I have always been against LTTE as i have seen it as a part of the problem and never a part of the solution, having said that i don't quite think that all is good in the island nation. Now is the time for foreign nations, especially India to play a part in bringing a political solution to the issue. One has to remember that the issue still exists and would require honest efforts from the Government of Srilanka to address the same and gain the confidence of the Tamil minority in the nation. The Srilankan government has achieved something very small by defeating the LTTE relative to what awaits them in the form of providing equal rights to all communities in their nation, they need to make the minorities feel them to be a part of every process in the country and only that can heal the wounds of many a decade.
Now that the LTTE has become a thing of the past, this would leave a few politicians high and dry as this has been a very vocal issue among the politicians in the state of tamil nadu. The issue was adopted by many groups in Tamil Nadu only expecting electoral dividends and were in a state of shock, post May 16th. The lesser it is said, the better it is about the so called tamil film fraternity which managed to capture the headlines for a few days for all the wrong reasons. At least now, i hope they get back to what they do better, film making.
The war has ended which has only cleared a confusion in the name of LTTE, the real issue remains firm on the ground which unless honestly addressed might gain strength to attain the magnitude of a global war. One strongly hopes that all necessary changes are implemented in the Srilankan political system which makes way for every Srilankan citizen to live in joy and peace which they have been deprived of for many years. Any amount of rational thinking, however emotional one might be, would only help us understand that violence is never a way to achieve anything constructive and history tells us that the doing away of the LTTE has taken us a few inches closer to the much needed peace in the land of Srilanka.
India along with other countries should do all it can, to ensure that justice prevails in the island nation and that amendments be made to the system that led to the ethnic conflict in the first place. A failure to do so, will lead to an insecure future to the whole of south Asia and will possibly rollback decades of world development.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Most Responsible Election Verdict
I have been truly happy for the past few days, thanks to the most responsible & sensible election verdict that i have seen all my life in India. The verdict quite easily raced past my expectations and it gave a clear idea of the mindset of the voting population in the country. The verdict has rejected negative politics, it has simply dismissed irresponsible politicians and in many ways is the best verdict that the country could have provided at this crucial period of economic depression all over the globe.
A fractured mandate was the first element of danger at this juncture and had the mandate been anything like the '04 election results, it would have been party time for the political brokers (read regional chauvinists) who would have made the national politics, a mere joke. The people had to vote very clearly and had to provide definite answers to some questions created by the previous verdict, a verdict which helped in a very limited manner. The Congress have every reason to rejoice and celebrate their victory and should also understand the responsibility thrusted on them by the 'Great Verdict' of '09. I have always been positively interested in politics, not because it makes intresting news but because its the mirror which shows where we stand as a nation. Politics in India plunged to a disgusting low in the past few years, mainly because of the rise of caste/religion/region based politicians who tend to believe that there is no reason to have an ideology to be a political party and that to win an election by any means is the ticket to smart politics. The developments in many parts of the country seemed to give way to yet another national joke, but the verdict proved everyone wrong. I personally call this a 'Great Verdict' simply because it has given one party a chance to prove themselves without providing them any constraints what so ever in the form of non cooperative allies, now it is completely upto the party to reciprocate in the form of good governance.
There is only a limit upto which a government can take responsibility for the state of a nation, as the nation itself has a bigger responsibility which takes shape during elections. One can only say that the nation has proved to be completely responsible and now the minority (in the name of government)has to do everything they can to live upto the promises and make sure that the responsibilities are fulfilled with utmost sincierity. Opportunistic politics, regional confusions have proved to bear no place in the minds of the voters and this must show some signals to the power hungry people, who are ready to switch any light off to attain their political goal. The next 5 years only give me hope and i positively look forward to a great change that would take place in a country which is in the verge of becoming an envy of the world.
A fractured mandate was the first element of danger at this juncture and had the mandate been anything like the '04 election results, it would have been party time for the political brokers (read regional chauvinists) who would have made the national politics, a mere joke. The people had to vote very clearly and had to provide definite answers to some questions created by the previous verdict, a verdict which helped in a very limited manner. The Congress have every reason to rejoice and celebrate their victory and should also understand the responsibility thrusted on them by the 'Great Verdict' of '09. I have always been positively interested in politics, not because it makes intresting news but because its the mirror which shows where we stand as a nation. Politics in India plunged to a disgusting low in the past few years, mainly because of the rise of caste/religion/region based politicians who tend to believe that there is no reason to have an ideology to be a political party and that to win an election by any means is the ticket to smart politics. The developments in many parts of the country seemed to give way to yet another national joke, but the verdict proved everyone wrong. I personally call this a 'Great Verdict' simply because it has given one party a chance to prove themselves without providing them any constraints what so ever in the form of non cooperative allies, now it is completely upto the party to reciprocate in the form of good governance.
