I was an eye-witness to this accident. While going to the local market in New Delhi, I saw a motor bike hitting from behind a stationary scooter on the traffic light, causing it to skid and suffer some damage. Fortunately, the victim suffered no injuries. Once on his toes, he confronted the motorcyclist and demanded an explanation and compensation. The road was a good ten feet lower so I stopped and looked down to overhear the exchange.
The motorcyclist disclaimed all responsibility while the scooter driver continued to protest strongly. As the argument raged on the road, the motor cyclist somehow managed to find that both of them, still in their teens, were Muslims. He patted the shoulder of the victim and tried to give it a new dimension.
“Bhai, hamari quam ki yahi mushkil hai. Hum ek dusre se ladne lagte hain.”(This is the problem with our community. We begin fighting among ourselves.)
The scooter driver was aghast and pushed him off. “Isme quam kahan se aa gayi? Hum sabhi Indian hain. Tumne hamara scooter toda so harzana do. (How does the question of community come in? We are all Indians. You damaged my scooter so compensate me for it.)
I didn’t stop to see how the fight ended. The scooter driver had made my day. I wish we, the grown ups, too had the maturity of the young scooter driver.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Of Greenathon & Lord Rama
Two curious things happened on the same evening of 8th February.
The NDTV channel collaborated with Toyota to launch a Greenathon- a mass movement dedicated to climate change, which raised more than 2 crore rupees within hours to provide solar power to villages deprived of electricity. There was a galaxy of stars pleading for ban on plastics, replacing traditional heat generating bulbs with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), using CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in place of gasoline products like petrol and diesel etc. Young boys and girls descended upon the banks of Yamuna in Delhi and on sea beaches of Mumbai to undertake token cleansing jobs sending out a clear message that the fight for saving environment can no longer be left to the governments of the day. It was heartening to see cricketers, cine artists and models teaming up to adopt villages and assuming social responsibility. It made a lot of sense. If you could spend lacs of rupees to buy a stake in an IPL team, you could surely invest some of your money in safeguarding the future for yourself and your children. If the initiative launched today survives over time and graduates from a tokenism to a mass movement, one can become hopeful about the future of this country and the world.
We need this optimism because those whose business it is to unite the country and lead it to a better future are still the prisoners of the past. We had the principal opposition party raking up the Ram temple issue, which it had conveniently put aside to remain in power for a full five years and remained forgetful of it all the while it sat in the opposition. The strange logic being that you need to be in power in the Centre and by yourself alone to build it at the controversial site where the Babri mosque stood and was pulled down in the presence of the PM-designate. It is another matter that the then CM of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kalyan Singh who swore before the apex court to protect it, let it crumble and got away with a token sentence is swearing to destroy BJP in U.P. Why? Because his son was denied a ticket for the forthcoming polls from a constituency of his choice and SP promptly handed it on a platter with an eye on his clout among the backward castes. Sons succeed fathers across the political spectrum from DMK in the South, SP in the Hindi heartland to NC in Kashmir. But the charge of dynastic politics is reserved by the BJP only for the Congress. Who cares for the smaller fish when the fight is with a whale and you never know whose support you would need in the era of coalition politics. But what took the cake was Modi’s charge that 26/11 was not possible without local support. It would pit the Hindus against Muslims and also ensure that it made Congress look too soft to fight terror. It flew straight into India’s face, which had been claiming that the dastardly attack on our financial capital was planned and executed from Pakistan. It was made a day before Pakistan has to officially react to India’s dossier. Who needs enemies when you have such friends amongst your own people?
People and politicians seem to be pulling the cart of the nation in different directions.
