On Saturday I attended the ‘Meet Your Candidates’ session organised by AGNI. Only Priya Dutt (Cong) and Mahesh Jethmalani (BJP) turned up. Jethmalani sure outshined Priya Dutt in answering questions and giving his perspective on issues. He had the advantage of being a lawyer, a good orator and being the newcomer without any baggage of past unfulfilled promises. Also, his party is not in power either in the State or Center. So he could go on laying the blame for everything on the Congress. But his stand on terror was dubious. While he went on harping about 26/11 as a failure he wasn’t able to give a convincing answer on state-sponsored terrorism in Kandhamal. And was totally silent about Gujarat. Priya Dutt wasn’t asked about her stand on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots accused either.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The party whip – Bane of Indian politics
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Reverse outsourcing?
The Obama administration’s recent moves to curb outsourcing of American jobs are just a temporary setback to the move towards a globalised world where time, distance and other barriers disappear and every person/ country does what he/she is best at. This is inevitable if the economic theory of “Comparative Advantage’ holds true. And actually it wouldn’t be too bad for the US either. It is better than others at a lot of things. India, for one, could outsource a lot of things to the US
For a start we could hire US investigators to probe crimes in India. Indian police would pass on all the evidence related to a case to the US team which would analyze it and report back with their recommendations. Next we could outsource implementation of law and order to them. They need not be present in India. They can monitor us from their base in the US using hi-tech satellite imagery, etc and perhaps also use UAVs and other sophisticated weapons to hunt criminals just like in the movie ‘Enemy of the State’.
If this works fine we can let them patrol our borders. They seem to have a better understanding of our principal adversaries – Pakistan and China – and will be able to anticipate their moves better.
Our judicial system is overburdened and there are no indications this will ease anytime soon. The next step could be to hive off our judicial system and let the US manage it.
The last step can be the Parliament. Our legislators are simply incapable of formulating and passing much-needed laws. The US seems to do it much better than us.
All this will free up our citizens to work in call centers and back offices of American companies. So it will be a win-win deal for both sides. I’m sure Obama won’t mind :D And it won’t be something new for us either. We have experienced it before.
Implemet Swiss banking in India?
The recent incident where the US Govt got UBS to agree to reveal details of some 52,000 accounts of US citizens has been taken by some as a ray of hope that someday India would also get details of Indian money in Swiss banks. If US can do it, so could we. However, I don’t subscribe to that optimism. I don’t think our government will do it. Afterall, the illegal money of all our politicians, businessmen, gangsters and godmen (the lines between them are becoming blurred by the day) lies in Swiss banks. So why would they shoot themselves in the foot?
And, if through public pressure that miracle does happen, they will have shifted most of that money to some other banking haven by then.
Instead of dreaming about what can’t be achieved why don’t we think practically and implement Swiss banking secrecy laws in India? The bottomline is – if you can’t stop or outlaw something, legalize it. If we do so, most of the black money won’t have to go out of India and we won’t lose precious foreign exchange. We may even see an influx of foreign exchange from the crooks of the world. This would go a long way towards alleviating poverty. What say?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't
The conduct of the Tamil Nadu lawyers in surprising. They of all people should know that a citizen of India has a right to freedom of speech. So why should they have objection to Subramaniam Swamy’s anti-LTTE statements? The LTTE has been banned by GOI as a terrorist organisation. The lawyers’ behaviour reeks of separatism and utter disregard for the constitution of India.
Normally the police is criticized for not taking action against ‘supposedly peaceful’ mobs. Now when police did take action, maybe more stringent than needed, we have a problem. It is a case of dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t. The police may be at fault in this case, but the lawyers certainly are. I don’t understand the SC’s stand. It seems to be siding with the legal fraternity. While it has asked the State Govt. to immediately remove the police station from court premises it has said nothing about the lawyers’ behaviour so far. We have seen this kind of partiality from the SC before. When it comes to RTI, corruption, etc in other arms of the state the SC is gung-ho about going after the culprits. But when it is a question of judges or even lawyers, the SC goes soft. This is hypocricy.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Astrologers and bullshit
This post was prompted by a DNA article which called astrologer R. Narayanan 'the Nostradamus' of the 21st century. It credits him with some fantastic predictions and quotes him saying Monday, Feb 23, 2009 will be 'deadly'. Like his ilk he proceeds to dish out generic predictions which have no timeline and are vaguely worded. Most times I have a good laugh at these things but sometimes it rankles me that people don't see through their hollow craft. Here is the article
"THIS MONDAY WILL BE DEADLY, WARNS ASTROLOGER
He is undoubtedly the 21st century Nostradamus. Having predicted the fall of MGR and the ascension of Manmohan Singh, 77-year-old, retired central government officer R Narayanan predicts a political upheaval in India, a volatile stock market and crash in real estate prices due to an unusual conjunction of six celestial bodies viz Sun, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus and Moon in Capricorn constellation on February 23.
"Because of this phenomenon, both good and evil will occur in the world. I foresee a major war in the Middle East involving Israel, Jordan and Iran. A war is also imminent between India and Pakistan. Political leaders in India will suffer health hazards and IT staffers working in the US, the UK and Middle East may return home," the numerologist told DNA from his first floor flat of a posh locality in Chennai.
He also predicts terror attacks in India and the West as well as natural calamities such as an earthquake occurring in the Himalayan region, Andaman and Nicobar islands, southern states of India, Afghanistan, Los Angeles, Ivory Coast, Africa, Japan and Jakarta.
