I along with my country folks and people from all over the world got somber yesterday for all the innocent victims of Bombay massacre last year. The mindless mayhem perpetrated upon the city and people of Bombay by a bunch of Pakistan-trained terrorists was so extraordinary that those 62 hours made India seem the most vulnerable. Bombay, of course, bounced back to life soon, showing its famed resilience once again in the face of its biggest adversity. The extraordinary courage shown by Taj Mahal hotel and Trident hotel staff, anti-terror squad's officers, CST's announcer, policemen, and most of all our elite NSG commandos was all the stuff of legends! Also encouraging was the solidarity shown by the citizens of India in severe condemnation of the most barbaric destabilizing act of the brainwashed extremists. We all heard India chanting: Enough is Enough!
The Indian government had to act. Under public pressure, it removed the utterly incompetent Home Minister. The Maharashtra chief minister and the home minister were forced to resign because of their absolute insensitiveness exhibited towards the most shocking of the carnage. India got a new Home Minister: a highly respected and perhaps the most competent so far. It felt India would finally be able to brace itself for any future fight to save its territorial integrity and maintain tranquility all around.
But nothing has changed apparently.
Except for the workings of the ministry of home affairs, of course. P. Chidambaram has successfully revamped the systems involved in maintaining homeland security to a large extent and we would soon be seeing him further minimizing the “accumulated neglect” and ensuring that India never ever gets under such hopeless circumstances.
But, beyond that? Has Bombay really learnt its lessons? Could Bombayites sustain their anger against the state government’s gross ineptness in handling the entire episode of terror? Did they decide to throw out the incompetent and corrupt government for bringing their beloved city to its knees in those horrific 62 hours a year earlier at the first opportunity thrown to them in terms of the state assembly elections recently? Sadly, the answer to all these disturbing questions is a big NO.
Bombay could never transcend beyond sloganeering. “Enough is Enough” remained only in the domain of a few people seeking short-term television appearance. They did not even come out to vote in enough numbers that could have upset the ruling party’s cartel. They did not even choose a few decent and capable professionals who had decided to take a plunge in the murky waters of politics, all for the sake of their fellow citizens. Worse, the same person got the Home portfolio whose utterly shocking sentiments that “such small things keep happening in big cities” had offended the entire nation post 26/11.
The fact that Bombay tries to disguise its indifference towards its narrow day-to-day routine grind of life by showcasing its so-called virtue of “resilience” is immensely disappointing. And this was at its best display yesterday – a year post 26/11.
The citiwallas had no time to come together even in remembrance, forget about showing solidarity and strength in demanding answers from the state and the central governments for their continuing apathy. Whatever we saw happening yesterday in Bombay and elsewhere as a mark of 26/11 first anniversary was all thanks to media’s initiatives, television channels in particular. Otherwise, the so-called Maximum City was happy with its minimum exhibition of its emotions.
(And, by the way, where were all those stalwarts, again, – by/for/of Marathi Manoos - ever eager to divide Bombay – err, Mumbai – in the name of the so-called Maratha Pride? Perhaps, they did not deem the issue of Mumbai’s safety strong enough a platform to garner a few more gullible votes! Honestly, I pity Shiv Sena and MNS alike.)
I pray for all those departed souls and their family members left behind. I pray for enough strength to our Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram who has the skill and the will to set things right. I pray for sustained security and prosperity of my country.
God save India.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thank You, All !
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was "thank you," that would suffice,” said Meister Eckhart a few centuries ago. Today, on this Thanksgiving Day, I take a leaf out of his saying and “Thank” all those people who made – and make – me who I am.
In essence, at the core, I Thank God for His/Her Blessings for surrounding me with the most wonderful of people i.e. my parents, to start with. Though “Thanks” is a very mild expression of my strong feelings of gratitude and love and respect that I have for them, yet I say, “Thank You, Mummy and Papa!”
I “Thank” my sisters for being in my life as “true” friends, more than anything else!
I “Thank” my knowledgeable teachers for imparting the best of knowledge and values!
I “Thank” all my friends who came into my life at various stages and made my life worth living!
I “Thank” all my “foes” too who made me acquire enough strength and learn the ways to survive in this “big bad world”!
I “Thank” Mahatma Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and all great historical and living figures in various fiields, authors, musicians, moviemakers, media, newspapers, sportspersons, and everybody and everything else for making my life enjoyable and comfortable!
Last, but not the least, I “Thank” my country for democracy and secularism that She has granted for my Free Life!
