Sohrabuddin & Amit Shah Saga : What is silver lining?

July 25th, 2010 by admin


Amit shah is in news all across India. Modi’s man , ex home minister of gujarat who went missing , resigned and then re emerged has been sent to 14 day judicial custody. The big political news in which both congress and bjp made allegations and counter allegations using media as medium.

When majority of Indians were having holiday , Indian news media was having one of busiest days of the year. The re emerging amit shah had press conference before he went to cbi office. CBI which refused to give time to amit shah , surprisingly didnt take shah in their custody !!!!!!!!!!

As amit shah called this political encounter , congress slammed BJP stating that it is too later to cry foul since CBI was in scene since six months. BJP reacted that why amit shah was not arrested earlier if CBI has prove and questioned the timing. While BJP states that CBI is being misused , prime minister of India dismissed the charges outrightly.

BJP’s defense that sohrabuddin was terrorist with more weapons than kasab doesnot hold much grounds. Case is not about who sohrabuddin was. Even if one concedes that sohrabuddin was terrorist who was arms supplier , does it give right to police to over rule constitution , kidnap him and kill him. Is this how we want our country to function?. Do we want to become banana republic and operate like taliban or khaps do?

Sohrabuddin should have been arrested and case should have been conducted against it. I perfectly understand general feeling about our legal system. Cases go on and on and on. Witness turn hostile and quite often terrorist wait for their turn in mercy petition. Government plays various cards to safeguard their votes and in the end ‘aam aadmi’ feels vunerable , outraged and helpless.

Having said that we need to work on improving the system , rather then taking leaf out of taliban or unstable countries in how they would have reacted in such cases.

Coming to Amit Shah , he has every right to defend himself . The case would be argued in court and court would decide. It is neither for media or people or congress or bjp to decide whether amit shah is guilty or innocent.

As this much debated issue proceeds towards conclusion (one way or the other) , there is surely a silver lining in the case. Sohrabuddin is said to be notorious criminal who was also arms supplier. What ever he was , at least he was Indian citizen . When his brother wrote to supreme court , it accepted the letter as petition and directed CID of gujarat to look into the matter. CID booked 11 police officers , many IPS out of them and arrested them. Later case came to CBI.

The silver lining in the entire saga is supreme court . It gives faith to aam aadmi that who ever you are , what ever you are , supreme court is there. In highly corrupted system where politicians are same in every party , where faith on police force is less , judiciary still works to get matter investigated.

Amidst all allegations and counter allegations , amidst media buzzing with various news about saga , amidst congress using/misusing cbi , amidst BJP projecting itself as victim , amidst all news about sohrabuddin , one message stands tall. One message which gives hope , one message which proves that constitution works and that message for all aam aadmi is from supreme court , that it is there.

Muttiah Muralitharan – No ‘Doosra’ like him

July 22nd, 2010 by admin


Photograph of Muralithran taken in 2004
Image via Wikipedia

It is not every day when India loses still one doesnot feel too bad about it. It is not every day that when world’s number tag is at stake and still you want one opponent to take wickets against you. It is not every day that opponent is backed up.

22/7/2010 is not just another day. It is day when history has been written. It is day when an icon is retiring. It is day

when a man who didn’t chase records but created it is saying good bye to the world of cricket.

Muttiah Muralitharan , the man who re defined spin bowling , the man whose dusara got every teesara player shocked and every

player being scared is saying good bye in style to cricket. The legend has one match to get 8 wickets and reach 800 wickets

mark in test cricket and he did just that. Muttiah muralitharan is now officially first person to have crossed 800 wickets mark and perhaps would remain the only one to do so.

To reach to 800 mark , one needs to play 160 test matches and take five wickets averagely in each test match.Considering a nation plays 10 test matches in an year , it would take 16 years for a great bowler to reach 800 mark. He has to maintain his form through out , remain mentally and physically fit , then he can reach that level.It is as good as climbing mount everest!!!!!!!!

