Thoughts and Cartoons with a Social Message
Balraj Singh Gill, Deputy Superintendent of Punjab Police was found dead in a farmhouse near Ludhiana . His throat was slit and the police also found a lady’s body in the other room of the farmhouse , who was poisioned to death.
The incident is being investigated by the police and doubts foul play.
Petitioner, Vinay Rai believes this is in public interest and he has filed this complaint as ‘affected person’ who believes in a ‘secular India’. Vinay considers the content on sites like Google,Facebook , Twitter and other such sites , including blogging sites contain unfiltered materials which are dangerous for the community and peace and harmony of the nation. He does not want the sites to be banned in India but contents should be filtered by the networking sites and search engines before going public, in India.
It might be a coincidence that he raised his voice against these sites almost around the time when the Congress Minister, Kapil Sibal declared his discontent with such sites.
Well, his complaint was slightly different from his views of filtration of content. He has accused the issue as a conspiracy between authors and the respondents to defame India with clear intentions to spread communal violence in the country.
Delhi High Courts decision might have contented him temporarily by asking these sites to filter contents in the interest of country else face ban like in China.
Point is, today, World is considered a Global – Village and indeed it is. Just by removing contents considered objectionable in the interest of a country can it be guaranteed the contents wont create their impact when they would be freely shown in other parts of world. Do Indians live only in India. Given such circumstances, an Indian staying in Europe may get to see such content and may call up back in India, and discuss the same stuff with his friends and family and that may spread anyways. In such situation people would just follow others version of story and may react more badly. Isn’t that possible?
Since the internet has become prominent source of communication and expression , in India and the world, users have witnessed unlimited content which hurt religious and patriotic sentiments and most of them do not retaliate as they are literate enough to understand offender’s spineless frustration which might have forced him to talk or draw contents against a religion or country. The ones who might feel offended have the liberty to contradict, question and react. Nobody stops anyone. It is fair. How many times in India riots have taken place due to contents on the internet?
By banning sites or even by filtering contents are we not taking away an opportunity of discussion, an opportunity of debate, an opportunity of correcting and above all “freedom to speech and express” ?
Is this ban not a way of saying ‘ None speaks against me.’ Is it democracy and secular thought process or dictatorship , inside the couch of ‘being offended’?
A few group of hardliners can stop someone to speak out as it happened in case of Rushdie. Point is did his expression in his book inspire someone to change his faith and if it all it did so , he never deserved to be in the clan, good for the followers of faith that a hypocrite is gone.
It is not the content on the internet but our conscious mind which filters what to react on and how and that is how it has been happening since internet has become public. And anyways, if a content is strong enough to shake religious or patriotic faith then such faith in religion or nationality itself was fake. Do we have ‘only’ admirers in our surrounding? The answer is NO and even after knowing someone does not like us or our views or dressing, we do not go ahead and attack him. We carry on without even explaining, in most of the cases.
Moreover, if a nation has to take a decision on banning on internet or its content, it has to be put for voting, the way we elect our Government. Let the majority decide what they prefer.
30th January ‘1948 marks the brutal assassination of Mahatma Gandhi “The Father Of the Nation”. He was shot in the chest three times at point-blank range with a semi-automatic pistol. The last words uttered by the Mahatma were ” Hei Ram “. The assassin did not try to escape and was arrested by the police. He was 38 year old,Nathuram Vinayak Godse who had conspired the assasination with 6 other people , including his brother. The nation mourned the death of the Mahatma and Nathuram Godse was awarded death-sentence and on 15th November ‘1949 he was hanged till death at Ambala Jail.
So what made Nathuram Godse take such a step? What prompted him to kill the Mahatma when anyone could guess the severe consequences,including him. Why did he not try to flee?
During his trial , Nathuram Godse spoke his heart out which reveals his thinking towards The Mahatma.
According to Godse, Gandhi did not allow any room for people to disagree with his “irrational” policies where he would always favour the Muslims.
He had cited during his trial that “Gandhiji began to hold his prayer meetings in a Hindu temple in Bhangi Colony and persisted in reading passages from Quoran as a part of the prayer in that Hindu temple in spite of the protest of the Hindu worshippers there. Of course he dared not read the Geeta in a mosque in the teeth of Muslim opposition. He knew what a terrible Muslim reaction would have been if he had done so. But he could safely trample over the feelings of the tolerant Hindu.”
