The Language of Crusaders

The year 2014 is a crucial one for India. It is election year. Whoever wins, whatever the outcome, I feel I'd like to air one grouse. 

Corruption is high on the agenda. Reams have been written about, spoken about and discussed by everyone. The discussions continue unabated. It is wonderful that the common Indian citizen has started speaking out boldly. There was a time, as recently as the nineties, when only a very few used to speak out. The rest of us used to rail and rant, but within the confines and safety of our four walls. And then, four or five courageous individuals told us exactly what loopholes the politicians were using in the law to get away with siphoning off crores of rupees and for gagging the whistle blowers.

I understand the ordinary person is disgusted with the looting of the Indian treasury. Just to give one example, they’ve seen individuals start in politics with modest homes to their names and within a couple of years, move to palatial houses.

I understand the anger.

So many of us have come together to fight this common enemy. We are from disparate backgrounds and we’ve come together because we want the same outcome – the eradication of this blatant looting.

What is my grouse? It is about the discussions at the "India Against Corruption's (IAC's) fb and other sites. 

Yes, we feel a natural affinity towards members of our group. We want the identical same thing. 

Yes, we now have two plans of action to move forward where previously we had one. Some of us believe we can make politicians accountable with dharnas, anshans, fasts and protest marches while others believe we've tried that route and by itself, it hasn't worked. It needs another dimension as well where the common educated and respected Indians (retired chief justices, social activists and others) introduce those accountability laws themselves - from within – by becoming politicians; that the politicians of today will never, of their own accord, allow a law that demands accountability from the corrupt to be passed. Under such a law they would be the first to be punished.

Yes, I understand there are staunch supporters of each of the two current major parties (ruling and opposition) who join in the discussions online so that they don't pass up the opportunity to bad mouth each other or to bad mouth the IAC in the hope of getting a rise out of IAC supporters.

And yes, many of these bad mouthers are staunch supporters of IAC too.

Anyone can understand people having heated discussions.  I am not squeamish about people showing their loyalty, prejudice, preferences or anger. But the stream of filth that continues to plague these discussions, words like "bhos*i " and more used to attack individuals... this has got to stop. 

The more decent individuals either ignore such comments or appeal to the offenders to stop. Neither of these two strategies seems to be working. The filth continues unabated.

Such people do a lot of harm to their own case. And if they are on the IAC forum, that’s who they harm. Their disgusting language is met with a dignified silence from the corrupt politicians they foul mouth. As a result, the corrupt come out smelling of roses - their wrong doings get sidelined.

And tomorrow, if anything goes wrong, these foul mouthers are the very individuals who will be difficult to contain. They blow their tops during discussions – what chance that anyone can contain them in any other situation? Why wait that long - wily and seasoned politicians who don't want the IAC to get into politics on the platform of corruption (too popular with the hoi polloi and too dangerous for them?) are always on the look out to stir up trouble. And a volatile few play right into their hands.

Things are looking good for IAC. People admire them for their courage and for explaining exactly where and how corruption has taken place. Here are Arvind Kejriwal's tapes (in Hindi) explaining what each of fifteen politicians has done. I think they are worth a visit.

Let's not rock the boat. Lets nip the bad mouthing right now. I wish I knew how. Suggestions welcome. 
 

A Brilliant Idea by India Against Corruption

In 2011, 

from the site http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org

• in spite of the majority of ordinary Indians wanting a strong anti-corruption bill
• in spite of India Against Corruption (IAC) and hundreds of thousands of Indians out on the streets demanding one
• in spite of the government promising one if Anna Hazare, the head of IAC, stopped his fasts

the government eventually came up with such a weak version of the bill that the ultimate decision of policing corrupt individuals in government and ensuring their accountability, remained in the hands of ..... you guessed it, the government.

Today, IAC knows exactly what it is up against – the deadly curse of endemic corruption in too many individuals in politics. It is a sobering thought that it won’t be easy to get rid of. But the IAC have come up with a brilliant plan.

They acknowledge they've learnt a lot from last year. For example, they would like the ability to be directly in touch with the masses. Often, last year, ordinary members wanted some of their doubts clarified and questions answered and the core team were dependent on the media to do so. Whilst acknowledging their gratitude to the media for keeping them in the news, IAC also realised that often, the media was unable to write or speak about their reports in their entirety.  These were drip fed to the public losing their impact and often, even the true meaning of what the core team had said was lost. The main issue, therefore, was to find a way to maintain direct contact between the public and the core team. 

This is what IAC have come up with:

• ·       Volunteers to get groups of ordinary Indians together throughout India to listen to one topic a week.

• ·       This topic would be a Youtube discussion between the core team members.

