UPA 2 - The Curious Case of the Most Incorrupt Heading the Most Corrupt

More skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard of UPA-2. Corruption charges like never before have dented the image of the coalition. As if the corruption charges that have already come out are not enough, new ones are getting out from the darkness of obscurity to the light of public discourse. It has already received the name of being the most corrupt government in the history of independent India. However the most curious thing about this dubious distinction of this government is that it is headed by a man, Dr. Manmohan Singh, known for his personal integrity; a man on whom even the most valiant opposition politician may think a million times before pointing an accusing finger of even a minor wrongdoing or dereliction of duty.

The reputation of the UPA 2 is so much besmirched with corruption scams that people have lost count of it and adding to it, each single day new scams are coming out causing nightmares for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Commonwealth games scam, Adarsh flat scam, corruption in 2G spectrum allocation, corruption in the allocation of S Band, reneging on the promises made on a strong Lokpal bill and the fickleness of the government in taking actions on bringing back black money stashed away in Swiss banks etc. have all made this government a laughing stock. As a result of these corruption charges, the government has failed to gather enough courage to go ahead with governance and is not confident enough to take bold initiatives that could result in the economic and societal development of the country.

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become only the shadow of the man who took bold initiatives in the early 1990s to liberalise the economy and bring in fresh lease of life to a sinking Indian economy. He was bold in his decision making and brought in fresh changes in the way business was done in the country. From the dark ages of ‘licence raj’ India got into a very energetic and vibrant globalised business system. By thwarting all opposition made by the leftists in the country, who could only oppose his ideas but could not bring any alternative for wealth creation and was only able to come up with economic ideas that could only help in 'equitable distribution of poverty', Manmohan Singh brought in economic reforms. However now he is rather silent – either he is hand-tied or he has no courage left in him to bring about big changes in the Indian economy and hence the economy is struggling. Statistics show that foreign direct investment declined by 25% in 2010-11 compared to previous year. Domestic investment is also in the decline and many Indian companies are looking to investment opportunities abroad. Because of the recent scams government machinery has become so ridiculously risk averse that it is not ready to make investment and hence government spending has become minimal. Inflation is rising to dangerous level and Reserve Bank is making all efforts to control it by changing the bank rates, but from the government’s side no fiscal policy measures have been declared to tame the inflation.

If Dr. Manmohan Singh and his government become so timid and cowardly in their governance then India is in for a big trouble in the near future. Lot of work remains to be done in the various sectors of the economy. The government needs to make more investments in the agricultural sector to improve the storage and transport, so that we can avoid a situation where grains are rotting at a place when thousands are dying out of poverty in various parts of the country. We need to speed up building roads and increase investment in other infrastructural projects like power sector. There is an urgent need to spend money by the government but checks should be made more stringent to make sure that corruption becomes the exception and not the rule (wiping out corruption completely in a democratic system like ours is a difficult task indeed). Investigation on the corruption charges should be done scrupulously but it must not turn into a witch-hunt of the honest.

One of the most honest politicians of our times, Dr. Manmohan Singh has certainly got his task cut out. But it is very important for him to make sure that his government doesn’t go down in the dustbin of Indian history. It would certainly be a sad thing, a certain deviation from the maxim of natural justice, if the most incorrupt politician, the architect of India’s economic reforms program, is remembered only as the head of the most corrupt government in the history of the country.

Ask India to Help Stop the Bloodshed in Syria

(Amnesty International Appeal)

It has been over four months since the beginning of largely peaceful protests in Syria calling for political reform and for the Syrian President to step down. The Syrian authorities’ response to their people’s demands has so far been brutal.

According to Amnesty International’s research, the human rights violations committed by the Syrian security forces and army since mass protests began in mid-March include unlawful killings and torture. They appear to have been committed as part of a widespread - as well as systematic - attack on the civilian population and, in some cases, to amount to crimes against humanity.

That is why Amnesty International has called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC), to impose an arms embargo and to freeze the assets abroad of the Syrian President and his senior associates.

So far the UN Security Council has been silent on Syria – failing to take action to help protect peaceful dissent in the country.

Some members of the Council have introduced a resolution on Syria which could be a first step towards a referral to the ICC. However, voting on the resolution is currently blocked by six other members. We believe that, three of those six, Brazil, South Africa and India, could be persuaded to change their position with sufficient international pressure.

Brazil, South Africa and India aspire to become permanent members of the UN Security Council and, as such, we believe that they have an increasing responsibility to try to bring an end to the violent crackdown in Syria. Please sign this petition to help ensure that Brazil, South Africa and India do not shy away from their responsibilities. As an Indian you need to pressure your government to change its position. Sign here to let the government hear your voice.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/ask-brazil-south-africa-and-india-to-help-stop-the-bloodshed-in-syria

Take Action Now

Send an email to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, South Africa and India urging them to join other members of the UN Security Council in supporting the current draft resolution on Syria and calling on the Syrian authorities to help bring an end to the violent crackdown in the country.

