Ok – if you started to think of this as another blog on the Indian Premier League, I’ve got you stumped! By IPL, I meant Indian Political League this time!  But to give you and the way you think some credit, let me be fair – I will have some references to the cricket IPL as well, so it wasn’t as bad in the end eh!

I’ve had a lot of fun watching both these leagues unfold over the last few months. If the ride up to these events was fun, the actual events and the end result was very heartening to see indeed. Here is my take on five big lessons learnt from these leagues:

1. Planning & execution is the key to success:

The Congress pulled off a few rabbits off their hat. Sweeping the polls in states that have never been their bastion, the Congress clearly showed that planning and executing well is the key to success. The cricket league had something pretty similar to showcase too. Teams ranked 7 and 8 in the inaugural edition of the IPL played the finals and it was ironic enough that the tables turned and turned literally. The team that finished last a year ago was the winner. Gilly, the man behind this turn around has in interviews revealed the secret of this turn around – Some good planning, learning from mistakes and some smart execution.

2. There’s no place for “Left” overs:

The Left, a major opponent of development was ousted. In what I believe is a fitting message for them to change and embrace development, the Indian electorate showed that we want to move on. In subsequent interviews, the leaders of the Left, snorting under the message they received said that their party was out of touch with the ground reality! WOW! Did it need Einstein to figure this out?

Wasn’t Somnath Chatterjee saying the same thing a while ago? The story wasn’t different in the cricket league  either – Ganguly, the Lord who can’t field, run or bat was a poor shadow of himself. Being a passenger on the slow moving good train that was KKR, he for sure played his last ever game. Should I say I was fortunate enough to see him play his last? . Laxman, the rock star of test cricket and a spectator in T20 was asked to go home mid-way with the champion side. He was rusty to say the best and played his part “motivating” the team on the benches for a large part of the second half!

3. Charge of the “Youth” brigade:

While old is not necessarily out, youth for sure is in. From Rahul Gandhi to all those young chaps who’ve become members of Parliament, this is a new beginning. There’s for a moment no discounting the old hands here – but the guy’s who actually made it through are the finest and probably the fittest. While I’d love to believe that it’s the case always, there are a few exceptions too right?

How else can you explain an 81 year old with prime ministerial aspirations running the race and winning too? The sane can be said if a former Finance minister who won by the skin of his teeth – there’s a sect of people that believe he didn’t but, is controversy ever away from Indian politics? With the cricket, the Suresh Raina’s and the Rohit Sharma’s continue to impress driving home the fact that Indian cricket is in safe hands. If that wasn’t enough, the emergence of Kamran Khan and Manish Pandey is more testimony to this fact. Welcome to the future – the big turn is just around the corner

4. Failure is an orphan:

From being the toast of Indian cricket ( I still believe he is), MSD wasn’t a part of the dream team that the Chairman of selectors put together. At the expense of stating the obvious, I find it ridiculous that a semi final loss actually had such a steep fall for poor MS. Don’t worry MS – you hold all the keys with your young guns – this is a freaking domestic league at the end of it. Don’t let these distractions take anything away from you.. we need you and nee you in full flow for the other big things coming up. These spineless souls will soon be singing your praises! On the political side, the queen makers if you will, had such a fall. From being courted, wined and dined, they were all dropped like hot potatoes (don’t tell me they look like one now please!) from the moment the lead results started to come out. So much for loyalties and alliances eh!

5. Don’t burn bridges, especially by wagging your tongue:

The cake goes to out former Railway minister. After having a good 5 yrs at the helm, he fell apart with the leadership and went on record to say that the Congress will not win more than 3 seats in Bihar. He didn’t stop there, going on to criticize Sonia and the party that he has been associated with for a good 5 yrs. Guess what happened? Our friend won just 3 seats instead and had to eat humble pie – but to his credit, he came out and said he made a mistake! He went to Delhi with his tail between his legs saying I will provide my unconditional support! What does 3 mean when someone already has 300+ mate? What happened on the cricket?

The war of words on the proposed multi captain theory had its share of fallouts – While people love to talk and comment, this war broke an already divided house into pieces of garlic bread that everyone was content to just eat! From being the butt of all jokes to finishing last on the table, they saw it all. The extent of the damage that these talk have done is still being estimated ( hopefully, Fake IPL players predictions on changes to this team will seal it). The piece I loved the most was a commentator on TV saying, forget winning here – I understand… but look at the fair play awards list, KKR are last here too!! I can tell you one thing for a fact – this commentator has no role to play in any future KKR team. Will he want to is a different question though!

