Day 186

Well I was busy in some work and I was out of town also. So, I was unable to write on my blog. And I know that none of you have even bothered to write a feedback for me. Never mind. It’s clear that it’s tough to change you people. I was talking to one of my friends. My friend is not interested in politics so her comments were like more of questions than any feedback. She said that consistently I wrote about the Bihar assembly elections. But I told her that I wrote just as informative posts. Nothing more than that. But she said that I should write something different from politics. I told her that I have covered all the topics which came in my mind. I’m not a political analyst whose job is to write about politics only. I write what I feel I should write. Nothing else. That’s the thing for which I have created my blog. But still there are many topics on which I should write. But the main thing of my diversion is lack of feedback. Don’t worry. Today I’m not going to give lecture on giving me feedback. It’s of no use because you people will not do that. So no more lectures. Sometimes I think that it’s my mistake to expect feedbacks from you people. 

Day 185

Sometimes life comes across certain points of highs and lows. I met both today. I met an old friend today. I was happy with talking with my friend. I was really high. There was a sense of satisfaction after talking with the friend. I thought that I should share some feeling of mine with my friends. I did that. But I was sad because I got late in expressing my feelings. There are certain things that had happened in my friend’s life. I’m happy for my friend that something good is happening in my friend’s life. But I’m sad that I met my friend very late. No doubt I’ll always pray good things for my friend. But one thing is uncertain my mind. Will this friendship go on or not? What is the future now? Because one thing is sure that I can’t forget my friend. And my friend is a special friend of mine. So it’s out of question to forget my friend. A sense of insecurity is there in my mind. Which way to go? What to do next? Actually I have a habit. Don’t know whether it’s good or bad but I don’t forget my friends. I don’t do friendship to forget my friends later on. But I really don’t want to lose this friendship. Only time can tell what’s going to happen? Hope so everything turns right and that is not painful for me.

Day 184

I’m tired now. Tired of waiting for the comments on the posts. I’m really bored now. I want comment as feedback about my writing. I can’t tell you people to write comment. But I really need it. Otherwise I can’t improve my writing. Since morning, I was having urge to write. But I wasn’t having any idea in my mind. So I thought that you people are there to give some comment. But I was proved wrong.  I’m really confused about what to tell you people. Just imagine a situation; you are talking to one of your friends over the phone. And only you are talking and your friend is silent. What will you feeling at that time? Irritated? That’s right. The same situation is with me right now. I’m writing again and again. And you people are silent. I’m also feeling irritated. Sometimes, I think that my blog has become one sided affair. I’m really angry with you people. The silence, which you people are having is the reason I was absent for so many days. I thought that you people are changed a bit. But I again got myself wrong. Come on you people. Write something in the comment box. It’s not necessary to use your name and email id to write comment on my posts. You can write as an anonymous person also. So now don’t sit ideal. Come on, start writing something. Until and unless you people will not write, I won’t be able to know that which direction I’m heading. 

Day 183

Sorry, I’m late today. Actually I was having no idea what to write. But thought to write. So I came with no topics and lots of blah blah blah. Hehehe. Just kidding. Actually these days, every newspaper is having news of one scandal or another. I think scandal has become a national event now. Right from the scandals of Organising Committee of Common Wealth Games, then the Adarsh Scam which cost Mr. Ashok Chawan the post of chief minister, then we have telecom scandal which followed by the resignation of A Raja. And the list is going on and on which now includes the bank loan scandals about which I wrote yesterday. If we accumulate the entire amount then it will go in some lakhs of crores of Indian rupees. Really this amount would have changed the financial system of India. And there are many more scandals. We can’t forget the stamp scandal by Abdul Karim Telgi. Then we have shares scandal by Harshad Mehta. Fodder scam by Lalu Yadav. Really the list is too long. Just imagine if all these amount of money would have been used in the development of the country then we would have really four lane roads, uninterrupted power supplies, new industries in backward regions, schools and colleges, pure and drinkable water in remote areas, good health hospitals in villages. In short, the real upliftment of India. And then we would be in a better position to fight against the inflation, terrorism and many other things. But unfortunately, the money went to the pocket of corrupt people. This entire thing has happened due to our silence. We, the public, were silent. We shrugged our shoulders and said that these politicians are corrupt. These government officials are corrupt. The scandals aren’t going to hamper us. And many more excuses we made to divert our attention. We are more concerned about the two square meal every day. We are giving damp care to the inflation. How long this is going to happen?

