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.

Two Years Since I Met Up with an Accident

I remember it as if it happened only yesterday. But it was this day, two years back that I met up with an accident. On that rainy night on 30 June 2009, I was heading back to my room in my bike after a day of hectic work in the office. Then suddenly a villainous dog with sinister designs in its mind jumped across my bike, I applied the brakes and skidded off the road; the dog was saved, I wasn’t.

On this occasion I republish my article 'The Peculiar Living – Life of a Temporarily Handicapped Man', which was written immediately after getting back to normalcy after the accident. Please click on the title of the article in the above sentence or click on the below mentioned link to find the article.

http://candidminds.blogspot.com/2009/09/peculiar-living-life-of-temporarily.html

Assembly Elections 2011 – Results and Implications

The result of the 2011 Assembly elections came on 10 May, exactly one month back. One month is a good enough time for emotions to settle down and for better judgement to take control of politics-savvy minds. With such a perceived improvement in our judgement we can analyse the result of the Assembly Elections.

The April-May 2011 round of the assembly elections in the four states and one Union Territory had mixed results for all major parties in India, except BJP. Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam as well as Puducherry went for polls and in all places, except Assam, anti-incumbency factor played a major role in bringing down the ruling coalitions. However in Assam, the Congress ministry retained power and its leader Tarun Gogoi returned for a third consecutive time as Chief Minister. In Puducherry, ruling Congress suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of ex-Congress leader NR. Rangasamy led All India NR Congress (AINRC). In Kerala the UDF under the leadership of Congress has come to power with Oommen Chandy as the Chief Minister. In the 140 member Kerala assembly, UDF got a wafer thin majority of 72 seats, while the LDF under the leadership of CPI (M), which was the incumbent government, got 68 seats. In Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK decimated the DMK and snatched a landslide victory by ambushing the ruling front headed by DMK. AIADMK led Front, which has CPI (M), CPI and Vijayakant’s DMDK got 195 seats in the 234 member TN assembly. In a much awaited election result, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress demolished the left’s dilapidated fortress in West Bengal. In the 294 seats West Bengal Assembly, Trinamool led front got 227 seats and the combined left got only 67 seats.

One of the most important outcomes of this election is that the national parties have lost their prominence in these states and that many regional parties have gained a lot of seats as well as majority vote share. Congress, the CPI (M) and the BJP fared miserably in the election. Congress was able to win in Kerala by the skin of their teeth and they lost in Puducherry, got only few seats in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Already reeling under scores of corruption charges in the centre, the Congress party has gone down further back after the election results. In both Kerala and West Bengal the Congress party is under the mercy of their allies. In Kerala, though Congress is the major partner, it is particularly vulnerable to the pressures of their allies, the Muslim League and the Kerala Congress (M). At the same time, Congress is the minor partner in West Bengal, where Trinamool Congress has achieved a major victory. Congress is besieged with a lot of problems in the national level as well as in the regional level in most states. Corruption charges, lack of leadership and the problem of rebels are holding Congress back from regaining its lost position. Though the Congress is trying its best to come out of the cloud of corruption charges by taking legal actions against politicians like Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja and Kanimozhi, it doesn’t seems to be completely honest about dealing with corruption. The way in which the party is dragging its feet on the Lokpal issue and the fascist way in which it has responded to the fast conducted by Baba Ramdev, where police swooped on the protesters assembled at Baba Ramdev’s protest meeting, show the moral penury in which the Indian National Congress finds itself in. The party doesn’t seem to be interested to involve in political discourse, which is quite imperative in a working democracy.

The condition of the CPI (M) and the leftists at large has become pathetic after the elections. The Communist cadre had always been extremely proud of their great record in the West Bengal Assembly. In what turned out to be a historic election, the CPI (M) led Left front was swept out of power after a record seven consecutive terms in office. The left has mainly itself to blame for this result. The traditional left has always been arrogant and thought they were always right and looked at others with absolute disdain. They were never comfortable with criticisms and almost always responded to criticism with arrogance, which sometimes led to violent attacks on the critics. Intolerance, which has been the hallmark of many Communist regimes in the world (regimes of Stalin in Russia and Mao in China, being best examples), has led to an alienation of the party from the wishes and ideas of the people. They often forget that constructive criticism is important for the growth of any organised system and any absence of such criticism, or the intolerance towards criticism, will make an organised system morbid. To think that one is always right is not only foolish but is a prescription for disaster, as the left has found out in West Bengal. Though the CPI (M) was able to gain some lost ground in Kerala as a result of VS Achuthanandan’s perceived action against corruption, they were not able to regain power in the state (it is a matter of argument whether VS was against corruption as a social malady or was trying to gain some political points as he was acting only against corruption committed by his opponents, but stayed disgracefully mum on those done by his own party men). The left parties, particularly the CPI (M), have to do a serious introspection to find out the reasons for their defeat in Kerala and West Bengal. They have to see whether their failure has been in the organisational level or in the leadership level. They should also reassess their political priorities in the changing political and social landscape of the country. It is also important to be more responsive to the needs of the people and to not get struck up in their theoretical dogma. However the most important thing to do for the party, if it has to regain its lost position in the country, is to rein in the thuggish and violent party cadre who are always inclined to violence and hostility.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition in the country, is languishing in the oblivion of political India and in this assembly election they had no real role to play. However they have now an opportune time to lash out at the government in the centre, which is weighed down by many corruption charges. But instead of taking the lead in the agitations against the corrupt government, they are trying to support people like Baba Ramdev who has got no political ideals or democratic convictions. After the retirement of the legendary Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP was unable to bring an inspirational leader to guide it. Now that the Babri Masjid issue is not appealing to their support base, the BJP is trying to find out some other issues, but is failing miserably to come up with any.

