PANDIT JASRAJ-DEATH OF A LEGEND

 

A stalwart has died. A doyen of Indian classical music has gone forever; taking with him his golden voice, years of sadhana and repertoire of khayals, thumris, et al. He could be termed as one of India’s gems. But, sadly the Indian media barely mentioned him. No special show, no interviews with his shishyas, his admirers, his contemporaries if any left. This Indian media which can write reams on Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, day in and day out; the Indian electronic media which gives hours of air time to voyeurism, media trial of crimes, however tragic, has no time for one of its greatest singers. Today you just tweet in 140 characters your tribute to a maestro. There used to be a time where every publication worth its name had reporters on cultural beats, who had deep understanding of Indian music, dance and other art forms, and they were sent to cover these concerts. Today, a performance in IIFA awards will be covered more breathlessly than any such concert. Corporates also don’t sponsor such shows. They would rather sponsor crass comedy shows or music competitions where parents are pushing little children to go and participate.

So what is wrong with us? It is the age of getting instant gratification, instant fame, and instant money. Who has the time, patience and austerity to go through years of riyaz and master one art form. This is the Tik Tok generation. They have millions of followers doing all kinds of bizarre acts. Some are quite talented but where is the depth. We are going to lose our rich heritage at this rate and I feel nothing but despair.

I am not an authority on classical music but have grown up in a household where music was always on. My father put on All India Radio early in the morning and we had our first cup of tea in the morning hearing beautiful devotional songs sung by Laxmi Shankar, Prabha Atre, Subalakshmi and so many others. At 8 am there used to be a short programme where they explained one raag, then played a classical song based on it and finally a film song on the same raag. That’s how, till date, I remember Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam was based on Raag Khamaj.

We heard gazals and thumris and dadras and kajris, as they were often played and discussed at home. And not just my home, I think it was the flavour of those times to enjoy and respect those forms of music. I remember once going for a recital by Savita Devi with my parents and the mesmerising thumris she sang. My grandfather used to attend personal recitals by Begum Akhtar, Thirakua, Bismillah Khan in his own home and those of other admirers. My mother was taught by Purushottam Das Jalota, father of Anup Jalota, in her youth. She always said no one has ever sung Jheeni Jheeni Bini Chadariya like him.

It was this kind of music we grew up hearing because of which we had a deep appreciation of Hindustani music. A lot of it was lost for years, but now thanks to YouTube some people are uploading long forgotten melodies and singers. Today’s generation has never heard of Master Madan, who was a child prodigy, and murdered at the age of 14 only because he was proving to be such a big threat to other singers. He barely recorded eight songs and they are priceless. His Hairat Se Tak Raha Hai Jahane Wafa Mujhe is absolutely unbelievable; one can listen to it a hundred times.

In those days singers survived on royal patronage. It is said that when Bade Ghulam Ali Khan began his rendition of Bajubund Khul Khul Jaye, a collective sigh went out from the audience. Such was the magic of those doyens. I have now been able to get to hear even singers like Kamala Jharia and Sideshwari Bai thanks to YouTube. It is one place where one can still find the rarest and oldest songs and artistes. Whenever, I want to hear Shobha Gurtu, Girija Devi, Kishori Amonkar or some of the famous Quawwals I go to YouTube. But, the pleasure of live performance is something else all together. Today, finding young singers and concerts are virtually impossible now. One is not saying there aren’t any talented artists any more, but they just do not get the kind of support, audience, sponsors, publicity and patronage they need and deserve to pursue lifelong sadhana which these art forms require.

Galwan Valley: The Lessons We Didn't Learn In 1962

://countercurrents.org/2020/06/galwan-valley-the-lessons-we-didnt-learn-in-1962/

Our Tryst With Mortality

https://countercurrents.org/2020/06/our-tryst-with-mortality/

PLEASE WAKE MY MOTHER

My mother doesn’t wake up. I have tried so hard. Have pulled her sari, her sheet; but she doesn’t open her eyes. She does not sit up and take me in her lap. I have even danced all round her, to make her laugh. She always smiles when I do naughty things. But, today she just does not look at me also. Can you wake my mother, Piyush Goyal? She is lying on the floor. It is a railway station, I am told. And that you are in-charge. Can you wake her please?

The country wept on seeing the video. The little child playfully tugging at the shroud covering his dead mother’s body was too tragic and painful to watch. When the video went viral, even men wrote they could not hold back their tears. It was perhaps reaching a nadir, in the pitiful images we have been seeing ever since the first lockdown was announced by the prime minister, Narendra Modi. The way our governments have been treating these poor daily wage workers, who have been stranded for days in cities thousands of miles away from their homes is beyond callous. Perhaps, there exists no word to describe their treatment in any language.

Arwina Khatun, 35, travelling with her two children had boarded the train on 23 May 2020. On 25 May when she got off at Muzzafarpur in Bihar she just collapsed and died; of heat, hunger, dehydration. Whatever little food and water she had, she must have fed her little children. She is not alone. Every day we hear of migrants dying of fatigue, in road and rail accidents and now even on journeys on train. Many more have died on the Shramik trains, even one found dead in the filthy toilet.

According to the Railway Protection Force, as of today, 30th May 2020, there have been almost 80 deaths on board the Shramik Special trains (being run for stranded migrant workers) between May 9 and May 27. Never in the history of Indian Railways of independent India did you hear of such numbers. And the railways are trying to convince the country, all these people were suffering from some illnesses prior to boarding the trains so they died. Yes, they were sick, hungry, and penniless and without treatment of any kind for 40 plus days, so when they were put on those boiling cauldrons called Shramik Specials, they died. And to add insult to injury, the Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, advises people not to travel unless absolutely necessary; and those below 10 or above 65, with chronic illnesses should avoid travel completely. If there ever was apathy, it is in the union cabinet of India today. Families should leave behind children and elderly because railways cannot ensure their safe arrival!!!

After almost 40 plus days, when the government did decide to ply some Shramik trains for these underdogs, there was no planning, no coordination between Centre and States, no clear cut procedure.

The Union government which came under heavy criticism for not arranging travel facilities for the stranded migrant labourers before imposing a lockdown, finally, buckled and allowed the movement of migrant workers by organising special trains for them. The railways announced the first Shramik train on 1 May, 2020. Around 500 such trains were promised to be run to take stranded migrants home. Since then, however, the number of Shramik trains has been increasing everyday which shows, their estimates were way off the mark. 

Indian Railways has got the capacity to run almost 300 Shramik special trains a day, however, less than half were being run, according to the railway ministry. The entire exercise has been mired in confusion, lack of planning, lack of amicable coordination with states and so on. The hapless men, women and children have been made to walk to stations back and forth. Orders kept getting reversed; the indecisiveness and lack of clarity, showing at every step.

When news broke out that the poor had to shell out money for the tickets and sometimes far more than the actual price, the Congress came out with a statement they would foot the bill. They said they were advising their state units to pay for migrant tickets. Not wanting the Congress party to earn any brownie points on the issue the GOI issued a statement saying Centre was paying 85% of ticket cost and asking States to pay only 15%. However, in reality that has not happened so far. And the poor have had to beg, borrow, take loans and ask families to sell cattle and send money for their food and tickets.

When trains were announced many say they went to the railway stations to buy tickets from the counter but the police refused to let them inside as they did not have valid e-tickets. According to government figures, only 20% of migrant workers were housed in state-run shelters and school premises in the national capital. Where were the remaining 80% to go?

Unable to register for Shramik trains or buy tickets online, migrant workers from across the city started out on foot back to their villages. To avoid heat during the day, many walked during the night, resting by the side of highways during the day. Occasionally, they got food and water from some good Samaritans or NGOs. With day temperatures reeling above 40 degrees Celsius it is a gruelling journey.

Also, initially railways said tickets will be sold only online, as they did not want crowds at platform counters, without thinking that these are poor people who didn’t own smart phones and didn’t have internet. Most of them recharge their phones for small amounts. When, the realisation dawned then some kind of registration was opened in some areas. The pictures of Ghaziabad Ram Lila ground of thousands descending, spoke volumes of their lack of understanding of the situation.

