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: 36%

I do not understand politics, nor do I have any inclination to get to know it better. The most lavish and grandest festival of democracy – Elections are round the corner and so are the speculations about its outcome. Does it really matter who comes to power? What difference does that make?

Nothing, because all parties are the same at the end.

Many people think of voting as “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” but then known devil is always better than unknown. Some people actually do not vote thinking that there is no point voting as in the end all the parties get together. There are so many post election mergers that it is no point voting for anyone. But not going out to vote means giving the corrupt politicians a chance to use your vote. It is like giving in to their power.

But what makes a difference is a majority government. All parties are trying their best to woo the citizens. Free electricity, Color TVs, separate statehood, Ram mandir, Rice/wheat at Rs.2 and much more. As one of the promotional ads says all this is the price you get for putting your future in someone’s hands. If one party promises rice/wheat at Rs.3 per kg other one comes with a counter offer of Rs 2 per kg for rice and wheat within no time.

Where will all this come from at such a cheap price? Will they pay from their pockets?

Obviously not!!!

They will all increase the fiscal deficit again. The ruling parties consider increasing fiscal deficit as a trivial thing. They can do as they want, after all who can question them for 5 years once they are in the government.

While promising all this and while distributing money all of them are forgetting that our country has bigger and more urgent problems to solve. Getting out of this economic slowdown and fighting terrorism are more important than building a temple, a separate state, opposing English medium schools and usage of computers.

It is actually funny that some of them have manifesto saying computers are causing job losses and the jobs will be created by eliminating computers.

We the citizens have a bigger role to play in this election. We have the responsibility to choose better of the worst lot and get majority for one party. India cannot afford a political limbo at this point. Our economy needs a momentum, and we badly need foreign investments that would come in only if we have a stable government.

If various surveys are to be believed it is going to be a coalition government which is predicted to fall in 2 years. Unstable government means no concrete decisions, no foreign investments, and no genuine efforts to make a change. It’s going to be a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Parties will be busy fighting for ministerial posts instead of dealing with the problems being faced by the nation. They will play their favorite game of blaming it on each other.

Morality and ethics are at an all time low in Indian politics. Independent candidates are almost like blank checks. Post election the winning independent candidates are traded like IPL players (surely they get better rates than the players).

It’s the citizens of this country who have lost their loved ones because of terrorism or who have lost their jobs because of the financial crisis not the politicians.

Lighting candles doesn’t work in India neither do mass signature campaigns. It’s high time we choose the right candidates and question them when they do not fulfill their promises. Its time to question their promises and to ask them how they intend to fulfill their promises. They need to be asked why they are keeping regionalism and religion above security. A better solution will be the ability to recall a candidate who doesn’t do any work for his/her constituency.

We need to unite, question and choose the right candidate. Is it ethical on their part to fight elections from one party and join another after winning?

Every party now knows that they need not do good work to prove themselves and get majority. They can always buy the winning MPs or independent candidates. They have taken the youth and the salaried class for granted. That is why all the promises they have made are for the poor and rural people who can be easily duped.

We need to stand up for ourselves and for our country. We have to choose a sensible and accountable government and hold it responsible and answerable for whatever it does. Looking at the cost of each election we cannot afford election every two years. We need to use our heads and be the decision makers. We need to set our priorities right and choose a candidate who can work beyond free electricity or food.

Getting a stable government means a chance to make a change. Once we have a stable majority government we can take the next step of making it answerable and accountable for whatever it does and for all this to happen we need to go out and use our right to Vote.

Its time we stop blaming and start acting. It is our country and we are responsible to choose who will run it for us.

Image Credit: Ramesh Lalwani

Popularity: 28%

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%

On February 17, Dr.Subramaniam Swamy, President of the Janata Party, got a taste of the ire of a few pro-LTTE lawyers for speaking his mind. They entered the court room while he was arguing a case, and assaulted him in the presence of judges. The unruly behaviour continued for nearly 15 minutes despite warnings from the judges. They also roughed up a policeman, who was in the visitors’ gallery. Some of them threw rotten eggs at Dr.Swamy, abused him and shouted anti-Brahmin slogans.

Two days later, the battle was truly joined. The advocates protested against the arrest of their colleagues in the Dr.Swamy assault case. They taunted the police and set ablaze a police station in the court premises. Then the pitched battle started. Of course there is no second guessing who won this round. Among those injured in the violence was a High Court judge, more than 50 lawyers and several policemen.