As muralitharan joins his contemporaries shane warne and anil kumble as being retirees , an era today comes to an end. No more we would see ‘eyes wide open’ bowling gesture. No more we would see smiling gentleman who could beat greats in flight. No more we would see exceptional bowler who could spin even in cement pitch!!!!!!!

It is time to say good bye to one of ‘THE MAN’ of spin bowling. As we bid good bye , we wish him all the best for his future. There wont be any ‘doosra’ muralitharan.

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Blame It On News Media!!!!!!!!

July 17th, 2010 by admin


Yesterday was grand debate session in news channels. Grand because all had it . Topic was one of favorite topics , India -Pakistan talks. While Indian channels were angry over qureshi’s statement about s.m.krishna , there were many different options about why pakistan did what it did during talks , how press conference could have been handled in better way , what pakistan wants (according to individuals participating in debate). I am sure such debates might have taken place in pakistan news channels too.

While experts differed in most part of debate , most agreed on one part. News media’s role. Most agreed that press conference did played very important part in creating negativity in India-Pakistan talks which were recently held. Most had opinion that talks should be held away from media glare and media should be brought in only where negotitations have been reached.

Some experts believed that both India and Pakistan official play to galary through media and none wants to risk their political base and voters.

While this does have a valid point. News media plays very important role in evolving how we perceive about events which effect nation. If pakistan is listed in failed state , it does top headlines , if pakistan is listed in most unstable state , again that news finds place in headlines. But few report pakistan’s support for CWG games or India’s bid for non permanent member in security council. (Now critics would say it would oppose permanent seat. Well sure it would, would we support pakistan’s bid in present relationship status?).

Similarly in Pakistan’s daily , news about Kashmir or naxal would surely make headlines but India’s assistance in IMF loan to Pakistan?. Well it needed British foreign secretary to make that announcement. In one forum a pakistani was asked ‘what has gandhi done for them?’. Ironically gandhiji’s threat of fast unto death till India releases pakistan’s due during partition was find event which trigger nathuram godse’s decision to kill mahatma. This has been written by nathuram himself in his last letter. But pakistan media won’t print that!!!!!!!!. Similarly Indian media wont print positives of what pakistan does.

On other side of story news media is doing some wonderful things too. Geo tv and times of India’s aman ki asha is one of peace initiatives. Like wise ruchika , jessica , nitish kataria wont have seen justice if media won’t have created public pressure. Bhopal gas did spark outrage in civil society of India , courtesy news media.(It is different matter that daal , roti khao theme lets us forget things so easily)

So partial blame on news media about how pakistan perceives India and how India perceives Pakistan is valid but at same time without news media ,’hum sab chor hain’ theme would rule India and Pakistan without check.

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India-Pakistan : Jab They Met

July 16th, 2010 by admin


India
Image via Wikipedia

They met because they were asked to meet. They discussed because they were asked to discuss. They listened to each other because they were given mandate to built trust. When S.M.Krishna went to meet Quershi , this “pakistan calling” episode was not for break throughs. It was for listening to where both countries stand and look for openings.

As both of them addressed press , differences in various issues was for every ones to see. From pillai to kashmir to Baluchistan , pakistan had many things to talk about while India had terrorism , trial of 26/11 , inflitration to discuss about.

As press asked question qureshi and krishna answered. They answered as if both of them were not in same press conference.
Nothing seemed common between two . While diplomats cried foul , at least the most positive aspect of press conference was honesty. Both foreign ministers honestly and frankly spoke about where they stand and what is their view point.