Dear Ministers,

I am writing to urge you, as representatives of the governments of Brazil, South Africa and India, to support the current draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria and thereby to join other members of the Council in calling on the Syrian government to stop the use of tanks, snipers and torture to suppress peaceful dissent.

So far the UN Security Council has remained silent on the situation in Syria. This is despite reports of widespread human rights violations across the country and Amnesty International’s assessment that crimes against humanity are being committed by the Syrian security forces and army in their crackdown on dissent.

As key players in the international arena and members of the UN Security Council, Brazil, South Africa and India have the possibility and we believe the responsibility to change this.

I appeal to you and your governments to show leadership and to use your international influence to help stop the bloodshed in Syria and ensure accountability for abuses committed there.

Yours sincerely,

Brazil:

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Minister of Foreign Affairs

ministro.estado@itamaraty.gov.br

South Africa:

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation

Email: minister@foreign.gov.za

India:

S M Krishna, Minister of External Affairs

E-mail: eam@mea.gov.in

India’s Tour of England 2011

It is all set for the 2000th test match in the history of the great game of cricket tomorrow and it is to be the home of cricket, Lord’s Cricket Ground that is going to be the venue for the match. The England team would be challenging the number one ranked test team in the world, India in what is going to be the 100th test match between the two countries. India will play 4 tests, 5 one dayers, a one-off T20 game in England and four tour matches, of which one match against Somerset has already been played.

The anticipation of Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th international hundred is one certain factor that is going to spice up the first test at Lord’s. Many essays and articles have already been written on this factor. Not only Indians, but also the whole world is waiting for that moment. What a great occasion it would be if the great man can hit his 100th hundred in the home of cricket, a place where he hasn’t got any hundred till now and his highest score is a meagre 37. As is always the case, the British media is flooding with essays on Tendulkar’s greatness, memoirs of him by his former colleagues in Yorkshire and his former opponents from the English team, tips and advices for the English bowlers on how to minimise the threat of Tendulkar and so on.

Though the impact of Sachin Tendulkar’s imminent 100th hundred is going to be quite big in this series, it is not the only thing that people are looking forward to. This series is where the number one ranked team in the world is being challenged by a team that is biting on its heels to become the number one. England has had a great couple of seasons of test match cricket at home and away, the most important one being their Ashes win down under in 2010-2011. There are a lot of high impact players in the team including Kevin Pietersen, Alistair Cook, Ian Bell, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and the captain Andrew Strauss himself. There are also some Englishmen, who have made great progress in the recent years including Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan and Jonathan Trott. There are lot of Indian players too who are ready to make an impact in the series. The great wall of India Rahul Dravid, the very very special Laxman, captain cool MSD, pace ace Zaheer Khan, the irascible yet highly talented Gautam Gambhir and the lanky Ishant Sharma are some of them.

The series would also be an occasion for some mouth watering duels between players of both sides. The cricket enthusiasts are looking forward to see the one-on-one between Andrew Strauss and Zaheer Khan, Alistair Cook and Ishant Sharma and Graeme Swann against the big three of Indian batting Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. There would also be face offs between Eoin Morgan and Suresh Raina to judge who is the better No.6 batman among the two and also between the captains MS Dhoni and Andrew Strauss on their tactical moves as captains.

The series between India and England would also be the 100th match as head coach for Duncan Fletcher, the first coach to achieve that. The Zimbabwean who has been instrumental in making the English team a strong outfit will have the curious responsibility of strategising their downfall in this series. It would be interesting to see how he is going to handle this enormous onus.

This 16th tour of India to England is one great occasion to revive the losing magic of test match cricket. As this is the second part of English summer, there won’t be a lot of moisture in the pitches and the prediction is that it is going to be a batting paradise for the batsmen of both sides. When that is the case, much would depend on how well the bowlers on both sides bowl to the opponent batsmen. England would be trying to use the pace and bounce of the pitch to their advantage and would be looking to put the Indian batsmen to the backfoot, both literally and figuratively, by bowling short. They are already speaking about how Chris Tremlett can bowl short and put the Indian batsmen on to the defensive. But unlike in the past India also has got excellent pacers in the team including the lanky pacer Ishant Sharma who can extract bounce on any surface with his height and high arm action.

The entire cricketing world is closely watching this series and if England can win the series with a margin of 2 tests they would knock down India from the top position and become the No.1 test team in the world. So there is a lot at stake for both teams in this series and we are surely going to witness a hard fought series in the English grounds this summer.