With these leagues over, I realize that my evenings are never going to be the same again. TV shows will be back in vogue – but what the hell, the cricket is just around the corner you see!

Image Credit: Tom@HK

Popularity: 36%

In the brief moment it takes me to press the button of my choice on the voting machine, I become the master of our rulers and that feeling is exhilarating, though only in fleeting. Democracy above all forms of government is the most natural and enduring because in principle, every individual citizen is counted and respected.

Unfortunately, in our country, the power I wield is very ephemeral. Till I get another chance after 5 years at pressing that button again, the people whom I am supposed to have anointed to rule over my destiny run amuck. They amass wealth, plunder, and run rough-shod over the people on whose behalf they govern. During those 5 years, I become part of an amorphous, formless crowd. Let me tell you the sad story of Dr.Binayak Sen so that you may understand the other side of the dance of democracy.

Young Binayak wanted to be a doctor and he went to C.M.C, Vellore to do his M.B.B.S in 1966. He was a gold medalist and was selected to do M.D course in paediatrics. Here again he excelled and was among the top students. He then joined the faculty of the Centre for Social Medicine at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Though as a bright doctor the world was his for the asking, his idealism led him to join a rural health programme in Madhya Pradesh.

Later, he And his wife, Illina, a teacher, chose to go to rural Chattisgarh, to work with mine workers’ unions. The husband-wife team plunged headlong into various projects aimed at improving the rural health and education of the community. The tribal Adivasis lived in a world of abject poverty, injustice and a system that bred exploitation. He then worked for a salary of Rs.600.

Dr. Sen and his wife, Dr. Ilina Sen, founded Rupantar, a community-based organization aimed at training and supporting community health workers in several villages, fighting against alcohol abuse and violence against women. Dr. Sen has been involved in various other organizations committed to developing a low-cost, effective, community health programme in the tribal and rural areas of Chhattisgarh. He holds the postion as the Vice President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

It soon became clear to him that health of the community he sought to serve was linked to organized movement towards attainment of human rights. He raised his voice against human rights violations and the fake encounters involving supposed Maoists. He also spoke up against the war waged by the government of Chhattisgarh against the adivasis in Dantewara in the name of Salwa Judum which is an army of private citizens armed and supported by the government supposedly to fight the menace of the Maoists. What Salwa Judum initiative has achieved is to pit Adivasis against Adivasis and break their bond and unity.

On 14 May 2007 Dr Binayak Sen was arrested and thrown into a Raipur prison on trumped up charges of supporting Naxal activity in Chhattisgarh. He is charged under various draconian laws pertaining to sedition, waging war against State under various sections of the repressive Chhatisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 and the Unlawful Activities Act, 2004 (Amended) and various sections of the IPC. He has been denied bail though the case against him is very weak. To compound matters, Dr.Sen has a weak heart condition and he has been denied permission to get treated in Vellore Medical Mission hospital.

Two years of continuing sentence in jail is the price a non-violent, peace loving Dr.Binayak Sen has paid for giving three decades of his life for the sake of the poor and the voiceless. It is a shame that we in India allow a person like him to be sent to jail while carrying on our shoulders some elected looters and murderers masquerading as our leaders. Just as we celebrate the greatness of our democracy through these elections, Dr.Sen’s case should prick our conscience. In this case, the less said about the Indian judiciary, the better. It has repeatedly denied Dr Sen bail for two years.

Is it not frightening when the state wages a war against its own citizens and the rights of the individual is confined only to the constitution? What is even more depressing is that Dr.Sen is a non-issue for most of us Indians.

There is a nice quote from Martin Niemoller to wake us up. “First they came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me.”

At the heart of democracy is the right of the Individual. The rights of the individual should last beyond the act of voting. It should last a life time. We have a long way to go.

Image Credit: contact@binayaksen.net

Popularity: 37%

Elections to the 15^th Lok Sabha are underway. This election has been characterized as one devoid of any major campaign issue. It appears that both the two national parties –BJP and Congress- are losing their influence. They are losing out to smaller niche, rural parties and caste groups. This is turning out to be a great opportunity for a wide variety of smaller party leaders and the Left parties to exert their influence. They all are aiming at either becoming kings or king-makers.

All these parties and leaders have come together to form the Third Front. Their only common ideal? Ambition. Whenever the non-Congress, non-BJP lead alliances have ruled the country, there have been long periods of social, economic and political instability. The first non-Congress government formed by the Janata Party ruled for 3 years (1977-1980) and had two Prime ministers – Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. The next non-Congress, non-BJP government was the National Front government which lasted for 2 years (1989-1991) and had two Prime ministers – V.P.Singh and Chandrasekhar. The United Front government lasted less than 2 years (1996-1998) and had 2 Prime ministers – H.D. DeveGowda and I.K. Gujral.