This question is for all of us. Each and everyone in India who is facing the devil of inflation everywhere. You go to a shop to buy your grocery there you have to pay more for the same things which you need in your meal. And blame shouldn’t be made on politicians only. The government officials are equally responsible. For example let’s take the grocery items only. It’s not possible to grow all the things in one state. Few things have to be imported from other states. At the border, excise tax has to be paid. The excise officers demand more money from the truck drivers. The extra payment is included in the good loaded in the truck. And finally when the good reaches the whole seller, then truck driver deliver the good after taking the original cost, transportation cost and the extra money given to the excise officer. The whole seller adds his own profit margin and then sells that to the retailer. Again retailer’s profit margin is added to the good. It’s finally we, the consumer, who has to pay for that good.

That’s why yesterday I told that we need a strong will power. Corruption will not go just by saying. We have to take action also. So stop giving bribe to government officers and politicians if you really want to see development in India. 

Day 182

Today I’m totally confused about what to write. A lot of scandals are happening in our country. I don’t understand one thing that why the politicians and government officials involve themselves in such corrupt practises? What they gain? It’s the shame which they get at the end and the money is been taken away from them. So what’s the use of taking huge amounts of money as bribe? Can’t they do their work honestly? And to some extend the public and the bribe givers are also responsible for this. Even after 63 years of independence we are a developing country. But there is huge amount of money is with the politicians. Few days back, I read a part of the statement made by the head of the Swiss Bank that India is a poor country where rich people live. He was referring to the amount of money been kept in the accounts of politicians is enough to keep India going for 30 years without collecting income tax. The money can give employment to some 60 crore people. Every village will be connected with four lane roads. There was few more disclosure. I wonder that if such thing can happen in India. The optimist in me says yes but at the same moment a question comes from inside, ‘how?’ The politicians and government officials are keeping crores and crores of money in their secret bank accounts. If that money should be used in the development of the country then indeed India will become a developed nation in just one decade. We should think to stop the corrupt practises of the politicians and the government officials. For that we need strong will power and strong laws.

Yes that’s right. A strong will power is needed that we won’t give bribe to any politicians and government officials to get our work done. And why should we give bribe to them? Aren’t government officials earning enough money to take care of the needs of themselves and their families? Of course, they are getting handsome salaries from the government. Then why their hands should be greased? Same thing is with the politicians. If the politicians think that they have become the MLA or MP or have got any ministerial post then it’s their right to get bribed. Then the public has to teach them lesson. Public should not bribe them. The politicians become MLA or MP or minister for the development of the country and the state. They don’t hold the post to earn money. So if we really want India to become a developed country then as public we should stop giving bribe. 

Day 181

The result of the Bihar Assembly Election has been declared. NDA has emerged as the winner with 84 percent seats. Mr Nitish Kumar is going to sworn in for the consecutive second time on 26^th November, 2010. His arch rival Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav has to settle with just 25 seats. Ram Vilas Paswan has got only 3 seats. And the Congress party which rides and tries to encash the name of Rahul Gandhi, has got 4 seats. So congratulation to the voters of Bihar. You may be surprised that instead of congratulating the winners, I’m congratulating the voters of Bihar. But this is the truth. Voters in Bihar have chosen the development over the caste based politics. This is the face of changing Bihar. A Bihar which wants to liberate itself from the darkness which it saw during the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri era. People are happy that they can go out even in late night without any fear which was not possible during Lalu-Rabri era. And this is not just the case with Patna. Being the capital, there has to be some change in Patna. Here I’m talking about the villages and other cities also. People in villages are having pakki sadak connecting their village to the cities. They are now using electricity. Both the things were something unthinkable during the Lalu-Rabri regime. Lalu Yadav is saying that there is some mystery behind the result of this election. Now he is trying to be in the limelight because he is aware that his days are gone now. They are not going to come back. He has bluffed public a lot. Now the public is not ready to get bluffed again by him. This mandate is the clear indication of that.

