Straight N Simple

Sunday, September 11, 2011

DIVIDED WE FELL : UNITED TO BE UNTIED ?

India was born under tumultuous circumstances and extreme pangs that left us, scarred and collecting the broken pieces attempting to put them back with a semblance of some order. It was time and resources, consuming before we could concentrate on getting a move on as a Nation.

The Gore and the grotesqueness we could be proud of; a legacy out of which innumerable folklore born would regale and fire the imagination of generations to come, had it been out of a fierce struggle for the Motherland.

Alas! Never before in human history was such a huge area taken per drop of blood, shed, and we did and our following generations would make do with tales of yore so far back that the twists and turns that naturally occurs in word of mouth renditions over generations, would leave them in only disbelief doubting the integrity of their elders, or the tales or both!!

A motley group of kingdoms lacking a common denominator, thanks to the British, came under an umbrella that soon enveloped them all, giving birth to the India that is Bharath that is Hindustan. Sadly even here we go by different aliases.

In due course merged seamlessly for administrative convenience, giving them their first common identity under the, Indian Civil Services. Evaluated and drawn from among the best of natives, their administrative skills developed and sharpened in England, a young lot took over and served with distinction even in free India, to be re-christened the Indian Administrative Service if only to show the world, “We could also do it”, as we continue to do so from Cities to even roads.

At the stroke of that fateful midnight hour, when the rest of the world went about its logical business at their respective hours, there we stood in our entire native gory, as the aftermath of partition, seething in anger at, our families split, belongings plundered and the ignominy of our women raped. Most of the country did not go through the nightmare but shared they would have; the pain, agony and consternation from distant reports.

An elite handful, not a crease out of place on their spanking new dresses or on their foreheads, proudly stood proclaiming a fact and promising heaven on earth to the unsuspecting, even as their brethren were being brutalized.

The Tri-Colours aflutter, to the layman seemed the Promised Land they stood on and, the never ending festival had begun.

At the business end it was cold blooded calculations as each one planned to extract more than his pound of flesh with myopic agenda, once more the denominator dominated decision making and we, not for lack of imagination but against sagacious advice chose the British way of being a thoroughly divided country along all the wrong lines, starting with linguistic division and leaving nothing to chance.

Our founding fathers christened us, a sovereign democratic republic with secularism and socialism having been inserted as late as 1976, as new denominators of divisiveness, to further alienate the people amongst themselves along religion, caste, creed, and other accidental birth characteristics, betraying the implicit trust our founding fathers placed in us and our conduct.

Democracy is undoubtedly the best way to go collectively as a Nation but, THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS and the deviousness of the elite handful ensured by practise and precept that, voted for in a momentary act of frenzy, and misguided notions; they usurped power without an iota of responsibility.

Showing the carrot of the one opportunity once in five years, they have connived over the 65 odd years to keep us shepherded in their pen.

All the appointments are in their hands, the President a mere ornamental puppet housed in the “Viceroy’s House” to preserve it from dereliction from disuse. The supposedly independent judiciary has its Chief, approved by the government.

Every walk of an Indians life has a watch dog; the parliament is the only kennel without a keeper.

The preamble to our constitution underlines as its bulwark; Justice, Liberty and Equality, the parliament has the power to amend the constitution; can they be trusted not to breach it?

Justice is denied by sheer procrastination, Liberty only for the belligerent, Equality among the stratified.

Quoting Jackson “Democracy shows not only its power in reforming governments, but in regenerating a race of humans”. It is true to the degree we are democratic, reversion, stagnation or advancement the choice is ours.

aregeepee@twitter

Monday, September 5, 2011

GEORGE ORWELL NOT DONE WELL

The EICs give-away introductory lines to, the Orwell essay of 1931 is a passionate plea to read and most importantly fall in line. (The Hindu, Aug.31.2011.p-11.). The prologue if an attempt to even prorogue average sensibilities in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination trial’s verdict is undesirable, in the INDIAN (not tamil) context.

George Orwell was a rebel in a mild sense, his minutely stratifying the economic strata of society of his family’s status as in his Bio. as “lower-upper-middle-class” seen as characteristic humour by the benevolent, comes across as a complex / snobbery, at not belonging to the higher class or managing to attach himself to the highest class possible.

He wrote for a living and his pandering to his readers is understandable, as it made sound business sense. A left of centre inclination cannot produce impartial assessment, and that he did not. Got to grant it, that writers (other than in scientific journals) need the authorial license to tint their writing for max Impact as do other creative persons, an essayist’s composition is simply a personal point of view (period).

Far from advocating wanton executions militia style, we need to grant it “our judiciary” the intelligence in their decisions. The abominable practise of killing for a cause to win an argument is not justified in evolved social set ups, and their defence can be only by equally if not more sick minds.

