Women can finally raise the toast!!

Why the ruckus?

Inspite of the dithering and an awkward stance, the members of the Rajya Sabha finally got the act together and passed the Women’s reservation bill. Hamid Ansari bore the brunt of a few agitated MC P’s, but in the end, he had his day! Not only is he getting accolades for his brave and firm handling of the situation, he had the last laugh when the Terrible Seven were handed their punishment.
Coming to the Bill. Why the ruckus? What was there in the Bill that had Laloo and Mulayam in jitters?? Mulayam, your Dimple would not have lost to Raj Babbar if she had the chance to contest from a women’s reserved constituency !!
The Bill actually is a very simple document that wants to reserve 33.3% seats in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas for women. Where is the problem? It looks fine to me to see that women are being empowered in a nation that is pitched to be a super power in not so distant future. If women slug it out between themselves and then reach the Lok Sabha, fine. Why the song and dance??
I sense it is the mental make up of us men. Probably , there lurks a fear that these women may outsmart the “Politician mards” in the parliament/Assemblies? A sense of inferiority grips the macho Yadav’s? And also probably, the “Politician mards” would be uncomfortable when in an agitated mood, mike flinging ensues!!
But some fear does filter in when one visualizes reservation. Women with money and status may over power the women who are from lower castes and economically weak. This is a possibility and needs to be addressed in great depth. I suppose this may be reason why the antagonists feel that a reservation within a reservation is desirable. But then, I feel that women will sort out this issue themselves very much like water finds its own level. Leave it to them. Women have already come a long way from the pre independence days. They are stronger, more aware and much more intelligent and aggressive.
Finally, I would suggest that Government should consider only one idea of reservation. 33.3% of the current strength. Not to add 33.3% over and above the current. See the difference? If we consider 33.3% of the current, then say in the lok Sabha, 181 will be women and 363 men. This fine and great. But if they add to the current, then we will have about 820 MP’s! Along with the 545 men, we will have another 273 women MP’s! This would spell disaster!! Economic madness as the parliamentary budget will shoot up! The poor “Aam admi will be skinned to his bones to provide for the budget!! And what of the discipline inside??? A fighting husband and wife can keep the entire locality up and about…God alone can help us when 545 men and 273 men decide to do what the seven Rajya Sabha MP’s decide to do what they did with Hamid Ansari!!
All said and done, a great achievement by the politicians of today! Cutting across party lines was a great gesture and deserves kudos! And yes, the earlier decision of similar reservation in Panchayati Raj elections has yielded good dividends. So, all the more reasons why this Bill should be welcomed with open arms!
Do we see a new India around the corner?

Barkha jee…pull up your socks and stop the gabble ! { Come on….don’t say, “ I wear none”}

Barkha jee…pull up your socks and stop the gabble !
{ Come on….don’t say, “ I wear none”}