He quoted numerous examples of Gandhi’s bias including the fast for the payment of Rs. 55 crores to Pakistan and many more such incidents where he found that Gandhiji’s behaviour was hypocritical where he did not impose any conditions on Muslims because Jinnah and the Muslim League were not at all influenced by his fasts and attached no value to his voice.
During his trial , referring to the various questions asked to him he explained :
This is what Gandhiji had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what the Congress Party calls ‘Freedom’. Never in the history of the world has such slaughter been officially connived at or the result described as Freedom, and ‘Peaceful Transfer of power’ If what happened in India in 1946, 1947 and 1948 is to be called peaceful one wonders what would be the violent. Hindu Muslim Unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic and communal State dissociated from everything that smacked of United India was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called it `Freedom won by them at sacrifice’. Whose sacrifice?
— Nathuram Godse, Answer to the Charge Sheet (Excerpt from Para. 69w)
This is how he concluded :
Finally, I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof someday in future.
— Nathuram Godse, Answer to the Charge Sheet (Para. 150)
The point of view of Nathuram Godse could not be negated completely as history reveals Gandhiji’s submissive behaviour towards Muslim sentiments and leaders. And also Nathuram Godse’s clarifications highlight one thing that we never got our Independence without bloodshed but we have failed to recognize so. Almost all the nonviolent protests conducted during the time, faced violent retaliation from the English Government.
These citations are not to praise Nathuram Godse or to criticize Gandhiji but this is to point out the problem which yielded to such drastic step and the worst part is Favouritism is still prominently present in Indian politics hence we are still suffering. It’s not we the commoners who ask for being favorite but it is the political leaders who force us to believe we deserve “extra” as its our right which was subdued since long or this is what our religion says. We start relating to such leaders as our sole well-wishers. They divide on the basis of State, Religion and Castes and we gladly accept that fighting amongst ourselves. Who knows , these leaders dine together at night , making mockery of us!
We have overcome all those difficult times somehow and its time when we Indians be rational, regardless of what religions and castes we are from. Its time we start considering our nation above our “religions and castes”. Before following some leader , be it religious, social or even political, we need to have an open thought-process. Rational thinking is mandatory. Blindly following like cattle would never help India overcome the continuing misery of religious and caste differences. Is it not time , the term minority and schedule caste and tribe be excluded? By declaring special seats for schedule castes and tribes and minorities in Government exams and Government jobs, do we not retain the difference ? When political parties talk about giving facilities to minorities or some specific sections of Indian society, are they not doing favouritism ?
More than any Lokpal Bill which again got politicised by various opportunists, seeking reserved places for different sections of Indian society, it is important that we minimise the religious and caste differences and that can only happen if these reservations and quota system, on the basis of minority and backward-classes is eradicated. These religious and caste quotas have become the major weapons for the opportunist religious,social and political leaders of today’s India.
Its High-time Constitution be equal for all and so should be the opportunities regardless of any religion or caste. Once outside India, the world knows us not as Hindus or Muslims , Brahmin or Sudra, all they know is we are Indians and that is our foremost identity!
Jai Hind.
Excessive drinking kills your Conscious Mind, first. Liver comes second !
2014 Polls – Probable Candidates for the Post of Prime Minister of India:
It is anticipated that 2014 elections in India would be a choice of the nation between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi from Congress and BJP respectively.
Congress does not have any better face than Rahul Gandhi, to offer and so is with major opponent party BJP where Narendra Modi is the only face popular enough to attract a change of thought among voters. Rahul Gandhi seems very promising and Narendra Modi has already set an example of his qualities, vision and spotless , true Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Here is a slight comparison:
Rahul Gandhi
Political Party – Congress
Born in Delhi on 19 June 1970(Age – 41 plus)
Educational And Professional Background
He has obtained a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995.
After he completed graduation, Rahul worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London and in 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai based technology outsourcing firm.
Family Background.
Son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi.Belongs to the popular Nehru-Gandhi Family.
Official Entry in Politics.
In March 2004, Rahul declared entry into politics. He contested in May 2004 elections, standing for the constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha and won.
Achievements
He was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and also in-charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India on 24 September 2007 and under him, the Indian Youth Congress and NSUI has gathered huge members rising from two to twenty-five lakhs.However,it has been proved in various reports that he failed to eliminate family, patronage, money from Youth Congress asking aspiring delegates to pay a substantial nomination fee.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constituency and Congress is said to have brought back itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. The credit goes mostly to Rahul.