A day later, lawyers all over Tamil Nadu protested and condemned police excesses. In a few places they set ablaze vehicles. Advocates staged protests in almost all district headquarters.

During this year so far, Chennai courts functioned only for 9 days. The lawyers have been boycotting the courts demanding that the Sri Lankan government announce a ceasefire and stop all operations against the LTTE. They know only too well, the Sri Lankan government has no obligation to the striking lawyers. Their campaign does not have anything to do with legal matters and has the look of a politically motivated activity.

They are doing this at a time when there are 406,958 pending cases in Madras High Court. Imagine the plight of the hapless litigants. Imagine the plight of justice in our land. I have to agree with Clarence Darrow, “The trouble with law is lawyers.”

26/11 was a defining moment in the history of our country. This type of terror can be countered.

There is terrorism of another kind, called internal terrorism. It happens when a group of powerful persons join together to steam roller the rule of the law and conscience of the nation. This category of terrorism is even more pernicious than external terrorism because the innards of our society get poisoned and corroded like the annihilation caused by cancerous cells.

Unlike the strong and spontaneous reaction subsequent to the 26/11 attack, the reaction to this internal terrorism is very much muted. The ruling party is afraid of out-staring the lawyers. They want to patch up. They even removed one top police official under whose jurisdiction the violence happened. The opposition parties are fishing in troubled waters and enjoying the discomfiture of the government in power. The general populace is mute spectators to the goings on.

On February 26, the Supreme Court ordered that action be taken on four more top police officials. The Chief Justice asked the lawyers to get back to work. Even that does not seem to have any effect on the striking lawyers. They are adamant they will not return to the courts till more number of police heads roll.

It is fashionable in our country to blame the police for every problem under the sun. They are mostly at the receiving end from the media, from the politicians and the general public. They get shunted from one place to another and from one position to another to satisfy the whims of the powerful people.

To me, the police force in our country is more sinned against than sinning. Whether it is day or night, they stay out in freezing cold, under the spewing fire of the summer sun or in the pouring rain, breathing in the bellowing smoke and fumes from vehicles to ensure that we the citizens can move around in the land freely. They have to stand in between warring groups to ensure that there is no blood bath. They do all this with outdated weapons. At the end, they have to accept abuses with folded hands from every Tom, Dick and Harry. If I were in a policeman’s uniform, I would have echoed Shylock and asked:

“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”

It is very tragic when we are not able to distinguish between the villains and the heroes. We all get swayed by perceptions and appearances.

Like Don Corleone said in The God Father,

“A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”

And I like to add – when they are in a crowd, they can terrorize and pillage the conscience of a nation.

And we see this menace, more dangerous than the guns and bombs of terrorists and we go on with our daily lives. We need bombs, guns, thundering sounds and blinding lights to wake up our conscience.

Image Credit: Indi.Ca

Popularity: 12%

After a disappointing interim budget on Feb 16 the Indian Government has announced a third stimulus package much to the relief of industries under the siege of global recession. The news was a bolt from the blue for the markets which was down due to the recent news of salary cuts, unemployment and overall gloom.

The proposals in the budget were;

1. Service tax cut by 2% from 12 to 10 which can help not only establishments but also individuals. Service tax introduced in 1994 for telephone, stock, insurance now extends to approx 100 items as per the latest budget. A reduction in 2% is a welcome relief for all telephone users.

2. Excise tax reduction by 2% which was earlier at 10%.This reduces the prices of IT products other than computers. Further it reduces the price of cement by Rs 60 per metric tonne.

Both the cuts come with a price tag of Rs 30,000 crores. This will further widen the fiscal deficit (when government’s total expenditures exceed the revenue it generates) which is approx around 10% of GDP at present. This throws tantrums on Government’s actual plans to reduce the deficit(accumulated fiscal deficit) in the next financial year. The three packages has cost the exchequer a whopping 70,000 crores. But the net effect is that it stimulates demand in the country which is the right thing during a recession.

Further the FICCI(Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry),established in 1927 and headquartered in New Delhi having 1500 corporates and 500 chambers of commerce and business associations, voiced its demand to reduce ;

1. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)- It is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI And used as a tool to drain out excess money from bank. In case CRR comes down money will be available with banks.

2. Repo rates (rates at which banks borrow money from RBI. Reduction in same will allow banks to get cheaper money).

3. Reverse repo rates (rates at which money is transferred from banks to RBI. It can cause reduction of money with banks).

