Random Toons and Thoughts

random cartoons and personal opinions

Amidst Controversies Team Anna And IAC

With Anna rising  strong against Corruption Issue , in India, even the most hopeless Indian  was forced to believe revolution ought to take place. Loud was the roar of  Anna’s hunger-strike to pass the IAC recommended LokPal Bill and louder comes allegations against the Core Team Anna  Members, one after the other !

From Left to Right - Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare,Kiran Bedi And Swami Agnivesh

It all started with Swami Agnivesh’s controversial tape where he was found back-biting his own Team , believed to be having a word with the Union Minister, over the phone. He tried getting away, giving excuses , which were baseless. The Media uncovered his reality.

Prashant Bhushan,one of the core team members of IAC(India Against Corruption) movement,  faced serious criticisms, after he spoke his heart out about Kashmir. He was attacked by three people, at his office on the Supreme Court compound. Later it was learnt , one of the guy caught by the cops , was Indra Verma, leading Delhi unit of Sri Ram Sene. He was attacked because of his statement on Kashmir issue. Bhushan had, last month said in Varanasi that security forces should be withdrawn from Kashmir and a referendum be held to address the opinion of the Kashmiris.

Anna’s reactions to Prashant Bhushan’s statment were clearly indicating his discomfort. With the bold old man stating clearly, if need be , he would again dress-up as an Army, to fight for Kashmir , remaining intact with India.

Arvind Kejriwal , one of the most important members of Team Anna has been gheraod by controversies :

He was attacked by Jitendra Pathak , who threw a slipper at Kejriwal during a programme organised in Lucknow at the Jhulelal Park. Pathak explained, he has been following , Team Anna in their movement, so far and he noticed the diversification from core topics of the team and got furious and lost his temper. He ended up getting terminated from his job, after this incident. It is only him , who knows why he actually did so. Big deal, if the “Anti-Anna Team” has been behind this.

It is learnt, that Pathak, a former Congress Sewa Dal worker, has also wrote a letter addressing Anna, asking three questions and requesting satisfactory answers , to avoid himself going for undefinite, hunger-strike :

  1. Why Anna remained silent when the Shiv Sena and MNS workers attacked and even killed north Indians, living in Mumbai ?
  2. What he thinks of the violent attack on him(Pathak) by his (Anna’s)supporters when Pathak was trying to grab Kejriwal’s attention to ask him why the team members had failed to come out with convincing proof against the corruption charges levelled against them ?
  3. Why Anna is not demanding action against Prashant Bhushan who wants yet another partition of India ?

Coming back to Kejriwal,on September 2, Kejriwal was served a notice by the I-T department, accusing him of violating bond conditions as his resignation from government service was still pending.As per the government, Kejriwal is still an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer as the department has not accepted his resignation submitted in 2006.

The Income Tax Department, has issued a fresh notice asking Kejriwal to clear his dues of Rs 9 Lakhs, latest by the 27th of Oct’11, rejecting the reply of non-compliance from Kejriwal, in response to the first notice.

Again, it is no big deal, if this is pushed by the Government itself , which is the prime Anti- Anna Team, at present, after the loss at Hissar.

In between, two core members of the Team Anna, resigned. The first being, P.B. Rajagopal, the vice chairman of Gandhi Peace Foundation and the founding member of Ekta Parishad, which focuses on issues relating to right to livelihood of displaced people and the second Rajendra Singh, famous as the “waterman of India” and Magsaysay Award winner, known for his water-conservation efforts, in Rajasthan.

They found, Arvind Kejriwal sounded autocratic, in Hissar and Team Anna was going political and also declared they were forced to answer about decisions of Anna and the other team members, inspite of  not being included while such decisions were taken. They marked lack of co-ordination and unclear dimensions of  Team Anna, as the cause of their discomfort , to continue.

With latest proof of  Kiran Bedi’s NGO presenting inflated bills for air ticket for a function she attended in Mumbai in 2009, it puts to question , if  anyone is really worth trusting, in our country.

It was found by Headlines Today that, The Guild, an Air India employees’ union, organised a function on the International Women’s Day in Mumbai, in March 2009 and had invited Bedi. Headlines Today assessed an invoice for Rs. 31,000 sent by Flywell Travels for return ticket from Delhi to Mumbai. Bedi arrived in Mumbai from Pune and attended another function in Mumbai before leaving for Delhi.

Quite astonishing, the owner of the travel agency, Mr Anil Bal,  also happens to be  a co-trustee in Kiran Bedi’s NGO. Who knows, if the organisers of the other function, in Mumbai also paid for Bedi’s travel ?

