Swapna Das Gupta in his Sunday column in The Pioneer says that both Hindus and Muslims have moved on in Gujarat and the post-Godhra riots should not be raked up again and again; he was writing in the wake of the recent Tehelka sting operation in which some of the VHP and other Hindu organizations’ people (the villainous Babu Bajrangi, for instance) have proudly claimed how they butchered people, burned people, ripped open pregnant women’s bellies and did all sorts of things that only the carnivores do in the wild.
The problem with the right-wing media in India is that it is always trying to sweep things under the carpet. Why can’t they accept that whatever happened in Gujarat was inhumanly terrible and somewhere the blame lies with Narendra Modi and his henchmen? Just because he is improving the economy of the state doesn’t mean that his crimes should be ignored; it doesn’t mean that the country should move on. If we started moving on, then every five or ten-year-old crime will be pardoned. Going with this logic why should Sunjay Dutt then be sent to jail? No, neither Hindus nor Muslims of Gujarat should move on until the perpetrators are punished. We will move on when the guilty are punished.
The response from the BJP has been so predictable: they immediately said that it was an election stunt to malign the party’s image. Why can’t they ever say that whatever is being exposed, provided it is substantiated, is highly deplorable and the guilty should be punished? Are they so desperate that in order to win an election they can even tolerate a psychopath in their party?
The right wing media and the BJP shouldn’t cry foul whenever such things happen and instead, do some introspection. If the guilty politicians, from the BJP and other parties, are punished the parties are not going to lose; you don’t lose elections because you are ridding you party of criminals, you lose elections because you don’t do the things you promise during your election campaign. It is such a simple thing. So by ditching Modi the BJP may lose in Gujarat but it will end up enhancing its national and international image. You can never become a trustable political force if you spread hatred and messages of intolerance towards different communities.
Whether one is a Hindu or a Muslim first of all, he or she is the citizen of the country and hence is entitled to the right to life and protection. Whenever riots take place there is no excuse for them; you simply cannot say that the public anger was so overwhelming against a particular community that the riots could not be contained immediately. OK, I have a bias here because I have gone through the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and I very well know that how state-sponsored riots take place (at that time it was the Congress that staged the pogrom) and how quickly they can be brought under control if the government wishes to. So this is all bunkum that the Godhra train burning incident caused great anger and that gave rise to an uncontrollable backlash. The right-wing columnists seem so illogical when they give such arguments in favor of the Modi government. And in any case if a government cannot control the law and order situation it should resign on moral grounds no matter who is to blame.
Of course the latest Tehelka expose could be Congress-sponsored (Tehelka never does a sting against the Congress) still whatever is there in the tapes should be scrutinized and analyzed by every right-thinking person of the country. Whether you like or hate Muslims for whatever reason, do we need such demons in a society, leading us and formulating laws for us? Can you in your right mind ever think of Modi becoming the prime minister of the country? It’s not about the string operation; it is about being a right or wrong, and not for someone else, but for you. After all you have to think what sort of ideology you leave to your kids.
As a side note, I don’t remember which one, but a blog suggested that India desperately needs some right-wing TV news channels. I think, yes, we do need them, considering all the Congress and communist pimp channels we have like the NDTV and CNN-IBN, etc.
Technorati Tags: tehelka, gujarat riots, modi
Says this report. I think there is nothing surprising in it because theories of human evolution change as our living-style alters. The report says there will be different species, but there will be no race. Anthropologists often wonder why there aren’t different human species as there are different species in every form of life on earth. For instance there are different types of cats, there are different types of wasps, different types of birds, etc. so why don’t humans have different species? This is quite an interesting question.
Different races evolved due to the isolation of hundreds of thousands of years. Until a few thousand years ago we all lived on different continents, totally cut off from each other. As we started traveling and moving to the other parts of the world we intermixed but the fundamental race features survived. For instance many people in north India have race features of the Europeans, the Orientals, and of course the Asians.
The report says the human species will peak in about 1000 years when we’ll live for 120 years and grow up to 6 to 7 feet tall. Then we’ll start altering drastically, for the worse. Advances in medicine and technology will turn us baby-like in about 10000 years (if we don’t kill ourselves by then or aren’t hit by something from space).
Aside from this, the two species will consist of highly intelligent and strong people and not very intelligent and weak people. This can actually happen because if we depend too much on technology we don’t overcome our weaknesses. For instance, people who cannot calculate more eagerly use the computers or the calculators rather than sharpening their calculation skills. Similarly, people who don’t like to walk use mechanical vehicles more than people who love walking. There are people who use technology for simple tasks and mindless fun and there are people who either develop technologies or put them to better use by doing something more productive. Take for instance the Internet: some people use it to access porn or play online games and some use it to spread awareness regarding various social, political and environmental issues, or at least use it for professional purposes.
I’ve often said that the world is run by only a select few people, and the rest just live like pests. It’s a pure indication of two evolving species.
