US Democrats, get this straight!

Original article: 29th  January, 2016 | Revised : 24th February, 2016

        ‘Your three main priorities during the first 100 days?’ was the first question to the Democratic Presidential candidates on January 17th 2016. ‘To defeat ISIS’ said none! Not O’Malley, not Clinton, not Sanders. This fact alone killed all my eagerness while watching the Democratic debate as I knew what was to come. We already are bored of the same old rhetoric – increase income for middle class, Glass Steagall, equal pay for women, climate change, healthcare, faulty campaign finance system, Trump, Trump, and Trump.

        But yesterday, 15 minutes into the Republican debate, Marco Rubio was the first to utter the word ‘ISIS’, and the issue of foreign policy pretty much was the central theme of the whole debate thereafter, as it should have been!

        Every election has a premise. The premise becomes increasingly more obvious only as the primary reaches conclusion. But this time is special. The premise that should be chosen is out there in the open, in bright sunshine, all alone, quite obvious, and up for grabs. No matter who you are – Democrat or Republican – you will sway towards the candidate who grabs that premise. But why aren’t the Democrats grabbing it?

        More than it being a matter of pride for the United States citizens, it is a moral responsibility (being the wealthiest country and biggest democracy in the world) of the POTUS (President Of The United States) to take steps towards making this world a better place to live in – a responsibility, sadly, many of the candidates either are not qualified to or are not willing to take. It will send out a very negative message to the world if the next POTUS says, ‘We have learnt from our past mistakes and we will no longer work as the world’s police because it was never our job.’

        Every time a candidate plays this card, I see that as an insult. An insult to everything what the generations before stood up for. Those were the days when the POTUS Ronald Raegan declared that US is the country best positioned to promote peace, not because of its tolerance but because of its strength. A strength that they then took pride in. A strength that brought down the Berlin wall. A strength that stood up against colonialism, communism, and sheer filthy cannibalism in the name of government. Never will we be able to comprehend the number of wars that the world averted because of the US leadership. It is a shame that a few tactical errors in the recent past made the US rethink its whole stance.

        And what are we discussing during the ‘foreign policy’ segment of the Democratic debates? Whether it is ethical to call it ‘radical/jihadi/Islamic terrorism’ or not. Whether you call it ‘ground forces’ or ‘boots on ground’. As if all you had to do was call it the right name and that was it. You dare call it the wrong name and you are doomed for this election. Violent and peaceful ways are not distinguished by what you call your adversaries as. You can take an aggressive stance and yet embrace peaceful, just, and humane ways to defeat them. You change your strategies if you had had false starts, not your stance.

        The world has currently been successful in pinning the US down by making the citizens feel guilty for what has happened in the middle-east. Doubting its own abilities and decision-making is the last thing the US would want to do. The world would rather have the leader of the strongest democracy take world decisions than have Russia or China do that. The void that you will create by taking a step back will not be filled by any saner power mind you!

        Yes there are issues at home. Yes it is time for the other richer nations in the middle-east to take action. I too urge the Muslim countries – It is time to prove to the world that yours is the most misrepresented religion; that you will be the first line of defense for the world; that you are for peace; that you disown ISIS and extremism. But for how long exactly is form. Sec. Clinton planning to wait for them to wake up? And how are you planning to support their initiatives? By supplying arms? Intelligence? Seriously? Since when have we started believing, to fight the biggest terrorist group ever, in those militaries who have hardly been in a successful war all by themselves?

        The world definitely will witness a political and diplomatic hiatus for a couple of months in toto during the transition phase for the next POTUS. How long are we expecting the ISIS to pause while we get our stuff together? And, by show of hands, how many of us feel that we can persuade the ISIS and the other states involved by reason and dialogue? Who are we kidding here? I will tell you what true Democratic hypocrisy is. It is when you discuss the immigration of Muslims in the same segment as that devoted for ISIS. No matter what you call what. This fact in itself speaks and proves all that it has to.