If we look at the trend, we will notice that unstable Third Front governments and stable BJP/Congress led governments come to power alternately. So if that trend continues, we can be sure that we will see another unstable Third Front government coming to power this time.

Interestingly, two new groups seem to be emerging in the political scene. The first group claims it is a non-Congress, non-BJP and non-Third Front alliance and calls itself the Fourth Front. The constituents of the Front are the parties of the movie stars Praja Rajyam Party (of Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh) and DMDK (of Vijaykanth in Tamil Nadu). The alliance within the UPA alliance – Lalu Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mulayam Yadav , Sharad Pawar – also seem to be gravitating towards the Fourth Front.

The second is a disparate group of individuals who are mostly highly successful professionals in their chosen fields and have entered the politics with noble intentions. They are contesting as independents in urban constituencies that have higher number of educated middle class voters. They include Meera Sanyal from South Mumbai, Capt. Gopinath from South Bangalore, Sarath Babu from South Chennai, Ashish Saxena (a 30 year old social worker-) and Mallika Sarabhai from Ahmadabad among others.

The established parties are worried about these independents and hence brand them as spoilers and many voters wonder if elected, will they achieve anything worthwhile since they will not have any clout in the government. Since voters do not perceive them as winnable, they also have a lower chance of getting these votes.

It is very likely that these candidates do not win this election. But there is definitely hope for them for the next election. The Indian middle class is expanding and the number of urban Lok Sabha seats is increasing. The frustration of the middle class voters at non-performing politicians is increasing and if there is a viable alternative, these voters are definitely going to vote for that alternative.

In my mind, the best alternative is the formation of the Fifth Front. This Front should bring together all the capable independents under one fold and have a set of common manifesto. The candidates themselves should have individual manifestos that touch upon the developmental issues pertaining to their constituency.

They should also rope in similar minded people like Shashi Tharoor, K. Pandiarajan from other parties and parties like Lok Satta, Lok Paritran, Jago Party and Professionals Party of India. This Front will have no caste, regional or linguistic identity and will have the noble purpose of serving the country. The Front will focus on developmental activities for the countries and not try to divide the country along various lines.

Is it possible? The answer is yes. Is it probable? Tough to say. What do you think?

Popularity: 29%

This boy was born and bought up in a slum in India. His family was poor and he had to struggle all through his early life. Even though there was lot of challenges, he believed in hard work and in doing the right things. Even while working hard to make a living, he never forgets his true love. He enters a quiz show and got all the answers correct. At the end of the show, he becomes a millionaire. But he is not satisfied. He longs for his true love. Then one day, he gets a chance to meet his true love.

Sounds familiar?

This is the story of Sarath Babu, the independent candidate for the South Chennai Lok Sabha seat. Sarath was born in a slum in Madipakkam in Chennai. He was born into a poor family with 6 members and his mother was the only breadwinner of the family. She raised them by doing multiple jobs that included selling idlis. Metaphorically speaking, Sarath enters the quiz show called life and gets all the answers correct. He worked hard and secured admissions to one of the top engineering colleges of India – BITS Pilani.

After completing his bachelor studies, he worked harder and got admitted to IIM-Ahmadabad. While at IIM-A, he gets high profile job offers but rejects all of them to pursue his passion of starting his own business and of helping young people by providing them employment. After some initial failures, his venture – Food King is a big success and has a turnover of about Rs.7 Crore and Sarath is a millionaire now.

But, is he satisfied yet?

No. His true love is to serve the people and bring about a positive change to people around him. So when the Lok Sabha polls were announced, he did not have to think twice before announcing his candidature for the Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency. This is his way of trying to bring change to the country.

What makes Sarath’s story outstanding is the courage he displayed at every turn in his life and how high he aims. There are other high profile independents contesting in different parts of the country but none of them have achieved so much in such a young age against so many odds. Remember he is only 29 years old.

Sarath is reaching out to the voters of South Chennai and he has a fairly large number of BITS and IIMA alumni volunteering for him and working round the clock. Now, it is an open question whether he will win or not. Most of the pundits have already written him off. But then, not many would have thought that he would succeed when he started his own food catering business. Irrespective of the result, one thing is certain. This guy never gives up and we will continue to hear about him more frequently in the future.

PS: Sarath Babu’s campaign website is http://sarathbabu.co.in/in/about/

Popularity: 44%

Last couple of weeks I have been a silent spectator watching some interesting news about our politicians and their election promises. While one promises TVs, subsidized rice, wheat etc.,the others are not falling behind – banning computers, English in schools etc. Everyone is there to outscore each other in terms of either idiotic promises or false ones which can never be met, if the party is of sane mind.