Recently a bomb exploded in a Ludhiana movie theater and yesterday there were several bomb blasts in the convoy of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. Both these incidents and many more like these are so sad. Many people die and many lose their limbs and are rendered maimed for the rest of their lives. Just imagine going to see a movie and the next thing you know you don’t have your legs to walk back home; how scary it is. So the next time if you find yourself explaining why people become terrorists, try imagining your family members coming either dead or limbless from a movie theater or a market.
The blasts in Punjab are an indication of the return of Sikh (through my dictation software when it tried typing Sikh terrorism it typed “sick terrorism”) terrorism. And I hope it was just a freak attempt and not a well-concerted exercise. Terrorism in Punjab is mostly perpetrated by criminals, the drug mafia and shady politicians. Unlike in many Muslim countries people in Punjab don’t accept violence by their own kiln easily. They prefer to live peacefully and prosper.
Incidentally in a recent Outlook article I read that 30% of people in Punjab are living below the poverty line. I never knew there were poor people in Punjab let alone people below the poverty line. I mean we have poor relatives in our family but their condition is due to excessive greed and laziness and it has got nothing to do with the socio-economic conditions in the state. But I think considering how the Punjabis have been squandering away their wealth and prosperity on mindless and obscene materialism this should not come as a surprise. The education system in Punjab is totally rotten; it is so bad that the Punjabi youths cannot get employment in other states and there are meager employment opportunities in their own state. Even among our own relatives from Punjab I have often observed that they are more worried about showing-off instead of systematically improving their lot. Very few of my cousins in Punjab are decently educated and they are perpetually looking for easy routes to money and comfort.
Regarding the public in general I think lots of blame lies with the successive governments — rather than improving the economy and education they are always trying to please people by giving them subsidies and freebies. Although this problem of appeasement is universal in India, in Punjab farmers actually get free electricity and the economically backward actually get highly subsidized food. I’m not saying that the poor and the farmers shouldn’t be helped, but instead of doling out freebies the government should help them become self-reliant. The direct fallout of this misguided and opportunistic assistance is that people lose the habit of strategy and hard work. Many countries in Africa have been ruined because of the World Bank indiscriminately pumping money into their countries. The same tragedy is manifesting in Punjab.
With illiteracy, poverty and lax moral values terrorism is bound to raise its head again. The sad situation is compounded by the enormity of the problem. You cannot eradicate poverty and educate people in a couple of years but terrorism can resurface in no time due internal conditions and external support. I hope the cancerous organizations that promote terrorism amongst the Sikhs are not going to gain any ground this time now that people know what their true intentions are — hopefully they know.
Recently someone was comparing Bhinderwala to some of the Sikh gurus; Bhinderawala or his men “allegedly” used to rape young girls in the Golden Temple; so that person was saying that even some of the Gurus were blamed like this by the Mughals to malign their image. I think whoever compares a scumbag like Bhinderawala with the Sikh gurus gravely insults Sikhism. Even if he didn’t rape women, he lost every right the civil society gives to its citizens when he endorsed blowing up innocent people; he was no different from Osama. I think the biggest injustice is when you kill or maim people just for being different, in the name of injustice/justice. These morons don’t understand that with so much injustice around the globe, going by their logic, every neighborhood will have its own terrorist organization.
This is strange, it never crossed my mind. Isn’t he one of the greatest peace symbols the history of the world ever known? Here’s a nice, analytical essay on why the Mahatma might have not been awarded the Nobel peace prize. I could relate to the following extract:
The committee’s adviser, professor Jacob Worm-Müller, who wrote a report on Gandhi, was much more critical. On the one hand, he fully understood the general admiration for Gandhi as a person: “He is, undoubtedly, a good, noble and ascetic person – a prominent man who is deservedly honoured and loved by the masses of India.” On the other hand, when considering Gandhi as a political leader, the Norwegian professor’s description was less favourable. There are, he wrote, “sharp turns in his policies, which can hardly be satisfactorily explained by his followers. (…) He is a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist. He is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician.”
This reminded me of my principal in the special school. There was a time when I idolized her: had she started a gang or a cult at that time I would have certainly joined it as an ardent member or follower. Although our principals ran in opposite directions, I respected her for the sense of fairness and dignity she possessed. Then, all of a sudden she would take a 180-degree turn and metamorphose into this heavily authoritarian, biased and fanatically religious person who only knew how to preach to you and castigate you for thinking different. Mahatma Gandhi too was like that. He disliked people who didn’t tow his line. He was dictatorially peaceful and encouraged a coterie of devotees around him. As a personality I think he was too big for the Nobel and it is good that he never got it, but had I been in the committee and had I access to his true thinking I’d have never recommended him.
Technorati Tags: gandhi, mahatma, nobel prize, peace
Being musically inclined, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is the only TV show that I watch with random regularity and I can follow how individual participants are performing. Oh, and yes I started my music lessons again . Remember once I mentioned my old recalcitrant guruji who is over 70? After taking his classes it was not possible for me to go to another teacher. Although he sometimes irritates me but I think he’s the best teacher I have ever come across. Coming back to the TV program.