The Government is planning for a common Goods and Service Tax by 2010 uniting all the taxes and avoiding dual taxation.

Will there be another stimulus package? That depends on the government. But the present move will surely provide greater relief for India.

Image Credit: Cell105

Popularity: 51%

A Recession is a prolonged period of time when the nation’s economy is slowing or it is the reduction of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) for at least six months. The producers and consumers are the two basic people upon whom the whole economy revolves. The value of goods and services is determined by supply and demand. In case the price is too high there will be less demand and the producer reduces the price to increase supply.

Increasing demand leads to an increase in the production thereby increased supply which in turn results in increased labour ,materials and overall increase in price.Now the general feeling is good. You want to make investments and consequently the stock markets go up.

Consequently this leads to overproduction and the supply exceeds consumption.Now the attitude of the people changes to saving mentality and this can lead to a contracting economy.People spotting a negative trend on one area fears the same to happen in other areas and suddenly RECESSION is on.

In a market economy the market is determined by demand and competition putting it beyond any control.A government has the fiscal and monetary policies in controlling the recession.While the former is on collecting and spending money and latter on manipulating the available money. Both can either improve the situation or worsen it.

According to the Halfway Rule past recessions lasted only for 13 months. So continuing with the trends the present recession is predicted to last till 2010.

A recession in US should worry India as it has major outsourcing deals.The strengthening rupee is another cause of concern.Oil prices coming down is at present keeping inflation down.The way out of the present crisis is only through a massive fiscal stimulus either by monetizing or by tax cuts.Indian Government is relying on private investments and resurrection in agriculture.

But the stress should be on public spending as advocated by Keynes who argued that the solution to recession is through reduced interest rates and increased public spending.

Image Credit: Azrainman

Popularity: 35%

Every other day I read about the so called extreme right wing organizations issuing diktats against women wearing Noodle straps , pub culture or women drinking . I have 3 questions..

1) Is pub culture good or bad?
2) Why is there gender discrimination in drinking – is it ok for men to drink and not for women?
3) Can people take law into their own hands?

Partying is not a special right for any one. Everyone has right to party. You can’t chase people on roads and beat them to preserve culture.

India is the largest democracy in the world. We govern ourselves according to the will of a majority of people. If noodle straps or “pub culture” or women drinking is against our culture, there should be a civilized debate over it in a public forum. And if there are enough merits supporting the case that the pub culture is bad or that women drinking is bad or against our culture, it can be enacted into a law. This is the right way to approach cultural issue or any other issue. There is no place in our democracy for issuing diktats. Extremists and the so called “leaders” with an obviously misdirected and personal agenda are the Taliban of India and we should strongly reject their agenda and protest taking culture into their hands. They are not the upholders of our culture.

If drinking in a pub is OK for men, it should be OK for women too. A woman going to a pub for a drink should be able to handle herself without expecting protection from anyone. The ‘pub culture’ is a little hazy. If it means there shall be no restriction whatsoever on dress code and various other public behavior, it is wrong. There is a law against exhibitionism and indecent exposure – by both men and women. A person can’t violate this law claiming ‘fundamental freedom’. Freedom is not absolute. Anybody living in a civilized society is subject to norms of acceptable civilized behavior. If anybody has problems with it, let them have the law changed in a democratic way. Until then, obey the law of the land.

Governments have vote bank considerations and are not able to take action against any moral brigade. Why can’t these rulers see things from National interest angle? National interest must be supreme in the mind of every Indian.

Extremist leaders do not understand the meaning of freedom and culture and liberty. They are trying to propagate is orthodox culture. Culture is never static and changes with time. The culture we have today will not be there after 40 years and the culture that was there 60 years ago is not there today. In my grandfather’s days none of the men used to wear trousers and wore lungis or dhotis. I wonder why these culture preserving extremists wear trousers! How can you preserver something that is meant to change.

Extremist leaders have a serious lack of maturity. They do not realize how they get their salaries or how they earn their money. Today for any person money comes from ECONOMY and economy is a result of global commerce , to be successful in global commerce in a long term you need to have meaningful innovation , to have solid innovation you need to have free culture , free culture is the way. You restrict the culture you kill the progress.

There is a famous saying ‘A common man believes in religion , a wise man calls it false , a politician call is useful. Religion is opium for masses and these guys have had an over dose of it.’

