossessed and driven out of their ancestral lands, they end up in shanty towns and are brutally exploited in every possible manner by the rest.

Considering the colossal extent of our failure to function as a civilised society, we are standing on wafer-thin ground when we point fingers at ‘racism’.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on August 8, 2012)

Violators of women deserve no mercy

A quick glance at the news spectrum gives a sorry picture of the state of women in this country. The fairer sex which constitutes more than a majority in the population are being handed out an unfair deal — so much for the concept of democracy.

From the Guwahati molestation where a 50-strong drunk mob literally raped a teen in full media glare to the remote village in UP where a woman was force-fed alcohol and gang-raped by policemen in a police station, safety and dignity of women is virtually non-existent.

When it comes to glorification of women in culture and philosophy, no one can beat us. From goddesses to warrior princesses, women have been worshipped in one way or the other. Religious texts to literature, pages extolling women's virtues are countless. However, nothing guarantees the safety of women in the street.

Dowry is a major cause of abuse, harassment and violence against women. Though outlawed, the practice is rampant across the country; and contrary to expectation, education, social status or urbanity does not deter this social evil.

If a man has even a grain of self-respect he wouldn't ask for dowry. A demand for dowry is an open proclamation that “for all my machismo, I am an incapable loser who can't provide for my better half and I am desperately dependent on the charity handouts of my in-laws”.

A majority of dowry-related cases go unreported due to fear of social stigma, threat of violence or pressure from families, the few that are reported are gory and appalling enough to question one's belief in humanity.

Sexual violence against women is a different ballgame altogether. Though myriad laws are in existense to safeguard the safety of women, and to provide justice to victims, few translate into real support.

The people and institutions who are supposed to enforce these laws are themselves supporters of sexually charged animals who prey on women with impunity.

The frequent statements from top police officials, ministers, clerics, and, in the latest case, from a member of National Commission for Women, put the victims' moral credentials under scrutiny. Those who bark that it is the dress of the woman that 'provokes' sexual assault must remember that miniskirts don't get women raped in most cases.

The 'moral police' who patrol the streets to ward off 'corrupting' Western influences such as Valentine's Day is nowhere to be seen or heard when the women are torn to bits by savages across the country. Their silence, combined with the 'endorsement' from the powerful, encourage the sexual predators.

Sexual crimes do not deserve any mercy. For all the psychological and social reasons that may be lined up, it is the lack of fear of punishment that powers these beasts.

I personally favour physical castration as the most potent punishment for sexual crimes. The criminals, rendered incapable of similar crimes, must be incarcerated for life with hard labour. Hurt them where is hurts, and results will naturally show in statistics.

Barely a month back, an international study had ranked India as one of the worst places to be a woman — only next to Saudi Arabia. Something is fundamentally flawed with our system if we are in the same bracket with primitive societies where rape victims are executed on charges of adultery.

We don't need Obama, but change we definitely need.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on July 25, 2012)

Cheers from stands can’t drown 26/11 screams

If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It’s been barely four years since India was hit by the most audacious terrorist assaults into its territory when the 10-man squad waltzed in through the porous coastal security and unleashed their wrath on India’s commercial capital.

If it was not for the selfless sacrifice of a Maharashtra policeman, India wouldn’t have had even a Kasab to save its face.

The cleansing agents may have removed the blood stains from the CST and the mammoth railway hub is bustling with activity, but justice remains a distant dream for the dear ones of those who were gunned down. Ever since the attack, India has been doing sabre-rattling, and nothing more, to make Pakistan accountable for its actions.

Despite more proof emerging about Pakistan’s institutional involvement in the attack, mostly through work done by foreign intelligence and investigative agencies, Indian resolve to pursue the case has mostly remained on paper. Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Abu Jindal, who has been recently arrested with the help of Saudi Arabian authorities, has revealed the shocking extent of Pakistani agencies’ involvement in orchestrating the 26/11 attacks.