        The premise of the election is, frankly, very clear. This election is not of the next POTUS, but that of the next commander-in-chief, as rightly said by Ted Cruz. The stance of the new commander-in-chief on war will set the record straight for all the other leaders of the world. This is no time, as there never was and as there never will be, for on-the-job-commander-in-chief-training for the POTUS. This is no time to tell us Sen. Sanders that you were against the Iraq war in the very first place. This is a different kind of war. This is not a war where you invade a country on the assumption that they possess something or that they may be on the verge of doing something. This is a war against an established organization which comprise terrorists and only terrorists, who have forced millions out of their country, orchestrated countless atrocities on women and children worldwide time and again, and who FYI have declared your country their first nemesis! Get this straight.

The Transformation (full article)

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now discontinued  >>

A first hand account by Kartavya Dharmadhikari...

       This morning when I was having breakfast with two of my colleagues, on the table next to us were a few students, discussing on the hottest topic - whom to vote this general elections. They had the most intense of the discussions. Though such discussions are extremely enlightening, we hardly tend to reach at a conclusion. Most of us are bored of hearing and reading about what's the obvious, yet we know we cannot not think about it.

        I did not get my voter ID for two years after I had applied for one. When I inquired, they told me that I must apply again as something in my application must have gone wrong. Being a lawyer and the son of a martyr, it made me furious that in the two years I wasn't even notified about it. Nonetheless, they made it up to me by sending me two voter IDs together !

        Anyway, there are 3 prime ideas that I wanted to share with everyone.

The Great Indian Joke :-

        " Democracy is like a swimming pool. If you don't change the water periodically, it becomes a stinking pool. "- Ram Jethmalani.

        India got independence in 1947. We are a country of almost 1.25 billion people, which makes us the largest democracy in the world. In our 67 year old history, only on 4 occasions we have had a non-congress government ( I've considered only those occasions where the government lasted for at least 6 months ).

1) 1977- 1979 , Janta Party ( Morarji Desai ).

2) 1979- 1980 , Janta Party ( Charan Singh ).

3) 1989- 1990 , Janta Dal ( V P Singh).

4) 1998- 2004 , NDA ( Atal Bihari Vajpayee ).

        So effectively we have had only 10 years of non-congress rule in the 67 years. When I say congress, it includes Indian National Congress ( INC ), United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ),etc. Being the largest democracy, I am not sure whether we are setting the right kind of example for the rest of the democracies. In fact I am not even sure whether we are fit to being called a democracy at all. The essence of democracy itself lies in difference of opinion and change. So either we have had tyranny all these years and not democracy, or I believe India has accepted that only one family in a nation of 1.25 billion people has got the DNA to produce supremely intelligent, deeply patriotic and highly motivated children who can carry the ' legacy ' on their brave shoulders.

        We are still very proud of our ancient culture, our saints, our scientists, our tolerance, and our value system. We are proud that we gave the world the first 'zero', while we are almost about to give them the second one, you know, just to carry on the legacy.

The AK-45 Assault Riffle :-

        A leader is not only the one who can take decisions, but is also the one who can rationally overrule somebody else's decision. But the concept of 'a strong leader' is alien to us. In India we have a prime minister who hates to be called decisive. And if ever he takes a decision, there is a high probability that his decisions will be overruled by someone having half his age and a quarter of his IQ.

        So then the 45 year old 'made in India' assault riffle - both literally and figuratively - transcended the Delhi throne. The AK-45, did something that somebody should have done long ago - ask questions. But now that we have arrived at the above-mentioned fact, people failed to realise what he really intends to do. Ours, I believe, is the only nation which has not witnessed a truly massive civil movement after independence. Most of the superior countries, after having achieved independence, have had some major people movements, which initially bring in the chaos only to bring in order one day. Our nation is going through this phase at the moment. Sadly, I fear, the longer it takes, the more violent it gets. AK-45 is simply trying to bring in this chaos, so that the guardians of the legacy should know that winter is coming and that it's time for everyone to wear a muffler around your head - again both literally and figuratively.

        

But what happens when there is no scope of effective discussion? 

        " Democracy when assessed in terms of public reasoning, leads to an understanding of democracy as 'government by discussion' "- Amartya Sen.

But what happens when there is no scope of peaceful discussion?

        " Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable "- John F. Kennedy.

But what happens when there is no scope of sensible discussion altogether?