• ·       This discussion would generate a lot of questions from ordinary Indians which would be noted by the organiser of their group.

• ·       These questions would then be passed on to the IAC core team through the helpline 97185 00606 or through the email address, indiaagainstcorruption.2010@gmail.com, by the organiser of each group.

• ·       The core team would then answer the questions they collect, to try and quell our doubts. 

If you'd like to be a volunteer, this is the site to visit:
http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/start-your-discussion-forum.html

All you'd be expected to do would be to get your group together, organise a meeting to watch the current IAC video, facilitate the discussion after and collect the questions that arise out of the discussion to pass on to the core team. You wouldn't be required to answer those questions. Those would be answered by the core team.

Another advantage of getting together with ordinary Indians like ourselves is the obvious one of discussing issues we care about firsthand - with other, like-minded people. Further down the road, we could easily come up with united action plans ourselves. Right now, once our doubts are clarified, the action plan would be decided by the core IAC team. 

Gives "social networking" a whole new meaning. 

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Can We Prevent Unplanned Urban Development I?

This graphic picture is from Greenpeace, India.
Here's the link.

I used to be a fan of Tavleen Singh's columns in the eighties. Recently I’ve rediscovered her and have started following her on twitter.  One of her tweets baldly declares, "Unless we realize the vital need for planned urban development India will become the largest slum in the world. And, sooner than we think." A dire warning, if ever there was one.

Planning of cities and distributing resources has to be undertaken by the government. It cannot be left to individuals or corporate interest.  Take migration to our cities. In the eighties I remember reading something that stuck in my mind - that a thousand people migrated to Mumbai every day. That means one thousand more people used the same, unchanged resources of Mumbai daily - resources like water, electricity, land, our roads and footpaths. I don’t have the numbers for today. This is a huge burden on the city’s finite resources and there simply might not be enough to go around unless our government has plans to increase those resources. There will come a time when people will use any means simply to be able to get their hands on these fast depleting resources. Take land in our cities to build on. In the sixties and seventies there was enough for everyone. Then, as demand outgrew supply, our flats started getting smaller and more expensive.

If our builders had their way, they’d build wherever there is space. Take Gilbert Hill in Mumbai, for example. It is one of only two 65 million year old rocks on Earth. The other one is in the US and is declared a heritage site - protected and preserved by the government. The one in Mumbai is hemmed in by tall buildings and desecrated by humans, has a temple on top with a resident caretaker and builders are trying to get permission to build on it. Over 33,000 people have signed the petition to save Gilbert Hill.

What chance do the poor have to live in comfort? They simply put up shanty houses and now, we have shanty towns within our cities. They also encroach on our footpaths, railway stations and any public place – as long as they can remain in the city to eke out a living and feed their families.

Villagers come in their droves too as there is no proper infrastructure in their villages. I have written about their investing in wiring for their houses in anticipation of the government’s promise of an electricity grid. The government did not fulfil that promise in thousands of our villages. Thanks to private enterprise and having to re-invest again, they now have solar panels. (The post is here) I leave it to you to judge whether the government is short of funds or whether individuals in the government siphon off funds allocated for various noble sounding projects for the good of our villages.  And that is just one of their (the villagers’) problems. There’s the lack of pucca roads. No infrastructure and no connectivity? It is difficult to eke out a living under those circumstances. The obvious solution for many - why not migrate to our cities?

Cities like Mumbai attract the well heeled, villagers, farmers and the poor alike. Tavleen is right. Urban development in Mumbai is definitely unplanned. 

When they migrate, the well-off get assimilated more easily and their adding to the burden on the city’s resources is less visible. What problems do the poor face and how do they affect the city’s resources? Their living quarters are crowded and cramped. They either have relations in our slums or they encroach on our footpaths. They have nowhere to carry out their daily ablutions. It has to be public places. They can only afford coal or kerosene as fuel. These aren't good for the air we breathe. In crowded and cramped conditions with so many people breathing and going about their daily lives, coal lacks enough oxygen to burn efficiently. As a result, the end product is not only carbon dioxide but carbon monoxide. This is poisonous. The quality of the air they breathe suffers. Their health suffers. And to think they've had to leave their villages and farms where the air they breathe is much less poluted!


Part II discusses Garbage and what we can do. One of the most obvious outcomes of unplanned migration to our cities has been garbage. Some known and unknown facts about this monumental problem...




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Can We Prevent Mumbai's Unplanned Urban Development - II?

Picture from Greenpeace, India.

Part I discusses space being at a premium in our cities and why farmers, villagers, the rich and poor migrate to our cities. It concludes that migration to our cities is definitely unplanned.