He and his close associate Ram Vilas Paswan are not ready to digest this defeat because they were dreaming that they are the king in Bihar. They are forgetting that king is not there to rule only. He is there to develop his kingdom. Lalu and Ram Vilas have always played the politics based on caste. But the public of Bihar has become sensible. They know what is right and what is wrong. No one can bluff them. In the last five years, Bihar has done good progress. And this has happened due to good governance. Lalu Yadav might have forgotten that he became chief minister of the state but he favoured his own people a lot instead of doing progress work of Bihar. Anyway my blog is going long. I’m ending here now. Once again, congratulations to the people of Bihar for choosing good government instead of bad government.

Day 180

The ongoing visit of the American president Barrack Obama, is been termed as a mega event in India. There are many expectations with this visit. It always happens that if a head of a foreign country has come in India then Indian government doesn’t leave any stone unturned in the hospitality. This is not just the follow of any protocol but it’s a display of Indian tradition for a guest. Well, I’m not going in any detail of this guest welcoming tradition. Yesterday, I was watching the news channel when Obama was at St Xavier’s College in Mumbai. He was there at the interaction with students. He answered five questions. One was related to Pakistan. He answered that question very diplomatically. He was politically correct. Not making any statement which leads to any controversy. Because these days controversies are made much earlier and easier than making of the tea. The question was about the Pakistan based terrorist organisations that are constantly attacking India. A student asked the American president that why isn’t America declaring Pakistan a terrorist country. Barrack Obama diverted the question by saying that we need a stable, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan. And with the new Pakistan the country going to gain most is India. So I deduced that he is taking a good stand on answering diplomatically on such questions. The general view of Indian public and Pakistani public towards each other isn’t friendly. So it’s obvious that people from both the countries will ask such questions. And I have deduced one more thing. Barrack Obama isn’t going to take the charge as a mediator between India and Pakistan. And its duty of Indian and Pakistani government to resolve their differences. For this we really need a stable government in Pakistan. And that too free from the interference of the Pakistani army. Then only we can have a peaceful dialogue which will lead us to stability.

Day 179

In the last couple of posts I have been writing about the ongoing assembly election in Bihar. Yesterday voting was held in 42 seats in phase 4. I cast my voted yesterday. I felt happy after that. I got the satisfaction that I did something good. Don’t know why but I feel the same happiness whenever I cast my vote. Whether it’s municipal corporation election, assembly election or Lok Sabha election. I can’t express that happiness in words. It’s a bit tough for me. But one thing has disturbed me a lot. It’s about the voting percent. The overall percentage of the voter’s turnout was the lowest. It was only 51%. This is really sad. In 1^st phase it was 54%, in 2^nd phase it was 53% and in 3^rd phase it was 55%. So comparatively phase 4 was the lowest. I’m unable to understand the downfall in the voter’s turnout. Yesterday I watched various news channels and I did a bit research also. Obviously it was my personal research. I found one thing. Many voters found that their names were missing from the voter’s list. So that was the reason of the downfall. Many males found that their names were missing so the ladies of that house didn’t went to cast their vote. At few places the scene was reverse. This is the clear cut failure of the administration for this. Nobody knows when the administration will come out of its deficiencies. Sometimes I think that the government officials are not interested in those works where they can’t get a chance to make money. And making of voter’s list or any work related to the electoral process doesn’t have so much money in that. Whoever comes to the power should know that they have to control the beauraucrats so that there should be no lapse of any policies. Really this is very sad that voters faced so many problems during the voting process. And it’s not related only till election process. In day to day life also, there are many things where the public isn’t getting the advantage of the social welfare schemes. So we have to change not only the government but the beauraucrats also.

DAY 178

Actually I’m a bit late. I wanted to write couple of days back. But today I got the time. Actually in today’s post I’ll be dealing with two topics. First one is related to the Assembly Elections in Bihar. Actually the second phase in Bihar was really good. If we see the turnout then it was 55%. That’s a good sign because last time it was 44%. And the main reason due to which I’m mentioning the second phase is that all the constituencies are being affected by Naxalites. In spite of the warning from the Naxalites about not voting, the voters went to the polling booths. Now this is what I call as Victory of Democracy. Choosing Ballot over Bullet. This shows the changing face of Bihar. Bihar has always seen as the land lawlessness. But the time is changing now. Bihar is changing now. Bihar needs dynamic leadership which will lead it further on the path of progress.

