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?

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?

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.

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.

Archaic tax laws

India’s tax regime seems to be stuck in a time warp. The more the government tries to reform it the more complicated it becomes and the outcome leaves a lot to be desired. There are a multitude of exemptions with their corresponding pre-conditions which provide enough loopholes to enable unscrupulous people to take advantage of them. Exemptions are meant to protect the poor/ weak whether they are individuals or companies or to encourage activities which are desirable. But in most cases the exemptions are availed either by the wrong people or they continue well beyond their intended life. Here are some examples of these instances

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

The opposition parties in India are so predictable. They will criticize each and every decision taken by the govt. Take for instance the recent price hike in petro-products. Opposition parties wasted no time in calling press conferences to show their ‘sympathy’ for the common man who will be ‘unnecessarily’ burdened with the hike which is a result of failure of the govt!!!!! Sadly, they will win votes for this when infact they should be penalized for waste of petro-products in calling those press conferences. Think of how much energy could have been saved. The BJP stalwarts in Delhi and Indore went one step further. They protested on horseback and bullock-carts. I felt so sorry for those poor animals when I saw them on TV burdened with the weight of more people than they can carry. Where was PETA?

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.

Shameful Day for Cricket

The turn of events in the 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd umpire, he was given not out by the 3^rd umpire (who incidentally was an Australian) when television replays showed he was out (the same technology was used by the 3^rd 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.