His Views
He has always condemned “divisive” politics in India, saying that he would reduce tensions prevailing due to caste and religious diversities in India.
Rahul Gandhi has always been critical towards nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) comparing the organization with terrorist organizations like SIMI.
Wikileaks, in 2009, revealed he allegedly shared concerns with the American ambassador,Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups may become a bigger threat to India than Islamic terror groups.
Narendra Modi
Political Party – Bharatiya Janata Party
Born on 17 September 1950( Age – 61 plus)
Educational And Professional Background
Holds Masters degree in Political Science from Gujarat University.
As a teenager Narendra Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother.
Family Background.
Narendra Modi was born to a middle class family.
Entry in Politics.
During the 1965 Indo-Pak war, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations.
He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organization .
He was later nominated as representative of AVBP in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
He was chosen to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel in 2001.
Achievements.
He has a personal staff of just three people and is known to be a workaholic.
Since he held the Chief Minister’s post , development of Gujarat State accelerated its pace and his contribution is immense. Gujarat has been one of the most prosperous Indian state since he has become the Chief Minister. He is thoroughly credited for his efforts in tis regards.
After the 2002 Gujarat riots, forced by the allied parties, BJP asked Modi to resign.He submitted his resignation and recommended the dissolution of Legislative Assembly and in the following state re-elections BJP won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly and Modi was the Chief-Minister once again.
Narendra Modi Government won 122 out of 182 seats in 2007 elections.
Criticisms.
The 2002 , Gujarat Riots earned him blames of inaction over the riots and for encouraging them where almost 1200 people mostly Muslims died. The riots had taken place after 59 Hindus died when a Muslim mob burnt a train carrying hindu pilgrims.
He ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanction and hence faced criticisms.
Views.
He is one of those leaders who believes in development and promotes business and industries with an open mind.
He supports revival Anti-Terror Legislations.
Gujarat is a no-alcohol state under his governance.
Overview
To sum it up, Narendra Modi with his ideologies, vision and work has set clear example of his capabilities. Gujarat is the proof. His decisions are firm and he has an uncorrupt picture, till date. However, his picture as a communal leader is a matter of concern for the muslim population of India.
On the other hand Rahul Gandhi is yet to prove things. He has mostly been seen as the cribbing child complaining about the BSP government of Uttar Pradesh where he holds his seat.
It is a fact that even after being in the ruling party of the nation, Congress leaders are always occupied explaining and justifying and making promises. No humongous development has taken place since Congress came to power. On the contrary there has been price-hike be it petrol or food. Stands have not been clear on national security issues and issues related to Indian and Chinese borders and Chinese intrusions. Terror attacks are condemned and forgotten but no effective measures have been taken so far.
The UID card has been an utter failure which has been declared by one of the leaders of Congress itself. Hundreds of crores of money seem to be going down the drain if it is finally declared the UID card is inappropriate technically and incapable ID and Address proof for Indians.
In such scenario, it would be astonishing if Rahul Gandhi’s magic works for Congress. He may be the most eligible bachelor of India but how good would he be as a leader is yet unknown and there might be some people who might love to give him a chance and thereby support Congress in the 2014 elections.
BJP on the other hand cannot just bank upon Narendra Modi and his Gujurat achievements to win 2014 elections. Acquisitions of being corrupt has been put on both Congress and BJP MLAs and leaders. Though Narendra Modi is clear of any monetary corruption issues , his image as a Hindu Leader and allegations of 2002 Gujurat riots will surely distract the muslim population and the population considering him communal.
Both Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi are visionary leaders and very impressive speakers but while Narendra Modi has already shown his worth on state – level, Rahul Gandhi has yet and a lot to do. Well the communal picture of BJP and Modi is the major disadvantage of Narendra Modi which may work for Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s benefit.
Now it would be the results of 2014 elections which would clear out whether the nation is willing to experiment with yet another young Gandhi or they would prefer Modi who has been a true leader in terms of development but has failed miserably as a leader of all but the muslims of India.
[polldaddy poll=5885513]
26th January 2012-63rd Republic Day of Republic Of India,Ashok Chakra was posthumously awarded to 26 Year Old , Lt . Navdeep Singh of 15 Maratha Light Infantry who lost his life, fighting against attempted militant infiltration which took place at the high-altitude areas of Kashmir LOC , on 20th August 2011 at 12.30 am.