"We come from a family of traditional astrologers with my ancestors being much sought after by the kings of Ramnad [Ramanathapuram]. My father was a teacher and he groomed Abdul Kalam by providing him shelter in our home. He didn't believe in astrology and always insisted on education. But by divine grace, I developed an extraordinary extra sensory perception following a head injury at the age of 24 and have since been able to foretell the future based on the science of astronomy," he explains.
The injury left Narayanan in a state of coma for close to 20 days in a Ramanathapuram hospital. His sojourn of premonitions based on extra sensory perceptions began then.
"After I regained consciousness, I foresaw a grave danger for the doctor who was supposed to conduct my surgery. I told the doctor about it. But the doctor dismissed it as hallucinations due to my injury. Unfortunately, the next morning I was informed that the doctor had collapsed due to a massive heart attack," he says.
Narayanan was soon discharged from hospital as he also predicted the fate of a fellow patient, who too succumbed to illness.
Narayanan has a huge corporate following. Many corporate entities seek his advice on names and logos."
I never heard of any of his predictions before. Which terror attacks had he predicted. Why doesn’t DNA give us details of when these predictions of his happened and when the actual events took place?
To me it is nothing but bullshit. If these people who claim to predict the future really have the capability to do so then let them make concrete predictions with specific timelines. Say like India and Pakistan will declare war on each other on XX-XX-XXXX and the war will last for XXX days. Or a X.X magnitude earthquake will strike so and so region on XX-XX-XXXX. Till that happens the media should not give them undue publicity.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I'm better off not believing in any religion
2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran
KABUL: No one knows who brought the book to the mosque, or at least no one dares say The pocket-size translation of the Quran has already landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Quran and their fate could be decided Sunday in court.
The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of hard-line clerics in Afghanistan, a major hurdle as the country tries to establish a lawful society amid war and militant violence.
The book appeared among gifts left for the cleric at a major Kabul mosque after Friday prayers in September 2007. It was a translation of the Quran into one of Afghanistan's languages, with a note giving permission to reprint the text as long as it was distributed for free.
Some of the men of the mosque said the book would be useful to Afghans who didn't know Arabic, so they took up a collection for printing. The mosque's cleric asked Ahmad Ghaws Zalmai, a longtime friend, to get the books printed.
But as some of the 1,000 copies made their way to conservative Muslim clerics in Kabul, whispers began, then an outcry.
Many clerics rejected the book because it did not include the original Arabic verses alongside the translation. It's a particularly sensitive detail for Muslims, who regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and a mistranslation could warp God's word.
The clerics said Zalmai, a stocky 54-year-old spokesman for the attorney general, was trying to anoint himself as a prophet. They said his book was trying to replace the Quran, not offer a simple translation. Translated editions of the Quran abound in Kabul markets, but they include Arabic verses.
The country's powerful Islamic council issued an edict condemning the book.
``In all the mosques in Afghanistan, all the mullahs said, 'Zalmai is an infidel. He should be killed,''' Zalmai recounted as he sat outside the chief judge's chambers waiting for a recent hearing.
Zalmai lost friends quickly. He was condemned by colleagues and even by others involved in the book's printing. A mob stoned his house one night, said his brother, Mahmood Ghaws.
Police arrested Zalmai as he was fleeing to Pakistan, along with three other men the government says were trying to help him escape. The publisher and the mosque's cleric, who signed a letter endorsing the book, were also jailed.
There is no law in Afghanistan prohibiting the translation of the Quran. But Zalmai is accused of violating Islamic Shariah law by modifying the Quran. The courts in Afghanistan, an Islamic state, are empowered to apply Shariah law when there are no applicable existing statutes.
And Afghanistan's court system appears to be stacked against those accused of religious crimes. Judges don't want to seem soft on potential heretics and lawyers don't want to be seen defending them, said Afzal Shurmach Nooristani, whose Afghan Legal Aid group is defending Zalmai.
The prosecutor wants the death penalty for Zalmai and the cleric, who have now spent more than a year in prison.
Sentences on religious infractions can be harsh. In January 2008, a court sentenced a journalism student to death for blasphemy for asking questions about women's rights under Islam. An appeals court reduced the sentence to 20 years in prison. His lawyers appealed again and the case is pending.
In 2006, an Afghan man was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. He was later ruled insane and was given asylum in Italy. Islamic leaders and the parliament accused President Hamid Karzai of being a puppet for the West for letting him live.
Nooristani, who is also defending the journalism student, said he and his colleagues have received death threats.
``The mullahs in the mosques have said whoever defends an infidel is an infidel,'' Nooristani said.
The legal aid organization, which usually represents impoverished defendants, is defending Zalmai because no one else would take the case.
``We went to all the lawyers and they said, 'We can't help you because all the mullahs are against you. If we defend you, the mullahs will say that we should be killed.' We went six months without a lawyer,'' Zalmai said outside the judge's chambers.
The publisher was originally sentenced to five years in prison. Zalmai and the cleric were sentenced to 20, and now the prosecutor is demanding the death penalty for the two as a judge hears appeals.
Nearly everyone in court claims ignorance now. The mosque's mullah says he never read the book and that he was duped into signing the letter. The print shop owner says neither he nor any of his employees read the book, noting that it's illegal for them to read materials they publish.
Zalmai pleaded for forgiveness before a January hearing, saying he had assumed a stand-alone translation wasn't a problem.
``You can find these types of translations in Turkey, in Russia, in France, in Italy,'' he said.
When the chief judge later banged his gavel to silence shouting lawyers and nodded at Zalmai to explain himself, the defendant stood and chanted Quranic verses as proof that he was a devout Muslim who should be forgiven.
Shariah law is applied differently in Islamic states. Saudi Arabia claims the Quran as its constitution, while Malaysia has separate religious and secular courts.