And the second topic is about CAT. Common Admission Test (CAT) fever has started again. But this time the number of applicants has decreased for about 15.4%. Last year the number of applicants was 2,41,000 and this year the number is 2,04,000. I think the phobia of Prometric’s server has become the reason for this decline. The CAT exam has begun from today. 4500 students are appearing today. Let’s hope that the CAT sails smoothly this year. 

Day 177

 gAfter a long time I’m writing on my blog. A lot of thing has happened during the time period since I wrote my last blog. Now again the election session has come in Bihar. Out of 243 seats 47 constituencies are going in their voting phase. Various parties are trying their luck in this election. Now the question is that who is going to take the rein of power? Will it be NDA again? Whether it’s going to be RJD dominant government? Or is it going to be Congress rule? The answer is now sealed in the Electronic Voting Machine. Here I’m not analysing that who will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar? Today I’m writing because I want to make appeal to my friends who are reading my blog that voting is not only your fundamental right but it’s your fundamental duty also. So whoever are out of Bihar then I appeal them to go to their constituency on their respective voting day and cast their vote. It’s up to you to cast your vote to that person whom you think is going to bring the change in your constituency. It’s easy to blame a government for wrong actions but it’s tough to make a nice government. So for a change do a tough job this time.

Day 176

It was December 3, 1984, when the toxic Methyl Isocynate gas leaked from Union Carbide India Limited’s pesticide plant in Bhopal. It killed 15,134 people. It injured at least 5.7 lakh other people. The effect was so catastrophe that harmful effect passed to the next generation. And after 26 years, on June 7, 2010, all the eight accused were convicted by the court. All the accused were booked under Section 304A (causing death by negligence), Section 336 (endangering life), Section 337 (causing hurt), Section 338 (grievous hurt) of Indian Penal Code. Only Section 304A gives the punishment of two years jail and fine of Rs 1 lakh fine. This is the maximum punishment been given to the accused amongst other charges been framed against them. But all the accused were granted bail almost immediately after the verdict was ruled out. Their counsel had moved their bail applications with personal bonds of Rs 25,000 each. These 26 years has seen a lot of ups and downs in this case. But the main thing is that “Is this the verdict for which the families of victims carried on their fight for all these 26 years?” I don’t think that they got the real verdict. It’s just like a slap on the wrist of a person, when he murders other person. This gas tragedy has been termed as the world’s worst industrial disaster. But I think that the verdict is also like a fun has been made of those families who lost everything in that disaster. This has really provoked anger across the country.

There was great political interception also in this case. The CBI was told by the central government, not to extradict the CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson. Warren Anderson was arrested on December 7, 1984. But he was released after three hours in detention. He was released allegedly by the orders from the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Arjun Singh. This indicated towards some secret connection between Indian politicians and the officials of Union Carbide. Now the main question is that why was the verdict delayed for 26 years? Why wasn’t the investigating agency allowed to work impartially? 26 years in not a small time period waiting for the right verdict. In my view, the correct verdict has not been given to the families of the victims who lost everything in that tragedy. The real culprit must be brought under the right legal way and the right verdict should be awarded. 

Day 175

Last week was full of vibrant things. Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist, was awarded death sentence by the special track court. Indeed, this is something which the whole India was awaiting for. The judge passed the order “hang till death.” I support this judgement. But I think a bit differently on this issue. Kasab is just a pawn in the hands of the master minds of terrorism, who are sitting in Pakistan, their save heaven. They are sending numerous Kasabs to the every part of the world for destruction. Of course, their numero uno target is India. No doubt in that. Pakistan has become save heaven for all the terrorist groups because they are training many Kasabs to be sent to India. So, the whole international community has to unite against those militant organisations. Even these terrorist organisations made an unsuccessful attempt to make destruction at the Times Square, New York. It was made void on the timely response of the security forces there. Ms Hillary Clinton, the secretary of the state, has warned Pakistan to get rid of these military organisations. Still Pakistan is going on in giving support in terms of security and money to these organisations. Instead of taking action to eliminate the terrorism, Pakistan is nurturing it. I don’t know what mentality the Pakistani government is having. Only they know. But very soon, the Pakistan will become the target of all the terrorist organisations to which it’s giving support. Because there is no religion and no moral of the terrorist. They only know how to use someone. If they get their means accomplished then they don’t hesitate in damaging or eliminating that person or resource. 