Ever since, nobody has any clue when the trains will start, from which station and at what time they will run. Migrants complained at Wadala station they had been coming for three days to the station and were told the train was cancelled without giving any reasons. They were being made to run in lockdown cities to get doctor’s certificates and passport size photos.

The passengers were to be screened by the States and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. In addition, the State governments sending the migrants were to arrange to bring these people in sanitized buses following social distancing norms. Also, it would be mandatory for every passenger to wear face masks. Claims were made meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the states at the originating station. We have seen images of rotten food thrown all over stations by migrants, as it was not edible.

The fare calculated by railways was to be for the Sleeper Mail Express train, plus Rs. 30 superfast charge and an additional charge of Rs.20, which would include meals and drinking water for long-distance trains. However, passengers were told they would not be required to buy the ticket and that the fares would be paid by the state governments.

However, this was furthest from what was happening on the ground. All migrants were paying for their tickets, in fact, at times shelling out far more than the actual fare value. According to a Quint report, a worker from BJP's Surat unit duped around 100 migrant labourers from Gujarat by charging them exorbitant amounts to buy tickets. 

State Governments, where the migrants would disembark were asked to make all arrangements for their screening on arrival, quarantine and if necessary further travel from the Railway Station.

As the Centre faced criticism from the opposition over the Indian Railways asking migrant labourers to pay for train tickets, the union government came out with an explanation. They claimed 85% percent of the transportation cost was being borne by the Railways, while states were being asked to bear 15% of the cost. 

Apparently for regular sleeper trains, the Railway subsidy given to passengers is 47% of the total cost involved. However, in the present context, the Centre claimed it was bearing 85% of the travel costs. Since these special trains for migrant workers were supposed to carry less than their regular capacity of passengers, due to social distancing norms, and were to come back empty, the subsidy to be given to the passengers would have to be around 85%.

This meant that the printed fares on the tickets would reflect 15% of the total cost incurred by the Railways, and the state governments would reimburse that amount to the Railways. It didn’t mean that the Centre was paying 85% of the ticket price. So actually, the Centre was not paying anything. 

Neither are the tickets lower for the Shramik trains, in fact they are higher, as the Railways added an additional Rs 50 on the normal sleeper class fares. 

For example, if the usual sleeper class fare for a particular destination is between Rs 650-700 and only 15% of it had been charged, a worker would have paid around Rs 100. But what was being charged was around Rs 740.

Also, the Centre has been saying one thing on record and something else to the bureaucrats behind closed doors. Even as the Railways organised the first lot of special trains, the union home secretary, told the chief secretaries of states that only those workers who are stranded in-between will be allowed to board the special trains, creating further confusion. Where were the remaining workers to go who were stuck due to the lockdown?

Then reports started coming in that trains were getting lost. Those meant to reach UP or Bihar were reaching Orissa. The Indian Railway clarified that the incidents happened only on May 23 and 24. The problems began on May 22 when the congestion — caused by hundreds of trains heading to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — was first reported. The Railway Board decided to divert the trains due to trains clogging up near the destinations because of various protocols mandated. Most stations on this stretch being small and would not have the capacity to handle issues like food or water shortage, health emergencies or law and order issues. Hence, it was decided to divert some trains. This explanation only emphasizes the lack of planning and coordination between railways, centre and state governments.

The confusion led to delays and passengers going hungry. While, the stations did not have the capacity to provide food, stalls were shut amid the lockdown. One passenger died during the journey. People needed food desperately, the children were crying. Many passengers tweeted about the issues to the railways but nothing got resolved. The train that was supposed to reach in 24 hours took 4 days.

So, is it a wonder that Arwina Khatun and many others died on these death vehicles. The government has brought so much misery to the country, which was completely avoidable. Leaders who sit in their ivory towers and take decisions on whims create chaos. India has been shaken to its roots. Our rural people who form the backbone of all cities and industry are heartbroken and feel betrayed. They are not coming back soon.

Sources: press reports, twitter

LOCKED OUT---THE INDIAN MIGRANT EXODUS

24th March, 8 pm, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi goes on air. Announces that in 4 hours, when the clock will strike midnight the entire country of 1.35 billion people will be locked inside their homes; the reason corona virus, rampaging through the world, even though it was still early stages in India. The numbers were very low and a week’s notice would have saved millions and millions of poor the suffering they would have had to go through; and are continuing to do so.

Oh, but surprise is the necessary element in all recent announcements, never mind the shock to the nation. In 4 hours how could anybody stock up even a day’s groceries, the markets would be closing soon. How would the elderly stock up on their medicines. How would those who were scheduled for dialysis, chemotherapy and other life saving treatments get to hospitals? The government even closed OPDs. Where would people with other ailments go? They could just suffer it out and maybe get well by themselves or die if things got worse.

But, above all this, where would India’s faceless millions, who migrate to cities in search of jobs from their distant villages, go? Those, who lived by earning small amounts on daily basis where and how would they go, those who have no shelter to call their own, often sleeping on footpaths or tents made from plastic sheets, where were they to go?

According to Census of India’s definition, when a person is enumerated in a census at a different place than his / her place of birth, she / he is considered a migrant. This may be due to marriage, which is the most common reason for migration among females, or for work, which is the case generally among males, etc.

The Economic Survey of India 2017 estimates that the magnitude of inter-state migration in India was close to 9 million annually between 2011 and 2016, however, the Census 2011, pegs the total number of internal migrants in the country (accounting for inter-state and intra-state movement) at a staggering 139 million. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the biggest source states, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal; the major destination states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Where would these millions go, what would they eat, where would they sleep, how would they feed their little children. But, who even thought about them at that instance; they have been India’s invisible resource. They are mostly seasonal migrants. They work in low-paying, hazardous informal market jobs in sectors such as construction, hotel, textile, manufacturing, transportation, security, services, domestic work etc.

While, the rich and affluent got busy posting cute videos of their workouts and baking exotic dishes and sweeping the floor instead of the ‘bai’ in skimpy clothes, this invisible mass after waiting for some kind of help from the administration/governments decided they had to reach home. But, how could they even do that. There was curfew everywhere, local transport was closed, and trains were stopped. Their meagre savings were dwindling and they became desperate. They defied curfew, trying to walk, with little children in tow, towards borders of the neighbouring states.

Ever since that fateful day, India has silently & helplessly watched in horror the stories of their suffering, their resilience, their death. Many good Samaritans and social organisations are desperately trying to alleviate their suffering but it is too gigantic a task; task only governments are equipped to do.

There was clearly no planning done before this announcement, either for the common people or the medical staff fighting the pandemic. When, there were hardly any infected cases in India, the government forced these migrants to stay in metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai, where cases were beginning to rise allowing them to get infected too. When a lot of bad press started happening and so many stories started getting reported daily of hungry children, pregnant women delivering by road sides, men dying in road and rail accidents, then 50 days later trains were announced. More confusion followed about medical certification, photos and who will pay for it. When more bad press happened over making migrants pay and Congress announced it will pay, the railways hurried to announce Centre was paying 85% and states 15%. The ground realities have been very different.

This pandemic has thrown open the fault lines in our great nation: the terrible administrative failures, not factoring in the human cost to even those not getting the disease and the economic cost. We are spiralling into a situation which will be very ugly. Hungry people make for riots. Even those who are daily wagers do not want to live on doles. They too have pride. They don’t want to beg for what should have been rightfully their place in building this country.

This is happening when India has enough food grain stocks to supply to its citizens for more than 1 year. Current stock of rice equals to 30.97 million metric tons, wheat stands at 27.52 million metric tons and un-milled paddy stood at 28.70 million metric tons according to government sources.

