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.

Indian armed forces losing the punch

It is my view that Indian armed forces are fast becoming unacceptably inefficient. They are losing their fighting capabilities at a dangerous rate. The latest is the way an IAF crew of 6, armed with LMG and more, shamefully abandoned a critically wounded CRPF soldier to howling Naxals. Just a fortnight back, an area domination patrol of an illustrious regiment, allowed the enemy to behead their patrol member while the rest of the patrol came back to narrate the story. Bungling at the patrol/battalion level, forced an unnecessary diplomatic crises on the country. Some years before that, about 400 elite NSG commandos ( army guys, though not under army for this operation) grappled for a few days to neutralize four ill-armed rogue adolescents from Pak. What they did in those days was a classic infantry company action of clearing a BUA (Built Up Area)and not what India's top anti-terrorist commandos are expected to do. Before that, Indian infantry fought in Kargil with practically all attacks being led by young Lts and followed by young soldiers. The oldies simply did not fight. With such a casualty rate of young officers and soldiers, we can not sustain a war for more than 6 months. By then, all our young would have died. In Kargil, IAF aircrafts dropped from the skies with no help from the enemy. Technical incompetence did them in. Prior to that, the mighty Indian army was nicely dented by ill-armed, ill clad civilian boys of the LTTE during the IPKF operations. Regiments with 200 years of history were neatly pummeled by wiry black boys of the LTTE. This is not an armed forces problem but a national problem. Pakistan has made several attempts to bite us. In all of them, he nearly succeeded in the initial operations. Finally, our superior numbers won us the day. What happens if he succeeds before our numbers can be brought to bear on him?

Indian Independence - An unfortunate event

I occasionally feel and publicly state that gaining independence from the British was an unfortunate event for the Indians. We would have been far happier under them than we are under the present rulers.
Whether we actually would have been happier under them is a matter of opinion. It is also a matter intellectual honesty. Many people agree with me that our lives would have been happier under the Brits but find it difficult to accept it, at least openly. They do not really disagree with me but feel that it they owe it to their sense of nationalism, to disagree.
I think, people have a right to find happiness for themselves, wherever they find it. That is why people go abroad and seek greener pastures.
Do you know how many Indians, all sensible and industrious ones, have consciously decided to leave the noble Indian rulers and settle down in other countries ( under other rulers ) and remain
happy thereafter'. 25 Million. Yes.  'India has the second largest diaspora in the world after overseas Chinese. The overseas Indian community estimated at over 25 million is spread across every major region in the world'. 
These people had the option to stay in their homeland and enjoy homegrown freedom, but they didn't.
I courageously maintain that those of us who have not followed suit is purely because we will not be able to make it abroad. Love of self-rule! My foot.
In any case, no one is truly independent; we all work under one ruler or the other. Whether they are Brit officers or Indian MPs/MLAs/Bureaucrats, matters only to the extent as to who is providing your more happiness.The colour of the skin does not matter.
In any case,I feel more pain in getting kicked by a person of my own community than someone from outside. In getting kicked by my own, there is the additional pain of having made a wrong decision by placing that guy in that position. I become party to inflicting that pain on myself- an abettor in the crime.
I would much rather be murdered than commit suicide.

What would happen to God In Oslo?

Just read of how an Indian couple in Oslo has been sentenced to jail for causing pain/injury to their children. Last year too, there was a similar case. In such a world, I really wonder for how long will God avoid going to jail. He mistreats his children day-in and day-out. And he is all too powerful to take the excuse that it is beyond HIM. He cam move mountains but can't take away even small miseries of his children. Would that be a fit case for a court in Oslo? I think so.

Indian Honour - a selfish notion

On the anniversary of 26/11, I got enlightened by seeing' Targetting Osama Bin Laden' on History channel. Was surprised to see that the US president authorized the hit despite only 40 % assurance level that the guy in the house was Osama. That means they themselves saw a 60% chance of things going horribly wrong. The 60% error rate was exclusively on the possibility of hitting the wrong guy. Other factors that could have led to operational failure were over and above these 60%. I would put the likelihood of failure due to a combination of all factors at 80%. President Obama knew it and still accepted it. Vow! That's some country.
The US raid was made possible not because of their technical superiority but their steely commitment to avenge killing of their people. Period.
At the same time, I also happened to be watching other TV channels where Indian leaders and TV anchors were merrily lambasting Pak and US ( Headley connection ) for the 26/11 in Mumbai. No one was talking of why Indian heads did not roll after the shocking negligence of our people at all levels. No one was talking of the fact that we always had 100 % confirmation of where the Pak handlers were staying for last 3 years, not just 40%! We have been telling the whole world that we know where these guys are. I think we would have done better to say that we do not know where these bums are and hence we are not able to take action against them but then, Indians never consider losing honour as a loss. The only loss we know happens on the Sensex.
Am absolutely ashamed of how my country refuses to stand by its people. If you ask for examples, a book can be written. It will have to start with the way we kept quiet when our BSF men were slaughtered on Bangladesh border and strung up on poles like animals. Years later, Lt Kalia tortured in Kargil and we just sent some letters of protest to Pak. Or did we? Am not too sure whether even that much happened. Those were not the days of Chidambaram's dossier wars, which came much later.
One more thing. Our people themselves do not complain unless something affects them personally. Honour in India only means killing our daughters who marry inside the community. No wonder, we have got the government we deserve.
Forget about avenging those who wee killed on 26/11, how about those who were wounded and expected the government to look after them? Read Indian Express Nov 26 Mumbai Newsline and you find examples of lack of govt support for future surgical operations, lack of follow up services leading to worsening of condition, private hospitals refusing to provide follow up treatment and other difficulties for wounded survivors. One concrete example - After being turned away from several hospitals and despite spending loads of money on travel and treatment, 26/11 victim, Fakir Mohd died of severe infection in his leg.
His only fault? Not having being born an American.

Parliamentarians represent their party or the parliament?

I have been thinking of the actions of the PM in which he clearly sought to be useful to his party at the expense of his country. I am referring to his decision to accept a lot of nonsense from ministers from the UPA alliance parties, only to prevent the UPA coalition from disintegrating and thus being of use to his party i.e. Congress. He is on record to mention 'coalitional dharma/politics'.
Was he right? Why fault him for being of use to his party? After all, he was put on this chair by his party!
No, he was wrong to have done what he did. Once placed on the PMs chair, he no longer represented the party. He only represented the nation.
In this debate, I'd like to quote Right Hon Edmund Berke in his speech to the electors of Bristol. Here goes -
'Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests; which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole. You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not a member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament.'
Speech to the Electors of Bristol (1774-11-03); as published in The Works of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke (1834)
What do you say?