The lieutenant had killed 3 militants amidst cross-firing and while seeing the 4th terrorist approaching ahead, he quickly tried changing position resulting which a bullet hit his head. He still continued his attack ending-up killing the 4th terrorist. He did not stop there and in spite of continuous blood-loss he bravely pulled one of his injured fellow soldier to safety and kept firing till unconscious.
The young officer’s father Honorary Lt and Subedar Major Joginder Singh received the award from the president Pratibha Patil.
Well, the attraction towards the ‘Heroic and Meaningful’ Army-Life has slowly phased out from Indian society and it is quite ironical but true that there might be 95 out of 100, 26 year-old Indians who would love to be Reel-Life Hero in ‘Bollywood’ and Television Reality Shows but hardly would 5 stand ahead to do the job of a Real- Hero by joining the Army!
Lieutenant, salutations for the Supreme Sacrifice and to teach a few of us the meaning of a Real Hero and defining patriotism.
January 23rd 2012 – 116th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
“Mahatma” Gandhi, famous for his non-violence movement world over and regarded as the father of the nation in India is the true hero who not only earned the respect and applause for freeing India from the shackles of British Empire but was an integral part of the then formed Congress Government post 15th August 1947. He became the ideology of then and now social and political paradigm in India and many countries around the world.
“Netaji” Subhash Chandra Bose, the terror for the then British Empire in India failed to earn love and respect among not only Indians but also among British allies, but has been able to acquire a strong follower base across EasternIndia and some Anti-British super powers.
What Netaji failed to do is try to please all and his nature of being ‘not politically correct’ because he was a leader and master of his will and couldn’t justify his action not to tell any story and his death in absentia did no good to highlight his achievement and perseverance to free India.
The point of difference between Gandhi and Netaji arose from not only their violence and non-violence ideologies but also from Netaji’s demand for complete freedom of India from the British in contrast to Gandhi’s want for independence in phases through dominion status. Truly, this is probably one of the reasons the British and a major section of the world powers were compassionate about Gandhiji and his ways as he could not harm them in anyway whereas Netaji was branded as a rebel against the ‘Her Majesty’. Gandhiji’s political moves and negotiations, much like the functioning of today’s government, did not earnIndia the deserved freedom, but was successful in receiving free India as a gift from the British.
Did the ‘Quit India Movement’ , acquired much later by the then All India Congress, actually force the British to leave India or was it that the British were too scared to fight the Indian National Army and the Indian soldiers who had won many wars for the British. The Gorkha and the Sikh regiment had fought for the British and defeated the Japanese in Singapore then called Malaya. Could it be that Gandhi and Nehru merely became heroes for the next generation in India because when the British leftIndia, the All India Congress formed the Government and forced education boards to modify their syllabi and text books to paint images of their leaders as national heroes? Not their contributions are negligible, but are we not over-obsessed and highlight only their positives and not negatives. Why was Gandhiji shot by an Indian?
The government is keen on bringing back the Kohinoor from the British Government, but has never sought any information the British intelligence may have had about the forced exile or assassination of Subhash Chandra Bose may be because that will reveal a lot of light on the then political situation in India, and will have dented images of many of our national heroes now.
The Congress Government is still in power, and probably that’s the reason that October 2nd is still a National Holiday whereas 23rd January not. – Jai Hind
Food Safety and Standards Authority of our country has detected that about 68% of milk samples from cows and buffaloes were contaminated with additives including fertilizer, bleach and detergent , diluted with water or sweeteners , fat , non-edible solids and skimmed milk powder to increase quantity of milk. This not only destroys the nutritional value of milk but increases severe health risks.
What is the intention of MTv Roadies a popular Reality show among teenagers ? What persona are they really promoting ? How many MTv Roadies winners have actually got a stable carrier forget about the runner up contestants. Using abusive language is what we call freedom and breaking the shackles of captivity of traditions ? And why ?Getting aggressive in a fit of anger,does that even promote sanity? I very much admire Raghu for his intellect but in the process of making money is the MTV Roadies team really promoting right ethics and principles ? Being grilled for no reasons is that what you call attitude in life ?
Breaking News!
The Biggest Daily Reality Show Ended 31st December 2011.
