After the historic reforms that came up in the 1990s, India has been growing in leaps and bounds with its GDP at 8% consistently. Many Indian service providers especially the ones in the fields of IT, Pharma have emerged as global players.

According to one stat in the year 2007 a total of 676 M&A deals worth around $57 billion were signed. There have been predictions by many eminent Economists about India having a potential of becoming a super power by 2020. India Inc. has been growing and shining, but is our society also been growing the same way?

According to Compact Oxford Dictionary one of the synonyms for Society is

A particular community of people living in a country or region, and having shared customs, laws, and organizations.

One of the major benefits of Civilized Society is to co-exist with people from different cultures peacefully. But are we fully acknowledging the meaning of society or are we failing to address any of the above?

Let us look at a few facts:

• Over the past one and half decades there have been hundreds of cases in Kashmir where people have been disappearing. According to Human Rights Watch, most of the Kashmiris who have been picked for questioning by the Police or the Army have either been tortured brutally or have never returned.

• After the Demolition of Babri Masjid on 6^th Dec 1992, India got into a grip of communal violence. No part of the country was spared and around 1500 people were killed in violence that lasted for over a week

• In 2002, post Godhra, India was again on the brink where in Gujarat was a victim of communal riots, where two communities resolved to lawlessness. According to an official estimate, 1044 people were killed and 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed and 606 children orphaned.

• On an average, two Dalits are assaulted every hour, three Dalit women and children are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and at least two Dalits are tortured or burned every day

• According to a report a total of 7,913 complaints on Domestic Violence against women were filed in India. But there are many cases that have gone unreported resulting in dowry deaths.

• According to the National Commission of Human rights of India, more than 62,000 human rights violations are recorded annually.

Looking at all these facts one begins to wonder where are we heading as a society?

Popularity: 15%

You can love him or curse him or worship him. But you can never ignore him – The scion of  Senas, the messaiah of the poor, the Robinhood of the chawl, the Kingpin of Maharashtra – Call him whatever you want, he is definitely in the news for all reasons – wrong or right I don’t know. But that’s Raj Thakeray for you.

He moves like a kingpin, his followers are spread across Maharashtra and the country. Opposition is extremely careful in dealing with him. Media loves him as he creates some very important TRP for them. Employees worship him and so is the unemployed.

Centre dubbed him and said “Raj Thakeray is the symbol of regional terrorism“. He does it openly, dares the government and continues to hurl attacks on celebrities, businessmen and politicians alike. Even the civilians are not spared. Explain why, otherwise, innocent people are beaten to death or ransacked or ripped like nobody’s business.

If you have seen Godfather-1,2 or 3, then you don’t need analogies. Raj is to real life what Al Pacino is to reel life.

Wonder if we would have to live in a country where one man decides the fate of a million others. If Bal Thakeray was the abysmal force of the regional jingoism for over three decades in Maharashtra, then Raj is the uncrowned king in current affairs in Maharashtra.

The way things are going, I will not be surprised if there is widespread violence all over the country.

In the last two days, there has been so much of national coverage about his arrest. I read about his arrest on IBNLive on Tuesday and now, I read that within minutes of the news of his arrest, there were hooliganisms across Maharashtra – burning vehicles, ransacked shops, injured civilians etc. Even journalists are not being spared.

And if you thought Police took pride in arresting him, hear this out, as one of the bloggers said.

I have never seen anything like this. The Maharashtra Police has turned the arrest of an upstart of a MNS politician into a media event. They are doing their best to make him into a hero by giving his cohorts and the time to plan, reorganize, and rebuild their strategies in the event of his arrest. It is a tactical blunder and the most stupid thing to do in these circumstances.

I am yet to see a politician or any individual speak up against Raj.

Yes, there have been a few instances of Laloo shouting at the top of his voice or the Bihar CM crying foul from a few thousand miles away.

In Maharashtra, everyone seems to have given it up on Raj. Even the business clan has budged in to this jingoistic trends – How else would you explain a sobbing Naresh Goyal, with pseudo tears in his eyes, welcomed his so-called extended family back to work ? He is ready to lose Rs.20 crores a day but not ready to take head-on with the man who stands between him and bankruptcy.

If a solution is not found immediately, then the India of our dreams will remain a distant dream. There would be widespread violence, regional fights owing to regional jingoism – We have already been divided into 30 odd states.

Now there is an effort to further divide us. Our unity is definitely under threat. We were Indians first and then Biharis, Marathis, Malayalees, Telugus etc. Looks like that order will be reversed soon- thanks to the ever growing regional jingoism.

With every passing day it is seemingly becoming difficult to lead a normal life, added to the woes of the financial crisis, surge in petro prices, increase in realty prices , stock market crash and what not.

Sometimes I wonder – Is it the return of the Jungle Raj ?

For now, take this – Raj goes to jail, gets bail, now ready to hail – All within minutes. Howzzatt ?

Ram Gopal Verma – By the way, are you thinking of Sarkar Raj 3 ?

Popularity: 9%