Part II - One of the most obvious outcomes of unplanned migration to our cities has been garbage. This has reached monumental proportions.

The poor have no place to throw their garbage so it collects on our roads or clogs our waters. Come to think of it, our kachrawalis might take away our garbage from our flats but who knows where she takes it? In December 2010, when I was in Mumbai, I saw at least five huge MOUNTAINS of garbage in just one suburb, which were definitely not there the last time I was there. Our Municipality doesn’t clear it away. 

A Possible Action Plan: Perhaps we should all inundate them with phone calls or emails to come and clear it away from outside our homes. Perhaps we should get together, plan, organise and act unitedly to ensure it is done.Perhaps we should find out who's in charge of taking away our garbage and publish this person's contact details online.

Facts about garbage and its odours: Garbage in Mumbai includes spit, rubbish, urine and faeces. Everyone knows it is an eyesore, attracts rodents, roaches and other pests, is not good for our health and the environment and smells awful. Without being too conscious of it, we live with these smells in Mumbai. These smells badly affect our olfactory and other systems. As a result we have varied reactions like eye irritations and sore throats, coughs, drowsiness, asthma and even depression.

At the same time, most of us have learnt to stoically ignore and not complain about our symptoms of discomfort. 

Odours disturb concentration and diminish productivity as our disgust with our environment remains uppermost in our minds. Work force populations vary in levels of discomfort from odours because of exposure history and habituation. But whether we may, or may not realize the possible risks of consistent bad odours, they affect human health and well being. Productivity in such an environment goes down considerably. Our ability to perform tasks may decrease as our dislike for particular odours increases.

Garbage dumps shouldn’t be on our doorsteps to start with, but in designated places far away from where most of us reside. The municipality should take away our garbage regularly to these designated dumps. But it doesn’t happen. The garbage piles get higher and more densely compacted with their own weight causing all the above symptoms in our health.  Methane - a greenhouse gas that captures heat and causes global warming is one of the end products of these dense piles of garbage. This might be an appropriate place to mention how, with the advance of science, this methane from garbage is being used to make new energy. A very worthwhile investment once it is made. Hopefully, we'll see the last of garbage clogging our city streets yet. Whether the government and business get together to exploit the benefits of garbage to create new energy or not, garbage from our city streets has to go or we have to keep paying megabucks to doctors for our health.

Garbage is only one aspect of the unplanned migration to cities. Some more resources that get affected due to overcrowding of cities are

• water (increased usage, increased pollution and a threat to marine life)
• air – with so many more people sharing the air we breathe, with so many more households cooking, with so many more cars and trucks on our roads, the air we breathe gets polluted. There’s an increase in greenhouse gases that trap heat and make our cities hotter than ever before; there’s an increase in the emission of deadly dangerous gases like carbon monoxide (as explained above), carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide as also smog and acid rain (which I’ve written about here) This, in turn, pollutes the soil in which we grow our food.

 A Possible Action Plan: Walking, cycling and public transport whenever possible; shared rides to work; buying local goods that haven't used up too much oil to get to our shops; making informed decisions (for example - buying goods that aren't wrapped in too much plastic), reduce-reuse-recycle; composting our garbage...

Other Aspects Of Overcrowding Our Cities: There is an increase in noise levels; in energy consumption; various social problems due to shortage of space and other resources; perhaps crime because of the disparity in living standards and hunger as also, increased use of raw material and manufactured goods

As our cities spread, there's a loss of land that ought to be conserved - like wetlands, grasslands, forests – a natural habitat for so many different species. In fact, here’s something we need to be aware of right now.

"Green Dream Foundation" - an NGO started in India by two young Delhi men (Ashish Sachdeva and Abhishek Agarwal), consistently provides a lot of information on factors that affect our Earth. Green Dream's latest venture in association with Greenpeace, India who created "Why this Koyla Mining Di" informs us that corporates are cutting down our forests to mine coal. Here’s Devinder Sharma linking policies that take away community control over natural resources like water, forests and farmlands to hunger and migration to cities by our farmers and villages.

A Possible Action Plan: Want to get involved? Join Green Dream; Become a “citizen” of Junglistan to protect our natural resources from corporate interests. Watch this video by Abhay Deol who interviews farmers who’ve become landless and jobless.        

If there is one thing IAC - India Against Corruption taught us last year, it was that we've ignored "government by the people" and that the government has ignored, "government for the people". Getting together with other like minded people and speaking with one voice is one effective way to get our point across to the government. After all, whose voice is more effective? 

A billion lone voices or a billion strong force?