        " You are not getting my question. Let me re-iterate it for you "- Arnab Goswami.

The Generator :-

        I will state this in a very short and simple manner. We need to give that man the charge of our nation who is a living example himself. We need to give that person the power who has already proved his credibility, someone who looks ahead, someone who believes in 'no none-sense'. After all, it all goes by this good old saying - ' If it has taken you 12 years, then you are not an overnight wonder, but a well deserved one ! '

The summary :-

1) Being a democracy, we first feel the need for change, 2) Then follows the much needed and much justified chaos and 3) Then comes the action.

p.s. :-

Dedicated to my those 2 colleagues- Prahalad Prabhakar and Rahanik Vora... :)

        

Sindhutai deserves Bharat Ratna, Not Sachin...!!! (full article)

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now discontinued  >>

A first hand account by Kartavya Dharmadhikari :-

        " Finally the verdict of Aarushi Talwar case is out. The Jan Lokpal bill will be passed any day now. The honourable Supreme Court of India recriminalized homosexuality and the people are hence disappointed . Arvind Kejriwal gave a stunner to the Congress, much like Stone Cold Steve Austin, leaving those stone-hearteds cold. In all the recent state elections, we got to see numbers that this nation had never seen before- all the states having atleast 60%+ voting. Never has there been more gung-ho about any politician of free India than about NaMo. Right from successful space missions to Sachin's retirement, so much has happened in the past few months. It is very evident that young India has started asking for a change in our ideologies altogether...", I said. 

        The "India News" arranged for a special show for 5 weeks. They invited 4 of the most prominent young socialists and activists of Mumbai for an interview each week, followed by a debate the 5th week. I was one of the four. And during my interview, which was broadcasted live, I made the biggest political blunder of  my entire career, antagonizing millions at once...!

        " With so many student movements and agitations across our nation, it is also very evident that young India wants to change the way in which we are looked down upon by the world. ", I said.

        The interviewer joked, " But what has Sachin's retirement got to do with the change in ideologies? The people were so disheartened because of his decision to retire. It's a good thing that he has been honoured with the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna."

        " Who said it's a good thing??? In fact the decision taken by the Government of India in 2011 to change the criteria to allow sportspersons to receive the award itself was inappropriate! ", I said. And there was absolute silence in the studio. God, I shouldn't have said that. What should I say now to back that up? 

        I continued," I fail to understand what are sportspersons and singers doing in the list of independence activists, physicists, philanthropists, philosophers, educators, social reformers, scholars, jurists, economists, historians, engineers and scientists? All these people have done things which have contributed in some way to the betterment of the society. If I am not wrong, Sachin Tendulkar is the only Bharat Ratna awardee who has appeared in commercial advertisements. And also probably the richest of them all." Facepalm, the studio was in Mumbai, and I said something terrible about the Mostestest favouritest Mumbai mulga. Also, Lata Mangeshkar is a Bharat Ratna awardee who also lives in Mumbai. Facepalm again.

        The interviewer asked me, " So what ? And who according to you should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna then?"

        I replied," Let me tell you one of the most astonishing stories ever. SINDHUTAI SAPKAL was born on 14th Nov, 1948 in a small village Pimpri Meghe, Wardha district, Maharashtra. Born in a very poor family, with great difficulty she studied till 4th grade. When she was just 10, she was forced to marry a 30 year old man, with whom she had 3 sons by the age 20. She was well known in her village by then because of her famous agitation against the local mafia on the issues of misuse of the forest resources and collection of dried cow dung. So much so, that the then district collector had to intervene and pass an order. Due to a lot of threats from the mafia, Sindhutai's husband abandoned her when she was little less than 9 months pregnant, expecting her fourth child. She gave birth to a baby girl on a cold night in a cow shed, all by herself. Even her own mother refused to shelter her."