After 50 plus days an economic package of sorts is announced which includes free rations for two months to be given to the poor, even to those not having ration cards. Has the government been not eating for 50 days? How did they expect these poor people who are surviving on glucose biscuits and water to live all these days? If only rations had been given at the very start, before the date of lockdown, this mayhem would not have taken place. Also, the centre has been accused of partisanship; helping BJP ruled states and denying assistance to non-BJP states. Even GST arrears are said to have not been cleared. In such a scenario, how will states manage things with businesses closed?

While, liquor seems to be topmost on the minds of all states as it is the highest excise earner, governments still don’t seem to understand the misery of these poor migrants. Every day new announcements are made and then withdrawn. The biggest example is of Indian Railways. There seems to be total confusion at the top. Just few days ago they opened booking for AC passenger trains without thinking that air-conditioning is a super spreader of viruses. When the medical fraternity raised doubts, once again those trains have been cancelled. They will once again run only Shramik specials.

One can only pray that better sense prevails and better coordination takes place within states, between states and between centre & states to resolve the problems of the migrants. Please just let them go home. Run city buses so they can reach stations and run trains free of cost. It will be a very small expense for a country aiming to reach 5 trillion GDP. We can be sure we won’t get there without them.

YET AGAIN----ONE MORE LYNCHED

A 70 year old ex-cop has been lynched in Allahabad today. Don't have anymore details. But does it matter? All that matters, is a fellow citizen's life, a senior citizen's life, has been taken by a bunch of goons who have been running amuck in this country with the protection of powers that be or by the belief that they should take the law in their hands as otherwise it takes too long for justice. So killing somebody in a mob which is faceless is so much easier and faster in dispensing justice. And you rarely get caught or punished when FIRs are lodged against unknown people.

The atmosphere is so vitiated you can be killed for anything. Of course, mainly if you belong to the minority community. The brutality and cruelty of people involved in these killings is mind boggling. If they cannot manage to kill, they will cut off a limb. The incidents happening, are a testimony to the fact that criminals are emboldened by the tacit support of the ruling dispensation. No CM ever expresses regret, ever visits the families of those killed, does not take lasting action against local thanas for not stopping the crime.

In Rajasthan, in Rakbar Khan's case, the lack of helpfulness of the cops and their deliberate attempt to delay medical help was clearly visible. They even first went to drop the cows in the cow shelter, instead of taking the man who was badly injured to the hospital. Infact, they even took a tea break and made him take a bath to wash off the blood. Are these people worthy of wearing a uniform? Do they have any allegiance to the constitution, on which they took oath when they passed out from their training academies. Or have they  become complete  slaves to their political masters. And to all this, CM Vasundhara Raje, in an interview, said that lynchings happen all over the world. Yes, madam in lawless places. Not in civilized countries. Don't know which country she had in mind. And it doesn't happen with such regularity, almost becoming routine. Nothing to be defending.

Hindus have always revered the cow and minorities living in India have respected this sentiment. There may be stray cases of theft but mostly because of poverty. Earlier, when cattle got old they were sold off. But today no one wants to buy them for fear of being killed. So they die of starvation as once they are not worthwhile the poor have no money to feed them. And what about the government shelters? 700 cows died in government shelters in Rajasthan. Should the CM be held accountable? After all, the great love of Hindus for cows does not seem to reflect among the government caretakers.

The other set of lynchings taking place in this country is by rumour mongering. Where some innocuous statement is soon spread on Whatsapp and technology arranges for crowds to collect very fast. Even if police arrive they are outnumbered and mostly helpless. Also, they rarely act on information, so, even if they know such a rumour is being spread they are too lazy or inefficient to take timely action.

Vigilantism in this country clearly has two faces---one is communal or political which is intentional, mostly with political support; and the other is sudden by a frenzied mob.

The second kind seems to be because people in India seem to be on the boil all the time. Majority are struggling with their day to day lives, traveling distances to work, traffic, inflation, unemployment, corruption, no honest politicians in sight, no roads, no water, no electricity, no toilets. And no visible action ever taken against real criminals. The list is endless. Everyone seems to be on a short fuse. Not only have they lost their sensitivity and sense of responsibility to another human being, but they watch and click pictures. They don't even bother to call the police. In fact, mentally unstable persons have been lynched. One beggar was beaten to death for stealing food. Only when society becomes so indifferent, human lives are totally dispensable and someone else's pain becomes irrelevant.

As a human and as an Indian I feel so angry, so helpless, so ashamed to be part of this atmosphere, where hate and suspicion lurks around the corner every second. Never know which hapless citizen will be next.

INDIA'S EPIDEMIC: RAPE

India is grappling with an epidemic of rapes; not just rapes but gang rapes; not just gang rapes but gang rapes of minors as well; not just gang rapes of minors but their brutalization and murders. What kind of a country have we become? Where such news is our daily diet. Even outrage and disbelief is exhausted. Us common citizens, no, us women, don't know what to do anymore. Who and where to appeal to for the protection of the female citizens. Are these really men who do these things. Yesterday a woman was burnt alive in a TEMPLE for resisting rape. In Kathua a minor was raped in the precincts of a TEMPLE. No place awakens the conscience of these animals.Today, the news comes of an 11 year old being raped by 17 security guards over a period of 7 months in Tamilnadu. Security guards? Really? Who do you trust.

Over 34,600 cases of rape have been reported across the country last year with Madhya Pradesh and Delhi topping the list of states and union territories respectively. Among these, in 33,098 cases the offenders were known to the victims, as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The rape victims were among the age group of below six years to over 60 years. Madhya Pradesh has reported 4,391 rape cases, a highest among the states. Whereas, the national capital has reported 2,199 such cases–highest among the union territories.

Rape in the capital city and adjoining NCR region went up by 277% in last 5 years between 2011-2015, inspite of the huge hue and cry and protests of ordinary citizens after the Nirbhaya case. Stricter laws have not deterred men from indulging in this national sport. They cock a snook everyday at the law makers, with complete fearlessness. In any case, the rapists of Nirbhaya have still not been hung. So, that is the speed at which, even a case which evoked national outrage has been dealt with.

The reason is obvious: the complete decay of values and social fabric in India, knowledge of the fact there is poor policing and investigation, tardy and long judicial system, and powerful perpetrators who threaten victims and witnesses often leading to their suicide or murder. Also, victims mostly belong to very poor families and no one really cares for them. Their parents are daily wage earners forced to go for work, while, their children play by the roadside. Easy targets of rapists.

We are a country of people who don't have food to eat but have technology to watch porn and grab the first vulnerable victim that comes our way. No role models, except their fathers and politicians who they see treating women like dirt. Objects of their lust, victims of their power. Fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins are raping their daughters, sisters, nieces and even elderly female relatives. What can you expect from such men on the streets. And then you have our politicians making misogynistic statements on serious crimes. Parading with rapists, draping them with the national flag. You have a minister who garlands murderers.

No amount of candle light vigils and protests has awakened those who need to be awakened. It is the women in power who have to come to the rescue by speaking up in their own political parties, communities, villages. A single woman standing up often gets pulverized by the all powerful patriarchal system. They have to combine, come together and speak up up, even if the culprit is their family member. Like the girl in Gurugram who reported her own father for raping her friend in a sleep over at her place; and the woman who reported her husband trying to rape his own 10 month old baby. Sick. Nauseating. Don't defend your men when they do a single act of ill treatment of a girl/woman. Only you alone are the custodians of your female specie. The machos are only trying to prove their virility.

STOP DEMEANING INDIA'S ARMED FORCES-ADHM DRAMA

The Army, for that matter, any of our armed forces and para military forces do not need advocates like Raj Thackeray of the non-descript party MNS. Who is he? What is his locus standi? A party which could get just a single MLA to the Maharashtra assembly blackmails an industry and gets the chief minister of the state to cow down, is beyond shameful.

Fadnavis should resign if he cannot ensure even a simple thing like running of a movie in a theatre. MNS, a party which is a copy cat version of its sibling party Shiv Sena in goondaism has nothing but nuisance value. A hand full of goons, the so called supporters or party workers of MNS and Shiv Sena have time and again brought down the film industry to its knees and forced ruling governments to strike illegal deals. Is the entire police force of Maharashtra incapable of handling a few hundred goons of such parties?