But since there is no ultimate arbiter of religious questions in Afghanistan, judges must strike a balance between the country's laws and proclamations by clerics or the Islamic council, called the Ulema council.
Judges are ``so nervous about annoying the Ulema council and being criticized that they tend to push the Islamic cases aside and just defer to what others say,'' said John Dempsey, a legal expert with the U.S. Institute of Peace in Kabul.
Deferring to the council means that edicts issued by the group of clerics can influence rulings more than laws on the books or a judge's own interpretation of Shariah law, he said.
Judges have to be careful about whom they might anger with their rulings. In September, gunmen killed a top judge with Afghanistan's counter-narcotics court. Other judges have been gunned down as well.
Mahmood Ghaws said that even if his brother is found innocent, their family will never be treated the same.
``When I go out in the street, people don't say hello to me in the way they used to,'' he said. ``They don't ask after my family.''
Sunday, January 4, 2009
All-out War with Pakistan is not feasible
Since 26/11 the hawks in India have been singing the war tune. Thankfully there seem to be some sensible people in power who recognize that, regardless of whether Pakistan co-operates in bringing the perpetrators to justice or not, a war with nuclear-armed Pakistan is not feasible.
We must face the reality that India vs Pakistan is not like Israel vs Palestine where one side can simple pummel the other. A war will mean huge losses for India as well. And we might not even come to a stage where we can win it given that US, China and others are likely to intervene, either diplomatically like in 1948, or even militarily. And we certainly don’t want Delhi and Mumbai to be nuked even if we manage to nuke the whole of Pakistan in return. This catastrophe is simply unacceptable.
Also, in the unlikely event that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are neutralized and we manage to defeat Pakistan what will we do? Many areas of Pakistan are not in its control today and we won’t be able to exercise control there either. Look at what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq. If the sole superpower of the world can’t handle occupation of a foreign country, guessing the plight of an Indian force occupying Pakistan is a no-brainer.
I’m not saying we should not do anything. There are other options we can and should be trying. Some of these are
1) Build pressure through international community – An all-out war on the diplomatic front is the 1st and foremost thing we should do. We need to give the international community concrete proof of Pakistan’s complicity in 26/11 and other attacks. We should go hammer-and-tongs in all bilateral and multilateral for a about Pakistan’s role as the ‘terror’ capital of the world. It should not just be words but irrefutable proof which would stand in a court of law. I’m afraid the track record of our investigation agencies in this matter is very poor and it’s the biggest shortcoming we have
At the same time we should be careful to emphasize that it is rogue, but extremely powerful, elements in Pakistani’s military & political establishment that are responsible for the terror and not Pakistani citizens in general. It makes no sense to alienate all Pakistanis in general. Pakistani citizens are as much a victim of terror as we are and we should sympathize with them through all media available to us. Our aim should be to alienate the hardliners in Pakistan.
2) Spend more on defense. Revamp the intelligence network – Over the years we have neglected our defense capabilities. We must invest heavily in hi-tech surveillance equipment and fence the remaining border with Pakistan to prevent trespassing by militants. Ditto for our ‘open’ seas. Our defense forces need cutting-edge ammo, not sub-standard equipment dished out by our PSUs. There should be no compromise on quality as far as defense equipment is concerned.
Our intelligence network is in shables. Multiple agencies, no-cordination, the list of what's wrong can go on. An urgent revamp is necessary
3) Economic war – Cripple Pakistan’s economy by hitting their exports. Give subsidies in whatever form feasible (keeping in mind WTO and other obligations) or take steps to make Indian exporters who compete with Pakistan’s major exports more competitive. Shut down the routes taken by terror funding. Undoubtably, Swiss banks would be a major conduit.
4) Surgical strikes – While a full-scale invasion is not feasible surgical strikes can be tried. We know the co-ordinates on many of the terror camps. These strikes may provoke some border skirmishes from Pakistan and calls for peace from international community but I doubt a full-fledged attack from Pakistan. It is something worth thinking about.
5) Diplomatic ties – I would have no objection to breaking off diplomatic and other ties (cricket, films, actors, etc) if only to put across the point that enough is enough. Pakistan’s people also need to pressurize their govt. to act against terror.
6) Kashmir – We can keep shouting from the rooftops that Kashmir is an integral part of India and that it is a bilateral issues b/w India and Pakistan. But that is far from the truth. On what basis do we have a right to rule Kashmir? An accession treaty signed by a Maharaja? How can a democratic nation cite an instrument from an unelected ruler? Didn’t we have a duty to hold a referendum? And if a maharaja’s word is word of the people then why did we annex Hyderabad from the Nizam? He wanted his state to be part of Pakistan. It is sheer hypocrisy on our part. History cannot be undone now but I feel it s high time we took serious steps to convince Kashmiris that they are better off being part of India, hold a referendum in the Kashmir we occupy and show the world that we are right. If we fail in this the let Kashmir go. True, this would raise the spectre of separatism in TN, Punjab and elsewhere but that cannot be a reason for not trying to solve the Kashmir problem. It would be the best test to decide whether this motley group of states called India deserves to be called a nation.
7) Muslims in India – Atrocities by Hindutva forces (RSS, VHP and their affiliates) only acts as fuel to stoke passions against India across the border. We must take tough action against these elements. And also against Muslim organisations like SIMI which mislead Muslims and turn them into terrorists. This vicious cycle of we kill you and you kill us needs to be stopped somewhere.
Even if we take action on a few of these fronts we may reap rich rewards.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Indisciplined Indians
The other day I was surfing channels when I came across an interview of SRK. He was talking about what ails our society in general, what things we need to improve on. Among these were a few acts of indiscipline which we seem to revel in.
