On the UPSC agitation.

There has been a lot of hue and cry recently in the media with regards to the UPSC papers with reference specifically to the aptitude paper being prevalent in English. I am stunned by the arrogance and malevolence that has been on display all over. 

I would like the proponents to answer the following questions before they embark on such step as agitating for the same. Surely, the future bureaucrats should have the ability to see far, shouldn't they? 

1. If the agitation is not about English per se but the dominance of English, why not propose papers in all the 19 languages that are recognised by the Hon. Constitution of India? Why should the insistence be purely on Hindi alone? Don't Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Assamese and Manipuri students also appear for the UPSC exams?

2. Can the agitators and their supporters provide a formula, whereby it can be practically decided in logistical terms, how many papers of each of the 19 languages should be published or even distributed per centre such that there is no wastage and also it is made to everyone's satisfaction?

3. Once the candidates are selected, can the agitators please suggest how these students will compete in an international world wherein English is the lingua franca ... I know Japanese and German and Chinese speak their own languages on international forums but it would surprise many a people to know they don't shun English exactly. In fact, many of them take special efforts to learn the language as can be seen from the admissions to colleges in Ivy League from these nations. 

4. Should we favour a system wherein people should only be posted to regions they are lingually conversant with? If yes, won't this lead to nepotism? On one end, there is so much hue and cry about parochial attitude of the bureaucrats - will it not make the problem worse? 

5. Do you not think acceding to these demands will embolden them to make similar demands in every sphere of competition? Are you ready to have CAT, AIPMT etc in 19 languages? Will you protest against the USA for not having a Hindi option for GMAT, SAT, GRE?

It is time to think sensibly, not emotionally.   

On Bangladesh

Many people have written to me asking my opinion on the execution of the JI leader. Frankly speaking, I have to study the entire case in detail before I comment on it.

My friends in Bangladesh seem to feel justice has been served but I have 3 questions

1. What was his position in JI in 1971? Was he in a position to order and execute the killings and innocents ?

2. How many people have pointed him out as the man responsible for the murders? If not directly, then is their a paper trail that connects him to the murders?

3. Has he mellowed with age or has he continued in the same vein?

Finally and most importantly why was the judgement changed. That sounds suspicious.

To those who support him, also I have a few questions

1. If you can seek clemency for him and those of his ilk, why do you bemoan the actions of Modi ?

2. Doesn't a nation have a right to punish it's enemies? If he was loyal to Pakistan, then it is Pakistan's hydra-headed policy in display that they use people and throw them to their own fate once their use is completed.

I don't support any kind of extremism and if the actions of his opinion are to he seen, they do make me think whether he deserves any mercy 

The Plight of the Bihari

Following the news has become a nightmare. Every time you hope for some closure for one issue, immediately it gets worsened by another that seems to be waiting for it's own time under the sun.

And plus in my current medical condition, it makes more sense for me to stay away from such 'breaking news' that leaves me with the first clear ambition of breaking the TV. Sadly it costs enough for me, not to indulge is such glamorous acts. So, what do I do? I read Books. Books on History, Geography, Economics and Political Science.

A few days ago, all the news was about the Thackarey clan issuing permits to the residents of Bihar who wanted to come and work in Bombay. I thought maybe I must have read it wrong or maybe what they said was indeed twisted out of context. But no, it was smack in the middle! They had actually asked for permits to be issued.

Now who had done that before???? 

O yes.. Walter Ulbricht did that in 1961 when he divided Germany by constructing the Berlin Wall... Still earlier Adolf Hitler did it in 1933, when he forced Jews and others who were not adherents of Nazi philosophy to wear distinct colour bands. And we can definitely go down the path of History with many such notables.

It would be a joke to add the self-serving, Thackaray clan to this infamous gallery of rogues but still they have been putting up so much against the poor Biharis that it becomes a shock that Bihar is actually a part of India. And Article 19 of the Indian Constitution gives every Bihari a right to stay anywhere and travel anywhere within India. So in short, is the honoured Thackaray clan, challenging the Constitution of India and stating that, hey, look, we are bigger than the Constitution!