Like it does after every provocative incident, India took a tough posture cutting off all engagements with Pakistan for a while — only to concede ground later. While the 26/11 dossiers India sent to Pakistan might soon be requiring a room for storage, any other country (with self-respect, which we are desperately lacking) would have put open bounties for terrorist leaders; and Hafiz Sayeed wouldn’t be roaming the streets organising rallies and protests.

Even in the latest round of talks in New Delhi, India was grovelling for action on 26/11 and Pakistan kept to its regular stand of ‘requiring credible proof and sharing of information’. Their only real interest was resumption of cricketing ties! And the shameless ‘super-power-to-be’ that we are, it was granted.

The government actually left the decision to the cricket associations to take the call. If cricket and sports ties were never part of bilateral relations, this could have been considered a ‘mature’ call. However, that is not the case. And since when has the BCCI, which is not even a government body (actually run by a bunch of businessmen for their interests), been allowed to take decisions on behalf of India?

Are the guys at the helm of the government such dimwits that mass entertainment is allowed to be a priority over national interests.

The decision to resume cricket ties as ISI smiles smugly sends out a wrong message to Pakistan and Indian public. It is a not-so-subtle declaration that the government would rather have the game raking in crores in revenues for some private stakeholders than stay resolute in its resolve to not go soft on Pakistan and terrorism. Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has rightly criticised the BCCI for its decision.

While Pakistan has never let up on supporting terrorist activities targeting India, we have have been going out of our way – and at times bending backwards – to woo our bête noire. We have fought four wars; have between us around 400 nuclear weapons meant for all-out conflict; miniscule bilateral trade; and continuing acts of terrorism. What is the point in pretending that all the touted ‘confidence-building measures’ will bear fruit and we will be best friends one day.

We should have the courage to declare Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’ and invest in strengthening our military and intelligence capabilities. Pakistan is nothing but a threat and never a possible friend.

Cricket is great fun, millions love it, but the cheering galleries won’t take away the screams of those who were butchered in Mumbai from the nation’s conscience.

We must not let BCCI to become Board of Cricket Controlling India.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on July 18, 2012)

Let India, not Time, judge Manmohan

It was only a few days back that Time magazine had branded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as an ‘underachiever’ on its cover. The grave fault the US magazine found with the economist PM was that he ‘refused to stick out his neck’ for the liberalisation reforms.
Well... The magazine is entitled to its opinions as it operates from a free country. We regret to tell you that majority of the 1.3 billion citizens of our country live on below $1 per day (Though according to Planning Commission that might be upscale lifestyle) and their priority is not exactly rolling out red carpet welcome to Wal-Mart and other global giants circling the Indian retail skies.
The BJP was quick to grab the new stick to beat the Centre with, but seems to be oblivious to the fact that the same magazine had described its stalwart and former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as ‘asleep at wheel’ in 2002. The main Opposition party must not forget that it is not in the best of health and is yet to catch its breath after putting out fires in its Southern base Karnataka, where a local caste strongman got the national party on its knees.
The BJP constantly uses terms such as ‘weak, puppet, indecisive’ to describe Singh but forgets that the ‘strong’ NDA prime minister was comparatively less effectual. The Parivar campaign of going ‘swadeshi’ was the first casualty when the NDA government overtook the Congress in the road to liberalisation and selling off PSUs.
While in the Opposition, the BJP was always ranting about how it would strike at terrorist camps in Pakistan if elected to power. The much-touted nuclear tests failed to stop Kargil intrusions.
When terrorists attacked Indian Parliament, the government launched the biggest ever troop deployment to the Western border in Operation Parakram, but chickened out when generals on the other side of the border threatened to use nukes.
Terrorists continued to strike with impunity and the controversial anti-terror law Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) was used mostly for political vendetta. But the biggest blot was the Gujarat riots of 2002. In a well-planned and methodical manner, thousands were butchered while the state machinery looked the other away or acted in complicity.
And for the regional outfits, caste parties and Mao-worshippers, they have all proven their hypocritical sides by diverging from declared policies and ideologies to retain power, fatten wallets and woo vote banks. Media is a vital constituent of democracy, but it is not the last word.
The Fourth Estate is not devoid of vested interests. Most media houses have business interests and this reflects in their analysis of news. In India, the most recent example was regarding the implementation of Wage Board recommendations for journalists.
The publishing houses, who are otherwise at each others’ throats, united in publishing story after story about a grand conspiracy to bleed the industry — and never implemented the recommendations. If Singh’s hands have been tied, it’s due to coalition compulsions.
When your government’s survival is dependent on people like Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee and Karunanidhi, the elbow room available is little.
 Despite all that, Singh has steered the country through economic doldrums in different capacities. He is free of corruption (though not the same can be said about his colleagues and allies), a gentleman and a statesman of international standing. He has never responded to vicious criticism by stooping to that level.
He might have several shortcomings, but is still the prime minister and the hope for this country to ride out of economic and political storms. And those baying for his blood must come up with credible alternatives (no, not the BJP).
Let Indian public, and not Time, be the judge of its prime minister.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on July 11, 2012)