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Anticorruption Bill 2011 Postponed Again

The New Bill 2011 to fight corruption in India (the lokpal) has been an eagerly awaited non event - since the past sixty years! After Anna Hazare's hugely popular fast was ended with the government promising Anna that they would discuss the bill in the monsoon session of parliament in 2011, everyone had started hoping it would ATLAST become law. Unfortunately from the monsoon session it was carried forward to the winter session and at the last minute the Congress balked and backed out. "Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley also said that the government had choreographed chaos to dodge a vote." (see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lokpal-Bill-put-to-sleep-at-midnight/articleshow/11298043.cms)

Here's a short, award winning video on how corruption isplayed out in, and affects, India..

In any case, the government's version of the lokpal (anti-corruption bill) was weak. This is what an editorial in a respected Indian newspaper, "The Hindu", had to say about it."The Centre, which has retained administrative control (read: promotions, transfers, etc.) of the CBI via the Ministry of Personnel, knows better than most that he who pays the piper calls the tune.". 

One of my previous posts explains the problems in the present anti-corruption systems of India and the role of the CBI. Here's ten different people who've answered the following question - "why do many political parties in India question CBI's credibility from time to time?"
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101114114515AAYRZAP
All ten seem to agree that the CBI is used by the party in power to keep the opposition at bay:

Here's what I think the current government is scared of: An agency that polices the Congress plays right into the hands of the opposition. There are too many in the Congress and its coalition who've been tainted by corruption. Some of these politicians are influential. To have any of them under the scrutiny of an independent anti-corruption committee is to weaken and maybe even topple the coalition (UPI) government. The Congress is not about to jeopardise its hold on power.

The main opposition is the BJP - a right wing Hindu party. They would try their utmost, and probably succeed, in destabilising the ruling coalition. We all know there's corruption in those corridors too, apart from the non-secular politics they practice.

How does one eliminate the cancer of corruption then? What choices do the people have when neither party is free of corruption? when individuals from both treat tax payer money as their own? 

One option would be to look out for a third alternative to the current government+coalition partners and the opposition - perhaps an independent, someone totally new and inexperienced :-( BUT starting on a clean slate.

We'd have to wait till 2014 for that and we don't know what laws the government would try to push through before that to protect individual, influential looters.

Here's a suggestion from the former director of Infosys, Mohandas Pai - a split in the CBI - the wing that takes care of the opposition to government, and the wing that takes care of corruption. This is what he says: "The challenge in India for corruption cases has been the lack of investigation, the lack of resources and the lack of integrity in the investigation. If we don't want a Lokpal that is impotent, CBI needs to be under its control or it is not going to work." 

Justice V.N.Khare has expanded on this further in an interview with the Times of India. His reply to the following query by the times reporter, "Is there any merit in the Team Anna argument that the CBI should be brought under the Lokpal?" is as follows: I don't think that the entire CBI can be brought under the Lokpal. The CBI is a huge organisation whose investigative capabilities are used for so many things other than fighting corruption. At best you can put 50 or 60 CBI officers on deputation with the Lokpal. However, if the CBI is under the government and the government is the prosecutor, there is a clear conflict of interest in prosecuting government corruption. I believe the CBI should be autonomous in any case.

Which brings me to Team Anna's option: "India Against Corruption" (IAC) want an anti-corruption bill with a lot of teeth. They've drafted the Janlokpal bill. Team Anna’s demands include total independence of the CBI from the likelihood of government interference. Till team Anna came on the scene we knew about corruption in politics but we didn't know how these greedy individuals got away with siphoning off for themselves, what belonged to India and Indians. Team Anna made a lot of effort to expalin the loopholes in the anti-corruption systems. Who can deny what Prashant Bhushan, one of the members of Team Anna and one of the drafters of the Janlokpal bill had to say at Ramlila Grounds, Delhi,"This movement has forced the Government to pass a bill, however weak. It had to make a Joint committee, standing committee and then pass a bill. It is a weak bill, no doubt, but it is your pressure that made it happen." He said this before the government scuttled the bill yet again after the winter session of parliament.

IAC has shown us we need not feel so helpless - that we can, and must, agitate if we think the government won't bring in a strong anti-corruption bill. Government BY the people isn't only voting every four years and then letting those voted in have a field day looting India. I know lobbying is too hard and won't show results immediately. But if you believe there is rampant corruption that affects the ordianry people of India, it is worth making the effort.

There are some who feel team Anna's version of the bill would give too much power to the 9 member committee who would control the anti-corruption agencies. Arvind Kejriwal, from team Anna says that is a deliberate attempt to mislead the people; that the 9 member committee wouldn't have the power of impeaching anyone - just lodging the fir - the first information report. The impeachment procedure would remain unchanged and would be through the courts. (Listen from 2 minutes and 27 seconds of this Youtube video.)

