As several predicted, the heat of the Mumbai attacks have visibly faded and people have started discussing about India-Eng test series and Ghajini. Nothing wrong, as life has to move on.
The Media during the aftermath of the Mumbai carnage was literally filled with candle light processions and other assorted signs condemning the act. Most were directed against Politicians. Some equated the politicians with terrorists or is it the otherway round? People were demanding instant action. Wanted heads to roll and people demanded accountability.
My entire question is regarding this. Do people have the rights to demand accountability? Polling is at 60 - 65 percent usually, which includes the illegal votes that forms a small percentage. Other than people whose income is taxed at the source, the rest hardly bother to pay the requisite taxes. Regarding public property, there is hardly any ownership from the general public, who tend to abuse it, rather than use it judiciously.
There is a lot of complaints about bribery, corruption in the Government establishment starting from the lowest clerk to the Ministerial berth. But one must realize that bribery and corruption is just like the market. Unless there is demand, there will be no supply. Corruption exists because people are ready to pay bribes. And Government servants(not a stereotype, but the sizable portion which does) demand bribes, because the number of people who are ready to pay up are more.
So when the general public has so much, stacked against them, do they (we) have the moral rights to demand accountability from politicians and Government officer?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A point to ponder
Why we are at where we are - India-Pakistan-Mumbai
Irrespective of the nationality of the perpetrators (present and past), the 2 countries have no one else but their self to blame for all the miseries that has been affecting the countries. In spite of being a pioneer in several fields like Medicine, Mathematics, Agriculture, the subcontinent was one of the last regions to realize the concept of nationalism. This mistake has cost the region dearly right from the dusk of the Mughal Rule and the Maratha Rule till now.
The common masses were having a tough time under the monarchies. Small time kings and local cheiftans lived lavishly, living the common man suffering, as is common in a monarchy system of Governance. After the British made a colony out of us, some sense of nationalism dawned. Did it help in alleviating the Colonial misery? No! The next evil was religion based politics, where the 2 great religion of this world, Hinduism and Islam became subjects of politicization. Countless lives were lost to this religious divide and the imperialistic boot. Add to this, the oppression of lower caste people. Somehow we muddled our way to get freedom from the British. (I am still doubtful as to whether to thank or not for this, considering the situation)
Did we begin a nation building process immediately? No. Both the countries (I might suggest brother nations, although a lot of patriotic people on both sides would turn red to see this statement) embarked on a mission to get the State of Kashmir, the loss of which would mean, loss of face and loss of pride. Pride my foot!!! Which was why the country was under foreign yolk for a good 200 years?
Ok. Now the countries have fought a war and shown each other and to the world, that we still are immature and that Freedom was granted too easily and too early. If the struggle had been harder, the value of freedom would have been easily understood by the people and the democratic gift of Voting, would not have been squandered to put inefficient people @ the helms. Archaic laws, wrote during the British Raj would not be in practice now.
Coming back to the crux of the issue, how is Pakistan a fertile ground for breeding terrorism? And how is India responsible for the same and how is it becoming such an easy target for regular attacks. Li’l introspection would open the eyes and make people realize that they are responsible for the whole menace.
When does a person, get easily swayed by speeches of religious leaders? When does money for the family and promise of heaven invite youth to embrace terrorism under the false name of Martyrdom? How is terrorism perpetrated in a country unless the security is as weak as thin glass? How can the lapse in security be unnoticed by an entire country? Terrorism cannot happen unless there is small amount of local support/help. Local help will be there only if there are sections of population which feel marginalized and oppressed. Who is responsible for this? Elections in India are won not on the basis of good governance. It’s an open secret, that elections are won based on how populous the schemes of the politicians are. In my place, elections were won, because an idiot politician thought it wise to give people Color TV at my expense. The Tax Payer’s expense. Talking about the neighbor, why did they allow their country, whose founder, Jinnah, was one of the greatest icons of Secularism and Democracy, to be run by the army? Why were the leaders who were elected into office, even worse and corrupted when compared to the Indian Netas? Both the countries have failed to produce a crop of successful/charismatic leaders. The countries assumed that once the British left, there was no need for a leader. This has brought the countries to the current quagmire.
Now both the countries are again facing a bigger evil/bigger boot than the imperialistic British. A faceless evil called as Terrorism. This is the best chance that both the countries have got to produce charismatic Leaders to pull them out of this oblivion. Unless the countries pull up their socks and start running without tripping each other, dawn is never going to come and we will always be in the eternal dark-before-the-dawn state.
Irrespective of the nationality of the perpetrators (present and past), the 2 countries have no one else but their self to blame for all the miseries that has been affecting the countries. In spite of being a pioneer in several fields like Medicine, Mathematics, Agriculture, the subcontinent was one of the last regions to realize the concept of nationalism. This mistake has cost the region dearly right from the dusk of the Mughal Rule and the Maratha Rule till now.
The common masses were having a tough time under the monarchies. Small time kings and local cheiftans lived lavishly, living the common man suffering, as is common in a monarchy system of Governance. After the British made a colony out of us, some sense of nationalism dawned. Did it help in alleviating the Colonial misery? No! The next evil was religion based politics, where the 2 great religion of this world, Hinduism and Islam became subjects of politicization. Countless lives were lost to this religious divide and the imperialistic boot. Add to this, the oppression of lower caste people. Somehow we muddled our way to get freedom from the British. (I am still doubtful as to whether to thank or not for this, considering the situation)
Did we begin a nation building process immediately? No. Both the countries (I might suggest brother nations, although a lot of patriotic people on both sides would turn red to see this statement) embarked on a mission to get the State of Kashmir, the loss of which would mean, loss of face and loss of pride. Pride my foot!!! Which was why the country was under foreign yolk for a good 200 years?
Ok. Now the countries have fought a war and shown each other and to the world, that we still are immature and that Freedom was granted too easily and too early. If the struggle had been harder, the value of freedom would have been easily understood by the people and the democratic gift of Voting, would not have been squandered to put inefficient people @ the helms. Archaic laws, wrote during the British Raj would not be in practice now.
Coming back to the crux of the issue, how is Pakistan a fertile ground for breeding terrorism? And how is India responsible for the same and how is it becoming such an easy target for regular attacks. Li’l introspection would open the eyes and make people realize that they are responsible for the whole menace.
When does a person, get easily swayed by speeches of religious leaders? When does money for the family and promise of heaven invite youth to embrace terrorism under the false name of Martyrdom? How is terrorism perpetrated in a country unless the security is as weak as thin glass? How can the lapse in security be unnoticed by an entire country? Terrorism cannot happen unless there is small amount of local support/help. Local help will be there only if there are sections of population which feel marginalized and oppressed. Who is responsible for this? Elections in India are won not on the basis of good governance. It’s an open secret, that elections are won based on how populous the schemes of the politicians are. In my place, elections were won, because an idiot politician thought it wise to give people Color TV at my expense. The Tax Payer’s expense. Talking about the neighbor, why did they allow their country, whose founder, Jinnah, was one of the greatest icons of Secularism and Democracy, to be run by the army? Why were the leaders who were elected into office, even worse and corrupted when compared to the Indian Netas? Both the countries have failed to produce a crop of successful/charismatic leaders. The countries assumed that once the British left, there was no need for a leader. This has brought the countries to the current quagmire.
Now both the countries are again facing a bigger evil/bigger boot than the imperialistic British. A faceless evil called as Terrorism. This is the best chance that both the countries have got to produce charismatic Leaders to pull them out of this oblivion. Unless the countries pull up their socks and start running without tripping each other, dawn is never going to come and we will always be in the eternal dark-before-the-dawn state.
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