With the beginning of 2012 ends the sensation of Anna Hazare and the Anti-Corruption movement seems over. What was that all about ? Why suddenly some Yoga Guru stood against corruption and got the nation provoked and vanished from news after fleeing from the stage at the Ram Lila Maidan , Delhi ? What happened to the nation suddenly after that ? Throughout 2011,Anna Hazare was the only topic, go anywhere. No peace of mind for full-time religious alcoholics like me and my friends, too. We would prefer talking about corruption and about Anna over our favourite Heart-Break stories of life?
All seems dead suddenly. It all started almost in the second quarter of 2011 and died with the 2012 New-Year celebration. Lokpal Bill ? What is that all about ? Corrupt Politicians ? Who are they ? Are they Indians ? 2011 showed all those Facebook pages and fans and tweets packed with Anti-Corruption buzz and urban India explaining their concern and support to Anna and Ramdev Baba.
Come on folks , we were watching the Biggest Reality Show of India, scripted and produced by our very own “Breaking News Channels”. Corruption was an integral part of Indian Administration since India was formed. What was not, is the concept of “Money Minting Reality Shows” shown on television.Advertisements pay bigtime and when MTV can why not the News Channels ?
Corruption is a part of us and we have adjusted with it quite well. We vote for our politicians even after knowing they are competing to fulfil their desires of making uncountable money. We are forced to choose between worse and worst everytime and we vote praying worse does’nt turn worst. Its been more than 60 years and we are experienced now, aren’t we ? We have grown up watching our dads or uncles bribing the cops , caught for not carrying drivers license and many a times even just to avoid harassment. We have seen dads collecting money somehow to manage donations for our school. We have seen our mommy paying extra bucks to the gas-cylinder guy for giving cylinder in “black” and who can forget the blackiers selling Bollywood Blockbuster Movie tickets ?. We are born learning basics of computers on pirated Windows version and as our knowledge progresses we keep looking for various websites offering crack codes for various softwares for our computers and laptops and not to forget the free song downloading sites. How can we forget the CDs and DVDs for 15 bucks for 5 movies? We have heard our grandfathers discussing tax-evading ways with his chartered accountant. Bribing has been as simple as breathing, in our country and we call these attributes of “Street-Smart Chap”.
The New Reality Show of Anti-Corruption made us forget our basics. It made villains out of those 400 plus Daring Indians who made it to the parliament. We made them our leaders. We made our politicians achieve their dreams. A politician joins “Dirty Politics” while we prefer keeping ourselves out of the dirt and prefer discussing all that over a cup of tea during free time. Had these politicians not been there, think of an evening , when guests pay a visit ! Absolutely no topic to share thoughts . How long can you talk about the weather and global-warming? It is our corrupt system which has given us so much to talk in public gatherings. Thanks to the political leaders, they do not even mind us back-biting them after we ourselves choose them to fulfil their desires to open bank accounts in Switzerland. But this reality show certainly made them villains. Someone in the parliament screamed Anna is made by the Media and supported by the Corporate houses ( As Media is a Corporate House itself) and since then I realize we were watching a Reality Show made by our News Channels. Some 400 plus men in the parliament struggled their lives out to be where they are and suddenly some old x-army man with few opportunists backing him up comes and declares a war against these Parliamentarians ? Well the Anti-Corruption Movement Reality Show seems to have fetched its producers enough money and hence they decided to end it and now we talk everything but Anna and his movement. It is time to move on. Anyways winters bring in fresh but repeated news of accidents because of fogs in North India. They have enough workload. Turning on the News channels, rarely one feels like changing them as they too have become interesting channels and lot better than those daily soaps starting from the alphabet “K” with repeated vamp haunting into some repeated honest people’s lives for wealth. At least our News Channels understand when to create the sensation , how long to continue and how to fade it away and replace it with other stories.
Playing with emotions is what entertainment is all about and in India it started with daily soaps and continues big time with News Channels which writes its own script, chooses a Hero all by itself(like Anna and Ramdev) , chooses the supporting cast(Arvind,Kiran Bedi,Prashant Bhushan etc) and crew and the villains(politicians with Swiss Bank Accounts) , shows us all the reality show and ends the story at its will , leaving us guessing. Well the Movie ” Anti-Corruption Movement in India ” got a huge appreciation and the script-writers and producers surely bagged a great chunk of money leaving the villains and the hero busy commenting against each other and the audience getting back to their normal lives. One may term it as the most successful reality show of 2011 or the biggest blockbuster daily soup, call it whatever , we as an audience had a great time watching the show and now we are back to work assuring ourselves Media will soon release some other “BREAKING NEWS”.