I wonder what our cynics think of the version the government has put up - that bill, for starters, declares the government will pick the team that will police them. What's more, that team will be beholden to the government for promotions and transfers etc according to the newspaper editorial above. How can they not toe the government line? Also, what credibility does the government have now, after scuttling the bill again and again? Till we have a law to prevent or punish corruption, we've seen proof that they will continue looting the money Indians pay for India's safety, security, infrastracture, progress and the environment.

Everyone hopes the people of India win. We hope their hard earned money and taxes are used to benefit them and not greedy individual politicians. To make that hope a reality means making your voice heard. And whose voice is heard loud and clear? A billion lone (armchair) voices or a billion strong force?

My hope is that the eyes of the WORLD are trained on the non-violent movement. That can happen if more of us join the protests, making it clear as team Anna does, that our protest is against corruption - not against any political party.


Follow team Anna and India Against Corruption as they unfold their action plan once more.  And if you are able, join the protest.

Credibility of Indian Politicians

What Platform will Indian Politicians Fight on in 2014? What rhetoric will they be able to spew out with conviction? 

The 1993 synchronised bombs in Mumbai left Indians in shock. The feelings uppermost in Indian minds were disbelief that anyone could hate us so much, and fear.  

Indian flag by gsagri04, open clipart

The attacks from gun totting Pakistanis in '98 left us reeling with the same feelings. But added to that was pride in the way Indians helped fellow human beings plus an awareness that our enemies wanted India to descend into chaos and a determination not to let that happen. Indian communities came together in a show of unity and strength. There was also a slow burning anger at the Indian government for taking so long to send help.

When the Zaveri Bazaar bombs went off in July this year, Indian anger at the government reached boiling point. Some government official tried to get a photo op. out of the whole hopeless mess - going to the scene of the bomb and giving a speech, calling Indians brave and suggesting the Indian spirit will survive. That was the final straw. Indian anger boiled over. They said "never mind our spirit, what are the government's plans for our safety?" and more words to that effect. here's one link out of millions - Bombed, Doomed and Living On 

Indians are aware that the first instinctive thought of any politician is to kill the opposition. Indians can live with that. They know leaders of major parties try and ensure that party line are followed. But safety is beyond petty party politics. Indians are angry that their safety and security isn't of paramount importance to our politicians. Political parties in any mature and responsible democracy throughout the world understand it is non-negotiable. This is possible in India too, according to http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devils-advocate-why-has-india-failed-to-combat-terror/183168-3.html 

The next elections are three years away. Can we afford to wait that long to ensure the safety and security of our country is on our politician radar screens? Indians need to see the two major Indian political parties hammer out differences on this vital issue now. Or, the Indian public is willing to look for someone who will - perhaps an independent. 

The other big issue is, of course, corruption. We've come to know how Indian MPs have been looting the Indian treasury. In states ruled by both major parties the degree of corruption is mind boggling. It involves lakhs of crores of rupees where 1 lakh crore is 

Sabsey bada Rupaia - Indian rupees by beshra, free clipart

Rs 1,000,000,000,000.
(At the current rate, that is 20,393,596,410 USD) 

And they get away because our anti-corruption agencies are hopelessly under-staffed, under-funded and not independent of the government. Files investigating MPs land on the desks of staff working under those very MPs. Who would investigate their boss? And there's more as explained by "India Against Corruption" or http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/p/india-against-corruption.html

The outrage and scorn for our MPs has boiled over. And the irony is that both major parties have declared in almost all their previous party manifestos they will fight ... you guessed it, corruption.

Here are a couple of links to Congress’s "common minimum programme" of 2004. http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.pdf  straight from the PM’s office or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3757269.stm from the BBC

A few points covered in the common minimum programme are, no privatisation, abolition of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism) that made the minorities feel threatened, uplifting the poor, education, economic reform and growth, women’s rights and corruption.

The BJP’s agenda in 2009 included life and job security to all citizens, prevent corruption and achieve speedy development. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-08/mysore/28057435_1_bjp-leader-l-k-advani-prime-ministerial-candidate
 
Is life any safer in 2011? Has poverty been eradicated? What about the quality of the air Indians breathe, the soil we grow our crops in or the level of pollution in our waters - factors that directly impact our health and our doctors' bills? Our factories to a large extent, know they can easily bribe our politicians to let them continue breaking environment laws instead of ensuring what they spew out or empty out into our rivers and soil as by-products of their cash-making ventures, don't harm the environment. What about electricity grids for our villages? Or pucca roads in India. Are India’s poor any better off, women safer or terrorists less able to execute their anti-human plans in our country? Would the BJP guarantee the safety, security and independence of minorities and women? Would they re-introduce POTA?  Most important of all, are any of our politicians less corrupt or did both parties mean to be the exceptions to their corruption platforms? 