The NDTV channel collaborated with Toyota to launch a Greenathon- a mass movement dedicated to climate change, which raised more than 2 crore rupees within hours to provide solar power to villages deprived of electricity. There was a galaxy of stars pleading for ban on plastics, replacing traditional heat generating bulbs with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), using CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in place of gasoline products like petrol and diesel etc. Young boys and girls descended upon the banks of Yamuna in Delhi and on sea beaches of Mumbai to undertake token cleansing jobs sending out a clear message that the fight for saving environment can no longer be left to the governments of the day. It was heartening to see cricketers, cine artists and models teaming up to adopt villages and assuming social responsibility. It made a lot of sense. If you could spend lacs of rupees to buy a stake in an IPL team, you could surely invest some of your money in safeguarding the future for yourself and your children. If the initiative launched today survives over time and graduates from a tokenism to a mass movement, one can become hopeful about the future of this country and the world.
We need this optimism because those whose business it is to unite the country and lead it to a better future are still the prisoners of the past. We had the principal opposition party raking up the Ram temple issue, which it had conveniently put aside to remain in power for a full five years and remained forgetful of it all the while it sat in the opposition. The strange logic being that you need to be in power in the Centre and by yourself alone to build it at the controversial site where the Babri mosque stood and was pulled down in the presence of the PM-designate. It is another matter that the then CM of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kalyan Singh who swore before the apex court to protect it, let it crumble and got away with a token sentence is swearing to destroy BJP in U.P. Why? Because his son was denied a ticket for the forthcoming polls from a constituency of his choice and SP promptly handed it on a platter with an eye on his clout among the backward castes. Sons succeed fathers across the political spectrum from DMK in the South, SP in the Hindi heartland to NC in Kashmir. But the charge of dynastic politics is reserved by the BJP only for the Congress. Who cares for the smaller fish when the fight is with a whale and you never know whose support you would need in the era of coalition politics. But what took the cake was Modi’s charge that 26/11 was not possible without local support. It would pit the Hindus against Muslims and also ensure that it made Congress look too soft to fight terror. It flew straight into India’s face, which had been claiming that the dastardly attack on our financial capital was planned and executed from Pakistan. It was made a day before Pakistan has to officially react to India’s dossier. Who needs enemies when you have such friends amongst your own people?
People and politicians seem to be pulling the cart of the nation in different directions.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
What’s in a name!
Sanjay Dutt has stated in an interview that girls who retain their maiden surnames after marriage insult their husbands. He also questioned their commitment to the matrimonial home. The immediate provocation for this statement, of course, was the adverse comment made by his sister, Priya Dutt, a Congress MP over his joining the Samajwadi Party. Though Sanjay pleaded that his relationship with his sister remained in tact and there was no feud in the family despite reservations about his new wife, Manyata, yet his statement would surely ruffle feathers. A question will be tossed at him to explain why only girls are obliged to change not just their surnames but often even their first names in deference to the wishes of their husbands or their families. This happens when, for instance, the first letters of those tying the knot do not earn the approbation of the astrologers and the solution lies in giving a new name to the bride to be. Girls marrying outside their religion too end up with names commonly used in the religion of their grooms. It is strange that the girl child faces a gender bias right from the first day of her life. While the parents of a baby boy are felicitated, those producing a girl earn sympathetic comments. If your second child is a female and follows a male child, the usual comment is that your family is now complete implying that a female only plays a complimentary role.
The Indian society has been trying to rid itself of gender biases over some time. This has partly happened due to more and more girls acquiring professional education and becoming economically independent. They have often outshone boys as the results of school leaving examinations reveal. Though glass ceilings still exist, yet they have made significant inroads into traditional male bastions. The challenge posed by the new Indian girl, who asserts her individuality and independence creates shockwaves in society. The male-centric society, in turn, faults them for conduct at variance with traditions and culture. Girls are targeted before marriage for refusing the male advances and afterwards for not showing enough respect to the matrimonial home and its occupants. Sanjay Dutt’s comments, though provoked by his personal differences with his sister, fit into this slot. He has done a great disservice to the cause of empowerment of women while settling a personal score with Priya Dutt.
There is a dishonourable exception to the practice of only girls being made to change their names. Married men who are not sure about getting a divorce and wishing to marry the second time willingly embrace Islam and assume a new (sur) name. But in Sanjay’s case, it was Manyata who was marrying outside her religion. Besides, when you are marrying a celebrity like Sanjay, what’s truly in a name?