Nationalism is chromosomal, you either have it or you don’t, however much one parades oneself as one, it is in such extreme situations that the wolf steps out the sheep’s cover.

The inordinate delay is a political misadventure, a sad reflection of the vicissitudes of a highly touted culture’s current polity, as much as the pardon wagon is.

Having got there with the compulsions of coalition politics out of the way, it is best to get it over with in the interest of selfish politics, for in their strongholds it will be their WATERLOO.

Granted that, the editor in chief a first among equals, has his compulsions of doing in TN what a tamilian does, his duty as among the first he will desert, if he forsakes the National interest for narrow local compuslions.

On interviews / debates appearing as an individual the views at a pinch at best, can be covered up as personal .

Friday, September 2, 2011

TILL DEATH DO US APART - RajivGandhi Assasination & Mercy ?

So, are the vows qualified when humans take them to enter into the most cherished, touted & desired relationship amongst them, in their day to day existence.

The ultimate timeline on earth, for a cause or relationship; for the romantics and less atheistic it is stretched to being rebirth(s) inclusive.

The ultimate is off course, “Soul-mates” presuming the soul is made up of parts!!

Once we are totally committed to a relationship / cause, we are by choice committed to dying for it, or in the least profess; which is the ultimate accepted and believed expression; both in Love & War.

Humans having evolved into social animals by choice cannot exist in isolation and need to confirm to social norms, as society for its part, recognizing each individual; grants “privacy” which is inviolable.

It is not that even the foremost amongst us have not or will not violate our scriptures (to each his own), thou can preach but shall not force, is the bottom line of civility.

Thou shall not kill is the maxim of all religious beliefs, yet every one of them makes exceptions. It is uncertain and futile to argue if the proscription was for humans alone, or did include the animals and vegetation. Animal activists will argue for the animals, we yet do not have botanical freaks, who could extend it to vegetation but, are aware of the saying in Hindi “If the horse befriends the grass what will he eat?” Sound Logic @ its best.

Corny logic can and does argue in favour of fanatics and terrorists that death is not a deterrent as they are into it aware of the worst consequences, forgetting that deterrents are only for the uninitiated in any field of human activity, for once initiated and across the line that divides civil existence, the monster is to be put to sleep, for the larger good of the human race.

It is often touted that 95 of the 257 countries of the world have abolished the death sentence, without mentioning the fact that there have been vacillations and there has been no recent upheaval to do so again. Norway, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Denmark, Australia, Canada, U.K & New Zealand are only a fistful of the majors who have. Majority of them sparsely populated and may be with very low rates of heinous crimes, and in any case not big contributors to Global Efforts.

It will only stand the test of time as to their resoluteness, if and when their crown jewels are jolted or maybe they do not hold anything more sacred or valuable than their own individual lives, which when gone will in any way not matter to the individual concerned, as to what transpires later, and so do not care.

It will be also worth the while to examine whether their law enforcement has killed in their discharge of their duties, if so they have killed for a lesser crime and pardoned others for grosser ones.

The logic against capital punishment is a classic case of a view in isolation; of the maxim “Thou shall not kill”. For once you have killed you art not thou, so will be executed (period)

The compassionate view at best, can be accommodated however much with a pinch of salt in very deserving cases amongst us, who have not violated the inviolable like Our Nation, National Interests / Institutions or for any political / divisive cause and / or religious bigotry and finally, killing to silence the law.

AN ALIEN ON OUR LAND VIOLATING US IN ANY WAY DOES NOT DESERVE ANY CONSIDERATION WHATSOEVER.

Our historical Ham handedness as a Nation is for all to see; aliens infringing upon our territorial integrity with in all directions be it East, West, North or south, and liberties they do take with impunity. Most currently the Chinks cocking-a- snook at us on the high seas!!

In the context current, by not executing the perpetuators & executioners we are denying them the honour of martyrdom; the ultimate incentive they were preached to by their messiahs, and for which they chose the path of their own (free) will, in opposition to the norms current; as outsiders we have no right to deny.

I rest my case honourable brethren; you should proceed to execute them to perfection.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Democracy a Demon gone Crazy ?

Democracy is undoubtedly the best way to go collectively as a Nation; the devil is in the details.

Politics as a profession is as mercenary, as the one who kills for a living, as the word is most widely understood, for in both cases the finer sensibilities and holistic thinking go out of the window of opportunity.

As in any endeavour, a pre assessment of the strengths and weaknesses ensure we play up to our strengths avoiding the pitfalls of our weaknesses. When dealing with the species “Homo Sapiens erectus” the foremost among them being ego and greed.