Have you ever seen Indians make a straight line unless ordered to do so? Everywhere you see double and triple lines. We also seem to take pride in breaking lines.
We keep our houses clean but throw anything and everything in public space as if it’s a dustbin. Mindlessly we spit on the road, on other people as well. Someone even spit paan in my lift. Yuck!!!
And our road manners are absolutely fantastic. We don’t mind going into a one-way road and justify it by saying there is no traffic from the other side so it is acceptable. We park anywhere we want. If someone has to get out of the car we stop it in the middle of the road without giving a damn about the person behind us. Autos and bikes change lanes at will without a worry in the world and the poor car drivers have to look out for them. As pedestrians we think the road belongs to us. I have seen people stopping traffic because they want to cross and have no patience to wait their turn.
We don’t mind being late for meetings. We joke that the meeting is at XX.XX IST which means it’s not sacrosanct. Deadlines don’t scare us. We think we can always get them extended. Well, the joke is on us.
We do all this without any guilt, without realizing it is wrong. Has it become ingrained in our collective psyche?
Are we a nation?
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka fight over the waters of the Cauvery, Maharashtra and Karnataka have a border dispute, there is violence in Mumbai against non-Maharashtrians (specifically North Indians) & violent protests in Bihar against the violence in Mumbai, Tamil MPs threaten to quit if Indian Govt does not ‘warn’ Sri Lanka against atrocities on Sri Lankan Tamils, terror reigns in Kashmir & the North-east in the name of the ‘struggle for independence’, the list can go on.
I wonder whether India deserves to be called a country. Each state has a different language, a different culture and in some cases they loathe each other. Many South Indians (rightly?) refuse to speak Hindi, which they say has been imposed upon them. People of many other states also do not readily accept Hindi as the ‘national’ language. So as a way to get around the language problem we use English, a foreign language, to communicate. In elections regional parties get a significant chunk of the vote, which means regional issues matter a lot. All states want job reservations for ‘locals’. And I see an increasing incidence of regionalism in the last few years.
A nation has something which binds it together – a common culture, religion, ethnic composition, a sense of brotherhood, etc. Yes, there will be some people who will still practice regionalism but as long as they are a minority kept in check the nation is safe. But from what I see the only thing that binds India together is being under British rule. What commonality did the British rule give us? A common administrative system & a common hatred of British rule. A majority of Indians practice Hinduism but I see a vast diversity in the way they practice it so I don’t see it as a glue 2hich can bind this nation we call India. The glue which the British gave us may wear off soon and we must find something else.
We used to proudly say we are a country with unity in diversity. But we have to ask ourselves whether this diversity is too diverse for us to call ourselves a nation. Is regionalism slowly triumphing over nationalism?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
India – a good neighbour?
We have fought wars with Pakistan and China and count them among ‘enemy’ countries. Bangladesh, which we helped liberate, doesn’t trust us. Neither do Sri Lanka and Nepal. Tiny Bhutan is the only neighbour we have good relations with. Is there something wrong with India’s foreign policy or are we so unfortunate to have troublesome neighbours who won’t behave no matter how hard we try?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ban the Bajrang Dal
The recent violence in Orissa is just one more instance of the utter disdain the Bajrang Dal has for the law. Basically over the last few years the Bajrang Dal has been waiting for excuses to flex its muscles and terrorize the minorities into submission. I have no doubt that the Bajrang Dal cadres were the rioters’ ‘foot-soldiers’ during the Gujarat 2002.
The pattern is clear. One unfortunate event for which members of the minority community may or may not be responsible occurs, the Hindutva biggies (RSS and BJP) give the go ahead and Bajrang Dal swings into action, while the (BJP/allied) govt fiddles. Protests are raised in other parts of the country but the govt takes its own time to make things normal. In the meantime the minorities have been shown their place. This is the reason why I will never vote for BJP despite the fact that BJP/NDA has better administrative abilities than UPA and that the UPA is also no saint when it comes to communalism. I admire the progress Narendra Modi has brought to Gujarat but still loathe him from the bottom of my heart for the genocide in Gujarat in 2002. I value communal harmony more than economic betterment.
Recently I saw a TV debate where someone from the Bajrang Dal was making a pathetic attempt to justify the Orissa massacre by blaming the Christians. His justification was the Christians were forcibly converting people in Kandhmal by giving money and false promises. But the shocker came when I overheard a senior, respected lawyer I personally know (I won’t name him) say the same thing (Recently when Tatas decided to relocate Nano to Gujarat he was all praise for Narendra Modi and said ‘Modi 5-6 musalmanon ko maarega magar Gujarat ka progress karega’). I was tempted to tell him how flawed his logic is but stopped short as he had not addressed me. I felt like screaming out that if one wrong justifies another then even the recent bomb blasts are justified. I have no doubt many of those who took part in them have at some time been wronged against, most probably by the Bajrang Dal and its ilk. Why then do you arrest those who planted the bombs and let those who raped and killed in Kandhmal go scot-free?????????
This brings me to the question – is the Bajrang Dal’s accusation of forcible conversions correct? I can refute their allegations on 2 counts. Firstly if you are a believer, no one and nothing can coerce you to change your faith. Not money. Not false promises. The only reason why conversions take place is because the person does not believe in his original religion. So why do Hindus convert? I blame the Hindu caste system for that. If I am treated badly in my religion and my intrinsic belief in the religion is not strong I will definitely convert. I would have no second thoughts about that. Neither did millions of Dalits when Baba Ambedkar showed them the way to Buddhism. So I think the conversions are justified. If Bajrang Dal wants to stop conversion of Hindus to other religions they must lobby to do away with the caste system.
