Judgment Years

With all the commotion around the world on political scene - be it Egypt, Yemen, Italy, Libya or, for that reason, even our formidably hopeless Indian politicians - when watched closely, one thing is clear that the year 2011 is a tough one for all the mongrels all over.

I, more often than not, reiterate this to my colleague that days are hard for those who lived their days while leading those of others into long, sleepless nights !!!!

The insatiable problem with the power-drunk politicians is that they do not take a look at the past when entering into the slippery world of politics and do not learn a lesson from the same. Be it Egypt, France, Italy or any country whatsoever, recorded history has it that whenever power has moved beyond the hands and reached the head, leaders have received a heat of power of the body politic - In Egypt, royal family was held captive, massacred and granaries broken open, in France, Louis XVI got his head chopped off and played around, in Italy, Mussolini and his mistress were shot dead and hung on the meat hooks !!!!

Power is easy to get but all the more difficult to be successfully wielded. It can never be saddled on a free will. For it to sustain, both of them need to merge into one and be there in unison. But first move will always have to be made by the power.

According to me, the best politician would be the person who would be the least political in his approach. Serve the people in a true sense and you would not even need to go out to ask for the votes or support !!!!

Leaders of today have failed to read this simple lesson between the lines and are paying the price for the same. I do not know about the Judgment Day up There but certainly 2011 and, I hope subsequent years from now on, prove to be Judgment Years here on earth.

The "Action" Of Inaction

Well, it feels good to be home, aint it ? After being away from my blog for months together, I am back tonight at, ummmmm, 11:30 PM, 14th June, 2011 !!!!

Getting to the point .. Indian sailors freed by the pirates about a YEAR of being hostage with them yesterday. No one can believe that the Government didn't know of this fact for all these months but the people of this country came to know of this incident only about 2 months back. Government kept it hidden for the reasons best known to it. We would have been content had the Government got 'em back. Any responsible Government of the world would take all the necessary steps to get her people back and, if need be, even go out of her way to do the needful. But the Indian Government, rather than taking action and getting her people back, simply slept over the issue and, even when the matter was brought before the public by the media, the Government shamefully resorted to Red Tapism and the buck kept on passing from Ministry of External Affairs to Ministry of Shipping to the owner of MV Suez and the matter nearly died its own death and the cries of the families were buried under the tombstones of files.

There was a complete lull in the atmosphere about this incident till yesterday when the news was flashed that all the sailors were released. But they were not released for nothing. They were paid their ransom. According to the news, the understanding was that the major chunk would be paid by the shipping company and the rest would be shared between Indian and Pak Governments. As was told to the media by one of the family members of a sailor that, here too, Indian Govt. kept quiet and they were losing all hopes when Governor of Pak's Sind province called them and assured them of help and they collected the major part and paid it off.

The only thing expected of the Indian Govt. now is the dirty political games over this incident and the false back patting of themselves.

One thing is clear that a common man is very COMMON and, hence, is not paid heed enough. Had it been a rare species like some politician or even someone of its family, I am sure that entire GDP of the country of that year would have been spent on that useless creation !!!!

Lately, there was one more news that China is constructing a damn on river Brahmaputra which is gonna divert the water of the river and which which would endanger the very existence of Assam and other neighbouring states. On this also, rather than taking a strong stand against China, Minister of External Affairs said that he is awaiting the REPORT and then they will be able to take APPROPRIATE steps !!!! If we could be apprised of your APPROPRIATE steps Mr. Minister. I think you have forgotten the incident when China walked its way into the country, stepping right on your b@#ls and painted the stones red. We cannot remember any steps taken by you then except baseless explanations. So, if not then, what on earth can you do now, you morons ?!?

9/11 happened 10 years back but every year the people gather on Ground-Zero and remember those who laid their lives. After killing Osama, President Obama said "WE DON'T FORGET". As for us, all I can say is "WE DON'T REMEMBER". We don't remember those three soldiers who were literally chopped in Kargil and we kept quiet, we don't remember our soldiers of 1971 war who are languishing in Pak jails and we just believe Pak's words that they ain't there, we don't remember 26/11 and now we also don't remember that apart from these 6 Indian sailors, many more are captive in the high seas !!!!

I wanna warn the Government that Egypt, Yemen and Libya are no more the Countries. They are now the symbols of the fires in the people's hearts which flare up whenever the Governments tread the wrong path and stomp on the patience of the people. The only thing left for the Governments to do in those cases is to burn and perish in the heat, giving way and becoming a history.

Democracy is not the WORD. Its a CONCEPT which is not supposed to be read, rather understood and followed, and whenever some Government forgets that, it is reminded of it by WE THE PEOPLE !!!! I need not say that I am foreseeing that.

MTC

Will Be Back

I agree that I have been away from my blog a bit too long, some MONTHS to be precise.

If blogs could forgive and forget, I would not mind apologizing .. :P

But as they cannot, all I can do to compensate is to come back soon.

