Ten Years of Shame

 

Yesterday marked the tenth year (can we not call it an anniversary!) since the Godhra train burning and the riots that followed. Ten years. Yet we see Narendra Modi prance around town as a probable candidate for the Prime Minister’s post. Osama Bin Laden has been hunted down in the last ten years and he was in hiding; Modi is in Ahemdabad! All the talk about him being a genuine candidate for the chair in the South Block is like appointing Hitler as the EU commissioner. You did so well with your region; why not take over the whole damn place!

In the last ten tears we have seen Modi use every dirty trick in the book and then some to escape a meaningful investigation. With his Nazi like focus on industrialization he has successfully managed to shift the focus from his evil deeds to the success of his policies. To say it is a slap on our democracy and judicial process is an understatement. Cops have been transferred; witnesses vanished, police records missing or fudged, numerous encounters, systematic social ostracism of the Muslim community and many other such tactics. The fact that he has continued to inflict so much damage after the riots should be a matter of great shame to the entire nation.

What is amazing in this entire episode is the absolute lack of interest from anyone in the government to see that justice is done. The government at the centre is bound by its general ineptness to get anything accomplished and the state government is entirely in the hands of the mastermind of the many crimes committed; that it is supposed to investigate. Society at large, as it is its wont continues to ignore difficult questions and accept the legitimacy bestowed on guilty-but-not-proven-as such powerful people. When people like Amitabh Bachhan and Ratan Tata share the dais and more with people like Modi for their own personal gains, it adds to the acceptability of such criminals. Not that it is the responsibility of these select people to take a stand against something or anything for that matter. But when people of stature; with much to lose; are not afraid to associate with the perpetrator of appalling crimes there isn’t much hope in bringing real, tangible justice.

And it is not even important whether Modi becomes the PM in the near or distant future. It is imperative however, that he be brought to justice for his misdeeds. It is absolutely important, for this nation, for the millions of Gujaratis, for the Hindus, for the industrialists, for the NRIs, for the police, for the judiciary to acknowledge that they are human beings, first. Else, there is no difference between them and animals roaming the jungles.

UP mein chunaav

बहिन जी आयीं हाथी पे सवार
हाथ में LV का बैग, गले में हार
वोट मांग रही हैं जनता से इस बार
पार्क बनाये हमने, प्रदेस में तीन चार

मुलायम आये साइकिल पे लड़खड़ाते
कुछ तो बोले वोह तुतलाते तुतलाते
सपूत को पकड़ा दी है अब उन्होंने कमान
कहते हैं कांग्रेस भाजपा बसपा, सब हैं सामान

बाबा भी पहुंचे परिवार समेत
 बहुत देखे उन्होंने गाँव और खेत
हेलीकाप्टर, बाईक और गाड़ी, सब की कर ली सवारी
आशा में की हाथ पे मोहर लगे इस बारी

भाजपा का भी देख लो अजब खेल
बिलकुल नहीं कोई सुर ताल मेल
अभी भी मंदिर का कर रहे हैं वायदा 
पर जनता मांग रही है उससे कहीं ज्यादा 

चौधरी साहेब ने भी कर दी है एंट्री 
केंद्र में अब बन गए हैं वोह मंत्री
हरित प्रदेश बनायेंगे हैंडपंप की फुहार से
सत्ता में आयेंगे जय किसान की पुकार से

चाहे हाथी हार जाए साइकिल के हाथ
या कमल दिखादे कोई करामात
पर लोग पूछ रहें हैं
कब ख़तम होगी यह काली रात
कब ख़तम होगी यह काली रात

Untitled

नेताओं से आशा है की बिल पास करेंगे

कभी तो लोग रिश्वत लेने से डरेंगे

कब तक लोग बाबुओं से लड़ेंगे

कब हमारे बिग्ढ़े काम बनेंगे

कब तक ढूंढते रहेंगे लोग कोई सिफारिश

कब ख़तम होगी घूस की यह बारीश

और नहीं सही जाती यह खालिश

अब यही है हमारी छोटी सी गुजारिश

क्या फरक पढता है; RSS हो या अन्ना

यह काम तो तुम्हे अब है करना
अपने पुराने कर्मों से तुम मत डरना

कभी तो तुम्हे भी अपना क़र्ज़ है भरना

Damned If You Do; Damned If You Don't

Tariq Ahmad Bhat; a local shopkeeper assaulted on December 3rd died a couple of days back; succumbing to injuries incurred during yet another protest in Kashmir. He was not attacked by the cops, the army, or by  terrorists; but by protesters who had called for a bandh. That is not even really the point here; but it definitely does highlight the dilemma an average Kashmiri lives with.