Assembly Elections 2011 has made a lot of changes in the political landscape of the country. It must be seen what changes are going to happen in the country as the result of this elections. The new governments in the states have already started to make changes in the way in which the erstwhile governments were working. At the same time, as citizens of India we must ask ourselves whether we have matured enough as a political class after the elections. From the periphery it looks as if there had been a massive vote against political cynicism and superfluous populism.

Help protect children in Jammu and Kashmir

(Amnesty International Appeal)

When teenage boys turn 16 in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India they suddenly face a new threat. If they get arrested, they are treated as adults while according to international law only those above 18 should be.

Raheel Khursheed, who recently joined an Amnesty International Twitter campaign to demand the release of a teenager said, “The government has to decide whether the approach of talking to these young people should be humane or whether they want to go down as a government that uses legal brutality.”

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act (JKJJA) teenage boys above 16 are adults and the government routinely locks them up in adult prisons in harsh conditions. There is a real need for reform in the area of juvenile justice and this has been recognised by the J&K Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah himself.

By signing this petition you can ensure that Omar Abdullah keeps his word. We will deliver your signatures to him ahead of the monsoon session of the J&K Assembly in September.

Join Amnesty International's campaign to make the adult age 18 so that the JKJJA becomes compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Please go to the following URL and sign in the online petition.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/node/24915

(Image Copyright: Owais Zargar)

50 Years of Amnesty International

On 28 May 2011 Amnesty International marks its 50th anniversary - 50 years of uninhibited fight against injustice and repression. It was way back in 1961 that a British lawyer Peter Benenson, enraged by a newspaper report of two Portuguese students from Coimbra being sentenced to seven years in prison for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom, started this movement for freedom and justice. From that humble beginning Amnesty International has grown into a global movement of more than 3 million supporters as well as members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories.

Though it is true that the human rights situation around the world has undergone a sea change in these 50 years, for which Amnesty International can certainly take some credit, there still exist a lot of human rights issues left to be solved. The 50th anniversary of Amnesty International comes at a time when there are a lot of changes happening in the human rights landscape as is evident from the way in which people of Middle East and North Africa are fighting against oppression and tyranny. It has become imperative that we remain committed to strengthening the global human rights movement.

Amnesty International is committed to protect freedom of expression, abolish the death penalty, defend rights of women and girls, demand international justice, stop corporate abuse and end oppression and injustice. For achieving these goals Amnesty International is in need of the help of each and every one of you. Change is possible and international solidarity on human rights is what we need to accomplish that.

50th Anniversary of Amnesty International is accompanied by a new drive – “Be one more, ask one more, act once more” – that urges everyone, including three million members of Amnesty International, to encourage at least one person to take action for human rights. On this account I implore all my readers to join with Amnesty International in its campaign against human rights violations and make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world who are reeling under oppression, discrimination and violence.

Source: Official website of Amnesty International

A Night at a Railway Waiting Room

Our Indian Railways is a great thing, for, apart from our parents and teachers, if there is someone who has a genuine and keen interest in providing opportunities and creating circumstances for us to improve our inherent skills, it is Indian Railways. It scarcely commits the capital mistake of running trains on time and thus provides all its travellers ample time to indulge in their interests and sharpen their skills – those who like to read can read, those who like to write can write, those who like to draw can draw, those who like to observe can observe and so on. I am one in the last category, those who like to observe, and a railway waiting room is the best place to pursue such a vocation, if ever there is one.