The Indian society has been trying to rid itself of gender biases over some time. This has partly happened due to more and more girls acquiring professional education and becoming economically independent. They have often outshone boys as the results of school leaving examinations reveal. Though glass ceilings still exist, yet they have made significant inroads into traditional male bastions. The challenge posed by the new Indian girl, who asserts her individuality and independence creates shockwaves in society. The male-centric society, in turn, faults them for conduct at variance with traditions and culture. Girls are targeted before marriage for refusing the male advances and afterwards for not showing enough respect to the matrimonial home and its occupants. Sanjay Dutt’s comments, though provoked by his personal differences with his sister, fit into this slot. He has done a great disservice to the cause of empowerment of women while settling a personal score with Priya Dutt.
There is a dishonourable exception to the practice of only girls being made to change their names. Married men who are not sure about getting a divorce and wishing to marry the second time willingly embrace Islam and assume a new (sur) name. But in Sanjay’s case, it was Manyata who was marrying outside her religion. Besides, when you are marrying a celebrity like Sanjay, what’s truly in a name?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Middle Class and 2009
Vir Sanghvi, in The dream lives (Counterpoint,Hindustan Times, January 4), is obviously optimistic. He does not see the gloom in the same way as many of us do as the new year begins. We may be wiser with hindsight about what went wrong during 2007, but we still seem to be clueless about the way ahead. We still do not know how to neutralise the terror machine operating from Pakistan and are knocking at the door of the US to bail us out. On the economy, thanks to our healthy habit of saving, there is no shortage of liquidity. But small-scale industries have been inundated by cheap imports from China and have largely taken to trading, resulting in a drop in exports. Sanghvi has been very careful not to suggest remedial measures. An awakened middle class is not enough in itself. The government needs to act responsibly on the economic and security fronts to restore public confidence. Whether it has the courage and foresight to do so ahead of the polls is the million-dollar question.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Mumbai Massacre
The dastardly terror strike in Mumbai has shaken the entire nation. It is not just the scale of fatalities with 195 killed in cold blood and nearly 300 injured that hurt the people. The reputation of the nation has been damaged globally with the English cricket team refusing to play any more matches and predictions about a drop in future investments in Indian economy. What is curious is that after a brief consensus against terror among mainstream political parties, the blame game has again resurfaced. While the parties like BJP has found the Karachi connection useful in blaming the Muslims for all the mayhem caused across the financial capital, those opposed to it criticise it for politicising terror for electoral gains. The fact is that there is some truth in both the claims. BJP, which rightly faults Congress on not hanging Afzal Guru despite his conviction on terror charge for appeasing Muslims cannot explain why its foreign minister Jaswant Singh escorted the three notorious terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to Kandhar to secure the release of Indian hostages. Nor does it condone why PM Manmohan Singh, while claiming that the neighbouring country will have to take the cost for allowing terror strike from its territory, fails to extract any cost from his own cabinet and allows the Home minister to continue in office. To spread disaffection against the govt., Narendra Modi offers a crore of rupees against the official Rs. 5 lacs, to late ATS chief Karkare’s family by way of compensation. He conveniently forgets that his party was demanding a Narco test on the same IPS officer over the Malegaon terror case, which allegedly involved people aligned to his party. Karkare’s family rejected the offer the same way as Sharma’s family had done when SP leader Amar Singh had sent them a cheque of Rs. 10 lacs following the death of Inspector Sharma of Delhi police after voicing doubts about Batla House encounter. Politicians do not learn and are bent upon dividing the people.
What is more disappointing is that terror strikes have been taking place recurrently and evoking similar responses. A tough statement and compensation for victims followed by inaction till a fresh strike takes place. While the investigating agencies usually unearth all the information and reconstruct the sequence of events, yet they can neither act effectively on intelligence inputs nor pre-empt or prevent future attacks. The columns and blogs are full of comparisons with US, which has not allowed a single terror attack on its soil post 9/11. There are suggestions that the present strike was meant primarily to target US interests on the Thanksgiving Day along with British and Israelis. The choice of the financial capital of India proved handy logistically. The global intelligence inputs pointing out a spectacular strike before Obama is sworn in have been proved right and we have paid dearly since we were complacent enough to believe that the strike will be in US. Nor did our agencies take into account the possibility that with airports and railways better guarded, the terrorists may take the sea route. One wishes the choppers of Indian coastguards had mounted surveillance sooner and averted the loss of innocent lives in the most barbaric strikes.