“Checks & Balances” ensures the health of any democracy, the more stringent the better, for integrity is the decisive component in the elected few, representing the teeming millions.

While we, religiously ensure that we have the first among equals at the top, we should ensure the foremost amongst us occupy the highest offices of arbitration in the land, for they will not only set, the benchmarks but the tone & tenor of the conduct of our lives as individuals and as a Nation as a whole.

The presumed pre-eminence of the elected few, in all matters; being the biggest among the follies. The election process is the culmination of frantic activities fair and foul, where the electorate exercise their franchise based on their IQ and the limited experience of the aspects of governance that has touched each ones lives and to the extent their thinking has been influenced by the recent barrage of information shrewdly (mis)presented in more ways than one.

Most importantly all their decision making processes are hugely influenced by prevalent conditions however transient.

This is conspicuous if we care to look at the concept of adult franchise in itself in the Indian context, where even basic communication is not seamless pan India, and the status probably unique in the world, and no serious attempt has been made to integrate them, since Independence and in fact divided them further to suit narrow political agendas.

In a land where the have-nots far outstrip the haves, both materially and otherwise, to accord similar space on any platform of larger import, is grossly absurd and myopic. It’s like holding a referendum on Atomic armaments, only more absurd.

Without bias or discrimination it is for us to arrive at parameters that best fulfil the requirements. The Highest Common (accepted) Factor is education and experience and this needs to be largely factored into the granting of franchise rights. For the exercise of one’s franchise places, enormous social responsibilities on both the current and future generations. Dr.M.S.Swaminathan & Dr.Verghese Kurian are living (just 2 of the very many) examples of architects who engineered the prosperity of the underprivileged masses, with their path-breaking efforts in their fields of agriculture. and Co-Op dairying, via Technology & expertise.Most decisively disproving the malicious claims of the myopic politicians, and bringing their ulterior agendas to the fore.

Electoral reforms are normally talked about as “State funding”, which in itself is a sad reflection of our attitude to democracy being about the money and not about the people; which is the hidden(no longer) agenda of professional politics.

A village as a basic unit of human settlement is about day to day existence with every villager involved, “The Panchayat” has admirably stood the test of times immemorial and need to be tweaked only to the extent that, in the current scenario of technology and our low level of literacy in the broader sense, two of the members will be from the most educated amongst them, and in the happy event of more than two 2 amongst them voted in (which will also serve to spur education as a tangible option among the villagers). The villager for this purpose will be defined as the Indian who lives in the village, so as to not be hijacked by people who originated from it.

The district council will be composed of the Sarpanchs in the district.

The BDOs at the village level and DM, DJ & DSP at the district levels will act in an advisory capacity, at least one of them, attending all meetings as and when convened. This will ensure formal education contributes to grass roots level understanding and decision making.( when matters of special import which will need the DJ / DSP are listed the appropriate official will attend )

The Panchayats and district councils will be studiously apolitical, and meet regularly by a time table to be suitably devised.

The Legislative Assemblies of the state will be first base, as far as political parties are concerned where they will continue as at present with some tweaks to render them in tune with the times.The parliament the second and final base for politicking!!

Human activity has come a long way, where every niche in every field has developed into a super-speciality, it is imperative that GOVERNANCE DOES.

The Legislature will specialize in legislating, and leave the technicalities to an expert panel of whom the upper house of every legislature will be composed of (20% of the seats will be nominees of the district councils), who will debate and whet the legislations made and return it to the lower house to be passed as law.

Ours is not only a large and diverse country, but an ancient civilization that has stood the tests of time excelling in all walks of life.

Of all the pillars of democracy the Judiciary is the most critical, as it is the institution of ultimate arbitration on earth, for the other pillars. It is therefore paramount that INTEGRITY is not compromised, and remains a self regulating Institution that in extreme circumstances stands scrutiny by the upper house.

The upper house at both, the state and the centre will be of half the strength of the lower house and have the last Chief Justice as the speaker, for impartial conduct of business. The tenure will last the life of the elected tenure of the house, and by the same yard-stick the new speaker and deputy take office. The house will be composed of; chiefs of professional bodies, retired justices and eminent jurists, and the leaders of the district council nominees at the Legislative assemblies in the states.

The chiefs of all constitutional bodies will be appointed by their respective time tested mechanisms, subject to being whetted by the upper house, at the centre and the states, as the case may be.

The lower house in the rare event of disagreement will need to show-cause, to the upper house to amend the appointment, who will in their wisdom act or justify the appointment.

COME NETAS COME; GO INDIA GO WE WILL LEAVE THE STARS BEHIND, having exorcised the devils in detail.

Thursday, February 24, 2011