The Indian Armed Forces are held in very high regard by the ordinary citizens of this country. The force does not need any political party to make it what it is. Clearly MNS which has not garnered any space in media for some time jumped to get some attention. And what better way than stopping a film from being screened. It has become a trend by political parties to question the patriotism of anybody they want to exploit and manipulate for their own vested interests. What is Rs.5 crores? Nothing!!!! The Army doesn't need such funds brought about by extortion, arm twisting and muscle flexing. They have enough and more. Above all donations should be voluntary and anonymous; done quietly, not with fan fare to get media attention.

And even if one were to believe it was the film makers who themselves made the offer, it is shameful. KJO and others did it only to ensure their crores spent on the movie is not blocked. One is not saying they cannot be patriotic but timing is everything. If they were so moved by the URI ATTACKS and other attacks in which our soldiers keep dying everyday, they should have done it then, and not when their film was being blocked.

The question of hiring Pakistani artistes or any artistes should come voluntarily by film producers if they are in sync with mood of the country. If they don't the people will decide whether to see or boycott such movies. But making a song and dance literally of it is really a waste of everybody's time and energy.

Also there is always the legal recourse available to film producers. Why didn't KJO got to court to fight for his film's release like many others have done in the past, instead of bowing down to the diktat of an unconstitutional authority. Clearly shows a weak person for whom his money blocked was more important than principles. Sometimes in life you have to stand up to bullies. And if famous, moneyed people like Karan Johar and Mukesh Bhatt cannot do so, who can. He would have won the country's support and the Army would have admired him; more for it than his measly five crores.

INDIA'S APARTHEID

We have a constitution which guarantees equality to all citizens, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, gender, class. But the truth is farthest from this wonderful preamble.
Seventy years after independence nothing has changed.

In Kalahandi, already infamous for deaths due to starvation in the past, showed us what we do to our poor and those without means of any kind. A man walks 12 kms with his dead wife's body on his shoulder with his daughter weeping beside him. There are people on the road who merely gawk like they do always in every tragedy, be it accident, rape, murder, lynching There is no sense of empathy or responsibility towards another person in distress. No one comes forward to help. But then you could say they were all poor too. Even though I would say you are never too poor to help. But what about those who are in the establishment. The hospital, the doctors, the civil administration. They could not arrange anything. Are they not accountable for anything.

This is India's cruel, indifferent humanity.

The kind of apartheid we follow is mind boggling. Like not allowing women and dalits in temples, killing female child at birth, poor representation of minorities in jobs, continuing to use human scavengers, upper castes killing those from lower castes wanting to marry, not allowing dalits to take water from wells even in drought situations, parading them naked, making them drink urine and eat human excreta. It goes on and on. It doesn't ruffle any politicians conscience.

So many recent incidents remind us daily we are socially and morally bankrupt and we are selective in our brutality. The flogging of Dalits in Una, the lynching in Dadri, the hacking of a poor dalit couple for not being able to pay rupees 15 for biscuits they bought. Extreme violence over minor things. This emboldened powerful lot which either has money power or muscle power or political power or are merely in a larger number so they can beat, kill, molest, burn people openly and walk away. Who do they fear? None. They know nothing will happen to them. And governments rush to cover up.

The biggest reason is the vote bank politics practiced by our political parties. They go to election each time fanning communal and caste issues. Parties distribute tickets on basis of caste, religion, family ties and proximity to party leaders. The clout and winnability depends on how big you are in terms of money and muscle. Credibility and integrity be damned. We are a nation which sends the maximum of criminals into our assemblies and parliament.

The perpetrators of all forms of apartheid know their victims are poor, helpless people who do not even dare to complaint leave aside file a police complaint. And the lengthy, unhelpful judicial system will never give them any justice.

REVIEW OF MOVIE HAIDER BY AN EX-ARMY GENERAL-MUST READ

Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi's take on 'Haider'. Long but worth a read till last word

From: VIJAY OBEROI

A Soldier Reviews ‘Haider’ movie

October 19, 2014 By Agniveer

I am an ex-armyman. I was stationed in Kashmir in mid-nineties. This was the same period when hordes of militants from across the border infiltrated in Kashmir to spread terror. Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and scores of other terrorist groups were having a free-for-all rampage in Kashmir. They would infiltrate from Pakistan, recruit cadre, take them to Pakistan for training, bring them back and perform heinous acts of terror.

This was the same period when half a million Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs were massacred and forced to flee the valley.

This was the same period when Kashmir burnt under fundamentalism. It was next to impossible to differentiate between a peaceful nationalist and a killing-machine.

Whenever a cricket match would happen between India and Pakistan, Pakistani flags would wave across the valley as if we were sitting in heart of Pakistan. Any minority voice who dared to wave the Indian flag would be silenced immediately by militants.

It was during such a reign of terror, that Indian Army had to douse the fire in Kashmir with their own blood.

If someone suffered most severe human-rights violation in history of mankind, it was the Indian Army in Kashmir. We left our families in different parts of India and survived under harshest of conditions. For days we would sleep over guns in harsh climate and remotest locations just to keep tab on infiltrating militants. Anyone of us could be bombed away in a sudden attack of fundamentalism. Innumerable among us lost our lives. I lost my hand like so many others who lost their limbs or eyes. To die in a bomb blast was considered lucky. Because if you chanced to be captured by the militants, you would be slowly and mercilessly tortured to death. Militants and their supporters took pride in this gruesome ‘halal’ ritual.

Remember Saurabh Kalia? He is definitely not as popular as Vishal Bharadwaj or Shahid Kapoor. Because he was not a film star who made money by exploiting national interests. He was a humble Indian soldier who gave his life for motherland. He was captured by fundamentalists along with 5 more soldiers. They were taken across Line of Control and tortured as a religious ritual.

Pakistan army tortured their prisoners by burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, fracturing the skull, cutting the lips, chipping the nose, chopping off limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures and finally shooting them dead after twenty-two days, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple.

This made the killers “Ghazi” – who as per these fundamentalists gets highest number of most beautiful virgins in Heaven. All you need to do to be a Ghazi is to celebrate killing of a non-believer.

These five soldiers were after all the worst of creatures in world in eyes of jihadis. They were Indians, soldiers and idol-worshippers. What could be greater sin!

I was lucky because I could have been in Saurav’s place. Had I not lost my hand, instead of Saurav Kalia, I would have been ‘halal’ed to make someone Ghazi.

This was the same period when Indian Army made greatest sacrifice to save India and humanity from reign of death and blood.

And it is the same period around which the film “Haider” by Vishal Bharadwaj, Shahid Kapoor and anti-India jihadi writer Basharat Peer has been made and adored by “critics”.

No struggle for liberation in Kashmir

Everyone on ground knows that there is no struggle for liberation of Kashmiris in Kashmir. If that had been so, why native Kashmiri Pandits would have been massacred?

You need to spend just a few days in the valley to understand the true nature of struggle that lies hidden under this garb of Kashmiriyat.

It is simply a ploy to extend the reaches of Islamic fundamentalism. The same fundamentalism of Al-Qaeda and ISIS that is shaking the entire world.

Kashmiri militants are brainwashed to believe that they will go to Paradise only after India is conquered by an army of Jihadis. Listen to speeches of Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Muhammad. He talks of Ghazwa-e-Hind prophecy where Prophet made conquest of India a precondition for opening doors of Heaven.

In name of religion, the same poison is spread in minds of Kashmiri youth to make them militants.

Enemy within and outside

Yet Indian Army continues to face bullets from enemies and abuses from family. Today, on one side Pakistan is targeting Indian Army and minority locations in Kashmir with bullets. And around the same time, our own country-men create a film like “Haider” that paints Indian Army a villain.

On one hand, flags of ISIS are waved in Kashmir, and at same time, “critics” laud anti-nationalism of Haider as marvel of art.