A question that is being hotly discussed over the net relates to India tackling terror. How can we do it? What needs to be done? It is clear that all of us need to change. First of all we need to treat the issue of security seriously. When Delhi’s LG wanted all citizens to carry some kind of ID proof, politicians pounced upon him and accused him of harassing migrants from places like Bihar. Does it make any sense? When you cannot tell a Bangladeshi from a Bihari or a Bangali, how do you screen potential terrorists? It is a pity none of the local leaders supported the order, which was legitimate and reasonable. Nor did any one support Delhi’s CM, at least publically, when she talked about increasing migration to Delhi exerting pressure on its infrastructure. She was made to withdraw the statement and tender an apology. Do our leaders even understand that such unchecked migration has a security angle too?
There is lack of professionalism among the police as well. One wonders how the terror suspects manage to evade its eye while the street vendors and petty criminals cannot avoid being on its pay-roll. And how does one accept Sharma not wearing a bullet proof jacket at Batla House or Karkare and his men taking them off before the terrorists had been neutralised? It is not just a matter of losing lives but valiant and trained officers. Does one need to explain the advantages of wearing a helmet over an ordinary P-cap to the cops and commandos? The terrorist are far better equipped than those expected to take them head on and the disastrous results are before us. 19 killed and 275 injured by ten terrorists plus the carnage they left behind.
After every terror strike, there is tough talk, a high alert and more frisking till we sink into complacency again and become a sitting duck for terrorists. Let us hope that things will be different this time and the nation will be better prepared to face them in future-from wherever they come.
What is more disappointing is that terror strikes have been taking place recurrently and evoking similar responses. A tough statement and compensation for victims followed by inaction till a fresh strike takes place. While the investigating agencies usually unearth all the information and reconstruct the sequence of events, yet they can neither act effectively on intelligence inputs nor pre-empt or prevent future attacks. The columns and blogs are full of comparisons with US, which has not allowed a single terror attack on its soil post 9/11. There are suggestions that the present strike was meant primarily to target US interests on the Thanksgiving Day along with British and Israelis. The choice of the financial capital of India proved handy logistically. The global intelligence inputs pointing out a spectacular strike before Obama is sworn in have been proved right and we have paid dearly since we were complacent enough to believe that the strike will be in US. Nor did our agencies take into account the possibility that with airports and railways better guarded, the terrorists may take the sea route. One wishes the choppers of Indian coastguards had mounted surveillance sooner and averted the loss of innocent lives in the most barbaric strikes.
A question that is being hotly discussed over the net relates to India tackling terror. How can we do it? What needs to be done? It is clear that all of us need to change. First of all we need to treat the issue of security seriously. When Delhi’s LG wanted all citizens to carry some kind of ID proof, politicians pounced upon him and accused him of harassing migrants from places like Bihar. Does it make any sense? When you cannot tell a Bangladeshi from a Bihari or a Bangali, how do you screen potential terrorists? It is a pity none of the local leaders supported the order, which was legitimate and reasonable. Nor did any one support Delhi’s CM, at least publically, when she talked about increasing migration to Delhi exerting pressure on its infrastructure. She was made to withdraw the statement and tender an apology. Do our leaders even understand that such unchecked migration has a security angle too?
There is lack of professionalism among the police as well. One wonders how the terror suspects manage to evade its eye while the street vendors and petty criminals cannot avoid being on its pay-roll. And how does one accept Sharma not wearing a bullet proof jacket at Batla House or Karkare and his men taking them off before the terrorists had been neutralised? It is not just a matter of losing lives but valiant and trained officers. Does one need to explain the advantages of wearing a helmet over an ordinary P-cap to the cops and commandos? The terrorist are far better equipped than those expected to take them head on and the disastrous results are before us. 19 killed and 275 injured by ten terrorists plus the carnage they left behind.