In contrast, Meera Sanyal’s campaign has caught my attention. Like many educated and urban politicians, Meera Sanyal seems to have succeeded in getting the right people in place for her campaign and it is showing results.

Look at her website – The site is updated with the latest that is happening with her campaign, her fans are getting daily updates in their mailboxes, facebook campaign is also gaining momentum. In a nutshell there seems to be lot of moving parts, which definitely is a sign of strength.

I just hope Meera Sanyal wins the South Mumbai constituency even if it is by a small margin. That would really bring a lot of cheer and hope for Mumbai, which the city always deserved.

Kudos to the team that is putting up the brave effort, selflessly. I am sure most of them are volunteers and are happy to give their time for doing the right thing, promoting the right candidate. It is very easy to go with the crowd but it takes courage to stand out from the crowd. What the volunteers are doing is nothing short of creating an independent movement of sorts and is worth applauding. Hope it pays!

My message to Mumbaikars

Think twice before you vote this time. What you have seen on 26/11 is proof enough that our current system has failed and failed miserably. What you need is a government that works and leaders that are effective, not those who sit on a pile of cash and promote their selfish interests. We, Indians, have seen the worst of politics and politicians. Time for a change. Meera is the change that you’ve been looking for. If you don’t see it now, it might be too late.

Mumbai – Vote for change. Vote for Meera!

Image Credit: Wiki

Popularity: 34%

From being popularly known as the Indian Premier League to quickly becoming the Indian Problem League, the fall for the IPL has been rapid.

The money is something that cricket had not seen before. Money talks they say and so is it in this case!  From bringing in cricketers who the world thought was long gone back to stage, to helping another part of the world discover some amazing “young” talent, to entertaining all those cricket crazy fans every evening after work and last not least, giving kids around the country an extra reason to celebrate summer vacations, the IPL did it all in it’s inaugural edition. All good things come with controversies and IPL was not exception to this either. Accusing the league for pushing cricketers around the world into pre-mature retirement, choosing money over country and last but not least, not being inclusive, we saw it all.

I personally enjoyed season one. Choosing whom to support was an easy decision. Being a Bangalorean, I was disappointed to see a test team line up to play T20. My loyalty quickly swung to the best thing that’s happened to Indian cricket – MS Dhoni and his Chennai Super Kings. MSD played masterstroke with the team selection even before a ball was bowled. Getting a right mix of locals and expats, Dhoni ensured that he got along an uncut diamond, Raina along with him to stitch his team of the boys in yellow. The joker in the pack was of course the Rajasthan Royals. Acclaimed to have the greatest ever cricketing brain ever and blessed with exceptional skill to turn a cricket ball on glass, Shane Warne, up north, was putting together his team of underdogs. I wasn’t surprised to see these two teams do battle in the finals. I would have loved to see MSD and his boys win, but on a given day, the team that plays better cricket wins and right so, the Royals.

With time to kick start season 2 around the corner, the hype started as early as the New Year – the fallout of 26/11 meant that the Pakistani players didn’t want to come. For those that may argue this on who didn’t want who, the trading window and the money spent did its share to the share of ink. The nail in the coffin was the recent attack in neighboring Pakistan on a touring Sri Lankan team. While this was “outside” India, the event’s ripples traveled over 500 kms to the national capital for the administrators to sit up and take notice of potential security risks.

From an exchange of words to reading between lines, from the politics of power to the politics of money, in the name of democracy and elections, the home ministry showed who is the boss by having the IPL postpone it’s initial published schedule. Lalit Modi is a die hard and he went out saying this will happen with no change. Someone in the higher echelons of power asked him to backtrack and so he did, with a revised schedule – more cities and slightly different dates. This time around, the states came in to the party saying they were not staffed well enough to support security cover for these games and the proposed elections.

The issue of “security” in the sub-continent is being viewed at very differently by all the foreign players who were itching to come and get a game – life Vs money and we all know the obvious choice that these so called players from safe havens from around the world tend to make. With a couple of casualties in terms of big names dripping out for the fear of life, this storm is yet to blow over.

To me, the real issue on hand is the question of these two events co-existing. Elections are no doubt important and so too is the issue of security. A country of a billion people is suddenly faced with the issue of resources for security – what a paradox.