On a Friday night, while I was indulging in my favourite occupation of observation at a waiting room of a railway station, my eyes got hooked on to a tall, lean, fair lady in her early twenties. Not only my eyes, but the eyes of all humanity that had the chance to assemble there at the waiting room at that point of time, were fixed on her. Children, men, women, all were staring at her as if staring at an animal in a zoo, for she had a queer, if not weird, look about her. She was in a pink dress that revealed more than it concealed, though leaving something for the imagination of the beholders as well. Strings were dangling from all parts of her dress with beads attached to their ends, which made some noise every time she cringed, crouched or bent. She had a metal ring fixed on her nose, the sort of ring that women used to wear on their ears in the past - in those good old days when women where unambiguously women - which appeared to have made her feel elevated to the ranks of Indian tennis superstar Sania Mirza. Her white, transparent duppatta slipped from her shoulder as often as was logically possible for a cloth of its kind to slip, and as many times she put it back to its place that many times it slipped off and fell down. If you thought that the constant slipping of the duppatta and the difficulty of putting it back to its place had caused her some discomfort or annoyance, it must be noted that she seemed to belong to a rare tribe of humankind for whom such human emotions occurred not when a trivial thing like slipping of a piece of cloth occurred, but when things of much greater gravity, like railway announcements that declared the arrivals of other trains than the one in which she had to travel, happened.

Even when such fascinating things, as a pretty lady with revelation as her prime goal, constantly seize the attention of a young mind as mine, there are certain things that would usurp your attention and turn it towards them. The unsolicited DJs, people with loud music in their mobile phones, as is often seen in places where we normally travel ‘cattle-class’ (guess Shashi Tharoor hasn’t got any trademark protection on the usage of the word), are some of that kind who’ve this disgusting habit of making others listen to what they like. You would invariably find Bollywood songs of the 1990s in their song collection, which they would play in loud sound inflicting serious harm on others like me, who are involved in much more important and significant occupations like observing people.

While I was rather immersed in such mixed observations, I was suddenly woken up from my trance by the sound of some furious thing. Startled by such a bizarre sound I turned back and found out that it was no one but the lady, the keeper of the latrine, who was the object of such a commotion. I have often noticed that this lady, who is about two-score years old, has this awful penchant of spewing insolent remarks at anyone and everyone frequenting the waiting room. Every time you ask her something you could be sure that she will answer you with some rude words. This time around it was some poor girl who was the victim of her abuse; the girl’s crime – she had only 10 rupee note with her and not the exact change to pay for the use of the latrine. In between, when the lady resorted to a light doze, a couple of young children went inside the latrine, splashed their boots, came out and went off with stealthily footsteps without paying, while not forgetting to make some faces in front of the sleeping lady in absolute merriment. Then suddenly the lady woke up and resumed her denunciation of one and all – of a kid hither, of a lady thither and of an old man yonder.

Amidst all these chaos and delightful distractions, there dwelled a couple, a pair of a beautiful girl and a handsome young man, obviously lovers, hand in hand, glancing together with great interest on to a personal diary, most probably of the girl, in which she might have added the day by day account of their love story. The girl was entirely leaning on to the boy as if saying to the world that he was her ultimate support, both literally and metaphorically. While her one hand was in the young man’s hand, the other one was on his shoulder, busy at the business of pinching his ears often and laughing heartily at it – altogether, a great romantic spectacle indeed. Her eyes, though were looking on to the diary, frequently wandered and every such time they ended up eventually at the lady in the pink dress and in each one of these occasions there was jealousy in her eyes and curse on her lips. Her lover, the handsome young man, though appeared to be rather enthusiastic in reading the diary, occasionally threw glances at the lady in the pink dress as well, without his girlfriend knowing it, until he noticed me observing him staring at that lady. Now his attention turned on to me and he had a look of abhorrence at me probably thinking what a boring person I would be to languish in such a monotonous waiting room on a cold night without a girlfriend leaning on my shoulder or calling me on my phone.

By that time it was well past midnight and most passengers in the waiting room had either slept or were in the threshold of a deep slumber when another announcement came and all lent their ears to it. And there it was – the announcement that my train would arrive within a short time, of course late by two and a half hours. We all were happy – the lady in the pink dress, the unsolicited DJ and I, for it was our train; the lover couple, for it was not their train (yes, what a blissful thing Indian Railways is for the romantic hearts). I got up, took my bag, dusted it off, put it on to my shoulders and started walking when the handsome young man whispered something on to his girlfriend’s ears and they both gazed at me. Then I paused, thought for a second, looked back and gave them a rise smile as if wishing them that their train would never come.

Osama's Death – Significance and Symbolism

I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure. - Mark Twain

On 1 May 2011, at about 11.30pm PST, US President Barack Obama gave a rare address to the nation, where he declared that Osama bin Laden, US’ worst enemy since 11 September 2001, has been declared dead. There was great jubilation in different parts of the United States – in front of the White House, at Ground Zero, at Times Square and in the streets of the different US cities. Osama was killed by a precision strike by US Navy Seals, a highly trained and sophisticated team of US combatants, in a 40 minutes operation in Abbottabad, a city in Pakistan that is just two hour drive away from the capital Islamabad.

