We have been hearing many negative comments about some page 3 personalities and their intemperate remarks in the electronic media recently. I was watching one such program hosted by Barkha Dutt.
Wonder why Barkha Dutt would invite such persons on the panel. Is it cronyism ? Not sure really. Maybe its the I scratch your back you scratch mine phenomenon. There was no reason at least for one person to be on the panel discussing a very serious and important topic like terrorism and action against it. We may never get the answer.
I have not understood why many of the Indian TV channels blacked out Deepak Chopra's interview about terrorism which was aired by CNN. According to me that was good and for once a honest statement from someone. I guess it is available on YouTube.
Its enough for now.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
No Country Ever Wins A War
The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai have compelled many people to speak up. Many spoke their hearts out and helped in creating the atmosphere of unity and went about comforting survivors, building determination to focus on what we should do now etc.
But equal number of people have spoken discordantly creating a platform for chaotic thinking. For instance, there are people who are suggesting we should not pay taxes. How ridiculous! There are others who say we shouldn't vote. Who will administer this large country? There are those who say we should go to war with Pakistan. They probably don't know that after a very long and painful wait over decades and recent struggle there is a civilian government in Pakistan. They have even asked for carpet bombing Pakistan. How stupid. I don't think terrorism is supported by all Pakistani citizens. There may be some who support, just as there are some who call for carpet bombing Pakistan.
The people who suggest such absurd approaches are either low on IQ or blinded by ego to see the truth.
No one can possibly win any war. History is replete with wars where every nation that engages in the war loses. The only ones who gain are companies that sell weapons.
I think a lot of terrorism has got exported out from some countries which were experiencing intense terrorism in the past. Ultimately this is a globalized world not only from an economical point of view. Even terror is globalized and we are seeing the results of certain actions taken by some countries in the past. We should at lease now look at this very honestly and try to trace the real underlying underlying.
You should watch this CNN interview of Deepak Chopra who summarises the problem very well. The link is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WACjyXfBD_I&feature=related
I will write more later.
But equal number of people have spoken discordantly creating a platform for chaotic thinking. For instance, there are people who are suggesting we should not pay taxes. How ridiculous! There are others who say we shouldn't vote. Who will administer this large country? There are those who say we should go to war with Pakistan. They probably don't know that after a very long and painful wait over decades and recent struggle there is a civilian government in Pakistan. They have even asked for carpet bombing Pakistan. How stupid. I don't think terrorism is supported by all Pakistani citizens. There may be some who support, just as there are some who call for carpet bombing Pakistan.
The people who suggest such absurd approaches are either low on IQ or blinded by ego to see the truth.
No one can possibly win any war. History is replete with wars where every nation that engages in the war loses. The only ones who gain are companies that sell weapons.
I think a lot of terrorism has got exported out from some countries which were experiencing intense terrorism in the past. Ultimately this is a globalized world not only from an economical point of view. Even terror is globalized and we are seeing the results of certain actions taken by some countries in the past. We should at lease now look at this very honestly and try to trace the real underlying underlying.
You should watch this CNN interview of Deepak Chopra who summarises the problem very well. The link is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WACjyXfBD_I&feature=related
I will write more later.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Terror Attacks in Mumbai - India Needs To Rebuild A Strong Character
Today, as expected after every terrorist attack, we find people criticizing politicians, leaders and generally clamoring to clean-up public life. Such terrorist attacks have happened before too. The difference this time being the major brunt of the attack was borne by Mumbai’s elite who were in Taj and Oberoi and those employed there. A grievous loss is a grievous loss whether it happens in a 2nd class railway compartment or at Taj. Another difference is that the terrorists’ went about with audacity unlike the stealthy approach in the past. They went about shooting people indiscriminately in the streets etc. This hasn’t happened before.
We now hear people shout “Enough is enough”, “We will not tolerate this anymore”, and “We don’t deserve such political leaders” and so on. Every TV news channel today is filled with rhetoric and citizens asking politicians difficult but obvious questions. We will continue to hear all this for some more time. But like before it will all die down sooner or later. No, I am not being cynical, just realistic. Once again as in the past people will speak up, shout, clamor and then soon get back to their corner offices, cubicles and do whatever they are best at. Just concentrate on themselves.
The citizens who are clamoring for a clean public life are the ones who regularly :
• insist on buying goods without a bill to avoid sales tax
• bribe train ticket examiners for reserved tickets
• use his/her connections and apply influence to secure jobs for relatives
• bypass people in a long queue and requests someone at the top of the line to his/her ticket
• bribe a traffic constable to wriggle out of road traffic fines
• enter government jobs through bribery only to make more on the job
• demand huge dowry from hapless parents of girls
• produce false bills for travel, entertainment, reimbursement etc for claims
• have duplicate bank accounts to manage their black money
• in a train swiftly move into a seat to beat someone else who was already waiting for it
I have had well educated IIM graduates tell me that I was stupid not to bribe the ticket examiner to travel peacefully. I have had many asking me why I foolishly left a lucrative government job. These are not people who don’t understand right from wrong. They are people who are formally educated and otherwise classy. But they have lost it all. Many believe education makes better people. Its the morals, ethics and values that make better people. Education can make smarter crooks and there are plenty of very good people in villages who have never entered a school.