If I were Modi, I’d flex my financial muscle to hire SO many of those unemployed, semi skilled youth and train them to build up my own security forces for the IPL. Hiring or training is not an issue considering how much time is left. If you want to run and need shoes, you must go and get them! Waiting for someone to give them to you is not smart business. To me, this move is a great win win – strike a deal with the center to say that this newly built security force can be used as a potential resource to staff up national security services. Upskilling them to play a different game is easy and is doable if they clear hurdle one. Your cup of woes is filling up real quick Mr. Modi.. game to try?

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 16%

Hooray! its election time again!!

And as usual, we seem to be scouring for leaders. Leaders with enough money and musclepower to wield every possible option to make it to the list of the “untouchables”… Untouchable by the long arm of the law, untouchable by social issues, untouchable by the pain and suffering of the millions!

While the systems and processes in place are making their best effort to ensure that crime and criminals are kept outside of the electoral process, it will be but a surprise to see a seamless election that lives up to the book. Thanks to the critical (and at times, uncensored) media, today there is a little bit of more awareness on our beloved leaders. Unfortunately, memory is short lived and there are the millions who decide the course of a nation that they little understand about. People who believe in the strange ways of Nature and International politics that stops us from becoming the greater nation that we can be.

That said, all is not lost – surely we have come very far from where we were 20 years ago. Not just the cities, even the towns and the villages do show stark difference – power, telecommunications, media, healthcare, education, food – you name it! It would be incorrect to say that no government did anything or even to say that just one government did everything. Despite all the claims of corruption and cheating, we have surely made a lot of progress as a nation – and this cannot be denied. There are the few who have been honest and brave and have done more than a part for this to happen. Strange as it may seem, our strength lies in our ability to make the best and the worst co-exist peacefully in their own spheres. Economically, socially, culturally we are making progress!

Running a country is by no means easy.

It is easy for each of us to sit back in front of our computers and blog about how we want to mould our nation. Tiny drops of water make the mighty ocean – exercise your franchise without fail. Fear not for the worst, for I hope the darker days are fading. We may not see ourselves getting the absolute best politicians in our lifetime, but we can surely hope to see a few who will make the difference and lead us in the right direction.

Love, they say, is blind. Just how much love the true Indian has will stand out in these elections – love for money, alcohol, power, sleaze and power. Undoubtedly, everything is debatable, but time will tell how things move. For me, its just one more small step that gently reminds us of our duty to our motherland. And its just another miracle that makes us Indians so truly Special!

Image Credit: Ramesh Lalwani

Popularity: 14%

With India heading towards its 15th General Elections this year mid, the election fever has been at its peak. All the political parties (parties in the opposition and parties in power) are again playing their cards to woo the voters through traditional channels like commercials through television, campaign rallies etc. But this election we also see another way of promotion through the news media.

For instance when MNS created ruckus in whole of Maharashtra, it was something which was something unconstitutional. Similarly the Mangalore Incidents have been anti-social; with the way the women were treated and molested by the activists. Contrarily these activists belong to a party whose agenda was to “protect Indian Culture”, but they were openly molesting them and beating them

These parties know that they can’t make it big because they lack leaders and money that would be required for this kind of propaganda. So they start early and make sure that by the time elections come in the party becomes known to people. Ironically these kinds of publicity campaigns using anti-social means was started by one of the major political parties by bringing in a flavor of religion into it in the 90s. This party not only succeeded in the dastardly act of holding a whole nation at ransom, but also winning a subsequent election and running this country for sometime.

If these small regional parties are guilty of cheap publicity, so are the Media channels which show these pictures repeatedly. Being a news media channel, they should feel responsible as they can be a vehicle for change in the country, but instead they just go about showing the pictures and video clippings of what transpired repeatedly. By showing these, the parties normally achieve their objective of being able to promote themselves and their propaganda free of cost.

The problem with our country is that no government for past two general elections has got an absolute majority and they end up having a coalition with these small regional parties. Hence they are unable to arrive at a consensus in how to handle these kinds of rouge parties that enjoy some kind of support from these bigger regional who are the part of the national government.

If these are not curbed, then in the future most of the parties, which don’t have any mandate or an agenda, would start doing these anti social and anti national activities and successfully win their elections

Image Credit: Jijy

Popularity: 13%

Of late the political scene of Andhra Pradesh is heating up. Three parties Telugu Desam Party, Congress and Praja Rajyam Party are putting their best efforts to get to power in the upcoming elections.

While it is common knowledge that parties allege each other in this preparatory season, I was totally surprised by few statements made by a leader from Congress party.

The youth wing leader of Praja Rajyam Party, apparently alleged Congress party men and specially a Wakf Board chairman as traitor. In response to this statement, the Wakf Board chairman, who is from a minority community said:

“You are calling all of our community as traitors, who do you think you are?”