The other reason I feel Bajrang Dal has no locus standi in the Orissa matter is that those who converted are tribals and not Hindus. Though proponents of Hindutva and even our censuses include tribals in Hindus it is factually incorrect. Tribals do not worship Rama or Krishna. Nor do they share other beliefs of Hindus. The are nature worhippers. They have their own customs, traditions, way of life and religion. Hinduism is not some all-encompassing religion which can be defined to include anyone who does not practice one of the major religions of the world (Islam, Christianlity, Jewism, Buddhirsm, etc)
Hence I feel that Bajrang Dal and all such other organisations (whichever ideology they profess) need to be banned outright. Such organisations are a potent threat to India if they are allowed to thrive. There must be justice for all. Stop all people who spread hatred. Selective justice will not do. Remember that victims create more victims. More Bajrang Dal atrocities will create more Muslim terrorists and the actions of these terrorists will drive more Hindus towards the Bajrang Dal.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
To beat your enemy, know your enemy
Some time back Manmohan Singh said that the biggest threat to India’s security is from within not without. And how right he was!!! In the last 1-2 months India has suffered serial bomb blasts by Islamic terrorists and assaults on police by the Naxalites. And we hear nothing but meaningless statements by our politicians about who was behind it (that a no-brainer) and that we will deal with it firmly. But none has the answer to the question - how do they plan to deal with these faceless enemies?
To deal with any enemy you have to understand him. Who is he? Why is he against you? What does he really hope to achieve by hurting you? What gives him strength? What are his weaknesses? Who are his allies and supporters and why are they on his side?
I doubt our government has given a thought to all this. It has only one way of dealing with terrorists and naxalites - our security forces. But only use of force is a counterproductive strategy. And the reason is that the enemy comprises several elements. You must deal with each of them in a different manner. And force must be used only on a select few. I would say the enemy comprises 3 elements - people who have a genuine grievance against you, those who are there for the money and the power and those who really really believe in the ‘cause’ and will stop at nothing to get at you.
1) Those who have some grievance against you (the ‘cause’ is only a mask) – These comprise the majority of your enemy. Maybe you took their land away. Or your security forces killed their near and dear ones. Or looked the other way when goons like Narendra Modi did so. Or maybe they think you discriminate against them in some way or other. Whatever the reason may be the way to tackle them is to reach out to them and try to redress their grievance (whether real or imaginary). Deal firmly with the landlords who exploit the landless. Put the rioters behind bars. Sensitize your security forces to deal with such issues. And more importantly see to it that such events do not happen again. It will ensure more people don’t become terrorists/ naxalites. If you don’t do this more and more people will continue to turn to terrorism. You eliminate a 100. Tomorrow there will be a 1000 more. Also try to see to it that the hardliners don’t get a platform to espouse their cause.
One thing that must be done urgently is to free the security apparatus from the clutches of politicians. This would be the single biggest step towards solving the problem.
2) The mercenaries – They are there for the money. They have nothing else to earn a living. They start with the criminal world and progress into terrorism. They may also sympathize with the ‘cause’. So for them it serves 2 ends. To take care of these people eat away at the incentive they have. Have tough punishments for them in place. Try to improve the employment opportunities and social environment so that lesser people turn into criminals.
3) Those who really believe in the cause – You can’t do much about this type. They have been brainwashed. For them killing you is their only aim in life. The way to deal with them is to isolate them. Wean away the others in their group (types 1 & 2). And when you get them you will have to put them away for good.
We need a far-sighted multi-pronged strategy to tackle this monster that confronts us today.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Archaic tax laws
Charitable institutions
A noble thought indeed. Why should charitable institutions which are meant to serve society at large be made to pay tax? Afterall they are non-profit making organisations. Whatever money they make is given back to society. Seems fair enough. But look at the kind of organisations claiming to be ‘charitable’. I was amused to read the other day that BCCI is a charitable organisation. It made a profit of hundred of crores of rupees from the IPL. What charity has it done? And Mr Lalit Modi has the audacity to claim they should not be taxed as all the money will be distributed to the state associations. What convoluted logic!!! By that logic companies also should not be taxed as they distribute the profits to shareholders :D
Agriculture
Agricultural income is exempt from tax. It does not matter whether the farmer has one acre of land from which he ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence, and would fall in the exemption limits, or he has hundreds of acres around which he drives a Merc. There is absolutely no reason why a large farmer should not be made to pay tax yet no politician today has the guts to tax the big farmers simply because they would lose votes.
Income tax holiday
Industries got tax breaks in their initial years which is understandable. What is not acceptable is that even after they have grown into some of India’s largest and most profitable companies they clamour for the tax breaks to be continued. An example is IT companies. Their attitude is akin to the reservation policy. One you get it you don’t want to lose it. Incidentally they are at the first to say there should be no reservations in private sector.
DTAA
The big daddy of all tax anomalies. While the objective is right the implementation is totally flawed. Alongwith the foreign investors who ‘should’ be given tax breaks to invest in India we have many Indians taking advantage of these provisions. Firstly, there are Indian corporates who set up subsidiaries in tax havens like Mauritius and transfer money there. Then these subsidiaries invest in India and it is called FDI!!!! Then there are our politicians and businessmen who bring back their ill-gotten black money to India through a long chain of transactions involving Swiss banks and other crooks of the world. Then they either earn tax-free profits or sell their investments to the Indian promoters (read themselves) at a loss. And behold. The money is now white in the hands of the Indian promoter.