Since the Kashmir issue has become...well an issue ; it has been mostly treated as a political problem. Its has either been viewed as either a Govt. of India v/s the separatists/terrorists or azadi or pro-India/Pak concern. With the governments of two very influential (nuisance value in case of Pak) states directly involved in the region; the Kashmiri people have more often than not seen their concerns being put on the back-burner. And as long as these two countries continue to behave like egoistic school bullies; sadly the situation will continue to remain the same. With highly polarised positions assumed by the two countries it has not been easy for the people of the state to not align themselves with one or the other. It is in such atmosphere that an average citizen of the state finds her/himself in a dilemma. Imagine the plight of the person who just does not want to assume any position. Contrary to what most political people might quickly term as being passive or ignorant behavior I believe it requires much more courage not to go along with any position.

Tariq Ahmad Bhat on December the 3rd made a choice that cost him his life. He chose to live like a normal person, to open his shop, to make money and that in the eyes of the protesters was nothing short of treason. Tariq was hit with cricket bats and the stones he refused to pick up.

It does not matter what stands everyone involved has assumed, it does not matter what happened in the past, it does not matter who the land belongs to. If we cannot guarantee the right to live, the right to earn one's livelihood; everyone is doing something wrong.

100 Days...And Counting

While the whole country has been distracted with one thing or the other, Manipur has been reeling under the affect of the indifference of the central government and the bullying tactics of influential regional goondas. The north-eastern states seem to be caught in a time warp, struggling to shake off their past legacies. In this day and age of advanced communications and other technological improvements it is a shame that the adage "out of sight; out of mind' still applies to the region.

The lack of any meaningful communication from our government is not only baffling but absolutely inexcusable. The media too did not pick this story until the landmark 100 day milestone was attained. Sachin's 100 landmark apparently is much more important. People in the 'mainland' are oblivious to the going-ons in the north-east; we cannot even begin to understand the gravity of the situation over there. Imagine living in Delhi, Bombay wherever, for more than 3 months, without regular fuel supply, without access to cooking gas and other essentials. War time supplies are less regulated! And here is a state, within our boundaries, alienated from the rest of the nation.

That we have always ignored the seven sisters is not a secret, but when we sit idly by, watching a whole state being cut off from the rest of the country, it reflects our lack of respect for human life. The fact that we grade human life in this country according religion, location, caste etc etc is being manifested by the blockade in Manipur. Government after government at the center; has indulged in a systematic isolation of the people living in the north-east. Why then does it come as a surprise to many, that there are so many separatist movements in the region? Why wouldn't they want to leave?

For long now our political parties have been satisfied with conducting periodic elections and not much else. Their idea of integration has been limited to appointing district collectors and other useless bevy of government officials. As democracy has worked (or not) in the rest of the country, the north-eastern states have also witnessed corrupt and greedy leaders come to power. The constant struggle for power has provided ample room for separatists to claim legitimacy. The Government of India acts only when a few bombs go off and there are noises made regarding autonomy or independence. What it wishes to do by retaining these people, other than having to avoid reprinting a large number of maps is beyond me. There is a lack of will to integrate people from the region.

There might be racist undertones in the way government representatives operate in the region but I believe it is the lack of number which guides the govt's out of sight out of mind outlook. I suggest we double the number of MPs coming from the north-east, just so that they count for more. It has been a long, bloody path for the region and its people. They deserve much better. If we don't even want to try, if we don't even care, then why resist their wish to lead their lives on their own terms. Forget the politics, the history; they are human beings, citizens of this country. Surely they deserve much better?

What A Fucking Shame

Eleven years after the Delhi Police broke the match-fixing scandal, three players have been jailed for a more modern nano version of the same. It is a fucking shame that the ICC, the police, the various boards let things get so bad; that these things still happen. And thank god for the British media and the justice system, else god knows what else might have continued to happen. But I will come to that later.

The sheer stupidity, and that is all it took, displayed the by the three idiots is astounding. All the convicted players were phenomenal practitioners of the game. Asif and Amer were being touted as potential leading bowlers of the future. Salman Butt was probably on his way to become one of Pakistan’s best opening batsmen. It was their stupidity which led them on the path of greed.

I must admit that I initially had mixed feelings when the verdict came out. I genuinely felt bad for the three idiots, being imprisoned for what is essentially cheating. But that did not last long. The way these people have let down their country, their sport, the fraternity of fans worldwide, quickly made me angry again. This is colossal. For any cricket fan, for any sports’ fan; with a conscience.