This is a clear example of how political leaders make a simple allegation into an issue of religion. These comments were more than enough to spark controversy and perhaps some riots.

While civilized and socially aware may understand this very easily, people who blindly go by their leaders words may totally miss the mal intent and resort to baneful activities.

So called civilized always step away from their duty to vote with lame excuses such as “Nothing can change this country”. This is my call for all of us to show that what democracy can do! Please go and vote.

And you politicians, please please do not make your power mongering tactics into issues of religion and brew hatred between communities… Please…

Image Credit: blakeemrys

Popularity: 9%

Andhra Pradesh is again at war over water, this time it is Maharastra for Babli Dam over Godavari. Remember the old Almatti issue, where Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh(AP) had dispute about the height of the Almatti Dam.

Height of Almatti Dam, which was built on Krishna, was being increased. AP alleged that Karnataka was raising the height of the dam illegally, which would dry up all of downstream reservoirs like Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar. The issue was highly publicized by the then opposition party Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was the ruling party, received a lot of flak.

Congress alleged that TDP was not upfront is tackling the issue and has not effectively dealt with the issue. TDP in its defense said that it is because of its “All CM meeting” on the matter, which helped arrive at a conclusive decision and the height of the dam was restricted and was much lesser than actual proposed increase. Congress was very effective in making the issue a bad spot on TDP image, which was relatively better at that time. Chandrababu Naidu, who was the CM at that time also suffered defamation due to the issue.

That’s then.

History repeats itself, as people say.

This time around it is the Babli Dam and Congress is in power. The same thing what Congress did to TDP is being done to them. TDP is making sure it makes noise at every level about Congresses ineffectiveness. The party even went to the extent of entering the restricted areas of construction and taking pictures of the illegal construction happening there. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders were also arrested in Delhi, while staging a protest.

Congress Party in AP is finding it self in a fix. Should they fail to tackle this, this would cause a big damage to their reputation. With elections only a few months away, Congress is really trying hard to get some results here.

YS Rajasekhara Reddy, CM of AP, must surely be having a feeling of Deja Vu.

Images Courtesy: Wikipedia

Popularity: 57%

The term “India-Bharat” has been quite popular over the past few years. After BJP launched the “India Shining” campaign in the 2004 general election and lost it, many political pundits attributed the loss to the unequal distribution of prosperity between “India” and “Bharat”. They contended that only “India” benefited from the economic reforms whereas the “Bharat” was left behind. While anti-incumbency was the major factor of loss, there is some truth in the unequal growth of “India” and  “Bharat”.

So what is the difference between the two words?

Both “India” and “Bharat” are notional entities that signify the relatively better-off urban areas and the poor and backward rural parts of the country respectively. The term was apparently coined in 1978 by Mr. Sharad Joshi but gained prominence in 2003.

“India” has better physical and communication connectivity and better living standards. The urban economy is based on strong services or manufacturing sectors. On the other hand, “Bharat” has poor infrastructure and living standards and it has an agrarian economy. 70% of the country’s total population lives in the rural areas. The implication of this number is huge.

The country cannot aspire to become a super-power when vast majorities of its people do not gain from the increasing prosperity. So, reducing the “prosperity” divide between the urban and rural India should remain a top priority for the future governments.

India can learn a few positive things from how China is tackling this inequality problem. China is investing heavily on projects that will transform large parts of its rural areas to urban centers. By doing this, China hopes to prevent massive migration from villages to cities that put enormous strain on the existing urban infrastructure and reduce the opportunities in the villages.

So, here are some solutions that could reduce the divide.

Renewable energy

Significant resources should be allocated for setting up of renewable energy infrastructure in the villages. Most villages of the country receive abundant sunlight (about 6 months a year) and sources for bio-energy are also significant. Tapping these energy sources can be accomplished by providing subsidies for installing solar panels and bio-energy harnessers that power lights, computers and other electronic devices. Tax breaks for the solar panel manufacturing firms will ensure lower cost for these technologies..

Agriculture

Investment in agriculture is very essential to increase the productivity of arable land. Subsidies can be provided to projects that improve the irrigation systems and also farms that employ effective water conservation techniques. Improvement of roads and access to technology will enable farmers to reach the market faster and get better price for their produce. Investment should also made into food supply chain, like cold-storage (mobile and stationary) facilities to prevent rottage of food which in turn puts more money into the farmer’s pocket.