I am sure after 3 to 4 generations when all these old-traditional people will die their natural deaths, we will see a new free India

Image Credit: Liberal Mind

Popularity: 31%

These are certainly tough times. With Federal Governments stepping in to bail out firms that are struggling to keep themselves afloat and tough measures being looked at to ensure that the ones who stay afloat eventually swim, these are unprecedented times. To top things, Governments want to have a say in the review of employment practices and also looking to cap executive compensation. There’s this patriotic wave that is on the rise and a ton of people out there saying “Go American”. It all seems to be happening out there with literally no sight of any light at the end of the tunnel.

Industry veterans who’ve seen tough times tell me they have never seen anything that is even half as close. I was reading something recently that suggested the Fed was contemplating moves along with the US treasury to deny firms that rely on the use of H1B workers won’t get a share of the so called TARP money, and, that companies must certainly look to stop off-shoring. This is music for the staunch opponents of free trade and liberalization. While Obama has been a name on every lip, large sections of the Indian IT industry expressed several concerns on his proposed policies to curb outsourcing.

Worried?

Yes – for sure. Over time, we have moved from a traditional manufacturing and agriculture based economy to a service oriented economy. The role of IT / ITES in the Indian economy is something that you can’t easily discount. An aspect of the economy that has grown significantly over time, it faces purists throwing out some weird stats like the sector contributing to 10% of the economy, five hundred thousand people – but for me, it’s a lot of crap. While I appreciate data, the thing with data is that you can make it to look anyway in which you want it to look like. A few slices, a few dices and viola!  You can see what you want to see. So, numbers may not be a real representation of the facts. The fact is, this is a sector on the rise!

This sector is particularly under the pump these days. While the collapse of large financial behemoths has left a direct impact on this sector, the slowdown is forcing organizations to do something it’s never done before – H1B workers for different IT majors in the US are asked to come back, and back home, the industry is relooking at the way it used to look at the bottom performers – the “chalta hai” hat is fast becoming a thing of the old and families put to a lot of distress due to the spiraling domino.

If these issues are not enough to deal with, our folks continue to put the industry under further stress. I was recently travelling and pretty much every other person I met paused to check about the IT major that went down, dubbed very popularly in the west as India’s Enron! I saw a note on the headlines of a large TV network that said an Indian, running a company in the United States was arrested on the charge of forging documents to get H1B workers into the US. Viswa Mandalapu, CEO of Vision Systems in New Jersey has been arrested.

In times when there is so much pressure on this category of the workforce which happens to be the toast of India, this is a bolt from the blue. The folks crying for curbs will jump at any opportunity thrown towards them, adding fuel to the fire. I can already see the downstream effects of this with the concerned authorities tightening controls. I’ve over the course of my career seen the hopes of people rise when companies tend to file work visas for them. My job also gets me to counsel people who feel they fell from fifty thousand feet when they go through the painful procedure of applying and then hear that their visa was rejected. It’s like the world is against them!

It’s really sad that the people who do activities like this fail to think of the downstream. Their conviction invariably leads the world to paint all Indians with the same brush. While I know it is extremely unfair to do something like that, I can’t but help to think like the people who do so. It’s only but natural at the end of the day.

It’s a big deal for someone from India to go and live abroad – The family thinks they have arrived in life, their friends think they are very good and the neighbors think they are very rich. While these are cultural aspects of our society, in the eyes of the world that we live in, we are still Indians. Can we start to act with a little more responsibility in a manner that will not bring reputational damage to our nation?

Are you listening Mr.Mandalapu?

Aah!! How can you? You are in jail!  I hope a few of your other friends are, at least, they learn and don’t put us to any more disrepute!

Image Credit: Lanuiop

Popularity: 25%

The admission of Pakistan that the 26/11 attack was carried out by Pakistan based elements is a significant turning point in the geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent. The Indian government can heave a sigh of relief as it can now tell the people that it has succeeded in nabbing the culprits. The Government of India should ensure that the real culprits are brought to justice.

From Pakistan’s perspective, this is a big loss of propaganda war against India. It is not clear if there is going to be a public backlash there. Pakistan is in a very tricky position. On the one hand, it has to show the public that the Pakistan army is defending the eastern border with India. On the other hand, several suicide attacks are taking place across the country.The Pakistan and NATO forces are also engaged in a fierce war against the Taliban in the NWF Province. In fact, it is reported that scores of civilians are migrating from the Swat region(a.k.a Pakistan’s Switzerland) because of the terror unleashed by Taliban. Taliban is getting stronger by the day and it is a worrisome trend for the world.Overall, the Pakistan civilian government is weak and has no full control over what is happening across the country.