The most surprising statement as Indian for me was quershi’s comparision of Mr Pillai (Home secretary of India) with infamous

Hafiz Saeed , supremo of banned lashkar ae toyba and Jammat ud dawa. Now how can a rowdy element’s inflammatory speech compared with home secretary of any country?. Home secretary won’t utter a word without knowing what he is saying while people like saeed can create stories to get backing of illiterates to cause terror attacks in India.Hafiz saeed doesnot know that there are third largest number of muslims of the world  in India. He prefers to call India as hindus and it looks like he knows hindus more than hindus know themself.Hafiz has never stayed with hindus and has been mostly with muslims still he can write ‘why hindus are what they are’ encyclopedia. It is different matter that when JUD was banned , it’s website used hindu’s photo and write up about how JUD helped pakistani hindu families during earthquake. Using minority to avoid getting banned is famous trait of right wing groups all across the globe ,including India.

Coming back to qureshi , Never the less qureshi did think that a home secretary of India has equal weightage as hafiz saeed of pakistan!!!!!!!!. Now Indian press would take saeed’s statement more as official word!!!!!!!.

The hafiz saeed-Pillai saga did serve purpose of Indian press which was looking for some masala as well as opposition which cried foul and accused krishna of not standing by to home secretary.

If you replay the press conference you would come to know that krishna was half asleep when qureshi said famous words ‘both of us agreed that statement was uncalled for’. Before krishna could understand what he agreed with , press had another question and humhaar krishna did miss the bus.

Visit ended with no break throughs (nobody expected any though) but with ‘phir kab miloge , jab tum kahoge’ theme. Qureshi is expected to have ‘India calling’ theme , somewhere in November.

India and Pakistan are two countries whose relation can never make sense if third country/persons views it. Two nations separated since Independence. Two nations which often have two different versions for same event in history. Two nations which share genes , culture , most of food and to many extent destinies. India is land of more than 110 crore people while Pakistan has 18 crores. India is second most fasted economy in the world while pakistan is considered to be next big thing (if it gets is right) by world bank. India has highest number of poors (from 25% to 77% considering which report one sees) , while pakistan economy suffers because of bush’s stone age threat and taliban’s new found wisdom of making pakistan as per what they believe is Islam.

Both countries have exponential possibilities if both can get to work together and assist in creating peaceful environment.

Ordinary people of both countries though tagged as muslims , Indian muslims , Hindu , sikhs and many others , behind these tags and layers lies a emotional human being who wants to give best to his/her family , have good life and see his/her nation prosper. That is common ground where foreigner ministers can work upon.

No matter how much Indians and Pakistanis bash each other, fact remains that we need to be more realistic in our approach. We have had 3 wars , one mini war , has it solved issues?. India is facing terrorism since 20 years , did India give up kashmir?. India has been pressurizing pakistan for terrorism since last so many years , did that stop terrorism?. Pakistan has been trying to get kashmir issue solved since last 63 years , did it get solved?. So it is better to talk , talk and talk till we can achieve break throughs.

Should India keep talking while pakistan keeps shooting?. This question was asked to me by one of blog’s reader. Well valid point. Why do we keep talking when pakistan allows saeeds and salauddins to keep attacking India?. Ofcourse we need our concerns addressed. When pakistan says it is victim of terror , it is partially right. The full statement should be that pakistan is victim of terror mechanism which was created by ISI and CIA during soviet’s invasion of afghanistan. Where as India is victim of terror which was nurtured by previous regimes of pakistan and pakistan needs to deal with it. But at same time we need to engage with pakistan to get our concerns addressed.

To be fair with pakistan , they too have concerns and their own agendas. They have every right to have one. Without discussion we cannot have conducive environment to make sure things turn out positively for Indians and Pakistanis who would be born after 50 years.

P.S. : After this post was written Mr qureshi blamed India on selective approach and also questioned krishna’s mandate. 26/11 is very important issue for India and emotional issue for Indians. Life is not same after 26/11 and these concerns need to be addressed before others issues can be handled.

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Banning The Book : Is it right way?

July 13th, 2010 by admin


A statue of Jijabai and young Shivaji
Image via Wikipedia

Shivaji book is making headlines these days. Book which was banned by state government and ban which was uplifted by supreme  court has made Maharashtra government see red in the verdict.