Inspite of Shoaib Q’s reminder, I missed the telecast as I had to complete an important errand. But he was gracious to remind me that the repeat telecast was round the corner. It was 15 minutes and I was over 15 kms away! I juggled the steering as I went perilously near a side walk. Later I just about managed to avoid a screaming jaywalker as a horn hungry Lumina almost pierced my already weakened ear drums! I stepped on the gas and relived some memories of when caution was thrown to the wind when behind the steering! I did not want to miss the programme!
Panel discussions are normally always very exciting and one learns a lot from the wisdom of the panel. But there is always an exception. Barkha Dutt in We the People telecast on the 7th of March was a huge disappointment. The panel is an indication of the possible quality of the discussion. And the panel she chose was pathetic and a loose collection of people who had really nothing much in common. Soha Ali Khan and Kabeer Khan, almost anonymous persons who would find little claim to name or fame of any kind. I do not wish to sound harsh but the fact remains that they were total misfits. By the way, pardon my ignorance, but who is Kabeer Khan?
Now let me ask Barkha. What was the show all about? What exactly were we debating or discussing? Was there a basic theme? Muslims? Islam? Stereotypes? Hijab? Muslim Leadership?
Now let us review the panel. Eight members on the panel. Out of these, five were from the film fraternity. Now, if the issue was Islam or Muslims, them I really wonder what Karan Johan and the likes were doing there? From what I could understand, the issue was dealing with Muslims and their image. And Alyque Padamsee, a panel member, confessed on stage that he did away with his religion when he was 18! And yet, he pretended to profess profound and abstruse philosophy on religion! Soha had little idea if she was actually a Muslim. She groped on many an occasion but found it difficult to state unequivocally that she was a Muslim. Sharmila Tagore has been a great Ma. Her daughter , dressed in some outlandish and humongous boots, tried her best to sound like a “know all” but in vain. Karan Johar was like fish out of water. He would make some strange gurgling sounds and though faint, I interpreted them as My Name is Khan, which we all know is not. But then he was referring to the much flouted Shahrukh Khan starrer. But what was he doing here? And that brings me to the other panel member-Shahrukh Khan. Though again, not the most suitable member to debate religion, he did make some very honest and serious efforts. And Barkha is probably angling for a debut on the celluloid! Why I got this feeling? Well, she was ensuring that the Khan was getting the maximum frame and exposure! The two members who were seriously qualified to discuss the topic were reminding me of Akshay Kumar. Why? Well, both suffered heavily at the hands of the editor! Minimum exposure to the most qualified speakers! That, I am afraid, does not speak very highly of Barkha Dutt. She , either by design or by default, ensured that both Dr. Zakir Naik and Maulana Madni, who could make the difference, were derailed. They were totally stifled. For some stranger reason, Najeeb, the one from the Jamia Millia was ill at ease with himself! On most occasions he was on the look out for some pot shots at Dr Zakir Naik. Perhaps, the skull cap and the flowing beard of Dr.Naik made him see red! I pity Jamia.
All in all, a very pathetic show and a massive disappointment for all those who had great expectations from the Warrior Journalist Barkha. Poor selection of panel and poor time allocation. Even the audience was throttled. Questions asked by them were never answered!
Barkha should remember that discussions on religion are serious matters and deserve an appropriate panel to debate intellectually and fearlessly. What happens when Jaspal Bhatty tries to analyze the Union Budget? Or when Shakti Kapoor assesses our national nuclear programme? Need I say more? And Barkha should have had more intelligent and relevant questions rather than asking insipid ones opinion on Osama Bin Laden!
I rate Barkha as an excellent anchor. But to err is human and this is the second major goof up by Barkha Dutt. The first being the one which was sent out live just after 26/11 where she allowed Simi the freedom of expression which impinged upon the basic rights of us Indians.
And all the dare devil driving only to watch Soha dangling her boots , hear Kabeer talk gibberish whilst Shahrukh and Karan promote MNIK? And additional claptrap and twaddle provided by Woodey Allen look alike, Alyque Padamsee ?

Mr.Prime Minister....we need Colleges and varsities!

Mr. Prime Minister….we need Colleges!

On the last day of February of 2010, the Tricolour flutters with pride. So does every Indian who works in Saudi Arabia. The picture in Riyadh today is that of colour splashed all over! The Indian and the Saudi flags dance in harmony and glory. A sign of the great relations that exist between the two nations.
Today’s newspapers in Saudi Arabia are all about the warm and friendly Indo Saudi relations. One leading newspaper has over a dozen advertisements hailing the visit of the Prime Minister ! The first after a gap of 28 years!
And what is more remarkable is the fact that the Prime Minister is accompanied by a high powered delegation of several senior ministers and officials along with a legion of senior journalists who would be carrying back the impressions to our fellow countrymen back home. The role of this throng is vital and will make an impact for the future.
This visit is not merely ornamental but it means business. It is said that nine agreements will be signed during this three day visit including one on memoranda of understanding on scientific and technological cooperation.
I look at the larger picture for tomorrow. There are almost 1.8 million Indians residing across the Kingdom and this is a substantial proportion of the total expatriates living here. And we have come a long way as today India has its own brand equity in the market. We are no longer seen as suppliers of unskilled labour but as one which has provided the intelligentsia. It is a matter of pride that we see Indians not only as senior manager but also as entrepreneurs! And that too in substantial quantity.
The NRI’s in Saudi have always stood up when they were needed. But there are issues which bother us and which are left unaddressed. The most vital and pressing is the need to provide for College and Varsity education. Now, this is a huge hassle and families are faced with very traumatic conditions as the child approaches high school! Sleepless nights , animated discussions, anxiety levels on the rise and what not are the order of the day as one tries to plan the future for the 14-15 year old little kids who have always lived a protected life! Trauma grips the family. The family is going to be split!! The little ones have to fend for themselves whilst the mother braces to live alone chaperoning the child. The Father happens to be the bread earner hence he has to stay back and live the life of a forced bachelor. And one must not forget that the parents are now in the late 40’s and early 50’s. This is the stage when health issue gains priority. What was once a happy united family is now torn apart. This is where the Government of India needs to step in and find a solution. We need to have colleges and varsities here. And this depends on the determination of the Government. And yes, to ensure that no violation of any sorts occurs, these colleges and varsities will be restricted to Indian nationals only. Mr.Man Mohan Singh needs to do what Indira Gandhi did 28 years ago. She was instrumental in establishing Indian schools in Saudi Arabia. Singh will become King if he can get college education for over 50,000 kids who study in Saudi Arabia! Man Mohan Singh will be providing a solution to a burning issue. It would be a great service to the community and the nation.
And yes, we have long been yearning to have voting rights. And it is time that the present government works hard and takes a decision on the issue.