Such co-incidences give ample evidence that somehow our enemies and certain elements from within our country consistently orchestrate great timing and coordination among each other that it is hard to believe that it was just a mere coincidence.

In Army, we are trained to observe such remarkable coincidences, understand what goes behind, and yet silently sacrifice ourselves for the mission of nation.

Haider shook me to core

I have myself faced irrepairable loss in saving motherland from anti-national militants. And my fellow armymen have made much larger sacrifices for the same cause. Thus the film Haider shook me to core.

It made me question for the first time – Whom are we fighting for? Whom are we defending? The same people who could make this film because of Army’s protection collude with an anti-national Jihadi writer to make a villain of Indian Army?

Is this the reward of our sacrifices that we continue to make? Are commercial gains and so-called artistic expression more important than motherland and humanity?

What if we had not fought terrorism by tooth and nail in nineties? What if we had not arrested the spread of terror to other parts of country through our own lives?

With friends like this, who needs enemies?

This is not a film-critics review. This is a review from perspective of an armyman, a lover of humanity and a son of India. A true secular who refuses to believe that God hates idol-worshippers so much that they will go to Hell. And aspires to fight against ideology that directly or indirectly nurtures such fundamentalist elements.

This is not rhetoric in jingoism

Unlike Haider, which is an experiment in fundamentalism, don’t consider the article to be a rhetoric in jingoism.

Yes, I love my country. I love my country more than I love anything else in life. I love my country not because I was born here or I am a native of this nation. It is not because I love the design of the map of India. It is because its timeless cultural and philosophical heritage that is built on core foundations of tolerance, acceptance and justice. So jingoism has no place for a nationalist and son of soil.

My nationalism does not make me aspire to conquer the whole world. It inspires me to enlighten the whole world. It inspires me to promote brotherhood across the globe and strive for “One World, One Family.” It inspires me to make India lighthouse of the world. I joined Indian Army not to conquer the world, but nurture and protect Peace that defines foundation of India.

I am not a movie-watcher. My mission never allowed me the luxury to fit movies or serials in my priority-list. But I made an exception for Haider.

Summary Review of Haider

While I will provide details later, let me state upfront – I find “Haider” to be a shameless commercialization of anti-nationalism.

No its not a rhetoric. This is the most “polite” way in which I can summarize the review of this film.

The more “practical” review summary is already being demonstrated by my Indian Army by appropriate retaliation to Pakistani misadventure of cross-border firing. Salutes to my Army for this. Am proud to lose my arm for you. And regret that I could not gift my life for you.

LOST ITS BEARINGS: INDIAN MEDIA

Indian media has begun to frighten and disturb me and perhaps many other ordinary people like me. Sitting always on a moral high ground, looking holier than thou: they pound you day in and day out. Their pitch is shrill, hysterical and tone always insulting. Especially towards panelists they don’t like or who come from across the border. For them no tragedy is so great to keep a distance from grieving families. It is alright to stuff mikes into wailing, crying peoples’ faces who may have lost a near and dear one. They need to learn from some of the international channels like BBC and CNN. Whenever, a tragedy has taken place in US or any other developed country, journalists never take bytes from grieving families. They respect their need for privacy and keep a safe distance, reporting only what they have gathered by speaking to others.

Even in conflict zones international journalists never show close-up visuals of blood and gore. They will speak about it in their report but not treat you to revolting sights.

Then there are a bunch of Hindi and regional language channels that thrive on crime programmes. Re-enacting the entire sequence, giving details of methodology used, in fact, a tutorial for would be criminals. When the Arushi murder took place Aaj Tak went crazy, actually using actors to enact the whole crime sequence, theorizing on motives, conducting a complete trial and even implying who had committed the murder.  In a highly publicized case like Nirbhaya’s the court had to step in to stop the airing of a show which was once again going to enact the entire sequence of events; but, what about the other crime shows that go on unabashedly? If, films can have a Censor Board, why not TV? The so called self –regulating body NBA has not been able to reign in anybody.

Recently, I was shocked when even a very responsible publication like Indian Express gave details of how a young mother drowned her two small children in a washing machine and bucket. Was it necessary? Wasn’t it sufficient to just say a mother committed suicide after killing her two children? In a country where children are routinely killed, especially girls, this is one more unique way of disposal. Millions have been informed in a few seconds. The other day Headlines Today announced they were going to show some disturbing images of a man being stabbed and a dog being brutally tortured. Why would you need to show such visuals? Unless it is serving some purpose of giving proof in a case where evidence is being tampered with, why murders on live TV should be shown. And the pictures are not even blurred. Not that it takes away the sickness from it.

It is not to say that media should not collect evidence of crimes committed by those in power against its citizens or by individuals against women, children and weaker sections of society. But, please show them with some amount of restraint and only when sufficient action is not being taken by authorities. When a girl was molested in Assam some years ago, the channels kept showing the visuals the whole day. For God’s sake! There is a limit to voyeurism.

Then we have the 9 pm prime time shows, with senior anchors from all channels fighting tooth and nail for the viewers’ eyeballs. And believe me it is really a slugfest. The funniest part the bulletins are the little windows which resemble kabutar khanas, pigeon holes, from where a string of eminent panelists peep out and try very hard to be heard. If you have ever watched News Hour on Times Now you will notice how hilarious it has all become now. With the anchor very clearly having strong opinions and shouting down all those who don’t agree with him. More pitiable is the plight of panelists from Pakistan who agree to come on the show. They are shouted down, not just by the Indian panelists but also by the anchor. When we did journalism in the cave ages, we were told the journalist’s job is to be neutral and to report without letting his/her own opinions or beliefs come into the report or news. Clearly, that’s not the case anymore. News is confused with editorial.

Then there are channels like India TV which thrive by allowing paid slots to gurus, astrologers and others involved in spreading superstitions with their mumbo jumbo. Are they fit to be called news channels? Men clad in saffron or black or whatever colour their faith prescribes, wearing 10 rings in all 10 fingers giving all kinds of weird advice about improving your life by some extra expenditure of course. Then there is this new breed of manicured and stylized Tarot readers and female healers who look more as if they are there to give fashion tips than tell your future. Why are these channels not doing what they are supposed to do? Give news.

NDTV, the one channel which was watched by boring people like me who didn’t like sensationalism are now bewildered by how it has begun to resemble Doordarshan in its monotony and lack of creativity. How many years will the same shows go on, with the same faces and the same formats?

Not to forget the breaking news disease; which, incidentally, happens every second of the day. If one channel announces some breaking news every other channel rushes in to get on top. The herd mentality comes in and pretty soon you will have no other news being telecast, even if you switch twenty channels. It will be beaten to a pulp and all other things will be forgotten. Take the case of IPL. The viewer’s exhaustion is never kept in mind when bulletin after bulletin reporters/anchors talk about the same story. It’s not enough to give 10 minutes of the bulletin to the main news. Please spare us poor viewers; we could do with something else. Surely, this country of 1 billion must be having other things happening. Since, last two days it is Narendra Modi and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate! We don’t know how many days it will go on. Dear God in heaven please step in to save this country which is under a deluge of mindless media assault.

THIS BLOODY WORLD!!!!

The earth is soiled with the blood of innocents. Every inch of it. Wonder if there is any place left where humans don't kill humans for senseless reasons. Leaders, whether of nations or rebel groups or terrorist outfits, create situations and the price is paid everyday by ordinary people---men, women and children, who had nothing to do with it in the first place. People who go about their lives just to make ends meet, send their children to school and put food on the table. No war is just. No war is legitimate. It never was. but, this race of homo sapiens never seems to learn. When the two world wars ended people hoped there would not be another. Peace is what everyone hoped and prayed for. But, that is one thing which will always elude us. We are not meant to have it. Because, someone, somewhere will always be unjust and want more than he needs. Strangely, it is always a 'HE'. Men in this world in their pursuit of power defined by ownership over lands, women and idealogies will always displace some legitimate humans.

