we need Trust !

This post refers to two aspects of the speech given by Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav during his recent rally in Lucknow.

Firstly he said that Mr. Advani has personally called him and informed that corruption is rising in UP and he further went on to warn his ministers. He also said that he trusts Mr. Advani completely and mentioned the fact that he never lies. Furthermore he promised to meet Mr. Advani and understand the specificities.

This is the kind of trust and cooperation we need amongst our leaders. While we are plagued with problems, such unity (with or w/o any political motives) is what we require most.

Secondly, during the same speech he went to blame the Central Government for the rising corruption in the country. But now the question is if the Central Government is not performing well and is working its way into corruption, then why is the Samajwadi Party supporting it and making sure that the Government stays in power ? If Mr. Mulayam Singh believes that the Central Government is not following its mandate, he can simply withdraw his support and call for fresh elections !

this is called Criticism !

This post refers to the speech given by the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh during the BJP National Council Meeting.

This recently held meeting was covered widely by the media, especially the parts referring to Mr. Narendra Modi. However what stood out most to me was the speech made by Dr. Raman Singh. His speech was "point blank" meaning without going into any sorts of "name-calling" or "political-vote-bank-tactics", he simple iterated what his government has done over the past decade, what all schemes, experiments, pro-grammes they have developed and how they benefited the people. He even explained the various challenges faced and how they overcame them.

For example, for a system as messy and complicated as the "PDS System" not only did his Government worked extensively only it (with a lot of innovation, technological integration and tight monitoring) but he explained it with so much simplicity and passion, it truly reflected the sweat and hard work put behind it.

However the highlight of his speech was the Criticism that he brought upon the National Food Security Act, which is soon going to be brought by the Central Government. And what was exceptionally great about his criticism was that he was not just criticizing because he belongs to an opposition party, far from it he went into specific details, compared it with the food security act that they have brought in their own state & iterated the various challenges associated with it. He went into the intricacies of the act and explained why he is opposing and what he is opposing with alternatives and solutions that they themselves have implemented.  He even went on to give specific suggestions which could be added/modified to the act.

Add to that he backed his claims and the act in Chhattisgarh by another report/claim that there was "No Hunger Death" reported in the past 4 years in Chhattisgarh.

And this is what is called Criticism !

Anger is good !

It is good to be angry and pissed off ! This is when we see somebody responsible for something not doing his/her job be it an elected leader, a bureaucrat or any official.

We got to be active, care about and do something when we see someone not doing what they are supposed to do. However this anger should come out in an entirely non-violent and systematic way.

What India needs most is to empower the system i.e. making our systems, administrations, processes so efficient that nobody inside it dares to defy it or work against it.

There needs to be an efficient check mechanism and a complaint redressal mechanism for every public system be it the local level municipal offices, leaders or various other administrative hierarchies.

We would be a true democracy if and only if we can hold each and every leader/official or any other public servant responsible for his/her actions/inactions.

Collective Responsibility ?

This post refers to the comments made by various leaders after the Union Budget. The highlight of those being that the Government and its policies were responsible for the economic slowdown, the low GDP growth, high fiscal deficit, high current account deficit, low investor sentiments etc.

But the question is since a majority of the policy and legislative decisions happen/not-happen in the Parliament isn't it the collective responsibility of all the members (and not just the Government) for any policy/legislative action/inaction ?

A lot of legislative business (e.g. the land acquisition bill, GST, Pension and Insurance bills etc) which could have been beneficial to the economy are pending. And the main reason behind which being the Parliament unable to function because of constant disruptions.

And how is it useful to just trash the Budget and the Government without getting into the specifics or alternatives !

Indeed on the whole it is the Government's responsibility but the opposition is not just there to oppose each and everything so that they can work their way into the Government in the next elections instead even they are also there to work together with the Government for the people of our Nation.

right comment at the right place ?

this post refers to the comment made by Mr. Lal Krishna Advani regarding the Hyderabad bomb blasts in front of the media today. He commented that since our neighboring country failed against us in actual war so many times, they are taking the help of a "proxy war" i.e. pointing fingers directly at Pakistan and blaming them for the horrific incident.

But the question is : is it wise, rational and logical for a person of such stature (i.e. the Prime Ministerial candidate in the last elections and the senior most leader of the main opposition party) to make such comments without what any proper investigation ?

He might be right, but we don't have any investigations/proofs etc till now and even if he has some reasons/intelligence about it then the media isn't the right place for it.

For e.g. blaming Pakistan for the 26/11 attacks is correct and we've had ample proofs which we even have produced before the Pakistan Government but blaming them so early here just seems a bit irrational and that too by a leader as tall as Mr. Advani.

What ideally should happen is that our intelligence agencies etc. should investigate the matter as fast as they can, and then who ever is the culprit we all should be united (despite the party lines) in bringing them to the justice.

Playing the blame game without any legible proofs will only hit our credibility !

Going above Party Lines !

This post refers to the reactions by various Political Parties and Leaders to the execution of capital punishment of Afzal Guru.

More often than not we see the opposition parties thrashing the workings of the parties in power and vice-verse, it is extremely rare when we see the political parties actually speaking about the matter in question and maybe appreciating the steps by the Government. 

The point being, in a country with so many issues and problems plaguing us, we need a collaborative approach from our leaders and not a cat-fight  just for the sake of vote bank politics. Expressing genuine concerns and differences in ideologies are more than welcome but we need solutions not just debates and discussions (that too less in the Parliament and more in the media).

And what happened today, with the primary opposition party BJP welcoming the execution and sending a strong message against terrorism reflects the true strength of our country. We need much more collaboration & appreciation cutting across party lines which would lead to strong governance and action against our country's problems.

Are we Morally educated ?

Lack of Morality, Values, Ethics in us is one of the most fundamental cause behind the various issues trembling our Nation by its roots. Be it corruption, extreme efficiency in Government policies, pro-grammes, schemes, offices etc; Inequality, Heinous crimes like female foeticide, infanticide, rape; Honor killings etc all reflect a serious lack of morality, values and ethics.

What's even more alarming is that well educated people also indulge in such kind of activities !

This reflects the serious need of Value education in our schools and colleges. Along with teaching the young different aspects of sciences, languages, etc. it is extremely important to make them realize what's good and what's bad ! what's our duties and responsibilities ! what sort of activities we should promote/revolt !

Having said that it is also noted that there is no perfect definition of values and value education but even in the light of what we have seen in the country in the past 2-3 years be it the various corruption cases, extreme inefficiencies, inhuman crimes like rapes, violence we need the moral awakening now more than ever !

Even Tv Shows and Movies like Tarak Mehta ka ooltah chasma and Oh My God have done a tremendous job of conveying the right messages and making people much more moral, ethical, self-righteous and aware.

But we need these lessons a lot more and embroiled in as many domains as possible be it the Formal Education, Television shows, Movies, Media, etc.

Even all our religious leaders, political leaders, babas and gurus should aspire for making us the most morally sound people.