Knowledge

One of India’s strengths is the emphasis on knowledge. We should make sure that everyone in the village has access to knowledge by investing heavily on primary education. More schools should be opened, more teachers be recruited, higher salaries for teachers be provided to motivate more qualified people to join the profession and a big push be given to computer literacy in the schools. This factor is an absolute must for the long-term sustainability of the India’s growth.

Connectivity

Improvements to the physical (road, rail, air) and digital(telephone, broadband) infrastructure should be carried out at an urgent pace. Once sufficient connectivity is achieved, knowledge and technology firms should be encouraged to move farther from the cities and closer to the rural areas. This will generate employment in the villages, reduce migration to cities, enable professionals to work closer to home and ensures fairly equal distribution of wealth.

While I acknowledge that the government is not oblivious to this “India-Bharat” divide and is sincerely doing quite a lot of work in bridging this divide in the form of plans like Bharat Nirman and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, more ambitious targets should be set and the progress strictly monitored.

Many of the problems like terrorism and Naxalism can be eradicated by lifting people out of poverty. By giving more growth opportunities to more and more people, social harmony and national unity can be strengthened. The political leadership should unite and summon all the will it can, to succeed against these challenges. The task is difficult but very much doable.

Popularity: 20%

Kandamangalam’s article, “Modi-fying Gujarat – Is Narendra Modi leading by example?” was interesting as it explored matters of leadership as well as development. One of the comments to the article was the question,

Do you want an India which is highly secular (which I doubt will ever be the case) or a progressive India?.

Today, (November 26, 2008) Gujarat’s Chief Minister was in the news, campaigning in Delhi for his party. NDTV reporter said BJP’s poster boy, Modi was at his acerbic best and pilloried the government for the prejudiced handling of the Malegaon blast case.

Confronted with the reality of Modi’s road to progress and his style of politics, I want to re-phrase the above question and ask,

“Is it really possible for India or any country to make progress without secularism?”

We have examples of countless leaders whose world view was narrow, confined to the boundaries of a race or a religion. Hitler idealized and romanticized about the pure Aryan blood of the German race. He saw the rest of the world as disposable commodity and exterminated about 8 million people. True, while he was around, he also brought about progress in ample measure.

About one millions Hindus and Muslims lost their lives during the mad communal frenzy during Partition days immediately after our Independence.

Idi Amin in Uganda expelled about 75000 Indians and Pakistanis in 1972 - determined to make Uganda “a black man’s country”. During his barbaric rule, he exterminated about 300000 people.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. And Delhi witnessed the blood of Sikhs spattered on the roads of the city. Babri Majid was demolished in 1992 and then all mayhem was let loose and one thousand people were butchered because they belonged to the “wrong” community. Godhra happened in 2002 and the rest is history. In August this year, it was the turn of the tribal Christians in Khandammal in Orissa to flee their homes for the safety of the forests.

I search from history for instances of countries progressing amidst sectarian strife. I draw a blank. In fact I learn that sectarian strife was always accompanied by decay in the economic fabric of countries. Have any of you readers, come up against exceptions?

Right now, there is news of terrorists in Mumbai striking yet again, blowing out many innocent lives. We should deal with them firmly and make an example of them so that we will be rid of this menace. But I maintain that they are only puppets on a string, while those who pull the strings occupy the central stage of our national arena. They are the progressive leaders who have prepared the soil and seed for these mindless, violent crimes against humanity to germinate. Who will bell those real cats, is the question.

If we permit communal hatred or talk of “the others” to dominate, it will lead to the hunter soon enough becoming the hunted. The Bible says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  What is economic prosperity and progress, without security to life itself? Winning battles but losing the significant war will make all of us losers. 

Gandhi was totally and unequivocally opposed to the concept of “the end justifying the means” A lofty goal has to be achieved only through lofty means and actions.

Popularity: 11%

It has been fashionable around the world to whip America for almost every ill in the universe. Under George Bush, “The ugly American” got tarred with more ugliness. The recent Presidential election has forced a lot of people to look at America from another vantage point.

It is a tribute to their maturity that Americans rose above hardened and deep seated prejudices of race and colour and voted for someone – virtually unknown till two years ago – on the basis of the content of his character and policies.

Almost the entire country was galvanised along a common agenda during this election. Through out the 50 states the issues they talked about were the same – economy, health issues, energy, wars in Iraq and Afganistan, security, war against terror etc. These common issues united the states of America into a land sharing the same dreams and fears – a very cohesive and proud nation.

There is a lesson we could learn from the American politicians and leaders. Not a speech of theirs ends without invoking God’s blessing on America or speaking about the greatness of America with a great deal of pride. The ideal of America, “not as a collection of red or blue states, but as the United States of America”, is what unites politicians across the political divides.