Sadly, this seems to be the in-thing nowadays. Every politician worth his salt and involved in Vote Bank Politics is doing the same ... In short, we are again moving to the politics of hate and division that have destroyed this nation, time and again.

I cannot even stop to think how many more divisions are going to be made, just because we cannot understand the moves and implications of these players!

But is this a mess of only India? Are Biharis facing flak only in the nation of birth? No.. actually, their circumstances are much better in India, then in the neighbouring state-nations, thou having a state of their own has not helped them much, thanks to the M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) Vote combination that characterizes Bihari politics.

In Pakistan, there is a clear discrimination against them. They get nothing but downright looks and are called 'Biharis' pejoratively. All over the nation, Biharis maybe in some of the highest positions in the administration, just like neighbouring India, but still there is no group that is hated more than this poor clan of immigrants who migrated to Pakistan under the dreams of a Muslim heartland. The land of the pure it seems had no heart for the people from the poor.

In Karachi, there is an ethnic movement against the Urdu-speaking Bihari Mohajirs, because the Sindhis feel they have not assimilated into the grain of the Sind. That Pakistan left 750,000 Biharis stranded and stateless in Bangladesh is not even to be mentioned. That cannot even be discussed - it's such a shocking reminder of the way our North-West neighbour functions - I mean how can a nation turn it's back on such a huge populace that remained loyal to it's nation amid such a major upheaval!

And in our East... Bangladesh does not even consider them as citizens. They are second-class citizens in a state that does not even consider them citizens but enemy collaborators. The Bengalis has visited on them atrocities that we cannot even think of mentioning. In the defense of Bangladesh, I can at least say the trauma of the wounds is still green, but what excuses do Pakistanis and Indians have to offer?

Do the people realize, that most of the infiltrations happening in the North-East of India are less due to Bengali speaking Bangladeshis and more due to these unfortunate, stateless and discriminated Biharis who infiltrate illegally to India in hopes that maybe our nation, democratic as it stands will be able to do something for them... 

Yes.. India has indeed done a lot for our Bihari brethren, they have a state of their own. Their culture is respected, their Mithali language inshrined and they have freedoms that they can't dream of in the other nations. But sitting on our past laurels is not going to help us - we have to remain alert to fascist tendencies of keeping our nations divided on names of race, religion, region or ethnicity 

It's time to think about it. I am not a Bihari but I can feel the pain and anger in their heart as much as the next one. 

What then should the Bihari do? Should he turn his back to all the 3 immediate nations and create his own nation, thus stabbing the fabric of our oneness? Should the Subcontinent be partitioned once again  just because we have yet to learn the ways to live together..... 

When will we understand, that our cultural ties are not enough.. they have shown their power over a history of 5000 years but if we really need to rise, we have to have one political unity as well... 

It won't take a lot for us to remember that we owe a lot to Bihar... This is where our first universities were born; this is where our first dreams of a United Subcontinent were formed... This was the land ruled by the legendary Angraaj Karna... This is the land of the Nandas, against whom Alexander's soldiers dared not move... This is the land of Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka the Great... Think about it!

The Two-faced Crusaders of Public Morality

The leaking out of the report indicting the Karnataka CM and his coterie in the mining scam and the resultant tamasha in the media has made me wary of the political class has a whole, though it has only confirmed my misgivings about the nature of our political animals and made believing in their words henceforth a case of immense leap in Faith.

Look at the BJP for instance.. .. after almost a year of crying hoarse over the corruption issue, which also included dancing in a 'mujra' sans 'Shoukins' at the tomb of the father-of-the-nation, today when it comes to the point of making a clear statement to the electorate by putting it's own house in order, the venerable leaders of the sham opposition have decided to choose the easy path, the Narsimha Rao path of silence.

