Is it all just for some Political Gain ?

This post again refers to the mockery of the Parliament made by the main opposition party BJP. They have been stalling the parliament proceedings from the past week and giving no opportunities for the Government & the Prime Minister to explain themselves.

However they have been giving speeches, participating in debates all over the media.

A big blow to the dignity of the Parliamentary system came when, the Prime Minister of the country isn't allowed to speak in the Parliament. And about an issue of such National Importance, the Prime Minister had to present his side amongst huge disruptions by the opposition. The opposition didn't even care about the dignity of the Post of Prime Minister and the Parliament.

And the biggest mockery comes when the BJP who is "opposed to any debate/discussion in Parliament" comes in the front of the media with a copy of the Prime Minister's speech (which they disturbed & opposed even when he was speaking) and started asking various questions of it.

How illogical is that, on the one hand you don't want a debate/discussion in Parliament and on the other hand you want to ask questions in front of the media that you could've asked the concerned person directly in a Parliamentary debate.

Also, as far as the matter is concerned their is enough evidence which defends the way the allocations were done. And even the opposition leaders/parties were well aware of how and when it was happening. Even many state cheif ministers of various parties wrote letters provocationg the screening committe way and not the auction way. Anyway I've no intentions of passing a judgment of who was guilty or who was not. I'll leave that to our legal/judiciary institutions who are looking into the matter.

But it all seems at the moment that the Opposition party instead of clearing up the matter in the Parliament, just want to stall the legislative process, cause disruptions to get some Political Gains.

But they need to understand that It's not just enough to win elections, you actually need to fulfill the trust the people have put in you and deliver on that.

Are we Aware ???

First of all, I would like to appreciate and applaud the TV News Channels which are one of the most far reaching form of Media in the current times. And this appreciation comes out of the numerous shows/debates hosted by various TV News channels, which takes up very important National issues and discuss them with great vigor and detail.

The most common formats being the interview shows and the debates where experts/politicians/leaders/activists are called from various fields and the mediator/anchor grills them with pretty tough questions. The most wonderful example of democracy and accountability are those when the leaders & politicians from various parties are grilled on their actions/stands/wrong-doings etc. Such shows not only bring a lot of awareness amongst the common people by this far reaching medium but also helps us understand and make an opinion about our political leaders and their ideologies.

This is certainly a very good step in the direction of a responsible media, aware citizens, accountable political leaders and a model democratic Nation.

It is the truest form of democracy when the public servants are being held accountable for the trust that the people have put in them.

However despite of all of this, there is a sad reality "How many people are actually aware ?" How many people actually know that a Parliament Session is going on ? How many people know that the primary opposition party is stalling the Parliament ? or the Prime Minister of our country is being demanded for a resignation ? or How many people actually care? How many people would actually like to watch such shows of high National Interests instead of a movie ?

I haven't done a survey but i can say that the percentage will be very low. Even the well educated section of the population will not get high numbers on the above questions.

The problem is in our way of thinking - we don't give a shit ! Unless and until something directly affects us we don't care and there in lies the problem. We need to understand that it does affect us, if not directly then indirectly but in a huge way. We need to care about the malice around us in our society as well rather than just in our homes. If we care that our home is clean, we should also care if our localities are clean, our cities are clean, our states are clean and our Nation is clean.

"to expect our country to be perfect, we need to be perfect citizens first"

And in order to do so, the first step is to be aware. What happening's in our country ? our state ? our city ? our locality ? and voice our opinions, voice our agreements or disagreements. This will also help us decide who should we elect as our leaders at the times of elections, for we will know a lot more about their policies/workings/ideologies etc.

To conclude : " We need to give a shit !"

Parliamentary Democracy ?

This post refers to the most sensationalized CAG report on the Coal Block Allocations and the repercussions it has had on our Parliament and our Political System.

Before i begin let me clarify that i'm not a legal expert & the views below are just my personal views and should be taken as such.

From what I've heard, read and gathered about this so called "Coal Block Allocation Scam" is that there were some misappropriation in the Coal Block allocations & as a result of which there was a loss of lakhs of crores to the Nation during the time when our Prime Minister had the Coal Portfolio as well .

What exactly was this misappropriation : Instead of following an auction process, there was a screening committee (people from the State & Central Governments) which screened the applications and awarded the Coal Blocks. However the CAG reports takes into account all sorts of factors, it is estimated by CAG that there were lakhs of crores of loss and the companies who were alloted these blocks made windfall profits. However there are many aspects to it :

1. The Congress View : Many States (including BJP ruled stated like Chhattisgarh, then Rajasthan, etc.) objected to auctioning process, there were rejections of auctioning by Law Ministries several times, Screening committee has representations from all sides, Allocations were done on the basis of State's recommendations, Way-Over Estimation by CAG, Same process was followed by BJP in their tenure, Not even a hint of Corruption, Open for Parliamentary Discussion etc. etc.

2. The BJP & NDA View : The most corrupt Government, demanding PM's resignation immediately, alleging that the PM & the Government is corrupt and has caused a halt to both the houses of Parliament for the past 2 days, Demanding for resignation first (no discussions).