Sovereign or subjugated?

Sovereignty misunderstood

Last month India rejoiced on the 60th Anniversary of its constitution. 26th January 1950 was indeed a red letter day for India as we Indians stood up and adopted a charter that was free and provided opportunity to one and all. At the same time it ensured our sovereignty. Our constitution gave us the freedom to not only practice what we believe in but also gave us a nation that was capable of taking its own decisions and not being subservient to anyone. As a proud Indian, I salute all those known and unknown souls who made this constitution a reality. I salute because of their vision. I salute because had it not been their far sightedness, we might have just about ended up as just another nation which is counted because of its geographical existence and not because of its status and strength. Hamare buzurgoun ko salaam!!
Indeed, we have been gifted with the two most sought after W’s-wisdom and wealth. Our heritage made our future a lot easier to craft. We moulded with success.
But today I stop and look back. What must have been in the mind of Pandit Nehru, Dr.Ambedkar , Maulana Azad and all those who strived for India’s freedom? Did they visualize the India as it is today? Perhaps partly.
India has grown as a giant in the world today. This would have pleased Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru no end as this was their vision. The freedom fighters laid down their lives for a better India. And today we stand with pride in our eyes living their dreams of a free and fair India. The 50’s and the 60’s were the Nehru Era when India stepped into the world with decisive and firm steps. We saw the beginning of the demise of untouchability and discriminations. Nehru ushered technology that led us to the Silicon Valley!
India started to bloom. But still away from a glorious, full bloom!
But an honest evaluation may reveal a slightly uncomfortable picture. Uncomfortable at our own contribution, at our own roles. Uncomfortable at our compromise of our sovereignty. I suspect that we never really understood what sovereignty meant. We sold our nation to our own whims and fancies. Our own petty parochial thinking. We forgot the nation and remembered our caste, creed, religion. We forgot the sacrifices of our forefathers and looked at what benefits us, our family. National interests got buried below our idiosyncrasies. We became insular, blinkered.
India has not reached where it should have. We have the potential but not the willingness. We stride not hard enough to reach the goal. We form political parties that have agendas which take us away from national perspectives. We patronize politicians who never wish the welfare of the masses. We are subjugated not sovereign! Whatever India has grown, it is by its rich heritage. Not by our efforts.
When will we really understand that a sovereign India will be achieved only when we forget vote bank politics? When we stop divisive politics. In the race for world supremacy, India needs its children to stand shoulder to shoulder. We need to create a truly sovereign India. Indians need to wake up to the stark reality that nations progress when the citizens strive and sacrifice. When hard work replaces lethargy and when national pride displaces ill conceived petty personal gains.
A truly free India will assume the mantle of the Leader of the world. We owe this to our children.

Obama, Lend me your ears

Barack, you are almost on the verge of completing a year in Office as the most powerful man in the world. When you stop and look back, what do you see? Peace on shaky grounds? International violence on the rise ?
I know you can. But what we do not know is when you can. And it is this uncertainty that casts its doubt about .Yes, you are a man of peace. I believe in this albeit I am in the small minority. When you were awarded the Nobel Peace prize, there were skeptics gunning for those who decided. They sniggered and summarily cast aside the citation and called the whole exercise as politics. But I believed in the award and still believe that the right man has got the award at just the right time.
But when I read the story of the Lap Bomber, I was shell shocked. The timing of the whole episode reminded me of the video tapes emerging just before the presidential polls featuring George Bush. Even your clear tone seemed to acquire a slight Texan brawl. We all remember Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber," arrested on December 22, 2001, for trying to blow up American Airlines flight 63, coming into Miami from Paris. The issue set the stage for a massive screening of selected passengers at all airports and you specifically named fourteen nations whom you distrust. This skepticism alienates even further. Although a ridiculous exercise, you seem to be set to get the screening going which as per the CBS news, “ Bares All”. It's called a "whole body imager," and it can indeed see your whole body underneath your clothing”, according to CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
Barack, we know that humans have a way of competing with each other. We know that there is always a war between the good and the bad. That is nature. That is why Law and the criminal are always vying to be a step ahead of the other. That is why crime still happens the world over in spite of great policing efforts. That is why we had the Oklahoma Bomber. You agree?
Barack, any amount of screening will not guarantee safety. This is because, you, a man of peace, is looking at the wrong end of the gun. You have tried to reach when the plant has grown into a tree. Reach when the sapling can still be moulded.
You, a worthy persona, is lamentably providing knee jerk treatment which is superficial. You are not reaching at the root cause. Barack, the Nobel laureate, may please take a leaf out of the original man of peace Mahatma Gandhi and do some “Gandhigiri”. No nation or community is inherently gun toting. When the environment instills insecurity, the instinct of survival moves one to measures other than peace. Let me quote from Psychology Today which proves my point, “Societal influences help foment violent behavior. The images that populate mass media actually have the longest-lasting impact of all contributors to violence. Prolonged exposure to violent images increases the of becoming a victim, desensitizes violence, and heightens the viewer's appetite for similarly engaging in violence”.
Barack, you are still in your presidential infancy. You have the vision and I have the faith. Yes, you can-replace the gun with peace and trust and propagate policies to weed out the root cause of violence. Lap Bombers will automatically cease to exist.