India’s immediate task should be to strengthen the hands of the Pakistan civilian government. As a first step, India should wholeheartedly welcome Pakistan’s acceptance of blame and assure cooperation in the investigation to take it to the logical end. The next step should be to immediately stop the rhetoric of tough action. The objective of this rhetoric has been achieved and now i t is time to silently work behind the scenes. India should also continue its diplomatic efforts to get the terror infrastructure dismantled in Pakistan. The government should take all the parties on board and try to explain this strategy.

It is very important for leaders like Narendra Modi to show restraint and stop making vicious comments about the 26/11 attacks. This is critical because India should not be seen as aggravating Pakistan’s apparent humiliation. At this point, by showing more responsibility, India can gain the goodwill of the world community. This will also help Pakistan focus more attention on its western border and worry less about public opinion against India.

India should also take the initiative in restoring bilateral ties. As a positive gesture, Pakistan players should be invited to continue play in IPL and Pakistan artists allowed to perform in India. Other goodwill measures should be restored to reduce Indo-Pakistan tensions.

Cynics will argue that Pakistan is not going to mend it ways when it comes to promoting terror against India. After all, the very existence of Pakistan rests upon its hatred of India. While this argument is very valid, this is the time for India to support Pakistan and the international community in fighting the war against Taliban. India simply cannot afford to watch further weakening of the Pakistan civilian government and allow Pakistan fall into the hands of Taliban. At the moment, India should focus on addressing the weaknesses in the internal security apparatus and strengthen the intelligence gathering mechanisms.

As much as India hates the prospect of supporting Pakistan, India needs to support the current Pakistan government. If we don’t do it now, India will soon be fighting Taliban right across our border. A bad neighbor is better than a worse neighbor.

So India, please help Pakistan.

Image Credit: ElektraCute

Popularity: 12%

After having multiple heated arguments with a friend I really felt like putting this article down for thousands of readers who would actually help me decide what’s right and what’s wrong.

We all have been eagerly following the chain of events since the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26th November 2008.The government is proud of itself today because out of 10 terrorist they have captured 1 terrorist alive! They think it’s an honor.

How many people think that  way?

A bunch of young boys barely in their teens gun down thousands of people in a metropolitan city and make our defense system dance to their tunes of terror for three days.

Can the capture of a lone terrorist alive be called an achievement or is it the biggest mistake of our government?

Now the response of the government would be 1 -2 months of creating anxiety in the minds of the people by interrogating the lone terrorist (Ajmal) and then probably hanging him. But I personally feel the government will achieve nothing by killing a young boy of barely 20 years. He probably wasn’t aware about the horrendous crime he was committing.

I know many people wouldn’t agree to what I would say but I think instead of killing the boy the government should rather rehabilitate him and make him realize that killing people is not the way to get one’s religion accepted in a society. It is just a fabrication of a religion by a few fanatic people.

This would rather set an example on thousands of youth who get strayed by certain organizations which lead them to believe fake facts. By killing Ajmal or by torturing him, do you think the other terrorist are going to get traumatized or stop committing attacks?

Most of the terrorist attacks in the world are carried with the motive of suicide. These people are fearless and emotionless. They are not scared of death since their motive is to die in the name of religion.

We have killed several terrorists in the past but has terrorism stopped?  If we really want to solve this menace, we probably should try a radical way of dealing with this global issue e.g. reverse psychology.

The young people who are trained for such attacks are kept isolated from the world and what they are shown is the world of hatred. They are rigorously trained they are prepared for death. Some of these youngsters are kidnapped or are just threatened or lured into these activities.

So who should be killed – these youngsters or the cruel people who are behind them?

I think right now the government should focus on getting the leaders and the people behind these attacks rather than torturing mere helpless puppets like Ajmal. By using the reverse psychology and rehabilitating the terrorist, they can help show thousands of youth who are lost in the make believe world of certain groups who work for their self motive rather than any other reason to see light at the end of a dark tunnel that they are in.

I know many people might condemn my thought process but I would really like people to spare a minute or two and ponder over this post and voice your opinion.

Image Credit: Tazeen

Popularity: 21%