        "Sindhutai survived with her 4 kids by begging on a railway platform. There she realised that there were so many such abandoned/ orphaned children. She resolved since then to take care of all the orphaned kids she ever comes across. As of today, she has adopted over 1050 children, raising all of them as her own !!! Her children include doctors, lawyers, PHDs and some of them have their own orphanages. She has been honoured with more than 272 awards (Ahilyabai Holkar award 2010, etc). Also a marathi movie ' Mee Sindhutai Sapkal ' was released in 2010. "

        " Have you ever met someone, having any level of education, holding any kind of position, having any level of wealth, who could have dealt with so many heart-wrenching problems with more dignity, optimism, compassion and other-orientedness? Sindhutai, affectionately addressed as 'Sapkal Mai ', still fights for her next meal. Bharat Ratna is got to be attributed to contributions and not accumulations !" , I said.

        I did not have to add anything else. After 4 seconds of silence, I received a thunderous applause from the studio audience. And not a single counter question was asked to me after that. Not really that big a political blunder it seems now.

        It's a sad thing that politicians and even the media are so focused on pouncing upon and commercialising innumerous such Sachin Tendulkar retirements. Already there was a petition filed by an RTI activist claiming violation of model code of conduct, since elections in many states were due when the announcement was made to honour SRT with Bharat Ratna, given that SRT is a Congress nominated MP. But which party would have spoken against this decision, when we all know that SRT has got such a hugeee fan base? Facepalm vote-bank politics. After all, India did virtually nothing else during those 5 days of his last test match. By the way, I really do respect SRT for all his achievements. Nothing against him!

        The change in ideology revolves exactly around such important issues- where the people who are supposed to take care of the society are extremely busy doing nothing, while the true heroes are left to fend themselves in the forgotten corners of the world !!

        The future Ain't what it used to be...wait and watch...

The Capital Of My Country- A Stunning Confession (full article)

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now discontinued  >>

A first hand account by Kartavya Dharmadhikari :-

        "Yeah I admit that I had never known that even I could be the target one day. It was much easier to watch this happen to others.", said Jaspal Singh.

        To begin with, I did not like when anybody raised their voice in my office. Only I could do that here!  Jaspal Singh was not helping huimself. He could not afford to behave in this manner over here if he needed our help. He strongly demanded that he will talk only to me and not to anyone else. Tens of people visit my office everyday. But my team forwards only a select few very sensitive and high profile cases to me. That's the protocol that we have been following. But Jaspal Singh was in no mood to obey.

        After the whole hubbub I anyway decided to listen to him. We would first thoroughly interrogate anyone who came to us with a case. I made Jaspal Singh sit in the room. I was asking him questions while 3 of my subordinates were taking notes. Jaspal Singh said," I left Delhi at once with my family. It was no longer safe for us over there. The mob had almost killed me." It was really fascinating to hear 'the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Delhi), Jaspal Singh' say those words. Frankly, it sounded very funny to me. Here in front of me was a 56 year old police officer, trying hard to gather himself after all what life taught him so late. In our lives, some events can be so bizarre that we are forced to do really very weird things. I mean look at this man. He met me for the first time and he was giving me some really classified information. Information which can be an overnight blockbuster in the media. Information about people who are really strong. And I mean it- Stronggg !! And information of that level which will make them want to kill you if they knew that you knew.

        No matter how tough you are, you really can not see an old man, a family man, cry. The case: a girl was gang-raped near sector number 1234, Delhi. Sector 1234 falls under the jurisdiction of DCP Jaspal Singh. There was absolute outrage in the whole country after that incident. Yes, we all know about it. I was aware that there were protests against a few police officials and politicians of that area. Little did I know that DCP Jaspal Singh was attacked by a mob. A mob sent by a politician whose Jaspal was a loyal servant of for the past so many years. The politician's name was Satyadev (ironically). And Oh Boy, Satyadev gave up on him...!! That too big time...!!

        Though I did feel pity for the old man, I told him straight on his face that whatever he was telling me will not be taken as an excuse or justification for his sins. With tears and rage in his eyes he said," People blame the police for inaction. And if nothing else prevails, they blame the judiciary of our country. Kartavya, tell me the truth. What happens when a police officer in Mumbai arrests, for any damn reason, a man who is politically powerful ?" I admitted that somehow they are set free. Let alone arresting, even if such a powerful man is caught for traffic violations, he will make a few phone calls and eventually he does not get any punishment.