These are just a few instances. But look at these and you know why these loopholes won’t go away. Their beneficiaries are sitting right there in parliament
Truly a great opposition
Coming to the current instance I do not see any way out for the central govt. other than raising prices. It reduced central taxes also. It is the state govts who now levy a majority of the tax on petro-products. And most of them didn’t reduce taxes. Ms Mayawati even went to the extent of holding a press conference to announce that she wouldn’t lower taxes. And reiterated that the centre was solely to blame. What irks me is that no one offered any alternate way out. If you don’t like something offer an alternative course of action. Don’t jus criticize.
Another instance is the 123 agreement. We are faced with a huge shortage of power which is only going to worsen going forward. Nuclear power can only add trickles to the flood we are in need of but atleast it will help.
If this is going to remain the state of affairs then I do not see much hope for our country. Ofcourse we will prosper despite our politicians but I think the rich will become richer and the poor will remain where they are.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Shameful Day for Cricket
The turn of events in the 2nd Aus-Ind test has left even a non-enthusiast like me disappointed and fuming. There are 2 issues which rankle me – the gross umpiring ‘errors’ and Ricky Ponting’s behaviour during Dada’s dismissal and the punishment meted out to Bhajji.
By media accounts there were 9 umpiring errors during the match and the Indians were at the receiving end of all of them (barring one). Of these I have seen only the crucial dismissals of Dravid and Ganguly. And they both look gross errors. Especially the way Ganguly was given out. The umpire gave him out based on what Ponting had to say. It was as if Ponting was the umpire!!! The fact that Ponting could say that the catch was clean when replays show otherwise just proves to what extent the Aussies will go to win a match. Utterly despicable and dishonest behaviour. The commentators kept saying such errors happen and that we have the benefit of technology, the umpires don’t. Bullshit. The umpires can always ask the 3rd umpire. Especially in a situation like in today’s match they should have used it. It was their duty. That this might also not have helped is an entirely different matter. Even when Andrew Symonds’ stumping was referred to the 3rd umpire, he was given not out by the 3rd umpire (who incidentally was an Australian) when television replays showed he was out (the same technology was used by the 3rd umpire to give him not out). This is the Aussie sportsmanship and honesty.
Then there is the issue of alleged racial comments made by Bhajji against Symonds. Firstly there is no proof of the same. It will be interesting to see what proof the ICC has to show us. Secondly, racist slurs have been a part of the Aussies’ cricket lingo for long. Why have they never been punished? Till the Aussies were the masters of sledging there were no rules against it. When others caught up with them rules have been enforced. And selectively at that. No doubt Bhajji should be punished if he made those comments, but show us the proof. And punish all who err. Rules should be for everyone.
All-in-all it was a sad day for cricket.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Withering City
I keep reading about how other cities have been slowly improving. But it had not prepared me for the shock I got when I went to New Delhi last week for a conference. The infrastructure there is so vastly superior to that in Mumbai. Flyovers dotted the entire stretch of road from the airport to my hotel in Green Park, and all the way to the conference in Pragati Maidan. Further, the roads were 3-5 lanes on each side with proper footpaths and even had side-roads. So wide were the roads that even where the work for Metro phase-2 was going on there was still enough road left for cars to cruise along and there was also some greenery at the sides at many places. In Mumbai we have only a few roads which can match these – the Western and Eastern Express Highways and some small stretches in Sounth Mumbai!!!!
The roads in Delhi were so clean; in comparison Mumbai’s roads are filthy and full of potholes and encroachments, besides being narrow. If only Delhi could improve its law and order situation it would be the city to live in. During 3 days of reading Delhi newspapers there were 7-8 rape cases reported and even a survey which revealed that 80% of women of Delhi feel unsafe even in malls :-O . Even the general law and order situation is said to be bad with everyone linked to some politician or babu and hence having a license to get away with breaking the law.
I think the difference is due to 2 factors – one that Delhi is the National Capital and has a separate government of its own, and that somehow the people there must have shown less apathy to the city’s development than Mumbaikars do (consequently the politicians know they must do some work atleast). Whatever failings Sheila Dikshit might have I think she deserves credit for doing something for the city’s development during the last few years she has been in power. Otherwise this transformation would not have been possible.
In Mumbai the governance system is in shambles. We have multiple agencies doing the same work and they can conveniently blame each other for the lapses. An example is roads where BMC, MMRDA and MREDC all do some work or rather don’t do any, and then blame the others for it. Land development again is controlled by BMC, MMRDA and MHADA. If someone wants to learn how to play passing the buck then please go to Mumbai’s administration.
The corruption in the BMC is so rampant and the hold of the builders, contractors and the goons on the police and administration so strong that it seems to be a herculean task to get anything done right. The only thing the BMC ever does is either dole out more and more FSI to builders or de-reserve land meant for public amenities for private developers. They allowed the development of mill land without the city getting much out of it. We lost a golden opportunity to get some public space. The argument of the mill land owners that the land is theirs so they should have freedom to do whatever they want is a sham. The land was sold to them at low rates in early 1900’s for a purpose – to put up textile mills. If they are not using it for that purpose the land should revert back to the government with some compensation being paid to them.
There is one thing these people are shielding behind – a total lack of transparency and accountability. For example we never get to know how road contracts are being awarded, what are the responsibilities of the contractor, whom do we contact in case the work is not being done properly, etc. Ideally for each work a sign should be put up beside each site mentioning the name of the contractor, how much has the contract been awarded for, what are the timelines within which the work must be completed and who in the BMC is responsible for supervising whether the work is being done properly. So many times I have seen roads dug up with no made progress for days and shoddily made roads which crack in a few days and present another opportunity to award a repair contract to someone. There is absolutely no system of accountability.
