Gruesome snapshotz of gruesome guys.
1.12.08
Fragile National Pride
Something to ponder about,an interesting article by N Vittal.
Our sense of national pride as Indians, I am afraid, is very fragile. Only recently did we celebrate the emergence of India as an IT superpower and an economic power to reckon with being part of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies. Our scientists launched Chandrayaan-I successfully, adding one more feather to our cap of national pride. Viswanathan Anand again proved that he is the reigning world chess champion. After all, the game was invented here in this country. As globalised Indians, we have been watching and celebrating Obama’s historic success in the US presidential elections. But soon after his election came a moment of doubt that pricked our swelling balloon of national pride — our Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was not among the first set of world leaders whom president-elect Obama contacted on phone. Both the print and electronic media went into a tizzy. Speculation mounted about India’s ranking in the world. Don’t we count any longer? Fortunately, our anxiety was short-lived. Obama contacted our Prime Minister and the real mundane reasons for the delay in his contacting our PM became public. Why is our sense of national pride so fragile? The pride which the citizens of a nation have for their country depends on two factors. The first is a strong awareness and identity of the citizens as belonging to a nation. The second is a strong sense of self confidence. Unfortunately, we appear to be lacking in both departments. Ever since we became a free nation in 1947, our political leaders have been trying their best to destroy the idea of India as a single nation. As long as the British ruled us, we were all aware that we were Indians, inheritors of a great tradition stretching over 5,000 years and more. Thanks to the dedicated patriotism and invaluable sacrifices of thousands of our forefathers — led finally by the greatest Indian of our times Mahatma Gandhi — we became independent. Unfortunately, even that independence was flawed. The country was divided into India and Pakistan. The pernicious two nation theory vigorously denied by our leaders in principle was haplessly accepted in practice and Pakistan was carved out as a homeland for Muslims. We did not stop with that. In 1952, yielding to the pressure of the Telugu leaders demanding a separate state, culminating in the fast-unto-death of Potti Sriramulu, the state of Andhra was created. This initiated the process of linguistic reorganisation of the states in 1956. This crystallisation of linguistic identities was soon followed by a long history of identity-based politics emphasising caste, religion, community, etc. If in the colonial period the British were accused of following the divide and rule policy, after Independence the same policy was vigorously followed by our own native leaders in the name of democracy. We started by casting our votes in the election of 1952. Today, we vote a caste in the elections. With the next general election already looming large, the identity politics is taking a vicious turn. Witness the Raj Thackeray phenomenon in Mumbai. If our sense of India as a single nation is itself being questioned day in and day out, where is the basis for developing national pride rooted in our identity as citizens of India? The second factor for national pride is self confidence. If right from the primary schools the idea of India as a great nation with a valuable tradition and culture was inculcated, the foundation for developing a sense of a confident national pride would have been laid. In addition, another basic fact about national self confidence must be recognised. As our former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam pointed out, ‘strength respects strength’ in the comity of nations. This strength springs from three sources — military, economic and cultural. We must develop on all three fronts to enhance our sense of strength. Only then will we achieve a sense of robust national pride.
Mumbai is the city of our dreams too
An article by Moni Mohsin, a Pakistani....
To all Mumbai wallahs and particularly those who have been wounded or have lost friends and family in this atrocity, my deepest, heartfelt sympathy. My sympathy too to this city of dreams, this New York of the east, this pulsating, vibrant, thriving metropolis now under siege. Sitting in front of my television screen in London, I have watched with mounting horror and disbelief thick columns of billowing smoke rise from the elegant dome of the hundred year old Taj Hotel; from thousands of miles away I have witnessed commandoes being dropped from helicopters on to roof tops where ordinarily pigeons roost; I have seen pictures of the blood spattered railway station through which thousands of eager, hopeful commuters pass each day, and worst of all I have seen the dazed, confused faces of otherwise irrepressible Mumbai wallahs stumble through eerily quiet streets. And for all this I am both saddened and enraged. The deserted, tense streets of Mumbai remind me of Karachi on December 28 last year – the day after Benazir was killed possibly by the same bunch of extremists who have visited this horror on Mumbai. As petrol pumps blazed, shattered glass lay on the roads and plumes of smoke rose from various points in the city, Karachi had the same haunted look that now afflicts Mumbai. And the state of the Taj brings to my mind Islamabad’s Marriot Hotel, three months ago, when half the hotel was blown up by a single savage bomb. The shattered, blood bespattered lobby of the Taj Hotel now probably looks little different to that of the Marriot then. And in the terrorised, grief stricken faces of Mumbai wallahs, I see reflected thousands of my own country men and women whose homes have been razed, whose schools have been burnt down, whose crops have been destroyed and whose relatives have been brutally mown down by a handful of brutal, merciless men who masquerade as holy warriors. Terror has visited my own family too. My brother-in-law and sister, who run a newspaper in Lahore, fiercely critical of sectarianism and religious extremism, have received a number of death threats from these same people and are forced to live with the roundthe-clock police protection. Every time I go stay with them in Lahore, I bristle with resentment at the incarceration they are forced to bear. Every time I leave the house with them, I keep watch over my shoulder. Every time the phone rings at my bedside late at night in London my heart stops momentarily. So I feel for you, for I know all too well how angry and sad it makes one feel. But even in times of rage it is important to place blame in the right place. If this outrage has been perpetrated by Pakistanis, and it looks increasingly as if it has, then it is the doing of the same small bunch of extremists who killed Benazir, the same people who have taken over our beautiful valleys in the north and stalk our cities in the south, the same people who kill and maim us every day. These are the holy warriors who have killed more Pakistanis than have died in any war with another country. These are not ordinary Pakistanis who want, just like the people of Mumbai, to go peacefully to work each morning and return safely home each night. These are the people, in fact, who want to undermine that search for security, stability and prosperity that ordinary Pakistanis crave. They are no part of us. I hate them as much as you. Perhaps more so, for they have destroyed my country and killed my people and do so every day. Ordinary Pakistanis share your grief unreservedly. Mumbai, the city that gave us Shahrukh Khan, Salman Rushdie and Zubin Mehta is also the city of our dreams. We salaam your courage, mourn your loss, abhor and condemn those that have caused it and wish you speedy recovery.