There is only a limit upto which a government can take responsibility for the state of a nation, as the nation itself has a bigger responsibility which takes shape during elections. One can only say that the nation has proved to be completely responsible and now the minority (in the name of government)has to do everything they can to live upto the promises and make sure that the responsibilities are fulfilled with utmost sincierity. Opportunistic politics, regional confusions have proved to bear no place in the minds of the voters and this must show some signals to the power hungry people, who are ready to switch any light off to attain their political goal. The next 5 years only give me hope and i positively look forward to a great change that would take place in a country which is in the verge of becoming an envy of the world.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Elections 2009 - I root for Congress
There have been many days when we sit and ponder why India is still a developing country, why can't India transform into a power to reckon with instead of being a country with potential. Any average Indian would point the fingers to the government and say - it is corrupted, politicians are the villains who take the country back ten steps once we make 2 steps forward and i Disagree.
In my personal opinion, Politics in India is in a state which was/is/will be dictated by the people of the nation. In almost every way, India is what every Indian is - one cannot blame the government which is existing in the first place because of "US" - the very own muted citizens of the country. Coming to the prospects of the political parties that i consider fit to rule the nation, i don't really see any other party apart from the Congress alliance forming the government - i hope not to be proved wrong in the coming days.
Whom do i want to run the nation?
This question has only one answer at this point of time and i actually prefer a Non-Coalition government ruling the nation which of course seems highly unlikely. Now that i prefer a single party to rule the country, who should it be and yet again its a clear answer which spells Congress. The reasons are manifold and the primary being:
Congress is the only national party which has the capacity to run a government for the full term which it dervies mainly from the leaders they have in their ranks and that means stability to me. Congress is the party with some outstandingly promising young stars in their ranks - just to name a few:
Sachin Pilot
Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
Rahul Gandhi
Dr G Vivekananda
Ajay Maken
There are a lot more whom i can name and apart from these young leaders,the Congress boasts off some of the most Qualilfied men the nation has to do the top job. The Congress has a lot of positives which are comfortably ignored as everyone were not able to see the results when they were in power, i owe this to the fractured mandate which was given to the party and to the alliance parters they had to share room with. There are quite a few complaints about the Congress having done nothing to the nation inspite of ruling the country for most part post independence, i share the same thought to a lesser extent as the leaders they have had in the past were not as agile/active as they should have been and that does not out weigh the positives in my opinion.
I have always opposed BJP as a party and the reason is the tag that is associated with them of being "Communal". BJP is a real threat to the nation and the rise of BJP and the Communal issues together in the country is not just coincidental, we have seen enough evidence of what will happen to India if Communal forces come to power. What seemed as strong point for congress turns about to be a huge negative for BJP which is "having qualified leaders in their ranks". The BJP has some of the most disgraceful leaders in their party who make some shameful comments which has them running for cover on a daily basis.
I would have asked for Development as the only priority in the coming elections, but looking at what my nation had to go through in the recent past - i ask for Peace first and only when in Peace can i think of life and its betterment and who better to give us that than the Congress with the help of Mr. Manmohan Singh, Mr.Chidambaram amongst many other responsible leaders.
In my personal opinion, Politics in India is in a state which was/is/will be dictated by the people of the nation. In almost every way, India is what every Indian is - one cannot blame the government which is existing in the first place because of "US" - the very own muted citizens of the country. Coming to the prospects of the political parties that i consider fit to rule the nation, i don't really see any other party apart from the Congress alliance forming the government - i hope not to be proved wrong in the coming days.
Whom do i want to run the nation?
This question has only one answer at this point of time and i actually prefer a Non-Coalition government ruling the nation which of course seems highly unlikely. Now that i prefer a single party to rule the country, who should it be and yet again its a clear answer which spells Congress. The reasons are manifold and the primary being:
Congress is the only national party which has the capacity to run a government for the full term which it dervies mainly from the leaders they have in their ranks and that means stability to me. Congress is the party with some outstandingly promising young stars in their ranks - just to name a few:
Sachin Pilot
Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
Rahul Gandhi
Dr G Vivekananda
Ajay Maken
There are a lot more whom i can name and apart from these young leaders,the Congress boasts off some of the most Qualilfied men the nation has to do the top job. The Congress has a lot of positives which are comfortably ignored as everyone were not able to see the results when they were in power, i owe this to the fractured mandate which was given to the party and to the alliance parters they had to share room with. There are quite a few complaints about the Congress having done nothing to the nation inspite of ruling the country for most part post independence, i share the same thought to a lesser extent as the leaders they have had in the past were not as agile/active as they should have been and that does not out weigh the positives in my opinion.