Sadly, our politicians harp on what devides rather than what unites Indians. It is a common enough sight in our country to see them resorting to the most lethal means to pit brother against brother.

The elections were on the whole free of bitterness or rancour and neither Mc Cain nor Obama whipped up mean, ugly phantoms to get them votes. McCain conceded the election paying glowing praise to Obama for the way he ran his campaign.The President elect was equally effusive about the heroic status of the vanquished – a  great example of grace – under victory or defeat. It is living examples such as this which breathe life and humaneness into the sinews of the collective culture and ethos of a nation.

The right to prosperity, happiness and freedom of Joe The Plumber or Obama’s rise to the top  symbolise the reality that regardless of the origin or status of an individual, his or her right is protected. And, it is awe inspiring to see the extent to which the entire country would rally behind an individual whose rights have been trampled upon. The lesson not to be missed here is, bringing about a climate of freedom and hope in the collective psyche of a nation presupposes the right of the individual.

Americans would dump into the waste bins of history any politician with an unclean, corrupt or unsavoury reputation, or someone with a broken family. Many eminent politicians such as Clinton, Nixon or Edward Kennedy just could not withstand the scrutiny of the high moral standards expected of them by their countrymen. The irony is that Americans themselves have many broken homes, while Indians are known to protect the sanctity of wedlock. In the world’s most populous democracy on the other hand, leaders of dubious backgrounds and character are the norm than the exception.

It is time we stopped “America bashing” and started looking inward. That way there are good chances we may cleanse our polity and society. And then display to the world the attributes and accompaniments that should belong to a spiritually alive nation which we are famed to be.

Till that happens, let us salute the Americans. They have some stuff.

Popularity: 15%

Image Credit: Joel

The recent arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh in connection to the Malegaon blasts in which 6 people were killed and many injured has sparked off a fresh round of controversy. While the Sangh Parivar has called her arrest a political conspiracy to malign Hindus, it also distanced itself from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the three charged with murder by the Maharashtra Police for her alleged role in the Malegaon and Modasa blasts on September 29. Pragya was a former member of the national executive of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the RSS.

Pictures of the Sadhvi with BJP President Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are in circulation in the media. The event: a condolence meeting after the death of state Education Minister Laxman Gaur in February 2006. This has led to charges that Sangh and BJP were behind the terror conspiracy.

Terrorism all over the world is a law and order and police issue. Only in India terrorism is about competitive identity politics. Now, as we enter election season, bombs are being wrapped in party manifestos. The BJP which had positioned itself to be in the fore front of anti-terror campaign suddenly finds itself in the backfoot as “secular” parties have used the arrest to undermine BJP’s anti-terror plank. Also Congress and its allies would like to take this opportunity to deflect some of the criticism coming their way after the string of bomb blats and the charge that it’s soft on terror.

However in my view both the “secular” and “communal” parties are gaining nothing in this war of words on the issue of terrorism. Instead of condemning acts of terror irrespective of the religious identity of the terrorist

Amar Singh has been the first to go off the mark. First he demanded a judicial probe into the Jamianagar encounter, and then called for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, all with his eyes on the party’s traditional Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh. Forget the Indo-US nuclear deal, Amar Singh knows that the real battle is for the Muslim vote on the street, which in 2007 showed signs of drifting away to Mayawati. Instead of standing forth as someone who demands an impartial police investigation, Amar Singh believes this is the time to show he is the protector of Muslims. If Amar Singh was a true friend of the community, he would assert that a criminal deserves no religious identity.

On the other side, the BJP too which was sounding confident of using the terror plank in the coming elections and tapping into the age old subterranean suspicion of the “mussalman” that exists and is growing in sections of the Hindu electorate.

However now with the arrests of Sangh affiliated members in a terror case it would find difficult to sound hawkish on the issue of terrorism. People are bound to ask that the BJP and its associate groups rave and rant against Islamic terror. But what is their view on Hindu terror?

No matter who wins the nation does stand to loose in this debate. The common man on the street is confused. On one hand he needs to identify with his clan and his political identity without having to justify or support illegal activities. In this poll season one thing is for certain that the last word on this issue is still to be heard. The only thing one can be sure of is that politicians would like always try and gain maximizes their gains by harping on the insecurities of the common man, both Hindu and Muslim. One can only pray that this doesn’t cost more lives on the streets of India.

The politicians need to answer the call to the noblest urges of your chosen profession. The nation needs to be accorded higher priority than votes and vote-bank politics. Let them realize that every vote garnered from the ashes of blast victims or from the sufferings of nuns raped would not be doing justice to the great democracy that is India.

Popularity: 14%