Thank You, All!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
:)
In essence, at the core, I Thank God for His/Her Blessings for surrounding me with the most wonderful of people i.e. my parents, to start with. Though “Thanks” is a very mild expression of my strong feelings of gratitude and love and respect that I have for them, yet I say, “Thank You, Mummy and Papa!”
I “Thank” my sisters for being in my life as “true” friends, more than anything else!
I “Thank” my knowledgeable teachers for imparting the best of knowledge and values!
I “Thank” all my friends who came into my life at various stages and made my life worth living!
I “Thank” all my “foes” too who made me acquire enough strength and learn the ways to survive in this “big bad world”!
I “Thank” Mahatma Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and all great historical and living figures in various fiields, authors, musicians, moviemakers, media, newspapers, sportspersons, and everybody and everything else for making my life enjoyable and comfortable!
Last, but not the least, I “Thank” my country for democracy and secularism that She has granted for my Free Life!
Thank You, All!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
:)
Friday, November 13, 2009
Vande Mataram Controversy: Pathetic Politics of Identity
If every individual was to ask this question to himself/herself: Who am I? The answer would be the same in each case: I am an Indian / American / Mexican / Brazilian / Pakistani / South African / Australian / Bahraini / Iraqi / South Korean / German / English / Mauritian / Nepali / Bhutanese / Sri Lankan / Chinese / …, No person will ever get identified as a Hindu / Muslim / Christian / Jew / Buddhist / etc. in the world. If any body has any conflict of views here, he/she can simply glance through his/her passport, and, taking it further, he/she should try getting a visa to any country on this earth based on his/her religion and not his/her nationality.
Thus, when we are born with a “pre-defined” – and pre-destined - identity based on our “nationality”, then from where does this dilemma arise about ones identity? If a person is of a particular nationality, then everything belonging / related to that particular nation is the inheritance of him/her as well. Say, I am an Indian and therefore everything Indian has a connection to/with me. Be it its history, its legacy, its anthem, its song, etc. It doesn’t matter at all that I was born into a particular religion or a particular region or a particular caste or a particular community. My country remains India; my national anthem remains “Jana Gana Mana”; my national song remains “Vande Mataram”.
And, if I have any problems proudly adopting any of my Indian legacies, then I am free to relinquish India and be a part of that world where my religious identity will be of paramount importance and not my nationality i.e. where my passport will be stamped based on my religious beliefs and visas would be granted based on my religious allegiance.
Vande Mataram …!!!
P.S.: I appreciate Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's efforts in making those fatwa-issuing maulwis come to senses. ... Wonder why there wasn't much of protest from our home minister P. Chidambaram who was present at that Deoband's meet ...
Thus, when we are born with a “pre-defined” – and pre-destined - identity based on our “nationality”, then from where does this dilemma arise about ones identity? If a person is of a particular nationality, then everything belonging / related to that particular nation is the inheritance of him/her as well. Say, I am an Indian and therefore everything Indian has a connection to/with me. Be it its history, its legacy, its anthem, its song, etc. It doesn’t matter at all that I was born into a particular religion or a particular region or a particular caste or a particular community. My country remains India; my national anthem remains “Jana Gana Mana”; my national song remains “Vande Mataram”.
And, if I have any problems proudly adopting any of my Indian legacies, then I am free to relinquish India and be a part of that world where my religious identity will be of paramount importance and not my nationality i.e. where my passport will be stamped based on my religious beliefs and visas would be granted based on my religious allegiance.
Vande Mataram …!!!
P.S.: I appreciate Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's efforts in making those fatwa-issuing maulwis come to senses. ... Wonder why there wasn't much of protest from our home minister P. Chidambaram who was present at that Deoband's meet ...
LOL: Line of Linguistic Divide
I love my country. I love and respect her for diversity and democracy. Though I am critical of her “deliberate” shortcomings, especially the apathy of a small minority of its “privileged” class towards the population on the other side of the divide, but today I will talk about India’s linguistic legacy only.
India is home to one of the oldest civilizations and she continues to flourish because of her celebrated diversity manifested in myriad fields including languages. Amazingly, there are 22 “official” languages (Hindi being the most widely spoken by almost 45% of public) besides scores of dialects. And India being a democratic country, everybody has the right to speak, write, and read in whatever language he/she feels comfortable. Though English is the “common” language used in business and administrative set up, yet nobody is ‘bound’ to adopt a particular language for anybody’s else’s sake.