        He said," Exactly. Kartavya, there are three types of people- citizens, police and politicians. When there are more citizens and less politicians, the police remains police. But do you know what happens when there are more politicians and less citizens? The police no longer remains police. The police becomes a part of the powerless poor citizens. " I understood where he was going with this. It must be impossible for these police officers to bring the wrongdoers to justice when most of the times the wrongdoer is- either a politician himself, a member of a political party, a very rich industrialist who provides funds to the polician or a relative of any of the three.

        " Do you know why Satyadev targeted me ? I have had close association with him for the past couple of decades. I know about all the hooligans who provide support to Satyadev. And one such group of these hooligans is involved in the gang-rape. I can easily identify the ones involved. Due to so much pressure from the media and the public I was about to disclose their identities. Satyadev started threatening me. But I was certain that I will go ahead and speak it all out in the press conference. Even my seniors did not support me. They were all busy doing a lot of brainstorming on not how to protect the people but instead on how to fool the people by applying delaying tactics. They were scared of Satyadev and now I know why !! Not only there was pressure, I knew that it was both- my moral responsibility as a human to speak the truth and also my duty as a police officer to not let off the criminals. But before I could speak up, netaji Satyadev had already given a speech mentioning everything against me. There is no denying that crime is on a all time high in the capital of my country. And it was really very easy to point this out and prove my lack of capabilities. In public, he demanded my resignation and condemned the whole act. In private, he showed green flags to the hooligans to mob me and my family at my residence. The sadest part of the story is, the citizens accompanied the hooligans. They believed in Satyadev."

        " Kartavya, I know many things about you. You guys have made it to the news quite a few times. And that's why I am here. Please see if there is a way out. My only desire is to let the people know the truth. I want them to know the sequence of all events that occurred. I want to regain my respect. I am a father of three. And I want them to be proud of their papa. I anyway don't want my job back. And I will be more than happy to settle here in Mumbai."

        I am a man with very high ideals. Deep inside my heart I repeated that I am not going to accept his statements as an excuse for his previous sins; For all the good that he could have done as a police officer but he didn't; For not performing his duties in a righteous way. Deep inside I also feel that he did deserve something like that for being a puppet of someone like Satyadev for so long. Sad that his family had to suffer. But the mr. Enlightened should have resigned long long ago if such has been the scenario always. I also believe that the source of this enlightenment of his is not a noble one. He turned good only when bad happened to him. Else I am sure he would have not changed even a bit in his entire life.

        But still I did not utter these words to him. It was none of my business anyway. My job was to make this incident public and see if we can legally sue Satyadev and his men for what they did to DCP Jaspal Singh. Though I do agree on many points told by Jaspal. Firstly, when you question our judiciary, it is really a question on our democracy itself. People need to realize that judiciary is and will always remain an independent body. It is the investigative bodies which are pliable. Though these investigative bodies perform great when it comes to investigating a less powerful man, strangely their performance drops drastically when it comes to investigating the really powerful. The judiciary simply gives the judgement based on what the investigative bodies and the public prosecutors present to it. Secondly, there is also no denying the helplessness of the police when it comes to dealing with the very powerful. I still maintain respect for the police.

         And there are many such accusations which suggest that such issues are rampant in the capital of my country. Let us see what another day brings to me...

      

The day of Absolute Truth of Swaansh's life...

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Dr. Swaansh Aatman' which is now discontinued  >>   



        He hardly knew how he reached there. 'Numb' is the word. He abandoned his scooter along the roadside and started walking. It was 6:30 P.M. This road gets very busy around this time of the day. But amidst the fast moving vehicles and pollution and honking, Dr. Swaansh Aatman was living the moment of his life.
        He had dreamt about living this moment a million times before, but he could not control his emotions when it happened for real. He did not know where to go, what to do, whom to call. He went to the place where he regularly went to take walks. The place had both, the serenity of the setting sun when the sky turns orangish-blue and the hurried traffic which reminded him that he had to always be ready and up to face the fast-paced world. Whenever he walked there, he admired everything around him. The tall building where he wished he'd someday get to live, the expensive luxurious cars and the suited individuals on board. He everyday dreamt of being that person. More than the money, he wanted to be that bright a brain.
        The top management had had a long extended meeting today. They had to take the call whether Swaansh's project was 'the big thing' or not. Swaansh, a few minutes ago, had received a call that his project, 'Aragon', was accepted and they were ready to purchase it for a 100 crore rupees. And numb he went.
       