The administration is actually opposed to further development of the city. And it makes sense given they have proved incompetent to handle the current development. The expansion of Mumbai port is being opposed on the grounds that it will lead to more congestion. Well, the solution is to go out and build a better transport network rather than oppose the expansion!!!!
Another problem plaguing Mumbai is encroachments. And the politicians like Kripashankar Singh who consider them their vote banks and stall every effort to evict them. So first we had pre-1991 encroachments regularized. Then 1995, 2000 and now our CM has gone a step ahead and plans to make it 2006. Why don’t they just declare that anyone in the country is free to come to Mumbai and encroach anywhere upto 2050 (after which a further extension will be considered favourably). It will save so much of time wasted in deliberating the issue every time even when we know the outcome. To give you an example when airport expansion was underway a minister opposed rehabilitation of slums which had encroached on AAI land and said “The slums will remain here; you can shift the airport elsewhere”
Then there is the filth. Travel on Harbour Line and you will wonder whether this is the city which dreams of being world class. Slams surround the tracks at many places (without doubt they have some politician protecting them) and you have mounds of litter on both sides. It is not just the poor who litter. People throw things out of trains/ buses as if the tracks/ roads are a waste bin. Then you have people spitting ‘paan’ and ‘tambaku’ anywhere and everywhere without looking where they are and who it lands on as long as it is not them or their own house.
And finally there is apathy. No one has time to right any wrong being done, no time to raise a voice. We have had an instance of a rape happening in a train while fellow passengers simply looked on!!! People litter the roads and we simply look on. Rules are broken rampantly and we simply look on helplessly.
I do not accept the argument that since Mumbai is an island there is less scope for expansion and hence it keeps getting more cramped. Common, Vashi and Kandivli today are equidistant from CST/ Churchgate and still people prefer Kandivli to Vashi. And we may have had the trans-harbour link coming up years ago if the administration felt connectivity was such an issue. It has more to do with the mindset than with distance. Where there is a will to grow a city will find a way to do it.
The people of Mumbai need to wake up otherwise their beloved city will continue its slump downwards. Forget Shaghai, it won’t even find a mention in the good cities of India, leave alone the world.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
We have a thousand Haneefs
You cannot deny that Australian legal system functions much better than the one in India. Haneef would have eventually been freed (very soon in all probability). Instead of throwing stones at others we need to first put our house in order.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Selective Justice
The sentencing of Sanjay Dutt brings an end to the saga of India’s worst terror attack. Though it took 14 long years, it is commendable that for once our system managed to punish the guilty (agreed that the main conspirators are still freely roaming, most probably in Pakistan). Whether Sanjay Dutt deserved 6 years in jail or not is also open to debate but this is the first instance where I think there are no allegations against the police or judiciary of partiality or bungling up.
Which makes one think – why can’t other high profile cases be dealt with similarly. Set an example for all. Why is justice being delivered selectively?
Remember the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the 1992 post-Babri riots and the recent 2002 Gujarat carnage? It is 23 years since the 1984 riots. Have the guilty been brought to book? No, some of them sit in parliament today. Then, there can be no denying that the 1992 Mumbai riots were the trigger for the bomb blasts. True, one wrong cannot be righted by another wrong. But both those wrongs should be punished. Only then can the system be called just. But no government has had the political will to make any progress on this. It is a politicl minefield for them and unfortunately even the judiciary seems to have been reluctant to take suo moto action in these cases. And forget about those responsible for the 2002 genocide in Gujarat being punished. If RSS has its way it would happily make that person the Prime Minister of India. So much for justice. Till the time law is applied selectively there will always be dissent amongst those who were denied justice, and I am pretty sure more terrorists will be born. So there is no need to rejoice over the sentencing in th bomb blasts case. On the other hand we need to worry about the repercussions of this 'Selective Justice'
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Mumbai meets its Waterloo
It wasn’t 26/7 but it surely washed away BMC’s claims of being prepared for the monsoons. More importantly it put a serious question mark on Mumbai’s dreams of being the next financial hub. A city which shuts down many times during a year can in no way be a financial hub.
The BMC claims helplessness against heavy rains but that is all hogwash. They say where there is a way there is a way. And the major obstacles that stand in the way of Mumbai’s dreams are lack of accountability and transparency and most of all a lack of will to do what it takes.
The BMC claims that Mumbai’s drainage system is capable of draining only 40 mm per hours and if it rains more than that flooding is inevitable. And if it rains during high tide time then even that 40 mm will not drain into the sea. Infact as the images of 30/6 show sea water will flood the city and people can actually fish as they did at Milan Subway on 306 (This was one refreshing sight thanks to Star News)
This begs the question why haven’t we done anything to remedy this. One obvious answer is to increase the capacity of the drainage system. But the BMC says that would take too much money and it is not feasible spend so much just prevent 3-5 days of flooding each year. Hello!!! Do these people understand economics? Each day of flooding means an economic loss of hundreds of crores of rupees which would be prevented if people were able to reach their workplaces. This more than compensates the cost of overhauling the drainage system.
And even if the drainage system cannot be widened have they ever thought of installing high capacity pumps which might be able to draw water through it at say 2-3 times the normal flow and pump it far away into the sea. Ofcourse this would also necessitate throwing the water either far out into the sea or towards the eastern or northern side of the city so that it is not directly against the flow of the sea. I am not an engineer but am pretty sure such a system can be designed. Yes it will involve buying high capacity pumps and require huge power but this is the least expected of a wannabe financial hub.