Yedurappa will not go, Yedurappa cannot go... Electoral Mathematics will not allow it... and what's more Mr. Gadkari, has also gone all the way, stating that the electoral victory of the BJP in the recent bye-elections is enough proof of the fact that the populace does not think of him in bad light and so the topic is an non-issue! Well... if this be the case, then even the Congress has won the Assembly election in 3 out of 4 states and so the sword of Corruption that hangs over it's head should also be thrown aside.... Sadly for both you and your adversary, that's not the case and that cannot be the case

Corruption has to be rooted out and the dark faces of both the Congress and the BJP need to be scrubbed clean of it or both need to be thrown in the dustbin of history.

And now look at the Civil Society... the harbingers of  change, the all-in-white crusaders against a men-in-black government have suddenly decided to close ranks behind an imaginary wall rather than condemn the government of Karnataka.... where is the famous Anna and his righteous comment on the subject?

It only goes to show that the so called Crusaders need a generous wallop of Surf Excel to wash off their own clean linen that has now been exposed to be as dirty as the other ones......

"Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" - Mahatma Gandhi

A Question

My continent has never been a single political entity in all the time it has been around.... Throughout History, it has repeatedly been parcelled into smaller units, each baying for the blood of the other, pillaging it, eying it's own sisters and daughters and raping them as if  they belonged to another.... never have we understood the fact that we were always one beneath all these exterior differences.... from Ashoka, to Akbar and onto Aurangzeb, we did try to build up an empire that would hold onto all of our lands, but the fact is, our own people often proved to be our enemies in this path.... and again today, we are at it.... what more catastrophe does it need to take place before we can shed our differences to see the similarities? How many more partitions have to take place before we see the value of defence in depth? How much more do we need to hate each other and want to destroy each other to understand that this is us, not the other?

I don't know what's it with us..... a White skin is so important to our consciousness that whether knowingly or subconsciously  we always gravitate to them .... the latest example being the inhuman, filthy and foolish display of  sycophancy; the almost disgusting of self in front of American interests..... we don't mind destroying our own people for the sake of those that come in those white wrappers....

Tan Se To Aazaad Hum Ho Gaye Hain, Mann Se Gayee Naa Ghulaami
Pardesi Bhasha Aur Bhess Ko Hi, Dete Hain Ab Tak Salaami
Bhool Kar Apna Rang, Sikhaen Auron Ka Dhang,
Apnepan Ka Chalan Humse Chhutta!

The tribe of Mir Sadique still thrives in this land..... and my continent still is far away from that dream, that vision of one united country, that thrives from Herat to Galle, from Hotan and Kashghar to Tennasarim, from Sistan to Thimpu and Tawang and from Indira Point bordering Aceh to Male, remains but a pipe dream .....

When shall this land be one? Will this land ever be one?

New Steps in a Old Direction

The 'War Against Terror' by the 'Coalition of the Willing' has created a major political and existential mess for the entire world but due to it's unique position as both victim and aggressor, witness and accused, prosecutor and defence, the Subcontinent is in deeper waters than any other region in this comedy of the absurd. Osama is dead, but he has left behind enough headaches for this region and I am sure this region will go through a bloodbath before even a thought of exorcism can be entertained. As long as our political disunity is a truth, peace is a myth.

Though it can be easily proved that the mess has been created and furthered by actors outside the Subcontinent, the actions of some of the political actors of the area such as Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cannot escape scrutiny. There are very few political divisions that can say with a degree of certainty that they are in no way responsible or touched by this major concern, an example can be made of Bhutan and to some extent Maldives.Anyways, a lot of water has flown down the river since those days, when the ideology and the infrastructure of the philosophy was created, today my major concern is the immediate impact of the situation on the future.

India should fear the impact of the current situation. There are many in the political establishment who are gloating over the current impasse generated in Pakistan, busy in garnering brownies and gathering laughs but they fail to see that the so-called tight spot is an illusion.