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Introduction to Kartavya Dharmadhikari (full article)

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now discontinued  >>   


        These two half-brothers regularly did a lot of brainstorming on the course of action. As hot blooded as Kartavya Dharmadhikari is, he will always count on Dr. Swaansh Aatman when he wishes to have a rational argument on any topic.
        Son of a martyr, Kartavya first met Swaansh in law school. And it was not a surprise that they formed an alliance very soon. Though there was a lot of difference in the upbringing of these two, they shared many common interests. And within these same common interests, most of the times they had different methods of implementation. Nonetheless, they had immense respect for each another.
        Ever since the death of his father, late colonel Ramcharan Dharmadhikari, Kartavya become a full time politician. A famed columnist, a stern lawyer, a shrewd economist and a strict disciplinarian (just like his father). He derived his principles and ideologies from the greatest leaders in history. If there is one thing you want to learn from him, learn assertiveness. He sometimes went a hint above assertivenes towards aggressiveness. But he never got into trouble. He supported, rather covered, all his actions by adequate evidences and "legal" documents. A true politician.
        His father always said," a man always does those things which his immediate society rewards him to do". Though his father said it to motivate him to do the right thing, little did he know that this sentence carried the ultimate truth behind all the trends of our society. If your society has got respect for the learned, then the youth will try to get educated. If your society does not punish the wrongdoers, then considering how prosperous and adventurous the wrongdoers' lives are, the youth will try to replicate that. Right from narrow-mindedness to science, from crime to law and order, from disease to medicine and marriage to justice, everything gets influenced by how the society reacts to these acts.
        Our country, like many others, is in dire need of a good role model. A role model who will once again induce hope in the minds of the youth. A role model who believes in action. A role model who is just. It is true that we the people make the society. That the society as a whole decides the course of development. That we all are collectively responsible for building this society and its trends. That we should ' ask not what our country can do for us. We should rather ask what we can do for the country' (John F. Kennedy). But let us not forget why all teams/groups/civilizations need leaders. If the knowledge of  'what is right and wrong' alone would be enough, never would the people need a governing body, and for that matter even a leader.
        Let us not forget the role of a leader. Sadly, we live in an era where Justin Bieber has more twitter followers then Barack Obama and Dalai Lama put together. The reason being both- lack of awareness and lack of role models. We live in an era where we as a nation can not trust the "people" to judge good and bad. In India, we often see light at the end of the tunnel in the form of promising leaders only to find out that that light was that of an oncoming train which will run all of us over. "Beware of the naked man who offers you his shirt"- Navjot Singh Siddhu.
        But the political situation continues to worsen day by day. Peaceful protests have lost their strength and impact. Our government has implemented delaying tactics in ways that we have eventually lost all hopes for justice. The same man John F. Kennedy has also said," Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable ".
        Kartavya, like his friend Swaansh wishes to be the change he wants to see in the world. The two of them have formed an NGO "Kartavya". This NGO is unique because it not only works towards the betterment of the poor and disabled, it happens to be the most feared organisation of lawyers. Feared by right from politicians to industrialists to the government officials/ bureaucracy. This is a group of like-minded people. People who are friends turned alliances. They have aggressively taken initiatives to see to it that no rock remains unturned. Right from letter writing campaigns to organizing seminars in schools and colleges to maintaining columns in popular newspapers and magazines, this group is ready to do anything legal and almost legal to get things done. They don't even mind going below the belt. And when you have people like Dr. Swaansh Aatman on your side, funds can never be a problem. Let's wait and watch...!!

Inertia - so that everything makes sense

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Dr. Swaansh Aatman' which is now discontinued  >>


       "My life is going too slow. There is so much to do, so much to learn, but I am stuck here in the books. I want to do so much in life but I wont be able to start unless I complete graduation.",said the kid.
        Dr. Swaansh Aatman was literally seeing his own reflection in this kid.

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