I have always opposed BJP as a party and the reason is the tag that is associated with them of being "Communal". BJP is a real threat to the nation and the rise of BJP and the Communal issues together in the country is not just coincidental, we have seen enough evidence of what will happen to India if Communal forces come to power. What seemed as strong point for congress turns about to be a huge negative for BJP which is "having qualified leaders in their ranks". The BJP has some of the most disgraceful leaders in their party who make some shameful comments which has them running for cover on a daily basis.
I would have asked for Development as the only priority in the coming elections, but looking at what my nation had to go through in the recent past - i ask for Peace first and only when in Peace can i think of life and its betterment and who better to give us that than the Congress with the help of Mr. Manmohan Singh, Mr.Chidambaram amongst many other responsible leaders.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Why the hue and cry about Slumdog?
I was truly impressed when i came out of the theatre after watching "Slumdog Millionaire" on a December weekend here in the US. I left the hall with some pain, a pain that you feel when you are thrusted with a cruel truth which we have so comfortably ignored for so long.
May be , all those people who feel offended after watching the movie are not able to digest the truth - a common thing for all hypocrite Indians. When in Bombay, you get an unpleasant yet beautiful view of the slums from a Plane as you land into the economic capital of the nation. There has always been a habit of claiming glory in a "not so correct" way by us Indians, be it Kalpana chawla, Sunitha Williams, Bobby Jindal, Lakshmi Mittal or any famous personality who happen to have his/her origins (no matter whether he/she likes it or not). We do not understand the fact that in a nation of 1.3 billion people - we are bound to get scattered across the globe and as it turns out we will grow where ever we are, just like any other human race.
To me "Slumdog Millionaire" is the most honest film i had seen after a Tamil movie called "Mozhi", it is an effort to show the world what it is to live in the hell of "Bombay" and i say it with due respect to the beauty of the city. It is only human to accept the fact that the slums shown in the movie is no exaggeration and is a true picture of the maximum city. I was indeed take aback by the statements of Amitabh bhachan on the movie who happens to live in the same city and that also gave me some idea of how success and honesty may not be always together as he can be touted as the most successful media person of this era of the nation and yet not honest enough to accept a blatant truth about our own dirty backyard.
Slumdog Millionaire is a capture of the rashes your heart goes through as you see the slums in Bombay, but who has the time to be immersed into it when the city has so much to offer. Danny Boyle has to be praised for his work and a truly Patriotic Indian would only Thank him for bringing in the harsh reality to the center stage of the world which otherwise would have been a thing-to-hide for all of us.
May be , all those people who feel offended after watching the movie are not able to digest the truth - a common thing for all hypocrite Indians. When in Bombay, you get an unpleasant yet beautiful view of the slums from a Plane as you land into the economic capital of the nation. There has always been a habit of claiming glory in a "not so correct" way by us Indians, be it Kalpana chawla, Sunitha Williams, Bobby Jindal, Lakshmi Mittal or any famous personality who happen to have his/her origins (no matter whether he/she likes it or not). We do not understand the fact that in a nation of 1.3 billion people - we are bound to get scattered across the globe and as it turns out we will grow where ever we are, just like any other human race.
To me "Slumdog Millionaire" is the most honest film i had seen after a Tamil movie called "Mozhi", it is an effort to show the world what it is to live in the hell of "Bombay" and i say it with due respect to the beauty of the city. It is only human to accept the fact that the slums shown in the movie is no exaggeration and is a true picture of the maximum city. I was indeed take aback by the statements of Amitabh bhachan on the movie who happens to live in the same city and that also gave me some idea of how success and honesty may not be always together as he can be touted as the most successful media person of this era of the nation and yet not honest enough to accept a blatant truth about our own dirty backyard.
Slumdog Millionaire is a capture of the rashes your heart goes through as you see the slums in Bombay, but who has the time to be immersed into it when the city has so much to offer. Danny Boyle has to be praised for his work and a truly Patriotic Indian would only Thank him for bringing in the harsh reality to the center stage of the world which otherwise would have been a thing-to-hide for all of us.
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