Same linguistic rights are with elected members of the Parliament and the State Assemblies. And what happened with Abu Azmi, SP’s MLA-elect during his oath administration, is utterly disgusting. The shameful conduct of MNS MLAs (or goondas?) was also unlawful, who deserved nothing less than expulsion for the entire term. I wonder why no action was taken against Raj Thackeray for issuing a verbal diktat to Abu Azmi against his planned oath taking in Hindi? The deranged and highly unimaginative MNS Chief should be banned for life from contesting political elections and should be punished appropriately as a lesson to all other divisive characters in our society.
What was more disgusting was the mute spectator status of the ruling Congress party in Maharashtra. Why couldn’t it summon enough courage to stop that act of disruption of the MNS? If it thinks that by supporting MNS spread its wings, it will be able to weaken the Opposition and will be able to thrive and survive for long, then it is sadly mistaken. The Congress will soon see itself getting wiped out from the political canvas of the state. No one has ever succeeded in successfully rearing a monster; the latter has always bitten back, and hard. … Rahul Gandhi, are you listening???
I feel like LOL: laughing out loud on my beloved country’s LOL i.e. Line of Linguistic Divide.
God save India.
India is home to one of the oldest civilizations and she continues to flourish because of her celebrated diversity manifested in myriad fields including languages. Amazingly, there are 22 “official” languages (Hindi being the most widely spoken by almost 45% of public) besides scores of dialects. And India being a democratic country, everybody has the right to speak, write, and read in whatever language he/she feels comfortable. Though English is the “common” language used in business and administrative set up, yet nobody is ‘bound’ to adopt a particular language for anybody’s else’s sake.
Same linguistic rights are with elected members of the Parliament and the State Assemblies. And what happened with Abu Azmi, SP’s MLA-elect during his oath administration, is utterly disgusting. The shameful conduct of MNS MLAs (or goondas?) was also unlawful, who deserved nothing less than expulsion for the entire term. I wonder why no action was taken against Raj Thackeray for issuing a verbal diktat to Abu Azmi against his planned oath taking in Hindi? The deranged and highly unimaginative MNS Chief should be banned for life from contesting political elections and should be punished appropriately as a lesson to all other divisive characters in our society.
What was more disgusting was the mute spectator status of the ruling Congress party in Maharashtra. Why couldn’t it summon enough courage to stop that act of disruption of the MNS? If it thinks that by supporting MNS spread its wings, it will be able to weaken the Opposition and will be able to thrive and survive for long, then it is sadly mistaken. The Congress will soon see itself getting wiped out from the political canvas of the state. No one has ever succeeded in successfully rearing a monster; the latter has always bitten back, and hard. … Rahul Gandhi, are you listening???
I feel like LOL: laughing out loud on my beloved country’s LOL i.e. Line of Linguistic Divide.
God save India.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Our Pitiable Neighborhood
Often I wonder what went wrong with the DNA construction of Pakistan that since its inception it has remained crippled. Nevertheless, no matter that it has waged many wars on my country, albeit unsuccessfully every time, tries to wreck India’s stability with its repeated terrorists attempts, again, unsuccessfully, that it has annexed a considerable chunk of my nation’s territory – that portion renamed by the world as Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK), in India it rightfully being referred to as POK – Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, I feel no animosity towards our neighbor that is now called a failed state worldwide. For me, Pakistan is a country which was cleverly severed by British from India’s body a little more than six decades ago, and Pakistanis are the beings who were Indians only till recently, a little more than six decades ago.
But, I feel pity for Pakistan.
I feel pity for Pakistan because it has let its politicians and army exploit it to the hilt without ever forcefully raising its voice in protest and punishing the perpetrators of anarchy, utter mismanagement and extreme corruption. It has silently suffered repeated rapes. I wonder why …
Perhaps, something went wrong completely during its inception.
Pakistan was created by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, himself a staunch secularist and an atheist, but who fancied and fashioned his “idea” of his country on his politically motivated notion entrenched in separatism and religious bigotry. Jinnah was one of the most hypocritical of the world leaders who exhibited a complete dichotomy between what he preached and practiced. Still I believe that if he would have remained alive for considerable period of time post partition, he could have led Pakistan on a different trajectory than the one on which it found itself sliding after his sudden death soon after its partition from India.