Living fossils in a dynamic world

In many dictatorships across the world, lampooning the ‘supreme leader’ is a crime punishable by death or prison sentences worse than death itself. Before we pat ourselves for our ‘vibrant’ democracy, as our political stalwarts and their foreign counterparts put it, let us take a realistic stock of our country.
If you thought it was the whimsical Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee alone who threw tantrums over cartoons and threw people into dungeons, you got it wrong.
The row over political cartoons in the NCERT textbooks is the best examples. Netas of all hues have thundered against a 50-year-old cartoon showing Jawaharlal Nehru whipping BR Ambedkar for the snail’s pace of work in drafting the Constitution. Both have played their roles in nation building, but are now dead and gone. The cartoon was published in a national daily and is a matter of historical record.
Now suddenly we find some groups taking umbrage to that cartoon (getting offended, developing feeling of animosity... the list goes on) and has got the government to agree to delete it.
The incident made several interest groups realise that if children were allowed free (or rather uncensored) access to political developments of the past, there would be little future for several ideologies based on divisiveness. It also dawned on many that if the origins of their political movements were laid bare before the smart schoolchildren, their out-dated and irrational outfits would soon run out of takers.
 And so began the clamour from across the country for text books to be ‘politically correct’. The designated panel of ‘experts’ sifted through the NCERT curriculum for political booby traps. And lo! 36 out of 176 cartoons were found to be inappropriate and the panel has recommended their removal.
These cartoons reflect the critical political analysis of the times when the corresponding incident occurred. Going back to them now and trying to erase their presence is nothing short of juvenile conduct. And the current ‘revision’ reeks of the dictatorship we see in George Orwell’s 1984. In the book, there is a government department dedicated to destroying records of all follies of the past and rewriting them to make the leadership look like infallible visionaries — we are not far.
Tolerance to criticism, no matter how vitriolic it is, is an indicator of the maturity of a leader or an organisation. The more convinced the party is about its ideology and history, the less will be the tendency to throw tantrums over ‘offensive content’.
It is an attempt at the impossible to keep historic realities away from the children as they are not confined to text book knowledge. Information of all shades is available in the media, especially on the internet.
We also need to understand that perspectives on the same person or event are divergent, depending on the level of involvement and impact in the life of the person involved.
 For example, Indira Gandhi is a great leader but others perceive her as the only dictator the country has had since independence. So who gets to decide the political ‘acceptability’ of a cartoon on the Emergency?
Many political parties that ran decades of mindless ‘education in mother tongue only’ campaigns are now struggling to own up their folly when English-speaking youths from other liberal states corner the best jobs. Attempting to erase the records of their actions will not undo the damage done.
We should come out from the state of denial and learn to accept criticism as inputs for introspection and course correction. Ego-driven ideas of self-glorification must not ossify us into living fossils in a dynamic world.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on July 4, 2012)