It is not ordinary book , it has name of one of most cherished icon of India and maharahstra , shivaji himself. The book which has title Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India .

Now I haven’t read the book and so cannot comment of the book but surely can convey my opinion on the concept of banning.

Banning concept is applicable to all the countries in the world but is seen more in old civilizations , middle east , Indian subcontinent and of course countries were democracy does not exist.

Before this shivaji book made news , sonia gandhi book made headlines where congress spokes person , manu singhvi went out the way to threaten author of going to the court.

Another book which was banned in gujarat (later court over ruled the ban) was jinnah book by jaswant singh. The book saw jaswant being out of BJP before being taken back.

Jinnah is favorite figure for congress and BJP for bashing. Considered to be single handily responsible for division of India and creating two countries out of one which again got divided into three countries. Pakistan was created out of India and later Pakistan got divided into Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Now what jaswant wrote in the book was jinnah as a person and equally blamed nehru for partition. Congress can be arrogant at times (as we see them recently) and being open to point of whether congress too was responsible for partition is no entry zone in India , much like pakistan , where idea that jinnah might have been wrong in creating pakistan . In pakistan congress is to be blamed for partition while in India it is jinnah. Truth can lie in between , isn’t it? and jinnah as well as nehru were humans and so was Mahatma gandhi.

Never the less , there is price of praising jinnah in India and jaswant singh learnt that in hard way.

It is not just political figures or historical icons , dhirubhai ambani biography called polyester king was also banned. Similarly many books on religions or fiction with religion has seen the ban.

It is not just books but movies too have been banned every now and then. Aandhi was banned during Indira Gandhi term while ban was lifted as soon as janta party came to power. Not only they got ban lifted but also made it shown on doordarshan. But did it help janta party?. Well Indira stormed back to power.

The logic behind bans is to make sure that the ideas in book , movie doesnot flow to people. Fear of people indulging in violence due to its effect or people getting swept by the idea or false information getting rooted in human brain are reasons behind bans.

But owning to bans and governments (all across the world) , especially in Indian subcontinent have directed how humans perceive things. If in India , jinnah has to be bad boy who is power hungry , in Pakistan ‘muslims ruled for thousand years’ even though it is not backed by history.

For e.g. how many people in pakistan know that Gupta dynasty is golden age of India which extended to almost entire subcontinent ?. How many Indians know about qasim?. How many Indians know that same jinnah hailed mahatma’s work in south africa or was hailed for hindu-muslim unity and took stand against khilafat movement?

The ban which does-not make sense on religious ground is banning books which are said to be defamatory for religion or religious figures or religion founders. Why it does not make sense on religious grounds ?. Well religion claims to be divine and so if it is divine ,no matter how many books are written which defame religion founders or god or gods , religion would keep thriving and as per religious beliefs people defaming would be judged for their conduct. Now why should there be ban on it.Let people write what they want to , if one beliefs in god , judgment is god’s domain. Isn’t it?. But unfortunately it doesnot work like that. Humans dont wait for god to judge and take action , they themselves come on streets and bash the author/pronounce threats or destroy public property. Indirectly they themselves become god (by judging, implementing judgment).

Coming to concept of ban , ban indirectly means people are too immature to debate , take different view points. Rejecting view points is personal right but bashing or killing or destroying things is uncivilized way of being. As Ram guha puts ‘ if one doesnot like book , he/she must not read it or better way is to write another book countering it , but banning is not right thing to do’.

It doesnot just apply to this book on shivaji or sonia gandhi or satanic verses. It applies to all book. Why stop an view point  , an idea?. If people are immature then why do they have right to vote?. If they can elect government , if they can know how to run their families , if they can reason things , then why can’t they decide which book to read or not to read?. Why do we need governments or mullahs or pandits or communities to decide which book is worth reading and which worth a skip?


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