India loses its 'voice'

Taj mahal

India- Furture Of Rahul Gandhi

At present India is focusing on a new leader who is emerging fast- Rahul Gandhi. What impact will Rahul Gandhi have in Indian democracy? Let us try and understand.

The Indian National Congress is full of old politicians who are not known much for their honesty but more for the wily moves they can make. All of these leaders can secure their own parliamentary seat but can make no contribution in getting a majority for Congress in the country.

2 Rahul Gandhi is meeting people around the country and trying to solve their problems. Let us say that he is rather trying to understand their problems. This will give him a vision of what is happening.

3. Today Indian polity is getting sharply divided amongst caste and religion. It is the caste that is becoming a card in the hands of politicians. Arjun Singh is everyday talking about more reservations based on caste. This is not forward-looking thing. But this may get votes. Rahul has not come out openly about his opinion on caste-based reservations.

4. Rahul Gandhi talks of uniting the country with single thought of taking it forward where as the regional party chieftains are making a big impact because of their moves in their states. Mayawati has done that in Uttar Pradesh. How will Rahul Challenge Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh?

5. In Gujarat also Rahul failed to make much impact. And so also with Karnataka.

The problem with Rahul Gandhi is simple. He has a different kind of view of politics and elections. His party members do not understand that. Also to fight the local politicians’ old style politics is needed. Rahul cannot make an impact in the short term. He has to do something like his grandmother to grow in India. This is the reality of India.

India- The Vibrant Nature Of Democray In India

India has thriving democracy. The Indian democracy is said to be very vibrant. With the number of religions, languages, customs in India it is indeed a wonder that India is not only surviving as a country but also thriving. During last one week the members of Indian parliament are crossing over from one party to another at a speed that would surprise the fastest cat. Is this a negative factor or a positive factor?

Most of the commentators are calling this immoral politics. The MPs are changing their affiliation overnight. Yes, it does look immoral. But does this hurt democracy or help it? The first reason of having democracy is to have freedom of choice. Every person in the country must have a choice in everything he/she does. This avoids rule of a single person or a single party. India does not have a two party system. There ate many parties in India trying to represent regional and religious aspirations. Today these parties have a choice and the strength to show that they matter. Many parties with single MPs were forgotten all these years. Suddenly they are being listened to. Their demands are being given attention. Is that bad? I think that it is the best thing that could have happened with these parties. They had no voice and suddenly they find that they are being courted and their demands are getting attention.

When we look at the actions of MPs and call them immoral or moral we tend to forget that people selected these MPs. It is for people to decide whom to elect. If people chose some one the intellectuals sitting in comfortable homes have no business preaching the MPs what to do. The people will do that. Democracy should be for all and should give importance to all. In a house of parliament that has more than 500 members, a single party with majority can always crush the desires of smaller parties. Now these smaller parties are getting a chance to get a foothold. Why call that immoral? This is the nature of vibrancy of Indian democracy. We should let it thrive.

India- Focussing On Press

Is Indian press obsessed with the nuclear deal? is there nothing else that is happening in India? What kind of coverage is being given by the press in India to the following? Let us talk about that.

Draught-

A large portion of country is facing draught. Rain has been playing games and farmers are worried that they will have no water.

Two years of train blast-

today we complete two years of blasts in the trains in Mumbai. Is any body talking about that? No, all the television reporters ate only discussing nuclear deal with all kinds of leaders who seem to enjoy seeing themselves on the tube. Who is worried about the blast victims?

Kabul Blasts-

three days have passed after the Kabul blasts. It seems that it is already a forgotten chapter. As if no body was killed. Only one or two channels gave some coverage. No body else bothered.

Aarushi Murder-

If they can not get a politician to talk, they will get some body else to talk about Arushi murder. CBI is investigating the matter, but some channels feel that viewers are interested in knowing every detail everyday.

Comments For Indians

http://www.wishafriend.in offers some very nice comments for Indians. especially for festivals such as-

Ganesh Chaturthi

Rakhsha Bandhan Comments

Mahashivratri Comments

and Diwali Comments

Indian Politicians And The Communal card

Politicians around the world are always looking for opportunities that will get them votes. In India, the politicians are making this as a fine art but something that is very dangerous for India.

The recent discussion about the India- US nuclear deal has brought out this reality very openly. Some politicians have said that India should not enter into a deal with the United States, which is fighting Muslims in Iraq. This is a surprise for me. First of all the United States is not fighting a war with Muslims. It is fighting a war with terrorists. Secondly what is good for Indians is good for Indian Muslims.

If the deal makes more power available to Indians it will also reach Muslims. The power generated will not be only for Non Muslims. I do not know whether to cry or to laugh at this kind of argument by the politicians that the deal is bad for Muslim in India or that the Muslims in India are opposed to the deal.