All this has been revealed after Kiran Bedi’s explanation that the money(cheques), for her travel expenses were issued in the name of her NGO “India Vision Foundation ” and she would always let the organisers know , if she was traveling by economy class and also that the left-over money would always remain in the NGO fund, used for traveling to places , where organisers were unable to finance her travel. She also insisted, paying all left-over money, back to organisers, after the incident came into limelight.

Swami Agnivesh, who is no more the part of the Team Anna, has questioned , why the donations were going to Public Cause Research Foundation, led by Arvind Kejriwal(this foundation does not have names of major core team members including Anna) and there was yet no bank account for IAC(India Against Corruption), which is Arvind’s responsibility. He also claimed, that the Team is yet to show the balance-sheet of the 80lakhs collected, so far , by the IAC, which was promised to be on their website, for the public to have a look at.

 Senior Congress Leader, Digvijay Singh  has always been of the view that Anna is motivated by BJP and there has to be some connections, Anna or his team members, have with the RSS or BJP.

We , the commoners found all that a great leader should have , after the Media showed us, Anna sitting for hours , in front of Gandhi Samadhi and crying and wiping his tears. What do we conclude now ? Are we not left making guesses, as to who may be right ?

  • Is Anna wrong or his selections are (the Corruption topic he chose to raise or the Core Team Members) ?
  • Are these allegations worth closing eyes and considering that it is cooked-up by the Government ? While some surely sound cooked-up but are all of the issues unreal ?
  • Is Anna totally correct, in his views, if  he  disregards Prashant Bhushan’s statement on Kashmir ?  Is Kashmir all about the dignity and integrity of our country and we have nothing to do with the people living there , who are under Army Rule, since ages ?
  • Who do we trust , if people like Kiran Bedi, accept charges of presenting inflated bills to organisers, just for another “cause” ? Is she the Robinhood of India, taking money from the rich (raising inflated bills on organisers, who can afford it) and claiming to use it for the poor(affording her travel, where organisers cannot afford so) ? is this right, even if the money would be refunded ? Is this ethical when someone like her, a Magsaysay award winner who gets 75% off on her air travel by Air India , raises inflated bill for a “right cause” ?
  • It is a fact that Swami Agnivesh is taking out his agitation on Team Anna after he got exposed and expelled from the Team but is it not right that  Anna and Arvind Kejriwal were leading IAC, should have done their homework of opening an Account and maintaining financial update, on the website , long before, as promised ?  
  • Ofcourse , Digvijay Singh’s criticisms do not carry weight , as he is from the Government but are his acquisitions totally baseless?
  • Was Anna  selective about his Core Team  or he too is a commoner who did not recognize the “masked-foxes”,  joining hands ?

The Ship of  “India Against Corruption” got its share of  media-hype and was sailing well. It gave food , enough in quantity, to the Media Houses , so much that they are busy finding out flaws, everywhere(with the same Ship, which they were praising, before) to keep the “Breaking News ” sessions rocking! The question is – Will it sink and so will the Captain Anna Hazare or will the Captain rather throw the unwanted baggage of controversial people including Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and may be  more(Media knows it better) , who may drown not only the Ship of INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION but also cease commoners, like us to trust anyone for the next two decades, to come and enlighten the intentions and confidence of Corrupts in our country.

Sena Supremo praises Prashant Bhushan attackers !

LOOK! WHO IS TALKING ?

Dancer Performing on Sheila Ki Jawani on the occasion of first anniversary of Yuva Sena, wing of Shiva Sena!

While addressing the Youth(Yuva) Sena , a wing of Shiva Sena, on the eve of the first anniversary of the wing, Bal Thakrey, the Sena supremo, via video-conference, praised people attacking Prashant Bhushan as he concluded that Bhushan was promoting divison of the country by stating that security forces should be withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir and a referendum be held to elicit the opinion of the people and they be convinced rather be forced to be part of India. He was supported by son Uddhav Thackeray. The Sena Supremo also claimed he would rather address the country as Hindustan than India, a name given by British.

Well, all these sound so patriotic and shows the strict discipline and principles, the Sena, abides by. This also justifies, why they have been tarring faces of bar-girls , tearing explicit Bollywood postures and threatening couples , on valentine’s day !  

Quite ironically , the same celebration, organised by Uddhav Thackeray’s son, Aditya (leading Yuva Sena) and attended by father Uddhav Thackeray and Manohar Joshi, experienced dance by performers, on Bollywood popular track -Sheila Ki Jawaani and many other Marathi ” peppy-tracks like Jalebi…”.