Swearing by Stalin’s spectre

0ne day I was at the market in my town in Kerala, picking up item after item from the long list my mother had given me in the morning. Haggling with the vendor over the price of fish, I did not notice the slight commotion in the area.
After buying few good pieces of the pisces for a reasonable sum I was surprised to see vendors packing their wares and stalls closing. I thought: “Oh, some important trader must have died. His friends must be closing their business to show their respect…”
 My thoughts were interrupted by the high-pitched squeal from a loudspeaker attached to the carrier of a car that was cruising along the adjacent main road.
“Total shutdown today… We request (read ‘better comply or be battered’) you to join us in expressing our solidarity against US led capitalists, whose puppets have executed our beloved hero of the Arab world – Saddam Hussein,” the announcer croaked.
“No. It can’t be. I heard it wrong,” I thought as I checked what I heard.
The announcement is repeated, and this time there is no confusion. It is actually, Saddam, the butcher of Baghdad.
Welcome to God’s Own Country and its ‘global’ communists.
The red revolutionaries have come a long way from the days they bled and died in the hundreds against oppression, injustice and human rights violations. The tiny state owes them a lot for almost all things progressive that have made it comparable with developed countries in indicators such as human development index, maternal mortality, literacy and political participation.
When the state of Kerala was formed in 1957, they formed the government – the first democratically elected communist government in the world. However, some historical trends do not change, especially the effect of popularity and power.
The Communist Party of India and, later when the party split in 1964, the CPI-M began to show increasing intolerance to political rivals. The northern district of Kannur, a picturesque region, has seen hundreds of bloody clashes and dozens of political murders.
There are several areas divided into ‘party villages’ by the CPI-M, Congress and the BJP; murders and revenge killings are part and parcel of life in this region which was the original communist heartland.
Over the years, people have come to reject the culture of violence and there has been calm for several years now. But looks like history is repeating itself with the recent murder of TP Chandrasekharan, who quit the party along with his supporters to float a rebel outfit.
Even as CPI-M leaders were busy denying the party's role in the murder, a district chief, while giving a passionate speech about loyalty, blurted out that the party brooks no betrayal and has been bumping off its political rivals.
For a party that boasts of (or pays lip service to) intra-party democracy, the CPI-M has a culture of intolerance towards dissent. The party expels its critics or demotes them.
 Over the last couple of decades, the party has taken cue from its Chinese counterpart – and possibly from the military forces of Myanmar and Pakistan – by developing multi-billion investments and heavily entrenching itself as a state in itself.
Naturally, all the vices and aberrations brought about by such 'expansion and diversification' has given rise in its ranks a breed of ruthless leaders who condone and facilitate corruption, violence and nepotism.
The party has been ravaged by factionalism. On one side is former CM and current Leader of the Opposition VS Achuthanadan and on the other, all-powerful party state chief Pinarayi Vijayan.
The latter and his cronies have taken control of the party organisation and has been steadily purging the rival camp's followers on one pretext or the other. VS is immensely popular among Keralites for his relentless campaigns against corruption, crime syndicates, sex rackets and several evils that have been plaguing the state.
However, the official faction ridicules him as a dinosaur that refuses to understand the 'opportunities' of capitalism and its 'benefits' for all.
The ideology is outdated and even today (despite decades of ridicule) party leaders invoke Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Fidel Castro, and of late, Hugo Chavez, to tell people why their brand of authoritarianism and thuggery is the path to 'enlightened' progress.
While leadership qualities of these people are inspiring, the question is whether it was worth the suffering of the people of those countries.
For example, more Russians were killed by Stalin's purges than by World War II. Mao's Cultural Revolution was no different.
India is a democracy that allows freedom to criticise. If the CPI-M thinks that this is not acceptable, they are free to go and join their red brethren on the other side of the Himalayas – both have a lot in common dealing with critics.
Wake up comrades, Stalin is dead; Cold War is over; Berlin Wall has fallen; dictators are being ousted and democracy is gaining in strength.
It's time for some serious introspection and path correction so that a movement that once inspired millions and changed lives for better doesn't end up being a cartel to benefit a few.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on June 27, 2012)