Cheating it was. But sadly for them it was also bloody illegal. It is about time that the law catches up with sportspersons too. They are as much a part of society as the people who pay to watch them. There have been some sympathetic noises being made about Salman Butt having a son and Mohammed Amer being an 18 year old village boy. Bullshit. While it is easy to sympathize, it requires courage to do the right thing. They have only themselves to blame.

The only reason why this case has proceeded to trial and punishment is because it was exposed outside of the sub-continent. Compare the proceedings in UK with what has happened in India since 2000. One of the banned players is a Member of Parliament, another one is a celebrated commentator with equally shady fixers posing as news people at NDTV and the others; well they have moved on, helped along the way with their ill-gotten wealth. When the richest board in the world is run by someone like Pawar there is much more that goes on than your harmless hood-hood-wink-wink act. There is no doubt in my mind that there was a deliberate effort to not convict Indian players suspected of fixing matches. What the fuck is a ban? Is it not admitting that the players were guilty and if so why aren’t their asses in jail? Why does Azhar get to escape prison and get elected to the highest representative public body in the country? Why does a leading news channel have a former suspect on its expert panel?

These questions have only one answer. Because we do it too. Atleast we have in the past. We are just too strong an entity to let things affect us like normal folk. When politicians fill cricket boards with their musclemen and errand boys (such as Mr. Srinavasan), the system essentially invites match-fixers, bookies and all the other scum that moves across our stadia and pavilions. The only reason Butt & Co. got jailed is because the PCB is as fragile as the country they represent. There is no way in hell that an Indian player would have even faced trial, forget actually serving time.

But the times are changing. Transparency is the new buzz word. Sensibilities are improving amongst the administrative folk. But a lot more needs to be done. There has to be an earnest effort in finding out who else is involved in this sick evil scam. Past and present. The Akmal brothers and Wahab Riaz have been named during the course of the trial. They need to be investigated. A few Indian names too have cropped up. We need to go after these morons with all the might and vengeance that we can muster. Does not matter if we are faced with uncomfortable situations, with big names coming out. Go after those buggers too.

The ICC too needs to shake things up a bit. Life bans would be in order for those found guilty. What the hell does a 5 year ban with 2 suspended even mean? It is absurd to imagine that a player can come back after being punished for crimes of this magnitude. Players who sell their souls, deserve no sympathy. If Salman Butt was worried about his to-be-born kid, he should have just played better. He was a young captain, with the support of the board, what more could he have asked for? Apparently a lot. Well the cricket field is not the place for it. I can give him the address of a person who knows a thing or two about making money on the side. He stays at Clifton Street, Karachi.

Closer home the BCCI needs to address the many burning issues threatning the very essence of the sport. They somehow swapped match-fixing with the IPL,  but the players stay the same. The unholy nexus of politicians and corporates needs to be undone on the administrative side. Let the ex-players manage the show. If we go on the way we have since 2000, it wont be too long before one of ours is caught in a situation similar to that of the Pakistanis. And that would be the end of it. Screw the IPL, screw test cricket, screw the big names. Fans would just stop loving the game as they always have.

1,000 to 1

These are not odds for lasting peace to be achieved in the Middle East. It is the ratio of the number of prisoners being released by Israel to get one off their back from Hamas. 1 : 1,027 to be exact. At first look it seems naive that a government would enter into a deal with known enemies, releasing people who have been involved in many cases of killings and bombings. Even if a small percentage of the 1,000 go back to their struggle (and they will) there would be a price to pay in the not so distant future. Yet the Israelis chose to get the one man that got left behind, while he is still alive rather than get bogged down by what might happen in the future.

But concepts like these are difficult to grapple if you live in a country like ours. Where individual lives do not mean as much, where we respect people according to  lineage, profession, economic class and every other conceivable point of differentiation. No matter how much one may disagree with the policies adopted by the Israeli government, their steadfast, unwavering support of every single citizen is commendable. What the Israelis understand is that each person in their country matters. No matter what their contribution to the greater good is.

A nation is built collectively by the people, by a people respected individually. It is this idea that we need to appreciate in this country. We however, function under the pressures of different regional or religious interests. It is the sheer absence of respect for the individual that we need to address. In our country, if a person is not aligned with a political party or even smaller powerful sub-groups like civil servants, judiciary, police, local corporators, doctors or whatever classification strong enough to have influence, things can get very difficult. It is not only corruption that is rotting our core, we as a country have no patience for individuals.

It is time we place the Indian Citizen ahead of every other classification, and god knows we have enough of those! Our much touted diversity makes it all the more important that we dont give in to appeasing any one class. If each person could feel important, could feel that they can contribute; things will be much different. It is time we ‘ask what our country can do for me’ instead of the other way around.