After every terror strike, there is tough talk, a high alert and more frisking till we sink into complacency again and become a sitting duck for terrorists. Let us hope that things will be different this time and the nation will be better prepared to face them in future-from wherever they come.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
On Hindu terror
L.K. Advani, Prime minister-designate of BJP protested during the course of Hindustan Times Leadership Summit today at the use of the term “Hindu terror”. Speaking like the pseudo-secularists his party ridicules everyday; he declared that terrorists have no religion. This must sound like music to many and some may regret that he had to issue such a clarification at all. Rajnath Singh, the President of BJP had similarly protested at the use of the term stating that a Hindu can never be a terrorist. One is reminded of a claim that PM Manmohan Singh made a couple of years ago that no Indian Muslim was involved in acts of terror worldwide. As if to prove him wrong, many indigenous name and organizations sprang up forcing him to eat his words. The latest being the tech-savvy Indian Mujahidin (IM), which not only took responsibility for several serial blasts across Indian cities but also revealed shockingly that those driving the engine of Muslim hate were not products of some non-descript madrassa but a highly educated and well-paid executive of an MNC. One can only hope that Advani and his likes do not have to face the same fate as more and more skeletons toss out of cupboards of Hindu terror every day. The Hindu hate machine has even penetrated the army, which prided itself on its secular values and sense of discipline. Remember the photographs of Abdul Hamid, who martyred himself in the service of India, splashed across newspapers in the wake of Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 and won the highest bravery award, Param Vir Chakra?
Most Hindus also thought that violence was inimical to Hindu ethos. When you had saints who walked barefoot for fear of hurting insects and renounced materialism in all its forms in order to attain nirvana, how could they even think violence, leave alone preaching it? And it was not just Hindus who thought of our faith in such glorious terms. I still recollect interviewing for our college magazine, Stavak, the noted cartoonist of Indian Express, Abu Abraham, at his residence in early seventies. During the course of the interview recorded on a bulky spool tape recorder lying in ruins with me, Abu, a conservative Christian revealed that he had not baptised his two daughters. They were given Muslim and Hindu names, Aysha and Janaki, and the parents read over different scriptures to them. The idea was not to burden them with the faith of their parents but to give them a choice of choosing a faith that gave them maximum solace. Abu went on to say that he had not come across a more liberal faith than Hinduism. After I had clicked a few photographs of Abu with my Russian Zorky camera, I and my friend from AIR, O.P. Dutta left his place in a bit of daze wondering whether we in our twenties could even conceive of such values. I just checked on the net and learnt with dismay that Abu passed away in his native Kerala in the winter of 2002. R.I.P. May his ideals continue to inspire our nation!
The overwhelming question is how is it that the liberalism of the same faith that evoked the envy of several non-Hindus created men who could torch people alive, rape women and destroy mosques and churches? There is a school of thought that violence by Hindus is retaliatory and caused by relentless appeasement of minorities for electoral gains. This is not an invalid assumption. Critics of post-Godhra riots rarely if ever referred to the torching Hindu karsevaks in the coaches of a train. Political parties like the SP rake up the Batla House encounter case with an eye on Muslim votes. Not to be undone, Congress indulges in the same kind of double-speak it accuses others, especially the BJP of, when it also demands a probe into it. Did the BJP ever sought justice for hundreds of innocent men and women hounded out of buses, segregated and shot at point blank range in the fields of Punjab? Isn’t it also guilty of appeasing Sikhs and Akalis? Is pseudo-secularism of Congress and the Left being matched by BJP’s pseudo-communalism? And what about attacking Christians, burning their homes and destroying churches? Haven’t the self-appointed guardians of Hinduism negated the provisions of our Constitution, which guarantees freedom of faith? If the argument is that missionaries are inducing tribals in order to convert them, which may be true, the rites of purification and home-coming being performed by Hindu groups as a pre-condition for allowing the victims to return to their hearth and homes are also involuntary. In any case, most Indian Muslims, Christians and Buddhists are converts from Hinduism. How many can one possibly re-convert back and with what benefit? The only gain can be electoral since such a drive is meant to consolidate Hindu votes. It is clear that using brute force against minorities is a political and not a religious agenda. Has Advani ever taken up the cause of Muslims accused of being terrorists and tortured to extract confessions?