Reported later was ,  Aditya was scolded by the Supremo for allowing Yuva cadres to enjoy, whistle and dance on “Sheila Ki Jawaani” and other tracks , infront of  the Media , which was also invited .

  • Is that, the principles do not apply at home ?
  • Is patriotism for India, only expressed if  someone sounds Anti-Pakistan and prefers addressing the country as Hindustan and not India ?
  • Are we termed patriots, only if we do not celebrate and promote Valentine’s Day , which is termed “Western Culture ” by the Sena ?
  • Are the people supporting removal of  Security Forces and promotion of  talks with Kashmiri citizens, to eliminate the misunderstandings, they have, against India , wrong ?

“Vaastu” provoking Team Anna Split ?

A Vaastu expert claims that TEAM ANNA is facing problems like core committee members resigning or being beaten up in public has something to do with the Padmavati  Guest House where Anna is residing at…. Do you believe in Vaastu to this extent? Is it really the Vaastu that is creating the problems or are there other factors behind it?

People, who stand up together for a cause, follow and support the movement through thick and thin suddenly want to do away with all the hard work. Doesn’t it smell like political motivation behind all this?

Was the ANNA movement politically motivated? Not that the UPA government is any saint, but doesn’t it seem like there may be other political implications behind the Anna movement?

 

MEDIA CHANNELS WILL BE RENEWED LICENSE SUBJECT TO THE CONTENT AIRED BY THEM ONLY

MEDIA in or out? MEDIA CHANNELS WILL BE RENEWED LICENSE SUBJECT TO THE CONTENT AIRED BY THEM ONLY – wow! But would it not place journalism in a disadvantageous position? Of course self-regulation and ethical content verification is important before any content is released out of PRESS but is this the only way? Right to freedom of speech and expression, one of our fundamental rights, is available to all citizens of India, so why won’t it be the same for members of the Press? Obviously if the content broadcasted is not justified or is fake, the consequences of LAW prevail on both the journalist as well as the media house, so do we actually need to curb their freedom in this fashion?

Does anyone judge the authenticity of the content aired or is the common people even aware if what so ever is presented to them is not maligned or manipulated? Not that corruption or manipulation does not exist in the media, because wherever there is money, corruption is bound to exist, at least in India. There has to be better ways to bring out authenticity of content. Why not may be have a dedicated RTI Act for Media houses? The media has an important role and responsibility towards the society. So if they have to be held accountable, they have to be answerable to the common man and not the government alone.

Like the RTI has brought to light several unscrupulous activities of the Government and its agencies, the RTI dedicated to the media should also bring out any corruption or nexus between media houses and politics. At least the common man is aware today that several media houses are owned by political groups or are influenced by them, so how will this law bring about discipline in the media houses or even the journalists? Don’t we think that news like commodity are also bought and sold at high-profile consortiums as well?

Applause for RIM(Research In Motion)

Blackberry offered its subscribers mobile Apps worth $100…. Great News… Isn’t it?
Is it a promotional Sop or is it the way to say sorry for their disruption of services for 3 days? Whichever it may be it looks good…. But I think it’s the later. May be its their customer retention exercise, but hey do you remember any Indian corporate from same or any other sector giving out freebies for some snag that may have happened or discontinuation or poor quality of service?
This has probably happened because there have been several law suits filed against RIM for their blackout. Should we also not bring the corporates to courts of law for providing poor service or discontinuation or even bad customer service handling? However we just are used to poor quality of customer service and let the corporates get away with it…. But for how long?

If we Support Anna, Why Not Irom Sharmila Chanu?

Is Manipur cornered just because the state is in one corner of the country? Are they not Indians? Is AFSPA  Act which  is forced in most of the North-Eastern Indian States, the never-ending solution to govern these States?

One of the important points in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) is the army can use force, shoot or arrest anyone without warrant on the mere suspicion that someone has committed or was about to commit a cognisable offence. The Act also prohibits any legal or judicial proceeding against army personnel without the previous sanction of the Central Government. 

Is this how some state be ruled for years and years ? There are so many states in India facing the negativity of AFSPA act including Kashmir . Just because we are not from any of these states and we have nothing to do with their day-to-day sufferings , do we forget them ?

What is the assurance that the Army Officials are doing  everything correct and ethical, by the name of AFSPA  Act,  when the Government, we elect, turns out to be corrupt ? And how long  will  this continue? In the North- East  AFSPA was forced during 80s. Is everyone in these states supporting violence ? Can we buy that ? Is this Act not the reason of never-ending terrorism , in all these restless states ? Why are we not against this? Just because , inflation and bribery and taxes are part of day-to-day lives , we are with Anna, supporting Anti-Corruption Movements or may be because the Media has over-hyped the name Anna.