Today more than at any other time, we need to reflect on what is really wrong. Today we don’t have foreigners ruling us nor we are in any real danger of being invaded by a neighboring country. There is no threat of famine or a serious financial crises.
So what is really afflicting India today. It is the absence of a strong character. Like individuals nations have character too. What is the collective character of India’s people today? I honestly think we will make a poor picture if we were to imagine the character of India-Collective. I think we have lost the character we possessed during and after the freedom struggle. That generation of Indians had ideals and values and were willing to sacrifice for the country. Today everywhere we see absence of integrity, ethics and values. We see long lines of people who have lost their self esteem paying obeisance to petty leaders to curry little favors from them. This is like a cancer which is not seen or felt until it is rather late.
If we have to set right corruption, if we need selfless politicians, if we need responsible leaders, we need to change the context around us by changing ourselves first.
I was very happy to note that Kavita Karkare, Hemant Karkare’s widow declined Narendra Modi’s attempt to bribe her with money. Modi was trying snatch some of well deserved halo Karkare acquired through his supreme sacrifice. Just a few days ago, the saffron group of Shiv Sena, VHP and BJP were calling for a Mumbai bandh to protest against ATS in the Pragya Thakur case. This in defiance of a Court ban. They particularly wanted Karkare’s scalp. Had Kavita accepted Modi’s offer, it would have been the greatest insult to Hemant Karkare. This is truly an outstanding example of upholding true values.
I will write more about this soon.
We now hear people shout “Enough is enough”, “We will not tolerate this anymore”, and “We don’t deserve such political leaders” and so on. Every TV news channel today is filled with rhetoric and citizens asking politicians difficult but obvious questions. We will continue to hear all this for some more time. But like before it will all die down sooner or later. No, I am not being cynical, just realistic. Once again as in the past people will speak up, shout, clamor and then soon get back to their corner offices, cubicles and do whatever they are best at. Just concentrate on themselves.
The citizens who are clamoring for a clean public life are the ones who regularly :
• insist on buying goods without a bill to avoid sales tax
• bribe train ticket examiners for reserved tickets
• use his/her connections and apply influence to secure jobs for relatives
• bypass people in a long queue and requests someone at the top of the line to his/her ticket
• bribe a traffic constable to wriggle out of road traffic fines
• enter government jobs through bribery only to make more on the job
• demand huge dowry from hapless parents of girls
• produce false bills for travel, entertainment, reimbursement etc for claims
• have duplicate bank accounts to manage their black money
• in a train swiftly move into a seat to beat someone else who was already waiting for it
I have had well educated IIM graduates tell me that I was stupid not to bribe the ticket examiner to travel peacefully. I have had many asking me why I foolishly left a lucrative government job. These are not people who don’t understand right from wrong. They are people who are formally educated and otherwise classy. But they have lost it all. Many believe education makes better people. Its the morals, ethics and values that make better people. Education can make smarter crooks and there are plenty of very good people in villages who have never entered a school.
Today more than at any other time, we need to reflect on what is really wrong. Today we don’t have foreigners ruling us nor we are in any real danger of being invaded by a neighboring country. There is no threat of famine or a serious financial crises.
So what is really afflicting India today. It is the absence of a strong character. Like individuals nations have character too. What is the collective character of India’s people today? I honestly think we will make a poor picture if we were to imagine the character of India-Collective. I think we have lost the character we possessed during and after the freedom struggle. That generation of Indians had ideals and values and were willing to sacrifice for the country. Today everywhere we see absence of integrity, ethics and values. We see long lines of people who have lost their self esteem paying obeisance to petty leaders to curry little favors from them. This is like a cancer which is not seen or felt until it is rather late.
If we have to set right corruption, if we need selfless politicians, if we need responsible leaders, we need to change the context around us by changing ourselves first.
I was very happy to note that Kavita Karkare, Hemant Karkare’s widow declined Narendra Modi’s attempt to bribe her with money. Modi was trying snatch some of well deserved halo Karkare acquired through his supreme sacrifice. Just a few days ago, the saffron group of Shiv Sena, VHP and BJP were calling for a Mumbai bandh to protest against ATS in the Pragya Thakur case. This in defiance of a Court ban. They particularly wanted Karkare’s scalp. Had Kavita accepted Modi’s offer, it would have been the greatest insult to Hemant Karkare. This is truly an outstanding example of upholding true values.
I will write more about this soon.
Political fallout of the recent terrorist strikes in Mumbai
Finance Minister Chidambaram 63 has been made home minister replacing Shivraj Patil who resigned today. Shivraj Patil has taken moral responsibility for the recent multiple terrorist strikes in Mumbai.
Chidambaram, while getting the new role, leaves behind the challenge to steer country's economy through the global recession to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister. However compared to many other countries in the world, India has been recording reasonably high GDP growth of around 8%. Dr Manmohan Singh was the finance minister and was responsible for the economic reforms and opening up the country’s economy to foreign investment in 1991. In many ways Singh is the main architect of the country's economic reforms.
Chidambaram, while getting the new role, leaves behind the challenge to steer country's economy through the global recession to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister. However compared to many other countries in the world, India has been recording reasonably high GDP growth of around 8%. Dr Manmohan Singh was the finance minister and was responsible for the economic reforms and opening up the country’s economy to foreign investment in 1991. In many ways Singh is the main architect of the country's economic reforms.
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