A Former Student Looks Back at Students’ Strikes

Once again this writer got caught up amidst the huge march of the student’s wing of the major leftist party in Thiruvananthapuram. Well, it was after eight long years that it happened, for after graduating out of college, this writer never had such a misfortune. A shop keeper in front of the Government Secretariat told this writer to flee the place as soon as possible as there was a great chance for this march to turn ugly and get violent. But with the experience of being a student in the earlier-famous-now-notorious University College for three eventful years, where students’ marches and violent protests were only daily affairs, this writer told the shop keeper that he need not worry as it was sure that the march won’t turn violent. As the march had a very large number of girl students it was sure that the leaders of the march were not looking for a violent event but a peaceful one and had there been an intention for a violent protest, they wouldn’t have had this many girls in the march. Yes, this writer would dare to make a controversial statement that almost all violent students’ protests are well thought out and planned, not spontaneous as these political leaders want us to believe.

Of the three years that this writer studied in University College, the first thing that he (and his co-students) did every day on entering the college campus was to look for the union leader; not because of any particular affection for the man, but to see if he is in the traditional mundu or in western trousers. If he is in the traditional dress, then it is an indication that there is a strike planned on that particular day (you know, these so-called politicians excel in these sort of treacherous ways of making people believe that they are important people by coming in traditional guise). After about one or two years in the college, you will start gaining that sixth sense of sniffing out from the air the probability of a march turning violent, hours before that march actually start, for by then you will be able to decipher from the surroundings of the college and the demeanour of the leaders and major activists what they are planning to do. Once you comprehend from the above mentioned factors that the protest would turn violent, the first thing you need to do was turn back, go out of the gate of the college, and take the first bus to your home. This is the only reason why you won’t find many final years students in a protest march.

The process that the leaders of these college union follow to gather students for the marches would appear rather preposterous when you take into account what the general public is made to believe by these people. When the public see large number of students marching in unison behind the “able” leadership of the union chairman or any other such trivial bloke, they tend to believe that this students’ political party has got such a huge following and all those students empathise with the issue on which the march is being held. However, the truth lies somewhere else. From personal experience this writer can say that most of these students are threatened or bullied into participating by the activists of the party and 99% of them wouldn’t know for what they are protesting for. Though in hindsight it appears rather cowardly, this writer still remembers how he and his friends fearfully hid in the darkness of the department library to save themselves from the clutches of activists who came searching for students hiding in that place.

In another similar occasion this writer was not able to hide anywhere and the party activists got hold him and ordered him to go for the march. Another one gave a party flag in his hands and instructed him to shout their party slogan. In that college, while students are preparing for a march, this party flag is an interesting thing, for once it reaches a person’s hand no one else would agree to take it in their hands. So this writer was all at sea thinking what to do with it? If it is in his hands he will have to carry it and go along with the march till Secretariat, where violence is almost a surety; but no one else is ready to accept it from his hands either. Then this writer gathered all his courage and placed the flag in one of the corners of the college building and tried to escape from the place. But once he got to the gate, he was again “captured” and was directed to join the march. Then we were made to march to Secretariat, the place of violent protests, under the watchful eyes of the activists, like sheep to the slaughter.

As the march approach the Secretariat it often happens in a students strike that the activists who would be walking at the back end of the march would start to feel such a curious sense of great enthusiasm that they will start running to reach the front end of the march, shouting with all sorts of weird and hostile sounds. This writer is inclined to believe that these activists rush to reach the front end of the march lest only those activists at the front end get beaten up by police, get injured, get caught in the camera of news channels, get instant fame and get appreciation and sympathy from the party leaders, which is a short cut to get into the higher echelons of the party. However, in this rushing up of activists from the back end of the march to the front end lies the chance for the ordinary students to escape from the march. On the way from University College to Secretariat there is a church and on that particular day, when this writer was caught up in the march, there was some wedding function going on. He and his friends stealthily entered the crowd in the wedding function and escaped from the march that turned violent once it reached Secretariat.

Now this is the truth behind students’ strike that we always see in our state, which more often than not, turn violent. The striking students would not leave any stone unturned to make sure that the police beat them up. They would try to jump over the barricade, would push the police, would call them names, would throw stones at them and would even fling petrol bombs at them. Though the police would try to maintain peace even when pushed to their limit, they would ultimately fall into the trap of the strikers and would use sticks to disperse the crowd – even the policemen are human. Then the politicians would make all sorts of hue and cry in the street and in the legislative assembly claiming that ‘innocent’ students are being targeted by the police and that no one should think that they can douse the fire in the striking protesters through violence.

It is high time that the conscience of the public rise against such devilish attempts by the politicians to gain political points at the expense of the lives of innocent students. The unscrupulous politicians exploit the youthful passion of the teenagers for their benefit, putting the careers, lives and future of the students at enormous risk. These deceitful politicians hold neither good moral values in their hearts nor any compassion for the innocent students. It is imperative that civil society show them their rightful place, which is in the dustbin of history.