Day 174

I’m confused now. IPL is the reason. What should I say it now? Is it Indian Premier League or Indian Paisa League or Indian Political League? The daily changing scenario of IPL is turning more interesting now. The amount of money is really huge. And now the war of tug is taking new twist everyday. BCCI is lobbying to sack Lalit Modi as the IPL Commissioner. But he is not going to resign quietly. The manner in which is speaking is indicating that he has some vital clues and secrets which can unearth some political heavyweights name. There are a lot of things going on underground which will be disclosed very soon. Lalit Modi has refused to become a scapegoat which clearly indicates that all is not well in this IPL session. The previous two sessions of IPL were good hits in India and abroad as well. But this time, it has started many political storms. Mr Shashi Tharoor has to quit his job just because of this controversy. Who knows that what other big name is involved in all these? Of course, Mr Modi knows that. That attitude and the confidence with which he is saying his views clearly states this that he is not an easy person to bend. There is a high voltage drama going on. Only coming time can tell us that.

Day 173

Live-in relationship. A relationship which two persons make with each other with mutual consent. This is mostly practiced in western countries. But in India also this relationship is been common in metro cities. And recently Supreme Court of India also passed sentence making live-in relationship a legal one. Supreme Court has made it clear that if a female companion comes to court asking for the compensatition from her male live-in relationship partner, then the male has to give her compensation. But what exactly is a live-in relation? Is it as I have told in the opening sentence or is it different from that? I think it will lead us to one sided debate and the final answer will be like as I have already said. But in India, live-in relation is considered as an agent of decaying the moral of the society. But I don’t think so. There is no written law or anything like that which states that live-in relationship is bad. It’s nothing but the mindset of the people in the country which makes certain things good or bad. In India, even the mindset of the people forbids a guy to walk publicly by holding a girl’s hand. But recently it was found that the trend is changing now. In India, there is an increment of 60% of people having live-in relation. And it’s much easier to have a live-in relationship. No comment required in that. And if we see then marriage is also like live-in relationship only difference is that it has the seal of approval from the society. So why can’t a couple live together without marrying? What’s wrong in that? And if we see in India, then we have large number of divorces also. It’s a fact that Madras High Court has a separate wing and legal professionals to look after the divorce cases. So it’s better to have a live-in relationship. No bounding and no major responsibilities like we have in the case of marriage. 

Day 172

Dantewada. A name which has been recorded in the history of modern India for the massacre of 74 CRPF soldiers. Naxals turned their guns towards the security forces to resist the Operation Green Hunt, an initiative taken by the Central Government to eradicate the Naxalites from our country. But one thing worried me a lot. The government isn’t providing basic facilities to the security forces working in the dense forests. The security personals have to fight Naxalites without adequate water supply and medicines. Malaria is the common disease in the dense forest against which the security forces are inadequate. Most of the times, the security forces have to work with their patched throats because of insufficient supply of fresh waters. Still they are fighting the Naxalites. Real kudos to those brave soldiers. And what happened in the forest of Dantewada is an example of growing number of Naxalites in India. There were 80 CRPF soldiers against 1000 Naxalites. Its clear indication that our security force in the forest areas is in fraction as compared to the Naxalites. And Union Home Minister, Mr P Chidambaram sent his resignation in writing to the Prime Minister, taking the moral responsibility of whatever happened in the forest of Dantewada. But it would be better if he makes the facilities given to the security personals posted in dense forests. That will boost up the morale of those security personals. And I agree with Mr Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar that Mr Chidambaram should makes his work speak louder than his words. Because these Naxalites are assuming that the government will do nothing except talking. Now the time has come to talk less and to take strong steps. 