Family members of slain heroes snub politicians
The family of slain Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare has declined Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s offer of monetary help. Modi had on Friday visited the residences of Karkare and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, who were killed while fighting militants on Wednesday night. Modi also announced that his government would give Rs 1 crore to Maharashtra for the families of policemen killed in the attacks. Karkare’s widow and other family members have declined Modi’s offer, sources said. Fourteen Maharashtra police personnel, including two IPS officers, sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorists. An official of Modi’s CMO, however, said the amount of Rs 1 crore had been given by Gujarat government to Maharashtra government for distribution among the martyrs. The Karkare family, it is learnt, was upset with the manner in which Karkare was reviled by BJP leaders, including Modi, for his actions in Malegaon blast case where he had exposed a Hindu conspiracy.In fact, SMSes were going around in Gujarat and Maharashtra on how the same leaders, who had attacked Karkare on Malegaon issue, were now hailing him as a hero.It is learnt that even senior BJP leaders from Mumbai, including Gopinath Munde and Datta Meghe, had refused to accompany Modi during his visit to the encounter sites and the homes of slain police officers. At Trident-Oberoi site, where Modi decided to have a news conference, the CM had tried to call senior police and Army officials to pat them on the back, but nobody turned up because they wanted to focus on the ongoing encounter rather than to be seen with a politician who seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
In another instance of the rising tide of anger against the political class, the father of slain NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan snubbed Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan and state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who had gone to his house to express their condolences.Unnikrishnan, a retired ISRO official who hails from Kozhikode in Kerala, refused to meet the politicians and shut the gate of his house on them, shouting abuses. Unnikrishnan was so incensed that officials accompanying the CM had to restrain him. Unnikrishnan, who was showing his resentment towards politicians since his son’s death, erupted in anger and screamed: “You get out of here”. Faced with criticism for delay in showing respect to the slain Major, the Kerala CM called on the soldier’s family members here, but the depressed father declined to accept his condolences.Opposition parties in Kerala have accused the state government of having shown disrespect to the Kerala-born soldier, who lost his life while combating terrorists in Mumbai, by not sending any minister to his funeral. Unnikrishnan, who was not happy with politicians visiting the family and politicising his son’s death, was against the idea of any politician visiting his house. When the Kerala CM was slated to visit the house, the family members had deliberately sent Unnikrishnan out fearing he would burst out in front of the CM. But Unnikrishnan returned home just when the Kerala chief minister was about to end his visit. A depressed Unnikrishnan then expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms.
Pune's Autorickshaw system to go hi-tech
Pune is all set to witness a revolution in auto rickshaw services with the implementation of the ‘Scientific management of auto rickshaws’ scheme initiated by the Union government’s Urban Mass Transport Company in association with the Regional Transport Authority (RTA). The scheme aims at providing a safer and efficient last mile connectivity to passengers. Moreover, it also benefits the auto drivers with provision of facilities like uniform, insurance and accident policies, all free of cost.Union urban development ministry secretary R Ramachandran distributed bio-metric identity cards and insurance policies to the first few auto drivers who have registered for the scheme. It may be noted that though the registration process may have begun for the auto drivers, the service would be opened to the public over the next month. So, consider this. Once the plan rolls out, an auto rickshaw arriving at your doorstep would just be a phone call or an SMS away. The journey would be made more comfortable with facilities like newspapers and water bottles on the way. What’s more, one would pay just by the meter and avoid all chances of over-charging. Under this ‘scientific management of auto rickshaws’, the movement of each auto will be monitored by a control room and there will be very little scope of overcharging by drivers. The driver will also be given a cell phone. “Effective implementation of this scheme will bring down the pressure on private transport in the city and make available efficient para-transit public transport,” said Ramchandran. Niteen Kareer, divisional commissioner and president of RTA, said, “The scheme is being implemented in association with Delhi-based private firm Indevelop. Pune is the first city where it will be implemented. In the process, all illegal permits and flaws will be removed, as every auto will have separate a registration under the GPS and GIS systems.” “All auto drivers enrolling for the scheme will get a uniform, insurance policy for the entire family and also an accident policy. There will also be regular health check-ups for the drivers. However, the scheme is being run on a voluntary basis,” he said. Commissioner of police Satyapal Singh said more than 30 per cent of the auto rickshaws in the city are illegal. Moreover, only 30 per cent of the drivers charge fares according to the metre. This scheme will help bring down such malpractices.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