The other issue is of flooding in many areas even when there is a little bit of rain. Obviously here the problem is that either the water is not able to reach the drainage system or the drains are clogged. Now each a lot of money is spent on declogging the drains. When does this work start? In end of May. Excellent, just when the rains are to arrive. And where is all the silt kept? Just besides the manhole to dry so that when it (unexpectedly) rains the silt is again washed into the very drains it was removed from. How naïve can they get L
So if you are incapable of removing the silt why not prevent it from going into the drain. Well, to BMC’s credit it did try. It banned thin plastic bags which are a major culprit. But it failed miserably in implementing the ban. As a result these bags are back in circulation and must be finding their way into the drains as before. Here I must admit we, the citizens, are the real culprits.
Another problem is open manholes. BMC simply is unable to procure good quality manholes so they break often. And when the manholes do manage to bear the traffic they are stolen. Either way you will find many open manholes which citizens are able to avoid in normal weather but when everything is under water there is no way you can spot them.
Then there are poorly made roads and pavements which give way easily during the rains and make the ordeal of navigating the roads even tougher. Does BMC ever fine those who did that shoddy work? Yeah, I might be doing so but then it gives the contract to (shoddily) rebuild those roads to the same people. You should see the newly built roads and pavements in the suburbs. Even after spending much more time than is really needed to make them the finishing is so poor that you would be inclined to withdraw the engineering degree or whatever those people have obtained.
There are so many simple things which can be done to make life easier for Mumbaikars during the rains. Though the Met Dept fails miserably at giving the next day’s forecast I believe it is very much capable of giving an accurate prediction of rains for the next 1-2 hours. If only a medium was made available for them to get the forecast across to the people. The trains are the lifeline of Mumbai. Surely some system can be designed to prevent flooding on the tracks (like pumps). And the clogged drains, manholes and poor roads can also be taken care of easily. It won’t cost them a single paisa more. Only the BMC officials will have to stop filling their pockets and put their foot down for once. Just watch how the quality of work would improve.
Frankly it all is a matter of will which the administration has failed to show time and again.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Water and Gas
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/LEADER_ARTICLE_Death_By_Water/articleshow/2041744.cms
14 May, 2007 l 0009 hrs IST
lARUN MAIRA
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The heightened pressure for action is creating political fissures. The industrial nations acknowledge they have created the problem. While they enhanced their economic might, they overused and misused resources, building a huge stack of green-houses in the earth's atmosphere.
To which, these nations say, the developing nations dare not add any more and therefore must now find new technologies and new ways to develop their economies. "The truth about climate change policy", writes Lawrence Summers, "is that deve- loping countries are where most of the action must be". Their economies are growing and using more energy and natural resources (albeit more frugally than the rich nations when they grew) and in the process many millions are rising out of poverty. In fact, faster economic growth rather than direct assistance to the poor is the mantra that economists like Summers preach. So what is the way out now?
The reality is that climate change is everybody's problem, whosoever caused it. Both rich countries and developing ones will have to change policies and adopt new technologies. While asking their citizens for support to stop further damage to the environment, western leaders ask them, 'What is the world you want to bequeath your grandchildren'? Such an appeal is too far out for India's masses.
They are anxious about their conditions here and now - their jobs, their incomes, and inflation in prices (especially of food). They are also concerned about nutrition, health, and education of the children they already have - not their grandchildren to come. For Indians, in cities and villages, the urgent environmental issue is not the dwindling of polar ice and Himalayan glaciers. It is the water that is no longer flowing in their taps (if they have them), their dwindling rivers and ponds, and the falling water table. For them, water for drinking, cooking, sanitation, and growing food, and not greenhouse gases, is the urgent environmental issue.
The environment (and climate) is a global system. Like God (for the believers), it touches people everywhere. As with God, we must make our connections to the environment and climate in our own ways. Therefore, if we want the issue of climate change to unite and not divide us, we must be free to approach it in ways that matter to each of us, so long as the solutions we find do not prevent others from obtaining theirs.
Delhi's government is struggling to find water for its citizens. It is appealing to neighbouring states that are also strained to find water for their own towns and farmers. Many other Indian states are quarrelling with each other for dwindling water sources which they share. Even in Florida, southern Australia, and western USA - all rich regions of the world - access to water has become a divisive issue between communities and states.
India must take a lead in finding solutions to the global environmental crisis. Indian leaders will need the support of the country's people to make the policy changes required. Issues must be framed appropriately to make the right emotional connections when support is required for tough decisions. For many in India and elsewhere in the developing world, the environmental crisis is immediately and mostly about water. It is not so much about energy and emissions - which form the core of the climate change agenda in western minds.
Therefore, while 'climate change' may be the right way to represent the environmental crisis to people in developed countries, water must take centre stage to win more support from India's masses. Climate change may sound a bit up in the air to people struggling to have water here and now. In fact, the problem of global governance, according to political scientist Robert Dahl, is that decisions about issues like global trade and global warming are being taken by clubs of global elites who are not sufficiently connected with the masses in their own countries.
No doubt, India and China will have to address issues of energy and emissions. Solutions to these problems along with solutions to the water crisis will require innovations and investments. Capital to fund these innovations must flow to developing countries from the developed countries that have accumulated the capital as they grew their economies by processes which, they admit, have damaged the environment.
The rich should consider it their moral responsibility to provide financial support to developing countries on issues concerning global warming - and not adopt a typical financier's approach. Finally, because India, the world's largest democracy, must take the lead in finding practical solutions, its leaders (and the global elite) must consider that sustainable livelihoods and water (along with energy) matter as much or more to its people than abstractions of climate change and economics.
The writer is a management consultant.