Day 171

Sorry for being silent for almost a month. I know that there is no remedy of my promise breaking habit. But what to do? Actually I have become like you. A big lazy and non reactive. So there is gap of so many days in my posts. Previously it was not like that. Anyway we can drop this topic as we can debate over it endlessly. But the only condition is that you people have to write comment daily. Actually, I got a comment from my anonymous reader that I should write consistently. Well, I appreciate the feedback. It’s true that through constant writing only I’ll be able to improve my writing style. Well I would like to say thank you to my anonymous reader for the valuable feed back. And there was a request in the first half of the comment. According to my anonymous reader I should write shayari also. But let me tell one thing. Poetry or writing couplers is not something a routine thing for me. It’s totally dependent on my mood. Whenever I get in mood then I really write good poems. I’m also wishing to write some shayari. Hope so I’ll be fulfilling your wish shortly.

Day 170

In my last post, I got the feedback from an anonymous reader. I really appreciate that. In the feedback it was recommended to write consistently. But that well wisher has forgotten that in the post previous to that I have written the same problem which I get to write consistently. May be the well wisher has forgotten that or had over looked that post. Never mind. At least, someone is there who is interested in having pains to recommend something to me. So a big thank you from the bottom of the heart.

Now let me tell some basic facts. Actually, I’m not a big writer who can write consistently. Even big writers need topic to write consistently. And many times, I have requested all my readers to give feedback. But the answer is null. So this is the basic lagging in my writing. I have written on some topics which were worthy of having feedbacks. But still the answer is null. I always ask for feedbacks because some points in the feedbacks compels to write more. That’s the aim which is always there in my mind whenever I write any post. So, I’m counting you people again for your valuable comments.

Day 169

On February 10, 2010, I wrote about saving tigers. The campaign is still on to save the tigers. I don’t want to write over it again. But I have a different topic today but it’s related to saving tigers only. We have to save trees also along with tigers. Because tigers lives in forests. The rapid rate at which we are chopping trees is really alarming. Trees are cut not only to make furniture and fixtures but also for producing papers. So if we cut down the use of papers then it will lead to chopping of fewer trees. I really appreciate the initiative taken by Idea Cellular Service. We really have to save our ecology. Trees save the planet earth from getting absorbed by the poisonous gases which we, humans, emit from our vehicles and factories. Now it’s the time to save the trees if we really want to save our earth. We always think or plan to give nice things to our next generation. Why can’t we give them a green earth as we inherited it from our ancestors? Are we pushing our next generation to live hazardously without any tress? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r0VBY7CUP4

I have attached this video hoping that it will open some intelligent view inside you.

Day 168

Writing is not a tough job. But writing consistently is a tough job. Initially, when I started writing this blog, my idea was to consistently only. But somehow I’m lagging in my objective. The reason is lack of ideas. Sometimes, I have multiple topics, but I get confused in choosing one. And sometimes, I get scarcity of ideas. That’s why I have much difference of days in my posts. Sometimes, it happens that when I choose a topic then I do some research over it before making it a draft. But at last, when I finally decide to post it then the topic looses its grip. Passage of time makes it dull. I don’t want you people to read any dull topic. I don’t want you people to read any dull topic. I have requested you people repeatedly to give feedback on the past I write. But unfortunately, I’m not getting any response. Basically no one can write without any idea. So give me some feed back to write again.

Day 167

I know that I’m writing after a gap of a month. And there are several issues which needs our attention. The increasing menace of naxalities, dipping numbers of tigers in India, political menace of Shiv Sainiks in Maharashtra, rising inflation and many more things. Frankly speaking I’m confused about what to write. That’s why I was silent for a month. But today, I have decided to write about tigers.

Tiger is the national animal of India. But it’s very sad to know that there are only 1411 tigers in India. This is something very embarrassing for us. The national animal needs protection now. But some poachers are killing tigers mercilessly just for money. The time has come to stop them. If we will not wake up now then it will be too late. Extinction of tigers or any animal will imbalance the entire ecology of India. But few people are destroying the entire system for just few amount of money. But they are forgetting that they are also living in India and it will affect them also. And the time has come to make tougher wild life laws. This problem is not going to be solved on by the initiative of people. Government has to come forward with strong laws to curb the poachers. Actually the poachers are taking advantage of the loopholes in the wild life laws. And some corrupt forest officials are also involved in all this illegal killings. Until and unless all these things are not curbed then no action will be fruitful.