Several Hindu groups of various hues and colours no longer feel shy of embracing violence in thought and action. What is unfortunate is that it is being done in the name of a religion, which has been universally acknowledged as the most liberal faith. One may call it by any name but the repercussions for the country’s unity and diversity will be tragic. Therefore it is important that we, as a nation, learn to respect the rule of law. India must come first and remain foremost.
***
Most Hindus also thought that violence was inimical to Hindu ethos. When you had saints who walked barefoot for fear of hurting insects and renounced materialism in all its forms in order to attain nirvana, how could they even think violence, leave alone preaching it? And it was not just Hindus who thought of our faith in such glorious terms. I still recollect interviewing for our college magazine, Stavak, the noted cartoonist of Indian Express, Abu Abraham, at his residence in early seventies. During the course of the interview recorded on a bulky spool tape recorder lying in ruins with me, Abu, a conservative Christian revealed that he had not baptised his two daughters. They were given Muslim and Hindu names, Aysha and Janaki, and the parents read over different scriptures to them. The idea was not to burden them with the faith of their parents but to give them a choice of choosing a faith that gave them maximum solace. Abu went on to say that he had not come across a more liberal faith than Hinduism. After I had clicked a few photographs of Abu with my Russian Zorky camera, I and my friend from AIR, O.P. Dutta left his place in a bit of daze wondering whether we in our twenties could even conceive of such values. I just checked on the net and learnt with dismay that Abu passed away in his native Kerala in the winter of 2002. R.I.P. May his ideals continue to inspire our nation!
The overwhelming question is how is it that the liberalism of the same faith that evoked the envy of several non-Hindus created men who could torch people alive, rape women and destroy mosques and churches? There is a school of thought that violence by Hindus is retaliatory and caused by relentless appeasement of minorities for electoral gains. This is not an invalid assumption. Critics of post-Godhra riots rarely if ever referred to the torching Hindu karsevaks in the coaches of a train. Political parties like the SP rake up the Batla House encounter case with an eye on Muslim votes. Not to be undone, Congress indulges in the same kind of double-speak it accuses others, especially the BJP of, when it also demands a probe into it. Did the BJP ever sought justice for hundreds of innocent men and women hounded out of buses, segregated and shot at point blank range in the fields of Punjab? Isn’t it also guilty of appeasing Sikhs and Akalis? Is pseudo-secularism of Congress and the Left being matched by BJP’s pseudo-communalism? And what about attacking Christians, burning their homes and destroying churches? Haven’t the self-appointed guardians of Hinduism negated the provisions of our Constitution, which guarantees freedom of faith? If the argument is that missionaries are inducing tribals in order to convert them, which may be true, the rites of purification and home-coming being performed by Hindu groups as a pre-condition for allowing the victims to return to their hearth and homes are also involuntary. In any case, most Indian Muslims, Christians and Buddhists are converts from Hinduism. How many can one possibly re-convert back and with what benefit? The only gain can be electoral since such a drive is meant to consolidate Hindu votes. It is clear that using brute force against minorities is a political and not a religious agenda. Has Advani ever taken up the cause of Muslims accused of being terrorists and tortured to extract confessions?
Several Hindu groups of various hues and colours no longer feel shy of embracing violence in thought and action. What is unfortunate is that it is being done in the name of a religion, which has been universally acknowledged as the most liberal faith. One may call it by any name but the repercussions for the country’s unity and diversity will be tragic. Therefore it is important that we, as a nation, learn to respect the rule of law. India must come first and remain foremost.
***
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