Does this not open our eyes to support Irom Sharmila , the Manipuri poet who is on hunger strike since last almost  11 years , against the AFSPA Act ? Is this the right example of our country claiming to be Democratic and Secular ?

Why are we not intending to support our brothers and sisters from the AFSPA , suffering States , live a life as free as ourselves ? They too have their say! If non-violence can force the British, out of the country and force the present Government,  listen to Anna Hazare, why not non-violence be implied in these states and people like Irom Sharmila ,who is fasting for the rights of the states , be supported by we Indians , inside and outside the country ?

Real Hero-Sanjiv Bhatt or Narendra Modi ?

Who knows not, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, who has led the State as a true leader, helping it reach heights of prosperity?
Sanjiv Bhatt, the IPS officer who dared to take on Narendra Modi, accusing him of complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots. He is in the jail following complaints that he forced a constable to sign false affidavits.
Gujarat’s IPS officers Association passed resolution backing Sanjiv Bhatt. But is he being supported by commoners, like us?
Is he not fighting for truth? Is it not true that, the then BJP Government had played a negative role, in the 2002 riots. Just because, Narendra Modi has done all it takes to make Gujrat an inspiring state, means we should close our eyes and he be forgiven for carelessness during the 2002 riots?
Today, Narendra Modi is the hero in our eyes because he certainly did what a Chief Minister is elected for and all the more because rarely others, who become so, do the same. But does that mean Sanjiv Bhatt, who showed the courage to stand for Truth , be forgotten and be sacrificed ? Is he wrong? And if he is then why supporting Anti- Corruption movements going on in the country?

Is LOKPAL really going to curb corruption in INDIA ?

Is LOKPAL really going to curb corruption in INDIA or will it simply shift the power base from the political groups to new power aspirants?

The bureaucracy, judiciary, corporates, media are also not clean from corruption… so who should we trust now?

Should common man, the Citizens of the country not change his attitude, think about others, think about the country and think about himself as well? The least may be what we can do for our-selves is stop generating BLACK MONEY by paying tax and stop bribing anyone. As charity begins at home, so does the commitment to get the society disciplined.

Should we not stop mal practices ourselves first before pointing fingers at others? All politicians are elected representatives and we are to blame to a large extent if they are corrupt. If we choose wrong clothes for ourselves, should we blame the clothes or our choice of it? We don’t even bother to check the background of people we vote for; is merely casting vote for the sake of it enough to save our country from the menace of poverty and corruption.

All we do is complain isn’t it? About the Roads, Infrastructure, pollution, and the quality of life as a whole. Do we even have the right to complain? Have we done enough? Does each one of us even pay 90% of the legitimate tax that we are supposed to in terms of VAT, CST or Income tax etc.? Only once we have performed our duties well enough, shall we have the courage to exercise our rights.

Corruption is a mindset of the people – Do we feel proud to break or bend rules, satisfies our ego and paints a heroic image of us in front of everyone? For example Simply breaking traffic rules, like speeding, jumping signals etc, and not being caught or even if being caught just skid away with the generous use of currency. Where does this currency come from? Would you be able to pay that BRIBE from a part of your salary? Does Bribe have a representation in our monthly budget? Even if you have the foresight for the same and your answer is in affirmative … how many of us can actually afford these extra expenditures where in our country the majority of the people are lower middle-income group. This extra money is the black money generated somewhere.

Can we stop generation or circulation of black money? If we can maybe we can have a more disciplined India. Would you not be scared to break rules if you don’t have the means to get away by bribing?

CORPORATE PULLING OUR ECONOMY DOWN!!

The nexus between the corporates, bureaucrats and politicians leads to inequality of wealth distribution. Result the common man suffers.

The Common man suffers – they are treated as puppets by Corporates. When they need finance they launch IPO’s to collect money from the public, and then buy back the shares when their goals have been established.

Corporates treat public as banks where they do not need to keep security. They trade with our money, provide us inferior quality goods and services, make abnormal profits{which not necessarily shows in their Balance Sheet} and keep building mansions and buying yachts for themselves or aircrafts for their families.

Do not invest your money in stocks – Hit back hard at the corporates, if they have to trade with our money, they have to be more responsible towards us as the people; merely paying dividends to the shareholders is not enough, they have to be more responsible to the society as a whole

Governments are not alone in ripping apart the  socio-economic harmony required for a stable society. The government has not been successful in providing the right information and education. Why does a number portability takes ages to come , isn’t it simply a cartel between the telecom companies and the government??

How long will it take now to eradicate the menace of Roaming?? A decade should be enough.