Indians blame most of these issues on weak anti-corruption laws that govern our politicians. Funds for any project are siphoned off by individuals, thereby compromising the said projects. Indians are harassed for bribes at every step. There is determination that a strong anti-corruption bill will be passed to curb the ability of politicians to loot Indian funds and get away with it.

Glib politician rhetoric 

• without a properly spelt out action plan, 
• without a proper budget and 
• without indications where exactly the funds for any glib promise will come from

will not easily take in an enlightened Indian public any more. 

Neither major party will be able to use "corruption and safety-security" as the platforms they fight the 2014 elections on. Indians have openly started heaping scorn and disgust on such speechifying from corrupt and callous politicians.

The only hope Indian politicians have is to put these two issues - corruption in politics and safety-security in India - in order, well before the elections.

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August 16 Indian Independence Day?

August 16?  But didn't India gain its independence on August 15?

Ah yes. But that was in 1947. Since then India has slowly but surely moved towards anarchy from its own representatives. They rule supreme. And whilst they rule, they indulge in looting. Scam after scam has been exposed by the Indian press but Indians have been mute and helpless against the all powerful parties in power. The anti-corruption bill has been stacked against whistle blowers, many of whom, if accounts I've been reading are true, have lost their lives; the anti-corruption bill ensures that corruption charges against politicians ultimately land up on the desks of people working under the very person who's being investigated. (see the post
http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/2011/04/problems-in-present-anti-corruption.html)


Anna Hazare and India Against Corruption have come up with an alternative - an anti-corruption bill that is for the people, for the tax payer, for whistle blowers and against the looting of tax-payer money. The government is fighting this bill, the Jan Lokpal Bill, tooth and nail. They want their own watered down version, the Lokpal Bill, implemented, whereby the scammers and looters continue walking off scot free. (http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/questionanswer.html)

Indians have joined  Anna and India Against Corruption in their droves. The battle of the mighty government Goliath and the people of India is on. Anna wants to start a fast to force the Government's hand - to insist that the IAC's Jan Lokpal Bill is implemented so that scammers and looters are brought to justice; so that future scams and looting is prevented; so that past scammers and looters are excused provided whatever they have looted is declared a "national asset".


The fast starts on August 16 2011. Many Indians will join the fast. The venue was supposed to be Jantar Mantar, N.Delhi. It is a popular venue for citizens' protests. The latest protest was the "Slut Walk" just a couple of days ago. (See my post on the "Slut Walk") Now, the police have banned peaceful gatherings of more than 4 people at  Jantar Mantar.

"The Hindu" has come out with an Editorial on this "Undemocratic Ban". Here's the link: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article2311296.ece

This Editorial deserves to go on everyone's web, blog and on all our facebook pages.

We do want to ensure no harm comes to Anna on the 16th of August 2011 and that Jan Lokpal is implemented to stop corruption, looting, the daily hardship borne by ordinary Indians when dealing with the municipality / government and the feeling of disgust Indians feel towards their representatives.

So what's it going to be - the people's victory or the looters'? Tune in to India on August 16 to find out.



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What I love / hate about NZ

Oceania Globe by rorzer, openclipart

Before your eyes glaze over at how clean and green I think my adopted  country of residence is, I'd like to tell you straight away this post is more about what I feel, whether right or wrong, about the people of NZ.

“Awwww,” said the two old ladies, eyes melting as they spotted my little dog. They ran across to stroke her. Kara wagged her tail – she loves humans. She just hates big dogs, barking at them with indignation from behind the safety of our garden fence when they approach her territory. The two ladies chatted with her. I smiled and we exchanged a few pleasantries before going our separate ways.

“Doggy, doggy,” squeaked the little child in the pram, body straining forward, both arms reaching out to touch Kara as the mother, with a smile at me continued walking, chatting with the baby. “Yes, that's a cute little doggy...,” her voice faded as we went our way in opposite directions.

Puppy by Gerald_G, open clipart

It is obvious. The people here, on the whole, love dogs. The ones who don’t are extremely few and far between. They might be “cat” people or they are afraid and instil, to my regret, the same fear in their children, or very rarely, they really do hate dogs.