The fact of the matter is that Indian Muslims are looking for opportunities to grow, educate, increase their income and share the wealth that is being created in resurgent India. It is a sorry state of affairs the politicians say anything to get votes irrespective of the harm that will do to the nation.

Today I saw a politician on the television saying that he will never support the deal. The reason being that according to him George Bush is destroying Muslims around the world. Why this kind of an argument. It is as if President Bush can be called by any name or blamed for anything. The only thing he did was to remove Saddam Hussein from Iraq. Saddam was a dictator and Bush had no business going to Iraq. But that does not mean that Bush is destroying Muslims all over the world.

India- What Are The Priorities Of The Government

For last one month it seems that the government is only worries about the nuclear deal. Every discussion is about the deal and it looks like that the whole country is worried about the deal the truth is different. Most of the Indians are least concerned about what happens to the nuclear deal. They are more worried about the following.

Inflation has been rising everyday. Those with limited income find it very difficult to meet the ends because of the rising prices. The finance minister says s that he is worried about the rising prices. This sounds funny. He is not supposed to be only worried but do something to control it. That is his job, which he is not doing. The lower classes are in a very bad situation and the middle class Indians are finding that the prosperity is no match to the rising prices.

The Kashmir situation is becoming worse. With the land allotment row for Amarnath, violence has broken out again in the valley. The central government is doing nothing about this except watching. The more delay is made the more the situation will go out of control.

The stock markets are diving everyday. People are horrified watching their value going down everyday. Many companies are getting quoted at unbelievably low prices. The rising oil prices in the International market will hammer the market lower. What is government doing about this? Nothing to say the least -recently Mr. Ahluwalia said that Indians would have to learn to live in the high oil prices regime. That is no comfort. The government can surely do something about the rising prices.

The job of the government is to help people live comfortably. The government is not supposed to lecture us about the international situation and the effect on us. It is for the government to look at everything and take steps to make life easy for the citizens.

India- Nuclear Deal And Opposition

The failure of Indian political parties to come to a consensus about the nuclear deal shows a lack of will in the country to implement policies that are good for India. The opposition of left is understood to be in the context of the USA. What about the BJP? Let us discuss that.

1. BJP is all for the deal. In fact if it was in power and the deal was offered it would have accepted it without any opposition and shown it as a victory.

2. The problem with BJP is not with the deal but the fact that the Indian national Congress has clinched the deal. BJP does not want to give credit to its opposition for the deal hence it is raising objections about the deal.

3. BJP has some idea that its supporters in the middle class will vote against it because of BJP's opposition to the deal. It is a well-known fact that the Indian middle class supports the USA whole-heartedly.

4. BJP plans to shout more about the rising prices rather than the nuclear deal The rising prices have come as heaven sent for the BJP.

Indian political parties have yet to mature. They oppose anything proposed by the ruling Govt. even if it is good for the country. There only objective is to grab the power. For them nation matters little. What they are always looking for is power. Why Mayawati calls the deal as anti Muslim is beyond comprehension. The deal has nothing to do with any religion. This opposition to the deal because it may be against the Muslim desire shows utter lack of morality. It will also increase the divide between Hindus and Muslims in India. It is time for Muslims to get up and say that they have nothing against the deal. Unless they do so Hindus will see them in a different light and political parties will again increase the divide further.

India- Reality Shows And Children

Here was the girl, a teenager of 16 years on the stage. She was waiting for the comments of judges on her performance. First came judge number one and started a scathing attack on her performance. The child began crying. I thought that they will try to find out why she was crying and try to console her, pamper her and if needed send her home. Nothing like that happened. The child was alone crying on the stage and the second judge started criticizing her performance. The child was becoming hysterical and by that time the third judge was on her throat for giving a lousy performance.

The girl went home and next day went into coma. Not actual coma but something nearing that. After that the child was hospitalized and is trying to recover. I have seen the producer and the judges of the program defending themselves on the news channels. None of them has expressed any regret. They have been blaming the parents for sending a mentally unfit child to the program. This whole thing sounds sadistic. These people were getting some sadistic pleasure out of hammering a crying child. This was live on television in a civilized nation like India.

What do we call this? Should it not be called child abuse? What about the punishment to the producer and the judges? The child is suffering but they are happily going around giving interviews and defending their action. Why are all of us silently watching this and not demanding any action?

The responsible persons should be hauled up before a court of law and made to pay for their deeds. Unless that is done this kind of torture will continue. The television channels are looking for viewer-ship but that cannot be done this way. In my opinion this is inhuman and we all must protest very strongly.