The final event turned out to be a real damp squib. Nobody was expecting Aneek Dhar to win. Of course no doubt be deserved to be among the top three but he was no way the first runners up stuff. Either Amanat or Raja Hasan should have come first; they are far superior than Aneek as far as voice quality and style are considered. He has a very shrill noise although technically he has no flaws.
Did a Bengali factor play in? The Bengalis are prone to send excessive SMS messages to help Bengali contestants win and even when the SMSs are not involved through networking tactics they try to ensure victory for a Bengali contestant. I’m not saying that he is a Bengali so his victory should be questioned; it’s just that the other contestants were far better and this is the only logic that can be drawn — that he undeservedly got more votes. Of course Rashamya too used cheap psychological tricks to fetch more votes for his student.
The win actually doesn’t matter much because many contestants have won and then faded into oblivion. Only the talented can survive. This is why there are many contestants who got singing contracts even before reaching the finals — including Amanat and Raja — but I doubt if Aneek got a singing contract during the competition.
And it is heartening to see that true talent is still appreciated in other parts of the country and that is the main reason that Amanat, despite being a Pakistani, was among the top three, and despite Poonam being the least glamorous among the female contestants, was the top female performer and eventually won the spark of the day award. Hers is the face that should inspire you. Read her story if you can find it somewhere. Listen to her singing Der na ho jaye, I mean, of course she is not Lata Mangeshkar but I think after Lata and Asha Poonam’s voice is the best I’ve heard so far.
All in all, Sa Re Ga Ma P is the best talent hunt program on Indian television and the new singers discovered through it are really going to give sleepless nights to the established but mediocre singers of the Hindi cinema. These singers, barring Aneek’s final fiasco, are really brilliant and truly deserve the attention being showered upon them. Hopefully we’ll get to listen to some good melodies in the near future. And if that doesn’t happen well I’m always there to sing to myself and to people who care to listen, for instance my greatest fan I think, no I’m sure, is my 27-month-old daughter :-).
Technorati Tags: saregamapa, sa re ga ma pa
Do we really get what we deserve in life or sometimes the life gives us a shitty deal? Today I was reading about this man in Japan who died of hunger and he didn’t get any help from his government. A couple of people who were interviewed for the article remarked that the man got what he deserved. The general attitude in that Japanese city is that you are a proper citizen only if you pay the taxes. People who survive on social welfare are looked down upon and they don’t get any sympathy even if they die without food. I don’t know how this incident was reported by the Japanese media.
Last month in New Delhi three sisters were found totally starved in their house by the neighbors. Only the eldest among them was working I think and when she lost her job they had no money to buy food. Ever since their parents died many years ago they had been living a very reclusive life. The neighbors claimed that whenever they tried to help they were rudely sent back. Then one of the sisters died and for five days they didn’t tell anybody and the body started decaying. The sisters were so mentally disturbed that they didn’t even realize that one of them had succumbed to malnutrition. The stench made the neighbors call the police and get that door opened.
The contrast between the two stories is that here in Delhi people had lots of sympathy for the girls and even the government agencies did whatever they could do to get the remaining two goals rehabilitated. Even when the girls were hostile the neighbors tried many times to help them or at least give them some food. The incident got coverage everywhere and now both of the sisters are recuperating. The resident welfare association has completely refurbished their house and they have collected money to get them started. Nobody said that they deserved it.
Although I personally feel that most of our miseries are self generated, especially finance related, there are some things that are beyond our control and is nothing wrong if society and the government helps us because we would do the same thing if someone else needed our help.
In the Japanese story above even the neighbors think that the person who died should have taken care of his finances while he was alive, without ever bothering to know why that person was in that condition. For months nobody even came to inquire why he was in so much misery. It is scary to live in such a society.
Beheading, if somewhat gruesome, can be one of the quickest and least painful ways to die - so long as the executioner is skilled, his blade sharp, and the condemned sits still.
The height of decapitation technology is, of course, the guillotine. Officially adopted by the French government in 1792, it was seen as more humane than other methods of execution. When the guillotine was first used in public, onlookers were reportedly aghast at the speed of death.
Quick it may be, but consciousness is nevertheless believed to continue after the spinal chord is severed. A study in rats in 1991 found that it takes 2.7 seconds for the brain to consume the oxygen from the blood in the head; the equivalent figure for humans has been calculated at 7 seconds. Some macabre historical reports from post-revolutionary France cited movements of the eyes and mouth for 15 to 30 seconds after the blade struck, although these may have been post-mortem twitches and reflexes.
If you end up losing your head, but aren’t lucky enough to fall under the guillotine, or even a very sharp, well-wielded blade, the time of conscious awareness of pain may be much longer. It took the axeman three attempts to sever the head of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587. He had to finish the job with a knife. [ link ]
||
RSS Feeds
My Social Media Links