3. Others (JDU, TMC etc.) View : Serious matter, In favour of Parliamentary discussions.

4. CAG View : Reported lakhs of crores of Windfall losses, but did not blame anybody (nor the Prime Minister nor the Ministry of Coal)

My View : I understand this definitely smells of a big corruption case which might have created a loss of lakhs of crores for our nation but how can we pass we judgment on something without giving them a chance to defend. As far as I understand the judicial system of India, we give the accused to present their side as well. There is already a CBI probe going on in this matter, the results of which are yet to come. There is also enough evidence at the outlook to suspect that other parties were aware of the process as well.

My Question is what's the purpose of disrupting the Parliament for continuous days, the Prime Minister wants a discussion so that the Government can present its view as well, so why not have one. Have a proper debate for once !

Why not all those Leaders asking all sorts of questions in front of Media  ask those in the Parliament directly to the person they are accusing.

There are many institutions already in place to prove one guilty, why jump the gun and directly ask for the PM's resignation instead of proving the guilt first ?

If we can prove/find evidence that there was corruption in this case, then ask for the PM's resignation, even throw him in Jail like the others proven guilty of corruption.

But just disrupting Parliament in times like now, when there is already a buzz of Policy Paralysis and the session is as short as 20 days will only hamper the economy, the legislation process, the spirit of democracy and by all the people of our country.

To conclude, I'm not defending the government nor i'm against it. I'm just saying respect the institutions like the Parliament & the Judiciary, Prove the guilt and if anyone is found guilty throw them in Jail.

Is this the right way to fight corruption ?

This post is regarding the two major protests led by Shri Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev recently and particularly about the way they want to fight corruption.

First of all What is corruption and who all are involved in it ? Corruption can be vaguely defined as misuse of an official position by preferential treatment for own vested interests. It can be seen around quite frequently in India where one pays a bribe to get some work done preferentially. It can be as big as those multi-crore scams or even as small as a bribe of Rs. 10. In my opinion, people from every economic level & strata are involved in it. Mind you i'm not at all saying that everyone is corrupt.

But I'm saying that people involved in corrupt practices can be seen in all sections of the population. So blaming only the politicians for corruption is just wrong.

Corruption is caused by two reasons : need & greed. People with low incomes have to take bribes to earn their livelihood and other people are just plain and simple greedy.

And in my opinion it is this greedy people that form the major element of corrupt practices. And better vigilance (Lokpal) will definitely be helpful in stopping this menace but that will be action by fear (e.g. fear of losing their job or fear of action them).

What about the Morality of it all ? Shouldn't our spiritual gurus like Baba Ramdev use their mass following to teach a lesson of morality to people to stop engaging in such activities.

Corruption is like a multi-story building, and if you keep smashing it's pillars the building has to collapse. What i mean is saintly people like Baba Ramdev & Shri Anna Hazzare, can't they use all their charm and mass following to teach a lesson of morality as well ? By telling people to themselves not involve in corrupt practices.

If there will be no participants, there will be no corruption.

They can keep going with their Government & Parliament bashing way of protest, but in the sidelines why don't they try to teach our people to take the moral high ground and be the great moral country that we used to proclaim ourselves as. 

I'm not saying that this way there will no corruption or we don't need lokpal or anything like that. Instead what I'm saying is why not attack corruption from grass root levels as well.

And since their is huge following of both our civil activists groups, why not take this opportunity to teach the citizens of our country to be moral, ethical & above all good human beings.

are you kidding me Madam Chief Minister ?

This post refers to one of the prominent leaders of our Nation Ms. Mamata Banerjee and her habit of pinning the tag of Maoists on people and storming out of Interviews or rather sending them to jail.

Some days back I was watching an Interview of Ms. Mamata Banerjee in which along with the anchor there were students from colleges of West Bengal who were asking some tough questions. And out of no where Ms. Mamata Banerjee got totally mifffed with the questions and started pinning the tag of being Maoists on those few students who were asking her questions and refused to answer them and then she just stormed out of the interview right in the middle.

And a very similar incident happened today when in a public meeting when a person asked her a tough question about "what is she doing for the farmers ? and the promises have not been fulfilled ?". She immediately got super angry, called the person Maoist and even got him arrested.

I start by clarifying that i don't have anything to do with the Maoist ideology. But my Question is "even if" those people were actually of maoist ideology, being the chief minister of the state more importantly being the chief minister, a public servant of the people of the state it is her responsibility towards anyone and everyone irrespective of any ideology he/she follows.

Even if the above people have been Maoists, it is her responsibility and she is answerable to them. And I saw the interview and can surely say that those students were not causing any disruptions nor were they hostile, they were just asking some honest and tough questions, so one can't blame them for anything.

The Chief Minister of a state is answerable to each and every person of the state, irrespective of their cast, ideology, financial status etc. Our honorable Chief Minister might be doing some wonderful work but such incidents simply diminishes her image and credibility.

These instances looks to me as a total misuse and even arrogance of power and makes a complete mockery of  a Democracy which our Nation so proudly is.