The save tigers project initiated by Aircel mobile company is really a nice initiative. Now the whole country has to be united to fight against the illegal hunting of our national animal. I would like to say to my readers that they should visit www.saveourtigers.com at least once. This website has been launched in the support of saving tigers. So be a part of this campaign.

Day 166

Today I was reading The Times of India in the morning. I was stuck by an irony. On the front page, a news article was there about the recent attack in Srinagar. The media has report of the talk between the terrorists, who attacked a hotel in Srinagar, and their boss in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. And on the second page the paper was having the article about Aman Ki Asha, a peace initiative between India and Pakistan. So, we got the first breach of our friendship. This was the thing about which I was talking about in my last post. I’m not against the peace between the two countries. But is it easy to trust Pakistan after so many infiltrations? I don’t think so. In my view, Pakistan is a country which is not trust worthy. From 1^st January, 2010, the two big media houses of both the countries started the peace plan. But Pakistan sends the terrorists to Srinagar to kill innocent people. What does this means? Is anyone going to answer this? That’s why I told that first of all the Pakistani government has to close all the terrorists camps on its soil, if the Pakistani government is really concerned about the peace and prosperity in the region. But unfortunately for India, Pakistan is still nurturing the dream of weakening India to have dominance over it. So I would like to say that there is no need of having any cultural programme like Aman Ki Asha. What we need to pressurise our government to take action against Pakistan. If America can attack Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaida, then why can’t India do that? More people have died to India due to this guerrilla war with Pakistan than the people died in the sad tragedy of World Trade Centre. I know that war always destroys both sides but its important now. Every time Pakistan sends terrorists whenever India does something for the peace. There is no need of having more bloodshed now. For the last 62 years we have seen much bloodshed. We need to have break from that. So instead of having cultural programmes, we need to have our armed forces ready for the strike.

Day 165

I know that I’m not writing continuously these days. Actually I was thinking about what to write. Well, I got a theme. Actually it’s about the new cultural programme going to be conducted by The Times of India in collaboration with The Jang Group of Pakistan. The programme is named Aman Ki Asha. A peace project to improve the harmony and peace between the two countries. There are various cultural programmes being arranged to bring the people closer. They are calling it a new chance to the bond of humanity to the citizens of both the country outside the battlefields of politics, terrorism and fundamentalism.

But I don’t think that it’s going to work for us. Indeed both the media publication houses have raised a good question. They have asked that shouldn’t we say no to giving peace a fighting chance? Should we condemn our children, grandchildren and the generations thereafter to a life of strife? Indeed the answer of these questions is no. Any sensible and civilised person would say no. But I want to know whether we are ready for this change? I don’t think so. There are many things which we can’t neglect.

History is full of treachery by Pakistan whenever India has done anything to increase the peace, harmony and friendship. I’m not going far back. Just a decade back. The then Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, took a bus ride across the Wagah border to the Pakistani side. His counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, welcomed him. It was called a good move to reduce the tension. But what we get in return. Kargil War. We haven’t forgotten the Kargil War then we got attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 by the terrorists coming from Pakistan. There had been countless cross fires from Pakistani side to Indian side. And lastly, we have seen terrorists coming to Mumbai and attacking it on 26 November, 2008. I wonder that how can a sensible media house of India like The Times of India forgets this and starts peace programme like Aman Ki Asha? How can it forget the sacrifice of so many Indian soldiers, who died on the border while fighting with the Pakistani army? This is really ridiculous.

If the media house like The Times of India really wants to do something for the country then it should tell the Pakistani government and Pakistani army to be honest in their intentions. I know that it’s really easy to say Hi than to say Sorry but we don’t want to do easier job. We need assurance from the Pakistani side that they won’t do anything else. We need to have trust on them. And trust doesn’t come from having any cultural programmes. Who knows that Pakistani army won’t do anything destructive in India, taking advantage of this Aman Ki Asha? Is there any surety that there will be peace, harmony and prosperity at the both side of the borders? There is no surety.

In my view, if there is any way to increase the trust on Pakistan then there should be commitment from the Pakistani government that they won’t attack India again. They should destroy all the terrorist camps in their territory. They have to refuse giving shelter and security to all anti- India agents. Then only programmes like Aman Ki Asha will work.

Day 164

New Year Cards by Tucmuc