Barack Obama in his now historic address declared “justice has been done” and seemed to be rather relieved at the fact. At the same time he was quick to add that the US’ war is not against Islam and called Osama ‘a killer of Muslims’. Now what is the significance that the killing has on the world affairs or the international community’s fight against terrorism? Experts believe that the killing of Osama is more about symbolism than significance. Had he been killed within about 3 or 4 years after the 9/11 attacks it would have been a significant event. But Osama bin Laden doesn’t have a great following among radical Muslims around the world now. Today we don’t see t-shirts with Osama’s picture being sold anywhere in the world and Osama has almost receded to oblivion and obscurity. Other than some video messages that he came up with occasionally, he was not involved in any serious propaganda or action against the so called “enemies of Islam”. As Osama was able to escape from the clutches of the US, even after the deadly attack against him by the US forces in the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan, there was a belief among the terrorists that they can escape even from the military might of the US. This gave them a sort of added confidence in pursuing bigger terrorists strike in the different parts of the world. But now that Osama is killed it would have become clear to terrorists that they can create mayhem in the world only at their own peril.

It must be said that the end of Osama bin Laden doesn’t mean the end of al-Qaeda, as it is more of a loose network than a structured organisation to be affected by the death of their leader, unlike say, LTTE that was entirely under the control of Velupillai Prabhakaran. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian born No.2 of the al-Qaeda would most probably take the charge of the organisation. There are also many affiliates of al-Qaeda around the world who act more like a franchisee of the deadly organisation. Though organisations like al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in North Africa are inspired by Osama, they are believed to be largely independent of him. There are chances that such organisations would project Osama's death as martyrdom and organise various attacks all over the world. The US buried Osama’s body in the sea as they were afraid that his burial site might become a place of “pilgrimage” to his devotees and a rallying point from where to launch more attacks on the world. Countries around the world are beefing up their security as they foresee a reprisal from the al-Qaeda network.

The fact that Osama was hiding in a sprawling campus in Abottabad city of Pakistan, some 800 metres away from a military training camp and not in any remote places, has become an embarrassment to the Pakistan government and the military. At a time when US-Pakistan relationship is at a crossroad, this fact would become a new thorn in their relationship. It is really hard to believe that the Pakistan intelligence was unaware of such a high profile terrorist hiding in the country. Pakistan authorities have much to answer as to whether they have ignored what was going under their nose, or worse, did they collude with Osama in providing him a safe haven in the country. It is very much clear that the US did not have any trust on the Pakistani authorities as was clear from the fact that they didn’t inform the Pakistan authorities about the attack on Osama. Anyways Pakistan government has distanced itself from the attack and called it an entirely US operation as they are afraid of any backlash that might happen in their own country. Senators of the opposition benches as well as the leadership of many mainstream religious and religio-political parties in Pakistan called the killing of Osama a direct attack on the sovereignty of Pakistan as foreign forces entered Pakistan’s territory and killed Osama without even informing the Pakistan authorities. At the same time, the fact that Osama was found hiding in Pakistan has vindicated India’s long time claim that Pakistan is supporting global terrorism.

There is no doubt that the killing of Osama bin Laden will be a massive boost to Barack Obama as he is preparing himself for the Presidential election in 2012. It would surely create a lot of turbulence in the Republican camp as they themselves are struggling for focus. Obama would certainly use the killing of Osama as a major weapon against GOP’s criticism that he is ineffective in the foreign policy front. Many of his conservative foes including Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani are lavishing praises on the President. It should be seen for how long Obama’s triumph over Osama would influence people’s minds. Though the killing of Osama would enhance Barack Obama’s chances in the Presidential elections he has to do more in the domestic front where joblessness, a slow recovery from the economic slump and high gasoline prices have made people agitated against his Presidency.

At the same time is quite heartening to see that the youth in the Arab world is not influenced by malicious propaganda of the terrorists but is embracing democracy, as is evident from what we have seen in Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. The young people of the world must draw inspiration from Anna Hazares and Wael Ghonims (the Google executive who used social media in organising revolt against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt) and not Osamas.

While the killing of Osama bin Laden, a deadly terrorist, is a triumph to the world community, it must be noted that our struggle against terrorists and radicals hasn’t ended. There is a larger challenge for the global community and that is to completely dismantle and destroy al-Qaeda affiliates and other such terrorist organisations all over the world. We have to be more alert and vigilant against the terrorists who have no moral base or human character.