I was saddened and shocked to hear the Army General speaking out of turn on the hot pursuit theory. Does the general, respected as he is, know the implications of such a scenario. Warmongers have been painting pictures of 1971 and 1999 but lot has changed since then....  Pakistan has the 4th largest Nuclear Arsenal that is rising consistently, an immense pool of non-state actors that it can use as a proxy, is not dependent on India in any aspect, has a support structure in form of China and is a 'neighbour'; however uncomfortable that may seem. Also, unlike India it has not agreed to 'No First Use' Clause and it can easily override India's No First-Use Clause by using non-state actors; all of them being on their tight leash..... Why would the respected Army General making such a silly statement?

America is not the saviour of Indian interests, nor is it anything more than a faithless lover who will throw off the yoke of your love, the moment it's realpolitik and economic interests dictate otherwise.... currently, there is no reason why America should dump it's bed-partner, Pakistan and make a love covenant with India- in short this bed is going to lie empty for some more time now!

America needs Pakistan in Afghanistan and let's be clear the Great Game that started with the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 is still on, in fact it's more urgent, more important and more dangerous and for America that one need of being a player in the region will easily override all other aspects, even bankruptcy. Also the fact that Pakistan is the only reliable go-between America has in it's hand, in case China and America have a disagreement is a clincher; remember China holds the reins of more than a Trillion Dollars in Debt plus has a strong moderating influence on North Korea and is also the rising power, the one expected to throw America on the sidelines...... China publicly supporting a beleaguered Pakistan recently is proof of the geopolitical realities of our times.....

If India needs to fear the situation, Pakistan needs to be terrified of it.... It's open history that none of the dictators supported by America have come to any good in the long run; in the short-run, Pakistan will squeeze America by the balls and maybe even make them dance to the monkey tune but make no mistakes, it's not going to last.... Pakistan's importance in the American psyche is not derived from it's own position per se but because of it's power and reach in secondary and more important regions.... it's the gateway to Central Asia, the point of control for the Afghan heartland, a way to the Middle Kingdom and a watchdog to Iran and Russia; these parameters can change in a blink of an eye.

Secondly, it's foolish to ride a Lion, hoping that someday it will be a tame Lion .... the Mullahs, by history have always shown their desire and fascination for temporal power..... they cannot be controlled forever and one day will demand more than Shylock's pound of flesh... any religious fundamentalism has a way of consuming the one who creates the mess .... be wary and be cautious

Thirdly, the unity and integrity of Pakistan itself is under question.... Baluchistan may go the Bangladesh way if things do not improve, the only reason it has survived in the confederation so far is it's regional proximity to Iran on the extreme western border of the Sub-continent and Afghanistan which is itself in severe turmoil. Sind is restive while the NWFP still dreams of a united Pukhtoonkhwa.

Afghanistan, the northern-most boundary of our Continent also has a lot to fear. Americans need to show to it's local populace that the War on Terror is not Vietnam Part II and may insist on the division of the country in two parts with the Northern and the Southern parts divided .... Partition is a favourite weapon of the colonial and the imperialist powers. They have ruled the world on basis of Partitions and it's obvious that they will try it again...... but this would be very deadly and if America goes ahead with this plan, the backlash will be very dangerous and America will find to it's chagrin that the cure is worse than the disease

We are living in very dangerous times, I hope the people who are leading us can handle it well or our Continent will have nothing but tears and blood to show for our errors of omission and commision

On The Death of a Terrorist

Osama Bin Laden was killed on 2nd May 2011 in Abbotabad, Pakistan....... and the entire world let down a collective sigh of relief..... So what the hell am I doing, writing on a topic that's 17 days stale? Am I out of my mind? Am I gone cuckoo? Well... Maybe, you never know; to be frank, the mass hysteria that followed the assassination, the inglorious and indecent spectacle of jubilation that followed the assassination and almost converted a moment of unbridled victory into a moment of ignominious shame, in a way stopped me in my tracks.

