Voting in India is such a waste of time

Justice Katju says on TV - 'Voting is such a waste of time'. I wholeheartedly agree. Due to the muck and grime involved, very few good men contest direct elections. Even if they do, they lose. India's twice PM, Manmohan Singh, had to be brought in through the indirect Rajya Sabha route. Did you know that all articulate and powerful ministers of UPA viz Anthony, Gulam Nabi Azad, Ravi Vyalar, Ashwani Kr, Jayanthi Natarajan, Jaya Ram Ramesh, Rajeev Shukla, GK Vasan, Anand Sharma, Tariq Anwar, Dr. Chiranjeevi - had absolutely no chance of winning direct elections and thus had to be smuggled in through the Rajya Sabha? So, your ministers are not those who you voted for, but those chosen by Sonia Gandhi! The party leaders know that those elected by people are good only to throw tables and mikes in the legislature but no more. For serious work, you need to look elsewhere. Even those who do contest Lok Sabha and somehow win i.e. if their dads were in active politics, will not be free to act as they feel right. The party president controls them. The otherwise competent and well meaning ManMohan Singh is an excellent example of this phenomenon. So, why should I waste my time? The stance we should take is this - Who ever sits on the throne, we'll make his life miserable through RTIs, PILs etc. The concept of handing over power to those who have the inclination to fight elections is a flawed concept. Only losers win there. A case of adverse selection. It has been tried In India and found to be 'not workable'. Power must be retained by individuals themselves.

Two countries - Two people

Today ( 15 March 2013), I saw the Indian Lok Sabha speaker on TV reading out the national rejoinder to the Pak resolution on Hafiz Sayeed. She says ' Whole of India, including that under illegal occupation of Pak, is an integral part of India and will always remain to be so.' She seemed very excited, with all MPs thumping the desks unanimously. Bharat mata ki jai. A school annual-day atmosphere. The whole episode is a good case study of - Two Countries:Two people. On the one hand, there is India and Indian politicians who have handed over large parts of its territory (POK) to Pak on a 500+ year lease, without any sanction from the people of India. Since sanction has not been taken from the real owners ie the people of India, they occasionally keep murmuring that they have not signed any lease. So, as a sham, every few years, they keep reminding the other party about the encroachment, but don't send any anti-encroachment notice to them. Write it, show it to own people, tear it up. Other party does not even feel tickled. They have already sold away parts of India's property to third parties. On the other hand, there is Pak and Pakistanis who make a similar claim on some parts held by India. However, they don't keep quiet, nor do they allow India to forget it. More than mere shouting, they keep making ALL possible efforts to regain it. Many of their people die trying it. They blow themselves up in small pieces just to keep the issue alive. Which country/people do you think has better chances of regaining the territory claimed, some day in future? God helps those who help themselves. So does Allah. Own territories are not regained by parliament resolutions and tons of dossiers. They are regained by sacrificing lives.