The world of 2010

A lesson learnt

As the 2009 Sun was about to bid goodbye

It stopped and looked at me

There was a smile alright

But it lacked in warmth and real happiness.

I smiled back with joy

And looked deep into the setting Sun

Why was it devoid of zest

What was amiss that saddened the Sun?

I was glad to see the setting of the year

I had lived with happiness and joy

There was pleasure and felt no fear

But perhaps the Sun had seen what I had not

My World was small

But the Sun had seen the World

It saw the flying missiles and passing bullets

It saw the slow dying of those who starved

It heard the cries of the trodden and old

It saw the helplessness of the weak

It felt the fear of the hounded

It cried when children were orphaned

This it saw over and over again

It saw each in his own little world

Oblivious of the sorrows of the rest

It never slept, joy was lost, it only wept.

But a small smile adorns the setting Sun

It sends a message of hope

All is not lost, there is scope

The early morning rays beckon

Now I see what the Sun wanted to say

Indeed, we forgot the weak and hungry

We saw our own small world and lived

Like the Sun, we need to live for the World.

It is time we felt and lived

Not just for our own small circle

But for humanity, the entire world

Let’s keep pace with the 2010 Sun.

Syed Abdallah Rizvi

Dammam/2010

India bleeds once again

Two events is a day. Though separated by hundreds of miles, each has the capacity to change history. And surely will History change but sadly for India, yet another arrow in the heart of Mother India.

NDT or ND Tewari has allegedly done what one could have never even imagined. An 86 year old man, with one step on the ground and the other on the pyre has the audacity of playing ras leela. At a time when the grand Pandit should be sunk deep into the chanting of the Vedas, he is delving deep into the forbidden lands. Whether this is a fact or just a malicious campaign to push ahead the Telangana issue, one would never know. The Congress high command saw wisdom in sacking Tewari in order to douse the flame of Telangana. The bloody flames will ensure that Tewari gets no chance to prove his innocence! And we suddenly hear cries of the hysteric masses demanding that Tewari be sanctioned for his misdemenour. We are hearing slogans of ethics and values. Let me leave this issue here..for the time being.

And on the other side we have the wily “Guru” of Jharkhand. He tramples ethics and values as one does the dead leaves in the jungles of Kharkhand. Let us take a quick look at the man who has been invited by the Governor to form the government. On 23 January 1975, he was allegedly part of a mob that attacked the Muslim-dominated Chirudih village in Jamtara Ten people including nine Muslims were killed in the attack. Along with sixty eight others, he was charged with murder. In 1986, an arrest warrant was issued against him. In 2002, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He became the Union Coal Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, but was asked to resign following an arrest warrant in his name in the thirty-year old Chirudih case. After the warrant was issued, he initially went underground. On 28 November 2006, Soren was found guilty of murder in the twelve year old case of the kidnapping and murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha. Soren is the first and only case of a Union Minister of the Government of India being found guilty of involvement in a murder. On 5 December 2006, Shibu Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment; he still awaits trial in the Chirudih case.

Now, which of the two makes you cry more? An 86 year old veteran putting Khajuraho to shame or a convicted criminal playing hoola hoop with Law and Order?

And yes, the BJP. What ethics are portrayed here by the party which shouted the meek and mild Manhohan into a corner when Soren was a Minister in the UPA government, is the one propping up the convicted criminal to don the mantle of the Chief Minister? Atalji, we sure are glad that you are not around to see where the Judges would be hiding in Jharkhand.