If you are a normal, decent human being your stomach will turn by the blood curdling stories of barbarism, atrocities and absolute perversions that come out of conflict zones. Whether it is the state doing it or those in revolt. Killing was never so easy. Give a man a gun and he wields power over those who don't have it. With advancement in explosive devices it is so easy to kill in large numbers. And how! Dismembered bodies, heads blown off, rivulets of blood on streets. Little children, old people, women and men caught unawares. Dying a sordid death which they didn't deserve. It is no different when drones kill children from terrorists blowing people up. A recent video footage of a bomb blast in Pakistan was so disturbing, I couldn't get over it for days. A little boy of around ten who was a witness to the bloody explosion was seen crying and beating his head in despair. Is this a world we adults have created for them. When grownups can't get over war traumas of blood and gore how will children caught in such situations ever be normal.

Whether it is the Taliban or Sri Lankan forces or LTTE or Maoists or LET insurgents in Kashmir or Burmese Junta or Syrian rebels/forces or Israelis or Palestinians or Columbians or Iraqis or Afghans or Americans or NATO, its all the same in the end. Innocent lives are lost. Millions of people are displaced; living like refugees for months, sometimes years. Stories of rape, mass muders, multilations keep emerging. In places like Congo where civil war has been waging for years more than 3-4 million people are said to have died, both due to violence and because of disease, malnutrition and collapse of health services which are an outcome of conflict. Aid organisations like Red Cross and UN often come in the cross-fire too and can do very little given the magnitude of the crisis.

Most conflict zones are in some of the poorest countries and victims are mostly civilians. Not that the life of a soldier is less valuable. Strangely no other species is confronted with such violence. They live peacefully with each other, killing only to satiate their hunger pangs because nature created them that way. Humans who are supposed to be highly evolved in their intelligence have used it to only destroy the world and everything in it. Each of us has a duty to reflect, question and stop such mindless wars. Conciliation is the only way out.

To see all the places in the world where conflict is continuing click on the link below:
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=5847

SWORN TO PORN

Recently read an article in Sunday Times by a young man extolling the virtues of porn and how it had helped young men like him to learn and educate themselves about sex. He further went on to thank cable TVs' night shows which completed his schooling. Amazing. Really, never knew the purpose of porn was to educate. The history of porn and internet is only a few decades old. Does that mean people over the past millenia knew nothing about sex and were left in a state of celibacy because no one showed them how. Even animals don't need lessons. Nature takes care of that. But, human beings who consider themselves more evolved are expected to know the virtues of control and consent. But, it seems the human male specie is quite different. Their cravings have heightened to such levels that any woman or child will do, be it boy or girl. Ofcourse, greatly abetted and aided by the porn revolution taking place through technology. They may not surf to learn about some important events, discoveries or inventions. But, every male kid on the block, whatever his educational background, knows how to reach a porn site. And their age is getting lower and lower. So you have even 14 year olds raping. Not to forget sites of child porn aimed at a market of peodophiles.

This young writer goes on to ridicule his parents who would fumble for the remote when a sanitary towel ad appeared on TV. Ofcourse parents should give age appropiate information to children, and teach them about sex and about good touch and bad, but that doesn't mean they start performing in front of their children or sit and watch explicit scenes alongwith them. Surely, there has to be some parent-child distance. And I do believe parents do try to teach in their own way. Only today's generation is impatient to savour things too early. We came from a generation where parents were supposed to be parents and not friends. And thankfully so. The way things are today everything is pass. Nothing is shocking.

Recently, when the Justice Verma committee sat to recommend changes in laws against sexual assault against women, there was a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 16. The justification given was that today teenagers have become sexually active by that age and they should not be harrassed by police. There may be a point about harrassment but why do they need sex at sixteen. Fifteen-twenty years down the line there will be a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 14 and then 12. It will definitely happen, because kids would be indulging in it considering they are being bombarded with sex in every ad, movie, magazine,website, item song, etc, etc. It has happened in the US where teenage pregnancies have become one of the biggest problems society is facing because kids have become sexually active when they should be learning their Ps and Qs.


Few others also quickly go on to say that India is the country of Khajuraho. Clearly, if people cannot differentiate between art and sleaze it is a very sad time for a society to be in. The fact that porn is mostly watched by men all over the world is a telling fact itself. It baffles me what pleasure can be derived in watching two other people copulate and do all kinds of perverse things. Voyerism is completely acceptable in today's society.The recent rape case revealed that men who raped a 5 year old were poor labourers and probably illiterate, but nevertheless knew how to download porn. And once they were all  charged up and excited found the most vulnerable victim-a child. It has been well documented that the brain reacts to external stimuli. If you watch good stuff, read good books, interact with people who have other interests like sports, music, art, theatre, your inclination will also be different. In our culture we have been told about the benefits of satsang: good company. In any case, whatever was good in Indian society is fast disappearing but on the other side oppressive customs are still being proscribed by khaps: again male dominated. Sex has its place in life, but it cannot become the only thing one obssesses about.

Today the profile of rapists is confounding. Even, men who come from reasonably normal family background are indulging in gang-rape only for fun and time-pass. A reflection on how they look at a woman ultimately. Just a physical object. Ofcourse, you have to factor in children who are abused and treated violently or sexually abused. They can become perpetrators of similar crime unless given huge amounts counselling and emotional support.

It is a sad world we live in where human trafficking has reached alarming levels and the age victims is getting lower and lower. The reason being the male obssession for virgins, especially in Oriental countries. And it is a well organised business thanks to internet, which allows anonymity and quick response.

Some years ago I read about an owner of a porn business in USA closing shop after getting married and having his own children. Hilarious and disgusting. What about the millions of other children who perhaps fell victim to his trade?

Porn is an industry worth billions of dollars like tobacco and alchohol defended by millions of users.

Ofcourse, criminalising the viewer doesn't make any sense. It is those who run these sites who have to be controlled. Like every other vice which humans are addicted to we can not wish them away. But, if we have any responsiblity towards future generations we have to wake up and stop defending industries for whom money has to be made, anyhow.
 

BANGALORE: FROM GARDEN CITY TO GARBAGE CITY

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lal_bagh_gardens1794.jpg

Bangalore is unrecognisable today from the city I knew as a child. My father who was in the Indian Air Force had two postings in this wonderful city of gardens. Once in the fifties in Jalahali of which I have no memory except the barracks where we lived. The second outing was in late sixties when I was in the tenth standard. He was posted in Training Command at Hebbal. The Air Force station itself was one of the best we ever stayed in. Our house was on Eucalyptus Avenue, a lane obviously lined with Eucalyptus trees, a wonderful old fashioned bungalow with lawn in the front and vegetable garden at the back. But, equally beautiful was the city as a whole. How often we drove past the Makery Circle to M G Road on evenings just to go and eat out or see a movie. The roads were clean, open and lined with trees; the roundabouts at crossings always had beautifully tended flowers and evergreens. The civilian colonies had bungalows built in grey stone, surrounded by hedges and wooden gates. Nobody built concrete boundary walls in those days. Houses didn’t have fans and it drizzled almost every second day. Evenings always brought out light woollens. When we crossed Malleswaram the strong smell of filter coffee would hit us pleasantly. Also, when we went to the city as faujis say, my mother often bought vegetables at the Russell market which was an organised market in a proper covered enclosure. Bangalore has always been famous for its bakeries and confectioneries, in those days even more so. The British had just left some years ago and their mark was still felt. The streets used to smell of baked stuff and my father always picked up naankhattais from one of the bakeries. There used to be a drive-in restaurant, I can’t recall where but we loved the concept and felt we had driven into a city in the US. The waiter would come and attach a tray on all four windows of our Fiat car and we would happily munch away at our dosas and puris. Nilgiris existed then too and Brigade Road was open and airy. Today, every inch has been built up.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

Then the IT boom happened and the city and its infrastructure began to crumble and has now collapsed. Our urban planners and successive governments were just happy with the growing purchasing power and influx of skilled workers. They forgot they would need housing, water, electricity, roads, waste disposal. Today, when I go there which is at least once a year as my daughter lives there, I feel so distressed and angry I grumble and complain continuously. Every corner is an eyesore. Garbage piles lie on all corners. Construction of course like all other beautiful cities in the past decades has been so haphazard that cities have lost their individual characters completely. Be it Jaipur- the pink city, Bhopal-the city of lakes, Pune-the academic city. They all look the same; concrete jungles, ugly monstrosities sticking out like sore thumbs. You will see fancy malls in the middle of unauthorised colonies or congested areas; with of course people swarming like there is no tomorrow. Then there are the skyscrapers with huge amounts of encroachments around them. And traffic? Well that just doesn’t move. Nobody factored in the number of vehicles that would be plying. Of course, Bangalore has a lot of fancy eating places catering to the expats and multinational executives. But, it’s just another city lost in the debris of GDP growth.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

The streets are meaner, and there is much more crime, even the climate has changed. You have air conditioning in a city which didn’t even need fans. How did we get here? Where are the flowers, the gardens and avenues? All lost to commercial rape.