MTC

CWG Fiasco

As expected, CWG are over and so is the hue and cry over the scam. During the CWG, Kalmadi was no less than a national villain for all of us. Everywhere and on every channel, there was just him and his deeds. But, down the line, we Indians were somewhere sure that all this is till the Games are on and after that this would be dead. We are right again !!!! Forget the decision or outcome of the enquiry, we dont even get to hear about the CWG now.

Like salmon fish, in this country, scams are there for two reasons: Fill the pockets of our politicians and to die their own death.

The way entire episode was dealt with and the way it has died out, there is less doubt that the people on the top posts were involved.

No wonder, we may see India hosting Olympics also !!!!!!

Homecoming

Taking a leave after about a year. Fifteen days straight.

Enjoying like hell.

MTC

Rarest Of The Rare

Verdict in Priyadarshini Mattoo's case is out. Her killer gets a LIFE TERM and not a death sentence. I am really bothered by the Rarest of the Rare doctrine. Earlier the principle was that in most of the murder cases, the punishment was Death Sentence and in rarest of the rare cases was it a Life Term.

In Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab, the doctrine of the rarest of the rare was brought into existence which provided that now the bench mark would be a Life Term and only in rarest of the rare cases would there be a Death Sentence and because of this mostly all the convicts get away with a Life Term which gets reduced to 14 years or 20 years at times and before even having the sentence executed, their mercy petitions keep on lying on the President's desk for years at times. I am not sympathizing with the convicts by saying this.

I dont think that bringing in the Rarest of the Rare doctrine has served any purpose whatsoever. Crime rate, if not gone up, has not come down also.

Laws of a country are made to serve the practical purpose. They are not ornamental. The death sentence, if not anything else, at least has a fear which life term does not.

This was just a synopsis. I will be coming with more on this point.

MTC

To Be Or Not To Be

So, welcome another controversy in the CWG mess .. The Prince of Wales is coming down to open the Games instead of the Queen and the Indian Govt., at the 11th hour, is crazy and "sentimental" about the national pride for it wants the President of India to open the Games rather than the Prince.

Fair enough in the normal parlance, alright, but keeping in mind the CWG, I feel it is a move to divert the attention of the body politic from the mess the Government has made of the Games in general.

They are crying because in the present scenario, the Prince would open the Games and the President would stand beside him. There are a few things which are to be kept in mind in order to understand the whole thing. First of all, Indian Government knew this in advance. They didn't do a thing about that and are raising this issue now when there is not even a week left to officially open the Games. It would lead to nothing but would add more muck to already existing - Nothing but a diplomatic mess.

Secondly, I agree that it would be nice that the President opens the Games but we also have to understand the structure of the Commonwealth as an organization. Indian Government, and also the Indian people, are saying that letting the Prince open the Games is an indication of the colonial past, we are now about half a century ahead of the past and are well democratic and what not. The answer to this is that you cannot blow hot and cold in the same breath. The very existence of the Commonwealth is a relic of the colonial rule as all the members are former colonies and the Head of the Commonwealth is, by default, the Monarch of Great Britain or any appointed member of the Royal family -- Duke of Edinburgh was the Head of Commonwealth at a point of time and may be even now, I am not sure. By being a member of the Commonwealth, we are laden by ourselves with the memories of our past. If we are so particular about our independent existence and our sovereignty, it is better that we distance ourselves from the Commonwealth and cease to be a member. The day we do so, we are entitled to claim the authority of our President as of right. But till we are the members of Commonwealth, its better we stick to its protocol.

Thirdly, it is being said that if the Queen were coming, it would have been a different thing but now, as the Prince is coming, it is better we let our President do the needful and we should be strong enough to let our thoughts out. We should understand the capacity in which the Prince is coming and would be opening the CWG. He is coming as the REPRESENTATIVE OF THE QUEEN and would be reading the QUEEN'S MESSAGE !!! He is NOT opening the Games as the Prince of Wales, for God's Sake !!!! Technically, the representative has the similar status and the authority as the original incumbent. Its better that we understand the finer nuances rather than getting into small trifles.

Lastly, I was listening in a TV talk that if it were for the Queen to do the honors, WHY DID SHE NOT COME ?!? Did she have anything more important than to open the CWG ? Well, it is again a minor one as it is the tradition of the Royal families that every year, the events to come up are designated to various member of the royal household depending upon their seniority (The Prince of Wales is the senior most after the Monarch and his / her spouse, anyway) as the Monarch cannot attend each and every one of them. We should remember that Princess Elizabeth (Now Queen Elizabeth II) represented her father a number of times as his representative. And if, at all, we are concerned as to why the Queen did not come, it can be best answered by our Commonwealth Committee and their evident management of the CWG !!!

If our public understood the structure and nuances of the Organization, I am sure these minor questions would not have arisen at the verge of the opening of the CWG. They may think of me as devoid of national pride, but that is not the case. Along with my national pride, I would prefer and would request my fellow countrymen to give other its due share as well.

So, before being carried away, it is better to understand the structures rather than crying foul for no reason or, at least, when we have bigger reasons in front of us.