Were these the same people who had been calling themselves the paragons of morality and decency and berating the Other, just a day before the incident? So, to their shameful chagrin, even they were found to have feet of clay... How hard how the morals of the morality crowd fallen!

The only thing that made me feel a little better was a brilliant and humane response from the Vatican and the Lama and the fact that the Muslim world in general, notwithstanding the lunatic fringe, did not make the death of Osama into a matter of Islamic slight...... so somewhere, morality is still alive, and thank them for it!

So what are my views on the Subject?

Osama was a criminal, a terrorist, a man who hijacked a religion, a way of life from it's actuals, changed the rules of the game, and died for it. There is no sympathy for him, not even from a humane angle, he deserved what finally came to him, though I do accept that for being a puny man, he did succeed to keep the most powerful state on Earth in a state of flux for 10 long years - no mean achievement considering that worse dictators like Saddam and Idi Amin failed to do so, even with the entire state machinery behind them.

Still, it was but obvious that when you ride a lion, the lion's gonna get you sometime, the lion in this case being the evil of terrorism ..... I am happy that the man who was responsible for a lot of hate, the man who divided humanity against itself, the man who made a joke of humanity will finally captured..... a great physical victory has been won.

No! The Muslims cannot claim victory, for they failed to save their religion from the evil grasp of the Dajjal; on the contrary he became a hero for a foolish crowd of people who equated his anti-American tirade as a battle-cry against the enemies of Islam! The Muslims had enough chance to stand upto him but at every turn, they failed and in their silence lies their culpability for no law considers ignorance as a mitigating factor for sentence ..... Wake up, Muslims of the world..... your silence is not doing either you or your religion, any help..... Let it be a warning call, lest you be caught napping.....

Read the Quran for yourself - there is a reason why Islam does not have a priestly class, study it, interpret it, and rescue it from the marshes of Abu Jahl and his kin, today dressed up as the faithful ..... Do not forget, the martyrdom of Hussein or Hasan or Ali or Uthman was not at the hands of the so-called infidels, but at the hands of fellow Muslims...... You still have time, don't let it go astray

No! The Americans cannot claim victory, at most they can state that some parity was achieved for the truth remains that it was and is the Americans who created this monster that let loose a blood-bath that will be remembered for years to come..... on the top of it, the disgusting demonstrations that engulfed the cities in US, the rising trend of Islamophobia in the country, only takes away from them what should have been rightly a handsome victory.....

The behaviour of the Students and other personnel in America is in a way reminiscent of the filthy display of arrogance made by the Meccan Confederacy after their victory at the Battle of Uhud...... If this trend remains, this victory would only remain a highmark that would define the high point of their success and would only lead to more debilitating losses in the future..... Wake up Americans.... you still have time

That brings me to the State of Pakistan ..... it's foolishness for the world to talk of Pakistan as a failed state; I would say it's the most successful state on this Earth and no state can even touch base with it's shadow for the brilliance of realpolitik and public relations; it appears as if the Pakistani state is a past master of diplomacy.... nothing and I repeat nothing can break their resolve.....

Osama was obviously in Pakistan by the connivance of the Pakistani State and was finally expedited when the time was ripe, again in the interest of Pakistan.... everything was done to a plan, nothing missed out while America spent billions of dollars in a time of recession for the capture of Osama - money that could have saved many a middle-class American citizens and still, despite it's brazenness, it remains America's first ally on the War of Terror! I am impressed!

As a lasting shot, I would say... the celebrations are premature, Al-Qaeda is a force to reckon with and the announcement of Saif-al-Adil as the new chief of the terrorist outfits shows the depth in the enemy ranks.... A logical response would be to be cautious, and to make a distinction between Al-Qaeda and Islam, not only for the Al-Kaffir but also for the Al-Momin

Maybe then it indeed will be the Death of a Terrorist!