Source:http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/08_2012/blore_garbage.jpg

 

AFZAL GURU: A FLAWED EXECUTION

Afzal Guru, the key conspirator of the 2001 attack on India's parliament was hanged to death at 8 a.m. yesterday. The noose which had been hanging on his head since 2005 finally came down. Predictably, the electronic media went beserk and an array of  panelists voiced their opinions. Yes, the law took its course and the Supreme Court after hearing and seeing all evidence found it fit to award him the death sentence. A punishment in almost all countries for an act of sedition. The debate over capital punishment is ofcourse a separate issue. Nobody can or should doubt the wisdom of the court in arriving at this decision. But, what can be questioned is the manner in which the judgement was executed. The government of India, in this case, the UPA, which has been in power ever since developed cold feet, while, BJP the main opposition party found it a good horse to flog.  For eight years they kept the man alive in the shadow of death. Infact, they lulled him and his family into believing that it might perhaps not happen at all. And then all of a sudden with elections nearing and their new found confidence after Kasab's hanging they moved the file to the President advising him to reject his mercy plea, and within days hung him.

Firstly, why should a government of elected representatives who have vote bank compulsions have the power to over rule a judgement arrived at after a due process of law has been gone through: from sessions court to high court and finally to the supreme court. Since, such a provision does exist, why is there no time limit, and why in not adhereing to such a time frame the government is not held accountable.

Having risen from a boy peon's positon in court to a six year stint as a sub-inspector in Maharashtra police to becoming the home minister of India, Shinde has come a long way. But, he doesn't seem to have evolved since his sub-inspector days and is using SHO level tactics of handling criminals through secrecy and hoping everything would be alright once the deed was done. His confidence stems from  a similar execution done few months ago, viz, of Ajmal Kasab. What he forgot was while one was a Pakistani national, and had been caught on camera weilding an automatic gun, killing hundreds of Indians, the other Afzal Guru was an Indian national whose deeds had been more under cover and open to conjecture. Also, while Kasab had no sympathisers even in the Muslim community by and large, the other did have in his home state. It is not what the government does but what is perceived to be done which brings angst among people.Governments which come across as humane and upfront are believed and trusted and not those that violate basic human principles whatever the practical constraints.

Home Ministry has blundered. They forgot there was a family out there. By, not informing them before the execution, by not allowing them to see him one last time and by not allowing the man a last wish they have made a martyr out of him. However, big a crime, the criminal does have some people who love him irrespective of it and unconditionally; his immediate family. The government's statement that they had informed through speedpost is laughable. Ofcourse, they knew it wouldn't reach them in time. Perhaps, the worst thing that can happen is to know of the death of a family member through television. So, now they have a new problem on hand; the reactions of the people of Kashmir and their leaders in National Conference and PDP. While, the ruling party in J & K is understandably trying to distance itself by saying it had no part in the sudden turn of events, the opposition members are trying to cash in on the human angle. When will this country be freed of knee jerk decisions and partisan politics?

 

Betraying Our Soldiers

The civilian government and to some extent the top brass in our armed and para-military forces have betrayed our foot soldiers again and again. While, the decision makers wallow in complacency and directionlessness our men are left as sitting ducks for the enemy. Our soldiers are made to watch and seeth over the butchering of their colleagues while the powers that be mouth the usual nonsense.

They can very well retaliate with equal measure and avenge their honour, but the political establishment teeters and dithers and talks of ambiguous things like taking steps at the appropriate time. And when may one ask would that be. Death stalks a soldier always and he more than knows that and is ready to face the bullet for his thankless nation at all times. But, to be subjected to medieval methods of brutality is not what he signed up for. Beheading a brother in uniform even if he happens to be from the enemy side is something only people lacking completely in military decorum can do. Is this the 21st century or 19th? Inspite, of constant dialogue between DGMOs such things are happening. It speaks volumes of the duplicity of our neighbours and ofcourse the guilessness of our leaders. And what about intelligence? Were there any inputs from them? If not why? And if yes why were they ignored.

The Indian government is always late in its reactions. While, Pakistan is going all out to stall the so called confidence building measures, internationalising the events, stopping bus services; India is just posturing. And our Prime Minister ofcourse has never anything to say. After Indira Gandhi every Prime Minister and central government has failed its soldiers. We are expediting visa clearances of separatists who go and hobnob with leaders of terrorist groups!!!!! Why don't we just tell them to take Pakistani citizenship.

And what about the Maoists using soldiers bodies as booby traps; planting bombs inside them surgically. How did we as a nation and a state embolden them to such an extent. Because we forget every brutal incident like the terrible massacre of Dantewad. Not only was it an absolute failure of intelligence, planning and leadership at the highest levels; but also a complete abdication of moral responsibility of those at the top. And now we hear all 10 accused of killing those 76 men will walk free for want of evidence. Clearly, nobody is doing their job. We have seen in what abysmal conditions the CRPF men live. Shame on us as a country which just doesn't care for people who are there to protect us. While, our men are braving sub zero temperatures, avalanches and blizzards in Kashmir, the political class goes about their business as if this is just another skirmish.

PAEDOPHILES AT HOME

One more horror story has just tumbled out from our so called family oriented Indian household; that of a father, brother and an uncle raping a girl child for over two years in a small place called Dharmadom in north Kerala’s Kannur district. Today, she is thirteen, so when they started she was only eleven. Those who should have been her protectors were actually her predators. I believe none of us can even begin to imagine her trauma. Shattered for life she has been terrorized into bearing this abuse silently; even going about her daily life, as if nothing had happened. But, a human being can bear only so much that too at such a tender age. Finally, the barrage did break. It is creditable that for once the teachers in our not so observant schools actually noticed her crying and tried to get to the bottom of her misery.

What has come to light further is that her elder sister had committed suicide. One can only guess that she too had fallen victim to the horrendous acts of the trio. The mother has claimed ignorance which is highly unlikely but can only be explained by the fact that women in Indian homes are powerless against male members, howsoever, brutish they may be. She obviously has lived in terror herself, a voiceless person, with perhaps no income or standing of her own.

As per the statistics provided to the press by the Kerala Police’s State Crime Records Bureau, on an average, three rape cases are being registered in the State everyday while at least one minor is raped a day. Twenty cases of crimes against women are registered in the police stations of Kerala each day.

It is shocking that these things are happening in Kerela called God’s own country; a state with a matriarchal society, a high male–female ratio (for every 100 men there are 109 females) and high level of literacy. Clearly none of these things matter. The men will always rule the roost. They will, on the basis of sheer physical strength shown over centuries, continue to abuse women not sparing their own offspring even. This is not an isolated case. Such stories have been tumbling out of homes more and more frequently. What it means is that it has been always happening only more people are gathering the courage eventually to confide in some outsider who helps them report the case.

What kind of a creature is the human male? Not different at all it seems from the male species in the animal kingdom. At least he seems to be getting there.