Sport - All five fingers not being equal, NZ has a sprinkling of those who love outdoor activities, the ones in-between and the ones who hate them passionately. But I've always seen some people jogging on the streets come rain or shine or young kids playing out in the fields and parks. Rugby is a religion and NZ is over the moon as they are hosting the Rugby World Cup 2011 in September. Luckily, for us Indians, there are enough cricket enthusiasts for cricket to feature quite prominently on the NZ radar.  I can't help looking on with pleasure as I see a parent - mum or dad - teaching their toddlers to kick ball at the park. Not sure if this is a good idea but I've seen babies in prams zoom past with parents behind the handlebars (wheel?). They start young and schools lay a lot of stress on outdoor activities.

Which brings me to my son's school principal. This is an individual - and I don't guarantee every principal is like her - who is everywhere, knows every kid and cares. My son was six or seven years old. One of the students in his class was deaf. He talked in sign language. Thanks to his principal's go ahead the entire class learnt to speak the language. At the end of the year they did a song and dance routine and apart from singing it, they acted it out too --- in sign language. If I find the video clip I'll put it up here. As for the young hearing impaired boy, he was soon very much part of the mainstream, being boisterous and happy and carrying out some animated conversations with everyone in his class --- in sign!

Another observation: Like people the world over, the ones who are in the majority on any given day or in any given situation, have this need to show how superior they are; how refined, how very cultured. What do they feel about the minorities? To my mind many of them are prejudiced. But they know it is “politically incorrect” to openly say so. So they manage to convery it with their facial expressions, their body language and the inflections in their voices. 

I have seen this happen EVERYWHERE, including India. Think about anyone from another community married into your family. Are you critical? Does he / she need a little instruction in your way of behaviour? So why shouldn’t it happen here? Again, New Zealanders, just like us, aren’t a homogenous lot – they are as varied as we, in India, are. You will find some who are respectful of other cultures – even curious and eager to try something new and different. They find the food, the clothes, the adornments, the festivals of other cultures fascinating.

Finally, there’s one person who I guess I feel the need to talk about – Paul Henry. I can hear you all cringe - why dredge up something you'd rather forget? But please indulge me. I saw him recently in an interview and surprisingly, felt sad. To me, he was always crass but funny. Sometimes I felt myself squirm at his remarks and sometimes I laughed. But none of his remarks were to be taken seriously. After he spoke about the NZ governor general's name and face - Sir Anand Satyanand - not being local enough, our PM felt the same – didn’t know whether he should smile or not. (Just to clarify I mean the NZ PM - I seem to have two PMs in my mind - Manmohan Singh and John Key, which is another story.) If he could have, he would've complained to the queen about the "Sir" in Sir Anand Satyanand too. Grow up Paul. Have you, as yet, complained to the Americans about "Obama" not sounding American enough? For that matter why not complain about Sonya not being Indian enough, to the Indians? And of course, Paul on a run simply couldn't stop - the theme was Indians. He made the "dixit" remark on another occassion. I don't remember which came first but he made both those comments on TVNZ.

The, mostly white, New Zealanders decided enough was enough and stood outside the TVNZ studios yelling for Paul's resignation. A young and idealistic Ben – http://www.ben.geek.nz/2010/10/no-more-breakfast/ - who, on the "breakfast show" - Paul's programme, showed us new gadgets with a lot of fun comments from Paul, resigned in protest over "Paul’s dixit”. Hats off to people like Ben as I am not sure I would’ve done the same for them or for my principles, had the situation been reversed. Another lady who is a New Zealander living outside the country said she was proud of NZ being so multicultural and now he'd (meaning Paul Henry) gone and changed the face of her country. Many people spoke out for and many against Paul.

Anyway, Paul was forced to resign.

In the interview, a year after his unfortunate comment and subsequent resignation, I saw a man who was hurt by the "racist" slur from his own people against him. He did not see himself as racist at all. And he stuck to his guns about the “dixit”. He noticed how some New Zealanders had changed the pronunciation to “dick-sit”.

Now that things have calmed down, I can’t help wishing he had received a deserved rap on his knuckles and that’s it. Somehow, to my mind, the whole thing got bigger than it should have. Perhaps it is wrong of me to say so when he upset so many people, when young Ben gave up his job in protest.

In India I had a piano called “Moutrie”. If you speak Hindi or Gujarati, does that make you smile? Let’s just realise words in other languages do sound funny and that’s all Paul Henry was trying to be – funny and irrepressible. Do I think Paul, after this incident, might think before speaking so he doesn’t appear quite so insensitive? I honestly don't know.

Indians didn't say much then. How could we? We were all disgusted and shamed by that image. Our upbeat mood of being able to showcase India to the world at the commonwealth games took a crashing dive. And the added dimension to Indians paying taxes in India was the awareness that the sports minister was spending billions - $80 for toilet rolls, $125 first-aid kits, $220 on mirrors costing $98 retail, $61 on soap dispensers costing $1.97, and $250,190 on high-altitude simulators costing $11,830 (according to business week quoting Economic Times and India Today magazine, and any number of other newspapers and magazines).