Even if Pakistan was created as a Muslim state – of the Muslims, by the Muslims, for the Muslims – even if it has been governed (shall we say, ruled?!) by army dictators for most period of its existence, even if it went along with US and became its puppet along the way, even if it created Taliban and let its soil used for waging terror attacks on India and elsewhere, even if … still it could have become a much better country for its own folks. I wonder why it did not happen …
All that Pakistan had to do was to show the same amount of courage that it showed in orchestrating the ouster of General Pervez Musharraf, every time it found itself being manipulated by its greedy politicians and brutal dictators. And the things would have been much better for Pakistanis. It just had to think about itself rather than getting distracted by things hugely detrimental to its own interest and no one else. Islam, its ‘founding’ religion, could have come as its biggest guide in its endeavor towards stability and prosperity, if interpreted and followed properly of course. Pakistan was not required to be friends with India if it didn’t want to be. Forget about the illusions of cricket and people-to-people contacts and other initiatives to so-called normalize the situation across both sides of the LOC. Pakistan just had to do what was good for sustainable peace and prosperity of its own people.
Instead, Pakistan continues to live in its blinkered world with a mind perpetually in denial. Instead of taking sincere corrective measures to rid itself of the ever increasing menace of its own creation i.e. Taliban and scores of other extremists outfits; instead of dismantling the terror network and infrastructure built on its land – supported by the establishment itself of course, Pakistan is shamelessly diverting blames on India for all its woes, including Taliban’s terror! I find it extremely preposterous and pitiable at the same time.
Today, the state of affairs in Pakistan is so pathetic that the world is wondering if it will survive and for how long before collapsing completely. For me, an Indian, Pakistan’s political and social stability is crucial for the peace in my own country.
I say, wake up Pakistan! Else, the time is not far when you will get fatally mauled by your own demons. Let the world feel proud of you rather than pity you, as I do.
Pakistan will come to its senses someday soon, I am sure. Or is it audacity of hope? I hope not. Inshallah …
But, I feel pity for Pakistan.
I feel pity for Pakistan because it has let its politicians and army exploit it to the hilt without ever forcefully raising its voice in protest and punishing the perpetrators of anarchy, utter mismanagement and extreme corruption. It has silently suffered repeated rapes. I wonder why …
Perhaps, something went wrong completely during its inception.
Pakistan was created by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, himself a staunch secularist and an atheist, but who fancied and fashioned his “idea” of his country on his politically motivated notion entrenched in separatism and religious bigotry. Jinnah was one of the most hypocritical of the world leaders who exhibited a complete dichotomy between what he preached and practiced. Still I believe that if he would have remained alive for considerable period of time post partition, he could have led Pakistan on a different trajectory than the one on which it found itself sliding after his sudden death soon after its partition from India.
Even if Pakistan was created as a Muslim state – of the Muslims, by the Muslims, for the Muslims – even if it has been governed (shall we say, ruled?!) by army dictators for most period of its existence, even if it went along with US and became its puppet along the way, even if it created Taliban and let its soil used for waging terror attacks on India and elsewhere, even if … still it could have become a much better country for its own folks. I wonder why it did not happen …
All that Pakistan had to do was to show the same amount of courage that it showed in orchestrating the ouster of General Pervez Musharraf, every time it found itself being manipulated by its greedy politicians and brutal dictators. And the things would have been much better for Pakistanis. It just had to think about itself rather than getting distracted by things hugely detrimental to its own interest and no one else. Islam, its ‘founding’ religion, could have come as its biggest guide in its endeavor towards stability and prosperity, if interpreted and followed properly of course. Pakistan was not required to be friends with India if it didn’t want to be. Forget about the illusions of cricket and people-to-people contacts and other initiatives to so-called normalize the situation across both sides of the LOC. Pakistan just had to do what was good for sustainable peace and prosperity of its own people.
Instead, Pakistan continues to live in its blinkered world with a mind perpetually in denial. Instead of taking sincere corrective measures to rid itself of the ever increasing menace of its own creation i.e. Taliban and scores of other extremists outfits; instead of dismantling the terror network and infrastructure built on its land – supported by the establishment itself of course, Pakistan is shamelessly diverting blames on India for all its woes, including Taliban’s terror! I find it extremely preposterous and pitiable at the same time.
Today, the state of affairs in Pakistan is so pathetic that the world is wondering if it will survive and for how long before collapsing completely. For me, an Indian, Pakistan’s political and social stability is crucial for the peace in my own country.
I say, wake up Pakistan! Else, the time is not far when you will get fatally mauled by your own demons. Let the world feel proud of you rather than pity you, as I do.
Pakistan will come to its senses someday soon, I am sure. Or is it audacity of hope? I hope not. Inshallah …
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