How do we save our children (boys are not spared either) from such monsters? Clearly, the social support systems have disintegrated and the state has not been able to fill the gap. Whatever little is being done is being done by the non-profit sector with some help from media whenever such a case comes out in the open. The police are insensitive, doing shoddy investigation, the courts take years to convict and justice never seems to be done. Often, the perpetrators of such crime go scot free if they are influential. That is why there is no fear in doing such deeds. The classic example of the man, who raped Nurse Aruna Ram chandran Shanbaug in a Mumbai hospital, strangled her with an iron chain and left her to die, is today married and has even fathered a child after spending only seven years in jail. While, she has been in coma for the past 38 years ever since. Is this justice? If these are our laws they need to be changed immediately. Nothing short of life sentence should be given to such people. And life sentence should mean full life till death and not just 14 years.

India Today: Brutal, Savage, Perverse

I have been addicted to the morning newspaper. But, of late I open the pages with fear and trepidation. The sordid and morbid stories turn ones hackles. I shudder everyday in anticipation. Even though I have devised a method of reducing my agony by not reading the body of the news item carrying stories of violent crimes, the headlines say it all. And if you have successfully escaped the gory details in print, the TV channels will scream and bombard you with horrific images all day long till you are pulverised into such revulsion, you can hardly think straight. I am tired of grieving. The irony is, the average Indian is exhausted and cannot keep track of the gang rapes, lynchings, sexual assault and murder of little children, bride burning, honour killings, atrocities on dalits, bludgeoning of senior citizens, etc, etc. The things that are happening day in and day out with such sickening regularity makes me wonder if we are fit to be called human. Such barbaric acts of violence, such perverse  acts of sexual abuse.

Just yesterday a 17 year old boy was tortured and beaten to death for a mobile phone. A teenager in Pune kidnapped and killed a five year old because he needed money to buy a motor cycle. School kids are killing their friends for ransom. Is this what we call price of a human life? Cheaper than a material object. What have we come to? Few days ago a step father who subjected his five year old daughter to unnatural sex beat her to death or perhap suffocated her during the act. Another seven year old child died after being raped by her father's friends. What has happened to the Indian male? Is he so sexually frustrated that even 18 month old babies won't be spared. If his need is so great why can't he go to sex workers. And then the phenomena of gang rape which is so unique to India, especially north India where Haryana takes the pride of position. A state which has the lowest female/male ratio. First kill the female in the womb and then rape whoever is alive. Also, kill her after that.

We are a nation with no role models, no leaders, no ideals, no moral compass. Everything is chalta hai. Our heroes are bollywood stars who have glamourised violence and taken home pots of money for that. The others who attract a following are politicians for making quick money. Who are the children going to look up to ? They aspire to be what they see. They want to become rich and famous by the shortest cut. And being rich is the only yardstick of success and human worth. If in the process you have to commit a couple of crimes including murder--thats okay!!!

SIVAKASI : A TINDERBOX

The recent episode in Sivakasi, the city which makes 90 percent of the country’s firecrackers, is nothing new. Many such incidents have taken place in this tinder box in the past. Only the number of those dying keeps increasing. But death, even in such large numbers is not news in this country, where people die every day from all kinds of manmade reasons. The common factor in all these is always callousness and negligence, underlined by poverty on one side and power on the other. Be it money power, muscle power or position power. Those who die are invariably the poorest of the poor; basically nameless and only a number.

After every such incident, whatever the cause, compensations will be announced, enquiries constituted and then forgotten. Why, because, another major disaster would have hogged the headlines. After 38 people were killed in the recent series of explosions, the almost hilarious statement by government agencies was that they were kept in the dark about the cancellation of the factory's license by the deputy controller of explosives, who happens to be a central government official. The license was cancelled a day before the accident after an inspection found the unit overstaffed and stocking excess explosives. Weird!

Sivakasi, which is the capital of India’s firecracker industry, with about 8,000 factories has a turnover of Rs. 15 billion growing at the rate of 10% per annum.

These fireworks factories give direct employment, as well as, indirect, such as paper tube making, wire cutting, box making in the country side. They also produce military weapons, which are used for training in armed forces. Some airports are using Sivakasi rockets to scare away birds. Beside fireworks, it is also a major hub of printing presses and in-house studios, producing a variety of posters and calendars.

Sivakasi today produces 80% of India's total safety matches, 90% of India's total fireworks, and 60% of India's total offset printing solutions. It is one of the highest sales/excise/customs duty paying towns.

One would imagine a city which has returned so much to the exchequer, would deserve at least a single decent sized hospital, with a dedicated burns unit. In a place which has seen so many such disasters, the state government would have given the poor labourers’ working in this hazardous industry at least this much.

When such accidents take place in Sivakasi the severely burnt are driven in make shift ambulances 75 kms to Madurai.  Sivakasi is sitting on a volcano which erupts every now and then. And yet the roads are so narrow and bad that fire tenders cannot reach them.

Child labour too has been a major problem, but sustained campaigns by human rights activists have seen that practice come down drastically. However, with rising costs, the employment of children is re-emerging in a different way, according to social workers in the area. As per a press report, the practice of home-based firework production has started. This is done through a network of contractors and sub-contractors, which is not just creating fire hazards at homes, but also pulling children back into the industry.

According to a 2005 survey by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan—Virudhunagar district, where Sivakasi is situated, has the highest percentage (45%) of families with out-of-school children.

The violation of safety norms—which has caused around 1,000 deaths in the last 10 years according to some NGO estimates(the official figure is of course much, much lower)—continues unchecked due to insufficient government regulation of the industry.

Firms say rising costs and irregular labour availability has lead to home-based production, but only of non-hazardous kinds. NGOs dispute these claims. Production of fireworks in homes is not permitted, but those who do generally go unpunished because it helps the locals make a living.

According to a recent report, the tehsildar is the only officer in the entire state in charge of inspections for the matches and fireworks industry, and operates with just one assistant.

There have been an alarmingly high number of accidents in the fireworks industry despite tall claims made by the State government about the implementation of the Factories Act, 1948.

The labourers employed in the cracker units are forced to work under tremendous stress in order to meet production targets, especially during festival time like Diwali. Piece-rate work adds to their miseries.

According to another press report, scarcity of labour has led contractors bringing in untrained recruits despite the fact they have no the technical knowledge of the job, particularly chemical mixing, filling, fitting, drying, braiding, and packing. This has also resulted in fatal accidents. Unhealthy competition among manufacturers has led to the introduction of new varieties. This and the absence of proper training to workers and safety mechanisms make a deadly combination. In almost all the recent accidents, explosions occurred while handling chemicals.

Safety norms are blatantly violated. Instead of the permitted four people working in a room with four doors, 10 people are made to work. Some registered units do not have equipment such as copper plates to earth static electricity, lightning arrestors, or even protective masks. Fire control equipment is totally absent in most factories.

Also, buildings are not explosion resistant. Experts say the deaths are not just because of the blasts, but also because of the buildings disintegrating.

Recently, the mushrooming of illegal cracker units in the villages has made the workers even more vulnerable. According to reports nearly 100,000 people depend on the unlicensed sector whereas the licensed factories employ around 130,000 persons. Poor wages offered by the contractors of the licensed units was one of the reasons why labourers switched to the illegal sector.

These illegal units were actually started by the licensed companies, to outsource work. But the illegal sector got the support of dealers, raw material suppliers, and truck operators because they got better deals. The practice apparently still continues, in fact some licensees even lease out their manufacturing sheds.    Also, entire families including children work out of residences. Accidents occur every now and then, because cooking is done in the same room where combustibles are stored.

Finally, we heard the owner of the factory where the recent blast took place was arrested. As expected he turns out to be a member of the AIADMK. Such, blatant violations cannot take place without political patronage and an indifferent and corrupt administration. It does not matter which government is in power, they are all the same. Workers must realise individually they can be crushed but collectively they may have some voice. The NGOs working in the area can only show them the way towards collective bargaining or nothing will ever change. The media too takes notice only when there’s a disaster. Why don’t they run a relentless campaign against the pitiable condition of those workers? Or it is only a matter of time when another lot of people will be roasted alive.