Where are things now?

Right now, Indians are burning with anger at the amount of money being pocketed by our ministers in scam after scam amounting to billions. Ordinary Indians have joined a movement, “India Against Corruption” in their droves. According to IAC, there are problems in our present anti-corruption system. For example, corruption charges against politicians ultimately land on the desks of people working under the very person who's being investigated. In effect, employees have to investigate their bosses. ABSURRRD.

This is where we are at, right now. Paul Henry, we have had to move on.

Here is my hope - that IAC and the wonderful work they are doing, and the fight they face from our (Indian) government, is something the world watches closely. (A clarification - I mean people the world over and not governments the world over which thought somehow gives me the heebee jeebees.)

If you would like to find out more about IAC, go to
 http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/p/india-against-corruption.html
Or go directly to the IAC site at http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/



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Proposed Government Anti-Corruption Bill an Eye-wash says India Against Corruption

If you want to know how and why the proposed Government version of the Lokpal Bill will let corrupt elements in our government continue being corrupt, read this article carefully.

India Against Corruption (IAC) has drawn up a chart which explains what exactly the government wants in the bill against corruption, what IAC's view (the IAC view is open to discussion and suggestions by anyone here - http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/) is and the many ways in which the government wants to retain a hold on who ultimately investigates corruption against themselves. 

For example, the government want the CBI to investigate corruption charges against themselves and guess who they say should be in charge of the CBI? You guessed it. Themselves!

Here's a sample of what IAC's chart contains:

The Issue: Who will Lokpal be accountable to?

IAC View: To the people. A citizen can make a complaint to Supreme Court and seek removal.

Government View: To the Government. Only government can seek removal of Lokpal

Comment from IAC: With selection (previous point) and removal of Lokpal in government’s control, it would virtually be a puppet in government’s hands, against whose seniormost functionaries it is supposed to investigate, thus causing serious conflict of interest.

To my mind, this is the worst point - punishing the ordinary citizens who dare to lay charges against anyone in the government. In IAC's own words: Rather than gunning for the corrupt and corruption, government’s Lokpal seems to be gunning for those who complain against corruption.

IAC thinks a fine for frivolous complaints would suffice. The government wants fines and imprisonment. Especially notice IAC's comment in the last column.

Issue: False, Frivolous and vexatious complaints

IAC's view: No imprisonment. Only fines on complainants. Lokpal would decide whether a complaint is frivolous or vexatious or false.

Govt: Two to five years of imprisonment and fine. The accused can file complaint against complainant in a court. Interestingly, prosecutor and all expenses of this case will be provided by the government to the accused. The complainant will also have to pay a compensation to the accused.

Comment: This will give a handle to every accused to browbeat complainants. Often corrupt people are rich. They will file cases against complainants and no one will dare file any complaint. Interestingly, minimum punishment for corruption is six months but for filing false complaint is two years.

And there are many more points. This is the link:

http://news.indiaagainstcorruption.org/?p=3022&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=govt-lokpal-bill-vs-jan-lokpal-bill

And after reading those, if you, as an ordinary citizen, as a lawyer or anyone from India or abroad have anything to say (about any point) I think IAC will really value your input. Don't forget the link http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/



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India Against Corruption - A Unique Photo Exhibition

India Against corruption has captured the hearts and minds of Indians around the world. This photo exhibition shows the support this movement has received from ordinary people, from well known individuals, Non Resident Indians, street actors - a huge spectrum of Indians who are totally fed up of and disgusted with corruption in government.

This movement (IAC) has explained how the government manages to swindle the tax payers of their money. IAC explains the laws that have allowed the government to get away with duping India of zillions of rupees.

IAC has come up with a bill known as the "Jan Lokpal Bill" to improve our lax laws.

Exactly as predicted by Gandhi in the following photo - the government ignored, laughed and is now fighting the Jan Lokpal Bill tooth and nail, using delaying tactics, introducing amendments which would render it ineffective in curbing their excesses or introducing exemptions to the bill. They've also tried to malign the drafters of the bill who, along with Anna Hazare have started this movement. And now, the latest I've heard is that they would like to curb blogs they feel are "maligning" the government.


Two photos from the exhibition to pique your interest:

 

What's admirable about this photo is that Anna Hazare is a Hindu but quotes from the Quran.

IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA...

This link will take you to this most unique photo exhibition.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=224865794209780&set=a.186653318031028.51064.165845033445190&type=1&theater 



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